Dorcas didn't know what to do. Lily was miserable, but she still felt she was right in telling Emmeline not to go out with Sirius. James was avoiding her, and Sirius was avoiding Emmeline. Which meant the marauders no longer sat with their little group at meals. Which meant Dorcas had less time to spend with Remus. Which made Dorcas Meadows very unhappy. Lily had tried to talk herself out of being upset, saying that James would get over it and come back to her like he always did. Unfortunately it had been a week, and James still didn't seem to want anything to do with her. He didn't even hang around to give her a chance to apologize.

Emmeline Vance was sad too. She had really liked Sirius, and felt as though they had a real connection. She was hoping Amos would ask her out soon – he might be able to get her mind off of things. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be happening. Amos did spend quite some time with the girls, but he never singled Emmeline out for attention. And Dorcas didn't like him.

Lily, on the other hand, had started renewing her matchmaking efforts with a vengeance. If Amos and Emmeline got together, James would see how right she was about Sirius and Emmeline, and he would have to start talking to her again. He would just have to. She had started going on rounds with him (easy enough to do, as James now insisted on only patrolling with Remus) and tried talking up Emmeline as much as she could. To be honest, though Amos sometimes annoyed her.

"Em had a really bad cold today, Amos. You should really go see her and try to cheer her up"

'Of course, of course. But in the meantime, you should avoid spending too much time with her. You can't, in your infinite kindness, allow yourself to fall sick while caring for a friend.'

He would usually drone on in this manner, turning every statement about Emmeline into a compliment towards herself. Lily often found herself wanting to slap him. If it hadn't been for Emmeline, she would have slapped him.

Lily would sometimes catch herself wondering if Amos really was right for her friend. He had to be, though. Lily didn't think she'd be able to cope if she had lost James because of a mistake. It was bad enough that she had let her previous prejudice against the marauders cloud her judgment and cause her to insult James. If she was wrong about Amos and Emmeline too… Lily didn't know what she would do. Which is why, at every patrol, she carried on trying to nudge Amos in the right direction.

Unfortunately, Amos didn't seem to be getting a bloody hint. Nothing, however, could have prepared Lily for the sight of Amos Diggory bending down on one knee in front of her outside the portrait hole leading to the Gryffindor common room one night, holding a single lily.

'Lily, fair Lily, would you do me the honor of accompanying me to the Hogwarts Dance?'

Lily gaped, open mouthed.

"Em… you mean Em right? You're just practicing for when you have to ask Em… right?" Lily's voice was pleading. " Please please please let this be a huge misunderstanding" she prayed internally to whatever deity that was listening.

'Em… now why would I want to ask Emmeline? She's very pretty of course' Amos hastily replied when he saw the redhead's eyes flash dangerously, 'but who could ever think of Emmeline when you're around Lily? You're beautiful, smart, Head Girl… and I know you like me. You've been hinting all week that I should ask you to the dance'

To Lily's horror, Amos pulled her towards him and sloppily tried to press his lips to hers. Pushing him roughly, Lily hissed, "Don't you EVER do that again. I was trying to fix you up with Emmeline the whole time."

Now Amos Diggory was annoyed.

'Emmeline? Why would I go out with her? She's not even a prefect – and I've got a job lined up in the Ministry. I need to go out with the best. '

Lily felt as if she'd been punched in the stomach. She had been wrong about Amos the whole time. She'd been clinging to the hope that even though she might have said some things that were out of line, some things that she didn't mean – she had been doing the right thing. Pushing past the Hufflepuff prefect, Lily rushed into the common room. Blinded by tears, Lily ran straight into a tall figure.

AN: Another short one, but I just had to end here! evil laugh REVIEW!