Disclaimer: Hmmm...let me think about this...nope, I don't even own squiddly squat.

A/N: Ohhh Professor Trelawney is so thrilled that her prediction came true. So thrilled, in fact, that she agreed to stop teaching Divination! (All the Hogwarts' students cheer!) Anyways, thank you SO MUCH to: sunstone-dono, sarcasticrules, JetGriffins89, bandeepthebest, Mouse and Stupid Productions, cosmopolitan, Diana2, Green Crayons, Claudita, The Marauders And Lily 2, C San, bluecanada, Missvee, TwinkieTUTUS, -Jeisa-, mini-cactus, tashville007, novel-writer92, pigs can fly, lillers, Cristipotter, Sprut, The13thDoctor, soccerxpotterxlife, LyLMystiKeLf, IHeartJamesPotter, Mrs Claire Potter, and stardust718. You all pretty much make my day! For real!

So, this chapter is WAY over due. School has been hectic, college applications have been hectic, and I'm sick. So, I decided to take a break from all the hectic-ness in my life and finally finish this beasting of a chapter. lol I don't really know if I completely like this chapter, but I like how it ended so it's alright.

Have fun reading!

Chapter 13: A Twist of Fate

Lily,

Happy Christmas! (Though I suppose it's not really Christmas anymore—so, I suppose I should say happy late Christmas? Whatever)—

Lily allowed herself a moment to laugh at the absurd thoughts of James Potter, before her eyes drifted back towards the letter once again. The owl that had delivered it (she guessed it was James's owl) hooted softly in the background.

—I'm writing you to let you know of the details— information— whatnot for the New Year's party. That is, if you still want to come, which I'm hoping you do because my mum is expecting you…I'm rambling again, aren't I? How about I just cut right to the chase and tell you the information.

The party's being held at my house in the ballroom, December 31st, obviously. Guests are supposed to start arriving at seven, but a lot of them are Ministry officials so they believe in being 'fashionably late'. You may come earlier or later if you want, but I suggest coming earlier.

She grinned inwardly.

My address is 33 Godric's Hollow. You can Apparate or Floo, however if you Apparate you'll appear in a small alley a few blocks from my house (precautionary Auror strategies…it's safer, but makes things a heck of a lot harder). Just continue north from there. It's not far. Now, I don't know if your family is connected to the Floo network, but if you want my parents can talk to the ministry and have your fireplace set up for the day. Just send Harley back with your response.

So, I'll see you soon!

--James

Harley? That must be the owl.

For a while, Lily simply sat on her bed, the letter held in her hand and her eyes staring at James's boyish, but in its own strange way, neat handwriting. It wasn't until James's owl gave a loud, interrupting hoot that Lily snapped out of whatever reverie she had been in and grabbed a spare piece of parchment and quill. She quickly wrote that she couldn't wait and would, after some consideration, arrive by Apparition—she had never Floo-ed before, and quite honestly the thought of flying through fireplaces frightened her. Was it possible to get burned?

"Alright, come here you," she said, advancing on the bird and attaching her note to its leg. The large bird was unusually patient as it stuck its leg out importantly. She didn't know why she found this odd, but she had always pictured anything of James's to be chaotic, random, or spastic…again, she didn't quit know why. Once she had finished tying and adjusting her letter, Harley flew out of her open window with one single sweep of its brown wings.

Her mind traveled back to the letter. Ballroom? She had always known that James's family was probably pretty well off, but if they had a ballroom in their house, how much money did they really have? As she wondered what it would look like, with elegant Witches and Wizards dancing around the marble floor—that is, if it was marble—she thought about what she should wear. Dress robes automatically popped to her mind, as she knew that those were what Witches wore to fancy events. But seeing as she'd never been to a full-out Wizarding ball before, she didn't own any. Well, shopping at a Muggle store was simply out of the question. A trip to Diagon Alley seemed to be needed…

"Lily," her Mum's voice called up to her from downstairs, "will you come down here for a moment? I need help picking out invitation cards for Petunia."

Groaning at the prospect of more wedding details, and wondering why in the world Petunia couldn't do the dirty job herself, Lily hitched a smile on her face. "Sure." Her face automatically rearranged itself into a scowl after she'd answered. When she got married, she most definitely would want to be involved with all of her wedding details. And she most surely wouldn't place the responsibility on her family, who had to love and help each other because of a single connecting line on a family tree.

The kitchen table was so covered with placards of different flower arrangements, examples of different types of silverware, and paint chips for the color schemes that the Evans family had to eat their meals on the small coffee table in the living room. In short, Lily's house, which was already small and cramped to begin with, was now in an incredibly messy, and jam-packed, uproar.

"I like that one, mum," Lily said, peering over her mother's shoulder and looking at the array of different silver cards on the table all bearing the words, 'You have been cordially invited to…' in sweeping cursive writing.

"Me too, although I have a feeling Petunia won't like the baby blue writing on these," her mother responded, biting her lip and staring between the cards intently.

"Why did she even consider it as a choice then?"

"She didn't; her planner did."

Lily sighed, getting a cup from the cabinet and filling it up with water from the tap. "Mum, if Petunia cared that much about the color or the lettering, she should be here doing it."

Her mum gave her one of those looks that mothers often reserve for their daughters when the before said daughter is being unusually unhelpful or rude towards their sister's wedding plans. Kate Evans' emerald eyes—that were so much like her daughter's—narrowed, and she placed her hands on her hips. "Lily, do please try to sound interested in Petunia's affairs," she said.

"She's having an affair? Spicy…"

"Lily…" Mrs. Evans warned.

"Fine, fine, but I still like that baby blue one."

Her mother continued busying herself with her eldest daughter's pre-wedding 'must do's' as Lily's mind drifted, out of her control, to December 31st and a certain messy haired boy…

"Mum, I need to go to Diagon Alley," she said unexpectedly.

Still busy with the invitation cards, Mrs. Evans didn't even look up at her daughter. Lily hardly expected her words to actually penetrate through her mum's overly-worked brain. "What's that, dear?"

Point made.

"I need dress robes for that party I'm going to," Lily answered.

"Right, right, that Snape boy's ball."

Lily sighed. "No, that James Potter boy's ball," she clarified.

Finally focusing her mind, Kate Evans focused her eyes on her youngest daughter. "I thought you never liked him."

Now, that was a bit harsh. Alright, so it really wasn't considering all the ranting stories she had told her family about that 'obnoxious Potter boy'. But how does a well-behaved daughter explain to their mother that they're only pretending to like Potter in order to get him back because his best friend stupidly bet him that he couldn't get the girl, and the only reason she was even bothering to do this at all was because it was phase four of her dare, but secretly she was enjoying it; and all the meanwhile, her heart was leaning more and more towards James Potter no matter how much she tried to stop it? Phew, that was a mouth full. Again, how does a daughter possibly explain all that to their mum? In short, they don't.

So, she casually leaned up against the kitchen table—almost sending samples of porcelain plates to the ground—and said, "He's changed."

Her mother nodded before resuming her job as the mother-of-the-soon-to-be-bride. "Alright then, but I don't see why you just can't wear that red gown you bought for your uncle's wedding…"

No matter how hard Lily tried, she knew she would never be able to explain to her parents all the workings of the magical world. Somehow she doubted that they would fully understand it even if she tried. Heck, she didn't even understand all of it. Like, how does a charmed game of Truth or Dare turn into such a complicated mess?

OO

Pop!

A black and white cat ran off in fright as Lily Apparated into the small alley that James had described to her in his letter. It wasn't like those scary alleys that are often on the news as a place where a gang fight occurred or where a young girl was kidnapped and raped in. Contrary to her belief, it was actually more of a little country lane. The sides of two shops towered over her and the smell of baking bread was coming from somewhere. Definitely not the scene for something dodgy—although she wondered if appearing out of thin air as if by magic would be considered dodgy in this town.

She did a quick scan of her surroundings and decided that she should go left, as it seemed like an exit that would lead out to a street. Snow was falling softly from the dimming sky and the cobbled side walks were slowly being covered with a thin layer of white. She wouldn't mind living here, really.

She stopped as she got out of the alley and breathed in deeply. The cold air rushed through her lungs and it slightly relaxed the nerves she hadn't known she possessed. She subconsciously straightened her dress robes and checked to make sure her wand was still in her clutch bag. The robes that she had picked out were simple enough, yet they looked elegant on her—or at least she thought so. They were a periwinkle blue—("No, mum, I am not getting those green ones just because they match my eyes!)—and they hugged her body nicely. Because she had never tried on dress robes before, she was surprised to find that they actually fit like Cocktail-gowns and were tailored in different styles.

"Point me," she said, placing her wand flat on her palm. Her wand spun for a second in her hand then settled, the tip pointing right. So, she assumed that was north and headed the way her wand was telling her to go, and the way James had told her in his letter.

If any Muggles were around—which she wasn't sure if there were; was this an all Wizard's neighborhood?—they would probably wonder why a dressed-up, attractive seventeen year old girl was holding a stick in her hand and following its direction. A complete nutter is what they'd think she was. She chuckled slightly and continued walking.

Thirty.

Wow. These were pretty nice houses. Very cute.

Thirty-one. Thirty-two…

What was James's house number again? Oh yeah, that's right. It was—

Thirty-three.

Oh Merlin, this was it! How had she gotten there so fast? She hadn't even had time to mentally prepare herself yet! Alright, so she'd had like two weeks to emotionally prepare herself—and to be honest she had been looking forward to this—but still! Somewhere twenty feet away from her, the Potter family was waiting for their guests to arrive! She was twenty feet away from spending an entire evening waltzing around a ballroom with James Potter! Hm…she could always turn and run…

She pushed past the front gate…

And it was New Year's! Wasn't this like the national kissing holiday or something? Anyone that was anyone knew that couples were meant to share a kiss at the stroke of midnight. But were they a couple? Did they count? Why the heck did people do that anyways? Her stomach flipped. Was she the nervous-excited as in she was looking forward to entering James's house? Or was she the nervous-excited as in she was excited about potentially getting the heck out of there?

She walked up the front steps—almost slipping on the snow because of her slight high heels— and stopped in front of a large, glass paneled door...

To run, or to knock, that is the question?

Slightly aware that she looked like an imbecile, Lily continued to stare at the door, one hand curled into a fist and hovering inches from the barrier that separated her non-James life from her James-consumed life. What to do, what to do?

Oh, get a hold of yourself, Evans!

But just as she got her wits back together, and decided that running away most definitely was a stupid thing to do, she heard voices from the other side of the door.

"I told you she was here!"

"You think something's wrong with her? Your parents said she's been standing there for hours…"

"Let's leave her here."

"Padfoot!"

The door was suddenly wrenched open with Lily's hand hanging somewhere between the doorknocker and the doorbell. She immediately dropped her risen fist to her side as she was greeted by four people, three of whom she didn't really wish to see and one who she had to see but secretly wanted to see. Stop thinking like that!

"Sirius," she said, addressing the new bane of her very existence who had just declared his idea of leaving her standing outside on the doorstep in below zero weather, "your overwhelming kindness never fails to amaze me."

The three other boys laughed, though Remus was eyeing her carefully. He was probably worried that if Lily played her cards right tonight, she could get any information she wanted out of James. Funny thought really, since Lily didn't have any plans of doing anything with James that might make her like him even more. Argh! Stop it! She mentally slapped herself.

"I do try," Sirius said.

"I'm sure you do. Hey, James," she proclaimed, stepping towards him.

"Lily, you've made it," James exclaimed, pushing the door back further.

Curiously, she looked past him and into the front foyer of his house. What she saw made her speechless. His house wasn't anything like she'd imagined; there were no marble pillars, or little fountains, or glistening chandeliers. Nope, James Potter's house was completely…normal. How odd. So, where was the ballroom exactly?

Light and music spilled out from a couple doors down the hall, and Lily could hear the chattering of guests talking to one another. The party must not have gotten into full swing yet because it didn't seem very chaotic yet.

"You're early," Peter said suddenly, as if he had read Lily's thoughts.

"How come?" Remus asked sharply, his eyes opened wide as if trying to tell Lily to back off without words. It actually only made him look like a monkey...a constipated monkey.

Before Lily could respond with an incredibly witty comment, James said rather defensively, "I told her to."

Lily looked at him and smiled, getting her first good look of him. He was dressed in dark blue robes that made him look about three years older, but his hair was just as messy as ever. If Lily wasn't so against allowing herself to fall for him, she would have admitted he looked good. Oh, what the heck, she might as well admit it. James Potter looked fine.

She looked at his robes again and noticed something strange. Was this some sort of sick and twisted sign of fate that they were both wearing blue?

OOO

The party didn't get into full swing until around eight o'clock. Like James's had said, Ministry officials apparently did find it good-mannered to arrive as late as possible without seeming rude. Slightly odd, but who was she to judge.

There was indeed a ballroom. It seemed so out of place from the rest of the house that Lily assumed it had been put up by magic specifically for this night; after questioning James she found out her suspicion had been true. The walls and ceiling were made of glass, giving the impression that they were really dancing outside. The lighting must have been magically added as well. It was all rather romantic. Thank goodness for wands.

The biggest surprise wasn't the ballroom, nor the very good array of foods, nor the Wizarding band that the Potter's had hired, nor the wink she'd received from across the room from her best friend Marlene, but it was the way Lily was feeling while around James Potter. He must've told his friends to bugger off before the party began, and Lily was extremely surprised to find out they had listened…for the most part.

"Is it just me, or does Remus always seem to appear right beside us?" James asked, his hand placed lightly on the small of her back while he handed her a glass of Butterbeer with the other.

Lily looked to her left slightly and saw Remus hovering three feet away, pretending to talk to Peter about something or another. She looked back at James and smiled. It was either the effect of the Butterbeer, or the soothing joyous atmosphere that got to her, but for whatever the reason she began talking. "Well, I think it has something to do with us."

James blinked. "Us? Why us?"

Don't play stupid with me. He knew perfectly well why Remus would be behaving in this way; he wanted five galleons. Boys were so stupid. And yet she was the one that was becoming attached to James Potter. That was not fair! And now she wanted to mess with him because of it. "Oh, come on, James. Think about it. Our relationship kind of has bloomed out of nowhere—"

"—Relationship?" His eyes brightened.

"—and Remus is just suspicious that's all."

"Relationship?" he repeated again, his arm snaking around her waist and pulling her towards him. For a split second Lily's head began to spin because she thought for sure James was going to kiss her. But then he went and surprised her…again.

"Come on. Let's dance."

He pulled her by the hand through the midst of people on the dance floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Remus grab Marlene by the wrist and he hotly pursued them. Lily chuckled to herself.

Dancing with James, Lily soon found out, was rather intoxicating. Well, she hadn't really had much dancing experience with guys to be able to compare, but James just had a charming way about him. A couple of times, Lily began wondering whether James really was completing his bet. No matter how hard she tried to remember, she kept forgetting that this was all just a façade—on both sides. He was just using her as a bet, and she had started using him to get him back. But what if it had changed?

With each passing minute, Lily felt herself drawing closer and closer to James and pretty soon her head rested on his shoulder as he revolved them around the dance floor. If she was experiencing all of this, there was no way that James could be completely immune to it. What if he was slowly falling for her too? No one was this good of an actor.

"You know," James began, "my mum has been throwing you looks all night."

"Hmm," she hummed lazily.

"I think she wants to meet you."

The force of what he said hit her hard. Her head jumped from his shoulder, just narrowly avoiding his chin, her eyes wide. "What?"

He was looking at her strangely. In all honesty he had every right to. But if he wanted her to meet his parents…how could this all just be a bet? She was so confused! Not even James Potter would sink so low as to lie about this fake relationship to his parents as well! Did this mean that—Argh, stop reading too much into this!

They had stopped dancing and people were looking at them strangely. "You're not scared, are you?" he joked, smirking at her. He was trying to keep the mood light.

As if on cue, Remus and Marlene appeared at James's elbow. "Who's scared of what?" Marlene asked.

"Lily's afraid of my parents," James said.

"I am not!"

"Well, let's go meet them, shall we?"

Lily and Marlene shared a glance, and Lily automatically knew that she wasn't the only one confused by this gesture. By the look on Remus's face, she also came to realize she wasn't the only one fearing this gesture.

"Prongs, they seem kind of busy at the moment…" Remus said nervously, glancing at James's mum and dad, who were at the buffet laughing with each other—in other words, they were completely unoccupied.

Darn it.

OOO

"Lily, we've heard so much about you," Mrs. Potter greeted enthusiastically, grasping Lily's hand comfortably and beaming at the red head.

"Have you?" she asked, shooting a furtive look at James, who didn't look embarrassed in the slightest. If the roles had been reversed, and it was her parents meeting James, she'd be slightly humiliated.

"It's not every day a young woman can smack a boy back into his place, especially when it's James," his mother replied, hazel eyes twinkling. Her eyes reminded Lily of James's, but without the glasses. His father was the vision-impaired one.

Lily smiled, immediately warming up to Mrs. Potter. This wasn't so bad. Unless James had included all the names she'd called him and abuse she'd done to him in the stories he'd shared with his family. Now that would have been slightly embarrassing.

"You look so darling, Lily," Mrs. Potter said admiringly, "doesn't she, dear?"

Mr. Potter—although balding, one could definitely tell where James got his unruly hair from—nodded. "It's nice to finally put a face to the name."

"It's nice to meet you both," Lily said politely, grinning at James who touched her hand with his. "Thank you for inviting me; this place looks amazing."

After a few more pleasantry exchanges, Mr. and Mrs. Potter were swept away by the Minister of Magic and his wife. This left James and Lily alone, once again...that is until Sirius came running up to them out of no where, pulled James into a hug, kissed Lily on the cheek, and exclaimed, "Two more minutes until New Year's!"

Slightly gob-smacked, they watched him run off and stumble into Remus, Peter, and Marlene.

"You know, normally I wouldn't find that odd, except for the fact that he got to kiss you before I have," James said confidently.

Lily's laughter caught in her throat. At that moment—and she couldn't quite explain why—an affection for the boy standing in front of her surged to a new extreme. Marlene was grinning at her, Remus was scowling, Sirius was waltzing with an un-reluctant Peter, and all of the expectations that were placed on her for this dare flew from her mind.

She stepped forward and kissed him on the cheek.

And that was the first thing she'd done on her own, without the help of the dare and without her friends' advice.

When she pulled back, she found James looking at her, an expression somewhere between shock and joy plastered across his face, unable to budge. "Come here," he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her further away from the party and into a little corner. Her heart began pumping wildly. What was he going to do?

He reached inside his robes and Lily watched him curiously. He wasn't going to streak, was he? Wow, she couldn't believe she'd even considered that as an option. Thankfully, instead of disrobing, James finally found what he was looking for and pulled out a small, white envelope.

His eyes watched her earnestly as he held the envelope out to her. "I wanted to get you something for Christmas," he explained, placing the card in Lily's hand.

Woah! She hadn't seen that one coming. This was all getting so meddled up! "James, you really didn't—"

"Just open it," he said anxiously.

Her fingernail slid along the seal and unfastened it. With a smile she couldn't contain, Lily pulled out a laminated rectangluar piece of parchment. She shot him a look and he nodded, egging her on.

It was a sort of gift card, like she saw in all the Muggle department stores, except this one had broomsticks flying around on it. She read it and her heart leapt. It was a Quidditch gift card for Quality Quidditch Supplies in Diagon Alley.

"Fifty galleons?" she asked incredulously, shaking her head in disbelief. Usually she wouldn't except something like this, but for some reason she felt like it would be highly rude to reject it. Nevertheless, she continued shaking her head. "James…"

"Well, you've been wanting a new broom, and my parents know some people, and I mean, it could help the team—"

"—You're rambling again," she said softly, before she threw herself at him. He caught her easily and held her tightly. "Thank you," she said into his ear before she stood back, beaming.

It felt good being held by him, no matter how clichéd that sounded. It was true. In fact, it felt so right that when his head began inching closer to hers, she didn't back off.

Nothing happened. That evil little bugger that those darn Greeks were so fascinated with called fate had found the opportune moment to step in. The countdown to midnight had begun, and with it, Lily's senses had returned.

Kissing him fully was the last thing she needed at the moment. And yet, the national kissing holiday was only ten seconds away.

Oh bugger.

OOO

Ten…

Shoot. They were still off in a corner by themselves. Where was fate going to lead her now? Lily's heart beat faster. She'd made the first move. She'd kissed him on the cheek. She'd hugged him. She'd almost allowed him to kiss her…on the mouth! Did that make it okay for him to try to kiss her again?

Nine…eight…seven…

Her stomach jumped as James retook her hand softly in his. What was he doing?

Six…five…

Was it just her, or did James use some sort of body lotion that made his hands especially smooth. She instantly mentally slapped herself for thinking such absurd thoughts. Whatever she did, she shouldn't look at him. If she did, she would lose it. That's how she'd lost it the first time!

Four…three…

She lost it—whatever she had, she'd lost it. Her eyes met his and everything seemed to stop. He held her fast and hard with his gaze. She could feel her resolve falling, crumbling around her like burnt parchment.

Not again!

Was she dying?

Two…

Her breathing quickened (so she supposed she wasn't dead), and she knew that if she didn't gain control of herself quickly, she'd soon find herself passed out on the floor. Or in James Potter's arms…Oh, Merlin! And yet, she didn't dare break their connection.

One!

"Happy New Year's!"

Everyone began cheering and laughing happily. Husbands grabbed their wives and wrapped their arms around them; young children popped Christmas crackers and magical toys and Wizard's hats were exploding everywhere. But Lily was oblivious to all of this noise, because all that mattered were James's eyes fixed to hers. Her thoughts were slipping away before she could even catch a hold of them.

"Lily…" he breathed. It was as if he not dared to speak louder for fear of alerting the girl in front of him back to her senses.

He took her other hand in his, turning her so she was facing him full on. All rational reasons for not doing this were leaving her memory and the only thing that was flowing through her mind was, So, this is why it's the national kissing holiday.

Whatever vibe that was flowing between them began pulling them closer. She could smell his scent and it was driving her crazy. Before she had time to even register what was happening, she found herself up against James with his head leaning down towards her.

And then his lips brushed up against hers.

The bet! The dare! The bet!

Well, that was a long one. Now, I'm gonna go get some cough drops and whatever other medicine will help me. lol I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And it would be great if you could review. Maybe Trelawney will promise to give up Divination all together! (Hogwarts' students cheer again!)

Have a great week!

--HeyLookTheSnitch