Hey guys! I'm so sorry I didn't post last week and the week before that. I was sick then my laptop broke. I hope you like this chapter and please review! Reviews will get me to write the story faster and post more.

Alice Prewett

"You dropped your quill, Alice." he breathed, his eyes dazzling me.

"Oh, sorry, Frank. Thanks." I responded breezily, flashing him a shiny smile while casually flipping my hair, looking absurdly beautiful.

"It's alright. Alice, I have something really important to tell you." he said, his eyes smoldering, slowly touching my hand.

"You can tell me anything you want." I responded, breathing in his heavenly scent.

"Have I mentioned how I'm deeply and irrevocably in love with you, Alice Caitlin Prewett?" he declared, pulling me closer to him.

"Oh, Frank. Why did you wait so long?" I murmured, tiptoeing to kiss him. His fiery lips meet mine as his arms pull me closer.

I stumble out of my reverie and am disappointed to find I'm not in Frank's arms, I'm actually in my bed, hugging my pillow. I sigh, will this moment ever happen? That's how the incident yesterday afternoon should have happened. It was destined to happen that way. Except I messed everything up, like usual. This is how it actually happened:

( A day earlier, in the Greenhouses )

Alice was very focused on a dangerous activity that could hurt her if she wasn't careful. She was dealing with the venomous flowers and biting saplings. Not that she minded. Not at all. Herbology was her favorite subject, so when Professor Sprout had asked for a volunteer to sort out the possibly fatal plants while the class engaged in different activities, naturally, Alice had volunteered. Though Herbology was usually considered as an unimportant subject, Alice loved it. Her dream was to have a job where she could study new species of plants all day later on. Alice snapped on her dragonhide gloves and grabbed a struggling plant, turning it over to see what it was.

"Excuse me?" a voice murmured from behind her, causing Alice to jump, knocking the plants everywhere, accidentally flinging the venomous plant she was holding into the speaker's face. She heard the speaker cry out in pain, trying to get the plants off of him, grumbling. Exasperated, Alice turned around.

"Watch where you're going, will you? Now I'll have to start again." Alice drawled, her eyes widening as she realized who the speaker was.

"Just trying to tell you you dropped your quill, Amanda." Frank muttered, blushing slightly.

"Oh...wow. Um, thanks? Amanda name is though not." Alice said wildly, cringing.

"And so your name is?" Frank said as he frowned.

Suddenly the name Alice was horribly boring. Frank deserved a better name, right?

"Justine. Justine Leandres." replied Alice faintly

"Oh, wow. Uh, I didn't know a Justine went here. Anyway, I have to go. Bye." Frank said, frowning slightly as he returned to his friends, who were currently having a Stinksnap fight.

( Present )

I rubbed my face and groan, making Mary stir, she's an exceptionally light sleeper. The boy of my dreams thinks my name is Justine Leandres! What had happened? Usually I'm pretty outgoing and confident, though not as much as Marlene. I can still handle presentations or getting scolded in class, I'm not afraid of what people think of me. Wait. Let me correct that statement. I'm not afraid of what people other than Frank think of me. It has to be those eyes. Those dazzling blue eyes… I sigh as I shake the thoughts from my head and stumble out of bed to take a shower. The girls are going to stay asleep for a few more hours, I'm the only one of my dormitory who wakes up before eleven on Saturday mornings. I glance at my watch, it's half past seven. I should get ready to go down and eat with my favorite breakfast buddy, Dorcas Meadowes. In first year, we were only fellow Gryffindors, but then we realized that we were both the only girl of our dormitories that wake up early. From then and on, we've had breakfast together every day. She's become one of my best friends. Dorcas is in my house and year, but she got quite unlucky with her dormitory group. While I ended up with my future best friends, she got Eugenia Kirby, Elizabeth Fawley and Ariane Desrosiers, the three worst bitches in Gryffindor. Fawley specialises in being extremely stuck-up and bitchy with girls, but knows how to clean up her act for guys like her boyfriend, James Potter. Kirby is clingy and fake and can date up to eight boys in a week. Desrosiers might be the worst one, she only thinks about herself and acts like she's the prettiest girl in Hogwarts. She actually does kind of have a point there, she's tall, beautiful, has the sort of beauty all the best models have, paired with blue-gray piercing eyes. She's also French, which makes boys go crazy about her for some reason… I actually think she's part Veela… Anyway, the only decent person in Dorcas's dormitory is Hestia Jones, her best friend. Hestia is a quiet but lively short girl who has very long hair. In some ways, she's Dorcas's opposite. Dorcas is outgoing, confident, funny girl who has short brown hair usually pulled into a messy bun paired with her signature fuchsia lipstick. They hang out with us most of the time, and also with Diggory's group, which I can't understand because to me, those guys are as fake and genetic as it gets. But to each her own…

"Hey Ally, you're two minutes and thirty seven seconds late. That'll be two pancakes." Dorcas smirks as she checks her watch smugly. I smile, Dorcas is one of the few people that call Ally. I feint disappointment as shake my head.

"No way, Dorky, those pancakes are mine. Besides, your watch is backwards." I say, quickly casting a spell that makes the arrows on her golden watch stop.

"Ally! Put it back!" Dorcas says pouting playfully.

"No idea what the counterspell is." I laugh lightly as I lead her into the Great Hall. I revel in delight as I smell the usual rich flavors: bacon, maple syrup, waffles and more.

"Ugh, now I'll have to ask Amelia what it is. Finding her is going to be hard, convincing her to tell me the spell is going to be worse." Dorcas sighs, shaking her head as I smirk. Amelia is without a doubt the most intelligent witch in our year, but she doesn't have time for anyone, especially people who need her intelligence. I respond and we talk for a while before someone slides next to me, joining in the conversation. Surprised, I turn my head and am delighted to see Benjy Fenwick.

"Merlin! Benjy, I can't believe you're back!" I squeal as Dorcas's jaw drops.

"That's right! France was amazing, though Beauxbatons wasn't really my thing." he said good-naturedly, wrapping me then Dorcas into a bone-crushing hug. I gazed at him, trying to see if he had changed during his six-month exchange at Beauxbatons. He still had the same wind swept blond hair, and his boyish smile paired with his innocent eyes remained, even though he looked different, older.

"Meet any pretty French girls?" Dorcas inquired, slinging an arm over his shoulders.

"Sadly no, I guess I'll have to stick with you for now." Benjy joked, pulling her into a passionate kiss. I grinned, Benjy and Dorcas had been going out for few months before Benjy went away for his exchange. Though they had visited and owled each other the entire time, but I know the six month break had been hard on both of them. I heard an obnoxious clearing of throat behind, causing Dorcas and Benjy to break apart, blushing.

"Looks like the two lovebirds are back together. Nice to see you again, mate." Sirius joked as he nodded toward Benjy.

"Yeah, the dorm wasn't the same without you, who was going to do our laundry?" James laughed as he joined in.

"What was France like?" asked Peter.

I exchanged a pointed look with Dorcas, this was a Marauder invasion, though Remus was missing. Not that we minded the Marauders, just that we weren't supposed to be talking to James after the incident where he insulted Lily by putting nasty messages in her room.

"How's it going? That pancake looks too good for you to eat." Sirius smirked as he snatched my last pancake and gobbled it.

"Hey! I was still hungry!" I complained as Benjy hugged his best friend, Matt Haden. Sirius yawned and went back to talking to Peter.

"Hey Alice, hey Dorcas. Have you guys seen Lily?" James asked hesitantly. Dorcas and I kept eating our breakfast without a response, we weren't going to let go of our grudge that easily.

"Come on, guys! Please believe me! I would never do that to Lily. You can't hold this grudge forever" James rolled his eyes. Dorcas and I hesitated before both blurting out:

"Fine." This grudge had lasted too long anyway, I hope Lily won't be angry.

"Lily's probably still sleeping, she's not an early bird like Dorcas and I." I said, frowning at James. Why did he need Lily?

"Early? Please. I woke up at six to go running." James reported, showing his toned abs. I rolled my eyes, boys can be so stupid sometimes.

"Hey guys. Where's the food?" yawned a tired Marlene as she rubbed her messy blond hair.

"Said every person ever." James laughed.

"That's not how you greet someone like me! Good morning majestically hot and drool-worthy Sirius Black is a better choice." Sirius pouted.

"Aw, shut it." Marlene said tiredly as she grabbed an apple.

"Someone's not in a good mood today." James said lightly.

"Spent all night awake hearing Lila Greengrass sniffling. That girl has got to get a life." said Marlene in frustration.

"Greengrass? What happened to her?" I inquired. I had once been partnered up with her in a Charms project. She's the worst procrastinator I've ever seen.

"Her boyfriend Albert Macmillan dumped her yesterday for Louise Reynolds." Dorcas said, popping a cashew into her mouth. I winced and said:

"Poor girl."

"Yeah, not really. I caught her cheating on Albert with John Finnigan the other day." Dorcas replied. Sirius whistled and groaned:

"I guess she deserved it then."

"Well Albert's not completely innocent either. He and Kirby were shagging last week." Dorcas reported as Marlene and I made a face. She had the opinion about Kirby as I did.

"What a great relationship." Peter said sarcastically as he grabbed a waffle.

"How do you know all of this?" asked a bewildered James Potter.

"She just does. She's been our most reliable gossip source since first year." I smirked.

"There's a lot of things emotional girls will tell you in bathrooms." Dorcas said cheekily.

"Yeah, not worth it." cringed Sirius.

"You can't handle girls that show any emotion." Marlene accused as Dorcas, Peter, James and I nodded our heads vigorously.

"Hey, I like girls for two things only: snogging and shagging." Sirius joked, making me gag. I don't get why any girl would want such a prat.

"You are so immature." Marlene shook her head in exasperation.

"Said the girl who cried the other day because she got a P." Sirius said smugly, dodging the apple that Marlene had thrown at him. I sighed, Marlene hated having bad grades.

"Anyway, Quidditch tryouts are today, so if you want to be part of the team…" James announced.

"Prat. You know I'll beat the hell out of all the competition out there. Even you." Marlene responded while laughing.

"Even me? No way!" James said, pretending to be wounded.

"It's on!" Marlene said evilly, racing with James to the Quidditch Pitch. We laughed, then I left Dorcas with Hestia, who had just arrived, and went to the dormitory to make one of the girls watch tryouts with me. I knew Lily would go, she absolutely loves watching Quidditch. She's a huge fan. Getting the other girls to come will be harder. Tanya gets bored and Mary always says she has something more important to do. I know they'll come eventually, they still want to watch Marlene "beat the hell out of all the competition". I open the door and find Mary talking to Tanya while brushing her long hair, slowly making a braid.

"Hey guys. Where's Lily?" I ask, searching for the familiar redhead in the room.

"I almost thought you wanted to say hello to us." snorted Mary.

"We thought she was with you guys, she wasn't there when we woke up." Tanya frowned, gesturing to herself and Mary.

"That's weird… Maybe she's at the library?" I thought out loud.

"No way. Lily's uptight, but no one goes to the library on a Saturday morning." Mary laughed.

"Then where else?" I ask, getting worried.

"Maybe she's with Snape." Tanya suggested quietly. I groaned with Mary. Of course she was with him. Where else? Since they had become friends again, they didn't see each other much, the only thing they did was go to the library together. Maybe Lily had wanted to spend the morning with her childhood friend. I couldn't do anything about it. Marlene wouldn't be happy to hear about this. I guess now all I left to do is to attempt to get Mary and Tanya to go to the tryouts.

I skipped down the halls happily as I adjusted my Gryffindors scarf. Tryouts were starting in ten minutes and both Mary and Tanya said they could go! I guess they decided that watching a little bit of Quidditch couldn't hurt them. All I have to do now is go to the pitch and ignore the obvious glares I'm getting from the Slytherin team. I'm going past the Hospital Wing when I see a flash of graying hair and a voice I recognize. Frowning, I come closer and am surprised to see Remus talking to Madam Pomfrey! That's weird, I thought James and Sirius said he was visiting his aunt. Intrigued, I leaned closer, trying to hear snippets of their conversation.

"Please, I need to be there, James is the Captain and Sirius is the beater!"

"Absolutely not. I'm not letting you out of my sight, not in this state."

"I'm fine!"

"Look at yourself, you've got scratches all over your body and you've caught a cold."

"I've had worse. PLease let me go, just this time!"

"Oh alright! Now get out of here before I change my mind!"

I then heard Remus getting out of his bed eagerly and running towards the door. Before I could move, he pushed it open vigorously, knocking me hard in the nose. I cursed in pain as I tried to make the blood stop dripping off of it. Remus looked shocked.

"Merlin! I'm so sorry Alice, here let me fix your nose for you." he said, raising his wand.

"Episkey" he continued, making my nose crack into place.

"Thanks." I said weakly, trying to wipe the blood off my robes.

"Why were you in front of the Hospital Wing?" he asked, walking with me to the pitch.

"I heard you and Madam Pomfrey talking." I said honestly. I saw Remus stiffen slightly and ask a bit more nervously:

"Is that so? What did you hear?"

"What happened to you? Did you get hurt while visiting my aunt?" I asked bluntly, making him look at his feet anxiously.

"I… splinched on the way back." he said slowly.

"You were best student of our apparition class, Remus. You're going to have to tell me the truth." I said, raising an eyebrow.

"It's true! That's why I don't want anyone to know. Nobody splinches anymore!" he pleaded. I was about to retort something back, knowing that he was lying, when a distraction came in the form of Lily Evans. She looked sullen and had dark circles under her eyes. When she saw Remus and I, she brightened up a bit and walked over to us.

"Hey Lils. What's wrong?" I asked, noting how she frowned slightly.

"Nothing, I'm fine." she answered absentmindedly, playing with her hair. I rolled my eyes, why was everyone so keen on lying to me today?

"Sure… You look tired and unhappy. Why are you lying to us?" I asked bluntly, demanding a proper answer.

"Leave her alone, alright? Everyone has bad days." Remus snapped, finally having spoken up. Lily and I both looked at him in surprise, Remus was usually kind and patient.

"I feel like I'm talking to two mounds of stone here! What is wrong with everyone today?" I exploded, glaring at Lily and Remus. They both looked apologetic, and Lily cleared her throat.

"Sorry Ally, just… rounds didn't go well last night." Lily finished, cringing.

"Oh, I'm sorry… What happened?" I asked, knowing that James had probably pissed her off big-time.

"Did James do anything?" Remus asked worriedly.

" I'll tell you guys later, besides, it's time for tryouts!" Lily exclaimed, looking at her watch. She dropped her school bag to the floor and took out a Gryffindor scarf, five red flags and a giant banner.

"You brought all of that for tryouts? Now I'm scared of what you've got planned for the matches." Remus snorted as I lead them through the halls, toward the pitch.

"House spirit always helps. It'll make Marlene fly better." Lily said confidently.

"Like Marlene has any chance of not coming back to the team this year. She's been in it since 3rd year!" I said, proud of my talented best friend.

"Come on guys, we're going to miss the beginning." I said cheerfully, racing with them to the pitch. When we arrived, we were all laughing and pink-faced. Lily was clutching her sides, bursting with laughter as she had arrived last. She had never been very athletic. I slung my arms around Lily and Remus and went to join Hestia, Dorcas, Tanya, Peter and Mary on the stands. I laughed as I saw James trying to assemble all hoards of people that wanted to try out. He separated them all into groups.

"Oi! Get back into your group or I'll hex your arms off!" he yelled at some people hoping to fly first. Even though I know almost nothing about Quidditch, I could tell that some people were dreadful.

"Most of the people here look like they've never touched a broom before." Lily huffed.

I nodded, rolling my eyes as yet another 1rst year failed to get on his broom.

"Good luck Jamie!" I heard a voice yell. I turned my head, expecting to see Elizabeth Fawley, James's girlfriend, but was surprised to see it was actually Shelby Brown. I saw Elizabeth shoot her a glare and rolled my eyes. Some girls at Hogwarts could be so petty.

Two hours later, Remus had fallen asleep, Mary and Tanya were doing their homework, Peter was eating, I was painting my nails, and even Lily was reading a book. Most people had gone, James almost had a complete team. He had welcomed back to the team my two younger brothers, Fabian and Gideon, as beaters. He had found a new Seeker in 3rd year named Hailey Park, who had excellent eyesight. He also found a new keeper, a burly 5th year named Jonathan Wood, who loved Quidditch more than James, and that was saying something. After welcoming Sirius back as a Chaser, he only had to find one more person, probably Marlene. He called her up and had her fly around the pitch, dodge Bludgers and throw the Quaffle into the different hoops. The whole time, she was smirking and James and her were making jokes. They were pretty close, their families both knew each other quite well. Marlene visited James every summer. I clapped along with my friends as Marlene dodged another Bludger and scored a goal. She soared higher and higher, pulling dangerous but impressive stunts to amaze the crowd. Most people trying out looked at her in jealousy, there wasn't a doubt she was going to be welcomed back into the team. Then something strange happened. Marlene's broomstick began to buck,almost throwing her off. Confused, Marlene tried to get it back in position only for it to fly higher without her touching it. Her expression of amusements had turned into one of sheer terror.

"Marlene! Come down! There's something wrong with your broom!" James shouted.

"You think I haven't noticed? I'm trying to come down, it just won't let me!" Marlene yelled. Then she screamed as her broom threw her off, and managed to grab it with one hand. If she let go, she'd break all her bones. Everyone stood up, trying to yell instructions to calm Marlene down and try to get her back on her broom.

"Let go! I'll catch you!" James said, raising his arms. Even though Marlene was very high in the air, I could still see her rolling her eyes.

"I'm not doing that! What about my broom?" she yelled.

"What about it?" James asked.

"It'll fly away!"

"I'll buy you a new one!"

"No way!"

With an air of resignation, James jumped on his broom and flew to Marlene's location. Before she could get on his broom, her broomstick threw her off, making her let go and drop hundreds of meters. James gaped as he urgently tried to catch up with her, but failed. Everyone was screaming and tried to catch Marlene as she fell. The Lily stood up and shouted:

"MOLLIARE!"

Marlene stopped a few meters above the ground and slided down painlessly. She looked scared but relieved as she hugged Lily tightly.

"I'm buying you chocolates until the end of the year." she said affectionately. James hung back nervously as he thanked Lily quickly before appointing Marlene as Chaser. A lot of the people who had been hoping to try out weren't happy, they hadn't even gotten to fly.

"She fell off her broomstick! Why should she become Chaser?" one asked.

I looked up to the sky to find Marlene's broom and saw that James had retrieved it.

"It got cursed." he said worriedly.

"It looks alright now." Marlene said nervously.

Behind the stands, as we walked to eat lung in the Great Hall, I spotted Mulciber and Nott laughing loudly. My eyes narrowed.