Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, only Nia, Bella and anyone not in the books belong to me

A/n: Here's the next chapter. The chapter title probably won't make sense to anyone but me so excuse it, there is reason behind it, I promise. I hope you like it!

**Stained Glass Windows**

By the end of the week, it seemed as if the whole school knew about the upcoming party and among the sixth and seventh years, an excited buzz began from about Thursday.

The younger students pouted and complained and Lily and James were darkly declared to have zealously plotted against them. The fifth years had no time to indulge in such petty thoughts as they were largely occupied with trying to ingratiate themselves with the prefects and Heads.

Every time Lily turned a corner, some new and unknown fifth year boy would come waltzing up to her, all winks and boyish smiles.

"Hey Lily" said one as Lily walked down the Charms corridor.

"Get out of my way or get a detention" she replied tartly, pretty well coming to the end of her fuse by the time she was going to her last lesson on Friday.

If she wasn't being pounced upon by fifth year boys trying to cajole her into miraculously giving them an invite then she was being besieged with requests by girls from sixth or seventh year.

"Hey Lily! Could you get Cliodhna's Nemesis to play at the party?" one of them said.

"Interesting idea but entertainment's under control, thanks"

"Lily, can we have it in Hogsmeade, in the square? It'd be so much cooler" said the first girl's friend.

"It would also be so much colder. Excuse me" she answered, making a beeline for where her friends were sat doing homework with James and Remus.

She fell into an armchair beside Remus and heaved a sigh. Nia and Bella snickered while the two boys looked sympathetic.

"They're animals!" Lily said blankly "savage, squawking animals!" the others laughed at her recrimination.

"Poor Lily. You look like you've been eaten alive" Nia said, greatly amused.

"Better being beaten alive than whatever this is" Lily replied, shaking her head.

James put down his quill and rolled up his parchment "have you given any of the fifth years an invite?" he asked, pushing his glasses up.

"No. I'm doing my bit to keep the numbers under control. You?"

"Not yet but I was thinking of asking one of Bella's sisters" he said.

Bella looked up from her textbook, eyebrows raised. "One of my sisters?" she repeated, following James' gaze to the girl in question.

"Yeah"

The brunette narrowed her eyes "which one?"

"I don't know yet"

"I suppose either would do?" she asked, a little contemptuously, which he seemed not to notice.

James looked at her and then back at her sisters and mulled it over for a second. "No, I don't think so. I fancy the one on the right more. Couldn't use the other one as a substitute because it wouldn't be very nice… and she'd say no"

"Kind of you" Bella noted sarcastically.

This time, it wasn't lost on him as he grinned at her "it is, isn't it? So which one is the one on the right?"

Bella looked over again and squinted at the subject of their exchange. It took her a moment before she tentatively passed judgement "Leo…I think"

"You think? Don't you know?" Remus asked in an amused voice.

"They're identical! I can't be absolutely certain this far away but it looks like it should be Leo"

"I'll take my chances" James said, getting up.


Much to the astonishment of her friends, Lily managed to make it down in time for the post the following morning. Although this didn't make much difference to her, as her own owl was away on business in Kent.

So it came as a surprise when that same owl gracefully landed at her elbow as she added some sugar to her tea.

Lily narrowed her eyes suspiciously before rolling them and making an indignant scoffing noise.

"Can you believe her? I sent Barney to her in September! And now she sees fit to send him back" the red head cried and then reached out to stroke her owl "poor Barney. Here, have some cereal before you fly off"

Lily put the letter aside, without a glance and resumed eating. Her friends found the letter far more intriguing as they cautiously examined the foreign white envelope upon which Lily's name had been written in a neat, impersonal hand.

"Lily" Bella voiced, the addressed looked up enquiringly as the former turned the strange envelope over in her hands "I'm not sure but I think this is the letter"

Lily's eyes narrowed once again and her pale face was set in a frown. The four boys seated in front looked on, completely baffled.

"What's the date?" Lily asked sharply of no one in particular.

"13th of December" Peter replied promptly.

Her eyebrows rose and her frown cleared, her expression taking on an aloof indifference "oh? Well then it probably is the letter" she remarked, making no push to discover the contents of the mysterious letter, preferring to continue sipping her tea.

"Can I open it?" Nia asked tentatively. Lily waved an insouciant hand of permission. The letter was quickly extricated from the envelope and Nia cleared her throat.

"Dear Lily" she read out loud.

"How are you? Although nothing's ever the matter with you so it's almost futile to ask. Almost as futile as to say that I, myself, am well, as is your father. Although he suffered from a slight cold some weeks ago. Thankfully, it cleared up"

Nia paused to throw a quickly glance at Lily, who sniffed and shrewdly said "there's a distinct lack of 'darlings' and 'lovelies' and 'dears' and 'blossoms' in that paragraph. I suspect Fiona wrote the letter for her"

Six pairs of questioning eyes met her own. "Secretary" she stated in explanation. Two pairs were satisfied while the other four remained in the dark.

Lily however, chose to ignore them and signalled for Nia to continue.

"So much has happened in these past four months!

You remember Violet Mildridge? Well, her husband just ran off with the eldest Hendry girl. Who, of course, is only in her first year at university. But then, I never did like those Hendry girls. If you'll remember, I never allowed you and your sister to associate with them when you were younger"

Lily interrupted again; eyebrows raised "we go on holiday with them to St. Barth's every summer"

"Poor Violet! He was her second, you know. Ah well, I daresay she'll find a third! Now, onto more pressing matters. I wanted to wish you a happy birthday"

"Is it your birthday, Lily?" Sirius asked, breaking in. She shook her head and simply said 'keep reading'

"I know very well that it isn't your birthday today and it won't be your birthday when this reaches you. However, it is around this time and I thought I should say it now, in case I forgot to send a note on the day.

I've put in a nice little bit of means for you so you can get whatever you like for your birthday and Christmas.

I know you won't mind Lily but your father and I will be unable to spend Christmas with you and Petunia , this year. We'll have to spend it in London since your father has to work and wants to stay close to the office.

It's regrettable but I'm sure you understand. I know I have nothing to worry about because you'll both be fine, you always are. Since I won't be seeing you, I better wish you a merry Christmas now, I suppose.

Ever yours,
Antonia Evans
(Your Mother)

"Just in case, you'd forgotten, I suppose" Nia added as she read out the two words in brackets.

"Wouldn't be surprised if you had" Bella muttered darkly.

"I would. How could anyone forget my mother? I mean, you can't deny she's a character. And an amusing one at that" Lily reasoned.

"How on earth does someone forget your birthday?" Nia demanded, scanning over the letter again "it's on New Year's Day! Who forgets New Year's Day?" Lily merely shrugged as she used her wand to reheat her tea.

"Well don't worry, I've got my 'nice little bit of means' to cheer me up"

Bella pulled out a cheque "wow Lily! A very nice bit of means" and then looked stealthily at the recipient "but are you sure you're okay with the whole Christmas thing?" she asked anxiously, exchanging glances with Nia.

Lily looked at them both with a surprised smile "why wouldn't I be okay? I'd be severely disturbed if they were spending Christmas with us. Last time I had Christmas with my parents, I was ten years old and that was because they'd been snowed in"

She drained her cup and looked around "shouldn't we be setting off now? They'll have started queuing"

About an hour later, Lily and Bella could be seen browsing through one of their favourite boutiques, in search of presents for Nia.

"So what are you going to do for Christmas? Now that your parents have outed?" Bella asked abstractedly and then held up a sweater "d'you think she'd like this?"

Lily considered the clothing intently "not her sort of thing" and added "well, Petunia will probably go round to her boyfriend's; they all love her there. So I suppose that leaves me with a turkey and stuffing sandwich and Meet Me in St. Louis"

"Could you pass on it this year?" Bella asked.

Lily turned to look at her "what do you mean?"

"Well, there won't be any Meet Me in St. Louis and I know my family are a bit over all the place and everything, but we'd love to have you" Bella proposed.

"It sounds brilliant, Bella but I couldn't"

"Yes, you could. Mum and dad love you. And it'll be fun; we're hosting the Ministry Christmas Party this year"

"So obviously your mum has enough to be getting on with without having to worry about me"

"Oh, it's not like that. You're not a guest, you're an honorary Aldringham. We've already got a 'Lily room' just for you. If you feel left out, we'll get you a stupid name too" Bella joked, making Lily smile.

The latter made to protest again but was stopped by her friend who said "go on Lily! Turkey and stuffing sandwich? Or my mum's dinner?"

Lily thought about it before closing her eyes and sighing which Bella took as a defeat.

"Oh it's going to be so much fun! I can't wait" she cried happily.

Half an hour later, they exited the shop, having successfully purchased Nia's presents. Lily then led the way to a shop in a rather forgotten nook of Hogsmeade from where she purchased decorations for the upcoming party.

"Oh Bella, I keep forgetting to ask! Has your cousin written back about the band?" Lily asked, examining a set of elaborately painted baubles.

"Yeah, I meant to tell you, she sent a letter yesterday" Bella answered.

"And?"

"She says that they'd love to play at the party"

"Did you tell her that we weren't sure whether we could pay them or not?"

"Yeah, Addy said that they'll do it for free"

"For free? Seriously?" Lily asked incredulously.

"Seriously" Bella said.

Lily hugged the brunette impulsively "oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"


The week wore on and the excitement mounted even further. The older students for the party and everyone else for the three weeks that they were going to get off school.

On Friday night, Lily and James and the other prefects made their way to the hall after their rounds were over to ensure that there was no way the other students could catch a glimpse of how the hall was going to look.

For James, the walk to the Great Hall, along the shadowed corridors and bleak corners and past the whispering paintings, was something akin to a death march.

Heart quickening with anxiety and images of doom flashing through his mind as the silence was punctuated by Lily's graceful yet brisk footsteps. One foot in front of the other.

Because decorating the hall put a certain finality on the impending party which signified the end of the race. A race in which James had spectacularly, unquestionably failed. The party would be perfect, he thought miserably, except for that one crucial, gaping hole which he should have been able to fill.

The doors to hell were thrown open and James in a fit of (hopefully) redeeming chivalry, stood back to allow Lily to pass which won for him a smile of polite thanks.

Lily produced the decorations from a bag and laid them out on the nearest table for James' approval. He glumly cast his eye over them and swallowed.

"They're great" he said dejectedly.

Lily frowned "you don't look too happy about it"

"It's nothing" James replied, feeling like a fool.

The next half hour was spent enjoyably, if a little giddily, in their excitement for the holidays. James tried (and succeeded) in burying his guilt by messing around and winding Lily up while she tried to stay on task.

"James, I swear to God, if you don't get that mistletoe out of my face, I'll make you eat it" Lily said calmly but ruefully grinning even so as the leaves nudged the side of her face while she hung some baubles on the trees that Dumbledore had kept bare for her.

"Don't make me a throw a bauble at you!" she threatened jokingly, holding one of the glass confections.

James waved his wand and the mistletoe returned to its rightful place "alright, alright, don't get vicious"

She simply smiled and carried on with the decorating. A couple of seconds later, she said "I fixed the menu with the elves. The food, at least, should be great"

James came crashing back to the here and now.

"I spent ages over it" Lily continued unhelpfully "but I think I got it right in the end" She experimented with the placement of a cluster of candles by making them float from one end of the wall to the other end.

"I talked to Madam Rosmerta about the drinks too, I got plenty of everything. I defy anyone to complain about the drinks tomorrow night"

"Good" James managed, waiting for the blow to fall.

"And about the entertainment-" Lily started but he beat her to it.

"I need to talk to you about that" he said hurriedly.

"So do I, you go first"

James drew a breath and valiantly threw himself into it "I think I might've ruined the whole thing" he paused to look at her concerned face.

"I tried, I really did. I racked my brains and tried to find people with contacts, everything. But I couldn't do it; I just kept coming up with blanks"

"James-" but he cut her off again.

"And I know, I should've told you before but I thought it'd come off alright but then…it sort of didn't, I'm sorry" he finished.

Lily smiled "it's okay, really. It wasn't an easy thing to do and you tried. That's what I wanted to tell you"

James looked at her with curiosity "what? That I'm a failure?"

"No, and you are not a failure. I wanted to tell you that I managed to book Queen Mab and the Changelings. They'll be singing for us"

His jaw dropped as his hazel eyes goggled at her.

"H-How? How did you- Queen Mab and the Changelings?" he stuttered, her miracle performing abilities in contrast to his blatant inadequacy rendered him slightly incoherent.

"I knew it was going to be hard. And I didn't think you'd mind if I stuck my nose in, the teensiest bit so I asked Bella-"

"Bella! Why didn't I think of Bella?" James muttered, smacking his forehead in frustration.

"Doesn't really matter, it probably didn't occur to you. Anyway, her cousin Addy's been best friends with the lead since they got sorted in first year so Bella wrote to Addy and it turns out, they want to come" Lily explained.

A thought, an uncomfortable realisation had just thrown its gloomy veil over James' ecstatic relief.

"But Lily" he stopped to look directly at her "that- that means that you'll have done everything"

"What do you mean?"

"You drew up the plan, you got the food, the drinks, the decorations and the entertainment"

"But you came up with the idea so it all squares off"

"No but it doesn't though" he persisted.

Lily looked at him, a curiously hurt look in her eyes. James wondered if she had ever seemed closer to him than she seemed right now. "Do you not like the arrangements?" she asked quietly.

"No! No, of course I do. How could I not? Everything's perfect but aren't you…angry or, or irritated or something? I practically did nothing except stick you with an idea which you've spent the last week, frantically executing. Alone"

"Oh but I don't care about that" Lily said in what she obviously thought was a reassuring manner, resuming her work.

"I just want you and Sirius to carry it off by hosting it well. If you can do that, none of this will matter" she finished, referring to the request she'd made of the two friends to do the 'talking' as their personalities were fully suited to the task.

"But that's like me taking the credit for everything that you've done"

"There's no point arguing about that, it's not even an issue. Come on, we have to get this done"

He opened his mouth but decided against saying anything because it was obviously useless to persist.

"So" he spoke up after a few minutes in silence "are you spending Christmas here or going home, since your parents aren't going to be there?"

"Well, normally I'll spend a couple of days at home with my sister and spend the rest of it at Nia's. Only this year, Bella's invited me for the whole thing"

"What do you do when you're home, anyway?" he asked, trying to make the question sound as impersonal as possible.

He knew full well that their new friendship did not entitle him to ask probing questions. What he found out about her, was controlled by Lily.

"Nothing too thrilling. It's usually just me and my older sister, Petunia"

"You didn't tell me you had a sister, what's she like? Like, do you get on?" he questioned. There was no way he could make this question sound impersonal.

But Lily was too absorbed with the decorations to think about inhibiting her answers; she said it as it came to her.

"Um- we don't get on exactly. I mean, well, she's a bitch but it's not like we can't stand to be in the same room or anything and we're always saving each other's arses"

"How d'you mean?"

"For instance, in the summer, she threw this party for her friends and then mum and dad decided to pop in for the weekend as a 'treat' so I did some spells and had the whole place clean while they parked outside"

"And has she done stuff for you?" James asked.

"Oh yeah. At Easter, I backed the car into a tree two days before I left for Bella's. Then mum rang up asking why the neighbour had called her raving about cars and oak trees and leaving teenagers alone and Petunia took the shot so that I'd still be able to go"

"She's not completely evil then" James remarked.

"No, she's not. We're constantly arguing but at the end of the day, we always come through because…" she trailed off as she stood back to admire the effect of the candles.

"Because?" James prompted softly.

"Because we're all we've got, me and Tuney" Lily proclaimed distantly, surveying the work of the other prefects.

Supressing a whole deluge of question about that response, he went for "so do you never see your parents?"

"Not never. Never at Christmas but they drop in at the end of Easter when nothing's really happening on their social scene and we always spend two weeks in the summer together after which we'll see them once or twice a week"

"But if they work in London… where do you live again?"

"Kent"

James stared "Kent? They could easily spend Christmas with you if you're only in Kent. It's not that far from London"

"Yes. But why waste a perfectly good excuse to spend Christmas with all their friends and the fantastic parties?" Lily answered in mock astonishment and an amused gleam in her eye.

"They'd choose their friends over you and your sister?" he asked, unable to comprehend.

Lily heard the disapproving note in her counterpart's voice and shook her head firmly.

"No, no. You mustn't judge them" she warned "you have to understand; my parents do love us… just not in the way your parents love you. And we have a great relationship because we never see each other long enough to get fed up"

James could not fathom this "but, but Lily that's not a relationship. I mean, it is but it's the kind of relationship you have with your aunt and uncle, not your parents!"

"Well they've always been very supportive, of everything. I've always gotten everything I wanted. They've never questioned anything I've done. When I turned out to be a witch, they didn't bat an eye, they just gave me whatever I needed and that's all I ask of them"

"Lily, you're better than that! Doesn't it bother you in the slightest?" he asked, completely at sea.

"No" she replied, dignified "because that's the kind of mum and dad I have. They're not natural parents; shouldn't really have ever had children. But they did and I love them because you have to, everyone loves them"

"Why, what are they like?" he asked, fascinated.

"Charming and very different. My mum's like a powerhouse, absolutely beautiful, intelligent, funny, just commands everywhere she goes. And my dad is quieter, smoother, the kind of person who could charm birds out of trees, you know?" she described.

James nodded "and you've never had problems with them?"

Lily shrugged "you don't fight with someone who isn't there, James. Our relationship isn't normal but they don't ask us anything; they don't ask us for a lot of respect, they don't ask us to live the way they live, don't even really ask us to like them, all they want is a few smiles when we do see them"

He looked at her eyes which had a raw, bittersweet sort of look to them and felt an inexplicable urge to move closer. Just the way she spoke, the way she'd shrugged her shoulders, everything was so new and magnetic.

"I suppose that's fair" he said after a pause.

Lily scrutinised him, her head tilting to the right and then her face broke out into a mischievous, crooked smile "liar"

James just stared.


The Head Boy and Girl stayed behind after dinner, the next day to oversee the final preparations.

"Aren't you going to want to get dressed for this thing?" James asked the redhead. "I thought you lot were obsessive about that"

Lily shrugged "We can be. I've already got my stuff laid out and it's not a ball or anything so it shouldn't really take more than twenty minutes, maybe half an hour"

"Alright then" James said, secretly impressed at her nonchalance which (from vivid experiences of waiting around for ex-girlfriends) he knew, wasn't a shared attitude amongst her contemporaries.

They watched a group of burly men bring the drinks in and James walked away to tell them where to put the crates down as Lily arranged the tables with her wand.

A little while later, the doors opened and Lily turned to see four vaguely familiar faces walk through the doors. The group comprised of a young woman and three men carrying guitars and amps and other technical looking equipment.

Lily smiled politely and walked over to them.

"Hi" she greeted, the men smiled at her and nodded.

"Hey, are you-" the woman started.

"Head Girl, Lily Evans" Lily held out a hand.

"Saffy Irvine, nice to meet you" the singer said, shaking the girl's hand.

Saffy Irvine was the lead singer of Queen Mab and the Changelings who up until a couple of years ago, when she'd finished school was pretty generally known as Saffron Irvine by all those who knew her closely.

She was rather thin and almost as tall as Lily and she would, but for her imposing presence, have been deemed as somewhat gangly. One of her principal charms was the fantastic air of reckless allure which clung to her.

Her hair was almost black and chin length and framed a heart shaped face with dark, heavy lidded eyes and a keenly cut mouth which was currently twisted into a charming, if dangerous smile. Her clothing was blatantly muggle with a short, skin tight dress underneath a distressed leather jacket.

"I can't tell you how grateful we are that you were able to come and sing for us" Lily stated.

Saffy waved a careless hand and smiled "don't worry about it. We wanted to play here anyway"

James appeared at Lily's side just then and she saw that he had a somewhat dazed expression in his eyes as he stared at the personage before him.

"This is James Potter, he's the Head Boy" Lily introduced. James grinned and they shook hands.

"Nice to meet you James"

"Pleasure"

"So where do you want us to set up?" Saffy jabbed a thumb over her shoulder to the trio of men behind her, all in t-shirts and worn jeans.

"Just over there" Lily instructed pointing to where the Slytherin table was usually situated "I've got the stage set out for you. And I've set out wider boundaries in case you want to enlarge it a bit"

Once the band had moved away, the Heads turned to each other.

"Did you see her? Did you see her dress?" James asked, looking over his shoulder.

Lily rolled her eyes "James!" she called imperatively "not the time to perve on the entertainment, focus"

He looked back once more before looking to Lily, grinning "so they're really here"

"Yeah, it's all kicking off now" Lily finished with a satisfied smile.


"Leo, the age spell is not negotiable" Lily declared over the music. Leonora Aldringham was not best pleased with the restrictions on the drinks.

"But Lily, come on! Just one more" she pleaded.

Lily smiled but shook her head "absolutely not! I don't think you fully appreciate how much trouble I would be in if McGonagall found one of you fifth years, drunk"

"I won't get drunk though, you know I won't!"

"I do and I'm really sorry. But if I did it for you, I'd have to do it for the others and I can't" Lily explained apologetically. Leo looked up into up into the former's face critically and scowled.

"Alright! I'll ask James to mix his firewhiskey with my butterbeer then, just to spite you" she conceded grudgingly and stalked away. Lily laughed and called after her "thank you!"

She remained standing for a moment to cast an eye around and then took a seat once again.

If she had wanted to draw attention to herself, it wouldn't have been difficult. But somehow, despite her presence and her stature and everything else, eyes just passed right over her. All things considered, it was a miracle how that came about.

She was wearing a drop-waisted, slightly sheer, bright yellow dress that stopped just above the knee. It was sleeveless and had a large, angular V for a neckline.

There was no jewellery, a bare modicum of makeup and her hair tumbled down in its natural waves. She looked the picture of casual elegance as she sat with her hands resting in the pockets of her bright dress.

The party, Lily reflected proudly, was a success. It was irrefutable. The food was good, the drinks were plentiful and no one had yet complained about the rhythmic pounding that issued from the speakers.

The band, Lily thought as she gazed at them in awe, were on another plane. There was no crowd, no enthusiastic cheering; it was just them and their art and they were lost in it. They seemed other-worldly and untouchable. It was mesmerising.

The hall, under the watch of the counterfeit starlight looked just as Lily had wanted it to. Gothic and darkly enticing.

Lone candles floated above head but were so much reduced in number that they simply a created a dim glow over the attendees. The Christmas trees in the corner stood as beacons of iridescence, weakly illuminated by a fusion of the light of the candles and the light of the moon.

Having James and Sirius as unofficial hosts had been a stroke of genius, which she had known it would be. The only people who didn't look entirely thrilled at the outcome were the Slytherins.

They had come, dressed in robes and sullen faces. The sight that the members of Queen Mab and the Changelings presented seemed to disgust them slightly, what with their overtly unmagical appearance.

To do them justice though, Lily reasoned, they weren't actively trying to ruin anything. Even if they did only speak to members of their own house.

She herself, had not danced once though it was her first love. It was better, she thought, if she maintained her low profile to ensure that nothing went wrong.

That and she had nobody to dance with. Her friends were occupied; Nia with Jake, both of whom genuinely looked to be having a good time and Bella (not wanting to burden herself with a date) was with whoever had asked her last.

And since no one had asked Lily to dance, she hadn't really had the opportunity to do much but take a stroll around the room every now and then.

"You like Bella Aldringham, don't you?" Kate Seabrooke put to her date, Remus.

"What?" he asked, completely taken aback.

"You can say if you do. I mean, I wouldn't blame you" Kate said ruefully, looking up at him with her large pale green eyes, speckled with grey.

"But I didn't say I did" Remus pointed out.

"Yeah, but I can tell" she argued "I see you looking every time she's in the room and then when she and Lily stopped to talk to us in Hogsmeade, last week, you…your whole face changed, I noticed"

He raised no demur, prompting her to nobly say "you can go"

Remus looked to where Bella was dancing with another vaguely familiar face and then back at the adorably resigned face of the martyr before him.

He laughed at her expression "I don't want to"

"Hey" came the voices of Sirius and Cara as they sat across from Lily, drinks in hand. She herself, was already on third bottle of something.

"Having fun?" the Head Girl asked dutifully.

"Yeah Lily, this party's awesome. How did you get Queen Mab to come?" Cara questioned, gazing at the stage incredulously.

"It wasn't easy but you know, friend of a friend and all that. Anyway, they're here"

"Lily Evans, you are my hero! I mean, I thought I knew how to throw a good party but this is just-wow!" Sirius remarked, looking around appreciatively. Lily blushed furiously at the praise and shook her head.

"Hey guys" said a breathless Kate as she and Remus joined them for a break.

They sipped and ate for a bit, Kate and Cara enthusiastically swapping knowledge of the various rumours which had been flying around all night. Who got off with whom, who slipped off an hour ago with whom and never came back and who was crying their eyes out in the toilet, after getting ditched.

Soon, Bella waltzed over too and broke open a bottle of butterbeer. She replied to their greetings in kind and took a couple of sips, while looking around.

"Is anyone staying at the table?" she asked, the others looked at each other and shrugged.

"I don't feel like sitting down. Remus, d'you want to dance?" she asked casually. Remus' eyebrows rose and he cast a sidelong glance at his date, who looked anxiously between the other two and smiled wanly.

He rose and Bella led him away. Lily's eyes narrowed in confusion as she saw Remus, momentarily turn his head to look back and as Kate's eyes followed their disappearance into the crowd of dancers.

It was the work of a moment and Lily felt as if she'd been dealt a slap in the face. What had she been thinking?

"Cara? Will you dance with me?" an unfamiliar voice interrupted Lily's reeling thoughts. Gideon Prewett's unfamiliar voice. "Is it alright, Black?" he continued.

Sirius and Cara exchanged significant glances while Lily watched keenly "yeah mate, she's all yours"

Barely having registered all of this, Lily was thrown off by another voice, Sirius'.

"Have you danced Lily?"

"Not yet, no" she replied blankly, taking a sip from her half empty bottle. He got up and dragged her with him and she realised what he'd meant by his question.

"Come on, let's go"

"No, no, no! Sirius, don't! Siri-" but to no avail, he seemed not to hear her quiet but frantic protest, let alone let go of her arm. As they walked further away, Lily couldn't help but look back at Kate too.

James was quite pleased with himself. Aside from the fact that he was having a great time, he was dancing with a girl who was easily one of the best looking in the room.

"Do you want to sit down?" he called over the sound.

Leo wrinkled her nose "no! Let's just finish this song, please?"

Who was he to say no? I don't really need a break, James thought, studying Leo's movement.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he caught a flash of red hair whipping round someone's face and he looked over.

Lily. Who was, by some chance, dancing with Sirius. But it was towards Lily that James' eyes were inexorably drawn. Her hips and her head and just everything about what she was doing.

"Did you know Lily could dance like that?" James asked Leo, who turned to take a look.

"Oh yeah, I've seen her training before. She's constantly practising during the holidays, she's amazing"

And so she was. Sirius, it was clear, had been staggered too. He stared disbelievingly at the girl before him who seemed not to care where she was or with whom. It was just her. And she was mesmerising.

"Where did you learn to dance like that? I didn't know how good you were." Sirius asked, once the song ended and they headed back to their table.

"Oh I don't know about that. I mean, I train a lot, but you know…" she trailed off, shrugging her shoulders. Sirius simply shook his head in astonishment.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked timidly of Kate, who was exactly as they had left her. Same wrinkled brow, same folded arms, same distant, forlorn expression.

"Hm?" she asked "oh. Yeah, I'm fine" Lily frowned and studied the other girl analytically. Sirius rose to talk to someone who was beckoning him over.

"Kate?" Lily voiced, the other girl looked up. "D-do you like Remus?"

Kate pushed her dark hair back and smiled "of course, I do"

Lily bit her lip and nodded thoughtfully "so you, you and Remus-you're alright?"

There was a pause. A terribly loquacious pause.

"Ye-I…I don't know, maybe, I can't be sure"

Lily waited for the rest of it.

"He-he does like me, doesn't he? That's what you said, right?"

Don't lie, don't lie, don't lie.

"Of course he does" Lily lied.

"Well then I don't understand what's going on" Kate said fretfully.

"What do you mean?"

"He obviously has something for Bella. Which is fine, you know, so what? But he seems to like her much more than he likes me and I don't get it, but then he does stuff and it confuses me"

Lily felt like a response was required "like what?"

"Whenever she's in the room, he's always looking at her when he thinks I'm not looking and when he speaks to her, it's like…I don't know" Kate stopped to think for a minute.

"But then I think…I mean, we were only on for one date, right?" she asked, Lily nodded.

"So he didn't have to sit next to me at the match or invite me to the party after. And he came over to have dinner with me when we came back from Hogsmeade. And we've been hanging out together loads in the past week. And then he asked me to be his date tonight, so what's going on?"

Lily frowned and did some rapid thinking. She was just as clueless as Kate.

"He's obviously interested in you, so you don't have to worry about that" she offered.

"That's what I was thinking. But when Bella's around, it all turns and I think, if he likes her so much, why didn't he just ask her?"

"I don't know. I can talk to him, if you like"

Kate looked up at Lily hopefully "would you? That would be really great"

"Well?" Sirius asked as a hazel eyed brunette sat down beside him, a somewhat dazed expression on her pretty, earthy features.

"I don't understand why you are not bowing down before me, Sirius Black" Cara remarked, making the boy laugh.

"Why?"

"Because I'm a genius. No, I am a master"

"What happened?"

She turned to him with quite her prettiest smile as she recalled the scene that had just taken place.

"Are you having a good time?" Cara asked, shouting almost, to compete with the music.

"I don't know, I suppose so" was Gideon's less than wholehearted response.

She narrowed her eyes but didn't push it.

"What about you?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm having an amazing-" but he cut her off.

"I need to talk to you about something" he interjected hastily.

Cara's mouth was still open from her unfinished sentence "I suppose it must be important if it couldn't wait until the end of my sentence" she said, smiling provokingly.

But Gideon wasn't smiling "sorry, I barely heard you. So can we talk?"

Cara looked around "yeah, alright. We might as well do it in the entrance hall, it'd be impossible to talk here"

He looked uncomfortable at the thought of leaving the security of being part of a crowd but saw reason in her words "fine, let's go"

They made their way out and sat in a corner, backs against the wall. Cara briefly shut her eyes, enjoying the newfound silence. Gideon looked determinedly ahead.

"You look nice by the way" he commented.

Cara looked down at her clothes "oh thanks! You look good too" Gideon nodded.

"So what did you want to talk about?" she questioned.

"Right, of course. That's why we're here" he looked at her for a second and was sincerely grateful for the shadows that were cast over them. The darkness made it so much easier.

"Yeah" Cara added quietly "so what's the matter?"

He thought about it for a second, attempting to alight upon a starting point.

"I shouldn't even be telling you this" he began abruptly, depreciatively. Something in his tone made Cara melt a little.

"Especially since you're going out with Black and everything. But I think I have to because every time I see you together, I feel like such an idiot"

Cara's large eyes widened as she interpolated softly "why?"

He looked at her "because-" and then he turned away to carry on "because I- I cannot believe that I didn't ask you out first. Bloody hell, why am I even bothering with this?"

"What are you talking about, Gideon? You didn't want to go out with me"

"That's just it though. I did. I mean I do. I mean…what I'm…I-I really like you, Cara" he ended far calmer than he'd started.

Cara was away. She was somewhere else, she wasn't in a dark corner listening to five words she'd been waiting on for months, she was gliding away, somewhere bright and blinding.

"But you…what? I don't understand. You-you didn't like me. I know, I could tell" she said incoherently.

"I know. I told you I was an arse though, didn't I? I didn't get it, until after you and Black…yeah"

"Oh" she replied blankly.

Gideon stared at her and now Cara avoided his gaze. She knew he was nervous, that it put him on edge that she wasn't looking at him and she loved it.

"Well say something!" he said.

"Like what?"

"I don't know, anything! I just told you- Surely you must have something to say about it"

"I-I don't know. I need a minute to think!" she paused for what seemed to Gideon like an age "I was right there, Gideon! Right there, completely unavailable for months! Just-" she broke off, not wanting to admit the next part.

"Just what?" he prompted.

"Just waiting for you to ask" she said quietly, looking at her hands.

"What?" he asked and finally Cara looked up at him.

"That one caught you off guard, didn't it?"

"You-you w-wanted me to ask you out?"

She stared at him "yes! I did, any idiot could have seen it. All I've done since May was flirt shamelessly when we were together, how could you not have known?"

He smiled and looked sheepish "I…I thought you were being nice" Cara stared at him, dumbstruck. And then, very much against her will, she burst into laughter.

"I suppose nothing short of jumping you would have given the message"

"Yeah, I think that would have done it" he said with a smile.

She let out a breath of laughter and shook her head. Neither of them said anything for a minute.

"So why'd you go out with Black?" he asked eventually.

She shrugged "well, it had been five months and you hadn't said anything. You hadn't even hinted or anything! And then Sirius asked me out and I was like…he's good looking, funny, nice, why not?"

Gideon nodded. She stared at the side of his face. Trying to send some sort of brainwave. Say something. Try and win me over. Make me want to break up with him, right now.

"Right, well, um Sirius is probably wondering where I got to. I-I should go" she said. Stop me.

A hand caught hers, as she made to get up. Her breath caught and she relaxed into her sitting position again.

"Yes?" she asked, trying not to sound eager.

"Before you go, I wanted to say-" he paused, looking into her enquiring face, shadows playing across it "I know Black's your boyfriend and you guys are alright together but…I'd be better"

"What?"

"I'd be better. Better than Black"

Now, Cara was amused. She tilted her head and smiled quizzically, challenging him "really? How would you be better?"

Gideon frowned thoughtfully "I don't know, but I just know I would. And no offense, you and Sirius look okay together but we'd look better"

"Would we?"

"Yes, we would. Sirius would be better off with someone like…Nia Fletcher. They'd be perfect together"

Cara had to bite a cheek to stop herself laughing "and I'd be better off with you?"

"Exactly" he stated simply and then waited a moment "it's not much but, you know, it's something to think about"

Cara smiled and kissed his cheek "you're right, it is something to think about. And I'll get back to you soon, but I'd better go now"

"Okay" he replied and got up and then offered a hand to Cara to help her up.

"Congratulations" Sirius said with a smile.

"Thank you, I thought my performance was masterly" she replied with a smile and bow of the head.

"So am I out of a date? And a girlfriend for that matter"

She wrinkled her nose "I don't know. I mean you have your own motives and I'm going to stay, if you need me, I am, I promise"

Sirius looked over at Nia and Jake and thought about the past month which had, for the most part, been fruitless.

"No, go, have fun. I'll be alright"

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely, I'll take it from here. But thanks for your help, Cara!"

She smiled brightly "anytime, darling" and reached over to kiss his cheek to which he responded with a hug.

"Okay, go, I'll see you later"

"Okay, thank you by the way and take care alright? Don't do anything stupid" Cara said warningly, he laughed and then watched her go before going to take his seat at Lily's table again.

"Hey Lily" he said as he sat down beside the redhead.

Lily, whose chin had been resting in her hand as she traced patterns on the table, looked round in surprise and managed a small smile.

"Oh! Hello Sirius"

"You look bored" he said baldly.

"Well, I suppose that's because I am" she answered, he didn't respond so she added "got nothing to do, really. What about you?"

"The whole Cara and Gideon situation worked out so I'm on my own, now"

"Oh, well good for her. Why don't you dance with someone else? I'm sure any one of these girls would love to dance with you, probably die of shock or something if you asked them" Lily offered helpfully.

"I know, I don't really feel like dancing at the minute" he said, glancing over at Nia again. Lily nodded and stared at her twiddling thumbs, unsure of what to do now.

In an attempt to do the polite thing, she reached underneath the table and pulled out an unopened bottle "here. I kept a few under the table so that I wouldn't have to keep pulling out my wand"

Sirius stared at Lily and then at the bottle she was holding out and then gave a bark of laughter "Lily Evans, she throws amazing parties, plays amazing quidditch and keeps spare drinks under her table, you are officially my favourite girl in the world"

Lily blushed and couldn't help letting the tiniest laugh escape her.

"So what are you going to do now?" she asked timidly.

"I'm going to get drunk, I believe" he said with a grin. Lily did not smile back, did not nod curtly, she simply looked at him.

He looked back into her, surprisingly, intense eyes and sighed. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm stuck"

Lily bit her lip and gingerly patted Sirius' shoulder, he smiled gratefully.

"For the record, if it makes you feel better, you were right. You were so right; my plan was absolute bollocks" the boy muttered bitterly.

Lily had never seen Sirius in such a mood, it was rather disconcerting "not-not absolute bollocks" this made him laugh "if it helps, in nine cases out of ten, your plan would have worked. It worked for Cara and Gideon, remember?"

He shrugged, acknowledging the truth of her statement and took a large sip from his bottle.

"Jake!" Nia called imperatively, recalling her boyfriend's wandering attention for the tenth time.

"Hm? Oh, sorry" he said distractedly, looking back at Nia and giving an apologetic smile. Nia stared at him critically.

"What is wrong with you today?" she asked, slightly concerned.

"Nothing, I'm fine" Jake answered casually.

"Then why do you keep staring over there?" she persisted, turning to look in the same direction.

"No reason" he said off-handedly. Too off-handedly, Nia noticed.

"Come on Jake; tell me. What is it? I'm a terrible girlfriend but I'm a friend too"

He looked at her and sighed, looking away again, this time she followed the direction of his gaze closely and it landed on a pretty blonde sitting close to the dance floor, looking ridiculously bored.

"Annie? What about her?" Nia asked, thoroughly confused.

Jake looked her in the eye with a resigned, pathetic expression and raised his eyebrows a little.

Nia's jaw dropped and she gasped "oh. Oh. Jake, you idiot! Why didn't you tell me you fancied her?"

"It's not something you commonly tell your girlfriend. And why are you being so nice about it?"

Nia made a face "because I'm just as bad as you are"

His brow furrowed as he searched her face before reaching an answer "Black"

She nodded "there you go" they looked at each other for a minute and then burst out laughing.

"Why did you ask me out in the first place?" Nia said, after her mirth subsided.

"You were hot and I needed to get my mind off Annie. Why did you say yes?"

"Because I was pissed off that Sirius and Cara were going out"

Jake shrugged a shoulder "fair enough"

Nia looked over at Annie again "she looks miserable, poor thing. What are you going to do?"

"Um-I don't know"

Nia looked up at the Ravenclaw in pure astonishment "you don't-how can you not know?" she demanded, smacking him round the head, he ducked and looked outraged.

"Hey!"

"Go, get her, you arse!" she ordered, pointing to Annie.

"And leave you on your own?" Jake asked, looking shocked at the idea.

"Forget about me! Who am I anyway? It's not like I'm your bloody girlfriend!"

"Aren't you?"

Nia gave him a look "no. Let's be honest now"

He looked back at her and smiled disarmingly "yeah, you're right"

Nia glanced back again "I'm going to miss you Jake" she said cheerfully.

He raised a sceptical eyebrow "really?"

"Yeah, I mean you were a crappy boyfriend" he laughed "but, you're a brilliant friend. You're funny and sweet and you always let me copy your homework, how great was that?"

"Phenomenal, I assure you" he grinned

"I know, right? And that smile, the smile that could melt granite, I am going to miss that!"

"Well I'll miss you too. But look at it this way, if we hadn't gone out, then we'd still barely know each other. But now, we're friends and it's great"

Nia nodded sagely "you're right, that is the beauty of this fucked up situation" Jake shook his head, smiling.

"Here, let me give you this" Nia stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek and threw her arms around him in a fond hug. He put his arms around her waist for a brief minute before letting go.

"Now go! Ask her to dance; I'll talk to you later"

"Thanks, love you!" he kissed her on the cheek again and walked away with a deep breath.

"Good luck, love you too! Knock her dead" and with that, she walked away, smiling somewhat triumphantly.

"Where's Havering?" Sirius asked, when Nia took a seat across from him and Lily.

"He's gone to ask Annie out" she replied brightly.

"Did you break up?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes" she then looked away from the opposite end of the room and at the two people sat opposite her. She noticed Lily's arm unusually resting on Sirius' shoulder and her brow creased.

"What's wrong with you? Where's Cara?" Nia asked, concerned.

"With Gideon Prewett, they're going out now so we are both officially dateless" he proclaimed, holding up his bottle to her. Nia detected a despondent edge to his voice.

"It's alright Sirius, there's plenty of Cara's around here, just pick one" she advised kindly.

Sirius' smoky grey eyes positively bore right through her, so much so that it frightened her a little, her liquid brown eyes widening.

"That's not why I'm pissed and you know it" he said quietly. They continued to stare at each other, forgetting Lily's presence completely. Sirius, with a stern but soft look in his eye and Nia with a frightened, anxious look.

"I'm sorry about Havering" he mumbled.

"It was nothing; we were barely going out, if you think about it. I was happy for him"

"Good, you could do better"

"So could you"

They fell into another intense silence, unsure of where to go.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Lily cried in rare exasperation "I have the patience of a saint but this is ridiculous!"

She looked to her best friend "Nia! Would you like to go out with Sirius?"

The corners of Nia's mouth twitched and her mocking eyes were filled with amusement "I-I rather think I would"

"There!" Lily declared, throwing her hands out "done! Now, go away and stop doing my head in"

Sirius grinned at the petulant redhead beside him and grabbed Nia's hand to get up "thank you for your assistance Lily" he said in a tone of mock gravity

"Where are they going?" came a voice, Lily looked up to meet James' hazel eyes.

"Away. Don't tell me you need help asking someone out?" Lily said, narrowing her eyes.

"No, thanks, I'm alright"

"Thank God" she then looked around "where's Leo? Off with the love of her life?"

"No, not exactly. Some guy asked her to dance so she's dancing with him, she'll be back"

"Oh…that's nice" Lily replied awkwardly, blushing at her own outbursts of temper.

"D'you want to take a walk round. Check up on things? I don't really want to dance" James proposed.

"That's a good idea" and with that, she rose and they began to make their way around the room, at an ambling pace.

"So what've you been doing?" James asked.

"Not a lot, really. Been keeping a general eye on things, danced once, just been sat at the table with food"

"How's the drinks count? I'm almost afraid to ask"

Lily laughed "it's been forgotten, I haven't kept track"

"Ah. Good luck in the morning, then" he looked down at the redhead, taking in her appearance properly "you look good tonight"

Lily turned and beamed at him "do you mean it?"

He nodded "absolutely, I noticed it earlier as well, you look really pretty" he said and his own words struck him.

He didn't often call a girl pretty, it was usually "hot" or "amazing" but taking another look at her, he decided that the word that came to mind was most definitely "pretty"

"Thanks James! You look nice too"

His eye suddenly caught on two people getting off (i.e. making out) at a table nearby.

"Hang on…isn't that…isn't that Cara?" James asked, peering at them a little closer. Lily stifled a laugh, grabbed her counterpart's elbow and dragged him away.

"Yes, but you can't stand there staring at them" she pointed out, giggling slightly.

"But that wasn't Sirius' lap she was sitting in" James argued, completely at sea.

"Acute observation. That was Gideon Prewett. You've missed a lot, they're going out now"

James blinked, processing this information "I see. Well…uh- good for them"

"Indeed. And you see Jake Havering, over there?"

"Dancing with Leo?" he looked at them for a second and shook his head "no, not Leo, the other one. What about him?"

"He and Nia broke up and unless I'm much mistaken, he should be going out with Annie"

"You're joking! I have missed a lot" James said to himself "so where does this leave Nia and Sirius?"

"They're going out now too. In fact, I'd just asked her out for him when you came"

"What? You are having a laugh! They're going out? Wait…you asked her out for him?" he questioned incredulously, Lily nodded which made him burst out laughing.

"You should have seen them. Everything had played out perfectly! Perfectly! And they just sat there, staring at each other!" she cried.

James thought about her words. Played out perfectly. He looked at Jake and Annie and then back at Lily before repeating the sequence. She couldn't have. That would be impossible. But then, it was Lily Evans.

"Lily?" he started cautiously "you invited Annie, didn't you?"

"Yeah"

"Did you know that Jake fancied her?"

"Yes"

James frowned "you…you didn't invite her on purpose, did you?"

Lily's face donned an irresistible look of mischief "actually I did. That one was a bit of risk, I'll admit. But I knew the whole Cara and Gideon thing was going to pan out so I thought it might come off alright"

"Wait, wait, wait. How did you know the whole Cara and Gideon thing was going to pan out?"

She bit her lip, mischief and glee still dancing in her eyes, James' gaze was riveted to her.

"I may have had a hand in that too" Lily said.

"How?"

"Luck, really. Because Aaron is Gideon's best friend. And Aaron and I started on the team together so we get on fairly well. I planned out everything he had to say to Gideon. Brilliant person to stage an intervention with, Aaron, follows instructions to the T"

"What did you tell him to say?"

"Oh you know 'how will you know if you don't try?' and 'how do you know she's not interested in you?' and 'it's a win-win situation' All of that malarkey"

James stared at her in pure amazement. He blinked a couple of times and shook his head "you're – you're a genius. You're like, like the angel of love or something. Cupid! You are actually cupid reincarnated"

Lily wrinkled her nose "not cupid. Cupid's been done beyond belief. I prefer…the love fairy. Lily the love fairy"

"It's got a ring"

"Doesn't it just?"

They carried on walking, Lily clearing up fallen bottles with her wand.

"What about Remus and Bella?" James asked.

"Ah. That one's in the works. Bit of an awkward situation, I've got myself into there" Lily remarked.

"How d'you mean?" he enquired.

"Remember I set him up with Kate Seabrooke to make him get out a little and to annoy Bella?"

He nodded "well, Kate's started proper fancying him and Bella, unfortunately, has not"

James winced "ooh. That is awkward"

"Yeah but the funny thing is that Remus is paying Kate far more attention than he was supposed to. All I told him to do was go to Hogsmeade with her. But he sat with her at the match, invited her to the party and is having meals with her and stuff. What is that about?"

James thought it over "that's true actually. Now that you mention it, he spends a lot of time with her. Just the other day, he skipped on sneaking off to Hogsmeade with me and Sirius because 'he wanted to hang out with Kate' "

"You see? You know what I don't understand?" she asked, James shook his head "why can't people just follow the plan? If they did that, nothing would go wrong! I don't just make them up, you know. I put a lot of thought and effort into it!" Lily exclaimed indignantly.

James laughed loudly and put an arm around her which made her stiffen but not as much as normal "I know, Lily, I know. It's okay. I love 'drunk Lily' " he said with another laugh.

"I am not drunk!"

"You're right, sorry" he accepted meekly and they carried on walking.

The party began to draw closer and closer to an end and Lily had still not been able to have a chat with Remus. It was imperative that she get it sorted by the end of the night, as she left for Bella's in the morning and if the situation was left pending for three weeks, any amount of things could go wrong.

"Remus!" Lily called, spotting him in the refreshments corner and making her way over.

"Oh hey Lily! What's up? D'you need my help with something?"

"No, no, everything's under control but I need to talk to you" she said, looking around for an empty space.

"Here" and he followed her over to a deserted corner at the farthest end of the room, a little distance away from the doors.

"Sorry, I don't want to leave, just in case something goes wrong" Lily excused.

"It's fine, what's the matter?"

"Kate"

Remus felt a sense of foreboding "what about her?" he asked carefully.

"You tell me! You weren't supposed to seek her out. One Hogsmeade date, that is all you needed to do! What are you doing?" she demanded.

"I don't know Lily, I-I got confused" he said uncomfortably.

"You got- oh God. Well you better do something because your unnecessary attention is messing with that girl's head. She's really upset, you know"

Remus frowned and looked concerned "what do you mean, she's upset? What's wrong?"

"She really likes you! Like really. But the fact that you're leading her on while obviously still liking Bella is hurting her and she doesn't deserve it, Remus"

He sighed and shook his head helplessly "I know, I know she doesn't. But I don't know what to do Lily, help me"

"What with?"

"I like Bella, right? I've liked her for months! But then you set me up with Kate and I wasn't too sure about it but you told me to try it so I thought I'd make an effort"

"Okay" Lily said, unsure of where he was going.

"That's why I sat with her at the match just so that our date wouldn't be so awkward"

"That makes sense but what about afterwards?" the redhead interrogated.

"Well I dunno, but at the match, she turned out to be so…funny and-and nice so I thought I'd invite her to the party, because you know, she was fun to be with"

"Right"

"Then we went to Hogsmeade and she was…brilliant. We have loads in common, like music, and we support the same team and we've been swapping books that we like to read. She's incredible"

Lily narrowed her eyes and said warningly "Remus…"

"And after that, I've just loved being around her, she's just really different and makes me feel good, all the time and I…I like that"

"Naturally. Remus, do you like her?"

He looked guilty, like a little boy caught red handed "I…I do. I really do"

"So do you not like Bella anymore?" Lily questioned.

"I still do feel, like a small sort of turn when I see her but I think it's" he broke off, trying to put his ideas into words.

"She's always been like this far away dream or something but Kate's not like that. She right there, we sort of get each other in a way that me and Bella couldn't because I have her up on this pedestal thing"

He paused to think while Lily waited expectantly, head tilted to the side "and it's weird because I like Kate more but I- I can't take Bella down from that pedestal" he mused.

Lily understood perfectly, his words struck an old chord with her and she couldn't help but smile at what he said. "I understand, so it's Kate then?"

"Definitely"

Lily's smile grew "thank fuck for that because I'll be honest with you, I'm not sure Bella was ever planning to catching on!"

Remus laughed loudly "well you don't have to worry about that now, just tell me what I should say to Kate"

"Right, of course, I think you should tell her about the whole Bella thing. If she's in any way, normal, she'll get it too"

Remus ran a hand through his hair and smiled back at her "okay and thanks-" but the voice of Saffy Irvine cut him off as they both turned to the stage in some confusion.

"Okay guys, we're about to play our last song of the night but before we do, James and Sirius would like a word" there were several cheers as the two boys appeared at the mic. Lily frowned; this was not part of the plan.

"Hey everyone, hope you've had fun and if you haven't then you're lying because this party's brilliant" Lily's eyes widened in disbelief but the crowd cheered even louder at James' words.

"We just wanted to say a couple of things before it's over" Sirius started "we wanted to thank Queen Mab and the Changelings for turning up and singing for us"

They waited for the vociferous cheering to stop once more before James spoke up "and I know that we've been taking the credit all night but it should really go to someone else"

Lily's eyes, if possible, widened even more. He could not be doing this.

"I didn't do anything, I swear! One person arranged the entertainment, one person bought the decorations, one person got the food and the drinks and did everything. So I think we should all just take a minute to thank Lily Evans for putting everything together"

The students began to cheer again, perhaps the loudest yet as many of them looked around for her. Sirius pointed to her in the corner, standing with Remus looking mortified and the others turned as well.

Remus began to clap as well but Lily gave him a look and he stopped.

"Remus, dig me a grave and kill me now" she whispered, cringing under the superfluous attention.

"Anyway, this is the last song so thanks for coming and have a great Christmas!" Sirius shouted before both he and James jumped off the stage made their way over to a very red, Lily.

"Why did you do that?" she said quietly, looking around. James smiled innocently.

"What? We're not total arses, we were always going to give you credit" he replied and then exchanged glances with Sirius "besides, the look on your face was priceless, you should have seen yourself"

The boys laughed while Lily pressed two hands to her cheeks in order to calm down her blood rush.

"Right, well, if you don't mind, I want to go find Nia" Sirius said as the band struck up an upbeat tune which Lily vaguely recognised as being her favourite song from their album.

James left to find Leo and Lily felt a tug on her hand, she turned to find herself looking at Bella's smiling face.

"Want to help me piss Michael Everett off?" she asked.

"Ooh, love to. I can't stand him! What are we doing?" Lily asked eagerly.

"Dancing. He just asked me but I laughed and told him I had someone way better to dance with. Are you coming?" Bella said, casting an impish look over her shoulder.

"Why not? I am better than him"

"That's the spirit!" Bella exclaimed as the two girls walked off to dance to the last song.


A/n: There we go, done! Please review, I'd really like it if you did! Until next time, it won't take five months this time, I promise!