AN: Hello again! This chapter took a little bit longer than expected, but... the next chapter is the ball! Yay! I'll probably wait to post it until I get a few reviews... just because I'm cruel like that. Shall we say... five reviews? Yes? We have a deal? Okay, I'll stop rambling. Here you go!

"One-two-three, one-two-three, twirl! Twirl! Dip and glide, dip and glide! To the right! Back to the middle! Twirl! Lift! Dip and glide! Alice, twirl! Put some energy into it! Will, Ms. Potter is not a biscuit you are dipping in tea!"

"Yeah, Will," I muttered, as Will attempted to correct his 'dip and glide.' "What do you think I am, some kind of biscuit?"

"Mm, biscuits," he muttered teasingly.

It was one week before the Halloween Ball, and preparations were well under way. Unfortunately for us, those preparations included learning how to dance. When Professor Brown had entered the Gryffindor common room, ready to teach all the Gryffindor students, grade by grade, how to dance, I immediately claimed Will as my partner.

"I'd rather eat biscuits than listen to her screaming at us for another twenty minutes," I said.

"Ms. Potter, you must be graceful," he said, mimicking the instruction Professor Brown had given me, like, fifty thousand times. And come on. It's not like I'm clumsy, I'm just not some delicate, pirouetting gazelle or something.

"Mr. Frobisher, you must be elegant," I muttered back, as he, yet again, performed the 'dip and glide' part of the dance.

He rolled his eyes. "Between your lack of gracefulness and my lack of elegance, it'll be a wonder if we make it through a single dance at the ball."

I shrugged and then twirled. "I don't really care," I said, as we began the on-two-three bit. "We don't have to dance."

He looked surprised. "You don't want to dance at the ball? It's a ball. Dancing is kind of the whole point."

"Yeah, but we're just going as friends," I said.

"Well, Scorpius and Rose have to dance," he said. "And I doubt they're going to if we don't."

"Good point," I conceded.

Finally, Professor Brown released us and began tormenting the sixth-years.

"Now I'm craving biscuits," I complained.

Will grinned. "I have some up in my room. Want to grab them? We could work on our Transfiguration essays while we're at it."

"Sure," I said. As I followed him up the stairs, I realized I had never actually been in his dormitory before. I also realized that I was not technically allowed to go into his dormitory.

Oh, well.

"Well, here it is," said Will, opening the door.

Surprisingly, even though the room was lived in by five guys, it wasn't too horrible. Okay, there were a few awkward items, such as:

-A pair of boxers lying on the floor

-A book entitled Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches, Current Edition, lying on someone's bed

-A poster of a Victoria's Secrets model hanging on the wall

-Frank Longbottom and Mark Thomas

Of that list, Frank and Mark were, most definitely, the most awkward. Example:

Will walked into the room, and Frank glanced up. "Hey, Will," he said.

Then I walked into the room. "Whoa there," he said. "Hell-o."

Then Mark looked up. "Oh," he said. He smirked at Will. "I guess we should give these two some, ah, privacy, don't you think, Frank?"

"Don't want to intrude on your… homework," said Frank, jumping to his feet. "Let's be off, Mark."

"Have fun, you two," said Mark, winking.

"Not too much fun, mind," said Frank, also winking.

The door closed behind them.

"I get the feeling I'm missing something here," I said, my hands on my hips.

"Ignore them," said Will. "They'll make an innuendo out of anything."

"What do you mean?"

Will raised his eyebrows at me. "You know. Boy, girl, room with a bed."

"No, I do not know," I said.

He laughed. "You're so innocent."

"I am not innocent!" I exclaimed.

"Well, you're an evil mastermind," he said. "I meant in…other ways."

It took a minute for that to sink in. "Oh. Don't be ridiculous. You have no idea how innocent or non-innocent I am."

"You've had two boyfriends."

"You've had one girlfriend. You're even more innocent than I am."

He raised his eyebrows. "Yes, but I'm a good kisser."

I raised a single eyebrow, which, I will remind you, is much cooler than just raising one. "Are you saying that I'm not?"

For a moment, he seemed at a loss for words. His whole face turned an interesting shade of red.

Deciding that the subject was closed, I turned around, walked over to his bed, and began looking at the pictures on his bedside table.

He walked up and stood next to me. "How did you know that this one was mine?"

"What?" I said, absorbed in a picture of a pretty woman I assumed was his mother.

"The bed. How did you know it was mine?"

"Your green sweater is lying on it, it has a poster of your favorite band on the wall next to it, and your mom looks just like you," I responded, setting down the picture.

"That's pretty good, Detective Potter," he said.

"Of course it is," I said. Turning to face him, I found that we were standing awfully close together. There were only a few inches between our faces. Suddenly, I remembered what it felt like when we kissed while playing Spin the Bottle. My gaze settled on his lips as I remembered how soft and perfect they had felt against mine, his hands on my waist. His eyes met mine, and for an instant, I felt something: a buzzing, an electric tingle, spreading from my fingertips to my toes.

"Lily," he said. "There's something—

At that moment, the door banged open and the spell was broken. Quickly, we jumped away from each other and looked towards the door.

There stood Mark Thomas.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, smirking. "I totally forgot you guys were in here. I'll just leave you alone now. Carry on. Don't mind me."

He stepped out and closed the door again.

Will grabbed a package of biscuits from his bedside table. "Let's head back downstairs," he said, avoiding my eyes

"Good idea," I replied. But as I followed him down the stairs, I remembered that buzzing feeling.

I must have been imagining it, I thought. That's the only explanation.

But I wasn't so sure.