Disclaimer: I would like to just point out once again that I do not own any Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.

Soon it was almost time to eat. Everyone quickly found their randomly assigned seats and sat down. Then they had to endure several lectures about friendship between countries, learning from each others' cultures… and so on. Eventually they were allowed to eat the food which was brought out by house elves on silver platters. The food reflected every nation and region represented at the assembly.

Because of the boring speeches, everyone had something to bond over and conversation didn't lack in any corner of the enormous room.

Much later the tables were cleared out of the hall and dancing begun. At first none of the self-conscious teenagers would dance. Then suddenly there was a couple on the dance floor. It was a gorgeous looking young woman with red hair and a dark haired young man who twirled her around expertly to the music. She was smiling and laughing; he had a huge grin on his face.

James was jealous. Though he loved being friends with Lily, he still, somewhere deep inside of him, wished that they could be more than that. Watching Lily dance with the stranger made his insides twist. He wanted to dance with her and he wanted to see her smile like that when she was in his arms.

The song ended, and so did the dancers. Led by the man, Lily and her partner took a bow and received a great amount of applause. After that, there were few who stayed off of the dance floor; everyone wanted to impress the other nations.

As soon as they had taken their bows, the dancers slipped out of the ballroom.

"I never knew you could dance like that Richard," said Lily breathlessly.

Richard smiled back and said, "First of all, how could you see past my disguise? I spent a great deal of time perfecting my appearance."

"I just knew," said Lily shrugging.

"You thought I could only do waltzes and fox trots, did you not?" accused Richard playfully.

Lily grinned, "I must admit, it is true. But what has gotten in to you? I've never seen you this excited about anything."

"I don't know," said Richard, his eyes gleaming. "You just look so enchanting tonight Lillian. I've never seen you this happy in a dress before."

"And I have never heard you use contractions before!" Lily teased him back.

"I guess that I may just be excited because I get to spend all night with you, in disguise, but still. Professor Gills is up in bed with a headache, so Richard gets to play!"

"Really, Richard, did someone put a potion in your food? You are downright giddy!"

Ignoring her previous statement, Richard said, "Can we go somewhere to talk privately?"

"Yeah, sure," said Lily a bit curious at the sudden change of subject.

A few minutes later Richard and Lily had found an empty conference room.

"What are you so excited about?" asked Lily.

Richard, who had begun pacing as soon as he had closed the door behind them, whirled around and looked at Lily, an intense look on his face. "Lillian, you're a pretty talented witch; your Defense professor told me so. Also, I know that you're very bright. So, I wanted to offer you an opportunity of a lifetime. It's a way to use your powers for a good cause."

Lily was very upset by the gleam in Richard's eyes. "What cause is that?"

"One of my professors at Merlin's Academy first introduced me to the cause. Let me see if I can remember the wording he used… Well I suppose I shall just have to improvise. By now you know that some people have far more magical ability than others. Naturally, those who are born into magic are far superior to those who have tainted bloodlines."

"Richard," said Lily cautiously. "What are you saying?"

Richard was getting agitated now. "There is a man who has been working for quite a few years now to purge the wizarding race of all those who are unfit to carry wands. First, he will convert Britain, but then his reforms will spread across the world. My old professor was one of his missionaries."

"Don't you understand that I am one of the types of people they consider 'unfit to carry a wand'? I've known about this philosophy for a few years now. Every year the prejudice against me increases; it has hit a very high point this year. There are some who are calling for my resignation of my post as Head Girl because I am muggle-born."

Richard didn't say anything supportive in response to that.

"You really believe that blood is what makes someone superior to another, don't you?" gasped Lily, her eyes wide in surprise and disgust. "How could you? Your parents are muggles; they took you in…"

Richard hissed, "Never mention those filthy people to me again. They have only ever tried to hold me back from my full potential! I should have never been in that orphanage in the first place! I don't know where I would be if I hadn't looked into my parentage."

"You would be the same person!" said Lily, her voice rising. "You are the prime example of how blood does not matter!"

"It does matter! The Dark Lord is far more powerful than you or your precious Dumbledore dare to presume! He reign will come swiftly and without mercy. For years he has been gathering followers, causing certain people to go missing, ridding the world of a few muggles here and there…" Richard trailed off with a feral grin.

"They are murderers! They attack harmless, helpless people in cold blood! As much as you would like to deny it, muggle is every bit as much in your blood as wizard is. Next thing you know, someone you went to grammar school with will be the one lowered into the ground! This is wrong Richard! It's wrong and you know it!" said Lily desperately trying to win a battle that was already lost.

"No, you're wrong. Those people don't matter; they are only muggles."

"Muggles eat and breathe and laugh and cry; you should know! You live with them!"

"You shouldn't be so high and mighty! You're bloody morals are not going to keep you safe. He's going to come after people like you first- mudbloods who don't know their place. The only way to survive is to join him. Join him and stay safe."

"You know Richard, I never pegged you for a coward," said Lily as she looked at him warily.

"You are just a child! You have no idea what it is like to live in the real world. I am not a coward; I am just experienced. I no longer have delusions that everyone in the world is nice or that I can actually stop the dam from releasing the flood. Take my advice- join him. If you volunteer, he'll spare you, despite your bloodline. You're clever; use it to your advantage. You would go far in his ranks quickly."

"I will make something of myself, but I won't get there by killing people. This is where our paths diverge; I can see that you are going to stick to your decision just as much as I am going to stick to mine."

"Lillian Evans! You won't make it passed your twenty-first birthday, I promise you that!" yelled Richard as opened the door and he raced down the hall. Lily's calm words had infuriated him; he wanted her to be safe, but there was nothing he could do for her now.

"Nice guy."

Lily turned and saw a blonde young man with grey eyes staring back at her. He was casually leaning against the wall across from the conference room Lily and Richard had been in.

"You heard all of that?"

"Yup."

"Need a shoulder to cry on Lillian Evans?" he asked mockingly.

"No, I don't cry," said Lily with her head held high.

"I'll give you two minutes before you break down in tears and eat a tub of ice cream. I have an older sister, I know the routine."

"Believe me, I don't follow any routines," said Lily as she didn't even tear up. "I will not cry."

"Fancy a dance then?" asked the bold young man.

"Maybe if I knew your name," said Lily all but directly asking the student for his name.

"Leon Wagner of Germany, at your service," he said with a flourish as he took Lily's hand and kissed it. "Now would you honour me with a dance?"

"Yes," said Lily politely. "Lead on Leon Wagner of Germany."

Lily danced with Leon and a whole slew of guys. Once in a while she would get glimpses of the Marauders, but she didn't worry about them. At one point she thought that she should probably warn the girls that were fawning over them, but then she decided to embrace the 'live, learn and then hex the Marauders until their dying day' philosophy.

Finally Lily excused herself from her latest dance partner and made her way to where the punch was. She stared quizzically at the three punch bowls for a minute before she heard a voice next to her.

"Why are we staring at the punch?" asked the girl who was following Lily's lead.

Lily met the girl's confused gaze and said, "I'm trying to figure out which one my friend spiked."

"Do you know that it's spiked?" asked the girl worriedly. "I really wanted some punch…"

"I'm not positive, but it's something that one of my friends would do."

"Oh. Why wouldn't your friend just spike them all then?"

"Ella Satyanand from New Zealand; it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Lovely to meet you as well," replied Lily cordially. "Now what to do about this punch…"

"I think I'm just going to skip it; I'm umm…. I'm…. allergic to alcohol!" said the girl with wide eyes. "I'll see you later Lily!"

"Bye," said Lily with a smile and a slight laugh.

"Hey Lily," said James as he came over to the punch table.

"Did Sirius spike the punch?" asked Lily.

"What? No, 'hey James,' or 'hi James?' Even a 'how's it going James,' would suffice," teased James.

"Fine," Lily conceded. "Hey James, how's it going, did Sirius spike the punch?"

"Wow, two greetings in one, now I really feel special."

"You are such a prat," joked Lily as she hit his arm good-naturedly.

But James didn't respond; he was too busy looking over Lily's shoulder at Sirius, who was standing at the opposite end of the room and doing some weird sign language type thing.

"Hey Lily," said James absently.

"Yes?" answered Lily as a smile played on her lips.

"Do you want to take a walk with me?" as he asked this question, he looked directly into her eyes.

Lily didn't miss a beat. "Sure," she said casually, though last time she had taken a walk with a guy, she was practically threatened into joining the Death Eaters, was slapped across the face twice, and broke up with her boyfriend.

"Good, because I need an alibi," said James as he escorted her out of the room, pretending as if the only reason he had asked Lily was because he wanted to get out of trouble.

"What are you planning James?" asked Lily who was unable to hide the mirth in her voice.

"Nothing… nothing at all. Why would you even think a thing like that?" asked James with a grin.

"Why else would you need an alibi, Mr. Head Boy?"

"You got me there. I should have picked a dumber girl to be my alibi; you caught right on."

"Please tell me what you and Sirius and Peter have planned?" asked Lily hopefully.

"Nope; you'll have to wait just like everyone else."

"Pretty please with Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans on top?"

"No way," said James purposely avoiding looking Lily's face.

"For me?" asked Lily with a huge smile.

James didn't see the smile; he was too busy pretending to inspect the portraits in the hallway they were walking down. "I don't think so."

"Aw come on James. I can take a joke just as well as the next girl. You can tell me! Who am I going to tell? I'm not going to go rat you out you know," said Lily as she stepped in front of James so that he couldn't miss her hopeful smile.

"You'll appreciate it much more if it's a surprise," said James, whose resolve was steadily decreasing.

"Okay," said Lily as she stepped back into place beside James and they continued their stroll.

Out of the blue, Lily said, "Richard and I broke up."

"He's here?" asked James, unsure of what else to say.

"Yeah."

"I thought he was out of school already."

"He is," said Lily pointedly, hoping that James would catch her drift so that she wouldn't have to say it out loud.

James missed the point. "I don't get it."

"He's a teacher, one of the ones in the exchange."

"Which country is he going to?"

Lily decided that she might as well tell James the truth. "Britain."

"What?" asked James flabbergasted.

"Yup. My ex-boyfriend is going to be my Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I think I can officially say that my life is totally messed up."

"Yeah. Messy break-up?" asked James as he looked over at Lily who was staring straight ahead, her face emotionless.

"One of the messiest. James, I think he's a Death Eater."

"Umm, that's a pretty harsh accusation to make. Why would you think that?" asked James as he ran a hand through his hair.

"He asked me to be one."

"He what?!" asked James, stopping short.

"Yeah," said Lily distractedly.

James gulped. "What did you say?"

"Oh! I say no of course and then broke up with him."

"Wow. Are you okay?" asked James.

"Fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yup, never better. I'm not sure how my mother is going to take this news though…"

James was saved from contributing anything else to the conversation that was taking place way outside of his security bubble, when his watch beeped.

"Come on Lily, let's go back to the ballroom. Everything is all set up now."

James and Lily silently, but not awkwardly, made their way back down the hall quickly. Neither of them wanted to miss the prank that was about to happen. Just as James opened the door for Lily like the gentleman he was, the balloons that had mysteriously appeared on the ceiling during the party all simultaneously exploded. Wet sludge sprayed out of the balloons and coated everyone and everything, including the professors. Well, everyone except for James and Lily of course, who were standing in the safety of the doorway.

Within seconds, the disgruntled crowd who had been trying to dry themselves off gasped. The slime was gone, but then as someone noticed, not everything was right with the world.

Lily, who had the best seat in the house to view all of this, fell to the floor in laughter. James soon joined her as laughter seized his body.

Due to a prank set-up by the three Marauders present at the party, as the slime from the balloons dissolved into the clothes of the top students of sixteen prominent, prestigious magical academies, their underwear and clothes switched positions. All around the room, the pupils were gasping in horror and shock as they realized that their undergarments were now on the outside of their clothes. It was especially uncomfortable for the female occupants as they were wearing dresses and their underwear did not allow the skirts to flow freely.

After the initial shock wore off, laughter resounded in the hall. The laughter only increased as the administrators of the schools stood up from their table at the top of the room, revealing that they too had been hexed.

Outrage shot out from every pore of the teachers, Headmasters and Headmistresses. Some of the younger adults who were wearing undergarments that they did not wish their bosses to see just quickly sat down and put cloth napkins over their laps. Dumbledore took charge of the situation. Trying hard not to laugh, he announced, "Would the present Marauders please come to the front of the room?"

He then sat down and proceeded to have a violent "coughing fit" into his napkin. Everyone else began casting every counter-jinx that they could think of that would reverse the spell. Unfortunately, nothing worked.

James helped Lily up from the floor where they both had fallen and made his way to the front of the room. He joined the already present Sirius and Peter, who were both grinning like the mad fools they were. James, however, looked stern and not amused. All was going according to plan.

Professor Dumbledore, looking very stern, all except for the twinkle in his eye, requested that the three boys follow him and then he left the room.

The rest of the night went off without a hitch since two mischievous teenaged boys were conspicuously missing. James had been allowed to return to the party after his alibi vouched for him.

It was fortunate that James had thought ahead to get himself out of trouble, for two reasons. The first was that Professor McGonagall had been furious and handed out very intense punishments and would have removed his badge if he hadn't proved his innocence. The second reason was much dearer to James' heart. For the rest of the night, Lily had stayed close to James. They had talked with other students together, talked to each other, and Lily had even asked James to dance. All in all, it had been a fulfilling evening.