Chapter Seven:

Ignoring the furtive, occasionally aggressive, looks from the Gryffindors was easier than I thought. Instead of trying to be nice to them, I was finally able to tell them exactly what I thought. Holding my tongue was boring. It was nice to have a reason to say what I wanted to. Surprisingly, the antagonism didn't last long. A few of the more stubborn people simply didn't talk to me, but honestly, what the hell did I care about them? After a few weeks - including half term - it really didn't matter to me anymore - my desire to win the cup was intensified, though. I was trying to find a way to talk to Aaron, though, to let him know that I knew he hadn't tried to give me a love potion. Or something along those lines. I wasn't really good at apologies.

My birthday was coming up too. Tomorrow, even. I knew exactly what I wanted. I wanted new dress robes and a broom. Not a school one or James' one. My own. Preferably one I could flash in Sharon's face.

I knew the kind of party my friends would currently be planning for me. One with loud, thumping music and lots of alcohol. It was a chance for me to act like myself for a change. I knew people still didn't respect me, least of all think of me as a worthy Gryffindor after the last match, but they whispering in the hallways that always mysteriously ceased when I walked past had dropped somewhat, so I took that to mean there were less rumours about me flying about. Well. My birthday party would probably change that. My birthday was tomorrow, and the party my friends would be throwing would be the event of the season. Lily Potter's eighteenth. Can't get better than that.

"Lily, breakfast time!" Lissy said, waking me up from my thoughts. I grinned.

"Meet you down there, got some stuff to do," I told her, gesturing for her to leave. When she'd left, and I was alone in the dormitory, I briefly reviewed my letter to Rose.

Rose,

Good for you, sounds like you're having a trés magnifique time in Paris. I'll go along with your little alibi, but at some point you'll have to cut the crap and tell them about Scorpius! Yeah, yeah, I know you said that you were going out, but whatever! You should tell them how serious this thing is!

Hogwarts is totally awesome. Because of me we lost the first game of the season to Slytherin, of all houses, so nobody hates me or anything. And thank you for pointing out my boyfriend's weird spots. I hadn't actually noticed before, but now I see them every single time I look at him.

Anyway, I've been thinking, and I want to know why you don't talk to Roxanne. She won't tell me - no surprise - but I still want to know. And you know I usually get what I want. So it would be nice if you'd speed up the process, please.

Don't forget my birthday.

Lily

P.S Please tell me neither of my brothers have snogged Sharon Parkinson.

I frowned slightly. I seemed more like my usual self in that letter than I did in reality. Somehow it was comforting, to know that the real, bitchy me was still in there somewhere. I'd need it for my Sharon plan. Still, I could tell that the letter was sort of unpleasant, but I couldn't be bothered to rewrite it. Yawning, I picked up my quill and penned a response to Kej's letter.

Kej,

Sorry, I already have a boyfriend. His name's Robert, and he's totally hot. But you know, I would be available to maybe meet up with you again, in private, maybe? Why don't you come into town soon? I'd love to see you - Robert's a serious babe though, I'm not sure...

Tell you what, I'll let you know about all the upcoming events here. Nobody could say anything bad about me if you just happened to be in town during the next Hogsmeade trip...there isn't one for ages though, so it might have to wait.

What happened to all that about it 'not being cool to date a schoolgirl'? I'm sure your life sucked without me, I mean how could it not, I'm awesome, but I really might need a bit of bribery to take you back again. You really hurt me, and Robert was there for me when you weren't...

I'm sending you that ring back. It's tacky. If you're serious about me, I want my necklace back.

Lily

Reading it over, I marveled at my brilliance. Knowing Kej, it would be just the trap to get him ensnared. He would love the excitement of sneaking around behind Robert's back, and the idea of my crying on the shoulder of another guy never failed to bring him back to me. In fifth year, all I'd had to do to get him to take me to that prom was mention casually when he was within earshot that I'd snogged some guy in sixth year at a party, then when he dumped me the next day his friend had taken care of me, and that I thought the friend was totally cute. I was invited to the prom within the hour.

Stuffing the letters in my bag, making a mental note to get some first-years to send them, I raced down the stairs and made my way to the Great Hall. I decided to take a shortcut I knew, so I pushed a tapestry aside to walk through the quiet corridor.

Or so I thought.

Aphelia was standing there, her lips locked with Aaron's. Their arms were so tightly wrapped around each other I couldn't tell who's was who's. Their faces were so firmly glued together I was pretty sure a severing charm couldn't get them apart. They hadn't noticed me yet. I felt like laughing. Aphelia had a secret boyfriend. Aaron had a secret girlfriend. Well, not so secret anymore.

"Hey, guys," I said, casually. They leapt apart, looks of shock and horror on their faces. "Having fun?"

Aphelia went bright red. "Oh, fricking-Merlin, this is bad..."

I laughed. "Are you kidding? Please, this is immense! You two rock together. Two of my best friends! This is so exciting, how long has it been going on?" I asked, intrigued.

Aaron seemed oddly cool. He was still probably insulted by my previous outburst. Especially, I realised, if at the time these guys had been together.

"About five minutes, honestly," he said.

Oh. Well I was wrong about that.

I smirked. "Good for you. So, you want a bit more privacy, or food?"

"Food," they said, simultaneously. Inwardly, I sighed. It was such a shame. A brilliant couple like this, and they would be broken up by the end of the year. Choosing food over privacy within the first ten minutes of a relationship - particularly such a quick, unanimous decision - was never a good sign. If they'd looked at each other awkwardly, then back at me in an apologetic yet furtive way, I would have held more hope for their future relationship. Oh, well. They would both be strong enough to survive the inevitable break-up that was looming on the horizon. I shrugged, planted myself between them and slung an arm around each of their shoulders, trying to gauge their reactions as I guided them to the Great Hall. Aphelia looked thoroughly embarrassed. Aaron's face was strangely indifferent, but his ears were as red as strawberries.

I was honestly, truly, really, absolutely, irrefutably unable to put my glee into words. The hilarity of catching them in the act, and oh, the fun I was having looking at their different embarrassed expressions. Well, Aphelia's embarrassed expression. Aaron's embarrassed ears.

I couldn't stop myself smirking at them. Aphelia looked so cutely embarrassed! I was surprised to see her looking so girly, this being a person I had known at age twelve to take on seventh-years in hand-to-hand combat and win.

I snuck a look at Aaron, to see how he was reacting. He look coolly unbothered, and didn't even bestow a glance upon me. I understood this to mean that he was still offended by my previous outburst. I'll make it up to him later.

When we reached the Great Hall, I grabbed both of them by the arm and dragged them over to a cluster of our friends.

"Guys!" I called out to them. They all turned.

"Lily," Aphelia pleaded, futilely. She knew by this point what I was doing, and that there was no way to stop it.

"Aphelia and Aaron are going out!" I announced. Everyone began clapping and laughing, even Felicity. Not Hugo, actually. He went a bit red in the face and shot a look at Aaron that was as heavy as a solid lead ball with implications. Aaron gave him a tiny, guilty shrug that he seemed to hope nobody would notice. I noticed. What did this mean? Did Hugo like Aphelia? Had Aaron known that, and still snogged her? No. Hugo couldn't like Aphelia. He seemed too happy with Katy Bluehalph. It was something else. It had to be.

After passing my letters onto a first-year who seemed terrified that I was talking to him, with an order to deliver them, I went to sit down next to Robert at the Ravenclaw table. He always seemed sit with me - well, for a change I would sit with him. When I sat myself down next to him, Robert looked up at me and grinned.

"Did you do my essay?" he asked. I smirked sexily and pulled out a foot-long essay out of my schoolbag. Robert's face lit up. I grinned at kissed the back of it - leaving a faint cherry pink lipstick mark - before handing it over to him.

"Thanks," he said, pecking my cheek. "Fancy some toast?"

I shook my head. "Not hungry."

Robert shrugged, and continued shoveling food into his mouth. I started chatting to some of his mates about trivial things like Professor Dralicke's apparent fondness for turnips, and did we think that it could in someway impact his teaching? Personally I thought turnips would be better for our education than chanterelle mushrooms.

Robert walked me to first Defense Against the Dark Arts - where, sure enough, a little basket of turnips sat on Professor Dralicke's desk, waiting to be eaten - and then Charms, eagerly kissing me in a very passionate sort of way before heading off to his Arithmancy class. There was a mob of people outside, waiting to be let in. I located Aphelia and Lissy among them. I ignored the glares from Roxanne and Lucy, as usual. Hopefully I would find out why they hated me and Rose very soon. Until then. they would have to be tolerated. Unfortunately, I wasn't really a tolerant sort of person - it would certainly be an arduous feat.

I was just about to tell my friends about the letter to Kej, when Fizzit whisked open the door. A couple of people began to take a few steps into the classroom, but Fizzit held up his hands to block them, laughing cheerily.

"Oh no, oh no, not today! Today marks the beginning of a project!" he chirped. I groaned. Really, sometimes Fizzy was just too much. Professor Fizzit shot me an exasperated look - that was not going to last, I was his favourite student for some unfathomable reason, possibly because of my dad - and continued. "I am going to pair you up, boy-girl. You will be sitting with each other for as long as it takes to complete the project - I suspect at least until May. Oh, don't look so frightened!" he said quickly to Lucy, who's face had gone a scary white. "I don't intend to have this be all you do! Oh no, with your N.E.W.T.s coming up, we absolutely must have you studying the curriculum! I just had an inkling that you might want to occasionally have a bit of relaxation time to work on this project. Now, I will read out your names, and then you will go into the classroom in your pairs and you will sit with them for the remainder of the year. Understood?"

"Yes-sir, Fizzy!" I yelled, giving him a mock salute. Professor Fizzit flushed, but thankfully not knocking off any house points. I could barely contain my laughter. Really, with his now-pink skin, bald head and overlarge eyes, he really did resemble an overgrown house-elf.

He progressed down the register, in alphabetical order of the girl's last name. Lissy got paired with Jack - such luck on her part, not - and Aphelia with Kurt. I sincerely hoped I got somebody better than my friends did.

"Lily Potter, and Aaron Cooke, you'll be paired,' Fizzit called out. I grimaced. A week or so ago, I would have been pleased. But he wasn't speaking to me. Why couldn't Robert have taken Charms so that I could be paired with him? Oh, right - he got a D in the OWL. Stupid git. Look where its landed me.

I crossed to an empty desk, slung my bag over the back of the seat and slumped down in the chair, fetching my various books and quills. Aaron sat next to me, seeming to ignore me completely.

"Jeez, bit of an overreaction," I muttered to myself. Aaron didn't seem to hear me. I hope.

Fizzit took his place at the front of the classroom, waved his wand, and a diagram of a candle appeared on the blackboard. I frowned, confused.

"Now class," Fizzit began. Somebody yawned loudly. "I would like us to begin looking at the Sempiternus Candle. Ordinary though it may seem on a blackboard in chalk, it really is quite spectacular to behold. Each element has special properties. The wax never melts. The wick never burns itself out." People were paying a bit more attention now. "The most important thing about this candle, is that at the centre, where nobody can reach it, is a core. Similar to the way a wand core is concealed from view, yet determines the very nature of the wand. Each core is unique. There are no certain ingredients that you have to use in the core, only the ones that you feel in your heart you should use. Say, for instance, that you wished the fire of hatred to never die - you may decide to create a core using dragon's blood and snake venom, to describe the ferocity and lethal nature of your hatred. If you wanted your happiness to live on, your core might consist of things that make you glad. You get the general idea," Fizzit said. This candle sounded weird. "Now, I would like you to each attend to your own candle, but helping each other, doing research together, but in the end producing one candle each. I suggest saving the core until last. You need to have a feel for the emotion of the candle. Questions. Yes?" Fizzit said, pointing at Roxanne.

"What if I wanted my Quidditch skills to live longer than, say, Lily's? Would I put in a lock of my hair, a bit of broomstick and part of a Quaffle?" Roxanne asked, shooting my a pointed look. I scowled at her.

Fizzit coughed. "Ehem, well, I would not advise that, as Quidditch skills are more physical than emotional, and this candles only preserves emotion. So no, Miss Weasley, that would not work," Fizzy explained kindly. Roxanne's skin turned noticeably darker.

After a few more questions - "What would happen if I put a letter in the core?" "Does the size matter, sir?" "Is fruit an emotion?" "Can I go to the bathroom?" - Fizzit finally put his foot down and told us to start thinking about what to make the wax from. He said that he would provide the correct enchantments and objects later, but wanted us to use our brains to think about what it might contain during today's lesson.

"You have the rest of the lesson to discuss in your pairs what you may need," Professor Fizzit announced. I rolled my eyes and turned my head to look at Aaron. His eyes were glazed over already - faintly, I could see the lights that were hanging from the ceiling above reflected in them.

I put my head in my hands and looked at him. "So, partner, what do you think?"

Aaron glanced down at the description of the wax Fizzit has passed out, seeming intent upon ignoring me. He wrote down a few notes, then seemed to go back to pretending I didn't exist. I raised my eyebrows, then shoved his shoulder lightly.

"Oi!" Aaron exclaimed. I laughed.

"What's with you today? Is it that I caught you snogging my mate?" I asked, smirking.

"Little bit, yeah," Aaron admitted. "So you don't think I tried to give you a love potion anymore?"

I shrugged. "Well, a total idiot tried to give me one practically straightaway after the match, and I realised you could never be as big an idiot as he was, so yeah, I don't think that anymore. We good?" I asked.

Aaron didn't say anything for a moment, only breaking the silence by scratching his quill across the parchment to jot down another couple of notes. I pouted. Then I transfigured his quill into a lizard.

Aaron let out a cry as the grey - blue lizard scuttled up his arm. I laughed out loud as the lizard - I decided on the spur of the moment to call it Kenny - crawled under the white collar of his shirt.

"Lily!" he cried, swatting the wriggling bump wandering over his chest. I was in hysterics by this point.

"Oi, watch it! You might hurt Kenny!" I told him as sternly as I could. It wasn't very convincing. I literally felt as if my sides were splitting as I watched Kenny scuttling around under his shirt. Still, I flicked my wand and watched a quill fall out of Aaron's top, leaving an ink trail down the right-hand side. Aaron stared at me, looking...I think the word was gobsmacked. I grinned at him.

"At least we know I'm great at that transfiguration now," I pointed out, bending down and retrieving the quill from the floor.

I felt something land on my back as I fished about on the floor for Aaron's quill. I frowned, straightened myself, and watched a roll of parchment fall to my desk. A note. I snatched it quickly from view and unfolded it in my lap, ignoring Aaron, who was trying to casually sneak a look at what was written on the parchment. My blood boiled as I read the words written in a cursive script.

Seems like it won't be too long before I'm back on the team after that performance, Lily. Always knew you didn't get onto the team for you Quidditch skills. More like snogging skills. Hooking up with the Captain behind your friend's back, are we?

R.W

My cheeks did not burn. My face didn't contort with rage. But I could feeling anger burning through me, rising up in my throat like bile, choking me from the inside out. It was engulfing me like a wave, a wave that I had no control over.

Not that I let any of it show. I knew how to turn my face into an indifferent mask by this point. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten that Aaron was trying to read it too. My eye's widened as I looked up at him. His face was very similar to a tomato, not just his ears this time - although I was fairly certain that if he were capable of it, his ears would be emitting thick clouds of steam, like the Hogwarts Express, his fury was so evident. He turned around in his seat, and said, almost in a calm way, "Why don't you just -" woah! "- off, bitches? Get a life and stop inventing crap," Aaron's voice had been stiff with suppressed anger, but it was still loud enough to Fizzit to - unfortunately - hear.

I watched Roxanne and Lucy, who I realised now had been the ones to pass me the note, go slightly pink. I also watched Professor Fizzit stand up.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr Cooke, and no more of that language!" Fizzit cried. When Fizzit had turned away once again, his grey eyes on a copy of the Daily Prophet, I noticed Aaron was looking at me.

"What?" I hissed, knowing what his expression meant. "I've heard so much worse than that!"

When I saw that Aaron's expression hadn't changed, I added "But thanks for sticking up for me, anyway." I flicked a strand of hair over my shoulder as I studied the candle-parts in front of me.

I noticed that Aaron seemed surprised. "I can't believe you're being so blasé about. It was crap, what those guys said."

I shrugged. "Like I said, I've heard much worse." Then I smirked. "You're coming to my birthday party tomorrow, by the way," I muttered, noting down another possible component of the wax.

"Course I am," Aaron replied, rolling his eyes, dropping the subject.

"Oh, what, so you were going to go already even though you weren't invited?"

"Course. Like I'd miss you getting drunk off your head," he muttered. I opened my mouth to protest, but realised that I couldn't argue against this logic. So I laughed instead.

We wrote down notes in silence for another couple of minutes. Then I nudged him in the ribs. "Oi," I whispered.

"Ow!" he hissed. Nudged him a bit too hard, I guess. "What?"

"You and Aphelia?" I murmured. Aaron's ears went a bit pink again, yet he didn't change his facial expression. He nodded once. I laughed quietly.

"That's freaking ace, Aaron," I smirked. Aaron laughed, then passed me his scruffy notes for me to copy. I knew his would be right, but I had my own anyway. Nevertheless, I checked mine, and was glad to see we both had the same answers. Maybe there was hope for me passing my Charms N.E.W.T after all.

Over the rest of the day, my friends refused to tell me any details about my party. Not where it was, not who they'd invited - they didn't even admit it was happening. They barely even acknowledged my that it was actually my birthday when they first saw me in the morning. The all came up to me in a big group and thrust a box of Chocolate Cauldrons into my hands, but that was literally it. No other mention of it. From nobody. I was a bit upset to find that I got nothing from anyone in my family. Not a letter, not a present, not even a card. I wasn't too deterred though - I knew it was all going to happen tonight. Agnes had never been a good liar, so when I asked her about it in Potions, an hour or so before Felicity and Brooke would most likely begin my makeover, she blushed like a beetroot and babbled she didn't know what I was talking about, where had I heard that, because it so, definitely, totally wasn't happening, but who told me that it was, and happy birthday anyway. I'd just smirked, and casually pointed out that she was about to add the wrong ingredient to her Amortentia. We'd started brewing them properly by now. Mine was looking all right, but according to Jollieminda I was far behind where I should be. I'd told her that I was taking it slow. Sharon had stage-whispered to Laticia, "I suppose there's a first time for everything." I'd literally had to wrench Aphelia's wand out of her hand and stow it away in my bag for safe-keeping for the rest of the day. By now I'd sworn to myself to take Aphelia to an anger-management class. She had a serious problem. At least, I'd take her to an anger-management class as soon as I found an anger management class.

The moment Jollieminda dismissed the class, I heard Agnes giggle. I rolled my eyes. It was beginning already.

"Deberesmalus Oculus," she whispered between her titters. Immediately, I felt as if I were surrounded by a thick veil of fog that was clouding my vision. I knew I wasn't, as nobody else had reacted to it, and I recognised the spell as one of my Aunt Hermione's inventions. For shrouding sight. I swore out loud in surprise as the unpleasant sensation came over me. I felt a few hands take my arms and tell me to just walk, follow where they were leading me. I tried to roll my eyes - unsure that I succeeded, due to my impaired vision - and was on the verge of telling them to let me walk on my own, before I realised that I would be completely lost without guides until somebody lifted the spell. It would be like being lost in a maze on a cold winter's morning, with nothing but clouds and mist in front of me, in a twisting labyrinth of corridors. I hating relying on people. I loved being independent.

I heard the hushed giggles and whispers of - at least, who I supposed were - my friends around me, their arms taking me somewhere I was utterly in the dark about. I got the impression we were walking up stairs, yet how many I'd no idea. Before I knew it, I was being sat down on what felt like a wooden stool, and I could heard Felicity, Brooke, Agnes, Aphelia and Lissy's voices all chatting in a giggly sort of way about what would look good on me. Yeah. I'm being made ready for my party. I felt brush after brush sweep and stroke and paint my face with various make-ups. I knew I would definitely have a lot on tonight. My face felt as if a thin yet firm layer of plaster was spread evenly over it, eradicating most of my features for them to be stenciled and painted back on. I could only assume this was what Felicity deemed 'the right amount of foundation.' And what I deemed too, for that matter. I felt kohl pencils etching around my eyes, lipgloss after lipgloss being painted onto my lips, and mascara brushes sweep at my eyelashes. I was pretty sure that nearly all of my friends - if that was the right word for some of them - were working on my face simultaneously right now. Finally, I felt several hands pulling me, passing some sort of fabric to me, and telling me to go get changed. Someone guided me to where I guessed I was behind some sort of screen - this no eyesight thing was getting really annoying - then left me on my own to change. Since I was so used to getting dressed, this wasn't exactly hard, but I was fairly certain that my head ended up poking through the strap of the thing I was putting on at at least one point. However, eventually, I got the thing on the right way - by the length of it I knew it was a dress, it was just brushing my mid-thighs - and everyone was beckoning me to come out. I stumbled out clumsily, handicapped by my loss off sight, and cursed them all loudly for practically blinding me. I heard lots of voices laugh, before someone said, "Deberesbonus Oculus," and suddenly everything in front of my was as crystal clear and sharp as it had ever been.

I rolled my eyes at them all - I was know sure that I was rolling my eyes properly - before yelling, "Finally! I thought you idiots were going to keep my blind forever!"

I saw Lissy beaming, and all the others were smirking. Agnes leapt about a foot in the air with what I assumed was excitement, and the told me to turn around. I did, and then I realised that what I'd thought was a screen as I was changing was in fact a very large mirror. Huge, in fact. I was glad of its size, because it meant that while I'd been changing behind it the others would not have been able to see me whatsoever. But it was the reflection that startled me the most.

I saw myself. Not the person I'd been hiding behind all these weeks, the - albeit, only slightly - quieter, politer and contrite, but the person I liked being. The person I knew always looked totally sexy no matter what, the person who always had a comeback, who would never take no for an answer. People had followed her around almost as if she were freaking Merlin - I had been somebody. Maybe she hadn't been perfect, but I'd been happy when I was her. I didn't feel as if I was constantly hiding my emotions, or downplaying them. Lily Potter didn't hold her tongue. She let it all out, sparing nobody. I wanted to be her so badly. But if I did, then I would almost certainly end up not able to be an Auror, because I'd probably fail my N.E.W.T.s since I'd be doing no work whatsoever, and with even more rumours spreading like wildfire behind my back than there already were. But I can be her for one night. It's my birthday. I can do what I want tonight.

The girl in the mirror had flawless skin. It was smooth, unscathed and matte with foundation. Her eyes were wild, dark and mysterious - the black eyeliner made my brown eyes seem even darker and deeper than I'd thought they could be, and the mascara made my eyes seem twice their size, but not in a weird way. The lips were full and red. No, I thought, not red. A whole depth of colours. There's fuchsia, maroon, sunset orange, even a sky blue somewhere in there. Tone. All these colours had built my face into something deep, dark, mysterious, and most of all, sexy. Even my dress fell in line with the sexy theme - tight, clingy red material with black lace on top. I loved looking this way. Not meek or natural. Gorgeous. Hot. It was me. Part of who I was.

Agnes passed around a bottle of Firewhiskey, already in a giggly mood. But that was no abnormality, really. Aphelia toasted my name - to which Felicity went a sarcastic, "Yay," - and we all downed our tankards in one.

"So where's the party?" I asked when my tankard was empty. Felicity laughed a bit too loudly, alcohol-tainted breath blowing into my face.

"Where d'you think, loser?" She rolled her eyes. "I want the place for Lily's party, I want the place for Lily's party, I want the place for Lily's party!" She yelled, throwing her arms in the air and thrusting her chest out.

"The Room of Requirement then," I said, recognising the fact that she'd said what she wanted three times.

Lissy checked her watch. "Almost eight."

Brooke smirked. "So they've been partying for half an hour so far. Think we should wait a bit longer, or show up now?"

I pouted. "I could do with another drink before I go in there," I said. There was lots of cheering to this from Aphelia, Brooke and Felicity. Agnes squealed, and Lissy slipped off to get another bottle of Firewhiskey.

After we had all reached the giggly stage, but not the drunk stage, we headed out of what I know realised was an old disused classroom, and walked off in the general direction of the Room. When we got to the Room, we took a hint from Barnabas the Barmy, and ran in such a way that suggested we were trolls trying to do ballet. Hot trolls, though. Nobody could deny our absolute sexiness tonight. Except maybe Lissy. She, as usual, had opted for a less attention-seeking look, sporting a a short sleeved white top with the name of some Muggle band on it, and a small black skirt. Muggle clothes. Lissy was Muggle-born, and her parents were exceptionally strict that the only witch clothes she was allowed to wear were her school uniform, so this was usually how she looked at parties. The rest of us looked smoking hot, though.

The door materialised in front of us, ornate as ever. I was glad that Rose had cleared that old thing out. I'd known about the Room ages before, but never really bothered with it so much, accepting that the burnt crap and smoke was just part of the Room. Still, it was all good now - and you wouldn't find a better place for a party. It literally wasn't possible. I noticed there was a faint buzzing noise in my ears. That'll be Muffliato. Should keep Filch out.

My friends walked forwards and Brooke placed a hand on the door. "Wait out here until you hear your name. We're going in first," she announced.

"Whatever, Brooke," I laughed and rolled my eyes - a mistake. It made my world go all topsy turvy, for lack of a better word. I saw them open the door, and instantly the buzzing noise in my ears rose up, so I presumed there was tons of noise, both music and human. But as Felicity was standing in the doorway I could hear her every word.

"Ok guys, tonight we are to celebrate a birthday. A birthday of a totally awesome girl, who you all know the name of. I mean, who doesn't know her name? So, let's give a happy birthday to Lily Potter!" she cried, holding an arm out in my direction. My cue. I fluffed up my hair and stepped into the doorway, where instantly the buzzing was replaced with cheering so loud it nearly knocked me off my feet. Everyone in the year was here - probably other years too, to account for all the people. They were all screaming. Screaming my name, like a chant.

It. Felt. Awesome.

I saw Robert coming up to me. He moved in to kiss me, so I pushed him away subtly. "Uh, lipstick!" I hissed out of the corner of my mouth, trying to keep smiling at everyone. Robert shrugged, looking hurt. "You'll definitely get your snog later, though," I added, looking up at him from under my eyelashes. This seemed to pacify him, so smirking he lead me into the room just as the music turned back on with a bang. I noticed the door had closed behind us, keeping out the teachers. I swung my arms around Robert's neck as people around us started dancing in time to the pulsing music.

I'd always been a good dancer. I knew how to move my body in time to the music, I knew what movements looked stupid and which looked hot - I also knew there was a very thin line between the two. You could go from looking amazing to totally crazy in the blink of an eye. But I knew how to avoid this. After around half an hour of solid dancing, somebody changed the track to a slow dance. I groaned - it was one of Scorpius' songs. Not that many people knew this. He was Seth Michaels to most of the population. He was good, but the song on right now was about Rose. Like I wanted a song about my cousin playing at my eighteenth birthday party - not to mention the fact that Hugo was here somewhere. He was still pretty much oblivious to Rose and Scorpius' very serious relationship - he knew they were dating, of course. Just not that they'd gone to France together. Who knew what stuff about Rose might be in this song?

I moved away form Robert. "Wait there," I ordered, before dashing through the crowds to get to Jones and Jamethon, who appeared to be manning the music. I walked straight up to them, fiercely.

"Change the song," I demanded.

Jamethon laughed. "Why would we do that, Birthday Girl?"

I smirked and tilted my head to one side. "Because this song sucks, and you're a pushover. Don't pretend you won't do whatever I ask you too. We both know you'd be lying."

Jamethon paused, while Scorpius sang another couple of bars of the song. Damn, he's good.

Jones suddenly grinned. "We'll change it. But it'll cost you a snog."

I shrugged. "Who, both of you or just you, Hepolitoaman?"

Jones winced at the sound of his first name, his black hair looking even darker as his skin flushed.

"Both of us, Birthday Girl," Jamethon said, ignoring Jones. Listening to the music, Scorpius had reached the chorus. I groaned. Hoping I was far enough away from Robert so he wouldn't see me, I briefly leaned my face into Jamethon's, my lips meeting his in an instant. He tasted of Firewhiskey and tobacco. Within a second I pushed him away from me, disgusted by him. I hated the guy - how he was in Gryffindor nobody knew. I did the same to Jones, then shot them scathing looks as they finally changed the tracks, grinning stupidly at each other.

I pushed my way back to Robert, the taste of tobacco still on my lips. Ew. I saw he was getting a drink, so I pushed my way over to him. He looked up as I approached.

"Want another Firewhiskey?" he asked, as the new song came on. I gratefully took the cup, drank it in one, then slung an arm around his shoulder. "Let's dance," I shouted over the loud music. Robert smirked, then flung his half-drunk Firewhiskey aside - onto a startled Hufflepuff girl - and pulled me into the centre of the room. The song Jones and Jamethon had put on now was by Beatty Flather. I didn't like her as much as I liked Scorpius, but at least Wolfsbane or No, a song about being in love with a werewolf no matter what, wasn't about Rose. Least I hoped not.

Robert pulled me very close to him, so that our bodies were touching. I didn't like slow dancing so much, as there wasn't so much moving involved. Also you had to let the boy lead completely. Nevertheless, I could make it work.

I leant my head very close to Robert's, then whispered, "How about that snog?" Robert grinned and his hands were suddenly around my waist, grabbing me into him. He was kissing me less than a moment later. He also tasted of alcohol, but more like brandy. I hadn't known somebody had brought brandy in here. I'd have to get a glass of that.

I twisted my hands in his hair, probably to the point where it was verging on being painful. I felt his hands sliding up my back, and around to my front. Instinctively, I slapped him away. Robert pulled back sharply.

"Ow!" he cried. "What was that for?"

"Not here. Way too public," I said, trying to sound confidant. I did sound confidant. Years of practise. "I'm going to get a drink. See you later."

It wasn't that I'd thought it was too public. Well, it was, but the truth was that I didn't want him doing that to me. It brought back bad memories. When I was in fifth year, and Gryffindor had just won a Quidditch match. Kurt had come up to me and randomly started snogging me, running his hands all over me. He'd even managed to get his hands up my shirt before I'd had a chance to realise what was going on. I pushed his off of me after less than a second, before he'd go any further. He fell on top of somebody else. They'd both landed on the ground, and I'd been left to pull my shirt down whilst walking over to Rose to tell her about my plans for pretending to bring back Voldemort. I knew what she'd been thinking, but it hadn't seemed like a big deal at the time. Guys got drunk. It happened. It just wasn't nice.

I didn't like guys doing that to me ever since. I'd been put off Kurt for life, especially with the whole Acromantula thing. I'd also been put off doing more than kissing. Surely Robert doing that shouldn't bother me? He was my boyfriend. But no, I'd hated it. Not as much as Kurt, but I still hated it.

Thankfully that was when I located the brandy and proceeded to pour myself a goblet full. After drinking it down, I felt much better about the whole thing.

"Hey, Lily," somebody said. I turned and saw Aaron standing behind me.

"You made it," I yelled, smirking, trying to make myself heard over the music. Aaron laughed.

"Like I'd miss this. As I predicted, you've never been drunker."

I shoved him lightly in the shoulder. Aaron just laughed loudly again - clearly I wasn't the only one who'd been drinking tonight. I saw Aaron point to something. "There's a huge table of presents over there from everyone here. You should check it out, it's pretty impressive."

I raised my eyebrows, just as the music changed to . Now that was a good song.

"Everyone here brought presents?" I asked, disbelieving. Aaron chuckled.

"Yeah, it was a condition of the invite, otherwise Aphelia would have clubbed them with her bat. You've got a load of presents, Lils. Speaking of Lia, you haven't seen her anywhere have you?"

I stood up on tiptoe. I noticed Aphelia standing on the far side of the room, chatting to Brooke.

"Over there," I waved vaguely in her direction. "Make her have fun tonight, Aaron, or I'll -" then some kind of drunk slur toppled out of my mouth, and I have literally no idea what I said. It might have been something to do with rats and rainbows. But that didn't make any sense.

Aaron laughed though, and waved at me before going off to talk to Aphelia. I decided to look at the presents people had brought me. I walked past grinding dance partners, searching for the table. I was literally shocked in momentary silence when I saw it. Table didn't seem to sum up the word. It was huge. Really huge. And piled high with stuff all wrapped in decorative paper. Merlin, it looked awesome. A part of me couldn't wait until later so I could open them all. It would most likely take me all night long.

I felt a hand tug at my arm. I turned to see Felicity behind me, swaying slightly in time with the music. "What do you think?" she yelled.

"So-so," I said sarcastically.

"Well, it's way more than you deserve, that's for sure."

Sometimes I really don't know if I like Felicity at all. If she'd have been joking, it might have been funny. But she was deadly serious.

"Where's the boyfriend, Birthday Girl?" she asked, utterly oblivious to my thoughts. I shrugged.

"Who knows?" I asked. Felicity raised her eyebrows at me.

"Last I saw of him, he was snogging the face off of some Ravenclaw girl in the year below," she shouted. "See you!"

I watched as Felicity half danced, half walked back into the throng of dancing teenagers. I made up my mind to check if she was right. After grabbing another tankard of some sort of alcohol - judging by the taste it was beer - and shoved me way through the crowd to look for Robert. I finally found him in a corner of them room, a Firewhiskey in one hand, the other up the shirt of some little blonde sixth year. She had her hands darting all over him, like she wanted to touch every part of his body possible. It was gross, and I was furious.

I shoved them apart. "Hi, whats-your-name, you're out of here!" I yelled at the blonde girl. She shrugged.

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" she asked, scowling at me.

"Hello? It's my party, and you'll get out of here before my friend gets her Beater bat on you! You too, Robert! We're finished! Done!" I yelled, shoving both of them out of the door. The girl swore loudly and stormed out. Robert look at me, scathingly.

"Whatever, Lily. You know, whatever this," he gestured between himself and me, "- was, it wasn't as great as I thought it would be. See you round," he spat, storming out after the small blonde girl. No time for a two minute cry. This called for immediate action. I stalked off into the crowd, saw a guy in Slytherin called Zach. He didn't have girlfriend, I was sure. No reason why not - he wasn't the hottest boy in the year, but by no means ugly. He'd do for now.

I grabbed his shirt collar. "Hey, want a snog?" I asked, my voice a bit slurred, smashing my lips against his. For about a millisecond he felt shocked, but then he responded with surprising enthusiasm. Hmm, not a great kisser, but so what? He probably wouldn't remember this by the the morning.

He pulled me into a corner, and we stayed there for a minute or so, before I heard a familiar snide voice in my ear.

"Well, well, well, Miss Potter, swapping boyfriends so readily, are we?"

I tore my lips away from Zach's. "Not your business, Parkinson. Who invited you anyway?"

Sharon laughed. "Felicity of course! We've recently become quite close, don't you know? Besides, I wouldn't have missed this for the world! Where's Mr Pimple-Face? Dumped him already, have we?"

How did everyone know about Robert's pimples when I only found out a short while ago? While I was thinking this, Zach tried to push her away, but I pushed him away, saying, "Leave us alone."

"But...you..." he stammered.

"I've had a lot to drink, you can't hold me accountable for my actions," I groaned, my momentary attraction to him now dissolved. "Now get lost!"

Zach stumbled off, looking bewildered. I turned to Sharon again, my eyes flashing.

"How's Kej? Still faithful?" I asked. Sharon smirked.

"Well, you'd be the first one to know if he was two-timing me. You always seem to be the other girl, Potter."

I ignored that. "But with all you know about him? You know, his little secret? That he only told me?"

Sharon went pale. But only for a second. "You're a stupid liar, Potter! It's not true! You're just a stupid girl who couldn't play a game of Quidditch to save her life! You're a -" she swore loudly, so that half the room turned to look at her, " - loser, Potter, and you always will be!"

Bam! A fist appeared out of nowhere. Sharon crumpled to the floor, knocked out cold. I turned to see Aphelia standing about a foot behind where Sharon had been, her fist still outstretched. She looked seriously angry. I looked from her to Sharon's unconscious body on the ground.

"Holy crap, Lia!" I cried. "Rennervate!" I pointed my wand at Sharon, which had been in a hidden pocket of the dress the whole time. Sharon eyes flickered open, and she propped herself up on one arm. Then her eyes widened. "You hit me!" she yelled at Aphelia. "I'm going to tell that to a professor right now! You can't hit me, it's...it's against school rules!" she cried. Not strictly true. Getting caught is against school rules.

Before anyone had a chance to say anything else, she'd darted out of the room. Someone switched the music back on and people nervously started to dance again. Aphelia took a step towards me.

"Are you alright?" she asked. I slapped her on the face.

"Lia! You can't just hit people!" I yelled.

"You just hit me!" she pointed out, rubbing her face. I paused.

"That's undeniable logic." I conceded. "Fine we're even. Besides, Sharon deserved it, I guess. Where's your boyfriend?" I grabbed Aphelia's arm and pulled her into the centre of the room. Aphelia shrugged.

"Who cares? There's been enough drama tonight. Let's just get Lissy and forget about boys for one night, ok?" she yelled.

"Sounds like a plan," I smirked. Lissy was there before the words were even out of my mouth.

"Someone say my name?" she asked. I laughed, and gestured for her to dance. Some song called Just Tell Me came on. We all knew the lyrics off by heart and back to front. Before long the episode with Sharon - and James and Jamethon and Robert and blond girl - was forgotten, and we were screaming the lyrics at the tops of our voices.

"Just tell me you love me, tell me you hate me, tell me you want me to just go away! Just tell me anything, boy, I can't take this silence, just tell me anything...!" we chanted. Ten minutes or so later, everything was back to usual. An hour after that, I could barely remember the brief horribleness of the party at all - although this was probably due to the amount of alcohol in my bloodstream. But the party was better than ever. I circled the floor once with Hugo, than David, then Aaron, all for old times sake - Hugo for family's sake too - then passed Aaron over to Aphelia and went to join a group dance with Felicity, Agnes, Brooke and Lissy.

At around eleven-fifty, when the party was still in full flow, some people started talking into microphones. I knew the voices well, though. My friends. I looked up, and saw they - Aphelia, Lissy, Brooke, Felicity, Agnes - were all at the front, holding microphones.

"So, we're all here to celebrate Lily's birthday, right?" Agnes squeaked. Several cheers rose up in response. Agnes squealed slightly. "Yay! Just making sure. Anyway, last night, we were thinking, hey, we should do something totally awesome for Lily at this party! So, Lily, come up to the front! Now!" she squeaked into the microphone. I shrugged, and tried to walk in a straight line up to the front. I knew I would be totally hungover tomorrow. Still, I managed to get to the front without twisting my ankles, and I was told to stand still.

"Ok, so everybody, on the count of three," Aphelia yelled.

"One!" the crowd chanted.

Were there this many people here before?

"Two!"

I hope my make-up still looks ok.

"Three!"

A mass of red and gold balloons descended on us from above. I had literally no idea where they'd sprung from, but they fell down to the ground like a ruby waterfall. It was like one of those slow motion moments that only exist in imagination, where everything seems to be happening twice as slowly as usual, and you can hear nothing but the beating of your own heart. Balloons, everywhere, drifting down onto us...they seemed like a metaphor my ecstasy at this moment - who cared about all the drama from earlier? Maybe I'd care tomorrow. But not tonight. Tonight, like the balloons, happiness was cascading over me, seemingly from nowhere. There was red and gold swirling around me everywhere, I could barely see anyone anymore. I think that people were cheering, calling out happy birthday's to me, and hitting the balloons back into the air, laughing. It was strange, that in this moment that I felt so everlasting, it was in fact the complete opposite. The entire reason for being here was marking the beginning of the end. Not my infiniteness, but my finiteness. I was still young, but getting older. One day I would be old. Properly old. My flame-coloured hair would fade to white - I refused to consider the possibility that I would be grey-haired. It would be white, or nothing - my smooth skin would be creased, and it might take me a second to remember the names of the people here tonight.

But that would be later. Much, much later. Because tonight wouldn't age. Tonight was infinite, even if I wasn't. Nothing could change tonight, not time, not knowledge, not retrospect or later wisdom.

Tonight was one word.

Euphoria.