Lily awoke to the sound of an owl tapping on her window. She rolled over, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and opened it, letting in a familiar bird with tawny coloring, a dopey grin already overtaking her face. She opened the letter it carried as it hooted at her and took off, Mary making a noise in her sleep before rolling back over. She noted the familiar handwriting, wearing a lovestruck smile as she read through George's morning note.

Happy Halloween love,

Quote for Today: "All good things come to those who wait"

-Unknown

Thankfully you won't have to wait much longer. Meet me in the great hall for breakfast at 8:15. I have a surprise for you.

Love, George

She smiled brightly, checking her watch to see the time. She realized in a panic that it was already 8:05. She immediately jumped out of bed throwing on her robes for the day and running a brush through her hair. Her chaotic running around the room quickly woke up the rest of her sleeping roommates, other than Alice who was naturally an early riser and had already left for breakfast.

"What's the big hurry?" Marlene spoke up, her voiced still laced with the dredges of sleep.

"Have to meet up with George for breakfast." Lily said that same goofy smile plastered on her face.

The girls all immediately perked up, jumping up in their own beds and all shooting Lily knowing smirks.

"Oh, sod off." Lily said, examining her hair in the mirror with an obsession that rivaled that of James Potter.

"So, you two are getting quite cozy." Marlene said, pulling herself out of bed and gathering her things for a shower before classes that day.

"Yeah, whatever you're one to talk Mar."

Mary laughed a bit at that.

"Deflecting pretty quickly I see." She said.

"So, are you two getting serious or what?" Susan asked.

Lily shrugged, moving on to applying some light mascara and lipstick which accentuated her natural beauty.

"We're doing alright I guess."

"That's not an answer." Mary said. "We want details. You've been so secretive with this one."

Lily glanced at her three best friends, shooting her expectant looks.

"You three are insufferable." They all feigned innocent as Lily took one last look at herself in the mirror, before turning back to them.

"Fine, it's going well, and I guess…" She paused, trying to find the words, "…he just gives me butterflies. I never knew what that meant when people said that, but it's like a real fluttering in my stomach whenever I see him." She bit her lip, seeming lost in her own head before she checked her watch, the hands showing 8:13.

"Now, we can talk more later, but I've got to get going or I'm going to be later than I already am." She said, turning to leave before Marlene spoke up again.

"Alright, but you're telling us everything at the Halloween party tonight."

"Yeah of course." Lily said, a squeak evident in her voice.

"You're kidding? Lily, you're really not coming tonight?" Marlene said.

"You know how I feel about the Gryffindor parties. Potter and his friends are always showing off, and everyone's out of control and drunk on firewhiskey. I'd much rather go to the Ravenclaw party. George said it's going to be really fun."

"Ugh, fine we'll make an appearance at the Ravenclaw party." Marlene said, "But when it turns out to be a bunch of stuffy purebloods debating about goblin rights or something we're leaving, deal?"

Lily glanced at the door, then back to her watch. "Fine. But it won't be boring. Ravenclaws know how to have fun too Mar."

And with that Lily headed out the door, Marlene mouthing "sure they do" at Susan and Mary to which they giggled loudly.

"So, Marlene, you and Sirius?" Susan spoke up to which they collapsed into a fit of giggles and squeals once more.

Lily arrived at the great hall, biting her lip with nerves, and quickly took note of George waiting for her near the Gryffindor table.

"George," Lily called out to which his face immediately lit up, a red tint appearing on his cheeks as he leaned in to give Lily a quick peck on the lips.

"Hello darling."

"So, what's this surprise you have for me?" Lily asked, glancing at George's pretty blue eyes and perfect hair and put together appearance with admiration.

"It's nothing big, just a little something to celebrate the holiday, and we've been officially dating for about a month now, and just…here." After fumbling with his delivery, he held out a tiny box which Lily opened to find a pair of sparkling garnet earrings, the blood red gemstone twinkling in the bright sunshine streaming through the windows of the hall.

"George, my birthstone. How did you?"

"I remembered you mentioning it and I figured it would go with your costume tonight. Do you like them?"

"Yes, they're beautiful. I wish I had gotten you something though."

"Think nothing of it."

Lily pulled him in for another light kiss, James Potter sitting at the Gryffindor table staring at them with a furious countenance. Sirius glanced at him with a smirk.

"They're getting quite serious huh Prongs?"

"Shut up Padfoot." James said, stabbing a piece of sausage with his fork.

"I'm sure they'll break up soon James. She hasn't dated anyone much longer than this right?" Peter said, trying to keep his spirits up.

"But she also hasn't accepted too many gifts from handsome young Ravenclaws isn't that right Moony?" Sirius asked clapping Remus on the back causing him to cough up his mouthful of eggs.

"I guess not." He said, before turning to James to try to change the subject. "Come on Prongs, we've got potions. Try and just focus on that, yeah?"

"Excellent suggestion Moony. Ellie Griffiths, Catherine Woods, Jenny Atkinson." Sirius said, wiggling his eyebrows at James as he listed off the three beautiful Hufflepuff girls in their year who they shared potions class with.

"Come on Prongs, she's expanding her horizons. You've got to do the same."

James sighed before nodding reluctantly.

"You're right. And besides they'll be at the party tonight, won't they?"

"That's the spirit. Now, come on, let's get their attention."

James nodded, throwing on a cocky smile before strutting past Lily and George without a second glance, though what he could force his eyes to avoid he could not do with his mind. He made his way towards the potion's classroom, his friends by his side, confidence quickly restored although the pesky memory of Lily in the arms of another man would not leave him. And as a result, James did what he did best when he was upset, using his charm to flirt with those Hufflepuff girls in the back of the classroom.

"Hey, ladies, you two want to sit at our table today?" James asked approaching Jenny and Ellie who giggled at him and his best friend who had followed him with a flirtatious look on his face. "We could use the help, Padfoot and I are balls at potions."

"You're one to talk there Prongsy." Sirius spoke up, flipping some hair out of his eyes, eliciting a deep red blush and fit of giggles from Jenny.

He turned to her with that same easy-going smile, fiddling with her brass scales laid out on the table where they were sitting.

"How about this? You two can help Prongs out and maybe I'll sit with you, teach you a few things if I'm watching."

He said it with a nonchalance that got both girls giggling again. And while James and Sirius both laughed with the girls taking their seats, two other girls across the room watched on with both envy and annoyance. Marlene was staring at Sirius with a look akin to having swallowed a big gulp of Polyjuice potion while Lily was glancing between her best friend and the two boys with a combination of overall annoyance and a fierce rage.

"Come on Mar, let's get a table on the other side yeah?"

Marlene shrugged, moving with Lily to a seat with Alice and Mary while Susan made a point of sitting with some Hufflepuff boys behind them, avoiding a guilty-looking Remus and Peter who were forced to sit with the remaining Hufflepuffs on the opposite side of the room.

"Don't pay him any mind Marlene. He's a little git that's all." Mary said pulling Marlene in for a side hug.

Before she could respond Slughorn had moved to the front of the classroom clearing his throat to get the class's attention.

"Good morning everyone. Today we're going to be making the dreamless sleep potion, perfect for the witch or wizard plagued by terrors in their sleep but do beware relying on this one too much could put you at risk for never waking up. For in our dreams, we find the answers to our reality, no matter how unsettling they might seem. And if we are unable to face that reality, well then we are the ones truly living in a dream." He paused for a moment, letting those words settle in before clapping his hands together and speaking again. "Now, the recipe is in your textbooks on page 196, please open them and get to work."

Lily smiled at the professor she had come to admire through the amount of time she'd spent with him, and he returned it fondly. She then glanced down at her book, thinly slicing a valerian root, while measuring out some powdered root of Asphodel to add to her cauldron. She then poured in some water from the faucet and stirred the mixture, bringing it to a rolling boil until it turned a calming blue like the ocean or George's eyes. Lily blushed as this thought came into her mind almost of its own volition as she absentmindedly touched her brand-new earrings that he had so thoughtfully given to her. It would have been a perfect moment if it hadn't been ruined by the obnoxious sound of Sirius Black's barklike laugh interrupting her as he and James pointed and jeered at the Hufflepuff boys Susan was sitting with whose ears had swelled up to twice the size of their heads. The girls they were with were giggling quite loudly too and Lily rolled her eyes pointedly, turning back to her potion as Slughorn ran over to see what all the commotion was about. She vaguely heard the words "detention" and "30 points from Gryffindor", not unfamiliar words for James Potter and Sirius Black, but she couldn't help but notice the fact that Potter's eyes just wouldn't stop glancing over to her, as if looking for any indication that she approved of his immature actions. But how could he think that at all? Hexing random students in the middle of their class, distracting everyone around them just to show off for some girls wasn't the type of thing that Lily admired.

After class the group of girls walked towards the great hall for lunch, Marlene complaining loudly about Sirius in the hopes that he might hear her.

"You know Lily I think the Ravenclaw party does sound like fun, especially given the dogs we have in Gryffindor house." She said this with a glare shot Sirius' way, but he and James were for some reason unable to stifle their laughter at this comment glancing between each other.

"Yes, a dog indeed Padfoot, you ought to be ashamed."

"Honestly you should slap a flea collar on me for the absolute dog I've been."

This caused them to fall into another huge fit of laughter, to which Marlene just stalked off in a huff, the boys watching her go.

"So, we'll see you at the party tonight, then?" Sirius said, turning his attention back to the Hufflepuff girls he and James had spent all of class flirting with, cinching the deal with that final attack on those Hufflepuff boys who had been trying to sneak in on their action.

"Most definitely." Jenny replied, Ellie glancing at James with a shy smile.

"See you there." She said before taking off with Jenny, the two girls squealing together, not believing their luck at having landed the two most popular boys at Hogwarts. James smiled at Sirius who glanced back at him.

"Feeling better?"

"Much." James replied.

"You should really patch things up with Marlene, Padfoot." Remus said, approaching the two boys with Peter straggling behind him, their business with the Hufflepuff girls having finished.

"Yeah well, I'll talk to her tonight, smooth things over. You want a date Moony? That girl…um…" Sirius snapped his fingers, trying to remember the name.

"Jenny," Remus said.

"Right, Jenny, well she'll be broken hearted when I ditch her, ripe for the taking."

"I'll take my chances with someone who isn't your sloppy seconds Padfoot." Remus replied with a shake of his head, wincing a bit at the ache in his bones.

"Already hurting Moony?" James asked, concern lacing his voice.

"Not too bad, I've still got a few days."

"Another month already?" Peter asked, glancing at his notebook in which he had a calendar which listed all of the full moons.

"Yeah, well it's been busy. It's alright, it's not as bad as it looks." Remus said, trying to plaster a smile on his face as usual for the sake of his friends.

"I guess. If you need to leave early Moony feel free."

"And miss the second interhouse rager, on Halloween no less? For shame Prongs." Remus replied, a grin overtaking his friend's face at his response.

"That's the spirit Moony, now let's get some lunch I'm starved." Sirius replied.

"Yeah, well maybe if you didn't smoke two packs a day you wouldn't have such a low appetite." James said.

"Come on Prongs, I don't smoke two packs, I've been cutting back. And besides nothing wrong with having a few smokes to relax, Moony does it." He gestured at Remus who bit his lip, a little sheepish about his admittedly bad habit.

"It's muggle poison Padfoot there's a reason most wizards have avoided them like the plague." James argued as they continued wandering through a number of passageways in the castle on the way to the hall.

"Yeah, like muggle music and muggle transportation and muggle clothing all of which are, to put it simply, incredibly cool. The day I sacrifice my cigarettes is the day I sacrifice my rock albums which is to say that it's never going to happen…" Sirius was cut off when he exited through a tapestry crashing into someone who was standing right outside.

"Hey watch it." Sirius said before he noticed who he had crashed into and his annoyance turned into a smirk.

"Well, well, well Snivellus. What are you doing lurking around these hallways?"

Snape stood up, brushing himself off, standing up to face the four boys.

"I'm minding my own business Black maybe you ought to do the same."

Before Sirius could speak, escalating the fight further, Remus' voice interrupted the two of them.

"You're right. We were just off to lunch, have a good day Severus."

Before Sirius could protest, he grabbed him by the arm, dragging him the short walk towards the great hall.

"Come on Moony it was just a bit of fun." Sirius argued as they entered the hall together.

"There's no need to pick a fight where there is none. You already went for the record of most detentions in one day remember?"

"Oh yeah, that was back in third year. I got damn close too." He said, eyes glossing over as the group laughed at the memory of the challenge that he and James had competed over, before James got himself disqualified by trying to bring Peter into his scheme, which was strictly against the rules of course.

"Yeah, before McGonogall caught on and told you and James that the next toe you stuck out of line she would take away all of Gryffindor's points from the year so far and make any points the quidditch team would earn from their wins null and void." Remus said, smiling at the memory as well.

"Ah so young and innocent, we actually believed her." Sirius said.

"Yeah, like McGonogall would ever do anything to jeopardize Gryffindor's chance to win the cup." James replied, laughing as well.

The group sat down at the Gryffindor table, Sirius trying and failing to catch Marlene's eye. She was pointedly avoiding him talking far too enthusiastically with Lily and Mary while Alice and Susan shot angry glares at the four boys down the table.

"Oof, ice queen central." Sirius said glancing at Remus who just shook his head at his friend's lack of knowledge.

"You'll get her back. You always do if you want them." Peter said, a slight hint of bitterness in his tone.

"Awe is somebody jeawous?" Sirius said in a mocking tone to which Peter's eyes grew wide with fear.

"No, I just…"

"I'm just messing with you Wormy relax." Sirius cut him off before he could panic further, while James ruffled Peter's hair. Peter blushed shyly, but smiled at his friends' teasing all the same.

The group made their way to transfiguration where McGonogall had little of her usual sharpness in her voice as she began her brief lecture.

"Good afternoon class. Today we will be continuing our work with conjuring spells. We are going to begin with conjuring objects as before, and if you would like by the end of the lesson, you can move on to attempting the bird conjuring charm. Please pair up and practice."

She finished quickly, rubbing her eyes, looking as if she hadn't slept in days. Sirius and James immediately moved to pair up, but McGonogall moved across the room almost instantly stepping between them.

"Not today boys." She said, looking as exhausted up close as her voice sounded.

"Oh, come on Professor." Sirius tried to protest.

"I won't hear it. I'm very aware that it is Halloween today, and I will not have you boys scheming during my class. Find new partners."

The boys grumbled at that, and McGonogall rolled her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose as she made a move she was sure she would regret.

"If you would like one of you may pair up with Mr. Lupin."

"I call him!" James, Sirius, and Peter all shouted at the same time.

A flurry of arguing erupted from this, with McGonogall breaking it up quickly.

"Enough. Mr. Pettigrew, you and Mr. Lupin will work together today, God knows you could use the help."

Peter blushed at that, but took the win quickly pairing up with Remus, James and Sirius glancing around the room trying to search for new partners. They noticed that most of the Ravenclaws had already paired up with each other, with Alice and Mary choosing to work together, and Susan chatting happily with a Ravenclaw girl who James had seen her hanging out with before. That left…

"Professor, can't I just work with Prongs for today?" Sirius practically begged.

"My word is final Mr. Black. I am not changing my mind. The two of you can choose to work with either Miss McKinnon or Miss Evans, end of discussion."

They both groaned before making their way over to a shocked and annoyed looking Lily and Marlene.

"Guess you're going to get your chance to make up sooner than you thought" James whispered as they approached them.

"Shut up." Sirius whispered back.

"Ladies." James spoke up first, shooting Lily a friendly glance which she avoided.

James tried a different tactic. "Look, we're not any happier about this than you are but…"

"Whatever." Lily cut him off before he could try and reason it out any further. "This is a two-person project so I'll work with Black and Marlene you can work with Potter, yeah?"

Marlene nodded, meeting Sirius' lazy smile with a steely gaze.

"That sounds good Lils."

"Great, come over here Sirius, the light's better."

Sirius glanced back at Marlene before being dragged off to the other side of the room by Lily, leaving James and Marlene alone. He glanced at her before turning back to his textbook.

"You know, he didn't mean anything by it." He said, nervously trying to broach the uncomfortable subject, and get it out of the way as quickly as possible.

Marlene shrugged. "I really don't want to talk about this with you Potter."

James wasn't deterred. He spoke again, trying to catch her eye.

"If you just gave him a chance to explain." But he was cut off again.

"You're a real git you know that? Your friend too. Leading me on and then just chasing after the next skirt he sees without so much as a backwards glance."

She turned back to the book, eyes scanning the page without taking it in, wand out and ready.

"I'm not naïve. I didn't expect anything to come of it, but all I asked is that he be straight with me, not treat me like some sort of idiot. Now let's get this class over with, alright?"

James nodded, glancing back at Sirius who gave him a questioning look. He subtly shook his head, Sirius' brow furrowed in confusion, before Lily grabbed his attention again, and nhe was forced to look back at the assignment on hand.

The period passed in awkward silence between the two groups, Lily struggling to conjure even a teacup as Sirius steadily worked his way up to the birds McGonogall had mentioned at the beginning of the class. Lily waved her wand once again, managing to at least form the cup itself, though there was no handle or saucer. Meanwhile, Sirius waved his own wand, concentration evident on his face, a flock of spectacular birds shooting out of it and fluttering around the room.

"Excellent work Mr. Black." Professor McGonogall praised, to which Lily glanced at him with a confused sort of awe.

"How are you so good?" She asked, seeming genuinely unbelieving that such an immature boy could have such a talent for any form of schoolwork.

Sirius shrugged, flipping some hair out of his eyes.

"Natural talent." He smirked, vanishing the birds once again with a wave of his wand.

"Come on Black you don't get there with just natural talent." She said.

He shrugged, shifting uncomfortably under her obvious praise.

"Alright, so maybe Prongs talks way too much about transfiguration theory and some of it sunk in." He said nonchalantly.

"James Potter is a secret nerd?" Lily said, smirking at this newfound information.

"Hey, don't go advertising it, alright? It'll ruin his reputation, and then I'll have to cut him out, start hexing him in the hallways, find a new place to stay, it'll be a whole thing." He said jokingly, but Lily's face immediately morphed into a frown once again.

"Yeah, wouldn't want to have to do that. Reputation is everything after all." Lily said, a bitter note in her tone, focusing on the book before her again.

"Come on Evans."

"No. I won't laugh with you, excuse you, pretend everything you do is just fine. I'm not like your mates. I don't care that you want to seem cool and suave to protect your reputation even if it means hurting someone you care about. Scratch that someone who, for whatever reason, cares about you. That doesn't make you cool Black, it makes you a jerk."

She closed her book at that moment, the bell signaling the end of the lesson before he could respond, leaving Sirius with his mouth open and gaping like a fish. He turned to James who approached him with a nervous smile.

"So, that was an interesting lesson."

"Sure was." Sirius replied, biting his lip before plastering on a cocky smile and making his way out of the room, ignoring the gnawing familiar feeling of guilt writhing and reeling in his stomach.

The sound of hundreds of footsteps rumbled throughout the castle as every student in the entire school made their way towards the great hall for the Halloween feast. As usual, Hagrid and the kitchen staff had gone all out, live bats flying down and around peoples' heads, pumpkins the size of a small rhinoceros, and, of course, enough food to satisfy a large army or a small town.

The students and staff dove into the feast, Remus reaching across the table to grab a big leg of turkey along with some roast, steak and kidney pie, and blood pudding.

"Blimey Moony there isn't going to be any meat left once you're finished."

"What? I'm hungry." He said, mouth already stuffed full of the pie, glancing at his friends before diving back into the meat with gusto.

James shoveled some potatoes and peas onto his own plate, while Peter reached for a big slice of Shepard's pie. Sirius, however, just sat there picking at some chicken and potatoes that he had forced himself to grab so that his plate wasn't empty. But the rest of the students hardly noticed, too enamored by the excitement of the feast and the anticipation of the Halloween parties to come that night.

"Excellent! Treacle tart." James exclaimed when the desserts appeared before them, grabbing himself a hefty slice of the pastry as well as a couple big spoonfuls of vanilla ice cream, setting aside his carefully crafted quidditch diet for the night. Sirius didn't grab any dessert for himself, his stomach still tied in knots from the conversation with Lily earlier, and James did notice this time.

"No dessert Padfoot?" He asked, stuffing his face with another bite of treacle tart, and reaching out to grab a slice of pumpkin pie as well.

"Nah, I'm saving my appetite for tonight if you know what I mean." He said, cool as ice, as James snorted shooting him a knowing look before diving back into the delicious spread before them.

Sirius took no pleasure in lying to his best friend. In fact, it made the knot in his stomach ever tighter, but he couldn't ask him to give up his night of revelry for a mistake Sirius made. He would deal with the consequences, whatever they may be. He only hoped that a few shots of firewhiskey might ease the tension and guilt that was driving him mad, and that he would wake up back to normal, without that pesky sensation holding his stomach hostage from the delicious feast that he longed to dive into.

It wasn't long until the group of rowdy teenagers were back in their common rooms beginning to ring in the Halloween season the only way they knew how.

"Chug, chug, chug, chug!" The boys and girls cheered as Peter finished off the remainder of the firewhiskey bottle, a queasy look on his face as the last drop went down his throat. He immediately ran to the trash can in the corner of the common room, releasing the contents of his stomach, wiping his mouth and receiving cheers and some pats on the back from the throng of people around him. Sirius and James ruffled the back of his hair and he laughed grabbing Sirius' sunglasses from his biker costume and putting them on his own face. He looked pretty goofy wearing sunglasses overtop of a dog mask, an attempt to match with the werewolf costume he thought Remus was going to be wearing, but he made it work…sort of. Remus, who had refused to go as a werewolf despite the insistence of his friends, was sporting a well-crafted zombie costume which he had worked on himself and felt very proud of, though he would never admit it. And lastly James was wearing a superman T-shirt under his school tie in an obvious imitation of Clark Kent, given the glasses he wore, obvious to any muggleborns that is, meaning that about half of the people at the party just assumed that the head marauder had decided not to wear a costume at all. Sirius' laugh was heard across the room when James was caught fuming over the fact that nobody knew enough about muggle culture, and that the man of steel was practically a wizard himself with the things he could do. James immediately shot back that Sirius had been the one to introduce him to comic books in the first place and had no right to tease him given his own extensive collection at the Potter mansion, which shut Sirius down very quickly. James and Sirius both noted the distinct lack of Gryffindor girls in their year, glancing around for them before being swept back into the party with the arrival of the Hufflepuff girls who they had flirted with that morning.

At about that time those Gryffindor girls, save Alice who had decided to stay in given the fact that this party was on a school night, found themselves knocking on the door of the Ravenclaw dorm to see a party unlike any they were used to seeing in their dorm of origin.

"Hey! You made it, and you brought your friends, wonderful." George said, his hair slicked back and a dark black color rather than its normal blonde, likely using transfiguration Lily suspected. The finishing touch came in the form of a cape worn over his normal school uniform and some sharp fangs that Lily also suspected he had created by magically enhancing his own teeth.

They looked into the room full of mostly Ravenclaws, a handful of Hufflepuffs and even a Slytherin or two among them, all sitting around exchanging light banter with drinks in their hands. Far from the rowdy parties of the Gryffindor common room this looked distinctly like a normal afternoon to them, other than the fact that the houses were largely mingling. Half of the participants at the party weren't even wearing costumes, still in their normal house robes, which surprised Lily and her friends who were all dressed to the nines in celebration of the holiday.

"Well, this looks fun right?" Susan said, trying to sound enthusiastic, messing with the rope keeping the toga she was wearing tied around her waist for her Aphrodite costume.

"No." Marlene said, causing Susan to elbow her in the side.

"Well, we won't get anything done standing out here." Mary said, the first of the group to make her way in. She looked distinctly out of place as she approached a group of Ravenclaws in their simple, black robes, as Mary was wearing a hot pink dress and blonde wig in a very good imitation of a Barbie doll. But she made it work, drawing them in with her kind demeanor and infectious laugh, and convinced the rest of the girls to at least give this slightly less exciting event a chance for the night.

"Won't your sister be here Mar?" Susan asked, remembering Marlene's younger sister who had been sorted into Ravenclaw just a couple of years prior.

"No, she's only in third year, wouldn't have been invited to a party like this yet." She replied. "Lucky her," she finished under her breath.

Susan elbowed her again, so Marlene plastered on a smile for Lily's sake, making her way further into the room and looking at what drinks they had to hopefully make the night a little more enjoyable.

"Just punch?" She asked, turning to George.

"Yeah, well, we like to bring out the harder stuff a little later, with some of the activities." He said with a smile. "But feel free to interact, mingle a little bit. It's going to be a fun night."

He took off, and Marlene glanced at the lack of alcoholic beverages and said once more under her breath. "That's likely," before pulling a flask from her purse, having no room for it in the tight spandex of the cat costume which she wore to the party, having seen it in a muggle store with Lily over the summer.

Lily, for her part, was wearing a vampire costume to match with George, along with the brand-new earrings which George had bought her that morning.

"You look beautiful." He whispered in her ear, bringing a crimson blush to her pale cheeks.

"Thank you. It's very quiet in here." She noted, used to the thundering speakers that the Gryffindor boys had rigged up for their own house parties.

"Oh, would you like some music?" George asked, immediately moving to the radio before Lily could fully answer.

He seemed very excited to show her something.

"We've charmed it to get muggle stations." He revealed, tapping the normally fairly useless radio with his wand, which began to play a song Lily recognized as being by The Rolling Stones.

"Incredible! How'd you do that we only manage to get the wizard ones." She said, examining the radio with great interest.

"Alex combined a couple spells and managed to charm it." He replied, a hint of pride edging into his voice at Lily's interest.

"That's wicked."

"Yeah, it's pretty cool, but it's nothing on this." He said, leading her towards another corner where a little TV set was sitting on a table.

He tapped it with his wand again a few times, and a staticky, but very obvious television program appeared on the screen.

"That's incredible." Lily said. "Dumbledore said electricity doesn't work at Hogwarts. How did you manage to get a television working in here?"

"A lot of time and a lot of muggleborns desperate not to miss their favorite programs. They're actually pretty interesting. Some of our people are talking about introducing something like this in the wizarding world. It's different from plays and things, it's actually quite fascinating, what we can make out." He said as the picture faded, the television glitching before shutting off altogether.

"We're still working on it." Lily nodded, glancing at George before turning back.

"Alright everyone!" A voice interrupted them, causing them to turn towards the seventh year addressing the crowd. "We are going to get together to play a little game if everyone can come to the center of the room, please."

The Ravenclaw party was definitely nothing like a Gryffindor party. It wasn't boring exactly, just different. Lily wasn't sure if that difference was good or bad. She had a reasonable amount of fun playing the various Halloween games that the Ravenclaws had prepared, but then the debating began, and it quickly grew tiresome. Marlene had been joking earlier in the day, but Goblin rights was certainly a topic that the Ravenclaws discussed, as well as the rights of house elves, and other intellectual debates of the wizarding world. She glanced at Lily, and Lily shot her an apologetic look as the group began to dwindle into a smaller group of Ravenclaws as the Hufflepuffs and even some of the members of Ravenclaw house left, muttering something about the keg at the Gryffindor common room.

"Are you having fun?" George asked Lily, who stifled a yawn before answering.

"Yea of course." She fibbed, biting her lip.

"I know these debates can seem a little dry at first, but it's really interesting once you get into it. These parties are a lot like the slug club actually, civilized conversation instead of a bunch of sweaty drunkards swaying in the dark. I'm sure you'll get invited this year, but I can put in a word for you." George said.

"Yes, I actually already received my invitation." Lily said.

"Oh, wonderful." George said, offering Lily a kiss on the lips.

"Georgie, weigh in on this!" A boy called from the throng of debaters.

George turned to them.

"Just a second!"

Marlene approached the two of them, clearing her throat.

"Oh, hey Mar."

"Hey, we're going to head out, are you coming?"

Lily glanced at George who was talking with his friends, and back to her own friends going back to catch the last of the Gryffindor's party. It was tempting, but she looked back at George who had dressed as a muggle movie character all for her, who was trying to include her in these conversations which were so important to the future of the new world she had joined, the world which she still had so much to learn about. And she turned back to Marlene.

"I think I'm going to stay a while."

Marlene nodded, pulling Lily in for a hug. "Try not to die of boredom while you're in here." She said into Lily's ear, making her snort.

"Try not to die of Sirius Black's dog breath when you make it back to the common room." She said.

Marlene laughed out loud at that, pulling out of the hug and heading for the Ravenclaw exit with Mary and Susan.

"See you Lily!" Susan said with a smile.

"Don't stay out too late." Mary winked at her, though the sentiment was genuine.

And Lily nodded, heading back into the belly of the beast with that last dredge of hope that she might learn something before her boredom knocked her out for the night. It helped that the Ravenclaws had brought out some wine for the group, so at least that made everything they had to say a little more interesting.

*EMOTIONAL ABUSE MENTION PLEASE AVOID IF UNCOMFORTABLE*

Sirius was the life of the party for as long as he could be. He flirted with plenty of girls after the Hufflepuffs were long gone. He and James were going shot for shot with a group of Ravenclaw boys who had ditched the Ravenclaw party which rumor had it was very boring, no surprise there. The rumor was also going around that Lily and Marlene were there with Lily's stupid new boyfriend. Sirius took another shot at that thought, thinking of Marlene's beautiful, brown eyes and long, blonde curls with every shot that slipped past his lips. "You're just like your family." The voice in his head began. It was a voice that Sirius was familiar with but had worked very hard to crush down in the past few months. "Worthless, cruel, playing with people like they're your little pawns." He took another shot, although he was already very drunk. The knot in his stomach didn't go away, becoming worse with every passing second. He smacked at his head trying to send the voice back make it stop. "These friends of yours they don't actually love you, how could they?" He dropped the next glass he meant to use to try and drown out the shouting in his brain. It had begun to sound just like his mother. The glass shattered on the floor and people jumped out of the way shouting in alarm. Sirius didn't hear any of them. "You're cruel and vile and everyone would be better off if you were just gone."

"Shut up!" Sirius shouted.

He didn't hear James' voice asking him what was wrong. He didn't hear Remus cast a spell to clean up the glass, and then quickly start yelling at the crowd to back up and give him some space. He didn't see Peter's pale and confused face at the suave boy he so admired falling apart before him. All he heard was that voice telling him continually that he wasn't good enough, he would never be good enough, and his friends would leave him just like everybody else had. All he could rely on was family and he had fucked that up, and now he had nothing, nobody. He saw a glimpse of golden hair, which reminded him of something though he couldn't tell what before his memory was overtaken by the alcohol, and all he could see was black.

END OF EMOTIONAL ABUSE MENTION

Lily was sitting with George in the Ravenclaw house, among the intellectual beings of the school, and if she was lying, she was having a fun time, but if she was not lying, she was bored out of her mind.

"So, who are you two supposed to be?"

A fifth year Ravenclaw boy asked George and Lily, and before Lily could respond she was interrupted by a seventh year:

"They're Victor and Valerie the famous vampire couple." He said.

George laughed giving his friend a slight nod when Lily spoke up with a laugh of her own.

"No, actually we're meant to be Count Dracula and his Countess" She replied.

"Who?" George asked her curiously.

"Never mind." She replied.

She could have sworn she had told him the name of the character she was talking about, but maybe she had just shown him the picture and not mentioned the name. It was her fault for assuming he would have known who he was. George was a pureblood after all, so he hadn't grown up in the muggle world. But Lily couldn't place the feeling in her heart of slight hurt at not relating to the boy who she cared so much for. But that was silly, and she pushed that thought away, locking it in a box. This boy cared about her, treated her well, bought her thoughtful gifts and wrote her thoughtful notes every morning. He was a good man and a good boyfriend, and something so small as his not knowing muggle pop culture shouldn't stand between them. She took a deep breath and joined in with the rest of the discussion, thoughts drifting unbidden to the Gryffindor common room. She hoped that her friends were having fun.

She couldn't have known that Marlene was having an even worse night than she was, returning late to the party to find a drunken Sirius declaring his undying love for her in front of everyone in the room. Her ears turned bright pink at this bold confession, and she was forced to endure the continued mention of it as she helped James and Remus bring him upstairs, tears in his eyes as he ranted about his family back home who Marlene would love to curse to within an inch of their life given the effect they seem to have had on the broken boy before her.

No, Lily couldn't have known that. And so, she thought about Marlene and her friends in the Gryffindor common room. She then thought of the boys who were likely trying their best to flirt with the group of them, and immediately decided that no matter how boring these debates might be, she would much rather be here. For nothing could make her want to go back to that room and have to deal with the ramblings of James Potter and Sirius Black. Nothing at all.