The Story of Lily

I'm so thrilled that you like my story. 34 Reviews! J Makes me happy. If you would like to give me a longer review, or just if you want to, please email me! I will always email back if you want me to. I know only three people in the world of fan fiction* and I would love to know more! Here it is~ Chapter Three! I hope you like it. This one was fun to write!

*Hey Steph! You all can all thank her for giving me the extra push I needed to get this fic on the road, and for helping me decide the ending! Luv ya!

The last, but not least, is Hermione Gulliver! Thanks so much for your help! (Go read her L&J fic too!) Luv ya!

Ok, that's a long enough A/N. Now, review please! Once again, I want at least five! J

Disclaimer: Everything you recognize is JK Rowling's. I can't wait for the fifth book!

The Story of Lily

Chapter 3: The Ministry Ball

Lily checked herself again in the floor length mirror in her huge bathroom. She grinned at the finished product of Violet's, Ella's (Violet's French maid and very good friend), and her work.

After much time of contemplating and modeling for Violet and Ella, the three had decided on the puffy white satin dress robes. They were tight until Lily's hips, then they flared out gracefully. Her dark red hair was strait, as opposed to its normal corkscrew curls, but curled gently at the bottom. Violet had applied a little bit of Muggle (once again swearing it was better then magical) make-up very tactfully on Lily's face. She had a little bit of powder foundation on, rose colored blush, and white eye shadow that shimmered over her eyelids. Violet had also put pink lip-gloss on her full lips.

She twirled. Her robes lifted off the ground, but they were too heavy to really twirl like her short frilly Muggle dress that Lily had only let Violet buy for her because it twirled so wonderfully.

"Mademoiselle Lilee, it iz time to go. Mademoiselle Violet iz waiting in ze 'all for you," said a very French accent from the doorway. Ella was standing there, holding Lily's hunter green cloak.

"Oh! Alright, Ella," said Lily, hoping she didn't sound as nervous as she felt.

"Don't worry, Lilee. You will 'ave a wonderful time. Do not bee nervous! You will be ze belle of ze ball, as you Eenglish say eet!" Ella gave Lily a hug, and walked her down to the entrance hall.

Lily gasped. Her aunt looked magnificent. She was wearing the icy blue robes, the same ones that they had bought together in Diagon Alley, along with the robes Lily was wearing. Violet's fit the same way Lily's did; tight at the top, then flowed out from the hips. Although, Violet, unlike Lily, wasn't lacking a chest.

"Oh, Lils, darling, you look wonderful!" exclaimed Violet as she hugged Lily tightly.

"Thanks," said Lily, while breathing in her aunt's scent, "so do you!"

"Ooh!" Cookie squealed as she rushed out of the kitchen, "I've got to get picture of my girls together in their beautiful robes!" She held up a camera and flashed a photo. When it developed seconds later, it showed Violet with her arm around Lily, both smiling and waving at the camera.

"Oh, zat iz a wonderful picture! Let us blow it up, 'eh Cookie?" Ella cried.

"Oh, yes of course! It will be hanging in the hall when you return! Have a wonderful time, dears," said Cookie as she hugged them.

"Yes, pleeze do! And Lilee, don't bee nervous! Just reemeber what it iz zat I taught yoo about dancing, and yoo will bee fine!"

"Thanks again for teaching me, Ella."

"It waz nosing! Now go, beefore yoo are late!"

Lily and Violet walked outside and into the waiting limo. They traveled for about forty-five minutes, but the time passed quickly since they were both chatting merrily and drinking sparkling cider.

"Oh, Lils, I forgot to tell you something!" Violet said suddenly as they pulled into the line of limousines and cars. They were driven by witches and wizards who had families or could not Apparate. It was not very fashionable to arrive by Floo Powder to the Minister's mansion, especially during a dressy ball.

"What?" asked Lily warily.

"Erm, well, first off, I think you really should put that glass down, as you might drop it or something..."

Lily was really scared now.

"Alright, Lily, please don't be upset, but Ministry members have to be announced."

Lily let out the breath she was holding. She opened her mouth to say that that wasn't very bad, when Violet cut her off.

"We have to stand at the top of the stairs and get our names called in front of everyone," she blurted.

"WHAT?!"

"It's not something I enjoy either, but come on now, Lily, we need to get inside!" Violet urgently said as the valet opened the limo door.

"No! There is no way I'm leaving this car!"

"Lily! It'll be fine! Come on!" Violet wheedled as she pulled Lily's arm.

"NO!"

Violet stepped out of the limo and took out her wand. "Accio Lily!" she cried. Lily was immediately flung out of the car and into Violet's arms. Violet placed her onto her feet. "Come on Lily, right now! You don't want to be embarrassed at the Minister's house do you? We are going to face your fear! Lets go!"

Lily was shocked at seeing her aunt so fired up, so she followed quickly after hesitating a little. They stood in a line at the top of the huge staircase that led into the foyer, where everyone was mingling before dinner. A wizard approached them and took their names and titles. When Violet gave him theirs, the wizard gasped and almost dropped his quill and parchment in his surprise and hurry to shake Violet's hand.

Slowly the line moved. Each person or people in a family were called, and then they walked down the stairs to applause and were greeted by the Minister of Magic himself and his family.

The man ahead of them went down. Lily took deep breaths and was determined not to look down.

"Miss Violet Wellington, Adviser and Head of the Department of Magical Law Defense," here there were many gasps, "along with her niece, Miss Lily Evans," the wizard boomed through his magically enhanced voice.

Lily looked down before she could stop herself. At least one hundred faces stared at her as they applauded. She grabbed onto the railing to prevent herself from falling. She froze, just looking at all the faces. Her palms were sweating, and she knew she would faint. Suddenly, a strong hand gripped her arm.

"It's alright, Lily, it's just you and I. Take a deep breath. We are by ourselves. Come on now, we need to walk down the stairs. Look, it's just the stairs back at home!" Violet was whispering in her ear as they slowly moved downwards. "And look, there's McKinley! He's scowling again, the old bat!"

Lily giggled in spite of herself and found it much easier to move. Soon, they were at the bottom of the stairs.

"Violet!" exclaimed Minister Watson. Lily was surprised the actual Minister of Magic himself was hugging her aunt in a fatherly fashion. She recalled how the wizard who had taken their names had shook Violet's hand vigorously when Violet told him who she was. Lily got that feeling again, the one that her aunt was definitely more than she made out to be. She made a mental note to ask her later about it.

"George! How wonderful to see you again!" said Violet to the Minister. "This is my niece, Lily Evans. Lily, this is Minister Watson and his wife, Elizabeth Watson." Violet gestured to the two.

"I'm pleased to meet you, young lady," said Minister Watson, his white teeth standing out against his neatly trimmed black beard as he shook Lily's hand.

"Yes, a pleasure," agreed his wife, who was very beautiful indeed. "Gwendolyn," said Mrs. Watson to a pretty girl standing next to her, "come here and meet Lily. Lily, this is my daughter, Gwendolyn."

Gwendolyn scowled at her mother. "Mu-um," she whined, "it's Gwen!"

"Gwendolyn, where are your manners? Say hello to Lily!" her mother scolded. Gwendolyn's scowl gave way to a full-fledged smile when she saw Lily. "Hello Lily! Mum, can I show Lily my room? Please? It's so boring here!" she asked eagerly.

"Well, I suppose. I'll have Giles ring up when its time for dinner."

No sooner had the words left her mouth then Lily was whisked away by the wrist. They went through a door and entered a deserted hallway.

"I'm sorry," Gwendolyn apologized. "It's just that, I'm so thrilled you're here! I always get stuck with boys and old people the entire time, normally! I'm Gwen, bye the way. My mother just calls me my full name because 'Its soo pretty, dear!'" Gwen put on a false accent to imitate her mother.

Lily giggled. She already liked the vivacious raven-haired girl. "It's okay, don't worry. I'm Lily Evans."

"You are so lucky to be related to Violet," said Gwen enviously as they climbed a staircase off to the right of the hallway. "She is so awesome. She comes and visits us a lot."

"How does she know your dad so well?" Lily asked curiously as they set down a long corridor.

"Well, they went to school together, but my dad and mum were about a year older than her. Her 'crowd' and his mixed a lot because my mum and Violet best friends. They still are, in fact. Oh, and it's also because she is the Adviser," explained Gwen.

Lily was about to ask her why an Adviser was so important, but she never got the chance, because Gwen suddenly turned sharply and flung open a large door.

Gwen's room was a bit bigger than Lily's, but painted...bright pink?! All thoughts on the Adviser were thrown out of her mind.

"Hey Gwen," Lily asked as Gwen flopped down on her large bed with a magazine, "why is your room hot pink?"

"Oh! I forgot! This morning I was feeling daring so the walls turned pink," she replied nonchalantly.

"What?" asked Lily, plainly confused.

"You've never heard of Mood Walls?" Gwen said incredulously, turning around to face her.

"No," said Lily.

"Oh! Well, in that case, put your hand on the wall," Gwen said, gesturing to the mass of hot pink. Lily stepped tentatively forward and placed her hand on it. It started to change colors-to bright yellow?!

Gwen began laughing and managed to say once she had recovered, "Oh-that means you're excited!"

Lily began laughing too. Gwen then laid her hand on the wall and it changed to a light green.

"That means I'm happy," said Gwen, and she indeed did sound very content. The two girls admired it for a while, until a short knock on the door made Lily jump.

"Oh, its just Giles!" said Gwen when she noticed Lily's surprised expression. She flung the door open and a very stern older man stood there with tight mouth.

"Miss Watson and Miss Evans, dinner will be served shortly. Your mother requires your presence immediately, if you please."

"It's not like we have any choice," Gwen muttered under her breath. "C'mon Lil. Can I call you Lil?"

Lily smiled. "Sure."

"Alright, well, lets go. We can't avoid James Potter and Sirius Black forever."

"Oh - I met them in Diagon Alley the other day!"

"I feel sorry for you!" Gwen exclaimed as they followed the stiff butler back the way they came.

"I thought they were nice!"

Gwen opened her mouth to say something, but Giles scolded her and told her to be kind to people, especially when the ones they were speaking about were not there to defend themselves. He lectured the girls the entire way to the dining room on good verbal manners.

The foyer was deserted, except for a few last minute stragglers. Giles pushed them through the large door that led to the dining room. He pointed to the table where the Minister and Violet were sitting

"Oh, no," she moaned as they made their way to the table, "James, Sirius, AND Remus just have to sit at the same table, don't they?"

"Who's Remus?" Lily asked curiously.

"He's the Assistant Minister of Magic's son. He's going to Hogwarts too, and is going to be in first year - you are too, right?"

"Yes," replied Lily.

The two girls sat at the table, and Lily was introduced to everyone.

The Minister was sitting at the head of the table of course, with Violet on his right and Assistant Minister Lupin was on his left. Then, on Violets side, right after her was Orion Black; followed by a pretty woman who's name was Katharine Potter, James's mother; then Remus, then an empty seat for one of the girls, and a little girl at the end who was Celeste Black, Sirius' younger sister by three years. On the other side, after Assistant Minister Lupin, was Sirius; followed by Mrs. Watson, then Harry Potter, and then an empty seat for one of the girls, followed by James, at the end.

Gwen begged Lily to sit next to Celeste, because the little girl had quite an obsession with her. Lily agreed, but unfortunately, the little girl talked Lily's ear off, and by the time dinner was over, Celeste had forgotten entirely about Gwen and her obsession now focused on Lily.

Their table got up first when dinner was over, and led the rest of the tables to a set of doors that led to an enormous ballroom. A full live band began to play. Lily was asked by Sirius to dance, while Gwen grudgingly danced with James.

"Hey Lily," said Sirius as they danced to a waltz, "What house do you want to be in?"

Lily paused. Violet had told her all about the four houses. "Well," she began slowly, "I know I don't want to be in Slytherin." Sirius nodded his head violently in agreement, "and Hufflepuff house sounds like a bunch of goody-goodies, so I don't want to be in there," here Sirius nodded again. "I think that Gryffindor sounds the best, plus Aunt Violet, your dad and mum, the Minister, and James' parents were all in Gryffindor. But Ravenclaw doesn't sound too bad."

"Argh!" exclaimed Sirius. "Why would you want to be with them all the time? They're boring! They study too much!"

Lily laughed and Sirius spun her around again. They continued the dance chatting comfortably. When it was over, the two made their way to find Gwen and James. Gwen was scowling darkly and James was making sure he stepped on her toes whenever possible. She smacked him hard when the dance was over and stomped over to Lily. She was about to drag her off for some punch when Sirius grabbed her and began swing dancing with her. She was trying hard to look unhappy, but Lily could tell that she was really having fun.

James stood next to her and they laughed over the two for the entire dance, until a slower song came on.

James set his punch down and elegantly bowed to Lily. "Lily, may I have the pleasure of this dance?" Lily laughed and put her punch down as well and swept a curtsey.

"Of course, James." He grabbed her hand and they danced. Contrary to what Lily thought, James was actually a very good dancer. Lily felt something like a fire light inside of her, and for the rest of the evening they danced together, sometimes chatting happily, others just dancing in companionable silence.

Lily noticed that Orion Black and Violet danced quite a bit together as well, and they were very close. Once, she managed to catch Violet's eye and gave her aunt a knowing look. Violet just smiled happily at her and looked away.

Finally, the evening ended, to Lily's great dismay. The Minister's family with Lily and Violet gathered on the lawn to say goodbye to the guests.

She saw Orion as he was about to leave with Sirius, James, (who was spending the night) and Celeste (who had been asleep since nine o'clock). He bent down and whispered something in Violets ear, and Violet smiled brilliantly and was about to say something else, when Orion's lips claimed her own. The children said a universal "Ewww!" and turned away, while the grownups respectfully gave them their privacy and walked away, smiling and talking quietly about 'young love'.

When the two had parted, Violet's eyes were sparkling and she looked as if she wouldn't ever wipe the gorgeous smile off her mouth. Orion conjured up a red rose for her and with one last quick kiss, he departed with Sirius, the sleeping Celeste, and James.

Violet sighed happily, and Mrs. Watson looked very pleased at well. Lily and Gwen decided this would be a perfect time to put their plan into action.

"Hey Mum, d'you think Lily could spend the night?"

Mrs. Watson started. "Oh, yes dear, that would be fine if Violet says she may."

"Can I Aunt Violet? Please?" Lily begged.

"Wha-oh yes-yes of course," she muttered distractedly with that large smile still on her face.

"Yes!" said the two eleven-year-olds happily.

"Bye, Aunt Violet!" said Lily while hugging her around the middle. Violet crouched down and gave her a proper hug and kiss.

"I love you Lily. Have fun! And please don't torture Elizabeth too much!"

Mrs. Watson smiled. "I think I'll be okay. I've had James, Sirius, and Remus stay the weekend before. It's still amazing I'm in one piece!" she laughed.

Violet stood up when her limo drove up. "Well, goodbye girls! Thank you, Elizabeth. Give my regards to George! I'll pop over and get Lily around eleven? She still needs to pack!"

"Oh, yes, that's fine. We aren't doing a thing tomorrow. Goodbye Violet!"

"Bye Elizabeth! Bye girls!" Violet waved and got into the waiting limo and sped off. Lily and Gwen watched the car until it turned out of the large driveway and disappeared.

The two girls ran up the lawn and into the house and up to Gwen's room. Lily borrowed some pajamas and the two eleven year olds talked until about half past twelve, until Minister and Mrs. Watson came down in their bathrobes and demanded for the two girls to go to sleep. They did so reluctantly, but slept very well and late the next morning.

Violet arrived around eleven like she had claimed, still in an extremely good mood, and stayed for lunch. Gwen and Lily hugged tightly when Lily had to go and promised to find each other the next day on the Hogwarts Express.

Lily spent the entire day packing. She and Violet went out for an "End of the Summer/Beginning of the School Year" dinner with Ella, and had a lovely time.

Lily went to bed that night very content yet nervous about the next day. She was glad, at least, that she some friends. All questions about the Adviser and her importance didn't even enter her thoughts, and they wouldn't for a long time.