Turn Me Green, Kiss Me Pink

Chapter - 2

Pre-Ball Jitters

"So, Lily," Charisma stopped in front of the library and turned around, "think it´s that easy to have James?" She sneered scornfully, dangerously blocking Lily´s way into the vast rows of knowledge after their tense, silent walk from the common room.

"What?" Lily said stupidly, registering her words. Did she just say have James? What did that have to do with anything?

"You heard me. What have you got with James?" she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. Lily rolled her eyes and pushed past her into the library, swiftly joining the short line in front of Madam Jont´s return slot. Charisma followed her.

"Answer me, Lily. What have you got with James?" she whispered icily.

"Why don´t you just ask him?" Lily drawled, concentrating on keeping the rage out of her voice, silently congratulating herself on sounding utterly bored.

"Lily, everyone knows you´re not an idiot, so stop acting like one. You know as well as I do that I don´t want him to think I´m jealous. Now, you don´t have to explain anything, just tell me which it is. Are you an ex-girlfriend, in love with him, do you just see him every once in a while, or is it what I think it is, that you are a jealous little whore who wants James only because he is with someone other than you or your pathetic posse?" she spat, her hands on her hips, her voice dangerously low.

"You´re pathetic. I have never been with James, and I doubt I ever will," Lily finally whispered, her eyes green flames and her fists balled up at her side.

"So I was right?" Charisma smirked, a statement more than a question. She was pleased to see that Lily was properly enraged. "You´re jealous."

"Why ask a question when you won´t accept the answer?" Lily puffed, pulling herself together slightly, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Why do you keep answering a question with a question and expect me to think you´re telling the truth, Lily?" she challenged.

"Look, honey, I don´t have to listen to your stupid accusations. I´ll be in the common room with James," she intoned, smiled sweetly before turning on her heel and walking out of the library, eyes set firmly on the exit, no doubt in search of a friend to confide in. Charisma followed her halfway before her eyes fell on something that gave her a great idea.

Angela Heathers smiled at her from a table to her right just as Isabella Rey emerged from behind a large bookshelf and took a seat next to her. Spotting Charisma, she smiled and waved, a gesture friendly enough for her to join them.

"And I´ll be starting Plan B, Lily," she muttered to herself, smiling innocently at them as she walked towards their table.

-:- -:- -:-

Lily stomped out of the library, and, first checking to make sure that Charisma had not followed her, she kicked the stone wall furiously until she had injured her toes so badly that she had a limp. She started down the third-floor corridor, surrounded by suits of armor, still cursing under her breath and scowling. One suit of armor, obviously thinking that it would be amusing to trip the angry, limping girl, stuck a clanking leg out as she walked by, and the next minute she lay face down in the middle of the corridor, one ankle sticking out at a weird angle, unable to get up. She sighed heavily and fumbled underneath her for her wand, trying to think of a spell to help her. She had just decided to levitate herself to the infirmary when she heard, and felt, footsteps coming towards her. She groaned, the thought of anyone seeing her like this made the heat rise up in her face.

"Lily?" a deep yet gentle voice asked uncertainly a few feet away from her. She turned onto her back and sat up just as she saw the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain, Amir Patil, kneel next to her.

"Are you okay? What happened?" he asked, frowning. He was a fellow Sixth Year, tall, broad-shouldered, with muscular, bulky arms from his position as Beater, and lean everywhere else as he was a natural athlete. He laid a well-tanned hand on her shoulder, and she looked into his hazel eyes. Her eyes drove from the thick, black lashes to the unkempt eye-brows, drawn together to reveal a kind of manly concern. Her mind traced a line down his nose around his luscious, large, juicy lips...

With a start, she realized those lips were moving.

"Huh? I mean... I´m sorry, what did you say?" she said in as a bewildered voice as she could muster and placing a hand on her forehead weakly, aware that that was probably the most degrading thing she could have said at this moment. He regarded her curiously.

"I asked you if you can stand up. It looks like you sprained your ankle," he repeated, placing his big hands under her arms and pulling her up. With one arm around his neck and the other stuffing her wand back into her robes, she gingerly tested her left foot and couldn´t suppress a small yelp, as it seemed to crumble under her weight. Amir quickly walked to her other side and placed his arm around her shoulders as her arm wrapped itself around his waist.

"Now, shall we walk to the Hospital Wing like this, or will I have the pleasure of carrying you?" he asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Hmm...this time we´ll walk. But next time I´ll insist on your carrying me." She smiled, hugging his waist closer as they started down the corridor.

"Next time? Do you do this often?" He looked down at her, holding her carefully as they made their way down a staircase.

"Do what?" She knew what he meant but wanted to draw out the conversation. The pain brought involuntary tears to her eyes.

"You know, randomly collapse in the middle of the third floor corridor, sprawled out on the ground with an injured leg... flailing your arms desperately, wailing for someone to rescue you..." She laughed at this, though rather shakily through her tears. He winced as she stepped on the landing and trembled; the pain was obviously increasing.

"Are you sure you can walk? I could try and conjure a stretcher or something...But, well, I kind of failed that test we had on conjuring in Transfiguration, but I can still try...Or I could just carry you, it´s just around the corner..." he suggested worriedly. She would have gladly let him, but there was something eerie and embarrassing about letting someone that you don´t know well actually carry you around the school, especially if someone chanced to see them. Also, Charisma would be here soon, on her way to the common room, and she was afraid she might make a scene.

"Oh, I can make it around the corner on my feet. Its not that bad," she answered, trying and failing to sound confident. They reached the hospital wing, where Lily was put into the hands of Madam Pomfrey while Amir waited patiently, watching the young Medi-witch mend her ankle.

-:- -:- -:-

"Charisma! What´s up, what are you doing here?" Isabella asked cheerfully as the girl approached and sat in a vacant chair at their table.

"Oh, I was just returning a book. What are you guys doing? We don´t have another essay to write, do we?" she asked, watching Angela pore through a book, pick up her lavender quill, and jot down a line or two from each page. Isabella rolled her eyes.

"Nah, don´t worry. Merlin knows why, but Angie´s doing extra research for Divination." She gave her friend an exasperated look and received a scowl.

"At least I come to the library to do research, unlike you, who comes for the sole purpose of ogling at guys," she retorted, a smug smile on her face.

"What do you mean `guys´? I´ve only had my eye on one for the past week," she answered dreamily.

"Who? Sirius?" Charisma grinned, making her way into the conversation.

"No, no, no. Why would I come to the library to stare at Sirius?" she answered impatiently. "It´s Craig Pierce. Isn´t he so hot?" she said, her gray eyes glittering hungrily. Charisma looked around.

"Where?"

"Over there...Behind the bookshelf," Isabella answered, steering Charisma´s shoulders a little to the left so she could get a good look at him.

"Him?" she asked, referring to the burly figure reaching up to put a book back onto a shelf, the outline of strong biceps visible even through his robes.

"Yeah... Oh, Morgana! Just look at those arms! What do you think?" Charisma strained to recognize him. She didn´t think she had any classes with him, but she had definitely seen him before.

"He´s handsome," she finally answered, remembering that she had seen him with a group of Slytherins that had insulted James´s gang on their way to Potions last week, resulting in a duel and several detentions.

"Handsome? He is not just handsome... he´s--"

"Isn´t he a Slytherin?" she asked, crinkling a brow. She thought Slytherins and Gryffindors were sworn enemies.

"Uh-huh, he is...Oh no, he moved! Stupid ass..." she hissed in frustration as he moved onto a new row of books on the other side of the library. She turned to Charisma, smiling mischievously.

"I know he´s got a thing for me, though."

"Oh yes. They `gesture´ imploringly at each other all through Divination. It´s rather distracting," Angela added condescendingly.

"Only for you, honey. Everyone else finds it entertaining." Isabella smiled, standing up. "Well, I´m off to find Craig...and perhaps do more..."

"I wish you luck in courting, my dear," Angela drawled, putting on a formal air. Charisma tried to look as bewildered as possible.

"But... I thought...you and Sirius...?" she said curiously, frowning.

"Yeah," was the vague answer she received. Angela and Charisma watched her walk across the library and vanish into a maze of bookshelves. Charisma turned to Angela.

"I thought she was going out with Sirius," she said, hoping for Angela to spill all. Angela closed her book.

"Yeah, but...Well, Isabella and Sirius are not your normal couple. They´ve been together since Fourth Year, and, at the same time, they´ve been with other people." There was a pause while Angela searched for words and Charisma thought of a way to urge her to continue.

"So it´s kind of like a security relationship? To make sure they´ve always got someone?" she asked.

"I don´t know if that´s exactly it, but I do know that in all my life I´ve never met two people more independent than Sirius and Isabella. They act like boyfriend and girlfriend all the time, but they don´t follow all the rules. What I mean is that they both think it´s fine to go out with and flirt with other people...er... aggressively, and openly, too. I guess they don´t like being tied to others because they go through most of their relationships pretty fast... well, except for the one they have with each other," Angela finished, looking thoughtful.

"Oh..." was all Charisma could say to this bit of gossip. It certainly was not good news that one of James´s best friends paid no heed to the "commitment" part of a relationship. And one of Lily´s didn´t either...

She needed to know more.

-:- -:- -:-

Lily thanked Madam Pomfrey as she stood up and tested her leg. She smiled at Amir, who grinned back, and when they walked out, she grasped the hand he offered her. He walked her back to the Gryffindor common room while she wondered vaguely whether he would ask her to the ball, as she found no other reason for him to still be following her. They stopped in front of the portrait hole, and Amir turned to look at her.

"Do you have a date for the ball?" he asked, reaching for her other hand and smiling, the fat lady in a pink satin dress waiting expectantly in the portrait they were blocking.

She would have loved to say "no" and forget all about her promise to Peter, but she couldn´t break his heart by taking back her consent to his being her partner.

"I understand if you do..." he answered her silence. She wanted to kiss him right there, he was so sweet.

"Oh Amir, I´m sorry..." she finally said softly, reluctantly. The pleading look in her eyes made it obvious that she really was. Amir watched her closely.

"... because I do too," he said, with a twisted smile. She stared at him.

"Why did you ask me then?" she asked, after an awkward pause.

"Well... I don´t know why I asked her, I guess it was out pity..." he said guiltily. "I was thinking that maybe at the ball we can be each other´s dates...?" he asked hesitantly.

Screw Peter, he was an idiot if he thought she really wanted to go with him.

"That would be great...Who are you taking...?" she asked, wondering which girl would accuse her of stealing her date tomorrow night.

"Leila Gillani, you? I take it you aren´t too interested in your date..." he said, his eyes twinkling. She laughed.

"Interested? In Peter Pettigrew? I´ve been dreading the ball until now. A couple of days ago, he heard that I didn´t have a date and asked me. You should have seen him, brick-red, sweating like crazy, I couldn´t refuse..." she explained.

"It was pretty much the same for Leila. I felt really bad because she was in front of all her friends, and she had a death grip on my arm when she started teasing about how I would never ask her...She looked really hopeful, and the whole common room was staring at her like she was an idiot...I didn´t want to embarrass her..." he said, looking exasperated. There was a moment of silence, and they stared at each other.

"I would never have imagined that you, Amir Patil, captain of the Quidditch team, was going with a pity-date to the Anniversary Ball..." she said softly, taking a step closer to him, both of her hands in his, fingers intertwined.

"And I wouldn´t have imagined it for you either, Lily Evans..." he replied lazily, smoothly pulling her closer as she took a step towards him. They stood for a moment, still holding hands at their shoulders, elbows bent completely. Closing her eyes, she stood on tip-toes, just as he bent his head towards her...

The portrait hole banged open, hitting Lily´s back and throwing her into Amir´s arms as he staggered into the stone wall, hugging her. The sound of casual chatter filled the air as a laughing figure stepped out slowly, one hand on the portrait, about to shut it, and the other holding onto the wall for support, since she was still facing someone in the common room and backing out. The words "Hey Lily! Come here!" could be heard from somewhere inside. Lily took the moment to compose herself and let go of Amir, who she had been holding onto to break her fall. Amir straightened up and ran a hand through his hair as the girl finally shut the portrait hole and turned around. It was Vanessa.

"Hey, Lily!" she smiled, oblivious to the fact that she had just slammed the portrait on her.

"Hey, Vanessa, looking for Charisma?" Lily asked sweetly.

"Actually, I was going to find Giselle, but while I´m at it, I guess I´ll look for her, too. Have you seen her?" she asked, looking curiously from Lily to Amir.

Lily didn´t bother to introduce them.

"No," she lied. With a smile, Vanessa started towards the staircase. They watched her descend the steps in silence, then Lily turned to Amir.

"I´d better go in, someone´s calling me," she said with a small smile before walking towards the portrait and muttering the password. The portrait shot open, and the sound of cheerful chatter filled the air once more. "I´ll see you in class tomorrow."

"Wait." He grasped her hand as she took a step in. "And when will I see you after that?" he inquired formally. She turned around to look at him.

"The next time I am in desperate need of rescuing off the ground after grievously spraining my ankle, of course." She winked at him.

"And pray tell, when that will be?" He played along, eyes twinkling and still holding her hand.

"How about Thursday, at five-thirty?" she asked. "I´ll take care to collapse in the Entrance Hall, and we can take a walk on the grounds afterward if you like," she added. He smiled and crossed to her, closing the arms-distance their clasped hands had made between them. They stood for a second, not in but not out of the common room. He brushed his lips against hers for the briefest moment, but it was enough to make her heart flutter at his soft touch.

"It´s a date," he answered in farewell, letting go of her hand and walking out into the corridor. She smiled and walked into the common room, finally closing the irritated portrait behind her. The ball wasn´t going to be so bad after all, she thought, smiling with content.

-:- -:- -:-

"So are you and Remus like that too? And James?" Charisma asked, breaking the silence that followed after Angela explained Sirius and Isabella´s relationship. Angela had picked up her quill immediately afterwards and was scrawling away once again.

"Like what?" she asked, not looking up.

"Like Sirius and Isabella."

"Oh," she laughed lightly, a sound that annoyed the already tense Charisma deeply, "don´t worry about James, he´s not like that. The most harm that would come out of your relationship is if some crazed, lovesick Hufflepuff hexes you...But that´s only happened twice. And Remus and I aren´t together," she added, hastily picking up her quill.

"Oh, I´m sorry. That was really inconsiderate. Did you break up recently?" she prompted after quickly weighing whether it was wise to seem nosy or not.

"No, I meant that we´ve never been together, either..." she said, blushing faintly and avoiding Charisma´s gaze.

"Really? It always seemed like it, though. You guys are around each other a lot...And last night in the common room when you two fought... I´ve seen his arm around you sometimes...And it just seemed like--" she rambled on apologetically, succeeding in sounding like an embarrassed simpleton.

"Well, I don´t know...Sometimes it seems like he´s got a thing for me, but then, out of nowhere, he sort of freezes up and acts just like everyone else. I don´t know how to talk to him about it because he might not have even noticed that he was acting like that. Besides, it might mess up our friendship, and...I like him," she finished sadly, suddenly deeply interested in the cuff of her sleeve. There was a moment of silence, and then Charisma drew up her chair and hugged her awkwardly. After flinching at the unexpected touch, Angela warmed up to it.

"I think he likes you too, Angie, and I bet he´ll tell you soon. I mean, he asked you to the ball, didn´t he? Maybe he thinks you don´t like him back..." she said, as she pulled away, hoping this was reassurance.

"I hope you´re right," she replied, smiling. She stared off into space for a few minutes while Charisma fidgeted in her chair, watching her. She had nothing to do and would have liked very much to leave...

"Why don´t we go for a walk?" she suggested, bringing Angela back from her daydream with a start. She looked around frantically, wide-eyed and bewildered. Charisma frowned, slightly alarmed.

"Angela...?" she asked, sincere for once. She started again when she heard her name and her eyes settled on Charisma. Then, after registering who the person sitting in front of her was, she took a deep breath. She stood up hastily and grabbed the book she had been reading, folded the parchment in between the pages, and pocketed her quill.

"Yes, let´s go for a walk. But first, we´ll go to the common room. I need to put this away," she said with a smile. Charisma rose silently, still eyeing her strangely.

"Are you okay?"

"Of course..." she answered, looking at her from the corner of her eye, as though nothing had happened and as though Charisma was a bit dim for asking such a thing out of nowhere. They walked towards the exit, Angela relaxed and Charisma confused. They passed by a table that had obviously been moved so that it was well hidden by a bookshelf from Madam Jont´s desk. On the edge of it sat Isabella, deeply immersed in a passionate kiss, one hand running through Craig Pierce´s dark brown hair, the other on his buff chest. He had both of his arms around her, and Charisma watched, astonished as he pulled her closer and deepened the kiss, if that was possible.

"C´mon," Angela grabbed Charisma´s hand and pulled her away from the scene she was gaping at. "Really, that was actually faster than usual for Izzy. And she stayed in the library for once, I´m surprised," she added, sounding amused.

"We´re going for a walk, Izzy, meet us there if you like!" she called over her shoulder when they had walked about ten paces away from them. They heard an irritated "Shhh!!" from Madam Jont followed by a muffled "okay" of consent as they walked out of the library.

-:- -:- -:-

"There you are, Lily. What took you so long? We called you at least five minutes ago," Remus said pleasantly as soon as Lily walked in. She crossed to the empty chair facing him and sat down slowly.

"Well, Vanessa pushed the portrait into me when she walked out, and I needed a moment to recover from the shock of being thrown on the ground by a wooden frame twice my size," she answered sardonically, hoping Remus hadn´t witnessed what really happened in the short time that Vanessa had kept the portrait open and when she and Amir kissed.

"What a pity," he answered, his eyebrows raised.

"I know, you really shouldn´t walk out of the portrait hole backwards..."

"Yeah, you might knock someone right into the arms of the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain and set them up to snog passionately..." he said, watching her blush faintly.

"You could see us?" she asked stupidly. He rolled his eyes.

"No, I´ve become like Angela, and I foresaw it. I thought I´d come down here to greet you afterwards."

"We were not snogging, it was just a kiss. Anyway, did the whole common room see us?" she asked, ignoring his bit of sarcasm and wondering if Peter was in here.

"No, I was the only one sitting close enough to have the pleasure. You´re lucky Sirius or James weren´t here to make great fun out of it," he added. "I assume you´re not depressed about the ball anymore?"

"Did James tell the whole world?" she said, leaning back in her chair, annoyed.

"No, just me and Sirius..."

"Same thing, I´m sure you´ve all done your duties in spreading the news," she said dryly.

"Who cares if everyone finds out? They´ll all be disappointed tomorrow when they see you with Amir."

"But I´m not going with Amir, I´m still going with Peter," she replied, frustrated.

"Oh?" he crinkled a brow.

"Remus!"

"What! I didn´t say anything," he replied, throwing his hands up for emphasis.

"But you were going to, go ahead,"

"Okay. Don´t blow up or anything, but how can you go to the ball with Peter when it seems like you´re going out with Amir?"

"What am I supposed to do? Do you want me to go up to him and say `I´m sorry Peter, but now that I´ve found someone better to go with to the ball, I guess you´re on your own. See ya!´ You were there when he asked me, Remus, and I´m sure you remember how idiotic he looked and how embarrassing it would have been if I had refused. Now think how much worse he´ll feel if I take it back!" she cried, letting out all of her bottled rage from the day´s events in one breath. Remus had an unreadable expression on his face and remained silent, not taking his eyes off of hers.

"He´s told everyone about it, hasn´t he? Has Peter told everyone that I´m his date?" she asked despairingly after a minute. He nodded slowly. She sighed.

"So, what are you going to do?"

"I don´t know. I don´t know how to deal with it without hurting Peter. I guess I´ll go with him, dance with him a couple of times, and then go dance with Amir. If he finds us, then I´ll switch again...Amir already knows I´m going with Peter, and he´s going with Leila, you know, that Ravenclaw that´s always trying to get Sirius´s attention in Transfiguration."

"Oh, her..." he grimaced, then put on a shrill voice, highly unlike his own. "`Hey, Sirius, did you know that both my cousin and I were born under your constellation?´, and `Oh my god, Sirius, look how much my porcupine looks like yours! We´re both so good at this!´" Lily laughed, and his voice back to normal now, "How she thinks that would interest him is beyond my comprehension. Anyway, your plan sounds good. Don´t worry, maybe we can distract Peter. Or else you can invite Amir to our table when we eat. I don´t think it´ll be much of a problem." She nodded slowly, trying to imagine dinner. They would all be at the same table, Remus and Angela, her and Peter, Amir and Leila, Sirius and Isabella, and James and Charisma...

"Remus, what do you think of Charisma?" she asked, after some speculation on whether she should recount their conversation from earlier to him. It would depend on what he thought of her.

"I don´t know. She seems nice enough, we haven´t known her for more than a few days so we can´t judge, can we? Why?"

She had every right to judge, she thought.

"You know, just wondering if she´s a good match for our dear James." She smiled. He grinned but then looked at something over her shoulder.

"Where have you guys been? Are you ready?" he called suddenly to someone behind her. Lily craned her head to see Sirius and James walking towards them, three broomsticks between them. Sirius handed the one in his right hand to Remus, who stood up.

"We were just adding the stuff we told you about before," he explained casually.

"Lily, we´re going to play some Quidditch. Want to join us?" Remus asked as the others turned to her.

"Four people? Two to a team?" she asked uncertainly.

"Good work, Lily. You divided right this time!" James exclaimed, smiling proudly. She slapped his arm.

"Nah, Vanessa and Giselle are playing, too, and we need another player. Come with us, unless you want us to use Peter and ruin the odds for the team he´s on," Sirius added as an afterthought. Remus scowled at him and he grinned.

"Yeah, I´ll play. Accio Jade!" she said, relieved that they hadn´t invited Charisma.

"Jade? You named your broomstick?" James asked, disbelief etched on his face as a slender Silver Arrow 3 stopped in front of Lily.

"Yeah, I´ve always wanted to name my daughter that, if I ever have one," she said as they walked out of the common room and descended the same staircase Vanessa had earlier.

"Where did you get that name?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Oh...This book called Las Pasiones de--"

"Occidentales; una historia de amor," Sirius finished for her. He grinned at the surprised look on her face. "Izzy made me read it sometime after Christmas," he explained.

"But you don´t know Spanish," Lily stated. "Did she give you a translator spell?"

"Yeah, it took her an hour to perform it on the whole book. It kept translating into German."

"Yeah, that kept happening when she did it for me, too, except it was in some unreadable language. Looked like hieroglyphics...So did you like it?"

"I enjoyed the countless sex scenes."

She laughed. "And what about the story itself?"

"It was very unlikely," he answered thoughtfully.

"Ahem." Remus cleared his throat. "We would like to be a part of this conversation."

"Yes, now what are we talking about?" James asked as they turned towards the Quidditch field. They could see Giselle and Vanessa waiting for them there.

"This book Isabella made me read. It was about this Spanish guy who goes to Morocco as a foreign exchange student, and he meets a Moroccan girl while he studied there, and they fall in love, but he keeps denying it and runs away because he thinks he doesn´t deserve her because of his evil past. Thirty years later, he bumps into her and finds out that she married a rich, evil bastard. They have an affair, and he plots to kill rich, evil bastard. Rich, evil bastard dies, and they get back together. They live happily ever after and have kids inexplicably in their fifties. The end. Unrealistic, bad plot, the only credit I would give the author was that she had a great descriptive style," Sirius explained while Lily glared at him playfully when he criticized the plot. They had reached the stands where Vanessa and Giselle were waiting impatiently with Peter.

"What took so long?" Giselle asked, standing up immediately and rushing down to where they were, broomstick in tow.

"Nothing. We found another player," James replied, waving a hand in Lily´s direction. Giselle glanced at her briefly before turning back to James.

"We looked everywhere for Charisma..."

"Hmm...She wasn´t in the common room, and we didn´t see her on the way here," James replied thoughtfully.

"So what about the teams? Boys against girls?" Sirius grinned as Vanessa and Peter joined them.

"That wouldn´t be fair at all, you´d beat us for sure!" Vanessa replied, laughing at the ridiculous idea.

"What are you talking about? We could beat them in a second!" Lily stepped up, indignant that Vanessa would put them down like that.

"Yeah, you would," Giselle continued matter-of-factly, as if she hadn´t heard Lily. "Remus, James, and I´ll make one team, I have to be Beater though, I suck at anything else, and Vanessa, Sirius, and Lily can make the other." The boys exchanged glances while Lily glared at her for her rudeness.

"And you, Peter? Aren´t you going to play?" Lily asked, unable to ignore his gawking at her any longer.

"No, I think I´ll just watch and keep score," he said, surprisingly calm, and walked back to the stands. He climbed back to the seat he was in before, high up and almost parallel to the goal posts, and pulled a large briefcase to the seat next to his.

"Okay, Giselle, I guess you´re Beater, I´ll be Chaser, and Remus can be Keeper," James ordered naturally. They nodded and mounted their brooms. Lily turned to her team.

"I´m no good at anything but Chaser," she declared.

"I´m fine with anything," Sirius said, gentlemanlike, and turned to Vanessa.

"I think I´ll be Keeper," she decided cheerfully.

"Well, I´m Beater on the team, so I can do that best here, too. Let´s mount," Sirius said. They mounted their broomsticks, and the two teams faced each other. Remus grinned.

"How did you get two girls to yourself, Sirius? James and I have to share," he complained jocularly. Sirius grinned complacently, and they took off on the count of three. Peter opened the briefcase and threw one Bludger up into the air that Sirius flew up to and smacked immediately. After throwing up the Quaffle, he threw himself on the case and struggled to close it before the other balls escaped, and the game began.

-:- -:- -:-

"What are you doing with your hair?" Isabella asked, glancing at Lily, who was lying on her four-poster, daydreaming. There were exactly two hours to the ball, and while the rest of her dorm-mates were preparing, she divided her time between staring at the ceiling, fantasizing about the ball, and watching Isabella work on Angela´s hair at the foot of her bed. Isabella stood up slowly, inspecting her work and pointing her wand at loose strands that curled themselves instantly.

"I don´t know... I´ll see..." she replied absent-mindedly. Isabella rolled her eyes, Angela smirked, and Vanessa, looking appalled from her seat in front of the mirror at the bed across from them, put down her case of assorted eye shadows and raked a hand through her hair in a highly frustrated manner.

"Lily!" she cried indignantly, turning around in her chair.

"Oh lord, not again..." she muttered in return.

"There are barely two hours left, and you´re still lying there, staring at the ceiling! When are you going to get ready? I mean, I know you´re going with Peter and all, but other people will be there too!" Vanessa scolded, watching her sorrowfully.

"Honestly, I don´t see why you care..." Lily replied crossly. Nevertheless, she sat up cross-legged at the edge of her bed, bent forward, and pulled a box out from deep under her mattress. She opened the lid and unfolded a navy-blue dress made of a soft, light material. She felt a tinge of excitement--she hadn´t worn a Muggle dress in what seemed like ages, and she felt she never would again.

"I´m going to take a shower," she announced, jumping off the bed and kneeling in front of her trunk, looking for clean underwear.

"You should have gone earlier. You´ll have to use a drying spell when you come out, and you know how frizzy they leave your hair..." Giselle said from her spot behind a heap of accessories piled on one side of the room´s only desk. She eyed Lily´s dark red locks with concern.

"Don´t worry, Lily. I´ll leave my Sleazy´s Anti-Frizz Topical Potion out for you. But don´t use too much, you know how strong that stuff is..." Charisma offered with relish, smiling sweetly and pulling a bottle out of her trunk. Lily was not fooled as she had seen the various looks of disgust Charisma had been throwing at her all day. She glared at her, grabbed her underwear, and stomped seething towards the showers. Isabella stifled a laugh at the furious look on Lily´s face, and Angela settled for an amused expression that she hoped would communicate that she was over-reacting as she passed them.

-:- -:- -:-

"They´ve made a mistake!" James declared, throwing down the box he was holding onto his bed angrily. "I should have opened them before..." Remus looked up.

"What, not your size?" he asked, pulling out his own to check for any defects.

"No... the size is fine..." he muttered, "But the robes..." Sirius summoned the box from James´ hands and almost tore through the contents. He took out his own package and did a similar search while James did his part by grabbing Peter´s set and rummaging through that as well.

"He´s right... Quick! Remus, check yours. They forgot to send us the robes with our Tuzeedos!" Sirius said, annoyed. Remus looked confused for a second before he started laughing. The three of them stared at him impatiently.

"Tuxedos, as they are called by most Muggles, don´t come with robes..." Remus explained, surprised that they hadn´t known this already. "Muggles don´t wear robes to cover what they´re wearing. You don´t wear robes with Tuxedos," he clarified as Sirius began spreading the garments on his bed and picking at the buttons on his jacket tentatively.

"Don´t they feel naked?" he muttered sadly as Peter eyed his own with distaste, picking up his tie.

"We´re supposed to tie this... this "tie" thing around our necks?" he asked, disappointed when Remus nodded confidently. "I bet we´re the only ones who actually listened to Dumbledore. I bet we´re the only ones who´ll wear these..."

"Well, we know the Slytherins won´t. They´d rather bathe in a tub of grease than dress like Muggles..." James said, scornfully.

"Oh, but bathing in a tub of grease is not a punishment for the almighty Slytherins. Just look at Snape, he does it all the time," Sirius amended, picking his dark blue, silk tie out of the package.

"Damned, suicidal Muggles..."

-:- -:- -:-

Lily walked back into her dormitory in a bathrobe, topped with a soaking wet mop of hair. She sat on her four-poster and tossed her hair out of her face, shaking water at the other occupants with every turn of her head.

"Couldn´t dry your hair, could you?" Isabella asked, wiping the water off her cheek.

"Feeling better?" Angela arched an eyebrow at her flushed cheeks and bright smile while she tied Isabella´s hair up into an elaborate twist, leaving several tendrils to frame her face. She added tiny, jeweled pins to finish off her masterpiece.

"Yeah, much better. Where have the insolent Witch and her faithful slaves gotten to? I was looking forward to drying my hair on her dress..." she asked with a bitter smile. Isabella laughed.

"Charisma and her faithful slaves have gone down already to wait for dear James-ey," Angela answered.

"And most people in the Wizarding World don´t take it as an insult when you call them a Witch...Unless the person is a Wizard, of course," Isabella reminded her.

"Ugh...I wish I could hex the life out of her and not rot in Azkaban for it..." she sighed wearily.

"Or you can just hex her a couple of times and show her who´s boss..." Isabella suggested instead.

"Or I can modify her and James´s memories and convince them that they hate each other. Maybe I can tie them to other people, too...Yes, I could convince Charisma that she´s madly in love with Peter..." Lily said, conjuring a towel and tousling her hair roughly with it, trying to dry it.

"Or you can just hex her..." Isabella repeated, admiring the reflection of herself in her royal purple dress in the large mirror. The thin straps were tied at the back of her neck and the low cut dress was backless with a snug fit down to her lower waist where it loosened slightly, accentuating her hips from which the soft, heavy material hung down to the floor. Isabella pulled an old case from her trunk and opened it to reveal a family heirloom set that her grandmother had sent her for the occasion. She slipped a rusted black-silver band topped with a single amethyst onto her slender middle finger, clasped a matching silver bracelet studded with amethysts onto her wrist and a longer version of the bracelet around her neck. The beautiful job that Angela had done with her hair added to her image of style and elegance.

"You´ll get caught if you do any of those things, and Charisma could use it against you, too..." Angela pointed out, sighing as she watched Isabella twirl in front of the mirror.

"Yeah, I guess...Should I use a drying charm on my hair?" Lily asked, finally tired of her towel-dry method, which she had been working on vigorously in the last few minutes.

"No...You have more than an hour to get ready, I´m sure it will dry by then..." Isabella answered, touching up on her make up.

"Whatever you do, don´t use that Sleazy´s crap Charisma left for you. I think she might have tampered with it..." Angela informed them, kneeling on the floor beside her bed, struggling to pull out a large trunk from underneath it. She made progress, inch by inch.

"What! How do you know?" Isabella asked, the open lipstick dropping from her hand and squashing into a small pile of mush on the floor, "Shit..." she exclaimed, bending down carefully to clean it up and, remembering her wand half-way, standing up again to clean it with a simple flick.

"She poured some of it into a little container for Lily, and I saw her adding something to it..." she answered and, with a last tug, pulled the trunk out completely. Isabella walked swiftly over to Charisma´s bed and picked up the glass vial, examining its clear contents closely. Lily stood up and joined her, trying to comb her furiously messy hair.

"Looks normal to me..." she muttered, eyeing it closely and wincing as she tried to pull the comb through a particularly large tangle.

"Lily! I have the perfect idea!" Isabella exclaimed mischievously.

"What?" Lily asked, and Angela looked up from her task of unlocking the trunk. They watched Isabella summon Charisma´s pillow, open the vial and hold it poised over, tilted at an angle so the gel slowly slid towards the tiny opening. She looked at them inquisitively.

"Should we?" she asked. Angela nodded slowly, an evil smile spreading across her face. Lily watched the gel slide, painfully slow, towards the opening with glee.

"Hold on. I want to do the honors, since she meant it for my hair. But wait, let me get dressed first, my hair isn´t wet enough to mess up the material now," Lily said in one breath, prying the vial out of a very annoyed Isabella´s hand, replacing its cap, and putting it on her dresser. She then picked up her dress and disappeared into the bathroom. Isabella sighed, as though she had missed out on a great treat, and turned to Angela.

"What is that?" she asked, watching Angela place a key into the last of five holes and turning it. The trunk opened with a click and revealed four large packages, four pairs of shoes and four small cases.

"Ah... Your clothes..." she answered for herself. She gave her a hesitant smile and wondered what her reaction would be.

"Mother sent this to me a few days ago...through Dumbledore, of course," Angela started grimly. "You know what she wants for me, and it applies for this event, too. She wants me to be beautiful, she wants me to be elegant, she wants me to rub our wealth in all those commoners´ faces, and--the most important of all --she wants me to secure a gentleman willing to marry me who must be pure-blooded so we can continue the Heathers line untainted..." she finished mockingly. She pulled out the first large package and ripped the brown paper off carefully.

"Remus...?" Isabella asked, taking out the second package and gently tearing the wrapping off.

"I don´t know if he qualifies."

"Well, it doesn´t really matter ´cause you don´t care."

"It does matter," Angela muttered defensively, unfolding the gown she had just taken out of the packaging.

"What matters?" Lily asked, walking towards them.

"I love the dress!" Angela exclaimed, somewhat grateful for the interruption. Isabella sighed; she knew their conversation had just ended.

"Yeah, that´s a great color on you," Isabella commented. Lily beamed at them happily and clasped a thin silver chain from which hung a single blue crystal rose around her neck. The dress she wore was a midnight blue and sleeveless with tiny spaghetti-straps that formed a perfectly rectangular neck. Below it´s empire waist, the silky material was covered with sheer netting of the same color with silver embroidery of leaves and vines that parted in the middle and flowed out longer than the rest of the dress, dragging on the floor around her. She walked over to her dresser and picked up the vial of hair potion.

"Ready?" she asked. Isabella and Angela scrambled to her side, the former holding out Charisma´s pillow and the latter conjuring a silver butter knife. Lily unscrewed the lid and tilted the bottle over the pillow. They watched, grinning excitedly as thick, clear globs dropped onto the pillow. Angela started spreading it across the white surface, forming a glossy coat.

"Is this some new beauty remedy?" a voice asked from behind them. Angela shrieked and the knife flew up in the air, landing with a clatter and narrowly missing her toes. Lily jumped, dropping the empty vial, and Isabella reached out the pillow just in time to catch it before it shattered.

"SIRIUS! What the hell are you doing here?" Isabella turned to him, scowling angrily.

"Well, James is with his girlfriend, and Peter kept whining about his clothes until Remus managed to shut him up with chess, and then I got bored and--"

"Sirius, get out!" she interrupted, putting the pillow aside and pushing him towards the door.

"Why?"

"Because you´ve scared the shit out of us, and I might just bash your head into the wall if you annoy me any more!" She opened the door and tried to push him out, but he had his feet planted firmly on the ground and was gripping the doorframe with all his might.

"Calm down, Izzy! Why are you so mad? It´s not my fault you didn´t notice me coming in..."

"Get out!" she reiterated. He let go of the wall and allowed himself to be pushed out but very slowly.

"Okay, sure. I´ll just go down there and tell..." he peered at the six four-posters to see which was missing a pillow, "Charisma that you´re all pouring some potion onto her pillow..." he finished, arching an eyebrow at their angry faces.

"Get in here!" Isabella snarled, pulling him back inside and slamming the door behind him. He walked over to the pillow and examined it. After a minute, he poked a finger into the shiny substance, rubbed it between his index and thumb and looked up at them curiously.

"May I ask why you´ve spread Sleazy´s Anti-Frizz Topical Potion onto Charisma´s pillow?" The three of them stared at each other before Lily sighed.

"Charisma gave me some to use before she left and Angela saw her adding something to it so we thought we´d get her back..."

"Why would she do that?" he asked dubiously.

"Because she hates me. She thinks I like James or something, and she keeps accusing me of trying to take him away from her."

"Oh, okay then. Do you know what she added?"

"No. What do you mean `oh okay´? I don´t get why she picks on me. Why not Izzy or Angie or Vanessa or Giselle?" she asked miserably. He plopped himself onto the nearest bed, and Angela went back to unpacking her trunk.

"That´s easy. She knows that me and Izzy are together, James has never hung out with Vanessa or Giselle until he met Charisma, and they´re not interested in him anyway, and it´s obvious Angela´s madly in love with Remus, and that leaves you," he answered, grinning at the embarrassed glare that Angela shot him.

"I still don´t understand. There are dozens of girls that follow James around all the time, why me?"

"Because James doesn´t care about those girls, and Charisma can see that you two are friends. You have something with him that she doesn´t," She opened her mouth to protest but then closed it again, thinking over what he said.

"Exactly. For once Sirius isn´t being an idiot, Lily, and he´s right. Now you can go," Isabella said, turning to Sirius.

"Aw, c´mon. I just gave Lily brilliant insight, why can´t I stay?" he said, pouting ridiculously. She looked around the room, and her eyes fell on Angela.

"Because you´re intruding on poor Angie. Look at her, she can´t dress with you sitting here," she said, hands on her hips, as though accusing him of a horrible crime.

"Oh, she doesn´t mind."

"Yeah, I don´t. Look here for a sec?" Angela asked, standing in front of her bed where she had spread the four gowns. Lily, Isabella and Sirius walked to her side and peered at them. The first two were the exact same thing, one a soft pink and the other an ice blue. The princess-style gowns had small cap-sleeves, a fitted bodice and a voluminous skirt. The skirt was trimmed with and the bodice embroidered with lines of iridescent sequins that crossed and twisted to form an intricate vine-like pattern. The third gown was an ankle-length dark red of a soft, shiny material that felt like liquid when touched. Its stringy straps and fitted bodice glittered golden from different angles, and the burgundy skirt hung down limply. The last dress was simple, an emerald green heavy skirt that flared out and was topped with a black velvet strapless bodice and piece of cloth to drape about the arms that was fashioned from the same material. Angela watched their reactions of awe. "Which should I wear?"

"Ooh, feel this..." Lily muttered, her hands running through the red-gold dress. Sirius immediately took her advice while Isabella looked at the choices inquisitively.

"She wants you to wear one of these," she said, smirking at Angela and pointing to the pink and blue princess style dresses.

"Well no, really, why else would she send two of them, huh? I wonder..." Sirius retorted mockingly. Isabella swat his arm, and he inched closer to Lily, away from her.

"Yeah, I think so too...And the others are nothing compared to them anyway. I suppose she still wanted to give me some sort of choice..." Angela replied, ignoring the squabble next to her as Lily pushed Sirius back towards Isabella.

"Or the illusion of..." Lily muttered, now looking at the last two dresses with an expression of distaste.

"So the blue or the pink?" Sirius asked, scrutinizing the first two.

"I don´t know."

"Blue," Isabella and Sirius said simultaneously.

"Pink," Lily said a second later.

"I think I´ll go with blue then. I´m not in the mood for pink right now," Angela answered, picking up the blue dress and, with a flick of her wand, banishing the other three to the old trunk. She took out the jewelry and shoes that came with the gown and stared at Sirius imploringly. He sighed and left the room, and Angela pulled on the dress, struggling to fasten the dozen buttons that ran down her back.

-:- -:- -:-

"Angie, slow down and cover me!" Lily whispered from behind. Angela rolled her eyes but slowed her pace considerably, and Lily abruptly stumbled on the sizable bottom half of her dress.

"Lily!" she cried, holding onto the banister to stable herself and turning to face the apologetic smile on her friend´s face. She sighed and hurried down the stairs, daintily holding onto her skirt as she walked towards Remus and slipped her hand into the crook of his arm. He kissed her cheek and said something that made her giggle and answer him, blushing. Lily glared at the two of them and continued down the stairs as slow as possible. Isabella snorted behind her.

"Nice move there, Lily. Real smooth," she said, smirking and skipping two steps so that she was next to her. Lily swiftly stepped back and walked behind her.

"Izzy, please cover me!" she said urgently, quickening her pace when they reached the common room, struggling to stay close behind her. Isabella didn´t answer and instead walked towards Sirius, smiling at his crisp black tuxedo and arching an eyebrow at the tie that hung, knotted loosely, at his chest.

"Wow! You look great!" he exclaimed, looking her up and down.

"Oh, don´t look at me like that, you saw me upstairs, and you didn´t say anything then..." she said in mock fury.

"Well, I would have if you weren´t so busy trying to throw me out while you--aachh!" he gagged as she took it upon herself to tighten his tie. She bit her lip, quickly loosened it a little, and reached up to kiss him and prevent further comments. Lily, who had been watching them with amusement, now looked around the room that was crowded with Gryffindors, First Year and up, waiting for their dates.

"Oh good, Lily. You´ve come," Sirius said, noticing the redhead hovering about behind Isabella. Remus and Angela had joined them, looking very formal with their arms linked and decorated by Angela´s fabulous attire. Sirius and Remus exchanged identical grins.

"Oh Peter!" Sirius called, despite Isabella´s slapping his arm in an attempt to stop him.

"No, no, no..." Lily mumbled, frantically skirting around Isabella who stepped aside uncomfortably.

"Lily´s waiting for you!" Remus yelled to a figure near the fireplace. He jumped up at his words and walked towards them. Lily, ducking behind Remus to seek refuge on the floor, covered by Angela´s dress, just happened to peek out and catch his eye. Peter walked towards her and found her kneeling.

"You look really nice!" he said, beaming at her, his cheeks flushed.

"Er... Thankyou, Peter," she forced a smile on her face and stood up, "Let´s go!" Peter colored more at this newfound enthusiasm and hardly noticed that she was practically dragging him out of the portrait hole and towards the Great Hall, so thrilled was he at her holding his hand. Their friends followed them out of the common room, trying not to laugh out loud.

"Oh you guys, that was really mean..." Angela said as they strolled through the corridor, Lily and Peter a good six yards ahead of them.

"No, it wasn´t. Lily can´t just hide from Peter when she voluntarily decided to go with him," Sirius pointed out while Remus nodded in agreement.

"Oh c´mon, you know you would´ve done the same if you were in Lily´s place..." Isabella said as they turned a corner, and the doors to the Great hall stood open at the end of the corridor.

"I don´t know, Izzy. If Peter had asked me, Sirius Black, to the Anniversary Ball, I would have been horrified and concerned at the state of our friendship..." he mused, and the others laughed. They could see the couples inside, dancing, as the music had already started. Lily and Peter were almost at the door now.

"Well, if I were Lily, I wouldn´t have said `yes´ if I was planning to abandon him at the door and run off with the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain..." Remus added, nodding towards Lily who had just stepped inside with Amir Patil and immediately started dancing. Peter turned around and watched them approach with a grim smile on his face, along with a glaring blond girl dressed in emerald green whose face lit up considerably when she recognized Sirius.

"Oh, it´s Leila..." he groaned, putting his arm around Isabella.

"Ignore her, ignore her, ignore her..." Isabella muttered, burying her head into his chest possessively.

-:- -:- -:-