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anyone. Two weeks ago Professor Dumbledore had announced that Hogwarts would be having a Valentine’s Day dance. Everyone had had immediately become immensely excited. The girls were all wondering who was going to ask them, or gossiping about which boy had asked which girl. The boys wondering who was already taken, and trying to pluck up enough courage to ask a certain girl. Sophia, Casey, and Brandy all had dates, but Lily and Melanie had still not been asked.

“Do you think we’ll ever get asked?” Melanie asked, sitting in the Gryffindor common room one night with her four best friends.

“Of course you will!” Casey said reassuringly “Somewhere out there in this school, there is a boy who is trying to pluck up the courage to ask you.”

“Yeah, maybe there’s a hot guy about to walk through that door to ask you.” Sophia gestured towards the portrait hole. At that moment, Jack Hornman walked through the portrait hole. Jack was two years older than them, in his fifth year, and he was not exactly Lily’s definition of ‘cute’. He had sandy brown hair, a very babyish face, his head was too big for his body, and to top it all off, his feet were humongous. Nonetheless, he was very nice, and always helped Lily her with potions homework when she needed it.

The other girls laughed at this.

“Oh, shut up,” Lily snapped at them,”just because someone isn’t exactly hot, it doesn’t mean that they don’t have other, more important qualities, like kindness and intelligence.”

“Spoken like a true Dumbledore.” Brandy teased. Lily rolled her eyes.

“So, do tell Lils,” Casey began,“who do you want to ask you to the dance?”

“Oh, no one in particular, except, of course, Brett Lidleman” they all finished together.



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The dance started in an hour, and Brett, nor had anyone else, asked Lily to the dance. Earlier, she had decided that she didn’t want to go and suffer the embarrassment that would come with not having a date, but her friends had quickly talked her out of this idea. They had insisted that Lily go, and maybe somebody would ask her while she was there. Therefore, they were all now in their dormitory, changing into their dresses and getting ready. Brandy was dressed in a beautiful lilac dress, while Melanie was wearing a pale blue dress, and Casey was wearing a brilliant red one. Sophia had on a bright yellow dress, and Lily was wearing a simple white, knee length, sleeveless dress. Her hair was done in a simple braid. Having grown up with three brothers(including Teddy), she was not much of a girly girl, and would have rathered wear jeans and a t-shirt, but knew better because her best friends would have likely hexed her if she wore these things to a dance. This is why when Brandy asked her if she was going to put on any make-up, she answered in a tone that suggested the answer to be the most obvious thing in the world.



“Uh, no” she said.



“Why not?” asked Brandy.



“Because I don’t have any.” Lily said shortly.



“Then use some of ours, you prat.” interjected Sophia from the bathroom, where she was french-braiding her hair.



“Well that’s nice of you and all, but I don’t know the first thing about how to put makeup on.” Lily said, now trying to find a way out of this. She loved her friends, but when it came to girly things, they could sometimes overdo it.



“We’ll help you put it on, and eventually you will learn.” Casey said in a mock wise voice.



Half an hour later, the five girls were standing outside of the Great Hall. Brandy, Casey, and Sophia were meeting Josh, Ominiah, and Daniel. Lily and Melanie were standing awkwardly to the side, unsure of whether they should join their friends and their dates. But when Casey waved at them and gave them a very hearty “Come on!” they immediately knew they were free to sit with them. When the doors opened, they went inside to find somewhere to sit. The four long house tables had been removed, and were replaced by about a hundred smaller circular tables instead. The room had been decorated as well. There were lanterns in the shape of hearts that had been bewitched to change color in accordance to the sounds going on around them. Each of the tables had been littered with little paper hearts, and there was a dance floor in the middle of the room. They weaved their way through the people and tables, and finally managed to find a table in the back of the room, in front of the staff table, and sat down.



Once all the plates had been licked clean, Dumbledore stood up.



“Good evening,” he began “I know you are all here to dance and have fun. Therefore, I will not bore you with an old man’s speech,” he waved his wand and music began to play “,so- have fun!”



Brandy, Sophia, and Casey and their dates immediately stood up and went to the floor and started dancing. Lily and Melanie stayed at their table, watching everyone else. Lily saw James dancing with his girlfriend, Renee Treewood, and smiled to herself. She had teased James to no ends about his newly founded relationship with Renee over Christmas, much to James’ embarrassment. She had always been on good terms with Renee, who was a sixth year, like James, and constantly found herself wondering how a nice girl like Renee could end up with a git like her brother. Suddenly, she realized just how many people were on the dance floor. There was practically nobody still sitting at the tables. Almost everyone was dancing. Albus, Lily’s other brother had even found a girl to dance with, though Lily did not recognize her, Professor Dumbledore was dancing with Professor McGonagall, and Neville was dancing with Professor Dane, the arithmancy teacher. By now, Melanie had also found a boy to dance with. She was dancing with Maron Cues, a fourth year Ravenclaw. But Lily had still not found anyone to dance with, and resorted to sitting at their table, all alone, with a grim look on her face.



“Hey, Potter,” said a familiar voice from behind her “where’s your date?” the voice continued. Lily turned in her seat. Standing behind her was Alex Stuntner, a third year Slytherin, and was Lily’s arch enemy.



“Hmmmm… I don’t think she has one!” said Alex’s best friend, Samantha Bakerfield.



“I don’t see how it’s any of your business,” Lily snapped, feeling her face burn “and I don’t see your dates.” she said, moving her head as if looking for something.



“Those are our dates,” Alex gestured toward the drink table with a smug look on her face. Lily followed her gaze and saw two boys standing there. One was the skinniest boy Lily had ever laid eyes on, with sandy blonde hair, and a scared and nervous look on his face. The other boy was rather beefy, and had jet black hair. Lily laughed.



“Is that the best you could do?’ she asked “I’d rather be here alone than be here with those two goons” she said, still laughing.



“Well, then I guess it’s a good thing you’re here alone!” Alex snapped, storming away, followed by Samantha. Lily grinned. Over the years, she had gotten very good at not letting things get to her and wasn’t phased by what Alex had just said. Still grinning to herself, she saw Melanie walking over towards her.



“What did they want?” Melanie asked, glaring at Alex and Samantha, now reunited with their dates.



“Oh, you know,” Lily said smugly “, the usual. Making fun of me for not having a date. I’m alright!” she added quickly, seeing the look on her friends face.



“Well, if you say so.” Melanie said unbelievingly.



Lily and Melanie spent the next five minutes laughing and talking about how Albus was an awful dancer, and how Melanie’s brother, Cameron, looked like a walrus on two feet when he tried to dance. Just then, Brett Lidleman walked up to Lily.



“Hi,” he said, fidgeting with the sleeve of his dress robes “you look, er, nice.” he finished lamely.



“Um, thank you,” Lily said “You look very handsome as well.” It was beginning to get awkward, and Lily could see Melanie sniggering out of the corner of her eye.



“So-so do you want to dance?” Brett asked, now staring at his knee.



“Of course she does!” said Melanie, giving Lily a little push. Lily took Brett’s hand, and they made their way to the dancefloor, and awkwardly started dancing. Brett couldn’t figure out where to put his hands, and Lily stepped on his feet every five steps, but eventually they figured it out.



By their third song, James stopped dancing with his girlfriend, and came over to where Brett and Lily were still dancing.



“Lily! What do you think you’re doing!?” He said, shoving Brett aside.



“Well, I was under the impression that I was dancing with Brett.” she retorted sarcastically. This was one of the traits that she had inherited from her mother, whom had grown up with six brothers, therefore, becoming pretty good at being rude to her brothers, and not letting them get to her.



“I can see that. Might I ask why you are dancing with this stupid idiot?” James said, his face growing red with anger now. Many people around them had stopped dancing too.



“Hey!” Brett said. They both ignored him.



“No James, you may not ask me why I am dancing with Brett,because it is none of your business!” Most of the people in the Great Hall had now stopped dancing, and were now staring at the argument going on. Lily could feel her face going red, but not out of embarrassment, out of anger.



“Actually, seeing as you’re my sister, it is my business!” James said in a matter-of-fact tone.



“Oh, that’s how you figure it, is it?” Lily said, now unable to keep her voice down.



“Yeah, that’s how I figure it!”



“Well then, you can take that big head of yours and-”



“C-Cann I say something?” Blake interrupted her.



“No!” both Potters said together.



“Listen, Blake, this is between my brother and I, and I don’t want you to get in the middle of it, okay?” Lily said in a lighter, sweeter tone. Blake nodded, and she knew he understood.



“Actually, Lidleman is the initial reason for this argument, so I’d say the minute he started dancing with you is when he got himself into the middle of it!” James spat at Brett.



“James Sirius Potter, why don’t we finish this discussion in the entrance hall, seeing as you’ve managed to get everyone to stop dancing and stare at us.” Lily said through gritted teeth.



“Yeah, whatever.” James said with slitted eyes. They both walked embarrassingly Great Hall.



“Look, Lily, I’m sorry. But I don’t want you dancing with that bloke, okay?” James said, knowing his sister was not going to give up.



“James Potter! I can very well take care of myself, thank you! If you think you can just come an-”



“Lily, listen, Blake Lidleman is a complete dunce. He gets a girl, then let’s her go after he’s had enough of them. He’s had six girlfriends in the past year. I don’t want to see you get hurt, alright?” seeing the look on his sister’s face, he knew he had not gotten the message to her. “Alright, fine. Be that way. If you don’t believe me, then go on and dance with him. Be his girlfriend. Marry him for all I care. But don’t come crying to me when he breaks your heart, and leaves you in the dust. You can’t say I didn’t warn you.” James muttered as he was walked away, back into the Great Hall.



Lily could not believe her brother! How dare he tell her not to go out with someone! After all, it was her life! Then she remembered that he was indeed her brother, and that older brothers were naturally overprotective of their sisters, and somehow that thought cooled her down. Once she had collected herself, she walked back into the Great Hall to find Brett. She walked around the edge of the dance floor, looking, then she saw him.



Brett Lidleman, the boy of her dreams, the one that had asked her to dance, the one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, was dancing with Saliza Huffman, the Ravenclaw. Lily watched them painfully. Suddenly, she felt tears in her eyes. Not just in her eyes, but rolling down her cheeks as well. And all of a sudden, she was sobbing, almost uncontrollably. She couldn’t just stand there and cry. She ran out of the Great Hall, into the entrance hall, and out into the grounds. She kept running until she saw the lake. She plopped herself down under a beech tree and put her head in her knees.



Lily sat there for what felt like an eternity, and wasn’t planning on getting up anytime soon, when she heard a familiar voice through the darkness.



“Lily?” came the uncertain voice. Lily didn’t say anything. She didn’t think she could even if she wanted to. She thought the voice’s owner had gone away, when suddenly she saw a silhouette moving towards her, and moments later the figure of Professor McGonagall sat down beside her.



“Lily are you alright?” the older woman asked her. Lily didn’t reply. She just sat there, unable to speak.



“I saw what happened. I know it hurts. Heaven only knows the same thing happened to me when I was your age.”



“R-Really?” Lily asked, looking up at Professor McGonagall.



“Yes,” Professor McGonagall began with a small smile “I was on a date with someone, and I went to the bathroom for five minutes, and when I came back he was at the bar having a drink with another woman.” McGonagall finished quietly, her eyes glossy.



“I’m sorry. That sounds awful.”



“Oh, I got over it quickly, and so will you.” She said smiling at Lily.



They sat in silence for a few minutes, both deep in thought. Lily thought that it was a bit odd that Professor McGonagall had come to find her, but was grateful nonetheless.



“You know your brother, James, started a fight with Mr. Lidleman after you left the hall, and eventually Albus found his way into it as well. Between you and me, I thought it was brilliant. But seeing as how I’m a teacher, I had to give him detention, and since he was in a fight, I’ll have to have a meeting with both your parents and Mr. Lidleman’s. But besides all of that, I think it’s great that you have two brothers willing to stand up for you, even though they can be a bit annoying sometimes.



“A bit?” Lily asked. They both chuckled.



“Listen, as nice as this is, it is a bit cold, and it’s getting late. Why don’t we go back up to the castle, and you can go up to your dormitory?” Professor McGonagall looked down at her meaningfully.

“Yeah, I suppose we better….Thank you.” Lily hugged the professor and they walked back up to the Gryffindor common room together.