Lily Evans came to a sudden stop, turned around and looked out for the caller. A boy with dark-brown eyes, glasses, but above all with extremely untidy black hair approached her and smiled.

"Do you go to the Ball with me?"

She looked at him in surprise and laughed.

"James? Don't tell me you haven't got a date yet! The Ball was announced two hours ago, that should be enough time for your admirers, shouldn't it?"

"Who says that they haven't tried?" he grinned, a bit too self-confidently, in Lily's opinion. "However, I wanted to go with you."

"And why do you do me this honor?"

Suddenly, James was on his knees, took her hand and looked up at her with dark, mischievous eyes. "Lily, flower of my life, what a question! Here I am, begging my one and only love for a rendezvous, and instead of making me the luckiest boy in the whole world, she only wants to know why I'm asking her!" He sighed dramatically and somehow managed to look deeply offended, but at the sight of Lily, who was laughing with all her heart, he gave it up quickly.

"You and love? James, have you been in the theatre watching Shakespeare lately? Or was it just anything wrong you've eaten?" Still roaring with laughter, she had difficulties in saying these words.

He looked a little confused.

"Theatre?"

"Never mind, muggle stuff."

"So, how about the Ball, will you go with me?"

He looked at the girl with the shining red hair, awaiting her answer, as she calmed down a bit and made an doubtful face.

"Uh, well, dunno.... Er, give me a day to think it over, okay?"

***

Sirius Black looked up when his friend climbed through the hole behind the portrait of the Fat Lady and entered the Gryffindor common room.

"What happened to you? You look as if Filch had stolen your invisibility cloak!" he stated, as James Potter dropped in the chair next to him.

James sighed.

"I just asked Lily to go to the Ball with me, and she wants to think it over first..."

Sirius gaped at his friend and then asked, the corners of his mouth twitching:

"You say, the prettiest girl of our school just turned down the most demanded bachelor here?" Now he grinned frankly, completely ignoring James' protest ("She said she wanted to think it over, she didn't turn me down!").

"Where is she? I think I need to give her a hug! About time that someone damped you, Prongs, I can't even remember the last time a girl turned you away."

He got up, waved gloatingly at his friend, and - as he couldn't see Lily in the common room – went to search her, leaving behind a not amused James (just like the queen, eh?).

"How nice to have someone to build you up..." he muttered, got up and climbed the stairs to the boys' dormitories, still grumbling.

***

Lily woke up early the next morning, and although she had barely slept that night – together with her best friends Jessie and Sarah, she had prepared a little surprise for the Slytherins – she couldn't fall asleep again. Half an hour and some frustrated sighs later, she gave up and – not able to elicit more than a undefinable grunt from Sarah or Jessie - decided eventually to go for a morning walk. A look at her watch told her that she had at least an hour till the first Slytherin would make his way to get breakfast, which she definitely didn't want to miss (for good reason).

For a day in October, it was rather cold, and as Lily wrapped herself up in her cloak, she saw her breath escape. Fortunately, it wasn't only cold: The sky was blue and cloudless, the first sunbeams promised that it would get warmer soon, and the trees in the Forbidden Forest seemed to glow in the still weak sunlight. Not minding the wet grass, Lily sat down on the edge of the forest, leaned her back against a trunk and smiled at two of the school owls, obviously, they were not in agreement about which of the two had the right to eat a new-hunted mouse. Her smile became a grin as she recalled the expression on James face when she had told him that she would need time to decide if she wanted to go to the Ball with him.

Jessie as well as Sarah had pronounced her insane when she had told them about it, still laughing inside. It was true that nearly every single girl here would burst into tears of joy if the very popular, handsome and smart captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team asked her to the Ball. The only problem was that James knew this far too well. And acted like that, unfortunately. Not that Lily didn't like him, on the contrary, as long as he didn't take it in his head that it was once again time for a new romance, he was even one of her best friends. She sighed slightly, as she realized that she still didn't know if she would go to the Ball with him, but a moment later she shook her head, quietly laughing at herself. This morning was much too beautiful to be wasted with thoughts about some Ball.

***

"Lil? Lily!" Somebody gently touched her shoulder and as her surroundings came in clearer focus, she looked right in the sparkling eyes of James Potter, his face only a few inches away from her and his hand still on her shoulder. It took her two seconds to notice that this time his eyes weren't their usual dark-brown, but from a velvety black, and she quickly turned away, pretending to be very interested in a blue bird with bright red wings and a beak that looked more like a trunk. Then, glancing at her watch, she suddenly was wide awake.

"Oh no! I guess the first Slytherins are already having breakfast. Let's go, I really don't want to miss this."

She got up, stretched herself and set off for the Great Hall, dragging a slightly confused James along with her. His confusion however disappeared quickly when they entered the Great Hall near the Slytherin table and Lily waved friendly at a rather angry looking Severus Snape. Since her first year, Snape was her favorite enemy, as well as the one of all not-Slytherins, which was not really a surprise. Constantly accompanied by two brainless 'bodyguards', the not very tall, but in return never-seen-with-washed hair boy threw insults at every person who was not in Slytherin whenever he got the chance to.

"Good morning, Snape! Nice weather, isn't it?"

He stared furiously at her, obviously searching for a good answer, when he spotted James behind the girl, still holding her hand.

"woH ecin, nettog flesruoy a wen dneirflrig, rettoP?"

Nearly dying laughing, James and Lily managed somehow to reach the Gryffindor table and collapsed on the bench. A few moments later, Sarah and Jessie came in and joined them, wearing identical gloating grins at the sight of the backwards talking, though mainly backwards complaining Slytherins.

"How have you done that?" James asked, apparently lost in thoughts how to use this new discovery in other pranks.

Jessie's blue eyes flashed. "Oh, a pretty little spell, and everyone who'll leave the Slytherin common room will feel his throat burning for half a second – and talking backwards for the rest of the day."

In this moment she was interrupted by Sirius and Remus, who were sitting down at the table with an ecstatic look at the Slytherins.

Less ecstatic seemed to be Professor McGonagall, teaching Transfiguration, as she approached the group only three seconds later. "Who's responsible for this? Mr. Potter? Ms Evans? Could one of you tell me something about the closer circumstances of this disease that suddenly attacked all the Slytherins?"

The 6 Gryffindors chose not to answer this question and seeing their would-be innocent eyes gaping at her, McGonagall had a hard fight not to smile, but she covered it up.

"Good. As I know that either our three girls or the four boys, maybe both together, are responsible for this prank, I guess it's not too unjust to give detention to each one of you, unless the culprits volunteer."

Without thinking, Lily rose to her feet.

"I did it, Professor, the others didn't have the faintest idea of..."

At this point, she was interrupted by Sarah and Jessie, both stood now behind her and reached for her hands.

"Lil, honestly, do you really believe that we'll leave all honor to you? This prank's something to talk about for at least a month!" Sarah grinned, completely ignoring the furious expression on Professor McGonagall's face.

"You will be in the library tomorrow at 8 p.m.. I'm sure that Ms Baine will be pleased to have someone to help her sorting all the books."

And with these words, McGonagall turned around, muttered something like "never seen such troublemakers" and returned to the teacher's table, leaving behind three more or less horrified girls.

"Why couldn't she just let us clean the trophies? We scrubbed them so often that there is not much to do. But sorting all these books? That will take us hours!" Jessie complained the second Professor McGonagall was out of hearing.

"Well, at least she didn't take any points from Gryffindors. I wonder why..." Lily gazed after the teacher, twisting a strand of hair round her finger, and was completely unaware of James watching her.

Unlike her friends, Sarah seemed to be absolutely content with their lot. "Hey, there's no need to look as if someone just died! A bit of luck and we have the opportunity to take a closer look at the restricted section..."

"Ms Baine will keep her eyes on us every single moment of our detention, Sa."

"Of course she's planning that... but imagine a few Dungbombs exploding right in front of the library?" She turned around. "Guys?"

Sirius bowed to her, but as he was still sitting, it looked odd. "Whatever you want us to do, Madam!"