Author's Note: Hey guys, this is my first story in a really long time and I hope you like it. It'll probably end up being quite long but I'm going to try to update at least once a week. Will hopefully have the next chapter uploaded tomorrow. This one's a little short as the real drama begins in Chapter 2 ;)

Please review and lots of love from little ole New Zealand

-NotQuiteAusten

Disclaimer: Almost all characters and settings belong to the amazing JK Rowling

Curled at the window seat in her room she sat silently, textbook in hand, as the sun rose above the horizon spreading its first rays of crimson light onto the dewy grounds of the school she loved.

"Red sky in the morning – shepherds warning" she whispered the muggle saying, predicting a storm to follow. If only she knew the true magnitude of the storm about to manifest itself in her life..

The day began as any other, Lily arose early, using the silence of the early hours to get in some extra study before preparing for her school day. She dressed in her school uniform while humming to herself, blissfully unaware of the importance of this day.

The first few spits of rain stained the grass as she followed her dorm mates and best friend, Sarah down to the main hall for breakfast. Sarah was her favourite person at Hogwarts. Smart, sassy and extremely confident, she had filled Lily's life with light from the moment they'd met on the train in first year. Sarah was a half blood, who's mother had died when she was a baby so both girls had grown up in the muggle world and their passion for learning everything about the wizarding world naturally drew them to one another.

Her friends chatted animatedly about their dates for the upcoming Hogsmeade visit. Given her general disinterest in dating, largely due to her apparent lack of sexual appeal, she sat in melancholic boredom and allowed her eyes to roam the room in search of distraction.

They skimmed from the Slytherin table, where she spotted the menacing Marauders, no doubt planning some cruel prank on some unsuspecting muggleborn, across to the Ravenclaws, where the two closest girls seemed to be having a heated discussion about some school paper. They crossed the Hufflepuff table and back to her own table where they caught on a pair of icy blues staring directly at her. She cast her eyes to the table immediately wondering why McLaggen of all people was staring at her.

Conrad McLaggen was a god, a 6ft2 mass of blond hair, blue eyes and ripping muscles. He was a 6th year, like herself, current captain of the Gryffindor Quiddich team and generally considered the most eligible and most coveted boy in the entire school. Mindboggling to say the least but she wasn't given long to ponder this before she received a sharp kick in the shins.

"Ow! What the-" she glared up at Sarah but the words died in her mouth as she found herself face to face with those same piercing blue eyes.

"Hey" he smiled at her, a Cheshire cat grin which twisted her stomach.

Startled, she stammered out, "Can-can we help you?" It came across harsher than she intended, causing his grin to falter if only for a second. In response she received stony glares from every girl around her.

"Yes actually. You see I was hoping that you would do me the honour of accompanying me to Hogsmeade this Saturday." His words oozed charm, not surprising after all he was a renowned player. Every girl seemed to forget this fact however, the moment he turned his glistening pools onto them. Lily, however, wasn't like other girls. She was wickedly smart and incredibly perceptive. Although she could agree that he was indeed stunningly attractive, she could never understand every girls' obsession with him. He was a little dim-witted and always seemed a little too slippery to her, like a snake slithering from one kill to the next.

Still she was caught off guard by the question and sat a little dumbfounded. It seemed as if the whole hall had gone silent. She looked between her friends, to McLaggen, to the students all around her, eavesdropping on the interaction, all of which stared expectantly. It seemed there was only one way to answer such a request.

Although it was flattering to be singled out by the most popular boy in school, she had absolutely no desire to go out with him. However, she knew if she were to refuse she would never hear the end of it from her friends and would, no doubt, receive a great deal of hate from the student populace for dissing their beloved McLaggen.

Was it worth all the flack she'd receive for refusing? After all, how bad could one date be? She thought.

"-uh…Yes?" She hadn't meant to pose it like a question, but it didn't seem to faze him. Gaining the anticipated answer, his grin widened, appearing almost feral.

"Excellent. I'm looking forward to it." His honeyed words hung in the air as he turned and sauntered back to his seat.

As soon as he left, the hall seemed to erupt with hushed gossiping and her friends started to squeal excitedly and plan her date. However, something in his eyes as he turned away, filled her with unease. Lily was left wondering if she'd just made a terrible mistake...

Please review to let me know what you think

Chapter 2 will be up soon :)