Thanks for reviews! I'm sorry this is taking so long. But thank my commute to school I can work on this more. It's far from over, kiddies. Stick around!

The blah balh you know this part

Chapter 14- Yule Ball.. Original? No.

The day of Yule Ball hit Lily like a vat of creamy vanilla custard, sticking and sloppy and goopy. (Once again, author is hungry…) She had just enough time to hit the library for some Defense book scouring after lunch, but two hours quickly passed. Celina had made Lily promise to attend a hair-conditioning session back in the dormitories. Thus, Lily set off from the library, books trailing after her with a simple spell. All the way into the common room and up the dormitory stairs..

Celina greeted her with pots and jars of fragrant goop scattered around the floor. Olivia was there as well, reading a random Quidditch book.

"About time, Lils," Celina rolled her eyes. "Merlin! I see you've invited the library, as well."

Lily shrugged sheepishly, commanding the books to pile near her trunk. "Just some light homework reading for Defense class.."

"Lily, pick a James and stick with him!" Celina smiled, still managing to look serene while eyeing the books inquisitively.

Lily opened her mouth to say something, but decided against digging herself into another hole. She merely stood staring at the floor, face burning. She did NOT like the Professor.. it wasn't HER fault that so many handsome men had come into her life…

AHH! What was Lily thinking!

"Step into my office, ladies," Celina gestured to her collection on the floor.

Olivia sat down first next to Celina, and Lily cautiously followed suit.

"First up is a moisture-enhancing cleansing potion…"

The names blurred out in Lily's memory as Celina opened bottle after jar after bottle… The three went through a few hours of gooping and re-gooping hair, all the while chatting like normal girls do.

Lily found out that Olivia was going to Ball with Matt Jordan, which didn't surprise her. Of course. Olivia nearly screamed when she found out about James Potter, but astoundingly didn't say anything beyond a shocked "Oh."

The topic changed to dress robes and makeup, and Lily found herself staring out the window near her four-poster. A flash of movement from afar caught her eye.

A figure crept along the edge of the school grounds, towards that odd willow tree that no one neared. Lily could see it creeping along the edge of the Forest, like a hunter stalking its prey.

Lily squinted. Well, THAT looked suspicious.

"Hey, am I seeing things or is that someone out there..?" Lily pointed out, just to make sure she wasn't feeling aftereffects of that last Charms lesson.

Curious, the other two got up and looked, all three now crowding the small window. A passerby would have thought them all strange, for they all wore odd showercap things on their goopy heads..

"Who is it?" Olivia murmured, frowning. "Looks like it's limping.."

Limping slightly, the figure was still skirting the school grounds, but not for long. It disappeared back into the forest, its black shadowy self seamless with the dark Forest, as if it had discovered its watchers.

"I think it had something attached to its foot!" Celina exclaimed. "The size of a Quaffle, it was."

Lily blinked. "Like some kind of tumor! I doubt it. Bites or infections naturally can't swell a foot to that size, either…"

Celina and Olivia exchanged looks. There went the genius on her train of thought.

"So you're saying that person had some kind of handicap they were born with?" Celina ventured.

"Born with..? Maybe. Or.. maybe… A transfiguration went wrong?"

"Transfiguration?" Olivia repeated, confused.

"Or it could be a transformation. Metamorphosis."

The three gasped all at once. "Deckard!"

"No way!" Celina burst.

"Well, he DID disappear," Olivia pointed out.

Lily bit her lip. "So he's not on vacation. He's just lurking around the school."

"That's comforting," Celina stated. "So what do we do?"

"What CAN we do?" Olivia asked. "Excuse me, Dumbledore, but you know our MIA Professor? Yeah, we just saw him skulking about in that Forest from our seventh-story dorm windows while applying potentially hazardous chemicals to our heads!"

"Merlin, we're all off our rockers," Lily groaned.

"I'd say the best thing we can do is keep an eye out for him. If he shows up again, we'll bring it up," Celina suggested. "Just to make sure it was really him."

Olivia and Lily nodded in agreement.

"Right, we can take these off, and.. Scourgify!" Celina flicked her wand, and the goop disappeared. All three girls ran fingers through their hair and examined the results.

"Brilliant! This stuff worked wonders, Celina!" Olivia exclaimed happily, running fingers through her silky, shiny hair that was no longer in braids.

Celina smiled back, combing through her mane of stunning silver hair.

"What was it supposed to do?" Lily asked quietly.

Celina cast her an odd glare.

"What? I don't see any difference…"

"Lily! It smoothes, silkens, straightens, and shines!" Celina recited, exasperatedly.

"Oh.. hehe.. Right."

Honestly, Lily didn't feel any difference whatsoever. But if Celina insisted, then maybe Lily's contacts needed to be changed.

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As the sun passed from the sky, Lily endured many more hours of Celina's torturous beauty treatments. But thankfully, time passed not so slowly, and with a final flick of the wand, Celina stood back to admire her work.

"Free at last! Free at last!" Lily sang, throwing her arms up in the air, only to have them weighed down with a hand mirror. Lily sniffed and looked into it. "Ahh.. who… is that ME!"

"Of course! You look so pretty," Celina smiled.

Truly, Lily wouldn't have ever thought she could look this nice. Ever. Her eyes were lined a smoky gray, lashes extended and curled. A light blush glittered on her cheeks. Her lips were painted a glossy red to match her hair, which was pinned and curled in an elegant updo, with some strands falling down into tight curls around her face. Topping it all off was her new green dress robe, the one James had bought her.

Looking up, Lily found Celina finishing her makeup. Celina looked stunning in a midnight blue dress robe, her hair cascading down in silver sheets of silk which ended in soft curls. Her eyes were shaded a misty blue, and her lips a dark blue to match her dress. Lipstick that dark gave an icy chill to Lily's spine; it looked as if Celina were the essence of a frosty winter. But it worked for Celina, Lily supposed.

"Thanks, Celina," Lily managed to say. But she truly was grateful.

"Don't worry about it, Lily," Celina replied. "Let's go downstairs. I bet the boys are waiting, whining like a bunch of pansies.."

Lily shrugged and picked up a few of her things from the floor. Celina made such a mess, honestly. Did Lily need anything? Celina was taking a purse, but Lily felt she didn't need one, so she gathered herself to follow Celina out.

"See? Whining," Celina announced as the two found the boys doing exactly as Celina predicted. Sirius lay spread out on the couch, near the point of napping, and Peter was doing the same. James was playing with a loose Snitch, his free hand running through his hair anxiously. As soon as Celina laughed aloud, they all sat up instantly, trying to look as if they weren't bored at all, but rather extremely interested in a fruit bowl painting on the wall. They were at least dressed nicely; Sirius wore a dark gray robe, which made his hair look even darker, Peter wore an old-looking blue robe that was a bit wrinkly, and James wore a black one with a satin sheen to the fabric.

"Where's Lupin?" Lily asked curiously, noticing the missing 4th groupie.

The boys all exchanged glances at once. "He—er.. ahh.. His grandmum died!" James said quickly, then added a look of melancholy a second later.

"… I thought she died in September?" Lily wondered aloud. That made.. 3 dead grandmothers?

"No! Um… well, she was actually his great-aunt, but he was very close to her…" Sirius stated.

"Like a grandmother," Peter added.

"Yeah," James agreed.

Both of Celina's eyebrows went up, but she didn't say anything. Lily looked down at her hands quietly. Poor Remus…

While Sirius was busy talking to Celina for a moment, Lily found James blankly staring at her.

".. What?" Lily asked nervously. "Is something the matter?"

"Yeah… I mean—No!" James said loudly, rumpling his hair. He paused for a moment. "You look beautiful, Lily."

"Thanks, James. You too," Lily managed to get out, her face afire. "I mean.. not beautiful! Er.. you.. look nice," she finished, trailing off.

James laughed. "Thanks, Evans."

"Shall we go?" Celina interrupted.

"Wait!" Sirius exclaimed. "We wanted to conjure something for you ladies."

"Right. Celina, these are from Padfoot," James said, pulling out a large bouquet of odd white flowers from his sleeves.

"And my dear Lily, these are from Prongs," Sirius announced, pulling out a bouquet of white lilies that was twice the size of Celina's. "What? Prongs, you cheater!"

James grinned mischievously and avoided a punch from Sirius, both girls now holding their presents.

"What flower is that?" Lily asked around her huge bouquet.

"Moon flower," Celina replied, inhaling the fragrance. "We both got our namesakes." Celina means moon in Celtic, I think.. Maybe some other language.

"And where do we PUT our namesakes?" Lily's arms were getting tired.

"Just set them down and we'll be on our way," James said, offering Lily his arm, which she took slowly.

As they left the portrait hole, Lily remembered she left her wand up in the dormitories. But it was too late for that now; she would have to do without it, she supposed. Shrugging away a nagging feeling, Lily allowed James to pull her away.

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"Wanna dance, Evans?" James asked suddenly, as soon as they arrived.

Red flag! Red flag! "D-dance?" Lily repeated, looking alarmed. Dancing? As in public? She opened her mouth to protest, saying that she couldn't dance for beans, and even if she would ever feel possessed to dance for beans, she'd die of starvation very quickly.

That bet she lost never included dancing as part of the price.

"It's a swift song; you'll do fine," James said into her ear. How come everyone could read Lily's mind so well? Maybe everyone secretly took those secret mind reading classes… secretly.

Lily felt herself being pulled onto the crowded dance floor. Well, this wasn't so bad.. No one paid attention to anyone else anyway, especially on a crowded floor.

James put his arm around Lily's waist, and took her hand. Remembering some old movie she'd seen, Lily put her free hand onto his shoulder. Yeah, just like the movies.

The song continued, and they began dancing; Lily's feet followed James's direction better than she thought, although she did misstep a couple times. All through which James smiled and chuckled slightly. But he never laughed at her as they whirled about amongst the others on the floor.

Suddenly, the couple dancing next to them bumped into Lily, knocking her forward onto James, her body pressed up against his. Then the music changed, slowed down into a languid waltz, its beat accompanied by a soft violin and flute harmonizing a melody.

Lily's face burned like a fire. They were standing so close together, as if time stopped and no one else was there. She didn't want the moment to end, but part of her mind kept screeching, telling her to move away; but her feet were frozen, her eyes fixed on James's in calm silence.

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"Evans, do you want something to drink?" James asked, ruffling his hair and grinning, as usual. He looked a little red-faced, probably from all that dancing.

"Sure," Lily replied, adjusting her hair and watching him walk off, leaving her with a chatty Sirius. Celina had removed herself to attend to her makeup in the washroom, and Sirius was left to find ways to entertain himself for the next quarter hour. And since Peter was lost amongst the crowd somewhere, Lily was his target.

"Look! I can dislocate my thumb and pop it out like this—"

"Yuck.." Lily muttered, not looking. Instead, her eyes wandered off to other areas far away. Where had James gone again?

She found his tall form weaving through peers to get to the refreshment table. He was stopped suddenly by a girl. Squinting, Lily realized it was Elaine Barker, wearing loads of makeup and looking better than she usually did. She was smiling all too pleasantly at James..

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"Move, Barker," James said hastily, trying to get around her somehow, which wasn't working as well as he'd hoped.

"Why, James, you look wonderful!" she chimed, not hearing what he said. "Don't I look pretty too?"

James glared at her in annoyance. "No," he said sharply. "You're in my way, so move."

Elaine pouted, obviously trying not to get angry, but her face was reddening anyway. "Now, that's not very nice, is it?"

James grumbled. What a thick girl!

"Look! Mistletoe!" Elaine said quickly, then grabbed him by the front of his robes and jerked him towards her. Her lips planted themselves firmly on his.

James face wrinkled in disgust as he tried to push her away by her shoulders.

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Lily was watching. What was James doing… with Elaine! James was kissing Elaine, right in front of her!

Elaine's words a few days ago rang in Lily's mind. "James will turn around… and when he does, you'll be a lonely little nobody again!"

Lily's eyes blurred and her throat burned. She couldn't believe it.. All this time, James was just toying with her, and the rest of the girls in the school as well. She was just another victim of his game..

She got up to leave, first walking, then beginning to run. She bumped into someone; it was Professor Izumi, holding a glass of punch and dressed for the occasion. He had been keeping an eye on the students, as chaperoning was part of his job as a teacher.

"Lily, you look lovely," he said, smiling. But his smile faded as he noticed Lily's expression. "Is something the matter?"

Lily bit her trembling lip, saying nothing. She brushed past him without further eye contact, trying to hide her face.

Tears brimming her eyes and threatening to fall, Lily raced out of the hall, briskly pushing countless people out of the way with trembling hands. So James never liked her. He just wanted to use her and add her to his long list of ex-girlfriends, girls used and tried out, then thrown away like an old toy.

Greeted by a gust of cold winter air, she found herself outside on the school grounds in front of the school. The gust turned into an icy squall; Lily's tears fell from her eyes, leaving fleetingly warm trails on her cheeks. The wind grew louder and louder, and all of a sudden, it stopped, and the air stilled into silence.

She wiped her eyes on her sleeves, not caring if she ruined the robe. After all, that lying scumbag had bought it for her. Lily decided she would burn it. Thus she turned to go back inside, but a sound caught her attention, carrying itself through the night air.

Lily listened and tried to discern where it was coming from and what exactly it was.

"It's a song," Lily murmured. It was coming from far away, off to the side of the castle where Gryffindor tower would be.

The melody became lucid as she stepped near. It was a high pitched tune, a voice's lovely vibrato piercing the night with a wistful cry. Lily heard the words; it sounded like some sort of opera, in a language she couldn't understand; but the voice was the most beautiful she had ever heard.

"Mesiku na nebi hlubokem

Svetlo tvé daleko vidi,

Po svete bloudis sirokém,

Divas se v pribytky lidi..."

Mesmerized, she followed the song, trekking across frosty grass as she shivered. Who was singing? She was getting near to the source; the song had reached a high note, and it was held in a crescendo, trembling skillfully in the air.

Lily stopped in front of the strange willow tree. What was it called? The Whomping Willow? Shuddering, she peered at it carefully. It wasn't moving. It didn't seem like it would be anytime soon. Besides, what's the worse a tree could do? The only moving it was doing was a light sway in the breeze, its branches like limp fingers. She stepped closer to the tree. The voice was coming from inside! Was the tree singing..?

Swiftly, a branch moved, creaking. Looking up, Lily saw the branch come swinging at her at full speed. She yelped and dove out of the way. The bough pounded into the ground, leaving a deep imprint in the soft dirt and crushed grass.

Gasping for air, she crawled away from the tree. "Whomping… Willow.." she cursed herself for not knowing that much. "Eh?" The voice had stopped singing, and a deep grumbling was issuing from inside the tree.

Lily pushed her hair out of her eyes to make sure she was seeing properly. Was that a pair of yellow eyes staring at her from the base of the tree? There appeared to be a tunnel there, in between the roots, and in it was a dog-like creature.

It growled at her, and began to climb out, slowly; its form became clear in the moonlight.

The creature was an odd sort of dog or wolf, with a long muzzle and big pointed ears, but it was much bigger in size and less hairy. It walked on four legs, all long and thin like a starving monkey's, with paw-like feet. And sharp claws and teeth adorned the creature, which it was baring at Lily in a threatening manner.

It howled sharply, its tone lacking melancholy or happiness. It was a cry of a hunt.

Lily quietly reached into her pocket for her wand, fumbling dazedly.

She had left it back in her room! That mistake left her as exposed as a chicken in a tiger's cage.

Scared beyond her wits, Lily sprinted away, to anywhere but there. She hadn't thought that it would come after her. Which is exactly what it was doing, teeth still bared and tongue dripping saliva around its snout as it ran after her, stumbling in clumsiness. Lily sure hoped it was clumsiness, and not abounding hunger.

It was gaining on her. She could hear its panting.

She needed some sort of cover.. Panic stricken, she dove into the one place she would never have stepped foot into if she were in her right mind. That's right, kids. The Forbidden Forest.

Momentum carried the creature past where Lily took the sharp turn, and it bought her some time to duck and weave through the forest growth. She hid behind a very large tree, for maneuvering purposes. If it found her again, she could easily run away without getting caught in nasty bushes or something.

A twig snapped nearby. Lily almost gasped out loud, but managed not to by some stroke of luck, and peered over in that direction. Nothing. Not a single thing stood out among the dense woods.

"Must've been my imagination," Lily thought, looking around her. It was gone. For now, at least.

She had to get back to the castle! She would get back to safety, and inform the Headmaster that a bloodthirsty creature was roaming the school grounds.

Just as she turned to head out, she faced a dark figure cloaked in black, its back turned to her. Lily stood watching it for a moment, before it swiftly turned around. Its face was hidden as well. The gleaming rifle it was holding in its gloved hands was not.

She ran away again before it could decide what to do first, leaving it standing there in her wake. A gun! What was that… thing.. doing with a gun?

Out of breath, she now stood a good distance from the Forest.

"Where am I now?" Lily panted, looking at the castle. "I'm somewhere back where I started! Which means that wolf thing is going to come back…"

An angry snarl sounded from behind her. Lily screamed, and then gathered the sense to duck as it leapt at her. She leapt up again and made a mad dash for the school entrance. Safety. She had to get to safety.

Her legs were aching from the exercise, her lungs were burning for air, and her heart pounded in her ears. Blinded with panic, she didn't see the dark patch in front of her. She found herself facedown in the grass.

A hole. A stupid hole in the ground from some mole or something had caught her foot. And now she was eating dirt. That thing would be eating HER now.

Terrified, she turned to face the growling visage behind her. Its cold yellow eyes pierced the night, looking weary and starved. It hunched, and leapt forward to tear apart its prey.

Screaming, Lily shielded her face with her arms, hoping beyond all hope it didn't like to eat tender little girls.

She heard an impact, but felt none. Looking up, she saw a large form crashing into the wolf, using its hooves and great horned head to keep the monster at bay from her.

It was that stag! The same one from Halloween!

The monster snarled as it recoiled, the stag stomping its hooves on the ground threateningly. It seemed as if the wolf didn't want to retreat, but rather enjoy the nice snack that lay in a heap just beyond its adversary. Leaping at the stag, it extended clawed paws and opened its great jaws.

The stag skipped aside, and caught its exposed side with a swift collision of the horns, pushing it away.

Lily watched in astonishment, not moving. Was the stag fighting for its own benefit? Or was it protecting her, something all too human..?

There was a sharp bark, and a smaller, dark creature joined the stag. It was a shaggy black dog, baring gleaming white teeth at the wolf, standing in alliance with the great stag. It barked again and again, vicious and menacing, daring the wolf to come closer.

The creature backed away slowly. Two opponents would be too much to fight. It was weary and bruised, looking disappointedly at Lily.

The stag stepped closer to it, and the wolf backed away farther, but it wouldn't leave. It sat down and began nursing a couple wounds, eyeing the stag apprehensively.

Meanwhile, the dog turned around to face Lily, lowering its ears in a peaceful composure as it trotted over. Lily recoiled from it momentarily, but seeing as it meant no harm, her gaze flicked back to the wolf creature sitting beyond the stag's glare.

The black dog prodded her with its nose, then began licking her hands as if to comfort her and lead her away, back to safety.

Lily's vision darkened. No, the sky darkened. A cluster of clouds passed in front of the moon, obstructing the light cast on the Earth. Lily could hardly see now; the light of unblocked stars was hardly enough to watch the strange creature before her cringe in agony.

It whined and moaned, hiding its face in the grass, twisting and writhing. It howled softly, again and again, each cry louder than the last one to tear itself from its throat.

Finally, a long wail from it seared the night sky. The rest after were muffled whimpers.

"Lily!" came a familiar voice.

She turned her head to find two of her professors—Caliban and Izumi. Caliban looked as if she had seen better days, as Izumi was supporting her from one side. A few long tears ran down the side of her emerald green robe, and dark crimson blood had seeped through.

"What are you doing out here!" Izumi exclaimed. "More importantly, what is the local zoo doing here?"

The black dog wagged its tail, trying to look inconspicuous.

"I.. er.." Lily mumbled, getting up slowly. "What's going on?"

"Pest control," Caliban said irritably. "Just… get inside."

"But you're—"

"James," Caliban muttered, "please see to it that Lily is sent to bed early."

"I can't leave you out here alone like this," Izumi reasoned.

Caliban winced, and stiffly extracted her wand from her robes, saying nothing.

"You go to the Hospital Wing with Lily, and I'll take care of it."

"You can't. We both know that. Only I'm---" She stopped, gripping her side and standing up by herself. She looked up at the sky, blinking back tears of pain. "Go before it's too late. I'll be fine, unless a manticore finds me. Then I'll call."

"Come, Lily, this is no place for sightseeing," Izumi announced, scooping her up in his strong arms.

"But Professor Caliban---"

"… is very stubborn. I know," Izumi shook his head. "Are your pets coming?"

"My pets?" Lily asked dazedly. His body warmth was welcome after sitting in shock in icy grass and cold air. "No, they're not my pets." Lily peered behind Izumi. Everyone was gone. The dog, the wolf, Caliban.. but the stag stood there, watching her.

The sky cleared and moonlight bathed the ground again, illuminating the stag in silver. A sharp howl rang out again, this time from far away.

The stag eyed Lily, and then snorted a gust of misty warm air before running off out of her line of vision and into the Yule night.

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Lily shivered as a bath of warm air surrounded her. Izumi put her down on the stone floor of the castle.

"Professor, what was that monster?" Lily ventured to ask. Usually, creatures that dangerous knew better than to stay away from the school grounds. No one knew how, but they did.

Izumi cast her a soft glance and remained quiet for a moment. "Just that. A monster," he said carefully. "Don't worry. We'll make sure it doesn't come back."

Lily bit her lip, her heart thumping steadily against her chest. Wondering what exactly was going on at the school, she cast a quizzical look at Izumi.

"Come," he said quietly, taking Lily's hand. She followed him silently all the way to the hospital wing, and soon found herself in a bed, Madam Pomfrey buzzing over her in a quick examination.

Izumi whispered something in Pomfrey's ear, and soon she conjured up a small cup.

"Drink this," she said, handing Lily the cup and going away to change some sheets or something equally important.

"But I'm not sick," Lily protested, wincing at the smell of the liquid inside. "I'm fine."

"It's a sleeping draught," Izumi said, forcing the potion to her lips. "Come tomorrow morning, you'll think this is all a dream."

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REVIEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! Sorry for the number partitions. You know how it is..