A/N - Hello! Firstly I want to say, if you're a new reader, thanks for taking the time to check out my story. Secondly, if your one of my gorgeous old readers I want to thank you so much for actually reading this after so long with out an update. I realized that I hadn't updated in 4 months or so and I am so sorry, I never wanted this to happen to this story but it has and I have lots of other things that are more important to me than this story, as sad as it is to say. Again, I am so sorry and I will try not to let it happen, maybe now that I've written this chapter I'll be back in the mood for writing.

I decided to write this chapter because it's been so long and I just realized the other day that it has been a year since I started this story, can you believe it? If any of you read it when it first started I want to thank you for sticking around for so long. So yeah, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MY STORY! Woot!

Please Read and Review, I will be forever thankful. --Grins--

Disclaimer: Just like I didn't own it a year ago, I still don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter 11 - The Ball Begins...

Lily reached up to the base of her neck and touched the necklace that James had given her earlier that day. She smirked at his expression, which was one of utter amazement as he looked her up and down. She suddenly became very self conscious of him looking at her and looked away, noticing that everyone else seemed to have left the room with out them knowing.

"Did you notice them leave?" Lily asked him, laughing at both of their stupidity and still looking around.

"No…No I didn't" James replied also grinning widely. "You look…" He was once again looked down at Lily's dress and then back up to her face. "You look beautiful."

She blushed and looked down at what she was wearing. The dress was black and sleeveless, the top half was tight fitting but it puffed out at the skirt which went down a little past her knees. The skirt part of the dress was made of quite a few layers, all of which had jagged ends and stuck out a bit at the bottom so you could see them, some of soft meshy material and some of a dark green colour, which could only be seen as black unless in certain lights. Lily's hair was up into a loose ponytail which had been curled and somehow made to look as though the hairstyle had been done in 30 seconds as apposed to the half an hour that it actually took.

"Shall we go down?" James asked, extending his arm to her, which she took as she nodded. They left the Common room and slowly walked down to the Entrance Hall where everyone was waiting to be let into the Great Hall.

When they got to the Marble staircase, Lily looked around for her friends and while she was doing this, she couldn't help but notice a few girls eyeing James and then glaring at her with looks jealousy. James was also looking around for their friends and as he did so, he couldn't help but notice more than a few guys nearby eyeing his date and then glaring at him with looks of jealousy. James smiled smugly as Lily finally spotted Moo standing in a far corner with Remus; Sirius and Denzi were somewhere else in the room with their respective dates and Peter was no where to be seen.

They made their way through the crowd till they reached their best friends.

"Nice of you to show up." Moo teased them.

"You didn't have to leave without us." Lily said.

"Well, there's only so long you can stand and stare into each others eyes before it gets boring for the rest of the people in the room." Remus said smirking.

"Anyway," James said, "Changing the subject. Moo, I must say, you look gorgeous." He bowed to her in an old fashionable manner and Lily rolled her eyes at him. Although she knew that he was telling the truth. Moo was wearing a strapless gown of a deep red colour. The top half was like a corset and the bottom puffed out and went right down to the floor so that her red strappy heals could only be seen when she walked and poked out from under the bottom of the gown.

"Hey Guys," A voice said from behind them and they all turned around to see Denzi and Lewis. Denzi looked, to say the least, absolutely gorgeous. Her dress was a metallic blue-grey colour and was made of a very light flowing silky material. It had a halter neck and was tight at the top and waist before becoming slightly looser and flowing straight down to the floor, just covering her strappy silver shoes.

"Oh my gosh Denzi." Moo said, her hand over her mouth as she looked at Denzi's dress. "You look so beautiful.

When the three girls formed one a small group excluding the guys and gushing over each others dresses, James, Remus and Lewis were left standing together, there hands in their pockets waiting for the girls to be finished.

The doors to the Great Hall opened and people began to file in, eager to start the ball as soon as possible. James, Remus and Lewis all attempted to get the attention of their dates, who ignored them and continued to chatter as they made their way into the hall. The guys sighed, shook their heads and also began to make their way into the ball.

The hall looked magnificent, banners of silver silky material were hanging all around the hall from the ceiling, there were ice sculptures and a large tree stood in the very center of the hall. Its vines went up to the roof and sprawled across the ceiling which no longer resembled the night sky outside. Large silver and light blue flowers blossomed on the tree. The four house tables had been removed and replaced with many round tables set for 8. A quarter of the hall had been turned into a large dance floor, complete with a small stage where the staff table had once been. The staff were now sitting along one side of the room.

James, Remus and Lewis soon found the girls sitting at a table close to the center of the hall, and joined them, each sitting next to their respective dates.

"Where did you get to?" Lily asked James as he sat down. He simply looked at her and then at Remus and Lewis and the three guys shook their heads.

"Hey everyone." They heard Sirius' voice behind them all and looked to see him standing with Vivian, who was dressed in a very tight fitting strapless black dress that went down to just above her knees. "You all know Vivian." Sirius added as they took the two remaining seats at the table.

The girls smiled at Vivian and then shared a look.

"Where's Peter?" James asked.

Sirius shrugged. "Haven't seen him."

Once everyone in the hall was seated Professor Dumbledore stood up to say something and a silence fell over the students and staff; the ball was about to begin.

A/N – I'm really sorry that that chapter was so short especially seeing as its been so long since my last update but I really wanted to get something out to you guys and this is all I have time for right now. I will definitely not let it take that long ever again. Please review and thanks heaps for reading.

Lots of Love

Leisha AKA Hpfreaklk