Author's Note: I know the last thing I should do right now is start another story, but I just can't help it. I apologize in advance if I don't update as often as I should. I hope you guys enjoy this story!

Oh and um, everything belongs to the wonderful J.K Rowling except for the plotline and my original character, Jessica.

Rosalie L.

'How is my Gryffindor princess today?'

I watch him come closer and try to press his lips to my own, but I turn away and instead, he kisses my cheeks. He pretends not to notice that I am turning him down.

'How did you find me?' I ask, letting my annoyance show.

Not wanting to sit on the stop of the staircase any longer, I stand up and head over to the edge of the tower, staring at the view. I wish I can say it was beautiful, I wish I can say that the moon was shining bright, the sky covered with dozens of stars, and that the cool wind is lightly rushing past my face.

I wish I can say that.

Everything looks old and everything looks as if it is withering, trying to stay alive on this chilling winter night. The fog consumes the air, making it nearly impossible to see, the dark grey clouds have filled the skies but not a drop of rain was falling.

I see nothing but death and nothing but gloom.

I realize now, that he is still there and that I missed his answer.

'I did not hear you.' I say, casually.

If he is angry, or the slightest bit irritated, he does not show it.

'I looked all over the castle.' He says, taking a step closer to me.

Still, I did not look him in the eye. I begin to search my head for an appropriate response and when I find none, I choose to remain silent.

I feel him place his robes over me. I want to yell at him, to snap and throw his robes of me. I want to declare to him and perhaps, loud enough for the world to hear, that I'm not cold and I do not need his hospitality.

I want to say that.

But still I look out into the view, as if suddenly, the scene will clear and the beauty of Hogwarts grounds will show itself once more. I can imagine it all now: the beautiful lake, sparkling, a clear blue, made easy for swimming in the hot summer days, and frozen in the winters, but wonderful for skating; the grounds covered with snow, perfect for our annual snowball fights and in the summer, perfect for our days of playing Wizardhunt; the forbidden forests, the days of exploring, running, hiding, the discoveries made, I can see it all as clear as day.

He's talking but nothing he says is getting though to my brain. He knows I'm not listening and I wonder why he is continuing. Why is he even here? He knows I don't want him around. I wonder how long it will be until he snaps, though I suppose I should hope that he does not. He may be the most patient, most calm and most collected person I have ever met but when he snaps, it's like hell on earth.

He says my name and it catches my attention. I finally look at him, meeting his grey eyes, so lifeless, so tired.

I laugh a little to myself, remembering the sparkle they used to hold once upon a time. I briefly wonder if I look as dead as he does, if I look as dead as the world does at this very moment. Perhaps we're mirroring each other's images and I just cannot see it at this time.

Without really thinking, I pull his robes tighter around me as I feel a chilling wind pass our direction. He takes advantage of the situation, wrapping his arms around me. For a few moments, warmth was running through my body and it made me feel so whole, more whole than I have felt for months. It takes me a few seconds to snap back to reality and more angrily than I intended, I push him off me. Furthermore, it seems I have found my voice.

'Get of me!' I yell, perhaps a bit too loudly. 'Can't you see that I do not want you here?'

Again, there is no sign of irritation or annoyance from him. He stands there, waiting, it seems, for something.

'What do you want?' I ask, feeling my vision blur.

I turn away from him and blink away the treacherous tears. I cand feel my throat closing up and I try as hard as I can to silently take deep breaths.

He knows though, he always knows.

He wraps his arms around me once more and I find that I have no strength to push him away once more. This one kind act of generosity breaks the cold-stone demeanour which I have been trying to copy, copy form him. Tears fall down my face and they fall harder once I hear him trying to utter soothing words in my ear.

I don't want his comfort. I want nothing from him. He has no right to comfort me after causing me so much pain.

'Go away.' I say, as sternly as I could muster. 'Someone else will come looking for me.'

'It's late. No one has come yet.' He tells me, but he sounds as worried as I do.

'They will come.' I say, truthfully. 'They just have not found me yet. This isn't really my most favourite place to be.'

'I will not leave you.' He assures me.

'Not even for her?' I blurt out.

It results in a whole new round of tears for me. I hate myself for crying, I absolutely loathe myself. He has not one ounce of remorse and I am here crying my eyes out before him!

I can feel that he is tense now, perhaps even angry. His grip on me tightens slightly and he is no longer trying to console me. I can actually hear his breathing now, harsher than it was before, as if he were trying not to hurt me further. He says nothing in return, however.

I don't blame him. He cannot say anything, can he? He can't deny what I just said.

My crying subsides after a few minutes and I begin to wonder about her, about the other woman.

But she's not the other woman, is she? You are. It's always been you.

I try to force my thoughts down, down so deep that I cannot ever reach them but it seems the harder I try to keep them down, the harder and faster they keep resurfacing.

If she needed him right now, do you think he'd be here with you?

'Who's there?'

'That's your cue to slip away unnoticed.' I say, rubbing my eyes.

I recognized the voice, I knew who it was.

'I can't go without her seeing me.' He says, looking panic-stricken.

I sigh, push him away once more, throw his elegant robes on the floor and walk down the stairs.

'Lils, it's just me.' I say, appearing before her.

'Jess, I was looking everywhere for you!' Lily says, wrapping me in a tight hug.

Just from feeling someone's arms around me, I feel like crying all over again. I hug Lily as tightly as I can, biting my tongue hard and thinking about anything but the pain.

'Everyone's so worried about you.' Lily says, softly. 'You just ran away, no one's seen you since dinner.'

'I just...' I shake my head, knowing that if I keep talking, I'll cry for the millionth time that night.

'Jess, I'm your best friend. You can tell me anything.' Lily insists. 'You've been so down lately and today, you just...'

'Broke down?' I add, my voice faltering.

Lily looks like she's going to cry herself. In all our years of Hogwarts, Lily has never seen me cry.

'Please don't.' I beg her. 'Gosh, Lily if you cry right now, I don't think... I don't think I can keep it together.'

Lily nods her head and hugs me once more. 'My duties are over. Let's go back to the Common Room. Everyone is so worried about you.'

I nod and let her take me back to the Common Room. I didn't even bother to look back to see if he was watching me leave.

'Lily, you found her!' Alice exclaims, rushing over to me.

She pulls me into a tight hug too, screaming about how worried she was.

'Where were you?' She asks me.

'Astronomy tower.' Lily answers.

'Impossible.' James interrupts.

Lily rolls her eyes. 'Do you have to start an argument over everything, Potter?'

'Guys, I'm tired. Let's drop it. I just want to go to bed.' I say, desperate to change the topic.

But James wouldn't let it go. 'I'm arguing because, Evans, you are a liar. You couldn't have been in the Astronomy Tower.'

'It's true, Lily.' Remus says, confused as to why Lily would lie.

'Guys, honestly. So tired.' I try again.

'I know she hates the place, but trust me I know where I found her.' Lily argues.

'She couldn't have been in the tower because Malfoy was there.' Sirius informs Lily, thinking that he has ended all possible arguments.

I can feel my heart ache at the mention of his name.

'Guys, I found her in the astronomy tower.' Lily said, defiantly. 'And how would you know that Malfoy was there? Jessica was all alone when I found her!'

'I'm going to bed.' I say, ignoring all the curious looks from the Marauders.

'The hell you are.' Sirius says, following me.

'Padfoot!' Peter calls.

James and Remus do the same.

'What's going on?' I hear Lily ask, as I pick up my speed.

I knew that entering the girl's side of the dormitories will not stop Sirius from following me but once I get into my room, I can lock him out.

I didn't even hear him behind me but suddenly I feel the wall against my back. Sirius pins me hard against the wall, not hurting me in any way, but preventing me from escaping.

'What did he do to you? Sirius asks.

'Nothing!' I exclaim, harsher than necessary.

'Tell me.' Sirius demands. 'I swear I will kill him for whatever he did.'

'Nothing happened!' I scream in his face.

The thought of Sirius hurting Lucius sounds appealing, but I cannot allow it.

'Then what were you doing with Malfoy?' Sirius yells back.

By this time, everyone else has caught up. I can imagine what we look like to them, breathing heavily, against a wall.

Lily looks shocked beyond words, Alice looks horrified, Remus looks irritated, Peter looks amused and James, well, he's shaking his head at his best friend.

'He just happened to show up there, okay?' I tell Sirius. 'He didn't do anything. Once he saw it was me, he was just hassled me until Lily came!'

Sirius lets me go, satisfied of the answer.

'Why didn't you tell me Malfoy was there with you?' Lily asks. 'He's not on duty, I would have reported him.'

I just shake my head, not caring if I look like a maniac. This is all too much, just too much. I was so close to getting caught and so soon after he betrayed me.

'Jess!' Alice yells, before running towards me.

I push her away, ignoring the hurt on her face. I run to my room and slam the door in all their faces, before locking it. I did not care at all that my own roommates will not be able to get into their room tonight. At this point, all I care about is my pain. All I care about is how he has betrayed me. I should have seen it coming. It was all too good to be true. At this very moment, I wonder why I ever went through with everything in the first place. It was truly asking for disaster.

I can't help but think that it is all for nothing. Everything for nothing. The sacrifices, risks and secrets were for nothing. All this pain was for nothing.

And it all started with the stupid masquerade ball.

BREAK

'You okay?' Lily asks laughing.

I smile at her and shake my head, before laughing along with her. 'Yes, actually. I think I'm just a bit nervous.'

'I'm so excited.' Lily admitted. 'I've been hearing about these balls since my first year!'

'I know!' I exclaim. 'Gosh, remember the nights you, Alice and I have stayed up dreaming about it?'

'Of course, how can I forget?' Lily asks, before coming to sit on my bed. 'Mysterious guys covered in masks, enrapturing you in their love until midnight, when their identities are revealed!'

'Too romantic for words.' I say, dreamily.

Lily laughs once more. 'How often do you think it works out?'

I snort. 'Almost never. I swear it's not even secret. I've heard that everyone gives their identities away before the night is over.'

'It's still nice to dream about.' Lily sighs. 'I'm going to go get dressed. I'll see you at the ball?'

'Perhaps...if you can guess that it's me.' I say, with a wink. 'Did Alice tell you what she was wearing?'

'Yes.' Lily said, with a smile. 'So much for keeping her identity a secret.'

I laugh as Lily leaves and eagerly go through my closet looking for my dress. I pull it out along with my mask. I have been planning this day for weeks and months and to be truthful, years. I knew exactly how I was going to do my hair, my makeup, what perfume I was going to wear, and even what jewellery I was going to wear.

First things first, I put on my dress. I grin and not to be arrogant, I have to say, the dress looks gorgeous on me. I was a bit unsure when I first bought it, because, to be frank, it's a bit too revealing for my taste, but I absolutely fell in love with it.

Looking at it now, I have no regrets at all. The upper portion of my dress is heart shaped and sleeveless, exposing my neck, my shoulders and yes, a bit of my cleavage. To further accentuate my bust, the dress is an actual corset style dress. The skirt of my dress puffs out at my waist and only reaches my upper thighs. The entire dress is completely black, with a single, thick gold ribbon wrapped around my waist and tied in an elegant bow. I thought about wearing some thigh high stocking or boots, but I figure that I may as well reveal my legs.

I start to put on my jewellery. On my neck, I place a golden necklace with a black sapphire pendant surrounded by diamonds. On my ears, I place some matching earrings. I chose not to wear other forms of jewellery. If I am going to dance with guys, then I don't want my bracelets or rings to bother them.

Next, I do my hair. Normally, I keep it straight but for the ball, I choose to keep it curly. After curling my hair, I do a half updo, and let the rest of my curls flow down my back. I place small, beautiful smelling white flowers around where my hair is tied. I use a bit of magic to make sure it all stays in place.

After this, I put on my makeup, because of course, at the end of the night, the masks come off and I still need to look beautiful. Of course, I've been told that I don't need make up to look beautiful. I was blessed with bright, blue smokey eyes, which to everyone's extreme jealous, in fact looks violet and times, and I was also blessed with full sensual lips. I admit, my face is beautifully shaped and have no signs of childhood baby fat, thank heavens. I apply a shiny pink lip-gloss to my lips and add a bit of dark eyeliner to my eyes.

When I am done, I put on my black high heels, grab my matching purse and do the one last thing I have to before I go, I grab my ask. Of course, it matches my dress. It's a gold mask, with a black decorative outline. There's a black flower at the corner of the right eye of my mask with beautiful feathers sprouting from it. I put it on and my outfit is complete.

I make sure to carefully walk out of my room, and out of the common room, late, making sure that no one knows it's me.

With each step, I feel more and more nervous. Is my dress too short? Is it all too much? What if no one wants to dance with me?

I don't know how I manage to get to the great hall. It magically opens for me and taking a deep breath, I enter the room. It was now or... you know, next year.

As I enter the beautifully decorated Great Hall, I feel relief wash over me. It seems I was right to go all out on my outfit. Not a single person dressed casually and honestly, we all look like royalty at this very moment.

It only took me a few seconds to figure out who I want to dance with. On the other side of the room, stood a tall boy, wearing an elegant black mask, and an even more elegant suit. I can see him eyeing me through his mask and he promptly walks over.

'May I have this dance, Miss?' He asks me, taking my hand and giving me a kiss.

I smile at his chivalry.

I gratefully nod, and within seconds, he pulls me close and places his one hand on my waist, and uses to his other to take my own. I place my hand on his shoulder and look at his eyes through his mask.

He has the most beautiful bright, grey eyes.

For a second, my heart pounds in my chest. It takes me a second to realize that Sirius is not this tall and I feel my heart begin to calm down.

They might not be his real eyes.

I conclude that it's true. He may have changed his eye colour to fool everyone. I know Lily did it, seeing as how no one has eyes like hers.

I didn't want to. I love my eyes too much to ever change them.

I continue dancing with this boy, spinning, laughing, chatting. He has the most amazing smile, the whitest teeth and it was just perfect.

He tells the most enthralling jokes and antics and whispers to me about how beautiful I look.

'I won't give myself away.' I tell him. 'Not my name, not my house, nothing about me.'

He doesn't even hesitate. 'Neither am I, Princess.'

Princess.

I feel weird, wondering if he truly saw me as a princess. At this moment, I truly believe he is my prince charming.

I expect him to go, to get a chance to dance with other girls but he does not. He stays with me, dancing with me, song after song. The conversation continues and we never run out of things to say. I have no clue who this boy is, but he's making my night perfect.

He seems so intelligent, so witty, so courteous and bold. I don't even take the time to look at anyone else around me. I know the decorations are beautiful and I know I should be looking for my friends, but all I can think about is him and the fluttering in my stomach.

We don't even stop to eat or have a drink.

He's unwilling to let go of me and I'm unwilling to walk away.

The laughter, the singing and the noise all around me could not snap me out of my trance. Evidently, he seems to feel the same way. His eyes do not wander for even a second, they remain on me for hours and hours.

'Ten seconds till midnight!' A loud voice booms.

I begin to pull away.

'I want to know who you are.' He says, urgently, not letting me go.

'You will, from a distance.' I say, flashing him a smile. 'I want us to be surprised and... I don't want to attract attention.

He nods his understanding. 'Of course, but first – '

He gives me a kiss that sends my head spinning. I don't think I can pull away.

'Seven, Six – '

He pulls away and still dizzy, I run to the other side of the room. Keeping my eyes on him, I join the chant I the countdown.

'Three, two, one!'

At once everyone whips off their masks. Grinning, I look straight at my prince charming and freeze in horror.

He frowns in confusion.

He doesn't know who I am.

But I know who he is.

I don't even think, I run out of the Great Hall before anyone else can notice me. I run faster than I've ever run in my life, through my common room, and up into my dorm. I throw my mask into the closet, pull my dress off and shove it in there as well, before grabbing my wand. I wash off the makeup, make my hair go back to normal, I take off the jewellery and stuff them in a box. I quickly change into a pair of pyjamas and grab a potion out of my drawer.

Taking a deep breath, I gulp down the contents and get into bed, waiting for my roommates to arrive.

'Jess, where were you?' Lily demands, barging into our room.

At once, I sit up and begin to cough.

Alice and Lily rush over to me.

'Oh my god, you're sick!' Alice says, putting her hand to me forehead. 'You're burning up!'

'Turns out it wasn't nervousness.' I say weakly, before adding. 'Guys, I missed the ball.'

Lily hugs me. 'I'm so sorry, Jess! I wouldn't have gone if I knew!'

'Neither would I!' Alice added.

I smiled weakly at them. 'It's okay guys. There's always next year. You two look beautiful.'

'Oh Jess, get some rest, we'll talk tomorrow.' Lily says, sweetly.

But I refuse to let them go. 'No, tell me all about your nights! I don't care how sick I am!'

Lily and Alice laugh and begin to tell me all about their nights.

To Lily's horror, she tells me of her nausea of finding out she danced with James. I laugh and all night, I hear about both their stories. They seemed to have had a wonderful time, but unfortunately, they reveal that they did not find their prince charming.

I laugh, assuring them that there's always next year.

During the ball, I was so sure I found my prince charming, but I sat here listening to Alice and Lily's stories, only thinking that I had danced with the devil all night long.

BREAK

'And where were you yesterday night?' Sirius asks, as I reach the bottom of the stairs.

'Looking for me, were you?' I tease.

Sirius laughs.

Teasing him has never been any fun. No matter how much I try, I've never been able to intimidate Sirius Black. Likewise, he's never been able to do the same to me.

'I was kindly saving you a dance.' Sirius says, shrugging. I didn't dance with you though and didn't see you at all either.'

'I didn't go.' I lied.

'Told you.' James says, going over his Quidditch plans. 'I didn't see her either. No one did.'

'Why didn't you go?' Peter asks, giving up on understanding James's plans. 'It was brilliant!'

I feign a mournful sigh. 'I felt sick.'

'Are you okay to practise today?' Were the first words out of James's mouth.

I look at him in pure and utter shock.

'I think he means to say he's sorry you missed the ball and that he hopes you're feeling better.' Remus says, hiding a smile. 'At least, that's what I would say.'

'Right you are, Moony.' James says, smiling innocently. 'That's what I meant, Jess. How are you now?'

I laugh and playfully hit James.

'Oi!' Sirius exclaims. 'We need our captain!'

I smirk and raise an eyebrow at Sirius. 'Jealous?'

'Hardly.' Sirius scoffs.

'A little bit then?' I mock.

I shoot him a seductive look, one that he mirrors in return.

I burst out laughing and Sirius joins me.

'Merlin, you're killing me here.' Sirius says, running his hand through his gorgeous, dark hair. 'I've never seen a girl so immune to my charms.'

'You call them charms, I call them horrendous flirting tactis.' I says, casually.

'She's got you there, mate.' James says, laughing.

'Evans, alright there?' Sirius suddenly asks.

James turns his head so fast, I barely get a chance to register what Sirius was trying to do.

Suddenly, Peter, Remus and I burst out laughing.

Sirius merely grins and says, 'I rest my case.'

A fuming James begins to mutter, rather loudly, under his breath. I only catch a few words, "lying git" being one of them.

'Should we get down to have some breakfast?' I ask, rather eagerly.

'Hungry, Jess?' Remus asks.

'Just want to beat the rush and get onto the field.' I lie, with ease.

'Fine by me!' Sirius says, leaping to his feet.

James and Peter not only echo his words but also mirror his actions.

'Boys.' I say, rolling my eyes in amusement.

'It's just them.' Remus says.

I laugh and nod my head in agreement. Remus certainly wasn't like the rest of them.

As Sirius, James and Peter sped to the Great Hall to get their breakfast, Remus and I were walking a reasonable pace.

'Full moon soon?' I ask, giving a kind smile to Remus.

Remus nods his head. 'I probably shouldn't have gone to the ball last night. I'm exhausted.'

'I'm sorry.' I say, truthfully. 'Perhaps you should sit out at practise.'

Remus shakes his head. 'I may as well practise now. After the full moon, I'll be even more exhausted.'

'That's true.' I say. 'You need some sort of practise for our match against Slytherin.'

'You think we'll win?' Remus asks.

If James was here, he would say. 'I know we'll win.'

But I was a bit more realistic. 'We'll give it our best shot, but their team is packed.'

Remus nods his head and sighs. 'And they play brutally.'

I take a deep breath and sigh reluctantly.

'Nervous?' Remus asks.

'Just a little.' I say. 'I wish more girls played Quidditch.'

'One day, you'll see.' Remus says, as we finally reach the relatively empty Great Hall.

'Took you long enough.' Sirius says, taking a bite of his sausage.

Being too lazy to get my own plate, I just start eating from theirs. The first thing I do is grab some of Peter's eggs. Luckily enough for me, he didn't mind. None of them ever mind.

'I love meat.' James declares, stuffing bacon into his mouth.

I laugh as I look at what we're all eating: bacon, eggs and sausage.

'That may be okay for you muscular Quidditch boys, but I need to watch what I eat.' I say, grabbing an apple off of Sirius's plate.

'Why do you even bother taking an apple?' I ask, taking my first bite. 'In all my days of Hogwarts, I've never seen you eat one.'

'That's because.' Sirius begins, taking another bite of his sausage. 'My first breakfast here, when I was just about to eat it, you stole it off my plate.'

I take a few more bites, waiting for him to continue.

'Since then, I've kept an apple on my plate, in the morning, because I know you'll have one.' Sirius says, shrugging. 'The apple's there for you, not me.'

'Now Sirius, that perfect way to finish off that line would be to say that I don't need to watch what I eat.' I tease, taking yet another bite.

Sirius grins at me. 'I was going to get to that. Good speech though, don't you think?'

The five of us begin to laugh, ignoring the fact that his speech was very much true.

BREAK

After breakfast and after the long, hard, gruelling practise, I eagerly return back to the Gryffindor Common Room, my hair still wet from the shower I just took.

'Alice!' I greet her.

She smiles widely at me. 'Hey, Jess. Merlin, I'll never understand why you don't just dry your hair off.'

I didn't even have answer, as a fifth year boy approaches me and begins to flirt openly with me.

'I've seen you around a lot, lately.' He says to me.

I smile. 'Well, this is my Common Room.'

I inwardly applaud him for keeping his courage.

'What I mean is, I can't help but notice you.' He says to me. 'I was hoping to get a chance to dance with you at the ball.'

'Unfortunately, I was too ill to attend.' I say, sighing mournfully, once more.

'That must've let down a lot of people.' He says to me. 'I'm sure...well I know I'm not the only guy who was disappointed.'

'You're sweet.' I say, casually edging closer. 'I would have loved to dance with you.'

He grins at me. 'How about next Hogsmeade, you make it up to me?'

I was about to agree when I was interrupted.

'I'll answer for her, you see, it's a no.' Sirius says, flinging his arm around me. 'She's going with me.'

The guy in front of me looks taken back. 'You?'

'You heard me.' Sirius says, pulling me closer to him.

The guy looks irritated but does not give up hope. 'If you change your mind, just ask around for me. My name's Adam.'

'Thank you, Adam. I'll keep that in mind.' I say, flashing him a seductive smile.

He leaves and we all wait a few seconds before saying anything.

'What was that?' Alice asks Sirius and me.

Sirius pulls away from me. 'You're welcome.'

'For what?' Remus asks, entering the room. 'Prongs is outside with Lily, by the way.'

'I'll go play peacemaker.' I say, getting up.

'You're not even going to explain that?' Alice asks me.

I shrug. 'Nothing big. Ask Sirius. I need to go save our dear Lilykins.'

I hear Alice rapidly questioning Sirius as I step outside of the portrait hole. 'Oi, Potter!'

James turns around and through his grin, I can see his evident disappointment. My guess is Lily just turned him down for the next Hogsmeade trip.

'Alright there, Jess?' He asks me.

I nod. 'Yes and you two?'

Lily just shakes her head in frustration and storms off.

I start to follow her but she sighs and turns around. 'I'm just meeting Sev in the library. I'm fine, really.'

I wink at her at the mention of Severus and she laughs, as if she has already forgotten her latest encounter with James Potter.

'Have fun. I'll see you later.' I say.

'I'm probably eating lunch outside with Severus!' Lily says to me.

'Alright, I'm probably gonna finish up a bit of work!' I say in return and we finally part ways.

James was still standing there, not bothering to keep his grin up anymore.

'I'm sorry.' I say.

He shrugs, looking angry. 'I don't see why she would ever want that slimy Slytherin over me.'

I cringe at this. I'm not the biggest fan of Snape, but I tolerate him for Lily's sake. Frankly, I'd choose James over Snape any day.

I decide to tell him this.

'James, if it were up to me, I'd definitely pick you.' I say, happily. 'I don't see what she sees in him either.'

James grins once more. 'You always know what to say. You going with anyone?'

'I'm thinking about it.' I say. 'Is there anything wrong with Adam? He's in his fifth year.'

James grins. 'Sirius and I have only caught him shagging about a dozen different girls.'

I smirk. 'At the same time? Impressive. Got to get in on that.'

James laughs and flings his arm over me. 'Sirius, I'm guessing?'

I nod my head. 'Adam asked me out. I may ask him back. I don't plan on having sex with him.'

'Run it by Sirius.' James tells me. 'He may have more dirt on Adam than I do.'

I shrug. 'I think I want to find out for myself.'

BREAK

'Jess, aren't you even a little bit hungry?' Alice asks me, entering the room. 'You skipped lunch and dinner.'

'Oh right!' Lily exclaims, looking up from her transfiguration essay. 'I forgot you skipped lunch too!'

I shrug my shoulders. 'I guess I had a big breakfast with the guys.'

'Jess, your hunger matches theirs.' Lily says, laughing. 'You're never NOT hungry.'

Alice joins in with Lily's laughter and I throw a pillow at her, before getting up. Heading over to the mirror, I pick my hairbrush off the little table near me, and begin to run it through my hair.

'I'm just not hungry.' I lie.

'You know what I don't understand?' Alice asks, pulling out her own homework.

'What?' Lily asks, squinting at her paper.

I'm so glad I already finished my work.

'Why don't you just ask Sirius to Hogsmeade?' Alice asks.

I shrug. 'I can, but I wanted to go on a date. Don't want to just hang around this time.'

'I think she means why didn't you ask Sirius out on a date.' Lily clarifies.

I pause my brushing and laugh. 'I don't think so.'

'Why not?' Alice asks. 'You two get along really well... not to mention the similarities.'

'I'm just not a part of his fan club, I guess.' I say, shrugging. 'And he's not a part of mine. We're immune to each other.'

'Whatever you say.' Alice says, in a sing song voice.

'It's just as well.' Lily adds. 'I hear he asked out Marlene Mackinnon.'

'How does Sirius get the older girls?' Alice asks, in disbelief. 'Why even bother?'

'I know!' Lily exclaims. 'I mean what's wrong with boys our age?'

'Speaking of boys our age,' I start casually. 'Would it kill you to give James a chance?'

'Yes.' Lily says, determined. 'I refuse to be another girl on his list. Anyways, I can't stand him.'

'He can be a bit annoying.' Alice agreed.

'You guys just don't know him.' I say, finally done with my hair.

Alice seems to have given up on her homework and goes to lie on her bed. Lily and I do the same.

'If you're so fond of James, why don't you ask him?' Lily questions me.

'Listen, I wouldn't say no if any of the Marauders ask me out.' I tell them bluntly. 'But we're all mates, it's too much chaos. If they ask me, I'll agree, but I'm not the one doing it.'

'You don't like any one of them more than the other?' Alice asks.

I shake my head. 'They all got their qualities.'

'Who are you going with then?' Lily asks. 'Alice is going with Fabian.'

I grin. 'You are?'

Alice laughs. 'Yes, he asked me out at lunch. I told Lily, but I hadn't seen you until now!'

'Fabian's great.' I say to her. 'Trust me, he's a fantastic beater, and so nice.'

'Stop avoiding the question!' Alice exclaimed.

'I'm not avoiding it.' I say. 'I'm probably going with Adam.'

'Who?' Lily asks.

'This gorgeous fifth year who asked her out this morning.' Alice said. 'You're going with him? I thought Sirius – '

'It's my choice, not his.' I answer. 'I'm not about to jump into bed with the guy.'

'Okay, so lost here.' Lily says, confused.

'Apparently, Sirius and Jessica have this strange pact to protect each other from people who would end up being horrible or indecent dates.' Alice said. 'He point blank told Adam that Jessica was going with him.'

'It's not strange.' I tell Alice. 'He's knows about the guys here and I know about the girls. It's smart.'

'But if you're not going to listen to Sirius, then what's the point?' Lily questions.

'He's there to warn me and give me advice.' I explain. 'I can choose not to follow.'

'Then why are you keeping it a secret?' Alice asks.

'I'm not. I already told James I'm probably going to ask Adam out.' I tell them, pulling the covers over my body.

'James will tell Sirius.' Alice informs me.

'I don't care if Sirius knows.' I reply. 'I'm just not telling him myself. It's none of his business.'

'Can we stop talking about Potter and Black?' Lily exclaims. 'We sound like their obsessive group of stalkers.'

I laugh and with a flick of Alice's wand, the lights were off.

Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy the story! Thanks for reading! :)

Rosalie L.