Disclaimer:

Everything you recognize belongs to the mighty J. K. Rowling!

There may be some swears in this chapter. Be warned.

They found me, sobbing, in the Slytherin girls dormitory. All the other girls were at their classes.

Moony laughed softly. "How many times so far have I caught you like this?"

I sniffled.

Padfoot looked at me. "Hey. It's okay. The visions were probably just a metaphor-"

"For what, Sirius? Me becoming a sadistic maniac? You know what I did, after I tortured Frank Longbottom? I laughed.  I bloody laughed."

Sirius shrugged. "You never know what it could mean. I mean, for all we know, it's not even real. Maybe you were hallucinating."

I didn't think so. But for their sake, I nodded. "Yeah. I guess you're right. I would never do that. I must have seen something wrong."

"Exactly." Moony nodded.

I couldn't tell them about the last thing I saw. Me murdering Padfoot. I just couldn't.

"Hey though. Let's go see if Jamsie was successful in his quest for Lilyflower!" Sirius grinned.

Remus and I jumped up. 

"Ten bucks he wasn't." Remus bet me.

"No way I'm taking that bet." I laughed, and we ran upstairs. But the visions still haunted me, going through my head again and again.

We found James in the common room, pacing. When he saw us, he grinned widely. "Hey, guess what!"

"Lily said yes?" Moony gaped.

Prongs shook his head. "No, but she didn't yell at me this time!"

"Well, I'd call that a success!" Sirius grinned. "Now, the next step is-"

"I swear to god, if you talk about James having sex with her one more time, I will hex you!" I warned him.

"Ah, I'd probably be better off not finishing that sentence then..." SIrius winced.

"Yeah, I agree." I death-glared him, and then turned back to James. "Okay, next step? Back off for a while. Just be nice to her, be nice around her, and I hate to say it, but you should probably keep up with the whole not-hexing-snivellus thing."

"Alright." He nodded. 

_____________

I approached Lily later that evening. "Hey, Evans." I tapped her on the shoulder- she, her friend Alice, her friend Mary, and, of course, a girl Sirius had been dating for the past week (also Lily's friend) Marlene, and I were the only ones in the common room.

She whirled around. "Yeah?" she asked hesitantly. "Listen, if you're here as another attempt to get me to go out with Potter, you can tell him-"

"That he's an arrogant toe-rag? A big headed egocentric? Don't worry, I tell him those things anyway. BUt that's actually not why I'm here. I'm here to say... I'm really sorry we got off on the wrong foot, and I may have been rude to you, and I want to apologize and start over, because you seem pretty nice." I stuck out my hand. "Friends?"

She grinned and shook it. "Friends. Hey, we're going to the Head dormitory, Potter's out for the night and we were going to play truth or dare. Want to come? Only, don't tell, I'm supposed to be setting an example- and a good one, at that."

I smiled back. "Sure. Hang on, I'll be right back. I'm gonna grab something that'll make the night a whole lot more fun." 

"Meet us up at the angel statue in the third floor corridor. The password is..." she shook her head, annoyed. "The password is, 'Will you go out with me, Lily? Love, James.' Potter got there before me." she grimaced.

I laughed. "I'll be there. Just give me a moment."

____

I walked into the Head Dormitory with a six pack of fire-whiskey. "Don't worry, I've got an anti-hangover spell that works nicely." 

Lily groaned. "Crap, if anyone finds out, I am going to be in soooo much trouble."

"That's why- Muffliato- no one is going to find out."

We all took a fire whiskey. I took a gulp of mine- it burned on the way down my throat, but a good kind of burn.

"So, Alice- truth or dare?" Marlene grinned evilly.

"Ah, crap, why do you always go for me first?" Alice complained, taking a swig of fire whiskey. "Fine- truth."

"Have you had sex with Frank yet? You never told us." 

Alice blushed. "I hate you! Well... alright, yeah, but not for long, I-"

"Ha!" Mary grinned. "I knew it!" 

Alice pouted. "I hate you, Marlie!"

"Okay, Bella, truth or dare?" Lily asked me.

"Dare." I said, grinning.

"I dare you to...turn your face pink for the rest of the night."

"Not my beautiful face!" I moaned, fake- pitiful. I muttered a spell, and my face turned hot pink. 

A few rounds later, it was my turn to ask a question.

"Oh, let's see... Lily, truth or dare?"

"Dare." She said confidently, then laughed. "Sorry, I can't take you seriously. Your face..." she laughed.

I smirked evilly at her. "Fine, you're gonna get it. I dare you... to challenge Potter to a game of Wizards Chess. If you win, he has to confess his love to Snape in the great hall. But if he wins..." I smirked at her. "You have to go to Hogsmeade with him."

Marlene, Mary, and Alice applauded. "Classic! Oh, my, god! That is perfect!" Marlene gasped, doubling over with laughter.

"I hate you." Lily stuck  her tongue out at me.

"Hey, he's not so bad. Anyways, I'm confident you'll win- and then he'll have to confess his love to Snape."

"Alright, yeah." She nodded, breaking into a smile.

__________

I woke up the next morning with a massive hangover. "Ah, shit." I moaned, and performed a quick spell. Instantly, most of the effects disappeared, though I still had a bit of a lingering headache. 

Prongs, just then, walked in on us, all lying on the couch, practically passed out. "You guys are gonna be late for class. Wait- Bella?" 

I waved. "Hello, Prongs."

He gave me a weird look. "Okayyyy... oh, hey, are you guys alright?" He said, looking at Lily, Marlene, Mary, and Alice. "Here-" He said, and performed the anti-hangover charm. "Better?" He asked.

"Yeah, thanks... James?" Lily trailed off, confused.

"No problem, Lily." He walked into his bedroom- I could see he was making a valiant effort to not ask her out. 

"Was he just... nice?" Lily asked me, slightly confused.

"He's trying." I laughed. "You know, you should give him a chance, he's really trying to un-balloon his big head."

"He's only after me for the chase. No girl's ever refused him."

"I don't think that's true." I looked at her. "I mean, no offense- but he does like you." I smirked. "And don't forget about the dare." I winked.

"Uuuuuuuuugh. I'll do it during charms, okay?" 

I nodded. "Fine."