((Okay, I realize that this is a little past the date, but just bear with me. I haven’t had time to write anything, and my Internet has been down. Takes place at the back to school ball, or whatever it was.))

Lily sighed in wonder as she and Payton entered the Great Hall. It was decorated far past its usual splendor, with streamers and giant balloons everywhere. Maddie squeezed Lily’s hand for a moment before following Michael to the dance floor. They look so cute together, Lily thought with a smile.

Payton tugged on her hand. "Let’s dance, love." Lily smiled at him as well and wrapped her arms around his neck. It was a slow song, so they rotated on the spot, all the while looking at each other lovingly.

The rest of the night, however, did not go as Lily had planned. Girls seemed to appear out of no where to ask Payton to dance, and him, being polite, couldn’t say no. But Lily could tell that he secretly enjoyed all of the attention. His eyes would light up when a new girl came near him, although he tried to hide it. Eventually, she got so tired of being interrupted that she quit dancing.

Payton seemed to hardly notice.

Maddie found her slumped down in a chair, staring down at the swishing liquid inside her punch glass. She jumped as the younger touched her shoulder, but seeing it was Maddie, relaxed.

"Why aren’t you dancing with Payton?" Maddie asked, nodding towards his direction, where he was currently chatting with a Ravenclaw girl with long brown hair.

Lily shrugged, not bothering to look up. "He’s busy," came her monotone reply. Maddie frowned at her before taking the punch out of her hands and pulling her up.

"Well, then, if he’s not going to dance with you, you’re going to dance with me," Maddie said firmly. Lily spared her a small smile and allowed herself to be pulled out onto the dance floor.

It was a fast song, so they danced and danced. They spun around and jumped, going as fast as they possibly could.

When they sat down, they were sweaty and breathless. Michael quickly got punch for both of them, which they gulped down greedily. Lily spared a glance at Payton and almost choked on what she saw.

Payton was by the doors, spinning another girl around. She had curly blonde hair that was pulled back into two low pigtails, and was wearing a pretty sapphire colored dress that looked beautiful next to her skin tone. In short, Lily could see why Payton would like her.

"I’m really tired all of the sudden," Lily announced as Payton scanned the room for her. "I think I’m gonna go up to bed. Goodnight." She kissed Maddie’s temple and grabbed her wrap before stealthily making her way around the Great Hall as they moved away from the door.

She didn’t feel like going to bed, but she knew that she just had to get out of there. She tossed her wrap over her shoulders and pushed the front doors of the castle open, stepping out into the cool night air.

She walked aimlessly in the gardens for awhile before coming to rest on a small stone bench. She swallowed hard, trying to get the bad taste out of her mouth.

Voices were heard, and she recognized Payton’s. With a silent groan she stood up and hid behind a tree. They were laughing at something ridiculously funny, and collapsed onto the same stone bench that Lily had just been sitting on.

"Oh, gosh, Payton, I don’t even remember what we were laughing at," the girl giggled, leaning against Payton. Payton started laughing again for a moment before letting the girl fall into his warm embrace, the one that Lily had occupied so many times.

"You know us, Annie. We laugh at nothing at all," he answered. Lily’s eyes widened - this was Annie! She immediately hated her.

They sat in silence for a few moments before Payton sighed. He said something she could hear, and Annie replied. Payton laughed again and ruffled Annie’s hair.

"Hey! Don’t touch my hair!" she yelled, pulling away from him and standing up. She frowned angrily at him, but Lily could see laughter in her sapphire eyes.

"Oh, what are you going to do about it?" Payton asked, standing as well. Annie’s eyes widened as he tip-toed towards her. He lunged at her, and she shrieked, running away.

"You’re breaking the rules!" Payton cried in indignation. Annie poked her tongue out at him and hugged him again.

"I really missed you Payton," she whispered.

"I missed you, too. I didn’t have anyone to pick on," he said back teasingly. She pushed him a little.

"This is supposed to be a serious moment, PK."

"I’m sorry," he said with a smile.

She smiled, too. "Let’s go look for Lily." Payton laughed and led her back to the castle.

Lily collapsed onto the ground, tears streaming down her cheeks. How could she have been so blind? Everything he had told her was a lie. He was in love with Annie, not her, and Annie was in love with him. She let out a scream of frustration, letting her head fall into her hands.

There was suddenly someone next to her with gentle hands and soothing words. Payton, she realized as he tried to pull her into a hug. She yanked away from him and scrambled to her feet. She furiously wiped the tears away so she could see, but more tears replaced them. She tried to run away, but Payton grabbed her and pulled her back.

"Lily, what’s wrong?" he asked anxiously.

"Don’t touch me!" she hissed, slapping his arms away from her. Her vision suddenly cleared, and she could see his face, hurt and confused.

"Lily, I-"

"You’ve done a pretty good job ignoring me the entire evening. I’d hate for you to ruin your streak now," she said in a calm voice. She could tell that her words stung and hurt, but she didn’t care.

With a swallow, she turned on her heel and ran away towards the castle, where she met an anxious look Annie on the path. She ignored the blonde angel as she rushed past, not caring about anything but getting away.

She heard him pursuing her, and she realized that she couldn’t run very fast in heels. She paused for a moment to kick them off, leaving them in the hall as she raced off, feeling wonderful as she left him behind in the corridor.

Reaching her dormitory, she slammed the door and locked it, feeling tears come on with a renewed vigor. She threw herself onto her bed, trying to stop the tears of regret and betrayal.

It was Monday night, and Lily sat in the Hufflepuff common room with Maddie eating double fudge brownie ice cream, performing their third annual “Bash Your Ex” tournament. They key was to bash your ex more than the other. At the moment, Lily was in the lead.

“Chase is a low life, no good, dirty-”

“Lily!”

She paused and looked up, seeing Payton coming towards her. He held a letter in his hands, and he was waving it excitedly.

“Hey, Payton!” she said cheerfully, kissing him on the cheek and shoveling a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. Maddie grinned at him.

“I just got a letter,” he told her, waving it in front of her face.

She laughed at his childishness. “Yeah? Who’s it from?”

“It’s from my friend, Annie,” he told her, sitting between her sisters. “We were best friends until we were ten, and she moved away. But now she’s moving back! Isn’t that great?”

“That is great!” Lily said, genuinely happy for him.

“I know! I’m going to ask Dumbledore if she can visit here. Of course, she’s a Muggle, so I-”

Lily cut him off. “She’s a Muggle? Payton, you can’t invite a Muggle to Hogwarts! That would be revealing the Wizarding World to Muggles, and that’s against the law!”

“But I’m getting special permission,” he explained, putting the letter on the coffee table in front of him. “Come on, Lily, she’s my best friend in the entire world, and she’s been gone for five years. There’s so much that I want to tell her!”

“Whatever. Just go tell Dumbledore,” she said, defeated, as she waved her hand at him. He grinned and kissed her cheek before getting up and running out of the common room to find the headmaster.

“Hey, Lily, isn’t that his letter?” Maddie asked, pointing at the envelope on the coffee table. Lily nodded and picked it up to go return it, but the naughty streak in her tackled her better judgment.

“Yep. But a little peek wouldn’t hurt, just to see what she’s writing to him,” she said slowly. Maddie grinned and scrambled over to where Lily sat. Lily pulled out the letter and smoothed it out.

Dear PK,

Hello! It’s Annie Hallman, only your number one girl in the entire world! Ha, bet you’re surprised to hear from me!

Nothing much is going on here, except that we’re packing everything in our house. Yep, we’re moving. You want to know where? Back into our old house on your street! I’m so excited, because things will be like they used to be - all those sleep-overs in your attic in our sleeping bags, and sneaking down to the kitchen for a midnight snack, only to be caught in the morning by your mum. Those were the good days.

Of course, I don’t think we’ll be having sleep-overs anymore, because we’re both too old for that sort of thing, but we can just call each other instead and talk for hours on end. Gosh, PK, I miss hearing your voice every day, whether it be over the phone or in person.

We'll be there in one week, so you better be home to greet me. I can't wait for Halloween next month, because we can go trick-or-treating and go to the school dance, too. It'll be like I never left.

Gosh, I really missed you, PK. I loved you so much when I left, and I didn’t have anyone like you here in Australia. I think the distance really made me appreciate what I had. I love you even more now that I’m coming back.

Well, I really should send this and get back to packing. One more week, and we’ll be together again! I love you so much, never forget it, mister!

Hugs and lots of kisses,

Annie

Lily stared down at the letter in shock. Already she hated this Annie girl. She was NOT going to steal her boyfriend, Lily was going to make sure of that.

She stuffed the letter back in the envelope, knowing she had to return it to Payton. She stood and made her way to the portrait hole, stepping out.

Payton was coming down the hall. “You left this in the common room,” she said, holding it out for him. He grinned at her.

“Thanks, Lily. I love you,” he whispered, kissing her. She smiled at him and watched him disappear back down the hall.

With a determined sigh, she marched back into the common room to beat Maddie good at their game of ex bashing.