Lily stopped at a mirror and beamed at her reflection. Her friend Alice walked up behind her. "Are you going to check yourself in every mirror we pass, Lily?"
"I'm so excited," Lily said. "Professors don't hold these sorts of parties often, you know."
"Especially the professor you have a crush on," Alice teased.
Lily blushed. "I don't have crush on Professor Ashworth. It's just that he's so…"
"Hot," Alice finished.
"No!" Lily protested. "It's just that the moment I saw him, I knew he was…"
"Your soul-mate," Alice snickered.
"Just stop it," Lily said. "The important thing is that we make a good impression. I don't want him to think I'm some sort of cavewoman."
"Oh," Alice said, "is that why we're going to be fifteen minutes early?"
"People hate it when their guests are late," Lily lectured. "By going slightly early, we'll have the chance to visit with Professor Ashworth and perhaps even offer to help him with his last minute preparations."
"You just want to get him alone for ten minutes," Alice said.
"That's unlikely," Lily grumbled. "That… scarlet woman Bellatrix has her claws in him! Did I tell you what Sirius said? The invitations were in her handwriting!"
"Lily, you're such a treasure," Alice said. "I'll distract Bellatrix by offering to help her and you can corner Ashworth and start impressing him. 'Hello professor! Did you hear I got an outstanding on my latest Defense essay?'"
"Stop mocking me," Lily said. "We're here." They had indeed arrived at Professor Ashworth's door. Lily reached out and knocked on it very primly. Her grandmother could not have produced a more perfect knock.
To Lily's horror, it was none other than James Potter who answered the door. "Welcome Lily, Alice," he said pompously. "How kind of you to come."
"I'm not late am I?" Lily asked desperately. In her panic at seeing James, the type of boy who would be very late, already there, she had forgotten that he was someone she didn't like very much.
"Not at all," Harry called from somewhere behind the door. "Come in."
Lily and Alice stepped into Professor Ashworth's apartments. It was very difficult for Lily to resist slapping the arrogant smirk off of James's face as he bowed and closed the door. Ashworth and James's friends were seated around a small coffee table.
"I know it's a little bit of faux pas," Harry said to Lily and Alice, "but we've decided to get started on the appetizers." He gestured to a platter with some hors oeuvres. "Help yourself."
Her great plans shattered, Lily could only numbly sit down on a small couch with Alice and help herself to the appetizers. James sat down next to Sirius and grinned at her. She favored him with a small glare that disappeared as soon as Ashworth turned his attention to her.
"I've just talked James and Sirius into considering careers as Aurors once they've retired from professional Quidditch. What sort of careers are you interested in, Lily, Alice?"
"I've actually been planning to be an Auror for a couple of years," Alice said. "I've got an uncle who does that and he enjoys it."
"Really?" Harry said. "Do you know what classes you have to take in order to become an Auror?"
Alice began rattling off the educational requirements for British Aurors while Lily glared sullenly at James Potter. He had ruined her evening. Deliberately! Now, Alice who had teased her for her interest in Professor Ashworth was sitting there chatting with him while she sat liked a dumfounded school girl. She stewed in her thoughts for several minutes until she felt someone jab her.
"Lily? Lily?" came Professor Ashworth's voice.
Lily started as Alice prepared to jab her a third time. "I'm sorry, what?"
"I was wondering if you'd decided what you'd like to do once you left Hogwarts," Ashworth asked.
Lily blushed. "Uh, I'm pretty good at potions and charms. I was sort of considering being a mediwitch-like Madame Pomfrey."
"Really?" said Harry. He face seemed to reflect surprise. "I didn't know that."
"Uh, yeah," Lily said. "I think it's a pretty good career. There's lots of demand in the medical field."
"Certainly," Harry agreed.
A knock on the door announced the arrival of several more guests. It seemed that the Hufflepuffs had decided to come en masse. Soon the apartment was filled with Harry's guests who were all chattering with each other and Professor Ashworth eagerly. After Bellatrix arrived, Harry announced that dinner would begin.
Lily and Alice walked over to the table with the rest of the guests and began searching for their seating assignment. When Lily discovered that she was sitting directly on Professor Ashworth's right, she shared a triumphant grin with Alice and shot James an arrogant stare. That ought to set him in his place, she thought. Obviously, she was Ashworth's favorite student. She tried to give Sirius the same arrogant stare, but he was busy snickering at Bellatrix who appeared to be quite annoyed for some reason or another.
A/N: We'll gladly consider anyone's nomination for what Bellatrix's favorite animal is. Saying "a snake" won't help us out very much though.
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