Masquerade!

Chapter Five: Happily ever after?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize...

A/N: Heyy whats up y'all? HERE IS THE LAST CHAPTER OF MASQUERADE! (Sob sob, tear tear) But I'm actually pretty proud that I finished this because excluding one-shots and 101 Pick up lines, which wasn't that hard to write, THIS IS MY FIRST EVER FINISHED FIC!

So please do me a favor and REVIEW at the end!! Please!! I'll love you forever!

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James's P.O.V.

"POTTER?!" I stare blankly at the person in front of me. Her face is definitely Lily's as was her voice and certainly her reaction, but I have a hard time believing it with the brown hair on her head.

"Lily?" I ask, just to make sure.

"Of course it's me, who else would it be?" she snaps, putting her hands on her waist.

"Did you die your hair?!" I ask, horrified. Why on earth would she do that?!

"What? Oh, it's just a charm," Lily says dismissively, pulling out her wand and flicking it, turning her hair back to it's wavy auburn beauty.

"So, Lily, it was you the whole time?" I ask, still having trouble grasping the idea.

"No, half the time it was my evil twin Lolly. Of course it was me you imbecile!" Imbecile... haven't heard that one in a while...

"I'm sorry, Lily, this is just kind of hard to believe," I say. She looks at me with anger written on her face.

"Hard for you to believe? I spent my whole night with James Potter! The prat of the world!" Lily yells at me. It's kind of a good thing a lot of people have already left because she is causing quite a scene.

"Hey, you just said that I wasn't being a prat at all!" I argue back. She huffs and crosses her arms.

"Well, I didn't know it was you then. And besides, I'm sure you were just acting," Lily answers.

"What? I didn't know it was you either! Why would I be acting if I didn't know it was you?" I ask. She just stares at me, anger still dominating her flawless features. She isn't saying anything, so I take the moment to get a few more words in.

"Why is it impossible for you to see me for who I am?" I ask quietly. She doesn't say anything for a moment, before suddenly she says she has to go and she turns away from me.

"Lily, stop," I yell after her, reaching out to grab her arm. She slowly turns around to look at me.

"What, Potter?" She says. I can tell she is trying to snap at me, but it doesn't quite come out that way.

"James. My name is James," I tell her quietly. She looks down at her feet briefly, before looking back up at me.

"What, James?" She says. Are those tears in her eyes? I didn't mean to make her cry!

"Lily, what is wrong? Why are you crying?" I ask worriedly. I've never been too good with girls' emotions.

"Why am I crying? Because I just spent my whole night with this amazing guy, and then I find out that it's you. James Potter. The guy who only wants me so he can brag to his friends that he scored another hot chick," Lily yells. I stare at her in shock. Is that really what she thinks of me?

"Lily, what on earth are you talking about? That's not it at all!" I insist. She just huffs.

"Yeah right," she mutters. She looks like she is about to walk away again, but she doesn't, thankfully.

"Lily, where on Earth did you get that idea?" I ask.

"It's common knowledge," she says. I shake my head in disbelief.

"Well, it's not true, Lily. I like you because you are different and beautiful and smart. Believe me, if I was just trying to get inside your pants, I would have given up after you rejected me the first 20 times back in 5th year. Why did you think I kept going at it?" I ask her. She just looks down and shrugs. I put my hand gently on her shoulder and feel her shiver slightly at my touch.

She looks up at me, and for a moment I think she is going to kiss me, or do something of the sort. But then she pulls away sharply, shaking her head.

"No, I, uh, I gotta go, James," she says, starting to back away again.

"Lily, wait!" I yell desperately, chasing after her. She stops and turns around to look at me.

"What?" she asks softly.

"Lily, if you walk away, I don't think I'll be able to stand it," I tell her.

"Why is that?" she asks.

"Because, Lily, I just fell in love with you all over again. I just fell in love with you, and I didn't even know it was you! Now if you can honestly stand there, and tell me that tonight didn't mean anything to you, that it was all just a joke, or a way to pass the time, then I won't bother you again. I just need to know what you are thinking, because to stand here and look at you and know that there is nothing I can do is killing me!" Jesus, when did I become such a sap? This girl is making me into such a pussy!

I look at Lily intently, waiting for her reaction, trying to read her body language. She looks down, wipes her eyes, and then looks back up at me, shaking her head a little bit. Why is she shaking her head?! Is that a no? I can feel my heart breaking into a thousand pieces as I stand there. I slowly back away.

"Alright, that's cool. I won't ask you out anymore, I won't talk to you, I won't even look at you! Okay? That's fine," I say. I look at her for a moment longer, and then I turn around and walk away, hanging my head in defeat. I tried, and I failed. Life is just peachy, isn't it?

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Lily's P.O.V.

What have I just done? Did I really just say no to James Potter? Am I insane? I could see in the way that he looked at me before he walked away me how much he cared. And to be honest, I care about him too. So then why did I say no? I'm not even sure.

I sigh, and look down. I am such an idiot, what has he ever done to me? Well, besides all of the pranks and the tricks and the embarrassing moments. Besides all of that, nothing at all!

"Lily," I turn around when I hear my name and see Remus standing behind me. He must have been James's friend, the person who was dancing with Violetta. Why didn't I put that together sooner?

"What just happened?" he asks softly.

"I'm not really sure," I say, "But I think I just told James I didn't like him at all, that I didn't feel anything tonight,"

"Is that true?" Remus asks. I look at him, thinking for a moment, before I answer.

"No, it's not. I like him, tonight was amazing. But..."

"But what?" he presses. I shake my head.

"I don't know! It's James Potter! It's just... I don't know!" I say desperately.

"Lily, listen to me. James really likes you a lot, and it's not fair to him to do this. If you like him, go out there and find him. Because if you don't, you both will live your whole lives wondering what could have been. And I know that neither of you want that," Remus says.

"You're right. I've got to go take care of something," I say, before dashing off.

I weave my way through the multitudes of people, looking for James. Please, please, please don't let it be too late!

"Where are you?" I whisper to myself, looking around the crowds of people. I turn a corner and see someone looking out of a window into the pouring rain. What a gloomy mood for the people to have picked for the fake weather. One would think that it would be sunny on the night of such an elegant ball.

The person looking out the window turns his head slightly and I see that it is James. Score! I find my self running desperately towards him, and he turns his head to look at me, shocked.

"James!" I yell as I bound towards him. When I reach him I throw my arms around him, pulling him into a huge hug. He pulls away a moment later, looking me directly in the eyes.

"Lily, what is going on?" he asks.

"James, I'm sorry I said no in the first place, I didn't really know what I was doing. I guess I was just so overwhelmed by everything that was going on. But I like you James, a lot. And... and I don't want to spend the rest of my life wondering what could have been," I say, finishing up with Remus's line. I'm sure he won't mind.

James stares at me in disbelief and I wait, wondering what he is going to say. Suddenly he cracks a smile, and I smile widely back at him.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear you say that. Or at least something along those lines," he says, running a hand through his hair in relief.

"Well... are you going to kiss me or not?" I say, smiling at him mischievously. He grins and leans toward me, our lips colliding. This kiss is definitely a million times better than the ones earlier tonight because there is so much built up passion behind it. It's incredible.

When we both pull away a few minutes later, we do it with reluctance. I find myself panting slightly, and I look up at James. Both of us have smiles a mile wide on our faces.

He kisses me again, and I melt into his arms. If this is the way it's going to be from now on, I think I will definitely be able to get used to it.

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I bet you guys all wet yourselves when I had James walk away, right? Hee hee, I am soo good. So I hope you liked reading this chapter as much as I liked writing it. And please don't forget to REVIEW!!!