•Edited•

~Claire~

Today was New Years Eve. Which meant that the Potters would be throwing a party.
It wasn't going to be a big party like they usually are – not that I've ever been to one – but Sirius said it was going to be a lot smaller than last years.

It was just going to be the the Longbottoms, the Mckinnons, the Weasleys, and the Prewetts. Or at least the rest of the Prewetts.

I was currently helping everyone prepare for the party.

Euphemia, Lily and Camellia were cooking.
Fleamont and Remus were hanging streamers.
James and Peter were setting up the table.
And Sirius and I were in charge of taking the Christmas tree down.

Which I must say, was not going so well.

"Why can't we just float the tree down to the basement?" Sirius questioned as I carefully wrapped the 37th ornament.
"Because there's a good chance one of the ornaments will fall and break. And because that's being lazy. I don't want Euphemia or Fleamont thinking of me as lazy," I explained, wrapping an ornament of baby James.
"They won't think you're lazy. And an ornament won't fall," He claimed.

Sirius lifted the tree an inch off the ground with a flick of his wand. Causing a plastic ornament to slide off one of the branches. Landing on the ground with a thud.

I glared at Sirius. Carefully placing the tree back on the ground with my wand.

Sirius stopped complaining after that. And after half an hour of wrapping the ornaments and placing them in boxes, we carried the tree down to the basement.

The food was ready around 5:00, and the first of the guests arrived around 5:30.

Camellia, Lily and I greeted Mr. and Mrs. Prewett with hugs. We had met before. Obviously. They were Camellia's parents.
And after talking to them for awhile, I decided to look for my favorite twins.

I grinned as I caught sight of Gideon and Fabian.

Gideon and Fabian are twin brothers – also Camellia's older brothers – and would've been Hogwarts's biggest pranksters if not for the Marauders.

"Hey Clairesse!" Fabian and Gideon said in sync.
"That's Claire to you," I scowled.
"But why call you Claire if your name's Clairesse?" Fabian questioned.
"Goodness Clairesse. You're so silly," Gideon sighed, walking towards the food with Fabian.

I shook by head as I watched them walk away.

Soon Molly arrived with her husband Arthur. A small baby in her arms.

"Hi Molly, Arthur. How's Bill, Charlie, and Percy?" I asked, smiling at the small bundle in her arms
"They're good. We've currently got Arthur's friend from the Ministry watching them. Well except Percy," Molly said with a large smile.
"And how is Percy?" I questioned, nodding towards the baby she currently held.
"He's been very quiet. Though I'm not complaining," Molly stated.
Arthur wrapped his arm around her waist, kissing her temple.

"That's great," I smiled.

Sirius soon came and joined our conversation, and soon we were talking about what Sirius and I were going to do.

"What about you two? Got any plans for the future?" Arthur questioned, glancing at Sirius.
"Oh yes. We're going to get married and have a whole Quidditch team of kids. And they'll all be in Gryffindor," Sirius explained with a grin.
I shrugged at Sirius's answer. I was fine with having seven kids.

Arthur and Molly laughed, and Sirius just looked at them with fake confusion.

"I wasn't kidding," Sirius whined.

I went to say something, but Sirius's name was called from somewhere across the room, and then Sirius disappeared.

"Hey Claire, have you seen Lily?" Camellia asked, quickly greeting her sister and brother in law when she noticed them.
"Um no. Why?" I responded, glancing around the room to see if I could spot Lily's flaming red hair.
Only to spot Gideon and Fabian next to Sirius.
"You do realize what today is?" Camellia questioned, leading me away from Arthur and Molly with an apologetic smile.
"Uh, New Years Eve?" I guessed stupidly.
"Yes, but I mean that it's the last day of December. Tomorrow is the first day of January," She said.

After only getting a confused look from me, she continued.

"Lily and James will have been dating for a month tomorrow!" She exclaimed.
"Oh! Wait. Oh. Oh yeah. That's not good....or is it? I'm still confused," I groaned.
"It could be very good, or it could be very bad," Camellia said, "If Lily wants to stay with James, she won't do anything. However, if she doesn't, she'll break his heart."

I sighed when I understood what was going on.

We had dared Lily a month ago to date James for a whole month and see how it goes.

And that month ended soon.

"But she can't break up with him until the exact time he asked her out," I stated.
"I already asked. She said he had asked her out at midnight," Camellia sighed.
"You mean-"
"That at midnight, when everyone is celebrating the new year. Lily may just kill the mood," Camellia said, speaking my thoughts.

"Well, they're is no denying that Lily likes him," I said, trying to find reasons she wouldn't break up with him.
"We're talking about Lily Evans. Probably the most stubborn person I know," Camellia stated, eliminating that option.
"Maybe she's reasonable enough to wait until tomorrow to talk to him about it?" I said, but it was more of a question.
"Again, Lily Evans," Camellia repeated.

I groaned. Realizing there was no denying that Lily wasn't afraid to break his heart.

"So what should we do?" I questioned.
"Well, there's nothing much we can do but wait," Camellia sighed.
"We can at least pull her aside and convince her not to," I stated.
"Once again, this is Lily Evans. We both know she won't give up that easily. She's determined not to admit her feelings," Camellia replied.

We both looked over at Lily, who was currently glaring at the clock while James talked animatedly to Lily. Who he thought was listening.

"Hey Camellia? Have you seen Sirius?" Remus asked, walking up behind me.
"Talking to Gideon and Fabian," Camellia replied with a small smile as she pointed over at the black haired boy I loved standing next to two red haired men.
"Thanks Camellia," He smiled, pecking her cheek as he passed her.

We watched as he walked over to the three guys.

"Hey, have you seen Peter?" I questioned as I realized Peter wasn't with any of the other Marauders. Which was odd for Peter.
"Um, I saw him in the kitchen three hours ago?" Camellia answered, probably wondering the same thing I was.
Why on earth has Peter been in the kitchen for three hours?

Shaking the thought off, Camellia and I went and talked to Alice and Frank Longbottom. Who had just gotten married a month ago.

After we talked to them, we talked to Marlene McKinnon. Who we knew graduated Hogwarts last year.

By the time we were done talking with everyone, it was only ten minutes before midnight.

"We need to find James and Lily!" I exclaimed as I realized they weren't in the room with us.
"But where would they be?" Camellia questioned, heading towards the door to the hallway.
"I dunno. James's room?" I suggested.

"Well hello ladies," Sirius's voice greeted from behind.
"Hey Sirius. Now bye Sirius," Camellia said, grabbing my hand and pulling me away from Sirius as I tried to kiss his cheek.
"Um, bye?" Sirius said with an arched eyebrow.

We finally reached James's room. But as we reached to open the door and stop Lily from making a horrible mistake, we heard loud cheering from downstairs.

"Happy new year!" They all exclaimed.

Quickly pressing our ears against the door, we tried to block the noise out so that we could hear what was happening.

"Happy new year Li-"
"I did it! Yes! Wait till I tell Claire and Camellia! And they thought I couldn't do it! Well I'll tell them!"
"You did what?"
"I did the dare! Merlin's beard I did the dare!"
"What dare?"
"The one Claire dared me to do!"
"Lily what the bloody hell are you talking about?!"
"Claire dared me to date you for a full month! Now that I've done the dare, we can break up and go back to our normal lives!"

Lily, who had been talking like it was so obvious, didn't get a reply as loud footsteps started towards the door Camellia and I were leaning on. We were only able to take a step away from the door before a red faced James appeared in the doorway.

"I hope you're happy!" James growled, glaring directly at me.
"James I didn't think she would break up with you!" I called after him as he walked towards Sirius's room.
"I don't want to hear it Claire!" He roared, slamming the door behind him.

Just as the door closed, Sirius appeared at the end of the hallway with wide eyes.

"What happened?" Sirius asked, looking from me to Camellia.
"I-I didn't mean to," I mumbled, the guilt hitting me hard.
"What's James's problem?" Lily asked as she appeared in the doorway.

Camellia opened and closed her mouth multiple times – looking oddly like a fish – before speaking,
"W-What James's problem?" She repeated, "What's your problem?!"

Lily looked confused. As did Sirius. And I decided not to say anything as Camellia didn't seem to be done.

"You like him! You know it! But you're to much of a coward to admit it!" Camellia screeched, and if it wasn't for the music blasting down stairs, the whole house would've heard her.
"A coward? How am I a coward?!" Lily exclaimed.
"Ugh!" I groaned, pulling at my hair.

"It wasn't just supposed to be a dare Lily! You were supposed to realize your feelings for him!" I exclaimed.
"But I don't have feelings for him Claire!" Lily remarked.
"But you do and you know it!" Camellia yelled.

Lily, who had turned the color of her hair, stormed off to one of the guest rooms. Camellia and I glaring at the back of her head.

"What just happened?" Sirius questioned as Lily slammed the door.

I didn't bother replying, and allowed Camellia to explain all about the dare and how Lily was supposed to still be with him.

Sirius had thought it was a brilliant idea, but quickly realized it had backfired and went to talk to James.

"Our best friend is an idiot," Camellia sighed.
"Agreed."
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