Chapter One: Hogwarts Express-Andromeda's POV Andromeda Dumbledore was beautiful. She was a gorgeous, five-foot, blue-haired beauty, who was the most beautiful, intelligent and popular witch ever to grace Hogwarts' hall. She was sought after by many, one of which was Peter Pettigrew. Peter was a pathetic lump of a boy, he admired Andromeda silently and from afar, as he was only protected from bullying by his inclusion in the most prestigious of gangs, the Marauders: James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and the aforementioned Peter Pettigrew. Another who sought after her was Sirius Black, who was a lot less discreet in his affections for her. Andromeda was pondering Sirius' blatant love for her when, as if summoned by her thought, Sirius, along with his fellow Marauders, slid open the glass Hogwarts Express compartment door. "Well, well, well," grinned Sirius "If it isn't the lovely Andromeda"
"What do you want Sirius?" she asked impatiently
"Oh, just wanted to see if you wanted to start the year off nicely by going out on a date with moi?"
"Hmm...no" she decided
"Oh well" he grinned as he set off down the train " I'll just try again tomorrow"
"I can assure you that my answer will stay the same" she called after him. She shut the door and turned back to the other girls in the compartment. "My God, he's insufferable!" she exclaimed
"Better than James Potter" Lily, the red-headed girl on her right pointed out. Andromeda turned to her best friend and said
"Sirius has been asking me out everyday for three years and sends owls to me everyday in the summer. The strange thing is, he seems to think that one day I'll just give in and accept!"
"Potter is an arrogant toe-rag who thinks that he is the pinnacle of all wizards. He treats one of my oldest friends like dragon dung and seems to think that it makes me attracted to him!" she said with venom in her piercing green eyes
"Fair point"
"I think James is quite attractive" piped up Kimya. All of the girls stared at her in disbelief.
"Your welcome to him Kim, I hate him"
"Remus Lupins nice: a bit strange but nice" Nymphadora pointed out. Andromeda's hair flushed pink, as she knew Remus' secret. Lily noticed, and saved her by saying "You like Remus, Nia?"
"Hes really nice, we were paired together in Charms last year. He's definitely the nicest of the Marauders" she said in an attempt to rescue herself
"Hear, hear" grinned Lily
"Yup" agreed Andromeda. They were interrupted by golden paper aeroplanes soaring down the train and into the compartments. Andromeda snatched it out of the air, opened it, and read it out: "Students must arrive at Hogwarts in suitable attire for the Welcoming Ball (gowns and suits)"
"Ooh, a ball!" Nia squealed
"I wondered why we had ball gowns on our lists" Lily pondered aloud. Kimya waved her wand and three jets of black, tar-like liquid soared onto the glass door, congealed and obscured any view of the corridor "We need to change into our dresses, and we don't want anyone, mainly the Marauders, looking in" she explained. All four girls reached into their trunks and pulled out a dress. Lily's was a green, satin and one-shouldered , whilst Nymphadora wore an ocean blue, floor length, strapless number. Kimya wrenched out a black knee-length spaghetti strap dress and Andromeda, a striking red satin halter-neck. "Hmm, I don't think blue hair suits this dress" she considered, looking in the mirror "How about black?" She clenched her face in concentration and her hair changed from ocean blue to jet black. Lily grinned as she proclaimed Andromeda a "show-off". She loved being a Metaorphmagus. The girls spent the rest of the train journey applying make-up and discussing what they were to do about dance partners and why there was even to be a Welcome Ball. "Are they not doing a Sorting Ceremony this year or something?" asked Nymphadora
"No clue. Dumbledore will tell us though" Lily assured them, just as the train stopped. They had reached Hogwarts.

The four girls climbed into one of the horseless carriages as gracefully as possible, and were just about to set off when three of the Marauders quickly jumped onto the carriage, leaving Peter standing alone where the carriage had been mere moments before. Nobody spoke to them on the way up to Hogwarts, and the silence continued as they filed into the Great Hall. When all the students were inside, Dumbledore sttod up and announced "This year, Hogwarts is to have a Welcome Ball. Now is not the time to tell you why, I shall explain more at the feast. I would like you to each choose a dance partner, please." He signalled for the orchestra to start playing and took Professor McGonagall to the dance floor. It was then that Andromeda noticed that Sirius was stood by her side, as James was by Lily's. Lily stalked away saying that she "needed to find Severus". She saw James walk away looking disappointed as he went to ask Kimya to dance. It was then that Sirius asked her hopefully "Shall we dance?"
"Yeah, fine" she replied exasperatedly
"By the way you look beautiful tonight" he added
"Thanks" she smiled. She gave him her hand and he led her to the floor. She was fully aware that at the precise moment she gave him her hand, every boy in the school's heart broke. They must have danced for hours on end, Andromeda lost track of time, before Dumbledore announced : "I would now like each gentleman to take a lady who he has not danced with tonight to dance" Peter Pettigrew abandoned the poor Hufflepuff girl he had had to dance with and, practically sprinted to take Andromeda to dance, but Sirius, seeing him, quickly(albeit reluctantly) gave her hand to Remus, who gave him Nymphadora's (she looked unmistakeably annoyed at this outcome) Andromeda danced politely with Remus for a few songs, but then, when the music stopped and the house tables appeared, laden with food and drink, she found her friends and sat with them to gossip with them about the ball.

"So, I see that when you could no longer dance with Severus, you started to dance with none other than James Potter" Andromeda said, as she interrogated Lily about her dance partner. "I see that you danced with none other than Sirius Black" Lily shot back "And anyway, he backed me into a corner, I didn't want to"
"Okay you got me" Andromeda held up her hands in surrender "I danced with Sirius and then Remus, you?"
"James Potter, then Arthur Weasley" Kimya answered unblushingly
"Ooh!" chorused the others. She then blushed a deep pink.
"Remus then Sirius"
"Ooh!" They were interrupted by Dumbledore tapping his glass to begin his speech. "This year, Hogwarts will be hosting five balls: the Welcoming Ball, the Halloween Ball, the Yule Ball, the Solstice Ball and the Leaving Ball. The reason for this, is that these balls are traditions in the All-Hogwarts Multi-Talent Tournament. The Tournament will be held throughout this year, and will test students on all areas of expertise. Students will be encouraged to sign up in groups of two to five, but it isn't necessary to have a group." This announcement was met with whispered plans to sign up. Dumbledore merely cleared his throat and continued "Students will have a week to sign up. The sign up parchment will be in each of the common rooms. But it is getting late. Bed time!"

Everyone in the Gryffindor common room was debating about whether to sign up or not, including the Marauders, but as soon as Sirius saw Andromeda, he climbed out of his chintz armchair and called "Andromeda!"
"What do you want, Sirius?"
"Come on, one date" he grinned, as he walked closer "You enjoyed the ball right?"
She hesitated before she replied, and when she did, it was slowly, as if she were considering every word she spoke "You're right. I did enjoy tonight. But, if you want a date with me, you will have to prove that you are good enough. Be a gentleman all week, and prove that you are worth my time, then I will give you one date in Hogsmeade. No guarantees: just a date." With these words she turned on her heel and walked quickly to the girls dormitory, well aware that all of the students in the common room had just watched her, and that Sirius was grinning like a Cheshire cat behind her.