January 30th. This may seem like any ordinary winter day, but in the kingdom of Gryffindor it was a very special day indeed. For today was the long awaited 18th birthday of Princess Lily of the Evans Family, meaning that she was now of courting age. And when a member of the royal family reached courting age it almost always meant a ball would be held. For as the future queen it was pertinent for Lily to find just the right suitor. This ball was a great deal in the entire kingdom as it was potentially a search for who would be the future king. And it was all down to Princess Lily's heart.
"Your Highness, it's time to wake up," Lily's lady in waiting, Mary, stated shaking Lily awake.
Lily groaned, "Is it morning already? I was having the most amazing dream, Mary. Leave me be."
"You know I can't do that. Today's your birthday ball! We have a lot of preparing to do and the King and Queen are waiting downstairs for you," Mary informed Lily.
Lily grunted again, but finally left the haven of her bed. She headed toward where Mary had laid out her dress for her and began to change into it. Then, she headed out the door towards the dining hall.
A ball. What a great idea, dancing around with strangers all night who only want me for power. It's not like I'll actually get to choose whom I will spend the rest of my life with. Lily sighed as she pictured tonight. Empty conversations, pathetic men pleading for her approval, uncomfortable shoes not meant for dancing, and of course the bloody uncomfortable dress. Sometimes Lily wondered how different life would be if she weren't a princess.
The townspeople were buzzing as news of the ball that night reached Hogsmeade Square. Of course none of them could attend, as only royalty and those with money to spare received invitations. However not even that could stop what James Potter was planning to do.
"Sirius, Remus, Peter! Did you guys hear? A ball! Tonight!" James chimed, not being able to wipe the smile off of his face.
"Yeah? And why are you so excited? It's not like we were invited," Sirius informed him while lounging about against a wall. There happened to be plenty of seats in the small house the four boys shared, but Sirius preferred his particular position on the ground, as the area allowed him to best enjoy the breeze from outside.
"Like that's going to stop us! If we pull off the right appearance and don't draw too much attention to ourselves we can easily slip in, the majority of the guests will be around our age after all," James exclaimed.
"Appearance? James where are we supposed to get clothes fit for royalty?" Remus questioned. He was currently seated at their modest table, trying to pen out a letter to his mum, who lived in a small farm town outside the city.
"Yeah, we aren't exactly rich," Peter pointed out from his position on the sofa.
"We steal food all the time, how different can clothes be?" James replied back.
The real reason James was so anxious to go to the ball was to see the princess. Growing up in Gryffindor, James had often caught a glimpse of Princess Lily every now and then and without fail was blown away by her beauty every single time. He had never talked to her, what with her being a princess and him being, well him. But James felt like today would be different. Perhaps today would be his lucky day.
"Well don't come crawling back to us when you're thrown out," Sirius announced shutting his eyes closed. Normally Sirius would jump at any opportunity to wreak havoc, but today he was set on lounging about.
"Fine I'll just find clothes myself then," James humphed and headed towards the shops.
Now where to get clothes fit for royalty? James thought to himself. Princes didn't exactly come down to the square to buy their lavish clothing.
There is a tailor about a block down, James realized, and began jogging towards it. Seeing that the ball was tonight the tailor must have had something that would be suitable. By dodging about carts and people milling about in street, James had reached the tailor's shop in minutes.
James entered the shop quietly, hoping not to draw too much attention to himself. He quickly took the shop in. It seemed that the tailor was in the back of the shop, making James' task a lot simpler. James' attention was quickly drawn to some clothes neatly piled on his left. He dashed and rapidly picked up the most pristine men's attire of the lot. Having his desired clothes in his hand he briskly made his way towards the door to make his getaway.
However, he was not quick enough. Right when James had picked up the clothes the tailor returned to the front of the store. He was now aggressively calling for the royal guards, who were posted around the square in preparation for the ball, to chase after James. James ran for his life, but the guards spotted him and were now on his toes. He momentarily got ahead and looked around for a place to hide. Next to a house, conveniently hidden away by the alleyway, James spotted a shed. Without a thought he bustled into it before the guards could catch sight of him.
He pressed his ear against the door of the shed and breathed a sigh of relief as he heard the oblivious guards pass his hiding spot. James spent a few seconds catching his breath before looking down and examining the result of his task. He groaned in frustration. The clothes were now dirty from his run as well as too small for his frame to begin with. They seemed to be made for someone much younger than him. All his running had been for nothing. Lifting his eyes up from the disappointment that were the clothes, James noticed how peculiar the shed was. It was completely empty aside from one lonely brass lamp.
Although the lamp looked fairly non-descript, James was pulled towards it with curiosity. If nothing else, perhaps he could sell the lamp and use the money to purchase some suitable attire for the ball. Walking towards the center of the abandoned shack, James picked up the brass lamp gingerly. There was a thick coating of dust on the lamp, but at a closer look, one could make out elaborate carvings and engravings beneath the grime. James was truly excited at this discovery. An elegantly carved lamp would bring in a great sum of money, so he began to rub the lamp in earnest to see what beauty the dirt hid.
A moment after he started rubbing, James widened his eyes in surprise as the lamp began to hum underneath his fingers.
"What the hell?" He brought the lamp close to his ear to listen. Perhaps some poor insect was trapped inside.
"Hey little guy, I'll get you out of—ahhhh!" The lamp was glowing red and burned James's hands from where they were holding it. He hurled the lamp to the ground, where it progressed from humming to full out shaking and thrashing.
That lamp wasn't harboring an insect, James decided. Oh no. A full grown fucking zebra must have been kicking about in there.
As the the lamp continued to vibrate violently, a blue mist swirledl its way out of the lamp's funnel. James tripped over his feet as he backed away, not interested in breathing whatever toxic gas the lamp may have been emitting. The smoke kept coming until it filled the entire shed. There was no escaping it.
The smoke had now obscured his surroundings, and James couldn't see any part of the wooden walls. He could no longer hear the hustling and bustling of people walking about outside. If James didn't know any better, he would have thought that he was no longer in the shed, but in some other dimension, merely a vast expanse filled with the mysterious blue smoke.
James looked up to see that the smoke was not done. It was now forming the figure of a man. He began to panic as he saw the gas turning into an increasingly distinct shape. Was this someone's idea of a joke? Because James could not believe what was taking place before his eyes.
The smoky apparition was more clear now and looked like some interpretation of Merlin; someone was definitely messing with his head. The man was fairly tall with long silver hair, and donned an old cloak giving him the appearance of a wizard. Where his feet should have been, the smoke that he was made filtered back into the lamp.
"Oh dear, I fear I developed quite an ache in my back," he licked his finger and held it up in the air as if he was inspecting the draft, "it seems it's been about 345 years since I have been let out." James stared in shock as the figure from the lamp began to talk.
"What are you?" he exclaimed. The figure looked for the source of the sound, and seemed to have noticed James for the first time.
"Introductions? Oh I seem to have gotten ahead of myself here, I always do get caught on in the excitement. I already know who you are, James Potter. I am Dumbledore, great genie of Hogwarts. But you've heard of me of course?" Dumbledore explained, with a look of utmost calm, while still trying to stretch out his limbs, if one could even call his shadowy extensions that.
James shook his head, this was definitely some sort of hallucination. He probably bumped his head against some rock while running from the guards. No way genies of all things could truly exist. Maybe if he played along with the old coot he would be able to snap out of this reverie sooner.
"Er no, sorry, I haven't heard of you," James awkwardly replied while scratching the back of his head. "I wasn't aware that genies existed actually. So I'm just going to leave here and go back where I came from. Nice meeting you." James made his way towards where the door should have been, but couldn't seem to see anything other than the blue glow of the genie. He turned back towards Dumbledore in confusion.
"Where'd the door go?" he asked.
"I do believe we are no longer in that cramped old shed I was unfortunately placed in. Those quarters are much too small for my figure. If I could hazard a guess, I would say that we are now in a cave just outside the city. Besides, dear boy, what's the hurry? I haven't even gotten to explaining myself yet. You humans, always so quick to leave," Dumbledore tutted while producing a chair out of thin air. "Now take a seat so I can continue with what I was saying before."
Seeing there was no alternative exit out of the former shed, James reluctantly settled into the chair.
"Now, as I stated before, I am Dumbledore, great genie of Hogwarts, and today is your lucky day. Being a genie, and being that you decided to pick up my lamp, I am obliged to grant you three wishes. However, before you jump up and begin to use my services I must warn you that there are certain rules that come with this power. Firstly, you cannot wish for someone to fall in love with you. Second, you cannot create or take away life. And finally you cannot wish for more wishes," Dumbledore explained, gazing expectantly at James.
"Right, well, either I'm asleep, or I've officially gone off in the head. Crazy hallucination, could you please escort me to the door?" James announced, once more heading towards where he thought the door was.
"I've already told you, this is all real. If you don't believe me then go ahead and make your first wish. It will do you no harm," Dumbledore suggested.
James considered this and agreed that really no harm would come with making a wish. Really, the worst thing that could happen would be that it wouldn't come true.
"You do have a point, okay well I wish to- erm…," James took a moment to think, he had to word this exactly right.
He began again. "Well you see, there's this girl—"
Dumbledore interrupted him before James could go any further. "I'm afraid I am already apprehensive about this wish. Remember, my first rule is that I cannot make anyone fall in love with you."
"No, I know that. It's just that she and I aren't exactly on the same level, so I was hoping that you could help me to get her attention."
"Not on your level? Nonsense. You seem like a perfectly nice boy. I cannot see why you would think yourself beneath any girl." Dumbledore addressed him with a pleasant smile, and James felt himself oddly comforted by the strange old apparition.
"Well you see it isn't my personal beliefs per say, its more of what's socially acceptable," James stated, trying to explain the situation to the outdated genie. "You see, the girl I'm trying to talk to just happens to be the princess of Gryffindor. Princess Lily, to be exact."
"Ah," Dumbledore said, stroking his beard. "I'm afraid you do, in fact, have a problem there."
"Yes," James exclaimed, glad that the genie understood his dilemma. "There's a ball at the palace tonight, so I was hoping you could make me a prince. Just so that I would be able to enter the ball and actually have a chance with the princess.."
"I believe that can be arranged," said Dumbledore with a twinkle in his sharp blue eyes, which seemed to stand apart from the rest of his blue-tinted body. "Is that your first wish then, James?"
James squared his shoulders and grinned at the genie. With a big breath, he said, "Dumbledore, I wish you would turn me into a prince."
It had been ten minutes and Lily was already regretting agreeing to the ball. Sure, it was customary for all princesses to have one on their 18th birthday, but really she would've survived without one. So far she had gotten away with not accepting any dances, but she knew her luck wouldn't last long. Sooner or later her parents would force her to accept someone's oh-so-genuine proposal. Still, she had endured plenty for the night in her opinion. Finding different ways to politely reject the advances of men twice your age was more taxing than anyone could have imagined. And the men her age were no better. One of them, the Duke of Hufflepuff, had gone so far as to comment on possible wedding themes. At that point, Lily had sprinted away to Mary who stood at the periphery of the ball room observing Lily's misery.
"Mary, you've got to do something," Lily complained. "Tell my mum and dad that I ate something that didn't sit well with my stomach. I'll just slip past these people and make my way back to my room."
"Princess Lily!" Mary admonished. "Do you suggest that I lie to my Queen and King to save you from socializing with these kind suitors?"
Lily grinned back wickedly. "I am, and you will. S'later Mary!"
Lily dashed away before Mary could reprimand her for her actions. Lily knew Mary would huff and puff at Lily's improper use of etiquette, but in the end it would all be an act. Mary was just a servant, but she was also Lily's best friend, and she would do anything to get Lily out of a night she knew the young princess despised.
Lily turned back to see if Mary had moved from her spot along the wall when she crashed into a warm, solid mass. Because she was wearing a dress with long flowing skirts and a very dangerous pair of heels, Lily was not able to balance herself from the impact. She closed her eyes as she prepared herself for her inevitable crash to the floor.
But the crash didn't come. Instead she was being cradled by strong arms that most definitely belonged to a man. She looked up to meet her savior's eyes. Hazel eyes, she noted. Beautiful hazel eyes. She was captivated by them and suddenly found herself flustered by their proximity. Lily stole her gaze from her savior's eyes, and let it roam around the rest of his face. He had slightly tanned skin, which was not common for nobles, who spent most of their time indoors in court. He was immaculately dressed, but his raven black hair was messy and windswept, and looked as if it had never been brushed. His most striking feature were his eyes, and at a second glance, she noticed that his eyes were, in fact, framed by a pair of black glasses.
The man lifted his lips in a sort of amused smile, and Lily blushed as she realized she had been staring at him for a good minute. She moved herself out of the mysterious man's arms and brushed off invisible dust from her dress, clearing her throat.
"Sorry about that, I do happen to be quite clumsy from time to time," Lily admitted, slightly embarrassed that he had caught her staring at him.
"And here I thought you were falling for me," he replied with a smirk appearing on his face.
Lily's eyebrows lifted in surprise. No man tonight had addressed her in this manner. The teasing and joking were a refreshing change to the stiff mood that had accompanied her all night.
"Hmm, well, I suppose you caught me before I fell too far," Lily teased back, finding herself in a good mood for the first time during the ball. Her savior's smirk transformed into a full-out grin.
"As your hero, I believe I deserve a reward," he began. "So m'lady, may I have this dance?" he said, slightly bowing and extending his arm towards her.
Glancing around her she could see that her parents were fixed on their exchange. They were nodding their heads, pushing Lily to accept his offer. A dance tonight was inevitable and he did just save her, and judging by his outward appearance he was already much more appealing than the others.
"Okay then, dear sir," Lily said, adopting his same lofty manner, "I believe I will grant you one dance tonight." She accepted his hand with a small smile on her face.
With her hand in his, he guided her to the center of the ballroom. Placing his other hand on her waist , they began moving in sync to the elegant music playing in the background. The two of them danced in silence, but the room around them erupted in whispers as people noticed the elusive princess finally donning to make an appearance on the ballroom floor.
"I see people are whispering at us," Lily's dance partner noted.
She sighed. "Well you are the first person I danced with tonight."
An emotion that Lily couldn't quite place flitted across his face. There was a ring of true honesty in his voice when he replied. "Princess Lily, you have no idea how honored I am to hear that."
Lily gave him a small smile, and the two began to dance in silence once more. Her partner wasn't the best of dancers, but she found that she was enjoying herself anyways. The man had an easiness about him that wasn't present in other royal men she had met. As their dance ended, her mysterious partner slowly bowed down and pressed his lips to her hand. Lily felt her hand burn where his lips touched her skin. Her heart fluttered in an unfamiliar way as he leaned in close to her ear and whispered.
"It was a pleasure dancing with you tonight Princess Lily."
Lily opened her mouth and found she couldn't reply. With a shaky breath she tried again.
"It was a pleasure dancing with you too. But I don't even know your name" She looked into his eyes to find any sign of familiarity. However, this man looked like he was from no royal family she had met before.
Strangely, he hesitated before answering. "Um, I'm Prince James of Godric. My parents are King Charlus and Queen Dorea."
"I'm afraid I haven't heard of that kingdom before," Lily said, with puzzled eyes.
"Yes, well, its quite far away, so I can imagine that being the case."
Out of the corner of her eyes, Lily could see Mary with her knowing look, and she remembered what she had been doing before she crashed into Prince James. As lovely as he was, and as much fun as she had while dancing with him, Lily could not stay by James's side the entire night, so retiring to her room still seemed like the best option. Lily turned back to the prince, who was glancing around the room with a look of wonder in his eyes. She poked his shoulder to get his attention.
"Dancing with you was truly lovely, but I've got to go now," she told him.
"Already? Leaving so early from your own ball?" James looked confused.
"Yes, well not everyone here is as pleasurable to dance with as you were, and I'm afraid I don't really enjoy balls. Good night," Lily replied with a smile, turning towards the exit.
"Wait," James stated grabbing her arm. "I forgot to wish you a happy birthday."
"Oh," Lily blushed. "Thank you. It was a pleasure meeting you." She turned towards the exit once more. Once again, James grabbed her arm. When Lily looked at him, a slight blush dusted his cheeks.
"Will I get to see you again, princess?" He asked.
Lily looked at him with confusion at this question and chuckled. "Why of course. I should hope so. You are planning on spending the fortnight at the palace, no? I believe my father extended this invitation to all present at the ball."
A look of relief crossed James's face. "Silly me," he said. "Yes, of course. I am staying for the next two weeks. How could I have forgotten?"
Lily smiled at the endearing prince who was running a hand through his hair and was now sporting a very definitive red blush.
"I'll see you tomorrow Prince James," she said, still smiling, before turning around with a swish of her skirts and finally slipping out the ballroom doors.
It was a few moments before James was able to find his voice and shake himself out of the stupor Princess Lily had entranced him in. He now had a grin on his face that wouldn't leave, no matter how hard he tried to school his features.
"Yeah," he whispered. "I suppose you will."
A/N:
Although our story is inspired by Aladdin, it only loosely follows the events in the movie. So please don't be worried if the plot doesn't move exactly as you might remember! -Padfoot
I hope you enjoyed this! We appreciate reviews and will have more updates in the very near future! -Prongs