The masked Yule Ball had long gone out of fashion at Hogwarts. When Lily Evans read about it in one of her Wizarding history books, she took the idea to the Headmaster. After many long discussions between herself, the Head Boy, Professor Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall, they decided to hold the ball in the Great Hall on the last day of the term, so all the students could attend.
As part of the tradition, each student attending was given a blank mask. When worn, it reflected their personalities and could not be removed until after midnight, when the ball would end. Many people arranged to meet their significant other in the Entrance Hall, but most went alone, hoping to meet someone among the masked attendees.
Lily's mask was black, with an image of a vast library hidden in its depths. Like all the masks, you had to be quite close to discern the images within. Her dress had a fitted bodice with tiny straps across her shoulders, and a bell skirt that fell to her ankles, showing off strappy peep-toe heels. Both the shoes and her dress were a magical shade of green to match her eyes perfectly. The dress had originally been a revolting shade of yellow that was supposed to look golden, and had instead looked like bananas, and had been her bridesmaid dress from her sisters wedding the previous summer.
Her fiery hair cascaded around her face, fixed high on her head by a series of Muggle pins designed to keep her hair in place. She resisted the urge to remove them, and she wondered what had possessed her to go Muggle instead of using magic.
As she circled the hall, she noticed many witches and wizards had chosen to wear Muggle finery instead of the voluminous Wizarding robes preferred by the older generations. Only the pure blooded Slytherins wore the formal garments, in shades ranging from Slytherin green and silver to bright orange of a families colors.
Lily scanned the hall for familiar profiles; she spotted Alice Prewitt on the arm of a tall, thin man that could only be Frank Longbottom, her long time boyfriend. Lily watched them disappear into a shadowy table-filled corner of the room, and sighed. She'd admonish them tomorrow, she decided, as a tall man in lurid yellow robes that nearly matched the color her gown used to be approached her. Smiling at Xeno Lovegood, she took his hand and joined him in a strangely normal turn about the dance floor.
Around ten o'clock, after dancing with many people she didn't know, a familiar hand engulfed hers and pulled her into an embrace. She could feel quill calluses along his fingers, and though his Muggle formal wear was suspiciously rich, she would know the touch of this friend anywhere.
Remus's pale green eyes smiled down at her as they danced. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he whispered, "You look lovely tonight."
"You're looking rather well yourself, Remus," she said, returning his smile, noticing his mask sported a forest bathed in the light of a full moon.
"I'm sure you are expecting him to do something-"
"It would be foolish of me to expect otherwise, even if he did do a very good job helping me decorate the hall today," she interrupted with a slight scowl.
"Stop that. He isn't even here, He said he wasn't feeling well when we were getting dressed, and stayed in our dorm."
She missed a step, and accidentally trod on Remus's foot. Apologizing, she concentrated on dancing as she mulled this information over. He hadn't seemed ill when they were working that afternoon; in fact, he had laughed and joked with the Prefects as normal.
Remus saw the doubts cross her eyes, and said, "He probably isn't actually sick. My guess is, he wants to make sure not to ruin this for you. We all know how hard you worked to make this night perfect. I'd still like to know how you managed to book Celestina Warbeck so fast."
The pair listened to the warbling of said singer as they continued to turn. When the song ended, Lily kissed her friend on the cheek in thanks for the dance, and was instantly captured for the next by an excited Peter Pettigrew. The more upbeat tune had them dancing exuberantly, cutting a wide swath through the crowd to the amusement of most and the indignation of several uptight Slytherins.
After a surprisingly graceful dip, she left Peter to a Hufflepuff fifth year who had been eying him, and wormed her way through the crowd to the drinks table. She was halted by an elegantly dressed man in a Muggle tuxedo holding two goblets of eggnog. Dark hair fell in lose waves to his shoulders, while gray eyes peeked out from behind his mask.
"I promise," he said softly, gazing from her pinned hair down to her shoes, "I didn't spike the drinks. You are quite a vision tonight, Lily-flower."
She accepted the pro-offered goblet, and took a tentative sniff. Chuckling, he took it back and had a sip, handing it back to her with a smirk. Cautiously, she took a sip; long association with the Marauders made her wary.
"You look handsome yourself, Black, though I suspect you've told yourself that several times tonight." Handsome he certainly looked; she was reminded of the film her parents had made her watch over the summer about a secret agent named James Bond.
"Of course I have. Are you enjoying your night?" At her enthusiastic nod, he continued, "The Great Hall has never looked so wonderful, flower."
Ignoring his use of the pet name she secretly liked but pretended to detest, Lily said, "Thank you, but really, Potter had most of the ideas for decorations. He was a huge help today, surprisingly." And it was actually a shame he was missing the party, she added to herself, wondering if she ought to go upstairs and ask him to join her. Aghast by the thought, she turned her attention back to Sirius.
As another waltz began to play, Sirius took her goblet and set it down, pulling her to him and leading her around the floor. He was a relaxed partner, unlike Remus, who she knew could only do basic steps, and Peter, who preferred to be outrageously bad instead of showing that he didn't know how. Meeting his eyes, she noticed his mask also sported a forest under a full moon, and felt a small smile cross her lips. She thought she saw a small figure emerge from between the trees, but she blinked, and lost the image.
With a flourish, he spun her around and into the arms of another man, this one holding a white lily in his left hand. Breathless from dancing, she panted for air as he set the stem of the flower into the clip in her hair. As another song started, he pulled her into a loose embrace and swayed side to side childishly.
She studied the stranger holding her, wondering who it could be. He was dressed stylishly in black, with an emerald green dress shirt that matched the exact shade of her dress. Hazel eyes laughed at her from behind his mask.
With a start, she realized she was looking into another moonlit forest mask. She stilled completely as she watched a large animal emerge from the trees, look around, and canter off. A slow smile crossed his lips as she gasped.
Pulling her tighter as the tempo of the song picked up, he began to dance her around the Hall, his steps precise and no longer the clumsy imitation of a few minutes ago. She followed him automatically, her emerald orbs never leaving his hazel ones as they flowed across the room. One dance morphed into two, then three, until she had lost track of everything but their footsteps, and the unwavering look of admiration in eyes she had never noticed contained flecks of green.
As the clock tower rang elven o'clock, the band declared a short break, and her dance partner bowed over her hand, kissing her knuckles with gentle lips. He squeezed her fingers, whispering, "Thank you," before he turned and left the Hall.
She started to follow him, but was caught by Professor McGonagall, who wished for her to address the attendants of the ball and thank them for coming. Sighing, she turned to follow her Head of House.
Half an hour later, she managed to escape the crush of students and fetched her shawl from the Entrance Hall. Ascending the marble staircase, she let her feet follow the familiar path while her mind wandered over her time spent dancing with the surprising man.
She stopped along the seventh floor corridor beside a window that over looked the snow covered grounds and Forbidden Forest. Despite the beautiful panorama before her, she found her mind imagining the flawless vista of the Marauder's masks. She shook her head violently when a pair of hazel eyes superimposed themselves over the vision.
Eying the half full moon and lost in a dream-like memory of the night, she didn't hear the footsteps behind her, until a rough voice softly said, "I should have told you earlier, Evans; you look especially beautiful tonight."
Whirling around, startled, her erstwhile dance partner stood a few feet away from her, his hair beginning to lose its slicked-back perfection.
"Thank you," she breathed, her heart thumping quite loudly as she struggled to calm her nerves. "You look quite dashing. I hardly believe it to be you; you're hair is neat, and you aren't surrounded by your usual air of smut arrogance."
"Ahh, yes, well, it clashed horribly with my suit, you know, and I simply couldn't have that tonight."
"I thought you told Remus you didn't feel well, and you were staying in the tower?" she asked as he joined her by the window.
"I had planned on it. See, I was sick. Sick with worry that I would do something to ruin the night for you, and I wanted to give you a Christmas present. I figured by staying away, I could accomplish both."
"But instead, you decided to come, and dance with me?"
"Well, see, about that... A little wolf told me that a certain flower seemed upset that I wasn't there. I decided to trust his judgment, though I hadn't planned to dance with you more that once. That was simply a bonus for me." They stood quietly together for a moment, gazing at the snow that had begun to fall. Then, "It's amazing, isn't it?"
"Oh yes. I'm dreading the end of next term. I'll miss everything here so much when we leave."
"Everything?" His quiet question held a vast amount of weight, and the teasing lilt to his voice made her smile.
"Well, maybe not everything. The feasts are simply awful, you know, so much food and so often!"
The pair chuckled together, then she said, in a more serious tone, "Yes, everything. Lately, you're a much more pleasant burden than I expected, considering you were a - what did I call you fifth year?"
"Arrogant, bullying toe-rag," he grumbled, not meeting her eyes.
"Ah, yes, that's it." She giggled at his discomfort. Placing her hand on top of his where it rested on the window sill, she said in a gentle voice, "Thank you. Tonight was wonderful."
"Wonderful? I'm glad yours was so lovely. Mine was merely alright, you see, I had hoped to make more progress in my master plan to make this girl I'm crazy for really see me. Seems now she understands I've grown up a bit, but I'm afraid she may see me as merely a fellow Head student, possibly even, dare I say it, a friend. But I'm rather greedy, and as I said, I'm crazy about her... I wasn't even able to get away with a kiss, despite my clever attempts at disguising my identity."
As the clock tower struck midnight, the magic of their masks fizzled and they vanished, leaving their faces bare. James lifted her hand again, pressing a soft kiss to the back, before turning to walk away. Grabbing his arm she turned him roughly, pulling him back to her and wrapping an arm around his neck, stood on tip-toe to press a kiss to his lips.
Breaking away, she whispered, "You deserve to have you night as wonderful as mine was. I hope this makes us even." She kissed him again, then stepped away, a blush burning across her cheeks.
Breathless, he licked his lips, tasting her. "Lily..." The clear desire and need in his voice floored her, and sent a shiver through her body. She found herself pressed against him, their lips molding together in a searing kiss. Hesitantly, he put his hands on her waist, holding her close as if afraid she would vanish.
Separating, she looked up into his eyes, and breathed out, "Please ask me out in some ridiculous way, so I know it's really you and not a dream or prank..."
Ruffling his hair with one hand, he affected his trademarked grin and leaned against the wall with his ankles crossed. "How about a date, Evans? You, me, and a study session the Astronomy Tower," he said in a low, rumbling voice, repeating what he'd said the first time he ever asked her out.
Laughing, she swatted his chest and rolled her eyes. "Only you can make something as mundane as studying into a vulgar suggestion. Have you ever thought of asking me like a normal human, and not assuming that I'd want to date you?" She crossed her arms and studied his face, for once, seriously wanting to know his answer.
Dropping his pose he ran a hand through his hair. It seemed like a nervous gesture, not something he was in control of. Deep in his eyes, she could see a vast wealth of emotions warring with each other.
"For years I've done nothing but mess up with you. I want you to see me, the real me, and I've never been able to show you who that is, because I didn't know how. I don't think I knew who I really was. I've done my best this year to show you the man I am now, and I hope that you see how I've grown and changed. This is who I am. Yes, I will always joke around, and yes, I do have a bit of a temper and a short fuse for Slytherins. Let's face facts, we all have flaws. I've done my best to correct my worst flaws, and to become who I should have been years ago. A man, who stands before you now, pleading for you to open your eyes, and give him a chance." James put his hands on her upper arms, and gently shook her. "Give me a chance, Lily. Get to know me for me, as I've come to know you."
For the first time, she really listened to his words, what he was actually saying and not what she wanted them to mean. The sheer amount of conviction in his voice, and a thread of desperation that she suspected he couldn't hide. Cupping his face in her small hand, she smiled up at him. "It's nice to know that you can be taught, Potter. I hope you aren't always this hard headed. I think I see you now. Not Potter, but James."
"Does this mean that you and I can finally be friends?" he asked shyly, as if worried she would snap at him.
She watched the war of emotions break as she shook her head. "No, James. I don't think we can be friends." His face crumpled as he visibly tried to hold in his emotions. "But I'd like to be your girlfriend." She covered his sob with a laughing kiss, wrapping arms around him.
He lifted her in a tight hug. Life would never, ever be dull with this clever witch as his partner.
A/N: thanks for reading, please leave me a review!