Chapter TWO:
The students all gathered around the gigantic mahogany doors that would lead to the Great Hall. Inside would take place the Sorting, a process in which all the new first year students would be "sorted" into the four houses of Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Lily, Arabella, Becca, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were all Gryffindors, clever and brave, as well as extremely loyal. However, the Marauders were the pranksters of the school and would not let their presence this year go unknown. Naturally, they had planned a debut to take place at the ceremony that evening. The four grinned, and James mentioned to Lily that they would be "having a ball" later on, a comment at which Peter scoffed silently.
After sitting at the Gryffindor table for what seemed to be ages listening to "Hardorn, Jimmy" and "Blaelyn, Marla" and so forth, the group was anxious for the feast that would traditionally come after the Sorting. Finally, Professor Dumbledore nodded to the Sorting Hat (an old and somewhat grumpy hat that would be placed on the head of each student to "sort" them into their respective houses) was placed on a silver platter and led away from the Hall. Dumbledore rose, nodded, yelled, "sonorus!" to amplify the sound of his voice and began speaking to the students and teachers.
"This feast marks the beginning of another marvelous and extraordinary year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," he began. "I look forward to seeing you all accomplish great things. I must remind you that Mr. Filch insists that no students go to the third, fourth, or seventy-eighth corridors. I must also tell you all that the Forbidden Forest is off-limits to all students except those in the class of Care of Magical Creatures, year Seven Advanced. We will proceed with out usual Yule Ball over the winter holidays and the house cup race as well as quidditch. Naturally, the first match is in two months, Gryffindor versus Slytherin. Now that your stomachs are all rumbling with anticipation, let the feast begin!" he yelled and clapped his hands. But the Marauders had been hard at work already, and instead of covering the tables with food, the long mahogany tables were suddenly swept aside to the back of the room, and white lights shined from the ceiling. Balloons fell, confetti came, gigantic cakes and sweets assembled themselves, and a dancing platform appeared. Music began playing and the food for the feast appeared on the tables in the far back. All the students were suddenly wearing their dress robes they had tucked in their trunks upstairs, and were chatting eagerly.
"It seems the Marauders have changed our traditional plans without even notifying me of the celebrations!" said Dumbledore, shaking his head, but nodding to Sirius. This was an "okay" sign to go ahead with the ball.
"I told you we'd be having a ball," James whispered to Lily as he took her hand and led her away from the rest of the group. "Would you like to dance with me?" he asked, staring into Lily's green emerald eyes, sinking into them.
Her heart raced and she thought the entire school must be hearing her gasp. James, the best friend of her good friend, was asking her to dance? Why, they had known each other for six years (introduced to each other two years before Hogwarts by Sirius) and yet he had never said more to her than conversation about school, or pranks or such! Now he wanted to dance? Well, she had been longing for this moment. And she had been taking dance lessons, so maybe she could even impress the bloke!
"Of course," she said graciously, curtsied, and took his hand. It was warm, slightly damp, and smelled like him: mint leaves with a touch of cinnamon. He nodded, and swept her onto the floor. Arabella and Becca sighed.
"Oh, I see! You long to dance as well, fair maiden! Well, fear not, for I, Sirius the Wonderful, am here to give you your heart's desire and sweep you into a rush of gold!" yelled Sirius, delighted, as he suddenly grabbed Bella's hand and swung her onto the dance floor. Shrugging and laughing, she accepted and began to sway with him. Becca shrank back into her seat. She didn't know this group too well, as she tended to be very shy. But a shadow appeared over her head and she looked up. A very jittery Peter was standing by her.
"Ah, you, uh…wouldn't care to dance, would you? I mean, I know I'm nowhere near the dancer James is," he stuttered, looking over to where James was gracefully twirling Lily around and dipping her back, "or the charmer Sirius is," he muttered, glancing over to where Bella was laughing at yet another witty comment Sirius had made, "or as clever as Remus is," his eyes darted over to where Remus was engaged with a girl in a chess match, chatting happily and drinking punch, "but, well…I do alright, and…well, WOULD you want to dance with me, Becca?" he finished impishly.
Becca suddenly looked so happy. She had wanted to talk to Peter ever since she saw him at the train station, those blue eyes that were as soft as a petal but delightful as an icicle.
"Why now, Peter, why would a girl like me refuse such a wonderful guy like you? I think dancing sounds fabulous," she said and extended her hand. Peter, who broke into a large grin, took her hand and they began to sway as well.
"So, how do I do?" James whispered in Lily's ear as he twirled her around to the left and caught her in his arms before they continued swaying back and forth.
"Very, very well," she mumbled before resting her head back onto his shoulder, and sighed contently. 'Wow,' she mused, 'such a wonderful dancer, a charmer, smart, sweet… what more could I ask for? The only thing is, why now? Why hasn't he ever talked to me or done anything like this BEFORE?' she wondered, then bit the thought back. 'It's the NOW that counts,' she told herself, 'and that's what I should enjoy at this moment! It's not every day the heartthrob of the school is inviting you to dance to a ball that he arranged against the rules on the first day of school!' and with that she sighed deeply, happily.
'Why didn't I ever notice those green, green eyes before?' James wondered as he swayed with Lily. She looked so lovely, he thought, in her bottle green dress robes with white satin trimming, her head resting comfortably on his shoulder as they danced slowly. Like a princess, he decided, she's like a princess in an Emerald Kingdom. 'Someday, sometime soon, I'll get to know her better,' he promised himself. He had a feeling he'd want to get to know her very well very soon.
James snapped his fingers softly and as Lily opened her eyes, she saw they were outside.
"What…where…when…what?!?" she exclaimed, lost.
"We're just outside, that's all. I thought you might want to go for a walk. There's a garden that's hidden over there with the most gorgeous flowers," he said softly, and took her hand. She then began to walk with him, enjoying the slight breeze, the rustle of leaves in the cherry blossom trees, the aura of a lovely evening. They could still hear the slow music playing inside the castle. Lily wondered if anyone was worried at their sudden disappearance. James, seemingly reading her thoughts, nodded towards the castle and said, "It's alright. Sirius knows we're out here, so Bella, Remus, Peter and Becca do too, of course. Word of mouth you know," he grinned at her.
'Gosh, I LOVE that grin,' Lily realized with a jolt. Wait, what was she THINKING? She hardly knew this boy, this James Potter. 'Then if I practically don't know him, why do I feel like I've known him for forever? Why do I feel like I could tell him anything, do anything for him?' she asked herself, confused at her own feelings.
Right then, the two stepped into a garden, and Lily cried and ran over to the trellis.
"It's so beautiful," she gasped, breathless. "So, so beautiful…" She murmured, stroking the flowers softly, smelling their delicious perfumes. James just watched in delight. Ah, if someone had told him a few months ago that he would be in the special Ministry Reserved Exotic Garden at Hogwarts with Lily Evans and without a care in the world except delighting over Lily smelling flowers, he would have slapped him or her.
He suddenly had an idea, and on impulse, walked over to the pond in the back of the garden. He reached over and picked a white lily, with a soothing scent. Cradling it, he walked over to Lily, and placed the flower in her hair. She thanked him, and smiled.
'Oh, he just gave me a flower, a lily…' she thought to herself giddily. 'A lily for Lily'… Just when James was taking her arm to hug her, a bell rang from inside the castle, signaling it was time to go upstairs to the dormitories. They shrugged, and walked back to the castle, though no longer hand in hand. Lily felt shy, and James felt awkward.
Inside the castle, the tales rearranged themselves, and everyone gathered their things. The prefects pushed to the front of the lines and began to lead the students up to their Houses.