Chapter Six- The Ball
I heard low murmuring or hushed arguing- it was hard to tell. But I knew what the people were saying, knowing the voices all too well.
"Dumbledore's going to be upset about this- I know him, he hates Dementors." I heard Sirius Black say, in a somewhat excited tone. Personally, I never saw Professor Dumbledore angry or even upset- he always seemed so happy and peppy, like jolly, old Saint Nick.
"He is in a meeting with the minister." I heard Amber say, "I saw the minister enter the castle a few minutes ago with Professor McGonagall, while Sarah and I were waiting to come in the hospital wing." So, I was in the hospital wing and Dumbledore was so angry about the Dementors attack that he ordered a meeting with the minister for magic?
"That is none of you student's business." I heard madam Pomfry's stern, yet motherly voice.
"When our friend gets attacked by Dementors it is our business." I heard Remus say. I heard someone huff loudly then footsteps fading away.
"James, I didn't know you could conjure a patronus." I heard Sarah say, and I suddenly felt uncomfortable. Potter was there, oh Merlin. After what I did to him, telling him to go to hell and pretty much that no girl could ever love him, he still saved me from a group of Dementors. He saved my life, so now I owed him a debt- it was Wizarding law. I didn't know what I should say to him- do I apologize for what I had said the other day first or do I just thank him for saving my soul? Either way it would be a very awkward conversation.
"Yeah, for someone as dumb as a doorknob you sure know some advance stuff." I heard Amber say.
"I will take that as a compliment- thank you." I heard Potter say. His voice was friendly, yet troubled- I don't know why. His voice was somewhat comforting to me- nah; it was probably just some potion Madam Pomfry gave me.
"Where was Gregory at the time?" I heard Sarah's gentle voice, "Why didn't he do anything."
"He was unconscious when they brought him here, weak piece of sh-"
"Black!" Madam Pomfry shouted, her voice was coming from further away though, "Watch your mouth."
"Sorry, Poppy- won't happen again." I heard Sirius say.
"I was in Zonko's with Amber and the next minute I heard screaming and Smith was lying at the door mumbling and sobbing-" I heard someone snicker, "Then a few moments later a little girl came running in and ran to Zonko- I don't know what she told him, but then he told us to stay in the shop, and I guess he contacted someone because about a minute later they were a evacuating us all back to Hogwarts and then I saw Prongs here carrying Lily, and Hagrid take Gregory, who passed out, out of Zonko's." I heard Peter's voice say.
"How'd you even find Lily?" I heard Amber ask.
"I left Rachel to let her go find her dress for the ball and was heading down to Zonko's to go pick up a few…items, and then I began feeling cold and weak and as if I'd never be happy again then I saw Dementors and Lily on the ground, so I took out my wand and casted a patronus." I heard Potter say with his gentle- I mean annoying, voice- gosh whatever potion Pomfry gave me is really making my mind go crazy.
"When will she wake up, Madam Pomfry?" I heard Amber ask and heard footsteps close by my bed. I felt someone put their hand on my forehead and I figured it was time to 'wake up'. I opened my eyes slowly, the bright light from the sun shining through the open windows surprised me and I closed my eyes again.
"Ow, turn off the sun." I groaned, pulling my blanket up over my head to block out the intense sunlight. A moment later I saw a shadow go over me, and the heat from the sun lessen so I pulled down my blanket, brushing my red hair from my face. I looked around my bed; Amber and Sarah were sitting in chairs on either side of me, Peter was sitting on the floor by Amber's feet, Sirius was laying across the foot of my bed, lazily, looking up at the high ceiling of the hospital wing, Remus stood behind Sarah's chair, leaning on the handles, Madam Pomfry stood near my head, putting away her wand, I looked over at the boy standing quite away from my bed, leaning against the wall. Potter's face seemed troubled, but relieved when I sat up and looked at him. I looked at the only other occupied bed, the one directly across from mine. Gregory laid, snoring loudly, one leg and one arm off the bed, his mouth wide open- I smiled, he was very cute while asleep.
"Lily!" Sarah exclaimed and jumped from her seat happily, "Thank Merlin you're awake- we thought the worst."
"Gosh, Lily, why must you always try to be the hero?" Amber teased, "Emily Sims was here a few hours ago, she wanted to thank you."
"Well, that's what prefects do-they help the little one." I joked, leaning up against my pillows. Sirius sat up and sat at the edge now.
"Wow, Lils, gave us all a bit of a scare there, you did- can't believe it can you?" Remus said, "Dementors here- it's unbelievable."
"What has our world come to if students can't go have some innocent fun for awhile away from school without being attacked by soul eater dark creatures?" Sirius said, darkly. Madam Pomfry extracted a glass of water from thin air and placed it on my bedside table, patted me lightly on the shoulder and then went over to Gregory.
"How long have I been asleep?" I asked, rubbing my head and grabbing the glass of water beside the bed, I drained the cup and it filled back up, by itself.
"You were unconscious for about twenty minutes and woke up but you were asleep for about two hours almost immediately after that." Sarah said, "We were only allowed in here about ten minutes ago- Dumbledore was so angry about the attack- I've never seen him so mad. No one will even tell us why the Dementors were there- or how they got out of Azkaban."
"Maybe this has something to do with You-Know-Who." Sarah said, whispering the murder's name. All around England there were news of the disappearances and deaths of many wizards and muggles alike. It suddenly seemed much more real to me now that there was a man- if you could even call him that- who was trying to hurt people- even children.
"But the Ministry of Magic's got control of Dementors." Peter said, his voice shaking.
"No one would be able to control those things if they wanted to leave." Amber said.
"They feed off your happy thoughts, so you're left with nothing but the worst things that ever happened to you- feeling you with dread and making you miserable- the only thing that can stop them is your happiest thought, and if you know how to conjure your patronus. No happy thoughts- no patronus. And you see how it is now in the Wizarding world, people everywhere mourning sadly over their lost relatives and friends- if I didn't know better I would think that He- Who-Must-Not-Be-Named could bribe the Dementors with his terrified and defenseless victims. If I know Dumbledore I bet he would tell the Minister for Magic to get rid of the Dementors before they're released on other innocent people." Remus said knowledgably.
We all just sat there in silence for awhile; the only sound came from the singing birds that could be heard faintly outside the closed window. I looked over at Potter who seemed to be staring into space. I knew I had to thank him; if he hadn't saved me I would be a soulless, pointless, empty body. How awkward would that be though? A few weeks ago I told him to go to hell and leave me alone- would I have to apologize about that to? Would I even be able to do it or would I just run back up to the girl's dormitory like I usually did? He seemed to be avoiding my eyes, or he might have just been quiet because of what Remus had said.
"No more of this talk of You-Know-Who," Madam Pomfry said as she walked back over to us, "Ms. Evans you may go whenever you're ready- would you like a potion to help you with anything?" she asked, waving her wand, a small vile flying towards her open hand.
"No thanks, m'am, I'm fine." I told her, politely. I don't think any amount of potion would allow me to forget what I had experienced down at Hogsmead. I pulled my feet off the bed, and with the help of Remus and Sarah I regained my balance and stood up beside my bed. Sirius took out his wand and waved it lazily and the bed made itself.
"Oh goodness, my bags!" I exclaimed suddenly, pounding myself in the head (it wasn't the smartest thing to do since I suddenly felt I was developing a headache). "My dress from Gladrags Wizardwear." I told Amber and Sarah when they gave me confused expressions. Amber smiled,
"No we have them, McGonagall brought them down, she saw someone dropped their bag and got them, she expected it was either yours or Gregory's - they're in the dormitories." Sarah told me. I sighed in relief and walked with Amber and Sarah.
"Thanks you guys- it means a lot to be that you were all here." I said, directing toward the four marauders and my two best friends. I turned my eyes towards Potter who stared back holding the contact until he smiled shyly and slightly unsure.
"We'll see you guys later." Sarah told them, smiling at Remus. I looked over at Gregory who was still asleep, he was quite pale except for a small light pink area on the top of each cheek; I smiled at his handsome figure than walked with Amber and Sarah out of the Hospital Wing.
"I can't believe this happened to you, Lily- being attacked by Dementors." Sarah said shivering slightly.
"Imagine if James wasn't there or he didn't know how to conjure a patronus…" Amber said, as the three of us enlaced arms and marched through the empty corridor. I quivered at the thought of my cold, soulless body lying empty across Hogsmead between Madam Puddifoot's and Zonko's Joke Shop.
"You know you're going to have to thank him right." Sarah said slowly. I knew she was going to do this. First it was forcing me to apologize, now it was forcing me to thank him for saving my life- what else is next? Having me say hello to him when we passed in the halls? I mean, yeah he saved my life (soul) but did that make up for all the crap he put me through over the years?
"I know what you're thinking Lily- but saving your life is way bigger than him turning your hair green." Sarah protested. What the heck? Could she read my mind? Sarah- can you read my mind? Can you hear me? Well she probably would have said something if I knew she was a mind reader. Unless she wanted me to think that she wasn't and allow me to continue thinking like no one could hear me…I think I should watch what I think around her from now on.
"Yeah, but it'll be so awkward." I pressed, "I mean I already owe a life debt to him now, isn't that enough?"
"A life debt?" Amber asked, confused.
"A Life Debt is a magical bond formed between one wizard or witch who saved the life of another. The one who owes the debt to the savior would one day repay the deed by doing something beneficial to the said savior." Sarah told Amber. I groaned at the thought of having the one day repay the deed to Potter by doing something beneficial towards him- haven't I suffered enough?
"Well that stinks- but at least your alive, Lily." Amber said, smiling brightly at me. Yeah, I guess she was right; at least I was here right now. Suddenly I felt unbelievably ungrateful and guilty for it. What was I saying? James Potter saved my life and I didn't even want to thank him because I was worried about how awkward and uncomfortable it would be for me. How selfish was I? I should just walk up to Potter right now and tell him how thankful I was for him saving my life.
"Do you feel like going down to dinner, Lily?" Sarah asked gently as if the smallest noise would make me break down into tears or something.
"You guys can go eat- I'm not very hungry- I'm just going to go up to the common room." I told them. The two looked skeptical about leaving me alone, but we bid our goodbyes as we went our separate ways- Amber and Sarah to the Great Hall for dinner and me to the Gryffindor common room to have some quiet time.
I dragged my feet all the way to the common room, which was thankfully empty. If it had been over two hours since I was attacked, I knew everyone would have known by now. But thankfully everyone was a dinner and I wouldn't have to answer the expected questions from my peers. I trudged up the stairs to the empty sixth years girl's dormitory and fell back onto my comfortable bed, groaning in exhaustion. I don't know why I felt so bad at this moment. I was alive, Gregory and the little Hufflepuff girls were fine, no one was hurt, the Dementors were gone, Dumbledore was mad at the minister for letting this happen, in two days I would be (along with the other prefects) helping decorate the ball and attending it later that night…what was I so depressed about? Perhaps it was the fact that I knew I would have to apologize to Potter. I knew I owed him at least that and an apology for what I said the last time we spoke, but it didn't keep me from feeling down.
And here I was feeling sorry for myself when there are a hundred times more horrible things going on in the world right now. Just a week ago I opened the Daily Prophet and the deaths of three well known potion masters covered the second page, the cover page was filled with the Minister's new proposal on the war against You-Know-Who. Deaths have become so regular now that it wasn't even front cover news anymore- but a second page story that left families torn and heartbroken. Even though every night I feared for the safety of my mother and even my sister who didn't even like me and called me a freak so often that I was starting to think that was my name; I still knew they were safe. But nearly every day Professor Dumbledore would walk up to a student and take him or her to his office- later that day you would find out that that he or her family member had died. Every day I wondered if I would be the one Professor Dumbledore walked up to next. So I made it an almost daily routine to send my mother a letter no matter what I was doing and hopefully expect a letter back to her the next day.
That reminded me that I had not answered back my mother's letter I got this morning. I was so preoccupied on getting ready for Hogsmead I hadn't answered back the letter Olly, my gray owl I got in second year, had brought to me. I went over to my bedside table and opened the drawer, pulling out my ink and a sheet of parchment. I unscrewed the top to my ink and dipped my feather quill, that laid on top of my nightstand, in the ink.
Dear Mom,
I hope you and Petunia are alright, I'm so glad to hear from you- even though we write every day. I'm glad you're going back to work; your old students will be thrilled! Are you going back to teaching History or English? Is Petunia really engaged to Vernon? Goodness, it seemed like only yesterday he picked Petunia up for their first date two summers ago and kept raging on about the new internship he got at whatever drill manufacturing business none of us had ever heard of. And though I'm pretty sure I won't be invited to the wedding, I hope she's happy with him. Did you get the package I sent you with owl treats in it? They weren't for you, they were for Olly when he comes over there- I think he's complaining that he never gets any treats for delivering our mail back and forth- I sent them with one of the school owls, since Olly was with you, and she's orange with black spots all over her- so watch for her.
I went on a date today with this guy named Gregory Smith. We went to Hogsmead, the village near Hogwarts, together and we had loads of fun. There's also going to be a ball for fifth, sixth, and seventh years in two days. I bought my dress already, it's green and there's beads along the top of it- I can show you it this summer. Also, Amber's parents are going on vacation to California and Amber said she didn't want to go because it's too hot there, so can she stay with us this summer? Anywhoo, I should go now and stop boring you with my many questions.
Write back soon,
Lily
I looked over my letter to make she it was alright, and then I grabbed my wand and waved it over the parchment- the ink dried instantly. I folded the letter and put it in an envelope, sealed it then wrote my mother's name and address on the front and put the letter beside my bed. I would take the letter down to the owlery later tonight or tomorrow morning. I saw a bag hanging halfway under my bed and I grabbed it. The Gladrags Wizardwear bag held my dress along with my shoes, safely inside. On top of my dress was a smaller bag that held my Honeydukes candy. I sighed and took out a chocolate frog and bit its sad, little head off. I suddenly felt better and more alive, so I ate about three more chocolate frogs- then the door opened.
"Lily, are you okay?" Sarah asked, as Amber and her came over to my bed and sat at the edge.
"I'm fine, you guys, candy?" I offered, holding out the bag. Amber took a Chocoballs, while Sarah told me she was full from dinner.
"Is Gregory awake yet?" I asked my two best friends.
"I don't think so- he probably won't be able to go until tomorrow." Sarah said.
"I feel bad for Smith." Amber said, taking a Shock-o-Choc and putting it into her mouth, "I mean, he fainted in front of his date and had to be dragged to Zonko's-kinda sad, isn't it?" she said
"It's not his fault…"I said quietly, eating another piece of chocolate. Just then our bedroom door flew open, slamming against the opposite wall with a loud thud.
"Oh my gosh, Lily!" Bethany shrieked running into the room, followed by Michelle. "We heard what happened! Clara said that you were attacked by Dementors and that's why we all had to leave early!" I felt uncomfortable, and I felt my face heat up at the attention I knew I was going to get from a lot of people today. "Are you okay? Were you almost kissed?"
"You guys- let's give Lily her space- she's very emotional right now, and I'm sure you all will hear the story before tomorrow." Sarah lied gently. Bethany gave me very sympathetic smile,
"Of course, I hope you feel better Lily- we'll tell everyone how you are." Michelle said, and Bethany and Michelle left a moment later.
*****
The next few days flew by quite fast. I had sent my mother my letter early the next morning after I wrote it. People, predictably, had been swarming me with questions about the Dementors attack, and again predictably most of their information had come from Clara Verdingham. But it soon died down on Tuesday night when suddenly everyone was going crazy about the end of the year ball tomorrow. I was worried, as well, but I had my dress and the next morning I would be going down with all the other prefects to help the staff decorate the Great Hall. Tomorrow the Great Hall was off limits to all students, breakfast, lunch, and dinner would be served inside of each houses common room, except for the fifth, sixths, and seventh years, who would be eating dinner at the ball.
I hadn't seen Gregory since the attack and I was getting worried that what Amber said was true. Did people think he was a wimp or something because he passed out even before seeing Dementors? Is that why he was avoiding me- was he ashamed that he thought he wasn't a man or something? I hadn't heard much about Gregory from passing gossip in the halls- did he just not want to see me anymore? Did he think it was a bad sign that on our first date Dementors come and try to suck out our souls?
I woke up Wednesday morning to the sound of a quiet dormitory, except for Olly hooting merrily at my window. I got up and went over to her. Olly didn't like delivering mail with the other birds, she probably felt crowded with all the birds flying in at once, so she just came to my window and rested mostly at her open cage beside the window- the other girls didn't mind, she was a quiet bird.
Sarah walked back into the room, fully dressed and putting her wand in her pocket.
"Lily- wow- you're awake- and before noon." Sarah said, smiling. I walked over to her, careful to try not to wake the other girls.
"I'm going to head down to the Great Hall to see if the staff is there already." I told Sarah. I quickly got dress and washed up and by the time I came back into the room Amber was just waking up. I bid Sarah and Amber a quick goodbye and headed out of the sixth years girl's dormitory and made my way down the staircase to the Gryffindor common room. When I got there I saw Remus and Potter having a hushed conversation on the couch in front of the fireplace. I tried to think of a way I could pass them to the portrait hole without them seeing, but as soon as I stepped down into the common room the two turned around quickly.
"Good morning Lily." Remus said, standing up, "Are you going down to the Great Hall, right now?"
"Yeah." I told him, trying not to look at Potter, "Care to join me?"
"Yeah, of course- I'll see you later, Prongs." Remus said, nodding towards Potter and accompanying me towards the portrait hole, which we both climbed out of.
"How's Potter?" I asked as the two of us headed down towards the Great Hall.
"He's good- he was worried about you, though." Remus confessed, "I know how you feel about him, Lily, but he really cares about you-I just hope you know that." I stayed silent, for what could I say? When you find out that the boy you've hated for nearly six years turns out to be a bit less horrible than you've brought yourself to believe over the years, you feel that your judgment is a tad bit off. Should I have forgiven Severus when he called me a mudblood last year? Should I have given him a second chance after his pled of forgiveness outside the Gryffindor common room? He was my best friend for nearly my whole life, and I let one word affect my thoughts about him. But this was different, Potter had never called me such a name, he just acting like a git- most of the time not directed towards me, but still- how he treats others, especially ones smaller than him shows a lot about a person. So I stayed quiet letting Remus' words soak in.
When we approached the Great Hall the doors were already wide open. Remus and I walked in side-by-side to see that the Great Hall was completely empty. I never noticed how ridiculously huge it was without its four tables long tables and staff table in the back. We turned around to see Professor McGonagall standing at the door murmuring spells under her breath around the entrance; a moment later she stopped and turned around to us.
"Good, , I'm glad you all are here-Go over to Professor Sprout and she'll tell you what to do."
James Potter walked through the empty hallways alone. He was trying to get away from the busy common room, which all the Gryffindors had piled into to eat breakfast. The ball would be this evening and Remus was already down in the Great Hall to decorate for it. He had told Remus that he'd take his place for today if he wanted to rest, since last night was a full moon and he knew that Remus was tired; though he, himself, had only gotten about three hours of sleep last night.
Sirius, Peter, and he had turned into illegal animagus' last night to accompany their werewolf friend to the shrieking shack during his transformation. It helped Remus a lot to have others there with him, but his friends couldn't be there in human for because they would be attacked. So at the end of last year, James, Sirius, and Peter trained themselves to become into animals to help out their friend without the knowledge of the ministry or teachers or students at Hogwarts.
Sirius and Peter were still asleep in the boy's dormitories- they all had had a rough night last night. So he trudged down the halls for no practical reason except to escape all the students anticipating the ball that was scheduled for this evening in the Great Hall. He wasn't nervous about the ball; Remus had told him, Sirius, and Peter that the ball would be a masquerade and they all came up with a way about how to find each other. Rachel didn't know this, of course- Marauder Secret, but he was glad he would be able to get away from her for one night without her knowing he didn't want to spend time with her- he would just act surprised that everyone had masks on like the rest of the students would.
James didn't know what to do to pass the time. He didn't feel like flying around the Quidditch Pitch alone right now, and his two best friends were asleep in the Gryffindor Dormitories. What else was there to do? He just realized how incredibly boring his life was. He was either pulling pranks with his friends, making out with Rachel, or training down at the Quidditch pitch. He was nothing like his parents. His mother and father were auror- protectors of the Wizarding AND muggle world; and what has he ever done? Turn Mrs. Norris' fur purple?
How incredibly pathetic was he? He continued to think. He was in love with a girl who didn't love him back. Why would she even love him? He was nothing special- she deserved someone better…like Smith…stupid Smith- he was glad he had pushed him off his broom two years ago. He glanced down to hall- no students were there. He felt completely alone and craved for someone- anyone, even a Slytherin maybe, someone that would make him realize he was not completely alone in this world.
He didn't know how long he had been there, but it had to be awhile since he was beginning to hear voices from around the corners. He stopped walking and noticed that he was standing in front of the Great Hall. He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach and backed away from the door- away from Lily, the girl he loved who wanted nothing to do with him.
"I think you all did a fantastic job here, students, and you all finished your tasks quite early." Professor McGonagall announced. "You are all excused while the rest of us finish up the rest here- have a nice day." The crowd of prefects exited the Great Hall talking excitedly about the ball that would start at eight o'clock. I had my dress, shoes, and the masks would be provided when we got there, so I didn't know why I was so nervous.
"So, you going up and getting ready now?" Remus asked.
"We've got hours before the ball, I don't need fifty hours to get ready." I exaggerated.
"True." Remus replied, "I need like ten minutes and I'm good." I laughed.
"Well I think I'll take a bit longer than that." I told him, "But I think I'll just head up and go find something to do with Amber and Sarah to pass the time."
"Yeah, time seems to be going by fast lately." Remus said sounding like his mind was somewhere else and not the ball. "We're nearly in our seventh year, after that we'll all be going our separate ways…there's so many things I haven't done- haven't experienced…I feel like time is running out."
"You're a marauder- what haven't you done? You and your friends stretched the lines of what your Hogwarts experience should be like." I told him. I had a feeling I knew what he was talking about- or better, who he was talking about. "But if you're talking about what I think you're talking about, I think you should go for it." I saw Remus blushing faintly, and he began scratching his arm.
"I can't." Remus said quietly, his voice ashamed for some reason, "We wouldn't be able to be together…" there was such sadness in his voice that I felt like I could cry right here in the middle of the hall.
"Why not?" I asked gently. He turned his head towards me, then straitened up as if he just realized he was talking to me.
"Um- I meant that-"
"You can tell me." I interrupted. There was always something odd about Remus, not that I thought he was odd, but perhaps he was about to tell me the answers to the questions that were circling around him-like why he was gone, just disappeared, every month. Yesterday, in fact, I hadn't seen him all day…or night. I felt like something was forming in my head, but not yet connecting enough for me to put a name to it. "Is this about why you're always ill?" Remus took a deep breath and avoided my eyes.
"Something like that." he said quietly. I noticed we were completely alone, and that I was getting closer to knowing his secret.
"Will you tell me?" I asked, trying to catch his eyes which were looking down at the oddly clean floor.
"I can't, Lily, I'm sorry." he said, his voice ashamed again. "I have to- I'm, er- meeting Peter in the kitchens." And without saying another word, or waiting for me to reply, he ran in the direction we came from; very unlike his normal, polite self. I looked around somewhat confused at what just happened, then kept walking towards the common room.
What was Remus hiding? And why couldn't he tell me? We had been friends for nearly all our time at Hogwarts didn't he trust me? I trusted him. Maybe it was something horrible- like, he's killed someone before, or he's-
I couldn't even think of anything Remus, perfect prefect Remus, could do that would be so horrible. He was quiet, smart, funny at times, a gentleman, noble and modest…completely opposite of the rest of the marauders. What could he be hiding?
"Hippogriff." I told the fat lady who was once again was drinking with her friend Violet. She opened the portrait while laughing drunkenly with her friend. I climbed through the portrait hole into a loud and busy common room filled with Gryffindors laughing and talking way too loudly. I looked around and found Sarah and Amber, along with Peter sitting loyally beside Amber. Sarah was somehow reading in spite of the booming noise around her, Peter and Amber were laughing to themselves.
"Hey you guys." I said sitting down next to Sarah and reading over her shoulder. Sarah said a quick hello, and then went back to her book as if in a trance.
"Lily, how does the Great Hall look?" Amber asked.
"It seems kinda plain to me, I mean we didn't really do much but put ribbons and set up tables and stuff." I told her. It was true, I was kinda disappointed, but Professor McGonagall did say her and the teachers were going to put some finishing touches on it- perhaps it'll look better at night.
"Well it better look brilliant because I'll look brilliant and I wanna be in a brilliant environment." Amber joked; I rolled my eyes and smiled.
"I feel really nervous for some reason." I chuckled, surprised at myself.
"Think about it though, one day when no one knows who each other is. No houses, no blood types, no past encounters, no embarrassment- it's kinda exciting- we could do something completely unlike ourselves and no one would no." Amber said optimistically.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." I agreed.
"Are you going down to the ball with Remus and Sirius?" Amber asked, "Are you guys still avoiding Potter?" I was glad she had asked. I hadn't see Potter with any of the other marauders since he'd been dating Rachel.
"We only avoid him when he's near Rachel. She's annoying, and she doesn't even talk- she just sits there trying to snog James, so we leave them at it." Peter said, his tone was annoyed, and I could sense a little jealousy.
"How long have they been dating now?" Rachel asked, I saw her quickly glance at me with eyes then look back at Peter.
"Too long." Peter said, with the same annoyance. "I think he's serious about her." I rolled my eyes discreetly. Potter was never serious about any girl; he was probably just trying to prove a point by being with a girl more than two weeks.
"Well I give it until the end of the school- Potter doesn't seem much like the 'over the summer' type dater." I said sourly.
"Yeah, I guess you're right- I just hope he gets rid of her soon." Peter concluded.
*****
This was it. We were all heading down to the Great Hall. It wasn't the fact that Amber, Sarah and I were on our way to the ball- it felt more like we were on the way to the rest of our lives.
I had thought about what Remus had said, and now I felt it too. Next year would be my final year at Hogwarts. The place I felt more at home then the house I grew up in. Amber twirled around in her ball gown, letting the fabric swirl around her until she stopped and faced us.
"This is gonna be awesome." Amber said, excitedly. Sarah looked dreadfully uncomfortable in her dress, and kept adjusting the top of it.
"Sarah you look great, don't be nervous." I told her, she groaned in reply as we came up to the large crowd piling outside the Great Hall. I couldn't see ahead of us except for couple of people, all who were in groups talking excitedly. Then I felt a tap on my bare shoulder. I turned around and stood nearly three inches from Gregory, he had an apologetic smile on his face that I knew I would be able to say no to.
"Hello Lily." he said over the crowd of voices.
"Hi Gregory." I replied, I could see Amber and Sarah on my either side still facing the Great Hall but them trying to listen to us over the loud crowd of excited students.
"I'm sorry for not being around for the last couple of days." he apologized, "It's kinda embarrassing- what happened- and I didn't know what to say to you- so I kinda just stopped talking to you." he said, looking down. "And I just wanted you to know I still really like you and I didn't want you to think that I was avoiding you for anything you did." I smiled at him, and he smiled back- relieved.
"It's fine- I understand."I told him.
"Wanna walk in together?" Gregory asked, "I know we shouldn't be bringing dates, but I won't tell if you don't." I smiled; I couldn't help but smile when I was around this guy. There was just something about seeing him that made me happy.
"I guess I could keep it a secret- just this once." I answered, smiling still. And then I heard music. It was faint, barely audible over everyone talking, but soon the crowd heard it too and everyone went silent. Then I heard the large Great Hall doors, squeaking loudly, open then the crowd erupted into loud chatter again. I heard something about smoke over and over again, and then the crowd began moving forward. There were many 'oh my's and 'where'd they goes?'S. We kept moving, though quite slowly, and then when we were only a few people from the door, I saw it.
The Great Hall doors were wide open, but you couldn't see inside at the decorated Great Hall that had been transformed into a ballroom just this morning. Instead there was a thick fog covering the door. Professor McGonagall stood next the door directing people to enter. Two Ravenclaws entered the hazy fog, and then went through it- disappearing. I tapped Sarah and Amber and pointed ahead; they looked confused then turned to me.
"What does that do?" Amber asked as we continued to move up in line. I shrugged and continued to look at the people approaching the fog skeptically. Then, finally, it was our turn. Amber, Sarah, Gregory, two of his friends, and I stood before the foggy entrance to the Great Hall.
"Go on." Professor McGonagall said, I felt Gregory entwine his hand in mine and I smiled- he was too perfect. Then the six of us stepped up the door. Gregory's two friends went first, laughing excitedly. Then Amber and Sarah went through, looking nervous. Then Gregory squeezed my hand and I realized it was our turn. We walked in slowly and excitement filled my stomach.
As we walked through the large double doors filled with the heavy fog, I felt Gregory squeeze my hand, and then when everything around us went white, I felt his hand slip from mine, a pinching on my face, then as if I was flying. I wanted to scream in shock, but the feeling was not unpleasant.
Then, BAM, I landed on two feet in a random place in the large Great Hall. It was completely different from how the prefects had left it a couple of hours ago.
The bewitched ceiling showed a starry night with a nearly full moon. Around the Great Hall were over thirty tables, each decorated with light blue or silvery bows and ribbons. Little fairies flew around brilliantly giving everything a very magical and beautiful look. I looked around and saw people popping magically in random places around the Grand Ballroom, separating everyone from their groups. I felt my faces and felt a mask around my eyes, I tried to pull it off, but it wouldn't budge- leave it to Professor McGonagall to take this seriously.
I searched for Gregory or Sarah and Amber, but I couldn't tell one guy from another. It seemed that everyone was looking around for their friends, but having just as much luck as I was.
"Good Evening, fifth through seventh years." Professor Dumbledore said standing at the front of the room, wearing a mask, but it was incredibly easy to tell him apart from the rest of the students. "Tonight, forget houses, forget blood-types, and forget everything that might divide you all. Tonight we are all the same- Hogwarts students in masks. Have a good time- dance, eat and be merry."
People began diving randomly to tables, where I saw house elves in little tuxedos going off to serve the students. I went to a table I was closes to. There was a girl in a red dress that showed a bit too much cleavage, a boy with brown hair, a boy with black hair, and a boy with blonde hair. The boy with blonde hair seemed familiar, but I wasn't sure.
"Hello." I greeting, feeling that we would have been sitting in silence the whole time if someone didn't say something.
"Hello." Said the boy with black hair; his dress robe looked quite expensive and fit him handsomely.
"Hi- I'm…" the girl with the red dress and blonde hair went silent, but her lips continued to move.
"What was that?" I asked confused.
"I said my name was…" she went silent again, looking at us confused.
"I don't think we can say our names." said the boy with brown hair. The blonde boy seemed bored and annoyed, so I decided I probably wouldn't be making friends with him.
"That's smart." said the boy with black hair.
"Yeah." I agreed.
A house elf came to our table and we all ordered what we wanted. Soon our food came and we ate and talked. I learned that the blonde girl loves kittens, she had a boyfriend, and her dad worked at the Daily Prophet. The boy with brown hair had a complete collection of chocolate frog cards and he wanted to be a healer. The black-haired boy wanted to be an auror, he wore glasses but they disappeared when he walked through the fog and got his mask, but he could still see and he said I looked beautiful in my dress, which I thought was sweet but it made the girl in the red dress look at me angrily. The blonde boy liked peacocks and wanted them around his house when he got older and his favorite subject was defense against the dark arts and he had a girlfriend who he could not name.
"So, do you think the marauders are going to pull a prank?" the boy with brown hair asked.
"I hope not." I answered eating some of my mashed potatoes.
"Why? You don't like them or something?" the boy with the black hair asked.
"I love the marauders." The blonde girl said, giggling, "I'm dating one of them.
"No way." The boy with brown hair said shocked. "Which one?"
"…" she mouthed and I figured out who she was- It was Rachel.
"Guess you can't say." The boy with brown hair said.
"Yeah." Rachel said, probably disappointed that she couldn't flaunt that she was dating Potter.
The music started and some people got up to dance. I loved the idea that Slytherins could be dancing with Gryffindors at this point, or having an enjoyable conversation. Maybe this dance could change Hogwarts forever. Maybe next year there wouldn't be a feud between Gryffindors and Slytherins- Maybe everyone would get along.
"Would you like to dance?" the black haired boy asked. I looked at him and realized that he was asking me. He was quite cute, and he wanted to be an auror- he seemed pretty nice, so I smiled and grabbed his hand. He pulled me up and guided me to the dance floor.
His hands seemed kind of sweaty and I thought it was kinda cute that he was nervous. I knew this would go everywhere beyond a dance. I had someone- Gregory. But I couldn't help but wonder who the boy with the hazel eyes was.
We danced close together and I tried not to feel guilty for having a good time with another boy.
"I know who you are." I heard the boy whisper in my ear. I lifted my head off his chest and looked up at him. I had no idea who he was, and the fact that he might know who I was made me jealous.
"You do?" I asked looking up at him and smiling.
"I'd know you anywhere." He said softly. I wish I knew who he was. We continued to dance, until I was tired, but then we still danced.
"Do I know you?" I asked finally. I began trying to list mentally all the people I knew, but I couldn't concentrate.
"Yes." He said.
"Are you in…?" I couldn't say "Gryffindor"
"I'm in your house." He helped. Well that narrows it down, I thought thinking of all the Gryffindor s I knew. I closed my eyes and we continued to dance. I heard the black-haired boy's heart hammer under my head.
"It is nearly midnight." Dumbledore said. The music stopped, the dancing people stopped and everyone turned to look at Dumbledore. "We have decided to release the spell over you all that keeps your identities secret. So in…ten…nine." Dumbledore counted down, looking at his watch. The boy let me go and I looked at him, he backed away from me.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Eight…seven…"
"I have to go." The boy told me.
"Six…five…four…"
"Why? What's the matter?" I asked walking towards him, "Did I do something wrong."
"Four…three…"
"No, this has been the best night of my life- I just wished it could have lasted a bit longer."
"Two…one…"
And he ran away.
I stood there confused. What happened? Why did he leave? I looked around and saw people removing their masks. At the table I was at I saw Rachel remove her mask, along with Joseph Mill, a Ravenclaw I recognized, and Lucius Malfoy, who now looked very unhappy.
"AHHH!!" I hear someone scream, then people laughing. When I turned around I saw Amber staring at Sirius Black, who I guessed she had been dancing with; Sarah I was glad to see, had her arms around Remus, who she must have been paired with. It seemed like they were meant to be together, no masks could stop them. But who was the boy I was dancing with?
"I...want…to die." Amber said dramatically once we got back to the Gryffindor common room to talk about our night, Sarah and I laughed whole-heartedly.
"Haha, you and Sirius- you must have been shocked silly. I bet Peter was mad." Sarah teased; Amber covered her face with her pillow.
"I had been talking to Lucius Malfoy, Rachel, and Joseph Mill all night." I told them; leaving out the mysterious boy I danced with longer than I talked to the rest. "Joseph I don't mind, but Lucius Malfoy- its crazy."
"I had a great night." Sarah said, and I thought about what Remus had said after we had left the Great Hall after our prefect duties.
"Of course you did." Amber complained.
"You did too- well until you found out you were dancing with Mr. Broom cupboard all night." I said laughing and Amber groaned.
"Who were you dancing with Lily?" Sarah asked. "You were on the dance floor when we all took off our masks. I looked out the window- it was beginning to rain. I wish I knew who the boy with the beautiful hazel eyes was, but I honestly had no clue.
"I dunno." I told them truthfully, and we all sat in silence for awhile.
A/n: That is the end of chapter six. Hope you liked it. Leave a review telling me what you liked/ don't like. Next chapter up soon. Sorry for the many grammar/spelling mistakes I did, I don't think I caught them all (there were a lot when I wrote it at first)