Lily looked around the grand room in awe. The sparkling chandelier hanging in the middle of the room paired with the glowing candlesticks lining the walls gave the room an ethereal glow, and the light reflected off of the marble dance floor with a shining gold gleam. It was surreal.
James and Sirius led Remus and Lily to a round table off to the left of the dance floor. It was in the middle of everything, and as James gestured for her to sit, actually pulling the chair out for her, she realized she had a view of the entire room from where she sat. She smiled at all of the beautiful dresses and the finely dressed men. It was all so fancy.
She should have been at home, finishing her plate of roast turkey, Brussels sprouts, and mashed potatoes that weren't entirely mashed because her mother never did get all of the lumps. Instead, she was in a hall and there were people walking around with silver trays, finishing serving the hors d'oeuvres as people slowly took their seats for dinner. One of the servers came by and placed bubbly drinks in front of them, tall flutes filled somewhat minimally.
Lily turned to James as he sat next to her. She looked at the glass. "That's…"
"Champagne," James filled in for her. "Mum allows us enough to toast with everyone."
"She doesn't like you to drink?"
"She may have caught me a little past my limits way back when," James admitted.
Lily laughed. "I would've liked to see that."
"No. No, you wouldn't."
Mrs. Potter stood before the room, gaining everyone's attention with a quick wave of her wand above her head, causing a slight yet sharp hum to ring out through the room. It seemed such a classy way to get all eyes on her and everyone sitting up attentively in their seats.
"Good evening all," she greeted. A few 'good evenings' were called out her way and she smiled. "Well, I hope you'll all have a good time tonight—keeping in the holiday spirit. Dinner will begin in just a minute; hopefully you all enjoyed the hors d'oeuvres. I'd like to thank you all for coming tonight. It's lovely to see you all again."
Sirius leaned over to James. "You think she means it?" he asked.
Lily looked at them with interest and shock.
"Just barely," James replied.
Mrs. Potter was beginning to wrap it up. "Now, drinks are going around, don't be shy to ask for anything. Enjoy yourselves and happy Christmas!"
The guests raised their glasses to her and some politely clapped. A moment or two later they were being served their first course and Lily was delicately tasting her salad. She hadn't realized just how hungry she was until she'd taken her first bite. Then she felt ravenous as she speared the vegetables repeatedly, appreciating the refreshing taste. She sighed.
"Hungry, Evans?" Sirius joked.
Remus shot a look at him.
"What?" he asked.
"You don't comment on a girl's eating habits," Remus whispered sharply.
Lily blushed and laughed. "Really hungry actually," she said. "Haven't eaten since breakfast."
"Since breakfast?" James repeated incredulously.
"Evans, that's mad!" Sirius exclaimed. "More salad?" he offered.
"I'm good, thanks," she declined.
Remus laughed.
"So," Sirius started, "are we going contact Peter? Attempt to invite him again?"
James looked apprehensive. "I don't know."
"Why not?" Sirius asked.
"Well, we don't want Pete to think he was second thought," Remus explained. "You know how sensitive he can get sometimes when he feels like we left him out of the loop."
"Won't he feel even worse knowing you didn't even bother to try and get him here?" Lily asked.
"No," James said, "because we won't even mention this whole ordeal to him. It never happened."
"So you're going to lie?" Lily questioned.
"Not lie," Remus said. "We'll just neglect to tell him about this bit of our hols."
"Think about it," James began, "we invite him now, he's going to think we forgot about him. If we don't mention it, he never knows and no one gets hurt."
Lily nodded. She supposed they had a point.
"Not that we should have to tell you," Remus chimed in, "but, we'd appreciate it if you wouldn't mention this to Pete either."
"Not a problem," Lily agreed. She didn't think she'd ever had any direct conversation with Peter Pettigrew in all of her years at Hogwarts anyway. He was just the boy who followed James, Sirius and Remus around and assisted in tormenting the younger children and egging them on in their antics.
Their salads were taken away, or rather, in Lily's case, her empty bowl, and then oven-baked prawns and warm bread were put in front of them. Lily ate it contentedly.
The boys went on to talk about the quidditch season and the upcoming matches when they got back to school. Lily found she had little to contribute so she instead sipped from the water glass that was continuously refilling itself in front of her. She took a tiny sip of the champagne, ensuring she left plenty to drink when it came time for toasts.
Her father and mother let her have a small amount of wine on special occasions. In fact, if she was at home and had asked especially nicely, she was sure her mother would have given her her glass of wine. After she had drunk majority of it however. But the wine was always bitter and Lily only drank it so she could say she could, not because it appealed to her tastes. She believed it was an acquired taste, one she just hadn't quite acquired yet.
The champagne was sweet though, a little dry and crisp tasting yet bubbly in a good kind of way. She put the glass down with a smile and somewhat tuned back in to the boys' conversation. It hadn't gotten any more interesting in her opinion.
The main course was brought and Lily asked Sirius, Remus and James about their typical holiday schedules. This got James and Sirius into a long spiel of different stories from different Christmases and birthdays and such. Remus chimed in during the birthday stories, having been there with them for each one at school and they had Lily smiling, laughing and (only a handful of times) scolding them for their antics in the next hour or so. As Lily was finishing the vegetables on her plate the conversation turned back around to quidditch. Lily sighed.
She wished there was another girl with them. The table had two empty chairs as all the other tables seated six people. Lily figured Peter would have occupied one of them, but there didn't seem to be any other people around their age in the hall. She looked around for Elizabeth and spotted her seated at a table with four young blokes and another girl. The young men seemed to be paying a lot of attention to Elizabeth, but she looked rather bored as she shook her head at whatever they were saying with a tired expression. The other girl was trying to make conversation with the men but they didn't appear too interested in whatever she was saying, angling their bodies towards Elizabeth instead.
Lily felt bad for the other girl. She was pretty, but in a very nondescript sort of way. She had brown hair and light skin, nothing about her was too striking. If it wasn't for Elizabeth sitting next to her, she probably would have drawn more attention.
It was too bad really. Elizabeth didn't look like she much cared for the attention the blokes were paying her and the other girl looked like she desperately craved it. Elizabeth kept looking around the room as though searching for an escape route. The other girl kept looking for a pause in conversation that she could take as an opening.
James followed Lily's stare towards the other table. He laughed. "Poor Lizzie."
"What?" Lily asked. "Why?"
"Because those guys are complete arses, that's why," Sirius said.
"Then…" Lily looked from Elizabeth's table to the empty seats at theirs, "should we invite her here? Would that be alright?"
"No," James told her. "Lizzie's got to stick this one out I'm afraid."
"Right," Lily agreed. She paused. "Why is that?" she asked without thought. She quickly elaborated. "I mean, you were just saying that those guys are arses. Does she get along with them then?"
"Hardly," Sirius said. "Elizabeth just has to put up with them until dinner is over. She's supposed to be 'finding a husband'." He laughed at the idea and James shook his head with him.
"Finding a husband?" Lily echoed.
Sirius nodded. "They put her there with the eligible men. She's out of school, you see. Therefore, according to society, top priority is finding a husband now."
"Society is sort of sad, you see."
Remus looked over at Elizabeth. "She looks miserable."
Sirius glanced over. "No kidding," he said. "She could use some cheering up." He picked up a discarded skewer from an hors d'oeuvre and dipped it in the sauce that drizzled his plate. He then pulled his napkin from his lap, placing it on the edge of the table and carefully beginning to use the skewer to write on it.
Lily watched him with interest while the boys just smiled in amusement. A minute later Sirius had finished, taking a second to admire his handiwork before flicking his wand at the cloth. It disappeared and he went back to eating, acting as though nothing had happened.
Lily watched as the very same napkin then appeared on Elizabeth's lap. Lily's eyes widened.
"How'd you manage that?" she asked.
James chuckled. "Note passing technique. Works the same with just about any relatively small and light object."
"You know, I always wondered how you lot never got caught," she commented.
Sirius shrugged.
Lily saw Elizabeth unfold the napkin and laugh. She hid it well below table level as she held it up with a questioning look towards them. Sirius shot her a quick grin over his shoulder and then turned back to his plate.
Elizabeth somehow succeeded in conjuring a quill and using her glass of red wine to write a reply without drawing notice. Sirius summoned the napkin back, only a person or two spotting the material whiz across the room.
Lily laughed as Sirius held it up for them to see. They could see where he'd written Marry me? in wobbly and sort of dashed letters. Beneath that it was written, fairly neatly in comparison, Save me?
Sirius stood up and saluted the group. "Duty calls," he sang, making to head towards Elizabeth's table.
James tugged him back into his seat. "You go there and Aunt Laura will kill you for interrupting the adults."
Sirius seemed to weigh the options. "Ah!" he exclaimed, pointing at the boy beside him. "We'll send Remus!"
"Excuse me?" Remus asked, eyes widening. He shook his head. "Not a chance. I don't want to die at the hands of your Aunt Laura thanks."
Their plates were cleared and dessert was instantaneously placed in front of them. Lily licked her lips.
"How about Lily?" Sirius asked. "We could send her, couldn't we?"
Lily looked at her dessert longingly. It looked delectable.
James thought about this. "I suppose she'd be safe enough."
"Your Aunt Laura won't kill me?" Lily asked.
Sirius waved the thought away. "Nah," he said. "You're a girl. You'll be fine."
Lily frowned at her dessert. The boys looked at her expectantly. She pushed her chair from the table. "Alright," she said. "Anything I should say in particular?"
"Hm, tell her Aunt Marta has asked to see her," Sirius chimed.
"Aunt Marta?" Lily asked, looking about the room. "Which one is she?"
"Oh, we don't have an Aunt Marta," James said. "She doesn't exist."
Sirius grinned. "She's a figment we've created as our scapegoat." Lily's eyebrows raised in curiosity. Sirius shrugged. "James and Sirius couldn't make it to dinner—they're visiting their Aunt Marta. What's that?" Sirius was imitating somebody's voice, whose Lily wasn't sure—it didn't much sound like anyone, at least not anyone post-pubescent—and he was pointing at something non-existent.
"Oh, that?" James was referring to the non-existent object as well. "That's just a letter to my Aunt Marta."
"My Aunt Marta's birthday gift," Sirius threw in.
"A gift from my Aunt Marta," James said.
Remus rolled his eyes. "Where were you guys yesterday?" he played along.
"Well, I had a relative, you see," Sirius began.
"She fell ill," James added with a sympathetic wince.
"A relative?" Remus asked. "Who, pray tell?"
"Oh, a close relative," James assured.
"Very close," Sirius said.
"My Aunt Marta," they chorused somberly.
Lily shook her head at them. The name did sound familiar, she was sure she had heard it back at school in some conversation or another. She made a point to be disinterested in the conversations between James and his friends, but she was almost certain she had heard a passing mention of a letter to an Aunt Marta when one of them was questioned about a length of parchment of some sort.
"So," Lily said, "just tell her Aunt Marta's asked for her?"
They nodded.
She stood and took a deep breath before moving across the room to the table.
James watched as she quietly tapped Elizabeth's shoulder. There was a brief exchange between the two girls but that wasn't what he was paying attention to anymore. Rather, he was watching the looks Lily was receiving from the men at the table. There were looking her up and down appreciatively and then sharing looks with each other. Lily didn't seem to notice.
Elizabeth stood to leave with Lily when one of the blokes said something. Lily shook her head. He said something else with a laugh and Lily looked at Elizabeth expectantly. Grimacing with an apologetic look, Elizabeth gestured for Lily to take her seat. She looked worried and confused as she sat down hesitantly, sitting tall and folding her hands neatly in her lap. She looked stiff.
Elizabeth went straight towards the table of adults next to James, Sirius, and Remus. She greeted the ladies and gentlemen there, having a brief conversation with a few of the women, just in case any eyes had followed her to her 'Aunt Marta' before moving back subtly towards the boys.
"They've got Lily," she whispered.
"I noticed," James said tensely, his eyes not leaving the spot where Lily sat, two of the blokes leaning towards her.
"How'd that happen?" Sirius asked in amusement.
"If you wanted to help me, one of you should have come. They locked in on her the minute they saw her." Elizabeth shook her head. "You didn't send help, you sent bait."
"We didn't want to get in trouble." Sirius shrugged. "We thought both of you would come back."
"She said Aunt Marta wanted to speak with me, and when she tried to leave Walter and Edmund introduced themselves and asked that she take my place in company. She said she couldn't and she had to go as well and they said, 'Why? She isn't your Aunt Marta, is she?'." James had to admit, Elizabeth was dead on impersonating the pompous and snooty tones of the men.
"Well, someone go get her," Elizabeth snapped, pulling a vacant seat behind Sirius' and Remus' chairs, effectively using them to block her from view of her prior table. "And it's not going to be me; I've had enough of them."
The dessert plates were cleared and James ran a hand through his hair.
"Go rescue the poor girl," Elizabeth told him. "Honestly. Do you want Edmund and Walter flanking her all night?"
"Alright." James pushed back his chair and watched Lily conspicuously look over at them every few seconds.
Lily nearly let out an audible sigh of relief when she saw James coming in her direction.
"Hello Edmund, Walter," he acknowledged. He turned to the other girl sitting with them. "Fiona, how are you?"
"Fine, how—" the girl started, quickly being cut off.
"James," Edmund drawled, "what brings you over here? Shouldn't you be with, what, Cyril and…I can't even begin to remember the other one's name." He laughed.
"Remus, actually," Lily supplied. "And it's Sirius not Cyril."
"How do you know them all anyway?" Walter asked.
"I go to school with them," Lily explained.
The two blokes nodded slowly. "So, James, what are you doing here?"
James ignored them and turned to Lily, proffering a hand. "Actually, I came to ask you for a dance."
Lily's eyes widened. "Oh," she said. She realized that the band had begun to play and everyone had finished eating. No one was dancing quite yet though. She thought about this. She didn't have many options. She wasn't exactly enjoying the conversation with Edmund and Walter. It seemed they only cared to talk, or rather brag, about themselves, and the girl sitting next to her, Fiona, had been giving her dirty looks from the moment she'd sat down.
"Don't make a fool of yourself," Walter said. "No one's dancing."
"So?" James asked. "Somebody has to be first. Lily?"
She lightly placed her hand in his. "I'd love to."
He led her to the centre of the floor, moving her hand to take his arm.
"Do we really have to dance?" Lily asked.
"It would look stupid if we didn't."
"I can't dance," she whispered.
"It's a waltz," he told her, "box step."
"I don't know how."
"You're the girl," he said. "You just have to follow my lead."
He placed her hand on his shoulder, his coming to rest gently on her waist.
"No, really," Lily insisted, "I have no idea how to…"
"Here." James pulled her a little closer, slightly surprised that she let him, but not as surprised as Lily was, and he moved his hand to her shoulder blade. "Okay," he nudged the toe of her shoe with his left foot, "right foot back."
"People are staring," she said.
"Would you like to stare back?"
"Um…no?"
"Then ignore it. Right foot back."
She did as he said and he laughed.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing," he said, already moving to his right foot. His feet coming to a close, Lily's followed accordingly automatically. "There you go," James encouraged. "Now, step forward, mirror me."
Lily nodded slightly and stepped forward. And then to the side. And then back again.
James chuckled. "Try to stay on your toes there," he directed. She stepped again and he grinned. "Better."
"You're quite graceful," Lily commented. "Who would have guessed?"
He gave her a quick smirk in reply. "Now," he said, "ready?"
"Yes?" she replied unsurely.
"And one, two, three," he counted, moving them through the box step, "one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three."
She grinned up at him. "I'm waltzing."
"You are."
She picked it up quickly and was moving through the steps lightly and gracefully as though she'd known how all along. Soon, more couples had joined them on the dance floor and Lily was blushing as the passing older couples gave them knowing smiles.
The song ended and the other couples either thanked each other and departed from the floor or, more likely, politely applauded the band and awaited the next song. Lily looked to James uncomfortably. "Well, thank you for the dance," she told him.
He chuckled. "I'll take that as a hint for us to get off of the dance floor, yes?"
She gave a sheepish smile and nod. James laughed and twined her arm through his, leading her back to their table.
"Convenient way of rescuing he has there, eh Evans?" Sirius teased.
James laughed and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. He reached up to run a hand through his hair as well but stopped himself.
"It doesn't matter," Lily said quietly to him, "your hair's already gone back to being a mess."
His hand self-consciously shot to his hair and he attempted to flatten it down.
"Don't bother," she said.
"That bad?"
"Not really," she admitted, "you look like yourself again, I suppose."
"That's a good thing?"
"It's not bad."
A/N: Hello! How are you all? I'd like to thank everyone for reading, reviewing and favouriting/following this story, it means a lot to me. Also, we're at 59 reviews here people, not too shabby for Scarlett.
Quick Note to JamesAndLily394: thanks for reviewing, sorry to keep you from your homework. I do sympathize however, I should be researching real work right now. Alas, I'm not. This is so much more fun.
Lastly, though this is another topic, I'm sure you've all heard about the tragedy in Connecticut. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers, I can't even begin to imagine what those parents are going through this Christmas.
Thanks for reading.
~Scarlett
