Turning
Saints Into the Sea
Chapter Ten: The Mysterious Halloween Party
Almost a month had gone by since Lily had confronted James at the Hogsmeade. Neither had mentioned it again. Their conversations were polite and cool, a discussion one would have with an important member of society. James had kept dating Julie, Lily was content with Brandon.
Life was monotonous, if not downright boring.
Lily glanced over at James from her chair in the Common Room of the Heads' Dorm. She was pretending to read Who Am I? How I Survived Obliviation by Rebecca Comellita, but as hard as Lily tried to concentrate on the book's words, she felt herself being drawn back like a magnet to Potter, who was steadily writing an essay on some subject or another.
Out of the corner of her eye, Lily watched him dot the period on the final sentence of his essay. He gave a sigh of relief and blew on the parchment to dry it, before rolling it up neatly and tucking it into his bag. James then pulled out an Astronomy book, three charts, and a compass and busied himself with his homework.
Lily flipped the pages of the book lazily, glazing over the words. She looked at the clock on the mantle: 7:27. It was almost time for dinner. Lily looked over at James again, before slamming her book shut and standing up, stretching. He didn't even flinch.
"Potter, it's three minutes to dinner," Lily said, putting her hand on her hip and flicking her hair out of her eyes.
"I know," he said, not taking his eyes off his charts.
Lily waited for him to get up. He didn't.
"Are you coming?" she asked expectantly.
"Yes."
He still didn't move.
Lily sighed. "Are you being difficult on purpose?" she inquired testily.
Without warning, James closed his book and walked right up to Lily, standing a few inches in front of her. Lily backed up a few steps.
James grinned evilly at Lily, who looked shocked. "If you can't take the heat, don't play the game," he recited cheerily, tapping her nose and walking out the portrait hole.
Lily stood still, stunned. "What are you talking about?" she asked incredulously, following him out the door. "What game?"
James chuckled. He started down to the hallway, ignoring Lily.
She ran to catch up with him. "What game?" she pestered, tugging on his robe.
James continued ignoring her, humming to himself and acting aloof. Lily huffed and started prodding him, still asking. Without warning, James took off into a run.
Shocked, Lily started after him. When she caught up, she jumped on his back, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"What game, Potter?" she hissed mock-seriously into his ear, holding her wand against his head.
Suddenly, Lily felt herself being flipped over his shoulder. Shrieking, she scrambled to stay upright, before realizing that James wasn't going to let her fall.
As soon as she wasn't on his back, James placed her gently on the floor. Lily's legs crumpled, her heart pounding from the adrenaline rush she had just experienced.
Lily took off after him. When he realized she was chasing him, he started running too. Being over eight inches taller than her, it wasn't difficult for James to keep ahead of Lily.
When they reached the doors, both of them were gasping for breath. James leaned his head against the door, and Lily fell to the floor, laughing.
"That was so much fun," she said in between breaths. James turned his head and watched her sitting against the door, eyes closed, mouth slightly opened, cheeks flushed, chest heaving.
Suddenly, the air around James didn't seem to have enough oxygen. He felt his stomach tighten and his heart beat out of control.
Lily took a final breath and turned her head to face James. She peered up at him innocently, blissfully unaware of the dull ache that seemed to be seeping into his body.
"Ready to go in?" she asked quietly, struggling to stand. Without thinking, James stuck out his hand, which she grabbed.
James felt a spark of electricity zing through him as he pulled her up. Lily dropped his hand immediately and opened the door, her no nonsense behavior making James to wonder whether she'd felt what he had.
Sam looked up when Lily sat across from her. Her friend's red hair was curling in every direction, tousled messily. Her cheeks were rosy and she looked like she was trying to keep a smile off her face.
She
tapped Lily's leg with her foot under the table. When Lily looked up,
Sam silently asked her, What
happened? Nothing
Sam looked at Potter, who though wolfing down mashed potatoes looked distinctly disheveled. His hair was in a greater disarray than usual and his robes were slightly rumpled.
She turned back to Lily, whose gaze was still guiltily trained to her lap. This time, she kicked Lily.
What did you do with him?! Sam asked with her eyes.
Nothing! Lily said back stubbornly.
"Are you two talking with your eyes again?" Remus said laughingly next to Sam. She jumped, forgetting that her boyfriend was there.
"I suppose," she said, smiling at him. He smiled back, giving her hand a squeeze before returning to his dinner.
"Oh! I'm going to be seeing my cousin tomorrow. She's in the hospital and my mum wants me to visit her, since it's been a few months," Remus informed her. "I didn't want you to worry."
"Oh, okay. I hope she gets better," Sam replied.
She looked down at her plate, thinking. Remus was a good boyfriend, there was no denying that. He was sweet and considerate and attractive, in a wholesome, gangly kind of way.
Daring herself not to, Sam leaned forward and snuck a glance at Sirius, who was sitting next to Melanie and chatting amiably with James. Mel's long hair was weaving itself into Sirius's, the dark on dark making them look like one person, a part of each other.
Her heart sank a little, as it always did when she looked at them. For the past month or so, they'd hardly been apart. It didn't shock her. Melanie was into relationships, and passionate ones at that.
Sam's mind flew to Mitchell. About how hurt Mel had been after he dumped her, and how much more she herself had been.
I won't do that to Mel. Not again, she decided.
Her gaze landed on Sirius.
No matter how much I want to.
Back in the Girl's Dorm, Melanie was putting her pajamas on slowly. Sirius had kissed her goodnight. Well, snogged her goodnight.
He really is a good kisser, she mused.
Sam walked out of the bathroom, buttoning her shirt up. She dropped her folded robes into her trunk and sat on Mel's bed, picking up her brush and starting on her hair.
"How was your day?" Sam asked tiredly.
Melanie shrugged, sitting down next to her friend. "Okay I guess. Care of Magical Creatures was cool; we may be able to take a Portkey to visit a Chimera."
Sam looked surprised. "You'll need parental permission for that. And isn't it dangerous?"
Sam. Always so cautious, Mel thought fondly.
"I guess." Melanie looked closer at Sam's pajamas. "Is there paint on your pants?"
Sam looked down. Indeed, there were little flecks of black and purple scattering across her bottoms.
Sam looked flustered. "We were painting in Divination," she stammered. "I got it on me."
Melanie stared at her. "Why were you wearing your pajamas in class?"
Sam shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know."
"Samantha," Mel said warningly, "What aren't you telling me?"
"Nothing," her friend whispered, shrinking in embarrassment.
"Then why is there paint on your pajamas?"
"I don't know."
Melanie watched her friend for a few moments. "Never mind. You can tell me when you're ready."
Sam quietly slunk into her own bed, looking defeated.
Melanie smiled slightly. Her friend was so shy, delicate. What could she be hiding?
Sam listened as Melanie lay onto her bed. She looked over at her friend slowly, watching her turn over and fall asleep.
Sam turned on her back and stared at the ceiling, thinking about what had just happened. Melanie had seen the paint spots from her late night rendezvous in that room that held her art equipment, whatever it was called. And, to avoid further questions, she had acted scared and shy, and miraculously Mel had let her off the hook.
It's almost too easy, she thought sadly, aching to tell her friend the truth.
BRIIIIIIIING!!!
Lily opened her eyes, staring at her alarm clock. It continued ringing, no matter how much she willed it to stop.
Clock, if you don't shut up, I will kill you.
As the clock continued its incessant ringing, Lily thought about what she had to do for the day. It was Saturday, which meant she had rounds in the morning. Then she and Brandon could go off to Hogsmeade, maybe get a bite to eat. That had generally been what they had been doing over the weekends.
Wait. Today's Saturday?
Lily turned her head slowly, scanning the calendar on her wall. Saturday, October 23.
An evening with Potter.
Lily closed her eyes and pulled the blanket over her head as many fantastical possibilities of the evening's outcome ran through her mind. The warmth of her blankets and comfort of the images flying through her brain caused her to drift off again . . .
"AHHHHH!"
CRASH!
Lily jumped up. Someone had screamed outside her door. Running over to the door, she wrenched it open and flung herself out of the room, stopping at the banister. She leaned over; craning her neck to see what was going on in the Heads' Common Room.
Potter was sprawled out at the foot of her stairs, looking bewildered and massaging his head, which seemed to have hit the floor.
"James!" Lily cried, running down the stairs. But they weren't there anymore. In place of the stairs was a large slide, which the stairs seemed to have folded to become.
As Lily's foot hit the slide, her sock slipped out from underneath her. She fell down, hitting her butt hard, and slid down the ramp, shrieking.
Lily fell in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the stairs, halfway on top of Potter.
Looking around wildly, she tried to sit up while maintaining what was left of her dignity, having just screamed her way down a flight of stairs. "What happened to my stairs?!" she yelped, focusing on Potter.
He stopped rubbing his head and turned to look at her. "I was trying to tell you to turn off your clock, since it woke me up, but halfway up the stairs disappeared and I fell down." He looked up at her door. Lily studied his profile, then blushed when she realized what she was doing.
Potter turned back to her. "Why didn't you turn off your clock? It's-" He glanced at the clock on top of the mantle- "Six thirty."
Lily flushed. "I — I mean — It's a new clock, and I wasn't quite sure how to turn it off."
Lily Marie Evans that was the most PATHETIC excuse in the ENTIRE BLOODY UNIVERSE her brain screamed.
James surveyed her with a look that clearly said he didn't believe a word of it, but thankfully he didn't press her. He looked down, and seemed surprised to find her practically sitting on his lap.
Lily sprang up and tried to calm down her over-imaginative brain. Potter slowly righted himself, inspecting Lily's staircase. "How're you supposed to get back up there and get dressed?" he asked, looking at her.
"Oh, that'll fix itself in a couple of minutes," she said dismissively.
"What'll fix itself? What did I do?" James asked, turning to face her.
"When a boy tries to go up a girl's staircase at Hogwarts, the staircases basically form a slide and don't allow the boy to make it up," Lily explained automatically.
James looked spellbound. "Why?"
Lily smiled. "The Hogwarts founders thought boys were more untrustworthy and this was a method to keep girls safe. It explains it all in Hogwarts, a History."
"You read Hogwarts, a History?" he asked incredulously.
Lily shrugged. "Last year, a girl in my year's boyfriend tried to climb the stairs at night and the same thing happened. So I looked it up in the book and ended up reading the entire thing. It's actually quite fascinating."
James scoffed. "Please. A book about a school? Fascinating?"
"No, it really is!" Lily insisted. "For instance; did you know that in the Essacoff-Freitag biographies section in the library, if you open a certain book correctly it will reveal a sort of dumbwaiter to the kitchens? That's how kids can sneak food into the libraries without the librarian knowing."
"Really?" James asked, looking surprised.
Lily grinned. "Yep."
A creaking sound caused them both to turn around. The ramp was becoming stairs again. Lily was free to go.
"I'm gonna go get changed," Lily said, starting up the stairs as James left for his room, yawning.
"Wait! Potter?" Lily called from the top of her stairs. James poked his head out. "What?" he called back.
"We have a Heads' Meeting tonight," she reminded him, willing her face not to turn red.
A smile slowly spread across his face. "I know."
Lily and Sam strode over to the dinner table, talking about their day. Mel was already seated by Sirius with the rest of the Marauders. As Sam began dishing out her food, Lily turned to Mel.
"How was your day, Mel?"
Her friend looked up and smiled. "We went on sort of a double date thing with Sam and Remus," she said happily, looking at Sirius, who grinned back.
Lily smiled, then squeezed Sam's hand quickly. She didn't want to think about how hard it was for Sam to watch Melanie and Sirius together.
Sirius, Remus, and James stood and started reloading their plates. "Padfoot, could you hand me some pumpkin juice?" James asked.
"Sure," Sirius said, filling a goblet up slowly with the frothy liquid.
"Ravenclaw gets the Halloween Party this year," James said sullenly. "We could have had the best party ever!" He reached over to grab his goblet from Sirius, who was leaning over a very annoyed Remus to hand it to him.
"What Halloween Party?" Lily asked, confused.
Sirius turned to look at her and dropped the goblet, which James failed to catch. The goblet hit Remus's plate, causing it to flip out of his hands and fall straight onto Peter's lap.
"You don't know what the Halloween Party is?!" Sirius, Peter, and James said in unison, while Remus rolled his eyes.
Melanie looked taken aback. "No," she said.
Peter still seemed oblivious as the plate of dinner seeped into his robes. "In all your years at Hogwarts you've never heard of the Halloween Party?!" he asked in shock.
"No," Lily said, a little irritated.
"I know what it is," Sam volunteered in a small voice.
The entire group turned to look at her. "You do?"
She nodded slowly, chewing on her turkey. "Yeah."
"So what is it?" Melanie asked, looked aggravated.
As Peter cleaned up his lap, James started explaining. "The Halloween Party is a secret party thrown every year by one House for the seventh years. Only seventh years are allowed, and it alternates Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. This year, unfortunately, is Ravenclaw's year."
"What?!" Lily cried. "How could the seventh years create a party that no one knew about? I mean, there's like, one hundred and fifty people per year! How can that many people be hidden in one room?"
Sirius laughed. "It's not like one hundred fifty people come marching through the halls on Halloween night and all bang on one Common Room entrance, screaming to be let it. It takes loads of planning. Ravenclaw's been preparing this since 6th year ended."
"So on Halloween night, we were supposed to just intuitively know to go to Ravenclaw's dorm?" Melanie asked.
"No; that's why we were so surprised you didn't know," James said with a grin.
"What kind of party is it this year?" Sam asked. "Last year was a ball."
"This year I think Ravenclaw's hosting a masquerade themed party. Pretty fancy," Peter said.
"Fancy?!" Lily and Melanie cried. "You mean like formal attire?"
"Probably," James figured. "Why?"
Lily scoffed indignantly. "We don't have dresses! We have to prepare for something like that!"
Sirius laughed. "That's the price to pay for not being in-the-know."
Lily ate her dinner in silence, thinking about where to get her robes in time. There is that store in Hogsmeade, she thought frantically. Maybe I could grab something tomorrow after I finish homework.
"So how did you four learn about it?" Melanie asked, serving herself more mashed potatoes.
James and Sirius glanced at each other. "We overheard two seventh graders talking about it in our second year," Sirius said slowly.
Sam raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, so you just 'happened' to 'overhear' something that secret?" she asked, clearly skeptical.
Sirius grinned at her mischievously. "So maybe a little breaking and entering was involved…"
Remus laughed. "So ever since then they've been trying to get into the party, with no prevail, since our third year."
"How?" Lily asked.
"Hmm. Befuddlement, stilts, dates, the Polyjuice potion-" Remus listed, before Lily cut him off.
"What?! You brewed a Polyjuice potion?!" she cried.
"Attempted to brew a Polyjuice potion. Those two," Remus said, pointing at Sirius and Peter, who smiled guiltily, "Forgot the lacewings, which is the simplest ingredient, since it's probably one of the only ones we're readily able to get."
Lily thought for a moment. "So two years ago in potions, that huge explosion…"
James grinned. "Yep. Sirius Banished Snape's cauldron, which made potion spill everywhere, and during the confusion, Peter snuck into Slughorn's private stores and took the ingredients we needed." He sighed. "It would have worked so well, until the potion exploded under my bed."
Sirius laughed. "I remember that! Scared the hell out of me."
Sam's eyes lit up. "So that's why you had to go to the Hospital Wing and all your robes were scorched!"
James nodded grimly. "Yeah." He turned to Lily and Mel. "We had been brewing the potion under my bed, so no one could find it, but in the middle of the night, because they didn't put in lacewings, it exploded while we were sleeping. Burnt a hole right through my bed. I still have the scars."
"How did you explain it to Madam Pomfrey?" Lily asked, intrigued.
They all looked at each other, thinking. "I think we said a Zonko's product we experimented on," Peter offered. The rest nodded in agreement.
"I'm gonna go talk to Brandon about the Halloween Party," Lily announced to no one in particular, standing up and walking over to the Ravenclaw's table.
"Hey," she said happily, sliding next to Brandon, who put his arm around her and kissed her cheek.
"Hey yourself," he replied with a grin. "How are you?"
"I'm okay," she said. "What's this I hear about the Halloween Party? Why didn't you tell me?"
Brandon groaned, throwing his head back (a few girls stopped talking to watch.) "Ah, damn. I was hoping to ask you to be my date tomorrow in Hogsmeade." He smiled shyly.
Lily's heart soared and she threw her arms around Brandon in a tight hug. "Of course I'll go with you," she whispered, kissing him quickly on the mouth. "I'm gonna go tell Mel and Sam," she said. "It's a masquerade party, right?"
Brandon nodded, helping her off the bench. "I'll tell you more about it tomorrow."
Lily flew over to her friends. Mel looked up from a magazine she had pulled out when Lily sat down. "Why do you look like you just won a million Galleons?"
Lily grinned blissfully. "Brandon just asked me to go to the Halloween Party with him!"
Sam squealed. "That's so exciting! We should go look for dresses tomorrow afternoon!"
Mel, on the other hand, didn't seem fazed. "I don't see the big deal."
Lily and Sam, who had been excitedly planning, stopped talking and stared at Melanie.
Mel shrugged. "I mean, isn't it expected that you two would go together? You're his girlfriend. It's not like you'd go with anyone else."
Sam rolled her eyes. "So? It's the fact that he went out of his way to ask, instead of just assuming Lily would go with him. It's sweet."
Melanie shrugged again, burying her head in the magazine again. "Whatever. I'm just saying."
Sam shook her head, turning back to Lily. "So do you want to get together tomorrow at Hogsmeade?"
Lily nodded. "Brandon and I are getting some lunch tomorrow, but I'm sure I could see you after that."
Sam smiled. "Good."
Remus tapped her plate. "Sam?"
She turned around and smiled at him. "Yeah?"
A smile started growing on his face. "Do you want to go to the dance together?"
Sam's smile widened. "Okay," she responded, sounding a little breathless.
"Cool," Remus said, blushing slightly. He turned back to his dinner.
Sam looked at Lily, who gave her a little hug and congratulated her.
"So are you going with Sirius, Mel?" Sam asked, turning to her friend, who looked up from her magazine, a little annoyed. Sirius looked up at the mention of his name.
Melanie shrugged, looking at Sirius. "I guess. I mean if you want to."
Sirius considered it, then nodded. "Sure. The fun's gone, but I might as well see what I've been missing for the past five years."
Sam looked confused. "What do you mean, 'the fun's gone?' Why is the fun gone?"
Sirius sighed, sounded aggrieved. "It was always fun preparing absurd ideas on how to sneak in. We felt like professional Aurors getting ready for a mission whenever we planned our attack. Now, there's no struggle at all. We're seventh years. Automatically allowed in."
"So? Won't it be fun to dress up and go dancing?" Sam asked earnestly, trying to convince him.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "No. Dress robes are really uncomfortable. And I'm not much of a dancer."
Sam gave up, sitting back. "Whatever." She turned to Lily. "I really think you should get a green dress, to match your eyes . . ."