Story: After the Breakdown

Summary: The war is on the horizon and Lily has had her side chosen for her, but with so much tragedy surrounding her young life and all her ambitions, can she pull through stronger than before or will this war will break apart everything she's ever known?

Chapter Ten: A Little Charm Work

Charm is a way of getting the answer 'yes' without asking a clear question.

~Albert Camus

"I'm coming out, don't laugh," she called through the bathroom door. Biting her lip she took a deep breath before turning the knob and stepping into Dorcas' bedroom sheepishly. "How bad is it?"

"Far out! Lily, you look totally rad. How did you turn my horrible sundress into that?"

"It's just a few charms spells." Lily said quietly, looking over herself in the mirror. With nothing appropriate to wear to a ball and unwilling to return to her parents' home in search of something, she'd accepted one of Dorcas' old dresses and decided to conjure up something to wear. Looking in the mirror she had to admit she was impressed. She'd used a few spells to lengthen the hem to just above her ankles, letting the back hang longer in a semi-train. She'd added a slit up to just above her knee and turned the twin straps into a halter tie at the back. Finally, she'd created a low, open back. "What do you think?"

"I think it's perfect, except for the color."

Lily bit her lip, considering the suggestion. Yellow didn't look terrible on her, but Dorcas' was right, it didn't fit either. Holding the tip of her wand to the charmed gown she muttered, "Vicissitu crudus," from its tip a spill of color bled down her thigh and up her side, turning the entire thing the exact shade of emerald to match her eyes. She looked back at the mirror and nodded at her reflection pleased.

"Damn," Dorcas shook her head grinning. "You're amazing sometimes."

"Yeah, watch out world here I come," Lily said sardonically, "I can turn all your old ugly dresses into ball gowns, aren't I amazing?"

"Don't joke," Dorcas scolded with a scowl. "That's really good, Lils."

"Thanks." Lily nodded, trying to accept the compliment gracefully. Dorcas smiled at her best friend and then turned to her closet and revealed her own gown for the occasion. It was a simple A-line dress in deep crimson.

"So, can you fix mine?"

"Why? It looks great."

"Not as great as yours," Dorcas grinned. "Come on, you've got a talent. No reason to waste it."

Lily sighed and pulled her wand out again, feeling like it really wasn't necessary. She bit her lip and then went to work anyway, creating twin slits on either side of Dorcas' knees and putting an illusion on the straps so that the gown appeared strapless. Finally, she grinned at the idea, she created a starburst of tiny jewels from the tip of her wand and draped them delicately from the right side of Dorcas' hip up to the center most point between her breasts.

"Might as well accent the ladies," She told her friend coyly.

"Geez, Lil. You should open a dress shop or something." Dorcas teased.

"Oh shut up." Lily giggled. She watched Dorcas straighten her hair into a perfectly rigid sheet the color of molten chocolate and then turned her wand to her own head and made it curl up in soft ringlets.

"We look pretty hot," Dorcas said, pulling her friend to the floor-length mirror and admiring the two of them.

"Very nice," the mirror agreed.

Lily took her wand and, with no where else to conceal it, twisted it into her hair, using it to pin up her sea of curls.

"Well," Lily sighed, "Let's get this over with then."

The Meadowes had left the day before, having planned a romantic getaway in Paris ("Blech, parents shouldn't have romance," Dorcas had said) and so Lily apparated side-along with Dorcas to the ball. It turned out that the New Year's Eve Ministry Ball was held at The Upper Room, a swanky, expensive and exclusive Wizarding restaurant in downtown London, named because it was an oval-shaped, all-glass room suspended fifteen stories up. The idea of being dangled that high in the air, even magically, made Lily's stomach do funny flips, but she took Dorcas' hand and gave a fake smile following her friend onto the lift.

It brought her to an open terrace, the wind blowing chilly air at her bare shoulders and causing goose bumps. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, stepping away from the banister so she wouldn't have to look down.

A wolf whistle drew her attention and she swung around to find Sirius eyeing she and Dorcas like carved meat. "Foxy ladies!" he shouted, causing several arriving guests to stop and stare. Lily felt her face redden and hid her head but Dorcas laughed.

"Like what you see, Black?" she teased.

"Always. Where they hell have you been all my life?" he joked. He stepped towards them and pulled them both into warm hugs.

Dorcas smiled. "Aren't the dresses fab? Lily made them herself."

"Hardly," Lily argued quickly, "its only charm spells. We'll be lucky if they hold to midnight."

"Ooo," Sirius chuckled, "Will they disappear then like that Cinderella chick?" Lily looked at him curiously and Sirius gave her a broad grin. "Muggle studies. We studied fairy tales last year. It's my favorite class see, 'cause it annoyed my parents so much that I was taking it."

"Figures." Dorcas sighed, shaking her head. "Let's get inside, I'm freezing." Dorcas said.

The ballroom was stunning with its enormous clear glass panes putting the guests literally right up into the stars and crisp, white tablecloths and white-covered chairs, Lily felt a bit like swooning at the extravagance. A full brass band was stationed on a mock stage near the buffet tables and a beautiful dark-skinned witch crooned some Celestina Warkbeck as she and Dorcas, escorted by Sirius, crossed the room towards a large table in the far corner where she could see her friends Marlene, Alice and Remus from school and the handsome Frank Longbottom.

"Where's James?" Lily asked as she took the seat Sirius offered her.

Remus and Sirius met eyes across the table and smirked. "Lily, we didn't know you cared?" Sirius asked. Scowling, Lily retrieved a handful of nuts from a bowl on the table and tossed them casually in his direction.

Remus chuckled. "James and his mother got called back home unexpectedly. He didn't say why, but he should be back soon."

"So who's been into the champagne?" Dorcas asked, changing the subject as she motioned towards the fleet of empty champagne flutes along the table.

Marlene raised her hand proudly with a glazed sort of smile. Her long strawberry-blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her curly tendrils fell down her back attractively. She wore a floor-length black gown and simple black shawl and looked every bit like a dark enchantress. "I've been drinking these boys under the table." She stated with a grin motioning towards Remus and Frank.

"Play nice, Marley." Alice said softly. Her own looked mirrored Marlene's. She too wore a floor-length gown but in a cream color. Her blonde hair captured in an elegant twist at the back of her head and her arm looped casually through Frank's.

Dorcas rolled her eyes at her drunk friend and gripped Lily's arm tightly, sighing. "Why are we friends with these people?" She asked in a staged whisper.

"It's part of my charity work." Lily replied, picking up one of the full champagne glasses and sipping slowly, feeling the bubbles rise pleasantly to her head.

"Lily," She turned around and tried not to smile as James Potter came up behind her with a broad grin on his face. His eyes seemed to sparkle as he openly eyed her and his smile, she thought secretly, was breath-taking. "You look amazing," he said.

She laughed. She had to admit to herself that he looked good in his pressed, black dress robes. He'd made some attempt at controlling his hair which had failed but made him all the better looking. His hands were stuffed into his pockets and he rocked back on his heels. "You clean up pretty nicely yourself," she told him quietly.

He nodded, sending her a charming wink, and pulled out a chair to sit down next to her. "Sorry I'm late everyone. Thanks for waiting on me to start the party, Marlene," he added laughing at the girls drunken hiccup.

"What was the hold-up, Prongs?" Sirius asked.

James shrugged casually, "Something about the Ministry getting a tip about an inside attack. Mum is still going over the guest list with them person by person. I had to vouch for all of you so don't go killing anybody." He joked.

"Who'd the tip come from?" Remus asked James curiously.

He shrugged, running a hand through his partially tamed hair so that it stuck up at all ends, "Anonymous."

"It seems pretty unlikely, though, doesn't it? I mean, we're surrounded by ministry officials. Who'd attack all these Aurors in a centrally-located place?" Alice asked.

"It's not as if they haven't made bold moves before, Al." Lily said quietly, chugging the rest of her champagne and reaching for another.

"Granted, but in small steps," Sirius said darkly, "This would be their biggest move yet."

"It still seems unlikely, I mean, there are at least fifty ministry officials and Aurors here with their families, isn't that a bit like tempting fate?" Marlene said.

"Agreed," James nodded, reaching for a glass of champagne and holding it like a toast. "Come one, let's not ruin the party with this sort of talk."

Lily nodded. She was on her third glass of champagne and feeling pleasantly warm listening vaguely to her friends discuss Quidditch and gossip about some of the party guests.

The room spun pleasantly and she pushed all thoughts of attacks from her mind as the clock struck eleven chimes. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to find James grinning down at her.

"Dance with me," he said.

Lily sighed. "James--"

He cut her off with a finger to his lips and then pointed to his ear. Shut up and listen.

Lily cocked her head and a slow smile spread across her face as the smooth, sultry tones of a familiar jazz song filled the room.

"How did you--"

"Me?" he asked innocently. "I've been right beside you the whole time. Now, come on," he tugged on her hand gently, "you wouldn't want to waste the song."
He pulled her out onto the dance floor and she found herself following easily, comfortably, as the pretty witch began singing, "At last, my love has come along."

As James placed his hand on her waist she rested her arm around his shoulder and they moved into a measured step. She wasn't really surprised that he could dance.

"So, how did you do it?" she asked coyly as he turned them in a slow circle.

"Do what?"

"Don't play dumb," she chided. "Did you put it into the set list or did Sirius carry your sneaky song request to the bandstand?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure," she nodded mockingly. "So what's the scam Potter?" she whispered, echoing her words at the beginning of term. "Trying to charm the pants off of me?"

James chuckled softly, "A little charm never hurt anybody. Besides, I'm waiting for your cue to go there again," he said lightly.

Lily cut him a look. "What makes you think we'll be 'going there' again?"

"My charm."

"Ha, ha."

He laughed in earnest, delicately sending her spinning away and then back into him. "I'm just waiting for you to make the first move, again, as per the rules of our agreement at the beginning of term."

"And then?" Lily giggled in spite of herself, blaming the champagne as James sent her into another spiral. "How can you know what I want when I don't even know what I want?"

James smiled and pulled her back into him, sending her elegantly into a one-armed dip. "I'm willing to wait while you figure it out," he whispered leaning towards her so that he was so near her lips she thought she'd melt with the heat of his mouth. He picked her back up and she felt her feet hit the ground like a reality check. His face was close enough to hers to smell the champagne and, was that peppermint, on his breath.

Lily faltered, afraid of being this close to him ever again. Her thoughts were interrupted as something like the sound of a speeding frisbee drew in on her ears and she turned towards it, confused. James' reacted reflexively, surely born of his years on the Quidditch Pitch, and pushed her away as a jet of green passed between them close enough to stir the loose tendrils of hair in her face. She was too drunk and lost her footing, but James' hands gripped her forearms and pulled her back up to steady legs before she could fall.

Simultaneously they followed the path of the green light as a scream split the air. A crumpled body lay only a few feet away from them, all blonde hair and long, slender legs in a stunning blue gown. A little girl was poised over it, shrieking into the now silent room.

Stunned, Lily turned back towards the direction of the unleashed spell and gasped. In the shocked silence that had followed the solitary curse, a line of black-robed masked men had flanked the front wall, blocking the only entrance and exit into the building.
Lily grabbed James arm, frightened and suddenly very sober. "James," she whispered softly, her fingers trembling against his skin.