Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or it's characters. I do however own Rain and I'm proud of that!
Chapter eleven: The Halloween ball
The Great Hall was beautiful. Jack O'Lanterns were floating in the air casting a cozy but at the same time eerie light. Bats were flying around, but didn't come down. Not that I was scared, I loved animals, but the pain when one got stuck in your hair, never again. The only colors they had used with the decoration were orange and black, but the dresses of the girls weren't Halloween style. There were a few orange dresses and black was always popular, but I couldn't think of a colour that wasn't there.
Lily was already dancing with James and it appeared that they were having a good time. She had a smile on her face and was listening to something James was telling her. I looked around for Remus and saw him with a blushing Jirina. They looked so cute together, but both of them were shy, which was probably why they were just swaying on the music. Suddenly Remus grabbed her waist and started to dance just like the other couples. He twirled her around and I saw her smile in delight. They really looked good together.
Sirius and Hayley were nowhere to be found. Even though I knew that Sirius hated her, I couldn't get rid of the thought that they were kissing in a corner. Not that would be jealous, Sirius could be the man whore whenever he wanted to. As long as he stayed away from Hayley.
"Would you like to dance with me?" Matt smiled a warm smile and I smiled back.
"I'd love too," I answered.
Matt carefully placed one of his hands on my hips and grabbed my hand with the other one. He twirled me around and I smiled. I was scared that I would break my ankle with these heels since I only wore heels on special occasions, but so far so good and that gave confidence. Matt was a great dancer and I had no problems following at all.
"No offence, but I never expected you to be so good in dancing."
I laughed at his statement. I had already expected this question tonight. I think nobody in Hogwarts knew the real Rain. Not that I hid anything for my friends, but they never asked and just assumed.
"No offence taken. My mum has put me on dancing lessons for two years. It was terrible, but she thought every girl needed to know how to dance."
As much as I loved my mum, she could be quite annoying sometimes. A girl needed to act like a girl and not like a guy. That's why I had to dance and had to wear many skirts and dresses. Eventually when I got older she had given up. It's not that I didn't like all the female stuff, I hated it when it was forced on me. Dancing could be quite fun actually, but not when someone was pushing me to do something in particular.
"You see," I continued. "I don't lack the female sides, I just don't use them that often. I'm much more comfortable the way I act normally and it has always been that way. To like female things has been forced upon me."
Now Matt was the one who laughed. "I think it doesn't matter if you wear skirts or not. The way you act is much more important and if you're not feeling comfortable with something then you shouldn't be doing it."
I smiled at him. Matt was really a great guy and I wondered why we didn't talk before. He was spontaneous and funny, something I found important with friends. If he had been in Gryffindor, we would have been friends for sure. Maybe I ought to spend more time with students of other houses.
"But you're hilarious. I can see why you hang out with Sirius and James. You're the same kind of person."
I grinned. That was probably one of the best compliments I had ever gotten. "Do you remember when someone had put something in your drink and you acted like a duck?" I asked, suddenly remembering that little, funny fact.
"Yes I recall something like that. Wasn't that James' fault?"
"Well, he was the one that got blamed for it, but it was actually me. I'm sorry," I said laughing and he joined me.
After a few dances we took a break, but another girl wanted to dance with Matt. I told him it was fine and sat down on a chair. Lily dropped down on a chair next to me.
"So how is James?" I asked and Lily blushed.
"He's actually really nice and an amazing dancer."
I looked at James, who was talking to Sirius. Sirius looked annoyed and had his arm awkwardly wrapped around Hayley. She was smiling at him the whole time, but he ignored her. I felt a little spark in my body which approved of Sirius' response to Hayley.
"That's great Lilykins," I said, teasing her with the nickname James had invented and she loathed. "But I'm going, because if I sit next to you, Sirius can guess who I am and that's not the plan."
I winked at her and stood up. Immediately a guy, I thought he was in Hufflepuff, came walking in my direction and asked me to dance. I accepted it and saw Lily wink at me. I rolled my eyes and enjoyed my time. A lot of other guys also approached me to dance and for the first time in my life, I had the feeling that guys were a little bit interested in me.
On a certain moment I was even dancing with James, who tried to find out who I was. "Are you friends with Lily?"
"Perhaps."
He grinned. "Do you like Lily?"
"Perhaps," I answered again.
Was every question involving Lily? But he didn't ask another question anymore. The song ended and he gave me a peck on my lips. He hugged me, while my eyes were wide with shock. How could he do this? He had finally a chance with Lily and then he kissed an unknown girl. I didn't know whether to be angry and slap him, even though it would mean I had to blow my cover or if I would do nothing.
"I'm not going to tell Sirius it's you," he whispered in my ear.
I pulled my head back and raised my eyebrow. How did he know?
He saw my expression and laughed. "You were talking to Lily and that's when I knew. But you truly look beautiful, feminine and you can dance, so you have to prove your point to him."
I grinned.
"May I take this girl?"
I turned around and looked at a smiling Remus. "Remy!" I yelled and I hugged him.
"I want to dance with you," I said and dragged him to the dance floor.
"I thought I asked you?"
"Nope you didn't. You only said 'May I take this girl' and you could have meant something different than dancing. For instance you could rape me, because taking a girl can-"
"Alright, you're right," Remus interrupted me.
"So how is it going with Jirina?" My question made Remus blush.
"She is very nice, shy, but nice. We can talk for hours, because we're interested in the same things." He grabbed my waist and started dancing.
"That's great." I looked around and saw Sirius staring at me.
Remus followed my gaze and smiled. "He's been talking about you all night. Sort of. I mean, he's looking for the Rain he knows, but is also quite interested in the mysterious girl."
I stared at him in astonishment. A guy was interested in me? And out of all of them Sirius? But tonight was different than any other night on the boy's area. "Don't you want to dance with Jirina instead of me, I mean; you're finally with the girl you want?"
Remus shook his head and the music faded away. Everyone stopped dancing and looked around, wondering why the music had stopped. Confused I turned around and saw professor Dumbledore; his eyes were twinkling behind his glasses.
"I can see that we all enjoyed ourselves this night. But just like all other fun things, it comes to an end. We arrived at our last dance, so this is your last chance to dance with your partner. After this dance, you have to take your mask off. Goodnight."
We all clapped and I saw James run to Lily. Remus was standing next to Jirina and took her hand. I looked around for Matt and saw him talking to his ex-girlfriend with a smile on his face. It would be perfect if they could work it out and try it again. They were made for each other. I sat down on a chair. Even though dancing wasn't my favorite thing, it still sucked I didn't have a partner for the last dance.
I sighed and stared into nothing when the music began. A hand softly touched my shoulder and I looked up. Two stormy grey eyes looked into mine. My eyes widened when he offered his hand to me.
"Would you like to dance with me?"
I smiled. "I'd love to," I whispered.
He helped me up and guided me to the dance floor. Awkwardly I placed my arms around his neck and he placed his hands on my hips. We softly swayed around and a strand of hair fell in front of my face. Sirius tucked it behind my ear and his hand lingered on my cheek. His fingers traced my jawline and then found their way to my hips again. A soft tingle appeared deep in my body and it felt like my jawline was on fire.
"Do I know you?" Sirius looked deep into my eyes.
"Yes I think you do," I answered truthfully.
"What's your name?"
"That's an easy one, but unfortunately for you, I'm not going to tell." I had to suppress a smirk, Sirius would have recognized it.
"Are you in Gryffindor?"
I laughed. He wasn't going to stop. "Is this an interrogation or are we dancing?"
He grinned. I rested my head on his shoulder. Lily and James were looking at me. I winked at them before I closed my eyes. It felt so safe in Sirius' arms and I smiled. His hand slid to my mid-back and my smile widened. He really hadn't recognized me.
"Alright I give up."
I lifted my head up to look at him. A small smile played around his lips.
"You look really beautiful," he said suddenly. "Normally I would say 'You really look beautiful tonight, but I don't know who you are so that would be weird."
My mouth dropped open at his statement. Sirius Black called me beautiful. One of his best friends whom he normally called boyish. "Thank you. You look quite good as well," I answered still in shock.
I looked at the side and saw an angry Hayley. An idea popped in my mind, but I couldn't do it, could I? I mean it could ruin my friendship with Sirius if it went wrong. But then again, getting back at Hayley was something I really wanted and Sirius would understand. I looked at Sirius again and he smiled at me.
"Kiss me."
Sirius looked at me. "What?"
"Just kiss me," I repeated hoarsely.
"But I don't know who you are," he said.
I laughed. "Since when does that bother you?"
He smirked, but then his face turned serious. He brought one hand to my face and placed it on my cheek. Slowly he brushed his lips against mine. A shiver went down my spine. The tip of his tongue traced the line of my bottom lip and parted them. The kiss was soft and gentle. Quite the opposite of what I had expected from him. He placed his hand back on my mid-back, while my arms were still around his neck.
I saw a shocking Lily and James looking at me, as did Remus with a frown. Hayley looked like she would burst into tears. Sirius had his eyes closed and was clearly enjoying the kiss. I closed my eyes so that it seemed that I was also really into it. But when they were close I knew I enjoyed it just as much as he did, maybe even more.
The kiss was no longer soft and gentle. Sirius had pulled me against him and his hands were just above my butt. My hands were tangled in his hair and I pressed myself even more against him. This was, without doubt, the most passionate kiss I had ever experienced in my life. The music faded and so did our kiss. With my forehead and nose against his I breathed out. I kept my eyes closed while a small smile was tucked at the ends of my lips.
"That was quite good," I breathed.
"That was perfect," Sirius said and I couldn't disagree.
Even perfect was an understatement. I opened my eyes and noticed that a few people were looking at us. Some had their masks in their hand which made the shock on their face even more visible. But we weren't the only thing that was shocking. Some students didn't know who their last partner was and the reactions were different with everybody. Some were delighted, others disgusted. Sirius took off his mask as well. His eyes were full with expectation.
Suddenly my plan seemed to break down. How was I ever going to explain what I did? Very slowly, as if postponing could help me, I grabbed my mask with both hands and took it off. The gasps could be heard from the people who were watching the scene. Nobody had expected this. I stared at the floor and didn't dare to look up, praying he didn't recognize me. But that would be too good to be true.
"Rain?" Sirius said in disbelief. The sound of his voice made me look up.
"Hi Sirius."
A/N: Well if that isn't a cliffhanger haha. A special thanks to AyleanaMami and GoldenGyrfalcon for the lovely reviews. I hope you guys liked this chapter, I really liked writing it. And of course there is going to happen a lot in the next one. Please review what you thought of it :)