Turning Saints Into the Sea

Chapter Eleven: The Halloween Party

Lily took a deep breath, admiring herself in front of the seventh year Girls' Dorm mirror, where she had chosen to get dressed. Not too bad, she thought to herself. For someone who had a week to get ready.

Grabbing a bottle of perfume from Sam's vast collection, Lily spritzed herself on her chest and hair. The aroma of vanilla and some sweet flower she didn't know the name of washed over her.

Sam rushed over to Lily. "I think I tore my dress!" she shrieked, pointing at her back. Lily placed the perfume bottle back into its case and examined Sam's dress. She saw nothing.

"There's no tear, Samantha," Lily explained, turning the frantic Sam around.

Sam shook her head. "No, I know I heard a rip! Are you absolutely positive?" she said, anxiously feeling the back of her dress.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Sam, stop freaking out. You look awesome. Remus is going to love you."

Sam looked at Lily meaningfully. "It isn't Remus I'm trying to impress tonight, is it?" she murmured quietly, when Melanie entered, as if on cue, saying, "I think I should wear flats. The last thing I need is to be taller then Sirius."

Lily looked at Melanie and nodded, smiling. "That's the last thing we need."

Sam sighed quietly. "Wow Mel; you look gorgeous. You could like, model stuff."

Melanie laughed, examining herself in the mirror. "Yeah right. I'm not pretty enough for that."

As Lily and Sam started to protest, Shannon walked over, twirling in front of the mirror, her chestnut curls dancing around her head. "Whatever. You three should head down; you wouldn't want to keep everybody waiting."

Sam glanced at the clock. "She's right. The last thing we need is to miss the only way to get to the party."

They started down the stairs, trying to keep as quiet as possible.

Huddled around the portrait hole were around half a dozen seventh years, whispering excitedly to each other. Lily fingered her mask unconsciously, before slipping it on over her eyes.

James glanced up at the stairs, and his breath caught in his throat. There she was, walking gently down.

Her robes looked like they were made of some wispy, soft material he didn't know the name of. They were a light green color with pretty gold stitching around the hem. Her hair was like it had been on the first day on the train; curling gently from a clasp.

She looked so, so beautiful.

A jab in his ribs caused James to turn, massaging his side, to face a grinning Sirius.

"What was that for?" he asked angrily.

Sirius's gray eyes glittered behind his simple black mask. "You were drooling over Evans again. Besides, you wouldn't want anyone knowing about your super secret crush on her, would you?" he muttered sarcastically.

James rolled his eyes, before slipping his own mask on and smoothing out his robes. "She's going with Allard. And I wasn't drooling."

"Yes you were."

"No I wasn't."

"Yes you were!"

"Were what?"

James turned.

Lily Evans.

She grinned up at Sirius and him, shaking out her hair slightly; the ringlets shone in the dim light.

"Were what?" she asked again, looking at Sirius, who opened his mouth, before James stamped on his foot as hard as he could.

"I wasn't thinking about blowing off our Defense Against the Dark Arts homework. After all, I need to get at least an 'O' on my NEWTS," James improvised.

Lily's mouth fell open and she laughed disbelievingly. "That is the biggest load of rubbish I've ever hear-"

"It's time!" Shannon hissed from the Portrait hole.

Immediately, the group of seventh years silenced.

Shannon flicked her brown hair over her shoulder haughtily, brandishing a small scroll of parchment that was sealed tightly with a glowing, silver bond.

Erin was staring at her watch. "Three . . . two . . . one . . . Now!"

As her clocked ticked to 11:45, the bond on the parchment melted away. Shannon eagerly opened it up, glanced at it, and read the instructions aloud in a stage whisper.

"You are to perform the Concealment Charm (Celantus!!) upon yourself or another at 11:50 and station yourselves lined up against the wall outside your Common Room. At midnight, a representative will come (they will be invisible) and snap three times. Your self assigned leader of the group that will, of course, be me will snap back twice. When the representative walks over to them, the leader will inform them exactly how many people are with them.

The representative will then leave and come back with as many helpers as needed in your group. There are usually around three-four people per representative, so please pick out your groups BEFORE HAND, as we have limited time to get you to the Masquerade.

After you are broken up into separate groups, you will all head over to the Masquerade accordingly to the Caretaker and where he is. If all goes well, you should reach the Masquerade within fifteen minutes."

Shannon looked around at the group. "Get into your groups now," she said bossily. "We don't want to hold them up."

Lily, Mel, and Sam all looked at each other and shrugged. It was obvious who their group was going to contain.

Half an hour later, Lily, Melanie, and Samantha found themselves walking through a seemingly hidden portrait hole into a golden hall.

Sam gasped, taking in the sight. The Common Room had been modified into a lavish dance floor, the theme being blue and gold, after Ravenclaw's house colors.

On the floor were a couple dozen couples dancing, their masks hiding their identities. The swirl of the dresses almost made her dizzy, the elegance of the picture inspiring a painting she had to create.

A hand on her waist caused Sam to turn to find Remus grinning down at her. "Hi!" he said, his mask obscuring his face.

She smiled back, leaning into him. "Hey! It looks so pretty out there."

He looked out onto the dance floor. "Yeah. Ravenclaw really outdid themselves this year."

"This year?!" Sam laughed. "I thought you never actually made it to the Halloween parties."

"We made it in. We just never got to stay," Remus explained.

"What, did they throw you out?" Sam asked incredulously.

Remus laughed, holding up two fingers.

"Twice?!" she asked disbelievingly.

"Twice what?" Sirius asked, walking up with Melanie. Sam's heart sank a little when she saw his hand on Melanie's hip. She immediately tightened her grip on Remus, remembering her wonderful boyfriend was standing right next to her.

"I was just telling Sam about those times we got thrown out of the Halloween Party," Remus explained, giving Sam a gentle squeeze.

Sirius flicked his eyes over to Sam, who felt her face heat up as Sirius's gaze, through his black mask, seared into hers. She held his eyes there, determined not to look away first.

Eventually, Sirius broke the connection. "Yea, we got thrown out. Painfully, too. I still have the scars." He pushed open his dress robes and opened his shirt, showing the group his torso.

Sam almost felt her mouth drop open. He has a really nice chest.

"It's this one right here," Sirius continued, trailing his finger over a small section where a few centimeters of scar tissue lay. "When they threw me out, I ran into a suit of armor and . . . the rest is history."

"What's this?" Melanie asked, indicating to a group of gashes that looked like claw marks along Sirius's right side. They were fresh wounds, only starting to scab.

Sirius's eyes flew to Remus's, then back at the wounds on his side. He laughed. "Care of Magical Creatures. One wouldn't think a Kelpie could cause this much damage, eh?"

Sam frowned at Sirius's statement. Kelpies were water creatures that usually took the form of horses or sea serpents, nothing with any claws to scrape up his side like that. She looked up at Sirius, who was buttoning his shirt back up, and studied him, trying to get a hint of why he was lying. Nothing stood out to her, but, still suspicious, she casually asked, "Didn't we learn about Kelpies in our third year or something? What were you doing around them if not in Care of Magical Creatures?"

Sirius froze; Remus stiffened next to her. She watched closely as Sirius's eyes flicked to Remus's, shock and fear filling them. Remus cleared his throat loudly, and Sam felt body heat radiate from him. He grinned down at her, but his eyebrows twitched as he did so; a sign he was embarrassed, uncomfortable, lying, or a combination of the three.

"Do you want me to go get some butterbeer for us?" Remus asked loudly as he walked away, not waiting for her answer.

"Yea, and there's someone I really need to talk to about something over near that corner. Be right back, Mel," Sirius said at the same time, striding away dramatically.

Melanie looked at Sam. "Well that was weird," she said pointlessly.

"Yea," Sam agreed. "What are they hiding?"

Mel looked at her through her blue mask, her dark eyes glittering with laughter. "Knowing Sirius, something probably girl related. Maybe he went out with a girl with huge talons who slashed him up after he dumped her. I should look out; she's probably still on the prowl," she joked.

Sam nodded, tittering. A comfortable silence enveloped the friends as they watched the dancers peacefully.

Sam looked at Melanie's hair, which had been pulled up in an elaborate twist. She gasped when she realized that the pink bottom of Mel's hair was gone, replaced with navy blue zigzags.

"You changed your hair color again!" she exclaimed, reaching up to touch it. Melanie grabbed Sam's hand and pushed it gently away.

"Don't touch. It took like half an hour to put up. And yeah, I changed the color. Pink was getting a little old. Plus, the blue matches my dress robes," she explained, swirling her indigo skirt to demonstrate.

"So are you going to change your hair color all the time now? Or is this some sort of phase you're going through. Remember the piercings. . ." Sam asked in a warning tone.

Melanie laughed. "Oh god. I looked terrible. I can't believe I ever thought a lip ring was attractive." She shuddered, tonguing the spot where the metal device had been two years previously.

Sam smiled fondly. "Aw, you didn't look that bad. Just . . . different. And you got rid of most of the rings, so it's all better now."

Mel stood for a moment, trying to remember all the spots she had let close up. "Yea. But I'm glad I kept most of the ear ones." She pushed her hair back from her ears, where six little sapphires winked at Sam in the dim light of the candles.

Sam gazed almost enviously at Mel's earrings, then felt her own ears, where only one small pearl sat. She had never even considered getting more piercings or dyeing her hair any colors.

"Where's Remus? It doesn't take that long to get a few things of butterbeer?" Melanie asked suddenly.

"Probably with Sirius," Sam sighed. "Let's go look for them."

Lily clung to Brandon's arm as he whisked her around the room, showing her off to all his friends.

He seems to be friends with everyone, Lily thought to herself, shocked at all the people her boyfriend seemed to be close acquaintances with.

At last, Brandon took her to a small table and conjured up two butterbeers. He uncorked it extravagantly and handed it to Lily with a wink, who giggled and accepted it graciously.

"It looks so beautiful in here," she breathed, looking once more at the copious decorations.

Brandon smiled at her warmly, taking her hand. "Yeah. We worked so hard on getting it just right, so everyone could enjoy it. I'm glad you do," he said, leaning into her.

Lily turned to face him. "You're so sweet," she replied, bringing her mouth up to his.

A few moments later, an irritating shriek shattered the moment. "Isn't that adorable James? I can't believe Brandon hasn't tried to do anything with her yet."

Lily pulled away from Brandon to glare at Juliana, but when she turned all she got was an eyeful of abundant cleavage.

Raising her eyes, Lily took in the sight that was Juliana Hernandez. Hernandez's dress robes were a shocking shade of scarlet with magenta ruffles sewn on so when Juliana moved, they fanned out attractively. The low neckline provided an enormous view on Juliana's breasts, something Lily really wasn't in the mood for herself, or Brandon for that matter, to be able to stare at the whole night long. Unfortunately, Juliana's vibrant if somewhat tasteless dress robes magnificently accentuated her
cinnamon skin, and her espresso curls tumbled down her back gracefully.

The overall effect made Juliana absolutely gorgeous, and Lily felt envy coil within her dangerously as the eyes every boy that passed the four of them, regardless of whether or not they had a partner, became fixated to Juliana's chest as if to a magnet. True, Lily did not want the boys to be staring at her own chest, but the fact that Juliana was getting the attention annoyed her. James, who was standing next to Julie, was certainly giving her more then enough interest by himself.

"I like your dress robes," Lily offered grudgingly. In her own opinion, the robes were much too form fitting and trashy, but she decided not to share this.

Juliana's bubbly laughter filled the air. "Thanks! I had them specially made in July. Most of my family's from South America, and they always have the most beautiful dresses there. Yours are nice too, but I'm pretty sure I saw them at that shop in Hogsmeade last weekend."

Humiliation filled Lily and she felt herself blushing. "Well, unlike most of the Seventh Years, I didn't learn about this dance till a couple weeks ago," she said through gritted teeth.

Juliana cocked her head. "A couple weeks ago?" she echoed, "I've known about it since at least fifth year! I was so excited to be able to finally attend I made preparations months in advance. Oh well. You look okay for someone who only knew about it for a few weeks."

Lily's already red face turned fuchsia as she tried not to attack Juliana. She watched with rage as Potter's already large grin grew twice the size of his face. He was actually enjoying Lily's wrath. That bastard!

Taking a deep breath, Lily opened her mouth, but Juliana cut her off. "Is there something wrong, Lily? You should really try to calm yourself down; whenever you seem to get worked up your face turns that ugly shade of puce that really clashes with your hair."

James choked back his laughter as he watched steam almost pour out of Lily's ears. Hatred, fury, and disgust clouded Lily's eyes. Her bottle of butterbeer exploded and the contents went shooting out onto the front of Juliana's dress robes.

Juliana screeched wildly, pulling at the material in a way that exposed her chest even more than before. She ran over to the bathroom, trying as hard as she could to rub off the liquid with a napkin.

James called after her, "Julie! Wait!" but the Latina had already run into the bathroom, crying.

He rounded on Lily. "What was that for?!" he asked angrily, indicating to the remnants of the butterbeer bottle.

Lily gazed up at him innocently, sipping a new drink. "What? I didn't do anything."

James rolled his eyes, exasperated. "Then explain the exploding butterbeer bottle."

Lily shrugged, smiling slightly about the look on Juliana's face when her dress had been soaked. "This is Hogwarts, Potter. Things happen. Maybe Peeves is invisible. Maybe the bottle was bewitched. Maybe Juliana's just not lucky."

"Luck had nothing to do with it. You got pissed at her and blew up the bottle on purpose, Evans, and you know it," James said, growing angrier by the minute.

Lily sighed, glad that this time she was the calm one and James was upset. "Potter. Look. I didn't even touch the glass, nor pull out a wand. There wasn't anything I did, and blaming me for Juliana's misfortune and inappropriate attire isn't going to solve anything."

James glared at Lily but seemed at a loss for words.

She turned to Brandon, who was shaking with silent laughter. "Do you plan on ever asking me to dance?" she asked loftily. He nodded, his broad shoulders trembling with mirth, and led her out to the dance floor.

Sam strolled outside the party, looking around for Remus. The cool night air bit through the thin sleeves of her dress robes and she shivered involuntarily, desperate to get back inside.

A figure was standing at the edge of the balcony, hunched over and twirling his mask around in his hands. Ignoring the cold, Sam walked over to it, touching it lightly on the back.

Sirius turned around, his handsome face blank. "What?" he asked quietly, looking down at her.

Sam met his grey eyes. "Are you okay? You didn't come back in."

He shrugged, his face still unreadable. "Sorry. Just got distracted." He looked out onto the grounds, where the balcony overlooked. "It looks really pretty at night."

Sam walked over to the edge and looked over. Indeed, the picture before her was magical, the silver moonlight falling gently over the lake and trees. "Yea," she sighed. "It really is."

They stood there for a minute admiring the view, before Sam started shaking. Sirius turned to her. "Are you cold?"

Sam shook her head, her jaw starting to chatter.

"Here." Sirius pulled off his cloak and slung it around her shoulders.

Oh, Lord.

"I can't take this . . ." Sam started, but Sirius cut her off with a wave of a hand.

"I insist. It's freezing out here," he commanded.

Sam nodded wordlessly, snuggling into it. It was heavy and warm and smelled like Sirius.

He smells amazing

Wrapping the cloak closer, Sam sighed and admired the beauty of the night, standing next to Sirius.

She glanced at him and subtly moved closer, hoping she wasn't being too obvious.

He let out a puff of air. "So what classes are you taking?"

Sam thought momentarily. "Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, and Arithmancy."

Sirius turned to her in mild disbelief. He studied her features intently (Sam felt herself growing nervous), before his face broke out into a huge smile, grey eyes twinkling.

"Those are all classes for training to be an Auror. You know that, right?"

Sam felt as if something had squeezed her windpipe. Of all the people to figure it out, it had to be Sirius. "It is?" she asked, trying to sound surprised.

He nodded. "Yeah. Didn't you know that?"

Sam shook her head. "No, I didn't."

You dirty little liar.

He shrugged, turning away.

Sam hesitated, before reluctantly saying, "Actually, yes. I was aware of my class choices."

Sirius looked at her, slightly confused. "You knew you were in potential Auror classes? Do you want to be an Auror or something?"

Ah, well. You certainly didn't think no one would ever find out, did you?

"Yes. I do."

Sirius faced her completely, looking straight into her eyes. She fought to meet his gaze, refusing to blink.

"An Auror? You?" Clearly this wasn't something he, or anyone for that matter, had ever placed Sam under for the job description.

"Yes, me. Is that weird or something?"

He shrugged again. "I always saw you as more of a librarian or herbologist sort of person."

Sam visibly cringed.

Hastily, Sirius tried to redeem himself. "I didn't mean I thought you were weak or anything. I just meant you never seemed the overly assertive Auror type."

Sam turned away, laughing softly. "There's a lot you don't know about me."

There's a lot no one knows about me.

He touched her shoulder. Sam looked up at him through her hair.

"Sam-" he started.

"There you two are!"

Melanie, with Remus in tow, came walking through the door out onto the balcony.

Sirius jumped back, while Sam stood still, dumbstruck.

"Why are you wearing his cloak?" Melanie asked, indicating to the garment draped over Sam's shoulders. Sam took it off immediately, shoving it unceremoniously back to Sirius.

"I was cold," she said quietly by way of explanation.

Mel looked at her confusedly for a moment, then let apparently it go. "Come on," she chirped to Sirius, "let's go dance!"

"If I have to," he complained jokingly, taking her arm and leading her out to the dance floor.

Sam turned to Remus, who smiled at her gently. "Wanna dance?" he asked.

Sam nodded, hugging him slightly. "Let's go."