Chapter 11: The Dance
The rest of the week passed fairly quickly, and before long it was the day of the dance. Lily claimed the Head Dorm for the girls, so the boys had their stuff out of there in the morning.
"Why do we have to leave so early?" James asked, annoyed.
"Because!" Lily said as though shocked he had to ask. "Do you know how many of us have to get ready? Do you know how long that's going to take?" James stared at her and Lily pushed him towards the door. "That's what I thought! Now go! We'll meet you all in the Entrance Hall at quarter to seven."
When the boys were gone, the Head Dorm was essentially transformed into a Beauty Parlor. Lily conjured a large floor to ceiling three way mirror in her bedroom, where the girls would change into yoga pants and tanks after their showers, and into their dresses later on. She conjured a hanging rack in her room as well, to hold all of the dresses. In the Common Room, there was an area for nails, hair, and makeup, with each girl pairing off to do each others.
A half an hour after Lily had transformed the Dorm, Katie, Celeste, and Jamie—the dates of the other three Marauders—joined Lily and the time travelers in her room.
Lily clapped her hands. "Okay. We'll split into girls that will do their nails before their shower, and girls that will do it after. You can use my room one at a time to change, that way the bathroom will only be used for showers, to keep it available as much as possible." With that, the girls got started. It was a little slow at first, but once every girl was showered, it was lunch time, so Lily had sandwiches brought up by the House Elves. Hermione and Kacey gave Lily a look, but said nothing and ate the sandwiches anyway. The hours after lunch were filled with mini crises and reassurances, nervous girls, and lots of getting ready. The hours were well-used, as it was half past six when the last girl exited Lily's room fully dressed and ready to go. Looking around, there was no doubt in anyone's mind, except maybe the girl in question, that when their dates saw them, they wouldn't be able to speak.
Kacey, who of course was going with Jose, was wearing a ballroom style dress, midnight blue in color, that brushed the floor. The corset of the dress was sequined extravagantly in silver, and the poofy skirt was sparkling in the light thanks to the veil-like material that covered it. Her silver flats were barely visible under the large skirt of the dress and her hair was curled and rested beautifully on her shoulders. Around her neck she wore a dark blue cord choker with a peace sign charm, which she had recieved from Jose. She had diamond studs in her ears and a diamond tennis bracelet on her wrist.
Sarah, accompanying Draco, wore a red, floor-length halter top dress. It had a matching sash, which gave the dress an empire waist, and from there, a flowing skirt that was embroidered in a silver design at the hem, which touched the ground. She was wearing silver high heels, and when I say high—I mean high—and her hair was in a simple updo, though a few curls were left to hang and frame her face. She had silver dangly earrings set with rubies, and a simple ruby choker necklace, also silver.
Hermione almost looked like a bride in a beautiful white gown, ballroom style like Kacey's. It was spaghetti strapped with a gold sash that tied in a graceful bow at her back. The large skirt was embroidered in gold, beginning simply about halfway down, and getting more complex as her skirt hit the floor. She wore red heels, offsetting the bride-like color of the dress and her hair was also in an updo, much like she wore it at the Yule Ball, with curls framing her face. Ron would be happy that she was going with him looking like that this time. A simple diamond choker necklace rested around her neck and simple diamond earrings sat in her ears, both gold.
Ginny, who had been nervous about what color would look good with her hair, sparkled in a silver ballroom gown. Strapless, it had a silver sash tied at her waist, and below that, the veil material that covered the skirt sparkled in the dim light. She wore silver high heels, which barely showed under her dress and were definitely not as high as Sarah's, and her hair was down, and curled, framing her face like Kacey's. She had diamond studs in her ears and a diamond journey necklace in silver, which she had recieved from Harry on her brithday.
Lily, who was also worried that her dress would clash with her hair, wore a dark green dress that set off her eyes beautifully. The top was a halter top, and the green sash gave it an empire waist. Below the sash, the skirt flowed down with gold embroidery on the bottom. She wore gold heels and her hair was in a half-updo, the bottom half resting in curls against her neck. She wore emerald dangly earrings and an emerald tennis style necklace, both in gold. She had recieved the necklace from James that morning.
Celeste had dressed sexy for Sirius in a red, slinky, floor-length dress that flared out after molding to her curvy hips. It was strapless with a tight corset top and a skirt that darkened to bloodred by the time it hit the floor. She wore black stiletto's, the only one with heels higher than Sarah's, and had left her hair down around her face in messy waves. She wore ruby studs and a ruby pendent on metal of black stained silver.
Katie, going with Remus, opted for a baby-blue, floor length dress with a flowing skirt and spaghetti straps. It's silver sash gave it an empire waist and the skirt was covered in silver sequins of which the number increased as you looked closer to the bottom. Her shoes were silver heels, the lowest of the group and her dark hair was pulled back in an intricate braided style. Aquamarine teardrop earrings were set in her ears and a simple silver heart necklace studded with aquamarine rested around her neck.
Jamie, who was shyly accompanying Peter, wore a gold, empire waisted dress that dropped to the floor. With a square neck, it had cap sleeves and a ballroom style skirt that drowned in silver sparkles. On her feet were gold flats, and her hair was pulled into a sleek ponytail, accentuated by curls. She wore moderately-sized gold hoops with silver sparkles and a plain gold heart necklace.
James looked at his watch as he stood with the group of boys in the Entrance Hall. They were dressed in black suits, with the exception of Ron, who wore white, and their ties matched the color of their dates dresses to the exact shade.
"They should be here soon," Ron said, wringing his hands.
Harry grinned at him. "Feels weird, doesn't it, mate? It wasn't that long ago that we were standing in this exact spot, waiting for the exact same girls, but in a different time period."
Ron rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it. Aren't you nervous, though?"
"I'm more nervous about what she's going to say when I ask." Harry said shortly, knowing he didn't need to explain what he meant.
Ron laughed outright. "Chill, mate. She loves you, of course she'll say yes."
"Are you telling me you're not going to be even more nervous when you ask Hermione?"
Ron paled and opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off when James spoke.
"Wow."
It was all he said, but the awe in his voice caused each boy to whip their heads around and look to the stairs. The girls were making their way down them, walking in two lines. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, each girl joined their date. Lily and Ginny reached the bottom of the stairs first.
"Gin..." Harry said softly, his eyes looking her up and down until they met hers. "You look amazing." Ginny blushed lightly and grinned, leaning forward to kiss him. He held out his arm, "Ready to go in?"
"Of course," Ginny said with a smile. "You look quite dashing yourself."
Lily walked over to James, her cheeks pink as he stared at her. "You look gorgeous," he said, reaching out and taking her hand, then leaning down to press a gentle kiss to it. "Your dress brings out your eyes beautifully."
"Thank you," Lily said softly, "You look nice as well."
"I try," James responded with a grin.
Sarah and Kacey reached the bottom of the staircase next. Sarah bounced forward with a grin on her face and took the hand Draco offered her.
"Hello," she said, as he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek.
"You look beautiful," he said in a low voice as he pulled away, catching her lips on the way.
She smiled into the kiss and when he pulled away, replied with, "Thank you. You don't look too bad, yourself. You look good in black."
Draco raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly, hooking an arm around her waist and leading her into the hall.
Kacey walked gracefully over to where Jose was standing, his mouth open and his eyes wide in awe. With a grin, she reached out and pushed his mouth closed with her index finger. "You're catching flies," she said with a short laugh. Jose leaned forward and met her lips with his in a kiss. When he pulled away, Kacey blinked. "Wow."
"You are...breathtaking," Jose whispered in her ear, and she smiled as he pulled back, taking her hand.
Hermione and Katie were the next pair at the bottom. Katie reached Remus with a shy smile, which he returned happily.
"You look stunning," he said in a regal voice, holding out his hand. He may have been the sensible Marauder, and the smartest all-around Marauder, but he was still a Marauder.
Katie giggled and took his hand. "And you look quite handsome," she replied, leaning up to kiss his cheek.
Hermione walked over to Ron, managing to keep steady in her heels. When she got to him, she leaned up and kissed his cheek, smiling at the enamoured look on his face.
"You look...magnificent," Ron said in a hoarse voice. "I almost stopped breathing when you came down the stairs."
"Almost?" Hermione asked, amused. "You were pale as a ghost."
"Okay," Ron said grudgingly. "Maybe I did stop breathing for a moment." He held out his arm and Hermione took it; they headed into the hall.
Celeste and Jamie were last down the stairs. Jamie walked slowly over to Peter, who's cheeks were red as he stared at her. "You look...very nice," Peter stumbled slightly over his words.
Jamie smiled back at him. "Thank you," she said shyly. She held out her hand. "Shall we?"
"Yes," Peter replied, clearing his throat and taking her hand quickly, leading her into the hall.
Celeste sauntered over to Sirius, who raised an eyebrow admiringly as she reached him. Leaning up, she pressed her lips to his, and when he was about to deepen the kiss, pulled away teasingly. "Not so fast," she said with a smirk. She stepped away and did a slow twirl for him.
Sirius let out a low whistle as he scanned her body up and down. "You look very sexy," he growled in a low voice, grabbing her hand and pulling her to him.
She raised an eyebrow and smiled seductively. "I try," she smirked. "You look pretty striking yourself, in all black."
Sirius raised an eyebrow in reply. "I know," he said in a cocky voice. "Shall we join the others for dinner?"
"But of course," Celeste replied in a smoky voice, taking Sirius' arm. "Make sure you save room for dessert."
Sirius smirked as he led her into the Great Hall. "I like you." He said in her ear.
He and Celeste made their way to their table, which consisted of the rest of the Marauders and their dates, and the time travelers. There were two empty seats in between Kacey and Sarah.
"Who else is sitting with us?" Katie asked curiously.
Kacey leaned over and looked at the name tags, then went slightly pale. "Our parents," she said quietly.
Sarah went pale as well and gripped Draco's hand. "What should we say?" she asked, eyes wide.
"Try and act as normal as possible," Hermione said promptly. "It's a bit different. The only thing that's crucial to hide from them is the fact that you're their daughters."
Harry snorted. "Considering how long all of our important secrets lasted, I'm not quite sure that fact is going to stay secret for long."
"One thing does have to stay secret," Sarah said firmly. "Don't say a word about what happened to John. Don't even mention it if they find out we're their daughters."
"Exactly." Kacey agreed, taking a breath. "Ron, you have keep your mouth shut on this."
They all looked up as the last couple approached the table and took their seats.
Kacey and Sarah stared at them until Draco and Jose nudged them about the fact that they were being a bit too obvious.
Their mother smiled at them all and their father gave a brief smile as well, seeming to consider something. "I know about half of you," she said. "How can one not know the Marauders? But, I don't believe we've met," she added to the time travelers. "I'm Kathy Montani, and this is Joe Coelho."
The time travelers went around the table and introduced themselves, cautious to only say their first names.
"It's very nice to meet you," Kacey said with a smile.
Ginny gave her a look across the table, insinuating that she obviously already knew them, even though they were twenty years older. Sarah held back a giggle.
"When are we going to get to eat?" Ron groaned, looking at the Head table. "Doesn't Dumbledore realize how hungry we are?"
"Ronald!" Hermione snapped, hitting him on the arm. "We have to wait for everyone to be seated. Not to mention, dinner is served promptly at seven fifteen. We still have five minutes. For goodness sakes, you were there when Lily planned this whole thing! She gave everyone fifteen minutes to get settled in before Dumbledore would stand and make his speech!"
Ron groaned. "Of course, we have to wait for his speech first...can't he make it after we eat?"
"Ron, just give it a rest!" Hermione snapped, raising an eyebrow at him.
"I'd do what she says, mate," Harry said with a grin. "A few more minutes isn't going to hurt."
"For Ron it will." Ginny said wryly.
"See?" Ron said indignantly. "Ginny knows what she's talking about! She's my sister after all."
Ginny rolled her eyes at Harry. "He's dim." she said matter-of-factly. "Hermione, I don't know how you stand him."
Hermione grinned. "Somehow...we just click."
"How long have you all been together?" Kathy asked the time traveling couples around the table.
"I've been with Jose for a year and a half," Kacey said, giving him a smile.
"I've only been with Draco for a few months," Sarah said as he leaned over and kissed her cheek.
"I've been with this dunderhead for about six months," Hermione said with a roll of her eyes. "Merlin help me, I barely understand how I fell in love with him."
"I love you too, 'Mione," Ron said with a grin.
Ginny rolled her eyes at her brother. "Harry and I were together for a few weeks a year and a half ago, and we've been together for the last six months."
"What happened to the year in between?" Kathy asked with a puzzled smile.
Ginny looked sideways at Harry. "He had something he had to do...and felt it wasn't a place for me." she said, considering her words carefully. As it was, Harry looked a little indignant at her wording, but she squeezed his hand and he accepted it. "How long have you and Joe been together?"
"Two years," Kathy said with a loving smile at her boyfriend.
"Two wonderful years," Joe added. It was the first thing he'd said and the girls at the table smiled softly.
The hall went silent as Professor Dumbledore got to his feet. "Welcome, students, to our Christmas celebration. I'm delighted to thank our Head students for putting together this lovely occasion for us. They, along with our prefects, have worked hard to decorate for and plan this dance. So, a Happy Christmas to all of you, and I hope you have an amazing night, dancing under the starry ceiling of our Great Hall. But before we get to that, let's eat." And he took a seat, picked up his menu, said what he wanted to his plate, and it appeared.
The Hall was immediately filled with voices announcing their meals to their plates, and the low pops of the meals appearing. Hermione and Kacey were a little disgruntled over the work the House Elves had to do, but Lily gave them a look, and made clear that the House Elves had insisted...and though she had tried to stop them, they didn't let her, so they used the menus.
They made small talk throughout dinner, discussing the war until Lily made them change the subject, and then they talked about pranks that Fred and George played over the years.
"Oh!" Ginny said with a grin. "At our old boarding school, there was one year that we had this horrible Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher that, through a series of unfortunate events, ended up as Headmistress. So my brothers decided to give her hell with their new products for a joke shop they were planning on opening. They had these crazy fireworks that were shaped like fire animals and sparking frisbees that flew around the school. If you tried to Vanish or Stun them, they multiplied or got bigger in size. The professor was running around all week getting rid of them, and the other teachers, who probably could have gotten rid of them easily, called on her to get them. They always claimed they weren't sure they had the authority to, because of all of the rules and restrictions that the professor made. Restrictions including banning Harry and the twins from playing Quidditch after they beat someone up. He deserved it, at the time," Ginny said, not looking at Draco, who's cheeks went a little red. Sarah grinned at him and squeezed his hand as Ginny went on. "Then, their biggest stunt of all, one day, they somehow created a swamp in the Entrance Hall. A whole swamp." The Marauders were dying at this point, and the girls and Joe were astonished. "But they got caught. So they were standing in the middle of the Entrance Hall and the professor was screaming at them, saying she was going to expell them, when suddenly they said they decided they were going to leave. They summoned their brooms and then just flew away." When Ginny finished, the table was in silence.
"They are my heroes." James said solemnly.
"I'm sure you would be theirs." Ginny said with a smirk.
"So they just...summoned their brooms and flew away?" Kathy asked, shocked.
Ginny grinned and nodded. "They did."
"What about the swamp?" Lily asked, aghast.
Ginny giggled. "It stayed, because she couldn't get rid of it. When she left, one of the other professors waved her wand and got rid of it in seconds, but they left a small section roped off in tribute." she finished with a grin.
Ginny and the Marauders swapped prank stories for a few more minutes, before Professor Dumbledore got to his feet. "I hope everyone enjoyed their meal. Now, it is time to begin the entertainment. Our Head Boy and Girl managed to get The Pheonix Feathers to play for us tonight, and so, for all their hard work, they are going to start us off dancing."
The band struck a note and James got to his feet, holding a hand out for Lily, who took it and followed him to the middle of the dance floor. When the music started up he led her around the floor without hesitation, twirling and dipping when appropriate.
"You're a good dancer," Lily said, sort of surprised.
"Blame my parents," James murmured. "They made me take lessons since I was five and I've gone to Ministry Balls since I was eight."
"Blame?" Lily asked, amused. "I'm glad you can dance. You won't be stepping on my toes."
James grinned at her and pulled her close as they twirled around the floor.
A moment later, other couples began joining them in dancing. Harry and Ginny were among them.
"Having fun?" Harry asked softly, grinning as he spun Ginny around and dipped her almost effortlessly.
Ginny giggled as the song slowed, and leaned her head against his chest. "Yes. I always have fun when I'm with you," she said as he kissed the top of her head. "You've gotten better at dancing," she said, grinning as she remembered the time in her fifth year when he'd twirled her in front of the lake and she almost fell in.
Harry laughed and Ginny lifted her head so she was looking at him. "Though that was funny, and embarrassing, I decided to practice a little so I could dance with you tonight without hurting you." With a grin, he continued, "I actually learned a bit before the dance that brought us here, but we never actually got a chance to dance that night, did we?"
Ginny smiled. "No, we did not."
