A/N: I am so sorry for the delay, we have had a few cases of childhood illness, a half-term holiday plus Salma Hayek was not playing ball for a while (Muse, sorry, Dogma joke/reference).

Chapter 12

Lily descended the grand staircase to breakfast the next day feeling very pleased with how the meal had gone the previous night. She was, however, rather apprehensive about the dancing lesson this afternoon. She hadn't danced with a boy since her junior school had added country dancing to the PE curriculum. His name was Andrew and he always seemed to have sweaty hands. She tried to repress a shudder at the memory.

"Good morning, dear," announced Lady Prince, breaking Lily's train of thought.

"Good morning, everyone," replied Lily, realising with no small amount of embarrassment that she was the last to rise.

"Take a seat, dear girl," prompted Lord Prince, flicking his wand almost lazily at the seat the family had saved for Lily, next to Severus. "We were all delighted with our gifts. It was very generous of you."

"You're welcome, Sir."

"Eat up, girl. You're going to need your strength for your dancing lessons this afternoon." Lady Prince uttered as she levitated a serving dish of scrambled egg over to her houseguest.

"Thank you, Lady Prince," replied Lily, helping herself to a small portion to go with her toast.

"Severus!" shouted Lady Prince. "Hold the girl to you, boy. She isn't going to break. Get your hand on the small of her back. Come on! You know how to dance."

Lily tried to hold herself in the proper way and had her hand on Severus' shoulder, her small hand in Severus' larger, thankfully dry, hand.

"I want you two to be able to hold your heads high at the Black Ball. To do so, you need to practice until the dances are second nature. I do apologise for this awful Muggle music," she gestured to the stack of vinyl records from Eileen's younger days. Doris Day was crooning out of the enchanted gramophone in the Prince's ballroom. "It will just have to suffice. One, two, three, step, two, three. Watch your footwork, Lily."

Severus knew he wasn't dancing at his best but he was desperately fighting his newly awakened body. The more he focused on keeping himself proper for Lily – after all he didn't want to frighten her by pressing himself in on her – the more awkward his dancing became, and the more he focused on dancing with Lily, the more aroused he became. He promised himself a cold shower, or perhaps to take himself in hand, as soon as he'd finished dancing with Lily. Gods, he was dancing with Lily, holding her in his arms.

"Right, we'll leave it there for today," huffed Lady Prince. "The elves will have lunch ready in an hour and after that, you two need to make a start on your potions essays."

"Yes, Gran," answered Severus.

"Now, escort your female companions from the room," instructed Lady Prince as she grasped Severus' arm and gestured for Lily to do the same on his other side. "You did well, girl. I'll see you at lunch." Lily's cheeks flushed lightly at the praise and Severus thought she had never looked more beautiful.

"Two feet on the Forgetfulness Potion?" scoffed Lily. "Slughorn won't even read it. The students he wants for The Slug Club will get Os, the students who can't offer him anything will get Es or As."

"Mmmmm," agreed Severus, only half-listening as he Accio'd several potions books from the upper shelves in his grandparents' library.

"Honestly, I don't think I'd even know how to make a Wiggenweld Potion, if it wasn't for you, Severus."

"Hmmm, he isn't the most inspiring Professor, is he?" muttered Severus as he leafed through the pages of the books he had summoned. "Here, page 394 in this one. It says three mistletoe berries in this one, but I find four tend to work better."

"Let's get this over with, Sev."

The library was filled with the quiet sounds of pages turning and quills scratching across parchment.

The rest of December passed in a similar way, dancing practice in the morning and homework in the afternoon so that by the time New Year's Eve came around they had finished all of their homework assignments and so were allowed to stay up to see in the New Year.

Severus topped up Lily's pumpkin juice punch from the crystal bowl in the centre of the long buffet table where the house elves had outdone themselves the amount and variety of dishes on offer.

"Thanks, Sev," smiled Lily.

"What will 1972 bring Lily?" asked Severus. "I'm hoping my father leaves. For good. I have had such an enjoyable time without him. I just worry what it would do to Mother."

Lily put down her drink and clasped Severus' hands in her small ones. "Oh, Severus, she would get through it. We would help her. Your grandparents would help her. This is the 1970s. People don't see divorce as such a big thing now."
Severus scoffed quietly in his throat. "The Muggles may be coming around to it slowly, but wizards still see it as a scandal."

"What if there was a way to make him leave and she could be free of scandal?"

Severus looked utterly bewildered.

"When we were writing our Potions essays, I noticed a potion called the Compulsion Potion. It is a little like an Imperius, combined with a Forgetfulness Potion, according to the book. It isn't an Unforgivable, though it is pretty dark magic, I suppose. What do you think about that Sev?"

"That it could work and you are a bloody genius!" He lifted her clear off the ground and spun her around.

"10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…happy New Year!" chorused the adults and Lily looked up into Severus' face and pressed a sweet, lingering kiss to his lips. Severus' head swam and his heart swelled.

A/N2: Awwww, right in the feels! Sweaty hands Andrew is a real person - the person who *always* chose me when we did country dancing at school. Also, when I was thinking of a page number for the book, 394 just seemed the obvious choice ; )

I will try to not leave you guys hanging so much in the future.