~Sirius's POV~
It was six o'clock and James and I were standing in the living room. We were dressed in two of my best suits. James's sleeves were a little long and the shirt was a little loose in the chest but that was just because he was a scrawny bean pole. Remus was feeling ill so he stayed in bed. We understood, seeing as the full moon was in two days. James was antsy next to me. I almost reprimanded him, but it WAS his first real date with Lily so he had every right to be nervous.
"It's five after six. They said they'd be ready by now." James said bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"They're girls. Always give then fifteen minutes leeway." I said trying to calm him down.
"You would know." James said with a smirk.
I rolled my eyes at his stab at my past.
"Sirius? James?" I heard Lily's voice echo down the stairs.
"We're here." James said a little too eagerly.
"We're coming down now." She said.
I felt my heart speed up a little. Sky probably had opened my gift, but I was still highly anticipating her choice in dress. I heard the distinctive click of high heels on stone steps. Lily was first to descend the stairs. She looked absolutely stunning. Her hair was in waves and flowed gently over her shoulders like a river of fire. Her dress fit her like a glove and looked marvelous. I glanced over at James and he was staring wide-eyed at her. He blinked a few times as if trying to make sure this wasn't a dream. I turned my attention back to the stairs as I heard the sound of heels again.
I was completely blown away. Sky walked down the stairs wearing the most beautiful black dress I had ever seen. The plunging neckline looked fantastic on her. Her hair was pulled up and back, showing off her absolutely stunning face. Her eyes were shadowed and smoky, matching her black and white dress perfectly. The dress flowed like water around her toned legs. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she walked over to me with extreme elegance. I followed her every move and as she reached me, she giggled. I looked at her, confused.
"You're drooling." She said laughing.
I quickly and embarrassedly pulled out my handkerchief and wiped the drool off of my face.
"Well, it's justifiable. You look stunning." I said, taking her hand.
I gently lifted it up and spun her to get the full effect of the dress. When she turned so her back was to me, I would be lying if I said I wasn't shocked. I had seen bits and pieces of the scars before, but I had never seen all of them exposed at once. I think that it was because I had been expecting the worst, but they weren't so bad. I mean, the mere sight of them and the thought of how they got there made my blood boil; don't get me wrong. But the scars didn't cause her back to look malformed except for maybe the biggest one. In fact, they seemed almost like they were a part of her. All people had scars of a sort on them; Sky's scars just happened to be physical. I turned her back around. I smiled a genuine smile and she visibly relaxed. She probably thought that I would freak out over the scars.
"I see that you're wearing your present." I said with a smirk.
"Yes. Thank you for yet another ridiculously expensive present." She said with a roll of her eyes.
I mimicked the gesture. "It wasn't that expensive, actually." I said.
It had really cost me about half of the money that I was able to get out with when I walked out. But I wasn't about to tell her that. Ever since she learned that I had been able to sneak out with a little bit of my family's fortune, she had been nagging me to save it for a house and a family. She was right of course, but I couldn't help but want to spend money on her.
"Okay. Can we go now? We're already late." Lily said, agitated.
I looked at Sky and held out my arm to her. She smiled and took it. If I had learned anything from my crazy family, it was how to act at formal parties. My perfect dance posture was something that made the ladies swoon, but that was a hard learned lesson. We walked out off the tower together and were silent for a couple of floors. Sky kept a tight grip on my arm, and her head was slightly bowed. She had a far-off look on her face, as if she was lost in thought.
"You'll be fine." I said reassuringly.
I smiled and she mirrored me, albeit her smile was a little more strained than mine.
"Yeah. With us here, not a single one of those creeps will get near you. And besides, everyone knows that they're all too well bred to cause any trouble at an event where they received a special invitation." James said with a smirk.
I sucked in a breath as I saw Sky's gaze snap to him. James recoiled a bit with wide eyes.
"What do you mean by that? Regulas is the only one out of the people here with any kind of breeding." Sky said, her voice tense but confused.
Lily bit her lower lip and James looked at the floor, running his hand through his hair. I almost swatted his hand; we had actually managed to get it lay flat and then he just went and messed it up.
"Snape and Regulas aren't the only ones that are going to be there. We think that at least Malfoy and Bellatrix got special invitations. Which means that Narcissa and that Lestrange character will be there too." James said hesitantly.
Sky looked at James, then Lily and then finally me, searching our faces for an explanation. I sighed when she looked at me.
"What do you mean, "special invitations"?" Sky said, clearly directing the question at James but looking at me. Her betrayal and horror were clear in her piercing blue eyes.
"We thought that you knew. On the invitation we received, it said that special alumni guests would be attending to share their success stories." Lily said when James didn't speak up.
I became suddenly aware that we had stopped moving and we were standing in the entrance hall. Sky huffed, but still looked at me. I figured that she was probably wondering why no one, especially me, had mentioned this before now. I sighed. I wanted to tell her but James, Lily, and Remus reasoned that if she knew that she would have to not only face Regulas and Snape, but up to four more of her attackers, she would not want to go anywhere near this party. And we had all agreed that it was for her own good that she faced her fears so to speak.
"Look, they can't touch you tonight. At least four or five of them have been raised knowing better than to cause a scene at an event, especially a classy one they were invited to specially. You'll be fine and we're right here to support you." I said, taking her hand and squeezing it gently.
Sky looked at all of us one more time and we gave her reassuring smiles. Then she squared her shoulders and raised her chin a little. I smiled; Sky's fighting spirit was one of the numerous things that I loved about her. She never backed down from a challenge. I looped her arm under mind again and we walked down to Slughorn's dungeon classroom. Sky seemed cool and confident all the way down and I only saw one moment of vulnerability in her eyes. That was right before we entered the party. I smiled down at her and gave her hand another reassuring squeeze. Then we walked through the door to find what awaited us.
~Sky's POV~
As we walked down to the dungeons from the entrance hall, I was silently fuming. I was angry that no one, especially Sirius, told me that I might have to face not only Regulas and Snape but possibly Malfoy, Narcissa, Bellatrix, and Lestrange. I could have handled two of them but this additional four was rattling my cage. But I put on a strong face, determined not to let them get to me. I'd had enough of living in fear; it was time for them to realize that I was stronger than all of them combined.
When we reached the door to Slughorn's classroom, I heard the rumble of voices issuing from within. Mixed in the din, I distinctly heard Narcissa's throaty, girly laugh. I tensed and Sirius felt it. He smiled down at me and squeezed my hand. I smiled back, remembering that I wasn't alone. James pushed open the door and as we walked over the threshold, the room went practically silent. I say "practically" because there was a record player in the corner playing Christmas music. But other than that, everyone in the room was silently staring at us. The room was almost full, so we were probably the last ones to arrive. Not exactly the entrance I had planned. After three or four excruciating heartbeats of silence, Slughorn burst through the crowd and cried out in joy.
"Miss Strife! Miss Evans! So wonderful of you to come! And you brought Mr. Black and Mr. Potter! And just in time for dinner!" he said, his voice so full of enthusiasm that it made me want to cringe. But I suppressed the urge and just forced a smile.
Slughorn came over and shook all of our hands and then he motioned for all of the guests to sit at the garishly laid table. I could feel eyes on me the entire way to the table. I didn't dare to look around to see to whom the eyes belonged, but the heat on my back was a big clue. When everyone was seated at the table, Sirius ended up on my right and James ended up on my left. The table was circular. It made socializing easier but it also put me in the view of everyone.
I glanced around and confirmed my suspicion that Malfoy, Narcissa, Bellatrix, and Lestrange were present as well as Regulas and Snape. It was strange seeing them now. The last time I saw any of them in a social setting was the annual Black Family Holiday Ball where Sirius walked out. Bellatrix had gone through an almost complete transformation since then. She wore half of her hair over her face and there was a strange, almost manic glint in her eye. As I regarded her, she glanced over and we locked eyes. It took all of my self control not to shiver as she gave me the most positively evil smile I had ever seen on a person.
I was the first to break the contact because Sirius had put his hand on my thigh, causing me to jump. Luckily, the first course appeared on our plates and everyone's attention was diverted to the food in front of them. I tried to eat but my stomach suddenly felt full of rocks. So I ate a few bites but mostly just pushed the food around. The first course was eaten with no talk between any of the guests. I guessed that everyone could feel the tension in the air.
Everyone, that is, except the party's host. When the second course was served, Slughorn began engaging certain students in limited conversations. He practically gave one boy, who I vaguely recognized as a Ravenclaw from my year, the third degree about his parents who worked at the Ministry. I felt sorry for the boy, but I had problems of my own. I felt six pairs of eyes staring at me almost constantly, and it was extremely uncomfortable, to say the least. I couldn't bring myself to look at any of them, so I just stared resolutely at my plate of practically untouched food. I heard Slughorn say my name and I jumped almost violently. I looked up and saw that everyone was looking at me.
"I'm sorry?" I said confused.
"I asked about your parents." Slughorn said softly.
I looked down at my plate again. "They died in an accident at work when I was young." I said, heat flooding my neck.
This was not exactly a topic I wanted to discuss when the six people that hated me the most out of the whole of humanity were present.
"What kind of job did they do?" Slughorn pressed.
I sighed; none of this was his business and he has known for a long time that my parents were dead. I didn't know what game he was playing but I knew it would be worse if I didn't just play along.
"They worked for the Ministry. My mum worked in the courts and my dad worked in the Department of Mysteries. That's all I was ever told." I half-mumbled.
"Wait, do you mean to say that your parents were the ones that died during that fire? My dad was on the inquiry squad for that. I remember him telling my mum about it was I was a kid." Some girl said.
I didn't recognize her at all, so she must have been at least a year younger than me and not in Gryffindor. I nodded vaguely and pushed more food around. Sirius's hand found mine under the table and he gave it a gentle squeeze.
"It was an accident. I wasn't told much because I was so young. My brother and I were sent to live with my Squib aunt in London after it happened and that's all I've ever been told." I said, trying to keep my voice even.
Everyone seemed to be holding their breath because there was a collective sigh of pity. That was exactly what I didn't need from these people. I didn't want to be pitied; I wanted to be respected. Slughorn dragging some of my most personal moments out into the open in front of my worst enemies didn't exactly help my case.
"Well, you've certainly made the best of it. Turn oranges in lemonade, as it were. So, Bella, what have you been up to since you left us?" Slughorn said, quickly moving on.
Bellatrix launched into an elaborate story about how she and her new husband have been traveling extensively across most of the world. I only half listened as I looked up at Sirius. He was smiling reassuringly at me and he squeezed my hand again. I smiled back at him, feeling lucky to have such a solid rock in my life.
The rest of the meal was a blur of boring stories and barely touched food. Slughorn focused on Bellatrix and Malfoy for conversation because they were more than happy to brag about their extravagant weddings, wonderful travels and glamorous lives. It made me want to throw up at the way they waved lives most of us could only dream about in our faces.
When the meal was over, Slughorn invited us to mingle, dance, and enjoy the refreshments. Lily, James, Sirius, and I immediately retreated to a corner to talk away from the rest.
"Did you see the way Bellatrix talked? I swear if her ego got any bigger, her head would explode." James grumbled moodily.
"Coming from King Ego himself." Lily ribbed playfully.
James cracked a smirk and ran a hand through his hair, but I could see the irony in it.
"I was more concerned for Sky. They could not stop staring. If looks could kill, you'd be pushing up daisies, Songbird." Lily said with soft concern in her voice.
"I know." I said, nodding slowly.
I crossed my arms over my chest, looking across the room where the aforementioned group had gathered. Most people weren't actually mingling like Slughorn had planned. There were small clusters of people around the room that were talking amongst themselves. There were only a few brave souls that wandered between groups every so often, but they too quickly retreated to the comfort of their own group.
"Well, if the goal was to get their attention, congratulations. Mission accomplished." James muttered.
We were all looking in their direction now. They glanced at us every now and then, scowled, and then whispered furiously within their own group again.
"I have to use the loo." I said after a little while of this.
I could normally handle the stares and whispers behind my back, but this was becoming much too uncomfortable for my liking.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Lily asked.
I shook my head and looked at the floor. I just wanted to be alone to collect myself right now. Lily looked at me with a strange look that I really couldn't place. But I didn't try really hard to figure it out.