Sorry for the slightly later update than normal, I've started a new job so naturally I was exhausted and stressed out of my mind! Anyway here's the next chapter, this one is actually in two parts so the next bit will follow soon. Enjoy and thank you all for the awesome reviews!
Chapter twenty-six – Halloween Ball
The weekend before Halloween we decided to spend our Hogsmeade trip picking our outfits, instead of a traditional costume party the theme had been set as a modern ballroom sort of thing with regal dresses and newly fashioned tuxes. Hugo had been right about one thing though, it was a masquerade ball and so we all needed masks too.
Emma, Lucy and I were walking around the outside searching for the guys; we'd arranged to meet them out front so we could head to Hogsmeade together. We were a tad late because Emma and Lucy couldn't decide what to wear and I ended up dozing off on my bed while I waited for them.
"There they are!" Lucy pointed ahead of us where the three boys were walking casually by the lake, I ran towards them and dived onto Scorpius' back. He hooked his arms around my legs and I laid a kiss on his cheek.
"Bloody hell Lils you almost gave me a heart attack!" Hugo gasped patting his chest above his heart.
"Sorry Hughie." I giggled from on Scorpius' back, he held me easily as though I weighed little more than the t-shirt he was wearing. Emma and Lucy caught up with us.
"I suppose you three are going to take all day to get your dresses." Al commented as we walked.
"Hey! Not all of us take hours to decide." I retorted with a scowl.
"You're just odd." He argued, Scorpius replied for me by pushing my brother and almost tripping him up. We all giggled as Al stumbled to regain his balance.
"Ok this isn't a fair fight if you're going to help her." He grumbled and I planted another kiss on Scorpius' cheek.
"You just don't like to lose." Scorpius said, grinning.
"Oh shut up." We all laughed and even Al couldn't stop the grin that crept onto his face. I hopped down from Scorpius' back and he wound an arm around my waist instead.
"So what colour dress are you going to be wearing?" he asked me.
"You'll have to wait and see." I replied flashing him a cheeky smile, honestly I had no idea what I'd be wearing; I normally just picked the first thing I liked.
"Ok how about this one?" Emma came sweeping out of the changing rooms in the twelfth dress she'd tried on – in this shop. This one was a deep blue satin number that puffed out in ruffles around the hips.
"It looks great Em." I told her in the most enthusiastic tone I could manage.
"Yeah, it's definitely better than the white one." Lucy agreed. She was clearly paying more attention than I was.
"I think I preferred the purple one." Emma decided, twirling in front of the mirror to get a better look at the dress.
"Why don't you buy that one then?" I suggested looking down at the bag sitting by my feet that held my own dress, I got it from the first shop we visited and that was about four hours ago. Even Lucy had managed to find one she liked in an earlier shop.
"Yeah I think I will there aren't any more shops to check anyway." I breathed a sigh of relief as she disappeared back into the changing rooms hopefully for the last time. It was hard to believe we'd visited every clothes shop here and that Emma had tried on every dress they sold. I was starving, we'd agreed to meet the guys for some food after we'd picked out our dresses so I was eager to get going, and of course I missed Scorpius but I didn't admit that to them.
I peered through the crowds of wizards in The Three Broomsticks searching for him, beside me Emma and Lucy were deciding how they were going to style their hair for the ball, finally I saw them waiting at a table laughing about something.
"Come on." I grabbed Emma's wrist and started to drag them through the crowd to the guys' table.
"Lily!" Scorpius leapt up and scooped me into his arms with a sigh of relief.
"I missed you." I whispered, sure that the others wouldn't hear over their argument about us taking too long. He replied by scattering kisses across my face, I giggled happily and kissed his lips. The kiss lingered and I thrilled as he traced his fingertips down the curve of my neck.
"I see you got your dress." he said noticing the bag hanging from my wrist.
"Yep, from the first shop too."
"Let's see it then." He reached for the handles but I swung it away from his grasp.
"No! You'll have to wait." I said firmly and he pouted, an action which only made him more attractive and I had to resist the urge to throw myself at him.
"You're mean Lily Potter." He said in a mock upset tone.
"Well you have no patience Scorpius Malfoy." I retorted, grinning. He laughed and kissed me again quickly before we sat down with the others. Al passed me a mug of butterbeer and I mouthed him a thanks.
"Do you think there'll be dancing at this ball too?" Hugo asked, looking rather distressed. The rest of us frowned at him incredulously trying to decide if it was a serious question.
"Um…it's a ball Hugo, so yes I'm pretty sure there will be dancing." Al replied, I could tell he was trying very hard not to sound sarcastic.
"Great…" Hugo mumbled looking sadly at his drink.
"Is that bad?" Emma asked, obviously as confused as the rest of us.
"I can't dance…" he replied in a small voice avoiding Lucy's eyes, previously the guys had spent most of the other balls just stalking around the snacks table or tripping people up but this year they would have real dates and I knew they were scared about having to dance.
"I don't think any of us can mate." Scorpius told him reassuringly.
"Yeah I'm just going to go in there and hope for the best. As long as I stay on my feet I'll be happy." The image of Al sprawled on the dance floor after falling flat on his face filled my mind and I stifled a laugh. They all frowned at me curiously and I cleared my throat forcing the image from my head.
"Sorry." I mumbled hoping they wouldn't ask questions.
"They could have offered some sort of dance lessons." Hugo complained glumly.
"Oh they did that when my dad was at school." Emma recalled cheerfully.
"Yeah, apparently it didn't have the desired effect though." I pointed out, remembering my parents telling me the story and Emma's smile faltered.
"Oh, yes I forgot that part." She admitted dimly.
"Why what happened?" Lucy urged.
"Didn't your parents tell you about it?" I asked her and she looked suddenly scared.
"No, my parents are muggles." All of us but Hugo stared at her blankly, I could scarcely believe that I didn't know that after months of being her friend and I guessed I wasn't the only one who hadn't had a clue.
"They are?" Emma asked, blinking numbly. Lucy nodded, glancing fearfully in Scorpius' direction; even with muggle parentage she'd have heard the stories of the Malfoys' past obsession with blood purity.
"My mum's a waitress and my dad's a chef."
"Is that how they met, at work?" Scorpius asked out of interest and I noticed her fearful expression retreat slightly that he didn't seem to be upholding his family's past opinion.
"Yes, dad said he spent so much time staring at her he burnt half of his meals." We all smiled at the sweet story and she seemed to relax a bit knowing we weren't bothered by it.
"So we're coming to your house for meals in future then?" Al asked playfully and she laughed.
"Dad loves having visitors; he says it gives him an excuse to show off. I was going to invite you all round next holiday but I wasn't sure if it'd be a problem…my parents not being magical I mean." I noticed her eyes flicker at Scorpius again and I repressed a surge of anger that people still judged him on his family.
"It makes no difference to us." Al replied honestly and the rest of us nodded.
"My mum's muggle-born." Hugo told her, though I suspected she already knew. A few moments of awkward silence passed and I exchanged a sympathetic glance with Scorpius feeling his discomfort.
"Ok I er…I feel like I should say something." He announced, clearing his throat and breaking the silence. Lucy looked immediately worried like she may have offended him.
"I'm sorry Scor I wasn't saying…I mean I didn't…"
"It's ok Lucy, considering my family reputation when it comes to this um…subject I expect people to be a bit…wary." He smiled sadly and I touched his hand comfortingly.
"I know you're not like them." She said honestly, trying to keep her smile steady.
"Honestly I'm not." He shrugged casually and the atmosphere around us seemed to lighten.
"The offer is there though, if you'd all like to come round sometime." She said cheerfully.
"Well that depends." Al replied wearing a serious expression.
"Oh, on what?" her smile faltering as worry began to creep back.
"On whether there'll be any meat served!" we all sighed in relief and I slapped my greedy brother on the back.
"Of course, I'll ask dad to make some steaks. It's one of his specialties actually."
"I like him already." I rolled my eyes but Lucy just giggled.
"But what happened with the dance lessons? You never told me." she realised moments later.
"Oh, well they were a complete failure." Hugo replied with a chuckle.
"Yeah apparently the boys were too shy to ask any of the girls to be their partner." I informed her, eyeing Scorpius pointedly.
"And when they finally did get a partner they were too embarrassed to pay attention to any of the lessons so they learnt none of the moves." Al added avoiding Emma's gaze, my brother wasn't much of a dancer himself and I knew that should he get the courage to ask Emma to dance he was sure to end up just like the boys in our parent's year – nervous, clumsy and embarrassed.
"It's not a big deal really." Emma said with a casual shrug.
"I know we can hardly be expected to move like a professional."
"I'll take bets on how many times Al's going to trip up. I'm going for twice." Scorpius piped up withdrawing a scrap piece of parchment from his jeans pocket.
"What the hell man, you're supposed to be my best mate!" Al replied in mock outrage.
"I reckon it'll be at least three times." Hugo said nodding confidently.
"No way, minimum of five." I argued eyeing him up and down.
"Great now my own sister is betting against me." he grumbled.
"Well I think you're all wrong, I don't think he'll fall at all." Emma said confidently, receiving a grateful grin from Al that sparked a blush to spread across her cheeks.
"Lucy, would you care to take a guess?" Scorpius asked, she thought about it for a few seconds before giving Al an apologetic look.
"I'm going to agree with Hugo on this one."
"Ok, closest guess wins. Pool your bets." He tossed a handful of coins onto the table which was closely followed by several more from the others and my own two galleons.
"Fine, put me down for four." Al said glumly tossing another galleon onto the pile; Scorpius chuckled and scribbled it onto the parchment. Despite the anxiety over how I'd look and whether I'd behave like a complete idiot while dancing I was looking forward to the ball quite a lot.
"Come on Lily it looks fine!" Emma insisted, her voice wearing thin from frustration. I scowled at my own reflection for the millionth time and shook my head violently.
"No, it's too low. I need to alter it." I replied firmly, we were arguing over the neckline on my dress because I felt like it was cut too low and showed too much of my chest. Emma however was insistent that it was perfect. Ignoring her angry sighs of protest I snatched the needle and cotton off Lucy who was stitching another row of sequins onto her mask.
"Hey!" she complained, pouting angrily.
"Sorry Luce, just let me borrow it for a second." I hastily threaded the needle and knotted the end of the cotton. Then turning back to the mirror I very carefully stitched closed an inch of the neckline.
"How did you learn to sew without magic?" Lucy asked watching me curiously.
"Oh my aunt Hermione taught me, she likes us all to have a bit of muggle culture because she's muggle born, you know." I smoothed out the material so that my patching up was completely unnoticeable and Emma scrutinised it with narrowed eyes.
"Wow not bad Lils you can't even tell!" she announced, impressed.
"Oh thanks." I was barely paying attention; I'd returned to assessing the dress in the mirror and decided the neckline was still too low.
"Right that's it." I grabbed my wand off the bed and with a quick flick the plunging neckline transformed into an elegant halter neck that curved up to my chin.
"Oh Lily…" Emma grumbled because she'd loved the old design. While I was adjusting things I gave my wand another swish and the hemline of the dress rose from the floor to just below the knee. I was bound to trip over it if I left it dragging along the floor like it had been. The one thing I did leave the same was the colour, a lovely bold red that went really well with my hair which was currently hanging in neat straight locks.
"Actually that suits you more." Emma decided casting another evaluative glance over my newly styled dress.
"Thanks." I gave her a grateful smile and Lucy finally finished stitching on her extra sequins.
"Ok I'm ready." She stood up and slipped the mask over her head setting it comfortably over her eyes, she straightened out her dress and looked at us hopefully.
"Do I look ok?" her dress was a soft cream with little spaghetti straps and entirely covered in sequins, the lower half was a huge panel of white feathers falling to just above her knees and her beautiful raven hair was pinned back.
"Oh Luce you look gorgeous!" Emma gushed emotionally; she always got overwhelmed whenever we had to dress up for anything.
"You look amazing, Hugo won't be able to stop staring." I gave her a playful wink and she flushed pink.
"Right my turn." Emma carefully slid on her own glittery mask with silver beaded edging and gave us a dramatic twirl. Her purple silk dress fell to her feet in flowing layers and the strapless bust was embellished with silver embroidery and beading.
"Dazzling as always." I told her truthfully, honestly Emma was one of the most attractive girls in our year and it had always been a surprise to me that she never dated but of course now I understood it was because of her lingering feelings for my stubborn brother.
"Right lets go." We hurried to the door and I realised I'd forgotten my mask.
"Oh bugger, hold on." I rushed back to my bed and snatched up the velvet eye mask, I shoved it on trying not to disrupt the big red feathers sprouting from the sides. We hurried down the stairs where most people were stood waiting for their dates or chatting idly. I could hear the music drifting out from the great hall and my eyes fell on three guys waiting anxiously.
"That's them." I whispered pointing to the three figures fidgeting nervously, we exchanged smiles and giggled like giddy teenagers.
"Wow Al cleans up good." Lucy remarked, we all looked down at the figure pacing back and forth that was clearly my brother, He was dressed smartly in a navy blue tux with a matching plain blue mask, I noticed he's tried to comb back his unruly black hair. Beside him stood Hugo anxiously fiddling with the buttons on his dark green velvet jacket, I noticed his neatly tied bowtie and smiled affectionately. He was trying so hard to impress Lucy, even though we were the same age he'd always seemed younger than I was and it was unusual to see him growing up.
Lastly my eyes fell on the third figure, leaning casually against a stone pillar donning a smooth white suit; my irresistibly handsome boyfriend was the only one of the three who looked completely at ease. His white hair flopping over the edges of his silver mask and his hands shoved casually in his pockets. He was perfect and he was mine.
"Come on." I grabbed their wrists and dragged them down the stairs before their dates went mad with nerves. They noticed our approach and I giggled as they all stood up straight.
"Good evening ladies." Al greeted in his best suave voice and I couldn't help but laugh. He shot me an angry scowl as I was clearly ruining his chances of impressing Emma. I mimed the action of zipping my mouth closed and turned instead to my grinning boyfriend.
"Hi." I said trying to sound casual though my heart was racing in my chest, he looked so amazing it was hard not to be nervous, even if we were already a couple. For a moment he didn't say anything, he just gazed at me with an odd faraway expression and I nibbled my lip anxiously.
"Wow Lily, you look….perfect." I almost sighed with relief but my breath caught in my throat from the intensity in his eyes. I was grateful for the feathers on my mask for concealing most of my blush and hoped the dim lighting would hide the rest.
"You don't look so bad yourself." I replied cheekily, working to keep my tone light. He continued to stare at me, a mix of amazement and awe and I struggled to breathe. He lightly placed his hands on my waist drawing me to him and pressed the lightest kiss onto my trembling lips. The thickness of the atmosphere around us was scary and I worried about my ability to ever form a coherent sentence again.
"Are you two just going to stand there all night?" I realised we'd just been gazing at each other for quite a while and forced myself to turn to my brother breaking the hold Scorpius' eyes had over me.
"Um…no, sorry." I mumbled, smoothing the material of my dress and hiding my face from their prying eyes.
"Let's go inside, I want to see what they've done to the hall." Lucy had been itching with excitement over the decorations all night and she eagerly led the way into the crowded room. It was breathtaking, the floor had been polished and glistened under the soft lighting of the overhead strobe lights, all of the walls had been filled with extravagant coloured trimmings and small round tables lined the perimeter.
"Oh don't they all look lovely!" Emma gushed clutching her hands to her chest and gazing around at the many students filling the hall. There were so many contrasting colours from the different costumes and it looked like a scene from a book watching them all weave through each other on the dance floor disguised by masks.
"Shall we dance?" Scorpius asked offering me his hand, I blushed again feeling the eyes of all my friends on me.
"Aww…" Emma crooned and I let him lead me onto he crowded dance floor. His hand pressed cautiously to the curve of my lower back and I felt an unusual quiver deep in my stomach from his touch. Why was I feeling this way? He'd touched me lots of times before so why should it feel any different now?
"I love how red looks on you." He complimented casting another glance over my scarlet dress, I flushed with pleasure and looked at the floor to hide it.
"Thanks." I mumbled shyly keeping my eyes low, he gently tugged me closer to him pressing our bodies together as we moved slowly to the soft melody. I could feel the heat of my own body merging with the cool of his, it was curious how we were always contrasting temperatures, I felt my fingers trembling on his shoulders from the close contact and wondered again why I was reacting so strange to his touch all of a sudden. I gave myself a mental slap and tried to shake off my bizarre nerves.
"So, is it all you dreamt?" he asked breaking the silence, I frowned at his question and our gaze met for the first time.
"What do you mean?" now it was his turn to frown.
"Isn't this the sort of thing that girls dream about, dancing at a ball with a handsome prince?" He flashed me a cocky grin and I giggled slapping his chest playfully.
"I don't know, it's not what I dream about anyway." He looked slightly disappointed by this and pouted.
"Well what do you dream about then?" I knew his curiosity was prickling now, it was an opportunity to do a bit of prying.
"I dream of you, of being with you…"I paused before saying the next word, wondering if I should or not but I saw a flicker of affection in his eyes and it gave me courage. "…Forever." I added quietly, looking away as a flutter of nerves was reawakened in my stomach. With the hand that wasn't on my waist he lifted my chin gently forcing me to look into his intense grey eyes, I could see the emotion burning deep within them. He leant toward me slowly, almost teasingly and kissed me light as a feather. I held onto him for support as I melted in his arms. We'd kissed many times before but never like this, his lips brushed across mine sensuously and there was a brand new edge of longing in the way he held me, my head was spinning – the air was coming too fast and too shallow. His lips broke free, both of us needing air and he laid his cheek against mine.
"Some dreams come true." He whispered, I could hear his voice quiver as a result of the kiss and realised my heart was hammering against my ribs. Desire was burning inside me, unusual and scary, my body was flooded with alien sensations that I didn't understand. I was barely aware of the masses of other students around us or that we were still swaying to the melody.
Scorpius brushed my long hair over my shoulder and his fingers lingered on my exposed skin, gently caressing and leaving a trail of goosebumps under his touch. I closed my eyes and tilted my head as his fingers slide down my arm and into the palm of my hand. I vaguely noticed that the song had ended and the band began to play a much more upbeat number, I was grateful when Scorpius gave me a kind smile and led me off to one of the tables. Neither of us was in the mood for any energetic dancing.
"Can I get you a drink?" he offered, having to raise his voice to be heard over the loud music.
"Yes please." I shouted back, he gave me a quick kiss before disappearing into the sea of people. I let out a long sigh and relaxed back into the chair, I scanned the room for the familiar faces of my friends and spotted them dancing like maniacs. Al was jumping around and waving his arms like someone had dropped ants down his shirt and Emma was in fits of giggles watching him, they spotted me watching and my crazy brother shook his rear at me playfully.
"Ugh…" I complained before bursting out laughing as he fell over his own feet and landed in a heap by Emma.
"That's one!" Hugo shouted to me indicating our ongoing bet about the amount of times Al would fall over. I laughed again and Scorpius appeared at my side carrying two drinks, he handed me one and sat in the chair beside me.
"Oh god is he dancing?" he asked spotting my brothers peculiar display.
"I think so, though someone could have hexed him and you wouldn't tell the difference." I replied sipping the cherry flavoured drink.
"If this is how all Potter's dance then I think we should keep you seated." I gasped at him horrified and slapped his arm.
"I'll have you know I'm a very good dancer." I informed him ignoring his chuckling, I looked back over at my brother who had grabbed Emma and was forcing her to partake in his bizarre dancing style.
"Clearly not a family trait…" Scor muttered as he dissolved into laughter again, as we watched Al managed to step on the bottom of Emma's dress and was sent sprawling back across the floor dragging her with him. We all laughed at the display and the pair scrambled back to their feet with lots of blushing on Emma's part.
"That's two!" I shouted over at them causing another wave of laughter to erupt between us.
"It's going to be one hell of a night." Scor said shaking his head and he was right.