Lily followed Marlene as they walked up the lane towards the Potters house, "Excited to meet the future in-laws?" Marlene joked,
Lily was about to reply but stopped in her tracks as they reached the gate which would lead them to the manor. "James lives here?"
Lily was astounded, she didn't know what to expect, Marlene lived in an equally grand and over the top house, but there was something about this one. The Mckinnons house always felt too big and almost cold. The Potters house, on the other hand, seemed to exude warmth. Lily blushed as she realised why she liked it. It looked exactly how she imagined the Austen houses to look, symmetrical with pillars on the outside, surrounded by open grounds, it even had a lake. She pulled Marlene on towards the front door when her mind started imagining James Potter taking the place of a certain Mr Darcy on an awkward encounter involving the lake at Pemberley.
"Marlene, what are the Potters like?" Lily asked nervously,
"They're lovely, really. They're exactly how grandparents are, if that makes any sense. Not that they're particularly old. It's just they are so generous and loving. You don't need to be nervous, I was only joking when I said about meeting the in-laws. Anyway, as you said, tonight's supposed to be about me and Sirius." Marlene teased,
Marlene knocked on the door, a house-elf opened it and greeted the pair, inviting them into the hallway. The grand hallway had a large chandelier in its centre, with staircases wrapped around both sides and a few doors leading away to other rooms. There were a pair of double doors below where the staircases met which opened into what she assumed was the ballroom. There were a lot of people at the party already, some she recognised but most of them she had never seen before. Marlene seemed to be in her element though, already greeting people as if they were close friends, asking about careers and holidays. Lily felt uncomfortable, and started doubting about whether this was such a good idea.
"Lily?" Lily turned and smiled fondly at Remus who greeted her, "You look lovely,"
"Thank you," Lily said, "So do you, nice suit." Lily was very fond of Remus and was glad to see him.
"It's nice to see a familiar face," she said, "There's a lot of people here"
Remus chuckled, "Yes, I'm not a big fan of these types of things either. Can I get you a drink?"
"Yes, that would be lovely," Lily followed Remus into the ballroom, which was even grander than the hallway. It was a large room with marble floors and tall windows on two of the walls, it had an enchanted ceiling which showed the hazy remnants of the sun before the stars came out. In keeping with the midsummer theme, there were luscious green, floral plants cascading down the walls and windows. It looked like something from a fairy tale.
"Wow, this place looks incredible," Lily said
"Yeah, it was a pain to put everything up," Remus complained, "Ah well, suppose the finished result does look pretty good." He shrugged.
After a moment of taking in the atmosphere and watching the other guests, Remus said "Lily, can I ask you something?"
"Of course, you don't need to ask permission Remus."
Remus poured them both glass of punch, and looked around to make sure they wouldn't be overheard before handing Lily her drink, "James has been inviting you to this ball for the past four years, why did you now decide you wanted to come?"
"That is a good question." Lily paused for a moment, before taking a sip of her drink, "Why do you think I came?"
Remus thought for a moment, "The way I see it, it is one of two reasons. Either you decided to come because you have begun to see James in a different way and wanted to impress him. Or, Marlene made you accept the invitation because she wanted to come. Though now I've seen how uncomfortable you are, I can only assume you were dragged here."
Damn. Lily thought, Remus really is very intuitive. She certainly wouldn't tell him he was right on both counts though.
"So why would Marlene want to come?" Remus continued.
"You're so certain you're right? Maybe I am in love with Potter, would that be so ridiculous?" At that moment she could see James and Sirius across the ballroom slow dancing together dramatically, and laughed,
Remus laughed along, "That would be ridiculous, Marlene definitely dragged you here"
"Marlene did drag me along." Lily confessed, "but don't tell her I told you,"
"I won't." He winked, "Why did she want to come so bad?"
Lily watched as Marlene finally entered the ballroom, the gown she was wearing shone elegantly in the evening light, and Lily smirked as she noticed Sirius, who was now sat with James at one of the tables, was also watching Marlene. Marlene however seemed to either be oblivious to Sirius' gaze or was intentionally ignoring it since she was headed towards Diggory of all people.
"What is she doing?" Lily asked annoyed,
"It looks as though she's talking to Amos Diggory, is that why she came?" Remus asked, "Because Diggory would be here?"
"No, she doesn't like Amos she likes Siri_shit." Lily cussed, before blushing. Lily did not swear often and was embarrassed that she had sworn in front of Remus. Remus on the other hand found the whole thing quite amusing.
"So, Marlene likes Sirius. Well, that's good." Remus stated.
"Why is that good?" Lily asked.
"Because Sirius likes Marlene."
Lily rolled her eyes, "Well then why aren't the two of them dancing instead of Marlene and Diggory? What is she playing at? Is she trying to make him jealous or something? Because it is definitely working."
Marlene had her arms draped loosely round her partners shoulder while his arms were wrapped around her bare back which was revealed under her shawl as she danced. The two seemed to be in conversation, and Marlene was smiling and giggling at whatever story Diggory was telling her. Sirius meanwhile was glaring daggers at Diggory across the ballroom.
Lily and Remus both sighed,
"We should go talk to him," Remus said,
"You can, I'm going to find out what's going on with Marlene, we'll re-group by the punch bowl at 2130." Lily said.
"Sir, yes, sir," Remus joked doing a mock salute.
Lily smirked at her friend, before choosing a seat at one of the tables waiting for an opportune moment to intercept Marlene.
(5 minutes previously)
Marlene saw that Lily had gone into the hall with Remus, she was currently caught in a conversation with Mrs Crumplebottom about her wilting pertunias, but overheard snippets of a much more interesting one happening behind her. She leant casually against the bannister while Mrs Crumplebottom drawled about her botanical concerns.
"So what is going on with you and Sirius, are you guys still a thing?" She recognised the voice and turned her head discreetly. She saw it belonged to a Ravenclaw she sat next to in Potions. The Ravenclaw was talking to the girl Sirius took to Hogsmeade at the end of term.
"Well I was worried at first because he wasn't replying to any of my letters. But earlier today, we caught up. And everything is as good as it has always been, if you know what I mean." The girl said, and they both started giggling before they brushed past her and entered the ballroom.
"So, I told June that they would never grow properly in the north facing garden, but would she listen? Of course not_"
"Perhaps another plant then, Mrs Crumplebottom. I'm sorry, if you'll excuse me," she said, walking past the old women, who quickly caught another unsuspecting victim to vent to about her gardening woes.
Marlene rolled her eyes and thought back to the conversation she had overheard. She knew that Sirius had been involved with a few people, but she didn't know that he was currently still with someone. She felt embarrassed that she was so foolish to think he would take one look at her, drop everything and start dating her. She was as bad as all those other girls who swooned at his feet.
Get it together Marlene, she thought to herself. So what if he was flirting with you? He probably just did it to get a reaction out of her, rather than actually want anything to do with her. Let's forget about Sirius for tonight. Marlene went into the ballroom and ignored the table where Sirius was sat, even though the briefest glimpse showed that he looked more handsome than she could even imagine he could. It would be so much easier to ignore him if he wasn't so bloody gorgeous, she thought irritably. Before she found Lily though, she noticed that Diggory was at the ball, which gave her an idea.
Ordinarily Marlene wouldn't play these sorts of games with people's emotions, and she disliked girls who did. But she just felt so mad both at herself and at Sirius. Mad at herself for foolishly thinking Sirius was available, and mad at Sirius for flirting with her so outrageously the other day and it leading nowhere, fucking tease. So, she would ignore Sirius tonight. He was clearly not available, and she didn't want to think about him. A distraction was what she needed, and Amos Diggory would provide a good one.
Lily examined her nails while waiting for Amos and Marlene to stop twirling on the dancefloor. They were very different people, her and Marlene, and they didn't initially hit it off as friends in first year. While Alice and Lily were immediately inseparable, Marlene seemed to represent the popular girls from her primary school who isolated her because she was more interested in books than make up. While Lily obviously felt bad about it now, she didn't really like her then. However, as the years went on Marlene began to grow on her. Yes, she was beautiful and popular, but she also had some humanity about her, or at least Lily believed she did. She first displayed this by sticking up for her when James and Sirius were teasing her in second year. That night they stayed up late trying to devise some way of getting back at them, which mainly involved tickling curses and stink bombs. Lily smiled fondly at the memories. Although, now as she watched her friend dance with a boy she didn't have feelings for while hurting the feelings of the person she actually liked, Lily thought maybe she was right about Marlene in the first place. Maybe she was just superficial and shallow, selfishly seeking attention while showing no concern for people's feelings.
"Hi." She looked up and was surprised that it was James who interrupted her musings, "is this seat taken?" he asked gesturing to the empty chair on her left.
"No, please." Lily said.
"You, erm, you look really beautiful tonight Lily." James stuttered.
"Thank you" Lily said, unable to control the blush that filled her cheeks. "You called me Lily," She said suddenly,
"Well, that is your name, isn't it?" James joked, "Would you prefer I call you something else?"
"No, no!" Lily said, "It's just, I think that's the first time I've actually heard you call me Lily, rather than Evans. It's… nice." She smiled.
"Oh." James said.
There was a pause for a moment while the two watched the couples dancing. Lily was panicking that they had been quiet for too long and it was becoming awkward. Just say something, she thought to herself.
"You look good, too." She was cringing internally, "You know, makes a change from the quidditch jumper."
James chuckled, "Well, I had to make an effort tonight for the guest of honour,"
"And who would that be?" Lily asked, intrigued.
"You, of course. I'm sure my parents will be relieved to see that you are in fact real."
Lily laughed and brushed her hair behind her ear.
"In case you didn't know, eleven-year-old James Potter was a little bit obsessed with you. Twelve-year old me was too, come to think of it. I was a little pre-occupied with quidditch when I was thirteen, but I soon got back to obsessing over you when I was fourteen and fifteen."
"And how does sixteen-year-old James Potter feel about me?" Lily asked,
"Sixteen-year-old James potter likes you, a lot." James confessed, before clearing his throat.
Lily smiled, as James brushed his messy hair back out of his face. "James, I.." Lily paused, unsure of what to say, "erm…" her heart beating two hundred beats a minute.
James smiled, "What are you doing Saturday?" he asked,
"Saturday?" Lily asked, her mind turning to mush at potentially being asked out on a date, "Erm.. I think I'm free, but what for?"
"I was wondering if I could take you out on a date. If I pick you up at six?." James asked.
Lily simply nodded. "Now, if you'll excuse me I think I have a Sirius to console."
He stood up from his seat, "You really do look lovely tonight Lily, I realise you were probably dragged along but I'm glad you came. I'll try and catch up with you later." He said before heading towards Sirius who was having an animated conversation with Remus.
Before Lily had time to consider what had just happened, Remus caught her eye and nodded in the direction of the dancefloor, Lily followed his gaze and realised that Diggory had left Marlene to get drinks. She got up suddenly and grabbed Marlene's wrist,
"Ow, Lily, what are you doing? Let go, Diggory will be back in a second." Marlene cried, "Where are we going?"
Lily pulled Marlene out of the ballroom and down the hallway, going through the first closed door she found.
"Lily, why have you brought me into the library?" Marlene complained.
"Well I had to talk to you away from Diggory." Lily replied.
"No, you didn't. Everything was going perfectly."
"Ok, Marlene clearly I'm not understanding something. Is this a game you're playing? Because it's cruel on Amos. He likes you. You can't just play him like that. Not to mention poor Sirius."
"Poor Sirius?!" Marlene cried, "Lily, look I know what I'm doing. Sirius has done nothing but ignore me except for one lewd comment. It is quite clear he has no interest in me and that I am nothing more than some toy he can play with occasionally if he gets bored of whichever girl he is currently shagging."
"Wait, what did he say to you?" Lily asked, suddenly intrigued, "and when did this happen?"
"We bumped into each other the other day in Diagon Alley." Marlene sighed. "And don't even start on how he has been behaving tonight, sulking in a corner because I'm dancing with Amos. He doesn't own me, I don't owe him attention. If he wanted to be my dancing partner, he'll actually need to talk to me first."
"Well, you haven't really given him much opportunity." Lily huffed. "You've been all over Amos since you got here."
"Look Lily, no offense but I really don't think you should be lecturing me on guys,"
"Wait, what's that supposed to mean?" Lily asked, beginning to get angry.
"Oh, there you are Marlene," Lily turned around to find Marlene's mother had found them both in the Library.
"Hello Mrs. McKinnon." Lily greeted her, "Are you alright?"
"Yes, thank you Lily, you're looking lovely dear. Marlene, a word please?"
"Ugh, not you too. I wish I never said anything to either of you." Marlene huffed. "I need to get out of here."
"Marlene, wait. I'm sorry. If you could just explain." Lily said as she started to follow her friend,
Marlene stopped where she was, and under her voice said, "Lily, I love you so much, you're one of my closest friends. But, just get out of my business. Please? If you'll excuse me, I'm leaving. With Amos." Lily stepped back and watched as Marlene went to look for Diggory.
"Well," Marlene's mother sighed, "I can't keep up with that girl."
Lily smiled apologetically before going to join the guys at their table.
"Hi Sirius, I've not actually said hello to you yet this evening,"
"Evans," Sirius nodded drearily.
"Remus?" Lily started, "I'm gonna get some punch, care to join me?"
"Absolutely," Remus stood up and followed Lily to the punch bowel.
Lily served herself and Remus another drink, "is this alcoholic?" she asked.
Remus chucked, "I doubt it,"
"Shame." Lily said.
"What's wrong?" Remus asked.
"Marlene. She can be so over dramatic sometimes."
"Sounds like one of my friends." Remus laughed, "Has she left?" He asked as he looked around the room.
"Yeah," Lily said, "With Amos."
"Ah. How about we agree to not tell Sirius that" Remus pleaded,
Lily laughed, "I don't think those two will ever get together. Too stubborn."
"If they ever do merlin knows they'll be fighting half the time." Remus agreed.
"And you know that we'd be the ones to talk some sense into them every time, probably for the best it didn't work out."
"Indeed." Remus agreed.
Lily took another sip of her punch and pondered what exactly had gotten into Marlene. Last month she literally ran away when a guy showed her attention and now she's left with one? What caused Marlene to become so angry with Sirius all of a sudden? Lily realised that this must be how James and Remus feel around Sirius. Unpredictable and rash.
James! How could she forget? Lily just remembered she actually had a date with James next week. She sighed wondering if she would even be able to talk to Marlene about it.
A/N so there it is! Probably not how you were expecting it to go… but we can't have our happy ending when the story is only just beginning, can we?