(Disclaimer: I own nothing.)
Chapter Thirty
She watched after him with a gleam bright in her eyes. With a small sigh, she walked back into the common room. That night would be a long one.
Sirius turned the corner and let a large breath of a sigh escape his lips. Ever so slowly did he turn to look around the corner in time to see Hallie's retreating figure down the hall. Later, he made his way back to the common room where everyone had already left to go off to sleep.
"It's the day of the Winter Dance ladies!" said Gwen, arousing the rest of the girls in the dormitory. One by one, they got up from their beds. Lily, however, remained in her bed. Lydia and Hallie exchanged looks.
"Come on, Lily, you can still go," said Lydia. Lily groaned and motioned for them to leave her alone. "Ok then." Giving each other a nod, the two girls each seized one of Lily's hands and hauled her out of bed.
"You're coming with us, and besides, I need you to be there for my performance," said Hallie with a small smile.
Lily's eyes brightened, "So you finally made up your mind about it?" Hallie nodded. The three girls went to get dressed.
Remus sat on a couch in the common room glancing at the steps every few seconds for his date to come down. He looked exquisite in his dress robes and he was not his usual unusual pale color. And then she was at the bottom of the steps with a bright smile on her face. He quickly stood and surveyed her with widening eyes. She looked absolutely stunning in her dark crimson velvet dress. It cut off just below the knees and had the essence of a breeze always sweeping by. "Er – hi," he said.
She grinned. "Hi." He offered her his arm and together they walked out.
James looked at Sirius and Sirius looked at James. "I guess we should follow," said James.
Sirius nodded with a sigh. "Yeah, we don't have dates. A bit unbelievable, don't you think?" The boys looked at each other.
"Dates one minute, and then gone the next."
The two girls went down the steps last of all. Lily led the way out when Hallie's voice stopped her. "Oh! I forgot my book, I need it to practice, can I meet you there?" she asked. Lily looked at her suspiciously and the girl smiled. "I promise I'll follow."
"All right then, since you promised. Don't forget though, your performance starts in twenty minutes." Then she made her way out. Lily wore a verdant green dress that cut off before her knees and it brought out her eyes magnificently. Her hair was done up in a complicated French bun with a few strands of curls dangling around her face.
When she arrived at the Great Hall, most of the males there turned their gazes upon the beautiful girl that had just stepped in. She blushed slightly and took a seat next to Lydia who had motioned her over. James tried to catch her eye but she intentionally avoided him.
Sirius looked around but found he could not catch sight of Hallie anywhere. He waited a few moments but when still she did not show, he stood up and excused himself. Slowly, he made his way back to the common room where he presumed she remained. Quiet as a cat, he stepped into the room and saw a figure take a seat in the chair in front of the fire.
He heard her sigh and mutter, "Wonderful, now my make up is going to be ruined, after all my hard work!" Sirius bit down on his lip as to muffle his laughter.
For some unknown reason, tears formed in Hallie's eyes and she carefully brushed them away in hopes that her make up wouldn't get messy. She tried to fight down her sobs but couldn't. Irritably, she sighed in aggravation. "I'm so stupid," she mumbled. She felt humiliated, to put it bluntly. He had asked her to the dance and she accepted the invitation like a fool. What made her accept it at all?
Feeling unusually frustrated; she let the tears fall and looked into the fire with solemn blue eyes. "It doesn't matter, I knew this was going to happen."
Sirius felt guilt run through him once more. So this was what she was upset about. The thought of her being in the least disturbed by him canceling their date to the dance hadn't even occurred to him. So maybe she did like him after all.
She suddenly jumped up and swore to herself. "Damn, I forgot about my performance," she murmured to herself. About to walk out, she shook her head and sat back down. "I can't do it." This time, her voice trembled and tears ran down her cheeks again.
I've never been this nervous before…why is it so frightening this time? She felt a bit lonely, was the truth. She felt somewhat abandoned. The girl rested her head in her hands.
Sirius chewed on his lip and then walked forward. "Hallie," he started. Hallie suddenly jumped up in alarm and he caught sight of her tear-stained face. He pulled her in a comforting embrace and she leaned against him for a short while. Then she pulled away as if reality had struck her.
"What are you doing here? Why aren't you at the dance?" she wondered.
He gently brushed away her tears. "Those are the questions I should be asking you, you're the one with the performance in ten minutes." This made her knees weaken. He looked at her in concern and touched her cheek tenderly. "Hal, are you all right?" She took a step back and nodded, looking up at him. His heart wrenched inside him. "Er – I-I'm sorry about not taking you to the dance," he said softly, not looking at her.
Misunderstanding his guilty tone for one of pity she took another step back and shook her head. "It's fine, I don't mind," she said quickly, but tears had formed in her eyes again. Hoping he didn't see, she wiped them away.
He looked up because he could trace the falsity in her voice. "I didn't really tell you the whole of it."
She shook her head again. "You didn't need to," she said in a rather choked up voice.
His eyes burned a bit with liquid at how hurt she sounded, but he blinked the wetness away. "Yes, I did. I made a bet with the guys. I was feeling all high and mighty that day and-"
"Don't you every day?" she asked, cutting him off.
He grinned, but she still didn't look at him. "Well, they said I couldn't get a date to the dance," Hallie looked up at him at this, "so I said, ok, name the girl and I'll be able to get her to go with me."
"You didn't!" she exclaimed.
He grinned ruefully. "I did." The boy looked down and blushed a bit. "They chose you, I guess they thought it would be funny. Anyway, that's why I asked you to go with me to the dance those first two times."
She grinned and looked up at him. "Don't you mean three times?"
He chuckled. "No, the last time, I was so caught up in thinking of ways to ask you that I kind of forgot about the bet, well…it slipped to the back of my mind. I was just determined to get you to go with me. I thought about all I knew about you and what you liked. That's how I came up with the serenade." He blushed.
"So it was just a bet?" she asked softly.
Immediately he looked up with his eyes going rounder. He shook his head and said, "No! It wasn't just the bet!" He then lowered his voice and the red tinge on his face got deeper. "I mean, it started out that way, but then…oh, I don't know. I just wanted to apologize." She nodded and looked away again. Sirius walked closer to her. Hallie looked up at him slowly. Awkwardly, he held out his hand. "Am I forgiven?" he wondered with a ironic and crooked smile.
She looked at his hand, and then into his eyes where she got lost in the deepness of its intense black color. In a sort of daze, she nodded and accepted his hand. He shook it. About to let go, his grasp loosened, but then thinking the better of it, he clasped it tightly but gently again. He pulled her close and leaned in closer to her. She looked up and their lips met.
Sirius could have sworn he heard music coming from somewhere, and when he thought about it again later on, he truly believed it came from deep inside him. She leaned against him and wrapped her arms around his neck and his went around her waist. He felt her sigh against him and a smile came to his face. His lips tingled with a sort of excited tremor that felt funny, but pleasing. Her eyes were closed but she really believed that she saw a brilliant fireworks display. Their hearts pounded vigorously, but in unison and Fate smiled down at them.
For some time, the stood there, holding each other, each not wishing to part, too caught up in each other. Sirius ran his fingers through her hair. The mass of black was set in neat and cute curls and surrounded her face. They made the paleness of her skin stand out, looking like soft ivory and her eyes were brought out by her sapphire blue dress. A single ribbon tied her hair back in a ponytail consisting only of a small bit of hair pulled back from her face.
Just then, the door opened and Peter came in breathing a bit hard. Sirius and Hallie immediately parted and looked away from each other. Peter grinned and looked at both of them. "Finally!" he exclaimed. Sirius gave him a look and Hallie gave the same. He cleared his throat and shifted a bit. "Er – Hallie, Professor Dumbledore told me to fetch you for your performance, he said I'd find you here." Hallie and Sirius shared a look and blushed. He took her hand and together they followed Peter to the Great Hall.
She heard her name announced and turned to walk away when she saw someone before her. She grinned sheepishly up at Sirius. "Er, hi." He kissed her cheek and gave her a soft shove. "We've practiced a million times, you're ready." She smiled and nodded and turned to go, but instead she swerved to go around him. He laughed and held out his arm to stop her. She sighed in defeat and threw up her arms. "Fine!"
As she stepped out, applause rang in her ears and she caught sight of Remus and Lydia waving at her. They both stood and walked onto the dance floor. She forced a smile and looked around. The lights dimmed and a spotlight showed on her. Her stomach did a violent turn and she shut her eyes.
And then he was smiling at her.
A smile tugged at the ends of her mouth and she grinned back at him. The music started. For some reason, her nerves had disappeared and she felt ready. With a soft sigh, she smiled when he grinned charmingly at her.
"If there were no words
No way to speak
I would still hear you
If there were no tears
No way to feel inside
I'd still feel for you."
James stole a glance at Lily. She was smiling at her best friend on stage. Taking a deep breath, he stood up and went in front of her. She looked up at him in confusion with a bit of coldness in her emerald eyes. "Er-Lily, will you dance with me?" he murmured, expecting to be rejected.
Surprisingly, she said, "Sure."
"And even if the sun refused to shine
Even if romance ran out of rhyme
You would still have my heart until the end of time
You're all I need, my love, my Valentine."
He glanced up at her and felt his face brighten as much as he tried to remain expressionless. Lily took notice at the change of his features and her heart melted at how sweet he looked just then. His face had its normal innocent look with just a tinge of sadness lining his handsome face. She sighed inwardly and felt that she knew what the cause was. Perhaps he really didn't do anything that he didn't mean to…
"All of my life
I have been waiting for
All you give to me
You've opened my eyes
And showed me how to love unselfishly."
James put his hands on her waist somewhat cautiously and nervously. He truly hoped that she still wasn't angry with him. He was resolved to find out the cause of her anger towards him but pushed this thought away and looked down at her. He felt his insides turn noticeably and she smiled softly up at him. The boy smiled tenderly at her back and held her closer. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.
"I've dreamed of this a thousand times before
But in my dreams I couldn't love you more
I will give you my heart
Until the end of time...
You're all I need, my love, my Valentine."
He felt her warm breath on his cheek and a shiver ran up his spine. She pulled away slightly and looked up at him with her large verdant emerald green eyes. Her heart melted as he looked into his. Their head slowly came closer together and they fell into a kiss filled with feelings they never knew they had. Though they had a feeling it was there, the emotion they both felt at that moment was stronger than either thought it would ever be. He held her tightly and she wrapped her arms around his neck while his encircled her waist.
"And even if the sun refused to shine
Even if romance ran out of rhyme
You would still have my heart until the end of time
'Cause all I need is you, my Valentine
You're all I need, my love, my Valentine."
Courtesy to Martina McBride
For "Valentine"
James and Lily parted. They looked at each other as the lights dimmed once again. They smiled.
(Author's Note: Thanks to Myanda, Harry's Hunny, and Liz for your reviews! Bye! Please review!)
