Lily slipped away from Arabella and Claire long
enough to sit at a certain point of the stairs, letting her legs dangle over
the edge.
It was chaos down there. Chefs were lifting their wondrous creations
high above their heads to avoid letting those beautiful creations be smashed by
the passing people. Sirius was following them, ducking and whirling, basically
avoiding anybody but the chefs, checking which delicacies were there on the
banquet table in the next room. She could hear the orchestra practicing, the
baby grand was out of tune. She could hear Jackie directing the decorators, and
according to "Marie" her "beloved" fiancée was in his quarters, already
preparing for the night.
James came walking, very quickly, into the lobby. One of the
chefs was bothering him about the cake he had made.
"THAT IS OBSCENE, Monsieur. I know, you graduated from the
Cordon Bleu! I am not changing my judgments. Cover up that chest and we'll all
be fine." James was saying in his southern voice. The chef opened his mouth.
"Or no pay.""
The chef marched out of the marble lobby with his cake in a
huff.
Lily giggled. James looked up at her and gave her a wink and
then left.
Lily sort of froze in time. She watched James leave and fingered
with her locket, the music of the next room echoing. It was nice, being able to
sit by yourself and think without any distractions whatsoever-
"LILY EVANS!!!!!!!" Claire shrieked. Claire spotted a redhead
down at the check-in counter, but truly, Lily restrained her giggles as Claire
marched down the stairs- With a buzz cut.
Claire grabbed the redhead by the ear, to find, in horror, that
it was none other than the Duchess of York.
Lily made her getaway then.
Lunch was not easy. Sirius showed everyone his version of Night
Fever, as Gary Stu, with invisible music and escargot on his shoes. Lily rubbed
her temples and Arabella hid her face in her hands. Jackie, oddly enough, was
laughing very, very hard. James shook his head, but tried his best to continue
eating quietly. The glue on his fake mustache was falling off, so he quickly
excused himself from the table.
Severus Snape gaped in horror as what's-his-name relived every
disco move ever invented. His parents had already fainted, and Lucius was
snorting very, very loudly, though, at the same time, trying to look cool and
suave for Marie. He was failing miserably.
"Mrs. Marie Malfoy." He penned slowly on his napkin,
unaware he was reading aloud. "Perfect."
Arabella looked ready to kill.
"Eww.. Pink." Lily muttered as she looked at the two dresses
lying out on the bed. One was bright, violent pink and the other was a lacy,
virginal white. She grabbed the lacy one quickly.
As soon as she was done, a knock came at the door. It was James,
with a bouquet of flowers. She began to squeal, but he put his hand up.
"Your darling Severus seems to think I am his lackey. They're
having cocktails in the ballroom. Care to have a last slide?" He asked, at
first irritably, but now he had a cheeriness about him butterbeer couldn't
duplicate.
"Of course.. And he isn't my darling Severus.. He's Snape, and
that he shall remain." She snapped. His mustache was drooping, but she didn't
notice that.
"I can completely imagine you giving birth to (wince) little
Severus screaming 'SNAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPEEEE'!" He joked. She laughed quietly.
"Shall we?" He asked in his new American voice, offering his arm.
She took it gratefully.
The two listened a minute for the Minuet In G Minor to begin
playing, and to the beat of the music, moved towards the staircase. James went
first, as always, not remembering his American accent or the fact that the
staircase had just been polished.
Lucius Malfoy heard a swift swoosh and a defiant crash, then a
shriek and a few giggles. Then, closely listening, he heard stomping up the
stairs.
Claire Evans looked around the ballroom, slightly drunk. Her
stepdaughter, whose presence was the reason for celebration, was not present in
the least. She followed a suspicious Lucius Malfoy and her stepdaughter's
fiancée-to-be, that Snape fellow, into the lobby.
James had his back to the opening into the ballroom, his
once-shiny tailcoat dulled down by this sort of darkish-brown furniture polish,
and Lily came swooping down. She was happy at first, but she spotted her
stepmother, fiancée, and fiancée's best friend marching in. Her look of horror
received a very low reaction.
"Don't worry, Lils, it'll be alright. I'll catch you." James said
in his normal voice, his mustache completely coming off now, and she made short
little shrieks as he spun her around, halfway, when he saw Severus, Lucius and
Claire. He put Lily down lightly, whose hands immediately flew to the back of
the white dress, which was now covered in darkish-brown furniture polish.
"POTTER!" Lucius and Severus chorused angrily. Claire looked
confused for a moment, then shrieked at Lily for ruining her dress. Malfoy and
Snape could see who he was with his normal voice and his disguise gone.
"Potter, you and that Black fellow have NOT been invited to my
engagement party." Snape began, as guests began to file in around him. Jackie
placed her hand worriedly on Sirius's inner arm to hold him back. "Get out of
my sight and do not return."
"First of all, this is not YOUR engagement party. It's Lily's.
Second, we're her friends. Third and most important, you aren't engaged to her.
She hasn't decided to marry you." James spat.
"Yet." Snape said rudely. Lily stood there helplessly. "You, Lupin
and Black get out of my sight. Were those girls involved?"
Sirius was about to agree, but James opened his mouth. "No, they
are party planners we hired to do the dirty work for our cover. You can never
keep us out of your 'engagement' party unless it's in France."
Remus smirked in the back of the room. There was an excellent
cover for Jackie and Arabella to stay by Lily's side.
"Well, you know what, Mister Potter?" Claire spewed. "Her
decision party will be at the finest magical hotel in Paris! You may get out
promptly before I call the police."
Sirius left Jackie and he and Remus followed James so they could
go pack their bags. Jackie was surprised that they had given up so easily.
However, knowing the Marauders like she did, they probably had another evil
scheme in store.
Snape grabbed Lily by her bare upper arm. "What the hell do you
think you were doing?" He hissed.
"He's my friend Sn- Severus. I invited him, but, I knew you
wouldn't accept his help unless it was in another form!" She hissed back.
"I'm sorry, Lily." He said quietly, poking out his lower lip. He
began to dance with her, and she forced herself to smile and join him.
"Now, Princess, I hope you've made a decision already.
I know it's a bit early.." Snape began as he nodded at some old lady trying to
look fashionable. Oh, wait, that was Claire.
"What did you just call me?" She asked in a low, dangerous
whisper.
"Princess, don't make a scene." Snape cooed, completely unaware
of his mistake.
"Don't call me Princess." She said through her big, toothy smile.
"WHAT? Now you're going to protect the nickname he gave you?
Don't think I don't know what he called you when you two were.." He almost
snapped.
She stopped dancing and brought herself to full height. "For your
information, Master Snape." She began, spitting the words and pausing.
"Not only did your beloved Master Potter give me that nickname, my dead
parents did too. You have no rights to the name whatsoever. I would prefer it
if you would not refer to me as Princess if you are attached to the
habit of living."
She left the room in a huff, though the instant she reached her
room, after locking her door and her windows, she collapsed, her back to the
door, crying.