Disclaimer: All of the basic ideas and concepts obviously belong to the amazing J.K Rowling, along with the marauders and most of the teachers. A few things, and I mean a few, are mine though... (Kate, Alex, and well... the plot)
A/N: The dance is finally here, but some crazy things occur that haven't happened in any stories I've read out there. Please R/R... It's the only thing that keeps me going. I really want to get to 200, although, I'm not quite sure it will happen as I'm only at 80 or something. Here's the next chapter, I think it's pretty long so I hope you enjoy!
The Rivalry of James and Lily
Year 3 - Chapter 5
The Dance
It was the day of the dance and Lily was playing exploding snap with Kate and Alex in the common room. Sybill was already getting ready, even though the dance wouldn't begin for another 6 hours.
"So excited to go with Sirius, Lily?" Kate asked casually, although she was obviously trying to hide a note of panic in her voice. It was almost as though Kate thought Lily actually liked Sirius. Lily silently giggled to herself, and decided to pay a little game on her friend.
"Oh yes! I'm so excited to go with him! I mean he's the cutest boy in our year. I was even considering asking him out after the dance," she said enthusiastically.
"Really?" Kate said, now unable to visibly hide the horror she was feeling.
"I mean, I won't if you don't want me to. You two were an item or whatever, but I just thought since he asked me to the dance he'd want to go out with me," she said, having a horrible time of trying to keep her face serious. She had to bite her lip to stop the gales of laughter from escaping her mouth.
During this, in Lily's opinion, hilarious conversation, James, Sirius, and Remus all walked down the stairs from their dormitory. Remus quickly stole Alex away, and Kate immediately grabbed Sirius's arm and led him out of the portrait hole, muttering something about needing to talk to him about that project they were working on. Lily just watched them go with a smug smile on her face.
"What just happened?" James questioned.
"I just told Kate that I'm asking Sirius out after the dance," said Lily, eyes twinkling.
"You are?!" James exclaimed.
"Oh no, or course not-"
"But you just said-"
"If you would let me finish, I'll explain. I said I told her I was going to ask him. Of course I'm not actually going to ask him. He's one of my best friends!" she said, as though she was stating the obvious.
"Okay Lily, I'm lost. What's going on here? Why did you say you were going to ask him out?" he asked, trying to sound annoyed, but obviously intrigued.
"So you're finally interested in something Lily's done," she said smugly, but continued. "I'm sure you've noticed that Sirius and Kate are obviously up to something foul. They like each more than that stupid Greek god Narcissus likes himself. Yet, they still asked us to the dance. Nothing here adds up at all. I mean, I know I told you in our second year Kate's never been taken with you because of your overlarge head."
"Hey! I don't have an overlarge head!" replied James angrily back.
"You've improved James, but I've known her long enough to know that she wouldn't ask you to the dance even though she thinks you one of cutest guys in our year. She'd wait for a guy to ask her instead. Something fishy is definitely going on."
James, however, wasn't happy. How dare Lily say that he was conceited, and a pretty girl like Kate wouldn't ask him unless she had a very good reason. He was simply too mad to articulate a string of words other than, "Whatever, Evans." And then he stormed up to his dormitory.
"James.. Wait!" Lily called, but too late, he had disappeared. She turned in her seat, to force herself to look away from the boys dormitory. However, then she was facing some 1st year boy goggling at her beauty.
"Yuck," she mumbled. With that, she went up to her dorm to start to get ready with Sybill.
***
In the boys dorm, James was beside himself with rage. He had to get Lily back, but how would he do it exactly?
About a half hour later, Sirius returned from his conversation with Kate.
"Hey James, do you like Kate?" he questioned cautiously. He could tell his friend was fuming over something.
"No," James replied curtly.
"Whoa. What's bit your buns?" Sirius asked.
James however chose to ignore the comment and simply drew his scarlet curtains around himself while lying in his bed.
When the dance was about to start, the four couples met in the common room. Lily was wearing the dress her parents had given her when she was eleven. It now fit her perfectly, making her figure look skinny, yet surprisingly mature. The straps of the dress were made with rhinestones, and they simply glittered on her shoulders. Her hair was half up and curls flipped throughout the bottom. She was wearing a bit more makeup than usual, which made her eyes sparkle spectacularly.
Kate was wearing a light blue short dress which brought out her sapphire-like eyes. The dress was open back and her long blonde hair was curled and draped down her back. Her eyes shown brightly from under a bit of light grey, sparkly eyeshadow and black mascara.
Alex was wearing a knee-length maroon dress trimmed with black beads. Her dirty blonde hair was up in a beautiful bun, in which curls were spilling out. Her hair was littered with black jewels, which matched those on her dress. Her green-brown eyes were dramatized with a bit of golden-brown eyeshadow and mascara. The three girls looked stunning.
Sybill, however, was another story. She was wearing so much glitter and her dress shown so many colors, that she resembled a cross between a caterpillar and a Chinese dragon. It wasn't a very pretty sight.
Remus, Sirius, and James all looked very nice in their dress robes. James was in a dark forest green, Remus was in a deep plum purple, and Sirius was in a semi-dark grey, that actually suited his black hair. Peter was in a horrible murky orange. He looked awful, but he matched up alright with Sybill.
As the four met in the common room, Kate and Sirius noticed that Lily and James seemed very upset with each other and gave each other irritated looks. After an awkward greeting, the four made their way downstairs. When they finally reached the Great Hall, they were greeted by music from the Bewitching Bunch.
Soon nearly everyone was on the dance floor. James couldn't help continually glancing at Lily. She looked so beautiful, and this just made him madder. They green dress made her practically glow. He felt his insides bubble irrationally with anger. Really why was he so mad though? It's not like Lily had never told him that he had had a large head. He glanced at her again, laughing with Sirius.
I have to do something, he thought wildly to himself. And without even thinking, he kissed Kate.
When he pulled away, he heard a number of different angry voices.
"James, what the bloody hell do you think are you doing?!"
(A/N: Wouldn't it be evil if I ended it here? Muhahahah. I've been considering it, but I won't though... Read on!)
"Oh my God," he heard himself gasp.
Sirius elbowed his way over to James, dragging Lily.
"What the hell are you doing? I thought you said you didn't like her!" he hollered. "And you kissing him back!" he turned to Kate. "You know what? You do it, I do it!" He pulled Lily into a kiss, but she pulled away quickly.
"Sirius!" he heard Kate scream. "Bloody hell! You actually think I tried to kiss James? You're crazy! I didn't even make the move! But you, Sirius! You just forced that kiss with Lily! After all we've done to try to get these two together!" Kate stopped suddenly. She had said too much.
"What?!" James had finally found his voice and was outraged. "You tried to get Lily and me together? Have you both gone utterly mad?!"
"Thanks for spilling the beans, Kate," Sirius snapped, but he was looking at her with apologetic eyes.
Lily was in shock during the whole conversation. Sirius had just kissed her, James had just kissed Kate, and her two "best friends" had just tried to hook her up with her worst enemy. It just wasn't right! Lily saw Alex and Remus walking towards them, but turn around when they saw the angry faces of their four best friends.
James had noticed them, too. Before they could disappear, James yelled to them, "Were you two in on this, too?"
"Um... in on what?" said Alex, innocently. Too innocently.
"I can't believe all of you!" Lily exclaimed. "Yes you too, James! How dare you four try to set me and James up. We're enemies! And you James, how dare you kiss Kate just because I said you couldn't get her. And you Sirius, how dare you use me to get back at Kate!"
"I didn't kiss Kate because I didn't think I could get her," mumbled James.
Lily rolled her eyes.
James looked down at the floor. Why had he kissed Kate? He knew he didn't like her. Why had he been so angry with Lily? Was he feeling rage, or rather jealousy, that he wasn't the one Lily had gone to the dance with? He stopped at this point, mentally punched himself, then tuned back into the conversation Lily and Sirius were now having.
"Lily, I'm sorry for kissing you. I was just so incredibly angry with Kate and James, and it was the first thing I could think of that would piss both of them off," he said. "I know it wasn't right, and I'm truly sorry," Sirius said.
Lily was about to say she accepted his apology, but that she didn't want to be his date anymore, when she was interrupted by James.
"Why would I be upset if you kissed Lily?" he asked.
"Oh, I dunno. Maybe because you like-"
"Sirius, drop it," said Alex sternly.
"Ok, ok, but it did piss you off, didn't it?" asked a smiling Sirius.
"What? No way!" James lied quickly. "It was just Evans."
There was an awkward silence, and Lily seized the opportunity to tell Sirius that she was going up to the common room now and he would have to find a new date.
"But I thought you liked Sirius?" Kate interrupted, cutting Lily off.
"Kate, I'm surprised you fell for that one. Of course I don't like Sirius. He's more like a brother to me than anything. I could tell you two were up to NO GOOD, so I thought I'd play a part in your game. Worked, huh?" she said to Sirius and Kate's stunned faces. "But I really need to get out of here. I'm still mad at both of you. I'll see you tomorrow." And she briskly walked off to the Gryffindor common room.
The five stood there awkwardly for a couple of moments until Sirius broke the silence. "I still say they like each other."
"Ugh! Sirius come off it!" exclaimed James, and he too stalked off towards the Gryffindor common room.
"Woops."
"Yea, woops is right, Sirius. Thanks for losing me my date," Kate said.
"Listen Kate, I'm sorry," he said, sounding sincerely apologetic.
Kate 'hmphed' in response.
"I don't know what came over me back there. I was overcome with so much rage and jealousy, honestly, when I saw you and James kissing. I had to do something. I couldn't control myself. I feel so horrible for hurting you like that. I know you already know this, but I totally like you. Please forgive me?" he asked nervously, and he could hardly breathe waiting for her response.
Kate met Sirius eyes, and couldn't hide a smile. "Oh, of course I forgive you, Sirius. After all, I screwed up, too. Do you forgive me?" she asked.
"Completely. So... since we don't have dates, will you be mine?"
"Surely," she responded happily.
"At least that part of the plan worked out right," said Sirius, sarcastically.
"Hey, you know what? Our plan may have worked out better than we expected!" said Kate, suddenly excited.
"What are you talking about Kate. Everything that could have gone wrong did!" exclaimed Remus, who had just rejoined Kate and Sirius's conversation with Alex.
"No, no, what Kate's saying is now James are Lily are all alone in the common room!" said Alex, enthusiastically.
"Oh that's right! Dumbledore let the first and second year's have a camp-out in the dungeons since they couldn't go to the dance!" Sirius yelped.
The four grinned triumphantly at each other, then patted each other on the back.
*****
Lily was sitting in the common room, fuming, when she heard the portrait hole open. She glanced up and saw James.
"What are you doing, Evans?" James asked, as he saw her staring at him.
"Same thing you are, I suppose. Escaping from our so-called friends," she said, impatiently.
"I want to escape from you more than them," James replied, irritated.
"What is your problem James? Seriously?" Lily asked, her eyes flashing, vividly angry.
"I just can't handle you. And do you want to know why I kissed Kate? I kissed her because of you," he said, and he stormed off to his dormitory.
"What in the bloody hell was that supposed to mean?" she yelled up at James, but he had already disappeared into his dormitory.
"Ugh. He is so immature. Yet cute when he's mad," she mumbled. And for the first time, she didn't argue back with herself.
***
Sooner than everyone expected, the dance was over, their bags were packed, and everyone was making their way to the Hogwarts Express. After a long ride home, on which James and Lily accepted their friends' apologies, Lily was on the sunny platform 9 3/4. Lily was just about to go through the barrier, when Sirius pulled her aside.
"Hey Lily, I've never seen James so worked up over anyone. I know you've heard this a thousand times, but I truly think he likes you."
"Whatever, Sirius."
"Lily, I mean it. He said some things to me last night about you ..."
"What'd he say?" she asked, intrigued.
"Sirius! Come on!" James yelled.
"Lily, I got to go. I'll write you!" he hollered, as he ran to James and through the barrier, leaving a bewildered Lily behind.
A/N: Ok this is the end! I've got some great ideas for the next year, but I want to get to 100 before I continue so please R/R. I'm sorry this chapter sucked. Now that I've read over it, I really don't like it.
Actually, I feel evil saying I won't write if I don't get 100 reviews. Just review if you want. I would really appreciate it if I did get 100 though! :)
