A/N Firstly, before I let you get on with this chapter, I want to thank everybody that reviewed this. I couldn't believe how many I got! Yay! Hopefully this chapter will be better than the last, because Chapter One was more of a prologue. Next chapter… they meet each other!! Woohoo! Anyway, R/R!
~Stef
Lily found the next four weeks much less boring than they would ordinarily have been. Fork kept her occupied with his letters, and she had to decide how much of her life to reveal to him. Also, the prefects had decided to arrange a masquerade ball for the students in the fourth year and above. It was a suggestion of one of the Hufflepuff 6th years, and it went down well. It was mainly to relieve the monotony of the school year, but officially it was to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the killing of the infamous dark wizard Stregmand. The 6th year Hufflepuff prefects were to plan and set the ideas before the head students and then to Dumbledore, but all of the 5th and 6th year prefects were going to help set up arrangements (with the Head Boy and Girl to help, of course). Between regular Head Girl duties, the letters she sent Fork, schoolwork, and preparation for the ball, the time before the ball flew by.
The Friday night before the ball (which was to be held on Saturday), Lily was relaxing in her dorm, reading over the letter that Fork had just sent her, five minutes before. They both knew each other well enough that Fork was comfortable enough to tease her, which Lily thought was good. They had figured out that neither of them was in Slytherin or Hufflepuff, and that they were both among the top of their classes. Lily had already run through all the possibilities, but none of the people she knew seemed to have the style that Fork had when he wrote to her.
Fire,
Your sister sounds a right pain to me, but then, aren't all sisters? I guess it's mainly jealousy, she's probably wishing right now that she had the magic to turn you into a teacup. I wouldn't know, because I don't have any siblings. My parents decided against having more after they got the jobs they wanted, so I got stuck alone. It's not bad, though. One of my Marauder friends comes over a lot, and we terrorise the neighbourhood. It's a good thing most of them are magical, or we'd never be able to do all the memory charms! I've already done so many on muggles that I've perfected them!
You still haven't told me if you've a boyfriend. I guess it's pointless me going on, which is why I do it! How about a fair exchange- I'll tell you if you tell me! Oh, and when should we meet up? Because there's the masquerade ball coming up, and we could meet there, at the unmasking if you want.
I think I should know you, and some of the things you write make me almost figure out who you are… and then I lose it. I guess I must know you a little bit out of these letters, even if it isn't enough that I know what your nickname means.
I tell you more than I tell my friends, because you don't know who I am, and it just seems different. It's funny, you know a hell of a lot more about me than most people, and I don't even know who you are! Well, this is getting way too long, and I think my hand is about to drop off, so I'll post this to you and then go off in search of Madame Pomfrey. Or maybe not… she fusses way too much!
-Fork
Lily smiled, and added the letter to the pile she had of Fork's in her trunk. Then she got out fresh parchment and wrote a reply. Fork ought to be back in his dorm in about an hour- if he wasn't up to something with his invisibility cloak. She had found out about that only in the letter he wrote before this one. It was a present from his parents for his 16th birthday, a pleasant shock, he told 'Fire.' Lily wrote her letter:
Fork,
You and your pranks! You sound bad enough to challenge the Marauders as it is- between us we'll bring their monopoly down!
Lily smiled, remembering her last prank. Whenever Snape or Malfoy had said something malicious, a shower of water hit their heads. As the two could barely speak without insulting someone, they were soaked through in only a few minutes, before they figured out why the showers happened. What amused the rest of the school the most, though, was that each of the water showers was dyed in a different colour- so that by the end their hair, faces, and robes were covered in multi-coloured splashes. The trick of changing hair colour or robe colour had been done many times before (it was on page one of 'A Guide to Pranks and Practical Jokes'), but it had been a while since anyone had done a charm so strong that the teachers took all day to find out what had been cast on the students. The added bonus was that Malfoy and Snape couldn't insult any of the Gryffindors, and neither could they respond nastily to any jokes at their expense, for fear of getting a hot-pink shower.
As to your questions about my love life- I'll answer them when you give me a good reason to. I'm not stupid enough to fall for your 'fair exchange;' you already told me you broke up with a Ravenclaw 6th year on Wednesday.
I think the masquerade ball would be a great time to meet each other. If you don't have any other plans, we can take the last dance together, before the unmasking. I already have my clothes planned- and they're original enough that I doubt you'll mistake anyone else for me.
Lily finished the letter, telling Fork what she would be wearing, as well as telling him other inconsequential news. Then she posted it, hoping she would receive a reply that night, because she would be busy most of tomorrow. She was on the decorating committee for the Great Hall, setting up for the ball in the evening. She wasn't disappointed; the reply came in ten minutes.
Fire,
Yeah, the last dance sounds good. I'll tell you what I'm wearing. The moment my mother found out that there's a masquerade ball, she sent me clothes for it! Anyway, they're better than my dress robes (and probably more original- now anyway! I did a little altering…). I'm wearing a muggle-style white shirt, and black trousers. On top of that, I've got a dark green cloak fastened magically to my shoulders because of my cufflinks. At first, they were gold diamondy-things, but I had to give the outfit my own touch- they've been transfigured into miniature silver forks. Oh, and covering my head- I'm afraid I'm not so original as you. It's a sort of black curtain thing, it surrounds my face, and no-one can see into it. I can see out of it, though. I asked Remus to help me with it; he's the best in the class (apart from Lily) in charms. I don't really know Lily well enough to ask for her help, although I'm sure she wouldn't have minded.
So, that's about my clothes. I would say I sound almost like a girl, talking about clothes so much, but from your letters I gather you're a pretty strong person. I don't want my first (maybe?) dance with you to be ruined by any attempts at strangulation, especially if they're aimed at me! Again, I'll have to send this now if you're to get this before lights out, but I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to talk tomorrow evening, after the unmasking.
I'm busy all of tomorrow, but I guess I'll see you in the evening, for better or for worse. Until then, goodbye!
-Fork
Lily put the letter on her pile, and lay down to think. She had only been writing to Fork for the last four weeks, but already it seemed like they knew each other. Was it too early for them to meet? Lily really wanted to meet him, and she didn't know if she'd ever have another opportunity to do so in such a way. Well, whether it was too early or not, she would find out tomorrow night. With luck, they would have a friendship. If not, they could still send letters to each other.
Lily just hoped that Fork wasn't someone she disliked; she didn't want to ruin the relationship they'd built up over the past month. The lights in the dorm flickered; it was the newly thought up signal that lights out was in five minutes, and a better one than the bell that had previously rang throughout the whole school. It had been Lily's suggestion, actually. She had listened to so many Gryffindors complain about it in her hearing that she approached James Potter on the subject, and together they had made the change, with the backing of the board of prefects.
Lily was taking more notice of James since they had set up the messaging thing, and she noticed that he was well liked. For most of the previous years she had ignored him, and whenever he was mentioned she thought of him as 'the marauder boy with the messy hair. Oh yeah, and he beats me in Transfiguration every year straight.' Now she noticed that his strength didn't lie just in Transfiguration, where he always came first. He was within the top five in all of his classes, and he often fought with Lily for top place in Arithmancy and History of Magic. Lily dozed off in the midst of her thoughts, minutes before the lights went out.
She awoke in the morning at 7 o'clock, and showered and ate. As soon as the Great Hall had cleared, she said goodbye to her friends and went in to help with the decorations. The hall had all sixteen fifth- and sixth-year prefects in it, bustling around with decorations. Realising she was the last to come in, she hurried up to the Hufflepuff girl who was overseeing the whole thing.
"Sorry, I didn't realise I was late," Lily said. "How can I help?"
The girl, Belinda, glanced at her distractedly, and then looked back again, as if realising something. "You're good at charms, aren't you?" she asked.
"I'm okay at it," Lily said.
A voice behind her startled her as it said, "Yeah, she's only the best in the year, and probably the school."
Lily spun, to find James Potter. She smiled briefly at him, while rolling her eyes, and turned back to Belinda.
"Can I help?" she repeated.
"Yes, please! It's those streamers. We want them to flash the colours of the four houses, and stay up there. But they either stick up there and don't do anything, like muggle streamers, or they change colours but fall down!"
Lily smiled; she loved a challenge. "What charms are you using?" she asked.
"Here, go and talk to Melissa. She's in charge of it. Over there."
Belinda was asking James what he wanted as Lily walked over to Melissa. She was a fifth year Ravenclaw, and looked decidedly flustered.
"It's just not- Lily! Thank goodness! We've got a problem with these-"
Lily interrupted her, "Yes, Belinda told me. They won't stay up. What charms are you using?"
Lily helped Melissa and the team who were putting up the streamers with the problem. Any 7th year could have done it, but there were only fifth and sixth years on the hall committee. There were also other problems that needed Lily's attention. It seemed that she was the best at charms among the prefects present, so she was rushing all over sorting things out.
She had to fix the confetti, which was supposed to fall slowly from the ceiling, silver, gold, copper, and a metallic purple-blue. The problem was it all came down at once, and again Lily had to figure out a charm to stop the first people entering getting drowned in confetti.
Other similar problems occupied her all day, until at last everything was finished. The tables were against the walls, leaving a big open space in the middle for dancing. Snacks lined the tables, everything from pizza to chocolate frogs, and on to pumpkin juice and ice water. Candles floated in the air, and the streamers faded gradually from colour to colour, red, green, purple and yellow.
It looked perfect, with two hours to go before she and James had to open the ball. The best part, or so Lily thought, was that there weren't any professors overseeing things. That was left to the prefects, who would take half-hour shifts in their house pairs to make sure nothing catastrophic happened. Again, the other 7th year prefects were exempt from that; they were to oversee things on the whole and alert the two prefects on duty if there were any problems.
Everything was finished, so Lily joined the group gathering around Belinda.
"I think I've said we'll all take turns in half hour shifts to oversee all this, so we'll start with the fifth years and go on to the sixth years, in this order: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, Ravenclaw. Um, Lily and James, if you don't mind, could you take a shift? Otherwise someone would have to double up…"
"Yes, that's fine." Lily said, and James nodded his head.
"Thanks!! Well, are there any other questions?"
"If James doesn't mind, I'd like to take the first shift, just to make sure nothing goes wrong. Is that okay?" Lily asked. James agreed, so Belinda continued,
"In that case, we'll meet back here at a quarter past seven. See you then!"