And now….joy! The chapter! If you forgot…we left off where Lily had just spotted her date for the Ball…but it wasn't who she thought it would be….(and I'm sure you all know who it is…)
Chapter Five :: The Ball
"I didn't expect to see you here. . .waiting for me." She said.
He smiled. "And you are looking absolutely stunning tonight."
Lily could feel herself blushing. She looked into his chocolate brown eyes and found them gazing into hers. His hair was just as messy as it was on a normal day, with the same section of hair sticking up on the crown of his head. He had on a deep red robe.
"What about Emily?"
"Sirius worked it out so that she is now with Adam, and I don't really think she opposed it much."
Fine by me. . . Lily thought.
James then extended his arm as a signal for her to take hold of it with her own. They walked together towards the Great Hall doors, where the rest of their friends were waiting. Sirius took one look at the both of them, and grinned with delight. He nudged Abby with his elbow and she began to smile along with him. Lily could feel herself blushing, and looked at James to see him doing the same thing. As McGonagall opened the Great Hall doors, James whispered into her ear.
"Let's make this a great night."
"You don't have to tell me that twice." Lily replied. James smiled back at her, and she felt herself melt. That gets me everytime. She thought to herself.
They walked to their table and saw many other members of Gryffindor and other 6th years from their classes. It seemed like everyone looked especially beautiful as they walked past. The different colored robes were surprising to see in the Great Hall instead of the normal black. The Hall itself looked magnificent as usual. The ceiling revealed a beautiful starry night sky, no cloud in sight. There were Christmas trees everywhere, there had to be more than fifteen scattered throughout the room. Each of them was decorated with classic decorations consisting of glistening golden ribbons and shiny ornaments. There was one large tree behind the head table that had to be at least thirty feet high. Little golden fairies were floating gracefully in all the trees, creating a mystical glow that illuminated the magnificent pines. There were countless tables surrounding a dance floor and a stage. Each of the tables were set for ten people, and in the center was a large and flat bowl that contained Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and Sirius claimed that they were Christmas related flavors. Lily was nervous to test his theory, and decided to pass and wait for dinner. Once everyone in the hall was seated, platters of bread and crackers with different types of butter and cheeses appeared on the tables. Peter and Sirius immediately began to eat, as if they hadn't eaten for weeks.
"Don't get too full, I heard the dinner is a five-course meal." Natalie said.
"It's impossible for me to get full! I can't believe you don't have faith in my stomach!" Peter said sarcastically.
Everyone laughed. Lily couldn't stop smiling. More than once she had caught James staring at her, and she had to try her hardest not to stare back at him. Across the table, Sirius was discussing the events to come that night.
"Man! I can't wait for you all to see my new dance moves!"
Abby spit out the pumpkin juice she was sipping. "What? D-dance?"
"Well, this is a BALL, Abs. . .you didn't actually think you weren't going to dance, did you?" Sirius replied.
"Umm. . .I-I, I d-don't
dance. "
"Well, that's just too bad! You happen to be here with one of the BEST dancers
at Hogwarts, if I do say so myself!"
Everyone at the table laughed. Sirius looked back at them all, very confused.
"What? I'm NOT a good dancer? I never even seen any of YOU guys dance!"
"Sirius, your dance style is a little different that the rest of ours." Natalie said.
"I'll have you know that the way I dance is all the rage in the muggle world!"
"How would you know?" Remus asked.
"What do you think I do during the summer? My homework?" Sirius said sarcastically, "I go to the muggle dance clubs every Friday night! I am very popular with the ladies. . ."
Abby burst out laughing.
"I wouldn't be talking, Abs! I certainly did something to make you like me!" Sirius said back with a devilish grin on his face.
Abby stopped laughing, but looked at Sirius with the same grin on her face.
The dinner was one of the best Lily had ever had at Hogwarts. The salad consisted of the freshest vegetables, the soup was not too hot, but not too cold, the lamb tasted like it had been cooking for hours, and the cheesecake melted perfectly onto her tongue. After every last bit of the cheesecake was scraped up from off the plate, the dishes disappeared into the table, leaving behind a small bowl of punch in the center, replacing the jellybeans. The quiet murmur of talking was replaced with music, provided by one of Natalie's favorite music groups, "The Magical Muggles". The first song was a perfect one to start off the night—quick and upbeat. Sirius eyes widened to the size of galleons and he grabbed Abby from out of her seat and dragged her into the middle of the dance floor. Lily watched as Abby began to dance, completely humiliated. Sirius, however, didn't really seem to care that everyone was watching him.
"Well, we can't let Sirius be the only one to have all the eyes on him." James said to Lily. "Come on, let's knock 'em dead!"
James was
an amazing dancer, not just alone, but he really knew how to dance with
Lily. He didn't spin her too fast, and
she wasn't scared when he dipped her back.
He didn't step on her toes, and she felt safely cradled in his arms
during the slow songs. Every once in a
while, Sirius would steal Lily away and James would dance with Abby, but no
matter how much Lily laughed while dancing with Sirius, she couldn't help but
look back at James, and she also noticed he seemed to be doing the same
thing.
"Hey Lily," Sirius whispered in her ear, "Come with me. We need to talk."
"Umm, ok." Lily said with a confused voice.
He took her hand and pulled her out of the hall. James seemed to be worried at first, but with a quick wink of the eye, Sirius told James that everything was ok.
Lily followed Sirius into the Entrance Hall. He turned around and smiled his biggest and happiest smile he could create.
"You like him. You really, really, really like him don't you?"
Lily blushed. "Is it that obvious?"
"HA! I can't believe he hasn't realized it yet!"
"Ok, Ok. But…I just am not sure about him liking me."
Sirius chuckled. "As far as I know…and man do I know…he likes you a lot. But here's the problem. He's not going to do anything about it because he's a dork…and a chicken. So YOU need to make the first move."
"WHAT? I can't do that! I mean, first of all, what would I do? Second, I don't think I could! I mean, I'm a bigger chicken than he is!"
"Well, you have my guarantee that he will respond positively."
"What should I do?" Lily asked.
"Kiss him. Plant a big, fat one right on his lips!"
Lily stared blankly at Sirius. "You've got to be kidding me. Me? Just flat out kiss James? I don't think so. That would require…"
"Bravery? You just happen to be a Gryffindor…aren't we known for that?"
"Well, that's a different kind of bravery."
"I don't care what kind of bravery it takes, but you need to get with James already! So that's that! Now you get in there and I expect to see some kissing!"
Lily laughed. Sirius was right; James would never make the first move. It was up to her. She looked back at Sirius and he grinned.
"And the light bulb just clicked didn't it?" Sirius asked.
"I guess, but how do you know what a light bulb is?" Lily asked amusingly.
"I heard the teacher talking about it in my muggle studies class. It's amazing what those muggles think of." Sirius said. "Now, on with the show. Don't think about it, just do it. Ok?" He kissed her on the cheek, grabbed her hand and led her back into the Great Hall. Sirius moaned as his favorite song ended, and another slow song began.
"Now is your chance. Don't let it pass you by!" Sirius whispered in her ear as she walked towards James.
Who knew Sirius could give such good romantic advice? Lily thought to herself. She walked over to James. He looked relieved to see her and immediately made his way towards her. Lily noticed he left behind a pretty little 5th year, who looked disappointed by the sight of Lily again.
"Miss me?" Lily asked.
"You'll never know. What did you and Sirius talk about out there?"
"Don't worry. You will know soon enough." Lily said.
As the song started to end, Lily felt herself beginning to want to chicken out. She began to wonder if James would kiss her back. Does he really like her? What if Sirius was wrong, and James only liked her as a friend? Sirius was dancing only a few people away, and saw the look on Lily's face. He caught her attention, and gave her a smile that only Sirius could give. It let her know that everything would be fine, and he would kick James' ass if James did anything to hurt Lily. Lily smiled back, and decided it was the best time. As the last note was sung, Lily pulled apart from James ever-so-slightly, looked him in the eyes, and surprisingly, before she even began to lean in, James kissed her.
It was better than Lily could have ever imagined it to be. He kissed her so softly, and yet, she felt like it would never end. She felt one of her hands make its way into his hair; his already messy hair that she had been dying to run her hands through since day one. His arms were wrapped around her, his hands gently rubbing her back, playing with the ends of her hair. When they finally broke apart, Lily just gazed into his eyes, while his eyes danced back into hers. They didn't say anything; there was no need to.
As the night began to end, Lily and James danced to their heart's content. Sirius helped James and Lily learn how to dance "the right way" while Abby laughed behind Sirius' back. Natalie, Remus and their dates were having just as much fun. Remus made sure to steal Lily away here and there for a dance or two, and every once in a while, Lily, Abby, and Natalie would tear apart from the boys and have their own girly dance—which the boys had a hard time watching without getting too turned on (A/N…HAHAHAHA! I love imagining Sirius' expression as I thought about that!). The closing song came too soon. Lily just wrapped herself in James arms and they danced until the very last beat of the song stopped ringing in the Hall. James kissed Lily on the cheek and walked along side of her out of the great hall with the rest of the gang.
Back at the Gryffindor common room, they were in for another surprise: one of Abby's infamous parties. The entire Gryffindor house was there—including the first through third years who weren't able to attend the ball. Abby looked very pleased with her work and thanked the house elves that had prepared all the goodies for her party. She smiled as she turned on some more music and grabbed a pumpkin pastry from the food table. The night proved to be a wonderful one that Lily didn't want to ever end. But around three in the morning, everyone was so tired that they unanimously decided to all head to bed. Before Lily had started to ascend the stairs to her dorm, James grabbed her arm.
"Lily, before you go, I just need to talk to you."
"Sure." Lily said with a big yawn.
He led her to one of the couches and sat her down just a little bit away from him.
"Well, I don't really know how to say this, so…here goes." James said. Lily looked at him inquisitively.
"Out with it! I'm gonna fall asleep if you don't keep me awake!" Lily joked with him.
"Has anyone ever told you how absolutely amazing you are?"
"I'm awake." Lily said. "No, not really."
"Well, it's about time that someone does. Lils, you are the most caring, loving, and beautiful girl that I know. It seems like all you ever want to do is help someone else, without thinking about yourself. I think that's one of the reason's that I'm falling so deeply in love with you."
Lily's eyes widened a bit after his last statement. "You're…falling in love with…me? The famous James Potter is falling for little ol' Lily Evans?"
"Please, I'm not that great. You are a much more amazing person than I will ever be."
"Wow. I can't believe this. I've thought for so long that all these feelings that I have for you would never be returned…but now, I can't tell you how, how happy I am!"
"Wait, are 'these feelings' the same ones I feel for you?" James asked.
"I love you too James Potter." Lily replied.
"Really? You do?" James said with a huge smile building on his face.
"OH WOULD YOU JUST KISS HER FOR GOODNESS SAKES?!?!?! SHEESH!" Sirius shouted from the balcony.
Lily jumped in her seat and looked up to see not only Sirius looking down at them, but Natalie, Abby, Remus, Peter, and practically the rest of the Gryffindor House standing above them.
James smiled at Lily, leaned in and kissed her. Everyone cheered above them, whooping, whistling and making as much noise as possible. Lily grinned as wide as her face would allow her as she and James broke apart again. James was doing the same.
"G'night, Lily. Sweet Dreams." He said as she got up from the couch.
"Hmm…you too." She replied with a dreamy expression on her face.
As she started to walk up the stairs, Sirius came and gave her a huge hug.
"I told you he would!" he whispered in her ear.
"Thanks Sirius. You gave me all the confidence I needed." She whispered back.
After she closed her dormitory door, she walked over to her bed, flopped down onto the soft blankets, closed her eyes, and smiled.
JOY! After bazillions of ages (or so it seems like) I finally finished this dang chapter! Hope you all like, and yes it did get very fluffy but I love the fluff. R/R and tell me WHATEVER you think! Pleeeeease!
