James bounded down the stairs and into the lounge in amazingly good spirits. He was even humming to himself—one of the Snitches's older ballads, which happened to be Lily's favourite (they'd even played it at their wedding reception for the first dance. Incidentally, the Potters' wedding had been one of the Snitches's last performances. They had disbanded soon after, when their bass guitarist was killed in a Death Eater attack and their vocalist, who was his wife, committed suicide out of grief.)
Lily was sitting at the table, obviously waiting for him. The two of them smiled at each other, said their respective good mornings, and left through the portrait-hole together.
"I got your letter this morning," James said, with a look of mock sadness on his face. "And I'm quite hurt that you think my dancing skills are lacking. Girls used to queue up to dance with me, in my Hogwarts days."
"Did they, now?" Lily asked, offering up a mystified expression. "My memory has hardly ever proven to be faulty in the past, but I can't seem to remember this...how very peculiar. Pray enlighten me—when did girls queue up to dance with you?"
"Why, only at every formal function Hogwarts hosted during my seven years, of course," James said, sniffing. "You really ought to have a checkup, Professor. Memory loss this early in life isn't a good sign."
"Yes," sighed Lily. "It wouldn't be. But I really can't seem to remember these girls waiting to dance with you. For some strange inexplicable reason, though, I do find myself remembering that someone—Anna Fleming, was it?—did dance with you once in fourth year—that was our first ball, you remember? You trampled her toes frightfully, after which point the girls occasionally clamored to talk to you, but never to dance. I don't remember you being asked to dance ever again."
"Well, you danced with me." James pouted and his lip trembled as though he were about to cry—though his eyes twinkled mischievously.
"Yes, well, I didn't ask you, did I?" Lily shook her head, smiling sweetly. "My feet suffered horribly from my generosity of heart. I didn't wish to hurt your feelings by turning you down, you see. Why was it that I could never help being a kind and gentle being of self-sacrifice?" Her lips twitched, and the two of them burst into a short round of laughter.
"An angel," James said, when they'd both sobered. This time his smile was genuine. The look in his eyes made Lily's heart hammer curiously. They had arrived at the Great Hall by then, and the two of them settled into their places at the table with secret smiles.
The last couple of weeks before Halloween drifted by with surprising rapidity, and the night of eagerly anticipated festivities was soon upon them. The staff, head students, and prefects had been in a great flurry all day, taking care of the myriad preparations required for the occasion. More than one snappish remark was exchanged, and several incidences of near-brawls had to be settled between heated members of the planning committee.
Lily and James managed to spend the entire day of the Ball being worked off their feet (Literally, as it was very rainy outside and the indeterminate amount of mud and water tracked all over the entrance hall, through which most of the decorations and preparatory materials were being carried, caused more than one fall.). They also somehow managed to completely elude one another, no matter how hard they tried to catch a look or glean a moment alone together. The most either of them got was a glimpse of disheveled hair and a flurry of robes. Luckily for their plans for that night, everything was in place and had been set up well in advance. Sirius, Remus, and Peter had been given the invisibility cloak several days earlier, after the three had solemnly vowed to stay out of serious mischief until Halloween.
Lily settled with a very long sigh into her bath, which was full of beautifully warm water smelling of lilac and lavender. She had managed to escape from the general pandemonium and to retreat to her room for a quick nap that afternoon, after which she had decided to begin her "pre-Ball prinking,' as she called it. Whilst she poured sweet-smelling hair cleansing potion into her hand and began lathering it into her hair, she considered the robes she'd picked for that evening.
As it wouldn't do for any of the professors to be dressed too extravagantly, she had chosen a rather understated, sophisticated set of robes during her last visit to Hogsmeade. There was an underlay of deep forest green, verging on black, over which there floated a layer of sheer, filmy, slightly lighter green material. The combination, which to many would have seemed odd or uncomplimentary ("Too green," complained the saleswitch, when Lily had chosen to try on the robes. "The girls complain that it makes them look like a walking forest, complete with shrubs."), suited Lily to perfection. The smooth silky material clung faithfully to her figure in all the right places, so that despite its modest cut and odd colour combination, the garment could prove seductive if worn with the right amount of flair. Stepping out of the stall in the dressing rooms to twirl in front of the mirrors, Lily's eyes had sparkled a brighter emerald over the subtle variations of green in the fabric. It seemed the dress was made for her, the saleswitches informed her in awe, as they didn't have to make a single magical adjustment to its size or length. To complement the dress, Lily had found slender silver clasps that could be worn as hair ornaments, and a matching bracelet.
Climbing out of the bath a good deal of time later, Lily cast a quick drying charm on herself and stepped into her undergarments and slip. Her robes were laid out for her on the bed—probably by the house-elves—and delicate slippers stood ready just next to it. She giggled to herself after she'd put both on and twirled before her mirror, her hair loose in dark red waves down her back. Sitting down at the vanity, she twisted her hair into an elegant updo with a flick and swish of her wand, and set to work magically applying her makeup. Within minutes, she was finished; Lily never ceased to be amazed at how quickly and expertly getting dressed up could be done with the help of a little magic.
Turning from the mirror, she bent low to adjust the straps on her slippers, noting that they had glints of silver to them that glimmered in the light. She was just considering touching up her pedicure when a coolness against her throat made her jump. She heard a familiar chuckle behind her, and relaxed as she felt the heaviness of metal warming to her skin. Gentle fingers clasped something at the back of her neck.
"You look beautiful tonight," the voice murmured, caressing the skin at the nape of her neck. "Now, close your eyes and hold out your hand."
Lily obediently closed her eyes, not even attempting to peek as she would normally have done, and extended a hand. She felt something small and rather weighty fall into her palm.
"All right, open," said the voice.
She glanced down at her open hand—and smiled brilliantly. There, nestled in her palm, was a pair of diamond earrings, with thin, dangling cords of—from what she could sense—white gold. As with all genuine wizards' jewelry, the earrings had warmed to her skin immediately, and were now bonded to her—the special bond between owner and jewels that would prevent them from being stolen or taken by force. Turning to the mirror, Lily slipped the earrings on and noted that she now had a matching necklace. Everything went well with her ensemble, and she turned into the arms that were now resting on her shoulders. They folded around her lovingly.
"Thank you, James," she breathed. They exchanged a look so affectionate it stood in for a kiss.
"Just a little Halloween gift," he said, smiling, fingers tugging lightly at a few tendrils of hair that hung faithfully about her face. "To make up for the times I'm inevitably going to stomp on your toes tonight."
They both laughed, and James offered his arm, which Lily stood and took.
"Ready?"
"Of course!"
The Great Hall was alight with levitating candles, gargantuan carved pumpkins through which shone flickering flames, and enough festooning black to do any ghost's deathday celebration proud. There was an elaborate arrangement of tables to allow for a dance floor and stage for the live band—which happened to be a new band, the Weird Sisters, who Lily had recently become quite fond of. Their appearance had her shrieking like a young girl before James shushed her.
Several students wondered at Professors Evans and Potter entering the Ball arm-in-arm, but most of them were too absorbed in appreciatively staring at the gala scene or chatting with their partners. Everyone settled into their seats and tucked in to the feast with much more decorum than was exhibited at the usual Hogwarts feast, and the tinkling of silverware and the quiet murmur of conversation and laughter, as well as the strategic lighting, provided a delightful dinner-party atmosphere.
When most of the company had finished their meals, the Weird Sisters started up, and the floor was soon crowded with students and professors dancing.
Lily felt a tap on her shoulder and turned.
"Care for a dance?" James asked, grinning.
"With you?" Lily asked, smirking, looking him over. James was dressed smartly in black dress robes with silver lining. He looked good. "Well.....all right. I suppose."
The two of them joined the others on the dance floor. It just happened to be a song that required the wizards' waltz, which was something Lily was particularly good at. James, as mentioned before, was not especially skilled in dancing; the wizards' waltz was something that had been hammered into him from birth, however, and after sufficient coaching from Lily (she'd forced him, prior to their wedding—something along the lines of "I don't care to be embarrassed by my husband on the dance floor during the reception, thanks."), James had finally learned to run through the steps with relative grace.
The younger students had abandoned the floor, since many of them didn't know the necessary moves; only the older students and professors remained. Subsequently, at this point many students noticed James and Lily together, smiling, which gave rise to a bout of gossiping that spread throughout the audience like wildfire through dry brush. Dumbledore looked quite content; Snape looked as sallow and sour as ever; and there was a faint, unnoticed rustling in one corner of the room where three pairs of eyes were watching the scene from beneath an old invisibility cloak.
"You've improved, I think," Lily said, speculatively, as they circled about the floor smoothly.
James took the opportunity to stumble a little.
"I take it back," she amended, laughing. She looked at him affectionately. "Clumsy git."
"Thanks so much, Evans," growled James good-naturedly, leading Lily into a beautifully executed turn. "I knew I should have taken someone else to the ball. Someone who would have appreciated me. Trelawney practically begged me to take her, but—"
"She ended up canceling. I knew I was just the backup plan," groaned Lily, her robes swishing as she stepped backward elegantly. "She couldn't come because...she was too busy staring at soggy tea-leaves? Finding shapes of death omens in her crystal ball?"
"No, Lily, what a preposterous suggestion!" James exclaimed, frowning at her as they turned again. Then he lowered his voice conspiratorially. "She was sniffing incense sticks."
The two of them laughed without the slightest compunction. Neither of them had taken Divination, but they'd never heard of previous professors being anything as weird as Trelawney was rumoured to be.
A few songs later, the dance floor was back to being crowded again. At one point, some sort of confetti-like substance had rained from the ceiling, casting flickering lights and sparkles across the room. The students had oohed and aahed, and Lily and James took that moment to get a breath of fresh air outside.
They returned to find absolute chaos.
There were horrified shrieks and yells echoing from every corner of the room. Students ran around in panic, while professors attempted to calm everyone down. Sprout was trotting about as quickly as she could, trying ineffectively to round up the students; the ghosts were floating in and out of the scene, looking perturbed, except for the Bloody Baron, who always looked impassive, and Peeves, who was cackling madly; and Snape—well, that was a problem. The problem.
Which was Snape?
There had to be at least fifty Snapes running about the room, if not more—it seemed the numbers were increasing by the minute. In contrast to the usual bitter-looking potions master, however, these Snapes were exhibiting a variety of expressions. There was a Snape who was going into hysterics; one who was weeping mournfully into a lacy kerchief; one who was running about squawking like a headless chicken; one who screamed in a high-pitched voice for his mother; one who was desperately trying to hide beneath a table; one who was letting loose with a string of curses, highly inappropriate for the Great Hall (could this be the real Snape?); one who scowled bitterly and stalked about (or could this?); one who was laughing a bit maniacally and declaring, "Two hundred and fifty points from Gryffindor! Now, I say!" (or this?); one whose eyes were burning with hatred and declaring the same thing (or this?); one who was glancing suspiciously around, baring teeth at everyone else (you get the picture?); the list went on...
James and Lily, with patented concerned looks on their faces, leapt at once into the fray and began various attempts at keeping the peace. Through the general commotion, no one noticed that guffaws and stomping of feet were emanating from one corner of the room. At one point, the floating, laughing head of Peter Pettigrew revealed itself to the general public before it gasped and disappeared again.
It was easy to tell which were merely girls who had fallen prey to the polyjuice potion (for a sort of polyjuice potion it was); these Snapes were still attired in dress robes of a distinctly feminine kind. The one that was running about squawking, in fact, wore lacy pink robes that no one suspected to belong to the real Snape; she fell over quite soon after she'd begun running around, as her robes were now so tight that she could no longer take long strides. Lily charmed people's robes so that they would fit comfortably, and consoled wailing girls (who now looked like Snape; very disconcerting, but Lily was used to rising to the occasion). James was doing likewise with another crowd of students. One of the Snapes—presumably the real one—had taken control and was helping his share of students with adjustments, though with a very dark scowl on his face.
The unaffected population, however, seemed to find this phenomenon shocking at first, but rather on the humorous side soon after. Soon, the chairs and floor were covered with students who were gasping for breath in between roars of laughter, while a select, more impressionable few were standing about with their eyes covered, muttering about nightmares and the like.
By now, Dumbledore had gotten everyone's attention, and was directing the afflicted students to the professors to be fitted more comfortably into their clothing until the potion wore off. It wore off in another ten minutes, and though several students looked rather traumatized, most of them were just glad it was over and they could return to the ball.
If Dumbledore suspected who had pulled off this prank, he never said a word; his blue eyes did flick over James and Lily once, as did Severus Snape's.
Dancing resumed, and after dealing with a last few lingering students who couldn't seem to get over the shock ("I want to wash my hair!" shrieked one girl), a few empty threats from Snape ("I know it was you, Potter...and Potter!"), and a quick trip to the ladies' room for Lily and to the stage for James, the couple rejoined the throngs of dancers. The next few songs were slow ones, supposedly to calm the masses after the uproar, and Lily settled into James's arms with a sigh of contentment. James rested his head on Lily's red curls, and they both closed their eyes as they swayed to the music.
Students were still sending them strange looks, but the couple didn't seem to notice.
"D'you think we were too cruel to the students who turned into Snape?" Lily murmured.
"You know they were the ones who did the most to deserve it," was all James said.
All too soon the ball began winding down. The Weird Sisters announced that it was there last song for the night, and began to play. Lily gasped and pulled at the sides of James's robes in surprise. James just smiled and said, "I requested."
It was Lily's favourite. "In memory of the Snitches, dedicated to a certain redhead," one of the vocalists said, winking, before launching into the song.
The couple fell into step, clasped in each other's arms, listening to the familiar melody.
"Lily," murmured James, after a few minutes.
"Mm?" Lily nestled into his warmth, and lifted her chin so she could look him in the face.
James looked down at her softly, with such a gentle smile on his face that Lily smiled back inadvertently and snuggled closer.
"I love you," he said simply.
She took the words in, and then smiled—her perfect, heart-wrenching smile that always made James's breath catch in his throat. Reaching up, she tugged his head down until their faces were only inches apart. She paused, looking into his eyes, still smiling that same smile. Their foreheads touched, and then she leaned in and kissed him. It was a light kiss, but full of meaning—for everything they had promised each other the night they had gotten together, the night they'd gotten engaged, the night of their wedding; and for the promises sealed tonight. They broke apart slightly stunned and out of breath.
"I love you," she said after a few moments, just as simply.
They both smiled and continued to dance, holding one another closer.
Lily and James stayed in the Great Hall long after the students had been led back up to their dormitories. They had helped the others clean up the mess—it didn't take too long, as magic sped things up quite a bit—and had lingered a little longer after the last of the staff had left. They were preparing to take a leisurely stroll back to their lounge when footsteps accompanied by the telltale jangling of bracelets resonated loudly across the room. Trelawney floated in, bringing with her the pungency of an incense shop.
Her spooky voice was eerier than usual. "I foresaw that the festivities would end a bit early," she claimed, though her eyes did travel confusedly around the room. "I came down to offer my services to help clean up, but I did also foresee that I would be too late."
James chuckled tolerantly. "Why didn't you join us, Sybill?"
Trelawney shrugged, and her bracelets clanked against each other noisily. She made some strange-looking hand motions, wafting her heavy perfume through the hall. "The Inner Eye simply cannot tolerate crowds." Lily and James were frozen to the spot, transfixed at the sight of her waving her arms and trying very hard not to laugh.
They managed to choke out a polite reply, and were about to take their leave, turning towards the door quickly, when Trelawney's voice cried out.
"Stop!"
The voice was Trelawney's, but it was very much altered. The pitch was deeper, and it seemed to take on an authority that her statements generally lacked. The couple turned slowly towards her, and realized with a start that her eyes had rolled back in her head. Unconsciously, Lily and James grasped hands more tightly, and stepped closer to one another. What the hell was going on?
"THE DARK LORD IS RISING," Trelawney's voice boomed. The candles in the room seemed to waver. James made an involuntary move toward her, but Lily pulled him back. "HE IS GAINING POWER EVERY DAY. HIS SERVANTS ARE EVERYWHERE—CLOSER THAN YOU THINK. A FRIEND WILL BETRAY YOU—THE SECRET IS NOT SAFE." Her head turned toward the couple. "YOU WILL DIE. YOUR CHILD MUST—"
Trelawney's voice broke off abruptly and her eyelids slammed shut. After a few seconds of stunned silence, she emitted a small snore. Suddenly, her eyes opened again—this time, looking normal. She yawned. "I must be more tired than I thought," her wispy voice claimed, "to have dozed off. The Inner Eye is such a burden..."
And with that, she floated out of the room.
James and Lily were left staring at each other blankly in a now silent Great Hall. They each blinked a few times, slowly.
"What. Was. That," was all James could manage.
"I. Don't. Know," Lily replied, equally confused. The couple stood in silent tension for a few moments. Then she cracked a grin. "D'you reckon someone slipped something into her tea?" The atmosphere lightened immeasurably.
James smirked. "Why would anyone do that? All they have to do to drug her is replace some of her incense sticks…"
Lily tapped her chin speculatively. "Do you suppose she smokes? Do you think she knows about Muggle drugs?"
Both of them laughed, though a slight hint of uncertainty tinged their voices and hung in the air long after they had stopped.
"Well then," James finally said, breaking the silence.
"Yes," Lily said conversationally.
"Shall we retire?" James offered his arm with his most debonair smile.
Lily took the proffered arm and giggled. "Indeed," she replied, "we shall."
Notes:
So...Trelawney's first real prediction ::gasp gasp::!
The rest...is complete and utter fluff. Even that prank...I admit, it fell short of what I wanted it to be. I couldn't think of anything interesting that they could pull!!! :(
Anyway, this chapter was basically my take on the incredibly overused idea of James and Lily at a ball at Hogwarts. Then again, I suppose there really aren't many opportunities for fancy date-like settings in a big drafty castle, so the ball's about the only thing that could provide for the "romantic" atmosphere. Yeah, I just had to work it in somehow and I didn't feel like waiting for a Yule Ball. Um, what else? Yeah.
To you reviewers who make me grin like a crazie—
everblue3 – oh dear...I could totally go on about roommates waking a person up at ungodly hours...in my freshman year one of my roommates' families moved to Korea, so she would continually get up at 5am to call them and talk reeeeeeeeeally looouuuudly in Korean. After that year, I was left with this horrible impression that Korean was just the ugliest language on the face of the earth...and I could totally rant about this for many more paragraphs, but I won't. I'm just glad the update helped bring something of a smile to your face. Your review this time had me alternately grinning and laughing; thanks so much for the tips on reviewing! I've actually been trying that—a couple times I think I lost my review because I'd accidentally close off the window as I read the fic....^_^;; I'll get used to it in a bit.
I understand your wanting to take a break until May...take all the time you need; we won't get to read quality work from you otherwise! Academics and other such annoying activities always get in the way...I actually began writing this fic a long time ago, but stuff just kept getting in the way, and I didn't want to post any of it until I was reasonably sure that I would follow through and finish the entire piece (I have a tendency to just let things slide...and never complete them....for years.....). As long as that doesn't happen for you, I'll be happy :) Things're getting pretty hectic for me as well (okay, not right now, since I'm on *my* spring break, but definitely starting next week), so I won't really have time to write reviews as nicely as I'd like. Sigh.
::hands everblue3 a sword, so that she can brush her teeth with her toothbrush:: Away!! :D
Princess Pixie ice – I'm so glad you read this story even though you don't normally read PG fic!!!! :D I hardly ever read PG fic myself, now that I think about it. Hrm. ;) But yes, I hope you're recovering from your trip to the dentist...those can be harsh! (I *HATE* going to the dentist!!! Bah!!!)KeeperOfTheMoon – Yeah, I like the Lily-Remus bond. I wish I had something like that, but as I don't, I'll settle for writing about Lily and Remus ;) Thanks for reviewing!! James tried pretty hard not to step on her toes ;D
Kirbee – Yes—this isn't a spoiler, is it?—the school will find out they're married. Sometime soon. Yay! Yeah, Snape seems like the stalking-the-corridors-late-at-night type to me, too. Must be the all dressed in black factor. Or maybe it's just his lovely sunny personality. ;)
Pristine – Now that you mention it, their fight did end somewhat abruptly, didn't it? I guess I was trying for the whole "the times are getting serious, must not be petty" type thing. Do you really want them to fight again? I think I have a couple mock-fights in there later on but nothing too big or real...hm. Well, if you reeeeally want them to, I'll think about trying it out...no guarantees though :) (I think I've just gotten used to them getting along...we'll see). Yay! I'm glad you're reading this now, though. Thanks for reviewing—I appreciated your comments on their marriage & needing personal space—I can see that, too...*I* would definitely want my personal space...
rosezgarden - ::cheers:: I'm glad you're still reading this! Along with Kirbee, everblue3, and quite possibly KeeperOfTheMoon, you're becoming something of a regular reviewer and I LOVE YOUUUU. Have I emphasized this enough? I'm glad glad glad you like this story and I hope you don't fall out of like with it anytime soon! All of you make my day!
I actually got around to reading some of your fic...I think I left a review for the first chapter but didn't really get round to leaving more...hehehe, I'm getting there...
kuro-tenshi, Parselmouth Majere : Thank you two for reviewing!! :D
Note: There is something really wrong with this...I keep uploading the chapter, but some of my bold comments aren't showing up. It's making me quite angry because there's really no reason for it that I can see. GR!
