Chapter 15: Happy Christmas Ball and Merry New Year (Part 1)
A/N Ah yes. Another new chapter. This is the first part of the chapter I was going to make the last chapter. This is what I was going to add for the last chapter but oh well. Plans have to change sometimes when you have lots of great ideas floating around. Anyway, I love you all my wonderful readers, so I really hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter characters or anything Harry Potter related. I do own the OC Jasmine and the plot of this story.
It took almost all of the rest of Christmas for Sirius and Jaz to come up with their final plan to make James and Lily a thing, but it was so worth it. They were both really excited about it. Most of the details had been finalized on Christmas but not all of them. They were planning on asking Remus for a little extra help finalizing the detail. And since the werewolf was coming over to Potter Manor that day, the day after Christmas (December 26), the new couple thought they would just ask him when he came over. In the meantime, though, Sirius had a surprise that he wanted to show Jasmine.
That morning after Christmas day, Sirius woke up before Jasmine again, but that wasn't a surprise because he was sure she continued to work on their plan after he left her room last night. She was really into the idea, especially since she knew it would not only make James happy (which was a bonus) but it would also make her best friend and cousin happy in the end. Sirius knew that she knew what she was doing. He also knew that she would fill him in once she woke up.
So, that morning, instead of hanging out with his lovely girlfriend, Sirius thought he would spend it with James. He needed some bro time anyway. Sirius knows he has been neglecting his best mate since he and Jaz got together and decided to remedy that by hanging out with him all morning. Or at least he would hang out with him until Jaz was up and ready for the day. Sirius had a surprise to show her before Remus arrived. He also wanted to show Remus, but Sirius wanted Jasmine to be the first one of the two to see the surprise.
The surprise was the other reason that Sirius wanted to hang out with his best mate that morning. Which is what he asked James about when he saw him in the kitchen after getting his breakfast. "Hey, Prongs. I was wondering if you wanted to help me out with something this morning?"
"Why don't you ask your girlfriend?" James questioned irately. James was still a bit bitter about getting "ditched" for Jasmine on Christmas yesterday.
"She's asleep still, but even if she were awake, I wouldn't want her help. I want your help, James."
This caught James's attention. "Really? And it will be just us."
"Well, yeah. At least until we finish." James frowned at this. He knew it was too good to be true.
"Oh. So, you weren't asking me to spend the day with you?"
Sirius could hear the sadness in his best mate's voice, so he decided then that he would spend most of the day with James. After all, it couldn't be the whole day since Sirius and Jaz still had to talk to Remus about their plan. And since that plan involved James, they couldn't include him in the planning. "Well, I wouldn't say the whole day, but rather most of the day."
James's face brightened at that. "Really? You mean it Pads?"
"Of course. What kind of person do you take me for?" Sirius joked.
James rolled his eyes and changed the subject. "So, what is it that we shall be doing this fine morning, my fine furry friend?"
Sirius let out a chuckle. "My motorcycle is my first priority. I haven't shown it to Mare or Remus, so I want to get more of it ready to show them today. You did such a great job helping me over the summer. Plus, we had a lot of fun working on it. So, what do you say, Prongs? You up for it this morning?"
James put his hand on his chin and started stroking his imaginary beard to indicate to Sirius he was "thinking" about it. He didn't "think" about it very long before answering. "You know me Padfoot. I'm up for anything." And with that, the two boys went to where the motorcycle was being stored and started working on it. Before they went, Sirius told James's mother to tell him when Jasmine woke up and not to tell her where he and James were and what they were doing.
It was several hours later when Jasmine woke up, luckily in bed and not on the desk that was in the room. Still laying out on the desk were the plans that Jaz and Sirius had come up with last night. There was also some other parchment that had the beginnings of how they were going to execute the plan they decided to go with. Noticing all the plans still on the desk, Jaz quickly got out of bed and put the papers away. She wanted to avoid Lily or James seeing them. There was no way that her cousin would ever be okay with what she was planning. James might be okay with it, but Jaz still didn't want him finding about the plan before they were able to execute it.
Then Jaz headed downstairs to the kitchen in her pajamas. She found the kitchen almost deserted sans Lily who was eating her breakfast while reading the book Remus had gotten her for Christmas. Jaz knew Lily was really happy that she had gotten the book but not as happy about getting the necklace from James. Though, Jaz also knew that Lily would never admit that she loved the necklace more than the book because as far as Jaz could tell, her cousin was still in denial about her feelings for James. Jasmine knew better though.
When Jasmine saw Lily in the kitchen, she knew this would be the perfect chance to get some time alone with Lily. Jasmine felt like she had neglected her cousin for far too long since she had gotten together with Sirius. Now, with no sign of either boy, was the perfect time for Jasmine and Lily not only to get some cousin bonding time but also for Jaz to thank Lily for the new friendship bracelet.
Jasmine got some breakfast and sat next to her cousin. Lily immediately marked her place in her book and set it off to the side to read later. Then Lily greeted her cousin. "Good morning, Mina."
"Mornin' Lils." Jaz gave her cousin a smile before continuing. "I meant to find you yesterday, but I got caught up in something."
"Oh, I know." Lily sent a wink her cousin's way.
Jaz rolled her eyes. "It wasn't like that Lily." Lily gave her one of her are you kidding me looks. "Okay, so it wasn't like that the whole time Lily. We did other stuff besides snog the whole night, you know."
"I figured. There is no way that you both spent all day snogging each other's faces off." Jasmine rolled her eyes before Lily changed the subject. "So, why did you want to find me anyway?"
"I wanted to tell you how much I really love and appreciate the replica friendship bracelet. It means so much to me Lily, and I was so devastated when I lost it the first time."
"I know, Mina. And I am so glad that you like it. I was hoping you would." Lily pulled back the sleeve of the shirt she was wearing to show the one Jaz had given her all those years ago. "After all, I figured it wasn't fair that I still have mine and you don't have yours anymore. I would have given you one last year, but I never found the time to do it. I had time this year, so I figured now was the best time to give it to you."
Jasmine pulled her cousin into a hug. Then she mumbled into Lily's shoulder, "It is one of the best gifts that I have ever gotten Lils. I love it." Then Jaz added quieter, "And I'm sorry Lils."
Unlucky for Jasmine, Lily managed to catch what her cousin said. So, she pulled back from the embrace. "What Mina? What are you sorry for?"
Shock covered Jasmine's face, but it quickly wore off. Then it was replaced by a look of guilt, which Jaz tried to hide from her cousin, but it was too late, Lily had already seen the look. Though Lily saw the look, she did not ask her cousin about it. Lily had already figured out that Jaz was hiding something from her, but Lily knew that Jasmine would eventually come to her with whatever she was hiding. Lily knew that her cousin just needed time, but Lily was a bit impatient. She had been hoping that the bracelet might push Jasmine into finally telling Lily the secret she was keeping, but Lily wasn't sure anymore, especially since Jasmine didn't offer a response to Lily's inquiry about her apology.
Seeing that she wasn't going to be getting any kind of answer from Jasmine, Lily decided to change the subject. "Well, Mina, it seems we have the morning to spend together. We can use it to catch up. You can tell me all about how you and Black have been spending your time lately." Lily ended with a wink at Jasmine whose face started to turn a shade of red.
"Sounds great Lils. I could use a girls' day with just the two of us." Then Jasmine remembered that Remus was coming over later that day. "Well, at least until Remus arrives later. We can spend the time until then together, just the two of us." Jasmine gave her cousin a smile, which was returned. Then the two girls finished their breakfast and headed up to Lily's room where they spent their day together.
Meanwhile, the boys were still working on the motorcycle trying their best to finish fixing it up before Remus would arrive. Sirius wanted to have it done at least an hour to half an hour before Remus was supposed to arrive. He wanted to show Jaz the motorcycle first, but he would be okay if they at least finished it before Remus arrived. The good thing was that they were on schedule for just that. The two boys didn't have a lot to get done when they started as they had fixed up most of the motorcycle over the summer. It was good that there wasn't much left to do, especially since it was their goal to get it done that day.
Anyway, they worked the entire day, only taking a few breaks, one of which was for lunch. Luckily, they hadn't seen the girls at all, so it would still be a surprise. Plus, they didn't have to lie to the girls either, which was just an added bonus, especially for Sirius who really didn't want to have to lie to Jasmine anymore about anything.
By the time James and Sirius finished the motorcycle and eaten dinner, Remus had finally arrived at Potter Manor. He arrived in the early evening and could only stay a couple of hours. When Remus arrived, it was James who greeted him at the door.
When James heard the knock at the door, he ran to it and swung the door open. Standing there on the other side was one of his best friends, Remus Lupin. "Well, look who we have here," James said to Sirius who had been with him when James heard the knock at the door.
"Well, if it isn't Remus Lupin," Sirius added, playing along. Then he dropped the act and pulled Remus into the Manor. "You know, it took you long enough. We were starting to think you weren't coming at all." Then Sirius pulled Remus into a hug and whispered in his ear. "Moony, I have something to discuss with you later." Remus gave a slight nod to Sirius after getting out of the hug to indicate to Sirius that he had heard him.
"Well, Moony, we have a surprise for you," James told his friend. "I know Padfoot here can't wait to show you." James winked in Sirius's direction to which Sirius sent a glare in James's direction in response.
Just then Jasmine entered the entranceway where the three boys were still standing. "Ooh, a surprise. What is it?" Jasmine asked the boys.
All three snapped their heads in the direction that Jasmine's voice came from. Sirius, seeing his girlfriend enter the room, walked over to her. He pulled her into a side hug and was about to kiss her on the cheek but thought better of it. He didn't necessarily want Remus to find out about his and Jasmine's new relationship in the entranceway of Potter Manor. Plus, Sirius wasn't entirely sure whether Jaz wanted him to know right now. They hadn't actually talked about whether they would tell Remus about their relationship or not since they were more focused on their plan for James and Lily the night before. So, Sirius decided to just act as if nothing had entirely changed between him and Jasmine for the moment. He wouldn't try anything unless Jasmine initiated it. They wouldn't exactly have time to discuss whether they wanted to tell Remus or not until after Remus left. Sirius didn't expect James to leave them alone anytime soon.
Jasmine, on the other hand, was more focused on what surprise the two mischievous boys had in store for Remus. It was a surprise that she was not in on, which concerned her just a bit since it could very well be a prank on the poor boy. So, not wanting to be left out of the loop, Jasmine repeated her question, "What is the surprise?"
"Don't worry Jazzy," James reassured. "It's nothing bad. I swear. In fact, it is a surprise for you too. Sirius and I have been working on it all day, so I hope you enjoy what our hard work has accomplished." By now James was standing next to Jaz on her other side with Remus not far behind them. Then James turned to Sirius and told him, "Well, lead the way oh furry one."
Sirius had released Jasmine from the hug several minutes ago but was still by her side, though, he moved to give James a smack to the back of his head. Then he started to lead the three of them to the room where the motorcycle was. On the way, they ran into Lily, who reluctantly decided to join them in their journey. It was only because her curiosity got the better of her, or so she would tell them all.
It wasn't much longer after Lily had joined them that they reached the room where the motorcycle was staying. The door to the room was closed to keep the surprise hidden. Plus, Sirius and James obviously wanted to make a big dramatic showing of the surprise. And with that they obviously had an amazingly dramatic speech prepared, or at least Sirius did since it was mostly his surprise.
"Ladies and werewolf, we have brought you here to this remote room of Potter Manor to show you the most amazing thing ever. It was once nothing, but with some help from James, I was able to make it what it is today. What you are about to witness–" But Sirius never got to finish his speech as Lily interrupted him before he could.
"Oh, just get on with it Black. We don't have all night. Just open the damn door and show us what you two morons have been so busy working on all day."
Sirius let out a huff. "Fine. We'll do it your way, but only because I really want to show you want it is." Then Sirius swung open the door and the group entered the room.
The looks on all but James and Sirius's faces were absolutely priceless. The shock of seeing the motorcycle sitting there was not at all what they were expecting to have found in the room at all. And none of them were expecting to see a fully restored motorcycle either.
The first to recover from their show was Jasmine. "Oh my god! What the hell?" Well, actually she was still pretty shocked, but she wasn't speechless anymore. It was a few more moments before she was actually able to gather her thoughts, and when she did, Jasmine turned to Sirius. "Why the hell do you have a motorcycle?"
"Ah, yes. Excellent question, Ms. Dupont," Sirius started off. "Well, isn't it obvious? I found it for the Muggle Studies extra credit project. When I realized you were probably not going to be helping me out anymore, Mare, I knew I would have to end up doing it by myself. That is when I happened to stumble upon this motorcycle that was about to be hauled away. Actually, it wasn't really a motorcycle, but more the bare bones of a motorcycle, but that's beside the point. I saw this beauty and I immediately wanted it. So, I spent the entire rest of the summer, with some help from James, fixing up this motorcycle. It took a lot of research and search to get all of the right parts, but I did it." Then James punched him in the shoulder. "I mean we did it. I couldn't have done this without James. So, what do you all think? I haven't tested it out yet, but I probably won't do that until the Summer."
By this point, Lily and Remus had snapped out of their daze. They both congratulated the boys on their job well done. They did a great job fixing up the motorcycle. After offering her congratulations, Lily said goodbye to the boys and Jasmine before leaving the room. James was soon to follow after the girl. He made a lame excuse about having to do something before rushing out of the room. Now it was just Sirius, Jasmine, and Remus left in the room with the motorcycle. This is when Jasmine brought up her idea. "Sirius, this is amazing. I am so proud that you were able to get this done without asking any of us half-bloods for any help. That is very impressive. But I think I have an idea on how to make it even better."
"I'm listening."
"What if instead of it just being a regular motorcycle, it was a magical motorcycle?"
Sirius gave his girlfriend a confused look. "What do you mean magical motorcycle? How on earth could I make it magical?"
"By making it fly of course. How else would it be magical?" Jasmine gave her boyfriend a smug smirk.
Sirius, hearing the idea, just wanted to kiss that smirk off of Jasmine's face, but refrained from doing so. Sirius still wasn't sure if Jasmine wanted Remus to know about their relationship. But Sirius still pulled the girl into a bear hug. Then when he released her he said, "Mare, that is an absolutely brilliant idea. I can't believe I didn't think of that. You'll help me, right? You too, Moony?" Jasmine nodded her head. Then the two turned toward Remus for his answer.
Remus jumped at the sound of his nickname. He had been paying attention at first to the conversation but ended up getting lost in his thoughts, but he still said, "Of course, Padfoot." Though, since he was lost in his thoughts, Remus wasn't entirely sure what he was agreeing to.
"Brilliant. We can get started on that when we get back to Hogwarts. In the meantime, Moony, Mare, and I have something we want to discuss with you."
Then the couple took turns telling Remus about their ideas of how to get James and Lily together as a couple or at least get them to start being friends. Remus listened intently and even interjected a few times to offer other ideas of how to better the plan. They spent the rest of the time that Remus was at Potter Manor working on a plan for getting James and Lily together. They had pretty much finalized the entire plan by the time that Remus had to leave. There were only a few kinks that Jasmine and Sirius knew they could work out by themselves. They were very grateful for Remus' help and promised to tell him how the plan ended up going.
While they were formulating their plan, James had caught up to Lily. "Hey, Evans. Wait up. I have something I want to ask you."
Lily, not wanting James to keep chasing after her, slowed down and allowed the boy to catch up to her. She didn't stop though. Once he caught up, she asked, "What do you want, Potter?"
"Jeez, cold much, Lily-pad?" Lily rolled her eyes at his comment, which for some reason actually hurt her a bit, but she knew he was just joking around. "I just wanted to ask whether I could be your escort to the Christmas Ball tomorrow?"
Lily was about to respond no, but then she thought more about it. Originally, Lily had planned to spend the entire ball with her cousin but now things had changed. Jasmine was bound to want to go to the ball with her boyfriend. Lily also assumed that there was probably no way that she would get her cousin away from Sirius Black anyway. To herself, Lily thought, "I really would have rather spent this ball with Mina but seeing as she has been a bit preoccupied with Black, I mean Sirius, lately, I don't see us hanging out at this ball. Plus, I want to give them the time to be together. They are so right for each other. Sirius understands her in a way that I never really could. And then there is the fact that they help each other heal after each of their personal abuse. It may be slow, but I can tell that they are actually so much better for each other now that everything is out in the open. I am really happy for Mina, too. She deserves some happiness after everything that she has gone through since she was 11. I guess the only way I might actually survive this ball at all is if I go with Potter. I really don't have much of a choice. And I don't think it will be that bad anyway. Potter isn't as bad as he has been in the past. Plus, he got me that absolutely gorgeous necklace for Christmas." Then Lily's thoughts stopped abruptly because James was trying to get the girl's attention.
"Lily-pad? You still in there? Are you going to answer my question or not?"
"So much for him changing," Lily thought. Then out loud she answered, "Sure, Potter. Why not? We can occupy each other while our best friends are sucking each other's faces off." Lily joked. Then her voice turned serious, almost threatening. "But don't you go getting any ideas, Potter. I am not agreeing to a date. I'm doing this for Mina. She deserves a fairytale ending at least once in her life."
James, a bit scared of Lily, vigorously nodded his head, agreeing to Lily's terms. "Wasn't planning on it, Evans." James teased. And with that, the plan that Sirius, Jasmine, and Remus were currently coming up with was already getting set into motion before they had even finalized it.
Soon enough it was December 28, the morning of the annual Potter Christmas Ball. And Potter Manor was in chaos. But not because there were any last-minute decoration changes or anything like that but rather because of the girls getting ready. Lily had insisted on doing Jasmine's hair and makeup before the ball. She also refused to let either of the boys into her room to see Jasmine or herself before they were ready for the ball.
Before any of them knew it, it was almost time for the ball. The boys were standing at the bottom of the staircase that led to the bedrooms. They were waiting for their "dates" to come out, so they could escort them to the ballroom. When the girls finally came down the stairs, both boys' jaws dropped open. They couldn't stop staring at the two girls. They looked absolutely gorgeous. The girls had gone all out on the makeup and hair. They had put blush, lipstick, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, and a bit of concealer on each other.
For Jasmine, Lily had put on lipstick that was a darker red almost maroon-ish color. Her blush wasn't nearly as dark but was still prominent on her cheeks. Lily hadn't put much on, but it was still visible on Jasmine's cheeks. For her eyes, Lily hadn't put much mascara, rather just enough. The real draw was actually the eye shadow that Lily did for Jasmine. With a little help from Mrs. Potter, Lily was able to make it so that there was a blue sparkly circular middle surrounded with a light black color. It was absolutely gorgeous.
Then there was what Lily had done to Jasmine's already beautiful dark strawberry blonde hair. Lily also had help from Mrs. Potter to do Jasmine's hair as well. The woman knew some beauty spells that made the process a lot easier than it would have been otherwise. Now Jasmine's hair was already wavy, so curling was too simple of something to do. And Lily thought that straightening the hair was way too simple as well. Instead, she decided to straighten it after adding a small, braided crown around the top of Jasmine's head. And she looked absolutely stunning with the hairstyle.
Jasmine's dress correlated well with her makeup, particularly the eyeshadow. Her dress was strapless. It was a sparkling silver-white color from the breasts down to her waist. From the waist down was a flowing deep blue color that was heavily littered with sparkles toward the top, but as you continued down the sparkles were farther apart. The dress looked absolutely gorgeous on the strawberry blonde. It really brought out the blue in her eyes, as did the eyeshadow. Sirius couldn't stop staring at her.
Lily, on the other hand, went with a different color theme for her look. For her makeup, Jasmine used the same shade of lipstick as Lily had used on Jasmine. She also used the same blush color. Basically, Lily's makeup was very similar to Jasmine's makeup. The difference was the eyeshadow. Instead of the gorgeous design that was done for Jasmine's eyeshadow, Lily had on shimmering emerald eyeshadow that looked amazing on her. They complimented her eyes in a way that just worked.
Lily's hair was also done differently than Jasmine's hair. Given the fact that Lily has straight red hair, Jasmine decided that she would curl Lily's hair. But she decided to add her own flair in there as well. After curling Lily's hair, Jasmine put Lily's hair in a half up half down hairstyle with an emerald-colored bow. The bow really tied the whole hairstyle together.
Then there was Lily's dress, which was remarkably similar to Jasmine's dress. Unlike Jasmine's dress, Lily's dress was not completely strapless. Instead, Lily's dress had sleeves that hung off of her shoulders and on her arms. Though Lily's dress was also a sparkly silver at the top of the dress down to her waist. The sparkles then continued down the emerald skirt of the dress, but unlike Jasmine's dress, the sparkles in Lily's dress did not continue all the way down the dress. They stopped about halfway down the dress around where her knees were.
Unlike Jasmine, Lily was also wearing some jewelry to compliment her dress. She had on the necklace that James had given her for Christmas, which complimented the dress very nicely. Lily also had on some small dangling emerald-colored earrings that matched the necklace almost perfectly. She looked absolutely perfect to James, who fell even more in love with Lily after seeing her come down those steps. He just couldn't take his eyes off of her.
When the girls finally reached the bottom of the staircase, the boys were still staring at them, Sirius less so than James. It took a slap upside the head from each of the boys' "dates" for the evening to snap them out of it.
"Come on boys or we will be late for the ball," Jasmine said as she interlocked her arm with Sirius's arm before letting him lead her toward the ballroom. Lily reluctantly did the same with James before following the couple.
Jasmine and Sirius stayed far enough ahead of Lily and James that they were out of hearing range. James was grateful for this as he wanted to talk to Lily without them overhearing. "Lily," James whispered to get the girl's attention. She turned her head to look at him. "You look beautiful tonight."
"Thank you, Potter. And you clean up nice."
James gave her a grateful smile for the compliment, but inside James was a bit hurt that she had called him Potter and not James. He brushed the hurt aside for now. "I see you are wearing the necklace I gave you. It looks amazing on you. It really compliments your eyes."
Lily turned away from James to hide the blush that was growing on her face. It didn't mean anything except that Lily appreciated the compliment. She was just embarrassed that James had paid such close attention that he noticed she was wearing the necklace that he gave her. The blush did not mean that Lily had any feelings for James Potter, or so Lily kept telling herself. There was no way that she would ever have any kind of feelings for James Potter.
Before either of them could speak up again to break the awkward silence that was settling between them, the two couples had arrived at the ballroom doors. By the time they had arrived, several other regular guests had already arrived. James recognized most of them because he had seen them at the ball previously, but other than that he really didn't have any idea who anyone was. James knew faces, but he wasn't the best with names most of the time. Unless he saw them regularly, James would usually forget names. Though, James did know that the people who had already arrived were just people of high society, like his parents.
The ball wasn't very exciting, or at least that is what James thought every time he was forced to come. He usually hated wearing his dress robes, but this year was different. This year instead of going with just Sirius, James had a "date." Well, technically he told Lily that he knew this wasn't a date, but that didn't mean he couldn't pretend for the night that they were on a date. This was everything James had ever wanted since he had met Lily on the train that first day. He fell in love with her over the years and with each passing day fell deeper and deeper in love with her. And James thought it was absolutely hopeless for them to ever end up together, even though on the outside he seemed determined that he would end up with Lily. Though, when Jasmine came into the picture, James started to hope that he could actually have a chance with Lily someday. His hope was even strong as of recent days, especially after the gift that Lily gave him.
Anyway, James thought that now that he had a "date," the ball would be more enjoyable. He was wrong, though, at least for the first part of the ball, which was dinner. James wasn't really expecting much in the entertainment department during dinner, though. He could do without the looks that Sirius and Jasmine, or Sazzy as James had named them in his head, were giving each other. They looked so happy together and that just left James without his best friend. And if he was being truthful with himself, James felt lonely and jealous too. His best friend had gotten the girl that he wanted, but what about him. It felt like Sirius had almost forgotten about James, but James knew he never did. Plus, if Sirius could get the girl he wanted, why couldn't James just end up with Lily. It was this very logic that landed him in the situation he was now.
James thought that since Sirius could get his girl then so could he. James could end up with Lily, he just had to try harder. So, after dinner when Sirius asked Jasmine to dance, James thought that was an excellent idea. Therefore, James asked Lily. "Hey, Lily-pad, you want to dance with me?" James asked, offering his hand out for her to take it.
"Sure. Sounds like fun." Lily wasn't about to spend the whole ball sitting at a table with James. She wanted to do something even if it meant she would have to dance with James Potter.
James wasn't expecting her to actually agree to dance with him, but he figured he would take a chance anyway. So, when she actually said yes, he was stunned. He was even more stunned when she took his hand, but he didn't hesitate to lead her onto the dance floor. Luckily, James knew how to dance. Unluckily, Lily did not, so James being the nice guy that he is, whispered in her ear, "Just follow my lead and you will be fine. Don't worry Lily. I got you." Lily gave him a thankful smile in return.
Their dance wasn't a very complicated one as James wasn't about to try something like that with Lily. He didn't want his toes stepped on, so he led her in a waltz-sway kind of dance. He didn't want to try anything too complicated either so that Lily wouldn't have a hard time following his steps as they danced together.
It was on this dance floor that everything went wrong. James and Lily had been dancing for about half an hour. Lily was getting the hang of it, so James felt confident enough to start a conversation. "Hey, Lily,"
"Hmm?"
"Why did you agree to dance with me?"
"Well, you are my escort for the evening, Potter. Plus, I wasn't about to be stuck sitting at that table all evening. I wanted to do something more than to sit there with you all night, Potter. And since you are the only one besides Black, I mean Sirius, that I know here, you were my only option to dance with."
Lily's words hurt James more than they normally would. James who usually brushed off Lily's harsh words was actually hurt by them this time. He was particularly hurt by the fact that she still refused to say his first name. He called her by her first name, and she even corrected herself by saying Sirius's first name. That begs the question of why she couldn't say his first name. Not once did he ever hear her call him James. And that actually never bothered James before, until now. If he were to have any shot at ever winning over Lily, he had to find out why she still refused to call him by his first name.
"Lily, why don't you call me James?"
Lily was startled by the question. "What?"
"Why don't you–"
"No, I heard you the first time." Lily rephrased her question. "I meant, that I don't get why you are asking that question. You should know by now why I don't call you by your first name Potter."
James started to get a bit angry now. "What do you mean I should already know? I get why you have called me Potter in the past, Lily, but why are you still doing it. You have at least at one point called each of the Marauders by their first name, all except me. So why are you still calling me Potter? It's not like I'm still constantly calling you Evans. And even when I do call you Evans, I'm only teasing."
Lily was angry now too. He had no right to accuse her of such things. "You know exactly why I still call you Potter. You are still the arrogant toerag I met on the train that first day. You will never change Potter."
James was really pissed off now and was practically yelling at Lily now. "Well then if I will never change why did you even bother coming with me tonight. You didn't even have to come, Lily. You could have stayed at Hogwarts or even gone home or just stayed in your room for the night. You didn't have to come tonight Lily. You didn't have to mislead me all school year long. I thought we were starting to become actual friends Lily, but I guess not."
Lily was really pissed off now and screamed right back at James. By now they were creating a scene in the middle of the dance floor. "How could you ever think that we were ever friends, Potter? And how dare you tell me what I could have done tonight. I wanted to come to this ball to have a good time. For once I wanted to feel like a princess, but you just had to ruin it, Potter. I'm done with you. Goodnight, Potter." And with that, Lily stormed out of the ballroom, leaving James in the middle of the dance floor. He stared after her confused and hurt wondering how they even got to this point.
A/N Oh no, trouble in paradise for Jily. I know this chapter was mainly focused on Jily (particularly at the ball), but don't worry, there will be more Sazzy as well as Jily coming up in the next chapter.
Also, I know that this a long chapter, so I hope you all really enjoy it. And I look forward to reading all of your comments.
P.S. To everyone who has reviewed this fic: I appreciate your reviews and comments so much. They make my day (for the most part) and it makes writing this fic so much better so please keep it up. I hope to write a lot more in the coming weeks since I am on break now, but we will just have to wait and see what happens.
P.S.S. Did any of you catch the reference that I made in this chapter? Let me know if you did (Hint: It's not from a book or even Harry Potter. Think Television show) I'll let you know if anyone got it right in the second part of this chapter.
Hope to "see" you all soon (Sorry for the long author's note),
Knk6700
