Chapter 6: The Question, the Stupid Ball, the Kiss

Winter of Year 1974

Lily Evans:

"It's convenient, isn't it?" stated Ashley Thompson.

"What is?" I asked nonchalantly as we, the 4th year girls of Gryffindor, sat around on our beds, doing what was important to us, gossiping.

"How there are four boys and four girls of our year," said Ashley.

"Oh, right. That way we can all go together," said Jo.

"You two, still going on about that?" said Meg as she flipped through Witches Weekly.

"About what?" I asked with interest.

"You know," said Meg knowingly.

"Know what?" I said still not knowing what on earth they were talking about. With a roll of her eye, Jo said, "The Ball, Lily. The Ball. We are allowed to go now, since we are in our 4th year. Remember?"

"Oh," I said, "Right."

"Exactly," continued Ashley, "My mum bought me a new dress robe for this occasion. One from Paris!" she grinned with satisfaction. "She said, I should enjoy any little things during the time of dark times. I am so thankful that Professor Dumbledore didn't cancel the Yule Ball this year like last year. If he did, I would have been so sad to miss it. I've been waiting to go forever."

"Are you going to ask him out then?" asked Jo, which turned Ashley into shades of red and pink.

We all know how much Ashley liked Sirius since…well…forever.

"Josephine, as much as I love you, I can't believe you are that nutter!" said Meg. She turned toward Ashley, "don't worry, Ash. It's boy's job to ask a girl out. He's going to ask you out. I mean, just look at you. You have that curly blonde hair I would kill to have. And of course, I think some of boys are started to notice you."

I saw Ashley smile a little.

"Of course, it's just too bad that our boys are just too immature to notice girls yet," quipped Jo.

"Oh, they are not too bad," I said, remembering the times the Marauders tried to sneak into the Astronomy Tower to catch anyone snogging. Of course, it was to play pranks on Slytherins who are known to snog someone there, but…

"You only say that because you hang out with them all the time. I would think you like them better than us." said Jo.

"No, I don't."

"Don't try to deny it, Miss Evans. We all know you do," Jo said, as the other two girls nodded in agreement. "Yeah, now that Remus doesn't hang out with us anymore, and you hang out with them now. What's going on with your Feminism and all that?"

I nearly choked. I am still a Feminist. Although I did have fun with Marauders...

"And that's why you are going to help all of us," said Meg.

"What do you mean?"

"Go on, tell her," said Jo, elbowing Ashley and Meg.

"We want to know who's going to ask who out," said Ashley. I starred at all three girls face blankly.

"How am I going to do that?" I asked with sense of forbidding.

"Easy," said Meg. They were closing in on me with this knowing look.

"You ask them," said Jo.

"Why would I do a thing like that?" I said as I was slowly backing away from three girls.

"Because you are a Feminist, Lily. You believe in the strength of women, and you don't care what the others think. We," Jo pointed to Meg and Ashley and herself, "are not as brave as you, on the other hand. Now what do you say?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I couldn't believe I was doing this. I was shuffling with what words to say as I worked toward the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. I felt like a hypocrite. I felt so exposed. So wrong. Why am I doing this? Because I wanted to prove to the girls that I was a Feminist, I knew I was. But why did I feel so....wrong.

I, Lily Evans, the believer and the preacher of Feminism, was reduced to asking boys to see which of them are going to ask us the girls out. The girls are still living in the last century, where the men are the dominant deciding figures. I couldn't believe it. I can't believe I was actually doing it.

"Good morning," I said as normal as a witch could sound in Saturday morning of November.

"Morning, there Lily," said James.

"Had a nice dream?" mumbled Remus with a bad bed hair, which I had to smile inwards.

"Yes, and you?"

"I've had better," said the sleepy head with closing golden eyes.

"Where is rest of the gang?" I asked as I noticed two of them were missing.

"Sirius's in a beaters meeting, of course," said James as he munched on his breakfast.

"Of course," I agreed as I put the strawberry jam on my toast.

"Pete's sleeping in," mumbled Remus with head down.

"Why aren't you-"

"James," Remus jerked his head toward James, "he dragged me out so I would not starve myself to death."

James smiled weakly and I smiled back. We both knew how Remus needed to eat to gain strength after the transformation two nights ago.

"How's your arm?" I didn't wait for his answer, as I pulled up his right sleeve to reveal almost healed scars that were turning into fresh bruises.

Remus sat up straight in his seat and covered his arm, "they are much better," he smiled a bit, then his eyebrows furrowed. "What's the matter, Lily?"

Damn him, he can smell my anxiety.

"Nothing," I said but I saw the glances between James and Remus plainly. I knew it was my chance to bring it up.

"Okay, here is the thing," I said with a low voice; so both boys had to bend down to hear me.

"What is it?" James whispered.

~~~~~~~~~~

"So?"

"Well?"

"Come on, Lily, tell us?"

I chewed on my lips and blurted out, "I couldn't do it! Sorry! If I had done it, then well…well…"

"Well?" asked Meg.

"I am worst than Narcissa!" There I said it. I couldn't ask them, even if they were James and Remus. I didn't know why, but I got all nervous and sweaty when they looked at me. I was one of the gang, I wasn't supposed to ask them things like that. Only girls like Narcissa, who is soooo anti-feminism, would ask questions such as that.

Jo broke out laughing, and the other girls followed. I looked at them in surprise, I was so sure, they would be so disappointed that I couldn't do it. I, Lily Evans, who excels in classes, couldn't ask one single question to bloody boys.

"What is so funny? I am serious!" I said.

"No, you are Lily, not Sirius," said Ashley in between laughs. "We knew you couldn't ask that question. It was a mighty surprise when you even agreed to ask them."

"I told you she won't," said Meg.

"Especially when it were James Potter and Remus Lupin," Jo swooned dramatically.

"Okay, girls. If one of you won't tell me what's going on, I am seriously considering on telling the boys about how three of you want to go out with them!" I said mock threateningly.

"Oh, don't tell Sirius! I would be so embarrassed!" said Ashley.

"Oh Lily, you should have seen your face when you walked toward them at the Hall!" said Meg.

"It was classic!" agreed Jo. As seeing how I was glaring at them, they calmed down and gave me the full story. "Lily, we know how much you are a feminist, and we wanted to help you realize that you do want to go to the Ball with someone special. If we hadn't done it, then you wouldn't have gone!"

"You would have stayed here alone, reading or something," Meg sniffled vividly with gesture of wiping her fake tears.

"We just felt, we had to help you!" cried Ashley.

"Help me do what?" I cried out.

"Going to the Ball, of course!"

"Of course!"

"But," said Meg seriously, "we do know how much you hate being the…oh how would you say it? Oh yes, lesser sex."

Ashley said, "So, we are going to let you learn that-"

"You want to ask him out instead!" Jo cried out. By this time, my face was as red as an apple on Peter's desk.

"We decided to ask the boys, Lily. I know Ash is a bit nervous, but we had a bet that if you went to ask that question to the boys and didn't really ask them, then Ash and all of us are going to ask the boys out in your honor."

"We decided," said Ashley, "spending time with you have opened our eyes to our lives."

"Which means," said Jo, "we would ask whoever we like, not fearing what the world would think of us, the girls, asking out the boys."

"Naughty, naughty girls. It is simply not right! Girls asking out boys. What is the world coming to!" said Meg in mock voice of antifeminist.

I was very quiet until this point. I slowly opened my mouth. "Welcome to the brand new world, ladies."

I grinned the wicked Evans smile, "Now, I get to pick who I ask out first. Don't worry, Ash, it's not Sirius."

"I am going to ask that handsome Ravenclaw boy," said Jo dreamily.

"Hey, I thought we are going to ask our boys first," said Meg.

"No, that was only to make Lily go and ask the Marauders. Besides, we all know who Lily's going to ask."

"Who?" asked Ashley, then a second later, "ohhh, right."

"Okay, do you three know something I don't or something?" I said.

"Well, something. It's too bloody obvious, we won't tell you," said Meg.

"Fine by me," said I. I really hadn't thought about who I was going to ask out until that moment, but I knew one person that I wouldn't mind going to the Ball with.

James Potter:

"James, don't forget to ask me out. Oh James, be my date."

"Shut up!"

"Oh Potter, please Potter!"

"I said, shut it, Sirius!"

Sirius was really getting on my nerves. Stupid, stupid Ball. I hate my life. I banged my head against the headboard.

"So have you asked her?" Sirius asked.

"No, I-"

Stupid ball. Stupid dance.

"Why not? You better do it soon, or she would be taken!"

"I know that. But-"

"But what? I thought you were going to!"

"I know, Sirius! I was going to ask her today, but-"

"But what?"

"Just let me finish, Black," I sent him a glare, "I was going to, but she left before I could, and I couldn't talk to her alone. When I do have a chance to, then I will."

Sirius bounced down on my bed and sat beside me with our legs dangling down.

"Are you afraid?"

"Me? No! Are you?"

Me? Afraid? Of course not! Why would I be afraid of Lily? That's stupidest question.

"Of course, James. All during the Beaters meeting, my mind was going over 'what if she says no, what if she says yes'. All through out the meeting! I couldn't concentrate on anything. Did you know that I was the only Beater who didn't have a date yet? Well, except that Hufflepuff beater, he's only 3rd year."

"But Sirius, you haven't decided who you are going to ask out yet."

"Well….that was one of the problems I went over."

"You should ask Ashley. She had crush on you since first year. She's a sure bet."

"Sure bet," mumbled Sirius, suddenly out of the energy, "I don't know anymore!"

"Why, our most popular beater doesn't know who he wants? This is an outrage! We should-"

"James," the low voice of Sirius made me stop. He meant business, no jokes this time.

"All righty then, mate. At least we are going to stay here for the Christmas. We can have the Hogwarts for ourselves. It will be fun."

"Too bad, Peter and Remus have to go home," moaned Sirius.

"Hey, don't be party pooper. At least you've got your best friend to take care of you. We could practice Quidditch in snow."

"That's good idea, James. It would help us during the snow storm," Sirius said brightly. Knowing Sirius as well as I did, I knew what would cheer him up instantly from what was bugging him.

"Guys! Guys!" we heard Peter's cries before he opened the door and burst in. His face was livid with happiness.

"What is it?"

"What's up, Pete?"

"You won't believe what happened," Peter wheezed out. Sirius and I looked at each other and shrugged, neither of us knew what Peter was going to say.

"Josephine Knight…" Peter wheezed.

"Yeah, what about Jo?" Sirius asked impatiently.

"She…"

"Yeah, Pete?" I asked.

"She asked me…"

"Oh, get on with it, Pettigrew!" cried Sirius.

"Out!"

"WHAT?!" Sirius and I both exclaimed. Even Peter got a date to the stupid ball. We needed to hurry or we would be going to the ball alone. That would be very very sad.

"It's true, she did…ask…me out! Right in front…of…other…people…and….and…"

"And? And?" Sirius and I were impatient to know what had happened.

"And…oh yeah, I said yes….of course."

"Of course," said Sirius, waving his hand impatiently.

"But more importantly…before that….Lily…she…"

"Lily?" I asked with a sense of dread.

"Yeah, Lily asked…"

Oh, no.

"Oh, no," said Sirius looking at me.

"Oh, yes!" said Peter eagerly, "She asked out Remus."

That last word rang out in my ears.

Sirius Black:

That last word rang out in my ears, as I looked at Peter's happy face, and back to James's face, that probably mirrored my own.

"It was total surprise, of course. Remus and I were walking from Astrology tower, and suddenly Lily came, then asked Remus, who by the way turned so red, you wouldn't believe if I told you the shade of his color. He was so shocked, he didn't say a word at first, then I elbowed him in the rib, then he said yes. By that time, there was a crowd gathering around us. I mean, nobody, well, we would have expected it from older women, but nobody thought a girl would ask a boy."

I was frozen in my place, but listening attentively to every details of Peter's explanation.

"Then, Josephine saw me standing next to red Remus, and she asked me, flat out. 'Peter, I want to go to the Ball with you. How about it?' I was turning red as red as Remus, I am sure. And when I said yes, all the people around us, cheered and high fived us. They chanted, 'Break the tradition! Break the tradition!' All the girls, I mean. You never seen anything like it! It was like…"

"Magic," said James in a slow voice.

"Yes! As silly as it may sound. I can't believe I have a date! I can't believe I am going with Josephine Knight. She's the smartest and the prettiest Gryffindor."

"That's great, Peter," I said, trying to sound happy for him as possible. "That's bloody great."

"Not even close to Lily," I heard James mumble. I pulled at his arm and gestured toward Peter in a subtle way.

"I can't believe it. I am happy for you, Peter," James said with a pained smile.

"I know, I can't believe it either. I am going to owl my mother for a new dress robe. We only have a week left." With that little Peter went out, not noticing anything at all.

I saw James sitting down on his bed, hunched, defeated, in shock. I was too, in some way. I couldn't believe what just had happened. Who would have thought Remus…

"Oh, James. I am sorry."

"No. No. I am happy," he looked up at me above his glasses, "I am happy for Remus. Now, we don't have to worry about finding a date for Remus. He would have stayed in the library, if had it not for…"

I saw his eyes glistering, and I sat down on the floor and bend my head. I could feel my eyes stinging too for some reason. He cleared his throat and finished, "not for Lily. I knew she and Remus were close friends. It's good of her, really. I am happy for them."

"Oh, sod it, James. I know you wanted to ask her out since they announced the Ball this year. You could ask someone else you know. Forget her. Lily's not all that, I don't really understand why anyone wants to go with her-"

"Sirius," I looked up at his face, "I am going to pretend I didn't hear you say that." With that he walked out of the dorm room gravely.

I didn't like Lily at that moment. And I remembered I never really did like her at all. She was rather plain looking girl with smart mouth, that's all she was. But I didn't understand why I wanted to strangle her right then. I sat there on the floor, in front of James's bed, thinking over and over, the reason why.

Madam Pomfrey:

Everything has a pattern. There has to be a pattern for me to figure this out.

Remus's unfortunate nocturnal instinct from the wolf must be the reason for his sudden naps, but not the excessive amount of time he seems to lose. I must notify Professor Dumbledore about this.

Albus Dumbledore:

Dear Albus,

I must return this time to see my boy. I was unable to see him past years, because of Russia. I don't want him to worry about me. I had promised him to spend the Christmas with me this time. And I believe Wardley is started to miss him too.

Your last letter does concerned me, but I am sure he can overcome any obstacles. He has done it so far. Do please tell me if his dress robe suited him. I believe his hair belonged to his mother, if my memory serves me correctly.

As for the mission, I found the grave with help of Mr. DuMaurie. He and I sensed the strong protective charm around it, which we were afraid to penetrate. It might trigger something deadly. As we saw the remains of wild wolves, bears and even a tiger not far from the gravesite that had accumulated for what seemed to be about a decade.

My friend, do you really think it is he, who became the dark lord? I don't know what's going on with the world we are living in. Children are dying everyday, do you suppose its his revenge? I had investigated countless parents after the attacks, and it hurts my heart every time.

I will be home in few days to greet Remus. I hope you take care of yourself over the holiday. A little bird told me you are working much too hard.

Yours truly,

Ishmael

Lily Evans:

I looked around the room with unhide-able smile. It was my first Yule Ball. The night was going to be the one to remember for a long, long time.

Ashley looked splendid in her blue robe that matched Sirius's. It took her three days (after Jo and I asked our boys) to gather enough courage to ask Sirius out, but before she could even open her mouth, the dashing Black asked her instead. All that worrying for nothing.

Meg looked fantastic in cool gray robe against James's black robe. Meg was the biggest cheerleader for the Gryffindor team, and she had her eyes for our undefeated Seeker.

Even Jo, who found out that handsome Ravenclaw boy had a date, looked smashing in her pink robe next to Peter's burgundy robe. Even though, Jo was taller than Peter, they looked very happy together.

I looked around the common room to see all the other couples. Everyone looked nervous, excited and so grown up in their gowns. My eyes eventually found my sweet Remus in golden brown robe that suited his eyes in an unbelievable way. He had changed a lot since our third year. He had gotten taller than me, and lost his baby fats. His beautiful hair had gotten the shine, more into light brown tone, and grown longer finally.

"You look very beautiful, Remus, in that robe" I said to him as I sat down next to his seat. He tucked his hair behind his ears in an embarrassed way, and smiled at me from the chair he was sitting on.

"I was going to say the same thing to you," his soft voice said.

"It matches your eyes perfectly," said the voice of James. I turned around and smiled at him.

"Why thank you, Mr. Potter. You look better in that robe than in your Quidditch robe."

"Hey, no jokes about Quidditch," he joked.

"Oh, I am so sorry. Thousand pardons, sir," I got up and curtsied in front of him.

"You will owe me a dance, then."

"I will be happy to oblige with a permission from my partner," I curtsied to Remus, who smiled in return.

"Oh, I happily give you my permission."

"And I too," said Meg, who hugged Remus from behind. "I think it's only fair that I would have two dances from Remus."

"Two? Why two?" I asked.

"Because, Miss Evans. He owes me for the Divination," she fluttered her eyes like Madam Lucita. "Remus, I see you are in a grave danger! A stranger who is not a stranger seeks you-you-youuuu."

All of us broke up laughing. Madam Lucita claimed to see everyone in danger every time we attended her class. And when Remus was the one to be chosen that day, he wasn't feeling too great. It was right after his transformation. To diverge the attention away from him, Meg dramatically flared her arms and cried, "I seek youuuuu, Remus!" Meg had gotten a detention, and Remus was forever grateful for her.

Meg continued, "I see the death hanging over youuu, Remus. Please, young man, listen to what I say-say-saaayyy."

"But Madam Lucita," said Remus in mock horror, "I am-"

"Dun dun duuun," said Sirius suddenly in his lowest of low voice.

"Dead!" Remus cried out, and pretended to faint. Sirius caught him in his arms, and cried, "Noooooooooo! Stellaaaaaaa!"

Suddenly, Remus opened his eyes and said in a normal voice, "Stella? Who's Stella?"

We all broke out laughing, "It's from muggle movie," said Jo.

"I am Stella!" said Ashley as she appeared in front of Remus, continuing on the play.

"I can't believe, you thought I was-" with a dramatic pause, Remus said, "Stella! I thought you loved me!" He started to feign tears.

"I thought he loved me too!" cried Ashley, and Remus and Ashley hugged each other and started to cry in front of Sirius.

"I-I am sorry?" Sirius said after not able to think of anything else.

Suddenly, Ashley turned away from Remus and mock slapped Sirius. "Is that all you have to say?"

"Ehhh…"

"Oh, Sirius, don't be so serious. Be creative!" said Meg. And rest of us nodded in hopes to see more.

Ashley turned her hair around with a swing, and got up from the floor to join rest of us. Remus turned around to face Sirius, and mock slapped him like Ashley had done.

"And I thought you loved ME!" said Remus with sniffles.

"I do love you!"

"You liar!" cried Remus loudly, "you said you loved Stella!" Remus turned around and started to got up from the floor, ready join us in the circle, away from all the attention.

"No!" suddenly Sirius grabbed Remus's robe. Remus fell back in surprise into Sirius's arm. But nothing had surprised any of us than what Sirius did next.

Sirius kissed Remus.

All the girls gasped out loud, and all the guys stopped laughing dead.