What You've All Been Waiting For

The week flew by until it was the night before the dance. Girls giggled, and boys laughed, all thinking about what might happen at the dance.

It seemed outside of Hogwarts, the weather was having a little party for itself. Snow had been falling for two days straight, covering the ground in a glistening blanket that allowed no one to leave the school. Herbology classes had been cancelled for the last two days because of it. The wind blew persistently, turning the Forbidden Forest into a large wave of green leaves. The Whomping Willow, however, refused to blow, and so stayed still as a statue. Icicles hung from any and every doorway and window on the school. Some people cursed the snow and cold, but Ev loved every minute of it. IT was gorgeous outside.

Ev was watching the wind blow in her last class of the day on the Friday before the dance, Divination. What a crock of shit this class is, she thought. After entering the class she had claimed the seat way in the back by a window, which she had opened as far as she could without it being noticeable.

"So, get together with the partner you last had and read each other's palms for me. I will be walking around to assist any who need it," Professor Nuray said. She was a short plump witch that you couldn't help but like even if you thought divination was a crock of shit.

Sirius stood up and sat next to Ev. "Guess we're partners again." He winked at her.

Outwardly Ev rolled her eyes, but inwardly she would have loved to swoon. She couldn't believe her luck, however, because she got to hold Sirius' hand for the next hour. Very nice . . .

"Okay," muttered Sirius, snatching her hand and laying it on his palm so he could see the palm of her hand. He ran a finger from his other hand down her palm, and Ev felt a shiver down her back.

She was turning into a moron, getting weird every time he was close by or touched her. It was ridiculous. Ah well, Ev thought as he ran his finger down her palm again.

"Let's see," Sirius mumbled. He looked into his book. "That can't be right."

"What?" Ev asked.

Sirius looked into Ev's eyes, pretending to be scared and concerned. "You should have been dead when you were twelve." A smirk formed on his lips.

Ev laughed loudly then stopped. "Dun dun dun!" she whispered fiercely.

Sirius looked confused.

"On Jaws, when the shark is chasing them . . .never mind," Ev waved her hand in dismissal.

Sirius chuckled. "That was a little above my head," he told her.

"Isn't everything," Ev retorted.

"Oh, you're rude sarcastic," countered Sirius, snickering, at which point Ev joined in.

"Hmm hmm," someone coughed over their shoulder. "Shouldn't you be reading each other's palms," said the professor.

"Oh, we're done," Sirius answered, not looking at her. "Ev should be dead and I think this class is stupid."

Ev snorted then said thoughtfully, "Are you sure you didn't get your palm confused with mine?"

Both Ev and Sirius tried to hold in their laughter, but did not succeed.

"You best calm down, I'd hate to give you a detention scheduled for the day of the dance," Nuray said coldly, hobbling away on her short legs.

Ev and Sirius just shook their heads and began to 'read' one another's palms again.

"Sooo," Ev said slowly, "you never told me. Who are you going with to the dance?"

"No one," Sirius replied, turning red.

"Oh come on! You can't tell me that the handsome devil Sirius doesn't have a date." Ev grinned at his apparent discomfort.

"Not really. I wanted to go with someone, but I didn't have the nerve to ask her so she's going with someone else," lied Sirius. "Besides, you aren't going with anyone either." He would have liked to ask Ev, but he knew she'd say no, so most of his lie was based on fact.

"Well, no, but I was nervous because I've never dated or anything, so I didn't want to go with anyone," Ev lied back. In truth, several different boys had asked her, but none of them had been Sirius so she had said no.

A light bulb lit in Sirius' brain. "Alright, alright, umm, how 'bout we, you know, go together." Sirius tried to say this without sounding nervous, but he wasn't sure if he succeeded or not.

Ev waited a second so her voice wouldn't sound too excited when she said, "Sure," as coolly as she could.

They both went back to work on palmistry, each trying not to show their excitement and each failing. However, each was too embarrassed to look at the other, and so they missed the look of anticipation.

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"So you're going together!" Rae screamed girlishly, when all the girls were talking in their dormitory. "That's so great!"

"We're going as friends," Ev reminded morosely.

"So," Lily snapped, "at least you're going together." She grinned happily.

"It's turning out perfectly," Rae said dreamily, "I'm going with Wes, Ara's going with Remus, Lily and James, and now you and Sirius. It's going to be perfect."

"Oh, not for Petey," Ev suddenly said. The others nodded sadly, agreeing that it was sad that Peter was going to be the eighth wheel, so to speak. "Ah well." The girls giggled.

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"So she said 'yes'?" Remus asked Sirius casually.

"Yeah," Sirius said offhandedly.

"Cool," the three other boys said in unison.

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Saturday . . . day of the dance

Dance in 5 hours exactly . . .

"Let's get ready," Lily stood up and began walking toward the girls' dormitory.

"What?!" Ev sounded incredulous. "It's only three o'clock and the dance begins at eight. That's five hours of getting ready. You have got to be kidding me."

"No," Rae, standing next to Lily, said, "we need time to make ourselves the belles of the ball."

"Then you should have started at noon," Sirius heard Ev mutter and began to laugh loudly.

"What?" Ara asked, sounding suspicious.

Ev glared at Sirius and he said, "Nothing," as innocently as possible.

"Come on Ev." That sounded like an order. One Ev was not about to follow. Lily turned around. "Get your ass up and let's get ready."

"I'll be up there in about, ohhh, four hours. I only need about an hour to get ready, not even." Ev said, curtly.

"I don't care, we are going to help you get ready and we are going now, so get up and come on!" Ara snapped.

Ev looked at her, purposefully looking defiant. "Ooh, I don't think so."

Heaving a sigh, Lily strode forward, grabbing Ev's arm and beginning to drag her to the stairs.

Ev gave a strategic twist of her body and pulled herself from Lily. "Do you forget that I am skilled in martial arts as well as, well, basically every sort of fighting technique there is?" Ev said sweetly.

"GET YOUR ASS UP THERE!" Lily screamed. All around the common room people looked up, shocked. Lily did not seem to care though, and continued to stare at Ev.

Ev shifted uncomfortably before saying, "Fine!" angrily. She turned and grabbed her sweatshirt off the couch, whispering to Sirius, "Holy shit, I thought she was going to kill us all."

"Have fun!" Sirius whispered back, beaming toothily.

"Fuck off!" Ev snapped loudly, causing several first years to gasp and Sirius and James to hoot with laughter.

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"It's not fair!" Ev moaned while in the shower that Ev had ordered her to take. The bathroom, large and containing four stall, was steaming up because each girl was taking one.

Once out of the shower and dry, each girl wearing a robe, they all sat down on Lily's bed against the middle of the wall in the room.

"Okay," Lily said commandingly, "let's put on lotion."

Once thoroughly 'lotioned up', they all had to decide how they wanted their hair.

"How are you going to put your hair up?" Rae asked as she pulled hers back into a perfect artfully made messy bun.

"I thought I'd wear it down," Ev said brusquely as she read her book on her bed.

"Noooo," Lily reprimanded, "you are wearing it up and that's final."

"Yes, Mom." Ev sarcastically saluted her, earning herself a smack across the head. "Hey, don't make me kick your puny little ass."

*********

2 hours till dance time . . .

"Okay," Ara declared, giving Ev one last brush across the cheek with the blush, "makeup is all done. Now we should get our dresses on."

"Okay, be right back," Ev whispered as if she was excited. She walked quickly into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. "I just have to pee," she called.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Ev almost gagged. They were waiting until after she put on her dress to do her hair, but the makeup, GOOD God! Grabbing some toilet paper, she began to lessen it, blotting off all of her dark red lipstick, scrubbing at her cheeks to remove basically the entirety of the blush, and thoroughly removing all traces of eye makeup. Coming to a conclusion, Ev washed her whole face to remove all of the makeup.

Walking out, Lily immediately noticed. "What the heck is that? Arabella just finished with your makeup and you took it off!"

"Listen, makeup is not my thing. If I'm going to wear it, it is going to be in earth tones and very light. And I don't care if you yell at me cause I could kill you." Ev crossed her arms.

Lily groaned loudly. "Fine, come here."

"So," Ev said as Lily applied makeup, "do you love James?"

"No," Lily said dubiously. "I really like him, but it's not love."

"Right," Ev replied skeptically, "And 'denial' isn't just a river in Egypt."

"Shut up!" Lily snapped. Ev grinned. She loved infuriating people, particularly when it was really easy.

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Half hour till dance . . .

"Well," James supposed, "Guess we should go get ready."

"Alright." The guys stood up and walked to their dormitory.

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5 minutes to dance . . .

"Girls, come on!" James yelled up the girls' stairs. "We only have five minutes to get to the Great Hall. The whole common room is empty now."

"Just a minute," Rae called back.

"God dammit!" the boys heard Ev. "Can we please go now? I don't want to have to mess up your hair Lily. . ." "Fine!" Lily replied, opening the door and walking out, followed by the other girls.

"Holy crap. . ." Remus trailed off.

The four girls stood in front of the guys. Ev looked incredibly pissed and annoyed, while the other girls appeared to have had the time of their lives. Sirius saw Ev give a deadly look to Lily, and grinned at her. She rolled her eyes in reply. Sirius then returned to staring at her. Wow, these girls looked good.

Rae was wearing a light purple dress that went to her ankles, with a slit up to her knee. Spaghetti straps kept it on. She was wearing high-heeled white sandals. Her medium length blonde hair was piled onto her head artfully into a messy bun. She was looking quite good.

Lily was wearing a green dress that matched her eyes. At the chest it was tight and at the knees it was loose, with thick straps over the shoulder. She was wearing black-heeled sandals. Lily wore her hair down in waves. She wore a cross necklace. You could tell James liked it. If he were a cartoon, his eyebrows would be in his hair. James grabbed her arm and put it in his, smiling warmly at her.

Ara was wearing a periwinkle blue dress that hung down to her ankles. It was made of soft silk, not to be confused with rough silk. It laced up in the back. The skirt part had a flowery design on it in gold and there was another piece of fabric that covered this, still showing the flower design in front. Her shoes were blue slipper like and had two-inch heels. Ara's hair had been kept down and straightened. She wore a necklace that consisted of a large blue jewel hanging from a circular chain. Remus gasped, staring at her. He beamed.

And Ev. Dayummm, Sirius thought. She had on a red dress that was almost orange. It was slim fitting and relatively low cut, showing just a bit of cleavage. The dress went down to the floor and was slit almost up to her knee, showing a bit of long tan leg. It had spaghetti straps. The back of the dress came up to the middle of her back, showing even more tan skin. She was wearing matching strappy sandals with a low heel. Ev hated high heels. Ev was, of course, wearing the necklace with the Celtic Claddagh on it. She had taken off the other necklace with all the pendants on it. There was still a stud in Ev's eyebrow and it matched the dress. Her dark brown hair had been curled and put up into a messy twist on the top of her head. Little ringlets had fallen out and were hanging around her face. Unlike Rae, Ara, and Lily it wasn't obvious that she was wearing makeup. She only had on some brown shade of eye shadow and, unless Sirius was mistaken, she was wearing Chap Stick instead of lipstick. She was gorgeous.

"Yowza," Sirius mumbled. "You girls are looking pretty good tonight."

"After five freaking hours we better," Ev said heatedly.

Lily elbowed her, hard.

"Ow! How many times am I gonna have to threaten you today?" Ev snapped.

"Let's go," Lily said to James, smiling at him. They walked to the portrait, followed by Rae, Peter, Ara, and Remus.

Sirius bowed and held his hand out to Ev. Taking her hand he pressed his lips to the back of it, eyes twinkling cockily. Pulling back he said brightly, "Well, let's go then."

"Kay," Ev responded.

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"I'll be right back with some punch," Sirius whispered, walking away and leaving Ev alone at the table. The others were all dancing currently.

Ev turned to watch people slow dance. Remarkably, someone had agreed to dance with Peter. James and Lily were whispering to each other. Ev had to admit they looked really sweet together. Remus and Ara, although very different, seemed to fit too. Right now, Ara had her head resting against his chest. Rae and Wesley were currently leaning in to kiss one another.

Wonder if that will ever be Sirius and me, Ev thought. She was really getting mad at herself for acting stupid when it came to boys, at least to this certain one. Ev had finally decided that she would tell him, tonight, later, if she could work up the nerve.

"Hello there," someone close by whispered, "and how are you doing?"

Ev recognized that voice. She felt him move beside her.

"Any part of you that touches me you're not getting back," Ev tersely said.

Lucius Malfoy chuckled creepily. "Always pushing people away. I see you came here with Black. Does someone have a crush on him, huh? I think you do." Malfoy grinned when he saw Ev turn red.

"I knew it."

Ev turned to him. "Fuck you."

"If you want," Malfoy replied suggestively.

"Shut the hell up," Ev snapped.

"Fine," he replied. "Would you like to dance?" Lucius moved his hand out to grab her arm.

"Oh, stop right there, Ponyboy. You and the rest of the Outsiders can go rumble someplace else."

Malfoy raised a confused eyebrow. "What?" he breathed.

"It translates into 'get the hell away from me, Ponyboy.'" Ev glared at him menacingly. "I'd hate to have to ruin your face during a dance. Not that I wouldn't," she added. "It's just to much effort on my part."

She looked away, bored.

"Feisty, I see," Malfoy drawled, smirking at her. "Resisting me? Doesn't matter." He stood up. "I'll see you later. My little temptress."

Ev watched him walk away. She was gonna have to kick his ass soon, keep him in line.

"Hey," Sirius said, walking up to her with two bottles of butterbeer in his hand. "Here." He handed her the bottle.

Ev snapped it open and took an angry gulp.

"Whoa! What's wrong?" Sirius questioned while chuckling.

"Malfoy," Ev said without explanation. Sirius nodded in understanding.

"You want me to punch him for you?" Sirius offered.

Ev turned to him, grinning. "YOU punch him for ME?"

Sirius groaned. "Come on. At least let me pretend to be the man tonight."

"Okay. Punch him later. But, I'll hold him."

Sirius nodded in agreement. He then cleared his throat. Standing up he asked, "Look. Do you wanna dance?"

"Sure," Ev answered quickly, standing up and setting down her drink. "I'm, ahh, not very good at it though. Haven't had much practice."

"Me either. Kiss your feet goodbye, cause they're gonna get stepped on tonight." Sirius told her.

They walked out to the dance floor as a new song started, this one slow. Nervously they placed their arms around each other.

"Ow," Ev yelled suddenly.

"Sorry," Sirius muttered, looking down and turning red.

"It's alright."

"Ouch!" Sirius then yelled.

"Oh sorry, that was me." They grinned at each other.

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It was eleven o'clock and the dance was still going. Finishing a fast song, during which Sirius and Ev had pushed away many dancers cause of their crazy movements, they were both still trying to tell the other that they had feelings for them.

Sirius was having doubts because he didn't want her to hate him or feel uncomfortable around him and Ev was having doubts because she had never done any of this before, liking a boy.

Standing up from the table where they had been talking and laughing loudly with the others, Ev motioned to Sirius. "You wanna go for a walk?"

He nodded, pushing back his chair. Once in the hall, Ev popped away for a second, only to reappear with her cloak. They then walked out the doors of the Great Hall.

The outside was decorated just as much as the inside was. Ice fountains and snow structures covered the grounds, forming different shapes. Glittering icicles hung from the castle and a path had been formed with colored ice of light blue and pink and yellow. It was lined with rose bushed that had been magicked to bloom despite the cold.

Ev and Sirius both left the path and walked down to the lake where they sat down at a stone bench that was intricately carved with flowers and leaves. If they hadn't been so nervous, the two would have stopped and looked at its beauty. Instead they both sat down, aware of the closeness of the other.

"So, what'd you want to talk about?" Sirius whispered just because it seemed wrong to talk loudly.

"Nothing," Ev replied rapidly, "nothing specific anyway. You?"

"Oh, nothing," Sirius responded quietly.

Ev took a deep breath. You are such a sissy, she told herself. Just tell him. You're better than this whole keeping secrets and too scared to tell him bit. Do it.

"Fine," Ev said bitterly, out loud too.

"What?" Sirius questioned.

"Nothing." Ev turned red and hoped he'd think it was because of the cold.

"Look," she finally said resolutely, turning to him. "I have something to tell you. You see, for a while, I mean . . . recently I've had . . . I've been wanting to tell you that I, well, I have an enormous crush on you." Ev finished this quickly, looking down at the fluffy white snow.

There was a silence as Ev waited for him to respond. She cocked an ear at him when she still heard silence.

Sirius was floored. This whole time that he had liked her, she had liked him back? How could he be so stupid as to not notice it?

But then again, did he want to do this? With Ev there were a lot of complications. Did he really want to get started with all that?

Looking at Ev he said kindly, "Look, I . . .before I say anything I want you to know that you are my friend."

Ev looked away and said softly, "Oh, I understand. No need to, uhh, say anymore."

"No but," Sirius started.

Ev quickly stood up. "No, uhh, really it's okay. It's like you said right? 'Just friends.' I'll settle for that. But, I'm gonna go right now." Ev turn and ran like the little sissy she thought she was.

Sirius started after her, fully prepared to tackle her if he had to, but as he chased she suddenly disappeared. There was no point looking for her now, she could be anywhere.

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You are so STUPID, her mind screamed.

What the HELL happened! I though he was supposed to like me back. Isn't that usually the way of things? That's always how it goes in any romance novels I've read. Dammit!

Ev paced in an empty corridor. She had disappeared and found herself in the halls of the school, where she had hitched up her skirt and run, cloak billowing behind her.

Ev heard a noise behind her and whirled around. She dropped her clenched fists in disgust when she saw none other than the spawn of Satan standing before her.

"What are you doing here Malfoy?" she spat.

Chuckling, Malfoy advance on her. "I was heading back to the Slytherin common room when I saw you. Thought I'd come over for a chat."

He continued walking toward her.

"Back off. I don't want to hurt you, not! But that's the way I am. When I get backed into a corner I just snap and start hurting people!" Ev yelled, getting nervous at how close he was.

Putting his arm on either side of the wall so Ev was trapped, Lucius whispered, "I know your secret. I know everything." At Ev's bewildered look he added, "You aren't the only one who knows about the room of requirement or the only one who uses it. Sirius wasn't exactly being quiet when he told them your story."

The color drained out of Ev's face. "Wha-," she started.

Putting his lips close to her ears, Lucius whispered, "I own you now." He grinned maliciously.

Ev's eyes hardened and she thrust her knee up with all her strength. Lucius had been expecting this and had moved to the side.

"You're not getting me that easily, you whore," he spat. He smacked her roughly and Ev groaned, punching him in the gut.

"Bastard!" she yelled at him.

"Bitch!" he roared back.

Obviously completely loosing sense of his always-apparent calm and cool manner, he pulled back his fist, prepared to punch the girl in front of him.

Ev just stared at him, prepared to take the hit, at which point she could beat him to a bloody pulp. However the blow never came.

Instead she saw Malfoy being turned around. There was a loud thump and then he quickly fell to the floor with a loud smack. It was the kind of hit that was gonna wake him up in the middle of the night.

Ev looked up into the flashing dark eyes of Sirius Black.

She found herself angry. She could have handled it. But no, first he had to break her hearth, then not even let her kick Malfoy's ass.

"I could've handled him, you know," she snapped at him. She brushed past him and began walking quickly up the dungeon steps.

"What, no thank you?" Sirius drawled, annoyed.

Ev closed her eyes and stopped, only to continue walking again. "Thanks," she whispered. "How'd you know where I was?"

"I've been looking for you for the last two hours. Did you know that it is one in the morning?! Anyway, I heard you yelling at him and him yelling at you," Sirius shrugged, walking along the other side of the corridor.

"Thanks," Ev muttered again, "you didn't have to do that."

"We're friends," Sirius reminded.

"Right, friends. Nothing more." Ev spoke bitterly.

"Actually that's what I wanted to talk to you about," Sirius mumbled, turning red.

"Well, go ahead then." Ev stopped in a dark area between to torches, waiting for him to speak.

Sirius looked at the ground. He ran his hand through his long black hair. "Well, I was scared . . ." he started.

"Scared of what?" Ev interrupted.

Sirius looked at her, embarrassed. "To kiss you."

Ev audibly gulped. "You want to kiss me?"

"I wanted to. But I was worried that we might lose our friendship if it, you know, didn't work out. And I didn't want to chance that because ever since Lily has James all the time, you're like my new best friend. I'd hate to lose that." Sirius had begun pacing and he now stopped, standing before her.

"I wouldn't worry about that. We aren't even, like, dating or anything. Even if it doesn't 'work out', I'd still wanna be friends," Ev whispered.

"Really?" asked Sirius, shocked. Ev nodded. "In that case, I, uhh, I want to date you, if you still want to, sometime, soon." Sirius turned red.

Ev gave a light laugh. "You're more nervous than I was, I think." She smiled embarrassedly at him.

"Can I kiss you?" Sirius questioned soberly, ignoring her comment.

Ev stopped her laughing abruptly and looked at him for a second. "Sure," she answered hurriedly. She nodded at him, smiling slightly.

Nodding back, Sirius closed the space between them. Reaching out his arms, he cupped Ev's face between his hands. He felt her give a shake breath and then he leaned closer. Closing his eyes, he pressed his lips softly to hers.

Kissing back, Ev put one hand on his side and the other on his neck. She pulled him closer to her so she was leaning against the wall behind her.

Sirius took his hands from her face, and instead slid them down to her waist. He pulled back for breath and grinned at her. Moving in for another kiss, he pressed his lips harder against hers and opened his mouth slightly to get his tongue on in the action.

Suddenly, he felt Ev push him away and opened his eyes to see Ev leaning against the wall, breathing deeply.

"What?" asked Sirius, breathing deeply also.

"I, uhh, I don't like it," Ev explained shortly, not meeting his eye.

"Am I that bad of a kisser?" Sirius said, chuckling.

Ev turned her eyes to him. They were shining brightly as she explained, "It reminded me . . . it's the first time I've ever really kissed by choice . . . I don't think I'm ready. I picture something else . . . when my eyes are closed like that." She looked pleadingly into his eyes. "Can we wait for me to get used to this before we do the whole kissing thing?"

"Uhh, sure," Sirius replied slowly. "But, didn't you kiss me in the bed that night."

"That was different," Ev said hastily and with vehemence.

"How?" questioned Sirius.

"It just was, okay? Can we please just wait until I'm ready?"

Thinking, I didn't agree to this, Sirius nonetheless agreed. "Sure, if that's what you want."

"I'll give you the green light when I'm ready."

Sirius nodded. What's a green light supposed to mean? he thought.

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A nice long one for all ya'll. Do review!

REVIEW! REVIEW!

So they're together. However, when will she kiss him? Hmmmmmmmm. Hee hee!