Chapter 8 - The Christmas Ball
The next few days were very awkward for both Lily and James. They didn't speak about what nearly happened. In fact, they very rarely spoke at all. Whenever one saw the other, they would both replay the scene in their minds. Consequently, they avoided each other as much as possible. Lily even began to think twice about giving him the Christmas present she had bought him, a new watch, but in the end, she decided to leave it with the rest of his presents.
Lily awoke on Christmas morning, finding the usual small pile of presents from her family. She sighed, disappointed, when she found that Petunia hadn't sent anything. Every year, Lily had sent something to her, hoping to change her sister's mind about the wizarding world, but the response was no different this year to any other year.
The last present she found was a small package in blue paper. Even though the note wasn't signed, she knew instantly who it was from. The note simply read, "Merry Christmas, Lils". She opened the package, with mixed feelings. She found the most beautiful silver necklace she had ever seen. She recognised it as one she had spent hours gazing at in the window of the Hogsmeade jewellery shop.
She went to the door of James' room and knocked. When he said she could, she entered, just as James was opening her present. He grinned when he saw what it was
"Awesome, Lils. Thanks a lot. I really needed a new one,"
"Well, it was a bit stupid to wear your old one during a Quidditch match. Thank you so much for the necklace. It's beautiful. But are you sure you want to give it to me? I mean, it must have cost a fortune,"
"Lils, it doesn't matter about price. It's not like I'll go hungry for a month because of it. I'm positive I want to give it to you, because I lost the receipt and it'll look better on you than it would on me." Lily laughed and put it on.
"Beautiful," said James, looking straight into her eyes, nowhere near the necklace. Lily blushed, but didn't look away. After a few seconds, James asked
"Are we still fine for the ball this evening?" She knew he was referring, for the first time, to the incident a few days ago. But Lily knew what she wanted
"I wouldn't miss it for the world,"
"Fantastic," said James, "Meet you in the common room at 7.30?"
XXXXXXXXX
After the traditional Marauders' Christmas Day snowball fight in the afternoon, James went up to his room to try and get ready for the Ball. He needed to look good this evening. Partly because it was his last Ball and he was opening the dancing, but mostly because he had to impress Lily. He didn't usually take much time with his appearance. Instead he preferred to make himself look even messier than other people, like when he messed up his hair. But tonight was different. This was important, not like other dates he'd been on with girls. He spent a long time decided which of his many dress robes he should wear. Red? No, too loud. Silver? No, too feminine. Green? No, too Slytherin. Finally he reached his midnight blue robes, and decided on those. He took his time getting ready. Sirius had laughed at him for going up to get ready two hours before the start of the Ball. But even if Sirius arrived in pink robes, looking like he'd been dragged through a hedge backwards, the girls would still fall for him. James, on the other hand, didn't have the girl he wanted eating out of his hand. At about 7.15, he went down to the common room. He was among the first to get there. They were mostly boys who were waiting nervously for their partners, straightened their robes or brushing their hair again. The 15 minutes he waited seemed like hours. Then again, he wasn't used to waiting, as he was usually late. Finally, at 7.30 exactly, Lily came down, and James' jaw dropped (AN. Cliché, I know.) She looked gorgeous. She was wearing beautiful silver robes, and had let her hair fall down over her shoulders, curling slightly at the bottom. In short, she looked angelic
"Wow," was all James could say. A slight pink tinge appeared in Lily's cheeks
"I'll take that as a compliment," she said, "You're looking pretty fine yourself, I must say."
Now it was James' turn to blush. They made small talk for a few minutes, until they decided to go down to the Hall. As they walked through the corridors, the other people made way for them. Many hadn't heard that the two of them were going together, and had to look twice to make sure that they weren't seeing things. How was it possible that James Potter and Lily Evans wee going to the Ball together?
They arrived at the Great Hall about five minutes early. They waited nervously, mostly in silence. Finally they entered the Hall, and Professor McGonagal called them forward. The band on the stage, which had been specially constructed for the evening, struck up a slow tune to start with. James offered his hand to Lily and she took it and walked with him to the dance floor. After an awkward, nervous start, they both began to relax. James led as they danced slowly in the centre of the dance floor. After about a minute, Lily let her hand fall on to his shoulder, and he brought her in closer to his body. The familiar feeling of security and comfort swept through Lily. Jealous glares flooded in at Lily, but she didn't notice them, as she gladly lost herself in James' arms. A strand of hair came lose from the rest and fell across her face. She moved her hand to tuck it back, but James got there first, and did the job for her. She looked up at him, surprised. But their eyes met and nothing else mattered anymore. He moved forward to her slightly. She tilted her mouth upwards, to tell him to continue and he moved his mouth towards hers. She pushed out her lips slightly, she closed her eyes, she could feel his breath on her face....
"POTTER!!! Where the hell are you, Potter?"
Snape's voice shrieked through the crowd. Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and him, as well as a few other Slytherins, marched right onto the dance floor and right up to him. James and Lily moved apart.
"Fucking hell, not again," she heard him mutter angrily.
It would have been funny if she hadn't been so annoyed herself. The Slytherins were wearing nothing except pink thongs which left little to the imagination, although most of the crowd were laughing too hard to even open their eyes. Personally, James felt sure he would have nightmares about the scene for weeks. Malfoy saw Lily with James and managed, if possible, to become even angrier. Although Lily and James weren't kissing, they were still standing close together, and when the Slytherins had stormed onto the dance floor, James and put his arm around her protectively. He charged towards them, but before he had got within striking range of them, five stunning spells hit him straight in the chest. Looking round, James saw that the other spells had come from Sirius, Remus, Peter and Rachel, as well as the one he had fired. After Malfoy had been scraped off the floor and the other Slytherins had left, the Ball got back to some kind of normalcy.
XXXXXX
Later on in the evening, Lily and James had gone over to the drinks' table, soon joined by Remus and Rachel. As Remus and James got into conversation about the evening, Rachel lowered her voice and spoke to Lily
"Wow, you close there, weren't you? During the first dance as well. Such a shame those stupid Slytherins had to interrupt. Shame Sirius decided to prank them in the first place,"
"Tell me about it. That's twice I've been close. I'm starting to wonder if it's ever going to happen,"
"Of course it will. It's obvious both of you want to."
Rachel then left to go and dance with Remus. Lily and James decided to follow. However, dancing was fairly awkward. Both of them wanted to be close to the other, but at the same time were trying to get away. It stayed that way for the rest of the evening, until the final dance. Lily and James were pushed into the centre of the dance floor, and the other couples surrounded them. The band started to play a slow song, like the first one and they began to dance. It's now or never, thought James. He pulled her in slightly closer and when she didn't protest, he pulled her right into his chest, still without complaint from Lily. She felt her head rest gently against his strong chest and wondered what was going through his mind. She chanced a look up at him, to find he was gazing down at her. She blushed but didn't turn away. As their eyes met again, the same process as before occurred, both praying that there would be no interruption. His face was centimetres from her, then finally, after so much waiting, the two pairs of lips met. It was breath-taking. The wait for this had caused so much heartache for both of them but it was worth. It just seemed so natural to both of them. No one else in the Hall was dancing. Instead they were watching Lily and James, girls wishing they were Lily, guys wishing they were James. The kiss didn't last as long as either would've liked, but James had to know
"Should I have done that?" he asked, his deep hazel eyes searching her.
She knew what she wanted to say, but for some reason it didn't come out at all. With hope rapidly fading from James' face, she did the only thing that made sense. They seized the back of his head, and pulled him into another, longer, more passionate kiss. The Hall looked on in shock, but they followed Sirius' example and burst into applause. It was long after the song had finished when Lily and James broke away from their kiss
"Lils, do you want to go out with me?" James asked, smiling, although he was obviously nervous
"Yes, of course I will," Lily replied instantly.
It took a very long time for them to say good night to each other that evening.
The next few days were very awkward for both Lily and James. They didn't speak about what nearly happened. In fact, they very rarely spoke at all. Whenever one saw the other, they would both replay the scene in their minds. Consequently, they avoided each other as much as possible. Lily even began to think twice about giving him the Christmas present she had bought him, a new watch, but in the end, she decided to leave it with the rest of his presents.
Lily awoke on Christmas morning, finding the usual small pile of presents from her family. She sighed, disappointed, when she found that Petunia hadn't sent anything. Every year, Lily had sent something to her, hoping to change her sister's mind about the wizarding world, but the response was no different this year to any other year.
The last present she found was a small package in blue paper. Even though the note wasn't signed, she knew instantly who it was from. The note simply read, "Merry Christmas, Lils". She opened the package, with mixed feelings. She found the most beautiful silver necklace she had ever seen. She recognised it as one she had spent hours gazing at in the window of the Hogsmeade jewellery shop.
She went to the door of James' room and knocked. When he said she could, she entered, just as James was opening her present. He grinned when he saw what it was
"Awesome, Lils. Thanks a lot. I really needed a new one,"
"Well, it was a bit stupid to wear your old one during a Quidditch match. Thank you so much for the necklace. It's beautiful. But are you sure you want to give it to me? I mean, it must have cost a fortune,"
"Lils, it doesn't matter about price. It's not like I'll go hungry for a month because of it. I'm positive I want to give it to you, because I lost the receipt and it'll look better on you than it would on me." Lily laughed and put it on.
"Beautiful," said James, looking straight into her eyes, nowhere near the necklace. Lily blushed, but didn't look away. After a few seconds, James asked
"Are we still fine for the ball this evening?" She knew he was referring, for the first time, to the incident a few days ago. But Lily knew what she wanted
"I wouldn't miss it for the world,"
"Fantastic," said James, "Meet you in the common room at 7.30?"
XXXXXXXXX
After the traditional Marauders' Christmas Day snowball fight in the afternoon, James went up to his room to try and get ready for the Ball. He needed to look good this evening. Partly because it was his last Ball and he was opening the dancing, but mostly because he had to impress Lily. He didn't usually take much time with his appearance. Instead he preferred to make himself look even messier than other people, like when he messed up his hair. But tonight was different. This was important, not like other dates he'd been on with girls. He spent a long time decided which of his many dress robes he should wear. Red? No, too loud. Silver? No, too feminine. Green? No, too Slytherin. Finally he reached his midnight blue robes, and decided on those. He took his time getting ready. Sirius had laughed at him for going up to get ready two hours before the start of the Ball. But even if Sirius arrived in pink robes, looking like he'd been dragged through a hedge backwards, the girls would still fall for him. James, on the other hand, didn't have the girl he wanted eating out of his hand. At about 7.15, he went down to the common room. He was among the first to get there. They were mostly boys who were waiting nervously for their partners, straightened their robes or brushing their hair again. The 15 minutes he waited seemed like hours. Then again, he wasn't used to waiting, as he was usually late. Finally, at 7.30 exactly, Lily came down, and James' jaw dropped (AN. Cliché, I know.) She looked gorgeous. She was wearing beautiful silver robes, and had let her hair fall down over her shoulders, curling slightly at the bottom. In short, she looked angelic
"Wow," was all James could say. A slight pink tinge appeared in Lily's cheeks
"I'll take that as a compliment," she said, "You're looking pretty fine yourself, I must say."
Now it was James' turn to blush. They made small talk for a few minutes, until they decided to go down to the Hall. As they walked through the corridors, the other people made way for them. Many hadn't heard that the two of them were going together, and had to look twice to make sure that they weren't seeing things. How was it possible that James Potter and Lily Evans wee going to the Ball together?
They arrived at the Great Hall about five minutes early. They waited nervously, mostly in silence. Finally they entered the Hall, and Professor McGonagal called them forward. The band on the stage, which had been specially constructed for the evening, struck up a slow tune to start with. James offered his hand to Lily and she took it and walked with him to the dance floor. After an awkward, nervous start, they both began to relax. James led as they danced slowly in the centre of the dance floor. After about a minute, Lily let her hand fall on to his shoulder, and he brought her in closer to his body. The familiar feeling of security and comfort swept through Lily. Jealous glares flooded in at Lily, but she didn't notice them, as she gladly lost herself in James' arms. A strand of hair came lose from the rest and fell across her face. She moved her hand to tuck it back, but James got there first, and did the job for her. She looked up at him, surprised. But their eyes met and nothing else mattered anymore. He moved forward to her slightly. She tilted her mouth upwards, to tell him to continue and he moved his mouth towards hers. She pushed out her lips slightly, she closed her eyes, she could feel his breath on her face....
"POTTER!!! Where the hell are you, Potter?"
Snape's voice shrieked through the crowd. Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and him, as well as a few other Slytherins, marched right onto the dance floor and right up to him. James and Lily moved apart.
"Fucking hell, not again," she heard him mutter angrily.
It would have been funny if she hadn't been so annoyed herself. The Slytherins were wearing nothing except pink thongs which left little to the imagination, although most of the crowd were laughing too hard to even open their eyes. Personally, James felt sure he would have nightmares about the scene for weeks. Malfoy saw Lily with James and managed, if possible, to become even angrier. Although Lily and James weren't kissing, they were still standing close together, and when the Slytherins had stormed onto the dance floor, James and put his arm around her protectively. He charged towards them, but before he had got within striking range of them, five stunning spells hit him straight in the chest. Looking round, James saw that the other spells had come from Sirius, Remus, Peter and Rachel, as well as the one he had fired. After Malfoy had been scraped off the floor and the other Slytherins had left, the Ball got back to some kind of normalcy.
XXXXXX
Later on in the evening, Lily and James had gone over to the drinks' table, soon joined by Remus and Rachel. As Remus and James got into conversation about the evening, Rachel lowered her voice and spoke to Lily
"Wow, you close there, weren't you? During the first dance as well. Such a shame those stupid Slytherins had to interrupt. Shame Sirius decided to prank them in the first place,"
"Tell me about it. That's twice I've been close. I'm starting to wonder if it's ever going to happen,"
"Of course it will. It's obvious both of you want to."
Rachel then left to go and dance with Remus. Lily and James decided to follow. However, dancing was fairly awkward. Both of them wanted to be close to the other, but at the same time were trying to get away. It stayed that way for the rest of the evening, until the final dance. Lily and James were pushed into the centre of the dance floor, and the other couples surrounded them. The band started to play a slow song, like the first one and they began to dance. It's now or never, thought James. He pulled her in slightly closer and when she didn't protest, he pulled her right into his chest, still without complaint from Lily. She felt her head rest gently against his strong chest and wondered what was going through his mind. She chanced a look up at him, to find he was gazing down at her. She blushed but didn't turn away. As their eyes met again, the same process as before occurred, both praying that there would be no interruption. His face was centimetres from her, then finally, after so much waiting, the two pairs of lips met. It was breath-taking. The wait for this had caused so much heartache for both of them but it was worth. It just seemed so natural to both of them. No one else in the Hall was dancing. Instead they were watching Lily and James, girls wishing they were Lily, guys wishing they were James. The kiss didn't last as long as either would've liked, but James had to know
"Should I have done that?" he asked, his deep hazel eyes searching her.
She knew what she wanted to say, but for some reason it didn't come out at all. With hope rapidly fading from James' face, she did the only thing that made sense. They seized the back of his head, and pulled him into another, longer, more passionate kiss. The Hall looked on in shock, but they followed Sirius' example and burst into applause. It was long after the song had finished when Lily and James broke away from their kiss
"Lils, do you want to go out with me?" James asked, smiling, although he was obviously nervous
"Yes, of course I will," Lily replied instantly.
It took a very long time for them to say good night to each other that evening.