-Chapter 15-
-The Doors Open-
"Lily!" Maggie called, she was balancing six butterbeers and looked a bit unstable. Lily heard her shout, saw her precarious situation and rushed to help her. Maggie laughed as she passed Lily three drinks.
"Thanks."
Lily shrugged, "It's no problem."
"Good!" Maggie and Lily quickly crossed to the table in the middle of the room, where the Marauders usually put themselves so they could be the center of attention. Right now Sirius was entertaining some little witch and wizard children with a horrifying fictitious tale. They were giving him their rapt attention.
Lily slid into her seat and set the drinks on the table, she motioned to the occupied Sirius with a slight nod of her head. "What's he up to?"
Peter shrugged and he was quickly lost behind the rim of his mug. Remus rolled his eyes, "He's just being himself. What else?"
Suddenly the door flung open and a pink cheeked James strode in. After making sure everyone had seen him and recognized who he was, he sauntered over to his friends. He plopped down in the last vacant seat and slid and mug towards him. He took a long drink and was pleased to see that everyone was still looking at him.
Lily finally got tired of waiting; she could tell he wasn't going to tell them without being asked. "Where'd you go to James?"
He winked at her, "I was just following some advice Remus gave me."
"I did?" Remus cocked an eyebrow at him.
James gave him a look and Remus nodded and smiled, finally understanding. At this moment Sirius finished his story with a great flail of his arms and bowed. The children, even their parents and other assorted people who couldn't have helped listening, applauded wildly.
~-~-~-~-~
Dumbledore smiled warmly as he watched the kids slowly file into Great Hall. He loved waking early and coming to Great Hall at an unearthly hour. It was all for a good cause, it meant he was there when the students came in for their breakfast. Mostly everyone had woken up by this time and they were rubbing the last of sleep out of their eyes. He had decided last night that he would make the announcement today, considering it was the 31st of October and the Queen would arrive tonight for her Ball at eight o'clock. He had discussed it thoroughly with his staff, and they had all agreed.
He rose and waited for the chit-chat to die down. Slowly enough it eventually did and Dumbledore smiled at the kids, his blue eyes were sparkling with pleasure.
"Good morning everyone."
A chorus of mumbles greeted Dumbledore, some from sleepy mouths and other from full mouths.
"I and the staff have come to an agreement." He watched everyone's ears and eyes perk up, a few people started whispering.
"There will be no classes today."
The cheer that arose from the mouth of the students woke up anyone who was lingering in bed...
~-~-~-~-~
The Marauders let up a great whoop of joy, Lily and Maggie squealed and clapped their hands. Even at the age of sixteen those six words made them giddy four-year-olds at Christmas.
"Now we can finish our plans!" Sirius said to the other boys and they silently slipped from Great Hall.
"We get more time to get ready, Lily!" Maggie said, her eyes sparkling with merriment. Lily nodded and they ran up to their dorm.
Maggie shut the door behind them, "Are you going to show me your costume now? It IS Halloween. . ." She gave Lily the sad puppy dog look. Lily rolled her eyes and laughed.
"Yes. . .You have to show me yours also!" The girls bounded over to where they had safely laid away their costumes.
"You first because I say so!" Lily laughed.
"All right!" Maggie swished out her dress. She held it up to her body so it looked like she would be wearing it. The blues and purples shimmered in the early morning sunlight coming through the windows. Lily breathed out a compliment and touched the piece of art. Maggie showed her the lace around the sleeves and neckline; there was a gold chain that would drape just around Maggie's hips when she put it on later that day. The neck was a sharp square, and on her neck Remus had bought her a beautiful golden necklace. The necklace itself looked like lace, winding itself around a single sapphire, which was just a few shades darker than Maggie's eyes.
"It's beautiful Maggie."
"Thank you. Now! Your turn!" Maggie laid aside her dress and waited for Lily to produce hers.
~-~-~-~-~
"If we pull this off," Sirius leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smile resting on his face. "We'll forever be in Hogwarts history."
Peter shook his head, "It seems too complicated..."
"You don't have to help ya know." Sirius snapped at him.
"Calm down." James warned. "He's got a point."
"Who?" Sirius and Peter said together.
"Peter."
The other three were shocked. Peter's mouth worked like a fish, "M-m-me?"
James nodded.
Sirius's gaze narrowed in on James's plot, "You just don't want anything to ruin tonight."
James felt like his hand was caught in the cookie jar.
Remus nodded, "Me neither. I'd rather be able to focus on just Maggie tonight."
"Yeah, it took me forever just to get Lily...finally..."
"And....well..." Peter swallowed, they understood.
Sirius sighed discontendedly, "Yeah... I guess..." He slammed a fist on hte table they were gathered around. "Bloody Hell! I hate this... Are girls making us soft?"
"NO!" Every mouth stated.
"Well, then?"
"No, Sirius, " James shook his head. "You pull something tongiht and get caught...Elspeth will never take a second look at you."
Sirius froze. He hadn't thought about that...
~-~-~-~-~-~
Maggie squealed, "LILY! THAT'S SO PERFECT FOR YOU!"
"Shhhh!" Lily laughed. "You're too loud."
Maggie giggled, "That's really genius of your seamstress though! Making your dress look like a lily... It's so beautiful."
Lily smiled, "It is..." she ran her hand over the cream colored satin skirt. It shimmered in the morning light pouring through the window. It looked like a giant lily, with deep green accents and flowing cream sleeves.
Maggie giggled again.
Lily joined in and the two were soon falling over in mirth.
~-~-~-~-~-~
"Well...Then...It's off."
A deep sigh of relief came from each of them.
"Kid of dissappointing. Maybe we shouldn't have found dates..."
"SIRIUS!"
"What!? I was just joking!"
~-~-~-~-~-~
"Let's see your jewelry then."
Lily blushed, "I've not got any."
"You haven't?"
Lily shook her head sadly.
"Aw, buck up," Maggie smiled warmly. "I think I've got some green ribbon that will bring out your eyes and your dress!"
"Thank you Maggie."
Maggie shrugged, "What're best friends for other then to be there in their friend's greatest hour of need?"
Lily hugged Maggie and they both set to looking for the ribbon.
~-~-~-~-~-~
Sirius and Peter had set off to the other common rooms to pick up their dates. This left James and Remus to fret over the night to come. James pulled his hat on more firmly. He looked at himself in a wall mirror, he looked like a complete bufoon. He was ready to give up on the hat and throw it into the Common room fire, when Remus came over.
"No, no," Remus reached up and titled the hat at an angle. "That looks more like yourself."
James studied his relfection, "You're right. Thanks."
Remus smiled, "No problem." His costume contained tone on tone green. It ranged from sea to forrest, and looked really good. James told him so and Remus thanked him. An uneasy silence fell over the two.
"I don't think I can do this." James said, his voice quavering.
"Me neither." Remus shook his head, the same sinking feeling in his gut.
At that moment somone cleared their throat behind them. James and Remus spun slowly, to see two angels. Remus's heart caught in his throat, and James's just stopped still.
Lily and Maggie stood on the stair, they were smiling widely. Maggie had her down loose and long, Lily had taken nearly two hours to give it the perfect level of curls. Lily's hair had taken Maggie at least an hour, she'd twisted and pulled it back into a large, flat knot at the very back of her head.
The boys swallowed down their nervousness and advanced to the stairs. Lily and Maggie slowly descended, facing their dates with a smile.
"You are so beautiful." The moment it left his mouth James felt it was stupid and dull, but Lily blushed and thanked him.
"Well?" James turned and offered her his arm. "Shall we?"
Memory pricked at Lily, that last day with her parents... A warm comfort filled her, "We shall."
~-~-~-~-~-~
Everyone filed down to just outside the Great Hall. Students who weren't old enough or not asked to go to the Ball stood above everyone, peering down over and through the railing. There was a mulititude of students milling around, waiting for the doors to open at 7:30pm.
Lily held James's hand so as not to loose him in the crowd. James was looking for Sirius. Lily spotted him, told James and they wove their way over there.
"There you are!" Sirius said to James with a big smile. Sirius started when he saw Lily.
"Wow."
Lily blushed. James glared at Sirius, "Hey."
"What?" Sirius said, he slipped an arm around the waist of the girl next to him. "Elspeth meet Lily Evans. Lily, Elspeth."
They girls nodded to each other, aware neither were really a threat to stealing her own date, so getting along right off the bat.
"How much longer until they open up?" Sirus wondered out loud.
"What? Mr. Black is impatient? I guess some things never change." A chill voice came from behind Sirius. He turned and nearly screamed. Instead his jaw dropped. She shimmered in a pale blue green, but the part her mostly recognized were her icy blye eyes.
"Serpena." He whispered.
She smiled, tall and with long black hair it wasn't her appearance that was appaling, no it was appealing...What was appaling was whose arm she was on.
Severus Snape's to be exact.
Snape sneered at them, "Oh. Even here I can't get away from you?"
Serpena smiled at him, "I'm beginning to think this school is run by Gryffindorks."
"What'd you say?" Lily spoke up, her temper rising.
Serpena then noticed her. She gave Lily a cold glare, "Oh. You're the girl who can't see five feet in front of her."
"What's that supposed to mean?" James growled.
Lily laid a hand on his arm, "I accidently ran into her in the hall..."
"Oh." James tried to keep from laughing.
"Yes, and thanks to you, I have a bruise from it." Serpena snapped at Lily.
"You're welcome," Lily did not care for this girl much. "I can give you more than a bruise if you like."
But before Serpena could open her mouth Snape pulled her away, claiming the conversation was boring anyways.
Elspeth was inrigued by this conversation, "Who was that Siri?"
"Old, old, old, lang time ago, long forgotten girl friend." Sirius said, still a little shocked that she was the one here with Snape... James smiled.
"Oh." was Elspeth's reply. Nothing more.
A loud click resounded through the hall. Every eye turned towards the Great Hall. The large doors slowly began to creak open.
"Here we go..." James murmured under his breath.
-The Doors Open-
"Lily!" Maggie called, she was balancing six butterbeers and looked a bit unstable. Lily heard her shout, saw her precarious situation and rushed to help her. Maggie laughed as she passed Lily three drinks.
"Thanks."
Lily shrugged, "It's no problem."
"Good!" Maggie and Lily quickly crossed to the table in the middle of the room, where the Marauders usually put themselves so they could be the center of attention. Right now Sirius was entertaining some little witch and wizard children with a horrifying fictitious tale. They were giving him their rapt attention.
Lily slid into her seat and set the drinks on the table, she motioned to the occupied Sirius with a slight nod of her head. "What's he up to?"
Peter shrugged and he was quickly lost behind the rim of his mug. Remus rolled his eyes, "He's just being himself. What else?"
Suddenly the door flung open and a pink cheeked James strode in. After making sure everyone had seen him and recognized who he was, he sauntered over to his friends. He plopped down in the last vacant seat and slid and mug towards him. He took a long drink and was pleased to see that everyone was still looking at him.
Lily finally got tired of waiting; she could tell he wasn't going to tell them without being asked. "Where'd you go to James?"
He winked at her, "I was just following some advice Remus gave me."
"I did?" Remus cocked an eyebrow at him.
James gave him a look and Remus nodded and smiled, finally understanding. At this moment Sirius finished his story with a great flail of his arms and bowed. The children, even their parents and other assorted people who couldn't have helped listening, applauded wildly.
~-~-~-~-~
Dumbledore smiled warmly as he watched the kids slowly file into Great Hall. He loved waking early and coming to Great Hall at an unearthly hour. It was all for a good cause, it meant he was there when the students came in for their breakfast. Mostly everyone had woken up by this time and they were rubbing the last of sleep out of their eyes. He had decided last night that he would make the announcement today, considering it was the 31st of October and the Queen would arrive tonight for her Ball at eight o'clock. He had discussed it thoroughly with his staff, and they had all agreed.
He rose and waited for the chit-chat to die down. Slowly enough it eventually did and Dumbledore smiled at the kids, his blue eyes were sparkling with pleasure.
"Good morning everyone."
A chorus of mumbles greeted Dumbledore, some from sleepy mouths and other from full mouths.
"I and the staff have come to an agreement." He watched everyone's ears and eyes perk up, a few people started whispering.
"There will be no classes today."
The cheer that arose from the mouth of the students woke up anyone who was lingering in bed...
~-~-~-~-~
The Marauders let up a great whoop of joy, Lily and Maggie squealed and clapped their hands. Even at the age of sixteen those six words made them giddy four-year-olds at Christmas.
"Now we can finish our plans!" Sirius said to the other boys and they silently slipped from Great Hall.
"We get more time to get ready, Lily!" Maggie said, her eyes sparkling with merriment. Lily nodded and they ran up to their dorm.
Maggie shut the door behind them, "Are you going to show me your costume now? It IS Halloween. . ." She gave Lily the sad puppy dog look. Lily rolled her eyes and laughed.
"Yes. . .You have to show me yours also!" The girls bounded over to where they had safely laid away their costumes.
"You first because I say so!" Lily laughed.
"All right!" Maggie swished out her dress. She held it up to her body so it looked like she would be wearing it. The blues and purples shimmered in the early morning sunlight coming through the windows. Lily breathed out a compliment and touched the piece of art. Maggie showed her the lace around the sleeves and neckline; there was a gold chain that would drape just around Maggie's hips when she put it on later that day. The neck was a sharp square, and on her neck Remus had bought her a beautiful golden necklace. The necklace itself looked like lace, winding itself around a single sapphire, which was just a few shades darker than Maggie's eyes.
"It's beautiful Maggie."
"Thank you. Now! Your turn!" Maggie laid aside her dress and waited for Lily to produce hers.
~-~-~-~-~
"If we pull this off," Sirius leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smile resting on his face. "We'll forever be in Hogwarts history."
Peter shook his head, "It seems too complicated..."
"You don't have to help ya know." Sirius snapped at him.
"Calm down." James warned. "He's got a point."
"Who?" Sirius and Peter said together.
"Peter."
The other three were shocked. Peter's mouth worked like a fish, "M-m-me?"
James nodded.
Sirius's gaze narrowed in on James's plot, "You just don't want anything to ruin tonight."
James felt like his hand was caught in the cookie jar.
Remus nodded, "Me neither. I'd rather be able to focus on just Maggie tonight."
"Yeah, it took me forever just to get Lily...finally..."
"And....well..." Peter swallowed, they understood.
Sirius sighed discontendedly, "Yeah... I guess..." He slammed a fist on hte table they were gathered around. "Bloody Hell! I hate this... Are girls making us soft?"
"NO!" Every mouth stated.
"Well, then?"
"No, Sirius, " James shook his head. "You pull something tongiht and get caught...Elspeth will never take a second look at you."
Sirius froze. He hadn't thought about that...
~-~-~-~-~-~
Maggie squealed, "LILY! THAT'S SO PERFECT FOR YOU!"
"Shhhh!" Lily laughed. "You're too loud."
Maggie giggled, "That's really genius of your seamstress though! Making your dress look like a lily... It's so beautiful."
Lily smiled, "It is..." she ran her hand over the cream colored satin skirt. It shimmered in the morning light pouring through the window. It looked like a giant lily, with deep green accents and flowing cream sleeves.
Maggie giggled again.
Lily joined in and the two were soon falling over in mirth.
~-~-~-~-~-~
"Well...Then...It's off."
A deep sigh of relief came from each of them.
"Kid of dissappointing. Maybe we shouldn't have found dates..."
"SIRIUS!"
"What!? I was just joking!"
~-~-~-~-~-~
"Let's see your jewelry then."
Lily blushed, "I've not got any."
"You haven't?"
Lily shook her head sadly.
"Aw, buck up," Maggie smiled warmly. "I think I've got some green ribbon that will bring out your eyes and your dress!"
"Thank you Maggie."
Maggie shrugged, "What're best friends for other then to be there in their friend's greatest hour of need?"
Lily hugged Maggie and they both set to looking for the ribbon.
~-~-~-~-~-~
Sirius and Peter had set off to the other common rooms to pick up their dates. This left James and Remus to fret over the night to come. James pulled his hat on more firmly. He looked at himself in a wall mirror, he looked like a complete bufoon. He was ready to give up on the hat and throw it into the Common room fire, when Remus came over.
"No, no," Remus reached up and titled the hat at an angle. "That looks more like yourself."
James studied his relfection, "You're right. Thanks."
Remus smiled, "No problem." His costume contained tone on tone green. It ranged from sea to forrest, and looked really good. James told him so and Remus thanked him. An uneasy silence fell over the two.
"I don't think I can do this." James said, his voice quavering.
"Me neither." Remus shook his head, the same sinking feeling in his gut.
At that moment somone cleared their throat behind them. James and Remus spun slowly, to see two angels. Remus's heart caught in his throat, and James's just stopped still.
Lily and Maggie stood on the stair, they were smiling widely. Maggie had her down loose and long, Lily had taken nearly two hours to give it the perfect level of curls. Lily's hair had taken Maggie at least an hour, she'd twisted and pulled it back into a large, flat knot at the very back of her head.
The boys swallowed down their nervousness and advanced to the stairs. Lily and Maggie slowly descended, facing their dates with a smile.
"You are so beautiful." The moment it left his mouth James felt it was stupid and dull, but Lily blushed and thanked him.
"Well?" James turned and offered her his arm. "Shall we?"
Memory pricked at Lily, that last day with her parents... A warm comfort filled her, "We shall."
~-~-~-~-~-~
Everyone filed down to just outside the Great Hall. Students who weren't old enough or not asked to go to the Ball stood above everyone, peering down over and through the railing. There was a mulititude of students milling around, waiting for the doors to open at 7:30pm.
Lily held James's hand so as not to loose him in the crowd. James was looking for Sirius. Lily spotted him, told James and they wove their way over there.
"There you are!" Sirius said to James with a big smile. Sirius started when he saw Lily.
"Wow."
Lily blushed. James glared at Sirius, "Hey."
"What?" Sirius said, he slipped an arm around the waist of the girl next to him. "Elspeth meet Lily Evans. Lily, Elspeth."
They girls nodded to each other, aware neither were really a threat to stealing her own date, so getting along right off the bat.
"How much longer until they open up?" Sirus wondered out loud.
"What? Mr. Black is impatient? I guess some things never change." A chill voice came from behind Sirius. He turned and nearly screamed. Instead his jaw dropped. She shimmered in a pale blue green, but the part her mostly recognized were her icy blye eyes.
"Serpena." He whispered.
She smiled, tall and with long black hair it wasn't her appearance that was appaling, no it was appealing...What was appaling was whose arm she was on.
Severus Snape's to be exact.
Snape sneered at them, "Oh. Even here I can't get away from you?"
Serpena smiled at him, "I'm beginning to think this school is run by Gryffindorks."
"What'd you say?" Lily spoke up, her temper rising.
Serpena then noticed her. She gave Lily a cold glare, "Oh. You're the girl who can't see five feet in front of her."
"What's that supposed to mean?" James growled.
Lily laid a hand on his arm, "I accidently ran into her in the hall..."
"Oh." James tried to keep from laughing.
"Yes, and thanks to you, I have a bruise from it." Serpena snapped at Lily.
"You're welcome," Lily did not care for this girl much. "I can give you more than a bruise if you like."
But before Serpena could open her mouth Snape pulled her away, claiming the conversation was boring anyways.
Elspeth was inrigued by this conversation, "Who was that Siri?"
"Old, old, old, lang time ago, long forgotten girl friend." Sirius said, still a little shocked that she was the one here with Snape... James smiled.
"Oh." was Elspeth's reply. Nothing more.
A loud click resounded through the hall. Every eye turned towards the Great Hall. The large doors slowly began to creak open.
"Here we go..." James murmured under his breath.
