Dancing In November

By Capucine

Chapter Four

"Come on!" she said, tugging on his hand. "Hurry!"

"What's all the rush?" James asked, laughing as he followed her out of the castle. If it had been cold the past days, it was positively frigid now. Protectively, he settled her scarf around her neck more snugly. Lily grinned at him and paused in her hurried dash to—well, to where James knew not—to plant a lightning-quick kiss on his lips. Then she promptly grabbed his hand and started running again.

"Whoa," said he, seizing her around the waist. "That was nice, but it didn't last as long as I'd have liked."

So saying, he kissed her fully, then made his way down her jaw and to her neck, thereby dislocating the scarf he had only just adjusted. He felt her pulse race under his mouth even as she pushed him away playfully.

"We're going to be late!" Lily said worriedly. She made to take his arm and rush off.

"Wait, wait," he said. He readjusted the scarf and licked a snowflake off her nose.

"James!" she admonished, but she was smiling, much as she was trying to hide it. "We're going to be late!"

"Whatever it is will still be there, love," said James soothingly.

"But we'll be late," moaned Lily.

"All right, all right," he gave in, trying to breathe normally as they raced. Honestly, the girl didn't work out at all, and here she was, dodging through the Hogsmeade holiday crowds while his sides, with all their Quidditch training, were threatening to heave.

It must, James decided, be a Muggle thing.

Suddenly, Lily stopped, and turned to him with a maniacal gleam in her emerald eyes. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, right?" she said.

"Er—yes?"

"Yes," she confirmed. "And these are certainly desperate times. We're definitely going to be five minutes late as it is! Granted, they usually don't start until about fifteen minutes after time, but... never mind. All right, there's a shopping center right next to the—to where we're going. We'll Apparate in a changing room on the count of three, okay?"

"Lily—"

"One—"

"I have a question—"

"Two—"

"What's a changing room?"

"Three! Wh—"

*

When Lily opened her eyes, she was staring at James's foot. She knew it was James's, because she didn't know anyone else who would write "L.E." and "Marauders Forever" on the bottom of his shoe. Her head seemed to be resting, rather uncomfortably, on one of those slabs of wood that jut out from the wall which aren't really supposed to be sat on—but which are constantly sat on anyhow, and which occasionally make a very disturbing creaking noise when sat on, causing the sitter to leap up and paste an innocent look on his face, in case the sales attendant comes bursting in.

James, it seemed, was crumpled entirely on op of Lily's head.

The slab creaked ominously, and there was a flurry of arms and a scramble of legs. Eventually, once they'd claimed all their respective limbs, James and Lily stood across from each other.

"Where the hell are we?" asked James, while Lily simultaneously used her sternest voice to say, "It's a miracle we didn't splinch ourselves!"

There was a pause. Then Lily said, "We're in a changing room."

"What in bloody hell is a changing room?"

"Er," said Lily, "a place to change."

James looked at her in consternation. "A place to try on clothes," she clarified.

He decided to accept this explanation in order to pursue other activities. But he'd barely let his lips settle on hers before there was a knock on the door.

A lot can be determined about a person—and a situation—by an interpretation of a knock. This one was brisk and no-nonsense, the sort of knock that makes a mischief-doer freeze in his tracks. It was the Professor McGonagall equivalent of a knock. Presumably, the person on the other side of the door was the Muggle equivalent of Professor McGonagall, which made James suspect he would shortly wish he was somewhere else. Somewhere quite far away, preferably.

But Lily took a step and opened the door, before James could hiss a suggestion of merely doing the dishonest—moreover, dangerous—thing and DisApparating. Standing outside the changing room was a very short, very angry brown-haired woman who was wearing some sort of apron and glaring furiously up at them.

"Only one person in the changing room at a time!" she barked. "And please refrain from using the changing rooms for any and all purposes except for the trying on of store merchandise. And the men's changing rooms are across the hall!"

"Sorry!" said Lily, offering an apologetic smile as she seized James's hand and dashed out of the changing rooms, through of the women's department, past the jewelry counter and out the store's doors.

James had just enough time to read the words "Westmount 6" on the sign before Lily dragged him through the doors of a large building directly next to the shopping center. Once inside, she looked around wildly before leading him over to a booth. Sitting behind the glass, in front of some strange electronic device, and looking bored, was a man in a maroon uniform, wearing a sort of headset.

"Two for Rundown, please," said Lily to the man, who hit some buttons on the electronic device, took a piece of paper from the witch, and handed her some other pieces of paper.

James furrowed his brow as they walked away. "Was I supposed to understand that?" he asked, but she merely smiled, took his hand, and led him into a dark room.

Dark rooms were something, at last, that James understood. He liked dark rooms. He was about to say so, when a voice he didn't recognize said loudly, "In this limited-time offer, you can get a free Hot Tamales when you buy a medium popcorn and a large Pepsi!"

He turned toward the front of the room, where a huge screen was showing a picture of a drink, a bag of popcorn, and a box of candy. The man holding the food wasn't moving. At all.

He sighed. Scratch on the understanding, then, he thought.

Lily pulled him into a chair. She was positively glowing. "This is great," she said. "I haven't been to one of these since last summer. And it's got the Rock in it."

James blinked. "What's one of these?" he asked. "And what's so special about a rock?"

"Not a rock," she said. "The Rock. He's a wrestler. And an actor. And this is a movie."

She looked pleased with herself, and James couldn't help but think how adorable she was when she was happy. "Wrestlers," he said. "I've heard of them. And I don't like them. They generally have larger biceps than I do."

Lily grinned. "It's all right. The Rock's head is too small for his body. And he's too bulky. Not that I'm not fully appreciative of him, or anything."

"Appreciative?" James echoed. "Maybe we should go to another movie. One without attractive men in it, preferably."

"Shhh!" said someone behind him, and he glanced up to see the room's dim light fading.

Lily settled into her seat as the movie started.

She wasn't sure how she felt about James. She'd never been in a relationship that progressed to this stage so quickly. They seemed to have skipped the intermediate stages, the ones with awkward silences, horrible kisses, tentative smiles.

It could have been the boy himself. There was something about James, some indescribable factor that put people around him at their ease and that was as much a part of him as his black hair and strong hands.

She was pulled out of her reverie as James draped a long arm around her shoulders. She played with the tips of his fingers as she turned her attention back to the movie—and the Rock, who was currently kicking the asses of several pro-football players.

*

"I wouldn't mind knowing how to fight like that."

They were back in Hogsmeade, back with the crowds of their own kind, back in the hustle and bustle of frantic Christmas shoppers. Much to Lily's relief, they hadn't been missed from the customary Hogsmeade weekend, and the group hadn't returned to Hogwarts yet when they had returned from their rule-breaking but entertaining and educational expedition.

"No," said Lily flatly. "You're enough of a menace as it is."

James had a faraway look in his eyes, one he'd had on and off since they stepped out of the theater. "I am not," he retorted. Then he grinned. "Well, okay. Maybe."

"I'm cold," Lily said, and without further ado she ducked into the Three Broomsticks

The bar was full to the brim with red-nosed Hogwarts students, and it wasn't long after they sat down at an empty table that three familiar figures threaded their way over.

"Well, well, look who it is," said Sirius snidely as they stopped in front of the table. Remus and Peter pulled up chairs. "I'm going to get the butterbeer."

"What's up with him?" James inquired.

A smile tugged at the corners of Remus's mouth. "He's jealous," he said.

Peter nodded, his watery eyes eager. "He says you're always somewhere else these days."

James steepled his fingers. "Easily remedied," he remarked enigmatically.

Sirius returned with five bottles, and he set them unceremoniously in the center of the table.

"So, Padfoot," said James. "How about a spin on my Comet 140 later?"

Sirius's eyes lit up. "You're the best mate ever," he said enthusiastically, clapping James on the shoulder. "That thing is the shit. Oak inlay, you say?"

Remus shook his head. "I think Sirius is bipolar," he muttered to Lily as James elaborated on the finer points of his broomstick.

Lily took a swig of butterbeer. "It would explain a lot," she agreed. "Are you feeling all right?" she added, noticing that Remus was looking rather pale.

He regarded her calmly. "Oh, yes," he said. "I'm fine."

She didn't believe him, and he knew it.

*

Author's Note: Ah, the satisfaction. And the shame. I think I liked them better when they were miserable. Standard disclaimers apply, obviously. Sorry it took so long—my dad had to reinstall my operating system and I lost my HTML converter when he did, so I haven't been able to post. Luckily I've finally been able to reinstall that, but my writing built up quite a bit over the delay. I'm updating two things today, and posting a new one-shot as well. Crazy, isn't it?

Also--Westmount 6 really is a movie theater in London. According to the Internet, at least. And all the movies they're showing (at the moment, at least) are straight out of Hollywood. ;)

Thanks go to:

Ruth3: ::blush:: You're so sweet. Thanks, especially for understanding about school. Homework is the bane of my existence.

Princess Pixie Ice: Oops. I hope you didn't forget, but my update was by no terms "soon", so I suppose I'll have to take what I get. J Thanks for everything!

Ivy: I agree; Amos is a big meanie who might as well have "dumbass" tattooed to his forehead. Haha... keep reading!

Pittsy: Thanks for your support! I'm having a lot of inspiration for this story, which is probably thanks to all you wonderful reviewers...

Toriisen: Nope, the birthday's not 'til June... heh. And if I rock, you do even more for reviewing.

Black-Rose1212: Looks like you got your wish. ::wrinkles nose:: Not sure I did the fluff-ness very well at all, though. Let me know what you think!

Soccergurl: I know, male protectiveness is just so cute. Which is why I love James—I can see him being that way so easily. Thanks for reviewing!

Shadowed.phoenix: Wow. That was really flattering—thanks! ::feels all warm and bubbly inside::

Fanciful Sovereign: ::grin:: Sirius is happy now, so that's a good. And now that Lily's met the other Marauders under more amiable circumstances, you can count on him being in the story more.

Enna Seawave: Sorry for the updating delay—blame my dad! Or rather me, for accidentally deleting files I needed for my OS, thus causing my dad to have to reinstall my OS, thus losing my HTML converter until today...

Agloechen: Heh. Thanks for your support! I hope you enjoyed this chapter... I have a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, though.

Embyr-Dragon: Kaity! Heehee. When are you going to post that Christmas fic—or have you, already? I must check. Everyone go read Kaity's excellent Harry/Ginny-ness.

LogicalRaven: May I just say I love your penname? Sorry for the shortness. Keep reading!

Liv: Thanks! Although JKR would probably rather hire someone who hits like the Rock to come after me for my lackadaisical disclaimers. All hail JKR, all hail JKR...

Pheep: Pheep! XD Thanks for your review. Gah, WLD keeps dying. No thanks to me, I know, but... we must revive it.

Crimson Solitaire: Thanks so much! And I've just read your latest chapter of Life River—excellent, as per usual. I'll update; provided you do! J

Please review! I'm desperate to know just how much this sucks.