Chapter 5:James' Dream Comes True
"Mr. Black, Miss Lang, would you two kindly PAY ATTENTION!" Professor McGonagal snapped. Lana And Sirius looked up.
Sorry Professor." Lana said quickly. Their assignment in Transfiguration was turning a plant into a peacock. McGonagal had paired them up in groups of two. Lana and Sirius had ended up together, Peter and Kelli Martinez, Lily's and Lana's friend, had been paired together, and, much to Lily's dismay, James had ended up with her. For the first thirty minutes of class, Lana and Sirius had turned the plant to peacock, peacock to plant and so on and so forth, (a/n: *coughfromshrekcough*) until they got really bored, and started talking.
It was mostly about Quidditch and evil pranks they could play on the Slytherins, but also about how amusing it was that Lily had ended up with James as a partner. The pair was quite entertaining to watch. Anyway, it was in the last ten minutes that McGonagal had caught them.
"Now that Black and Lang have decided to join us," McGonagal said, glaring at Lana and Sirius, "there is going to be a Halloween costume party for fourth years and up. It will be held after the Halloween Feast." The bell rang. As usual, McGonagal ended right on time.
You may go!" she told them. There was a mad rush for the door, so Lana and Sirius were one of the last people to leave. They walked out into the hall, and came upon a funny scene: James and Lily arguing.
"Please Lily, PLEASE!" James cried.
"NO!" she shouted back
"Who else do you have to go with?" James demanded. Lily opened her mouth, then shut it again.
"That's what I thought." James said triumphantly "Anyway, you're a Prefect and you'd look stupid if you didn't go with someone." Lily sighed inwardly. Then said,
"If no one asks me in the next..."
"Week!" James broke into her thinking.
"Two weeks." She said
"A week and a half." James argued. She looked up into his eyes. BIG mistake. They were so dreamy and hopeful and passionate. Now she couldn't resist him.
"FINE! A week and a half!" she said, giving in.
"ALRIGHT!" James yelled. Lily shook her head, and walked off.
"BYE LILY!" James shouted after her. Though he didn't hear it, very quietly Lily whispered,
"Bye James."
* * * * * * *
"YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YE-"
"SHUT UP PRONGS!" Remus shouted irritably. He had come back from the Hospital Wing a day before.
"How can I when I'm so HAPPY!" James cried, jumping up and down on his bed.
"Because if you don't," Sirius said through clenched teeth, "then we will kill you." James had been acting like this ever since Lily said she'd go with him if no one else asked her.
"Anyway," Peter piped up, "she may not even go with you!"
"Shut it you!" James said
"He's got a point on this one." Sirius interjected.
"You're supposed to be on my side!" James whined indignantly.
"Not if it involves the risk of me losing my hearing, and my sanity." Sirius said.
"What sanity?" Remus asked jokingly.
"I wonder what Lana's up to?" Sirius thought out loud.
"Are you gonna ask her to the party?" James asked.
"Why?" Sirius asked too quickly.
"Because we all know you want to." Remus stated.
"DO NOT!" Sirius said, blushing slightly.
"Whatever." James muttered.
"I'm gonna look for her." Sirius said, choosing to ignore James. He walked out of the dorm.
Maybe she'd in the Library. Sirius thought. He decided to check there first.
In The Library:
"Hey Lana." A blonde haired, brown-eyed boy greeted. She turned, looking up from her Charms essay.
"Oh, hi Logan." Lana said to the Ravenclaw. He was a beater on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and Lana and he talked sometimes.
"So... do you have anyone to go to the ball with?" he asked.
"No, not yet." She answered casually.
"Do you want to... to go with... me?" He asked hesitantly. She thought for a bit.
"Sure." She replied.
"Really. Oh wow!" he said excitedly. Then he tried to regain his composer.
"And... do you want to go out with me, or at least go on a date with me?" Holy Cow! Lana thought. She looked up into his dark, hopeful brown eyes. His eyed are sooo lovely. She thought to herself. Out loud she said,
"How about we go on a date, and see how it goes from there."
"GREAT! So, what are you doing tonight?" he asked.
"Well, I have some homework to work on, but I should be done by 4:30."
"Alright. Meet me in the entrance hall at 4:45." "Sounds great." Lana said brightly. "What sounds great?" A familiar voice asked. Lana looked for the source of the voice, and met a pair of stormy blue eyes. "Hello Sirius." Lana said "What sounds great?" he asked again. "Me and Logan are going on a date tonight." Lana informed him. "Oh." He said quietly. "Anything else?" "We're going to the dance together." Logan said, too confidently. "What do you want, a medal?" Sirius said sarcastically. "Who are you going with?" Lana asked, attempting to dispel the tension that was obviously there. "I don't know yet." Sirius said. I have quite a selection." He gave a charming smile. "Well, I don't want to bother you two, so I'll see you later." He turned and walked out of the Library. Going with that jerk." Sirius muttered to himself. "What does she see in him?" As he walked down the hall, a girl with pale blonde hair, and blue eyes walked up to Sirius. "Hello." She said. "Going with someone to the ball?" she asked. Now he turned to face her. "Oh. Hi Tyler, and yes I am." "Who?" she asked, slightly put out. "You." He answered. "Okay. Works for me!" she said happily. Then she took his hand, and they went off to look for an empty classroom.
Later That Night In The Boys' Dorm: "You just left?" James demanded. "What else was I supposed to do?!" Sirius cried, frustrated. "Not left! You should have wooed her or something!" James replied. "Prongs, I'm gonna say this one more time before someone gets hurt, Lana and I are JUST FRIENDS! THAT"S ALL!" Sirius yelled. "I have no intention of "wooing" her, and I don't like her like you think I like her. Besides, I'm going out with Tyler." "TYLER?!" James shouted. "She's a SLUT! And-" She is not!" Sirius shouted at James. "Would you leave me alone?" He stormed out, slamming the door behind him. Remus gave James a look. "Did you have to provoke him?" he asked calmly with an edge of annoyance. "How did I provoke him?" James asked. "First, you tried to tell him that he liked Lana, then you told him his girlfriend was a slut." Remus replied. "Well, it's true." James said. Remus stares at him. "Okay, okay! Don't get all huffy Moony." James said. "I'm not all "huffy". Remus said indignantly. Then he opened his book and read. James started on his homework.
* * * * * * Sirius stormed out of the Common Room, not knowing, or caring where he was going. Millions of questions and thoughts moved about in his mind. He was mad at James, but not about what he said about Tyler. Everyone knew Tyler was a slut, but he had to get away from James' constant reminder of his true feelings to think. No, what James thought was his true feelings. Did he like Lana? He didn't know! He was so confused. He had been highly disappointed when he learned that Lana said yes to that dope without thinking. Or had she been thinking? Maybe she only did see him as her friend. But that's how he saw her too, right? Then he had to stop thinking 'cause his head hurt. He then realized where his feet had carried him. He was in the highest Astronomy Tower. He stared out the window at the starlit sky absent-mindedly. Something shifted. Sirius looked quickly to his right. "What are you doing here?" Sirius asked, surprised. "I should be asking the same of you." Lana stated, a gust of wind blowing a few strands of her rich, brown hair into her face. Wow she's beautiful. Sirius thought. "What are you doing you here?" Lana asked again. "I just... wanted to be alone." Sirius answered truthfully. "How was your date?" he asked, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice. "Not too good. He...uh... made me dinner. And, let's just say, he's not meant to cook. We had a picnic outside, and the wind blew the blanket and napkins everywhere, and then," she started laughing, "it started raining on us." Lana was laughing hysterically by now. Sirius then noticed that her clothes did look a little damp, and he laughed too. Then, Lana tri to get a straight face on, and said, "He felt really bad, so I couldn't laugh, but it was sooo hard 'cause it was hilarious." She broke off into another fit of laughter. "So are you still going to the dance with him?" Sirius asked her. "Yeah." She replied. "Oh." He said, forgetting not to sound upset. His forlorn tone immediately got her attention. "Why would I not? He did ask me." She said, looking at him. "Well, I dunno, its just... never mind." He finished quietly. "Are you alright Siri?" Lana asked, concerned. He put his regular tone back on with a massive effort. "Yeah, I'm fine." he said. "Okay." Lana leaned her head on his shoulder. He was startled, then put his arm around her. "I love watching the stars." Lana stated quietly, staring into the sky. "Yeah." Sirius said, somewhat dreamily, drinking in the moment. "They're all so bright tonight." She said, "Too bad it's so cloudy." Sirius responded by putting his head on hers. A chill wind blew through the tower, and Sirius tightened his grip around her shoulders. Lana inhaled deeply, her eyes closed. They stood there until a fork of lightning streaked the sky, thunder rumbled and it down poured. "Time to go!" Sirius said as they broke apart and ran out of the tower before they could get soaked. When they were safely out of range of the rain, they skidded to a halt. Sirius looked at Lana and snorted with laughter. Lana looked back at him, and gave a giggle. Sirius looked like he was going to burst at the seams if he didn't laugh soon. They stared at each other. BIG mistake. They both exploded with laughter.
* * * * * *
A week and a half later finally dragged by and, for James, it was the longest week and a half that he had ever experienced. The Marauders were heading down to lunch when James saw Lily. "LIILLLEEEEE!" James shouted. "LILY, OVER HERE!" Lily stared at him, open- mouthed. James opened his mouth, but Lily hurried over to him before he could make the other half of the hall go completely deaf. "What?" she asked when she had reached him. "So... will you go with me?" James asked impatiently. "Will I go with you to what?" Lily asked. "You know." James said. "No I really don't." A boy started to approach Lily. James glanced at him, then said politely, and confidently, "Lily, will you go to the dance with me?" Lily looked from James to the boy. Because of the confidence James had had in his voice, Lily almost said no. Then she remembered that look in James' eyes when she had agreed to the deal. "Yes James, I'll go with you." She said. The boy walked away, looking dejected. James stared at her speechless. He could hardly contain his excitement any longer, so he exploded. "YES, YES, YES, YES! OH MAN I CAN"T BELIEVE- YES!" James finished happily. "Gosh Potter, you're gonna die before the dance if you keep acting like that!" Lily said, highly amused and flattered that any boy would be so excited to go with her to one dance. Sirius groaned. "He's gonna drive us INSANE with his crazy behavior!" Lily looked at him apologetically. "Sorry Sirius, I forgot you have to live with him." She said. "We should apologize." Said Peter. "Because you may not have a date to the dance if we KILL James out of pure annoyance." Everyone (excluding James, who had gone into a daze at his luck.) laughed.
"Mr. Black, Miss Lang, would you two kindly PAY ATTENTION!" Professor McGonagal snapped. Lana And Sirius looked up.
Sorry Professor." Lana said quickly. Their assignment in Transfiguration was turning a plant into a peacock. McGonagal had paired them up in groups of two. Lana and Sirius had ended up together, Peter and Kelli Martinez, Lily's and Lana's friend, had been paired together, and, much to Lily's dismay, James had ended up with her. For the first thirty minutes of class, Lana and Sirius had turned the plant to peacock, peacock to plant and so on and so forth, (a/n: *coughfromshrekcough*) until they got really bored, and started talking.
It was mostly about Quidditch and evil pranks they could play on the Slytherins, but also about how amusing it was that Lily had ended up with James as a partner. The pair was quite entertaining to watch. Anyway, it was in the last ten minutes that McGonagal had caught them.
"Now that Black and Lang have decided to join us," McGonagal said, glaring at Lana and Sirius, "there is going to be a Halloween costume party for fourth years and up. It will be held after the Halloween Feast." The bell rang. As usual, McGonagal ended right on time.
You may go!" she told them. There was a mad rush for the door, so Lana and Sirius were one of the last people to leave. They walked out into the hall, and came upon a funny scene: James and Lily arguing.
"Please Lily, PLEASE!" James cried.
"NO!" she shouted back
"Who else do you have to go with?" James demanded. Lily opened her mouth, then shut it again.
"That's what I thought." James said triumphantly "Anyway, you're a Prefect and you'd look stupid if you didn't go with someone." Lily sighed inwardly. Then said,
"If no one asks me in the next..."
"Week!" James broke into her thinking.
"Two weeks." She said
"A week and a half." James argued. She looked up into his eyes. BIG mistake. They were so dreamy and hopeful and passionate. Now she couldn't resist him.
"FINE! A week and a half!" she said, giving in.
"ALRIGHT!" James yelled. Lily shook her head, and walked off.
"BYE LILY!" James shouted after her. Though he didn't hear it, very quietly Lily whispered,
"Bye James."
* * * * * * *
"YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YE-"
"SHUT UP PRONGS!" Remus shouted irritably. He had come back from the Hospital Wing a day before.
"How can I when I'm so HAPPY!" James cried, jumping up and down on his bed.
"Because if you don't," Sirius said through clenched teeth, "then we will kill you." James had been acting like this ever since Lily said she'd go with him if no one else asked her.
"Anyway," Peter piped up, "she may not even go with you!"
"Shut it you!" James said
"He's got a point on this one." Sirius interjected.
"You're supposed to be on my side!" James whined indignantly.
"Not if it involves the risk of me losing my hearing, and my sanity." Sirius said.
"What sanity?" Remus asked jokingly.
"I wonder what Lana's up to?" Sirius thought out loud.
"Are you gonna ask her to the party?" James asked.
"Why?" Sirius asked too quickly.
"Because we all know you want to." Remus stated.
"DO NOT!" Sirius said, blushing slightly.
"Whatever." James muttered.
"I'm gonna look for her." Sirius said, choosing to ignore James. He walked out of the dorm.
Maybe she'd in the Library. Sirius thought. He decided to check there first.
In The Library:
"Hey Lana." A blonde haired, brown-eyed boy greeted. She turned, looking up from her Charms essay.
"Oh, hi Logan." Lana said to the Ravenclaw. He was a beater on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and Lana and he talked sometimes.
"So... do you have anyone to go to the ball with?" he asked.
"No, not yet." She answered casually.
"Do you want to... to go with... me?" He asked hesitantly. She thought for a bit.
"Sure." She replied.
"Really. Oh wow!" he said excitedly. Then he tried to regain his composer.
"And... do you want to go out with me, or at least go on a date with me?" Holy Cow! Lana thought. She looked up into his dark, hopeful brown eyes. His eyed are sooo lovely. She thought to herself. Out loud she said,
"How about we go on a date, and see how it goes from there."
"GREAT! So, what are you doing tonight?" he asked.
"Well, I have some homework to work on, but I should be done by 4:30."
"Alright. Meet me in the entrance hall at 4:45." "Sounds great." Lana said brightly. "What sounds great?" A familiar voice asked. Lana looked for the source of the voice, and met a pair of stormy blue eyes. "Hello Sirius." Lana said "What sounds great?" he asked again. "Me and Logan are going on a date tonight." Lana informed him. "Oh." He said quietly. "Anything else?" "We're going to the dance together." Logan said, too confidently. "What do you want, a medal?" Sirius said sarcastically. "Who are you going with?" Lana asked, attempting to dispel the tension that was obviously there. "I don't know yet." Sirius said. I have quite a selection." He gave a charming smile. "Well, I don't want to bother you two, so I'll see you later." He turned and walked out of the Library. Going with that jerk." Sirius muttered to himself. "What does she see in him?" As he walked down the hall, a girl with pale blonde hair, and blue eyes walked up to Sirius. "Hello." She said. "Going with someone to the ball?" she asked. Now he turned to face her. "Oh. Hi Tyler, and yes I am." "Who?" she asked, slightly put out. "You." He answered. "Okay. Works for me!" she said happily. Then she took his hand, and they went off to look for an empty classroom.
Later That Night In The Boys' Dorm: "You just left?" James demanded. "What else was I supposed to do?!" Sirius cried, frustrated. "Not left! You should have wooed her or something!" James replied. "Prongs, I'm gonna say this one more time before someone gets hurt, Lana and I are JUST FRIENDS! THAT"S ALL!" Sirius yelled. "I have no intention of "wooing" her, and I don't like her like you think I like her. Besides, I'm going out with Tyler." "TYLER?!" James shouted. "She's a SLUT! And-" She is not!" Sirius shouted at James. "Would you leave me alone?" He stormed out, slamming the door behind him. Remus gave James a look. "Did you have to provoke him?" he asked calmly with an edge of annoyance. "How did I provoke him?" James asked. "First, you tried to tell him that he liked Lana, then you told him his girlfriend was a slut." Remus replied. "Well, it's true." James said. Remus stares at him. "Okay, okay! Don't get all huffy Moony." James said. "I'm not all "huffy". Remus said indignantly. Then he opened his book and read. James started on his homework.
* * * * * * Sirius stormed out of the Common Room, not knowing, or caring where he was going. Millions of questions and thoughts moved about in his mind. He was mad at James, but not about what he said about Tyler. Everyone knew Tyler was a slut, but he had to get away from James' constant reminder of his true feelings to think. No, what James thought was his true feelings. Did he like Lana? He didn't know! He was so confused. He had been highly disappointed when he learned that Lana said yes to that dope without thinking. Or had she been thinking? Maybe she only did see him as her friend. But that's how he saw her too, right? Then he had to stop thinking 'cause his head hurt. He then realized where his feet had carried him. He was in the highest Astronomy Tower. He stared out the window at the starlit sky absent-mindedly. Something shifted. Sirius looked quickly to his right. "What are you doing here?" Sirius asked, surprised. "I should be asking the same of you." Lana stated, a gust of wind blowing a few strands of her rich, brown hair into her face. Wow she's beautiful. Sirius thought. "What are you doing you here?" Lana asked again. "I just... wanted to be alone." Sirius answered truthfully. "How was your date?" he asked, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice. "Not too good. He...uh... made me dinner. And, let's just say, he's not meant to cook. We had a picnic outside, and the wind blew the blanket and napkins everywhere, and then," she started laughing, "it started raining on us." Lana was laughing hysterically by now. Sirius then noticed that her clothes did look a little damp, and he laughed too. Then, Lana tri to get a straight face on, and said, "He felt really bad, so I couldn't laugh, but it was sooo hard 'cause it was hilarious." She broke off into another fit of laughter. "So are you still going to the dance with him?" Sirius asked her. "Yeah." She replied. "Oh." He said, forgetting not to sound upset. His forlorn tone immediately got her attention. "Why would I not? He did ask me." She said, looking at him. "Well, I dunno, its just... never mind." He finished quietly. "Are you alright Siri?" Lana asked, concerned. He put his regular tone back on with a massive effort. "Yeah, I'm fine." he said. "Okay." Lana leaned her head on his shoulder. He was startled, then put his arm around her. "I love watching the stars." Lana stated quietly, staring into the sky. "Yeah." Sirius said, somewhat dreamily, drinking in the moment. "They're all so bright tonight." She said, "Too bad it's so cloudy." Sirius responded by putting his head on hers. A chill wind blew through the tower, and Sirius tightened his grip around her shoulders. Lana inhaled deeply, her eyes closed. They stood there until a fork of lightning streaked the sky, thunder rumbled and it down poured. "Time to go!" Sirius said as they broke apart and ran out of the tower before they could get soaked. When they were safely out of range of the rain, they skidded to a halt. Sirius looked at Lana and snorted with laughter. Lana looked back at him, and gave a giggle. Sirius looked like he was going to burst at the seams if he didn't laugh soon. They stared at each other. BIG mistake. They both exploded with laughter.
* * * * * *
A week and a half later finally dragged by and, for James, it was the longest week and a half that he had ever experienced. The Marauders were heading down to lunch when James saw Lily. "LIILLLEEEEE!" James shouted. "LILY, OVER HERE!" Lily stared at him, open- mouthed. James opened his mouth, but Lily hurried over to him before he could make the other half of the hall go completely deaf. "What?" she asked when she had reached him. "So... will you go with me?" James asked impatiently. "Will I go with you to what?" Lily asked. "You know." James said. "No I really don't." A boy started to approach Lily. James glanced at him, then said politely, and confidently, "Lily, will you go to the dance with me?" Lily looked from James to the boy. Because of the confidence James had had in his voice, Lily almost said no. Then she remembered that look in James' eyes when she had agreed to the deal. "Yes James, I'll go with you." She said. The boy walked away, looking dejected. James stared at her speechless. He could hardly contain his excitement any longer, so he exploded. "YES, YES, YES, YES! OH MAN I CAN"T BELIEVE- YES!" James finished happily. "Gosh Potter, you're gonna die before the dance if you keep acting like that!" Lily said, highly amused and flattered that any boy would be so excited to go with her to one dance. Sirius groaned. "He's gonna drive us INSANE with his crazy behavior!" Lily looked at him apologetically. "Sorry Sirius, I forgot you have to live with him." She said. "We should apologize." Said Peter. "Because you may not have a date to the dance if we KILL James out of pure annoyance." Everyone (excluding James, who had gone into a daze at his luck.) laughed.