Turn Right Turn Left.
Chapter 4: Friendships and relationships.
Disclaimer: Am not JK Rowling. You get the idea. If I was I would have been earning big bucks by now... This story is also adapted from the Taiwanese movie of the same name.
Summary:
This story is about two ill-fated young people, James and Lily, who are destined to be together, but unfortunately their paths never cross. James always turns left, while Lily turns right. Through some strange coincidence, they never meet, even though James is Head Boy while Lily is Head Girl, and have totally no idea who the other party is. They chance upon an encounter in Hogsmeade, and find that they have in fact, met before.
But when they part, they realise they have no means of contacting each other, and set out to find their soul mate.
Date posted: 12 October 2003
Revised: 8/8/2004
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The people hushed as Dumbledore stepped to the front of the crowd and put his hands up for silence.
"Students... tonight, let your hair down, well, most of you already have your hair down... but, do still try to enjoy yourselves as much as possible. The dance ends at one... Have fun!" He said in a magically magnified voice and spread his hands wide.
Behind him, the large carved doors to the Great Hall swung open, revealing all that was inside.
The students started cheering as they moved quickly into the Great Hall.
Lily was pushed along with the large crowd, and she finally entered the Great Hall. A single gasp of breath escaped her throat. It was beautiful.
'Evidently James Potter did his job...' Lily thought to herself as she looked up in awe at the other decorations.
In line with the winter season, the Great Hall, as they both had agreed was to be decorated to suit the season. Clear crystal icicles hung from the ceiling and small flecks of snow drifted slowly downwards, being charmed to melt before reaching the floor. The walls were elegantly draped with dark blue, black and silver cloth, and a smattering of silver sparkles on the dark surfaces made it seem as though they were floating in the deep universe. Masses of tiny snow pixies fluttered everywhere, creating an enchanting effect within the Hall. The ceiling currently showed a clear midnight blue sky dazzling with thousands of stars. The Hall had been thrown into darkness, but starlight shone in through the large windows, reflecting off icicles. The dance floor had been magically charmed to look like an ice-skating rink but it was not a single bit slippery, while to the sides, hundreds of small tables cluttered the empty spaces. The tables were round, perfect for two people each, and had a glass surface supported by nothing. It held a single crystal vase that was tinted purple and a single rose in it. Above each of the hundreds of little tables floated a single glowing white sphere that illuminated a small area around the table. The chairs were of a squishy material (think James' room).
To one corner, there was a massive circular bar-table that could seat dozens, somewhere that would allow people to mingle with others without intruding in the privacy of those who did not want to be disturbed.
Lily started across the dance floor as the live band, some wizarding band called the 'Magicals' struck up a slow song. She politely changed course a few times to avoid intruding in on the few couples that had already stepped onto the dance floor, and made her way to the bar.
"Can I have a 'phoenix' please?" She asked the bartender politely. "And a plate of salmon in spicy lemon sauce... Thank you."
It took the waiter just five minutes to assemble Lily's dinner in front of her. Her drink was slightly pink, slightly blue, and was made of a mixture of blueberries, raspberries, pink guava and a little firewhisky.
Lily picked up her knife and fork, and was just about to dig into her meal when she felt someone sit down beside her.
"Hey," that someone said.
Lily looked up and saw a guy with black hair and brown eyes. (Sirius, I gave him black hair and brown eyes for the dance.)
"Hi," Lily replied with a smile.
"I was watching you from over there," the mystery man said, gesturing towards the other side of the bar where three other guys were seated. "Is it just me, or do you seem familiar?"
"We've probably seen each other somewhere before," Lily replied.
The boy laughed merrily. "Yes, I suppose that's it huh?" But still he looked at her with a considering look in his eyes.
Just then, three other guys came up to them. One of them, a guy with brown hair and blue eyes (James) slapped the first guy on the back.
"Padfoot! We leave you for a while and here you are already trying to bait some poor young girl?" He grinned and slapped 'Padfoot' on the back.
"Well, let's hope he's doing better this time around," someone with black hair and gold highlights said dryly. "I so remember that time that he went up to that Muggle girl and went 'Is it just me, or do the stars dim in comparison with your beauty?' Well, that was certainly funny when she slapped him."
Padfoot pouted. "Moony! That cut me deep, that cut me real deep. Ahh, I was young, and innocent, and as I recall, I was under the influence of firewhisky as a certain –cough- someone spiked my drink!"
'Padfoot' turned back to studying her. "Now who can you be...?" He wondered, a finger to his lips.
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you Tracy?" Lily shook her head. "No? Oh well, I guessed as much. She would probably already be out on the dance floor by now... Then... Marie?" Lily shook her head again. "No? Ok, Desaine?" Shake. "Hillary?" Shake. "Grace?" Shake. "No? Bella?" Shake. "NO?! There can't be anymore girls that are good-looking... Unless," he looked suspiciously at her, "you went for magical plastic surgery?"
Lily laughed in amusement, as she watched him, eyes shining brightly. "No..."
The boy heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness! I would hate the thought that someone as beautiful as you are actually ugly in real life."
The boy to her right then spoke up. He had brown hair and blue eyes.
He leaned to speak to her, his eyes sparkling in the light. "Don't mind Tom. He's usually like this."
"Tom?" Lily asked as she laughed softly. "Aren't we not supposed to tell others our names?"
"Nahh, that's not his real name... It's a false name... And meet Dick over here," he said, gesturing to another guy with brown hair and brown eyes. (Peter.)
At this Lily started laughing, her usual reserved self forgotten. "You read muggle jokes?"
The boy nodded, eyes mischievous.
"So where's Harry?"
"Nahh, there's no Harry, only Tom and Dick." He slapped his other friend on the back. "He's too nice to be called names... Now these other two..." He leaned in close to Lily to whisper conspiratorially with her. "These two are downright evil, they are..."
Lily laughed again. She looked up and saw 'Tom' looking highly affronted. "Now, what did dear old Prongsie here tell you?" (In this fic, their nicknames is secretly theirs, so they can use it.)
Lily didn't have a chance to reply as Professor Dumbledore stood up. "Students, if you please, those who are eating, hurry and finish up. Those who are dancing, this is your last song. Assemble on the dance floor please, Hogwarts is trying something new today!"
As quickly as possible, Lily tried to eat her dinner as politely as she could manage and walked slowly to the dance floor, the other four guys walking behind her.
"Okay, on the count of three, Magicals will start up a song. Everytime their lead singer yells 'change', change your partner and waltz to the right! Guys on the outer ring, girls on the inner. Everyone ready? Let's go Hogwarts," Dumbledore announced cheerily and joined in with the circle of students. "Teachers in as well!" He shouted merrily, pulling McGonagall and White (the DADA teacher) into the circle with him.
Lily chuckled softly to herself as she spotted the look on her Professor's face through the thronging mass of students. McGonagall's lips were the thinnest she had ever seen them, and she looked as though she was ready to swing Dumbledore to the moon.
"Ready? And go!"
The Magicals struck up a fast-paced jaunty song and Lily found herself being pushed into the circle, in line with the girls. Her first dance partner was the guy called 'Tom'.
"Hey you," he said, twirling her frantically around in beat with the music. "Looks like we keep meeting! Well, see you soon," he said as the lead singer yelled 'CHANGE!' and he passed her on to her right while he himself turned to the right. (so they are going to opposite directions.)
After that, Lily danced with 'Prongsie' as 'Tom' had called him.
He laughed as he twirled her around. "You are gonna get pretty dizzy after tonight. Trust Dumbledore to think up something like that eh?" Well, looks like Moony's up next. Bye!" There was another 'CHANGE! and he waltz to the side.
'Moony' was a decided gentleman, swinging her far more gently than her previous two partners. "Hey," he said eyes sparkling. "I think they're quite taken with you. Heavens knows how long it's been since a girl didn't giggle and cling on to them... Well, nice dancing with you, it's been a pleasure, my Lady." He bowed slightly.
He paused and gave her a small bow, which Lily blushed and returned with a small curtsy. "You too, my lord."
'CHANGE!' And Lily was swung to her right and started dancing with 'Dick'. He smiled merrily at her. "Don't think we're all pricks who only care about popularity and stuff like that. We certainly aren't... and well... Prongs' just a wee bit crazy. But well, all of us are... being under Dumbledore for seven years... His insanity is bound to rub off on us. Guess we'll see each other some time later. Padfoot is bound to find you." With a laugh, he swung her off, and moved to the girl beside her as the lead singer yelled 'CHANGE!'.
Lily had a great time. After that, she had danced with a boy she assumed was a Slytherin, as he was looking at everything as though something unpleasant was under his nose, a girl who was trying to act as a guy, a shockingly blue-haired guy, two others who had tried to peek down her dress, several that had tried to worm a kiss out of her, to which she had pushed as far away as possible and quickly moved away as the singer yelled for a change. Two more rather gentlemanly guys whom she assumed was from Gryffindor, as Gryffindor guys were usually the most sought-after of the lot, and had the best manners, as well as three of her teachers.
Lily was having so much fun that she had abandoned her usual reservations and was laughing merrily at the going-ons. When the lead singer yelled 'CHANGE!' she stepped away from a good-looking blond to the next person.
"Ahh!" She yelped. "Professor Dumbledore?!" Standing opposite her was her ageing Headmaster, twirling her along to the beat of a well-known wizarding song.
"Is anything wrong Miss Evans?" He asked, chuckling.
Lily shook her head. "It's just... well, unexpected."
Dumbledore laughed. "It's always good to enjoy yourself. It's quite fun isn't it? Aren't you glad you came?"
Lily nodded her head.
"Ah, Minerva!" Dumbledore laughed and danced away, turning to his right and cutting in with a dancing McGonagall and 'Tom' and changing partners so that he was dancing with her. McGonagall was looking as though she too was enjoying herself.
Lily changed a few dozen more partners before Dumbledore's magnified voice called for a stop.
"I trust you've enjoyed yourselves thoroughly?" There was a resounding shout of approval. "Well, now, off to your own dancing!"
As Lily made her way back to the side of the Hall, a guy accosted her.
"Now. You're not getting away so easily..." he told her quietly. It was Prongs. "May I have this dance?"
"Sure..." Lily replied, and allowed him to lead her to the dance floor.
"Are you enjoying yourself?" He asked as a slow song started and he put his chin onto the top Lily's head.
"Well... yes... I'm just not used to attending these sort of things," Lily murmured softly.
"Well, you should you know... You're really the star of the evening."
Lily glowed with happiness. 'He's really nice... I have never had anyone pay me such compliments. Even Petunia hasn't cared much about me...'
"Thank you..."
-----
Sirius, Remus and Peter were at the bar, watching the couple dancing.
"Man is James one lucky bastard!" Sirius howled as he looked at them. "She's hot!"
Peter nodded as he took a swig from his PhoenixWhisky, a milder version of FireWhisky. "Yea, but they certainly go extremely well with each other."
Remus nodded. "God knows how long it's been since James has enjoyed being with a girl. There's so many girls out there waiting to throw themselves at him, but he doesn't want that..."
Sirius nodded in agreement. "Ah, well, I guess that means no stealing... Marauders code of honour!" He said proudly. He eyed a brunette coming over to the bar. "Well, that's Bella I see coming over here. Well, at least I think it's Bella..." He laughed. "Bye guys, I'm off to see my lady love!"
Remus snorted. "Well, let's just hope that she doesn't bite your head off before tonight ends. The girl hates your guts!"
Sirius looked crestfallen for a moment, then brightened up. "Well, there's always hope."
He hopped off the chair and walked over to the girl, bowing lowly.
"May I have this dance?" He offered her his hand, looking hopefully at her.
The girl studied him closely for a few seconds, then accepted his hand graciously. "I would love to."
Sirius appeared to be in bliss as he waltzed the girl of his dreams through the dance floor. All over, the couples turned to look at them, girls and guys alike staring enviously at what seemed to be a perfect match.
People thought that he was a fickle person, going for almost every girl that did not look like a hag, but he had only liked one person... the person that had to hate him since they met in their first year when Sirius tried to show his affection by charming a few gnomes to sing to her. Unfortunately, the charm backfired and she ended up in the hospital wing for nearly a week. Needless, to say, it didn't go well after that.
The girl had closed her eyes, and was resting her head on his shoulder.
"Who are you?" Sirius murmured softly as he stared down at her.
Her eyes remained closed but she answered him... "I'm who I am... No one else."
Sirius stared at her. "Ahh, I'm enlightened."
She laughed quietly, the tinkling of bells through the air and looked up at him. "You don't need to know that."
Then, she sighed and placed her head back on his shoulder.
"Why the quick change of mood?" Sirius asked in concern.
"Nothing..." Then, she quickly looked back up at him that Sirius was startled. "Have you ever believed in true love?"
Sirius nodded.
"Well, I don't know if I should be telling you this..."
"Go on, whatever it is, I won't laugh, scorn or run away..." he said.
She looked at him and laughed again.
"Well, that's the worse that could happen eh?" Sirius said, scratching his head and looking at her sheepishly.
"Well, it's just that... I've known this guy since first year..."
Sirius heart fell. "And...?" He questioned softly. 'Maybe this isn't her...' He said hopefully to himself.
"And, well, I mean, he irritates the hell out of me, everytime I see him, but I dunno, he also goes out of the way to be nice to me, or treats me differently? Maybe I'm wrong, but I guess... I dunno, I guess, everyone says he isn't right, and that he would hurt me, but I can't help myself, I've fallen for his silly little antics, and I'm scared that now he has given up me after I've rejected him. Why couldn't I see that he was the right one for me?" She had started sobbing and didn't seem to know what she was saying. "Oh, stupid Bella... what did you do to yourself this time?" She questioned herself.
'It's Bella,' Sirius thought, his heart falling even further. 'And she likes someone else...'
He patted her back miserably.
"It's alright..." he said softly.
She looked up at him. "It's not alright... It won't be. You probably think I'm stupid or something... You probably think that I should just forget about it..."
"No I don't... You should keep trying... Even though you think it may be impossible, keep trying," he said sadly, thinking of him and Bella. "I'm sure that for someone as lovely as you, everything will turn out all right in the end..."
"Thank you... It's just that, well, Sirius has always been a part of me... I was just too stupid to realise. I guess I had best go now..." She said tearfully and walked away.
Sirius started as he heard his name, and a slow ball of warmth gradually built up inside him. 'Did she just say me? She did, didn't she? I'm not dreaming.'
He chased after her and engulfed her in an enormous hug from behind. She spun around, startled. Her eyes were already dry, the result of magic. (ahhh! Isn't magic useful?)
"What do you think you're doing?" She asked.
Sirius got down on to his knees, (cheesy, but oh so romantic). "Bella, I know I've been a bloody prat all these years, but I also know one thing, and it's that I like you a lot... Only you. Not Tracy, or Marie or Desaine or any of those other girls, but you, dear sweet Bella."
He conjured up a single red rose and pushed it into her hands, waiting anxiously for her reaction.
After moments of silence from her, the hopeful expression on Sirius' face fell. "It-it was nice dancing with you Bella. I'm sorry if I startled you," he said and got onto his feet sadly, turning to get away.
There was a single sound from behind him. The sound of the rose stem hitting the floor, and a pair of arms wrapped around his waist. He turned around quickly, and Bella had buried her face in his robe, which was now feeling a little wet from her tears. "Oh, Sirius," she mumbled into his robe.
He looked down at her, stunned for a moment, then slowly, reached down to return the hug.
-----
From across the Great Hall, Remus and Peter, the remaining two Marauders were surveying the scene.
"Well," Remus said. "That's it huh? Padfoot finally got the girl of his dreams. We've waited so long for that to happen. Amidst all the tears, happiness, fights and despair, we sometimes thought that it wouldn't happen, and sometimes thought that Sirius had given up, but it finally happened." He smiled sideways at Peter, who was beaming at the couple.
"I'm really happy for them," he said. "But well, now there's only you, me and James. Well, there's James if he doesn't get that girl over there..."
Remus smiled at his friend. "No one would want to be with a werewolf, my friend."
Peter smiled back at him, and patted him on the shoulder. "I'm sure you'll find your own Bella like Sirius did... somewhere, sometime." He downed his PhoenixWhisky and hopped off the chair to join in a fast-paced dance.
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The song ended and another faster-paced one started. The girl that was dancing with James laughed and tugged on his hand. "Let's sit this one out... I don't do fast dances."
James laughed and led her over to a small table. A snow pixie was resting on the top of the rose, her minute wings glowing silver and purple in the candlelight.
He felt astonishingly refreshed. It had been a very long time since he had actually went for a date proper. It was Sirius and Peter who was the ladies men in their group. It just didn't feel right. His strict upbringing in high wizard society taught him to always be a perfect gentleman. But this girl was different. Sure, he had female friends. There were people like Jill, and Bella, and the other Marauders who stuck with him and saw him as who he really was, and not some good-looking Quidditch star that was ripe for the taking. She didn't giggle at every sentence he made, didn't come on to strongly... she was just her.
"That's pretty," the girl said softly as she stuck a finger out and allowed the pixie to dance around it.
"Yup, they sure are. The Forbidden Forest is the only place where you can find this breed of snow pixies," James said. "Who are you anyway?" He asked.
"I'm Athena...You know, the Greek goddess of wisdom," she said, gesturing to her white attire.
James raised an eyebrow.
"Well, the modernized version of her anyway..." She said, adding a laugh to the end.
A clock chimed in the distance, a single time. Dumbledore stood up. "People, the dance is over. I hope you have enjoyed yourselves tremendously, and off to beds with you, chop chop!"
James turned back, thinking about asking the girl if she would like him to walk her back, but she had already gone, weaving her way carefully through the crowd until she disappeared from view.
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Lily undressed slowly and sunk into her hot bath, relaxing her body. Half an hour later, dressed in warm clothes, she was perched on the window sill.
"Grandmama, I think I met that special someone today... It was at a dance... I had such a fun time today, Grandmama... He was there, with his three friends, with long brown hair and blue eyes that expressed so much emotion. I felt the spark..." she said, speaking heavenward.
At James' Head rooms, the four friends were seated around his bed, thinking of the events that happened that night.
"Well, I certainly had fun," Sirius said dreamily.
James reached over Remus to shove Sirius in the shoulder, so he toppled onto the bed. But, Sirius, after all the events that had happened in the last few hours, had a goofy expression on his face and did not respond to James' push.
"I wonder why," Peter said dryly. "I would be very happy indeed if I got to walk Bella back to the dorms too. What do you say Sirius?" He said cheekily.
With a rather dog-like growl, Sirius bounced off the bed in a flash and glared comically at Peter. "You were saying?"
Peter rolled his eyes. "Oh, honestly!"
Sirius grinned. "Nahh, you wouldn't do that Wormtail. And, Prongs! What the hell was that shove for anyway?!" He added indignantly, jumping over Remus to pounce on James and grab him into a tackle.
A small fight soon ensued, with Peter and Sirius on one team and James and Remus on the other. It ended with James' team victorious.
"But, seriously, I enjoyed myself today," James said happily, striding over to his mini-bar and getting out bottles of Firewhisky for them.
"Me too," three voices chimed in.
"Aww, Moony, you have to learn to loosen up to other people than ourselves! You hardly danced tonight, and god knows how many girls there were out there staring at you hoping for you to ask them to dance," Peter said.
Moony laughed softly. "I had fun... I danced the circle dance... I did have fun guys," he insisted. "It's just that no one would ever want a werewolf like me..." he said sadly.
His three friends looked at each other, then worriedly back at him. Remus had always been insecure in first year, and up till they had found out about his illness in the fourth year, he had regularly shied away from company. Obviously, some of his insecurity had surfaced tonight.
"Moony... some people don't care about what you are... they only care about the real you, deep down... we all do..." James said as he engulfed Remus in a brotherly hug.
"Awww… GROUP HUG!!" yelled Sirius comically as they piled on top of Remus.
The quartet pulled apart, and Remus was smiling. "Thank you guys, I don't know what I would do without you..."
"Well," Sirius said, cracking the heads off a bottle of FireWhisky and passing it around the group. "What are friends for?"
He placed his right hand un front of him, and the left one over his heart. James imitated, placing his right hand on top of Remus' and his left over his heart. Then came Peter and Remus.
"All for one, one for all,
Marauders forevermore," they chorused.
And as the words were echoed into the night, and the stars twinkled fiercely in the deep midnight sky, and in times to come, it would be certain that these strong bonds of friendship were to hold.
But sadly...
End of Chapter Four.
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