AN: Where do I start? Well, first off I would like to make a MAJOR apology.
That last chapter was so not up to what it should have been. I shouldn't
have posted it in its condition, but I figured I would anyway. It was bad.
I am sorry. PLEASE FORGIVE ME! The other thing is that I'm sorry I forgot
to take out the two HTML codes that I left in there. I was thinking about
trying to get the chappy in HTML but changed my mind, I guess those two
code got away from me. I guess in addition to that, This chapter will be
the one with the dance. Are there any surprises? Who knows.Read on!
Chapter 12 (which will be much longer the chapter 11..or should be)
Friday morning when the girls woke up, Cayte immediately knew it would definitely be a day filled with music for her. She reached over for her CD player which usually was on her nightstand and found it missing. She sat up quickly, worried about where it would be. After a minute of looking through her trunk, she remembered that she had lent it to Sirius the night before. She looked around to see whom else was awake, and saw that she was the only one. It was 11 o'clock and everyone else was asleep.
Slowly she crept up the staircase, afraid of waking others, she turned into the boys dorms and was startled by a loud snoring sound. She laughed silently realizing that James was the owner of the snores. Walking over to Sirius bed, she saw that he was still wearing the headphones. 'No, wait, the CD's still playing!' she looked down and saw that it was on repeat. 'It must have been playing all night long!' Slowly she took the headphones off of his ears and made an attempt at sneaking out of the room.
"Cayte?" Sirius whispered.
Cayte turned around, blushing. She hadn't meant to wake him. She held up the CD player to show him why she was there.
"Oh. Ok, hang on a second," Sirius said, still whispering. He got out of bed, rubbed his eyes, and put on a terry cloth robe. Cayte was shocked. She had never seen that before. "I'll be back in a second. Stay here." Sirius grabbed some clothes and went to the bathrooms to change. Cayte walked over and sat on the ground next to his trunk. Looking around, she noticed a lot of his clothes were just pilled around his four poster. She got up, and started folding them up, she always was one for keeping some things strait. When she picked up one of his school robes, a piece of parchment fell out of an inside pocket. She picked it up and realized it was the paper that he had been tucking away the day of the Hogsmeade trip, the one he had been so secretive about. The battle of her conscience had begun, would she look at it or not? She judged the amount of time she had left before Sirius came back into the room and decided that she could take a quick look. If it look *too * personal, she would put it back.
Carefully she unfolded part of the parchment. What she saw confused her. It was just a map of the inside of Hogwarts. Nothing special, just a map. Cayte was so intently trying to figure out what was up with this map that she didn't realize Sirius had come back in the room. He walked up and peered over her shoulder. "Where'd you find that?" Sirius asked. Cayte jumped, "You scared me! I was folding up some of your clothes that were on the floor- it's a compulsive habit of mine, when I don't know what to do, I fold clothes- and it fell out. I was trying to see if it was a homework assignment of something. Sorry."
"Oh, it's alright. I guess. It's a map of the inside of Hogwarts. I'll tell you more about it later, when I'm not worried about eavesdroppers," Sirius laughed, "strange habit, folding clothes." They both walked out the dorms and down to the commons room talking. Soon enough everyone was awake and it was time for lunch. Cayte ran and put the CD player up and then went down to eat.
~*~ In life, one has to face a huge assortment
Of nauseating fads and good advice.
There's health and fitness, diet and deportment
And other pointless forms of sacrifice
Conversation? Wit? I am a doubter
Manners, charm, they're no way to impress
So forget the inner me, observe the outer
I am what I wear, and how I dress
Oh, now I believe in looking
Like my time on earth is cooking
Whether polka-dotted, striped, or even checked
With some glamour guaranteeing
Every fiber of my being
Is displayed to quite remarkable effect
From your cradle via trousseau
To your death bed you're on view so
Never compromise accept no substitute
I would rather wear a barrel
Than conservative apparel
For a dress has always been
My strongest suit
GIRLS:
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
AMNERIS:
Staying in or hitting townwards,
From the top and working downwards
I ensure that every stitch is stitched in time
GIRLS: Is stitch is stitched in time!
AMNERIS:
Whether wig or hat or turban,
whether clad boudoir or urban
Not to strut your stuff outrageously is a crime
GIRLS: Such a crime!
AMNERIS:
and the few who are invited
To my wardrobe are delighted
As they wander through my things to find en route
GIRLS: They're wanderin' through your things!
AMNERIS:
That in negligee or formal
I am anything but normal
A dress has always been my strongest suit
GIRLS:
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
AMNERIS: (Sung with chorus above)
I am what I wear, I say anytime, anywhere!
So bring me all my finest,
Most audacious, my divinest
Most revealing, most expensive and to boot
GIRLS:
Most revealing, most expensive, most arresting!
AMNERIS: Most arresting!
GIRLS: Most heart-stopping...
AMNERIS: Most heart-stopping!
Most free-flowing, most eye-popping
Most arresting, most heart-stopping yeah!
A dress has always been my strongest suit
GIRLS: I am what I wear
AMNERIS: My strongest suit!
GIRLS: I am what I wear
AMNERIS and GIRLS:
You know that I am what I wear!
AMNERIS:
A dress has always been my strongest suit!
So bring me all my finest,
Most audacious, my divinest
Most revealing, most expensive and to boot
Most arresting, most heart-stopping...
Most free-flowing, most eye-popping
A dress has always been my strongest suit! (I am what I wear)
My strongest suit! (I am what I wear)
You know that I am what I wear!
A dress has always been my strongest...
my strongest...
my strongest...
my strongest...
my strongest...
my strongest...
Suit!
"Lily?" Cayte screamed over the sound of the magical hair dryer and the end of the song that she had found only too fitting for the occasion, "I need an eyeliner. Blue. Do ya have one I can borrow?"
It was six o'clock. Dinner was at seven, the dance at eight.
"Yeah! I'll get it to you in a minute. Lemme finish Mel's hair!" Lily said.
"Lily? Where'd ya learn to do this stuff? Up-do's and such?" Melanie asked, it was a question they all had.
"Oh, well my oldest sister, Gladiola, was learning how to do them with all her friends for one of the muggle high school dances when I was 10. She taught me how to do it as she practiced on my hair."
"Gladiola?"
"Flower. We all call her Lola though. It works a lot better than Gladiola, believe me." Lily said. "So what was that song?"
"Oh, that was "My Strongest Suit" from Aida. It's great, and I thought it would be funny to play while we were getting dressed because it's about clothes!" Cayte said.
Meanwhile, the guys were hanging out in the commons room. "Ever notice how when going to the dance, those who are going together always walk arm in arm where as the people who are just going alone walk side by side with there hands down?" Sirius asked.
"Nope, can't say that I have," James responded.
"Why do you notice these things?" Peter asked, Remus was wondering the same thing.
"Well, when you think about it, that's what happens. Review your memories, you figure out quite a lot," Sirius said.
"Hmmm.I suppose you're right," Remus said, "I do recall that happening a lot."
"So, are we all going to dinner before hand?" Peter asked.
"I would think so. I can go ask Cayte if you want."
"Um, Sirius, I wouldn't do that if I were you. Girls before dances.a tad bit freaky if you ask me," James said, looking a little strangely at his friend.
"Good point, good point. Thank you so much for stopping me!" Sirius said.
"I hope we are, if the girls take another two hours to get ready, we will all die. How can it take * that* long?" Remus said, posing his hypothetical question.
The guys sat there for another twenty minutes or so before going to get ready themselves. At around seven fifteen, all the male Gryffindors were downstairs in the commons room waiting on the girls. Slowly they started to trickle in.
They came in order of grades, with a few stragglers sometimes. While all this was happening, Lily and Melanie were making sure they looked perfect in their dresses and Cayte was in the bathroom putting on hers. She stayed true to her promise of not letting anyone see it. Before she left the bathroom, she looked out and made sure no one was in the room. When she was sure no one was there, she went to the door and started down the stairs.
James and Lily were standing arm and arm ("I told you!" Sirius said), Peter had asked a third year to the dance, so they were standing together, and Remus was standing arm in arm with Melanie. Sirius stood alone, he casually watched the staircase while keeping conversation going with the others.
Cayte made her way down the staircase, as she rounded the corner, she saw Sirius wink at her. She whispered to herself, "I can do this. I look amazing and I can do this!" making it seem like she had a bit more confidence than she really did. No one could see her but him, as he was the only one at the right angle. As she came into view and farther down the staircase, Sirius edged closer to her. When she reached the lower level, he wrapped his arm in hers, and walked towards James and the rest of the group. The whole commons room let out a small gasp.
Soon everyone made their way down to the great hall for dinner. Dumbledore had moved the house table and replaced them with tables of all different shapes. Being a group of ten, they had a choice of one shaped like a star, or a heart. They chose the heart. Once looking around, Cayte noticed that there was even one shaped like the giant squid for the professors to sit at. Some of them were glaring at Dumbledore, trying to figure out how they were supposed to sit.
Lily was the first to ask why no one had said anything about Sirius and Cayte going together. "Because no one but us knew, and we wanted to keep it that way," Cayte said.
"Just like your dress?" Sirius said, commenting on it. It was a blue that matched her eyes wonderfully, with a top that had a princess cut front and laced in the back, and the bottom part flowed around her brilliantly. She couldn't wait to dance in it.
"Just like my dress," Cayte said.
"So, how long have you been going out?" Peters date, Adrianne asked.
"We aren't going out. We're just here as friends," Sirius said, looking around the table, especially at James, to clear up any misconceptions.
Dinner was soon served, roasted chicken and pasta, and as everyone started eating, the noise in the Great Hall grew to a dull roar. When everyone was done eating, some people got up to dance. Sirius, James, Remus, Peter, and all of their dates sat and chatted for awhile.
When Sirius and Cayte did get up to dance, Sirius whispered to he, "So, why exactly did you want to keep the dress a secret?" Cayte was laughing inwardly.
"Because. I wanted it all to be special. This is the first time I've gone to a dance with a date, and you wanted to keep that a secret, so I figured I'd make it even better. People don't have dances a lot in America. Most of the time I didn't go because I wasn't sure I'd have a good time. Thus, with this being the first time I was going * with* a date, and when planning on having fun, I really wanted it to be special. You get it?" Cayte said. By this time they were already on the dance floor, so Sirius was looking at her when he said (rather confidently), "Oh, believe me, it will be fun!" Cayte just smiled. They started to dance, Lily and James were close by, as well as Remus and Peter.
A slow song came on. Cayte nervously looked up at Sirius, but before she could say anything, he took her arms and wrapped them around his neck, then wrapped his around her waist. They both laughed. "I have slow danced before Siri," she said, thinking to herself, 'But it's never been like this'. As the song went on, they got closer to each other so by the end of the dance, Cayte's head was on his shoulder, and he was resting his on her head.
The dance went on, Cayte and Sirius danced quite literally the entire time, and as it was coming to a close, Lily walked up to Cayte, "Hey, Sirius, mind if I steal her for a sec? Gotta ask a question." Sirius stepped away a few feet and let the girls talk.
"Mind if I take James to the room tonight?" Lily asked.
"What, the dorm room?" Cayte said, then realizing what it was Lily meant. "Sure. Why would I mind? It's * Hogwarts'* room anyway." Cayte said, walking towards Sirius to dance the last dance of the night. When it was over, all of the students reluctantly started heading back towards their commons room. Many of the couples escaped into hidden rooms, or pulled the curtains around a lonely four-poster. When Cayte and Sirius reached the commons room, Cayte went up to the dorms to change out of her dress, she and Sirius planned to meet in the commons room.
Cayte came down to the commons room wearing a pair of dark blue pajama pants that had twinkling stars on them and a white shirt, while Sirius was just in normal clothes. He looked at her strangely.
"Oh! The pajama pants. They're really big where I'm from. Every one wears them!" Cayte explained. For a moment they just stood there in an awkward silence. "Do ya wanna go up to my dorms?" Sirius asked, noticing a shooting star fly across Cayte's pajamas, "James, Remus, and Peter are nowhere to be found, so we wouldn't have to worry about them."
Cayte looked at Sirius, she wasn't sure what to say, they weren't going out and why would they do something if they weren't? "I guess."
They walked up to the guys' dorm, moments filled with really awkward silence. When they got there, they both sat on Sirius' bed. Cayte started to laugh.
"What?" Sirius asked.
"This place is still a wreck. It's worse than our room and we were being crazy with make-up and hair and all. Wow. That shows me a lot about the male race," Cayte said, still laughing. She fell back on the bed, so that she was half lying and half sitting. Sirius then did the same.
"Well, what can I say. Some of us were a bit nervous too."
"Hey! Who says I was nervous?" Cayte said defensively.
"I saw what you whispered to yourself. 'I can do this. I look amazing and I can do this' that doesn't sound like you weren't nervous to me," Sirius said.
"Well.um.er.I just wanted to remind myself," Cayte said, smiling. "You figured me out.Damn."
"It's alright. I was pretty nervous too. I mean, wow. I wasn't sure how I could get James and them to realize we were going together, and then what if they didn't serve food I liked, and what if, they didn't serve any food at all? We'd all starve!" Sirius said, trying to make her feel a bit less nervous now. He turned over on his side so he could face her. "And, what would happen if my date ended up ditching me.glad that one didn't happen!"
Cayte turned on her side too, "You know I would never do that to you. Although." Cayte said laughing. She got up to go get a drink of water. When she came back, she sat with her back against the footboard of the bed. This made it a bit strange for Sirius, who was now looking at her feet. He then got up and but his back against the headboard. "So, you're afraid of people leaving you? Like being stood up, or something similar?" Cayte asked.
"No, not really. Although it would be pretty bad if that did happen," Sirius said smiling. Cayte's foot fell against his leg and even through his thick jeans, he could feel how cold it was. "Dang! Your foots freezing!"
"Yeah I know. My feet and my hands are always cold. It never stops really. So what are you scared of?" Cayte said, then she started to laugh as Sirius rubbed his hands between her feet, then sat on them. "Stop it!"
"Just trying to warm you up a bit! What am I scared of, you ask? Well, that would be just the normal things. Not having food, running out of food, umm.cockroaches. I think that's about it," Sirius said, lifting the middle section of his body up to pull the blanket from under him. "Although there is that morbid fear of not having to go to school!" Sirius said jokingly, as he put the blanket around Cayte's feet. "And you my little gingersnap, what are you afraid of?"
Cayte laughed at first, 'it seems he's finally found a nickname for me.though I'm not so sure about that one.' she thought to her self. "What am I afraid of? Well that is a complicated one. Not to mention it's a secret. No one knows."
"Well, why don't ya tell me? Someone has to know, otherwise it's not a secret!" and as an afterthought he added, "My little gingersnap!"
Cayte's head sunk down towards her knees. It was something she was embarrassed about, something she never thought she'd tell anyone, yet here she was, about to tell someone. "It's going to take some explaining. And it's kinda strange."
"Go on."
Cayte gave a half smile. "Well.I'm afraid of falling in love."
"Really? Why? I always heard that girls can't wait to fall in love, that they look forward to it."
"Well, remember I told you that it would take explaining? It does. You see."Cayte looked down at her knees again. "I've got this really low self-esteem. Like, * really* low. So I'm afraid of getting hurt. That's the real thing. I'm afraid that if I fall in love, they will walk off and leave me, and I will be so hurt.I don't know what I would do if that happened. I mean," Cayte sighed loudly, then yawed, "What would happen to me? And then- and-Ugh! What," Cayte yawned again, "I mean is I am truthfully scared of being hurt, and over all the worst of it is that I am afraid that love will equal pain and thus, I would be hurt," Cayte said, worrying about whether or not Sirius understood.
Sirius sat in silence watching as Cayte's eyelids got heavier and heavier. He understood what Cayte was saying, but didn't know why or how he could help her. All he knew was that he wanted her to not be afraid to make the leap that is love whenever the time came, and to whomever was on the other side of the spectrum. Even if it wasn't him. "So basically you have to trust someone enough so that you can believe the wont just walk away from you when you are in love? And get over your fear of being hurt as well? Well then, I suppose I've got a lot of work to do don't I?" he said jokingly. "But either way Cayte, I think your main problem is that you have never had the chance to be in love, and so you don't know how easy it is to fall in love with out realizing it. Believe me, I'm speaking from experience."
Cayte looked a bit puzzled through her rapidly closing eyelids. "You've been in love? With who?"
Sirius nodded, "Yeah, once. What's really weird though, is that you can kind of figure out if you are falling in love with someone after you have once. Who, you ask? Well, that takes some explaining. I was 11. You wouldn't think an 11 year old would be able to fall in love would you?" Sirius said laughing, "Her name was Catie, she was a foreign student from-" Sirius paused, "France, and we almost went out, but somehow things got a bit messed up and she was a little hesitant."
"Oh," Cayte said in a rather large yawn, "strange.. I once thought I was.." Cayte's eyes had closed due to her heavy eyelids and her speech stumbled off as she fell asleep.
Sirius got up and walked over to where Cayte was sitting. He gathered her up in his arms and she nuzzled to fit against his body. Slowly he carried her up the stairs to her deserted dorm room.
He walked over to her bed, somehow managed to pull the covers back with his knee, and set her down in her bed. Pulling the covers up, he leaned down and whispered into her ear, "Every little thing you do is magic, every little thing just turns me on.." then kissed her on the forehead and walked out of the room, closing the door softly.
AN: LONGEST CHAPTER YET! Not to mention the longest you all have had to wait and I am SO unbelievably sorry! Ernest Hemingway. 'Nuff said. Really. I had to read one of his books in like, two days and it took forever and I never got to type until tonight! REALLY! The last thing Siri whispers to Cayte is part of a Police song. The title is every little thing. It is a wonderful song, and you should all listen to it over and over again. The song Cayte puts on when they are getting ready is a song from Aida entitled 'My strongest Suit' You can probable tell what it's about by now. Again I'm incredibly sorry for the wait and for everything that I have stated previously!!!! Review!!! Oh yeah, did anyone catch a bit of foreshadowing- for lack of a better description- in Cayte and Siri's conversation on his bed? Go back and read. Tell me if you did.
Chapter 12 (which will be much longer the chapter 11..or should be)
Friday morning when the girls woke up, Cayte immediately knew it would definitely be a day filled with music for her. She reached over for her CD player which usually was on her nightstand and found it missing. She sat up quickly, worried about where it would be. After a minute of looking through her trunk, she remembered that she had lent it to Sirius the night before. She looked around to see whom else was awake, and saw that she was the only one. It was 11 o'clock and everyone else was asleep.
Slowly she crept up the staircase, afraid of waking others, she turned into the boys dorms and was startled by a loud snoring sound. She laughed silently realizing that James was the owner of the snores. Walking over to Sirius bed, she saw that he was still wearing the headphones. 'No, wait, the CD's still playing!' she looked down and saw that it was on repeat. 'It must have been playing all night long!' Slowly she took the headphones off of his ears and made an attempt at sneaking out of the room.
"Cayte?" Sirius whispered.
Cayte turned around, blushing. She hadn't meant to wake him. She held up the CD player to show him why she was there.
"Oh. Ok, hang on a second," Sirius said, still whispering. He got out of bed, rubbed his eyes, and put on a terry cloth robe. Cayte was shocked. She had never seen that before. "I'll be back in a second. Stay here." Sirius grabbed some clothes and went to the bathrooms to change. Cayte walked over and sat on the ground next to his trunk. Looking around, she noticed a lot of his clothes were just pilled around his four poster. She got up, and started folding them up, she always was one for keeping some things strait. When she picked up one of his school robes, a piece of parchment fell out of an inside pocket. She picked it up and realized it was the paper that he had been tucking away the day of the Hogsmeade trip, the one he had been so secretive about. The battle of her conscience had begun, would she look at it or not? She judged the amount of time she had left before Sirius came back into the room and decided that she could take a quick look. If it look *too * personal, she would put it back.
Carefully she unfolded part of the parchment. What she saw confused her. It was just a map of the inside of Hogwarts. Nothing special, just a map. Cayte was so intently trying to figure out what was up with this map that she didn't realize Sirius had come back in the room. He walked up and peered over her shoulder. "Where'd you find that?" Sirius asked. Cayte jumped, "You scared me! I was folding up some of your clothes that were on the floor- it's a compulsive habit of mine, when I don't know what to do, I fold clothes- and it fell out. I was trying to see if it was a homework assignment of something. Sorry."
"Oh, it's alright. I guess. It's a map of the inside of Hogwarts. I'll tell you more about it later, when I'm not worried about eavesdroppers," Sirius laughed, "strange habit, folding clothes." They both walked out the dorms and down to the commons room talking. Soon enough everyone was awake and it was time for lunch. Cayte ran and put the CD player up and then went down to eat.
~*~ In life, one has to face a huge assortment
Of nauseating fads and good advice.
There's health and fitness, diet and deportment
And other pointless forms of sacrifice
Conversation? Wit? I am a doubter
Manners, charm, they're no way to impress
So forget the inner me, observe the outer
I am what I wear, and how I dress
Oh, now I believe in looking
Like my time on earth is cooking
Whether polka-dotted, striped, or even checked
With some glamour guaranteeing
Every fiber of my being
Is displayed to quite remarkable effect
From your cradle via trousseau
To your death bed you're on view so
Never compromise accept no substitute
I would rather wear a barrel
Than conservative apparel
For a dress has always been
My strongest suit
GIRLS:
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
AMNERIS:
Staying in or hitting townwards,
From the top and working downwards
I ensure that every stitch is stitched in time
GIRLS: Is stitch is stitched in time!
AMNERIS:
Whether wig or hat or turban,
whether clad boudoir or urban
Not to strut your stuff outrageously is a crime
GIRLS: Such a crime!
AMNERIS:
and the few who are invited
To my wardrobe are delighted
As they wander through my things to find en route
GIRLS: They're wanderin' through your things!
AMNERIS:
That in negligee or formal
I am anything but normal
A dress has always been my strongest suit
GIRLS:
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
AMNERIS: (Sung with chorus above)
I am what I wear, I say anytime, anywhere!
So bring me all my finest,
Most audacious, my divinest
Most revealing, most expensive and to boot
GIRLS:
Most revealing, most expensive, most arresting!
AMNERIS: Most arresting!
GIRLS: Most heart-stopping...
AMNERIS: Most heart-stopping!
Most free-flowing, most eye-popping
Most arresting, most heart-stopping yeah!
A dress has always been my strongest suit
GIRLS: I am what I wear
AMNERIS: My strongest suit!
GIRLS: I am what I wear
AMNERIS and GIRLS:
You know that I am what I wear!
AMNERIS:
A dress has always been my strongest suit!
So bring me all my finest,
Most audacious, my divinest
Most revealing, most expensive and to boot
Most arresting, most heart-stopping...
Most free-flowing, most eye-popping
A dress has always been my strongest suit! (I am what I wear)
My strongest suit! (I am what I wear)
You know that I am what I wear!
A dress has always been my strongest...
my strongest...
my strongest...
my strongest...
my strongest...
my strongest...
Suit!
"Lily?" Cayte screamed over the sound of the magical hair dryer and the end of the song that she had found only too fitting for the occasion, "I need an eyeliner. Blue. Do ya have one I can borrow?"
It was six o'clock. Dinner was at seven, the dance at eight.
"Yeah! I'll get it to you in a minute. Lemme finish Mel's hair!" Lily said.
"Lily? Where'd ya learn to do this stuff? Up-do's and such?" Melanie asked, it was a question they all had.
"Oh, well my oldest sister, Gladiola, was learning how to do them with all her friends for one of the muggle high school dances when I was 10. She taught me how to do it as she practiced on my hair."
"Gladiola?"
"Flower. We all call her Lola though. It works a lot better than Gladiola, believe me." Lily said. "So what was that song?"
"Oh, that was "My Strongest Suit" from Aida. It's great, and I thought it would be funny to play while we were getting dressed because it's about clothes!" Cayte said.
Meanwhile, the guys were hanging out in the commons room. "Ever notice how when going to the dance, those who are going together always walk arm in arm where as the people who are just going alone walk side by side with there hands down?" Sirius asked.
"Nope, can't say that I have," James responded.
"Why do you notice these things?" Peter asked, Remus was wondering the same thing.
"Well, when you think about it, that's what happens. Review your memories, you figure out quite a lot," Sirius said.
"Hmmm.I suppose you're right," Remus said, "I do recall that happening a lot."
"So, are we all going to dinner before hand?" Peter asked.
"I would think so. I can go ask Cayte if you want."
"Um, Sirius, I wouldn't do that if I were you. Girls before dances.a tad bit freaky if you ask me," James said, looking a little strangely at his friend.
"Good point, good point. Thank you so much for stopping me!" Sirius said.
"I hope we are, if the girls take another two hours to get ready, we will all die. How can it take * that* long?" Remus said, posing his hypothetical question.
The guys sat there for another twenty minutes or so before going to get ready themselves. At around seven fifteen, all the male Gryffindors were downstairs in the commons room waiting on the girls. Slowly they started to trickle in.
They came in order of grades, with a few stragglers sometimes. While all this was happening, Lily and Melanie were making sure they looked perfect in their dresses and Cayte was in the bathroom putting on hers. She stayed true to her promise of not letting anyone see it. Before she left the bathroom, she looked out and made sure no one was in the room. When she was sure no one was there, she went to the door and started down the stairs.
James and Lily were standing arm and arm ("I told you!" Sirius said), Peter had asked a third year to the dance, so they were standing together, and Remus was standing arm in arm with Melanie. Sirius stood alone, he casually watched the staircase while keeping conversation going with the others.
Cayte made her way down the staircase, as she rounded the corner, she saw Sirius wink at her. She whispered to herself, "I can do this. I look amazing and I can do this!" making it seem like she had a bit more confidence than she really did. No one could see her but him, as he was the only one at the right angle. As she came into view and farther down the staircase, Sirius edged closer to her. When she reached the lower level, he wrapped his arm in hers, and walked towards James and the rest of the group. The whole commons room let out a small gasp.
Soon everyone made their way down to the great hall for dinner. Dumbledore had moved the house table and replaced them with tables of all different shapes. Being a group of ten, they had a choice of one shaped like a star, or a heart. They chose the heart. Once looking around, Cayte noticed that there was even one shaped like the giant squid for the professors to sit at. Some of them were glaring at Dumbledore, trying to figure out how they were supposed to sit.
Lily was the first to ask why no one had said anything about Sirius and Cayte going together. "Because no one but us knew, and we wanted to keep it that way," Cayte said.
"Just like your dress?" Sirius said, commenting on it. It was a blue that matched her eyes wonderfully, with a top that had a princess cut front and laced in the back, and the bottom part flowed around her brilliantly. She couldn't wait to dance in it.
"Just like my dress," Cayte said.
"So, how long have you been going out?" Peters date, Adrianne asked.
"We aren't going out. We're just here as friends," Sirius said, looking around the table, especially at James, to clear up any misconceptions.
Dinner was soon served, roasted chicken and pasta, and as everyone started eating, the noise in the Great Hall grew to a dull roar. When everyone was done eating, some people got up to dance. Sirius, James, Remus, Peter, and all of their dates sat and chatted for awhile.
When Sirius and Cayte did get up to dance, Sirius whispered to he, "So, why exactly did you want to keep the dress a secret?" Cayte was laughing inwardly.
"Because. I wanted it all to be special. This is the first time I've gone to a dance with a date, and you wanted to keep that a secret, so I figured I'd make it even better. People don't have dances a lot in America. Most of the time I didn't go because I wasn't sure I'd have a good time. Thus, with this being the first time I was going * with* a date, and when planning on having fun, I really wanted it to be special. You get it?" Cayte said. By this time they were already on the dance floor, so Sirius was looking at her when he said (rather confidently), "Oh, believe me, it will be fun!" Cayte just smiled. They started to dance, Lily and James were close by, as well as Remus and Peter.
A slow song came on. Cayte nervously looked up at Sirius, but before she could say anything, he took her arms and wrapped them around his neck, then wrapped his around her waist. They both laughed. "I have slow danced before Siri," she said, thinking to herself, 'But it's never been like this'. As the song went on, they got closer to each other so by the end of the dance, Cayte's head was on his shoulder, and he was resting his on her head.
The dance went on, Cayte and Sirius danced quite literally the entire time, and as it was coming to a close, Lily walked up to Cayte, "Hey, Sirius, mind if I steal her for a sec? Gotta ask a question." Sirius stepped away a few feet and let the girls talk.
"Mind if I take James to the room tonight?" Lily asked.
"What, the dorm room?" Cayte said, then realizing what it was Lily meant. "Sure. Why would I mind? It's * Hogwarts'* room anyway." Cayte said, walking towards Sirius to dance the last dance of the night. When it was over, all of the students reluctantly started heading back towards their commons room. Many of the couples escaped into hidden rooms, or pulled the curtains around a lonely four-poster. When Cayte and Sirius reached the commons room, Cayte went up to the dorms to change out of her dress, she and Sirius planned to meet in the commons room.
Cayte came down to the commons room wearing a pair of dark blue pajama pants that had twinkling stars on them and a white shirt, while Sirius was just in normal clothes. He looked at her strangely.
"Oh! The pajama pants. They're really big where I'm from. Every one wears them!" Cayte explained. For a moment they just stood there in an awkward silence. "Do ya wanna go up to my dorms?" Sirius asked, noticing a shooting star fly across Cayte's pajamas, "James, Remus, and Peter are nowhere to be found, so we wouldn't have to worry about them."
Cayte looked at Sirius, she wasn't sure what to say, they weren't going out and why would they do something if they weren't? "I guess."
They walked up to the guys' dorm, moments filled with really awkward silence. When they got there, they both sat on Sirius' bed. Cayte started to laugh.
"What?" Sirius asked.
"This place is still a wreck. It's worse than our room and we were being crazy with make-up and hair and all. Wow. That shows me a lot about the male race," Cayte said, still laughing. She fell back on the bed, so that she was half lying and half sitting. Sirius then did the same.
"Well, what can I say. Some of us were a bit nervous too."
"Hey! Who says I was nervous?" Cayte said defensively.
"I saw what you whispered to yourself. 'I can do this. I look amazing and I can do this' that doesn't sound like you weren't nervous to me," Sirius said.
"Well.um.er.I just wanted to remind myself," Cayte said, smiling. "You figured me out.Damn."
"It's alright. I was pretty nervous too. I mean, wow. I wasn't sure how I could get James and them to realize we were going together, and then what if they didn't serve food I liked, and what if, they didn't serve any food at all? We'd all starve!" Sirius said, trying to make her feel a bit less nervous now. He turned over on his side so he could face her. "And, what would happen if my date ended up ditching me.glad that one didn't happen!"
Cayte turned on her side too, "You know I would never do that to you. Although." Cayte said laughing. She got up to go get a drink of water. When she came back, she sat with her back against the footboard of the bed. This made it a bit strange for Sirius, who was now looking at her feet. He then got up and but his back against the headboard. "So, you're afraid of people leaving you? Like being stood up, or something similar?" Cayte asked.
"No, not really. Although it would be pretty bad if that did happen," Sirius said smiling. Cayte's foot fell against his leg and even through his thick jeans, he could feel how cold it was. "Dang! Your foots freezing!"
"Yeah I know. My feet and my hands are always cold. It never stops really. So what are you scared of?" Cayte said, then she started to laugh as Sirius rubbed his hands between her feet, then sat on them. "Stop it!"
"Just trying to warm you up a bit! What am I scared of, you ask? Well, that would be just the normal things. Not having food, running out of food, umm.cockroaches. I think that's about it," Sirius said, lifting the middle section of his body up to pull the blanket from under him. "Although there is that morbid fear of not having to go to school!" Sirius said jokingly, as he put the blanket around Cayte's feet. "And you my little gingersnap, what are you afraid of?"
Cayte laughed at first, 'it seems he's finally found a nickname for me.though I'm not so sure about that one.' she thought to her self. "What am I afraid of? Well that is a complicated one. Not to mention it's a secret. No one knows."
"Well, why don't ya tell me? Someone has to know, otherwise it's not a secret!" and as an afterthought he added, "My little gingersnap!"
Cayte's head sunk down towards her knees. It was something she was embarrassed about, something she never thought she'd tell anyone, yet here she was, about to tell someone. "It's going to take some explaining. And it's kinda strange."
"Go on."
Cayte gave a half smile. "Well.I'm afraid of falling in love."
"Really? Why? I always heard that girls can't wait to fall in love, that they look forward to it."
"Well, remember I told you that it would take explaining? It does. You see."Cayte looked down at her knees again. "I've got this really low self-esteem. Like, * really* low. So I'm afraid of getting hurt. That's the real thing. I'm afraid that if I fall in love, they will walk off and leave me, and I will be so hurt.I don't know what I would do if that happened. I mean," Cayte sighed loudly, then yawed, "What would happen to me? And then- and-Ugh! What," Cayte yawned again, "I mean is I am truthfully scared of being hurt, and over all the worst of it is that I am afraid that love will equal pain and thus, I would be hurt," Cayte said, worrying about whether or not Sirius understood.
Sirius sat in silence watching as Cayte's eyelids got heavier and heavier. He understood what Cayte was saying, but didn't know why or how he could help her. All he knew was that he wanted her to not be afraid to make the leap that is love whenever the time came, and to whomever was on the other side of the spectrum. Even if it wasn't him. "So basically you have to trust someone enough so that you can believe the wont just walk away from you when you are in love? And get over your fear of being hurt as well? Well then, I suppose I've got a lot of work to do don't I?" he said jokingly. "But either way Cayte, I think your main problem is that you have never had the chance to be in love, and so you don't know how easy it is to fall in love with out realizing it. Believe me, I'm speaking from experience."
Cayte looked a bit puzzled through her rapidly closing eyelids. "You've been in love? With who?"
Sirius nodded, "Yeah, once. What's really weird though, is that you can kind of figure out if you are falling in love with someone after you have once. Who, you ask? Well, that takes some explaining. I was 11. You wouldn't think an 11 year old would be able to fall in love would you?" Sirius said laughing, "Her name was Catie, she was a foreign student from-" Sirius paused, "France, and we almost went out, but somehow things got a bit messed up and she was a little hesitant."
"Oh," Cayte said in a rather large yawn, "strange.. I once thought I was.." Cayte's eyes had closed due to her heavy eyelids and her speech stumbled off as she fell asleep.
Sirius got up and walked over to where Cayte was sitting. He gathered her up in his arms and she nuzzled to fit against his body. Slowly he carried her up the stairs to her deserted dorm room.
He walked over to her bed, somehow managed to pull the covers back with his knee, and set her down in her bed. Pulling the covers up, he leaned down and whispered into her ear, "Every little thing you do is magic, every little thing just turns me on.." then kissed her on the forehead and walked out of the room, closing the door softly.
AN: LONGEST CHAPTER YET! Not to mention the longest you all have had to wait and I am SO unbelievably sorry! Ernest Hemingway. 'Nuff said. Really. I had to read one of his books in like, two days and it took forever and I never got to type until tonight! REALLY! The last thing Siri whispers to Cayte is part of a Police song. The title is every little thing. It is a wonderful song, and you should all listen to it over and over again. The song Cayte puts on when they are getting ready is a song from Aida entitled 'My strongest Suit' You can probable tell what it's about by now. Again I'm incredibly sorry for the wait and for everything that I have stated previously!!!! Review!!! Oh yeah, did anyone catch a bit of foreshadowing- for lack of a better description- in Cayte and Siri's conversation on his bed? Go back and read. Tell me if you did.