Chapter Five – Comb-Ownership

A/N – As of the moment, I have 13 reviews. Am I happy? OH YEAH! But my sister's cat is so annoying. Why won't she (my sister, not the cat) just come back from Belgium and look after it (Bella, the cat) already???!!! Seriously, Imo, I'm going insane.

Disclaimer – My mother taught me that it's a sin to lie so (sigh) no I don't own anything you may see, smell or taste here.

Note from the author's remaining sanity: Please ignore the smelling and tasting remark – she had just consumed too much chocolate for someone who is lactose intolerant, making her feel slightly nauseous etc.

Sirius leant over Remus' shoulder, a pencil balanced on his protruded upper lip as he attempted to read the answers to the pop quiz.

"Five more minutes!" bellowed Professor Goodall.

James was frowning down at his own Muggle Studies exam.

Name three great Muggle leaders.

He had already scribbled in Queen Liz but couldn't for the life of him think of anyone else. He thought for a few more minutes, messing up his hair to break the monotony when suddenly Professor Goodall proclaimed, with much arm movement,

"PENS DOWN!!!"

James furiously scribbled in George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

After stuffing the paper in Professor Goodall's paint-stained hands, James made a beeline for the door, trailed by the other three Marauders.

"Well, that was interesting wasn't it?" Peter said timidly, still in a daze after all that thinking.

"I think I did rather well in that actually," said Sirius, stretching his arms above his head.

"Considering I studied for it, yes you probably did," replied Remus dryly.

"Hey Lil!" called James, lifting a hand to her as she crossed paths with him.

Sirius quickly pulled James' hand down.

"What happened to hard to get?" Sirius asked, while James tried to get out of his grasp.

"Holding hands are we?" sneered Snape who now stood in front of them.

Sirius and James quickly broke apart.

Severus laughed quietly to himself.

"At least we've actually held hands with someone who's not our mother. No-one else would come near you with a ten-foot pole," retorted James.

Severus merely scowled.

"So, Sevvie? Going to the ball with anyone? Or couldn't you find someone you could hire for less than a thousand galleons?" said Sirius, smirking.

Severus, his scowl deepening, coldly replied,

"You are all so pathe-"

"Just having a friendly chat, boys?" asked Lily, appearing suddenly by their side and pretending to clean her fingernails with her wand.

The boys backed away from each other, immediately getting the threat.

"Bye, bye Sevvie!" said Sirius, waving at Snape who had sauntered off, nose high in the air, ego barely intact.

"He backed off quick," Remus observed.

Lily coloured slightly. It had been nearly two months since she had healed Snape's nose and since then she had noticed a kind of softness in him towards her. It wasn't much but it was definitely there.

Sure, he wasn't being friendly. But at least he was showing tolerance, including taking orders from her.

"So, Sirius," Lily said, abruptly changing the subject, "Is your costume ready for Saturday night?"

"Sure is Little E," said Sirius, using the nickname the he had adopted for Lily.

James hated it.

He couldn't wait until the Ball when Lily would finally realise that she couldn't bare to see James with another girl and would then coming running into his arms.

"...James ...James? Sorry, Lily, he's been tuning out like this a lot lately," said Remus apologetically, waving a hand in front of James' face.

Two sharp taps on his shoulder brought him back to Earth.

"Hey Potter, still awake?" asked Imogen Sweet, a smirk on her face.

"Oh, hey Imogen!" said James enthusiastically. He could hear Lily huff impatiently in the background.

"So, you're meeting me outside the Ravenclaw common room before the ball, right?" she asked coyly, well aware of the death stare that Lily was giving her.

"Yeah, I'll be there at seven," said James.

"Should be an interesting night," said Imogen, looking at Sirius as she spoke.

James, oblivious to this, merely smiled and nodded.

"Well I should be off, until then, James," Imogen said smoothly, her blue eyes sparkling with glee.

Sirius turned to watch Imogen as she walked off, her short auburn hair glowing in the sunlight.

"Really, why did she feel the need to shout out her plans for the entire student population to hear?" said Lily, irritated at the effect that Imogen had on both James and Sirius.

"What?" asked Sirius, wrenching his eyes from the sway of Imogen's hips as she walked.

"Never mind," said Lily. "Come on, Meg, we'd better get going."

"Yeah," said Meg vaguely, not taking her eyes off Remus.

"I'll see you tomorrow tonight then?" Remus asked shyly.

Meg nodded, giving his hand a squeeze before she turned to walk with a waiting Lily.

Sirius howled loudly.

"I'll see you tomorrow tonight then?" said Peter, putting on a low voice.

"OH REMEY!!!" Sirius cried in a breathy, high-pitched voice.

Severus wrenched on his black dress robes, disgruntled at having to attend the Halloween ball.

This is ridiculous, he thought to himself.

Saturday had passed in a flurry of giggling girls and preparation for the ball. Severus shuddered at the thought of giggling. He looked back at his reflection.

"May I suggest using a comb, young Master?" his mirror grumbled.

Severus looked at his hair thoughtfully, considering this advice. Then realising he didn't own a comb, he threw a quill at the mirror.

"Severus Snape does not take advice from a mirror."

While Severus was frowning at his reflection, James Potter was positively beaming at his own.

It had been pure genius to dress up as a Knight. His clanking armour that he had 'borrowed' from the fifth floor corridor with the help of Peeves had been charmed to feel like as a feather. Even so, James had been forced to leave off several of the pieces of metal so that he could sit down comfortably. Messing up his hair, he thought of Lily. Sirius had refused to leak details on her clothing, but even so he had a feeling that she would wear some sort of damsel-in-distress outfit, instinctively knowing that James would be her Knight. Engrossed in his thoughts as he was, he barely heard Sirius burst through the door.

"Prongs! I almost didn't recognise you!" he laughed, walking over to James.

James merely stared at Sirius in amazement.

"Who the hell are you meant to be?" he choked.

Sirius' smile grew wider and he pivoted slowly on the spot. Sirius was wearing black leather pants and a white t-shirt. On top of this he wore a black leather jacket. His black hair had been slicked into a 50s 'do and he wore red hi-top runners.

"Meet Kenickie. He's a character from this Muggle musical called Grease... It was Lily's idea," Sirius said.

James just nodded, annoyed that he wasn't the one that Lily was giving costume advice to.

"Ready?" asked Remus, poking his head through the door.

"He sure is," Sirius replied, pushing James towards the common room.

Lily waited nervously in the common room. She was wearing leather pants that matched Sirius' and a fitted white shirt. Over that she wore a pink jacket and had a black scarf tied around her neck. She flipped her long red, and now magically straightened hair, wishing that Sirius would hurry up so that she wouldn't feel so out of place.

These leather pants are WAY too tight, she thought miserably to herself.

She was about to tug them down when she heard her name being called out from across the room.

Sirius scanned the common room from the top of the staircase, looking out for Lily and hoping that James wouldn't forget the plan the moment he saw her.

Seeing Lily, he called, "Oi! Evans!"

She looked up at him, and any trace of embarrassment flew out of the window the moment she saw how tight Sirius' leather pants were. He bounded over to her, enthusiasm evident in his face.

"You look great, Little E! Guess I'll have to beat the other boys off with a stick to get the first dance," he said, grinning widely.

"Thanks," Lily murmured, heat rising in her neck. "You look great too!"

Sirius laughed and offered his arm to her.

"Shall we?"

Lily nodded, linking her arm in Sirius'.

James stood frozen to the spot. He watched Sirius and Lily exchange conversation, laughing casually. But that wasn't what he was most concentrated on. It was Lily's figure-hugging pants. Just like the short skirt she had worn in the first week, those leather pants left him speechless.

"Please tell me you're staring at Lily and not Sirius," said Remus, jokingly.

James stood where he was, his mouth gaping and his eyes bulging. All in all, he looked like a goldfish.

"I'll take that as a yes," Remus muttered, walking over to Meg.

They had also decided to co-ordinate costumes. She wore a green jazz dress that looked like it belonged in the 1920s with matching green heels. Remus wore a black pinstriped suit with a green tie that matched Meg's dress.

James watched Remus conjure a red rose for Meg, who squealed in delight. Then he gathered all the courage he had and set off for the Ravenclaw common room.

Tapping her foot impatiently, Imogen waited for James. Finally he came around the corner, looking slightly out of breath. Once he saw Imogen, he was even more out of breath. She wore a dark blue dress that had a low cut square neck. Just below the bust, the material split to reveal light blue material underneath. She had plain sleeves that came down to just below her wrists and she wore dark blue heels that were barely visible.

In truth, Imogen looked like the princess that James had been hoping Lily would be.

"Imogen you look..." James started.

"Enough talking, more escorting," Imogen interrupted.

She grabbed James' hand and dragged him towards the Great Hall. They could hear music playing inside and it was evident from the noise that they were one of the last couples to arrive. After messing up his hair, James gave their names to the announcer who would introduce them to the ball. The doors opened before them and James grabbed Imogen's hand, just for good measure.

"James Potter of Gryffindor and Imogen Sweet of Ravenclaw," the announcer cried.

A/N – Sorry this wasn't very good... In fact I'm not sure I liked this chapter as much as the others. I had to do too much describing. Ick. Oh and Imogen's last name of Sweet has nothing to do with her personality. It's actually the name of this demon off Buffy the Musical that my sister loves. Thought I'd explain that because otherwise it's SUPER corny!!!

Oh and what is the English slang for runners/joggers/sneakers?