A/N Hey guys! Once again I apologise about the ridiculously long wait…I promise to update more frequently in future. A HUGE thanks to everyone who reviewed—you keep me writing, and also to my RL friends who constantly bug me (becks89, Laura, Sam-453). But the biggest thank you has to go to snazzysnez, to whom this chapter is dedicated. Happy (very very late) Birthday! Love ya so much! Well anyway, enjoy…
Disclaimer: Yep, none of the characters you recognise belong to me, but to the fabulous JK.
Fluff disclaimer: WARNING!! This chapter contains moderate fluff. Fluff-haters have been warned.
Previously…
After jotting down various notes about the meeting, Lily glanced at her watch—it read ten past eleven, so the pair started to make their way up to the common room. How had time flown so quickly without her noticing? What was that saying? Time flies when you're having fun. Who would have thought that she had managed to have a whole evening of fun with Potter—no, James? And without any arguments or awkward moments. Maybe miracles could happen after all.
Chapter 7
As the weather grew steadily colder, the entire school seemed to get more and more caught up in the upcoming Yule Ball. The term had ended, but unlike most Christmases, nearly everyone had signed up to stay at Hogwarts over the holiday. The boys seemed to spend most of their time trying to muster up the courage to ask the girls to the Ball with them, whereas the girls seemed to spend most of their time discussing outfits and hairstyles for the Ball. Lily and James had asked Dumbledore to organize a Hogsmeade weekend before Christmas Eve so that students could purchase their Christmas gifts as well as their outfits. Gladrags had agreed to stock both evening-wear for the girls as well as tuxedos for the boys, and most of the pupils (especially the boys) were enthusiastic about the Muggle theme.
Lily had found working with James a much more enjoyable experience than she had expected. He seemed to have got it into his head that she was only interested in him as a friend, and throughout their tuition sessions and Ball meetings had refrained form asking her out every fifteen minutes. Even more surprising was the fact that her Transfiguration work began to improve; even Professor McGonagall had praised her improvement at the end of term. James was quite a good teacher! She began to be more comfortable around him and started to think of him as a friend rather than a pain in the backside. She was not entirely happy about having to lead the first dance with him, but there was not much she could do about it, so she just put it out of her mind for the time being.
About a week before the Ball, Lily and James decided to start putting up decorations around the castle and in the Great Hall. Since the Prefects were required to help the Head Boy and Girl with the preparations of the Ball, Remus was in the Great Hall taking instructions from Lily. James had also enlisted the reluctant help of Sirius and Peter, while Lily had persuaded Isabel to help as well.
As they decorated the Hall with holly, ivy and mistletoe, they chatted about schoolwork, teachers and the like, until the subject of who they were all taking to the Ball came up.
"So has anyone asked or been asked to go to the Ball with anyone yet?" Sirius inquired, somewhat nosily.
There was silence for a moment, as everyone was too embarrassed to answer.
"Come on! Lily, what about you?"
"Whether or not I've been asked to go to the Ball with anyone, Sirius, is none of your business," she replied haughtily.
"Spoilsport. Peter, asked anyone yet?"
Peter replied that hadn't asked any yet as he was too shy, but he was thinking of asking Sarah Scott, a Hufflepuff.
"Remus, have you had any luck with the fairer sex?"
Remus smiled in a secretive way. "Maybe."
"Spill the beans, Moony," said James.
"Well, I asked Daisy to go with me last week," he said, smiling more broadly at the petite, brunette Daisy Brown, who was also a Prefect and shared a dormitory with Isabel and Lily.
"And did she say yes?" asked Peter excitedly.
"Of course she did, you dolt," said James. "I don't think Remus would be grinning like an idiot if she turned him down! Remus you sneaky little…you never said word!" James exclaimed, while Lily and Isabel berated Daisy for not telling them.
"Well, I can't say I'm surprised," said Sirius. "It's taken you two long enough to get together. Remus has liked Daisy for ages, haven't you Remus?"
"Sirius! Why don't we talk about who you've asked to the Ball?" said Remus, through gritted teeth.
"Oh, I haven't asked anyone yet. It's so difficult when there are so many girls to choose from, you know," he said.
"Aw, poor ickle Siri-poo. So many girls flinging themselves at his feet, that he can't choose which one of them to go with," said Isabel in a mocking voice.
"You know you're dying to go with me, just like the rest of them," said Sirius.
Isabel snorted. "Yes, Sirius, I'm secretly dying to go with you," she said in a sarcastic voice.
"Fine."
"Fine? What is that supposed to mean? Sirius! Why are you climbing on top of the table? Sirius!"
"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, as he flashed a wicked grin, "Could I please have your attention for a moment? I would like to take this opportunity to ask the lovely Isabel Williams to go to the Ball with me."
A few people laughed, and a few girls looked very disappointed.
Isabel blushed a little. "Sirius! If you don't get down from there right now…" she began to hiss, but she realized that she would have to give an answer to him anyway. She put on a false smile and replied, "Yes, I would love to go with you, Sirius."
Everyone applauded and whooped as Sirius got down from the table. Isabel stood with her hands on her hips and a half-annoyed, half-amused look on her face.
"Sirius, if you ever do anything like that again, I'll—"
"You'll what? Love me even more?"
"I was going to say 'permanently maim you', but never mind. Thank you for asking me to the Ball," she said, this time smiling a true smile.
"The pleasure is all mine, mi amour," Sirius replied. "James, I notice you've been strangely shy and retiring during this whole conversation. Are you going to tell us which young lady will be so fortunate as to attend the Ball with you?"
James mumbled indecipherable and suddenly became very interested in the holly he was hanging from the torch brackets.
"What's that, Prongs? Didn't quite catch what you said."
"I'm going stag," muttered James, slightly louder.
For some reason this seemed to amuse Sirius, Remus and Peter who sniggered to themselves, while Isabel, Lily and Daisy exchanged puzzled looks with each other.
"Now, now, James, don't fret. I'm sure we'll find someone to go with you. There must be some poor, desperate soul in the school who's willing to spend the night with you," said Sirius, with a smirk.
James promptly told Sirius to shut up and mind his own business, and eventually the conversation moved on.
After a hard week of organizing the decorations, food, drinks and entertainment, James and Lily were looking forward to a restful weekend. Unfortunately, this was not to be, since it was the weekend before the Ball and therefore the Hogsmeade weekend that Dumbledore had promised. To add to Lily's worries, she had yet to decide whether or not to get James a gift. She knew how embarrassing it would be if he gave her a gift and she had nothing to give him in return. Isabel had advised her to get a gift for James, if only for the reason that they were now friends, and deep down Lily agreed. What Lily found most difficult however, was deciding what to get him. She had decided to get Sirius, Remus and Peter a variety of Zonko's products, but somehow this seemed too impersonal to give to James. After failing to come up with anything better she decided to browse the shops in Hogsmeade and then choose a gift. James on the other hand, had already decided what to give Lily, although he wasn't too sure about what her reaction would be. Sighing, he murmured, "Well, we'll just have to see."
A voice behind him made him jump. "Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness, you know," said Sirius.
"Shut up, Sirius. You ready to go?"
The pair made their way outside, where they found many other students leaving the castle grounds to go to Hogsmeade. They walked over to Peter and Remus, who were talking to Lily, Isabel and Daisy. They decided to split up, with the girls going to Gladrags first and boys after, so that they could also buy presents for each other. Lily was still thinking over what she was going to give James, but she hadn't gotten any further than before. She let out a sigh of exasperation and carried on walking down the street with the other two girls. The trio reached Gladrags and stepped inside. After an hour of trying on clothes and finding shoes and accessories to match, they visited some other shops in the village and bought their Christmas gifts. They had decided earlier to meet the boys at the Three Broomsticks for Butterbeer, and so they made their way to the pub.
"So what did you get at Gladrags, then?" asked Sirius.
"Well, we all managed to buy a little thing I call clothes," said Isabel, with a mocking look on her face.
"No, I mean what kind of dresses did you buy for the Ball? Strapless? Short? Tight? One with a slit down the side? Or all of the above?" said Sirius.
After smacking him on the head, Isabel sharply told him to mind his own business. They sat in the pub for a while, just enjoying each other's company and the stress-free holidays. Even Lily enjoyed not having to think about when her next essay was due or whether she had a test to revise for. It began to grow steadily darker outside, and eventually the group drained their glasses and made their way back to the castle.
Christmas Eve finally arrived, and with it came the excitement of the Ball. With all the decorations that had been put up by the Prefects the castle looked more magnificent than ever, and the Christmas spirit seemed to have touched everyone. Lily became more and more nervous as the day went on, and surprisingly James' feelings were similar. They had both put so much time and effort into organizing the Ball that a mishap would make them feel awful, not least because Dumbledore had entrusted the organisation of the entire event solely to them. As the day wore on, fewer and fewer girls could be seen around the castle, as they gradually began to retreat up to their dormitories to begin the long grooming process that was necessary for such an occasion. The boys remained bewildered as to why anyone needed more than fifteen minutes to get dressed, but as long as no-one expected them to take so long in putting on some dress robes they weren't all that bothered.
After what seemed like hours to Remus and Sirius, Daisy and Isabel descended the stairs from the girls' dormitory to the Gryffindor common room. Daisy, in a light blue strapless ball gown, looked beautiful, but already Remus knew that she was; this was just a mere confirmation of that. Isabel, who always looked pretty, looked stunning on this occasion in a simple but exquisitely cut black dress with her blonde curls cascading down her back. Her beauty unintentionally filled Sirius with desire and he mentally kicked himself for it. He had gone out with plenty of pretty girls before, what was so different about this one? He never, ever allowed himself to get attached; that was his golden rule and already he could feel Isabel drawing him in. Asking her to the Ball was not the smartest thing he had ever done, but there was nothing he could do about it now so instead he held out his arm.
"M'lady?"
Instead of smacking him smartly upside the head as she usually did, Isabel played along and looped her arm through his.
"Thank you, kind sir."
"You look gorgeous. I might have to spend all night trying to make sure the other guys keep their dirty paws off you," he whispered in a mock serious voice.
This time however, Isabel laughed and told him that being too charming would lead him to a sticky end.
"Where's Lily?" asked James, interrupting their banter in what he hoped was an off-hand voice.
"She's coming in a minute. She was having issues with her hair," said Isabel, with an amused on her face.
Sirius and Isabel followed Remus and Daisy out the portrait hole to the Great hall, leaving a nervous James to wait for Lily by himself. He had kept his decision to go stag, and although there was a possibility that he would only have a partner for the first dance, he did not mind. For the first time he felt that if he could not have Lily, any second-best girl would not do. Lily still had not revealed who she was going with, if anyone at all, and although James had tried various tactics on Isabel (persuasion, bribery, threatening), she had refused to tell him anything. Fortunately for James, who was becoming more and more nervous by the minute (an emotion he was very unfamiliar with), Lily came down the stairs shortly after the others had left. The deep burgundy colour of her dress set off her milky complexion, and made the light smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks that James loved, stand out even more. He could not for the life of him understand why Isabel had said that Lily was "having issues with her hair". She had swept up her fiery curls onto her head, allowing a few tendrils to escape and frame her face. In James' opinion, it looked more beautiful than ever. Lily looked more beautiful than ever.
He remained speechless, fearing that if he tried to compliment her his voice would just come out as a croak. Instead he held out his hand, and she took it. They walked to the Great Hall in silence where they were met by Professor McGonagall.
"Mr Potter. Miss Evans." She nodded curtly. "Professor Dumbledore will open the Ball with a speech shortly, after which you will lead the first dance. Wait by the doors during the speech."
She walked off, leaving the pair outside the entrance to the Hall. James opened the door and they both stepped inside the darkened Hall.
"…pleasure to welcome you all the Yule Ball, which has been organised by our wonderful Prefects and of course, the Head Boy and Girl. They will be leading our first dance tonight, and will sit at the High Table as my guests of honour. Enjoy your evening." He winked and gave a signal for the band to start playing, at which they struck up a slow but passionate song.
James led Lily to the middle of the floor. He was unsure of where was acceptable to place his hands, when he felt an arm resting on his shoulder and a hand clasping his. On instinct he placed his other hand around Lily's petite waist and drew her closer. He forgot about the hundreds of pairs of eyes watching them, and he did not notice the other couples that joined them on the dance floor as the song played on. He only saw Lily; the way her auburn hair had sun-kissed streaks in it, the way her soft touch on his shoulder gave him goose bumps, the way she breathed softly, almost daintily. He wanted to stay like this forever. Suddenly the song came to an end and he became aware of his the people around him. He looked up.
"Mistletoe. You know what that means." he said.
"Hmmm…" Lily sighed, almost dreamily.
He was not sure if that counted as permission or a hint or anything but he placed a hand on her cheek and brought his face to hers, making their lips meet.
There you go! Sorry about the fluff, but you can't say I didn't warn you. Anyway, fluff is very fun to write sometimes! :P Please review, it'll make my day if you do!