Chapter Five (Revised)
By Dinkee-Dino
Disclaimer: All the stuff (excluding characters you don't know and the plot) belongs to the richest woman in the UK until tax time.
Lily speared a piece of lettuce on the end of her fork. Something about Robert and James was making her uneasy. They seemed to be conspiring something. The pair weren't engaging in anything illicit, like stolen dragons' blood or such. Were they? She shook her head and went back to her salad with newfound vigor, pausing only when Professor Dumbledore stood up to make an announcement.
"Quiet down. Settle down. As you know, it's nearing the second half of October and the Yule Ball will be coming up. After discussing the matter with the members of my faculty, we have decided to cancel the Yule Ball!" the professor said with a huge grin.
Everybody was astounded. Amos Diggory's fork clattered against his plate and (Lily noted) Sirius had even stopped inhaling his food. As quickly as the silence fell, the protests started.
"Aw come on!" someone said in consternation.
"It's a tradition! You can't cancel the Yule Ball!"
"Yeah! What're we gonna do for the holidays!"
Dumbledore looked at them with a twinkle in his eye. "So many years, and so little trust. Still, I would've at least asked for a bit of faith in me," he said in mock sadness. "Before you all decide to go on a hunger strike, hear me out. We will indeed be canceling the Yule Ball. But, in it's place, we've decided to have a masquerade ball! Isn't that exciting. There are a few rules for this new dance. It will be set in the theme of the mid-1800's. If you decide to come in attendance, you must be dressed appropriately. This means, no dress robes. The girls will wear ball gowns and the men will be wearing, well, what men wore back then. Also, you will not bring dates to this dance. Since one of the requirements is for you be masked throughout the whole dance, there will be no point in this. You should try not to reveal to the whole school who you are until the very end."
Everybody got up to leave, excited by this new prospect for a Masquerade Ball. "Oh, and one last note," called out Dumbledore. The school turned to face the headmaster. "Will certain ah. . . persons of the student body please refrain from slipping Ogden's Firewhiskey into the punchbowls this year? If my old memory still serves me properly, I can recall quite a fiasco at last year's Yule Ball," he said with a smile. James and Sirius exchanged high-fives as they walked out of the Dining Hall.
Lily shook her head and walked up the hallways to the Gryffindor common room. Cancelling the Yule Ball? It did solve a few of her problems. For starters, she was kind of grateful for that no-dates rule. Severus Snape had been trying to catch her eye all week. And she was sure of exactly what he was trying to ask her.
She wasn't quite ready for the amount of noise that hit her as she opened the portrait door to the common room. Everywhere there were couples animately engaging in conversations. Some boys were breaking off dates, some girls were breaking off dates and others were already making plans to meet at the dance by using some secret signal or other.
The dance was still more than a month and a half away. Lily headed up to her room to get away from the noise. Mr. Ancient Runes waited invitingly on her desk. She paused just outside the doorway to her private room. Was that a clank just inside the door? No one should be in there. Maybe they were searching for something. For her? The person was probably lying in wait, waiting for her to open the door, before springing his trap.
Lily clamed herself and whipped out her wand. On her mental count of three, she blasted open the door and held her wand menacingly in front of her. "Alright, show yourself, or I'll hex you to the Dark Ages!" she said with the most courage she could muster. She blinked her eyes, trying to see through the dark.
"Lillian. It's me, you can put your wand away," said a pleasant male voice.
No one called her Lillian, except her parents. But they couldn't be here. Lily waved her wand and the candles in her room flared up.
"Grayer? Grayer!" she squealed. "How'd you get in here. What a pleasant surprise! I mean th-"
Grayer crossed the room in three seconds and held a finger to her lips, motioning for her to be quiet. She fell silent. He picked her up deposited her onto the large four poster bed against the left wall. Grayer leaned down to breathe into her ear. "I love you, Lily. I've loved you since the first time I laid eyes on you."
Just staring into his gray eyes made her breathless. "Oh, Grayer," she said softly.
"Shhh, darling," he murmured into her hair. And suddenly he was kissing her forehead, her eyelids, her mouth, moving his way down to her neck, undressing her all the while. He stopped and looked into her eyes. "Lily," he said.
"Yes?"
"Lily. Lily! Lily! LILY!" he was yelling her name over and over again. "LILY!"
Lily jerked awake to find Sybil standing over her. She looked around to find herself sitting in front of the fire in the common room.
"Lils, you were muttering in your sleep. I had to wake you up. Besides, people might hear you," Sybil said reprovingly.
Lily gasped and looked around the empty room. "Did anyone hear? I mean, I hope no one found out."
"Relax. I don't think anybody heard. They all left for bed. But you're lucky. If someone had come over before I woke you up, the whole school would know about your 'dearest love, Grayer'."
Sybil was rewarded with a swat from a pillow in the face. "I did not say that."
"Of course you didn't," Sybil said matter of factly. "But the 'Oh Grayer!" was pretty much enough to give it away."
"Sybil!" Lily exclaimed.
"Okay, okay. But if you really like him that much, why don't you just make a move?"
"Oh no! I just couldn't! I mean, what if I told him how I felt and he didn't feel the same way? Imagine what a fool I would've been!"
"You wouldn't be a fool. You'd be embarrassed maybe, but never a fool!"
"I appreciate your faith in me, but Sybil, I just couldn't! So let's leave it at that."
Sybil rolled her eyes. Lily never left things at that. Before the month was through, she could guarantee that Lily would at least try to get Grayer to notice her. But there was no use in trying to convince her right now. "Fine. Let's go to bed. It's late anyway."
Thankful that the subject of Grayer had been left alone, Lily trudged up the stairs and went to bed.
When Madame entered the dance hall, all the students were already neatly lined up in two rows, busily stretching. They learned fast, this bunch. "You have three minutes left to finish stretching. Once you're done, pair up with the same person you had last week. Bistro, Evans, Weasly, Lupin, to the corner right away."
Lily broke away from the line and quickly jogged over to where Madame was waiting. "The performance is coming up and though the rest of the class is coming alond quite nicely, the fact still remains that you four are the best dancers. Don't look so smug Bistro. Now since this recital is supposed to be an hour long, each pair will have to dance twice. That won't cut an hour, but we'll just fill in gaps with some of the rest of the class. Something easy. But, to the matter at hand. We've been working on the Beregac Flamenco. Let's see you four practice it. Take your places."
The music started and Lily eased into the familiar tune. She and Nicole went through all the steps prefunctorally. The boys eased out and Lily went back to seducing Remus. When the song ended, the pairs separated and looked at Madame for approval. "Don't move away so fast!" she exclaimed. "Mr. Lupin, Ms. Evans, excellent as usual. You two," she nodded towards Nicole and Arthur, "are much too stiff. I hate to spring this on you, but you must put more passion into it. Keep practicing. I'll seal off your corner so it doesn't bother the other students. Start! Not you, Evans, Lupin, come here."
Confused, the pair left Nicole and Arthur to their own devices. "I hate to ask this of you two, but you seem to know just about every dance there is. And since Bistro and Weasly need all the practice they can get, you will have to do two different dances. It's going to be some work, but I'm confident you can master it. Since it's a rush job, I'll let you pick the dances you are most comfortable with. But not swing dancing. That's easier and I'll have the other two do that. I have to go teach the rest of the class their dance so I'll leave you two to discuss it. Just decide and start practicing. I've sealed your area as well. Flick your wand twice while saying the name of the dance and the music will start." With the abrupt instructions, Madame walked off and Remus and Lily were left alone in a magically sealed airspace.
Remus turned to Lily and laughed. "So what do you think?"
"I'm not sure," she replied. "There's the fox-trot."
Remus shook his head. "Too stuffy. What about the tango? Samba? Cha-cha?"
"Cha-cha sounds nice. Any other suggestions?"
"Nope."
Lily bit her bottom lip thoughtfully. "I just don't want to do anything like the tango where we have to act like we're in love or something. No offense though!"
"None taken," Remus said graciously.
Lily looked relieved. "How about the bolero. No! The meringue! What do you think?"
"Cha-cha and meringue eh? Sounds good to me. And once we've practiced, we can just leave right away. We don't even have to keep showing up for class anymore. At least, until after the performance."
"Who told you that?" asked Lily incredulously. "If this is some stupid idea of Sirius's to get out of class and pull pranks with you-" She only half-meant it though. A break would be nice, but she had her Head Girl image to keep. Pity, really. The position wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
"Don't worry." Remus reassured her. "Madame told me so herself. And here's the best part. She's given me a note so that we can get out of classes to practice anytime we need to. But it'll only work on some teachers. I don't McGonagall was up for it. I'm going to use it today on Binns in History of Magic."
Lily was looking at him with a disapproving glare. "Awwww, come on Lily! It's the seventh year! We've more than payed our dues to Binns! The class is a beastly bore! He just drones on and on!"
"Why Remus Lupin!" Lily said in a mock tone with her hands on her hips. "You aren't the gentleman I thought you were if you think you can just get out of class without inviting me along!" The look on Remus's face changed from disappointed to jovial. "Honestly," Lily went on. "The only interesting thing that's happened in his class was the third year when he fell asleep in front of the fire and died. I think that he hasn't even caught on that he's a ghost yet!"
Remus opened his mouth to something, but Madame, striding into their Sealed space, beat him to it. "So, my starlets, have you decided on which dances you will perform?"
A picture of the perfect student, Lily replied, betraying absolutely no hint that only a minute before she had finalized plans to skip class. "Oh yes! The meringue and the-" She looked to Remus for conformation.
"Cha-cha," he finished for her.
Madame was clearly disappointed with the selections. "Are you sure you wouldn't want to do something like the tango? It would be entertaining. No? Hmmm. Well, the meringue and cha-cha will do quite nicely." She didn't push it any further than that, but the pair caught the suggestion.
"It's better to take things slow isn't it?" Remus said with a wink. Madame seemed cheered by this.
"Right, right. Of course, don't want to push you. Feel free to leave whenever you're done. I've also given Mr. Lupin a note in case you need extra practice. Look at this!" she said gesturing towards a heavyset girl who had one of the boys in a headlock, her partner, no doubt. "I'm gone one minute and something like happens!"
As she hurried off, Lily and Remus heard her yelling, "Mr. Tonks! Didn't I warn you that something like this might happen if you didn't watch where you placed your hands?"
Remus burst out laughing, but Lily quickly silenced him with a look. "What!"
"Remus Lupin! You know full well! What was that comment about? 'better to take things slow!' ?"
"Lily, I was just having a spot of fun! Madame thinks we fancy each other. Sorry, but you're not for me."
"Why? Am I not pretty enough for you?" Lily teased.
Her friend, thinking she was serious, was quick to assure her the contrary. "To be honest, right now, I'm not very interested in girls. With schoolwork and all. Erhm, shall we get down to practicing? I'll start the music for the meringue."
Cheered by the thought of dancing, Lily let the subject drop.
Madame gave herself a mental pat on the back as she watched the two dancing.
Meanwhile, James wasn't having as easy a time in football. True to his word, the professor had split the class up into two teams and currently, James's team was trailing 9-2 against Snape's team.
He groaned as across the field, Snape's team scored again. With only five minutes left, James had pretty much given up and had resorted to thinking up schemes to snag Priscilla as his girlfriend. So entrenched in his thoughts, he jumped when Snape sneaked up behind him.
"Potter! Look at the score! Seems like your pathetic team is going to lose. Not that you ever had a chance to begin with. Why don't you just forfeit now?" he sneered.
Annoyed, James flung out, "It isn't over until the fat lady sings, Snape."
Sanpe seemed taken aback at this. "You leave my mother out of this!" he hissed and jogged away.
Confused, James just shook his head and gathered up his things when class was over. He changed and headed over to Gryffindor tower when he overheard Arthur Weasly say, "Can you believe it? She actually agreed! I'm going up to meet her tonight at eight."
"No kidding" James heard Amos Diggory reply. "I offered her ten Galleons but she wouldn't take my money. Said that it was fun for her. So you're one of the other guys. She told me that a few other guys would be there too."
Hidden in the corner, James's mind was reeling. A girl in Hogwarts was offering her services to guys! He wasn't sure, but from what he'd heard, prostitution was illegal in both the Muggle and wizarding world. He checked his watch. Fifteen minutes before Muggle Lit. He'd stay and try to find out who the mystery girl was.
"Yeah. She's really nice. She'll go nice and slow if you need her too. And she is good. Did you see her the other day with Remus?" Arthur said. "Lily is amazing, can go for hours!"
"Shhhh!" Amos hissed, looking around. "Remember? Someone might hear. She said to keep it mum. There's about four or five guys already. A girl can only handle so much!"
"Oh right, right. I forgot. Speaking of Remus, I hear he's going to be there, too. Did you see him and Lily? And did you see what she did with him? The thing with the arms." Arthur at this point, made some vague motions with his arms.
In his hiding place, James blinked. Lily? Head Girl Lily? Was a streetwalker? Who'd have suspected? And imagine Remus being a regular customer! He looked up and down the narrow corridor. The only way out was to walk past Arthur and Amos. Figuring that now was a good time as any, James casually strolled out into the open. Upon spotting him, the pair fell silent.
"Hello. Best be getting to class now. The bell's about to ring," he nodded encouragingly down the corridor. James brushed past and continued on his way to Muggle Lit. in a daze. He only half-noticed when he walked in class on time and took a seat in the front, just before Professor Powell walked in.
The class was breathless with excitement. "We've got a lot to do today," said the professor. "So we won't tally. First, the partners. There's a copy of the list on everyone's desk. Once you have spotted your partner, please exchange seats so that you are sitting next to each other."
James was still in a daze when a Slytherin boy poked him in the ribs. "You're in my seat."
"What? Oh, hmmmm. Yes, of course," said James finally snapping out of the trance. He quickly looked down the list. Potter, James: Lestrange, Bellatrix
She didn't seem to be in yet so he glanced at the list again. James noticed that there was a stray name at the bottom of the list. Due to the number of odd people in the class, Lily was left with no partner.
She didn't get it and strode up to Robert's desk to ask him about it. "Excuse me, Professor, I don't seem to have a partner. I understand that since there's an odd number of people I don't have one, but I can't help wondering -"
"Of course. It's only natural for you to be curious. Well, you can work with me." He leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "Such a pretty girl as yourself deserves better than these other, boys. You're extremely mature for your age, Lily. Don't worry about keeping busy. I'll give you a special assignment for this class."
Lily stepped backwards. Was he coming on to her? "Professor! If you think that I would eve-"
"Oh no, Lily. It's not like that! I can assure you that my intentions are absolutely honorable. I was saying that you are a very talented girl. And your hair color! I've never seen anything like it! Auburn, if I'm not mistaken."
James was too far away to hear the conversation, but he noticed Lily blushing from something Powell said. Whatever it was, it made him feel uncomfortable that they were so close. Wasn't Robert just as avid a believer in not associating with Muggle-borns?
"James!" Robert exclaimed as he made his way towards the professor's desk. "Can I help you with anything." He said this as more of a comment than a question, as if daring James to interrupt.
Well, it was going to take more than a look to intimidate James Potter! "Actually yes, my partner doesn't seem to be here and I couldn't help noticing that Ms. Evans here doesn't have one either."
Robert's eyes narrowed viciously. "So what if she doesn't?" He was fortunately turned away from Lily so she didn't see the scowl on his face.
James was confused for the second time that day. What was Robert going at? "Wouldn't it be better if Ev- Ms. Evans and myself were paired?"
"Nonsense, why would she want to work with anyone like you?"
Robert's smug smile faded as Lily spoke up. "I wouldn't mind terribly. I mean, I'm rather eager in this whole project. And I'm sure that whoever James's partner was could help you with. . .erhm. . . your other work."
"Very well, Lily. If you wish, but could I have the pleasure of seeing you in my office tonight to finish our discussion? Say around eight-ish?" The insinuation was unmistakable. But if Lily noticed, James thought she was concealing it very well.
"I'm really sorry, Robert, but I've got sort of a thing I need to be doing. And a lot of people are counting on me; I just couldn't let them down," she said apologetically. Robert raised his eyeborws.
James intervened before Lily could say anything incriminating. He dragged her to two seats in the back corner of the room.
"Let go of me! What are you doing!" Lily exclaimed in a whisper, not wanting anyone to hear.
"I was getting you away from Powell. Did you see the way he looked at you when he asked to see you later today?"
"Nonsense," said Lily, not quite able to meet his eye. "He probably just had some random paperwork for me to file or something. Or something to copy. His intentions are perfectly honorable. He told me so himself."
James had half a mind to strangle her for her apparent stupidity. "Hasn't anyone ever told you never to trust a thing that boys say? Merlin! You're sure naive for someone who isn't as pure as she comes across to be." He was, of course referring to her illicit activities within the hallowed halls of Hogwarts.
Lily's eyes widened for a split-second before returning to their normal icy stare. Otherwise, James had no indication that what he said had any effect on her.
When Lily finally spoke, it was low and dangerous. "Don't talk of things you don't know about! You're just like the lot of them! Rich, proud, inconsiderate. Look, I don't know how you know, but you better not be poking around my private business!"
James was about to ask her why she did what she did if the guys were as bad as she made them out to be, but Lily clapped a small hand over his mouth before he could say anything. Outraged that he was being treated like a child, he tried to pry Lily's hand off his mouth, to no avail. And though he hated to do what he was going to do, James did it anyway. He spit in her hand.
The effect was instantaneous. Lily jumped up and slapped him across the face, not hard enough to transfer a mark, but nonetheless, it left a wet trail down his cheek, guilty reminder of what he'd just done.
Fortunately, some of the more incompetent members of the class were still swapping partners in the pool of shuffling masses, and no one noticed.
"Quiet!" roared Powell. The class, sensing that he was in a bad mood, simmered down. "Now that you all have your partners, I'm going to transfer all of us into a book, just to show you what it will feel like. Brace yourself, on the count of three." He waved his wand in an intricate pattern.
"One." Robert brought his wand down in a quick swish. "Two." Another swish.
"Three!" But before the swish was completed, the classroom melted away in a blur of colors, shifting, changing, melding into something different altogether.
When the colors settled, everyone was peering around curiously. The whole class was in the middle of a large crowd congregated at the front of a general store. She couldn't see through the hordes of people, but Lily had a vague impression that they were in some Western of some sorts. All the women, including herself were wearing elaborate dresses with hoop-skirts. There weren't many men around, only boys and those who had just come from Hogwarts.
The door to the general store creaked open and a young man stepped out with a stack of papers in his thin-looking arms. James noticed that everyone around him seemed to have held their breath. "Wha-" he started to whisper, but received an elbow in the ribs from Lily.
"Shhh!"
The young man opened his mouth. "Casualty Lists! Casualty Lists!" he yelled. At these words, everyone came alive. James was shoved out of the way as a gray-haired woman pushed her way to the front. He was overcome by heaps of cloth and arms.
"Here! Here!"
"Please! I need to know if my Brent's still alive!"
All the words had become jumbled as everybody was calling and reaching out for a list. Lily, being perceived as a lady, wasn't pushed to the back, but had received a list straight off. A certain gray-haired lady (the same one James had seen), in her haste had jabbed Lily in the ribs. It knocked the wind out of her and she made a solemn vow to never do that to anyone else again.
A boy, who looked no more than fifteen or so, misinterpreted her lack of wind and rushed to Lily's elbow. "I'm awfully sorry, miss. I know what it feels like. You see, I lost my big brother to them Yanks, too. What you need is a breath of fresh air." His voice was pleasant and his hands gentle as he led her through the crowd to the shade of a nearby store-front.
"Would you like some water, miss?" he asked, concerned.
"Oh no thank you," Lily replied in her best Southern belle accent. "If you don't mind, I'd like to be alone for a bit."
"Yes, of course. I didn't mean to be so forward," he apologized. "If you need anything, call for Charlie Calvert." With a tip of the hat, he was off to comfort a wailing woman in a horse drawn carriage.
"Lily!"
She turned around, searching for the source of the voice.
"Lily!" Severus Snape came up behind her and dragged her behind a nondescript ladies' hat shop. She found the whole class waiting for her.
Robert swished his wand three times again and Lily found herself sitting in the back of the room with James again. This time, the transformation hadn't been quite so slow. Rather, they had been jerked back.
James looked around the classroom and saw that most of them were blinking in wonder. Lily was still breathing shallowly, still not having regained all of her breath yet.
"So how was that?" asked Robert to a very excited class, receiving cheers of enthusiasm in return. "Now, who can tell me what book we were in? No, Mr. Finnigan, don't look at me like that. We had plenty of time. Almost an hour, actually."
Lily's hand shot up, narrowly missing James' glasses. She didn't even wait for Robert to call on her before answering.
"We were in Gone With the Wind, written in 1936 by Margaret Mitchell. It was her first and only novel, selling over a million copies before the year's end. It had been translated into 24 different languages and the adapted movie starring Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh was nominated for no less than sixteen Academy Awards, eventually winning Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Picture."
"Hmm. Very good, Lily. Twenty points to Gryffindor. Not many people would've known from such a less important part in the book, even provided with the amount of time we were there. Yes, Rosier?"
"Sir, I mean, Robert. If you said we spent and hour in the book, how come the clock only shows that we've been gone twenty minutes?"
"It's good that you asked. Time in different dimensions always moves at unpredictable rate. Going into the book is similar to going into a different dimension, only I've figured out that in our case, the time in the real world will always move slower. Hence the contradiction in the time elasped."
Satisfied, Rosier went back to cutting Alice Fletcher's braids off. Robert pretended not to notice.
"Let's get started then shall we? Good. Starting right now, you'll be competing with your other classmates for the 500 House points. Right, go!"
Everyone was sitting blankly in their seats. Lily was afraid that they were supposed to do something. Fortunately, James sighed, rolled his eyes, and flicked his wand in the exact same pattern that Robert did, thus causing the room to meld and swirl again.
When the room cleared, Lily found herself standing beside a long banquet table inside a ballroom floor.
"Elizabeth?"
"Elizabeth, darling?" Realizing that she was supposed to be the so-called 'Elizabeth', Lily turned to face a tall brunette woman. She had been beautiful once, but the years had taken its toll. Despite her age, there was an unmistakable aura of young freshness around the woman, remembrances of times long gone. Yet through all that, she detected no sophistication in this woman, to tact.
"Goodness, Elizabeth! You gave me quite a fright. I thought you were in some sort of trance, the way you were just standing there, staring at the punch bowl. Here let me fix your Basque ribbons, they're mussed."
The woman reached down and retied some green ribbons on Lily's ball gown. Really, Lily thought, what was with Robert and these ball gown scenarios? First Gone With the Wind, now this.
"Poor Charles back there," the woman, supposedly Mother, nodded towards a cluster of young gentlemen, "hasn't danced with anyone all night. He's smitten with you! Can't you just dance with him once?"
"But Mother!" Lily said, getting a vague notion of exactly where she was.
"Don't but mother me. He's rich. No less than 250 pounds a year! At least go and talk to him! Now, shoo!" Mother admonished, giving her a slight shove.
With nothing else to do, she slowly approached the corner, where all of the men, upon spotting her, immediately straightened. Casting around in the dark, Lily turned to one of the men. "Hello."
They all blushed profusely and Charles (she supposed) stepped forward. "Erhm. Miss Bennett, may I have this waltz?"
"Why, of course!" Lily smiled, extending a hand towards the reddening boy, really. He led her out to the dance floor and they started up the slow and easy steps. But no more than half a minute passed, when another young gentleman tapped Charles on the shoulder, proclaiming, "May I cut in?"
Charles pouted a bit, but manners were manners and he graciously gave up his dancing partner. Lily found that this switch of partners happened frequently with her, and after a while, occupied herself with trying to spot James in the crowd.
The clock struck eleven and one by one, all of the ladies drifted off into an adjacent room. The men sat down at the table and began to smoke their expensively rolled cigars.
"Who's up for a game of poker?" asked a paunchy gentleman whose waistcoat looked in danger of bursting for the strain. "Why Elizabeth! You're still here."
Lily tried to act cool. Had she committed some sort of taboo by remaining with the gentlemen? Was it simply not tolerated in society?
Charles came to her defense. "She always stays, Pongo. Where've you been all this time?" Pongo, with the paunch, looked flustered, and everyone laughed good-naturedly at his distress.
Lily smiled, but was beginning to worry about James when she absently wandered over to the punch table across the room to pour herself a glass. "Hello, Elizabeth."
The unexpected voice caused her to jump and the glass slipped from her fingers, splashing punch all over herself before James deftly caught it inches from hitting the floor. He lazily replaced the glass on the white tablecloth and turned to face her with an amused smile.
"Really, you must be more careful. You've got punch all over yourself," he said in a patronizing tone. Lily, being annoyed at his demeanor, didn't say anything and looked around for some napkins.
"Here, let me help," James said as he drew out a pocket handkerchief and started dabbing at the punch on her. She looked down to assess the damage done to the gown. Punch was all over the front and had discolored the mauve of the material into a sickly orange color.
What with his being so nice and all, Lily began to feel guilty for being so rude to him, but as she looked up to thank him, she saw that he was staring intently at her décolletage. It wasn't his fault, really. The neckline was cut so low it could be considered as an architectural hazard.
Embarrassed, she grabbed the handkerchief out of his hand. "I can do it myself," she muttered. "Thank you."
James raised an eyebrow. "You didn't seem to mind before," he smiled at her blush. "In fact, I think the view's especially pleasant fro-"
"Don't you dare say it! Sirius used it already and I know full well what it means!" she cut off. Then suddenly noticing that she had perhaps spoken too loud, Lily found herself with Charles by her side.
"Did he say something to offend you, Miss Elizabeth?" he asked protectively.
"Erhm, it's nothing really."
"Ha! I don't believe it. Of course, I wouldn't expect any better from an ill-bred ruffian. No wonder Yorkshire won't accept him."
James narrowed his eyes. "Well it's better than being a silly overgrown boy!"
Things were getting out of hand. "It's nothing really. Just forget it, please?" Lily asked beseechingly.
"It's none of your bloody business. Stay out of it!" James snapped.
"Do not, sir, raise you voice to a lady!"
Seeing that things were starting to get out of hand, Lily jumped between the two. "Let's just forget about it. It was nothing really. We probably have to be going back anyway." This last part, she hissed to James. Looking as if he could barely contain himself, he grabbed Lily's arm none too gently, not noticing in his anger.
"Let's go!"
And before anyone knew what had happened, Charlie's fist connected with James's left eye with a sickening crunch of knuckles, causing him to stagger back a few steps.
"That'll teach you to manhandle a lady like tha-" Charlie never finished his declaration because just then, James hit him squarely in the jaw. There was a moment of breathless anticipation as both stood quietly, surveying the other. With a sudden yell, Charlie rushed at James, wrapping his arms around James's abdomen, drove him into the opposite wall. In retaliation, James drove his knee into the other's stomach.
Lily and the remaing three gentlemen watched in silence, feeling no compunction whatsoever to get in the middle of the brawl, the gentlemen from obvious enjoyment, and Lily from she couldn't say. And in a perverse way, she felt flattered that two men were fighting over her, even if one had to be torn to bits in the process.
The two were still tussling, rolling around on the floor. By now, it was clear that Charlie was the weaker of the two. Both were thoroughly winded and James, in an attempt to end the whole thing stood up, with some difficulty and said, "Look. Can't we just forget all about this? This is crazy!"
Instead of the assent he was expecting, James was replied with wild swing at his head. Ducking, he grabbed Charlie, picked him up and threw him across the room, where he lay there in a crumpled heap. Lily ran to him and checked his pulse.
She picked up a pitcher full of ice water and threw it over him. Charlie blearily opened his eyes and smiled at her, receiving a frown in return.
"I am very disappointed in you, Charlie! What on earth got into you?"
"He insulted you, and grabbed you in an indecent manner. Why I'd thi-"
"Nonsense! I told you it was nothing. Besides, what else did you expect but this when you started it? He's much stronger than you!"
"You didn't think I could take him on?" Charlie said indignantly. "I thought you had more faith in me."
"Honestly, you fool! You're jus-" She was interrupted by a grunt from somewhere behind her. Lily turned to see the other three men ganging up on James. Three against one, why it just wasn't fair! He was already down and tired, without having to deal with three healthy men!
She marched right up to the three. "Just what do you think you're doing? Get out! GET OUT! How dare you hit a man while he's down! You ought to be ashamed! GET OUT!"
They widened their eyes and quickly exited, two of them supporting Charlie, who could barely walk. Once the double-doors had clicked shut, Lily rushed over to James, lying on his side. She got down on her knees and rolled him so that his back was to the ground.
"James? James can you hear me?" she asked, her voice quavering a little.
No answer. Lily took the handkerchief she was still holding and dipped it into another pitcher of water, wiping his face gently. She dipped the handkerchief into the pitcher again and wrung it out, taking in his face. His left eye had already turned purple, swollen shut, and the blood from his nose was trailing down to his split lip. There were also traces of bruises that were beginning to show.
She gently mopped his brow, near tears. "Oh, James. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry about all this. I- I should've stopped it, but I didn't. Please say something." Upon getting no answer, Lily let go of the handkerchief and sobbed gently into his neck. "I'm sorry for being so horrible. And I'm sorry for all the times I ever called you an arrogant babboon's arse. And I'm sorry for stealing the raspberry cremes and- please say something."
Lily felt James shift slightly under her and lifted her head. "Don't move, I had an enjoyable time looking down your dress," James said weakly.
Relieved, Lily gave him a watery smile and threw her arms around him, causing him to wince slightly. "I don't know what I would've done!" she cried, her voice muffled from being buried in his chest. Never having been in a position like this before, James awkwardly patted her back.
There was an embarrassed pause as she quickly drew back. James was staring at something rather intently on the ceiling, while Lily picked at the carpet.
"Well, erhm. Of course, I highly doubt that the wonderful staff at Hogwarts would let the Heads get killed. We'd better get back."
Straightening, Lily became all business. "You're right. I suppose you'll have to go to Madame Pomfrey's. Can you walk on your own?" James nodded the affirmative. "Good. The moment we get back, get out of the room and down to the hospital wing. Don't worry about Robert, I'll take care of him." James nodded and she helped him to his feet.
With some difficulty, seeing as how James was leaning on her, Lily took out her wand from an artfully concealed pocket in her dress and flicked it three times. She felt the same jerking feeling as they were both pulled back into the classroom.
Lily was still a bit disoriented, but the moment they set foot in the classroom, James had taken off. Robert was behind his desk writing a letter when he looked up.
"Ah, Lily! Tell me, where did James run off to in such a hurry?"
Torn between giving a full length explanation and seeing if James was okay, Lily paused for a second. "We were in the book and James got into a fistfight and he's badly hurt and he needs to go to the hospital wing." It all came out in a rush, but feeling it was sufficient enough, she dashed out. "By the way," she said as she paused for a second at the door. "It was Pride and Prejudice, I think." And she was off.
The first place she checked was the hospital wing, but Madame Pomfrey claimed that no one had staggered in. "It's a rather slow semester. I'm surprised, being that Quidditch season has already started and all." she stated. Lily thanked her and scoured the hallways. Supposing James never made it to the wing? Suppose he was accosted on his way there by some second form boys?
"Have you seen James perchance?" she asked of a fourth year Hufflepuff girl. This was probably the fifteenth person she'd questioned. The answers were all the same. None of them had seen him.
The kitchens, the Quidditch pitch. Lily even checked the library even though she knew that the chances of finding him in there were next to nil. Passing a large grandfather clock in the fourth floor corridor, she noted the time. Twenty minutes before Arithmancy. She wasn't too bothered by the time constraints though, after all, being Head Girl had its privileges.
The Common Room was deserted by the time she got there. Everyone was obviously in classes. Lily sighed and sank down on one of the settees, not caring that she just crushed someone's History of Magic essay. She closed her eyes in thought. Where could James be? A person who didn't know her might think that she was overreacting, but she had her reasons. There had been that last time with Alistair. She couldn't let that happen again.
"Excuse me, you're sitting on my essay."
Lily, leaned to the side so that the speaker could retrieve his trapped paper. "Shouldn't you be in class?" she asked with her eyes still closed.
"Actually, I didn't feel like going. Or rather, I went and walked out. Don't feel like going back."
Lily opened her eyes to scold the student and found James looking at her with a grin on his face.
"James! My God, you're still alive! You look fine! How did that happen?" she exclaimed, not really interested in the answers, just happy he was okay.
"You know," James said rubbing the back of his head. "I don't rightly know. I came back in the classroom, dashed out and found myself in the hallway with no bloody nose, no broken ribs, no black eye and whatnot. Amazing, really."
Lily furrowed her brow and pursed her lips. "I guess whatever happens in there isn't real so it doesn't have any effect on the real world we live in."
James shrugged. "The pain was real enough, though. I mean, during the brawl. It's gone now, but it's not something I'm willing to do again next time, that's for sure."
"We'd best get down Arithmancy anyway. No use dwelling." Lily started to gather up her books, meeting with James's incredulous look.
"Arithmancy? Today's Wednesday! We have History of Magic."
"Oh that's right, I forgot!" exclaimed Lily slapping her head. She dropped her bag onto a table.
"You know what Lily? I think you're losing your touch." James teased, surprised she hadn't snapped at him. Lily rolled her eyes and headed towards the portrait hole. "Hey wait! Aren't you going to bring your books?"
Lily scoffed. "History of magic? Are you noddy? I'm not going to that class! Oh, come off it!" she said to James's gaping mouth.
"Y- you'll get caught for sure!" James blubbered.
"Honestly, are you stupid? You're Head Boy, I'm Head Girl. If we're stopped, we'll just say we have heads business to attend to."
"Isn't that lying?" James asked dazedly. Apparently, the thought of Lily cutting class was something that took him more than a little time to process.
"Of course not! We have the masquerade to plan anyway. That's heads business. We just won't tell them when we're going to discuss it. So technically it's not an untruth."
"Well Toto, we're definitely not in Kansas anymore." James blinked and returned to his normal self. He followed her out of the common room in a daze.
Reaching the bottom of the second floor stairs, Lily and James found the other three Marauders already waiting for them. A little surprised at Lily showing up, and James following her around like a puppy, they were silent for a moment. Lily leaned over to Remus and whispered into his ear. "Are we still on for tonight?" Remus nodded and turned to James who was now watching the two of them intently.
"We thought you'd never show. Let's get going shall we?"
"Erhm, excuse me, but what exactly are you doing?" Lily asked furtively, not really feeling a part of their group.
Sirius slung an arm over her shoulders. "Turning the Slytherin Quidditch robes into pretty pink party frocks." He laughed at this thought, obviously pleased with himself.
The mention of Slytherin, however, made Lily think of Grayer. He didn't deserve that from the Marauders! She turned to James. "Look, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, I know it seems fun, but if you get caught, it'll be a lot of trouble. I also," she straightened, "have an obligation to report any wrongdoing I encounter as Head Girl, and I think James will agree with me."
"What're you doing?" James hissed.
Taken aback, Lily immediately became hostile. "Well then, don't come running to me when you get into trouble." With that, she stalked off.