Toying with Potter

Chapter 8: The Christmas Dance

A/N: Yeah baby! Chapter 8 is up! And it only took me 24 days to write it!

Disclaimer: Do I look like J. K. Rowling? No! Duh!

"Um…L-l-l-l-ily…Ja-ames? Professor Dumbledore would like to see you."

Lily and James looked up from their Potions books that they were studying out of and saw a squeaky first year addressing them. The poor boy looked so intimidated speaking to the Head Boy and Head Girl. James nodded to show that they had understood and the boy took off without a backward glance at them.

"I wonder what Dumbledore wants," Lily said aloud.

"Let's find out." They left the Common Room and headed to the Headmaster's office. They found themselves in front of a stone gargoyle and realized that they did not know the password, so they started randomly guessing.

"Bertie's Every Flavor Beans?"

"Cockroach Cluster?"

"Sugar Quill?"

"Chocolate Frog?"

"Lemon Drop?" James finally guessed. The gargoyle leapt aside and Lily stared incredulously.

"How did you know? That's a Muggle candy!"

"Lucky guess," he said innocently, but he had a mischievous glint in his eyes. Lily decided to ignore this. "Ladies first." Lily rolled her eyes, though smiled, and swept through the door. She had a glimpse of a nicely furnished office and then saw the Headmaster sitting behind his desk reading War and Peace. Lily found this extremely funny and tried to keep a straight face. James shut the door firmly and Dumbledore looked up.

"Ah…Ms. Evans, Mr. Potter." Come sit down. Don't look so afraid, you know you're not in trouble." Lily and James sat down opposite of the Headmaster and waited for him to speak.

"I just wanted to discuss with you your ideas for the dance. I haven't heard your ideas yet." So they spent the next quarter of an hour, discussing and improving all the ideas that they had acquired through countless Prefect meetings. It was pretty interesting running all of their suggestions through the Headmaster. He was very amused with the theme and even more amused when he heard that James himself had come up with it.

"Well, that sounds fine. I really like it." James beamed. "Now, I have another errand for you to do. As you know, the castle is always decorated for Christmas. It's your job to help Mr. Filch decorate. Meet him in the Great Hall in 5 minutes time."

"Yes sir," they chorused and headed down the Great Hall to meet the cranky, aging caretaker and receive their instructions.

"How long do you reckon it'll be decorating the entire castle?" Lily asked.

"Who cares, we get to decorate! That's awesome," he replied. The entered the Great Hall and met the caretaker who was looking a little more cheerful than he usually does.

"All you have to do is to tap each tinsel, mistletoe, bow, whatever twice and it will go to its appropriate spot. Take these boxed and go to each level of the castle as stated on the boxes. AND NO TAMPERING WITH THE MISTLETOE POTTER!" He barked this last part. James jumped and dropped the mistletoe back into the back, grinning openly at Lily. She laughed and they each took a couple of boxes and headed towards the first hallway. They thankfully did not have to decorate the Great Hall; the Professors did that.

"So James, what are you doing during the Holidays?"

"I'll probably just spent some time with my family, unless other plans come up."

They continued decorating the halls of Hogwarts is a comfortable silence. Occasionally James would throw tinsel at Lily, who would get stuck in her hair, and she would retaliate by throwing some tinsel back at him. The continued this frivolous behavior for quite some time until, after two hours, they were finally decorating the last hall. It was here that James spoke of something neither had though of before.

"Lily."

"Yeah?"

"We open the first dance at the dance, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it's usually a sort of waltz isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know how to waltz?

"Yea-no." Lily could almost hear James's smirk.

"The Great Lily Evans doesn't know how to do something?" This remark earned him a great deal of tinsel to be thrown in his face. James laughed.

"Oh shut up! There was never a reason for me to learn! I'm guessing you know how to do it?"

"Of course," was the smug reply.

"Well then you can teach me."

"Right now?"

"Yes, teach me now in the middle of a hallway where anyone can just walk up on us."

"Good idea." James stepped forward and before Lily could protest, he wrapped his hands around her waist and started to slowly dance. He pulled her close and buried his head hi her hair, breathing in her sweet scent. He felt her arms entwining around his neck, bringing them even closer.

"This is the waltz?" Lily asked after a while.

"No, but I'm just going to dance with you." Lily smiled. It was this spontaneous activity that somewhat attracted Lily to James. She closed her eyes, enjoying the moment, when she realized that she couldn't move. She was so lost in her own thoughts she didn't feel James slowly take her wand from her back pocket just a few minutes earlier. James's hands were leaving her waist and her eyes snapped open. Standing before her was a grinning James twirling her wand between his fingers.

"What did you do?" she asked, slightly amused.

James pointed up and Lily used her eyes, since she couldn't move her head, and saw mistletoe above her head.

"James!" she said very seriously, "you are not supposed to tamper with the mistletoe!"

"Aww come on Lily. Relax. I only did it to this one, and it will wear away after you."

"Well unfreeze me already!"

"Ok, I guess I could, but I'd have to kiss you, in an open hallway, where anyone could walk up on us…or I could just leave you until the charm wears away, but that's cruel and unusual punishment, and why-"

"Just shut up and kiss me," Lily shrieked, interrupting his long speech. James wasted no time in crushing his lips onto hers. Lily was unfrozen at the touch of his lips but instead of staying right where she was, she became pinned between the wall and his body. She wrapped her arms once more around his neck and ran her hands through his hair. James groaned into her mouth. Lily learned long ago that James loved someone playing with his hair.

James's kissed gradually became more urgent, more passionate, more burning. He pressed his muscled body hard against her soft curves; his hands running up and down the sides of her body. Lily felt her knees go weak and mentally scolded herself. She just couldn't show James how much his kisses affected her. They continued this way for a while when they heard a slightly amused cough. James and Lily broke apart very quickly and with flushed faces, looked at their interrupter.

"Well, I'm pleased to say that the school looks very nice indeed," Dumbledore said, his blue eyes twinkling. James and Lily looked at each other and blushed.

"I was wondering, Mr. Potter, if you could charm all the mistletoe to do that. It would really get all the students into the Christmas spirit."

"Um…sure Professor." James turned and muttered the charm on one mistletoe, then said another charm so that every mistletoe in the school would copy it.

"Why you are failing Charms I do not understand," the Headmaster muttered while walking off. Lily rounded on James.

"You're failing Charms?"

"No, I'm just…doing a bit badly."

"But you just did two of the most complex charms just now!"

"Oh, well, it was a prank, and that's what I'm good at." He grinned at her and she threw more tinsel at him. "I lied though."

"About what?"

"About the dance. We don't have to waltz. We can just slow dance. I already asked Dumbledore, but I just wanted a reason to dance with you."

Lily looked at him and smiled a very rare, genuine smile. James was just so very cute when he wanted to be, and it was just then that she fully understood exactly how much he liked her. He took her hand and laced his fingers through hers. This single act caused her heart to beat frantically. He leaned in so close that their noses and foreheads were touching. He was pleased to see that her breathing quickened. He slowly, carefully kissed her on the mouth. There was no lust, no hunger, no hot fury, just tenderness and caring. He pulled away looking deep into her eyes. She became lost in his hazel eyes but finally tore her eyes away and they headed back to the Common Room.

The first thing they noticed was commotion in the middle of the room. On closer inspection they realized an owl with a very large package was perched on the table snapping at anyone that tried to get close. Apparently, it would only allow to who those the package was concerned with come close. To Lily's surprise, the package was addressed to her. She moved towards the package and untied it from the owl's foot. The owl gave a satisfied hoot and flew off. James, meanwhile, was addressing the crowd of Gryffindors.

"All right, all right, nothing more to see. Move along now."

"Hey Head Girl," someone shouted, "you have tinsel in you hair!" The crowd dispersed and Lily turned to James.

"Don't you just love it when people state the obvious?" James smiled.

"So what is in this very large package?"

"It could be my bridesmaid's dress," she replied and began to tear the tape off when Lauren entered with Remus, both looking very happy and a bit distant. There was no doubt in anyone's mind what they were doing.

"What's in the package? And why do you have tinsel in you hair?" Lauren asked, sitting down on Remus's lap.

"I don't know and James threw it at me." She finally was able to open the package and pulled out the loveliest dress she had ever seen. It was a strapless, knee-high dress with a full skirt and a matching wrap and shoes. It was the exact color of her eyes and the dress seemed to catch the light in a way that kept everyone's eye fixed upon it. No one could tear his or her eyes away.

"Wow Lily! What a nice dress," this was Kari. Kari tugged on Sirius's hand, urging him to say something. He seemed a bit distracted but pleased. (A/N: I hope you got the subliminal message.)

"Yeah, it's very pretty. You have tinsel by the way."

"So we've heard," the Head Boy and Girl declared simultaneously.

December 20

"James Potter! Get your arse out here right now!" Lily knocked loudly, almost violently, on his door. It was the day of the dance and the Heads and Prefects were supposed to start decorating as soon as lunch ended. It was past noon and lunch was already over, but James still hadn't gotten up. In frustration she turned the knob and entered his room. At that exact moment, James opened his bathroom door and stepped our wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. He was wet and sexy; there were no other words to describe him. His hair was lying flat for once and water droplets were dripping down from the hair that fell in his eyes. Lily stared and had a sudden urge to run her hands up and down his chest, kissing him wildly.

"See something you like?" he asked sweetly.

"Nah, it's only my very sexy boyfriend dripping wet in nothing but a towel. That's all."

James smirked and examined himself in the mirror. "Yeah, I see what you mean. Nothing special here."

Lily laughed. "Just meet me in the Great Hall in five minutes to start decorating."

"Holy shit I completely forgot!" He raced back into the bathroom and emerged wearing clean faded jeans and a black sweater. He performed a quick Drying Charm on his hair, and then dashed out of the room, grabbing Lily's hand and dragging her along.

"Well that was quick."

Lily, James and the Hogwarts Prefects worked continuously for 3 hours straight. Some Prefects worked on beautifying the outside gardens while other worked in the Great Hall. Towards the end of the 3 hours, the band had been set up, the decorations perfected, and the last minute details were taken care of. Dumbledore was currently talking to the band, going over the scheduled events for the evening. At 5 o'clock sharp every single Prefect girl and Lily declared they really needed to go and get ready.

"What do you need 3 hours for?" James asked. Lily just shook her head, laughing, gave him a quick kiss and then headed to the 7th year girl's dormitory where she found Lauren and Kari freshly showered and getting ready.

"Lily! Good! Go shower. Take as long as you want, we've already showered." Lauren gestured to the 4 girls in the room. Lily nodded and headed towards the bathroom. She stepped in the stall and let the hot water beat mercilessly upon her body. She sighed and let all the stress that had been accumulating since the beginning of the school year. Tonight, she was going to have fun. Tonight, she would let everything go. She finished after an hour, pulled her robe on and stepped out to an awaiting Kari.

"Come on. I already did Lauren's hair and make-up and she did mine. It's your turn Head Girl." Lily learned long ago not to argue with her friends about her hair and make-up. They almost always did it and it always looked good, so why argue? She sat down in front of a large mirror and allowed herself to be pampered.

After almost an hour and a half, it was around 7:30 and Lauren and Kari just finished with Lily. Her dark, red hair was put up in an elegant bun, but a few tendrils escaped the bun's tight grasp and framed her face. She studied Lauren and Kari. Lauren had straightened her hair and wore it down. It looked very pretty and somehow, glossy. Kari had put her hair into soft curls and pulled them away from her face. The all slipped into their dresses and, while holding hands, descended the staircase at about 20 minutes to 8, Lily wearing green, Kari in blue and Lauren in red.

At the sound of clicking heels on the stairs, James, Sirius and Remus turned their attention towards the staircase heading to the girls' dormitories. At the sight of his girlfriend, each boy's jaw dropped to the floor. The girls giggled and allowed themselves to be complimented. The words "wow", "gorgeous", and "beautiful" were really the only words that could be comprehended.

"James, come on, we're supposed to lead everyone in, remember?"

"Oh yeah," he said. She took his arm and led him down to the Great Hall. "Led" because he couldn't take his eyes off of her. They arrived at the doors of the Great Hall with a minute to spare. Dumbledore spotted then and nodded. He turned and opened the doors allowing Lily and James to lead everyone in. They stood at the entrance, utterly proud of what they had done.

There was an enchanted stream running right in front of the entrance. There was a bridge that one crossed to get inside. There were round tables and chairs along the walls of the room. The four regular Hogwarts tables and the teacher's table were not there. In the corner was a fireplace that warmed the entire room; a glass slipper was placed in front of it. In another corner, a large tower with copious amounts of blond locks coming out of it stood tall. Around the Great Hall, a glass case holding a sleeping beauty lay to one side of the dance floor, a deep red cape hung with a number of swords on the wall and a giant beanstalk stood strong and tall in another corner. A beast's silhouette was plastered on the adjacent wall with a single rose in a glass vase in front of it. There were numerous mushrooms, fairies and other magical creatures along the room. It was indeed a spectacular site. The band was towards the back of the room.

Where the teachers' table was supposed to be, two majestic chairs sat, positioned side-by-side looking like thrones. Lily only had a few seconds to admire the work before James picked her up like a groom would to his new bride. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck and we crossed the bridge, walked the entire length of the room and placed her in one of the majestic chairs before taking his seat beside her. All the while, Lily felt oddly safe and secure, but she quickly pushed the thought out of her head. Everyone was already seated at tables and they began to eat the food that had appeared. Lily and James noticed a table next to them and began to eat a delicious dinner. Once everyone had finished, Dumbledore motioned for the Strange Brothers (A/N: I know, I'm so creative aren't I? Dodges a tomato thrown at her.) to begin playing. This was their cue.

They both got up and headed to the middle of the room. Lily wrapped her arms around his neck and he snaked his arms around her slender waist. They began to dance. It was bliss; each felt as if they were in heaven. They were not aware of anything but themselves. They stayed in each other's arms, gliding across the dance flour. James spun Lily out a few times and she expertly spun back in. They last note was, after what seemed like an eternity, struck finally struck and Lily and James held each other, not moving. Reality came crashing back down to them at the sound of clapping. They went back to their seats, each a bit pink in the face. Their friends made their way towards them.

"That was some excellent dancing Lily!" Kari said smiling.

"Thanks."

"Yeah if you called that dancing." Everyone turned and stared at the unwelcome visitor. It was Amy Davies, a Gryffindor 7th year who wanted James so bad it hurt. Amy was the reason Lily rarely slept in the 7th year dormitory. Amy was always making snide, hurtful remarks and Lily didn't was to put up with it. "All she was doing was swaying. Come with me James," she purred. "I'll show you what dancing is really about."

"I'll show you dancing you little bitch!" Lily said angrily. Everyone stared at her, awestruck. She grabbed James's hand and pulled him towards the dance floor. James's eyes lit up, the band had just started playing a very upbeat song.

And so they danced. It was on the verge of dirty dancing, but no one cared. Kari, Sirius, Lauren and Remus were dancing nearby, but James and Lily were in the center of the crowd. They had a good reason to be. Lily and James were so close you could almost see the heat radiating from their bodies. Lily was, there was no other word for it, grinding into James. Lily was in front of James, grinding into him, his hands dangerously low on her waist and her hands on his neck. They rocked almost violently to the beat of the music, desperately clinging to each other. Lily smirked at Amy and she, Amy, stalked off trembling with rage. Lily could feel James getting hard, but that made her dance more spectacularly. He groaned and after that dance, everyone knew that the Head Boy and Girl were off limits. No one could ask them to dance after what they had just seen. They danced a few more times before the end of the night though.

Midnight came to soon and Dumbledore stood to address the students.

"Well, this certainly had been quite a fun evening. I think out Head Boy and Girly as well as our Prefects deserve a round of applause. There was a very loud cheering following this to show everyone's appreciation; the whistling was courtesy of Sirius.

"Good night everyone! Off to bed with you."

Lily and James said good-bye to their friends and headed outside to the garden. James wrapped Lily in his jacket, although a simple Warming Charm would have done the trick, and they sat down and admired the roses around them.

"So what was that with you and Amy?"

Lily groaned. "Sorry, I just kind of lost control. She's been hissing rude comments at me ever since I started going out with you! And she was trying to seduce you! Right there in front of me!"

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't have fallen for it."

They sat in each other's arms for a while. James occasionally whispered sweet nothings into Lily's ear.

"Lily," he said suddenly, "when is your birthday?"

"Valentine's Day."

"Is it now, well isn't that interesting."

"When's yours?"

"Mmh?"

"Your birthday?"

"Oh, it's on Christmas."

"WHAT!"

"I know, meant to be, huh. Both being born on major holidays I mean."

"No, I haven't gotten you anything! Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!"

"Lily calm down! It's ok!" Lily struggled a bit in his arms but then relaxed.

"That was really mean of you to tell me now…five days beforehand."

"Yeah, well you never asked."

"True…" then "…James?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you come with me to Petunia's wedding? I already asked my parents and they said it was ok and I really need someone I know there or I'm going to die and Petunia's going to kill me and I understand if you have plans but if you don't will you consider-" James cut her off with a kiss.

"I'll come."

"I-what?"

"I said I'd come."

"Good!" They fell silent again, smiling, contemplating on the holiday ahead of them.

A/N: 10 pages of pure literature! 10 pages of pure Lily and James! 10 pages of lust, love, envy! Ok, whatever. 3,650 words. That's the most I've ever written. I usually only write half this much so be grateful! I hope you didn't think the dance was too boring. Could you tell I kinda got bored with it? Just a bit though. I hope you liked it.

So on to my wonderful reviewers, only 6 reviewed this time…I think I'm going to cry!

Oceandreamz- Thanks for reviewing, as always. So what did you think? Enough lust to keep you going until the next chapter?

Akasha of Night- I liked Remus's way too. It was very…I guess you could say normal, but there's nothing wrong with that. I wish I had a boyfriend! Why are guys so lame nowadays? I really didn't even. Best chapter, huh? I'm glad you thought so. I can't wait for you to read my future chapters.

33- Well thank you for reviewing 6 times. I really do appreciate it. Hope you liked the chapter.

Pahe13- Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like the story. I like Lily's evil side as well.

Ohepelss Oramtnci- I really want to know what happens when James finds out and how Lily feels as well. Haha, kidding, I already know, I just have some minor things to smooth out. Keep waiting. Thanks for your review.

Amandinka- Thanks so much for your review.

Again I am disappointed. I know more people are reading this fic but they're not reviewing. I kinda get annoyed and I don't understand why some people don't review. I love submitting reviews. I love telling the author what a great job she or he (are there any guys on this site? If there are, let me know, I want to read their fics!) did and I love suggesting ideas and seeing them being used.

BY THE WAY…A VERY BIG THANK YOU TO SHEYANA AND DWEEM-ANGEL FOR ALL THEIR IDEAS ON A FAIRY-TALED THEMED DANCE THING. I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH! I USED ALL YOUR IDEAS. NOW YOU CAN SWELL WITH PRIDE WHEN YOU KNOW THAT YOU SUGGESTED IT, OR YOU COULD JUST BE LIKE, "WHATEVER" AND GO ON WITH YOUR DAILY LIVES.

Anyway, please, please, please review. Recommend it to your friends, put it on communities. How do those things work anyway? Can anyone tell me?

Ok, for my next chapter. I don't know if I want to do one long chapter, or two medium sized ones. I want Lily and James to spend Christmas with her family, and then attend Petunia's wedding. Then spend New Year's together. Maybe 3 chapters? Tell me what you think. Give me some suggestions.

Oh! And what about that towel scene? That was some sexy stuff huh? Come on, you know you liked it!

I really need to ramble less. Does it get annoying or do you enjoy reading my endless nonsense? Tell me, I'd like to know.

Again, I'm open to any comments, criticism or suggestions that you have.

I love you all!

ArtemisPotter