The Great Hall was decorated in extravagent banners that hang from the sides of the walls, each one branded with one of the Hogwarts houses. The ceiling, which still had slender candles floating huantingly above the windows, was a gorgeous dark blue, the stars were shining effortlessly through the sky, causing a blueish tint to surround the entire hall. It was quite a site, and Harry had to admit that it looked perhalps Ibetter/I than the night of the Yule Ball.
" I guess this is the ball everyone was talking about... " Ron said, once again stating the obvious. His eye's were traveling over the dancing figures. Harry took this time to follow Ron's lead and take a closer look around. Everyone was dressed in dress robes, that looked suprisingly like Ron's old one, which sort of made since, because Mrs. Weasley had told him that they had been his fathers old ones. All the girls were dressed up in longer robes, most of them with flowers on their wrists. There was music playing from the far corner, but Harry couldn't make out the the source of the up beat guitar playing.
He felt a poke on his shoulder and he glanced at Hermione, she was pointing to one of the small circular tables that had replaced the house tables. James was sitting in his dark blue dress robes, on a wooden chair, with his feet propped up on the chair next to him. Sirius was lounging in the seat next to him, with a curly headed blond perched on his knee. The girl was smiling and laughing at something Sirius was saying. At the other end of the table, Lupin was sitting, looking a little nervous. Next to Lupin sat a rather tall girl, with long brunett hair, that nearly touched the polished floor. She was fairly chunky, and Harry suspected that this must have been the INorah Finley/I that Lupin had mentioned in the last memory.
Harry and the other two walked a little closer to the three boys.
"...so then, obviously I couldn't run -it was too late for that- so I shoved the remaining beetle legs into my mouth and stood there with a smile on my face when Professor Edeth walked in! " Sirius was finishing, he was smiling and seemed to be having a good time. The blond burst out laughing and hit him lightly on the chest.
" You Ididn't/I! Oh my goodness, did you get in trouble? " She asked, her eye's showing that she was genuinly interested in whatever it was that he was talking about. He stopped laughing long enough to answer her.
" Well I wouldn't have, if I hadn't spit the bloody things out right at the moment that Professor McGonagall walked in...I think that I may have broken James' record for longest detention served. " Sirius said, looking over at James, who was tapping his foot to the music and looking off into the distance.
" Yeah...right... " James muttered, his voice was airy, and it was quite clear that he wasn't paying a bit of attention. Sirius rolled his eye's and looked back to his date. Harry followed his father's gaze to the opposite side of the Great Hall and noticed almost immediately what he was staring at so advidly. Lily was leaning against the stone wall, talking to a tall, well built guy, who was dressed in particularly fluffy set of dres robes. Lily herself was dressed in a beautiful dark red dress that reached the very tip of her toes, it was made of some sort of silk material, that was refelcting the glow of the candles. She was smiling, and the guy, that Harry suspected was the Dennis Brown that she had been gloating about, was talking, while making drastic hand movements.
James scoffed, and shook his head, attempting to evert his attention, he looked over at Lupin and Norah.
" So Norah...I hear you like our Moony here. " He said, making Lupin's eyes grow wide, as his neck grew pink. Norah smiled, looking rather uncomfortable. She cleared her throat loudly before answering.
" Er...yeah, he's really nice... " She said, steeling a glance at Lupin, then looking back at James. Lupin looked up from the table cloth that he had been glaring at for the last few seconds. He gazed at Norah, then laughed quietly.
" Your really nice too... " He said, his voice came out a little roughly, and it was clear that he didn't talk to girls much. She sighed smiling.
" Well, I think that's wonderful. Just one thing you aught to know about little Remy here... " James started, he leaned across the table and lowered his voice slightly. " He's a Iterribly/I romantic guy...so if your not the kind girl who likes love letters, flowers, and daily compliments...you should probably just cut him off now... " He said, leaning back into his chair and winking at Lupin when Norah looked away from him. Lupin threw James a greatful smile and turned to Norah, he started up another conversation, and Harry watched as James turned his gaze back onto Lily.
" Lupin...a romantic? Interesting... " Hermione muttered, seeming to be amused. Harry had a feeling that the next time they saw Lupin, he would be hearing about that...
" Looks like your dad had it awfully bad for your mum... " Ron said, looking over at Lily and then at James' pethetic looking face.
" Yeah. " Harry replied. There wasn't any questioning it, if Harry hadn't known otherwise, he would have been worried about the odds of Lily and james ever even speaking to eachother, let alone getting married and having a baby.
" I'm I parched/I, I'm going to get a drink...do you want anything? " Sirius' date asked.
" Oh, you don't have to do that, I'll get 'em. James...you want anything? " Sirius said easing his date off of his lap and waiting for James' response. Apparently James didn't hear him, because he was still staring into space, in Lily's general direction. Sirius sighed, and grabbed James' collar annoyingly.
" Come get the drinks with me James...be right back Mary... " He said, looking at Mary and smiling slightly. Mary returned the smile and gave a slight wave. Harry followed the two boy's, with Hermione and Ron behind him. Sirius let go of James' collar and looked over at him, as they made their way over to the punch bowl.
" You alright Prongs? Your looking sort of...out of it. " He asked, manuvering his way over to the rows of goblets that were sitting on a long slim table, that was draped in a golden cloth. He grabbed three tall goblets and handed one to James, who took it.
" Nothing, I mean...nothing too serious...I can handle it... " James said, filling his goblet with a red, slushy looking liquid. Sirius looked at him , and Harry could tell that he didn't believe a word that he was saying, neither did Harry.
" Your not worried about that git Brown are you? " He asked, filling his own two goblet's with punch.
" No...of course not, don't be thick... " James uttered, he was averting his eyes and drinking heavily from his goblet. Sirius rolled his eyes again and picked up a few pieces of brownie, popping them into his mouth. James was looking slightly uncomfortable, and Harry could tell that he wasn't interested in carrying on this particular conversation.
" So...what about this Mary girl. Weren't you the one that was talking about her...lack of intelegence? " He asked, trying to change the subject. Sirius appeared to be giving up on getting anything else out of James, so he took up the new conversation.
" Yeah well...I was wrong mate, she's amazing...and she really likes me...and I have to say...I'm starting to really like her... " Sirius admitted, he was smiling now, and Harry could tell that he was telling the truth. They began their way back to thier table, with James looking depressed, and Sirius looking undeniably happy. Harry followed them, occasionally looking at Lily out of the corner of his eye. When the two boy's arrived back to the table, Sirius took his seat, with Mary positioning herself back on the tip of his knee. He handed her the goblet of punch, as he drained the last bit of his own.
James was sitting in his same wooden chair, but had made it so that his back was to the scene of Lily flirting with another guy. He was now looking in a completely different direction, over toward the Great Hall's entrance. A smile was slowly creeping to his lips and he prodded Sirius in the shoulder, pointing to the doors. Harry, Ron and Hermione all turned simutaniusly, to the spot that James was pointing to.
A greasy, long black haired boy was trudging his way into the Great Hall. His Midnight blue robes, dragging the ground in a very unattractive fashion, the hims were frayed, and the collar, which had an extremely ugly green orchid attatched to it, was flared up. He looked, for lack of a better word, frighteningly ugly. The nose protruding from behind the terrants of hair, was perhaps the most recognizable feature that the boy wore, although, there was really no question of who this person was in the first place.
" Snape? " Ron whispered, looking on the verge of a heart attack. He gave a few feeble hiccups of laughter, but that diddn't seem to satisfy him. Tears began filling his eye's as he laughed so hard, that there was no sound coming from his mouth. Harry himself, was finding it far to surreal to laugh at all, and Hermione by the looks of it, found it if possible, more amusing than Ron, for she was having to brace herself againt Harry's shoulder, so she would fall down from her laughter.
" Do my eyes deceive me James? Or did he actually bother to show his face at the ball? " Sirius said, at first he had merely turned his head, but once he noticed who it was, he had turned the whole chair, Marry included, so that he was facing Snape.
" Your seeing correctly...the only question is, what is he wearing? " James asked, making it a point of raising his voice. Harry watched, and in about three seconds Snape seemed to realize a few things, that the two boys had spotted him and that they were not going to leave him alone. Snape walked further into the Great Hall, and pretended not to hear James and Sirius. He was heading straight for the punch bowl, with his head held high, with his crooked nose sticking out, and his pale skin glowing eerily inthe candle light.
Sirius let out a shrill cat call, and James, along with about half the Great Hall, laughed, including Harry and the other two. Snapes eyes averted only for a second, then they focused back on something ahead of him. James was still trying to catch his breath, but apparently couldn't leave the poor sap alone.
" Men, hold tight to your ladies! That handsome bugger is single! " He said, pointing his finger in Snapes direction. He was now laughing again, having to practically hold his glasses onto his face. Lupin was sitting at the corner of the table, not seeming to notice anything that was going on, he and Norah seemed to be in thier own little world.
" Mary, I'll completely understand if you want to leave me for Snivellus, it will crush me, but I wont blam you...he's a Igod/I... " Sirius said, leaning his head near Mary's. This sent her into another fit of laughter.
" I'll try to resist Sirius...but I'm not so sure I can! " She said, playing along with the serade. Snape had abandoned his attempts to ignore the snickers and jeers that were now slowly spreading through the crowd of students, who were still dancing, but found it easey to dance and laugh at the same time. He was now walking, rather briskly to the corner of the room, where he proceeded to sit at a vacant table, sipping out of his goblet.
" Poor Snivellus, he looks so lonely...maybe his boyfriend dumped him? " Sirius muttered, he was playing with a but of mary's hair as he stared at Snape's slumped figure across the room. James smirked.
" Yeah, well he was probably just intimidated by Snape's...strong...features... " He said, smiling openly.
" That, or one of his Istrong features/I poked his eye out... " Sirius suggested, glancing away from Snape and giving his attention back to his date. James chuckled and then became rather awkward looking, given the fact that he was the only one at the table without a date, which probably was a rare incident.
There was a few minutes that went by where nothing happened, besides the changing of the songs, and the random shouts from the groups of friends that were scattered around the room. Harry was beginning to feel sorry for his father, and Ron's laughter was finally starting to die down. Hermione on the other hand, was staring at Harry father as well, she seemed to be thinking along the same lines as he was...if James and Lily ended up married, then why did it seem that they didn't spend any time at all together? In fact, Lily was even with another boy!
Harry had been zoning out momentarily, and hadn't noticed that something had been going on. He focused back on his father's table. It was the yelling, actually that had brought him out of his thoughts, James was shouting harshly at the boy that Lily had been talking with. Harry turned to Hermione.
" What happened? " He asked. Ron was quicker to answer.
" That bloke Dennis -the one your mum was with- came over, and I guess he must of tripped or something, anyway, he dumped his punch all over your dad's robes... " He started, looking rather excited. Harry turned back to the scene that was unfolding in front of them.
" Watch where your going! " James was yelling, making it quite clear that he wasn't going to let tthis possible accident go. Dennis was standing there looking stunned, but then...it could of been a fake look of surprise. Sirius had looked away from his date and was know looking worried.
" Oh, I'm sorry...that was an accident, you might want to wipe that off though...before it stains... " Dennis said sarcastically, it was now fairly clear that the accident hadn't really been an accident at all.Ron scoffed from beside Harry, who was trying to decide whether to laugh at the Brown's comment, or to be angry at the boy who was dancing with his mother...he chose the second option.
James stood up quickly, ready to fight. Harry saw the pent up anger that James had been holding in, along with a giant wad of jealousy and it was about ready to burst out of him. Dennis made a huge mistake and let out a bark of luaghter.
" What are you going to do Potter? Hit me? Please... " He said, turning around and beginning to walk back to where a very startled Lily stood, looking at James apprehensively. Harry couldn't blame her, the way his father was staring at the back of Dennis' head...made it perfectly clear what James was prepared to do. At this point Sirius was standing up as well, and Lupin had looked away from Norah.
" James... " Sirius warned, trying to make a grab for James' sleeve, but his friend pulled his arm out of reach.
" Why are you walking away then? If you think that me hitting you would be such a joke...then why walk away? Why not try and prove it? " James prodded, he was looking way to agressive for his own good, and Harry was worried that his father might have been taking this a little to far.
" Come on Prongs, sit down... " Lupin called from his seat. James shook his head slowly.
" No, if Big Shot here wants to start something, the least I could do is finish it. " He was now advancing on Dennis slightly, Dennis turned around and gave him a look of disbelief. Lily still hadn't bothered to move forward, or pull Dennis away, and Harry was waiting eagerly for her to make a move.
" Are you serious? " Dennis asked, looking highly amused, he smiled and handed his empty goblet to a boy that just happened to be standing beside him. His hand reached gradually for his pocket, and when he started to retract it, the end of a slender dark wooden wand was revealed. At that instant, two things happened: Lily gave a shout from where she was standing, and James, along with Sirius, and Lupin withdrew his own wand.
" Oh no... " Hermione muttered, sounding worried. Harry on the other hand, wasn't worried at all. Something in him stirred when he wittnessed Lupin and Sirius both draw their wands, and stand up behind James, even for something as little as this. He was glad that he had the same kind of friends for himself, although...he'd probably never start something like that...
" I want nothing more than to curse you into oblivion... " James muttered, looking dead serious. Dennis still wore a smile, he still didn't see James as a threat, which seemed to be not such a wise decision at this point.
" Then do it...what are you waiting for? " He asked, holding his free hand up in the air leaving his chest open, and giving James a look of sarcasm. James seemed to think that he had waited long enough and he raised his wand, aiming it.
" James don't! " Lily's voice carried through the music, that ubelievable was still playing, which was probably why there weren't any Professor's intervening. Most of the croud had stopped listening to the conversation and had slowly started drifteing back onto the dance floor, it seemed that James was always pulling his wand on someone, usually as a joke, or a harmless jinx, and everyone was sort of shrugging the incident off. Of course they didn't know the jealousy behind this little stunt, and that James could quite possibly seriously injure this boy.
At Lily's plea, James shifted his gaze, only slightly, toward her, still keeping his wand raised and pointed directly at Dennis.
" What's wrong with you? Put your wand down! " She said, walking closer to the two of them. James turned his head, so that he was now fully facing her. At this Sirius and Lupin raised their wands, maing sure that dennis wouldn't try anything.
" Me? Your boyfriend's the one that started this, talk to him! " His voice sounded strained, as if he were trying to decide whether or not to soften his angry voice when talking to her.
" He's not my...that's not the point. Put your wands away! All of you! " She added, shooting Sirius and Lupin stern looks. The two boys sighed and cautiosly stowed their wands into their breast pockets. James and Dennis hadn't budged, making Lily huff in annoyance.
" Oh honestly! It was just some punch! Is it really worth getting detention over? " She questioned, staring at both of them. Her face was flushed with disapointment, and she didn't look very forgiving. James looked torn between wanted to tear Dennis to pieces, and wanting to obey Lily's wishes. He stared at Dennis threateningly, then unbelievably, the two of them started lowering thier wands. Not taking his eye's off of Dennis, James slowly tucked his wand into his pocket, as Dennis followed suit, looking at James smuggly.
" I knew you wouldn't do anythng... " He stated moving toward Lily and attempting to put an arm around her, she batted him away, looking disgusted. James shook his head and turned around, heading back to his seat.
" Stupefy! " Dennis shouted. Harry watched as James' body went limp and fell to the stone floor, his head slamming the edge of the table, causing a crack to ring through the room, lost in the music that was still playing.
" That dirty, rotten...his back was turned! " Hermione shouted as if she were actually there. Ron gave an angry shout and Harry sighed, he had knew something like this would happen, his father seemed to have the same luck that Harry did.
" Dennis! Oh my... " Lily breathed running over to James. Sirius and Lupin were huddled over him, slapping his face, trying to get him to wake up. Lily had pulled her wand out, and was pointing it carefully over James.
" Ennervate... " She muttered, as a golden glow erupted from her wand, and James' body relaxed slightly. He was still unconcious on the floor.
" What's wrong? Why's he still laying there? " Sirius asked, he seemed to be panicking slightly.
" He's knocked out...his head hit the table. " She said, getting up from the floor. Sirius looked over to Lupin.
" We should take him to the hospital wing... " He said, wrapping his arms under Jame's shoulder blades. Lupin nodded and moved over to James' legs and grabbing them. They hoisted him up, and Harry watched as they struggled their way out of the Great Hall.
The last thing that Harry remembered seeing as the walls of the Great Hall started fading and the music that had been blaring, began to grow silent, was his mother, tucking her dark red hair behind her ear, pull back her arm, and smack Dennis right across his smug face.