Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise. If I did, you would be reading this in a book and the plot wouldn't be a film.
A Cinderella Story
By Araidel
The Golden Mask
"You are meeting finally him?" Joseph asked.
It was the day after Prongs had asked to meet Lily at the Halloween ball. It was a Saturday and they were on the Quidditch Pitch. When her dad had been alive, he and Lily had often played a simple form of Quidditch and Lily had found that she was best at being a beater. Now, she was holding her bat and getting ready to hit the Bludger that Joseph was taking out of its case.
"Yeah, but ..." Lily replied, stopping short and watching Joseph open the case.
Joseph looked up and said "But what? What could be wrong about that? You do want to meet him, don't you?"
Lily nodded and swung her bat. Joseph had let the Bludger loose and it had come hurtling towards her. She struck it with a small amount of force and it didn't go very far before it returned to Joseph and its case; the Bludger had a spell on it so that it would fly back to the case and not hit anyone.
Joseph lent back and caught the Bludger in the case. He looked back at Lily and asked "Then why are you worried?"
"What if he meets me," Lily answered, "And I'm not what he expects?"
Joseph let the Bludger fly again and Lily swung her bat again. This time, she hit the Bludger with more force and it went sailing over all the other people practising Quidditch. It landed on the ground where James Potter and Sirius Black were practising their Chaser throws.
James looked from the Bludger to Lily, who was standing with her hand over her mouth and her bat dangling by her side. He reached over to free the Bludger from the patch of grass it was stuck under and said to Sirius "Now, that's impressive."
Lily saw the Bludger fly over to Joseph and looked back to James when she heard his next comment. She smiled her thanks and nodded to Joseph to let it loose again.
The Bludger soared through the air for the third time and Joseph asked "And what if you meet him, and he isn't what you expect?"
Lily hit the Bludger and raised her eyebrow at Joseph. He shrugged and said "It counts both ways, Lily. Trust me, it will be better than fine."
Lily walked over to Joseph and took the Bludger from him. "But it is true. He is always saying that he imagines be as the most beautiful woman, but what if I am not beautiful?"
Joseph stopped walking and put his hands on Lily's shoulders. "You are beautiful. And don't give me that look, Lily." as Lily gave him a disbelieving look, "If he doesn't think you are beautiful, then he needs eyes."
They began walking again and Lily said, looking at Joseph from the side, "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were Prongs, going on about how beautiful I am ..."
Joseph snorted and said "Please. I, for one, don't fancy you. Sorry to burst that bubble and where on Merlin's earth would I find a name like Prongs? It sounds like your admirer likes forks and food, Lily."
Lily laughed silently and went back to thinking about the meeting with Prongs. The small, truthful voice in her head was telling her that she was nervous about meeting him. But her traitorous voice kept repeating that it was about time.
The day of the Halloween Ball dawned. As it was a Saturday, a week after Prongs had asked her to meet him; everyone was out on the grounds or in their common rooms finishing their costumes.
However, the red haired Head Girl wasn't in her common room or out on the grounds enjoying the last day of October weather. She was in the Library Tower. Linda had called her earlier that day and Lily had obediently answered her call.
Linda was lying on her bed, with a tanning machine surrounding her body. Lily knocked on the door and walked in the room.
Linda pushed open the lid of the machine and Lily stepped back with a gasp. Linda was completely naked and, Lily thought as Linda pulled a towel around her far too late, that was too personal for a step daughter.
"Lily, I need you to stay in the library today." she said looking at Lily through her special, small sunglasses for the sun bed.
"But-" Lily began. She and Joseph were going to work on her costume for the ball. All week long, Joseph had been talking about what she should wear to meet Prongs and they had finally agreed on a simple dress with a gold net draped over it. "I was going to take-"
"Lily," Linda interrupted in such a serious voice that Lily was taken aback. "There is something I have always wanted to tell you."
Lily looked hopefully up at her guardian. 'Was this the time when Linda was going to say something nice to me?' asked her hopeful voice in her head.
Her other voice countered with 'Why was now any different to the past nine years?'
Lily's hopeful face must been too much for Linda because she continued. "You aren't very pretty." Lily's face fell like a brick being dropped from a window. Her truthful voice, the one which had doubted that Linda was going to praise her, had been correct.
"And you are not very bright." Linda concluded. She went to sit back down in the tanning bed but sat on the heater. She jumped up with a cry of pain and Lily stifled a laugh.
Even after she had 'praised' her, Linda still managed to insult herself by proving that she wasn't the bright one. 'And her daughters aren't much better' commented her truth voice as Lily walked out of Linda's room and back up the stairs to her attic one. She passes Rose and Petunia on the way and saw her step-sisters try and prize open a locked door with their wands are sledge hammers, rather than using an unlocking spell.
Lily shook her head and opened the door to her room. Only when her door had closed, did she allow tears to fall. Lily crossed the small room to her bed and fell upon it, her head resting on her arms, crying for her father, her ruined life and all of the lives she had ruined. Irma, Natalie and Michael were three of the people who had given up their on hopes and dreams so that they could be with Lily. Lily cried for them and their selflessness.
Lily sat up after she had run out of tears and felt a slight pressure on her shoulder. She looked and saw it was an owl. Lily gently relieved the owl of its parchment and unrolled it.
Dearest DMLEgirl,
Over the last week, I have been thinking about our meeting. And I have this feeling that everything will be perfect.
I am counting down the hours until I meet my darling DMLEgirl and, as it is now 9:30 am, I only have 14 and ½ hours left. Too long... yet it will go by extremely quickly.
14 hours and 30 minutes left. The alarm signalling the highlight of my year will go off.
See you at 11 o'clock my darling.
Prongs42.
Lily smiled widely and wiped her face, clearing the tracks of tears. She looked at her watch and saw that the time was 9:50. Meaning that nearly 14 hours later, she would meet her Prince Charming.
Linda, when Lily had walked into the library 10 minutes later, had immediately pounced on her and told her to clear up the mess in the Defence section.
Joseph had joined Lily and was telling her about the dress he was planning to make.
"I know that you don't like strap dresses, but this dress just has to have straps ..."
Lily was bent double over the pile of Muggle Defence books. She sighed and interrupted Joseph before he could start talking about the dress any more.
"When, exactly, are we going to make that dress, Jo?" she asked in a falsely-sweet voice.
Joseph's voice died down. His face fell as his brain registered the simple fact that Lily had been told to stay in the library for the whole day.
"Unless you could make it without me." Lily concluded, bending over to pick up another pile of books.
Joseph snorted. "Me?" he asked incredulously. "Make something that isn't homework one my own? Do you want to go to the ball wearing something not even remotely resembling a tent?"
Lily laughed appreciately. One of the things that Joseph had, very much like Prongs, was the ability to cheer someone up. "So what are you going as?" she asked, standing up again to put more books on the shelf.
Joseph paused for a moment before saying "You know Zorro?" Lily nodded seeing where it was going. Joseph was also Muggleborn and he also had the knowledge of both Muggle and wizard worlds. "Well," here Joseph paused for effect, but at Lily's impatient look he continued "I am the new Zorro!" Joseph finished his sentence with a flourish, stood up right and brandished an imaginary sword in a good imitation of Zorro; waving the 'sword' in a 'Z' shape as in the film.
Lily laughed outright and moved to clear up the rest of the pile in the Defence section. The day went by fast and the more Lily worked, the more she thought about the meeting at 11 o'clock.
'What was she going to wear?" was the most predominant question. Lily, after over hearing Linda tell Rose and Petunia that they would be leaving at 10:00 for the ball, had decided to see what she could charm out of Petunia's clothes. Petunia, unlike Rose who was short and chubby, was tall and thin like Lily and was the obvious choice as to which of the twin's clothes to borrow for the evening.
Then, at 7:00, the library began to empty of the students going to the ball. Rose dragged Petunia up the stairs to get into their costume and Linda followed after them to supervise.
"Lily." Lily turned around and put the pile of books on a nearby table. Linda hadn't gone up all the way and she had turned around to address her step-daughter. "I would like you to leave the books and start on the floor now. And don't use magic this time," she said with a scowl "use a normal scrubbing brush. The magic makes it look falsely clean."
Without another word, Linda turned around. Lily put the pile of books away and summoned the bucket of soapy water and sponges. She knelt on the floor and began to scrub.
Three hours later, Lily had finished the back of the library and had begun to clean the entrance. Joseph had re-appeared in his Zorro costume. He had done a good job on it as he had the black hat, mask, cape, robe, boots and sword. The only thing that ruined the image were the glasses perched over the black mask and his wand that was tucked into the belt next to his sword. He had sat down in front of the librarian's desk, after his offer to help Lily with the floor was rejected.
Not so long after Joseph appeared, Linda came back down and made a beeline for the girl on the floor. Irma, who was stacking books at the librarian's desk, watched Linda walk towards Lily.
"I need you to finish moping the floors tonight." She said. Linda walked up to the desk and took out a magazine. Ignoring both Irma and Joseph's glares, she tucked it into her bag and walked out of the door. "I'll be back by twelve sharp."
Linda swept out of the Library and her voice carried into the room as she said "Oh darlings, you look wonderful!" Irma and Michael shared a look while Natalie rolled her eyes. Lily put down her sponge and took a deep breath before casting a charm to clean the remaining floor.
Lily then stood up and walked over to the desk, put the bucket and sponges underneath it and sat down. Irma blew a whistle and Lily rolled her eyes her at friends actions.
"Get up girl." she said as she walked over to where Lily and Joseph sat. "You need get ready for you big meeting."
"I'm not going to go, Irma." Lily said slowly.
"What!" said Joseph and Irma simultaneously. They looked at each other and Joseph indicated that Irma should go first.
"You have to go. And would you feel anything but excited to meet him?" Irma asked hitting Lily's arm playfully to get her point across.
"I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count." Lily said. Joseph and Irma glanced at each other again and Lily said monotonously "You got it in one; Linda. At twelve? I won't be back by then because my meeting is at 11."
"Let me deal with Mrs Potato Head." Irma said.
Joseph laughed at Irma's words and said "Go ahead girlfriend!".
Irma's head turned to him and she said in a tone of voice that signalled finality "Call me girlfriend one more time-"
"Ok, sorry." Joseph apologised quickly, glancing at his feet.
"And," Lily continued glumly "I don't have a costume to wear."
Joseph groaned and put his head in his hands. Irma, however, smirked. "A costume isn't any trouble to get hold of for Irma Pince."
Joseph looked up again, his face shining with new excitement. Lily, however, hesitated. "I don't know ..." she began but Michael interrupted her.
"If you don't go, then you will regret it, Lily." Joseph nodded and Irma walked to the fireplace ready for her two companions.
"You need to start to stand up to Linda." Natalie said, agreeing with Michael. "And you can start by going to the ball and meeting Prince Charming."
Lily looked from Natalie's set face to Michael's nod of agreement to Joseph's excited expression and then to Irma's defiant one. She shrugged and walked over to Irma.
"You had better be good at making up excuses because you will need one when I come back tonight."
Joseph gave a happy cry and ran to join Irma and Lily at the fireplace. Michael moved towards Irma's empty chair and Natalie bent down to continue Lily's duties.
"Have fun Lily." she said and Irma stepped into the fireplace with a cry of "Gladrag's Wizard Wear, Hogsmead!"
Joseph followed and Lily went last, nodding thanks to Natalie before the emerald flames whisked her away.
Lily fell out of the fireplace with a loud thud. She stood up and brushed the excess soot off her robes. Joseph stood next to her laughing silently.
"What is so funny?" she demanded fiercely.
"Your Flooing technique." Joseph said and he moved away from the fireplace towards Irma. Irma was standing at the entrance to the room talking to a woman with curly blonde hair.
"We are closed Irma. I just locked the front door." she said with a disappointed look at Irma.
"But, Gladice, it is a costume emergency." Irma pleaded.
Gladice looked at Joseph and Lily then back at Irma with a smile. "An emergency you say? Well, that is what Gladrag's Wizard's Wear is for; costume emergencies! Let's fix the problem!"
Irma beckoned to Lily and Joseph and followed Gladice out into the main room. Gladice flicked the light switch and Lily took a look around the shop. It was a large room that was full of clothes rails. The room was divided into sections; Balls, Costumes, General Robes and Muggle Clothes. Gladice had led them over to the Costume section and was flicking through the rails there.
"This one..." she was muttering as she inspected her stock. She picked a costume of the shelf and threw over to Irma, who caught it in her arms. Soon, Gladice had chosen so many costumes that Irma couldn't be seen behind them.
Gladice came out from the section and led Lily to the changing rooms. Irma deposited the clothes pile in Lily cubicle and then went to sit by Joseph outside.
Lily came out wearing the first costume. It was a large silver dress that had a ring under the hem and hood, making large circles around her body. Joseph shook his head and Lily went back in, immerging wearing a muggle nurse's costume. Again, Joseph rejected it and again, Lily changed. The process went on. Lily tried on a Spanish dress that matched Joseph's Zorro costume perfectly but, as Joseph pointed out, she didn't want to match his outfit when she was 'going' with Prongs. There was a rabbit costume that made both Irma and Gladice cry with laughter while Joseph shook his head firmly.
A muggle witch costume, complete with an extra long nose and warts on her face. A dress that looked like it was made of spaghetti, which it was when Lily tried a strap delicately. A costume of a broomstick that made Lily fall over every time she tried to move.
Gladice kept patrolling the shelves, giving Lily more choices and each one was rejected. Lily refused to come out of the cubicle in one costume that turned out to be, when Irma had persuaded her to come out, a bra and knickers that were joined with a spell. Joseph put his head in his hands in desperation and Lily bolted back into the changing room.
"Why on Merlin's earth do you have a costume like that, Gladice?" Irma had asked once the door had shut on Lily's room. Gladice had just smiled cheekily and tapped her nose to say mind-your-own-business.
The whole process took 30 minutes and at 10:30, Joseph and Irma were desperate. Gladice was standing behind her counter and Irma was sitting on a stool, leaning on the glass cover. When Lily came out in a Quidditch robe and a fake bludger stuck to her head, Joseph winced and Irma put her head against the lid in desperation. She opened her eyes and stared at something in the display.
It was a small golden mask that just covered the eyes. It was made of gold sequins and was covered in gold netting, which fell over the eye holes creating a golden shine to the mask.
"Gladice." Irma said slowly. "Hand me that mask."
Gladice reached into the cabinet and pulled put the mask. She gave it to Irma and said "I don't have anything that goes with that, Irma."
However, Irma held up the mask and smiled. "You might not but I do."
Five minutes later, Irma had dragged Joseph and Lily (who had got changed back into her robes) to the fireplace and had Flooed to her rooms on Hogwarts. There she sat Joseph on the couch outside her room and told Lily to sit with him while she found the costume.
Irma re-entered the room carrying a box. She sat down between Lily and Joseph and opened it. Lily and Joseph gasped. Inside the box was the most beautiful dress they had seen. Irma lifted it out, smiling happily at it. It was a strapless dress that had a slim cut bodice and a skirt that flowed out in waves. It was made of a gold material that shone every time it caught the light. The bottom of the dress was pieces of gold material that swayed but they were covered by the same material that was draped over the mask.
"Irma, I can't wear that." Lily breathed. Her emerald eyes were wide with admiration as she looked at the dress Irma was offering her.
"Of course you can Lily." Irma replied forcefully. "I was saving it for a special occasion and this is a special occasion."
"But-"
"Lily, it is perfect. Prongs won't stand a chance with you in that." Joseph said, leaning round Irma to address his friend.
Lily looked from Irma and Joseph's faces to the gold dress. It winked innocently as Irma held it up. He thoughts drifted to the ball that was down in the Great Hall. Prongs would be there and if she wanted to make a good impression on her secret admirer, the dress would highlight her figure perfectly. It was flattering but not showy, as Lily found out when Irma pulled her up and held the dress to her.
Joseph pulled the mask over her head and they both looked at her expert eyes. They looked at each other and nodded.
"This is your outfit, Lily." Irma said, leading Lily into her room to change into the dress. "You will blow him away."
AN: Next chapter is the ball! But it won't be up for a while because of all the coursework I have and I need the DVD to come before I can finish it. But it will be as long as this chapter, if not longer.
Kel Potter: DLMEgirl? Well, it is suppose to stand for Department of Magical Law Enforcement, but I got the L and the M the wrong way round - I need to change it.