Summary: Lily Evans, 16, has been head over heels for the James Potter
since god-knows-when. She decides to confess her "love" thru an anonymous
love letter. Just as she was about to give it to him, she finds out he's
just a royal prick. She drops it on her way to burn it (LoL). But what she
doesn't know is that he found it, accidentally... What will this result?
Will she regret it, or will she thank the good Lord?
Disclaimer: Anything familiar isn't mine, and unfortunately belongs to the oh-so-brilliant JK Rowling, who I salute to. Creations of mine are : Piper Valentine, Fiona, Jemima, Emily Hart, Dennis Front, Walter Reese, Marie Lodge and Isabelle Frall. Oh, and the LURVLY song "Just Another" by Pete Yorn isn't mine either. BOOHOO!
Steal. You. Die.
Author's Note: This is the chapter we've ALL been waiting for. Isn't it, isn't it? ("YES!" shouts from the audience) Drumroll, please? *drumroll* And now, I, LIL-MISS-MYRA, proudly present the 10th Chapter of Love, An Admirer - The First Official Hogwarts Christmas Ball to all the wonderful FanFiction.Net readers.
Love, An Admirer
Chapter 10 : The First Official Hogwarts Christmas Ball
Written by: lil-miss-myra
'Lily!' someone hissed. 'Lily!'
'Oh, sod off, Nan! This is the best part! I'm about to beat Natasha Welle in the pony race!
Jemima looked at Fiona, and smirked. Fiona mouthed, 'Ponies?'
'James waiting outside of the girl's dorm to take you out to Hogsmeade!' Jemima whispered.
Lily immediately sat up and her eyes widened. Jemima and Fiona burst into a fit of giggles. Lily's eyes looked softly at Jemima, 'That's not funny, Jem. That's the *second* time you did that. Sometimes I actually wish he would do that...' Lily sighed.
Jemima immediately felt guilty and said, 'I-I'm sorry, Lils.'
Lily just smiled. 'It's okay! I mean, it's no use, right? I'll move on, one day. I will.' Jemima and Fiona hugged Lily and sat on her bed.
'So anyway, thank you so much for the robes! I mean, you shouldn't have done that. It's so sweet of you!' Lily said, cheerfully.
Fiona and Jemima looked at each other weirdly and said, 'What robes?'
Lily then said slowly, 'You know... Those robes I fell in love with at Madam Malkin's? The one that I couldn't, um, I mean didn't want to buy.' Her face fell. No matter how much she loved her parents, and sister (although the feeling wasn't mutual), and that she felt guilty that going to Hogwarts is using up quite an abundance of money, she felt quite embarrassed of not having enough money.
'We didn't buy you any robes, Lily. I mean, we would have, but you wouldn't let. And you were practically at the shop the *whole* day,' said Fiona. Then, a grin broke out on her face. 'Looks like *Lily* has an admirer now. Wait, till I tell James!' Fiona squealed.
Jemima just smiled. 'Happy now, Lils? I swear, if James doesn't fall for you at the ball, I don't know what planet he was born in. You're gonna look splendid in that!'
Lily smiled at Jemima.
'Now, come on! Get ready, and let's go downstairs and have breakfast!' said Jemima.
'Ooh, and don't forget; we're going to go and find out who sent it!' And again, Fiona squealed.
Jemima just rolled her eyes and said, 'Riiiiiight. That will be under *your* department, Fi. Now, come on, Lils! You don't want to waste a wonderful morning such as this!' said Jemima, drawing the curtains that resulted horrifying cries.
'Sod off, Jem!' said Isabelle, throwing a pillow at her.
Jemima's head whipped around and narrowed her eyes at Isabelle. 'You better watch -' POOF! A pillow from Yvonne West came whizzing by and hit Jemima right smack in the butt.
And soon, everyone joined in and a pillow fight commenced. Passer-by's would think it was a war among the chickens.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Days came and went, and lo and behold it was here: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry's first official Christmas Ball that would be launched by the Head's respectively and of course Professor Dumbledore.
The atmosphere in Hogwarts was tense. It was TOO tense, that the students weren't given any homework. The teachers were stressed out too. And who to thank? The wonderful Marauders themselves. They took the advantage of not being given homework to continue their endless dose of pranks. Hallways stunk at the result of the dungbombs they bought; the Slytherins were living in hell; and the endless mob of Hufflepuff girls' chasing them wherever they went.
But let's move a little faster and get to know the gory details, shall we?
~*~*~One Hour Before the Christmas Ball~*~*~
'Maybe I shouldn't go after all, Fi,' Lily said while Fiona was applying lipstick on herself.
Fiona's lipstick suddenly danced over her cheek. She wiped it off and turned to face Lily, 'Oh, come on, Lils! This is your big chance. Your chance to show James Potter who you really are; who the real Lily Evans is. Now come on! We only have one more hour left till we meet the boys at the common room! And you're not even dressed!' Fiona gasped.
Jemima rolled her eyes. 'A dramatic one, Fi is. Now come on, Lilliums! We don't want to keep James waiting, now do we? Get dressed!'
Lily bit her lip and said, 'Okay, then. But I still want to find out who that person is. Maybe that person will come up to me and tell? I just hope it's not a Slytherin. God know's what he meant by sending me the dress. Well, I'll go and get my robes.'
Lily disappeared to the wardrobe and came back with a lovely jade robe on. It matched her vivid emerald eyes, and there were lovely little sequins.
'Lovely, just lovely! Now come on, I'm going to put some make up on you, and then do something with your hair. I know! You look wonderful with your hair down, I'll just put up some beautiful pins Heather gave me last Christmas!'
The way she talked to me was as if I was her science project, and that frightened me. Half an hour later, I came out and dared to face the world, I felt weird with make-up on. The last time I did that, was when I was forced to by my mum. I winced as I was about to look in the mirror. And when I did, it surprised me.
'Is that *me*?' I gasped.
'Surprise, surprise. You really do wonders, Fiona. You really do,' said Jemima, smiling and looking at Lily.
'Come on then, Jem! Lil! We don't want to keep the boy's waiting, now do we?' Fiona chirped. She pulled Lily and Jemima out of the dormitory to the common room.
Jemima however muttered, 'I wish *I* could keep my date waiting.'
There they were, Sirius and James.
Fiona cleared her throat. Sirius and James, startled, turned around and were surprised, shocked - you name it.
Fiona just smiled. 'I guess my hard work did pay off. Well, I'll see you at the Great Hall, guys. Jeremy's waiting for me outside. Toodles!'
James couldn't believe his eyes. Is this really Lily Evans? The girl I befriended just months ago? I always thought she was beautiful on the inside and outside, but not THIS beautiful. And to think that she was about to become one of my prank targets...
James shook that thought of his head, and greeted Lily. She was dressed with the jade green robes that brought out her eye's sparkles. She let down her hair, and pinned up her fringe with a lily flower clip.
'Good evening, Lily,' James took her hand and kissed it. Lily tried to stifle a laugh, but burst out giggling.
'James,' she whispered. 'Do you know how cliché this sounds?'
James smiled and said, 'That's the whole point, Lily ma dear. Come on then, and might I say, you look beautiful tonight, Lily. Oh, and I got you this.' James handed Lily a red rose. 'You know, since you *are* my date and all,' He shuffled his feet. 'I thought that maybe it would be traditional to give you one. I wanted to give you a lily,' He scratched his head. 'But it would be even more cliché, wouldn't it?' He smiled.
'Thanks, James. That's really sweet,' She smiled, then gave a hurt look. 'But are you trying to say I was ugly all these while?'
James eyes widened and quickly said, 'No! I mean, I don't mean it that way...'
Lily gave him a warm smile, 'I was just joking, Jamesie. You don't look so bad yourself.' Lily grinned. 'Now come on, we don't want to keep Carissa waiting!' She winked, despite the loneliness she felt inside.
James sort-of blushed and nodded. 'Come on, then!'
Sirius however. was about to kiss Jemima's hand but she snatched it back and said, 'Dream on, Black!' and she smacked him on the head.
Sirius just smiled goofily and said, 'We have to act civil, pumpkin- poo.'
'I still have that freezing charm in my head, Black. Don't. Taunt. Me.'
Sirius quickly rephrased his sentence, 'I mean, Jemima. If we keep going on like this, I'll probably end up dead tonight! Can we at least make a truce?'
Jemima narrowed her eyes at him.
'Pweety pweety pwease! You wook weally pweety, Mish Jemima! Ish jush me, Shiwius Bwack,' Sirius said.
Jemima burst out laughing. 'Alright then, Black,' After seeing Sirius' hurt look, 'Fine then, SIRIUS. But if you make any smart move on me, without my permission, you'll regret you ever asked Jemima Rachelle Richards to the Christmas Ball.'
Sirius nodded and just grinned.
Jemima and Sirius walked out of the Gryffindor Common Room, and just as they stepped out of the Portrait of the Fat Lady, Sirius whispered softly right at Jemima's ear, 'By the way, you do look pretty. Dare I say even beautiful, Miss Jemima?'
The normal Jemima would have smacked him there and then, but *this* Jemima just blushed and said quietly, 'Thank you.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~
As they stepped into the Great Hall, awe was all they felt. It was decorated beautifully with Christmas trees, hollies, and more. There were mistletoe's that would go all around the Great Hall. Sometimes it'll act cheekily, and find couples and wouldn't leave them till they kiss. Professor Flitwick however charmed the Great Hall so that snowflakes would fall, and it was a pretty sight.
The Decoration Committee too had outdone themselves, as the seventh years had managed to charm the snowmen to move around the hall without the help of Professor Flitwick. Not only that, but all the furniture that were made of ice, and the snow was charmed so that it wouldn't melt. The chandelier however was a beautiful sight as it was frosted and as the light when through the crystals, it did a wonderful effect.
The sigh was breathtaking, and it really did take Lily's breath away. She was marveled at the sight as she took the tour of the now-Dining Hall. As Lily stepped in, Fiona *did* do her job well, as she sure did make heads turn. Both boys and girls eyed her, wowed by the fact that it was plain Lily Evans, looking as beautiful as ever, came to the ball with James Potter.
James led Lily to the table and met up with the rest of the Marauders & Co. They started chatting away, having the time of their life. But Lily gulped and felt her world nearly crashing down as she saw Carissa Andrews and Kurt Randall strolling in. Lily swore she saw James eyes' bulging out of the sockets.
Carissa, who was beautiful naturally, looked even *more* exquisite with her beautiful creamish robe. She had a beautiful tiara on her delicate head, and her hair was put up into a bun, with wisps of curled hair coming down on the sides of her head.
Carissa settled down with Kurt two tables away and waved at James, and then at Lily. Lily smiled and waved back. She was about to tell Jemima something, but Professor Dumbledore interrupted her.
He pointed his wand to his throat and muttered 'Sonorus,' and said, 'Welcome all, to the first Christmas Ball in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry!'
Everybody clapped and cheered so hard, that you could feel the ground vibrating.
'To start the opening of our very first Christmas Ball, I would like the Head Girl & Boy to please stand up, to take a bow for contributing such a wonderful idea. Secondly, the Decoration Committee, the wonderful prefects and staff, for their outstanding job for this ball.'
Once again, the applause erupted.
'And not forgetting the ever hardworking house-elves who have made tonight's menu a splendid one. Cheers, and have a wonderful Christmas!'
With a swish of Dumbledore's hand, food magically appeared on their plates, and everyone began talking excitedly, while satisfying the bottomless pits we call stomach.
Professor Dumbledore immediately tucked in, and was enjoying his meal. Suddenly, as if he had forgotten something, he stood up, clanked his goblet and continued with specks of food flying in every direction, 'Sorry Minerva. Oh, and before I forget, since it's our first Christmas Ball, we decided to make it special by inviting a wonderful newcomer to the music scene to perform. Everybody, give a round of applause for - Allison de Traum!'
A pretty, but weird-looking nonetheless, witche who looked like around herr twenties', came up on stage and struck up a tune.
Lily easily forgotten what she wanted to tell Jemima, and enjoyed the night - while it lasted with the melodious tune in the background.
Soon enough, students finished their meals, and the dance floor was getting crowded. Miss De Traum was a big hit among the students, and teachers. Her tunes were wonderful, as she sang all sorts of music genres. Rock, pop, jazz, you name it.
Quite a line of boys came to ask Lily to dance, and James smiled at her, and urged her to go. She just smiled back, and agreed to every single one of them. Lily had a chance to dance with all the Marauders who were very talented dancers themselves. Ah, the Marauders! Shame, how could we have forgotten all about them?
Let's have a quick preview, shall we?
Remus Lupin: Looking handsome as ever. Came with Piper Valentine (who seems to be falling head-over-heels for him). Received numerous glares from Emily Hart.
Sirius Black: The one with the sexy grin. Charming, as usual. Came with Jemima Richards, who seemed to be hitting him lesser than usual. Guesses, anyone? *wink wink*
Peter Pettigrew: Ah, although slightly pudgy, he's still a popular one among girls, although he has been overshadowed by the other Marauders. Who he came with? A pretty petite girl from Ravenclaw.
Lily danced a waltz with Remus, (a/n: sigh.. he's close to my heart. Next to james, that is. :D) a foxtrot with Peter, and oh dear Lord. Fortune wasn't on her side that fateful day, as when Sirius asked her to dance, Allison de Traum struck up a hip and fast tune. It's a miracle how she survived after the number of times Sirius stepped on her foot.
But surprise surprise, not even once did James come up to her to ask her for a dance. Not his problem though, as wherever he went, he was surrounded by a swarm of girls. He had managed to dance with Carissa though.
Did Lily notice this? Oh, of course she did! Her feelings? Don't even go there. A useless date, you say? He did make it clear that they were going to the ball as friends.
But I must say, you should see the number of girls lining up to dance with him! And James, being the sweet considerate gentleman he is, agreed to dance with every single one of them.
Now, lets go back a little bit, shall we, to the part where I stopped.
There Lily was, dancing in the arms of Gerald Wills. He was a fellow seventh year Gryffindor, mind you. Handsome? Definitely. Sweet? Yes. He was cracking a joke to Lily while dancing, when a pair caught Lily's eye. There they were, James and Carissa, dancing and laughing. God, they look so perfect! So... right. Lily thought. Why can't I just move on? Why? WHY? Take Gerald for instance. He's funny, wonderful, smart, cute. Why not HIM?
Lily heaved a small sigh, but just smiled and nodded at the right times while Gerald was talking. Maybe, said the voice at the back of her head, It's because this is James Potter, we're talking about. James.
Lily then realized she just had to get away from it all. She didn't feel like crying, just think. She just felt like sitting down at somewhere peaceful, and think.
She stopped dancing and said, 'Thank you, Gerald, for the wonderful dance, but I just feel dizzy. I'm just going to go outside. It's been wonderful talking with you.' Lily smiled at Gerald, and kissed him on the cheek, then left.
~*~*~At the Lake~*~*~
Echoes of Allison de Traum's sweet voice was heard from outside. There Lily was, talking with Nearly Headless Nick, near to the lake.
The only source of light she had was from Nick himself, and the beautiful full moon hanging in the sky that was pitch black.
She laughed at Nick's joke, and just smiled. Nearly Headless Nick then said that he had to go and find the Bloody Baron to sort some things out and left.
'Bye, sir Nick.' She muffled.
Suddenly, her vision was blocked by two warm hands. 'Guess who?' came a low deep whisper.
Lily turned around and saw James grinning like a fool. She smiled.
'Hey, James. Having a good time?'
'Yeah! But it wouldn't be complete without dancing with the person that came here with me.' He looked at her. 'What you doing out here anyway? The ball's inside! You should have seen the mistletoes at work! One even caught Jemima and Sirius! They were forced to kiss, and everyone was cheering.'
Lily laughed. Go mistletoe! she cheered inwardly.
'I just felt dizzy, and wanted some fresh air.'
James had a worried look on his face. 'Are you feeling okay? I can take you back to the common room, you know.'
Lily sighed. Why does James have to be so sweet?
'No, I just wanted to come out and think. What are you doing here anyway, James? Weren't you having a hell of a time inside with Carissa, Jamesie?' she teased.
'Oh, come on, Lily. I doubt there's ever going to be anything between us. But I can still dream, though.' He grinned, again which made Lily melt. 'Anyway, I just felt guilty not dancing with you, since you are my date.' He looked at the ground.
'Don't worry, James. I'm fine out here by myself. Go on in, and enjoy yourself,' Lily urged.
'Nope, Lils. I'm not leaving till you dance with me, Lilliana.' Said James.
Just as they were talking, a faint announcement was heard by Professor Dumbledore again. 'Miss De Traum did a wonderful job, now didn't she? But as she takes a break, I would like to invite, one of Hogwarts very own product, talented seventh year Peter York!' (hint hint!)
Lily gasped softly. Lilliana. The only person who ever called her that was her dad; his pet name for her. That was Lily remembered the times she and James spent at the library. She remembered telling him about the "Liliana" incident. There was no way that Lily would refuse.
Lily smiled and just nodded. She took James' hand and danced to the non- existent beat, that would soon be replaced.
And as if on cue, a husky low voice filled the hall that made girls swoon.
'You and I
we're two of a kind.
I hate to say it but you'll never relate,
what makes you tick?
It makes me smile.
You said that I should get away from it all,
and bury my head in the sand if I want to,
I think you.
should thank me now.
You were lying wide awake in the garden,
trying to get over your stardom,
and I could never see you depart us
and you're my baby...
You're just another girl.
You're just another girl.
I never mind the way I had to see ya,
my working on a day show never explains why I see you
and I feel your pain.
I love to wear my work inside of my head,
I can't complain but you should never react the way you did,
I feel your time.
You were lying wide awake in the garden,
Trying to get over your stardom,
And I could never see you depart us
and you're my baby.
And you were lying wide awake in the garden,
Trying to get over your stardom,
And I could never see you depart us
and you're my baby,
You're just another girl,
You're just another girl...'
Cheers echoed the hall, and Lily and James outside stopped dancing. James gazed intently into Lily's eyes, as though searching for something.
Lily however was trying so hard to not just dissolve in his arms. You idiot! Why did you have to agree to dance with him? AND TO A SLOW SONG AT THAT! Now look where you are!
Lily suddenly recalled the numerous times she sketched while sitting by the lake when she was a first-year. A naïve schoolgirl who couldn't wait to fall in love; that was Lily. She would have organized her wedding theme, wedding dress, and even her children's' names.
'My dear Lilliana...' James whispered as he leaned in slowly, very slowly, not thinking rationally about his actions. And then suddenly, time froze, and Lily didn't know whether she was, at this very moment, in love with the idea of being in love, or just in love with James Potter.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Author's Note: I'm SO evil, aren't I? I just couldn't wait to stop and devour the reviews that would soon come. They WOULD come, right? *Shows nervous look* I HOPE THEY DO!
:P
Anyway, I'm getting kinda tired, so I guess I better sleep. I LOVE the ending of this chapter. And I'm really sorry if it isn't fluffy enough for you! I tried to make it fluff-all-the-way, but I'm just not in the mood. Hope you enjoy pulling your hair out to wait for the next chapter. JUST KIDDING!
LoL. I'm just feeling so hyper. Sorry for my quirkiness. :) Oh well... Please tell me what you think of this chapter, and story overall. Does it suck? Does it rock? Or is on a thin line between those two?
REVIEW!!
Oh, and before I go off dreaming about Sean Biggerstaff, here's apples dipped in caramel and cotton candy for this lurvly people who took their time to review:
Liat86, hopeless romantic, Lucia Dreams, Lamina Court, Eaiana, blahblah, Red Magic Marker, Clearbrook, mya14, Sakura Moon, JaMeS_pOtTeR_4_mE, Interested Reader, Riana-Rin, Lina Shay, -mirah, oreos aaaaand heavenly182angel.
Extra caramels to those who I had forgotten to mention! ^_~
-m|rAh
Disclaimer: Anything familiar isn't mine, and unfortunately belongs to the oh-so-brilliant JK Rowling, who I salute to. Creations of mine are : Piper Valentine, Fiona, Jemima, Emily Hart, Dennis Front, Walter Reese, Marie Lodge and Isabelle Frall. Oh, and the LURVLY song "Just Another" by Pete Yorn isn't mine either. BOOHOO!
Steal. You. Die.
Author's Note: This is the chapter we've ALL been waiting for. Isn't it, isn't it? ("YES!" shouts from the audience) Drumroll, please? *drumroll* And now, I, LIL-MISS-MYRA, proudly present the 10th Chapter of Love, An Admirer - The First Official Hogwarts Christmas Ball to all the wonderful FanFiction.Net readers.
Love, An Admirer
Chapter 10 : The First Official Hogwarts Christmas Ball
Written by: lil-miss-myra
'Lily!' someone hissed. 'Lily!'
'Oh, sod off, Nan! This is the best part! I'm about to beat Natasha Welle in the pony race!
Jemima looked at Fiona, and smirked. Fiona mouthed, 'Ponies?'
'James waiting outside of the girl's dorm to take you out to Hogsmeade!' Jemima whispered.
Lily immediately sat up and her eyes widened. Jemima and Fiona burst into a fit of giggles. Lily's eyes looked softly at Jemima, 'That's not funny, Jem. That's the *second* time you did that. Sometimes I actually wish he would do that...' Lily sighed.
Jemima immediately felt guilty and said, 'I-I'm sorry, Lils.'
Lily just smiled. 'It's okay! I mean, it's no use, right? I'll move on, one day. I will.' Jemima and Fiona hugged Lily and sat on her bed.
'So anyway, thank you so much for the robes! I mean, you shouldn't have done that. It's so sweet of you!' Lily said, cheerfully.
Fiona and Jemima looked at each other weirdly and said, 'What robes?'
Lily then said slowly, 'You know... Those robes I fell in love with at Madam Malkin's? The one that I couldn't, um, I mean didn't want to buy.' Her face fell. No matter how much she loved her parents, and sister (although the feeling wasn't mutual), and that she felt guilty that going to Hogwarts is using up quite an abundance of money, she felt quite embarrassed of not having enough money.
'We didn't buy you any robes, Lily. I mean, we would have, but you wouldn't let. And you were practically at the shop the *whole* day,' said Fiona. Then, a grin broke out on her face. 'Looks like *Lily* has an admirer now. Wait, till I tell James!' Fiona squealed.
Jemima just smiled. 'Happy now, Lils? I swear, if James doesn't fall for you at the ball, I don't know what planet he was born in. You're gonna look splendid in that!'
Lily smiled at Jemima.
'Now, come on! Get ready, and let's go downstairs and have breakfast!' said Jemima.
'Ooh, and don't forget; we're going to go and find out who sent it!' And again, Fiona squealed.
Jemima just rolled her eyes and said, 'Riiiiiight. That will be under *your* department, Fi. Now, come on, Lils! You don't want to waste a wonderful morning such as this!' said Jemima, drawing the curtains that resulted horrifying cries.
'Sod off, Jem!' said Isabelle, throwing a pillow at her.
Jemima's head whipped around and narrowed her eyes at Isabelle. 'You better watch -' POOF! A pillow from Yvonne West came whizzing by and hit Jemima right smack in the butt.
And soon, everyone joined in and a pillow fight commenced. Passer-by's would think it was a war among the chickens.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Days came and went, and lo and behold it was here: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry's first official Christmas Ball that would be launched by the Head's respectively and of course Professor Dumbledore.
The atmosphere in Hogwarts was tense. It was TOO tense, that the students weren't given any homework. The teachers were stressed out too. And who to thank? The wonderful Marauders themselves. They took the advantage of not being given homework to continue their endless dose of pranks. Hallways stunk at the result of the dungbombs they bought; the Slytherins were living in hell; and the endless mob of Hufflepuff girls' chasing them wherever they went.
But let's move a little faster and get to know the gory details, shall we?
~*~*~One Hour Before the Christmas Ball~*~*~
'Maybe I shouldn't go after all, Fi,' Lily said while Fiona was applying lipstick on herself.
Fiona's lipstick suddenly danced over her cheek. She wiped it off and turned to face Lily, 'Oh, come on, Lils! This is your big chance. Your chance to show James Potter who you really are; who the real Lily Evans is. Now come on! We only have one more hour left till we meet the boys at the common room! And you're not even dressed!' Fiona gasped.
Jemima rolled her eyes. 'A dramatic one, Fi is. Now come on, Lilliums! We don't want to keep James waiting, now do we? Get dressed!'
Lily bit her lip and said, 'Okay, then. But I still want to find out who that person is. Maybe that person will come up to me and tell? I just hope it's not a Slytherin. God know's what he meant by sending me the dress. Well, I'll go and get my robes.'
Lily disappeared to the wardrobe and came back with a lovely jade robe on. It matched her vivid emerald eyes, and there were lovely little sequins.
'Lovely, just lovely! Now come on, I'm going to put some make up on you, and then do something with your hair. I know! You look wonderful with your hair down, I'll just put up some beautiful pins Heather gave me last Christmas!'
The way she talked to me was as if I was her science project, and that frightened me. Half an hour later, I came out and dared to face the world, I felt weird with make-up on. The last time I did that, was when I was forced to by my mum. I winced as I was about to look in the mirror. And when I did, it surprised me.
'Is that *me*?' I gasped.
'Surprise, surprise. You really do wonders, Fiona. You really do,' said Jemima, smiling and looking at Lily.
'Come on then, Jem! Lil! We don't want to keep the boy's waiting, now do we?' Fiona chirped. She pulled Lily and Jemima out of the dormitory to the common room.
Jemima however muttered, 'I wish *I* could keep my date waiting.'
There they were, Sirius and James.
Fiona cleared her throat. Sirius and James, startled, turned around and were surprised, shocked - you name it.
Fiona just smiled. 'I guess my hard work did pay off. Well, I'll see you at the Great Hall, guys. Jeremy's waiting for me outside. Toodles!'
James couldn't believe his eyes. Is this really Lily Evans? The girl I befriended just months ago? I always thought she was beautiful on the inside and outside, but not THIS beautiful. And to think that she was about to become one of my prank targets...
James shook that thought of his head, and greeted Lily. She was dressed with the jade green robes that brought out her eye's sparkles. She let down her hair, and pinned up her fringe with a lily flower clip.
'Good evening, Lily,' James took her hand and kissed it. Lily tried to stifle a laugh, but burst out giggling.
'James,' she whispered. 'Do you know how cliché this sounds?'
James smiled and said, 'That's the whole point, Lily ma dear. Come on then, and might I say, you look beautiful tonight, Lily. Oh, and I got you this.' James handed Lily a red rose. 'You know, since you *are* my date and all,' He shuffled his feet. 'I thought that maybe it would be traditional to give you one. I wanted to give you a lily,' He scratched his head. 'But it would be even more cliché, wouldn't it?' He smiled.
'Thanks, James. That's really sweet,' She smiled, then gave a hurt look. 'But are you trying to say I was ugly all these while?'
James eyes widened and quickly said, 'No! I mean, I don't mean it that way...'
Lily gave him a warm smile, 'I was just joking, Jamesie. You don't look so bad yourself.' Lily grinned. 'Now come on, we don't want to keep Carissa waiting!' She winked, despite the loneliness she felt inside.
James sort-of blushed and nodded. 'Come on, then!'
Sirius however. was about to kiss Jemima's hand but she snatched it back and said, 'Dream on, Black!' and she smacked him on the head.
Sirius just smiled goofily and said, 'We have to act civil, pumpkin- poo.'
'I still have that freezing charm in my head, Black. Don't. Taunt. Me.'
Sirius quickly rephrased his sentence, 'I mean, Jemima. If we keep going on like this, I'll probably end up dead tonight! Can we at least make a truce?'
Jemima narrowed her eyes at him.
'Pweety pweety pwease! You wook weally pweety, Mish Jemima! Ish jush me, Shiwius Bwack,' Sirius said.
Jemima burst out laughing. 'Alright then, Black,' After seeing Sirius' hurt look, 'Fine then, SIRIUS. But if you make any smart move on me, without my permission, you'll regret you ever asked Jemima Rachelle Richards to the Christmas Ball.'
Sirius nodded and just grinned.
Jemima and Sirius walked out of the Gryffindor Common Room, and just as they stepped out of the Portrait of the Fat Lady, Sirius whispered softly right at Jemima's ear, 'By the way, you do look pretty. Dare I say even beautiful, Miss Jemima?'
The normal Jemima would have smacked him there and then, but *this* Jemima just blushed and said quietly, 'Thank you.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~
As they stepped into the Great Hall, awe was all they felt. It was decorated beautifully with Christmas trees, hollies, and more. There were mistletoe's that would go all around the Great Hall. Sometimes it'll act cheekily, and find couples and wouldn't leave them till they kiss. Professor Flitwick however charmed the Great Hall so that snowflakes would fall, and it was a pretty sight.
The Decoration Committee too had outdone themselves, as the seventh years had managed to charm the snowmen to move around the hall without the help of Professor Flitwick. Not only that, but all the furniture that were made of ice, and the snow was charmed so that it wouldn't melt. The chandelier however was a beautiful sight as it was frosted and as the light when through the crystals, it did a wonderful effect.
The sigh was breathtaking, and it really did take Lily's breath away. She was marveled at the sight as she took the tour of the now-Dining Hall. As Lily stepped in, Fiona *did* do her job well, as she sure did make heads turn. Both boys and girls eyed her, wowed by the fact that it was plain Lily Evans, looking as beautiful as ever, came to the ball with James Potter.
James led Lily to the table and met up with the rest of the Marauders & Co. They started chatting away, having the time of their life. But Lily gulped and felt her world nearly crashing down as she saw Carissa Andrews and Kurt Randall strolling in. Lily swore she saw James eyes' bulging out of the sockets.
Carissa, who was beautiful naturally, looked even *more* exquisite with her beautiful creamish robe. She had a beautiful tiara on her delicate head, and her hair was put up into a bun, with wisps of curled hair coming down on the sides of her head.
Carissa settled down with Kurt two tables away and waved at James, and then at Lily. Lily smiled and waved back. She was about to tell Jemima something, but Professor Dumbledore interrupted her.
He pointed his wand to his throat and muttered 'Sonorus,' and said, 'Welcome all, to the first Christmas Ball in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry!'
Everybody clapped and cheered so hard, that you could feel the ground vibrating.
'To start the opening of our very first Christmas Ball, I would like the Head Girl & Boy to please stand up, to take a bow for contributing such a wonderful idea. Secondly, the Decoration Committee, the wonderful prefects and staff, for their outstanding job for this ball.'
Once again, the applause erupted.
'And not forgetting the ever hardworking house-elves who have made tonight's menu a splendid one. Cheers, and have a wonderful Christmas!'
With a swish of Dumbledore's hand, food magically appeared on their plates, and everyone began talking excitedly, while satisfying the bottomless pits we call stomach.
Professor Dumbledore immediately tucked in, and was enjoying his meal. Suddenly, as if he had forgotten something, he stood up, clanked his goblet and continued with specks of food flying in every direction, 'Sorry Minerva. Oh, and before I forget, since it's our first Christmas Ball, we decided to make it special by inviting a wonderful newcomer to the music scene to perform. Everybody, give a round of applause for - Allison de Traum!'
A pretty, but weird-looking nonetheless, witche who looked like around herr twenties', came up on stage and struck up a tune.
Lily easily forgotten what she wanted to tell Jemima, and enjoyed the night - while it lasted with the melodious tune in the background.
Soon enough, students finished their meals, and the dance floor was getting crowded. Miss De Traum was a big hit among the students, and teachers. Her tunes were wonderful, as she sang all sorts of music genres. Rock, pop, jazz, you name it.
Quite a line of boys came to ask Lily to dance, and James smiled at her, and urged her to go. She just smiled back, and agreed to every single one of them. Lily had a chance to dance with all the Marauders who were very talented dancers themselves. Ah, the Marauders! Shame, how could we have forgotten all about them?
Let's have a quick preview, shall we?
Remus Lupin: Looking handsome as ever. Came with Piper Valentine (who seems to be falling head-over-heels for him). Received numerous glares from Emily Hart.
Sirius Black: The one with the sexy grin. Charming, as usual. Came with Jemima Richards, who seemed to be hitting him lesser than usual. Guesses, anyone? *wink wink*
Peter Pettigrew: Ah, although slightly pudgy, he's still a popular one among girls, although he has been overshadowed by the other Marauders. Who he came with? A pretty petite girl from Ravenclaw.
Lily danced a waltz with Remus, (a/n: sigh.. he's close to my heart. Next to james, that is. :D) a foxtrot with Peter, and oh dear Lord. Fortune wasn't on her side that fateful day, as when Sirius asked her to dance, Allison de Traum struck up a hip and fast tune. It's a miracle how she survived after the number of times Sirius stepped on her foot.
But surprise surprise, not even once did James come up to her to ask her for a dance. Not his problem though, as wherever he went, he was surrounded by a swarm of girls. He had managed to dance with Carissa though.
Did Lily notice this? Oh, of course she did! Her feelings? Don't even go there. A useless date, you say? He did make it clear that they were going to the ball as friends.
But I must say, you should see the number of girls lining up to dance with him! And James, being the sweet considerate gentleman he is, agreed to dance with every single one of them.
Now, lets go back a little bit, shall we, to the part where I stopped.
There Lily was, dancing in the arms of Gerald Wills. He was a fellow seventh year Gryffindor, mind you. Handsome? Definitely. Sweet? Yes. He was cracking a joke to Lily while dancing, when a pair caught Lily's eye. There they were, James and Carissa, dancing and laughing. God, they look so perfect! So... right. Lily thought. Why can't I just move on? Why? WHY? Take Gerald for instance. He's funny, wonderful, smart, cute. Why not HIM?
Lily heaved a small sigh, but just smiled and nodded at the right times while Gerald was talking. Maybe, said the voice at the back of her head, It's because this is James Potter, we're talking about. James.
Lily then realized she just had to get away from it all. She didn't feel like crying, just think. She just felt like sitting down at somewhere peaceful, and think.
She stopped dancing and said, 'Thank you, Gerald, for the wonderful dance, but I just feel dizzy. I'm just going to go outside. It's been wonderful talking with you.' Lily smiled at Gerald, and kissed him on the cheek, then left.
~*~*~At the Lake~*~*~
Echoes of Allison de Traum's sweet voice was heard from outside. There Lily was, talking with Nearly Headless Nick, near to the lake.
The only source of light she had was from Nick himself, and the beautiful full moon hanging in the sky that was pitch black.
She laughed at Nick's joke, and just smiled. Nearly Headless Nick then said that he had to go and find the Bloody Baron to sort some things out and left.
'Bye, sir Nick.' She muffled.
Suddenly, her vision was blocked by two warm hands. 'Guess who?' came a low deep whisper.
Lily turned around and saw James grinning like a fool. She smiled.
'Hey, James. Having a good time?'
'Yeah! But it wouldn't be complete without dancing with the person that came here with me.' He looked at her. 'What you doing out here anyway? The ball's inside! You should have seen the mistletoes at work! One even caught Jemima and Sirius! They were forced to kiss, and everyone was cheering.'
Lily laughed. Go mistletoe! she cheered inwardly.
'I just felt dizzy, and wanted some fresh air.'
James had a worried look on his face. 'Are you feeling okay? I can take you back to the common room, you know.'
Lily sighed. Why does James have to be so sweet?
'No, I just wanted to come out and think. What are you doing here anyway, James? Weren't you having a hell of a time inside with Carissa, Jamesie?' she teased.
'Oh, come on, Lily. I doubt there's ever going to be anything between us. But I can still dream, though.' He grinned, again which made Lily melt. 'Anyway, I just felt guilty not dancing with you, since you are my date.' He looked at the ground.
'Don't worry, James. I'm fine out here by myself. Go on in, and enjoy yourself,' Lily urged.
'Nope, Lils. I'm not leaving till you dance with me, Lilliana.' Said James.
Just as they were talking, a faint announcement was heard by Professor Dumbledore again. 'Miss De Traum did a wonderful job, now didn't she? But as she takes a break, I would like to invite, one of Hogwarts very own product, talented seventh year Peter York!' (hint hint!)
Lily gasped softly. Lilliana. The only person who ever called her that was her dad; his pet name for her. That was Lily remembered the times she and James spent at the library. She remembered telling him about the "Liliana" incident. There was no way that Lily would refuse.
Lily smiled and just nodded. She took James' hand and danced to the non- existent beat, that would soon be replaced.
And as if on cue, a husky low voice filled the hall that made girls swoon.
'You and I
we're two of a kind.
I hate to say it but you'll never relate,
what makes you tick?
It makes me smile.
You said that I should get away from it all,
and bury my head in the sand if I want to,
I think you.
should thank me now.
You were lying wide awake in the garden,
trying to get over your stardom,
and I could never see you depart us
and you're my baby...
You're just another girl.
You're just another girl.
I never mind the way I had to see ya,
my working on a day show never explains why I see you
and I feel your pain.
I love to wear my work inside of my head,
I can't complain but you should never react the way you did,
I feel your time.
You were lying wide awake in the garden,
Trying to get over your stardom,
And I could never see you depart us
and you're my baby.
And you were lying wide awake in the garden,
Trying to get over your stardom,
And I could never see you depart us
and you're my baby,
You're just another girl,
You're just another girl...'
Cheers echoed the hall, and Lily and James outside stopped dancing. James gazed intently into Lily's eyes, as though searching for something.
Lily however was trying so hard to not just dissolve in his arms. You idiot! Why did you have to agree to dance with him? AND TO A SLOW SONG AT THAT! Now look where you are!
Lily suddenly recalled the numerous times she sketched while sitting by the lake when she was a first-year. A naïve schoolgirl who couldn't wait to fall in love; that was Lily. She would have organized her wedding theme, wedding dress, and even her children's' names.
'My dear Lilliana...' James whispered as he leaned in slowly, very slowly, not thinking rationally about his actions. And then suddenly, time froze, and Lily didn't know whether she was, at this very moment, in love with the idea of being in love, or just in love with James Potter.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Author's Note: I'm SO evil, aren't I? I just couldn't wait to stop and devour the reviews that would soon come. They WOULD come, right? *Shows nervous look* I HOPE THEY DO!
:P
Anyway, I'm getting kinda tired, so I guess I better sleep. I LOVE the ending of this chapter. And I'm really sorry if it isn't fluffy enough for you! I tried to make it fluff-all-the-way, but I'm just not in the mood. Hope you enjoy pulling your hair out to wait for the next chapter. JUST KIDDING!
LoL. I'm just feeling so hyper. Sorry for my quirkiness. :) Oh well... Please tell me what you think of this chapter, and story overall. Does it suck? Does it rock? Or is on a thin line between those two?
REVIEW!!
Oh, and before I go off dreaming about Sean Biggerstaff, here's apples dipped in caramel and cotton candy for this lurvly people who took their time to review:
Liat86, hopeless romantic, Lucia Dreams, Lamina Court, Eaiana, blahblah, Red Magic Marker, Clearbrook, mya14, Sakura Moon, JaMeS_pOtTeR_4_mE, Interested Reader, Riana-Rin, Lina Shay, -mirah, oreos aaaaand heavenly182angel.
Extra caramels to those who I had forgotten to mention! ^_~
-m|rAh