hi all! thank you so much for sticking with this story, im super sorry this chapter took a while, it was just a hump that i couldnt seem to get over, but here it is! ill really try to get the next one out sooner now that the semester is over!

thank you all so much again for all the favorites/follows/reviews! it literally makes me so happy and I appreciate you guys so much! without further ado, here you go!

"So, boys," James Potter said as he threw himself over the back of a couch in the common room, landing with a thud next to his friends.

"Boys?" Sirius said, squinting. "Don't you mean, men?"

"So sorry, my apologies. My distinguished gentlemen," at an approving look from Sirius he continued, "I need help."

"What's up, Prongs?" Remus asked, putting down his book to listen.

"The Halloween Ball is coming up," James began, "And I obviously want to take Lily, but she's done nothing but reject me for the past six years. I want to ask her in a way that shows I'm serious about this. I'm not just doing it for giggles anymore."

"Well," Remus started after some thought, "this time has to be different than all the times you've been rejected, what do they all have in common?"

"It was James that was asking," Sirius said cheekily.

James ignored the comment as Remus shot Sirius a glare, "I don't know man, I've asked her out in every way I could think of."

"Well," Remus began hesitantly, "There's always going to be the chance that she says no, but it does seem like she's been warming up to you this past month. I think it's definitely helped that you've been giving her space and haven't been pestering her to go out with you."

"Maybe that's what it takes." Sirius said, brushing his hair out of his face, "Give her some space, let her come to you."

"But what if she doesn't come to me?" James asked, nervous.

"Well, then I think you have your answer, mate." Remus said solemnly.

James didn't want to hear it but he knew Remus was right. He had been chasing Lily for almost six years now to no avail. At a certain point, if she wasnt into him then she just wasn't into him. And there was nothing he could do about that.

Not wanting to think about that possibility right now James shifted the subject, "What about you guys, what are your plans for the dance?"

James noticed Sirius shift in his seat.

"Well, um," Remus said quietly, "I was actually thinking about asking Hermione."

Sirius' brows furrowed and Remus continued, "I mean, I'm not too friendly with many other girls, and I of course know what we all say about her, but still, she's super nice and I feel like she gets me, I think it would be fun going with her."

"I think that's a good idea, Remmy." James said sincerely. "Despite everything she is very nice and I know you two have a lot in common."

If it was anyone else that looked so nervous to ask Hermione to the ball, you better believe that James would have teased the shit out of them. But Remus had never asked a girl to a dance before. Girls have asked Remus to dances, but he's always said no. James knew that this was going to be good for him and he didn't want to stress his friend out by joking about it too much.

Plus, James was so happy to see Remus got through his intense self-hating phase after that night at the lake. Remus avoided Hermione like the plague for a while and it was starting to become uncomfortable for everyone. James didn't know how he got over it, but this was a nice change.

"What about you, Sirius?" James asked. "Who will be your girl of the week?"

"I don't know, I haven't thought about who I want to take yet." Sirius said, trying to be casual.

"Sirius not thinking about birds? What alternative world have we stumbled into?" James said jokingly.

Sirius laughed, but still, James realized something was off with his friend.

Peter chimed in and said, "You guys know that Hufflepuff girl I've been studying with lately? I think I'm going to ask her."

"Yes! Nice job Pete." James said, "Do you think she's into you?"

"I'm not sure." He said, nervously, "Marlene said she thought she was, but I don't know. It kind of feels like she might just like me as a friend."

"There's nothing wrong with that." Remus said softly, "Friends are always nice to have."

"Yeah," Peter said, nodding. "Plus, I don't really want to date anyone right now anyways."

"Why not?" James asked, as long as he could remember whenever he would talk about marrying Lily or Sirius would start seeing a new girl Peter would always talk about how much he wanted a girlfriend.

"I don't know," Peter said quietly, "I just feel like there's a lot going on right now."

"So, what's up, Padfoot?" James asked later that night when he and Sirius were alone in the dorm.

"What's that?" Sirius asked.

"It's not like you, to not have a girl on your mind." James said bluntly, causing Sirius to raise an eyebrow at him. "And don't give me that look, don't think I don't know something's going on with you."

Sirius turned away from his friend and stared up at the ceiling. He should've known James would pick up on something, his best friend could read him like a poorly planned quidditch play. But that was the issue, Sirius didn't even know what was going on, so how could he tell James?

"I was thinking of asking Hermione to the dance." Sirius said, deciding to stick to the basics.

"Oh." James said, clearly not expecting Sirius to say that, "But then Moony said it and now you can't."

"Right," Sirius confirmed, enjoying the surprised expression on his friend's face.

"I'm sorry," James said, clearly still not understanding the situation, "Are you into her?"

Sirius should have known that question was coming, but still, he hadn't prepared an answer.

"I don't know, I mean, I don't know what's going on." James' silent stare prompted him to keep going, "I mean, I didn't think so, something is wrong, we're not supposed to like her, but there's something so… interesting about her. I don't know."

Merlin. Sirius really needed to learn how to talk about his feelings.

Sirius thought about telling James about that day at the lake but decided to leave it out for now. It was weird not sharing something with James, but that was a moment he wanted to keep private, even though he didn't know why.

"Okay, I understand." James said slowly and Sirius thought there was no way James understood, Sirius didn't even understand. But after all, James did know Sirius better than he knew himself, so maybe he really did get it. "If it makes you feel better though, Moony sounded completely friendly when he was talking about her. I don't think there's anything but friendship going on there."

"It's whatever," Sirius said, trying to shove everything away for now. He appreciated James' help but he really just didn't want to think about it anymore.

"Okay." His friend said, looking at him hesitantly.

"I'm not worried about it." Sirius said, knowing full well he was lying to himself.

Hermione's stress about finding a date disappeared when Remus shyly asked her to go with him late that week.

She was surprised he asked, but of course she said yes. Remus was always a friend of hers, plus, he looked very endearing when he asked her with a deep pink face.

By that Friday, four out of the five seventh year girls had dates, shockingly, Lily was the only girl without one.

But regardless, that Saturday the girls found themselves in a robe shop in Hogsmeade.

There was surprisingly only a handful of other people in the store and the four girls were having loads of fun pulling dresses of all colors and styles.

Hermione, on the other hand, was having a much harder time finding something she liked and was immensely stressed.

She of course wanted to look nice for Remus, the girls told her that this was the first time he would have a date to the ball. But she wasn't sure if she was quite ready to show off the many scars that littered her body, and most of the dresses showed a bit more skin than she would have liked.

Unfortunately for Hermione, the girls picked up on her hesitation.

"Oh, Hermione!" She heard Marlene shout, "This dress would look perfect on you, you need to try it on!"

Marlene came running around the corner with a crimson halter dress. It was a shimmery silk fabric with a swooping neckline, it looked to be fitted around the hips with a slit up the right side.

Hermione gasped at the beauty of the dress, it was so elegant yet still youthful. If things were different, it would have been perfect.

"Oh, it's beautiful Marlene," Hermione said genuinely, until her smile faltered. "It's just a little bit revealing for me."

"Oh Merlin, that's perfect," Lily said, appearing at her side, "I don't think it's revealing. It's modest but still sexy."

Hermione blushed as she looked back at the dress, missing the glance Marlene and Lily sent each other. They weren't used to seeing her like this.

"I don't know," Hermione said shyly. "I'm a little nervous. I suppose it's not really revealing, it's just that, well I have a lot of scars, and it's a bit more skin than I usually like to show."

Hermione was uncomfortable talking about it, but they would eventually make her try on a dress so Hermione figured it was best to just say it.

She saw their faces soften.

"Oh, Hermione, you don't have to feel weird about showing your scars." Marlene said.

"Especially with Remus, that boy is a walking accident," Lily said jokingly, "He's got more scars than there are stars in the sky."

"Yeah, besides, in this dress no one will be looking at your scars if you know what I mean," Marlene said, wagging her eyebrows.

"But if they do really bother you," Lily continued in a more serious tone, "We can always try to cover them with glamour or muggle makeup even."

Although Hermione felt better, she wasn't completely convinced. She knew that the one she really wanted to hide couldn't be covered by glamour.

"At least try it on." Marlene said after a moment, "Neither of us care about some scars, we don't even have to look at you. But you never know, you might like it."

Hermione caved, and as she took the dress into the fitting room and put it on she found she absolutely loved it.

The silk fabric hugged every curve and fit as if it were made just for her. It also conveniently covered the majority of the scars on her back, which she was sure Remus would appreciate.

Hermione kept her left arm wrapped in bandages covering her "MUDBLOOD" scar, but she couldn't help but look at some of her other ones. There was a faint purple line across her throat from where Bellatrix held her cursed blade and her right arm and both shoulders had their own series of gashes and small marks. While they weren't ideal, Hermione didn't really care much about them.

So, Hermione strode out of the fitting room and Marlene and Lily started gushing almost immediately about how perfect it was.

While Hermione was thankful the two of them managed not to linger their gaze, she did notice a brief wary look they both expressed at the sight of her bandaged forearm. But she just wasn't ready to have anyone see that one yet.

Hermione changed back into her regular clothes and soon all five girls were leaving with brand new dresses. They grabbed a booth in The Three Broomsticks and were sipping on butterbeer when the bell above the door jingled.

The pub was immediately filled with loud laughter and soon Hermione felt a warm body slip into the booth next to her. She glanced up to see silver eyes staring at her.

"So, ladies," Hermione heard James say, causing her to tear her gaze away from Sirius, "How was your trip into town?"

"It was great!" Dorcas said, "We all got dresses."

"So exciting! And I'm sure you ladies will be the most gorgeous ones there." He said, sending a wink at Lily.

Hermione saw Lily blush before taking another sip of her butterbeer.

Marlene must have also noticed the exchange because she said, "All the dresses are gorgeous. But oh, Merlin," she continued, looking at Lily, "Lily, I like yours the best, it's so gorgeous."

Catching on, Alice said, "I agree, Lily, it fits you perfectly."

"I agree, Alice," Marlene went on, "It's so sexy."

As Lily was turning a bright red, Hermione glanced down the table to see James playing with the handle of his mug as he stared into it. She felt Sirius' shift in the seat beside her. Hermione looked up to see his amused expression at the scene before him.

Dorcas clearly felt bad for the pair and started talking about Marlene's dress.

Not super into the conversation, Hermione said, "I'm going to get another butterbeer. Does anyone want another?"

Alice asked for another and Hermione slid out of the booth. Once she was out, Remus asked, "How about the rest of you, did you all find one?"

"Yeah, we all got one," Dorcas said, "I'm still upset I didn't get to see Hermione's on her. The dress is stunning and I'm sure she rocked it."

"You guys didn't see her try it on?" Remus asked.

"Only Lily and I saw it," Marlene said. "Remus, your date is going to be the most beautiful girl there without question."

Marlene's eyes flickered to Dorcas, and James was the only one to notice Sirius shift in his seat.

"Ugh!" Alice groaned, "Why'd you let her take it off so fast, I wanted to see!"

"Oh, you know," Lily said rolling her eyes, "Hermione is just a little bashful is all."

"Bashful?" James joked, "Hermione? Are you sure we're talking about the same girl? Why would she be bashful?"

"You know," Marlene said, smirking at Remus, "It's just a tad more revealing than her usual."

Sirius eyebrows shot up and he looked at his friend, who was quickly turning a bright red.

"Oh please," Lily started laughing at the look on the boys' faces, "It's nothing scandalous, but you know Hermione, she likes to stay bundled up."

"She really does look gorgeous in it though," Marlene continued, "You lot will see soon enough."

Marlene meant it. But still, she and Lily couldn't stop themselves from wondering what was hidden beneath the bandage.