Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 14

Because of the time they spent at their detentions, Nina and Sirius had a lot of schoolwork to catch up on. They had another major part of their Muggle Studies group project to hand in soon, so they spent almost every evening working on it in the library. Sara finished her part of the project already, and spent her free time either working on other subjects, or spending time with Remus. It was an evening a few days after the last detention that the four of them were in the library. Nina and Sirius were working on their parts for the projectwhile Sara and Remus were reading.

Remus yawned and stretched, "I think I've had enough of the library for one night, guys. I'm gonna head to the common room."

Sara quickly shut her book and said, "I'll come with you!" As soon as they got up, Lily came stomping into the library. Her face was red with rage.

"Have any of you guys seen Potter?" she asked angrily.

"Why? What happened?" Sara asked coming to her.

"This!" she yelled slamming a bunch of posters onto the table. They all gathered around the table to see what they said.

Nina read the words on a poster out loud. "Disco Fever: The wildest party Hogwarts has ever seen! Open to students in fourth year and up. Muggle dress required. I don't get it."

"It was supposed to be a bloody ball! Now it's turned into a club night!" Lily exclaimed.

"Oh wicked! He actually listened to my suggestion!" Sirius exclaimed happily.

"This was your idea, Black?" Lily said angrily.

"Oh, uh—no! I was just giving him suggestions for other events. Not the ball." Sirius lied quickly.

Lily was about to say something when she saw James coming towards them.

"Potter!" she yelled. "What did you do to my ball?"

"Your ball?" he asked confusedly.

"Yes! My ball! I had everything planned out perfectly. What are all these Disco Fever posters doing everywhere?" she continued yelling at him.

"Wait a minute." James said calmly. "I thought we went through all this already. You told me to make the posters for the dance. I asked you what I should put on there. You said to make up some catchy name for the event."

"Disco Fever?" Lily screeched.

"You said we were having disco music as well!" James exclaimed.

"Some! Not all! And what about the formal dress?" Lily inquired.

"Hey! You never said formal." James retorted. "You said muggle. Anyways, Dumbledore approved it. So what's the problem? I think it will be a good change. It's the 1970's, not the 1860's. Nobody wants to waltz around the room in stuffy suits. Get with the times, Lily."

"It's not a bad idea, Lily." Sara said, actually taking James's side over her friend's.

"Yeah." Nina agreed. "I think everyone will like it. It's different."

"Of course!" James said. "Think about it, Lily. You'll be known as the hippest Head Girl Hogwarts has ever seen!"

"I dunno." Lily said sounding unsure about the prospect.

"Aw, come on, look…" James put his arm around Lily and took her away from everyone else, evidently trying to convince her about the dance. James must have said something that pleased Lily, because by that night, all the posters were back up around the school. When the girls were in their dorm that night, they were talking about the dance.

"So who do you want to go to the dance with, Lily?" Sara asked her.

"Well, I'm almost certain Potter is going to ask me." Lily said discontentedly.

"And you're going to say…?" Nina asked waiting for an answer.

"I dunno." Lily said frowning.

"Ooh! You mean you're actually considering going with him?" Sara asked excitedly.

"Maybe. I really don't know. I'm so confused. He drives me crazy and I can't stand him half the time. But then again, he kinda grows on me every day." Lily replied while getting into her bed.

"So don't be stupid! If he asks you, say yes!" Sara exclaimed.

Lily sighed as she moved the covers up to her face. "Fine. If he asks me, I'll say yes. And that's only if nobody better asks me first."


It was only a day after the posters were up, and the students at Hogwarts were already catching disco fever. It seemed that most people were excited about the dance and were already getting dates for the night. Down in the Great Hall, the boys were discussing the dance.

"So, since this isn't some formal ball thing, am I supposed to ask Sara to it? Or is it just implied that we're going together?" Remus asked Sirius and James.

"Well, she is your girlfriend, so it would be pretty stupid if you guys asked anyone else. I'm assuming it's implied already." Sirius replied.

"Oh okay. Cool." Remus said with a smile.

"Yeah, lucky bastard. Who cares about you, anyways? Let's focus on me. How the hell am I supposed to convince Lily to go with me?" James asked frantically.

"I don't know, mate. That's a tough one." Sirius said.

"But you better think of something fast. I think Diggory or Chang might seriously ask her before you do, especially since they've been working on that project together this term. They've been getting quite chummy." Remus said convincingly.

"Damn! I knew Chang had a thing for Lily! I'll kill the bastard!" James said with wrath.

Just then two sixth year girls walked by giggling and eyeing the boys. James sat up straight and ran his hand through his hair and winked at them. The girls started to giggle even more and walked away chattering excitedly.

"Now I know why Lily won't go with you." Remus said disapprovingly.

"Well, I can't help it if chicks dig me." James said cockily.

"Hey, Sirius." came another girl's voice from behind, and walked towards him.

"Hey…you." Sirius smiled uneasily, trying to remember what her name was.

"Listen," she said moving closer to him, "I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to go to that dance together. You know, last year when we went out, we kinda had fun. So, if you want to..."

"Oh, I wish you would've asked me earlier. I'm already going with someone." Sirius said trying to act remorseful.

"Oh..." she said a little disappointingly, "well, that's okay. Maybe we can still hook up at the dance."

"Yeah, we'll see." Sirius said smiling as she started to walk away.

"Who are you going with?" James asked Sirius in an indignant tone when she was out of sight. "You didn't tell me!"

"Oh, nobody. I just said that." Sirius said passively.

"Why'd you do that?" Remus asked Sirius skeptically. "Is there someone you want to ask?"

"Um," he replied thinking, "I dunno. Not that I can think of right now."

"That's odd. You never turn a girl down." Remus said.

"Yeah," James agreed with him, "especially a hot one."

"Well, she's not that hot." Sirius defended himself.

"Who do you think is hot then?" Remus asked him with a sly grin.

"Hey guys! What's up?" Nina's cheerful voice interrupted their conversation as she walked over to their table. The boys looked up and waved at her.

"Did you finish the report?" Nina asked Sirius.

"Almost, I just have to do the conclusion. I had to finish my Herbology assignment so I didn't have time." Sirius replied.

"Oh that's fine, give it to me then. I'll do the conclusion." She seemed to be in a very good mood if she was willing to do extra work.

"Are you sure?" Sirius asked handing her the report.

"Of course!" she smiled. "I don't have anything to do. I want to read it over anyways."

"Okay thanks. I'll see you in class." Sirius said to her.

"Yeah make sure you save me a seat. Later guys!" She waved goodbye to them as Sirius watched her leave the Great Hall.

Remus eyed Sirius inquisitively for a moment and then asked him very casually. "So Sirius…why don't you take Nina to the dance?"

"What?" Sirius asked taken aback.

"No, he can't take her!" James exclaimed suddenly. Sirius looked at James with even more surprise.

"Why not?" Remus asked him.

"Because, I was going to ask her." James answered defiantly.

"I thought you wanted to ask Lily." Remus said confusedly.

"Yeah, but if Lily says no, which she probably will, I need to ask someone else." James explained.

"So why pick Nina?" Sirius butted in.

"Why wouldn't I? She's nice, smart, and pretty. Plus, I really like her. She's cool." James said with conviction.

"Well, that doesn't seem right." Sirius said trying not to sound as upset as he felt. "You can't use her as a backup."

"Well, she's not really a backup." James retorted. "I'm fairly sure Lily won't go with me. So maybe I'll just ask Nina first anyways."

"Well, if you're going to, you better ask her soon." Remus said looking across the room, and having a sudden deja vu. "I can see Darcy over there talking to her."

"What? Where?" James exclaimed looking in Nina's direction. "Tucker! Why that mother—" Sirius and Remus watched James get up quickly and run towards them.

"Hey! Nina!" James called her. As soon as Sirius realized what James was doing, he jumped out of his seat.

"Oi! Prongs! Wait a second!" Sirius said and ran after him. Nina and Darcy both looked at the two boys running towards them.

James caught up to them first and pulled Nina away from Darcy saying, "Excuse us for a second…Nina, I need to ask you something." Nina was about to ask him what was up when Sirius caught them.

"No, Nina! Don't listen to him," he said a little out of breath.

"What the heck is wrong with you two?" Nina said looking at them both very perplexedly.

"Nothing!" James said hurriedly, "It's just that--"

"Nina!" Sara suddenly came from behind interrupting them and started dragging Nina away, "Quickly! We need to go or I'm going to be late."

"Hold on a second!" James said desperately.

"I'm sorry guys, I'm in a rush, we'll talk later in class! Bye!" Nina said rapidly as Sara pulled her away out the door. Sirius and James watched her leave and then turned around and saw Darcy still standing there, looking offended.

"Oh, sorry about that, mate." James said to him as they started walking back to the table where Remus was still sitting.

"What did you do that for, Sirius?" James asked him grumpily.

"Do what?" Sirius asked, equally grumpy.

"Just try to stop me from asking Nina?" James asked again.

"Oh…" Sirius tried to think fast and then said in a lighter tone, "Well, I just think you're jumping the gun on asking Nina so quickly before you even try to ask Lily. Maybe she wants to go with you…you never know."

"I dunno..." James said hesitantly. "You really think so?"

"Yes! I really do." Sirius replied persuasively.

"Fine, maybe you're right. I guess I should at least try. I'll just ask her then." James said as they approached the table.

"Good!" Sirius said and sighed with relief as they sat down. And just what are you so relieved about? A voice in his head was scolding him. It's not like you were planning on asking Nina to the dance, were you? "I don't know." Sirius muttered to himself confusedly.

"You don't know what?" Remus asked him.

"What?" Sirius asked looking up. "Oh….uh…I don't know if I'm going to finish this assignment. We should head to class." He started gathering his things and they all got up and went to their class.

The Muggle Studies class was about to start when Lily and Sara entered the classroom. The boys were already seated towards the back of the room, and they had saved three seats around them for the girls. Sara came towards the boys and took a seat next to Remus, and Lily sat down on one side of Sirius.

"Where's Nina?" Sirius asked Lily as she took her books out.

"Oh she's coming. She was just talking to Kingsley outside."

"Shacklebolt? What's she talking to him about?" Sirius asked curiously.

"I don't know. I wasn't eavesdropping." Lily said and then added with a smile, "But, I think maybe he might've been trying to ask her to the dance." Sirius suddenly felt his stomach turn. What is wrong with me? I feel like hitting something. Hard. Like Kingsley's head.

Nina walked into the classroom looking very cheerful. Sirius's mind was still buzzing. What the hell is she so happy about? Did he ask her to the dance? Did she say yes?

"Hey!" Nina said to Sirius while taking the other seat next to him. "Thanks for saving me a seat."

"Well, you took long enough to get here." Sirius said crankily and then added huffily, "I was gonna give it away soon. There were so many girls that wanted to come and sit next to me." Why did I just say that?

"Really." Nina said dryly. "You should've let them sit here then. There's another seat over there next to James. I could've sat there."

Sirius shrugged with a frown. What's his problem now? Nina thought to herself as she took out her books. Nina dropped their finished group report onto this table.

"Before you get carried away with your moody attitude problem, let me remind you that I just did some of your work for you." Sirius frowned deeper and grumbled something unintelligible. For the entire duration of the class, he just sat quietly with a puckered brow looking sulky. Nina kept wondering if she said something that might've angered him, but she couldn't think of anything.

"Listen, don't forget you promised to help me with Potions tonight." Nina told him as the class was dismissed.

"Oh…I forgot, I might be busy." he said in an obviously untruthful manner.

"Sirius!" Nina exclaimed. "My assignment is due tomorrow! You're gonna force me to ask Snape for help, you know."

"Ugh." he said sighing. "Fine. I'll help you."

"Good. And make sure you're not moody by then. You're starting to annoy me." Nina said sternly and left.

Later in the evening after dinner, Sirius was helping Nina with her Potions assignment in the Great Hall. Sirius was in the middle of explaining something to her when Dana Abbott, a seventh year Hufflepuff, came up to Sirius. She sat down really close to him and started talking in a low voice. Nina could hear her asking him to the dance and her heart began to pound, but she pretended to be concentrating really hard on her Potions. What are you feeling so upset about? You didn't want to him to ask you to the dance, did you? Okay he might be extremely good-looking, but you don't really like him like that. He's just a friend—and that's what he thinks of you as, too. It shouldn't matter to you who he goes to the dance with, especially considering that you're already--

"Sorry, I'm going with somebody already." She heard Sirius say disrupting her thoughts. Crap. Nina felt even worse. He really is going with somebody already. Oh well. I don't care...do I?

"So," Nina said as Dana walked away glumly, "you've already got somebody to go to the dance with? That was fast."

"Well, not as fast as you were, I'm sure." Sirius said defensively.

"What do you mean?" Nina asked confusedly. "I'm not going with anyone."

"You're not?" Sirius asked with surprise.

"No. Nobody's asked me yet." Nina replied. "Although I kinda get the feeling Darcy was going to ask me this morning before you and James came shooing him away. What was that all about anyways?"

"Oh—er, nothing." Sirius tried to think of an excuse. "James just needed um…some advice on asking Lily to the dance."

"Is he going to ask her?" Nina asked him.

"I don't know. I think he wants to but he's afraid of getting rejected." Sirius told her.

"Ah, tell him he won't." she said. "Lily said she would go with him if he asked her."

"She did?" he asked curiously.

"Yep." Nina nodded. "But don't tell James I said that. Lily will kill me."

"Okay." Sirius agreed smiling. His grumpy mood suddenly disappeared with the knowledge that Nina wasn't going to the dance with anyone, and also with the fact that he didn't have to worry about James asking Nina either. So now what are you gonna do? The voice in his head started to talk again. If someone else asks her to the dance, you're going to get jealous. Yes, jealous. Don't act like you aren't. You've got to admit it to yourself. Whatever the reason may be, you don't want to see her go out with anybody else. You can keep convincing yourself that you're just being protective over her; I'm not going to argue with you…

"So…who are you go—" Nina was about to ask Sirius who he was taking to the dance when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw it was a fellow classmate, Mark Johnson.

"Hey." he said smiling shyly.

"Oh, hi." Nina said smiling back.

"Can I uh, speak to you for a moment, if you don't mind?" he asked her a little nervously.

"Sure. What's up?" Nina asked.

"Oh, well, actually…do you think maybe we can talk in private?" he asked, stealing a glance at Sirius. Sirius knew exactly what Johnson wanted to talk about, and he didn't like it.

"Actually," Sirius decided to butt in, "we are a little busy at the moment, if you didn't notice."

"It won't take long." Mark retorted.

"We don't have time." Sirius said dryly.

"We don't?" Nina asked, a little confused about what was going on.

"No, we don't." Sirius said more sternly this time.

"Oh." Mark sounded a little dejected.

"Listen Johnson, I know what you want to talk to her about, and you really shouldn't waste your time." Sirius said very imposingly.

"What do you mean?" Mark started to sound a little angry now.

"She's already going with someone." Sirius replied matter-of-factly.

"Who is?" Nina asked, still puzzled.

"Oh…Okay." Mark said quietly and started to walk away. "I'll see you around then. Bye."

"What the heck was that all about?" Nina asked Sirius when Mark was gone.

"What do you mean? I just saved you some valuable time, that's what." Sirius replied.

"Was he going to ask me to the dance?" Nina asked in realization.

"Yeah…Obviously." Sirius responded.

"So why didn't you let him ask?" Nina questioned in angrily.

"Why? Did you want to go with him?" Sirius asked her, getting a little angry himself.

"Er—I don't know!" Nina said frustratingly.

"So then…what're you complaining about, stupid?" Nina could tell Sirius was getting upset and didn't want him to get moody again—she needed to finish her assignment.

"Nothing, I guess." She said sounding resigned. Man, this guy drives me crazy sometimes.

"Good. Now stop wasting my time and let's finish up this work." he said while scribbling something down.

They were finished the assignment and walking out of the Great Hall when another seventh year Ravenclaw came up to Nina. Sirius couldn't take it anymore.

"Listen, mate, you really don't wanna take her to the dance. There are so many other girls in this school that will give you what you want. So back off." he told him.

As soon as they were alone again, Nina started yelling at Sirius. "What is wrong with you? Why are you scaring everyone away from me? I'm going to end up going to the dance by myself."

"You don't know these guys, Nina." he said in a very serious tone. "They're just after your stuff."

"My stuff?" Nina asked in aggravation.

"Yeah…you know." Sirius made it sound like everyone knew what that was except for her. Then when she still looked confused he became annoyed. "Man, I can't trust you with anyone. You're too stupid and naïve. I think I'll just have to take you to the dance myself."

"But you're already going with someone." she said feeling puzzled, and still angry at his bullying.

"Oh don't worry about that." he said unimportantly.

"No, but that's not right, Sirius." Nina said shaking her head. "You can't tell someone you'll go with them and then--"

"Nina," he interrupted her, grabbed her cheeks in his hand and said forcefully, "Don't argue with me. I told you not to worry about it. Okay?"

Nina was completely caught off guard and just mumbled, "Okay."

"Good." Sirius said looking at her with a satisfied smile.

"You're hurting my face." Nina said, still in his grasp.

"Oh, sorry." he said quietly as he loosed his grip and brushed his hand off of her face slowly. He was still looking at her, although a little strangely, and Nina began to feel very queasy in her stomach. Oh damn. This is not good.

"You know, you don't have to protect me so much." Nina said breaking his gaze off of her quickly and rubbing her cheeks. "I'm not as stupid as you think."

"Yeah, you're probably stupider." Sirius said in his more normal sarcastic tone.

"Very funny." Nina said dryly. "I already have an older brother at home you know, I don't really need one here as well."

He looked at her in that strange way again and moved a strand of hair away from her face and said in a low voice, "Believe me, Nina.The last thing I want to be is your brother." And he walked away.


A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I hope you guys like this one! I might be going away for the weekend, so depending on how many reviews I get, I'll decide on whether or not I should post one or two chapters tomorrow. Hehehe.