Chapter Twenty-Six: Costumed Innocence

Note: There may be a chapter about NEWTs added later, but it seemed a rather mundane topic that can be covered in much more interesting terms. Basically, Sirius and James rock the Transfiguration exam…and so forth. Hence, for now, our heroes and heroines have the dubious pleasure of having already completed their exams.

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"They're over…school is over!" squealed Sirius in a very un-Sirius-like voice. He had thrown his fists into the air, like some sort of Muggle motion.

"School's not over, silly," retorted his girlfriend, her hands slowly bringing down his fists to their normal level. Sirius pretended to look astonished upon seeing Lummy, and remarked,

"My stars, I did not know thou couldst reach so high."

"Hamlet on the brain? I didn't know Shakespeare could be so dangerous."

"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, mein liebling."

"I didn't know you were into German."

"I'm not really, just bored."

"You seemed happy a moment ago," laughed Lummy, a smirk making a way onto her small face. They had just reached the portrait of the Fat Lady outside Gryffindor tower.

"How about we give a run on Amelia?" suggested Sirius, just as the annoyed Prefect walked by.

"Dead Veela," gave Lummy, as the password, "I don't know how you manage to say that every time that she walks by. She wouldn't hate you if she didn't think you were crazy."

"You're crazy for naming my broomstick Amelia." Lummy frowned, and then went up to the girls' dormitory somewhat absentmindedly. Right on cue, Remus bounded in, his hands full of Muggle photographic equipment.

"You were looking for me, Padfoot?"

"Ah yes. This wretched first year came up to me yesterday…"

"Sirius…"

"She was very upset about exams, you know, final exams. And she wants tutoring in Potions. I am not particularly talented with them, so I suggested you."

"Me? Why not Lummy or Lily…or someone who's better than me?"

"Hmm, maybe because I'd rather go on a date with Lummy than you, and Lily would just yell at me for not knowing anything. Nah, you were the best choice."

"Alright. What day?"

"Friday evening?" suggested Sirius mysteriously.

"Isn't that the day of that costume party?"

"Yes."

"Well…."

"Look, Moony, just help the tetchy girl in your costume, then bound off to the party. It'll be a cinch. It's not like you've asked anyone. Have you?" asked Sirius, unsure.

"No…alright, I suppose."

"Brilliant. Now, I must set up some invisible wires…and a barrel of caramel custard."

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Instead of going up to her room, Lummy had waited in the girls' dormitory entrance until she was sure that Remus had agreed to Sirius' plan. She then took her wand and a scraggly copy of "Ancient Runes made easy" that she had checked out from the library, and began walking down the hall. All of a sudden, she tripped over something, and landed in a clump at the foot of the stairs where the Ravenclaw prefects were monitoring something. She glanced up imperceptibly for a second to note the pretty Japanese girl, and flicked her wand to ensure that her book landed at the girl's feet. Then, Lummy, in a most believable fashion, began to cry.

"What's wrong? It's Luhrmalleen, right?"

"Oh, nothing – I've been having a dreadful time with Runes, and Sirius doesn't take it and no one will help me with it. And I can barely walk straight. Sirius hasn't even asked me to that costume party either, everyone told me not to trust him, and now look at me…." Lummy lamented before bursting into a shower of tears once again. Sasha Tsukino looked at Lummy with her lovely grey eyes, and took her inside the Ravenclaw common room to clean her up.

"Don't cry sweetheart. Sirius is not a very nice boy at all," (Sasha was remembering an incident with a hag, a werewolf, and a fwooper), "And I'll help you with Ancient Runes, dear."

"Would you? I don't even know your name, and here I am having a nervous breakdown. Not even Harold is this kind to me…she spends all her time with that Gerald."

"I'm Sasha. Now, what day is good for you?"

"The only day is Friday evening. Oh, you have a date to that costume thing…everyone has a date but me…" started Lummy again, her eyes beginning to water once again. Sasha looked bewildered, especially if the blonde girl started crying again, so she quickly replied,

"No, no, I haven't got a date," (she flushed, thinking what would happen if Remus finally understood and just asked her), "Friday evening is fine. Where?" Almost magically, Lummy's face widened into a grin, and she hastily said –

"Gryffindor common room, password's Dead Veela…see you later Tsukino!" and skipped away rather suspiciously.

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Lily and James had made triply sure that Remus was stuck in the library before summoning the entire Gryffindor house into the common room. Lily began imperiously –

"Alright, does everyone know what to do?"

A tiny first year girl spoke first,

"I'll be waiting with my Potions book, alone on the sofa."

Almost all of the fifth through seventh years added that they would be already at the costume party by the time seven o'clock rolled around on Friday. Third year Amy Moran, speaking for the majority of her compatriots added,

"And we young'uns will be upstairs, quiet as a mouse from seven to eight."

James smirked; Moran had been spending too much time around the Quidditch team, especially Sirius. He then added, after giving the entire room a piercing glare,

"Everyone who is not directly involved in Operation Sun-Fox is now dismissed."

Sirius grinned, and replied –

"That's the stupidest name ever, mate. In any case, Lummy will be there at 6:55, and then mysteriously leave at 6:59 with moi, to the costume ball. Remus will enter at 7:00 in costume, so Tsukino will not be aware of who he is, and begin teaching Cindy here about Potions."

"My name is Felicity," corrected Felicity, the first year girl. She was absolutely adorable, since she looked eight instead of eleven, and would probably be rather pretty when she became older. Lummy spoke up as soon as Lauren finished –

"Oh, Sirius, can I meet you in the Great Hall? Tsukino thinks you never asked me to the party." Sirius grumbled, considering the effort he had put into asking Lummy in their Transfiguration class. Even McGonagall had helped out!

"Fine. Cindy will allow Remus and Sasha to talk for a moment, and then have to go to the bathroom or something at 7:15. Operation Sun-Fox is ready."

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Sasha Tsukino walked into the Gryffindor common room rather timidly at 6:53 Friday Evening. Surprisingly, only Lummy Delaware was there, clad in a flamenco dancer costume. Her Ancient Runes book was open with only a few notes scattered around the sofa.

"You're wearing a costume?"

"Just for fun. I'm not going. Here, I'll make you one!" Sasha Tsukino suddenly was wearing a white frock and wings with green trimmings and a cute green cap. Her ears were pointed.

"What am I supposed to be?"

"An elf queen? Dunno. I'm not very good at Charms," lied Lummy. She suddenly "realized" that she had forgotten her quill in her dormitory. She began to bound up the stairs to her room. Sasha smiled and nodded.

It was 6:58. Upstairs in the boy's dormitory, Sirius was putting the finishing touches on Remus' elf prince costume. His flaxen hair went very well with the green.

"I'm going to be late for the tutoring session."

"Cindy'll wait. Here, go!" Sirius waited until Remus had disappeared from the room, and flew out of the window on Amelia to pick Lummy up from her window.

"Still getting your quill, my fair flamenco vixen?"

"Afraid so."

It was 7:00. Remus had just put on a rather absurd mask that Sirius had provided for his costume. He looked around the room – ah, there in the corner was a tiny first year girl. He knelt down, and asked,

"Are you Cindy?"

"Actually, I'm Felicity."

"Oh, Sirius said you were named Felicity."

"That would be very Sirius, wouldn't it?" smiled Felicity. Sasha Tsukino was lounging on the sofa, her pretty white mask glinting under the lights. It seemed that her student was taking an excessively long time finding a quill. It had been almost seven minutes.

"Hey, do you need any help tutoring? I was helping some girl, but she ran off to find a quill." Remus looked up from the Potions assignment. Her voice sounded like Sasha Tsukino's, but he knew it wasn't, since she was in Ravenclaw. She looked quite lovely.

"I think we'll be fine in a few minutes, right Felicity?"

"Yes, of course," smiled Felicity in a cheeky manner. The three of them continued discussing potions happily, Remus sometimes looking over Felicity's brown head into the grey eyes of the girl sitting across from him.

"Have you thought about what subjects you'll be taking third year?"

"No, I still have a year, you know," replied Felicity. Sasha spoke up –

"Actually, it's very important to start preparing early, because otherwise you won't be able to make up your mind, there'll be so many options."

"Can I drop Potions?" asked Felicity, eagerly.

"No, of course not. Besides, I would think that Slughorn would be very fond of a pretty little girl like you," answered Remus, making the tiny first year blush, and Sasha regard him warmly.

"I would actually suggest Arithmancy or Ancient Runes, because they are such fascinating subjects. Especially if you want to work somewhere fun like Gringotts," added Remus, seriously.

"Ancient Runes is rather fascinating," began Sasha conversationally, looking at Remus instead of Felicity. Felicity, who was a most perceptive little girl, chose that moment to smash her quill into her parchment by dropping her Potions book. Remus turned his face away from Sasha's, and asked kindly,

"What happened?"

"Oh nothing, I'll just go get a little bit of parchment, then," said Felicity airily. Remus continued to discuss Runes with the girl while they waited, finding that she knew almost as much about the subject as he. Sasha liked to think that the boy's flaxen hair was Remus', and imagined that it was he that she was having this fascinating discussion with.

"I wonder where she went. Hmm, Sirius did say I should just head to the costume party after the lesson was done." Sasha frowned underneath her mask, and queried sharply,

"You know Sirius?"

"Yea, actually. Why?"

Sasha decided in a split that she didn't want to offend the unknown boy – most Gryffindors knew the pranking seventh year. Even her dear Remus was friends with the hateful boy.

"Oh, just wondering. I think I'll head there too, you know, since I'm wearing the outfit and everything." Remus thought for a moment, and decided that since he couldn't have Sasha, this was the next best thing –

"Do you want to go together – just to get to know each other better? I mean, we obviously can't be dates, we just met each other!" Sasha smiled, he seemed like a nice boy, and replied,

"Sounds fine to me."

The two walked down to the costume ball together, their elf costumes matching perfectly. The Great Hall looked magnificent with the glittering decorations all around the vaulted ceiling, and a myriad of desserts were on the long white table at the side. James was dressed in the same outfit he had worn for King Claudius, looking particularly regal in the fur cape. Lily was close by, her small additions to Queen Gertrude's green gown showing off her flowing red hair and startling green eyes to everyone's satisfaction. Remus couldn't see Sirius yet, and another song had just started up.

"I'm a jealous man,
I can't relate
she's a doe-eyed girl
with no complaints
but there's another side
that I'm trying to crack
if you open your mind
and let me take a stab
at the secrets that you know
sweet troubled soul…." (1)

The haunting beat was a particular favorite of Remus', so he and the girl he barely knew went to dance. It was particularly thrilling to hold her, even though she wasn't Sasha. When her head began to rest on his shoulder, Remus looked behind her to see perhaps a glimpse of Sasha, her short black tresses…perhaps with a lovely white dress on. The song had ended while they were still dancing.

On the other side of the makeshift ballroom, Sirius was resplendent in his matador costume, twirling around Lummy, the lovely Spanish flamenco dancer. Lummy had somehow given a Spanish flair to her face, Sirius wasn't sure how she had managed it, and he was having a great deal of fun with his red cloth.

"Do you think it worked?" whispered Lummy, her castanets clicking uselessly in her hands. Sirius smiled his handsome grin that made a great many girls melt, including Lummy, although she refused to admit it to his face…she liked it when he was unsure.

"Of course." Just then, the opening beats of Cake began, and Sirius dipped Lummy mercilessly as the song began –

"I want a girl with a mind like a diamond

I want a girl who knows what's best

I want a girl with shoes that cut

And eyes that burn like cigarettes

I want a girl with the right allocations

Who's fast, thorough, and sharp as a tack

She's playing with her jewelry

She's putting up her hair

She's touring the facility

And picking up the slack

I want a girl with a short skirt and a looooooooooong jacket…." (2)

Remus really enjoyed himself at the costume ball, and had come to regard the mysterious girl with has much fondness as he had regarded Sasha Tsukino herself. Besides, everyone else was having a lot of fun, Dumbledore in his sombrero-donning Mexican get-up, to Professor Slughorn who made a very believable Walrus. Off in the distance, an exuberantly dancing Matador was performing a very acrobatic dance with his red skirted date, a couple Remus suspected to be Sirius and Lummy.

Sasha had still not been able to locate Remus…she had been hoping to have at least one dance with him. However, she found the boy from the common room very interesting, polite, and a fascinating dancer. She thought with a pang that she did not even know his name. It was almost time for the unmasking – that would be the perfect time to ask him. His flaxen hair looked very debonair, even when peaking out from underneath that silly green cap. Sasha decided that she would take off the mask herself, and she stared up, maskless, her grey eyes looking at the elf prince.

Remus nearly choked…only there wasn't anything to choke on. He brushed the hair out of his face, pushed his own mask out of sight, and kissed Sasha Tsukino. Somewhere in the distance, a matador and the pretty flamenco dancer in his lap catcalled.

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Lummy and Sirius are definitely the dream team of matchmakery, and they shall find your true love if you review!

(1) Sweet Troubled Soul, by Stellastarr

(2) Short Skirt, Long Jacket, by Cake