Author's Note:
Nothing more inspirational than writing this whilst sat in your garden watching meteors – seen three already :D although the glare from my screen is blocking the sky so I probably won't get much written tonight…
"Wow"
"I know"
"Seriously WOW" Sirius and James sat in the corner of the common room as a group of girls sat around Peter comforting him and fussing him.
"I genuinely had no idea that all you needed to do to get a group of girls was to burst out crying and huddle in a ball on a chair" Sirius said open mouthed.
"Yeah, but I bet none of them are actually going to the ball with him" James tried to catch Peter's eye but he was too busy taking in what had just happened.
"I didn't know he would get like that just because a girl turned him down" Sirius sounded genuinely upset. "Hey, hang on" Sirius' face lit up as he looked across the room and saw Mary talking to Peter "Remus thinks he can beat me" he laughed before standing up and flouncing over to her, only to find Remus jumping in front of him and getting there first.
"Hey Mary" he smiled at her and sat down next to her with a hand thrown over the chair.
"Hi?" She asked looking confused at Remus, Sirius tutted his obvious style.
"Yeah, hey Mary" Sirius butted in, flicking his hair back and leaning on the table.
"Again. Hi?" Mary looked back and forth at the two Marauders wondering what was going on.
"So anyway I…" Remus started.
"When he says I he means me" Sirius leant over "And 'me' wants to know if you'd…"
"Like to go to the ball with I… I mean me. Dammit Sirius" Remus glared over at Sirius.
"See, he stutters, and talks to himself, you should definitely come with me" Sirius tried to push Remus off the sofa but it ended up in a slapping contest "SO…. What do you…. Get off Remus… think?" The two of them froze and smiled over keenly at her.
"Uh, sorry, but I'm going with Peter" Those six words were like a slap in the face for Sirius. He'd lost a girl. To Peter Pettigrew.
"Ha. Hahahahaha. I see what you did there" Sirius laughed awkwardly "You're building me up aren't you? Well I won't wait forev…" Remus sighed at how desperate Sirius was to uphold his reputation with girls.
"No Sirius. I'm not. I'm going with Peter because you're cocky, immature, you shove Peter around like he's your rag doll, and he deserves to go with someone" And with that all of the girls tutted, flicked their hair and walked off leaving Sirius, Remus, and Peter all sat alone.
"Sorry, Wormy, we were only…" Remus started to apologize.
"Are you kidding!" Peter beamed "That was the best thing ever! Thanks for showing how sad you two are, really helped" He smiled proudly at Sirius and Remus' open mouths "Aww, don't worry, I'm sure there'll be someone desperate to go with you" He laughed at his own joke and flounced off. Sirius and Remus hadn't shut their mouths.
"Well, I have to say, that was one of the funniest things I've ever seen" James chuckled as he walked over "Now shut your mouths I need help with asking Lily"
"But you're going out, isn't that a given?"
"Are you serious? I didn't even technically ask her out, she just kind of said it. This is my chance to go all alpha male"
"Alpha male" Sirius laughed "Yeah, ok, come on then"
"I can be alpha male" James whined as they left the common room.
"What's with the massive box?" Sasha asked everyone as they sat down at the table in defence against the dark arts.
"I have no idea" The whole group were sat mesmerized by the chest trying to figure out what was inside it.
"I don't trust this defence against the dark arts teacher, you know" James looked Professor Bogley up and down "Never seemed right since the Easter holidays"
"It'll be fine James, knowing defence against the dark arts he'll be gone by next year" Sirius pointed out.
"Oh yeah, fair enough" James continued to watch the teacher tiptoeing around the box as if not wanting what was in it to escape.
"Right then class" He tried to shout, no-one stopped talking. In seeing how desperate this teacher what Sirius helped him out.
"OH MY GOD JAMES PUT A SHIRT ON!" Immediately all of the girls in the class turned around and the boys glared over preparing to be envious. "There, that worked" Sirius beamed, James sat there blushing.
"Right, er, yes, Ok" The teacher was going to complain, but he was pretty rubbish at keeping a class quiet. "So, today we're going to be learning about boggarts. Lily's hand shot up and the teacher sighed "I haven't even asked yet, but yes, miss Evans, what do you know about boggarts?"
"Boggarts are devious" She said confidently "They can read a person's soul and scan it for their worst nightmares, the things that make your skin crawl and your heart freeze. The only way to stop one is to turn it into something to make you laugh by using the riddikulus spell.
"Thank you, Miss Evans" Professor Bogley said through the dead silence Lily's words had left behind. "So, the best way to find out how to fight a boggart is to fight one"
Remus sat there watching intently.
"Yo, Moony, what's with the concentrating?" Sirius laughed from his seat.
"It's strange, isn't it. One creature that can read fears" Remus said as he stared at the chest.
"Well, ur, sort of" Sirius didn't actually know what Remus was talking about.
"Seriously though, I think it's great"
"You should take Bogley's place" Sirius laughed "You made it more interesting than him!"
"Nah, I couldn't, I mean, who would want to hire me with my condition, I'm just unemployable" Remus moaned, but before Sirius could attempt to give him an inspirational speech Professor Bogley got them to join the line at the front of the class.
"Ok then, class, one by one I want you to face the Boggart" They all murmured about safety "Now repeat after me 'riddikulus'" The class mimicked him "Good, now wave your wand like this, and you've got it, now! First child up you come" Sasha quickly looked behind her, then in front of her and sighed because she was the first in line "Are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be" She clenched her wand in her hand and pointed it at the chest. Professor Bogley opened the chest and a dark figure flew out of the chest and landed on the floor in front of her before morphing into her mother.
"Sasha, what is this!" He boggart screeched.
"Mum? I, er…" Sasha stepped backwards.
"You are a disappointment! Look at you, you can't even do a simple spell! You shame our family"
"Sasha, riddikulus!" Lily shouted in her ear, Sasha came to her senses, stared at the boggart and breathed in.
"Riddikulus!" Sasha said boldy, and the boggart changed from her mother into a giant ice-cream.
"Ice-cream? Really?" Lily laughed as Sasha stepped backwards.
"I'm really hungry" Sasha admitted as Kara moved forwards. The boggart changed into a giant mouse.
"DAMMIT" Kara hid her face behind her hands and prepared to jump behind a desk.
"No Kara, come on" Lily helped her face the boggart.
"R…Riddikulus" She half shouted half stuttered and the boggart changed into a cream pie.
"All of you – food?" Lily sighed.
"You made us skip breakfast for revision" Kara accused as she skipped to the side, high fiving Sasha as she sat down at a table. It was Lily's turn. She stood with her head raised as the Boggart morphed into two coffins, a big one and a baby-sized one.
"No" She whispered, her eyes welling up with tears.
"Lily, what's wrong?" James walked up to her and held her hand "Who's in the coffins. Refusing to look inside the open lids Lily quickly shouted "Riddikulus" and watched with relief as the coffins changed into a bear on a pogo stick.
For Sirius his parents appeared screaming at him, for Remus the full moon appeared, Peter's was strange because the dark mark appeared next to a Slytherin badge, then it was James' turn.
"This I could use against you" Sirius laughed. Before the boggart got a chance to change the door opened and everyone parted as Dumbledore walked in.
"Professor, I was wondering…" Dumbledore was cut off as the Boggart swept forwards and changed. "Deal Lord" Dumbledore's hands started to shake; he didn't know that it was a boggart. Before him lay the corpse of a little girl lying on the floor. On seeing what had happened Professor Bogley rushed in front of him, the boggart changed into a snake before he turned it into a dragonfly and locked it back in the chest.
"Forgive me" Dumbledore proceeded to briskly leave the room.
"What was that about?" Sirius' voice cut through the silence.
"This is getting stupid now" Sirius moaned as he sadly picked at a bowl of pasta.
"What is it now Pads?" James sighed.
"I lost. To Wormtail. Wormtail has a date and I currently do not." Sirius sulked.
"Is that is?" Lily exclaimed "Sirius, I'm not one to sing your praises, but you could ask any girl in the school to go and they'd say yes"
"That's not the point. I mean really, Wormtail?" Peter was trying to ignore the offensive remarks.
"Oh snap out of it Pads" James slapped him in the arm "Get out there now and ask someone out"
"But what if I've lost my woman skills?" He sobbed. Sasha was about to talk some sense into him when Remus stopped her.
"Don't, Sirius is very sensitive about his woman skills" Remus thought back to the time when Sirius got turned down by Lily in first year after James failed and he spent the rest of the day crying and threatening to renounce woman forever.
"No I'm not!" Sirius squealed, after hearing what he'd just said he slapped his hand over his mouth. "I'm starting to sound like Sasha when you steal her shoes"
"Wh-" Sasha started.
"Hey! Look it's Emmeline!" Sirius' face lit up "What if I ask her?"
"Why are you asking us, Pads, go on" James shooed Sirius away and her ran over to Emmeline.
"That was a bad idea" Remus sighed to James.
"Why?"
"Emmeline's going with me" They could just hear the faint weep of Sirius as her ran out of the Great Hall once Emmeline had rejected him.
"Sirius shut up for a second" James snapped at Sirius as he moaned about being forever alone and maybe buying some cats. "This has got to be the best ball invitation in the history of the school"
"James, everyone knows you're going to go with her, do we really need to…" James cut Remus off.
"Don't say the plan, someone might be listening. And yes, we do need to do this, so come on" James ushered the three of them out of the room so they slid down the staircase manically so he could make the final touches.
"You could have just let us go out of the window you know!" Sirius yelled up the stairs as he lay in a heap entangled in Remus and Peter.
"Just go do what you need to do!" Frustrated with the pressure James yelled down the stairs.
Lily was sat with Kara and Sasha outside by the lake when Sirius came running down to them.
"LILY!" He cried "Oh Lily"
"Sirius, what is it?" Lily sat up looking concerned "It's Peter, he passed out, you should go help him" Sirius hadn't thought about making an excuse properly and that was the best he could think of.
"Oh my goodness, where is he?" Lily got up.
"Ur, outside the common room, now hurry!" Lily ran off towards the castle.
"You're the worst liar on the planet, Black" Kara tutted.
"You can talk" He scorned as he walked off back to the castle.
"Remus! Remus where's Peter?" Lily asked panting for breath as she reached the entrance to the common room.
"Uh, what?" Remus had no idea what Sirius had said "He's gone to do something" Lily could tell something was up "Now, Lils, on behalf of a doting stranger I would like to give you these" Remus presented her with a massive bouquet of Lilies.
"What?" Lily stared at the Lilies in awe, then back at Remus.
"Go on into the common room and find out" he grinned saying the password of the painting swung open, Lily walked in to find Peter down on one knee dressed as cupid.
"Uh Peter, I'm flattered, but…" Lily said awkwardly.
"Gosh no" Peter blushed "From your doting admirer: "Green-eyed lady, passion's lady, dressed in love, she lives for life to be. Green-eyed lady feels life I never see. Setting suns and lonely lovers free"
"How…?" Lily looked down at Peter questioning why he knew her favourite song.
"Just go up the stairs" Peter smiled as he handed her a note saying
'To my green eyed lady, follow the rose petals to find your surpise'
"Wow" Lily exclaimed as she turned to see a paths of rose petals leading to the girl's staircase.
"Go on then" Peter urged her to go as he stepped back. Lily precariously walked up the stairs. Half way to her dorm Sirius hovered above the stairs on a broomstick.
"Sorry about this, but I don't want to turn into a human penguin flying down the stairs" Sirius smiled.
"Uh, Sirius, this is all very nice, but I don't see you as…" Lily stammered.
"Oh Lilypop, not me" Sirius laughed "I'm just a messenger" He beamed as he unhooked the basket that was tied to his broomstick and took out three items: a miniature masquerade mask, a rose, and a sealed letter, Lily went to open the letter but Sirius stopped her. "Wait a minute, you may continue" He said seriously, forgetting where he was he hopped off him broom and the stairs turned into a slide, Lily grabbed onto a shelf and watched Sirius slide down. Laughing, she walked into her dorm.
James stood nervously in the middle of the room surrounded by hundreds of roses.
"Sirius fell down the stairs didn't he?" He laughed, Lily nodded and they laughed together for a bit.
"So what's with all of this James?" Lily asked "I hope you're not just another messenger"
"Nope, you've reached the end of the line" he beamed "These are roses to represent the number of days you've been my girlfriend" He blushed at how silly it now sounded.
"Aww, that's amazing" Lily cooed as she walked around admiring each delicate pink rose.
"You, um, you can open the letter now" James was never good with saying things out loud so he decided to wright them down in a letter. She read it:
Lily,
I wouldn't be able to bear it if I ever saw you with another man, and I will do anything to keep you happy and safe for the rest of my life, and I class every day of you being there next to me as a the only times when I'm truly happy.
"So" James said softly when he saw Lily had read the note, he stepped forwards and took her hands "Lily will you go to the ball with me?" gobsmacked at the effort James had gone to just to ask her to go to the ball her eyes weld up.
Author's Note:
Yay, managed to get a chapter in before Saturday :) As you may have guessed I wasn't alive in the 70's so I had to look through a massive list of songs from them and that one seemed to be perfect . If I write an entire chapter before tomorrow I'll be shocked, but I'll try, it's started raining on my summer holiday -.- Please don't forget to review :)