"Looking good, Re!" James said, hugging Remus from behind as he adjusted his tie in the bathroom mirror. James had bought Remus's suit for him in Hogsmeade; Remus hadn't owned one, and James had insisted it was only fair since Remus hadn't wanted to go to the Slug Club dance in the first place.
"You're both looking good," Sirius said from behind them. James smirked a little; although he and Remus were in suits and ties and Sirius was wearing his ugly lion-patterned pajamas, it was still clear that he was the handsomest of the lot. Sirius didn't even have to try to look good, whereas it had taken James hours just to get his hair to fall correctly.
"I'm still not sure about this," Remus murmured. "I don't really like parties."
"Have you ever been to one?" James asked. Remus shrugged, which he took to mean no. "Don't stress, mate. We all passed our finals—now we're going to have some fun. Who knows? Maybe you'll find a girl you fancy to dance with there, too."
Remus tousled his hair self-consciously. "I doubt it."
"Well, you can go for the food, then." James punched him in the ribs. "I'm sure Slughorn pulls out all the stops for his parties."
"Yeah, I hope so." Remus had perked up a bit at the word food.
"It's eight o'clock," said Sirius, leaning back against the wall. "Better get going."
"All right, Re. Let's show this party what it's missing." James offered Remus his arm; the other Marauder took it, rolling his eyes good-naturedly.
The two of them made their way down to the Great Hall, which had been cleared out for Slughorn's party. The doors leading into it had been decorated with streamers and glitter, with two of the castle ghosts floating between them and glancing inside enviously. The Hall's giant tables had been replaced by smaller circular ones around which witches and wizards gathered and chatted with their friends, and the center of the Hall had been transformed into a dance floor lined by floating colored candles. In addition to the current Slug Club members and their dates, Slughorn appeared to have invited many of his favorite alumni—James didn't recognize most of them, but he did spot a couple wizards he believed were Beaters for Puddlemere United. And he'd been right: there was plenty of food, platters of it set out on a long table against the back wall and hired waiters flitting about with trays of fancy-looking delicacies and cocktails levitating just above their fingers. It was just as pretentious-looking as James had imagined it would be.
Professor Slughorn waited by the door to greet his incoming guests. "Ah, Mr Lupin," he said as they passed inside. "Lovely to see you here. And Mr Potter…." He trailed off, glancing down at Remus's arm linked with James's.
"James is my date tonight," Remus said with the straightest face he could muster. "He loves dances."
"I do," James agreed.
Slughorn blinked. "Oh. Well, erm…in that case, welcome, both of you!" He ushered them inside with a bewildered smile.
The two of them circled around the Hall, Remus nibbling on a strawberry-coated chocolate truffle, until finally James spotted her: Lily Evans, her hair pulled back into a braided bun and her figure wrapped in a beautiful lavender gown that went perfectly with her eyes. Loitering beside the dance floor with her was Snape, her date; his greasy slimeball self looked even greasier and slimier beside Lily.
"There they are, Remus." James pointed them out to him. "Now it's time for Operation Get Snivelly Away from Evans."
Remus looked at him sideways. "I assume I'm the one meant to accomplish this mission?"
"You assume correctly."
"Merlin, why do I do these things for you?"
"I'll give you the rest of my Honeydukes stash after," James offered.
"Deal." Remus finally released James's arm and headed over towards Snape and Lily, James following a few feet behind. "Hey, Severus, I was wondering if I could speak to you for a minute."
Snape turned to Remus with a scowl. "What about?"
"I had a question about one of the potions we were tested on during our finals, and seeing as you're the best potioneer in our year, I reckoned you were the one to ask about it."
"Right now? At a dance?"
"Well, I won't be seeing you again before we leave for the summer, will I?" Snape sighed and reluctantly allowed Remus to drag him away, shooting one final glance back at Lily before vanishing into the crowd. Remus shot James a look, too, which clearly meant you owe me.
Finally James stepped up to Lily and tapped her on the shoulder from behind to get her attention. "James!" she exclaimed, whipping around. "You scared me. What are you doing here?"
"I came as Remus's date," he explained with a grin. He held a hand out to her. "Care to dance?"
Lily raised her eyebrows dubiously. "You know how to dance?"
"Of course I do. My mum made me take lessons when I was younger." Snape would never have had any dance lessons, James thought with satisfaction.
"All right," Lily said with a sigh, taking his hand. "I suppose one dance can't hurt."
James led her to an unoccupied corner of the dance floor and laid a hand on her waist. The two of them began to sway in time with the accompanying music, which was provided by a pianist sequestered in a corner and a pair of violinists that looked suspiciously like vampires. Every once in a while, James released Lily and twirled her around with a flourish. She was clumsier than he was—both due to lack of practice and the unnaturally-high heels she wore, James reckoned—but he didn't mind at all.
Over Lily's shoulder, James caught Snape watching them dance with a scowl; he couldn't resist giving him a cheeky little wink back. But then he returned his gaze to Lily, met Lily's wide green eyes, and suddenly Snape was gone, everyone around them was gone, and she was all he could see.
What was it about Lily that made him feel like this? James had no idea, but whatever it was, he certainly didn't mind it. He lifted Lily off her feet and spun her around, and Lily smiled, and he felt even better than he did soaring across a Quidditch pitch with a Quaffle in hand.
"You're quite good at this, James," she said to him as he set her back down.
"I know." Now Snape was coming over to them, ready to drag Lily away, and Remus was too preoccupied with a Hufflepuff girl to stop him. Spontaneously James lifted Lily's hand to his mouth and kissed her fingers. "I must go, my lady. This dance will not be our last; I am certain of it."
Lily's mouth fell open with surprise. James gave an equally surprised Snape another wink before vanishing into the crowd, feeling as if he were floating a foot off the ground.
