Every year, while most of the students were home for the winter holidays, the Hogwarts seventh years held a massive New Year's Ball to celebrate the beginning of their final stretch of school before graduation. By the time the first of December had come around, the entire class had been thrown into a panicked frenzy of dates and ball gowns and corsages. Peter was, of course, a nervous wreck about the ball—but he also couldn't help but smile as he imagined himself dancing with Fiona, twirling her around and watching the fabric of her dress ripple around her….
"Have you asked out your girl yet, Wormtail?" James asked him as the Marauders lounged together on the large common room sofa after class.
"No," Peter admitted, "not yet." He had no idea how to ask her—would she even accept? He still sometimes suspected that Fiona was only associating with him to be nice.
Sirius kicked James in the shin. "You haven't asked Lily yet," he pointed out. "Better get on that before Snivelly does."
"I'm waiting for the right moment," James protested.
"I believe that moment is right now." Sirius gestured to the stairs leading out of the girls' dormitories; Lily and Mary were headed down with their heads pressed together in conversation. "Oi, Evans! Get over here!"
James instantly put his head in his hands, cursing under his breath. "Sirius," Remus said quietly. He was holding Sirius's hand behind his back.
Sirius didn't listen, still beckoning to Lily. "Not you, Mary—just the ginger. We've got something important to discuss."
Mary shot him an affronted look, but Lily laid a placating hand on her arm. "I'll meet you outside in a minute, Mary. These toerags won't stop pestering me if I don't go see what they want."
Mary nodded reluctantly and slipped out of the common room, Lily coming over to take her seat in the armchair across from the Marauders' sofa. "What is this about?" she asked.
"James wanted to know if you'd go to the ball with him," Sirius said.
Lily flicked her gaze over to James, whose head was still buried in his hands. "Is that right?"
Remus helped James pull himself up to face her. "It is right," he admitted. "Unless you don't want to go—then it's very much not right." Sirius grinned cheekily.
Lily crossed her arms, tilting her head. "I'll go with you," she said. "On one condition."
"What's the condition?"
Lily's eyes twinkled. "I'll tell you after."
James sighed and collapsed back again the sofa. He was smiling. "You know what? I don't even care. If you go to the ball with me, I'll do whatever you want—I'd snog Snape, even." Sirius made a retching noise.
"Great," Lily said briskly, standing up. "I'm going to wear a green gown, mostly because it's the only one I own. You can plan your outfit accordingly." She flipped her hair over her shoulder and headed out to join Mary beyond the portrait hole. James stared after her with his mouth slightly ajar.
"You're welcome," said Sirius.
"Shut up, you prat."
"You were never going to work up the nerve to ask her on your own."
"Of course I was!"
Remus smiled, resting his head against Sirius's shoulder. Peter glanced down at his feet. James now had his date, and Remus and Sirius would going together as well as the two of them could—now all that was left was for Peter to ask out Fiona.
Peter chewed on the tip of his wand as he stared at Fiona bent over her desk in front of him, dutifully taking notes on Flitwick's lecture about snow-making. The other Marauders were shooting Peter encouraging looks from off to his side.
He had to ask her soon; the lesson was almost over, and the Gryffindors had Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaws next, so Peter wouldn't be seeing Fiona for the rest of the day. He had stalled for just about as long as he could.
Gulping down a breath, he leaned forward and tapped Fiona lightly on the shoulder. She twisted around in her seat to look at him.
"Do you need help?" she asked, glancing down at his empty parchment.
"I—n—no," he stammered. "Er…I was just thinking about the ball at the end of the month, um, and I was wondering…would you maybe want to go to it with me?"
"I—"
"Pettigrew!" Flitwick's voice cut in sharply. "Please, no talking during my class. This is important."
Peter sat back quickly, his face going red. "Sorry, Professor."
"How about you come up here and demonstrate the spell for us?" Flitwick asked.
"Y—yes, sir." Reluctantly Peter rose to his feet and shuffled to the front of the classroom, his wand trembling in his hand. He turned to face the class, Fiona and the Marauders and everyone else, and glanced down to Flitwick, who nodded for him to go on.
Peter hadn't paid any attention to the wand motions for the spell—he had absolutely no idea what he was doing. He raised his wand and swung it vaguely around, clearing his throat and muttering "Nievus." A tiny bit of cool mist spurted from his wand tip before quickly dissolving in the air; certainly nothing like the flurry of snowflakes Flitwick had conjured up at the beginning of class.
A couple people snickered in the back of the room. Flitwick frowned at him, disappointed. "Clearly you haven't been paying attention to my lesson, Mr Pettigrew," he said. "Would anyone else like to try?"
Lily raised her hand; Flitwick summoned her up to him, and Peter returned to his desk with his head bowed in shame. His cheeks felt like they were burning.
As soon as he'd slid back into his seat, Fiona reached behind her and dropped a scrap of crumpled parchment onto his desk without turning around. Biting his lip, Peter took the parchment and unfolded it in his lap.
I would love to go to the ball with you, it said. Fiona had included a quick sketch of the two of them beneath her words, dancing arm in arm—she always drew the most perfect little doodles.
Peter stuffed the parchment into the pocket of his robes and turned to give the Marauders a thumbs-up. He could hardly believe that someone as amazing as Fiona would want to go to a ball with him, the weakest link among all his brilliant friends. His public embarrassment already felt like a distant, irrelevant memory. He was going to the New Year's Ball with Fiona Sakai, the nicest and prettiest girl in all of Hogwarts. How had he gotten so lucky?
He smiled, suddenly feeling like the end of the month couldn't come soon enough.
