23
The Christmas Ball
As Christmas approached quickly, Hogwarts was carpeted in a blanket of thick white snow. It was picturesque. The teachers and Hagrid had made sure that every part of the castle was decorated to perfection. The Great Hall alone had twelve full sized decorated trees, and every hallway and archway in the castle was lined with garland and snow covered ivy.
It was strange to see so many people at school over Christmas break. It seemed as if the entire school had stayed to witness what a Hogwarts dance would look like.
Mary, Marlene and Lily had all gotten there dresses already as well, they had written away to Madam Malkin's in Diagon Alley.
It came quicker than they had expected, the morning of Christmas Eve was a very cold one and it was still snowing flurries outside.
" Let's go outside and make snow angels!" Lily exclaimed looking out of the window at the white covered grounds.
" We could build a snowman too!" Doe said happily.
" A what?" Marlene asked.
" It's these things that muggle children do" Mary told her with a laugh.
" I wasn't a muggle child" Doe said quickly.
" But you're mom probably showed you right?" Mary asked.
Doe nodded, " Yeah".
They all trekked out into the snow in their thick coats. The snow was up past their ankles.
" Look" Lily said catching a snowflake in her hands.
They kneeled in the snow like they were first years and stacked snow up into a small wall.
" I love this" Mary said laying back into the snow, sinking slightly into it.
" What are you birds doing over there?" Sirius asked walking over, clad with the rest of the marauders.
Marlene shook the snow out of her hair quickly.
" Just sitting around" Mary told him. Lily and Doe, who had been setting up the base of a snowman looked up at them.
Remus was wrapped up tightly in a coat and a large scarf. His cheeks pink from the snow.
" You cold?" Doe asked with a wide grin.
He nodded quickly, " It's freezing out here".
Doe got up and walked over to him quickly. She smiled slightly brushed some of the snow off of his shoulders. Remus could never handle the cold.
" I have an idea" James said looking at the snow that surrounded them. From next to her, Doe heard Lily sigh.
" What about if we had a good old-fashioned snowball fight, blokes versus birds"
" You're on" Marlene said proudly.
James smiled and then took off a few feet away from them, with the other Marauders following him.
They all started gathering snow and clumping it into small balls that they began throwing.
She had already been hit by two.
" I'm going to kill you James!" Lily shouted angrily, as he threw one straight at her face.
Doe threw one at Peter, who ducked behind a tree stump.
Suddenly, Doe felt a rush of freezing snow fall over her head.
Sirius had dumped a collection of snow on top of her. She shoved him.
" You arse" she said grabbing a handful of snow and throwing it at him.
He laughed loudly, " Moony your girl's a tyrant"
Doe grabbed a handful of snow and smashed it in Sirius' hair.
Doe turned very pleased with herself when she was hit in the arm with another one.
Remus stood grinning with two more in his hands.
" You're in for it now, Lupin" Doe said grabbing another one and running towards him to throw it.
She slipped slightly on the ice in front of her and almost fell forward. Remus caught her by her arm.
" I'm in for it, am I?" he asked.
She frowned, " It was better planned in my head" she said taking one of the the snowballs and throwing it at him.
Remus pulled her into a one armed hug.
" No fraternizing with the enemy, Moony!" Peter shouted.
Remus rolled his eyes.
" I think we're losing anyway" Doe told him as she watched Sirius dump an armful of snow on top of Marlene's head, and James throw another one at Lily.
" JAMES!" Lily hissed angrily, tossing one at his face.
Marlene and Sirius were practically on their knees throwing snow in one another's face.
" Oh," Marlene said looking at her watch, " guys it's one, we should start getting ready"
" You need six bloody hours?" Sirius asked, horrified.
" Don't worry about it" Marlene assured him, " guys come on"
" I think that's my cue" she told Remus.
" We'll have fun" Remus told her.
She raised an eyebrow, " Marlene may kill me".
" She will if you don't hurry up" Marlene called.
Mary was also looking at Marlene with a strange expression.
In the end, they ended up following her up to the dormitory. It was warm in there with the fire going. All of their dresses were hanging off the wooden poles of their beds.
Marlene began working on her makeup. Lily sat on the edge of her bed.
" Doe, can you do my hair?" She asked holding out a brush.
" Of course" Doe told her.
She turned around and Doe began running a brush through her hair, braiding it into an intricate updo.
Marlene and Mary were on the other side of the room talking wildly about the correct amount of appropriate eyeliner.
" You know what's weird?" Lily said quietly.
" What?" Doe asked her as she pinned a small piece of hair out of her face.
She made a small frown, " James didn't ask me to the ball"
" I thought you didn't want him too" she told her.
She shrugged, " I didn't, it just...I don't know weird that he didn't."
" Maybe he finally got the hint, that you're not interested"
" Yeah, maybe" Lily said softly.
Doe continued pinning her hair into place until it was all done.
" There you go" she told her.
She held up a small hand mirror, " Oh I love it! Thank you, Doe" She said hugging her tightly.
" Amos won't know what to do with himself" Doe told her.
She smiled and blushed slightly.
Doe took the brush off of the bed and began brushing out her own hair. She left some of it down and braided the rest up.
Marlene had just finished doing Lily's makeup, when she turned to her.
" You're up, Meadowes" she said.
Doe bit her lip, eyeing the collection of makeup Marlene had assembled in front of her.
" I'm not going to torture you, calm down" Marlene said yielding a small brush her hand.
Doe sat down in front of her, " Not to much" she warned her.
She didn't wear makeup on a regular basis, so she didn't want Marlene to over do it.
" Stop worrying" Marlene said spreading powder across her eyelids.
She sat there silently for a little while, letting Marlene have her fun. It felt like forever when she finally held up a small mirror.
" So?" She asked.
Doe was impressed. She had managed to outline her features without making it too dramatic.
" Thank you, Marley" she said.
They finished getting ready. It didn't take nearly six hours. They all just sat around the fire for a while talking.
About fifteen minutes before they were supposed to leave, they all took out their dresses and began putting them on.
Lily's was a dark green that matched her eyes, and Mary's was a soft blue.
They turned to Marlene who was wearing a very tight red dress.
" Wow, Marley" Lily said taking it in. It fit Marlene like a glove.
" Do you think Sirius will like it?" She asked straightening out any wrinkles.
" How can he not?" Doe asked her.
She grinned proudly.
They were about to leave when Doe grabbed her camera off of the nightstand by her bed.
" Oh no" Mary said.
" Quick someone take it from her" Marlene ordered.
" I am documenting our memories" Doe hissed gripping the camera tighter.
They walked down the stairs to the common room, where all of the other sixth and seventh years were all standing around dressed and ready.
Marlene spotted Sirius in the corner and dashed over.
Lily and Mary, whose dates were both in different houses waited by the door.
Remus was standing near the fireplace, dressed in brown dress robes.
Doe walked over, " Hey there, Stranger"
His eyes widened slightly, " Doe, you look stunning".
Doe felt the color rise to my cheeks, " You look really nice too" she told him straightening the color of his dress robes.
" You clean up very well" she said looking at him all dressed in his dress robes.
This time he blushed, " Oh stop"
She turned to a second year who was sitting with a few friends at a pair of armchairs next to them.
" Could you take a picture of us?" she asked handing her the camera.
She nodded happily, " Of course".
Doe stood next to Remus and smiled. A large flash went off and the second year handed the camera next to us.
She watched as the picture developed and saw the both of them looking into the camera smiling proudly.
" That's a nice picture" Remus said, holding it between his fingers.
" I kind of like the person in it" She told him.
He took her hand, ignoring her sarcastic comment and led her over to where the rest of their friends were sitting.
" You lot ready?" Sirius asked, Marlene was on his arm and she looked thrilled to be there.
They all walked out of the common room and headed towards the Great Hall.
Lily ran over to Amos, who waiting for her. Doe thought she saw James stiffen slightly at this, but a second later he was back to his usual expression. Mary found Benjy Flitwick and they went in together.
She watched James disappear into the crowd to find his own date.
Marlene and Sirius went straight into the Great Hall, so Remus and Doe followed them.
The Great Hall looked wonderful. She had never seen it look so transformed.
All of the house tables were gone and instead it was decorated to look like an ice castle. There was a large stage in the front, where a group of young witches were playing music.
It looked like all fifth years and above were here, clustered together with their dates.
A ball at Hogwarts was an interesting thing. Remus and Doe mostly watched. They played a lot of fast paced songs that required a lot of quick fast dancing.
They laughed as they watched Sirius and Marlene, spinning through the dance floor. Benjy and Mary were surprisingly keeping up with them.
" They seem to be enjoying themselves" Remus laughed watching Sirius twirl Marlene around wildly.
Doe watched Bellatrix walk by on the arm of Rodolphus Lestrange, she had her massive dark hair piled on top of her head in a crown and was wearing a very tight black dress.
She made eye contact with Doe and glared. She rolled her eyes, Bellatrix didn't scare her.
The song changed to a slow one and a smile crept up on Remus' face.
" Now, this one I can dance too" he said taking her hand.
Doe followed him to the dance floor. He put one hand on her waist and took the other in his hand. They slowly began to waltz. She had no idea what she was doing but she followed Remus' movements and hoped she didn't look stupid.
" Have I told you how perfect you look tonight?" Remus asked.
Doe smiled, " Thank you, You look pretty great yourself".
Remus spun me out and then back in, " I really am lucky that I have you"
" You've always had me" she told him as they danced, " I was just waiting for you to ask me"
Remus smiled, " Well thank the Marauders Halloween party"
Doe grinned, " I remember thinking it was so sudden,"
Remus pouted slightly, " Well Landon Mckinnon was talking to some of his friends and Sirius heard him say he was going to ask you to Hogsmeade," Remus said quickly, " So I got very jealous, and I was worried that you would say yes and I'd miss my opportunity, so I just kind of went for it"
Doe stared at him dumbfoundedly, " I never knew that".
He blushed slightly, " If it wasn't for that, I probably would have been too nervous to have ever asked"
" So we owe this to Landon Mckinnon?" Doe asked him.
Remus laughed, " I guess so, though I doubt he'd be too happy about that. He had quite a thing for you"
Doe rolled her eyes, " I doubt it".
Remus spun her again, " You seem to be oblivious to the effect you have on people".
" Well," Doe told him, " I'm here with the only one I want to be with".
Remus smiled, and the song changed to a fast one.
Reading the panicked expression on her face, Remus took her hand and led her out of the collection of now fast-dancing teenagers.
They spent the rest of the ball, standing near the sides watching everyone else.
At the last song of the night, Dumbledore took Professor McGonagall's hand and led her to the dance floor.
" Let's get out of here" Doe told Remus.
Remus nodded, obviously feeling the same. It was about to end anyway.
They walked out of the Great Hall, hand in hand and headed towards the Common Room, taking the long way.
She stopped Remus when they approached a hallway. Entangled together in the archway, kissing feverishly, was Marlene and Sirius.
" About time" Doe whispered to Remus.
" It was bound to happen eventually" Remus agreed.
They crept by quietly, both were too busy to notice.
She stopped in an empty corridor and turned to Remus, he held both of her hands and pulled her towards him.
They stood there for a few minutes kissing, until they started to hear people coming.
" Come on," Remus said leading her back towards their common room.
She followed him back through the corridor and into the common room.
" I had a really great night" he told her holding her hand.
" Me too" she told him.
He kissed the top of her head and then they parted ways, both of them heading to their separate dormitories.
When she got up there, Lily and Marlene were already there changing out of their dresses.
" Hey, Doe" Mary said, " did you have fun"
She nodded quickly, "loads, you?".
" Not as much fun as Lily," Mary said looking over at her with a smile.
Lily blushed deeply, " Amos kissed me, and he asked me out".
" Lily that's great!" she exclaimed.
She smiled widely.
They all changed into their pajamas and sat on their beds talking eagerly. It was almost an hour later when Marlene came into the room looking extremely disheveled.
" Mar, where have you been?" Lily asked.
Marlene sat down on the end of Lily's bed and turned to them " I have to tell you all something, but you've got to keep it a secret"
" Of course" Doe told her, while Mary and Lily nodded eagerly.
She smiled and said " Sirius and I…." She trailed off her eyelashes suggestively finishing the thought.
" Oh" Lily said quickly.
" Wow," Mary added.
" Marlene that's.." Doe trailed off, she knew it's what Marlene wanted, and if she was happy about it, she should be happy for her.
" Was he nice to you?" Mary asked.
Marlene nodded, " Good at it too"
" Ew" Doe said pulling a pillow over her head, " Marlene he is one of my best friends, I didn't need to know that"
Marlene shrugged and threw herself back onto her bed. It wasn't the first time she had done it. Doe knew there were several muggle boys and once with Caradoc Dearborn, but it was still shocking to her that she did.
" Well as long as you're happy" Lily said.
" Oh trust me," Marlene said, " I am". She wiggled her eyebrows.
Lily, Mary, and Doe all threw their pillows at her and she laughed lightly.