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This chapter is just slightly boring.
Chatter about the first task seemed to die down and everyone was now focused on the Yule Ball. Years three and up were the only ones invited to attend, and Celosia spent most of her time in the Great Hall, staring at every single column and wall. Kingsley and the others had taken over her shifts so she didn't have to worry about guarding the castle. It was really patrolling around looking for nothing.
The House Tables were gone and seats were lined up all along the Hall, Filch trying to set up Muggle music as McGonagall continued to go on and on about the Yule Ball to the third to seventh years. Celosia was in the room, straddling a wooden chair backwards as she clasped her hands together, resting her chin on them as she stared at the Hall. It had been a week and she still had no ideas for decorating it. Of course it would be winter themed, and Dumbledore had given her all the supplies and permission she needed to make it the best Ball yet.
Staring at the Hall didn't seem to help her but she refused to be moved unless she absolutely had to. The majority of her time was spent in the Great Hall, trying to envision different colours and table settings throughout the massive space. Of course the candles had to go and she had to enchant the magical ceiling to do something in the Christmas spirit. Perhaps a giant Christmas tree would do the trick too.
"The Yule Ball is first and foremost, a dance." McGonagall finished and the entire hall burst into chatter. Celosia's brows furrowed as she sat up. Did they seriously not know this? "Silence!"
Celosia frowned, going back to staring at the Hall. The intelligence of Hogwarts students must have gone down in this generation. She felt a smirk grow on her lips as McGonagall made Ron Weasley dance with her as an example, his twin brothers shooting jokes around. Her smile grew as she saw Harry grinning along.
As McGonagall got the students to pair up and dance, Celosia's eyes widened in revelation. She imagined each student as if they were at the Ball right this minute, and based the decorations and table placement off that. Obviously they needed a good dance floor, which would probably be started as half of the Hall, then spread out as the night went on. Tables and chairs should be put separate and near the sides and end of the Hall, the very front left as a stage for whatever Dumbledore had planned for it.
The woman shot up from her chair, a smirk of victory on her face. McGonagall turned to her. "Think of something, Ms. Dilaurentis?"
"Yes I did, thank you Professor." Celosia grinned, flicking her wand as her chair disappeared. "Carry on!"
Celosia quickly walked out of the Hall, robes flowing behind her as she quickly made her way up to her private chambers. Shutting the door she summoned a large piece of parchment, using magic to stick it to a bare spot on the wall as she shed her robe, leaving herself in a black corset and black fitting pants, her usual heels on. Dipping her fingers into ink, she started to hurriedly draw a sketch of the Great Hall. Soon she started sketching on decorations that she had thought about, flicking her wand to change the colours on the paper.
After many hours she took a seat, staring at her work. It still had more to be added but so far it was looking like the perfect winter wonderland. Lily would have been proud.
Severus hadn't seen Celosia at all unless she was in the Great Hall at mealtimes. Even then he never got the chance to speak to her properly, he missed doing that. Severus Snape actually missed the woman talking to him every day. Dumbledore had made her in charge of decorating the Hall for the Yule Ball, and that took up a lot of her time. She was just as passionate about it as Lily had been. He remembered all the years he spent in the Evans home, Lily's room was the only one he got a good look at and it was very well decorated.
The Ball was in a week's time and Celosia was hard at work, already getting Minerva involved. She had fewer classes than him and had even gotten a few professors to cover for her just in case. Severus wished he could do the same but he knew no substitute could handle his class, nor teach it properly. He had better things to do. What possible help could he provide Celosia?
It was Saturday and the entire student body was out at Hogsmeade, buying their dress robes for the big day that was in less than a week. Students were already asking each other out, some frustrated that they couldn't find a willing date, and others squealing over their luck. Celosia herself had snuck Hedwig with an envelope filled with money for Harry to use on dress robes. She left a note saying that she didn't care if he would use all of it or not, as long as he spent it buying something he liked. She didn't want him using his inheritance on something like fancy clothes for a school Ball.
Celosia stood in the Great Hall after lunch, dressed in her usual black pants and heels, a plain dark blue V-neck Muggle t-shirt fitted loosely around her shoulders. Her long hair was pulled up into a messy bun, random strands at the front dropping out.
The Hall itself was bare like it usually was, Celosia's wand in hand as she had traced out specific points on the Hall, the wood being divided and marked up by a long glowing strip of red. Floating beside her were all the pieces of parchment she had doodled on and messed her hands up with ink for, the large drawing of the Great Hall being split up into little sections.
"Things working out, dear?" Celosia turned around, McGonagall walking into the Hall. Her heart lightened to see Severus right behind her.
Severus looked Celosia up and down, her hands on her hips with her wand tucked in her bun. She huffed; her pink lips emitting a blow that made a strand of hair in front of her face fly back. Brushing her bangs aside with one had Celosia walked towards them, her heels clicking against the floor. "We need to do something about the walls."
McGonagall looked around the Great Hall, and Severus snuck a glance before looking back at her. He noticed the pieces of parchment floating beside her and walked over to them, watching them as they flipped by slowly, showing him each decoration and placement she had already planned. The least Dumbledore could have done was offer her assistance with planning rather than a set up and take down crew.
Celosia shifted her weight onto one foot, her hips sticking out as she had one hand on her side, her wand arm dangling at her side. She bit her lip, watching McGonagall as the woman walked around the Hall, in deep thought.
"May I offer a suggestion?" A cool voice said beside her and she raised a brow, turning to look at Severus. He was standing near her plans and she dropped her arms, walking towards him. "Have you tried a Muggle approach?"
Celosia raised her brows. "For the walls?" Severus nodded. "What do you have in mind?"
"That sort of thing Muggles plaster onto their walls when they're too lazy to paint them." Severus searched his mind for the words. He hadn't lived a Muggle life in so long. "Wallpaper, I believe?"
"Hm…" Celosia put a finger to her lip, looking around the Hall. The castle was old and the walls weren't the smoothest surfaces. But it was nothing a little magic couldn't fix.
"A light, reflective material, perhaps?" Severus offered and he saw Celosia smirk, looking at him.
"I like the way you think, Sev." She complimented and before he could say or do anything she pulled her wand from her hair, walking towards McGonagall to tell her of the idea. Severus sighed, watching the two. He was surprised himself that he had thought of the idea. Perhaps the knowledge of Celosia being a Muggle made him think about the things beyond magic.
McGonagall seemed to be ecstatic by the idea and the two looked over at Severus, Celosia grinning like a fool as McGonagall flashed him a smile. "Good thinking, Severus!" The old woman called from across the Hall and Severus merely nodded.
Celosia pointed her wand to one of the walls, a large light forming into a rectangle as the illusion of a reflective piece of wallpaper appeared. Looking at it against the Great Hall walls, a giant grin broke out onto her face again. She tucked her wand away, the image disappearing as she clasped her hands together, skipping towards Severus and grasping his hand.
"You are the smartest man I've ever known." She smirked and broke out into a smile again, her fingers closing in on his cold skin. He looked down at their hands, expecting Celosia to mention how cold his body felt compared to her warm grasp. However the woman made nothing of it and immediately let go, looking towards McGonagall. "I'm going to get what's needed here from Hogsmeade!"
Severus wanted to offer to go with her. Perhaps she could need the extra help, perhaps help persuade the worker that if they didn't have what they envisioned that they would have to find it or else. This seemed reasonable but before Severus could even open his mouth, Celosia was running out the Hall quickly, a frown coming onto his features.
In less than an hour Celosia came back, going immediately back into the Great Hall. She was quite surprised to see Severus and McGonagall were still there, with Flitwick this time but she brushed it aside. As she walked towards the floating pieces of parchment she ripped her scarf off, throwing it towards the papers as the magical force around them made the scarf float in mid-air as well. She unbuttoned her cloak and slipped it off, throwing it aside as she rolled up the sleeves on her black cardigan. Pulling her wand out she unshrunk the bag she had received earlier, pulling out a very large sheet of reflective paper.
Severus had conjured a chair and leaned back into it, arms and legs crossed as McGonagall and Flitwick were going over Celosia's designs on parchment and matching them with the red markings still around the room. He had hardly helped, nor had they asked for his assistance. The only reason he still remained was to wait until Celosia came running through those doors.
Once she did he sat up straighter, seeing her immediately rip of her winter clothes and roll her sleeves up, pulling out her wand. Her hair had gone out of the bun from earlier and fell down her shoulders in a natural grace. Looking the woman up and down a few times Severus smirked slightly to himself. Only Celosia would still dress up like a Muggle teenager on a weekend when she wasn't on duty.
Severus leaned forward in his chair, setting his hands on his knees as Celosia pulled out the very large sheet of wallpaper. It was exactly what he envisioned and he was pleased to know that the both of them had the same image in their head. He watched as McGonagall and Flitwick helped her temporarily apply the material onto the wall, making it bring the most appropriate shine for a winter wonderland themed Ball.
Celosia pursed her lips and saw that the natural sun coming from the large windows was being the only things lighting up the room. It wasn't dark or anything, just the perfect lighting for working conditions. Tapping her wand on her lip lightly, Celosia pointed it at the sheet. "Expecto Patronum."
Severus stood up as a large bright hawk emitted from her wand, flying around her and making her hair fly back. She positioned the eagle to land in front of the sheet and as soon as it did, the Hall looked much brighter and Celosia grinned, her Patronus disappearing as she tucked her wand away.
"It's perfect!" She exclaimed like a little school girl. "It's perfect, it's perfect, it's perfect! Merlin, it's absolutely perfect!"
As she squealed Flitwick looked at her in slight worry, McGonagall chuckling but looking the same way. Severus watched, his arms crossed as Celosia grinned and seemed to dance in a circle. Severus let out a scoff to supress his laugh as he smirked at her. She was looking absolutely childish. She obviously had a passion for something like this. Credit had to go to him of course, so technically he was the reason she was smiling. That thought alone made him feel warm inside.
Celosia got a hold of herself, flicking her wand and letting the wallpaper fly back into the bag, making it float to McGonagall. "We just need to make it big enough and duplicate it to fit around the entire Hall."
"Won't be too hard." The older woman nodded and Celosia grinned, turning to Severus' direction and walking towards him quickly.
He was slightly surprised when she threw her arms around his neck, pressing her body against his in a tight embrace. When Severus took hold of the situation he put his hands on her back slightly. She pulled away slightly, looking at him in the face with her fingers on his neck.
"Thank you so much, Severus." She smiled. "If Lily could see the Hall on Friday night, she would be so proud."
Severus' heart seemed to skip a beat. She hadn't thought of Lily at all since he stepped foot into the Hall today. Why was Celosia always reminding him of her? Yes he loved the woman but that didn't mean he didn't care about another Evans…
Celosia pulled away, conjuring the stacks of parchment to fly into her hand, along with her cloak. Her scarf magically landed around her neck and she looked up at Severus again with an appreciative smile. "You're amazing." She whispered and left the Hall.