A/N: Reviewers, you all rock, um…people who have me as a favorite either story or author, you know that you guys are amazing. Um, for the record, I don't own anyone but the people you don't recognize, etc, etc. So, let's get a move on to the ball.

The following week passed in a blur. The boys kept trying to find out ways to get the girls to tell them their costumes. They tried to spike drinks with truth serums behind their backs, but were always caught. Claire had begun teaching Sirius how to dance, and he was progressing quickly. Lily, James, Remus, Peter, and Tanya weren't allowed to watch, Sirius made sure of it. Claire and Sirius became closer everyday. James kept on commenting on how this was probably the longest relationship Sirius has ever had. Lily and James were still inseparable. Though the girls didn't admit it, they were really anxious to find out what costumes the boys had thought up. Lily and James came to Dumbledore one night to offer their input on the music.

The day of the ball finally arrived. Claire was convinced that Sirius was ready for it, and asked him to help her with the whole bruises problem.

"Just use the spell, you remember the words right?"

"Yeah, but I don't know exactly how it works. This dress shows a lot of my arms, and quite a bit of my legs, not to mention my shoulders."

"I like this dress already," said Sirius, a playful smile creasing his lips. It was about three hours before the dance when Sirius cast the spell that hid her bruises. When Claire finally got away from Sirius's watchful eye (about an hour before the dance), she found Lily and Tanya waiting for her in the common room. The three of them went up to their dormitory and began getting ready. Lily put the blue highlights in Claire's hair, seeing as Claire didn't understand how they worked and Tanya was clumsy enough to drop the whole bottle on her hair. When the highlights were finished, they took turns fixing each other's hair and doing each other's make up. Lily wore makeup that was colored like fire, mostly reds, yellows, and oranges. Claire wore silvers, greens, and blues, and a lot of pastel colors. Tanya had on a lot of earthy tones, browns and greens. Then, they put on their costumes, and examined each other closely.

"I think we look hot," said Claire with a grin, happy that, once again, none of her bruises were showing up.

"I agree," said Lily happily, touching up her mask with care, hoping not to damage any of the feathers. "Are we ready, you think?"

"I think so. Lily, help me with my wings, please," requested Tanya. Lily grabbed them off of a bed and strapped them gingerly to Tanya's back. Then, she grabbed her own, fire-colored wings, and strapped them onto her arms with some help from the other two. Surprisingly, they didn't limit her movement at all, but made her feel freer. They climbed down the common room stairs and made their way to the Entrance Hall, running into other people along the way, already dressed and ready. They were at the steps to the Entrance Hall, and Tanya poked her head around the corner to see if the boys were waiting at the bottom. They were, and Tanya couldn't believe how they came dressed. It seemed as though each of them picked a period in history. Sirius was almost the perfect match for Claire, a pirate. How did they do that kind of stuff? They just thought alike. Remus was dressed as a person from the late 1700s, and James was a black knight or possibly a king.

Tanya walked down the staircase first and Remus escorted her into the Great Hall. Claire appeared at the stairs and Sirius's jaw hit the floor. He had never seen Claire in anything but the school robes or long sleeves. To him, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Claire laughed internally at his costume. She didn't know why, but somehow she felt like they had some kind of connection. She knew that thought alike. When she reached the bottom of the staircase, Sirius's mouth was still hanging open. She tapped the bottom of his jaw with her hand and he closed his mouth.

"Claire, I…you look…I mean, well, you look…wow!" he said, at a loss for the right word to describe the embodiment of his version of a goddess.

"Thanks," she said with a giggle. Then, Lily emerged from around the corner. Sirius stared, James gasped, Claire laughed. "You know, she was willing to fight us about those wings. She really didn't want to wear them."

"I'm glad you made her," said James, now staring at Lily form the bottom of the staircase. "She looks amazing." When Lily reached the bottom stair, James grabbed her hand.

"Well?" she asked, completely unsure of herself.

"Have I told you how much I love you?" he asked, breathless.

"Not for about an hour," she laughed.

"I love you," he said, kissing her for a few seconds before escorting her into the Great Hall. Everyone was standing in a circle around a couple twirling gracefully around, almost perfect. James and Lily laughed when they realized just who it was: Remus and Tanya. Claire and Sirius appeared behind them.

"I had no idea that Remus was that good of a dancer," said Lily, laughing to herself.

"We had no idea that Tanya was that good," said Sirius.

"Her mum owns a dance studio," said Claire matter-of-factly.

"Really? I thought she was clumsy," said James, watching them twirl gracefully.

"Everything but dancing," said Lily with another laugh.

"Come on," said Sirius, pulling Claire into the open space. "A perfect opportunity for me to show you off." Claire laughed, but agreed. Sirius held her very close and was spinning her every so often.

"You really have gotten goon," she admitted with a smile.

"I had a great teacher," joked Sirius. James and Lily followed them, the crowd very interested in this couple. Only the Gryffindors and the Slytherins who attacked Lily knew they were couple. People didn't tend to watch across the Great Hall at mealtimes. James was dancing better than Lily could've imagined him capable of. How were these guys, these guys who were only deep when their friends weren't around, so good at everything including things that most men wouldn't admit to being good at.

"You were right, you can dance, James," said Lily, blushing. Her heart was pounding, her blood racing, just like every time she was with James. Only this time, she could hear his heart beating fast too. He was holding her very close.

"Have I told you how beautiful you look?" he asked, smiling down at her.

"I don't know," said Lily, smiling up at him.

"Well, you look absolutely gorgeous, and I think you should make yourself excruciatingly beautiful more often. If you have to wear clothes like this to classes, I make no objection." Lily laughed and smiled again, blushing slightly. "Plus, a phoenix is my favorite creature.

"Really?" asked Lily, slightly thrown off. She expected it to be something large and extremely dangerous, something like a dragon or a hippogriff, or some omen. Maybe something that he could use in a prank, like a niffler to put in someone's house so the house would be ripped to pieces in the creature's attempt to find something shiny.

"Yeah, you know why?"

"Why?"

Because it's what you are tonight. If you were dressed, God forbid, as a dragon, it would be my favorite." Lily blushed and looked up at the ceiling. The stars were out again, and the atmosphere changed. They were the only people in the room, the only people dancing, and they were on cloud nine. It was the most perfect place in the whole world for the two of them. The song became a slow dance.

"Sirius," began Claire, pushing out the rest of the people in the room as well.

"Yes, my darling Siren?" he asked playfully.

"I want to thank you again for the spell, it…it's really useful. It is pretty much a savior for me," she replied thoughtfully, Small tears appearing in her eyes, clinging to her lashes and a single one rolling down her cheek. Sirius pressed his finger to her cheek and lifting the tear away, flicking it onto the ground.

"It is absolutely no trouble. Claire, please don't cry. Tonight is a night to be yourself. It's Halloween, one of the most amazing holidays in our world. Enjoy it," he said softly, kissing her on the top of her head. He had to stand on his tiptoes to do it because of Claire's figure. She was only about three inches shorter than he was. "Just be yourself, tonight, Claire."

"Okay," she said softly, leaning against him and resting her head on his shoulder. Dumbledore approached the podium and began speaking. There were a few laughs when they noticed that he was dressed as Santa Claus. Everyone knew that the beard was a perfect match for it.

"Well, I hope you have had fun dancing to the classics, but, due to the pressure of our Head Boy and Girl," he smiled, indicating Lily and James slow dancing, her head resting on his stone chest. When a circle formed around them, Lily lifted her head, blushing, and backed off so that their arms were fully extended. They laughed at themselves for it. "We have a surprise for you, students." Out of nowhere, a large stage appeared and on it, was a rock band. Sirius gaped, James laughed and Lily smiled. Claire and Tanya stared in amazement. It wasn't a ball anymore; it was a Halloween party. The band began playing loud music (think of the band that they had in the movie for Goblet of Fire, and that's a bit what I'm basing it on). They began jumping around, dancing more wildly to the music. The boys were twirling the girls with ease and very fast. By the time they were tired out, they came to sit at one of the small tables.

"This is so much fun. How did you convince Dumbledore to do this?" asked Claire, laughing.

"Don't know, but he agreed rather quickly. It was pretty funny actually. We just told him what we'd like better and he said it was fine as long as we found the music. We had already done that a long time ago. The band we booked is amazing, huh?" asked the smiling Lily.

"No kidding, Lils, you did an amazing job with this, you too James," said Tanya.

"Hey, we're gonna go get some punch, you guys want something?" asked Sirius, standing up.

"Punch sounds great," said Claire. She looked thirsty, and so did the rest of them. The dance turned out to be amazing, and when it finally ended, they all agreed that it was way too early. It was absolute perfection. When they made it back to the common room, all three of the girls were stopped from climbing the stairs to their dormitories.

"I love you," whispered Sirius into Claire's ear. She smiled and blushed. Then, she kissed him for a few seconds and back away.

"I love you too, see you in the morning." She escaped up the stairs, butterflies batting noisily in her stomach.

"What's wrong, Remus?" asked Tanya.

"I should've done this a long time ago, Tanya. He pulled her in and kissed her, but, although surprised, she didn't object in the least bit. When he finally let go, she also escaped up to her dorm in a flush.

"Goodnight, Lils, I love you more than anything," said James as he kissed her goodnight.

"You know by now that the feeling's mutual," she said, and they all went up to their dorms and stayed up all night talking about everything that had happened.

A/N: Alright, I'm running out of time, so here goes, read, review, can't wait to post up like eight chapters when I get back, don't miss me too much!