Harry Potter
A Wizards War
Chapter 9
End of Year Ball
March 21, 2023
There was a lot of excitement in the Gryffindor Tower after finding out that first years Remus Lupin and Lily Evans were going to be making all the plans. Naturally, all of Gryffindor were throwing their two cents in making the ball Gryffindor themed of course. Remus and Lily were trying to be a little more inclusive of the other three houses a little more objective, though all the idea's thrown out seemed to be extremely good to Remus he enjoyed Gryffindor and would love to flaunt his house in front of the whole school but didn't think Professor McGonagall would approve.
As fun as everything was there was also strain in the Gryffindor Tower considering that Marie and Lily were usually inseparable but now Marie was avoiding Lily. No one except the three from the library understood Remus, Lily, and Marie herself. Remus found himself in the middle of a female squabble over one of his friends.
"Marie, I appreciate all the time you want to spend with me, but Lily didn't mean anything, and Sirius is only taking her to pawn her off on James all night long." Remus said softly across the table in the library. He had just ended yet another full moon and was now having to catch up on homework again.
"Hush Remus this is a personal little war." Marie said softly without looking up from her own homework which was done but she was rereading her essay due for Professor McGonagall in the morning.
"What exactly has this personal little war of yours going on?" Remus asked curiously as he set his quill down beside his charm's homework from several days ago.
"She could have said anyone, you for instance Remus but she chose Sirius knowing what she knew." Marie said as she glanced up at Remus irritated it was so obvious to her why she was mad at Lily.
"It was a mistake, Marie; she didn't do it on purpose. She was just trying to get at James and how else than to claim it was better go with his best friend?" Remus said as he folded his hands on the table in front of him curiously.
"Remus J. Lupin stop trying to get me to talk to her. I'll get over it eventually I know she didn't do it to spite me, but it still pisses me off ok." Marie said and sighed as she leaned back in her chair putting her homework down on the table and looking out the window beside them.
"Girls are so confusing. You're pissed off, but you understand what happened and will get over it then be her close friend again?" Remus said as he shook his head at Marie like the girl had lost her mind.
"Exactly now you're getting it." Marie said with a small laugh and a wink. "By the way who are you going with then?" she asked curiously as she looked over at him.
"No one." Remus said quickly then picked up his quill and went back to his homework. The notes that Marie and Lily took for him were so much better than James and Sirius. The latter were so naturally gifted they found it difficult to take really good notes because what they considered to be obvious was anything but obvious to everyone else.
"Now Remus that won't do at all. Say you fancy going with me as just friends nothing more?" Marie asked curiously as she watched him closely knowing that he didn't want anything to do with girlfriend/boyfriend ideas.
"I... Uh...I... Uhm..." Remus stuttered as he tried to think of a way out of this situation without pissing Marie off or embarrassing himself.
"Remus clam down before you blow a blood vessel. I'm not asking to be your girlfriend and go snogging, just to attend the ball with you as friends. We study together all the time why would the ball be any different?" Marie asked curiously as she looked at him confused by his reaction. She thought going with her as friends would solve his dateless problem, being one of the planners he was required to dance first when the ball started the next week.
"It's dancing... I don't know how and had no intention on do it." Remus said as he looked away from Marie.
"Remus you are required to dance the first dance. What were you going to do stand in front of the whole school while Sirius and Lily dance around you?" Marie asked as she looked at him confused.
"Actually, I thought if I told Professor McGonagall that I couldn't find a date she would let me off the hook." Remus said hopefully, he knew his head of house understood better than Marie that he didn't want to get too close to people.
"Not likely. It's tradition and at Hogwarts tradition is everything. Anyway, you better get a move on Remus, finals begin on Monday and the ball is Friday." Marie said softly, changing the subject to next week's agenda as she put her transfiguration homework away and pulled out her potions book to study for the end of year finals.
"I'll talk to McGonagall today." Remus said with a sigh as he finished his charms homework and put it away. Then he laid his head down on the table with a huff. This ball was turning into a nightmare including Marie that was the fifth request to be his date just today.
Marie snapped her potions book closed with a huff. "Really Remus I figured you would be delighted to go with someone who didn't expect a real date." She said standing up abruptly, her chair sliding back noisily earning the glare of the Librarian. She rammed her book into her bag then walked away then flung her hair over her shoulder so she could put her bag strap there.
Remus looked up and watched her go sadly he had handled that all wrong he should have just said yes. That had been the only offer all week he was tempted to take. Marie was a friend she was fun and didn't expect anything from him like other girls that plus she was interested in his friend Sirius which meant she didn't have feelings for him which made life easier on his part to be her friend. He groaned as he hit his head on the table a couple times after she left the library.
"Mr. Lupin you should go to your common room if you intend on abusing the furniture." Madam Prince said stopping at his table to glare down at him for making such a noise in her library.
"Yes Ma'am." Remus said as he gathered up his homework and put it away in his bag before standing up and leaving the library to make his way up to the Gryffindor Tower. By the time he made it up to the Gryffindor Common room he didn't see Marie anywhere, so he walked over to his buddies and sat down staring out the window.
"What's up with you mate?" James asked curiously looking over at his friend.
"Nothing." Remus said with a sigh as he reached down and grabbed his bag to pull out his homework.
"That's what Marie said when she came tearing through the common room up to the girl's dormitories. Did you two have a falling out?" Sirius asked with a smirk on his face as he leaned across his chair arm to get right in Remus's face.
"What? No that's absurd…" Remus said as he backed away from Sirius quickly glancing up at the girl's staircase.
"Don't do it Remus." James said as he looked over at his friend chasing after a girl was bad enough but getting humiliated cause of a staircase chasing after a girl was way worse.
"Don't do what?" Remus asked, confused as he turned to look at James curiously.
"Go up that staircase." James said quietly as he leaned over to Remus motioning towards the girl's staircase.
"Of course not. Why would I do that? You're the one always trying to get up there." Remus said with an eyebrow raised at his friend who turned a slight shade of pink sitting back in his chair.
"You and Marie have been spending a lot of time together this past week." Peter chimed in with a stupid grin on his face and a wink. "Is the snogging good?" he asked rubbing his hands together ready for all the juicy details to come.
"Don't be stupid Peter. We're just friends." Remus said with a dismissive wave at Peter.
"Just friends huh that guilty look on your face says your hiding something." Sirius said with a laugh as he leaned over his chair arm again waiting for an explanation from Remus.
"You lot are the nosiest." Remus said standing up and walking away with his bag.
"Hey where are you going?" Sirius asked as he turned in his seat to watch Remus walk away.
"To study in private." Remus said as he made it to the boy's staircase and made his way up to the first-year dormitories.
Over the next week Remus seemed more isolated than ever before with his only companion being Lilly since she was helping him study and plan the ball. Marie had taken to avoiding him since his rejection of her offer to be his date. A decision he regretted with every fiber in his being since McGonagall had informed him, he was to find a dance partner at least for the first dance. He was also avoiding his friends since they wouldn't stop hounding him about Marie's obvious absence from the group.
The evening of the ball approached much faster than Remus had anticipated having now passed all his classes with flying colors the only thought left was of the ball and the end of term feast. He waited in the Gryffindor common room late one night waiting for Marie to return from wherever she had been hiding herself over the past week. He had nearly fallen asleep sitting by the fire when he heard the portrait open to admit a student into the room. He looked over to see Marie coming in and he stood up suddenly nearly falling over in his haste with a loss of balance. "Marie."
Marie stopped and watched as Remus regained his balance then sighed. "What is it Remus?" she asked curiously, folding her hands in front of her and waited patiently.
"I'm sorry." Remus said softly as he stepped around the chair, he had been sitting in. "Would you still be willing to go to the ball with me?" he asked curiously with a pink tint on his cheeks looking down away from her. He knew he had no right to ask this of her after he had turned her down a week ago.
"McGonagall tell you, no, did she?" Marie said bitterly as she watched him closely.
"Well yes actually I have to have at least a dance partner for the first dance." Remus said as he looked up at her with sad eyes.
"Last resort am I, since the ball is tomorrow?" Marie asked, looking away from Remus to the girl's dormitory stairs wanting to just vanish up them quickly.
"Well, no I had several offers, but yours was the only one I considered." Remus said shifting his weight from foot to foot nervously.
"That must have been nice." Marie said bitterly then started walking towards the girl's staircase.
"What must have been nice?" Remus asked, confused, as he moved closer to keep her from leaving without giving him an answer.
"No one asked me, and the one I asked turned me down. Now I'm a last resort to save face for you at the ball." Marie said with tears in her eyes before running for the staircase just before he could grab her arm.
Remus stood there shocked. Marie was fun, understanding, beautiful, and was one of the boys why wouldn't anyone want to go with her, why wouldn't anyone ask her to go, he wondered, confused. That thought made him realize and feel worse he had been the one she had asked to the ball.
"That didn't go very well." Sirius said from the boy's staircase he had come down to see what was taking Remus so long to come to bed.
"Shut it Sirius." Remus said as he flopped back down in the chair in front of the fire sadly.
"Oi I didn't do anything. Who'd she ask do you know?" Sirius asked curiously as he walked over and sat in the chair beside Remus.
"Me." Remus said miserably leaning forward and putting his face in his hands with his elbows braced on his legs.
"You!" Sirius said with a laugh then noticed how miserable his friend felt. "And you had the balls to ask her out the night before the dance?" he said looking at Remus like he had lost his mind.
"I didn't know that no one had asked her at all. She's unique and fun. She should have been a popular request from the guys in the school. I thought her request to be my date was out of pity not of a mutual need." Remus said with his face still buried in his hands.
"I bet everyone assumed she would be going with one of us and never even thought to ask her. I mean come on there are four of us. It's a logical assumption." Sirius said with a comforting slap on Remus's back. "Give it a try again in the morning mate. Let her calm down tonight." He said as he stood up to go back to bed.
"Sirius at some point at the ball dance with her. We all should." Remus said as he looked up at his friend hoping he would agree.
"No problem, mate, I'll pawn Lily off on James several times tomorrow night I should have loads of time." Sirius said with a cocky grin on his face and a thumbs up before turning and heading for bed.
The next morning Remus made his way down to the great hall with James, Sirius, and Peter ready to get this day over with, tomorrow they would be on the Hogwarts Express heading home for the summer. He loved his new friends but missed his parents. He was thrilled that he was able to come back next year. He had feared every full moon would expose him as what he is, but he's been lucky this year.
"Go on." Sirius said elbowing Remus towards the side of the table Marie was sitting on.
"Hush…" Remus said with a frown at his friend as he and James took to the other side of the table to sit across from him and Marie.
"Hi Marie!" Peter said excitedly as he rushed up to the table to sit beside her, taking up the free seat that James and Sirius had meant for Remus to take.
"Hi Peter." Marie said looking at him like he was a nutter then looking over at James and Sirius curiously they had irritated looks on their faces which made her raise an eyebrow at them. They had something planned, what was it, she wondered.
"Oi Peter get out of the bloody way." Sirius hissed at Peter motioning him to move over away from Marie.
"Uh… oh right sorry…" Peter said embarrassed as he scooted over to let Remus sit down beside Marie.
"You're a bloody menace sometimes you know that?" James whispered across the table to Peter with a frown on his lips.
"Marie…" Remus said then was silenced by Marie.
"Not now Remus." Marie said as she glared at him out of the corner of her eye then switched her attention to the two across the table. Did he tell those two baboons she wondered curiously before returning to her breakfast.
"Oh, come now Marie, you're being a little harsh now don't ya think?" James said as he pointed his fork at her.
"And what would you know about it James?" Marie asked coldly glancing up at James in a you need to shut up and stay out of it move.
"Oi he's trying to apologize the least you can do is listen." Sirius said with a frown at Marie this wasn't like her, course she hadn't been herself in about two weeks. Her crazy feud with Lilly and now Remus had him wondering what was really bothering her.
"He did that last night thank you very much Sirius." Marie said, returning to her breakfast but she was no longer hungry.
"Enough guys." Remus said sadly, putting a hand up to stop the two from starting in on her again. He had created this mess by being selfish and there was no reason to make Marie feel worse. He stood up to leave but was surprised to find Marie had grabbed his wrist before he could step over the bench.
"Sit down Remus and eat breakfast." Marie said softly, glancing up at him with a soft sad smile then let go and returned to her breakfast again. Yes, he had been a jerk, but a week's worth of punishment and an apology should be enough compensation, she figured so she decided to drop the hatchet so's to say.
Remus looked at her confused then sat back down, at least she was willing to sit beside him. "Listen I thought you had a lot of offers and only offered to go with me out of pity." He said softy over to her as he filled his cup with juice.
"No one wanted me as a date not even you." Marie said sadly without glancing over at him.
"That's where you're wrong Marie, you know how much of a loner I am. I was terrified to have to go out there and dance in front of everyone I was using that as an excuse not to have a partner." Remus said softly as he leaned over to her to keep the others from hearing.
"Yes, Remus I know you are a lone wolf but still when a friend offers to help you out you should take the offered hand not shove it away." Marie said as she glanced over at him then noticed how stiff he was. "You alright Remus?" she asked, worried.
"I'm…fine…" Remus said with a slightly shaky voice as he looked away from her back to the breakfast items in the middle of the table noticing that the others had started eating and were no longer paying them any attention. She had called him a lone wolf and that seemed to set off warning bells in his head as he frantically tried to stay calm, which obviously wasn't working.
"Remus you sure are acting funny for being fine." Marie said as she reached up to feel his forehead with the back of her hand.
"Honestly I'm fine." Remus said nervously wondering if she had found him out with terror rising up in him like a tsunami with a damn about to break.
"I don't believe you but alright. Do we need to practice dancing today with McGonagall, so we don't look like fools out on the dance floor?" Marie said with a smile on her lips when he looked at her shocked and confused.
"You're willing to go with me?" Remus said shocked as he looked at her wide eyed and stunned. There was no way she would go with him if she knew who he really was.
"Of course, silly. I offered to go with you last week." Marie said with a small laugh and nudged him with her shoulder.
"I hope for your sake Mr. Lupin and for the sake of Gryffindor pride that you have at least a dance partner." McGonagall said stopping behind him curiously she was on her way out of the great hall to go finish cleaning up her class for the summer.
"We were just talking about you professor wondering if we could use your assistance in dance practice?" Marie said with a bright smile looking back at McGonagall.
"Wonderful news Miss Willis meet me in my class in half an hour both of you." McGonagall said nodding to both Marie and Remus before turning and walking down the table leaving the great hall several minutes later after talking with several Gryffindors along the way.
~*~*~*~ After the End of Term Feast ~*~*~*~
"All students please return to your dormitory and get ready for the ball which will begin in half an hour." Dumbledore said to those students who still remained in the great hall. Most of the students had already returned to their dormitories to get ready for the ball.
When the students returned the Ravenclaw banners from the feast were now gone and the teachers had managed to redecorate the great hall into a stunning magical ballroom. The night sky above was gorgeous with half the candles gone and the side lamps turned down. Now a live band The Weird Cats was set up where the teachers table had been.
"Welcome students to the End of Term Ball will the two planners Remus Lupin and Lily Evans please make your way to the center of the room with your dates for the opening dance." Dumbledore said happily then motioned for the band to go ahead and start.
Marie took Remus's hand and motioned him to move out onto the floor following Sirius and Lily. "Just like we practiced no worries, Remus." Marie whispered with a smile as he tried to figure out where to place his hands. When they had practiced earlier Marie hadn't been wearing such a gorgeous dress. Which was a lovely bright red with pink and white floral accents, but it was form fitting and even for an 11-year-old it was stunning to look at from his perspective.
The music started and they were off dancing around the dance floor with both Sirius and Remus spinning their female partners at all the right moments like it was second nature to them. When the song ended a huge cheer went up from the students and teachers that had been a flawless dance by both sets of partners. McGonagall was grinning ear to ear her four first year students had managed to pull off an amazing dance showing the superiority of Gryffindor on the dance floor.
The next song the rest of the students with dates entered the dance floor. James had Marie out on the dance floor next leaving Remus and Peter off on the stag wall watching. It was a long night. Marie and Lily were the two that stayed out on the floor the most. With James and Sirius switching partners constantly with Remus getting a dance in with Marie every now and then since she was technically his date.
Sirius had just stealthily switched with James again taking Marie as his partner by spinning Lily then putting his other hand on James pushing him to Lily and releasing her hand simultaneously taking Marie's hand and continuing the dance without missing a beat. "You sir are extremely talented at dancing." Marie said with a soft giggle as she watched James dance away with Lily yet again.
"The one good thing my father taught me." Sirius said with a shrug as he kept his eyes on James and Lily. The two looked good together he thought as they danced around the dance floor.
"What am I a signal to switch?" Marie asked slightly irritated as she looked up at Sirius with a frown.
"Of course not. We all agreed with Remus that we would make tonight fun for us all." Sirius said as he looked down at Marie with an innocent look on his face.
"That's why I've dance with all of you?" Marie asked curiously glancing over at Remus.
"Well, it was my idea last night that no one asked you to the ball because everyone believed you would be going with one of us since you hang out with us more than anyone else." Sirius said with a small shrug.
"So, this is a pity party." Marie said as she looked away from Sirius sadly.
"Actually no, this was a request from Remus to make tonight special for you if you must know. Ouch…" Sirius said when Marie managed to trip over her own dress and step on his foot.
"I'm sorry…" Marie said with red cheeks and her face plastered onto his chest from where he had caught her.
"No problem but let's not do that again." Sirius said as he managed to get back into step with the song easily enough.
"Are your toes all right? We could go sit down." Marie asked curiously, looking up at him with sympathy in her eyes.
"I'm fine." Sirius said with a small laugh. The evening continued with Lily constantly being shoved back to James by Sirius and with all four of the guys taking turns dancing with Marie. It was early morning before the ballroom had cleared out and the band had started to tear down their equipment.