Chapter 13. Plans for a Ball and the New Quidditch Captain
The following morning, Lily awoke to find herself nicely tucked in her bed with her clothes still on from the day before. As she lay in bed, she thought for a moment, trying to figure out when she had gone to her bedroom. She couldn't remember, and logically decided that she had slept-walked last night. She had no idea that as she slept on the common room table, James had picked her up and taken her to her room.
She rested on her bed a while longer, pondering if she should get up already. She had woken up earlier than what she was use to, but for some reason she felt very energized, and eager to start the day. She soon came to the conclusion that she should get dressed and go to Professor Dumbledore to ask him about the Halloween Ball that she wanted to plan.
After taking a quick bath, she put on her robes and tied her hair back, letting strands of her scarlet red hair escape around her face. She took a glance at herself in her large vanity mirror and looked intently at her reflection.
To her, she seemed like some ordinary muggle girl, not much older than 16, yet she had already been 17 for more than a month. She hated the fact that she looked so young. She hated that she felt so ordinary compared to the other gorgeous girls of Hogwarts.
Lily, you're so self conscience, said a voice in the back of her head.
No I'm not! She replied, grudgingly. She sighed, touching a strand of hair that caressed the curve of her face, looking critically at herself. Her eyes went to her lips, which were naturally very pink, then went up to her nose, which she thought was too small for her face; then to her eyes, her startling emerald green gems that were placed almost perfectly on her face.
She looked deep into her own eyes. She remembered once when she was still very little that her older sister Petunia had called her eyes ugly; saying that they reminded her of seaweed floating in a dirty ocean. Lily cried that day. Cried for having to be so different, and unaccepted by her own sister, even before she had found out that she was a witch.
Her eyes were the only things that she thought were pretty about her when she was young. She had never known anyone other than her mother to have such green eyes as hers, and she had been proud to have them. But that day made her feel so inadequate; so unworthy of being called pretty.
Now, as she looked at herself in that mirror, she couldn't help but get that awful tinge of feeling like the oddball. How can anyone think I'm pretty? She wondered skeptically.
Well James Potter certainly thinks you're pretty. Why don't you pay attention to him? He may have a point, replied the voice in her head. Don't start with that now! I don't have time for useless thoughts about Potter thinking pretty, she thought, getting very upset with herself. Fine, but you know I'm right, was the voice's only reply.
She shook her head to get the thoughts out of her. She had to stop talking to herself...she felt as if she might got crazy one of these days.
Lily sighed and stepped back from the mirror. She hadn't noticed how close her face was to it, nearly making her forehead touch the smooth surface, and noticing how the glass had fogged up from her breath. "This is as good as it's going to get," she mumbled, taking one last glance before she headed out into the common room, grabbed her bag and books then left to go see the Headmaster.
------------------------------
Lily was nervous at first. Walking to the headmaster's office, she kept on repeating everything she was going to say to Dumbledore so that he would consider her proposal for the ball without a doubt. She finally reached the gargoyle that would lead her into the office, and whispered the password. Suddenly the stone statue leapt aside to reveal a spiral staircase.
The redhead climbed the steps and reached the door to Professor Dumbledore's office. She was about to knock on the door when she heard a loud booming voice speaking excitedly with the Headmaster.
"I dunno how to thank yeh, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the loud voice gratefully.
"There's no need to thank me. I have no doubt that you will strive to do your very best here at Hogwarts," said Dumbledore politely.
"Sure will, Professor! Thank yeh very much," said the man. All of a sudden, Lily heard loud footsteps and the door opened before her.
She was in a state of shock when a large grizzly-faced man met her at the door. Her shock shortly turned into delight when she recognized whom this person was.
"Lily Evans!" the giant of a man exclaimed in surprise.
"Rubeus Hagrid!" Lily said gleefully; she was immediately brought into a great big bear hug as Hagrid picked her up.
"Yeh sure have grown since I last saw yeh, Lily," he said as he put her down tenderly.
She blinked up at him, taking in his appearance before she spoke.
"And you have sure gotten scruffier," she replied.
Lily met Rebeus Hagrid in her first year of Hogwarts. He wasn't allowed to attended school anymore, but it was well-known that you could find Hagrid helping out on the school grounds. Sadly, Hagrid left Hogwarts for some reason during her third year. But now there he stood, taller then she could recall and looking very untidy with his new long hair and beard.
Lily was about to ask Hagrid what he was doing back at Hogwarts when Professor Dumbledore kindly invited her inside his office.
"Oh, hello Professor-" she said apologetically, "I was just so surprised to see Rebeus."
"It's quite alright, Lily. Now what brings you here on this fine morning?" asked the headmaster, his eyes showing a polite sparkle.
"Oh well, I'll leave yeh two to talk. See you later, Lily. And thanks again, Professor," Hagrid left the room, leaving Lily alone with the headmaster.
"Won't you please take a seat?" he asked, as he sat behind his desk. Lily complied and sat down. Once settled, Dumbledore spoke again.
"Now, tell me what's on your mind."
"Oh, well you see Professor, since a lot of us have been working really hard this past month, I was wondering, if…if maybe I could plan a Halloween Ball for the whole school," she said, trying not to rush her words.
"That sounds quite intriguing," responded the headmaster, showing a genuine interest. "And what would be included in this ball?"
"Ah, for the ball, I was thinking that it would be fun to have a masquerade party. I was also planning to have a disk jockey come to Hogwarts and play music. I really don't have everything set but I know my friends and I would be able to successfully plan this whole party."
"I see…A Halloween Masquerade Ball for everyone in this school…" said Dumbledore in thought. Lily looked at the headmaster with anticipation, praying that he would agree to the whole event. After a couple of seconds he finally gave Lily an answer.
"I see no reason why there shouldn't be such an event here at Hogwarts. Frankly, I feel this would be a splendid idea," Dumbledore said pleasantly.
In absolute joy, Lily thanked the old wizard and promised that this would be one of the best parties ever, at Hogwarts. After that, Lily left the room to inform her two best friends of the good news.
--------------
"So he said it was alright for you to plan this ball?" Gwen asked excitedly during breakfast.
"Yes!" Lily practically shouted. "And to tell you the truth, I don't even think he even thought of refusing," she responded happily as she poured some hot porridge into her bowl.
"So what do we need to do, Lily? We'll help you with whatever we can," said Elizabeth intently.
"Well, first I think we should make flyers and announcements," Lily replied thoughtfully. "Or why not make it very formal and order invitations?"
"Yes, that sounds like a lovely idea," said Elizabeth approvingly.
"And what about the music? Will there be a band or something?" Gwen asked.
Hmm… I was thinking about hiring a disk jockey and not go through the hassle of having to get a band. And if we get a disk jockey then we could ask them to play both wizard and muggle music," Lily suggested.
"Yeah, I like it, but I still wish there would be band as well," Gwen replied with disappointment. "And why do you keep calling it a 'disk jockey'? Why not just say D.J? It's much simpler."
"What's wrong with calling it a disk jockey?" asked Lily with a frown.
"I dunno, it just sounds weird—"
"What's this about a band and D.J?" asked Sirius, joining the group of girls for breakfast.
"Go away, Black! We're planning something here!" Lily hissed.
"Are you planning a party by any chance?" Sirius asked curiously. His almost shoulder length, raven black hair draped elegantly around his chiseled face…and for some reason he looked appealing at the moment.
"Hi Sirius," Gwen said suddenly, looking at Sirius oddly, batting her eyes.
"Hey Gwen," he replied with a sweet smile.
Lily blinked at them for a second; this was getting weird. She then remembered what she was about to say. "It's none of your business what we're planning," Lily hissed again.
"What are you all upset for? I was just asking," Sirius asked coolly, still looking at Gwen. "You know, if you need a band, James, Remus and I are in one. How 'bout you let us play for your little party?" Sirius suggested as he sat down to eat.
Lily looked at Gwen, whose eyes lit up at the offer Sirius had just given them. Lily only glared at her threateningly, making Gwen's brows scrunch up and her mouth pout sadly.
"No, I don't think so. Besides, I doubt that you all have any talent anyway," Lily replied rudely.
Sirius only shrugged. "Oh well, your loss then," he retorted indifferently, his attention was immedialy back on Gwen as he decided to take a seat next to her.
Just then, James walked in, looking very tired. He went to where Sirius and Lily were and sat right in between the two.
"Hey James! Wake up on the wrong side of the bed, mate?" Sirius greeted. Lily noticed a small grin that was on James and Sirius' face.
"No, I just did my corridor watching rounds last night," James lied.
"Awe, too bad," Sirius said sympathetically, giving a wink to his friend.
Lily didn't seem to notice it because she had now taken out a piece of parchment to write down all the things she needed to do to get ready for the Halloween Ball.
"What are you writing, Evans?" James asked curiously, leaning over Lily's shoulder to try and get a look at her paper. She immediately removed the parchment from his view.
"It's nothing that concerns you, Potter," she retorted hastily.
"Oh yeah, Evans is trying to plan a party or something," Sirius interjected with a smirk.
"I see. Are we invited?" James asked sweetly.
"You might be if you would just let us be," Liz said, getting quite upset that the boys were bothering them.
"Fine, fine," Sirius said. He stood up from the table to leave. "I'm finished eating anyway. Are you coming, James?"
"Yeah, sure," said James, barely taking his first sip from his cup of orange juice. He took a piece of toast with him and they both left with Sirius looking a little upset that Lily was being so rude.
"Thank god they left," Lily said with a sigh. The girls then continued with their planning.
It was still an hour before class when James and Sirius decided to go to the Quidditch field to ride on their broomsticks. They had gotten out their Turbo 200 Cleansweeps and were chasing after a Golden Snitch that James had 'borrowed' from the locker room.
"Look! Look! It's by that pole over there!!" James shouted, pointing in the direction where he saw the golden object.
Sirius had been closer to the snitch but he was higher up in the sky. He gave a quick salute to James to let him know that he had seen the object and then went into a nosedive toward the snitch. Sirius was about to hit the ground when he pulled up at the last minute, narrowly escaping a bone-breaking fall.
When Sirius looked up toward James, he put his hand up to show that he had caught the snitch.
"Well done, Padfoot!" James complemented. "But let the snitch go so that I can show you how it's really done!!" he added conceitedly.
Sirius only snorted at his friend and released the snitch from his hand. The Golden Snitch hovered around Sirius's head before it immediately disappeared.
Once it disappeared, James shot up into the sky to circle around the field. In a few seconds, he spotted the flying object and went after it in a speedy chase. James zoomed across the field, made a loop and then went into a tailspin, catching the snitch in the end.
"Got it!" he yelled in triumph.
"YOU SHOW OFF!!" Sirius yelled back. The two boys laughed for a while as they returned to the ground.
It was ten minutes till class so they put their brooms away in the Quidditch lockers. They got out of the locker room when a lean, handsome looking boy came towards them.
"Hello there James Potter and Sirius Black!" the boy greeted politly. "What are you two boys up to?"
"Ah, nothing. Just wasting time," James said. He and Sirius shook the boy's hand. "How have you been, Gregory? 6th year going good for you?" Sirius asked.
Gregory Thomas (a/n: no relation to Dean Thomas...i promise you) was a year younger then the Marauders, but the boys had formed a great friendship with him over the past years. He was extremely smart and was in Gryffindor House with them. For the past three years he had been one of Gryffindor's chasers in the Quidditch team.
"Everything has been exceedingly good, if I may say so," he said with a large smile. "Ah, but I have an important issue to discuss with you, James. I was just informed by McGonagall that Quidditch practices start next week. Do you think you'll be able to show up to a meeting on Saturday morning?" asked Gregory, very professionally.
"I sure will. But who is captain this year? Did McGonagall tell you?" James asked curiously. Gregory's lips formed into a great, big smile before answering James's question. James noticed Gregory's reaction and instantly knew that Gregory himself was the captain for the team this school year.
Sure enough, James's predictions proved to be correct after the 6th year Gryffindor proclaimed his title as captain.
"Well kudos, Captain Thomas!" Sirius said heartily, patting Gregory roughly on the back.
"Yeah, good job. I'm sure you'll lead our team to victory for the 7th year in a row!" James smiled enthusiastically.
James himself had been a part of the team since his second year. He was a chaser just like Gregory, and a very good one to top it off.
"I hope that you'll be rejoining us this year. I doubt we'll be able to win without our star player on the team," Greg beamed, looking directly at James.
"Heh, you betcha I'll be there," James replied earnestly.
"Oh, Sirius, why don't you join this year? I've seen you play before and you'd make a great beater if you ask me,'' the boy commented, hoping that Sirius would consider being on the team.
"Ha ha," Sirius barked suddenly. "I'm not sure I can be on the team."
"Oh? May I ask why not?" Gregory questioned with a eyebrow raised.
"Ah, you see," James interrupted, "in our third year he was one of the beaters for the team, but during the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin game he got a little too rough on one of the opposite team members. And let's just say that McGonagall saw to it that he was severely punished," James ended with a grin.
"What? So did McGonagall ban you from it or something?" asked Gregory, astounded by the news.
"Yeah, basically," Sirius and James both replied nonchalantly.
"Whoa, umm well…never mind about that. I guess I better let you two lads go then. Class is about to start, I believe" Gregory said nervously as he checked his wizard watch.
"See you later, Greg!" James and Sirius said almost in unison. They walked back to the main building laughing, remembering the event of when Sirius had been banned from Quidditch.
YAY! I'm done with that chapter. i debated with myself for a long time before deciding to put Quidditch in. there will be more about the sport in later chapters...and maybe a surprice or two. ok well please don't forget to review!! and see you next time!!!