Okay, so I kinda suck at descriptions, so when you get to the part about me describing their dresses, you can just skim it if you want. I have links on my profile as to what they look like.

Chapter 7: In Which Melodrama Comes to Play...

The ball was tomorrow, and even Lily was starting to get excited. I, on the other hand, was sulking as I sat next to her on the couch.

"Come on, Dae, you're going with Zane! He's one of the most sought after boys in the school! Other than, well . . . You get it."

I sighed. "I know. And he's nice, and I like him, but you know how much I hate this stuff!" I whined. "It's pointless. It's just an excuse for slags to get even sluttier and guys to take advantage."

"Nice to know you think so much of us, Muffin."

And . . . Then he sat down next to me. Like, right next to me. So close that it made me want to punch him in the face.

"Oh, talking to me again, now are you?" I replied sarcastically, not looking at him.

"What in the world are you talking about?" His voice sounded so falsely innocent that it made me want to gag.

"Oh, I don't know, just that ever since you got back together with that slag you've decided not to talk to me anymore. Don't get me wrong, I love it. So why don't you just leave me alone and continue ignoring me?"

"Could you possible be. . . jealous, Muffin?" I looked up at him with disgust on my face to see that amusement was evident in his expression and that he had his eyebrows raised.

"In your dreams, Black." I scoffed.

He flinched at the use of his surname. "Back to Black, are we?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Don't see why not." I responded coolly.

He sighed, eyes going towards the fire. "Fine then. But you sure are making it seem like you're jealous." He looked back at me and grinned cockily. "Not that I mind at all, Muffin. I've been waiting for you to realize your feelings for a long time now."

I rolled my eyes. "Please. Haven't you realized it yet, Black? I'm not going to succumb to your charms. I'm not going to be just another one of your whores." He opened his mouth to protest, but I cut him off. "Look, I'm not going to apologize this time. You use girls like toys, and you know it. You get a new one, it's fun for a while, then you find another and dump the old one in the trash. And honestly, I'm tired of watching it. So just leave me the hell out of it."

I grabbed my book and left, with both him and Lily staring after me with their mouths wide open. It was quite funny, really.

Not like it mattered. I'd already lost the bet.

. . .

Okay. Not yet. They'd only been going out for a little less than two weeks.

But that's farther than I've gotten.

Truthfully, that's farther than I ever want to get. I just don't want to lose. Especially to Elvora. That's just . . . unacceptable.

Hmm. Maybe I could pay someone in the school to seduce Black. She'd have to lose the bet then.

The sad thing? I'm actually considering it.

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

The day of the ball, we didn't have any classes. Something about 'getting into the spirit.' I'm not sure. I stopped paying attention to talk about the ball about twenty seconds after it was announced.

Lily insisted that me, her, Nellie, Alice, and Mary all get ready together. Nellie felt like she had to play dress-up with all of us, and Lily wholeheartedly agreed. We'd already bought our dresses, (Yes, they're technically called dress robes, but I like the American word better. Always have.) but Nellie and Lily said that that was only the half of it. There was still hair, make-up, nails . . .

Dear Merlin, please kill me now.

. . .

Okay. No. Please don't. Just give me a small accident that puts me in the Hospital Wing so that I don't have to go to this stupid thing.

I was the last one to take a shower, and when I came out, Lily was already dressed and ready, (Actually, they were all dressed. I felt a little strange.), doing Nellie's make-up.

Lily looked beautiful. I'm not really sure how to describe her dress, just that it was mid-thigh and that the top was black, slowly fading to gray, and then white at the bottom. She left her hair down, curled in loose tendrils, but pulled back a small part of her 'bangs.' (They're not really bangs. They're the same length as the rest of her hair. But she insists that that doesn't matter, they're still bangs . . .) She was wearing tall black heels, too, which really made me feel like a midget.

Alice's dress was rather plain, although it looked amazing on her. It was simple, long, midnight blue, and strapless. She wore a pretty white necklace with it and Lily had helped her put her black hair up into an elegant bun, with a few pieces hanging loose.

"Daelia, go put on your dress." Lily said, not looking up from Nellie.

I loved Nellie's dress; I'd almost bought it for myself when I'd found it. But then I found another dress that I'd loved even more, so I figured that it would look just as good on Nellie.

It was also simple, just a white, short dress with silver sparkles on the circular neckline. She wore pretty earrings with it, too, and a pair of turquoise flats. Her dark brown hair was sleek and straight, like it usually was, and Lily must have given her smoky eyes with gray eyeliner.

She reminded me of a winter princess.

I felt like I should have been jealous, but I wasn't. She looked amazing. It was simple.

I put on my dress after more of Lily's orders.

See, my dress reflected what I usually like to wear. It was a bright green, strapless, tight, and short but not too short. It flowed out in ruffles at the end, and even though I'm not a big fan of fancy dresses, I had to say that I loved mine.

Although it's not exactly what I'd call 'fancy.'

And, of course, only I had the audacity to wear bright yellow heels with it.

That was rather stupid on my part, I've never been good in heels. But Zane had mentioned that he hated dancing to fast songs, so I figured I wouldn't have too much trouble.

I was wearing earrings like everyone else, and a necklace too, which I put on before Lily ordered me to her chair.

"Okay, Lils, work your magic."

She rolled her eyes. "Sorry, I don't need magic to make you look good, Dae."

I snorted. "Yeah. Okay."

"Daelia, how many guys asked you to the ball?" Lily asked as she turned me away from the mirror and started to put foundation on.

I looked over at Alice, who had been keeping count. "Er. . . seventeen." She stated.

Lily's eyes widened a bit. "See? You certainly seem to be liked well enough by the male population of Hogwarts."

I just ignored her. She didn't spend very long on my make-up, and she hardly did anything to my hair.

When I looked in the mirror, I was a bit surprised at what I saw, but I didn't really look very different.

My skin was glowing, and she'd also done the whole smoky eyes thing on me. She'd left my side bangs alone, (Haha, Lily! I've got real bangs!) and left the rest of my light brown hair down. It still went to the middle of my back, it hadn't grown at all lately, and she had straightened it, which really hadn't taken very long.

They all said I looked gorgeous, and I did, it's true, but I wasn't used to wearing so much make-up, even if there wasn't a copious amount. True, I usually wore a lot of eyeliner, but that was it.

"Oh, stop hogging the mirror, Daelia. We all know you're the most beautiful of us, there's no need to prove it to yourself." I rolled my eyes and frowned as Alice pushed me gently out of the way.

"Please. She's almost as ugly as Lucy Marlene." Elvora's voice came from right behind me, and I spun around to see her smirking.

She was wearing a lot of eyeliner. Like, an almost scary amount. Her dress was light pink and tight, and she was also wearing heels while her straight black hair flowed freely around her, tousled. It was obvious that she'd worked quite hard to get it that way.

Coughcough . . . slag . . . coughcough

Shannen, on the other hand, looked very . . . sweet, I guess. She was wearing a gray, strapless dress with a purple bow right below her chest, and she also had a gold locket. She was wearing gray flats. Her hair was still curly, as was usual, but it was much sleeker than normal.

I've never understood why she's friends with the she-devil. Shannen used to be nice and sweet and innocent.

I highly doubt that last part is true now . . .

"Let's just go downstairs, ladies. The ball starts in ten minutes." I said, trying desperately not to reach over and grab my wand.

Nellie sighed and said, "Alright, let's go. But Daelia, I'll walk with you. Merlin knows that you'll need help in those heels."

I smiled sheepishly and took her arm as we all started walking down the stairs, Nellie and I last in the line.

Everyone was just milling around the common room, either talking to friends or waiting for their dates. The Marauders were right near the end of our stairs, and I know that James' jaw dropped open as soon as he saw Lily. Nellie and I laughed at his adoring but hungry expression, which brought Remus' and Black's attention to us.

Black's jaw dropped, too, as soon as he saw me.

My cheeks heated a bit as I looked down.

I was a bit ashamed of myself as I had my next thought, though.

I was glad. Glad that he was looking at me with that expression instead of Elvora.

I tried to chalk it up to the fact that I really wanted to win this bet, but I knew it wasn't true. Yes, I wanted to win the bet, but that look he gave me and the way it made me feel had absolutely nothing to do with the bet.

Elvora walked past me, giggling as she rushed over to Sir . . . Er, Black, and latched onto his arm. His didn't remove his eyes from me, however, even as James came up to compliment me on the dress.

"Definitely something only you would be daring enough to wear, Dae."

I smiled up at him. "Well, you know. I don't do well with boring."

"Sure you're gonna be able to get down any more staircases in those shoes, Muffin?" Black murmured into my ear.

Even though I hadn't known he was behind me, I didn't jump. "Sod off, Black, we know I won't. That's what I've got Nellie for."

I could tell he was grinning, and I saw Elvora across the room with Shannen and Gabriel Hardsgrove, Elvora's seventh year brother and Shannen's boyfriend of a little over a year. Elvora was glaring at the two of us, especially the hand that Black had gently resting on my shoulder.

"Well, I would sod off, except for the fact that being over here gets me away from . . . What is it you call her?"

"The she-devil." I muttered reluctantly, wishing that he would just go away already but kind of hoping that he wouldn't.

"Yes, that." He said, amused. "I've been waiting to see you all night."

"Well, you saw me, so feel free to go back to the she-devil." I said in a bored tone, examining my nails.

He squeezed my shoulder a bit, and I saw Nellie shoot me a questioning gaze. "I'd rather not."

I finally spun around to face him. "Then why the bloody hell are you still with her?" I asked, exasperated. His eyes widened a bit, shocked at my outburst. "You know what? Never mind. I really don't what to know." I slipped under his arm and walked over to the girls, asking them if we could go downstairs like most of the others in the common room were doing.

Nellie had to help me down the stairs again. All of them.

Zane was waiting for me in the Entrance Hall, and I walked over to him as quickly as I dared, mainly to get away from Black and Elvora.

He was wearing navy blue dress robes, and his black hair clashed with his tan skin perfectly. I smiled as I walked up to him, and he just stared.

"Zane? Do you ever plan on blinking again?"

He grinned and put an arm around me. He leaned down to say something, but we were interrupted by some very obnoxious giggling and the doors to the Great Hall opening. I took a deep breath and tried my best not to groan and whine and beg to leave.

And the ball hasn't even started yet.

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

About an hour into the ball, Zane and I were sitting at a table with Lily and Tyler, Alice and Frank, and James and Ellie, a tall fifth year girl from Hufflepuff.

"No, Lily, I did not tell you to that I ever wanted her dead."

Lily snorted. "I distinctly recall you asking if we could hire someone to kill her."

". . . I said that out loud?"

"More than once, Daelia."

"Oh, shut up Alice. Okay. Fine. So I said that."

James was staring at me with a spark of amusement in his eyes. "So, you conveniently want Sirius' date to die."

I rolled my eyes. "It was nothing to do with Black, you moron. I've always hated her. Lily and Alice and Nellie hate her, too. And if Mary was capable of hate, Mary would hate her too."

"I don't know, Daelia. You sure make it seem like it has something to do with Padfoot."

I stared at him for a second, then picked up my goblet and threw it at him. There was nothing in it, but it still gave me some satisfaction when I heard it collide with his head.

Honestly, it was bad enough that we were having this conversation, but to have it in front of Zane? I actually liked Zane. I really didn't need James scaring him off.

Thankfully, Lily, who was closer to him, slapped him in the back of the head, to which he responded with a goofy smile.

I almost felt sorry for Ellie, except for the fact that she just left the ball with a Slytherin.

"Ah, James, you really are delusional sometimes. And clueless. Did you not just notice your date leave with Ignacio Nott?"

He barely paid attention to me.

I looked back over at Zane. "Er, Zane? Are you feeling all right?" I asked nervously.

He moaned quietly and shook his head. His normally tan skin was almost as pale as mine, and he was covered in a sheen of sweat. He was holding his stomach and looked like he was trying not to upchuck. "I'm sorry, Daelia, but I think I need to go."

I nodded worriedly. "Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, that's okay." He got up and moved his way through the dancing students.

I stared after him. "Well. Looks like I'm alone now."

"We can change that easily, Muffin." I scowled as Black took the seat Zane had just vacated.

"I'd rather not." I looked back at the rest of the table to see that Alice and Frank had left to go dance, and James was looking amused again.

So was Lily. "Traitor." I muttered in her direction. She laughed and started whispering to Tyler. I assumed she was telling him something about Black and I.

"Aw, come on, Muffin. Have a little fun."

"I have plenty of fun, Black, just not when you're around." I responded coolly.

"You didn't look like you were having much fun with Johnston."

"What, have you been watching us the whole night?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

He smirked. "Actually, yes. I wasn't exactly watching Johnston, though . . ."

"Merlin, you're a pervert. Don't you have your own date."

"Doesn't matter. She's a she-devil."

"Then why did you come with her?" I challenged. "Let me guess, because you think she's hot?" He stayed silent. "That's what I thought."

"You don't know everything, Eckhart." He finally said quietly.

"I never claimed to." I replied, just as quiet. I then stood up and said, "I'm going to the bathroom." I weaved through the crowd, making my way out of the Great Hall.

"Going somewhere, Miss Eckhart?"

I froze. I knew that voice. "Bathroom, Professor."

Langor walked past me and turned around so that I was facing him. He stepped forward once. I stepped back. "You know, Daelia, you're one of my favorite students." Another step forward. Another one back. "You're one of the prettiest, too." I tried to step to the side and slip away, but he blocked me. I backed up again and hit the wall, knowing that he had effectively cornered me.

I was starting to panic a bit. I desperately needed my wand, but I didn't have it, I had left it in the dormitory. I usually took my wand everywhere, but Lily and Alice had taken theirs so they said the rest of us didn't need ours. I wasn't in view of the Great Hall, so no one could see what was going on. Even if I screamed, I doubted anyone would hear me, the music was too long. I could smell alcohol on his breath, too, as he leaned closer. My heart was pounding, and I tried bringing my knee up, but he brought out his wand and used a body-bind spell on me.

Well, shit. Even when he's drunk, he manages to anticipate my moves.

My muscles froze up and locked, and I knew that I wouldn't be moving any time soon.

"Such a pretty girl, Daelia. It shouldn't be wasted on boys like Johnston on Black." He moved his head down to my neck while I silently tried to break the body-bind. I was thinking that maybe if he was drunk, he wouldn't have been able to cast a very strong body-bind. It was starting to get harder to breathe, and I was almost certain that I was starting to have a panic attack. "You need someone real, someone who can take care of you and appreciate your beauty."

If I could have snorted, I would have. Where was he getting this? From some movie that specialized in rape lines?

He pressed his lips to my neck, and I started to struggle in earnest against the body-bind spell, making it even harder to breathe. My lungs started to burn, and I almost wished that the body-bind would make it so that I couldn't feel, either.

But apparently, I didn't need that.

Langor's hands were ripped off of me, and I heard him fall onto the floor with a loud thunk. The body-bind broke and I fell onto the floor on my hands and knees, gasping, finally able to give my lungs the air they were begging for.

I heard a crack and looked up to see Sirius with an enraged and concentrated face as his fist collided with Langor's face over and over again.

Proffesor Langor was unconscious by now, his face covered in blood. I crawled over and tried to grab Black's fist.

"Black! Black, stop it. He's not awake anymore! It's not worth it." He struggled against me for a few more seconds before slumping back and crawling off of Langor. He turned around and looked at me, eyes searching my face as he put his hands on my shoulders.

"Are you . . . Are you okay?"

"If I said I was, would you believe me?"

"No."

I sighed but smiled softly. "Well then, I guess I'm not okay."

He sighed, too, and out his arms around me, both of us still sitting on the floor. "I knew he was a creep, but I never knew that he wou-would do something like that." He murmured into my hair.

I snorted. "Neither did I. How'd you end up out here, anyway?"

"Well, you just ran off, and I felt kinda bad, and then I saw him go out, too . . ." His tone turned to one of disgust by the end. "He should've gotten a lot worse than that . . ."

I squeezed my arms tighter around him. "Please, just . . . Don't do anything else. Can we just leave?" My heart still hadn't calmed down; In fact, I think it had started pounding harder. I was amazed he couldn't hear it.

He stood up, taking me with him. He kept an arm tight around my waist as we started making our way to Gryffindor tower, although I suspect that it had more to do with the shoes than anything else.

When we were almost halfway there, he sighed and broke the silence. "You always manage to get yourself in bad situations, don't you, Muffin?" He sounded sad, although there was an undercurrent of amusement.

I smiled sheepishly. "It's the bad luck in me. It comes out of the most inopportune moments."

He shook his head, exasperated. "Merlin, Daelia, can you even take care of yourself?"

I stopped walking, causing him to stop too. "And what the bloody hell do you mean by that?" I questioned indignantly.

He sighed. "That's not what I meant. I'm sorry."

"Yeah. You seem to be saying that a lot lately."

He opened his mouth, closed it, then tried again. "Daelia, I just . . . You-I . . ." He sounded like he was struggling for words, but then he blew out a breath and said, "I just worry about you, Daelia." He raised his eyebrows when I opened my mouth to protest, giving me a challenging gaze, so I shut it again. "I know that you can take care of yourself, alright? I know that. But it doesn't stop me from worrying. There are some things you can't control, though, like the fact that you're completely uncoordinated," I rolled my eyes. "Or like what happened tonight. And the luck monkeys seem to have been cruel to you."

"Luck monkeys?" I repeated.

He grinned. "Oi, you're the one that came up with that one. Second year, remember?"

"You know, the fact that you made a speech that emotional and that long is surprising enough. The fact that you remembered something I said in second year is downright frightening." By now we'd started walking again, and he squeezed the arm that was still around my waist.

"I remember lots of things you've said, Muffin. Your words are very important to me."

"Well then why is it you never listen to me when I tell you not to do some prank?"

He snorted. "Muffin, half the time you're the one that comes up with our pranks. I don't think you've ever warned us against one."

I pursed my lips. "Well . . . I guess you're kind of right with that one. Er . . . Oh! I got it. What about when I tell you not to go off with some slag and then you do it anyways?'

He raised an eyebrow. "Have you seen that happen at all this year?"

"She-devil?" I said pointedly.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Look, that's. . . it's not real or anything."

I laughed bitterly. "And since when is it ever real, Black?" There we go, using the last name again. "It's all fun and games for you. A quick shag in the broom closet and then you pretend it never happened. Are you ever going to grow up?" I blew out a breath.

Yeah. I'm Bipolar. Specifically when it comes to Sirius Black.

"Daelia . . . I know that I've been like that in the past, but it's honestly not like that anymore."

"Oh, so it really is real, you and Elvora?"

He flinched. "Bloody hell. No."

"Well then what in Merlin's name are you trying to say?" I asked, extremely exasperated.

"I'm trying to say . . ." He struggled for words, obviously frustrated. "Merlin's beard!" He finally cried, throwing his hands up. "Go ask Prongs!"

I frowned as I watched him walk away, wondering what in the world he was talking about. If what he had with Elvora wasn't 'real,' (Shudder) but he wasn't all man-whorey anymore, then what the bloody effing hell was he trying to say?

And I thought the Marauders were supposed to be uncomplicated.

They're childish, immature, arrogant, gits, care way too much about their pranks. They hardly ever know when to shut their mouths, one of them is a stalker, one is a werewolf, one is a petty follower, and the last is a man-whore. They never study, they live to bother Slytherins, most of us believe that they'll never get up their pranks.

They're also brilliant, fiercely loyal and extremely protective. No matter what they say, they care about most of the younger students, and they'll defend anyone against the Slytherins at any time.

Lots of info, but it's fairly simple. They say what they mean. They hide secrets, true, but only ones involving a certain 'furry little problem' and ones involving their pranks.

But now. . . Now, I'm not so sure that they're that simple. Now, I'm beginning to wonder if maybe the Marauders really aren't arses. Maybe they actually do have feelings.

. . .

Okay. That made it sound like they're soulless gits. Gits, yes. Soulless . . . As much as I wish they were, they aren't.

But now. . . They've got. . . Depth. Merlin, that sounds cheesy. But it's true.

And, of course, Black has to leave me with a 'cliffhanger' of sorts. He knows that I can't stand not knowing things; That I'm extremely curious, and I'm not good at letting things go.

In other words, he knows just how to push my buttons.

And whether he's done it intentionally or not this time, I intend to find out what in Merlin's pants he was talking about.

. . .

And I didn't mean that in a perverted way.

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

Later, when we were in the dormitory, they all asked me where I'd suddenly disappeared to and why Black had been missing, too.

"Oh, sod off and stop waggling your eyebrows, Nellie, you look like you're about to have a seizure."

"Well, excuse me if I find it a bit suspicious that you just happen to run out to go to the loo and he saunters after you, then both of you disappear for the night."

"We didn't disappear for the whole night." I huffed.

"Uh . . . Dae? It's three in the morning. The ball ended at midnight." Lily said meekly, although her searching gaze was much more powerful.

"Oh. Well, uh . . . Oh. Look, we didn't do anything, alright? We talked for a bit, then we argued, then he confused me, then he ran off. Just like always. Well, except for the confusing me part."

From behind me, I heard a delicate snort. "Well of course nothing happened, you freak. Siri is with me."

I snorted too, much less delicately. "Yeah? Is that why he came running to me by the end of the night? Face it, Elvora, you make him run. Your she-devil ways just make him want to find someone else." I said sweetly.

She glared at me as Lily closed the hangings around my bed.

It was just Alice, Lily, and I, because Alice was still with Frank, (No, not doing anything dirty. Alice just . . . Isn't like that. . . Actually? I'm not sure.)

Lily sighed. "Look, Dae, we all know that I hate Black almost as much as I hate Potter, but you don't hate him. And if I'm going to be serious-"

"You can't be Sirius, Lily, Black is."

She glared at me and continued. "If I'm going to be honest," She sent me a pointed look. "He's different around you. And he never apologizes to anyone, not even James, but just in the past week how many times has he apologized to you?"

I sighed. "Okay. Fine. I get it. It'll be easy for me to win the bet if him and Elvora break up."

Lily looked at me exasperatedly. "I wasn't talking about the bet!" She burst out.

"Lily, just leave it alone. She's in denial, and I don't think that's going to change if either of us say anything about it."

I looked at Alice and confusedly asked, "What exactly am I in denial about?"

They both stared at me for a second, looking at me like I was an idiot. "Never mind." Alice finally muttered.

Well. Nice to know I'm idiot who's in denial.

And again . . . What, exactly, am I in denial about?

Go. Review. And you know, you would have gotten this chapter faster if more of you had reviewed. But thank you, WyomingMustang97, for being my only reviewer last chapter.