Sorry this took so long! There is only going to be one or two more chapters, depending on the plot [EDIT: three actually, counting the epilogue]. Thank you again to BlueViolets87 (who is actually Hope-Dream-Read, but she had to change her name to hide from some mobsters who want her to edit stories for them now), the ever marvelous beta.

Chapter Ten:

The Mystery Mask Guy

I paced down the hall, concentrating.

I needed a place for the Shadow`s Party.

It had to be big enough, and decorated to match the theme.

No teachers and ill-willed people should be able to find it or get in.

Finally, the third time past, I stopped at the door that had not been there only moments before. Upon opening it and stepping inside, I smiled. The room had really outdone itself this time.

The room looked like a gothic, haunted, ballroom. Shimmery black décor was hung elegantly everywhere, with tables were set up on the side for the snacks. There was tons of space for dancing and mingling, and, most astoundingly, the room had a balcony.

Amazing. That was a major enchantment if nobody was going to notice it from the outside grounds. What part of the castle was it popping out from, anyway?

I looked up and saw a huge spider web hanging from the ceiling. Written in it large, shimmery lettering was the word 'Welcome'.

Dropping the bag of decorations at the door (which pales in comparison anyway), I crossed the vast room, examining each detail carefully. At the refreshments table, I caught a face in the punch bowl that was eerily familiar, but I could have sworn I`d never seen before. After too long of a moment, I realized it was mine.

When Mel had heard about the party being a masquerade ball, she`d insisted on picking out what I was going to wear, insisting I`d be too recognizable on my own terms. She`d done a pretty good job despite my protests, although the black dress was a bit snug for my usual taste. There was a bit of fringe on the top half of the dress, creating an interesting effect when I moved my arms, like a waterfall of darkness. Mary had insisted I add the long pearl necklace, which she insisted added to the mascaraed effect, but I drew the line when she tried to get me to add a flower in my curls as well. Anyway, it was perfect for the occasion; nobody would think I was Mattie Bell, the tomboy who was always getting in trouble. Well, except the masks didn`t really obscure my identity, but that was a minor fault.

Just as I had started to add the fake cobwebs to the walls, Fabian and Violet came in, holding bags of food and streamers.

"Wow, Mattie, you really decorated well. This makes our streamers look pitiful!"

I laughed. "It was the room that did this, actually. I am but a bystander to the wonderfulness."

Giving up of the fake webs (because how could they compare to the one on the ceiling?), I set to helping Fabian set up the streamers while Violet put out the rest of the food. There wasn`t much food left to set up, so when she was done with that, Vi went about examining the intricately decorated room, just as I had.

The streamers on Fabian`s side started to fall, so I re-levitated them, then looked to see what had distracted him. Fabian had turned to watch as Violet twirled around the room in her dark green dress (something I hadn`t done, mind you).

"You guys should try this, it's really fun!"

Before I could comment on Lover Boy Ravenclaw`s infatuation, there was a loud noise at the door, as if all the excited first years had knocked at once.

Violet paused, and checked her watch. "It`s almost time! T-minus one minute!"

The other two put their masks on, and we peeked outside the door. A line had already formed, and it was pretty darn long.

Fabian flicked his wand and music blared from somewhere.

Let the party begin.

"Hello, Sir Nickolas!"

The ghost tipped his head, and smiled regally. "Am I late?"

"Not at all, it`s only just begun!" I replied, and he glided off into the center of the party, oblivious to the cloud of third years walking through him.

Mel gravitated to my side, passing over a drink in the process. "Where`s Mary? She`ll be disappointed you didn`t wear the flower."

"I haven`t a clue. Besides, she knew there was no way that was happening."

"There`s James and Lily…. and look at Peter!" She pointed over to the smallest Marauder, who was a crazy blur. Apparently, he could break dance. Who knew?

As I was scanning the crowd for Mary, I saw a masked stranger making his way through the crowd. I mean, I know everyone there was wearing masks, but with everyone else, you could pretty much tell who it was. This guy must have had some enchanted mask on or something that made it so you couldn`t exactly place who he was. The curiosity tugged at me. I loved a good challenge. By the end of the night, I was definitely going to know who lied beneath that mask.

"Mel, who`s that?" I pointed over at the Mystery Mask Guy. She stared at Mystery Mask for a minute, and said, "I don`t know. He looks really familiar… I just can`t exactly pinpoint where I`ve seen him before."

"I think he enchanted his mask so people can`t figure out who he is, so he`s semi-recognizable."

"That`s brilliant. I wish I`d done that."

"I know, ri-" I stopped short. "Look, there`s Mary!" Mary was over by the large windows, dancing with Remus Lupin. "Brilliant, somebody owes me…"

Oh, wait. All bets were off. Too bad, that would have been some quick quid.

"Oooh, I`m going to tell Alice if she knows what spell can do that enchanted mask thingy, want to come?" Melody asked, twiddling a strand of her red curled hair.

"Nah. I`m going to see where Violet and Fabian are, the Bloody Baron`s not here yet, and I`m worried Peeves will arrive before him."

Mel flounced off, her blue sparkly dress flowing with every step, and I wondered why she was more interested in the mask than the mysterious figure behind it. Alice`s dress was just a few shades darker than Melody`s hair, but unfortunately was nowhere near the two Ravenclaws I was searching for. Where had those two skipped off to?

The music turned slow, and I had to skirt past dancing couples that were as clumped together as licorice wands on a hot day. I couldn`t help but wonder where Sirius was. He probably snuck out and went to Hogsmeade, pouting, or in a broom closet, having found another girl to fool around with to pass the time. Where ever that scumbag was, he at least had the decency to not show up here.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I stopped registering where I was going, and ran right into some guy`s tuxedoed back.

"Sorry!" I said, and he turned around. Mystery Mask Guy! Up close, I could see he had strikingly familiar grey eyes and longish black hair. He was incredibly hot, that`s for sure, and even better, he wasn`t the lethal brand of handsome that you would get with a Marauder. Even up close, I still couldn`t place who he was, but I was betting on Slytherin or Ravenclaw, since he hadn`t apologized first.

"No, it`s fine. I`m sorry too."

"For what? I plowed into you, there`s no fault in being an innocent bystander." I joked.

"Oh, well you`re Mattie Bell, right? I Sirius Black told me to tell you he was sorry if I saw you here."

Maybe I had jump to a hasty conclusion with this guy. He might be able to pull of some pretty awesome spells, but if he associated with Sirius Black…

…Although if he had talked to Sirius, I might be able to get out of him whether that dog regretted his actions, if he was apologizing.

Vanessa and Bradley were standing behind me and Mr. Mystery Mask, and not even including them, there were still way too many people around who could overhear us. "Follow me." I pulled him out onto one of the balconies.

"Why would he say that? He`s been nothing but incredibly mean to me ever since he and Vanessa…"

"Black said me that there was nothing going on between them, he was just trying to make you jealous, but that twat never thought things would go as far as they did. Apparently, he was mostly just mad because when you got out of the hospital you told him to forget about when you guys kissed."

What? How did Mystery Mask know so much anyway? "Um…I never said that. I told him to forget about… something Remus did. So that`s why he`s been such a complete tosser….that`s still not a really good reason."

He smirked. "You see right through this guy, don`t you?"

"I wish. He`s been one of my best friends for years, and still I can never understand things like fooling around with every girl in Hogwarts like it`s nothing, or watches his little brother when he thinks nobody is paying attention, or why he`s never once looked at me like any of those other girls, yet kisses me out of the blue. Of course, all these little mysteries might be why I like him so much, since for some reason I always just seem to be attracted to danger. Naturally, the idiot`s blind when it counts, though." I rolled my eyes and laughed mirthlessly. "Clueless."

Mystery Mask laughed. When he laughed, something clicked and suddenly I knew exactly who Mystery Mask was. Maybe Sirius wasn't so clueless in comparison after all, if it took me that long to figure out who he was.

I felt my face starting to turn red. Had he really just tricked me into telling him what I thought about him?

"How do you know Sirius so well? Only the Marauders know that much about him."

Oh, I had him cornered on that one. "I`m…um…his partner in Herbology."

"Are you serious? Okay, points for the enchanted mask. Points for the trickery and getting me to talk to you, but really, partners in Herbology? Really? That`s just dumb. Nobody tells their life story to their Herbology partner."

"Ahhhh….well…but…"

I ripped off Sirius`s mask, not throwing it over the balcony for Melody`s sake only. "Stop lying and explain yourself, Black."

"Look, I really am sorry about what happened; it was all a giant misunderstanding. The whole thing with Vanessa… I`m so incredibly sorry. I`m not sorry I came here tonight, though." Sirius stared, unnervingly Sirius, strait into my eyes, looking at me clearly since I`d first taken off his mask. "I want to tell you, before you kick me out, or throw me off this balcony…that, after taking to James about this…I realized… you`re kind of my Lily."

What`s that supposed to mean? "Your…Lily? What are you talking about?"

"You know how Lily is James`, like, soul mate? Everyone can tell that what they have isn't the average stuff you see every day. That`s what I mean. This is…different."

"Are you just saying that? How do I know you try this line with every other girl? Sirius Black, have a soul mate? As if. You couldn`t settle if you tried."

"Wanna bet?"

I didn't say anything.

All bets were off.

But where was the fun in that?

I met his eyes.

"You`re on."

The day I got my first broom, I celebrated by pushing it to the limit and flying really high above my house, higher than anything for miles. I was so excited to have a broom of my own, but I forgot to pay attention to how high I was going. After a while, I realized I had to get down somehow, so I dove my broom downwards. I was so scared of going splat when the inevitable happened and I hit the ground, but it was also amazingly, terrifyingly, amazingly awesome (I did pull up at the last minute). Up until that night on the balcony, that was the best thing I`d ever experienced, and the only time I had ever felt all those things at once.

Kissing Sirius was like taking that dive again and again, only the fear dissolved the instant his lips touched mine.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, Sirius asked, "Do you want to go back inside and dance?"

"Sure," I managed to say, "You might want to put your enchanted mask back on, though. Everyone in there has instructions to kick you out."

He laughed, in that barking way that Lily had tried to make me connect to his amimungi just a short time ago. I could see what he meant, that maybe this gallantly reckless person and I were more than just another fleeting relationship, eventually doomed. But none of it mattered then, because either way, in that moment, we were in a world all our own.

"Wait," I said, and Sirius withdrew his hand from the door.

This time, I kissed him.