October 15th, 1977
Great Hall, Hogwarts
Everyone was currently sitting in the Great Hall, waiting for their dinner. Dumbledore stood up and said, "Before letting the dinner begin, there is a small announcement I have to make. Upon the suggestion of our Heads, a Ball has been organized this Halloween. The ball will be open for everyone above 4th year. That's all I have to say. Enjoy your dinner." The dinner began after that. Excited murmurs and whispers spread across the hall. James's meanwhile was looking towards the Hufflepuff table, in particular towards Patricia Smith, 7th year perfect. He and Patricia had become good friends over the meetings and classes and James thought to ask her out as friends.
There was a heads and prefects meeting the next day. After the meeting was over, James asked Patricia if they could talk and then asked her to the ball. She happily accepted and in return asked him if he would come with her to Gladrags to buy dress robes for the ball. He agreed and the two then went back to their towers.
When James reached the Gryffindor tower and went towards the head common room, he saw Sirius, Remus and Peter sitting and talking about something. He joined them and sat on one of the chairs. The conversation soon turned towards the ball. They all knew that Sirius was going with Marlene. Remus meanwhile said that he asked Alice as a friend to the ball. James, Sirius and Peter teased him for trying to steal Alice from Frank, who was currently in Aurors training. During this teasing, the girls themselves entered the room and joined them.
Alice said that Frank was unable to come as he was having a test on the day of the ball and she had no problem going with Remus as friends. Dorcas said a boy from Hufflepuff had asked her while Peter said that he was yet to ask someone. Lily said that she was asked by Emmanuel Davis, 7th year Ravenclaw prefect. She looked excited to be going to the ball with him. James then said he was going with Patricia.
Both James and Lily felt jealous when they heard whom the other was going to the ball with. James knew why he was felling jealous, for he knew that he would have asked Lily to the ball, if he wasn't afraid that she would reject him and that it may affect their new friendship. Lily however was confused by this jealousy. Was she jealous that Patricia was going with James? Where was this jealousy coming from? Why was she feeling jealous?
When she was in her room that night, her brain was filled with this thought. Did she like James in that sense? But how could she like him? Hadn't she said that she would never like him like that? Yes, James had changed a lot and they had become friends, but was she falling for him? It was with these confusing thoughts that she went to sleep.
October 31st, 1977
Harry was with Ginny and Teddy waiting in the great hall. The hall had been decorated differently than how it had been during the Yule Ball of Triwizard tournament. Then the great hall had been decorated with ice. Now, it was made with the Halloween aesthetic in mind. Jack-o-lanterns were made from huge pumpkins, bats flying above, a full moon with the sky full of stars. The long house tables were replaced with smaller round tables. A huge place was left in the middle of the hall for dance. The great hall looked fabulous and stunning.
He also saw who had come with whom. He wasn't surprised seeing Sirius with Marlene. Neither was he surprised seeing Remus with Alice. But he was surprised seeing who came with James and Lily. He also felt that he saw some looks from them towards the other. And was that jealousy in those looks?
His musings were broken by Dumbledore speaking. He welcomed the students to the ball and then showed them how to get food on their plates. Once the dinner was over, he then welcomed the Weird Sisters, who were going to provide the music for the ball. He then asked James and Lily to open the ball.
James went to Lily and asked, "May I have the honor of this dance, Ms. Evans?" Lily smiled and said, "You may Mr. Potter." They went to the middle of the hall. The music started to play a traditional waltz song. Lily and James started dancing. Once their dance was over, the ball opened for others and they went to their dates for the ball.
Harry and Ginny were sitting on one of the tables. Teddy had just woken up and looking wide-eyed at everything. Harry and Ginny were both pointing out things to him, loving the excited reactions he was having to them. When they were playing with him, Remus came and sat opposite them. Harry said, "Tired from dancing Remus?" Remus said, "Oh I am not tired. I think Alice would appreciate dancing with Frank more than me." Both Harry and Ginny looked around and found Alice slow dancing with Frank. Remus had a grin on his face when he said, "Frank had his test cancelled and decided to surprise her. I knew about it and helped him surprise her." Harry and Ginny laughed at that.
Harry had seen Ginny look at the students dancing. He felt that perhaps she herself wanted to dance. Deciding to muster up his confidence, he asked her, "Ginny, want to dance?" Ginny looked surprised. She knew that Harry didn't like dancing. She said, "You want to dance?" Harry said, "Why not? I am sure Remus will look after Teddy." Remus said, "Sure Professors. Teddy and I will have fun." Harry said, "See. Come on Gin." He stood up and offered his hand to her. Ginny took it and they both went to the corner. They then began dancing. Harry stumbled a bit at the beginning. But Ginny helped him and after a couple of songs, they both began enjoying themselves. Harry even twirled her once, making her laugh. She said, "I know you hate dancing. So, thank you for this." He said, "Dancing with you is much better than with Parvati. But that was more my fault than hers." Ginny laughed and said, "Yeah. You left her after the opening dance and spent the rest of the ball with Ron, sulking about Cho." Harry blushed a bit and said, "Hey. It was the first time I was at a ball and dancing in front of so many people. And I had a crush on Cho then. You can't blame me." Ginny laughed more and said, "Whatever makes you feel better Harry." Once the song they were dancing to was over, the band started a slow, romantic song. Ginny thought their dance was over and was pulling back when she felt Harry's grip tighten on her. She said, "Harry. Its ok. We can dance again once this song is over." Harry said, "I have no problem with dancing with you on this song." Ginny looked at him and said, "Are you sure?" Harry nodded.
As the song played, Harry and Ginny slowly danced to it, their eyes locked and a smile on their faces. Dancing like this felt right to them, as if it was it was meant to be. As the song was reaching its end, their face kept getting closer to each other. As the song ended, their lips met in a slow, tender kiss.