Well, would you look at that? A relatively quick update! How on earth did I do that?
Anyways, yeah, I'm making more of an effort to be timely, because reviewers keep telling me to post faster. Hopefully this will encourage more of you to review...? (My fingers are crossed. It makes typing very difficult.)
So, as usual, I hope you enjoy this chapter of The Man Behind the Mask and, as usual, none of these characters or places are mine.
- Lorraine
CHAPTER 7
When James told Lily about his idea to hold a ball, she'd laughed at him.
"What?" he'd asked, somewhat indignantly. "If I'm the one throwing the party, it'll be great. Obviously. There will be fancy invitations, and dancing, and food! We'll have puddings, and pies, and rum soufflés… What could go wrong?"
Still chuckling, Lily was reminded of a song she'd known as a girl, and she told him so.
"You know, you sound exactly like a character in a musical I used to watch."
"What was musical?" James asked, confused. "That's just an adjective."
"No, no, a musical is a kind of play that has songs and dancing in it. One of them, called Cinderella, has a song about a prince who's giving a ball. They list all sorts of preparations: food, clothes, invitations, all kinds of things."
James was intrigued by this "musical" idea. He asked Lily to explain it in more detail.
"Well, these two guys, Rodgers and Hammerstein, wrote songs to fit the story of an old fairytale called Cinderella, and they made it into a stage production," she said, simply.
"Cinderella? That's an odd title. What's it about?"
"You, the boy who grew up with some spiel about Babbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump, think that Cinderella sounds weird?" she raised her eyebrows. "But I'm surprised you don't know about Cinderella. I guess Muggle fairytales are really different from Wizarding ones. Anyways, it's about a poor girl called Cinderella whose evil stepmother won't let her have any fun. One day, the stepmother takes her two daughters (who are also evil) to a ball that's being held by the prince so he can find a girl to be his wife. Cinderella wishes she could go to the ball, so her fairy godmother turns up and uses magic to give her a gown and a carriage and attendants, and sends her off to the ball. She meets the Prince, and he is instantly infatuated with her, and, long story short, they live happily ever after."
"What's this 'fairy godmother' nonsense? There aren't witches like that, who just show up to help people go to parties. That's not how magic works," James said, scoffing.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Well, remember, James, Muggles don't actually think that witches exist… So in their minds magic could definitely be used for stuff like that."
"What, you thought that? When you were younger, you wished that you could have someone use magic to get you pretty clothes? There are so many better things that you can do with it!" James said, incredulous.
"Yes, obviously I know that now, James. But sure, when I was a little girl of course I wished that my fairy godmother would come and help me meet my Prince Charming." James frowned, not believing that this strong, independent Lily Evans could ever have been so silly. As if reading his mind, Lily said, "Don't you dare say that it's silly, James Potter. That's what girls wish for, okay? They wish to wear pretty dresses and to dance with handsome men who sweep them off their feet. It's a nice dream." James was looking at her like she was crazy. She realized how dreamy she must have sounded, and she rushed to defend herself. Naïve, certainly, but nice, and I won't let you ruin it for the eight-year-old Lily that's still somewhere in here!" she finished, glaring at him.
"Alright, alright, sorry. I didn't mean to criticize your hopes and dreams. Does this mean you're in, though? You support my proposition to hold a ball?"
Lily considered for a moment. "Yes, I suppose so." James beamed. "On two conditions." The smile slid off his face. "First of all, you have to do half of the work. I do not want to organize this thing by myself, because it's going to be a preposterous amount of work. Second of all… I reserve the right to sing songs from Cinderella at any point during our preparations. Are we clear?"
James smiled. Lily's conditions were usually much worse than those. "Sure, Lils, sounds good," he agreed, and got a small, excited smile in return.
The two Head Students decided that they should hold the ball before the winter holidays, so that people wouldn't spend their breaks worrying about who to ask or what to wear, and, James added, to give everyone time to "recover." They also agreed to invite all grades, because everybody needed to have a little bit of fun, and the older students could always party later on in their common rooms. With these details settled, James and Lily went to get their idea approved by Dumbledore.
As they walked towards the Headmaster's office, the pair discussed possible themes for the dance. Lily suggested a costume ball, but James said that would be too much like Halloween. James wanted a beach theme, proposing that they decorate the Great Hall like a seaside, but Lily vetoed this, shrewdly guessing that James just wanted to see all the girls in bikinis ("Yeah… but it's not like you would mind seeing all the blokes without shirts on, am I right?" James said cheekily. Lily had glared at him). Both concentrating, they walked on in a silence only broken by the odd suggestion of themes (including Arabian Nights, Underwater, Gender Bender, Paris in the Springtime, Garden Paradise, and, James' favorite, Nudist Colony). They reached the gargoyle without having agreed, and when Lily gave the password ("licorice snaps") it was in an exasperated tone of voice.
They climbed the spiral staircase and entered the office to find Dumbledore sitting behind his desk, smiling widely, his eyes twinkling behind his half-moon spectacles. "Good day to you, Miss Evans, Mister Potter. To what do I owe the pleasure? I hope there is no trouble afoot." Lily shook her head. "Jolly good! If there were, I suppose James here would probably be looking a bit more guilty." He winked at the boy in question, who smiled in return, and replied.
"No, sir, no trouble at all that I'm aware of. Actually, we came to ask if you think it would be all right for us to plan an activity for the students before the winter holidays. A ball, no be precise."
Dumbledore positively beamed, and clapped once. "Oh, how splendid! I do love a good waltz. I certainly see no reason why you shouldn't hold a ball, though if you want to hold it before we let out for Christmas the planning will be a bit rushed. However, I'm sure the two of you will be able to handle it. I didn't make you Heads for nothing."
"Yes sir, I'm sure we'll manage," said Lily. "We were thinking that we'd invite all the students, too. It seems so unfair to keep the younger ones from attending such a fun activity."
"How kind you are, Miss Evans. I quite agree that everyone should be able to attend. That sounds like a wonderful idea. Have you any ideas about what sort of a ball it will be?"
"Well—" began James and Lily at the same time. James decided it would be safer to let Lily speak than to risk have her be mad at him if he should say something wrong, so he indicated that she should continue.
"Well, sir, we can't quite manage to agree on a theme… I was thinking perhaps a Parisian setting? It would be so pretty, and we could have French food, and—" James cut Lily off.
"But, Professor, don't you think that would be a bit much? I mean, the French always seem so snooty and serious, and we want this to just be fun. I thought that a sort of beach party would be a really good idea." Lily rolled her eyes
Dumbledore chuckled at the antics of two of his favorite students. They would be quite the pair someday, he was sure of it. Indeed, perhaps he could use the opportunity of the dance to push them closer to each other. He did love to show people the true meaning of romance. "Hmm, I suppose you could compromise, and have it on a Parisian beach?" James and Lily, who were now glaring at each other, seemed unlikely to agree to this bargain. Dumbledore smiled again at the fiery pair. "No? Well, let's see… it should be something with an air of mystery, I think, so that all of the students will wish to come and see it for themselves… Aha, I think I know. How about a Masquerade?"
The Head students paused their glaring contest to ponder the Headmaster's suggestion. Both of them smiled, slowly, as they considered the possibilities of such a ball.
"That sounds wonderful!" said Lily, thinking of all the elaborate Victorian-esque costumes she and Lucy could find.
"Wicked!" said James, already devising a plan to use his masked persona to finally win Lily over.
"I'm glad you think so," said Dumbledore. "It should be great fun. I do so love a good mask—especially with plenty of feathers!" He conjured one up and held it to his face. Lily and James tried not to laugh at the sight of their elderly Headmaster in a half-face mask covered in pink feathers and gold sequins, but he merely winked at them from behind the garish accessory and lowered it to set on his desk. "Ah, well, I think the two of you had better be off. After all, you've got quite a bit of planning to do! I suggest that the ball be held on Thursday, December 18th, and I shall cancel the classes on Friday. That should give the students times to gather themselves and their things before the Hogwarts Express leaves on the 20th. Enjoy your preparations, and feel free to call upon myself of any of the other professors should you need assistance! Oh, and do have a Fizzing Whizbee before you go," he added, gesturing to a bowl on a table beside the door. "Aren't they delightful? Good day!"
James and Lily left the office and descended the staircase. Neither could get the image of Dumbledore's fluffy mask out of their heads. As they reached the gargoyle, they looked at each other and burst into laughter. When they'd recovered themselves, James spoke seriously, "Lily, if I ever decide to wear a mask like that, I give you full rights to hex me and then burn the offending article with Fiendfyre."
Lily nodded seriously and said, "Same goes for me." She broke into a grin, and continued, "Boy, Dumbledore's really a nutter, isn't he?"
"Oh, yeah, definitely. I guess you can't be that brilliant without having a few… quirks." Lily giggled, and James' heart stuttered. He loved that sound. "It was a good job he came up with that Masquerade idea, though, or else we'd never have agreed on a theme."
"It's true. Agreeing has never been one of our strong suits," Lily said, smiling at him.
As they continued their walk back to the Heads' Dorms to begin the arrangements for the ball, James couldn't help but be thankful that Lily had given him a blank slate this year. He was determined to use the dance to make her fall for him. I'll just have to be suave and debonair, he thought to himself. No problem for the notorious James Potter! I'll be her Prince Charming. But then again, considering my history with Lily… Shite, I've got a lot of work to do. I'd better talk to the guys—I'm going to need as much help as I can get.
The end of another chapter, with more (soon) to come. Please review!
