AN: Hey guys, I'm so sorry I've left it so long to update. I've been so busy lately, with College etc and other Fan Fictions. Don't worry, I'm back though and I'll try to stay on top of updating. Thank you so much to everyone who has favourited and reviewed so far, it gave me the kick up the arse I needed to do this chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's been a loong time coming, I know!
DISCLAIMER; Queen Rowling owns all HP-related stuff!
CHAPTER FIFTEEN; YULE BALL PART ONE
"Remus Lupin?" Celestica said in poorly hidden disgust. Simona blushed slightly.
"But he's a… he's a Gryffindor!" Vicky exclaimed.
"Yes he is. Problem?" Simona said, raising a brow.
"Well what is everyone going to say, a Slytherin going to the ball with a Gryffindor?" Celestica said, throwing her hands in the air. Simona rolled her eyes.
"Let them say want they want, Remus is a nice guy. You don't get that here!" Simona said with a hint of irritation.
"And what are you trying to say about Slytherin, Simona? You're saying some pretty dangerous things," Celestica said, her eyes narrowing.
"I'm trying to say, Celestica that why is it such a bad thing to go to the ball with someone in a different house?" Simona said, stepping closer to Celestica with her hands on her hips.
"Because it's wrong," Celestica shot back through gritted teeth.
"Why are you being like this Celestica?" Simona asked in confusion.
"I must say that Sirius Black is something though," Vicky said airily.
"No, Vicky. It's wrong. Those Gryffindors are all just a bunch of pathetic little peasants," Celestica said scathingly.
"That's unfair Celestica, you can't judge someone on how many galleons they've got in the bank," Simona replied frowning.
"Not a pauper are we Sforza?"
"What's it to you?" Simona bit back angrily.
"Such a shame, the Sorting Hat must have made a mistake," Celestica said sardonically. Simona was shocked, she had never seen such an aristocratic side to Celestica before, she had never seen Celestica lose her cool so quickly either.
"How dare you," Simona growled. Feeling anger try to overcome her, Simona breathed in and out heavily and stormed off. She wasn't going to do to Celestica what she did to Rachel.
"Well that wasn't very Gryffindor of her now was it?" Celestica said sarcastically as Simona shot out of the Common Room Simona slammed the door and leant against the wall outside in the dungeons, she closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down. She could feel her heart beat in her ears and her face became flushed.
Simona had never been too overly keen on Celestica, she seemed to have such a strong character it overpowered the rest of the group. Plus as much as Celestica disliked Rachel, it seemed they shared more in common than Simona had originally thought.
"S..Simona?"
Simona's eyes flew open to see a very nervous-looking Remus stood in front of her, fidgeting uncomfortably on the spot. His straggly hair was pushed back and he was wearing second-hand robes which had hints of gold and red. Simona smiled weakly, his shabby appearance was charming to her. She'd never been drawn into aristocracy and riches.
"Oh, hey Remus," Simona said softly. She stood up properly and smoothed down her dress. Remus blushed.
"You look… very beautiful," Remus said shyly.
"Don't lie," Simona said with a wry smirk.
"What?" Remus spluttered in confusion.
"I'm a giant snake Remus," Simona said, showing her emerald dress. Remus laughed loudly.
"Well I guess you could say I do represent a lion somewhat," he replied with a small smile.
"I got this for you," Remus said after a moment's silence. He held out a small white corsage. Simona smiled as he awkwardly put the corsage around her wrist.
"It's lovely, thank you Remus," Simona said quietly.
"Should we.. we should go right?" Remus said nervously whilst Simona admired the corsage.
"Yes, okay," Simona replied. She stepped towards Remus, her head barely past his shoulder and wrapped her arm around his. Remus blushed slightly and the two started walking.
"It's freezing down here," Remus said as they made their way up the winding stair case.
"You get used to it," Simona replied with a smirk. The pair reached the doors of the Great Hall, Simona held back a gasp as she saw students dressed formally chatting excitedly as they waited for the doors to open. The chatter subsided slightly as they got in front of the doors. Simona felt the burn of at least 50 pairs of eyes on the back of her neck.
"I see everyone is staring at us," Remus said uncomfortably.
"Like I said, you get used to it," Simona replied sarcastically.
"Oi Lupin!"
Sirius and James, accompanied by their dates came to greet Remus and Simona. Simona was right, James was with Lily. Sirius seemed to be with a girl in the year below. Simona wasn't too sure who she was.
"Alright," Remus said with a soft smile. Sirius beamed at him.
"Sforza," Sirius said in acknowledgement. Simona nodded her head at him.
"Oh wow Simona, you look so pretty!" Lily said beaming, Simona smiled back shyly.
"So do you Lily," Simona replied awkwardly.
"Does anyone want any drinks?" Sirius asked, clapping his hands together. The group nodded as they followed Sirius to the drinks table.
"Here you go," Remus said politely, handing Simona a cup full of pumpkin juice.
"Thank you," she replied with a smile as she took a sip from the cup.
"So I heard a band's playing tonight. Who do you reckon' Simona, Led Zeppelin?" Sirius asked with a wink. Simona smirked in return, even though they were quite patchy at times, Sirius and Simona had bonded over their love of muggle music.
"I'd prefer Deep Purple if I'm honest," Simona replied. Sirius nodded in understanding.
"I heard it's Odd's Bodkins," James interjected. Sirius grinned.
"Who are they?" Simona asked, her knowledge of wizard music was quite limited.
"They're great, like if Queen and The Rolling Stones had a magical baby," Sirius said, his voice full of awe and excitement. James chuckled and the group relaxed slightly.
"Sounds good," Simona replied with a smile.
"Would you like to dance Simona?" Remus asked as the other pairs took to the dance floor. Simona smiled and nodded and Remus outstretched his hand.
"I must warn you, I have almost no sense of rhythm," Remus said nervously as they stood in the waltz position.
"Don't worry, I'm not that much of a dancer either," Simona replied with a warm smile.
The two awkwardly stumbled and span around the dance floor.
"Watch it!" An irritable 6th year complained as Simona and Remus accidently crashed into them.
"Whoops," Remus said as they both tried to stop themselves from laughing.
The pair continued to dance for another half an hour before stopping for a break.
"Do you want to sit down?" Remus asked, pointing to some spare seats near James and Lily.
"Yeah sure, I'm a bit tired actually," Simona replied politely.
"Hiya guys, having a nice time?" Lily asked.
"Yeah, it's been great," Remus said with a polite smile as he sat down.
"What about you?" Simona asked Lily.
"Yeah same here. We're just not that great at dancing," Lily confessed.
"Neither are we, didn't we crash into some 6th years earlier?" Simona asked, looking at Remus.
"Yes. They didn't seem too pleased," Remus said bashfully as Lily and James chuckled at Simona and Remus.
"Oh yeah, I remember seeing that. You two have no rhythm whatsoever," James said with a wry grin.
"James! You can't say that!" Lily said, berating him.
"It's okay Lily, we know we're terrible dancers," Remus said as himself and Simona fought to keep a straight face.
"Do any of you want another drink?" Simona asked as she stood up.
"No thanks," both James and Lily said at the same time.
"I will, I'll come with you," Remus said as he stood up.
The Slytherin and the Gryffindor made their way to the drinks table and stood chatting as they queued to get a drink.
"So what have you thought of the night so far?" Remus asked. Simona smiled. She thoroughly enjoyed being in Remus' company, he was a gentleman, very kind and considerate but she felt something was missing.
"A bit soon to ask Remus, but I've had a wonderful time so far," Simona said reassuringly. Remus smiled shyly and looked back towards the queue.
The rest of the night went well, Remus and Simona danced until their feet hurt, Odd's Bodkins were terrible though Simona thought, they didn't sound at all like The Rolling Stones. The lead singer was middle aged and considerably overweight, the band barely had one hair between them and they were out of tune.
"The Rolling Stones and Queen had a baby. Really?" Simona asked Sirius jokingly after Odd's Bodkins finished their set to lukewarm applause.
"Well maybe I was exaggerating," Sirius said cooly with his trademark grin plastered on his face. Simona rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, just a bit," Simona replied sarcastically, Sirius chuckled as Simona went and sat down next to an exhausted Lily.
"Having fun?" Simona asked Lily.
"Yeah, but James is a bit much. He keeps going off to talk to the other guys," Lily said, deflated.
"I'm sure he's just bragging about going to the Yule Ball with you," Simona said with the same reassuring voice she used when talking to Remus earlier.
"Do you really think so?" Lily asked, her emerald green eyes lightening ever so slightly.
"Yes. I know plenty of people who are jealous of James for going with you," Simona said with a slight grimace, one of those people just so happened to be Severus Snape.
"Now you're just being silly," Lily said batting her hand. Simona smiled, but internally rolling her eyes.
"I'm not, honest," Simona replied.
"Who, who's jealous of James?" Lily asked, Simona resisted the urge to say something sarcastic. She liked Lily, but not how attention-seeking she was.
"Severus for one," Simona replied. Lily's face became hardened, then neutralised, as if she tried to keep her emotions neutral.
"Yeah, he asked me just after James did," Lily said quietly. Simona felt a pang of jealousy. It was getting harder to keep it a secret that Simona liked Severus. Simona still felt feelings for him, even though they were not on the best of terms.
"He asked me too," Simona replied, frowning. She knew Severus had asked Lily already, but it still hurt to hear it from Lily.
"Oh, I never knew that," Lily replied. Simona sighed and walked off. She wasn't up to talking to Lily for much longer.
"Simona, fancy a dance?" Sirius asked, his grey eyes glittering. Simona couldn't turn him down and nodded.
"I'll make up for that bad call earlier," Sirius said as he led Simona onto the dance floor.
"You better do. They were terrible," Simona said with a smirk as Sirius spun her around.
"They weren't that bad, surely," Sirius replied, trying to keep the amusement out of his voice.
Simona simply raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yeah, okay. They were abysmal. Happy?" Sirius asked. Simona considered this for a moment, and then nodded.
"Good," Sirius said with a wink as he suddenly dipped Simona to the ground, she squealed in surprise and then laughed as Sirius pulled her back up again, she expected to see the grey eyes sparkle, but instead of Sirius, Simona was enraptured by a pair of impossibly black eyes that made her heart stop.
AN: I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I've already started working on the next chapter, so it shouldn't be 'too' long before I update again. Please read and review to tell me you love me, and what you thought of the chapter. Thank you so much for your patience! xoxo