Chapter 19 The Halloween Ball
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does, yadda, yadda, yadda. Surprisingly enough, I also don't own Magic Carpet Ride, nor do the Weird Sisters, neither JKR's nor the group from Canada, Magic Carpet Ride belongs to Steppenwolf. I merely chose it for the Magic Carpet reference and because at the time of writing this it was on my playlist.
At long last it was Saturday. Lily woke up around ten o'clock. She was glad to have been able to sleep in, as she knew she would be up late that night. The ball was scheduled to last until midnight, but James and Lily had to help clean up and make sure everyone made it back to their dorms and didn't just move the party to a nice quiet broom closet.
Lily stretched and got up to go take a shower. She was glad that she had gotten her homework done during the week. Sure it hadn't been much fun being hold up in the Library every night from dinner till curfew, including last night, but at least she would be able to completely enjoy the weekend without the worry of homework hanging over her head. Also, she was already feeling a bit of nervous excitement and she was fairly certain that if she had homework to do, there would be no way she could possibly concentrate today.
Lily was once again amazed at just how much she was anticipating her date with James. She really had enjoyed the short time they'd spent at Hogsmeade together. He had been so sweet. She hoped that this date would be as good as the last one.
Up in the boy's dorm James was also starting to feel nervous. He too was also glad that all his homework was already finished. Unlike Lily, however, this was actually fairly typical. James was usually on top of his homework when he had good reason to be. This was just a fact that he didn't really share with others. He loathed homework and so he tried to get it done as quickly as possible so that he could, "enjoy the finer things in life," as he always told Remus. After all, smart though he may be, and though he thought homework to be a complete waste of time, teachers saw it as important and he found that whether or not it was done had a great effect on the grades that found their way to his parents at the end of each term. So do homework he did, he just didn't let anyone see him doing it.
At ten thirty he gave up on sleeping any longer and went to take a shower. By the time he had finished Remus and Peter were both awake, though Sirius was still sound asleep. As Sirius was only ever quiet when he was asleep, if you ignored the snoring, and James didn't feel like being teased mercilessly about the fact that he was going to the dance with Lily James left him that way.
The three boys headed down to the Common Room to play some Exploding Snap until it was time for lunch. They silently agreed that they would only wake Sirius up if he wasn't awake in time for lunch. He wouldn't care about missing Exploding Snap, he'd rather sleep, but if they let him miss lunch, he'd be miserable.
About ten minutes before it was time for lunch Sirius joined them. James was glad because it gave him an excuse to stop playing. He was feeling distinctly distracted and he had almost singed his eyebrows off twice. He didn't want to go on his date with Lily with no eyebrows. He didn't think she would care, she would probably find it funny, but he cared.
Lily and her friends entered the Great Hall for lunch just as the boys were leaving. The girls had been trying to get organized for the ball. Lily had to help set up, which meant that she would have less time to get ready than the rest of her roommates. They had therefore decided that she needed to choose a hairstyle, make-up, and jewelry before they could go to lunch.
The slight nerves that Lily had been feeling when she woke up had increased dramatically over the morning and her insides were squirming in a similar to the effects described in Moste Potent Potions about how ones insides would feel during the transformation caused by Polyjuice Potion.
"So, you nervous?" Katie asked grinning as they sat down.
Lily suspected that Katie's question had something to do with the fact that she had flushed rather badly when they had passed James and his friends as the girls had entered the Great Hall and the boys had left.
"A little," Lily admitted.
"Don't worry," Marlene advised. "It'll be great. I've told you a hundred times that boy is head over heels for you."
Lily smiled and nodded. She just picked at her food she wasn't really hungry. Maybe nervous wasn't the right word. Sure she was a little nervous but she was also excited. Perhaps anxious? She couldn't wait for the ball.
At three o'clock Lily and James found themselves in the Great Hall along with the Prefects, Professor Flitwick, Hagrid, and Professor McGonagall. They had just under two hours to get the bulk of the decorating done before the feast for the first through third year students began.
Luckily everything went smoothly, except for a minor accident involving two fifth year Prefects, one of Hagrid's giant pumpkins, and Peeves but Professor Flitwick had it cleaned up in a jiffy. McGonagall told Peeves if he she saw him within one hundred yards of the Great Hall between then and tomorrow morning she would send for the Bloody Baron. This was highly effective, though Peeves did overturn several suits of armor while he flew angrily away.
Once the Great Hall was decorated Lily walked quickly back up to Gryffindor Tower.
"You're certainly in a hurry," James said as he caught up with her.
"Well," Lily said grinning playfully, "I've got to make myself pretty for you."
James laughed. "I already think you're pretty," he responded completely serious.
Lily blushed and waved her hand dismissively.
"But I do and you are," James insisted.
Lily just laughed at him and said, "Sod off Potter." And grinning she ran up the stairs to the girl's dormitory.
It wouldn't actually take her three hours of work to get ready for the dance. However, Lily knew that despite the fact that they had gotten everything ready before hand her friends would still go through every hairstyle in every Witch Weekly magazine they had before finally choosing the one they had already decided on.
Two and a half-hours later Lily's suspicion had indeed proved to be fairly accurate. Sure they hadn't tried every hairstyle in all of their Witch Weekly Magazines but they had tried a ton of them and they had indeed finally decided on the one they had chosen before lunch.
Lily's hair was now done up in an elegant French Twist with a few wisps of hair curled and hanging down in front. Lily finished off her look with a little bit of make-up and her favorite silver necklace and earrings. She had to admit she liked how she looked, she just hoped James would agree. When she voiced this fear to her friends they burst out laughing.
"Lily," Katie said, suppressing her laughter enough to speak, "If James doesn't think you look good, he needs his head examined."
Lily smiled at this and looked at the time. It was 7:45. She had to meet James in the Common Room. The rules about being fashionably late did not apply when you were responsible for leading everyone into the party. This was also making her nervous. She and James were responsible for opening the dance. It wasn't that she minded dancing or being seen with James, it was the thought of everybody watching her that bothered her. Lily certainly wouldn't describe herself as shy, on the contrary she was very friendly and outgoing, however, she didn't like it when people stared at her. It was one of the things about James that used to drive her mad. He was always staring at her, it made her uncomfortable.
Tonight, however, she hoped he would be staring at her. Grinning nervously she followed Katie down towards the Common Room. Mary, Marlene, and Abby had already left. Mary was going to meet her boyfriend in the Entrance Hall and Abby and Marlene, who were also going with boys from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw respectively, had gone with her. Katie was going with Remus and she and Lily were meeting James and Remus in the Common Room.
Katie was once again trying to get Lily to tell her who the band was so Lily didn't even notice James's presence until Katie spoke to him.
"Fashion tip James, mouth looks better closed," Katie said laughing.
Lily turned around quickly just in time to see James's neck flush. She grinned at him.
"So, how do I look?" she asked.
"Amazing," James said smiling broadly.
Lily smiled. He had been telling her he thought was beautiful for years, but this was the first time she thought he sounded sincere.
"You look pretty good yourself," she replied smiling flirtatiously.
James grinned. Was she flirting with him? On purpose?
"Shall we go ma'lady?" he asked holding out his arm.
"Lead the way, fine sir," Lily replied with a giggle.
'Did I just giggle? What's gotten into me?'
Remus looked at Lily and James and then over to Katie and rolled his eyes. Katie laughed in response.
"Are you ready to go?" Remus asked.
"Yes, let's go. But let's not stand too close to those two. Whatever's wrong with them could be contagious," Katie said with a laugh.
"Definitely," Remus agreed chuckling at his friends' antics.
The Entrance Hall was very crowded when James and Lily arrived. People who were meeting dates from other houses were shuffling through the crowd looking for their dates while couples who had already found each other milled around talking. James and Lily were supposed to lead everyone into the Great Hall so they made their way to the front.
"Ready?" James asked.
"No," Lily replied. "I hate it when people stare at me. It's very disconcerting."
"Oh…" James responded quietly looking slightly uncomfortable.
Lily smiled at him. "Don't apologize. You can't help being an annoying prat. It's part of your insufferable charm."
James grinned sheepishly at her.
Suddenly, Professor McGonagall was at their side calling everyone to attention. She instructed everyone to find a table once they entered. It wasn't important which one, as they would only remain in their current position for dinner. She also informed Lily and James that they would be sitting at a table with Dumbledore. They both nodded, slightly disappointed that they couldn't sit with their friends but not displeased with having to sit with the Headmaster. As James pointed out as they prepared to enter the Great Hall, dinner with Dumbledore certainly wouldn't be boring.
Once they had sat down Lily noticed a small menu sitting by her plate. She looked curiously at James who just shrugged and motioned his head towards Dumbledore. Lily turned to look at Dumbledore. After contemplating his menu for a moment Dumbledore looked down at his plate and said "Chicken." Moments later chicken appeared. Lily looked at James who shrugged again and looked at his plate and said, "Steak."
Lily also ordered the chicken and for a few minutes the only sound was that of people placing their orders with their plates.
Once everyone had finished ordering the buzz of conversation began.
"So," Dumbledore began addressing Lily and James. "How has everything been going? I apologize for not being able to meet with you yet. I've been unusually busy lately. However, I hope to schedule an appointment with you within the week."
"That's quite all right Professor, we know you're busy," Lily replied.
Dumbledore smiled at them. "So, have you been enjoying your seventh year so far?"
"Yes, sir," James answered this time. "We're learning a lot. We should be well prepared for our N.E.W.T.s."
"Excellent, excellent," Dumbledore smiled. "Oh, and incidentally, Mr. Potter…"
"Yes, sir?" James asked puzzled.
"Congratulations," Dumbledore said with a knowing smile.
James's neck flushed and he grinned nervously. "Thank you sir."
Dumbledore just chuckled. "I was speaking with your father the other day he says that he is enjoying retirement."
"Yes, sir. He's driving my Mum a bit mad lately though. He's taken to attending all the Puddlemere United matches."
Dumbledore laughed, "Yes, he mentioned something about that. He also asked me how you were doing as Head Boy."
"Oh, really," James said trying to make it sound like an offhanded comment, but Lily could tell he really wanted to know what Dumbledore had said.
"I told him you were performing your role admirably."
"Thank you, sir," James replied sincerely a small smile on his lips.
"And how are things with you, Miss Evans?" Dumbledore asked politely.
"Very well, sir," Lily replied feeling slightly nervous about being addressed by the Headmaster.
"Good, good," Dumbledore replied.
"Are you both ready to open this fabulous dance of ours?" Dumbledore asked with a twinkle in his eye.
"Well," James replied, "it's a tough job but somebody has to do it."
Both Dumbledore and Lily chuckled. Lily couldn't believe how comfortable James always appeared. Here they were, sitting with Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of the age and their Headmaster and he was participating in friendly banter as if he talked to Dumbledore on a daily basis. Lily also noticed that he managed to do this while still conveying a great deal of respect towards the Headmaster.
Finally, when everyone had finished dinner and the plates were all sparkling clean once again Dumbledore directed his conversation towards Lily and James once again.
"Well, it is time," Dumbledore said. "Would one of you like to introduce our entertainment for tonight, as it was your idea after all?"
Lily shifted nervously and was glad when James said, "I'll do it, if you like, sir."
Dumbledore nodded. He asked everyone to stand up and move into the edge of the dance floor away from the tables. Once everyone was out of the way he moved all the tables to the sides of the room, stacking most of them. He left a few out for people to sit at and placed the chairs around the room. With another wave of his wand a stage and instruments appeared.
"Welcome, everyone. I hope you have enjoyed yourselves so far and that you will enjoy the rest of the evening. We are entering into dark times but tonight is not about that. Tonight is about having fun and enjoying your youth. I would like to extend full credit to Mr. Potter and Miss Evans for recommending our entertainment for this evening and also to thank Professor Slughorn for putting in a good word for us," Dumbledore looked at Lily and James who both grinned and at Professor Slughorn who sat up a bit straighter. So, without further ado Mr. Potter will be introducing you to our entertainment for this evening."
James hopped onto the stage, pointed his wand at his throat and said, "Sonorus."
"Good evening, everyone," James's voice was magically projected over the crowd. "The Head Girl and I hope you enjoy our choice of entertainment for the evening. You've been bugging us for weeks to tell you who it will be and I'm glad to finally be able to tell you so we don't have to listen to the constant badgering anymore."
"Come on Potter, tell us who it is!" someone called out from the crowd laughing.
"Don't worry I'm getting there, Sirius," James replied.
The audience laughed.
"So, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted. Tonight's entertainment will be brought to us by none other than…The Weird Sisters!"
The Great Hall erupted with cheers of approval. James smiled as he pointed his wand at his throat again and muttered, "Qietus."
He headed off the stage towards the Weird Sisters who were making their way up to the stage. The lead singer looked at James, smiled, and gave the slightest of nods, which James returned. He had been surprised earlier by how nice the band members had been. They had readily agreed to play the song James requested for the opening dance. They had asked if he was sure that he could come up with an acceptable dance to it as the beat wasn't the best for dancing, but James said it wouldn't be a problem.
James headed over to Lily and then lead her out onto the dance floor with a grin she recognized as the one he used on teachers when he knew he had done something and was sure that not only was it brilliant, but that he would get away with it.
The music began with a staticky wavering of the bagpipes. James grinned as he took her hand. Hearing the beat Lily realized that she had no idea how to dance to it. This, however, need not have concerned her, as James seemed to know exactly what he was doing.
James seemed to instantly find the beat. Lily was surprised for a moment until the words to the song began.
I like to dream
yes, yes, right between my sound machine
James didn't miss a beat it was like he had planned it.
On a cloud of sound I drift in the night
Any place it goes is right
Goes far, flies near, to the stars away from here
He had planned this, Lily suddenly realized. It was then that she started to really listen to the words, wondering why James had chosen it.
Well, you don't know what we can find
Why don't you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet ride
Lily laughed. James was grinning too; he loved Lily's laugh.
You don't know what we can see
Why don't you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you free
Close your eyes girl
Look inside girl
Let the sound take you away
Lily couldn't remember the last time she'd had this much fun. Who cared if everybody was staring at her? James's antics were enough to distract her completely. Plus she had the distinct feeling that James, who was definitely leading was attracting most of the attention anyway.
Last night I hold Aladdin's lamp
And so I wished that I could stay
Before the thing could answer me
Well, someone came and took the lamp away
I looked around, a lousy candle's all I found
This was a great song. Why hadn't she heard it before? And why had James chosen it?
Well, you don't know what we can find
Why don't you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet ride
Well, you don't know what we can see
Why don't you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you free
Close your eyes girl
Look inside girl
Let the sound take you away
The words ended and now all that was left was music. James continued to lead the two of them around the dance floor, twirling and dipping Lily in an almost whimsical fashion, though she was quite convinced he had the whole thing fairly well planned in his head already.
You don't know what we can find
Why don't you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet ride
You don't know what we can see
Why don't you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you free
Close your eyes girl
Look inside girl
Let the sound take you away
The chorus was repeated one last time and the song came to an end. Lily suddenly became aware of the fact that no one else had joined them on the floor and everyone was watching them. James took Lily's hand and led them in an overly dramatic bow to their audience. Everyone applauded including The Weird Sisters. The Weird Sisters then began another song, this one easier to dance to, and other couples made their way to the dance floor.
"Do you want to dance?" James asked grinning.
"No, I thought I'd just sit and watch everyone else dance," Lily replied innocently.
James laughed and led Lily back out onto the dance floor.
A half a dozen songs later Lily was beginning to get tired and was about to suggest they sit for a minute and have a butterbeer, when a slower song began.
"Do you want to keep dancing or do you want to sit down for a minute?" James asked this rather quickly sounding, once again, uncharacteristically nervous.
In response Lily wrapped her arms around James's neck and moved a little closer to him. James face broke into the biggest grin she'd ever seen. He placed his hands cautiously on her waist and they began to sway in time to the music.
"I never thought I'd see the day," Lily said.
"What day?" James asked a hint of apprehension in his voice.
"The day James Potter was nervous about anything," Lily replied with a chuckle.
"Well, what can I say Evans, you make me exceedingly nervous," James's said grinning, his neck flushing slightly.
James was definitely nervous. He had never been this close to Lily before. It was even better than he thought it would be. He now realized that sweet smell that he associated with her had to be her shampoo and that it was even more intoxicating up close. She was the perfect height too. He could tell that if he pulled her against him her head would rest in exactly the right spot on his chest. And she looked absolutely stunning in her dress robes with her hair done like that. Although, part of him wished her hair was down, it looked so soft and he really wanted to just run his hands through it.
Lily still couldn't quite believe what was happening. She was dancing, willingly, with James Potter. Despite the oddity of it all she couldn't deny how comfortable it felt. She was really tempted to move a little closer and see if her head would in fact land in just the right spot on his chest.
She breathed deeply and then for some reason she found her mind wandering to Potions class. What was wrong with her? Why was she thinking about Potions at a time like this? It was something she smelled she realized suddenly. 'Smell is a powerful memory trigger,' she thought to herself. But why did it have to go there now? Suddenly, realization washed over her. She smelled that unidentifiable smell she detected in the Amortentia Potion. She still couldn't quite place what the smell was but that really wasn't the point as she realized the smell was distinctly James. She breathed more deeply and concluded it must be a combination of laundry detergent and soap. It was quite a nice smell actually.
"What are you thinking about?" James whispered in her ear.
Lily blushed, "Nothing."
James smiled and sighed as the song came to an end, far too soon in his opinion, to be replaced by something more upbeat.
"Do you want to go get something to drink?" he asked his hands still holding onto her waist.
"Sure," Lily replied taking her arms off James's shoulders rather reluctantly.
They headed over to the refreshment table where they ran into Katie and Remus.
"So," Katie asked pulling Lily aside, "are you having fun?"
Lily smiled, "Definitely. Should have listen to you and Marlene ages ago."
Katie laughed. "Well, well, is Lily Evans finally admitting that she does indeed fancy Mr. Potter?" Katie asked grinning fiendishly.
"Shut-up," Lily whispered blushing as James and Remus headed towards them.
"Ladies, are you talking about us?" James asked with an innocent grin on his face.
"In your dreams," Katie replied just innocently.
Lily reached out for the butterbeer James had for her.
"Bye, Lily, James," Katie said winking at them as she and Remus headed back to the dance floor.
James and Lily went over and sat down on a couple of nearby chairs to drink their butter beers.
"So, are you having a good time?" James asked looking down at his drink.
"Yes, thank you," Lily replied smiling. "I'm sorry it took me so long to say yes."
"It's ok…" James said trailing off.
"You were right you know," Lily told him smiling.
"About what?"
"You are a fun date," Lily replied as if it were obvious.
James laughed. "I've been telling you this for years and you just now realize I was telling the truth. And they say you're smart," James said jokingly.
Lily smiled and took a large sip of her butter beer. Although she needed the break she was quite eager to get back out on the floor and dance with James some more.
Lily spent most of the night dancing with James and was quite pleased that several slower songs were included at regular intervals.
The dance finally drew to a close at midnight, though Lily had to admit a part of her wished it would continue.
James and Lily had to stay behind as everyone went back to their dormitories.
"The teachers can handle cleaning up," Professor Dumbledore told them. "But it would be most helpful if you would make sure that all the students make it back to their dormitories. We wouldn't want them to get lost and accidentally end up trapped in a broom cupboard," Dumbledore explained with a knowing look.
James and Lily nodded with a laugh. Dumbledore told them that between half an hour to forty-five minutes should be enough time to find any lost students, he didn't want to keep them up too late.
An hour, twenty detentions, and about one hundred negative points later Lily and James were climbing through the portrait hole into an empty common room. It was rather dark as all the candles had been extinguished and the only light came from the dying embers of the fire.
James nervously ran his hand through his hair and then stuck his hands in the pockets of his dress robes.
"Thanks for agreeing to go to the dance with me," he said nervously. "I had a great time."
Lily smiled at him. She could tell he wanted to kiss her goodnight and that it was probably taking most of his energy to resist the temptation. Lily really wanted him to give in to temptation just this once, but she had the feeling he would play the gentleman to the end. 'Oh well,' she thought, 'nothing else I can do.'
"I had a great time too, James," Lily replied. Then she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss not, to his great surprise, on the cheek but on his mouth.
With that she turned around and ran up the staircase to the girl's dormitory. Knowing that her friends were probably up there sharing stories about their nights and waiting eagerly for Lily's return.
James, on the other hand, stood in the Common Room for several minutes, trying to process what had just happened.