Chapter 10:

"Christian! Open the damn door!" I shouted, knocking on the door furiously. "You've been there for hours and I need to get ready!"

"No!" he shouted back, the sound of the water running in the background and the steam from the shower leaking from down the door. "Use your own bathroom!"

I huffed, before leaning on the door. It was December 24th, Christmas' Eve, and tonight was Aunt Drea's party. Lily was currently taking a shower in my bathroom, which meant I had to use the other one. Christian, unfortunately, was using the other bathroom and was taking forever. I hated this, I hated having to come home and deal with the badly-behaved twins. Delilah's head pocked out of her bedroom's door, her hair wasn't tied so it cascaded down over her shoulder.

"Hey, he left you out again?" she asked sympathetically.

"Yes, and Lily is still showering on mine. What about you?" I asked, hoping she'd lent me her shower.

"I'm sorry, Mere, but I'm about to take a bath now. I was wondering, though, if you could do my hair later. I want those pretty ringlets you had in the party two years ago; mum says I'm old enough to have that hairdo now." She explained, biting down on her bottom lip.

"Of course, sweetie, you let me know when you're done showering." I nodded, stepping back from the door.

Delilah closed the door and I walked back to my room, defeated. There I found a frustrated-looking Lily, wearing a white fluffy robe and her red hair down, still damped and darkened by the water. She was frowning deeply at my bed, where two beautiful dresses were laid on. I frowned myself when I realize her hair was still dripping droplets of water all over the white wooden floor.

"Flower, not that I don't love having you here or anything but, what the hell are you doing?" I asked, crossing my arms. "You'll ruin the floor."

She looked up, startled. Apparently, she didn't think I would appear into the room any time soon. Her cheeks started to get pink and I lifted an eyebrow at her jumpiness.

"Sorry, it's just—I don't know which dress to wear." She pouted, looking at both dresses on the bed.

"Sweetie, the party is five hours away." I reminded her with a laugh.

"I know, but I've never been to a party like this before and I'm a tad nervous." She admitted, biting her lip.

I giggled again, lacing my arm with her and turning to the bed. The two dresses were completely different. The one in the right was pitch black, with an intricate corset-like bodice with shiny little rocks that faded at the waist and a skirt that fell like water through fingers until it reached the floor, the fabric was silk with something else I didn't know the name of. The other dress, however, was as white as snow and had a low neckline. It didn't look slutty or too revealing at all, though. It tied at the neck, sleeveless and showing part of her upper back, and it had a cream-colored belt right below the chest; like the other, the dress reached the floor and it was made of Chiffon and Burano Lace. Both dresses were beautiful and unique in their own way. I asked Lily to try both on and she did, modeling both outfits around the length of my room. She complained about how the first one was too uncomfortable when it came to sitting, while she was worried people would be able to see her underwear through the other.

"I like the white one better." I signaled from my vanity's seat. "If anything, you can put on white underwear and nobody will see it. Although, I assure you, you can't see anything." I assured.

"Yes, I think I like this one better too." Lily nodded, moving around in front of the mirror and watching how the skirt moved around with the motion.

I smiled, knowing about someone else who would like the dress. James would be ecstatic. The dress was so white, Lily's pale skin actually looked rosy; it also made her red hair stood out, I knew James loved Lily's hair. And after I was done with her make-up, her green eyes would be the only thing anyone would be able to see.

"Do you want me to start with your make-up? I have to do Delilah's hair later and I might not have time to do your make-up as well." I asked her.

"Oh, no. Don't worry, I can do that myself." She dismissed, still worrying her lip with her teeth.

I frowned at her nervousness once again. What was it with Lily today? Not only today, but the entire time we'd been back home she'd been nervous about the ball or about us hanging out with Sirius and James. I walked up closer to her in the mirror, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Lils, is everything all right?" I asked, concerned.

"Yes. Why would you think something is wrong?" she asked me, her eyes widening.

"I don't know; you've been acting weird." I frowned.

Her entire face softened, apparently touched by my concern. She turned to face me fully, her hands in her hips and a blinding smile plastered to her face.

"You're concerned about me? That's nice." she beamed and I blinked, confused about the mood swing. "But—I'm fine, truly. And to prove that to you, you can do my make-up."

I relaxed at that, clapping my hands together and leading her up to my vanity where I forced her to plop down on the seat. I hovered around her for a long time, making sure everything was perfectly done. Every once and then, she'd flinch and move a hand upwards but I'd slap it away. After the second slap, she didn't even let out a peep of protest.

"All right, can I at least have a say on my hair?" she asked with her eyes closed as I worked with dark-green eye shadow. I knew this would be so much easier to be done with magic, but I was still 16. My birthday didn't come until February, so I'd have to wait.

"Well, I already had a hair-do on mind…" I trailed off, trying to at least sound a bit bad about it. I didn't.

"Oh, my God! Mere, that's not fair." She pouted while I giggled.

"My home, my rules." I joked, finishing with her make-up. "Don't open your eyes until I'm completely done." I ordered, already moving to her hair.

I brushed it and brushed it until it shimmered and fell softly down her back. Then I really went to work: my hands moved quickly around her hair, taking small strands and moving them over another. Every now and then, my eyes would go over to the clock sitting in my nightstand. The Ball started at seven thirty and lasted until morning, it was four thirty. That only gave me three hours. I finished her hair in minutes. She had a braid that circled her head so it looked like a little crown and the rest of her hair cascaded down her back.

"I'm done!" I exclaimed. "You can open your eyes and thank me later!"

With that I opened the door and rushed down the hallway to Delilah's room, hearing Lily's 'thank you' and her laughter after me. I knocked on her door quickly before entering.

"Okay, Delilah, you owe me big time." I mumbled. I looked up to find that her hair was still in a towel and that she was only wearing her fluffy white robe. Fortunately, though, Ariadne, already dressed and ready, was doing her make-up. "Oh, thank God, you're here, Ari." I let out a breath as I leaned into the door.

She turned to look at me, her smile leaving her face the moment she realized I was still in my pajama pants and oversized knitted sweater. Ariadne was gorgeous: her make-up accentuated her lips, her best feature, and her golden dress fitted to her body until it spread out in her calf. Delilah's dress was hung up on the closet's door. It was a pretty simple purple dressed, which skirt flied around when she moved and that reached to her knees.

"Why are you not dressed?" Ariadne demanded, getting up and looking at me like she was about to murder me.

"I was helping Lily with her hair and make-up." I exclaimed in defense.

"What? No, Meredith, that's not how it works. You are a Potter, the ball is hosted by another Potter. Do you know what that means, sister?" Ariadne asked me, pointing at me with her wand.

"I suppose it means—" I started but she cut me off.

"You are supposed to look strikingly beautiful, gorgeous, stunning, goddess-like…" she trailed off. "Do you want any other synonyms?"

I shook my head, exasperated. "I have no one to impress, Ari. Besides, I've been working on a plan to get James and Lily together since summer and it all comes down to tonight! That means Lily has to be all the synonyms you mentioned earlier." I hissed back.

Ariadne's anger dissipated as soon as it had appeared. She lowered her wand, a pensive look on her face.

"Oh, that's… nice, I suppose." She nodded, moving over to our little sister again. "Get started on her hair, then." She ordered as she went back to her seat by Delilah.

I sighed but did as told, pulling away the towel on my sister's head and brushing the dark strands of hair.

"Wait… Fabian will be there, won't he?" Ariadne stopped her work for a minute to look at me.

"Yes, but only for a few hours. He's having dinner with his family." I mentioned, ready to start curling Delilah's hair.

"So you do have someone to impress!" she complained, getting up and taking me by my arm. "Get out of here, go get ready!" she exclaimed, opening the door.

"But, who is going to make my hair?" Delilah asked from her seat, worried.

"You shut it!" Ariadne snapped at her before loudly closing the door on my face and locking it.

I laughed and walked back to my room, where Lily was still awing at herself in the mirror. She turned to look at me with a bright smile, her green eyes sparkling, as she waltzed to my side and hugged me.

"Thank you! You are the best-est best friend ever." She exclaimed.

"I doubt 'best-est' is a word but all right." I laughed, moving over to the bathroom so I could finally take my shower. "I might take a while, Lils, so you can leave with Ari when she's done with Delilah." I mentioned as I closed the door.

Lily answered me with a 'sure' that was muffled by the white wooden door. I knew somewhere in the house, my mother was freaking out because she couldn't find her pearls—something that seemed to happen every year. I honestly believed Chris hid them.—while Dad would be trailing behind her and trying to convince her of wearing another piece of jewelry—'honey, you'll look lovely in anything.'—and she would rant about how those pearls went with everything and she couldn't wear something else without changing her attire. I could easily imagine James freaking out about Lily Evans going to his house, walking around his room and constantly running his hands through his hair and with his tie undone. He'd probably be babbling about how it was the Lily Evans and how everything had to be perfect because she had to fall for him tonight, while Sirius probably laughed at him and tried to encourage him to try and not throw up on Lily when he saw her. I stifled a laugh as I started to shower, the hot water making me flinch. I got used to it, however, and started to lather my hair. One thing I would never, ever, admit out loud: having shorter hair made the entire process of 'lather, rinse, repeat' much easier. I stood out of the shower and went out to my room, where I realized Lily wasn't there anymore.

After putting on my underwear, I sat on my vanity and looked at my damp hair. I hoped that, by next month, it'd reach my shoulders but for now, it still hung in the air, moving every time my head moved. I put my elbow on the vanity and leaned my chin on my hand, staring at my reflection. I knew what to do with my make-up but I had no idea what to do with my hair. I had never had it so short; the most I cut it was to my shoulders. I passed a comb through it, following the motion with my eyes. I started with my make-up, using golden and brown eye-shadow to make my honey brown eyes stand out. When I was finished, my eyes looked almost liquid gold. My lips had pink lip gloss. I sighed, glaring at my hair. All right, I had a great make-up, what to do with my hair? My eyes wandered off to the clock. 7:00 P.M. where had the time go? I started to contemplate multiple scenarios where my aunt didn't kill me for showing up late. In some, I didn't even show up and simply spent Christmas Eve's by myself.

I shook my head. No, that wasn't happening. I had been going to this thing since I was in diapers, I wasn't going to stop going now. I decided to leave it in its natural ringlets, putting bobby pins in both sides so it wouldn't fall on my face. When my hair curled, its upward part was straight but as it went down it started to curl without being too frizzy. It shortened a little bit more but I'd have to stick with it.

My dress consisted of a scarlet corset with an intricate thin golden pattern that tied in the back and a taffeta dark red skirt. The skirt reached the floor and had several black organza layers underneath. I straightened the skirt and looked at myself in the mirror: my heels weren't so high so I didn't look like a giant, my make-up and dress were perfect and my hair didn't look bad. I didn't love it but I knew everyone would. I took in a deep breath and let it out, ready to go to probably the longest ball in history.

…..

"You are late." A voice reached me as I took a sip from my glass of water.

I turned to find my uncle, giving me a kind smile.

"Uncle," I said before hugging him. "Thanks for pointing that out."

He chuckled, before grabbing me from the shoulders and giving me a once over. I raised my eyebrows expectantly.

"You look just like your mother when she started dating your father." He shook his head, amazed.

"Thank you, Uncle." I smiled.

He suddenly frowned, looking around before looking back at me.

"Why are you alone?" he questioned.

"Oh, um… I literally just got here and… Fabian hasn't arrived yet. I can't find Lily, actually." I nodded as I started to look around the big garden where the party was taking place.

The place was huge, filled with tables and a dance floor and a considerably big stage where a band was playing. There was food and drinks and a beautiful Christmas tree, one that was as tall as the one they put in Hogwarts. I saw almost every member of my family—which wasn't difficult considering it only consisted of those who lived in my house and James' parents—except for James, the one member I wanted to find. Just then, Aunt Drea found us, giving her husband a kiss and turning to hug me.

"Oh, you're finally here, darling!" she gushed. "You look gorgeous."

"Thank you, Aunt Drea." I smiled. "Have you seen Lily?"

"No, I haven't. But my boys are right over there." She signaled to some point behind me.

I nodded but didn't turn. Boys, as in plural, meant James and Sirius and I did not want to face the latter. Things were still incredibly awkward between us; I preferred it when we hated each other. Now, it was like we had broken up again.

"Thanks," I said with a strayed smile. Just then, my eyes spotted Fabian entering the garden. "There's my boyfriend." I pointed at him, both my aunt and uncle turned to him. "I'll see you later. Merry Christmas." I added as I moved away from them.

Once I reached Fabian, I gave him a bright smile, rolling on the heels of my feet. He laughed and shook his head at my silliness, before taking a stride toward me and kissing me. It took me by surprise for some weird reason, but I kissed back just as eagerly.

"What was that for?" I laughed.

"I missed you. Can't I kiss my girlfriend if I missed her?" he asked me, his arms still around my waist.

"No, of course you can." I shook my head, my hands on his neck. "In an orderly fashion." I added teasingly.

"I apologize, then, my lady, for my improper behavior." He teased back, effectively making me laugh.

"Ah, I missed you." I sighed as I shook my head and hugged him again. I stepped back and grabbed his arm, turning to face the garden. "Welcome to the Christmas Ball hosted by the grandiose Potters, the best Wizarding Family ever." I announced, moving my other hand to display what this ball had to offer.

"On the right hand, you'll find the elderly tables," I continued, smiling when I heard him chuckle. "I recommend you to avoid it unless you want to hear stuff about the 1800's. Although, the Skeeters sit there and they have great stories from the 20's."

"Yeah, I'll avoid that part." he shook his head.

"Okay, now the northern part of the place," I continued. "Near the band, that's our place. See? All the teenagers and young adults hanging happily."

Those who were around our age were indeed in that part of the garden. I could easily spot my two friends and Sirius, whatever he was of mine. James was nervously keeping a conversation with Lily, Ariadne standing between the two, most likely to make sure he didn't ruin it and Lily didn't kill him. I doubted I had ever seen James so twitchy. Sirius was—would you look at that?—flirting with one of the guest's daughters. I think her name was Raquella and, for a change, she was brunette. I turned my eyes immediately.

"Where are the rest of your friends?" Fabian asked.

"Oh, well, Remus is at home and so is Peter. They're coming for New Year's, though. Dorcas is off to Paris and Mary is in Dublin visiting some relatives. I don't know where Marlene is." I ended with a small voice, looking down.

I hadn't heard from Marlene at all since we had left Hogwarts. I missed her but I was a little mad at her. She was the one to blame, not me. I was done feeling guilty. He moved his arm to my shoulders and brought me to him. I noticed with a worried pang that the action did not give me butterflies at all. It comforted me, yes, but it didn't make me nervous or excited.

"She's still not talking to you?" he asked me.

"It's okay. Enough about me, how are things with the Order and else?" I wondered.

"No, it's Christmas. Let's not talk about war; I talk to you about it way too much for your own good already." He denied. His eyes then moved to the dance floor, a cheeky smile on his face. "Let's dance."

I giggled and followed him to the dance floor, where a slow song was playing. My arms made their way to his neck, one of my hands in the nape of his head, while he circled me with his arms. He kissed my temple; I closed my eyes. The music surrounded me, enveloped me. I refused to open my eyes. Opening my eyes meant reality. It meant noticing how there were a few families missing, recurrent guest that hadn't been able to come thanks to the lost of a loved one to war. It meant meeting Black's silver gray eyes from across the room and reliving the haunting memory of our near-kiss experience. I wasn't ready for that; I didn't think it'd ever be ready for that. Instead, I kept my eyes close, swaying to the beat of the song and smiling softly. I had a lot I should be thankful for; I didn't need to get anxious.

"Fabian?" I asked, not really knowing where my track of thought was going.

"Yes?" he asked back.

"Have you heard anything from the Greene family?" I opened my eyes when the words left my mouth, surprised about even asking such a thing.

I remembered predicting the Greene's would die but I hadn't thought about it since that very same day. I didn't even understand why I asked about that.

"Um… no, I haven't." Fabian answered, a frown clear in his head. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know." I answered slowly.

…

After kissing Fabian goodbye, I made my way back to the garden, looking for James and Lily. People around me were eating and laughing and drinking but all I wanted to do was go home and sleep. I found Lily by one of the fountains in one corner of the garden. She was sitting in the fountain, looking at the party with a smile on her face. I plopped down beside her with a sigh.

"Does your dress weight as much as mine? I want to take it off." I complained, adjusting my skirt with my hand.

"Meredith Potter!" she gasped in mock horror. "Are you saying you're bored of using a beautiful dress? What's gotten into you?" she asked.

"Very funny," I laughed sarcastically. "So, why are you here instead of back there?" I nodded toward James, who was sitting in a table with Sirius and frowning as he ate a piece of chocolate pie.

"Because there's so much of Potter I can take in one night." She informed me.

"Oh, come on! He's been nothing but a gentleman." I complained, pouting at her.

"I know." She admitted but her tone of voice suggested that was the very reason why she couldn't sit with him.

"Is that why you haven't wanted to spend time over at his?" I asked curiously.

Lily hesitated. She looked down at her folded hands and started to pick at her nails before looking up at me.

"I did that for you, actually." She admitted.

"Me?" I asked, confused.

"Meredith… I saw what happened at the lake." She confessed. "Or... What almost happened." She corrected.

Oh, my God, I thought as I stared at her in horror. This wasn't happening. She saw? Oh, I was dead. Of course she had seen! That explained why she had been so awkward in the train ride home and always tried to make sure Sirius and I weren't together for more than ten minutes. I thought it was because she didn't want to be with James, it never crossed my mind that she was doing this for my benefit. Ugh, this was the worst Christmas present ever. I looked over at Sirius before my eyes turned back to Lily.

"Lily—why—how—?" I babbled, not knowing what to ask.

"I didn't say anything because I wasn't sure if he did it because he really fancies you or because he was being Black and… well, you didn't tell me and I supposed it was because you don't want people to know… and then there's Marlene and Fabian." She explained further.

"And you've been avoiding them, your friends, for me?" I asked again.

"Well, yes. Potter and Sirius may be my friends but you are my best friend." She shrugged like it was obvious.

"You're the best person ever!" I gasped, leaning in to hug her. "Don't worry about me, Lils, I'll fix things with Black at some point. I'm fine." I mumbled against her shoulder, my eyes finding Sirius again.

This time, though, he was looking over at me. I looked away, hating how my stomach clenched at the mere idea of his eyes on me. Why did this happen to me?

"If you're fine, why haven't you talked to him at all?" she asked as we ended our hug. Good point well made, I thought.

"I… don't know." I admitted. Just then my favorite song started to play: it was a beautiful slow song full of violins and piano, the singer had a very soft voice that made the song even more peaceful. I got an idea. "I'll talk to him now if you dance with James now."

She groaned before laughing. I blinked and laughed as well, not believing that Lily Evans was not complaining about slow dancing with James Potter. This was definitely a bizarre Christmas.

"Very well, tell him to ask me." she nodded. "There's no way I'm asking him."

"Seems fair to me."

I jumped to my feet, waving at Lily and making my way to the two boys. James moved his hand toward Sirius, his eyes widened, and ended up slapping him on the chest repeatedly. Sirius backed off, pushing him on the process with his hand. These two were anything but subtle, I realized with amusement.

"Hello, boys." I greeted as I stood in front of them, interrupting James' ogling of Lily sitting in the fountain.

"Cousin!" James said excitedly as he grabbed my arm and started to shake it. "What did she say? Does she fancy me already? Tell me, tell me, tell me." he demanded.

"Shut it, James." I snapped, rolling my eyes. "Actually, you hear this song? It's my favorite song." I tilted one finger in the air. "And I wanted you to dance with Lily to it. Now, go ask her."

"You're serious?" he asked, sitting straight up in his seat.

"Yes, but you better go ask her now before the song ends." I signaled for him to leave but he simply sat there, smiling goofily at me. "James, go!" I laughed, pulling at him until he got up.

"You're the best cousin ever." He gushed at me before soundly kissing my cheek and walking to Lily.

My eyes traveled from my cousin and best friend talking to Sirius Black, who was actually quiet. I knew a quiet Sirius wasn't exactly a good thing. What was I supposed to say? 'I haven't talked to you since school because you tried to kiss me and I was ready to let you'? no, that wouldn't go right.

"Hey," I said. Good, Meredith, that's a conversation starter, I thought sarcastically.

"Hey," he said back.

"Um, can we… talk?" I asked. "Inside?" I added once I realized how many people were near us, people who went to Hogwarts.

"All right." he nodded.

We started to walk to the house in silence. So far so great. It could be worse but at least we weren't yelling at each other… yet. Turned out, the house was full of people as well. I groaned inwardly. I just wanted a little privacy, was it too much to ask? It was my house, after all. He seemed to be thinking the same because, without a word, he made for the stairs. I followed him to his bedroom. I had never been here before; at least, I didn't think so. The entire place screamed Sirius Black. It had a surprisingly messy desk in one corner of the room, which, by the looks of it, was used more as somewhere to dump everything than somewhere to work. In one of the walls were posters of both muggles and magical sports and one or other band. The window gave a clear view of the garden and the music travelled all the way up here, which was good because then the cringe-worthy silence could be ignored. I found amusing how after moving away from home, he still had posters of muggle things. He still took muggle studies. I wondered if it was because he wanted to annoy his family without seeing them or if he truly liked muggle things. I didn't know. And it that moment, it hit me: I had been bragging around saying how I knew Black perfectly but, in reality, I didn't know a thing about him anymore.

"What did you want to talk about?" he asked, flopping down on his bed.

I whirled around from the window to face him, knowing that if I didn't get this out of my system now, I never would. "Why did you try to kiss me? Don't say you didn't because you did!" I pointed my index finger at him, daring him to say otherwise.

"I don't know." He shrugged.

"Now, don't lie because that's—wait, what?" I stopped and added, scrunching up my nose.

"I don't know. It seemed like the right time so I kissed you." He explained.

My blood was boiling. I could kill him right now, what a dog. I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes dangerously at him, waiting for him to catch up to what he did. He looked up after a moment, his eyes widening at the murderous look on my face.

"I mean—"

"Shut up before I kill you and let me do the talking." I snapped, glaring at him.

He nodded and I sat down beside him. Right, so this wasn't going as planned. Suddenly, I wished I was Lily dancing downstairs and not myself sitting with someone I didn't know anymore while the air got thicker and thicker around us. Downstairs, my favorite song had already ended and another one had started.

"Meredith? I thought you were going to talk?" he asked.

"Yes… I just don't know what to say," I said slowly. He chuckled and I let out a frustrated groan as I passed my hand through my hair, the bobby pins falling. "How did we end up here?" I asked, falling down on the bed and staring at the ceiling.

"I believe you wanted to talk." He pointed out with a teasing tone. There was the Sirius Black I knew.

"Don't mock me, Black." I snapped. He raised his eyebrows before lying down beside me.

"Sorry, Potter." He replied, although it was obvious he didn't mean it.

"Okay, okay," I started a little nervously as I turned my head to look at him. "What if—what if we start over? We forget everything and start over like it's our First year again. I mean, we already established we actually miss each other, it'd be great to be friends again." I suggested.

"That'd be nice." He nodded. He got up and pulled me by my hand until I was standing in front of him. "I'm Sirius Black."

"Meredith Potter. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sirius." I shook his hand, my tone a teasing serious.

"It sure is," he said as he got closer.

I held my hand up and pushed his face away with pursed lips. "No flirting with your friends, Black." I warned.

"Right."

"Let's go downstairs before James and Lily think we killed each other." I teased, moving to the door.

He grabbed my wrist to stop me and I turned around, a questioning look on my face. The only answer I got was him pulling me closer to hug me. My surprise only lasted a second before I returned the hug, putting my arms around his waist and resting my head in his chest. This was definitely the weirdest Christmas ever.

"Marlene will combust into a million pieces when she sees us acting civil." I suddenly laughed.

"Yes, she will." he agreed.

Then the door opened, revealing a frantic-looking James Potter. He halted on the door, his eyes widening even more and his glasses tilted to the side. I snorted and shook my head as I stepped out of the hug and moved to him. His mouth was hanging open and he didn't move as I fixed his glasses.

"James," I said before passing past him and into the hall. "See you around, Black." I called over my shoulder.

The door closed behind me, James obviously wanting to press Sirius for any kind of information. Just before I started to make my way down the stairs, I heard a distinctive shout from Sirius' room.

"Oi, Padfoot! What was that about?" James shouted.

I laughed. Yes, those two were everything but subtle.

A/N: so, new chapter. I'd like to thank all of you who have favorited and followed this story, as well as reviewing. my computer died a few weeks ago and I only recently got it back. now, school is already drowning me with work so next chapter might take a while. but it'll be worth it, I promise. so, guys, once again thank you very much for everything and don't forget to follow me on tumblr: laststarkofwinterfell

love,

me.