James was split into two , one he was worried that the four Slytherins were all very quiet since their trip to greenhouse. And two that he had to open a dance and that too with The Lily Evans.
James was dressed in black tux with black shoes and a white shirt , simple
He was waiting for Lily and Mary along with Remus , Sirius and Peter were already off.
Marlene and Hestia were the first to descend the Girls' stair and were off to meet their dates , slowly everyone was gone , the ball was to start in 30 minutes but they had only 20 minutes left for them to reach there as they were to start the dance . And than Lily and Mary came downstairs , Remus was looking everywhere but Mary while James was not able to remove his eyes from Lily , she was wearing blue off shoulder gown and her hairs were in twisted crown .
"Shall we go ? " asked Mary
" Yeah" said Remus and they leaved the portrait hole .
" So are we going or not ?" she looked at James who was looking at her open mouthed .
" Close your mouth , and come let's go or McGonagall will kill us " she moved out of the common room towards the great hall , James just behind her .
" You are looking beautiful " he said from behind her . She smiled .
" Thanks Potter , you are looking good as well "
"Where were you two , the ball starts in 9 minutes , hurry up go behind that door , when the door will be opened you will go in and reach the middle to meet some guests and then after feast you will start the dance, the other participants will follow behind you." said Mcgonagall.
" We are looking great together " said James looking in mirror outside the door , which was placed there for same reason.
Lily looked at the figures of them " I am looking great for both of us " she said .
" 'Us' , I like it " remarked James with a grin .
" Keep talking and I will hex you to make sure you cant speak tonight ." She looked at her watch 1 minute left "Oh god! I hate to go public , I hate being 'centre of attention' "
" Dont worry it will be alright ." he said in a reassuring voice , but Lily didn't felt better .
10 seconds .
James took her hand , she pressed it feeling panicky .
The doors opened and they walked in greeted by clapping ,cheers and wolf-whistles .
A slow music was being played in background .
" Welcome , Mr. James Potter and Ms. Lily Evans , so nice to meet you , I am Ben Potter from the Auror department and congratulate you on behalf of my department ." said a man with few similarities to James but was shorter than James with brown eyes and has light tone than .
James smile widened on meeting the man. He hugged him .
" Well Mr. Potter and ,Ms. Evans , we know that you have O. this year and we will very much like to suggest that you consider being an Auror , we will be delighted to have talented people like you You ."
" You don't have to act so formal ." muttered James
" Well up to that part was my duty and now I am free , so James congratulations " he hugged James again and turned to Lily " Congratulations to you too Lily ."
" Thanks sir ." Lily said
" Ben or Uncle Ben will do , I have heard a lot about you from James "
Lily shot a look at James who was blushing .
" Oh , okay , He told me about you too , he told how you are his idol and that you introduced him to muggle world and technologies."
" Oh yes , I won the bet , I had a bet with Fleamont that who James sees as an idol and I have won. I should use those galleons to buy myself some food . And talking about galleons I would suggest that you both spend your money wisely . Now tell me about your duels , though I have heard it from Rachel but I would like to hear it from you two . "
They told every detail and then met some other guests from the Department of Curse-breaker and the department of International Safety Association.
Then they sat with the guests and Headmaster and other participants for the feast .
Soon they were called in middle to start the dance as slow music began to play , James took Lily's hand and took her to the middle , Dancing slowly . Lily glanced around anxiously muttering curses under her breathe .
"Evans look at me and forget that there are other people " whispered James .
" Like that's possible , I'd rather see a troll's face ."
"I am not joking , look at me ." he said softly.
She stared up into his eyes , remembering seeing them from up. She felt warmth in those eyes , and she relaxed , dancing along with him , not noticing that others have joined them , as the song changed , James pulled her closer , she placed her one hand on his chest and could feel his heartbeat which was increasing along with hers . This was the moment that Lily realized that she had started fancying James a little.
James looked down at her , she was beautiful , he wanted to kiss her lips but couldn't gather the guts . He pulled her closer and was relieved that she didn't obliged , her hand was now on his chest and his heartbeat increased . He could see a different look in her eyes which were fixed with his , there was something but he couldn't tell what .
" What ?" she asked when she saw him grinning.
"You look beautiful "
" I know "
"Why do you reject me each time ?" he asked and saw her expressions change in her eyes .
" Because you keep asking me ."
" I will not if you say 'yes' "
" I dont think that's going to happen."
" Why ?"
This is the first time James Potter has asked her for reason .
" I...I dont know , you keep annoying me , irritating me and ..."
"But you love that , Evans , you love being challenged too ." That Lily knew was true , she loved challenges .
" I dont and ..." but before Lily could say anything else , the music turned into a loud rock one , everyone started dancing hard and wild .
More people who ofcourse hadn't got a partner started dancing too and the middle become too crowded . Lily left James to go and get water and still confused with her new feelings.
James found Uncle Ben who was talking to Lily. James took seat next to him .
" The four slytherins I talked about are not here , they are in dungeons ." he said to Ben in a low voice so only he and Lily could hear .
" We were talking about that only " said Ben pointing to Lily .
" Isnt it odd ?" asked James.
" Till now nothing has happened and I don't think they will risk doing anything wrong when so many aurors and officials are here , and not to forget Dumbledore."
" What did Dumbledore said about it , did he suspect about which professor they were talking " asked Lily .
" Who is the greatest threat to Voldemort ?" asked Ben . Lily though not born in wizarding world shivered at use of his name , she was from first year told not to use his name . Ben seemed to notice her reaction .
" Not using proper name increases fear dear . " assured Ben
" They are thinking about attacking Dumbledore , the only one he feared. " gasped James and Lily's eyes widened.
" Yes, we think so " sighed Ben.
" What do you mean by we ?" asked James .
" I , you know I tell you everything but this is rather important so I will not tell exactly who 'we' means , but I will say we are who fighting for right things ." whispered Ben .
" I want to fight too " James said in same low voice .
" I know" smiled Ben " But for now focus on learning and enjoying , you will get your chance ."
"I am a muggleborn , can I join the fight or is it just for wizarding families ?"asked Lily.
" Ofcourse , you can dear , birth status doesn't matter , and I think you have already proved it that you are better than every purebloods." Ben assured ." Now , but I dont want you both to tell anyone else about it , the less we talk , the better ."
" What is going on outside ? What is Voldemort up to ?" asked James.
" Others will not want me to tell you , but I think you ought to know but can I trust you not to tell anyone else for now , as it will lead to panic .Ok?" they both nodded .
Ben leaned closer "He is recruiting Giants and Werewolfs as of now " James and Lily both exchanged looks , Remus on their mind. " From inside we have a news that he is trying to get all dementors on his side ."
" But dementors are supposed to be guarding Azkaban and are under ministry. Why will they join him . " said Lily horror struck.
" What do you know about dementors ?" asked Ben .
" Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them. "
" Yes dear , there you have your answer , in Azkaban they have limited access to these things and Voldemort is offering them a wide range and free hand in his rule , so they are bound to join them ."
" What is ministry doing to stop all these ?" asked James .
" To be honest nothing , the Minister is just trying to please more and more people so he could remain in his seat. They are doing politics. " sighed Ben
"I hate politics " said James through gritted teeth .
" I know , there are some good people , and we are trying best to prevent it as much as possible."
They talked for another 20 minutes and then Ben left .
James was in foul mood and went to get some drinks for them to which Lily just nodded . Lily was sitting and lost in her thoughts about the dark times that lay ahead , she knew that things were not good , but the talk with Ben made her realized that things were a lot worst than she had imagined , though she was surprised to see that both James and Ben were Pureblood and could easily live a comfortable life but were choosing to fight for right things , for the right of muggles and muggleborns . Ben had told them that three days before , they had found eight muggles dead in a house with dark mark hovering over the house , this thought made her more sick .
She was lost in her worries for her parents when a boy came and sat next to her .
" Your face has gone pale , are you alright. " said the boy .
Lily thought that James has returned with the drinks but looked up to found her friend sitting next to her , for the first time she was disappointed to see Severus instead of James.
"Yeah , I am fine just tired from the function" she lied , she didn't want to tell her the truth . " Where is your date ? " she asked him looking around .
" I dont have a date , I dont like this rubbish dance " he muttered .
" Oh , then why did you come to the ball ?"she asked confused
" Just for food and I wanted to talk to you ."
"Yes ?"
" Congratulation on winning the duell ." said Sev.
"Thanks sev ."
James was angry and sad after his talk with his uncle, he looked at Remus who was talking with Sirius and Mary , what if Voldemort try to recruit him too , he knew that Remus would never join them , but he might get in danger if he refused , that's why it became more important to hide his secret . He looked at Mary , she was a muggleborn and just like Lily and other muggleborns she had to face the taunts and discrimination , he looked at Sirius , who was disowned for not supporting death eaters . James could feel that the war has arrived .His family was already involved and not long before he will be involved too . These all things saddened him , but than the laugh on his friends face gave him hope that maybe everything will be alright . He cheered himself and prayed to god that this war end as soon as possible .
He took drinks for himself and Lily and turned to the table where she was sitting . But she was not alone she was talking to Snape , he waited for few minutes to calm himself and proceeded towards the table .
" Putting up with that git and his arrogance is hard for anyone ." Snape sneered when he saw Potter approaching towards them.
" What ? ...Oh." Lily asked confused and followed his line of sight to see James coming with drinks in his hand .
" Hello again , here's your drink ." said James trying to smile and sat beside Lily .
" What are you doing here , Potter ?" asked Snape through gritted teeth .
" I could ask you the same ." replied James sipping his drink .
" I am talking to my friend here, you should leave and find your friends , when one of them always gets ill . What happens to him ?" asked Snape and Lily find herself in the situation where she didn't know what to do.
Anger rose in James but he kept himself in control because Lily was just beside him . " It's none of your business. And I am here with my date and have to talk to her if you don't mind"
" There you are , there you are , Lily my girl and Mr. Potter , congratulations for your victory , I was very proud of you both . Now , I want you both to meet Mr. Gordon here . He takes talented witches and Wizards to different countries and helps in studying ancient magic ."Said a delighted Professor Slughorn , and along with him was a blonde man .
" Are you related to Fleamont Potter Mr." asked the man.
Snape left the table , he could not stand the arrogant who gets pleasure for everything without even working hard.
" Yes , I am his son sir " said James .
" Say hello to him from me , we were together at Hogwarts ."
" Well that seemed interesting " pointed out James when Slughorn and Gordon left .
" Yeah I didn't knew there were such jobs " said Lily .
" So , what are your plans after Hogwarts ?" asked James .
" Dunno , I think I will fight in the war , I cant just sit around. What about you ?"
" Same , I want to fight in the war for the right side ."
"Thats very great of you " remarked Lily.
" And you too are great ."
" I think we should go back , I am tired " said Lily.
" Yeah let's go back "
They both walked through the corridors towards the Gryffindor tower
"How is slug club ?" asked James
"They are quite good , you get to meet some important people and the dinner is very good . But usually it gets kind of boring. Why ?"
"Slughorn asked me to join the club , I denied it last year but he asked again for..." but he stopped placing a finger on his lips to indicate Lily to be silent . He took out the map and saw the four Slytherins on 3rd floor near DADA office in the next corner from where James and Lily were . He took Lily hand and hide in a secret passage , and saw them pass all looking pleased with themselves .
"What were they doing here , its far from the dungeons " said Lily .
" I suppose they are planning something ."
"We should do something."
"Yeah , but for now there's nothing we can do."