A/N: Hello again, this is a nice fun chapter to write so I hope you all enjoy!
Tuesday 24th December 1976 Lily smiled as Alice put the finishing touches to her hair. She had been picked up by Mr Prewett after lunch and apparated to Alice's house where she would be getting ready and would also be debriefed by Alice on what she should and shouldn't do and the overload of information was more than a little unnerving.
"Is it very unusual for a muggleborn to be invited to these sorts of things?" Lily had asked her friend. Alice had sighed, a slight frown on her pretty features.
"It's not unusual for the Potters to invite and be invited by muggleborns to occasions. Sure, James' grandfather Henry Potter, clashed with the then ministry of magic when the ministry forbade wizards from aiding muggles in the second world war." Lily's eyebrows rose in surprise, she filed that information away. "He got the Potters excluded from the sacred twenty-eight as a result. But in the grand scheme of things, balls are usually quite pureblooded affairs." Lily worried at her bottom lip.
"But a lot of the time that's because muggleborns aren't aware of a lot of the intricacies of wizarding culture."
"It's not exactly like we're being taught about it." Lily complained. "It's hardly fair to have all these social rules in place that are completely different to the muggle world, to not give muggleborns one lick of education about it and then to judge them for not observing them."
"I know, Lils." Said Alice sympathetically. "A part of me wishes I'd thought of doing something like that for you and Mar before now, instead of just talking about it in passing. James' letters have been helpful though, haven't they?"
Lily nodded, somewhat to her surprise, James had explained a lot of wizarding etiquette to her in a way that made sense. Although, from what she'd seen of him in their work on their transfiguration project and weekly training, teaching did come pretty naturally to him and he was easygoing about it, which was nice. She had also quizzed him about it when they met up in London the other day, Dorcas and Sirius also chiming in. To sum it up Lily had basically been told that she should only dance with the boys she knew- in this case it would be James and Sirius, Frank would only be dancing with Alice as it would be improper for him to dance with another single witch, he wasn't related to after he had given Alice a declaration of intent gift. Lily had been told to politely turn down anyone else who asked her to dance as they may have dishonourable intentions and that James would 'look out for her' to ensure she wasn't whisked away by a nefarious wizard. It all seemed terribly old-fashioned, but it did make Lily feel as if she was in a fairy tale, adding to her excitement, which she was, of course, not going to show outwardly as it wasn't dignified.
Alice smiled at Lily's reflection in the mirror, she had crafted Lily's red locks into a gorgeous up-do. The bun that sat delicately on her head, literally looked like a flower made of hair. A few curled strands framed Lily's face. Her dress was a long, deep purple gown. It had long sleeves and a modest square neckline with a slightly puffed out skirt giving it more of a ball-esque look. Lily's mother had found it from her own prom and Lily had fallen in love with it, they didn't have to modify it as she was a very similar size to her mother and upon showing it to Alice, the pureblood witch had said it was perfect. Lily was wearing a simple necklace and had given herself a purple-based smokey eye and a nude lipstick graced her lips. She wore a simple pair of shoes with a small heel. Alice was wearing a beautiful red dress with three-quarter length sleeves and a lacey neckline, her blue eyes looked luminous set in a shimmery gold eye shadow and a red lipstick tied the look together, her jewellery from Frank glittering proudly. Alice's dress came to her ankles and she wore a low heel- all the better for all the dancing she was hoping to do tonight. Both girls were palpably excited with Lily feeling more than a little nervous.
Lily gasped as she emerged from the floo into Potter Manor. Her and Alice had practiced flooing from her entry to her dad's study so she wouldn't fall over in her dress and look like an absolute idiot. Mr and Mrs Prewett had gone through before Alice and Lily, with Alice bringing up the rear and with a sweep of his wand the kindly Mr Prewett ensured all of his ladies looked as immaculate as they had before they entered. Mr Prewett was on the smaller side of average with a neat head of strawberry blonde hair and light blue eyes, he had a tidy ginger-y goatee and was a bit plumper in the middle than he'd like to be. He was light hearted and an exceedingly nice person- he had always said he had to be the nice one because his older brother was the cheeky one. As exemplified by his brother's twin sons Fabian and Gideon's Hogwarts reputation of being incorrigible pranksters. Mrs Prewett had darker hair and eyes and was a small woman with voluptuous curves and both Prewetts would say that they thought their only daughter Alice had the best of both of them. Alice gracefully came through behind Lily, giving Lily a chance to admire the drawing room they had arrived in. It was a moderately sized room, with the large fireplace dominating one wall. The fireplace was a stone structure with a few trinkets and a container of floo powder on the mantle whilst an elegant portrait of a Bernese Mountain Dog on the wall above the fireplace studied any and all arrivals, it wagged its tail at her as she studied it. A nice rug greeted guests as they stepped out of the fireplace and there was a smattering of chairs and low tables with trays filled with champagne flutes. There were colourful tapestries on the wall and Lily was so busy admiring it that she hardly noticed as Alice gently tugged her out of the way of the fireplace lest an incoming guest bowl them over.
"Nice, isn't it?" Alice whispered to her. Lily could only nod.
"Mr and Mrs Prewett!" Exclaimed a familiar voice. Lily's jaw almost dropped as James Potter walked into the room. His perpetually messy hair had been smoothed down and swept away from his eyes which weren't covered by his glasses. On his right hand he wore a gold signet ring Lily didn't recognise. He was wearing charcoal dress robes that made his hazel eyes lighter, bringing out a greenish hue in them that Lily hadn't noticed before. His robes were elegant, buttoning over a white shirt and a Gryffindor red bow tie, the cut of the robes accentuated his lean waist as they tightened in before flowing out elegantly behind his tailored trousers. Alice smirked at Lily as she regarded her favourite cousin, she was sure Lily had no idea how she was looking at him.
"Welcome." Said James, grasping Mrs Prewett's hand, bowing his head before placing a kiss on it. Mrs Prewett gave a small curtsey and James shook Mr Prewett's hand firmly. Sirius followed behind James, also looking handsome in elegant robes as black as his name, a white bowtie gracefully breaking up the darkness. Sirius copied James as he greeted them, moving on to greet Alice.
"Cousin." Greeted James, grinning at Alice. "You look amazing, Frank might have palpitations when he sees you." Alice smiled at him. James moved to greet Lily, she was a vision in royal purple and he was hyper aware of himself as he took her hand, placing an almost reverent kiss upon it, his lips ghosting over her hand. Lily hoped the makeup she had on, covered her light blush at the sensation.
"Miss Evans." He said, smiling at her. "You look beautiful. Excuse my airs and graces, I did tell you how pretentious these things were in my letters." Lily responded with an appropriate curtsey, laughing at his comment, her brain steadfastly ignoring the flutter in her chest at his complement to her. As tradition dictated, once you had been greeted formally, if you knew each other informally as Alice, Lily, James and Sirius did, you could use first names once the greeting had been received and returned. Sirius also greeted Lily, rather ruining the formality of it with a friendly wink as he kissed her hand and James came back with some champagne for the new arrivals.
"This is a beautiful house, James." Said Lily, looking around again as Mr and Mrs Prewett were hailed by someone they knew who was sat on a nearby chair. James inclined his head graciously and Lily was having a hard time reconciling this dapper young man with the cheeky Potter she knew from Hogwarts.
"Wait until you see the ballroom." Said Sirius with a friendly smile as he sipped at the champagne.
"May we escort you?" Asked James, gesturing with a hand. "Frank and Dorcas are already in there." With a private wink at James, Sirius swiftly moved to Alice's side, their arms linked in the position indicative of a friend or relation rather than a suitor. That was Frank's job after all. With a deep breath James downed the rest of his champagne and took Lily's arm, it was taking a lot of effort to tear his eyes away from her visage as they left the drawing room, Mr Prewett nodding at them. James had never expected to have Lily bloody Evans on his arm at a wizarding ball, never mind his own family's ball. He had thought he had seen her at her most perfect at the other somewhat formal occasions they had both been at but tonight she looked incredible. His Animagi-enhanced nose could smell the characteristic raspberry scent of her hair and her perfume washed over his senses, intoxicating him as he hopelessly wondered if he would ever not find her attractive.
"Wow." Said Lily softly as they walked through the atrium, floating candles and other tasteful Christmas decorations bedecking the walls. "Alice said your house was nice, I didn't think she meant this nice." James clenched his hand as it reflexively went to run through his hair, he had spent way too long trying to tame it with Monty's Sleakeazy supply for him to ruin it in his nerves. He laughed ruefully.
"Thanks. Prewett Hall is also nice but unfortunately Alice's uncle inherited the place."
"What happened to your glasses?" Lily asked as they walked down the hallway, following the sound of music and chatter to the ballroom. James turned to her and Lily was caught out by the gold tones the candle light seemed to bring out. Who knew hazel eyes could look so many different colours? Lily decided she liked his eyes without glasses.
"Muggles have this great invention of contact lenses." James said, a familiar smirk on his lips. There was the Potter she was used to. "Sirius and I went into a- what are they called? Opticians?" Lily smirked and nodded. "Right. Into an opticians and I got examined, it was all pretty crazy and at one point I thought she wanted to gouge out my eyes but we eventually left with a set of lenses. It was interesting to say the least." He smirked again. "And it's definitely going to make quidditch matches much easier if I don't have to worry about my glasses falling off. All in all it was fun day out." Lily chuckled.
They emerged into the ballroom. Lily gasped again. It was a large room with vaulted ceilings, home to carvings of dancers which span and twirled across the stone. Several huge chandeliers hung gracefully, providing a surprising amount of light. The floor was made of a rich, dark wood, made smooth by hundreds of pairs of dancing feet over the years and arched windows showed the view over the grounds. A stage sat at one end of the room with a small band playing low music, whilst at the other end of the room, tables held a selection of food and chairs, and a large space in the middle held the dance floor. It was beautiful. Lily was distracted by the arrival of Frank, who's eyes were ablaze as he looked at Alice, making Lily smile at his obvious love for her friend. He greeted them, traditionally again and Sirius graciously handed him Alice's hand which had been on his arm. Dorcas and her brothers also came over to them, Dorothy hadn't come as she continued to keep a vigil over Cassian. Marcus had managed to get time off and he had grown a beard to match his younger brother since Lily last saw him although his was thicker and darker. Both of Dorcas' brothers were very handsome, many other girls had often made Dorcas uncomfortable as they asked after them a fact Lily remembered as they greeted her and Alice. Lily was pretty sure no one had ever kissed her hand before tonight and she truly felt like she was in a fairy tale as this was the standard greeting at formal wizarding events.
The group began to chat, Marcus telling them about time he had recently spent in Europe on auror business. Whilst listening Lily took to looking about the room to see if she recognised anyone. She spotted Linda Dearborn glaring at Sirius from across the room, surrounded by a group of men who looked to be her family members. Lily smothered a smile, she was guessing things between her and the notorious Sirius Black hadn't ended well. She also recognised Augusta Longbottom, Frank's mother, a stern, imposing woman who seemed to be studying her son's interactions with Alice. Lily definitely would not want a woman like that to be her mother-in-law- talk about terrifying.
James noticed her looking around and tilted his head down to provide an explanation. He pointed out Edgar and Amelia, Lily's friend Elizabeth Bones cousins. Edgar was a tall red-headed man with a magnificent moustache whilst Amelia was very regal looking. Apparently they have a younger brother- Joseph Bones who was invited but was recently married and enjoying his honey moon in Brazil. The small group of blondes were obviously the Greengrasses, their oldest son had graduated a few years ahead of James and Lily. James also pointed out the Abbots and a thin wizard with a receding hairline who was looking at Lily with a frown was identified as Wilber Wilkes. A man with enormous eyebrows and his scary-looking wife were the Vances and a tall ginger man spinning a witch around the dance floor was identified as Billius Weasley.
"He's a bit mental." James informed her with a small smile. "But the Weasleys are generally a good sort. Billius' younger brother Arthur is married to Alice's cousin Molly. They've got three young boys." Lily nodded, marvelling at her companion's ability to keep everything straight in his head.
"And those." Said James nodding his head towards where two identical red-headed men, who looked to be in their early-mid twenties, were strolling towards them. "Are Fabian and Gideon Prewett." James grinned, waving to them. "They're the guys who the marauders made our duty to surpass in Hogwarts pranks."
"Cousin." One of them called cheerily to Alice. Lily barely refrained from rolling her eyes, it seemed like everyone was someone's cousin. Alice smiled as they greeted her warmly, both hugging her in turn.
"And you must be Frankie Shorthead."
"Or was it Longbottom?"
"Can't say I remember Fabian."
"I thought I was Gideon."
"How about you be Gabian."
"And I'll be Fideon."
"Perfect." They finished in synchrony. Frank looked worriedly between them, seeming genuinely concerned for their health. Alice laughed, swatting both of them on the arm.
"Ignore them Frank. They're menaces." The one on the right extended a hand a cheeky grin on his freckled face, his blue eyes, almost a mirror of Alice's twinkled merrily.
"I'm Fabian." The one on the left also extended a hand.
"I'm Gideon." Frank shook the proffered hands, a confused but polite smile on his face.
Alice rolled her eyes. "They're lying, it's the other way around." Lily laughed at the look on Frank's face. The twins turned towards her.
"A fellow red-head!" The one Lily thought was Fabian exclaimed.
"Although you seem to be a different strain." Added maybe-Gideon. "You seem to be of the darker variety."
"This is Lily Evans." Said Alice. "My dorm mate and one of my best friends."
"It's a pleasure, Miss Evans." They said together, one of them taking her hand and kissing it before the other followed suit. Lily was beginning to feel flustered at all the strange hand kissing.
"Please call me Lily." She said.
"And are you a special friend of James'?" One of them with a blob of brown in his right eye asked.
"Just a friend." James confirmed as he shook their hands. Lily's gaze lingered on him. "I will be escorting her tonight." They began to chat with Lily desperately trying to notice differences between them and keep track of which one she thought was which. James, seeing her confusion took pity on her.
"Big blob of brown in right eye- Fabian. Small blob of brown in left eye- Gideon. Gideon also has a scar underneath his chin from a quidditch accident if it's any help." He said softly by her ear. Lily nodded gratefully. It wasn't long before the music quietened and Mr and Mrs Potter took to the stage, hoisting champagne flutes. Fleamont cut an elegant figure in his blue dress robes, standing straight and proud, Euphemia was just as striking in a complementary blue gown as she stood next to him and James couldn't help but puff out his chest a little and smile at his mum and dad.
"Thank you all for joining us, on this fine evening." Fleamont announced. "Tonight is a night for joyous companionship, lively conversation and passionate dancing." He grinned rakishly at the last, eliciting a laugh from the crowd, accentuated when Euphemia fondly and obviously rolled her eyes. "We have come together to mark Yuletide and Christmas, signalling the end of one year and the beginning of an even better one- hopefully." They laughed again. "To glad tidings!" Monty toasted, lifting his glass. His toast was echoed and the clinking of glasses heard as people cheersed and took a drink. Euphemia tilted her drink in the direction of a guest.
"Thank you for your efforts, Billius." She said, nodding to him with a mischievous glint in her eye. "But let the real dancing begin." The crowd laughed as Billius graciously bowed his head to the Lady of the House with a grin. With that, Monty placed his walking stick to the side and took his wife's hand. Leading her to the dance floor as the band struck up a classic waltz tune, they began to dance, eyes fixed on each other as they gracefully waltzed across the floor. Lily looked at them with a smile on her lips. They were so obviously in love and it was beautiful, her eyes prickled as she regarded them. They reminded her of her own parents Harold doted on Rose, and she on him in return. Merlin, she hoped Petunia's boyfriend treated her similarly and she could only pray she would find something like that one day.
"What do you say, Miss Evans?" Asked James, turning to her, a- was that nervous?- smile on his lis lips. He held out a hand. "May I have a dance?" Or all of your dances forever, for the rest of your life, he thought to himself.
"Of course." She said taking his hand, smiling shyly. Why did she feel shy? This was James Potter, James Potter, not some stranger at a ball.
James led her out to the dance floor, Morgana's tits, he hoped his hands weren't sweaty. He placed a hand on her waist, marvelling at the curve of her body under his hand. Had she always been this small? He was not going to mess this up, he would dance the most gentlemanly dance of his life.
Lily was thanking all the deities above and below that her dad had taught her how to dance, Dr Evans had always prided himself on his ballroom prowess. James' hand was gentle on her waist, but the grip on her own was firm, her hands felt dwarfed by his larger ones. They began to dance. James smiled at her, she found herself once again studying his eyes, she was trying to decide on their colour, she could've sworn they were more of a golden brown earlier but they now seemed more of an earthy, chocolatey brown. His scent drifted over her as they glided around the room, he smelt how she remembered, fresh- a foresty smell with an undercurrent of a strangely addictive lavender. It was weird but it worked, it was a lovely scent. They swept past Monty and Euphemia, the two couples smiled at each other. Euphemia shooting a wink at James that he refused to acknowledge.
"Your parents are great." Lily said, feeling comfortable enough with their rhythm to engage him in conversation, she had to look up at him, otherwise she would have been talking to his chest, Arthur's arse he was tall. "How long have they been married?" James smiled fondly at her.
"55 years." He said. "I think they've set an unnaturally high bar for my relationships." He confessed. "I can only dream of finding what they have." Lily nodded, his words echoing what she had earlier thought. She smiled as Frank and Alice danced past.
"I bet Frank and Alice will give them a run for their money." She said, glad for her friend.
"Oh yeah." Came her partners reply. "It'll be tough though. When mum and dad got married, the pulse of magic when they sealed their vows almost blinded their guests."
Lily's eyes snapped back to his face. "Wait, what? Is there like a spell for marriage?"
"It's more of a ritual." Explained James. "It's old magic. Every house, when it reaches Noble or Ancient status has a mascot. They're representative of the family magic. Most old families have a family spell book or a grimoire, it contains certain spells or rituals created and passed down through the generations. And when family magic is called it takes the form of a creature. For the Potters it's a Gryffin, Longbottom is a bear, the Blacks is a raven, the Prewett's a kneazle and so on." Lily was listening with rapt attention, barely paying attention to her feet as James confidently led her around the dance floor. "Family magicks can be called to witness during things like the Wizengamot or an honour duel, or even a marriage. It isn't often done, it's pretty ancient magic and at my parent's wedding it wasn't done but as they said their vows, apparently the bonds of magic were visible and when they sealed the deal the Gryffin unintentionally appeared in a pulse of magic. It was kind of like accidental magic except it was accidental family magic." James shrugged. "It's meant to be a great blessing but it all sounds very dramatic and part of me definitely thinks my mum embellished when she retold it." Lily chuckled.
"Sounds kinda romantic to me." Lily said.
"My dad says it's a Potter affliction."
"Being romantic?"
James smiled down at her, thinking of his deep, deep-seated affection for her, he was attempting to hold back. "Being a hopeless romantic, more like." His thumb stroked over her knuckles before he could stop himself. Godric, why did he just do that? Hopefully she didn't notice. The music faded out and there was a light round of applause for the band as Monty and Euphemia exited the dance floor, Monty reclaiming his walking stick, leaning down to whisper something in his wife's ear that made her smile at him. A new piece of music started and James found he really didn't want to step away from his partner.
"You up for another dance?" He asked.
Lily was quite enjoying herself, besides James was an excellent dancer so she nodded her assent with a smile. If she examined herself, she would've realised that she didn't especially want to stop dancing with him either.
James grinned back, more relieved than he could say. He tugged her back in, maybe slightly closer than was necessary. But screw it. He was a marauder and Lily was the girl of his dreams and hands down the most beautiful woman in the room. He did ensure that his hands remained in the appropriate position, signalling that they were not romantically involved, as much as he was tempted to do so. Lily would have his head if she caught him doing that.
They danced on, this time it was a bit more lively and with a cheeky grin, James started a game.
"Ok, next bar I'm gonna twirl you once, ok? One, two, three, four…" Lily couldn't help her delighted laugh as she twirled out from him, returning back without missing a beat. She came up with some moves as well and to the other guests it seemed like they had been dancing together for years as they twirled and span in perfect harmony and the song changed several more times, the two teens hardly noticing in their enjoyment.
Monty watched over the rim of his wine glass, a grin on his features. His son was going to marry that girl, he just knew it.
James didn't know how many songs they had danced for when they finally came to a stop and James offered to get a drink for Lily, needing one for himself and leading her over to a table next to Sirius, Dorcas and her brothers and the Prewett twins.
Lily lent half an ear to the conversation next to her picking at a bowl of honey roasted cashews on the table, suddenly feeling very peckish. She glanced at the clock, startling when she saw the time, she had been dancing with James for the better part of an hour and hadn't noticed. She sighed to herself, he looked good tonight not just good but handsome. It was a disturbing realisation to come to. After years of swearing that James Potter was the most arrogant and obnoxious person ever, how was she now dancing with him at a ball and enjoying it? And where did all these hormonal thoughts about his appearance come from? She'd had the stray thought in the past considering that he maybe wasn't the ugliest person in the world but had she ever really, truly thought he was attractive? She grabbed some nearby crisps, munching on them as she mulled over her thoughts. There was a difference between thinking someone was attractive and being attracted to them. She nodded to herself. But he did seem to have changed for the better since the end of fifth year, but then which was the real James? Was how he'd been acting this year his real self? Or was it some kind of a ploy to get her to like him? God, she hoped not, she felt like a narcissistic bitch just considering that. Or maybe this year he'd just been peeling back the layers and she was in more of a position to get these glimpses of who he really was considering their newfound friendship, she'd never really been friends with him before after all. She was deep into her musings when the man James had identified as Wilkes came over to her. Lily swallowed her mouthful of crisps, hoping no crumbs were on her face as she surreptitiously checked for crumbs down her front.
"Hello." He said politely, he looked at her like she was a puzzle he wanted to solve. "I don't believe we've been introduced. I am Lord Wilber Wilkes of the House of Wilkes." He took her hand, inclining his head to brush his lips against her knuckles.
Lily shifted, feeling uncomfortable without James or Alice to act as a buffer. "Lily Evans." She replied politely. Wilkes froze. Out of the corner of her eye Lily was aware Sirius had spotted her and was standing up from his seat.
"Evans?" Wilkes asked, his hand tightened on Lily's almost painfully. "I haven't heard of that family."
Lily was holding back a grimace as she tried to extricate her hand from his grip. She felt like she knew what was coming. Stifling a sigh, she replied. "I'm a muggleborn, sir." He threw her hand away from himself, wiping it on his robes as if she had infected him with something. Sirius appeared at her side, James arriving soon after, clutching their drinks.
Wilkes curled his lip in disdain. "I wasn't aware the House of Potter was consorting with mud bloods." He spat. "I should have known better."
"The House of Potter would appreciate it if you didn't use that disgusting language underneath our roof." James replied, in a voice as cold as ice. Lily looked between them, wanting to recoil from the hatred on Wilkes' face. Sirius pressed slightly closer to her as if he sensed her discomfort.
"She's been dangling off your arm all night, the filthy whore. I hope you know the contraception charm, heir Potter, if you're unzipping your trousers for her, lest she pollute this line."
James' face flushed and his jaw clenched in anger. Lily was stunned at the insults coming from this man, he had just called her a whore, she didn't even know the guy. "Considering your seemingly blood supremacist ideas, I would've thought that you knew enough about wizarding etiquette to see that our dancing has shown we are nothing more than friends." It was Wilkes' turn to flush. "As if her heritage would even matter whether she was a friend or more than friend." James stared him down, every inch the Lord that he was heir to. "Now get out of this house." James growled. Fleamont and Euphemia were making their way over, eyebrows knitted at the confrontation. "Miko, will escort you off the property Lord Wilkes." A stocky house elf in an immaculate set of elfin robes emblazoned with the Potter crest appeared.
"This way, please." The elf stated, gesturing to the exit.
"Lord Wilkes very rudely insulted one of our guests, I have asked him to leave." James said calmly, regaining control of himself as he explained to his parents. One look at the situation- Lily's expression, Sirius' glare at Wilkes- was enough for them to understand what had happened.
"I believe that would be best, Lord Wilkes." Fleamont said, looking at Wilkes coldly.
Wilkes sputtered. "What?" He demanded, glaring at Lily as if it was her fault. "Know that I take this as a grave insult to my proud house."
"So be it." Lord Potter said in a flat voice. "The exit is that way." He gestured with his walking stick. Wilkes' nostrils flared and as he tried to gather his dignity he left the room. The effort was rather ruined when he tripped over Fabian's extended foot.
"My apologies, I didn't see you there." Fabian said, deadpan. A small smirk flashed over James' face, disappearing quickly so he looked his part. Wilkes swept from the room.
Euphemia, squeezed Lily's arm. "I'm so sorry dear for anything he might've said to you, he was a risk to invite, we were hoping he'd be more sympathetic to the lighter side of the wizengamot. But obviously not." Lily attempted a small smile but she felt shaken. It was one thing to be insulted by students she went to school with. Quite another to be so venomously insulted by a grown man she had never met before. James handed her her drink with a sigh, pulling her chair out for her to sit.
"Wilkes is an asshole." Said Sirius, nudging her gently. Lily appreciated the effort.
"I didn't realise it was so… real." Lily said in a soft voice. Alice had come over to join them and Dorcas wrapped a comforting arm around Lily's shoulders, having seen what had happened. "It hits it home when a random stranger at a ball insults your blood status."
"I can't understand it." Said Alice, shaking her head.
"It's like someone hating you because of the colour of your skin or something." James shook his head. Grimacing when his hand, which had gone to run through his hair habitually, hit the product in it, he removed his hand quickly. Lily choked out a mirthless laugh at the irony of pureblood supremacy in the wizarding world and white supremacy in the normal world, Lily had never understood racism either.
"I'm sorry about that Lils." Said James, looking disgusted at what had happened. "Your blood doesn't matter. Surely the type of person you are should matter more than where you come from." He sighed, shaking his head again.
"Don't worry about it." Lily said, shooting him a small smile.
"At least Fabian got a shot at him as he left." Sirius said with a grin. The small group laughed, Lily was grateful at Sirius for attempting to break the tension and they began to chat.
"How come Remus and Peter aren't here?" Asked Lily after a few minutes of conversation.
"They hate these things." Said James with a wry grin. "Peter can't ballroom dance for his life and Remus despises stuffy pure-bloods."
"James spares them the guilt of rejecting his invite by just not inviting them in the first place." Sirius said, nudging his friend.
James shrugged. "I'd learned by third year how much they hated it so I did them a favour." He turned to Sirius. "And as much as Padfoot says he hates tradition he weirdly likes things like this."
Sirius drew himself up mockingly. "I am here as a representative of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black." He drawled, making Lily's eyebrows lift at how perfectly he could imitate the mannerisms of some of the other purebloods she knew.
"Yeah right." Said Dorcas with a scoff.
"I do get a bit of a buzz from unravelling people's political machinations at things like this." Sirius shrugged. "Playing politics is more fun when the people you're plotting against or with aren't as evil as the circles my family run in. It's not as much as a life and death situation."
"He lets his Slytherin side out for some exercise when he comes to stuff like this with me." Sirius scowled at James' remark, elbowing him in the side.
And so the night went on, they chatted and laughed. The levity returning after Wilkes' departure. They talked about their family Christmas traditions, who was most likely to splinch themselves once apparition lessons began, easy, friendly topics. James and Sirius regaled Tobias, Marcus and the Prewett twins with tales of their latest pranks, enveloping their table in rounds of laughter. People were beginning to go home as James danced a few songs with Dorcas whilst Sirius danced with Lily.
"We're going to have to look after her and Marlene." Dorcas said suddenly as they danced. James frowned. "You know who's in the positions of power at the ministry, if things keep going as they are, muggleborns will be completely shut out from getting any decent jobs."
James sighed. "We still have time, things might have changed by then."
"Do you really believe that?" Dorcas looked at him carefully, only having to tilt her head slightly to meet his gaze, she was much taller than Lily was.
"I don't know Cas." James said sadly, "but she wants to be a healer, and she bloody well deserves it with how hard she works."
"Unfortunately how good you are at something is starting to matter a lot less to a lot more people now." James sighed.
"I'll buy and ward them an apartment myself if I have to Cas. Merlin knows the Potters have enough money for it." He looked at her dark blue eyes seriously. "We're all going to make it through this, my friends mean everything to me."
Dorcas gave him small smile. "You're a good man, James, as much as you try to hide it." James blushed.
"I'm not trying to hide anything." He explained in a quiet voice. "I just grew up. All those pranks we used to do, it was out of boredom for the guys and attention seeking for me. I never considered the attention I was getting was all negative until Alice pointed it out to me." Dorcas stayed silent, paying attention to this rare insight into the mind of her team mate and somewhat surprisingly, long time friend.
"And what about Lily?" Dorcas asked.
James stiffened slightly. "What do you mean?"
"Do you still like her? 'Cos from how you were dancing it looked like you do."
He sighed. "Yeah. I really do, even more now than before."
Dorcas eyebrows rose at the gravity in his voice as he spun her out and back in absent-mindedly. "So you like her more now that you know her better?"
"I guess so."
"You don't just like her because you think she's fit?"
"What? Merlin, no. I mean, she's gorgeous. But she's also funny and kind, she's easy to talk to and she likes the same music as me and she loves quidditch for goodness sake and contrary to popular belief she can actually take a joke, and give one too. But she's also brave and determined and smart. I mean, she knocked out Brendick with one punch for god's sake-" James paused, Dorcas was grinning at him, a knowing look on her face.
"What?" He demanded, "why are you looking at me like that?" Dorcas thought it was adorable how James thought of her and if Lily only knew-
"You can't tell her." Said James hurriedly.
"James-"
"No you can't, she hated me last year when I asked her out all the time and now we're friends, I don't want to lose that Cas. I like being her friend." There was a pleading note to James' voice now and Dorcas sighed, relenting.
"Ok fine, I won't say anything. But James, it's not completely out of the realm of possibility that something could happen between you two." After all, Dorcas hadn't said anything to Lily or James but there had also been something in the way Lily had been looking at James tonight, it wouldn't be a totally crazy thought for Lily to change her mind about the quidditch captain while they were still at Hogwarts, especially if she heard how James really felt. James' heart sped up at the prospect. Nope. No. He would not get his hopes up for something like that, as much as he wished she was right, he shoved down the hope in his gut, taking a deep breath.
"You don't have to say that just to make me feel better, Cas." James said, with a crooked smile as the song played their last notes. Those still at the party turned to clap the band. The frontman of the band stood up with a wave, he had long shoulder length brown hair.
"Thank you everyone. Unfortunately, our time here entertaining you is coming to an end." The remaining guests 'awwwed' appropriately.
"But on the request of the Lord of the house, we have one last song for you, and I want all of you up and dancing for this one." He ceded the floor to Fleamont while the band swapped their instruments around.
"This dance is called stripping the willow." Announced Fleamont, James grinned. "Everybody line up, ladies on one side, gents opposite them." The crowd followed his instructions, Monty at one end of the line with Euphemia opposite. James and Dorcas were next in the line. Fleamont had loved ceilidh dances ever since a relative had married a young Scottish wizard and had a ceilidh at their wedding reception back when James was 10.
"If you've never seen this before just copy Mia and I." James smirked, his dad must have had a few glasses of champagne if he was referring to his wife by her nickname in public like that. The band struck up a lively tune and Monty counted them in. He linked hands with Euphemia and they skipped sideways down the gap between the two lines, facing each other. After eight counts they went back the way they came before splitting and running down the outside of the two lines. The guests followed behind them, the men behind Monty and the women behind Euphemia. The Lord and Lady Potter joined hands and made an archway at the end which the other guests ran through before reforming the line where James and Dorcas repeated the dance. It was fast tempo and fun and once everyone had got the hang of it, Monty changed it up, grabbing his wife and spinning her as they made their way down the line, Monty, with a grace that was surprising for his age, linking arms with all the girls on the girl side and spinning them around before spinning Euphemia in the middle and moving down the line. The dancers continued, James flashing Lily a cheeky grin as he spun her around. There were laughs all around when an exceedingly drunk Billius lost his balance at the end of the line and was flung head over heels over a nearby chair and decided to remain on the floor until the room stopped spinning. All too soon the song ended and the guests were all dizzy and laughing.
"My back will pay for this in the morning!" Monty claimed, resting his hands on the small of his back.
"Not as much as your head will after all that champagne!" James shot at his dad, Monty ruffled his hair playfully. Slowly the remaining guests gathered their things as they made their way to the floo and the exit where they could apparate away. Suddenly a blinding patronus in the shape of a hare bounded towards Marcus Meadowes, jumping on to his shoulder to whisper into his ear. All the colour left his face as he listened to the message.
"That's mother's patronus." Said Tobias, all the previous mirth leaving his face. Dorcas clutched his arm.
"Markie what's happened." Asked Dorcas, her childhood nickname for her biggest brother slipping out in her panic.
"It's dad." Said Marcus, his eyes wide. He blinked, swallowing. "He's- mum's said he just woke up." A sharp gasp escaped Dorcas and she clapped her hand over her mouth in shock, her eyes bright.
The assembled crowd was silent as the statement sunk in, it had been 140 days since the quidditch world cup when Cassian lost consciousness and didn't wake up.
A/N: Dun, dun, duuuun. No I hadn't forgotten about Dorcas' dad and I hope you guys didn't either. What did you all think?
Family magic is something that a few fics have- specifically from where I saw it first in 'A Marauders Plan' by CatsAreCool. This was a fun idea I wanted to incorporate into my story but credit where credit is due.
We also see Lily coming to a realisation about James, and Dorcas getting in there for a good ol' talk with Prongs.
We also get a bit more of an insight into some of the intricacies of wizarding culture, a lot of other fics have also done something along these lines and I can't help but agree with it, it's not just blood status that 'pure' wizards have a problem with it's also muggleborn tendencies to not fully get their culture- not helped by lack of education on the subject- which is probably perceived as an insult and ties in with the parallels with racism. Racism I think is as much about culture as it is about skin colour.
So, yeah, please let me know if you like this nice long chappie and sorry if this AN is too long but a nice thing about fanfic is you get to interact with people reading your story.
Updates may take a bit longer now as I have caught up with myself so please be patient.
Please fave/follow/review, leave your thoughts, questions or criticisms and I'll do my best to get back to you, thanks! :)