The Christmas Party
“Sorry about missing Wednesday,” apologized James as he shifted in his seat. “You know, something came up.”
Audrey smiled before replying, “Yeah, I know.”
The two were present in the Astronomy Tower. It was Thursday night, and James was doing a “make-up” lesson with Audrey for missing yesterday. James had informed Audrey of the Thursday meeting by writing it on the note he asked Lily to deliver.
“Well done. You’ve got the right idea. I knew you could get it,” commented James after glancing at the text book questions Professor McGonagall had assigned Audrey.
“Thanks!” replied Audrey immediately with a perk in her voice James had never heard before.
As he handed back her parchment and book, he glanced up at her. Her dark violet hair flopped over her chocolate eyes clumsily, and she swiped them out of her face casually.
“Oh, by the way!” said Audrey suddenly, and James’s curiosity grew immensely as he gazed at her. “I got my latest Transfiguration essay back!” She handed it to him as her cheeks grew a rosy colour with a grin plastered on her face.
James grasped it and glanced at the mark at the top. The words “Exceeds Expectations” were written with a dark ink circle etched around it.
“Wow!” announced James happily. “This is great! This calls for a celebration!”
“No, really, it’s fine,” said Audrey kindly as she blushed even more. “You really- “
“I insist,” replied James as he plunged his hand into his book bag and grasped two bottles of butterbeer (the ones he had went to Hogsmeade for the night before). “One for you, and one for me.”
Audrey gaped at him almost disbelievingly. “Are you serious? James, how did you- “
He shrugged with a warm smile and said, “Audrey, you earned it.” Then, with the flick of his wand, the metal bottle caps popped off.
They both grasped their bottles of butterbeer.
“To Audrey Filendale’s excellent mark on her essay,” stated James with his grin still intact as he lifted his bottle.
“To James Potter and his amazing skills as a tutor,” stated Audrey as her lips curved into a grin, and she raised her bottle as well.
“To friends.”
“To friendship.”
“Merry Christmas,” said James warmly as their bottles clanked together cheerfully.
“Merry Christmas,” Audrey responded thoughtfully, and the both of them drank up together talking until the late hours of the night as the snow fell ceaselessly on.
“They’re late,” stated Remus bluntly to James as they both waited for the other Marauders.
The Marauders had decided to meet just in front of the doors to the Great Hall at quarter to seven. Already, there was a large amount of people crowding around the closed doors, excited about the party. The majority was dressed up quite nicely in semi-formal dress wear, and some had added a Christmas touch to their outfits. Couples could be seen from miles around, but people might be unsure if all of them were happy to be with each other. Some would assume that certain people just didn’t want to go alone, thus, they resorted to finding a substitute to keep them company.
“I heard there was going to be beer!” shouted one third year to his friend as they passed James.
Remus raised an eye brow. “They still believe that?”
“Who knows?” replied James with a shrug. “Third years: they’ll believe anything.”
Remus laughed but then suddenly stopped as his eye caught something. Instantly, he tugged on the sleeve of James’s navy coloured, collared shirt.
Approaching James and Remus was Peter Pettigrew. His thin, light brown hair was combed down neatly, and he wore a white shirt and a grey sweater on top with beige corduroy pants. The boy’s watery round eyes beamed with happiness, and his sharp nose seemed to stick up in triumph as he spotted his two friends. Clutching Peter’s hand tightly was a petite, blond haired girl with bright blue eyes. Her head seemed to lie perfectly on Peter’s shoulder, and her lips curved into a smile as she did so.
James whistled with astonishment as Remus grinned at the new “couple”.
“Hi guys,” greeted Peter warmly. “Sorry I’m late.”
“No worries about that,” answered James instantly as he smiled.
“Oh!” started Peter as if pretending that the girl he had come with had not turned a few heads. “This is Natasha Wellings. She’s a fifth year in Hufflepuff.”
“It’s nice to meet you all,” said Natasha sweetly as she adjusted her long, ruffled, evergreen coloured skirt.
All of a sudden, the anticipated noise of the large Great Hall doors opening occurred, and many people shrieked and whispered in delight. Last minute students making their way to the Great Hall rushed immediately to the doors as the sea of people began to enter while dropping off their galleons at the entrance.
“Should we go in?” asked Peter kindly as he glanced down at Natasha.
She smiled and nodded in agreement as she linked arms with him gently.
“Wait a second Wor- Peter,” said James, and Peter and Natasha looked at him quizzically. “Have you seen Padfoot?”
“Oh, I ran into him before coming down. He said you guys should just go on ahead, because he’s going to be running a bit late,” answered Peter, and he and Natasha walked off toward the entrance giggling along the way.
Running a bit late? For what? pondered James absent-mindedly.
“Did you know Wormtail had a date for the party?” questioned Remus with slight surprise.
“Nope, I didn’t even have a clue,” replied James as he broke away from his thoughts about Sirius’s whereabouts.
“Well, so much for the ‘all-of-us-going-together’ plan,” said Remus sarcastically as he shrugged his shoulders. “Wormtail is off strutting with some blond, and Padfoot is doing Merlin knows what. What’s the plan now?”
James turned to him with a smirk, offered Remus his arm, and replied, “Would you care to join me, Moony, as my date?”
Remus raised a sarcastic eye brow. “Not even if it was a choice between you and the giant squid.”
As the two entered the Great Hall, their eyes met with a magnificent scene. Unlike the usual tile floor, massive house tables, and staff tables, the ground was like a sheet of ice that wasn’t slippery. The ceiling and walls was white and glossy as if it was carved out of ice, and large chandeliers hung from the ceiling adding a warm glow. A nice effect that was added was that the ceiling seemed to be “snowing” in certain places, and certain areas of the room had snow banks in place. A large Christmas tree (cut down by Hagrid himself) was decorated from head to toe with tinsel, red and gold balls, various ornaments, and a bright star was placed at the top. Some tables (which also appeared made out of ice) had Christmas treats such as slices of cake, smoked salmon, cookies, Christmas punch, sliced roast beef, and hot cocoa being served graciously by some of the kitchen elves. A band dressed quite nicely was playing in the middle of the room on a platform, and couples danced away to the tunes they played.
Tactfully avoiding dancing couples, James and Remus managed to make their way to a table serving treats on the other side of the room. Along the way, girls that caught site of the two giggled and whispered to each other.
“The Marauders,” whispered one to another.
“Natasha Wellings, eh?” stated James with a smirk as he poured Christmas punch into his cup. “You ever heard of her?”
Remus shook his head as he scanned the room. “Nope, Padfoot probably has though.”
“Maybe,” said James casually as he grasped an angel frosted sugar cookie off a silver tray. “Someone you looking for?”
Remus shrugged casually as he abruptly turned his head away before answering, “No.”
James gave Remus a sideways glance before he took another sip of his scarlet punch drink. Remus gazed down at the table of food and reluctantly grasped a piece of cheese.
“You know, it’s OK if you want to dance with her,” stated James after a few moments of silence between the two friends that shared so much. “Actually, it’s OK for you to dance with anybody, really.”
Remus peered up at James with widened eyes of bewilderment.
“You can’t always hide yourself away from what you are, Remus. You’ve got to accept it. You can’t continue to distance yourself away from interactions outside of the four of us.” James put down his drink on the table and clutched the sides of Remus’s shoulders with both hands. “It’s alright to dance with somebody; anybody. You just have to stop being afraid and worried, and enjoy.”
Remus shifted uneasily as he glanced at the icy floor underneath him.
Was this the joking, care-free, oblivious, laid-back James Potter he knew since first year?
“Didn’t you once say that we only get one life, so why not enjoy it?” asked James as a smile crept across his face.
Remus gazed up into James’s warm eyes with an expression of unbelievable gratitude.
He was at a loss for words. The fact that he never wanted to have a close interaction with other people, because he didn’t want them to find out about his lycanthropy was always bottled up inside him. The constant thought always plagued him constantly though, and so did the fact that he would distance himself from anybody he liked.
As Remus looked at his friend of five years, he felt that this friendship was truly something that would last forever and nothing could ever break it apart…
Then, Remus did something James had not expected: he hugged him.
James felt his cheeks grow slightly crimson as they broke apart from each other.
“Thanks, James,” whispered Remus.
“Hey,” James started kindly, “what are friends for? Go dance with her.”
“Wait! One thing though. Doesn’t Padfoot like her? Won’t he think I’m trying to steal her or something?” asked Remus with his adrenaline pumping.
James shrugged casually. “Just tell him you’re dancing as friends. It’s the truth.”
Remus nodded with a grin. “You’ve got a very good point there.”
James slapped him on the back, and Remus was off.
James observed from the table as Remus made his way over toward a slim girl with hazel hair and thinly framed glasses surrounded by a whole bunch of her friends. He gingerly tapped on the girl’s shoulder; Naomii’s shoulder. She turned around and glanced up at him curiously. It was obvious that Remus was asking very shyly as he fidgeted noticeably with his fingers. After a small period of time, (that felt like a life time for Remus) Naomii smiled delightedly and put one hand on his shoulder and the other in his hand. Naomii’s friends giggled ferociously as they watched their friend dance away happily.
On-lookers gazed enviously at Naomii dancing with an actual “Marauder”.
Remus leaned in toward Naomii and whispered something in her ear that made her giggle.
James’s attention turned toward the other dancing couples, and he caught site of Peter dancing clumsily with Natasha. He seemed to be dancing with two left feet, but Natasha didn’t seem to mind as she continued to smile up at his watery eyes.
James smiled at his two friends having a great time, but his grin soon faded as he drained the last of his cup and tossed it into the nearby garbage can.
Wasn’t this supposed to be the best time of year, the greatest?
Moony and Wormtail are having an awesome time! I should be happy for them, but then how come I don’t feel happy at all?
Was he, James Potter, feeling jealous?
Get a grip on reality, Prongs. James told himself instantly. Christmas is so bloody over-rated anyway…
He made his way around the dance floor and passed a crowd of girls that giggled stupidly to themselves as he walked by them briskly. Spotting an empty table (that also appeared to be made out of ice) covered with a cream coloured table cloth, he strode toward it and sat down. James leaned back on his chair and ruffled his already messy hair. Adjusting his glasses casually, he once again peered up at the dance floor where he saw Peter dancing happily with Natasha, and Remus who was now gracefully leading one of Naomii’s friends around.
You have two choices here mate: dance with whoever asks, or search around the whole night for Lily.
Inter-locking both hands behind his head, he let out a quick sigh.
You have a choice here mate…
After a few moments of contemplating, he got up from the chair and headed over toward a serving table where Naomii seemed to be discussing how the party was going with a house elf.
“Is everything OK? Do we need more of anything?” she asked the house elf patiently as she fidgeted with her glasses and tucked her fine hair behind her left ear.
The house elf shook her head and gave a smile at Naomii as James approached her.
“Hey, Naomii,” came James’s voice, and Naomii turned to face him with a grin, “do you want to dance?”
James had decided that he wouldn’t waste the night away searching for somebody that probably was going to shoot him down and humiliate him all at the same time. Christmas was coming, and this party was meant for people to have fun, enjoy, and get into the holiday spirits. Wasn’t that the advice he had just given one of his best friends? He wouldn’t be a hypocrite and ruin the bright spirits Christmas brought.
Naomii had agreed to dance with him and they spent two songs dancing with each other. After, Naomii introduced one of her friends to him, and the girl excitedly accepted. He also caught site of the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, Jennifer Wood, and he danced with her. Keira Jensen and Skye Fornei (two Gryffindor Quidditch team members) had even persuaded James to dance in a circle, with the three of them holding hands. He was also asked several times by various different girls and accepted graciously to all. He barely had time to sit down because as soon as he did, he would be asked to dance again a few minutes later.
Two hours passed without James realizing it. He was so occupied dancing and getting something to eat in between that he had forgotten about the time. When he had finally broke away from dancing with a red-headed girl named Katie, he glanced up at the hour glass that read 9:22 P.M. Glancing around, he spotted Peter and Remus occupying a table at one end of the room. Avoiding some dancing couples along the way, he made his way over to a seat and sat down next to them as the band struck up another song.
“Hey guys,” greeted James cheerfully. “Having a good time?”
Remus took a sip of hot cocoa and replied, “I’ve had an exceptional time! I have to admit I didn’t expect this ‘party’ to be that interesting, but it turned around for me. Bloody amazing.”
Peter nodded in agreement. “It’s been great!” He blushed slightly as he gazed down at the table. “Natahsa is really outstanding.”
James and Remus chuckled teasingly.
Peter peered up at them mildly offended, yet the two other boys did not notice.
The band ended on one, last, loud note and the surrounding people clapped cheerfully.
Suddenly, a jazzy piano tune came on, and the woman playing it started to sing “The Christmas Song” in a blues like tone. The snowing ceiling turned dark into a night sky as all the couples immediately banded together, and others desperately clambered to find a person to dance with. Everybody knew that this was a slow song for all the couples.
Peter got up quickly and jogged over toward Natasha whose face brightened immediately at the site of him. She threw her arms around his short neck and gazed into his small eyes dreamily.
James and Remus smirked at him as they watched.
The both of them sat watching Peter until suddenly Remus nudged James in the side. Peering up at Remus, James saw that one of Naomii’s friends had just asked Remus to dance with her. He grinned at James and walked onto the dance floor with her.
Alone again. thought James slightly disappointed. They will probably play slow dances for the last half hour just to wrap things up. Might as well leave.
As James was about to get up and leave without anybody noticing, he spotted something.
As Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore waltzed past James’s view, he caught a flick of scarlet at the corner of his eye.
There, in the middle of the dance floor was Lily Evans. Her dark red hair was tied up gracefully on the top of her head, and her eyes were even more emphasized with the pale green eye shadow she wore. Her rose coloured lips were dressed with crimson coloured lipstick, and she wore a beautiful black, wool skirt with small glittered decorations in various places. On top, she wore a cream coloured, long sleeved henley.
Without noticing, James had dropped his mouth slightly at her beauty as he stood a few meters away from her on the dance floor. He took a swift step forward and was now only a maximum of two meters away from her.
Ask her, ask her, ask her, ask her…
His heart thumped rapidly. He started to sweat but hadn’t notice. There was a large rock in his throat; a lump. His hand automatically flew up to the back of his untidy hair. He adjusted his shirt with the other hand. He felt his cheeks grow warm.
She’s right there. Do it James! Do-
Then almost as if out of the sky, a tall teen with chestnut coloured hair came up to Lily. His eyes were dark, his shoulders broad, and he wore a blue and white striped shirt. Immediately, Lily’s eyes widened with absolute bliss which James had never seen before.
The boy who was now dancing with Lily was Brendan Fraser. He was a sixth year in Hufflepuff. He was the Seeker and Captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. He was the one that Lily and Jamie had gossiped about when they were returning from the Hogsmeade outing in November. He was the one dancing with Lily, not James.
Lily leaned against Brendan comfortingly as they danced, and as James watched in utmost horror.
The romantic, moonlight song ended with a fading out piano, and as it did so, Lily slowly finished her turn and glanced up at Brendan with beaming eyes. Then, she kissed him hard and long on the lips. He wrapped his arms around her waist and back, and she placed both her hands lightly on the back of his smooth neck.
James immediately welled up in an emotion he had never experienced in such magnitude before. It wasn’t all anger, yet he felt some rage to physically batter Brendan, and it was most certainly not extreme sadness, but the hurt feeling had still washed over him like ice cold water. It was jealousy, of the strongest and worst kind.
James (who was not exactly sure what to do) stepped awkwardly backwards off the dance floor while still watching Lily and Brendan. The band started up again with another jazz like song as James finally managed to turn away and dash toward the entrance of the Great Hall doors as Lily Evans just broke away from her kiss with Brendan Fraser.
He now understood what real pain was; for somebody to rip out one’s heart and throw it into the frozen snow to leave it to bleed to death, just like Lily Evans had just done to his heart.
He dashed passed a crowd of fourth years as he struggled with anguish to hold back tears he hadn’t shed since he was a child. Tears he thought he would never shed.
“James?” called a voice soft and suddenly, and James wheeled around on his heel panting to glance back at who it was.
Standing just a few feet from the Great Hall doors was Audrey Filendale. Her violet hair was pulled up as a cute bun on top of her head, but her bangs were still drooping over her face in that casual way that James had become accustomed to love. He didn’t even take one glance at what type of skirt she had on, or what type of cute shoes she wore, but abruptly realized how beautiful she actually was. He wasn’t thinking about her physical beauty but her inner beauty; the one part she had shared fluently with James.
For the first time, he felt he had no control over his actions or words as his emotions bubbled inside every inch of his soul.
Without saying a single word, James briskly walked over toward Audrey and embraced her as he kissed her impulsively.
He had no clue what he was doing or why he was doing it, but for some reason his raw, broken heart inside him longed for something. It was something that Lily Evans had never given him. It was something that he had desired and yearned for a time that seemed an eternity.
BANG!
James collapsed onto the iced floor as bright lights and stars blurred his vision. Clutching his face where he had just been hit, he noticed that his nose was bleeding. Blinking and shaking his head quickly, James noticed that his glasses had been shattered on one side. Instantly looking up at what or who had hit him, he came face-to-face with a hatred filled Sirius Black. Sirius’s face was contorted in anger and sadness that looked strikingly familiar to James. He clenched his fists before spitting at James, “You son of a bitch.”