“Moony… wuzgoinon…” Sirius asked groggily.
“What’s up with the frying pans anyway?” asked James rhetorically. He hopped out of bed. James was usually the first one up, but Quidditch had run late the night before, and then he’d had to finish some stray homework. He’d gotten to sleep only a few hours ago.
Sirius, however, was never a morning person. Last year, James and Remus had gotten him a pair of joke boxers for his birthday. They were bright pink and said, in lime green, “I’m Allergic to Mornings” on them. Ironically, when Sirius finally slid out of bed, they saw that he was wearing them.
They were running a bit late for breakfast, so Remus and Peter stood impatiently by the door while James and Sirius rushed around getting ready.
“Hey Moony, have you seen my hair gel?” Sirius called from the bathroom. Remus tapped his foot, annoyed, and sighed.
“Sirius, the only one vain enough here to use gel is you. Anyway, if I wanted to style my hair, I’d get my own gel.”
“But it’s the best kind!”
“Padfoot, hurry up!” James called.
Peter giggled nervously again. James walked over to wait with Remus and Peter, shoving his school supplies into his bag and hitching it over his shoulder.
“Come on, Sirius, breakfast ends in fifteen minutes!” James called.
Finally Sirius walked out of the bathroom. He looked kind of disheveled.
The boys speed-walked towards the Great Hall. They entered the room as everyone was finishing eating. Students glanced over and when they noticed it was the notoriously late Marauders, they continued their conversations.
As they passed Lily, Andromeda, and Cassie eating, they caught a few words concerning outfits for the ball. James recalled the poster he had seen yesterday morning.
The Annual Christmas Ball!
~Formal Robes will be required.
~Time- 9:00-Midnight on Sat. Dec. 24th
Following an optional Hogsmeade trip.
~Entertainment will be…
The One-Eyed Cats!
~Head Boy and Girl traditionally
accompany each other.
If you have any questions, ask the
Organizational crew, headed by
Ravenclaw Blair Southerson
Slytherin Narcissa Black
Gryffindor Martha Maddock
Hufflepuff Maria Silver
James grinned when he remembered a specific part of it.
“Prongs. Here you are grinning when we are discussing double Potions first this morning. What is wrong with you?” Sirius spat disgustedly.
“I think the Christmas Ball is wrong with him,” Remus said slyly.
A rare look of comprehension lit up Sirius’ face. “Only two months away. I can hardly wait!” He looked over at Cassie and grinned. She saw him and smiled shyly.
After a few more mindless words uttered from Sirius’ mouth and endless giggles from an extremely jumpy Peter, it was time for classes to begin. Peter headed off to Care of Magical Creatures. Remus, Sirius, and James sauntered off to dreaded double potions.
When they got there, they started working on the Wit-Increasing Potion Professor Slughorn had set for their work. Lily’s was the perfect shade of citrine. James’ was the color of a traffic cone. He had put twice as many frog toenails in than he was supposed to.
The Christmas Ball was the only thing he could think of. What would happen there? Did Lily still hate his guts? He was panicking inside.
Professor McGonagall caught him after Transfiguration class.
“Potter! Wait up!” she called.
“Yes, Professor?”
“Are you asking Lily to the Christmas Ball?”
James scuffed his feet on the floor and looked down.
“Umm, well….. I haven’t…..err….asked her yet?” he said timidly.
McGonagall got a strange look in her eyes. Maybe she felt bad for him. Or had tests to grade; he wasn’t sure.
“Well, James, you really should ask her, because we wouldn’t want to break tradition, now would we?” Now James was sure, she had a twinkle in her eye.
He saluted. “Sir yes sir!”
McGonagall allowed herself a tiny prim smile, before telling him, “Well, hurry up! It’s almost time for your next class!”
He left as quickly as he could.
Next class was Defense Against the Dark Arts, and then they had lunch. James sat down with Remus and Sirius and right away decided to tell them about the whole thing with McGonagall.
“…So McGonagall told you to ask Lily? D’ you think that’s a hint or something?” Sirius mumbled with his mouth full of turkey sandwich.
Remus gave him a look. “Obviously, Sirius. She was trying to tell him to ask her. That much is clear.”
James asked, “You think I should go invite her right now?”
Sirius and Remus considered him. Sirius shook his head. “I dunno, mate. She might say no. She ALWAYS says no.”
But Remus said, “Prongs, I think you should. She’s been acting different this year. Sort of like maybe she doesn’t hate you. I think you might have a chance.”
That was all the encouragement James needed. “I’ll do it!” he said, hopping up from the table and nearly tripping. He took a deep breath and messed up his hair with his hand.
“Hold up, mate!” Remus called.
“What?” James said, agitated.
“Just fix your hair better.”
“All right, already!” James said, now flattening his ebony locks.
Moony and Padfoot gave him twin thumbs-ups as he walked down the length of the table to where Lily and her friends sat.
He tapped her on the back. “Hey, Evans…”
She turned. “Yeah?”
“Can I talk to you?”
“Umm, sure,” she said, getting up from her seat. He led her away from the tables.
“What’s up; you okay?” she asked him.
“Lily, er… will you go to the Christmas ball with me?”
Lily looked at him as if she were judging whether an apple was rotten or not. She squinted one eye. “Well…” she said, “Dan Hopkins already asked me.”
James’ face fell.
She quickly said, “But I haven’t said yes to him yet. Let me think about it.”
And with that, Lily walked back to her friends at the Gryffindor table, flipping her thick auburn hair across her shoulder.
James walked back to his friends in a state of shock. Moony and Padfoot stared at him for about thirty seconds.
Finally, Sirius asked, “WELL?”
James said, “She didn’t say no.”
“And…” Remus prompted.
“She didn’t say yes either.”