The Curtain Call
Chapter Ten: The Ministry Ball
Lily’s foot reached the final stair and she sighed with relief. She had not tripped, nor had she found any other way to make a fool of herself while descending the staircase into the ballroom.
“There, you are!” Mrs. Potter rushed over to them. She looked relieved to see the pair. “We were starting to get worried when you didn’t show up right after us!”
“We?” Mr. Potter spoke up, sliding in beside his wife. He paused for a moment to politely clap as a large man and his two children walked down the grand staircase. “I wasn’t worried,” Mr. Potter continued. “You were the one that was nervous!”
Mrs. Potter rolled her eyes, swatting her husband discreetly on the arm. “Alright, fine,” she agreed. “I may have been the one that was nervous “ but all the same,” the woman added curiously, “why were you behind?”
“I, uh “ was trying to fix my hair,” James quickly intervened before Lily could speak, pointing at his messy, black hair. He smiled secretly at Lily, and then added, for his parents benefit, “It just won’t stay flat “ sorry, Mum.”
“Well “ at least you tried,” his mother mumbled with a frown. Lily watched Mrs. Potters’ hand twitch at her side, as if she were about to reach up and try to fix her son’s hair herself, but must have thought better of it and stopped.
“We’re going to get some drinks,” James told his mother as the crowd of people at the bottom of the steps started to clap again for a woman and her son.
“Alright “ we’ll see you later,” Mr. Potter muttered distractedly, clearly directing his attention elsewhere. It wasn’t long, however, before he shouted, “John! Long time, no see!” and hurried his wife to the opposite end of the room to greet a coworker.
“Sorry,” James apologized under his breath once they had escaped the throng of people congregating at the bottom of the staircase. They walked across the empty, ballroom floor, Lily’s heels clicking with each step, and reached a long table pushed up against the wall. It was filled with many different wine glasses and a random assortment of drinks. “I didn’t mean for my parents to ask you so many questions.”
“It’s no problem,” Lily truthfully told James. “I think they’re great; I don’t mind.”
James shook his head, smirking. “You’re being nice.” He chuckled, reaching for an orange-colored glass. “When you get to know them, you won’t think that. They’ll eventually get on your nerves…”
Lily doubted that, but laughed with him anyway. She now scanned the different colors that filled the wine glasses. She noticed a bright, green-colored drink sitting at the back of the table. Feeling somewhat attracted to the color, she reached for it.
“Lily “ no!”
James snatched Lily’s hand away from the glass, just before she had been about to touch it.
“What is it?” Lily asked, sounding very scared. She was only going to pick up a glass “ was there a rule against it?
James silently pulled Lily’s hand back from the table, holding it a safe distance away. Then he let out a relieved sigh. “Don’t take the green ones,” he informed her in a very serious sounding voice. “An alarm goes off if you pick up one of the alcoholic beverages when you’re underage.”
Lily blinked several times. She looked around the table, trying to find a sign, possibly one that was color coded and explained what each drink was, but found nothing.
“Trust me on this one, Lily.” James lowered his voice with a hint of a smile appearing on his lips. “You don’t want to take the green drink.”
She then noticed the orange drink in James’ hand. Pointing to it, she asked, “Then what’s that?”
James looked at the liquid in the glass, turned back to Lily, and shrugged. “Dunno,” he said, smoothly swishing the liquid around in circles in the glass. “But I can tell you that I tried to take that green drink the first year dad brought us, and the alarm went off.” James shuddered, as if reliving this memory. “Then Mum just handed me the orange drink and told me that I was only allowed to have that one.”
“Ah…” Lily nodded her head, smiling at this story. She turned back to the table and was about to reach out for the same, orange-colored drink, but noticed, with a blush, that James’ hand, for the past several minutes, was still attached to hers.
Making up her mind, Lily picked up the orange drink with her free hand, and held onto James’ hand even tighter than before.
“James Potter.”
Lily watched as James closed his eyes, clearly not wanting to look behind him at the owner of the voice. Lily noticed his look of annoyance and hid her giggle.
“Henry…” With, what seemed like, a great amount of effort, James finally turned around, dropping Lily’s hand and forcing a smile on his face. “How are you?”
“I’m fine, James.” Lily now had a chance to see the boy that had interrupted them. He was very tall with broad shoulders, filling out his extremely formal dress robes rather nicely. This, however, made the entire scene a very comic moment when he opened his mouth and spoke with a squeaky, haughty voice. His dark hair was slicked back, giving it the appearance that it had not been washed for days.
His dark, beady eyes were glued to Lily, eyeing her outfit. “Excuse my manners,” he spoke in a soft voice. “My name is Henry Atherton.” He bowed slowly, keeping his eyes on Lily’s. He reminded her, vaguely, of someone approaching a Hippogriff; his eyes were unblinking and did not stray from hers. Although, Lily mused, a hippogriff might have liked this attention.
Lily did not.
“Uh “ hello,” Lily mumbled awkwardly, shuffling closer to James. “Nice to meet you.” She reached for the protection of James’ hand again, but Henry was quicker, snatching up her hand and holding it forcefully to his lips, kissing it.
“Believe me.” Henry stood up to his full height. “The pleasure is mine.”
James glared at the tall boy. He looked as if he was very tempted to curse the boy into oblivion, but quickly decided against it, resolving to mutter a soft, “Slimy git,” instead.
Lily heard it and giggled.
“You have a very lovely laugh,” Henry complimented her, completely unaware that her laugh had been at his expense.
“I “ well “ thanks,” Lily stammered, not sure how to respond to this comment. “I guess “ well, I’ve had it my whole life…”
Henry threw back his head and laughed very loudly. Lily blushed, worried that people were now staring at the three of them.
“I didn’t know that you were funny, also!” He continued chuckling, holding his stomach as if it were the funniest thing he had ever heard. “You must tell me.” Henry stopped his laughter abruptly. “What is your name?”
“I’m Lily,” she said in a soft voice. Finally, Lily found James’ hand and immediately slid her fingers through his and clenched onto his hand for dear life.
James smiled.
“I assume you attend Hogwarts, Lily,” Henry babbled on, ignoring their interlocked hands. “With James?”
“Yeah “ I do,” Lily confirmed with a nod.
“My father is good friends with the Beauxbatons headmaster,” Henry boasted proudly, puffing out his chest slightly more than he had been doing before. “I was able to attend school in France instead of at Hogwarts.” He said their school’s name with disgust, making a face.
“Oh, really?” Lily asked, highly relieved that the boy did not attend their school. “You know French, then?” she challenged.
“I do,” Henry answered, trying “ but failing “ to smile coyly. He took one step closer to her and, fluently, whispered, “Vous êtes belle.”
Lily knocked into the table of wine glasses behind her in her attempt to escape from Henry’s advances. The glasses clanged together loudly as they hit each other and fell to the side, allowing the colorful liquids to blend together and soak through the spotless, white table cloth.
“Pretty,” Lily mumbled with a hesitant smile, trying to avoid any and all eye contact with Henry. She slowly started to inch behind James, wishing she could disappear entirely.
“It means ‘you are beautiful’,” Henry quickly translated, wearing a rather disturbing grin. He didn’t seem to notice Lily’s discomfort with the situation.
“I’m sure,” Lily responded absentmindedly, frantically searching for a way out of this situation. Nearly half of her body was hidden behind James, peeking around his large shoulders.
“Well,” James finally spoke up, tugging reassuringly at Lily’s hand. “As much fun as this has been to catch up with you, Henry “ ” James started to walk away “ “ I must introduce Lily to another friend I see, now.” He waved quickly and then shot across the room in a fast walk, dragging Lily across the floor behind him.
“Goodbye, Lily!” Henry called, making a big show of bowing to her as they made their fast getaway.
James rolled his eyes in return and plunged into a crowd of people. He pushed his way through the center of the group and slipped out on the opposite side of the room, far from Henry.
“What a pain,” James groaned as they reached a wall just beyond the crowd of people. He fell against it, exhausted and shaking his head. “He’s never been fun to be around.”
Lily giggled at the comment.
Slowly, James’ eyes followed Lily as she moved to lean against the wall beside him.
“Believe it or not, he has been this annoying since the first day I met him.” James gave a quick explanation. “Always wants to impress people and try to show everyone how bloody important he is…”
Lily nodded in agreement. “I figured that out.”
James took several breaths before saying, “I think he liked you.”
“Well…” Lily stood up from the wall with a smile and spun around once in her dress, making the bottom of the fabric fly out and gracefully swirl around her. “Who can resist me in a dress like this?”
James dropped his smile and swallowed.
He quickly pushed off of the wall and stepped forward, catching Lily’s hand and stopping her in mid-spin. Once she noticed the serious look on James’ face, she immediately stopped fooling around.
“You know “ ” James spoke in a softer tone that he had never used with her before “ “ Henry was right.”
Lily frowned. “About what?” she asked.
“When he said you looked beautiful,” James answered bravely. His eyes did not stray from hers.
Lily felt her face heat up and her heart race. She had not reacted this way when Henry said it.
She opened her mouth to respond, but a girlish voice squealed, “James “ is that really you?”
James quickly pulled away from Lily, looking as if he had been caught in the act of stealing something. He then noticed the owner of the voice that had interrupted him. He stared at the short, thin girl, grinning in front of him. Immediately, he processed who the person was and swept her up in a giant bear hug.
“I can’t believe how much you’ve grown!” the girl shrieked. She squeezed his biceps and nodded approvingly with a smile crossing her face. “I see Quidditch has been good to you.”
“Yeah, it has,” James admitted with a grin. “And you don’t look too bad yourself,” he added, pointing at her curly, blonde hair.
The girl smiled, running her fingers through her bouncing curls. “I changed it just before I went to Malaysia,” she informed him matter-of-factly.
“Malaysia,” James repeated, awestruck. “Really? I thought you went to Australia.”
“No, that was ages ago. After I finished that year abroad, I’ve been to all sorts of countries,” the blonde girl explained, gently touching James on the arm every time she said something new. “Hence the reason I haven’t made it to the past few Ministry Balls,” she explained, keeping her hand on James’ arm much longer than she should have.
Lily felt her face heat up at every single word and gesture that the girl made.
She was starting to dislike this girl.
“Of course, yeah.” James nodded, grinning. At the pause in their constant flow of conversation, he turned to point to Lily. “Corinne, this is my friend, Lily.”
Lily leaned forward to shake hands with the short girl, forcing herself to smile. As the blonde shifted her tall, thin wine glass from her right hand to her left, Lily noticed that she was carrying a green drink. A small flash of something shiny caught her eye and Lily saw that one of the girl’s fingers was encircled by a small, wedding ring.
Lily instantly warmed up to her.
“Nice to meet you,” Corinne spoke up enthusiastically with a broad grin, shaking Lily’s hand firmly.
“This “ ” James pointed back at Corinne “ “ is the reason I never went insane at these Ministry Balls when I was younger.”
Corinne laughed, shaking her head. “I was such a brat in those days…” She trailed off, looking around at the walls, apparently remembering past memories. She turned back to Lily and spoke in a soft voice, as if sharing a secret. “You see, there was this boy, Henry, that James and I would - ”
“I already met him,” Lily cut in, making a disgusted face at Henry’s name
“He tried to impress Lily no more than five minutes ago,” James informed his friend with a raised eyebrow. “And of course, I, playing the hero, had to save her from his torment.”
“Good for you, James!” Corinne laughed, throwing back her head as she did so. “I just hope he didn’t scare you too much,” she added, directing this comment towards Lily.
“He scared me enough to learn that I shouldn’t go back anytime soon,” Lily retorted.
Corinne chuckled. “James and I played tons of tricks on him in the past.” She started to talk in a very fast, gossip-like tone. “This one time, we put an exploding snap in his drink!” Corinne started to laugh hysterically, splashing part of her green drink out of her glass. “It was James’ idea, of course,” she hiccupped, “but I supplied him with the materials.”
Lily smiled. James had accomplished much greater pranks at Hogwarts, so she was not surprised by this minor incident; merely amused.
Just as Corinne had started to mention another trick that they had once played on Henry, James interrupted their conversation, gently placing his hand on the lower portion of Lily’s back as he did so.
Lily shivered, feeling a smile grow on her face.
“If you’ll excuse me, ladies,” he spoke with a gentle voice. He set down his Pumpkin juice on an open table beside him and quickly disappeared into the crowd.
“Well, that was odd,” Corinne stated in a louder voice than she had intended. “He’s never just walked away on his own, before; he usually wants company in case he runs into Henry!” Corinne waved her arms around in big circles, sloshing more of her drink onto the floor in the process.
“I guess that is odd,” Lily mumbled, her eyes trailing after James until she could no longer see him. She, however, found it much more intriguing than odd.
“But enough about James and I,” Corinne boomed loudly, looping her arm through Lily’s elbow and pulling her towards a pair of chairs seated around a circular table. She flopped into one seat and leaned forward as Lily gently lowered herself across from the eccentric woman. “I want to hear about you and James!”
Lily smiled politely. “Well, we’re in the same year at Hogwarts,” she started with a shrug. “Both in Gryffindor, I guess.”
“Not that sort of drabble,” Corinne scoffed, waving her hand in Lily’s face. “I’m talking about you and James.” She lowered her voice, wiggling her eyebrows at her last words. “You know “ the type of stuff that James won’t ever tell me, and what you won’t mention when he’s hanging around.”
Lily flushed, shaking her head and looking down into her lap where her hands were folded, one over the other. “Oh “ there’s nothing going on between us,” Lily corrected the woman. “Common misconception, though.”
“‘Common misconception’.” Corinne rolled her eyes at the words. “Like hell there’s nothing going on.”
Lily turned a deeper shade of red, highly embarrassed. She looked over her shoulder to make sure that James wasn’t standing anywhere nearby. “We’re only friends.”
Corinne enthusiastically set down her wine glass on the table with a loud thud and turned back to Lily. “I may have been out of the country for a few years,” she commented with a smirk, “but I’m not foreign.” Corinne jerked her head over her shoulder, gesturing in the direction that James had disappeared. “I don’t have to be around much to notice the looks he’s giving you.”
Lily was moments from protesting that there were no such looks, but curiosity got the better of her. Slowly, she bit her lip and leaned forward, interested. “What looks?”
Corinne grinned. “I don’t think you realize just how many times James was staring at you in the past five minutes,” she stated with an air of simplicity. “And trust me “ ” Corinne pointed at Lily’s outfit “ “ it’s not just the dress he’s eyeing. It’s you.”
For a moment, Lily clung desperately to these words. Her heart lifted and her stomach flipped, but she quickly shook herself from her temporary daydream.
“Impossible,” Lily told the woman, sitting back in her chair. “We hardly even like each other as friends. Why would we be anything more?” Lily searched every inch of her mind to find the right words. “He doesn’t even like me!”
Corinne crossed her legs. She picked up her wine glass and downed the remaining contents in the blink of an eye, smiling at Lily’s confused stare. “Trust me.” Corinne leaned forward, across the table. “He likes you.”
Lily didn’t have a chance to dwell on these words any longer. Before she could say anything more, a faint melody floated to her ears.
It was the song from the play! This was the very song that James had taught her to dance to!
A slow smile crept onto her face. She closed her eyes and slowly started to rock back and forth in her chair, humming the melody. She looked as if she would be content listening to this song for the rest of the night.
Lily opened her eyes as she felt a soft tap on her shoulder. Expecting it to be Corinne, asking about Lily’s odd behavior, Lily quickly opened her eyes. However, when she looked up, her eyes were locked with a pair of hazel ones.
It was James.
“Lily…” James held out his hand, palm up, for her to accept. “May I have this dance?”
Lily’s throat instantly went dry. She didn’t know what to say. Her eyes went to Corinne who was waving her fingers playfully back at Lily with a wide grin.
“Yes,” Lily finally managed to say, placing her hand within James’. “Of course.”
Lily stood from her chair, allowing herself to be pulled along, no longer caring where he was taking her. James pushed through several people, making their way to the front of the crowd. It wasn’t until he had started to walk onto the dance floor that Lily regained her wits.
“James,” she hissed, pulling her hand away and falling back into the crowd of people. “No one else is dancing!”
James took her hand again and pulled her back into the center of the room, smiling. “But someone has to start, don’t they?”
“Well, yes,” Lily fired back, “but it doesn’t have to be us!”
She pulled her hand free once more, but James was too fast. He grabbed both of her hands, this time, and pulled her even further onto the floor than he had before. “It’s no different than dancing in front of hundreds of people in a theater,” James calmly explained to her, as if he had been expecting this reaction. “Right?”
Lily swallowed, very nervous. “Well “ right,” she mumbled, her heart rate steadily increasing by the second. Her legs grew shaky as the sound of her shoes, clicking loudly on the ballroom floor beneath her, filled the entire room.
“And I told you,” James continued, lowering his voice as they reached the middle of the dance floor, “that I would never do anything to embarrass you.” He stopped walking and just stood there, less than a foot away from Lily. “Right?”
All thoughts escaped her. They were being drowned out by James’ soothing words. With a sigh, Lily nodded, whispering, “Right.”
James smiled.
Before Lily had another chance to back out, James took her right hand in his left one and held it high in the air, even with their shoulders. He then placed his other hand on her bare back just beneath her shoulder blade, sending shivers down her spine.
He pulled her close, leaving hardly any space open between them, and took off, spinning gracefully around the ballroom.
Lily mirrored the same motions that James had taught them during their play practice. She concentrated on counting the beat in her head, praying that she wouldn’t mess up with so many people watching them.
In the middle of watching her feet, Lily felt James shift his hands and pull away ever so slightly. She instantly panicked, losing her focus and feeling like she could not carry on without James’ warmth.
Soon, he had pushed away from Lily entirely, and she realized that he was not trying to stop their dance; he was sending her spinning beneath his arm “ a change in the normal stage choreography. She stumbled, almost unnoticeably, but regained control as quickly as she had lost it.
James smiled and leaned down to her ears and whispered.
“Just dance.”
Lily smiled, swearing she could feel her hair stand on end once the warmth of James’ breath heated the back of her neck.
She didn’t need to ask what he was talking about. She had been worrying about precision and getting every dance step exact. James just wanted her to move to the music without thinking about the mechanics; she should experience it the way that it happened in the present, not plan ahead for the future.
Lily hesitantly closed her eyes while still gliding around in circles on the dance floor. Her feet knew, automatically, where to move; she didn’t need to see where she was going, she only needed to hear the music. Lily memorized the song and hummed along with every note strummed by the violins, keeping in stride with James’ expert dance steps.
Lily fixed this moment in her mind, wishing her memory would never fade; she never wanted to leave James’ arms ever again. It was much safer than she had ever dreamt it would be, to feel carefree and act impulsively without thinking about any consequences “ but yet, it was almost like the new person that had replaced Lily felt completely normal and at ease, like she had nothing to fear.
She wanted to stay like this forever.
James must have noticed her closed eyes, because he leaned down and whispered again.
“Look around, Lily.”
They were no longer alone. Several other couples had been swept up by the song and had, now, joined Lily and James, whirling around the dance floor.
Lily nearly stopped dancing, she was so surprised. A slight pressure on her back from James’ hand reminded Lily where she was, and she kept moving, her eyes staying open this time.
“I told you not to worry,” James whispered with a smile. “I said that everything would be fine, didn’t I?”
“Yes, James,” Lily responded, smirking at his I-told-you-so attitude. She looked up into his strong face and studied every curve, every detail. It wasn’t until he caught her staring at him that Lily blushed and returned to her appropriate dancing position.
Soon, the song had stopped. The dancers pulled away from each other and clapped enthusiastically for the orchestra, smiling at the bowing conductor. Immediately after the song finished, the conductor turned back around and a second song picked up.
Other couples had started to dance around them, swaying back and forth to the sweet melody. Lily, however, wasn’t quite sure what she should do. She knew exactly what she wanted to do, of course; continue dancing with James. But did he want to dance with her? Clearly, the reason he brought her to the Ministry Ball was to prepare her for dancing in front of others onstage! He wouldn’t actually want to “
Lily’s jumbled thoughts were cut off once she felt a hand grab hers. She was thrown several feet to the side and then spun back in a circle, landing gracefully in James’ arms.
Lily grinned.
Before Lily could make up any other farfetched theories, James’ hands found his way to Lily’s waist. Lily, in return, dropped her arms casually over James’ shoulders and wrapped them around his neck, smiling. She knew that this dance would be much more informal than the one before.
“So,” Lily started in a soft voice, “this was why you brought me?”
“What “ the waltz?” James asked, smirking.
Lily nodded.
“Sure,” James answered with a bit of a shrug. “I guess you could say that.”
Lily rocked back and forth in James’ arms for several seconds before responding. “What is that supposed to mean?”
James gently pushed Lily away from him again, spinning her out into an open space. She spun back into his arms, and James took the chance to dip her to his side, smiling down at her. He pulled her back up to her normal height, chuckling at her red face.
“If you’re trying to distract me, James Potter “ ” Lily tried to act stern, returning to her previous position, pressed up against his chest “ “ it’s not working.”
James sighed, giving in. “I figured you would enjoy coming to the Ball itself “ not just for the waltz,” James explained. He looked down, focusing on Lily’s glittering eyes. “Was I right?”
Lily nodded, hardly registering the question after looking into James’ eyes for such an extended period of time.
Neither had noticed that the music had stopped playing and that many people were clapping. They had also missed the shift between the slow song and the, now, fast song.
Standing in the center of the ballroom, Lily and James stayed in each other’s arms. The dancers flying around them did not faze them in the slightest.
James was the first to break out of his captivated state.
“Follow me,” he said in a soft whisper. “There’s something I want to show you.”
Lily could not speak. All she could do was nod.
James took her hand and held it tight, squeezing it gently as he did so. He started to pull her across the floor, weaving between the dancers. The urgent tug on Lily’s hand made it feel almost like he was anxious to leave as soon as possible.
They did not make it far before a large man stepped into their path.
“There you are!” He laughed loudly, slapping James heartily on the back. “I’ve been searching for both of you for several minutes, now!”
“Us?” Lily asked, her jaw dropped. She eyed the man, trying to remember where she had spotted him before. “Why were you looking for us?”
“I wanted to thank you, my dear!” the man beamed, turning his gaze on Lily. He continued to explain at the look of confusion on her face. “For being brave enough to start the dancing at my party, of course!”
His party?
Lily instantly felt her face rise in temperature, embarrassed. She finally figured out who this man was; his face was in nearly every copy of the Daily Prophet.
It was Mr. Howers: the Minister of Magic.
Lily glanced at James, trying to figure out whether he had known who this man was before she had realized it. With his simple smile, Lily realized that he had, indeed, known all along, and, by the looks of it, seemed amused by the fact that Lily hadn’t.
“It’s our pleasure,” James cut in with a small bow, covering for Lily as she quickly tried to regain her senses.
Mr. Howers seemed happy with this response. “Now tell me,” he said in a softer, much more hurried tone, “where did you learn that dance?”
“James taught me,” Lily spoke up, attempting to overcome her embarrassment in front of one of the most important men in the wizarding world to date. “It’s for a play that I’m in.”
“A play?” Lily could have sworn that if the man were a small child, he would have started to jump up and down, clapping his hands together in excitement. “I love going to plays “ but ever since I’ve taken the job as Minister of Magic, I haven’t had much of a chance to attend many shows.”
James stepped in, flashing a grin. “It’s next Friday at Bennett Theater if you’re interested.” He gestured towards Lily. “She’s in the lead.”
“Are you really?” Mr. Howers started to glow. “How exciting!” He then frowned and closed his eyes, trying to mentally think through his schedule. “I’m sure I could cancel a few meetings on Friday…”
Lily bit her lip, holding back her excitement. The Minister of Magic himself was going to watch her perform in a play!
Mr. Howers took a large drink of whatever liquid had been in his glass and then turned back to James and Lily, squinting into their faces. “Where do you work?” he asked curiously. “You must own a very small business or I would have seen you around here before!”
James smiled, flattered by this comment. “Actually, we still go to Hogwarts, sir.”
Lily nodded, reinforcing this point. “Next year will be our last year.”
The Minister’s eyes widened, surprised by this information. “Then I still have a shot at recruiting you to work for the Ministry!”
Lily and James laughed, but were elated to hear these words straight from the Minister’s mouth.
“I’m sorry,” Mr. Howers finally admitted, sticking out his hand. “I don’t believe I caught either of your names.”
James spoke up first. “I’m James,” he said, enthusiastically shaking the Minister’s hand.
“Potter,” Mr. Howers completed his name. James nodded affirmatively and Mr. Howers smiled knowingly. “Yes,” he said with a chuckle and a pat of his large stomach. “I could see your father in you.”
James grinned.
The Minister next turned to Lily. “And you, dear, are…” he trailed off holding out his hand.
“I’m Lily Evans “ my parents are Muggles,” she quickly explained before Mr. Howers could attempt to guess who her parents were.
“Lily Evans,” Mr. Howers repeated her name, firmly shaking her hand. And then with a deep breath and a bigger voice, Mr. Howers announced, “Miss Evans and Mr. Potter “ I will be sure to keep an eye out for both of you next year.”
Lily blushed, beaming. “Thank you, sir.”
The Minister nodded slightly and, after a quick good-bye, he started to wander across the hall, approaching another friendly face.
Lily let out all of the breath she had been holding and felt her shoulders slump. She fell limply into James’ arms, drained of all energy.
“I can’t believe,” Lily stammered, unable to hide her goofy smile, “that I just met the Minister of Magic!” She started to giggle softly into James’ shoulder.
James smirked, rocking Lily back and forth as she tried to control her excitement. Once she managed to stand on her own two feet again, he chose to keep one arm wrapped around her waist, continuing to walk her across the room. However, he moved slower and less urgently than he had before, partially due to the fact that Lily was now pressed up against him as they moved.
“If you’re that excited to have just met him,” James reminded Lily in a soft, playful tone, “then maybe I shouldn’t remind you that he just told us that he would be attending the play next weekend.”
Lily started to laugh giddily, throwing her head back. “Honestly…” She shook her head with a smile. “I don’t know if this night could get any better.”
James shrugged in what he hoped was a casual manner. “You never know.”
The pair walked past the table that had, originally, been covered with multicolored drinks. Now, nearly half of the drinks were gone.
Lily noticed Corinne standing at the end of the table, reaching for another green glass. The man standing behind her, who Lily assumed was her husband, seemed to by trying to drag her away. After Corinne put up a sloppy fight, her husband stood behind her and hugged his arms around her waist. He lifted her several inches off of the ground and casually carried her away from the drinks, ignoring her kicking legs, and calmly replied that they needed to go home before she passed out in front of everyone.
James laughed, waving goodbye to his old friend.
Lily interrupted the silence. “She was nice.”
“Did you get to know Corinne a bit better after I left you two alone?” James asked curiously, looking over in Lily’s direction.
Lily looked down at her feet, thinking about her previous conversation. She blushed. “I guess you could say that.”
They slowly sauntered through the ballroom, taking their time.
With the realization that they were nearly at their final destination, Lily asked the question that had been nagging at the back of her mind for several minutes. “Where exactly are you taking me?”
James stopped walking and Lily noticed that they were standing just behind the grand staircase, hidden from view. James released her waist and stepped towards a wooden door placed in a dark corner of the ballroom. Maintaining direct eye contact with Lily, James slowly turned the handle and opened the door, gesturing for Lily to enter. “After you.”
Lily smiled, playing along. She nodded politely at James in an attempt to act proper and held up the front of her dress, stepping cautiously into the room.
Lily gasped, her hands falling away from her dress.
“Do you like it?”
Lily nearly jumped several feet in the air. James had snuck up behind her and whispered into her ear without her realizing the close proximity in which he was standing.
“It’s breathtaking,” Lily replied, stunned.
She gazed openly up at a sparkling night sky, the light of the bright stars reflecting brilliantly in her eyes. She took a step forward and heard the reverberating click of her shoes as they moved across a stone surface, just beneath her feet.
The noise of her shoes made Lily tear her eyes away from the sky. She realized that the stars were no longer the only thing that held her attention.
She was standing on a balcony. Walking eagerly to the elegantly carved railing, Lily leaned over the side. Her jaw dropped as her eyes wandered over several hundred evergreen trees, planted several yards beneath her. The trees continued in endless clusters, winding up and over a mountain and traveling far off into the distance. A soft, white blanket of snow protectively covered the tops of the trees, winking at her beneath the moonlight.
Lily searched through every corner of her brain, trying to find the words best to express her feelings at that moment. She settled for a question. “What is this place?”
James stepped up on Lily’s right side, leaning on the stone balcony just beside her. “There are different doors in the ballroom,” he softly explained, not wanting to disrupt the crystal like silence that surrounded them. “One of the main reasons why the Minister hosts the annual Ball each year is so that he can negotiate political affairs with other foreign leaders. Depending on the night, he’ll tell his staff to charm certain rooms to resemble specific countries, particularly the countries of the leaders that he intends to speak with.” James leaned over, closer to Lily as if sharing a secret. “I’m sure he wanted his guests feeling just like they were at home.”
Lily nodded, taking in all of the information. She turned her head and looked up at James, acutely aware that both of them were standing much closer than either of them should have been. “What country is this?”
“I saw Howers walking out of here earlier with the Swiss Minister of Magic,” James said with a nod. “So I’m pretty sure this room is supposed to resemble Switzerland. However “ ” James shrugged his shoulders “ “ the Minister doesn’t tend to speak with Switzerland’s magical leader too often; it’s pretty rare that Switzerland gets into many arguments, if any.”
Lily laughed, looking back out at the landscape. “I’ve never been to Switzerland before,” Lily whispered, unable to suppress a sigh. “But if it’s anything like this, I’d go in a heartbeat.”
James scratched the back of his head nervously, an idea suddenly springing on him. “You know,” he muttered, putting his hand just beside Lily’s on the stone railing, “maybe this winter, or something “ we could go there for break “ I mean, if you wanted…”
Lily smiled, listening to James ramble on for several minutes. Finally placing her small hand over his, she cut him off.
“I’d love to.”
*
Lily spun around in several circles, making her dress fly out. She was laughing.
James caught her as she returned to him, holding both of her hands. He then spun her away and reeled her back in, as if dancing to music inside of his head.
Lily grinned and brushed the hair out of her face, exhausted after James had just finished teaching her yet another dance. “I had no idea you knew so many dances “ and you’re actually good at them!”
James puffed out his chest proudly and put on a crooked smile. “It comes with being a Potter, you could say.”
“What “ learning new dances?” Lily asked. She pulled James’ jacket, which he had generously placed around her shoulders moments before, tighter around her body, breathing in his strong scent on the collar of the jacket with a smile.
“I wouldn’t say learning the dance itself,” James muttered, walking across the balcony to sit on a stone bench. “You should see me before I actually know the dance “ I’m horrible at learning them.”
Lily laughed, following James to his spot off to the side of the balcony. She sat down beside him and started to trace her finger over a spiral carving on the bench. “I bet you were better at learning the dances than I was.”
“Not true,” James immediately cut in. “It nearly took me a month to perfect the waltz!”
Lily shrugged her shoulders. “But I haven’t perfected the dance, yet.”
James leaned over and bumped her playfully, accidentally knocking his jacket off of one of Lily’s shoulders. “You’re pretty close, I’d say. I mean,” he added, delicately pulling the jacket back up to cover her bare arms, “I did dance with you tonight “ and you seemed perfect to me.”
Lily did not look away from the stone bench. If anything, she stared more intently at it, tracing each and every shape in the stone that she could find. That is, until James stopped the movement by putting his hand over hers.
Surprised, Lily glanced up, suddenly nervous. She was staring up into a pair of unblinking, hazel eyes. She had never felt so intimidated before in her life “ nor had she ever felt so safe.
Lily cleared her throat and looked back down at the bench, trying to interrupt the silence in the conversation. She wished James would start talking about something “ anything “ but he didn’t. Instead, he lifted his free hand to her chin and lifted her head so that she was looking directly into his eyes once more.
For a moment, Lily thought that James was about to say something to her. His mouth opened and he blinked, clearly thinking about his next words. But upon impulse, he leaned forward.
Lily could remember thinking in the back of her mind that this action was a bit strange, but she immediately brushed off the thought.
She leaned forward.
A large, loud clock just beyond the closed wooden door chimed twelve, clanging loudly.
Lily tried to ignore the distraction as best as she could, scooting closer to James, but it was clear that the noise had caught James’ attention.
“It’s already midnight?” James swore, glancing at his watch. He tapped the face of the clock, as if checking to see if his wristwatch was still running properly. “We must have been out here longer than I thought…”
Lily moved back to her original spot with a sigh, absentmindedly tracing the carvings once more. She readjusted James’ coat once more. “I guess so…”
“The thing is,” James explained, standing up, “I told your dad that I’d have you home by midnight.” He frowned slightly, as if worried that Lily would be upset by this news.
“Oh.” Lily nodded in understanding.
She stood “ and then froze. What was she supposed to say now? Lily sorted through her vocabulary, trying to find the best words to say before she left. She didn’t want to just Disapparate without any good-bye “ but she also didn’t want to babble on like some sort of crazy “
“Shall we?”
Lily frowned, staring curiously at the hand in front of her, palm up. Her eyes flicked up to James’ face and then back to his hand.
“Sorry?” she muttered, rather confused by this gesture. “Shall we, what?”
James looked as if he had made it perfectly clear. “Disapparate,” he smiled, hiding his laugh. “I was going to take you back to your house.”
Lily’s jaw dropped open to form an “o”.
Much faster than she had intended, Lily eagerly grabbed James’ hand and stepped towards him, smiling as he put an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.
“Alright.” Lily wrapped her arms around James, satisfied with her position. “I’m ready to go, now.”
*
“Just on time!” Mr. Evans beamed, closing the front door behind his daughter. He quickly eyed her dress, marveled by the way she looked, but returned to his original question. “Did you have fun?”
Lily nodded, her eyes slowly wandering around the room. She fondly touched each object with a brush of her fingertips, as if it were the first time she had seen this room in years.
Mr. Evans tried to interpret Lily’s odd response to his question, but found it difficult. He chose to move on. “Is that “ is that James’ jacket?”
Lily casually glanced down at her shoulder, noticing that James had forgotten to take his coat back before he had Disapparated. With a small smile, Lily nodded.
Mr. Evans frowned. It was extremely hard to carry on a conversation when there was only one person speaking… He started to ask another question, but stopped when Lily quickly cut him off.
“I’m really tired,” she muttered, although her eyes seemed to be alight with a new sort of burning fire. “I need to change out of my clothes and get ready for bed “ I’ll talk to you in the morning, alright?”
“Oh “ sure.” Mr. Evans nodded, waving as she slowly climbed the stairs to her room, taking her time to run her hand over every inch of the banister on her way up.
Once she was out of sight from her father’s inquisitive gaze, Lily pushed open her bedroom door and silently flicked on the light switch. She kicked off her shoes somewhere in the middle of the floor, and proceeded to lean against her bedroom door with a heavy sigh.
She stopped moving for one moment, trying as best as she could to let the events of the night sink into her mind. She tried to memorize each one, wishing she could never forget it.
And then she smiled.
Images of James continued floating to the surface of her mind. She could recall every single word that he had said to her that night. She thought about how different that night had been, learning things about James while they had been out on the balcony: things she would have never dreamed she would ever know about him.
Lily found herself reliving the last few moments when James had Apparated them onto Lily’s front porch. Both of them had stood there for what seemed like forever, unsure of what came next. Just when Lily had been about to thank James for a lovely night, he stepped towards her and decided to give Lily a small kiss on the cheek, seconds before Mr. Evans had flung open the front door.
By this point, Lily had pushed away from her door and was moving silently to her bed, a grin plastered on her face. She picked up her many textbooks covering her bed and tossed them carelessly onto her desk, knocking a sealed envelope behind the piece of furniture.
Lily gently shrugged out of James’ coat, handling it with great care. She smelled the collar of the jacket and was instantly reminded of James’ scent. And then, very carefully, Lily reluctantly let go of the coat and hung it on the bedpost, directly beside her pillow.
She turned back to her bed. Holding her arms out in the air, she fell backwards, letting the springs in her mattress bounce her up and down. Slowly, she came to a stop and allowed herself to slowly melt into her many blankets covering the bed. A ball of happiness residing deep within her chest started to rise. Something started to expand inside her, giving her the feeling that she was invincible.
And without thinking, without planning, she started to laugh.
*
The front door opened and clicked softly shut.
“James?” Mrs. Potter called out, peeking around the corner. “Is that you, dear?”
James shuffled through the dark kitchen, easily making his way over to his mother without the use of lights.
“I didn’t think you would stay so long,” Mrs. Potter commented before receiving a response from James. She pulled her bathrobe tighter around herself, shivering at the gust of wind that had been let in through the front door. “Your father and I left the ball over an hour ago.”
James merely hummed with a pleasant smile permanently attached to his face. He couldn’t hear a single word that she was saying.
Taking her by surprise, James snatched up his mother’s hand in his and spun her around the room, fuzzy pink bathrobe and all, as if he were still dancing at the ball. He started to sing the melody louder than before, grinning.
After James stopped his dance, Mrs. Potter started to laugh. “Had a good time, did you?”
James kissed her on the cheek and pulled away, putting both hands on her shoulders and staring directly into her eyes. With a soft breath, he whispered, “The best.”
He waltzed away from his mother, spinning in circles up the stairs as he whistled the same tune over and over.
Mrs. Potter looked on with an amused smile playing at the corner of her lips.