It had been about a week since the announcement of the first ever Halloween Ball. The school was buzzing with gossip, even more so than usual. Everywhere you went, people were discussing whom they were going with, what they were wearing, and who was playing the music.
“Professor Dumbledore told us that he booked Firesquad for the evening. I’m not sure who they are, but Haylie and Micky assure me that they’re amazing,” Lily told me one afternoon in the hallway. Firesquad was a popular band, the most recent sensation to hit the radio dials. I didn’t really care for them much, but they were all right.
Speaking of Micky, she was the first girl in our dormitory to ensnare a date for the ball. “Troy Davis asked me this morning, and I said yes!” she had squealed the afternoon after the announcement was made. I was happy to hear this news. Troy was a very good-looking Ravenclaw, and he seemed to really want to go with Micky. She had been a bit surprised when he asked her, but she naturally said yes.
A few days later after that, Leah told us all that she was to attend with Remus. There was really no surprise there, of course. Still, I was overjoyed for Leah. She had been shining with happiness when she told us the news.
“Are you sure Remus is up to it?” Haylie asked Micky a week into October. “He looked really sick last week.”
“Yeah, and he wasn’t in any of our classes on Wednesday either!” Micky replied, talking in a hushed voice. “I wonder if he’s alright.”
Lily, of course, immediately put her foot down on this one. “Of course Remus is alright! He told me in advance that he wouldn’t be able to patrol with me last Wednesday because he had to attend a fiftieth birthday party for his uncle. Plus, he’s probably got a lot on his mind, being Head Boy and all.”
I couldn’t help, but think that this wasn’t the full truth. The way Lily said it, she sounded really angry. Was she hiding something? I was filled with curiosity… where did Remus go that day? After thinking about it for a moment, I brushed it aside. Whatever it was, it probably wasn’t that big of a deal.
Meanwhile, Sirius and I had met several times to discuss our plans to push Lily and James together.
“All they need is a little nudge, we’re almost there!” Sirius told me.
I nodded. “This dance is the perfect opportunity. They’re going to go together, whether they like it or not!”
Sirius agreed. “Exactly!”
The two of us watched and waited patiently, keeping our eyes out for the perfect opportunity to talk to them, to drop hints, and get Lily to change her mind about James Potter.
One afternoon, I was sitting in Defense Against the Dark Arts, bored out of my mind. Professor Birky stood in his usual podium at the front of the classroom reading a chapter from our textbook aloud, and I was doing my best to keep from nodding off.
I was seated between Micky and Haylie, and the latter of the two had already fallen asleep. Micky, on the other hand, had busied herself by doodling ball gowns on a scrap of parchment.
Sitting directly in front of me, Hollie was chatting quietly with her friend Bree. Absentmindedly, I flicked my wand under my desk. My inkwell hovered off my table. In the same motion, I lifted a piece of Hollie’s beautiful blonde hair with my wand, and was about to stick it in the inkwell when…
“MISS JORDAN!” Professor Birky bellowed.
I jumped and the inkwell I had been levitating bumped into the back of Hollie’s head. Black ink dripped down her pale blonde hair and the now empty inkwell fell, smashing into tiny shards when it hit the stone floor. I bit my lip and cast a nervous glance at the teacher. Hollie, who had looked up from her conversation with Bree, hadn’t seemed to notice the fact that an inkwell smashed into her head and coated her hair in its contents.
Professor Birky glared at me, his face ruddy and angry. “Miss Jordan, now that you’ve decided to pay attention, can you please tell me the most commonly used way to repel the Killing Curse?”
Oh Merlin. I scanned my brain, but couldn’t find a thing. My mind was elsewhere; actually, my mind was on the thick black liquid that shone against my rival’s pale locks. “Er… I don’t know, sir,” I replied honestly, my face flushing slightly.
“Does anyone else know the answer to my question?” Birky demanded. “Miss Larson, how about you?”
Hollie smiled triumphantly and sat up perfectly straight. “The answer is that there is no known way to block the Avada Kedavera Curse.” She smiled sweetly and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Suddenly, she shrieked and stood up. Her hands were covered in pitch-black ink, and it was dripping down her robes. She let out a high pitched, wordless, window-breaking scream. Hollie then spun around, spotted the broken inkwell on the floor and shouted. “AMELIS JORDAN! YOU JUST CAN’T SINK ANY LOWER, CAN YOU?”
The Marauders in their usual corner seats burst out laughing, and the remainder of the class was fighting hard to supress their giggles. Hollie’s friend Bree, however, looked scandalized.
“Miss Jordan, I demand to know what’s going on here!” Professor Birky shouted.
My face turned a deeper shade of red. “I wasn’t really paying attention, sir. I was so surprised when you called on me, I accidentally knocked over my inkwell and it hit Hollie. I didn’t try to do it, I swear. I’m really sorry.” My lie was apparent, but I hoped desperately that I sounded sincere enough.
Hollie scowled at me. “Sure you are,” she pouted, crossing her arms protectively over her chest.
“Miss Larson, I suggest you sit down before I give you detention,” The Professor barked.
“But Professor, what about all this ink?” Hollie protested.
With a wave of his wand, the ink disappeared, and Professor Birky turned on me. “I’m afraid you, Miss Jordan, are not so lucky. Since you apologized, I’ll spare you from detention. Twenty points from Gryffindor.”
My spirits lifted. Sure, losing points wasn’t a good thing, but I’d rather lose points than suffer through a session of detention.
I silently endured the rest of the class, and when it was over, the ringleaders of the Marauders flooded my personal space.
“Amelia, that was brilliant!” Sirius said enthusiastically, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and giving me a tight squeeze. “That thing with the ink, simply ingenious! You really got Hollie good this time!”
“And your cover up for old Birky was simply breathtaking!” James praised.
I grinned as a jolt of something flew through my stomach when Sirius put his arm around my shoulders. “Thanks… all I was really trying to do was dip her hair in the inkwell, and then he called on me and I was just surprised.”
“Well, we Marauders applaud you!” James called as he and Sirius rushed ahead of me.
“Sometimes I just don’t know about those two…” a voice said behind me. I turned around to find that it was Lily.
I shrugged. “At least they’re happy.”
Lily nodded slightly. “I guess.”
We walked in silence; Lily seemed to be completely lost in thought. During Professor Birky’s class, before the inkwell fiasco, I had noticed she hadn’t been paying attention, which is odd for Lily. I took note of the fact that she had passed at the opportunity to vent about the Marauders. Is that a good sign?
Later that evening, I headed up from the Quidditch Pitch feeling exhausted. James, with the help of Haylie, had worked us really hard to prepare us for our upcoming match against Ravenclaw next month.
The grounds were beautiful at this time of evening, the sun setting over the mountains and the lake sparkling in the waning light. As I headed alone up the path to the castle, I noticed someone sitting by the lake.
She was sitting alone beneath the shade of one of the several beech trees that surrounded the lake. She was bent over, her silky red hair spilling over her face. It glowed bright red in the fading sun, making her stand out like a single torch in a room of darkness.
I stopped in my tracks, watching as she absentmindedly picked up a pebble and tossed it into the lake. Making my decision, I approached her and plopped onto the dark green grass. I must have looked quite odd sitting there. She was still in her black school robes, and I in my sweaty Quidditch practice uniform with my hair in a messy ponytail.
“Lily, what’s wrong?” I asked quietly, tentatively placing my hand on her shoulder.
She looked over at me, as if first noticing my presence. “Huh? Oh, nothing. I’m fine.”
I shook my head. It was a terrible lie. “Then why are you sitting here all by yourself?” Lily didn’t answer, and I went on, “come on, Lily. You’ve been acting strangely all day; don’t think I haven’t noticed. You were there to help me when I was feeling down, and now I’m going to help you.”
Lily’s mouth twitched slightly, as if she was going to smile, but her lips stayed put. She sighed heavily. “Oh, it’s nothing really. It was just noisy in the common room and I needed some space.”
“I see. Do you want me to leave?” I questioned.
My friend shook her head slightly. “No, Amelia, you can stay. Someone to talk to would be nice. It’s good to have someone to talk to. I suppose I should tell you what’s wrong if we’re to talk about it, shouldn’t I?”
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” I offered.
Lily grinned grimly. “No, I think I want to.”
“Ok, then go for it. I’ll just listen.” I said.
Lily took a deep breath, and then began. “This is going to sound completely crazy and won’t make any sense, but I’m just going to go with it. Sometimes I feel really alone. I have lots of friends, but I’ve never really talked with them about things. I just keep them inside. I knew that if I spilled my heart to the other girls, they’d react badly. Micky would ignore me and brush it off, Haylie would laugh at me and go shouting it to everyone, and Leah would get all awkward because she’s not good with expressing feelings and listening to people. So, I’ve just kept it all inside.” Lily paused to throw another pebble into the lake.
“Well, if you couldn’t trust them, then why are you telling this to me?” I asked quietly, speaking what was on my mind. “We’ve only known each other for what… a month?”
“I don’t know why, but I feel like I can talk to you and you’ll listen,” Lily said simply, looking at me with her beautiful green eyes, “and I have a feeling that you won’t judge me.”
“I’d love to just listen, Lily. It’s what I’m here for! You see…” I paused, about to let my biggest vulnerability out. “I’ve always felt lonely at Beauxbatons and I always kept everything in, so I know how you feel.”
Lily smiled widely for the first time and hugged me. “Thanks, Amelia!”
I hugged her back. “No problem! So, what was bothering you?”
“Well, this sounds completely insane… but I don’t think I hate James Potter.” Her face turned a pale shade of pink. “I don’t know what’s happened… he just seems… different this year, more mature. I don’t know if he’s changed, or if it’s me… it’s so confusing. He still plays pranks, but to me, they don’t seem as cruel anymore. In fact, sometimes they actually seem funny. And he hasn’t even asked me out ONCE this year! I don’t get it… has he given up on me? Just when I start thinking he’s not such a prat as I thought, he seems to lose interest. He doesn’t treat me how he used to… he’s more controlled and treats me like he would any other acquaintance. There’s this ball coming up, and I’ve been thinking about who I’d want to go with. I haven’t told anyone this yet, but I’ve actually had quite a few guys ask me out and I’ve said no to all of them. No was just my automatic answer, but I’m starting to wonder why this is. I’ve pondered it all day, and I’ve come to a conclusion that I’m not too sure about. I think…” Lily paused, taking a deep breath. “I think I’ve been declining all my offers is because there’s only one person I really want to go with, and that’s James.
My mouth fell open slightly at this confession. Sirius and I had hardly done a single thing, and Lily had fallen for James. All we did was get James to clean up his act around her and give Lily a small push in the right direction.
“I know... it’s shocking,” Lily went on. “Everyone knows how much I hated him. It’ll look so weird if I suddenly stop. It doesn’t make any sense… I wish I had fallen for someone sensible and responsible, but I didn’t. I’m falling for James bloody Potter and I think it’s best that I accept this and move on.”
“Move on?” I asked.
“I mean, that I can maybe start a relationship with him or something.” Lily paused, burying her face in her hands. “Argh, it’s so complicated! That sounds so stupid! I can’t just walk up to him and say ‘Oh hey there, Potter, I think I fancy you and would you go out with me?’ It doesn’t sound right! I’ve hated him for so long…” She trailed off, seeming to be lost in thought. “Amelia, could you help me?” she asked. “I mean, you’re one of my best friends, and you’re good friends with Sirius, who is James’s best friend. I don’t know Sirius that well myself, but I’m sure he’d love to help me out.”
I considered this. “When you say ‘help out’ do you mean…”
“Getting him to ask me out?” Lily finished my sentence. “Yes.”
I smiled to myself as the fireworks exploded inside my head. This is what Sirius and I have been hoping for! All we have to do is carry out this last step on our plan, and it’ll be complete! “Of course we’ll help you Lily! I’m sure that Sirius would be absolutely thrilled to get the two of you together! I’ll talk to him about it later.”
Lily grinned gratefully at me and hugged me again. “Thank you so much Amelia!” She scrambled to her feet and then pulled me up off the ground. “Let’s go back to the castle. I don’t really feel like being alone anymore.”
The sun was setting over the grounds as Lily and I, arm in arm, made our way up to the school. We reached the common room just as the sun was disappearing behind the mountains.
Lily ran off to join Leah and Micky at our usual table while I headed over to the Marauders at their usual spot by the fireplace. In the past month, I had gone over to talk to Sirius almost every day, and my friends were no longer suspicious that I liked him.
“Sirius, I need to talk to you,” I said after giving the four boys my hellos. “Why don’t we go to the library where it’s quiet?”
“Ah, Amelia,” James said lazily. “Off to steal my dear Padfoot for some crazy scheme again?”
“Naturally,” I replied with a small laugh.
“Well, sorry to barge in on your parade, Amelia, but we’re kind of in the middle of plotting something else,” Sirius commented as he leaned over Remus’s shoulder to peer at what he was writing.
I sighed. “What’s this one about? You’re not going to try and set old Birky’s pants on fire again, are you?”
James shook his head. “No, that one got old really fast. This one’s new, and you’re going to love it, but if we tell you what it is”“
He was interrupted by Peter’s enthusiastic reply of. “we’re going to steal Snape’s panties and give them to Peeves to wear on his head!”
“--We’d have to kill you” James finished his sentence, glaring slightly at Peter.
“Oh come on, you can at least excuse Sirius for a few minutes?” I knew I was being whiny, but I didn’t really care. I needed to tell Sirius about my conversation with Lily. “I have HUGE news for him about our plan.”
Sirius’s eyes lit up, he knew exactly what I was talking about. James, on the other hand, rolled his eyes. “Here we go with that mysterious plan of yours again. Come on, you might as well tell us what it is.”
“Well, Prongs, as you said before,” Sirius began. “If we told you,”
“You’d have to kill me, I know,” James finished with a heavy sigh. “Whatever this thing is, it better be good.”
“Trust me, James,” I began, smiling to myself. “You’re going to love it.”
After finally tearing Sirius away from his friends, we headed down a random deserted hallway and into an empty classroom. Once we got inside, Sirius rounded on me.
“Alright Amelia, so how big is this news?”
“Huge,” I replied, failing to hold back my delighted grin.
“As in big huge, or huge huge?” He questioned.
“Even bigger than that huge,” I replied.
“Holy shit, that’s huge,” Sirius said. “So what is this enormously huge news?”
Well,” I paused for dramatic effect, and then spoke slowly. “A certain red-haired someone has admitted her feelings for a certain messy-haired someone.” Sirius let out a whoop and began to say something, but I held out my hand to stop him. “AND, this certain redhead has requested that you and I go undercover to get James to ask her to the ball!” I finished.
Sirius’s face was covered in a huge smile. “We did it, Amelia! All we have to do is get him to ask her, which will be easy because he’s hopelessly in love, and my best mate will finally get the girl he has dreamed about for years!”
“And she’ll finally realize fully how much she cares for him!” I added. “After all this time hating his guts, she’ll finally realize what a great guy he really is!”
“Yes!” Sirius cried, before hugging me tightly in excitement.
He held me for only a moment, but it’s amazing at how much you can notice in such a small amount of time. Despite my vows that I would never fall for him, I was getting more and more tempted to break them every day. His hug was strong and warm, enough to make me slightly dizzy afterwards. Another thing I noticed was that he smelled amazing. I’ve smelled cologne before, but never this close and personal. All together, these things were enough to make me want to know what it felt like to reach up and touch his face, to kiss him, but then I reminded myself of how many other girls have wished the same thing. That brought me back to reality, and to my good fortune, Sirius hadn’t even noticed the impact he had on me.
“I’m thinking about discussing this whole thing with James sometime tomorrow. Hopefully, we can get him to ask Lily to the ball by tomorrow evening, does that sound right?” Sirius asked me.
I quickly regained my composure. “Yeah, that sounds good.”
It was silent for a minute, and then Sirius spoke again. His tone had changed dramatically from the excitement of before. Now it was softer, almost timid. “So… Amelia… I was thinking…”
“Yeah?” I asked, glancing sideways at him. We were now sitting side by side on top of the teacher’s desk.
“…I was wondering, since my best friend will be going to the ball with one of your best friends… maybe we could go to the ball together. Just as friends, I mean,” he added hastily, his face turning a pale shade of red.
I was speechless. He sounded so shy, so sincere… was he really asking me out? He said he was asking me to go as friends, but somewhere sort of knew he said that so it wouldn’t be quite so awkward.
Sirius must have been startled by my silence. “So… um, do you want to go?” He was staring determinedly at his feet and he looked so adorable that I knew I couldn’t say no even if I wanted to.
“I’d love to go to the ball with you, as friends.” I smiled. I added the “as friends” for the same reason, to make it less awkward.
Sirius’s face broke into a smile even larger than it was when I told him the news about Lily’s confession. “Great!” he said enthusiastically, jumping to his feet. “Well, since we’re going together, as friends, do I have permission to hold your hand?”
Upon my first impression of Sirius on the Hogwarts Express, I would have never guessed that he could act in such a gentlemanlike manner.
“You don’t have to ask, Sirius,” I said softly, looking straight into his eyes.
Sirius held out his palm, his midnight eyes twinkling. “I know.”
As I reached out and laid my palm in his, my promises not to get emotionally attached flew completely out the window. We spent the rest of the evening wandering the corridors of Hogwarts in simple conversation. I knew then, that this evening would probably be one I would remember forever.
A Girl Like You by Lady Alanna
Chapter Notes: Well here I am again with another chapter for you all! Thanks so much to Kate for betaing! Seriously, she's amazing. Another big thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing, I appreciate every review I get! So, without any further words from me, happy reading!
Chapter Endnotes: Aww, there's some fluff for you all! I know you've been waiting for it! :) Sorry to break it to you though, Sirius and Amelia not officially together yet, but they're on their way! Plus, Lily is finally turning around, which is great as well! Thanks so much for reading this and all the other chapters, there's more on the way of course, and don't forget to leave a review!