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Matt had completely forgiven Julianna for her rather distant week, and they had gotten things back to normal. Or at least as normal as Julianna could handle with her current state of handling confusion. She was surprised to hear that Matt had been expecting something of the sort from her - it was just a matter of timing.
Gethin and Lily were still together, but were on much rockier ground than before. He had also forgiven Lily. At least he said he had, but there was still some part of him that hadn’t forgotten how put off he had been at her silence. Things were strained, but Lily was glad they had been able to patch it up a bit.
Sirius and Amanda were becoming unbearable at this point. It had become quite sickening to see them. James had taken to avoiding them entirely when he saw that they were together.
It was now December and many of the students were getting excited about going home. Julianna had spoken to both Lily and James separately about their plans. Lily had agreed to spend the first week with her own family before going to spend the rest of the holidays with the Foschis.
By now, James had enough of Sirius and Amanda. There was only one thing James could think of that would cause Sirius to turn his attention away from her, but he had to act fast.
–I was thinking,†he began one night in their dormitory. –Things have been pretty quiet lately. Filch hasn’t been nearly busy enough to earn the money he makes.â€
–I think he rather misses us,†added Remus. –Just the other day I noticed him putting his feet up in his office.â€
–We can’t have that,†said Peter, mortified.
–We must do something to restore order,†Sirius announced.
–I think I have just the thing . . .†said James.
* * *
–Maybe it’s because of your last performance at Quidditch,†said Lily.
–But we clobbered Slytherin,†Julianna protested.
–He doesn’t take too kindly to rejections,†Lily tried to warn her.
–But what’s the point?â€
–Hmm, now you know what I have to deal with,†said Lily.
Julianna had recently been issued an invitation to Slughorn’s Christmas party. She had never been invited before and was trying to talk her way out of it with Lily.
–Maybe I can try to get Wood to schedule a practice that night,†she mused.
–Can’t. The snow keeps piling up and hasn’t left any room,†Lily argued.
–We’ll be flying at any rate. What does it matter,†Julianna countered.
–Slughorn has been quite insistent that everyone be there. Besides, I think he’ll have Wood’s head if three people miss out.â€
–Who else has been invited?â€
–I heard Potter and Black pleading with Wood earlier today to set a practice.â€
–Oh, well if they’re going . . .â€
–Oh, nice. You’ll go with them but not me?†Lily pointed out.
–You know what I mean. If they’re invited it’ll be a riot. If not, we would have died of boredom,†replied Julianna.
–Well, everyone can bring a date and he said it’ll be a frosty-icy theme, whatever that means, so dress accordingly,†Lily said off-handedly.
* * *
The party was scheduled for the last Friday of classes in the evening. Up until that point, many students were attempting to be invited as a date. Those who had been invited by Slughorn himself were trying to act fast to avoid a long line of would-be dates.
–Ask Rebecca,†said Sirius.
–Remus,†was James’ reply.
–What about Lori?â€
–Didn’t you call her clingy?â€
–Alysia?â€
–Taken.â€
–Rita.â€
–Skeeter? Why would you even joke about that?â€
James and Sirius were out in one of the halls after dark. It was the night before Slughorn’s party and James had yet to secure a date. Sirius was trying to make suggestions while they prepared for their prank. Remus and Peter were in an adjacent hall doing the same thing.
–Where’s Filch?†asked James.
Sirius glanced at a map, the same one Julianna had seen James use. –He’s still in the basement, but don’t change the subject. Who else is there?â€
–Maybe I’ll just go stag,†James said.
–That joke is only funny for so long before it gets old, Prongsie.â€
–How about Dahlia? She’s in Slytherin, but she’s smoking,†commented James.
–And she’s going with Snivelly,†Sirius said, pulling a face.
–I’m surprised his grease doesn’t negatively affect his ability to make potions,†said James.
–No, it helps to keep his hair slicked back so he can see past his great big nose and into the cauldron,†Sirius remarked.
–Grease . . . remind me about that later,†said James thoughtfully.
–Are you guys nearly done chatting so we can hurry finish up,†Remus said, making his way toward them with Peter.
–We’re already done,†Sirius told him. –We were just waiting for you and Wormtail to finish talking and hurry up.â€
–Very funny,†Remus said sarcastically.
–This is gonna be a good one,†said Peter, practically bouncing with excitement as they walked back up to the Gryffindor Tower.
* * *
The last day of classes was an exciting one. Those going to Slughorn’s party couldn’t wait until that evening. However, a certain group of four boys were beside themselves with anticipation of the bell to end their final class.
–I would hang back after class for a spell if I were you,†James whispered to Julianna. She had learned long ago that if he ever gave such a warning, it was in your best interest to listen.
Sure enough, at the end of Potions, Julianna hung back with Lily. James and his friends had decided on a front row seat, but still in the safety of the classroom. Once the bell rang, there were many shouts and screams coming from the corridors punctuated by roars of laughter from the four.
The floor in the halls had gone exceptionally smooth and had formed into a non-melting ice. The shouts Lily and Julianna had heard were students caught off guard and slipping unexpectedly down the halls.
Soon, when the initial shock wore off, students were seen happily sliding along down the corridors at their leisure. James and Sirius were whipping out ice skates from their bags to better enjoy the ice. They even saw Professor Dumbledore skating rather magnificently down the halls on their way to lunch.
–Is there anything that man can’t do?†asked Sirius as he watched their headmaster leap over a fallen student.
* * *
The rest of the afternoon was spent doing one of two things. For a majority of the school, they had left their packing in favour of skating. The teachers couldn’t find it in them to get rid of it quite yet, especially with the blizzard-like conditions outside. Only Filch and Mrs Norris were bumbling about and complaining about the declining state of the school.
For the select few students, they were busy preparing for the party. It was one of those rare occasions where they could dress up with a purpose for their peers to see. Everyone was looking forward to it.
Well, almost everyone was. Julianna was at her wit’s end. Both Lily and Amanda were going to wear dresses, and she knew James and Sirius would be wearing dress robes. Amanda, who was Sirius’ date, had even co-ordinated colours with him. Julianna didn’t know what to do.
–It’s a fancy party. You have to dress up. That means a dress,†said Amanda while trying to make it simple. Marlene had mysteriously vanished having not gained an invitation.
–You do have one,†Lily asked surreptitiously. The look on Julianna’s face was a cause for concern.
–Oh, mum made sure of that,†she replied, opening her trunk. Inside it laid no less than five dresses in different styles and colours just waiting to be worn.
Amanda shrieked with glee and joined Lily in taking out the dresses and spreading them out on Julianna’s bed. They even found a pair of matching shoes for each.
–When did your mother think you’d wear these?†asked Lily.
–Why did she think you’d need so many,†Amanda added.
–‘Always be prepared’ is her favourite motto. Of all the things she could have told me about growing up, she had to pick this one,†Julianna explained. Her mother had never told them anything about growing up. Her childhood was a complete mystery to them.
–Well this one’s completely wrong for the theme,†said Amanda, carefully putting away one of the dresses. –And this one’s the wrong colour.â€
–What colours did Slughorn mention? Blue, white, and silver? That takes the black one out,†reasoned Lily.
–Oh, I really like that one.†Amanda regretfully put the black dress back in the trunk.
–Which one do you think, Julie?†Lily asked.
–You think I’ll give a satisfactory answer,†Julianna said in disbelief.
–Let’s go with the dark blue one, then,†said Lily. –It’ll match your eyes.â€
–It’s sapphire,†Amanda corrected her. –Besides, it kind of goes with what we’ll be wearing.â€
While Julianna went and sat down with James in the common room, Amanda and Lily proceeded to pamper themselves in preparing for that evening. They tried fixing their hair different ways to see which hairstyle looked best with their dresses. With that decided, they put on their dresses and had moved on to doing their makeup. Lily only ever put it on for special occasions, so it was lucky for her that Amanda had an entire kit and was prepared to use every last one in order to come up with the right combination to compliment skin tones and everything.
With two hours to go before the party, they had completely finished what they needed to. Now their task was to coerce Julianna into complying. They called to her from the top of the stairs and, rather reluctantly, she dragged herself up.
–You have so much hair, we must do something about it,†said Amanda, holding it up as Lily closed the door.
–The question is whether to pull it to the side or at the back,†said Lily.
–Do I have a say in the matter?†asked Julianna.
–No.â€
–Let’s put her in the dress and then decide,†concluded Amanda.
–I can put myself in the dress, thank you,†Julianna said rather rudely. So she put it on knowing that one way or another she would have it on before the night was out.
–There. Was that so difficult?†Lily asked.
–Yes. It’s too flowing. I feel like any minute it’ll fly up.â€
–But that’s what makes it so pretty,†Amanda argued.
In the end they decided on pulling her hair off to the side in a loose bun behind her left ear. It took them an hour, though, just to put it up and make sure it was secure for the night. When the makeup came out, however, she started to fight back in protest.
–No. I absolutely draw the line,†she said, wriggling away.
–Well too bad for you there are two of us who disagree with you,†Amanda told her.
–We can either confound you, sedate you, or you can sit still on your own. It’s your choice,†Lily told her.
–If I had my choice I wouldn’t be in this situation at all,†Julianna mumbled to herself. But she chose to sit still and monitor the process.
–We’ll go light, I promise,†Lily tried to console her.
–Besides, it would look strange with too much on - it’s not you,†said Amanda, also trying to soothe her.
By the end of the two hours, all three were ready. Amanda wore a dark, silvery coloured dress which reached the floor and covered her silver strappy heels. She had decided to leave her hair down in its typical ringlets and just pin it back off of her face.
Lily wore a white dress with silver trim and matching white heels. She like the simplicity of it and thought the touch of light silver really brought out the –frosty-icy†theme of Slughorn’s. Since she always wore her hair down, she was especially thankful they had decided to pull her hair off her neck.
Julianna, hair pulled to the side and wearing the deep blue dress, waited up in the dormitory as the other two left in search of their dates. She was of two separate minds. One was to wear a large cloak over top until they reached the party. Another part of her wanted to walk to of there, head held high, and ignore everything. Should she hide or be defiant?
In the end her pride won and she walked out without the cloak. There were many stares, whispers, and pointed fingers, but nobody actually recognized her. Even in the halls she was a stranger. This gave her courage to walk taller and straighter as she continued to march down to the Entrance Hall to meet Matt. She felt safe for now knowing that she wouldn’t be recognized.
Sure enough, Matt was pleasantly surprised when the beautiful girl in the blue dress turned out to be his date. However, he wasn’t as surprised to see the scowl on her face or the manner in which she was marching over to him.
–Amanda?†he asked.
–And Lily,†added Julianna.
–By which methods?â€
–Under threat of sedation - I wouldn’t put it past Lily to prepare a potion just in case,†she said, taking his arm as he led her to the party.
–Well they’ve outdone themselves. You look stunning,†he said, giving her a sly grin.
–Maybe I should Stun everyone and get out of this,†Julianna mused quietly.
–Fat chance,†said Matt, holding on tighter to her arm.
–I suppose you look nice too,†she eventually said with a sigh. He just happened to be wearing dress robes of a similar colour to her dress.
–Well don’t sound so convincing,†he joked. Julianna shot him a look that said don’t-mess-with-me.
Music was drifting down the corridor as everyone came to the room. Upon entering, students were met with the sight of falling snow that never quite hit the tops of anyone’s head. Icicles magicked not to melt, much like the skating rink halls, were hung along the walls near the ceiling. Everything was either white, silver, or blue just as Slughorn had promised, but mostly white.
There was fake snow everywhere: in piles on the floor, on the table, around the dishes of food, and stuck to the clothing of the few people who had gotten too close. The windows were given a frosted appearance and to top it all off, there was a real ice sculpture of the Hogwarts crest somewhere in the room.
–Horace, you’ve outdone yourself,†said Dumbledore, going over to him to shake his hand.
–Oh, it’s just a trifle,†Slughorn said in an attempt at humility.
–I feel out of my league,†Matt whispered to Julianna after looking around.
–You’re out of your league? I’m the one whose feet aren’t even on solid ground!â€
–Aw, but they’re such pretty feet,†Matt crooned jokingly.
Punching him, Julianna said, –You’re impossible,†laughing in spite of herself.
–Someone cleans up nicely,†someone whispered in her ear.
Seeing it was James, she said, –Don’t look so shocked.â€
–Too true - I’d forgotten all those dinner parties.â€
–A likely story. No date?†she asked.
–Nope. I’ve come stag,†he said, laughing to himself about his little joke.
–It’s still getting old,†Sirius said, walking up to them with Amanda. –You’re right - you have done a good job.â€
–Right?†agreed Amanda.
Julianna rolled her eyes and dragged Matt over to the food. She was starving and couldn’t wait to see what there was. When she went for a second plate, she was confronted by Slughorn.
–I see star Quidditch players have healthy appetites,†Slughorn began. He nodded toward James and Sirius who had happily piled their plates as if there was a food shortage.
–Yes . . . well . . .â€
–Have I told you about my new connection with the Holyhead Harpies?†Slughorn went into a rather long and bring discussion about famous people he knew to a fresh-eared student. It had been long enough that Matt had come to see what was taking so long.
–I must introduce you next time,†Slughorn continued, referring to their initial conversation. –Hello . . . who’s this?â€
–He’s my date, sir.â€
–How do you do? I’d hold on to her, young man. You two make a handsome couple.†Then he gave Matt a wink before walking over to James and Sirius.
–What was -â€
–I really don’t know, but thank you for saving me.†Whatever had just happened, she was pleased to see that James and Sirius were now getting the same treatment. It gave her a bit of satisfaction when they tried to talk their way out but couldn’t. But that satisfaction was nothing compared to Lily’s.
–Slughorn’s an awful drone. They’ll be there for the next ten minutes,†she said gleefully.
She and Gethin were quite glad of Matt and Julianna’s company. There had been many more awkward silences between them so far that night. Neither of them knew what to do to fix it. Lily was too proud to make the first move, while Gethin thought of so many possible solutions he was having a hard time deciding on one.
–Everyone for more punch?†asked Matt, suddenly standing up.
–I’ll come with you,†Gethin told him.
–Man its cold here, and I’m not talking about the decorations,†said Julianna after they’d left.
–He doesn’t seem to want to discuss anything,†said Lily, avoiding eye contact.
–Mm-hmm.â€
–Things just seemed to have fizzled out, but I think he still wants to keep things going.â€
–I’d do something soon before it gets too far,†Julianna hissed as they returned with drinks for everyone.
–Care to dance?†Matt asked Julianna.
–But I -â€
–Don’t you think by now I’ve learned that there’s more to you than meets the eye,†Matt said over top.
–Fine.†Julianna took his hand and was led to the dance floor leaving Lily by herself with Gethin.
–We shouldn’t be too long, I don’t think Lily wants to be alone with him,†she said, putting her hand on his shoulder.
–That’s what I wanted to talk to you about before we leave for the break,†he explained. He took her hand in one of his and put his other to her waist as they began to dance.
–Well?†asked Julianna expectantly.
–Let me guess, you learned to dance from you grandparents.â€
–You know what I meant . . . but yes, I did.â€
–He really likes Lily.â€
–I can tell.â€
–But she doesn’t return his feelings?â€
–No.â€
–He thought as much. He seems pretty cut up about it.â€
–What do you expect me to do?â€
–If there’s nothing in it for her, then she needs to break it off before it gets worse.â€
–I still don’t -â€
–She’s staying with you? Over the holidays? Talk to her. Tell her she needs to end it. I know your theory about being rubbish at feelings, but try and find a way to let her know. Hell, ask James if you’re so unsure about it. But he needs some kind of closure - she owes him that much.â€
They continued to dance for quite a while longer. While Julianna hated to admit it, she rather enjoyed dancing and was good at it thanks to her grandparents. And Matt was a good dancing partner too.
Gethin and Lily were quiet as the two danced, each looking off in different directions. Lily watched Matt and Julianna dance and talk somewhat jealously. It would never be like that with Gethin.
He, meanwhile, was watching James’ attempts to draw Sirius’ attention away from Amanda. He had begun to make balls out of the fake snow and was chucking them at Sirius. When they broke apart upon contact, most of it remained stuck to Sirius’ dress robes. But that didn’t work, so he moved to make the fake snow melt and transfigure into water which was now soaking into Sirius’ robes.
By now Sirius was purposely ignoring James. That is until the wet patches on his robes went ice cold and froze to his skin. James ducked away before Sirius could lash out. Success!
If they were hoping to be banned from further Slug Club meetings, they were sorely mistaken. Slughorn had taken a liking to their antics, telling them, –Won’t have no for an answer, boys. You must simply attend all of our future gatherings. No - I insist.â€
It was now getting late into the evening and most couples had taken to the dance floor including Gethin and Lily. Even James seemed to have found someone to dance with.
Lily was glad nobody else was talking. It made any of Gethin’s attempts to engage in a conversation with her seem out of place. She could at least dance in peace. That is until she noticed Potter giving her winks when both of their dates were turned the other way. Lily tried to avoid him, but Gethin kept unknowingly turning her to face him.
And I have to spend part of my holidays next to that? she said to herself. At least I’m not obligated to see him.
I get to have her to look forward to, thought James as he winked at her again. Christmas has come early!
He’s way out of his league, Sirius thought as he danced with Amanda. No way she’ll go out with someone like him.
I can’t believe it, thought Amanda. Of all the guys I could be with right now, I’m with Sirius Black.
A surprise, Gethin thought, that’s what Lily needs to cheer her up. Something she’ll end up loving me for.
Everyone seems way too quiet, thought Julianna. I guess I should save Lily from Gethin before I get the look.
I bet this night’ll be over soon, thought Matt as he held Julianna closer. She won’t leave her friend hanging for much longer.
Matt whispered something in Julianna’s ear. She nodded and he led her out to the corridor.
Whatever was said or done, Lily had no idea, but it was only a few moments before they returned and Julianna beckoned to her that she was ready to leave. Thankful that the night was finally over, Lily said goodnight to Gethin as gracefully as she could before she left.
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Out of the Blue by Secret Marauder 90
Chapter Notes: Slughorn's Christmas party
Chapter Endnotes: I fell like we spent forever in September and October, but I've finally got things moving along. Next chapter (a really long one) is Christmas and New Years, and more time with James than Lily would like. Then we move into Easter after that. Please review!