Chapter 1
“I hope James doesn’t try to ask me to the ball,” Lily groaned. She'd been actively avoiding him for a week.
Severus also hoped James wouldn't ask Lily to the ball. Not that he thought Lily would say yes or anything. He just really disliked James.
Lily slipped her arm out of Severus’s and stepped through the door to the Great Hall. She peered cautiously around the corner, looking for a way to get to her seat without being ambushed. She waved to Severus and slunk away toward her table.
Severus headed toward the Slytherin table. He went to sit down at his usual spot and was met with an obnoxiously large bouquet of pink roses. There was a little card attached to the bouquet.
Severus held in a groan. He knew exactly who this was from. Instead of reading the card, he slid the bouquet over to the spot next to him.
Another student sat down beside Severus, immediately noticing the gift. They let out a loud squeal, attracting the attention of surrounding students. There was more squealing and begging to know who the flowers were from.
Lucius Malfoy arrived amidst this chaos. He took his place beside Severus. The girl on Severus’s other side leaned over him to speak to Lucius.
“I would love to go to the ball with you,” she said excitedly.
“What?” Lucius gave her a look of disgust. “I didn't ask you.”
“I got your flowers,” she said, her smile fading into a confused frown. She showed Lucius the note that he had written. He snatched it from her hand. She slouched in her seat, looking dejected.
“That wasn't for you,” he said sharply. He turned to Severus, placing the card into his hand. “It was for you.” Lucius smiled, folding his hands and resting his chin on them.
Severus narrowed his eyes at Lucius, his face wrinkling in disgust.
“Lucius, I don't want to go to the ball with you.”
“Why not?” Lucius asked as if he truly didn't understand why Severus said no. Knowing him, he probably couldn't imagine why someone would deny such an opportunity.
“Because I don't like you,” Severus said. He thought Lucius would've realized that by now. Of course, he persisted.
Severus ignored Lucius, his eyes scanning the Gryffindor table to find Lily. She was the one he wanted to go to the ball with, but he didn't want to humiliate himself by asking.
As soon as breakfast was over, Severus dashed out of the Great Hall before Lucius could make any further attempts. He headed down the hall toward his and Lily’s first class. He waited for Lily, who was taking longer than usual to show up. Severus assumed she got caught up with her other friends.
~~~
Lily saw Severus rushing out of the Great Hall. She wondered if something had happened to upset him. She got up to follow him but was blocked by James Potter and his gang.
“Hello, my Lily flower,” James greeted, giving a little bow.
What an idiot.
“What do you want, James?” she asked in annoyance.
“I want to show you something,” he said, nodding at Sirius and Peter. Sirius was softly shaking a tambourine, and Peter held a triangle.
Lily stared in confusion at whatever was about to happen. She would run away if the three boys weren't directly blocking her path.
James cleared his throat and began singing. A crowd had gathered around them now. Lily felt her face grow hot, now feeling not only irritated but embarrassed too. It was an agonizing two minutes- she counted- until he was finished.
“So,” he said, slightly breathless from his singing and dancing. “What do you say? You wanna be my date to the ball?” he grinned widely at her.
“No, I don't,” she huffed angrily. Why in the world would that convince her?
James looked disappointed for a moment but quickly recovered himself. “Sure,” he said. “You'll change your mind.”
“I will not,” she assured him. She pushed him out of her way and ran out of the Great Hall.
She found Severus leaning against the wall outside their classroom. She stood next to him, nudging his shoulder.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he answered, not sure why she was asking. “Are you okay? You look upset?”
“Oh yeah, James just asked me to the ball,” she said.
“Gross, what did you say?” Severus asked. He didn't really want to hear another tale of James being his revolting self, but he had to know.
“I obviously said no, but he’s so weird. He played a whole song to ask me.”
A song? Severus thought that would almost be sweet if it hadn't been James. It was probably a bad song.
“It was so embarrassing.” Lily went on. “What's his problem, honestly? Why does he insist on being a nuisance?”
Severus shrugged. “Lucius tried to ask me too.”
Lily stuck her tongue out, fake gagging. She already disliked Lucius, and his bothering Severus just fueled the fire.
“He gave me another massive bouquet,” he told her.
“Oh, you didn't keep it?” she looked slightly disappointed.
“No, I didn't because I said no,” he gave her a humorous look. He knew she enjoyed Lucius’s gifts far more than he did.
“James should give me gifts,” she joked, “maybe then I might consider him.”
Severus grimaced at the thought of Lily ever considering that arrogant toe rag.
Lily laughed at his expression. “Don't worry, I'd just as soon agree to a date with him as you would Lucius.”
~~~
“I told you she'd say no,” Sirius groaned.
“That's funny, 'cause I remember you saying that was a good idea,” James shot back.
Sirius shrugged in response, raising his hands in defense.
James flopped back on the bed, landing in Peter’s lap. He looked up at him with an exaggerated frown. “Who am I supposed to go with now?”
“We could just go together,” Peter suggested.
“Why would we do that?”
“I don't know.” Peter glanced around, not looking at James.
Sirius got off James’s bed, heading towards Remus’s. He jumped up, tackling Remus in a hug.
“Get off me!” Remus pushed Sirius away with one arm, elbowing him in the chest. He buried his face in his book to hide the blush that crept up his cheeks.
Sirius lay sprawled on the bed, draping one leg over Remus, who was lying on his side. Remus shifted uncomfortably beneath him.
“Do you wanna go to the ball, Remus?” Sirius asked.
“No,” Remus answered quickly.
“But why? It would be fun.”
“How?” Remus asked, unconvinced. The last place he wanted to be was at a dance, embarrassing himself in front of the whole school.
“Because you'd be with me and everything is fun if I'm there?” Sirius splayed his hand across his chest and gave Remus a proud grin. He had one dimple in his right cheek that made a completely unexplainable heat rise in Remus’s chest.
Remus grabbed a pillow from behind him, smacking the grin off of Sirius’s face. Sirius let out a startled scream, shooting straight up on the bed. He grabbed the pillow Remus had attacked him with, hitting him in retaliation.
“What was that for?” he yelled at Remus. “All I did was suggest that you don't spend all your time being a boring old man.”
Remus covered himself with his arms as Sirius smacked him with the pillow.
“Maybe I want to be a boring old man,” Remus defended. He grabbed Sirius’s waist, pulling him down on the bed. Sirius yelped in surprise as he crashed down on top of Remus. Remus wrestled the pillow from his arms and kicked him off of him.
“You have your whole life to be an old man,” Sirius said, “you should enjoy yourself now while you can. Before you're all crusty and can barely walk.”
“That's a good point,” James called from his bed.
It was a good point, Remus thought.
“There’ll be a chocolate fountain,” Sirius said. That was a better point. Maybe going to the ball wouldn't be so bad.
“I guess I'll go,” he agreed. He hit Sirius with the pillow again for good measure.
“Hey!” Sirius scrunched up his face, pulling the pillow away from Remus. “It's settled then,” he said. “We're going to the ball.”
“Yeah, we are,” Remus said softly.
Across the room from them, James and Peter were exchanging confused looks.
“Are they going with us or together?” James whispered.
“I think they're pretending they're going with us, but they're actually going with each other.“ Peter answered. “And pretending they're going as friends 'cause they don't know they both want to date each other.”
“Sounds right,” James said.
“Guess we have to go together after all,” Peter said.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
~~~
“Hey, Lily,” Mary called, running to catch up with her.
“Hey, Mary. What's up?”
“Nothing. Are you excited for the ball?” she asked.
“Oh yeah,” Lily laughed awkwardly as she recalled yesterday's incident at breakfast.
“Are you going with anyone?” she asked Mary.
“Oh no,” Mary smiled and looked down at her feet. “I was actually gonna ask if you wanted to go?”
“With you?”
“Um, yes. You know, as friends.” Mary smiled sweetly at her, fiddling with the sleeve of her robe.
“I'd love to,” Lily agreed. “The two of us and Severus can all go together.”
“Oh,” Mary said. She quickly masked her dissapointed expresssion. “Severus is coming?”
“Yeah, he doesn't have a date either.” Lily offered as an explanation.
Mary didn't not want to be around Severus, she hardly even knew him. But he was kind of weird.
“Well, I gotta get going,” Lily said. “See ya later Mary.” Lily waved to her as she ran off.
Maybe going to the dance with Lily and Severus wouldn't be too weird. She should've realized they'd be going together since they were hardly ever apart. She just hoped she wouldn't turn into the third wheel.
~~~
“Hello? Dorcas?” Regulus waved his hand in front of his friend's face in an attempt to get her attention.
“Huh, sorry,” she apologized, shaking herself back to reality. “What were you saying?”
“Nothing,” Regulus shook his head, a small smirk creeping up his face. “What are you staring at?” He followed her gaze which was focused on the Gryffindor table.
“Nothing,” she said, turning her face so he couldn't see her smile.
“Sure,” he said in a teasing voice. “Is it her, the blonde one?” He pointed to a pretty girl who was chatting with James Potter. She had shaggy blonde hair and a wide grin.
“No.” Dorcas pushed his hand down. “Shush.”
Regulus put his elbows on the table, propping his head in his hands. “Tell me more,” he whispered.
“No, it's nothing,” she insisted.
“Mmhmm. You should ask her to the ball.”
“What? No, I can't-” she trailed off. She snuck another glance at the girl.
“Why can't you?” he asked.
“I just- well, I barely know her,” she said.
“This would be a good way to get to know her,” Regulus offered.
“True,” Dorcas agreed. “But how should I ask her?”
“I don't know,” Regulus shrugged. “Just say, ‘Hello, how would you like to accompany me to the ball?’”
“No, that's weird.” She leaned on the table, burying her face in her arms.
“Just ask her,” Regulus said. “You're cool, it'll be fine.”
“Okay, yeah, be cool,” she said, directing her attention to the blonde girl again. “It'll be fine.”
“What's her name anyway?” Regulus asked.
“Marlene,” she sighed.
After dinner, Dorcas followed Marlene out of the Great Hall. She hurried to catch up with her, wanting to talk to her before she was surrounded by her friends.
Dorcas rushed up to Marlene, stopping abruptly at her side.
“Uh, hey,” Marlene said awkwardly. “Dorcas, yeah?”
Dorcas nodded her head a bit too enthusiastically. Be cool, she internally reminded herself. Cool. What was cool?
Dorcas cleared her throat and placed a hand on Marlene's shoulder.
“Hey, girl,” she said in her smoothest voice.
“Hey,” Marlene said again. Her face flushed a bright scarlet.
“Would you,” Dorcas bit her lip nervously but went on. “Would you like to go to the ball with me?”
“Like, as a date?” Marlene asked.
“Um, yes,” Dorcas said, sounding a bit more like a question than an answer.
“Oh,” was all Marlene said.
“So…” Dorcas trailed off. Her hand was still on Marlene's shoulder.
“Oh, yes, I would like to go with you, yes,” Marlene stumbled out.
“Yes! I mean yes, cool,” Dorcas took her hand off Marlene, giving her a quick smile before dashing away.
“See you then, I guess,” Marlene called after her, but she was already gone.
~~~
Barty threw himself onto the couch next to Regulus, pressing his cheek against Reg’s shoulder.
“Hey, Barty,” Regulus set down the book he’d been reading. “How many people have rejected your invites to the ball?”
“For your information, Regulus,” Barty retorted. “I haven't asked anyone yet.”
“Why not?”
“None of your concern,” Barty said, turning his nose up at Regulus in mock disdain.
“Mmkay, whatever.” Regulus picked up his book again, leaning back against the couch.
“Wait, I'm sorry. Please help me,” Barty rushed out.
Regulus smirked in triumph. “Mhmm. What did you do?”
“I didn't do anything, I just don't know how to ask the person I want to go with,” he said.
“Who is it?” Regulus asked.
“No one!”
“Okay, sorry,” Regulus laughed.
“Sorry,” Barty apologized. He shrunk back in his seat, wrapping his arms around himself. “I just don't want to be weird, you know?”
“Right,” Regulus said absentmindedly. “It's Evan, yeah?”
“No!” Barty answered a little too quickly. “How- why would you say that?”
“I've literally watched you two pining after each other since we met,” Regulus said. “It's hard not to notice.”
“That’s literally not even true but okay,” Barty retorted. “Wait, you think Evan likes me too?” He pulled his knees underneath him and leaned forward on his hands, looking Regulus in the face.
“Uh, yeah,” Regulus said like it was the most obvious thing ever.
“So, what should I do?”
“Ask him, you dolt.”
“I can't just ask him. What if he thinks it's weird?”
Regulus gave him an annoyed look. “You have two options,” he said. “You can either ask him or don't. It's not that complicated.”
“Ugh! But he’ll think it's weird if I want to go with just him and not the rest of you.” Barty flopped back dramatically, stretching his legs across the couch.
“Oh! I got it,” he said suddenly, sitting back up. “You guys all need to get dates.”
“I'm not going,” Regulus said.
“What? Yes, you are.” Barty insisted.
“Why? Wouldn't it be easier for your plan if I didn't go?”
“Yeah, but you're not allowed to sit around being all moody and miserable.” Barty took the book Regulus was reading out of his hands.
“I wasn't going to be miserable,” Regulus said, trying to snatch his book back. Barty tossed it behind the couch.
“You're forced to come,” Barty said firmly.
“Do I have to?” Regulus whined.
“Yes,” Barty said. “We’ll find you a date, don't worry.”
“Thanks.” Regulus rolled his eyes.
~~~
Regulus wasn't making any effort to find a date for the ball. He still didn't want to go, but if Barty was forcing him, he'd just go by himself.
“Hey, Reg,” Pandora greeted. She slid her arm into his, walking alongside him.
“Hey, Dory,” he greeted back. Maybe he could just go to the ball with her. “Do you want to go to the ball with me?” he asked.
“Oh, I would, but I actually have a date,” she said. She gave him a sympathetic smile, patting his arm. “Sorry, Reg.”
“It's fine,” he brushed her off. “I'm only going 'cause Barty is forcing me to.”
She nodded in understanding. “Speaking of Barty, does he have a date?”
“No,” Regulus replied. “He wants to ask Evan, but he doesn't want to be weird.”
“Ugh! Evan said the exact same thing to me.” She groaned. “How can you be that daft?”
“They've got one brain cell bouncing around two heads,” Regulus said. “Barty thinks if we all have dates, then he can ask Evan.”
Pandora rolled her eyes. “Right, well, I guess you better find a date, yeah?”
“Yeah,” Regulus said, pulling his lips into an unimpressed line.
Pandora giggled at his serious expression. “Relax a bit, love. You're allowed to have fun, you know.”
“Whatever,” Regulus huffed.
After his last class for the day, Regulus hurried off to the Slytherin dorms. He desperately wanted to avoid all this dance drama. Especially now that both Barty and Pandora were trying to find him a date.
He turned a corner sharply, colliding with someone else. The stack of books he'd been holding came crashing to the ground with him.
“Sorry, Regulus,” he heard a familiar voice say.
He looked up to see James Potter standing above him. Regulus fumbled with his books, trying to pick them up without taking his eyes off James.
“Here,” James bent down and gathered Regulus’s books for him. He handed the neat stack back to him.
“Thanks,” Regulus muttered.
“Hey, I was actually wanting to talk to you,” James said.
“What, why?”
“I wanted to ask you something.”
“Yes?”
James put his hand on Regulus’s shoulder, looking him in the face. “Hey,” he said in an odd, deep voice.
“What’s going on?” Regulus asked, tensing under James’s touch.
“Sorry, I really shouldn’t listen to Marlene,” he said, taking his hand off Reg’s shoulder.
Regulus didn’t know what that was supposed to mean.
“I was actually going to ask,” James started. He leaned awkwardly against the wall. “Would you like to go to the ball with me?”
That was unexpected. “Did Barty put you up to this?” He questioned cautiously.
“What? No.” Now James looked confused too.
“Then why are you asking?” Regulus asked.
“Cause I wanted to go to the ball with you.” James offered, sounding a bit like he was asking.
“Oh, okay,” Regulus couldn’t decide if this was strange or normal. He couldn’t comprehend why James would ever ask him, but he wasn’t mad about it.
“So, is that a yes?” James asked.
“Yes,” Regulus nodded. “Yes, I’ll go with you.”
“Cool,” James said.
Regulus nodded again and dashed past James. He actually had a date. Barty would be so proud. He kind of didn’t want to tell Barty, just to avoid the smug grin he knew he’d be seeing. But like usual, Barty being an insufferable little shit was inevitable.
Regulus did receive a very pleased grin when he told Barty he’d got a date. He also received cheering from Evan and a knowing smile from Dorcas.
“What?” He asked her.
“Nothing,” she said, but he could tell something was up.
“What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything,” she said, feigning innocence.
“Dorcas.”
“Alright, alright, don’t trip.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Pandora told me you needed a date, so I asked Marlene to suggest to James that he ask you?”
“What? Why would you do that?”
“Because I know you like him.”
“I don’t!” Regulus defended himself. Because he obviously didn’t.
“Sure,” Dorcas laughed.
“Mate, we all know you like him,” Barty said. He threw an arm around Evan’s shoulders, sharing a knowing look like they were making telepathic jokes at Regulus’s expense.
“Yeah,” Evan added. “You’re always looking at him all gooshy-eyed.”
“I- what?”
Barty cupped Evan’s face with one hand, and putting on a high-pitched voice, “Oh, James, you’re sooo dreamy. Oh, James kiss me.”
Evan doubled over laughing, trying to wrestle himself out of Barty’s hold. It wasn’t that funny.
“So, we all have dates now,” Regulus said, glaring at Barty.
“I don’t,” Evan said, slightly breathless from laughter.
“I guess you two will just have to go together,” Regulus said, earning him a glare from Barty.
“Oh, uh, yeah, I mean, if you want to,” Evan said to Barty.
“Of course, I want to,” Barty said. “I mean, yeah, that would be, uh, fine. We could do that.”
Regulus shared an amused look with Dorcas.
~~~
Narcissa sat under her favorite tree in the courtyard, reading a book. Although, her attention was hardly focused on what she was reading. She was too busy thinking about the ball. She would love to go, but no one had asked her, and it would be so embarrassing to attend by herself.
“Hey, Narcissa,” a voice surprised her from behind. Alice sat down in the grass next to Narcissa. She held out a small bouquet of freshly picked flowers. “Here.”
Narcissa accepted the bouquet. “Thank you, Alice.”
Alice smiled her goofy smile that Narcissa loved. It made her feel all warm and fluttery inside. Alice made her feel like that a lot.
“Would you like to go to the ball with me?” Alice blurt out.
Narcissa looked at her in surprise. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, smiley shyly. “The ball? With you? Together?”
“Um, yeah,” Alice waited nervously for a reply.
“I would love to,” Narcissa accepted.
Alice beamed, giving Narcissa a quick peck on the cheek. Narcissa gasped in surprise. Alice scrambled to her feet, leaving Narcissa in her shocked bliss. Narcissa held the little bouquet to her chest, sighing happily. Looks like she'd be attending the ball after all.