Chapter 3
Severus looked himself over in the mirror for what felt like the thousandth time that night. He hated his outfit, he hated his hair, he hated this stupid dance. He let out a choked gag and scrunched his face at his reflection. His nervous gagging was starting.
Lily was probably already waiting for him, so he took one last look in the mirror and left the room.
Severus had chosen an all-black ensemble with a cape that billowed out around him as he walked. He had washed his hair for the night, but it still looked greasy and had zero volume. His face looked as dull and unattractive as always. He kind of wished he could borrow some of Lily’s lip gloss or mascara to make himself a little prettier, but he was far too embarrassed to ask.
Severus met up with Lily and Mary, and the three of them headed to the dance together. Severus was still upset about having to attend the ball with Mary, but he kept that to himself.
She didn't seem too pleased about it either, judging by the way she ignored him the entire time, only talking to Lily. He did the same thing while Lily jumped between two different conversations. Severus decided then that he disliked Mary. She ruined his night, and she gave him weird looks when he started gagging. Eventually, Mary asked Lily if she wanted to dance.
“Sure,” she happily accepted the invitation. “Do you want to dance, Sev?”
Severus muttered a refusal and watched the girls scamper away together. He put his arms on the table and laid his head down. What was he even doing here? Making a show of his miserable life as his happy classmates dance around him.
He heard someone sit down next to him, and he refrained from looking up, fearing who it would be. He hoped in vain that it was just some other bored student who was also alone. Severus knew that was unlikely, though.
He felt a hand stroke the back of his head. “Hello, Severus,” Lucius Malfoy greeted.
Severus retreated from Lucius’s touch. Why couldn't Lucius choose someone else to bestow his affections on? Severus was positive many girls would jump at the chance. Or boys, whatever.
“I’m not in the mood, Lucius.” He was never in the mood, actually.
“Why not?” Lucius persisted.
Severus gave him an unamused glare. He slouched in his seat, wishing he could become invisible or sink into a hole in the ground. Anything would be better than sitting here being bothered while Lily was off dancing with someone else.
Lucius stood up, and for a moment, Severus thought he was in the clear. Of course, he wasn't. Lucius grabbed his arms, pulling him up.
“Let's dance,” he said.
“Let's not.” Severus pulled himself out of Lucius’s grasp.
Lucius took his hand instead, tugging him forward. He dragged him over to the dance floor and pulled him close. Lucius put one of Severus’s hands on his shoulder, and his own hand snaked around his waist.
“Isn't this nice?”
“No.” Severus looked down at his feet, watching his movements carefully. Lucius glided gracefully across the floor while Severus stumbled along with him.
Maybe Lucius would realize what a bad dance partner he was, and he'd leave him be.
“You're certainly no dancer,” Lucius said mockingly. “Didn't you ever learn to dance?”
Didn't Lucius ever learn not to be such an entitled fucking toff? Severus didn't say that out loud. He simply answered that, no, he hadn't.
“Why?”
“Because I'm poor.”
Lucius made a face at that comment as if he hadn't known this about Severus. Or he couldn't fathom anyone living a less privileged life than his.
“Well, luckily for you, you've got me to lead you.”
Severus restrained himself from rolling his eyes. He couldn't hold back another one of his nervous retches.
“What's wrong with you?” Lucius gasped.
“Nothing,” Severus muttered. He was regretting coming to this stupid ball. Why couldn't he just be normal?
He tried to peer over Lucius to find Lily and Mary. He spotted them in the crowd, dancing and laughing together. The sight of Mary’s hand in Lily’s made him want to puke. Why did they look so happy? He wondered what they were talking about.
Lily also noticed Severus dancing with Lucius. She guessed it wasn't of his own free will. Lucius was so annoying. He was almost as annoying as James, but at least Lucius had some class.
“Is that Severus dancing with Lucius Malfoy?” Mary asked with an amused grin. “Are they a thing?” she whispered.
“Absolutely not,” Lily huffed. “Malfoy wishes. He just enjoys pestering Sev.”
“Oh.” Mary sounded slightly disappointed. “Lucius likes him?” She brightened a little.
“Likes bothering him, perhaps. He's always writing him notes and giving him gifts?” Lily didn't mind the gift giving, but she knew how much it irritated Severus.
“Malfoy does all that?” Mary asked, the shock evident in her voice. “He must be really into Severus, then. I can't imagine someone as stuck up as him would do all that if he wasn't for real.”
“Yeah, well, some people like to flirt with others as some kind of cruel joke,” Lily said. “Malfoy probably finds it amusing to make Severus think he'd ever consider him.”
“Oh, that's terrible,” Mary said. She had a feeling Lily wasn't only talking about Severus and Lucius’s situation, but she didn't press further.
“Would you like something to drink?” Lily asked Mary, changing the subject.
“Sure.” Mary nodded. She sat back down at their table while Lily got their drinks.
Lily nearly bumped into Remus as she came up to the dessert table. He was holding a plate piled with food dripping with chocolate.
“Sorry,” he said around a mouthful of bread. He put his hand on her arm to steady them.
Lily suppressed a disgusted look as she glanced down at her sleeve. Luckily, he hadn't gotten chocolate on it.
“M’sorry about James, by the way,” he said. She assumed he was talking about when James had asked her to the ball. Or maybe just his existence in general.
“Oh, yeah, it's fine,” she brushed him off.
Remus nodded his head, licking some chocolate off his fingers. “He got a date, so he won't be bothering you tonight.”
“He got a date?” Lily asked incredulously.
“Weird, I know.” Remus dipped a biscuit into the chocolate fountain and shoved it into his mouth. “Anyways, don't tell anyone I told you that.” Remus gave her a broad grin. He had a bit of chocolate on the side of his mouth.
“Alright,” Lily giggled. Remus was much nicer than his friends. He lacked a certain amount of decorum, but he seemed sweet.
Speaking of no decorum, Sirius came rushing up to the sweets table, seizing Remus by the arm. “Remus, what are you doing?”
“Eating.”
“Well, stop eating. I wanna dance.” Sirius swiped one of the little cakes from Remus’s plate before taking it and setting it down on the table. “Come on!” He tugged Remus onto the dance floor.
“Sirius,” Remus muttered. He stumbled over his own feet. Sirius pulled him in by the waist, steadying him. He put Remus’s hands on his waist and threw his arms around his neck.
Remus felt a heat creeping up his face, and he hoped it wasn't visible to Sirius.
“You look dashing tonight, Moony,” Sirius smirked.
“You don't look too bad yourself,” Remus said.
“Charmed, I'm sure,” Sirius said in a mock haughty voice.
“Enchanted,” Remus droned. He tried to keep his steps in time with Sirius’s, but he was too quick.
“You know, I've never danced with a commoner before,” Sirius said, an amused smirk on his face.
“And I've never danced with an idiot before, but here we are,” Remus replied.
Sirius narrowed his eyes at him. He glided across the floor, pulling Remus along and nearly tripping him in the process. Remus glared at Sirius, who gave him a sickeningly sweet smile.
“You're actually the worst person ever.” Remus scowled at him.
“It's not my fault you can't dance,” Sirius teased.
“I didn't even want to dance,” Remus reminded him. “You forced me.”
“You're not that bad,” Sirius said.
“Are you making fun of me?” Remus frowned. His clumsy attempts at dancing were definitely bad, especially next to Sirius’s elegant movements.
“Not at all,” Sirius assured him. His smile was sincere now. “I'm quite enjoying dancing with you.”
“O-oh,” Remus stuttered. Sirius was such an idiot, but for some reason, he made Remus’s heart beat faster than normal. To be fair, a lot of things made Remus’s heart beat faster than normal. But Sirius was different. He was Sirius.
Mary and Lily were watching this scene from afar.
“Are they dating, you think?” Mary whispered.
“Judging by the way they're drooling over each other, I'd say so.” Lily laughed.
“I think they're cute together,” Mary stated.
“Is he, you know?” Lily gave a downward flick of her wrist.
“Why do you think we didn't work out?” Mary chuckled. She and Sirius had a brief fling earlier that year. It had only lasted a few weeks and resulted in both of them realizing they had different tastes than they'd previously thought. Everyone had loved the fact that they were together, and it was quite a disappointment when they broke up, despite only being together for barely over a month.
Mary let out a startled yelp as someone nearly crashed into their table. James Potter slammed his hands down on the table, panting and looking around. His eyes scanned the room before landing on the girls in front of him.
“Hey, Lily.” He smiled at her.
“Uh, hey.” She drew her lips together tightly. “Why are you running around like that?”
“Oh, just trying to escape my death,” he said casually.
“Do us a favor and let it catch you,” she retorted.
James’s mouth fell open, his eyes fluttering in surprise. “Okay,” he said in an offended tone. He eyed the two girls sitting before him, then turned his attention back to Lily.
“You're a lesbian?”
“I- are you serious?” Her face flushed in anger. “Is that the only way you could fathom a girl turning you down?”
“Uh, yeah.” James nodded his head in his usual obnoxious way.
Lily huffed indignantly. “For your information, I'm not a lesbian.”
“Oh,” James’s mouth curled into a smile. “You look really pretty tonight.”
“Piss off, Potter!”
James waved a hand at her, giving a dismissive headshake before stalking off. James searched the dance floor to find Regulus, who he'd left alone when he ran off. He didn't mean to leave so abruptly, but he had nearly been spotted by Sirius. There was no way he was letting Sirius find out that he’d taken his little brother to the ball.
He found Regulus sitting alone and slid into the seat next to him. “Sorry about that.”
Regulus raised a brow at him. “Why do you keep doing that?” That was the third time James had left him without explanation.
“Oh, um,” James hesitated as he thought of an excuse. “I drank too much coffee, and now I'm really hyper.”
“So you…ran around the room?” Regulus didn't find that believable at all. Did James think he was that daft? It wasn't a mystery why James kept leaving. He was trying to avoid being seen with Regulus. He was embarrassed, no doubt.
“Yes, exactly,” James exclaimed.
Regulus stood up, and James quickly followed.
Regulus turned to face him, but James dropped to his knees, hiding behind the cover of the table. He was pretending to tie his shoe, which clearly had no laces.
“I'm gonna go find Pandora,” Regulus told him, walking away before James could respond.
Regulus saw Pandora dancing with some guy and headed toward her. He grabbed the guy by the shoulder and tugged him back.
“Move, random guy.” He gave Pandora a look to tell her they desperately needed to talk.
“I'll be right back,” she said to her date.
“What's wrong?” she asked, linking arms with Regulus.
“James keeps running away from me?” She gave him a weird look, and he explained. “He’s acting strange. I think he doesn't want to be seen with me.”
Pandora gave his arm a comforting squeeze. “Do you want to ditch him and hang out with me?”
“I don't want to intrude on your date.”
“Why don't you just say to James, why did you even ask me to this stupid dance if you didn't want to be with me?”
“Yeah, okay,” Regulus muttered. Pandora gave him a reassuring smile and went back to her date. Regulus debated whether or not he should just make a run for it.
He saw James coming toward him, glancing around cautiously.
“Hey, babe.” James flashed him his winning smile.
“Erm,” Regulus tried to speak, but he was too flustered, caught off guard by the nickname.
“Problem, dear?” James was not making this easy.
“What's your problem?” Regulus demanded. “Why did you even ask me to this stupid dance if you didn't want to be with me?”
James’s smile faded. “I do wanna be with you, I just-”
“Just what? You're embarrassed by me?”
“No, no, of course not!”
“Then what is it?” Regulus felt his face grow hot, angry tears stinging his eyes.
“I'm hiding from your brother,” James admitted.
Oh. That actually made sense. Regulus could understand why someone would want to hide from Sirius. He hadn’t even considered what he’d think about him and James attending the ball together. Not that Regulus cared.
“Does it matter if he sees us?” Regulus asked. “He can stuff it.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one whose life is on the line!”
“Are you really that afraid of Sirius?” Regulus asked, a taunting smile playing across his lips.
“I’m afraid of dying for no reason!”
Fair enough. However, Regulus wished James would've just told him that earlier.
“Would you like to take a walk?” Regulus asked.
James gave him a relieved smile and nodded. Regulus took his arm, and they headed outside together. They walked through the courtyard, along the path near the rose bushes.
Regulus found James a lot more pleasant to be around when he wasn't running around like a frightened squirrel. James unhooked their arms and let his hand fall next to Regulus’s. Regulus felt James’s fingers brushing against his own.
“Did I mention how stunning you look tonight?” James said.
Regulus blushed at the compliment. James thought he was stunning. Regulus wanted to tell James he looked stunning too. He wanted to tell him that he liked being around him and he'd like to do this again. Maybe somewhere Sirius wasn't present. Instead, he said, “Whatever, loser.”
James laughed, scrunching his nose and giving Reg a wide grin. He slipped his hand in Reg’s and started running through the courtyard. Regulus didn't know where they were going, but he let James pull him along.
Unbeknownst to James and Regulus, they'd been spotted on their way out.
“No way,” Mary gasped.
Lily stared after them, mouth agape. She recalled Remus telling her James had got a date. She never would've guessed it to be his own best friend’s brother.
“Scandalous,” Lily whispered, sending her and Mary into a fit of giggles.
“I wonder how Marlene’s night is going,” Mary said.
The two girls scanned the dance floor for any sight of Marlene and Dorcas.
“How late do you think she'll be staying out tonight?” Lily smirked.
“If she ever takes her shot, that is,” Mary corrected.
With the way Marlene and Dorcas were gazing at each other like love-drunk fools, it'd be surprising if either of them got an intelligible word out.
They had their fingers interlocked because Marlene had declared Dorcas’s dress too beautiful to touch. Dorcas didn't know that Marlene had been practicing her dancing with Mary and Lily all week. Marlene was feeling very confident with her dance skills. She moved across the floor with exaggerated movements and little rhythm.
“Nice moves,” Dorcas commented, laughing a bit to herself.
“Thank you.” Marlene smiled at the compliment. Marlene was usually very talkative, but something about Dorcas made her a bit more nervous about her words.
Dorcas wanted to tell Marlene how pretty she was and that she liked her outfit. But she didn't want to be weird.
They danced together in silence, neither one wanting to be the first to say something. Though both girls could think of quite a few compliments they'd like to give the other.
“You look snazzy tonight,” Marlene spoke up.
“Snazzy?” Dorcas chuckled at the word.
“Yeah, you look cool.” Marlene bit her lip nervously.
“Thanks,” Dorcas said, glancing downward. “You look cool, too.”
“You think?” Marlene grinned. “It's cool, right?”
“Yeah, it's cool,” Dorcas said softly. “You're cool.”
“O-oh,” Marlene stammered. “Yes, I mean, thank you.” She ducked her head so Dorcas couldn't see the blush on her face. “You're cooler.”
“Thanks,” Dorcas laughed.
The lively music playing began to transition into a slower tune. The girls shared bashful looks.
“You could put your hand on my shoulder,” Dorcas offered. “If you want.”
“Yes. I mean, okay,” Marlene giggled nervously. She put one hand on Dorcas’s shoulder, and Dorcas wrapped an arm around Marlene’s waist. They smiled shyly at each other.
Barty and Evan were watching the happy couples on the dance floor, growing more bored every second.
“This is so boring, mate,” Barty said. He leaned back in his seat, tapping his foot impatiently.
“Yeah,” Evan agreed distractedly.
“You want to do something about that?” Barty pulled out his wand, grinning mischievously. Evan put on a matching grin.
They crept closer to the dance floor, making sure not to be spotted. Barty aimed his wand and, with a wink in Evan’s direction, said the spell. The dance floor lit up with crackling fireworks, the couples scattering in fright.
Barty clapped Evan on the shoulder, shaking with laughter. He leaned his head against Evans's chest, and Evan lost himself in his own amusement. He put his hand on Barty’s bare back.
Dorcas, who'd fallen over in the chaos, spotted the cackling boys.
Those idiots! They completely ruined her moment.
Marlene offered her hands to help pull Dorcas up.
“That was kind of funny,” she chuckled.
“Funny?” Dorcas asked. Perhaps Marlene didn't notice they were having a moment. Or she appreciated pranks more than romantic dancing.
“Totally,” she laughed. “Hey, you want to go outside?” she asked suddenly.
“Outside?”
“Yeah, you know,” Marlene gestured with her hands as if to express whatever point she was trying to make.
“Oh, yes, outside,” Dorcas said, uncertain if she and Marlene were actually referring to the same thing.
Turns out, she was. They walked along the path near the rose bushes. Everyone knew the rose bushes were where you went to have ‘a moment’.
They walked hand in hand, neither knowing if they should initiate something. And both wanting to.
Dorcas turned to look Marlene in the face. “I'm really having fun tonight,” she said.
“Me- what the?” Marlene interrupted herself. She stared over Dorcas’s shoulder, her mouth wide open. Dorcas turned around to see what she was staring at. She saw James and Regulus standing on the path together.
“Oh my god, James!” Marlene called, running up to them. “Why didn't you tell me?” She gestured wildly at Regulus.
“I didn't tell anyone,” James pointed out. “And you better not tell anyone either.”
Marlene gave him a smug smirk. “And why would I do that?”
“Because you're a good friend?” he offered weakly.
“Hmm, what else?”
“What do you want? I'll do anything, just don't tell Sirius,” James begged.
“I won't,” Marlene said with a smirk. “If you tell me everything that went down tonight.”
“Fine,” James groaned. “If you tell anyone about this, I will physically beat you.”
Marlene rolled her eyes at her friend.
“Can we go in? My feet hurt,” Regulus said.
“Sure.” James gave Marlene a warning look before following Regulus inside.
“Well, now that they're gone,” Dorcas smirked.
Marlene smiled at her. “Where were we?”
James and Regulus sat at their table together, and Regulus made another attempt to remove his boots.
“Do you need help?” James asked.
Regulus looked up at him in surprise. He didn't really want to subject himself to such embarrassment, but he agreed nonetheless. Maybe James could free him from these unrelenting shoes.
James got on his knees and tried to tug off Regulus’s shoe. “Why is your shoe so tight, mate?”
Regulus sighed in response.
James looked up at Regulus with fondness all over his face. He admired how good Regulus looked in his ball clothes. His mesh top sent James’s pulse racing. His soft curls framed his face gorgeously.
“You look pretty tonight,” James said.
Regulus frowned at the compliment. James instantly felt self-conscious. Had he said something wrong?
“What is it?” he asked.
“Nothing,” Regulus mumbled.
“No, tell me.” James urged. “Did I say something?”
James looked up into Regulus’s face, trying to meet his eyes.
“I don't like being called pretty,” Regulus admitted. He was desperately avoiding meeting James's gaze.
“Oh, that's it?” James breathed a sigh of relief. “What should I call you then? Handsome, cute, striking?”
Regulus was surprised at how normally James had reacted. He didn't even look at him funny. “Anything else is fine.”
“Well, then you look-” James was cut off by Regulus giving him an alarmed look. He made swift motions for James to crawl under the table. James followed without question. In a moment, he heard Sirius’s voice.
“Hey, Regulus,” he said.
Regulus didn't speak, hoping if he ignored his brother, he'd go away. No such luck.
“Are you ignoring me?”
Regulus looked around as if wondering where the sound had come from. “Is that the wind?”
“We’re inside, you loser,” Sirius said, annoyance clear in his voice.
“You can hear the wind from inside, twit,” Regulus retorted.
“I knew you were ignoring me!”
“Wow, how'd you figure it out?” Regulus rolled his eyes.
“Why are you alone?” Sirius asked, ignoring his brother’s comment. “Couldn't get a date?” he teased.
“And where's your date?” Regulus countered.
“I actually have a date,” Sirius said proudly.
“Did he run away?”
“No!” Sirius huffed. “He's just eating chocolate, probably.”
“Okay?” Regulus sent his brother a sideways glance.
Sirius glanced Regulus up and down. He thought his outfit made him look rather dashing, but he didn't want to say that. “You don't look as horrible as I would've expected.”
“Uh, thanks.” Regulus raised a brow at his brother.
“Your outfit isn't the worst thing I've seen tonight.”
“What's the worst thing you've seen tonight?”
“Your face,” Regulus answered, grinning at his own joke.
Sirius narrowed his eyes at his brother, pouting angrily. “How dare you.”
“Oh, calm down,” Regulus brushed him off. He examined his brother. His dark curls and shiny earrings looked pretty against his glittering face. “I'm sure your boyfriend thinks you look great.”
Sirius crossed his arms dramatically, his cape swaying around him. “Whatever,” he muttered, his cheeks pinking slightly.
“Are you two truly together?” Regulus asked, something like excitement in his voice.
“That's none of your business.”
“You're not?” Regulus laughed. “You're so pathetic. You're at the ball together, it's not as if he doesn't like you.”
Sirius seemed to consider this for a moment. “No.” He shook his head, washing away the idea. “It's not like that. He definitely doesn't like me, we're friends.”
“Alright,” Regulus put his hands up in defense. “I don't know why anyone would like you, anyway.”
“You're so mean to me, I don't know why I even bother speaking to you.”
“Why don't you go talk to your ‘friend’ instead?” Regulus teased.
“Perhaps I will,” Sirius retorted. He flung his cape behind him and strode off. Regulus laughed to himself as he watched his dramatic brother go.
James crawled out from under the table, peering around. “That was close.”
Sirius went over to the table where Peter was sitting. He picked up Peter’s cup, downing his drink and setting it back on the table. “Thanks, Pete,” he said and walked off.
Peter nodded at Sirius, drawing his lips together tightly. That was the only interaction he'd had all night. And Sirius barely spoke a word to him. He held the empty cup in his hands. It had flecks of glitter from Sirius’s lip gloss on the rim.
Peter wondered if anyone would notice if he left. Doubtful. They hardly noticed him when they were together. He wondered what would happen if he just became a supervillain. What would they do about that?
“Hey, mates, I'm a supervillain now,” he muttered to himself. “Pretty crazy, isn't it?”
“Oh, yeah, Peter,” he put on a high-pitched voice. “That's cool. We're going to the ball together, bye.”
He heaved a sigh and rested his head on his hands.
He got up and made his way to the dessert table. Maybe some treacle tart would cheer him up. He saw two boys sneaking around the table, carrying off entire plates of sweets.
Just his luck. Even the sweets didn’t want to be around him.
Evan and Barty, who were the ones snagging the desserts, snuck off to enjoy their stolen goods. They ran into Lucius Malfoy on their way out.
“What are you doing?” he asked scornfully.
“Nothing,” both boys said at the same time.
Lucius regarded them with disgust.
“Relax, Malfoy,” Barty said, grabbing a little cake from the plate in Evan's hand. “Have some cake.” Barty gave the cake to Lucius, smooshing it in his hand.
Lucius yelped in surprise, shaking the cake off his hand. He wiped his hand on Barty’s suit jacket, smearing him with pink icing. Barty just continued laughing.
“You people are disgusting.” Lucius stormed off. He found Severus sitting at the table where he'd left him moments ago. He leaned one elbow on the table, resting his head against his fist and staring at Severus.
“Why is there icing on your sleeve?” Severus asked him.
“Some fools did that,” Lucius replied, wiping at his sleeve with a napkin. He folded it and turned back to Severus. “Would you like to step outside?”
“Why?”
“Because I thought it’d be nice,” Lucius offered. “We could take a little stroll out by the rose bushes. If you know what I mean?”
Severus did know what he meant, and he certainly didn't think it'd be nice. “I'd rather not,” he declined.
Lucius leaned forward on his elbows, staring at Severus. He kept his eyes locked on him, a smile plastered on his face.
“Are you planning on looking at me like that until I say yes?”
“Is it working?”
“Fine,” Severus sighed. He let Lucius drag him outside.
Lucius slipped his hand into Severus’s, interlocking their fingers. Severus didn't protest. They strolled the ground like that, hand in hand, the cold air nipping at their faces.
“This is quite romantic, isn't it?” Lucius said.
“Very,” Severus droned.
Lucius moved to stand in front of Severus. He tucked a strand of Sev’s hair behind his ear and brushed the back of his hand against his cheek. Lucius brought their faces close together. Severus could smell his expensive cologne.
Lucius closed the space between them, pressing their lips together. Severus gasped in surprise, but he didn't pull away. Severus had never been this close to someone, and he'd never been kissed before. Even though it was Lucius, it still felt oddly good. Severus had never felt wanted like this.
Lucius pulled away and stared at Severus with watery, silver eyes. The moonlight cast a soft glow over his fair skin. He reached down and began unbuttoning Severus’s top.
“What-” Severus pushed Lucius’s hands away from his chest. “What are you doing?”
Of course, Lucius had to ruin the moment. Severus didn't know what he'd been thinking. It was Lucius Malfoy, after all.
“Calm down for once,” Lucius said with a mocking laugh. “Have a bit of fun.”
Lucius made another attempt at Severus’s buttons. “This is going to be really sexy once we get down to the fifteenth button.”
“You won't be getting that far.” Severus slapped Lucius's hands away. He redid his buttons, ignoring Lucius’s persistent words.
“You’re so stiff all the time,” Lucius said.
“You’re one to talk,” Severus snorted.
Lucius huffed indignantly, crossing his arms. “Fine then, go be boring and lonely. But I assure you you’ll never get another offer like this.”
With that, Lucius stormed off. He hoped his humiliation wasn’t as clear to Severus as he felt it to be. Lucius didn’t see any point in returning to the ball. There was nothing else he wanted from tonight. He headed back to the ball anyway. Perhaps a drink might do him good. He spied Narcissa standing alone and walked over to her.
“Hello, Cissy,” he said, slipping his arm into hers.
“Hello, Lucius.” She gave him an amused smile. “Did your date turn you down?”
“Of course not,” Lucius huffed. “What an absurd accusation.”
“Hmm, of course,” Narcissa hummed. “How could I think such things?”
Lucius nodded seriously. “You look lovely tonight,” he changed the subject.
Narcissa was wearing a deep green silk dress, a silky shawl draped around her arms. Her jewelry had matching green jewels. Her dress unintentionally matched Lucius’s green and black ensemble.
“Thank you.” She smiled pleasantly. “You look very handsome.”
Lucius flipped his long hair over his shoulder. “I know,” he said. Narcissa suppressed a laugh and raised her brow in amused question.
“Should we dance?” Lucius asked. He looked as if he was holding back his laughter. “Seems right that a future husband and wife dance together, does it not?”
“I would,” Narcissa said, patting Lucius’s gloved hand. “But I actually have a date.”
This statement seemed to spark Lucius’s interest. “Oh? And who might the lucky man be?”
Narcissa freed herself from Lucius’s hold. “Wouldn’t you love to know?”
“Yes, I would.” Lucius frowned.
He didn’t have to wait long to find out. He saw a girl with choppy brown hair coming toward them. She was wearing a long white dress with colorful embroidered flowers on it and a matching cape.
She took Narcissa’s hands, dropping them quickly after. She looked between Lucius and Narcissa, uncertainty on her face.
Lucius cocked his head at the girl, pressing his lips together. Lucius knew exactly who she was, and he thought her unsuitable for someone like Narcissa. Polite, but unrefined, and a rather unattractive girl.
Narcissa didn’t seem to care about any of that. She took the girl, Alice, by the hand and waved goodbye to Lucius. He sent her a smirk and let her go. At least one of them would have fun tonight.
“So,” Alice said, drawing out the word. “What do you want to do?”
“What do you want to do?” Narcissa repeated.
“Well.” Alice stared at Narcissa, nibbling at her lip thoughtfully. “Perhaps we could find an empty classroom to sneak off to?”
Narcissa giggled nervously, covering her mouth with her hand. She tucked a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear.
She knew she wasn’t behaving the way proper ladies should, but she had ignored those rules when she agreed to go to the ball with Alice. A bit more rule breaking seemed like the only right way to end the night.
She accepted Alice’s invitation, and they snuck away from the ball. They hid inside a deserted classroom, narrowly escaping the caretaker.
The girls stifled their laughter, trying to keep quiet. Narcissa hurriedly pulled herself up onto a desk. Alice pushed Narcissa’s legs apart, moving her dress up her thighs, and stood between them.
Narcissa cupped Alice’s face, kissing her eagerly. Alice deepened the kiss, leaning into Narcissa. Narcissa ran a hand through Alice’s messy hair.
Alice trailed her fingers higher up Narcissa’s thighs.
“May I?” Alice whispered.
Narcissa nodded, and Alice pushed up the silk past her hips. She grinned up at Narcissa, stealing another kiss.
Narcissa decided then that it had definitely been a perfect night.