Epiphany

21 ~ The Yule Ball

It was the day of the Yule Ball and every student - fourth year and above - had the day off to prepare. The teachers were busy setting everything up, so lessons had been cancelled, much to everyone's delight. 

Well, everyone except Lily. She would much rather be in a potions lesson with Potter than getting ready with Marlene, Dorcas and Alice - and that was saying something, because those lessons were a thing of torture. Even though she'd come around to the girls, she was still irritated by their gossiping. It was even worse with Mary in the infirmary, because now they couldn't stop talking about her and James' relationship. Lily couldn't bear hearing them debate whether or not he was a good boyfriend, not when that was what she had been wondering for years.

"I still don't get why they like each other," Marlene announced as she sprayed what Lily thought to be an unreasonable amount of perfume. "She's so quiet, and he's so..."

"Loud?" Dorcas suggested.

"I was thinking more like confident, but that works."

"So, are we thinking blue or red?" Alice asked, transfiguring her dress to each colour. They'd all bought their dresses in Hogsmeade a few days ago, but she hadn't been able to choose which one she preferred.

"Blue: it brings out your eyes," Marlene said after a moment's deliberation. "But anyway, what do you think James is gonna do tonight? I mean, it'd be weird if he danced with anyone else, right?"

"Mary said she'd understand if he did," Alice responded, finally settling on a deep indigo.

"Yeah, but we all know she'd be heartbroken."

Dorcas watched Lily, who'd been ready for hours (she wore a silver dress which Marlene had approved). "More importantly, what're you doing tonight?"

Marlene and Alice's attention switched to Lily, much to her dismay. She'd been quite happy staying under the radar.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on Lily." Mar rolled her eyes. "We're asking who you're gonna be dancing with."

"You did sign up for a partner, didn't you?" Alice asked.

"I did," Lily said, "But they don't tell you til the evening. It's stupid really, I mean, what if it was someone you didn't get on with?"

"Like James?" Alice asked, pointedly. She'd been bringing him up all week and Lily didn't appreciate it. "Mary said she told him to sign up for a random partner, too."

"I'm sure Mary'd be more comfortable with that," Dorcas chimed in, "At least then she'd know it wasn't romantic or anything."

"Well," Lily said, wanting to change the subject as soon as possible, "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

"It won't. The assigned partners have been picked magically, so only couples with chemistry are chosen." Alice stated, which both helped and didn't.

A few hours later and all the Gryffindors were standing around in the common room, waiting for McGonagall to send for them. Everyone was chatting excitedly amongst themselves, sharing who they were dancing with and wondering what the hall might look like. Every student wore gorgeous gowns or sophisticated suits, even Sirius and James, who'd worn either their robes or casual muggle clothing the past five years (Lily presumed they dressed up at the last Yule Ball, but she and Severus had opted to not attend).

Lily stood alone in the corner of the room, determined to escape all notice. Needless to say, she was utterly horrified when none other than James Potter crossed the room towards her.

"Hi," She said, awkwardly. They hadn't spoken since the incident at Hogsmeade.

"Hey," He replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "You seemed lonely."