The Immeasurable Marauder

The Yule Ball

Our lives continued amid flurry of activity, homework was becoming more time consuming, more and more groups who had left their planning for the final moments before the dance were in serious danger of not getting everything done. 

Our dance lessons had concluded but we did decide to hold one more refresher before the dance. I had spoken to Severus about abandoning him in the corridor but he didn't seem to mind. 

We had picked up exactly where we had left off before, albeit that he was actually flirting with me a little. I couldn't be completely sure because it just seemed so out of character for him. I was actually sad that I wouldn't get a chance to spend time with him anymore. 

In the mean time, girls were on the prowl for dates. While it was perfectly acceptable to go stag, we were all hoping for dates.

Mary and Remus were going together which was perfect because they were perfect together. Alice and Frank were also going together but Lily and I didn't have dates. I knew that James was dying to ask her but for some reason he just didn't have the nerve. They were friendlier than ever though, Lily even actively seeking him out, but he still couldn't muster the right stuff. 

Sirius was still with Marlene, which was literally the highlight of her life. They had been dating for nearly three weeks and it had been the longest three weeks of my life. Marlene's voice had raised several octaves and, depending on how excited she was, she was only audible to bats, merpeople and, apparently, Emmeline. 

Strangely though, Sirius never seemed to be with her. He spent a lot of time with The Marauders instead and they had taken to disappearing more and more.

When I asked Mary what was going on, she said that the boys were helping Hagrid with something to keep them out of mischief. I ordered my dress though a catalogue and a week before the dance it arrived by owl.

"Girls!" Lily squealed coming in late one night after we had all gone to bed, "James asked me!" Mary immediately threw her hangings open to interrogate her.

"Lily! How? Are you dating now?"

"No! I told him I'd go to the dance with him but after that... who knows?"

"Lily! Give the guy a chance!" Mary was always on James's side.

"I am giving him a chance." Lily said offhandedly but her face was flushed in pleasure.

"LILY!" Screamed Mary abruptly. Alice clutched her chest in fright and I started to giggle, she was always such a drama queen, "You need to make sure that his robes don't clash with your hair! It's so important!" she said serious as Dragon Pox. I rolled over laughing. Lily looked unimpressed but eventually we were all giggling and gossiping about the boys.

The next morning we went down to breakfast happily but there seemed to be something in the air. Something just a bit off. The Marauders were very conspicuously absent from the breakfast table, something that only happened if there was a party the night before. They were always ravenous in the mornings. I looked to Mary but she just shrugged in response to my unspoken question. We sat down to French Toast, when in walked Marlene, puffy eyed and weepy. I didn't want to be caught looking so I went back determinedly to my food. I heard whispers around me; Gryffindor's on alert when I felt a hand on my shoulder. 

It was Severus. He stood an arm length away from me as though there was a repelling boundary around our house table. He looked very uncomfortable which was understandable considering his proximity to a seething mass of Gryffindor's. Even if The Marauders were absent, this was still hostile territory.