Sapphire was late. Again! It seemed all the girls had already gone down to the ball without her. She quickly made her way down to the Gryffindor common room to see a bright display of many colours and the excited chatter form the Gryffindors. This made her nerves return.

Julia, Lily and Tess were chatting away nearby. Sapphire carefully, walked over hoping not to trip in her long dress, "Hey girls!" She smiled. "You all look stunning."

Sapphire could feel the butterflies returning to her, "Shall we get going?"

Blair simply smiled, eyes downcast as Regulus kissed her hand. "M'Lord." She said, as she curtsyed again. As she stood to full height - her heels making her a staggering 5'11 - she fully looked at him through her mask and smiled. "You are too kind Regulus." Two seconds later, the smirk that could make almost anyone quiver was on her lips. "But I do look stunning." She winked at him through the mask and then looked over her shoulder as Gladys came down to join them.
Blair laughed softly at her best friends words. "Dyssie, you look stunning." She shot the other girl a wink and then curtsyed in her direction. "M'Lady." She then gave her best friend one of her fabled smiles.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Con Man

Looking around, there was still no side of Severus. Regulus turned back to the girls and sighed slightly. “Should be wait on Sev, or head on up to the ball?” Regulus asked, not really caring which one they did. He knew what Severus was going to be dressed up as, or he thought he did.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Babi

When he asked about leaving, "Well..I dont know, I'm not so particular on anything, but better we move than stuck here wihtout knowing his exact status.." she said, adjusting her curls and flipped one or two tedrils behind her ear,

She nodded. "I don't care, although I don't want to miss the drama of the dance. So, should we just go? I'm sure Severus is Man enough to walk through the school to get to the Great Hall himself." Blair laughed, "Sorry, I should not tease him so, he gets it enough from everyone else he doesn't need it from us too." She sighed a little then nodded. "Right, to the Ball!"

Was this how their dear Peter was going to be at the dance? James rolled his eyes as the boy couldn't even get things together even in a normal fashion. "I really can't do anything at the moment. I don't have my glasses and well..."

WAIT!

He could aim his wand and hope to hit something, whether it be the tail or just Peter himself. And even maybe he would knock some sense into the boy for a change...

And then James witnessed the swinging monkey tail that hit Sirius in the back of the legs, something he didn't need his glasses for. "Not a problem at all," he said as he took his wand out of his robes and aimed it towards the blurry thing that stood in front of him. "Does this mean that our bet is off because I still don't see this hairball with a female for the evening? Incarcerous," he said, sending a piece of rope flying to tie up whatever his wand aimed for, which was hopefully Peter.

Gladys grinned at Blair, "Aw..you're so sweet unlike the younger Black. Thank you!!" she bowed at her but stuck out a tongue at Regulus and returned her gaze to her friend. "He's so right honey, you look amazing..," she leaned and hugged her, lovingly.

She laughed. "Yeah, me too," she nodded as an agreement with Blair, "May be..Serverus would like to come with someone else.." she stopped abdruptly..not wanting to create the new gossiping subject.

Blair laughed lovingly, not in her cold detached manner that was her usual and grinned at Gladys. She fanned her face with her hand, "Guys, your making me blush." She joked, before she hugged Gladys back with just as much love. Gladys was the sole Slytherin she would trust with anything. Regulus and Severus next, then no-one.

Blair looked up at Gladys and shot Regulus the look. The one that said, we arn't going to talk about this. Ever. "Severus will meet us there." She said, with a definitive look before the turned and started to walk out of the common room. Everyone else, clearing for them; they looked like Royalty - and no-one could object.

Gladys was enjoying the time with her friend, her only genuine friend and ofcourse the younger Black. She and Blair was close with both REgulus and Severus, but as all knew Severus was always moody and making himself aloof.
This one was just another occasion for example.

She laughed at Blairs comment, "Oh..dear, It was true. No one can deny.." she nodded, assured, "And the pink shade in your cheeks will definetely make someone happy.." she shot a quick look at Regulus, chuckled.

In a fluid moment she turned and joined with Blair followed by Regulus. Three of them were lost their own thoughts generally about that particular night. Awesome!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackened

The angelic Sirius shrugged. "No, I think he did this to himself, actually. I don't remember talking him into anything this time..." He eyed James with an anxious, bored look. He really wanted to get out of the confines of that room, as far away from Peter as possible.



Sirius turned on his heel, his impressive wings fluttering behind him. Were they seriously going to waste more time in there waiting for Peter and his monkey business? "Yes, haha. Now hurry, will you?" he urged him while placing his wand carefully inside a hidden pocket in his white armour underneath the robe.

A blow in the back of his legs sent waves of pain through his body. He swore a couple of times, forgetting to stay in character. "You stupid monkey!!" Sirius finished off, hopping on his bed in order to get away from the rampaging Peter and his killer tail. Several fluffy feathers lay lifeless on the carpet where Peter had ran into Sirius.

"Do something, James! Tie him up to the chair or something - just don't let him come near me! I won't respond for my actions-" he glared at poor Wormtail, pondering whether to take out his wand and make use of it.

Peter's head was spinning faster than he was, he felt himself nearly getting sick... "NOOO!!!!! Just..... STOP MEEEEE!!!!!" he yelled, trying to keep his feet from moving, which made him nearly fall over. "It's... NOTTT MY .... FAULT!!!!" he shrieked to Sirius desperately. "PLLEEEEAAAASEEE!!!!" he screamed again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LadyNerd

Was this how their dear Peter was going to be at the dance? James rolled his eyes as the boy couldn't even get things together even in a normal fashion. "I really can't do anything at the moment. I don't have my glasses and well..."

WAIT!

He could aim his wand and hope to hit something, whether it be the tail or just Peter himself. And even maybe he would knock some sense into the boy for a change...


And then James witnessed the swinging monkey tail that hit Sirius in the back of the legs, something he didn't need his glasses for. "Not a problem at all," he said as he took his wand out of his robes and aimed it towards the blurry thing that stood in front of him. "Does this mean that our bet is off because I still don't see this hairball with a female for the evening? Incarcerous," he said, sending a piece of rope flying to tie up whatever his wand aimed for, which was hopefully Peter.

As ropes tied around Peter, his tail still flailed madly, only now Peter couldn't move. The momentum sent Peter spinning to a halt as his face connected with the floor. "GAH!!!!" he shouted on his way down, and then lay there, tied up and in pain, with his tail still spinning in the air above him. He groaned and let out a few words his mother would've washed his mouth out for using, and screamed, "MAKE IT STOPP!!!!!" at the top of his lungs, which meant the people in the next room could UNDOUBTEDLY hear him. "James!!! Sirius!!! Please!!!!" he begged, while a small trickle of blood released from his nose from his fall.

Tess seemed jittery and Lily couldn’t help but smile at her friends odd behavior. She had an idea as to why she might be acting so jumpy but wasn’t entirely sure. Lily wasn’t sure if she should be offended at Tess’ comment about the color of her dress. Not really putting much thought into it, Lily smiled. “Thanks Tess. I’m happy the color wasn’t a problem.”

Lily could feel her cheeks turn a slight shade of pink as Tess mentioned “a certain someone”. Lily only hoped he would take notice of her. These days he seemed to be more interested in pulling practical jokes, than paying attention to her.



Lily couldn't help but laugh at Julia's comment about James. "I don't believe James Potter is capable of sweeping anyone off their feet." She was lying of course, he had managed to sweep Lily off her feet many times. Not that she had ever told anyone or him for that matter, but it had happened.

"Besides my mask hides my face very well. Maybe he won't even recognize me." she winked at Julia as she placed her mask over her face once again. "So Julia will you be trying to impress anyone tonight?"

Turning suddenly as she heard another familiar voice, Lily saw that Sapphire had arrived. Never punctual but she always seemed to make it right on time. It was one of those things that didn't make sense but made perfect sense.

"As do you Sapphire. Your dress is absolutely gorgeous." Lily gave her a wink before turning to Julia. "Julia have you seen James lately?" she asked as she twirled a piece of her hair around her finger.

Severus Snape awoke from his nap in the Boys Dormitory. Glancing over at his cauldron-shaped clock, he sat up with a start, his heart racing wildly. Late for the masquerade ball! The others surely would have left him by now. Without wasting another moment, the greasy haired seventh year hopped out of bed and combed his hair as best as possibly. What to wear? It wouldn't really matter as that blasted Black and Potter would undoubtedly get all the attention anyway. At least Regulus had some sense to him.

Rummaging through his trunk, Severus' beady black eyes searched for something that would attract his one love's attention. No one knew of his obsession with those green eyes, but she seemed to enjoy his presence. He was much more deserving of her return love than that Potter brat. Sighing quietly, Severus pulled out a set of black dress robes, in which he slipped on over his white shirt and green Slytherin tie. The green shade that matched her eyes. Finally dressed, he pulled on a green mask over his face and hurried down to the common room.

The common room that he found to be surprisingly . . . empty? "Gladys? Blair?" he called for the two Slytherin girls who didn't seem to mind him so much. "Regulus?" All left. Without him. Bloody naps. Shaking his head, Severus left the common room and dashed off towards the Great Hall in pursuit of fellow Slytherins or Lily, whichever came first ...

Julia giggled. "Right, James Potter incapable of sweeping anyone off their feet. You do realize that even if all the girls in this school are after Black, half of them fancy James as well," She replied wittily. It was true. Eyes always followed The Marauders wherever they went. Of course Remus was already unavailable since he and Amy were together. Julia always thought that was the way to go. It seemed like Remus was really the only one with the brains in that group. Peter wasn't really much of a heartthrob but hanging out with the other three got him attention. As for James and Black, well, they were the playboys and pranksters. Everyone knew of course, that James fancied Lily, that's why he didn't have a girlfriend...and Black just loves all the attention. Julia rolled her eyes at the final thought.

"Ha!" was a very suitable remark for that statement. "James would recognize you even if you were covered all over with mud. He fancies you." Julia teased. Then of course came the question. Oh no, play it cool. That was sort of difficult since her cheeks began to turn almost the same color as her mask. "Um, no, no not really. Just looking forward to the ball, and maybe dance with a few people." Not a few people, just one. One. Other. Person. She she shook her head 'no', intending to lead Lily away from the subject, when she really shook her head because she knew everything she said was untrue.

Julia's head turn at the same time Lily's did. There was Sapphire. "Hello to you too." Julia greeted. "Always like being fashionably late, don't we?" she teased. "You look stunning as well, might turn a few heads," Julia said, winking.

Regulus grinned slightly as Blair curtsied again, m’lord, it was such an empowering phrase. Just hearing her say made him burn in pride as he threw on his mask that looked quite similar to the ones that the Death Eaters were running around wit these days. She drew up to full height, about as tall as he was in those heels. “I just speak the truth.” He said with a smirk of a grin, nodding his head in agreement as she stated that she did indeed look good. He’d never heard a truer statement.


Smiling to Gladys as she wondering why he didn’t compliment her as well, he sighed behind his mask. Because of Sirius, that’s why. is what he was thinking behind his dark eyes. Deciding it best not to start any drama, he nodded. “You look fantastic as well Gladys, as always.” He said in a bit of a non-chalant tone.



Regulus laughed at Blairs comment, calling Sev ‘man enough’. “I agree, Sev can handle himself.” He nodded to Blair and Gladys, taking one more sleeping look over at the boys dormitories. “He’ll be down in no time I’m sure,” he said with a mischievous gleam in his dark eyes as he turned to Blair and offered him his arm. “Shall we?” Regulus tapped his robe pocket once to make sure the vial was still there, oh this night was just going to be too good. Together, the headed to the ball, well aware of what destruction was going to be happening.

"Why thank you, Lily!" She giggled, as she spun around on the spot to show her dress off. She stopped as soon as Lily mentioned James. "We haven't even got to the ball and already he is the only thing on your mind." Sapphire teased.

Sapphire blushed at Julia's words, as was hoping the girls hadn't noticed. But they would have for sure. "There is nothing wrong about being fashionably late thankyouverymuch...And I'm not interested in turning heads. Welllll, maybe just one certain head."

Gladys bowed slightly, "Thank you, your Honour!!," said and laughed. "But I know what you are thinking behind that helpful mask.." she stuck out her tongue again. She knew that everybody was tired of her Sirius obsession. Regulus was not the exception.

She was walking alone along with Regulus and Blair were now hand in hand. Wearing a beautiful yet nervous smile on her face, she was expecting some wonderful moments. Let's see........

When they almost getting near the door, she heard the hurrying foodsteps behind them. By lot of experience it was not much difficult for Gladys to identify the person. Without looking back, she greeted Severus, "Finally, you made it..Severus." She knew what would be his reactions behind her.

Blair laughed softly, as Regulus agreed that Severus was old enough to look after himself... As if there was ever any doubt. She threw a smirk over her shoulder to Gladys that said, without saying anything, Its almost time to see Sirius. She curtsyed once again, as much as she could in a corset at least, and then slipped her hand into the crook of his arm, allowing him to escort her to the ball. Oh, this will be so good.

Hearing heavy footsteps, weird since Severus was normally quite light footed, but she knew somehow it was him. Blair tapped on Regulus' arm, and slowed down her steps so that Severus could catch up and join their enterage.


Blair laughed slightly, as they now walked to the all, everyone who was important. They stopped at the top of the corridor, and she turned to the other. "Ready for a night of mayhem, madness and mystery?" She winked at them all, through her masks and then continued into the Great Hall for the Masquerade.

Sirius had had enough. The night had started out awfully and if they weren't going to hurry, they would be the last ones to get to the ball. This to Sirius was inconceivable. Making an entrance was everything. And Peter was ruining the mood with his stupid antics. He pouted as the monkey-clad boy shouted at him for help.

"It's your fault, whichever way you look at it, Wormtail..." he said in a bored tone and proceeded to smooth some of the ruffled feathers in his left wing.

"And honestly, Prongs, put contacts on or something. You were dangerously close to missing your target," he replied nonchalantly to James, not really paying heed to Peter's calls for mercy. "Maybe we should just cast 'Silencio' on him and leave him here, what do you think?" Sirius asked his best friend, casting Peter a disdainful look, as the smaller boy was twitching and screaming. "Either way, I'm going. It's high time we went downstairs. Now who's coming with me?" he went to the door, swinging it open, and waiting in the doorstep for them.

Fancy James? Lily thought to herself while putting on a smile. Surely Julia was just saying that to ruffle Lily’s feathers. “Are we talking about the same James Potter?”

“I think anyone would be noticed if they were covered in mud Julia.” Lily shook her head at her friends’ remark and knew that she was right. James Potter did fancy her, and she was grateful that he only had eyes for her.

“Well Jules I’m sure you’ll be the object of many people’s affection. You look beautiful and I’m sure “anyone” would be happy to dance with you.” She gave Julia a subtle wink before turning to Sapphire.

“I resent that Sapphire I have many things on my mind and James Potter is at the bottom of that list.” She let out a small laugh as she blatantly lied to her friends. But it was true so far the topic of conversation had been James and his friends. She needed to get out more.

“One certain head Sapphire? And whose head might that be?” Lily questioned as she gently nudged Julia in the arm.

Peter screamed, "I'M NOT KIDDING SIRIUS DON'T BE A BLOODY PRICK!!!" with all the anger he could muster up in his fit of terror with the wild monkey tail which was still throwing him about awkwardly. Slowly, tears were beginning to form, "Just... help meeeee!!! Petrify the blasted thing will you?" He asked desperately. How could his friends look on and be so horrible to him?

Whimpering, Peter managed to force himself to roll over, somehow, bleeding from his nose, tears forming in his eyes, still tied up on the floor. "What did I ever do to you? You call yourself a friend, Sirius!? FINE see if I care, LEAVE Me here to DIE why don't you!!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, angrier than ever and hurt in many ways than one. Let's see how many people could hear him now.

Amy smiled in thanks as Professor McGonagall complimented her on her costume. "Thank you, Professor." With a nod of understanding, Amy turned towards Remus, but paused as Teresa suddenly appeared at their side.

Chuckling at Tess's comment on Remus' costume, Amy glanced over towards the group that Tess had been speaking with before making her way towards them.

Returning Julia's wave, Amy sent a wave of greeting to everyone else within the group. She wondered vaguely how tonight would turn out for everyone...particularly Lily.

Swatting Tess playfully as her best friend's words reached her, Amy gave her a mock glare. "Looking for someone in particular?" She teased.

Sapphire laughed at her friends obvious lie. "I think your list is upside down then, because I thought he was near the top of the list."

"Why don't you take a guess?" She blushed slightly. "Ok girlies, we must not keep the boys waiting any longer! Off to the Ball we go!" Sapphire said, starting to walk out of the common room.

Sirius didn't appear to be listening to Peter. He was staring with some interest at the door, holding it open, hopefully for James. As far as he was concerned, Peter might as well have been left in the Common Room - he was bound to only get in their way. At long last, when the screams had gotten quite insufferable, Sirius turned to Peter and languidly said: "Don't worry, if your life is in danger, I'll save you. This, however, is stupid and completely your doing. And I'm bored, so see if you can convince James to help you."

That being said, Sirius threw James another 'hurry, will you?' look and left the Common Room behind. Deep down, in his heart of hearts, he knew he shouldn't have left that poor wretch on the floor, whimpering, but Peter had managed to destroy his mood so fast that Sirius didn't particularly care anymore. He descended the stairs, his long fluffy wings making a whoosh! in his wake. The first thing he saw, as he came downstairs, was glitter. Lots of glitter, whether on their dresses or their lips or their hair. Blinded by the sight of all the girls dolled up, he stopped at the bottom of the stairs, looking quizzically at them. The halo above his head moved slightly as he turned his head, glancing at each and everyone of the girls.

"Dear Lord, such beauty... am I in heaven?" Sirius exclaimed, smiling at them, and thinking to himself that he had made such a great pun as never was heard before.

Her eyes didn't leave Remus's face until she heard her best friend's voice, her tone making Tess's cheeks gain a gentle tone of pink that had nothing to do with the few make-up she was wearing. However, the beam that was playing on her lips didn't waver for a moment. After all, it wasn't as if she had anything to hide from Amy and as for Remus... Well, she was sure he could keep it a secret if he were to find out who it was that she was waiting for, if he didn't know already, of course. As far as she was concerned, he was quite too intelligent not to have noticed.

"You already know the answer to that one," She reprimended her friend jokingly. As if to confirm her answer, her eyes wandered to the stairs for what was probably the one hundredth time that day. When would Sirius descend the stairs again?
And speaking of the devil...

"Sirius!," Teresa called joyfully, taking her hands from her hips to lift her skirts just enough for her to walk swiftly towards him, before any of his fangirls reached him. Oh yes, because she was certainly not going to allow any of the other girls to get a piece of him. Well, at least not as big as the one as she was going to get anyway. She'd see to that.

Once she reached him, she slid one of her arms around his. "Now, don't you look quite the angel?," She chuckled while fighting a growing temptation to reach up and poke his halo. "I've got a feeling McGonagal is going to love you tonight," She added. Truth to be told, she couldn't wait to see their professor's reaction to it. It was bound to be hillarious.

At long last, it seemed that the tail had run out of energy. Once he had been painfully abandoned by his friends... Peter wiggled around on the floor, still snotty, bloody, and tearful. "James are you still here?" He asked, hopefully, pitifully.... "James?!" He called one last time, desperation drenched in his voice, he would have been fine, had he not been tied up.

But, unfortunately for him, his once perky and "lively" tail now just hung there, limp and lifeless, sticking out of his backside, while he struggled to get to his feet without the use of his arms. He failed, quite miserably, and ended up rolling across the floor towards the door. His plan, was to call for help... But, he rolled a little too fast, and slammed himself into the doorframe.

With an "OOMF!" noise, he had managed to knock the wind out of himself, and laid there, gasping and panting for breath, not being able to take full size breaths because of his awkward positioning and the ropes around him tight.

Amy looked expectantly towards Tess, waiting for her to answer her question. Yes, she did know the answer perfectly well, but she enjoyed teasing her friend. It was quite the amusing experience.

"I do?" She asked innocently as she widened her eyes in what she hoped was a I-have-no-idea-what-you're-talking-about expression.

Once she noticed Tess's gaze move towards the staircase leading to the boy's dorm, Amy finally allowed a smirk to appear.

Perfect timing, as usual. She rolled her eyes playfully at Sirius' rather silly pun, though she had to admit that it was sort of cute considering how he was dressed. An angel? What was he thinking? Well..maybe the costume would rub off its meaning on him in some way; at least enough so that they wouldn't have as many incidents resulting from his pranking ways.

Before she could speak again, Amy noticed Tess hurrying across the room to meet Sirius.

Turning to Remus, she smiled. "Those two are something else...you want to run downstairs and make a quick round before the festivities begin?"

Sirius grinned as he heard his name called out from across the room. Of course he knew who the owner of that voice was. Tess and he had been good friends since forever, it seemed, and he had always got the vibe from her that she fancied him. It was inadvertent, he thought, all the girls gave off that vibe. And those who didn't... well, there was just something wrong with them, surely.

He permitted her to link her arm to his, giving her a winning smile. "I hope not only McGonagall will love me tonight..." he grinned in the general direction of the other girls, then looked back at Tess. He wondered whether he was being cruel - toying as he was with so many girls' (and not only girls', but his friends') emotions. Yet he couldn't help it. Play around he must, but when it came to serious things, he tried to keep his Gryffindor friends out of the arena. It was for this reason that most of his dates and girlfriends had been from either Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff - it had just been easier for everyone involved. And then again -- he couldn't help but think -- what if he was passing on the chance of his lifetime? One need only have thought of James and Lily, or Remus and Amy. They were all in Gryffindor and seemed so perfectly matched. Maybe it was possible, after all.

These unseeming thoughts wandered into his head as he saw the others glance over at him more or less admiringly. He knew he was handsome, and especially so tonight, with the white costume clashing so decidedly with his dark, aristocratic features. He knew it, and there was no reason to hide that knowledge. Let others call him cocky, Sirius didn't care. He was going to enjoy that night more than ever.

"Well, my dear, you look especially lovely tonight, if an angel may say so himself," Sirius complimented the pretty girl by his side, waiting to see her reaction, and quickly winking in Remus' direction, as self-congratulatorily as any male has ever winked.

Her eyes didn't stray from Sirius's face as he smiled back at her and eventually spoke back to her. In fact, she only did so as he turned his head to survey the crowd. Tess knew him well enough to know what it was that he was looking out for: the prettiest girl in the crowd to dance with. She rolled her eyes briefly, not yet feeling like wiping the smile from her face. Well, there was nothing she could do about it anyway. Sirius simply wouldn't be Sirius if he didn't study the female population, especially now that he could see them wearing something different from casual clothes or the uniforms themselves. Actually, it seemed like Sirius had indeed found his heaven.

"Believe me, over half of the population of this school is going to love you tonight," She breathed to him, unconsciously inclining her head towards him as her eyes focused on the faces of the girls who were throwing glares in her way. Hmm, it'd be so good to just wave and grin at them. Actually, she might just do it. But first, she'd have to be sure Sirius wasn't thinking of slipping away from her.

Feeling his eyes on her, she turned her face back to him, smiled and this one time, instead of following his gaze back to the crowd, she observed him. It didn't take long for her to raise her left brow. Now, he was looking rather thoughtful. My, that must be a first. And goodness, didn't it make him look even more handsome than he already was? Sadly, that was hardly the kind of expression she longed to see on his face that day. And so, holding both her fan and mask on one hand, she raised the other to poke his head gently. "No thinking today, Mr. Black, or should I say white tonight?," She teased, her beam back in place.

That beam grew the mere instant he spoke to her again. Ah, that was the Sirius she was used to! "You may, indeed," She agreed with a chuckle. "I don't think heaven forbids angels from complimenting girls," She added, ignoring the wink he was sending to -- ah, Remus, it seemed. No harm done, then. She rolled her eyes yet again. Ah, the male ego. "Though, if you don't mind me asking, does that mean you thought me lovely before today?"