Not Him | Jily

Chapter Ten

Just as Professor McGonagall had instructed, the Gryffindors all arrived in the Great Hall at 11am on the frosty morning of 4th December for their ballroom dance lessons. Even the Marauders had managed to make it on time - but mostly because of Lily's non-stop badgering at them about it. James had then proceeded to tell the other three boys in private that "if it's important to Lily, then it's important to us--Padfoot, why are you smiling at me like that? I told you, I don't fancy her anymore".

The four house tables and the teacher table had been completely removed from the large room so that there was a large amount of floor space to move around in. Seeing the Great Hall look so bare was like looking at a hairless cat; it just felt wrong. Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall waited at the front where the teachers' seats normally were. The students gathered around the middle of the room, most of the girls eagerly chatting away, while most of the boys complained.

'Do you think they're secretly dating?' Marlene whispered to Lily, who was standing next to her. 'Dumbledore and McGonagall,' she clarified.

'10 gallons Dumbledore's gay,' Sirius whispered from behind them before Lily could reply.'

As Professor McGonagall called for silence, Lily added, 'That's ridiculous, Sirius.'

Remus shook his head next to Sirius, 'I'm with Pads on this one.'

'There's no way,' Peter said, grimacing on the other side of Remus.

'Definitely gay,' James argued, squinting in Dumbledore's direction.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, carefully eyeing the group of six. 'Sorry, sir,' Sirius loudly apologised. 'But we were just discussing if you--'

'As Professor McGonagall was saying,' Dumbledore interrupted, turning away from Sirius - but not before he could've sworn that Dumbledore winked at him. 'You will pick a partner - anyone you like - and when you hear this,' he gestured to Professor McGonagall, who waved her wand wordlessly and made a loud bang, shooting purple sparks up which rained down on all of them. 'You will switch partners.'

'Now,' Professor McGonagall took over. 'Traditionally, ladies, you will place your right hand on your partner's shoulder. Gentlemen, you will place your left hand, cupped, on your partner's shoulder blade like so,' she said, demonstrating with Dumbledore, which earned wolf whistles from both James and Sirius.

Once the demonstration was over, Marlene immediately rounded on James. She grabbed his arm, pulling him into a free space, 'So,' she began as they got into position. 'Who's this lucky girl I've heard you're bringing?'

A couple weeks prior, James had insisted that he was set on going "stag", but Marlene had heard from Sirius the previous day of how this was no longer the case.

As they danced in time to the music, James answered. 'Katherine Williams.'

'Wasn't she your partner in Potions for a while? I didn't think you liked her,' Marlene said after thinking for a moment.

James sighed, 'That's the one. She asked me, and I thought it couldn't hurt to say yes. I guess there were loads of better options though...' He sighed again, 'It's harder than I thought it'd be - being friends...I don't know if it makes it worse.'

'I thought you didn't fancy her anymore?' Marlene queried, knowing he was referring to Lily. 'She has a date too, you know? She's been keeping it kind of quiet.'

'Who?' He asked, definitely too fast for someone who "didn't fancy her anymore".

The truth was, he was confused. He loved being Lily's friend, but he was afraid that it wasn't enough for him. He had learnt to keep his feelings in check around her, and he was getting used to the idea that nothing more would happen between them, but being around her just felt right; as if it were fate. He felt dumb for thinking that. It was a ridiculous thought that everything could already be mapped out for you.