Not a Monster (Marauder fanfic)

32- The Time Of Our Lives

Marlene was thrilled when Sirius asked her to the dance, as she had been secretly hoping that he would. Dorcas and Mary weren't left out either, as they had both been asked out by two Ravenclaw boys in their year.
Only those in their 7th year, could attend the Christmas dance, though you could bring someone younger as your date, if you so wished. It was on the last day of term, before everyone went home for the holidays. Though the Marauders, and a lot of their classmates were staying for Christmas, as it was their last chance to do so.
Despite being excited to hang out with her friends, and dance with Remus, Sara was very nervous about the dance, as she had no experience with anything like it before.
She had been raised pretty feral, so she was completely out of her depth, when it came to ball gowns, hair accessories and make-up.

Since her own clothes wouldn't exactly fit in with the dress code, Sara and her room mates had gone dress shopping, a few days before, to pick outfits. As Sara didn't have much money, James's mother had given her some, so that she could buy herself a nice dress for the dance.
Sara had wanted to get something simple, and wear flat shoes, but her friends had no intention of allowing her to do that, insisting that she wore high heeled shoes.
In the end, Sara ended up wearing a floor length, sleek red dress, with a very low back. She had black heels on, and her hair had been made into a elegant fishtail braid, with a moon hairpin in.
Her original make-up had been dark and fierce, but Sara had removed it, and forced her friends to do a much more basic look on her face, so that she felt more comfortable.

"You look beautiful" complimented Remus, when Sara joined him at the bottom of the Grand Staircase.
Sara blushed, and Sirius wolf whistled.
"Looking good girls" Sirius said, as he held out his arm for Marlene.
Once everyone had met up with their date, they made their way towards the Great Hall, which had been decorated for the occassion. There were tables at the sides, filled with food and drinks, while a live band played at the front on the stage.
"Wow" gasped Sara as her and Remus stepped inside.
Her friends dragged their dates straight to the dance floor, but her and Remus held back for a moment, just taking it all in.
"It really is amazing" continued Sara.
"Not as amazing as you" replied Remus.

Sara slapped his arm playful, before lacing her fingers through his, and allowing him to lead her to the side of the room.
"I'm serious Remus. This is incredible... When I was younger, I never in my wildest dreams thought that one day, I would be standing here, hand in hand, with the boy I love, and about to finish my last year at school, in a few months time" admitted Sara.
"You aren't the only one... When I was a boy, I thought that I wouldn't be allowed to come here, because of my condition. And even when I arrived, I was convinced something bad was going to happen, and I was going to get thrown out. When you guys found out the truth, I was convinced you were going to abandon me, because I was a monster" replied Remus.
"You are not a monster Remus. You are not your condition, and I know that you would never hurt a fly... I didn't know that you thought you were going to be thrown out"
"It was mostly in first year that I thought that. I think it would be a bit late to throw me out now".

"Good... This place, and being here with you, it's like a dream. A really good dream, that I don't want to ever wake up from" sighed Sara.
"Do you need me to pinch you, to prove that you're not sleeping?" Offered Remus.
Sara smiled.
"No. I believe you"
"Good... Do you want to dance?"
"I suppose that is the point of the whole evening. But I have to warn you that I'm not very good"
"Don't worry. Just follow my lead".
Remus kissed her neck, before pulling a reluctant Sara, towards the dance floor. He placed his hand on her waist, before instructing her to place the hand that wasn't holding his, onto his shoulder.
The pair then began to sway to the slow song that the band were playing, along with the rest of the couples.

After a few slow songs, in each others embrace, the band began to play an up tempo song, to get the students all excited.
The Marauders and their dates, all made their way towards each other, as they began to jump in time to the music.
"Isn't this great?" Shouted James, over the roar of crowd.
"Yeah. I think this is like the best day ever" Sara yelled back.
"I'm glad we don't have a long train journey home tomorrow. As I intend on getting very drunk tonight, and not going to bed until the early hours in the morning" admitted Sirius.
"The teachers won't let you get drunk. They look at you closely before serving you alcohol, to make sure that you aren't drinking too much" reminded Sara.
"Well I'll just have to get a sober person to get my drinks for me. Like you"
"You're impossible Padfoot".

Eventually the loud music changed into a slower song, and Lily took hold of Sara's hand, claiming that she needed some air, as she dragged her to the side of the room.
"Quite a night" panted Lily, as her eyes scanned the room.
"Yeah... You looking for someone?" Questioned Sara.
"No... O.K, I was just wondering whether or not Severus was here"
"He's not"
"How do you know?"
"I overheard some Slytherins saying that school dances are lame, so they weren't going to come. Snape was one of them"
"The Slytherin girls are here"
"Well, they're girls aren't they... Look, Lily, I know you don't like it when I talk about Snape, but I think that you really need to get over him".

Instead of getting angry, Lily downed her drink, before placing it down on a nearby table, and rejoining the dance, at James's side.
When Remus saw Sara standing alone, he make his way over to her.
"Having fun?" He asked.
"Of course... I mean, it's a bit much, isn't it? All this" admitted Sara.
"Yeah, I know what you mean... Do you want to get out of here, and spend some time together, just the two of us?"
"You know, that sounds like a very good idea".
The two took hold of each other's hands, before sneaking out the front door, and onto the school grounds. The Marauders spent so much time there, and in the woods, that it felt like a second home.
"You know, I haven't seen you transform, since your mother was taken away" admitted Remus, once they were safely in the tree line.
"Well, I haven't transformed by choice, since then. I've had to change in my room a few times, when the pain gets bad. But I haven't transformed for fun, in a long time" revealed Sara.

"I understand why transforming, would bring back memories of that night, when they took your mother" said Remus softly.
"Honestly, I try not to think about it" replied Sara.
"I know... But if you ever someone to talk to about it, you know you can always come to me"
"I will. I just don't think that I want to talk about it, with anyone. I just need to get over it by myself... And when I'm alone, with you, that, is by far the last thing on my mind".
Remus smiled, and tucked a stray strand of hair behind Sara's ear.
"I love you Sara. I hope you know that" he whispered.
"Don't worry. I know it" muttered Sara, as she placed her arms around Remus, and began to kiss him passionetly, letting the world around them melt away into nothing.