*7th Year*
Mariya had thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the day; Oliver had moved on from his sulky state to help Lily with the tasks in Mariya's section of the course and she had loved seeing Soraya and Mattai run between the points with all the enthusiasm people their age should show, despite their differences and despite the expectations and beliefs of Mattai's parents. Mariya couldn't help but see some of Regulus and herself in them, a budding friendship that would no doubt have its difficulties but that would almost certainly stand the tests of time and become stronger thanks to its struggles.
At dinner, Mariya and James had arranged with McGonagall that the house tables would be replaced by the sort of smaller tables they had used for the ball. This allowed people to sit with whoever they wanted and meant that a lot of people were surrounded by a combination of their normal friends and their new acquaintances. Mariya fell into a seat next to Lily and smiled as Mattai held out a seat for Soraya to sit next to him. Oliver disappeared back into the crowd to find people from his own house and the other spots at their table were filled by Severus Snape and Jasper Potter. The two were talking animatedly when they had sat down and Lily observed the two with an amused look as they didn't break their discussion to greet the others.
"Well this is pleasantly unexpected." She muttered to Mariya.
"I heard about it from Jasper at lunch. We thought he was joking for a minute but I am glad that they have ignored the prejudices to sit together. It was what the Marauders and I were hoping for when we planned this."
Mariya realised what she had said only seconds after it came out of her mouth, it was however too late for her to do anything as Lily's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open slightly. Mariya had been just about to place a hand over the other girls mouth to stop her saying anything, when Lily smiled at her and gave a gentle nod; clearly she didn't plan on letting anyone else know the secret she had just discovered. Mariya pulled a napkin towards her and quickly scrawled 'I'll explain later.' across it before pushing it towards Lily, who simply glanced over it before tucking it into a pocket of her robes and going back to her food.
"So, what are you talking about?" Mariya asked the boys as she turned back to face them, and they broke their conversation to face her.
"Potions." Jasper answered shortly before stuffing a piece of roast beef into his mouth in the sort of inelegant fashion reminiscent of James.
"Typical," Lily rolled her eyes as she looked at them. "Severus never seems to talk about anything else."
The aforementioned boy smiled at Lily in a way Mariya had never seen him direct towards anyone else before, his eyes were soft despite the slightly sharp comment and his reply was kind, "We were just discussing how Slughorn wants us to brew Amortentia again at some point which is strange considering it isn't even part of the NEWT course."
Mariya snorted derisively, "He probably thinks himself quite the matchmaker what with students smelling each other and thinking that they are in love. He won't miss an opportunity to claim credit for what happens afterward."
Jasper smirked slyly, "What about you and James though, Professor McGonagall was right about the two of you."
Mariya could feel her cheeks burning pink at the curious gazes she received from both Lily and Severus, "Shut up Jasper."
"No no no," Lily interjected, waving her hands in the air to stop her, "What about you and Potter?"
Mariya sighed and cast Jasper a grumpy look which he promptly ignored, "We're going on a date." She mumbled and repeated herself louder when both students said that they couldn't hear her.
Severus looked surprised but clearly decided that it was safer not to pass comment as he held his silence. Lily however let out a surprised noise followed by an excited one.
"When?" She asked.
"This evening," Mariya answered, "That's what the parchment earlier was about."
"That is so sweet!" The other girl grinned before offering, "I could help you get ready if you want? But I suppose you won't be there for the end of the Treasure Hunt."
"No I won't be, and don't worry I don't except you to give it up just to help me." Mariya shook her head in disapproval of the idea.
"I wouldn't mind, really." Lily insisted and Mariya shrugged, "Well that's sorted then, you can't escape me now."
With that the two turned back to their respective plates and listened in to the conversations held between the other pairs.
After the meal, they had continued to make their way around the grounds until they found themselves at the edge of the far bank of the black lake nearing eleven o'clock. Mariya smiled, knowing that this was the final place on the route. She gathered her group around her and herded them towards where she knew the Marauders would already be waiting at the edge of the water. Pulling her wand out of its sheath at her waist, she quickly lit it and moved to stand next to the now visible James. As her teammates followed her to the water, the Marauders all raised their wands and transfigured their clothing into something more comfortable; all of the boys were wearing jeans and warm shirts and Mariya took James's advice to transfigure herself some deep navy slacks and a white blouse, pulling her hair back so half of it was held back by a bright gold clip.
Soraya had moved to stand in front of Mariya by the time she was finished, "Something yellow!" She exclaimed and closed her eyes as Mariya waved her wand to leave the younger girl wearing a bright yellow dress and smart black books which seemed to confuse the younger student.
"You'll understand in a moment." Mariya assured her as she turned to face the rest of the students. More and more people were slowly filtering towards the beach, the space becoming louder by the minute as people wondered aloud what the group has planned.
Once a large enough crowd had gathered, Mariya joined hands with the Marauders and reached out her other palm to the closest person on her left. People quickly caught on as they linked up to form a sort of human chain, everyone joining in in spite of their normal house preferences. Virtually everyone had new clothes now and most weren't wearing the colours usually attached to their houses. Mariya smiled at James and quickly cast the ice-skate spell on her own boots, moving backwards on to the water as it began to turn to ice beneath her feet. Seeing her doing this, the people around her began to copy the action, older students assisting the ones too young to manage the spell. Soon everyone was standing on the ice and Mariya used the last dying embers of light to wave her wand and make thousands of candles appear and hover over the now frozen lake. The night was lit by a warm glow and people began to separate and move back onto the ice at their own speed, some far more skilled than others, and a few helping their friends and new acquaintances to become more comfortable.
Mariya stuck around for almost an hour before remembering James and moving off the ice to head back to the castle. Transforming her boots back to normal, she began to climb the many stairs leading up the tower, eventually finding herself at the top. James was already sitting there, at a small table spread with roses, and was gazing out over the lake.
"I was beginning to think you weren't coming." He murmured as she sat across from him.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Mariya assured him and he smiled across at her, his hazel eyes sparkling in the dim candlelight.
The two sat chatting for hours on end, they quickly realised that they need only act as they always did to become closer and by the end of the evening they both felt as though they had never been closer with anyone. As they descended the final steps of the tower and Mariya turned to go back to the dungeons, James caught hold of her hand and pulled her close to him.
"May I kiss you, Mariya?" He asked, voice low in the quiet corridor.
Mariya gazed up at him, his bright eyes hidden behind glasses and his hair as messy as ever.
"Yes, you may." She answered, and had there been anyone there to see, they would have smiled at the sweet moment as James leant down and brushed his lips lightly against Mariya's before pulling back and drawing her into a hug.
"Thank you James." Mariya whispered against his shoulder, "I enjoyed tonight and I would love to do this again at some point."
"Me too." James grinned before he pressed his lips to hers once more before wishing her goodnight and heading up the stairs.