"On the night of February fourteenth, we will host a Valentine's Ball here in the Great Hall," Dumbledore announced at breakfast that following Monday. The Hall immediately erupted in excitable whispers and a few girls squealing loudly.
"We expect you all to be well-dressed and well-behaved," he continued, causing the chatter to pause as most of the students hung onto his words with interest. "Optional dancing lessons will be offered after dinner every night up until then by Professor McGonagall and Professor Binns. Now, enjoy your breakfast and have a wonderful day!"
Just then, the assortment of food magically appeared as usual. Elise slapped some pancakes on her plate.
"How the fuck is Binns going to help teach dancing lessons?" She asked with a laugh as she dumped syrup on her food. "He's a bloody ghost!"
Willow shrugged, biting a banana. "Not a clue."
Something caught Elise's attention from the corner of her eye, and she looked across the room to the Gryffindor table where Sirius was looking at her, waving his arms around to grab her attention.
'What?' she mouthed to him.
A mischievous smile broke out on his face as he pointed to her, then to himself, and made a dancing motion.
She quickly gathered he was trying to ask her to be his date, and she made a fake gagging face at him.
Sirius gasped dramatically, hand over his heart. Elise burst into laughter and mouthed 'sorry'. He grinned and waved it off.
"You guys are so weird," Willow said after watching the interaction. "Why'd you say no to him? Waiting for a certain creepy Slytherin boy to ask you?" She wiggled her eyebrows at her friend.
"Piss off," she said with a laugh, shaking her head. "I just think it'd be weird to go to a dance with my friend who I've rejected recently."
"That's fair, actually."
"You going to ask Freya?"
Willow's face turned a deep rosey color. "I think so," she poked her fork at her food. "We've talked quite a bit now in Charms class. Dunno for sure if she's gay at all, but guess I'll figure that out once I ask her." She shrugged.
"You've got more balls than me," Elise patted her friend on the back encouragingly.
They finished their food and walked to their Potions class together, chatting along the way about who they think would go together.
Elise settled onto her stool, taking out her Potions textbook and setting it on the table. She shot a greeting smile to Severus, which he returned.
The incident after Hogsmeade was two days ago now, and he'd been a bit more distant and quiet so far, but she didn't blame him nor push him to talk about it.
"Guess you were right about those Dance rumors," she said to him playfully.
"When am I ever wrong?" He replied, smirking.
"So, when are you going to ask Elise to the dance, Snape?" Willow said suddenly.
Both Elise and Severus just gaped at her, their faces turning pink rapidly. Finally, Elise gave her a smack on the arm.
"Will!"
"What?!" Willow threw her hands up defensively, but a devious smile was still on her face.
"You're annoying, you know that?"
"Oh dear, I know that better than anyone." Willow retorted, giggling maniacally.
Elise rolled her eyes and gave an apologetic look to Severus, but he just chuckled and shook his head.
Slughorn then announced to the class that they'd be taking notes from a chapter in their books today, which Elise was grateful for. They opened their books to the designated chapter and took out parchment and quills, beginning to scribble down information.
"Rosier," Willow whispered to the silent Slytherin across from her. "Who you asking to the dance?"
Rosier scoffed, not even looking up from his notes. "Nobody, I'm not going to some stupid dance." He replied sharply.
"Damn, put away the claws, kitty cat. It was only a question."
Elise and Severus both choked on their suppressed laughs. How Willow didn't end up in Gryffindor with that attitude had always baffled Elise.
"Are you going at all, Snape?" Willow turned to ask him.
"Doubt it," he replied quietly. "I'm not much of a dancer."
"I personally don't go for dancing," Elise chimed in. "I think people-watching is the best part. Do you know how many people will show up drunk and make fools of themselves? It'll be brilliant."
Severus chuckled quietly. "That's a pretty good point."
"See!" Willow exclaimed - a bit too loudly, and she got five points taken from Hufflepuff from Slughorn - then lowered her voice to a whisper once again. "You two would be the perfect dates for each other."
Elise sighed. "Will you shut it before we entirely lose our chance for the House Cup?"
"No, because we have to figure out when we're going to Hogsmeade together to pick out dresses!"
"I'm free whenever," Elise said with a small laugh. "What color should I wear?"
"You look so good in black and yellow!"
"The Hufflepuff colors for a dance, though?" she scrunched her nose. "Isn't that a bit lame?"
Willow rolled her eyes. "Fine, then just wear black! You can never go wrong there."
Elise nodded in agreement.
- - -
That night after dinner, Evelyn met up with Elise and Willow in the Hufflepuff common room to discuss the dance. They sat around a small, round mahogany table in the corner of the room. Sweets and empty wrappers were strewn about the table as they chatted.
"I wanted to ask Ted Tonks," Evelyn said, unwrapping a pumpkin pasty. "But he's already asked Andromeda. I figured he liked her, but I guess I was hopeful that he didn't." She sighed sadly and shoved the snack in her mouth.
Elise sent a sympathetic look to her friend. "If we can't find anyone, we'll go together as friends, Ev."
Evelyn smiled and nodded.
"You know damn well Snape is going to ask you," Willow said, chomping a chocolate frog's head off.
"I really doubt it" Elise said, giggling at her friend's eating. "You heard him, he's not into dancing."
"But he's into you," Evelyn said with a wink.
"No, he's still in love with Lily," Elise shook her head. Her stomach felt like it tightened into a knot, but she pushed the feeling away. "He doesn't see me that way."
Willow pointed to the silver chain gleaming on the girl's wrist, her eyebrow raised. "You sure about that?"
"It was for Christmas! We're friends! Friends get each other Christmas gifts."
"Bitch, I got you color-changing ink and glittery quills. That boy got you jewelry." Evelyn said, and Willow snorted. The Ravenclaw didn't often curse.
"Trust me, he doesn't see me in that way!" Elise huffed, getting rather annoyed with their persistence. She roughly pushed her hair out of her face.
"But do you?" Evelyn inquired.
"Do I what?"
"See him in that way?"
Elise froze and felt her ears begin to burn. The two girls stared at her expectantly, but as if they already knew the answer. She groaned and rubbed her face with her hands, not caring if her eyeliner got smudged everywhere.
"It doesn't matter," she said quietly. "As I said, he loves Lily. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't complete with her." The words fell out of her mouth without even thinking, and she felt her eyes begin to water. She blinked furiously to try to regain her composure.
"Doesn't that hurt, though?" Willow asked softly, her eyes full of sadness for her friend. "Being around him? Comforting him about another girl?"
A frustrated sigh escaped Elise and she threw her hands up in exasperation. "I just want him to be happy and not so alone!" she exclaimed, then took a deep breath to calm herself before continuing in a much softer tone. "Whether it hurts me or not."
Evelyn reached over and comfortingly took the girl's hand. She locked eyes with her. "As much as I admire your big heart, you need to put your own feelings in priority for once, El."
"I'm fine," Elise responded softly, giving her friends a small smile. They didn't seem convinced. "I promise."
"You know," Willow said, her tone returning to her normal playfulness. "If he ever decides to stop being a moron, we won't judge you for dating a Slytherin. I mean, I fancy one, too."
Elise and Evelyn both chuckled, shaking their heads at her.
As the girls continued to chat and hangout for awhile longer, Elise thought about how truly grateful she was to have these girls in her life. Although the Marauders had been more distant from her, these two had stuck by her. They'd been wary of the boy at first, but she was happy they'd seemed to accept him for the most part.
Even if Severus never does return whatever... feelings... I have, at least I know I'll have these girls here for me, she thought contentedly.