epiphany ♕ | 𝗷𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿

13

HALLOWEEN HAD PASSED AND SO HAD Sirius's birthday. Siobhán Parten hadn't felt like going to those ridiculous balls, and when they celebrated Sirius's birthday she certainly didn't feel up for it either. James Potter had begged her to come. She wouldn't budge. He resorted to just staying with her for the Halloween Ball. He read books for her, danced with her, and even pillow fought with her. The two enjoyed their company as everyone else was at the ball.

During the time of Sirius's birthday, she felt truly alone. She decided to escape the Gryffindor common room and wander around the halls. She was hoping she could find someone to talk to. Her first thoughts came up to the Astronomy Tower. Leonardo had expressed his great content towards the tower during the couple of months they spoke during Transfiguration.

When she went up to the tower she saw him there. He was sitting near the edge. The stars gleamed on him like he was a valuable piece of art. Siobhán couldn't help but smile. He finally noticed her and she went to sit. For the rest of that night, Leonardo and Siobhán sat there speaking about life and whatnot.

Christmas time was almost around the corner. From all those events one couldn't tell how fast the time went. One would study while others would enjoy themselves. The Marauders were ecstatic about the Christmas ball that was going to happen before the break. Everyone was gossiping about who their dates would be and what they would wear.

Siobhán always rolled her eyes at the thought of wearing a gown and being the center of attention. Lily had been gushing around the dormitory with magazines in hand. She shoved the magazine to Alice.

"Why?" she whispered, flipping through the magazine. Mary snickered from her side of the bed.

"Dresses are fashionable." Lily chimed in while braiding her hair. Glancing over at Siobhán, she threw her brush at her.

It hit her back. She let out a small yelp. Quickly glancing at Lily, she raised her eyebrows.

"Aren't you going to the ball?" she inquired. She sighed and played with the hem of her oversized shirt.

"Aren't these balls pointless?" Siobhán inspected Lily who just gave her a blank expression. Lily was wearing a silk cream nightgown with her auburn hair tied into a long braid. Siobhán didn't care about her appearance when she would go to sleep.

She was wearing some gray sweatpants with a black shirt. Her hair was tied into a messy bun. Overall, she looked like she was tired of her life.

"You lot begged me to go to the Halloween Ball." she narrowed her eyes at the four other girls in the room. "Merlin forgive me for even reconsidering my choice."

"You reconsidered?" came a voice from the other side of the room. Marlene was sitting crisscrossed on her bed.

"Of course I did." Siobhán placed her hands on her thighs. "I was quite alone until Ja—"

She quickly shut her mouth. Lily glanced at her quickly when she heard the letter J come out of her mouth.

"Until who?" Mary asked, grabbing her robes from her trunk. Siobhán wanted to punch herself in the face for letting herself expose James.

"Nothing." she quickly laid back on her bed. She pulled the covers up and pretended to fall asleep.

"That's strange," mumbled Alice. Lily stood up and checked the drawers for any dresses she had. The ball was in a week and nobody had asked her yet. She had expected James to ask her two weeks prior, but he didn't.

"You know what puzzled me a couple of weeks ago?" Marlene stood up and went next to Lily. Lily glanced at her confused.

"I didn't see Potter at the Halloween Ball." she pointed out. Lily recalled the moments of the Halloween ball. She had seen the three other Marauders enter the great hall, but no James.