Lily

Chapter Twenty One:

When they got back to the Burrow, Molly was an absolute mess, fussing over each and every one of them.

"I knew I shouldn't have let you go!" She sobbed, before spotting Fred and George, "And you two!"

They looked at each other before being embraced in a tight hug.

"The last words I could've ever spoken to you were in anger about your pranks!" Molly cried.

"Oh, um..." Fred trailed off.

"...it's, er, it's okay, mum, really, we just-" George began.

"Of course you want to have some fun before you settle down and get real jobs!" Molly interrupted, causing the twins to look at each other guiltily.

Lily followed Harry into the house as he, Hermione, and the other Weasley's escaped from Molly.

Even though they were all fine, Molly watched over them like a hawk after that day, leading up until when they left for Hogwarts. She woke them up early and presented Ron with dress robes. Due to the dress robes being very outdated, Ron was horrified.

"What do I need these for anyways?!" He demanded.

"You'll see." Molly smiled.

Needless to say, Ron was not pleased.

Lily had picked up on the fact that all the adults seemed to be keeping some sort of big secret from them. She assumed it was some sort of grand surprise, but had no clue what it might be.

After boarding the Hogwarts Express, Lily bid her brother goodbye and followed Ginny to a compartment where Neville, Lena and December were waiting. Luna joined them not long after.

Then, Lena brought up the topic of how her parents seemed to be hiding something from her.

"You too?!" Ginny gasped.

Everyone nodded.

"My gran won't tell me anything, but she made me pack dress robes." Neville said.

"Yeah, my mum picked out a fancy dress for me." December added.

"I wonder why." Lena mused.

"Maybe it's to celebrate the return of the spring goddess, Persephone?" Luna suggested.

Ginny blinked.

"Maybe." Lily said, to make Luna smile, which she did.

When they reached Hogwarts and sat down with their houses in the Great Hall, after the Sorting Ceremony, Dumbledore stood up and began his speech.

"Greetings, Hogwarts students and staff." He beamed, "I have rather exciting news for you all. This year Hogwarts will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament.  It is a competition between three champions from three different schools. Champions will be chosen by the Goblet of Fire!"

At his words, a flaming goblet appeared. The students gasped.

"Champions must be of age-"

"What?!" Someone form Hufflepuff screeched.

"No fair!" Fred and George booed.

The whole hall erupted in complaints, as the students whined about missing their opportunity for glory and winning the Triwizard Cup.

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore boomed.

Everyone fell quiet immediately.

"Now then." He continued, "Along with these festivities will be the Yule Ball- a dance."

At this notion, the majority of the girls in the hall began to grin, and the boys began to look around nervously. Lily just sat there, never having been to a dance before, and wondering what it would be like.

"Well, without further ado, enjoy the feast." Dumbledore said, waving his hand to make the food appear.

Hermione turned to Lily.

"Isn't this exciting?!" She beamed.

"Oh, um, yeah." Lily said.

"I already know what dress I'll wear, do you?" Hermione asked.

Lily didn't own any nice dresses of her own, but Molly had given her one of Ginny's fancy ones. After checking a thousand times with Ginny to make sure she "really didn't mind", Lily had accepted the dress.

"Yes, I do." She said.

Hermione nodded in satisfaction before turning to speak to Parvati. Lily began to eat her food and dream about what a dance would be like, before she came to a critical conclusion.

"I can't go." She blurted out.

"Huh?" Harry asked.

"I can't go to the dance." Lily blushed, "I, um, don't know... how to dance."

"Oh... neither do I." He admitted, "Maybe we can just skip the dancing part of the dance?"

"Harry, you have to dance at a dance!" Hermione said, appalled.

Harry merely shrugged. Hermione turned back to Lily.

"Who will you ask?" She wondered.

Lily shrugged.

"I really don't know." She said, and she didn't.

Lily's friend circle was limited to Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Lena, December, Neville, Ron and Harry. Neville and Ron were both nice enough, but Lily didn't really fancy them, and would be too shy to ask them anyways. She figured she'd probably just end up going alone.

Pushing the glum thoughts out of her head, Lily continued to eat her food. Then, she noticed someone new sitting at the staff table. It seemed that the man sitting there was the Defense Against the Dark Arts replacement for Remus and Logan. Ron noticed her staring and followed her gaze.

"Oh my Merlin!" He exclaimed.

"What?" Harry asked, "What is it?"

"That'a Mad Eye Moody!" Ron explained, sneaking a glance at the teacher, "He's an Auror- they're like the wizard version of police!"

"He's going to be teaching us?" Hermione asked.

"Must be." Ginny shrugged.

Lily felt someone staring at her, so she glanced back up at the staff table. Moody was staring right at her before he shifted his gaze to Harry. The way he watched Harry so intensely, made Lily feel uncomfortable and she shifted in her seat before breaking her stare and looking to Ron.

"Ron? He's the good kind of police officer... right?" She asked.

"Auror, and yeah! He locked up a bunch of Death Eaters and stuff!" Ron nodded.

"Oh." She said simply, turning back to her food and trying to shake off the odd feeling.

When the feast was over and it was time for her to go to bed, Lily fell asleep quickly, dreaming, much like her roommates, of dancing the night away at a ball. Little did she know, that somewhere in the castle, a student was dreaming of dancing too, only dancing with her.