Chapter 130: Sugar and Too Much Spice (4)

Severus Snape paced up and down the corridor on the fourth floor, near the Arithmancy classroom. His palms were sweaty, and he quickly wiped them on his robes, mentally rehearsing what he was about to say to Lily. He had postponed this for long enough, the humiliating experience from last year, courtesy of Plantier and her friends' cruel joke, still vividly engraved in his mind. However, with the Halloween Ball just three days away, he knew he had to gather his courage and ask the red-headed witch, or risk going alone.

Taking a deep breath, Severus noticed with irritation that a group of sixth-years from his House were hanging around, taking advantage of their free afternoon, joking and laughing, mostly at the expense of other students. The fourth-year clenched his teeth in annoyance. The last thing he wanted was for Rodolphus Lestrange to witness his interaction with Lily. As he considered where he could move to avoid the unpleasant company, the red-headed Gryffindor witch appeared around the corner. She noticed him and smiled immediately, despite looking a bit flushed.

"Oh, Sev! What are you doing here?" – she chirped sweetly – "Don't you have Ancient Runes this afternoon?"

"I do." – Severus answered, trying to isolate all his emotions in order to overcome the rising panic – "But I was thinking during lunch... since we have to go to this Halloween Ball they came up with, maybe we could go together... I mean, as friends. I thought it would be... nice."

Lily stared at the black-eyed boy with a mixture of tenderness and regret. She looked visibly uncomfortable, aware of the older Slytherins who had picked up on the situation and were now attentively listening.

"I'm sorry, Sev!" – she began, her cheeks reddening with embarrassment – "I'm sure we would have had a great time together, but I already promised someone else I'd go with him."

"I see." – the young wizard replied evenly, his eyes – two pools of unreadable darkness – "It's alright. It was just an idea. No problem."

"Again, I'm sorry, Sev!" – Lily said, looking concerned as the boy refused to meet her gaze – "Maybe we can talk about this tomorrow? I need to go now, or I'll be late for class!"

"There's nothing really to discuss." – he stated with a crooked smile – "Go, I don't want you to lose house points."

He watched as Lily quickly headed towards the Arithmancy classroom at the end of the corridor, his heart feeling completely hollow. He couldn't even register the pain of the rejection. The hardest part was the pity in Lily's emerald-green eyes. It made her going to the Ball with someone else ten times worse.

'It's my fault! Why did I wait so long?!' – Severus thought, steaming with anger. He was vaguely aware of his housemates giggling and whispering not even five metres away, and he had no doubt he would be the centre of tonight's entertainment in the Slytherin Common Room. The devilish twinkle in Rodolphus Lestrange's brown eyes was clear evidence of that.

"This was actually heartbreaking!" - Calpurnia Yaxley sneered with a cruel smirk – "And to think you were rejected by a Mudblood!"

"Go fuck yourself!" – Snape snapped, furious predominantly because of the way Calpurnia referred to Lily.

"Careful, lad!" – Rodolphus warned him with a smile that never reached his eyes – "If you're so desperate for a date, perhaps you can ask that Gryffindor whore, Mary MacDonald. At least you'd know what you've signed up for there. No surprises!"

"I have no interest in that filthy girl." – Snape said condescendingly – "I'm sure you can find much better things to do than meddling in my life. If you'll excuse me, I have to go to class and I'm already running late."

With that, the black-haired boy swiftly turned left and headed towards the stairs leading directly to the sixth floor. At the same moment, the nearby tapestry of three old witches bent over a steaming cauldron was moved aside, and Catherine Plantier appeared from behind it, her face red and sweaty.

"Move! I'm late!" – she barked, trying to squeeze past Snape in order to reach the stairs first.

"What if I don't?" – Snape asked quietly, his black-eyes boring into her jade-green ones.

"I'll move you myself." – the Gryffindor smirked arrogantly. But before she could even reach for her wand, the Slytherin boy had his own at the ready. Pouring all his frustration and anger into the spell, he swished his wand, pointing it directly at his opponent.

"Levicorpus!"

With a flash of light, Catherine was hoisted into the air by her ankle. She screamed as her school robes fell over her head, as did the red skirt she was wearing underneath. The Slytherins roared with laughter at the sight of her skinny legs and plain white knickers. Severus smirked vengefully, thinking that being late for Ancient Runes was totally worth it to put that bitch Catherine Plantier in her place.

"Put her down immediately! Why aren't you in class?!"

Snape glanced at Fabian Prewett, who had just emerged from an empty classroom, with annoyance. Nevertheless, he twisted his wand, pointed it downward, and mumbled: "Liberacorpus!" Then, he quickly turned around and headed towards the sixth floor, leaving everyone behind.

"Flame, are you alright?" – the Gryffindor Prefect asked with concern.

Catherine just nodded her head, cast a glance at the Slytherins' mocking faces, and dashed in the opposite direction, heading back towards the Hospital Wing from where she had just come after escorting Mary for a final check-up.

'I'll tell Madame Pomfrey I don't feel well.' – she thought, wiping away a few angry tears – 'I can't spend two hours sitting next to Snape without hexing his head off. Fucking bastard! I can't risk getting a detention just before the Ball.'

***

On Wednesday morning, Catherine sat alone at the Gryffindor table, her mood foul and her desire for conversation non-existent. She didn't have much appetite either but didn't want to provoke an argument with the boys.

The news about the spectacle, involving her white knickers had quickly become the hot topic among the Slytherins, who were mocking her from the other end of the hall. Catherine regretted taking Marianne's advice about wearing the skirt and berated herself for being careless with Snape, allowing him to cast that strange spell she had never even heard of. The helplessness she experienced while hanging in the air had been terrifying, especially because she had been left at the mercy of that greasy git.

Fighting an unexpected wave of nausea, the young witch finished her orange juice and looked around, wondering if she should ask Gwendolyn for help with her missed Ancient Runes class. Suddenly, she noticed a tall blond boy leaving the Hufflepuff table. He glanced over his shoulder, and their eyes met. Catherine recognised him as Leif Thornton. Trying to calm her racing heartbeat, she smiled at the Hufflepuff, hoping he'd find the courage to ask her to the Ball. To her surprise, however, Leif's face turned pale, his lips trembled violently, and he almost sprinted out of the Great Hall as if a horde of demons was chasing him.

'What the Hell?!' – the Gryffindor girl thought, disappointed – 'Tabitha said he liked me and wanted to invite me to the Ball. Instead, he runs away as if I'm a Boggart. Could it have anything to do with what happened yesterday? I doubt the Slytherins spread the news outside their House; they didn't have enough time, and they don't usually talk to Hufflepuffs. I guess he just changed his mind.'

The arrival of the mail interrupted Catherine's grim thoughts. Since she wasn't expecting anything, she gathered her stuff and was ready to leave when James' owl, Nimbus, landed in front of her, carrying a message tied to its leg. It turned out to be a small piece of parchment on which the fourth-year recognised her friend's handwriting in one simple sentence: Come to the Entrance Hall immediately!

'Merlin, what now?' – the black-haired girl sighed and swiftly joined the stream of students leaving for their classes.

Just in front of the wide marble staircase, James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin were standing, each appearing quite nervous and holding a single red rose.

"What are you doing?" – Catherine asked, arching an eyebrow as she stopped in front of her friends.

James looked at her, then took a long breath and smiled brightly. "Miss Plantier, after much deliberation, we decided none of us wanted to miss your company during the Halloween Ball. Therefore, we agreed to share you as our partner for this occasion. So, will you come to the Ball with us?"

A small crowd had formed around the Gryffindors, buzzing with excitement at the unusual proposal. Catherine stared at the boys in disbelief, trying to figure out whether this was some kind of joke from their endless repertoire.

"Just so you know, it's not a joke." – Sirius smirked, as if reading her mind – "We've always been together all these years, and this is our first event of this sort. We couldn't imagine it any other way. What do you say, Flame? We'll make sure you have a lot of fun, and I promise we'll be perfect gentlemen!"

"Sirius…" – Catherine finally found her voice – "It's not that I'm not touched by the offer, but with all the rumours about us, how will this make things better if we essentially confirm them?"

"Screw them!" – Remus snapped, earning surprised glances by everyone, as he rarely used such strong language – "I mean, we know what's between us, and their vile gossip can't spoil our friendship! I'm just sorry we didn't think about it earlier. You're our lady, Catherine! Let's go to the Ball together!"

"Do you really mean it?" – the young witch asked, feeling moved by the affection from her friends.

"Absolutely!" – James nodded, handling Catherine the rose – "I warn you, I'm not much of a dancer, but Sirius is a decent one, so we have everything covered. I'll be bringing you food and drinks."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" – Remus chuckled.

"You'll be responsible for leading the conversation." – Sirius responded, causing everyone to burst into laughter at the look of horror on Moony's face.

"Alright then!" – Catherine said, sinking into an elegant curtsy – "I graciously accept your kind invitation!"

"You might have taken the part about the lady a bit too seriously." – Sirius teased, tucking his rose behind her ear.

"Perhaps, but I bet that there aren't many witches among the aristocrats who have attended a Ball in such a splendid company!" – the young witch chuckled.

"Indeed!" – James grinned – "Lady Catherine Plantier and her three knights! I like the sound of that!"

"I don't need knights, I just need my friends by my side!" – the girl smiled, giving each of the boys a quick hug.

"I'll remind you of that next time you tell me to leave you alone." – Sirius chuckled as the four of them headed towards their Charms class.

'I never really wanted to be alone.' – Catherine thought, feeling at ease for the first time in weeks – 'To hell with all the rumours; I'm going to fully enjoy myself on Friday! No guilt and no regrets!'