Cherish Forever

".. Miss Austin, pay attention!" Piper snapped awake from her nap, only to find a very angry Professor Snape glaring at her. Not the best thing to see when you first wake up. Piper sat up straight, straightened out her blouse and sighed.

"Sorry, professor. I won't let it happen again," she mumbled quietly, even though she knew it was no use. She had just landed herself another detention. But, to her surprise, as well as the rest of the class, those were definitely not the words that came out of Snape's mouth.

"Fine, Miss Austin. Just make sure it doesn't," Snape replied lazily, and he continued to talk about the importance of blocking spells. Piper opened and closed her mouth a few times, stunned. Harry, Ron and Hermione gave her weird looks, but returned to their regular positions: Hermione listening adamantly and taking notes and Harry and Ron slouching in their chairs, waiting for class to be over. Piper, to make sure she did not fall asleep, distracted herself with some rather random thoughts. Eventually, they turned towards the strange behaviour of Snape. He wasn't acting like his usual grumpy, sarcastic, angry self at all this year, at least not towards Piper, which she found extremely odd. She had always thought that, besides Harry, he hated her the most. I guess some things change.

The bell rang, and everyone grabbed their books and headed towards the Great Hall for supper. The first few weeks of school went by in a flash. Piper figured it was because she was so used to the routine, that it almost became second nature. Lucius Malfoy hadn't dropped in on anymore of their classes, but Piper overheard Malfoy talking, and he was bragging about how is father was coming in to check on Snape in DADA. It was all a load of tripe. Everyone knew he wasn't going to say anything bad about Snape.

"Oi, Piper! Over here!" She heard Ron's booming voice call over the crowd. She had been so preoccupied with her thoughts these days, (and they were mostly concerning Snape) that she barely noticed anything or anyone around her anymore. Using Ron's voice as a guide, she finally found them, in a huge crowd in front of the doors. There was a sign posted on the door, which everyone seemed to be really excited about. She walked up to the others, to see what was going on.

"What's all the big fuss about?" Piper asked Hermione, in a slightly louder voice, so that Hermione could hear her over three squealing sixth years. To Piper's surprise, Hermione had a rather large grin on her face.

"Lucius Malfoy has decided to host a masquerade ball in the Great Hall on Halloween night. Doesn't that sound exciting?" Hermione explained.

Piper raised an eyebrow. "And how are we supposed to get costumes, exactly? Halloween's only a week away."

"We get out tomorrow for the whole day to go down to Hogsmeade to buy them," Harry answered for her. Piper groaned. She loathed shopping. And buying a Halloween costume was just icing on the shopping cake.

"Fabulous," Piper groaned.

"Well, I'm glad to hear you like the idea of the ball, Miss Austin," spoke a cool, silky voice from behind her. Piper rolled her eyes, and turned around to come face-to-face with Mr. Malfoy. She plastered on a big fake smile, and said that she did.

"And don't worry about the first to fifth years. This dance is for sixth and seventh years only. I thought it would give the older students a chance to mingle with one another without the trouble of the younger students," Mr. Malfoy went on. Piper fought hard to keep the smile on her face.

"That is an excellent idea, Mr. Malfoy. But, I do have one question, if you don't mind my asking," Piper trailed off. Mr. Malfoy raised a quizzical eyebrow, and Harry, Ron and Hermione shot her warning looks.

"By all means, ask away Miss Austin," Mr. Malfoy replied, a smirk on his face, which Piper desperately wanted to smack off.

"Well, I was just curious as to why we are having a ball. I mean, it's not something we usually do at Hogwarts. The last ball that we had here was the Yule Ball, and that was because of the Triwizard Tournament," Piper asked. She wasn't trying to cause trouble, it really was curiosity. There had to be more behind this dance than what Mr. Malfoy was letting on.

"Well, Miss Austin," Mr. Malfoy began. "Things change," was the only reply. Piper looked him straight in the eyes, almost glaring at him, but all he did was smile, and bid them good-day. Slightly shocked, the four friends made their way into the Great Hall, and sat at their usual places at the Gryffindor table. Professor Dumbledore slowly stood from his chair and silently raised his hands. All the gossip and chattering stopped immediately, and everyone looked at the Headmaster, awaiting what he had to say.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'm sure you have all heard about the masquerade ball we are having at Hogwarts on the 31st of October. This dance is only open to the sixth and seventh years only. Costume and masks are required. You will be let out this Friday, a week from the dance, to visit Hogsmeade to find yourselves proper attire. Any funny business of any kind is strictly prohibited, and if caught, will involve immediate ejection from the ball. This event's sole purpose is for the entertainment and amusement of our older students, and it is a privilege, not a right. Teachers do have authority to keep you from the dance as punishment for any crime you may commit," Dumbledore paused, with a twinkle in his eye as he looked at the students. "The teachers will be attending, of course, but the rules apply to them also. They too, must come in full costume. Now, if any of you happen to see Mr. Malfoy wondering our halls, please be sure to thank him, because this is all being planned by him. Now, everyone, enjoy your meals," he finished with a smile, and as usual, food suddenly appeared and everyone tucked in. Everyone except Piper, who was usually the first to pile food on her plate and shove it into her mouth. Ron was the first to notice this and he asked her what was up.

"It just seems strange to me, thats all," Piper commented quietly. Ron shrugged, and continued with his eating, but Harry and Hermione looked up from their food in interest.

"What seems strange?" Hermione asked.

"Well, this ball. I mean, we never do things like this at Hogwarts. And, I also find it strange that it's being planned by Mr. Malfoy. Haven't we already established that it's also strange that he is even at Hogwarts, even when we all thought he was in Azkaban?" Piper went on in a hurried whisper, so no one else would hear.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to play it cool, and try and find out some information" Harry trailed off. Piper nodded in agreement, and turned back to her food.

"Well, it looks like a good way to start would be going to this ball," Hermione rambled on. "I mean, this could be a really enjoyable evening, don't you think?" Her pleasant smile made Piper roll her eyes.

"Oh, just peachy." She groaned.

***

I cannot believe I am standing here. This is a complete and utter waste of my time and I just want to- Piper was snapped out of her very grumpy thoughts when she was knocked in the shoulder. She turned to confront whoever had just bumped into her, praying to Merlin that it was Malfoy, because she really felt like hexing someone because of her foul mood. But, the person who had bumped into her was the very last person to see in the costume shop.

"Professor Snape," Piper started, trailing off a bit. "Uhh, I didn't expect to see you here," she finished. Good God, woman. 'Uhh'? Now he's going to think your some kind of an idiot!

"Hello, Miss Austin. Well, I wasn't expecting to be here myself, but Lucius requested that I chaperone this little ball of his, and according to the rules, I have to wear a costume," he replied lazily. Snape looked around, and then back at Piper.

"Where are your friends?" he asked, though it didn't sound to Piper that he was particularly interested.

"Oh, they're in the change rooms. Costumes, you know" she trailed off. She mentally slapped herself. Of course they're here for costumes, you buffoon! Why else would we be here. Wait, why am I getting so worked up about this? I am getting all fidgety talking to Snape what is wrong with me? Piper stopped fighting with herself long enough to notice Snape's lips moving, but she wasn't hearing any sound.

"Sorry, professor, I just completely blanked. What were you saying?" Piper fought the urge to actually slap herself this time. She was such a blonde! Snape was probably going to give her a detention or something.

But, to her surprise, he chuckled. Snape actually chuckled. She was stunned. It was actually a nice sound to listen too. Piper smiled.

"I was asking you, Miss Austin, if you'd bought a costume yet," Snape asked again, with a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. His lips look really soft. Dammit Piper! Stop staring at the man's lips! He is your hated Potions professor, you're not supposed to be thinking about the man's lips!

"Um, no, not yet. I haven't really been looking. To tell you the truth, I don't like shopping much," She replied.

"Well, you might want to hurry in picking a dress," He said, as a group of seventh years walked by them, giggling, with about five or so dress each in their arms. "It seems there might not be a lot of selection by the time you get there." Piper looked around her, and grabbed a dress from the rack.

"I'll take this one," she said. Snape raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure it's even going to fit?"

Piper frowned, and checked the tag on the dress. To her utmost surprise, the size was exactly right.

"Sure it will. See?" She showed Snape the tagged and he shook his head in amazement.

Then suddenly, they both looked at each other, and it occurred to Piper how weird this whole situation was. It was obviously the same for Snape, because he cleared his throat.
"Well, Austin, I have to be getting back. Good day," and with that, he walked away briskly, and Piper didn't even get to say good bye. Why is my life so weird?, she asked herself. Just then, Harry, Ron and Hermione came out of the change rooms, with boxes in their hands.

"Oh, nice dress, Piper. You getting that one?" Hermione asked. Piper nodded. She quickly grabbed the first pair of shoes she saw that would match the dress. I have some jewelry that would go nice with this, she thought to herself. The four friends made their way up to the counter. The others already had masks, so Piper just asked the saleswoman what mask would go best with her dress. The saleswoman smiled, and gave her an absolutely breathtaking mask, and Piper bought her things and headed back up to the castle, gabbing with her three friends.

"I can't wait for this ball, now that I think about it. Can't you?" Hermione said with an unusual display of cheeriness. The boys just snorted. Piper smiled.

"You know what, Hermione? I think I can."