Trapped in This Story Called Life

"I wish Professor Dumbledore would hurry up and talk about the Halloween ball, I'm growing impatient." I said.

It was the first day of October. The incident with the Marauders had blown over due to everyone talking about the ball at the end of the month. The boys were very relieve, to say the least, for students to talk about something other than their nickers. Ashely took this as the perfect opportunity to "comfort" poor Remus.

I felt someone ruffle my hair. "That's my baby sister." My brother sat beside me, Leonardo beside him, and Micheal across from them. I turned away from my brother. "What did I do?"

"The last time I saw you was on the train. Do you not have anytime to even say hello to your sister and her friends anymore? Or do you have a girlfriend that's taking all your time away from me?"

"I'm sorry Jul, we've just been so busy studying for our NEWTS. All our time has been with books, not girls." Jacob explained.

I leaned my head on his shoulder. "Alright, I forgive you."

"I'll try to make more of an effort to spend time with you because I know how much you love Halloween." Jacob said, buttering his toast.

"Thank you Jacob."

"I never knew Halloween was one of your favourite events." Remus said, sitting across from me.

"I just love the whole day. The way everyone becomes so festive and dresses up. The look on children's faces when you hand them candy." I sighed. "Sorry, I guess that's my muggle point of view."

"No, I like how you talk so animately about Halloween. I've never met anyone who felt so strongly about it." Remus said.

"And you probably never will." Leonardo said.

"Julia, have you come up with an idea for your costume yet?" Kristy asked.

"Well kind of, I have two ideas." I replied.

"Aw, it's not fair. Lily, Camilla, and now you, all have ideas for your costumes. I don't know what I want to be." She said, pouting.

"Don't worry Kristy, you have a month to think about it." I said.

She nodded. "I guess your right."

"May I have your attention please! Professor Dumbledore would like to say a few words."

The Great Hall went silent as Professor Dumbledore stood up. "Now that it has become October, I'm sure many of you are wondering about the upcoming Halloween ball. The ball will be open to fourth years and up," he paused as some of the younger students groaned, "and you may only come if invited by an older student. There will be a dress code, which means you must come in costume. If the teachers feel you are not in costume, you will be asked to leave. You can choose, whether or not, if you want to be accompanied by someone." He stopped again, looking over the students. "Because Halloween falls on the last Friday of the month, there will be Hogsmead trips on the fourth, the eleventh, the eighteenth, and the twenty-fifth, all of which are on Saturday, for costumes. The dance will start at seven o'clock and run until midnight. If you have any further questions, your teachers have all the information you need." He finished, sitting.

The Great Hall burst in to chatter as everyone became excited about the ball.

"That's not fair." Anthony said, pouting.

"Sorry Anthony, maybe the Headmaster will do it again when you're a little older." Camilla said.

"Hey Lil, would you-"

"No Potter, and don't call me Lil!"

"But you don't-"

"Yes I do."

"So you will-"

"No."

"But I-"

"No."

"I just-"

"No."

"But we-"

"No."

"Julia." I turned away from the argument to my brother. "You do know that if you go with a guy, we'll have to meet him first." He said, pointing to Leonardo, Micheal and himself. "That goes for the four of you."

"That applies to you three. If any of you take a girl, we have to meet her." I said.

"Deal."

"Come on guys, we've got Transfiguration to go to." Lily huffed, standing up.

I kissed my brother on the cheek and waved goodbye to Leonardo, Micheal, and Anthony. I sighed and followed Lily. Just what I need, Transfigurations with the Ravenclaws. The guys jogged up to catch up with us.

"Hey, I have a joke." Sirius said. "What is the difference between a smart blond and a UFO?"

"Give it a rest, Sirius." Camilla said, glaring at him.

"We give up, Padfoot." James said, somewhere beside me.

"People have actually seen UFOs."

"Sirius, that was such an idiotic joke." Lily said, walking with Camilla.

I laughed quietly, putting my head on James' shoulder.

"You have to admit Evans, it was pretty funny." James said.

Huh? I turned to see James walking a little in front of me. But if James' over there, then who...? I looked up to see Remus looking down at me. My eyes went wide. When did they switch places?! I jumped, my face probably turning as red as Lily hair.

"I'm so sorry!" I apologized, stepping away.

"No, wait!" Remus said, turning and grabbing my wrist, pulling me closer. There was a short moment of silence, in which we both stared at each other. Slowly, Remus let go of my wrist, a light blush coming across his cheeks. "Sorry, I just meant it was okay, for you to put your head on my shoulder. I don't mind."

If possible, I think I turned a darker shade of red. "Thanks."

We started walking again and I noticed my friends walking a little faster than they normally would. Honestly, I don't know why they think that if they leave me and Remus alone, I'm going to snog him. I snorted at the idea. In their dreams. Remus smiled and started up a conversation between us, which ended up being a little discussion on whether Christmas had become too commercial. I liked talking with Remus, he was always easy to talk to. The conversation was fun, until...

"Remus!"

I didn't need to turn around to find out who that was. Remus turned around, but kept walking. "Hello Ashley."

"Are you on your way to the Transfiguration class?" Ashley asked. "Me too!"

I rolled my eyes. "Duh, we've only been in the same Transfiguration class for a month now." I muttered, sarcastically.

Remus turned to me raising an eyebrow, a small smile playing on his lips. My eyes went wide again. Did he hear what I said? I blushed and turned away from him. Ashley came up and started walking with us. She and her friend, Danielle Dalveoli, walked on Remus' other side, while her other friend, Caroline Vallane, walked beside me.

"Hello Julia!" Ashely said, a little too happy. "How are you this morning?"

"I'm just peachy!" I said, with the same fake enthusiasm. "How about yourself?"

"I'm just great!"

Remus held back a laugh, giving me a look. I smiled back at him. Caroline flipped her short, beach-blond hair. "Ashley doesn't appreciate girls hanging off of Remus." She hissed in my ear.

I turned to look at Ashley, who was talking to Remus. I tilted my head to the side. "Ashley doesn't appreciate it?"

"No she doesn't." Caroline said, rolling her eyes as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well, tell Ashley, I'll do whatever the bloody hell I want." I said, glaring at Caroline. Ashley doesn't appreciate me hanging with Remus? I started nibbling on my bottom lip. I looked at my watch. Perfect. "Merlin Remus, look at the time!" I excliamed, showing him my watch.

"It's that late already?" Remus asked, surprised.

"Yeah, so if we don't hurry, we're going to be late." I grabbed his hand and started pulling him.

"Right." Remus turned to Ashley. "You three better hurry up, or you'll be late too." His grip on my hand tightened and he started running.

I turned to Ashley, who was glaring daggers at me. "Bye!" I said in the same fake enthusiasm as earlier.

Remus pulled me along the corridor. We weaved in and out of students as we hurried to the Transfiguration classroom. I felt my face heat up as Remus gripped my hand tightened as to not lose me in the sea of students. I wondered how fast my friends were walking, or how slow we were walking because I couldn't see them anywhere. Remus turned another corner and we ended up in a deserted hall. The Transfiguration classroom was down the hall and just around the corner. We could hear the chatter of the students standing outside the class. Remus slowed into a walking pace as we crossed the hallway. Just before we turned the final corner, Remus gave my a final squeeze and slowly let it go. We turned the corner to see everyone entering the classroom.

"Just in time." Remus breathed.

I looked up and smiled at him. "I guess your perfect record is safe."

Remus smiled down at me and we both entered the classroom. Remus took his seat beside Peter, while I took my seat beside Camilla. Lily, Kristy, who were sitting in front of us, and Camilla turned to me with a look that clearly said, "we are going to have a talk." We started doing work in our books, when the door opened. Professor McGonagall looked up from her desk. She glanced at the clock above the door, then back to the individuals. "Miss Dalveoli, Miss Larkinson and Miss Vallane, you three are two minutes late. I do not appreciate tardiness. Five points from Ravenclaw, each."

The three nodded and hurried to their seats. When they sat down, they turned to me, and glared, while I was trying to look everywhere, but them. Great, I still have a few classes with them.

"Alright Julia, we've got one hour, start talking." Camilla said, shutting the door to our dormitory. She tapped her wand on the door, putting a silencing charm on the room. Lily and Kristy pushed me on to my bed. The three of them stood in front of me, waiting.

I shrugged. "What's there to talk about?"

"Let's start with how cozy you and Remus were getting when we walked ahead of you guys." Camilla said.

"We were just talking." My face started to feel hot. "It's no big deal."

"Then why did it take you so long to get to class?" Kristy asked.

"We ran into Ashley."

"Tell us the whole story." Lily said.

I told them the story, from the time we left the Great Hall, to when we entered the Transfiguration classroom. "..and then they arrived late, got in trouble and when they sat down, they glared at me." I sighed

"He held your hand?!" Lily sighed in a dreamy sort of way. "At least that's one step closer."

"One step closer to what?" I asked, suddenly. "Let's face it, this is nothing more than a school girl crush."

"Merlin, Julia, there is a thing called dating." Camilla said.

"Why would Remus date me?"

"Because he likes you." Kristy said. "He obviously cares about you enough to forget about Ashley and pay attention to only you."

"For us to date, we both have to like each other. You said so your self Kristy, he cares about me. Caring and liking are two totally different things." I said.

Camilla put her arm around my shoulders. "If he won't bite, I know plenty of fish that will."

I rolled my eyes. I didn't want fish. "You three are so strange." I looked at my watch. "Come on, lunch is almost over."

We left our dorm and headed to the common room. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were crowded around one chair. We looked at each other, the same thought in all our minds. Could they be planning a prank to pull at the Halloween ball? Camilla whispered something to Kristy, making her laugh. The guys raised their heads and turned to us.

James ruffled his hair. "Hey ladies, where are you off to?"

Lily glared at him. "We're heading to Care of Magical Creature Class because if you hadn't noticed, Potter, it's fifteen minutes until lunch is over."

"Lily would you-"

"I'd do nothing for you."

Remus stood up, took a step, then sat back down. I raised an eyebrow, but let it slide. Sirius nudge Remus in the side, but Remus shook his head and whispered something to him. I turned when the portrait swung open. Emily walked in and approached our group.

"Hey sixth years!" She said, waving. She turned to Kristy. "There's a bloke from Hufflepuff standing outside. He says his name is Jeremy Lancer and he wants to talk to you."

"Me?" Kristy asked, confused. Emily nodded as Kristy blinked slowly.

"Jeremy?" Camilla asked. "Isn't he that bloke from Muggle Studies? The one that asks you all the questions?"

"Oh, he probably just wants help with homework. I'll be right back." Kristy said, disappearing through the portrait.

After a few seconds, Sirius scratched his head and turned to Camilla. "I thought you said we didn't have homework."

Camilla gently bit he finger, thinking back. She gasped. "We didn't!"

Just as we were going to investigate the true intentions of Mr. Lancer, Kristy came back, her face was as red as her tie.

Lily held Kristy's shoulder. "Kristy, sweetie, are you okay?" Kristy mumbled something and everyone took a step closer in order to hear. "Pardon?"

"I said," a little louder, "I have a date for the Halloween ball."