Masquerade

In deep blue folds of midnight's knit
Your slender figure glide to me
Your pretty face the masquerade mask hid
The you I had longed to meet

Chapter 2: Cerulean
‘How was your new stepmother, James?’ Remus asked, when James returned from the wedding ceremony.

‘Fine. Only that my mother’s better. Her name’s Cindy,’ James said shortly.

‘How about darling Miss Evans’s?’ Peter asked.

‘He’s everything a stepfather should not be!’ Lily cried at once. ‘He’s kind, loving, caring, handsome…’

‘That, Lily, was what you had wanted,’ Jenny said. The boys had accepted her some time ago.

‘But what I really want is just a normal stepfather!’ Lily said.

‘He is normal,’ Remus pointed out.

‘I want a cruel, mean, heartless man who hates me! Someone who’ll make my mother’s love die for me, whose passion against the lady’s daughter is above the gauge of anger!’ Lily recited passionately. Her friends rolled their eyes at her. Typical Lily.

‘Then you will be miserable,’ Sirius said reasonably.

‘Of course I would, but that’s the whole fun of it, see?’ Lily said, grinning. ‘I’m tortured, my prince’ll come on a white horse and he’ll kill my evil stepfather!!! And we shall fall in love and live happily ever after!’ Her friends coughed.

‘That’s like a… story,’ Remus said.

‘That’s boring,’ James said flatly.

‘How old d’you think you are?’ Peter asked tauntingly.

‘I think that’s wonderful,’ Jenny said dreamily.

‘But the sad part is that I got a total opposite of my dreams,’ Lily said, dropping her voice with a hint of sob developing in her throat. She then grinned at them. ‘Anyway, his name is Brad and I’m lucky to be allowed to keep my name. I can’t imagine how Professor McGonagall will get used to calling me Lily Brad. Her face would be priceless!’ Lily tossed one of her bright red plaits to the back. Lily’s hair was always tied in two thin plaits, its ends bearing a dark green ribbon to match her green eyes.

‘Two days to Masquerade, people,’ Peter said. ‘Who’s going with who?’

‘I’m going with Audrey,’ James said, sighing. ‘Or sort of. She asked me and I never answered.’

‘No one,’ Remus said flatly, as if he don’t even care, which is quite true.

‘Jenny,’ Sirius said. Jenny flushed.

‘I never asked you!’ she protested. ‘Neither did you, me!’

‘Well, I’ll be taking you there, in that case. That’s that.’

‘What about you, Lily?’ Peter asked, turning to the girl. Lily blinked blankly.

‘Excuse me? Aren’t masquerade a party where you cover you face with a mask so no one can recognize you?’ she said in puzzlement. ‘Why bother looking for partners when we’re all anonymous??’

‘Aah! We have someone smart at last!’ Peter said joyfully, applauding. He then added, ‘I figured the same too.’

‘Goody. This means I can turn down Audrey’s invitation!’ James said gleefully. ‘Yippee! I don’t have to attend that stupid thing!’

‘Don’t you all know?’ Lily said in surprise. Everyone but Peter shook his head. ‘It’s a ball where everyone comes in formal wear and, most importantly, wear a mask over your eyes,’ Lily explained.

‘No one opened the dictionary,’ Peter grinned.

‘But- but where’re we getting the masks?’ Sirius asked nervously. ‘I haven’t got one, except an old Ultraman one that I got when I was a toddler!’

‘I asked Professor McGonagall,’ Peter said intelligently. ‘If you haven’t got one, you can get it from the props room in the old charms classroom.’

‘You’re a genius, Peter. We’d better grab the nice ones hurriedly, then,’ Remus said. ‘See ya!’

~ * * ~

Jenny struck a dramatic-looking pose in front of her full-sized mirror. She smiled at her own reflection in satisfaction.

‘Looking good, Miss Kurt,’ Jenny murmured to herself. She turned to Lily for her comments, only to find the other girl staring blankly and distastefully at her own reflection. Jenny’s heart sank.

Lily’s beautiful ripples of wavy red hair were pinned into a simple twist at her collarbone, where it fell right to her fairly tanned elbow. The deep blue robes she wore reminded Jenny very much of a starry night sky. A pair of starry diamond ones replaced Lily’s usual plastic earrings.

Jenny could feel her envious feelings growing as she saw her friend pull a face at her reflection. Lily was definitely not pleased with her looks, however much Jenny liked it. What happened to those big, puffy sleeves they usually show in the Cinderella stories?

Lily caught Jenny’s gaze on her halfway during a pulled face and muttered a small ‘ack!’ before retreating for the washroom.

‘Well,’ Jenny said, turning to her now seemingly plain reflection. ‘I guess that’s why she’s hardly noticeable. And I thought I met a new girl a month ago.’

With a sigh, she pulled off her stupid over-large glasses and wore the dreaded contact lenses. She then placed her yellow mask over her misty grey eyes.

Alright Masquerade ball… I’m ready…

~ * * ~

Choosing for girls are just like choosing for an item. You see it, like it, want it and you take it. Don’t get what I mean? Well, the habit it currently on among James’s friends.

‘Let me see… I’ll take this,’ Peter said. ‘The brunette girl with forest green dress.’

‘Nay, Peter. I want to take her,’ Sirius said.

‘Oh.’ Peter’s face fell. He surveyed the Great Hall again. ‘Then I’ll take the raven haired girl there then, in sparkly bright red.’

‘She’s mine too,’ Sirius said carelessly. Peter fumed.

‘I’ll go for the, um, yellow dressed girl. Blonde and in yellow. All yellow,’ Remus said uncertainly.

‘She’s also mine, Lupin,’ Sirius said, not even looking up.

‘How can all three be yours?’ Peter scowled. ‘I don’t care, I’m taking that brunette!’

‘And I’m going for that blonde,’ Remus said. The boy felt a tap on his shoulder. He spun around to see a tall girl, sandy haired and in black dress robes, a maroon mask over her brown eyes. Remus’s heart sank.

‘Remus, it’s you, right?’ the girl said. If possible, Remus’s heart nearly stopped beating.

‘Yes, Rebecca,’ Remus said mournfully to his elder sister. ‘Mum, er, sick again?’

‘Yes. You’re wanted. C’mon kiddo.’ Rebecca Lupin dragged her brother off without waiting for him to reply. Remus waved sadly at his friends.

‘Poor thing,’ James sighed. He pushed his macaroni around. He hadn’t the mood to eat. He’s bored. He hate this macaroni. He hate his new stepmother, Cindy, for "stealing" his dad. He hate his black mask. He hate this stupid masquerade. He hate everything. Well, probably that’s why he’s all black. Black for mourning…? Sounds good.

‘Hey, enjoy yourself!’ Peter said, trying to perk up James’s interest.

‘Christmas’s stupid. Cindy’s stupid. This whole thing is all stupid,’ James muttered monotonously, chewing on the tasteless macaroni. He spat it out. ‘Yuck! Even this macaroni’s stupid! Don’t the house elves recognize the meaning of "overusing tomato sauce"???’

‘Well, maybe not. Bye bye, I’m going to ask some girls for a dance,’ Sirius said. ‘If I don’t get a partner now, someone might come up with a bad idea to pair. You know, those desperado ones that desperately need to dance but have no one to dance with. They usually come up with those ideas.’

‘Enjoy.’

‘Bye Jimmy. And do look cheerful,’ Peter said.

‘See you.’

James sighed. How wonderful. His friends decide to pair up before getting paired. Wise, actually. Well, destiny calls that James Potter should be a miserable boy on Christmas eve. And tomorrow is his mother’s death anniversary day. How joyful.

Speaking of his mother, James wondered if his mum celebrates Christmas in the Heavens.

‘W-w-would you like to d-d-dance?’ a familiar sounding voice stuttered. James stared at the yellow masked girl before him. Her brown-black hair was pinned neatly to the back and she was blushing furiously.

‘Why are you so red? This is some stupid Truth or Dare game you’re playing with your girlfriends, isn’t it?’ James said sourly. The girl looked shocked.

‘N-n-no,’ she stammered. ‘I-I-I just wondered I-if you w-want to d-d-d-dance.’

‘Thanks, but no thanks,’ James said boringly. ‘I don’t feel like it.’

The girl blushed ever more before excusing herself. James wondered who she was. Her voice was familiar, though he couldn’t quite place his finger in it at the moment. Ah, who cares? Not he!

Back to the original topic before that girl disturbed him. Now, where was he? Oh yeah, do angels celebrate Christmas. Santa Claus never celebrate Christmas; James knew because Santa worked on Christmas day. But that’s Santa, not any angel. And Santa—

‘Would you like a dance?’ a girl asked in an Irish accent.

If it’s not a sign of psycho madness, James would dig all his hair scalps up and replant them back. He clenched his fingers into a ball of fist to control himself from doing so.

‘No, thank you,’ he said at once. ‘I’m not – I repeat, NOT – feeling well today.’ He got up at once and walked right out of the castle doors. If the Great Hall couldn’t offer him any peace for train of thoughts, the gardens would.

Alas! When James reached the gardens, he was greeted by whispers of lovebirds. In deep frustration and near madness, he marched towards the lake. He’d like to see which couple dare go to that open area, hah!

Fortunately for James (and the couple who had detoured, or James would’ve yelled at them there and then—wouldn’t care even if they’), the lake and its banks are quite, quite empty.

James seated himself near the lake and began his train of thoughts again. He had not even started when someone interrupted him:

‘Hello!’

James lost his temper.

‘That’s it!! All I want is peace! Is that too much to ask for? Huh? I just do NOT want to be disturbed today!!! And you can well expect my answer be NO if you want some crummy dance out here on the grass! And I—’

‘Um,’ the girl said. ‘Sorry, but you ought to cool it, you know. I’m here to escape the bing-bangs in the Hall, too.’ James’s anger faded.

‘Oh. Sorry, then.’ She shrugged. ‘What’s your name?’ James asked, eyeing her curiously.

‘The masquerade mask is there for a certain meaning. Figure it out yourself,’ she replied. James frowned. That wasn’t something he is used to.

‘Well then, what can I call you?’

‘Try Loner,’ the girl giggled.

‘I’m serious! My name is—’

‘Don’t say it. It spoils everything. I’ll call you… Night,’ the girl said. ‘You have black robes (are they school ones?) and black mask and black hair. All black. I’ll call you Night.’

‘Hey, that’s an insult! I have a name for an even better reason than the mask!’ James retorted.

‘Well, I’d rather know you anonymously… You can call me anything you want, too.’

‘Fine then. Fair, I guess,’ James said, making a face. ‘I’ll call you Cerulean. I mean, you’re all blue except for your hair and eyes and skin though I can’t really see well in this kinda light.’ It’s dark out, save the small moonlight from the hidden full moon behind the clouds.

‘Suits me well enough,’ Cerulean said nodding.

‘Now just leave me alone,’ James said. The girl nodded.

The two were quite silent for the next fifteen minutes, except when Cerulean got bored and decided to throw pebbles into the lake to see how many skips she can achieve. After a while longer, James, too, got bored of thinking of how angels celebrate Christmas.

‘What year are you? House?’ he asked.

‘Not telling. It wouldn’t be fun,’ Cerulean replied.

‘Well, there has got to be something we can talk about! I’m getting bored!’

‘I’ll tell you a story,’ she offered.

‘Thanks, but I’m not a pre-schooler.’

‘I can sing,’ Cerulean suggested. ‘I know a song, which will be just nice.’

‘How should I know?’ James muttered. Cerulean must have heard him, because she had a hurt look on her face. ‘Um, sorry. Er, why don’t you sing it, then? I’m, uh, delighted to be entertained.’ The girl brightened up and drew in a deep breath before singing:

I've waited all of my life
For the day when love appears
Like a fairy tale in days gone by
He will rescue me from my fears

And now I feel him standing close to me
And how can I tell him what he means to me?
My heart stands still... Has he come?

Oh starry night
Is this the moment I dream of?
Oh starry night
Tell me, is he my own true love?

Every night, I think of him
Here in my lonely room
Waiting for my prince to come
Wondering if he'll be here soon

And I sit patiently, waiting for a sign
And I hope that his heart longs for mine
He calls my name... Has he come?

Oh starry night
Is this the moment I dream of?
Oh starry night
Tell me, is he my own true love?
Oh starry night
Is he the one that I dream of?

Oh starry night
How will I know?
Will his love show?
Is he my own true love?

Cerulean let the last note wave serenely as James stared at the dark blue lake, mesmerized.

‘That was nice,’ James commented at last.

‘Thanks.’

‘You know, that song of yours reminded me of a friend. Her name’s—’

‘Don’t say her name,’ Cerulean interrupted.

‘Okay, fine. She’s always a dreamer. A little silly, too, at some times,’ James said.

‘You know, I pity the girl. It’s not nice to call someone silly just because they dream,’ Cerulean said quietly. ‘Dreams come true.’

‘Fat chance. My dream is that mother’ll be here with me. She’s not here.’ Cerulean kept quiet.

‘My dream is to have a prince,’ she said unexpectedly. She stood up. ‘Anyway, it is getting late—almost midnight. I should be looking for this year’s mistletoe couple. I’ll see you, Night.’

‘Wait!!’ James called. ‘Will I ever see you again?’ He felt a tug at his heart for this mysterious girl.

‘Never in school, but every night of the Masquerade,’ Cerulean replied quietly. ‘Good bye!’

And she was off.

~ * * ~

‘Dumbledore asked us to remove our masks at midnight,’ Jenny said, falling heavily onto her bed. ‘Imagine who my partner is.’

‘Someone?’ Lily suggested.

‘Don’t be silly, Lily.’

‘I’m not!’

‘Well, it’s Sirius,’ Jenny said, sitting up. ‘He was dancing with me when the clock struck. Oh, my!’

Lily laughed softly.

‘Who did you dance with, Lily?’

‘Somebody,’ she replied dreamily.

‘Yes, who is he, Lily?’

‘You guess, Jenny dear,’ Lily said, pulling her covers over.

‘With Mundungus Fletcher,’ Audrey said sarcastically. Lily just smiled.

‘Maybe.’

‘Give me a clue, Lil!’ Jenny pleaded. Lily thought for a while.

‘Dulcis, belle,’ Lily replied with a grin and a wink.

‘Huh?’

She paused. ‘I’m not very sure, though.’

‘What IS with you today? You seem weird!’ Samantha commented.

Lily just laughed in reply.

~ * * ~

‘Where is Remus?’ Peter asked on Christmas night. It was another Masquerade ball, as we all know.

‘Sick. Again. His mother,’ James replied. ‘Bye, I’m off for a walk.’

‘Whatever for?’ a puzzled Sirius asked.

‘To get some peace. I was harassed last night.’

‘Pardon me, but would you like to dance?’ a girl – probably from yesterday – asked, turning her large grey eyes at him. James rolled his eyes at Sirius quietly.

‘Sorry, but I’m having an upset stomach,’ James said uneasily, so as to sound as if he did have an upset stomach. He made sure he made his face look feverish, to look more convincing. Hah, that should fool her!

It did.

‘I didn’t know that you’re a liar,’ Sirius whispered.

‘Whatever. Ciao.’

James made his way to the lake hurriedly, hoping to meet the odd girl he had seen last night. The shadows of the clear, sweet song rang in his ears repeatedly as he recalled her starry-like eyes that glitter.

His hopes and questions were dashed, when he came face to face to the empty lawn.

Oh well, he sighed wistfully, the never really mentioned the place to meet. She might have thought of the gardens.

James sat at the lake bank, staring at the bright full moon the hung like a giant pearly orb in the sky. The shimmering stars the speckled in the sky brought James’s pensive thinkings from his late mother back to Cerulean.

Is she a first-year? She’s rather short to be a senior. Is she a Gryffindor, like him? Or a Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff? Or (James shuddered involuntarily) Slytherin? And what colour is her hair? He never got much chance to notice, being the oblivious boy he is. Her eyes were hidden behind that silver-blue mask, too.

Who is she? Why wouldn’t she want to reveal herself? The Masquerade’s just a game! The way she speak of dreams… She sounded very much like happy-go-lucky Lily Evans who hadn’t a single care in the world for anything but her fantasies.

‘Hello!’

‘Lil!’ James cried, snapping up. He caught himself. ‘Pardon me. Um, hi.’

Cerulean shrugged. James squinted his eyes to try see her hair colour. It was black. Black and beautifully wavy.

‘Any ideas on what to do today?’ Cerulean asked, smiling at him. ‘You invited me here, so you ought to think of something.’

‘Um,’ James mused. He hadn’t any idea in mind, actually.

‘We’ll count the stars, then,’ she suggested.

‘Fine. Cerulean, who are you?’

‘I am me,’ she replied.

‘Name, please?’

‘That’s Betelgeuse, Night,’ Cerulean said, pointing at a star. ‘I, um, think so. I’m not really sure about these stars at all. What do you think?’

James just sighed quietly. It’ll be no use to try to get Cerulean’s real name tonight. He can keep trying, though. Keep trying until he does…

And until then, James might start looking forward to Christmas and masquerades from now on.