A Black Romance

****Rabbit****

The man who calls himself Rabbit was getting dressed in his dorm. Looking at himself in the mirror, he glanced at the different bottles of cologne he had made. Finally choosing one that he had tested on a group of second years, Rabbit put some on. "Behind the ears, on the wrist, and some on the chest," he said. Reading off a sheet of paper, his mother wrote to him on 'how to dress for a formal date'. Breathing hard, he put his mask on and hoped for the best.

****The Gryffindor Common Room****

After the girls heard James yell, they ran downstairs and waited by a chair to see what would happen. A few minutes later, they heard a door slam and saw Sirius run down stairs. He paused, turned, and looked at them.

"I don't know how you did this, but I know you did."

"Don't flatter yourself," Amber said, trying to hide the giggles.

"Okay," Lily said between laughs. "We did it. I charmed the clothes and Amber put a time spell on them." As Lily said that, James, Remus, and Peter slowly walked downstairs, trying to avoid the looks of the girls and the guys.

"How long will we be like this?" Remus asked. Hoping it would last for an hour or so.

"Until midnight," Amber said, looking at Lily, "If I did the spell right."

"What do you mean 'if'?" James said, walking closer to the girls with his wand out.

"This is my first time doing that spell. We weren't going to learn that until next month. But if it doesn't work, the clothes you have on will fall off and you won't be able to put anything on until the spell wears of." The boys looked at Amber with their mouths wide open.

****FLASHFORWARD****

That evening, Harry decided to go and talk to Sirius.

"How are you taking this?" Harry asked, sitting next to him outside by the lake.

"Fine, I think I am just happy that Amber is alive and well."

"So you're not mad at her for hiding?" Sirius smiled and shook his head.

"No, just like your mum, she put herself last."

"Do you think we'll find her?"

Sirius' smiled turned into a frown, "I don't know. She was so clever, just like Hermione. This is just so 'Amber' to do something like this." Harry smiled. He tried to picture what this Amber looked like; brown bushy hair like Hermione and those light blue/brown eyes.

"Yeah, like mother, like daughter," Sirius said, patting Harry's shoulder.

"Tell me about the Curse my mum and Amber did," Harry said.

"Once Amber and I got married, and Voldemort started going after your parents, it became clear that stronger measures were needed to be taken other than me being a secret keeper. As usual, Amber decided to read a book." Both men laughed. "James and I, thinking they were just being worrying women didn't take them seriously until one day Severus Snape came and they had booked a flight to Egypt." Sirius stopped and looked out at the lake. "She haunted me in my dreams in Azkaban, holding Hermione, holding her out for me to hold. I thought it was my entire fault. I talked James into letting Peter becoming the secret keeper. Then I left my wife and child at home when she begged me to owl Dumbledore then go after Peter."

"But it wasn't your fault." Harry started. "If Voldemort hadn't been hurt that night, there's no telling what would have happened." Before Sirius could reply, Remus and Ron walked up behind them.

****On the Quidditch Field****

The music was blasting. "The Elves", as they called themselves, were screaming into the microphone. I must admit that it had a catchy tune and I caught myself tapping my foot to the beat of the drums. I quickly stopped myself as I heard a group of giggling girls walking close to the bush I was hiding in. Then I spotted Sirius Black and all his glory walking out onto the field. Dumbledore smiled as he made his way over to Sirius.

"You know, you can only use that Peter Pettigrew excuse so many times."

Sirius turned a bright red and replied, "It wasn't Peter this time."

"Ah, James and Remus I suppose."

"No sir, Amber and Lily."

Dumbledore's bright blue eyes twinkled, "Marvelous! Tell them I want a word with them when you see them. I suspect the rest of your lot is the same?"

Sirius grinned and nodded his head.

"Well, enjoy yourself and please don't go near the fire," Dumbledore said, laughing as he walked away.

Twenty minutes later, an embarrassed James Potter and Remus Lupin walked in with their dates; Lily Evans and Olive Wood. Amber was a few steps behind them looking for her man in the mask.

"Have fun you two," Amber said as she went off to the punch bowl, trying to get her 'game plan' on. Before she could figure out her next action, she felt a tap on her shoulder. When she turned around, she saw a tall, dark figure of at least six feet.

"Whoa," Amber said at first. "I mean, hi, you must be Rabbit." Rabbit nodded and gave Amber a single red rose.

"A rose by any other name would still be as sweet," he then kissed her cheek and led her on to the dance floor.

Sirius watched from afar, his blood boiling at the sight of Amber with some dude in a stupid mask. Noticing Peter was also standing close to him; he grabbed him and tugged him along.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"Quiet Wormtail, we're spying on Amber!"

****Rabbit Dances****

Amber, and um, Rabbit walked onto the dance floor and danced to a slow song. For some strange reason, Amber felt like she knew this person.

"Do I know you?"

"Sort of."

"Are you in Gryffindor?"

"No. But I do have some classes with you."

"Which ones?"

"Can't tell."

"How do you know me?"

"Who doesn't know you? The smartest witch ever to grace Hogwarts."

"Oh," Amber said sadly, "the smartest. Always the smartest."

Rabbit took a deep breath and took Amber in his arms as they danced. Amber almost passed out; she'd never felt like this when she danced with Sirius or Remus. Her heart was beating twice as fast and her palms were getting sweaty.

"Are you ok?"

"Oh no, I'm fine. I was just trying to figure out who you were."

"Don't think about that right now, just try to enjoy yourself," smiling, Rabbit dipped Amber and they drifted off into a dance.

I remember my Valentines' Day Dance as a youth. Unlike the underdog in the story, I didn't have a date; in fact, I don't remember any girl walking close to me. But no matter, I wasn't really interested in girls. They would try to stop me on my quest for power. But I would have given anything for just one dance...

****Padfoot and Wormtail****

Sirius and Peter watched in the bushes.

"Do you see that?" Sirius yelled.

"Yeah, looks like they're dancing."

"Not just dancing, he's trying to take advantage of her."

"How can you tell? He has on a mask."

"I know about these things. I've used them a hundred times." Peter rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe that Sirius and Amber hadn't noticed that they were in love with each other. He'd seen it in their eyes the first time they saw each other on the Hogwarts Express back in 1964. Sirius picked on Amber about being smart and a goody-goody, but would give anybody else a bloody nose if they tried to do the same.

"Why don't you dance with her?" Peter asked, trying to calm him down.

"Hello! Do you see what I have on? Besides, she's the one who did this to me."

"Then why are you spying on her if you're mad at her."

"Shut up Wormtail."

****Albus, Lily, and Amber****

A few dances later, Dumbledore was able to pull Lily from James and Amber from Rabbit.

"Ah, ladies," he started, "Mr. Black told me about the little prank you pulled. Now, don't get nervous, I thought it was quite wonderful. Tell me, what did you do?" Lily and Amber both gave a sigh of relief. The girls wildly talked of how they hated being the butt of their jokes and wanted to leave them with a prank that they would remember forever. "So, when does the curse end?"

"At midnight, I hope," Amber said, looking down. "I didn't have the proper time to research everything, and the potion Lily and I made was missing spider skins..."

Dumbledore smiled, "So their clothes could fall off at any moment?"

"Yes sir," Lily added, "and they won't be able to cover up with anything for another six hours."

The blue eyes belonging to Dumbledore twinkled, "Brains over bronze! I for one will be sticking around a little while longer to see what takes place. But, I will ask you not to do this prank again. Others yes, but not this one." The girls nodded their heads and ran back to a group of Gryffindor girls.

****The Last Dance****

It was the second to last song of the night. Amber had yet to find out the identity of Rabbit. While her head was on his shoulder, she felt a soft tap on her back.

"Excuse me, may I cut in?" Amber looked up at Rabbit.

"Is it ok?"

"Just for this song," Amber nodded and smiled.

"How's your night going?" Amber asked, trying not to look at Sirius' lion cloth.

"Better than I expected. Girls are following me around and I think Professor McGonagall winked at me." Amber smiled.

"Glad to know you're enjoying yourself."

"I see you and him are having a good time."

"The best! I'm still trying to figure out who he is. But he won't take off his costume." Sirius looked into Amber's eyes.

"You look beautiful. No, truthfully you really do." Amber's cheeks turned a bright red as she spoke.

"You don't look that bad yourself; haven't seen your birth mark in a while." Sirius smiled. All too soon, the song finished and Rabbit was standing behind Amber and Sirius.

"I think the song is finished."