Will-o'-the-Wisp

"Oh, gosh, do I look all right?"

"You look fine."

"Where's my mirror? Oh, dear God, what did I do with that comb?"

"It's over here, I just borrowed it for a second."

"It's over here..."

"Those are my cuff links."

"Here it is!"

"No, that's not it either! Blast it!"
Remus blew a loose strand of light brown hair out of his eyes and scanned the room. Six boys stood in various states of preparation. The beds and end tables were strewn with various articles of clothing: socks, shoes, ties, shirts, pants, even a pair of underwear hanging off the end of Peter's bed. Gilderoy sat in front of a vanity mirror, brushing his rather long golden hair, which fell in ripples to his shoulders. His salmon pink dinner jacket lay carefully on his bed, a yellow silk tie on top of it. Frank sat on his own bed, wrestling with his socks and muttering. Peter lay on his back on his bed, holding his breath and sucking in his stomach as he tried to fasten the button on his dress pants. James was digging through his trunk, his shirt only half-buttoned, tie and jacket forgotten, one shoe off and one shoe on, looking frantically for the ring. Sirius, who was from a very strict pureblood family and not used to the suits the seventh year boys had been asked to wear that night, looked a little uncertain as he met his eyes in the mirror and fumbled with his tie. Only Remus was actually ready to go.

If he had been taking a date that evening, Remus would have been beyond mortified at his own appearance. The full moon was three days over, and he was still rather thin and tired-looking. Besides that, his suit was ancient. He had been forced to let down the hem on his trousers so that the cuffs met his shoes, but there was a definite crease that no amount of ironing would get out. The shirt was faded from many washings, and the tie had once belonged to his father. His socks had darns on top of darns, most of which he had done himself, and his shoes were rather scuffed, despite the vigorous polishing he had given them the previous evening. His brown jacket, waiting for him to put it on, had several patches, including one on the elbow that he had sewn on nearly a week previous, when he had taken out his suit to make sure it was in a decent condition and discovered another hole. As it was, however, Remus didn't mind in the slightest how he looked. He was going to the ball because it was the graduation party, to say goodbye to his friends.

Gilderoy threw down his brush with an exaggerated sigh and began experimenting with a velvet ribbon to tie his hair back and not succeeding very well. Frank had gone from muttering to threats of sock-murder when his sock got all twisted and refused to go up his foot. Peter had finally managed to button his pants and was trying to button his shirt, but gave a wail of despair as one of the buttons popped off with a twang. James narrowly missed hitting Remus with his trainer as he tossed it aside in his desperate search for the ring. Sirius tugged his stubborn tie off of his neck and shook out his hands, staring at the thing in mild dismay.

Sighing, Remus stood up and set about straightening his friends out. He tied Gilderoy's hair back for him, untangled Frank's sock and showed him how to get it on without twisting it, pulled the box containing the moonstone and garnet ring out of the pocket of the pants James had been wearing earlier, then fished out his sewing kit and found white thread and a button that matched the rest of Peter's.

"Thanks for helping us get ready for the ball, Cinderella," Frank teased with a grin as he began lacing up his dress shoes.

"Mm mmm mmmm," Remus mumbled around the thread in his mouth as he finished sewing on the button. He bit the thread off and repeated, "No problem. That's what I'm here for."

Leaving Peter to continue buttoning his shirt, Remus walked over to where Sirius was still wrestling with the tie and took it out of his hands. He whipped it around Sirius's neck, knotted it, cinched it up, smoothed the ends, and turned Sirius's collar down. "There," he said with a smile.

Sirius raised his eyebrows, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as well. "How do you do that?"

"Half-Muggle, remember? Muggles get upset if you go to important functions in dress robes. I had to learn how to put on a tie or I'd've been resorting to clip-ons." Remus glanced in the mirror and straightened his own tie, then returned to his bed, trying not to think about what else he had seen in the mirror. His father had told him this might happen, but he hadn't thought it would be this soon. Remus's hair was beginning to go prematurely grey.

Gilderoy eyed Remus in the mirror. "Did you ever consider a bowtie?"

"I haven't worn a bowtie since I was three. And I looked ridiculous."

"Nonsense." Gilderoy tugged on the ends of what Remus suddenly realised was a sunshine yellow bowtie. "I think they look splendid."

"No offence, Roy, but you're wearing a salmon pink jacket and you have your hair tied back with a ribbon," James said flatly. "Forgive us if we don't exactly take your advice on what looks 'splendid'."

Gilderoy looked injured. "I was merely making an observation, my dear chap."

"Okay, you guys, no fighting," Remus intervened, like he usually did. "Come on...this is it. Our last hurrah, our last real night as Hogwarts students. We should be getting along as friends, not fighting like first years who've been up too late. Besides, James, you're still Head Boy for a couple more days."

"Sorry," James apologised, looking sheepish. "I'm just a bit strung out tonight...God, I don't know when I've ever been so nervous."

"Your first date with her?" Sirius suggested.

"The first date is nothing compared to trying to propose," Frank informed him. "It's not easy, choking out a proposal without dropping the ring or stammering or some other calamity. I was so nervous I thought I was going to throw up."

James smiled weakly. "Thanks for the confidence booster, Frank."

"No problem, mate. Hey, if she says yes maybe we can do a double wedding."

James laughed. "If she says yes, I have a feeling she and Al will be planning exactly that by the time the train leaves tomorrow."