If Love is a Game...

Chapter Thirty

I Hope You Dance: Humor to Bliss

Krystyna knew she hadn't been this nervous since the night before she'd taken her O.W.L.s. Maybe she was even more apprehensive than then too. As she looked at herself in the mirror to make sure everything was correct and in place, she wondered why this was such a nerve wracking year for her. She had a Masquerade to attend, things to do, threats to remember, things to regret in the near future, and there were those pesky N.E.W.T.s also! What a nerve wracking year this was turning out to be.

Krystyna walked down the stairs to the common room where Lily and Lorena were waiting for her; idly wondering why what other people thought of her looks mattered so much to her right now. She had never cared to think about it before. Sara, instead of staying in bed as usual at this time of hour on this day, had been taken to the Hospital Wing immediately: The potion Narcissa Black had made was created improperly and she was terribly ill.

But even Krystyna's nervousness could not match up to the one she was seeing her friend in tonight when she landed on the floor firmly. They had not put their masks on yet so they were perfectly recognizable to everyone, even with their makeup. Lorena, who had been uneasy since they'd gotten to the Alicia's Style and Error salon place, was trying to calm herself down as Krystyna sat down slowly in the squashy chair Sirius had given up for her when they were up late at night, talking to each other.

Lily was lying on the couch elegantly with her arm placed on the back of it. She was wearing a beautiful white gown that had light pink lace on it near the hem of the dress. It glittered and sparkled in the fire light that was glowing on her from the fire in the hearth. Her long red hair had been layered a little and looked very bouncy, yet weightless. When she looked Krystyna's way, locks of her long red hair fell to the side of it. The inferno in the fireplace seemed to be dancing in her wonderful, bright green eyes the way it was reflecting on them. Her light pink lips tugged into a warm smile.

"Hey, Krystyna, do you think it's alright if we wait for a few minutes so Lorena can calm down?" Lily asked serenely. Krystyna took one look at Lorena and nodded her head at Lily, who grinned a little. She'd gotten the habit of grinning from James.

"I think that would be a good idea," Krystyna noted calmly. Lorena, in her red dress (think J.LO with blond hair here...) was pacing back and forth behind the couches, muttering things under her breath and throwing her arms in the air occasionally. Sometimes, she got loud enough for you to hear what she was saying, but most of the time, her voice faded in and out of the "hearing volume".

"...was he thinking?! Dancing..."--Lorena threw her arms in the air and rounded on her heels sharply, her voice fading away again--"...if he says one word, I'll..."--Lorena made a violent gesture with her hands and gave a foreboding noise that sounded like a growl. Krystyna's eyes widened at the gesture; she had a pretty good idea who she was talking about--"...embarrassing; I'm going to be sick..."--Lorena glanced hopefully at the trash can to the left and continued her pacing--"...this is hopeless. Argh, this blasted makeup is terrible and all these bloody pins in the hair are giving me a bloomin' headache!"

There was a sudden silence. Lorena touched the back of her hair gingerly and dropped her arm to her side quickly. Her bright blond hair had been put up in many twists and curls. Her long bangs had been parted and zigzagged on the part, tucked behind her ears. Her gray eyes seemed to have fire dancing in them, even though she was not looking at the fireplace.

"Okay, I'm done now," Lorena noted evenly. Krystyna and Lily stood up; Krystyna stretched her arms.

"Finally, we thought you were going to rant until the Masquerade ended," Lily giggled. Lorena said nothing but rolled her eyes. They walked out of the Gryffindor common room together.

~*~

Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter were already in the Great Hall, where the Masquerade was being held, and were standing beside the punch table with their dress robes on. James had to put his glass of punch back on the table and looked around suspiciously.

"Padfoot, Moony, cover me while I fix my mask!" James hissed under his breath, as if he was going to change into some superhero while hiding behind them. Sirius and Remus looked at each other, both of their masks on, and sniggered.

"Alright, Prongs, we'll let you hide behind us so you can keep your secret identity... a secret," Sirius cackled amusedly, grinning broadly. He took a step next to the left next to Remus and James slipped behind them quickly. Remus shook his head and took another drink of his punch. James suddenly gave a huge gasp.

"Oh no--gasp--the punch turned my tongue bright green!!!" James yelled from behind them. Luckily, the music that was being played was so loud that nobody but the other Marauders heard him. Sirius, Remus, and Peter snapped their heads back in James's direction. He had his very dark red mask off and his mouth wide open, his tongue sticking out of it. Indeed, his tongue was bright green. "How am I supposed to kiss Lily with a green tongue?!! On no, I have a green tongue!! That's Slytherin colours; I've been cursed!!"

There was a long silence between the four friends in which they stared at each other. None of them blinked or even moved. Peter suddenly blinked and Sirius began to laugh, saying that he'd lost the game because he'd blinked. Remus suddenly stuck his tongue out and saw that his tongue was green too.

"Hey, you've got a green tongue too, Moony!" James pointed out unnecessarily. "You can't possibly snog Lorena with a green tongue now!" He began to laugh and put his mask back on while Remus frowned at him and pulled his green tongue back in his mouth, giving James the "death glare". When James noticed this, he immediately stopped laughing.

"This makes no sense; the punch is red," Remus noted under his breath to himself. James obviously didn't catch the undertone and he rolled his eyes.

"No, duh, dip," James replied, sounding bored. "That's why we drank out of this one. It was Gryffindor colours and not Slytherin... Slytherin! I bet this was their nasty doing--spiking the Gryffindor punch! When I get my hands on those slimy little ba--"

"They spiked it?!" Sirius demanded quickly, interrupting James and stopping him from cussing at the same time without realizing it. They all looked at him and were silent with each other. "Oh no, Krystyna better get here quick or it'll be 'Attack of the Drunk In-Love Girls'...'Part 2353'!!! I'm the one who should be hiding behind you and Moony, Prongs!"

Immediately, James burst out laughing and Remus had to grab him by the arm to keep him on his feet, he was laughing so hard. Sirius turned red in the face from embarrassment and anger. It was such a curse being so handsome, charming, hunky, and--

"James, would you cut it out! This isn't funny!" Sirius growled angrily. Well, it wasn't funny for him at least because now, Remus was joining in on the laughter. Didn't they see? He was in some real danger from some crazy girls until Krystyna got here. When she got here, they would stop and flee. Everyone knew that if someone upset her, either Krystyna, a Prefect, would give them detention for a month or hex them or her friend, Lorena, might hex them.

"Listen, we'll make sure no girls attack you, Sirius," Remus said, trying to sound serious and trying to stop sniggering. James wasn't trying to stop. Sirius glared at James and then sighed. So far, no one was after him so they must have not drunk enough. He took another sip at his drink, forgetting that it was spiked and his tongue was probably some odd colour. That was when he remembered.

"Uh oh," Sirius muttered. He opened his mouth to find that his tongue was--

"Blue? Blue?! How in the world did you get blue?!" James demanded, as if he envied Sirius for having a blue tongue instead of green. Sirius, baffled by the entire situation, shrugged his shoulders and took another sip of his punch. It wasn't like his tongue was going to get any bluer. James turned to Remus, who was staring at the punch in his drink. Peter was looking at his tongue, which had turned black, of all colours. He was beginning to look sick. "Remus, you're the bookworm of the Marauders, do you know any spell that could change my tongue back to its rightful colour?"

Remus looked as though he resented his new label "bookworm" from James. But even if he did, he said nothing about it. Instead, he stopped glowering at James and looked back at his punch. "Well, I suppose you can just colour your tongue with a simple Coloring Charm," Remus noted serenely. Before James could say anything, Remus tried it on himself. Lucky for him, his tongue changed back into a pale shade of pink. James looked at his tongue oddly.

"Are you sure that's the right tongue colour?" James questioned suspiciously. Remus frowned at him and then shrugged his shoulders. James did the same thing when Sirius did it to himself. Peter tried and messed up, causing his tongue to disappear. He freaked out.

"My tongue, where did it go?!" Peter questioned fearfully. Sirius and James both jumped back in surprise; it looked very unusual to see a mouth without a tongue inside. Remus rolled his eyes and fixed his mask again so he could see properly. He said the spell which turned Peter's tongue visible and pink. "Thanks, Moony, I don't know what I would do without you here to help me."

The Great Hall doors opened again. Someone had just entered the room. The Marauders couldn't see who had entered because there were so many people blocking the view of the door. They saw the doors shut slowly. Quickly, they all discarded of their cups, in case they took another sip of the punch distractedly, and took a few steps away from the punch table.

"Um... excuse me--pardon me--can you scoot over a bit, thanks--sorry about that, didn't mean to bump you there--pardon her--excuse me--" At this voice, James began to bounce, forgetting all about how he wanted to maintain a composure of cool.

"That's Lily's voice!" James said in an unnecessary hushed voice of excitement. Remus rolled his eyes and pocketed his hands. Peter looked a little more downtrodden and Sirius took another step from the table.

Lily walked out of the crowd first; Sirius would've sworn in front of the entire Wizengamot that James's eyes became larger than tea saucers when he saw Lily in that gown. In fact, Peter would've also added that James's heart was louder than the music that was beginning to be played for the Masquerade. But none of them could top Remus, who had James fall on him and knock him over when he fainted from the sight of Lily in that gown with the mixture of the romantic music being played (not to be confused with feinted).

"James, are you alright?" Lily asked him concernedly, leaning over at him. She put her hand on his forehead to see if he had a fever. He certainly was red in the face enough to have one. He opened his eyes and blinked, Lily's blurry figure coming into focus. She started to snicker because he gave her a funny and dreamy grin.

"You're so cute..." James said in a vague voice. Sirius and Peter saw something and took a step back out of caution. Lily must've been one brave girl--or she was completely clueless.

Remus, who James was still lying on and was on his stomach, was slowly turning dark red in the face and looking really livid. Having James fall on him was quite embarrassing and he didn't want to have a lot of fluff between Lily and James when James was still lying on top of him. Sirius would've also sworn in front of the Wizengamot that huge flames were now surrounding Remus at this point.

Of course, lucky for James, Lorena pulled her way out of the crowd. At first, she had her back to them, trying to pull her wrist out of some (Slytherin) boy's grasp. All Peter could remember was her bright red dress and bright blond hair before she turned around. Lorena turned around. Sirius would've then sworn that those same furious flames would immediately disappear in a poof of grey smoke and the livid look on Remus's face turned into the most priceless look of embarrassment he had ever seen in his entire life. His face turned an even darker shade of red and molded into a complete look of shock and embarrassment as she walked over to them.

"Hey, Sirius... what happened??" Lorena asked with a look of uttermost bemusement that looked strange on a face of such beauty to Remus--and Peter???!! Lily was trying to help James--whose legs and brain had stopped functioning at the sight of Lily--up off of a totally red and embarrassed Remus while he shot Peter the "worse-than-death glare" and then continued to gape at Lorena, who looked from Sirius and down to him.

Sirius began to explain the situation like this: "Well, you see, James was completely dazzled by Lily when she came out of the rugged crowd. So his eyes became larger than dinner plates and his heart began to beat so hard that you could actually see it moving his chest and it was louder than the music and then he fainted--not to be confused with feinted--knocking Remus over and falling on top of him. Now, Remus was pretty ticked because it was embarrassing and began to turn red as a Flaming Fig and looking very livid so that aura flames were actually surrounding him. That was until he saw you come out of the rugged crowd and he was completely thrown off by your looks so now he's in complete shock because he thinks you're hott, but he's now furious at Peter because he is also gawking at you. But he'd much better like to gape at you instead of glare at Peter while Lily tries to get James, the hopelessly in love boy, off of Remus, the very embarrassed boy, who is head-over-heels for you."

Lorena turned an interesting shade of pink and her expression was also one of those priceless ones for Sirius. Remus turned an even darker shade of red (even though we all thought he could go no further) and Sirius laughed at them both. Peter quickly looked away from her. Finally, Lily got James, who was grinning ear-to-ear, off of Remus. Before Lorena could extend a hand to him, Remus jumped to his feet quickly and patted his hair down and flattened his rumpled dress robes.

"Um...okay," Lorena muttered, still that same interesting shade of pink. Remus was trying figure out where to put his hands so he stuck them in his pocket and began to whistle, looking everywhere but at Lorena. She bit her lip and looked at the floor. James was gushing over Lily, giving her an overdose of compliments.

That's when Krystyna pulled herself out of the thick crowd. Sirius could feel his jaw drop and he could hear Lorena starting to laugh at the (most likely) shocked looked on his face, but all he could remember was seeing Krystyna look so darn beautiful. She was wearing a black (hehe, couldn't resist) dress that had ¾ sleeves that were unbuttoned at the cuffs. It fit her perfectly.

Needless to say, Sirius was in a large bit of shock. Strands of her wavy black hair bounced in her eyes as she walked over to them smiling brightly, her small black mask veiling her identity to a few people. Sirius thought he might faint like James and fall on Remus. He staggered a bit and knocked into Remus, causing him to stumble and bump into Lorena--which caused them to fall on the ground together, Lorena giggling.

"Oh, no, are you two okay?" Krystyna asked mildly, trying to stifle her laughs and looking down at them at her feet. Remus turned a very fascinating shade of red before he jumped to his feet again and extended his hand out to Lorena. She took it and he pulled her up a little to hard out of nerves, causing Lorena to smack into him.

"Sorry--again," Remus apologized uneasily. Lorena couldn't stop giggling it seemed. Remus almost forgot that he was holding her hand. Sirius flattened his hair quickly before Krystyna walked around a dazed Remus and giggling Lorena to see him.

"You look great!" Sirius exclaimed. He slapped himself mentally. He was beginning to sound like that tiger on those Muggle cereal commercials he'd seen on a "television" at Lily's house. Actually, that cereal wasn't all that bad...

However, Krystyna smiled at him and turned a little pink under her mask. "The same could be said of you, of course," she replied softly, smiling. She stood on her toes a little to press her lips against his softly. She tried to forget that this would be the last romantic thing in the world she'd have with him.

"Oh, get a room, why don't you, Black," a voice said from nearby. Sirius peered out of one eye to see Rabastan Lestrange getting some punch and pouring it in his cup. Even with his mask, the ugliness of a Lestrange could not be mistaken to Sirius. Krystyna pulled away quickly and Sirius opened his other eye. He glared at the Sixth Year Slytherin; idly wondering why the Lestrange's named their kids with such strange names.

"Ah, stuff it and go away, Lestrange," Sirius replied smoothly. Rabastan glared at him and began to walk away with two cups of punch in his hand. When he got near Lorena and Remus, he stopped and looked at Lorena.

"By the way, Rodolphus told me to tell you to go over there and dance with him," Rabastan said dully, pointing over to his right where there were a bunch of people. Lorena crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes dangerously. This time, both Krystyna and Sirius would've testified in front of the entire Wizengamot that a large inferno was surrounding Remus as he glared fiercely at Rabastan, who took one look at him and got his answer. "I'll make sure to tell Rodolphus if he values his life, he'll stay clear of Lupin."

With that, Rabastan headed off into the crowd and Remus's flames were immediately doused when Lorena touched him arm to calm him down. Immediately, he melted into goop. Sirius rolled his eyes and shook his head slowly. That was when the music began to start and the crowd shifted into "Dance Mode". They all stood there kind of awkwardly.

"C'mon, James, let's show them how dancing is really done," Lily said with a grin. James's grin could get no broader so Lily pulled him into the crowd to dance. Peter was looking a little lonely and out of place with having no one to dance with. Sirius nudged him.

"Go on, Peter, ask a girl to dance with you," Sirius whispered encouragingly. Peter's eyes bulged slightly and he shook his head hastily.

"No one would want to dance with me," Peter said under his breath. Sirius frowned at the quiet boy and gave him a good, hard look-over. Being under that look made Peter uneasy. "Besides, I can't dance and I'll only embarrass myself!"

"Wormtail, here's a notice for you; I can't dance either, but that's not going to stop me," Sirius replied with a grin. Peter raised his eyebrows. He thought Sirius could do everything. "I'm sure there's some girl out there, waiting for you to ask her to dance. How about that Hufflepuff that you keep catching eyes with--she seemed like a decent girl. Go on, ask her; she's over there."

Sirius pointed the Hufflepuff girl out to Peter and pushed him optimistically. Peter wobbled forward a little and looked back at Sirius, who gave him two thumbs up. Peter smiled weakly and slowly walked over to the girl and her friends to ask her to dance. Sirius stood up straight and pocketed his hands.

"Do you think she'll accept it?" Krystyna asked hopefully. She didn't want Peter to get all sad by being turned down. Sirius looked over at her and shrugged his shoulders placidly.

"Sure, though Peter's a klutz and slightly thick-headed, which we tease him jokingly for, he is a very nice guy," Sirius replied quietly. "Plus, I've seen her staring at him plenty of times." Krystyna smiled lightly and leaned against him again.

"So--er--do you wanna dance?" Krystyna asked him turning a little pink. He looked at her quickly.

"Um... yeah, sure, that's cool with me," Sirius replied calmly, trying to sound not nervous at all, which he really was. After spending hours in the middle of the night thinking of how he couldn't dance, he had decided to say that he didn't feel like dancing. But with a strange, imploring glow in the blue eyes of his affection, how could he possibly be no? So, right now, he'd decided that he'd play it cool and act like he could dance--until he got on the dance floor where he failed miserably. He laced his fingers with hers and slowly pulled her onto the dance floor, leaving Remus and Lorena in a very awkward silence.

"Do you want to dance or drink some punch and talk?" Lorena asked in the silence. She disliked awkward silence such as this one. Remus didn't want to dance, but then he remembered the spiked punch.

"Let's dance," Remus said firmly, figuring that he didn't want to get Lorena drunk on some punch that the Slytherins probably spiked. He grabbed her by the wrist and almost dragged her away from the punch table very quickly.

~*~

Let's just say that Sirius hadn't been this nervous since...ever. To put it simply, he'd never been nervous in his life. That was just his nature. He didn't get nervous. He could be calm and collected while a tornado was touching down on the ground in the Quidditch Pitch during a Quidditch game between Gryffindor and Slytherin. But this, no, this was much different. This was dancing with Krystyna--and that made his nervous system go haywire. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.

"Krystyna, I have a confession to make," Sirius said as his eyes darted to the crazy dancing couples. A fast song was being played at the moment. She looked at him. "I don't know how to dance."

That was a sigh of relief for Krystyna. He didn't know how to dance either. This was sort of like Lorena and Remus's predicament. She smiled. "That's a relief; I don't know how to dance either," Krystyna replied rather happily. He grinned. They both couldn't dance and by the looks of it, neither could anyone else around them. They wouldn't look like fools!

"Okay then, so what do we do now?" Sirius sighed calmly.

"I guess we dance."

~*~

"Whoo, James, calm down! If you don't go any slower, I'm going to lose my breath!" Lily said loudly, though she could not suppress the bright smile on her face. James, who was the only one of the Marauders who actually knew how to dance, had been twirling her around for the past half an hour of dancing. Lily had to admit; James was a good dancer, though he didn't look like it when just looking at him standing around.

"Aw, Lily, I'm having so much fun," James said in a fake whine tone. She rolled her eyes, but suddenly grabbed onto his neck when he dipped her down, grinning broadly. "And you're so lovely in that dress of yours."

He pulled her back up straight as the music began to gradually get slower. She kept smiling at him. One year ago, if she would have been told that she would be dancing with James Potter at a Masquerade on Valentine's Day night, she would've scowled or laughed at the mere idea. And here she was, dancing with him like he was the most wonderful boy in the world. Wasn't she the lucky one?

"These masks are silly looking," James noted as he took a sharp turn with her in his arms. "I wish we could just take them off." His mask drooped over his eyes a bit and she giggled. She lifted his mask above him eyes and kissed him lightly on the forehead.

"In time, James," Lily whispered softly, putting his mask on properly. "In time no one will hide behind one of these silly disguises." But would they?

~*~

Remus had done the most brilliant thing to figure out how they were supposed to dance, according to Lorena. He looked around at everyone else and tried the same thing. And although they weren't the best of dancers in the world, they were pretty good for first timers, they both thought. Another fast beat song had begun to be played and everyone was in a frenzy to dance wilder.

That was when things started to get a little hectic. Remus, much to his embarrassment, kept stumbling over his own feet at the fast rate they were moving while other people kept bumping into Lorena and making her fall into Remus. Things couldn't possibly get any... better. Or could they?

Lorena, herself, didn't know if she could stop giggling as they tried to dance quickly. She knew her cheeks were pink, as were Remus's, but that didn't matter. It was loads of fun. Remus was grinning ear-to-ear because he felt like the happiest guy on earth. Yeah, who cares if he couldn't dance? At least he had somebody to dance with, unlike Severus Snape!

"Looks like someone isn't enjoying the party as much as some people," Remus noted calmly as they slowed down after someone bumped into Lorena and she crashed into Remus again. Lorena, who was now slightly panting, looked where he was looking.

"You know, I think I was a little hard on him today," Lorena sighed under her breath. Remus looked down at her quickly, seeing as how he was taller than her and all. She looked up at him. He raised one of his eyebrows. "What? I mean, I scared the crap out of him and on a holiday like this...I do have a soft spot, you know, for people who get picked on. Of course, you don't do it."

"Eh, I'm not like that, but he asks for it from James when he calls Lily a...you know," Remus replied smoothly. Of course she knew. She blew up like a Muggle bomb every time it came out of Lucius Malfoy's mouth. She frowned and then sighed, taking her deep set grey eyes off of a sullen Severus Snape sitting in the corner. The song was getting slower and he felt like it was getting warmer when he realized they'd begun to dance slower and get a lot--his stomach did an amazing somersault (I give it a 9.3)--closer.

"Um... the lights are dimming and the beat is going so slow it's about to go backwards," Lorena pointed out, sounding truly anxious the first time tonight. Her eyes scanned the room and she suddenly got even--his stomach did a back flip (9.5, I'd say)--closer to him. She smiled at him. "You know what, I think I'd like another dance with you."

For once in his life, Remus wanted to dance the night away.

~*~

The lights dimmed around them all. Sirius and Krystyna had actually gotten the hang of dancing and were doing pretty good. No one had bothered them at all. They were doing just fine. It was only when the music began to slow down gradually and the lights began to darken did they started to get apprehensive again. Krystyna had been waiting for this moment since Dumbledore had told them about this. Sirius didn't know if he was going to faint of a heat stroke or what.

"Do you want to sit this one out, Sirius?" Krystyna asked calmly. Sirius looked into her eyes. He couldn't tell if she wanted to stop or if she wanted to continue. He had mixed feelings, himself, about this slow dance. He wanted to dance with her badly, yet he didn't want to. He was befuddling himself.

"No, we might as well try out slow dancing," Sirius replied firmly. A faint smile came across her face and Sirius was feeling as if he made the right decision. He took his hand out of hers and put it on her waist like every boy around him was doing with their dance partners. She put her hand on his shoulder like every girl around her was doing. They both hoped they were doing it correctly.

The music was soft and romantic. Slow dancing wasn't that bad. It was easier than the fast dancing, but it was more...emotional, Krystyna supposed. It actually calmed her down more than anything. Sirius, on the other hand, thought his heart might leap out of his chest. He looked into her warm eyes. Green on blue. Green on blue. His eyes were locked onto hers. He took another deep breath.

Krystyna thought she would never be this happy ever again. It was easily the best moment of her life right now. It was also going to easily be the last happy moment in her life. She let the thought wash over her and she tried to forget it. Instead, she smiled a little again and laid her head against his chest as they danced. She closed her eyes and that light smile was still painted on her face.

Sirius put his chin on top her head softly and grinned a little. His heart had finally stopped. It had stopped abruptly when Krystyna had laid her head on him. He took a deep breath--strawberries. His grin widened a little more. He remembered that she usually smelled of strawberries. He loved the fragrance.

His eyes looked around the room as they danced. No one was looking at them. Everyone was dancing with someone. He eventually saw Peter dancing with his Hufflepuff girl. The two friends caught eyes and Sirius raised his eyebrows. Peter smiled cheerfully. He looked on. James and Lily were dancing as close as they could possibly get; their heads were together and their noses were nuzzling.

Sirius looked around the room as the people around them shifted a little. He could see a few Slytherins dancing with other Slytherins, as usual. He saw Rodolphus Lestrange sitting down, glaring at someone in the crowd he couldn't see yet. The crowd shifted and he saw who Rodolphus was glowering at. Sirius grinned a little.

Remus had finally loosened up. Sirius saw that Remus had his arms around Lorena's waist and that Lorena had her arms around his neck. She had her face on his shoulder, her eyes peering from over it. He had his cheek pressed again the side of her head. He looked very cheery. Sirius sighed happily as the crowd shifted and they were out of sight.

"Sirius, I love you and I always will," Krystyna whispered in the silence. She wanted to tell him everything so badly, but she didn't. She kept that part in. He took his chin off of her head and looked down at the girl. She still had her head on him and she still had her eyes closed. "Promise me you won't forget that ever?"

"How can I forget when I love you so much too?" Sirius asked softly. She took her head off of his chest and looked up at him. He was surprised to see tears brimming in her eyes.

"Promise me, Sirius, that you won't hate me if anything...bad happens," Krystyna whispered, trying to get rid of the tears in her eyes. She looked positively tormented, if anything. He hated the look in her eyes. It would haunt him forever.

"Krystyna, is something wrong?" Sirius asked her after he hesitated. He was concerned; there was something wrong with the look in her eyes.

"Promise me, Sirius, that you won't cry if anything terrible happens," Krystyna whimpered painfully. It hurt him to see her look so broken. A single tear escaladed down her cheek. He couldn't stand the look in her eyes anymore. He never wanted to see it again. He wanted her blissful again.

"What's going to happen?" Sirius asked her, feeling worried.

"Promise me, Sirius," Krystyna almost demanded. Another tear escaladed down her cheek from out of her other eye. "Promise me, Sirius, that you'll forget me if anything horrible happens to this... Please, promise me this, Sirius..."

Krystyna laid her head against his chest and closed her eyes again. Sirius was silent. There was something she wasn't telling him. He knew it for sure. But he was afraid that he didn't want to know what it was. All he knew was that he never wanted to hear her sound so broken and see her look so hurt and fragile. He never wanted it to happen again. He pulled her closer to him and laid his chin on her head again.

"I promise you, Krystyna," Sirius said tenderly. He closed his eyes and rocked her gently in his arms. She held in the sobs. "I promise you that I won't forget that you love me--that I will never hate you--that I won't cry--if something horrible happens."

Krystyna sniffed a little and rubbed her face in his dress robes. She held him tightly, never wanting to let go of him. Sirius opened his eyes, the Darkness in the room closing in on him as he rocked her. "But I don't think I want to forget you if something terrible happens," he told her softly. She didn't reply to him immediately. She stayed silent and just rocked back and forth with him.

"Thank you," Krystyna whispered so that he could not hear her. He hadn't heard her. They continued to dance and the happiness they had once captured returned to them both. She looked up at him and he gave her a warm, gentle kiss on the lips. They parted slowly.

He put his free hand on her cheek and wiped the tears away with his thumb. She gave him a wan smile and he returned one feebly. His planted a soft kiss at the top of her brow and put his hand on the back of her head as she laid her head against his chest again, her eyes closed softly. He kissed her head and put his chin on her head again. He looked very serious.

"I won't let anything terrible happen to you, Krystyna," Sirius vowed honestly, seriousness flashing dangerously in his green eyes. He glared at the Darkness creeping on the walls in front of him. "I promise you that, Krystyna. I won't let anything horrible happen to you--ever."

Krystyna said nothing in reply. He hadn't expected it, to tell you the truth. Neither did he want a response from her. He just wanted her to know how determined he was. They swayed in the music together and the blissful moment came to them.

Warmth spread in her body again when she felt Sirius kiss the top of her head lightly. He closed his eyes gradually and danced with her gently. Krystyna smiled faintly. They could make her feel miserable all they wanted and they could erase this memory from her mind, but they could never truly take it away. They couldn't erase the feelings she was having at this moment away from her; no matter how hard they tried to do so. Krystyna just danced with Sirius for one last time.

She had faith that everything might turn out fine for him. She had faith that everyone would be cheerful again and live on with their lives. She had faith that Lorena would be happy again and get away from the havoc her past was reeking upon her; that Sara would have a great future; that James would be a great Auror and be a great father; that Lily would have all of the twelve kids she wanted and be a great mother to them all; that Peter would get the confidence he usually never had; that Remus would become a professor like he wanted and overcome any obstacles in his life that he has; and that Sirius would find someone better that wouldn't have to break his heart. Krystyna had faith in a lot of things.

She smiled lightly again and thought about the best moments she had had with Sirius and her friends this year. There had been a lot. She just had to remember them when she did this. She just hoped that Sirius would keep his promises. She let the misery pour out of her fingertips and toes and let the jollity fill her once again. This was Krystyna and Sirius's night to be content.