Harry Potter Blogfest

Today is the big Harry Potter Blogfest hosted by Michael Di Gesu of In Time... A bunch of us are posting our own little pieces of Harry Potter holiday fan fiction and Michael is going to pick a winner for a fabulous prize. I'm super excited to hop around all the blogs and see what everyone has written!

So, without further ado, here's mine (sorry, it's over 500 words. Closer to 900, but I just couldn't help myself).


[Edited at 9:41 p.m.: Okay, Michael asked me to cut it down closer to the 500 word limit. After some thinking, I've edited the story down to 515. The new version is posted below, though I still think I'll save the old version for something else. My own personal swooning perhaps?]

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               Severus Snape knew who he wanted to ask to the Yule Ball. He had known since he was ten years old. Every time he saw Lily Evans, it was all he could think about, but the words just never made it past his lips.

Yesterday, they had been walking back from Herbology and he almost asked her, but then a group of Slytherins walked by. What would they think of me going with a Muggle-born? he wondered. A Mudblood?

But this morning, he saw Lily sitting alone in the library, paging through a spell book, her long red hair framing her face. I don't care what Avery and Mulciber think, Snape decided. I've got to ask her.

"Hey, Sev," Lily said, looking up at him with her emerald green eyes. "I was just reading about Amortentia. It's the most powerful love potion in the world."

Snape already knew this. In fact, he felt like he had swallowed a whole cauldron full of it. "Lily, I wanted to ask you something…”

"Hey, Evans!" a voice rang out from behind them. James Potter was strutting up to their table with Sirius Black. Potter! Snape seethed. What does he want? 

"Snivelus," James said with a snide glance at Snape before turning to Lily. "So, Evans, you have a date for the Yule Ball yet?" James ran his fingers through his black hair, tousling it a little.

"As a matter of fact, I'm going with Frank Longbottom."

"Longbottom?" Sirius laughed. "You must be joking."

"No," Lily retorted, "He just asked me last night."

"Are you guys going out or something?" James asked with a nervous laugh.

"No, we're just friends."

James relaxed a little. "Then he'll understand when you tell him you need to cancel so you can go with me.”

"James Potter," Lily scoffed, "I wouldn't go with you if I drank Draught of Living Death and you had the last bezoar on earth."

"Evans, you know I have no idea what that means," he joked.

"Well, if you ever paid attention in Potions..." she said, rolling her eyes. She snapped the spell book closed. "Just forget it. Come on, Sev, let's get out of here."

"Hope you have better luck than me, Snivelus," James called after them.

"What an arrogant little prat," Lily muttered as they stepped into the corridor outside the library.

Snape grinned at this, but the happy feeling faded just as quickly as it had come. “So you’re going to the Yule Ball with Frank Longbottom?"

"Yeah, he’s actually really nice," she said. "Maybe we can all hang out there? Do you know who you're going to ask?"

Snape pushed black hair out of his eyes. "I don't know... I haven't really thought about it..."

                "There's that fourth year, Lucinda? Or maybe Amelia Bones?" Lily offered as she laced her arm inside his and they stepped out of the castle into the frigid morning air. Snape didn't say anything; he just took the thick black cloak from his shoulders and wrapped it around both of them as the newly-fallen snow crunched beneath their feet.

-- Lisa