The Dance Floor : 7spells [G: Peter Pettigrew]
Title: The Dance Floor
Character(s): Peter Pettigrew, Petunia Evans, mentions of James Potter, Lily Evans, Sirius Black, Marrie Taradash [OC], Remus Lupin, Ebony Taradash [OC], Rose Evans, Michael Evans [Lily’s Parents], Harrison Potter, Vesta Potter [James’s Parents]
Prompt: the ballroom at midnight
Rating: G
Word Count: 881
Summary: Lily and James’s engagement party seemed to be all couples, but two people were on their own...
Author's Notes: The Taradash family as well as the personas for the Evanses and the Potters are the result of quite a bit of rping. If I tried to explain it in detail, the A/N would end up being longer than the actual story. Un-betaed.
Abandoned. Forgotten. Lonely. Those were the words Peter thought best described how he felt, leaning up against the wall of the Potter family ballroom. It was late, nearly midnight, but the glory couples were still going full tilt while everyone else had retired for the night or left. Watching his friends glide around the dance floor, Peter swallowed hard, burying this nugget of jealousy nicely along with all the others.
James and Lily looked stunning together. White and black, black and red, they were the perfect pair of attracted opposites. Sirius had a girl, of course. When didn’t he? Long, cascading dark brown curls down her back stood out against the stark paleness of her skin, which there was plenty to see considering the dress she had on really should have been classified as an undergarment instead. Even Remus had been able to hook a girl. Remus was dancing with Ebony, one of James’s cousins, same age as they were but a Hufflepuff. She was extremely short, rather stocky, with a set of rather thick black rimmed glasses perched on the end of her nose, but she and Remus had struck up a conversation at the beginning of the evening and hadn’t left each others’ sides since.
Other than Lily’s parents, who were dancing as well, and James’s parents, who were merely watching because of his dad’s bad knee, only Peter and another girl with straw colored hair and a drawn, sullen expression were left in the room. She wasn’t standing far away from where he was, but he could tell she was trying to make herself invisible. Lily’s sister, he figured. He’d heard she wasn’t exactly a fan of - what had Lily said her sister called their studies? - all this magical rot. No wonder she looked uncomfortable. Magically rot on top of the utter luxury of the Potter family manor house would make anyone feel out of place.
“Hi?” Peter ventured, shifting to the side, a little closer to her. “You’re Lily’s sister, aren’t you?”
“Always...” The girl replied, her voice dripping with disdain.
Peter paused for a moment to think before it came to him, “Petunia, right? Sorry if I get it wrong... Lily doesn’t talk about you much.”
“Figures...” Was the curt reply as she curled in tighter on herself. “And yeah... Petunia, flower of anger and resentment. Fits me, I think. You’re one of the boy’s friends, right?”
“The...boy...? Oh! You mean James. Yeah, I’m one of his friends,” Peter said, smiling at Petunia. “I take it you’re not a fan.”
“He’s an arrogant pisher with little to no manners and a chip on his shoulder. And frankly, I think he’s completely wrong for Lily. If she insists on marrying one of you people, she should at least pick one for his qualities and not his wallet.”
“He’s a good guy once he drops his ‘I’m the King of the World’ persona. And you people? We’re not that bad, ya know. Human, like you,” Peter said, smiling softly.
“Yeah, right,” Petunia snorted, looking away from Peter, a scowl plastered on her face. That expression only changed when Peter reached out and gently took one of her hands in his. Melting from shock into curiosity, she turned her gaze to meet his. “What are you doing?”
“I’m not sure...” Peter said, his cheeks coloring softly as Petunia’s stance relaxed and she turned to face him. “A dance, perhaps? I think we’ve both been standing up against the wall for far to long.”
“I...suppose,” Petunia said softly as she took a step forward, trying not to blush as he took her other hand, shifting the other to rest on her waist before moving them into the waltz that was already playing...with just a little bit of a stumble.
Petunia smiled gently as they circled the dance floor, slowly, stepping on each other’s toes with every other step. Neither were as graceful as the other couples that still occupied the ballroom, but they seemed just as wrapped in each other’s presence. As the clock struck the first tone of midnight, Petunia shifted her hand from where it was on his shoulder to rest just over his chest, “What’s your name?”
“Peter... The rock,” Peter said, blushing softly at the small gesture. “Petunia is more than just the flower of resentment, you know.”
“Is it?” Petunia asked as they spun again, falling into near perfect step.
“It can also mean your presence soothes me.”
As the lights dimmed to signal the end of the evening, pair stepped closer to each other. Even in the darkness, the red tinge on both their cheeks was clear. “Really?”
“According to all the books on symbolism that I’ve read,” Peter whispered, feeling it inappropriate to talk at a normal level with the lights dimmed and the music slowing.
Sirius had already left with his girl, probably retiring to one of the bedrooms if he held true to his usual pattern with women. Remus and Ebony had left the dance floor when the lights had started to dim and were now in a corner discussing something with extreme vigor. Lily and James were still on the dance floor, but their gazes were fixed on the mismatched couple who hadn’t realized that the music had stopped.