Disclaimer: I don't own anything involving the Harry Potter series or BBC's Sherlock.

Originally Posted: Jul 26, 2016

Re-Posted: August 7, 2017

This was co-written with the wonderful, talented, amazing Gracie Holmes and you should definitely go and read everything she's written, it's all spectacular.

If James were to be asked about how he was feeling he wouldn't have been able to lie; he was beyond nervous. This had to be the first time he allowed himself to be out of his element and though he was excited about it all he still couldn't help but be nervous about it. He knew video games and potions and random mythology facts, not dancing and suit choosing. He didn't dance, he played Quidditch. He didn't know what to look for in a suit, he barely brushed his hair in the morning. Everything he had done was something he had never done before.

Well, apart from the baking cookies and making cocoa part, he considered himself a pro at that.

Looking at himself in the mirror had shocked him, most because he didn't look all that horrible for a guy so in over his head. He would actually be impressed of it weren't for the fact that his coat was green. Any self-respecting Gryffindor hated the color green, so any other color would have been fine as long as it wasn't green.

He paced around his living room as he waited, having already texted Zariah to ask her to come over. Everything was ready. The room had been properly decorated, the music was waiting for the flick of his wand to start, he was dressed properly– he hoped at least, and Ziggy was looking at him from the windowsill with what he assumed was a judgmental look, but with birds he really didn't know how they expressed feelings.

Now all that was left was for Zariah to arrive.

And Zariah had got a cryptic text message. Though without direct physical contact, her psychic side couldn't figure out what the invitation was about. A dress was in order and Naomi had found one in a light blue for her. Her dark brown hair was curled and pulled back over one shoulder in a diamond pin. She felt very beautiful and she absolutely loved the feelings of anticipation that came with whatever James had invited her too. She didn't know. It was going to be a surprise.

She was flown right into his living room since she was expected, and her smile grew from small to nearly gushing at the fact he was wearing a suit, and a green one at that. "James?" Her bright blue eyes drifted over the living room, but quickly returned back to him. The decorations were beautiful and she didn't know what to think about them just yet. Aside from exceptionally happy. "What's all this?"

He hadn't seen her enter, but he had heard her and not even ten seconds after hearing her voice he looked over, and when he did finally see her he just couldn't help but smile. "Hi," he said, turning to walk over to her before he stopped a few feet away. "And... Well, that depends. On one hand you could call it a ball, but then we'd both need to know how to dance and I'm absolutely dreadful, I'm going to say I'm sorry now for how bad I'm going to be." He slid his hands into his pockets as he looked around. "But on the other hand, we could just call it a mini prom, because then I wouldn't necessarily need to know how to dance and like I said, I really can't dance at all."

"But to put it simply, I figured you might need a break from everything going on, with your attack and then your mum getting hurt, and I just... I didn't want you to be stressed about it all the time because that's no fun at all, so I came up with a distraction." He explained, and by now the nerves were at least a little obvious. They had to be, he'd never felt this nervous before in his entire life. "So Ms. Holmes, may I have this dance?"

Zariah though, was nearly gushing at this point and she couldn't quite contain all of her feelings. She was trying hard not to cry, and just ended up sniffing quietly. Joyful tears rather than sorrowed ones of the weeks prior. She offered her hand with a soft smile, not nervous and doing her very best to dispel his own nerves. "I would love to dance with you, Mr. Potter. Dreadful or not, I think you'll be a quick learner. And I'm just so...happy. I can't begin to thank you."

When James heard her sniffling he looked at her with a mixture of worry and fear on his face, almost automatically thinking he had upset her somehow. As soon as he saw her smile however, he felt himself relax a bit before he nodded and took her hand. "Hey, it's nothing. You're my friend, it's what friends do." He said, squeezing her hand just a tiny bit before he stepped back some. He took his wand out of his other pocket with his other hand and muttered a quick spell. The sound of soft piano playing filled the room, and after he was sure it wasn't going to shut off he put his wand down. "Alright, shall we?"

Zariah was practically beaming and she wasn't going to stop any time soon. "Yes," she agreed readily. "I'm going to lead and you'll pick it up in no time." James could only nod at her words; if he led it would only end in disaster. And without further ado, she took the lead as she'd been taught and swept him around in a basic step. In her heels she was the same height as he was and she didn't bother studying the decorations, but instead she just examined the light brown of his eyes. "This is perfect. Did I say that already?" With every step they took his gaze went down to their feet in an attempt to not accidentally step on her toes. That, in his mind, was unacceptable. He wasn't about to ruin all of his work by doing something that small.

Minutes passed as they danced around the room and eventually James became comfortable enough to at least not stare at his feet constantly, and when he looked back at her he couldn't stop the smile that appeared on his face, and that was when he realized he hadn't answered her question yet. "I think you might've implied it once or twice," he replied with a grin, his eyes searching hers for a second. "And, are you having a decent enough time that we could maybe do this again? Because I can't really lie, this is actually pretty fun."

"I would absolutely love to do this again, if only so you could practice," Zariah quipped. The smile never dimmed. "You set this all up for me, and you have no idea how special this makes me feel."

"Well I am something of a perfectionist, so that'd be perfect." James couldn't help but nod a little at her words, before he shrugged a little and offered her a genuine smile and not the usual dumb grin on his face. "Hopefully it makes you feel really special, because you are. You're one of the most special people I know, so this wasn't any trouble."

It wasn't the first time she'd heard that, but being given such an exceptional compliment had an impact. Zariah couldn't really find the words to express her gratitude, so she closed the distance and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. James almost immediately froze when he felt her kiss, but he quickly managed to make himself continue dancing in order to avoid any embarrassment. He was blushing, but he hoped it wasn't too obvious. Knowing him it was probably more than obvious, but he could still have hope.

Misplaced hope of course, but still hope nonetheless.

Zariah was blushing too, all the way up to her Holmes ears. But she didn't care. She did smile though, still bright and affectionate. "That was a thank you," she said quickly. James opened his mouth to speak, but after a second of thinking he couldn't really find any words to say. "I... You're welcome." He said, smiling a little at her as he looked down at his feet again. Just to make sure. "Now, are you ready to take the lead dancing?"

At that he nodded again and without thinking about it, he squeezed her hand lightly. "And, yeah, I think I can manage that." He said, waiting until the first song ended before he shifted on his feet a bit. "You better," Zariah quipped, leaning a bit into his hand. Whether she was giving up the lead or unconsciously wanting to be closer, she wasn't going to tell.

Whatever the case, James wasn't all that bothered by it anyways.