"You are the dancing queen,
Young and sweet,
Only seventeen."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm scared."

Bell took a sip of hot cocoa to calm her nerves, but the hot drink didn't seem so sweet anymore and she coughed for a moment into the silence brought by her words.

"How can we help?"

The corners of Bell's mouth tugged up and her eyes watered. It was just like Lily to offer aid to a solution before even knowing the problem.

"Maybe just... listen to me for a moment?" Looking up, she saw Lily and Marlene both nodding earnestly as they scooted closer, putting their mugs of hot cocoa down on the floor behind them. Bell did the same with her own drink and was thankful of her friends' hands to hold as she gathered her thoughts for a beat.

"It's about Sirius." Even his name sent a shiver through her heart and Bell blushed. "I- I always knew he meant a lot to me, as my best friend, but-" She choked on her words and glanced down. "But not this much." Lily squeezed her hand and Bell glanced up with an appreciative look in her gaze. She felt so lucky to have friends like these, who wouldn't judge her on her fears or her feelings and were willing to just listen.

"It's been six years since we met, and he's been the greatest friend I've ever had." She paused. "Other than you two, of course." Marlene nodded and Lily quietly repeated 'of course' with a small smile. "But something changed, I don't know how or why, and I think I've been pushing it down, ignoring it, without realizing for some time." She closed her eyes, fighting back tears. "I started thinking about it this morning after I woke up, and he was right there, next to me, and he was smiling, and he called me Angel like he always does, and I couldn't get him out of my head all day.

"Something changed," she repeated, and felt some of the weight on her heart start to lift as she went on, "but it wasn't one thing, it was a thousand little things that he does that always make me smile. He knows when I need a hug, or just the right joke to tell, or how to make me feel... valued." Lily gasped softly and Marlene's eyes widened. She leaned forward and Bell bit the inside of her cheek but didn't draw blood.

"Do you... love him?"

Bell's breath caught in her lungs and she let it out in a quick, shaky exhale. "I don't know," she admitted, grateful again for how her friends held her hands, stabilizing her, "but whatever these feelings are, they're really strong. Really strong. And honestly, they scare me." She looked up from the floor, feeling a rush of emotion, and two tears fell from her eyes, but she held back the next as it watered up. "And then I started thinking about everything that's getting darker with the world and it just made me feel worse, and that's why I'm in such a state." She shook her head and gave a sharp laugh. "I mean, look at me? I'm a tired mess."

Lily scooted forward along the floor and wrapped Bell in a tight hug, Marlene close behind to join in, and replied, sounding like she was choking up too, "We both are, Bellamy, and that's okay." Bell, who'd felt like she was on the edge of sobbing just then, felt her tears start to dissipate at Lily's soothing words. "That's okay." The three of them sat there for a long moment, holding each other, until Marlene knocked over her mug of cocoa with her knee and scrambled to her feet to clean it up. Lily leaned back and smiled at Bell, the streak of a single tear drying on her cheek. 

"You and I have a lot to think about tonight, huh?" They shared a laugh and Bell felt her spirits lifting, appreciative of this little share session as it had comforted her quite a bit. Her mind was clearer now and she realized she'd feel better in the morning after getting a real night's sleep, which was cheering as well, and she supposed she'd have some more clarity on the fact by then, too. Behind them, Marlene asked if she could play something on the Muggle record player Lily enchanted to work at Hogwarts and when she received a yes, Bell could hear her starting to hum as she shuffled through the records under Lily's bed.

A smile cracked across Bell's face as the familiar first few notes started playing. Lily gathered up some of the wrappers from the chocolate and the now-empty hot cocoa mugs as Marlene grabbed Bell's hands and tugged her up to stand. Although she was a bit reluctant at first, the smile on her friend's face convinced the weary brunette to loosen up and dance about a bit, Lily soon joining them.

"Ooh, see that girl, watch that scene, digging the dancing queen!"

By the time the song was over, all three were laughing as they fell onto the big purple blanket on the floor and Bell took a moment to again reflect on how lucky she was to have these friends.

"YOUUUU CAN DANCE, YOUUUUU CAN JIIIIIIVE-"

Barely seconds after the trio's giggles had stopped, they started up again as James Potter started belting, terribly off-key, from the boys' dorms across the tower. Bell muttered something a little scandalous- "If he's singing in the shower, why don't you go join him" -to Lily and the latter turned pink and buried her face in a pillow as Marlene gave a gasp of fake shock through her laughter.

"Bellamy Roac!"

Bell grinned and swatted her friend with a corner of the seemingly-never-ending purple blanket.

"C'mon, Marly, if I hadn't said it, you would have!"

"Fair enough."

Lily groaned through the pillow, but when Bell tugged it away, she was smiling despite her embarrassment.

"I think it's time I went to bed," the redhead said and sat up, her hair mussed by the pillows and blanket. 

Bell nodded and yawned, quite sleepy as well, and added, "I think it's time we all went to bed."

Marlene shrugged and asked them about homework, but Lily reminded her of her own words concerning their free Potions period tomorrow morning and the blonde nodded agreeably.

"I'll return these to the boys," she said, meaning the blanket, remaining chocolate, and untouched comics.

"Thanks, Marly." Lily echoed the sentiment and a sleepy Bell meandered into the bathroom to brush her teeth, her spirits much improved by this girl's night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

James gave a yelp as the door to the dorm swung open and Remus rolled his eyes at his dramatics. Marlene McKinnon sure knew how to make an entrance.

"I could have been naked!" protested James, who was wearing his ankle-length bathrobe and had a towel around his messy black hair.

"But you weren't." Marlene's devilish grin reminded Remus of a mischievous jack-o'-lantern.

"That's where my blanket went." Peter took the Purple (yes, Remus had overheard that conversation) from Marlene and fluffed it out so much it landed on top of Sirius, who was laying on his back, looking up at the ceiling, on his bed. Marlene started laughing as he, who had apparently not been paying attention at all, started flailing about and grumbling that if he had to go the Hospital Wing again, Merlin be damned-

"You might get to cuddle with Bell again, though." Remus noticed Marlene's smile had turned from teasing to almost sweet but still impish, but when Sirius emerged from underneath the swathes of fluff, his expression wasn't as positive.

"Have you seen her?" Marlene swiveled her head toward Remus for the first time since her arrival and she nodded.

"She and Lily are going to bed now. I stole- er, borrowed -these things-" Here she handed Remus a box of chocolate and he looked at her with a slightly-exasperated gaze. "-for a girl's night. They needed to talk about things so we all sat down and then we all got all sappy and I think James might have heard the music."

James, who'd grinned and was presumably about to start singing Dancing Queen again, found himself unable to do so as Marlene clapped a hand over his mouth hurriedly and shot him a look. Remus looked to Sirius, who peculiarly hadn't said much all evening, as Marlene and James started bickering over his right to serenade poorly and her protesting that his singing could be classified as a lethal audible weapon. Peter noticed Sirius' silence a moment later and waved for James and Marlene to shut up, which they did once they saw their friend's expression.

"Sirius?"

The boy in question gave a start as if lost in deep thought and Marlene crossed her arms, her smile softening.

"Bell isn't mad at you."

A look of relief crossed Sirius' face and his other friends glance at each other, surprised they hadn't realized just what was worrying him so in the last few hours.

"Are you sure?"

Marlene nodded and something crossed her gaze that seemed to reassure Sirius further. A smile crept onto his face and he got up off his bed and stretched his arms for a moment. Remus was glad to see the light returning to his eyes.

"Alright, I should get back to homework-"

"Woah, woah, woah." James held up his hands as if surrendering and gave Sirius a squinty-eyed look. "Are you sure you don't need to go back to the Hospital Wing?"

The laughter that went around the friends then was cheery, and it seemed only Moony of the Marauders noticed when Marlene slipped out of the room, her warm smile clearly directed at just Sirius and James for reasons unknown to Remus.