Lily Evans loved to wander around Hogsmeade. Every shop had something new and interesting for her to discover during each Hogsmeade weekend. Her friends often had to hold her hand or link arms with her in order to avoid getting separated. You see, Lily had the bad habit of getting distracted by displays in shop windows. She would see something that looked interesting in some way and her focus would be solely on that item. She would wander towards it, oblivious of her surroundings. By the time she realized what had happened, she and her friends were separated with no real way of communicating. So they worked out a system. They would usually link arms with her so they would at least stay together. But, if that somehow failed, they would meet up at the Three Broomsticks. Sure it was crowded, but it was the easiest place to meet up with someone. For years they had to deal with this system, and then James Potter started to date Lily. Her friends were amazed that it took them so long to start dating, considering how clear it was that they were interested in each other. But now James would have to learn all about Lily's terrible habit.
Their first date in Hogsmeade started out at the Three Broomsticks. It was like any first date, kind of awkward and filled with nerves. Then they decided to go for a stroll through Hogsmeade, in an attempt to get rid of some of the nerves and hopefully make things less awkward. As they wandered, Lily noticed a locket in the window of one of the shops. Without a word she walked straight for it, leaving James behind. James was oblivious to this, as he was looking in the other direction and trying to think of something clever to say. Just as he came up with a particularly witty pun, at least in his mind it was witty, he turned to find her missing. He panicked. He thought maybe she had ditched him because she found the date boring. As his mind rushed with the possible ways he could have gone wrong with this date, he noticed a head of bright red hair standing at the window of a shop. He moved closer, trying to get a closer look, and found Lily staring at something in the window display. "Ah, there you are Lily! What's caught your eye?" He said, trying to act like he had not just spent ten minutes panicking.
Lily had been watching the locket, imagining giving it to her mother or even Petunia in a peace offering. Just as she was deciding not to buy the locket, as she did not have enough galleons for it, she was jolted from her thoughts by James' voice. "Oh, sorry! I got a little distracted." She laughed embarrassedly and started walking off again. The next date, also in Hogsmeade, went much the same way. Their date was less awkward the second time, they actually managed to have decent conversation over their meal before they set out to walk. This time though, Lily got distracted only a few minutes into the walk. She spotted an interesting new broom at the shop. It was front and centre in the window display, and looked incredibly swift. It was shiny, the polish on the handle helping it stand out as it gleamed under the lights. Lily imagined buying it for James, since his current broom was rather old now and could use with a replacement. James, meanwhile, had been wandering around Hogsmeade trying to find Lily once again. He started to wonder if she had decided this second date was a mistake. As panic set in, he started to run through the street until he crashed right into the red head he had been looking for.
Shaking his head from the impact, he looked up to find Lily looking a bit stunned as she sat where she had fallen. Standing up, he grabbed her hand and pulled her up with him. "Lily! There you are! Why were you over here anyway?" He looked toward the shop to see the newest model of professional broomstick, the current favourite of the national teams. Lily laughed awkwardly and said "I got a little distracted. I noticed this broom and couldn't help but take a closer look." James found himself amazed. He had never really met anyone who had been interested in brooms before. At least, none of them were girls. His friends were interested, and so were the rest of the team, but they were all guys. He found himself falling for Lily Evans even more the better he got to know her. He played it cool, trying to pretend that her wandering off had not left him utterly frozen with fear. Once again he had spent quite a while searching for her. It had taken him nearly half an hour to find her this time, thanks to the panic induced failure of a search. After discussing the specs of the new broom, the duo headed off down the street for a little more time together.
By their fourth date, James started to realize that there might be some sort of pattern to Lily's disappearances. She would continually get distracted by something in a shop window. James would not be paying any attention at the time, usually due to planning some epic way to end the date, and would inevitably panic when he noticed she was gone. He tried to figure out some sort of plan to fix this. They held hands, but even then they would get separated thanks to a particularly strong crowd. Or they would let go to try to express something. As they got to know each other better, they started to become more animated while they spoke. Lily in particular would add in gestures to try to properly express her feelings on any given topic. It was interesting to watch, and Lily felt rather ridiculous afterwards, but James loved that side of her. He loved the way she would wildly gesture as her eyes lit up with passion. Unfortunately, he had no idea of how he could stop her from wandering off. She always managed to find interesting items which the pair could talk about, but it always left James in a panic to suddenly find Lily gone from his side.
Remus Lupin was exhausted after a long day of catching up on work. This Hogsmeade weekend had coincided with the full moon, so he was still recovering from its effects. Then in walked James. He proceeded to complain about how he cannot seem to find a way to avoid panicking whenever Lily went wandering after an object that caught her eye, before collapsing onto a sofa. Remus was annoyed. This had been their sixth date and each time he had to listen to James whine about having no solutions. So Remus got an idea. He left behind a very confused James and headed off to Hogsmeade. There were still a few hours before the students had to return for the day, so he ran as fast as he could to a clothing store. There he spoke with the owner about getting some custom tee shirts for his friends. After negotiating a price, and making sure the shirts could be made in time for the next Hogsmeade weekend, he returned to the castle with a bright grin on his face. Finally the drama would end and Remus could enjoy not listening to James' whining for a while. At least, he would not have to listen to the same sob story about not being able to keep track of Lily. The next weekend he presented the shirts to Lily and James. James opened the bag to find a shirt that read "I am James." He looked confused until he saw Lily's shirt, which read "If lost return to James." He had the largest grin on his face as Remus said "Problem solved." From that day on, Remus no longer had to hear James complain about panicking after losing Lily in Hogsmeade.