A/N: Sorry it's been a while since I updated, I've had a very busy time lately. For those of you who had been following Halloween, I've deleted it until further notice as I've been less inspired with it lately but it has been saved to my computer and will be re-published at a later date when all chapters are completed.
Please let me know what you think of this story.
Snow covered the grounds earlier than normal as October turned into a chilly November, it seemed that winter would be early this year. Lily woke up one morning at the start of November to see the majority of students in Gryffindor gathered around the notice board, reading the freshly pinned notice with dates of Hogsmeade visits until the end of term. Marlene smiled as she made her way to Lily, both exiting the common room to go down to breakfast.
"Next visit to the village is next weekend, want to go?" Marlene asked.
Lily nodded, "Of course, I may as well try and get my shopping done early." Lily replied.
"Has Mary told you yet?"
"Told me what?"
Marlene looked around as they continued to walk down the various staircases, making sure that nobody would eavesdrop, "Remus has asked Mary out on a date." she whispered excitedly.
"Awwh they'd make such a cute couple." Lily gushed.
"I know!"
They entered the Great Hall and sat at the centre of the long table, helping themselves to food and drink when they were joined by Sirius and James. Marlene threw a filthy look at Sirius before helping herself to some bacon.
"How are the two most lovely ladies in the school this morning?" Sirius grinned, offering Marlene the last piece of bacon.
Marlene frowned but picked up the bacon with her fork and put it on her plate, "We're good Black but that doesn't mean I'll sleep with you."
"Immediately assume my intentions are that don't you McKinnon?"
"Oh sweetie, boys like you never change."
"And you still think of me as a boy? Baby.." Sirius flexed one of his arms, "I'm all man!"
Marlene snorted as she cut up her bacon and sausages, "Pettigrew is more man than you!"
"Anyway.." James interrupted, "We assume you both know about Remus and Mary?"
"We do." Lily nodded as she took another bite out of her toast.
"Seeing as they are going to the village and they're both going to be nervous, how about we we go for a drink in The Three Broomsticks? For moral support?" Sirius suggested.
"I suppose I could try and be friends with you for a day Black."
Sirius grinned, "Marley baby, you're finally going to the village with me. I'm hoping that this will be the start of something beautiful."
"As friends and nothing more." Marlene stated with a sour look.
Lily smirked, knowing full well that her best friend had some level of feeling for Sirius Black; no matter how many times Marlene insisted that she hated Sirius, Lily had once or twice caught her blonde haired friend looking at Sirius at dinner. Of course, she knew Marlene was currently seeing a sixth year Ravenclaw boy named Ryan Fletcher, a boy she knew that Marlene preferred. Ryan got on with most people and his detention count was severely lower than that of Sirius Black and that was all Lily really knew about Ryan.
"It should be very interesting." Sirius mused.
The four ate their breakfast in silence before the bell rang for classes to start. As they made their way to Transfiguration, Lily began to think of what next weekend would be like. She was actually going to the village with James Potter, as friends. It seemed to be weird that they were friends now, she could sit with him in classes or at mealtimes or in the common room and not wish that she was sitting with someone else. James made her laugh, they could have conversations about things that she had never thought she would discuss with James Potter. She told him a little more about herself, how she liked to read classic books by muggle authors such as A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens or Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, she was surprised to learn that James had heard of Jane Austen and had read Sense and Sensibility. Lily had even leant James her copy of A Christmas Carol after James asked to borrow it.
As the week went on, Lily didn't realise how quickly it had passed until she woke up on Saturday morning. Mary was fussing over what to wear on her date with Remus so Lily, Alice and Marlene went through all her clothes that Mary had until they chose out a red day dress with long sleeves that fell to Mary's knees with black tights and shoes. Alice curled Mary's hair using her wand whilst Marlene applied Mary's makeup. When the girls were done, they admired Mary, her curled hair clipped back so that it fell elegantly over the left shoulder and the dress that Lily knew she'd never be able to get away with if it had been her who was wearing it.
They left the castle after breakfast, leaving Mary alone with Remus. Alice went off on a date with a Hufflepuff sixth year named Frank Longbottom, leaving Lily and Marlene to feel surprised that their best friend had managed to keep her own date quiet and help Mary out with her date. Lily stated that Alice was the type of person who put others first and not talk about her own things she looked forward to. Shrugging it off and deciding to be happy for Alice, Marlene dragged Lily into Honeydukes, already full of students who stood shoulder to shoulder looking at the various products that the sweet shop sold, all of them also waiting for the blizzard to stop that was happening outside.
Satisfied with their shopping at Honeydukes and couldn't decide where else to go due to the snowstorm, Lily and Marlene made their way to The Three Broomsticks; wanting a butterbeer to warm them up a little. Shielding their faces from the snow and cold wind, they slowly hauled themselves towards the popular pub, until they were hit in the face with a snowball; knocking the hoods down of their winter cloaks.
Stopping before them, Lily rolled her eyes when she saw it had been James and Sirius who had thrown the snowballs at them.
"Merlin's sake Black, what is wrong with you?" Marlene shrieked, punching Sirius on the arm as hard as she could.
"Relax Marley, you need to have some fun every now and again." Sirius replied.
The four made their way into the pub, with Lily chucking some money at Marlene to get her a butterbeer. Sirius grinned as Marlene rolled her eyes as the two made their way up to the crowded bar. Lily scanned the crowd and yelled in shock as she felt James grasp her wrist and pulled her towards an empty booth, near to where she saw Remus and Mary sitting.
"So, how was your shopping?" James asked, sitting in the booth.
Lily slid up next to him, placing her bags under the table.
"Okay I guess, just did Honeydukes for now."
"Christmas shopping I take it?"
She nodded, "Yes but I need to hit muggle London when I go back so I can do Christmas shopping for my mum and sister."
"They don't like wizarding stuff?"
"My mum loves it but Petunia isn't a fan of our world."
"Why not?"
Lily met his hazel eyes, noticing for the first time how genuine he looked. He wanted to know more about her, his eyes told her that he wanted to be a friend to her and she couldn't stop herself from telling him about what had happened when she got her acceptance letter all those years ago.
"Oh Lily, you shouldn't pay any attention to her."
"She's my sister besides I avoid her as much as I can when I'm home."
"Your sister is just jealous."
"Jealous of what? The redheaded freak?"
James nodded, "For starters, she's jealous of the fact that you're the one who is extraordinary and she's not. Calling you a freak makes her feel better about herself and just because you're redheaded doesn't make you more of a freak Lily, I happen to like your hair colour. It reminds me of a summer sunset and I happen to like summer." he replied.
Lily blushed slightly, this was the first time he had paid her a compliment where he hadn't been acting like a prat.
"Thank you."
James smiled, "You're welcome."
Marlene and Sirius returned to the table, handing over the butterbeers just as all four turned their heads in the direction of the table where Remus was sitting with Mary. They all watched as their friends slowly started kissing and the girls gushed about how sweet they looked. James looked away and took a swig of his butterbeer; hoping that one day, no matter how long it took, that he would be sat with Lily at their own table, sharing a kiss.
