That Summer.
Summary: Everyone can reach back to one summer and lay a finger to it, finding the exact point when everything changed. That summer was mine.
[[A/N: Sorry that last one was so short… I just really wanted the whole trip to Hogsmeade to be it's own chapter. New reviewers! That's awesome!!! But thanks to the faithful returning reviewers, too! Hope you guys enjoy this new update. Oh, and I'm terribly sorry for the long wait…]]
When we finished classes, we ate lunch. Then, we were instructed to go back to our rooms and get ready. We had one hour before we had to meet in the main hall. Eliza and I were trying to convince Andrea to wear her long, wavy hair down and put on something cute, without being too pushy. After she gave in, Eliza insisted on focusing on me. She pulled my hair out of the ponytail I had it in and started brushing it. She got some water on her hands and then ran it through my hair. After that, she tied it in knots using pieces of torn up fabric. Then, she raided my clothing supply, and after deeming nothing quite worthy enough of today, she shifted her focus to her own trunk full of clothes. She was mumbling to herself and I noticed Andrea was looking in the mirror, twirling around to see how she looked in the skirt Eliza had picked out.
I was expecting an outfit much the same: a knee-length skirt with a simple but cute top. What I got was completely different. Eliza finally emerged from the trunk holding a copper colored dress. When she handed it to me, I had to laugh a little.
"You're joking, right?"
"Shut up. Put the dress on, Lily. I'm going to go find the right necklace. I saw a girl wearing one earlier that would look perfect." She walked out the door. I looked at Andrea, hoping she would back me up.
"Just do it. Live a little, girl." She laughed, too. I swear these girls are insane! A moment later, Eliza walked back in with a necklace in her hands.
"Put the damn dress on, Lily." She turned to me with a stern look on her face. So I pulled off my t-shirt and jeans, slipping into the dress. It was fitted, with a deep neckline. Eliza came up behind me and slid the necklace over my head. It was gorgeous- a thin copper chain with a large emerald hanging in the middle. Eliza and Andrea started pulling my hair out of the knotted fabric and letting it fall around my face. Then they turned me toward the mirror, giving me a shove.
I didn't recognize the girl in the mirror. That girl was beautiful. She had long legs, striking green eyes, and long, wavy red hair.
"Well, what do you think?" I turned to Eliza with tears in my eyes. "You hate it!"
"No. I love it." I hugged both of the girls. We stood there like that for a minute, before Eliza shook us off.
"Okay, now it's my turn." Within a matter of moments, she was dressed. We walked down to the common room, seeing a few groups of people mingling. We crawled out through the portrait hole and headed down to the main hall. When we got there, we realized we weren't the only ones who had dressed up. Everyone seemed to be wearing his or her nicest outfits.
At exactly two, the professors started shuffling everyone out the doors. We started walking down the pathway towards town and immediately, you could feel the mood rising. When we got to town, each of the professors was in charge of reminding us that we had to be back by midnight, or we'd suffer severe consequences. No one really listened.
Eliza headed straight to Gladrags. We roamed the shop for nearly an hour, trying on ridiculous outfits and posing for each other. After our twisted fashion show, we went straight to Honeydukes, where we loaded up on sweets. Then we went to Zonko's and tried out the new joke supplies. I didn't buy anything, of course, but Eliza left with a few nose-biting tea cups.
It was about ten minutes to seven when Eliza claimed she was starving. We walked into Madame Lisandra's and found a table for six sitting there, open. "That one works." Eliza sat down.
"Do we really need such a large table?" Andrea started looking around at the other tables, trying to find something smaller.
"Yes! Who knows, we might find someone wanting to join us!" Eliza grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the chair next to her. Andrea shrugged, still not completely convinced. She sat down across from Eliza. Whenever the waitress came, we ordered our drinks and started looking over the menu.
It was a couple minutes later when James, Sirius, and Remus came in. Sirius walked right up behind Andrea. He covered her eyes and whispered in her ear, "Guess who…" She pulled his hands back and looked over her shoulder.
"Sirius! Hi!" She looked at the two of us and then turned back to the guys. "You want to join us for dinner?"
"Of course we do!" James patted Remus on the back and took the chair next to me. Remus and Sirius sat down as well, and we all started discussing our day. I didn't look up from my menu for about five minutes.
The waitress came to take the drink orders for the guys, and after returning with all the drinks, she asked if we were ready. "Actually, I'm about to go." Eliza stood up. "You guys enjoy your meal. I'm dead tired, so I'll just take these bags back to the dormitory." She picked up all of our bags and started to leave. Remus stood up as well.
"She's right. I'm tired as well. I'll walk her back, to make sure she arrives safely." He followed her out the door.
"Well, it seems our boy Remus is somewhat smitten with Miss Eliza, does it not, James?" Sirius said.
"Indeed, he may be. But you know how he is, so perhaps he's just being a gentleman." James turned to me and smiled, not looking away. His voice got very quiet. "You look absolutely-"
"So what are you two ordering?" Andrea turned to us.
"Actually, I was just telling Lily that I'm not really hungry. I ate a big lunch, you know? I think I'm going to head over to Gladrags. I need to pick out a present for my mother. Lily, perhaps you could come with me? I never know what women like, being a man…"
"I'd be happy to help you." I turned to Andrea, resting my hand on her arm. "You behave yourself, okay?" With that, James took my hand and pulled me off to the door. When I got there, I looked back. I could see Andrea leaning in towards Sirius, who was whispering something to her.
"James, look." I turned to him, pointing towards the two.
"I am." He was staring at me. "Lily, you look gorgeous."
I laughed, walking out the door. "You're retarded."
He shook his head, laughing a bit. "Whatever you say." We walked a little bit down the road in silence. "So, it seemed to work, don't you think?"
"It might have been a bit obvious, but it was definitely working." I smiled. "Andrea will be so happy!"
"As will Sirius. Thanks for helping me make my friend happy, Lily."
"It seemed Remus was enjoying the thought of spending time with Eliza, too, didn't it?"
"Well, sort of. Remus is hard to read, though. He's so focused on school that the rest of us sometimes forget he might actually have feelings for girls. Not that he's gay, or anything." He laughed nervously. "He used to like you, actually, about halfway through our second year."
"No, he didn't." I kept walking, but James had stopped.
"Why is it so hard for you to accept that someone might just be attracted to you?" I turned around to find him staring at me.
"It's not. It's just that Remus wouldn't like me."
"And that comment earlier I made, about you looking so great, you shot it down immediately."
"You, sir, are in no way attracted to me. You just say that to every girl!"
"Is that what you think? You think I tell girls things just so I can get them to do what I want them to do? Honestly, Lily, how much faith do you have in me?"
"Honestly, none. You're a self-obsessed pig, James. You tell girls exactly what you think they want to hear, hoping you might get lucky. Then, when you're done with them, you toss them aside. You go gallivanting off, looking for your next victim."
"Wow. I appreciate your brute honesty, Lily. Thank you." He turned and walked away from me, just as the rain started to fall. I stood there, too stubborn to walk after him.
I saw him turn down a random street and suddenly I heard Remus's words in my head. I had barely given James a chance before I attacked him. Honestly, I had to admit that I was enjoying the time I was with him. So I stood there for about another two seconds and took off, running after him. I rounded the corner and saw him huddling against the side of a building.
"I knew you'd come after me." He smiled.
"And why do you say that?"
"I just called you attractive. No girl would let a guy walk away without chasing after him."
"Well, thank you. For saying that, I mean." We stood there in silence for a couple minutes and then he came up to me, grabbed my hand, and we started walking. It wasn't anything spectacular, but it felt nice. His hand was warm, so I kept mine there.
We walked into The Hog's Head and James found us a table. We sat there for hours, talking about anything and everything we could think up. A few hours later, James looked at his watch.
"It's past midnight, we should go back."
"Midnight?!" I looked around, noticing the tavern had started dwindling in people. "They locked the gates. We'll get in so much trouble!"
"Follow me, and calm down." He took my hand again and pulled me outside. We arrived at Honeydukes, which was closed.
"James, they are closed. Besides, what can they do?" He knocked on the door and an older man appeared at the door.
"Well, well, well. Summer vacation and you're still showing up late to school, are ya? Well, come in. You'd better be getting back." James stepped inside and I followed. The man led us into the cellar, where behind a pile of boxes was a trap door.
"Thanks again, Mr. Flume." James shook his hand and then opened the trap door, jumping down. He motioned for me to follow.
"Any time, Mr. Potter. Tell your father hello for me, next time you see him!" With that, he shut the door behind us.
James pulled out his wand and whispered a spell. Light was cast all through the tunnel. "This will take us to the third floor of the school. We use it all the time, and we never get caught."
"This is incredible, James." I couldn't think of anything else to say, so it was quiet until we appeared behind the statue of the one-eyed witch. Then, James led us up to the common room.
"Goodnight, Lily. Thanks for a fun day." He started to head up to the dormitory.
"James, I'm sorry." He turned around. "For what I said. It was horrible of me to say that." He walked over to me, sliding his hand behind my neck.
"No worries. You're forgiven." He kissed my forehead. "Goodnight, Lily. You look incredible, by the way." He winked and then disappeared up the stairs to the dormitory. I somehow made it up to my bed in time to hear Eliza and Andrea retelling their stories of the day. When they asked what James and I did, I told them I'd fill them in later. I laid in bed and tried to sleep, but I never really did.
