Chapter 6: Closer

The rest of September had swept by quickly. Autumn leaves had fallen, decorating the ground in collages of orange, yellow, and red. Wind whistled in the corners of the halls, and people began pulling out their jackets and jeans. Before Hogwarts knew it, it was Hogsmeade weekend.

Lily and Marlene were heading to town that day with the Marauders and Alice was going to meet Frank. Lily, in the last month, had discovered that she fancied James, though she had kept this a secret from Mar and Alice. Which was extremely difficult.

When she dressed, she decided on a dark evergreen sweater and a pair of skinny jeans. She pulled on a pair of brown leather boots that went up to her knees, and combed her hair so it fell to her mid-back. Applying a bit of makeup, she grabbed her purple sling bag and brown sweater jacket and rushed to the door, where James was waiting, smiling and looking handsome. Lily's breath caught in her throat and she grinned shyly down at him. He offered her his arm and she latched hers through it. The pair gaily walked down to the Great Hall, arm in arm, to meet Mar and the rest of the Marauders.

When the pair arrived, still arms locked, Sirius raised a suggestive eyebrow before shouting, "Prongsie! I missed you!"

Lily hurriedly let go of James's arm before Sirius flung himself at him and wrapped him in a hug. Mar sidled up to Lily and cupped a well-manicured hand around her own mouth before whispering in her ear, "Someone looked cosy, didn't they?"

Lily blushed.

Marlene whispered again, "Do you like him?"

Lily shook her head violently.

Marlene stepped away from her and put her hands on her hips. "You do!"

Sirius stepped up to her and grabbed her hand. "Lily does what, love?"

Marlene shook her head. "She doesn't eat lunch."

Sirius let out a gasp. "No! But Lilykins, that is a most important meal!" He continued on this tirade until the six found their path blocked by a figure.
Roger.

James stepped up. "Scotts, I believe you have detention every Saturday of this year and and you are banned from Hogsmeade. I suggest you get to it," he commanded in an authoritative voice.

Roger sneered at him and opened his mouth to say something snide. But when he saw the protective stance of James and the determined stance of Lily, he thought better of it. "Watch yourself," he called as he vanished to serve his detention.

James turned back to the group. He tried not to show how shaken up he was by the encounter. "Let's go!"

And the happy demeanor returned.

Sirius and Marlene skipped ahead, hand in hand, while the rest of the group followed, running, laughing. James was pulling Lily by the hand at the lead of the group, shouting, "Faster!" Remus was jogging behind them at a comfortable pace with a knowing smile on his face, and Peter was huffing and puffing behind him, running frantically to stay with the Marauders.
When they reached Filch, breathless and laughing, he eyed the Gryffindors suspiciously. As they were not breaking any school rules, he had no choice but to let them in.

As they started up the road, Peter asked, "Padfoot, where to go first?"

The man in question answered, "To Zonko's of course, dear Wormtail!"

When James noticed Lily's confusion at their antics, he muttered to her, "Marauder tradition. They do this every Hogsmeade visit. Ever since third year."

Lily nodded. Then Marlene put her arm around her. "While you men conduct your business at Zonko's, we will go buy dresses for the Winter Ball."

Lily shook her head. "Mar, that's not till December!"

Mar's eyes gleamed. "But then, Lils, they rack up their prices so Hogwarts students have to pay ridiculous prices! If we go now, we can get them cheaper. So we will meet you men at the Three Broomsticks at noon?"

Sirius nodded and kissed her quickly. When the boys' retreating backs were all that the girls could see, Marlene turned on Lily so fast that she blinked in surprise.

Marlene linked their arms. "So, Lilykins, what's up with you and James?"

Lily stuttered, "I…I…Nothing! And you sound like Sirius when you call me Lilykins."

Marlene smiled deviously. "Lils I know you like him. It's so obvious."

Lily flushed. "Really?"

Marlene nodded. "Now come on, we must find dresses!"

As they walked up the street, Lily asked, "So what's happening with you and Sirius? Finally decide to make a thing of your snogging?"

Marlene nodded, her face turning pink. "We aren't dating but we aren't going to snog anyone else. "

Lily squealed. "Mar, that's adorable!"

Marlene pushed her. "Shut it, Lilykins."

Lily pushed her back. "Marlene, at least let me squeal over your love life if you can exclaim over mine."

The pair had arrived at the dress shop. It was painted a pale pink with purple trimming on the roof, a tasteful shop. Marlene pushed open the door, practically dragging Lily inside.

They rushed over to the dress section which was filled with dresses for the event. Lily first chose a white dress, that was halter top, with a scoop neck, sparkly, and a black bow at the waist. When trying it on, however, lily found it barely covered her bum and came down far too low for her tastes. Taking it off, she wandered back to the shelves (with the provided robe on, of course) and found a silver dress that was much longer, with a V-neck and spaghetti-straps. It was shimmery and feathers lined the bottom. When Lily tried this one on, though, it was too big and fell to her knees, and that was the smallest size they had. Then she found a pale green dress that had a bow at the waist and sequins decorated the whole thing. It was a halter, with a scoop neck, and when Lily tried it on, it made her skin look green. Lily then found an ivory satin dress that was sleeveless, and it poofed out right at the ribs. Just before it poofed was a forest green ribbon, tied in a bow at the back. When Lily tried it on, she gasped. The dress hugged her curves perfectly, was low enough to look hot by high enough not to make her look like a slag, and fell to her mid thighs. It was becoming on her, the green bringing out her eyes and the ivory enhancing her hair.

When Lily came out of the dressing room, dress in hand, she found Marlene with a short, tight blue dress that brought out her eyes even as she was holding it. It was sequined thoroughly and had feathers had the bottom. When Lily appeared, Marlene grabbed her dress and looked over it critically.
And then she squealed. "This is perfect Lils! Now let's to look at shoes." And she dragged Lily to the shoe section.

Marlene found silver heels almost instantly and not to far after Lily found forest green wedges that peeked out her toes.

After they paid, Lily checked her watch. "Marlene, it's almost noon. We better head to the Three Broomsticks."

The pair collected their bags and walked down the street towards the Three Broomsticks.

It was, one could say, a picturesque moment. The wind was blowing, tossing the girls' blonde and red hair behind them model like and making their eyes bright. They were dressed cutely, Lily in her green sweater and skinny jeans, and Marlene in her pink V-neck sweater and short black skirt, with low thigh black leather boots. The autumn leaves were flying around them and the girls were chatting and laughing.

It was truly a picturesque moment.

Until a greasy haired, stone eyed boy dressed in billowing black approached them.

"Hi Lily," Severus tried politely.

Lily's eyes flashed murderously and she nodded to him with contempt. "Good day, Snape."

And then Lily refused to say another word. Until they reached the Three Broomsticks and Marlene insisted on running to Sirius. And she, being a loyal friend, ran with her. And she slipped just before she reached the table where the Marauders were sitting. And someone caught her. A raven haired, hazel eyed someone.

James Potter.

Lily's breath caught in her throat as she looked deep into his eyes as he held her in his arms. And she reveled in it.

Then he set her properly and they sat at the table like nothing ever happened. Peter volunteered to go get butterbeers, and Lily found herself squished between Remus and James. Her knee was bumped against James's again, and her pulse was racing again.

Damn it James, why did he have to be so amazing?

Suddenly his hand slipped down and grabbed hers. He acted cool, like nothing was happening. Yet she was sweating and becoming all hot and bothered. Beside her, Remus was smirking knowingly an she wanted to slap him.

Thankfully, a distraction came over in the form of Alice and Frank. They were holding hands and grinning goofily. "Hi guys," Alice said. "Can we join you?"

Marlene nodded absentmindedly. "Sure."

When Alice sat down, she put her hand under her chin. A bright diamond ring was shining on her finger.

Lily gasped. "Oh my god, Alice, you're engaged! Congratulations to both of you!"

Alice beamed and took Frank's hand. "Thanks Lils."

The others chorused their congratulations and Lily sighed. It was nice to be here in Hogsmeade, relaxing and holding James Potter's hand.

A/N-Wow, I've been updating really fast! Please review! And I found a really good Jily author, jessluvsharry, if you want to check her out. Thanks everyone, I've gotten the best reviews in the last couple if days! Love you!