How to Charm a Witch

by ChatterChick

Summary: Colin Longbottom wants nothing more than to impress Lily Luna Potter. Unfortunately he has all the charm of your typical Longbottom male.


Chapter 7: Take Her to Hogsmeade

At the beginning of the fourth week back at Hogwarts, an announcement went up on the Gryffindor notice board.

First Hogsmeade Weekend! Saturday, September 30th from 9:00am to 5:00pm.

The last weekend of every month there was a trip to Hogsmeade for third years and above. For the first few years, Hogsmeade had meant stocking up on supplies, checking out Honeydukes and Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and then having a butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks. The village never lost its appeal, even if Colin lived there during the summer. It was always great fun wandering around with his friends and having a break from the castle and grounds. This year, Colin was looking forward to Hogsmeade for an entirely different reason.

It was considered the ultimate date in Hogwarts.

Sure, there were plenty of opportunities for snogging in an empty classroom or up on the Astronomy Tower. Some people got creative during the month and had picnics by the Black Lake or went flying after dark. But being asked to Hogsmeade or asking someone to Hogsmeade was viewed as a serious first step towards dating among the students and much speculation went into who would be asking who.

Naturally Colin planned on asking Lily. He was just waiting for the perfect moment. And to gather a little of the famed 'Gryffindor courage' that had placed him in his father's old house. Somehow Monday turned into Tuesday and then Tuesday rolled into Wednesday and before he knew it, it was Friday morning and Colin still hadn't worked up the courage to ask Lily to Hogsmeade.

Today, he told himself, he had to ask her today. Mainly because tomorrow was the day in question and by then he would have lost his chance.

"Looking good," the charmed mirror in the fifth year boys' bathroom informed him, "she's not going to be able to resist you!"

"Yes, well, we'll see," Colin nervously replied. He fought back the urge to run a shaky hair through his hair. He had spent longer than usual in the shared boys' bathroom that morning, making sure his hair fell just so. His hand automatically went for the little vial of Red Lion, but then he thought better of it, remembering the way Lily crinkled her nose every time Tomas overused the stuff. The one benefit of Tomas' failed attempts to woo Lily was that Colin had a very clear idea of what not to do.

In the end he settled for just a tiny amount, deciding that as long as he didn't bathe in it like Tomas seemed to do, that it would be fine.

"You might want to get a move on," Hugo warned him once he was back in the fifth year boys' dormitory, "McLaggen's been working on conjuring lilies and charming them a very familiar red. I somehow doubt they're for one of the other witches. It's all very cliché of course, lilies for Lily, but McLaggen's never been the quickest wand in a duel."

Sure enough, Tomas had a bouquet of a dozen large red lilies on his desk that he was trying to keep from wilting. They were the exact same shade as Lily's hair and were tied with a golden bow.

"Shit, shit, shit," Colin cursed. How was he going to compete with that?! He had thought he could just walk downstairs and ask Lily if she wanted to go to Hogsmeade with him. He wasn't ready to make a big romantic gesture with flowers.

"Finite incantatem," Hugo muttered, discreetly pointing his wand at the bouquet. They immediately reverted back to a handful of weeds and Tomas let out a string of curse words. "You can thank me later."

For once, Lily was alone in the common room. Her usual cohorts were probably already at breakfast. She kept glancing towards the stairwell and her face lit up the moment their eyes met. She leapt out of the armchair and walked over to him.

"Should we wait for Hugo?" Lily asked, tilting her head and looking up the stairwell to the boys dorms.

"He said go on without him," Colin lied. He knew Hugo was trying to delay Tomas long enough for Colin to ask Lily on a date. Knowing Tomas, he didn't have that long of a window.

"Any big plans for tomorrow?" Colin ventured as they left the common room. He tried to appear casual, as if he wasn't trying to lead the conversation to asking her if she wanted to spend the day with him.

"Nothing big," Lily said, "I wanted to look at the new fall robes at Pretty Wicked, get some chocolate at Honeydukes. The usual, really. Did you have anything in mind?"

He really hadn't planned this one through. It was true that he and Lily - and most of their friends - spent every Hogsmeade visit doing more or less the same things. This needed to be something special other than two friends just hanging out. He wondered if Lily was the type of girl who liked Madame Puddifoot's. He had never been there, but he heard from some of the older blokes that it was a popular first date place.

"Oi, Lily! Wait up!" Tomas shouted, catching up with them. His chest was puffed out and he was looking every bit like the kneazle that just caught the snitch. Hugo trailed after him, looking apologetic. Colin was relieved that at least Hugo had managed to sabotage Tomas' flowers.

The smile immediately slid off of Lily's face and Colin could almost feel the annoyance radiate off of her.

"I was hoping to talk to you before breakfast," Tomas boldly announced, "alone if you don't mind."

"Anything you want to say to me can be said in front of Colin and Hugo," Lily folded her arms.

Colin almost felt sorry for the bloke. Lily was not making this easy for him and there was an awkward moment as Tomas seemed to consider it. Then he remembered that they were competing for the same girl and he felt less sorry. After all, the fact that Lily had no problem talking to him alone surely worked in his favour.

"Well in that case," Tomas said, "Lily, would you like to come to Hogsmeade with me?"

"Excuse me," Holly sweetly interrupted from behind them, "but I thought we were all going to spend the first Hogsmeade weekend together. None of us have really had the chance to hang out since the term started."

There was a brief moment where Lily's brown eyes flickered from Holly towards Tomas, as if she was considering something. And then she smiled. "I think that's a wonderful idea! Let's all meet tomorrow morning at breakfast then. We'll spend the day together, it'll be fun."

Colin glanced at Lily in suspicion. There was a smirk across her face and she looked a little too happy about spending the day with Holly and Tomas. She was definitely up to no good.

His suspicions were confirmed the next morning at breakfast. Normally Lily was the type to tie her hair up on the weekends and wear whatever was clean. Today, however, her hair framed her face in loose curls and she was wearing a tight pair of muggle jeans and a purple shirt that hung off one of her pale, freckled shoulders. She was wearing a long, golden chain with the pendant of a golden quaffle. Her face seemed different too, and Colin suspected that she may have used some make-up like the other girls in their year did. Her lips were pink and glossy. Her eyes looked wider and there was some flicks of gold on her eyelids. Her skin seemed to glow and her freckles were less pronounced. Lily was always pretty, but today she lookedpolished.

When she sat next to him, he shyly commented. "You look pretty today."

Despite the layer of make-up, the Weasley-blush still crept through to her cheeks. "You think? Kavita did it, it's a bit more than I usually wear - "

"I didn't think you wore any at all," he said, now openly starring at her in confusion.

She giggled in response. "Well, that's kind of the point. Looking effortlessly pretty and all."

Of course, Colin wasn't the only one to notice Lily's appearance. Holly's cheek twitched, but she didn't say anything. Tomas also looked, his gaze was in clear approval. The day quickly turned to dragon dung as soon as the group left the castle.

He had never seen Lily Potter fawn over someone like this. She smiled. She battered her eyes. She touched Tomas' arm. Tomas' ego had swelled to new heights over the course of the day. It didn't help that now Holly had started too and both girls seemed to be in some kind of competition to out-do the other. It was sickening to watch and Colin felt a little annoyed that his best friend was putting on such a disgusting act to get Tomas' attention. Especially since she had absolutely no interest in Tomas until Holly intervened.

"Witches," Colin later complained to Hugo, "Are bloody impossible!"

They were hiding among the racks of robes at Pretty Wicked while Lily and Holly were trying on clothes. Tomas was sitting outside the waiting rooms, happily offering opinions to the girls. Athena and Kavita had had enough, leaving to grab a table at The Three Broomsticks for after everyone was done with their shopping. The only thing preventing Colin from leaving was worry that Tomas would somehow win Lily over in his absence.

"Well, if you've ever had enough, you can join me on the homosexual side, " Hugo said with a grin. He fluttered his eyes in a poor imitation of Lily. "I hear you have a thing for redheads."

"You're not as pretty as your cousin," Colin dryly remarked.

"Are you two coming or are you going to hang out in the lingerie section all day?" Lily called out, waiting for them at the counter with a small bag on her wrist.

Colin felt his cheeks burn bright red as he realized the rack he and Hugo had been leaning on was full of discounted bras and knickers. Hugo backed away, almost in horror at the feminine items.

"Where are Holly and Tomas?" Hugo asked, looking around the shop.

"They ditched me once I was paying for this shirt," Lily said with a pleased smirk, "probably to find some alley to snog in. Holly kept trying on all these tight little jumpers and I swear Tomas was going to jump her right there in the changing room. They're kind of perfect together, aren't they?"

"Match made in the seventh circle of hell, if you ask me. But that does solve one problem," Hugo said with a pointed look at the pair of them. There was a glance between the cousins that Colin didn't miss. Over the years he had become used to the silent way Hugo and Lily communicated and could often pick up on the thought process.

"You did on that on purpose," Colin said, slowly realizing just what Lily had been up to all day, "dumped McLaggen onto Holly."

"Holly's more pleasant when she thinks she 'won' and Tomas is more pleasant when he's interested in someone else," Lily said with a shrug. "I see this as a win for everyone."

"You should have been a Slytherin!" Colin laughed.

"I nearly was," Lily said, with a rather shy smile that looked out of place on her. Lily was rarely one to be timid or nervous. "It's just that one of my best friends went and got himself sorted in Gryffindor first."

The three walked out of the witches' boutique onto Boar Street, pausing for a moment as if to contemplate where to go next. It was the main street in the little village, with most of the businesses along it. There were a few side-streets that mostly had wizarding homes and the odd shop or café.

Lily looked up at the sky, and a warm blissful smile spread across her face. "It's too nice to go to Broomsticks just yet."

Hugo shook his head, "You two go on, I'll catch up with Athena and Kavita. Let them know you'll be late."

With that, Hugo excused himself, leaving just Colin and Lily behind. Finally, Colin had his chance.

"So, do you want to take a walk in Peccary Park with me?" Colin asked. He could feel his heart pounding somewhere in his throat, or perhaps it was up behind his ears? He could definitely hear it louder than usual and wondering if Lily could hear it too.

"Sure."

When Lily's hand accidentally brushed against his as they walked along the road, Colin tried to smoothly catch it. It wasn't nearly as smooth as he had been aiming for, and there was a clumsy moment as he tried to interlock their fingers while not making a big deal out of it. But Lily didn't pull her hand away, and that was the main thing.