It was the end of November, snow had already begun to fall. James's front garden only had maybe two inches covering it. It was now that Lily missed Hogwarts more than ever. She used to love wrapping up in a warm cloak with her house scarf on and going for a stroll in the grounds. She used to love having snowball fights with the girls. She smiled to herself as she watched the snow fall outside as she remembered her almost kiss with James under the mistletoe the Christmas before. The moment would've been perfect except for the fact that Sirius and Peter had thrown snowballs at them.

She turned away from the window to see James's owl drop a letter on the coffee table before flying away. She picked it up from the table and smiled to herself when she saw James's handwriting on the envelope addressed to her. She tore the letter open.

Lily,

Seeing as we are both free today, I thought we could go for a drink this evening. Meet me outside Honeydukes at 7pm. See you tonight.

Love

James x

Lily put the letter down on the table, still smiling. She couldn't help but wonder what James was planning. But whatever it was she wanted to wear something special, it had been so long since she and James had had a date night. Lily went upstairs to the bedroom and started to root through her wardrobe to see what she could wear. After several minutes of chucking every dress onto the bed, she came to the conclusion that everything she owned would be no good. She sat down on the bed in frustration and put her head in her hands when she heard a cough at the door. She looked up to see Marlene and Alice stood in the doorway.

"Having a clear out?" asked Alice.

Lily rolled her eyes.

"If you are I'm so having that black dress," said Marlene picking up one of the many dresses lying on the bed.

Lily stood up and sighed.

"What's up Lil?" asked Alice.

"James and I have a date tonight and I have nothing to wear," Lily complained.

Alice smiled and hugged her sympathetically.

"So what are waiting for?" asked Marlene.

Lily and Alice looked at Marlene in confusion. Marlene sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Shopping trip to Diagon Alley," Marlene pointed out.

Lily and Alice grinned and then the three girls rushed downstairs to get Lily's stuff before apparating outside of The Leaky Cauldron. Once the three girls reached Diagon Alley they went to Madam Malkin's to get some dress robes for Lily.

Lily stood on a stall as Madam Malkin took measurements with her tape measure. Alice and Marlene stood giving Lily advice on what colour she should get.

"Maybe light green to match your eye colour?" suggested Marlene.

"Definitely not red or pink," said Alice with a grin.

Lily rolled her eyes.

"How about blue?" asked Alice.

Lily considered for a moment before deciding blue would be the best bet, it had been a while since she had bought anything blue to wear.

"What shade of blue dear?" asked Madam Malkin.

"Royal blue suits you best," said Marlene.

"Good for your skin tone," agreed Alice.

"Royal blue it is," grinned Lily.

Madam Malkin went out the back to get the material.

"So where's Mary?" asked Lily.

Alice and Marlene looked at each other. Lily sensed that they were suspecting something was going on with their friend.

"She had a lunch with her boss," said Alice.

"A work lunch?" asked Lily.

The other two said nothing but their facial expressions suggested that Mary was spending too much time with her boss outside of work hours.

"It was supposed to be her day off today," said Marlene.

"I'm worried about her and Remus," said Alice.

"Me too, they haven't really spoken much since Remus moved in," said Lily.

"Maybe you should lock them both in a broom closet again?" Marlene grinned.

Lily chuckled but she doubted that locking her two friends in a broom closet for a second time would make them work out their differences.

"Have either of you two met her boss?" asked Lily as Madam Malkin came back through with the material for Lily's dress robes.

"Once when I was meeting her for an after work drink," said Alice.

"When was this?" asked Marlene.

"About three weeks ago," replied Alice.

Madam Malkin started making the dress robes with Lily still stood on the stool. The girls continued to talk about whether they should talk to Mary about their concerns. Lily felt that they should, after all if Mary carried on spending too much time with her boss, she and Remus would both get hurt. Lily didn't want her two friends to end up in that way. She could tell that Remus wanted the two of them to work things out. She hadn't seen Mary for weeks as Mary had been busy with work all the time.

"Maybe we should owl her?" suggested Alice.

"Ask her to meet us now for a drink," said Lily.

"And talk to her now? What if she gets pissed off because she feels we're interfering?" asked Marlene.

"I don't want to interfere but Mary's one of my bridesmaids and Remus is one of the grooms men at my wedding so I need the two of them to be on speaking terms," stated Alice.

"And Remus is always moping because he hasn't spent much time with her," Lily pointed out as Madam Malkin finished her work.

Marlene shrugged as Lily stepped off of the stool and paid for her dress robes. The girls said goodbye to Madam Malkin and decided they did need to talk to Mary. They sent her a note asking her to meet them at The Leaky Cauldron.

The girls all bought their drinks and went to sit at a table. They talked more about Alice's wedding which was only three weeks away now. Lily smiled as she watch Alice bounce around like a kid at Christmas. It made Lily glad at how happy her best friend was to be getting married to the man she loved. She wondered if she would feel that happy if James ever proposed to her.

They were joined five minutes later by Mary. The girls hugged their friend and then Mary went up to the bar to get herself a butterbeer.

"How do we start off?" whispered Marlene.

"We have to be delicate," said Lily.

Alice nodded in agreement with Lily as she took a gulp from her butterbeer. Mary returned to the table and sat in the empty seat next to Marlene.

"So what's going on with everyone? I'm sorry I haven't had time for you girls, it's been so hectic at work," explained Mary as she took a sip of her drink.

The other three looked at each other before returning their gazes to Mary.

"Well Sirius got his own place," Marlene started off.

"That's great, you guys moving in together?" asked Mary.

"No, we aren't ready for that step yet," replied Marlene.

"Wedding planning has finished," said Alice,

"And I'm now on day shifts not a mixture," Lily chipped in.

Mary nodded at the three of them as she took another sip of her butterbeer.

"So how's things with you?" asked Alice.

"Okay I guess, just went to lunch with Mark," said Mary.

"Your boss?" asked Lily.

"Yes, I might be getting promoted at Easter," said Mary happily.

Lily looked at the other two, the atmosphere becoming slightly awkward. Mary wasn't oblivious to this.

"Okay you guys, what's going on?" snapped Mary.

Lily exhaled heavily before placing her hand on Mary's.

"Mary, you know we support you in whatever you decide right?" asked Lily.

"Of course," said Mary curiously.

"We're just worried that you are spending too much time with Mark outside office hours and not enough time with Remus," said Alice sympathetically.

Mary rolled her eyes in disbelief.

"Mark is just being a supportive friend. Remus is always busy too you know," Mary pointed out.

"We don't know if Mark's intention's go beyond being a 'supportive friend'," admitted Marlene.

Mary drained the rest of her drink before slamming the bottle on the table.

"I can't believe you guys, do you know how hard it is for me? Working a full time job plus overtime and having a boyfriend who's a werewolf," Mary muttered to the girls in a harsh tone.

Lily looked at Mary questionably.

"Please don't tell me you told your boss about Remus?" begged Lily.

Mary looked at Lily with a look of guilt on her face. Lily shook her head and scoffed in disbelief.

"You didn't?" Alice tutted.

Mary looked down at her feet.

"It slipped out," she mumbled

"Mary, he told you that in confidence," Marlene scolded.

"Mark's a good listener, he hasn't told anyone." Mary defended.

"Mary, you need to sort things out with Remus." stated Lily.

Mary sighed.

"I know it's just I don't know if we can" Mary admitted.

Lily patted Mary's hand feeling sorry that Mary had gotten to this point with her relationship.

"You two are already drifting apart Mary, if you still want to make it work then talk to Remus." Lily pleaded.

Mary blinked back tears, rose from the table and walked out of the pub. Alice let out a heavy sigh whilst Marlene rubbed her eyes.

"I hope she does the right thing," Lily mused.

Alice smiled weakly.

"I'm sure she will, I just don't want either of them to get hurt," Alice said.

"She was stupid to tell her boss about Remus," stated Marlene harshly.

Lily sighed as she finished off her butterbeer.

"Right let's get you home to try on these dress robes," smiled Alice.

Lily grinned, she was really looking forward to her date with James later that night.

A/N: Enjoy this chapter. The next chapter I'm hoping to get done over the weekend and it will involve Lily and James's date. The chapter after will focus on Mary and Remus. Please Review, all feedback welcome :)