10. Hogsmeade

You have been invited to attend the first official Slug Club Christmas party on December 23rd. There will be lots of music, food, and dancing. Not to mention a lot of students your age and younger or older than you. It's a great chance to get to know others from different houses that you might not have met before. The dress is formal. All you need to bring is you're positive attitude and dancing shoes! It's going to be a wild party!

Sincerely,

Professor H. Slughorn

Head of Slytherin and the Slug Club

Potions Master

Lily, Shaina, Remus, and James all raised their eyebrow's simultaneously as they read what was written on the invitations. Massie was reading Lily's over her shoulders as Sirius read over James', and Peter over Remus'. All of a sudden Sirius burst out laughing, then Massie joined him in his laughing. Both were rolling on the floor clutching their sides.

"Mer-Merlin that's hilarious!" Sirius said as he started to calm down.

"I don't get what's so funny about it," Lily replied.

"Me neither," Remus agreed. Shaina and James nodded their heads in agreement. None of them could figure out why Peter chuckled and Sirius and Massie just started cracking up in laughter.

"Oh come on you guys, you don't find the fact that Slughorn is throwing a party and inviting his favorite students to it funny?" Massie asked incredulously.

"Not to mention the fact that he's calling it a 'Slug Club' party!" Sirius starting laughing all over again as did Massie.

"Okay, well the Slug Club part is funny, but not that funny," James said exasperated. "Is it that time of month Sirius?"

"What?!"

"I asked…"

"I know what you asked, but why would you say that?!"

"Well because I personally have always thought that you get kind of…"

"Okay James time to shut up."

"Are you admitting that it's true?" Shaina asked sniggering a bit.

"No! I'm just saying I don't want to have to listen to James ramble on about stuff that isn't true!"

"Suuuuure," Remus said joining in on the fun.

"Oh you people are impossible!"

"Anyway…are you guys going to go?" Lily asked not wishing to further the topic that had started up.

"I will, you never know it could be fun," Shaina answered.

"Whatever, it's not like I have anything better to do," James said and Remus agreed.

"You guys are joking, right?" Sirius asked.

"No, why?" Remus replied.

"You all can't go! That'll leave me here…alone…with just Sirius and Peter! That's not nice!" Massie said and got a soft punch in the arm from Sirius.

"Hey! You know you love me," he said.

"You wish."

"Humph, fine if that's how you want it to be. I guess I'll just leave," Sirius fake pouted and pretended to get up and leave.

"Fine, whatever. I don't really care."

"You're mean you know," Sirius replied as he sat back down giving up on getting her to feel bad.

"What can I say? It's a gift."

"Fine if you guys go, I guess that just means that Peter, Massie, and I will just have to crash it."

"You can't do that!" Lily said.

"It's not like you can stop me. I'll do it either way. There is no chance in Hell that I'm going to be without my Jamesie and Remuspoo on a Saturday night."

"Do not call me that!!" James and Remus cried simultaneously. Everyone else started laughing.

Girl's dorm-Lily, Massie, and Shaina

A week had past with only the prospect of the last Hogsmeade trip before the vacation as excitement. The Hogsmeade trip was today. Lily was going with a Ravenclaw sixth year, Jon Hades. Sirius and Massie had agreed that they would just be friends…at least for now. As a result Massie was going with Jon's best friend, Mike Teplin. Lily, Massie, and their dates decided that they would spend the first half of the trip separate ( Massie and Mike, and Lily and Jon), then they would meet up at the Three Broomsticks around two. Shaina and Remus decided that they would go together…as friends. The rest of the marauders were going to have a boys day out, without Remus though.

Massie was looking in the mirror at her image. She was wearing a long sleeved light blue cashmere sweater with a pair of faded blur jeans. She had a fluffy white coat to put over it, as it was winter.

"Ugh, I'm so fat," she said putting her hands on her stomach and sucking in a bit.

"You are so not fat Mass!" Lily scolded her. "Don't even say that."

"But look at me. I have jelly rolls starting to form," she replied frowning at her reflection.

"Don't even start Massie. You know that there is nothing wrong with your image," Shaina assured Massie. Massie was still not convinced, but decided to just drop the subject. She looked over as Shaina. She was wearing a white long sleeved button up shirt with a purple vest. She had tight black jeans that fit her perfectly and her lavender coat sat on her bed beside her. Her hair was flowing in loose curls past her shoulders. She looked very preppy compared to her normal tomboyish look.

Then Massie turned her attention to Lily who was putting some last minute touches on her make-up. She was wearing a plain green sweater that matched her eyes. She had on dark blue jeans that accentuated her curves just right. Her hair was up in a high ponytail with two pieces of hair falling down framing her face. Her jacket was white like Massie's, but was a bit puffier and had fur on the hood, the ends of the sleeves, and the bottom of the jacket.

Massie turned her attention back to her reflection in the mirror. Her hair wasn't cooperating today. It didn't have the bounce it usually had so she threw it up in a messy bun. She had on light make-up, not too much and not too little. She didn't like the way she looked. She never really did though. She was the prettiest of the group according to half the boy population of Hogwarts, but she didn't believe it. When she looked at her friends she just felt that they outshined her in appearance, though she would never let her jealousy show. She always acted happy on the outside. She never let her feelings get in the way of anything. She kept her emotions bottled up inside and acted the way everyone expected her to act.

She grabbed her coat off her bed and left the room behind Lily and Shaina. Shaina met Remus in the common room as Lily and Massie went to find their dates in the Entrance Hall.

Hogsmeade-James, Sirius, and Peter

"So tell me why you and Mass aren't going together again," James said as he looked at a package of Dungbombs inside Zonko's

"Because we're just friends," Sirius said for what felt like the hundredth time. He was starting to get agitated. James had asked him the same question about fifty times this week. "And why aren't you with Lily?"

"Lily and I just started to be friends. After asking her out for three years straight and her hating me with all her will I think that our friendship is very…delicate right now. I don't want to ruin it by asking her out."

"Wow, I don't think I've ever heard something that deep from James since he was eleven when he said that he missed his baby blanket and his mom wouldn't let him take it with him to school because it was starting to wear out," Peter said and he and Sirius started laughing hysterically.

The three of them paid for their things and headed out the door ten minutes later.

Hogsmeade-Remus and Shaina

Shaina and Remus were standing by the fence that guarded the Shrieking Shack. Neither seemed scared of the house. Shaina didn't believe in ghost stories like that while Remus knew the real reason people heard piercing screams coming from it once a month. It was him during his transformations.

"I really don't get why people are so afraid of a house…I mean it is a little creepy looking. But it's not like the ghosts are going to kill you. That is if there even are any ghosts. You never know, the people who claim they've heard screams coming from it could just be delusional," Shaina said staring at the rickety shack.

"I know what you mean," Remus said deciding it was best to just agree with her. He wasn't going to tell her the truth behind the stories…at least not yet, not for a while. "It's kind of stupid to believe in haunted houses."

"Yeah."

They stood there in comfortable silence for a few more minutes before heading back to the village to buy some last minute Christmas gifts.

Hogsmeade-Lily and Jon

Lily and Jon walked down the streets hand in hand just enjoying each others company. Lily was enjoying her time with Jon fully. He was a sweet guy. He bought her candy at Honeydukes and offered her his jacket when she got cold, even though she declined because he only had a t-shirt on underneath. He was one of the cutest boys in the school too, along with his best friend Mike who was with Massie. He had neat dirty blond hair that was spiked in the front and light brown eyes.

"It's almost noon," Lily said. "I think that we should probably buy some last minute presents for our friends and family. I'm not getting yours until its just Massie, Shaina, and me."

"Ah, you're no fun," Jon teased.

"Is that so?" she bent down, picked up some snow, curled it into a ball, and threw it a Jon. It hit him on the side of the face. Lily laughed until a snowball came and hit her in the neck courtesy of Jon. Within seconds they were in a full fledged snowball fight while walking down the streets of Hogsmeade, laughing the whole way.

Hogsmeade-Massie and Mike

Massie stood in Barters Book Store looking for a book for Lily for Christmas. Mike stood behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist and his chin resting on her shoulder.

"Hmm…do you think Lily would like this?" Massie asked. She was holding a book called The Da Vinci Code (Yes I know it definitely wasn't around then, but neither was I and I love that book, so…). "She's loves mystery muggle books and I've even heard of this one. It's supposed to have lots of twists in it, you know to keep you interested."

"I think she'd love it," Mike answered kissing her gently on her forehead. Massie smiled and headed over to the desk to pay for the book. She had finished shopping for all her friends gifts all she needed to get now was a gift for Mike.

"It's pretty much time to meet Lily and Jon," Massie said as they exited the shop together. They headed up the road to The Three Broomsticks. After five minutes of walking they finally reached the pub. It was very crowded with students eagerly sipping on their butterbeers trying to keep warm in the cold weather. Massie spotted Lily and Jon sitting at a table in the far corner. It looked like they were deep in a discussion about something. Then Jon said something to Lily and she threw her head back in laughter. Massie decided that they should just go over now before they start kissing. Sure enough as they got over there Lily and Jon were just about to kiss.

Massie coughed lightly to announce their presence. Lily and Jon immediately backed away and sat back in their seats. Lily was blushing furiously and Jon did his best to not look embarrassed.

"We…we didn't know that you two were here already," Lily said turning around to face them, her face bright pink.

"It's okay," Massie said getting an evil glint in her eyes. "We didn't know that we would be interrupting."

Lily's face got a whole new shade of pink that was even brighter than the first time.

"Sorry…you know me, I couldn't resist," Massie smirked. Lily just grunted in reply.

"Um…I think I'll go and get us some drinks…Mike can you help me?"

"Yeah sure, what do you guys want?"

"Butterbeer," Lily replied.

"Just a water please," Massie said.

"How about something to eat?"

"Doesn't matter to me," Lily answered.

"I don't want anything, thank you. I'm not very hungry."

"Are you sure Mass?"

"Yeah," Massie replied with a weird look on her face that only Lily noticed. The boys left to go get food and drinks.

"What is up with you? First you say your fat, then you don't want anything to eat when you barely ate anything at breakfast! Are you feeling ok?"

"Uh…now that you mention it, yeah. I have a slight stomach ache."

"Well how long have you had a stomach ache? You haven't really been eating much this whole year."

"I do too eat! I go down to the kitchens at night to eat, and sometimes during free period. I just don't feel like eating a lot in front of people."

"…whatever, but I really think that you need to eat more."

"Don't worry, I eat fine."

Just then the boys came back with three butterbeers, a water, and three plates of food.

"I got you some chicken and fries, I hope that's all right," Jon told Lily.

"Yeah, that's great. I love chicken," Lily smiled back.

"Mass, you can have some of my food if you change you mind," Mike said sitting down next to Massie.

"Thanks Mike, but I'm fine," Massie replied and Lily gave her a stern look. "Actually I guess I'll have some fries."

"Great," Mike said pushing his seat closer to Massie's and putting his plate between the two. Massie picked up a fry and took a small bite, chewing it slowly, and then swallowing. She proceeded to do that until she had about a quarter of the fries. By that time the rest were almost done eating.

"Well it's time for us to go," Lily said getting up and giving Jon a peck on the lips. "Shaina just came in." Massie got up giving Mike a quick kiss and following Lily over to Shaina and Remus. Remus said good bye to them and found the table the rest of the marauders were currently occupying and sitting down at the empty chair that was saved for him.

The girls spent the last two hours of the trip buying the gifts that they didn't buy with their dates. They came back to Hogwarts with their arms full with shopping bags.