Tap, tap.

Lily looked up from her game of Gobstones with Alice and Mary, to see her screech owl, Tunia, perched outside on the windowsill, a lone, golden shape silhouetted against the white heaps of snow piled on the Head Tower.

"It must be your parents' reply," Alice observed, setting down her game piece. Dorcas popped her head up from beneath her heavy Transfiguration textbook and looked on interestedly as Lily opened the window and let the animal in. Untying the envelope attached to her scaly foreleg, Lily pulled an Owl Treat from a tin behind the fireplace and fed it to the grateful bird.

"Well?" Marlene pressed, unaware of the fact that she had a milk mustache from her hot chocolate. Lily held a giggle and opened the letter. Green eyes scanning the Muggle paper, she grimaced.

"Oh Merlin," She sighed.

"What? Can't you go?"

"Yes, yes, 'course I can,"

"Then why the 'Oh Merlin'?"

"Oh—great—here, just see it for yourself." Lily clapped a hand over her eyes and shoved the paper toward Marlene. The others crowded around her and read over her shoulder. The blonde's eyes widened as she found the part that caused Lily so much anguish.

"Oh Merlin," she breathed, handing the paper back.

Lily nodded grimly. "Looks like I was right about the 'no-drinking-nor-sex' speech."

"Don't worry," Alice spoke to the paper as though somehow Lily's parents could hear her. "A little snogging won't hurt your daughter."

"ALICE!" Lily shrieked. "I am not going to snog anyone!"

"Oh, come on, Lils," Mary complained. "That's the whole point of New Year's!"

"I'm going to snog Sirius—" Marlene pointed out.

"'Course you are," Lily muttered.

"—and Mary's going to snog Remus—"

Mary spewed out her butterbeer and coughed, glaring murderously at Marlene.

"—and Alice's got Frank, and Dorcas—"

She hesitated as her blue eyes traveled to the tall tomboy. "And Dorcas is special," She managed. Dorcas grinned.

"Yes, I am," she said smugly. "That's why I'm asking your permission to bring a date to the party."

Now it was Marlene's turn to shriek. "A date?"

"That's what I just said, Mar," Dorcas rolled her eyes. "A date. As in, you know, a bloke that I call my boyfriend?"

"Why didn't you tell us? Oh this is wonderful! Finally, a boy fit enough to be the other half of Dorcas Meadowes!" Marlene gushed, practically squealing with delight.

"So…er, who is it?" Alice asked. "And how long have you been going out?"

It might've been Lily's imagination, but at Alice's question, the brunette's cheeks colored a little. "We're not—yet. I'm hoping that this party of yours might set things in motion."

"Of course it will!" Marlene positively swelled with happiness.

"For the second time, who is it?" Mary asked. Yep, Dorcas definitely blushed this time, Lily thought.

"It's a—surprise," she said finally. "You'll see."

"Tell me," Marlene demanded. "Tell me now." Dorcas only shook her head.

"I'm going up to your dorm now, Lily," She scooped up her bag and almost ran out of there. Marlene huffed, crossing her arms. Then she brightened and turned to Lily, who groaned and mumbled something like 'I'd hope you'd forgotten about me'.

"So, what are you going to wear?" Marlene questioned, squinting at her friend with a critical eye. Lily started, evidently not expecting a question like that.

"Um, jeans and a coat?" she answered nervously.

"What?" Marlene asked incredulously. "You cannot be serious."

"No, I'm not your boyfriend, Marlene. I love you, but not like that," Lily joked. Marlene swatted that aside.

"My point is that you need to wear something fancy. Jeans and a jacket simply won't cut it, hun." Lily started to protest, but Marlene put a finger over her lips.

"No, no, no. No complaints from you, Miss Evans. We're going dress-shopping tomorrow and that is final."

Lily stopped struggling, her pupils dilating in horror. "You cannot be serious!"

"No, I'm Marlene. And Marlene will help you pick out a dress that is going to make James Potter drool."

"Do we have to?" Lily asked again. Marlene turned to her, hands firmly on her hips.

"We've been over this before, Lily. Yes, we have to."

"Why?" she complained.

"Because. We are your best friends. And best friends don't let each other go to a party in old jeans and a sweater." Marlene crossed her arms.

"Best friends respect each other's wishes," Lily contradicted. "And I wish to attend a party in old jeans and a sweater."

"Too bad it's my party," Marlene told her smugly. "So what I say, you gotta do it."

"But—"

"Lily," Dorcas sighed. "Just get over it. I'm going to have to wear a dress. Does that make you feel better?"

Lily stared. "Wow, you lot are serious about this, aren't you."

Dorcas nodded grimly. "Too serious."

"We don't need two Sirius's, one is enough," Marlene grinned. Lily threw a pillow at her.

"So Lily," Dorcas continued. "Think about it. Your whining is actually quite unfair. If I have to wear a dress, then you have to wear a dress."

"Fine," Lily sighed. Marlene squealed with delight, then quickly quieted down from the look Lily gave her. "But nothing too— vibrant, and big, and—I dunno—just—just nothing too fancy."

"'Nothing too fancy'?" Marlene repeated. "But that's the whole point of dress-shopping."

"Too bad," Lily copied her earlier smug tone. "I'm compromising all my normal boundaries for you. The least you can do is pick a dress that I like."

"Fine," Marlene sighed as well, then added, "at least you're agreeing to wear a dress at all."

"And for that alone, you should be grateful," Lily finished for her.

"I still don't get the point of this," I grumbled, brushing flecks of snow off of my favorite coat before they could melt. No one answered. I tried again. "I've already got a dress at home anyways. We don't need to waste more gold getting another one."

Marlene stopped and turned to face me, wearing what she obviously thought was a stern face. Her cuddly lion earmuffs rather ruined the effect.

"Lily, please, don't insult our intelligence. Do you honestly expect us to believe that you just happened to have a dress sitting at home, gathering dust?" She questioned, adjusting her Gryffindor scarf. "In fact, you're just about the least likely person to ever have even touched a dress before."

"Hey!" Dorcas pouted. "What about me? I can tell you right now, that I've never worn a dress before. Well, maybe except that one time at my aunt's wedding. Merlin, that was terrible." She shuddered. I sighed; looks like there really is no way of getting out of this now.

"Let's just go," I tugged on Marlene and Dorcas' elbows. Mary and Alice followed, excitedly discussing what type of dresses they were going to buy.

"Have you thought about what you wanted yet, Lily?" Marlene asked.

"If I had my way, we wouldn't even be doing this right now." I grunted.

"I know," she sighed exasperatedly. "So have you?"

"A little bit," I admitted, ignoring the surprised, fake gasps from the other girls. "I'd like a neutral color."

"Oh." Marlene's face fell a little; obviously she didn't think much of neutral colors.

"And I don't want anything too overboard. That means no sparkles or anything like that."

"No one wants 'sparkles,'" She said loftily. "That's too cheap-looking. Oh no, Lily. If anything, you're getting diamonds."

I stared at her. "Diamonds?" I repeated, not believing my ears. She nodded to confirm. "For a New Year's Party?" she nodded again. "Blimey, Marlene. What are you, rich or something?"

"As a matter of fact, yes, I am, or should I say, the McKinnon family is rather rich. That's why I'm paying for all our dresses."

"Hey!" Dorcas protested. "The Meadowes family isn't exactly down the loo, either!"

"I know that," Marlene told her. "But I want to. Christmas is a time for giving, isn't it?"

"You know what you could give me?" I retorted. "A free pass to not go to this party."

"Don't be a killjoy, Lily," Marlene rolled her eyes. "Now come on. We haven't got all day; all the good dresses will be taken then!"

"Good," I muttered under my breath. "I hope they are."

"Guys!" Alice squealed, running towards us in the dress shop. "How about this one?" she held up a sheer dress that was probably only capable of hiding her underwear. I eyed it uncertainly.

"I dunno, Al," I said.

"Yeah," Mary added. "We're going to a New Year's Party, not a strip club."

"Thanks for the support," she hung the dress back into the rack and started browsing for another one. Marlene turned to me, an overly-bright look on her face. I groaned.

"No need to sound too excited, Lily," she dragged me to the very back of the shop. "Rack shopping is for amateurs. Let's go."

"What torture are you putting me through next?" I asked nervously. She glared me. "Let me write my last will and testament, then I'll come."

She ignored me and my sarcastic comments, and turned to an attendant who was folding dresses on a table floating in air. "Hello," she called. The attendant glanced up. "My friend here needs a dress."

"I see," the attendant said in a bored voice, as if she dealt with stuff like this every day. Which, come to think of it, she probably does do this every day. "And will it be for both of you?"

"Yeh—no, actually. Make it for all five of us." Marlene turned and called to our friends. Mary appeared almost immediately; Alice followed, clutching another dress (thankfully, it offered more coverage than the last one). Dorcas came last, stumbling through the racks. It was just so…weird, seeing my normally graceful and athletic friend trip over her own two feet like this. Although, I supposed, this isn't exactly a Quidditch field.

"Dress choices for all of us, please," Marlene told the stunned attendant. I'm guessing she's never had to provide such a large group of people with dresses before. Then all at once, her demeanor became much friendlier, and she hurried forward, extending her hand to all of us in turn.

"Hello, my name is Arielle," she said, smiling at us. "And I'll be your attendant for today. Obviously," she added, then winked and whispered, "standard procedure."

She turned and grabbed her wand and a set of keys from a drawer behind her then led us down to the basement. I wasn't sure what was down there, and what it had to do with dresses, but when Arielle flicked her wand and the lights all turned on, it wasn't what I'd expected.

Instead of a dingy, mildewed basement, as the façade suggested, it had thick carpeting, several large walk-in closets that served as dressing rooms, and huge racks laden with dresses. Mary and I stared, as did Dorcas. However, Alice and Marlene had obviously gone dress-shopping in the Wizarding World before, and without hesitation, rushed forward and started shifting through the dresses. Arielle glanced at the three of us, hanging back, and smiled knowingly.

"Muggle-borns?" she guessed. Mary and I nodded, but Dorcas stepped forward and said,

"I'm pureblood, but….I rather dislike dresses."

"Ah, I see. Come with me. I have a specific rack just for customers like you." Arielle hurried away to a dressing room on the far left side, and Dorcas glanced back at us uneasily.

"Go on," I mouthed to her. "Arielle doesn't bite." Then she shook her head violently and I understood: she wasn't afraid of our attendant, she was afraid of the dresses. Before I could dwell on that thought, Marlene ran toward me, holding something floaty in her arms.

"Lily!" she called.

"What?" I answered.

"I've found the perfect dress for you!"

"Bloody hell." Let the torture begin!