Marlene's face was positively split in two. She wore a look of pure delight; it was as though I had given her permission to stuff me into all the dresses she wanted or something. And if she's wearing that look, I thought, then whatever's about to happen isn't good.

"Tell me I'm a genius, Lily," Marlene bounced on the balls of her feet, hiding the dress behind her back. "Tell me I'm a genius and I'll show you the dress."

"Do I want to see the dress?" I mumbled. She nodded impatiently.

"Yes, yes! Of course you do! Just say, 'Marlene is a genius and the greatest friend in the entire world'."

Suspiciously, I repeated what she said. She squeezed her eyes shut and I thought she was about to pull the dress from behind her back when she suddenly broke down into theatrical tears. Well, there weren't any tears, but there was the ultra-melodramatic sobbing and sniffling that followed. I, for one, never knew what to do when someone around me starts to cry, and this scenario is not much different.

"Er…." I looked down at Marlene, who was now on her knees, but somehow still concealing the dress, bawling her lungs out. "Mar…?"

"Oh, Lily!" she cried, grasping the front of my jacket. "It's so beautiful!"

I let out a big gust of air. "That's what you're crying for?" I peeled her off and took a step back. "Just cut to the chase already!"

Marlene stopped sobbing all at once. "You don't like my acting?" she asked, pouting.

"You call that acting?" I snorted.

"Is it natural talent then?" Marlene asked. I gripped my head. She didn't seem to sense it, and babbled right on. "I know, I'm such a natural—"

"Let me see the damn dress already!" I lunged for it.

"YAH!" Marlene let out a strangled screech and rolled backwards, crushing the dress and the hangar beneath her back. A sickening crunch echoed through the underground chamber. Arielle came rushing out, with Dorcas following her, looking as if the sky was about to cave in.

"Are you all right?" Arielle helped Marlene up, then her eyes jumped to the bent hangar and the rumpled dress on the carpet. Her eyes bugged out; it was as if her own mother laid on the ground before her, instead of a—

"Marlene," I breathed. "That's what you were going to show me?"

Wincing, she sat up, rubbing her spine. "Yes," she gave a smile glazed with pain. "Isn't it beautiful?"

I gaped at her, wondering if somehow the hangar was to blame for her psychotic behavior. Beautiful was not a word I'd use to describe the dress. It was see-through, like the dress that Alice had fawned over before. It was frilly to the point that the skirt was almost horizontal. The collar (or lack thereof) hit the skin just below my bellybutton. And to top it off, the material was so thin that it looked as if it would crumble given the slightest of pressure. It made my eyes hurt just by looking at it; never mind that my best friend actually expected me to wear it!

"Marlene," my voice trembled. "What did I say about nothing fancy?"

"Aww, Lily!" her voice tilted up in the beginning of a whine, but Arielle cut her off with a murderous glint in her eyes.

"Never mind your personal affairs now! You've ruined a dress!" the attendant snarled, her face turning from sunny to stormy in the span of the five seconds that Marlene rolled over the dress.

"We'll pay for it!" Marlene squealed. I could see her trying not to scoot away from Arielle who towered above her, gripping the dress and hangar.

"That you will," she hissed. "And there's one more thing."

"What is it?" Marlene asked, rummaging in her purse and not looking up.

"In addition to the one-oh-five Galleons and thirty-two Sickles that you'll pay for this," Arielle said with a twisted, cunning face that I did not like, "I also request that all five of you GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE NOW!"

"Great. Just great," Alice complained. "You just had to roll over that damn dress and hangar, didn't you, Marlene?"

"I was just beginning to get over my fear of dresses, too," Dorcas sighed. "Then you went and showed the other side of dress attendants that put my fear right back."

Marlene spun around to face them. "Well, I am sorry! I was assisting Lily, and polishing my award-winning acting skills on the way."

"Assisting?" Lily muttered. "More like trying to murder my eyes—"

"Acting?" Mary put in. "I didn't know you could act!"

"Believe me, she can't—" Lily began to say, but Marlene's hand wrapped around her mouth, cutting her off.

"Would like to see my enviable talents?" Marlene asked Mary, struggling to keep Lily's mouth covered. "I could put on a little show when we get back—"

"Marlene," Dorcas interrupted, "let's just concentrate on finding another dress shop and get this hell of a nightmare over with."

"And please, instead of blabbing on and on about your so-called acting talents, actually try to help me," Lily added, wrenching free of her friend's grasp. "I need a dress if you want me to go to your party."

"Fine," Marlene sighed. "But what do you think of a play of a skit or—"

"Marlene!" Four girls yelled simultaneously. Marlene chuckled and linked arms with them, twirling merrily through the snow.

"Just joking, my loves. Let's go get some dresses, yeah?"

"How about this one?" Marlene held up a bright yellow taffeta dress. Lily looked at it, brow furrowing. She liked the style: to her knees, and a thin, layered skirt, with a line of flowers running along the waist and straps, but the color was too…..spontaneous.

"Not my color," she decided. Marlene shrugged and began hunting for another one. Lily exhaled and looked around her. They had managed to find another dress shop after being unceremoniously kicked out of the first one, and this time, Marlene, true to her word, was actually sincerely helping Lily. Dresses littered every square feet of the floor, results of over two hours of fruitless searching. Well, not exactly fruitless: Mary had found a dress. It was a knee-length, powdery-blue dress with one strap decorated with small, delicate blue flowers. She had exclaimed that it was 'love at first sight' and wouldn't hear of Marlene's advice—"Don't marry the first dress you see!"—and had immediately paid for it. Personally, Lily thought the dress suited her friend beautifully. The blue matched her twinkling eyes very well and her quietly elegant personality even better.

"Marlene," Lily called out hesitantly. The blonde poked her head through and peered at her over the top of a rack.

"Yeah?" she called back, absent-mindedly smoothing out a few wrinkles on another dress she held.

"Have you got time for your own dress?" Lily asked. "I mean, ever since we came here you've just been picking out dresses for me..."

"Don't worry about that, Lils." Marlene waved an airy hand. "I've got everything I need done and done."

"How?" Lily asked incredulously. "You've only been on this side of the room—" she gestured to where she was sitting, amidst tables of dresses with the sign 'Casual Partywear' hanging over it. "—and we both know you're not going to wear a 'casual' dress to the party."

Marlene's dark blue eyes sparkled. "That I'm not, dear Lilykins. But trust me when I say I've everything I'd need and want."

Lily shook her head. "You're incredible."

"Yes, I am," she best friend agreed. "How about this one?"

Four hours, ten butterbeers, and fifty-seven dresses later, all of Lily's previous good grace was nearly gone.

"Marlene," she threatened, "if you shove another green dress in my face again—"

"You know why I keep doing that?" Marlene sighed, handing her yet another emerald-hued dress. "Because it looks good on you."

"Only that color looks good on me?" Lily demanded. "What about purple, or gold, or—or something! Anything but green!"

"Lily," Marlene lowered her voice and made for her to do the same. "I hate to say this, but your hair the issue here. I'd love to give you the choice of variety, but your hair just doesn't agree with me.

"Shopping for you is always ten times harder than shopping for anyone else," Marlene continued, looking worriedly at her friend. "Your hair color is beautiful and unique, but sometimes the red is just too bright to bode well with any other colors."

Lily sighed, rubbing her fatigued eyes. "Now you see why I hate shopping."

"Yeah," Marlene sighed too. "I do see why you hate shopping."

"But still!" Lily's head snapped up. "I know my hair color puts you in a hard spot here, but there's got to be some shade other than green that works with it."

Marlene put down her warm butterbeer and thought about it for a moment, her eyes shut. "So….we're thinking dark, natural colors,"

"Yes," Lily said cautiously.

"And nothing too flashy and bright,"

"Mm-hmm,"

"So that cuts out most colors of the rainbow," Marlene despaired. In her opinion, that was next to nothing to work with.

"Yeah, we already know I can't wear red, orange, yellow—and no green, absolutely no green at all—blue might be okay, and purple might work too."

"You're right," Marlene nodded. "And don't forget earthen tones as well: black, brown, silver, y'know. That lot."

"See? There are colors I can wear other than green!" Lily accused. Marlene smiled and stretched.

"See ya later, Lils," she said. "I've got a mission to accomplish."

"Oh, and Marlene?"

"Yeah?"

"No green."

"No green."