Chapter Four: Shopping Spree
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter etc. All likeness of characters/events to real people/events is completely coincidental. I mean it to, complete coincidence.
Author: this has been written for a while, but ff.net was down. (I was soooo bored without it!) Anyway, the next chapter will be up tomorrow! ^_^ Thank you so much for the nice comments, they are very encouraging! Oh, and about them only have been dating for not so long, well, J.K. Rowling gave approximate years, and they get married the year after graduating, and have Harry the next year. (Oh no! I'm spoiling the plot!) There's this great site called "The Harry Potter Lexicon" with detailed timelines of each character and all. And about the international statute of secrecy, I figured that since Mr. Weasley (book four) used magic and floo powder and ton tongue toffees in front of the Dursleys, it must be ok if they already know anyway. (Although I did wonder if it has to do with him working at the ministry…) Here's the story, anyways. ^_^
Dear James,
What should I wear to your house, robes or muggle clothes? How am I supposed to get there? Whatever you do don't come get me on a broom. I'd curse your ears off. I'm looking forward to going; Petunia's driving me crazy. I met her fiancé and I have to say I like him about as much as she likes you. Fair trade? Ha. She went to the hairdresser and got her hair fixed, it's really short and blond, to her chin. I think it makes her look like a tall, thin, blond flamingo. She said some really mean things about you, but I wouldn't hear it. I put some of that Zonko's no rinse everlasting hair dye in her brand new gel and tomorrow she'll wake up with green hair. I'll have to remember to thank Sirius for giving it to me. (He's staying with you isn't he? I can thank him on Christmas then.)
Anyway, my parents just love you. (I knew that they would) And so do I. I miss you tons, so write as soon as my owl gets to you!
All my Love,
Lily
*****
Lily fixed her robe in the mirror one last time and headed over the pile of dirty clothes on the floor to exit her bedroom. She was meeting Saraline in an hour in London, and her father was driving her. Sara was sneaking out of Hogwarts by Floo Powder, with the aid of the remaining marauder at Hogwarts, Remus Lupin.
Sara was Lily's best friend, a pretty girl from an all wizarding family. She had the curliest blond hair you ever did see, and it frizzed up crazily, despite the numerous magical gels and sprays she put into it. Usually it ended up in a very large and messy bun, and very adorable. She had a round face and baby blue eyes, and glasses that made her look much older than she really was. An interesting person to say the least, and incredibly smart. Book smart, anyway. Ravenclaws were known for that slight factor…
Lily's other friends were mostly James's friends, Remus, Peter, and Sirius, but she liked to hang out with Frank and Alice, a couple doomed to be married the day school ended. It was kind of sweet, but after a while sickening. Lily almost wished she hadn't encouraged the shy, uncertain Alice to go out with him. Alice had long dark hair and eyes, and a very young round face. Unlike Saraline, she didn't have any glasses to make her appear older, so one usually got the impression that she was a few years younger than she really was.
Frank was quiet, smart, noble, everything the perfect Gryffindor should be, but he didn't flaunt it. Besides Lily, he was the only other Gryffindor in the top five students. (The other three were Ravenclaws, Saraline Stokes, Fallon Potosi and Marcela Luckenwald) Lily admired Frank and shared a crush on him with Alice until the sixth year, when James Potter became noticeably the only boy in her life (good bad or otherwise)
The sight of Diagon Ally always cheered Lily up. Crowded with bustling witches and wizards, it reminded her of all the fond memories she had there, and anywhere that there was lots of magic. Even a week with Petunia couldn't stop her from smiling, especially when she spotted a blond head bobbing through the crowd.
"Sara!" she called, and her friend turned, her round face lighting up, she dragged someone along with her through the crowd and threw her arms around Lily.
"Oh it's been like a whole week! How was I to survive without you?" Sara said dramatically. "I read three books, and studied for Newts, and played about a hundred games of exploding snap with Fallon. I think he likes me."
Sara wrinkled her nose. Fallon, while incredibly smart, was not much fun to hang out with, and Sara didn't like him much. (Mostly because he got better marks than her in arithmancy.)
"But Remus was fun, we studied for how many hours?" she looked over at the person she had dragged over, questioning.
"At least three hours a day," Remus provided. He looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. "I heard about the fiasco." He said, finally grinning. "James sounded upset."
Lily groaned. Of course James would tell Remus all about dinner at her house, and of course it would sound like a giant jumbled mess. Sara looked from one to the other questioningly.
"What fiasco? Lily, did you do something?! That boy is going to get you expelled! I mean, he is Head boy and he still does things—"
She looked guiltily over at Remus, who had assisted her in sneaking out of the castle, a prefect like her. "Ah well who cares about school!" she said hurriedly, "We're almost finished anyway."
Remus laughed and nodded. He was the sanest of all the marauders, including dear old James, and Lily admired his strength of will. Not much could dissuade James and Sirius and Peter from doing some of the things they wanted to, but Remus could.
"I'm starved." Lily said, shivering in the chilly Christmas air. Sara chattered endlessly about the things they had studied, how much, and what if something was on the test that she didn't memorize, even if she knew it very well? Lily listened appreciatively and Remus followed them, looking bored, down the cheerful street full of shops. It was decorated for the holidays, bits of holly grasped in the beaks of dove statues on the light poles, bells bewitched to play popular songs, and even the real birds were cheerful in red and green colored feathers.
They went into a cozy restaurant, sitting in a booth. (Remus and Sara sat together, much to Lily's amusement.)
"I also heard that you and Sirius hit it off pretty well on the train." Remus said. Sara laughed.
"Yeah Lily, what's with that, he's your boyfriend's best friend!" Lily rolled her eyes.
"James was the one who set it up. Honestly, I don't know what he was thinking." Sara raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"I wouldn't mind kissing Sirius Black." she said.
"You have a boyfriend!" Lily said. But Sara just shrugged.
"I can still dream! Besides, he's…well…Lee Portage." As if this said everything there was to say about Lee, Sara sighed.
"I told you not to date a Slytherin," Lily said. It wasn't that Lee was a bad guy, but he did tend to stick to Saraline only when his friends weren't around. Remus was silent.
"I think you should ask Sirius out if you want to." Lily suggested. "You know who he asked James to set him up with?" Sara's face lit up at the juicy gossip.
"Who?" she asked eagerly.
"Natasha Wood." Sara laughed. Natasha was the hottest girl at Hogwarts and she knew it. Every guy had had a crush on her at one time or another, but she always dumped them after a few weeks. Even Frank had gone through an "I love Natasha" phase, but luckily for everyone, it didn't last long.
"Who do you like Remus?" Lily asked. She didn't want to leave him out of the conversation, and he looked startled that she asked.
"What?" Then he thought for a moment. "I like lots of girls, but I don't want to have a so-called relationship." Lily nodded. It was the typical Remus answer.
"Who are all these girls?" she asked. Remus smiled secretively and didn't answer, but he scooted over to Sara and put his arm on her shoulder. Sara's bright blue eyes bulged behind her glasses.
"Remus!" she squeaked. Lily laughed.
"Why don't you two date?"
Sara looked startled. "We did Lily, in the second year, for two weeks. Remus was my very first kiss!"
"And Sara was mine." Remus added. "Why did we break up?" he asked.
"Because Lily was mad at James and you were friends with James, and I was loyal to my best friend. And we were only twelve."
"I do remember that!" Lily said, finally realizing. James had been her partner in Defense Against the Dark Arts and burnt the paper they had written for the project, making them both receive a Zero. It was Lily's very first failing grade ever and she never really forgave James for it. Of course, she was the one he was trying to impress with the whole fire breathing kit from Zonko's. (Not that Lily was even impressed by it.)
They ordered lunch and Lily filled them in on her family dinner, finishing her last bite of hamburger with a sad smile.
"I don't know what to do about Petunia anyway. I won't forgive her for saying such awful things about James. He didn't even do anything!"
Remus looked surprised and frowned.
"Well, he was the reason behind all of it, I mean, if you hadn't invited him it would just be Petunia sad about her fiancé being sick, without all that extra stuff."
"It was not his fault." Lily said hotly. Sara considered this.
"Then it was your fault?" she asked. Lily fumed.
"Things just happen! It wasn't my fault either." The look in Remus's dark gray eyes said otherwise, and Lily sighed.
"I'm not getting her a Christmas present." Lily muttered.
Lily, Sara, and Remus walked casually through the shops, looking at interesting things and looking for presents for their friends. Lily found the perfect book for Sirius called "Jokes for the Joking" full of interesting and simple hexes and charms just good enough to get on someone's nerves. Sara picked up a bag of violet quills for her mother ("She was running low, and violet is her favorite color" Sara said) and an assortment of candy for her younger siblings. (All girls and very sweet—Anastasia, Katherine, and Samantha)
Remus didn't buy anything, saying he had special surprises for everyone for Christmas. Lily couldn't possibly buy anything for Sara and him while they were right there, so she begged them to help her find something for James.
"He'll love anything you give him." Remus said, and Lily sighed, knowing it was the full truth.
"How about this?" Sara asked, holding up a pair of violent pink self-warming socks. "Quidditch players always complain about the cold weather." But Lily didn't think it was perfect enough, although the image of James wearing pink socks around the common room brought a smile to her lips.
They searched and searched for the perfect gift for James, but by the end of the day Lily had gifts for everyone but him. (Her mother would get a large package of Spell-o-tape, her dad a screwdriver that screwed in the screws on its own, and even, very reluctantly and on Remus and Sara's urging, some hair growing potions for ultra shine and curl for Petunia.)
Finally Lily decided to get him the pink socks; maybe he would like them after all. Shopping bags full of goodies, Lily bid Remus and Sara goodbye, see you in a few weeks, stay out of trouble etc. and headed out to meet her father.
It was much colder out on the streets of London, and Lily shivered and pulled her cloak closer around her to make her robes less conspicuous. Fortunately everyone seemed too preoccupied with the Christmas bustle to really notice her at all, for which she was relieved.
Lily spotted her father's car and climbed in happily. The heater was on, warming her chilly hands.
"Lily, how was shopping?" her father asked. Lily smiled,
"Great dad. How was Petunia?"
"Well, alright I guess…but her hair was green. Do you know anything about that?" he asked.
"Green? Did it suit her?" she asked. Mr. Evans gave his daughter a warning look and smiled just barely at the corners of his mouth. Lily amended. "Now dad, would I do something like that? I'm not the sort to take revenge!"
Author: Thank you all for the nice comments please tell me what you thought of this chapter! ^_^
