ok……..so its been awhile……lol…but let me explain! I was writing this story in August and we got a new computer. I just now got around to installing Word on it……I actually wrote this chapter on notepad a couple weeks ago. Most of you probably don't remember my story……I'm really sorry about all this and I'm gonna try to finish this story out and start a new one! I think I'm going to have to read the whole story again so I can start writing new chapters…..I feel really bad about that!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. It's all J.K. Rowlings! So don't sue me!
Chapter 8
November passed quickly. James, the other Marauders, Lily, Carly, and Isabella were becoming really good friends. They sat together at the meals and studied for their subjects together in James and Lily's private common room.
There was a visit to Hogsmeade in the middle of December, and the group was going to do their Christmas shopping. The girls were looking for new dress robes for the annual Hogwarts Christmas Ball that was to be held on Christmas Day. After a couple of butterbeers at the Three Broomsticks, the group separated to do their shopping.
"Oh my gosh, Lils! You have GOT to try these on! They go so well with your eyes!" Carly squealed.
"I don't know, Carly.....they aren't really my usual style!" But Lily had to admit. The bottle green robes were truely beautiful. They were the exact color of her eyes.
"Lily, don't be such a prat! You know you love them.....and so will James." Isabella smirked and waggled (?) her eyes. "He'll totally love them on you!"
Lily wrinkled her nose. "Izzy, James and I are only friends...nothing more! And he'll probably be too wrapped up in his date to even notice me." She added with a slightly jealous tone in her voice.
"AH HA! So you totally admit it! You DO care about what he thinks!" Carly shrieked triumphatly.
Lily looked around, panicked that someone might have overheard her.
"Would you keep your abmormally shrill voice down, please? Of course I care about what he thinks. He's my friend."
Isabella gave her a knowing look. "Of course you do, Lily. Now what do you think about these for me?" She held up ruby red dress robes to herself.
"No, Isabella. They are so not your color. You could do way better than that." Carly said in that voice that sounded like it knew absolutely everything about fashion. "You need these." She picked up a pale pink set off the rack and held it to Isabella.
"What do you think, Lily?"
"Huh...what?" She had just been thinking about Carly's accusations.
Carly sighed and rolled her eyes. "Lily, please try to pay attention. This is a life-or-death situation here! Now aren't these perfect for Izzy?" She and Isabella looked at her expectantly.
"Yeah, they look great. You should get them."
"Thank you, Lily." Carly said yet again in her triumphant voice. "Now, I don't want to hear another word about it, Izzy. You're getting them and that's that!" The robes Carly had already selected for herself were carelessly thrown over her arm. They were a deep purple, with glitter sprinkled all over them. They were going to look great on Carly. Lily knew she loved to stand out. And these robes just screamed "Look at me!" But that was what Lily loved abobut her friend, her amazingly high confidence. "Lily, you're getting those green robes whether I have to buy them for you for not!" Carly grabbed up the remaining sets of robes, threw them over her arm, and led Lily and Isabella to the long line waiting to pay.
*~*~*~
James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were, as they did during every Hogsmeade visit, in the Zonko's Joke Shop, pouring over the latest additions to the already overflowing shelves.
"Moony! Check out this new chew! It'll make your head look like a werewolf's!" Sirius cracked. "You should get it!" he said with mock sincerity.
Remus gave him a look. "Padfoot, I already know what it feel likes to have a werewolf's head. I don't need a chew for that." He said calmly.
"But you should get them! Shouldn't he Prongs?"
James smiled. "Sure, why not....."
"Hey, where did the girls say they were going again?" Sirius asked, suddenly clueless.
"They went to pick out new dress robes for the ball, dult, remember?"
The grin returned to Sirius's face. "Ooooooooh, that's right! Wonder how stunningly beautiful Carly is going to look..." he muttered dreamily. He had this silly-stupid look on his face. "Bet you can't wait to see Isabella, eh Moony?"
Remus blushed slightly. "I'm sure she'll look as pretty as always."
"Sure." Sirius turned to James.
"You better ask Lily to go with you, Prongs, before someone else does! That Ravenclaw guy has had his eye on her, you know."
"I don't know if I should ask her to go, I mean.......what if she says no?"
"She won't say no." Remus put in. "You know she'll go with you."
"But what if she thinks I want to be more than friends?"
"You DO want to be more than friends!"
"Yeah, but, for right now I'm glad we're just friends! This time last year she couldn't stand me! I don't want to mess things up with my stupid big head."
Remus laughed. "James, you know you aren't the same as you were last year. Your head has definetly "deflated"!"
"Yeah, Prongs, it's like you're a completly different person. Well...almost." Sirius grinned.
"That's true." James smiled in spite of himself. "I think I will ask her to go with me, anyway."
"Good. Now, let's get out of here before Peter wets himself." Sirius jerked his head in Peter's direction. The whole time they had been in there, Peter had been squirming anxiously by the door, waiting for them, all the while stuffing his face with the free samples from Honeydukes he had stolen from the lady who was handing them out in front of the shop. He had swiped them when she set the plate down to help her boss with the latest shipment. Why the lady had left the samples outside, James would never know, but that didn't give Peter the right to take them.
"Right. Let's go, Wormtail." James rolled his eyes at the other two.
They headed over to the robes shop, where the girls were just coming out the door with their parcels clutched under their arms.
Lily's eyes lit up when she saw them. "Hey, guys. Have you been having fun?"
James smiled down at her. "Tons, Lilith. Get your new robes?" He gestured to the parcel.
"Yep, and they look great on her." Carly chimed in, draping her arm over Lily's shoulders. "Bet you can't wait to see them, eh Potter?" Carly gave him a cheesy wink. She removed her arm from Lily and pulled James to the side.
"Quit being a prat, and just ask her to the ball!" she hissed. "You know you want to!"
James gave her a small grin. "Don't worry. I'm getting to it." He pulled away from her and went back to the group where the rest of them were having a conversation about the latest rumors they had heard about the ball.
"That's nothing!" Sirius was saying. "Dumbledore is getting 50 cases of red wine!"
"Oh, right, Sirius. Dumbledore is going to let everyone get drunk then head off to bed. I don't think so." Isabella said sarcastically.
"Well, is everyone ready to go back?" James asked them. This is his line. He and Sirius had rehearsed for this before breakfast this morning.
"Wait!" Sirius cried dramatically. "I have to ask the lovely Carlene Peterson a very important question!"
People all around stopped what they were doing and stared at Sirius.
James knew what was coming. Sirius was going to ask Carly to the ball, in a way that everyone would remember.
Carly glanced around around, smiling. She was loving the attention.
"What is it, Sirius?" She said in an equally dramatic voice.
Sirius gathered her hand his both of his and knelt to one knee. "Carlene Joanne Peterson, will you make me the happiest man at Hogwarts and go to the Christmas Ball with me?" He gazed at her with a huge grin on his face.
The crowd was eating this up. A cry of *aaaaaaaawwwww* went through the air.
Lily rolled her eyes. "They so planned this." she thought to herself. Isabella was looking at Carly, waiting for her to answer. But then again, Isabella, the most serious of the three girls, was always the hopeless romantic.
Carly had her best smile on her face. "Of course, Sirius! I'd love to go to the Christmas Ball with you!" she cried dramatically.
She pulled him up and wrapped her arms around him.
The crowd began to clap. Someone even whistled.
"Ok, ok, you two. That's enough! I've freezing my arse off here and Sirius is proposing!" Lily shouted
The others laughed and started moving again.
"Well, that only leaves James, Lily, Remus, and Isabella without dates!" Sirius grinned at them. "You better pick it up!"
"Don't worry, Prongs, We'll manage to find dates." Remus said, looking sideways at Isabella, who was looking back at him.
Lily turned to James, her cheeks flushed slightly, or maybe it was just the cold. "Can we please go now?" She asked the rest of them. "Some of us have Potions homework to finish!"
Carly groaned, "Ugh, Lils, don't remind me."
"Well, let's get going."
The seven of them made their way back down the path to Hogwarts, where they separated, Lily and James heading to their common room, and the other four heading to theirs.
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Chapter 9 coming soon!!
