It was the next weekend and Lilly was running around the girls' dorm frantically, trying to find her moneybag. Eleanor opened her trunk and pulled it out of a side pocket. She held it up and waited for Lilly to look at her and notice. "Nell, why aren't you-" She noticed the bag. "-helping?" She laughed a little and took it from her, trying it to her belt. "Thanks." "No problem." Eleanor turned tail and walked down to the common room. Lilly came running behind. When they made it to the common room, James, Sirius, Peter, and ally were sitting by the fire. Only Ally was dressed and ready for Hogsmeade. "Why aren't you guys dressed?" Lilly asked them, confused. "We're staying to keep Remus company. He's getting worse." James said, looking grave. Eleanor's stomach fell. "Getting worse? That doesn't sound good." Sirius stood, walking over and taking her by the shoulders. "Look, he'll be fine. But he said that he didn't want you there. He wants you to go to Hogsmeade...have fun with the girls." "How do you expect me to-" She began. But she knew it was no good. She sighed, looking extremely worried. "Fine." Sirius forced a smile and kissed her cheek. Eleanor walked for the portrait hole. Ally stood, kissing Sirius gently and following Eleanor. Lilly waved goodbye to James and left. Eleanor didn't speak until she was inside Hogsmeade. "Up for tea?" She asked, looking around at Madam Puddifoot's. "Sure." Lilly said. "Sounds good." Ally agreed. They entered the small cafe and grabed an open table near the front window. It felt good to get out of the cold. She sighed and smiled up at Madam Puddifoot as she reached their table. She was a short, pudgy woman (slightly resembling Pettigrew) with a knobby black bun on the back of her head. "What can I get you, Ladies?" She asked them, pen poised to her notepad, a kind smile on her lips. "I'll have some tea with milk and four sugars, please." Eleanor said, looking down at the table cloth of lace and bows. "And I'll have some coffe...lots of milk and sugar." Ally said. "Coffee, please. Black." Lilly smiled. Madam Puddifoot nodded and walked off. They sat in silence for a little while before Lilly spoke. "Don't worry, Nell. He'll be fine." Eleanor sighed, smiling. "I know. I'm just wondering why he didn't want me there..." "Maybe he didn't want you to catch it." Ally offered. Eleanor shrugged. "Maybe." "Well...I think when we leave....we should go and buy dresses for the Yule Ball." Lilly suggested with a smile. "Oh, yeah! I forgot about that..." Ally piped up, grinning. "I'm so excited!" Eleanor laughed. "You think he'll be better by next weekend? Is it worth the money for the dress?" "He'll be better...even if he's not, I know he wouldn't miss it." Lilly grinned, winking. Their drinks came moments later and they sat there, enjoying the warm feeling the hot liquid spread through their bodies. "I can't believe all of this is happening..." Ally began, staring out of the window over Lilly's shoulder. "I mean...I've had a crush on Sirius since my first year. And here I am...with two new excellent friends-" Lilly and Eleanor smiled. "-and a great boyfriend. It hought Quidditch was going to be all I had all my Hogwarts carreer." "Aww. We're glad to have met you too!" Eleanor said, placing an arm around her shoulders in a friendly hug. They finished off their drinks and hurried off to Gladrag's Wizardwears. It took them almost two hours to choose the right dresses, bags, shoes, and gloves. They had their things properly packaged in retangle boxes and carried them out under their arms. Once in the middle of the street, they looked around. "It's getting late. The sun should be going down in a half hour. We should probably head back." Lilly suggested, looking up at the sky. "Wait!" Ally called, turning to look down that led out of Hogsmeade, away from Hogwarts. "I wanna check out the Shrieking Shack." "I don' think that's such a good idea, guys..." Eleanor put in. "Remus said that he went in there with James and Sirius once and got attacked. He's got nasty scars from it." "Oh, it was probably a stray dog or something. Besides...that was years ago. Come on!" Lilly took off behind Ally down the road. Eleanor took a deep breath, debating what to do. She sighed and took off after the two.