Chapter 13
Hogsmede
The weekend slowly approached and the day of the Hogsmede trip was here. Lily felt
oddly excited as she put on her cutest jeans and a tight zip up sweater. She looked in the mirror,
pleased with her appearance. She added the final touches of lipgloss, pale eyeliner, and
high platform sneakers that were the same shade of blue as her shirt. She blinked, her eyes
looked larger and brighter thanks to her eyeliner, her lips looked full soft and shiny, very
tempting. Why am I dressing up for James? We are just friends after all. I shouldn't be
wearing lipgloss and eyeliner for him. Yet she was, and she made no attempt to remove it.
She walked down the staircase to the common room where she saw James sitting on a couch
wearing khaki shorts and a T-shirt with the name of his favorite Quiddich team and their logo.
Lily smilled as he looked up at her, she walked over to him, "ready to go?"
"Yeah, lets hurry so we don't miss the carriages."
"Okay, you first." They arrived at the entrance hall just as Filtch was rolling up his scroll. He
looked at them, annoyed.
"Decided to join us did you? So kind of you to show up on time, I'm so glad that the
students at this school are so considerate and thoughtful." He sneered at them and looked down
his list for their names. "Lily Evans....here we are. And James Potter...yes, I know him well,
trouble maker. Probabally going off to buy more stink bombs and fart pellets, or whatever they
use to make my life miserable. Here he is. Why Dumbledoor allows the students to go off to
town unsupervised is beyond me." They walked out the doors and slipped into the waiting
carriage giggling and rolling teir eyes.
"You're not going to buy stink pellets, are you? I can't stand those things. Set them off all
you like down in the dungeons, but keep them away from Griffindor common room."
"I assure you, you will not smell so much as a waft of stink sap, garouting gas,
smelling bombs, fart pellets, or any such materials coming from me."
"I appreciate it." They sat in companionable silence for the rest of the ride to Hogsmede.
Lily was conscious again of his knee on hers and the contact of their shoulders. When they
pulled to a stop James got out and went around to open her door for her. He held out his arm to
help her down, but she jumped nimbly from the step before he had time to fully raise his arm.
"Where would you like to go first?" She asked him.
"We could go to Honeydukes, or The Three Broomsticks, it's a bit nippy. Where would
you like to buy presents?"
"Anywhere is fine, let's just get inside, I forgot that summer was over and didn't exactly
dress appropriately."
"Here," James shed his cloak and draped it over her shoulders.
"No, don't be silly, you're wearing short sleeves, you'll catch your death of cold if you go
around like that."
"Better me than you, besides, I don't feel cold, remember?"
"Oh yes, my strong powerful invinsible James I remember well." Why did I say that? Did
that honestly just come out of my mouth? I am not with him!!! Lily flushed slightly and
turned away. James tactfully ignored the comment and put his arm around her thin shoulders,
holding the cloak in place. Lily couldn't help but notice how perfectly she fit into his side, and
how right he felt against her.
"You're shivering! We're going into the Three Broomsticks right now and getting a
butterbeer."
"I'm fine," Lily shruged him off and walked several paces away from him until they reached
the door to the bustling pub. Obviously they were not the only ones who wanted butterbeer on
this particular afternoon. They walked into the room and made their way through the crowd to
the bar. They were standing behind a group of people who were waiting to take their orders
when James was spotted. A young barmaid, a girl a little older than they were, hailed them from
behind the counter.
"Hello James," she said in a simpering voice.
"Hey Rosmerta, how's everything?"
"Oh, I'm fine, how about you? Who's your new friend? I haven't seen her before." She
looked at Lily with distain, her smile falling off her face and her voice becoming frosty.
"Excuse me, this is Lily Evans, we are both in Griffindor together. Lily, this is Rosmerta, a
friend of mine."
"I see, well can I help you with anything?" She turned back to James, ignoring Lily and
plastering her huge smile back on her face.
"We'd like two butterbeers please."
"Of course, will they be together or separate?"
"Together." Said James firmly at the same time that Lily said "Separately," in and equally
firm tone.
"Which will it be?" Asked Rosmerta craftily.
"Together, I have this one Lily." She smiled at him, and seeing the look in Rosmerta's eyes
slipped away saying that she would find a table. She found one in a corner by the fireplace. Lily
took off James's cloak and hung it on a chair next to the fire to dry it. James came over, a
butterbeer in each hand. "What did you think of Rosmerta? She's quite nice, she always lets me
cut the line when she sees me. Sirius too. And Lupin. We come here quite a lot you see."
"How, there are only Hogsmede trips every few months, it's not that often?" James looked
at her slyly.
"If I told you, you would be angry. You always go by the book, don't you? Haven't you
ever bent the rules, even a little bit?"
"No. What rule are you breaking? How do you get into Hogsmede without getting caught?
Tell me."
"Sorry, I would do anything for you, but I cannot betray a secret to my friends. It is
classified, top secret, information."
"Why won't you tell me?"
"Because Lily Evans would be compelled to do the right thing and turn me in to the
authorities. Meaning Dumbledoor."
"Is it really that bad?" Lily leaned towards him conspiritorally.
"Yes. It's terrible. No actually, its harmless, but you, I am certain, would not apporve. You
never break rules, like I said. You would think I was a horrible person."
"Never!" Lily gave him a look of mock horror, putting her hand over her heart and feigning
a look of shock and upset. "I'm not really that good, am I? I am a bit of a spoil sport I suppose.
A stick in the mud, you might say."
"Not at all, doing the right thing is admirable, unfortunately we are not all naturally that good.
Besides, breaking rules is exciting."
"I'm boring aren't I?"
"Of course not, your great fun, just the kind of fun that is within the rules."
"I should do something darastic, shouldn't I?"
"No. Like what?"
"Cut all my hair off."
"Don't even think about it. I love your hair, please, don't cut it."
"I think I need to prove that I am daring and can break rules and take risks."
"Cutting your hair isn't exactly breaking the rules."
"Yes, but it's exciting. I need to prove that I can take risks. Then will you tell me your
secret?"
"Not if you cut off your beautiful hair. I would hate you forever."
"Really?"
"No. I could never hate you. If I tell you my secret will you promise not to cut your hair?"
"Yes."
"Okay, Sirius, Remus, Peter and I have discovered several secret passageways over the
years at Hogwarts. One of them leads into the basement of Honeydukes and we come into
Hogsmede whenever we want."
"Oh, that's not bad. Although you shouldn't break into someones store. You should at least
tell them that the passageway is there so that they can know of the danger. What if someone
breaks in? Wouldn't you feel guilty?"
"Seeing as the passageway leads from Hogwarts, and Sirius Remus Peter and I are the only
ones who know where it is, I'm not too worried." He smiled at her.
"I guess so. Where is it?"
"That would be telling. You'd better drink that before it gets cold." He gestured towards her
butterbeer and she looked down at it. It was still steaming. She took a long sip. It was the
perfect temperature. It warmed up her insides nicely and by the time they were both finished she
was prepared to fight the elements.
"Where should we go for presents? You should know, seeing as you come here so often."
"Bottleknobs is a good place for knick knacks and junk. It's not a great place for nice
things, but you can find some really cool stuff if you root around."
"Sounds good, where is it?"
"Just up here, lets go quickly so that we don't freeze to death." They walked down a narrow
alleyway that Lily had never noticed before. They went into a smell, cramped shop. Lily looked
around, there was a thick carpet on the floor and the walls were all lined in bookshelves. In
addition to books there were tables of crafts, buckets of random things, and cloth hanging all
over the place. Lily walked up to the wall covered in cloths, she ran her hands over the material.
She walked several paces, and then stopped, her hand poised over a piece of cloth unlike any
she had previously laid eyes on. She touched it. It was smooth and flowing, made out of a
shimmering silver material.
She held it up and said, "James, James, over here. Look at this, isn't it pretty?" James
walked slowly towards her, his eyes fixed on the cloth. "What? What's wrong?"
"Where did you find that?" His voice was filled with awe. He reached his hand out and
stroked the material that she was holding in her arms. "Just here, on the wall. Why?"
"Lily, that's an invisibility cloak, there are only about 10 of them left in the world. they are
really rare. That must be worth a fortune, I wonder if it's for sale."
"Let's go find out." Lily spun on her heel and marched as well as she could across the
cluttered shop. James came behind her, wading through fabric, knick knacks, and knobs.
"Excuse me. Hello?" Lily was at the counter trying to get the attention of a small, slightly plump
woman who was absorbed in a book.
"What? Yes? Can I help you?" She looked confused and flustered, as if she had just
realised that there was a reality outside of what she was reading in her book. Lily looked into big
eyes that were magnified by round glasses. The woman barely reached the countertop. Her
eyebrows were thin and slightly arched, giving her a perpetualy confused, shocked expression.
Her hair was dyed all shades of pink and blue, and stuck up at all angles.
"Yes you may. I was wondering how much you were selling this for." Lily sounded very
buisnesslike, her voice firm, as presented the lady with the fabric.
"For a pretty young thing like you, and for the handsome lad behind you," she gave James a
wink, "ten sickles."
"Thats it?" James sounded surprised.
"We'll take it." Lily shot James a reproachful look that told him as well as words to shut his
mouth.
"Have a nice day." The womans dreamy, wistful voice drifted off behind them.
"We got really lucky, I doubt she even knew what it was." Lily started to pull on the cloak,
but James stopped her, reminding her that it would make everything except her head invisible if
she wore it like that.
"We didn't get you a jacket, would you like to go back?"
"Not at all, that woman was slightly creepy, besides, she might realise what she just sold me
and want it back." James, glancing at the quickly darkening sky, suggested that they head for the
carriages. As they walked he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his body,
keeping her warm. When they reached the carriages, all but a few of them were gone. They
managed to get into a carriage alone and started off towards Hogwarts. He placed her head
gently on his shoulder and stroked her hair until she was asleep. Waking ocasionally, Lily
struggled to remember that they were nothing more than friends, at one point she tried to pull
away, but he wouldn't let her. He made shushing noises and rubbed her arm until she was still
again.