Turns out, organizing a ball was a bit harder than they'd predicted. Wednesday night, Professor McGonagall had offered them her classroom to sit and brainstorm ideas, as it would be quieter than the Common Room.
"What kind of flowers did you want on the tables?" Lily asked, shuffling through some papers and brushing her hair out of her eyes.
James was sitting with his head in his hands, staring at her. "Mmm, Lilies." he said lazily.
Lily threw him a look. "Lilies are way too expensive, James."
"But they're absolutely beautiful." he said, still staring.
"Mr. Potter," said a stern voice, startling them. "I offered my classroom to you under the assumption that you'd be getting some work done." Minerva McGonagall sent Lily a sympathetic smile and shook her head. 'Those two!' she thought to herself. 'Had Dumbledore not forewarned me, I'd never believe they would end up together.' Then she said out loud "Lily, Professor Dumbledore asked me to tell you that the band you suggested called and accepted your invitation to play here."
"At least something's gone right," Lily said with a sigh. Then she looked at James, who was still hopelessly staring. Holding out her wand, she muttered "aquratamus". James jumped as water shot out and hit him in the face.
"Professor, did you see that?!" he wiped his face on his sleeve and grinned at his girlfriend, knowing she was about to get busted.
McGonagall was laughing! James stared in wonder; he didn't think she even knew how to laugh!
"Mr. Potter, I didn't see anything at all, what on earth are you talking about? I should getting back to the headmaster. Do try to get some work done, ok? And good luck Miss Evans." She turned on her heal, cape swishing, and exited the classroom, but Lily and James could hear her laughing outside.
"Ok, now, I thought we could get rid of the House Tables and put smaller tables, maybe set for two or four, as it'll be Valentine's day and they'll have dates. Dumbledore said that it was only for Fourth years and above, unless a younger student has a date with a fourth year or above." Lily was all-business. James sighed and twirled a finger around a lock of her hair.
"Well, why don't we have it outside? In a heated tent, of course, but.. Picture this, Lils," he said, suddenly excited. Lily smiled; he had used Alli's nickname for her. And he looked like such an excited little boy. He stood up and held out an arm, as if to gesture at an imaginary tent. "A white silk tent, held closed by powder blue drawstring doily-things. Lit by white candles, millions of them, and inside would be hundreds of small tables with sparkling crystals, and- what?" he asked, suddenly aware of the look on Lily's face.
"Are you sure you're not gay?" she asked, her mouth gaping open.
He laughed. "My mom interior decorates in her free time, for fun," he explained. "She always has her middle-aged friends over, talking about color schemes and things like that. You should hear Sirius, he can go on for hours about the disaster of non-matching furniture."
Lily laughed. She knew Sirius lived with James, she just didn't know why. "I can just picture him arguing with Martha Stewart."
"Martha who?" James asked.
"Never mind," Lily said, kissing his forehead. "Let's just get back to work, that sounds like a great idea."
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The next couple weeks was exhausting; between organizing a ball and the load of work the teachers were giving them, Lily had no free time. Before she knew it, it was the Hogsmeade weekend before the dance. She and James had some shopping to do for the dance, and she also had to pick up some dress robes. Alli wasn't going, as she had too much homework to catch up on, so Lily would be spending the day with James.
As they walked out of the gates, they talked about last minute arrangements.
"So, you pre-ordered the table cloths, right?"
"Did you give the house-elves the menus?"
"Dumbledore approved of the song list, right?"
"Yes, did the band?"
"Hey, you two, calm down! If I had to think this much on a Saturday, I'd go mad." Sirius laughed, looking at their frazzled state. "Besides, you guys look like you haven't relaxed in years."
"Sirius," James muttered, "You are mad, and I'd feel bad if you had to think ever, let alone on a Saturday.
"Is there anything we can pick up for you today?" Remus asked sincerely. Sirius elbowed him, but he ignored him. "You guys look like you could use some help." Once again, Sirius elbowed him, harder this time. And once again, Remus ignored him.
"Well..." Lily said uncertainly. "Would you want to pick up some tablecloths for me?"
"Of course," Remus said with a smile. Sirius shook his head and started walking away, but Remus grabbed hisjacket and held him in place. Peter was just staring dumbly at the sky, like he was looking for rain.
"Thankyousomuch," Lily said in one breath, handing Remus a piece of parchment with her order form on it and standing on tip-toe to kiss him on the cheek. "They're at Loose Threads, which is around the corner from the Hog's Head." The marauders minus James left, and James took Lily's hand.
"So, where to?" he asked.
She looked at the list she had made and sighed. "Everywhere."
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Two and a half hours later, they collapsed on a bench.
"Well," Lily said, looking through her three bags. "That's the last of the school stuff. Did you want to go to Zonko's or something?"
"Nah, I have nearly everything in there anyway, and Sirius probably bought anything new. Is there anything you needed to do?" He picked up his three bags and straightened his shirt.
"Um, yea.. I need to get some dress robes, but," she blushed slightly, "you don't have to come. I mean, you'll only be bored."
He grinned. "No, not at all, let's go. Where did you have in mind?"
"I don't know, I usually go robe-shopping in Diagon Alley, but I didn't have time this year. Alli suggested this place called Val's. What?" she asked, watching James's face turn to an amused expression.
"Sirius used to date the owner."
"WHAT?"
James laughed. "She's only 19. Anyway, Sirius and Val, which is the owner's name, were together for a couple weeks before Sirius decided he was tired of sneaking out every night. So, he, er, wrote her a letter."
Lily laughed. "Oh, he didn't. Please tell me you're kidding."
James shook his head. "Nope, and she wasn't too happy. So he usually avoids that street, but come on, let's go pay Val a visit."
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"Well well well. James Potter, imagine you walking into my shop."
Lily stared in wonder at the girl who had just spoken.
By all means, she was beautiful. She had long, straight black hair and purple eyes, heavily clouded by make-up. She was extremely thin, and taller then Lily. Lily took in her outfit: a short black skirt and a tight sea-green sweater, that matched her inch-long nails. She was wearing combat boots and tons of silver jewelry.
"Hello Val," James said pleasantly. "I'm not here to talk about Sirius, I'll say it right away. I'm here to get my girlfriend some dress robes. What do you think?" he asked, looking Lily over. Val stared her up and down too, and Lily felt slightly uncomfortable.
"She's a pretty one," Val said, smiling. "But it'll be hard to match that red hair.. Let's see." She started pulling robes off a rack. Lily just stared with her mouth open; she had never seen dress robes like these! They were all so... fashionable. "Well, honey, walk your pretty little self back into that dressing room and take off your clothes; we have ourselves a project here! A real mission of mercy."
Though somewhat tacky, Val's shop was impressive. Music was playing loudly over the speakers, and the walls were a shiny hot-pink. Lily almost laughed out loud at the look she imagined on her sister's face if Petunia were ever to enter this shop; she'd be mortified! It was obvious that Val owned the shop and made all of her clothes herself. Lily watched her look through some robes.
'She looks so familiar,' Lily thought. 'She probably went to Hogwarts.'
Val made Lily try on various robes and model them for James, who had seated himself on a chair outside the dressing room. He loved every set of dress robes, but Val would frown and shake her head and yank Lily back into the dressing room. Lily felt just like a muggle model.
Frowning and tired, Lily pulled on the very last set in the pile, expecting Val to simply scorn it again. What she wasn't expecting was for Val to gasp and spin her around.
"Lovely," she whispered for the first time that day. "Absolutely perfect."
The dress robes were white silk, with a sheer and sparkling layer of pale blue material over them. They fit Lily perfectly, accenting every curve and making her look amazing. The sleeves were long, but not loose; they fit her arms and the top half of her body tightly, but not too tight. Then the bottom flowed out only slightly, turning into a darker shade of blue as they went down. The top was V-necked, but not too low. Lily looked in the mirror and gasped.
'This was made for me,' she thought in wonder. 'Though they look more like a dress than dress robes, but they're beautiful.'
Meanwhile Val was playing with her hair. "Hmm," she said. "Long and wavy, dark red.. How about we try this." she took her wand and ran it through Lily's hair, and suddenly Lily had a head of long corkscrew curls. Then Val took it and delicately twisted half of it up, leaving some pieces to surround Lily's face. "You have so much hair," she said, smiling and looking like she was having fun. The part of Lily's hair that she had left down went to her waist in shiny curls. The top, which she'd put up, was in a twisted bun. She shook her wand over Lily's head, and glitter fell into her hair. Last, she put her wand around the pieces of hair surrounding Lily's face, and they turned into smaller curls.
"Let's show your boyfriend how you look and see if it doesn't send him running for the bathroom, huh?" Val said with a wicked grin. Lily only nodded.
James looked up from the quidditch magazine he was reading and his mouth fell open. "Wow," he whispered. He slowly stood up and walked towards Lily. "You look... amazing." He was still whispering, and she smiled shyly at the look on his face. He looked as if he had just seen an angel.
"So.. These are it?" Lily asked awkwardly, gesturing to her robes. James nodded. Val grinned.
"Mission accomplished." she purred. "Come on, Lily, let's get you all changed and rung up. Be right back, lover boy."
'Despite Val's trashy manner,' Lily thought, 'there really is something great about her.' She quickly changed back into her muggle jeans and sweatshirt and walked out to see James paying for her robes.
"James!" she said. "I can pay for those, what are you doing?"
He grinned and put up a hand. "Think of them as a gift for you, because seeing you in them is a gift for me." With that, he picked up all of his bags, including the pink one that said "Vals" , waved goodbye to Val, and walked outside, leaving Lily to stare after him.
"Oh, let him pay," Val said, waving a hand. "They were meant for you, really. I only charged him half price, because it makes me happy when my designs fit someone so well. Have fun at the ball, Lily. Oh, and girl? He really likes you.. Don't let him go." She gave Lily a quick hug.
"Thank you!" Lily called on her way out the door. James was sitting on a bench looking at the sky.
"It got really cold out," he said. "I think it'll snow again."
Lily smiled. "Maybe."
They talked about Gryffindor's chances of winning the quidditch cup, a topic Lily would have never dreamed of having. Until she got to know him, she hated it when James talked about Quidditch. Now she was actually interested.
By the time they entered the Hogwarts gates, the sun was setting. Lily shivered and James put his arms around her.
Someone suddenly screamed; the noise had come from beside the lake. Lily and James ran towards it and saw some Slytherins picking on a Ravenclaw first year. Just before Lily and James got there, they threw the first year into the freezing lake.
Lily dove in after him, ignoring the cold and swimming to the bottom, where she found the small boy had passed out. She grabbed him and used her legs to push off from the lake floor, silently giving thanks that he had been thrown into the more shallow area. Her hair coming loose and flowing around her face, she broke through to the surface and gasped for air. By this point, James had used a spell to bind the four Slytherins together, and professors Dumbledore and McGonagall were by the lakeside. Lily pulled herself ashore, muttering "woolevia" at a plant and transfiguring it into a blanket, which she wrapped around the boy, who was waking up.
"Thirty points from Slytherin, and detention to all of you." she said, pointing her finger at the slytherins and pulling herself completely out of the water.
"Oh, now we're scared, Mudblood," laughed Lucius Malfoy.
"With Filch," she continued.
"Look, the Mudblood thinks she's scaring us!" mused a boy she knew as Sirius's brother.
"Cleaning the hospital wing bedpans," Lily went on dangerously.
"She thinks she's so important because she's Head Girl," screeched Bellatrix Black, Sirius's cousin. Those idiots really didn't know when to shut up, did they?
"Without magic." Lily finished, eyes narrowed. The slytherins were silent. James laughed.
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Well, Miss Evans, it looks like you have that taken care of, and it seems young Mr. Lovegood will be ok, so why don't you get him to the hospital wing, Minerva?"
Professor McGonagall was throwing a disgusted look at the slytherins.
"Of course, Albus," she said. "Oh, and excellent transfiguration, Miss Evans," she said with a wink, pulling the first year to his feet and leading him up the castle.
James glared at the slytherins. "You'll all receive word of your detentions," he said, flicking his wand and removing his spell. "Now get lost." They left, throwing Lily and James hateful glares. The only Slytherin in the group of four who hadn't spoken was Severus Snape.
"Lily, I'm impressed," Dumbledore said with his calm smile. "Excellent fast thinking, and great use of magic. I think I'll make it 25 point to Gryffindor. And James, excellent binding spell, another 20 points to Gryffindor. I'll inform Mr. Filch that those students have detention with him. Oh, and are these your bags? You dropped them back there.." He held up their shopping bags; Lily and James nodded.
Lily sneezed, and James noticed she was shivering uncontrollably.
"Hey," James said, wrapping his cloak around her, "Are you feeling ok?" He kissed her forehead and his eyes went wide. "Merlin, Lily, you're burning up! Come on, Let's get you to Madam Pomfrey!" He levitated their bags to the entrance and picked Lily up, walking quickly towards the castle, their old headmaster following them.
"Really, James, I'm fine," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "Put me down, ok? I can walk." But suddenly, Lily's eyes closed and she went limp in his arms. He started running.
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"Fine" turned out to be pneumonia, according to Madam Pomfrey.
"It's a muggle disease, yes," she informed James, who sat by a sleeping Lily, "but we can't use magic to cure it; it would be too dangerous. So she'll have to take this, er, muggle medicine," she said, wrinkling her nose at the word muggle, "and use the good old medicine of time. I don't trust it, but it's all I have. You can stay with her tonight, but she probably won't wake up after the medicine I just gave her. And I must insist that you leave tomorrow and go back to classes Monday." She turned and left, going to bed.
James hadn't heard a word she's said. He was staring at Lily, who was pale and breathing heavily. 'It's my fault,' he thought. 'I shouldn't have let her jump in the freezing lake.. But she jumped in so damn fast.'
He sighed and pulled back Lily's covers to get into bed with her. He knew that when Madam Pomfrey said he could stay the night she meant in the chair next to Lily's bed, but he didn't care. He wrapped his arms around the sleeping Lily, who was shivering despite her high temperature. And, holding her close, he fell asleep.
A/N : oh no, Lily's sick! (Don't hate me, I'm going somewhere with that.)
Every time I try to separate a time frame with a line, it doesn't work, so now I'm using X's, if you were confused. And I know Martha Stewart wasn't around in the Marauder days, I'm not stupid, but I put her in there anyway because I personally thought comparing her to Sirius was quite comical
To My Reviewers: You guys are amazing. Truly. I keep expecting someone to tell me how much they hate me, but you guys are great.
Bah, please excuse any typos or errors; I proofread all of my chapters myself, but I'm way too impatient to wait for a BETA to read it. So if there's an obvious mistake, feel free to throw a tomato at me. -ducks the stream of tomatoes-
Ok, another chapter up, keep reading, and I'll see you all in chapter 11!
-Ria-
Another A/N: ok, I've had that chapter done for days, but because was under construction, i couldnt post it. sry