Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, events and/or places that are recognized as being written and created by J.K. Rowling. J.K. Rowling owns all the characters and places from the Harry Potter books including the ones used in this story.

A/N: I am sooooo sorry that I made you two cry!!!!! Or anyone else! I was crying thinking that you guys were crying....heeheehee!!!! Maybe I'll tell you to get the tissues ready next time...a little bit of a warning. This chapter is tears free though, I think. Enjoy!!

Clea strutted out of the Slytherin dorms the next day looking forward to going to Hogsmeade. Her head still raced with thoughts about Remus and what was really going on with him, but she decided that she was going to try to not let her broken heart and confused state upset her any further. She sprinted up the stairs that led to the front corridor. She was going to the Ball in three weeks with Snape; but any excuse for her to dress up and waste money on buying some beautiful silky dress robes was a good excuse.

Standing in the middle of the crowd of students waiting to go to Hogsmeade was Lily and James. Clea made a complete 360 degree sweep of the room. Not seeing Sirius or Remus or anyone worth talking to, she slowly made her way over to the couple; even though she really didn't want to interrupt them.

The two were as predictable as the path of the sun. Lily was standing with her legs spread apart slightly, and planted firmly on the ground. Her arms were folded inward and her red hair swung as she rocked back and forth. Lily was convinced that her standing like this would let James know that she wasn't interested; even though she was. James was standing with one hand in his pocket, and his other hand trying to make his hair appear even messier than it naturally was. This he hoped made Lily think that he wasn't really paying attention to anything she was saying; even though he was memorizing every word.

As she walked over to them, Clea tried to think of a spell that would force them to face the truth. Should pay more attention in Charms, she thought to herself. "Hi James, Lily," Clea said in her normal bubbly voice.

"Hi," Lily's voice was wobbly. "Feeling better?"

"Yes," Clea replied, making her voice as assuring as possible. "It's freezing in here though." Clea pulled on the coat that she was carrying over her arm. It was a knee length, soft, black coat; the epitome of warmth.

"Is that real fur?" James asked in a puzzled voice as he started petting Clea's arm.

"Of course not!" Clea squeaked, appalled by James' question. "I would never kill an animal just to make a coat."

Lily laughed. "Our Clea loves every living creature."

"I do," Clea said proudly. "Every creature; I'm even nice to werewolves."

James started choking and coughing loudly on a laugh he tried to muffle. Clea shot him a weird look, and Lily rolled her eyes; though she actually appeared to be concerned for James.

At that moment, Sirius, Remus and Peter came over. "Everything all right here?" Sirius asked, patting James on the back. James nodded and smiled a huge toothy smile at Remus.

Lily, looking absolutely puzzled leaned over to whisper something to Clea, but Clea not noticing her, started speaking to Remus.

"Um," she said, more loudly than she intended. Clea suddenly realized everyone looking at her. She inched over closer to Lily and plunged her hand into her coat pocket, pulling out Remus's scarf. "Here," she said, thrusting the scarf at Remus and avoiding his look.

"Oh, thank you." Remus said wrapping the scarf around his neck. His coat was old and torn, and he welcomed the comfort of his scarf. Clea shot an uneasy glance at Lily, hoping it told her to not say a word. It worked.

Peter reared the attention of everyone towards him, as he began telling everyone his story about asking a Hufflepuff girl to the Ball.

Clea stared at Remus out of the corner of her eyes. She saw him pick up the bottom of his scarf and bring it up close to his face. Remus pulled a strand of something dark off the fabric. Even from a few feet away, Clea could tell it was a strand of her dark, silky hair that was sticking up from in between his thumb and fore-finger. Remus held the hair for a moment, and then he picked his eyes up and looked at everyone. Clea snapped her eyeballs towards Peter. She could still just make out Remus's head turning towards her and then looking back down at his hand. Her eyes drifted back over to him; a smile crept over Remus's face as he smoothed the single strand of Clea's hair back onto his scarf and placed his hand over it, in a protective manner.

Clea wanted to cry. She wondered how weird it really would seem if she just burst into tears. Everyone else started laughing at Peter's story. If she began to cry at this moment she could play it off like she wanted to go to the Ball with Peter.

Lily would never believe her; no one would.

She fought her tears by clasping her eyelids together. Before she shut herself in darkness she saw that Remus's hand was now clutching the part of the scarf where he had placed her strand of hair. And he was smiling at Peter, though his eyes were unfocused.

This little moment of his could mean two things, Clea thought to herself. One...he collects strands of hair and has a huge ball of human hair hidden in his trunk....or two---Clea sighed---he likes me and is pretending he doesn't.

"But why!?" Clea shouted to no one. The group looked at her, all wearing the same confused look. Clea's eyes sprang open.

"Because that's what you do with a piece of candy, Clea..." Peter said slowly. "You eat it."

Clea blushed and everyone laughed, just as they were called to leave for Hogsmeade.

Hogsmeade, the all magic town that existed somewhere close to Hogwarts, was crowed by a sea of witches and wizards. The December air was shockingly cold giving everyone bright red cheeks that stood out against the coating of white snow layered over all the shops and trees.

Clea and Lily quietly split from the boys, who were heading into the joke shop. They for once came to Hogsmeade with an actual purpose; they needed dress robes.

Clea remained silent during the walk. The only sound surrounding the two girls was the crunch of the snow beneath their feet.

"I don't have that much money," Lily stated finally, while fishing through her purse. "But, I don't want to spend a fortune on a dress I'll never wear again....Oh my! Look at all the diamonds on those robes!"

Lily and Clea stopped in front of a small shop and pressed their faces against the freezing window pane. They were gazing into a robe shop that sold the most beautiful unique dress robes the two have ever seen. The one that caught Lily's eyes hung in the window and was made entirely of large sparkly diamonds.

"What would James think of me in that?" Lily's voice was misty and she put her hand to her heart as she spoke. Clea smiled slyly not wanting to make Lily turn back into her I-hate-James attitude.

"Let's go in there," Clea said. Lily frowned slightly. "Just to look," Clea added. "The other robe shop is mobbed. We should wait until it dies down a little." Lily agreed and they stepped shyly into the shop.

There was a faint cream glow throughout the room, making everything seem blurry like they had walked into a dream. There were robes everywhere. They were mostly all dress robes of many colors. Clea and Lily circled the room, gasping here and there over one of the robes.

"May I help you ladies?" a soft voice filled the room. Standing behind them was a tall, slender witch with layers of gold curls. She wore robes of soft purple with swirls all over it that changed colors every time she moved.

"No, we're just looking. Thank you," Clea said politely. The tall witch smiled and moved back behind her counter. Clea turned back to the robes and than let out a small gasp. She reached her hand out in front of her and pulled out the most beautiful dress robes she ever saw.

She had to try it on.

Lily accompanied Clea into the dressing room. And when Clea put on the robes, Lily started clapping and squealing.

"Oh, Clea! That is so beautiful!" Clea looked into the mirror. The robe fitted her like a glove. The collar was wide and stretched from one of her shoulders to the other. The fabric clung tight to her chest and stomach, where a row of pearl buttons lined up down the middle. At her hips, the fabric started cascading in different lengths till they hit the bottom of the floor. The sleeves of the robes were made entirely of lace, and they attached to Clea's fore finger with a small ring like loop. Clea loved the way it looked, but most of all she loved the color. It was a beautiful pale pink.

"You have to get this," Lily said in a demanding voice. "You have the money. You have to buy it."

"Why? Severus isn't going to care. If I had a date that..." She stopped herself. "Ok," she continued, as Lily bounced up and down smiling. "I'll wear it. Snape might not care, but he's going to be escorting the most beautiful dress robes to this Ball."