Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling= Owner of Harry Potter Million Dollar Empire... Writer of this story= owns little to nothing.
The Wind Through My Hair
Lily sighed tiredly as Diana shook her once more. "Get. UP!" she said, for the third time. Every time they repeated it, their voices got louder. Lily wanted nothing more than to stay in bed all day until she felt better. Which would probably be around... next year. She had not been feeling well lately, mentally and physically. She was tired all the time, and overworked. She sneezed; Lily was probably catching a cold too.
"GET UP!" Sarah screamed in a high-pitched voice. She then quickly began giggling. "Wow, that was loud."
"And head-ache inducing," murmured Lily. "Guys, why are we getting up so early? The actual feast isn't until tonight...and I don't have to be out until 6:30. And if I want to be fashionably late, That means I won't even have to be there until 6:45."
Diana rolled her eyes. " 'Why are we up so early?' Lily, it's past 12! That's hardly what I call early. And, we are up so "early," because one, you haven't gotten your dress robes yet, and two, in order to actually get AT the great hall at 6:30 and be well dressed and groomed, you'd have to be up at like, 4. And in order to be up at four and getting ready, you'd have dress robes. Which brings us back to point one: you don't have any. And Hogsmeade is today, which is perfect, and it's scheduled to leave at 1:30." She took a long breath at the end of her long speech and nodded in satisfaction. There was a long silence as Lily lay in bed, considering her options.
"SO GET UP!" screamed Sarah, again, in a very high-pitched voice. She giggled hysterically.
_________________________________________
"Come on!" Sarah said, as she dragged Lily by the hand to the grand front doors. They stood in the considerably short line (many of the girls had already gotten their dresses weeks ago) and waited to get their names checked off the list by Filch. He scrutinized them for a second, as if trying to see if they were really axe murderers in disguise as students, and then grunted "Off you go, then."
Diana and Sarah had Lily sandwiched in the middle. Diana was checking her purse and counting to see how much money she had, while Sarah was talking about how cute Alice and Frank were as a couple. Lily was listening, but not with much interest. She had only heard this conversation from others about a million times- Alice and Frank had been together for nearly seven months.
"And then Alice said that James Potter was cute! You can imagine the kind of reaction Frank had to that!" Sarah said excitably. She was always on top of gossip. She was friends with Aline, who happened to talk a lot...
Lily raised her eyebrows, and lifted her head. "So, Alice says she likes James Potter? I thought she loved Frank!"
"Oh, yes, she does love Frank. She was only saying that James was cute. But you know, a lot of girls like James, so it's really nothing new," said Sarah.
"A...lot... of girls like James?" Lily asked. She hadn't really known. She knew he was quite popular, but she had always thought Sirius was the lady's man of the group. She had pictured James as the "Gang Leader."
Diana literally laughed lout loud and shook her head. "Boy Lily, are you that blind? Loads of girls like him! I mean, a lot more like Sirius, but a good bit of the population of Hogwarts girls like him. He's not really...well, good looking I suppose. But he's really funny and witty. A lot of people are attracted to him. I can't believe you didn't know," she said, shaking her head ashamedly.
"Well, sorry I don't keep up with Potter's life! Besides, not that many girls could possibly like him. He's a really big git if you ask me."
Diana and Sarah simply did not comment. Lily was getting irritated and they didn't know why.
They arrived at Hogsmeade finally, and Diana pulled a piece of parchment and a pen out of her bag. "Hm, let's see. Well, there's about 15 stores in all that sell dress robes. Of course, this goes without saying, we're going to all of them--"
"WHAT?! All of them? Why? Can't I just grab a robe and go? Seriously, I'm not that concerned."
"We'll go into Trista's Closet first, as they've got the most selection. Then Segal's Sorceress wear..." Diana continued, completely ignoring Lily's protests.
"Yeah, I think Yearling's Threads should be next. They've got great accessories too!" Sarah discussed.
"That's a really far out idea..." said Diana. They began walking, still deciding which place should be next, however, Sarah and Diana made sure that Lily was sandwiched in the middle and could not escape.
They entered "Trista's Closet," and dragged Lily in. Immediately, they all began searching through the nearly dozens of racks filled with fancy dress robes. Soon, robes were being thrown at Lily, and she was ordered forcefully into the dressing room. Lily walked out, listlessly, with plain deep red dress robes and a plunging neckline.
"Well, what do you think?" Lily asked. Diana and Sarah were sitting in chairs right in front of her dressing stall, and were examining every inch of it.
"I don't like it." Sarah declared. Diana shook her head. "Neither do I. Try on the next one!" Diana ordered, pointing to the next robe on the table beside to her, which was piled with various robes. Lily groaned and snatched it up. She walked out in deep green robes, which were pretty clingy. The neckline was droopy, and there was decorative lacey material on the hem of the robes at the cuffs.
"You know, I actually like that one," declared Diana. "But we've still got about 20 more to go. Plenty of time to decide!"
Lily's eyes widened at the thought, but her friends didn't seem to notice, as they began conversing as if nothing were wrong. "Er...guys, I'm going to go to the bathroom quickly."
Sarah just nodded. "Right, just be back quickly. We've got a lot to try on!"
"Right-o," she said, and discreetly grabbed her normal clothes. She dashed to the register with the dress robes still on and said under her breath, "Look, I'd like to buy these robes right now. SH! Don't say anything! My friends...they might her you ringing up my item! Okay, how much? Twenty Galleons? Lord, that's expensive...whatever!" she said, as she hurriedly put twenty galleons down on the table, slipped the dress robes off (not really caring if the lady that worked there saw her undergarments), shoved it in the bag, and put on her normal clothes while she tried to leave the store. As she opened the door, it made that ringing sound that alerted the employees when people entered and left. Diana and Sarah quickly turned around and saw Lily just turned the corner and started a mad dash to who-knows-where.
"Ugh! Oh no! She's getting away!"
"RUN!" Sarah screamed, and then laughed to herself, as they jumped up and ran after her. When they reached outside, however, Lily could not be seen- the streets were densely crowded, and Lily must've been halfway to China by that time.
_____________________________________
Lily was not even looking where she was going. She was bumping into people every which way, and only knew she was headed for the Three Broomsticks. All she wanted was a hot mug of Butterbeer and to rest. She was feeling awfully tired. The entrance to the Three Broomsticks was traffic jammed. Lily skidded to a halt before she realized this, and bumped into the person in front of her.
"WHOA! Watch out!" Lily said, as she fell into the person in front of her.
"Hey, ow! What do you think you're doing?" said James, as he turned around angrily. His face softened though. "Oh. It's you."
"Yes, It's me. What are you doing here?"
"Well, I'm here to get something to drink. You know, eat...those normal human bodily functions?"
"Right. You don't have to get sarcastic with me." She rolled her eyes.
"Do you want me to buy you a drink?" asked James.
"No. I can buy my own drink, thanks." Somehow, since she now knew James was liked by many girls, he should be hated or accused for something. What was his problem? Why did all these girls like him? Definitely punishable by law. Or should be...
They walked into the pub and went to the counter together. "One Butterbeer." said Lily, to Madam Rosemerta. She poured her a foaming mug of Butterbeer and set it on the counter. "That'll be 5 knuts, m'dear." Rosemerta said.
Lily reached down to pat her purse where it usually say on her shoulder, underneath her arm, but found it was not there. "Er...oh no...I left my purse at Trista's Closet..." She mentally banged her head against the wall.
James grinned cockily and shrugged. "Well, you don't need me to buy you a drink." he said, as he ordered his own. Madam Rosemerta put his drink on the counter and Lily sighed. James, however, placed a total of ten knuts on the counter and smiled. "You didn't actually believe I was going to let you dehydrate yourself and then die? Never! But, now that I've bought you a drink, you've got to sit with me."
Lily shrugged and walked over with him to a small, two seat table by a dusty old window. Lily's eyes drooped. After running and using all her energy, especially while she was already tired, as well as sick, Lily felt exhausted.
"Oi, you alright? You look a bit ill," James said.
"Hm? Oh, yeah, I'm alright. Just a little...worn out." She put her head down on the table, resting her head for a moment. "Go ahead, talk. I'm still listening," she said.
"Er...okay. You know..." James laughed to himself, and looked at the window. "This is sort of like a date...I bought you a drink, and we're here together, alone. That's really weird." James looked to her and saw that her eyes were closed and she was sleeping soundly, even though there was so much noise and conversation around her.
______________________________________
James had gently shaken her awake and dragged her to the castle. He had to get back to school to get ready for his date with Victoria, and he was not just going to leave Lily there, sleeping in a pub, alone. He was sure by the time she was there for five minutes, she would get raped by some crazy troll. Their walk to the castle and common room was pretty quiet, but neither of them noticed. They didn't really mind it, and besides- Lily did not feel like talking. They parted ways at the staircases, and went to get ready.
Once again, Lily walked into the dorm to find quite angry friends. "Why did you leave us?!"
"Because, I didn't want to spend my entire afternoon trying on a ton of dress robes that all look alike anyways!" retorted Lily. She was not up for a row on why she had not stayed. She was not up for any kind of row, for that matter, and her friends were really irritating her now. Why was this so important to them? It hardly meant anything to Lily.
Diana sighed exasperatedly. "Nevermind. We just wanted tonight to be really special...it might've made you feel better. Obviously it only made you mad."
"You can do what you want now. You haven't even got dress robes to wear..." said Sarah, just as tired.
"Er, well, actually I do. I thought you really wanted me to go, so I just grabbed the last robe I tried on and bought it...it's those green ones with lace on them." Lily felt sort of bad now. Her friends only wanted her to feel better. But then, she was still annoyed they had gone about it in such an obnoxious way.
Sarah squealed in delight. "YOU DID? Yay! Wow, I was really looking forward to getting you ready! And now I can!" She ran into the bathroom and began rifling through all their beauty supplies. Diana grinned proudly, and opened the closet to find a pair of shoes.
"So, What DID you do when you ran away from us?" asked Diana.
"Er...well, Potter bought me a butterbeer, and I sat with him in The Three Broomsticks for a while.."
"You ditched us for a date with James?! You know, you could've told me you liked him," said Diana.
"It...It was not a date!" Lily sputtered. "He only bought me a drink because I forgot my purse in Trista's Closet! AND I fell asleep there sitting with him!"
Diana giggled. "Okay...Whatever you say, Lily. Anyways, why'd you fall asleep?"
"Well, I was feeling a bit tired, is all."
"Oh...well, are you okay?"
"YES! I AM FINE! If another person asks me that..."
"HAIR TIME!" Sarah said, skipping in with her wand and curlers.
"Urgh..."
_______________________________________
James looked over the heads of people hanging around in the area before the great hall, trying to find their dates. Victoria was already hooked onto James arms, wearing bubblegum pink robes and large, beige pearls. Here long brown hair was tied in a very high ponytail, and tied with a matching ribbon. Her make-up matched her robes...James had grimaced when he saw that much pink on one person. He forced a "You look gorgeous." out with ease. He was very practiced at lying, to say the least.
James was looking for Lily, and did not even realize it. "James... why are we waiting in here? Why don't we go into the Great Hall?"
"Oh...right, okay." he said, giving up, at last.
They walked into the Great Hall, and found it looked just as it always did, except with a large, elaborate banner hanging above the teacher's table that said "Good Bye Hogwart's 7th Years!" Many of the 7th years were already talking to all their friends, and crying hysterically, blubbering, as if they'd never see each other again.
"Oh, Marcie! I'll miss you...s-so...s-so...so much!" Cathy Patil cried out, and they hugged each other.
Victoria walked over to many people, and conversed with them, practically ignoring James. James stood by her and looked bored, until finally, Dumbledore stood up, and all the students sat down, at the now one large table, instead of four house tables.
"Well. This year is almost gone. And you will not be coming back next year to fill your brains up once more. I must ask you to keep those brains in your heads this year, instead of letting them rot as is usual." There was some laughing among the students, as Dumbledore brought up his favorite beginning of the year joke about their brains rotting during the summer. "Whatever you choose to be, I hope it makes you happy. Just be sure to choose sides well in thought of these dark times, and remember your years at Hogwarts. Now is the time to say a proper good bye with any of your classmates. I wish you well on, not only your exams at Hogwarts, but the exam life will set for you." With this, he sat down, and the students clapped. Many of them looked very sad, but James did not see the point. It was not as if they would ever see the other again--They still had a good sixty or seventy years to live, didn't they?
People ate, and mostly, they laughed and walked around, and talked to each other. There was music playing, but no one seemed to be dancing, except a few couples here and there. Once again, Victoria had ignored him, and was no where to be seen.
"NO, Amos, I don't feel like dancing. I'm really tired. And this is really boring," said Lily. James looked over quickly and saw the red head with long curls in her hair, and elegant green robes on. She truly did look tired though, as she wobbled slightly when Amos forced her to slow dance with him.
"Come on Lily, Victoria was never this tired all the time...this is supposed to be memorable, and all you want to do is sleep!"
"Well, you're not going out with Victoria anymore! And I'm not even going out with you! And if I'm making it so hard for you, why don't you just go dance with Victoria instead?!" Lily snapped.
"Fine, maybe I will! You can go sleep in that corner there if you want!" Amos snapped back.
"Er, is something the matter?" James tentatively asked.
"No, of course nothing's wrong. Why would you ask a silly question like that?" Lily said, sarcastically.
"Yes, something is wrong. Lily, you are so...boring!" said Amos.
"Hey, that's not nice...come on Lily, why are you hanging out with this creep?" said James, as he took her hand and dragged her over to the table to sit. They sat down, and Lily put her head in her hands.
"God, I'm tired...and sort of dizzy."
"Oi, lift your head up," he said, as he felt her forehead with his hand. "Damn, your burning up! You should be in bed..." he got up, and helped her up.
They walked out into the halls, and headed toward the common room, but Lily could not stay up the entire way, She put her arm around his shoulder for support, and they continued to walk.
Lily stopped, and was breathing slowly and heavily. "Wait up, James..." said Lily, and sat on the ground, leaning against the wall. Her head teetered from side to side, and her eyes fluttered closed. She had fainted. James eyes widened and he quietly panicked. Bring her to the Hospital Wing, or to the Gryffindor Room? The Common Room was closer, so he scooped her up with both his arms, and stood up. She was a lot lighter than he had expected...
He said the password, and walked in. She he began heading for the Girls' Dormitories, he stopped short, and realized that he could not go up. He could already picture himself sliding down the stairs with Lily tumbling down after him. He shook his head, and thought of other options. She could sleep on the couch...but she was sick, and needed a proper bed! He rolled his eyes and sighed. Lily Evans could sleep in his bed, and he could sleep on the couch. He walked up to his dorm, and placed her down gently in his bed. Sirius, Peter, and Remus were no where to be found at that moment, so he decided he would shut the curtains, and put up a messily scrawled sign on the curtains reading, "Leave Me ALONE!"
He looked at her for a moment before leaving, and she shifted slightly in her sleep. "Are...you okay?" he murmured.
"Mm hm..." said Lily, nodding her head, and smiling slightly. Surprisingly, she had answered. James lips curved slightly, and he closed the curtains, and went downstairs to sleep on the couch.
A/N: Woo hoo. A little more fluffy than usual, but hey, I'm human too! Anyways, I made it extra long for you readers, and I hope you liked it. Make sure you review, or else! It'll make me super happy!!
