Disclaimer: I don't own HP although I wish I did.
Dedication: I dedicate this chapter to my Mum, for letting me fly to the other side of Australia to see Green Day. 21 days till I leave for Melbourne and 31 days till I see Green Day YAY! I also dedicate this chapter to Sammy coz she's the bestest friend in the whole world and because I am in the mood for dedicating, I also dedicate this chapter to zippyfox who is an awesomely awesome reviewer who always reviews even though your all awesome reviewers hehe thanx heaps everyone!
Chapter 10 – Official couples.
Denzi and Lewis were officially a couple.
Moo and Remus were also officially a couple.
Sirius and Vivian Parker were, if you call constantly making out but never actually conversing with each other "together", a couple.
James and Lily were…not a couple, technically. They regularly lay in the middle of the Quidditch pitch together, they sat next to each other in all classes that they had together and at every meal and in the common room at night. But, no, they were not officially together.
The last class of the school term (DADA, one of the only classes where the whole group was together) ended and there was the familiar scraping of chairs as everyone tried to get out of the room as quick as possible.
"Finally," Sirius said "Holidays; two weeks of nothing."
"By nothing you mean making out with Vivian, don't you Padfoot?" Remus asked, entwining fingers with Moo and leading the way out of the classroom.
"Of course."
Collectively, James and Peter laughed while the girls and Remus rolled their eyes.
"Although I'll probably dump her after the ball," Sirius said nonchantly "She's a bit of a bitch."
"Just a bit" Denzi muttered so everyone but Sirius could hear.
"Anyway, I'll see you guys at dinner." Sirius said spotting Vivian at the end of the hall.
At the end of dinner that night, Dumbledore stood up to make a speech as he did at the end of term before some of the students returned home for the holidays.
"I hope you have all had an enjoyable term and an excellent dinner, as I have." He said "Firstly, I would like to wish all of you returning to your homes for the Christmas break a Merry Christmas and I would like to remind you to be ready to leave in the Entrance hall at 10:30 tomorrow morning. Next thing, those of you remaining here this Christmas, you will, if you have parental permission to visit the village, will be allowed to visit Hogsmeade for this week leading up to Christmas and the ball. Now off to bed everyone!"
"Cool." Lily said, standing up with the others to leave for Gryffindor tower. "A whole week of being allowed to go to Hogsmeade."
"Yeah, I know." Said Moo. "Where's Denzi?"
"Probably with Lewis." Lily said. She then realized that there were only four of them standing in the Entrance Hall. "Where are Sirius and Peter?"
"Sirius and Vivian ran off somewhere as soon as Dumbledore finished talking" Said James. "And Peter… I haven't got a clue where Peter is."
"He always disappears." Remus added.
"Don't you wonder where he goes?" Moo asked.
"You get used to it." Shrugged Remus.
They walked the rest of the way to Gryffindor Tower in silence. When they got inside the Common Room they sat around the fire just as Denzi walked in the portrait hole.
Let's just say that the rest of the night was pretty uneventful and basically consisted of a bunch of teenagers having fun.
Two days later, it was Monday morning, the day that the girls planned to go into Hogsmeade to buy their dresses for the ball. They were all going to wear muggle style ball gowns. Lily; because she was a muggle, Denzi; who was a half-blood and thought she should make her mother happy and Moo; because as a witch though she never got to do anything muggle.
The ball was on Saturday night, which was 6 days away (including Saturday). They wanted to get the dress shopping out of the way to leave the rest of the week for hanging out with each other, the Marauders and (in Denzi's case). They also needed time for Christmas shopping.
"What colour are you thinking for your dress Lils?" Denzi asked, as the three made their way down the sloping lawns of the Hogwarts grounds to Hogsmeade.
"Uumm… I dunno" Lily replied. "I haven't really thought about it that much."
"I think a nice green would look nice on you Lils." Moo said.
"Yeah" Denzi agreed "Green would really bring out your eyes."
"I guess, but green's kind of a predictable colour because I have green eyes and red hair." Lily said "I was thinking of wearing something really different, that no one would expect."
The girls continued to discuss this and possible colours for Moo and Denzi until they reached the shop they would be buying their gowns from. It was a shop that sold muggle costumes to witches and wizards who were going to dress-up parties or muggle style Halloween parties. They also sold other muggle clothes like suits, everyday clothes and… ball gowns! A bell rang somewhere in the back of the shop as they opened the door and stepped out of the cold and into the warmth.
They walked over to the section that obviously displayed what they were looking for and began to browse.
"OH MY GOD!" Denzi said loudly and slowly. She pulled a dress off the rack and shoved it into Lily's hands, dragging and pushing her towards to fitting rooms. "Try this on, it's perfect."
The sounds of Lily trying on the dress were the only sounds in the shop.
"Wow" Denzi and Moo heard Lily mutter.
"OPEN THE DOOR NOW!" Moo said.
The small lock from the fitting room door clicked and the door swung open.
"Perfect!" came the loud voice of the shop assistant, clapping her hands together and walking over to join the girls. "You look to die for" she said, the words squeezing out of her teeth, which were shut tightly together in a large, but quite frightening smile.
"Lily, you have to buy that dress right now!" Moo said.
"James is going to pass out" Denzi said "Seriously."
"Ok" Lily said "I'll change out of it so it doesn't get creased."
She walked back into the small space and closed the door as the others continued to look around.
As Denzi looked at the same section that they had found Lily's dress, Moo walked over to where there were beautifully made medieval outfits on display.
She pulled two gowns that caught her eye down off the rack and walked over to Lily, who was at the counter paying for her dress.
"Which one?" Moo asked.
"Uumm" Lily pondered "I'm not sure, try them both."
Denzi and Lily stood outside the fitting room with the shop assistant (who's name was Carol) while Moo tried the dresses on. When she walked out wearing the second Denzi, Lily and Carol all sighed.
"You look gorgeous."
20 minutes later and Moo, Lily and Carol were waiting for Denzi to try on a gown.
"I am getting this one." Denzi's voice floated over the top of the door. "I love it."
"Come out and let us see." Moo said.
"No, it's going to be a surprise." said Denzi's muffled voice as she was obviously already changing out og the dress and back into her jeans and shirt.
"Please" begged Lily.
"No!" Denzi persisted.
About a minute later, Denzi opened the door and pushed Moo and Lily to the other side of the shop so Carol could get the dress and put it in the special box without the two girls seeing it.
The gowns were paid for and the girls walked out into the bitter cold air and down the street to a shoe store and bought shoes that matched their dresses.
"We're gonna knock 'em dead on Saturday girls." Denzi said.
The other two smiled and nodded.
After the mornings intense shopping trip they decided to go to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch and Butterbeer. When they walked into the pub they say the Marauders sitting at a table in the corner so they made their way over to join them.
"Hello lovely ladies."
"Hello Sirius." Denzi replied in a bored voice.
"You guys have been shopping for the ball haven't you?" James asked.
"Yep." The girls replied.
"What did you buy?" Remus asked.
"Dresses and shoes." Moo said, not giving any details away.
"Yeah," Sirius said, sounding exasperated. "But what do they look like?"
"Dresses and shoes." Said Denzi.
"Just tell us what colour your dresses are." James insisted.
"You'll find out." Lily teased.
"When?" Peter asked.
"At the ball." All three of the girls smirked.
The Marauders shook their head and sighed. It was going to be a long week.
"YAY! YAY! YAY!" Sirius yelled jumping up and down and around the Common Room, while the others sat around on the couches in front of the fire.
"what are you so excited about?" Moo asked.
"It's Christmas tomorrow!" Sirius exclaimed still jumping about. He said this as both Remus and James mouthed 'It's Christmas tomorrow.'
"He does this every year." Remus Explained.
Denzi rolled her eyes and laughed "I swear you are like 8 or something."
"Padfoot." James said "Stop jumping and sit down before you piss yourself."
Sirius joined Peter on the floor before jumping straight back up as though he had sat on a hot fire poker and announced that the was going to bed. "I'm going to bed." He said "I'm kinda tired from all that jumping. Also, the sooner I go to bed, the sooner I go to sleep, the sooner it is morning, the sooner I wake up, the sooner it's Christmas and I get presents."
The others looked at him in disbelief and amazement that he could say so much without a breath.
Lily broke the silence. "Ok, well listening to your rambling, has made me tired. I'm going to bed."
Christmas morning dawned bright and cold and Sirius was up as soon as the first crack of light streamed through the windows of the boys dormitory.
"PRESENTS!" he yelled conjuring and throwing pillows at everyone else in the dorm.
The Marauders picked the presents that were on the feet of their beds and took them down to the Common Room where they had planned to meet the girls so they could all open their presents together.
Once in the Common Room they sent James' owl up the girls' staircase to let Lily, Denzi and Moo know to come down. 10 minutes later and they were all sitting on their favourite couches waiting to open their present from each other.
Denzi and Moo had bought Lily a gorgeous pair of earrings that would match her ball gown (although the boys didn't know this). Peter had gotten her some Chocolate frogs and Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, Sirius had bought her some brand new books on her favourite subject (Charms) and James gave her the most beautiful necklace she had ever seen. It had a silver chain that almost looked to be covered in crystals and a small silver tear shaped pendant.
"Can you put it on for me?" Lily asked James, turning around and lifting her hair out of the way (the others in the group had continued handing out presents as to not intrude on the moment).
James' hands shook slightly as he attached the clasp. His hands touched her shoulders and she shivered. She turned and looked into his eyes, when she realized she was looking at him so intently she looked down blushing and muttered her thanks to him.
All the presents were handed out (A/N – There were too many to describe here but I will try and mention them all through the next chapter or two.) and they all got up and walked out the portrait hole and down to the Great Hall for a big Christmas Breakfast.
The day passed quickly and before they knew it, they were all having showers and getting ready for the ball. The girls put on their dresses and their shoes and helped each other with their hair and make-up. They then took a minute to marvel at each other's beautiful dresses.
In a tight huddle they jumped up and down squeezing to get out the excitement and nerves.
"Let's do this."
Once Lily got down to the Common room and saw James standing their in a muggle style pinstripe suit, she knew that by the end of the night, her and James would officially be a couple.
A/N – YAY! A nice long chapter, well by my standards anyway. Sorry bout the wait blah blah blah. Thank you so much everyone for your reviews. I love you all!
Ok so you will notice in that chapter that I didn't write anything about what the dresses look like. That's because I don't know what colours I want them. Also, can someone from England or America or somewhere tell me how long you Christmas holidays are coz I have no idea and I kinda just guessed. Can you PLEASE tell me what you think the dresses should look like in your reviews? THANKYOU! You guys rock.
Lots of Love,
Leisha AKA Hpfreaklk