Disclaimer: Unless I'm getting a huge birthday present, Harry Potter isn't mine.

Chapter 5—A Day at Hogsmeade

After Dumbledore announced the Halloween Ball, people were starting to wonder when the next Hogsmeade trip would be.

Unfortunately, no trip had been scheduled for now so they decided to go hound the Heads.

"When's the Hogsmeade trip James?"

"C'mon Potter—let us go to Hogsmeade!"

"Choose a date!"

"I got to find the Head Girl!" James muttered.

--

Lily, who had been curled up in the common room with a book heard the portrait hole open.

Figuring it was somebody else; Lily paid no attention until someone shouted her name.

"Lily Evans?"

Looking up, Lily was shocked to see the James Potter standing in front of her.

Lily's pale face went red as she lowered her book.

"Yes?"

James looked at her. "We don't have a Hogsmeade trip scheduled, do we?"

Lily shook her head. "N-no. Not that I can recall."

"Do you think that we could schedule one?" James asked. "Because I'm getting hoards of people asking when the next trip is. They've gotten to the point where they're threatening to hex me."

Lily felt a small smile tug at her lips. "Sure. I mean, if you want too."

"Good," James sat down near the coffee table and conjured a piece of parchment and a quill.

HOGSMEADE DATE, he wrote in an illegible scrawl.

"Uhm, James?" Lily asked uncertainly.

James looked up to meet Lily's emerald eyes. The beauty of the eyes took him aback. They were so green.

"What does that say?" Lily asked.

"Oh," James looked down. "It says 'Hogsmeade Date.' Why?"

"I—I can't read it." Lily confessed, her face reddening again.

"Huh?" James looked down at the parchment. "Impossible. Everybody else says they can read it."

"Who else?" Lily asked in a small voice.

"Sirius, Remus, Kellie," James ticked them off his fingers. "And the professors."

Lily didn't bother to say anything.

"Do you mind if maybe I write it?"

"Sorry," James replied, "I didn't quite hear what you said."

"I said do you mind if maybe I write it?" Lily asked in a louder voice.

"Oh no, go right ahead." James slid the parchment over to the other side of the table and Lily, sliding down from the chair, retrieved it and began to write.

"So," James said, leaning back, "When do you think a good day is?"

Lily shrugged.

James cocked an eyebrow. "Do you talk much?"

Lily shook her head. "Not really. I'm quite taciturn."

"What?" James asked, screwing up his face in confusion. "What does 'taciturn' mean?"

Lily smiled softly as she scratched dates onto the parchment. "It means the same thing as shy. I think shy is too immature but taciturn is more sophisticated and adult."

James scratched his head. "Gee, you're the first person I know that says 'taciturn.'"

Lily stopped her writing and slid the parchment over towards James.

James looked at the list and said, "I think the Saturday before the ball sounds good. What do you think?"

Lily nodded. "I think that's a good idea."

"So, that's in about—two weeks?" James calculated.

Lily nodded again.

"Great." James took the list, rolled it up and stuck it into his pocket. "Now people can stop bugging me. Thanks Lily."

"Your welcome—James." Lily said softly, returning to her book.

--

As the Saturday before the ball approached, more and more people (more girls than boys) were panicking.

"How pathetic." Tessa replied dryly as she and her two friends passed a group of sixth year girls who were frantically talking about what they needed for the ball. "Honestly, don't you girls have anything better to do? It's only a ball."

Tessa's comment earned a glare from the sixth years.

"Tess!" Erica replied, shocked. "That's a horrible thing to say! A ball is one of the best dances around!"

"Yeah, it maybe for people—mainly girls—who like to get dressed up and dance for hours on end."

"I like doing that." Lily defensively said.

Tessa shrugged. "Whatever. All I am saying is that I am not going to get all 'dressed up' like the rest of you. I'll put on my dress, a bit of lip gloss and that's about it."

Lily and Erica shared discreet identical grins. They had a plan for little Tessa...

--

Soon, Saturday arrived and every Hogsmeade student third year and above, spilled into the village.

However, most of the girls went straight to the dress shops to get a costume.

"There goes Maxima," Tessa replied dryly looking at the popular dress shop that was flocked with girls looking for costumes. Since it was near Halloween, all of the clothing boutiques became costume boutiques.

"And Costumes R Us," Erica said.

"What about this store?" Lily replied, pointing at a store next to Maxima that was slightly empty.

"Marietta's Dresses for All Occasions," Erica read. "Hmm, sounds like Madam Malkin's."

"I bet she's Madam Malkin's daughter." Tessa grinned.

"It's a costume shop none the less." Lily pointed out. "C'mon, let's go in."

--

However, in Maxima, Kellie Crosby, Morgan Jennings and Marissa Everhard were looking for the perfect outfit.

Maxima had sky-high prices so only the very rich could attend this store.

However, price was no problem for Kellie, Morgan and Marissa. They could buy Maxima if they wanted too.

"Out of my way," Kellie snapped, shoving aside a fifth year girl. "You shouldn't be in this store anyway, you can't afford anything."

The girl glared. "Bitch!"

Kellie gave the girl a cold smile. "Thank you."

"God, Kell." Morgan replied, fingering the material of a costume carefully, "Ice Bitch today?"

"I'm looking for the perfect outfit," Kellie shot, "And nobody is getting in my way."

"Wow," Marissa breathed. "Look at this costume."

Marissa pointed to a leather black costume that had a leather jacket. On the back, it said 'Leather Queen.'

Kellie looked at it and sniffed. "Ugly."

"Ugly?" Marissa replied, shocked. "It's beautiful!"

Kellie snorted. "Puh-lease. Nobody would be caught dead in that dress."

"Then, why are we in here?" Morgan asked, eyeing that costume.

"Because," Kellie replied. "I'm dressing up as a Healer. And not just any Healer either. An X rated one."

--

"Wait a sec," Tessa said, halting. "This is a Halloween Ball, right?"

Erica and Lily nodded.

"Then, why aren't we shopping for costumes?"

Erica threw back her hair and looked slightly confused. "You're right. Hmm, I don't know."

"Maybe it's the fact that my dresses double up as Halloween costumes." A voice said, making the three girls jump.

The trio turned around to see a young woman with light brown hair and matching eyes, dressed in all mauve, walk towards them.

"Hi, I'm Marietta. I couldn't help overhear your conversation."

"Do these dresses double up as costumes?" Erica asked, impressed.

Marietta nodded. "Yup."

"That is so cool!" Erica squealed. "I want to be a princess for the Halloween Ball!"

"You'll never be a real one." Tessa muttered.

Erica, who was paying no attention, rushed on ahead to find the princess dress.

"What about you?" Marietta asked Lily.

Lily became very shy all of a sudden and looked down at her feet. "I—I don't know."

"Then, go on and look." Marietta urged Lily. She obviously had great hearing.

Conscious of what she was doing, Lily went searching for the perfect gown.

As she searched, she heard Marietta ask Tessa, "What are you looking for?"

"I don't know." Tessa said loftily, "I guess I'll just go and search around."

"How about you be Helena?" Marietta replied.

Tessa stopped. "What?"

"Helena," Marietta said, "is a girl who died young unexpectedly. Her coffin outfit was this one."

Marietta must have shown Tessa the dress because Tessa replied, "How do you know that she wore this?"

"It's in the book." Marietta smiled. "Here, I'll lend you the book."

"I like this dress." Tessa said. Lily heard the delight in her friend's voice and smiled slightly.

"What dress did you find, Tess?" Erica called.

Lily heard the sound of a hanger being pulled off the rack and she saw a black dress run past her. (A/N: If you're a fan of My Chemical Romance, like me, then this dress should be familiar to the one that the girl wore in the 'Helena' music video)

"Ech," Erica said. "I don't like it."

"Well, that's because you're a pretty pretty princess," Tessa said in an even tone. "I like it."

"Did you find anything, Lils?" Erica called.

Lily shook her head. "No. Not yet."

Five more minutes passed of fruitless looking and Lily, preparing to give up, stopped as something caught her eye.

It was an emerald green strapless dress that was hanging oh so innocently off the rack.

Lily's eyes went wide as she took the dress of the hanger and went to the dressing room.

Taking off her clothes, Lily put the green dress on.

"Lily?" Tessa asked her voice close to the dressing rooms. "Where are you?"

Lily unlatched the door. "I'm right here." She said, exiting the dressing room.

"Oh," Tessa said turning around. Suddenly, her amber eyes went wide. "Wow."

Lily felt her cheeks turn red.

"Tess? Lils? Where are—oh my god—Lily!" Erica halted in her tracks, looking at Lily, her mouth agape.

"Lily," Tessa exclaimed, "Damn! You look—"

"Amazing." Erica finished.

Marietta soon appeared and smiled at Lily. "That dress looks great on you miss."

"Great?" Erica exclaimed. "She looks gorgeous!"

Lily blushed and said, "Who am I supposed to be?"

"Lady Green," Marietta replied, "From the Muggle game 'Clue.'" (A/N: I haven't played 'Clue' in a long time so I don't remember if it was 'Mrs.' Green or 'Lady' Green. Oh well)

"Look at yourself in the mirror," Tessa urged.

Lily walked over to the nearest mirror and gazed at herself.

"Wow." Lily said softly.

She looked beautiful. The green dress hugged her every curve but hid everything that needed to.

It was a strapless dress that fell to the ground and Lily liked it. It was revealing but in a conservative way.

"There are some white elbow length gloves that go with it," Marietta said. "I'll go find it."

As she went to the back room to find the gloves, Lily spun around slightly.

"That's a gorgeous dress Lils. You have to buy it." Tessa said.

"How much is it?" Erica asked looking at the poofy white dress that was her 'princess' dress.

Lily checked the price tag. "Thirty Galleons." She replied.

"That's a steal," Tessa announced. "It we went to Maxima, it would cost at least two thousand. Mine's twenty three."

Erica looked embarrassed.

Tessa, noticing her sister's embarrassment, narrowed her amber eyes and said, "How much is it Erica Patrice?"

"Seventy Galleons." Erica whispered.

Tessa groaned. "Are you serious?"

Erica nodded.

"You know Mum and Dad won't be happy that we spent ninety-three Galleons on dresses. Plus, we need to buy masks."

"Here we are." Marietta said cheerfully. "The white gloves."

She handed Lily the pristine white gloves and she slipped them on. Lily was surprised to find that the gloves fit perfectly on her hands. It was as if they were made for her.

"Are you guys all set?" Marietta asked.

The trio nodded as Lily went back to the dressing room to take the dress off.

When she exited the dressing room, Lily found a series of masks lined up against the wall.

"Marietta?" Lily asked.

"Yes?"

"Can I see some of these masks?" Lily pointed to the display.

"Certainly," Marietta beckoned Erica and Tessa to follow her.

"We need masks for the ball," Lily replied. "I was wondering if we could buy some."

"Ooh, good idea Lils." Tessa piped up.

Marietta unlocked the display and let the girls try some on.

Erica dived into the masks and tried each one on.

Lily and Tessa however, were much more meticulous and surveyed the masks critically.

However, one mask that caught Lily's eye.

A green one had slight decoration on the sides and had pieces of green material flowing down it.

Lily's eyes widened as she picked up the mask.

"Marietta?" Lily asked. "What sort of mask is this?"

Marietta, looking towards Lily, smiled suddenly.

"Good choice," she said happily, clapping her hands. "Very good choice."

"Why?" Lily asked in confusion, staring at the mask. "It's only a mask, right?"

"Oh, this is no ordinary mask." Marietta exclaimed, picking the mask up. "This is a very special mask."

"Huh?" Tessa and Erica became interested.

Marietta nodded. "Yes, it is. It takes the facial of the person that is wearing it. No other person can wear this mask besides the user. It wouldn't fit."

"That's so cool!" Erica squealed. "That means nobody can take it!"

The mask enchanted Lily. She smiled and said, "I'll take it. How much is it?"

Marietta took the mask over to the counter and wrapped it up. "For all three of you? Free of charge."

"Really?" Tessa asked.

Marietta nodded. "Absolutely. But let me ring up your dresses."

After the trio paid for the dresses, they left the store with Marietta waving.

--

"Did you find your costume yet, Kellie?" Morgan asked.

"Don't rush me!" Kellie snapped, shoving past a sixth year.

"I found something!" Marissa yelled.

"What?" Kellie asked.

Marissa pointed to a white Healer's attendant dress that reached the upper thigh. There was a six-inch slit from the bottom of the dress and it opened up in the front to reveal lots and lots of cleavage.

Kellie's blue eyes narrowed as she shoved Marissa aside and reached for the dress. She examined the cut and put her fingers through the material to see how see-through it was.

Suddenly, she smiled.

"This is perfect." She exclaimed. "James will eat me alive in this dress!"

Marissa tapped her foot. "Uhh, isn't there something you want to say to me?"

"Like what?" Kellie asked trying on the Healer's attendant hat on.

"Maybe a thank you?"

Kellie snorted. "Please. Kelly Crosby doesn't say thank you. Now, you two, find matching dresses—only not as revealing as mine. I want to be the only one."

Morgan and Marissa looked at each other and had half a mind to say no.

However, they knew that when angry Kellie became an evil girl. And Marissa and Morgan learned it the hard way.

"Fine," they sighed and scuttled off to find matching gowns, similar to Kellie's.

--

"Can you believe how nice Marietta was to us?" Erica said as they entered their dormitory.

"She was very nice." Lily agreed. "Much nicer than the woman in Maxima."

Tessa snickered and put on an impression of the owner of the store.

"Miss," she said in a snotty high voice, "This store is only for exclusive members. You do not fit that description."

"Nice," Erica remarked setting down her bags. "You sound exactly like her."

Tessa grinned.

"How 'bout we try on our dresses?" Lily suggested.

Tessa shook her head. "Nah, the magic is only in a costume the first night you wear it. Otherwise, it's just a costume."

"Hey! That was in my Witch Weekly issue! Did you steal it?"

Tessa grinned at her sister. "Some questions are better left unanswered."

--

And there you go. Chapter 5—done.

Hehe, I'm getting good at this updating!

I have one thing to address. Many people are like, "Well, doesn't James know Lily? Doesn't he have to have a crush on her?"

My answer is, yes, James does know Lily but she is so shy that James hardly pays a second glance to her and no, there won't be a crush—not just yet.

Until next week!

--Greekchic