Chapter 17:

Lily rolled over under the comforter and smiled. She felt next to her and her hand hit an empty mattress. Sitting up just as James appeared from the other room; she sighed and fell back down.
"Hi," he said, quietly as buttoned his shirt back up.
"You're leaving?" It was more a statement than a question, but Lily asked it anyway.
He nodded and sighed. "Yeah."
"Work?" she asked, knowing the answer.
"Always."
Lily placed her head on the pillow and inhaled deeply, breathing in the scent James' cologne had left there.
"But," James added, walking over to the side of the bed and taking a seat. He stroked her hair as Lily watched him, her emerald eyes breaking his heart with every blink. "I hear you have a big ball coming up here soon." Lily brightened as she saw where he was going.
"And I was wondering, if you don't already have a date - or, you know, 8 - if you might allow me the honor of escorting you to said ball," he finished and Lily smiled.
"But you hate dancing," she replied.
James stopped stroking her hair and looked into Lily's eyes. "But I love you."
"Well, in that case, I guess it'd be just plain mean to deny you a date to the dance." She giggled. "Yes."
James grinned, and then leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "Missing you already," he told her.
"I love you," Lily replied, still grinning from the bed. She watched him walked across the room and open the door.
"Bye, Lils."

--

Lily woke up the next morning, ready to tackle whatever anyone threw at her. She thanked God for sending James to her, because she never would have gotten through that ordeal without him. She couldn't help but grinning like an idiot as she stood at the mirror brushing her teeth as she remembered his request to take her to the ball.
Now I have to actually get a nice a dress and put in the effort, though...she joked inwardly.

Knock! Knock!
"Coming!" Lily yelled. "It's open!" she added as she rushed in from the bathroom with a pair of socks, jumped onto the bed and pulled the socks over her feet just as Remus appeared in the doorway.
"Oh, hey!" she said, standing as she searched for her shoes.
"You seem good this morning...considering," he noted, closing the door as he entered the room.
Lily now had her shoes on and turned to smile at him. "I'm not going to let it bug me," she explained. "Ooh, coffee! For me?" she asked, holding her hands out.
Remus grinned and handed her a cup of steaming coffee. "Would I bring coffee and not have one for you? I know better than that by now, I think!" he laughed and Lily threw him a glare before grabbing her bag.
She followed Remus out the door and across the common room. "Why'd you bother bringing coffee, though? We can just get some at breakfast," Lily asked him, sipping her drink all the same.
Remus reached into his bag and pulled out a large stack of buttered toast in reply. "I thought we could take a walk before classes...we don't have to talk about...that - or anything...just get out of the castle before it gets too cold," he replied.
Lily smiled and put her arm around Remus as they entered the hallway. "Sounds good to me."

A few minutes later, Lily was sitting next to Remus at the edge of the lake, nibbling the toast and sipping the coffee. Lily looked at Remus and grinned, as she watched him watching the trees that swayed slightly in the breeze.
"Thanks," she said suddenly.
He turned to her. "For what?" he asked.
"Just...thanks." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
Remus smiled and wrapped his arm around Lily, pulling her close as if to shield her from the chilly morning. He kissed her quickly on the top of the head and then went back to watching the trees as she rested easily against his chest.

--

Knock, knock!
It was the weekend and Lily was knocking cheerily on Remus' door to get him up and come into Hogsmeade with her. She heard a groaning noise from the other side of the door that told her he would have to be woken up.
Knock, knock! She tried again and then sighed.
"I'm coming in!" she yelled through the door. Lily turned the handle and stepped into the room, which was still dark with the shades pulled down. Lily grinned evilly and flicked her wand at the shades. They jumped up, letting the bright sunlight of morning stream in through the windows.
"Gahhhh!" Remus yelled, throwing the comforter over his head to block out the light.
"This is going to be harder than I thought..." Lily said to herself.
Suddenly, Lily jumped up onto Remus' bed and began bouncing around, yelling "Get up! Get up! Get up!" like a 5-year-old does to her parents on Christmas morning.
"Lilyyyyyyyy! Go awayyyy!" came the muffled reply from Remus, now being crushed by Lily underneath the covers.
"Not till' you get up! C'mon - we have a schedule to keep!" she told him, sliding off the bed.
Remus took the opportunity to uncover his face. Lily broke into giggles at his awful bed hair.
"Where are we going?" he asked, dreading the answer.
"You're coming with me to pick out a dress for the dance - I have to look good for my date," she grinned and Remus sighed.
"This is going to take all day," he whined. Then he paused and looked over at Lily. "Do you really have a schedule for shopping?" he asked.
She shook her head. "No...that was a lie - but we do need to get going! So, get up!"
"Fiiiine," he replied, finally giving in. Lily nodded her head in satisfaction as Remus slid out of his bed, wearing only his boxers.
"Dancing snowmen? Really?" she asked, and it was all she could do to not break out laughing.
Remus blushed. "My mum got them for me last Christmas," he explained. "Now get out!"

--

"Ok!" Lily said, walking out of the changing room in yet another dress. "What about this one?" she asked Remus.
He rubbed his eyes and looked over at her as she twirled.
Remus wrinkled is nose. "It's a little...frilly," he told her. Lily sighed.
"I knew it. Ok, one more in this store and then we'll move on," she told him, and she lifted the bottom of the dress and started back towards the dressing room.

All of the dresses seemed to have something wrong with them: too frilly, too pink, too short, too long, too this and that. Lily was starting to get frustrated, but she cherished Remus' opinion as a guy, and she knew he just wanted to her to look as fabulous as possible for when James came.
Finally, Lily pulled on the last dress at the last shop they could think of in Hogsmeade and walked out to show Remus.
"What do you think?" she sighed, tired from all of the trying-on and taking-off.
Remus looked up. "Wow..." was all he said.
"You like it?" she asked.
"Like it? Well, let's just saying if you and my best friend weren't madly in love with each other, than I might just have to steal you away in that thing!" he admitted, but he was grinning.
"Really? Oh, yay!" Lily replied, and she looked at herself in the mirror. "It is quite nice, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is...so are you going to get it?" Remus asked.
"I think so! Thank you for helping, Remus," Lily told him, smiling.
"Anytime," he replied.
Lily went back to change out of the dress and appeared a minute later in her regular clothes. They paid for the dress and walked back out onto the streets.
"Thank god that is over!" Remus exalted.
Lily laughed evilly. "Oh no, we still need shoes."
Remus' face fell. "Oh nooooo" he whined. Lily put a comforting arm around him and they continued down the street to look for a shoe shop.

--

The next week went by in a blur for Lily. James coming for the dance made her head spin, but it also went so slowly at times that Lily was sure time had stopped, if only to make her crazier with excitement.
She ran her lessons as normal, and her students were all in very good moods at the tiny amounts of homework she was assigning. Remus often found Lily in the dining hall, the library or the faculty common room, staring off into space with a goofy grin on her face.

Finally, the day of the ball arrived, and Lily found herself acting like a schoolgirl all over again. The girls in her first class were twittering excitedly at the upcoming dance, whispering about their dresses and their dates. Lily cut the class short and received a cheer from the boys and girls alike. Lily was so out of it that she completely forgot about her second class, much to the delight of her students.

That night, Lily took her dress out of the closet and hung it on the dresser. She sat on her bed for quite a while, just staring at the dress; she finally managed to tear herself away from it and went to take a long, hot shower in preparation for the night.
Several hours of primping later, Lily was fixing her makeup for the last time when she heard a knock on the door.
"Come in! she called, expecting Remus.
"Wow," she heard the visitor whisper behind her, and turned.
"JAMEEEES!" she squealed as she saw him standing there next to the door. He was holding a red rose in his hands and a grin plastered across his face.
She ran to meet him and he caught her easily in his arms, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around. Lily giggled with delight.
James stopped and held Lily up in the air. He kissed her hard on the mouth.
"Hi," he said,as he pulled away.
She smiled down at him. "Hi," she replied.

--

"Oh my God!" Lily snapped out of her reverie half an hour later as she poked her head out from under the covers and saw the time.
"James!" she slapped him on the back to get his attention.
"Owww!" he cried out, rolling over.
"We're late - we have to get down to the Great Hall!" Lily exclaimed, hopping out of the bed and rushing across the room to where her dress lay in a crumpled heap on the floor.
"Not like that, you can't," James joked, sitting up in bed. Lily looked over at him and he was grinning.
"Gross," Lily replied as she pulled the dress on and reached behind to try and zip the top up.
"Here, let me help you," James offered, walking over to her. He easily pulled the zipper to the top of the dress and smiled. "There." He kissed Lily on the shoulder and began to look for his own clothes.
"Hurry up, James - I'm going to the bathroom to fix my makeup and then we have to leave, ok?" Lily told him as she hurried out of the room.
"Got it..." James replied as he lazily pulled his shirt on and doing up the buttons.

5 minutes later, James and Lily appeared at the bottom of the stairs in the Great Hall. Lily was fussing with a crease in her dress.
They saw Remus standing by the doors and walked over to him. He was grinning.
"Why are two late?" he asking, eyeing them.
"Oh um...James got out of work late and I wanted to wait for him, in my...in my room!" Lily replied, but he blushed and gave away her obvious lie.
"Uh huh...suuurre!" Remus replied. "Well, Minerva's over there and she wants to see you," he told them, pointing.
"Thanks, mate," James said.
He and Lily left Remus and went to find Professor McGonagall.
"Professor?" Lily said, meekly, as they walked up behind her.
McGonagall looked slightly flustered. "Oh, there you two are," and there was a hint of annoyance in her voice. James made a face but Lily stepped on his foot and he stopped.
"Remus said you wanted to see us?" Lily asked her.
"Oh yes, well professors will be opening the Ball with a procession into the dance where all the students are already. When I give the signal, you and James may step in line wherever there is space and we'll all proceed with the night's event!" She was speaking very hurriedly, so Lily just nodded and turned to go, pulling James along with her.

The night went on to be a smashing success. The band that they had hired was one of the kids' favorites and many of the girls were ecstatic when they came out and the lead singer began to sing.
James and Lily even managed to sneak away to where a row of short hedges and benches had been set up outside.

By the end of the night, everyone was exhausted, and the professors had no trouble corralling kids back into their respective dormitories on time.
James and Lily left Gryffindor -where they had been assigned to help out- at 2 a.m. just as things were really starting to settle down. They headed back to the faculty dormitory, which was deserted, changed out of their dress clothes and fell into bed, where they were both too tired to do anything but drift into a deep, deep sleep.

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Only few more chapter left!

Hope you liked it

Jes xo