I woke up that morning more excited than I should have been. I mean, we'd been going out since summer; you'd think I'd have gotten over it by now. Still, I spent almost half an hour finding just the right top (it had to look good under my school cloak and by itself - you never know what the weather will be like in Hogsmeade), the perfect pair of shoes (I had to look good without being taller than him, which can be difficult at times) , and the ideal amount of makeup (Mary had perfected that one, but I still struggled).
I strolled down to breakfast with what Mary, sarcastic as always, called "an unusual pep in my step" and sat down with Sirius between us - the date wasn't supposed to start until ten, and I didn't want to seem too eager. I ate way more muffins than I should have, to the point that I felt sick. Actually, that was probably the nerves.
We waited for Filch to let us through; it was the first Hogsmeade trip of the year, so he had to check every third year's permission slip. We somehow ended up at the back of the line; it could have had something to do with the fact that we were walking as slowly as humanly possible, laughing and holding hands.
The same held for the walk down to Hogsmeade; Mary pulled ahead with some of her friends from Hufflepuff, and I'm sure the rest of the marauders were off pulling pranks on some poor unsuspecting first year. The two of us walked through town, stopping in at Zonko's and Scrivenshaft's for some window shopping. We eventually went in the three broomsticks to buy some drinks and snacks, and took them out to sit on the lawn between Hogsmeade and the Shrieking Shack.
We laughed and talked and held hands and I was in heaven. I didn't care what the other marauders thought of it; he was my boyfriend and today was our day.
"Lily, he said, pale gray eyes twinkling, "I hope this lasts forever. You, me, September afternoons - this is perfect." I smiled and laughed, putting my head on his shoulder, but I knew that nothing could last forever.
We sat out on that lawn until the day drew to a close, watching the warm autumn sunset hand in hand until we heard Filch calling in the distance. We got up and ran through Hogsmeade, laughing and shouting, and walked back to the school hand in hand, just like we had been all day.
We reached the stairs to our respective dorms with the rest of Gryffindor not far behind. I took Peter's hand one more time and kissed him before he climbed the stairs to bed, smiling. As I turned to climb my stairs as well, I glanced back at James. I knew it killed him to see me with Peter every day, but there was nothing I could do about it. I was only sixteen and he was only sixteen, and I knew even if he didn't that nothing lasts forever.