A/N: Hehe, I'm at school, and I'm meant to be doing my work, but instead I'm writing a chappie for you! :D And it's not because any of you reviewed (because you haven't so far) but it's because the work I'm meant to be doing is a reflection but I hate them and I'll do it later tonight because the chaos in this classroom is almost unbearable.
A/N: Anyway! I think this FanFic is due for a few mentions, since there's been more than 10,000 hits! Yay! ^^ (I LOVE YOU GUYS!)
A/N: Thanks to my story alerters (there's a lot of you. If you don't want to read this, then go ahead! [I doubt any of you read these anyway]); funtastic, SarcasmAtItsFinest, laughlongdreambig, tennismuch33, Ms Bookworm95, amy-x-ian-forever, FreedomAngel, fee1302, P.A. Faraway, xoxosmileyfacexoxo, jazzmyne16, chezE122091, lhuang102, Novelnerd97, 3AllTimeLowLover3, Rackik, thebiggestpotterfreak, xSoulFighterx, Smiles and Deathly Hallows, InsertPenNameHere21, siriusfan28, 89, and iamnumbernine. Woo! Thank you all! :D (I'd go through the Favourites list right now, but I think that you people don't care and just want to get on to the chapter, so the story alerters (again), favouriters, and reviewers are going to go at the end of this chapter!)
The icy wind swirled her dark red hair around her face as Lily, Bridget, KayCee and Lionel huddled in a tight circle. They were waiting for the Marauders and Eli to arrive because they had all planned a huge Christmas shopping spree the weekend before Christmas in Hogsmeade.
"It's cold!" grumbled Lionel.
"Yeah, we know, Lionel," snapped Bridget. Her cheeks were flushed and she was wrapped up in far too many jumpers and pants. She absolutely hated the cold.
Lionel didn't say anything, but he sure thought a few things.
"Guys, hush. Talking is just going to irritate everyone until we get into the Three Broomsticks," said Lily rationally. KayCee nodded, closing her eyes so that they wouldn't get damaged by the sudden gust of dry snow.
Finally, the Marauders and Eli were walking down the path from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade. James had his hands in his pockets casually, with Eli clutching his arm. Sirius just had a random girl on his arm. Remus and Peter were girl-less, but they didn't seem to mind.
"Where to first?" asked James merrily. Bridget shuddered and Lionel glared at an innocent piece of litter on the ground. KayCee didn't say anything, for she was unaware that the rest of the group had arrived.
"The Three Broomsticks," said Lily. KayCee opened her eyes, saw the group and nodded in agreement to Lily. She was fatigued already, and perhaps a Butterbeer or two would wake her up.
"OK. Let's go!"
Lily stepped out into the cold again, except this time she was warmer.
"Oh, wow. That was great," said Lionel, stretching and ruffling his hair at the same time. The rest of the group followed and then they decided on what to do next.
"I think that maybe the girls and the guys should separate so that no one will be tempted to run off and tell their friend what someone got for them," said Bridget decisively.
"I think that's a good plan," nodded Sirius. Everyone else made some sort of sound of agreement, except for Eli. She was scowling, and this time, Lily noticed it.
Ha, sucks for you, thought Lily spitefully.
"Then maybe we should go in different stores, so that no one can spy on each other," suggested KayCee.
"Ooh, and then afterwards, we can all go our separate ways to get more personal gifts!" said Peter, his eyes lighting up.
"That's not a bad idea, Wormtail," replied James, nodding his head.
"Yeah, that idea was a good one," said Remus, clapping Peter on the back. Peter flushed and bowed his head.
"Anyway, maybe the girls can tackle the right side of the street, and the guys can tackle the left? Then we swap, and afterwards we split up?" said Lily.
"Yeah," said the Marauders. Bridget, Lionel and KayCee nodded.
"See you later then!" said Lily, looping her arms through Bridget and KayCee's.
Eli skulked in the shadows. She hadn't opened her purse once, and they were halfway down Hogsmeade already.
"Oh, come on, Eli. You have to get something for the boys!" chided Bridget jokingly. Eli glared her down and Bridget immediately went somewhere else, muttering, "No need for the hostility."
Eli allowed herself a breathy chuckle. Then, she saw a flash of red, blonde and black hair move towards the door. Eli rolled her eyes and heaved herself off the shelf of... whatevers she was leaning on.
She dragged her feet towards the door, where her undesirable 'posse' was waiting. She made it apparent that she absolutely did not want to be there. It was too bad that she didn't speak up for herself when they were deciding on what to do, but she was going to make them pay for limiting her time with James.
When Eli reached the door, she caught the words "Brat" "Spoiled" "Selfish". Bridget, KayCee and Lily were talking in low, hushed voices, and Eli caught onto what they were getting at. Immediately, she felt anger pulsating through her veins.
Control... self-control... Eli reminded herself.
"Oh, Eli! Hi!" exclaimed Bridget, a bit too brightly for this dreary day.
"Let's go, then!" said Lily, a slightly guilty look on her face.
They quickly progressed through the rest of their side of the street, Eli's purse still unopened.
The other girls moved towards each other, whispering again. Eli caught the same words again, and just stalked forwards into the next store. What do they expect? she thought angrily, that I buy the whole street?
"JAMES! GET BACK HERE!"
"NO!"
"COME ON! LET ME SEE WHAT YOU GOT FOR THE GIRLS'!"
"NO!"
Sirius was chasing James around the clothing store, jumping over boxes and dodging staff (all of them shook their heads with an amused smile on their faces when they raced past). Remus and Peter didn't even bother stopping Sirius and James, and they decided to browse the racks in case they found something they liked.
"OH JAMESY BOY!"
"OH SNUGGLEY SNUFFLES!"
"HEY! THAT WAS UNCALLED FOR!"
"Peter," drawled Remus, consulting the fashion expert of the group, "Do you think that this would be nice for Bridget? Or maybe KayCee?"
"HOW HARD IS IT TO SHOW ME THE DAMN PRESENTS?"
"Hm... Maybe Lily, even," contemplated Peter. Then he shook his head.
"Nah. I think that shade of blue might clash with her hair. Go with KayCee, because black on blue looks nice, and she has blue eyes anyway."
"Thanks, Pete."
"WHY DON'T YOU SHOW ME YOUR PRESENTS, HUH? PUNK?"
"NO!"
"How about we just leave in an orderly fashion and see whether they notice?" asked Remus.
"Sure," shrugged Peter with a sigh. They paid for their items and left the store.
"OH COME ON! PLEASE? JUST FOR A MOMENT!"
"NO! KNOWING YOU, ONE MOMENT WILL BE AN HOUR! REMEMBER JESSICA?"
"HEY! THAT WAS ALSO UNCALLED FOR!"
"I'm hungry," stated Remus randomly, watching his friends run around the store through the glass. James' purchases were clutched protectively in his hands and Sirius had a maniacal, determined grin on his face.
"Wanna go get a Butterbeer and a box of Honeydukes chocolates?"
"Sure."
They left Sirius and James to rush around the shop for the next half hour until they realised that the other half of the Marauders had already departed.
"Hey, uh... No, I can't ask you that..." muttered Lily, eyeing Bridget who was looking at a book a few metres away. The groups had separated, and Lily wanted advice on what she should get for KayCee.
Looks like I'll figure it out on my own. But I'm sure that whatever I'll get, KayCee will love it, thought Lily with a sigh as she discreetly slipped to the other side of the store 'Junk and Stuff'. It sold one of a kind items, but they were quite expensive.
"Hi! Can I help you, miss?" asked an overly perky store assistant. On closer inspection, it turned out to be Charlotte Brown, a recent graduate of Hogwarts.
"Hi, Charlotte!" exclaimed Lily.
"Lily Evans?" asked Charlotte.
"Yeah! What are you doing here?" Lily asked, immediately putting a strange looking statue down and going over to Charlotte.
"Oh, well, you know. My parents own this store, and they're hell bent on having me own it when I'm older," said Charlotte with a sigh.
"Oh, that kinda sucks," said Lily sympathetically.
"Yeah. I wanted to be a Healer, you know? Maybe once I was older, take up a job in St. Mungos and save a few lives, you know?" said Charlotte, looking slightly depressed. Here, Charlotte allowed a chuckle.
"Ha, well, turns out that my dream will just be a dream - " she looked around at the dusty store with a resigned sigh, " - I think all the little witches want to be Healers. That's what I remember when I was younger. My group of friends and I wanted to be Healers when we were older, you know. It was a dream of ours that we shared and was probably a bit unrealistic. But, you know, I've always had an interest in medicine. Particularly Muggle medicine. Interesting stuff, you know? We can use magic to fix bones, but they use plaster and bandaigees? I think that's what youse call 'em."
Charlotte shrugged and then she asked her previous question, for another assistant was glaring at her.
"Oh! Uhm, you know my friend? KayCee? I want to get her something for her, but I'm not sure on what I should get," said Lily. Charlotte smiled at her and led her towards the back of the shop. Charlotte winked at Lily and whispered, "This is for them die hard 'Junk and Stuff' customers. We set all the special stuff here, you know."
Lily gasped.
The whole shelf had a huge number of glittering, gleaming, glowing, foreign, and authentic items that had a strong magical feeling - items that would have cost galleons and galleons. Old books full of long forgotten items and statues that were said to have certain magical properties and oh so many items!
"I wish I could buy them all," sighed Lily.
Charlotte grinned and said, "That's what they all say when one of us bring 'em here."
"Lily!" whined Sirius.
"No!"
"But - "
"No! I'm not going to help you wrap your presents so that someone can sneak up on mine and try and see what they got!" Lily huffed angrily. She was just about to wrap her last present (a small painting of a bowl of fruit that danced when you looked at it for more than ten seconds) and attach a card to it (Dear Petunia, I hope you've been well. Merry Christmas. From Lily) and then Sirius had the audacity to try and interrupt her Christmas wrapping mode.
Sirius fell silent, for probably the first time since they returned from Hogsmeade.
Ah, finally... Lily delicately wrapped up the painting and put the card in a Muggle envelope (for her sister's sake) and she attached her presents that were to be sent to her Muggle family to a few owls and then she placed her presents under the Christmas tree in the Common Room, knowing that on Christmas, they would all somehow turn up on the correct person's bed. She still hadn't figured it out, but she guessed that it was probably House Elves.
"Lily!"
"Yes?"
"You finished?"
"Yes, Sirius," said Lily with a sigh and a roll of her eyes.
"Could you help me?"
"Yes, Sirius."
Lily walked casually towards the Boys' Dorms to find Sirius dangling from his ankle by an invisible force. Lily couldn't hold in her laughter.
"Ahahahaha! Oh, gosh. Sirius, how did you manage to do that?" she said through her laughter. He scowled at her.
"Would you please get me down? I've been hanging here for ages because Remus decided to prank me - "
A sudden yelp sounded from the common room.
"Oh, what is it now?" growled Lily, walking down the stairs, Sirius shouting behind her, "What about me? The blood in my head is pounding!"
James, Remus and Peter were all bound by ropes and glued to the floor, trying to get up and failing horribly. Lily started to laugh again.
"I knew it! I knew it! It was all a set up! Haha! Bye boys! I'm off to the Kitchens for some... cheesecake!" she announced after calming down, flipping her hair and taking her cloak, grinning all the way to the Kitchens, knowing that it would kill the Marauders to know that someone was eating cheesecake in the Kitchens without them.
A/N: Here's the mentions! (This is going by order of people adding this to their story alerts and favourites. Also the same with the reviews :D Oh, and if I double up in the same category or skip one of you, then sorry :/ BOTHER ME ABOUT IT! XD Actually, try not to. It goes to my school e-mail ^^ Oh, and if you didn't log in to FF or don't have an account and you're anonymous, then I'm using your name that you used!) And no, I did not make any spelling mistakes! (If I did, berate me!)
Story Alerters: funtastic, SarcasmAtItsFinest, laughlongdreambig, tennismuch33, Ms Bookworm95, amy-x-ian-forever, FreedomAngel, fee1302, P.A. Faraway, xoxosmileyfacexoxo, jazzmyne16, chezE122091, lhuang102, Novelnerd97, 3AllTimeLowLover3, Rackik, thebiggestpotterfreak, xSoulFighterx, Smiles and Deathly Hallows, InsertPenNameHere21, siriusfan28, 89, and iamnumbernine.
Favouriters: Songbird18, nikki500, DKRsnowball, Ms Bookworm95, YAJJ, Mercy'sFoundaWayforMe, Pixy-Misa-Misao-Amano, perdyprincess, jazzmyne19, lllesen, HPFreaknenow, lhuang102, Novelner97, 3AllTimeLowLover3, arabelletrix, GellyStar, Smiles and Deathly Hallows, InsertPenNameHere21, KatiekkxD, mrsbeii and iamnumbernine.
Reviewers: Sapphire at Dawn, Mercy'sFoundaWayforMe, HPFreaknenow, Authoress Angst 01, JPLE, SarcasmAtItsFinest, Briedjee, Kieranjaz, CrazyIndividuals, romiofinchel24, Ahhhhhhh, Loslote, Sareface, amy-x-ian-forever, Carlos, Rosey, perdyprincess, Courtney, Bridget, Amazingly Brillant, Courtney Hence, Novelnerd97, thebiggestpotterfreak, GryffindorGyrl, Twikadevra, It'sme, xSoulFighterx, InsertPenNameHere21, GellyStar, and iamnumbernine.
Yes, since chapter 23 have not had any reviews (BOO! I'M GOING TO THROW ORANGES AT YOU! Haha, just joking. I'm not that mean. I love the more than 60 reviews! YAYAYAY! I'm gonna cry with happiness! AHH! Oh, and if I make this into a privately published story [copyright, people, copyright!] I'm dedicating ALL of you! Yay! So if you change your penname, then sucks for you! It'll be in my book FOREVER! MUHAHAHA!)
Anyway, since the first A/N at the top there was written at... 1:50 PM and this was written at 9:01 PM, I feel obliged to tell you that I'm watching... HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE! Yay! I actually think this movie is kinda funny, despite the darkness. It's also kinda colourful. And I'm a sucker for canon pairings (Especially JP/LE. But, I think HP/GW is good enough. One red-haired girl and one messy haired guy with glasses and black hair in both pairs is good enough for me! Oh, and the hint of HG/RW is making me happy! ^^ Oh, and I'm asking you people a question here: I think I've noticed in a few of the previous movies (POA, COS, PS/SS) that Draco keeps looking at Hermione. A lot. It's weird. But sometimes I notice that he glances towards the direction of where Hermione is/should be sitting, for glances at her standing beside him. I'm a sucker for HG/DM (probably my favourite non-canon pairing) too, so I might be imagining it! ^^