Chapter 19: Hogsmeade

 

            Saturday approached faster than any of our main characters would have expected, and Emia and Avia got up early to race for the shower.  Lily groaned a bit, and rolled over in bed.  It was Saturday, and she was exhausted.  Besides, she and James had had their two month anniversary last week; she doubted that he even cared how she looked.

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            Emia decided that she had to look perfect for Sirius today…she was well aware that if this date went well, there could be more…which would lead to…a real relationship.  Emie was always the romantic of the twins, while Avia was very appreciative of sweet boys; Emia drooled when couples were adorable.  Emia believed in red-rose filled anniversaries, meaningful glances, watching the stars together, and love at first sight.  She was practically crying when James decided to ask Lily to be his girlfriend, it was just too perfect.  Emie always wanted exactly what Lily took for granted, a guy like James.  She knew, deep in her heart, that Sirius was a womanizer, and probably didn’t care about her.  But as Emia continued to massage the shampoo through her hair, she pushed that thought to the back of her mind.  After all, Sirius was sweet, understanding, and funny. What she had always wanted…right?

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            Avia was in the stall next to her sister, with similar thoughts running through her head.  ‘What if Remus doesn’t like me?’ ‘If he holds my hand, what do I do? Do I look at him? Do I thank him or something?’ Avia got annoyed with the thoughts in her head, and called over to her sister for advice.

“Emie?” Avia called.

“Yeah, Avie?”

“I don’t know what to do today.”

“What do you mean; you don’t know what to do? It’s not that complicated.”

“Yes, it is…I mean, what do I do if he holds my hand?”

“You let him.”

“AND?”

“And what? That’s all there is to it.”

“Fine. What if he doesn’t like me?”

“He obviously likes you, or he wouldn’t have asked you.  Do you have any questions worth answering here?”

“If the moment seems right, should I kiss him?”

Emia turned off her shower water, and quickly dried off, slipping into a warm bathrobe.  Avia did the same, and they went back to the dorm.  Once inside the dorm, Emia sighed. 

“Well, that’s a hard question, Avie. It’s up to you…if the guy is special enough, will you kiss on the first date?”

“I don’t know…”

“Well, this is a decision you will have to make…Remus would never push anything on you that you weren’t ready for.  You have to be ready for something before it can happen, at least with Remus.”

“Okay…hmm…I guess we’ll just have to see what happens today.”

            Emia smiled and used a Quick-Dry Charm on her and Avia’s hair.  Emia was rather vain about her looks, and had made it a point to learn all the Vanity Charms back in second year.  The Vanity Charms were exactly as their name implied: simply there to amplify the user’s looks.  Besides the Quick-Dry Charm, there was a Curling Charm, a Straightening Charm, a Lipstick Charm, a Color Selector Charm, and various other doodads that nobody but Emia would use.

            By the time Emia and Avia had finished dressing, Emia in a bottle green turtleneck sweater and comfortable jeans, Avia in a pair of flared jeans and a lavender sweater, Lily had finally woken up.  She groggily arose and put on the first outfit in sight, a pair of light jeans and a blue long sleeve shirt.  She swept her hair up into a ponytail, because though her hair still smelled great from her shower last night, it was terribly frizzy from drying overnight.  The girls walked down to the common room to meet their dates.

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Sirius was pacing around the dorm nervously.  He couldn’t find his money! “Where IS IT?!” Sirius howled, frantically searching around the dorm.  “She’s NOT going to pay for us, that’s not right…I even saved up money for today…now where the hell is it?”

Remus walked out of the shower into an amusing scene.  James had his rear end up in the air, searching under Sirius’ bed.  Sirius was running around, in a similar way to a chicken with its head cut off.

“Oh, Siri, do you mean THIS money?” Remus asked innocently, holding up a sack.

“WHERE did you find that?”

“Well, you left it in plain sight on your bedside table.”

“Damn…I knew it was in the last place anyone would have thought to look.”

With that, Sirius gratefully took the sack, and placed it in his pocket.  He took his wand, oak with one veela hair (he always WAS good with women), and placed it in his other pocket.

James was already dressed and ready to go, while Sirius was throwing on a long sleeved t-shirt. Remus was very quick at getting ready, and was already dressed.

“Are we ready to meet them?” James asked, expectantly.

“I think so,” said Sirius.

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When the boys got down to the common room, the girls were not there yet.  They made themselves comfortable in the armchairs, talking about the last Quidditch game, and how dirty Snape was playing, and whether Slytherin would try anything like that again.  A couple minutes later, a girl cleared her throat loudly from the stairs.  It was Lily…she looked magnificent. (For rolling out of bed and putting on the nearest set of clothes at least)  The twins were next to her, and each looked amazing in her own right.  The boys quickly went to meet their dates, and they walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast, and then meeting the carriages that would take them to Hogsmeade.

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            After the usual magnificent Hogwarts breakfast, they walked down to the carriages.  Sirius, Emia, Avia and Remus piled into one carriage, and Lily and James went to the other to sit with Frank Longbottom and Denise Fletcher.  In about half an hour, the carriages teetered into Hogsmeade, and all of the excited students piled out quickly.  James and Sirius made a beeline for Zonko’s Joke Shop with Remus in tow, so Lily and the twins decided to do a little shopping.

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“Don’t you think this is too small?” asked a worried Emia, looking worriedly at the tight shirt she had on inside a dressing room of Outlaws.  Or more precisely, “Outlaws: Muggle Clothing and Dress Robes that are Simply Illegal!”

Emia attempted to turn around to look at her arse, while Lily and Avia burst out with laughter.  The dressing rooms in Outlaws were huge, so Avia and Lily were in there with her, helping her pick out the perfect clothes for winter…and a nice dress robe for the Yule Ball.

Emia was currently in a small white shirt…but it wasn’t too small, it was made that way, and it looked great on Emia.

“It looks fine, Emie…now I’ll go look for some jeans for you, hon,” Lily replied with a smile.  Lily left quickly to peruse the racks of Outlaws, as she already knew Emia’s sizes by heart.

“Hmm…Avie?” asked Emia.

“Yes?”

“Are you going to wear blue robes to the Ball?”

Avia blushed, and replied, “Dear, I don’t even know if I’m GOING…Remus hasn’t asked yet.”

“Well, yes, but even if he doesn’t, we’re going to go together. Deal?”

“Of course, and I think blue might be best for me. What about you?”

“Well, I totally agree with blue being your best color…and I think I want to wear lavender…not too light, but definitely not violet.”

“That’s a great color for you, Emie.  What about Lils?”

“She’d look great in shimmery white or maybe a deep green…”

“I agree….but white would be so much prettier.  Green might match her eyes a bit too much.”

“True.”

Just then, their conversation was interrupted by Lily’s sudden reappearance in their dressing room. 

“What about me, now?” asked Lily with a smile.

“We’re deciding which color will be best for your dress robe at the Yule Ball.”

“And?” Lily smiled.

“Well…we think a shimmery white would do the trick,” said Avia, with a grin on her bright face.

“Is that so?” laughed Lil.  “Alright then, Avie, would you like to help me find one to try on?”

Avia jumped excitedly, while Emia remained in the room, trying on jeans and then the bright lavender dress robe that Lily had brought in for her.

Meanwhile, Avia and Lily perused the racks.  Lily spotted a bright, sparkling white dress robe in the corner.  It was beautiful, it was perfect…and it wasn’t in her SIZE!!! Frantically, Lily searched for another, but this was it.  She brought it up to the cashier with a frown, and asked if it could be altered.

“Well, honey, of course it can” came a nurturing voice behind the counter. There was a petite woman standing there, who looked about 60 or so…but a very nice woman at that.

“I love this robe,” gushed Lily, “but it’s not my size…it’s quite a bit too big.”

“Well, dear, that’s no problem. Just step over to my stool here.”

The elderly woman, whose name was Madam Malkin, led Lily to a stool, and told her to put on the robe.

“You see, dear, adjustments are my specialty.  I’ve always wanted to open up a shop on Diagon Alley, so I could adjust robes for all the dear students of Hogwarts…I just love to make the perfect fit, it gives one a real appreciation for the clothing itself.”

Lily listened to the woman with interest, and replied, “I’m sure you can make it to Diagon, you really have a wonderful talent for fitting!”

“Oh, thank you, dear, but I’m much too old for that.”

“No, you aren’t,” Lily firmly replied. “You’re never too old to live your dreams.”

The elderly woman looked at Lily with interest, and said, “Maybe you’re right, dear.  Oh…my…you’re done.  It looks amazing on you, honey. What was your name, by the way?”

“Lily,” Lily said with a smile.

Lily turned towards the mirror with anticipation. Her breath caught in her chest.  Lily let her hair down, in a sea of waves, and her bright eyes twinkled with satisfaction.  The sparkly white robe fit her perfectly, accentuating her petite body with every turn. She smiled and twirled in front of the mirror.  Yes, this was definitely the perfect robe for the Ball, she decided.

“Thank you, Madam Malkin,” Lily laughed. “It’s perfect.  I’m going to quickly go show Avie and Emie.”

The woman nodded with a smile, and said, “You’re welcome, honey.  Enjoy that robe…I’ve never seen one look better, Lily.”

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After Sirius, James, and Remus were done at the Joke Shop, they decided it was time to find their dates.  But where WERE they?

“Well,” said Remus logically, “they won’t be at Three Broomsticks yet…they would wait for us. They must be doing something that we wouldn’t have wanted to go with them for.”

That was all James and Sirius needed, and they both rolled their eyes. “Shopping,” they said in unison.

The trio uncomfortably entered Outlaws, looking frantically for their dates.

James went up to the cashier to ask if she had seen them.

“Yes, dear?” asked the elderly woman behind the counter.

“I’m looking for my girlfriend….her name is Lily, bright red hair, always has a blonde pair of twins at her side…”

“Oh, yes, honey…she’s in the dressing rooms…I think she’ll be out soon.”

“Oh, okay. I can wait.”

James sank into a comfortable armchair, and Sirius and Remus did the same. Soon the girls emerged from the dressing room, with plenty of clothes in hand, talking excitedly.  They stopped talking when they noticed the boys sitting there. 

“How long have you been sitting there?” asked Avie.

“Long enough…why does it take girls SO LONG to pick out clothes?” whined Sirius.

“The same reason it takes boys SO LONG to pick out prank supplies,” whined Emia in response.   The girls continued to Madam Malkin, and began the tiring 30-minute checkout process.

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After everything was checked out, and the girls were carrying an amount of clothing in bags that rivaled the amount of bags filled with prank supplies that the Marauders were carrying, they all unanimously decided that it was time for some butterbeer. 

They walked into the Three Broomsticks, and found a table near the back. 

“Madam Miller!” James called to the lady behind the bar.

“Sneaking out with Miss Lily again, are we James?” said the kind lady with a smile.

James laughed, and replied, “Nope. Actual Hogsmeade day today, Madam Miller.  And would you be so kind as to get us…three…four…five…six, yes, six butterbeers please.”

Madam Miller smiled, and quickly sprinted off to get the drinks.

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“So will you two lovely ladies think about a second date with Remmy and I?” asked a grinning Sirius, as the gang piled back into carriages to go back to Hogwarts.

“We…we will definitely consider the offer,” said a grinning Avia, who gave Remus a hug.

“Good,” said Remus with a chuckle. “I…I had fun today, Avie.”

“Me too,” Avia whispered.

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