The Doe & The Stag {James Potter & Lily Evans}

A Day of Leisure

Sidebar: If you'd like to see Marlene's perspective on this chapter, visit my other story, Violet Hill.     

The weather had become snowier over the next few weeks. And, although Lily was excited for the frigid air, for she loved winter, it made walking down to Hogsmeade rather frustrating. It wasn't the cold that was getting to her, but, rather, the ice. When she wasn't trudging through a foot of snow, she was nearly sliding down the hill. Of course, she had James's hand in hers to steady her, but on the odd occasion when he went slipping with her, they usually ended up with bruised knees or faces full of snow.

However, Lily's excitement for the first weekend of Hogsmeade was enough to drive her annoyance of the ice out of mind. She and James were on their way down to the village, and Lily found herself chattier than usual in her excitement. She'd been going on for a good ten minutes about all the things she wanted to buy, much to James's amusement. "I've been saving up every spare sickle for the last two months for this weekend. I shouldn't spend it all in one place, but, well, I'm going to."

If there was one definite fault Lily could find in herself, it was irresponsibility when it came to finances. Although she was almost always on top of all other aspects of her life, when it came to money, if she had some to spare, it was gone in minutes, nearly always going immediately to a sweets or a new book.

James was amused with it all, however, and definitely was not helping her bad habit. Instead, he'd been giving her more suggestions of things to buy, only making her want to spend more. "You should also buy some licorice wands."

"James, I hate licorice wands."

"But I don't."

"It's not even close to Christmas yet!"

"So? A good girlfriend would buy her boyfriend sweets." He replied teasingly.

"Am I not a good girlfriend?"

"Of course you are, but you'd be an even better one if you bought me licorice wands."

"Why don't you buy me something? You're the one who has money to spare."

"You have money to spare."

"Actually, I don't. I'm just sparing it when I shouldn't."

"Fair enough."

The day was bitterly cold, the skies grey. Lily was thankful for the lack of wind that day. It'd been brutal, tolerating the wind the day before, as, for one, it nearly knocked her off her feet, and, for two, it had been unrelenting and unbearably cold.

Taking a deep breath, Lily released it. "They're beautiful, aren't they? The mountains?" She said, referring to the way the surrounding slopes were covered in white fluff. It was a magnificent view, from anywhere in or around Hogwarts. Especially the trees, whose frosted tips appeared to glimmer, even without much light from the sun.

"They are," James agreed. "I think I might date them instead." He said, grinning at her, his nose bright red from the cold despite the warming spell about them.

Lily rolled her eyes and nudged him with her hip as they finally made it to Hogsmeade. The buildings looked simply like something out of a book Lily had read. The rooftops were covered in snow, chimneys spurting smoke into the air, and the buildings themselves looking quaint and lovely. The village was bustling with residents, as well as students. A big group was herding into Honeydukes, the candy shop to dominate all other candy shops, while another cluster of students hurried to Zonko's Joke Shop. And then there was Madam Puddifoot's, where Lily swore never to set foot again. The windows, as usual, were fogged, and she was sure just beyond them there were several couples snogging. "Where to first?"