Letters From A Stranger || James and Lily ||

Hogsmeade

Disclaimer : Even though I would love to have James for myself, sadly, I do not own any of these characters.

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Chapter 16

"We'll meet you at Three Broomsticks." Marlene said.

The boys nodded. "We're going to Zonko's." Sirius said, rubbing his hands in glee, smirking at Marlene. She scowled at him.

Marlene, Lily and Mary made their way to Linda's Boutique.

"Why are we going there?" Marlene whined.

"To get a dress. I thought it's obvious." Mary said.

"We could be in Zonko's now. That place is heaven." Marlene said, sighing dreamily.

Mary rolled her eyes and dragged Marlene along. Meanwhile, Lily kept looking around. She had a feeling that someone was following her.

"For the Christmas Ball?" Linda asked when she saw the girls.

They nodded. Mary tried out at least a dozen outfits and was now forcing Marlene to try the black dress which she insisted would look good on her. Marlene sulked in the corner, still peeved that she couldn't go to Zonkos with the boys. Lily ignored their bickering and walked over to the display racks. There were dresses of all types and colours but even after twenty minutes of searching, Lily couldn't find one for herself. She had almost given up and was about to ask Mary to select one for her too when a particular dress caught her attention.

The dress was simple. It reached mid-calf and had cap sleeves, exactly how Lily liked it. The only problem was that she couldn't choose the colour. There were four dresses - all the same pattern, in different colours - yellow, green, pink and blue. Lily immediately kept the pink one back. Pink with her ginger hair would be a disaster.

She held the blue one in her left hand and the green one in her right, and moved to stand in front of the mirror. She was just about to select the green one when she saw him in the mirror. She turned around and saw him watching her curiously through the glass window.

She didn't expect to see James Potter outside a boutique, alone, when he had a date (not that she was complaining). But what she least expected was for him to walk into the shop. He closed the door behind him and walked over to where Lily was standing.

"What are you doing here? Didn't you have a date?" she asked.

He cringed a bit. "Don't ask."

"That bad?" she asked, desperately trying to keep the relief out of her voice.

"Details later. What are you doing?" he asked.

She held up the two dresses. "Christmas shopping. Marlene and Mary are inside. Daisy didn't come. Alice is with Frank."

"Where are the guys?"

"Zonko's. They missed you."

"I should have gone with them." he said, combing his fingers through his hair, shaking off the melting snow.

"Where's Emmeline?" Lily asked.

"She left. Said something about doing Arithmancy homework." he said.

Lily assumed that the date didn't go as good as Emmeline had planned. She couldn't say she was not happy about it.

"I think I'll just go to Zonko's now." he said, "See you there."

He turned to the door and Lily turned back to the mirror. In the mirror, she saw him stop, one hand on the doorknob. She raised an eyebrow at him and saw him smirk in the reflection.