My Light in the dark: A Jily Story

Chapter 5 - Dress Shopping

Almost two whole months had gone by. Two noticeably quiet months. The marauders had not attempted a single prank and had only pulled their wands on Slytherins in the corridor a handful of times. The only marauder Lily spoke to was Remus, and only exclusively while on perfect duties. In fact, Lily even refused to talk about the marauders, namely James in particular, to anyone thus leaving Marlene, Alice, and Dorcas more confused than ever.

It was nearing Halloween, and everyone knew what that meant. The annual Halloween Ball. It was one of the more popular of the Hogwarts traditions as it meant dress shopping and date finding. Great.

Whispers of who'll ask who and what colours are 'in' right now where being passed around the tables during dinner than evening when none other than the headmaster himself stood up, as if to make an announcement.

"Good evening all" Dumbledore began cheerily "It is with the utmost excitement that I propose to you that this year's Halloween Ball be a ... how do they say it? Masquerade event?"

The hall immediately erupted in excited chatter

"Ah, the excitement of mystery" Smiled Dumbledore "I'll take that as a yes then. Better get shopping"

And with that the meal continued, with a vastly different energy.

"Masquerade?" Marlene frowned "How will we be able to tell the cute guys from the rest?"

"I don't doubt you'll find a way, Marley" Alice laughed at her trivial friend "I was thinking of going pink this year, what do you think?"

"Definitely Al, you're going to look like an angel" Dorcas beamed "Frank'll never be able to resist you... not that he'll who which ones you of course..." Alice blushed and laughed nervously

"Lily?" Marlene looked worriedly at her friend whose mind was seemingly elsewhere "are you going for green this year? I know it's the Slytherin colour, but you look simply irresistible in it."
Lily laughed "yes, I suppose I might"

Dorcas gasped "It's a Hogsmeade weekend this weekend is it not? Let's go try get our dresses early, so the good ones aren't all gone"

Each girl nodded in agreement and they turned back to their previously forgotten meal.

With every girl in Hogwarts searching for the perfect dress on the same day, tensions were sky high. The four Gryffindor girls planned to arrive at Hogsmeade as early as they could, to give them the best chance of beating the crowd and avoiding getting stuck with the unwanted leftovers.

"I bet if we just skip breakfast we can get there early enough" Alice proposed

Dorcas frowned "They call breakfast the most important meal of the day for a reason, Alice."
"But if we don't do something we'll miss out" Marlene whined "You know how important these dresses are Dor"

"Excuse me ladies" Sirius slid into their conversation "I couldn't help overhearing your conversation - we are in the common room after all"

"Eavesdropping" Lily looked at him "It's called eavesdropping"

Sirius paused and looked back at her "Anyway - I believe I could be of assistance"
The girls scoffed.
"I'm offended by your lack of confidence might I say" Sirius frowned "I could get you to Hogsmeade anytime you like. Visiting day or not" They looked at him sceptically

"So, we could go today, if we wanted?" Marlene's eyes widened

"What about just really early on Saturday?" Lily proposed "we can't exactly go dress shopping for the Hogwarts Ball on a day we're not supposed to be there, can we? Everyone in Hogsmeade will know."

They all nodded in agreement and Sirius laughed "Okay then, 5am, this Saturday in the common room" He offered them a wink "Don't be late"

"Wait" Lily called "Aren't you going to tell us how you're going to get us there"
Sirius just tapped his nose slyly before continuing back to his place by the fire, next to James and Remus.

"Well that was strange" Dorcas muttered, and they all nodded in agreement.

****

Saturday came quickly, much to the population of Hogwarts delight. The preparation for the Ball was almost as coveted as the actual event.

The day, however, was to begin a lot earlier for a particular group of Gryffindors, who were ready and waiting at the same time as the sun threatened to break the horizon.

"Where is Black?" Lily moaned with a yawn "It's nearly five past"
"Yeah and he had the nerve to tell us not to be late" Marlene joined in just as Sirius appeared from the boy's stairs.

"good" He said walking towards the portrait hole "Let's go then"

The girls shared a look before following him.

"Where are we going?" Alice asked, struggling to keep up with his fast pace causing Sirius to bark a laugh "You'll see"

Sirius was holding what appeared to be a piece of old parchment but when quizzed on its purpose he shrugged the girls off, only telling them it was a "marauders secret, sorry"

Soon enough, they reached a curious looking statue of a one-eyed witch and Sirius came to an abrupt halt
"Here we are" He said cheerfully, taking out his wand

"What do you mean?" Lily said, "It's a statue?"

Sirius laughed at her apparent confusion "Yes my dear Lily, but it's not just a statue" And with that he tapped his wand against the smooth stone and said "Dissendium". To the girl's utter astonishment, the statue slid apart, revealing what looked like a secret passageway.

"But Sirius?" Alice asked, "Where does it go?"

"Honeydukes" Sirius stated simply before jumping down "Aren't you lot coming?"

After a good amount of walking and crouching the girls, along with Sirius, found themselves in Hogsmeade at last. They thanked Sirius profusely before making their way to the dress shop.

"Thank god it's open so early" Marlene laughed as they made their way inside "oh, they're all so pretty" She gazed in wonderment at the mountains of material surrounding her

"Okay girls" Alice said "pick a few each and we'll try them on"

They rummaged, announcing their joy and disgust at each new garment.

"Lily, this would look simply divine on you"
"No, Dorcas, remember I said no to red, it clashes with my hair" Lily pouted at her and Dorcas sighed her disappointment.

"this is it" Marlene gasped "This is the one"
She was holding up a lacey red mermaid dress that has little buttons running down the back and the most gorgeously elegant train.
The other three girls collectively gasped and ran over to get a proper look at it

"Marls, it's amazing" Alice cooed "You'll look so sexy in that"

Lily held up two dresses "What do you think of either of these ones?"
Marlene squinted at them "I'm not sure, Lils. They're lovely but I don't think either of them is the one"
"Okay, I'll keep looking" Lily laughed and turned back to the racks

"Hey, Lily?" Alice shouted over a while later "I found your dress"
She help up the most elegant, pale gold dress that Lily had ever seen and she immediately feel in love
"Oh Alice" She gasped "I know I said I'd go for green but that... that's stunning"
It was off the shoulder with a sweetheart neckline, the top was fitted to show off her curves but the skirt was light and flowy. Lily's favourite part was the delicate flowers splattered over the dress, making it look amazingly magical.
"That's the one" Marlene smiled at it.

Many hours later, the shop began to fill up with other Hogwarts students and so, once all the required dresses had been found, the girls left to finally grab something to eat. Seeing as they missed breakfast.

A/N - Isn't Sirius just one of the best characters? And Marlene too. Hope you enjoyed this one too :)