In Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions, Lily wandered aimlessly around the shop looking for a set of dress robes. Aleydis was in the dressing room, trying on what seemed like her 100th pair of robes. Lily turned as Leda walked out of the dressing room with the robes on and did a few twirls. The robes shimmered slightly and seemed to be made of real gold thread that matched her hair. Leda brought her head up to look at her friend.
“Well, what do you think, Lily?” she asked, smiling and twirling.
“Wow,” Lily said in awe. “They’re perfect! Sirius won’t be able to keep his eyes off you! You had better buy them, or else I’ll force you to.”
“Ah, well, the sacrifices I make for all magic people,” Leda answered with a grin and bounced back to the dressing room. Less than a minute later, Leda walked out of the dressing room and to Lily’s side. “We need to find you a pair of robes!”
“I don’t see anything, though,” said Lily with her face in a mild frown.
“So spin in a circle with your arm outstretched and the first pair of robes you touch, you buy,” Leda suggested with a shrug.
Lily’s face turned to an expression of stunned disbelief. “What if they’re horrid? What if they make my arse look big?”
“Lily, you need to have an arse for it to look big. Go on, it’s all part of the risk.” Leda smiled evilly, giving Lily an overwhelming sense of foreboding. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and began to spin. When she was satisfactorily nauseous, she stopped and opened one eye. Immediately, her other eye popped open and her jaw dropped in amazement at her luck. Her finger had landed on the most gorgeous set of emerald green robes she had ever seen.
“Oh, Lily! They’re beautiful! They match your eyes. We’ll have to see which of us can make our dates drool longer,” challenged Leda. The girls paid for their robes and requested that their robes be sent to the school. The clerk said it was no problem and to have a Happy Christmas.
In Honeydukes, James was busy biting on his lip. Sirius came up and thumped him on the back.
“Prongs, what are you worrying over? It’s all going to ruin your teeth anyway. That’s the beauty of it!”
“I’m thinking of what to get Lily for Christmas. I can’t decide what’s good enough.”
“Well, if you’re going to run off, you’ll have to promise to tell me where you were last night,” said Sirius, grinning evilly. He could ask, even though he already knew.
James smiled back. “Sure Padfoot.” He blew out a deep breath. “I can’t get her candy. No jokes either. And she has more than enough books. I’m going to Merlin’s Magical Jewels. Meet you at Zonko’s, ok?” Without waiting for an answer, James swept out of Honeydukes and up the lane to the jewelry store.
A bell rang somewhere deep in the store when James walked into Merlin’s Magical Jewels. He wandered around for a bit, careful not to trip and break the tiny glass figurines on the shelves, then walked up to the counter. An elderly man stood behind the counter with his hands lightly folded, reminding James of Albus Dumbledore.
“Hello young man. How may I help you?”
“I’m looking for a Christmas present for this girl. It’s hard to decide what to get her, though.”
“Ah yes, I see. How about a nice, self-polishing robe clasp?” The man held up an extremely shiny clasp in the shape of two wands crossing each other.
“No, she likes to do things herself.”
“Not to worry! How about a nice, lunar alarm clock? It will let her know when the best time of the month is to do certain things. See? On the full moon, she should beware of werewolves.”
James tried to push the angry comments out of his mind and nearly lost. “I don’t think she’d fully appreciate the clock,” he said evenly. And neither would I, he added in his head.
“Merlin’s beard, this girl better be special!” exclaimed the exasperated clerk after displaying nearly everything in the shop.
“She’s very special,” James responded sincerely. He swept his gaze over the display of necklaces and found the perfect gift. The chain was made of pure silver and the small Celtic cross that had an intricately woven strand of emerald was silver as well.
“That! That’s the one I want!” he practically shouted.
“Why didn’t you say that to begin with?” With a simple Summoning Charm he brought the necklace down from behind him and onto a plump red velvet pillow.
“Can it be engraved?” James asked breathlessly.
“Sure, what do you want on it?” His wand was at the ready.
“‘Lily Evans.’ And embellish, it please.” The man waved his wand and in beautiful script Lily’s name was now on the back of the cross. “It’s perfect. Thanks,” James said as the man laid it gently in a box with cushioning.
“Thirty Galleons please.” James handed him the money and called, “Keep the change!” as he ran out the door. He failed to realize he’d given the clerk fifty Galleons.
“Love-sick fool,” he muttered.
James flew into Zonko’s, completely winded. While shoving his way through the thick crowd of Hogwarts students, he spotted Sirius, Remus, and Peter standing near the Dungbombs section with Lily and Aleydis. He noticed the girls were trying to stay as far away from the Dungbombs without completely abandoning the three boys. With a smile on his face, James tucked the tiny box in the pocket of his robes and walked over to his friends.
“James! They won’t come over to the Dungbombs section! I don’t know why; it smells fresh as a cowfield! Go Bessie, go!” Sirius said gaily. Leda wrinkled her nose and took a step back. Lily was pinching her nose and speaking at the same time.
“It smells horrible Sirius! How can you possibly stand it? It smells like someone’s arse!”
“Lily, it can’t be that bad. I can’t smell anything,” added Remus with a smile.
“We should drop some at the ball,” suggested Peter, his mouth forming a wide grin and his eyes forming a wide grin, his eyes widening in excitement.
A five-strong voice shouted, “NO!” James, Sirius, Remus, Lily, and Leda all yelled at Peter at once.
“Ok, ok, it was just a suggestion. Sorry,” he grumbled.
“Lily, look at the Fog Floors!” laughed Leda, grabbing her arm. As soon as the girls were out of hearing, Remus sidled up to James.
“So, what did you get Lily?” he asked in a low voice. James quickly scanned the crowd to make sure she wasn’t looking before pulling the box out of his robes. After looking at the cross for some time, Remus glanced up at him. “She’ll love it,” he reassured him. As James breathed a quiet sigh of relief, Remus tilted his head as if listening to something. “Here come the girls.”
“Hey Marauders, we’ll meet you at the Three Broomsticks. We’ve forgotten to do something,” she explained. They quickly made their way out of Zonko’s Joke Shop and went up the lane to Merlin’s Magical Jewels.
“I just couldn’t get him a prank thing, he’s got too many. Besides, why should I encourage his naturally mischievous mind?”
“Do you think I should get Sirius something?” Leda wondered.
“Sure, get him something with dogs. You know he loves them” They walked into the warm shop and went straight to the counter. No one was there, so Leda began to walk around, perusing the mobile glass figurines. No less than thirty seconds later, Lily heard a crash indicating something had been broken. She hurried over to Leda, who was searching her pockets for her wand.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got it. Reparo!” Lily called, pointing her wand at the broken glass.
“Thank you, young lady. That is very nice Charm work. Now, how may I help you?” said the clerk.
“I’m looking for something for this bloke…” she told him as they walked back to the counter.
“How about a nice robe clasp? It self-polishes, too.”
“No, thanks. He’d break it anyway. No glass, I think he’d break that too. He’s a real klutz, you know. Although lately he hasn’t tripped over anything…I don’t know if Sirius’ foot counts, but…” Leda and the clerk cleared their throats. “Right. Sorry. Ooh, may I see that?” she asked, pointing to the Celtic cross necklace. The clerk laid it carefully in her hand and Lily looked it over. “This is beautiful. The chain has the right amount of masculinity, too, for that big head of his. I’ll take it. Oh, is it possible to get it engraved?”
“Yes, what would you like?”
“James Potter, please.”
“Certainly. Potter, what an odd name.” With a wave of his wand, the cross was engraved. He wrapped it in the box and handed it to Lily. “Thirty Galleons, please.” Lily searched her pockets and a frown came over her face.
“I only have ten Galleons! I’m so sorry, sir!” The clerk waved away her apologies.
“Someone just gave me twenty Galleons change with their last purchase. Just give me what you have.”
With a nervous look on her face, Lily nodded and smiled. “Um, ok.” She handed him her money and as soon as the money had exchanged hands, the little box with the cross was in Lily’s hand. The clerk turned to Leda.
“And you, miss?”
“May I purchase this dog figurine?”
“Of course, ten Galleons, please.” Leda counted out the exact amount of money and picked up the bag with the figurine in it. The girls walked out, extremely pleased with their purchases.
“That dog figurine is so cute! It moves every once in a while. Sirius will love it,” said Lily as she cooed over the figurine.
“That necklace is something else though. What I wonder is, what kind of fool would give someone twenty Galleons in change? Anyway, you’d better put that box away so James doesn’t see it.” At this, Lily nodded, and hid the box in her robes just in time.
A voice shouted from behind her, followed by an extremely large gust of wind that picked her up and dropped her when she floated five feet from the ground. As she hit, Leda ran over to help her up.
Lily’s head shot up; her eyes hot as fire, her voice cold as ice. “Snivellus Snape, how good of you to come to Hogsmeade. Wash your underthings lately?”
Snape paled slightly, but retained his greasy smirk as his accomplice stepped out from behind him, Lucius Malfoy.
“Snivellus, Malfoy, say what you want, then get out of here,” snarled Leda.
Ignoring Aleydis, Lucius sneered at Lily, “What are you doing in a wizarding village, Mudblood? If you haven’t noticed, only magic-folk are allowed here.”
Lily narrowed her eyes. “Then what are you doing here? Legally, you’re not a wizard,”’ she retorted. Next to her, Leda suddenly drew her wand and shouted, “Silencio!” just as Snape and Malfoy had drawn their wands. Though Leda hit both of them with a Silencing Charm, both of their curses hit Lily, one in the chest and one on her side. Immediately blood began to drip from gashes in her side and chest. They are not getting away, Lily told herself. Raising her wand, she aimed for their quickly retreating backs and yelled as hard and fast as she could, “STUPEFY!” They fell over, no more of a concern to Lily; she had bigger problems. Whereas the blood had started at a drip, it was now quickly trickling out of the wounds and down all her clothes.
Parallel to where they were standing stood the Three Broomsticks with nearly all of the customers’ faces pressed against the front window to see the scuffle outside. Wondering what was going on, James jumped up and stuck his head out the door. His spine instantly started prickling at the sight of Leda in the middle of the street, supporting a profusely bleeding Lily. Forgetting about his coat, he ran over to where Leda stood with Lily sagging against her.
“Come on Lily,” urged Leda, but it was of no use.
“Did I—get the—slimy—gits?” she asked weakly, clutching her side. Her eyes started to become unfocused. Snapping out of his daze, James went to the other side of Lily to support her. Giving up on stooping down to help her, he swept her into his arms, resting her head against his shoulder. He began to walk as fast as he could down the road to Hogwarts with Leda at his side. When he looked down at Lily, he wished he hadn’t. The bottom of her beloved ivory sweater was completely red from the bleeding gash in her side.
Finding his voice, James tried to soothe her. “You got them, don’t worry. You’ll be fine; it’s nothing Madame Pomfrey can’t handle. Hey, you just fixed me up a couple of weeks ago, right? Come on Evans, you’re going to pull though. I think this is just a publicity stunt.” He didn’t realize he was babbling until he looked at Lily’s face and saw she was out. He turned his head to Leda.
“Who did this to her?” he asked in a voice filled with anger.
“Snape and Malfoy, they got us as we came out of a shop,” she answered quickly.
“Right. Ok.” His mouth was set in a firmly determined line. “You can carry her the rest of the way. Here you go.”
Leda looked at him in mild horror. “What do you think you’re doing?” she asked in disbelief.
“Killing Malfoy and Snivellus of course,” he answered as if she had asked what he thought of the weather.
“Oh no you don’t. Lily will be in a complete panic when she wakes up. She’ll want you there.” Before James could decide to turn around with Lily in his arms, Leda continued, “Snape threw her on the ground, Malfoy called her Mudblood, Lily hammered the logic out of them, and they attacked.” She soon found that this statement did not help matters.
“Oh, and I suppose you stood there cowering, not helping?” he said in an accusing tone.
“James, don’t be a git right now. We already have two on our hands. I silenced them, making it so their curses would not have full effect,” she said evenly. “Otherwise, she’d have died on the spot.”
“Thanks,” he muttered grudgingly. He looked up the road they were on to Hgowarts. Just a little further, we’ll be ok. “She’s so bloody though.” James jumped when he realized he had said that out loud. What if she was already dead, and he was holding the lifeless corpse of this beautiful girl? Stop that James. She’s not dead, she’s not dead. They burst through the front doors, and on a surge of desperation, ran to the hospital wing.
“Madame Pomfrey! Madame Pomfrey, come quick!” shouted Leda.
“Yes, yes, I was just having my afternoon tea. Oh my gracious!” she exclaimed when James came rushing in with Lily. Carefully, he laid her on the nearest hospital bed (thankfully, not occupied) and hurried Madame Pomfrey over.
“Stand back Mr. Potter, Miss Figg.” Lighting her wand, she opened Lily’s eyes one at a time and shined the light in them. “She’s alive, but lost a lot of blood. We’ll need the Headmaster.” No sooner had she rushed to the bell to call the Headmaster, when James began to storm off. Leda ran and dragged him back, much to his protests.
“Come on, James, you can kill them later. Sirius and the others have got them. Trust me when I say you should stay here,” emphasized Leda. Shooting one last withering glance in the general direction of Hogsmeade, he nodded and took a step forward just as Madam Pomfrey came rushing back in.
“Ms. Figg, I’ll need you to put Miss Evans in her pajamas.”
“Ok, but what about the…er…blood?”
“I don’t want to risk a Cleaning Charm, so we’ll need some washcloths and water.” Pomfrey waved her wand at the bedside table, a basin of water and some clean washcloths appearing. With another wave of her wand, a set of pajamas that would fit an eleven-year old appeared in Leda’s arms. “I’ll be looking for some Blood-Replenishing Potion…” With that, she swept away, leaving Leda and James to their own devices.
“I’m really not helping, you know.”
“James, shut up for once.” In a flash of robes, Leda whipped the curtains around the bed closed. Quickly and gently, she removed Lily’s dirty cloak and sweater.
“Here James, be useful,” she ordered and threw them over the curtain. Easily, James caught them and threw them on the nightstand. Next came her slacks and, thankfully for James, nothing else. Then, Leda opened the curtains again, revealing Lily lying in the bed, covered with a blanket.
“Here, I’ll put her stuff in a laundry basket.” Turning around, she sneaked the small box out of Lily’s cloak while James sidled up next to the bed. He grabbed a cloth and soaked it in water, then began to carefully wipe some off the drying blood that Leda had missed. When he reached her neck, her eyes fluttered open, looking straight at James.
“You and Leda saved me,” she said quietly. “I owe you.”
“So kiss me later. Go back to sleep now, you’ll need it for the ball.” He pasted on a false grin.
At the mention of the ball, Lily’s eyes widened. “The ball…It seems so far away.”
At that moment, Albus Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall swept into the room, followed by Madam Pomfrey.
“So, Poppy, how is she?” asked McGonagall, looking quite terrifying.
“She’s lost a lot of blood Professors. I am going to give her some Blood-Replenishing Potion. I recommend rest and that she be alone,” Madam Pomfrey emphasized the word while nodding meaningfully at James.
“Please Professor, let James stay…Leda will be…”
“Aleydis will be back with Lucius Malfoy and Sniv—Snape. Those were the two who did this,” James finished for her. Lily squeezed James’ hand as a sign of thanks. Noting the fury in James’ eyes, Dumbledore held up a hand to stop any further comments.
“James and Leda may come and go as they please. They must both however, not abuse this privilege and take into consideration the other people in the hospital wing.”
“Of course, sir. I just don’t want to leave her alone,” James said. Apparently satisfied with the response, the three adults walked away to have a private conversation.
“Poppy, what are her chances of survival?” asked McGonagall.
“Oh please Minerva, don’t be so morbid,” smiled Dumbledore.
“She will be fine once I give her the potion. She can be released in one week.”
“My dear Madam Pomfrey, the Christmas Ball is in two nights. I think she will heal quickly enough by then.”
“You will be speaking to the elder Malfoy, Dumbledore?” McGonagall stated rather than asked. Dumbledore merely nodded as Sirius, Remus, and Peter walked in, carelessly dragging Snape and Malfoy after them.
“So, where do you want us to dump these two pieces of sh—Professor McGonagall! Hello!” sang Sirius, covering up his soon-to-be ill use of language.
Meanwhile, Poppy walked over to Lily and forced her to drink the absolutely disgusting Blood-Replenishing Potion. As soon as she left, James grabbed Lily’s hand and began to talk to her about not really anything. He broke off, however, when Leda walked over.
“Leda, could you give James my box?” Understanding, she nodded and reached in her pocket, then handed James the box containing Lily’s present to him. Leda then backed away, making an excuse to go see Sirius. “This is what we were getting right after…” she didn’t need finish as James pulled out an identical looking box.
“Lily, I’m going to give you your present.” Without further ado, James opened up the box and held up the cross for her to see. “I even got it engraved. Do you like it?”
A broad grin lit up her face as she struggled to hold back a small laugh. “It’s lovely. You’ll want to open your box, I imagine. It’s your Christmas present from me.” She nodded to the unopened box in his lap. She closed her eyes while James opened his present. She opened them again when he exclaimed under his breath, “Bloody hell!”
“We got each other the same thing,” she stated rather obviously.
“Great minds think alike.” Grinning like the Cheshire cat, James hooked the cross around his neck, then proceeded to put Lily’s around her neck. “You’ll be out of here in no time, you know. You’re that stubborn,” he added more to himself than her.
“Oh, I will, will I? And I thought you were conceited…” She left the implication hang. Taking a shallow breath, she said, “I’m really tired. You don’t mind if I just…” Not bothering to finish the request, she dropped into a deep sleep.
“No, of course not,” he answered quietly. He kissed her lightly on the lips, then settled himself in the chair and got ready for a long night. Less than a minute later, however, Aleydis showed up with Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Sirius gave his friend a minute, then loudly cleared his throat. James jumped with a start and looked at his small audience.
“She just fell asleep.”
“Prongs, you should probably eat,” Remus suggested.
James sighed. “I’ll stay here.”
“We’ll all be leaving,” Sirius pointed out.
“Yes, but what if she wakes up and--”
“Lily isn’t going to wake up for a while,” Leda responded.
“Alright…” Recognizing defeat, James reluctantly pulled himself out of his chair and followed the gang to the Great Hall.
The following morning dawned bright and with a hint of snow in the air. If one looked out a window, they would see the sun reflecting off the lake. The same bright sun shone through the window over the bed Lily slept in. She woke up, feeling a thousand times better than she had before. She sat up, stretched, and admired the sun for some time before she tuned into the arguing voices at the end of the hospital wing.
“Miss Figg, if you come back around tea time, I’m sure she will be awake by then!”
“Please Madam Pomfrey! Professor McGonagall wants me to escort her back to the common room, and besides, it’s a lovely day; shouldn’t she get some fresh air to help her get better?” Leda begged. “See, I even brought her fresh robes!”
“Oh all right!” Madam Pomfrey gave in.
“Oh come on, Madam Pomfrey! Have a heart! I already--” Leda stopped abruptly, realizing the nurse had given her consent. “Wow! Thanks!”
Lily sat up against the hard headboard of the hospital bed. Reaching behind her, she pulled the pillow up so she could rest on it.
“Miss Evans, how do you feel?” inquired Madam Pomfrey.
“Oh, much better. May I go back to the common room? Please?” Lily pleaded, using the same tone of voice that Leda had used only seconds earlier. Before answering, Madam Pomfrey took her temperature, felt her pulse, checked her reflexes and her eyesight, and would’ve proceeded into a full physical examination, but Lily asked again if she could go.
Madam Pomfrey set down her wand and sighed, “I suppose.” She said it rather reluctantly while Lily and Leda shot each other victorious looks. “However, if you feel any dizziness, drowsiness, a headache, a stomachache, begin to have the shivers and/or hot flashes, you are to report to me immediately.” She ordered.
Not paying attention at all, Lily gave her a mock salute while slipping her robes over her head and said, “Righty-ho captain!” Talking and laughing about nothing in particular, Lily and Leda wove their way through the Hogwarts corridors and towards the portrait of the Fat Lady and their common room. They didn’t realize they reached their destination until the Fat Lady screamed at the top of her lungs, “PASSWORD!”
“Pumpernickel!” laughed Lily.
“Thank you!” barked the Fat Lady, her cheeks bright red. The girls simply laughed again as they climbed through the portrait hole. As soon as Lily and Leda walked in, they were surrounded by a swarm of people.
“Lily, you’re back!”
“Welcome back Evans!”
“Aleydis, you won’t believe what hap--”
“Lily, is it true you cut Malfoy’s willy off?” shouted one person.
Lily’s eyebrows shot up in astonishment. “I excel in Charms, not curses,” she answered with a smile.
Aleydis and Lily made their way through the throng over to where the Marauders were sitting, in front of the fire. Sirius jumped up when Leda walked over; his expression looking as if his birthday, Christmas, and New Year’s had all come at once.
“You lasses will not believe what happened!” He was jumping up and down out of sheer glee. “So, Leda, guess.”
“I couldn’t begin to imagine,” she remarked, shifting her twinkling eyes to Lily. “Have you four discovered another secret passage?”
“I wish, but no. Even better: Malfoy and Snivellus were given detention for two whole months and…here’s the best part…Dumbledore is making him write a four-parchment essay on how Muggle witches and wizards help the magical world!” He doubled up in laughter, tears streaming out of his eyes. Remus thumped him hard on the back, and Sirius once again breathed.
James spoke up from the chair he was sitting in. “So, Lily, how are you feeling?” He lifted his head to connect his eyes with hers.
“Much better.” She smiled, then slowly walked up to him and leaned down, grabbing his chin. She planted a long kiss right on his lips, in the middle of the now silent common room. Currently unable to move, James sat where he was and succumbed to the unexpected “torture.” Releasing his chin, Lily pulled away from him, and pushed her hair out of her face. He looked quite stunned, which was exactly how Lily wanted him.
“The debt is repaid, Potter.” Before James could clear his mind and figure out what the hell she was talking about, Lily left him, following Leda up to their dormitory.
“Lily, you’ll have to explain whatever that was after I show you our robes,” said Leda calmly, though her insides were ready to burst from excitement.
On Lily’s bed lay her emerald green robes. She sighed at the beauty of them and in disbelief at her luck that she had found this particular pair of robes. She had to touch them one more time, feel their soft texture. Not wanting them to get dirty or forgotten about, she hung them up in her wardrobe and turned to face Leda who had done the same.
“Can you believe all of this?” asked Lily.
“No, not really. Speaking of which…What was that downstairs with James? You know what, let’s start at the beginning.”
Lily gave her a mildly confused look, but said, “Okay…”
“First, you guys are friends in first year. Then, for some reason, you get mad at him in second year--”
“He was making fun of a bunch of first years, plus he was completely arrogant! Did you see the way he would--”
“Yes, yes, I know! Don’t talk yet. So, you get mad at him in second year and hate him until this summer, when you send me an owl asking if I think James is really that arrogant or just plain stupid. Then, we find out we’re having a ball, of all things. James, the person whom you now think isn’t “all bad”, asks you to said ball and you say yes. Now I see you kissing him in the middle of the common room, which, by the way, used to be completely uncharacteristic of you. What gives?” Leda shoved her hands on her hips and bored her eyes into Lily’s.
“I was wondering when you would ask that…Well, I’m not sure what happened. I think he may have…Well, I don’t know…He may have matured.” Lily said, biting her lip. Looking up at Leda, she saw she would have to continue. So, she proceeded to tell about her unnerving dreams of the stag and what had happened weeks ago with James. When she finished, she dropped her chin to her chest and hugged her knees. “So, doctor, what do you say? How long do I have?”
Leda gaped at her. “I don’t believe it. I seriously don’t believe it! You’re in love with James!” She began to laugh hysterically. “This completely explains everything!”
“What? No, Leda, you’ve got it wrong. I don’t lo—I couldn’t possibly…Oh sweet Merlin…” She didn’t find this nearly as funny as Leda did.
Wiping tears from her eyes, Leda said, “well, we’ve got to go back downstairs.”
Lily dropped her mouth in horror. “Why? I can’t go down and look at him!”
“Well, first of all, you’re now the hero of Gryffindor Tower and are expected to reenact your heroic tale, and secondly, you should see James. You know what this means, don’t you?”
“What?” Lily asked miserably, afraid to find out.
Leda grinned. “You get to be the sexy vixen.”
“Vixen?”
“You know, it sure is taking a long time for them upstairs,” James said, trying to put on an air of ease to the words.
“If she’d fainted Prongs, I think we would know,” commented Remus, who was playing chess with Peter, and winning.
“Yeah, I guess.” Just as James began to slip back into a melancholy state, the girls walked down, looking fabulous in his opinion, and laughing about something or other; probably a girl thing.
“Hey guys,” they said rather absently. They sat on the couch, then went right back into talking.
“You know, those robes look a lot nicer since yesterday,” Lily commented, sending James a very private, sly look.
“I think the robemaker must have put a Shimmer Spell on them,” Leda pondered.
“I don’t think this day could get any better." Lily smiled and looked around her beloved common room. As her eyes landed on the portrait hole, Professor McGonagall walked through carrying a scroll in one hand and a quill in the other. She walked directly to the middle of the common room and cleared her throat. There was silence immediately.
“Good morning, Gryffindors. I have an announcement about the ball.” At this, a few people gasped, fearing it had been cancelled. “Professor Dumbledore has decided to set up a court for this ball” (a communal release of breath). “You are to select one male and one female student from your house and nominate them for King or Queen. At the end of the ball, one couple will be selected as the King and Queen and they will dance the last dance together.” McGonagall rolled up the scroll, then peered at everyone over her glasses. She waved her wand, producing a fresh piece of parchment. “I will now need your votes for who will represent our house.” All at once, people shouted various names. McGonagall held up a hand. “One at a time, please!”
“I nominate Dumbledore and McGonagall!” shouted someone.
“Only student couplings, Mister Wood.”
“I nominate Sirius Black and Leda Figg!” called Lily. She grinned at Leda, who was speechless, for once.
“I second that!” shouted James from his seat near Lily. This was followed by a number of other agreements along with Lily and James.
“Ha!” laughed Leda. She grinned evilly at Lily. “I nominate James Potter and Lily Evans!” There were many more assents for them than for Sirius and Leda until Sirius stood up and crowed, “Hell yes!”
“Mr. Black!” exclaimed McGonagall. Immediately following this delightful outburst, there was a similar burst of applause for Lily and James.
“So, is it decided then? The King and Queen candidates for Gryffindor are James Potter and Lily Evans,” stated McGonagall.
“God save the queen!” shouted Peter.
The entire Gryffindor Tower then proceeded to rally for the Queen of England the entire day and well into the night, pausing once when McGonagall came back up and asked them to please keep it to a dull roar.
Lily and Leda had gone to bed early, but full of excitement. They were to spend the next day exploring the grounds with the boys before going to change for the ball.