The Saturday before St. Valentine’s Day dawned with clear skies that reflected in dazzling waves off the crystal snow. There was no wind to stir the snow and add the bite to the air that was typical of the highlands. The sky was a blue that was just what everyone imagined when someone said “sky blue.” Nothing could be more perfect for a trip to Hogsmeade.
Dumbledore was standing at the window in his office, looking out over the Hogwarts grounds. He sighed.
“Well, Fawkes. It’s a beautiful day. Hopefully it’ll stay this way. The wards around Hogsmeade have been checked, have they not?”
Fawkes, Dumbledore’s phoenix, nodded solemnly. Dumbledore smiled and walked over to the flame-colored bird. He gently stroked the bird’s head. Fawkes tilted it to better shape Dumbledore’s hand.
“Perhaps…perhaps you and I should make a day of today. Would you care to join me on a trip to Hogsmeade, my old friend?”
Fawkes trilled happily and settled onto Dumbledore’s shoulder. Then… they were both invisible. Dumbledore walked to this door and descended the stairs beyond after activating his security wards. They would alert him if anyone sought him out; judging on who it was, he would Apparate with Fawkes back to his office. (Being Dumbledore, he was allowed to do that.) At the bottom of his stairs, he spoke an acknowledging word to his gargoyle”who was used to Dumbledore’s invisibility”and took off on a walk of the school. There was still quite a while until students could leave to go to the village. In fact, there were still a few hours until most of them would even be awake.
Among the four classes of Hogwarts students that were walking towards Hogsmeade”laughing, skipping through the light snow, or snuggling close to boyfriends or girlfriends”a group of seventh years could be found, walking in two lines due to the narrow road. An outsider would chuckle at the amount of shades of red they could find, but it would be a chuckle without derision. Each matching pair leaned happily against one another, but still talked and laughed with their friends.
Lily had linked her arm through James’s, her mittened hand resting atop his grey wool pea-coat”he admitted his mother had found it in a Muggle store. She looked around at her friends, her grin wide and fond.
Sirius was giving Nikeia a piggy back ride, his thick woolen sweater (handmade by James’s mum) stretched across his chest, and the fringe of Nikeia’s heavy white poncho danced to the motion of his walking. Her cheek was pressed close to his, and was currently whispering something.
Frank and Alice walked gloved hand in gloved hand, not speaking but smiling in companionship. They were both wearing their winter coats over their matching pink shirts. (Frank had admitted to James, who had whispered to Lily, that he had to be heavily persuaded by Alice to magically change the color of his shirt to match Alice’s. He didn’t appear to truly mind, however.)
Josey and Antoine were at the rear of their party, being quite predictable in their actions (walking-and-snogging) as well as in their outfits (scarlet tops over black bottoms).
Lily rolled her eyes, and turned to look up at Remus, who was walking beside them.
She slipped her arm through his, returning his smile with a grin of her own.
“You look very nice, Remus. Meeting someone in the Village?”
Remus scoffed, and shook his head. “No, just thought it would be nice to look nice.”
Lily chuckled and squeezed his arm. “Well, I’ll gladly meet you in the Village for a butterbeer.”
Remus laughed this time, and did a rather impulsive thing for him: he leaned over and kissed Lily’s cheek.
James cleared his throat, but both Lily and Remus ignored him.
They walked a bit further, and then Lily suddenly realized something.
“Where’s Peter?” she asked, looking around at their group.
“Oh, he slept in. Didn’t much feel like walking around with a bunch of lovey-dovey people, he said,” explained Remus. “Said he might walk down to grab a butterbeer or some supplies, if he needed to, later.”
“Sleep in?” asked James. “It’s nearly noon!”
“Prongs, you know Peter. When he gets a chance to sleep in, he takes it and makes the most of it,” chuckled Remus.
James pulled an “Oh, yeah” face, and nodded.
“Hey, has anyone else noticed that ‘James,’ ‘Sirius’ and ‘Remus’ all end in an ‘s’, but ‘Peter’ doesn’t?” asked Nikeia.
“So. What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Sirius, confused and a bit defensive as he twisted to look at his girl.
“I do not know,” admitted Nikeia, laughing slightly. “I just thought it was an interesting observation. Kind of ironic, yeah?”
Sirius shrugged, bumping Nikeia’s chin with his shoulder. She feigned hurt, and he managed to lean his head back and kiss the injury.
They continued to walk into Hogsmeade, greeting other students walking on the road. As they walked, they also decided to all grab drinks at the Three Broomsticks together, rather than splitting up and trying to meet up later. The Valentine’s Day festival was ongoing, starting after three. Music and dancing would be available, as well as food and treats from the village stores and shops.
The group walked into the Three Broomsticks, apologizing to those nearest the doors for letting in so much cold air.
The young gentlemen sat their ladies (and Remus, who teased them about stealing all their girls while they were grabbing drinks) at a large round table, then walked up to the bar.
"Good afternoon, gents. Happy St. Valentine’s Day, though I guess you already knew that,” said Rosmerta, smiling as she popped the tops of the butterbeers. “I assume you’ll be attending the little festival, here in the village?”
The four men nodded, smiling rather shyly.
James said, “All the decorations along the streets look great. I trust your talented and lovely hand supervised most of the work?”
Madam Rosmerta giggled, then playfully swatted his shoulder. “Now, James Potter, I’m not the one to be flirting with. Speaking of flirting, what are you all planning to do today?”
The "gents" looked at each other, silently urging the other to go first.
"Now, don't all of you speak at once; I can't understand any of you when there are four voices crowding my ears," chuckled Rosmerta.
Frank cleared his throat and spoke. "Alice and I are going to that new nursery that opened. We both love Herbology, so I thought that would be a good idea."
"As long as you remember to buy her a pretty little plant, Frank," hinted Rosmerta. Frank chuckled, and nodded. "And you, Sirius?"
"I'm not sure. I thought we could just walk around. Maybe check out Zonko's..."
"Oh, well aren’t you romantic."
Sirius's eyes widened as the other guys laughed.
"Well, what should I do?" he asked, planting his hands on the counter.
"Whatever you want," smiled Rosmerta. Sirius threw up his arms in exasperation. Rosmerta laughing, patted his hand, and turned to James with the same question.
"Well, I feel I should get her another present after being such an idiot a week ago. I've got one gift already, but I want another."
"Such an idiot? Dear Merlin, what happened?” asked Rosmerta.
“A little run-in with a mermaid-siren-veela girl in our House,” was all James said.
Rosmerta gasped. “Well, that sounds dangerous.” She froze. “It wouldn’t be a sixth year, would it? Brown hair, brown eyes, rather short? Albrecht, or something?”
“Albright. Laila, yeah. How did you know?” asked James.
“Oh, I’ve been suspicious of her for a while. She always seemed to have another young man trialing after her whenever she came in here,” Rosmerta said, almost growling. “She ran in here for about five minutes today, before running off to Puddifoot’s, dragging some poor boy around.” Rosmerta sighed.
“It figures she doesn’t know good food and drink,” said Sirius, winking at the older landlady. She laughed and patted his hand again.
She looked back at James and said softly, “There’s a new shop that just opened up. A chocolate shop. Perhaps that would be a good place for you to start.” She winked and James winked back conspiratorially.
Rosmerta looked at the fourth man in their group. "And... Antoine, isn't it? I figured I had recognized your face from the newspaper. They have a section all about Hogwarts' Quidditch, did you know that?"
The young men shook their heads.
"How do I look in the paper? Not as good as in person, right?" asked Sirius arrogantly.
"You're not on the Quidditch team, you dolt," said James exasperatedly.
"I know... but I'm the life of the Quidditch after-party!"
"And where would the Hogsmeade newspaper get pictures from inside Hogwarts?" asked James, hitting his friend's head with the back of his hand. The others laughed as Sirius muttered his excuses incoherently.
"All right... Antoine, what are you doing with Josey?"
"How did you know I was going out with Josey?" Antoine asked in surprise.
Rosmerta leaned forward. "I know a lot, my dear," and she winked again.
"Oh, I see. Well, I don't know exactly. I was figuring we'd grab a bite to eat, maybe some candy, and go sit… well, sit somewhere.” His cheeks started to turn red.
Rosmerta looked at him carefully. “I do believe you were planning a trip to Puddifoot’s.”
Antoine’s blush deepened. Rosmerta let out a loud laugh.
“Now, don’t you fret! I prefer to see talking couples in my store, not snogging couples.”
The other three boys guffawed at Antoine’s still redder blush and clapped his back.
"You know..." started Sirius thoughtfully. “Snogging’s not a bad idea."
The men and Rosmerta laughed, and the landlady pushed the drinks forward.
They rejoined their girls at the table, all who remarked on Antoine’s blush. He ignored them and pulled Josey’s chair closer. She placed a kiss on his cheek, smiling happily at him.
James shared a roll-of-the-eyes with Lily, then held up his bottle of butterbeer in a silent salute.
An hour later, after a second round of butterbeer and a large tray of appetizers, James and Lily stood and headed back out into the nippy February air.
They took only a few steps into the road, when James saw Lauryn Ross, the girl that had come up to him the day after the argument with Lily and told him what she knew about that Laila girl, walking forward with her arm linked with that of a tall, thin boy.
Lauryn caught sight of the older pair, and waved her arm. Lily waved back, and waited for them to catch up.
James greeted Lauryn first, adding a “thank-you” to the end. Lauryn smiled broadly back.
“I’m glad you two are back together. Anything to thwart that selfish little-” She swallowed her next word, and smiled shyly. “She tried to make me believe that Isaac had fallen”Oh! But you haven’t meant Isaac!” She gave a little hop, then pulled Isaac forward slightly. She introduced him to Lily and James, and if her grin and his shy smile were any indication, they were quite happy to be together on this day. “She tried to make me think that… well, she just tried her hardest to make me angry at Isaac.” She looked up at him again with a bright smile. “It didn’t work, of course.”
Isaac’s blush and the broadening of his smile betrayed his happiness.
“I’m glad to hear that,” said Lily, touching Lauryn’s arm lightly. James nodded in agreement. “What are you two planning on doing today?”
“Well,” spoke Isaac in a clear tenor, “I was thinking butterbeers at the Three Broomsticks, then we could just walk through the stores, and such. I’ve wanted to go to Zonko’s this whole school year, but didn’t get a chance to last time we had a Hogsmeade weekend. Lauryn’s agreed to join me.”
Again, Lauryn’s grin denoted her joy. James found that her smile was contagious, and he began grinning also. He noticed Lily’s beautiful face was made even lovelier by the grin that spread across her own lips.
“Well, Isaac and Lauryn, I hope you two enjoy your day. Don’t have too much fun at Zonko’s,” Lily teased. They parted ways, Lily returning the wiggling of fingers Lauryn gave.
When she and James had a walked a few more feet, and heard the bell above the door at the Three Broomsticks tinkle, she laughed.
“Young love,” James sighed, before grinning down at her. She returned the smile, then suddenly stood on her tiptoes and kissed his lips.
He stumbled backwards slightly, but managed to balance himself and hold her up. He laughed when she pulled away, and said, “What was that for?”
“Do I need a reason?” she asked. “Here, I’ll give you three: I have a whole week and half to make up; I haven’t kissed you since before we left the castle, and their utterly adorable joy just made me want to kiss you.”
James laughed. “Well, those are wonderfully good reasons to me.” He kissed her again, pulling her closer and pushing one hand into her braided hair.
A passerby whistled at them, since they were standing in the middle of the road in the center of Hogsmeade.
James and Lily separated and smiled at the older couple walking by, it having been the man who had whistled at them.
James kept his arm around Lily, and continued walking.
“There’s a store up here that I want to go into. Madam Rosmerta mentioned it, and I think you’ll like it,” James said, gesturing up the street.
They approached the storefront, decorated with red and silver ribbons, and boxes shaped like hearts.
Lily gasped. “This is the same spot where Edgar’s Enchanted Emporium of Fashion was!”
James looked around, and realized that she was right. “Well, those enchantments must be really strong, but I’d say they’re worth it, for all the galleons the owners must rake in.”
Lily chuckled and nodded.
The store had been remodeled into a single-story brick building, with round latticed windows. A dark red awning stretched over the door, with the words “Patricia and Charles’s Pâtisserie et Chocolaterie” painted in a shimmery bronze paint.
James held open the door and handed her in.
The inside was dimly lit, and smelled of bittersweet chocolate and oranges. Lily breathed deep and smiled happily. James realized at that moment that it was a very wise choice to come here. He’d have to buy something small for Madam Rosmerta. He probably would have walked up and down the streets without an idea if she hadn’t mentioned it. He was originally thinking to have her pick out a book, but wasn’t sure if that wasn’t too stuffy and impersonal.
“Good afternoon, young lovers!” said a voice that had a faint French accent. It came from the middle-aged woman standing behind the counter. Her curly hair had powdered sugar in it, and a chocolate smudge ran across her round cheek. “Patricia” was embroidered across her chocolate covered apron.
James smiled at her, and led Lily to the counter. “All right. Pick out whatever you want. My treat, of course,” he said.
Lily grinned at him, and began perusing the contents of the glass display cases.
“Actually, my dear, if you wait a moment, your young man must do something first.” The woman reached behind the counter and pulled forth a glass orb. She handed it to James, who glanced at Lily with a curious face. Lily shrugged. James grabbed the orb, and held it in his two cupped hands, as Patricia was showing him. The orb began to cloud over, and Lily leaned closer. “Now, James, think-”
“How did you know my name?” asked James, his head lifting sharply up from the orb to look at the other woman.
She chuckled. “I would assume the captain of Gryffindor Quidditch team would assume that his name was well known around town.” James accepted the answer, and looked back at the orb.
“Now, think of your love.”
James could sense Lily’s eyes on his face as he stared at the orb. He had no trouble thinking about her beauty and her intelligence, the way she brightened his heart and truly listened to him, the funny way she squealed when he kissed her ear and the feel of her in his arms, and how much he loved her. He faintly noticed the smoke inside the orb begin to swirl faster and change colors. Just as faintly he noticed Patricia smile and walk away.
When she returned, she had a rectangular silver box in her hand, wrapped in a light green ribbon. She placed the box on the counter, and gently removed the sphere from his hands.
"What is that?" he asked.
"That was a family secret. I can't tell you what it was. I can tell you... that this on the counter in front of me is just what you want for your girl...” Patricia’s eyes twinkled at Lily, whose own eyes widened. She reached out for the box, but Patricia’s hands deftly moved it away.
“Now, now, you must be patient.” Patricia’s eyes twinkled again, and she turned to the back of the store. She called out the name “Charles!” and waited.
A rotund man appeared at the archway, which James assumed led to the kitchen and workroom. He had a chubby face, and even more sugar and chocolate smeared across his face and apron.
“Charlie, we have a young woman here…” Patricia said, holding out her hand.
The man smiled broadly, and rubbed his hands together. In a deep voice, also accented with French, he said, “Magnifique! Un moment!” He tottered back into the other room and appeared again almost instantly, holding a second orb in his hands. This one was slightly larger, and made of a cloudier, denser glass. He grinned at Lily, and held the orb out to her.
Lily hesitated for a moment, glanced at James, who shrugged, and then she took the orb into her hands.
The same swirling of colored smoke occurred inside the glass, but the colors were slightly different and moved more slowly. James watched Lily’s face, and his heart beat faster at her expression.
Charles chuckled deeply, and reached to his left. James didn’t follow his movement; he kept his gaze on Lily’s face.
Charles pulled forth a round black box, wrapped with a dark blue ribbon.
“And this,” he said, putting the box on the counter with one hand and removing the orb from Lily’s hands with the other, “is for your young man here, Lily.” Lily started in the same way James had, and also asked how Charles knew her name.
Patricia answered as Charles chuckled again. “Hogwarts Head Girl, very pretty, very smart, and the Quidditch Captain’s girlfriend. Your name is known in Hogsmeade, as well.”
“Indeed it is, mon cheri. A very beautiful woman you have here, young sir,” Charles said.
James wrapped his arms around Lily, and squeezed her to his chest.
Charles laughed again, and leaned over to place a kiss to Patricia’s chest. “Not as beautiful as my Patricia, of course! But lovely, nevertheless!”
Patricia twittered, then poked Charles’s ample girth. “Oh you, get back to the kitchen.”
Charles chuckled again (James couldn’t help but wonder how much chocolate he snuck into his mouth as he worked in the kitchen), and from Patricia’s squeak and jump, must have tapped Patricia’s bottom.
Lily and James held back their snorts of laughter at the string of French that Patricia sent to follow her husband back into the kitchen. She spoke as she laughed, and Charles just continued to laugh as he disappeared back into the kitchen.
“Oh, these men of ours!” Patricia said, looking to the ceiling.
James felt Lily’s laugh on his chest.
“Indeed,” Lily said, and James could tell that she was grinning.
Patricia pushed both boxes towards the couple, her cheeks flushed.
“Oh…” Lily looked down the gift. “Um, I wasn’t actually… well, I wasn’t planning on buying anything.” Her voice was small and shy.
Patricia laughed. “Then let your boy here buy them; he’ll enjoy them and not count it wasted money, I’m sure.”
Lily smiled, and leaned backwards and to the side to look up at James. James had narrowed his eyes at the owner of the store.
“I’m sure she’s right, James,” Lily said, looking up through her eyelashes at her boyfriend.
He turned his narrowed eyes on her, then sighed. “Very well.”
He took his arms from around her, and moved towards the old-fashioned register, playfully glaring over his shoulder.
The cost of the gift was four galleons and two sickles, which James found to be a delightful price.
He thanked Patricia with a smile, and shouted back a “thank you” to Charles, then returned to Lily’s side.
As they neared the door, Lily turned suddenly.
“I’m sorry. I’m just curious. What happened to Edgar?”
Charles, who had reappeared, answered, “Oh, he is my younger brother! He does not have the disposition for a chocolate shop or a restaurant, so he asked us to watch the store for him this month!”
Lily nodded. “That’s sounds like a wonderful set-up.”
“Oh, it is indeed,” said Patricia, leaning into Charles’s wide embrace. “With you students from Hogwarts, and the people in the village, it’s a nice place for a little business.”
“And Edgar has such a head for business,” put in Charles.
“And what will the store become after this?”
Patricia chuckled. “Perhaps it will stay a chocolate shop. A restaurant is also a possibility.”
“I just hope we’ll be able to come back and see it again,” opined Lily.
“Whenever you can, mon cheri!” chuckled Charles, flapping his hand in “goodbye”.
James led Lily out of the shop, wishing them goodbye and a good day.
He wrapped his arm her again, and pressed a kiss against her hair. She moved closer into his embrace, not there was much closer to get. Espying a corner ahead, he began to smirk.
“James, the rest of the stores are back that way,” Lily said, gesturing over her shoulder.
James didn’t respond vocally, but continued to smirk. She repeated his name, but soon found herself quite distracted.
He swung her around the corner and pressed her against the wall of the brick building. Giving her one second to see his smirk, he kissed her. Deeply kissed her.
He felt her slide a bit down the wall from weak knees, and he gladly wrapped one arm around her torso to keep her on her feet, bracing himself against the wall with the length of his forearm against the cold brick.
Moments later, he slowly broke away, breathing deeply, and pressed his forehead to hers. She, too, was breathing heavily and her cheeks were flushed. He opened his eyes to look over her face. He gave her one second more, then kissed her again.
She continued to be afflicted with weak knees, for she put some of her weight against the wall and the rest against him; she had taken hold of the lapels of both his thick wool jacket and his burgundy shirt, and leaned heavily against his arm around her back.
Moments later, they separated again, still breathing heavily and with closed eyes. They pressed their foreheads together again, breathing the same air as they collected their emotions.
“Well,” was all James could say. Lily giggled, and pecked his lips quickly.
He hugged her, looking down at his watch as he did so. “It’s about time for the festival to start. Let’s seek it out, shall we?” “If we must.”
James laughed, but linked her arm through his and guided her back to the main street.
After a few hours on the far side of town, just before the Shrieking Shack, dancing under pixie lights, eating delicious snacks, and laughing a great deal, the same group of seven years that walked to Hogsmeade together began to walk back towards their school.
Lily, her hands tucked securely between Remus’s arm and torso, looked back at James, who was walking with Alice. Frank and Sirius shared Nikeia’s arms, giving her enough support that she was able to jump into the air and pretend to walk on it for a step of two. Josey and Antoine had showed up at the dance for about half an hour, but headed back to Hogwarts early.
It had been Alice’s idea to switch dance partners towards the end of the festival. This gave Remus a chance to dance, and Sirius and Frank a chance to fight over Nikeia. Then, after dancing the very last dance with their original dates, Alice suggested walking back to school with a different person. Lily loved the idea, and enjoyed walking next to Remus.
She smiled at him, and asked, “Did you have a nice time?”
He nodded. “It was a very nice time. It seems that with all that happened recently”parents dying, and Nikeia being attacked, and James being befuddled by some combination of magical female”we all needed a chance to relax and have fun. This was quite perfect.”
“Yes, I agree,” said Lily. “You know, I enjoy having you as a friend.”
Remus looked down at her rather sharply, a bemused look on his face.
“Where did that come from?”
“I mean it! You always seem to be that bit of calm in life that doesn’t change, doesn’t waver. I don’t think I’ve ever told you that I was grateful for your friendship.”
Remus looked down to watch his feet on the snowy road. He was silent, but his hand moved to press Lily’s hands tighter to his arm. He glanced at her briefly, and his smile spoke his gratitude.
She laid her head on his shoulder and continued to walk in step with him. She could hear James laughing with Alice, and Sirius and Frank playfully bickering over Nikeia. She closed her eyes to let the sounds sink in and take over. The faint smile on her face remained even once they regained the school and entered into the warmth of the building. She remained at Remus’s side as they led the group up to the Gryffindor common room.
They passed Gamekeeper Hagrid as they walked, and they all greeted him with grins and warm words.
They also passed Lauryn and Isaac, who had in fact left Hogsmeade quite a bit before the seventh years, but were walking so slowly that they were easily passed. Lily rolled her eyes and grinned at their giggles and whispers.
Promising to meet back in the Gryffindor common room, Lily and James returned to their common room to put up their outdoor gear.
Lily caught James shaking and smelling the boxes of chocolates when she came out of her room. She scoffed and pulled them from his hands.
“These are for Wednesday; we’ll open them then.”
James whined, “Why should we wait? You’re my Valentine any day and everyday. You can open yours now, if you like.”
Lily laughed at his ploy, but relented. Putting his box back in his open hands, she began to take the ribbon off her own.
James stopped her, saying that he didn’t actually give her permission to open the chocolates. When she began to protest, he held up his hand.
“I’ve got something else I’d rather you saw first. Wait here.” He balanced the chocolates on the back of the sofa, and took off for his bedroom. Lily waited, sighing, but very curious. She wondered if she should get the small present she had for him, but decided that she’d rather not risk his wrath should he find her somewhere else than where she should be.
When he reappeared, he was holding a large package behind his back. Her stomach sank just a bit, knowing that the ties that once belonged to her father that she had taken from her parents’ house were much smaller than what he was carrying.
His lips were twitching in an effort to hold back a grin, she could tell, as he held the package out to her.
Carefully, she pulled back the brown paper, and then the tissue paper. Then, her fingers touched fabric, and she drew out a large quilt made of brightly colored squares of patterned fabrics.
“James, it’s beautiful!” She held the blanket before her, finding the weight of it in her hands to be perfect, and the feeling of the fabric to be delightful.
“Mum made it for me. Well, for the girl of my choice. Well, for you, actually. She finished it when she and Da were in St. Mungo’s. A healer sent to me after they had made sure it was clean.” He picked up a corner and rubbed his fingers over it. “She had started working on it years ago, but I like knowing that she finished it with you in mind.”
Lily touched his cheek, feeling tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
“Wait here…” She pressed the quilt into his hands, and ran to her room. After rummaging briefly through her trunk, she found the long tie box.
Bringing it back to James, she watched as he opened it. The deep breath he took made Lily believe that he knew the various ties were her father’s. The gentle kiss he gave her proved that fact and the fact that he truly appreciated them.
“I love you,” he whispered.
“Oh, I love you,” she returned, snuggling closer, willing to remain in his embrace.
Their chocolate boxes lay forgotten on the back of the couch.