after dark || James Potter

A.D. 1:11

    "I'm sorry," Millie says suddenly, lightly holding onto Lucy's elbow as they walked.

    It's the last Hogsmeade weekend before the Holiday break, and the pair had decided that they'd go together as they haven't been spending much time with each other the past few weeks. Lucy had wanted to stay in, as the snow the last few days had been absolutely terrible that she couldn't imagine walking out and about amidst the freezing weather, but as soon as Millie had proposed the idea, she was quick to agree. Truthfully, she missed the blonde, as she's been too preoccupied with the Marauders and their shenanigans as of late that she feels like she hasn't been around Millie as much. She always felt bad when she thought about it, because she never wanted Millie to feel like she was being left behind.

    Granted, Millie has also been quite preoccupied the past month, as she's been hanging around Vincent Lowe, the Hufflepuff she had gone on a date with before. But Lucy didn't mind, really. As long as her friend was happy, she'd be happy too. Of course, she also took the time to study the boy her friend was dating, just to make sure that Millie was in good hands. It seems like Vincent was one of the good ones, though, which is great.

    Lucy looks at her friend, tilting her head slightly to the right. "Huh? What are you sorry for?"

    Millie smiles at her, the knowing smile that always makes her feel like the girl can see right through her. "I just feel like we haven't talked as much lately," she says finally, after a few silent breaths, "I don't want you to think that just because I'm with Vince now, I suddenly won't be there for you whenever you need me."

    When Lucy doesn't reply immediately, Millie keeps talking, "I know you have Sirius and the others too, but I hope you remember that you mean a lot to me and that when you need me you can just tell me and I'd drop everything to be there for you."

    Lucy turns to her again, and she smiles the most gentle smile she could muster. "For the longest time I let the fact that I have no family define who I was, but I've had you all along and that's better than anything I could have ever hoped for."

    Millie squeezes her elbow one more time before letting go and turning towards the path again, content with their conversation. The rest of their trek towards the small snow-covered town was silent, especially since Lucy was too cold to even think about anything to say. She was too preoccupied with rubbing her mitten-covered hands, and blowing breaths onto it.

    Once they finally stepped onto the street lined with shops, they went to their first stop: Honeydukes. Both girls were absolutely addicted to sweets of any kind, and their joint stash in their dorm was basically empty now. Despite school being over for the holidays in a week or so, they still wanted to stock up. Especially since Lucy would be staying at Hogwarts for the break.

    After they grabbed their favorites and paid for them, they exited the shop. "Would it be alright if we go to this store Jacqueline told me about earlier? I really need to get Vince something," Millie asks.

    Lucy just shrugs, "alright. I might be able to find something for Sirius as well."

    "You didn't sketch him this year?"

    "No," she shakes her head, "I drew the four of them though."

    Lucy let her friend lead the way, as she wasn't really as familiar with the place as Millie seemed to be. They walked a couple of paces up ahead, towards the end of the street - where a small store sat in between what looked to be empty houses.

    It looked a bit eerie, and Lucy was apprehensive about the things they would find in there. From the outside, it looked like it was straight out of a horror film - with dark walls and a small dark-stained window. You couldn't see much from the outside, and that's what made Lucy shoot Millie a look of alarm. "I think I should question what kind of things Vince is into that'd make you think you can get him a present here."