The Marauders Era

Cassie's dress dilemma

As Lily sat on a chair in the common room, she couldn't help but let her thoughts wander, certainly off to somewhere they shouldn't have been. Or rather, she would have done that, was it currently not for the black-haired boy that was sitting on the chair opposite her, who, with his hazel eyes, looked focused entirely on what he was reading. His face was void of any emotions as his eyes danced back and forth. Truth be told, Lily felt as if she was moments away from biting her fingernails. The silence was making her feel slightly uncomfortable, if not a bit nervous. Finally, after a while, the hazel eyes turned up from the parchment, and Lily felt almost trapt in the stare he sent her.

"Well... it's not bad, not at all. In fact, it's very good. I see all my tips from last time were put in good use." He said happily to her as he handed her the essay. "You did a great job."

The moment the parchment laid in Lilys hand, she looked down at it and could hardly stop the joy that appeared on her face. Having been praised by James Potter, who was by far one of the most talented students in transfiguration in their year, made Lily feel genuinely proud of herself.

"Thank you." She looked up and met his gaze. "Truly. I'm not sure I would have managed this without you."

James's face darkened slightly as he seemed caught off guard. "It was no trouble at all. I'm happy to help", he said as coolly as he could, though he couldn't help but run his fingers through his dark locks. "Besides, you'd do the same for me, I'm sure." He smiled at her, a smile so bright Lily herself couldn't help but smile along.

"As long as it's not transfiguration. Doubt I can teach you anything there." she joked.

"True." chuckled James. "How's Cassie doing?"

The prefect thought for a moment and laughed. From what she could remember, there had been little progress earlier that day with the older girl and her transfigurations essay. Compared to Lily, the girl had only written about 1/4 of it. However, Cassie's introduction sounded and looked a hundred times better than her own had, though a few tries later, Lily managed an acceptable beginning.

"You think she's gonna come to you for help?" Lily asked him curiously, though he only replied with a shake of his head. At least before explaining any further.

"Nah." He leaned back in his chair and continued. "Knowing Cas, she'd rain hell before she would even admit to needing help on transfiguration."

"The perks of being the second most talented student in our year when it comes to transfiguration."

"Better not say that when she's around, or her ego's gonna grow." James grinned as he saw a smile spread across Lily.

"Think you got the wrong twin there. Cassie's nowhere near as bad as Sirius."

He considered it for a moment before concluding that he, unfortunately, had to agree with her. No matter how bad Cassie could be, Sirius never missed the chance to one-up his sister.

"Oh," James's face lighted up in recognition as he remembered his conversation with the older boy during dinner. "I heard that you guys got invited to Slughorns party and that you're planning on taking Cassie dress shopping." He raised a single eyebrow at her and stared at her skeptically. "How on earth did you manage to convince her?"

A small giggle erupted from the red-haired girl as a knowing smirk grew on her face. "It really wasn't that hard. You see, the invitation said that professor Slughorn had invited friends and old students of his. We all just put two and two together and did a little teasing."

"Wha-what?" James looked at her, utterly clueless to what she was on about. "Two and two? what are you on about?"

"Really, James.." she sent him a dead paned look. "Have you been sleeping in class?"