She's the Girl | A Marauders Love story

Chapter 24

Dress shopping

"See you later." Hailey kissed James quickly, but he pulled her against him and kissed again.

"Okay, we don't want to see this. It's really okay, you're going to be apart for like an hour." Sirius groaned.

"It was worse when I was with them earlier. They are honestly the worst couple about PDA I've ever met."

Hailey pulled away from James and rolled her eyes.

"Alright, let's get going."

James kissed her cheek and left with Sirius and Remus. Hailey turned to Lily.

"Where are we meeting Marlene again?"

"Bisou. It's a dress shop down near the station."

Hailey nodded and they headed down the path, Hailey keeping up a steady conversation and Lily only talking once in a while.

"It's lucky that James and I saw Avery, he definitely would have told Regulus's parents about you two."

Lily nodded.

"It's weird that he came in there, though. He usually doesn't come on Hogsmeade trips, and Regulus told me he goes to the Hog's Head when he does."

Hailey thought for a minute. Was there a reason he had come in there? She shook her head. Right now, she was going to go dress shopping, and hang out with her friends. This wasn't a time for creating problems. She just needed to relax and have fun.

"Well, what's done is done. Is that the store?" She pointed to a smaller boutique ahead of them. Lily nodded.

"Yeah, that's it. Marlene was saying they get all of their business from the locals, so we don't have to worry about running into girls from the school, which should be nice."

"I don't really want to run into Bellatrix Lestrange, that would make for a less pleasant trip."

Lily laughed.

"Agreed."

They walked into the store. Marlene waved to them from the back of the store.

"Hey guys! I'm over here! I found some dresses I think are nice."

They followed Marlene to the back of the store and started looking through dresses. Marlene and Lily quickly found white dresses, Lily's made of tulle, and Marlene's of silk. Hailey was still flipping through dresses, unable to find one that fit just right. After trying on dress after dress, the girls were close to giving up.

"We can always go shopping in London right before the party." Marlene offered.

Hailey thought about it. It would be nice to see other dresses, but she also wanted to find the dress today.

"Let's give it a few more minutes. If we don't find anything, we'll try again later."

The girls agreed, and they got back to work. Hailey flipped through yet another rack of clothes, looking for something that would suit the three of them. Finally, she saw a dress that she thought might work. It was white tulle, with long puffed sleeves. It had a deep v, down to the waistband, and a tulle flower where the v ended. The skirt went all the way to the floor, and had multiple layers of fluffy tulle, along with a floor-length underskirt. There were tulle flowers on the shoulders, and a tulle choker as well. Even though some of the aspects of it were almost childish, the dress as a whole was sophisticated and elegant. She held it up so Marlene and Lily could see.

"What about this?

Marlene shrugged.

"It's worth a try."

Hailey nodded and went into a changing room.

The second she put it on and looked at herself in the mirror, she loved it. It was just the right mix of formal and fun, and it complemented her body type well. She stepped out of the changing room. Lily gasped.

"It's perfect on you! Hailey, you have to get it!"

Marlene turned to look at her. She smiled when she saw Hailey's face.

"It's so cute on you! And you love it, I can tell just by the look on your face."

Hailey smiled bashfully. She really did love it.

"Oh, James is going to flip when he sees you in this! Hailey, you look gorgeous." Lily hugged her.

Hailey smiled. This was the dress, she knew it.

"I think we found our dresses."

The girls high-fived.

~~~~~~~

"Miss me?" A pair of arms wound around Hailey's waist as she walked towards the castle with Marlene and Lily. She felt a kiss on her neck and swatted at James's head, laughing.

"Stop it."

James laughed and spun her around to face him, kissing her passionately. When she pulled away, he pouted.

"I missed you. Sirius and Remus are incredibly boring now that they're dating. You're much more fun." He picked her up off of the ground and spun her around.

"James, what did they feed you?" Hailey looked accusingly over James's shoulder at Sirius and Remus, who shrugged.

"I don't know, he was fine until he saw you. Sad, of course, and he wouldn't stop talking about you, but we don't have to deal with him anymore." Sirius and Remus high-fived.

James put Hailey down, but wrapped his arms around her, keeping her close to him. He leaned his head against her shoulder.

"Do you want to come to my dorm with me? We can cuddle, if you'd like."

"I assume you want to?" Hailey laughed and poked his nose. James scrunched his nose and closed his eyes.

"Yeah, I'd like that. Only if you want to though."

Hailey ran her fingers through his hair.

"I think I can make that work."

James opened his eyes and grinned at her.

"Race you back to the castle." He started running, and Hailey laughed and chased after him.

A few minutes later, they were huffing and puffing as they walked up a staircase. As they reached Gryffindor Tower, Hailey stopped and paused, trying to catch her breath.

"Maybe we should be exercising more."

James shook his head, also catching his breath.

"I don't think so."

"Are you going to give me the password, or are you going to stand there?" The Fat Lady huffed.

"Oh, yeah. Erm, Gillyweed."

Grumbling, the Fat Lady opened the portrait.

James and Hailey climbed into the common room, ignoring the strange looks they got from some of the younger students. They went up the stairs and entered James's dorm. James closed the door behind them. Hailey layed down on his bed and pulled one of the blankets over herself. James climbed behind her and wrapped his arms around her, tucking his head in the crook of her neck.

"I love you, Hailey."

"I love you too, James."

They stayed in the same position for a while before James broke the silence.

"Do you want to snog?"

Hailey turned at looked at him.

"Yeah."

The dress I was talking about is Zendaya's white tulle dress from her interview with the Hollywood Reporter.