The Rise And Fall Of The Stag And The Doe

Tongue Tied

"MARY!" Marlene yelled across her house, "COME HERE!"

"Honestly," Lily huffed, "I don't have to go."

"Uh uh uh!" Marlene said waving her finger at Lily with a smirk. "You said you couldn't come with me because all of my dresses were too long on you, but my sister is the exact same height as you. So shut up and get on board."

Lily sighed and moved to stop Marlene, but it was useless. She should have known when she woke up this morning that Marlene wouldn't give her a choice on whether or not to go to James Potter's Christmas party. It was simple in Marlene's mind, Lily had come over to her house, she had literally chosen to this fate. No matter how many times Lily tried to convince Marlene that she could just sit quietly in Marlene's room and read a book, nothing worked. For the past half hour Marlene tried to see what dresses would work best on the pair of them. Marlene's dress was already laid out on her bed, it was white and cut off at her neck, flowing out at her shoulders and extending down to just above her knee.

Blowing a raspberry, Lily flicked her hair out of her face and glanced around Marlene's room. It was smaller than Lily would have thought it would have been. Every time she heard of pureblood families she also heard of their overwhelming wealth and prestige. Marlene's house was quite large, but did have to fit eight people so in relation it was actually small. Marlene said they used to live in a bigger house down the street from Sirius when she was little, three years ago they moved into this house and it worked for them. They were a tight knit family and they needed

"Isn't there a color requirement?!" Lily called to Marlene hopefully, "Because I doubt-"

Marlene rushed back in, her eyes wide and a large smirk on her face. "I found you the BEST dress!"

"Mar-" Lily attempted, but failed.

"Listen to me Ms. Evans," Marlene began in a motherly tone, placing her hands on her hips. "Did I complain when you arrived last night? No, I did not. Why? (1) Because I get to spend Christmas with you and (2) Because I get to go with you to this Christmas party."

Lily sighed and gave Marlene a pleading look, "Mar, I really don't want to go. My hair's a mess-"

"Your hair is always a mess," Dorcas chimed in with a smirk, already in a skin tight backless black dress.

Lily said, "But…Dora you're supposed to be at your grandma's!"

"She passed out an hour ago in her chair," Dorcas checked her watch, "Which means I have nine hours before she wakes up and realizes I'm gone."

"You've abandoned your grandmother on Christmas Day?" Lily asked disapprovingly.

"She's unconscious, she won't know the difference and I can't have you two spending Christmas together without me."

Marlene rolled her eyes with a smile, "I'm assuming that's what you are wearing."

"Of course, black is my signature formal dress color." Dorcas declared, clicking her tall heels together.

"What do you think for this on Lily?" Marlene asked holding up a swoop neck violet dress to Lily's torso.

Lily laughed wildly, throwing her arms up. "I love how I get no say in this! Is this another clause in our friendship contract that I skipped over?"

"Yep," Marlene retorted, her eyes locked on Dorcas, "What do you think?"

Dorcas moved in front of Lily, "I will do her hair."

Lily let out an overdramatic sigh. "It's like I'm invisible!"

"Come on Lil, if you were invisible, who would we dress?" Marlene asked her with a smirk as she handed Dorcas some hair products.