[1] Exie Attia is one of the Boys ✓ | LILY EVANS

Chapter Twenty Five

"And even if that doesn't work, you forget I've still got most of my elderflower vodka and lemonade this time," James grinned, "We drink before and turn yarn shopping into an ... Exie, you're the resident pun expert!..."

"Oh crap ... um ... yarn shopping? More like yarn ... bopping."

He looked beyond disappointed, "Exie! What was that?"

"I'm sorry, I don't work well under pressure, the best things in life are unplanned and that includes puns!"

"You let me down, Exie, you let me down," It was a joke but the words hit different with her secret, "As long as we're together, we'll all have a laugh - we always do."

Thinking of the secret brought with it the realisation of a new problem. She'd agreed to go for a cute little Christmas date with Lily then and she didn't want to miss that ... but equally she didn't want to miss out on the boys. Telling them she might have to miss it was out of the question so she held her tongue until later that night when she returned to her own dorm.

The girls' dorm was proving a haven for the new couple, surrounded by Mary and Marlene who knew and Suze and Lizzy who literally didn't care. Nobody batted an eyelid if two girls spent hours whispering and gossiping in bed, it was brilliant.

"Lily, on a scale from 1 to 100 how excited are you for this weekend?" Exie whispered, twirling a lock of Lily's red hair around her finger.

"101," Lily replied, gently biting her lip, "And you?"

"The same..."

"That 'the same' sounded different," Lily's face fell a little as she pushed away a bit, propping herself on her elbow, "What's going on?"

"It's the boys - "

"Do they know?"

"Other than Remus, no," She sat up a little, "They want me to have one last big weekend with them, we've done it every year. I just forgot because I really wanted to do something with you..."

Lily gave a big sigh, slumping down onto the bed once more, "Are you ditching me for a boys' night, Exie?"

"No, maybe... I don't know!"

With another sigh, Lily rolled over. Exie put her arm around her, "Are you angry with me?"

"No."

"Your face is like an open book, you're a bit angry."

Lily violently flipped herself over, "Okay, fine maybe I'm a little but ... I get that this is a hard situation for you. It would be suspicious if you didn't go, especially if you're right that Sirius suspects. You can ditch me for the boys' night, I'll stand at the window like a war widow longing for you to return but don't let that put you off," When Exie didn't reply, she planted a kiss on her cheek, "I was joking about the war widow thing. I'm not actually angry, just... a bit sad I guess. But there'll be other dates, please don't feel bad."

"I'm sad too. We're going to have to wait a whole year to get another snowy date."

"We're magic, I'm sure we can figure something out," Lily said, "Ooh, we could spend a date looking for spells on how to create snow! That could be fun... we could bring blankets and hot chocolate to the library!" She laughed, turning to Exie, "What? You still look guilty, I was joking about the war widow thing!"

"I know, I know, I just was really looking forward to the weekend - "

"THEN SPLIT THE TIME!"

They stuck their heads out from behind the curtains, Lily glowering at Marlene, "Hey, do you mind!"

"Not at all," Marlene grinned, briefly looking up from her work, "It's a serious suggestion by the way. Just tell the boys to meet you there at I don't know, three but secretly go at one and take your gal out for lunch."