Chapter Fifty Four
The first dawn of the new year found James and Sirius curled up together on the sofa, snoring as Lily gazed out of the window. Flurries of snowflakes drifted past and her eyes followed them absentmindedly as she thought about what had happened and what was to come.
It gilded the roofs of the London houses, and she wondered how many people under those roofs knew what was happening. Nobody out there knew how Artemis, an older member of the Order, had been attacked by Death Eaters at her home. Only the day before yesterday had the Order discovered that and Lily was still shaken.
The snow continued to fall as January passed, filling the streets with slush and rendering the city nearly as grey and miserable as when it was raining. Lily trudged endlessly from her flat to St. Mungo’s and back again as the days wore on, her face buried in her scarf and her hands buried in her pockets. Every single person she passed was hunched over, fighting to avoid the chill of the wind.
Lily’s birthday dawned equally dreary, with a steely sky which hung over her and threatened rain. It held off, however, until midday, when the promised rain fell as snow. James and Sirius had already been and gone, promising to return later that day, and Peter appeared while Mary and Alice were visiting them with a present in his hands. “I’m sorry Lily,” he said as he hugged her, “but I can’t stay long. Moody wants me to do something for the Order so I’ve got to go kind of soon.”
“It’s alright Pete, I understand. It’s nice to see you anyway. How’ve you been?” They settled into comfortable chatter, continuing with ease once Peter had left.
Later that afternoon the four girls were sitting on the sofas, much as they used to do in the common room. “But I think the real question,” Alice said as she sipped her tea, “is whether you would rather have to dress like a house elf or actually look like one.”
“Would you be as short as a house elf or…?” Cassie asked.
“No you’d just have their ears and nose and massive eyes but you’d be human sized.”
“Could you Transfigure anything or cast a glamour spell?” Mary asked.
“Nope. You have to look permanently like a house elf.”
“Obviously I would dress like one,” Lily replied. “You can get loads of pillowcases and duvet covers and make something pretty cool.”
“That’s true,” Cassie agreed. “You could get patterned ones and coloured ones and start new fashion trends…”
“Exactly!” They fell silent for a minute and Mary glanced at her watch with a frown. “Well I should probably get going,” she sighed. “It’s already half four.”
“Yeah same. If I leave Frank for much longer he’ll probably try to cook dinner… The last time he did that he set it on fire,” Alice chuckled as the other girls burst into laughter. “And, of course, we need to give you time to get ready for your big date with Mr. Potter.”
Lily rolled her eyes as Alice winked at her and said, “Don’t be stupid Alice, it’s not important and it definitely won’t take me four hours. I could use your help anyway.”
“Yeah we know you could,” Mary teased as she stood up and shrugged her coat on. Alice followed her lead and, as the four of them moved slowly towards the door, Lily grabbed her friends in a hug. “Do you really have to go?” she asked, her face pressed against Mary’s shoulder. “Can’t you stay for a little longer? We haven’t seen each other in ages.”
“No,” she replied sadly, “I have a whole load of books to read and you need to beautify yourself for your boyfriend.”
“No she doesn’t, James would be happy with her whatever,” Cassie said.
“Agreed but somehow I doubt the other people in the restaurant will be pleased if she turns up in…” Alice trailed off uncertainly.
“A pillowcase?” Cassie supplied with a grin.
Soon they were left alone again and Lily retreated to the bathroom to run a bath for herself. When she emerged she rifled through her wardrobe, comparing everything inside it. Eventually she slipped on a simple black dress, rolled a pair of tights up her legs and did her makeup quickly. When she was finished she put on an emerald bracelet and a pair of earrings James had given her that morning and eyed herself in the mirror. They matched the necklace he had bought her for her seventeenth birthday and which she still had around her neck.
“You look great Lil,” Cassie said when Lily entered the sitting room later. “You should wear that camel coat.”
“Thanks Cass,” she beamed. “Yeah I know, have you seen it?”
“On the chair in the kitchen,” she replied as she turned the page of her book.
Lily vanished for a moment. When she returned she stood over Cassie and shrugged her coat on. “When’s Sirius coming?”
“Probably with James,” she said.
She hovered by the bookshelf as she wrapped a scarf around her neck, busying herself with tucking it under the collar of her coat.
Minutes later there was a knock at the door. Lily rushed over to it, grabbing a pair of gloves before opening it to reveal James and Sirius standing in front of her. Sirius grabbed her in a hug, pecked her cheek, and raced inside where he leapt over the back of the sofa and landed on Cassie. Her ear-piercing scream made both Lily and James wince as they stood in the doorway.
James smiled at her and pressed a kiss to her other cheek, pulling her against her chest in a tight embrace. “You look beautiful,” he whispered. “Shall we go?”
“Sure. You look pretty smart too. I didn’t know you owned a normal suit.”
“Yeah I bought it. Some street called Savile Row… It’s quite nice.”
He was so oblivious it hurt and Lily smirked as she pulled a woollen hat out of her pocket. James grabbed it out of her hands and she shrieked. “Hey what are you-!" He pulled it down over her head, laughing at her disgruntled expression. She frowned petulantly and pulled her gloves on before stalking away, leaving James to chase after her.
When they reached their destination Lily couldn’t help but gasp. The lights above them bore into her eyes, illuminating the night, and she turned to James in wonder. “Are you serious?” she exclaimed. “You’re bringing me here?”
“Wait is that bad?” he asked. “I had no idea, I just asked some Muggle on the street where the best place in London was and he said here so I found one of those books with the number collections in and I… called them and booked a table.”
“No it’s… amazing James.”
“Oh good,” he let out a sigh of relief and pulled her towards the entrance.
“Are you sure this is a good idea? This is one of the most expensive restaurants in London.”
“Yeah it’ll be fine,” he said as they headed through the opulent hall. “I took a bunch of Galleons out of my vault and converted them in Gringotts.”
“Oh Merlin James, please tell me you don’t have it all on you now.”
“No I mean, I have this,” he said, flashing her his wallet as the waiter led them through the red velvet seats. It was stuffed with notes and Lily hissed at him to put it away. “And then the goblin who was sorting me out said that they use some kind of card… He gave me one of those and put the rest of it on that but I don’t know what it is.”
“How many Galleons did you exchange?” she asked as they sat down.
“No clue,” he shrugged. “Not that many. I’ve got a vault full down there so… Woah this place is incredible,” he breathed as they entered the restaurant.
It was enormous, with pillars draped in fabric and bright frescoes covering the ceiling. Their feet sank into the carpet as they walked, and even that evening it was filled with chattering Muggles who had braved the weather and left their homes. The waiter led them to a small table in the corner and lit an enormous candle which flickered between them.
“Very romantic,” Lily chuckled as she gestured to it.
“It’s almost as if he thinks we’re on some sort of date.”
“Really? That’s horrible! Ugh the idea of going out with you…” She shook her head and mimed throwing up as James smirked at her. “I feel a little cheated to be honest,” he sighed pathetically, “I mean look at this place!”
“What about it?”
“Well all of this incredible luxury and they only gave us one candle!”
Lily giggled and opened her menu, wincing when she saw the prices. She was aware of the curious glances which some people had directed at them; presumably they were wondering how two teenagers could afford dinner there.
As James ordered a bottle of champagne, butchering the name in the process, she settled down with a smile on her face to enjoy her birthday dinner.