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And so did another week of October passed, the weather becoming worse with every day that vanished into the moonlight. Lily found herself in yet another exhausting set of classes, the professors working them up worse then ever. It was true, they were NEWTs students and they had to act like such, but after some time even Hermione admitted that the amount of work they got was ridiculous.

For the DADA lessons they were still practicing the Patronus charm, even though 3 quarters of the class had already mastered it. Lily watched as Neville's bear floated around her and returned to its owner.

The only Patronus she truly wanted to see however was Draco's, but, to her annoyance, he was leaning against one of the desks that were shoved to the side, looking pleased with himself.

Only people who managed to cast their patronus were getting breaks, had she missed Draco's?

It was a question that tormented her all the way to the end of the week. It would be both a Hogsmeade and a Halloween weekend; that meant only a thing, the Halloween Party.

The eighth years had agreed to all stay in the common room and have a party instead of the feast. People had different assignments such as having food brought from the kitchen or bringing the drinks and the music; Lily was the DJ again as she was the only person who owned a magic walkman.

Despite the different assignments given to each of them, Hermione and Ron gathered the eight years into the common room on Friday night and they decorated it together. Instead of the usual candles, they used carved pumpkins charmed not to age for a few days as the smell would have been impossible; they emitted a playful light that hugged every corner of the room. From the ceiling hanged fake cobwebs and enchanted bats that would fly above the students and hang onto the little candle chandeliers that were also decorated with old cloth, some even with ketchup stains to make it look like blood.

The sofas also received that kind of old cloth, but some was even spilled with ink, sometimes taking shape of eyes as to try to mimic a ghost the way muggles thought they looked like.

Black fabric hanged off the fireplace, along with some fake cobwebs and spiders; Lily even found a spell to turn the flames of the fire black.

On that night they all went to bed pleased, tho some of them decorated their dorms in the same manner the common room was decorated.

Lily had slept in that Saturday so it was well past 12 pm when she made her way to one of spilled with ink sofas in front of the fire. As promised Ron and Hermione were on a date to Hogsmeade, probably enjoying some butterbeers before the actual party would begin.

The redhead knew she had to go to in order to complete her Halloween costume, she was desperate for some white powder and deep red lipstick as she didn't have those, nor did Hermione. Of course there were some other things that needed fixing, but Lily was certain her costume would be alright.

She lazily sat onto the sofa and watched as the black flames of the fire spat some sparks out; it was quite beautiful to the eye.

Lily surely didn't notice the movement behind her. Tall, blonde hair, grey eyes, pale cheeks; Draco Malfoy also slept in. He was rubbing his eyes as he still felt tired, most of his night have been spent thinking about her, only to wake up with her in his mind. And there she stood, her head unmistakable on the sofa that was ghostly white, spilled ink.

'Potter,' Lily turned at his sleepy voice, only to find one of the most innocent states Draco was ever in; his sleepy one.

'Morning, Malfoy,' she grinned.

The boy flashed her a smile and stoped just a few feet away from the sofa. 'Why didn't you go to Hogsmeade?'

'My best friends are on a date and I don't really feel like third wheeling today, also I slept in, and I also had a lack of nightmares today!' Lily seemed cheerful, Draco couldn't help but notice that.

'Sounds delightful, I quite know what that's like, my nightmares have become worse than I remember,' he said quietly and before she could say something else, he continued. 'Perhaps we could both go to Hogsmeade and enjoy the day, u-uhm you know, keep each other company as my friends also left without me.'

Lily seemed lost in thought for a moment; why did it sound like a date?

'Alright then, sounds good to me and you know, I also have to complete my er- Halloween costume so if you don't want to got to certain places I understand.'

'It'll be okay, I also need some things for my costume.'

Lily let out a breath she didn't know she was keeping. 'Good.'

'5 minutes, that's for getting ready, now quick,' Draco said in a sweet tone, laughing slightly as the redhead got off the sofa and ran into the direction of her dorm.

Lily didn't know were that energy came from as she quickly put on a pair of black jeans, an emerald green jumper knitted by Mrs. Weasley, one of her traveling warm robes and her Gryffindor scarf. For a girl Draco was shocked that 5 minutes later she really was ready.

The redhead checked him out; she could see only his black gloves and thick coat that were hiding the rest of his outfit.

They walked in silence all the way to the Entrance Hall were Filch was still checking their Hogsmeade permissions. He eyed the two curiously as Draco Malfoy and Lily Potter weren't known to be friends.

'So,' Draco decided he should do small talk, 'what costume of yours needs fixing?'

Lily smiled and shook her head. 'I'm not telling you.'

'Why not? Because I'm a Malfoy,' Draco teased, walking in front of her.

'It's a surprise, Malfoy, I don't care wether you are Hermione, Ron or yourself, neither of you will know until I show up at the party,' Lily sang and flashed him a dazzling, genuine smile.

'Well then I'm not telling you what I chose either,' he smirked.

'Dementor! Dementor!' the redhead mocked his 13 year old self and Draco rolled his eyes.

'Scared, Potter?' too long has passed since Draco used those words.

'There's no reason to be scared now,' she muttered quietly as they walked.

Hogsmeade came into view with each second that passed, the wind reaching every part of their bodies, despite the fact that their clothes were thick and warm.

By the time they arrived in Hogsmeade, their hair was ruffled by the wind. Draco noted how cute Lily looked with her hair that messy and rosy cheeks.

'Where would you want to go first?' Lily was the one to ask, shoving her hands into her pockets to warm herself.

'You said you need some things for your costume and I do too, you know Pans told me about some boutique or what that's called that sells everything from clothes, to fabric, to make up, to belts,' Draco repeated the words Pansy said the night before.

'Sounds the perfect place to me, what's its name?'

'The Magic Closet,' Draco couldn't help, but scoff at the name while Lily began to laugh.

Her laugh was just as beautiful as he remembered, music to his ears. Truth be told, Lily had caught Draco's eye from the start, making him crave for her attention. They always had a like-hate relationship, of course the others had seen only the hate part of it. And to hear her laugh because of him was a beautiful thing.

Draco led Lily to part she didn't remember visiting in the little magical town. It was full of different shops that caught your eye, each of them selling different things. Surely Hermione would love the bookshop, and Ron the pastries. Lily made a mental note to come back and buy the presents for her family.

Draco stopped suddenly and Lily bumped into him, but he was quick to grab her arm, making sure she didn't fall.

'Thank you,' Lily muttered, blushing slightly.

Draco gave her that insufferable grin of his that made her roll her eyes as she finally caught a sight of the shop.

It was certainly something new; different plants were put in large pots, used as decorations for the front. The windows were gray and on them was painted a storm, the never ending drops of blue paint falling from the black clouds.

Lily saw how Draco opened the front door, letting her enter first. She thanked him with a smile and her jaw almost fell when she saw the actual size of the shop; it didn't look that big on the outside.

Everything was a dark purple that in Lily's opinion fitted perfectly with the theme of the shop. It certainly got all kinds of things, just as Draco said. She even found white lace in a matter of seconds while they were just wondering through the shelves.

'You know,' Draco started in an amused tone while Lily picked up some funny looking hat, 'neither of us will find what we need if we follow one another. What about we meet over at the register in half an hour?'

'Sure, tho if I'm late you'll know why,' Lily chuckled as both went on separate ways to buy what they needed.

The redhead found the white powder and red lipstick that she needed rather quickly, same with the make up brushes and a pair of medium black heels that she thought would be useful. Lily never really bothered with the way she dressed, but something told her she had to give her best for once in her life for an outfit.

Lily couldn't help herself, but also find potential Christmas presents so maybe buying them already wasn't that much of a crime.

After some times, with her arms full of things she made her way to the front of the shop were the register was. Draco wasn't there yet so Lily paid for her things in peace, knowing that no one could discover what her costume was yet.

She even bought more cassette tapes for the party which would blend well with the other songs she chose.

After 5 minutes of waiting with the bags hanging loosely in her hands, Lily caught a glimpse of blonde hair approaching. He didn't go as crazy as she did with buying things, but he still carried a decent amount of things.

'I see I was quicker than you with my shopping,' she teased as Draco paid for his stuff and took the bag from the cashier who flashed them both a smile.

'Don't flatter yourself, Potter,' he said playfully as they exited the shop, walking to Honeydukes. 'Did you buy the whole shop?'

'Well Christmas is coming and I have presents to buy, you cannot blame me for being prepared, Malfoy.'

'Whatever,' the boy playfully rolled his eyes.

Honeydukes was as welcoming as Lily remembered; the shelves full of sweets were urging her to buy them all, but she stopped herself, knowing she wouldn't be able to eat that much even if Ron helped her.

Liquorice wands, some bars of chocolate and chocolate cakes were the sweets she bought, thinking of sharing them with Ron and Hermione the next day when the party passed and they would not have hangovers.

Lily eyed how Draco took a box of apple flavored candies from a shelf. She smiled to herself as she did not expect a boy like him to like a simple fruit like apples as he was no ordinary boy.

And Draco surely knew that she was no ordinary girl either.

As they left the sweets shop, it seemed like the wind was even angrier than before, causing Lily's nose to become as red as her hair.

Draco's chuckle was lost to the fury of the weather as he suggested The Three Broomsticks as perhaps their last stop, as they had to get ready for the party.

The little pub was warm and lit as always. It was a busy day for Madam Rosmerta who seemed to move with the speed of light, serving her customers.

Draco and Lily waited at the register for the woman to notice they were also in need of some warm drinks. Thankfully she was quick to give them what they needed and the duo walked through the crowd, searching for a table.

Lily caught a glimpse of Ron and Hermione sitting in a corner and she wished they hadn't seen her only it was too late as Hermione already began waving in her direction.

'Erm- Malfoy,' she said quietly and the blonde followed her eyes until his own landed on Lily's best friends.

'Don't worry, I've also seen Blaise, Pansy and Theo there,' he pointed to his own friends and Lily turned to see that Blaise was staring at them.

'Alright then, thank you for today.'

'No problem, see you tonight?'

'See you tonight.'

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