Julia waited eagerly for Saturday all week, but when the day finally arrived she found herself nervous. There was no way Lily would willingly go to Hogsmeade with her, she'd probably back out at the last moment. Or maybe the other girls in their dorm would decide to tag along, Julia would hate that - she just wanted to be with Lily.

So she was pleasantly surprised when Lily called, while leaving the dormitory, "I'll meet you in the Entrance Hall, Thorne!"

Julia didn't have time to reply before the other girl was gone, instead she allowed a small smile brighten her face.

"What are you smirking at?" Marlene demanded.

Julia cursed silently, having forgot that the blonde was still there.

"Nothing for you to worry yourself with," she replied shortly, turning back to her trunk and pulling out an outfit - one that she definitely hadn't planned out the previous night.

"Why are you going to Hogsmeade with Lily?" Marlene asked suspiciously, frowning at her in scrutiny.

"Because Lily's my friend and I want to spend time with her?" Julia frowned back, like Marlene's question was ridiculous.

"Mkay," She nodded sarcastically, "I'll pretend that I believe you for now, but if you hurt Lily in any way there will be hell to pay."

Julia glared angrily; annoyed at Marlene's threat, but also feeling a begrudging respect for her protectiveness over her friend.

"Why do you care anyway?" She asked, not letting any of those emotions show on her face.

"I just consider it a bit weird that you're suddenly interested in Lily when you've never looked twice at her before." Marlene explained with a shrug, looping her arm through a handbag.

"I consider you weird McKinnon, but you don't see me complaining," Julia shot back.

With an offended scoff, Marlene left the room. Julia rolled her eyes and pulled on her outfit: a comfy pair of jeans, a plain white top and her coat.

Walking towards the hall for breakfast, Julia felt the nerves seize her again. This time, however, they were tinged with excitement: she was going to spend a whole day with Lily Evans, James Potter would kill for that.

Julia tried to calm herself down, lily doesn't think this is a date remember, don't get too excited.

Breakfast went by far too slowly for her liking. She ate her cereal quickly and then snuck glances at Lily for the rest of the meal, subtly waiting for her to finish. Even when the other girl stood up to leave Julia waited for a moment, not wanting to appear too eager.

She met Lily in the Entrance Hall like the girl said, smiling in greeting and starting the walk to the carriages. They hurried past Filch, who glowered from where he was collecting permission slips, and hopped into the nearest carriage, settling next to a group of third years.

"So, where do you want to go?" Julia asked quietly, watching Lily think.

"Honeydukes is top priority," Lily said firmly.

"Can't argue with that," Julia grinned.

"And I fancy going to the Three Broomsticks, it's really cold out."

Lily was right. Even though it was still October, a cold chill was sweeping the countryside, leaving a blanket of frost in its wake. It was now too cold to leave the castle without a coat or several thick jumpers on, and it wasn't uncommon to see students wrapped in thick bundles of clothes in an attempt to stay warm.

Just last History of Magic lesson, Peter Pettigrew had shown up with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Professor Binns hadn't even noticed, but when Professor Mcgonagall made a surprise visit, she was less than impressed.

They sat in silence for most of the journey, simply watching the white-tipped trees zoom past the window and making the occasional small talk.

When they arrived they headed straight for Honeydukes, laughing at each other as they tip-toed over the thin ice on the road, slipping occasionally. Lily's foot skidded at one point and the girl lurched forward, instinctively grabbing Julia's arm to stop herself from falling.

The two of them giggled as they continued down the road and Julia thought that choosing to come to Hogsmeade during winter was her best decision ever.

They entered Honeydukes, the warm shop already full of excited students grappling for the sweets they wanted. Julia and Lily weaved their way through the crowd and ended up in front of the chocolate section. Julia grabbed a couple of Honeyduke's finest bars and then waited for Lily to pick out something. Expecting Lily to only pick up one or two things, she was surprised when her hand kept darting out to get more.

"You sure you have enough there?" Julia teased, when the girl was finally finished.

Lily blushed, glancing down at the mountain of chocolate and sweets in her arms, "It's not all for me, this one is for Remus." She picked up a large bar and showed it to Julia.

Julia laughed without meaning to, finding the other girl's actions both hilarious and adorable.

"It's okay, I get it: you have to stock up for winter," Julia replied when she'd finished laughing.

"Exactly," Lily exclaimed triumphantly, dumping all the confectionery on the counter and fishing out her money from a bag.

Julia watched in amusement and then proceeded to pay for her own chocolate, opening it straight after and taking a bite.

"You're not going to save it?" Lily questioned.

"What's the point? I'll just end up eating it in a couple if hours, may as well enjoy it now," Julia replied, chewing the chunk of creamy chocolate.

"That sounded very wise for someone talking about a chocolate bar," Lily pointed out with a giggle.

"Ah, but doesn't chocolate bring out the best in all of us?" Julia questioned in a whimsical voice.

Lily let out a stifled chuckle, which soon turned into a near hysterical laughing fit, the girl doubled over and clutching her stomach.

Julia didn't think it had been that funny, but Lily's laughter was contagious and immediately spread to her.

As they were walking, Julia glanced in Zonkos and saw the four Marauders in there, messing around with a joke hat - she thought it best to avoid that shop.

"You want to stop off for a drink?" She suggested as they passed the Three Broomsticks.

"Yeah sure."

The two of them entered the local pub, warmth immediately washing over them. Looking around the place, Julia noticed McKinnon and Vance were sat at a table with the Prewett twins, who were in their final year at Hogwarts.

She hoped Lily wouldn't notice her friends, afraid that she would be forced to sit awkwardly with them. Unfortunately Lily's gaze was already over there, the girl waving cheerfully at them.

Julia cringed slightly, waiting to be dragged over there, but to her surprise Lily pointed out an empty table on the other side of the room.

"That one looks good," she said, before walking towards it.

"Don't you want to sit with your friends?" Julia asked, hurrying to catch up with the redhead.

"I'm not all that fond of Fabian and Gideon, they're too similar to the Marauders," Lily explained, taking a seat.

"Don't let the Marauders hear you say that," Julia said, sitting opposite her, "They'd get very upset to know you've lowered them to the Prewett's level."

It was common knowledge at Hogwarts that the Prewett twins and the Marauders had a bit of a rivalry going on. Multiple prank wars had erupted over the years, resulting in a lot of students being sent to the hospital wing with green skin or overly large limbs.

"I'll make sure they never find out," Lily promised jokingly.

"I'll get the drinks," Julia offered after a moment, "do you want a butterbeer?"

"I don't like butterbeer," Lily admitted sheepishly, "I prefer hot chocolate."

"Hot chocolate it is then," Julia said, walking to the bar before Lily could argue and ordering the drinks.

She returned a couple of minutes later carrying a butterbeer for herself and a hot chocolate for Lily.

"You didn't have to do that," Lily shook her head slightly as she sipped the warm drink.

"I wanted to," Julia replied simply, taking a sip of her own drink, then wiping away the foam it left on her lip.

The two of them sat in silence while they drank, their table a small bubble of quiet amongst the rowdy students filling every corner of the building. Julia hadn't been looking forward to the awkward silences when neither of them knew what to say. However, she found this surprisingly peaceful.

¤¤¤

"-Should have seen his face!" Julia laughed at the end of her recount of the time she tricked James into using olive oil as hair gel.

She turned to Lily, expecting the girl to laugh along, only to find she had stopped walking and was staring into a shop window, completely entranced.

"What is it?" Julia asked, walking behind the girl and peering over her shoulder.

"It's beautiful," Lily said dreamily, pointing at a small silver bracelet displayed on a shelf.

"You should get it," Julia prompted, taking in the tender look in Lily's eyes. If only the girl would look at her as lovingly as she did that bracelet, Julia thought with a sigh.

"I can't," Lily sighed, her eyes dropping to the price that was scrawled on a tag beside it, "It's too expensive."

Lily turned to leave, but Julia hesitated - biting her lip as she looked thoughtfully at the small piece of jewellery.

"Aren't you coming?" Lily stopped, turning back to her and looking confused.

"I could get it for you," Julia offered, ignoring the question.

Lily's eyes widened in shock, "I- Julia, no, it's too much!" She argued, shaking her head firmly. Julia smiled slightly at the sound of her name rolling off Lily's tongue.

"It's no problem, it's not that much," she said, which was true; she was born into an old pureblood family who had more than enough money, not nearly as much as the Blacks or the Malfoys, but enough.

She walked into the shop, a little bell chiming over head as she pushed the door open. She could hear Lily jogging behind her, the bell chiming again as she raced through the door.

"Julia, no! I can't let you do this," Lily hissed so she wouldn't cause a scene in the quiet shop.

"I want to," Julia replied simply, walking towards the counter.

"Julia!" Lily hissed once more, but she had already reached the desk.

"How may I help you?" The man at the counter asked.

"I'm quite interested in a bracelet displayed in the window," Julia said politely, pointing behind her shoulder in the general direction of the window.

"Of course, show me which one and I'll get it for you," the man came out from behind the desk and walked towards the window while Julia followed behind, Lily stood to the side in a kind of muted horror.

"That one." She pointed at the small silver band.

"Ah yes," the man said in a tone that showed he approved, "this little beauty was made by the designer Fisollo, infused with mermaid tears, which are said to bring good luck and everlasting youth," he explained, holding it up to the light, "Would you like to purchase it?"

"Yes please," Julia nodded, once again following the man back to the till.

"Would you like it wrapped?"

"Uh, no thanks," Julia shook her head, it would be easier to just give it to Lily now.

"That will be 37 Galleons and 6 sickles then," the man said.

Julia flicked through her purse and pulled out the right coins, exchanging them for the bracelet.

They walked out of the shop in silence, both of them a little stunned over what she had done. Julia realised the bracelet was still clutched in her hand, she held it out to Lily, who gingerly took it from her grasp.

"I can't believe you just did that," she said quietly, turning it over in her hand and watching the gemstone glint softly in the light.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Lily asked, when Julia didn't reply.

Julia shrugged, "Maybe I'm trying to buy your affection," she suggested casually.

She only realised what she'd said when she saw Lily freeze up in the corner of her eye.

Shit.

Things were going good, why did she have to say that? Now Lily was probably going to hate her, she'd ruined everything!

Shit!

Surely Lily would realise Julia's feelings now, there was no way to play that off cool!

Shit!Shit!Shit!

Just laugh it off, Julia, she tried to tell herself, make it seem like a joke. But her mouth just wouldn't obey, the only sound she managed was a small choking noise, which she pretended was a cough.

They awkwardly got into a carriage (one of the last ones there, all of the others having returned to Hogwarts by now), Julia beating herself up inside the entire time.

L I L Y

Lily was having trouble processing the day. Julia had been nicer for a few weeks now, she'd barely gotten used to that, but today seemed like it was pushing the limits.

Buying Lily a hot chocolate was more than enough, buying her an expensive bracelet was almost too much for her to comprehend.

Then there had been the casual pick up line. Julia always joked around and pretended to flirt, that was normal. But this had been different; Julia hadn't even thought about it, she'd just said it, and her usual cheeky tone had been non-existent, meaning that the brunette and had meant what she said. Unless Lily was just thinking too deeply into it? But then, why wouldn't Julia just make a sarcastic comment like she usually did?

Lily was tired and confused and the only thing convincing her that she was even awake right now was the cold metal in her hand.

wattpad kept deleting the images and messing up the text, i wanted to diE. but here you go, a whole chapter of cute julily interaction! tell me what you think in the comments!