"Lily, the town will still be there even if we walk at a normal pace," Severus grumbled, but he sped up a bit nevertheless.
"I know it will, silly. I'm just so excited! And frankly, I don't understand why you aren't more excited yourself." She glanced at him as she bounded along the path, occasionally skipping a step or two in her exuberance.
"You are excited enough for the both of us," he replied.
"Oh, come on, Sev!" Lily put her hand on his arm, then grabbed his hand and tugged.
He glanced down at where their hands were joined; suddenly, his step seemed a little lighter as he allowed himself to be pulled along in her wake.
Upon their arrival, Lily insisted on walking through the entire village first, "to get the lay of the land," as she said. As they passed places they had only heard about but not yet seen—Honeydukes, Zonko's Joke Shop, Madam Puddifoot's—Lily would stop to stare into the windows, practically pressing her nose up against the glass. Each time, Severus would ask her if she wanted to go inside for a closer look, and each time, she declined. She insisted that first she needed to get the overview; once she knew all of the delights Hogsmeade had to offer, she would be able to prioritize and plan her itinerary.
As they passed a small jeweler's shop, Lily stopped, mouth open in an "O." Being Muggle-born, she had never really seen much in the way of Wizarding jewelry. She stared at the display, entranced by a butterfly pin that beat its multicolored jeweled wings, a little dragon that breathed out a fiery opal, a kitten that batted a pearl between its front paws.
Her gaze wandered over the items on display, taking in the more conventional baubles of precious gemstones set in fine metals, and finally alighting upon a sweet little pendant with a flower made of rubies set in gold. "Oh, Severus! Isn't it pretty?" she breathed.
He glanced at the necklace that had caught her eye. His "I suppose," in response was distinctly noncommittal.
Lily noticed his gaze drift back to something else in the window, and she followed his line of sight to a beautiful hair comb decorated with emeralds and diamonds set in white gold. "Oh, that is lovely!" Then she laughed. "Emeralds—green. Of course. How very Slytherin of you," she teased.
"No, I wasn't thinking of that … it's just …" Severus paused. He felt the heat suffusing his cheeks and struggled to hide his discomfort.
"It's just what, Sev?" Lily prompted.
"Well—they match your eyes," he mumbled, keeping his gaze trained on the jewels and assiduously avoiding the eyes in question.
"They match my eyes," she said softly, repeating the words as if they were as precious as the jewels twinkling in the shop window. "That's so sweet of you to notice, Sev." Smiling, she leaned towards him and kissed his cheek. Then she grabbed his hand and dragged him to the next shop window.
As he followed her, Severus raised his free hand to his cheek. He could still feel the touch of her lips, warm as sunlight and petal soft, grazing his skin. Her hand squeezed his gently as she pulled him along. A tiny smile curved his lips, and he gave a soft, contented sigh.
Author's Notes: Thanks to PajamaPants and ladyinthecloak for beta reading. This was written as a gift for SouthernWitch69. Her prompt was Hogsmeade, ruby, Lily.
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