Oh, no. Everywhere he looked, he saw another girl in long white robes with large, doughnut-like buns over her ears. He frowned. He and Lily had arranged to meet at the gathering; he supposed they should have anticipated Princess Leia would be a popular costume, given the film's recent box office success. He saw very few other people dressed as Batman, so he presumed she would have better luck recognizing him, despite the mask.

He strode about the room purposefully in his tights and cape—after all, the Caped Crusader would not hesitate, looking lost—hoping she would see him.

From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of someone who looked vaguely familiar—there, dressed as a character from Star Trek. He moved closer, unable to believe his eyes. Surely he must be imagining things …

"There you are!" Lily grabbed his arm and pulled his head down to kiss his cheek. "I've been looking all over for you! Who knew there'd be so many Princess Leias here?" A slight frown marred her pretty features. "I should have come as Wonder Woman ..."

"You look great, Lily," Remus said. "I'm sure you are the feistiest Princess Leia here."

Lily punched his arm lightly. "Don't patronize me, you big bat!" Her soft chuckle took any sting out of the words.

"Lily. Look over there." Remus tilted his head in the direction he meant. "Do you see what I see?"

"Where? I don't see …"

"Over in the corner. In the Star Trek costume …"

"Oh!" She put her hand over her mouth. "It looks like him, doesn't it?"

"It certainly does. Do you want to—" But Lily was already marching towards that quiet corner. Remus followed her lead.

"Severus! Is that really you?" she asked.

The boy in the blue shirt turned to face her. "Lily," he began, but stopped when he saw Remus.

"I didn't realize you were such a fan of Star Trek," Lily said.

"Severus." Remus offered his hand. "Fancy meeting you here."

Severus ignored his hand, glaring past him.

"It's just Lily and me," Remus said quietly. "The others don't know enough about this Muggle nonsense to enjoy it."

"But, Severus," Lily said, "if you are going to be Spock, you need the pointy ears and eyebrows."

"Whatever are you talking about?" Severus demanded. "I'm not Spock. I'm McCoy."

"Bones? Really?" Remus asked, surprised. "You don't seem the type."

"And what would you know about my type?" Severus snarled. He pulled his wand and muttered a Notice-Me-Not spell, then trained it on Remus.

"What—" Before he could defend himself, Remus was encased in what felt like a gorilla suit. He looked at his paws. "Chewbacca? Seriously?"

Severus sneered. "You seemed the type."

Now Remus drew his own wand. However, hindered as Remus was by his big, hairy paws, Severus had time to duck, and the spell hit Lily instead. Both boys stared at Lily, eyes wide with shock.

At last, Severus found his voice. "Darth Vader," he said. "Now, why didn't I think of that? Then you two would never have recognized me ..."

Lily stomped her black-booted foot. "Remus! Get me out of this …" She gestured to the black armor encasing her body.

"Sorry, Lils," he said, casting the spell to restore her former costume. But again the spell went awry, and this time, it hit Severus, who was none to happy to find himself suddenly wearing Princess Leia's white robes.

"Bugger!" Remus cursed, hoping that Chewbacca's furry face hid the smile tugging at his lips. Had Severus's hair had sufficient volume to adequately fill out those doughnuts over his ears, Remus would not have been able to contain his humor.

Severus shook with rage as he hissed, "Fix this now."

"I'm trying!" Remus replied. "Maybe if you hadn't put me in this monkeysuit, which interferes with my ability to cast the simplest of spells …"

"Fine!" Severus practically shouted the spell, and Remus was back in his cape and tights. "Now, FIX IT!"

With a flick of Remus's wand, Severus once again found himself in his Star Fleet uniform. He tugged savagely at his shirt. "That's better."

"What about me?" Lily's high-pitched voice demanded.

Remus turned back to Lily and waved his wand, casting another spell.

Lily smoothed her hands over her white robes. "That's better. But I still think …" Lily pulled her wand and, with a quiet word, gave Severus the requisite ears and eyebrows to impersonate the Vulcan science officer.

"Why'd you do that?" Severus asked, face flushed and eyes flashing.

"I'm sorry, Sev, but I just don't see you as Bones," Lily said. "Spock is so much … sexier," she sighed.

Severus's face flushed a deeper shade of pink.

"You do make an excellent Spock," Remus said. He conjured a mirror. "See?"

Severus glanced at his reflection, then turned to look at Lily, who was biting her lip. His scowl softened. "I suppose," he admitted. His eyes gleamed wickedly as he said, "However, I owe you," and muttered another spell.

Instead of her Princess Leia costume, Lily looked down to see a red-white-and-blue bathing-suit-like costume, with kicky red boots. "What did you do?"

"I thought you liked Wonder Woman," Severus said with a smirk.

"I do, but—can I really go out there in front of everybody dressed like this?" Lily asked.

"Why not? You look amazing. And you did say you wished you'd come as Wonder Woman," Remus chimed in.

"That's true, but—"

"You wear less on the beach," Severus said.

"I know, but—"

"Look, Lily." Severus pointed to her wrists.

"The power bracelets!" Lily held up her hands to admire them and clapped with glee.

"And the golden lasso, too," Remus wheedled.

Lily fingered the lasso, seeming to consider her options.

"What are you afraid of?" Severus asked.

"Who said I'm afraid?" she huffed. "Let's go." And they did.

---

Author notes: Thanks as always to my magnificent betas, chivalric and karelia. Also, thanks to my auxiliary muse for her invaluable help with brainstorming and plotting, and to clairvoyant for catching a potentially embarrassing anachronism I almost perpetrated.

Original Prompt: It's summer hols and the three of them run into each other at a local sci-fi convention. (Maybe all dressed up? maybe just Severus?) Hilarity ensues! I hope I've come through on the hilarity. I tried.