Lily Evans and Rachel Diggory lounged on the bright green grass under a huge concealing tree, staring at the sparkling lake. The sun shone brilliantly with the absence of the usual presence of clouds during autumn. It seemed like everyone was outside trying to enjoy the weather while it lasted. Their book bags laid abandoned a few feet away as they discussed the upcoming trip to Hogsmeade.
"Liz Mitchell thinks Austin will ask her out by then. You should hear her going on and on about it every Transfiguration class. Got her a detention when the professor caught her blabbing, accidently turning her mouse into a teacup with peacock feathers. I don't see why she's so consumed with Austin when there are so many more reliable boys around here who aren't complete jerks." Rachel said with a casual eye roll.
"Well there goes my chance, huh?" Sirius Black laughed from behind a nearby oak tree, Rachel quickly straightened up, clearly on a verge of uproar due to this interruption. An annoyed expression crossed Lily's face but unlike Rachel, she waited to hear what Sirius and his everlasting tag-along, James Potter, wanted. At least there wasn't any sign of the rest of their crew. James and Sirius were known to travel with a crowd not too far behind. No matter how appealing everyone else found them, Lily considered James and Sirius to be attention-seekers.
"As if you ever had one," Rachel sneered, giving Sirius the coldest glare she could muster.
"That's too bad," Sirius replied, crouching down amongst a group of pink and purple flowers growing nearby. "Because I was going to ask you to accompany me to Hogsmeade Saturday." Brushing his fingers pass the pink flowers, he settled on a purple one, and plucked it from the ground. He held it out for Rachel to take.
Rachel's eyes iced over the flower as if it were dragon dung. "You can't be serious," she said in disbelief.
"Well that is his name. At least last time I checked it was," James laughed, flashing a bright smile Lily's way.
"Why would I want to go out with you?" Rachel asked coldly.
"Well, are you going into Hogsmeade with someone else?" Sirius asked dropping the flower back to the ground once he saw Rachel had no plans of accepting it. Lily noticed his eyes were no longer playful and his tone became defensive, almost as cold as hers.
"That's none of your business." Rachel said nastily, her eyes narrowed.
"Whatever." Sirius muttered leaning on the tree.
Lily grabbed Rachel's arm, picked up their bags, and steered Rachel toward the castle.
"Guess that's a no, mate." James shook his head, tossing a stone into the lake.
"Girls. No one understands them."
James laughed.
As Rachel and Lily walked to Gryffindor's common room, Lily noticed Rachel was rather quiet. Usually after an encounter with Sirius, Rachel would mutter for days about how much of a prick he was, shooting him annoyed looks in classes. But now she seemed deep in thought. She kept wringing her hands and sliding her "R" pendant across its silver chain.
"Why are you so quiet?" Lily finally asked.
Rachel glanced at Lily; slowing her pace a bit to let two Ravenclaws prance by in a fit of giggles. Once they were out of earshot, Rachel turned back to Lily.
"What if Sirius really did want to ask me out?" she asked.
Lily hesitated. "I think he does," she began slowly. "Actually he just did. You know, James asked me yesterday.
Rachel's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"
Lily nodded. "At first I thought he was being funny, but he seemed really genuine. Sirius wasn't even around when he asked. So I told him I'd think about it. On my way to Potions I met up with Severus. Well, he wasn't happy when I told him about it."
Yeah, I can only imagine. Rachel thought to herself. Severus hates James and Sirius almost as much as they hate him. There's no way I'm going to tell him Sirius asked me out.
"Maybe we should just think about it," Lily suggested to Rachel as they approached the portrait. "Liversprout." She told the lady who sat in a velvet chair with a scowl on her face. The portrait swung open and they emerged into a cozy room. But from the disapproving look on Rachel's face, Lily was certain Rachel wouldn't give Sirius a chance. Who could blame her? James and Sirius were always getting landed in detention due to the endless pranks they pulled. Every girl in school liked or used to like at least one of them. All this attention definitely gave their egos a boost and that wasn't even taking into consideration James being on the Gryffindor quidditch team. She reached into her bag for her Potions notes, a quill, and ink, preparing to begin her essay on the effects of the sleeping potion they were discussing in class. A case of brightly colored quills fell out on the floor along with a stack of papers. Irritably she picked up the stack of papers, trying to reorganize them. A slightly crumpled up piece of parchment with flying snitches drawn in the corners caught her eye. She held the paper under a nearby lantern whose orange light spilled onto the table.
I know you said you'd think about it, but the trip into Hogsmeade is two days from now. Please say yes already. Oh and Sirius wants to know if Raven I mean, Rachel wants to come too. You know, so he can announce his undying love for her. Just kidding.
-James
"Here." Lily said handing Rachel the small piece of parchment.
"What? What's this?" Rachel asked, knocking a bit of ink onto her Runes chart. Flicking her wand, the ink disappeared.
"James put this in my bag down at the lake. Read it." Rachel grabbed the note. She read it quickly and then handed it back to Lily.
"Is this the rune for moon?" she asked, showing Lily a swirly symbol in her Runes: A Closer Look at Ancient Society book.
Lily pushed the book away. "Well…what do you think?" she gestured toward the note.
Rachel sighed. "Fine. We'll go with them into Hogsmeade. I guess it won't hurt to give it a try."
Lily stared back at her in shock. "Are you feeling okay? I wouldn't exactly say you and Sirius had a heartwarming conversation, but maybe you do actually like him."
Rachel laughed. "No. I just want to get this over with so I won't have to hear about this anymore."
"So you think these dates are going to be disastrous?" Lily asked.
"Oh, let's just say we haven't seen disastrous yet!" Rachel replied sarcastically turning back to her Runes chart. Lily pulled her Potions essay back toward her.
"Oh, by the way, that's the rune for ice," she said before dipping her quill in a bottle of ink.
"Great." Rachel muttered before frantically flipping through the book to look for the correct rune.
"I guess I'll tell James next time I see him." Lily said.
A loud bang erupted as the portrait swung open and two teenage boys (one with untidy dark hair whereas the other had curly dark hair) emerged into the common room laughing hysterically.
"I'll get the headmaster on you! Mark my words. This time you'll be on the train home. Then we'll see who'll be laughing." Filch threatened as the portrait door closed.
"Old git," James said sliding down on the couch beside Remus Lupin who looked up wearily.
Rachel shook her head, begging Lily to not walk over there.
Please don't let me regret this. Lily pleaded as she walked over to the couch.
*Please, please, please leave a comment. Do you guys think I should continue with this? What characters do you want to see more of?*
