If I was JK Rowling, I would have written a much longer prequel. All the characters belong to her.
Edited: December 2011
A Matter Of Pride
Chapter 1:
Chatting with old Mates
A short, petite woman with bright red hair piled on top of her head sank down into a ratty, faded yellow couch with a sigh. This was the first time in a week she was able to sit down and breathe. Between the odd hour shifts in St. Mungos, the secret, random missions for the order, and the horrible nightmares which followed, sleep became a luxury Lily Evans rarely enjoyed. She planned for tonight off months in advance, after all, it was her birthday, and all she wanted was a nice hot bubble bath and to read the book of Complex Charms one of her professors had given her as a gift for Graduation three years ago.
Dorcas Meadows, her flatmate, was off on something or other for the Ministry; Lily smiled ruefully, thinking that it was perhaps all the better. Since Hogwarts, the pair of close friends had drifted apart, and now saw each other at Order meetings, or on the rare event that they were home at the same time.
Just as she opened the leather cover of her book, a loud crack resounded off the walls of her flat. Acting on instinct, she grasped her wand and shot a nonverbal spell at the source of the sound. Heart pumping, she got off of her comfy chair and crept up to the man who she stunned. He had fallen face first, and so Lily ignored the smell of him (which was really quite horrid), and turned him over. A choked sound pushed its way out of her throat as she saw the face of her intruder.
He wore his hair much longer and a bit more ragged than when she last saw him. His skin was tanned and peeling, from many days of tracking or running outside. His cloak was rather dirty and ripped, and his clothes hung looser on his frame than she remembered. However, his eyes remained the same stormy grey color.
Hastily she muttered the counter spell. It was only then she noticed how badly her hands were shaking.
"Well hello to you too, Lil! I see your reflexes are as brilliant as ever. However, you didn't even make sure I was the real Sirius! What would Moody say? Constant vigilance, Evans!" He smoothly picked himself off the floor and flashed a grin. As he straightened his grimy shirt, Lily noticed that his posture was as flawless as always.
"Sirius, when did you get back? Sorry 'bout the stun, you startled me." Lily chose to ignore his jibe.
"I just did. I remembered it was your birthday and wanted to stop by to see how you were doing." He shoved his hands in his pockets and smiled awkwardly. The pair stood their frozen for a moment, unsure what to do. With everything going on, they hadn't seen each other for three months. Regaining her senses, Lily closed the space between them first and wrapped her arms around him. He hesitated for a second, and then squeezed her back much tighter. It was then she realized how much she missed this boy. She missed his dark and rather twisted humor, his teasing smile; his hugs that made her feel a little bit safer. After a while, they let go.
"It feels like forever since I last saw you, and all the boys! Come on and sit down and fill me in on what's happening," she gestured toward the old couch.
"Do you want a butterbeer?" She asked as she wandered to the kitchen.
"Acutally, I brought something a little stronger." She turned around and saw Sirius produce two bottles of Ogden's finest firewhiskey. She lifted an eyebrow.
" I'd fancy not to be utterly smashed while I'm putting people back together." He stretched out, putting his muddy trainers on her wobbly coffee table.
"Always the kill joy. More for me then!" He said as he expertly popped the top off of one. Rolling her eyes, she came back to her favorite couch, sat down and curled her legs beneath her.
"So what's been happening in the exciting life of Sirius Black since we last chatted?" He shifted uncomfortably and downed half the bottle without flinching before he answered.
"Eh, not much. Besides adding some new toys to my motorcycle," His eyes sparkled at this thought, "nothings really happened. You know how it is, the Order takes up a lot of time."
"Oh believe me, I know. So there is no special lady friend then?" Lily grinned and waggled her eyebrows, "Because I've been getting some vibes from a certain blonde haired witch in the order meetings-"
"Then you must have been misreading them." He cut her off quickly, his voice betraying no emotion. She frowned.
"What about Peter and Remus? How are they doing? I haven't heard from them in weeks." At this, his face hardened, his grip on the bottle tightened. Lily thought that it might break.
"Remus has been in and out of werewolf packs, trying to "convince them to join us", you know. I wonder about him though. I think all of the talk of equality with Voldemort may be affecting him. And Pete?," He let out a dry laugh, "He's happily busy with his new promotion, I don't hear a lot from him either," They sat in silence. Lily bit her lip. It seemed laughable to think that Remus could be a traitor, yet...She mentally shook herself, driving all thoughts of possible betrayal out of her mind.
"I do have some news though. But I don't know if you want to hear it right now, on your birthday and everything." His voice was strained, and Lily noted that his knuckles turned white as squeezed the bottle even harder. Her stomach dropped.
"Who died?" Her voice was dull and hollow sounding. So many had been lost, muggle and non muggle alike. More than ever, she wished for those sunlit days at Hogwarts, when they thought the war would end soon, that Voldemort's reign of terror was a bad dream, when they thought fighting in the war was honorable and glorious...Sirius barked out a harsh laugh.
"No nothing like that Lily," He paused and took a swig of firewhiskey, "Its bloody brilliant news." He spat out angrily. She frowned in confusion. Reaching in his pocket, he pulled out a torn, folded thin piece of paper.
"Read it." Lily took it and opened it gently. Her heart stopped.
Potter Engaged To French Prime Minister's Niece
She read the title of the news article over and over, not comprehending the meaning. Then she felt it: Pain, terrible, ripping, searing, pain in her chest. She couldn't breathe. The black typed print swam in front of her eyes, and she couldn't seem to look at the picture of the happy couple.
"Lily? I am sorry. So bloody sorry." Warm arms went around her.
"That bastard." She laughed weakly, slowly putting herself back together, bit by bit. No tears had managed to fall yet, a fact she felt very proud of. She pulled away from Sirius, still clutching that scrap of newspaper.
"I knew you don't get The Prophet anymore, so I wanted to let you know before you saw it somewhere else." He said gruffly. Lily took a deep breath.
"Thank you. How long have you known?"
" Just today. Found out in the _ paper!" He said a rather colorful word. Something didn't seem quite right in Lily's head.
"Why didn't James tell you himself?" It was the first time in two years she said his name aloud. It left a bittersweet taste in her mouth. Sirius barked out a hard laugh.
"I haven't spoken to James in a year and a half. One day he got in contact with me and explained that letters were unsafe, apparition was impossible with all the wards around him, the floo network in France was being watched, and he said to only use the mirror if there was a great emergency. If getting engaged isn't an emergency..." Lily sat in shock. In all the years that she had known him, friends and family always came first. He'd break any rule, face the threat of Azkaban, sacrifice sleep, food, anything for them. It was something she always admired about him.
"That doesn't sound anything like James. Since when did he let rules and regulations stop him from anything?"
"Since when did James ever give up and walk away?" Sirius countered. She bit her lip at that and focused her gaze at the white carpet. It only reminded her how badly she needed to clean today. Sirius sighed and pushed the hair out of his eyes.
"I don't understand it either. I keep on wondering what else he hasn't told me. When he has his first kid will I find out in the paper too?" Lily flinched slightly and Sirius pretended he didn't notice. He went to finish the bottle off, but she snatched it out of his hand and poured the liquid down her throat. So much for a nice relaxing bubble bath. The empty painful in the pit of her stomach lessened somewhat as the firewhiskey did its job.
Sirius smiled grimily at her, popped the top off the other one, and raised it in her direction. "Cheers Lil."
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