Before the Midnight Toll
One: Turning Tables (JamesLily)
For the record, Lily Evans was not usually a jealous or malicious person.
However, if Marlene McKinnon did not move herself at least five meters away from James Potter, Lily would have a fit.
If, at this time last year, someone had told Lily that she'd be upset over the fact that James and Marlene were talking and laughing together, she would have laughed right in their face. But now... now things were different.
Last year, on the first day of their sixth year, James had cornered Lily and apologized for his behavior during the previous years. If she was being honest with herself, Lily was rather impressed. She hadn't let James know that though; instead, she gave him a curt 'thank you' and darted off to find Mary and Alice.
A week later, James asked her out in a ridiculous way, she turned him down rudely, and everything was back to normal.
That is until Sirius bloody Black decided to lock the two in a broom closet the day before exams. Needless to say, it had not turned out well. James had tried to apologized, but Lily, already frazzled from the stress of their looming exams, would hear nothing of it. She ended up screaming at him for so long and so loudly that she wore her voice out and eventually resorted to bawling her eyes out. Sirius had eventually let the two out, and James had apparently taken Lily's anger to heart—it was a half a year later and James had yet to ask her to Hogsmeade or speak to her other than when absolutely necessary.
In hindsight, Lily had to admit that maybe she had overreacted a bit. After all, it wasn't really James' fault; it was all that bloody prat Sirius Black's fault!
Speaking of him, where was the prick? Shouldn't he have been over with James and Marlene? He was going out with the latter, and wasn't it his job to make sure the two weren't getting too chummy with each other?
Lily shook her head, trying to erase all of her jealous thoughts, though it was becoming increasingly harder. Ever since James had been ignoring her at the start of term, the redhead found herself craving the Quidditch captain's attention. Ironically, she found herself missing their playful banter and his idiotic attempts to woo her. Lily had even resorted to trying to woo him – and yet, James remained undeterred.
That boy is too stubborn for his own good, Lily thought sadly. She could not believe how the tables had turned; now that she had finally accepted her feelings for him (there was no denying now that she fancied him, even Peter Pettigrew ought to have caught on by now) James had seemingly moved on.
"How tragically ironic," Lily muttered under her breath, taking a sip butter beer. She briefly scanned the room, curious as to where her friends had wandered off to.
Alice Maine was cuddling with Frank Longbottom over by the fire, Mary MacDonald was conversing with Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black was standing next to Lily by the refreshment table, Emmeline Vance and Benjy Fenwick were flirting—
Wait a minute.
Lily whipped around and saw that, indeed, Sirius Black had decided to stand right next to her.
"Ello, Evans." Sirius lifted his glass—which Lily doubted was pumpkin juice or butter beer—in a manner of greeting. "How are you doing on this lovely evening?"
Lily stared at him eyebrows raised and mouth open. "What are you doing over here? You hate me!"
Sirius let out a low, bark-like laugh. "I don't hate you, Lily. Strongly dislike, yes, but not hate. I prefer to save my hatred for my family."
Lily pursed her lips, unsure of what to say. None of that information was new; it was a well-known fact that Sirius could not stand his family and that they felt the same way. Nevertheless, how was one supposed to respond to that? "Okay... Then if you so strongly dislike me, why are you standing over here and attempting to make small talk?"
"Well, you see, love"—Lily narrowed her eyes and Sirius winked at her and shot her a crooked smile that would make the majority of Hogwarts' female population swoon—"I've got myself in a bit of a dilemma."
Lily raised a questioning eyebrow. "And how, pray tell, do your issues involve me?"
Sirius' grin turned wicked and Lily felt a bit unnerved. "I was just getting to that. You see that bloke over there?" He lifted a cup in James and Marlene's direction. "Well, he is taking up my valuable time with that lovely bird."
Lily stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out how she fit into this puzzle. "Wait... You want me to go and interrupt their conversation, just so you can go snog your girlfriend?"
"Exactly." Sirius' smirk didn't falter. "And you're going to do it."
"Why on earth would I?" Lily shot back, crossing her arms defiantly.
"Because, love"—Sirius leaned closer, his voice dropping—"I know you want to separate them just as much as I do."
Lily felt a blush rise up to her neck, aware of the fact that he was one hundred percent right. "Fine, I'll do it."
"Fantastic." Sirius' eyes lit up. "And I'd hurry if I were you; it's nearly midnight."
Lily nearly gasped when. She realized that people were counting down to the New Year, finding partners to kiss at the clock's strike, when suddenly an idea struck her.
Shoving her drink into Sirius' hands, Lily marched right up to James, grabbing his shoulders, pausing for a moment only to let the countdown end, and snogged him with as much passion as she could manage.
And then—after she pulled away, looking quite pleased with herself—James fainted, and from his spot by the refreshment table, Sirius gave Lily two thumbs up.
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to the amazing JK Rowling. I own nothing.
A/N: Oh, Lord, I had way too much fun writing this XD I don't know who was more fun, Sirius or Lily. This was written for Addicted-To-Sugar-Quills's Happy New Year Competition. There's still ten pairings left where that came from :P
Here's a bit of a back story for this: this takes place in 1977/78, the Marauders' seventh year, at the McKinnon's annual New Year's Eve party. Lily only attended because Mary and Alice went—Marlene and Lily never got along too well in school; Marlene was always trying to set up her roommate with James ;)
Review if you're feeling nice, but I won't beg!
Next up: Sirius/Marlene!
