Author's Note: I haven't written in forever, this is probably horrible, and I am sorry for the ending. I had a different ending originally, but didn't like that one either, but honestly, either one would be equally suck-ish. So please be kind =]
-Madame Aurora
Madame Jade would like to add that this has caused her a headache and really wishes that Madame Aurora would stop putting down her own writing. On the other hand, she will soon have to write a Severus fic to combat her fellow Madames' taste for the Marauders. Perhaps she should stop typing in third person as well. Good day.
-Madame Jade
Also!- This is warning for all you cool cats. Madame Jade likes reviews (I honestly don't really care but, she does). The past couple days she has been throwing fits about only having (currently) 2 reviews and tons of hits. (She wants at least 10 reviews) So uh, could you make her happy? I don't like dealing with pissed off Madame Jade. Thank you, very much :D
- Madame Aurora
Rain poured heavily on the streets of London. A black shaggy dog skidded abruptly to a halt, yet still hurled himself into the door of the flat he called home. In a blink of an eye, the dog magically transformed into a young man, about the age of 18.
"Bloody hell," he grumbled, shaking his wet hair that graced his shoulders, and shivered softly from the cold rain.
Opening the door to the flat he and his best mate, James, shared, Sirius Black was in awe at the sight before him, and he even contemplated on going back into the stormy weather outside.
The trash, old food wrappers, murky glasses, and dirty clothes in large piles was nothing new; in fact he loved the filthiness. What confused him was the random flower petals, a broken vase, flower stems and a piece of paper, ripped in half. Also, James was sitting with a blank expression on his face as he stared at the flower remains.
"Uh… James?" Sirius asked cautiously.
"Hmm…?" Was all he got.
"Er, mate, what the hell is it?" Sirius pointed to the mess that he actually considered a 'mess'.
"Flowers."
"Really?!" Sirius growled sarcastically, smirking as he threw himself back on the rust-orange couch with James.
"Lilies."
Sirius considered suicide by killing curse.
"What?! Merlin, this is about Lily?! You've got to be kidding me. Be a free bloke as I. I get all the ladies I want with… uh… my… charm." Sirius grinned goofily as he finished speaking.
"But I love her, only her." James answered, sounding distant. Sirius sighed.
"And… she hates you." James glared at him and lowered his head, running his hand through his unruly black hair.
"Tell me about it. I wrote her a nice letter, Padfoot, read it." James mumbled, then picked up the latest edition of "The Daily Prophet".
Sirius grumbled as he walked to the former lilies and vase, to the piece of new parchment, with James's scribble-y handwriting. His eyes quickly scanned the paper, and once he finished, he had to refrain from gagging.
"Really Prongs? 'Yours'? No wonder she thinks you're mad." Sirius snickered, then grunted in pain as James punched him angrily in his arm.
"Thanks mate, much appreciated." James grumbled icily. "I want to be with her, Padfoot. I really do." James looked at him, and Sirius saw how serious this was to him, there was urgency in his eyes. Sirius shook his head and chuckled softly as he said, "All right, all right c'mon; I have an idea…"
Lily Evans stared at the night stand in her small room as she lay in bed. Her small lamp from when she was a little girl was on, with little flower decorations, but for once that's not what caught her attention. Her emerald eyes were set on a single flower, a lily, from a bouquet James had brought her. Before taking the vase of flowers back, she saved this one; he wouldn't notice one missing.
She sighed heavily, rubbing her eyes and trying not to think about him; James. He drove her absolutely insane, his cockiness, arrogance, and a huge ego problem that made her want to hex him into oblivion. But at the same time, he was, in his own way, sweet, charming, and quite attractive.
"Ew." She thought, but her heart sang at the thought of him. She felt her cheeks heat, and realized she was blushing, but why? No one was here, no one knew she secretly fancied James Potter, and no one would ever find out.
A knock on her flat door stopped her thinking, and she looked at the clock on her wall- 11:33 p.m. As she slipped on a light blue bathrobe over her nightgown, she thought, "better not be Potter." But she couldn't trick herself, her heart pounded frantically, hoping it really was James.
Taking a deep breath, Lily opened the door, and looked up to her visitor.
"Sirius? What are you doing here at this hour?! Have you had too much firewhiskey again?" Lily asked him. He chuckled and shook his head.
"No, I want to speak to my dear friend, as in you. May I please come inside? I'm sick of being shut out in the rain."
Lily started to slam the door, but something inside of her stopped her from doing so.
"Ugh… fine." She mumbled, "make it quick, I was trying to sleep."
"Right." She rolled her eyes, then glared at him as he stretched out on her new tan puffy couch.
"As you know, my loyal, sensitive, caring friend James has an undying attraction towards you, why? I do not know. I wouldn't normally even care about something like this, but I have to live with the pining prick. You left him in a pretty sorry state, haven't seen him so bad." Sirius announced, feeling proud of his choice of words.
Lily gave him a look of pure annoyance and retorted, "I don't care about how he feels, he needs to shove off." Sirius laughed softly, glancing at the coffee table at a photo frame; a picture of James, not moving; muggle photo.
'Funny,' he thought, 'he never gave her that.' Then he cleared his throat and smirked as he said, "M'dear, that's where you are wrong."
Lily gazed at him curiously and he sighed. "You fancy my best mate, it's true, I can tell. Your mouth spoke one thing, yet your eyes told a whole different story, the truth." Lily fought to hide the blush she knew was glowing off of her cheeks. "See? Merlin, I am a matchmaker."
"I do not have any feelings towards James. He is an arrogant pig, and he makes me sick."
"And you're his world." Sirius stood up, "and yes, pig he may be, but you know there's more than that. Sorry for bothering you, dear, I shall be leaving now. Good night." And with that, Sirius closed the door.
In stressful times, Lily went back to muggle fashion. Trying to remain calm, she walked to her tiny kitchen, to one of the cupboards. Reaching in a box, she pulled out a peppermint tea bag, and set it on the counter top. Pouring water into the tea kettle, Lily turned on the gas burning stove to heat the water. Magic would be easier, yet she always calmed down by the tea kettle whistle.
Lily closed her eyes and tried to stop her thoughts. What Sirius had said somehow seemed inspiring. How is that possible?
The whistle of the tea pot brought Lily back to her senses, and before she could stop herself, tears fell from her eyes and down her cheeks as she poured the boiling water in a cup with the tea bag.
"I do not love James Potter." She whimpered, yet even her conscience disagreed.
James awoke the next morning to the wailing of Sirius, and the shower running.
"Hey Padfoot, are you dying?"
"I am singing Prongs, singing. Go make breakfast, I'm hungry." Sirius barked defensively, voice muffled by the bathroom door.
"Shove off you lazy prick, and get your own damn food." James hissed, stomping away from the bathroom door, to the kitchen.
He ruffled his already messy hair, and laid on the couch in their tiny living room, not about to do anything but stay there for the rest of the day. He couldn't eat, had a horrible night's sleep, and could not get his mind to stop thinking about Lily. James had to get over her; that was it. There was no point in continuing this obsession he had. It just hurt him to let go of something he cared for so much. A heavy sigh escaped his lips and he closed his eyes, only to see her.
"-Aaaand I am Padfoot... Secret maaaatchmaaaakeerrrr!!" Sirius howled, twirling around the hall as he stepped out of the bathroom. James slowly turned to stare at his best friend in pure annoyance and awe.
"What the hell?" James asked, scowling.
"Er… nothing dear Prongs," Sirius reassured in a booming voice, grinning evilly. James shook his head, not wanting to know what was going on in his best friend's head. The possibilities could be endless, and he just didn't care right now, he just wanted to be alone.
Sirius could tell James was edgy, and extremely annoyed with him, but he couldn't help it. For one, he wanted him to be happy and feel all right, as any friend would wish for their best mate. And also, he just felt really happy about something, that today was going to be a great day, and he didn't get that feeling a lot. Sirius wasn't sure exactly what would happen, to who, but he just had this gut feeling. He tried to avoid James's glare, so this burst of joy wouldn't eradicate, he liked this feeling, and wanted to keep it. So he quieted down and grabbed "The Daily Prophet", then began flipping through the pages.
The two roommates perked up in curiosity when hearing 3 gentle knocks on the door. A smirk began to curl on Sirius's mouth as he realized who it was; Lily. It just had to be. The Marauders had their own 'secret knock' and they didn't get a lot of visitors other than Remus and Peter. Plus his 'gut feeling' told him it was Lily.
James sighed as he realized Sirius was going to stay in his spot, and slowly rose off of the sofa. He dragged himself to the door, not seeing Sirius's wicked grin and happy dance that consumed him. He cleared his throat, and opened the door, then jumped back in surprise.
"Lily?" He asked, voice cracking as his jaw dropped.
"Hello, James. I hope I didn't wake you." He shook his head, so many thoughts and emotions consuming him.
She had hurt him terribly the last time he saw her. Lily never took him seriously when he declared how he felt; she just scoffed and didn't bother to hear what he had to say. He was angry at himself, and at her, for how he was, and how she treated him. And he couldn't stop his heart beating angrily when he saw her.
Lily looked absolutely beautiful , her wavy auburn hair was pulled half back, and fell gracefully on her shoulder blades. She was wearing a tad bit of makeup, but it only electrified her emerald eyes even more. James had the sudden urge to just hold her and kiss her, but held himself back. He couldn't allow himself to do so, and he fought for composure. Hell, he couldn't even swallow, what was he going to do?
"N-no it's fine. Er… wh-what do you want?" James asked her softly, trying to not meet her gaze.
Lily saw the pain in his eyes and her heart sank. She knew how much she had hurt him, and as she looked up at him, all she wanted to do was hug him and kiss his cheek, and apologize repeatedly. But she couldn't, she wouldn't fall to that. Lily had to show that she was strong, and responsible; plus she couldn't give him any ideas.
"Um…" She trailed off, turning to look at Sirius. He scrunched his face, realizing that this was a private conversation, and he was not wanted in the room, or his home for that matter. With a growl, he stood up, and smirked.
"Fine, I see how it is." He mumbled, and in a blink of an eye, transformed into a dog, his animagus form. As he pranced to the door, he bit James's ankle, then scrambled out before James could kick him. Lily closed the door after the black blur zoomed down the street.
"Your house is filthy," Lily started, looking around. 'That was really stupid,' she thought, and mentally hit herself.
"Thanks." James murmured, shifting nervously. "Lily… what do you want?" He asked, a tone of slight annoyance and worry in his voice. She gazed up at him, then took a deep breath and bit her lip with anxiety.
"I..." Lily started, voice catching. She had to calm herself, she had to do this. "I'm sorry, James. I came here to apologize for how I have acted and treated you. It's very rude and inappropriate of me, and you don't deserve that treatment." She spoke very quickly, meeting his eyes for the first time.
James's hazel eyes were narrowed, trying to figure out why she was saying this.
"Then why did you do it all in the first place? Why do you treat me like I'm less than nothing? Why do you act as though I'm so unimportant, and you wouldn't care if I fell off the face of planet?" His voice was flat as he questioned her, trying to avoid her eyes, because he would let his heart take over, and he couldn't do that, wouldn't.
"Because, James… because I'm… scared." Lily whispered, lowering her head.
"Scared of what?"
"You." She answered, "You're awful, cruel, arrogant, annoying, immature…" She started off, he began to turn away, not wanting to hear anymore. James knew all of this, why was she reminding him? It was worse than a slap in the face, and right now he'd prefer the cruciatus curse rather than this. Before he opened the door and yelled at her to just leave, Lily reached for his hand, and held it gently. James stared at her, confused, but he wouldn't pull away. No matter what she said, he would always remember this. "But, James, you are also funny, charming, sweet, and handsome." Lily blushed and James's mouth curled into a small smile. "You're awful, but I love you."
Was James hearing right? Did Lily Evans just say that she loved him? His heart was pounding madly, and was afraid she and the rest of the world could hear the deep beating. Lily smiled at him, and he smiled back, trying to hide his nervousness, excitement, and his sudden shakiness.
That was then he noticed her small, soft hand was still holding his, and he squeezed hers, trying to prove to himself that she was real, and he wasn't dreaming.
"I-I love you too, Lily." James whispered, and his hand cupped her cheek as he kissed her softly. He grinned when she didn't pull away, and they stayed like that, embracing each other for the longest time.
James and Lily parted when hearing a loud bang from the other side of the room. They shot their necks to see what, or who had made the noise. Sirius stood in the doorway, shivering and his hair and clothes dripping from the heavy rain falling.
"Oh how cuuuute!" Sirius teased in a baby voice, grinning with pride at his matchmaking skills. He had done it, gotten two people who couldn't stand each other together, with the enormous amount of help from none other than himself.
James smirked and waved softly at Sirius as Lily raised her wand, and with a flick and turn of her wrist, the door slammed in Sirius's face, and locked.
"Bloody hell!" He screamed, rubbing his nose that had been hit by the door. He peered in the window momentarily, shaking his head and laughing as he watched the two happily talking to each other on the couch. At last they were together, and though he was so glad that James got what he has always wanted, happy endings were never his style. So, transforming once again into the large, black shaggy dog, he ran down the many streets ahead, away from the two new lovers, to be alone to celebrate his 'greatest achievement.'
