A/N Hi, I'm not really much of a writer but my imagination gets pretty carried away. I thought I'd post this, let me know what you think. I need all the feedback I can get.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
The Gryffindor common room was alive since the party being held in it was in full swing. It was the first night back to school but the famous Marauders decided to kick the year off with a party and no one was complaining. Sirius and James were both chugging their Firewhiskey as fast as they could while a mob of students around them were cheering. Peter was among the group cheering and happily sipping on his own drink with the occasional hiccup. Remus, being the more sensible of the group, decided not to get a hangover for the first day of classes and was off to the side talking to Frank, a seventh year. The rest of the sixth year girls were spread out throughout the party. Marlene was making out with Logan Bell over by the fireplace, she too was a little intoxicated. Mary was out dancing with some seventh year while Alice, a seventh year prefect, and Lily were sitting on the couches off to the side of the dance floor. The girls had persuaded Lily to drink a little, but she was worried about starting the year off doing something stupid. Alice, being the mother hen that she is, was on duty to watching her as she spouted out all the things James was doing that pissed her off.
"I mean look at him! He's barely getting anything in his mouth!" Lily cried and fell over slightly on her seat and Alice sighed dejectedly looking out at all the people having fun while she was bored and sober. But then Alice spotted a pretty raven haired girl making her way out of the crowd and towards them. Her bright eyes alight with amusement as she watched the two girls on the couch. She had a thin button nose and a heart shaped face, her full lips pursed in a small smile. Before the girl could say anything Alice gave her a bright smile and then hurried off towards Remus and Frank to whisk her boyfriend away for a dance.
"Hey there Lil." The girl greeted and Lily lazily looked up at her, her fiery red hair falling over her face. She squinted her bright emerald eyes up at the girl before a smile broke across her face when she recognized her. Her oval shaped face hidden behind her long soft locks of hair.
"Bella!" Lily said happily and launched at the girl and wrapping her arms around her in a loose hug. Merabella grunted as she holds onto Lily while attempted to keep her from falling to the floor. Slowly, she manages to sit them both back down onto the couch and let out a long breath. Lily was taller than Merabella, being the tallest of the 6th year Gryffindor girls, so she easily overpowered the raven haired girl. "You think Potter's a toe-rag too, right?" She slurred but wasn't really looking for an answer from her friend. Bella smiled fondly as if Lily was a small child babbling away to themselves.
"Of course Lils." But before Lily could complain about Potter once again, the devil himself showed up. He stood before the pair of girls slouched over with his glasses sliding down his thin sharp nose.
"Heeellluu, my precious Lily-Flower." James slurred flopping down on the other side of Lily and slumped his arm around her shoulders. Merabella snorted at this new drunken nickname while Lily grunted and knocked his arm off of her before staggering herself into a standing position. Her willowy frame swayed from side to side and Bella quickly stood up when Lily almost fell right back onto the couch. Gently Bella steadied her friend and found a comfortable place for Lily to lean on her.
"Potter! You insufferable…" Lily started with her usual insults and repeated all she had to say about him throughout the night. Bella tuned her out and gently let go of her after making sure Lily could once again stand on her own. She felt a warm body press up next to her and soft air brush against her ear as the figure let out a breathy chuckle.
"When will she just give in and shag the poor boy?" Bella looked up to see none other than James Potter's best friend and partner in crime. He appeared buzzed but not quite as bad as Lily or James. His handsome face was a few mere inches from her own. She could see the mischief in his slightly clouded grey eyes. His aristocratic features and sharp, strong jaw casting slight shadows over his face that highlight his natural good looks.
"I don't know. I won't deny she definitely had feelings for him last year. But after the thing with Snape…" She trailed off and Sirius scrunched his brows up in confusion and pulled his head back slightly.
"Aw she's still pissed about that. I'd say we did her a favor and got rid of that slimy grease ball from her life."
"I wouldn't exactly call bullying her childhood friend and then having him call her that word a favor." She said turning away from him and looked back over towards her friend and James. The redhead had moved to stand right in front of James on the couch and was still ranting and raving while James sat there while looking at her like she's an angel. With some of the words coming out of her mouth, Bella can guarantee she's not one. "And I don't think she would either." Bella added. Lily's anger continued to grow as she yelled at the bespectacled boy.
Sirius frowned but then a smirked graced his lips and wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her closer to him. In her surprise Bella fell into him and laid her delicate hand on his hard chest. "Let's forget about them. How about this be the year you finally give into those temptations and we snog?" He asks her leaning in closer and her heart flutters a bit. Now, don't get her wrong, she doesn't fancy Sirius Black, but he's begrudgingly handsome and sexy, especially this close. Bella just smirks at him as she steadies herself and eases out of his grip. She flicks her hair back since it fell over her face and turns to watch Lily and James again. By now James has fallen asleep and it looks like Lily's about ready to crash as well.
"Sorry lover boy, not this year." She says as she steps farther away from him to retrieve her friend.
"We'll see!" She hears him call as she and Lily makes her way towards the stairs leading up to their dorm, but she doesn't look back. She just rolls her eyes and helps Lily up the first step.
"But I don't wanna ride the Hippogriff, Professor Dumbledore." Lily muttered and Bella stifled her laughter.
The next morning James groaned as the morning light hit his face, he could have sworn he closed his curtains. He brought both of his hands up to cover his closed eyes and moaned when that didn't help. His head was killing him. He grunted as he realized he's going to have to get up and snag himself some of their supply of the hangover potion. Blearily, he opened his eyes, ready to trudge over towards the potion, but instead a figure at the end of his bed made his heart leap into his throat. James screamed and jumped right off of his bed and landed hard on his butt. He reached up on his nightstand for his wand but a sweet peal of laughter stopped him.
In a couple seconds Sirius, Peter, and Remus were standing around his bed with their wands up. Sirius rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Remus trying to ignore the dull pounding in his head, tried as he might to avoid a hangover, the words sober and marauder don't exactly go together, and Peter looked about ready to crash where he stood.
"Bella?" James asked after he peaked his head up to confirm the identity of the laugher. Bella sat on the edge of his bed with her legs folded neatly, looking prim and proper. Her head tilted to the side and her long silky hair fell out from behind her ear.
"Potter." She said smiling innocently at him. The three other marauders lowered their wands and stared questioningly at the girl. Remus pinched his nose and went back to his bed and Peter waved to the girl before leaving as well. Sirius, however, gave the girl a big lopsided grin while crossing his arms over his bare chest.
"Giving into those temptations?" He asked wiggling his eyebrows at her and she smiled up at him, quickly taking in the view of his abs, pecs, and broad strong shoulder.
"Not even in your dreams." She turned back to James, not letting any signs of her being impressed with his body show. Sirius seemingly pouted and uncrossed his arms as James picked himself up off the floor.
"Fawley, what are you doing here?" He asked and crossed his arms over his bare chest. Bella rolled her eyes, what is with these two and being shirtless. James too had a strong build and abs however he was slimmer compared to Sirius, the two of the demonstrating the perfect body types of a beater and chaser respectively.
"Hangover potion." She told him and James' shoulders dropped and he gave her a look not believing they didn't have their own stash. It was no secret Marlene loved to party. "Marls crushed ours." She explained and James rolled his eyes and Sirius turned away from them and walked over to the other side of the room.
"And why should we give you our potion?" James asked again and Bella rolled her eyes this time and gave him a look.
"Because your precious Lily Flower needs it." She said snorting at the nickname he gave her last night and James paused at the mention of the red head. He seemed to be thinking it over as he sized the raven haired girl up.
"Why didn't she come herself then?" James asked trying to keep the vulnerability out of his voice. He hoped it wasn't because she truly hated him that much. Bella gave him an annoyed look as James clearly didn't seem to get the whole picture here.
"Because your precious Lily Flower needs it." She repeated exasperatedly, "They're all trashed." She explained and an over dramatic thoughtful look came across James face as he pretended to think this over. They both new James would do anything for Lily.
"A bottle for a kiss." Black said coming back into the conversation behind them and holding a bottle in his hand. Bella glared at the interruption and new proposal, James was just about to hand it over to her.
"If you wanted to kiss James that much don't let me stop you." She told him and he rolled his eyes but smiled. "Well James." Bella said turning to him, "What are you waiting for, Lily's waiting." Bella said and gestured for him to go and kiss Sirius.
"Funny." James said in a voice that clearly showed just how funny he thought it was. He walked backwards and stood by Sirius who was smirking at her and he looked at her expectantly.
"Oh," She said realizing they both seriously want her to kiss Sirius for the potion, "If you think I'm doing that you're mad." She laughed lightly and finally stood up from the bed across from them.
"Well then I guess we're just going to have to drink this ourselves." Sirius said and uncorked the bottle but Bella wasn't fazed. She raised her eyebrow as Sirius brought the bottle closer to his lips.
"Hm, I guess Lily's just going to have to have a hangover all day." Bella said mockingly sad and shrugged her shoulders while James and Sirius watched her cautiously. "And all she's going to be able to think about is how James Potter was too much of a prat to help her out." She continued and James and Sirius looked at each other, Sirius could tell James was cracking. "Every time she sees alcohol now she's probably just going to think about how selfish James is." Bella shook her head and slowly walking towards the door. "And to think I was just going to take the bottle and tell Lily how mature James's become. How he simply did it out of the goodness of his heart with no ulterior motives. Just like the kind of guy Lily's always hoped for." Bella added sadly and paused in the doorway with her back to them. She bit her lip and went to take another step forward.
"Wait!" James called and Bella smiled to herself but then put on a serious face before dramatically turning around to see James now had the bottle in his hand and Black was pouting in defeat. "You tell Lily all that stuff and you have yourself a deal." James said and Bella smiled and nodded her head. James sighed and threw the bottle to the raven haired girl who caught it with ease. She waved in farewell to the duo before she made her way back to her roommates and disappeared from sight.
"Well that was no fun." Sirius said, now bored and James rolled his eyes.
Bella was sitting at lunch with Lily, Marlene, and Mary after the first few classes they had this year. She was tired to say the least. She was so used to being at home and sleeping in as long as she wanted and then waking up to the smell of her Aunt Carrie's pancakes or sausages. It was beautiful.
Bella released a dreamy sigh as she fantasized about sleeping, when James Potter plopped down next to her, right across from Lily. 'Well at least he's smart enough not to actually sit next to her.' Bella thought. His bright smile faltered when Lily barely glanced at his sudden presence before going back to eating her food. Remus also sat down on Bella's side next to Mary while Sirius and Peter squished in between Marlene and Lily.
"How have your classes been today, Evans?" James asks trying to sound mature and keep the hopefulness out of his voice. Merabella watched as Lily raised her emerald eyes to take in James' face as she finished chewing the food in her mouth. Once she swallowed she watched James for few seconds debating how to respond. Would she be cold towards him, indifferent, ignore him, be nice? So many options and Bella had no idea which she would take, meanwhile James was sweating out the wait.
"Fine." Lily finally said in a neutral voice and went back to her food. Merabella sighed. She felt bad for James, but Lily's response was proof she was still hurting from what happened at the end of last year. She puts on a good front, but until she's healed from losing her best friend she can't be friendly with James, or more as the quidditch player hoped for.
James' shoulders visibly deflate. On one hand she spoke to him, on the other she sounds done with him. He felt a nudge in his side and tuned to see Bella. She gave him a soft smile, one that he couldn't tell if it was out of pity or meant for reassurance. James debated for a minute if he should stay or give up this battle and leave. Lily continued to look down at her food and a few seats opened up further down the table giving James his answer. As he got up he couldn't help the disappointed sigh that fell from his lips.
Once the marauders were gone all the girls turned towards Lily. Merabella smiled kindly at her, Mary looked on imploringly, and Marlene looked a little annoyed. Marlene openly never liked Snape while openly liked the Marauders, it was clear she wanted Lily and James to be together. Mary always tried to refrain from judgement, trying to see all sides of the argument, but she still couldn't quite understand Lily and James.
"What?" Lily finally got annoyed with the staring, if they had something to say then they should.
"One day he's going to give up." Marlene told her and Lily rolled her eyes and stabbed at the food on her plate.
"Good." Was all she said and Marlene rolled her eyes in return. She went back to her own plate, giving up on talking to the red head. To Marlene it was obvious, they should be together and all it would take is for Lily to say yes.
"You seem to have forgiven Remus." Mary finally said thinking back to how Lily and Remus sat together in Study of Ancient Runes earlier that day. She also distinctively remembered Lily cursing said boy's name last year about being a coward and a bystander.
Lily sighed and put down her fork. "I don't want to be angry okay?" She said a little sharply addressing all of her friends. "I just- right now I can't… I can't go along with everything. I'm trying. I'm trying to forgive them but it's not just a decision, it's a feeling too. And if any of you have learned to master your own feelings feel free to help me, but until then I'm doing as I damn well please." Lily said and then got up from the table while shouldering her bag.
Merabella bit her lip for a moment deciding if she should follow. Lily needs her space and time to cool down, but she just doesn't feel right about letting her walk away alone. She scooped up the last of the food on her plate and then took off after Lily.
She caught up to her in no time and they fell into step without saying a word to each other. They walked aimlessly for a bit in silence until Lily walked over towards an empty class room and pulled open the door. She went over and sat at one of the desks up front and as she heard Merabella's footsteps pause at the door. After a few seconds, Bella fully stepped in and closed the door behind her and came and sat near Lily. The red head looked up at her with faint watery eyes.
"The hallway just felt a little suffocating." She said giving her friend a sad smile. Bella smiled back and the two sat in a calm peaceful silence as Lily calmed back down a bit. Bella bit her lip debating if she should bring it up, she doesn't want Lily to be sad again but she wanted her to know she's there for her.
"We're not annoyed." She said softly and Lily looked up at her. "And we're not mad. We're your friends, but we're not you. It's okay to feel this way, Lily." She said and gently placed her hands on Lily's arms as the redhead watched her. "And we can't ever truly know how you feel, but I'm trying to tell you how we feel." She said and took a breath to build up her courage. "We all care about you and want to see you happy and we understand you're not okay right now. But we know you will be Lily, even if it feels like crap and the world's heading towards a scary place. You're going to be okay. Because you're a strong, fiery redheaded witch." Lily chuckled sadly a little at the mention of her temper. "And you can bounce back, screw everyone else, we can't feel how you feel and we can't judge how long it takes until your hearts mended. But me, Marlene, and Mary. We'll be here however long it takes." She said and Lily smiled back at her. "I mean we live with you for god's sake, we can't leave you even if we wanted to." She joked and Lily laughed a little and hugged her.
Merbella stood up and pulled Lily with her. "Come on, I'm pretty sure I have to go kick Mary's butt in exploding snap and I could use a cheerleader. Marlene probably already has her pom-poms out hyping Mary up." Lily laughed once again and it was then she realized how lucky she was to have these friends, even if Severus is no longer one of them.
"I think that would require Marlene to know what pom-poms are." Lily joked and linked her arms with Merabella whose head was thrown back as she laughed.
"They should really cover that stuff in Muggle Studies."
Later that night the girls were sitting by the fire in seats that were practically labeled as the marauders, they wouldn't be surprised if they really were tagged by them. Even older students don't go on these seats because they will become targets of some kind of 'prank'.
"Lily?" A small voice called and the four looked up from their laughing and saw a small second year who had approached her prefect. Lily immediately moved closer towards the girl on the couch and adopted a concern look.
"Hey Ashley." Lily said motherly.
"Someone's asking for you outside." She told her and Lily's head tilted in confusion as the girl walked off. She turned back to her friends to be met with similar looks. Lily slightly shrugged, more to herself then them, and got up to walk over towards the portrait hole. It obviously wasn't a Gryffindor. Could it be Pandora asking about the Herbology homework? Though that doesn't make sense, it's not due for a bit and it'd be easier just to ask one of her own dorm mates.
As Lily exited the common room she looked around and found a remorseful Severus waiting for her. Lily's body immediately became more stiff as she recognized the familiar face, the one she would normally be greeting with a bright smile and a hug. The face of the person who introduced her to this crazy beautiful magical world. The face of the person who broke her heart by calling her a Mudblood.
"Lily, please." Severus softly begged her, begging for their friendship. Lily felt her chest tightened. After the horrible day last year when Severus approached her, Lily screamed her head off at him and didn't hold back her tears, neither did Severus.
"Severus-"
"I didn't mean it, you have to know that." He said and Lily looked down towards the ground. She closed her eyes and took in a small breath, and surprisingly, she didn't feel so hurt anymore, just disappointed.
"I forgive you." She rushed out before her pride and heart stuffed the words back down. Severus's face lit up and he almost felt his heart soar. He made his way towards her to hug her. He started spewing out promises of never hurting her again, but Lily held her hand up cutting him off. "But we can't be friends." She said with no anger or sadness in her voice. Severus's heart plummeted down and he could swear he felt it shatter. Tears came to his eyes and he tried to voice his objections but couldn't find the right words. He felt panicked, he was going to lose her. He needed to convince her to stay with him, he needed her. But he couldn't find the bloody words!
"There's a reason those words 'slipped out' Severus." She said using his most popular excuse. "We've both been blind to it or ignoring the obvious for years now." She said sadly. "We've grown apart. We've become too different. You've been heading on this dark path for a while now and we both knew from the start I could never go down it with you." She said and he made to object, tell her there wasn't any 'dark path', but one look from her shut him back up, that was why those words slipped out after all. "We've said goodbye years ago without even knowing it, Sev." She said, her heart dropping when she realized this was the last time she'd probably ever call him Sev. She turned to go and quietly said the password to the fat lady who was in tears in her painted eyes, watching their exchange. She paused in the entrance and looked back to her childhood friend, the boy that would always hold distant happy memories. "Stay alive." She told him and then continued into the common room and headed straight up to her dorm.
Hello! If you made it this far, thank you! Please review and let me know what I can improve! Thanks a bunch!