Tea and Biscuits

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns the rights to the Harry Potter universe, including characters and any other information you recognise.

Dedication: To the reviewers of 'Tea and Biscuits' and 'Of Potter and Evans', you guys are truly, truly amazing. Sorry if I haven't gotten back to any of you personally, it was my full intention to however, I got very busy with studies. But I still appreciate the time you took to read and review, they all made my day. Each review inspired me to continue, so give yourself a pat on the back and a bowl of cookies and cream ice cream.

NOTE:

The third chapter of 'Tea and Biscuits'. Once again, it's nothing you haven't already read as it's just copied and pasted from the original first chapter, but you know, if you want you can have another read if you'd like.

Oh, it's slightly edited just to make things flow a bit better but other than that, it's basically the same.

Enjoy!


Lily awoke to a door slamming and the sun shining brightly through the window. She let out a loud groan.

"Go away," she croaked. Her throat was dry and her head throbbed rather painfully.

"Morning Evans," called an exhausted voice and she sat up and squinted in the direction of the door. Sirius came into view wearing sunglasses with dark shades and carrying cups of what smelled like coffee and a brown paper bag. "Breakfast of champions," he explained in a dry voice.

She sighed.

"What on earth did I do last night?"

He set the food and drinks on the table in the kitchen and made his way toward her.

"It would appear that we had one too many drinks."

She frowned at him.

"Why on earth am I on this moth eaten couch?"

He smirked.

"I didn't think you'd appreciate sleeping in the same bed that Marlene and I-"

"Oi! That's the last thing I want to hear right now! Shush."

He sniggered as she stood up and stretched before clutching her head.

"Please, please tell me you have a cure brewed for me?"

He rolled his eyes.

"In the kitchen."

"Thank Merlin," she muttered as she stumbled in the direction of the kitchen and he followed closely behind.

He sighed, running his fingers through his surprisingly smooth hair and took off his sunglasses, tossing them onto the table carelessly

Lily located the potion on the kitchen sink and downed it in one gulp and shuddered, clutching the edge of the bench.

"That was potent."

Sirius chuckled and handed her a cup that she took with a grateful nod of the head.

"That'll wash it down," he said pulling something out of the bag.

"Bacon and egg sandwiches?" she asked hopefully and he nodded, tossing her one wrapped in white paper.

"With ketchup."

She sipped her coffee and was glad to taste how strong it was, then went onto unwrap her sandwich and devoured it.

Sirius' eyebrows rose as he watched her scoff down her breakfast.

"Classy, Evans."

"Shut up," she ordered through a mouthful of food and he shook his head and swallowed the remark he had prepared.

Once they were both finished and had licked off the remaining ketchup from their fingers, they watched one another and Lily moved towards the kitchen chair across from him and sat down, her coffee warming her hands.

"I was supposed to be home for dinner last night," she mumbled and he shrugged his shoulders.

"I took care of that this morning. I wrote them a letter explaining your absence and that you'd be home later."

"Thank you. What did you say?"

Sirius suspiciously tapped his nose and had a mouthful of his coffee . She narrowed her eyes.

"The truth," he said finally. "We went out and got plastered."

She sighed and ran her fingers through her knotted hair and groaned. "I feel horrible."

He sniggered.

"You look it."

She glared at him but he continued to give her an annoying smirk.

"You're funny when you're drunk. I still cannot believe you beat me in a drinking competition, even after I cheated. That's just not right. This had better not get out, Evans, no one beats me."

She shrugged but a smile spread across her face.

"To be fair I think I had less in my glass. But still."

He crossed his arms and leaned on the table.

"You owe me, Evans."

She nodded and drank her coffee.

"I'll repay you with tea and biscuits any time you're feeling lonely."

He smiled genuinely.

"Thanks, Evans."

She nodded.

"No worries, Black. And thanks for this," she added raising her coffee and he winked.

They were silent for a while until he finally broke it.

"I got a letter from Peter, by the way. He's coming over later."

A grin crossed her face.

"I told you they'd come around."

He shrugged.

"Don't count your chickens before they've hatched. He might be coming over to yell at me for all we know."

She snorted.

"Peter yelling? That would be the day. He's too sweet."

Sirius shrugged.

"He wasn't pleased when I last spoke with him. He was quite disappointed actually. And I can't say I blame him either."

"Still, he's not the type to yell and throw a fit. You'll owl me about it?"

He raised his eyebrows yet again.

"Well aren't you nosey," he commented however his grey eyes held warmth in them and she grinned.

"Please, you owe me. You can't leave me hanging over it."

"I do not owe you."

"Well at least come over for tea and biscuits and tell me; then I would have repaid you, you can fill me in on how it goes with Peter and we're even."

He chuckled.

"That's if your mother even lets me into the house; I practically hijacked her sweet and not so innocent Head Girl."

"We'll have it on the porch swing then, that's not exactly in the house now is it?"

He smirked.

"I had no idea you even possessed a wild side until last night. You made noises that I've never heard come from another woman."

"Tosser," she answered swatting at his arm and he dodged it with ease.

"I'm joking; we didn't do anything of the sort."

She shrugged.

"I know that. I wouldn't go there and neither would you. And James means far too much to you even when you aren't on speaking terms. And not to mention, that would just be awkward. What would become of us then?"

He looked away out of the window over the sink and sighed.

"I'm thinking Hogwarts might be too painful to go back to. I'd have to share a dorm room with them and it would just be weird. I'd feel alone."

Lily shook her head and leaned forwards, placing a delicate hand on top of his.

"You won't be alone, Sirius. I told you, they'll come around. And besides, you'll have me."

His eyes met hers for a moment and he smiled.

"Thanks, Lily."

He lifted his other hand and patted hers before leaning back and pulling out of her grasp gently.

"I should really be thanking you, Sirius. You've helped me more than you know."

He watched her carefully, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Oh trust me, I know. I just knew you would deny it if I mentioned it."

She blushed slightly.

"I can be stubborn when I want to be."

He chuckled.

"You think? You only rejected James every time he asked you out."

Lily sighed as she drank the rest of her coffee and pointed her wand at the bin, magically emptying it. She tossed her cup and balled up sandwich bag into the bin and smiled satisfyingly.

"I'll sort something out with him before we go back."

Sirius perked up a bit and smiled.

"You'll meet up with him?"

She rolled her eyes before nodding.

"I'll see if he wants to. He's stopped asking me out this year so-"

"Please, he'll be bouncing off the walls when he gets your letter. Mark my words."

She sighed and leaned her chin in the palm of her hand.

"I don't want to hurt him. I just want to make nice with him, give him a chance you know?"

He nodded.

"And he'll be happy with that. Who knows, maybe you'll eventually go there and-"

"Sirius, are we actually going to discuss this?"

He smirked.

"Right. It's sort of like the whole Marlene and me thing isn't it?"

She gasped, pushing her hair out of her face.

"It's nothing like you and Marlene! I'm not going to jump him or anything if we catch up-"

Sirius gave her an indignant look.

"Oi! We had a few drinks first and then one thing lead to another and-"

"Enough! I'm going to go home and take a shower; Merlin knows I need one," she said standing from her chair. She turned back to face him. "I'll see you later for tea and biscuits?"

Sirius nodded.

"By the way, Evans, I just meant that we wouldn't give each other details about James and Marlene. Not, well you know. I know you wouldn't jump him, and I know he wouldn't either so…" he trailed off and she nodded, a blush creeping onto her cheeks.

"Well, this has been fun despite it turning sufficiently awkward. However, I won't hold it against you. I'll see you later, and thanks again, Sirius!"

He nodded as she waved before Disapparating, leaving Sirius staring at the spot she had so recently vacated.


Lily traipsed through the front door and into the kitchen only to find her mother and father sitting at the table with an open letter in between them. She winced as they glanced up and their expressions hardened.

"Alright, before you yell at me, please let me explain. I had every intention of coming home for dinner, but Sirius and I got talking and then we went and had a er… few drinks at the pub down the road. And then I didn't think it would be safe for me to Apparate home because well, I had been drinking and so I crashed on his couch." Their eyebrows rose at this and she quickly added, "And I'm sorry for not writing and letting you know, I forgot."

Her father stood and gestured to the letter.

"We got this just this morning."

She turned red. What on earth did Sirius write?

"It says, 'Dear mum and dad, sorry I didn't come home last night. Don't freak out, I got sloshed at the pub with Sirius and then stayed at his. Don't worry, we used protection. Love, Lily'…" her father trailed off and dropped the letter back down onto the table, crossing his arms over his chest.

Lily winced and cleared her throat.

"That is actually very much exaggerated and I'll admit, I didn't write it. However, I was quite tipsy and no, we didn't use protection as he put it-"

She realised a second too late the reaction from her parents: her father dropped back into his chair in a daze and her mother clutched at her chest, her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.

"What I mean is," she rushed on quickly, her face taking on the colour of a beetroot, "we didn't do that. God no, we're just mates. He was just, you know, being a prat. It's how he is. I'm sorry, I didn't think that through properly before I spoke and I just-"

Her mother raised her hand to stop her and breathed in deeply.

"So what you're saying is, that you got drunk with a friend from school and slept on his couch?" her father clarified and she nodded. "But not with him?"

"No, not with Sirius," she affirmed and he nodded.

"Well I must say, I didn't expect this from you, Lils," her father said softly and she grimaced.

"I'm sorry; I wasn't expecting it either to be honest. Sirius has just been dealing with some problems lately and he needed a friend, that's all. He needed me."

Her mother looked up and nodded.

"No use of the phone for a week, unless it's in an emergency. Deal?"

Lily nodded, having no opposed thoughts to this. "Deal."

"Alright, I suspect you need to get some rest. Up you go," her father said nodding in the direction of the stairs and Lily smiled and left the room, taking the stairs two at a time.

Once sitting at her desk, she pulled out some fresh parchment and a bottle of ink from the drawer and dipped the tip of the quill into the bottle.

She hovered over the page for a moment, hesitating slightly as she gathered her thoughts. What exactly was she going to write?

Dear James,

She leaned back and shook her head. It didn't sound right. She tried again on a different bit of parchment.

Potter,

She sighed, scrunching up the parchment and reaching for another. Too informal.

She glanced out of the window and saw some children walking by, each laughing and smiling as they chatted with one another. Lily smiled reminiscently, remembering the days where she would walk with Severus and he told her about Hogwarts. Those days were long gone.

Her smile fell as she dipped her quill back into the ink pot and tried again.

James,

Fancy catching up for some lunch at the Leaky Cauldron later this week?

Let me know,

Lily Evans

There. It wasn't too formal or informal. It was just that. Casual, but straight to the point.

She leaned back and glanced at the perch next to the window where her brown barn owl, Twitch sat staring at her. She held out her arm and Twitch stepped off the perch onto it. She rummaged through the drawer and pulled out a couple of owl treats.

"Take this to James Potter for me, will you?" she asked feeding her biscuits and Twitch hooted gratefully while Lily tied the letter to her leg.

She stroked the owl's soft feathers as she took her to the window and Twitch spread her wings and soared out into the blue sky above, her wings outstretched and circling the house before drifting higher, and soon enough disappeared behind the trees.

Lily sighed as she sat back on her desk chair and looked at the moving photos of her with her school friends, Mary, Marlene and Alice. She smiled fondly before standing up and moving towards her bed and gathered up some fresh clothes.

The last thing she looked at before leaving for the bathroom was the picture frame beside her bed that held two young girls, one redhead and the other blonde with their arms around one another and grinning up at the camera. Smiling sadly to herself, Lily closed the door behind her and made her way down the hallway, shaking her head to rid herself of the painful memories of what used to be.

A/N:

So I'm going to go and write up the new chapter for 'Tea and Biscuits', because you all deserve it for being so patient and lovely.

So many hugs,

LilyHeartsJames