Disclaimer: Harry Potter, the surrounding world and characters, are all property of Mrs J.K. Rowling. Please to not be suing me.
Author's Notes:
I must be having an influx of creative energies. It also probably helps that I'm only RE-writing this story and not starting it from scratch. :P
As always, hope you enjoy the story; comments and reviews are welcome and throughly enjoyed, so feel free to leave one! Thanks very much to everyone for the reviews I've gotten so far! I'll respond personally to some on the next chapter. :)
Chapter Four - Arrogance
"Really?!"
Remus moaned. James raised an impatient hand to his forehead.
"For the last time, Lily...YES!" the messy-haired boy cried.
A month had passed before James and Remus got the chance to snag Lily while simultaneously avoiding both Peter and Sirius. The three were now sitting on the floor in the Room of Requirement while Sirius was in detention with Professor McGonagall and Peter was in the common room, almost literally swimming in homework.
Lily was blinking at Remus with a disbelieving look on her face. "Sorry Remus," she said, "I mean, it sort of makes sense, seeing as I've never seen you with a girl before..." The pretty redhead looked as though she was going through an intense internal struggle. "But, I mean, well...you're just so cute!"
Remus turned red. "Uh..."
James narrowed his eyes a little. "What is that supposed to mean?" he demanded.
"Now, now, Potter," Lily said, winking and waving a finger, "Don't get jealous. I'm just in a bit of denial is all. It's always a little sad for a girl to learn that such an adorable guy is gay. It's a huge loss for womankind!"
Remus' face grew hot. "But Lily, I'm not..."
"Nonsense!" Lily exclaimed, "You're gorgeous and don't you dare think differently!"
James looked like his head was about to explode. "Could we please?!"
Lily stuck her tongue out at him playfully then turned back to Remus. "Okay, so you're gay then? Congratulations on coming out, but what does it have to do with me?"
Remus looked at James with a pained expression. James sighed and turned to Lily. "We need some womanly advice. You see, it's not so much the being gay that's the problem, as who it is that-"
Remus looked absolutely miserable. "I'm in love with Sirius," he said very quietly, "For a long time now..."
Lily's eyes went wide. "I...I see..." For a moment she looked at the boys thoughtfully and with a grave expression, but then she clasped her hands together and broke out into a huge smile. "All right then!"
The boys blinked at her sudden enthusiasm.
"The first thing we have to do," Lily announced, matter-of-factly, "Is to find out how Sirius feels about a guy being in love with him."
Remus nearly choked. He slammed his hands down on the floor and stared at Lily with huge eyes. "Y-you're not going to tell him?!" he squeaked.
Lily laughed out loud and reached over to pat Remus on the head. "Don't worry, sweetie. I won't name names." She grinned cheerily. It was the most frightening grin Remus could ever imagine. "Now, here's what we'll do…"
That night at dinner Remus found that he couldn't even look at Sirius without feeling nauseas. He'd never felt so nervous in his life. He'd thought about it and was quite certain that Sirius was going to be disgusted at the prospect of a guy liking him in that way.
"You okay, Moony?" the raven-haired boy asked with his mouth full of chicken, "You look a little green."
Remus risked a quick glance at Sirius and forced a smile out while his stomach churned wretchedly. "I'm fine Padfoot," he lowered his voice so no one would hear, "Full moon tomorrow, you know?"
Sirius nodded in understanding and returned to his meal.
James stood up suddenly. "Um, I've got to find out when next Quiddich practice is," he announced, heading off to the other end of the long table. Peter watched him go with interest. James was the Gryffindor seeker, and used this excuse to vacate Sirius' presence for a few moments. This was Lily's signal to rush over.
"Hey guys!" she said happily, taking the seat next to Sirius that James had just gotten up from.
"Hey Lils," Peter and Sirius returned. Remus said nothing, for he was sure some strangled noise would come out of his mouth instead of a greeting.
Lily glanced up the table to make sure James was nowhere near. They had decided that Lily requesting a meeting with Sirius with James nearby would be unrealistic. James was naturally jealous, and if he hadn't demanded to know what Lily wanted with Sirius, the boy would likely be suspicious, and besides that James was also a very horrible actor.
Lily leaned in close to Sirius' ear when Peter wasn't looking and Remus was pretending not to look. "Pst...Siri...meet me in the Room of Requirement in an hour."
Sirius made to look up at her, a confused expression on his face, but she had already gotten up from her seat. "See you guys then!" she called, heading back to sit with her girl friends. Sirius and Peter both watched her go, bewilderment on both faces, each for different reasons.
"Can't make up her mind who she wants to sit with, or what?" Peter mumbled.
James returned a moment later, trying desperately to show no indication that he'd seen Lily with his friends. He gave a meaningful glance at Remus and they all continued eating as normal, though Sirius was now a lot quieter than usual.
"I've got to, uh, go talk to McGonagall," Sirius announced an hour later, standing up suddenly from his seat in the common room.
James and Remus said nothing, but Peter looked at him with one eyebrow raised. "Why?" he asked.
"Um..." Sirius wasn't a great liar, which was evident as he struggled to think of a good excuse, "Wants to talk to me about my grades. I'm, uh, apparently failing Transfiguration."
James squinted his eyes shut for a second to keep himself rolling them. Sirius was a wonderful Transfiguration student, which Peter obviously realized as well. "But -" the chubby boy started to argue, but Sirius had already dashed out of the common room. Peter watched him go with a look of puzzlement on his face.
"Pete, could you do me a favor?" Remus asked, catching the other boy's attention, "Would you mind running up to the library and grabbing this book for me?" He scribbled a title on a piece of parchment and handed it over.
Peter looked at the piece of parchment and then back up at Remus with a bit of annoyance on his face. "Why don't you do it yourself?" He didn't like being made into an errand-boy.
Remus tried to make himself look as tired and miserable as possible, which wasn't too difficult considering the snakes slithering around in his stomach. "I'm feeling really horrible this moon cycle," he half-lied, "I just rather don't feel like moving too much right now."
"Oh, okay," Peter replied in a pitying tone as he stood, "I'll go get it then."
As soon as he left, James ran up to the dorm and returned with his invisibility cloak.
"I feel horrible lying to Pete," Remus said, "He's going to come back here with the book to find me gone after I said I didn't want to move."
James dragged his friend outside the common room and threw the cloak over the two of them, making them vanish from sight. "Don't worry about it," he whispered, "Tell him you had to go to the bathroom or something." Remus reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of perfume. James looked at him sideways. "What the hell is that for?" he asked.
"Sirius' sense of smell has been extremely defined ever since he first became able to transform into a dog," Remus explained, spritzing entirely too much of the perfume on James and himself, "We don't want him to smell us, so we've got to mask our scents with something overpowering. Hopefully he'll think the perfume is coming from Lily."
"Lily doesn't wear this much perfume," James hissed, scrunching his nose up at the smell, "Thank Merlin."
The two invisible boys moved as quickly as they could manage through the castle, weaving in and out of students and faculty who were roaming the halls, careful not to bump into anyone and cause a scene. When they reached the Room of Requirement, Lily was waiting outside, tapping her foot.
"We're here," James whispered in her ear, causing her to jump about half a mile.
She glanced around at the empty hallway, nodded, then sniffed the air and scrunched up her nose in much the way James just had. "What the hell?"
"Don't ask," James whispered quickly, not wanting to explain right now why they thought Sirius might be able to smell them from across a room.
Lily raised an eyebrow at the nothingness, then shrugged and opened the door wide enough for the two boys to slip in, before closing it behind her. Sirius had evidently been pacing the room, and looked up nervously as Lily entered.
"Hi!" the redhead waved, smiling, "Thanks for coming!"
"What's this about, Lily?" Sirius asked with a weird sort of look on his face.
"I need to ask you something," she replied, walking over to stand next to him.
James and Remus moved quietly into a corner behind Sirius and listened carefully.
Sirius sniffed and his expression contorted. "What is that smell?"
Lily raised an eyebrow. "New perfume," she said through gritted teeth. Under the cloak, James glared at Remus, who shrugged.
"Anyway," Lily continued, "The thing is, I have this friend who really, really likes you a lot, and -"
She was cut off by Sirius sighing and raising a hand to stop her. "Look Lil," he said in a pained sort of voice, "I'm really flattered and everything, but I just couldn't do it, okay? James is my best mate, and he cares about you a lot. I couldn't do something like that to him."
Lily stared blankly for a moment and then raised both hands to her temples in exasperation. Under the cloak in the corner, James and Remus were doing the same thing, struggling not to groan. "I'll kill him," James hissed under his breath.
Lily rubbed her head and glared at Sirius. He looked at her with an aggrieved expression, as though he couldn't believe he was turning down a date from any girl, let alone such a pretty one.
"Sirius Black, you are the most vain, pig-headed, conceited, self-centered, arrogant, egotistical, moronic, git I have ever had the displeasure of knowing."
Sirius stared with wide eyes, blinking a few times as he struggled to take in all the sudden insults.
"That's my girl," James whispered proudly to Remus.
"Uh..." Sirius began.
"My friend," Lily interrupted sternly, deciding to just cut to the chase, "Is a guy."
Sirius' mouth dropped open. "Wha??"
Remus cringed. He's freaked. He's completely, totally, freaked.
"I have a friend," Lily repeated, "Who really likes you a lot, and who happens to be a guy."
There were a few moments of silence through which Sirius stared blankly with his mouth hanging open, and Remus held his breath under the cloak. Then, suddenly, and to the surprise of everyone present, Sirius burst into hysterics.
"Well I guess that's to be expected!" he guffawed, "I mean, look at me!" He flashed Lily a winning grin, causing her to roll her eyes in disgust. "Surely if every girl in the school is in love with me, eventually there would have to be a guy or two as well, right?" He continued to laugh heartily while James and Remus stared in disbelief and Lily's hands returned to her head.
"My point, Sirius," the girl grumbled, her teeth clenched menacingly, "In coming here, was to find out whether there is any point behind his feelings."
Sirius stopped laughing and cocked his head a little. "What do you mean?" he inquired.
Lily sighed. "I mean, is there any chance you could ever like a guy that way, or should I just tell him to give up now and save himself the heartbreak?" Sirius seemed to think for a moment…then grinned. "I guess that would have to depend on the guy," he said, sneakily, "So you should probably tell me who it is."
Lily glared. "You're not going to trick me that easily, Black. Just answer the question."
Sirius shrugged a little and continued to grin. "I did answer the question. It would have to depend on the guy." With this he walked past Lily and opened the door to leave. "So if you're not going to tell me who it is, then I guess I can't help you." He winked once before turning to exit. "Later Lils!"
When the door was shut and a few moments had passed, James pulled the cloak off himself and Remus. Lily turned to look at them, frustration plastered all over her face.
"He is such a prat!" she exclaimed, "He's just being difficult because he wants to know what guy in the school would be in love with him!"
"His answer seemed clear enough to me," James told her, "'It depends on the guy'. I think that was his way of saying that he's a man-whore and he'll take anything that walks as long as it's attractive enough."
Remus punched James in the right arm. Lily took a shot at the left. "Don't talk about your friend that way," the girl hissed.
James rubbed both his arms and glared. "After what you said, you're telling me not to talk that way?!"
The group of three walked back to the common room feeling somewhat defeated, but Remus couldn't help but also feel a little hopeful. He didn't completely freak out, he thought, He didn't give a straight answer, but he didn't freak out. Maybe there is a chance...
Lily entered the common room first. If Sirius had returned already, they didn't want him to see the three of them coming in together with James' invisibility cloak. Instead they took a quick trip to the prefect's bathroom and scrubbed their arms and faces to rid themselves of the horrible perfumey stench. When they returned they found that Sirius had, in fact, beaten them there and was staring intently into the fireplace. The second they entered, Peter bore down on top of them.
"Where did you go?" he whined, eyebrows tightened, "I got the book." He held out a tattered old volume of jinxes and hexes.
"I felt really sick all of a sudden," Remus lied, "Wanted to go to the prefect's bathroom where no one would have to hear me retching."
Peter's glare softened considerably, but now he looked to James. "So why do you have the cloak then?" he demanded, pointing at the tightly rolled bundle that James hid under his arm.
"Didn't know how long he was going to be," James spat out after a second, "Didn't want him getting caught by Filch after hours, so I thought I'd bring it down in case he needed it later. But he was already finishing up when I got there."
Pete seemed satisfied with the answer, but demanded a game of wizard chess as compensation for being ditched. James obliged and ran up to tuck away his cloak before heading to the corner of the common room to set up the table.
Remus walked casually over to were Sirius was sitting and was about to sit in the next armchair over when Sirius looked up. "Hey Remus," he smiled, "Sit here." He patted the section of the couch directly beside him and Remus gulped and sat nervously, his hands crossed in his lap.
"You'll never guess what just happened, Rem," Sirius spoke again.
I bet I could guess...
"Lily informed me that she knows of a guy who likes me. You know...'likes' likes."
Act surprised you idiot! "Oh...really?" Remus managed.
Sirius had a very thoughtful look on his face. "Yeah..." He turned to face Remus, who struggled to keep his heartbeat in check. "What do you think of that?"
"Um, well," the werewolf couldn't help but stutter a little, "I guess I think it's interesting. Are...are you going to do anything about it?" It was difficult to keep the tone of hope out of his voice.
Sirius stared intently into the fire. "Don't know who he is," he explained, "Lily wouldn't tell me. And it really would depend. I mean, I wouldn't question my sexuality for just any guy." He said this with a grin as though it was a joke.
"Well what kind of guy would you question your sexuality for?"
Sirius turned and looked straight into Remus' questioning amber eyes, seeming to consider the question carefully. For a few minutes the two simply gazed at each other and Remus started to feel very uncomfortable in several ways; he lifted his feet up onto the couch and shifted his position so that his robe was covering him satisfactorily. Sirius reached up absently, apparently not thinking about what he was doing, and tucked a strand of hair behind Remus' ear.
Ohmygodwhatthehellheistouchingme!
Sirius' eyes narrowed a little, suddenly. "Wanna play some chess?" he asked, a weird tone in his voice, pulling his hand back.
Remus hugged his knees very close to his chest, knowing that there was no way he was getting up for a while anyway. "Sure, if we can play here on the couch."
Sirius stood up to get another chess set. Remus watched him carefully, his observational skills failing him for once as he thought, What's up with him?
