What you see is not always what you get…
by someone (aka Ramz)A/N: Oh my god! I am SSOOO SORRY for taking so long to update! AARRGGHH! I'M REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY SORRY!!! But I hope the chapter makes up for it…. You know, the reason I started to write a fanfic of my own is to give something back to all the writers out there who have given me such enjoyment from their fics….that's why I dedicate this to all the Harry Potter Fanfiction writers. My favourite include Someone the First (author of The Parents Who Died…which by the way is THE BEST STORY EVER WRITTEN IN HISTORY!!!!!!!!!) and S.L. (author of Potter vs. Evans – very, very good) and Barb (from www.schnoogle.com and author of Harry Potter and the Psychic Serpent and Harry Potter and the Time of Good Intentions – GREAT!!). Ok sorry about the long note…I know you're all DYING to read this chapter (hopefully) so here goes…
Disclaimer: Do I own the plot? Yes of course I do. Do I own the characters? IN MY DREAMS! All the characters belong to J.K. Rowling (unfortunately) except the minor ones which I made up myself….but hey! I made up their personalities sort of! YAY! Hehe….
Chapter Four – Love Blossoms
"All right class, you may go now," said Professor Flitwick. The class grabbed their things and scrambled out the door. It was Thursday afternoon and the lessons had just finished for the day.
Halfway up to her common room, Lily Evans stopped abruptly. Her friends, Arabella Figg and Mundungus Fletcher stopped too, but only to see why Lily had.
"What's wrong Lils?" asked Gus.
"Crap! Bella, we've got a Prefect meeting now," said Lily, turning to Bella.
"Oh, shit! Bye Gus, we've gotta go," Bella said. She and Lily waved to Gus and scurried off to the Great Hall.
"Bye," said Gus weakly. He hurried up the stairs and caught up with the Marauders: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and James Potter.
"Gussy-boy!" said Remus.
"Gus! My man!" said James.
"Fletcher," mumbled Sirius, with a sour expression on his face. Gus suppressed the urge to laugh uncontrollably, but managed with the exception of his face turning a little purple.
"Hey, don't you guys have to be at the Prefect meeting?" Gus asked Sirius and James.
"Oh yeah! Forgot about that. Gotta go…see ya!" said James as he ran off.
"Bye!" said Sirius as he sprinted after James.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Lily and Bella hurried into the Great Hall. They breathed a sigh of relief as they took their seats at the head table. The Prefects were still arriving but Professor Dumbledore was nowhere in sight.
Lily noticed that James Potter and Sirius Black had arrived in the Great Hall, and she nudged Bella.
"Sirius is here," she whispered. Bella flushed a little as she saw the two guys walking over to them.
"Petal!" cried James, putting his hands to his cheeks
"Potter," she said with a cold glare. Then she turned her head towards Sirius. "Sirius," she said with a genuine smile. Sirius looked a little confused at Lily's sudden courteous behaviour towards him
"Hi Lily," he said. "Figg." He nodded curtly at Bella.
"Hi," she said flatly, disappointed at such a cold greeting. James sat down in Lily's left and Sirius next to him. A minute later, Professor Dumbledore strode briskly into the room, accompanied by the Head Boy and Head Girl. The students hushed down as Professor Dumbledore sat down and Amos Diggory cleared his throat.
"Quiet please!" said Diggory. "Right, thankyou. Welcome to another Prefect meeting. Right, straight down to business. How are the patrols going?" he asked. Lily was suddenly getting very bored. This was even worse than History of Magic.
Suddenly, Lily felt something kick her left leg. It was James. She kicked him back. He kicked her again. This time she kicked him back even harder. This went on for quite some time until Dumbledore said something.
"If Miss Evans and Mr Potter have quite finished," he said, his eyes twinkling behind his half moon spectacles. Lily blushed and James grinned.
"Sorry Professor," mumbled Lily.
"Quite alright. I'm sure your little game was quite enjoyable but attention is needed on more pressing matters. Now, as I was saying I would like to see all the sixth year Prefects after this meeting to discuss something with them," said Dumbledore. "The rest of you may go." Th fifth years and seventh years left, leaving the curious sixth year Prefects behind.
"Now, this year we would like to re-instate having a farewell ball for the seventh years, and you," he gestured to them, "are to organise it. Fourth years and above will be allowed to attend. First of all, we need a theme. Does anyone have any ideas?"
"How about a floral theme?" asked a Hufflepuff. "We could decorate the hall with flowers and enchant the hall to smell like flowers." All the boys groaned.
"If the hall is filled with flowers then the hall will already smell like them dumbo," said a Severus Snape, a Slytherin Prefect.
"Oh yeah," said the Hufflepuff, and blushed.
"Ok, a floral theme. Any other ideas?" asked Dumbledore.
"How about a Masquerade?" asked a Ravenclaw girl.
"What about a K&D?" asked someone.
"A what?" replied Sirius.
"A Knight in shining armour and a Damsel in distress – each couple have to dress up like that," replied that someone.
"Excellent. We'll finalise the theme next meeting since it's almost time for dinner. You may all go now," said Dumbledore. Everyone got up and headed towards their common rooms.
Lily and Bella headed towards Gryffindor tower, unaware that James and Sirius were coming up to join them.
"Petal! Darling divine!" said James, wrapping his arm around Lily's waist. Automatically, without thought, Lily pulled away.
"Hands off, pervert!" she said, icily. He flashed her his famous grin, and shifted his attention to Bella.
"So Figg, you and my man Gus, eh?" he said. Bella smiled at him and nodded. Lily, meanwhile saw the roll-of-the-eyes-look Sirius gave at the mention of Gus. She bit her lip, to prevent herself from laughing hysterically.
Then she noticed that James had held the exact same expression that she did. Evidently he saw past the charade.
"Black, we need to work on our Assignment some more," said Bella.
"Yeah, same here Potter," said Lily.
"Well, I've got a date tonight," said Sirius to Bella who looked positively murderous, "but tomorrow's good."
"Fine," said Bella shortly.
Sirius then walked off without waiting for James.
Lily suddenly noticed the presence of James' head next to her left ear.
"Meet me in the common room at ten," he whispered – sending chills down Lily's body. Then he did something that caught her quite off guard. He kissed her neck, very lightly. Then he ran off after his best friend.
Lily – still in shock – was unable to slap him, so instead yelled after him "UGH! You're disgusting you bloody pervert!" She then wiped her neck at the spot where he had kissed her…hoping that she could stop the tingling feeling he left.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Lily was sitting impatiently on the common room couch with a stack of books in front of her. People were getting a little tired and heading up to their dorms, but the common room was not deserted as yet. It was 10:10. If he didn't show up in 5 minutes she would leave.
"Evans! You waited – how sweet!" said a mischievous, bubbling and all too familiar voice.
"Once again you're late, Potter," said Lily.
"Oh I'm sorry! Did you miss me?" he asked dramatically.
"Hardly," said Lily flatly. "Now since you wasted precious time, I suggest we get straight down to work instead of throwing insults at each other for half an hour."
"Rightio!" said James brightly.
Lily, once again brandished the manilla folder. " 'Question One: Define the words 'good' and 'evil'.' Ok Potter – you define good and I'll define evil. Now shut your fat trap and start working!" snapped Lily. James started at Lily's aggressive manner and did as he was told.
* * * * (Half and hour and an empty common room later) * * * *
"What's going on between Figg and Gus?" asked James suddenly, dropping his quill. This was the first word either of them had uttered since sitting down to work.
Lily hesitated because she wasn't sure if James really knew. "Well…as you probably know, they're dating," she said, failing to convince him.
"Aw come on, don't give me that crap! I know there's nothing there between them," said James knowingly.
"What gives you that idea?" said Lily hesitantly.
"She's trying to make him jealous isn't she?" he asked, smirking.
"Who?" asked Lily – trying to act innocent.
"Oh come on, Bella, Sirius, I know the deal. Of course, he still won't admit it. He says, and I quote, 'Figg is a girl for a sad, sad guy," said James.
"He says that?" asked Lily.
"All the time," said a grinning James.
"Ok, ok. You're right. Bella likes Sirius – and yes, she's going out with Gus to make him jealous, and by the looks of things, it's working," said Lily smiling. "But this goes nowhere Potter, do you understand me? NOWHERE! If I hear that it's leaked out, and the source is from you…oh you'd better be very wary, Potter…very wary," said Lily in a threatening voice.
"Ooooh….what are you gonna do Evans? Fight me? Torture me?….oh wait…your not going to(gulp) screw me…are you? Oh no! The worst kind of torture – screwing Evans!" cried James dramatically. He pretended to shiver at the thought.
"If you tell a soul, Potter…" said Lily, her eyes narrowing.
"Alright, alright…I won't tell anybody…Marauders honour," he said drawing a cross on his chest. "Happy now Evans?"
"Oh yes, I'm so ecstatic to be stuck down in the common room with James Potter at 11:00 at night," she said sarcastically.
James grinned. "Most witches would be," he said.
"Yeah well, I'm not like most witches," replied Lily, haughtily.
James raised his eyebrows. "What? Are you like a lesbian or something?"
"NO! I didn't mean it like that! I meant that I don't drool and stare and go crazy every time a hot Quidditch player walks past me!" Lily cried.
"You think I'm hot?" he asked.
"That's not the point!" said a frustrated Lily – who was turning just the slightest bit red.
"Well I'm making it the point…Lily Evans thinks I'm hot…Lily Evans thinks I'm hot…" James cried in a sing-song voice. Lily threw a ball of parchment at him.
"Shuddup Potter…I also think you're arrogant, pompous, self-centred, selfish, stupid, a very big dickhead…"
"Oi!"
"I could go on for hours!" said Lily.
"What about smart, funny, excellent Quidditch player, sexy, charming, *hot* …I could go on for hours!" he said imitating Lily.
"I'm tired," Lily said, rolling her eyes at James' last comment, " mostly of you Potter – so I'm going to bed."
Lily gathered her stuff and walked briskly up the stairs, heading towards her dorm.
"Night Lily-Pilly!" James cried after her in a girly voice.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The next day in Potions with the Slytherins and Professor Sparrow, Gus was busy doing work in his best subject, while Bella and Lily were having a very interesting note conversation,
L: Hey Bells – Potter knows.
B: Potter knows what?
L: He knows that you and Gussy aren't really together and that you are trying to make Sirius jealous. That's what he knows.
B: WHAT?! HOW THE HELL DID JAMES FIND OUT? DID YOU BLOODY TELL HIM OR WHAT??
L: NO WAY! How could you think that I told him? I would never tell anyone, let alone him. He figured it out himself. And since
when are you on first name terms with James Potter?B: Sorry about accusing you Lily. Oh shit James knows… crap…he won't tell Sirius will he? Did you make him swear that he wouldn't tell Sirius? Did you? I hope you did Lily…god if Sirius finds out…HOW EMBARRASING! Oh….about the James thing…I dunno….he's really quite nice Lily…just a little stupid sometimes.
L: A little? Sometimes? More like he's very stupid ALL of the time! Anyway…I made Potter swear that he wouldn't tell anyone. If he knows what's good for him, he won't tell. By the way, ARE YOU COMPLETELY INSANE? POTTER? NICE? THOSE 2 WORDS SHOULD NOT BE IN THE SAME SENTENCE!
B: Oh come one Lil, jeez. You have to work with him for the rest of the year, you might aswell try to get along. Anyway, I know a lot of people – namely witches – who would kill to be in your position.
L: Why does everyone keep telling me that?
The bell rang for the end of class. Lily, Bella and Gus scrambled put of the classroom, very glad that lessons were over for the week.
"Crap. I have a study date with Sirius tonight," said Bella nervously.
"Don't worry Bells, you'll be fine," said Lily.
"Yeah…" Bella said, playing with her fingers, "hopefully James hasn't told him yet."
"What's this about James?" asked Gus.
"Potter knows," replied Lily, "Unfortunately."
"Oh well, that's not so bad. He won't tell Sirius – actually it's probably better this way," Gus said, unscathed.
"UGH! What happened to my fun-loving, Anti-Potter friends?" exclaimed Lily. Bella and Gus just smiled and shook their heads – as if they were in the know about something, and Lily wasn't.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Do I look okay?" asked Bella, twiddling with her fingers and standing in front of Lily. She had her hair done up especially nicely today and was wearing a little bit of make-up.
"You look too dressed-up. He'll notice something," Lily said.
"Sirius wouldn't notice anything even if it danced around in front of him naked," Bella said disapprovingly, yet with a smile.
Lily's face split into a grin. "I'm sure he'd notice if you danced around naked in front of him."
Bella blushed, but turned away and pretended not to hear. "So what should I do?" she asked.
"Here, let me do it," said Lily, getting up.
Lily wiped off Bella's eyeshadow and lipstick and undid her hair. She did it up in a normal pony-tail with a little curly strand left on her face and put a little bit of normal, clear lip gloss on Bella.
"There. Perfect," said a satisfied Lily.
"This is how I always look," complained Bella.
"Which is why it's perfect," said Lily matter-of-factly.
Bella sighed. There was no point in arguing, she would never win against Lily – she never did. Everyone else was a pushover, but Lily was unbeatable. She knew Lily was right, anyway. Lily was always right.
"Ok, wish me luck," Bella said, biting her lip nervously.
"You won't need it. He's perfectly jealous of you and Gus – but he won't dare make a move on you while you're still together. We have to organise for you 2 to break up soon," said Lily.
"I know all that. What I mean is…I'll feel different around him now. I don't know how to act. Before I was horribly rude to him…but I can't be like that to him now. Oh, this is all such a mess," said, Bella plonking herself down on her bed (did I mention they were in their dorm?). "Maybe I should call it off until I've "broken-up" with Gus."
"No," said Lily, shaking her head. "You're going tonight and you're going to be fine. Just be your adorable self and you'll be a hit." Just then, Arabella looked lovingly at her friend.
"Oh Lily!" she cried, pulling Lily into a giant hug. "Thankyou so much for putting up with all my trivial nonsense! You're the best!"
"Come on Bells, you know that I'd see you through thick and thin. And you'd do the same for me and Gussy-boy. Now go on Bella, you'd better not keep Sirius waiting," said Lily, gently prying Bella away from her.
"Okay," said Bella, composing herself. "Bye!" she said, trying to sound cheerful, as she headed out the door.
Bella closed the door shut behind her and walked down the stairs towards the empty common room. It was probably empty because they had organised to meet at 11:00. Bella found Sirius was fast asleep in an armchair, drool dripping out of his mouth. She walked over and shook him.
"Sirius. Wake-up," she said. No response.
"Oi! Dog boy! WAKE UP!" she said, quite a bit louder this time. His eyes snapped open.
"What did you just call me?" he asked frantically.
"Dog boy," said Bella. She looked at him as if he was a three-headed caterpillar. He stared back at her, horrified. "You were drooling, Black," she explained.
Sirius' expression eased. "That," he said, "is not unexpected."
"Especially from someone as foul as you," said Bella. Sirius raised his eyebrows and smiled widely.
'There I go again,' she thought. 'Insulting Sirius. If I keep doing this, he won't like me at all.'
"Ok, let's get to work," said Bella. She sat down on the couch opposite Sirius – the table in between them.
"Oh hang on, I left something upstairs!" said Sirius, and quickly ran upstairs. He came sauntering back down the next moment, looking very guilty. He walked over and stood next to Bella's chair.
"Um, I think, I've, um – sort of – well," said Sirius, fumbling a bit.
"Out with it,' said Bella impatiently.
"Well…I've lost the assignment parchment," he said. Bella's eyes widened, and her face contorted to fury as she stood up.
"WHAT?! HOW COULD YOU LOSE THE ASSIGNMENT? ARE YOU COMPLETELY INCAPABLE OF DOING ANYTHING? YOU IDIOT! BLOODY HELL!" Bella screamed.
"Shhhh!" said Sirius. "I was only joking! It's on the table," he said, pointing to the manilla folder.
"Oh….you think that's funny do you? A joke?! Well let me inform you that it is NOT funny Sirius Joseph Black. It's NOT a joking matter! Do you know how much this assignment is worth? Do you? Well I can tell you. It's worth – " Bella was cut off in mid sentence by Sirius lips on hers. He kissed her, a wonderful, sweet kiss.
When they broke apart, Sirius smiling slightly and Bella was very, very shocked. She stared at him for almost a minute.
But then she regained the use of her voice. "Why did you just do that? Especially when you know that I already have a boyfriend?" she asked, now regaining her composure aswell.
Sirius' smile now turned into a full-fledged grin. He pulled out a piece of parchment with writing on it. At first Bella didn't recognise it. She looked nonplussed. Then she realised what it was.
"Oh my god! Where did you get that?" she cried. Sirius just grinned. Bella felt the heat rise up in her face. HOW EMBARRASING! It was the note that Lily had written to her earlier that day in potions. He knew that she really liked him…what if didn't fell the same way? She had just made a fool out of herself for absolutely nothing. Oh why couldn't she just have left her fat trap shut?
"I have my ways," said Sirius. Bella felt like climbing into a hole and dying. She was THAT embarrassed. She would have to do with running out the room. Except that, while turning, Sirius grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her back towards him and kissed her again.
She was floating. It was bliss – she wanted the kiss to last forever. But when it was over, Bella let go of him looking very confused.
"You…you don't think that I'm….I'm a…loser?" she asked, looking down at her feet, very scared of the answer. She didn't want to know – wait, she did. She slowly lifted her head and looked into Sirius' eyes. He smiled at her.
"I think you're a lot of things," he said, "but loser never crossed my mind." Her face lightened up.
"So can we at least be friends?" she asked. If they couldn't be anything else, he could at least be her friend.
"No, I'm sorry but I can't be your friend," said Sirius, shaking his head miserably.
Bella's face paled. "Why…not?" she asked meekly.
"Because, if I was your friend I wouldn't be able to do this," he said. He leaned forward a kissed her very deeply. Her heart was fluttering – she felt as if she was queen of the world.
"You – you want to go out with me?" she asked her face full of hope.
"Of course I do Arabella Figg!" cried Sirius, happily. They both grinned merrily, Bella pulling Sirius into a hug.
In the midst of this hug Sirius asked Bella a question. "How did you know my middle name?"
She grinned. "I have my ways."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A/N: I FINALLY FINISHED THE FOURTH CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH,YEAH, YEAH, YEAH ,YEAH!!!!!! GO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!! Did you know that this is the farthest I've ever gone with a fanfic before? I've gone up to the third chapter but never the fourth…well now I have! YAY! So what did you all think of it? I'm SO SORRY TO ALL DA GUS/BELLA SUPORTERS!!!!! Boo-hoo! L …. but I like Sirius and Bella. Oh well….it is now 11:37 p.m. and I think that the last bit of this was very corny so I have to edit it. But this is THE 4TH CHAPTER! I FINISHED IT! Did you know that it's also the longest chapter I've ever written? Cool eh? Anyway I'm tired and I have tennis tomorrow so I have to get up early. BUT REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW, REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I luv u all SOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!! (my reviewers that is…)
Thanx and enjoy!
Luv someone (aka Ramz)
P.S. I finished my fourth chapter! (I hope you're happy now Jen?!)
Luv someone