A/N: Well. James and Peter completely surprised me here. Sirius didn't. Plenty of action – more than I would normally put into an entire story! You lucky things. This story is stretching much longer than I ever thought it would - I must have read my own how-to guide (see author page, and please forgive my shameless self-promotion)
James' good mood still hadn't worn off when he went to meet Lily for rounds. She hadn't made an appearance in the common room after dinner, and he was glad. He liked Summers well enough, but he really didn't want the whole house to think that they were carrying on.
Just Lily.
He slid down the long banisters into the Entry Hall, jumping deftly from one staircase rail to another, and landed firmly on his feet at the bottom of the stairs. For the first time ever, he hadn't landed on his arse. Apparently alone, he began jumping up and down, punching the air, humming "We are the Champions".
Suddenly, he stopped, frozen. From a shadowy corridor, he heard the most frightening sound in the world.
Slow, sarcastic clapping.
Cheeks burning, he lowered his arms and turned to face his audience, emerging from the dark.
Lily. Of course.
Embarrassment this acute should be fatal. Then, James thought, he wouldn't have to endure it.
He'd be dead.
Which would be better.
Lily stepped into the dim torchlight in the Entry Hall, and James' red face quickly turned pale.
She was stunning.
He didn't know why, she was wearing a uniform, like always, and her hair was simple, like always. Somehow, though, she looked even better than usual, and he didn't think that that was even possible.
The only time she had ever looked better to him, she had just gotten out of the bath, her hair was wet, and she was wearing a skimpy pink little robe…
James shook his head hard, like a dog, to dislodge the thought.
Lily stopped clapping, tilted her head a bit, and quirked an eyebrow. Really, Potter could be very… odd.
"Bra-vo, Potter. You've always got a career with the circus, if this whole wizard thing falls through."
"Huh?"
"Never mind," Lily said, grinning and shaking her head. "You settle up with your girlfriend then?" she said, stepping closer to him.
He thought the smell of her hair would drive him mad. He stepped back a bit, and tried to focus.
"Er, we're not really dating. Just… friendly." He smirked a bit. Maybe he could play her game, get through this without losing his cool, without acting a complete ass.
"I can be… friendly, too, James," Lily purred, and slipped her hand into his. As she began leading him down their first patrol corridor, James felt like letting go and running like hell, as far from this Titian-haired siren as he could get.
He didn't stand a chance.
…
Three hours later, their patrol was nearly over.
James had been in a cold sweat the entire time. He didn't know what he could get away with, without getting smacked. So he did nothing, and tried to stay silent, but this new, predatory, evil Lily was running rings around him. She flirted. She touched his arm. She touched his hair. She laughed at him. She whispered in his ear.
He was at the end of his rope. And finally, he fell.
Outside Gryffindor tower, James and Lily prepared to give the password to the Fat Lady, who was watching them avidly, when Lily pulled him back around a corner, out of the portrait's line of sight. Backing James against a wall, she started to trace the design of the crest on his robe, and looked up at him, coyly, through her eyelashes. "You know, James," she started to say, but James had had enough.
"Bloody Hell, woman! You win, alright?" and he grabbed her shoulders and kissed her, hard, and she let him, because she had thought that she was in control, and had no idea what to do with this suddenly furious and extremely sexy man, who was kissing her with everything he had in him.
He pushed her away just as suddenly, and peered down into her gaping red face. "Do what you want with me, Evans. I don't care. Win your little bet. Use me. But just know this, princess. I kissed you. On my terms. And you loved it." With that, he walked away, around the corner, and through the portrait hole, ignoring the Fat Lady's pleas to tell her what had just happened.
Alone, in the hallway, Lily began to wonder if maybe she just wasn't in a bit over her head.
Not ten minutes before, a furious Sirius Black had slammed open the portrait hole door, leaped through, slammed it shut behind him, and began to stomp across the room towards his dormitory stairs.
"Trouble in paradise, Black?" He looked over at the sofa next to the fireplace, and saw Lucy Summers, from the Quidditch team, look up at him from behind a pile of books.
"Only I just saw Greenwitch storm through here not five minutes ago, muttering Celtic swear words under her breath. I thought I might have heard your name."
Suddenly deflated, Sirius doffed his tuxedo jacket and cummerbund, and collapsed next to Summers on the couch.
"I just don't know how to please that girl! First she says I'm too rough. Tonight she says I'm acting like some bleedin' Nancy boy who's never kissed a girl! I'll never get another chance, now, and –"
Summers leaned over and kissed him, slowly, languidly, and firmly, with tongue and everything. He barely knew the girl. He loved her for it. He felt like himself again, and smiled as she sat up a little and looked at him.
"There are other girls in this castle, Sirius, as you well know. Why are you wasting your time, when you could be having fun?" He pulled her back towards him, and over her shoulder waved his wand vaguely at the fireplace to dim it. Neither noticed when James, and later Lily, walked through the room on their way to bed.
A little white rat, quivering with fury in a corner of a chair on the other side of the fireplace, went unnoticed as well.
"Alice! Alice! Wake UP!" Lily was shaking her friend to wake her, but it was a pillow lobbed by their roommate that finally did it.
"Evans, shut it! I need me beauty sleep!" Minty rolled over, sans pillow, and was asleep again in seconds.
"Wha- oh, what is it, Lily? It's after midnight!" Alice Murphy sat up in bed, yawning and tugging at the collar of her lace-edged nightgown. Lily sat down on the end of her bed, drawing the curtains and leaning in.
"I have to talk to you. You won't believe what happened. Potter kissed me!"
"So?" Alice said, preparing to lie back down. "Isn't that part of your plan?"
"Don't go back to sleep!" Lily hissed, "Listen! No, it's not part of my plan! I may have had to kiss him at some point, in front of people, to make Tark jealous, but I didn't expect James to kiss me, alone, in a corridor, where nobody could even see us! What the hell's the point of that?"
"Hmm," Alice said, pretending to think, "Maybe the boy's been in love with you for years, and you're finally flirting with him?"
"No, but he- oh. He still likes me, doesn't he?"
"You're quick, Evans. Speed of light." Alice shook her head amusedly, as Lily just stared blankly into space. "Well, Great Planner, what are you going to do now? This knocks The Plan for a bit of a loop, doesn't it?"
"No," Lily said thoughtfully, "Not really. He said I could use him for The Plan. He seems to know all about the bet."
"Are you mad? Would you really do that to that poor boy?" Alice looked at her friend in disgust.
Lily looked back at her, very seriously. "Alice, the James Potter who kissed me tonight was no boy." She shivered a little, thinking of it.
Alice smirked. "That good, huh? Maybe you should just drop out of the bet right now."
Lily smiled naughtily back at her. "Nope. I've just got two games going now. And one just got a lot more interesting."
Through the curtains, a shoe came sailing, only to land on Alice's lap. "WILL YOU TWO BLEEDIN' SHUT IT THEN?"
"Let's recap, then. James is in a plot with Lucy Summers to get back at Lily for using him to win a bet for Tark Pendragon's affections. Prongs and I chose Summers because she's smart and, most importantly, because she has never dated Sirius, whom Lily thinks is a lecherous clod.
"Now, however, Sirius, rejected by Minty Greenwitch (also involved in the bet), is finding comfort in the arms of the girl who has, up to now, been untainted by his lascivious reputation, an act which would ruin James' plans and give Lily the upper hand. That about right?" Remus shook his head, half smiling. "It sounds like a cheesy sitcom."
"It's not funny!" Peter seethed, sitting upright in his bed, still rigid with anger. "He's going to break up the Marauders, just because he can't keep it in his pants! You know what it was like when they fought before. I'll not have it." Peter's hands were clenched into tight fists, and he stared unseeingly ahead.
"Er, calm down, Pete. We'll think of something." Remus gave his friend a worried look. He couldn't understand why Peter was getting so angry. Personally, Remus found the whole situation beyond funny, and was working really hard to keep from laughing or even grinning, as Peter was taking Sirius' actions very seriously.
"He knows," Peter said through gritted teeth. "He knows all about what James and Summers are trying to do, and he was kissing her anyway. James will never forgive him if he messes up his chance with Evans. He should think for once, and try to be loyal to his friends. We have to stick together. I'm not letting some bint come in between my friends."
"OK, Pete. We'll just have to pitch in, like always, and save them from themselves. I'll talk to James before I leave in the morning, and tell him what you saw, so he and Summers can plan more carefully. Since you'll be here over the hols, keep an eye on Padfoot, and keep him and Summers out of Lily's way. That's about all we can do, you know?" Remus shrugged, but looked hopeful. Peter seemed to be calming down somewhat.
"Yeah. Thanks, Moony. I'll keep an eye on him." Peter said shortly. He pulled his curtains shut. Remus stared thoughtfully at his friend's bed for a while, before pulling his own curtains and going to sleep.
The next morning, breakfast was a quiet affair, as most of the school had eaten early and left for home on the train. Lily sat at one end of the table, as far from James and his friends as she could. She really wasn't ready to deal with him yet – she didn't think she'd even be able to speak. She decided that she had better start The Plan.
When she saw Tark Pendragon enter the hall, she gave him a little wave and a wink. He immediately veered from his housemates and joined her at the Gryffindor table, blushing just a little as he sat down.
"This all right?" he asked. Lily nodded, and watched James out of the corner of her eye. He appeared to be ignoring them, but Sirius was openly grinning and elbowing James in the side.
"Sure, Tark. You get your Christmas shopping done?"
"Almost. I need to send my mum and dad their gifts in Australia. I'm going to book an adventure holiday through TerrorTours for them – they love to travel, and they've got a whizzbang package on Yeti sightings in Tibet. Do you want to look at it with me after breakfast? They've a catalogue in the library."
"Sure, that sounds fun! Maybe I'll find a place to send Petunia."
"Does your sister like to travel?"
"No."
James looked down the table at the giggling pair and rolled his eyes in disgust. "I am appalled."
Sirius looked at him with a solemn look on his face. "I concur. I am also appalled."
Peter was still trying to wake up. He'd had bad dreams. "What are you appalled about?"
Sirius gave him a reproving look. "You are also appalled, Pete. We are all appalled."
Peter went back to his porridge. "It's too bloody early for this," he muttered.
"So, Mr. Prongs, what will we do to rectify this… appallation?" Sirius furrowed his brow a bit. He wasn't sure that was a word.
"I know what I'm going to do," James said, standing up. He had just spotted Lucy Summers come bouncing into the room. Before Sirius could stop him, he had walked up, bent her back, and given her a heart-stopping kiss in front of everyone.
Sirius groaned and buried his head in his hands. "So much for plans."
Peter looked up and stared penetratingly at him. "Jealous, Padfoot?"
Sirius looked up at him as if he were crazy. "No, you git! But if he's trying to get Lily, kissing a girl in front of everyone the morning after he kisses her is just about the worst thing he could possibly do. What an idiot!"
Peter gave him an odd look. On the other side of the room, James and a very flushed Summers were chatting up against a wall, and Tark had led a furious Lily Evans out of the Hall towards the library. "So you don't care? Weren't you snogging Summers just last night?"
Sirius' eyes sparked. "Spying again, you little rodent? It's none of your bloody business who I snog. James knows all about it, so bugger off!"
"Gladly." Peter got up and stalked away from the table, past James, who seemed to be apologizing profusely to Summers, who was laughing at him, and out of the Great Hall.
Sirius looked dejected for a minute, and then noticed a cute fifth-year out of the corner of his eye. "Deena Wilder! It's been ages, love! A pretty guy like me shouldn't be sitting here all alone! Come and join me!"
And, giggling, she did.
A/N: If you want to read about Lily's pink bathrobe, check out "Perilous in Pink", a short one-shot available from my author page. Sorry, all my stories link like this without really chronologically working together. It's just fun for me that way. Nearly all of my minor characters are mentioned in other stories, too.
Next time's going to get a bit crazy. Lucy's going to take matters into her own hands, as James is obviously hopeless and doesn't heed his own advice. You'll alsosee a lot more of Minty. -Daisy