Chapter Six: The Evans Experience
Sirius led Riley through the hallway towards the hospital wing, followed by a moping James Potter.
"I thought you guys decided it was time!" James whined.
"Well it would have been, if you're first advance wasn't to try and snog her in front of a large group of her classmates and teachers," Riley said, shooting a glare in his direction and grumbled under her breath, "Idiot."
"But I thought it seemed sort of romantic!" James protested.
"It sort of was, until she sucker-punched you," Sirius said laughing as he glanced over his shoulder at his friend.
"Shuttup," James muttered running his fingers through his dark hair. He bounded forward and held the door open for Sirius and Riley at the end of the hallway.
Madame Pomfrey came bustling out of her office immediately and said, "And here I thought I was going to get away with not having to see anyone after a Gryffindor, Slytherin Quidditch match. Sit on number 5, dear, and tell me what happened to your foot."
Sirius helped Riley onto the Number 5 cot and Riley explained, "Rogue bludger. I'm pretty sure it broke, it felt like it shattered."
"Alright, let me take a look at it," Madame Pomfrey said, "Prop your foot up here," She said patting the end of the cot.
Riley did as she was told and Madame Pomfrey waved her wand over the afflicted limb. A grey mist floated out of the tip of her wand and covered Riley's ankle a moment before it turned black.
"What does that mean?" James asked worriedly.
"Crushed," Madame Pomfrey and Riley chorused. Madame Pomfrey smiled at Riley fondly, "That is a sign I see you too often."
Riley grinned, "You love seeing me! I make your week!"
"Not if you're injured!" Madame Pomfrey protested. "I'm sorry to say this, but I'm afraid you'll have to stay the night."
"WHAT!?" The three students yelped.
"But Madame Pomfrey we won today! I have to be there to celebrate, and the potion will only take half an hour!" Riley protested.
"Yes, usually. But I have to brew more, and it must simmer for twelve hours, so you won't be able to leave until after that," Madame Pomfrey said matter-of-factly.
"Madame Pomfrey!" Riley whined, flopping back onto the bed, "Are you kidding me!"
"I'm sorry dear, it's the best I can do."
"Can I have a little something for the pain? It's pretty bad," Riley asked, heaving a long sigh.
"Sure dear, one moment," Pomfrey said, bustling towards her office.
"You're gonna miss the party!" James said, looking even more grumpy and dejected at this turn in events.
"I'll sneak some party to you, don't worry," Sirius said winking at her mischievously.
"Oh Sirius! You're the best!" Riley said throwing her arms around his neck enthusiastically. "And James, if Lily comes to visit I'll try and do some damage control."
James beamed at her, and kissed her cheek, "Thanks Riles! You're the best! My favorite sister," he expounded.
"Don't let Jenna hear you say that, I don't think she'll understand it's only cause we're not related."
Sirius rolled his eyes, "I don't think she'll care."
Suddenly the door flew open and Molly, Lily and Alice tumbled through the door. Alice threw herself into James and Sirius's arms, "WE BEAT THE SLYTHERINS!"
James and Sirius both immediately grinned even wider then they had been. "Are you ready to party?" Sirius asked the girls, looking more than elated.
Molly and Alice both grinned and slapped high fives, as Lily moved to the other side of Riley's bed and sat down in the chair, "To celebrate a Gryffindor victory? Always!" Alice exclaimed.
Lily saw Riley's face fall, "What's wrong Ry'? Aren't you excited?" She asked, "You were before."
"I don't get to go," Riley said shrugging forlornly, "It's whatever, you guys had better have lots of fun without me!"
"No!" Molly wailed, "How're we supposed to have fun without you!?"
"I'm sure you'll get by," Riley said grinning. "It's a victory party! Those are always so nuts! Don't worry, you'll hardly even notice I'm gone."
Sirius and James waved as they headed towards the door, "Booze Run," Sirius mouthed, winking at her.
Just then Madame Pomfrey returned with a steaming goblet of potion, "Here you go dear."
"It's not the one that makes me sleepy, is it?" Riley asked, "I want to chat with them a little bit."
"Nope, you should be fine," Madame Pomfrey said watching carefully as Riley tipped the potion back. Pomfrey took the goblet back and said, "Be good, girls," Before she bustled back into her officec.
Lily sighed, "I was really counting on you to help me run defense on the whole James situation."
"Oh, I meant to talk to you about that," Riley said adjusting herself on her bed.
"Why do you need James defense?" Molly asked, "I thought you guys were getting on."
"Were," Lily said darkly, looking at the white sheet on the cot.
"Yeah, until James practically snogged her in front of the whole Quidditch pitch," Alice snorted.
"What! How did I miss it!?" Molly asked, "That's gotta be like a once-in-a-lifetime experience!"
"You bet your life it is!" Lily said annoyed.
"Come on, now is that really what you want?" Riley asked knowingly.
"Yes!" Lily insisted.
"Then why did it take you so long to stop kissing him?" Riley asked cheekily.
Lily's cheeks turned bright red, as Molly and Alice's eyes widened and snapped to her, "What?" Molly spat, shocked.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Lily said shrilly.
"Yes you do! It took you like a full minute to pull away! You kissed him back first!" Riley accused, her green eyes dancing with delight.
Lily quickly buried her head in her arms and moaned mortified, "Oh my God."
"Oh Lily, like we didn't know," Molly scoffed.
"It's embarrassing!" Lily said, her voice muffled in the sheets, refusing to show her face.
"Come on, tell us, what was your brilliant plan was," Molly insisted knowingly.
Lily sighed and picked her beet red face up off the cot. "Well he was flirting with other girls, and spending all his time on Quidditch, so I figured he'd sorta gotten over the obsession. I was gonna flirt with him tonight, maybe get his attention-"
Riley interrupted, "Well you certainly got his attention, all right."
Molly giggled, Alice guffawed and even Lily had to let out a chuckle, "Oh fine."
"You know there's never been anyone but you, Lils. He's just more mature this year, most of the time," Riley said grinning at her best friend, fondly thinking that Lily was possibly the dumbest, smart person she'd ever met.
"Yeah! And then he kissed me, and it was like he'd reverted to every other year's 'Hey-I'm-James-Potter-King-of-the-Universe-but-you -can-call-me-Dickface-instead-James-Potter. Instead of this year's James Potter, who's kinda nice to be around, actually," Lily explained, defending herself. "I mean, where the hell does he get off trying to snog me in front of the whole school population?"
"I'm sure there's probably a couple kids who don't go to the Quidditch games," Molly said grinning at Lily, teasingly.
"Yeah, maybe one or two!" Alice agreed.
"More like where does he get off successfully snogging you in front of the entire Hogwart's population," Riley corrected her friend, grinning in a way that said she knew she was in trouble.
Lily colored immediately and yelled, "SHUT UP!" She looked mortified.
Alice and Molly laughed appreciatively. Riley kept grinning and agreed, "Alright, alright, sorry, I just felt like maybe it should be said. Anway, bottom line is, I'm pretty certain he has no idea how to treat you. He'll figure it out, and fairly quickly, he's a smart kid. Right now, though, you'll have to think of it as part of the Potter Experience," Riley explained, trying to be helpful to both parties.
"No way," Lily said, "I've been dealing with the 'Potter Experience' for almost seven years now. I quit the 'Potter Experience.' It's high time that James Potter lived the Evans Experience!"
Alice laughed, "Oh God don't break him!"
Lily grinned evilly, "Oh no, I'm just playing."
Molly grinned, "Thatta girl!"
Riley just laughed, "Alright, get out you guys. Go get ready! I don't want you all to be late."
"I wish you were coming," Lily said, suddenly forlornly.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry about me, just go have fun!" Riley said, then as an after thought she added, "Anyway I think Sirius is bringing some of the party to me. At least he mentioned as much."
Molly's eyes snapped to Lily, and then they both looked at Riley worriedly, "Do you want us to stop him?" Lily asked.
"No, no, it'll be fine! Guys it's me and Sirius, so not a big deal," Riley said waving her hand airily.
Molly paused for a moment and then touched Riley's hair, "Did you hit your head?" She asked worriedly.
"No!" Riley said laughing, "God, guys what's gonna happen, come on!"
"You and Sirius alone, is almost always, the worst idea I've ever heard," Alice said agreeing with Lily and her sister.
"That's bullshit! We're fine! We'll be fine, you guys are so mental," Riley protested laughing.
"Okay, but when you have sex, or get into a fight, do not say we never warned you. Cause this is us, warning you," Alice told her matter-of-factly.
"Okay, seriously? You guys think I'm gonna have sex with Sirius? Let's be real, he's like my best friend! Which is also why we're not gonna get into a fight. You're all ridiculous, get out of here," Riley said rolling her eyes, but still in a good humour.
Lily looked at her best friend carefully. She didn't know how this always happened; it was like Riley had short-term memory loss. It seemed like every time Sirius and Riley were ever really alone, for longer then ten minutes, it ended badly. It's not like terrible things happened, but it usually wasn't very good; and even if Riley didn't fuss about it to him, she was always a little down. Yet, Riley continued to try and hang out with him alone.
Lily sighed out loud, "Alright, well be good okay?"
"Lils, don't worry it'll be okay. You ladies have fun, alright?" Riley said grinning up at them, as they stood around her.
The girls said their goodbyes, and headed out the door, leaving Riley contentedly alone.
AROUND ten o'clock, Madame Pomfrey came in to say goodnight. Riley pretended she was asleep, but felt the nurse tuck her in and kiss her forehead.
"Goodnight Riley," Madame Pomfrey said softly, before her heels clicked off towards the corner where, Riley knew, she would ascend the spiral staircase to her living quarters.
Not long after that, the Hospital Wing door swung open silently and closed, seemingly of it's own accord. "Sirius?" Riley whispered, a small smile playing across her features, but her hand wrapped around her wand, just in case.
Sirius threw off the invisibility cloak, revealing himself cloaked in a Gryffindor blanket, with a bottle of firewhisky in one hand.
"Ooo, I love you!" Riley whispered reaching for the bottle, as Sirius approached the bed, grinning triumphantly.
Sirius grinned, unscrewing the top from the bottle, and handing it to her, "I get that a lot, Muffliato," He said pointing his wand at the staircase.
Riley took a long swig from the bottle, scrunching up her nose as she felt the liquid burn a path down her throat, and her head started to fizz. She shook her head and laughed, "I'll bet you do! Girls seem to enjoy throwing themselves at you."
After Sirius took a long pull from the bottle he grinned at Riley and winked, "Mere mortals can not be expected to resist this!" He exclaimed throwing his arms wide, then he pointed a finger at her, "That's why I never seem to have you."
Riley raised one eyebrow at him as she took the bottle back, after she drank again she asked, "So how are Lily and James doing?"
"They were dancing when I snuck off!" Sirius said triumphantly, "It was wonderful!" he exclaimed, as he took a moment to really look at Riley. She was sitting up, with her good leg, dangling off the side of the bed. She had undone her Quidditch braid, and her hair was softly falling around her face and shoulders. She looked beautiful, too perfect for him.
Then Sirius realized she was talking, "Oh what?"
"This is all happening so fast! I mean it's only the first week in October! For the last six years she won't even look at him, and now they're dancing! Amazing!" Riley said, not bothering to repeat herself. She looked so excited; Sirius couldn't help but grin back.
"Just think, before we know it, they'll be getting married, and having babies and living happily ever after," Sirius teased happily, "You know they'll be the ones to do it."
The duo chatted happily, continuing to pass the bottle back and forth, eventually Sirius levered himself gently onto her cot. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and she leaned her head comfortably on his arm.
"Latest girl?" Riley asked, beginning to feel sort of drowsy as Sirius covered them both in the Gryffindor blanket.
"Erm, not yet," He told her, "I'm trying out a new theory."
"Oh, care to share?" Riley asked genuinely interested. She and Sirius were of similar cloth when it came to significant others. They chatted about their latest conquests, occasionally.
"Not really," Sirius responded, fighting to remain nonchalant as he thought about how pathetic he'd sound if he told her he was pretty sure he might love her. That maybe he had loved her, since the very beginning, and that he was just too dense to figure it out.
"Oh," Riley said, feeling a little awkward.
"What about you? Any new guys?" Sirius asked with a smile planted firmly on his face, determined not to be jealous.
"You know I don't," Riley teased, "I have a system! I do the first day of school, first day of classes, first practice, first Hogsmeade weekend (with Lily of course), first game and then first boy." Riley paused for a moment, "Well I guess it used to be the first Hogsmeade weekend with Lily, Alice and Molly, but now it's just me and Lily going strong. Now Molly spends every Hogsmeade weekend, seeing Arthur and Alice goes with Frank."
"Oh, that's right, she's still seeing Arthur Weasley?" Sirius asked, laughing, "Man, he's such a hoot!" Sirius had met Arthur Weasley a couple of times, and he was totally amused by his obsession with all things Muggle, which Molly tolerated with loving disrespect.
"Yeah, he's a good guy. They'll get married someday too, I'm sure of it. They'll at least be together forever," She said giggling. "Eventually, ya' know, maybe after school, I think it'd be nice to find something like that," She said wistfully, picking at a thread on the blanket covering them.
"Why wait till after school?" Sirius asked without thinking, he could've smacked himself after the words left his mouth.
"It's difficult here because there are so many other things I should be focusing on, like school and Quidditch. Plus so many obstacles, including my parents," Riley offered thoughtfully.
"It doesn't have to be difficult," Sirius answered immediately, and then wondered what the hell had happened to his brain. He was speaking without thinking, and any minute he knew he was going to be in a terribly awkward postion.
"Sirius, what?" Riley asked.
Damage control time, "No, no. Forget I said anything. I'm drunk," He said, and then he forced a laugh, to make it seem nonchalant.
Riley looked at him, a strange expression on her face, "Sirius, are you trying to tell me something?"
"No, I have no interest in you, other than friendship, I'm just drunk and saying shit. Ignore me, totally ignore me," Sirius said quickly, and then froze.
"I," Riley paused a moment, "Sorry, what?"
Sirius took a deep breath, "I ruin things, okay? I can't-"
Riley cut him off, trying to back away from the serious conversational matter, "Yeah you really do," She said laughing half-heartedly.
"What?" Sirius asked, stung by her words.
"We were having a perfectly nice little celebration here, and now we're about to enter into some pretty heavy territory. How do you manage it?" She asked. She had meant only to tease him a little, and skate away from this conversation, but she'd heard him reject her. Some of the pain and anger, that accompanied rejection, had shown through in her tone and facial expression.
Sirius visibly recoiled, "You're the one who wanted to talk about love. It certainly wasn't me, I'm a pureblood, I know it doesn't exist. You should too, I'm surprised at you!"
Riley pulled out from underneath his arm, and scooted away from him on the cot, hiding her expression with her hair. "Just because we can't have it, doesn't mean I can't hope that somebody out there could care about me the way James cares about Lily. Even if I know it doesn't matter."
Sirius felt like her tone was chipping his heart to pieces. She sounded so young, and vulnerable. "Oh God, Riley I'm so sorry, I don't know how we got here," He said reaching out to touch her shoulders.
"Stop, just go, okay?" Riley asked, refusing to look at him, and shrugging his hands away.
Sirius obediently got off the bed, but he tried one last time, "Riley, please-"
When Riley looked up at him, her eyes blurry, Sirius stopped talking. Riley looked at him for a moment, let him see her, and then said calmly, "Sirius, leave me the fuck alone."
Sirius headed towards the door, and when he reached it he stopped and looked at her, "Riley-"
She hurled the empty firewhisky bottle at him, with all her strength and emotion. It crashed into the wall next to Sirius's head. He couldn't believe this was happening, he felt like he wanted to die. Sirius waved his wand, and all the shards of glass disappeared and then without another word Sirius pulled on the invisibility cloak and left.
After a moment of silence pressing on Riley from all directions, she felt awful. He hadn't meant any of that, and it wasn't like she was some crazy Gryffindor fan girl trying to sleep with Sirius Black, she was his friend.
She lay down on her cot, and pulled his blanket up to her chin. The blanket smelled like all of her favorite things; fresh cut grass, Sirius's cologne, and the pineapple scented protective wax, that she and Sirius used on their Beater's bats. She began to feel unbelievably tired as she breathed in the comforting mix of scents, she soon slipped into a deep, albeit tormented, sleep.
AN: So another chapter on it's way soon! I should have some time in the next couple months to really be working on this. I would love to hear what ya'll think, so let me know!