Chapter 6: A Date with an Angel

"A crowded room, friends with tired eyes. I'm hidin' from you, and your soul of ice. I thought you were someone to rely on. Me, I guess, I was a shoulder to cry on. A face on a lover with a fire in her heart, a man undercover, but you tore me apart. Ooh, ooh, now I've found a real love you'll never fool me again." Cindy was singing in the shower at the top of her lungs. She was so excited, today was her date with Eadric.

She climbed out of the shower and stood in a towel in front of the mirror. She pushed her hair behind her ears. If she was so excited about her date then how come she couldn't get Sirius out of her head. The dream she'd had about him the night before was still running through her head. It had seemed so real. She sighed, closing her eyes in pleasure.

A knock on the door woke her.

"Cindy, hurry up! You're not the only one with a date you know!" joked Lily.

Cindy sighed and opened the bathroom door.

"Who do you have a date with?" she asked Lily.

Lily smirked, "Wouldn't you like to know."

"Yes, I would." Cindy replied, exiting the bathroom.

"Black," Lily said.

"You are being sarcastic, right?"

Lily shrugged, smirked, and entered the bathroom.

What if Sirius had asked out Lily? Would Lily have said 'yes'? No, never. But still …

"Was that a 'yes' or a 'no'?" she called through the door, "Lily?!"

Lily opened the door, "Of course I'm not going out with Black," she said laughing, "actually, um, well, Remus asked me out." She said her face glowing crimson.

"He did?" Cindy screeched.

Lily nodded biting her lip.

Cindy smiled, "Well, I hope you have fun. But what will James say when he finds out? I thought you two were becoming 'friends'," Cindy said with air-quotes.

"We are, but, that doesn't mean I can't go out with another guy," Lily replied brushing a comb through her hair.

"Oh, you're trying to make him jealous, aren't you?" Cindy asked.

"No. Maybe … Alright fine, yes a bit," Lily answered, "but you have no right to tease me about it because you're going out with Eadric to get Black jealous."

"I am not!" Cindy screamed, "You take that back right now, Lily Evans!"

Lily started laughing, "Okay, I was just teasing."

Cindy sighed, "I swear, these days you're becoming just as obnoxious as James."

Lily just rolled her eyes, "Last year that type of comment might have bothered me, but now James and I are friends, so, it won't work." With that said Lily set down her brush and proceeded to close the door in Cindy's face.

Cindy walked over to her trunk and looked through her clothes. 'The idea that I'm going out with Eadric just to make Black jealous! Hah!' she thought, and yet a part of her was singing a song that said something like "Liar, liar, pants on fire." She ignored it. Then she pulled out some clothes and smirked as she dressed. If she were trying to get Black jealous, which she wasn't, but if she were, this would definitely help.

~*~*~

"Wow, Cindy, you look very … beautiful."

Cindy shivered at these words being whispered in her ear by Eadric King. She smiled at him to show the compliment was well appreciated.

"Thank you, Eadric," she said, brushing a strand of blond hair behind her ear. They were still standing in the entrance hall and she didn't want to leave until she was sure she'd been seen by Black.

"Are you ready to go?" Eadric asked in a thick French accent.

"Um, sure," she couldn't wait forever, besides she'd probably see him in Hogsmeade anyway.

After they entered Hogsmeade, Cindy and Eadric stopped by Honeydukes, Zonkos', they looked in a robes shop, a jewelry store, and a little shop that sold all sorts of odds and ends.

"Cindy, would you like to stop and get a drink at de Tree Broomsticks?" Eadric asked.

Cindy smiled, she loved the way he said "Three Broomsticks."

"Sure," she said. She was a bit disappointed that they'd spent most of the day in shops and still she hadn't seen Sirius. In fact, she hadn't seen any of the marauders or Lily either.

They entered the Three Broomsticks and Cindy sat at a table while Eadric went to get drinks.

"Hey, Cindy."

She cringed and glanced around to see Black striding towards her.

"Black," she said through clenched teeth. Sirius's face paled, when he saw what she was wearing: a blue mini-dress, a pair of silver rhinestone jeans, and a silver sparkle belt. He looked crushed that she would wear the exact same thing she'd worn on their first date, and Cindy suddenly felt bad. She just wanted him to know that he didn't matter to her and now, with that look on his face. He looked like a dog that'd just lost his bone.

What surprised her most next though was to see a gloomy Lily enter the building with not just Remus Lupin but also James Potter and Peter Pettigrew.

"Hey, guys, let's sit over here," Sirius called having quickly recovered from his shock. He sat down next to Cindy as the other four approached.

"So, I see that you don't have a date either, huh, Cindy?" Sirius asked, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"Actually, Black," she said, moving his arm, "My date is getting our drinks."

Sirius's eyes flickered to sadness for a moment and she almost wanted to forgive him and say she loved him.

"Who's the loser?" he asked.

Almost.

"What do you mean?" Cindy asked sharply as the rest of the group sat at the table.

"Well, I just meant, 'Who would be stupid enough to ask you out?'" he said icily. She didn't get it. Why was he angry? She was the one who had a broken heart.

"Hmm, well, you know, you asked me out last year, Black. So, I guess the answer would be you!" Cindy didn't remember standing up but she soon felt Lily's hand on her arm and she was pulled back down into her seat just as Eadric returned.

"Are dese yure friends, Cindy?" he asked, handing her a butterbeer.

"No, well, yes. She is," She pointed at Lily, "and I don't care about the others but he," she gestured at Sirius, "is most certainly no welcome."

"Fine," Sirius said getting up, "I'll leave." There was no shine in his eye, no bounce in his step, no … Sirius-ness to him as he walked away; he sounded hurt. That was the only way to describe it.

~*~*~

"I wonder what was up with Black," Cindy commented to Lily, as they got ready for bed that night.

Lily was abnormally quiet.

"Lily, Yoohoo? Lily!" Cindy called.

Lily blinked, "Yeah, Cindy?"

"I asked you, 'What do you think was up with Black today?'" Cindy replied.

"Oh, I don't know," Lily answered blankly.

Oh great! Now there was something up with Lily too.

"What's up, Lily?" Cindy asked, sitting down on Lily's bed next to her.

"The whole date with Remus was just a trick to get me to spend a Hogsmeade trip with the marauders, more specifically, James," Lily answered.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was it horrible?" Cindy asked.

"No, I … I think I enjoyed it. James and I talked all day. We didn't even argue. We joked around like … like friends," a look of horror came over Lily's face, "I think I may even have – have-"

"Have what?" Cindy screamed.

"Flirted with him," she answered quietly, "I flirted with James Potter."

Cindy burst into a fit of giggles.

"What?" Lily asked, sounding very distressed.

"You like him. You like James," Cindy sang.

Lily whacked her hard with a pillow, but Cindy just continued laughing when she fell off the bed and landed on the floor.

Lily sighed. She knew it was true. She was falling head over heels, desperately and hopelessly in love with James Potter.

She was just glad she wasn't denying it. Poor, poor Cindy.