Disclaimer: I own nothing.
In A Heartbeat
By LilyxJames4ever
Chapter 6 – Friends and Pick-ups
Lily stays true to her word. She has not told her friends about anything of her conversation with the guys. However, they have not asked where she had been so technically she is not lying to them. However, she does not enjoy keeping anything from her friends. After all, they are all she has at Hogwarts. It is not like she has a sister who cares about her anymore and her mum is gone now because of her…
"Lily, are you okay?" asks Margaret that Monday night. "You've been pretty quiet for the past ten minutes."
Lily looks up from her Potions essay she has been attempting to finish, but that she has been staring at blankly for apparently the past ten minutes.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she says automatically. She did not realize that she had blanked out for so long. "I guess I'm just tired."
"Well prepare to become more awake," says Sirius, walking up and sitting on her armrest. "Master marauder is here."
"Are you going to tell us what the stupid name means?" mutters Marlene. Sirius smirks.
"I would, love, trust me I want to," he said sincerely, and she blushes, "but that would be going against the marauder code."
Alice gives him a weird look. "The marauder code?"
Sirius nods. "A code made up by Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs."
"So in other words; Remus, Peter, you, and Potter?" says Lily, raising her eyebrows. Sirius nods again. Then his eyes widen.
"I've said too much!" he squeals. He jumps up from the armrest and runs up the boys' staircase.
Marlene says, "Finally, I thought he'd never leave!"
"I heard that!" Marlene rolls her eyes and the other girls laugh.
"Why do you hate Sirius so much?" asks Margaret. "He can be really nice."
"No! Don't say that!" cries Lily.
"Why not?" asks Alice confused.
"It'll boost his ego even more than Potter's!" They hear a snort from the boys' staircase and turn swiftly around.
"Can we help you?" asks Margaret, her voice full of amusement.
James smirks. "No, no. I wouldn't want to interrupt your very fascinating conversation. Please, continue."
Lily narrows her eyes. "Go away, Potter. What we talk about is none of your business."
"And here I thought we were having a nice spell," says James, crossing his arms, annoyed.
Lily crosses her arms too and says, "So did I but you constantly give me reasons to regret thinking that. Now why don't you go run off to your fellow marauders."
James blanches. "SIRIUS ORION BLACK, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU AND THEN CHOP YOU INTO A LITTLE JELLYBEAN!"
The whole common room hears an almighty shriek from the boys' dormitories and laughs as James bounds upstairs.
"This ought to be interesting," says Lily thoughtfully, watching him go.
Margaret, Marlene, and Alice all laugh. Once they are done it is Alice who breaks the silence.
"So, are you going to tell us why you hate Sirius so much, Marlene?" she asks. Marlene glowers at her.
"Sure, he's an ignorant, prat. He is a player and he constantly sends mixed signals. He can be nice but he can also be a right git and one minute flirt with you and the next, some slut from his 'fan club'. He compliments you one moment and the next insults you on your worse insecurity." Lily associates the last one with when Sirius insulted her weight and suddenly understands why Marlene dislikes him so much. "There, does that answer it for you?"
"Yes."
"Hey Alice," says Frank Longbottom, sitting on her armrest.
"Oh, look who it is," smirks Margaret. Lily and Marlene burst out laughing as Alice blushes and Frank looks confused.
"Ignore them," mumbles Alice. "They're all eejits."
"Are you our leader then?" asks Lily innocently. Alice glares at her.
"Like I said, ignore them. Anyway, what are you doing here Frank? Not that you're not welcome," she adds hastily. Frank laughs.
"James and Sirius are having a – ah – 'discussion' upstairs in our dorm."
"I didn't know you shared a dorm with them," says Lily. Frank nodded. "I pity you."
He shrugs. "It's never a dull moment with the two of them," he smirks. "However, once they start wrestling I know it's time to leave."
"How come?" asks Margaret.
"Mainly because lots of confessions come out about either themselves or anyone else in the room," replies Frank uncomfortably. "I thought it best to leave before my secrets become displayed for the whole school. You know how this school is a gossip chain."
All the girls nod. They know for a fact what the gossip chain at Hogwarts is like and are in no way close to forgetting it. They have all been on the receiving end of it at one point or another. Lily more so than the others because of James' constant asking her out.
"So, what secrets will we need to dig up on you now?" teases Marlene.
"I would have thought it was obvious," says Lily, grinning widely. Her eyes went from Frank to Alice and then back to Frank. They both blush furiously. All of a sudden, they hear voices from upstairs.
"Prongs likes Lily-bean!" cries Sirius. Lily groans.
"Sirius enjoys hooking up with Kristina," says James. "OI!"
Lily and her friends make a face and Lily sneaks a look at Marlene. For someone who dislikes Sirius with a burning passion she looks fairly put out. Perhaps there is something she is not telling them…
"Prongs enjoys to masturbating every night!"
Everyone in the common room either gags or chuckles uncomfortably.
"SIRIUS LIKES –" begins James but cannot finish. Lily interest peaks now. He enjoys hooking up with Kristina but he likes someone else?
"REMUS LUPIN IS A –" begins Sirius, and Lily looks horrified.
They hear an explosion from upstairs and then silence.
The five exchange a puzzled look and then shrug, returning to their homework, however, two of them with less concentration.
Beforehand…
Sirius POV
Sirius shrieks and runs into the bedroom.
"Quick, Moony, hide me! I don't have much time!" he cries, jumping up and down like he is about to pee. "Prongs is going to kill me!"
Remus rolls his eyes. "I'm sure you're exaggerating." Sirius shakes his head. "Oh come on, face him like a man!"
"You're dead SIRUS!" calls James' voice.
Sirius shrieks high-pitched again and dives under Remus' bed.
"Very manly," mutters Remus, putting his nose back in his book and making sure to put more of his weight down on his bed.
James POV
James pounds up the staircase furiously. He is going to murder Sirius…
"You're dead SIRIUS!" he calls up the stairs.
Third Person Omniscient
James kicks open the door and hears scuttling on the ground but all he sees is Frank on his bed relaxing and Remus with his nose in another book. At least this time it is a Quidditch one.
"Where's Sirius?" asks James through gritted teeth.
Remus shrugs nonchalantly. "Dunno."
James scans him up and down. He looks stiffer and has more defenses up than usual.
"You're lying," says James simply. "Moony, you're one of my best mates, I can tell when you're lying."
Remus sighs and points under his bed. James gets down on his knees and crawls over to his bed.
"BOO!"
There is a muffled shriek and a thump.
"SHIT!" cries Sirius, coming out and rubbing the back of his head.
"Why the hell did you tell Evans and her friends about our new nickname?" growls James, ignoring Sirius' winces of pain. Remus' eyes widen.
"You told them?" He shakes his head. "Prongs, I give you my blessing in killing him." James smirks and Sirius looks at him in horror.
"I ran off after realizing what I said though. We could always Obliviate them." James and Remus give him a look. "Hey, in my defense, I rarely think before I come out with ideas."
"Apparently," mutters James.
"All right, I have a new rule," says Remus. "You have to wait at least ten seconds before replying or saying something to someone. During those ten seconds you have to think if what you're going to say is appropriate/important/not classified information."
"You know I'd look like I right git, though?" says Sirius. "Imagine, Prongsie here walks up to me one day and says: 'Hey Padfoot.' What am I going to do, wait ten seconds and then say 'hey' back?"
"You're an exception, Sirius," says James. "You need to wait at least an hour."
Simultaneously they lunge at each other and tackle each other to the ground. It is hard to tell the outcome of the wrestling match because both are strong.
"And that's my cue to leave!" says Frank, hastily jumping up from his bed. "This might get ugly." He runs out of the room and slams the door shut. Remus slaps his forehead.
James and Sirius are now rolling around on the ground screaming out secrets. Thankfully they are not loud enough for anyone downstairs to hear. Yet.
"Prongs likes Lily-bean!" cries Sirius.
"Sirius enjoys hooking up with Kristina," says James. Sirius punches him in the stomach. "OI!"
"Prongs enjoys to masturbating every night!" Remus gags. It is only a matter of time before something serious slips.
"SIRIUS LIKES –" begins James again but Sirius punches him again in the stomach. As far as Sirius knows, he does not like anyone more than a one-night shag but James tends to know who he likes before he does. Making sure he does not yell it out to the entire Tower is beneficial for both him and the girl he may or may not like.
"REMUS LUPIN IS A –" begins Sirius, and Remus, being a quick thinker, emits a loud cannon sound from his wand. He hears the entire common room go temporarily quiet and is glad that no one heard anything.
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"What in Merlin's name happened last night?" demands Lily the next morning in Charms class. She takes the empty seat next to Remus, which unfortunately is behind where Potter and Black are sitting.
Remus winces. "I've been getting that all morning. How much did you all hear?"
"From the Prongs liking me to the masturbating to the almost Remus slip," says Lily. She looks at him seriously. "Do you know how close you cut it before you let off that cannon?"
Remus nods. "Sirius just doesn't know how to shut the hell up. He's been apologizing all morning but I'm still a bit pissed at him."
Lily nods. "Understandable. However, you shouldn't hold this over him. Even though he almost made a ridiculously stupid mistake, you shouldn't hold it over him. He's one of your best friends."
Remus nods. She is right. If it had not been for Sirius and James and Peter he would not have any friends.
"I still can't believe that you became friends with such prats though," laughs Lily. Remus however, looks serious.
"Did I ever tell you the official story? Not the one where I always joined them since someone need to have a touch of reality?" Lily shakes her head and waits interestedly. "It was our first year at Hogwarts and I had come about a week late," begins Remus. He lowered his voice. "My scars were still visible which made many people reluctant to come too close. No one wanted to pair up with me for projects or assignments and certain teachers wouldn't even call on me."
"Then came along James and Sirius. James said he'd do a project with me for D.A.D.A and you wouldn't believe how glad I was not to work alone for once. Well, James and I worked a lot at night and on weekends and we got closer, friend-wise that is. He started inviting me to hang with him and Sirius, this was before Peter came into the picture."
"Well, Sirius was a little awkward with me being there. We weren't the best off in the beginning. A few weeks later however, I was able to get James and him out of trouble. Well, it was brotherhood from them on, any farther and we would have gotten married! Then Peter joined us and the two that had become three had now become the four musketeers. Even after they found out about my furry-little-problem they didn't leave me. I had never been happier."
Lily was quiet through this whole sermon-like discussion. It warms her heart to hear about such close friends. Even though she dislikes Potter for all he had done for her, he really is a terrific friend, no denying it.
"That's really sweet," says Lily quietly. "I've never known such a group of close-knit guys that stand up for each other." To both her surprise and Remus', she has tears glistening in her eyes.
Remus smiles and rubs her arm comfortingly. Out of the four marauders, he is the only one who can manage to comfort a girl. James, Sirius, and Peter are hopelessly doomed when it comes to weeping girls.
Just then, James and Sirius turn around after having a hushed conversation. They both observe Lily and then Remus.
"You told her about our first year," says James. It is not a question. Remus nods. "Best year ever."
Sirius nods in agreement. "Especially during the Halloween feast when we bewitched the pumpkins to fall on the Professors and Flitwick jumped into Hagrid's arms."
"Please turn around class," squeaks Professor Flitwick from on top of his stack of books. "And Mr. Black, for your information, it was Professor Dumbledore's arms who I jumped into, not unlike yourself."
Sirius flushes and the whole class laughs, Marlene the loudest. Professor Flitwick is now her favourite teacher by far.
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That night in the common room is a quiet one unlike most others. It is just the Marauders, huddled around the fire and Lily and her friends, sitting in their special alcove. All is peaceful until…
"Marley, you looking forward to Transfiguration tomorrow?" calls Sirius, from across the room.
Marlene looks up sharply from her Charms homework and ignoring her friends' confused stares, glares at Sirius.
"What do you want Black?" she sneers. "Have no one else to have a go at?"
"Not since Snivelly's in another House," he smirks. Now it is Lily's turn to give him a dirty look. He never learns does he? Sirius then turns back to his parchment, leaving Marlene very confused.
"What in Merlin's name was that about?" asks Margaret.
Marlene shrugs and says, "Black being an arse – per the usual. I can't believe McGonagall paired me up with that twat."
The other girls grin and begin scribbling notes again. They do this for another five minutes before being interrupted again.
"Hey Lily-bean, what's up?" asks Sirius, walking over to them.
Lily holds up her Astronomy Chart. "Homework. Don't tell me you're done! Of all people?"
Sirius snorts. "No, I still have a Potions and Charms essay, two star charts, and a scroll due for Muggle Studies."
Margaret looks at him incredulously. "That's all due tomorrow."
Sirius shrugs. "It'll get done. It always does."
"Why do you even take Muggle Studies?" asks Alice, having not been there for when he explained it over the summer. "I never thought you were interested in Muggles."
"I'm not but it pissed my parents like hell."
They all laugh as James, Remus, and Peter wander over.
"Alright, Evans?" smirks James, running his hand through his hair.
She glares at him. "Well your hair, for one, is up as usual. Not that I'm surprised."
Remus snorts and sits down next to Margaret who turns slightly pink and makes room.
"So, who wants to play a game?" asks Sirius, breaking the awkward silence.
"What kind of game?" asks Lily warily.
"The Sirius Black Game."
"Is it the date 'em, drop 'em game?" sneers Marlene. Alice and Margaret suppress a giggle but Lily frowns slightly.
Sirius pointedly ignores her. "Aka the Pick-up game."
"Oh, not this game," moans James. "This is the worst game in history!"
"No, there was that other game," points out Peter. "The one where if you answer a question wrong you have to –"
"NO!" cries James and Remus. "Do not remind him of that game!" Comprehension dawns on Sirius' face.
"Yes, well, there are lady's here and they might find it hard considering they don't have the proper equipment," smirks Sirius. "I'm always happy to lend them the necessities, however."
The other Marauders groan and the girls, discovering what he meant, each smack him on the arm.
"You're so perverted, Sirius!" shrieks Alice. "I pity the girl who falls for you!"
"You never know, Miss-Right might be right under my nose," says Sirius, winking at Marlene. Marlene flushes and glares at him.
"Anyway, the point of the game is to go around and tell any pick-up line you can think of. Doesn't matter how lame or not lame it is. You throw this ball –(he transfigures a pillow to a red, plastic ball)- to whomever you want to go next. You can't keep throwing it back and forth to the same person though."
They all nod, knowing no good could come from this game.
"All right, I'll go first," says Sirius. He clears his throat. "Did you fart? Because you blew me away." They all laugh and he throws the ball to Margaret.
She says, "Can I take a picture of you, so I can show Santa just what I want for Christmas?" She blushes and sends it to Remus.
He said, "Are you lost? Because heaven's a long way from here." He grins at Margaret who, to her friends' amusement, blushes harder and tosses it to Lily who sighs.
"If I could rearrange the alphabet, I would put 'U' and 'I' next to each other." She throws it to Marlene who blushes crimson.
"If beauty were sunlight, you'd shine from a million light-years away." Sirius grins as she passes it to Alice.
"Don't judge me on this one, my brother told me it," says Alice hastily. "If you were a booger I'd pick you first."
They cringe and Sirius interjects.
"Now, the first person to pause is eliminated and we go from there." They nod and continue.
"Hi, I'm Mr. Right. Someone said you were looking for me," says James, winking at Lily. She rolls her eyes as he passes it to Sirius.
"Hey, you and I have something in common. We both have hot bodies. Wanna fuck me?"
They all laugh as Peter catches the ball.
"My love for you is like the universe...never ending."
"If looks could kill you would be a weapon of mass destruction."
"Excuse me, can you empty your pockets? I believe you have stolen my heart."
"You got something on your chest: my eyes." (A/N: Two guesses who said that)
"I'm not drunk, I'm just intoxicated by you."
"Do you want to make millions? Millions of babies!"
"Your so hot when I look at you I get a tan."
"I must be a snowflake, 'cuz I've fallen for you."
"Are you an alien?, because you just abducted my heart."
"Are you as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside?"
"Do you know karate? 'Cause your body is really kickin'."
"Are you a magnet cuz I'm attracted to you."
"If your right leg is Thanksgiving and your left leg is Christmas, can I visit you in between holidays?"
"Merlin! This will never end," moans Lily as the ball zooms past her.
"Do you want to see something swell?"
"Should I call you in the morning or nudge you?"
"I lost my teddy bear, will you sleep with me?"
"Would you like to come over to my place later? You can bring some friends because my face seats five."
"Do you have a mirror in your pocket? Because I can see myself in your pants."
However, the voice did not come from a Marauder or one of the girls. It came from the portrait hole. They all spin around to come face-to-face with none other than Miranda Harris.
"What do you want Miranda?" asks Lily with forced politeness. Lily was never one to put up with Miranda's drama and let her know this from day one. This earned her a lifetime of nasty comments and rude remarks her way.
Miranda smirks and struts over to them. Lily has never known a skirt to be so short and a blouse to be so tight and see-through.
"Oh nothing. I just thought I'd pay a visit to little red riding slut and her little Bo whores."
Lily snorts. "You obviously are failing Muggle Studies. You've also got to be wearing your five-year-old sisters shirt and skirt."
Miranda glares at her then bends down right next to James so her panties were visible as well as her cleavage.
"Come on Jamsiepoo, let's go upstairs and sound-proof your bed," she whispers in an attempt to sound seductive. James however, just looks revolted.
"Get out of here Harris," sneers James. "What are you even doing out at this time?"
Margaret snorts. "Probably been up in the Astronomy Tower shagging some unfortunate boy." They all laugh except for Miranda who glowers at Margaret.
"No need to guess who you'd like to jump into bed with," smirks Miranda. "But then again, who'd want to suck your –"
"GET OUT!" screams Margaret, and Remus jumps having been right next to her. The other six look at her shocked. They have rarely ever seen Margaret lose her temper. Usually that spot is reserved for Lily and on occasion Marlene.
"I've seemed to have touched a nerve," jeers Miranda. "See you slut 1 and 2. Bye Jamsiepoo, don't forget my offer." She stands up, making sure to flash and walks up haughtily to her dormitory.
Margaret is glaring at her retreating figure. "That skank."
"No kidding," agrees Sirius. "She makes me look tame." They all nod except for Marlene.
"Why was she flirting with you, James?" asks Alice suddenly. "She made it sound like you guys had been together for ages."
James sighs. "We were together for about a week in our fourth year. After that one week I discovered she was cheating on me and dumped her. After her 'significant other' dumped her she came crawling back to me in hopes for forgiveness. Fat chance."
Remus rolls his eyes. "She's probably slept with the whole Hogwarts male population. Well, thank Merlin except for us."
Sirius shifts uncomfortably and Margaret's eyes widen.
"SIRIUS!"
"It was our third year!" exclaims Sirius.
"Hmm…somebody hasn't been walking down the rode of virginity for a long time," smirks Marlene. Sirius glares at her and then smirks.
"Touché." Marlene's eyes widen and she gasps. As do the others.
"WHAT?" they cry. "You've – done the deed with someone and not told us?"
Marlene continues to glare at Sirius who was obviously enjoying every second of this. "I'll get you for this." She sighs. "My first shag was –"
"Chuck Blaire!" Sirius blurts out. If looks could kill Sirius would be six-feet under at this point. "Of Ravenclaw!"
The girls' eyes bug out just as Sirius' had when he first heard.
"Why didn't you tell us?" asks Margaret, clearly hurt.
"I tried last year," says Marlene. "But Lily was going on one of her 'James-Potter-deserves-to-burn' rants. It's hard to get a word in edgewise."
James grins. "Aw, you talk about me, Evans?"
Lily glares at him. "As a matter of fact, I do. I've finally finished writing the book A Million Reasons Why James Potter Annoys Me: Volume 1." She summons a book from her dormitory and drops it directly on James' groin. He winces and lifts up the book, looking at the cover.
"And, I'm giving Sirius, Remus, and Peter the second, third, and fourth volume for when you're done," adds Lily, placing the books gently on the formers laps. James glares at her.
"You're telling me you wrote not one but four novels on how I annoy you?" says James incredulously. Lily nods.
"It wasn't hard, I must admit though I had to add off old stuff for the fourth volume."
"Damn, you must spend a lot of time thinking about me," grins James. Lily chucks an old golden snitch at his groin, but this time he dodges it.
"On that note, I think it's time I duck out," says James, walking quickly to the boys' staircase. "Coming guys?"
Remus nods but Sirius shakes his head. "I'll be up in a bit" was all he says.
Lily yawns. "I'm gonna hit the sack too, I'm beat. Coming guys?" Margaret and Alice nod but Marlene shakes her head.
"Sorry, I still have to finish this damn Transfiguration assignment."
Alice nods. "All right, but if we find any bodies down here tomorrow morning we'll know who the last two people were."
Marlene smirks and watches her friends' retreating figures go up the stairs. However, she does not turn back to her so-called "Transfiguration assignment" and instead turns to glare at Sirius.
"What the hell is your problem?" she hisses.
"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, Marley," says Sirius innocently.
"Don't call me that name, you wanker," she growls. "Why would you tell my friends about my personal business that I told you in secrecy." Sirius sobers up when he realizes how angry she is. However, that does not stop him from making a quick remark back.
"First of all, enough with the dramatics," he says, rolling his eyes. "Secondly, you never told me I had to keep it to myself and I only insinuated about it! They put it together."
"And when I was about to tell them you decided to blurt it out!"
"Yeah, I really should listen to the ten second rule." Marlene looks at him like he has five heads and stands up.
"Why must you treat me like the dirt under your feet?" she cries. He hesitates for a second but then stands up too, which is a much more impressive move seeing as he towers over her.
"That's not true! You're the one who is always making smart comments to me!"
"Touché! Breakfast on the day of the Quidditch Match ring bells? Maybe you being an arse and losing was your karma. You know what they say, karma's a bitch."
Sirius glowers at her but she holds her ground. She does not back down or step back even when he takes a step closer to her.
"It's not my fault that you take everything the wrong way! I was just kidding!" he screams.
"No you weren't!" Marlene screams back. "Just saying 'oh, I'm kidding' or 'oh, I'm sorry' doesn't make things better! Especially if you do them again!"
"Why are you so difficult? I've been trying to apologize here and you're biting my head off!"
"Oh, that's funny," sneers Marlene. "I though that when people apologize they usually start with 'I'm sorry'!"
"You're right! I'm sorry that you're such an insufferable bitch!"
"And I'm sorry you're such a pigheaded man whore!"
"Wrench!"
"Son-of-a-bitch!"
"Goody-two-shoes!"
"Rule breaker!"
At first she thinks that he is going to hit her but proving her suspicions wrong, he does the opposite and instead cups his hands around her face and kisses her passionately. She does not pull away or resist and continues kissing him like there is no one else in the world. His tongue enters her mouth and begins silently raiding its corners and crevices. Both of their pink snakes fight for dominance, neither one of them backing down for the longest time.
Finally, they both pull away panting and fingering their now swollen lips. They both stare at each other in shock, not saying anything.
"Erm…" they both say at the same time. They both look around the common room to make sure it is empty. Thankfully it is.
"'Night," says Marlene nervously. "See you in Transfiguration." Sirius nods and watches her run up the staircase. Once she is gone, he sinks into the armchair he had previously been occupying and sighs. He places his head in his palms.
What did he just start?
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Marlene runs up the stairs and once she gets into her dorm, falls onto her bed with a sigh. Thankfully everyone else is asleep so no one can question her tonight. She runs her hands through her hair and undresses, changing into her nightgown. It has been a long day.
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A/N: Please review!