AN: Thank you so much for everyone has stuck with this story so far. I have decided to put the rating up to M, as I start to delve into more adult content. Thanks so much to all my lovely reviewers:
SarahDemons: Glad you stumbled across this story and hope you're enjoying! Guest: Thanks so much for the info! I promise they will eventually talk and be honest :) TaNiA: Thank you so much for reviewing every chapter - you're amazing! So glad you're enjoying Helen: Wish granted ;) J: Thanks! Coolfun: Sorry it was so short, hope this makes up for it? And next chapter is even longer I promise xxHazelEyelsxx: Haha i do love a good cliffhanger, hope this chapter answers some questions? Or maybe not!
I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Chapter Seven
James and Lily ran back to their common room, panting slightly after their escape from Mrs. Norris and Mr. Filch. A strange knot of anxiety was lodged in Lily's stomach and she wondered what would happen now.
As they walked into the room, James started to say, "Lily, about what happened…" But he was cut off as he saw their group of friends waiting for them. Sarah, Felicity, Remus, Sirius and Peter were all in the Common Room clearly having just helped themselves to cups of hot chocolate and cakes.
All of them spoke at once, wanting to know how Danny was, and exactly what had happened.
Lily quickly explained how Danny had been attacked, and the new security measures that Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall planned to put in place. Remus made an excuse and left in a hurry and the rest of the group sat around the fireplace, worriedly discussing their Ravenclaw friend and the increased attacks in the last weeks.
"They must be Slytherins," Sirius said bitterly, clenching his fists. "Can't we just expel them all? Problem solved."
"All we can hope is they're caught, before the next person they go after is seriously hurt."
"What about the Owls? Wasn't that serious enough?"
"It's getting worse."
Lily felt a dull ache growing in her temples. "I'm going to bed," she said to her friends, standing up. "Sorry. I'll see you all in the morning."
Sirius stood as well and followed Lily to her bedroom. James glared at their retreating forms, anger bubbling in his chest. He gritted his teeth. She had just been kissing him, how could she now let Sirius into her bedroom?
As Lily entered her quiet, dark room, she could feel Sirius' presence behind her. She let him follow her inside and closed the door quietly behind them. She didn't feel like kisses right now, and so far in their relationship that was all Sirius had wanted from her.
"Sorry Sirius, but I'm feeling really tired. After everything that's happened tonight, I've got a headache and I just want to go to sleep."
Sirius took her hand and led her over to the bed, sitting down on the edge and drawing her down with him. "Lily, I want to ask you something."
Lily blinked, confused.
"Lily, will you be my girlfriend?"
Lily's mouth fell open. She stared at Sirius, who watched her earnestly. As far as she knew, Sirius had never had a girlfriend before. He'd always had girls hanging off him, and had slept with a good number of them, but he'd never actually dated any of them before.
"Why?" Lily asked, still dumbfounded.
Sirius grinned. "Well I like you obviously. And I know you're not the kind of girl who would just casually sleep with a guy."
Lily frowned at him. "So you want to be my boyfriend so I'll sleep with you, is that it?"
Sirius laughed at this and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "No of course not! I mean obviously I'd like us to get a bit more…well…intimate one day. But I really like you Lily. And James told me that I should ask you out."
Lily felt as though she had been punched in the stomach. James told Sirius to ask her out? The same boy who had kissed her not more than an hour ago?
"Sirius, I don't know…" Lily began, not knowing what else to say. Sirius pressed a finger to her lips.
"Don't answer me now, okay? Just think about it." He pressed his lips to hers and Lily felt her heart leap at the touch but she gently pushed him backwards.
"I really do need to go to sleep," she told him softly. "I'll see you in the morning, okay?"
Lily slept badly and when she woke the next morning, she still had a headache. She dragged herself wearily out of bed, glad that it was Saturday and she had nowhere she needed to be. She pulled on her dressing gown and padded into the empty common room, where she grabbed a mug of coffee and a croissant and hurried back to bed.
Lily huddled under the warm blankets, munching on the buttery pastry and letting the caffeine kick in. She didn't want to see anyone today, she simply wanted to hide in her room and sulk.
This was supposed to be the best year of her schooling. Seventh Year – top of the school, Head girl, getting ready to head out into the big wide world. But instead, everything seemed to be going wrong. The school was being terrorised by a gang of troublemakers. Her work load was out of control. And the wrong boy was pursuing her.
How had everything got so messed up?
Once Lily had drained her mug and finished her croissant, she snuggled back down in her warm bed, listening to the dull pattering of rain on the windows. She tried to clear her mind, and finally drifted back off to sleep.
It was noon before Lily awoke and she was glad of her lie in. Half the day may have been wasted, but at least she now felt rested. After a hot shower, Lily sprawled out on her bed and worked on her homework, determined to catch up on all of her school work. Only when her grumbling stomach disturbed her, did Lily finally leave the sanctuary of her bedroom and wander down to the Great Hall for something to eat. She remembered McGonagall's new rule that they were to travel the school in pairs. She was not going to ask James to escort her anywhere.
Luckily Lily was so late for lunch that all the other Gryffindor Seventh Years had already finished, and Lily was able to sit by herself and eat her cottage pie in peace. She wasn't entirely sure why she felt so anti-social today, but knew part of her didn't want to see Sirius or think or talk about the decision she had to make. Deep down, Lily knew that Sirius and she would not make a good match. They had nothing in common, and while she enjoyed his attention and his kisses, she didn't want to be his girlfriend. But if James had been the one to suggest Sirius ask Lily out, then James clearly thought they were a good match. It was all too confusing.
Lily returned to the common room, and was disappointed to find it occupied. James sat at the table, working on an essay and looked up when she entered the room.
"Hi," he said. "Lily I wanted to talk to you."
Lily licked her lips and tried to stop her heart from racing. "Me too," she admitted.
"Let me go first," James said. "Our kiss last night – it was wrong, I'm sorry. I was really tired and feeling so down about the attacks. I don't know what I was thinking and I made a mistake." James cleared his throat. He'd used the morning to think about what he wanted to say to Lily and after hours of contemplation, he'd realised that his friendship with Sirius was more important than anything else. Sirius was a brother to him. And his feelings for Lily couldn't come in the way of that again. "Lily, I know how much Sirius likes you, and you should go out with him. That was all I wanted to say."
Feeling as though the breath had been knocked out of her, Lily simply stared at James.
"Oh, and we need to talk to the prefects – I've organised to talk to them all tomorrow night, does that work for you?"
Lily blinked and nodded. James smiled blandly at her and returned his attention to his essay without another word.
Feeling angry and resentful, Lily turned on her heel and left the Head Dormitory, wanting to do something reckless. A small part of her wished the Troublemakers would appear so she could hex them into oblivion. But her trip up to the Gryffindor tower was uneventful.
The Gryffindor common room was noisy and Lily glanced around trying to spot the person she was looking for. Not finding him, she made her way over to the Boys' Dormitory, and climbed the spiral staircase until she came to a door with a sign that read Seventh Years. Pushing it open, she was relieved to see Sirius was alone, lounging on his bed, his nose buried in a book. He looked up and was surprised to see Lily, entering the room and closing the door behind her.
"Lily what are you…?"
Lily crossed the room quickly, and crawled onto the bed, placing her knees either side of Sirius' hips and leaning in to kiss him full on the mouth. Sirius didn't hesitate. He kissed her back, running his tongue along her lips and feeling his excitement build as she opened her mouth to allow him entrance.
Sirius ran his hands slowly up her thighs, feeling her warm skin under her thick tights and letting his fingers brush the hem of her skirt. Meeting no resistance, he continued his path under her skirt and let his hands come to rest at the top of her thighs. Lily was kissing him hard, her fingers tangled almost painfully in his hair, her body pressed tightly against his. Sirius couldn't help but notice the swell of her breasts against his chest and he felt himself start to harden under her body.
What had gotten into her? Until now, she had allowed nothing more than kisses. Even a chaste hand on her hip had been met with awkwardness and disapproval. Testing his luck, Sirius slid a thumb down between her thighs feeling the warmth emanating from her most private area and grinned when Lily hissed in response. She was not pushing him away, but instead ground her hips against his pelvis. There was no way she couldn't feel his hardness now, but she didn't seem put off. Sirius rubbed his thumb up and down, wishing he could take off her tights and feel her soft skin.
Lily began to unbutton his shirt and he grabbed her hands. "Wait," he murmured, mentally kicking himself for asking her to stop. "Hang on."
"Why?" Lily asked. "Isn't this what you wanted?"
Sirius took hold of her wrists and gently pushed her backwards so he could see her face. "What do you mean?"
"Come on, let's have sex." Lily tried to resume unbuttoning his shirt, but he held on to her wrists, preventing her from doing so.
"No, Lily stop."
She glared at him then wrenched her arms out of his grip and climbed off of him, making her way to the door.
Sirius leapt off the bed and grabbed her by the shoulder, blocking her exit.
"Lily, what is going on with you? Where are you going?"
"You clearly don't want me, so I'm leaving."
"Of course I fucking want you Lily!" Sirius said forcefully, bewildered as to what was going on. "But I think we need to have a conversation before we start shagging, don't you?"
"Do you normally have a conversation with girls before you shag them?"
Sirius narrowed his eyes at her. "Listen, I like you Lily. I like you a lot. And believe it or not, your happiness is important to me, okay? And right now, you don't exactly seem happy. You seem…determined."
Lily sighed and felt the fight go out of her.
Sirius led her gently back over to his bed and they sat down.
"Now, tell me what is going on."
Lily rubbed her face. "I don't know. I'm sorry. I'm just in such a weird mood today."
"That's okay," Sirius said. "You know I'm here to talk, right?"
"We've never really talked before," Lily admitted, starting to feel embarrassed about her behaviour.
"Let's start now."
Stiltedly at first, Lily and Sirius talked. About school, about friends, about their families. They shared their hopes for the future, and their fears about the future. They got to know each other. And Lily realised there was so much more to Sirius than the clever arrogant ladies' man he had always portrayed. He was thoughtful and brave and good. And if James didn't want her, than perhaps Sirius, his best friend, was the sensible and obvious choice.
ooo
The Potions classroom was cold when Lily entered on Monday morning. She was early, and hurried to light the flames under all the cauldrons hoping the room would warm up quickly. She checked her watch. There were still five minutes until the class started. Lily wandered over to her usual table and drew her books and potion making kit out of her bag.
The sound of a door opening caused her to look up and Professor Slughorn entered the classroom.
"Oh Lily," he exclaimed, spotting her. "How delightful to see you my dear. I've missed you at my little gatherings lately."
"I've been so busy, sir," Lily explained, sitting on her stool and removing her gloves to warm her fingers by the fire. She was finally starting to thaw out.
"I've heard," Professor Slughorn replied, a twinkle in his eye.
Lily rolled her eyes but smiled at her favourite teacher. "I meant with my Head Girl duties," she said, laughing. "And the unrelenting workload. Do you teachers think we have nothing else to do but revise?" She grinned cheekily at him and he chuckled.
"Come on now Lily – I'm sure it's not all work and no play."
"I don't know what you're talking about," she retorted, an eyebrow raised wickedly.
Slughorn guffawed. "I must admit, I was surprised when I heard you were involved with Black. I had my money on Potter."
That wiped the smile off of Lily's face. What on earth did he mean? Just then, the classroom door opened, and the rest of the class trickled him, curtailing their conversation. Lily greeted Remus and Danny, but continued to wonder at Slughorn's words.
After Slughorn had instructed the class in the morning's potion making task, Lily chatted amicably with her two table partners. Danny's eye had turned a nasty shade of green, but it was no longer swollen, and he seemed to otherwise be in good spirits.
"So Danny," Lily began as she added lacewing flies to her potion. "How are you feeling?"
Danny smiled as he too added ingredients to his potion and stirred with his wand. "Still a bit rough, but certainly on the road to recovery. Remus has really helped with that."
Lily looked up to see the two boys smile shyly at each other. Danny reached out and covered Remus' hand with his own. Lily raised her eyebrows as she looked at their intertwined fingers. Then she smiled. Of course, she should have realised when Remus ran off to check on Danny the night he was attacked. She'd been stupid not to notice.
"I'm happy for you both," she said truthfully. "I had no idea you even fancied each other."
Remus resumed his work, a small smile playing on his lips, and Danny replied, "We've been keeping this private."
Lily suddenly had a horrible thought. "You don't think that's why you were attacked?"
Danny looked surprised, "You think the Troublemakers are Mugglophobic and homophobic?"
"You're not Muggle born," Lily pointed out.
"No but I publicly champion the rights of Muggles. How many people were in that room the other night when I floated my idea of the Ethics Club? Some of my opinions are unpopular."
Remus shifted on his feet and shot a sideways look at Danny. "Lily could be right though. Maybe it is about me." He hesitated. "You both know I'm different."
Lily frowned at her quiet, fair friend. She had always known Remus was different, but he had never spoken about it so openly, and she had never asked. Was he about to finally reveal his secret to her?
"You think dating a werewolf would be reason enough to attack?" Danny asked mildly.
Remus shushed him and Lily glanced around to check no one else was listening.
"We're still working on him coming out," Danny joked. "And even if that was the reason, I don't care. It just emphasises my point – people need to be talking about these issues and we need to be doing more to stamp out these ingrained prejudices."
Lily quietly agreed with him but she could see that Remus felt uncomfortable with the subject and she changed the topic to the practice NEWT exams they were expected to complete next week.
ooo
The next few months passed quickly, and the Seventh Years were left with little time for recreation. Their preparation for the NEWTS meant that school work and revision took up the majority of their time. And once Lily added in her Head Girl duties, tutoring and chaperoning of the younger students around the castle, she found there was very limited time to spend with her friends and Sirius. She enjoyed a day in Hogsmeade with Sirius and their friends, and stole kisses whenever she had time, but their physical relationship didn't progress any further, and she was secretly relieved. Part of her wanted to go all the way with him – her body certainly responded when they made out, but a small part of her mind couldn't quite forget about that kiss with James.
Despite sharing a dormitory, James and Lily rarely crossed paths. On top of his other responsibilities, James also had Quidditch and running club, and he left the dormitory first thing in the morning and returned late in the evening.
The Troublemakers hadn't been deterred by the increased security. Reports of attacks, harassment and nasty incidents continued but so did reports of other incidents – for the first time, Slytherins were also being targeted. Pots of ink were mysteriously tipping onto the heads of Slytherin students. Children were being yanked into the air by their ankles in the hallways and one Slytherin sixth year was left vomiting slugs after leaving her Transfiguration class. The Slytherin common room hadn't been left unscathed – all of the Slytherins were forced to sleep in the Great Hall one night after someone (or a group of someones) had let off hundreds of stink bombs in the underground rooms. Lily had a sneaking suspicion she knew who was behind these pranks, but she didn't ask Sirius or James, and they didn't mention it to her.
In early December, when snowflakes gently drifted down from the sky and blanketed the castle and its grounds in thick white snow, Lily and James sat together in the Head common room, forced to meet and discuss the upcoming Seventh Year Christmas Party.
"Okay," Lily said finally once all decisions had been made. "So that's all sorted then."
"Yep," James agreed.
Lily stood and stretched. "Cup of tea?" she offered as James covered a yawn with his hand.
He shook his head and grinned at her slyly. "We've been working hard," he said by way of an explanation as he pulled a bottle out of his bag. "Fancy a firewhisky?"
"Oh my god, where did you get that?" Lily asked, retrieving two glasses from the sideboard.
"Early Christmas present from Sirius," explained James. "Don't ask how he got it into the school."
Lily sat back down and let James pour her a decent sized glass of amber liquid. They both sipped their drinks in silence for a few minutes until Lily spoke.
"We haven't hung out for a while, have we?"
James shrugged. "We've been pretty busy I guess. How are things with Sirius?"
Lily grinned. "You mean he doesn't tell you?"
"Well of course he does, but I'd be interested to see if you have the same opinions as him."
"Well now I'm intrigued," Lily laughed, taking another sip of the warming drink.
James just laughed and shook his head. "Don't worry, he hasn't said anything too intriguing. Only that he enjoys spending time with you and that he likes you."
"That's good to know," Lily smiled. "He's a great guy, Sirius." She paused and took another drink. "So what about you? Anyone you're keen on?"
James laughed again and finished his glass. "I think I'm too busy for girls at the moment. But if anything changes, I'll hang a tie on my door."
Lily wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Thanks for that mental image."
"I'm glad Remus is happy," James said. "It seems like everyone is falling in love."
Lily frowned and finished her drink, unsure what he meant by "everyone".
James stood up and yawned again, "Thanks for having a drink with me Lily. It was good to chat."
They'd barely said 5 sentences to each other, Lily thought. But still, it was certainly better than nothing.
Please let me know what you think! What are your thoughts on Remus and Danny? Next chapter is a big one for Lily and James!
Please leave me a review! They make me happy :)
