Chapter 7- Under the Stars
I'm slowing down how much I post for this story, I'm attempting to make the chapters longer. They seem a little short. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and added me to alerts/favorites, I love you! R&R!
Lily drained the glass of lemonade and set it silently on the counter next to the sink. She was wearing silk black short shorts and a matching tank top, the most comfortable pair of pajamas she owned. Everyone else was sleeping, and for one of the few times in her life she actually couldn't.
She edged her way to the sliding glass doors and stared upwards into the sky. Lily loved astronomy, all the myths associated with them. When she was a still living a muggle life that was what she had planned on doing, studying deep space objects and thrilling her kids with the tales of Orion's Belt or Princess Andromeda with Perseus rescuing her. She sighed a little, another lost dream.
The stars gave a merry twinkle and she stepped out onto the deck made of cool stone that felt like ice on her bare feet. Usually Charlie was the one without shoes, Lily preferred them so she could prevent herself from stepping on broken glass or stepping into dog crap. You could never be too careful.
Drumming her toes on the stones and gazing into the stars she didn't hear, only felt someone slide their hand around her waist giving her a friendly shoulder nudge waist squeeze kind of hug. She glanced up smiling at her friend, James was wearing loose shorts and an oversized tank top with arm holes because they were cut to practically the bottom of the shirt. Giving a quick peek Lily noted the toned body through the slits and returned her gaze to the stars.
James was slightly amused and nervous; Lily hadn't rebuked him, yet.
"What are you doing Lily?" He asked, voice slightly muted as he spoke into the top of her head. She giggled in a low tone respecting the quiet of the night and whispered back,
"That tickled!"
James smiled into her hair, waiting for a real response knowing she would answer given time. He was shocked by how, nice, no she was always nice and he drove her off the edge. He was shocked by how sweet and caring she was being to him, did she actually maybe like him? He had finally taken everyone's advice and acted like himself around her, apparently that was worthy advice and should have used it when he was first told it, six years ago.
"One day, all that's left of us are stories. And, when I look at the stars I see someone's, passed down through time. Sometimes I wonder, if anyone will remember me like they have been, as noble and brave or even remembered at all." She started out sounding like Dumbledore, wise with his eyes twinkling at you through half moon spectacles, and ended in a whisper, barely audible. James gave her another little squeeze, noticing her pajamas. They were a sensual silk and smooth under his touch. Don't mess up now! He thought.
"Especially during these bad times, I know what you mean." James whispered so quietly Lily almost didn't hear. James? Admitting he was scared, and relating to her on something so deep and sentimental, Lily rather liked this James. Maybe she should listen to everyone and give him a chance, like she had been told everyday for the past six years.
"Lily, out of everyone I know, Remus, Sirius, Charlie, Peter, and even myself, I'm sure you will be remembered as the most brave." He said smiling at her. His hazel eyes twinkled like the stars.
"Do you really think so?" Lily said looking down blushing, even though it was dark she could tell that he knew that she was blushing.
"I'd never lie to you." They sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments.
"Then tell me why you like me, I don't like your pranks which you love, I'm always studying and you never are, I like the rules and you think-"
"that rules were made to be broken." He finished happily for her, he turned his gaze to the stars and Lily wondered why he wasn't looking at her. But then again, if someone asked her to confess why she loved someone who didn't love her back, she'd probably do the same if not worse and run away. Bad Gryffindor!
"I love you because of all those reasons. Not to mention, you like my pranks when innocent people don't get hurt, and don't deny it Charlie told me," He said smirking and Lily noted mentally to slap Charlie the next time she saw her for telling James, "You may always be studying but it makes you so wise, you practically know everything. Also, you look cute when you study, nose wrinkling and everything." Lily blushed a little more also noting to stop wrinkling her nose when she was focusing.
"And while I do break rules, often, I notice how you always laugh, so don't say I'm not somewhat entertaining for you too." Lily nodded her head a little while a smile brightened her face.
"I love you Lily because you are everything I'm not and better because of it." James finished trying to not be sappy, he really didn't want to be. James gave a hesitant glance at Lily, who was looking into his large hazel eyes behind those round glasses.
She let out a shaky breath, not because she was scared but because of her next thought. She leaned closer, as if to kiss him. But at the sudden sight of James's widened eyes she immediately backed out. What a terrible Gryffindor, I knew I should have been in Ravenclaw! She thought.
Covering up the kiss she floated her eyes past his face and drew a lazy finger to the sky to his right. He turned his head following her gaze. He must have been delusional, James thought. It actually looked like she was going to kiss me.
"That Sirius's star." She whispered in his ear. His skin practically goose-bumped when her lemonade scent lingered on his sensitive neck. Realizing he didn't respond he tried to pull himself back together.
"Ya, I'm pretty sure it is."
"I can understand why his parents named him after that, it's the brightest star in the sky. People use it to find their way home." (A/N I know that people don't usually this star to find their way home, they use the North Star. But it can be used for navigation purposes, the ancient Polynesians did and I know England is nowhere near the Pacific, but for story purposes they are going to 'use' it.)
"That's ironic." James said, seriously, not trying to make a joke. He still had his gaze on the star.
"Why?" Lily asked, lost a little as she stared between the star and James perfectly sculpted face. She noticed the little stubble he would be shaving off in the morning, it looked good on him.
"He never went back home, even naming him after it didn't help him get home." James finally tore his gaze away from it looking into Lily's giant emerald eyes.
Sirius was a sensitive subject, she had never really been told what had happened. All she knew was that if a letter came for Sirius he would be in a terrible mood all day, and, as if they were connected James would be sulking along with him. They had a connection where their moods were reflected in the other.
"Yes he did, it guided him to his true home, with you and your parents. It took him to his true family, the Marauders. Home is where the heart is, not your bloodline. They may think naming him that was a curse, it wasn't, it was a blessing because it brought him to you." Lily said thoughtfully yet passionately, believing every word she was saying fully, staring into his hazel eyes.
For what felt like hours they looked into each other, a silent understanding of the emotion passing between them. They didn't need to say anything, they knew.
James grabbed her hand and she smiled at him, her thoughts flickered back to the kiss she wanted to give him before, but decided on being content with him holding her hand. If he really didn't like her, this was probably the zenith of closeness she could get without scaring him away. Then again, he didn't really scare easy.
Lily slid onto the roof underneath the bathroom window on the second floor. She was looking up into the stars, but tonight it wasn't for their beauty she was out here. James and her had met multiple times during the week with an excuse of star gazing. In reality they had secret rendezvous to talk. They hadn't told the others, they would tease them relentlessly.
They had covered topics from Sirius's home problems, why Lily was friends with Snape (with minor protests from James, he listened almost understandingly but insisted on calling him Snivellous. She managed to live with that though.), they theorized where Charlie went that one night and how she didn't open up with the important things enough, and lastly why James wanted to be an Auror.
Tonight, she was going to open up to him a little more, see what would happen.
She heard a little shuffle next to her. Someone laid on their back next to her and she crossed her hands on her stomach. Her knees were bent and feet were placed firmly on the roof to catch herself from falling off if it came to that. James had done the same.
"Hey Lily, sorry I'm late. Charlie woke up and was wandering the hallways looking for you. I had to tell her that you were in my room helping me with something. So naturally she ran in the opposite direction." James smiled as he looked at her.
She giggled,
"Charlie and Sirius will do anything to avoid extra work, they are so lazy!" Lily said after her fit of giggles stopped.
"You should see our dorm room at Hogwarts, mine is messy, of course, but nothing compared to his. The only thing he keeps nice are all his shoes and clothes, he could care less about everything else!" James said smiling, recalling their circular dorm room the Marauders spent a good portion of the year living in.
"At least he cares about his clothes and shoes! Charlie is ter-ri-ble!" Lily said making each syllable stand out.
"She doesn't put anything in the closet, she hangs everything in random places. From the top of her canopy so she can't draw the curtains, from the sink and shower, my bed, her trunk, owl cages. At least she doesn't litter the floor with it all, but it's almost worse this way." Lily said ticking off the places Charlie hung her clothes on her delicate fingers.
They laughed happily, thinking about Hogwarts. Secretly upset how this was their last year, never again returning to the place they could call home, where they learned everything they knew, made their friends whom they would treasure for life. They were lost in thought for a moment.
"What are we going to talk about tonight?" James asked, interrupting their train of thought. Lily sighed a little breaking eye contact, missing his twinkling hazel eyes the moment she looked away. Looking up at the constellations she began talking,
"Do you know what it's like for someone to hate you, loathe you?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah, you did for six years!" James said lightly chuckling a little in an attempt to lighten the now bleak atmosphere.
"I never hated you James." Lily said turning to face him, his hazel eyes widened slightly with shock.
"Oh, that's nice to know. Then, I suppose I don't know what it feels like, except for the mutual hate all Gryffindors and Slytherins have." James concluded.
"Oh," Lily paused for a moment, "my sister, she hates me. She wishes I was never born." She said just above a whisper.
"Lily, she doesn't hate you. You're too sweet and perfect no one hates you." James said, shifting a little closer to her, she could feel the heat coming off his body.
"But it's true, if I were to die in this war, she wouldn't even shed a tear. She'd be happy, happy to get rid of me. Never deal with me or 'my kind' again." Lily said letting all the terrible images of war run wild with her imagination.
She was laying dead on the floor and her sister was laughing above her whilst her fat-could-be-confused-with-a-beached-whale fiancé stomped on her wand shattering her only tie to the wizarding world into a million splinters of wood. That was her only way of proving she wasn't lying like her sister had thought she was, the only way to prove herself to everyone that she wasn't weird or pointless. She was good at something, magic.
James pulled her into a hug as she retold her nightmare to him.
"She wouldn't laugh, Lily. Don't let your imagination get the better of you. Besides, I'll always protect you so she won't even get the chance." He whispered as she burrowed her head into his soft cotton shirt. She sighed as all the tension from her nightmare diffused from her body. It was this affect James had on her now; he used to give her all the stress, now he took it away.
James, concerned for Lily, and trying to look consoling couldn't help the random twitches of a smile his mouth was making, Lily hadn't hated him? And she didn't anymore, this week was turning out to be the best of his life.
"But she tells me how much she hates me and our lot all the time, she has to mean it at least one of those times!" Lily lightly protested but was easily persuaded by James that she was just jealous of Lily and her magical abilities and wonderful good looks.
Lily let out a small giggle at the end, the effect he was hoping for.
Charlie leaned against the doorway to the bathroom, the window had been popped open and she could hear every word the two were saying.
She had always been a terribly light sleeper, something useful during the war, but when with her friends it tended to alert her to things she wasn't sure if she really wanted to know. Lily was meeting secretly with James, good for her finally making moves, but she was telling him the things she told Charlie.
Charlie wasn't jealous, maybe a little, but she knew this was how their friendship was growing. And she was positive Lily would still come to her first with brand new important news, and anything concerning James.
She couldn't help the feeling of dread though that was starting in the pit of her stomach which was slowly inching up her throat. Were her two closest friends replacing her, with each other?
Charlie immediately attempted to dismiss the though, and after failing to do so she sauntered towards Sirius's room. She didn't want to hear any more of their thoughtful conversations.
Listening at the door to make sure he didn't have any, visitors, she cracked it open. He was sleeping, breathing louder than Lily did when they shared a room but softer then James's random snores. Charlie pulled the blanket around her a little tighter and hesitantly walked into the room.
She stopped to look at his peaceful face for a moment, poor Sirius, she heard about his family and the conversation Lily and James had about his name a few nights ago practically broke her heart.
She walked to the bathroom connected to his room and slid into the tub, wrapping the blanket up and closing her eyes. She wanted company and with the door open she could hear his breathing. The other bathroom was out of the question, James and Lily would hear her, her own room was empty so no company and same with James's. What's a girl to do when she doesn't want to be alone?
Sirius opened an eye ever so slightly, he had a feeling someone was watching him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw someone being swallowed up by a thick blanket they had perched on their shoulders. The person quietly walked forward into the moonlight and Sirius recognized them as Charlie.
Her eyes were wide and face formed sad wrinkles, she looked distressed. Charlie stopped towering over him, casting a shadow down his face. What was she doing? A word flickered through his mind when he could see her face better, she looked… lonely. A fleeting second passed and she walked to his bathroom, and didn't come out. For some reason he was reminded of himself when he saw her, so utterly alone.
They were two lonely people, desperately searching for something, someone that would hold onto them and never let go. Sirius had thought he found that in his adopted brothers at school, and then officially with James. But now, James was always with Lily. They snuck off together, something Sirius and him usually did, they ran to the kitchen during random hours of the day to gorge themselves, a favorite pastime Sirius and James had always done together. Sirius was used to the feelings, being left behind, and second choice. Maybe Charlie had never felt this unwanted feeling before.
Sirius got up and walked to the bathroom. Peering inside he saw her wrapped up in the massive quilt laying in what looked like an extremely uncomfortable position in the bathtub….she was in the bathtub. Okay, he'd never seen that before. Dropping down onto his butt on the other side of the tub her eyes popped open.
He raised an eyebrow, she raised one back. Then remembered she was the one intruding and should probably explain that she wasn't watching him and being a pervert.
"I was lonely, and I um, decided to, uh, sleep in your tub." Charlie looked down at the end twiddling her fingers hoping he wouldn't be disgusted with her. She felt pathetic, couldn't stand to be alone. He'd never let her forget this.
"Okay." He shrugged his shoulders and climbed into the opposite end of the tub, Charlie just watched, mouth dropping open a little.
He sat down across from her and pulled the blanket on top of him. He laid down, his feet stretching towards her shoulders and hers by his waist. Thank god that the tub was charmed to always fit how large the person was so they could lay down, or in this case, two people on opposite ends. It was still very tight but they fit the quilt across the two of them and Sirius closed his eyes.
Charlie stared at him and heard the quiet breathing that had lulled her to sleep minutes beforehand, and suddenly she didn't feel so lonely anymore.
Sorry if you hate fluff and sappy, I wanted people to see James and Lily's friendship grow and show how lonely Sirius and Charlie are. Poll on my profile about the story.
Does anyone know any good Sirius B./O.C. stories? You can PM or put in review, much appreciated.
NEXT CHAPTER: Really intense, there's a party, someone gets drunk, everyone kisses, there's a break up and a prank all in the mix that may cause more problems than laughs. That is if anyone can remember it in the morning.
