Remus, Peter and Mary stepped out of the fireplace, coughing and brushing the ashes off thier robes.
"Hey, how are you, what have you been doing?" asked Lily.
"Oh, my God! It's been the worst first half of the holidays I have ever experienced! I didn't know our music system could be turned up so loud! Well, actually I did, but no one had ever tried it before... I hate my brother's friends! And my brother when he's with his friends! He turns all, I'm Mr Tough Guy. So, frustrating!" Mary seemed quite out of breath, "So yeah, feels good now I've got that off my chest. Am I going to be given a tour or what?"
The boys looked at her with blank faces, but Lily, being accustomed to Mary's sudden outbursts of energy, said calmly, "I'll show you around, can she share a room with me, James?"
James nodded, whilst Sirius sniggered.
--
"So... has anything happened between you and James yet?" Mary asked Lily with a sly expression on her face.
"No of course not, that's disgusting!" said Lily pretending to look shocked, but really she had known the topic of James' old crush would be brought up in a matter of time.
"Awww, what a shame. I know you've just been dying for something to happen -"
"Mary," Lily interrupted, "drop it, nothing is ever going to happen between me and James."
"Oh, OK," she said starting to turn around. "YOU'RE IN DENIAL! DENIAL DENIAL DENIAL! Oh my God, you are so obviously in love with him! Gees Lily, at least try to keep your feelings under control! Lily and James, awwwwwwwwwwwwwww how cute!"
"Mary, please no -"
"DENIAL, DENIAL, DENIAL!"
"Oh shut up."
"DENIAL, DENIAL, DENIAL!"
"Mary, he doesn't feel that way anymore!"
"What, so you do?"
"No!"
"DENIAL, DENIAL, DENIAL!"
"Me and James will never be together. We're completly different anyway -"
"OPPOSITES ATTRACT! DENIAL, DENIAL, DENIAL!"
"Whatever, hey where's my green jumper that you borrowed?"
"In the DENIAL cuboard over DENIAL there. DENIAL!"
Lily turned to the cupboard in order to hide the deep blush that was threatening to creep up her neck, and the smile that was threatening to jump to her lips, and she opened it. That's when Sirius fell out.
"Oh my... Sirius, what the hell were you doing in our cupboard?" Lily exclaimed.
"What! It's where I go when I want some 'alone time'!" Sirius said defensavly, as if trying to suggest that there was some possible way of making hiding in a cupboard sound like a completly normal activity.
"How much did you hear?" Lily asked nervously.
"Not much, to tell you the truth, just something about opposites attracting and being in denial. So, who's in denial?" asked Sirius casually.
Mary looked at Lily with a triumphant smile on her face. Lily seized the opportunity and said, "Mary! Mary is! She loves you you know, she even admits it." she said to Sirius.
And with that, Mary got the cupboard door and slammed it on Sirius' head, causing him to collapse.
"Mary, what the hell was that for?" Lily shrieked, hovering over sirius.
"Well, now when he wakes up, he'll think it was a dream!" Mary smiled cheerfully.
"Not when he wakes up in a cupboard!"
"That's why we need to put him in his bed." said Mary, started to drag him by his armpits. Lily helped him until they reached Sirius and James' room, which, thankfully, wasn't that far away.
"Shall we take his shoes off?" Lily asked nervously,
"Yeah, I think so," replied Mary.
"Phew!" exclaimed Lily, peeling off one of his socks. James chose that moment to walk in.
"WHAT THE HELL?" James said as he took in the unconsious Sirius, the flustered Lily, and Mary still trying to take off one of Sirius' socks.
"James," Lily began politely, "would you mind putting Sirius in his bed, and if he doesn't wake up in five minutes, please get your Mum to take a look at him.
With that, the two girls ran giggling and shouting from the room.
James looked at the doorway that the two girls had just been standing in. He dragged Sirius into his bed, straining with the effort, and after making sure that he was tucked in, grabbed the jug of water next to Sirius' bed and promptly emptied the water onto his head.
"What the hell!?" Sirius cried, jolting upright. "What was that for?"
"That was to wake you up."
"I was having the best dream and you just ruined it, idiot."
"Dream?"
"Yes of course. It's not like I normally go around evesdropping on people by hiding in closets and then falling out when the door is opened, then being told that Mary is in denial and actually is in love with me and I doubt that Mary would ever knock me unconscious by slamming my head against the closet door."
"Are you being serious?" James laughed.
"Of course I'm being serious, I am Sirius!"
"Shut up, I can't believe you dreamed that."
"Neither. Anyway I want to play exploding snap."
"What?"
"You know that game -"
"I know how to play it, but it's not very fun with just two people."
"I figured, so let's have a tournament. With everyone!"
--
The six teenagers sat in a circle playing exploding snap when Sirius noticed that Mary had gone extremely pale, (he'd been noticing rather alot about Mary lately).
"Mary, what's wrong? You look unhealthily pale." commented Sirius.
After a few moments silence... "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
"What? WHAT? WHAT? WHAT!" screamed Lily.
"S - s - s - s - SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDDDDDDDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRR!! SPIDER SPIDER SPIDER SPIDER!" Mary shrieked.
Panicking, Lily screamed, "WHERE? WHERE?"
And then she saw it, the biggest spider she'd ever seen.She screamed. The rest of them eventually made sense of the shouting and pointing until Peter, Mary and Lily were screaming, SIrius and James were a little calmer, but still panicking, whilst Remus just laughed.
"That spider is most likely more afraid of you and it's only about half a centimetre big." Remus said. "And Sirius, Mary just passed out."
"What?!" Sirius cried rushing over to Mary while Lily jumped onto one of the couches and statred screaming even louder. James pulled of his shoe and made to squash the spider when Lily shouted out to him.
"Don't you dare end that spider's life!"
"Fine," James replied and grabbing a cup from the coffee table scopped up the spider and tipped the spider out the window.
"Guys, a little help over here," Sirius said gesturing to a deathly pale and unconscious Mary.
"Sorry, I'll go get Mum," said James.
Lily noticed the look on Sirius' face was extremely tender and caring, and doubted whether he'd have that look on his face if ot had of been anyone else who had passed out.
--
Knock, knock.
"Come in!" called Mary, who happened to be sitting alone in her room reading a book, "Hey James, what's up?"
"Er... Mary? I need some help," said James, a deep blush in his cheeks.
"Oooooooooooooh, James Potter is asking me, for help! What kind of help James?"
"Um, some girly help," said James, looking at his feet.
"What, do you need to borrow an eyelash curler? Or do need to use some of my new foundation," sniggered Mary.
"Mary, be serious, and you can't tell anyone," said James
Mary, hearing his rare, serious tone, said,"Sure, what is it?"
"I, I, no, sorry, I don't know why I'm in here. I'll go now -"
"James!"
"Ok. Ineed to know, I need to know, IneedtoknowhowLilyfeelsaboutme," James blurted out.
"What?"
"I need to know how Lily feels about me," James repeated slowly, looking at his feet.
"Why?" asked Mary, looking schocked, "I thought it was obvious!"
"What?" asked James taken aback.
"Can't you tell?" asked Mary curiously. "Gees James, are you blind or what!"
"What? Why! Does she like me or not?" he asked eagerly.
"Of course she does! She's all over you! She practically drools every time she she sees you!" Mary half-shouted.
"Mary, shhhh!" said James beaming.
"She's just dying for you to make your move. She' s been waiting for ages! You've got to do something really romantic!" said Mary.
"Like what?" asked James, who was listening intently.
"Oh I think I've got something in mind," Mary smiled slyly.