LAST TIME: Lily was in the shower, getting ready for her date with Sirius, James and Simone. She was very clumsy!
In Lily's opinion, dinner had gone wonderfully. It started out with Sirius asking questions, as usual.
"Where are we even going if we can't floo anywhere?" Sirius asked as they stepped out into the long, dark corridor.
"Er, the Red Room? I got a house elf to sort it out before I went to the owlery, it should be all date-like."
"The Red Room? But Evans, it will clash with your hair!"
Their light banter continued as they made their way through the large house, only trailing off as they stopped outside a heavy oak door with a gold plate fixed to it, simply reading 'Red'. Lily took a deep breath and turned to face Sirius, a solemn look upon her face.
"Okay, Black. No funny business, alright? We stick to the plan- make James jealous and Simone insecure. You know what to do, and if you don't, I'll tell Amelia Bones that you cheated on her with Marlene in a broom cupboard in Sixth. Okay?" Lily finished off with a sweet smile that had Sirius gulping in fear. Amelia Bones was a very fearsome girl, and a scorned Amelia Bones would be scarier than usual. He nodded vigorously, indicating his understanding.
"Got it. Although I have to say, this is very un-Evansy of you. I never would have picked you for a plotty girl. More of a Hestia thing, don't you think?"
At this, Lily laughed wickedly. "Don't ever underestimate any girl, Black. Especially when things like Simone are involved. Let's go."
Nodding again in slight fear, Sirius grabbed Lily's hand and pushed the door open to reveal a low-lit dusky red room with silver and blue enhancements. The entire room had been set up as a classic date scene, with booths and a bar, all attended to by house elves. They made their way over to the booth where James and Simone were currently sitting, weaving in and out of the tables that were set up across the room. It really was set up like a real bar, and Lily was extremely impressed. Clearly, Simone was not so much. She had been trying to talk to James about something no doubt absolutely fascinating, but when Lily and Sirius entered the room, his attention was diverted and her futile efforts were lost on him. Lily couldn't help but to smirk when Simone crossed her arms and slumped back in disgruntlement, eying the approaching couple in something akin to obvious disgust. Only for a second though- her immaculate French breeding didn't allow her posture to fail her for more than a second, and she straightened up almost immediately, smoothing down the non-existent creases in her tight black dress with geometric shapes slashed out of it. Simone and James stood as Lily and Sirius drew closer and Lily felt frumpier by the second. Her blue dress had seemed perfectly adequate in the relative privacy of Sirius's room, but now, even from a distance, she could tell that Simone out shone her ten to one. Lily had to take action, and fast. She tugged gently on Sirius's arm, and once she had his attention, Lily slipped her hand to the back of his neck and drew him close, at the same time backing them against a squashy red faux-leather bench.
"Er, Evans? What are you doing?" Sirius whispered.
"I am seducing you for a second so you can change my dress into something more, um, sexy."
"I thought you'd never ask," Sirius breathed against her neck. Lily felt something hard digging into her hip and she flushed.
"Black! When I said I was seducing you I don't mean for real!" She gasped in shock, cheeks heating up.
"Relax, Evans. It's my wand." Shooting Lily a devious wink, Sirius murmured a spell under his breath and Lily suddenly felt a lot more… exposed.
"Black…" She said warningly.
"Don't worry Lils, it's subtle." With that not quite erasing her fears, Sirius gave a bellowing laugh and slung his arm around Lily's waist, pulling her flush against him before advancing forward, still chuckling merrily as if Lily had told a hilarious joke.
"Relax," He hissed into her ear. "Can't you see the look on James's face? Looks like your plan is already working."
Lily glanced up at James as they came to a stop in front of him and Simone. Sure enough, his face was a mixture of emotions: anger directed towards Sirius, plain jealousy, envy, and, as his eyes raked over Lily's body, a hint of approval and admiration. Simone looked livid. Lily smirked. The plan was indeed working.
After a flurry of air kisses and polite greetings as though the group hadn't seen each other in weeks, not just hours, they were seated, and thanks to a sneaky manoeuvre by Sirius that made her think he had done it often, Lily found herself in the closed off corner of the booth, opposite James and next to Sirius. This was the perfect spot for part of the plan, and sure enough, half an hour into the date and halfway through her main course of Moroccan chicken, when Lily excused herself to go to the bathroom to 'freshen up', it was highly useful. She had stood up and brushed her hands over her dress in much the same way as Simone had done earlier, only her movements drew James's eyes to her body, and most importantly, her movements.
Biting back the laugh that threatened to bubble out of her, Lily made a show of dragging her body across Sirius's to get out of the booth. Her silky satin dress slid across his crisp button down shirt and as Lily faked a loss of balance, Sirius 'caught' her around her waist, his hands sliding across the smooth fabric and dipping dangerously low-
James growled low in his throat.
Pinching the skin on the back of her hand to maintain her serious demeanour, Lily, along with everyone else, looked at James, her face a picture of innocent surprise.
"James? What ees eet?" Simone asked, draping herself over his side.
"Nothing, just banged er-my knee on the table." James said, shaking her off and returning his gaze to the salt and pepper jars that were residing in the centre of the table.
Triumphant, Lily made her way to the bathroom, which was attended to by a small house elf by the name of- Lily peered at the nametag- Moby. Moby opened the door grandly which added to the hilarity that was building inside of her.
Once inside, Lily took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, and looked in the wide mirror to assess her new dress. The dress wasn't what caught her attention first though, it was her face. She was flushed and looked as thought she had just been on a five hour hike. That wouldn't do. Lily took a facecloth and dampened it with cold water before pressing it to her face gently, taking care not to smudge her makeup. As she waited for her complexion to return to normal, Lily took a step back and looked in the mirror at her newly improved dress. Surprisingly, Sirius had done an excellent job; the hem had risen a few inches and it clung to her body a bit more, but overall the dress was largely the same, and as he had promised, it was very subtle.
Grinning, Lily made her way out of the bathroom and joined the others again. Hopefully Sirius had done his job while she had been in the bathroom- she had certainly given him enough time!
He had.
As James watched Lily sway her was out of the room and disappear into the bathroom, Simone spoke up immediately. She had clearly been waiting for Lily to leave so she could talk about the girl, and as her eyes were fixed on Sirius, she had guess he'd be more forthcoming with information then James had been on the occasions Simone had asked him about Lily, jealousy lacing her voice with every question.
"So, Seereeous, how deed you meet Lely?" She asked, leaning forward and exposing her ample cleavage to his wandering eyes. A wicked grin soared across Sirius's face and James felt dread pool in his insides. He looked as if Simone had just given him the opening he'd been waiting for all night (which he had), and his reply made the dread in James's stomach leap and seize up.
"James introduced us, actually," Sirius had said pleasantly.
"Oh? I deedn't know they were friends?" Simone said, shooting James a menacing look.
"We're not," he said.
"Oh no, they were much more than just friends, Simone. James used to ask her out every day since halfway through second year, but Lily said no every time. I guess it's for the best that he's moved on, but-" here, Sirius stopped briefly to turn his gaze to the heavens and sigh sadly- "when a girl holds your heart for the best part of six years, it's hard to truly let go… I'm just lucky Lily chose me and you asked James out… Anyway, how are your thanksgiving preparations going?" Sirius finished off his speech with an earnest smile for Simone as he studiously ignored the looks he was getting from the furious couple. Simone looked as if she wanted to stab something, and James just wanted to stab Sirius, preferably in the mouth, until he couldn't talk. Ever again. Ever. But he did.
"Oh look there's Lily! She's a fox in bed, eh James- remember last week when you me and her snuck into your Dad's library and-"
"Hey guys! Sorry I took so long, what did I miss?" Lily smiled, giving Sirius a quick kiss on the cheek before sliding into the boot opposite James once more. James's stomach clenched bitterly as he watched the simple exchange between the two. He couldn't wait for the night to be over. However, there was still dessert to come.
To be fair, all the food was delicious. The cooking wasn't the reason it all tasted rubbery and thick in James's mouth. It was the company, and the reason they were all gathered around the table together. What a group they made.
There was him, his best (or former best) friend Sirius, who was with Lily, the girl James was in love with, who was using said best friend against James to make him jealous, and his own date Simone who he was only dating to get over Lily, insecure. What a mess. And deep down inside his stomach, a leaden feeling was settling down, filling him with unease. It just wasn't right. This wasn't the Lily he had fallen for when he was twelve and couldn't get over even now. That Lily was kind and caring and funny, and would never go out of her way to manipulate people into doing her bidding and making them feel bad about themselves. This wasn't her, and it wasn't nice, or funny. James couldn't wait for Marlene to get here so they could intervene.
It all just needed to stop.
A/N: Yeah I suck for taking so long, sorry guys :( But I'm halfway through the next chapter already!
-Sophia