You've already won me over in spite of me
And don't be alarmed if I fall head over feet
Don't be surprised if I love you for all that you are
I couldn't help it
It's all your fault
Head over Feet – Alanis Morissette
It was the beginning of December, a Wednesday to be precise and due to the warm weather, most of the sixth years had opted to do their homework outside beside the lake. After changing out of their robes and into something more comfortable for such warm weather, Lily and Emily gathered their bags and headed out to join their classmates, finding a cool spot beneath a tree.
The weather was certainly unusual for December but no one questioned it, they merely wanted to enjoy it whilst they could. Thankfully both girls managed to get their homework done within an hour and were left to just relax. Lily sat against the tree with a book in her hands, whilst Emily sat cross-legged with her sketch pad on her lap.
Emily was proudly wearing her Beatles t-shirt with a pair of torn denim shorts. Lily wore matching shorts but with a deep blue shirt over them. "You know, I'm not too sure I want to go to tonight's Slug Club meeting..." Lily voiced. Looking up from her sketch of Hogwarts, Emily watched Lily,
"But you love those meetings...and isn't Ludovic Bagman the guy who plays Quidditch for the Wimbourne Wasps supposed to be there tonight?" she asked, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ea, her gift from Sirius sparkling brightly, from where it hung around her wrist.
Lily nodded and sighed, closing her book over, but keeping her finger on the page she'd been reading, "Yeah, Professor Slughorn's pretty excited about it...it's just Mulciber and Avery are really starting to freak me out..."
"Why? Have they done something...Lily?" Emily prompted her friend, looking extremely worried until Lily smiled slightly and shook her head,
"No they haven't done anything...yet! They just keep reminding me they haven't forgotten about that incident last month..."
"They got what was coming to them, they attacked us first." Emily said forcefully to which Lily nodded again, releasing a deep sigh,
"I know that, but you know what they're like Emi...any excuse." She said, leaning her head back against the tree, Emily was right in the fact that she did enjoy the meetings. Thinking about it she came to the conclusion she'd be damned if she let either one of those boys push her out, "You know what, forget I said anything. I'm going tonight"
Emily smiled at the determined look on her friends face, she knew without a doubt Lily was more than capable of holding her own against 2 losers like that. Nevertheless Emily made a quick note to go meet Lily after the meeting; after all, there was safety in numbers.
As her friend opened her book and began to read once again, Emily focused her attention back on her sketch, pleased with how it was turning out. Charcoal pencils weren't her favourite to use, but they were really making the sketch stand out.
"What are you lovely ladies doing, hiding out over here?" James asked happily as he quickly dropped into a spot beside Lily, shooting her one of his trademark smiles, to which she merely rolled her eyes and shifted slightly away from him.
Emily resisted the urge to laugh as the other 3 members of the group joined them. Sirius sat on the ground beside her, leaning back on his hands, and crossing his legs at the ankles. "Not doing homework...I'm actually disappointed in you two." Sirius teased, making Emily roll her eyes and turn to him,
"We're all done what about you lot?" she asked, seeing Remus sat just off to the side doing his own homework. Sirius and James shrugged, in a not bothered sort of way,
"With weather like this you expect us to waste time doing homework?" James asked, earning a smack against his chest when he tried to pry Lily's book from her hands. Wincing he sighed, "The poets were right, love does hurt." He commented making the others laugh as Lily's face slowly began to darken.
A comfortable silence fell over the group, and it wasn't till another few minutes had passed, that Emily felt Sirius lean in close to her. His chest pressed against her left shoulder, as he peered down at the drawing she was working on, "Blimey Emily, did you do that?"
"Well obviously..." grumbled Lily, pointing her wand at James, who in turn held up his hands and leaned away from her. Shaking his head with a smile, James leaned forward slightly along with, Peter, and Remus, all trying to get a better look at the drawing.
"Wow, you're really good." Complimented Remus, as Sirius removed the pad from Emily's lap so him and the others could gain a better look. Emily reached out to stop him but grumbled under breath, when he pushed her hand away.
As he lifted the pad to hand to James, a sheet of paper fell out, all eyes falling to it. Before Emily could snatch it up, Remus had it, a strange look on his face. The Marauders all fell into an uncomfortable sort of silence, and Emily frowned; glancing at Lily she saw that she too wore the same look as them.
The charcoal sketched picture all five of them were looking at was the one Emily had drawn the night the howling wolf had woken her. On the page four animals, were side by side next to the lake, the moonlight shining down on them, lighting up the grounds.
"When did you do this?" Sirius asked after a few moments passed, his eyes boring into Emily,
"Last month, I woke up and saw them stood beside...what is wrong with you all?" she asked, confusion lacing her voice. No one answered, they just continued to stare at the picture, huffing in frustration at their shocked and dumbfounded looks, she reached forward and snatched the picture and her pad back, "Why do you all look like I just admitted I'm in love with Snape...it's just a picture, what's the deal?"
"Emily it's nothing..." Lily started but holding up a hand, Emily stopped her,
"Don't tell me it's nothing Lily! I know there's something going on, first the way you all look at this picture like I've drawn something I shouldn't, then there's this secret all five of you are in on, and when I try to talk to you Lily you brush me off and act all weird..."
"Emily..."Remus shook his head and looked at her apologetically. Shaking her head, Emily gathered her bag, shoes and pad and stood up,
"Look, you don't want to tell me that's fine, just don't try and make me out to be some idiot by telling me there's nothing going on. I'm going back to the common room, see you all later." She said, not waiting for a reply before she walked up the castle, leaving five shocked friends down by the lake.
Emily was unsure of why she had lost it like that; it wasn't that she expected them to tell her what was up. All she wanted was for them to stop making her out to be stupid, by making out she was imagining things. What confused her more now was why this picture of the animals in her arms was such a big deal to them. With a small shake of her head, she released a deep breath and headed back into the castle, to go get ready for dinner.
After that day nothing else was said about the drawing, although Remus appeared slightly withdrawn. Lily hadn't spoken another word of it, but both Sirius and James kept giving Emily strange looks, almost like they were weighing her up in a way.
Burying her gloved hands, deeper into the thick coat she wore, Emily grumbled, burying her chin and nose in the scarf, Rina had bought her for her birthday. Today was the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, and Emily didn't envy any of them, she was freezing she couldn't even imagine how all those on brooms were feeling.
"Go James!" screamed Lily, jumping up and clapping her hands, when it became apparent James had spotted the snitch. Everyone surrounding Lily paused in their cheering and turned to face her, all grinning and laughing amongst themselves, when she to became aware of what she'd just done,
"Nice to see you're so supportive of James." Emily teased, nudging the other girl playfully and laughing when all she received in return was a dirty look. Still laughing to herself Emily turned, her eyes unconsciously searching out for one of Gryffindor's beaters, Sirius Black. Smiling to herself she rolled her eyes again, knowing he was fully aware of his fan club, currently chanting his name.
Sirius had turned to wave at his fans, loving every second of it. "Sirius look out!" screamed Emily, eyes wide as she pointed to the bludger veering towards his head. Sirius hadn't heard her, but did catch the movement from the corner of his eye and ducked, leaving the bludger to sail pass his head. Emily blew out a deep sigh of relief, letting her hands drop from where they covered her mouth.
Looking at Lily she paused, "What?" she asked, wondering what the small smirk on her friends face was all about? Lily chuckled and shook her head, refocusing on the game, Emily deciding not to ask again did the same, just in time to see James hand clasp around the Seeker.
The Gryffindor stands erupted in a victory roar. People were shaking hands, and hugging one another, or like Lily and Emily cheering and jumping up and down. For two girls who weren't big fans of Quidditch they were certainly thrilled at their teams win.
Slowly the crowd began to head out of the stands, all wanting to congratulate the team. Emily and Lily followed, lagging behind slightly due to the stumble Emily had just been involved in. Lily kept a hand on her friends elbow, despite her protests. "I'm not going to trip again Lily, I'm not..."as they reached the top of the wooden steps however, Emily did trip again but caught herself on the railing.
"What was that you were saying?" Lily asked, placing a hand on her hip and giving Emily a pointed look, The other girl grumbled, and didn't argue again as they descended the steps. "So you want to say well done to Sirius or what?" Lily asked, barely able to dodge poke in the ribs Emily tried to give her.
"We're going to say well done to the team not just..." she trailed off, the smile on her face falling, as she was overcome with the urge to be sick. Her stomach gave an almighty tug, her heart beat wildly against her chest and she felt her eyes glaze over. Not to far from where her and Lily stood, was Sirius surrounded by their house but there was one person, one person with her arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders.
Elena Dodge was kissing Sirius and he wasn't pushing her away. Emily shook her head, not really surprised, Sirius was Sirius, he never turned down a girl who threw herself at him. Emily wasn't even sure why this bothered her so much, her reaction to seeing him surprised her and she had to turn away. Instead of joining their housemates, Lily and Emily headed back to the castle.
Lily wrapped an arm around Emily's shoulder, and smiled softly. Glancing back over her shoulder she saw the crowd dispersing, and got a clear view of Sirius forcefully pushing Elena away from him. He didn't look happy as he wiped his lips with the back of his sleeve, throwing a disgusted look at the girl he turned. That was when his eyes met Lily's, giving her a confused look.
Lily merely smiled sadly and shrugged her shoulders, she'd tell him later. Looking away she glanced at Emily, wondering when her friend was going to admit just how much she did care for Sirius Black.
Okay guys here's the next chapter. Hope you lot enjoyed it, as you can see Elena got in the way once again, causing a lot of trouble for our favourite twosome.
Thanks to those who took the time to read and review, I love to hear what you guys think. Also thanks to those who added the story to story alert.
Rina – So glad you enjoyed the chapters! Of course you were included, you've sat and listened whilst I've been voicing off ideas, you've helped me a lot so of course you got a mention! Thanks to watching the last film last night *cries* my Muse is going into overdrive with ideas for this story so I think we'll be going strong for a while with this.
Every Rose – The jewellery was my favourite part, Lily's present will come into play again very soon, so keep an eye out for that. Sirius and Emily are more intimate, they're getting close as friends, but it's so obvious the pair of them want more, they're just too stubborn. Things are changing for them over the course of this chapter, the next one and actually every other one after this :P
LoKirameku – Gryffindor is definitely the best house to be in. Emily and Sirius's relationship will progress naturally, they're the ones writing this story. The attraction to one another has always been there, now they're friends, it's only a matter of time.
Saffy – I loved writing the birthday chapter. Sirius has realized he needs to stop being a jerk, if he wants any chance of making it with Emily he needs to cool it with the attitude and just be himself. The journal was an idea I loved. So happy you're enjoying this story as much I love writing it! Thanks for your support hun.
