At this time I'd like to thank Whitepaw for the great quotes that she sent me. THANK YOU!
Days in Avalon
Chapter Twenty-One: Come Clean
Saturday morning arrived with a sigh of relief. Everyone was eager to forget about what had happened during the week. Even if it were for a few short hours. At the Gryffindor table, the students were enjoying their breakfast. All except for one person...
"What's up, Evans?" inquired Karen as she put down her glass of orange juice.
Lily sat there looking at her empty plate lost in her thoughts. She didn't even hear Karen addressing her, or anyone for that matter until someone lend over to look at her directly in the eyes.
"Knut for your thoughts?" asked Kelly. With that said and done, Lily finally blinked out of her own personal world and saw three of her friends looking staring at her.
"Huh? Oh, uh it's nothing. I'm just having second thoughts about this evening," said Lily quietly looking down at the table. She quickly glanced up and grabbed a nearby muffin before putting it on her plate.
"Lily would you relax," said Kelly. "Nothing is really going to happen."
"Right and if anything does, Kel and I will be upstairs if you need us," said Andy before she put a forkful of scrambled eggs into her mouth.
"Hey gals," said Felicia, coming up from behind Andy and Karen. "What's up?"
"Nothing Felicia," said Andy. She scooted over to make room for Felicia. "Just calming a worried wart." Lily playful glared at Andy before she began to pile up her plate with food.
"So what are you doing tonight?" inquired Kelly, addressing Felicia.
"I don't know. Maybe hang out with my guy," replied Felicia with a grin. Andy tried to fight the urge to roll her eyes, so she merely turned her head to look down the table.
"Are we ever going to know who this mystery bloke is?" asked Lily.
"Well...if you really want to know. It's...Sirius," said Felicia quietly.
"Sirius who?" asked Karen.
"You know...Sirius!" replied Felicia as if it were obvious. Lily, Kelly, and Karen all looked at each other in shock before erupting into a fit of laughter.
"Ha, ha...what Black?" chuckled Kelly. Felicia nodded in response, which sent her three friends into another wave of laughter.
"Yeah, right," gasped Lily.
"Oh that's a good one," giggled Karen, struggling to breath.
"She's not kidding," said Andy seriously. "She's dating him." The moment she said that, all three of them stopped laughing at once and saw that this wasn't a joke.
"What?" said Karen stunned.
"Yeah, it's true," said Andy looking at each of them in the eyes. Felicia at this point wished she never had said anything at all. She would love nothing more than to disappear now from her friend's intense stares.
"H-How? W-When?" stuttered Kelly.
"A couple of weeks ago. Pretty much since the beginning of the year," said Felicia not looking at any of them.
"Felicia, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean he's..." said Lily, trying to be reasonable.
"A playboy!" interrupted Karen. "What are you thinking?"
"Hey lay off her," barked Andy. "It's her life. Let her choose who she should date."
Lily, Karen, Kelly, and Felicia looked at her in complete shock. Of all people, Lily, Karen, and Kelly would have thought that Andy would be boiling over now, but instead she was defending Felicia's relationship with her worst enemy. Felicia made a mental note to thank Andy later for standing up for her and for accepting her and Sirius's relationship.
"If she wants to see him, then we should support her," added Andy.
"Okay...who are you and what have you done with Andy?" inquired Karen.
"How did you even know she was going out with him before us?" asked Lily.
"Yeah, and you didn't kill him?" added Kelly.
"Look, I'll admit I wasn't to thrilled when I found out earlier this week, but...I see how they are and ...I'm fine with it," struggled Andy.
The three of them involuntarily opened their mouths in shock and amazement at what she said and how well she was taking this.
"Yeah, right," said Karen under her breath.
"Well...if your happy then...I guess congratulations are in order," said Lily after a few moments of silence.
"Thanks," said Felicia with a smile. At that moment, a hundred or so owls came flying into the Great Hall delivering letters and care packages to all the students.
"Ah...saved by the post," said Kelly.
As the owls swooped over the students looking for their owners, a few letters dropped in front of Kelly, Lily and Andy.
"Woo la la. Somebody knows someone in ole Paris," said Felicia looking at the three letters Andy had received. She saw on the envelope that someone had written a Paris return address.
"Relax Figg. Their letters from my sisters and...my mum?" said Andy noticing the last letter in the pile with her mother's handwritting.
"Huh...that's odd. She hardly ever writes to me unless there's some travesty with her new line," she said as she tore open the letter.
"Why are they in France?" said Karen.
"Yeah. You never told us why your sister transferred out of Hogwarts," added Felicia.
"I didn't?" said Andy about to pull out the letter. Three of her friends shook their heads in response.
"Oh I thought I did," answered Andy. She put down her letter and took a deep breath, knowing that the time had come to tell her other friends about what had happened. "Uh...well the reason why Jen is in France is because she's living with my mum. Andy my mother is living in France because she and my father got divorced."
"Divorced?" said Kelly in surprised.
"What? When did this happen?" said Felicia.
"Right before summer holiday. They told us about a day after we got back. They've been fighting for some time now, so they split up. Jen and Isabella are living in France with mum, and Jason and I are living in London with dad. It's no big deal really," shrugged Andy as she took a sip of her juice.
"Oh honey...we're so sorry," sympathized Karen.
"Ah...I'm fine," said Andy as if it were nothing. But Lily could see that this still really hurt her deeply. She knew what the others were thinking and how it was making Andy feel uncomfortable, so she decided to step in to take some of the heat off her.
"So...um," said Lily clearing her throat. "I don't think I'm going to deal with James. I'm not sure if I can take another one of his be ratings."
Andy looked up and gave Lily a heartfelt smile, and silently thanked her. She then picked up her letter from her mother and began reading it.
"Ugh," sighed Kelly. "Lily for the hundredth time, nothing will happen. Everything will be fine."
"Right and if he says something stupid you can hex him, or kick him in the leg again," stated Felicia.
"I didn't kick him. I just stepped on his foot kinda hard," said Lily defensively.
"Whatever," said Felicia offhand.
Suddenly out of nowhere, Andy slammed down her letter on the table, looking highly upset about something. The force of her hands hitting the table caused a few people to turn in her direction and knocked some things over.
"Star are you okay?" inquired Kelly. Andy continued to stare off into space, not answering her.
"Andy? Andy?" called Lily, waving a hand in front of her face. This caused her to come back to reality. "Are you all right?"
"Hmm? Oh yeah. I'm fine. Never better," said Andy darkly.
"Andy what happened?" inquired Felicia.
"Nothing," she answered shaking her head, as she violently put the letter back into the envelop. "Just my mum being the melodramatic queen she is."
"You sure?" asked Karen.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Uh...you know actually," said Andy looking at her watch and getting up from the table, "I uh, I need to go and pick up something in Hogsmeade. I'll, uh, I'll see you gals later."
"Hey!" Said Lily trying to get Andy to stop. "Are you sure your okay? Do you want me to come along?"
"Andy shook her head in response. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to clear my head is all. I'll talk to you later." With a quick smile, Andy headed off and out of the Great Hall.
'Something is up with her,' thought Lily.
"Don't worry about her," said Felicia sensing what Lily was thinking. "She'll be fine."
As the day dwindled away, Lily tried to avoid James at all cost, and took sanctuary in the library. While in the library, she tried to keep her mind preoccupied with a number of different books; trying to forget all about her meeting with James. She thought about what had happened at breakfast with Andy and wondered what was in that letter. Lily then came to the conclusion that whatever was in the letter, Andy would tell her when she was ready.
When evening fell, Lily came to the conclusion that she couldn't put it off any longer and decided to head back to Gryffindor tower. As she neared the portrait of the Fat Lady, she wanted nothing more than to turn and run like the wind back the way she came.
"Well here goes nothing. At least I got my two best friends upstairs incase I need them," said Lily to herself before saying the password.
The common room was mostly deserted, which was unusual for a Saturday night. As she looked around, she saw James sitting on the couch staring into the fire lost in his thoughts. He looked up at her when he sensed someone moving closer to him. He quickly stood up when she was a few feet away and felt that familiar feeling in his stomach again when he looked at her in the firelight.
"Hi," said James quietly.
"Hello," replied Lily.
"I-I thought you wouldn't show," stuttered James.
"Yeah. Well I almost didn't. Sorry I'm so late," apologized Lily.
"It's fine." He motioned for her to take a seat on the couch and he followed suit.
"So...uh...what should we talk about?" asked James. Lily was wondering the same thing. In all the years she had known James, there was never really indication that they shared any of the same interest or had anything in common. Safe for the fact that they both didn't really like each other and that they use to torment each other with pranks. But that was before Lily decided to put things away and grow up.
"Well, I guess we could talk about where we came from or about our families," suggested Lily. James nodded in agreement, but didn't say anything at all.
"So, uh where are you from?" said Lily taking the initiative.
"Manchester originally. But my family and I just moved out to a country home just out side of Nottingham. You?" said James feeling a little stupid.
"Cambridge," said Lily simply.
There were a few more moments of awkward silence. To Lily, it seemed like trying to pull teeth, just to get James to even say more than a few words to her. James sat there in silence feeling he should say something, but didn't know what to say. There had been to much anger, pain, and damage between them from their years of pranking each other. In the back of both of their minds, they wondered if there was even a chance to even get through this evening. Not able to withstand another moment of silence, lily made another attempt to salvage this conversation.
"So...uh...what's your family like? Do you have a brother? Sister? Dog? Dragon that you unleash on the neighbor's children for your own enjoyment?" said Lily. She mentally slapped herself for letting her speak her mind freely.
James couldn't help but chuckle at her question. "You really think highly of me? Don't you, Evans?"
"Well with the way you act around here, I wouldn't be surprised if it were true," spat Lily, wondering what was getting into her.
"Why is it that whenever we get together, you are the one that seems to bring up the first insult?"
"I don not!" gasped Lily in shock. James merely scoffed at the idea as he leaned back farther into his seat.
"And even if it were true, it's only because you always seem so full of your self," said Lily.
"Some people admire that in people," said James raising his eyebrows.
"Why do I even bother," sighed Lily looking up to at the ceiling for some form of help. She started to get up but James tried to stop on Evans. I'm only kidding around. Don't be so serious all the time," chuckled James.
"See. That's the problem with us. Everything to you is a joke! You never take anything seriously," said Lily putting her hands on her hips.
"I do take things seriously. It's just I also know how to have fun in the process as well. Not everything has to be taken word of word. It's okay to have fun once in a great while."
"Are you saying I don't have fun?" said shocked Lily. James quickly closed his eyes and knew he walked into a trap.
"I didn't mean to say that you don't have fun. Of course you do. Everyone does in there own way. It's just..." stuttered James thinking he shouldn't finish his thought.
"Just what?"
"It's just...well...your definition of fun is...well...boring to others," said James. He could see her frustration rising up in her and saw her being to walk away.
"Look I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insult you or mistreat you. Why don't you come back and will pick up where we left off," suggested James.
"With what? You joking around and making fun of me?" said Lily coldly. She then started to head for the stairs to her room when she felt someone grab her hand and turn her around.
"I promise, I won't make any jokes or comments or anything that you may find offensive. I'll answer any questions you have and we'll try to work though this. I mean our grade depends on it, right?" Please Lily?" pleaded James.
For some unexplained reason, Lily found herself captivated by the color of James's eyes in the firelight. She could hear a slight tone of panic in his voice when he said her name and she felt something stir inside her. Lily stood there numbly as she stared into James's eyes, while he stared into her emerald ones. The two of them seemed lost for awhile, until Lily's mind began to function again. She nodded absentmindedly and allowed herself to slip from James's grasp. They headed back over to the fireplace, where Lily took her place back on the couch, but James opted to sit in his favorite comfy chair.
"So... you wanted to know about my family?" said James a little uncomfortably. Lily nodded.
"Well...there really isn't much to say. My dad works for the ministry as an auror, and my mum use to work in the department of magical mishaps, but she quit after she had me."
"What about siblings? Do you have a brother or sister?"
"I had a younger brother, but he died before he was born," said James. He looked on Lily, unsure of what she would say.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I-I didn't know," said Lily quietly.
"It's fine. I didn't really know about him until I was about six. He was a year younger than me."
"Oh," was all Lily could say. At this moment, Lily wished she hadn't said anything at all. There were a few moments of awkward silence between the two of them.
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," said Lily quietly.
"Why would you say that?" inquired James until it hit him. "Lily, I'm fine with talking about him. I mean I didn't really know him, so I don't really feel sad about not having him around any more. Besides, I kinda do have a brother anyway in Padfoot."
"Well that is true. You two are a couple of peas in a pod," said Lily with a half smile.
"So tell me about yourself Evans. What's it like to be Lily Evans outside of Hogwarts?" asked James taking his hands and clasping them together. Lily fought the urge to giggle at his appearance, but a small squeak escaped from her lips.
"Well...there really isn't much to say about myself. I live with my mum and dad, and my sister," said Lily casually.
"You have a sister? I didn't know that. What's she like?" said James with a raised eyebrow. He suddenly had a mental picture of someone looking and acting like Lily.
"Well she's nothing like me if that's what you are thinking. She's older than me, has blonde hair, and has the face of a horse," said Lily slightly angry. As images of Petunia ran through her brain, Lily was reminded of how horrible her sister had been to her.
James couldn't help but laugh at Lily's outburst. "Your kidding right?"
"Afraid not. She's also annoying, stuck up, nosy, mean, and...urgh!" growled Lily as she described her sister to James.
"I take it that you and her aren't on the best of terms are you?"
"How did you guess," said Lily sarcastically. She took her hands and rubbed her eyes in frustration as she tried to calm down a bit.
"She wasn't all bad, when we were younger. Petunia, my sister, she and I use to get along quite well. But when she started getting interested in clothes and makeup and stuff like that, we grew apart a bit. But for the most part we got along fine."
"So then what happened?"
"I got my letter from Hogwarts. Ever since I was little, strange things use to happen around me, but my family and I always thought it was just a coincidence. But when I got that letter, things just went south from there."
"Well what do you mean?" said James sitting a little more straight in his chair.
"Well...she constantly putting me down. Calling me a weirdo, or a nerd, or, my personal favorite...a freak. She just doesn't understand what I'm doing here. And I'm sick of it. I'm sick of all of it!" answered Lily as the anger she had been bottling up began to rise.
James remained sitting there staring at her. He'd never seen her get upset as she was now. Well he had to rethink that. He had seen her this upset before, only it wasn't her sister that caused it, it was him.
"You know you'd think that she'd grow up and get over it, but no," she continued as she got from the couch and began to pace back and forth in front of James. "And now that she has a boyfriend, they both like to take cracks at me. 'Oh look at the way she dresses. I guess that's the look for freaks now. Boy I'm sure glad I don't go to that school of hers.' And then of course there is always 'Gee Petunia, why does your sister always have her nose in a book. Does she actually believe that guys are going to find that attractive? Guys want a girl who will listen to them. Not ones that express there mind.' Ugh...I just wish she would just mind her own business. What does it matter if I read a lot or not? I just want to be left alone and to live my own life. But apparently that's too much to ask. I don't get any respect at home from my peers and I don't get any here either. I feel like a mouse caught in a maze and just scurrying around trying to please everyone and I can't take it anymore! I can't! I-I just can't," cried Lily as tears began to stream down her face.
Seeing her in so much pain, literally broke James's heart. At that moment James wanted nothing more than to take Lily's pain away, and to keep anyone that would treat her so horribly, away from her, while he took care of them. But if he were to do that, he would have to be the first one, since he had done practically everything to her that her sister had done.
'No wonder she hates me so much,' thought James.
"Hey, hey hey," said James comfortingly as he got up and began to rub Lily's arms. "It's okay Lily. Everything is going to be fine."
"No...it's not. I just can't deal with it anymore. I'm...j-just so tired of everything," sobbed Lily. As James continued to rub her arms, Lily slowly began to fall into him, until she was fully surrounded in James's arms.
"Shh...it's all right Lily. I've got you. You don't have think about them anymore. Just forget about them. Forget about everything else in the world and just concentrate on what you want for once," said James softly into her hair. As he held her, he started to feel different as he inhaled the aroma of her hair.
Lily began to calm down a bit, to hear James's words and was a little surprised at his tone. It sounded so soft and soothing to her as she was wrapped in his arms. His scent was so warm and appealing to her, she wondered why she had never noticed it before. She had a strange feeling of being content with the position she was in. Lily didn't want to this moment to end at all; neither did James.
After a few moments, Lily pulled away from James a bit to look up into his eyes. She felt lost again as she did before when she looked into those hazel eyes of his. She moved down a bit and noticed his lips, and how soft they looked.
James was doing the same thing, as he gazed at the parted buds on Lily's face. He was mesmerized by how pink they were and how cute they looked. But what he really wanted to know at that moment was what they felt like next to his lips. The two of them slowly began to lean into each other with their eyes partly closed. Inch by inch, their lips moved closer to one another, until only a breath was between them. James was about to lean more in to seel his lips over her's until...
"Oh come Lady. Have a heart. It was only a joke," said Sirius as he walked through the porthole.
Upon hearing his voice, Lily and James quickly jumped apart hoping that their situation would go unnoticed by Sirius.
"Oh...what's going on here?" said Sirius with an impish grin. As he walked through the door, he caught a glimpse of the two of them close together about to kiss.
"Uh...nothing," lied Lily. Her face began to turn a bright cherry red that also didn't go unnoticed by Sirius.
"Yeah, nothing really," agreed James. He could tell that his friend wasn't buying it so he quickly came up with a likely story.
"Lily, here was just telling me about her family. And we sort of stumbled onto a sore spot."
"Prongs, how could you, do that to the poor girl!" mocked Sirius.
"It wasn't his fault. Besides, it helps to talk about it. I'm better now anyways," said Lily.
"Right," said Sirius with a smirk.
"Uh so Padfoot, what did you want?" asked James eager to change the subject.
"Oh well...actually I was wondering if you two had seen Sparky. We were suppose to meet up to work our project."
"Uh, no not since this morning," said Lily realizing now that her friend had been missing all day. "She said she needed to go out and clear her head."
"Oh, huh," sighed Sirius finding it kinda odd. "Well alright then. I guess I'll be heading out for a late night snack, if she's not here. Prongs?"
"Nah, you go ahead. I'm getting kinda tired." said James, taking a glance at Lily
"Suit yourself," shrugged Sirius before disappearing through the portrait with a mischievous smirk.
"Well I guess we should be heading off to bed. It is getting late." said Lily as she looked at the clock.
"Yeah it is. But do you really want to do that?"
"Well...no," she answered looking him directly in the eyes. "I guess we could talk a little more if you want to?"
"Sure. So tell me about the muggle world," said James with a smile.
As Sirius left the common room, he decided against heading down toward the kitchens. Instead he headed up toward the Astronomy tower. He couldn't understand why he headed up there, but it felt like something or someone telling him to go up there.
'This is ridiculous, there is no one up there,' thought Sirius as he reached the base of the stairs that led up to the tower.
As he climbed the staircase, sure enough, as soon as he neared the top of the tower, he could hear someone outside singing some sad pathetic song. But as he continued to climb, he could also smell something rather odd. When he reached the top, he found Andy sitting with her back toward him on the ledge off the tower.
"Thought you would be up here," chuckled Sirius.
"Yeah...so I am," said Andy darkly without looking at him. He noticed her taking a sip out of a bottle that was in her hand. "What do you want?" spat Andy turning her head toward him.
"Oh my aren't we vicious this evening," joked Sirius as he came up next to Andy. At that moment, Andy pulled out a small silver container and pulled out a cigarette, which she then lite up
"What are you doing?" said a confused Sirius.
"What does it look like? I'm smoking a cigarette," she said offhandedly.
"Since when do you smoke?"
"Since this past summer." said Andy before she took a drag from her cigarette. She quickly finished her smoke and then took another sip of her drink. Sirius had a better look of the bottle now and saw that she was holding a bottle of firewiskey.
"And drinking firewhiskey?" said Sirius slightly amazed. 'What is up with his girl?'
"Hmm... the drinking I started this summer as well. But the firewhiskey I started tonight," said Andy with a slight grin. "What are you doing up here anyway?"
"Uh, well...I thought you should know that our little lovebirds are getting along quite well down in the common room," stated Sirius hoping the news would bring her out of this funk she was in.
"Hmm...love. Now there's a laugh," chuckled Andy as she took a swig from her bottle.
"What's love got to do with anything? All it ever does is cause you heartache and suffering," she added as she got up and began to walk along the edge of the tower. "Oh yeah, sure, people sing about it as it's the greatest thing in the world. 'Love is like oxygen.' 'Love is a many splendid thing.' 'Love lifts you up to where you belong.' Or my personal favorite...'All you need is love.' Ha! Love is a joke. Love bites. It stinks. It's a headache. Nothing good has ever come out of true love."
With that said Andy broke out into a fit of giggles. "Now that's the biggest laugh of them all. Heck even authors know love is a joke."
Sirius watched Andy closely as she began to sway back and forth on the ledge during her little performance. He had visions of her falling over, but was grateful when she finally jumped down onto the floor of the tower. He wondered what she was getting at and why she was acting like she was.
"Take Shakespeare for example," continued Andy as she topped off her bottle. "Romeo thinks his beloved Juliet is dead. So what does he do? He drinks poison, only it turns out that she's not dead at all. And what does she do when she sees him dead after she wakes up? She stabs herself in the heart! Oh yeah...nothing says 'i love you' like a knife through the heart. Oh yes love, is a tragedy. Nothing good really happens in real life! My parents are a prime example!" shouted a laughing Andy.
"Your parents?" asked Sirius with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh yes. See at the end of last year, they tell all four of their children that they had gotten a divorce a week before three of them came home from school, and that my mother was moving to France. Well since she wanted to spend some time with her children, in hopes that at least one of us would stay with her, we all went to Paris for the summer. But when we got there, I find my mother dating another man! But no just any man...GASTON!" said Andy in a mock French accent. "Another fellow designer. 'Oh don't worry, Miranda. I've just met him a few weeks ago. We've only been seeing each other for a week or so now." she said in a slightly high pitch tone, that Sirius assumed was suppose to be her mother's voice.
"Ha ha that's a laugh. Oh my perfectly saint mother thought she had us all fooled. But she didn't. She hadn't been seeing him for a week or two. She's been seeing him for seven months! Seven MONTHS!" screamed Andy. Sirius watched her as tears began to fall from her eyes. "S-She...she lied to me...to all of us for seven months. She'd been cheating on my father for seven months. She left him for another man! She left her family for him! She left me! She left me!" cried Andy. Her entire body began to shake uncontrollably and looked as if she were about to fall to the ground, before Sirius quickly went over to her and grabbed her.
"Hey. Hey shh. It's all right. It's all right now. Let it out. Just let it all out," said Sirius soothingly as he held her and stroked her hair comfortingly.
"How could a mother do that to her own children," sobbed Andy into Sirius's shirt.
"Maybe she wasn't happy with your dad."
"No," said Andy suddenly as she pulled out of Sirius's embrace to look him square in the face. "My father was wonderful to her."
"He may have been, but she might still not have been happy. I mean love is a simple emotion. It's people that are complicated."
Andy knew he was right, but she wouldn't let him know that. She wiped away some of her tears as she looked to the night sky for some sort of help or guidance. "I still don't understand why though."
"I guess that's just between your parents."
"I don't ever want to fall in love," said Andy quietly. She went over to the edge of the tower again, and sat down on the cold hard floor of the roof. "Love is blind, and also psychotic."
"Well, that's true for some," chuckled Sirius as he took a seat next to her. After a few moments of silence, Andy was suddenly hit with the realization of who she was actually talking too.
"Oh, this must be a real laugh for you. Seeing me all in distress and looking a mess. Well take a look at the perfect princess Sparky, with her perfect life ruined."
"Nah. I may be cruel sometimes but, I don't take pleasure in people's misery outside of school," said Sirius with a smirk.
"What do you know of misery?"
"Trust me. I've got my own family problems."
"Oh yeah. What? Broke a vase in mummy and daddy's house?"
"Something like that," said Sirius darkly. Andy gave him a confused look, and he knew that there was no way of getting out it. He had to tell her. "I uh...I ran away from home."
"You what?" said a shocked Andy. "When?"
"This summer."
"What happened?"
"Nothing really. I just couldn't deal with them anymore," shrugged Sirius.
"Who's them?" said Andy not understanding what he was talking about.
"My family. My mother, father, Reglus, aunts, uncles, you name it. Even the house elf was getting bad," stated Sirius. He took a deep breath of the night air before he continued on with his story. " For my entire life, it has been nothing but constant degrading and put downs, and...and...and..."
"And what?"
"How I'm nothing. That I'm a waste of existence. That...that I never should have been born."
"You shouldn't let your brother..."started Andy.
"It was my mother who said that." With that said, Andy wore a shocked face. She couldn't believe that a mother would do that to her own child. But from the look on Sirius's face, and the tone in his voice, she knew it was true.
"She told me that for sixteen years," continued Sirius. "Until finally I couldn't take it anymore. I got into a fight with my father about how I'm a failure to Black name. That I haven't lived up to my potential as the first born son of a Black. Then finally something just snapped. He tried using his wand on me, but I kicked it out of his hand and knocked him to the ground."
"Then what happened?"
"I ran. I ran upstairs to my room. I locked the door, packed up my things, and used my broom to fly out of there. I still can hear my mother and father beating down the door to get to me. The next thing I know, I'm flying from London to the country side to James's house. Since then, I've been staying with the Potters and they sort of took me in like another son."
"So that's why you act the way you do when I called you a mamma's boy. I'm sorry. I-I didn't know," stuttered Andy.
"Yeah, well a lot of people don't. The only other person that knows about me leaving home is Prongs. And now...so do you." Sirius watched Andy's face and saw that she was deep in thought as she allowed his words to sink in. "Don't feel sorry for me or anything."
"I wasn't really thinking that," said Andy quietly.
"Then what were you thinking of?"
"How brave you are," she said looking him directly in the eyes. Sirius gave her a confused look before she continued on. "Well I mean look at it. You spent your whole life trying to survive your family. Then finally you just end it all by leaving. Not very many people have the strength to do that. I think leaving your family was the best thing you could do."
"Thanks."
"Take a look at us, huh?" chuckled Sirius after a few moments of silence had passed. "Here we are two enemies telling each other our own personal problems. Kinda ironic huh?"
"Yeah," laughed Andy as she thought of the idea. "Funny really. If people could see us now."
The two of them laughed together as they thought about the idea. But after a few moments, both of them fell silent, not sure what to say now. Sirius noticed that Andy's right knee was touching his left leg and he suddenly felt this uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Andy looked up from her lap and locked eyes with Sirius. She never noticed just how light his eyes were in all the years they have known each other. To her it was the perfect combination of blue and grey that seemed to trap her as she felt world around her slowly disappear.
Sirius couldn't help but feel lost in Andy's blue eyes. They were still shining with tears from before, but that only seemed to bring the blue out more.
As the two of them continued to look at each other, both of them slowly began to lean closer to each other unconsciously. Sirius was so close to her now, he could smell the light fragrance of her perfume, hidden among the amount of liquor she had consumed tonight. Both slowly closed their eyes a bit until...
"HOOOOTT! HOOOT!"
At the sound of one of the school owls looking for a late night snake, Sirius and Andy quickly pulled away and wondered what had just happened. Or better yet...what would have happened.
"I uh, I guess it's getting kinda late," said Sirius suddenly.
"Yeah I guess so," said Andy. She really didn't want to head back inside just yet. At that moment, she wished it was still summer time and that she was back in Paris.
"Uh, gods I wish I go to a party or something. I just need to let loose, you know?" said Andy as she stretched out her back. "Just get away from school and forget about my problems for a bit."
"Yeah I know what you mean. I liked being able to go to pubs and stuff over the summer late at night. That is before I moved in with the Potter's," said Sirius. Andy looked at him as an idea popped into her head.
"You do?"
"Yeah. What are you thinking?" asked Sirius seeing a mischievous look form on her face.
"Well...nah. It's nothing."
"Spill it Sparky."
Andy glared at him, for calling her that, but continued on with what she was going to say. "Well...along with my mum's letter, I got a letter from my sister Jen, and she...well...Oh why am I even thing this. It's impossible."
"What is?" asked Sirius getting very curious, as to what her idea is.
"Well...over the summer, Jen and I found this brilliant club in Paris that for wizards. Pure and muggle borns. Anyway, she was telling me how she went there last weekend with her friends and how much fun she had."
"Let me guess. You want to go?"
"I know it's ridiculous and crazy, and stupid really. I mean how can I even get there when I'm here at Hogwarts," chuckled Andy.
"That's true. But this club. What's it like?"
"It's pretty wicked. They've got great music and three different floors of dancing. And on each floor there is a bar, and the bartenders don't even card you."
"Sounds pretty good," said Sirius thinking it over. Andy got the impression that he wanted to go, but there had to be something in it for him. Or better yet, something there that would get him to go.
"It is. But there is also a room, where guys or girls can go in and watch whatever Quidditch match is on. And there are some really pretty girls there that were these outfits that are unlike anything you have ever seen."
"What do they look like dragons or something?"
"Not exactly. Let's just say that some of the outfits I've seen leave little to the imagination if you get what I mean," said Andy with a smirk.
With that said, Sirius's face lit up with the idea of seeing half naked french girls dance around him.
"Okay I'm in."
"Well that's great that you want to go. But like I said. It's in Paris and we are here in Hogwarts. Hence the problem," said Andy.
"Yeah. That is a problem. But what if I had a way of getting us there?"
"I'm listening," said Andy curious as to what he was getting at.
"Hmm...not yet," said Sirius acting as if he would tell her.
"Fine then. I'll just find a way there myself," said Andy in a matter of fact tone.
"Yeah right," laughed Sirius. "Like you can find a way to get from here all the way to Paris."
"You can do a lot of things if you put your mind to it. Besides, how do I know you even know a way of getting there?" asked Andy with a raised eyebrow.
"Trust me," said Sirius smugly. "I have a way."
"And it's legal?"
"Well...no. Not entirely. It really all depends on how you look at it," stated Sirius. Andy merely sneered at his remark and rolled her eyes. 'Should have know.'
"Come on, what have you got to loose?" asked Sirius with a smile. He could see Andy was weighing her options. She really did want to go and have a good time at her favorite summer past time. But was she willing to risk taking Sirius along as well. Or better yet, possibly putting her own life in danger?
"Okay fine. I'll supply the fun if you can get the transportation. I'll owl Jen to find out when all the fun really happens. That should give you enough time to cover your tracks," said Andy.
"Oh the lady thinks so highly of me," said Sirius sarcastically.
"Whatever," sighed Andy as she began to get up. Half way up, she began to feel woozy and started to fall back to the ground. Sirius quickly got up and helped her up the rest of the way.
"Whoa, take it easy there, Sparky," he said. "Here let me help you out." With that, he pulled out his wand and muttered a spell that helped clear Andy's fogginess.
"Thanks. Where did you learn that?"
"Over the summer. You know your not the only one who's gone on a drinking binge over the summer holiday," said Sirius with a smirk.
Within a couple of minutes, the two of them found themselves standing out side the portrait of the fat lady in the early morning hours. They woke the fat lady up and mutter the password before they quietly entered the common room. When the got in, they found the room still lite up by the fireplace. But what really took them by surprise was seeing James take a blanket off the back of the couch and cover up a sleeping Lily.
"Goodnight Lily. Sweet dreams," murmured James softly into Lily's hair. With that, he quietly left the common room and headed up to his room, unaware that Sirius and Andy had just seen what he did.
The two of them wore identical smirks as they bid each other goodnight and headed off to their rooms.
Disclaimer: It's all J.K. Rowling. I only own this story and the characters I made up.