Author's Note:
1. This is two weeks from the Whomping Willow - I didn't feel as if that was clear enough.
2. Apparently the British do have "cookies" and not just "biscuits". Who knew? Not me until I did some research.
"Have some cookies," said Lily unceremoniously as she thrust a container of them into James' hands.
"Er, what?" he looked up at her confusedly from his seat on the common room couch.
"You look miserable. You've looked miserable for over a week so I baked you some cookies. Now eat them and stop being miserable."
"Alright..." James gingerly placed the latest Puddlemere United catalog on the table and picked up a cookie.
"Good," Lily sighed and sunk into the couch beside him.
"You're mental, y'know that?"
"And you need a cookie," she took one for herself.
"Why exactly do I need a cookie? Not that I don't appreciate them."
"Because all of this moping of yours is creeping everyone out," Lily replied. "You've been so quiet lately. It just seems wrong. Not to mention that you've barely eaten anything all week."
"How d'you know?" James raised an eyebrow, heart skipping a beat when a blush crossed Lily's features.
"I was worried about you," she shrugged. "And Remus and Peter. You all just seem so down."
"I'm sure you could just talk to him," she prodded gently when he didn't respond. "Obviously you miss each other."
"I haven't been moping," James argued.
"Oh, really?" Lily tried to fight off her annoyance, though she couldn't keep the disdain out of her voice. "Is that why you're sitting all alone in the common room reading that catalog for the third bloody time this week? I get it, whatever Sirius did was obviously awful for you all to be so angry. But it's been two weeks! All you're doing by not speaking to him is punishing yourself."
"You don't know what you're talking about," said James darkly. "Maybe I was wrong about him after all. I thought he was good but what he did - that wasn't good. It's something I'd expect of a bloody death eater, not my best mate."
"People aren't just bad or good, James! They're allowed to make mistakes."
"So what then? I stay his friend and make excuses for him until he finally goes too far? You already tried that once and look where it got you."
Without thinking, Lily reached out and slapped James across the face. She'd been worried about James and obviously couldn't admit that she knew what had happened - admitting that she knew Remus' secret or that she'd been eavesdropping wouldn't have gone over well. But she'd never expected her to respond like this. How dare he throw her failed friendship with Severus in her face that way?
"I can't believe you," she snapped, snatching the container of cookies from his grasp. "You think you know everything, don't you?"
"I'm not the one running about telling people how to solve problems that don't concern me! You're the one who thinks you know everything! You can't fix this, Evans!" James called after her as she stomped towards the portrait hole.
"Watch me," she responded darkly, slinging the portrait hole open in the process.
Sirius thought he heard a door slam as he silently put his clothes back on, avoiding eye contact with Priscilla Rowle in a deserted classroom down the corridor. He'd never have thought his first time shagging would be with a pug-faced Slytherin but then again, he'd also never have thought his mates wouldn't be speaking to him.
At least the rest of her is fit, he appraised as she pulled her skirt back up her legs.
"We should do this again," she gave him a quick kiss before picking up her school bag and leaving the room. Sirius wondered whether that would actually happen. This was precisely why he'd never gone so far before - no reason to hurt the bird when he moved on. Though Priscilla certainly didn't seemed to care, she'd been the one urging him to go farther. If rumors were true, she was precisely the type of girl who wouldn't mind if Sirius shagged her and chucked her.
Sighing, he gathered his things and began walking toward Gryffindor Tower. He felt dirty, shagging someone he didn't care about. It had been nice in the moment, being able to push everything else from his mind and focus solely on the physical. Now it was much less nice, just one more example of his selfishness. span style="font-style: oblique;"The Black ancestors would be proud,/span he thought disgustedly, so entrenched in his reflections that he didn't even notice Lily in the corridor until she walked straight into him.
"I'm sorry," she said quickly, though her tone seemed more annoyed than anything.
"S'alright," Sirius replied, handing her the bag that she'd dropped.
"Oh!" Lily cried, reaching into the bag. "I have cookies for you."
"Cookies?"
"Yes," she rolled her eyes. "You're obviously miserable. Have James' as well, that prat certainly deserve them."
""What do you mean?" Sirius asked, now holding two containers of the sweets.
"I made him cookies too - he's as miserable as you are, of course. I tried to talk to him about the whole thing but apparently it 'doesn't concern me' and I 'think I know everything.' I do not think I know what's best for everyone!" Sirius didn't necessarily agree with that - he'd certainly seen Lily pushing plenty of cold remedies on Remus and trying to force Mary to follow study schedules - but he knew better than to argue.
"Alright, so maybe I like to help people," she continued. "But that'sa positive thing! It's certainly better than being an arrogant toerag who thinks he's always right!"
"Er..." Sirius was starting to feel very uncomfortable.
"If you two would just talk about things, everything would be fine," Lily prodded. "I know the boys all miss you as much as you miss them."
"That's not going to work," he argued, wishing they could talk about something else. "They don't need to be saddled with something like me."
"That's rubbish," Lily rolled her eyes. "No one's saddled with you."
"I dunno," Sirius ran a hand through his hair, the action reminding him of James. "I have been spending Christmas hols at James' the last few years. Maybe it's time that I leave him alone."
"Don't be ridiculous," said Lily. "You're brilliant. Don't let one mistake cause you to forget that."
"Thanks, Li-"
"I'm brilliant!" she cried.
"Er, what?" asked Sirius.
"You're don't have anyone to pal around with in Hogsmeade tomorrow, do you?"
"I was thinking of staying in the castle," he replied, confused by the abrupt change of subject.
"No! You can't do that. Come with me. It'll be wonderful," Lily gushed, making Sirius very nervous. As much as he enjoyed her company, he certainly didn't think of her that way. He also saw no reason to make James more cross with him than he already was."
"Er..." he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Listen, Evans, it's not that I don't want to go with you. You really are brilliant. I just think of you in more of a friend sort of way."
"Sirius, you dolt," she smacked his arm. "I'm not asking you on a date! Just come as my mate, would you? The girls all have dates anyway and I don't particularly feel like being a third wheel to any of them."
"Oh," he let out a sigh of relief. "Sure thing."
"Brilliant."
"Are you headed back to the Tower? I'll walk with you."
"Oh," it seemed to be Lily's turn to feel awkward. "I have to head to the Owlery actually. Letter to send. Just meet me in the Great Hall at 11am tomorrow morning!"
"Er... right," said Sirius, though Lily barely heard him. She walked quickly to the Owlery, glad that he hadn't insisted on accompanying her. Surely, her plan had to work. Sirius just needed to be reminded of who he was - who he really was.
"So, where d'you want to go?" Sirius asked awkwardly the next morning as the pair exited their carriage. He caught James sending an annoyed look their way but chose to ignore it, though he did notice Lily checking her watch before answering.
"Zonko's?" she offered. "I know you love that place."
"But you don't," he pointed out. "Why not Honeyduke's? I know how you are about your chocolate."
"There will be plenty of time for me to - I mean, for us to go there later."
"Right..." Sirius cocked an eyebrow. Since when did Lily Evans turn down sweets? "Three Broomsticks? I could do with a butterbeer."
"Not yet!" Lily cried, causing passerby to stare at them. "Let's just... go to the apothecary. There are some Potions supplies I need to stock up on."
It seemed to Sirius, however, that Lily didn't actually need much of anything. Most of their time in J. Pippin's Potions was spent browsing idly while Lily checked her watch. In fact, she jumped up at 11:45 and announced her desire for a butterbeer without even making a single purchase in the small shop. Sirius had been the mastermind behind enough schemes to know - Lily was definitely up to something.
"So why exactly did we need to be in the Three Broomsticks at noon?" he asked casually as Madam Rosmerta brought their drinks.
"Just hoping to run into a friend of mine," she answered airily, eyes darting to the door.
"If you're just trying to see some bloke you fancy, it's really alright," Sirius said, though a small part of him admitted that he'd be very lonely the rest of the afternoon without her. "You don't have to babysit me, Evans."
"That's definitely not it," she laughed - Sirius noted that it was her real laugh, not her 'pretending not to care' laugh. He was preparing to question his friend further when an all-too-familiar voice called out across the bar.
"Sirius!"
"What is Mr. Potter doing here?" Sirius hissed. Lily had the sense to look abashed.
"Oh, that's Mr. Potter? What a funny coincidence," she shrugged unconvincingly. "I wonder what he's doing here."
"And you must be Lily!" cried Mr. Potter excitedly, exposing Lily's feeble lie rather quickly. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"You too, Mr. Potter," she avoided Sirius' eye contact while shaking the elderly man's hand.
" Call me Fleamont," he laughed. "Or Monty. That's what Sirius here calls me - still haven't been able to convince him that Dad works just fine."
"Er, right," Lily glanced nervously between the two. "Well, I'm just going to head to Honeyduke's. You two should catch up. Bye!" She was already out of her chair before saying the last word.
"I expect some chocolate frogs, Evans!" shouted Sirius, eliciting nothing more than a wave from the redhead as she scurried out of the door.
"Sweet girl," Fleamont sighed as he sunk in the recently vacated chair. "Must be concerned for you to write to someone she hasn't even met and arrange this little chat."
"I don't know what she'd be concerned about. Must be going mental."
"So I'm to assume that Albus Dumbledore is mental as well?" Fleamont raised an eyebrow. "I may be old, son, but I'm not senile yet."
Sirius flinched inwardly at the word 'son', fiddling with his wrist where his watch should be.
"In fact," Fleamont continued, glancing quickly at Sirius' wrist. "Albus seems to think you still stand a chance of being saved. Of course, Euphemia and I disagree."
"What?" Sirius could feel his stomach dropping to the floor. He shouldn't have had that butterbeer - it was surely going to come back up any minute now. He'd always known he didn't deserve the Potters but to be told as much, and to be told so matter of factly... Sirius felt the watch sitting in his pocket. He hadn't been able to bring himself to leave it in the dormitory but surely he'd have to return it now.
"Er, right," he was determined not to show how upset he was. "So, er, that's-"
"See, Albus means well," Fleamont continued as if Sirius weren't coming apart right in front of him. "He just has a tendency to see people more as chess pieces than as individuals. It comes in handy, make no mistake about that, but there are times that he overlooks certain things. He looks at you and worries about your upbringing, about what you may become in the future. Euphemia and I? We're not worried a tad about that. You've never had a single dark bone in your body and I find it highly unlikely that one would choose to materialize now."
"But what I did - didn't Dumbledore tell you-?"
"Albus told me nothing and I didn't ask," Mr. Potter patted Sirius' hand. "I don't need to know what happened. I know you. The only reason that I even know you're being punished is because I contacted Albus myself."
"Why?" Sirius asked.
"Two weeks in a row without your Monday letters, Sirius? That would've been indication enough that something was wrong - Euphemia was certain that you were in Saint Mungo's and that no one had bothered to notify us. James didn't send any either but that is typical of him so it wasn't as worrisome. But when I contacted Albus and found out that you weren't playing Quidditch anymore, Euphemia was in a right state. I had to slip her a Calming Draught to stop her from flooing directly into the castle to set things straight herself. She's only giving me the chance today because we received that letter from Ms. Evans, inviting me to meet you here."
"Mrs. Potter was that worried?" Sirius had forgotten in the past two weeks what it felt like to have people feel that much concern. He certainly hadn't expected for them to miss his letters.
"Of course she was," Mr. Potter looked at him strangely. "We love you. Whatever you did, it doesn't define who you are." Bloody hell, Sirius could feel tears at the back of his eyes. Where did all of this crying come from?
"But what if you're wrong?" he couldn't help but ask. "Maybe I am just like the rest of the Blacks. I might as well go join the Knights of Walburgis now."
"The world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters, Sirius," the elderly man shook his head sadly. "Surely you know that."
"Death Eaters?" Sirius asked, momentarily distracted.
"That's what they're calling themselves now," Fleamont shrugged. "Seems a bit idiotic to me but at least it's honest. Those pureblood maniacs aren't the lords of anything."
"Right," Sirius chuckled, picturing Orion Black turning over in his grave at the comment.
"I only have one question," said Fleamont. "Where is James in all of this? Where are Peter and Remus? Surely they were involved in this whole kerfuffle somehow."
"They aren't speaking to me," Sirius mumbled. Surely, once Mr. Potter realized that his own son wasn't speaking to him, he would realize how awful Sirius truly was.
"They will," Fleamont said confidently. "James knows a good mate when he sees one. And if he doesn't, let me know and I'll kick his arse. Don't worry about him. The only thing you should be concerned about his writing a nice lengthy letter to Euphemia as soon as you get back to the castle."
"Yes, sir," Sirius agreed.
"Splendid. Because if you don't, she'll kick all three of our arses and I'd rather prefer to avoid that."/
"Yes, sir. I will."
"Good," Fleamont stood to leave. "I need to run over to the apothecary shop and pick up a few things before getting back to my brewing. I will see you when term ends - that is non-negotiable."
Sirius nodded.
"Oh, and Sirius?" Fleamont stopped once more by the door. "That watch would look much better on your wrist than in your pocket."
Gingerly, Sirius took the watch out and put it back on as a small smile played across his lips. He really did feel much more secure with it than without. As much as he hated to admit when Lily was right, she'd certainly known exactly what he needed./
"C'mon," he left some coins on the table and waved Lily out of her hiding spot by the window. "I know you were spying on that whole thing. You deserve some of that dark chocolate nonsense you're always raving about."
"Told you I was brilliant," Lily looped her arm through his. Though Sirius may not admit it, he definitely felt like agreeing.
Please let me know what you think! This went through a LOT of editing and I'm still not 100% happy. The James/Lily argument wasn't even planned - it just sort of happened while I was writing and felt right once it was there.