Written For:
Quidditch Fanfiction League Competition: Caerphilly Catapults - Round 6 - Keeper
Write about any kind of relationship between Sirius and Lily, whether it's romantic, platonic, negative, positive, etc.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry: A Study of Magical Objects Task 2 - Write about someone showing acceptance (restriction: the character can't be a Hufflepuff)
Warning for onesided JamesLily and onesided SiriusJames
Betas: CupCakeyyy, S L Blake, NevilleGonnaGiveYouUp
And thank you to NevilleGonnaGiveYouUp for the title suggestion. Much better than what I was going to use.
Never Say Never
Sirius frowned when Professor McGonagall announced the partnerships. It wasn't that his partner was particularly bad—He was sure he'd get an O on the project—but he barely ever spoke to Evans. All he knew about her was what James always said, and he couldn't really trust his best friend's love-filled ramblings.
He looked across the aisle and didn't miss Evans scrunching up her nose and making a face of distaste.
Although Sirius wasn't ecstatic about the partnership, Evans must have been even less than elated. It was going to be a long two weeks.
Sirius looked to his left and James' forlorn expression was easy to read. "Mate, if it was allowed, I'd happily switch with you. Moony would be a great partner."
"I know. Just…" James hesitated.
"Just what?" Sirius asked in curiosity.
"You know I love you like a brother, Padfoot, right?"
"...Yeeeees," Sirius dragged out. His stomach had been in knots when James used the word 'love' but when he tacked on 'brother,' the disappointment washed over him.
"Well, the thing is, I know how hard you can be to deal with. Especially with someone that isn't afraid to fight back. You're my best friend, and Lily is the girl I want to marry one day. You're two of the most important people in my life, and I would very much like the two of you to get along."
"I'll try," Sirius promised. "Evans and I have never really talked, but I'll play nice. I just hope she can be nice, as well. You might be able to ignore it, but I'm not going to let her call me a toerag or any other name she might come up with."
James clapped a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "Just try. That's all I'm asking."
X
"Okay, this is what we're going to do," Lily began in a voice that already had Sirius' hackles raised. "Once we pick the topic, you can gather the textbooks and pull out some of the references. I'll double-check to make sure they're suitable for what we want, and once I check off on it, I'll take care of the writing. All in all, it shouldn't take long."
Sirius frowned and raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Do you think I'm slow or just stupid?"
Lily opened her mouth, but it snapped shut before she said anything. For once, she seemed at a loss for words.
"You're acting like if I do any real work, I'll ruin your perfect Transfiguration grade. I happen to get almost all O's in Transfiguration."
Lily had the good grace to look embarrassed. "I just assumed—"
"You assumed that just because I like to have fun, and I don't always have my head buried in a book that I'm an idiot that doesn't know what an O looks like. The only subject that I get anything less than an E in is History of Magic but who can stay awake during Binn's lectures? You should get off of your high horse and take that stick out of your arse."
Lily blinked. "It's not very often I hear Muggle sayings at Hogwarts, especially from a pure-blood." She took a deep breath. "You're right, though, and I'm sorry. I judged you when I've never really talked to you in the past. I should know better than to judge a book by its cover."
Sirius crossed his arms. He didn't want to forgive her, but he had promised James that he'd try to get along with 'the love of his life.' "Fine, apology accepted. Are you ready to actually figure out what the project is going to be about and do some real work on it?"
Lily nodded. "Do you have any ideas about what you want the project to be about?
Sirius grinned. "Human transformation. With a particular emphasis on Animagi."
X
When they both dropped their guards and actually got to work, they found that they made a good team. They bounced ideas off of each other, and neither one did more work than the other.
Sirius could admit that he might have been silently judging Lily despite his promise to be nice, and she wasn't all that bad. She tended to be a little more studious than him, but she did seem to know how to crack a smile and have fun when she wasn't expecting the worst. She wasn't as uptight and proper as he thought.
Still, he didn't think he'd ever be able to find it in himself to be friends with Lily. He couldn't help the slight dislike, and it wasn't even Lily's fault.
And two days later, when Lily finished reading over their finished essay, she called him out on his innate dislike. "You don't like me."
Sirius didn't back down. He didn't make excuses. He owed her honesty. "No, I don't."
"I didn't like you before I even knew you, and I admitted I had been wrong to judge you. Why don't you like me?"
"It's not you. It's me."
She tilted her head and brushed a long strand of auburn hair off of her shoulder.
He tried to not notice how pretty she was. It wasn't hard to see why James was infatuated with her.
"Wow. I'm getting the breakup statement from someone I'm not even dating. That must be a first."
Sirius opened his mouth to respond but was halted by a whirlwind known as his best friend.
James sat down at the library table with them. "How are my two favorite people in this world doing?"
Lily glared at him. "Wishing you hadn't invited yourself to our table."
James's smile wavered, but he forcibly kept it plastered on his face. It looked almost manic when he turned to Sirius. "Padfoot, everything alright with you?"
Sirius' heart rate gave a jump at being the sole focus of James' attention, even if it was only for a second. "Yeah, everything is fine, Prongs." He stood up. "We've actually just finished the essay." He shoved his textbook into his bag. "I'm going to go find Moony and Wormtail."
He didn't turn back as he practically ran from the library. The last thing he wanted to see was James turn his megawatt grin back onto Lily and watch the flirting commence.
X
He should have known Lily wouldn't let what he said be the end of it. She cornered him when he was coming out of the loo. She must have been watching, waiting for him to be alone.
"I know why you don't like me," she stated with utmost certainty.
He began sweating, but he did his best to play it off like she was out of her mind. "I really doubt it," he said, attempting to brush past her so he could escape her unwavering gaze.
"You're in love with James." It was said quietly. There wasn't a question in her voice. She knew she was right, and she was letting him know that she knew.
He stopped dead in his tracks, his spine stiff. He knew there was no point in lying. If there had been any doubt in her voice, even a minuscule bit of doubt, he would have tried lying, but she was 100% right, and she knew it. "Please don't tell him," he begged.
"I'm not going to," she promised.
Sirius' shoulders slumped in relief.
She continued, "But I think you should."
Sirius shook his head. "I know James will never see me in that way. We're best friends, brothers. I've accepted that. It's just hard to see how he is with you. I've accepted my place in his life, but it doesn't make it any easier to see him try to win you over."
Lily's eyes were soft. "I understand that. I just… I liked hanging out with you. I think we could be good friends. It's sad that it will never happen because of James' crush on me."
"Never say never. I just need a little more time. Let's take it one step at a time."
"Maybe we can do our Transfiguration homework together. I think I could definitely learn a little bit from you."
He could do that. As long as James wasn't around to drool over Lily, Sirius was sure he'd have a good time studying with her. He nodded. "Let's do it. You'll be my study partner for Transfiguration."
She smiled. "Can't wait." And she looked like she actually meant it.
XX
(word count: 1,405)