Chapter 8

           Confusing Lily

"So what'd she say about the date?"  James asked Lily's friends anxiously in the common room the next morning.

Jessie bit her lip.  "Well, she said that she had a LOT of fun and that Adrian's a really great guy."

"Ergh!" James ruffled his hair. "Did she say she was going out with him again?"

"Well we asked, but she said she didn't know." Cara said.

"We think she's hiding something or she's gone off her rocker." spoke up Shayne.

"Gone off her rocker? Why?" asked Sirius.

"When she came in last night, she was practically bouncing off the walls."

"Yeah, she got all dramatic when I said Madeline went off with Remus." said Cara.

"Whoa!!" exclaimed Sirius.  "Moony's got a girlfriend and he didn't tell us?!"

"It would seem that way." Peter said.

"Let's go wake him up!!"

"Can we do that later?" James asked. "I'd like to find out about Lily's—"

"Lily's what, precisely?" interrupted Lily, causing James to jump about a foot in the air.  "James wouldn't happen to be nosing in my affairs again, would he?"

"Er, no, no, no.  Not at all, Lily." James attempted a charming smile.

"Then what, pray tell, were you doing?"

"I was, er, that is to say, I..."  James stammered.

*

Sirius leaned over to Shayne. "Prongs is so dead."

"Who?  Oh, James?" She laughed quietly so as not to attract Lily's attention.  "Yeah, I don't see how he's going to get out of this one."

Jessie peered over at James who was still trying to come up with an excuse. "Shouldn't we try to help him?"

Peter gave Jessie a look.  "And have Lily come after us when we can't come up with a good excuse?"

Jessie nodded.  "Good point."

"But its good entertainment!" spoke up Sirius.

*

Over by the couch, James had given up on finding a decent excuse.  "It's none of your business."

"I should say it is!" exclaimed Lily.  "You were talking about me!"

"So?"

"So you should tell me!"

"Fine! You want to know?  I'll tell you."

Lily was slightly taken aback by his sudden change of mind but carried on as usual.  "Fine.  Then tell me."

"Because I wanted to know how your date with Adrian went."  James said in a low voice, bringing his face close to Lily's.

Lily fought her natural instinct to step back as it would have shown weakness and forced herself to look him in the eyes.  "Why would you care how the date went?" she asked.

"I..."  Shit, James thought.  Why did I tell her that?

"Well?"  Lily persisted.  Why the hell did he want to know how the date went? Unless he wants to be proven right about Adrian? That's it!  "Is this about Adrian?"

James' jaw dropped.  Thanks, Lily, he thought. That's an easier way out.  "Yeah. Yeah, it's about Adrian."

Lily arched an eyebrow.  "What does Adrian have to do with this?"  she asked dangerously.

So much for an easier way out. "He's gay."

Lily clutched at her face with her hand.  "So why would that bother you?"

"Because normally, girls don't go out with gay guys."

"And what makes you think he's gay?"

"He just is.  Do I have to have a reason?"

"Yes!  If you're going to be making conclusions about someone, it's best you have proof!"

"Proof?"

"Yes!"  Is he stupid? "Proof!  Definition: The evidence or argument that compels the mind to accept an assertion as true!"  exclaimed Lily.

"What did you swallow a dictionary or something?"  shot out James.

"No, it was a vocabulary word when I was in elementary school.  For some strange reason, I remember it."  Lily shook her head.  "Anyway, you never answered my question."

"What question?"

Lily tugged at a handful of hair in agitation.  "Let's start over."

James raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "Why?"

"Because you confuse me."

"Good."

Lily shot him a dirty look. "Why do you care about how my date went?"  she asked slowly.

"Because Adrian's gay."

"How do you know?"

"Sirius told me."

Sirius looked up at the sound of his name.  Why was James bringing him into this?  James shot him a pleading look.  "Help me." he mouthed.

"He, er, hit on me."  Sirius said, turning red.

"What?"  Lily was sure her jaw was scraping the floor.

Sirius turned redder.  "Yeah."

James was shocked as well.  "Are you serious?"

Sirius grinned, recovering a little.  "Last I checked."

"No, you know what I mean. Are you telling the truth?"

Sirius flushed again.  "Yeah."

"No way."

"Yes way."

James ran a hand through his hair.  "Dude.  That sucks."

Sirius nodded a little.  "Tell me about it."

"Why didn't you tell us before?" asked Peter.

"Because I would have rather kept it quiet.  Most straight guys aren't about to scream to the world that they were hit on by a gay guy."

"Ah." 

Lily cleared her throat.  "As life-scarring as that is, I'm sure Sirius will get over it eventually.  For now, can we get back to the question at hand?"

James looked at her, confused. "What question?"

"Ergh!" cried Lily.  "Do you have any short-term memory?"

James thought for a second.  "Nope!"

Lily sighed.  "Fine.  Forget about it."  She turned and stalked out the portrait hole.

*

James let out a sigh of relief.  "Man, I'm good."

Jessie rolled her eyes and stood up.  "C'mon girls, let's go check on Lily."

As the girls left, Peter turned to Sirius.  "Were you actually serio-honest about Adrian hitting on you or did you just make it up to help James out?"

"Sadly, it's the truth."

"Ah."

Just then, the portrait hole opened and Madeline and Remus came through.  "Moony, old pal!!  There you are!"  exclaimed Sirius, leaping up to give him a bear hug.  "We were so worried! Don't you ever do that  to us again!"

"Where were you guys?" asked James curiously.

"You missed the action." said Peter.  "Prongs just single-handedly saved himself from the wrath of Lily."

"Nice job, Prongs." choked out Remus.  "Now, if Padfoot would kindly let go of me, I can resume breathing."

Sirius let go of Remus who instantly began massaging his neck with his free hand.  (His other hand was holding Madeline's.)

"How did you do that, Prongs?" Remus asked.

"Pretended I had no idea what she was talking about." James said proudly.  "Eventually she got frustrated and left."

"James!" exclaimed Madeline.  "That's not very nice.  What was she trying to find out?"

"Why I was trying to find out about her date last night."

"She had every right to do that, James." chided Madeline.  "You would have saved yourself a lot of trouble in the future if you had just answered her straight up."

"But what was I supposed to say?" asked James.

"The truth would have been nice."  Madeline said.

"I can't just tell her I like her!!" he exclaimed in agitation.

"Why not?"

"Because...because...because she'd laugh.  Or hit me or something."

"She wouldn't laugh."  Madeline said, with conviction.

James made a face.  "Does she like me?"

"I-I don't know."  Madeline said.  "She's never said anything about it."

"Then I see no reason as to why I should tell her."

Madeline shrugged.  "Okay.  Don't tell her yet.  I'll see what I can do."

*alright, sorry it's so short, but I have massive writer's block and that's the best I could squeeze out. ::sighs::  I'll try to do better next time.  Anyway, you know the drill: read, review, review, review, review, if you want to be updated when I change things, leave your email, and if you can help me get a livejournal, let me know! Merci!*