AN: This is probably my most… diverse story I'll ever write. It's pretty simple and straightforward, rated R for obvious reasons. There's a bit of strong language in this chapter, and it mentions sexual themes. So yeah… don't read it if you're uncomfortable about it, and don't say I didn't warn you. So there's your warning. I'm still working avidly on Emerald Eyes, so don't think I've given up on it. This will be a really short story – I'm hoping 12 chapters or… less, or a few more. It's just a mini-story that hit me just this afternoon and decided to just start writing. I hope you enjoy it and accept it as being a bit more offbeat than most of my stories.
Happy reading,
IceAmethyst
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The cold January wind blew harshly against two figures huddled in the Hogwarts courtyard; it was routine to skip out on Charms class for a quick smoke almost weekly. Lily Evan's hands shook from the cold as she grated a match against the strip of flint on a cheesy cardboard matchbook from some strip club. Pearly pink nail polish that seemed almost too innocent for her was chipping off her fingernails, and her nimble fingers quickly ignited the match and lit the cigarette she held loosely between her painted lips. She cupped the sputtering match in her small hands and held the light out to her friend, Andrea (Andy, for short). Lily felt her shaky nerves all settle when she took a long, relieving drag from the cigarette. She exhaled and gray smoke snaked unattractively from her nose and mouth.
"God. I needed that. McGonagall's test kicked my ass," Andy said, flicking some ashes off the end of her cigarette.
"It wasn't that hard." Lily had a knack for Transfiguration.
"Whatever. Not all of us can have brains and beauty," Andy said with a delicate sniff. She took one last, long drag of her cigarette and flicked it away, watching it fizzle out in the snow beneath her boots. Lily took another inhale of hers as well, holding it elegantly between her first and second fingers. She took it out of her mouth and waved some of the ashes off. She could see the red lipstick she was wearing on the immaculate whiteness of the cigarette.
Lily rolled her eyes at Andy's comment, and mimicked what she'd done with her cigarette, pushing some more snow over hers, as if to make it harder to detect. Andy wasn't some ugly hag to look at: shoulder-length strawberry blonde hair, hazel eyes, freckles along the bridge of her nose. Not exactly a sight for sore eyes.
Lily looked down at the watch she'd lifted from Gladrags in Hogsmeade. Her best steal: diamond-studded, real leather. It was her pride and joy. The delicate hour hand pointed to 4:55, five more minutes before the Charms class was over. "We'd better get back."
Andy rolled her eyes. "What's the point? We've got dinner next."
"Someone's going to come out looking for us. They know where we go," Lily pointed out, pocketing her matchbook.
"So why don't they come stop us?" Andy responded.
Lily didn't say anything, but wrapped her cloak around her tighter and she turned back towards the castle. It was a dark, dreary day. She could almost smell the rain in the air.
"Quidditch practice later?" she commented airily.
"Doubt it," Andy replied, walking side by side with her.
"Pity."
"Still hot for Hopkins?" Andy asked, almost accusingly.
"What's it to you?" Lily said, a bit too harshly.
"You were the talk of the school for at least two weeks – bad move to pine after Holy Hopkins," Andy said acidly.
"I thought I had him, ok?" Lily said angrily, kicking snow in her path.
"First rule: never assume," Andy wisely quoted.
"Yeah, well, you're just jealous because you didn't even get close to nabbing Sirius Black. And he likes sex more than Quidditch," Lily shot back.
She knew she'd taken it a step too far when she saw a flicker of pain flash in her friend's hazel eyes, before they took on their glazed, cold look once more. "It's that stupid bitch, Alanna. She turns those stupid fucking doe eyes on a guy and their spines melt. Fucking disgusting."
"He's not even shagging Alanna – is he?"
"Walked right in on them. Shagging right in an empty classroom – we were doing that in what, fourth year? How fucking juvenile is that? Black's got the best equipment I've ever laid eyes on, though…" Andy got that wistful look in her eyes she only got when she talked about Sirius Black. Her wanting him went way beyond just the sex; she'd liked him since their first year. And now that wistful look looked more like a sad, tormented look that a person only got when the situation was hopeless.
"That's too bad. Alanna's a bit of a lost cause, don't you think?"
"She's dumber than a bucket of rocks."
"But guys don't want her for her brains," Lily said.
"What guy wants a girl for her intellect anymore, anyway? It's always sex, sex, sex," Andy said bitterly.
"You're a world-weary woman, Andy," Lily said with a small smile.
"I'm just tired of the same old boring chase. I want… a new challenge," Andy said with a renewed sparkle in her eyes, "aren't you tired of shagging the same guys every night?"
"Well… no, not really," Lily said truthfully, "I'm happy with where I am right now."
"Oh please. Your tongue's been wagging ever since you saw Hopkins," Andy said with a snort, "you expect me to believe you don't call Jeremy Hopkins a challenge?"
"He was a challenge – how was I supposed to know he had a girlfriend in Scotland? It's Scotland for God's sake! No one lives there," Lily exclaimed, "except sheep."
"Well then, she must be pretty good. To keep a long-distance relationship like that, I mean, she's got to be good," Andy deducted.
Lily slid her tongue across her teeth and refused to comment. She would've gladly taught Jeremy Hopkins a trick or two that couldn't be used in Quidditch. And he was a virgin anyway. She knew it. He was holding out for his sheep-raising girlfriend in Scotland. She didn't like it when people referred to him as Holy Hopkins, but it was a fact. She'd been humiliated in front of the entire Gryffindor house at one of their loud, rambunctious victory parties after a Quidditch match; she'd tried to convince him to come up to the girl's dorms for a bit of a private party, and he flatly turned her down. Not one to be refused lightly, she pressed him harder and used every trick she knew to convince him. He again said no, and said a few other… unsavory words that even a virgin shouldn't know, to her. The whole house had gone completely silent. The enchanted music box stopped playing music, Sirius Black stopped grinding with two girls, people stopped drinking. All they saw was Holy Hopkins refusing resident Hogwarts Whore, Lily Evans, and Lily herself red in the face and nearly crying, which would've upset all of the eye makeup she had on. Her reputation suffered a serious blow, Holy Hopkins having been the first boy to ever turn down her… services.
"I've given up on challenges," Lily said in a tired voice.
"Hopkins turn you off from virgins? Good. I don't like gentle sex," Andy said with a wicked grin.
"Not just virgins… people who I would normally consider a challenge, I don't want to attempt to chase," Lily admitted.
"Aww, you're just in a rut, dear," Andy said pushing open the doors to the Great Hall and nearly knocking over, speak of the devil, Alanna.
"Watch where you're going, you stupid whore!" Andy yelled at her as she walked back.
"Fuck off," she replied venomously, making a rather obscene gesture with her hand.
"You see what I have to put up with? I didn't even do anything to her!" Andy said angrily. "God. I just want to rip out every strand of that mousy brown hair off her pretty little head –"
"Enough. There are plenty of girls feuding over Sirius Black and it's not a pretty sight to see them slapping each other around," Lily said wrinkling her nose. "He's not that attractive."
Andy looked at her incredulously. "Are you shitting me or something, Evans? He's the most gorgeous thing on two legs!"
Lily let out a derisive laugh. "Sounds like you're in love with the bastard."
"Rule number two: never fall in love," Andy quoted.
"Right," Lily quipped. "Well, it's not a problem for me, seeing as how I'm not head-over-heels for him."
"I just want in his pants," Andy sniffed.
Lily rolled her eyes. She and Andy took their usual seats, and waited for Professor Dumbledore to make his usual speech. She looked around the table and spotted James Potter, one of Sirius Black's friends, glance at her. She caught his glance and their gazes met, if just for a few seconds, before she winked at him and he ducked his head, blushing noticeably.
"Who'd you just wink at?" Andy asked attempting to sound nonchalant.
"James Potter," she said distractedly. She'd never really noticed him before. There was a lot to be said for him as well: Captain of Gryffindor Quidditch team, Sirius Black's friend (a plus for Andy), had a steady girlfriend named… Alanna?
"Shit. Andy, what's the name of James' girlfriend? You know, the one who has a rumored engagement ring already?"
"I don't know. He's a preppy boy and a goody-goody! I don't associate with those people," Andy said.
Lily's mind was reeling. She smelled good gossip. "I don't give a flying fuck if you don't associate with them, just what's her name?"
"I. Don't. Fucking. Know! It begins with an 'a'…"
"Alanna?"
Andy looked thunderstruck for a moment. Then a mischievous smile crept over her face. "Alanna, eh? I smell scandal."
"Yeah… a whopper of a scandal," Lily said with a grin.
"Oh, I'm really gonna get that bitch this time. So wait, Alanna and James have been dating since… what, like fifth year?"
"Fourth," Lily corrected automatically.
"Whatever," Andy dismissed it with a wave of her hand, "and they're really in love, judging on the rumors I've heard of the size of the rock."
"Right." She was about to add it didn't matter about the size of the rock, only the love in their hearts, when she realized how stupid that sounded.
Andy tapped her teal-painted fingernails on the table in thought. "Hmm… I'm thinking of a plan."
"God."
"Don't cringe just yet, hear me out!"
Lily rolled her eyes. Andy was never one for details, just a big picture. "Let's have it."
Andy smiled widely. "Ok, here's the deal: James and Sirius are best friends, but James doesn't know that Sirius and Alanna are secretly shagging behind his back. James and Alanna have been dating since fourth year," she cast a wary eye at Lily, "and supposedly they're engaged."
"Wow. It's great you can recall details at the drop of a hat, now what about the plan?"
"I'm getting there! So, let's just assume that James is holding out for his wedding night, with Alanna –"
"No, no. I don't like it already. How can you tell he's a virgin?"
Andy looked at her incredulously. "Don't tell me you're all hot over Potter too. He's got 'virgin' stamped all over his face!"
Lily pouted. "I am not all hot over James Potter. Please!"
"Anyway, so let's just assume he is, because he… probably is anyway. What's the one way we can get back at Alanna?"
Lily stared blankly at her, trying to see where her friend was going with this. "But there isn't any 'we' – you want to get Sirius –"
"And you said yourself that you want a challenge!"
Realization was slowly starting to dawn on her. "So… what you're saying is, you want me to deflower Potter and…" She looked for help from her friend.
"What I'm thinking of doing is… having a bit of a chat with Sirius. Say to him that I know about him and Alanna, and if he doesn't do exactly what I tell him, I'll spill the beans!" Andy crowed proudly.
"Oh, Andy! That's positively awful! That's blackmail!" Lily cried, aghast.
Andy examined her nails proudly. "I know."
"And what does me fucking James Potter have to do with anything?"
"Not much. He'd be a hell of a challenge though – I mean, think about it, you'd nail the most sought after guy at Hogwarts, after Sirius Black. And who's a virgin! Still!" Andy said.
Lily smiled, more to herself than to her scheming friend. It would be her greatest conquest yet. Her smile, however, faltered when she thought of Jeremy. "But… no, I can't. I'm sorry, I can't."
Andy's smile wavered a bit too. "Don't tell me you're still hurting after that bastard Jeremy turned you down."
"I've never been refused before," she said quietly.
"And you won't be this time. Jeremy doesn't know what he'll be missing," Andy said reassuringly.
Lily was silent for a brief moment, in decision, before her mind was made up.
"All right, I'll do it."
Andy smiled at her. "Good girl, Lily."
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And there'll probably be a bet or something stuck in there somewhere. Let me know how you feel about it – what should be changed, added, elaborated on, whatever. Feedback is good – but no unnecessary flames, please. R/R!