Fourth Chapter
Christmas at the Black's
'He can't have disappeared' she thought, looking up and down the corridor,
breathing hard. The place was deserted, but she was sure he had come this
way, she had been following him, then he had turned around a corner and had
disappeared. 'He has to be here somewhere' but she wasn't exactly sure who
she was talking about, Remus or James. It had been very confusing, she had
been dancing with Remus, but there had been something strange about him,
and then he had stopped dancing and ran away, with black hair growing from
his head.
"I'm telling you Moony, it was really close" said a male voice from behind her. She turned around to find two boys making their way down the corridor. She stood there, staring at them. "She almost noticed that it wasn't you the one—"
James stopped on his tracks, so did Remus. The three of them stared at each other for what it seemed to be ages, not one single word was spoken. But it was enough for her to understand what had happened.
Slowly, Lily turned around, closing her eyes, and started to walk away. But she felt a pair of arms grabbing her shoulders and turning her around. She didn't make the slightest effort to back away. And without looking at those eyes, or at Remus, who was standing behind them, expressionless, whispered. "Why? "
"I'm sorry Lily. I—I just... wanted to dance with you tonight." said James slowly, "and Remus had an idea, and I thought it could work. So you could dance with me and you wouldn't know."
"That's the problem, James" she whispered back, now looking into those big hazel eyes, that were once filled with mischief, but were now full of sorrow. She was surprised to note that she wasn't angry, she was just sad, and in some way disappointed. "You can't do things like that. You have to think before you act" she said calmly, not taking her eyes of him. "You should have asked if I wanted to dance with you."
"But then you would have said no straight away." said James, melting and shivering slightly.
"How can you tell?" she asked backing away. Lily walked down the corridor, and when she was five feet away from him, she turned to face him again and whispered. "Now, you'll never now, will you?" and with that she returned to the common room, leaving James, looking at the ground, his head hanging, and Remus, behind him, speechless. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Thanks for coming with me, mate." Said Sirius, throwing his clothes into his already messy trunk. It was the next day, and the students were getting ready to go home for the Holidays. "I can't even imagine Christmas just with my mom and my dear cousins. And even worse, there's going to be this party, so my house will be full of snob people, who think they're better than anyone else. I'm sick of it" he sat down on his bed, with a disgusted look.
James knew that Sirius didn't like his family, for this whole muggle-thing issue. Personally, James didn't like them either. He was only going, because their parents knew each other, although James' parents didn't share that thought, and to keep Sirius company. "Hey, don't worry, be happy" said James smiling, throwing his PJ's into his trunk.
"Sorry for not going, Padfoot." Said Remus, coming out of the bathroom. "But there's full moon in two days, so I'd rather stay here." His expression was full of sadness. "Anyway, I have to catch up with some reading, and Peter'll keep me company." Peter smiled at this.
Sirius and James said nothing, they thought it was better this way.
"But," said James grinning mischievously "when we come back, we'll bring down the Slytherin common room, won't we?"
Four smiles followed this statement. They wanted to make fun of the Slytherins, and for that they thought that redecorating their common room was a good thing.
They finished packing their trunks and went down to the common room, it was already empty except for two girls who were walking to the portrait hole, talking.
"Thanks so much, Lily" said Lor to her friend, climbing through the hole, and stepping into the Fat Lady's corridor. "I can't imagine spending Christmas with my dear family. And even worse! There's this party, and my parents are invited. And you know what sort of people will be there, I can't stand them!" she was getting angry. Her family wasn't exactly her favourite conversation subject. "Thinking about it, it's the first Christmas I spend with them. Obviously my mom wants us to look like the perfect family, after all my dad is the minister" she finished with a disgusted face.
Lily saw her eyes, full of sadness, even if she didn't want to talk about it or admit it. "Hey, don't worry, be happy!" she said with a reassuring smile. "We're going to have a great time." Then she realised something. "I think we better keep the I'm-a-muggleborn thing quiet. Otherwise your mom will have a heart attack."
Lor hadn't think about it, and now that Lily had mention it, she was right. "But even if my mom doesn't know you, face to face, she does know that my best friend is Lily, and that her parents are muggles."
A wicked smile appeared on Lily's face and stared at Lor, with her hands on her hips. "Who told you that Lily is coming over to the party?" Lor was puzzled, what was she talking about? "I introduce you to Gemma your new best friend."they both laughed at this. "Now come one, hurry up, or we'll miss the train."
Filch stood in front of the doors, as always, checking a list. Students were saying goodbye to their friends, wishing them a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, putting their cloaks on and stepping into the cold wind of December.
The Marauders stood at one side of the Entrance Hall, bidding good bye to Remus. Peter was missing, he probably had his leg stuck into one of the steps of the Hogwarts staircases, or maybe he was lost, trying to fins his way back to the common room. This was very likely to happen to Peter . (A/n did ya notice that we don't like him??? heheh...... poor Peter.......... Nah! He deserves it right!).
"You better send me good presents this year" said Remus, while hugging James and giving him some claps on his back. Sirius and James laughed, but were a little worried as well.
"Don't go strolling around, Moony" said Sirius warningly. "not without us" and he grinned.
Just then Lor and Lily walked by. James noticed her and his expression went from happiness to sadness. "It'll be ok" said Remus realising who James was looking at. "She'll forget about it."
"Remus is right, mate" said Sirius, reassuringly, "besides you said she wasn't mad"
James just sighted and stared at Lily who was climbing into the train after Lor. "You never told me if you liked that dance with dear Remus/James" said Lor, opening a compartment door, stepping in and sitting by the window.
"I just don't want to talk about it, ok?" said Lily staring at the station, recognising Remus, standing there, waving. She watched Hogsmeade station become smaller and smaller, until it disappeared.
The train ride went ok. The girls slept most of the time, so they didn't notice when two black-haired, handsome boys opened the door and stared at them for a couple of minutes, before closing the door and heading back to their compartment. By the time they arrived at King's Cross Station, it was dark and really cold, and the streets were covered with snow. Lily and Lor grabbed their trunks and crossed the wall between platforms 9 and 10, while the guard wished them Merry Christmas, stepping into the muggle world. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lily entered the Scarse Manor, impressed by the Christmas decorations. Lor's house was really big, full of expensive things, and house elves. She never liked to talk about the fact that she had lots of money, and that she was the Minister's daughter. She had never invited Lily over to her house, but she had stayed at the Evans' house many times. Lor felt excluded from her family, she always said that her parents had lots to do to take care of their daughter, or to even be bothered bye her. They had to travel a lot, all around the world, and since she was a kid, she had never been able to have a proper conversation with them, and she always felt alone in that house, even if there were hundreds of house elves, her nanny, and her younger brother. She had swore that she would never leave her brother alone, so he wouldn't feel lonely like her. He always received presents from her, she remembered him everywhere and liked to buy him things. He was ten, and next year he would be starting Hogwarts.
Both girls were tired, even though they had a nap in the train ride, so they went straight to Lor's room to rest. Lily was shocked to see how beautiful Lor's room was. It was really big and cosy, very modern. There were pictures of her and her brother all over the room. It was obvious that she had been to many other countries with her parents. She had a huge closet full of magic and muggle clothes, very fashionable. Her bathroom had a full size mirror and you could find tons of magical creams, shampoos, make-up and all sort of things.
"Lor, honey" said a voice from the door way. Lor's mom, Lily supposed, stood there with a smile. "You're home" Lor stared at her, disgust written all over her face. She was used to spend holidays alone or at Hogwarts because her parents used to travel a lot around those dates.
"What are you doing here, mom? Shouldn't you be... somewhere else?"
Lily was feeling a little bit uncomfortable, and Lor's mom was looking at her, inquiringly. "This is Gemma" said Lor, without enthusiasm, pointing at Lily. "She's going to stay here for the rest of the week. You know, so I won't be alone on Christmas day... again."
"Rubbish, dear" said Mrs. Scarse, still looking at Lily, while laughing. "I love to spend Christmas with you, Lorry. Your brother left with your dad. He had to go to Peru to a very important meeting, and to give a good impression. You know Gemma, dear" she said turning to face Lily. "as the Minister, he's got to give the best impression. I had to stay because we were invited to a party, so we'll be all going." She finished with a smile.
Lily looked over at her friend. Sure enough, Lor was going to complain, but she realised what her mom had said about her father and brother being in Peru. 'How come she had stayed? She always said how wonderful it would be if she went to Peru to visit Machu Picchu.'
Her mother's voice brought her out of her thoughts. "Don't forget, the party is tomorrow night. Well, good night. And Gemma, dear?" she said staring at Lily again "Feel at home" with that she closed the door, leaving both girls alone.
Lor showed Lily the dresses they would be wearing for the party. They were so beautiful, that Lily could hardly see herself wearing that dress. After a while both girls fell asleep, thinking about the party, but Lor was awaken by certain voices coming from her parents' room. lily was still asleep, so she opened the door, and without making any sound, exited her room and walked down the corridor of the second landing, following the sound of the voices.
She reached the door, that was ajar, and stood behind it, trying not to breath too hard, so she could heard what they were arguing about.
"What the hell did I do to deserve this?" was saying her mom, with tears coming down her cheek. "I gave you everything. Why did you cheated on me like that?"
Lor thought she had misunderstood her mother's last sentence. She opened the door a little bit and looked inside the room. Her mother was kneeling in front of the fire, that was burning green flames, with his father's face in the middle, wearing a concerned look.
"And with Aliana! You cheated on me with Aliana!"
"Look, I'm sorry things went this way" said his father, not caring about her wife crying desperately. "But our relationship is never going to work, and you know it. If we haven't divorced yet, it is because I would loose my job and your friends would laugh at you. Besides, you would end up without a single knut."
"And what about Lor and Matthew? What do you plan to do with them?"
"They've got nothing to do with this. You know I love them. Besides your not the best mother. Look, I have no idea how you found out about us, but for yours and your children's sake, keep your mouth shut" his father's head disappeared, and Mrs. Scarse began to break everything that was near her. She threw her perfumes to the wall and the glass shattered, but she didn't care.
Lor closed the door and ran away, crying. How could her father cheat on her mother? The Minister himself! She was sure she had heard that name before. Aliana. She went downstairs, to her father's office and closed the door behind her. In front of her was a big closet, where she knew, he kept important papers and a book, with the name of all the people who worked at the Ministry. She grabbed a quill and wrote on the first page of the book 'Aliana'. The pages began to blow as though caught up in a high wind, stopping halfway at the name of 'Aliana Dotergust' and the blank space underneath the name, began to fill up with information about her. Suddenly she remembered where she had heard that name before. She was her father's secretary. Ad both of them had made a lot of trips to different places, many times. She was about 22 years old, and they had met 3 years ago, when she first came to the Ministry to work as a secretary. 'Since when is he cheating on my mom' she had tons of questions exploding inside her head. Lor couldn't bear it anymore, she closed the book, put it back in the closet and closed the office door. She went back to her room, where Lily was still asleep, and got into her bed. That night she couldn't sleep at all, but she was decided not to speak a word of this. She didn't want to screw Lily's Christmas. So next day she tried her best to act as though nothing had happened, just like her mother. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Lorreiny, dear" came a voice from the corridor outside Lor's room. "You have to be ready by eight, hun. And remember that as the Minister's daughter you have to look great and perfect."
They were at the Minister's residence. Lily stepped out of the bathroom and sat next to Lor, whose head was in her hands. She stood up and closed the door while saying: "I can't stand her! Cynical, that's what it is! If I want to I'll go with tablecloth! Lily, you think your family will want to adopt me?"
Lily just smiled at her. She had noticed that Lor was acting strange, since the morning. But she didn't dare to ask her. "We better hurry, or else she'll get really mad."
When they were ready, the went down stairs to the kitchen, were Mrs. Scarse was giving some orders to a couple of house elves. She had her hair up in a knot with small diamonds and a gold dress that made her look a bit thick. Lily tried to cheer Lor up, but failed. What she didn't know was that Lor felt hurt, because of what she had heard yesterday, but she didn't want to ruin Lily's Christmas, so she kept quiet and tried to force some smiles. "It looks as though my mom has painted herself with a brush" whispered Lor, and both girls giggled.
Both of them wore long and simple, yet tight, dresses, that made them look gorgeous. Lily's dress was light purple and crossed in the back. It had little diamonds all over the dress that made her shine. Half of her hair was in a knot, and the ends of her hair were coming out of it, giving it and elegant look. She didn't have too much make up, and it was soft. Lor, on the other hand, was wearing a green dress, with her back uncovered. Her hair had glitter that made it shine under the moonlight. Her hair was straight, that made her look very different, specially if you were used to her beautiful locks. She only had a lock of hair over her face. They looked great. "Girls, you look gorgeous. I would take a picture of you, but we're already late" said Lor's mom, staring at them. "You look just like decent witches, the way it should be" Lor grimaced at this. "Ok, well let's go. Gemma, you go first. Take some Floo Powder"
Lily stepped in front of the fireplace, and was about to grab an handful of powder, when she noticed that one of the house elves had grab it for her and was waiting for her to step into the fire. So she got in, feeling the warm sensation of the fires around her body, and then the house elf threw the powder and scream where she was supposed to go. She couldn't hear him, because in that exact instant, she felt herself being pulled forward and she started to spin around, catching brief glances of what was happening out of the different fireplaces. Until everything stopped, and she was thrown out of de fireplace, into the cold floor of a nice-looking living room. She cleaned the ashes of her dress, just when the fire turned bright green and Lorreine stepped out of it, while a very thin woman, looking very pale, wearing a silver dress with a big know at the back of her head, appeared. "Welcome" she said with a sweet voice and a cold smile, staring at both girls. Then she glanced at Lily and asked, "And who are you, my dear?"
"Erm, I'm... I'm Gemma—"started Lily but was cut off by Lor's mom, who had just arrived.
"She my daughter's best friend" said Mrs. Scarse "and here" she said grabbing Lor's shoulders "is my precious daughter." Se finished with a big fake smile.
"She is so beautiful" said the woman, now looking at Lor, who was rolling her eyes at her mother. "Now, I hope you don't fell out of place. My son brought a friend. They are both from Hogwarts and about your age. Maybe you know them. Come one, follow me" she walked out of the living room followed by Lor and Lily.
The house was huge. The corridors had lots of different paintings, who turned their heads towards the girls direction, whispering and muttering. Lily felt awkward and intimidated.
They went out, to the back garden, that was full of Christmas decorations. There were dancing threes, and big ice statues that never melt, at the centre of the garden. There were lights all over and small tables, where the guests were sitting, drinking and eating. there were also many elves, serving drinks and food, dressed in red and green outfits.
Lily noticed a few couples dancing over what would have been the pool, a huge pool. She looked again and was stunned by what she saw. The couples were dancing over the pool, but it was as thought there was a glass, a big, think glass over it, and you could see fishes, dolphins and even a whale swimming under the glass, lily was delighted by the sight.
She realised they had followed the woman until they had reached the food table. And in front of it, there were two tall, black-haired boys, eating, with their back to them. The got closer and then turned.
Lor and Lily gasped.
"Sirius, James" said the woman, who know Lily recognised as Sirius' mom " This is Lor, the Minister's daughter, and her friend Gemma."
They boys stood there astonished, staring at the girls, who couldn't believe their eyes... and their luck.
Sirius had a black robe, with a lose tie and the first button of his short was unbuttoned. Her hair was combed, but fell handsomely to his face. James wore a blue robe, with a tie that had little brooms in it, flying around. his hair, messy as always, you could say that was the Potter's mark. The moonlight illuminated their faces, making them look even more mischievously then ever.
Mrs. Black was still beside them, watching the scene. When James snapped out of his trance, look intrigued at Lily. "Gemma? Her name is not—"but James couldn't finish her sentence. Lily muttered "Wanna dance?" and without waiting for an answer, she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the dance floor.
Sirius' mom stared after them, then turned to watch Sirius and Lorreine and smiled. "Hun, why don't you dance with Lorreine ? so she won't be alone?" she gave a warm look to Lor, and them a cold glance at Sirius, as tough it was an order, before leaving them alone.
"Come one" said Sirius, mad at her mother, grabbing Lor's wrist and taking her to where James and Lily were dancing, far away from the rest of the couples.
"What was all that?" asked both guys at the same guys, while Sirius grabbed Lor's hand and started to dace.
Lily and Lor started to explain everything while they danced. They told the boys, that if Lorreine's mom found out, they would be dead, and to please keep it quiet.
James laughed at this and whispered in her ear, bringing her closer to him "So I've got you in my hands"
"Not even in your dreams, Potter!" she said separating from him a bit.
Lily and James just danced, while Lor looked at the floor, not even noticing that she was starting to worry Sirius. "Is there something wrong, Lorreine?" asked Sirius. She was a bit pale.
"Yes... yes, I am fine"
the song ended and Lily let go o James' hand. She grabbed Lor's arm and both of them disappeared into the house. The boys looked at each other, just when Bellatrix and Narcissa were approaching, so they mixed themselves among the crowd.
"Running away from heir fans?" came a very cold voice from beside the window, who was non other than Malfoy himself..
"Give me a yell when you leave, Malfoy" said Sirius, turning away from him "so I can disinfect the house"
Malfoy looked at them full of hate, while Sirius laughed. But James got worried. What if Malfoy found Lily? He sure was going to give her a bad time, not to mention that could blow off the whole secret. 'I have to find here, before he does'.
The girls made their way to the living room, without seeing any Slytherin or the boys. Lor spotted her mother, chatting with some important people, with a big smile on her face. "So he couldn't come, he had some work to do, so he went to Peru. But, you know. That's a Minister's life" she was saying.
Lor couldn't take it anymore. 'How can she pretend so good' 'Is as though she doesn't care. As though she's not hurt. Is it only because of the money?' "Lily, I'm going upstairs" she turned to Lily, who was standing by the window, watching the moon. "Is it ok for you?"
"Yeah, sure. Don't worry. I'll find something to do"
Lor climbed up the stairs, to the second landing and entered the first door. She didn't care where she was going to, she only wanted to get away from all the people who were down there. She closed the door behind her, without turning the lights on. The moonlight illuminated a messy room, with two beds and two trunks, clothes everywhere. She automatically realised that this was Sirius' and James' room, by the names on the trunks. Their Gryffindor robes lay on the floor next to the bathroom door, and she didn't saw one single book inside their open trunks, unlike Lily's that was full of thick, old books. Their bed were undone, and all the sheets were almost on the floor and their Pj's were on a basket at the corner, one of them was blue, and the other one was bright red and had little snitches (A/n who can guess whom each one belongs to? lol) on one bed was a Photo Album, with "S.B." written at the cover, a wand and boxers, with little bears on it. This would've made Lor laugh out loud, but she was too sad, to even curl her lips.
She heard noises outside the door, in the corridor, and saw that the window in front of her was open, so she decided to go through it, leaving her shawl over one bed. She walked on the roof, careful not to fall, and sat down, way back so no one would spot her, covering her eyes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ James was still looking for Lily, hoping that Malfoy hadn't found her first, walking behind Sirius, who was breathing fire, hardly bearing the fake smiles everyone gave him and his mother's voice on the other side of the room, laughing. "I can't stand my mom any more" said Sirius, he closed his eyes, claiming for patience "look, I'm going to get outta here, I need to breathe. I'll be right back, OK?" Sirius left James in the living room, with his brother Regulus and Malfoy behind him, who were staring at him as though we was some dust in the carpet. So he resumed his search for Lily. He didn't want to start a fight with Sirius' younger brother or Malfoy in the middle of the party so he left without noticing that Lily was behind him, but at the sight of both Slytherin guys, she stopped and hid herself. 'How could I've been so stupid' she thought, watching the boys smirking at James' back, 'We forgot that the Slytherin would be here as well.' If they saw Lily, then they would screw everything. She decided to go outside, to the front yard, that was empty, but she had problems walking through the crow, without receiving curious looks and catching attention. Finally, after crossing the living room, the entrance hall and pushing a tall boy with glasses, she exited the house, and received the cold wind on her face.
James felt being pushed aside, and when he turned around he was happy to see a beautiful girl in a purple dress opening the front door and disappearing through it. With a big, satisfied smile, he followed her.
He closed the door behind him, making no noise. She was standing there, looking at the sky, with her shawl around herself, to keep herself a bit warm. He stood there behind her, in some kind of trance, admiring everything about her. 'Gosh, she's so beautiful' 'Every gesture, every move that she makes, makes me feel like never before'
He walked slowly towards her, taking off his robe and placing it over her shoulders, making her jump a little and turn around to face him. "Feeling cold?" he asked, with a faint smile. He still wasn't sure how she was feeling towards him, after the dance. Though, she didn't seem mad.
She stared at him for a couple of seconds, before sitting on the stone steps, muttering "Yeah, thanks"
"What are you doing out here, alone?"
"I could ask you the same question" she replied, looking at the moon... one day until full moon.
"Had to take some fresh air" he said, staring at the moon, as well "Regulus, Malfoy and some other Slytherins are here. If they see you, then Gemma'll be dead"
"Yup, I know. That's why I'm here."she looked down, and stared at him, expressionless. He could be really nice, when wasn't pulling any prank, or cursing people. It fact, Lily liked him when he was like this.. 'Hold on a second' she thought, looking at him 'this is James Potter... you hate him'
"Lily—I—"he was getting closer to her, she could feel his warmth. She suddenly stood up, returned him his robe and turned to open the door, when he grabbed her wrist and swung her around, so she was now staring into his eyes, behind his glasses. "I know you're mad at me, Lily—"
"I'm not mad at you James" she looked at the floor, feeling his hand closed around her wrist, and his eyes on her. Without knowing that a head was watching them from the roof of the house, half hidden in the shadows of the night, trying to free her mind from all her problems.
Just when a smile crept along Lor's face, a sound came from room Sirius' room. She tried to hid herself even more, hoping not to be found.
Sirius opened the door of his room, his head aching as his mother's words sounded in his head. Without turning the lights on, he unbuttoned his shirt, thinking about her mother, and deciding that it was best to lay on his bed, even if he wasn't tired. He took off his robe, his shirt and his tie, and threw them to the basket of dirty clothes. He was about unzip his pants, when he saw something that didn't belong to his room. A green shawl was on his undone bed, a shawl from...
He heard sobs outside his window. Curious, he crossed his room towards it, and stick his head to take a look at the roof.
He was surprised to see and girl with long, straight hair, in a green dress, half illuminated by the moonlight, covering her eyes, sobbing. It was Lorreine, sitting on the roof, Sirius' favourite place in the whole house. This was the only place where he could not be found or seen by anyone. He could think about his problems, take some fresh air, relax, watch the moon and remember his friends and all the stuff they did, do and will do under the full moon. Yet, she was there, crying about something. He thought about leaving, he was feeling very uncomfortable just standing there watching her. But something stopped him. He couldn't leave her alone, like that. He felt and urge to know what was wrong, so he walked towards her, making no noise, and sat next to her. His leg brushes her arm as he sat down sending her shivers and startling her. She opened her eyes wide with surprise and stood up almost falling down and loosing balance, she tried to leave, but Sirius grabbed her wrist. "You don't have to go, you know?" then he gave her a weak smile "Am I such a bad company?"
She looked down at him and when she saw him smiling she thought she was going to lose balance and fall down. It was his famous smile, weak, yeah, but the cutest she'd ever seen.
She hesitated for a moment, 'would he make fun of her?' she thought. 'No, even he can't be that insensitive, can he?'. She needed someone to talk with, and Lily wasn't there, besides she was probably busy with James. "It's... it's my- my dad!" she said, tear coming down her cheeks, unable to control them.
"You don't have to tell me anything" said Sirius, noticing that this was clearly hard for her, more than he would've thought.
"... but I want to, I need to. My dad, he... he cheats on my mom" she couldn't help it anymore. She hugged Sirius and cried over him. She needed someone to rely on, she needed to tell him this, maybe he could help her. He hugged her back. He was shocked, that was really a big problem, 'how could she carry that inside her, without bursting' he thought, as some butterflies appeared inside his stomach. "...he cheats on her with a woman that could well be my older sister!" she looked at the stars, words wouldn't come out of her mouth, even if she tried.
Sirius thought that this must be really hard for her. He had never seen her like that. She normally controlled herself, she didn't like other to notice she was sad or pissed off. Without thinking, he put an arm around her shoulder, making her shiver. But she leaned her head and rested it on his shoulder.
Tears kept coming out of her eyes, even when she tried to hide them. 'I'm crying in front of Sirius Black! The big joker who didn't use to have feelings' she thought. But right now it looked as though Sirius did have feelings. "The worst thing is that my mom knows about it, but she won't do anything about it. She says it'll make no good. She thinks she could lose everything." She had stopped crying, but her eyes were still watery. "Keep appearances, you know? Not that she's got anything worth to regret losing it".
"I don't know, Lor. Look, I think you should-"
A voice came from inside Sirius' room.
"Sirius? what are you doing out there? I've been looking for you all over the house!" said Sirius' mom, sticking her head out of the window "Oh" she exclaimed, seeing who was the person who was leaning on her son's bare shoulder. Sirius was half naked, outside in the roof, hugging Lor, who by the way, had red ayes. "Oh—erm... Lor, dear, your—your parents... erm... they... are leaving". And blushing, she went back inside, leaving the two of them alone again.
Lor stood up as fast as she could, looking at the garden, where two figures could be seen from up there.
"I don't even know why I told you all this" she said, not looking at him.
"Maybe it's because deep in your heart you know you can trust me" he said staring at her, drowning into those beautiful eyes, that where red and puffy now. Silent fell and both of them stared at each other for a while. "You know I won't tell anything" Sirius said in a low whisper putting his hand on her shoulder.
"I know"
"See? You do trust me" said Sirius with a big smile across his face, breaking the tension. "Oh, please!" snorted Lor, then she laughed "I'd better be off" she looked at him in the eyes.
"Lor..." there was something that was dying to come out of his mouth, he wasn't sure what it was. He wasn't even sure whether he wanted to say it. Not now at least... He had to think about it. "... take care of yourself. And if you need to talk, you can come to me and be sure nothing will appear in the Daily Prophet".
She just laughed, 'he could be really charming sometimes, no wonder all the female population at Hogwarts melts'........................ woa!!!!! Where did that came from??? She sure wasn't...... but then.... Nah!!!......
He walked to the window and went inside, closely followed by Lor. He grabbed her from the waist an helped her in, closing the window after her. "It's cold" he said, shivering.
"No wonder," she said "you're not wearing your shirt."
For Sirius' expression, it looked as though he hadn't noticed this particular detail. He opened his eyes wide and looked at his bare chest. Lor giggled, while he turned around, grabbed his Pj's shirt and put it on. When turned back to look at Lor, she was gone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An hour later he was still awake. James was already in bed, asleep. There was another thought in Sirius' mind, even if he wanted to push it to the very back of his brain. He kept asking himself how could Lor tell him what was bothering. She usually ignored him. 'Gosh, is she beautiful?............... hey!! No!!!!!!! What was that???' ' she's a stupid little girl' he thought. 'she only cares about material things, and she even thinks she's always in the spotlight!'. "James?" ... Silence... "Are you asleep?"
"Mmmmmphhhh, yeah!" came a voice from underneath the blankets on the bed next to him. "what is it?"
"No—nothing."
"Oh, no. You don't wake me up for nothing, now tell me what's up?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'm telling you Moony, it was really close" said a male voice from behind her. She turned around to find two boys making their way down the corridor. She stood there, staring at them. "She almost noticed that it wasn't you the one—"
James stopped on his tracks, so did Remus. The three of them stared at each other for what it seemed to be ages, not one single word was spoken. But it was enough for her to understand what had happened.
Slowly, Lily turned around, closing her eyes, and started to walk away. But she felt a pair of arms grabbing her shoulders and turning her around. She didn't make the slightest effort to back away. And without looking at those eyes, or at Remus, who was standing behind them, expressionless, whispered. "Why? "
"I'm sorry Lily. I—I just... wanted to dance with you tonight." said James slowly, "and Remus had an idea, and I thought it could work. So you could dance with me and you wouldn't know."
"That's the problem, James" she whispered back, now looking into those big hazel eyes, that were once filled with mischief, but were now full of sorrow. She was surprised to note that she wasn't angry, she was just sad, and in some way disappointed. "You can't do things like that. You have to think before you act" she said calmly, not taking her eyes of him. "You should have asked if I wanted to dance with you."
"But then you would have said no straight away." said James, melting and shivering slightly.
"How can you tell?" she asked backing away. Lily walked down the corridor, and when she was five feet away from him, she turned to face him again and whispered. "Now, you'll never now, will you?" and with that she returned to the common room, leaving James, looking at the ground, his head hanging, and Remus, behind him, speechless. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Thanks for coming with me, mate." Said Sirius, throwing his clothes into his already messy trunk. It was the next day, and the students were getting ready to go home for the Holidays. "I can't even imagine Christmas just with my mom and my dear cousins. And even worse, there's going to be this party, so my house will be full of snob people, who think they're better than anyone else. I'm sick of it" he sat down on his bed, with a disgusted look.
James knew that Sirius didn't like his family, for this whole muggle-thing issue. Personally, James didn't like them either. He was only going, because their parents knew each other, although James' parents didn't share that thought, and to keep Sirius company. "Hey, don't worry, be happy" said James smiling, throwing his PJ's into his trunk.
"Sorry for not going, Padfoot." Said Remus, coming out of the bathroom. "But there's full moon in two days, so I'd rather stay here." His expression was full of sadness. "Anyway, I have to catch up with some reading, and Peter'll keep me company." Peter smiled at this.
Sirius and James said nothing, they thought it was better this way.
"But," said James grinning mischievously "when we come back, we'll bring down the Slytherin common room, won't we?"
Four smiles followed this statement. They wanted to make fun of the Slytherins, and for that they thought that redecorating their common room was a good thing.
They finished packing their trunks and went down to the common room, it was already empty except for two girls who were walking to the portrait hole, talking.
"Thanks so much, Lily" said Lor to her friend, climbing through the hole, and stepping into the Fat Lady's corridor. "I can't imagine spending Christmas with my dear family. And even worse! There's this party, and my parents are invited. And you know what sort of people will be there, I can't stand them!" she was getting angry. Her family wasn't exactly her favourite conversation subject. "Thinking about it, it's the first Christmas I spend with them. Obviously my mom wants us to look like the perfect family, after all my dad is the minister" she finished with a disgusted face.
Lily saw her eyes, full of sadness, even if she didn't want to talk about it or admit it. "Hey, don't worry, be happy!" she said with a reassuring smile. "We're going to have a great time." Then she realised something. "I think we better keep the I'm-a-muggleborn thing quiet. Otherwise your mom will have a heart attack."
Lor hadn't think about it, and now that Lily had mention it, she was right. "But even if my mom doesn't know you, face to face, she does know that my best friend is Lily, and that her parents are muggles."
A wicked smile appeared on Lily's face and stared at Lor, with her hands on her hips. "Who told you that Lily is coming over to the party?" Lor was puzzled, what was she talking about? "I introduce you to Gemma your new best friend."they both laughed at this. "Now come one, hurry up, or we'll miss the train."
Filch stood in front of the doors, as always, checking a list. Students were saying goodbye to their friends, wishing them a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, putting their cloaks on and stepping into the cold wind of December.
The Marauders stood at one side of the Entrance Hall, bidding good bye to Remus. Peter was missing, he probably had his leg stuck into one of the steps of the Hogwarts staircases, or maybe he was lost, trying to fins his way back to the common room. This was very likely to happen to Peter . (A/n did ya notice that we don't like him??? heheh...... poor Peter.......... Nah! He deserves it right!).
"You better send me good presents this year" said Remus, while hugging James and giving him some claps on his back. Sirius and James laughed, but were a little worried as well.
"Don't go strolling around, Moony" said Sirius warningly. "not without us" and he grinned.
Just then Lor and Lily walked by. James noticed her and his expression went from happiness to sadness. "It'll be ok" said Remus realising who James was looking at. "She'll forget about it."
"Remus is right, mate" said Sirius, reassuringly, "besides you said she wasn't mad"
James just sighted and stared at Lily who was climbing into the train after Lor. "You never told me if you liked that dance with dear Remus/James" said Lor, opening a compartment door, stepping in and sitting by the window.
"I just don't want to talk about it, ok?" said Lily staring at the station, recognising Remus, standing there, waving. She watched Hogsmeade station become smaller and smaller, until it disappeared.
The train ride went ok. The girls slept most of the time, so they didn't notice when two black-haired, handsome boys opened the door and stared at them for a couple of minutes, before closing the door and heading back to their compartment. By the time they arrived at King's Cross Station, it was dark and really cold, and the streets were covered with snow. Lily and Lor grabbed their trunks and crossed the wall between platforms 9 and 10, while the guard wished them Merry Christmas, stepping into the muggle world. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lily entered the Scarse Manor, impressed by the Christmas decorations. Lor's house was really big, full of expensive things, and house elves. She never liked to talk about the fact that she had lots of money, and that she was the Minister's daughter. She had never invited Lily over to her house, but she had stayed at the Evans' house many times. Lor felt excluded from her family, she always said that her parents had lots to do to take care of their daughter, or to even be bothered bye her. They had to travel a lot, all around the world, and since she was a kid, she had never been able to have a proper conversation with them, and she always felt alone in that house, even if there were hundreds of house elves, her nanny, and her younger brother. She had swore that she would never leave her brother alone, so he wouldn't feel lonely like her. He always received presents from her, she remembered him everywhere and liked to buy him things. He was ten, and next year he would be starting Hogwarts.
Both girls were tired, even though they had a nap in the train ride, so they went straight to Lor's room to rest. Lily was shocked to see how beautiful Lor's room was. It was really big and cosy, very modern. There were pictures of her and her brother all over the room. It was obvious that she had been to many other countries with her parents. She had a huge closet full of magic and muggle clothes, very fashionable. Her bathroom had a full size mirror and you could find tons of magical creams, shampoos, make-up and all sort of things.
"Lor, honey" said a voice from the door way. Lor's mom, Lily supposed, stood there with a smile. "You're home" Lor stared at her, disgust written all over her face. She was used to spend holidays alone or at Hogwarts because her parents used to travel a lot around those dates.
"What are you doing here, mom? Shouldn't you be... somewhere else?"
Lily was feeling a little bit uncomfortable, and Lor's mom was looking at her, inquiringly. "This is Gemma" said Lor, without enthusiasm, pointing at Lily. "She's going to stay here for the rest of the week. You know, so I won't be alone on Christmas day... again."
"Rubbish, dear" said Mrs. Scarse, still looking at Lily, while laughing. "I love to spend Christmas with you, Lorry. Your brother left with your dad. He had to go to Peru to a very important meeting, and to give a good impression. You know Gemma, dear" she said turning to face Lily. "as the Minister, he's got to give the best impression. I had to stay because we were invited to a party, so we'll be all going." She finished with a smile.
Lily looked over at her friend. Sure enough, Lor was going to complain, but she realised what her mom had said about her father and brother being in Peru. 'How come she had stayed? She always said how wonderful it would be if she went to Peru to visit Machu Picchu.'
Her mother's voice brought her out of her thoughts. "Don't forget, the party is tomorrow night. Well, good night. And Gemma, dear?" she said staring at Lily again "Feel at home" with that she closed the door, leaving both girls alone.
Lor showed Lily the dresses they would be wearing for the party. They were so beautiful, that Lily could hardly see herself wearing that dress. After a while both girls fell asleep, thinking about the party, but Lor was awaken by certain voices coming from her parents' room. lily was still asleep, so she opened the door, and without making any sound, exited her room and walked down the corridor of the second landing, following the sound of the voices.
She reached the door, that was ajar, and stood behind it, trying not to breath too hard, so she could heard what they were arguing about.
"What the hell did I do to deserve this?" was saying her mom, with tears coming down her cheek. "I gave you everything. Why did you cheated on me like that?"
Lor thought she had misunderstood her mother's last sentence. She opened the door a little bit and looked inside the room. Her mother was kneeling in front of the fire, that was burning green flames, with his father's face in the middle, wearing a concerned look.
"And with Aliana! You cheated on me with Aliana!"
"Look, I'm sorry things went this way" said his father, not caring about her wife crying desperately. "But our relationship is never going to work, and you know it. If we haven't divorced yet, it is because I would loose my job and your friends would laugh at you. Besides, you would end up without a single knut."
"And what about Lor and Matthew? What do you plan to do with them?"
"They've got nothing to do with this. You know I love them. Besides your not the best mother. Look, I have no idea how you found out about us, but for yours and your children's sake, keep your mouth shut" his father's head disappeared, and Mrs. Scarse began to break everything that was near her. She threw her perfumes to the wall and the glass shattered, but she didn't care.
Lor closed the door and ran away, crying. How could her father cheat on her mother? The Minister himself! She was sure she had heard that name before. Aliana. She went downstairs, to her father's office and closed the door behind her. In front of her was a big closet, where she knew, he kept important papers and a book, with the name of all the people who worked at the Ministry. She grabbed a quill and wrote on the first page of the book 'Aliana'. The pages began to blow as though caught up in a high wind, stopping halfway at the name of 'Aliana Dotergust' and the blank space underneath the name, began to fill up with information about her. Suddenly she remembered where she had heard that name before. She was her father's secretary. Ad both of them had made a lot of trips to different places, many times. She was about 22 years old, and they had met 3 years ago, when she first came to the Ministry to work as a secretary. 'Since when is he cheating on my mom' she had tons of questions exploding inside her head. Lor couldn't bear it anymore, she closed the book, put it back in the closet and closed the office door. She went back to her room, where Lily was still asleep, and got into her bed. That night she couldn't sleep at all, but she was decided not to speak a word of this. She didn't want to screw Lily's Christmas. So next day she tried her best to act as though nothing had happened, just like her mother. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Lorreiny, dear" came a voice from the corridor outside Lor's room. "You have to be ready by eight, hun. And remember that as the Minister's daughter you have to look great and perfect."
They were at the Minister's residence. Lily stepped out of the bathroom and sat next to Lor, whose head was in her hands. She stood up and closed the door while saying: "I can't stand her! Cynical, that's what it is! If I want to I'll go with tablecloth! Lily, you think your family will want to adopt me?"
Lily just smiled at her. She had noticed that Lor was acting strange, since the morning. But she didn't dare to ask her. "We better hurry, or else she'll get really mad."
When they were ready, the went down stairs to the kitchen, were Mrs. Scarse was giving some orders to a couple of house elves. She had her hair up in a knot with small diamonds and a gold dress that made her look a bit thick. Lily tried to cheer Lor up, but failed. What she didn't know was that Lor felt hurt, because of what she had heard yesterday, but she didn't want to ruin Lily's Christmas, so she kept quiet and tried to force some smiles. "It looks as though my mom has painted herself with a brush" whispered Lor, and both girls giggled.
Both of them wore long and simple, yet tight, dresses, that made them look gorgeous. Lily's dress was light purple and crossed in the back. It had little diamonds all over the dress that made her shine. Half of her hair was in a knot, and the ends of her hair were coming out of it, giving it and elegant look. She didn't have too much make up, and it was soft. Lor, on the other hand, was wearing a green dress, with her back uncovered. Her hair had glitter that made it shine under the moonlight. Her hair was straight, that made her look very different, specially if you were used to her beautiful locks. She only had a lock of hair over her face. They looked great. "Girls, you look gorgeous. I would take a picture of you, but we're already late" said Lor's mom, staring at them. "You look just like decent witches, the way it should be" Lor grimaced at this. "Ok, well let's go. Gemma, you go first. Take some Floo Powder"
Lily stepped in front of the fireplace, and was about to grab an handful of powder, when she noticed that one of the house elves had grab it for her and was waiting for her to step into the fire. So she got in, feeling the warm sensation of the fires around her body, and then the house elf threw the powder and scream where she was supposed to go. She couldn't hear him, because in that exact instant, she felt herself being pulled forward and she started to spin around, catching brief glances of what was happening out of the different fireplaces. Until everything stopped, and she was thrown out of de fireplace, into the cold floor of a nice-looking living room. She cleaned the ashes of her dress, just when the fire turned bright green and Lorreine stepped out of it, while a very thin woman, looking very pale, wearing a silver dress with a big know at the back of her head, appeared. "Welcome" she said with a sweet voice and a cold smile, staring at both girls. Then she glanced at Lily and asked, "And who are you, my dear?"
"Erm, I'm... I'm Gemma—"started Lily but was cut off by Lor's mom, who had just arrived.
"She my daughter's best friend" said Mrs. Scarse "and here" she said grabbing Lor's shoulders "is my precious daughter." Se finished with a big fake smile.
"She is so beautiful" said the woman, now looking at Lor, who was rolling her eyes at her mother. "Now, I hope you don't fell out of place. My son brought a friend. They are both from Hogwarts and about your age. Maybe you know them. Come one, follow me" she walked out of the living room followed by Lor and Lily.
The house was huge. The corridors had lots of different paintings, who turned their heads towards the girls direction, whispering and muttering. Lily felt awkward and intimidated.
They went out, to the back garden, that was full of Christmas decorations. There were dancing threes, and big ice statues that never melt, at the centre of the garden. There were lights all over and small tables, where the guests were sitting, drinking and eating. there were also many elves, serving drinks and food, dressed in red and green outfits.
Lily noticed a few couples dancing over what would have been the pool, a huge pool. She looked again and was stunned by what she saw. The couples were dancing over the pool, but it was as thought there was a glass, a big, think glass over it, and you could see fishes, dolphins and even a whale swimming under the glass, lily was delighted by the sight.
She realised they had followed the woman until they had reached the food table. And in front of it, there were two tall, black-haired boys, eating, with their back to them. The got closer and then turned.
Lor and Lily gasped.
"Sirius, James" said the woman, who know Lily recognised as Sirius' mom " This is Lor, the Minister's daughter, and her friend Gemma."
They boys stood there astonished, staring at the girls, who couldn't believe their eyes... and their luck.
Sirius had a black robe, with a lose tie and the first button of his short was unbuttoned. Her hair was combed, but fell handsomely to his face. James wore a blue robe, with a tie that had little brooms in it, flying around. his hair, messy as always, you could say that was the Potter's mark. The moonlight illuminated their faces, making them look even more mischievously then ever.
Mrs. Black was still beside them, watching the scene. When James snapped out of his trance, look intrigued at Lily. "Gemma? Her name is not—"but James couldn't finish her sentence. Lily muttered "Wanna dance?" and without waiting for an answer, she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the dance floor.
Sirius' mom stared after them, then turned to watch Sirius and Lorreine and smiled. "Hun, why don't you dance with Lorreine ? so she won't be alone?" she gave a warm look to Lor, and them a cold glance at Sirius, as tough it was an order, before leaving them alone.
"Come one" said Sirius, mad at her mother, grabbing Lor's wrist and taking her to where James and Lily were dancing, far away from the rest of the couples.
"What was all that?" asked both guys at the same guys, while Sirius grabbed Lor's hand and started to dace.
Lily and Lor started to explain everything while they danced. They told the boys, that if Lorreine's mom found out, they would be dead, and to please keep it quiet.
James laughed at this and whispered in her ear, bringing her closer to him "So I've got you in my hands"
"Not even in your dreams, Potter!" she said separating from him a bit.
Lily and James just danced, while Lor looked at the floor, not even noticing that she was starting to worry Sirius. "Is there something wrong, Lorreine?" asked Sirius. She was a bit pale.
"Yes... yes, I am fine"
the song ended and Lily let go o James' hand. She grabbed Lor's arm and both of them disappeared into the house. The boys looked at each other, just when Bellatrix and Narcissa were approaching, so they mixed themselves among the crowd.
"Running away from heir fans?" came a very cold voice from beside the window, who was non other than Malfoy himself..
"Give me a yell when you leave, Malfoy" said Sirius, turning away from him "so I can disinfect the house"
Malfoy looked at them full of hate, while Sirius laughed. But James got worried. What if Malfoy found Lily? He sure was going to give her a bad time, not to mention that could blow off the whole secret. 'I have to find here, before he does'.
The girls made their way to the living room, without seeing any Slytherin or the boys. Lor spotted her mother, chatting with some important people, with a big smile on her face. "So he couldn't come, he had some work to do, so he went to Peru. But, you know. That's a Minister's life" she was saying.
Lor couldn't take it anymore. 'How can she pretend so good' 'Is as though she doesn't care. As though she's not hurt. Is it only because of the money?' "Lily, I'm going upstairs" she turned to Lily, who was standing by the window, watching the moon. "Is it ok for you?"
"Yeah, sure. Don't worry. I'll find something to do"
Lor climbed up the stairs, to the second landing and entered the first door. She didn't care where she was going to, she only wanted to get away from all the people who were down there. She closed the door behind her, without turning the lights on. The moonlight illuminated a messy room, with two beds and two trunks, clothes everywhere. She automatically realised that this was Sirius' and James' room, by the names on the trunks. Their Gryffindor robes lay on the floor next to the bathroom door, and she didn't saw one single book inside their open trunks, unlike Lily's that was full of thick, old books. Their bed were undone, and all the sheets were almost on the floor and their Pj's were on a basket at the corner, one of them was blue, and the other one was bright red and had little snitches (A/n who can guess whom each one belongs to? lol) on one bed was a Photo Album, with "S.B." written at the cover, a wand and boxers, with little bears on it. This would've made Lor laugh out loud, but she was too sad, to even curl her lips.
She heard noises outside the door, in the corridor, and saw that the window in front of her was open, so she decided to go through it, leaving her shawl over one bed. She walked on the roof, careful not to fall, and sat down, way back so no one would spot her, covering her eyes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ James was still looking for Lily, hoping that Malfoy hadn't found her first, walking behind Sirius, who was breathing fire, hardly bearing the fake smiles everyone gave him and his mother's voice on the other side of the room, laughing. "I can't stand my mom any more" said Sirius, he closed his eyes, claiming for patience "look, I'm going to get outta here, I need to breathe. I'll be right back, OK?" Sirius left James in the living room, with his brother Regulus and Malfoy behind him, who were staring at him as though we was some dust in the carpet. So he resumed his search for Lily. He didn't want to start a fight with Sirius' younger brother or Malfoy in the middle of the party so he left without noticing that Lily was behind him, but at the sight of both Slytherin guys, she stopped and hid herself. 'How could I've been so stupid' she thought, watching the boys smirking at James' back, 'We forgot that the Slytherin would be here as well.' If they saw Lily, then they would screw everything. She decided to go outside, to the front yard, that was empty, but she had problems walking through the crow, without receiving curious looks and catching attention. Finally, after crossing the living room, the entrance hall and pushing a tall boy with glasses, she exited the house, and received the cold wind on her face.
James felt being pushed aside, and when he turned around he was happy to see a beautiful girl in a purple dress opening the front door and disappearing through it. With a big, satisfied smile, he followed her.
He closed the door behind him, making no noise. She was standing there, looking at the sky, with her shawl around herself, to keep herself a bit warm. He stood there behind her, in some kind of trance, admiring everything about her. 'Gosh, she's so beautiful' 'Every gesture, every move that she makes, makes me feel like never before'
He walked slowly towards her, taking off his robe and placing it over her shoulders, making her jump a little and turn around to face him. "Feeling cold?" he asked, with a faint smile. He still wasn't sure how she was feeling towards him, after the dance. Though, she didn't seem mad.
She stared at him for a couple of seconds, before sitting on the stone steps, muttering "Yeah, thanks"
"What are you doing out here, alone?"
"I could ask you the same question" she replied, looking at the moon... one day until full moon.
"Had to take some fresh air" he said, staring at the moon, as well "Regulus, Malfoy and some other Slytherins are here. If they see you, then Gemma'll be dead"
"Yup, I know. That's why I'm here."she looked down, and stared at him, expressionless. He could be really nice, when wasn't pulling any prank, or cursing people. It fact, Lily liked him when he was like this.. 'Hold on a second' she thought, looking at him 'this is James Potter... you hate him'
"Lily—I—"he was getting closer to her, she could feel his warmth. She suddenly stood up, returned him his robe and turned to open the door, when he grabbed her wrist and swung her around, so she was now staring into his eyes, behind his glasses. "I know you're mad at me, Lily—"
"I'm not mad at you James" she looked at the floor, feeling his hand closed around her wrist, and his eyes on her. Without knowing that a head was watching them from the roof of the house, half hidden in the shadows of the night, trying to free her mind from all her problems.
Just when a smile crept along Lor's face, a sound came from room Sirius' room. She tried to hid herself even more, hoping not to be found.
Sirius opened the door of his room, his head aching as his mother's words sounded in his head. Without turning the lights on, he unbuttoned his shirt, thinking about her mother, and deciding that it was best to lay on his bed, even if he wasn't tired. He took off his robe, his shirt and his tie, and threw them to the basket of dirty clothes. He was about unzip his pants, when he saw something that didn't belong to his room. A green shawl was on his undone bed, a shawl from...
He heard sobs outside his window. Curious, he crossed his room towards it, and stick his head to take a look at the roof.
He was surprised to see and girl with long, straight hair, in a green dress, half illuminated by the moonlight, covering her eyes, sobbing. It was Lorreine, sitting on the roof, Sirius' favourite place in the whole house. This was the only place where he could not be found or seen by anyone. He could think about his problems, take some fresh air, relax, watch the moon and remember his friends and all the stuff they did, do and will do under the full moon. Yet, she was there, crying about something. He thought about leaving, he was feeling very uncomfortable just standing there watching her. But something stopped him. He couldn't leave her alone, like that. He felt and urge to know what was wrong, so he walked towards her, making no noise, and sat next to her. His leg brushes her arm as he sat down sending her shivers and startling her. She opened her eyes wide with surprise and stood up almost falling down and loosing balance, she tried to leave, but Sirius grabbed her wrist. "You don't have to go, you know?" then he gave her a weak smile "Am I such a bad company?"
She looked down at him and when she saw him smiling she thought she was going to lose balance and fall down. It was his famous smile, weak, yeah, but the cutest she'd ever seen.
She hesitated for a moment, 'would he make fun of her?' she thought. 'No, even he can't be that insensitive, can he?'. She needed someone to talk with, and Lily wasn't there, besides she was probably busy with James. "It's... it's my- my dad!" she said, tear coming down her cheeks, unable to control them.
"You don't have to tell me anything" said Sirius, noticing that this was clearly hard for her, more than he would've thought.
"... but I want to, I need to. My dad, he... he cheats on my mom" she couldn't help it anymore. She hugged Sirius and cried over him. She needed someone to rely on, she needed to tell him this, maybe he could help her. He hugged her back. He was shocked, that was really a big problem, 'how could she carry that inside her, without bursting' he thought, as some butterflies appeared inside his stomach. "...he cheats on her with a woman that could well be my older sister!" she looked at the stars, words wouldn't come out of her mouth, even if she tried.
Sirius thought that this must be really hard for her. He had never seen her like that. She normally controlled herself, she didn't like other to notice she was sad or pissed off. Without thinking, he put an arm around her shoulder, making her shiver. But she leaned her head and rested it on his shoulder.
Tears kept coming out of her eyes, even when she tried to hide them. 'I'm crying in front of Sirius Black! The big joker who didn't use to have feelings' she thought. But right now it looked as though Sirius did have feelings. "The worst thing is that my mom knows about it, but she won't do anything about it. She says it'll make no good. She thinks she could lose everything." She had stopped crying, but her eyes were still watery. "Keep appearances, you know? Not that she's got anything worth to regret losing it".
"I don't know, Lor. Look, I think you should-"
A voice came from inside Sirius' room.
"Sirius? what are you doing out there? I've been looking for you all over the house!" said Sirius' mom, sticking her head out of the window "Oh" she exclaimed, seeing who was the person who was leaning on her son's bare shoulder. Sirius was half naked, outside in the roof, hugging Lor, who by the way, had red ayes. "Oh—erm... Lor, dear, your—your parents... erm... they... are leaving". And blushing, she went back inside, leaving the two of them alone again.
Lor stood up as fast as she could, looking at the garden, where two figures could be seen from up there.
"I don't even know why I told you all this" she said, not looking at him.
"Maybe it's because deep in your heart you know you can trust me" he said staring at her, drowning into those beautiful eyes, that where red and puffy now. Silent fell and both of them stared at each other for a while. "You know I won't tell anything" Sirius said in a low whisper putting his hand on her shoulder.
"I know"
"See? You do trust me" said Sirius with a big smile across his face, breaking the tension. "Oh, please!" snorted Lor, then she laughed "I'd better be off" she looked at him in the eyes.
"Lor..." there was something that was dying to come out of his mouth, he wasn't sure what it was. He wasn't even sure whether he wanted to say it. Not now at least... He had to think about it. "... take care of yourself. And if you need to talk, you can come to me and be sure nothing will appear in the Daily Prophet".
She just laughed, 'he could be really charming sometimes, no wonder all the female population at Hogwarts melts'........................ woa!!!!! Where did that came from??? She sure wasn't...... but then.... Nah!!!......
He walked to the window and went inside, closely followed by Lor. He grabbed her from the waist an helped her in, closing the window after her. "It's cold" he said, shivering.
"No wonder," she said "you're not wearing your shirt."
For Sirius' expression, it looked as though he hadn't noticed this particular detail. He opened his eyes wide and looked at his bare chest. Lor giggled, while he turned around, grabbed his Pj's shirt and put it on. When turned back to look at Lor, she was gone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An hour later he was still awake. James was already in bed, asleep. There was another thought in Sirius' mind, even if he wanted to push it to the very back of his brain. He kept asking himself how could Lor tell him what was bothering. She usually ignored him. 'Gosh, is she beautiful?............... hey!! No!!!!!!! What was that???' ' she's a stupid little girl' he thought. 'she only cares about material things, and she even thinks she's always in the spotlight!'. "James?" ... Silence... "Are you asleep?"
"Mmmmmphhhh, yeah!" came a voice from underneath the blankets on the bed next to him. "what is it?"
"No—nothing."
"Oh, no. You don't wake me up for nothing, now tell me what's up?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~