A/N:- Heya, here's the next chappie, there should be about 7 chappies, each
from a different character, which means there is now...James, Remus, Jenny,
Peter and Sirius left. Please read and review
A Christmas Time Betrayal
April's POV
Oh such a lovely morning, everything is great. I had yet another good night, I have no homework and I'm desperately waiting for Lily to wake up. I sat and stared at the ceiling of my four poster bed. I thought of last night, the masked ball. It was ingenious, I loved it so much. I grinned to myself and stretched. I sat up slowly and ran a hand through my long blonde hair. Oh crap, bed hair, I hate that so much, oh the price of being vain. Never mind. I wonder if Lily's back from her date. She looked like she was having fun last night, even if she did disappear after about fifteen minutes. I opened my crimson velvet hangings and looked into the dorm room. Jenny was obviously still asleep and so were Jessica and Fran. They were our other room mates. We didn't really get along and they often kept to themselves which was fine because Lily, Jenny and I never really included them in anything anyway. Their only purpose in life was to please the guys.
I slowly slipped out from the warm protection my duvet offered me and put my foot on the freezing stone floor. I winced at the cold and quickly ran to Lily's bed on my toes. Lily's bed was right next to mine and I could have jumped across if I wanted to but it was to early for any extraneous exercise. Oh damn, look at that, a long word so early in the morning, I'm turning into Jenny. I glanced at the small bedside table next to Lily's bed and saw her mask and wand lying on it. I grinned and slipped in through her hangings and sat on the bed and closed the hangings behind me. Lily was still sleeping and looked all snug and happy curled up like a baby in her duvet. Her red hair spread across her pillow and it partially covered her face. I got onto my hands and knees and gently moved some of the hair away from her face. Lily scowled and turned over. She bumped into my legs and opened her eyes.
"April." She muttered. "Get out of my bed." She muttered as she pulled the duvet over her head and tried to get back to sleep. It wasn't going to be that easy for her. I pulled up the duvet and slipped under it as well. Lily didn't care usually but she moaned this time and turned over.
"Lily, please talk to me." I said pretending to be upset. "You weren't no where to be seen last night, I had no one to talk to." Lily muttered something I couldn't hear into a pillow. "What was that my dearest?" I asked.
"Fuck off April, I was out late last night." Lily said slightly louder. I grinned and looked at Lily to see her smiling slightly as well.
"Who was the lucky boy?" I asked crawling over Lily so that she was facing me.
"I'm not telling you." Lily said as she pulled herself up into a sitting position. She had a smile on her face like she had just been given the best thing in the world. One of those smiles that we girls usually have when we talk about someone we really like but don't want to tell our friends but do want to tell them at the same time.
"Oh, tell me." I asked her as I sat on her legs. Lily shook her head.
"It was no one" Lily said, "just a one night thing really." I looked at her and narrowed my eyes. She definitely wasn't going to get away with this and not tell me who it was or what they did.
"I'm your sister though." I moaned, trying to get the sympathy vote.
"Not by blood or marriage so no you're not my sister but I love you anyway." Lily said with a smile.
"Lily." I said looking at her annoyed. Lily looked at me and grinned
"Ok fine. I won't tell you who he was but he gave me the most amazing kisses." She said dreamily, "and he's so clever and intelligent and he's so sweet and gently." I smiled at Lily, she looked at me. "I know." She screamed excitedly. I screamed for her as well and that's when a shoe came through the hangings and just missed the two of us.
"Will you two shut up!" Jenny shouted from her bed. "Some of us are trying to sleep."
"Same." Came Jessica's voice.
"Sorry." Lily said.
"Come on, lets go to the common room." I said taking Lily's hand.
"Ok." Lily and I got changed quickly and were about to go to the common room when I stopped by the mirror. My hair was a mess. I hadn't actually brushed it before going to bed last night and there was still quite a lot of hair product in it and Sirius had messed my hair up quite badly after the ball, or during the ball, I forget, it passed so quickly. The thought of Sirius made me smile and after waving my wand so my hair looked perfect I followed Lily. As usual her hair was perfect without her even having to do anything to it. I was so jealous of her sometimes. She had boys falling at her feet and yet she pretty much ignored all of them. Yes she did go out with guys and she was never single for too long but most guys found her a bit too intelligent for her. The only guy who had wanted her and would always want her was James Potter and Lily hated his guts though she had started talking to him politely since Remus and Jenny started dating. Lily felt she owed it to Jenny. I, however, have already experienced the thing that is James Potter. It was just one kiss under mistletoe last Christmas and he wasn't as good as Sirius.
As a rule I couldn't go out with the ringleaders of the group that was known as the Marauders. This group consisted of the one and only James Potter, the stunningly sexy Sirius Black, the romantic sweetheart Remus Lupin and the slightly podgy yet popular Peter Pettigrew. Lily, Jenny and myself had promised not to go out with the ring leaders of the group, Sirius or James. They were the biggest players in the entire universe, or Hogwarts at any rate. They were off bounds, we weren't going to lower ourselves to their standards. Jenny had done well to get Remus. He owled her all the time they weren't at school and he took great care of her. I felt pleased for them but now I wanted Sirius Black. I never really thought of him before as I did now. He was just another good looking guy who I hung around with, flirted with and got picked on in return. Not serious picking on but Lily and I were sometimes the butt of their jokes and pranks. If it wasn't the Slytherins it was us. The promise Lily and I had made had become a lot harder since yesterday afternoon when Sirius had cornered me in the hall on the way back from the Owlery with the masks. He had pulled me into an empty classroom and told me he really liked me.
Now I don't normally fall for guys telling me that they fancy me because I can see straight through their lies, you see, I'm what you call a Legillimen. I'm not very good at it but I have some skill and can at least tell if guys lie to me. It's great sometimes because when they try and break up with you, you can get to them first and suddenly they're your cast offs instead of you being their cast off. But anyway, I'm straying, I could see that Sirius was telling the truth and he gave me a quick, gentlemanly kiss on the cheek.
"April watch out!" Lily said moments before I crashed into a wall. I stopped and blinked a few times, staring at the blank grey wall.
"Thanks." I said to Lily. I heard Lily giggle slightly and I turned to her. "Come on, you need to tell me everything, what you did and all that stuff." I said jumping onto the sofa next to Lily. She had her legs tucked up against her chest while I sat on mine and had one arm over the back of the sofa. Lily smiled shyly as she described the night's events to me. I found it rather annoying that she didn't tell me his name or what she called him. I had to call Sirius Padfoot for the whole night, it was a really random name but strangely it suited him. I grinned as Lily's tale continued and when she finished she was almost as ditzy as I usually am.
"You're in loove" I sang. Lily hit me lightly.
"No I'm not." She snapped in an amused voice. "I really like him though and I can't be with him." Her expression suddenly going slightly sad.
"Why not?" I asked her curiously.
"It's just this thing between us." Lily said with a sigh, "we just can't be together." She looked genuinely disappointed
"Tell me who it is and curse them to hell." I said. Lily smiled.
"No it's fine." She said. "So what about you? What did you get up to?" Lily asked me. I was about to answer when I saw Sirius walking down the stairs from the boys dorm swinging a monocle around his finger and a pipe in his mouth. He looked at me and pretended to look in shock.
"Oh my dearest April, could it really be you? I have not seen you in years darling." He said in a posh English accent. I laughed and Lily looked at him then turned to me.
"You fell for him?" Lily asked me. I smiled guiltily as Sirius approached. Lily smirked and shook her head. "Honestly." Lily said laughing. Sirius sat between Lily and April and put his arms around their shoulders.
"How bout a kiss?" He asked in his usual voice. His black hair was fairly long for a boy but it suited Sirius so well. It fell with an elegant grace and charm over his deep dark brown eyes. He shot me a grin, a grin that made most girls go weak at the knees, what some girls would do for that grin.
"Sorry Padfoot." I said, "I can't, I made a promise and last night was the exception." I told him sadly. Sirius looked at me seriously.
"What?" He asked. I looked at Lily for help and support.
"She's already taken." Lily said. Sirius looked at her.
"Who?" Sirius looked at April, "Tell me who he is so I can curse him." April looked sorrowfully. Sirius was one of the dirtiest minded people in the school but he was so sweet sometimes.
"I'm afraid I'm Lily's girlfriend." I said, trying to keep a serious face. I saw Lily crack up behind Sirius. Sirius' eyes widened and he looked at Lily, who had gotten her facial expressions under control.
"I knew it." He said.
"Knew what?" Lily asked.
"I knew you two were gay. I've tried to tell James so often but he just won't listen." Sirius said, a smile creeping onto his face. "Hey, do you think that you two could-"
"Padfoot." Came a voice from the boy's dorms. Sirius turned to see James Potter with a guy with sandy coloured hair and fairly pale skin. James Potter and Remus Lupin. Remus was quite good looking but he always looked like he was slightly ill. Not that that bothered anyone who went out with him. His body was almost as good as Sirius' or James' but he was a bit on the lean side. It could have something to do with the fact that he went home for a few days every month for some reason. I knew Jenny knew why but she wouldn't tell me or Lily.
"Yes Prongs." Sirius said. Lily's face suddenly changed like she had just realised something.
"We got to get breakfast then got some jokes to prepare." James said. "Stop bugging Evans and Marsden."
"James, did you know that they're-" Lily had put a silencing charm on Sirius and he looked at her slightly annoyed.
"You're not going to cause anymore trouble Potter." She said to him. James gave her a daring look.
"Try and stop me Evans, I'm the shit around here." He said, "And you know it." I swear I saw Lily smiling slightly but it must have been my imagination because she was scowling at him.
"I wondered what that smell was." Lily said, "Must be you, now you won't be pulling any...jokes or pranks, you're head boy and you're supposed to set an example to the younger years." James looked at Remus and walked down the rest of the steps to Lily. He was a good five inches taller then she was. I watched worriedly. Lily and James weren't known to be the best of friends and one of them always came out of their confrontations hexed or jinxed.
"Very funny Evans, maybe next time I'll let the peacocks fly free." He said.
"Peacocks can't fly" lily snapped back at James. Lily glared at him as he left with Remus. Sirius got up as well.
"And April and I aren't really together, Sirius." Lily snapped. Sirius looked at her like she'd said the worst thing possible. I laughed at his face, if he could speak I guess I'd be rolling on the floor with laughter. James grabbed the back of Sirius' shirt and pulled him out of the common room with him. Lily sat down next to me wit her arms crossed.
"What did James mean, let the Peacocks fly free?" I asked Lily.
"Nothing." Lily muttered.
"You guys didn't have a fight at the ball did you?" I asked Lily, "You two have to learn to get together, how are you ever going to be able to attend Jenny's wedding if you can't even be in the same room as him-"
"I'm not getting married" came Jenny's voice, cutting me off. I turned and grinned as Jenny jumped on the sofa, over me and Lily. "So, how are my beautiful girlfriends today."
"Feeling positively glowing." I replied. Jenny laughed with me, her Chinese features looking better as she laughed.
"I swear I could really-" Lily stared muttering. Jenny put a hand over Lily's mouth.
"Lets try and go one day without cursing James Potter." Jenny said. "April's right."
"Sorry." Lily muttered "It's just that-"
"Sh!" I said to Lily. Lily looked at me and smirked.
"Sorry." Lily said.
"Come on, breakfast awaits us in the great hall." I said to them. I stood up causing Jenny to fall to the floor.
"Bitch." Jenny muttered as she stood up. I gave Jenny a smile and she rolled her eyes. Lily got up as well and we headed to the great hall. The decorations were still up from the night before but there was no glitter, thank god. If the glitter got into the food it would be all gritty like when you go to the beach and try to eat but all the sand gets in your food and your jaws like, crack together. We headed for one end of the table but Jenny dragged us to where Remus was sitting with James and Sirius. Lily let out a moan of annoyance as we dragged her over and sat down. Luckily for her James sat next to Remus on the opposite side of the table. I placed my lovely little arse right nest to Sirius while Jenny sat next to Remus after giving him a little kiss from behind. Remus smiled and put his arm around Jenny.
"How was all your girls nights?" Remus asked.
"Do you really need an answer to that Moony?" Sirius asked. "We know about you and Jenny, there was myself and this fine specimen of a woman right here." He put his arm around Lily. "Wait, you do need it answered. Lily, care to make our Prongs jealous?" Sirius asked Lily. Lily looked at Sirius then looked at James.
"No not really." She said, "He knows what happened." Everyone looked at her confused.
"I was watching, I got jealous of the guy she was with," James explained to us. I nodded slowly but knew they weren't telling everything but I knew what had happened on Lily's date
"Lily's date sounds like it was better then the rest of ours." I told them. "The guy she was with didn't push her to do anything and it was so sweet." Sirius laughed.
"A guy who doesn't push just a little is a complete wimp, obviously not confident with girls." Sirius remarked. I felt Lily shift slightly next to me and I looked at her.
"I'm going to go and have a shower. Do you need any help with your homework after?" Lily asked me.
"No, it's all done." I told her. She smiled and left us in the great hall.
* * * *
Ah, Christmas holidays, the best time of year. Just sit back, relax and let the presents come to you. It seems that this year it's only the seventh year students who have been kicked out of their homes for the holidays. Well, Jessica and Fran have gone home, but they're not important. What is important however is that Sirius is coming my way with a cheeky look on his face. I stayed lying down on the sofa. It was one of those rare occasions when I was on my own. Jenny with Remus and Lily in our room fussing over ever increasing wardrobe. It's not my fault if I keep finding things that will looked brilliant on Lily. Sirius sat on the edge of the sofa and I felt it dip where he sat by my hips.
"Good day Sirius." I said pleasantly, "what's up?"
"You don't want to know" Sirius said. "I was wondering if-"
"No." I said confidently. Sirius looked at me slightly upset,
"But you and Lily, you told me that-"
"We were joking Sirius." I said laughing. "You have a sick mind Mr. Black." He smirked.
"I can't help it. With ladies like you provoking me like you do." He said. I sat up and looked at him.
"How am I provoking you? I'm just lying here on the sofa." I said defensively. What was Sirius up to?
"Yes, all lonely and helpless and doing nothing." Sirius said with a cheeky smile. I raised an eyebrow and looked into those deep dark eyes.
"What do you mean?" I asked Sirius pretending not to understand. I knew what he was going to say but I wanted to hear it from Sirius. I had never seen Sirius try so hard to get a girl. His usual tactics were go to girl, kiss her face off, a quick shag if she's fit enough and then dump her. It must of killed him that it took more then a kiss to get me into bed. So far there hadn't been a single boy who'd managed to get into bed with me. Lily and Jenny had but not in the sense that the boys seemed to think of. Sirius looked at me.
"You're so..." Sirius took in a deep breath, "Hot is the only word I can thing of." I gave him a seductive smile and brushed some of his long hair out of his eyes.
"Why thank you." I said kindly. "Was that really that hard to get out?" I asked him
"No not really." Sirius said smiling. "But it's not just your hotness that I like. I like your eyes to." I looked at him confused yet very amused. "They're so cute and your nose and your cheek looks so kissable and you're really clever and you know just how to dress." I looked at Sirius suspiciously. Since I had discovered he liked me he had only really seen me in my school uniform and my dress robes.
"How do you know?" I asked him. "All I wear is my uniform."
"Do you know how hot the uniform looks on you. There are only two girls who can pull of the school uniform in a way that it gets all the guys worked up." Sirius said. I smiled.
"And who may they be?" I asked. I liked this game. It was like give a little get a bit more plus Sirius was really boosting my self-esteem. The more he complimented me the better I felt.
"You and Evans." Sirius said. I smirked.
"Yeah, Lily does look kinda hot in her uniform doesn't she?" I asked Sirius. He grinned. "No Sirius I'm not gay." Sirius' grin faded away.
"Prove it." He said. I grinned, that I was happy to do, I sat up properly and put my head closer to his. Sirius looked at me slightly surprised. "You don't have to honestly." Sirius said quickly. I closed my eyes as if I was about to kiss Sirius.
"Maybe some other day." I muttered against his mouth. I pulled away and looked at Sirius. He looked ready to receive a kiss. I got up and kissed his cheek.
"See you." I said happily. Sirius opened his eyes and looked at me confused.
"April!" Lily screamed from the girls dorms
"Yes Lily!" I shouted back.
"Where are my Potion's notes?" She asked. She came down the stairs.
"They're under your pink halter top" I said.
"Thanks!" She said. "So, what do you want to do, I'm bored." I went to Lily and put my arms around her neck. She looked at me curiously. "What are you up to?" She asked me.
"Play along." I said, "Sirius still thinks we're gay." Lily rolled her eyes and kissed my cheek.
"Why are you doing this?" She muttered into my ear as she pulled away.
"Because I'm bored and it's funny." I said. Lily and I shot a glance at Sirius, who was staring at us wide eyed and his mouth slightly open
"Could you girls do that again, only on the lips?" Sirius asked. I laughed and Lily chuckled.
"You up for it darling?" Lily asked me, putting her hands on my waist. I was about to nod when I burst out laughing and had to lean against the table. "Honestly April, you're a crap actress." I held my side and nodded.
"I know, that's why I'm not going into acting." April said. Lily rolled her eyes and looked at the ceiling where a sprig of mistletoe was hanging in the air right above her.
"Uh oh." She muttered.
"What?" I asked her curiously. I looked up as well and smiled. "Sirius get under that mistletoe with Lily and free her of the curse of the mistletoe." I ordered. Sirius got up ready to follow my order when James seemed to get there first. "Where'd you come from?" I asked him curiously. I hadn't honestly seen him come from anywhere.
"Oh, I was just-" James said. I saw him looking at Lily with a smile. Lily was so going to slap him, I could just see it, her hand would go back and slap him. I was about to say something when Lily sighed.
"It had to be you didn't it?" She asked him pleasantly with a smile. Both Sirius and I looked at each other, was Lily being civil, even friendly to James. James grinned and nodded.
"It's bad luck not to kiss the person who's under the mistletoe with you." James said.
"James, get out of there before she hits you." Sirius said warningly.
"I know what I'm doing." James said. He bent down and scooped Lily into a kiss. To my surprise she didn't seem surprised or shocked at all. Actually, she completely surprised both me and Sirius when she put her arms around James' neck and pulled him closer and deepened the kiss. Sirius and I looked at each other curiously. He walked over to me and put his arm around my waist.
"Is it me or are they kissing like a couple?" Sirius asked me.
"It's not you." I told him, their kiss seemed to go on for a long time. "You didn't know about this?" I asked Sirius.
"James would have told me if-" Sirius started to say his sentence when Lily and James broke apart.
"Not quite as good as last time." Lily said to James. I looked at her in surprise, last time? James grinned and put his arms around her waist and pushed her against the sofa. "No James, not-" She let out a scream as they went over the sofa and onto the cushions of the seats, James attacking her with kisses.
"What the hell is going on?" I asked. "Yesterday you two were at each other's throats in insults and now you're just at each other's throats." I said.
"And have you two been going out?" Sirius asked. James had stopped kissing Lily.
"Shall we tell them?" He asked her, looking into her eyes. Lily grinned.
"Why not?" Lily asked leaning up and putting a kiss on James' lips. James sat up properly, letting Lily get up herself.
"Explain, Lily, explain." I said to Lily.
"James and I have been going out since the masked ball." She said awkwardly yet happily at the same time.
"He's the guy you've been writing to?" I asked Lily. She nodded. Over the past few weeks Lily had been sending letters off everyday to her /i, she wouldn't tell us who he was and now I found out I was speechless.
"But you two have been murdering each other recently." Sirius said, as shocked as I was.
"We have to keep up appearances." James said. "If we suddenly became all nice to each other then everyone would get suspicious and we wanted to keep everything under wraps." I was still speechless. Lily and I had made a pact with Jenny not to go out with James and Sirius, the biggest players in the school and Lily had gone against that and had started dating James. I could feel something inside me rising. Anger? Hurt? Annoyance? Or betrayal? I couldn't put my finger on it. She was supposed to be my best friend and keep to her promise. Because of that promise I hadn't gone out with Sirius, even though he asked me out indirectly every single day.
"You betrayed me." I said to Lily. She looked at me slightly surprised.
"What?" She asked me confused. "How?"
"We made a promise that we wouldn't go out with James or Sirius and you broke it." I said. Sirius and James looked at us incredulously, another long word but now's not the time. Lily looked at me suddenly realizing what she'd done.
"That's a crap promise." James said. Lily hit him lightly as she got up.
"Shut up." She said to James. He nodded and lily got up. "I'm sorry April, I haven't really been thinking properly, it's just that James makes me feel, happy." What a crap excuse!
"That's how Sirius makes me feel but you don't see me going behind your back and dating him without you knowing. I've liked him for ages, you know that, and I've been controlling myself for months and you-" I pointed at James. I was fully aware I was spilling out all my untold feelings for Sirius out in front of him but I just wasn't bothered right now. I was hurt that Lily broke a promise that we had made, together, a pact as sisters. Lily looked at me sadly.
"April, I-"
"I know what you're going to say and it's the same for me, Lily, you know that. Merlin, I thought you'd actually stick by it." I said, tears coming to my eyes. I turned and ran up the stairs to the girls dorms. Sirius followed me up but by the time he'd reached the third step the stairs turned into a slide, fortunately I'd reached my room by then. No one would be bothering me for a while now. I ran straight to my bed and threw myself under the still warm covers. I guess the promise wasn't very important really, it was a stupid one we'd made in our third year but it was more the fact that Lily had gone against it and lied to me as well. She told me everything, yes we hid some stuff from Jenny, she didn't mind that at all, she let us have our secrets because she knew that she couldn't quite get into the bond that Lily and I had. We had been friends before Jenny joined us.
I buried my head into my pillow and cried, I didn't cry often and it felt strange but it just seemed like the thing to do. Lily wasn't supposed to lie to me, she couldn't lie to me. I never hid anything from her, I openly told her about me fancying Sirius, I had told her about every single little affair I've ever had, she knows everything about me, when my periods are, where to poke me to wake me up, she knows what buttons to push to make me angry, happy, sad or depressed. I knew exactly the same thing about her. How could Lily do this to me...ok now that sounds a bit gay but still. Lily with James, was that even possible anyway? They were so completely different, well I didn't actually know James as well as I could but still. The guy she hated most, the person she hated most after her sister. Why him of all people anyway? I have nothing against James but still, it's the principles of the whole thing.
Once I'd finally gotten my crying under control I rolled onto my side and held my duvets close to me, this was one of those moments where you just want to crawl up in a hole and never come out, at least I can sort of do that here. The hangings enclosed around me remind me of a coffin in a way. When I went to my great granddad's funeral when I was ten his coffin had lining that was crimson, just like my hangings. The hangings suddenly seemed so suffocating and I felt slightly claustrophobic in the bed. I jumped out of the bed and staggered to my feet before I fell onto Jenny's bed. I went to the window and moved the jug of water and the cups that were on the window ledge and put them on the floor. I pushed myself up to sit on the window ledge and opened the window wide so the bitter cold air was striking my face. I could almost smell the snow in the air, the ice from the lake. I think the fresh air is exactly what I needed just then because I was starting to feel less panicked and stressed and more depressed and upset.
A Christmas Time Betrayal
April's POV
Oh such a lovely morning, everything is great. I had yet another good night, I have no homework and I'm desperately waiting for Lily to wake up. I sat and stared at the ceiling of my four poster bed. I thought of last night, the masked ball. It was ingenious, I loved it so much. I grinned to myself and stretched. I sat up slowly and ran a hand through my long blonde hair. Oh crap, bed hair, I hate that so much, oh the price of being vain. Never mind. I wonder if Lily's back from her date. She looked like she was having fun last night, even if she did disappear after about fifteen minutes. I opened my crimson velvet hangings and looked into the dorm room. Jenny was obviously still asleep and so were Jessica and Fran. They were our other room mates. We didn't really get along and they often kept to themselves which was fine because Lily, Jenny and I never really included them in anything anyway. Their only purpose in life was to please the guys.
I slowly slipped out from the warm protection my duvet offered me and put my foot on the freezing stone floor. I winced at the cold and quickly ran to Lily's bed on my toes. Lily's bed was right next to mine and I could have jumped across if I wanted to but it was to early for any extraneous exercise. Oh damn, look at that, a long word so early in the morning, I'm turning into Jenny. I glanced at the small bedside table next to Lily's bed and saw her mask and wand lying on it. I grinned and slipped in through her hangings and sat on the bed and closed the hangings behind me. Lily was still sleeping and looked all snug and happy curled up like a baby in her duvet. Her red hair spread across her pillow and it partially covered her face. I got onto my hands and knees and gently moved some of the hair away from her face. Lily scowled and turned over. She bumped into my legs and opened her eyes.
"April." She muttered. "Get out of my bed." She muttered as she pulled the duvet over her head and tried to get back to sleep. It wasn't going to be that easy for her. I pulled up the duvet and slipped under it as well. Lily didn't care usually but she moaned this time and turned over.
"Lily, please talk to me." I said pretending to be upset. "You weren't no where to be seen last night, I had no one to talk to." Lily muttered something I couldn't hear into a pillow. "What was that my dearest?" I asked.
"Fuck off April, I was out late last night." Lily said slightly louder. I grinned and looked at Lily to see her smiling slightly as well.
"Who was the lucky boy?" I asked crawling over Lily so that she was facing me.
"I'm not telling you." Lily said as she pulled herself up into a sitting position. She had a smile on her face like she had just been given the best thing in the world. One of those smiles that we girls usually have when we talk about someone we really like but don't want to tell our friends but do want to tell them at the same time.
"Oh, tell me." I asked her as I sat on her legs. Lily shook her head.
"It was no one" Lily said, "just a one night thing really." I looked at her and narrowed my eyes. She definitely wasn't going to get away with this and not tell me who it was or what they did.
"I'm your sister though." I moaned, trying to get the sympathy vote.
"Not by blood or marriage so no you're not my sister but I love you anyway." Lily said with a smile.
"Lily." I said looking at her annoyed. Lily looked at me and grinned
"Ok fine. I won't tell you who he was but he gave me the most amazing kisses." She said dreamily, "and he's so clever and intelligent and he's so sweet and gently." I smiled at Lily, she looked at me. "I know." She screamed excitedly. I screamed for her as well and that's when a shoe came through the hangings and just missed the two of us.
"Will you two shut up!" Jenny shouted from her bed. "Some of us are trying to sleep."
"Same." Came Jessica's voice.
"Sorry." Lily said.
"Come on, lets go to the common room." I said taking Lily's hand.
"Ok." Lily and I got changed quickly and were about to go to the common room when I stopped by the mirror. My hair was a mess. I hadn't actually brushed it before going to bed last night and there was still quite a lot of hair product in it and Sirius had messed my hair up quite badly after the ball, or during the ball, I forget, it passed so quickly. The thought of Sirius made me smile and after waving my wand so my hair looked perfect I followed Lily. As usual her hair was perfect without her even having to do anything to it. I was so jealous of her sometimes. She had boys falling at her feet and yet she pretty much ignored all of them. Yes she did go out with guys and she was never single for too long but most guys found her a bit too intelligent for her. The only guy who had wanted her and would always want her was James Potter and Lily hated his guts though she had started talking to him politely since Remus and Jenny started dating. Lily felt she owed it to Jenny. I, however, have already experienced the thing that is James Potter. It was just one kiss under mistletoe last Christmas and he wasn't as good as Sirius.
As a rule I couldn't go out with the ringleaders of the group that was known as the Marauders. This group consisted of the one and only James Potter, the stunningly sexy Sirius Black, the romantic sweetheart Remus Lupin and the slightly podgy yet popular Peter Pettigrew. Lily, Jenny and myself had promised not to go out with the ring leaders of the group, Sirius or James. They were the biggest players in the entire universe, or Hogwarts at any rate. They were off bounds, we weren't going to lower ourselves to their standards. Jenny had done well to get Remus. He owled her all the time they weren't at school and he took great care of her. I felt pleased for them but now I wanted Sirius Black. I never really thought of him before as I did now. He was just another good looking guy who I hung around with, flirted with and got picked on in return. Not serious picking on but Lily and I were sometimes the butt of their jokes and pranks. If it wasn't the Slytherins it was us. The promise Lily and I had made had become a lot harder since yesterday afternoon when Sirius had cornered me in the hall on the way back from the Owlery with the masks. He had pulled me into an empty classroom and told me he really liked me.
Now I don't normally fall for guys telling me that they fancy me because I can see straight through their lies, you see, I'm what you call a Legillimen. I'm not very good at it but I have some skill and can at least tell if guys lie to me. It's great sometimes because when they try and break up with you, you can get to them first and suddenly they're your cast offs instead of you being their cast off. But anyway, I'm straying, I could see that Sirius was telling the truth and he gave me a quick, gentlemanly kiss on the cheek.
"April watch out!" Lily said moments before I crashed into a wall. I stopped and blinked a few times, staring at the blank grey wall.
"Thanks." I said to Lily. I heard Lily giggle slightly and I turned to her. "Come on, you need to tell me everything, what you did and all that stuff." I said jumping onto the sofa next to Lily. She had her legs tucked up against her chest while I sat on mine and had one arm over the back of the sofa. Lily smiled shyly as she described the night's events to me. I found it rather annoying that she didn't tell me his name or what she called him. I had to call Sirius Padfoot for the whole night, it was a really random name but strangely it suited him. I grinned as Lily's tale continued and when she finished she was almost as ditzy as I usually am.
"You're in loove" I sang. Lily hit me lightly.
"No I'm not." She snapped in an amused voice. "I really like him though and I can't be with him." Her expression suddenly going slightly sad.
"Why not?" I asked her curiously.
"It's just this thing between us." Lily said with a sigh, "we just can't be together." She looked genuinely disappointed
"Tell me who it is and curse them to hell." I said. Lily smiled.
"No it's fine." She said. "So what about you? What did you get up to?" Lily asked me. I was about to answer when I saw Sirius walking down the stairs from the boys dorm swinging a monocle around his finger and a pipe in his mouth. He looked at me and pretended to look in shock.
"Oh my dearest April, could it really be you? I have not seen you in years darling." He said in a posh English accent. I laughed and Lily looked at him then turned to me.
"You fell for him?" Lily asked me. I smiled guiltily as Sirius approached. Lily smirked and shook her head. "Honestly." Lily said laughing. Sirius sat between Lily and April and put his arms around their shoulders.
"How bout a kiss?" He asked in his usual voice. His black hair was fairly long for a boy but it suited Sirius so well. It fell with an elegant grace and charm over his deep dark brown eyes. He shot me a grin, a grin that made most girls go weak at the knees, what some girls would do for that grin.
"Sorry Padfoot." I said, "I can't, I made a promise and last night was the exception." I told him sadly. Sirius looked at me seriously.
"What?" He asked. I looked at Lily for help and support.
"She's already taken." Lily said. Sirius looked at her.
"Who?" Sirius looked at April, "Tell me who he is so I can curse him." April looked sorrowfully. Sirius was one of the dirtiest minded people in the school but he was so sweet sometimes.
"I'm afraid I'm Lily's girlfriend." I said, trying to keep a serious face. I saw Lily crack up behind Sirius. Sirius' eyes widened and he looked at Lily, who had gotten her facial expressions under control.
"I knew it." He said.
"Knew what?" Lily asked.
"I knew you two were gay. I've tried to tell James so often but he just won't listen." Sirius said, a smile creeping onto his face. "Hey, do you think that you two could-"
"Padfoot." Came a voice from the boy's dorms. Sirius turned to see James Potter with a guy with sandy coloured hair and fairly pale skin. James Potter and Remus Lupin. Remus was quite good looking but he always looked like he was slightly ill. Not that that bothered anyone who went out with him. His body was almost as good as Sirius' or James' but he was a bit on the lean side. It could have something to do with the fact that he went home for a few days every month for some reason. I knew Jenny knew why but she wouldn't tell me or Lily.
"Yes Prongs." Sirius said. Lily's face suddenly changed like she had just realised something.
"We got to get breakfast then got some jokes to prepare." James said. "Stop bugging Evans and Marsden."
"James, did you know that they're-" Lily had put a silencing charm on Sirius and he looked at her slightly annoyed.
"You're not going to cause anymore trouble Potter." She said to him. James gave her a daring look.
"Try and stop me Evans, I'm the shit around here." He said, "And you know it." I swear I saw Lily smiling slightly but it must have been my imagination because she was scowling at him.
"I wondered what that smell was." Lily said, "Must be you, now you won't be pulling any...jokes or pranks, you're head boy and you're supposed to set an example to the younger years." James looked at Remus and walked down the rest of the steps to Lily. He was a good five inches taller then she was. I watched worriedly. Lily and James weren't known to be the best of friends and one of them always came out of their confrontations hexed or jinxed.
"Very funny Evans, maybe next time I'll let the peacocks fly free." He said.
"Peacocks can't fly" lily snapped back at James. Lily glared at him as he left with Remus. Sirius got up as well.
"And April and I aren't really together, Sirius." Lily snapped. Sirius looked at her like she'd said the worst thing possible. I laughed at his face, if he could speak I guess I'd be rolling on the floor with laughter. James grabbed the back of Sirius' shirt and pulled him out of the common room with him. Lily sat down next to me wit her arms crossed.
"What did James mean, let the Peacocks fly free?" I asked Lily.
"Nothing." Lily muttered.
"You guys didn't have a fight at the ball did you?" I asked Lily, "You two have to learn to get together, how are you ever going to be able to attend Jenny's wedding if you can't even be in the same room as him-"
"I'm not getting married" came Jenny's voice, cutting me off. I turned and grinned as Jenny jumped on the sofa, over me and Lily. "So, how are my beautiful girlfriends today."
"Feeling positively glowing." I replied. Jenny laughed with me, her Chinese features looking better as she laughed.
"I swear I could really-" Lily stared muttering. Jenny put a hand over Lily's mouth.
"Lets try and go one day without cursing James Potter." Jenny said. "April's right."
"Sorry." Lily muttered "It's just that-"
"Sh!" I said to Lily. Lily looked at me and smirked.
"Sorry." Lily said.
"Come on, breakfast awaits us in the great hall." I said to them. I stood up causing Jenny to fall to the floor.
"Bitch." Jenny muttered as she stood up. I gave Jenny a smile and she rolled her eyes. Lily got up as well and we headed to the great hall. The decorations were still up from the night before but there was no glitter, thank god. If the glitter got into the food it would be all gritty like when you go to the beach and try to eat but all the sand gets in your food and your jaws like, crack together. We headed for one end of the table but Jenny dragged us to where Remus was sitting with James and Sirius. Lily let out a moan of annoyance as we dragged her over and sat down. Luckily for her James sat next to Remus on the opposite side of the table. I placed my lovely little arse right nest to Sirius while Jenny sat next to Remus after giving him a little kiss from behind. Remus smiled and put his arm around Jenny.
"How was all your girls nights?" Remus asked.
"Do you really need an answer to that Moony?" Sirius asked. "We know about you and Jenny, there was myself and this fine specimen of a woman right here." He put his arm around Lily. "Wait, you do need it answered. Lily, care to make our Prongs jealous?" Sirius asked Lily. Lily looked at Sirius then looked at James.
"No not really." She said, "He knows what happened." Everyone looked at her confused.
"I was watching, I got jealous of the guy she was with," James explained to us. I nodded slowly but knew they weren't telling everything but I knew what had happened on Lily's date
"Lily's date sounds like it was better then the rest of ours." I told them. "The guy she was with didn't push her to do anything and it was so sweet." Sirius laughed.
"A guy who doesn't push just a little is a complete wimp, obviously not confident with girls." Sirius remarked. I felt Lily shift slightly next to me and I looked at her.
"I'm going to go and have a shower. Do you need any help with your homework after?" Lily asked me.
"No, it's all done." I told her. She smiled and left us in the great hall.
* * * *
Ah, Christmas holidays, the best time of year. Just sit back, relax and let the presents come to you. It seems that this year it's only the seventh year students who have been kicked out of their homes for the holidays. Well, Jessica and Fran have gone home, but they're not important. What is important however is that Sirius is coming my way with a cheeky look on his face. I stayed lying down on the sofa. It was one of those rare occasions when I was on my own. Jenny with Remus and Lily in our room fussing over ever increasing wardrobe. It's not my fault if I keep finding things that will looked brilliant on Lily. Sirius sat on the edge of the sofa and I felt it dip where he sat by my hips.
"Good day Sirius." I said pleasantly, "what's up?"
"You don't want to know" Sirius said. "I was wondering if-"
"No." I said confidently. Sirius looked at me slightly upset,
"But you and Lily, you told me that-"
"We were joking Sirius." I said laughing. "You have a sick mind Mr. Black." He smirked.
"I can't help it. With ladies like you provoking me like you do." He said. I sat up and looked at him.
"How am I provoking you? I'm just lying here on the sofa." I said defensively. What was Sirius up to?
"Yes, all lonely and helpless and doing nothing." Sirius said with a cheeky smile. I raised an eyebrow and looked into those deep dark eyes.
"What do you mean?" I asked Sirius pretending not to understand. I knew what he was going to say but I wanted to hear it from Sirius. I had never seen Sirius try so hard to get a girl. His usual tactics were go to girl, kiss her face off, a quick shag if she's fit enough and then dump her. It must of killed him that it took more then a kiss to get me into bed. So far there hadn't been a single boy who'd managed to get into bed with me. Lily and Jenny had but not in the sense that the boys seemed to think of. Sirius looked at me.
"You're so..." Sirius took in a deep breath, "Hot is the only word I can thing of." I gave him a seductive smile and brushed some of his long hair out of his eyes.
"Why thank you." I said kindly. "Was that really that hard to get out?" I asked him
"No not really." Sirius said smiling. "But it's not just your hotness that I like. I like your eyes to." I looked at him confused yet very amused. "They're so cute and your nose and your cheek looks so kissable and you're really clever and you know just how to dress." I looked at Sirius suspiciously. Since I had discovered he liked me he had only really seen me in my school uniform and my dress robes.
"How do you know?" I asked him. "All I wear is my uniform."
"Do you know how hot the uniform looks on you. There are only two girls who can pull of the school uniform in a way that it gets all the guys worked up." Sirius said. I smiled.
"And who may they be?" I asked. I liked this game. It was like give a little get a bit more plus Sirius was really boosting my self-esteem. The more he complimented me the better I felt.
"You and Evans." Sirius said. I smirked.
"Yeah, Lily does look kinda hot in her uniform doesn't she?" I asked Sirius. He grinned. "No Sirius I'm not gay." Sirius' grin faded away.
"Prove it." He said. I grinned, that I was happy to do, I sat up properly and put my head closer to his. Sirius looked at me slightly surprised. "You don't have to honestly." Sirius said quickly. I closed my eyes as if I was about to kiss Sirius.
"Maybe some other day." I muttered against his mouth. I pulled away and looked at Sirius. He looked ready to receive a kiss. I got up and kissed his cheek.
"See you." I said happily. Sirius opened his eyes and looked at me confused.
"April!" Lily screamed from the girls dorms
"Yes Lily!" I shouted back.
"Where are my Potion's notes?" She asked. She came down the stairs.
"They're under your pink halter top" I said.
"Thanks!" She said. "So, what do you want to do, I'm bored." I went to Lily and put my arms around her neck. She looked at me curiously. "What are you up to?" She asked me.
"Play along." I said, "Sirius still thinks we're gay." Lily rolled her eyes and kissed my cheek.
"Why are you doing this?" She muttered into my ear as she pulled away.
"Because I'm bored and it's funny." I said. Lily and I shot a glance at Sirius, who was staring at us wide eyed and his mouth slightly open
"Could you girls do that again, only on the lips?" Sirius asked. I laughed and Lily chuckled.
"You up for it darling?" Lily asked me, putting her hands on my waist. I was about to nod when I burst out laughing and had to lean against the table. "Honestly April, you're a crap actress." I held my side and nodded.
"I know, that's why I'm not going into acting." April said. Lily rolled her eyes and looked at the ceiling where a sprig of mistletoe was hanging in the air right above her.
"Uh oh." She muttered.
"What?" I asked her curiously. I looked up as well and smiled. "Sirius get under that mistletoe with Lily and free her of the curse of the mistletoe." I ordered. Sirius got up ready to follow my order when James seemed to get there first. "Where'd you come from?" I asked him curiously. I hadn't honestly seen him come from anywhere.
"Oh, I was just-" James said. I saw him looking at Lily with a smile. Lily was so going to slap him, I could just see it, her hand would go back and slap him. I was about to say something when Lily sighed.
"It had to be you didn't it?" She asked him pleasantly with a smile. Both Sirius and I looked at each other, was Lily being civil, even friendly to James. James grinned and nodded.
"It's bad luck not to kiss the person who's under the mistletoe with you." James said.
"James, get out of there before she hits you." Sirius said warningly.
"I know what I'm doing." James said. He bent down and scooped Lily into a kiss. To my surprise she didn't seem surprised or shocked at all. Actually, she completely surprised both me and Sirius when she put her arms around James' neck and pulled him closer and deepened the kiss. Sirius and I looked at each other curiously. He walked over to me and put his arm around my waist.
"Is it me or are they kissing like a couple?" Sirius asked me.
"It's not you." I told him, their kiss seemed to go on for a long time. "You didn't know about this?" I asked Sirius.
"James would have told me if-" Sirius started to say his sentence when Lily and James broke apart.
"Not quite as good as last time." Lily said to James. I looked at her in surprise, last time? James grinned and put his arms around her waist and pushed her against the sofa. "No James, not-" She let out a scream as they went over the sofa and onto the cushions of the seats, James attacking her with kisses.
"What the hell is going on?" I asked. "Yesterday you two were at each other's throats in insults and now you're just at each other's throats." I said.
"And have you two been going out?" Sirius asked. James had stopped kissing Lily.
"Shall we tell them?" He asked her, looking into her eyes. Lily grinned.
"Why not?" Lily asked leaning up and putting a kiss on James' lips. James sat up properly, letting Lily get up herself.
"Explain, Lily, explain." I said to Lily.
"James and I have been going out since the masked ball." She said awkwardly yet happily at the same time.
"He's the guy you've been writing to?" I asked Lily. She nodded. Over the past few weeks Lily had been sending letters off everyday to her /i, she wouldn't tell us who he was and now I found out I was speechless.
"But you two have been murdering each other recently." Sirius said, as shocked as I was.
"We have to keep up appearances." James said. "If we suddenly became all nice to each other then everyone would get suspicious and we wanted to keep everything under wraps." I was still speechless. Lily and I had made a pact with Jenny not to go out with James and Sirius, the biggest players in the school and Lily had gone against that and had started dating James. I could feel something inside me rising. Anger? Hurt? Annoyance? Or betrayal? I couldn't put my finger on it. She was supposed to be my best friend and keep to her promise. Because of that promise I hadn't gone out with Sirius, even though he asked me out indirectly every single day.
"You betrayed me." I said to Lily. She looked at me slightly surprised.
"What?" She asked me confused. "How?"
"We made a promise that we wouldn't go out with James or Sirius and you broke it." I said. Sirius and James looked at us incredulously, another long word but now's not the time. Lily looked at me suddenly realizing what she'd done.
"That's a crap promise." James said. Lily hit him lightly as she got up.
"Shut up." She said to James. He nodded and lily got up. "I'm sorry April, I haven't really been thinking properly, it's just that James makes me feel, happy." What a crap excuse!
"That's how Sirius makes me feel but you don't see me going behind your back and dating him without you knowing. I've liked him for ages, you know that, and I've been controlling myself for months and you-" I pointed at James. I was fully aware I was spilling out all my untold feelings for Sirius out in front of him but I just wasn't bothered right now. I was hurt that Lily broke a promise that we had made, together, a pact as sisters. Lily looked at me sadly.
"April, I-"
"I know what you're going to say and it's the same for me, Lily, you know that. Merlin, I thought you'd actually stick by it." I said, tears coming to my eyes. I turned and ran up the stairs to the girls dorms. Sirius followed me up but by the time he'd reached the third step the stairs turned into a slide, fortunately I'd reached my room by then. No one would be bothering me for a while now. I ran straight to my bed and threw myself under the still warm covers. I guess the promise wasn't very important really, it was a stupid one we'd made in our third year but it was more the fact that Lily had gone against it and lied to me as well. She told me everything, yes we hid some stuff from Jenny, she didn't mind that at all, she let us have our secrets because she knew that she couldn't quite get into the bond that Lily and I had. We had been friends before Jenny joined us.
I buried my head into my pillow and cried, I didn't cry often and it felt strange but it just seemed like the thing to do. Lily wasn't supposed to lie to me, she couldn't lie to me. I never hid anything from her, I openly told her about me fancying Sirius, I had told her about every single little affair I've ever had, she knows everything about me, when my periods are, where to poke me to wake me up, she knows what buttons to push to make me angry, happy, sad or depressed. I knew exactly the same thing about her. How could Lily do this to me...ok now that sounds a bit gay but still. Lily with James, was that even possible anyway? They were so completely different, well I didn't actually know James as well as I could but still. The guy she hated most, the person she hated most after her sister. Why him of all people anyway? I have nothing against James but still, it's the principles of the whole thing.
Once I'd finally gotten my crying under control I rolled onto my side and held my duvets close to me, this was one of those moments where you just want to crawl up in a hole and never come out, at least I can sort of do that here. The hangings enclosed around me remind me of a coffin in a way. When I went to my great granddad's funeral when I was ten his coffin had lining that was crimson, just like my hangings. The hangings suddenly seemed so suffocating and I felt slightly claustrophobic in the bed. I jumped out of the bed and staggered to my feet before I fell onto Jenny's bed. I went to the window and moved the jug of water and the cups that were on the window ledge and put them on the floor. I pushed myself up to sit on the window ledge and opened the window wide so the bitter cold air was striking my face. I could almost smell the snow in the air, the ice from the lake. I think the fresh air is exactly what I needed just then because I was starting to feel less panicked and stressed and more depressed and upset.