Chapter Five

Lily was on a cloud all morning. Her best and closest friend, Ravenclaw fifth-year Sarah Finn, had noticed.

"What is up with you today??" she asked exasperatedly, after asking her the same question about the Potions essay five times in a row and still gaining no response. Lily jumped, as if startled out of a reverie.

"Wha—oh...erm...nothing... I'm—tired, is all..." she trailed off, looking rather guilty and amused all at once.

Sarah saw right through it, though. (As any proper best friend should) She sighed, tucking her pretty, dark hair behind her ears.

"Who's the bloke, Lily?"

And so Lily reluctantly told the entire story of last night, a dreamy, faraway look in her eyes. Sarah's eyebrows rose steadily higher over her deep blue eyes as Lily talked, though she didn't interrupt. Finally, when she had finished, Sarah voiced, barely choking down a laugh, "Remus?!?"

Lily glared at her. "And what is so wrong with Remus?" she inquired testily. "He's better than Sirius..."

Lily laughed outright at the effect this had on Sarah. She sputtered indignantly for a bit, and then lapsed into silence as Lily pulled her pet Puffskein out of the pocket of her robes, stroking it. The little custard-colored thing hummed contentedly. Sarah smiled at it, and Lily tossed it to her. The little furry creature didn't mind in the least.

They amused themselves by tossing "Lion" back and forth and chatting; giggling at the funny humming sound it made that seemed to increase as they tossed it higher. Eventually, Sarah suggested a romp to the Pitch for some Quidditch practice. Sarah played Chaser on the Ravenclaw team. Lily agreed, since, even though she wasn't on Gryffindor's house team, she still enjoyed the game. The rain had cleared up since last night, and it seemed like good flying conditions.

Lily strolled around absently as Sarah went to fetch her new Shooting Star broomstick from her dormitory. She sat on the stone steps leading up to the Entrance Hall, watching Lion roll about in circles, occasionally sticking it's long pink tongue out to capture and devour an ant. Her eyes traveled the grounds, watching a small figure in scarlet robes zoom about the Pitch, and the usual girls splashing about in the lake.

The doors creaked open behind her and Lily turned, expecting to see Sarah, but was greeted instead by the dark figure of Severus Snape. She smiled at him, a look of pity shrouded in the green of her eyes. He glanced down at her, his lip curling. She bit her lip and looked back across the grounds, forcing the blush off her face. She knew what was making him sneer like that. It wasn't his fault, though, a part pf her protested. He was brought up that way...

She fixed her gaze instead on two figures walking back this way from the Pitch. Her heart skipped involuntarily. There was no mistaking the calm stride of Remus, nor the longish black hair of Sirius. In her distraction, however, Lion had escaped, and was rolling across the lawn toward the two boys.

"Lion..." she muttered, rising and chasing after the little furry sphere. It had beaten her, though. Sirius stooped, his midnight hair falling across his face, and scooped up Lily's pet.

"This would be a decent thing to use for Beater practice," he said, laughing. "Some poor little first-year probably lost their pet." Remus grinned at his friend, but plucked the little thing out of harm's way. He looked around, spotting Lily, and tossed it to her casually. Lily caught it.

"Thanks," she said, and tucked it into her pocket again. She had to get away from there. Sirius was grinning at her in an infuriating way that suggested knowledge of last night's events. She was thinking up an excuse to leave, but was spared the task as Sarah's voice rang out across the grounds.

"Lily Evans! Can't I leave you for ten minutes without you going off gallivanting with these hooligans?" she half-shouted in mock anger, striding up to them. Sirius grinned at her, winking. She threw him and exasperated glance and said haughtily, "Lily and I are off to play a bit of Quidditch if you don't mind. I blame you boys for distracting her."

Sirius said "Well, it's a bit hard not to... you know how girls get around me..." his eyes were twinkling as he dropped the subject. "We'll join you, if that's alright. We've got nothing better to do on this fine Sunday morning."

Lily rolled her eyes, but Sarah agreed to have the boys meet them on the pitch in ten minutes, and they could start up a game. Lily noticed that the scarlet-clad figure she had seen before was now gone. The girls and Remus rushed off to fetch brooms for Lily and Remus from the supply shed, and Sirius pelted back to the castle to get his broom. He returned rather quickly, Peter's soccer ball tucked under his arm to use as a Quaffle, his broom in hand. Wormtail would have undoubtedly come to play as well, but he was busy with Gobstones Club. Frank Longbottom walked with Sirius, also clutching a broom.

The friends kicked off from the ground, tossing the soccer ball around casually, Sirius swinging at it with his bat once in a while. Lily closed her eyes and turned in a loop, enjoying the peacefulness of the day, and hoping that things could stay this way, if just for a little while.