Disclaimer: everything belongs to JK Rowling, except fro characters and
events unrecognizable as being part of the Harry Potter series.
A/N: hey all! Well, here's the next chapter of this humble fic. Hope you all like it. A couple of people said that they'd like flashbacks of when the girls shared a dorm with the boys. Well, I'm sorry, but I don't think that'll happen. But we'll see. I will explain what happened with that, so keep reading! Um, a few people said that I need to separate the bit with Lily and Sarah talking more from the bit with Sirius and James- well, I did, but maybe it stuffed up when I uploaded the chapter. I'll look into it. So, on with the fic we go. Have fun reading, and make sure to REVIEW!
Chapter Two
Reunited
"This is stupid," muttered James Potter, glaring around and shuffling his feet to keep them warm.
"Oh shut up," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. He winked at a passing girl and was rewarded with a huge smile. It paid to be good looking.
It was a cool evening, and their breath came out in little puffs of mist. They were standing outside a widespread building, which stood to the side of a fairly busy street. Muggles students for the class were everywhere, and James felt a little edgy for some reason. He had stuffed his hands deep into the pockets of his grey and blue zip-up jumper, and his jeans were only just keeping his legs warm. There was a strange feeling in his stomach, and he felt some sort foreboding about the class to come.
Sirius, on the other hand, was leaning against the outer wall of the building nonchalantly, dressed in his usual black theme. He seemed unaffected by the cold, and he was only wearing a black shirt and jeans. His hair was falling into his eyes, and James envied his way of looking so in place no matter where he was.
James shoved his glasses up his nose and sighed. Stupid auror training. He was almost ready to turn back down the street and apparate home, when the huge double doors opened, and light spilled into the street. A busy woman stood in the doorway and beckoned to them all quickly. From around her, James could see a huge hall, with about six little kitchens crammed in, and a blackboard at the front.
"Come in, all of you," she said briskly, as the twenty or so students filed in past her. As James and Sirius passed, she flashed them a smile and muttered: "You'll be the wizards then."
James frowned- how had she known? Were they that obvious?
He turned to mention it to Sirius, but found that he was gone. He rolled his eyes and frowned. Where was he? Then he spotted him, talking to a girl (typically) who was standing behind a couple of trestle tables that she was loading with bowls of ingredients.
As he got closer, James' frown deepened. The girl looked familiar in a vague way. Her black hair and blue eyes hit something in his memory, and he stopped walking for a minute to consider.
"Sarah, did you see where I put the-" came a voice.
James' head snapped up. He knew that voice.
A girl stood there, staring at him. Her wild red hair was restrained with a hair tie, and she was dressed in an apron over her jeans and top. Her green eyes were filled with shock. He knew her. Something in James throat caught, and he blinked furiously to hold back tears.
"James?" she said, still looking at him uncomprehendingly.
When was the last time he had heard her say that word?
Flashback
"James?"
He looked down. The music rippled around him like silk when someone shook it, filling his mind, and capturing his heart. She looked so beautiful. It wasn't going to make this any easier.
He smiled at her and she shook her head slightly. Then she pulled his arms further around her waist, and swayed gently.
The Great Hall was decorated well for the occasion, the Graduation Ball at last. It was the Head students dance, and although he could feel everyone eyes on him, James didn't care, because there was only one person he cared about then. And soon he was going to break her heart.
Slowly, other people joined them on the dance floor. And Lily started talking to him. About their apartment, about her job, about what they would do tomorrow, about their future together.
"If only you would decide what you want to do," she said, rolling her eyes, but grinning at the same time. She knew he would decide in his own time. Little did she know that he had decided already.
"Uh, about that..." James began. She looked at him and he knew he had her entire attention. "I-I decided what I want to do...Lily, I...I want to be an auror. I know this is sudden, but...that's what I want to do. And I know it'll mean that we can't get an apartment together and all, and that's why I think...I think that maybe we-we shouldn't stay together. Because I'll barely ever see you, and...well...I just think that that would be more than we could get through..."
He looked at her helplessly. She had gone stiff in his arms. Btu it was the tear running down her cheek that broke his heart.
End flashback
She was standing in front of him. The one person he had longed to see yet hadn't seen for almost three years now...he could hardly believe it.
"H-Hi?" he suggested. She raised an eyebrow, and then shook her head. Her face was a riddle of hurt, anger, shock and disgust.
She hadn't looked at him like that since fifth year. He wasn't sure how to take it.
She turned away and started walking over to the tables where Sarah stood.
It wasn't her walking away that hurt him. But when she smiled and talked to Sirius, he thought his heart would break in two. Lily Evans, the girl he had fought to win, and had chose to lose. Now he thought it was a meager reward, to be an auror when the woman you loved couldn't stand being around you.
He sighed and turned towards the door. There was now way he could stay here when she was standing there. He would just have to tell Gragerson that he couldn't complete the assignment.
But just as he reached the door, Andrea Black came rushing through, clutching several pieces of paper, and a huge bag of silver utensils.
"Hey James," she said brightly, as she strode past to dump the stuff onto one of the tables, and bump Sirius shoulder in greeting.
James opened his mouth to reply, but then realized that she had already forgotten about him. He watched as Lily grinned again at Sirius, and Sarah knocked hips with him friendlily.
He stood outside this circle of friends feeling hurt at the exclusion, but at the same time, knowing that he wouldn't have felt right even if he were included. It had never been the same with Andrea since he had broken up with Lily, and he had lost all contact with Sarah, Grace and Lisa.
James sighed. He felt out of place. He longed to simply walk out the door and not come back. But he knew that he couldn't do that. He trudged over to where a group of guys who looked to be around his age clustered and stood with them, but to the edge of their little society. This was going to be a long night.
Lily closed her eyes as soon as she reached Sarah's side, and leant against her shoulder.
"Somebody, kill me right now," she muttered.
Sarah frowned and moved so that she could look at her friend properly.
"Hey, you don't mean that," she said, patting Lily on the arm. "I mean, I know it must suck to see him after all this time, but really, there's a bright side to everything. Think of all the unresolved stuff that lies around you both. Don't you want some answers?"
She did. That was what scared her. As soon as she saw James, all the old feelings rushed back, held at bay only by the hurt she still felt.
She groaned and slumped into a chair that was behind one of the tables.
"Hey Lily,' someone said. She looked up to see Sirius smiling amiably at her.
She sighed, but managed to scrounge up a smile from somewhere.
"Hello," she said. "Long time no see, hey?"
He grinned.
"Yeah. We all know who to blame for that," he rolled his eyes in James direction. "But you know, he's not a bad guy. I'll leave it all to you to solve, but just remember, he really isn't a bad guy."
Lily smiled wanly, but didn't reply.
Just then, Andrea charged up and started talking. That was Andrea. She never greeted them, or made an introduction before launching into her speech. She just went for it as if they were continuing a conversation from earlier.
"So, you can set up the ingredients, Sarah, and I think you should call the class to order Lily. I'll put the recipe up on that blackboard, and then we can talk them all through it. Hey little brother, what are you doing here? And I just saw James, is this some sort of prank? Why isn't Remus here?" she ended in a flurry of questions.
Lily stood up, and walked to the front of the classroom, as Sarah finished laying out the bowls full of butter, sugar, flour and more.
Andrea and Sirius were halfway through a conversation, when Andrea suddenly turned away to do something. Sirius, used to his sister's behavior, wandered back over to James, who threw him a glare, but didn't bother getting into the argument. Sirius shrugged, and turned to face where Lily stood in front of the blackboard at the front of the hall.
Andrea was behind Lily, sticking up huge cardboard pieces with the recipe for plain butter scones scrawled on them.
The busy woman from the doorway was standing with Lily, and she clapped her hands, bringing everyone's attention to her.
"Hello, everyone, my name is Professor Marthers. This is Lily Evans, and she'll be your teacher tonight, and for the rest of the classes over the next few months. Also, if you need help, you can look to either Sarah," (she pointed to Sarah who waved,) "Or Andrea," (she pointed over her back at Andrea.) "Or, of course, me. Now, I'll hand over to Lily, who'll tell you what you'll be cooking this evening."
She stepped back, and Lily came to stand in front of the class. She looked a little tense, and when she smiled nervously at the men milling around the room, James' heart leapt. How long had it been since he had seen her smile like that?
"Well, I thought we'd start with something fairly easy tonight, as it's our first lesson together. Butter scones are a very easy food to make, and the recipe is up on the board. I'd like you to form into pairs, please, and can we have two pairs to a kitchen? You'll find that the cupboards are all labeled as to what's in them, and same with the draws. Ok, so, get to work. You might want to send one person down to get the ingredients. And don't forget to preheat the oven!" she instructed, as the men began to move off in little clusters.
"Right little leader she makes, hey," Sirius murmured, smiling.
James nodded.
"Brings back memories...so, how are you about meeting her again?" Sirius continued.
"I don't know," James said softly. "But I get the feeling she hates me. Maybe I should leave..."
"Oh god James, be a man!" Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "Stand up to this, and don't run away. You're going to have to confront her eventually. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise. Because even though you may not see it, I think you're still in love with her. So do this if you ever want to feel love again."
James turned to face him, but he pushed past and walked over to the ingredient stand.
James sighed and made his way over to a kitchen that only had one pair in it. One of the men was a little overweight and balding, and he wore thick- rimmed glasses.
"My wife is making me do this," he grimaced, as James walked in. "She reckons we should all try new things. So she joined a footy team."
James smiled, as he grabbed an apron and tied it on. (A/N: how cute would James look with an apron on??).
The other man snorted a little. He looked to be about thirty, and was dressed in jeans, and a shirt that read 'Death before surrender'. His hair was brown and long, hanging in a tail down his back. He wore thick leather boots, and was putting a large mixing bowl on the bench top.
"I'm only doing this because my missus kicked me out the other day. I dunno how to cook, so I figured so long as these classes are free, I might as well come along," he said nonchalantly.
James nodded to this, and then hurriedly busied himself with pulling out the equipment he would need.
Sirius came back with the ingredients, and soon they were mixing the dough.
"You can do the kneading," Sirius grinned. "There is no way I'm sticking my hands in there!"
James rolled his eyes, but stuffed his fingers into the mix and attempted to roll the mound of sticky dough around. The flour rubbed off onto his fingers, and soon, there was more dough on his hands than in the bowl.
"Here you go guys, name tags," came a voice.
James looked up from his 'kneading' to see Lily standing there, holding a strip of sticky labels. She seemed intent on ignoring him, but he couldn't help but watch her.
"Owen?" she said, holding up a label with the name scrawled on it. The handwriting was unmistakably Lily's.
The balding man stepped forward, and took the label in his free hand. He smiled briefly before turning back to wrestle his dough again.
"And Dirk?" Lily continued. The other man accepted his label with a gruff 'thanks'.
Sirius grinned as he stuck his label onto his shirt, and James knew a moment of awkwardness as he confronted Lily with his doughy hands and open mouth.
"Uh..." he began, looking around helplessly. Sirius had turned pointedly to the oven and was reading the instruction carefully.
"Here," Lily muttered, reaching up to press the label onto his shirt, just above his heart. Her being so close to him was unbearable, and he was almost unable to prevent a small noise coming out from the back of his throat when she accidentally brushed her fingers against his neck. She kept her eyes lowered the whole time, but that didn't stop his scent reaching her. He still wore the same cologne, she realized. She looked up briefly as she moved away, and was startled at the look in his eyes.
He left you, she quickly reminded herself. He ran away from everything you had together. He means nothing. He's worthless.
But somehow, her brain just couldn't convince her heart.
A/N: aww! So sad! So, how was this? It was pretty long, I thought! Well, you'll see more Remus and Andrea in the next chapter, and maybe some more Sirius Sarah action...maybe...! And of course, Lily and James (duh!). I know I said I'd put this up after fifteen reviews, and I know I'm slack, but the thing is, it's taking me a while to come up with ideas, so can we make it two more weeks before the next one? It might come out before that, but just so you know that it might take that long. That's the absolute longest time though, so, look for the chapter soon! I'm sorry there are not many flashbacks about the sharing with the boys and all, but I'm trying to break away. I will explain it though, so hang in there!
Review, please!
Jaizar.
A/N: hey all! Well, here's the next chapter of this humble fic. Hope you all like it. A couple of people said that they'd like flashbacks of when the girls shared a dorm with the boys. Well, I'm sorry, but I don't think that'll happen. But we'll see. I will explain what happened with that, so keep reading! Um, a few people said that I need to separate the bit with Lily and Sarah talking more from the bit with Sirius and James- well, I did, but maybe it stuffed up when I uploaded the chapter. I'll look into it. So, on with the fic we go. Have fun reading, and make sure to REVIEW!
Chapter Two
Reunited
"This is stupid," muttered James Potter, glaring around and shuffling his feet to keep them warm.
"Oh shut up," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. He winked at a passing girl and was rewarded with a huge smile. It paid to be good looking.
It was a cool evening, and their breath came out in little puffs of mist. They were standing outside a widespread building, which stood to the side of a fairly busy street. Muggles students for the class were everywhere, and James felt a little edgy for some reason. He had stuffed his hands deep into the pockets of his grey and blue zip-up jumper, and his jeans were only just keeping his legs warm. There was a strange feeling in his stomach, and he felt some sort foreboding about the class to come.
Sirius, on the other hand, was leaning against the outer wall of the building nonchalantly, dressed in his usual black theme. He seemed unaffected by the cold, and he was only wearing a black shirt and jeans. His hair was falling into his eyes, and James envied his way of looking so in place no matter where he was.
James shoved his glasses up his nose and sighed. Stupid auror training. He was almost ready to turn back down the street and apparate home, when the huge double doors opened, and light spilled into the street. A busy woman stood in the doorway and beckoned to them all quickly. From around her, James could see a huge hall, with about six little kitchens crammed in, and a blackboard at the front.
"Come in, all of you," she said briskly, as the twenty or so students filed in past her. As James and Sirius passed, she flashed them a smile and muttered: "You'll be the wizards then."
James frowned- how had she known? Were they that obvious?
He turned to mention it to Sirius, but found that he was gone. He rolled his eyes and frowned. Where was he? Then he spotted him, talking to a girl (typically) who was standing behind a couple of trestle tables that she was loading with bowls of ingredients.
As he got closer, James' frown deepened. The girl looked familiar in a vague way. Her black hair and blue eyes hit something in his memory, and he stopped walking for a minute to consider.
"Sarah, did you see where I put the-" came a voice.
James' head snapped up. He knew that voice.
A girl stood there, staring at him. Her wild red hair was restrained with a hair tie, and she was dressed in an apron over her jeans and top. Her green eyes were filled with shock. He knew her. Something in James throat caught, and he blinked furiously to hold back tears.
"James?" she said, still looking at him uncomprehendingly.
When was the last time he had heard her say that word?
Flashback
"James?"
He looked down. The music rippled around him like silk when someone shook it, filling his mind, and capturing his heart. She looked so beautiful. It wasn't going to make this any easier.
He smiled at her and she shook her head slightly. Then she pulled his arms further around her waist, and swayed gently.
The Great Hall was decorated well for the occasion, the Graduation Ball at last. It was the Head students dance, and although he could feel everyone eyes on him, James didn't care, because there was only one person he cared about then. And soon he was going to break her heart.
Slowly, other people joined them on the dance floor. And Lily started talking to him. About their apartment, about her job, about what they would do tomorrow, about their future together.
"If only you would decide what you want to do," she said, rolling her eyes, but grinning at the same time. She knew he would decide in his own time. Little did she know that he had decided already.
"Uh, about that..." James began. She looked at him and he knew he had her entire attention. "I-I decided what I want to do...Lily, I...I want to be an auror. I know this is sudden, but...that's what I want to do. And I know it'll mean that we can't get an apartment together and all, and that's why I think...I think that maybe we-we shouldn't stay together. Because I'll barely ever see you, and...well...I just think that that would be more than we could get through..."
He looked at her helplessly. She had gone stiff in his arms. Btu it was the tear running down her cheek that broke his heart.
End flashback
She was standing in front of him. The one person he had longed to see yet hadn't seen for almost three years now...he could hardly believe it.
"H-Hi?" he suggested. She raised an eyebrow, and then shook her head. Her face was a riddle of hurt, anger, shock and disgust.
She hadn't looked at him like that since fifth year. He wasn't sure how to take it.
She turned away and started walking over to the tables where Sarah stood.
It wasn't her walking away that hurt him. But when she smiled and talked to Sirius, he thought his heart would break in two. Lily Evans, the girl he had fought to win, and had chose to lose. Now he thought it was a meager reward, to be an auror when the woman you loved couldn't stand being around you.
He sighed and turned towards the door. There was now way he could stay here when she was standing there. He would just have to tell Gragerson that he couldn't complete the assignment.
But just as he reached the door, Andrea Black came rushing through, clutching several pieces of paper, and a huge bag of silver utensils.
"Hey James," she said brightly, as she strode past to dump the stuff onto one of the tables, and bump Sirius shoulder in greeting.
James opened his mouth to reply, but then realized that she had already forgotten about him. He watched as Lily grinned again at Sirius, and Sarah knocked hips with him friendlily.
He stood outside this circle of friends feeling hurt at the exclusion, but at the same time, knowing that he wouldn't have felt right even if he were included. It had never been the same with Andrea since he had broken up with Lily, and he had lost all contact with Sarah, Grace and Lisa.
James sighed. He felt out of place. He longed to simply walk out the door and not come back. But he knew that he couldn't do that. He trudged over to where a group of guys who looked to be around his age clustered and stood with them, but to the edge of their little society. This was going to be a long night.
Lily closed her eyes as soon as she reached Sarah's side, and leant against her shoulder.
"Somebody, kill me right now," she muttered.
Sarah frowned and moved so that she could look at her friend properly.
"Hey, you don't mean that," she said, patting Lily on the arm. "I mean, I know it must suck to see him after all this time, but really, there's a bright side to everything. Think of all the unresolved stuff that lies around you both. Don't you want some answers?"
She did. That was what scared her. As soon as she saw James, all the old feelings rushed back, held at bay only by the hurt she still felt.
She groaned and slumped into a chair that was behind one of the tables.
"Hey Lily,' someone said. She looked up to see Sirius smiling amiably at her.
She sighed, but managed to scrounge up a smile from somewhere.
"Hello," she said. "Long time no see, hey?"
He grinned.
"Yeah. We all know who to blame for that," he rolled his eyes in James direction. "But you know, he's not a bad guy. I'll leave it all to you to solve, but just remember, he really isn't a bad guy."
Lily smiled wanly, but didn't reply.
Just then, Andrea charged up and started talking. That was Andrea. She never greeted them, or made an introduction before launching into her speech. She just went for it as if they were continuing a conversation from earlier.
"So, you can set up the ingredients, Sarah, and I think you should call the class to order Lily. I'll put the recipe up on that blackboard, and then we can talk them all through it. Hey little brother, what are you doing here? And I just saw James, is this some sort of prank? Why isn't Remus here?" she ended in a flurry of questions.
Lily stood up, and walked to the front of the classroom, as Sarah finished laying out the bowls full of butter, sugar, flour and more.
Andrea and Sirius were halfway through a conversation, when Andrea suddenly turned away to do something. Sirius, used to his sister's behavior, wandered back over to James, who threw him a glare, but didn't bother getting into the argument. Sirius shrugged, and turned to face where Lily stood in front of the blackboard at the front of the hall.
Andrea was behind Lily, sticking up huge cardboard pieces with the recipe for plain butter scones scrawled on them.
The busy woman from the doorway was standing with Lily, and she clapped her hands, bringing everyone's attention to her.
"Hello, everyone, my name is Professor Marthers. This is Lily Evans, and she'll be your teacher tonight, and for the rest of the classes over the next few months. Also, if you need help, you can look to either Sarah," (she pointed to Sarah who waved,) "Or Andrea," (she pointed over her back at Andrea.) "Or, of course, me. Now, I'll hand over to Lily, who'll tell you what you'll be cooking this evening."
She stepped back, and Lily came to stand in front of the class. She looked a little tense, and when she smiled nervously at the men milling around the room, James' heart leapt. How long had it been since he had seen her smile like that?
"Well, I thought we'd start with something fairly easy tonight, as it's our first lesson together. Butter scones are a very easy food to make, and the recipe is up on the board. I'd like you to form into pairs, please, and can we have two pairs to a kitchen? You'll find that the cupboards are all labeled as to what's in them, and same with the draws. Ok, so, get to work. You might want to send one person down to get the ingredients. And don't forget to preheat the oven!" she instructed, as the men began to move off in little clusters.
"Right little leader she makes, hey," Sirius murmured, smiling.
James nodded.
"Brings back memories...so, how are you about meeting her again?" Sirius continued.
"I don't know," James said softly. "But I get the feeling she hates me. Maybe I should leave..."
"Oh god James, be a man!" Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "Stand up to this, and don't run away. You're going to have to confront her eventually. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise. Because even though you may not see it, I think you're still in love with her. So do this if you ever want to feel love again."
James turned to face him, but he pushed past and walked over to the ingredient stand.
James sighed and made his way over to a kitchen that only had one pair in it. One of the men was a little overweight and balding, and he wore thick- rimmed glasses.
"My wife is making me do this," he grimaced, as James walked in. "She reckons we should all try new things. So she joined a footy team."
James smiled, as he grabbed an apron and tied it on. (A/N: how cute would James look with an apron on??).
The other man snorted a little. He looked to be about thirty, and was dressed in jeans, and a shirt that read 'Death before surrender'. His hair was brown and long, hanging in a tail down his back. He wore thick leather boots, and was putting a large mixing bowl on the bench top.
"I'm only doing this because my missus kicked me out the other day. I dunno how to cook, so I figured so long as these classes are free, I might as well come along," he said nonchalantly.
James nodded to this, and then hurriedly busied himself with pulling out the equipment he would need.
Sirius came back with the ingredients, and soon they were mixing the dough.
"You can do the kneading," Sirius grinned. "There is no way I'm sticking my hands in there!"
James rolled his eyes, but stuffed his fingers into the mix and attempted to roll the mound of sticky dough around. The flour rubbed off onto his fingers, and soon, there was more dough on his hands than in the bowl.
"Here you go guys, name tags," came a voice.
James looked up from his 'kneading' to see Lily standing there, holding a strip of sticky labels. She seemed intent on ignoring him, but he couldn't help but watch her.
"Owen?" she said, holding up a label with the name scrawled on it. The handwriting was unmistakably Lily's.
The balding man stepped forward, and took the label in his free hand. He smiled briefly before turning back to wrestle his dough again.
"And Dirk?" Lily continued. The other man accepted his label with a gruff 'thanks'.
Sirius grinned as he stuck his label onto his shirt, and James knew a moment of awkwardness as he confronted Lily with his doughy hands and open mouth.
"Uh..." he began, looking around helplessly. Sirius had turned pointedly to the oven and was reading the instruction carefully.
"Here," Lily muttered, reaching up to press the label onto his shirt, just above his heart. Her being so close to him was unbearable, and he was almost unable to prevent a small noise coming out from the back of his throat when she accidentally brushed her fingers against his neck. She kept her eyes lowered the whole time, but that didn't stop his scent reaching her. He still wore the same cologne, she realized. She looked up briefly as she moved away, and was startled at the look in his eyes.
He left you, she quickly reminded herself. He ran away from everything you had together. He means nothing. He's worthless.
But somehow, her brain just couldn't convince her heart.
A/N: aww! So sad! So, how was this? It was pretty long, I thought! Well, you'll see more Remus and Andrea in the next chapter, and maybe some more Sirius Sarah action...maybe...! And of course, Lily and James (duh!). I know I said I'd put this up after fifteen reviews, and I know I'm slack, but the thing is, it's taking me a while to come up with ideas, so can we make it two more weeks before the next one? It might come out before that, but just so you know that it might take that long. That's the absolute longest time though, so, look for the chapter soon! I'm sorry there are not many flashbacks about the sharing with the boys and all, but I'm trying to break away. I will explain it though, so hang in there!
Review, please!
Jaizar.