Sirius's Top Ten
Whoah, a lot of stuff happens in this chapter. If you need me to, I'll recap everything in the next chapter. Please, please, please R&R it motivates me to write. And feel free to post ideas!
J.K. Rowling owns every character, aside from ones you'll meet later.
Thoughts are in italics.
Chapter 10: Problem Solved
Cass returned from the CARIO meeting to see Lily sitting quietly on her bed, lighting one of Oliver's many roses on fire. Her eyes were slightly red and puffy, and her cheeks were streaked with tears.
"Tig? What's wrong?"
Lily smiled, she actually looked somewhat relieved.
"I've broken up with Oliver."
"What?!?!"
"Well, he was more of a rebound from James, and I wasn't that fond of him… Abby was right, it was mean to drag him on."
"So why are you crying?"
"I just feel guilty. He seemed so upset." Lily replied softly.
"Oh, he'll get over you Tig." Cass replied absent-mindedly, her mind swimming in thoughts. We don't need CARIO anymore! Lily and James can finally get together! I ought to tell everyone…
"Cass?" Lily asked, breaking her trail of thought.
"Yeah?"
"You alright. You seem… out there."
"Fine… Just excited for Christmas, I s'ppose. Hey, Tig, no matter what, we'll always be mates, right?"
"Best of mates." Lily replied with a smile, before frowning slightly. "Why?"
"No reason."
"I'm finally going home!" Abby squealed happily as she tossed her things into her bag randomly, most items missing her bag completely and flying across the room. Her Ravenclaw roommates only nodded or grunted in agreement, and so Abby decided to join her Gryffindor friends. Since she spent so little time in the Ravenclaw common room, she hardly knew anyone in her house, except David, the boy she had met at the Yule Ball. They were friends now, David hit on her constantly, but Abby only had eyes for Remus.
"What are we, Lils?" James asked, looking up from his notepad where he was jotting down Quidditch play ideas to look at Lily, who was sitting on a couch across from him, in the mostly empty Gryffindor common room. Everyone was upstairs packing, and James had decided this was the perfect opportunity to find out where he stood with Lily after the Ball.
"What do you mean?" Lily frowned, glancing up from her book.
"You and me. As two people." James replied slowly, his eyes hopeful. Please…
"We're friends, aren't we?"
James's hopes dropped. He was hoping they could go back to the stage they were at right after he had kissed her at the Ball. "I was thinking we could be more. I wasn't lying when I said I was in love with you." He offered quietly.
Lily sat up slightly, folding the top of the page she was at, and closed her book. She had been hoping James wouldn't ask something like this. But, expecting it, Lily had figured out how she would handle the situation.
Her mother had sent her a muggle magazine only a few weeks ago, and in it, there had been an advice column. One of the girls had written asking whether she should take back her ex-boyfriend, who had done something similar to what James had. Lily had been shocked – it was like her mother knew. The advice columnist had suggested 'probation' time. It seemed like a good idea.
"I have feelings for you too, James." Lily began, taking a deep breath. She could feel her cheeks flushing. "But, I'm not sure how I could trust you after the…"
She faltered, and James looked very downcast.
"So," she continued, James looking a bit more hopeful, "I've decided we're going to have a probation period."
"Probation?"
"Yeah. You show me what you'll be like as my boyfriend." She replied. This is where I find out if he was lying. No lad in his right mind would do this if he just wanted to get a girl, he'd have to love me.
"So, you mean, a boyfriend without privileges?" James asked, wanting to clarify. He didn't like the sound of this 'probation' thing, but if it would get Lily to forgive him completely, he'd do it.
"Exactly." Lily replied with a bright smile. "For three weeks. Think you can handle it?"
"Sure." James replied, loosing his confused look for a confident, almost cocky-but-not-because-it-annoyed-Lily look. "Probation it is."
"Heya!" Abby said brightly as she entered the Gryffindor common room. She was pretty much an honorary Gryffindor, the other Gryffindors really didn't mind her being around any more. She spent all of her time in the common room, knew the passwords, slept over in the sixth year girls' dorm on weekends…
Lily looked up with a smile. "Hey Abby. You've packed?"
"Yeah, I can't wait to get home. But, actually, Lillers, I wanted to have a quick chat with you…" Abby replied, sitting down on the couch next to Lily, before giving James a get-lost-it's-girl-talk look.
"Say no more." James replied, slightly disappointed that he had to leave Lily, standing and going up the steps to his dorm. "I'll tell Remus not to come down just yet, although it'll be hard to stop him." He added with a wink toward Abby, who blushed slightly.
James gone, Abby turned to her friend, looking very serious.
"I'm worried about Cass." Abby said simply, quietly.
"Why?" Lily asked, slightly confused.
"Well, at our last CARIO meeting, she was really bitchy and rude to everyone. It's just not Cass. And she hardly talks to us anymore."
Lily nodded, having realized that Cass was becoming a bit distant.
"Do you think it's about how she fancies him?" Lily asked, jerking her head toward the boys' dorm, obviously meaning Sirius.
"Nah. I think it's something deeper." Abby replied.
"You want to know?" asked an irritated voice, both girls turning to see Cass looking at them, her eyes welling up with tears, her pretty face contorted in anger.
"Yes. We're your best mates, Cass. We want you to talk to us when you have problems, we're here for you." Lily said timidly. Both she and Cass had horrible tempers, and she knew from experience that it was horrible to be the cause of Cass's temper flares.
"You won't be much longer." Cass said coldly, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks.
"What?" Abby asked in disbelief.
"You won't be my mates much longer. I've moving. My family's moving… To America. I'm not coming back after Christmas." Cass then broke down and began to sob, and immediately Lily and Abby rushed to her side.
"Cass, why didn't you tell us? We'll always be your mates!" Lily said softly, hugging her friend.
"Is this why you've been acting so…" Abby paused, unsure of whether she should actually say the word again.
"Bitchy?" Cass finished. "Yeah… I figured that it would make saying good bye easier, but then I just missed having fun and chatting with you guys." Cass explained, through sobs. "I… I don't want to go!!"
"Maybe you could stay with me then." Abby offered, rubbing her friend's back.
Cass looked at her in disbelief. "Seriously?"
"Yeah, why not? I'll owl my parents." Abby said with a comforting smile.
Cass put a weak smile on her face, though tears were still streaming down her face. "Thanks Abs, and Tig. You're the best."
And with that, Cass pulled her two friends into a tight group hug. Even if Abby's parents say no, Lily's right. They'll always be my mates.
"Gal-pals forever?" Lily murmured through a faceful of Cass's hair. She knew how cheesy it sounded, but she and Cass had been saying it since first year, and Abby had joined in this year as well.
"Forever." Abby agreed.
"Definitely."
As the last day at Hogwarts dawned, the feeling in the castle was relaxed. There had been no attacks from Voldemort, everyone was friendly with each other, and James and Sirius hadn't hexed Severus Snape or any other Slytherin all week. At breakfast, the group had resumed their cheerfulness, even Cass, who was delighted to hear that the Scotts, Abby's family, would be happy to take her in, and her parents had agreed, providing that she visit America in the summer holidays.
"This is exciting!" she gushed, stuffing her mouth with home fries. "I don't have to go to America!" Sadly though, because of the large quantities of food in her mouth, it was hard to distinguish exactly what she was saying.
Lily smiled, amused at her friend, although she was feeling a little 'green'. Now that Cass would be staying with Abby constantly, she was worried they might grow really close, and cut her from the group.
"It will be!" Abby agreed from across the table, where Remus had his arm wrapped around her waist contently. "But, you'll have to come visit, Lillers. It wouldn't be the same without you."
"Do I get to come too?" Sirius asked, stuffing his face like Cass.
"No." Abby replied. "No boys."
Remus faked looking hurt, James put on a puppy face, and Sirius burst into fake tears on James's shoulder. Peter, however, was sitting, staring off into space, somewhat in a trance. He and the Marauders were slowly growing apart, and with the addition of these 'females', it was happening quickly.
"Peter?" Lily asked, ignoring the other boys. "Are you alright? What are you thinking about?"
"Oh, nothing." Peter replied bashfully, returning to stirring his home fries in a circle on his plate.
James woke up on Christmas morning slowly, his hazel eyes coming into focus as his slipped his glasses onto his nose. He glanced over to see Sirius sprawled out on the bed next to him, snoring loudly. He grinned slightly, before finding a muggle marker, and writing 'I love Cassidy Flemmings!' on his forehead.
Sirius awoke as James capped the marker.
"Wake up, Padfoot! Presents!"
"Oh… yeah…"
For once, Sirius was not loud, or bouncy, in fact, he wasn't really awake. The two made their way downstairs to the sitting room, where a large Christmas tree graced the room. The Godric's Hollow house was decorated with muggle Christmas decorations, Mrs. Potter's newest obsession. She had taken a page out of Arthur Weasley's book, and found all muggle things fascinating and trendy. There were twinkling lights on string; mistletoe hung everywhere, holly, ivy, and stockings.
"PRESENTS!!" Sirius cried, running up to the tree and disappearing in a cloud of falling wrapping.
James, however, looked for a certain present in particular, and found his present from Lily, wrapped in twinkling green wrapping, and tied with a pretty silver ribbon. He sat down in an armchair, and opened the note first. He smiled as he recognized her neat writing.
Dear James –Happy Christmas! In addition to your present, you said you wanted to know what comments you got from Cass and me when we met you. At the beginning of first year, you bumped into Cass, and so she said that you were "Weird. And he's such a prat." I agreed about the 'prat' bit, but I didn't really notice. I also added "He's rather fit though." And she agreed.
I hope this doesn't inflate your head too much, or we'll shorten your comments back to 'prat.'
Yours truly,
Lily.
As he finished, James was quite pleased, especially when he noticed that she had used Mrs. White's Magical Eraser on the 'Yours truly' bit. Pulling his wand from the pocket of his pajamas, he quickly used a revealing spell. The 'Yours truly' dissolved and was replaced with 'From.' He used it again, and the 'From' changed to 'Sincerely yours.' He muttered the spell again, and the 'Sincerely yours' was replaced by 'Love.' He tried the spell once more, but it didn't change. She had written 'love, Lily' originally.
"Prongs! Still just reading the bloody card?!?" Sirius asked in disbelief, tramping up to James's chair and trying to read over James's shoulder. James shut the note immediately, and slipped it in his pocket.
"Well, open it." Sirius said impatiently.
"Right." James untied the ribbon, and ripped the wrapping off, to reveal a thick book.
"Typical Lily." Sirius commented, before James flipped the book over, revealing a brown leather cover, with gold foil letters and an animated, hovering snitch beneath. The letters read out in elegant text: "1001 Quidditch Tips, Tricks, & Strategies."
"Sweet!" Sirius offered, changing his comment with a look of amazement. "That book was in Quality Quidditch Supplies! It cost like 200 galleons! I think she's forgiven you!"
"200 galleons?" James asked in disbelief, flipping through the pages in awe. "Sirius! The gift I gave Lily was only, like 10 galleons!"
"10 galleons is still a lot…" Sirius said slowly. James glared at his friend. "Well… yeah, you're… cheap?"
"More like a selfish, inconsiderate, cheap - "
"James! Come on, its just a present. Besides, I've got an idea that will make up for it…"