Boys Never Learn
Yay! Chapter 3 arrives! I had a hard time writing this one, partially because it's a transition chappie because I've actually planned out a plot of sorts for this story! cheers Anyways…
Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling. All characters except Abby, Cass, Belinda, Oliver, Charlie, err… and everyone else not in the books belong to me. The rest belong to her. :)
------
Chapter 3: Home Is Where the Heart Is
"CASSIDY FLEMMINGS LOVES ME! I LOVE CASSIDY FLEMMINGS!"
Cass groaned loudly and rolled over on her side, snuggling herself further into her bed and grabbing a pillow and placing it over her head, trying to ignore Sirius's exceptionally loud singing. It was only eight o'clock in the morning, but all of Gryffindor Tower had been up for at least an hour now – Sirius had been singing that long. It amazed Cass that his voice hadn't gone hoarse, obviously some stupid Black-worshipper was bringing him water. Probably Peter. Or any girl in Gryffindor House with the exception of herself, Lily, and Abby, for that matter.
"Won't the bloody prat take a hint and shut up?" Cass asked aloud, her voice muffled by her pillow.
"He seems pretty determined, actually." Abby commented as she brushed her hair, sitting on Lily's old bed. "He's got Peter running back and forth from the kitchens bringing him more water – "
"Knew it."
"And a bunch of lower-year girls are writing you hate mail." Abby continued casually, finished brushing her hair and now setting out Cass's uniform.
Cass's head perked up from amid the covers. "What? Why would they write me hate mail?"
Abby snorted in disbelief. "I hope you're still asleep and actually not that dumb."
"CASSIDY FLEMMINGS LOVES ME!" Sirius roared from the common room below.
"No, seriously, why would they?" Cass asked, sitting up and turning around to face Abby with a curious look.
Abby rolled her eyes. "Hasn't it occurred to you, Cass, that Sirius is popular?"
"I LOVE CASSIDY FLEMMINGS!"
Cass shrugged. "It's occurred to me. Though I've never discovered what exactly is so attractive."
Abby gave Cass a stern look. "That's not fair, Cass. You can't deny that you fancied him last year."
"Until I learned what an arse he was."
"That's not fair either. He apologized in that letter he sent you on your birthday." Abby reminded, gently. Cass was still very touchy on the subject, she'd been acting a tad bitchy around Sirius, merely because she was still hurt about the way he'd treated her last Valentine's Day, whether she admitted it or not.
"Yeah, well… still." Cass replied, at a loss for an argument for a few seconds, before a smug look came across her face. "You'd think after seeing how he treated me that other girls wouldn't fancy him as much."
"They did, until Sirius decided to be incredibly romantic and sing about how much he loves you to the entire house."
"It's not romantic, it's annoying." Cass replied irritably.
Abby held up her hands to prove her innocence. "I'm in the same boat. But the majority of the female Gryffindor population thinks otherwise, alright?"
Cass grunted. "What idiots."
"CASSIDY FLEMMINGS LOVES ME!"
Abby grinned as she heard Sirius's voice again. "You have to admit it's a bit sweet that he's doing this."
Cass looked at Abby skeptically. "Shall I tell Remus to do it tomorrow then?"
"Alright, sweet but annoying, and humiliating now that you mention it." Abby conceded with an embarrassed smile.
The dormitory door opened suddenly, allowing Sirius's yells to echo through the dormitory even louder than they'd done previously and Cass and Abby to cringe, before the door was shut just as urgently, leaving a red faced Lily and Belinda leaning against the door in terror.
"What on earth," Lily said breathlessly, "is Sirius doing?"
"Proving his love for Cass." Abby replied nonchalantly. "What are you doing here?"
"McGonagall sent James and I to handle the 'situation' in Gryffindor Tower." Lily explained. "James thought there'd been a riot or something… was it just Sirius?"
Abby nodded, smiling. Lily, as Head Girl, was now sharing a private common room and dormitory with James, which gave Sirius a lot of material to taunt them with, but also meant she hadn't been around Gryffindor Tower as much.
"Well that's rather sweet." Lily commented. Cass groaned loudly and Abby laughed.
"Don't you dare say that he's being sweet. Ever." Cass demanded, running a hand through her bed-head.
"Most of the girls downstairs think he's being – " Lily protested, before Cass interrupted, waving her hands like a mad woman.
"NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! I've heard it and I don't care!"
Lily and Abby laughed, and even Belinda, who was still nervous around the group, despite being invited to sit with them at every meal and the warm hug Lily had given her on the train, managed to chuckle.
"Well Cass, all the fifth and sixth year girls want you to either tell him to piss off or go snog him senseless. They want to know if they can move in on him or not." Belinda said awkwardly, fiddling with the hem of her skirt. "Not me of course," she added hastily, blushing.
Lily smiled warmly at Belinda. "Yeah, you're too busy with Oliver."
Abby and Cass laughed, but Belinda shook her head. "No, we broke up. Over the summer."
Lily's face softened and the laughter ceased immediately. She wrapped a comforting arm around Belinda, pulling her into a hug. "Oh, Belinda, I'm so sorry."
"How'd it happen?" Cass asked sympathetically.
"He just came over to my house one day and said he'd had enough." Belinda answered, her voice wobbling slightly. "He said he still had feelings for Lily and it wasn't fair to me."
"I'm sorry Belinda, it's my fault, I'll talk with him." Lily insisted, feeling quite guilty. Who knew what she'd been doing when Oliver dumped Belinda for her? 'Probably snogging James, actually.' A voice in her head pointed out cynically. It was probably right too.
Belinda shook her head again. "Nah, it's fine. I'm alright."
"You're doing better than Cass then." Abby commented mindlessly.
Cass glared at Abby. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"That you're still hung up on Sirius." Abby replied factually.
"We had nothing for me to be hung up on!" Cass replied fiercely, the volume in her voice rising so that she could drown out Sirius's announcements of love.
"But you're hung up on him anyways." Abby replied, her tone still even. Cass had almost as fiery a temper as Lily, and Abby was the only one not to flinch and cower before the two.
"I do have a boyfriend, Abby." Cass protested.
"You can have a boyfriend and still like or be hung up on another one. And it's not like Elias counts. Has he written you once since Spain, Cass, has he?"
"Yes, actually. He has!" Cass yelled, letting any restriction on her temper fly out the window. "In fact, he's moved to England so he can be closer to me once school's finished!"
"Does he know you're a witch then?" Abby replied heatedly. "What if he isn't fond of witches? What then Cass?"
"I'LL STOP BEING A WITCH THEN!" Cass shrieked, her face so red and contorted with anger that she looked about ready to kill someone.
Abby laughed, in the face of Cass's murderous glares, which awed Lily and Belinda. "Stop being a witch, Cass? You can't stop being a witch, it's who you are!"
"I can and I will, so watch me." Cass yelled indignantly. "I can also stop being your friend and I think I might try that one out too!"
Lily gasped, Belinda looked shell-shocked, and even Abby looked slightly surprised, but her stunned look faded into one of indifference, and she shrugged. "Fine then."
Abby turned to Lily and Belinda. "See you at breakfast?"
Lily nodded dumbly.
"I'll err… come with you now." Belinda said slowly, watching Cass cautiously as if Cass might bite her head off too.
Abby nodded curtly and led the way from the dormitory, once again allowing Sirius's singing to echo into the room. Lily's face managed a weak smile as she heard Sirius continue his repertoire, and that James had joined in with his own rendition of 'I love Lily Evans!'
"Did you mean that Cass?" Lily asked quietly as she crossed the dormitory and joined Cass on her bed.
Cass shook her head guiltily. "But she won't just lay off. I'm not going to get together with Sirius, and she won't accept it. And I won't apologize until she accepts it and apologizes."
"Maybe she just wants you to be the happy, nice Cass that you were before Sirius?" Lily suggested quietly. "I mean, you've been a tad…"
"Bitchy?" Cass suggested.
Lily nodded. "Only lately. Around Sirius of course."
"I just… I can't believe he still hits on me, you know? Especially after last Valentine's Day, I just can't believe he'd have the nerve to do it."
Lily shrugged. "That's Sirius for you. Besides, it is sort of part of the contest he's having with James, right?"
"I guess." Cass admitted, nodding with a hurt look twisted on her face.
"Well, what do you think about the contest? The one I mentioned in August?"
Cass shrugged indifferently. "I s'ppose it would be fun. I'd love to see Sirius's face once he finally realized it was a joke. He'd kinda get a taste of his own medicine too, you know?"
Lily nodded wisely. "So you're in?"
"Most definitely." Cass decided.
Lily smiled, though her smile turned into a wince as she heard James go completely off key as he sang. "That does mean you have to be nice to Sirius you realize. Even encourage his pursuits and all that."
Cass nodded solemnly. "Certain things require sacrifice, and teaching Sirius Black a lesson is obviously one of them."
Lily smiled. "That's the spirit."
Cass snorted and rolled her eyes, heaving herself out of bed to get ready. After fifteen minutes or so, most of the time used taming Cass's hair, which resembled a messily made nest and the magical shortening of Cass's skirt.
"Lily! That's short enough thanks." Cass protested as Lily shortened Cass's skirt another inch with her wand. "I'd prefer not to look completely slutty."
Lily shrugged. "It looks nice. I'm not hitting on you or anything, Cass, but you have quite nice legs. I'm sure Sirius will enjoy you flaunting them."
"Nah." Cass replied deftly. "He's only after me for the contest."
"I wouldn't be so sure…" Lily warned.
Cass just shook her head stubbornly. "Please. Just shut up about Sirius's feelings for me and continue slutifying me."
Lily raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Slutifying?"
"What else would you call it?"
----
"Bloody hell." Sirius remarked as he caught sight of Cass coming down the stairs, wearing earmuffs and an exceptionally short skirt. He easily wasn't the only boy in the room who was looking at Cassidy Flemmings as if she were the most beautiful thing they'd ever seen.
"Morning James, Sirius." Cass said crisply as she reached them at the base of the stairs, Lily following.
"You're speaking to me now, Flemmings?" Sirius asked, looking genuinely surprised.
Cass shrugged. "Why not? I mean, it's not every day a girl gets serenaded by Sirius Black."
"Ignoring the fact that he can't sing," James added, grinning wickedly. He'd clued in that Cass was indeed 'in' on the plan, judging by her friendlier behavior, which meant Sirius was on his way to humiliation. Of course, he hadn't seemed too embarrassed about singing in front of the entire house, and James briefly wondered how much it would take for Sirius to actually be embarrassed enough to make their plan worthwhile.
"Shut it. S'not like you were any better. May I accompany you to breakfast, madam?" Sirius asked Cass, bowing deeply and extending his hand toward Cass.
"No. But you can carry my books." Cass replied coolly, dropping her book bag onto Sirius's outstretched arm.
James smirked. "Ouch."
Cass strode to the portrait hole purposefully, climbing out as elegantly as possible in her short skirt, before turning back to face Sirius. "Come along, Sirius, I'd like to watch my things, don't want you pinching anything."
"I'm hurt you even suggested such a thing." Sirius said with a feigned hurt look, putting his hand over his 'wounded' heart as he followed her.
James smiled as his two friends left, turning his hazel eyes on Lily and running them up and down his girlfriend, who looked exceptionally pretty in a plain green sweater, her school skirt, and her hair pulled up in a messy bun.
"Quit checking me out, James." Lily muttered through clenched teeth as she looped her arm in his and they began to walk to breakfast, behind Cass and Sirius, who were loudly making their way through the corridors, Sirius singing loudly and Cass flinging hexes in his general direction.
"I'm allowed to." James defended.
"I know that." Lily hissed, her teeth still clenched, "but we're only supposed to be friends, remember?"
"So I have to wait till we get home before I can look at you properly?" James asked incredulously.
Lily's jaw managed to unhinge and become mobile, enough for her to frown slightly. "How do you look at someone properly? And where's home?"
"Looking at someone properly implies allowing your true feelings for said person to be recognizable, just from your look." James explained.
"Alright then." Lily conceded. "I'd hope the 'proper look' you'd give me would be a loving one."
"Of course, Lils." James agreed, before whistling and stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"And the home bit?" Lily persisted.
James beamed, looking down at Lily, who was now at least five inches shorter than he, lovingly. "Our common room and dormitories. Haven't you ever heard the expression 'home is where the heart is'?"
Lily's face softened and both teenagers had to resist their raging hormones not to kiss each other, right then and there, in the middle of the Charms corridor.
"Seriously though," James continued, attempting to break the romantic mood he'd created purely by accident. "Haven't you heard that expression? I think it's a muggle one."
"And what has that got to do with anything?" Lily asked, looking at James apprehensively.
James shrugged his shoulders innocently and looked out a window they were passing. "Well, what do muggles do if they can't use magic other than read books and make up stupid expressions?"
Knowing he said it in jest, Lily playfully shoved herself against James's side, forgetting her arm was linked with his, and successfully shoving both herself and James into the wall.
"So muggles push one another into walls to pass the time then too?" James asked curiously.
Lily grunted. "Shut it, you great prat."
"That's King Prat to you, you measly peasant prat."
"Excuse me?" Lily asked indignantly. "Peasant prat?"
"Fine. You can be my Queen."
---
And that's it! Review!! I've decided to keep you guys all excited about my story by dropping some plotty-bits, aside from the ones you've already read in the end of STT.Plotty Bit #1: Remus and Abby won't last as a couple. I won't tell you why exactly, but I'm not sure you really care either, since Cass and Siriusseem to betaking up most of your frustration with the story.
Plotty Bit #2: Oliver (Field, i.e. Lily's old boyfriend from Sirius's Top Ten) will become a major character later in the story.
Plotty Bit #3: The next chapter will be purely from the viewpoint of… Charlie Evans! Woo-hoo! So we can expect lots of immature and Quidditch-related comments!