Thanks for the reviews! Hope you like this chapter. Another big thanks to Pam, my awesome beta!!
"Good morning James," Lily said nicely, sitting down in front of him in the Great Hall for breakfast. She hadn't bothered getting dressed up since it was a Sunday; Lily was still wearing what she had slept in: sweatpants and a sweatshirt.
"Hello Evans," James replied.
"How are you?"
"I'm fine. And you?"
"Tired of this damn ring," Lily said coolly while buttering a piece of toast.
James grinned. "That's nice."
"Is not!" said Lily loudly, completely changing her tone. "Why won't you take it off of me?" She she added in a whimper.
"So that everytime you look at it, you think about me," James said proudly.
"Everytime I see it, I think about you in a negative way," she explained. "But, if you take it off, I'll think about you in a nice, positive way."
"Sweet talking doesn't work on me," said James.
"Come ON, James!" Lily said pathetically.
He looked at his watch and pretended to be surprised. "Oh! I've got to run. Quidditch practice! See you later!" He jumped up from the table, not letting Lily beg anymore. Her stomach made a funny jolt as she watched him leave, and she continued eating her toast.
"He is so stupid," Lily said to herself, shaking her head. "But so...great. No. I can't fall for James Potter. It's not possible. No. I won't do it! I will not do it!"
Sara and Sirius sat on the couch in front of the fireplace in the common room talking about their interests. Sirius took note that Sara liked all kinds of music...and singing and dancing to it, playing piano, Astronomy, weddings, dogs (Score! Sirius thought when she mentioned that), and writing. She hated Voldemort, heights, spiders, allergies, and really stupid people. Sara tried to remember that Sirius loved Quidditch, Fizzing Whizbees, the color blue, dogs, and was particularly interested in flying motorbikes. He hated bugs in general, Snape, and of course, Voldemort.
"It's really depressing that I can only play the piano during the holidays," Sara explained. "It's one of the things that I really miss when I'm here."
"I've played the piano before!" Sirius replied excitedly. "The Potters have one. I can play a really cool song called Chopsticks!"
Sara smiled. "I like that song."
"Me too," he replied. "I'd like to hear you play sometime. That is, if you can play up to my caliber."
"That's not exactly possible here, is it?"
Sirius grinned. "I wouldn't say that."
Sara sat up and stared at him conspicuously. "What?"
"Meet me in here around nine tonight; I've got something I want to show you. That is, if you want to..."
"Of course I want to," she replied and gave him a huge hug.
Sara and Lily were having a rather boring Sunday afternoon. They sat in the common room playing their third game of wizard's chess since they had finished all of their homework and Lauren had Quidditch practice with James and Sirius.
Sara peered at the board. "It's your turn," she said to Lily, who was staring into space.
"What? Oh, sorry," She replied, snapping back into reality. Lily moved her bishop, and it bashed Sara's pawn in the head. Sara winced and made her move, noticing that Lily had gone back into a thoughtful gaze. She had her chin resting on her right hand, and for the first time Sara noticed her new ring.
Sara waved her own hand in front of Lily's face, and she widened her eyes and shook her head. "Sorry...I don't know what's wrong with me," she excused, peering back down at the board.
"New ring?" Sara asked, grabbing Lily's hand and pulling it up to where she could see it clearly.
"Yeah," Lily replied uncertainly.
"I know what this is! It's one of those joke rings! Who put it on you?" She asked excitedly.
Lily shifted uncomfortably in her chair and answered. "James. It's one of his schemes to get me to talk to him more. I keep asking him to take it off of me, but he won't. I guess his plan is working..."
Sara sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes, dropping Lily's hand. "You are so thick, Lily Elizabeth Evans."
"What?" Lily asked innocently.
"I think that Dumbledore made you and James Head Boy and Girl for a reason...everyone realizes that you guys are perfect each other, except you," Sara explained.
"James Potter is not right for me," Lily said forcefully, more to herself than to Sara.
"Are you sure?" Sara inquired.
"Yes," she said out loud, but her heart was telling her no.
Lily glanced at her watch and sighed. She was waiting for Remus and James to leave for the Prefects' meeting, since it was tradition that they left together. It was five 'til seven already, and they had to be there to set everything up. She stomped over to the boy's staircases, hesitated, then stomped up them too. She found the seventh year dormitory quite easily and knocked on the door. "Remus John Lupin and James Henry Potter, we're going to be late if you don't hurry up!!"
"Hold on!" She heard James's voice say distantly. Then, the door opened and there stood a very wet James Potter with a towel wrapped around his waist. My God, she thought, staring him up and down. Her knees started to give out, so she moved to where she had support from the doorjamb to lean on. She couldn't help but notice how fit James was. He was slender yet very muscular. "Lily?" he asked, squinting.
"Mmhmm," Lily mumbled, not trusting herself to speak.
"I can't see a bloody thing without my glasses," said James as he rubbed his small rectangular spectacles on his towel. "That's better. Sorry, Quidditch training ran late, and I didn't want to go to the meeting smelling like a sweat sock," James ran a hand through his very wet hair making it stick up. "I'll be right out. Looks like I'll have to wake 'ole Moony...he's fallen asleep."
Lily managed to nod, and she walked back down the hall towards the stairs. She stopped and leaned against the wall, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. "Okay," she whispered to herself. "So he's good looking. Who cares? He's still arrogant and bigheaded and I'm not going to fall for him!"
"Fall for who?" Lily heard a familiar voice say. Remus had just walked up, looking very sleepy. "James will be out in one second, he claims. Now, who are you not falling for?"
"No one," she replied too quickly. Remus cocked an eyebrow.
"Are you sure?" He asked.
"Uh huh," Lily said, trying to sound convincing. Remus looked at her disbelievingly and nodded.
"Okay then..." he replied. James walked out a moment later, dressed and much drier. Lily cleared her throat and led the way out of the portrait hole, not looking at or speaking to James the whole way to the meeting.
When they reached the room, half the Prefects were already there and they were surprised to see the headmaster there as well. "Professor Dumbledore," Lily said confusedly, "what are you doing here?"
"I have an announcement to make when all the Prefects have arrived," he said brightly. Lily nodded and proceeded to her seat as the old man put his fingertips together and stared up at the ceiling.
After all the Prefects had arrived, Dumbledore stood up and cleared his throat. "I am happy to announce that this year a Winter Ball will be held on the last day before holiday for the seventh year students. There should be one male and one female representative from each house to be on the committee. These representatives do not have to be Prefects, yet they may be if voted upon. The leaders of the committee will be the Head Boy and Girl, if they do not mind," Dumbledore said, looking over his half-moon spectacles at Lily and James. They both nodded and he continued. "Seventh years can of course invite younger students. I will come to the first meeting, which shall be Wednesday the week after next at eight o'clock in this room, to discuss what needs to be done. Any questions?" he asked with twinkling blue eyes. No one seemed to have any. "No? Well then I suppose I'll be going. Goodbye everyone," Dumbledore said.
"Goodbye, Professor," everyone chorused as the Headmaster left the room.
Nine o'clock rolled around, leaving Sara sitting in front of the fireplace waiting for Sirius. About five minutes later, he came running from the boys' dormitories into the common room with a silvery cloak in his grasp and an old piece of parchment, startling some second years sitting at a table near the tunnel. He saw Sara sitting by the hearth and walked over to her. "You ready?" He said grinning.
"Yeah," she replied, and he led her out the tunnel. "What are these for?" She asked once they got outside.
Sirius threw the cloak over the both of them. "This is James's Invisibility Cloak. Now we won't get caught. But just in case," Sirius told her, holding the parchment in front of them. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
The map came to life, and Sara gasped. "Where did you get that?"
"Shh...I'll explain when we get there," said Sirius, taking hold of her hand and leading her to the sixth floor and praying she'd forget to ask. Sirius wasn't sure he was ready to divulge the whole Marauder history to her yet. Checking the map, Sirius saw that no one was around. He removed the cloak from them and told Sara to wait for a second. Pacing back and forth three times in front of a plain wall with a pensive look on his face, Sara thought Sirius was going crazy. She looked at him oddly, until a door appeared on the empty wall. Sirius grinned at Sara and opened the door, beckoning her inside.
Sara gasped when she saw what was inside. A large grand piano sat in the corner of the room, facing the door. In front of it were a couple couches and a table with a bottle of Butterbeer and two mugs arranged on it. Sara turned around and wrapped her arms around Sirius, squeezing him happily. "How did you do this?" She exclaimed.
"This is the Room of Requirement. You just walk in front of it three times thinking about what you want it to have," Sirius explained.
"It's wonderful," Sara said, still in awe.
"So are you gonna play?" he asked. Sara released him and walked over to the piano. She raised the lid up, propping it open with the stand.
"What do you want to hear?" She asked, sitting down.
"I don't know. The only song I know is Chopsticks," Sirius laughed.
Sara grinned. "Okay, how about Arabesque?"
"Sure," he answered, and Sara began to play the tune with ease. For the next thirty minutes, she played, Sirius clapping after each piece. Finally, she finished and waved him over to the piano.
"Let's hear some Chopsticks," Sara suggested with a grin.
"I'm not even sure if I remember it," Sirius replied modestly.
"That's okay," she said, and began to reteach it to him.
"Thank you so much for this, Sirius. You have no idea how much I missed it," Sara said, laying her head on Sirius's shoulder. They sat on the couch together, one hand intertwined with the other's.
Sirius kissed her on the top of the head and replied, "You're welcome. It was my pleasure. You're a wonderful pianist." Sirius felt Sara start shaking beside him and realized it was with silent laughter. "What?" He asked curiously.
"That word always makes me laugh. Pianist," she repeated, laughing, "sounds like penis. You're a wonderful penis."
Sirius began laughing too. "Once, Mrs. Potter told me I was a good pianist, and I misunderstood her. I was quite embarrassed when she told me what she had actually said. That day still brings tears of laughter to James's eyes."
Sara continued to laugh. "Wow, I feel mature. Seventeen and laughing about the word penis. You must think I'm crazy or something."
"Not at all," Sirius replied. "Sara?"
"Yes, Sirius," she replied uncertainly.
"Are you...ticklish?" Sirius asked, releasing his hand from hers.
"NO!" Sara squealed and immediately started squirming around as his fingers moved around her stomach and side. She rolled off the couch and into the fetal position. "Stop!" She yelled breathlessly, laughing. "Wait a minute..." she said, cocking an eyebrow and looking up at Sirius. "Are you?" Sirius jumped up from her and ran to the piano. "Aha! You are!" They chased each other around the large room until Sara ran to the door where Sirius had left the invisibility cloak. She threw it over herself and giggled.
"Not fair!" Sirius called. He began walking around with arms outstretched, listening for foot steps. Sara moseyed over to the piano, played a few notes, and Sirius sprinted over to the instrument.
CRACK! Sirius heard all of a sudden.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow," Sara wailed. She fell on the floor, and the invisibility cloak slipped partly off.
Sirius ran over to the space in front of the fireplace where Sara sat holding her foot. "What happened?"
"I think I broke my toe," she sniffled.
"Which one?" he asked, looking at the foot she held in her lap.
"The big one."
"Okay," Sirius said and gingerly took her foot into his lap. He reached for his wand which was sitting on the table.
"You know healing charms?" Sara asked curiously.
"Uh huh," he replied, putting the tip of his wand to her toe and muttering a spell. "Can you move it?"
"Yeah," she said, demonstrating that she could. "Thanks."
Sirius held her foot for a moment, and as if waiting for the opportune moment, began to tickle it. Sara squealed and started kicking, evidently in the wrong places. Sirius let out a yelp of pain and fell backwards holding himself.
"Oh!" Sara whispered. "Sirius, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," she apologized, turning around and laying down beside him. "Do you need a healing charm for it? I warn you, I'm not too good at them..."
Sirius grinned. "No, not a charm, but a massage might do it."
Sara hit him playfully. "Get up, you big baby."
"I don't want to get up," he said, shifting to where he was nose-to-nose with Sara. "I want to stay right here."
Sara thought her heart was going to stop right then and there. She gazed into Sirius's eyes, realizing for the first time how dark they were. Then, his eyelids fluttered shut. Sara widened hers, but then got a hold of herself and followed suit. Their lips met, and Sara was surprised at how extremely soft his were. Sirius deepened the kiss, and Sara put her arm around his neck. She could tell that he was quite experienced with this sort of thing. Oh my, that means he can probably tell that I'm not, she thought, but quickly forgot.
After what seemed like a lifetime, Sara and Sirius pulled apart, smiling to themselves. Sara laid her head in the crook of Sirius's arm and he absentmindedly played with her hair until they both fell asleep.
I know, total cliche ending. Sorry, my creativity only goes so far )
Please review!!