Chapter 7

Lunch at Hogwarts was full of the usual hustle, bustle and chatter as it always had been. Lily ate lunch with the girls and the Marauders, who happened to be sitting next to each other and Jessica nearly had a cow whenever Remus ended up sitting next to her.

Lily sat next to Sirius, making casual conversation with him, as well as the others. But she noticed James staring at her longingly, as she often caught him doing. She didn't say anything; she only looked the other way.

Peter had rejoined them, finally getting out of the hospital wing in quite a state that morning, and Sirius and the others were teasing him mercilessly. Just then, a pretty Hufflepuff girl called Remus over to her table.

"If you'll all excuse me, I'll be back in a moment," he said.

Jessica sighed, "He's never going to notice me. He's probably scheduling a date or something with that girl, or maybe they're going out in secret, or mayb-"

Esmerelda rolled her eyes, "Jessica, chill. I know for a fact that he's helping her get through, her, her first time."

"Huh?" Jessica said, screwing up her face in a look of confusion.

"Her first transformation?" Brooke offered.

"Oh, right. The werewolf thing," Jessica said quietly.

"Yeah, she was out with her boyfriend and she got lost in the Forbidden Forest. Took a nasty bite. So now, this evening she's doomed to the same fate as poor Remy," Esmerelda explained.

"B-b-boyfriend?" Jessica stuttered.

"Yes Jess," Brooke said, "Boy. Friend."

"Oh," she replied.

"Now, we just have to get him to notice you…" Brooke said, "Maybe shorten that skirt a bit, do something with your hair…" Brooke offered, pulling her wand from her robe pocket.

"No!" Jessica said, a little more loudly than she'd intended to, "I mean, no. Remus…he's not into girls like…like…"

"Like Brooke?" Esmerelda finished.

"Exactly," Jess responded.

"Jess, I've seen the way he looks at you, you just need to…open up to him a little. Tap into his interests," Esmerelda said.

"Well, how in the name of Merlin do I do that, exactly?" she asked, frustrated.

"Well, Remus is smart, right?" Lily said.

"Yeah…so?" Jessica answered.

"Well, ask him to tutor you!" Lily said.

"It's only the first day of classes, I haven't had a chance to screw up yet," Jess pointed out.

"Okay, so it's going to take awhile…and Jess, you've always been dreadful at Transfiguration," Lily said.

"Which is Remus's area of expertise, if I recall," Brooke added, winking and flashing a devious smile.

"Just wait a week or two, think you can do that?" Esmerelda asked.

"Sure," Jess said, "Plus that gives him some time to heal up from the full moon and the wolf thing…"

Sirius sat there the entire lunch period trying to figure out how to get at Severus for what he'd done to Lily. When he heard Jess say, "- the full moon and the wolf thing…" he knew exactly what he was going to do. He stood up, but before he could go off in pursuit of Severus, he was stopped by James.

"Where ya going, Padfoot?" he asked.

"Um…just to visit Narcissa and Bellatrix. Family business," he quickly lied.

"Oh, alright," James replied.

Sirius headed over to the Slytherin table and immediately picked over Snape, sitting with Luscius.

"Come to defend your girl, Black?" Luscius taunted.

"I guess you could say that. I saw what you did to her, you bastard," Sirius spat.

"My father is alive and well, Black," Severus jeered.

"You want to settle this? Winner gets Lily?" Sirius asked.

Luscius grinned mischievously. The day just got more, and more interesting as it went on.

"I don't want that filthy little mud blood!" Severus exclaimed.

"Don't call her that!" Sirius said raising his arm to punch Severus square in the jaw, but he lowered it when he saw the headmaster enter the hall, "And don't lie to me. Snivellus, I know you've had a crush on Lily since 4th year, almost as long as James."

Severus curled his lip into a snarl, "Fine then. Winner gets Lily, name your time and place."

"Tonight, 10 o' clock. There's a knot on the Whomping Willow, touch it and it freezes. It leads to the Shrieking Shack. Be there," Sirius glared as he stood and walked away, "Come alone. I'll be waiting."