Who Would Kiss Him?
(disclaimer: i do not own or claim JKR's Harry Potter characters. Those that have been made up by me were inspired by her writing. I write for enjoyment, and I hope you read this for the same reason. Enjoy!!!)
Lily couldn't help but stare. How could someone devour three drumsticks, a turkey leg, four helpings of potatoes, two servings of corn, and a half of a cherry pie in a record time of ten minutes? Somehow, Sirius Black had managed to do so.
He was gnawing at the bone of what was left of a turkey leg, as if he wanted to leave no scrap of meat behind, no matter how small. Lily was not the only one watching him. Greta was also unable to pry her eyes away from the slab of skin hanging from his mouth, before he sucked it in and swallowed it.
Not only were the girls watching in horror, but Remus Lupin also shared an expression of disgust. He appeared to be slowly inching away from him, as if he wished not to sit next to him, for fear of catching anything.
Potter, however, seemed unaffected.
"That is disgusting!" Danyel shrieked, putting her fork down. She looked at the girl sitting next to her, another roommate and friend. "Aren't you appalled by this, Zora?"
Zora Alti, a spunky raven-haired beauty, just smiled. "I'm used to witnessing his messy eating habits."
Danyel looked like she was about to lurch. "What about you, Potter?" He was sitting across from her. "How can you stand seeing him like this?"
Potter laughed. "It's been the same for seven years, and he's lived with me during the past two summers. I'm used to it. So is my mother. We never have leftovers anymore."
Black nodded in agreement. "Your mother is a wonderful cook." He slurped down a slice of pie. "But the food here is also delicious!"
Lupin laughed, the first sound he had made all evening. "Sirius would eat anything, including his own dog sh--"
"Watch it, Remus…" Black growled, glaring at him.
"You would eat your own dog, Black?" Danyel asked curiously.
"If I had one."
Danyel whined, setting down her fork. "I've lost my appetite."
Zora leaned over the table, looking at Potter. "Who's the Quidditch captain?"
Potter swallowed his drink, and then smiled. "I am, of course."
"So you'll be looking for a new seeker this year, right?" Zora asked.
"You want to be seeker, Zora?" Greta asked, looking around Danyel. "I didn't know you played."
Zora nodded. "I've been practicing this summer. I'm pretty fast."
Black snickered. "Yeah, you are."
A bread roll suddenly went flying past their faces, smacking Black right between the eyes. "Hey!"
Zora was looking in a different direction.
Potter elbowed Black in the ribs. "Pass the butter, Bir."
Danyel, hearing his request, looked around the table. "There is no butterbeer. Sorry, Potter."
Potter looked at her oddly, then laughed. "I wasn't asking for that. I said, 'pass the butter, Bir.'"
Black was glaring at Potter, as if trying to make butterbeer pour out of his friend's ears. "That was a really bad pun, Pam."
Lily rolled her eyes at their silly nicknames. She tried to remember what had brought them on, and smiled when the thought popped up at her. It was on their first day when they had all met, as first year students.
Black took another bite of potatoes, and this time, Greta remarked. "It's a wonder you have so many girls fawning over you, Black. I'm surprised they would want to kiss that mouth after seeing you eat."
Black laughed. "I don't have a problem getting kissed. It's James here who's never been kissed."
Potter's cheeks burned as bright as the candles floating overhead. "I have too been kissed!"
Black scoffed at him. "Please! That was not a kiss. You bumped heads."
Greta and Zora seemed to have taken interest in this, because they were leaning on the table, elbows propped up and hands tucked under their chins. "Really?" Zora smiled, her eyes gleaming. "Do tell."
"There's nothing to tell," Black replied, swallowing his bite of white mush. "James and Evans bumped heads. Well, bumped lips."
Blue and hazel eyes were suddenly upon Lily, and she eyed them curiously. "What? He just said it was an accident." And yet Lily couldn't help feel a flush in her cheeks.
Potter was now the one giving Black dirty looks. He smiled devilishly, his eyes narrowed. "You still owe me, Bir."
"Owe you what?" Black took another bite of potato.
"You know what."
Their area was quiet, perhaps the most silent spot in the entire hall. All eyes were on Black, waiting for his reply. But Lily's eyes were slowly sinking below the table. She knew what it was Potter wanted. She had been there, after all. Greta seemed to notice Lily's sudden attempt of disappearing. "What are they talking about?"
Lily shook her head. "It's a long story," she muttered. The images in her mind were what were bothering her the most. She could still vividly see a young Sirius and James running into the compartment, out of breath, and the events following were even more interesting. Suddenly, she couldn't help but laugh.
"What's so funny?" Lupin asked, peering over the table at Lily.
She sat up, her gaze falling upon Potter. "Why would you want him to repay you?"
"Because, it was his fault I had to witness such a horrible sight, and experience the most forbidden pain a man could experience." Potter looked back over at Black, his eyes demanding his payment. "You owe me!"
It was very amusing to watch the sudden wave of realization flood over Black's face. "No! There's no way in hell I'm doing that!"
Black's sudden outburst had drawn the attention of the rest of the Gryffindor table, as well as a group of Hufflepuffs. Lily could hear them whispering behind her, trying to figure out what was going on.
"You promised me, Sirius!" Potter continued, his voice now also raised, causing more Hufflepuffs to silence themselves and witness the scene unfolding. They couldn't clearly see Potter's face; otherwise they might have noticed the teasing grin he wore.
"I didn't promise you anything!" Black roared back, slightly frantic. Lily turned her head around to that their audience had expanded to the Ravenclaw table. Soon, the Slytherins and the staff table would be in on the little quarrel.
"You did promise me! You said you would make it up to me." Potter dramatically hung his head, imitating a whimper. It was clear that he was being playful. "Because of you, I walked funny for the rest of the day!"
The whole hall was almost silent now, and the two boys seemingly did not realize this. Greta was staring at them wide eyed. Danyel was covering her eyes, her red cheeks beaming. Zora looked like she was about ready to burst out laughing.
Potter stood up, throwing down his napkin. "I can never forget that day, and what happened to me! I demand my reparation!"
Black was fuming. Lily couldn't tell if it was from anger or embarrassment. She could only imagine what was going through his mind, not to mention what everyone else was thinking. It truly wasn't what it sounded like. Well, sort of.
Black grumbled for a moment, before standing up, avoiding eye contact with anyone. "FINE!" he shouted. "If it'll shut you up!"
What happened next was very unexpected.
Black grabbed Potter by his ears, pulling his face to his own. With shocked eyes, Potter watched as Black kissed him on the mouth, rather quickly, but forcefully, as if he wanted to make sure there was no mistaking his action.
Zora squealed, causing Danyel to look up. Danyel turned to an even darker shade of red, if possible, and covered her face again. Greta's jaw had dropped to the table almost, as did Lupin's. Small Pettigrew couldn't see what was happening, since his only view was Potter's back, but he eventually realized what had happened when the other students started gossiping about it.
"Did he just kiss him?" Lily heard a Hufflepuff whisper.
"Isn't that the Head Boy?"
"I knew he was gay!"
"I can't believe he did that!"
Apparently, Potter couldn't believe it either. Evidently, he was only trying to egg his friend, teasing him as he always did. He sat down, his eyes still frozen in a state of shock. He looked over at Lily, his cheeks almost matching Danyel's. But Lily looked away. For some reason, she couldn't bare looking at him right now. She didn't know why.
As Black sat down, rather hard, Dumbledore stood up, clearing his throat. The hall fell silent once more, and the Headmaster smiled. "Well, now that that situation is solved, I would like to give you a few words for the start of the year." He looked over at their table, his eyes falling upon Potter and Black. "We do not care about your…dating preference. But please: keep your secret affairs…a secret."
"What was that all about?" Greta asked, still dazed, but managing to giggle. "I always wondered about those two, but I wasn't expecting that."
Zora linked her arm through Lily's, practically pulling her along. They were leaving the Great Hall, heading up to their dormitories. When the finish of the feast had been announced, Sirius Black had rushed out first, past all the gossiping Hufflepuffs, the murmuring Ravenclaws, and the sneering Slytherins. Potter had been right behind him.
"I can't believe he kissed him!" Danyel squeaked. She was acting like what she had witnessed was Black chopping off Potter's head. "Why would he do that?"
Kassie Lionel, their fellow classmate and roommate, simply laughed. "Boys will be boys." She skipped ahead of Danyel, who was walking beside Greta. Kassie looped her arm through Lily's other one. "But it looks like Lily knows why Sirius did that. Tell us."
Lily shook her head. "It's a long story. I'm not sure I even remember all the details, it happened six years ago."
Zora playfully slapped Lily's arm. "You mean our smart little Head Girl has forgotten something?"
"Of course not!"
"Then you'll tell us!" Kassie replied.
They were walking up the marble staircase that led to the first floor, and it looked like Zora and Kassie were carrying Lily up the steps, since the girls were both taller than her. They had nearly reached the top when Lily noticed something protruding from the top step. It appeared to be a hat, with bells lightly jingling. Something under the hat was giggling.
"Evening, Peeves," Zora moaned.
The hat suddenly rose in the air, revealing Peeves, the Hogwarts' residential poltergeist. His grin was about as big as his horrid orange bowtie. Peeves obviously had no sense of coordinating his attire. Today, he was sporting a red plaid shirt, green waistcoat, and purple polka-dotted trousers.
But his choice of clothing reflected his mischievous humor. He snapped his fingers, acting disappointed. "Ah, li'le miss Head Girl and her friends caught me." He cackled, circling around them in the air. "Poor li'le miss Head Girl…her naughty boyfriend is kissing other naughty boys…"
"He is NOT my boyfriend," Lily firmly stated, her eyes never losing sight of Peeves. Only God knew what he was up to.
He covered his mouth with his hand, but it didn't hide his laughter. "Miss Head Girl is in denial!"
Lily scowled. "No, I'm not."
"Denying denial!"
Kassie and Zora, who had already released their arms from Lily, were now stepping down to stand with Greta and Danyel. Peeves took this opportunity of more space to circle Lily closer, like a hawk descending upon its meal.
"I am not denying it."
"Denying denying denial!" Peeves stuck out his tongue, making a rather crude sound. His grin was growing wicked by the second. "The first step of admitting you love someone is denial!" he sang.
"And the first step of getting you kicked out is pestering the Head Girl enough for her to tell Dumbledore." Lily glared at Peeves. He wouldn't dare disrespect the headmaster.
Peeves stopped in midair, lying on his side, a sour expression on his face. "You spoil my fun, li'le miss Head Girl…" He made a dramatic dive, and disappeared below the staircase.
Lily turned to the girls, who were all watching, with smiles on their faces. "Don't tell me that you agree with him…"
Zora shook her head, but her eyes were laughing. "We didn't say a single word." And they didn't the rest of the trip up the stairs. Lily led the way up the seven flights of steps, until they finally reached the portrait of a very large woman in a pink dress.
"Password?" she asked.
"Antipodean Opaleye," Lily murmured, and the portrait nodded, revealing the familiar pathway to the Gryffindor common room. Lily entered first, and as she entered the room, she could still hear the students talking about the dinner show they had seen.
Ignoring them, she continued on to the spiral staircase that went up to the girls' dormitories. Zora, Kassie, Greta, and Danyel stopped after the first flight, lingering outside the door marked, "Seventh Years." Zora's hand was resting on the doorknob, but she was watching Lily.
"What?"
"Won't you tell us?"
Lily sighed. "It's a long story. Just forget about it." She took a few steps up, preparing herself to climb seven more flights of steps to her own dorm. "I'll see you girls in the morning."
Lily ventured up the spiral stairwell, and realized that she would be climbing a total of fourteen flights just to go to her room from dinner. When she reached the top of the tower, she sighed with relief.
Normally, the dorms stopped on the seventh floor, but another room had been made up for her, since she was Head Girl. She had requested to remain in the Gryffindor Tower, and Dumbledore was more than happy to oblige. So when she opened the door, she was breath taken by the beautiful room. The ceiling rose up and met in the center, with four tall windows around the room. Her poster bed was directly across from the door, and it was covered with red satin sheets and fluffy pillows. There was an oak desk on the right side of the room, and a matching cabinet on the left.
All of her stuff was already in her room, her trunk set beside the cabinet. All her clothes were hung up, and her books were placed neatly on her desk. Lily decided to sit down at it. The candelabrum that was sitting on the desk was already lit, just as the rest were that were around the room.
Lily slipped off her robe, hanging it on the back of her chair. She was thinking about cracking open one of her textbooks and getting a head start on studying. But a curious sound had drawn her attention. She looked at the floor, finding an envelope lying on the wood.
Lily bent down to pick it up, wondering why it had been in her robe's pocket. There was nothing in it this morning, when she had folded them up to put in her bag. Obviously, someone had snuck it in. She stuck a finger into the seal, starting to tear it open.
"Lily! Can we come in?"
Lily jumped at the sudden intrusion. Zora was already in the room, gaping in awe. "This is nice…"
"Yes, come on in," Lily said sarcastically, putting the envelope inside her Transfiguration book and closing it. She smiled at the other girls who were politely waiting at the door. "I said come in."
Kassie immediately jumped on the bed, moaning with jealousy. "These are satin sheets! They're expensive. My mom always wanted some, but my father refused to pay for them."
"Muggles have satin sheets?" Zora asked. Kassie was a muggle-born witch, and Zora was always fascinated by her childhood stories, since Zora was a pureblood. "What else do you have at home?"
Greta joined Kassie on the bed, shaking her head. "Now, ladies, that's not why we came up here." She looked at Lily. "We're ready for you to tell us."
Danyel and Zora also sat down, the four girls eyeing Lily. They were pleading with her, she could tell by their expressions. They wouldn't stop bothering her about it until she told them.
"Fine," she sighed, but smiling. She crawled onto the bed, playfully pushing Zora to the side so she could lean against the headboard. "It started on the first day of school, in our first year."
"Wait!" Danyel cried out. She pulled out her wand, which was smaller than Lily's, and muttered a few words. Suddenly, a large bowl of popcorn appeared, and Danyel was set for story time.
"Ooh, that reminds me," Kassie beamed. She reached into her robes, pulling out a rather odd bottle.
"Is that…" Danyel started asking, her voice dropping. "It is! Where did you get that?"
"I nicked it from my parents' liquor cabinet before I left. They'll never miss it." She opened it up, and the heavily sweet smell of wine filled up Lily's bedroom. Danyel let out a cough, and Zora was the first to reach for the bottle.
"Popcorn and wine. Now I'm ready for the story!"
