Marauders' Match-Making Inc.
Hey! Thanks for your input on that poll. I thought up this awesome totally new ending, so it'll rock. So I think this story only has 2-3 chapters left. I can't be exactly sure. Thanks for reading. I hope you all love this next chapter. It explains a little bit more into the past of Lily and James (though it was so hard to write, and that should be evident when you notice how long it took me to update it. LoL). But thank you for the reviews and for your patience.
By the way: I made Lily's thoughts coincide (sort of) with James' thoughts in the last memory because I thought it was funny. And also, a lot of the passage is the same as when I first wrote it into this story because, you know…I'm lazy, I suppose and it just worked well. I also edited some mistakes in Chapter 12. Oh and this chapter is lo-ong!
-Kait
Disclaimer: The plot of this story is based on the ABC Family movie, "See Jane Date." The characters are property of J.K. Rowling. The only thing that belongs to me, are the changes I made to the plot I borrowed, and the new characters that you don't know from the Harry Potter books. Is that alright with you then?
Chapter Thirteen- Pieces of You and Me
James felt utterly…blank as he sat in front of the window, staring at the rain hitting the street pavement and the house heavily. He felt surprisingly alone and yet…he had no idea why. Was something missing? Should something be missing? He knew he had placed some thoughts away, far away…but just what those thoughts were; he couldn't quite remember.
"James," someone boomed loudly from the hallway, "Hey mate, where are you?"
He swiftly turned around to see Sirius enter from the hall, smiling sympathetically at him, which led James to stare at him in confusion. Why was Sirius acting as if something was bothering him? Should something be?
"'ello, Sirius."
"So…how are you?" He asked nervously as he sat down in a chair relatively far from James.
Bloody hell, James thought. Why was he being so distant?
"How should I be?" He questioned, his tone an annoyed one, "I'm perfectly fine."
It was then that Sirius spotted it. The Pensieve, to be exact. He had not seen that thing since his Hogwarts days…
Then it dawned on him. No wonder James was acting so ignorant to the whole situation…He'd went and forgotten it all!
"Um…," Sirius thought carefully before speaking, as so not to ruin James's odd frame of mind. "How long has it been since you have seen Lily Evans?"
James got up and walked over to a chair closer to his best friend's. What sort of question was that?
"Hogwarts, of course," he replied easily, "You know, back when I had had that crush on April Donovan, you know… her friend."
Sirius's mind was reeling. James had really erased everything, hadn't he? That memory was from back in 3rd year! Why would he go and do that? Even Sirius knew that once it came time to put the memories back, it would hurt him even more…Because he couldn't forget her forever…
Or could he…, Sirius wondered.
"Listen," Sirius mumbled almost incoherently and got up, walking towards the dining room table, "I've got to go now…I was just stopping to say hello and all, but…would it be any trouble for me to borrow your Pensieve here?"
It's not like you will be needing it…since you don't want to remember Lily anyway.
"Sure," he replied, "Though I'm not quite sure why you would want it."
"Thanks then, mate," Sirius said and lifted it carefully of the dining room table. "I will bring it back soon."
That was an odd visit, James thought to himself as Sirius left. Soon afterwards, he went back to the window to stare at the rain again.
Just as Sirius was exiting, he noticed James go back to the window. For some reason, this was very creepy for him to see, as well as James's mannerisms.
So this is his life without Lily…
It saddened him to see his friend so lost and broken…without even being able to realize it.
"I had better warn the others," Sirius murmured under his breath and went off to make those rounds.
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The last place Sirius stopped was Lily's apartment. He thought he had never been so glad to see that place. This was partly because he had failed to realize exactly how heavy a Pensieve could be when you carry it from place to place. Of course, he had magic and apparition on his side.
But that did not change the fact that that thing was incredibly heavy.
"Hey, Lily," he called, knocking on the door lightly and set the Pensieve carefully on the floor.
It seemed that no sooner had he put it down, Lily opened the door to let him in.
"Hello, Sirius."
"No…," he grumbled and bent down to pick the basin back up.
"Nice to see you too, then," she laughed good-naturedly and glanced down at Sirius. "What is that, anyway?"
He followed Lily inside as she led him through the doorway and motioned for him to place the Pensieve on the coffee table.
"A…Pensieve," he replied in a strained voice. "It stores…thoughts."
He breathed a sigh of relief as he set it down again.
Lily couldn't seem to resist giggling. "Heavy, huh?
"Well, it's no feather," he mumbled and plopped down onto the couch. Lily followed the suit as Sirius opened his mouth to speak again.
"Listen, Lily… I know you are still upset with James…"
This drew a scowl from her face as Sirius spoke the name.
"—Just hear me out," Sirius continued, holding out his hands to keep her from speaking. "James, he…well…he put a certain few memories in this Pensieve and I would really like you to just see some of them so you'll understand James'…actions."
"Sirius, honestly! Why should I?" She said angrily and looked him in the eye, "He's been so rash about the whole—"
He interrupted her quickly, "Just see it, Lils. You won't understand otherwise."
Then, he got up to leave, truly hoping that she would listen to him. After all, didn't she have a right to know how James really felt?
Especially if James himself didn't even know how he felt because he had erased it all. The prat.
"Just so you know, when you put memories in a Pensieve, it's a bit like…no, it is…forgetting them. Okay?"
"Alright," Lily murmured, highly bewildered by this all.
Why was Sirius being so serious and sentimental?
And what exactly did this Pensieve contain?
Sirius made his way out of the room and closed the door softly as Lily became more absorbed in her thoughts.
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A few days later, James found himself waiting for Remus to arrive in the Leaky Cauldron. The last few days had been slightly odd for James. Every one of his friends seemed to be restrained when they talked to him. It seemed almost like his friends had been trying to hold back something from him. Even Peter had been more quiet than usual. It felt like one huge secret was known; only no one had let him in on it yet.
He just hoped that Remus wouldn't have the same restrictive attitude the rest of them seemed to have.
"James," Remus said with a smile as he entered the pub, "Sorry I'm late." He rolled his eyes laughingly, "More job interviews."
He took a seat at the bar as James took a swig of his drink and swallowed. Internally, though, James was ecstatic. Thank goodness at least one of my friends isn't acting like a raving lunatic.
"And how did those go?"
Remus shook the rain from his coat out of habit while he answered, "How do they all go?"
James smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Moony."
"No, it's perfectly fine," he said, frowning and letting out a force laugh, "Can't seem to get a job anywhere these days."
"It's not your fault," James pointed out angrily, as Remus sat down. "There are some stupid people out there who can't accept someone for what they are and that's a shame."
"Unfortunately," Remus mumbled and shifted uncomfortably on his bar stool, "That doesn't make the rejection any easier."
At that moment, Tom suddenly appeared from around the bar and spoke up.
"What'll you 'ave, Remus?"
"How about a cherry syrup and sherry, Tom," he replied with a faint smile.
"On me," James chimed in and grinned at his friend, who held out his hand to protest. So much for an attempt to cheer him up… "For one of my best mates."
When the drink came, Remus set out to object James' offer again.
"Remus, take the darn thing. I'm going to pay for your drink, even if that means I have to hex you to do it."
"Sounds like you'd better take it," Tom said, bearing a semi-toothless grin. He placed Remus' drink in front of him and said simply, "Enjoy."
And as Remus scowled, taking a sip; James' thoughts were elsewhere… Especially seeing as an attractive red head had just frantically raced through the door as it clanged shut.
"Tom!" She exclaimed, eyeing the bar stools and counter anxiously, "You haven't seen my purse by any chance?"
He looked around carefully and under the bar. "Not so far," he then glanced over at James and Remus quickly, "Have either of you boys seen it?"
The boys exchanged a quick look and searched around their seats cautiously. Remus shook his head at Tom and watched as the young woman stole clandestine glances at James every so often, who was still occupied with his search underneath his bar stool.
Remus took it upon himself to chuckle inwardly as he watched the girl modestly check one of his best friends out. Another one is smitten, he thought.
Then, James appeared upright on his chair holding a brown bag. He sat up just in time to see the red-head eyeing him with her gorgeous blue eyes. At this he gave everyone in the room his traditional cocky grin and coolly asked her, "Would this be yours?"
Remus thought the girl was about to swoon, from having been address by James. Tom even noticed and put out a notion to put his arms out to catch her.
And Tom wasn't exactly what you would consider good at reading emotions. He had had his times when he had ruined many a romantic moment with Remus and women he attempted to date.
Why do you think people avoided the Leaky Cauldron like the plague when they were on outings with people of the opposite sex?
Well, it certainly wasn't because the food was bad.
The girl's reaction to James just made him grin wider. "So this is your bag, then?"
"Yes, that would be correct," she said with a shaky laugh. After all, it wasn't like she went around making a fool of herself everyday. "Thank you," she mumbled while blushing and quickly retrieved the purse from James' grasp.
She was about to walk away, feeling utterly stupid when James spoke up. "Do you want something to drink?"
Now this struck a chord with her. Not every guy would be willing to talk to an inelegant girl who nearly fainted when she spotted them.
"Ah…sure," she replied with an honest smile, "That would be good…uh…"
"It's James," he said as she walked towards him, "My name's James Potter."
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Lily sighed in misery as she glanced past the Pensieve to watch as she used the remote to flip through aimless channels of nothing.
What good is television if nothing interesting is on?
She finally flicked the thing off, and set the remote down on the coffee table.
There was only so many times she could try and avoid the basin sitting right in front of her; though it was kind of hard to do so, since it was positioned right in front of the television.
Lily was almost convinced Sirius had placed it there on purpose, just to torture her with a sickening mixture of guilt and curiosity.
Finally she could not take it anymore. It was like that thing was staring at her...beckoning her to get up and see just what its contents were.
She picked herself up from off the couch and peered into the basin's shallow depths. Only it wasn't that shallow... It had a wispy, silvery aspect to it that seemed to go on for eternity... And the different shades of gray and silver were swirling around like some sort of ghost was mixing it...
But then the liquid (though Lily wasn't even sure she could classify it as that) stopped moving. She expected to see the dark basin's end but instead she saw the darkly lit corridors of Hogwarts.
Hogwarts?
It couldn't be Hogwarts.
But it was.
Staring right back at her was Hogwarts...the memory from the past that seem ages ago...But in reality, she had been at Hogwarts, considered it her second home, nearly 2 years ago.
"Hogwarts," she mumbled in disbelief and began to back away, "Hogwarts..."
She would have continued to back away but the force pulling her was just too much and her curious nature took over. She soon found herself landing face-first in the Pensieve.
What astonished her was that she never hit the bottom of it...She just kept falling through its depths, feeling very much like she had just fallen head-first into one of the Hogwarts ghosts. Only difference was this place was dark and seemed endless...
Then, out of nowhere, she had landed. Lily found herself standing next to the Transfiguration chambers. The weird thing about it was she also spotted herself patrolling the corridors, wearing a shiny Prefect badge, keeping an eye out for unsuspecting frolickers in the night hours. It seemed she wasn't doing a good job, as she hadn't spotted an older version of herself standing directly in front of her. Lily stared in awe of her younger self and breathed deeply. Why couldn't she see herself? Was there some kind of unknown barrier between them?
She turned around for a second to explore her surroundings. But just as she did so, James Potter popped out of the shadows of the Transfiguration Room and grinned that arrogant grin of his. She had never screamed so loudly in her life...and yet nobody seemed to hear her. James did not even stop for a moment to ask her what was wrong, and Lily, she looked back at her young self, appeared completely unaware that anyone else was around.
That is, until she noticed James Potter creeping up from behind her.
"Potter," she said sharply and with a swift turn was suddenly facing him, "Don't think I didn't see you roaming these corridors late at night."
He just smiled sweetly in return.
"That will be a detention for being up late at night, another detention for roaming the corridors, and a third for thinking you could get away with it," Lily watched herself growl as she wrote out the slips, "Now get to bed, Potter!"
Lily thought she almost saw a flicker of wariness in his eyes as he looked blankly at the 6th year Lily. But the look was banished away as quickly as it had come to be.
"Don't you think that's a little harsh?" he challenged her, taking a step toward, "Even for you, Evans?"
"Not in my opinion," she replied coolly, glancing back down at the slips and parchment in her hands.
Was I really that hostile towards him? And for what?
Lily's mind was in a daze as she tried to remember back to her Hogwarts days.
Then her thoughts were interrupted as the scene between the two of them continued to play itself out right before her eyes.
"So are you writing out all these detentions so you'll get to see me more often without admitting your true feelings?" he asked her slyly and grinned at her cheekily.
"Oh yeah," older Lily murmured from her location next to the Transfiguration Room, "That's why I despised the grotesque pain in the arse."
"Oh yeah, Potter." Lily laughed haughtily, "I'm burning with passion alright—"
His eyes nearly exploded out of their sockets in his over-inflated head in utter surprise. His reaction caused Lily to laugh openly at her memory; only to cover her mouth quickly, even though it was already palpable that no one could hear her giggles.
"—Just not the kind you're dreaming of."
And with that, Lily turned on her heel and briskly walked down another vacant hall to continue her patrol.
James held his slips like delicate china, feeling that his heart had been ripped out only to be crushed like glass into a thousand shattered pieces. That much was clearly evident on his face as he looked back in the direction of Lily longingly. "Stupid, stupid, stupid…," he chastised himself under his breath, "Why do I have to act like a damn prat?"
Suddenly, Lily felt incredibly sorry for him. If only he had not been so cocky with her…She would have accepted a date with him.
Wouldn't she?
She had no idea, in all truthfulness.
Then, James took out a mirror and looked intently at it. It seemed almost like he wasn't even looking at himself but something beyond the mirror's surface.
"Sirius," he whispered to it, "Hey Sirius!"
"What mate?" was the groggy reply.
Lily nearly jumped fifty feet in the air as she heard Sirius' voice. Where was he? It made sense after a second. After all, how many times had Lily seen that mirror over her years at Hogwarts and even afterwards? Too many to count, that was for sure.
"I have it."
"The stuff from Zonko's? Great."
"Alright, then," James mumbled, straightening up, "I suppose I had better head back now."
"Ah…what's bothering you?" Sirius questioned from the mirror. He knew his friend all to well, Lily thought, smiling; In fact, he knows all of us too well.
James started to pace down the hallway in the direction of the Gryffindor Tower.
"Why do I love her again, Padfoot?"
"Because you are insane, mate," Sirius replied knowingly, "Because you are bloody insane."
"Oh, am I? Then why—"
But Lily did not hear any more as he drifted down the corridor and faded into the mist.
She didn't even have a moment to dwell on the fact that James felt so strongly for her…And how she had loathed him…
Quite suddenly, Lily was moving and swirling into space again.
She felt like she was moving faster and deeper and farther into this never-ending world.
No more Pensieve trips. That was her consensus for the moment. So what if Sirius had something "urgent" for her to see. What exactly had Lily found out so far? So James had been in love with her back at Hogwarts. That hadn't been that hard of a concept to grasp. In fact, she thought she might have even fallen in love with him, too, back at Hogwarts. Not that it was a hard thing to do. And being with James had probably been the closest she had ever been to really being in love.
But so what? There wasn't anything either of them could do about it now.
She abruptly was stopped to a halt at…Hogmeade? Inside Honeyduke's basement? Why on earth was she here?
She looked around for any signs of James, since she supposed this was his memory. She noticed nothing odd about the scene around her.
What Lily did notice was a muffled laugh. Only no one was around, so where could it have come from? She moved around to boxes in the corner and inspected behind them, just in case. There was no one.
Out of the blue, she spotted a board in the flooring being pushed up. An unruly black head of hair popped out of the opening, and glanced around cautiously.
James, Lily smiled. She should have known he would be coming from the secret passage.
Only, he wasn't the only one get out. Once he had made his way out, he held out his hand to help up…Lily. Lily watched as her 7th year self brushed off some dust from her robes and followed James up the stairs.
"Where exactly are we going?" she questioned him in a whisper.
"Shhh…," he said softly, taking her hand in his and helping her up the staircase, "You'll see."
Lily watched the memory she knew so well unfold in front of her eyes. Now that she looked at James, really looked at him, she could see how delicate he was around her. How caringly he seemed to grasp her hand to make sure she didn't fall on the steps.
It almost made Lily…miss him.
But she brushed off the feeling quickly and followed the pair up the steps.
Once they had reached the top and made sure no one was around to see them, James and Lily bolted out the front door, with the bells chiming right after them and Lily fresh on their tails.
Lily knew exactly where they were going, and followed them into The Three Broomsticks.
She observed them as they sat down at an unoccupied table and began to talk for a bit. Then she noticed James get up to bring them some drinks. She smiled as she watched her younger self fiddle with her hair nervously awaiting James' return.
"I didn't realize I looked so jumpy," Lily said to herself with a grin and went over to a table near the one her younger self was sitting at.
When James returned with the drinks, Lily didn't even bother to listen to what they were talking to. She knew what they were saying, as it wasn't everyday you had a first date with James Potter.
Although, as she recalled, it wasn't many times other girls even got to have second dates with James. He wasn't exactly keen on being bound to one girl, from what Lily remembered. Though now it seemed to be because he was too busy setting his sights on her.
Mostly, she just watched the pair for reactions. It appeared to her that she sighed too much and seemed overly fidgety. On the other hand, James seemed delighted to just be in her company. It sort of gave Lily a twinge of guilt, since she had always despised him until 7th year.
As soon as they finished their drinks and split the bill (Lily remembered being very set on splitting the bill, saying she didn't want James to pay for everything, even though he had offered), they walked out of the pub with goofy smiles on their faces that reflected their sheer happiness. Lily could see that James was clearly love-struck, but was she? That seemed to be one fact that slipped her mind every time she recalled hers and James' first date.
Sure, I look happy, Lily thought as she trailed the pair going up the hill to the Shrieking Shack, But was I smitten the way he was?
Suddenly, Lily felt like she wasn't sure of anything anymore.
Quit it, she told herself, scolding, This stuff is all in the past. Like Mum always said, don't open up old wombs.
She tried to keep her mind off of it as she watched as she and James reached the top of the hill. She hurried up after them to see what would happen next, even though she could have probably predicted off-hand, having been there.
"Now open them," James said grinning while waiting to see Lily's reaction as he removed his hands from her eyes.
"Oh my…," she trailed off, staring at the view, "It's gorgeous!"
Lily looked from over their shoulders; daring to take a peek at her past. The view itself was most definitely breath-taking. Just looking at it again, even though James wasn't next to her, gave her chills. It was a moonlit version of Hogwarts, its turrets and gray-stone structures seemed to almost illuminate in the cool darkness. The castles surroundings were lightly covered with the beginnings of snow, making the trees and even the Whomping Willow sparkle with beauty. The lake itself had never looked a more pronounced blue and its crystal depths captivated both Lilys attention. That was until James shined an out of this world smile at her and moved closer.
Lily didn't even make an attempt to move as James kissed her.
Lily watched them from the side and re-lived it. She knew every thought that had rushed through her head at that moment…Fireworks…From the gentlest kiss she had ever known.
What was even sweeter was when he pulled away and laced his fingers through hers. And then real fireworks shot up from behind Hogwarts. Brilliant reds, blues and golden hues…
Lily felt her younger self gasp, only to regain her composure instantly. "The other three?"
James blushed so lightly, it almost went unnoticed in the night. "Yeah, that'd be Sirius and them."
"Clever," Lily giggled and went on coolly, "So how did they know when to set them off?"
He scratched his head for a second before responding, "Actually, I have no idea."
"Well, we should hurry back, so we don't get caught," Lily suggested, her eyes lingering on the fireworks for a few more seconds before looking back at James contently.
Lily glanced back at the fireworks only to see them come to a stop. She supposed, since she was wiser now, that that happened to be the moment when Sirius, Remus and Peter had been caught. Especially since she could remember days later, they all still were suffering from detentions well into four in the morning. Lily even vaguely could recall doing homework for them, so they wouldn't fail or have to go to classes.
"Hey, Lily?" James asked, as they started to walk down the hill, "Would you like to go out again sometime?"
He looked extremely concerned while he waited for her to answer.
"That would be wonderful," she replied, kissing him on the cheek. "Thanks for a lovely time, James. I mean it."
Then, just as Lily was about to join them in the trip back to Hogwarts, she felt a lurch and was carried away from Hogmeade and into the darkness.
She waited patiently as the Pensieve dragged her through its icy depths once more and to the next memory.
When she landed, she recognized the place instantly. She was peering through a crack in the door to her Hogwarts dormitory. She could see herself sitting on her bed, crying hysterically as she sat next to a forgotten letter. She had soaked her sheets with tears as she stared out the window, feeling desolate and confused.
Lily knew there was no mistaking this memory. It was the day after her parents had died.
"Lily," a cautious voice called from the hallway, "Are you okay?"
"Go away!" she watched herself scream hoarsely at the door.
That was when it opened slowly and James dropped the invisibility cloak, looking the most contrite she'd ever seen him.
"Just go away, James," she mumbled almost incoherently and buried her head in her pillow.
James appeared to have not heard a word he said as he walked over to her and took her in his arms. "It'll be okay," he said soothingly, moving her hair from in front of her eyes.
"How can you say that James?" she cried out, pushing his arms away, "Both my parents just died. Nothing's ever going to be okay again."
"I know," he said sadly, "But in time you'll get better…and I'm not going anywhere."
Lily glanced at him miserably and didn't even think before she said the next thing.
Don't do it, Lily screamed inside her head, Don't throw away the best thing that ever happened to you!
But even she couldn't change her own actions.
"James, I don't think I should see you anymore," she said in between sobs, "I just don't think I can handle… a relationship with you right now."
"WHAT?" James cried out in frustration and backed away from her, frowning, "You're just upset right now… You're… You're not thinking rationally."
"James," she uttered, nearly choking from behind tears, "I don't want to see you die someday."
"I'm not going to die anytime soon," he said angrily, folding his arms in his chest and getting up to head for the door.
"James—," she called out desperately, "You don't know that."
He turned around to look at her dejectedly, taking in what she was saying and looking like he hoped that maybe this was all some kind of sick joke. "You don't really want to break up?"
"James," she mumbled softly. "Let's just stop it here before either of us gets hurt."
"Well, it's a little too late for that," he replied quietly and exited the room with his cloak, leaving Lily to be tear-drenched sheets and the Ministry letter.
Lily could feel tears coming on as she followed James out and sent a fleeting look back to her 7th year self who was current weeping recklessly into her pillow.
Only she nearly tripped over someone sitting at the foot of the stairs, their head in their hands.
It was James.
And he was silently crying as he mumbled about how much he loved her…
Once again, Lily was taken up by that force, that damn force, which tossed her back into that chilly oblivion of nothingness again.
She didn't even bother to look around when she settled in the next memory. She was too busy wiping a couple stray tears from her eyelashes and face.
She did hear familiar voices and looked up to see that see that she was in The Leaky Cauldron. She saw the current James and his friends sitting around a table, laughing and telling jokes. She didn't remember any memory of hers starting like this…
She walked towards their table, pulled up a chair, and sat down next to Remus and James.
At that exact moment, she watched as Frank Longbottom entered the Leaky Cauldron. He was greeted happily by James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. As he got his drink from Tom, he anxiously sat down with the four, and Lily appearing like he had just heard a bit of good gossip.
"You'll never guess who I just saw," he said, grinning from ear to ear.
"Oh, we can try," James replied grinning back at him, "And don't you worry, we will."
"A doxy?" Sirius quipped, taking a quick swig of his drink, "I hope it didn't bite you, mate."
"He is acting a bit loony, isn't he?" Remus said with a laugh, and looked around at the flickering lights in the Leaky Cauldron. Lily laughed along with the rest of them. They all looked so content and happy. It's a nice memory, thank goodness, Lily thought.
"No, not a doxy in sight," Frank said, lightly hitting Sirius in the head for kicks, "Besides, I just saw—"
"—A rather stupid man sitting next to you?" Peter interrupted, trying to be witty. Instead, he got a punch in the arm from Sirius.
"That was not funny, mate," Sirius replied, a bit peeved, while attempting to talk over the laughter. "Not funny in the slightest."
Lily giggled at their stupid antics as James spoke up.
"Sprout a sense of humor, Padfoot," James commented good-naturedly, "It was just a joke."
Sirius huffed loudly.
"Well, anyway, you were saying something, Frank?" Remus asked, changing the subject. Lily guessed he had done it for Sirius' sake. After all, he could tell a joke just as good as the rest of them, but couldn't always take them well.
"Oh, yes," his eyes got wider and he managed to stop chuckling for a moment, "I saw Lily. Lily Evans. She was in—"
Now Lily was intrigued.
He trailed off quickly, looking at Remus across the table. He was motioning frantically at Frank to stop saying what Remus thought he was.
James seemed to be just as intrigued as Lily, if not more. He cast a glance in the direction of Remus, as he put down his drink with a look of wonder upon his face. "Do you have anything you'd like to tell us, Moony?"
"Me? No…nothing," he lied and waved his hand as if he was merely bored.
Did Remus know something her wasn't telling? Lily wondered.
"Go ahead and say what you were going to, then, Frank."
"Yeah, I'm intrigued," Sirius chimed in, after James.
Remus looked at Frank and then back at James again. "Wait. Okay, maybe I do have something to say."
He paused for a second, and looked like he was trying not to stir up anything.
"Lily had a date tonight," he stated simply, "She went out with Benjy Fenwick…from the Order. I didn't tell anyone because I felt she should have a night free of sabotage."
That was it? Lily didn't seem at all surprised. Why did he have to tell them everything (especially things about her that did not concern them)?
James looked the most stunned. Sirius managed to sputter out a little bit of his drink from surprise. Peter looked almost just as shocked as the other two. Frank appeared to be confused and disgusted (as Sirius's spit ended up in his lap).
"Did you aim that, or something, Sirius?" Frank said, reaching over for a napkin. Then he began to wipe his pants vigorously while shooting a glare at man next to him.
Lily couldn't even work up the feeling to giggle or smile at the accident. So no wonder her date had been so perfect! Remus hadn't told the Marauders about it! And that was why he had "wondered" if she was going to tell anyone!
"Sorry, mate."
And through this all, James was still speechless.
"Why didn't you tell us?" he asked heatedly. "Benjy Fenwick is no better then the other wizards."
Now, admittedly, Lily couldn't deny this. He really wasn't a great guy, seeing as how he had practically ran out of the restaurant when Sirius mentioned anything about commitment.
"I thought she deserved to have a night of peace. And anyway, we know Benjy from the Order…He's not a bad guy," Remus shot back.
"Well, how did the date go?" James questioned Frank, since he chose to ignore Remus. Clearly he was very angry with Remus…but why? Because he didn't have a chance to break up the date? That was not a reason!
"It looked like it went okay," Frank answered, "I couldn't exactly tell."
James shot Remus another look.
"See! It went okay…"
"Oh, God forbid Lily should be happy. Did you ever think of that?" Remus retorted, and took a drink from his glass, "The last time I saw her truly happy was the day before her parents died, and before she broke up with you."
Looks were shot around the table. Sirius stared at both Remus and James, knowing that Moony had just said the wrong thing. He just patted his best friend lightly on the back.
Lily was now thoroughly confused. Why was everyone acting so careful around James because Remus had just brought back the memory of their break-up? Sure, it could still bring a few tears to her eyes, as evident from before, but she had gotten over it, and she had assumed James had done the same.
Hadn't he?
He had never really mentioned anything about it to her since that day.
Was that why he had went around wrecked all her dates…because he wasn't over her?
"You know," James mumbled, clearly thinking back to that day, "It killed me when we broke it off. It killed me even more when she tried being friends with me. And then to see her go out with all those guys…when she'd said she wasn't ready to have a relationship with me because her parents…she said she couldn't deal with…couldn't…didn't want to fall in love only to find me dead one day…."
Lily felt her eyes welling up once more. No wonder…It explained everything. James still loved her.
"It's hard, Prongs, I know…But you can't go breaking up Lily's dates forever. This is going to sound cheesy—"
"Doesn't it always?" Sirius said in an attempt to make James laugh. He succeeded, but only barely…and he didn't crack up Lily at all. She was still in complete shock.
"—But," Remus just grinned uncharacteristically at Sirius, "If this thing between Lily and you is meant to be then it'll happen."
"And if we find out that one of her dates is a scum-bag, then we'll put a stop to it," Peter added, suddenly coming alive.
"Woo…Wormtail and Moony are getting sentimental on us," Sirius said, grinning mischievously at Frank. "Get a muggle talk-show, wouldja?"
Laughs went all around the table as Frank spoke up.
"This is going to sound weird, but, breaking off Lily's dates? What are you guys talking about?" He shot a glance at Sirius and James, "Or, doing, rather?"
James glimpsed around at the other three and they exchanged looks that said quite plainly, Should we let him in on it?
Suddenly Lily wanted out of this memory. She needed her space, needed to think so things over.
Oh god. She didn't love James, did she?
Did she?
She found herself unable to answer her own question.
But before anyone could utter a word, the little bell on the opening door rang, interrupting their thoughts.
"Hello boys!" a cheerful voice called as its owner walked into the pub, "How are you lads tonight?"
"Just peachy," James mumbled through gritted teeth.
"So we heard you had a date tonight with a certain redhead. How'd it go?" Sirius asked Benjy and tried to play it cool.
Benjy grabbed a chair from a nearby table and sat down on the back of it. Lily glared at him, even though he couldn't see her. Prat of a guy.
"Good, I think, really good," he said, beaming at Frank, "Lily's just…she's great."
I'm great? Just great? Wow…that took sooo much thought.
"Good for you," Remus smiled at him knowingly, "She is great, isn't she?"
Remus stop being nice. Come'on.
James just took a nip of his drink and settled on being moody. Peter tried imitating him, just for fun, but couldn't.
"Having a heart attack there, Wormtail?" Sirius whispered to him, as Benjy continued talking.
"Yeah, I think it went real well. In fact, I think the girl may be hooked on me. Of course, Lily's no Irma Pince," he raised his eyebrows slightly as his said her name, thinking of the lush blonde, "But she'll do."
I'LL DO!?! Lily thought, wanting to hex the stupid guy, I'm practically James' sunrise, and yet I chose to go out with him? And for what?
The world is incredibly ironic.
Scratch that. The world sucks.
James looked like he was about to punch Benjy's lights out as he started to say something to him. "I don't know who you—"
Lily felt like egging him on to fight Benjy, even though he couldn't even hear her.
"Oh! That'd be Irma; over in the booth…I'd better go keep her company. Later boys!"
And with a quick wave, Benjy Fenwick scurried off.
I CAN'T BELIEVE I EVER CONSIDERED THAT GUY PERFECT!!
"Can I go punch him?" Sirius asked, almost in a whine.
Let him go do it, Lily thought angrily, I dare you.
"Okay, Moony, tell me…Is that enough to go interfere with the next date?" James questioned angrily, eyeing his friend closely.
Remus just sat silently for a moment.
"Do you want some help?"
So no wonder they had interfered on that date. Lily almost felt like thanking them now. And to think that if they hadn't done anything, Lily could have been still going out with him.
Hell, Lily wanted to take them all out for steak dinners now.
But before she could think it over she was taken away again. Only this time, she found herself back in her own apartment, in no one's memory. Marcia had a firm grip on Lily's shoulders as she pulled her out of the Pensieve.
"Are you okay?" she asked Lily and went of to the kitchen to get her a towel of some sort.
When she came back, Lily was in a daze.
"I think I'm okay, literally speaking, that is," she murmured, taking the cloth from Marcia and wiping her face.
"Alright…spill it, Lily," Marcia demanded with a slight grin. "Was it something in the Pensieve?"
Lily looked at Marcia in astonishment.