Chapter 3 - Moody As They Come
"Why, if it isn't Ms. Lily Evans. How are you, Evans?" asked James, sitting next to Lily, across from Sirius, who was staring at a certain blonde-haired girl. Bella was sitting next to Sirius, slightly disgusted, a hint of annoyance in her eyes.
"Fine, Potter. I'd be better if you left," she retorted, stabbing her eggs whilst in the process.
"Why so hostile, Evans?"
Mumbling something incoherent, she stabbed her eggs quickly, causing it to splatter. Bella could identify the words as: "Stupid Potter", or, "When will he ever learn?"
"You never answered my question," James said.
"I'm not feeling well, Potter," snapped Lily, whose eyes were tired looking but not enough to tell James to back away. "So, if you could please back away from my personal bubble, I'll be a lot happier."
"Lily's not the only one who isn't feeling well," piped Bella. Her gaze went to Sirius, who was still staring at the blonde-haired girl from Ravenclaw. "He's been staring for the past five minutes. I wouldn't be surprised if he was sick or not."
"I think Padfoot's just infatuated," James said, snorting. He prepared his plate with assortments of food: eggs, toast, and porridge. "Evans, pass the marmalade, please."
Mumbling, she passed it to James, who thanked her in return.
Bella piped up at James' words. "What are you talking about, James?"
"Look at him; he's been gazing at the pretty Ravenclaw for the past hour."
Her brows furrowed. "So, he could be looking at Dumbledore."
James let out a hearty laugh, placing the eggs back in its original place. Wiping eggs of his face, he tossed the napkin on the table, reaching near Lily's elbow, which caused a small riot out of her. "My dear Bella, Padfoot isn't like that; he prefers women, if you don't include Peter, who might as well be a girl."
"Hey!" exclaimed the stout-looking boy who was pondering intently, gazing off into the direction of the Slytherin table.
"Just joking, Wormtail. We know you're not a pansy," joked James, causing a cough from Bella. James looked at her strangely, then realizing what she coughed about. He sent her a knowing grin. "Well, I must be off."
"Where are you going?" asked Bella.
"Er...nowhere in particular; I might—never mind. I must be off. See you," bade James, walking hastily to the Great Hall's exit.
"What's with him?" queried Bella, asking to no one in particular.
"Who cares," mumbled Lily, finishing off the last bit of her porridge. "Well, I must be off, too. I'm meeting with Professor Flitwick."
"About what?"
"Something about an upcoming ball."
That obviously snapped a dazed Sirius out of his reverie. "Ball? What? We're having a ball?"
"No, we're talking about it. Don't tell anyone, though, but we're also thinking about dance lessons. Most people aren't accustomed with ballroom dancing, and we're thinking about having a dancing instructor."
"Dancing lessons? DANCING LESSONS!" exclaimed Sirius. "Why do we need dancing lessons? Lily, please convince the old wizard to cancel—or at least rid the idea of dancing lessons."
"Because you need it, Sirius. The last time I danced with you, you ended up stepping on toes, leaving a mark there for a few months. Might I quote your words after you stepped on my foot: 'Oh, Lily, did I step on your foot? I'm sorry if I did, I'm just a really pathetic dancer.'"
At that statement, his eyes widened. Standing up quickly—so he could feel dominant over her—he raised his eyebrows and therefore, a friendly riot broke out.
"Okay, I never claimed that I was a pathetic dancer."
Lily stood up, also, but she wasn't tall enough. "Curse you, Black! You might be taller than me, but at least I have proof that you said this."
"Psh. What proof?"
Lily stared at Bella, her eyes encouraging the strawberry-blonde beauty to stand up. "Bella, didn't he say that?"
"Hmm...sure, Lily."
"Bella, are you okay?" asked Lily, noticing Bella's outlandish behavior. "You seem a bit off."
Lily looked at Bella, who was currently looking at the Great Hall's exit. The massive brown doors were currently shut—a rare thing. And as Lily looked around the room, she noticed that not many people were attending breakfast; after all, the sun had just now fought the darkness, specks of light illuminating the hall.
"I-I have to go and talk with James. I'll see you in Charms," Bella said.
"I do, too. I'll come with you, Bella."
Sending her a curt glance, Bella could see Lily step back a bit. Her gaze softened, not meaning to hurt her. "No, stay."
"But I have to talk to Flitwick—"
"Just don't follow me; I'll meet up with you later." Bella sent one last glance at Sirius, Peter, and Lily, and walked towards the Great Hall's exit. "I'll see you around."
Leaving a hurt Lily and a befuddled Sirius and Peter, all Bella could think about was their expressions. But she needed to talk to James. Without Lily. She knew that James always liked Lily, but there was something else she needed to know; something just didn't seem right, something that needed to be explained.
..xXx..
"What's wrong with her?" asked Lily, slightly hurt.
"You can never tell what our Bella is thinking about. She's always thinking of the quirkiest things," stated Sirius. "Lils, don't worry. She probably had to go somewhere; maybe it's her mother, again."
Lily grimaced; Bella's mother wasn't the friendliest woman. Just like Sirius, Bella's mother was pureblood and loved the Dark Arts. Opposed to Gryffindors, Bella's mother nearly shunned her out of her life. If it weren't for her father, Bella would be living with Lily or Sirius.
"Probably..." whispered Lily. "Well, I'll see you. I have an engagement with Flitwick."
"Bye, Lily," said Peter and Sirius, simultaneously.
..xXx..
All the Hogwarts students gathered for dinner, talking animatedly amongst themselves. However, three people were quiet, slowly soaking up other people's conversations, not bothering with their own. They were thinking intently, thinking about the day, certain information, and the blonde-haired Ravenclaw girl who was currently talking with her friends.
"How long has he been staring at that Ravenclaw girl?" asked Bella.
Currently, Lily twisted a red hair strand around her finger, feeling its smoothness. Shrugging, Lily let out a big heave. "I guess around ten or so minutes."
"Well, then you obviously haven't been paying attention to him that much," Bella stated, still looking at Sirius, a hint of frustration in her eyes and another feeling Lily couldn't detect.
"No, not really. Sirius' love life is not my business; I think mine is enough to deal with."
Shockingly, Sirius, Bella, nor Lily, heard a quirky comment from James. Usually, he'd snag this as an opportunity to flirt with Lily and ask about her love life, wondering if he could enter it sometime soon.
Still disheartened about the previous morning, Lily wanted to snag a chance to talk to Bella, who was currently seen with James Potter, talking quietly to him. She never got a chance, though. Bella was always with teachers or peers.
Remus, slightly tired from the previous night, saw Sirius gawking at the Ravenclaw girl, drool dribbling from his chin. He grabbed a napkin and handed it to Sirius, who obviously didn't see what was in front of him.
"Sirius." He didn't budge. "Sirius?" Still no movement, whatsoever. "SIRIUS!"
He jumped—at least five feet in the air—causing a squeal from Bella. "What do you want?"
"Ask her out already!"
"Who?" asked Sirius, naively.
"Her, you ass. Go ask her out."
Sirius sighed. "She's French, you know. She just broke up with that Diggory boy. Her name is Bridget, but of course, that's the English pronunciation. The French pronunciation is Brigitte Blanche. Brigitte means strong; Blanche means white."
Remus slapped him over the head. "Great, so her name means 'strong white'? Nice, Padfoot."
"What? It does." With Remus sending him a disapproved look, all Sirius could do was put his hands up in defense. "She's beautiful, though."
"You're pathetic, moronic, idiotic, and the list goes on and on. You've fallen for a girl and you don't know one thing about her. Not to mention that when you like a girl, you usually pursue a relationship. But no, not this time."
"Hey!" cried Sirius. "I've only had a few girlfriends."
"Yeah, but you've flirted with other people's girlfriends, not your own," mumbled Bella, her eyes burning, nostrils flaring.
"Hey, Bella, your nostrils are going up and down. You look—"
Before Sirius could finish his sentence, Bella stood up and slammed her chair into the table. "Black, you make me disgusted!" And with that, she ran, losing her pride, and just ran, angered.
"Great, Sirius. Way to woo a lady," said a sarcastic Lily. "You really have it in you."
"What did I do?" asked a befuddled Sirius. "I mean she was still mad at me before I talked about her nostrils flaring up and down. It wasn't my fault; I can't help it if I can pursue a relationship and she can't even get a bloke."
"Honestly, Sirius, you can be so dense sometimes," cried Lily. "I want to run after her but I can't. After this morning, I just—"
"I'll talk with her," volunteered James, folding up his napkin.
Expecting a thank you from Lily, James waited around a bit, carefully getting up from his chair. But all he got was: "You better not screw this up, Potter."
..xXx..
Sitting out by the gardens, James could spot Bella's figure, her shadow not moving; you could mistake her for a statue. And as the moon shone on her, he could see her face, no tears in sight. Carefully, he crept up on her, making sure he wouldn't scare her.
"Bella," he whispered.
She jumped.
He laid a hand on her shoulder. "Bella, it's James. Sirius, Remus, and Lily wanted me to talk to you."
She snorted. "I know that."
James sat down, taking in the moonlight. "You know, Bella, Sirius always jokes with you; why did it bother you this time?"
"I don't know," she sighed.
Silence passed them. It was getting dark and the only light provided was the fluorescent moon that shone down upon them. She could feel James get up, his feet accidentally stepping on hers.
"Sorry," he muttered.
"It's okay." James turned his back on her, heading towards Hogwarts. He knew that he didn't help much. But he couldn't think of anything else to say. But before he didn't think he'd utter anymore words, Bella stopped him. "James, what were you doing this morning?"
"Remembering old memories."
"Involving Lily?"
He turned around, puzzled. "How did you know?"
"When I was looking for Sirius, I saw a picture of you two holding hands. Of course, I doubted that was Lily standing next to you. But I must admit, it took me awhile to believe that...that girl, that you two liked each other and she befriended you...and that... Wait, how did you two know each other? Lily's a muggle."
"I don't really want to talk about my past, Bella."
"But how—how could she like you and then hate you all of a sudden?"
"I don't want to take a trip down Memory Lane, again, Bella." She looked at his eyes. Stone cold. No life at all. "I just want you to go back inside and for everything to be fine."
"Just like they used to be," whispered James, but Bella couldn't hear these words; she was already heading for the castle.
Disclaimer: What you know, we don't own.
This chap was written by Kimberly. My turn next! I can't promise any quick updates, but it won't be too long. And as always, many thanks to ShOrTnSwEeT9013 for betaing.
