A/N: I was really rather surprised at the reactions to Amber's plan. No comments were made about the James's plot, but then Amber was considered mean. It's the same thing, really, only with different people. Neither Amber nor Sirius care about each other beyond friend status but they're getting into a serious relationship (Amber told Lily that she was going to tell Sirius that they would date for two weeks only because she didn't want her friend to suspect anything) but it's only so someone would–hopefully–become interested in someone else. But I just wanted to say how surprised I was about how people reacted to hearing about Amber's plan and how people reacted to James's.
"Goodnight, Lils." Amber flipped back over with her back to Sirius. When she heard Lily's deep breathing joined with the boys' (thank goodness they didn't snore) she turned onto her other side and watched Sirius sleep. He was lying on his back, one arm on his stomach and the other on the ground. She gently kissed his lips and felt…nothing. Her own lips curled into a smile. Good. That was the way she wanted it.
Sirius would be a pawn in a game similar to James's. She knew how close he was with Remus. Maybe, just maybe, Sirius would talk about her to Remus and Remus would like her again. Not very likely, but she could try. In the meantime, she would act as if she did like him. She curled up close to Sirius and fell asleep on his shoulder.
The caw of a bird woke James up before the sun had fully risen. He tried to jump up but the weight of another body and a small sound of protest stopped him. He looked at his chest and was startled to see Lily practically on top of him. Her entire upper body was on his chest, preventing him from moving too much. He tried to gently push her off, but she let out another sound of protest in her sleep. He gave up and laid his head back down, contenting himself with stroking her hair. Occasionally she sighed and smiled a little.
Lily shifted and her thigh rubbed him somewhere that did not need to be touched. James gritted his teeth and thought of cold, painful things. It didn't work. If she didn't stop, he might just have to ravish her right then and there. "You're killing me, Lily," he said next to her ear.
She sat up quickly with a squawk of outrage. "You-You...you should have woken me up, you bastard," she snapped. She wiggled her way out of the blankets without waking up Sirius or Amber. James sat up and gaped at her.
"Well, excuse me for letting you get some sleep!" he fired back. "Geez, Evans, quit being so bitchy."
"Excuse me!" she sputtered. "Do you expect me to be happy after I woke up on top of you?"
"If you're gonna shag, do it somewhere else," Sirius grumbled. Lily and James stared at him, but he just fell back asleep. Lily instantly returned to giving James a 'Death Glare'.
"Look, you can switch places with Amber tonight. Just go back to sleep," said James, rubbing the bridge of his nose. It was far too early to deal with this.
"Fine," she huffed. She crawled back under the blankets, distancing herself from both boys as much as she could. Mortification ran through her all the way to her toes. At least he hadn't asked if she had been dreaming.
"Hey, Lily, what were you dreaming about?"
Lily groaned and covered her head with her arms.
"Alright! I caught another one!" Amber shouted gleefully. She yanked the dead fish off her makeshift spear and tossed it into the small pile on the riverbank. She had been the only one to catch anything worth eating all day.
"How do you do that?" Sirius asked, leaning on his own spear and staring at her.
Amber waded towards him and wrapped her arms around him from behind. "Now, don't move unless I tell you to," she whispered in his ear. "Don't even twitch a toe. See? The fish won't suspect you now. Wait for it...wait...wait...now!" She helped him stab a fish and kissed his cheek. "It's easy."
"That's disgusting," Lily commented, soaking her feet in the water downstream. She saw a small trickle of blood go by, followed by a small swarm of fish. "Ow! Would someone tell me why I keep getting fish down here that like to nibble on toes!"
"It's because of that nail polish, Lily! It looks like bait!" Amber called back, helping Sirius with another fish. "James, kill a couple fish so the others willavoid the smell of blood, would you? Sirius couldn't spear a fish if his life depended on it." She paused and grinned at James on shore. "Then again, neither can you."
"Hilarious," he said dryly. He rolled the bottom of his jeans up to his knees and kicked off his shoes and socks. He grabbed his own spear. "Don't move your feet, Evans," he ordered coolly as he hovered over her shoulder. "I don't want to stab you by mistake."
"Amber! Heeeelp!" Lily yelled desperately. "I just know he's going to-AHHH!" Her words were cut off by the splash of water as James drove the sharpened stone at the end of his spear into a defenseless fish. Startled, she had screamed. She withdrew her feet from the water and examined her feet to make sure he hadn't hit her. She trusted him, but not that much. She could have been going into shock or something and that was why she couldn't feel the pain. But she was fine.
James walked away and threw the fish with its dead fishy friends and relatives without another glance at Lily. To say the least, he was slightly mad because she had acted as if he had pulled her on top of him that morning. They had an unspoken agreement to not tell Amber or Sirius. Yet, anyway. Lily would probably tell Amber, Patty, and Sam at the same time; and James would tell all of the Marauders at the same time.
Lily brushed off the thought of James and concentrated on scrubbing her feet with the water. She'd been collecting edible plants in her bare feet and they were filthy.
"Evans, can you come over here?" James called over his shoulder.
She sighed and walked over to him. "What?" she asked grumpily.
"I have no idea what any of this is," he snapped. "Quit being a bitch and help." He pulled her arm so she was kneeling in the dirt with him. He pointed out a pile of roots. "Before I ask about anything else, why in the bloody hell did you get roots of whatever plant?"
"I went camping with my dad when I was nine and he taught me which roots are edible and taste good. Just try one." She picked one up and handed it to him. "It's okay to eat it without cooking it. You just need to wash it. And that's already done."
He looked doubtful but bit into it anyway. He chewed thoughtfully for minute, swallowed, and said, "It's okay. I'd rather have a plate of sausage and eggs though."
Lily didn't smile. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I shouldn't have been rude this morning. It wasn't your fault."
"Yeah it was. I could have shoved you off. Still friends?" He held his hand out to her.
"We're friends?" She asked, surprised.
"Well, maybe not..." He frowned a little and started to drop his hand but she grabbed it.
"No, we are," she agreed quickly. They smiled at each other and dropped their hands.
Amber and Sirius wandered over, arms around each other. It almost looked like they actually really liked each other. Except they were touching each other as little as possible. They were bickering over how much magic they should use over the weekend. From what Lily could make out, Amber wanted to use more magic and Sirius wanted to use minimum magic.
"It'll make this more like a Muggle camping trip," Sirius proclaimed. He winked. "And it's more romantic, if you know what I mean."
"Take it slow, Siri-kins," Amber laughed. She poked his chest. "You're not getting anything this weekend."
"Thank Merlin," said James under his breath so only Lily could hear. She stifled a giggle.
"So we're going to trek all around the border…just to look for different animals?"
"Precisely, my dear Watson."
"This assignment stinks like a cow's a—" Sirius's complaining was interrupted by a tree root that tripped him too the amusement of the others. He jumped up automatically, ignoring the sniggers, and broke into a song that he had heard at James's house over summer holiday by the Eagles:
"Raven hair and ruby lips
sparks fly from her finger tips
Echoed voices in the night
she's a restless spirit on an endless flight
woo hoo, witchy woman, see how
high she flies!"
Lily and Amber groaned as James joined in.
"Woo hoo witchy woman she got
the moon in her eye.
She held me spellbound in the night
dancing shadows and firelight
crazy laughter in another
room and she drove herself to madness
with a silver spoon."
"Enough Witchy Woman!" the girls shouted.
James stopped but Sirius continued:
"Woo hoo witchy woman see how high she flies.
Woo hoo witchy woman she got the moon in her eye.
Well I know you want a lover,
let me tell your brother, she's been sleeping
in the Devil's bed."
At which point Amber kicked him.
A/N: The last part was pretty pointless except for some slight comedy relief. Heehee. I'll have the next chapter up very, very, VERY soon! Lyrics from:
