A/N: WOW this is sooooooo long! it was originally a one shot, about 1000 words, but now its something like 12000, so you know. Its not. Anyway, I've been working on it for a while. Please do read it! I know there are probably a few typos here and there, so feel free to point them out. I tried to edit it, but you never know. So, whatever. Point 'em out if you see 'em! Anyway, that's enough of my rambling, so on with the story. Oh, and don't forget to review!
It's roughly split in half, just to make it easier to read. It's all one thing, but it seemed too much to make it one chapter, so it's two. Savvy?
Rated T for some language and a minor scene.
There's a First Time For Everything
"Go out with me, Evans, come on, just this once." James Potter pleaded. He ran his hand through his hair, trying to give it the messy-just-out-of-Quidditch-practice look, AKA, the look that annoyed Lily Evans the most.
Lily's emerald eyes flashed. "Potter, the day I go out with you is the day hell freezes over."
"So I have a chance, then. Right?" he asked hopefully.
Lily just rolled her eyes. "Sure, Potter. Sure."
- - - -
"Please go out with me?" James asked her for the fourth time that morning.
"No, Potter," she answered calmly.
"Please?" he asked, stepping closer, reaching out to twirl a lock of deep red curly hair that had escaped the elastic.
"No, Potter." She pushed his hand down. "No."
- - - -
"Lils, please, just once. Just go out with me once," James asked.
"No, Potter. No. Please, stop asking me!"
He stepped closer to her, putting his hands on her hips. Leaning down to whisper in her ear, he said, "You know you want me."
She felt a shiver run up her spine and knew it had nothing to do with the fact that it was the middle of January. She placed her hands on his arms and pushed them off her hips.
"No, Potter. Please, stop."
- - - -
"Evans, just go out with Prongs already! Everyone knows you like him! Besides, Moony and I are getting tired of him moping around because you keep turning him down." Sirius Black was literally on his knees in front of her, hands in front of him like he was praying. "Please. End my suffering!"
"No, Black. Go away!"
"Please?" he asked, swiping at a stray black hair.
"No."
"Fine. I knew it wouldn't do any good." He stood, standing up to his full height of 6'3". "But please, think about it."
Lily stared up at him. "Right."
- - - -
"Lily, would you please consider going out with Prongs?" Remus Lupin asked. He rubbed his tired looking blue-grayish eyes. "I haven't gotten any sleep because of you turning Prongs down."
"Look, Remus, I'm sorry, but I just don't go out with insufferable prats who have egos the size of Hogwarts." Lily sighed and pulled her hair up, taking it off her face.
"Which is why you went out with Prewett," Remus muttered, just loud enough for her to hear.
"Oh shut up, Lupin." Lily said good-naturedly.
"Lily, I beseech you as a friend and a fellow prefect, please, go out with Prongs!"
"No!"
"Pretty please?"
"No!"
- - - -
"Lils, you really should go out with James. He's perfect for you! He's hot, he's talented- in sports, school and bed- and he's beyond able to handle your temper!" Maccenzy Lark tried to reason with Lily.
"Sorry, Mac, but no way."
"I don't get why you hate him! He never did anything to you!"
"I don't hate him, I just don't throw myself at his feet begging for him to lay me!"
"That's right. If you really wanted to get laid, you'd sneak up to his dorm and shag him."
"Oh God! I only did that once!"
Mac just smirked. "Listen. Lil, I know you're no nun, and you've had your fair share of one-night stands, but come on. Don't be so up tight about him. Flirt with him a little."
"Ma-ac," Lily whined, "that's what got me into this mess to begin with."
"Oh. . . yeah. . . DUH!"
"Oh shut up!" Lily growled playfully.
- - - -
"Lily, will you please go out with me? If you go out with me once I'll stop asking you!" James tried to compromise, but it just wasn't working.
"No, Potter. Because then you, along with the whole school, will think I actually like you!"
"Like you don't?" he asked, snorting.
"Exactly. I don't. Stop asking me!"
"Please? Just once, Lils. Just once. Just go with me to Hogsmead and I'll stop asking you." He pleaded.
"No, Potter. I'm sorry, but no."
- - - -
And thus went the remainder of their 6th year at Hogwarts. James asked Lily out, Lily declined. Maccenzy and the Marauders begged her to go out with James to no avail.
It was on the train, going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on September 1, 1979 that things changed.
This is where our story really begins.
- - - -
It was an okay day, by Lily Evans' standards. Not too sunny, some clouds, and a light blue sky.
She pushed her trolley forward, slowly sliding onto platform 9 and ¾. Popping out on the other side, she glanced around. Rolling her eyes at the amount of guys looking at her, she went of in search of Maccenzy.
She pushed her hair out of her face and hastily tied it up in a messy bun. Her white halter-top accented her creamy porcelain skin, contrasting with her deep red hair. She wore dark blue jean hipsters that accentuated her curves perfectly. She had on a silver locket, and wore no makeup-she couldn't stand the stuff.
Spinning in a slow circle, she glanced around for Mac.
"Lily!" All of a sudden, Lily was engulfed in a giant hug from Sirius and Remus. Over the past ½ year she had grown quite close to them, as Mac was going out with Remus.
"Remus! Sirius! How are you guys? I haven't seen you in ages!" she hugged them both back; dropping kisses on their cheeks.
Finally letting go, Sirius backed away from her, allowing Lily to see James for the first time.
"Ja-Potter. You look- g-good." And he did. He had on a pair of nice, dark blue jeans and a black t-shirt that showed off his muscles with out being too showy. He held out a hand to Lily and she just stared at it.
"Lils, I think you're supposed to shake his hand." Remus whispered in her ear.
Lily blushed and reached out to shake his hand. He gripped her hand.
All of a sudden James was shoved forward, causing Lily to get shoved into the train. In order to stop himself from squishing Lily, James threw out his hands one landing on either side of her, locking her in-between James and the train.
When she finally opened her eyes, she saw James' face was a centimeter away from her own. His eyes were open and were staring at her fully red lips. Lily let her own eyes travel away from his hazel eyes to his yummy looking lips. She slowly tilted her head up, as he brought his head down.
"JAMES! LILY! You okay?"
Shaken out of her reverie, Lily noticed just how close she was to kissing James. James bloody Potter.
"Oh my God! Lily! Are you okay? Did he squish you? James Potter you squished her! How could you!" Maccenzy raced over and shoved James out of the way.
"Gee, thanks, Mac." James pouted.
"You deserved it. You squished my best friend!"
"I didn't squish her! I wouldn't do that!"
Mac just cocked an eyebrow at him. "Whatever you say, Potter." Turning to Lily she waved her hand in front of Lily's face, trying to see if she would blink. "Lils?" Nothing. Oh, well, this could be fun. Grinning evilly, she said, "Listen, I know you're madly in love with Potter, but please. Spare me the torture of seeing my best friend snog my boyfriend's best friend."
"Huh?" Lily asked intelligently.
"I said, 'I know you're madly in love with Potter, but please. Spare me the torture of seeing my best friend snog my boyfriend's best friend.'"
Lily looked disgusted as James perked up. "She likes me?" he asked Mace excitedly.
"No. Potter, she does not like you." Lily said.
"No, but she has the art of talking in third person just fine." Mac supplied helpfully.
"Ma-ac!"
"Li-ly!"
"Shut up, you two. Geez!" Sirius shouted.
Suddenly, all the Marauders could hear were things like "Oh my god, I haven't seen you in forever!" and "I missed you so much!" and "Omigosh! Did I tell you? I'M HEAD GIRL!"
"Oh my god! Wow! Lils, that's fantastic!" Mac shrieked, hugging Lily tightly.
Sirius, Remus and James quickly stuck their fingers in their ears so as not to go deaf at an early age.
"You know, it's actually quite amazing that girls can scream that loud."
"Yeah. It is. Its also quite freaky."
Lily and Mac stopped jumping around and shrieking, and calmly started telling each other about their summer holidays.
"How do they do that?" James asked, amazed. "One minute they're shrieking and stuff, the next they're talking like nothing happened."
"James, you're embarking on an impossible mission; trying to figure out the inner workings of Lark's and Evans' minds," Sirius said, shaking his head sadly.
"Come on, guys. If we don't get on the train, we'll be late!" The boys looked up to see Lily and Mac waving out a window and giggling like mad.
"How did you—you were just—wow. How did you go from being right there"—He pointed to a spot close to them— "To being in there?" Sirius asked.
Lily and Mac just looked at each other and grinned evilly. The Marauders exchanged looks, shrugged, grabbed their trunks, and boarded the train, entering the girls' compartment.
"No. Potter. OUT!" Lily screamed at him as soon as he stepped into the compartment. Just then, James was shoved forward, and for the second time that day, his face wound up inches away from Lily's.
"Jesus James. Why'd you block the door?" Frank Longbottom said.
"Really, James, why did you? You know its beyond rude," Alice Prewett scolded James playfully.
"Hey-ya guys!" An all too chirpy Natalie Hawk flounced in and sat in the last empty chair.
James and Lily had yet to move from their position. Just as Mac was about to say something, the train started, causing James to stumble backwards. Looking around, he noticed that now that peter, Alice, Frank, and Natalie were here, there were no seats for him. Shrugging, he turned back to Lily, picked her up and placed her on his lap, locking his arms around her so she couldn't get up.
He needn't have bothered, as Lily closed her eyes and snuggled into his embrace. She tucked her head in between his neck and shoulder. James stared down at her.
"Mac, what has Lily been smoking? Has she been drinking?" asked a thoroughly confused James.
Startled, Mac looked up and her jaw nearly hit the floor. "OHMYGOD! What did you do to her? Take that curse off her right now!"
Her shout attracted the attention of the other people in the room.
"Way to go, mate! Yah finally got her!" Sirius congratulated.
"Yea, way to go, Prongs!" Remus said.
"Congrats, mate. She's all yours!" Frank and Alice said together.
"God, guys. You know she would never do something like that!" Natalie said.
"Well, yeah, but…she is, and I'm not exactly complaining!" James told her.
"James Potter, you get your hands off her this instant!" Natalie shouted.
"Come on Jamsie-Wamsie! We have to go to the Heads' compartment in a minute," Lily said cheerfully.
"What? Lils, you were just sound asleep, on Potter's lap. What was that?" Mac asked.
"Oh, God, guys, you don't really think I would do something like that, do you?" Lily stood up and disgustedly whipped off her pants and hair.
"You know what's not fair?" James asked after the few minutes of silence following Lily making Maccenzy sit on Remus' lap and taking Mac's seat.
"What?" Sirius asked excitedly.
James looked at him oddly before answering. "I have only asked Lily out 102 times. And she makes it sound like I've done it a gazillion times! It's so not fair!"
Sirius and Remus rolled their eyes as Lily and Mac smirked at each other. Peter, Natalie, Frank and Alice all looked at each other. It was going to be a LONG train ride.
- - - - -
The train lurched to a stop and Natalie, Alice, Mac and Lily simultaneously sighed in relief. It had been one long, boring, torturous ride, dotted with Prefect meetings and questions from first years. All in all, they were glad to be back at Hogwarts.
"Can you believe that this is our last year?" Lily asked softly.
"Don't say that Lils. It's sad enough already." Alice responded just as softly.
"I can soooooo believe it! This is our last year and we are going to make it the best!" Natalie pumped her fist in the air.
"HELLLLLL YES!" Mac agreed.
"I guess so." Lily said sadly.
"Don't worry about your Head Girl position, we'll take all the blame for everything." Alice assured her.
"In that case…."
"Li-ly!"
"What!"
"Never mind. I'm hungry. Let's GO already!"
- - - -
The sorting was, as always, slow. The first years walked out, following McGonagall, looking like they were being sentenced to death. The sorting hat song was as cryptic as always, and, all in all, it was boring.
The girls, with the exception of Lily, as she was to meet with Potter and Dumbledore to discuss Head Student responsibilities, slowly walked out of the Hall.
"You know, I'm glad Lily is Head Girl this year." Natalie said.
"What? Why's that?" Mac asked, bewildered.
"Well…. See, the past six years, Lily has been working her little arse off for this position. You know, studying, choosing books over us, the most perfectest friends in the world, yah know. Anyway, she's been working for this. Now, since she's finally got the position, she can RELAX. No more late nights studying, nothing. She can just RELAX. And MAYBE, just maybe, get a boy friend. Like James Potter for instance…" Natalie trailed off, looking thoughtful.
Mac and Alice, on the other hand, looked horrified. Natalie didn't see the looks, as she was staring over their shoulder.
"So Lily finally admitted to you that she likes me, eh?" James asked, grinning arrogantly.
"In your dreams, Potter," Alice growled.
"Oh. Alright then." James lost a little bit of the cockiness in his grin for a moment, but it was right back there in a second. "So…..When do you think she will finally admit that she really actually loves me? Because I can't wait around for forever!"
"Potter, I tolerate you because you are on MY Quidditch team. Please, do not take advantage of that." Mac growled.
"Oh…Right. So I'll leave you ladies to it, then." James slowly started backing away, knowing that you did NOT want to anger Maccenzy Lark.
"So. Now that Potter's gone, what are we going to do about Lily?" Natalie asked, getting back to the subject.
Alice looked thoughtful. "I think she needs a boyfriend."
Stunned silence followed. Then a chuckle. Then laughter.
"A boyfriend. For Lily. Queen of One Night Stands? That Lily?" Natalie asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Well, I know she's had a few one night stands, and they all turn out great for her, but come on. Maybe she does that because she's like…I dunno, jealous of Frank and I, or Mac and Remus, or you and Todd, or something." Alice said, trying to put reason behind her "way-out-there" remark, according to Natalie.
"So….Basically, you're saying that Lily is a jealous, desperate slut who wants to settle down with her down-to-Earth sweetie?" Mac asked.
"Um…..Yep, that sounds about right." Alice said, nodding.
"Ok then. I think this is the LAST time we let you have sugar right before bed." Natalie said, taking the box of chocolate frogs from her friend.
Alice reached for the box but Natalie held it way above her head.
The girls came to the portrait hole and said the password ("Bumble brain").
"That has GOT to be THE weirdest password we've ever had," Mac said as she crawled through.
"Nope, there was that one last year, it was a sentence….I don't remember what it was exactly, but it was odder," Alice answered her.
"Stop talking about the password. We are dealing with a serious mission: Operation GLABBODT….or Operation Get Lily A Boyfriend Or Die Trying," Natalie said, throwing the box of Chocolate Frogs in the direction of four first years.
Alice shot Natalie a glare before settling down on a chair in front of the fireplace. Mac looked at Natalie with wide eyes and said worriedly, "Are you all right?"
Natalie nodded enthusiastically. "So. I was thinking. We need to find Lily's diary. You know, the one she writes in CONSTANTLY. It's so annoying. And she's only been doing it for like a week, and she's all ready used half of the pages. Anyway, we need to find out if she fancies anyone, besides Potter, because he is obviously out. That would mean it has to be a Ravenclaw or a Marauder, because she hates Hufflepuffs and Slytherins….Who could it be? Oh, I hope it's not Si—Black. I really do…." She said all this in one breath, trailing off in the end.
Alice and Mac just looked at her.
"Yep. It's settled then. You need help," Alice said solemnly.
"Now, now. Hold your horses. It just might work," Mac said, thinking the idea over.
"Exactly. We have to get her her down-to-earth sweetie. But, step one of Operation GLABBODT is find out who it is," Natalie stated.
Alice looked at her two friends and decided that they were ABSOLUTELY, no bout adout it, nutters. And she said so. "You two are, no bout adout it absolutely nutters. None the less, I will help, if only to make sure Lily does not find out and murderer you. I would hate to have two of my best friends murdered by my other best friend."
"So you're in?" Mac asked excitedly.
Alice sighed. "Yes," she answered, wondering just what she got her self into.
"Excellent!" Mac rubbed her hands together in a sinister way before bounding up the stairs to their dorm.
Alice and Natalie started after her. "What is she doing?" Alice asked.
"I have no idea. But I think we should be worried," Natalie said, looking around for people listening on their conversation.
Mac returned a moment later, carrying a little black book with "Diary" written in silver on the cover. On the side where it should have opened was a dial with letters.
Natalie looked at it dubiously. "How do you expect to find the password?"
"I don't expect to, I already have. It's 'Potter'," Mac said as she entered "Potter" on the dial. The lock sprang open and Alice and Natalie stared at her.
"How did you know?" Natalie asked as she reached for the diary.
Mac held it out of her reach as she answered. "It was easy. She picked the least likely to be guessed password, which in turn made it the most likely."
Alice nodded. "That makes sense."
"No, it doesn't. It's complete rubbish. She just flat out likes James. It wasn't some stupid make 'em think its one thing but it's really this other thing." Natalie said, lunging for the book. She missed and went sprawling on the floor.
"What ever. Point is, we have her diary, and its open, waiting for us to read it!" Mac said, settling down on the couch and opening the book to the first page. Natalie and Alice crowded around her.
- - - - -
They were in the same position two hours later when Lily, James and the other Marauders walked in.
There were several crashes and bangs, but Mac, Natalie and Alice did not look up, having grown accustom to explosions in the six and a half years they had known the Marauders.
Mac finally looked up when the couch they were sitting on shook, almost knocking her off backwards.
Lily sat on the floor behind the couch, giggling insanely. James plopped down next to her, chuckling loudly. Sirius glanced helplessly at the girls. Remus sat down on one of the chairs, not wanting to get involved this time. He helped get them back to the common room without them being seen, and there fore could not be arsed to get up and help some more.
Mac looked at Sirius, her eyes saying "What the hell!" Sirius shrugged. It wasn't like he didn't want to tell her, he just didn't know himself.
Alice got off the couch and crouched down in front of Lily. "Hey, Lils, calm down, ok?" she said, resting a hand on her friend's shoulder. Lily just laughed harder.
James reached up and pulled on Alice's shoulder-length blonde hair. He gave it a strong yank and Alice, balancing on her toes, fell over onto him. She toppled over, landing on his lap, making Lily and James start banging on the floor from laughter.
Natalie raised an eyebrow at Sirius. "What did they do to themselves?" she asked, prying Lily's hands off her hair.
"I have no idea. Remus and I were leaving the kitchens and we hear this bang, then a crash, then a bunch of giggling. We thought it was a bunch of first year girls, so we were gunna go tell 'em off. You know, freak 'em out, big bad seventh years yada yada. Anyway, we go 'round the corner, and there are Darling Flower and Prongsie, sitting on the floor, with a suit of armor completely dented and broken and cracked and destroyed, laughing their heads off!" he said very fast, all in one breath. As he stopped to breathe, Lily got up, tottered over to him, and kissed his cheek.
Sirius looked at her, then, to the astonishment of everyone else, pulled her back and kissed her full on the lips. Lily stood frozen, her slightly more-than-sloshed brain not knowing how to handle this new sensation of kissing Sirius Black. He pulled back and smirked at her as she whimpered from loss of contact.
Before he knew what was happening, though, Sirius found himself sprawled on the floor, a wand pointing at him. Following the wand up to the face of the owner, he gasped. "Prongs! Mate! Don't hurt me!" Sirius tried to shrink into the carpet.
"I wont, if you keep your hands, lips and other body parts away from my Lily!" James growled, punctuating each word with a sharp jab in Sirius' chest.
Lily got up and walked over to James and put her hands on her hips. "Don't do that, James! Play nice, or no treat tonight." She whispered the last words and ran a hand up his arm.
Natalie, Mac and Alice stared at Lily, wondering just what, exactly, had happened after the head students went to see Dumbledore.
James smirked at Lily and grabbed her hand. Lily tried to tug it away, but he was too strong. He yanked hard on her arm and she stumbled a few steps and fell into him. Her other hand rested on his chest and his hand went to her cheek. He roughly pulled her face up to meet his, and kissed her fiercely. His hand let go of hers and went around her waist as her arms flew around his neck.
Sirius, Remus, Natalie, Mac and Alice stared in shock. "What the hell happened to you two?" James waved a hand at them as if to say "Later," and went back to snogging Lily.
Alice sighed heavily. It wasn't like she wasn't glad they were kissing, she just didn't want to see Lily's sober reaction to all this in the morning. Natalie, sensing what Alice had in mind, went up behind James. Alice came up behind Lily, wand pointed at her neck. Natalie took the same stance, casting a sobering charm. It didn't seem to have had any affect on the kissing couple.
"Maybe they're sober already?" Mac asked hopefully.
"No, no, we it can't be that easy to get them together. We must have done something wrong," Alice said, half-hoping that was true.
All of a sudden, there was an ear splitting scream, a loud smack, and a "JAMES POTTER!"
"Oh, yea, it worked all right!" Natalie said as she lunged at Lily's left arm. Alice grabbed Lily's right arm and held on tight. Lily was thrashing, trying to get an arm free.
"Let me at him! He kissed me! Let go, Alice! You, too, Nat! LET GO!" Lily shouted, thrashing wildly.
Mac and Sirius stepped between her and James, wands drawn. Remus was behind them, talking to James, trying to make him go to the dorm.
"Go, James! We can't hold her much longer!" Alice shouted as Lily got her right arm loose. James didn't need further pushing. He raced up the stairs; just barely dodging the curse he sensed rather than saw. He slammed the door shut, shouting all the locking charms he knew.
A second later, there were shouts of "Alohamora!" And the door rattled on it's hinges as Lily banged on it. The door stayed locked and in tact, even though Lily tried every curse she knew from "Reducto!" to "Incindio!"
James could hear a muffled "LILY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" through the door, and backed all the way into the bathroom on the other end of the dorm.
Ten minutes later, the door burst open to reveal a sweating Remus and Sirius.
James came out of the bathroom in time to hear Sirius saying, "Personally, I think we should have let her have him. He would have deserved what he got, the way his hands were all over her!"
Remus rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Padfoot. You weren't much better when you were snogging her."
"Uh…guys? Guys, do you wanna tell me what happened and why Lily was trying harder than usual to kill me and why you're talking about me snogging her, and why were your hands all over her, Sirius?" Glaring at Sirius, James sat on the edge of the closest bed.
Remus sighed, knowing Sirius would come up with some bullshit story. "We were in the kitchens. We were coming out, and there was the crash, bang, and a bunch of giggles. We thought it was a few first years so we were going to talk to them. We come around the corner, and what do we find? James Potter and Lily Evans giggling insanely, not trying to kill each other or ask each other out, respectively. We helped you two get back to the common room without getting caught. You teased Alice, Sirius explained to Natalie what we knew, and Lily got up, and kissed Sirius on the cheek. Sirius pulled her back and started snogging her. His hands were all over her"—he glared at Sirius—"and you pulled him off, sending him flying. You pointed your wand at him and you said you wouldn't hurt him if he kept his hands off your Lily. Lily said something about be nice or no treat, and you kissed her. Alice and Nat cast a sobering charm and Lily got sober faster than you. She realized she was snogging you, and all hell broke loose." Remus sighed again, rubbing his temples.
James was quiet. "Oh." He paused. "You mean, I kissed Lily Evans?" Sirius nodded. "Bloody hell! That's wicked, that is! God, I've wanted to do that for years! Too bad I have no recollection of it. Why did I have to be bloody drunk?"
"Hey, mate, we were wondering, why were you drunk?" Sirius asked, lazily throwing his pillow up and down, it more often than not hitting him in the face.
"Padfoot, there's the reason you aren't a chaser. Anyway, good ol' Dumblydore had just told us we have our own common room/dorm thing on the second floor. He also said that we had to be responsible" –he said the word like it was dirt—"and have meetings, and plan things, and you know, set a good example for the younger—("And same age kids," Remus interrupted with a pointed look at Sirius, who had now started to throw a book up and down, saying "OW" every time it hit his face) kids," James said, shuddering. "So, Lily Flower decided that before we had to officially be all responsible and shit, she wanted to get smashed. So, I told her I know just the place. And she said she wanted more that butter beer, so I took her to the Hog's Head. And let me tell you, she sure can hold her alcohol, that one." He smiled, reminiscing. "Anyway, that's all I remember. It took us a long time to get how we were, even with Fire Whiskey." He lay back on the bed, hoping Peter wouldn't mind if he fell asleep there.
"Oh…. Right. Responsibility will make Lily Evans want to get sloshed," Sirius said dubiously, suddenly pointing his blasting his book to pieces. "What?" he said indignantly. "It was going to hit me in the face!"
"Don't ask me. I was with a drunk, hot girl. I was not wondering what would make her want to get drunk."
"Hm…that is sort of interesting." Remus mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"Whatever. At least Prongsie is alive," Sirius said, throwing his pillow at James. "So, since I only got to snog her for a second, is she any good?" He asked, sitting up expectantly.
"At least you remember, Padfoot. I don't. There are two things I don't like about sobering charms. One, you can't remember anything, and two, you still have a hangover." James said, sighing. "God, tomorrow morning's going to be hell."
"With or with out Lily," Remus said smartly.
James groaned, rolling onto his stomach.
- - - - - In the girl's dorm, at the same time - - - - -
"What was he kissing me for? What was he thinking? Why was I kissing back? Why did you guys let him maul me like that? Why did you let me let him?" Lily exploded the second Alice, Natalie and Mac had managed to drag her into their dorm.
The three girls just let Lily rant, knowing it would be signing their own death warrant to answer. A few minutes later, Lily had calm down to the occasional outburst of "Curse him!" every now and then.
The girls were sitting on Mac's bed, with Lily pacing and muttering in front of them.
"Holy shit!" Mac shouted. "I completely forgot!"
"What? What did you forget?" Lily asked distractedly.
"Nothing, just homework for tomorrow," she answered. Lily nodded absently, not registering that they didn't have homework.
"Guys," Mac whispered to Alice and Natalie, "I forgot the diary in the common room. And it was open! Anyone can read it!"
"MACCENZY!" Alice shouted.
"Hush!" Natalie said. "I will go and get it. Just tell Lily I forgot my sweater or something."
"Right," Mac said, nodding.
Natalie slipped past Lily, who was still pacing, oblivious to the problem the other girls were facing. She opened the door silently and was closing it when Lily noticed she was leaving.
"Where are you going, Nat?" she asked.
"Oh…I'm uh, getting my sweater," she said nervously.
"You're wearing one," Lily said distractedly.
Natalie glanced down. Sure enough, she was wearing her favorite navy blue sweater. "Oh," she said, looking to Alice and Mac for a different excuse.
"Oh, honestly, Nat, I know all about you and Sirius! Just go down and shag him like you want to!" Lily said, smirking.
Natalie opened her mouth to heatedly deny it—not that there was anything to deny, when shoe came flying at her from Alice. "Oh, right. Yea. Uh…Bye, guys." Natalie backed out of the room again, and sprinted down the stairs to the common room.
By the fire on the couch that they had been on earlier, there were three first years, holding Lily's diary. She crept up behind them, intending to scare them. She listened to their conversation, wondering how much she was going to have to threaten them not to say anything when she heard, "Ugg, who would write about replanting mandrakes? How dreadfully boring this is! I can't believe we thought someone would leave an interesting diary lying around. C'mon, girls. Let's go to bed."
"Hm…I wonder what that was all about," she thought. "Maybe Lily charmed it to only be read by her…But then how could we read it? Or maybe we weren't reading the actual thing, which is why we didn't find any interesting things."
Natalie hid from the first years, waiting till she heard their dorm door close. She snuck out of the corner, careful not to make any noise. She grabbed the book and was in the process of stuffing it under her sweater when a hand stopped her.
"Lily! I'm sorry, we just wanted to—" She was cut off by a second hand over her mouth.
"Shush, Nat! Are you trying to wake everyone up?" Sirius breathed into her ear.
"Oh. It's you," she said, exhaling deeply.
"Do I want to know why you thought I was Lily and freaked?" Sirius asked, guiding her over to an armchair. He sat down, pulling her into his lap.
"No, you don't, and why aren't we sitting on that big, comfy couch, but sitting in this comfy, squishy, small chair?" she asked, pulling away from him.
He held onto her waist, pulling her back. "Because I like you right where you are," he said, before his eyes widened and he looked away, blushing.
Natalie stared at him, registering that Sirius Black practically admitted that he liked her, Natalie Hawk.
Sirius didn't look up for a few minutes, hoping that he hadn't just said that and that if he had, Natalie would forget it and move on.
"Sirius…" Natalie started nervously, "Do you…do you mean that?"
Sirius blushed and nodded, still not looking up. Natalie lifted his face to hers and made him look her in the eye. "Good," she said, and she bent down, kissing him soundly on the lips. She broke away a moment later, Sirius in a daze.
"Be my girlfriend?" Sirius gasped, holding her tightly in his lap.
"Yep," Natalie said happily, snuggling into his chest. Sirius, not used to this kind of cuddling, responded awkwardly by resting his chin on the top of her head.
"Are you going to tell me what's in that diary, Nat?" he asked, shifting so he could see her face.
"Um…No, I can't," she said, apologetically.
"And why not?"
"Because its not my diary," she looked away, knowing Sirius could see right through her.
"Oh. And what, Miss Hawk, are you going to do with Miss Evans' diary?" he smirked at her.
"I…Um, well, see…Uh…" Natalie stuttered, looking anywhere but Sirius' teasing eyes.
"Oh, all right. Mac, Alice and I want Lily to realize that James is perfect, and we want to get them together. We want to find out who she fancies, because she's been acting weird lately. So, we got her diary and were in the process of reading it, not having found anything interesting yet, when you guys showed up and Lily and James started snogging," She told him, half-hoping he could help them. Really, the incessant arguing was quite annoying.
"Hm….Maybe Remus and I could help you," he said thoughtfully.
"Ok, well, I should go. I just barely escaped. Alice and Mac will be ready to kill me if they find out that while they've been restraining Lily, I've been down here snogging the hottest guy in the school." She paused for a moment. "Actually, that's rather biased, because Mac has Remus, Alice has Frank, and Lily will have James."
"Whatever. As long as you think that," Sirius said, kissing her forehead. "You know, I could get used to this cuddling stuff," he said as he buried his face in her hair, inhaling the flowery smell.
Natalie grinned. "You know I would love to stay all cuddled up with you, but I better get back before they wonder if I fell in the fire or something." She got up, kissed him soundly, and flounced up the stairs to the girl's dormitory.
Sirius sat there gazing into the fire for a long time. At quarter after two, he finally got up and made his way toward his dormitory.
Quietly opening the door, he started to grin. He entered the room, trying to force the grin off his face. It wouldn't budge.
"Sirius! Finally! We were wondering what had happened to you! But you're here now! So we can start planning how to get me and Lily together!" James exclaimed, bounce round the room like a five year old.
Sirius looked up startled. He hadn't noticed Remus and James sitting on Remus' bed, wands lit, emitting light.
"Oh. Right. Yea. We'll…Uh, we'll do that in the morning, eh, Prongs?" He asked, making his way over to his bed, stripping off his shirt and tossing it into the corner. He crawled in, drawing the curtains.
"Wonder what's up with him," Remus mused.
"Eh, whatever. He said he'd help in the morning. Maybe he's tired," Peter said, speaking from his bed on the far side of the room.
Remus and James looked at each other, knowing that Sirius wouldn't go to bed before three AM without a good reason. He hadn't his whole time at Hogwarts. Something was definitely up with him.
James and Remus stayed up discussing plans on how to get James and Lily together.