Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. Except Sparky. But she isn't in this chapter anyway, so who cares?
Author's Note: I'm not dead. That's good news…probably. School started a week and a half ago and I've been working on a Midsummer Night's Dream for the last 6 weeks or so. I'm in charge of props and I run the sound for the show, so I haven't had much time for writing. We're in the 3rd week of the run (of 4) and so I leave for the theatre at 6 at night and don't get home 'til about midnight, on Fridays and Saturdays, and Sunday it's 5 'til 11. So I've been kinda busy. This is a little bit of a transition chapter, the triangle stuff is mostly next chapter. This is more for explanations.
Um, has anybody read my UPLARS stories? Just a couple of 1-shots so far. This story isn't in the UPLARS universe, but it's the same basic idea. Lily and Remus are good friends, but nobody knows about it because Lily didn't want James or anybody to find out. She's weird. Um, this chapter probably explains it better. But that's just to let you know it's not unusual (in this world) for Lily and Remus to meet in secret.
Replies:
Biscuits?—Thanks! I'm kinda at a mental block on Harry Potter 6 right now though. Haven't updated in ages.
XxTimesStopsxX—Thanks! Hope this was soon enough.
jelly filled dounuts—Thanks! I love making people laugh.
Skierguy—Thanks for all your reviews! Yeah, it gets a little confusing trying to write it, but I try to keep it simple. School stinks. I started a week and a half ago.
Phantom radio—Awww, thanks!
Chippagirl—hehe. Screaming ice-cream kinda just seemed to fit. Thanks.
Angela Dawne—Thanks! Haha, they deserve to be tortured. Most of them anyway.
Gwendolyn James—Thanks. I was trying to think of a good elf name.
Frankie Beeblebrox—Hey, Frankie! How's Man of La Mancha going? Congrats on getting a part! (Got your email this afternoon). MSND is going fab. The scene in the kitchens was fun to write. The last time I tried to name a house-elf, I ended up naming her Poppy, before remembering that that was Madam Pomfrey's name. You're on the right track as far as Remus goes!
Agloechen—You'll have to wait and see. :::insert evil laugh::: It's all part of my evil plot to take over the world, er, you didn't hear that from me.
Smoosebob—You'll see what's going on with Remus/Lily/James, I'm not giving out any secrets…yet. Yup. I will put them through that torture on Monday. It's too good to miss. But Monday is going to be the last day of the story. It'll either end right after the performance, or that night. I've got about a million things on my to-do list right now, but those'll go on my stories to read list that I keep around.
Lum0s—Thanks! Hehe. Scar all the boys for life! Vale! ("Goodbye" in Latin)
Siriusforeva—Thanks. I know, I almost feel bad for him. Not quite though.
Fizzy—Thanks! Sorry the chapter has taken so long. I'm glad you think so. I'm trying to keep this as off the beaten path as possible.
Briana Marie—Thanks. As far as the James thing: 1, it's the '70s. 2, so far as the 5th year of Hogwarts (I know this is 7th) there's been no sort of health class. 3, it'd kill the humor if he knew. Yay, somebody gets. So much fun using him to torture his friends.
Radioactive Bubblegum—Thanks. Lacrosse camp? I just started golf. But that's in addition to theatre and stuff. Hope this update was soon enough. :::looks guiltily at neglected stories that haven't been updated in 2 months:::
Hekate101—Hope it'll amuse you as much when you get to read it.
Joeyperson—Thanks! Nope, not dead. Though overbooked schedule may soon kill me. Yay! You were saddened that I might be dead. :::special:::
J.E.A.R.K.Potter—Thanks! Hope this one soon enough.
PeRkieGuRL—Thanks!
girlygirl75—Thanks.
Artemis Moonsong—Awww, thanks. The next chapter is where things really get interesting. This one isn't too great unfortunately.
Luvsirius—Thanks.
Certified-weirdo—:::wince::: No cussing please. I usually answer everybody's reviews, but I was lazy last chapter.
Snowgremlin—Thanks. Glad you like it. Sorry it's taken me so long to update.
Moggy-is-cool—Thanks.
Marina89—Thanks. Lily, Remus, and James? You'll just have to see.
Zayne—Yay! I love making people laugh. Ha, your brother read it? I'd love to see the look on his face.
Elladora D. Jobberknoll—Glad you liked the dancing. It was kinda a random idea that popped into my head. You'll see! :::insert evil laugh:::
Queen of Zan—heehee! Exactly! Hermione and Harry have NO chemistry! Somebody agrees with me!
DOJ—Thanks. You've got it! Remus is a pretty bright crayon. Wow, that makes no sense now, does it? Oh well. Thanks again, Remus is getting to be my fave in this story.
Professor D. S. Silvers—Thanks!
Chapter 16: Unconvincing
Lily woke up, and it took a few seconds for her to remember where she was. Then she heard Sirius in shower, singing.
She sat up groggily. Pettigrew was spraying on mass quantities of cologne. She could hear Sirius still in the shower, still singing. Remus was sitting on his bed, thumbing through his Transfiguration book. Frank was nowhere in sight.
"Finally awake, James?" Remus asked.
"Yeah. What smells?"
"That would be Wormtail. Sirius has been in the bathroom singing for almost 2 hours. There's no knowing when he'll be out. So Peter has decided to forego today's shower in favor of cologne."
"Is that what I'm smelling? It reeks."
"What reeks? His cologne, or him not taking a shower?" asked Remus, amusedly.
Lily wrinkled her nose. "Both." She saw the Remus has lowered the book he was reading long enough for her to see that he was holding his nose shut with one hand. She tried not to laugh.
"My mum said it smells nice," whined Peter.
"Did she have a cold when she said that?" asked Lily, pretending to gag. It didn't smell that terrible, but she was having fun.
"No," huffed Peter. "I'll be going now. See you all at breakfast."
Lily asked Remus, "So where's Frank?"
"When he realized that he missed getting in the shower before Sirius, he figured he'd be better off asking one of the other dorms if he could use their shower. He left for breakfast half an hour ago."
"And you?"
"I'm waiting until Sirius gets out of there." He looked at the door and got up. He pounded on it. "Padfoot! Get out here! Save some water for the squid!" It didn't seem to do any good; Sirius instead started singing louder, so Remus sat back down. "I've still got to shower after him."
"Maybe I'll come back and shower at lunch or something. Or I could always wait and do it after Quidditch practice."
Remus almost smiled. "James" not showering in the morning again? Just how dumb did his friends think he was? Out of anyone, he was probably the person who was closest to James and Lily both.
Lily yawned and started looking for some fresh robes. What were those lint-removing and de-wrinkling spells? After a moment, she remembered them and did them. After all, she might as well have some sort of way to try and even things out since she wasn't going to shower and brush her hair 3000 times. No way she'd ever be doing that. She got dressed and grabbed her books. "See you at breakfast, Re," she said, waving goodbye. She froze just outside the door. Re? Did she just call him "Re"? That was not good. Not good at all. She only ever called him Re when they were alone together. Re and Lillers, closer than close. Oh no. Maybe he didn't notice. After all, he was studying pretty hard. She groaned quietly and mentally slapped herself. She'd have to be more careful and start calling him James's nickname for him. What was it? Moose? Moon? Moony? Moony, that was it.
She looked around the common room. "Estelle, have you seen Lily come down yet?"
"She passed by about 20 minutes ago. You want to see the new play I'm working on?"
"Show me at practice. Thanks." Lily walked a little a faster as she made her way down to the Great Hall. She had to talk to James before class started.
She looked and didn't see him anywhere at first. She scanned the Gryffindor table again. He was sitting rather alone in a crowd, so to speak. There were no empty seats near him, but he wasn't involved in any of the discussions around him. He was just sitting quietly and eating.
Lily grabbed a piece of toast off the table and a glass of orange juice and started down toward James. "Lily, Lily, Lily," she called trying to get him to get up and come to her. James either didn't hear her, or was ignoring her. She restrained herself from rolling her eyes and went all the way over to him. She almost grabbed his upper arm to shake him and get him to pay attention to her, but she stopped herself in time. How did James always get her attention? She decided to try out James's quiet I'm-annoyed-with-you-beyond-reason voice. "Evans, I've been trying to get your attention for ten minutes. Did you stay up all night studying or something? C'mon, we've got an emergency meeting before class starts."
James looked up at her. "Sorry, couldn't sleep last night. The stars were too pretty."
Lily gaped at him. "The stars? C'mon. We've got to get going." She tugged on his arm.
He slowly got up and she pulled him along to an empty corridor, gulping her juice and setting the empty glass on the Hufflepuff table as she nibbled on the piece of toast she'd snagged.
"We're dating."
"What?"
"From now until the end of the week, we, you and I, are dating."
"What brought this on?"
"Remus is poking his nose where he shouldn't. We've got to be more careful, Evans."
"Really? He always did have a brain on him."
"You can't go meet him tonight."
"Why not? Something going on that I should know about?"
"Well, he told me, me-James, not me-Lily, that tonight h—" The bell rang. "I guess I'll have to finish telling you later. Don't let him near you alone," she said fervently. "And if anyone asks, we're a couple."
"Good. Then you can start carrying my books."
Lily pouted but took the book bag.
"And, we ought to hold hands."
Lily glared at him and took his hand. "Don't push your luck. I told him we were dating secretly so as not to tarnish the Lily Evans reputation."
"That's not very James Potter-ish, you know."
"Well, deal with it."
They approached the classroom and separated so that they looked like they were sitting where they should sit; James's Potter's body was in the back row, Lily Evans's body was in the front row. They didn't need anyone getting suspicious.
The class passed quietly, without incident.
After the morning break, James and Lily had separate classes, before meeting up again at lunch.
"You can't let Remus see you tonight. Cancel on him," Lily warned quietly. "Pass the potatoes," she added in a louder voice.
"Why not?" he asked in a hushed tone. "Here you go," he said in a normal voice.
"Because, he's acting very odd. Thank you."
"Is there something going on between you two that you don't want me to know about? You're welcome."
"Why would you say that?" she asked, abandoning any cover up conversation.
"Because you're both acting weird. He said something weird yesterday, and you're acting weird now. Why don't you want me to see Remus?"
"Because."
"Because why?"
"Just because."
"There's something going on. Why won't you tell me what it is?"
"Because it's not important."
"Fine. If you won't tell me then I'm just not going to ask. I just don't care," James told her, turning away.
"Good, then we can drop the subject. And I'll see you in class."
"No! Tell me!"
"Just drop it."
"I'm not going to drop it. You are hiding something from me, and I want to know why. I've been honest with you from the start."
Lily just snorted. As far as she was concerned, honesty was not one of James Potter's virtues.
"You're not going to stop me from speaking o him later. I will find out what's going on between you two." James glared at her and stalked off, sitting at the other end of the table, muttering some rather rude things under his breath.
Lily was flustered. Why was James so nosy? She sighed. Why didn't she just tell him what was going on between her and Remus? She wasn't ashamed or anything; Remus was a great guy. She just didn't want James to know. There wasn't anything wrong with secrets. But why though? At this point, what did it matter whether or not he knew? Really? So much had happened this week. So much had…changed. She'd served detention. Disrupted class. Lied to Dumbledore. Participated in Quidditch practice. She'd even spent last night dancing with James Potter. And she'd almost liked it. All of it. Well, not detention, she supposed. So after all that, what difference would it make now? Time to stop hiding. She'd just have to tell James about her friendship with Remus. It'd been her idea to hide it in the first place.
She poked at her potatoes. Not even Alice knew. In their younger years, Remus and Lily had been particularly close friends, him being a half-blood; they'd gone to the same primary school before Hogwarts. Their friendship had suffered when they entered Hogwarts. They ran with different crowds. Against any odds Lily would have bet on, Remus had taken up with James, Sirius, and Peter who proved to be rambunctious from the start, and Lily quietly made friends with Alice and occasionally hung out with Frank. Lily and Remus still met when they could, secretly. She remembered insisting James not find out because he went out of his way to annoy her from the very start almost. Then she wanted to keep James from finding out when he started thinking of her "romantically" because she thought he might try to use Remus as a way to get to her. At any rate, the two of them met when no one would find out about it. In fifth year it became easier to meet because they could just say they had Prefect Duties, but by the middle of sixth year, they'd started to slip away from each other. They just didn't have time anymore.
She sighed and took a bite of her now cold potatoes and was sorely tempted to spit them out. It wasn't really James finding out about all this that alarmed her. It wasn't the fact that Remus wanted to meet with her that alarmed her (Remus would have picked up on "Lily's" odd behavior this week and gotten concerned). It was the fact that he openly told "James" that he was planning on making a move on Lily. It didn't sound like him at all. At one time or another she had Remus had had crushes on each other, but it never went beyond that. Remus wasn't the sort who would ask out a girl that his friend liked; it wasn't his style.
She left the table without having really eaten anything; she needed time to think.
James sulked in a mostly unused corridor for the remainder of the afternoon after their last class of the day. What was going on?
He rubbed his temples. He'd stayed up, staring at the window for hours last night. If he didn't get on a broom soon, he'd simply go crazy. That was all there was to it. He felt so…trapped. He wanted the freedom of flying. The open sky. The cool breeze. No boundaries. No limits. What could be better than that? With his butt on a broom and nothing between him and the sky, he felt at home. Lily didn't understand; she would never understand.
Lily.
What was he going to do about her? She was so fickle. No, that wasn't the right word. She was…moody? Temperamental? A bloody psycho? Any of those would be sufficient.
Why wouldn't she just tell him what was going on between her and Remus? Remus wouldn't be dating Lily behind his back or anything, right? He wasn't like that. Remus was loyal. A good friend. He'd never do something so low. Remus knew James liked Lily. There were lines in life, unwritten rules everyone knew, that just weren't crossed. Rule 1: never insult a guy's mother. Rule 2: don't rat somebody out. Rule 3: never steal or flirt with your best friend's girlfriend. Those were the rules. James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter had all taken dives for each other one more than one occasion. James remembered the first week of school, when he and Sirius already had 3 detentions apiece and Pete covered for them when McGonagall found out about what they'd done to Snape. Loyalty. Remus was the only one of them who made it through the first week of first year without a detention.
He played back what Remus had said to him in the stands yesterday. Lillers, how well do you know me? I'd say we know each other a little better than pretty well…You and I need to talk. Seven o'clock tomorrow night, we'll meet by the lake. I'll tell James and the others that we've got a Chess club meeting. You're the one who wanted to keep this a secret. I'm just trying to help.
He didn't understand. There was something going on between Remus and Lily. It was the only thing that made sense. And at the same time, it didn't. Remus knew how James felt about Lily. He wouldn't go behind his back like that. Would he? No, no. It was Remus. But it was still suspicious. He had to figure out what was going on. He would have to go to the lake tonight and meet Remus. That's all there was to it. Since Lily wouldn't tell him what was going on, he'd just have to find out for himself.
Lily wondered where James was. She was sitting on the bed, knees pressed to her chest and arms hugging them tightly to her. She'd come back to the dormitory after she couldn't find James when classes got out. He was avoiding her, that much was clear. He wasn't in the library or the common room, and there were way too many places to hide in the castle where she could never find him if she looked. So why bother?
The door opened.
Remus came in, looking startled at seeing "James" there. "Hello, James. Didn't expect to see you here. We've got practice in half an hour. I thought you'd be in the locker room with Sirius going over strategies. He was looking for you." Remus noted the sad look on his friend's face. "What's wrong? Are you alright?"
"Oh, fine," she said, vaguely.
"Is something the matter?" He sat on the bed across from her.
It's just that I'm looking for somebody and I can't find them."
"Who are you looking for?"
"Lily Evans. I need to talk to her. I've got to, er, apologize. We had a fight this afternoon and almost, er, broke up." That was a good cover story, wasn't it?
"Did you try using the map?"
"Map? I couldn't find it," she lied. How would a map help?
Remus wondered whether or not the person in front of him knew about the map. "I think you had it last. I'll check your trunk for you." Remus went to the end of James's bed and rummaged through the trunk until he found the blank piece of parchment. He took out his wand and said quietly, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." The map was still filling itself in when he handed it over. Once the parchment was out of his hand, he realized he could have confirmed his suspicions right now without the whole ordeal of tonight. He could confirm his suspicions at any time he wanted. You know what they say: hindsight is always twenty-twenty. Oh well. If he just used the map, then he'd be missing out on oodles of fun torturing his friends. He didn't bother to look at the map.
Lily gaped at it. This was accurate to the very last detail. It even showed her and Remus sitting in the boys' dormitory. Unfortunately she saw that despite what she looked like, it said "Lily Evans" and "Remus Lupin". She tilted the map away from his sight. Now where was James hiding? It took about half a minute for her to find him in an unused corridor, alone. "Thanks. I'll go find her and apologize. You aren't still going to talk to her tonight, are you?"
"Of course I am. Listen, if she turns me down, I won't say another word about it."
Lily bit her lip.
Remus took the map back gently, and without looking at it, said, "Mischief Managed." He rolled it up and put it away. "I'll come with you to track her down."
"You don't have to, really, I—"
"It's no trouble. I insist."
Great. How would she be able to talk to James with Remus tagging along? "Why don't you go down to the Quidditch field? I'll be there soon."
"No, I'll come with you. I'd like to say hello and make sure I'm still seeing her tonight."
"Great." Lily smiled weakly.
Remus took out his practice gear for Quidditch; it was folded neatly.
Lily gathered up James's gear from under the bed. It was still in a state of disarray and didn't smell good at all. She held it at arm's length. "Let's go," she said, trying not to gag. She really wished she'd gotten around to putting this stuff out for the laundry.
The walk to the corridor where James was was silent. It was 3 floors down from the Tower and he was now sitting behind a statue, eyes shut almost meditatively.
"Lily, Lily. Evans, get up," Lily said, finally shaking James by the shoulder.
"Mmm?" he asked, opening his eyes.
Lily stared. Were her eyes always that bottle green, or was the eye shadow James had on playing tricks with her? "I just wanted to say sorry. I really hope we don't break up. I forgot to tell you, Remus here knows about our relationship." Lily wondered just how lame and random that sounded. But that's what she told Remus she was going to say, so she didn't have a choice really.
James just blinked at her. "Oh. Okay."
Lily frowned. James seemed like he was only about half-awake. Well, he'd said he was tired this morning…
Remus came over and stood so he was between Lily and James. "Lily, I just wanted to check and make sure we were still on for that chess-club meeting after dinner tonight. We are still on, right?"
Lily, standing behind Remus, shook her head and James and waved.
James glanced at her, then looked back at Remus. If he didn't go, he'd never find out what was going on between the love of his life and one of his best friends. "Of course. I'll see you at seven by the lake."
"Perfect. Come on, James. We've got to get to practice." Remus patted the person holding Quidditch gear on the arm and pulled her in the right direction.
Lily shot a glare at James before following Remus.
Quidditch practice ran almost three hours and everyone was sitting down to dinner when the team finally trudged back inside. Most of the team just sat down at the table, grungy as they were (the Prewette brothers hadn't even bothered to change out of their practice gear and space cleared quickly around them). Remus, Sirius, and Lily had their robes back on but hadn't gone upstairs to shower. Estelle and Toby both decided they'd rather be clean and late than almost on time and dirty.
Lily was exhausted, but managed to separate herself from Sirius and Remus and sat with James, trying to appeal to him again not to go to the lake.
"Look, you won't tell me what's going on, so I'm going to find out for myself. That's all there is to it."
"Please don't go."
"Too late. What was all that business earlier?"
"I had to say that because Remus was there. We've really got to be more careful around him. I'm worried."
"Don't be." He paused, "Maybe you're right. I'll watch what I say tonight."
Lily groaned. "You're still going?"
"Of course I am."
"This is a bad idea. A very bad idea."
"Too late for that."
"I've been meaning to talk to you. The Quidditch match is in 2 days."
"You're not going to threaten to drop out of it, are you?" James asked, face paling.
"No. I've decided to be mature. I need you to help me practice."
James thought about it. "Done. 8:30 tonight on the Quidditch field. I'll talk to Nikki and Alex's Professor after I talk to Remus."
"Alright." She was not happy that he still planned on talking to Remus.
Dinner ended and everyone went they're separate ways. Lily went to Gryffindor Tower to freshen up, hoping she could see what was going on by the lake from her window. Remus decided to make a brief stop at the Tower before going outside as well. James went out to the fresh night air and waited.
Author's Note: So what did you think? I know, no Lily/Remus/James thing going on, but that's in the next chapter. I just kinda had to get through this one first.