Disclaimer: Characters and settings are property of J.K. Rowling. What you don't recognize is mine. And I wish I owned the Marauders (specifically Sirius and Remus) but most unfortunately, I do not.
Last Chapter: Janine confesses to Lily how much she's missed Sirius; Lily and James go shopping for Sirius's birthday present and then go to the one and only night club of Hogsmeade: Maleficent's!
X-X-X-X-X
"Where are we?" demanded Lily again, her eyes as wide as saucers. She missed James's madly grinning face, as she tried to take in everything at once.
"Maleficent's," James repeated. "The one and only night club in Hogsmeade. Invitation only, mind you."
"How'd you find it, then?"
"My dear, that is to remain a mystery. For the moment, anyway." Taking her elbow, he dragged her over to the bar. "Come on."
"We can't drink, James, we're underage!"
"Aww, hush. Mal won't care."
"Who?"
James didn't answer, and they reached the bar with her pestering him the whole way. There were only two bartenders – one, a man with dirty blond hair was waggling his tongue at a giggling girl, showing off the tongue piercing. The other, a young woman, had hair pulled into two knots on either side of her hair, her raven locks lanced with bright purple ones. Lily couldn't help but notice the flashing rings that marched up her ears, her nose piercing, another piercing in her navel, and one more in her tongue, as was shown when she stuck her tongue out at her fellow bartender, who was now lip-locked with the flirty girl. Lily was partly fascinated and partly disgusted by the blatant display of affection.
"And here I was, thinking you weren't going to pop by anymore," the woman said in a pouty way. Lily estimated that she was in her early twenties or so. "James Potter, you give me one night of passion and then you leave me, desolate and alone-" She paused, blinking at Lily. "Hang on. This is the tremendous redhead you've been fancying for ages, right?" James turned red as Lily blinked in surprise. "Well done, James! You've finally snagged her, I see. Lucky girl. I suppose I'll just have to content myself with a sordid affair, eh?"
"I – er – she's not-"
Lily found James's embarrassment vastly amusing. He was probably worried that the woman's comments in some way violated their agreement. She let him stew for a few seconds, before explaining, "He's all yours. We're not-"
"Oh, I see. Not quite a couple, just friends with benefits, eh? No commitments?"
"We're not together," Lily insisted. "We're here for Sirius's birthday!"
The woman blinked. "Well, you've never brought around a girlfriend who's just a friend, James. This is new." She cocked her head and held out a hand. Lily noticed her fingernails were painted a vivid purple. "I'm Maleficent, by the way."
"No way," Lily blurted. "This is your place? You're Maleficent?" She'd expected… somebody older. Not this twenty-something woman who didn't look much older than Lily herself.
Maleficent's eyebrows shot up. "Well, I'm certainly not the only Maleficent, you know. It's a bit of an inherited title. My auntie opened this place years ago, and she passed it on to her younger sister – my mum, see – and then onto me." She flashed a smile at Lily. "My mum got sick and tired of running the downstairs, so she stays holed up in her office upstairs, working on the business part, and I run the downstairs and the bar."
"What's your real name, then?"
"Now, now. I only tell that to my boyfriends and my friends. And James, of course." She flashed a wide grin at him. "I've been trying to get him upstairs for years, but he never takes." James had gone red again; Lily laughed.
"I can't seem to get rid of him," she teased. "So I'll be happy to give you some pointers!"
"Oh, no, it's all right. I'll leave him for whenever you decide you need a decent shag – he'd be a right dependable stand-by, I imagine." Maleficent grinned. "Whatever I can't get from him, I get from Sirius."
Lily's smile faded slightly. From Sirius… did that mean Sirius had been cheating on Janine with her? She'd liked Maleficent, but now she didn't think she was allowed to like her… "When was the last time you saw Sirius?" she asked casually.
"Oh, over the summer." Maleficent pouted again. "The boys visited me on Petey's sixteenth birthday, and that's all. I'm right depressed without you lot."
Lily relaxed. "Oh."
"So…" Maleficent eyed James. "No advancements here?"
"Not in the least," James informed her gloomily. "And believe me, I've tried."
"Too right," agreed Lily under her breath. Maleficent threw back her head and laughed raucously.
"Ooh, I like her! First round's on me," she declared loudly. "Where are the boys?" she asked James. He shrugged. "Well, that's all right. They'll catch up soon enough, I reckon. What can I get you two in the meanwhile?"
X-X-X-X-X
Janine sat silently on a ledge in the Astronomy tower, thinking wryly that the teachers were either truly oblivious or simply didn't care anymore that their astronomy tower was used for purposes other than learning. She'd always found the place a bit of a cliché herself, and she was not one to follow the crowd and be ordinary, but she couldn't credit Evan with coming up with the number of interesting places Sirius could.
Checking her watch once more, she discovered it was now eight-thirty. Where was he, anyway?
As if on cue, the trapdoor flipped open and Evan Rosier strode in. Janine hopped off the ledge, brushing invisible lint from her skirt. Evan was sharply handsome, she supposed – he had a straight nose and aristocratic, arching eyebrows, set in a somewhat pale, angular face. His lips were a bit too thin for her taste, really, and his dark eyes certainly held none of the warmth she'd always found in Sirius's gray eyes.
Don't think…
Without a word, he crossed the expanse of the tower and swept her up tightly in his arms, his mouth hot against hers. He wasn't as good a kisser as Sirius…
Don't think…
Evan pushed her up against the low wall of tower, swiftly pushing her robe from her shoulders. At any other time, she'd have let him get on with it…
Don't think… stop thinking…
But a voice sounded in the back of her mind, and Janine could clearly see Lily's disapproving face, followed by her disapproving voice, saying disapprovingly, "Didn't I say you could do better than this scumbag? Come on, Janie – you know you and Sirius are happier together than you are apart, I already told you that. You never listen to me. You'll wish you had when Rosier leaves you without so much as a fare-thee-well, you know."
And then Sirius's face…
Stop it… stop thinking about him…
Sirius's eyes – so disappointed, so sad, without all his usual warmth – and then he was holding out his hand, "Come on, Janine. You're better than this bastard. He isn't deserving of you, and you know it. Come with me… you're happier with me, you know you are…" And his face split into that heartbreaking smile of his and he winked roguishly, "Come on, you know you want to…"
Stop it… stop thinking about him… stop… "STOP IT!"
Before she clearly knew what was happening, Janine had shoved Evan from her, as hard as possible – he crashed into the opposite side of the tower, blinking dazedly. Janine's blouse was already halfway unbuttoned – she hastily rebuttoned it, knowing she was doing a shitty job of it, but not caring, she just wanted to get covered up…
Evan watched in blank astonishment as she ended up buttoning her shirt two buttons higher than it had been when he'd come up. The mask of surprise was slipping, though, and now he just looked irritated. "Hell, Janine, you could have shoved me off the tower. What's the matter with you?"
She was breathing very fast, as though she'd just run a marathon. "I don't… I don't want this."
He grinned wickedly. "Sure you do. Look, I know you never much liked this place – how about we sneak into the prefect's bathroom, eh? Or we could go into a room and I'll transfigure a table into a bed, if you'll be more comfortable-"
"God, Evan – no. I don't want this."
He was frowning now. "What do you mean, you don't want this?"
"I just – I just don't. I don't want any of this. You. Me. I don't want you." She pressed a hand to her throat. "Just… forget it."
"Come on, Janine, we're just going to have some fun-" He reached out for her.
She ran.
It was a well-known fact that Janine Garnet didn't run from anything. She'd rather stay and fight, with her wand or with her fists. It didn't matter. She just didn't run. And here she was, running, ignoring his voice from behind her, "Wait! Wait a minute – damn it, Garnet, you're going to get us both caught-"
She could heard his footsteps after her and thanked all that was holy that her father had always insisted on running as good training for Quidditch. She raced down flights of staircases and through doors and around a corner-
And right into someone.
Janine landed on her backside, hard, and winced. She couldn't hear Evan anymore, she assumed he'd just given up – but Fabian Prewett was bending low over her, his blue eyes concerned. "Hey, you okay?" Janine scooted backwards from him and leapt to her feet. His eyes were worried. "Hey," he said again, "easy, easy. What's the matter? Are you hurt? And what the hell is wrong with your shirt?"
Janine glanced down at it and blinked. She'd missed at least three buttons, and what was buttoned was done all the way up to her neck. Swiftly rebuttoning it correctly, she said, "I'm not scared of Rosier."
"Hell, I know you're not." His face turned murderous. "Did he do something to you?"
"No, I just-" She expelled a breath. "I think there's something wrong with me."
His expression went from murderous to horrified. "You're not pregnant, are you?"
"What?" Her own face was horrified. "God, no! Of course not, I'm not preg– what d'you think, I sleep with everything that moves? I'm not a slut, Fabian!"
"I know you're not! I just – you said something was wrong, and I thought-"
"No, I just-" She blinked, and pressed her hands into her eyes. "Have you seen Sirius?"
"Black? No. Why?"
"I've got to talk to him. I've only just realized – I don't know what I was thinking when I took up Rosier again-"
Fabian frowned. "I didn't know you'd done that. He's not-"
"-Good enough for me, I know," Janine interrupted hastily. "Just, help me find – hell, it's his birthday. He's not going to be here." She sighed. "All right. That's fine. I'll just wait in the common room until he gets back. Thanks, Fabian."
"Wait, but I didn't do any-" Janine had turned a corner. He groaned. "Bloody hell. Women."
X-X-X-X-X
"JAMIE!" Sirius had made it halfway to the bar, where both Lily and James were stirring their drinks with tiny umbrellas, before stopping dead. "Er… are you mad? You've brought a prefect here."
"Lupin's a prefect, and he's right behind you," Lily replied defensively.
"Yes, but you're… well, you're Evans." Sirius blinked. "I'm confused. What's going on?"
James shrugged. He didn't feel like explaining all the details of their deal to his friends. "Forget it." He clapped a hand on Sirius's back. "Happy birthday, mate!"
Sirius grinned slowly. "Yeah, it's my birthday, isn't it? So! Did you bring me a present, Evans? Because, you know," he added quickly, "if you didn't, having you for my birthday is just as good."
"Keep dreaming, Black."
"I will, thanks." He winked, and then saw Maleficent behind Lily and grinned all the more broadly. "Mal! I've been positive miserable without you – none of the Hogwarts girls measure up, with the exception of our dearest Miss Evans here-" He winked at Lily again. She was not amused.
"Oh, none of the girls measure up, do they?" Sirius blinked at her hostility, and then comprehension dawned on his face, followed by a black look.
"No," he told her crankily, "none of them measure up. They're all… silly, and immature."
"Oh, look who's talking," Lily shot back. "As though you're not silly and immature!" Did I really find him attractive not so long ago? "Not to mention a right arse, too."
"I'm not an arse!"
"All right, time for a second round, I believe!" Mal interjected loudly, filling Lily's cup so much that it overflowed onto Lily's hand slightly. "And a first round for you lads, too. All right there, Remus?"
"Quite fine, thanks," Remus said, sliding onto a barstool beside Lily. "Alyssa broke up with me."
"The blonde? Oh, it's okay, honey," Mal replied soothingly, "I can make you feel better."
Remus flushed. "Um, that's okay. I've had a new girlfriend since then, but-"
Lily, who'd just taken a long swig of whatever swill Mal had poured into her cup, interjected, "But she broke up with him after she caught him snogging one of my friends!" The others sniggered; Lily smirked as Remus went redder.
"Two girls since them? My, my, I'm behind on the times. And you, Mr. Lupin! Getting yourself all these ladies! Almost makes a woman jealous." She smiled slyly. "So when do I get a turn, eh?"
"You flirt with everybody, don't you?" Lily giggled into her drink and set it down and stood, swaying slightly. The combination of music, smoke, and alcohol was beginning to have a funny effect on her head. "So, who's going to dance with me?"
Lily saw James's eyes light up, and then he paused. The boys, as one, had turned to stare at James, waiting for him to inevitably volunteer himself. But Lily's eyes were challenging as she stared at him. Hell. This is going to be harder than I thought. James shoved Sirius at Lily, muttering, "S'your birthday. You dance with her."
Sirius blinked in confusion, and then smirked. "Well, then. Miss Evans?" He held out his arm gallantly.
Lily laughed. "You can dance with me if you can catch me!" Sirius blinked again; Lily vanished into the crowd with a flash of bright hair. Grinning slowly (and apparently over his three second bad mood) Sirius followed her. Remus, Peter, and James watched Sirius disappear too.
"You all right? You didn't volunteer. Why?" Peter fell into Lily's vacated stool.
"I made a deal," James explained miserably. "That I wouldn't hit on her or otherwise give any indication of my less-than-platonic feelings. For two months."
"And at the end of it?"
"If she can say I haven't changed at all, that I'm still an arse, I'll leave her alone for good. If not…"
"You go on a date," Peter finished. "You should have told her that she had to go on a date for those two months of peace."
"No, that would have made it worse," interrupted Mal. "She would have resented him for roping her into it. At least, this way, she can make her decision. Don't worry, James," she added consolingly, "you're a decent bloke. A bit of a prat, maybe, but still a decent bloke. Any girl with half a brain can see that – well, if they look past the arrogance and the egotism and the-"
"Right, I get it," James said moodily, before sighing. "Still, though – what if she doesn't like me, even after all this? It'll have been two months of pretending I don't like her anymore than – oh, say, Remus does."
Remus shrugged. "It's better than her hating you, don't you think?"
"I s'pose," James replied dubiously, scanning the crowd for Lily. Every so often, he'd catch a flash of red, and his heart would lift, hoping it was her – and then the red would disappear, and it sank again.
X-X-X-X-X
Lily fell into a seat at the bar, flushed and excited. Sirius had, of course, finally caught up with her – and they'd danced so wildly that people had begun to move away to avoid getting injured. She'd switched partners several times – dancing with Remus, Peter, and even a few she didn't know – but never with James.
Mal eyed her critically. "I take it you like my club, then?"
"Ooh, yes!" Lily pressed a hand to her mouth. She felt giggly. It wasn't a normal feeling for her, but she was enjoying it. "Don't you ever come out and dance?"
"Occasionally. But Jason's a bit busy now, so I can't leave the bar untended, see?" Lily looked around for the mysterious 'Jason', and assumed that he was the other bartender. "He disappeared into the back rook with Mika."
"Mika?"
"The girl you saw earlier." Mal's eyes sparkled. "That Jason. Such a flirt." She shook his head morosely. "And I always have to get him out of trouble…"
Lily threw her head back and laughed loudly. "Can I have something to drink?"
"What do you want?"
"Oh – anything. I don't care." Mal's eyes shot up, and she went about making a martini. "You strike me as a martini sort of girl," Mal told her, sliding it over to Lily before beginning to make herself one. "So. Are you in Gryffindor, too, and if you are, what year?"
"What, didn't James tell you?"
"Oh, no – all he does is wax on about how pretty you are, and how wonderful you are, and how you never notice him unless it's to yell at him… Beyond that, I know you have 'beautiful red hair,' 'beautiful green eyes,' and are 'just plain beautiful.' It's not much to go on, you see."
"Oh." Lily's cheeks were flaming. "I'm not that pretty, you know. My friends – Alyssa and Janine – they're much prettier."
"Janine… Janine Garnet, hmm?" Her eyebrows shot up. "She's come in here before, once or twice, over the summer. Jason always flirts with her, though she's a bit young for him, and James inevitably ends up 'defending her honor.' It's a bit sweet, really, although they've never dated, or so they tell me – have they?"
"Not really. I don't think there's anything there."
"Good. She strikes me as a little too fast-paced for our James. He needs someone who can keep him grounded."
"I suppose," Lily agreed with a shrug. "I wouldn't really know."
"Hmm. So why don't you like James? If you don't mind my asking."
"Oh… well, he's always been a bit of arrogant prat, hasn't he? I believe he pulled a prank on me when were in the first year, and that set us off on a mutual loathing. It wasn't immediate, but it happened gradually. I can't remember ever liking Potter."
"And then Sirius's dare caused him to ask you out, right?"
"Sirius's what?"
"His… oh, dear." Mal looked upset. "You didn't know?"
"No! What's this about a dare?"
"You're better off asking one of them… but Sirius dared James to ask you out for some reason in the fourth year. I have no idea why… you're better off asking one of them."
"You're telling me – you're telling me that the entire reason that Potter has been bothering me for the past two and a half years is because of a stupid dare!"
"Well, I imagine it stopped being about the dare after a time," she said meekly.
"I can't believe it! A dare! A dare! How DARE he?" Mal decided not to pick up on the pun just then, which was fortunate, as James had just arrived back at the bar, sweaty and panting.
"Man! I love dancing! Don't you? Mal, come dance with me!"
"I – er, I have something to do," said Mal hastily, and without another word, the bartender quickly busied herself with fixing drinks. James stared at her in surprise.
"What's up with her?" He turned to Lily. "What's up with you? You look bloody furious."
"I just – I want a bloody explanation!" She glowered at him. "For two and a half years… all because of a stupid dare? Really, Potter!"
He blinked, and then the color drained from his face. "I – oh. Evans, listen, that was a long time ago-"
"Obviously not so long if you're still trying to get me to go out with you," she said waspishly. "You're only proving me right, you know – that I'm nothing to you, just another girl on a long list of many-"
"That's not true!" he snapped at her. "I just – look, it was about the dare, at first – but it changed! Honestly, Evans, I'm not that pathetic! I wouldn't wander around begging for your attention for years because of a stupid dare! Hell, Sirius had probably forgotten about it practically a week later! It wasn't about a dare – it was about you!"
"Oh, give me a break, do you really expect me to believe that? Potter, I'm not stupid, you know!"
"You do a bloody good impression of it!"
"Hey!" Sirius interrupted them, having just come up. "No arguing! It's my birthday, remember?" He looked from one to the other, from one furious glare to another. "Come on, Evans, dance with me again."
Lily inhaled deeply. "Fine," she said stiffly, and ignored his proffered hand, striding into the crowd. James watched her go. Hell. That was not supposed to happen.
"You can never help it, can you?" Sirius asked with a slow grin. "What were you arguing about?"
"The dare." Sirius looked blank. "Fourth year," James continued, beginning to feel growing irritation. No response. "The only reason I ever asked out Evans in the first place!" he roared.
"Oh! That. She found out, did she?"
"No," retorted James sarcastically. "We were just arguing about it."
"No need to get snippy, Prongs. Want me to smoothen things over?"
"I don't reckon you'll be able to."
"Certainly can't hurt to try, can it? Come and dance with us if you feel up to it." Sirius weaved through the crowd and spotted Lily, standing uncertainly in the midst of many dancers. "There you are! Listen… about this dare nonsense…"
"I thought you wanted to dance."
"I do!" He quickly stepped up to her, pulling her hips against his, swaying in time to the music. "You do know," he shouted in her ear, just to be heard over the pulsing music, "that it wasn't his idea, right!"
"Yes, I know!" she shouted back. "It was yours!"
"Yes, well – it stopped being about the dare, sometime in the middle of fourth year! He just – he liked you, Evans! A lot!"
"I just-"
"He still does, you know!" Lily was beginning to find it difficult to concentrate. She had even more alcohol in her system now, and grinding against Sirius was doing mad things to her mind. "You're like – the center of his universe! He hasn't dated anyone else in ages!"
"I know that! Everyone keeps telling me! I just – I'm not like Janine, or Jen! I don't like the bad boys! I want someone sweet!"
"Well, he can be that too!" Sirius's brow furrowed. "Merlin forbid he ever finds out I said so, but he really does have a – what does Moony call it? – a heart of gold! He's a great bloke, Evans, and you ought to give him a chance!"
"That's what I'm doing!"
"You can't bloody give him a chance if you're forever fighting, Evans! Can't you kiss and make up?" She scowled. "Without the kissing part, of course!"
"I'll think about it!" she bellowed back, and then all thoughts were lost as Sirius was whisked off by a pair of Italian girls, and Remus had come to Lily, smiling, offering his hand, which she gladly took. But dancing with Remus didn't do mad things to her mind, not the way dancing with Sirius did… and without realizing it at first, she wondered if dancing with James would make her mind spin, too.
X-X-X-X-X
Lily made a pained face as she supported Remus on one side, while Sirius supported him on the opposite, and James and Peter supported one another. "You're awfully skinny," she told Remus in amusement, "and I'm really not quite sure why you weigh so much."
"Don't weigh nothing," Remus slurred.
"It's very odd," commented Sirius. "Ordinarily, I'm the one they all have to drag upstairs. This is a change for me. I'm not drunk."
"Yes, you are," Lily told him, and started to giggle like mad. "Just not as drunk as they are!"
"Hush up, Evans, you'll wake up the whole castle. I think you're drunk too."
"I had four martinis. And something else, too. Twice."
"You had something else twice?"
"Or maybe it was thrice. I'm not really certain, you know."
"You're certifiably drunk, then." Sirius nudged Remus. "Oy, you. Don't go off to sleep until we get back to the dorms yet."
"Urghmuffin."
"Did he just call you an urghmuffin?"
"I think so. What's an urghmuffin?"
"I'm not sure, actually. How are you two holding up back there?"
"All right, and yourselves?" James called.
"Don't be so loud, James, you'll wake up the whole castle, and then where will we be? Goodness, Janie will never believe it of me. I'm wandering around drunken with four boys whom I ordinarily loathe. Well, that's not fair. I don't loathe Remus."
"What about me?" asked Peter plaintively.
"I suppose I don't loathe you either."
"If you're drunk, I don't think you're supposed to know you're drunk," mused James. "I mean, I never know when I'm drunk."
"You usually find out by the next morning," added Peter helpfully.
"Perhaps I'm more lucid when I'm drunk than you are, then," Lily suggested.
"Is that possible?"
"Oh, here we are." Lily smiled benignly up at the horrified-looking portrait of the Fat Lady. ("Where have you five been? And you, Miss Evans, you're a prefect too!") "Drat it, I've forgotten the password. Black, do you know what it is?"
"Nope. Prongs? Wormtail?"
"Nah."
"Can't remember."
"…Well, we'll have to ask Remus then." Lily poked Remus in the ribs. "Are you awake, Loopy-whoops-Lupin?"
"Urghmuffin."
"No, I don't think that's it. Oh dear, I think we're stuck out here. What will McGonagall do when she finds us?"
"If she finds us," Sirius replied. "And then she'll put us in detention, I suppose. Not you, though. She thinks the sun shines out of your arse."
"This entire time we've been drunk, you've been very eloquent. 'Sun shines out of your arse' is not eloquent, Black. Can't you think up something more poetic?"
"Not off the top of my head, no."
"What are you all doing?" Janine had come out, looking scandalized. "You're lucky I'm the only one inside, you know, else McGonagall would know for certain that you'd all been out of bed. Although it did take me an awfully long time to get rid of Fabian. Did you have a good time?"
"Janine, d'you know the password?"
"Yes, it's 'Woodcroft' but it doesn't matter, does it, since the portrait's already open?"
"Oh, I hadn't thought of that," Lily said, and began to giggle again.
"God, you're drunk! You boys are terrible! You got Lily drunk."
"Very astute observation," Sirius told her over Lily's giggling. "Could you help us?
"What? Yes, of course." She seemed very distracted, Sirius noted, as she helped pull first Remus in, then Lily, followed by James and Peter, and lastly Sirius. "Can I talk to you?" she asked, in a low voice.
"Can we do it later? I'm going to have a bleeding headache in the morning. I'm not as drunk as they are, though," he told her.
"That's wonderful, Sirius. But I really do need to talk to you; it's very important."
"Are you going to yell at me?"
"No."
"Are you going to snog me?"
"No."
"Then do we have to do it right now?"
She looked irritated, and then thoughtful. "Well, I could yell at you if it would mean you'd listen to me."
"No, no. Help me put them all to bed, and then we'll have this talk." He grimaced. "Merlin, I hated those words. 'Can we talk?' Usually means I'm going to be accused to cheating or we're going to break up. We can do neither, because we're not dating now."
"I'm aware of that," she responded, and draped Lily's arm over her shoulder. "Come on, Lil. Up to bed with you."
"Must we? I've had such a good time. Mal is very nice."
"Oh, you met her, did she? I hope she didn't give you Maleficent's Brew. Does mad things with your mind – it makes you all happy, but it makes your head hurt like a bitch in the morning. Come on, along, Lily. Bedtime."
"Five more minutes, Mum?"
"No, dear, bedtime is now." Sirius was vastly amused to hear that she actually sounded motherly, and was gently smoothening Lily's hair from her forehead. "There's a good girl."
"Will you sing me a lullaby, Mum?" Lily yawned sleepily; Sirius snorted as Janine looked scandalized again.
"Er… all right, I'm done humoring you. I want you to know that I'm not going to feel sorry for you in the morning." They disappeared into the girl's dorms.
Sirius sighed heavily. "Well, I suppose it's time to put you three to bed, then, isn't it?" He winced. "Then Janine and I can 'talk.'"
"You have fun with that," James told him, he and Peter teetering up to the boys' dorm. Sirius glowered down at Remus's snoring form.
"Now how am I supposed to get you up there?"
X-X-X-X-X
"You took forever," Janine hummed. "How did you know I was here?"
"It is your favorite place, isn't it? I'd never known you were a romantic until you dragged me in here." Sirius shut the door. "So what's up?"
"What did Lily get you for your birthday?"
"You brought me here to discuss that?" He stared at her; she gave no answer. He shrugged. "She gave me a mirror. Very funny, actually, I think you'd like it. And a little box that I haven't opened yet." He'd forgotten about it, actually, until the moment; he pulled it from his pocket and noticed that she stiffened. "Something wrong?"
"I – no. No, nothing's wrong. I didn't bring you here to ask you that, no." Sirius opened the box; Janine avoided looking at him by looking around. The room was on the eighth floor, one of the older ones – with wide windows, a bookcase, and a lovely couch that she'd used on various occasions – sometimes to read or do homework, and sometimes for less studious purposes that usually involved one Sirius Black.
"Well." He cleared his throat. "I can't imagine why Lily would get me a set of dog tags proclaiming, Sirius O. Black. Property of J. Garnet. You have no idea how… fitting these are for me."
"Because you're a dog?" she asked, one corner of her mouth quirking up. He just shook his head, knowing that she had no idea how accurate her description of him was. "I saw them in Diagon Alley over Christmas, and I thought they were… amusing. I paid for it, so I gave it to you anyway. Even though we're not strictly together anymore."
"I see."
"Are you still drunk, Sirius?" She looked anxious. "If you are, I'll sober you up. I want you clear for this discussion."
"That serious, eh? No pun intended." Sirius fell onto the couch and stretched out, yawning. "I sobered myself up before coming."
"Charm?"
"Mmm. Didn't work as well as I'd like, though." He paused. "This is the first civil conversation we'd had since James's birthday, did you know?"
"Yes, it is." Janine sat on the windowsill. "You know, I finally decided to get together with Evan Rosier again." Sirius bolted up right, his eyes burning with fury. Together or not, the idea of her with Rosier made him jealous – although he couldn't really be jealous, not after the way he treated her when she got angry at him for going off with that girl on James's birthday. "We were in the Astronomy tower." She glanced up at the stars. "We were snogging. I mean, it's nothing different than what we've done before."
"I don't want to know this."
"It was going further than that, you know." Sirius looked away, his back tense. "And then… I realized it wasn't what I wanted." Sirius was completely still now; Janine wasn't looking at him, but she knew it. "I don't even – it was like a candle was lit in my head." She leaned against the edge of the window. "I kept seeing your face. I couldn't – I couldn't get it out of my head." She looked at him. "Am I pathetic?"
"You're not the first girl who's come to me saying you couldn't get over me," he mused. "On the other hand, I've never met anybody like you."
"Of course you have." His eyebrows shot up. "All you have to do is look in the mirror." In a few seconds, Sirius had gotten up and crossed the room, coming to stand just a foot away from her.
"Maybe that's why we never get along. We don't compliment each other – we mirror each other. But then, opposites don't always attract." His voice was careful. "Janine, I'm not used to commitment. You're the first steady girlfriend I've had – if you could be called that, what with us fighting all the time." He sighed. "I'm not going to give you a load of rubbish about you completing me and all that, about it feeling like I'm coming home when I'm with you. It's none of that. But there's something that just keeps coming back, isn't there?"
"I don't believe in soul mates, love at first sight, or any of that sort of thing. Some people do fit, I admit that, but I think any relationship can work if you really want it to badly enough." She breathed. "You're not perfect; neither am I. But we have something, don't we?"
"I won't promise I'll be faithful to you forever. I can't even promise I'll be faithful to you tomorrow. That's not fair of me, but at least it's the truth and I'm being honest. I could tell you I loved you right now…" She whirled and stared at him, astonished. "And I think it would be true, for the moment. I've said it a million times before, but I really do think it's true, right now. But…" He looked away. "We're sixteen, Janine. Well, you are. I'm not anymore, am I?"
"Sirius…"
"I can tell you that I love you. I can give you those assurances, if you really want them, and they'll be true. But I can't promise that I'll love you forever. I won't do it. Nothing is that certain. I can't even promise that I'll love you tomorrow. But for right now… well, that is one thing I can give you. But is that enough? It wouldn't be for most girls."
"It's not enough. It wouldn't ever be." She stood up and stepped closer to him, until they were just a foot away from one another. "But my dad always told me to seize the moment and take it for what it gives you. If you don't, you might regret it. My dad wasn't always right, but I guess he was right about that, wasn't he?" She tensed. "I've missed you. So much."
He broached the space between them and pulled her straight into his arms, crushing his body against hers. "I've missed you too," he breathed near her ear. "I've missed this." And he kissed her.
Within two minutes, they'd found their way to the couch, him on top of her, his hand lightly on her collarbone. "We've never gone this far," he whispered.
"I know."
"You've always stopped me."
"I know."
"Can you do this? Do you want this? Tell me now," he added quickly, "because once I start, I'm won'tbe able to stop."
Her arms came around his neck, one hand burying in his thick hair, the other fisting at the base of his neck, pulling close for another kiss. Against his lips, she breathed, "Then don't."
X-X-X-X-X
Author's Notes: So there you are, Sirius and Janine got back together. Because of that, I'll dedicate this chapter to every single reviewer who yelled at me, telling me that they HAD to get back together. So – they're back together. I told you that L and J wouldn't get any action in this chapter – well, no real action. And for those of you who are wondering why Lily is semi-attracted to Sirius, it's because he's DEAD SEXY and she'd have to be blind, deaf, and stupid (of which she is none) to not notice. You can certainly be attracted to someone you don't like very much. I've been through that experience several times. This does NOT mean that Lily and Sirius are ever going to have a reaction, because they won't. And by the way – the last and final scene (as well as Janine's scene with Rosier) is as close to them having sex as I'll ever get. I'm going to keep this PG-13. And this is to the reviewer (whose name I can't remember and I'm very sorry for that but I don't feel up to going through my inbox to find your name, but I love you nonetheless!) who wanted a description of Evan Rosier.
Okay, here's an important note: I know I said before that this fic would cover sixth + seventh years, but I don't think it will. I think I'm going to finish up sixth year, and then start a new one for seventh year, followed by a third for post-Hogwarts years. I'd like to restrict this fic to 40-45ish chapters – any longer, and it just gets too long. So once this fic is finished up, be on the lookout for the next one!
By the way, to the people who said they'll be willing to be my beta: Thanks! I appreciate that, and I'll let you know ASAP. I just wanted to get this chapter out because I have finals VERY soon as well as a bunch of projects due, so a big part of me does NOT want to have to wait for a reply from a beta before I can update, but I'll decide. And so you know, I'm going to be gone a big chunk of the summer: about June 18 to August 1, actually, to a place where I'm NOT going to have access to a computer – so you'll be in for a LONG wait for that. I'm really sorry, but I've got no choice.
Okay, now that I've ranted and raved enough: thanks for reviewing, and leave me another one! xoxo