A/N: I feel like I have to explain why it took me a year to get one chapter up. I can't. I'm sorry. I hope anyone who started reading and got fed-up because I left it at chapter two will forgive me. I had the worst time with writing last year. My recycling box is full of pages of crap that were going to be the third chapter.
An especially big sorry to the two people who reviewed the first two chapters...last year. I'm very sorry I didn't get anything up for you. I feel really terrible. Hope you like this one.
Sirius woke up stiff. He glanced at the common room clock. "3:30? Damn it!" He tried to get out of the chair. "Jeez, I must've gained a hundred pounds last night!"
Looking down, he realized Lily was sitting on his lap, her head against his chest. He picked her up in his arms, laid her gently down onto the sofa and covered her in a blanket before struggling off to bed for a few more hours of sleep. He had class in six hours. He knew he should get some sleep.
The dormitory was quiet. Sirius changed quickly and fell onto his bed, knowing he would feel better in the morning if he hadn't slept in his robes all night. A few seconds after he got into bed, Sirius heard a book's page turning.
"Good night, Padfoot," chuckled Remus.
"I should have known."
Lily woke up confused. She glanced at the common room clock. "Quarter to four? Jeez! What happened last night? Why didn't I go to bed?" Then she remembered. Chess with Sirius…vanilla and cinnamon…sitting in his lap, hearing his heart beat as he stroked her hair. She must have fallen asleep on him! "I have to get to bed!" She eased her stiff body off the couch and scrambled up the girls' dormitory steps.
When she entered, everything was quiet. She changed quickly and noiselessly, knowing that it would be nice to put on fresh clothes the next day. As she tumbled into bed she heard a giggle.
"Finally! What were you doing down there?"
"Don't be jealous Lydia," Lily replied.
It felt good to shower and put on new clothes before breakfast. Sirius hated that dirty, sweaty feeling that comes when you sleep in your clothes.
"What do we have today, Mooney?" James asked of the studios one of their group.
"History of Magic—" he began.
"Nap time, you mean," James corrected.
"Yes, Nap Time, then Transfiguration, then James and I go to Arithmancy and you and Peter head off to Care of Magical Creatures, then we meet for Potions."
"Goody, my favorite" Peter added.
The boys headed down for breakfast laughing and joking about their Potions professor.
Lily was very glad she had had the presence of mind to change the night before. She was also very glad Lydia didn't bring up her so-called "wild night" in front of all the dormitory girls.
"What have we got, Alice?" Asked Molly.
"Um…History of Magic, Transfiguration, Lydia has Care of Magical Creatures while you and I have Arithmancy, Lily, but then we have Potions together."
"What fun, Potions!" exclaimed Lily.
The girls laughed and headed down to breakfast. At breakfast Lily sat down right across the table from the boys, with Alice, Molly and Lydia on either side. Sirius looked up, startled, then regained his classic charm. She smiled back and helped herself to pancakes.
They all headed off to Nap Time together, chatting about Gryffindor's upcoming match against Ravenclaw, which everyone expected Gryffindor to win. They all sat down and waited for Professor Binns to arrive. When he did, the lesson began.
Against the backdrop of Professor Binns' droning voice, Lily glanced at Sirius out of the corner of her eye. He caught her gaze and held it.
Sirius was surprised at Lily's move, coming to eat with him at breakfast like that. He looked up, started, but quickly flashed her a smile. The two groups walked together to History of Magic, talking about nothing in particular. Sirius didn't care. All that mattered was that Lily still wanted to be around him. He thought long and hard about her before Binns came in. Once class began, Sirius noticed a pause in the quill-scratching noise beside him. He looked up into Lily eyes.
That night, in the Common Room, the Hogsmeade dates had been posted: Saturday, the 14th of October, exactly one week away.
"You still gonna ask her, mate?" asked James.
"Of course, now that I know Mooney was right about her…as usual."
"I have to preserve my reputation, you know." James and Sirius punched him repeatedly for this remark.
"But you know, I think I go with her to your match tomorrow. We'll sit together and everything, and then I can ask her to Hogsmeade afterwards. She's almost sure to say yes then.
Sirius found Lily in the Common Room. "Hi, Lily. Where were you at breakfast? Molly wouldn't tell me anything." Sirius asked.
"Breakfast, oh no! Is it over? I'm sorry, I overslept and I have a ton of homework from Arithmancy. Can I still make it to breakfast?" worried Lily.
"Lily, it's three o'clock in the afternoon. Here, I brought a sandwich from lunch. You wanna take a walk with me?" Sirius had, in fact, gone to the kitchens and asked for a sandwich and was given a tray of cakes, meats, cheeses, vegetables and bread which, the house elves assured him, could be toasted in a moment. Lily looked up, her eyes shining.
"I'd love to, and I am hungry."
Sirius took her for a walk all around the Hogwarts grounds. They walked over the vast fields to the lake. There, they sat under an oak tree, watching the squid lazily waving tentacles above the surface of the water. They sat there for hours, Lily leaning against him, sometimes talking, sometimes just sitting with each other, perfectly relaxed.
Finally, Sirius decided to ask her, "Lily, would you like to go to the match with me tonight? I mean, I know you would have gone anyway, but, would you like to go with me? We could have dinner and walk down together."
Lily turned her head to smile up at him. "I'd like that," she replied.
Sirius and Lily had a wonderful time at dinner, eating with the Marauders and Lily's girls. Seven of them were cheerful, confident in Gryffindor's ability to beat Ravenclaw, while James seemed quiet, reading for his match. Ravenclaw had a good team, ensuring a tough match. They said goodbye to James at about quarter after six so he could go get ready. The seven stayed in the Great Hall, debating everything from the next World Cup to who James would set his sights on next.
Sirius and Lily left a little early, to get the best seats. They sat down and prepared themselves for an exciting match. The Ravenclaw team came out onto the pitch first, amidst loud cheering. The Gryffindor team followed them, to thunderous applause.
"And they're off!"
The after party that night was fabulous. The Marauders lived up to their name and, after disappearing for a short time, came bursting through the portrait hole with Butterbeer, cake and snacks to last for three parties. Mysteriously, they all disappeared that night.
Lily was having a wonderful time that night, laughing and talking, Buterbeer in one hand.
"Come with me," said a soft voice in her ear. She didn't argue as Sirius guided her out the portrait hole and outside to a secluded tree.
A/N: I know the squid thing is really over-used. Everyone watches the squid; I get it. But I really didn't have any other ideas as to what to do. Was this too short? Was it boring? Should I switch between Sirius and Lily less often? more often? Just press the button you should have pressed last time.