Chapter 2: Crossing the Line
Summary:Lily and James are the optimum Aurors in the industry, but have just about had it with one another... Petunia, Lily's best friend and sister, finds herself in a promising relationship … What happens when the affairs between three unlikely people get tangled together? A story full of lies, lust, and love.
Authors Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I can't emphasize how much they mean to me, and how much they motivate me to continue writing. I've decided to keep this story going as long as people keep showing interest in it. I have some plot ideas that I'm pretty excited about.
Please review!
.:meg:.
James returned home after his evening with Petunia feeling happier than he had in weeks. Life had been a living hell hole for the past few months, and now that he had someone in his life who was more than just a one night relationship he began feeling more relaxed and calm.
The only thing to dampen his mood was the thought of Lily being involved in his life more than he needed or wanted her to be.
The next day he spent the first of the morning hours working on the papers he had promised Lily he'd finish, and finally took a break when Sirius Black showed up at his door with a smug and knowing look on his face.
"So she's Lily's sister, eh?"
James let his best mate inside and closed the door behind him. "News travels fast these days."
Sirius sat back into the sofa he now occupied and laughed softly.
James popped the top off a bottle of Butterbeer and took a seat on the couch next to Sirius
"How would I have figured that out?" James wondered aloud taking a sip of his drink.
Sirius simply shrugged his shoulders, and leaned back into the corner of the couch, one leg propped up on the cushion, and the other resting on the floor. "Oh, I don't know. Perhaps the whole Evans being both girls' last name. But you're right. Why the hell would you realize that?"
"Bug off," James replied hitting his friend on the leg; rather hard that is.
Sirius laughed as he tilted his head back closing his eyes, holding his Butterbeer bottle in his left hand, resting it on the back of the couch.
"I think it's brilliant," He said still smiling.
"What?" James asked.
"That you're dating Evans' sister. I mean," He lifted his head back up and looked at James, "think about it. Have your fun with Petunia, then by the time you're ready to break things off with her, Lily might have opened up a bit, and you might actually have a chance with her."
James shook his head, "Sirius, I'm not in this relationship to get to Lily. I have real, genuine, true feelings inside of me for Petunia." He looked away from Sirius and glanced out the window that remained open beside him. "I'm not about to ruin that."
"You say that now."
James opened his mouth to reply when a knock sounded from the door. Before either man had a chance to even think to get up, the door opened of its own accord. Remus Lupin walked right on in, closing the door behind him.
James glanced at Sirius for a hint of what was going on, but Sirius wore the same confused expression.
Remus walked to the kitchen grabbing a drink from the fridge, walked back into the living room and sat in the chair resting idly next to the couch. James and Sirius remained quiet as they watched their friend.
There was a long moment of silence.
"So," Sirius shifted positions, "Remus. Long time, no see." It had been at least a week since the three friends had been all together.
"Why the fuck are women the most confusing beings in the entire bloody world?"
James nearly spit his beer out at Remus's rather crude and out-of-character statement, but managed to hold it back with a cough.
"Are they?" Sirius asked smartly in an attempt to get Remus to explain what exactly he was talking about.
"YES!" Remus practically roared, throwing his hands up in the air in defeat. "One minute they are happy and telling you they love you, and the next they're throwing your clothes out of their house, and hitting you with a measuring stick!"
Sirius couldn't help but laugh at this; Remus took no notice.
"Enlighten us," James asked, setting his drink down on the coffee table.
"It doesn't make any sense to me! Here I was, enjoying a rather spectacular day, and I arrive at Kate's house. Before I even have a bloody chance to knock on the bloody door…
--------
The door flew open to Kate Bennett's house and her rather nasty scowl caused Remus to take a step back.
"Is something wrong, honey?" Remus asked taking a very small step toward her.
"I don't know, dear," Kate replied with her hands on her hips. "Why don't you tell me?" She reached next to the door, and shoved a box full of numerous items at him; clothes, a toothbrush, magazines, a mountain of books, shoes, and many other things Remus recognized as his own.
She then turned around grabbing an enormous pile of clothing and threw it out onto the lawn behind Remus. He attempted to stop her but to no avail.
When he made to enter the house after her for a simple explanation, Kate grabbed a measuring stick off the sewing table, and told him to leave. When he refused her, she began continuously hitting him until finally he relented and turned walking out the door.
"If you think I'm that blind then you are sadly mistaken Remus!" Kate moved backward to allow room for the door to close. "And don't bother ever coming back here again!"
Remus stood astounded as he experienced being dumped for the very first time…
--------
"She didn't even give you a reason why?" Sirius asked incredulously.
Remus shook his head, and downed the rest of his bottle. "No fucking reason whatsoever."
"That's bullshit," James said tossing his empty bottle onto the floor.
Remus stared at it for a moment before looking back up at James. "You know what?" He said finally.
Sirius and James awaited his answer.
"I don't care," Remus said letting out a small laugh. "If she's that insecure about whatever happened, then she's not the type of person I need in my life right now."
"That's the spirit, mate," Sirius agreed clapping Remus on the back.
"This simply means I'm opened up to a whole new world full of beautiful, smart, and fun woman who would be more than willing to go out with me!"
Sirius nodded his head in agreement.
"Honestly, Remus." James gave a quick smile at his friend, "She's not worth it if she can't keep a commitment." James looked once again out the window as if consumed by a painful memory.
Sirius gave Remus a worried look before turning his attention to James.
The sunlight from the window was beaming through the semi-closed shades, and cast eerie shadows on James's face as he sat in silence.
It had been quite some time since these thoughts and memories had leaked into his mind.
----------
Lily tapped her pen repeatedly against the desk she had now been sitting at for over two hours.
This is getting ridiculous.
When she made the decision of only admittingtwenty new Aurors into the academy she had completely overlooked the part of going through an enormous amount of applications.
"Maybe Potter was right," She sighed as she leaned back in her chair rubbing her face with her hands. She stopped as she realized what she had just said, and groaned out loud.
"Obviously all this work is getting to my head." Lily stood from her chair and walked into the kitchen to grab a glass of water.
She noticed a brown owl tapping softly on the window and she quickly opened it to let the animal inside. She took the parchment from it's beak, and flipped the small strip of paper open to read.
I need you to come over as soon as you can. Sorry if it's a bad time, but this is urgent.
Mel
Lily's brow furrowed in confusion. What could be going wrong? She tossed the paper on the counter, and gave the owl a quick stroke along it's back indicating it could leave.
Grabbing her coat, she hurried to the fireplace and flooed to Melissa's flat.
Lily stepped out of the fireplace at Mel's home, and looked around.
"Mel?" Lily called.
She heard a sob from Melissa's room and hurried over. Pushing the already propped open door, she noticed Melissa sitting on the floor leaning back against her bed with a pile of tissues surrounding her.
Lily threw her coat into an empty chair and sat down next to Melissa pulling her into an embrace.
"Mel, what happened?" She asked soothingly.
"It's Clark. He – I don't know what I did wrong Lily," Melissa tightened her grip around Lily as a fresh wave of tears began to flow from her crystal blue eyes.
"I'm sure you didn't do anything wrong sweetie," Lily consoled as she ran her hand over Melissa's back. What on earth could have gone wrong?
Lily didn't press the matter until almost an hour later when Melissa had finally calmed some. Lily had put on a kettle of tea and was now pouring a cup for Melissa.
"So what happened between you two?" Lily asked quietly.
Melissa took a sip of her tea, warming her hands up against the sides.
"I wanted to do something with him today, so I owled him. Well, I didn't get an owl back, and I began to worry so I went over to his place." She paused taking a deep breath. "I walked in to find him with another woman."
Lily was gripping her cup so tight her knuckles were beginning to whiten. She had never liked Clark much, ever since he and Melissa had begun dating over two years ago. But she never said a word, and now she was about ready to punch his face in.
"That bastard," Lily said finally. "Melissa, Clark doesn't deserve you. You are an amazing young woman, and he has to be blind to not see that no one can compare to you." Lily walked over pulling Melissa into another hug. "I know this might sound a little… counterproductive. But I never liked Clark." She pulled away from Melissa smiling weakly. "I always knew you could do better." Melissa frowned slightly. "But this is your chance Mel!" Lily stood up fully.
"What do you mean?" Melissa asked wiping underneath her eyes.
"This is your chance to find someone that is better than Clark. Two years of your life have gone by and you haven't had a chance to experience love with anyone else." Lily knelt down beside Melissa. "Don't get me wrong Mel. I'm so sorry this happened to you, but can you promise me something?"
Melissa nodded her head.
"I don't want you to let this ruin it for you. Don't make the same mistake I did."
Melissa glanced up at Lily worriedly. Lily gave a half smile as she noticed her friend's expression.
"I want you to take this opportunity and find a person who will respect, and love you. He's out there somewhere." Melissa smiled. "And I know you'll find him."
--------
"You know, maybe I should just go back home," Remus said turning around as he, James, and Sirius were about to enter Carbanos Bar; one of the only wizard bars in London.
Sirius took hold of his arm spinning him back forward. "Oh no you don't. We said we'd buy you a drink, and that's exactly what we're going to do, mate."
Remus gave in and allowed himself to be led over to an empty spot at the bar.
"Three Phoenix Margaritas," James called to the bartender, tapping the table with his knuckles.
Sirius began scanning the room. He spotted a brunette girl sitting at a table near the back, and pointed her out to James.
Remus sat with his elbows up on the counter, and his head hanging.
James shook his head at Sirius, and began searching the crowd as well.
The bartender brought their drinks, and Remus was the first to start his. James motioned to a blonde haired girl sitting with two friends, but Sirius pointed to his ring finger on his left hand.
James looked back over and noticed she had a wedding ring on. Sirius looked away as the door opened. The sunlight blocked the figures entering from view, but as soon as Sirius caught sight of the woman who had just walked in, he nudged James in the side. It was Melissa McClain, and Sirius knew she would be perfect for Remus to meet.
James smiled walking away in the direction she was heading. It wasn't until after that Sirius saw who had walked in right behind her.
He was about to call to James, but James had already reached his target.
"Hello," James said approaching Melissa.
She looked up startled. "Hi."
"Fancy meeting you outside of work," He said smiling. "Care to join me and my friends for some drinks."
"Excuse us, Potter."
James was almost frightened as he heard a voice that he knew too well coming from behind Melissa.
Lily stepped up beside her friend, and smiled at him. "But we were actually here to spend some time together so if you don't mind…"
"I believe Miss McClain can make that decision for herself don't you think?" James said smartly.
Lily looked taken aback for a moment then began to move Melissa away from James, but Melissa resisted.
"Come on Lily. We might as well." Mel smiled at James, and placed her arm through his as he led her to the bar.
"Look who just walked in," James said as they approached Sirius and Remus.
Sirius quickly stood from his seat to allow Melissa to sit. She nodded her head in thanks before introducing herself.
"Sirius," He replied shaking her hand.
"Ah, yes. You're the one who wanted to be trainer for the Women Auror Division, am I correct?"
"Yours truly," Sirius replied holding his arm out. "It would have been so if Miss Evans had only agreed to it." Lily raised her eyebrow at him. "But what can I say? I guess the WAD will have to wait for the time when Evans will realize the mistake she's made."
"Which won't happen, Black," Lily cut in. "If you gave me a valid reason why you should be in the department then maybe I would consider it. But as of this moment, I have yet to see that." Sirius simply smiled at her. "Besides, I don't know if I would be so trusting of you if you were in a room full of women; most of them being single."
Sirius stared at her for a moment before taking his drink from in front of Melissa. "Like I said." He took a sip of his margarita. "It's not my loss, it's yours."
"Mel, I don't think we've ever introduced you to our mate, Remus, here have we?" James asked clapping Remus on the back.
"I don't believe you have," Melissa replied smiling.
Remus sat up straighter and finally turned to look at her. He paused, staring at her for a moment.
"I'm Melissa," She said extending her hand to him, "Call me Mel."
Remus shook her hand breaking a smile. "Remus."
"Nice to meet you Remus," Melissa replied as she slipped her hand from his.
"So Evans," James said gaining Lily's attention. "I need to, er…"
Lily looked at him funnily. "You need to, er, what Potter?"
James looked as if he was hastily trying to think of something until finally he said, "Discuss some business with you."
He grabbed her hand pulling her away from Melissa, "Sirius, come help us out." Sirius lifted his glass to Remus and Melissa and hurried off behind Lily and James.
"What in Merlin's name are you doing Potter?" Lily protested trying to free her arm from his grasp.
"Helping out your friend," He replied not bothering to look at her. He finally pulled her over to a table on the opposite side of the room and sat her down. He pulled a chair up for Sirius to sit in then took a seat across from Lily resting his arms up on the table and staring at her intently.
"Great excuse Prongs," Sirius said approaching them, flipping the chair around, and straddling it; his arms resting up against the back. "'I need to 'discuss business' with you'?" Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Hey, you weren't exactly helping me get them alone," James retorted.
"What the bloody hell are you two talking about?" Lily asked trying to keep her voice down.
"Remus and Melissa," James replied as if it was obvious. "They'd be perfect for each other."
Lily turned her attention to her friend directly across the room. She smiled as she saw her talking animatedly with Remus.
Suddenly, her face turned to a scowl and she turned back to James.
"Well that might not be the best idea right now, Potter. For once use your head! She just found out, not even an hour ago, her boyfriend of two years had been cheating on her! Do you honestly think that she's going to just go for the next guy in line?"
James looked at her unbelievably, but then smiled. "Oh, this is perfect! Lily, you just made my day." He smacked his hand against he table before leaning back into his chair. "Remus's too probably."
"And why's that?" Lily asked incredulously, noting that he had used her first name for the first time in a long time.
"Remus just got kicked out of his girlfriend's house today." Lily continued staring blankly at him. "They have a common ground; One of the first rules of attraction."
"There are rules now?" Lily countered.
"Naturally, Evans." His gaze was fixed on hers. "You didn't know?" He leaned his elbows against the table once again, never taking his eyes from hers. "How ironic."
Sirius looked between them nervously. "How about we get some more drinks?" He interrupted. James gave Lily a final stare before turning and smiling at Sirius.
"Sure thing, mate."
--------
Melissa sat awkwardly next to Remus, and tapped her fingers against the countertop waiting for him to say something.
"So, you're friends with James and Sirius?" She asked conversationally.
Remus looked up at her and smiled softly. She couldn't help but notice the sadness trapped behind it.
"Yeah." He sipped from his drink, and didn't say anything else.
Melissa glanced over in Lily's direction to see if they were finishing up with whatever they were doing.
"Maybe I'll go get Lily and the others to come back over." She made to move but stopped as she felt a hand on her arm.
She turned back to find herself staring into Remus's dark chocolate brown eyes.
"Don't," He said softly. "I'm not making too much of an effort here, am I?" Melissa remained silent as she sat back down. "You'll have to forgive me. I've just had a hard day, and the last thing I need right now is for my friends to be setting me up with someone."
He noticed Melissa blush and tuck her hair behind her ear nervously. "Don't take it personally, Melissa. I mean, you're a gorgeous girl, and it's not that you don't seem like a great person…" He paused when she looked at him laughing.
"What? Do I need to stop talking?" He asked smiling as she nodded her head.
"Listen, Remus. I completely understand where you're coming from. This was just about the worst day of my life, and Lily was simply trying to get me out and do something. But leave it to James Potter to meddle in other people's lives."
Remus nodded his head in agreement.
"If you don't mind me asking," He said taking hold of James's drink, and sliding it toward her. "What could have made your day so bad?"
Melissa stirred the margarita in front of her with the straw before taking a sip. "I found out something about someone very close- who I thought was very close – to me." Her eyes stared down into the swirling contents of her glass.
"What about you?" She questioned.
"To put it bluntly, my girlfriend- ex girlfriend, kicked me out of her house." He propped his head up against his arm. "And now I'm here."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Melissa said softly.
"And I'm sorry to hear about… whatever it was that happened with the someone you know about something?" Remus responded. His attempts to make her smile worked, and he noticed how much her laugh made his entire mood lighten.
"Seeing as we're in the same boat, I suppose it would only be fair to enlighten you a little more wouldn't it?" Melissa asked.
"Only if you want to," Remus replied looking at her seriously. "It's not my business, and you don't need to feel obliged to make it mine."
Melissa pushed her drink away from her a little, and rested her arms against the countertop. "I don't mind. I need to talk to someone about it, and I think Lily's just about sick of hearing me talk."
"She's not," Remus interrupted. "That wouldn't be possible."
Melissa smiled at him before continuing. "Well, to put it bluntly," She said mimicking his choice of words, "I had been going out with this guy for over two years, and this morning I found that only having me in his life wasn't what he wanted." She looked down at the counter. She didn't know why but she felt embarrassed that she had told this person, who she hardly knew, what had happened to her.
Now all she wanted was for the floor to swallow her up and get her away from this place.
She jumped slightly as she felt Remus' hand on her shoulder. "Don't be embarrassed," He said softly. "It was his loss."
"Thanks," She responded almost shyly. "I guess I really haven't taken it all in yet. I mean this only happened this morning."
"I'm right there with you," Remus put in.
"Well we might as well cheer one another up if we're both going through the same thing," Melissa said.
"I'm glad I have someone who understands what I need right now." Remus shifted in his seat. "James and Sirius will stop at nothing to find me the right person. But right now I just need to get away from woman," Melissa raised her eyebrow at him. "No offense." Remus added. "I meant more in a relationship type way."
"I know you did," Melissa replied, "And I'd have to say the same thing about myself."
"We need to just get that through our friends' heads."
---------
"Potter, she just got out of a relationship!" Lily said furiously. "She won't be up for this! It's too much to handle when she found out her boyfriend was cheating on her just this morning!"
James sat in thought for a couple minutes, taking a long drink from his glass of beer.
"Remus is the perfect person for her," He said finally. "You can't tell me that there wouldn't be a great connection between them."
"Of course there would be a great bloody connection between them!" Lily retaliated. "But not at this exact moment!"
"Oh ye of little faith," Sirius chimed in.
"Don't even start, Black. You're already on my bad side, don't make it worse."
"Calm down, dear. No harm done trying to do some friendly getting together."
"Yes, but when that involves my friend whom I care a great amount for, you might want to remember who is keeping you in the Auror Department."
"And when you start threatening my friends whom I care a great amount for, you might want to remember who is following you up in your career." James said acidly. Lily looked taken aback.
"What are you talking about?" She asked.
"Just because your one fucking position higher than me doesn't mean I can't take you away from where you are. Believe me, Evans; if I really wanted to I could get you removed from your high and mighty position in a heartbeat." James was staring hard at her.
Lily's mind jammed as she tried to figure out what he had meant, but she didn't let her skepticism show through. "Then why haven't you done anything yet?"
James remained quiet and looked away from her. He was gripping his glass so tight his knuckles were turning white.
"Are you going to answer me, Potter?" Lily asked her eyes furious. "Or are you still a stubborn jackass who can't take his foot from his mouth?"
James's hand was shaking now from his tight grip.
"Come on," Sirius said lowering his voice, "Don't start this here."
Lily kept her eyes on James. "Some things never change."
That's what did it for James. His grip on his glass tightened even more and the sound of shattering glass caught the attention from many of the neighboring tables. Numerous people were looking at James with skeptical gazes.
Sirius took care of the problem quickly by giving them a glare clearly asking 'is something wrong?' Everyone returned to their own business.
Lily's eyes drifted from James's face down to his hand. There were pieces of glass littering the table; some stained with red.
James let go of the remains of the cup still in his hand, and cringed as he noticed the amount of blood now running along his fingers and onto the table.
"Come on," Sirius grabbed him by the arm and began to lead him toward the bathroom. Lily felt her heart painfully beating as Sirius gave her a final look before steering James away.
She didn't know what had caused her to say what she did. But she knew she shouldn't have. She had finally crossed the line.
please review