And of course - thanks oodles and noodles for the wonderful words y'all are spouting off. I love getting feedback and hearing everyone's opinions. It's quite interesting.
Coolcatjenny said something about...whipped cream? In the story? LoL. I'll see what I can do... ; )
"One Thing in Mind"
"So you and James are buddy-buddy now, huh?" Sirius asked as he and Lily were walking back to the common room after dinner that night.
"Yeah, I guess. I mean, we've only really known each other since last night, but he's so wonderful. Reminds me of you, actually."
"Of course he does. We're a two for one special," Sirius joked.
"And speaking of last night," Lily continued, "how did your tutoring go?"
"It was great," Sirius smirked.
"That's good..." Lily lied. "So Nessa is a good tutor, huh?"
"Oh yeah," Sirius said, his smirk growing wider. Lily cursed herself inwardly for even asking.
They had now reached the portrait hole, but before Lily could utter the password ("dancing daisies") Sirius pulled her to a dark corner of the hallway in one fluid movement, pressing his body against hers.
"Let's not go in just yet..." Sirius said in a whisper.
Lily looked up into his eyes and lost herself. Although she had been feeling slightly miffed about the whole Nessa ordeal, it all fell away when she felt his strong body against hers, his face only inches from hers.
"Okay..." she said quietly, although she didn't know how she had managed to get the word out.
"Good." His face was now so close to hers that she could feel his hot breath brushing past her cheeks. Lily closed her eyes and let his closeness consume her. It felt so good, yet so...
Without warning, the portrait was thrown open. Lily jumped away from Sirius in surprise and turned to see who was there. It was Marilyn.
"Lil! There you are. I was wondering what was tak-" She stopped midsentence when she saw the flushed look on Lily's face, and the annoyed look on Sirius.
"Um...I'll see you inside then, okay? Okay," Marilyn said quickly then ran back into the common room.
Lily let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, and turned back to Sirius. She opened her mouth to say something, but instead bit her lip nervously when she found she had nothing to say. Sirius moved close to her again.
"Your friend has really bad timing," he said in the same whisper.
"Yeah, really..."
"So where were we?" He leaned in closer, but Lily pulled away.
"We were just going in!" she said as she backed away from him, and turned to go into the common room. Sirius let out an exasperated noise, then followed.
Lily ran up to her dorm where her friends were waiting with expectant faces. Marilyn looked as if she would explode any minute. Lily plopped down on her bed and dropped her head into her hands.
"What happened!" Marilyn blurted, obviously in desperate need for the answer.
"What am I doing..." Lily muttered to herself. Marilyn looked positively confused. This wasn't the answer she was expecting.
"You're sitting on a bed Lil," Marilyn explained, genuinely thinking that was what Lily wanted to know. Scarlett rolled her eyes.
"Thank you genius, but that's not what she meant."
"Oh! Um, I knew that," Marilyn muttered quietly. Cherise, who up to this point had been silent, moved next to Lily and put her arm around her.
"What happened?" she asked much more tenderly than Marilyn had. Lily lifted her head and sighed.
"I don't know, to tell you the truth. We were just about to walk into the common room when he... well he pulled me to the side and almost kissed me, but then Marilyn interrupted-"
"I did! Oh my God, I'm so sorry! Stupid Mari! Stupid Mari!" Marilyn ranted, hitting herself on the head repeatedly.
"No, it's okay Marilyn!" Lily assured her. "I'm not sure I even want him to kiss me..."
"Why not!" Marilyn squeaked.
"I don't know! I guess I'm just kinda scared. I've never had someone even want to kiss me, that I know of, let alone attempt to do it. It's kinda overwhelming. I mean, what if I do it wrong? Or what if Sirius realizes he doesn't really like me after he kisses me or something? I... I just don't know!" Lily dropped her head into her hands again.
"Don't worry about it Lil. You don't have to do anything you don't want to," Cherise said with a comforting tone. "If Sirius really likes you, he'll respect your wish to not kiss yet. If he doesn't, then he's not worth your time."
"But he's so perfect! I don't want to lose the guy I've been wanting for years just because I don't want to kiss him! Gawd, listen to me! Why wouldn't I want to kiss him? I should be throwing myself all over him! He's everything I've ever wanted..."
"Is he?" Cherise asked. Lily paused a moment.
"...Yes," she said almost reluctantly. Her hesitation took both herself and Cherise by surprise. Cherise stared at Lily with concern, but Marilyn took a different approach.
"Of course he is!" She said simply. "Just take one look at him. He's what every girl's ever wanted."
"Amen sister," Scarlett preached. This brought Marilyn and Scarlett into a fit of giggles. Lily and Cherise, however, didn't join in. Lily managed to produce a small smirk in response to Scarlett's humor, but Cherise remained solemn. Lily noticed this and couldn't help but wonder about it.
"Why have you been so serious lately, Rise?" she asked meekly. Cherise searched for a casual response, but came up short.
"I... haven't been serious lately," she said in a completely unconvincing tone.
"Come on Cherise. You know you're a terrible liar," Scarlett chipped in, now calmed from her giggling. Cherise sighed and shrugged her shoulders.
"Okay, okay. I know. I guess I just haven't been feeling like myself lately. It's hard to explain."
All three girls looked at her with pleading eyes, expecting more explanation than that.
"Really!" Cherise urged. "It's complicated..."
Her friends finally gave up and accepted her answer. Cherise was a hard shell to crack.
Lily sat in her bed, staring offhandedly at the ceiling. The room was eerily silent and dark, the only light provided by the moonlight falling in through the windows. If only her mind could be as serene. Contradicting feelings tore restlessly at her conscience. Why did such a simple situation have to be so difficult?
Lily tried time and again to drift off into sleep, but it wouldn't come. For almost an hour she sat in bed, not sleeping, but thinking. Finally, she gave up on the idea of sleep and sat up in her bed. Instinctively, she looked over to Cherise's bed and was almost not surprised when she saw that her eyes were open. Lily slipped out of her bed and walked silently to Cherise's bedside and kneeled beside her.
"Can't sleep?" whispered Cherise's still figure.
"How'd you guess?" Lily whispered back. They sat in silence for a moment or two, until Cherise voiced the answer Lily was waiting for.
"It's about you and Sirius..." she said ever so weakly.
"What about us?"
Cherise remained quiet for a second, contemplating on how to answer. Or perhaps, whether to answer at all.
"You know Sirius's reputation... what he's like..." Cherise trailed off.
"What, that he's popular?"
"No. About how he is...you know...with girls."
Lily stayed quiet, so Cherise continued.
"You know how he is. He only has one thing in mind."
Lily rolled her eyes and scoffed. "You sound like my dad-"
"I'm serious Lily! And he flirts with so many girls, you never know what he might do." Cherise was beginning to talk with more vigor, almost with a desperate tone. "I just don't want you to get hurt Lil! I mean, with what you said before, about not wanting to kiss him...it worried me. I just want you to be sure you really like him and that he really likes you before you get attatched, that's all."
Lily pondered this a moment.
"So that's why you've been acting so strangely? Because you were worried about me and Sirius?"
"Well, kinda... yeah," Cherise replied quietly.
Lily smiled slyly at her friend. "Is this about that follow your heart thing?"
"Oh shut up!" Cherise laughed and hit Lily with a pillow. "You make me sound like a bloody sap!"
"Your words, Rise..."
Cherise scowled playfully and hid her face under her pillow.
"Prat," came her muffled reply.
"But seriously Rise, I know what you're thinking, and you really have nothing to worry about," Lily claimed. "I'm a big girl. I think I can handle one boy."
Cherise lifted the pillow slightly and looked sheepishly to her friend. "Yeah I suppose you're right...leave it to me to spaz out over nothing. It's just that...you're my best friend ever, Lil, and..." she trailed off uncertainly.
"I know," Lily said softly. She reached up and squeezed Cherise's hand reassuringly.
After a minute or so, Cherise broke the silence that had fallen. "Are we having a moment?"
Lily laughed and shook her head. "Not anymore!"
It was a blustery late-November evening. Lily and her friends were sitting around in the common room, chatting and occasionally jotting down some notes in their homework. Cherise had been acting completely normal again, much to the relief of the three other girls. Marilyn and Scarlett were never alerted of the reason behind Cherise's mood swing, but they shrugged it off as nothing.
Lily was preparing some notes for her tutoring session with James the next day, which she couldn't help but look forward to. Every one since then had been so wonderful. Although every time she thought about James, her mind tended to drift to that unexpected midnight chat. Lily found herself dwelling on that secret meeting more than she thought natural. It was just so refreshing to have him listen to her like that, even if only for a few minutes or so. She had never had a close friend of the male variety, so it was a whole new experience for her. An experience she was more than eager to repeat. And that kiss...it was in friendly manner, of course. Lily wouldn't ever dare betray Sirius - regardless if they were an official couple or not. The kiss was nothing more than a sign of friendly affection and gratitude. Hopefully James saw it that way...
Thanks to James's and Cherise's reassuring words, Lily had been feeling considerably more at ease around Sirius. She even felt comfortable when he pulled her close to him when they sat on the couch together. He hadn't tried to kiss her again, to her relief. Although she was getting more and more accustomed to the idea...
"So then she said it's all the rage in Paris right now," Marilyn explained with a sarcastic tone. For the past half hour she had been ranting about the episode that had occured earlier that day in Charms. It involved Aurora Moon and a new hairstyle, but that's all Lily really gathered. This was on account of she was only half tuned in to what her friend was saying. It's not that she didn't care what she had to say, but with Marilyn you could only follow along for so long. You could fall asleep and wake up an hour later and Marilyn would still be babbling enthusiastically. That was just how she was.
"...And then, oh my God, Remus walks up and slaps her on the butt and all she does is giggle and bat her eyelashes. Oh my God, if that were me, I would've run after him and..." Marilyn continued just as passionately.
Lily looked around and concluded she wasn't the only one zoned out. Scarlett was completely absorbed in a book, and Cherise was examining her fingernails. Lily giggled to herself at Marilyn's imperviousness to the situation.
"Hey ladies," Sirius interrupted, much to the delight of everyone except Marilyn, who wasn't fond of being interrupted.
"Hi Sirius," Lily greeted cheerfully.
Sirius smiled, taking this as an invitation to sit down. He plopped down next to Lily and wrapped his arm around her.
"What's up sweet thang?" he purred into her ear. Lily giggled at the nickname.
"Nothin' much snookums," she replied.
Scarlett eyed them carefully. "Since when did you two have pet names?"
Marilyn smacked her on the arm. "Shut up! It's cute."
"I know! I was just curious. Doesn't mean you have to get violent about it," Scarlett retorted while rubbing her arm. Marilyn stuck her tongue out at her teasingly.
"We do not have pet names," Lily broke in. "It was just one of those spur-of-the-moment type things."
"Yeah, and don't give my sweet thang a hard time about it," Sirius added.
"See!" Scarlett said triumphantly. "It's a pet name now!"
"No it's not!" Lily argued.
"It's adorable!" Marilyn squealed.
"Why are we still going on about this?" Cherise asked.
"Because if we don't have something to talk about, then Marilyn will start rabbiting on about God knows what again," Scarlett explained.
The whole group bursted out in laughter, with the exception of Marilyn, who hit Scarlett on the arm again.
"Ow!" Scarlett exclaimed. "You have some anger management problems hun."
"Well you deserved it," Marilyn huffed.
"But Scarlett has a point..." Cherise said thoughtfully.
At hearing this, Marilyn nearly blew up with indignance. Seeing Marilyn's now plum face, Scarlett and Cherise jumped off the floor and made a run for their dorm, giggling madly on the way. Marilyn sprang after them, muttering something to the effect of "I'll show you what else Marilyn O'Hara can do...".
Lily laughed at her friends' dramatic display, then sighed contentedly and leaned further into Sirius.
"My friends are batty," she concluded.
"Yeah, they are," Sirius agreed.
Lily pryed herself from his side and looked him in the face.
"Hey!" she exclaimed. "You're not supposed to agree!" She tried to look stern, but couldn't suppress her giggles when Sirius gave her the puppy dog eyes (a/n: which I'm sure he'd be very good at, wink wink).
"I'm sorry," he said with kid-like shame. "Will you forgive me?"
"Maybe..." she replied with an airy tone of uncertainty. Once again she was finding it extremely difficult to not smile.
"Will this change your mind?" Sirius asked as he leaned over and placed his lips on hers in a kiss. He had done it do quickly that Lily didn't even have time to think about what he was doing. But as soon as the realization hit her, she actually didn't want to pull away. She closed her eyes and melted beneath his lips. Lily loved the warmth his mouth gave off. It felt so incredibly nice, like drinking warm cocoa with whipped cream on a stormy night. Sirius wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in just a little bit closer. Lily could feel his tongue playing around her lips, so she opened her mouth slightly.
After what seemed like only a moment, they both pulled away from the kiss naturally. Lily looked into Sirius's ocean blue eyes and smiled.
"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" Sirius said quietly. Lily shook her head in response. Words refused to escape her at this moment. She felt light headed and dizzy, but in a strangely wonderful way. It was almost like a dream. Had she really just kissed Sirius Black? It was unreal.
Sirius leaned in and engaged her in yet another kiss. Since this kiss lacked the sudden surprise of the last one, Lily became very conscious of her arms, and realized she didn't know what to do with them. Trying not to ruin the moment with her newfound awkwardness, she did the first thing she could think of and placed her hands on his shoulders.
Never breaking contact with Lily, Sirius moved her hands so that her arms were wrapped around his neck. While doing so, he ever so slowly pushed her backwards onto the couch so that he was almost on top of her. He began kissing her more passionately and with more vigor. Lily was becoming more uncomfortable with each passing second, so she broke apart from Sirius abruptly.
"I think I should go now," she said breathlessly. Sirius looked disappointed.
"Are you sure?" he said temptingly. Lily gently pushed him off of her and sat up, straightening out her clothes.
"Yes, I really think I should." she said more firmly.
"Okay, okay. Do you want me to walk you?"
"Um, if you want," she bit her lip.
When they reached Lily's door, Sirius gave her one last, quick kiss.
"I knew you'd give in sometime," he said with a wink, then walked off down the hall.
Lily stood in shock a moment. So he could tell she was avoiding any kissing? Well, it was kind of obvious, yes, but still. She didn't think he'd come out and say it like that.
Taking a deep breath, she headed into her room, preparing herself for the stampede of questions and comments she was about to be bombarded with from her friends. It was going to be a long night.
Aha. So they finally kissed. Yay yay. No more kiss-o-phobic Lily.
But no James again. Aw. I know how wildly loved he is (-blows kiss to James shrine in corner-), but...well that's how the cookie crumbles.
Ish, I know that whole Cherise/Lily thing seemed awfully repetitive, but it was mainly to show the level of their relationship, among other things. There's method to the madness, I promise.
The next chapter is quite juicy, in my opinion, so I think I may hold back a couple of days until I post it. Just...you know...because. LoL. Becuase I CAN. ...And because I need to actually start writing MORE. Heh. Unless this story is going to end at chapter 7 - which it isn't - so I need to get to adding more.