Moving swiftly on from shamefully short chapter three to four! Keep reading, and I'll keep writing! Enjoy.
4. Late At Night
That night was another sleepless one for James. He knew, as soon as he set his head down on the pillow, that he would be tossing and turning for hours, wondering why Lily was so resistant to his charms, and was annoyed when he heard his other roommate's peaceful sleepy breathing. In frustration, he threw his covers aside got out of bed and headed for the door. Then suddenly another voice invaded the thick night silence.
"So, Audrey Merryweather, huh?" Sirius commented casually before James could reach the door.
James spun around and squinted into the darkness. "What? What? What gave you that idea?" He asked incredulously, but tried to keep his voice down at the same time, as he was not eager to awake Peter…or Remus.
"Aw, come on James. You were slobbering all over each other in transfiguration. Why deny it? She's…nice." Sirius said with a wink.
"Nah, she's not my type." James replied, sitting back down on his bed.
"She's not your type? Are you blind?" Sirius replied in disbelief, not bothering to keep his tone lowered.
"She's just…she's not..."
"Lily Evans? You've got to give up on that bird, mate. She's a no hoper. And, if you ask me, sort of stuck up. I'd take or leave her type if I were you, Prongsie, no fun." Sirius advised sagely before yawning widely.
"You don't know her, man. She's special." Said James dreamily as he thought of her long red hair.
"You don't know her so great either. Think about it – what do you actually know about her except that she has a really bad temper? Stew that over amigo, all this talk is making me sleepy. Night." Sirius retorted before falling back into bed and pulling the covers over his head.
"That's ridiculous. I've known Evans for seven years. I'd have to be a moron to have known and liked her for that long and not bothered to get to know her. Right?" James replied with a chuckle, getting back into bed and lying down.
"Right." Came a muffled reply.
Meanwhile, up in the girl's dorms, all the girls, but one, were sleeping peacefully. Lydia, who could sleep because a crow had perched on the tree outside her window and was cawing incessantly, gave up on sleep, crept over to Audrey's bed and shook her slightly.
"Audrey. Audrey, wake up." She hissed quietly, but Audrey just grunted and turned her back to Lydia, burying her head in her pillow. Lydia sighed and dug her foot forcefully into Audrey's leg.
Audrey sprang up suddenly in shock, clutching her leg where Lydia had kicked it. "Ouch! What's your problem Lyd? Go away!" She growled furiously, rubbing the sore spot on her leg.
"Not my problem. Lily's. And we need to talk." Said Lydia, pulling the hangings around the bed to make sure they weren't to be overheard.
"Don't talk to me about her problems. The girl has issues at the moment. She'll get over it." Audrey replied dismissively, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
"Why do you think she's so mad at you?" Lydia asked, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I don't know. She's always getting mad at me for no real reason, but she always gets over it. Don't worry Lyd."
"Well, I'm convinced it's James. You should have seen her face when she saw you and James sitting together. You could have broken glass with the look on her face." Said Lydia emphatically.
"James? You've got to be joking. She blatantly has a thing for Remus. And besides, she was mad at me way before I sat with James. You're reading way too far into things." Audrey replied calmly, a secretive little smile on her face.
"Oh, am I? We'll see. What about you and James, anyway? You guys seemed…friendly." Lydia probed, raising a suggestive eyebrow.
"Oh I don't know. He is kind of cute though. Who knows, right?" Audrey replied, trying to sound casual, but kept breaking into smiles. "Whatever happens, happens."
Even later that night, Lily awoke from a nightmare that she couldn't quite remember. She was, however, sure that it had involved her transfiguration classroom and Audrey's high pitched laughter ringing though it. Feeling flushed, uncomfortable, and very awake, she got out of bed and headed for the door, deciding that a little night walk might clear her head. Looking back she saw Audrey sleeping peacefully, her drapes wide open, her arms wrapped around herself, a smile on her face. Lily narrowed her eyes suspiciously and turned away from her and slipped out of the dormitory and down into the common room.
There was no light in the common room that late at night, the fire had burned down to a few pathetic glowing embers in the bottom of the grate, which weren't providing much light. The moonlight glowed on the windows, casting eerie shadows all around the darkened room. Lily could barely find her way to the portrait and had to feel her way in the general direction of the door, when suddenly she bumped into something very solid.
"Oh! Sorry – who's there?" It asked, surprising Lily so much that she let out a slight squeak before she realised who it was.
"Remus? Is that you?" She asked, squinting into the darkness, trying to make out his shape.
"Yeah – is that Lily?" He whispered "I can tell it's you, even in the dark. No one else I know has that shade of red hair."
"Oh. Yeah, it's annoying." Said Lily, dejectedly tugging at her hair.
"No, I like it. It's so unique." Remus replied smiling warmly
Lily blushed slightly, "Thank you."
"So…I'll ask the obvious question – what are you doing up so late?" Remus inquired, raising an eyebrow. "It seems rather out of character."
"I suppose you wouldn't expect little rule-abiding Lily to be out of bed, right?" Said Lily, grinning mischievously up at Remus.
"No, I wouldn't, but if she would still like to, I would be honoured to have little law-abiding Lily's company while I go for a walk." Replied Remus, offering Lily his arm to take.
"Where are we going?" Asked Lily feeling a little nervous all of a sudden, as she took his arm and he led her towards the portrait.
"Come with me and find out."
And suddenly Lily found herself being swept through dark and silent corridors, hand in hand with Remus Lupin, who seemed to know Hogwarts passageways like the back of his hand. She found that she felt infinitely secure with him, even though she barely knew him and had no idea where he was taking her. She didn't care, though, it felt amazing.
Ten minutes later, she and Remus were lying side by side on the floor of the East Tower, staring up at the stars restfully, as though they were old friends.
"Know what that constellation is?" Remus asked, pointing up at a group of stars that seemed to glow brighter than the rest.
"No, what is it?"
"It's called Sagitta," He answered, pointing at the sky "It's shaped like Sagittarius's arrow, see?" And he traced the shape of an arrow with his index finger in the sky, like a cosmic dot-to-dot pattern.
Lily smiled; she loved how intelligent Remus was. "How do you know all this?"
"The night sky fascinates me, it's sort of beautiful in a sinister sort of way, don't you think?" He replied pensively.
"Yeah, there's something about the full moon that's unsettling, know what I mean?"
Remus took in a long breath "More than you know."
Then there was a thick contemplative silence between them after that, as the two just lay and simply stared into the inky sky dotted with pearly lights. Then, a few awkward shuffles later, and Remus had managed to slide his arm around Lily's shoulders.
It's because she looks cold he convinced himself as he pulled her close to his chest I wouldn't come onto Lily. I wouldn't do that to James. But has he looked down at the contented red-head lying next to him, wrapped in one of his arms, he found it hard to convince himself that his motives were purely chivalrous.
"Lily, I'm feeling sort of tired, want me to walk you back up to the common room?" He said abruptly, his chest tightening with guilt as he though of James's furious face.
"Um, OK," Said Lily, slightly disappointed when Remus removed his warm arm from around her neck. He helped her to her feet and then they slipped back into the common room without seeing hide nor hair or Mrs Norris or her odious master.
"So…I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast then?" Remus asked when they reached the two stairs.
"Yeah…thanks for the walk," Lily replied, smiling up at him, her green eyes flashing with excitement.
Remus smiled back at her and leaned in for a hug, sliding his arms around her waist and squeezing just a little. Lily hugged him back and decided to make a bold very un-Lily-like move and kissed him lightly on his cheek.
"I had a great time tonight, Remus." She whispered in his ear.
At 2 o'clock that morning, Sirius was awoken rather suddenly at the sound of the dormitory door shut with a creak behind him. Curiously, he turned his head slightly to see who had come in, all the while gripping his wand in case it was an unwanted intruder. He could just about make out a tall, thin silhouette sauntering into the room, and grinned to himself when he realised who it was.
"Lumos." His wand-tip ignited, casting a beam of light on the figure, whose face contorted into a look of shock. "Good morning Head Boy, still breaking rules I see?" He sneered up at Remus whose shocked features relaxed when he saw Sirius.
"Old habits die hard, Padfoot." Remus replied, grinning mischievously at him, a glint of excitement in his eyes.
Sirius raised an eyebrow "What did you get up to this time? Hit the Kitchen?"
"Nah, just…star-gazing." He replied, winking cheekily after a furtive glance in the direction of James's bed.
Sirius snorted "Star-gazing? Yeah right. Who's the girl?"
"The girl? I don't quite follow you there, Paddie." Remus answered with a fake naïve veneer.
"Let's just say I've never known a guy to go star-gazing alone. Hell, we don't even like doing it; it's a means to an end."
"Maybe you're right."
"Come on Moony, who'll I tell? Wait, wait…oh." Sirius fell silent as realisation dawned on him. "It's not…?" He began, dropping his voice to a low hiss. "Evans?"
"Yes. Yes, it is."
"Are you crazy?"
"Nothing's going on, she just happened to be there and so did I so we decided to hang out together. No big issue. OK?"
"You ARE crazy." Sirius paused for a second for thought. "She's pretty fit though, mind."
Remus laughed huskily, "Goodnight Padfoot." And both closed their hangings around their beds to sleep.
James, however, lay peacefully in bed, sleeping as soundly as a baby, dreaming, as usual, of Quidditch, and Lily, and Quidditch, and…Audrey?