Chapter Nine: Simultaneous Chats

The late afternoon sun finally set over the Forbidden Forest, sending spears of brilliant orange and red light over the castle and its grounds. Inside Gryffindor tower, the students worked, played or talked. In a secret corner below the stairs, the Marauders were quiet for once, discussing in hushed voices their plans for the next night: full moon. It would be their first of the new school year.

Meanwhile, over on the other side of the room, the sixth year girls had their own discussion going, sitting in their favourite comfortable armchairs before the always-merry fire.

"So, Lil." Bethan turned to Lily, a smile playing on her lips, "Have your extreme opinions on James changed at all since you last declared your hatred for him?"

Lily looked at her in surprise. "No, of course not!" she said in mock- indignation. "How dare you suggest that I could like that arrogant, big- headed whelp who calls himself a man?"

"Keep your voice down!" hissed Adriana, her blue eyes darting over to the boys' dark corner.

"Oh, he knows what I think of him," Lily told her as a reassurance, whilst chancing a glance herself over her shoulder at the Marauders.

"Yeah, just like you know what he thinks of you," Bethan said, as Lily turned back round to face the girls.

"The world," Sarah clarified the thought for them.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Well, that's not my problem," she said angrily. "I don't care if he 'loves' me; I definitely feel the opposite towards him, the loathsome little..." she snarled in frustration, clenching her fists. "I'm sorry," she said, managing to sound a bit calmer. "He just makes me so mad! I hate all that arrogance, thinking he can do whatever he wants, just because he's good at Quidditch" – she made a face to demonstrate her indifference to the sport – "and clever, and just this side of the brink of being attractive."

The others stared at her. They were accustomed by now to hearing her Potter rants, but never ceased to be both amused and surprised by her temper when it came to James.

"Well," Bethan said lightly, as beside her Lily again forced herself to calm down, "Looks like there could be romance in the air – just a joke!" she added hurriedly upon seeing Lily's face.

"There could be romance in the air, anyway, couldn't there?" Sarah said, and, raising an eyebrow suggestively, added, "eh, Bethan?"

"What?!" Bethan looked outraged, and a little pink in the face as the attention turned to her now. "What – or who – are you talking about, may I ask?"

Sarah paid another furtive glance towards to the far corner, the leaned forward confidentially and whispered, "Sirius!"

When Bethan looked mortified and speechless, Sarah settled back, satisfied, into her chair and folded her arms, waiting for mayhem to ensue.

"Really?" Lily asked, wide eyed. "And why hadn't I heard about this until now?"

"Heard about what? There's nothing to hear," Bethan tried lamely.

"Oh, please!" Sarah dropped her silence and turned to Lily, explaining, "She has such a huge crush on him and she thinks no one knows."

"I do not have a huge crush on him!" Bethan exclaimed, but, under the three sets of sceptical eyes, compromised with, "okay, so maybe I have a tiny, little crush, but it's just a phase, and you only didn't notice realise because you were so caught up with 'hating' James!" She directed this accusation to Lily, whose wicked grin didn't falter, and whose green eyes stayed alight with sudden interest.

"I don't like that tone you used there," she joked, "But you're not getting away with this that easily. Because I happen to find this new revelation a lot more interesting than my old, boring disliking of James Potter."

"If it's that boring, why don't you just give up and start loving me, like I know you want to?" said James' voice right by her ear.

He jumped back quickly from her armchair as she lashed out at him, furious for being surprised. "Piss off, Potter!" she called at his retreating back as he made his way up the stairs to bed, laughing.

Lily turned back, glowering, to see Bethan biting her lip worriedly.

"You don't think he heard about me and – you know, do you?" she asked anxiously.

"No, don't worry," spat Lily, still angry, "He doesn't hear anything that's not about him." She exhaled a long breath and said, "Now, what were we talking about? Oh yes – your enormous crush on Sirius."

"Shh!" Bethan looked worriedly over to where the boys had been huddled, only to see that they had all now gone up with James to the dormitory. "Oh, don't worry," she said, more relaxed, "they're not there any more. I think we should shift the subject a little, anyway," she continued quickly, as Lily opened her mouth again. She turned to Adriana, asking, "You've been very quiet through all this; no doubt deciding which of the very eligible Gryffindor bachelors you like the most. Indulge us."

Adriana crossed her long slim legs and laughed, before answering in her soft, lilting accent, "Oh, how could I choose? They are all so lovely."

"Well, you could have any of them in a second," Bethan said, somewhat enviously, but with a friendly smile.

"Alright, let's get to bed," Sarah said decisively, rising from her seat.

"Yeah, we must keep looking good for our guys," Lily agreed. "I ask you, what would they do without us?"

The others shook their heads, unable to find an answer to this riddle, as they reluctantly left the comfortable Gryffindor chairs. They weren't too upset, though, because they knew the just-as-comfortable Gryffindor beds lay waiting for them upstairs.

"Why the long face, Prongs?" Sirius asked as they got ready for bed.

"Just thinking about our Quidditch training yesterday," James lied, trying to look sincere. "It didn't go too well, and we have to play Ravenclaw next week."

"It went fine, and you're lying," Sirius stated, pulling the curtains of his four-poster bed open ready to climb in. "Don't tell me the rejections of Lily Evans are finally getting to you at this late stage!" he asked with a wicked grin, and dodged a pillow which flew in his direction.

"Way to be supportive, 'best friend'," James grumbled, climbing between the sheets of his own bed.

"Sorry," Sirius said, handing back the pillow and sitting cross-legged. "What do you want to get off your chest?" he asked wearily.

"I just don't get her," James started his onslaught straight away. "I know she loves me, but she just keeps pushing me away."

"Way to be modest," Peter muttered, smirking as he threw James' words back at him.

"Yeah, maybe she's a bit put-off by you being the biggest, boasting show- off the world – or at least Hogwarts – has known," Sirius suggested helpfully.

James looked disgruntled as he thought about it. "No, that can't be it," he told himself, and turned his attention to Remus on the opposite side of the room. "Moony, you're generally more sensible than these two goons." Sirius grinned at the compliment. "What do you think?"

Remus pulled the covers around him and considered the situation before answering, "I think you should respect Lily's opinions. She says she wants nothing to do with you." James looked taken aback. "But," Remus continued, and hope returned to his friend's face, "If you're right, and she does love you, then she obviously has a problem with the way you're going about your pursual of her."

The others listened carefully to Remus' advice; in discussions such as this, he seemed to have a strange power over them, and they always took note of his words more than anyone else's.

"In my opinion," he continued, trying not to laugh at their enraptured faces, "She seems to be in an extreme phase of denial when it comes to you. I heard her earlier telling the girls that she hated you and so on – it all seems very unnecessary when she claims that she doesn't care either way."

He had also heard them discussing Bethan's sudden fondness for Sirius, but did not mention it. His three friends stared at him a moment longer before they realised he had finished, and Sirius gave a triumphant laugh.

"Man, you could be the next Dumbledore!" he crowed to Remus, who smiled indulgently. "There you are, James, there's your answer!"

James looked confused. "What's my answer?"

"You have to respect Lily," Peter told him impatiently. "She doesn't like you being all over her all the time, so you'll have to get her another way. Right, Moony?" he checked.

"Yes," Remus sighed as he laid his head on the soft pillow, feeling slightly nervous about tomorrow's full moon.