A Little Suicidal.
By Seer of Spots.
Summary: Lily Lupin? Alliteration was never looked fondly upon by Lily Evans. Sounds a little suicidal, actually.
Disclaimer: Harry was born – a mistake I never would have made. Therefore, Harry Potter is most definitely the property of J.K. Rowling.
o:o:o
A little clock ticked four times a second, whilst another ticked by at the more sensible speed of one click a second. The hands of both clocks, however, pointed to the same position: the big hand on the four, the little hand just past the eight. Magical symbols shimmered above the bigger clock, clearly displaying the letters 'P' and 'M' in a sequence read to be "post meridian". Ancient Runes also decorated the outside, but no one bothered to translate those.
Lily sat at a table in the library, a thick leather-bound volume balanced precariously on her knee, two feet of parchment lay out before her covered in tiny print and three drips of ink on the old bench.
Remus, her study partner, was immersed in a Charms paper that Lily had helped him with. His mouth worked slightly as he read over the words, occasionally frowning and scribbling over something and then smiling, satisfied, with his work. His ears were twitching at the noise the clocks were making and his nose was filled with the scent of the pages before him, the ink on the paper and the fragrance that Lily wore.
It was quite nice, actually.
He placed down his Charms essay, and pulled the next lot of homework towards him.
Soon enough, he was engrossed in his Transfiguration and rewriting his notes in a more coherent fashion.
Lily, however, was distracted as sixth-year students were found often to be. Her now finished Potions assignment lay still on the table.
Another drop of ink splattered against the wood and Remus stilled before continuing his Transfiguration. Lily placed her quill down and dragged a History of Magic text towards her with the intention of doing the required reading.
Replacing the thick book already on her lap with the new book, Lily opened up to the appropriate page and turned her eyes to read.
A couple of minutes later, she found her eyes drawn back to her friend sitting in front of her.
She looked him over.
He stilled again. He looked up at her from his work and stared straight into her eyes.
Lily felt herself blushing. Remus smiled uncertainly, looking behind him for the source of her embarrassment and, when finding the area deserted, pinked a little himself before hurriedly going back to work.
Lily again tried to busy herself with the book, but she was continually distracted. The scratch of his quill against the parchment, the ticking of the clocks – it was a little bit much.
She looked down at the page before her and was instantly bored.
The forty-second Goblin rebellion lasted for just under two months, led by Argle the Argumentative, who eventually pestered the then Minister for Magic into raising the average Goblin wage to 3 sickles a day. It was quite an achievement for Goblins in the 14th century and Argle was idolised and raised to a position of power for three years, before his defeat by Marlene the Mild-mannered. Thus, the work of generations fell apart and Goblins were –
Remus pushed the hair back from his face as he read over the last few lines of his essay. Lily's eyes, immediately drawn from her textbook took in the lighter highlights in his brown hair and the small scars that ran down his arm.
Lily eventually finished her visual explorations, her sight focusing back on his face. She jumped when she saw his yellow eyes looking straight back into hers again. He hadn't moved an inch, and was still holding his hand in his hair.
Lily felt the irritating blush ignite her face once again. Remus' left eyebrow rose slowly, before settling itself high above its partner.
"Lily?" he asked, finally moving his hand. Lily attempted to stop herself, but was physically unable to shift her eyes from Remus's arm as it rested back on the table. When the limb was no longer moving, she jumped – waking from her trance.
"Yes, Remus?" she replied, focusing all her attention on to the wall just behind his shoulder. It was a truly fascinating wall, after all.
Hesitantly, Remus turned – for the second time in as many minutes – to look behind him for the source of her distraction. His right eyebrow jumped up to join its fellow when, once again, no one was there.
"Are you quite alright?" he asked.
"Oh! Yes, of course I am! Why wouldn't I be fine! I mean, alright – because that's what you said isn't it? You asked me whether I was alright and… I… am?" she finished lamely.
Remus's mouth hung open slightly as he tried to comprehend her last sentence. "Oh, okay. Just making sure; you seem a little distracted, is all."
"Me?" shrieked Lily, laughing hysterically. Remus toppled out of his chair at the sudden noise. Lily didn't notice, however. "Distracted? Never! I'm – I'm reading about, uh –" she checked her book, "– about Goblins – fascinating creatures! Marvellous –" she stopped and saw Remus shakily standing from the floor.
"Are you quite sure you're alright, Lily?" Remus asked, standing up in front of her.
Lily was struck dumb as she openly stared at the tall boy. Remus was the tallest of all the Marauders and that was actually quite tall. Especially since Lily was sitting down at a desk. She emitted a squeak.
Remus looked confuzzled. "What on earth is going on, Lily?" he gently asked, folding himself into a chair beside her.
Lily averted her gaze.
Uhm.
Lily's eyes darted about the library as if she were having some form of visionary spasm. Then she opened her mouth and began to babble.
"Well, you see, you and me – I, you and I – have been studying – well, you've been studying, I've been looking at you. You're very nice looking, you know."
Remus blushed, but Lily didn't notice as she ploughed on, babbling to free China.
"And, you see, I was looking and thinking; in fact, I was thinking about the looking and I'm thinking I may have a crush of the funniest kind on you. We're good friends, aren't we? I like to be friends. Friends is good. But more would be great. Of course, you don't know I fancy you – well! You do now, I suppose – so it'd be a little awkward, because I like you, but you didn't know that and we've been partnered in everything and if you don't like me the same way it could – will – get messy, so I'm not going to say anything about it!
"Then again, I've already said something about it, so I may as well finish it, so when I was thinking today – when I was looking at you, not my text book; you're a hopeless study partner, you know, distracting me all the time, terrible partner, Remus – that if anything did happen…
"Well, you see, the thing is… I really dislike alliteration. You know the whole 'Sally sewed socks for seasick sailors' and 'pass-the-parcel' kinds of things. Of course you know what alliteration is! You're very smart, you know – that's why I chose you for my study partner, but it hasn't done much good, has it? Anyway, I was thinking and looking and I realised, again, how much I hate alliteration, so, I'm sorry, Remus, but it'd never work out. 'Lily Lupin' sounds a little suicidal, if you know what I mean.
"That's probably remarkably offensive – it's your last name, after all, but it was fated never to be."
Lily took a deep breath and smiled happily.
"Thanks, Remus," she said, turning to face him, as she hadn't done properly in over a week. "You really helped."
She gathered her things together, sliding everything methodically into her bag. She pushed back her chair and kissed a stunned Remus Lupin on the cheek.
"'Lily Lupin' – honestly." She shook her head. "Oh, Remus?"
He started and looked into her smiling face.
"Tell James I need to talk with him, okay?"
And with that she left the library.
Lily chuckled and shook her head. 'Lily Lupin' indeed.
Now, Lily Potter… that would work.
o:o:o