She couldn't turn too far; the bed was small and she wasn't the only occupant. A small smile broke onto her face as she looked at his messy black hair on the back of his head. She tapped his bare shoulder, and he slowly turned onto his back, not quite awake.
It wasn't James. She reeled away, feeling sick to her stomach at the realization.
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She was hanging onto the edge of the bed, half on, half off, when she woke up. Breathing heavy, she slowly sat up at looked to the empty space next to her.
It was all just a horrible, cruel, dream. She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes, drawing her legs up to her chest. When she finally opened her eyes, she had calmed down slightly, and so she got up. Still wearing a borrowed pair of sweat pants and a tee shirt of Sirius's, she made her way to the bedroom door.
Sirius, already dressed, was standing in the apartment's kitchenette. She noticed a blanket and pillow still on the couch where he had slept last night, and his traveling cloak over the back of a chair. He looked up at the sound of her bare feet on the tile.
"Morning. Sleep well?"
Lily paused. If only he knew. "Yes, fine, thanks. For everything, I mean..."
"Don't mention it," he said, handing her a cup of coffee. She took it gratefully and sat down in an empty chair, her eyes on his cloak.
"Have you been out already?" she asked, glancing at his cloak.
"Yeah, actually." He leaned on the counter top. "I wanted to check some places," he said.
"Like?" she asked, smiling half heartedly.
He held up a hand, counting on his fingers. "The Leaky Cauldron, The Hog's Head, and The Three Broomsticks," he began. "Just told them all to keep an eye out for me." He paused, looking down and appearing uncomfortable.
"Oh, well that's good," Lily responded, meaning it. But she did notice his expression, which puzzled her. "Something wrong?"
Sirius met her gaze, looking as though he wished she hadn't asked. "I, uh, stopped by your house as well... it wasn't as good."
Lily's hands began to shake, resulting in a bit of coffee spilling out of its mug. She cursed and went to get a napkin, but Sirius just pulled out his wand, motioning for her to sit as he cleaned it up. "What's wrong? Why wasn't it good?" she asked quietly, feeling nervous at the thought.
He sighed, and seated himself opposite from her. "Someone broke in, looking for something, I think." He didn't say what he wanted to, which was 'someone' instead of 'something', but he didn't want to worry Lily any more than she already was. "Everything was torn up and out of place... I mean, I know James is messy, but this was just ridiculous."
That last part, at least, got a bit of a smile out of Lily. She couldn't imagine what someone would be searching for, but her conscience said that it had to do with whatever James was so busy with now. Tracing the grain of the wooden table with a finger, she sighed. "I hope they didn't find it, whatever it was."
"Doubtful," Sirius said truthfully. "Anyways, I think I got everything put back together... I wasn't sure where exactly you kept the lingerie, though." He grinned mischieviously and started to laugh as Lily flushed red, sorely wishing she had a wand in reach. "Kidding, just kidding," he said once he stopped chuckling. "Okay, seriously. We've got stuff to do."
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Just short of an hour later, Lily found herself a little out of breath as she and Sirius walked up to the Hogwarts castle. She had forgotten what a trek it was, having grown used to Apparition. At the same time, she felt a wave of anxiety forcing itself into her chest, and she couldn't suppress a shiver. Sirius glanced over at her, pausing momentarily at the base of the steps leading to the overly large front doors.
"What's wrong?"
"What's right?" Lily smiled weakly. Once upon a time, she might have been irritable with him for asking that, but he didn't deserve that now. "I'm just nervous. Are you sure he'll be here?"
"Lily, I seriously doubt James has holed up in Hogwarts."
"Not him. I meant Dumbledore."
"Oh, right." Sirius shrugged. "He didn't answer my owl, but the gates opened up for us. He knows we're coming." He turned back to the doors and scaled the steps, opening the door for her.
Doubts assuaged for the time being, Lily followed Sirius up the steps and preceded him into the Entrance Hall. She breathed a sigh, seeing the familiar white marble staircase and the house points counters slightly beyond that. Gryffindor was in the lead, she noted. "So what now?"
"Just wait, I guess," Sirius said sheepishly. "Maybe they've got breakfast," he said, jerking his head in the direction of the Great Hall as he turned and walked towards it. Lily followed with a huff. He'd drag her off to all his old haunts if she wasn't careful.
A few students were lingering at the house tables, eating a late breakfast or working on their schoolwork away from the bustle of the common room. They walked along, Lily looking for any familiar faces, Sirius for an uneaten plate. A few of the students glanced up, but seemed relatively unconcerned by their presence, which made Lily raise an eyebrow. She would have gone running straight to McGonnagall - speaking of which...
"Black? Sirius Black?"
He turned around quickly, a guilty grin crossing his face. "Minerva, how splendid."
The elder witch looked a bit torn between scolding him and laughing. Instead, she ended up looking to Lily. "Miss Evans, what are you two doing here?"
Lily shrugged. "I asked the same thing myself, honestly."
"Dumbledore! We're here to see Dumbledore, isn't it obvious?" Sirius said with a bit of exasperation in his voice. "Do you know where he is?"
McGonnagall opened her mouth as if to respond, but she was cut off by another addition to their little group.
"Is this who I think it is?" Slorace Slughorn seemed to come out of nowhere. (Odd, seeing that he would have a difficult time hiding.) He clapped one hand on Lily's shoulder and extended the other to Sirius, beaming. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see you two again."
Sirius was at least decent enough to look away before he rolled his eyes; Lily, on the other hand, had to struggle through a laugh that was begging to get out. "Likewise, Professor, really."
Smiling a bit more pleasantly now, McGonnagall looked between the two former students. "You said you came to see Dumbledore?"
"Yeah," said Sirius, "he should know we're coming. It's um... important business, you know," he added, hesitant to say anything about the Order in front of the Potions master.
"Haven't seen him since breakfast yesterday," Slughorn interjected. Lily felt her anxiety level go up a notch.
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A/N: Kind of lame, I know. But I didn't get a SINGLE review for the last chapter I uploaded in my other story and I was kind of feeling deprived :( So hopefully I angered enough of a mob who will flame me for that first part and then my day will be complete haha.