Written for Hogwarts

Subject: Demonology

Task 10: Pithius

Prompt: Write about a lie spinning out of control

Summary: James asked Lily to cover for him and Regulus at the start of fifth year, but just how long can he keep lying to his friends? And what does Lily do about it?

Beta: S L Blake

James ran through the corridors of Hogwarts, his school shirt had been tucked in when he had started, and was now half in and half out. His tie wasn't done up properly, his school robe hanging off his shoulders as he panted, a little out of breath as he continued to weave around the students, at top speed. His hair, well, let's just say his hair didn't even remember what a brush looked like.

He looked at his wrist watch and cursed inwardly, he was really late, this time. It was getting to be an issue, and something that his friends were noticing. Especially Sirius, who was getting more and more suspicious about his whereabouts. James didn't understand where their suspicions came from, however. Because no one knew about him secretly seeing his best friend's brother. Oh, he had made sure of that. He was subtle, and he was getting a lot better at lying. As far as he was aware, there was nothing suspicious about any of that.

"James, where were you?"

"Well, I, you see -"

"He had detention with Professor Slughorn, Sirius. He didn't want to tell you, because Mrs Potter said there weren't supposed to be any more pranks this term," Lily explained in one breath.

James was relieved, and tried not to let it show. His stomach turned, another lie. Just how many more would it take for Sirius to see right through them?

"Where's your tie, mate?" Sirius questioned, frown lessening, only just.

"He gave it to me to do a Charms experiment with. Speaking of which, you might need to wear your spare, James. I might have set fire to it," Lily said, with a believable look of sorrow, very believable.

"You actually set fire to my tie?" James asked, his eyes wide with surprise.

"It was an accident!"

Once he arrived at the common room entrance, he didn't even stop as he shouted, "Hippogriff!". He was very lucky that he didn't trip over the door, 'who put that there' he muttered to himself as he ignored the stares he received. Sometimes, he wondered what it would be like if he wasn't so popular. But that thought died quite quickly. He glanced at the girls in their year as he made for the stairs, and gave Lily a look as she glanced up to see what all of the commotion was about. He wasn't surprised when she shook her head disappointedly, before turning back to continue to read her book.

He opened the door to the dormitory, just as Kingsley Shacklebolt, their fifth-year roommate, rolled his eyes at him while walking out of the room. James grinned charmingly at his best friends, and collapsed on his bed in exhaustion.

"You're late," Sirius commented, disappointment showing in his voice.

James's heart ached at that. He hated disappointing his friends. He knew how important it was to be here on time, but he forgot all about time when he was with Regulus. It was like time didn't exist. He used his strength to sit up on his bed and he grimaced when he properly looked at his friends.

He studied Peter first, who was writing something down on his piece of parchment, scribbling away. James knew what he was writing - notes. For turning into an Animagus. The way Peter was furrowing his eyebrows as he crouched over to highlight something in the book, James just knew he was concentrating hard. Something about that made him feel even more guilty that he was late.

Next, he studied Remus — but was surprised to find Remus already looking straight at him, deep, deep into his soul. Remus's eyes narrowed, while he raised his eyebrows. James quickly looked away — it was like disappointing his mother. He didn't want to feel any worse than he already did.

Finally, he studied Sirius. But he suddenly wished he hadn't. Sirius was leaning against his bed, staring into space as he banged his head on the bedpost a couple of times. James noticed one of Sirius's legs bouncing, and he sighed internally. He knew that was a sign of his anxiety.

James ran a hand through his hair and bit his lip nervously. His heart was beating heavily, and he still hadn't quite recovered from his sprint which had started from the Slytherin common room to Gryffindor. It took a while to find the shortcuts, which helped with Remus's map, but it was still a long journey.

"I'm fashionably late?" James answered, more like questioned after a few moments of silence, grinning his cheeky grin that didn't quite match his eyes.

"Sure, if you call 'fashionably late' missing the whole meeting," Sirius replied, his voice just above a whisper as he finally looked at James. "We were counting on you."

James ignored the fact that all eyes were now on him and Sirius as he gulped nervously. "I know you were, I know," he whispered in response, he didn't know what to say. He was running out of lies. But he couldn't give up his secret, he couldn't let Sirius know about him and Regulus. It was out of the question, he would never forgive him. He was sure of it.

"Where were you? What was so important that it kept you from helping Remus?" Sirius asked, staring into James's eyes, searching for the truth.

James opened his mouth only to close it again. He couldn't go to Lily this time, she had covered for them so many times already. It was time to add his own lie into the midst of many others.

"Studying, I lost track of time, I'm sorry, Sirius."

Another lie.

"Sure. Like I'll believe anything you say," Sirius responded, spirit gone, as he climbed into bed, closing the curtains.

Peter packed his things away and turned in too, so soon enough it was just James and Remus left awake. James turned to Remus, hoping that Remus would still talk to him. Hoping that his friends would still talk to him.

"You need to tell him the truth, James. It's only going to get worse if you don't," Remus spoke quietly. "You're happy when you're with him, aren't you?" he said knowingly.

James blinked a couple of times, trying to hide his shock. Had Remus known the whole time? Who had told him? He couldn't cover up his blush. "How did you know?" he asked in the same tone.

Remus climbed into his bed, and smiled. "Lily." he said, "She knows when to tell the truth."

James was left standing in the middle of the dormitory with a lot to think about, and most of that was the look of disappointment on Sirius's face.

The next morning, James walked into the Great Hall with a heavy heart. He didn't know what to do. He needed to do something about what was happening, but… what? He didn't want to stop seeing Regulus. But he didn't want to be the one to tell his best friend that he was in lov –

James stopped where he stood, frozen in place.

He felt someone bump into him from behind, though it didn't faze him. He was too busy deep in his thoughts, eyes wide as saucers.

He loved Regulus.

He…

"James, sweetheart. You can't just stop in the middle of the Great Hall," Lily's voice brought him out of his realisation. "James?" her concern made him snap out of it.

"Sorry, Lils. I don't know what came over me," James replied, not quite with it, still.

"I think I do," Lily replied knowingly.

This caught James's attention, he frowned, jerking his head so fast he was surprised it didn't click. "What?" he questioned, panic written all over his face.

"You do? Pray tell, because he won't tell us," Sirius answered out of nowhere.

The group were standing between the tables. Lily next to James on the left, Sirius was on his right, and Peter, Remus and the girls were sitting down at the table waiting for them.

"James, here. Is in love —" Lily started dramatically, catching their friends' attention.

James felt like his whole life froze then and there for the second time as all eyes were on him. No. No. No. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be.

Why was Lily doing this? James thought she was his friend, one he could trust? Why would she tell them he was in love, when he hadn't even had time to process this himself?

" — with Quidditch," Lily ended the sentence laughing lightly, patting James on the back as she sat down next to Mary, who laughed with her.

Soon, the group burst out into laughter. James recovered and joined in with them, but not quite with the same energy. He sat down next to Lily, and was pleased that even Sirius was laughing. It was great to hear his best friend's laughter, and seeing his group happy was a bonus.

He grinned brightly, looking at each of his friends with a warm feeling in his stomach. James couldn't help but turn to look at the Slytherin Table, knowing exactly where Regulus would be sitting. His smile brightened when he caught Regulus's attention, Regulus's eyes brightened even more and so did James's, before they both looked away. It wouldn't do to get caught, not now. His friends were happy. Sirius was happy. He knew telling the truth would compromise that.

"You tell Sirius, or I'll tell them where exactly your tie was the other day. You have until the full moon. I can't keep lying, and neither can you. It's not fair, and it's getting out of control," Lily whispered seriously.

Colour drained from his face as James's heart stopped beating. Two weeks. She was giving them two weeks. That was… He sighed internally, more than he would expect. She had given them plenty of time already, a whole year, in fact. But what exactly would this do to his and Regulus's relationship?

What would the truth do to his and Sirius's friendship?

James really, really didn't want to find out.