AN: I'm giving you all two chapters today, since this chapter felt a bit like filler. Cute, fluffy filler, but still filler
Enjoy!
Lily let herself sleep in the next morning, partially because she had put in an honest effort with the job hunt yesterday so she felt she deserved it, and partially because she could not be assed to get out of bed. She had stayed up much too late last night overthinking things that she told herself she didn't need to overthink. She had spent quite a long-time texting Mary, and then her mum had come in to ask her how things went, and Lily had trapped her for far longer than Rose had been prepared to be in Lily's room.
It was eleven thirty when Mary called her, and her stomach remembered that it needed substance to survive.
"What's up, Mary?" Lily asked, swinging her legs out of bed and running a hand through her hair. It was quite knotted. She'd need to take a shower after she ate something.
"I'm on my lunch break, so I thought I'd call you and tell you who I just saw."
Lily racked her brain for who Mary could have seen in the middle of nowhere Ireland, but Mary didn't give her time to come to her own conclusions.
"Reggie!" She squealed, and Lily was not sure who she was talking about.
"What is he famous for?"
"What? No, he's not famous, not all of us are interested in international football stars, Lily." Which was rich coming from Mary, who had spent most of her life very interested in international football stars.
"Is that what James is? And I didn't know that you were telling me about a boy you fancied, I thought you were telling me about someone famous you saw at work."
"I don't see famous people here, only Gerdie, the eighty-year-old weather woman. She's quickly bumping you out of your best friend slot, just so you know."
"I'm not afraid to throw hands with an eighty-year-old."
"I know, I know, but I'd have to defend her. She made me pumpkin bread! How sweet is that?"
"Do you need me to bake something for you?" Lily smiled. She missed her best friend. "No, wait, we're talking about Reggie."
"Yes, Reggie. He was in our maths class. He was the TA though, not a student. I mean, he's our age, but he was in like some obscure, stupid difficult maths class at the time."
"Okay, I do remember you being quite into the TA from our maths class. What is he doing in Ireland?"
"He lives here!" Mary laughed. "Turns out, he grew up a couple streets over from where my Granda lives. How crazy is that?"
Lily smiled. "Wishing you would have spent those summers wandering around outside instead of sulking in your room, now?"
"No, being outside for extended lengths of time is terrible," Mary quickly argued. "But it's wild to think that we could have run into each other at the store or something. Anyway, I asked him for coffee, and I'm on my way to meet him right now."
"Mary!" Lily shrieked happily.
"Yes, I know! And don't worry, if we fall in love and get married, I will make him move closer to you. I haven't told him this yet of course, but there is no way I'm going to end up less than driving distance from you."
"What about Gerdie?"
Mary laughed. "I've already told Gerdie that she can move in with me if she wants. She told me, 'no thank you, I quite like the quiet life I've got.' I love that batty old lady so much."
"Well I'm glad that you remembered me while fantasizing about the future you're going to have with a boy you just met!"
"I didn't just meet him! But I do see him now, and he's waving so I'm going to have to hang up on you. God almighty, look at that boy's smile. I love you, Lily!"
Lily laughed, "I love you too! Have fun!" Mary squealed, hopefully not loud enough for Reggie to hear, and then hung up the phone. Lily shook her head and slid her phone into her pocket as she pulled open the fridge.
Mary had always enjoyed dating, while Lily had, for the most part, tolerated it. She would not enjoy going out to coffee with someone she had only talked to once four years ago, but Mary had always been more sociable than she was. Lily had always preferred to date someone that she knew.
She didn't have to be friends with them, per say, but if someone came up and gave her their number in a pub because they saw her across the way, she wouldn't text them. If she started talking to someone in line at the shop and they asked for her number, she would politely decline. She needed a little bit of the groundwork to be covered before she was comfortable with the idea of dating someone.
She had met Anthony, the only serious boyfriend she'd had, during her second year of uni. And she had known that she fancied him after the first time they had hung out with mutual friends, they hadn't started dating until their third year.
Mary had never been like that. She would frequently take numbers she was handed at bars or out in shops. Dating was something fun and, for the most part, casual for Mary. It had always seemed so much easier for her friend, and Lily was a bit envious of that.
Especially now, given her current circumstances.
Not that she didn't know James. She'd known him since they were five and he dipped her braid into a gluepot, since they were four and their dads rigged up a sprinkler 'water park' for the two of them, and Petunia, to play on the grass between their driveways. Since they were three and the Potters had agreed to babysit Lily while her mum and dad rushed Petunia to the doctors after she'd fallen off the slide and broke her arm.
She'd always known him. But now there were new layers to that. She definitely felt like she knew him better now than she ever had before.
No, that wasn't what was holding her back, even if she'd told James that it was while they were in London. She was mainly held up by the fact that he would be gone in just under two weeks.
And also the fact that it was James. That was holding her back as well, and it would be much harder to explain to James.
She pulled a peach out of the fridge and took a bite as she closed it. She should drive out and get some coffee. She could use a good cup of coffee this morning, though it was dangerously close to not being morning anymore.
She was tossing her peach pit into the compost bin and deciding if she wanted to shower before or after she got coffee, when there was a knock on the door.
She checked her phone to see if her mum had texted her about someone coming over to drop something off, because when she peeked out the peephole, there was a large rectangle blocking the view of most of the porch.
Nothing from her mum. She pulled open the door and looked around. The rectangle turned out to be a bookshelf. And James and Sirius were standing off to the side.
"Lo, red!" Sirius grinned at her.
"Sirius," Lily smiled back. "James," He nodded, also smiling. "What is this?"
"A bookshelf!" He looked so proud of himself. "So you can unpack all of your books."
She narrowed her eyes slightly. "James, when I told you that, I wasn't asking you-"
"I know!" He interrupted, holding up his hands. "And I didn't go out and buy this or anything, it was just sitting in my room, unutilized. And since I wasn't using it, I thought you might want to."
"Which, you better want to, because it was a pain in the ass to lug over here." Sirius said. "Now open the door so we can bring it all the way in."
"If you want it," James said quickly, giving his friend a look.
Lily looked between the two of them and Sirius nodded at her. She shrugged. "Alright, thank you! I really could use it." She pulled the door open all the way and got out of their way as they moved to pick it up.
It didn't actually appear to be that heavy, as they maneuvered it up the stairs without much difficulty at all, and then, for the first time ever, James Potter and Sirius Black were in her bedroom.
It was a little surreal.
James seemed to be of the same mind, because he looked around and then glanced out the window, toward his own room. "Well this is a little strange," He said, his hand buried in his hair.
"Come on, James," Sirius shook his head. "Don't let her know that you've never been in a girl's room before."
"Oh shove off," James laughed. "It's just weird being in here. I mean," He spun around and pointed at the NSYNC poster that half the school thought she'd snogged because of him, "I've seen that poster a million times, but not from this angle."
"A million times?" Lily raised her brows.
"That does sound a tad creepy, James," Sirius agreed.
"You know what I mean," James sighed, looking at Lily.
"Yes, it's very strange to see you standing in my room," Lily said, and then she looked at Sirius. "Though, it's just as weird for you to be here."
Sirius smiled at her. "I have to agree with you. I also don't make a habit of frequenting girls' bedrooms."
Lily smiled, though she didn't bring up Benjy. James reached out and shoved his shoulder.
"Is this the point where I offer you both a cold beverage now?" She looked over the new shelf, quite excited to get started organizing her books now. She hated leaving them in boxes.
"No," Sirius grinned. "This is the point where James asks you if you're busy later." He gave her a mock salute and then left her room. James laughed and shook his head.
Lily looked at him with brows raised.
"I mean, that is what I'm about to do, but he didn't need to leave. He's in on the plans." His hand raked through his hair. "A group of us are going out to the pub tonight, would you like to join us?"
Lily tilted her head to the side. "When you say, 'a group of us…"
"No, it's not just, Sirius, Remus and Peter." He laughed again. He seemed to be in an awfully good mood. "I mean, they will be there, for sure, but Benjy is gonna be there, and Dorcas and Marlene are in town for Nick's wedding, so they'll be there."
"I forgot that Marlene was in town!" Lily clapped her hands together and James' smile grew.
"And Kingsley said he might be able to stop by-"
"James, you don't need to entice me into going out to the pub." She interrupted him, even if she didn't want to spend more time with him and his friends, she would have gone now that she knew Marlene would be there. "What time?"
He was trying not to let his smile get as big as it wanted to be, and knowing that made the butterflies in Lily's stomach freak out a little bit.
"I can pick you up at six?"
"Six? So early?"
"Well, we're adults now, so we're getting dinner too." James crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against her NSYNC poster. "Some of the lads can't stay too late."
"Well I can't go at six," She said, refraining from stomping her foot. "Mum and I are going to my gran's this evening, my dad's mum. She called me the day before I got home and asked us over for dinner. Mum is getting off work early and everything."
"It's a four o'clock dinner?" James didn't look disappointed.
"Yes, it's a four o'clock dinner." Lily laughed. "But I can meet you all at the pub afterward? I mean, I can't pretend that we won't be there for a while. But just because we're adults now, doesn't mean you'll all be calling it a night early, right?"
"No, of course not." James shook his head. "No, there's already been talk of billiards tournaments. We'll be there all night."
Lily nodded, "Good. Mary is going to be so jealous."
James laughed at her, "How is Mary?"
"Good. She's on a date right now with our TA from the only maths class we took in uni. I told her I remembered who he was, but I can not picture his face." She shrugged. "She sounded really excited though."
"So maybe she won't be too jealous."
"Marlene and Dorcas are going to be there, of course she'll be jealous." Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out to see that she had a text from Marlene. "Speaking of Marlene," She smiled.
"Well you should tell Mary to come and visit,"
"I will, but I've got to give her more than a week to get settled before I pull her back home. I hate that we don't live together anymore," She unlocked her phone and read Marlene's text.
Marlene: Hey? Just a question, out of nothing other than curiosity, are you ready to get trashed tonight?
Lily: I'd be hard pressed to name a night that I wouldn't be ready to get trashed
Marlene: Excellent. We're all meeting up at Ernie's Pub for dinner and then to get trashed. Apparently Black is bringing someone?
Lily: I have been informed
Lily: James and Sirius are both in my house presently
Lily: Prepare to have your ass handed to you when we play billiards
Marlene: In your house?
Marlene: And any excuse to touch my ass. Careful or Dory will get jealous
Lily snorted and put her phone away, not wanting to answer her question about James while he was standing in front of her.
When she looked up at him, he was still leaning against her poster, smiling at her.
"What?"
"Nothing." He shrugged. "I just like this new dynamic we've got going."
Lily pressed her lips together. "It's definitely better than it was." He nodded. "Alright, get out of my house now, I need to go and get coffee so that I'll have the energy to do something about my hair." She tugged at the end of a tendril that was trying to be a curl and then started shooing him out of her room.
"Excuse you, I thought we were being offered a cold drink? Now you're kicking us out?" But he was already out the door and heading for the stairs.
"I'm sure Sirius already helped himself to whatever he wanted." Lily said, peeking around to see if she could spot Sirius in the kitchen. She could. He was sitting at the kitchen table with a bowl of cereal and a mug of tea. She laughed. "I'm glad you made yourself at home, dove."
"Had to, didn't I? You two were taking forever up there." He picked up his tea, his pinkie sticking up in the air. "Marlene texted me for information, Lily."
"What kind of information?" James asked, narrowing his brow.
"Oh, I don't know. Do you know, Lily?"
Lily blinked at him a few times and then sighed. "I don't know why people think they can embarrass me." She looked at James. "I told Marlene that you and Sirius were in my house. She wants to know why."
Sirius clicked his tongue and set his tea down. "You didn't even blush."
"No, I didn't. She asked me for some other information too."
"She can meet Benjy when she meets him," He shrugged his shoulder, though it wasn't as nonchalantly as he wanted it to be. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable though, even if he'd just been trying to make her blush about James, so she turned around to ask James something, but her question disappeared when she saw that he was at the counter making himself a cup of tea as well.
"What are you doing?"
"Well, I can't leave now! Who would watch Sirius?"
Lily looked back at Sirius, who had picked up the paper and did not look as though he was going to move any time soon. "Such odd blokes."
"Are you sure you don't want tea instead of coffee?" James said, offering her, her own tea. She took it, mainly because she had to do nothing to it, since he'd just fixed it.
She took a seat across from Sirius, 'accidentally' knocking her feet against his.
He looked up from the paper. "His name is Benjy."
"Yes, you've mentioned that." She blew on her tea before taking a tiny sip.
"He's a nice boy. Tell Marlene to be nice to him."
"Like you were nice to Dorcas? Or Frank when Alice started bringing him around?" She turned to James, "Have you talked to them recently?"
"I talked to Alice a couple weeks ago," He shrugged. "Her and Frank are on vacation in Canada. Skiing I think."
"Okay, yes, I know I have a history of giving people a hard time," Sirius said, drawing her attention back to him. "But Benjy might not know that."
"I'm sure he does. I mean, he's met you, yes?"
Sirius sighed, "Lily."
"Sirius." They looked at one another across the table for a minute before James joined them.
"Sirius, no one is going to be mean to Benjy." James said, and it sounded as though he'd made this claim many times recently.
"I might," Lily shrugged. James clicked his tongue and nudged her.
"I carried that bookshelf up the stairs for you!" Sirius put the paper down now and leaned forward. "And I heated up the water for our tea!"
"You carried the bookshelf for James, and you stole my tea!"
Sirius smirked and leaned back in his chair. "I actually carried the bookshelf for myself. Figured he'd shut up about you for ten minutes if you were standing right in front of him."
"And now I'm threatening to bully someone I've never met before," Lily pushed her hair back.
"You don't know how to bully someone." Sirius scoffed. "I'm really only worried about McKinnon." And then out of the blue, "Did you really like James in secondary?"
James choked on his tea and Lily looked over at him with raised brows.
"I'm not apologizing for telling him," James said, once he could breathe again. "You told your mum I was trying to 'woo' you."
"Okay, but you, unironically, used the word multiple times."
"It was a little ironic."
"No it wasn't." Lily and Sirius said this at the same time and James looked a bit mortified. Perhaps he was wondering if having Sirius and Lily in the same room together was a good idea for him. Lily had never interacted with Sirius that much. He had always been around, he joined in on James' antics that involved her on occasion, like waking her up at three in the morning by throwing stones at her window. But this was the most the two of them had ever talked.
She kind of liked Sirius so far.
"Yes, I did fancy James when we were kids. That seems to be the main reason he's so keen on getting me to agree to go out with him now."
Sirius cleared his throat and sat up straighter. "Sure, yes, but have you considered that James is much different now that he is an adult? He is responsible and better looking in my opinion. He also has very nice abs I've been told-"
"Shut up, you blighter! You know that's not what I meant when I asked you to talk me up." Lily started laughing. James' ears were bright red and that just made Lily laugh more.
Lily didn't hear the car pull up, but the front door opened and then Rose was standing in the kitchen entry. "Afternoon, everyone," She grinned, setting her keys and take away bags on the counter. "I got us something light to eat, Lily. To hold us over til we go to Anita's."
Lily nodded. "Thanks, mum."
Rose nodded, "Sirius, I haven't seen you in a while. How are you doing?"
"Well, I can't complain I suppose. But Lily is trying to bully me."
"Is she now?"
"She's doing a very poor job of it, but yes, and she's not blushing when I tease her for fancying James." James reached over and knocked him on the back of his head. "Excuse me, I meant, when they were kids. She fancied James, when they were kids."
"Sounds like you might have been teasing each other."
"That was most definitely what was going on here." James nodded.
"Though we were also teasing James," Sirius took another drink of his tea.
"Yes," Lily agreed. "It felt good to team up on him."
"It really did," Sirius nodded. He picked up his mug and his cereal bowl and walked them over to the sink. "Well, it's been fun. I think we should leave you both to your lunch."
"If I had known that you boys were here, I would have brought more food home," Rose said, looking forlornly at the bags on the counter.
"Please don't fret over it. We didn't mean to stay so long anyway." James grinned and rinsed his mug out in the sink as well. "See you tonight, Lily?"
"Yeah," She nodded. "And Sirius?" He turned around and looked at her. "I'll talk to Marlene for you,"
"I mean, if you want." He rolled his eyes, and she scrunched her nose at him. He winked and then they were both gone.
"Tonight?" Rose asked, taking the food out of the bags and handing Lily her box.
"We're all hanging out at Ernie's." Lily shrugged, like it wasn't a big deal.
It wasn't a big deal.
"Okay," Rose said lightly, playing along with Lily's delusion.
"We're all hanging out in a group," Lily tried again. "Marlene is in town! She's bringing Dorcas, and James said Kingsly might be there."
"Okay," Rose repeated, but she had that stupid knowing smile on her face. Sirius's teasing hadn't managed to make her blush, but her mum's grin had her cheeks flushing.