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Hogwarts: 365 Prompts
Prompt - Blame

Hogwarts: Demonology: task 2
Write about someone giving in to temptation

Hogwarts: Ultimate Battle Competition
Flower Crown [Headpiece] Equip Effect: Bonus 3 pts if your main character is named after a flower.) - Price: 700 words, Lily Evans

Giving Into Temptation

Sirius tried not to blame himself for his feelings. He couldn't help how he felt about Lily. And it wasn't like she was actually dating James right now. Of course, James had dibs on her since the third year.

Still, Lily had dated other guys much to James' annoyance.

James couldn't blame Sirius for falling for Lily's charms when James himself had never been immune to them.

Sirius took a ragged breath as he closed his eyes, leaning his head against the bark of the tree. 'Keep telling yourself that, mate. If James finds out about your feelings, he'll hate you. And if you act on them, he'll kill you.'

Well, he just wouldn't act on them. That's all. His friendship with James came before anything else. That was what was important. James was his brother in every way that mattered, and you never betrayed your brother.

Lily walked across the grassy field, her red hair shining like a beacon.

Sirius' breath caught in his throat.

She was perfection.

Lily was walking towards the castle, but she faltered mid-step when she saw him leaning against the tree.

Sirius shyly waved, and he wanted to smack himself. Since when did he do anything shyly? He wasn't a shy person. Arrogant? Yes. Certainly cocky. But never ever shy. What was this girl doing to him?

She sent him a half-smile and seemed to shuffle uncertainly before she changed her path and headed straight for him.

Sirius straightened his spine and did his best to not look so lovesick.

"Hello, Black. I don't often see you out and about alone. Where is the rest of your crew?"

"Remus is busy helping Peter study. And James is in detention."

"Without you? What a surprise."

Sirius smirked. "I'm not always the troublemaker."

"But when Potter gets in trouble, you're never far behind. So how did he get into trouble and you didn't?"

Sirius shrugged. "He decided to branch out on his own."

Lily bit her bottom lip.

Sirius did his best to not eye the tempting flesh as it turned redder under her teeth. It was so hard, though. He gulped and wondered if Lily could hear his heart pounding.

"So, Sirius, I never thanked you for helping me with the History of Magic homework. I mean, usually, I love my subjects, and I have no problem getting O's. But Binns makes it so hard to love anything about History of Magic. I wonder if they'll ever retire that ghost and get an actual professor."

Sirius shrugged. "Who knows and don't mention it. History just comes easily to me because it was drilled into my head from a young age. I guess it's the one benefit of being from an old Pure-blood family. Actually, it's probably the only benefit of being from an old Pure-blood family."

Lily smiled. "Well, that may be true, but I do appreciate your help. I appreciate even more that you didn't tease me for needing help."

Sirius shrugged. "Don't worry about it."

"I also enjoyed spending time with you, away from the others. When you're by yourself, you aren't so bad."

Sirius' heart hammered in his chest. "Really? Most people think I'm worse than James."

"Most people are wrong then," Lily returned. "You're not so bad when you're not being encouraged by the others."

The flattered feeling felt like a stab of betrayal to James, and Sirius felt the need to say something in defense of his almost-brother. "James isn't so bad when you get to know him."

Lily arched an eyebrow. "Well, I don't want to get to know him."

"You didn't think you would want to get to know me, but I think you enjoyed my company. Maybe you should give him a chance."

Lily smiled and batted her eyelashes playfully. "Maybe I just had a crush on you and did my best to deny it, and I loved the idea of spending the whole afternoon with you."

Sirius' heart sped up even though he knew she was just joking. "Um, I should go." He quickly stood up and almost ran away from her.

"Sirius?" she called.

He ignored her call; he just needed to get away before he did something he couldn't take back and wouldn't be forgiven.

X

Lily watched him that night during dinnertime. He did his best to avoid her gaze and focused instead of James' jovial attitude, despite the hours he spent in detention.

When he stood up to leave, she stood up as well, and out of fear that she might confront him while he was alone, he abruptly sat back down.

She frowned and copied his movement, sitting down as well.

Sirius stared hard at the table and tried to ignore the feeling in the pit of his stomach, feeling like the worst friend in the world.

He should have known Lily would not be deterred. If she wanted to know something, she'd find a way to get the desired information.

The next day, he was cornered in the courtyard. Once again, he was alone. The other Marauders were on the Quidditch Pitch. Sirius was actually on his way to meet them. It looked like he was going to be delayed, though.

"Lily, please, whatever you want to say, please don't."

"Don't what? Don't ask what your problem is? Don't ask why you ran away? Don't ask about the look of guilt you seem to wear like a second skin nowadays? Which 'don't' are you referring to?"

"All of the above."

"Well, too bad people don't always get what you want. Because I'm asking all of the above."

"You don't want to know," Sirius said, averting his eyes.

"You were already acting weird, but when I said I had a crush on you, it petrified you. I didn't realize I was so repulsive."

Sirius' eyes widened, and he shook his head, finally meeting her eyes again. "Repulsive? You have it all wrong. Repulsive is the furthest thing from my mind when I think about you."

Lily's face displayed her surprise. "Really? Then why did you look so scared?"

"Isn't it obvious? You shouldn't flirt with me, even if you're not serious about it. James wouldn't like it."

Lily narrowed her eyes. "First of all, I don't care what Potter likes and doesn't like. That's of no concern to me. Second of all, how do you know I wasn't serious?" She stepped closer. "I might have been very serious, but I just played it off like I wasn't in order to test the waters, to see how receptive you'd be to my advances."

Sirius swallowed nervously. "You shouldn't talk like that."

Lily blinked innocently. "Why? It's the truth."

"James—" Sirius started to explain.

Lily interrupted him, "I don't like James. I like you. And I think you like me to. Don't let James stop us from acting on mutual feelings."

Sirius backed away. "I'm sorry, Lily." He turned and fled and once again, he ignored her call out to him.

X

Sirius avoided her in the days that followed. He did his best to ignore her look of hurt. He did his best to laugh at James' jokes. And he did his best to ignore the bubbling resentment that festered every time James flirted with her.

He wanted to shout out that Lily was his, but of course, that wasn't true. He was too cowardly to claim her. And even if Lily did agree to date him, she would never be his. She would never allow anyone to claim her like she was a prize to be won. He'd probably wind up with his nose punched in if he ever dared say she belonged to him.

Still, he was forced to clench his hands into fasts as James did his utmost best to win over Lily. And Sirius knew how relentless James was. One day, he'd succeed. Could Sirius watch that happen?

Sirius didn't get to make that decision for himself. Not really. Once again, Lily was able to corner him while he was alone a few days later.

"Sirius Black," she hissed as she marched up to him.

Sirius took a step back.

"Don't you dare run away from me," she warned.

Sirius stopped.

"I like you, and you like me. And you're too much of a coward to do anything about it. Some Gryffindor you are!"

"You call it being a coward, but I call it being loyal," Sirius retorted.

"What's the point of your so-called loyalty? I'm never going to like James. It's you I like. And all you're doing is hurting both yourself and me."

Sirius thought about every argument he could make. He thought about how James was his family, and Lily was just some girl. He thought about how they were so different. She came from parents who loved her. His parents loathed him because he wasn't Pure-blood enough. She tried to be friendly with everyone, and he was just friendly with the ones who he thought deserved it.

All in all, the truth was, she was too good for him.

He didn't say any of that, though. Instead, he stared at her and unable to keep fighting it anymore, he grabbed her arms and pulled her unresisting body close to his.

They stared into each other's eyes and then their mouths crashed. His tongue pried her lips open and plunged in. Sirius wanted to devour her.

Lily tasted so sweet, so pure. And he knew he'd never get enough as he finally gave into temptation. There was no turning back. Whatever came from this, Sirius would never be able to go back into time and make a different choice, and he wasn't sure he wanted to. Whatever happened, whether James never spoke to him again or whether he was formally disowned for 'daring to sully himself with a Mudblood', he would have to deal with it.

As he tasted her lips, he knew Lily was his drug, and he wouldn't ever be able to resist her again.

X

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