I was half conscious as I rolled onto my side and met with blinding rays of sun coming in through Lily's window. "Ahhh," I muttered as I buried my head back under the covers, trying to savor the darkness within, until the blankets were abruptly pulled off me.
"Good morning!" Lily said chirpily.
"Mhrrr," I groaned.
"Mum's getting breakfast ready," she said in a sing- song tone, and although breakfast sounded lovely, my body was not in the mood to move.
"Bloody hell!" I yelled.
"UP!" She said. Lily threw her entire bodily mass at my hip, almost knocking the wind out of me. Not that she was a porker, quite the opposite really—she was very fit, but Merlin did she have force behind her.
"You trying to kill me?" I asked her, clutching my side.
She sat at the edge of the bed and laughed. "No just trying to get you up."
Now that I was properly conscious, I could take in the fact that she looked beautiful as always donning a green tank top with little flowers around the edges and white skirt. Of course the sunlight was touching her hair in all the right places. Because the world likes to torture me.
I think she noticed me staring. Her smile faded and she repeated more quietly, "Breakfast is ready."
Lily's mum? FANTASTIC breakfast maker. She makes the best pancakes I've ever had in my life.
"Thank you Mrs. Evans, really," I said. She was a bright lively woman, mid forties. She had striking green eyes and brown hair. She had a light about her; if she wasn't smiling her eyes seemed to be doing it for her.
"Oh please, it's my pleasure. I love breakfast. It's my favorite dish of the day," She said as if admitting a dirty secret, like reading cheap dime store romance novels in her spare time.
She stood to clear the dirty dishes and I jumped up to help.
"Oh dear, you don't have to!" Mrs. Evans said, waving me away with her hands.
"Please, let me, I feel like too much of a burden if I don't," I said, flashing her a smile.
"Lily, your friend is quite the charmer," she stage whispered.
I heard Lily snort behind my back, "Hogwarts heartbreaker." Mrs. Evans laughed. I was used to the nickname, but coming from Lily, the remark stung.
Just then, a tapping on the window alerted us to a handsome looking owl waiting outside clutching a scroll. Lily opened the window as Mrs. Evans kept tidying the kitchen; she must have been used to Wizarding post by now.
"It's for you," Lily said, and I dropped the dishes in the sink before walking over to retrieve the letter from her. "Thanks," I said as I unrolled the parchment and began to read:
Hey Padfoot—
I know you're probably absolutely miserable, but cheer up! You have a letter from your best mate! And, your obligatory three weeks at home are two thirds over! In a week you are totally free to come to my place! And that's right when me and the parents will be back from France, it's perfect timing. And even better, I'll bring you a present. I think I'll buy Lily one too... I feel badly about that whole incident at the end of OWLs with Snivellus… she looked like she was REALLY mad at me. Not like the other times. Maybe she'll just accept the present then we'll be friends and then she'll realize she's madly in love with me and wants to have my children.
… I know, but a guy can dream, can't he?
Anyway, let me know if you need us to come get you from the Hell hole next week, right?
-Prongs
I felt a pit of guilt in my stomach as I read the bits about Lily. Usually when James went on his Lily tangents it was effortless to detach myself from how I felt about her and listen. But now I felt the queasy sensation that comes along with doing something forbidden...
Perhaps it was my close proximity to Lily at this moment. I long ago accepted that loving her was hopeless and reaped no reward. With James as my mate and unofficial brother, I could never ride off into the sunset with her.
I put down the letter and looked at Lily sitting across from me. Ah. That was where the guilt was coming from.
Lily never once looked at James like that.
With happiness, companionship, or anything of the sort. I knew he wanted it so badly… but I'm the one that is in her kitchen, charming her mum and eating breakfast with her.
"Who was it from?" she inquired.
"Er, James," I said hesitantly. As I expected, the reaction was instantaneous. Her eyebrows furrowed as she stuck her tongue out.
"Lily!" Mrs. Evan's exclaimed as she saw the spectacle from across the room, "That's rude!"
"He's insufferable, mum!" Lily cried out.
"Insufferably in looove with you," I teased as Lily shot me a glare.
"It wouldn't hurt to be nice to the poor boy," Mrs. Evans said.
"It would hurt my dignity and self-worth," Lily shot back in a deadpan. Mrs. Evans was too aware of Lily's stubborn nature than to push the matter any further.
Looking back over James' letter, I had forgotten about the Potter's trip to France; going to their manor today was out of the question. I was would have to shell out the rest of my saved galleons to stay at the Leaky Cauldron for the rest of the week.
"Thank you so much for the food, Mrs. Evans," I said, "And the hospitality." I added as well.
"Of course!"
"I should get going, I guess," I said, while getting up from the table. Lily rose with me.
"Where will you go?" her face was twisted with concern and it (sickly) made me feel a little good inside.
"Well I was planning on James', but he won't be 'round 'til next week so I figure I'll just stay at the Leaky Cauldron 'til then."
"No!" Lily said, "That will be expensive. Mum, tell him he must stay here."
"It's true, Sirius," Mrs. Evans conceded with her daughter. "I can't let you be out alone for a week; that simply won't do." Lily and her mother both nodded at the same time as if the case was closed.
"I really can't, it's too much," I insisted. I hated charity. I only agreed last night because it had been the middle of the night… and Lily used her begging voice, and how could any bloke, let alone me, say no to that?
"We'll hear no more of it, Sirius." Mrs. Evans said, "We'll just clean up the spare room a bit for you and you can stay in there. I would have last night, but I'm afraid once I fall asleep, there's no waking me."
"That's true, she sleeps like the dead." Lily turned back to me, unleashing the full power of beauty. Bugger. Why is she so bloody gorgeous? "You will stay, won't you?"
"Of course," I said, utterly defeated.
Her face lit up, "Good."
After breakfast I helped Lily and Mrs. Evans clean out the spare bedroom once been inhabited by her sister, Petunia. I asked no questions. I learned early on that Lily's sister was a touchy subject—which I could easily relate to, having Regulus as a brother, and I respected it. When we finished cleaning up, Mrs. Evans went to get more groceries and visit her friend down the way.
Me and Lily were taking a walk around her neighborhood before Lily said suddenly, "Where's the rest of your stuff?"
"At home?" I said, not understanding her sudden surprise.
"Don't you want it?" Lily questioned.
"Well..." I hadn't really thought about it. Grabbing my books and clothes had not been on my mind at the time I was fleeing Hell. "I guess it would be nice, yeah."
I recognized the twinkle in her eyes… It was daring, mischievous and passionate- all traits of my best friends, the Marauders.
"Well then, let's go get it." Lily said triumphantly, waiting for me to agree.
I was too busy being shell shocked. "Lily Evans! Breaking and entering? I never thought I'd see the day where you would be the one suggesting to break a rule."
She stopped walking and stood to look at me. "You don't know everything about me, Sirius Black." She smiled smugly to herself and started walking again. Was it just me or did that have a sexual undertone? Minx.
I stumbled and took a few large strides to catch up and regain my composure. "Apparently not. And not that I wouldn't love to be partners in crime with you, but my house isn't like yours. My mum is not nice. If we're caught she won't treat me like family… and certainly not you."
Lily's gaze did not waver. "I know, which is why we won't be getting caught." I realized for the first time why Lily had been put in Gryffindor. She was fiercely loyal and brave when it came to the welfare of her friends. She reminded me of James in that way.
"All right, if you want to." I said and her grin grew.
"Let's make a plan." She asked me a series of question to map out my house and our strategy.
So there we were, several hours later standing next to one another with a small amount of floo powder in our palms.
"I'm going first," I said, putting my hand near the flame of Lily's fireplace. "I'm going to check to make sure it's clear then we'll go together, yeah?"
Lily rolled her eyes at me, "I know, I know, I know. We've only gone over this a hundred times in the past twenty minutes."
"All right!" I said, "What on Earth has come over you?" I whispered this to myself before sticking my head into the cackling orange embers and dropping the floo powder. I coughed, "Grimmauld Place!" through the smoke and ashes.
I was spinning and I saw the quickest glances of other people's homes before slowing down and approaching my old home. I saw a flash of the study room before stopping at the fireplace in the living room. I looked around the room and saw no one. My knees at Lily's house started to ache from the contact with her wooden floor.
I still saw no one and heard nothing at my old establishment, only noting each ugly Black family heirloom in it's ostentatious place on display shelves. I pulled my head out the flames and spun backwards for several seconds until I was falling onto my back onto the floor at Lily's house and coughing up charcoal.
"The coast is clear?" Lily asked, ignoring my choking.
I removed all the irritating bits of log from my airway, "Yup."
"Let's go," she said, helping me up. We stood next to each other and stepped closer to the fire. Lily was practically pressed against me. "Ready?"
"Ready." I replied as we stepped into the fireplace, the flames licked our heels uncomfortably and we dropped our floo powder together.
"Grimmauld Place!" we cried. I could feel bits of Lily colliding with my body as we roughly traveled through the floo network. We started slowing down and I shouted, "Nearly there!"
Lily must have misheard me and jumped through the wrong grate. I reached to grab her, but the world was spinning too fast and I had to jump out at my living room…
I hurled my body out of the flames and crashed onto the ancient wooden floors of the Black manor. I grunted at the force of impact and brushed the soot off myself. "Bullocks," I whispered, not seeing Lily anywhere.
Right, so. First, Lily mocks the plan and is a Ms. Sassy- Pants to me, and then she goes and mucks up the plan! Not only that but what if someone was on the third floor! I hadn't checked that far up the house because my room was on the second floor, so ORIGINALLY all we had to do was go up a flight of stairs, grab my stuff, come back down and floo home. Now, instead of operation Rescue Sirius' Stuff it is operation Rescue Lily.
If they found her… I shuddered on the spot. There wasn't any time to waste. I have to find her. I moved as quietly and quickly as I could up the staircase to the second floor. Little did I know, at the same time I was doing this, Lily was dashing madly down the servant's staircase, winding her way down to the first floor and entering the kitchen.
She was breathing heavily and looking around quickly, "Good Merlin, Lily." She whispered to herself as she tip-toed through the kitchen. "Why do you get yourself into these situations?!" A look of scorn and mockery came over her usually delicate features. "Be a daredevil, Lily. Show him you can live on the edge just like him." Her spiral of pity was interrupted when she accidentally hit a metal cauldron with her foot, making a huge metal GONG echo through the room, and what felt like the whole house.
And it felt like the whole house heard it because they did. I froze in my tracks up the way to the third floor and said, "Shit," turning around and booking it the other way to find Lily. But I wasn't going to get there first. I heard the pitter patter of little elven footsteps picking up their pace to the kitchen as well. And as I entered the room there was none other than my family's crazy house elf, Kreature, trying to tie Lily's hands behind her back and take her hostage.
If I wasn't so worried that my mum was somehow going to find out, I would have laughed. Kreature, three feet tall, trying to take down Lily; five foot seven.
"Ugh, I should have known you brought the filth into the house. The disgusting mudblood. Misses would be so ashamed. I'm going to have to bleach the floors now."
Not funny anymore. I was pissed.
"Enough!" I said, and Kreature stopped. Although he may despise me, I still bore the Black name and therefore he was entitled to obey my commands.
I took three large quick steps, and grabbed the house elf by the shoulder. I brought him up to my eye level and said, in as calm of a voice as I could manage, "You will tell no one of this incident. You will never give out any information about Lily. Even if Mrs. Black asks, you will not tell her we were here. You will forget this ever happened." I dropped him and he fell to his knees.
"Cummon," I said to Lily. I took her out of the room and looked at her for the first time. She seemed as if she was in a trance.
"Lily…?" I asked quietly.
"He didn't know what he was saying." She said softly.
"What?"
Her eyes snapped back to attention and she looked at me. "Kreature. He's been brainwashed."
"Of course," I said, just remembering what he had said about her. "You know I don't believe any of that, you know it's just what that crap pure-blood families try and spew out; there's nothing behind it. You get loads better grades on exams than I do." I said, putting my arm around her. She smiled at me.
"I do homework," she teased. "I was being silly, you're right." She smiled again and changed the subject quickly. "Where's your stuff? All this effort will go to waste if you don't come back with anything."
"But Lily-"
"Seriously!" She said.
I sighed. "It's up in my room still, I suppose." Unless my family burned it.
"All right then," she said, twinkle back in her eye. "Let's go."
I knew better than to fight with her now.
"Stand behind me," I said quietly and pulled out my wand. Lily reluctantly nodded and proceeded to take her place behind me, drawing her wand as well.
We crept up the stairs, as slowly and quietly as we could. My bedroom was located on the second floor; luckily there were not too many staircases to climb. We got to my closed door and I breathed a little bit easier—this insane trip was half over. I let Lily in and locked the door behind us—just in case. I stood in the center and put a silencing charm on the room, making sure moving things around would not be heard.
"That's illegal!" Lily hissed, and then looked upset with herself for reverting back to her old rule-abiding self.
"Lily," I said, shaking my head, "the Ministry can't know I was performing the spell unless they got my wand, they just know people at the house were. And since this is a magical house, they'll never know."
She looked outraged. "That's ridiculous! They have no proper way of monitoring underage magic!"
"They're hoping the parents will," I said calmly. "And, as much as I love to chat about wizard laws, the faster we get out of here the better."
"Right," Lily nodded. "Gather up all your stuff." I nodded back at her and set about quickly 'round the room throwing items in a trunk at random. I barely noticed as Lily was pacing around the perimeter of my room, looking at all the scantily clad muggle models on the wall. She snickered into her hand.
"What?" I said defensively, looking up from the trunk I was trying to now put in some resemblance of order.
"This your taste in women?" she asked pointing to a voluptuous fake- blonde girl in a white bikini.
"Nah, not really. Just makes my parents stroppy. So it's worth it," I finished shrugging. And then a brilliant idea popped into my genius brain. "Let's make sure they can't redecorate, shall we?" I said with an evil twinkle. And to each muggle poster I applied a permanent sticking charm. I even got Lily to do a few. She thought it was brilliant. That made me happy.
After we were done she turned and asked, "Right, got everything then?"
I closed the lid on my trunk, "Yeah, let's get a move on." I put a feather- weight charm on and carried my trunk with one hand and my wand with the other.
Lily and I made it to the living room, and I could see the fireplace. I was so excited, we actually got away with this! I tapped Lily's shoulder and she spun toward me. I gave her the motion to give me a high five.
Unfortunately, never having given a bird a high- five before, I gave her one with a best mate power behind it. She lost her footing and stepped back, knocking over this repulsive umbrella stand.
And all hell broke loose.
My mother's self ugly portrait went off yelling at the top of her lungs, and right above our heads I could hear footsteps frantically running to the stairs.
I caught Lily by the elbow, "We can't floo!" I cried to her.
"What?!" Lily yelled to me over the screaming.
"If we floo, they'll know where you live! They'll come to get you!" I frantically tried to think our way out of this. My broom was at James' and the bike at Lily's. There was only one option.
"Do you trust me?" I yelled to Lily.
Her eyes locked with mine and for one moment everything seemed to go silent.
"Yes," I saw her lips form, and I grabbed her arm.
"Hold onto me!" I screamed. I could hear the footsteps running down the stairs, the portrait screaming, and I swear my heart beat. But right now I needed to concentrate. I thought about how I needed to do this to keep Lily safe, and I knew that I could do this. I shoved my wand in my pocket, holding my trunk, and Lily's arm, I spun on the spot and we were sucked into a black oblivion.
Right before we spun, I saw the face of my mother. I saw the look of her absolute disgust, her hatred, and fury.
I also saw the faintest trace of sadness... as her eldest son illegally apparated to get away from her.