Erotic Romances and Romantic Gestures

Lily Evans had a particular habit of getting up early to steal an extra hour of study time before breakfast. There were few people who knew this (eight in total though she only knew about four) including her dorm mates - because of an unfortunate circumstance in their second year involving a cat, a broomstick, and a potted plant - and four Gryffindor boys who only knew because of a magical map they had charmed to reveal the locations of the Hogwarts staff, prefects, and busybodies (for mischief reasons) as well as everyone they cared about and their enemies (for reasons of the heart.) Lily was on the map for a multitude of reasons and was perhaps one of the most studied. The four of them had her patterns down well enough to be able to avoid her if need be or find her, should one wish to, without the map's help. It was because of this, that Sirius, his morning alarm sounding only for a fraction of a beat, shuffled down to the Hogwarts library before sunrise, confident that he would find who he was looking for without checking the map hidden in between the pages of Peter's history textbook.

Lily enjoyed going to the library this early in the morning. It was the quietest time because really only the cats were awake enough to make any noise, so it was the perfect time to study. Through the years, every spell she conquered, ever potions she perfected, had been mastered in this very room. If she wasn't studying, she was thinking. In first year, when she discovered how great the early morning library was, she would mull over her sister or her new friends and, on occasion, James. Second year was mostly about why people choose to have toads for a pet and what effect they had on the mind, that was the year she met Adrian Longbottom. Third and fourth year, her mind became increasingly preoccupied with James Potter as he was steadily ingraining himself into her life despite her efforts to stay away from him. There was something about him that she found entirely unnerving. However, this morning she decided to surprise herself.

She went to the library for the sole purpose of studying. There was a Transfiguration spell that she was having trouble with and she'd rather not let James Potter have the satisfaction of concurring it before her. But her subconscious was obsessing over Eilidh and with Eilidh, for the time being, brought Sirius Black. She spent the morning wrestling between Transfiguring a Hedgehog into a pincushion and reasoning what Eilidh Nicnevin saw in Sirius Black. And vice versa. Then she'd spiral and wonder why Eilidh neglected to tell her that she was even interested in Sirius Black in more than a friend way. They were never the type of friends who bore their souls to each other but this was something they commonly discussed. Boys. Who was cute, who wasn't, who was boyfriend material and who was merely eye candy. Sirius Black, as of a year ago, fell under the latter - he was cute but had too many issues and was too obsessed with his friends and was too intense and so on. They had agreed on that. And then she'd pull herself back to her Transfigurations before she'd start to wonder if it was her fault if she had somehow pushed Eilidh away.

She hadn't noticed that the man himself had walked in. She had heard the door, the footsteps, and the squeaking cart, of course, but she had thought it was Madam Wren.

"Morning, Evans," he greeted, falling into the chair opposite her. This was a coincidence. Even magic couldn't let you read people's minds, as far as she knew. The realm of possibility had grown scant throughout the years.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Nice to see you too," he smirked.

"Question, if you, a professional time traveler, were in a relationship with a vampire, because they're immortal, would you go further and further back in time so you can make them fall in love with you over and over again or would you travel deeper and deeper into the future so you can prolong the experience of a 'domestic love life?'" was how Remus greeted Eilidh that morning. She was waiting for them in the common room so they could go to breakfast together and didn't even look up from the parchment she was reading upon receiving this question.

"Is there a guarantee that they'll fall in love with me again if I go back?" she asked.

"Only because this is a hypothetical situation and the question is ridiculous, to begin with," Remus answered with a pointed look at James.

"Just because you don't believe in love, Moony…" James rolled his eyes.

"How can you not believe in love?" Eilidh demanded.

"It's childish to believe -"

"Do you not love your mother?" James demanded.

"That's different," Remus argued.

"No, it's not," Eilidh agreed.

"Alright, fine. What if, the only reason why we ever love anybody is because we get something out of it. We love our mother's because they birthed us and their nurturing. We love our friends because they provide companionship. We're 'in love' with our partners because they make us feel valid," Remus challenged.

"That's just… no. You're stupid," was James's well articulated rebuttal.

"Think about it. Sirius hates his mother because she's not nurturing. Friendships end because people get separated through the years but I guarantee that if you find out that I died fourty years from now you wouldn't even feel sad, shocked maybe but not sad. The only reason why we're 'in love' with our partners is because we're forced to be conjoined at the hip to them. We sleep in the same bed, our taxes, our name, eventually our biology gets mixed and we create little miniature versions of ourselves. Most of the time people start hating their partners simply because their lives are so mingled together. Face it, love is a farce, nothing but a fleeting chemical reaction," Remus finished his rant by crossing his arms and fixing them with a gloating smile. Eilidh and James blinked at him, neither quite believing what they were hearing.

"Stockholm syndrome," Eilidh said finally.

"What?" Remus asked.

"Stockholm syndrome," she repeated.

"Stockholm-"

"You come with me!" Lily interrupted Remus suddenly, coming out of nowhere and startling the three of them. She took hold of Eilidh's arm and pushed her toward the girls' dormitories. "You," she pointed at James and Remus, "keep your mouths shut."

"Stockholm syndrome isn't real love!" Remus argued as Lily continued to lead Eilidh up the steps to their dormitory.

Eilidh grinned over her shoulder victoriously, just before she lost sight of them, then she turned to Lily. "What's going on?"

"We need to talk about everything and we have to do it in the dormitory," Lily answered.

"Because?" Eilidh asked. There was nothing that she wanted to hear from Lily that she couldn't say in front of James and Remus. Anything that had to be said in private she didn't have the energy for anymore.

"Because… reasons, Eilidh, just go, we're running out of time." Lily pushed her forward rather than let her walk.

"Time for what? Lily-" Eilidh's protest was cut off by Lily shoving Eilidh into their dormitory and locking the door behind her.

"That's not creepy," Eilidh said, crossing her arms over her chest. If she had to do this, she might as well get it over with.

"I'm sorry. For everything. For being a mega bitch, for not being there for you with this Sirius thing. For cutting you off recently because of the James thing. Let's just agree to never talk about Potter," she spoke quickly, clearly in a rush, but paused to get her consent.

"Fair enough. Where is this coming from?" Eilidh asked, suspiciously.

"I've been wanting to do this for a while. I hate fighting with you," Lily said, her voice thick with emotion. She actually seemed apprehensive about Eilidh's reaction.

"I hate fighting with you too," Eilidh mumbled, her guard finally dropping. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too," Lily said, pulling Eilidh in to hug her. "I'm so, so sorry."

"I'm sorry too. I was a bitch. I should have told you from the beginning," Eilidh said.

"No - oh God, okay. Enough of the blame game," Lily said sternly, pulling back but keeping a firm grasp on Eilidh's hand.

"Right, we're running out of time," Eilidh said.

"Oh, that's just 'cause Sirius can't know," Lily said. Eilidh blinked at her, not wanting to say no but she couldn't keep secrets from Sirius either. "It's like a prank."

"Like a prank? How is hiding our friendship like a prank?" Eilidh challenged.

"Well, he said if I didn't makeup with you, he'd annoy the shit out of me so I'm going to make him do it which is going to be more annoying for him because I'm not going to let him know he's annoying me," Lily explained.

Eilidh struggled to find the words to reflect how she felt about this. In the end, she wound up blinking quickly and lowering herself onto her trunk.

"God, you two are so similar, you should just date each other!" Once she found the words she couldn't stop from pacing.

"Sorry?" Lily asked.

"You and Sirius with your eye for an eye, he borrowed my quill and forgot to give it back so now I have to steal his entire ink collection. Where does it end? Where's the line? And - and with your only doing things to make other people happy. It's frustrating and stupid and I hate being on the receiving end of it," she ranted.

"Eilidh, I told you I wanted to do this for a while!" Lily defended.

"Then why didn't you? Why couldn't you have just been happy for me when I told you about Sirius? Why didn't you give me a chance to speak up for myself when it came to James?" Eilidh demanded. It wasn't so much anger that fueled her, it was colder, almost like indifference and it scared her.

"I just needed the push, I guess," Lily murmured, speaking to the vast space of floor between them. An ocean of mahogany acting the a sea of deceit, manipulation, and cowardice that really separated them. One day, this could be her and Sirius, standing across the room, unable to look each other in the eye as they said things that should have been said a long time ago. "He cares about you, that's why he does things to make you happy. Why else would he come to me?"

"Flip it back on him," Eilidh said, whispering though she didn't mean to.

"What?"

"He threatened to annoy the shit out of you if you didn't. You did so, annoy the shit out of him," Eilidh explained.

"That's… a much better plan. Simpler," Lily said.

"Less lying to friends, more to the point," Eilidh agreed.

"Eilidh," Lily began and Eilidh suddenly didn't care to hear any more apologies.

"I'm done. It's done and over with. We're friends, let's just move on and put this mess behind us," she said.

"As soon as you let me promise to be a better friend," Lily said. Eilidh groaned and rolled her eyes. There was a ritual they did, ever since second year, because apparently saying "I promise" wasn't enough. It was less of a ritual and more of a secret handshake that ended with them tangling their arms together with a vice grip on each other's hands and swearing on their friendship and the sanctity of their dormitory that went like this:

"I, Lily Evans, swear to be a better friend to Eilidh Nicnevin or may I be barren and hairless by morning."

"And I, Eilidh Nicnevin, swear to include Lily Evans in all my affairs however trivial I think they may be -"

"That's really not necessary," Lily protested.

"Or," Eilidh continued, grinning as she spoke, "may I awake to find James Potter standing naked in my dormitory."

"You are so childish!" Lily grumbled, striding out of the door.

"This entire ordeal is childish," Eilidh argued.

"It's a sacred part of our childhood," Lily returned.

"I'm sensing a theme here," Eilidh said.

Lily laughed and although James stood waiting for Eilidh in the common room, Lily stayed with her throughout the day and remained civil. There was only a small amount of tension as Lily very politely responded to James's attempt at entertaining her. Sirius pretended that Lily's presence was part of their regular routine instead of being an unexpected innovation while Peter stared around in disbelief while trying to catch their eyes, which led Eilidh to believe that Sirius's act of confronting Lily was done of his own accord. Even better, he greeted Eilidh with a kiss on her cheek and continued to hold her hand during their ascent to the Great Hall.

It floored her. Everything was looking up after a long time of endless beatdowns and she couldn't help but express it. It did earn her a few curious looks whenever she grinned or exchanged fleeting glances with Mary and Marlene at something that would be otherwise casual. It was because of this that she greeted the morning post with perhaps more dread that she would have on any other morning.

It was the first of December and it had been exactly thirty days since her mother's last letter so that meant that when the owl dropped the letter in front of Eilidh it would contain her christmas plans. She watched owl after owl swoop in with such anxiety that she hadn't realised the force with which she gripped Sirius's hand, misdirecting his attention so James was able to pour salt into his porridge unnoticed.

And there it was. An envelope made of thick, off white parchment, marked with handwriting so pristine and unflawed it was almost mechanical when it formed her name:

Eilidh M. Nicnevin

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the Great Hall.

"What is it?' Sirius asked. Her friends had grown quiet while she had sat staring, too afraid to open a damn letter.

"Nothing. Just a letter from home," she shrugged nonchalantly as she packed the letter away in her rucksack for later. She smiled and signalled for them to re-engage in conversation. Mary was quick to accommodate, telling a story from her arithmancy class Eilidh had already heard. The professor had thrown a piece of chalk at one of his sleeping students who woke up so suddenly he fell out of his chair. She listened anyway trying to drown out the irritable itch in her brain that wondered at what was in the letter.

"Could be important," Sirius whispered, low enough so only she heard. Eilidh shook her head. "Come on," he gestured to the exit. "They'll think we're going for a snog or something."

She really couldn't take another second of the letter sitting in her rucksack unopened, containing the answers to what her holidays would be, so she stood with him and ignored James's "Oh, where are you going?" remark with his stupid smirk and playful wink. She only half waved in response to her brother's "Good morning."

She had been planning on locking herself in a toilet but the broom closet Sirius chose was fine. It was oddly comforting to be in a confined warm space, and there was less of a chance of someone walking in.

Under the light of their lit wands the waxed seal emblazoned with the Nicnevin crest looked so much more regal. It would be a crime to break it, really. And ripping her mother's expensive parchment was disrespectful. There was simply no way she could get into the letter.

"You read it," she said, passing the letter to Sirius. "Not aloud, just tell me if it's good news or bad news."

She waited, holding both Sirius's wand and hers but that was a good thing, she supposed, because then she couldn't fidget. Her feet, however, knew better. They danced, twisted, and curled as she gnawed on her lip, half wanting to rip the letter out of Sirius's hands and read it herself.

"I honestly don't know how you're going to take this," Sirius said, handing the letter back to her.

"Just tell me," she requested, passing the letter back and forth between her hands, wearing the parchment thin.

"Someone sends their best. And 'the aunts' think it best for you to stay here with us for Christmas," Sirius said, then added after a pause during which Eilidh could only blink at him, "like, here at Hogwarts with me and James."

Eilidh opened the letter, needing to read the words herself.

Eilidh,

Sentamu says to send his best. He's too ill to write to you himself but he mentioned something about an assignment. You'll have to ask him yourself in a fortnight.

The aunts and I have agreed that it would be best for you to stay at Hogwarts. We're throwing a Christmas party and it would be easier if you were out of the way for propriety's sake.

Keep an eye on Lucas for me. He mentioned something a little harrowing in his last letter.

Happy Christmas.

Eilidh read and re-read the letter three times. She had always wondered why her mother had let her muggle father stay in her life. Why she had been allowed to visit him for Christmas and during the summer holiday, without a word against it, not once, even while she had remained so adamant about keeping Eilidh's true heritage a secret. Wouldn't it have been more prudent to keep her away from that world? It would have been easy to do. Realistically, if her mother had been smart, she could have kept Eilidh away from her father at six and she would have no memory of him now. But Eilidh knew her mother. She knew her mother was superstitious enough to believe that any real pure blood could take one look at her and know the truth.

"So, do you think your brother's being bullied? What else could be harrowing?" he asked.

"He's had trouble before, its erm," she stuffed the letter back in her rucksack and straightened her hair before she realized he was staring at her expectantly. "It comes with the territory. People hate werewolves just like they hate half bloods and muggle borns. It's just -"

"Hey," Sirius took her hand and firmly held eye contact. "Your mum's just trying to protect you."

"My mother is hiding me away so she doesn't have to deal with the repercussions of the mistakes she made in the past. She separating me from her friends because I'm half and they're pure. There's no protection, she's too selfish for that." Eilidh didn't know where it came from but suddenly the truth came gushing out of her. She clamped her mouth shut realising her mistake.

"Okay. Well, even if that's true, you're still going to stay with us. James loves Christmas and you know his moods are contagious. You'll have fun, I promise, and Sirius Black never breaks a promise," he said earnestly.

"Did you just refer to yourself in the third person?" she laughed, trying to seem nonchalant like her earlier rant didn't happen.

"That is so far from the point, Nicnevin, it's harrowing," Sirius said.

"Why are you so stuck on that word?" she asked.

"I don't know, it's a weird word. And fortnight. And who the hell is Senmu and what are the aunts?" he asked and she laughed feeling significantly lighter. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I mean I've got you and James for Christmas and all the world's a stage so - Jesus, Mary, and - did you put veritaserum in my tea? I'm fine Sirius, I'm just disappointed," she said, honestly.

She was not the kind of person that inflicted her problems onto everyone else. She would deal with this calmly and privately in the sanctity of her own four-poster. She shouldn't have even agreed to let him take her into this closet to read the letter.

"Eleutheromania," she said suddenly and a little randomly but she had a sudden idea that she hopped would successfully change the subject. Sirius, of course, looked questioningly at her. "It's a weird word. Eleutheromania means the need for freedom. The manic need for freedom. It's a good word."

"That is a good word," he smiled. "Is there a word that means I wish you would tell me about the impressionable aunts and this Senmu?"

"Sentamu. Olaudah Sentamu is a werewolf who lives with us. The aunts aren't actually aunts, well not all of them, they're just the women in my family who didn't inherit the family business so they act as… like the board of governors. Traditionally, they're older unmarried women, but Althea's mother participates so screw tradition," she chuckled, and smiled brightly because that's what people do when they're fine. Sirius's smile was sympathetic, because he knew she wasn't. He took her hand and led her out.

He was careful to keep her in his peripheral vision throughout the day, a feat that did not go unnoticed by not only Eilidh but her friends as well.

"You and Sirius seem closer than ever," Marlene smiled, knowingly. At this point Eilidh wouldn't have been surprised if James had told her everything he knew.

"Yeah, well, all we needed was a moment to ourselves," Eilidh shrugged.

"That's got to be difficult when his friends are all glued to him like he's their life source," Lily grumbled, clutching a crumpled up piece of parchment while she searched for the right angle to throw said parchment and hit Sirius and not James. Eilidh took the parchment from Lily and threw it for her, she was sitting in an aisle seat so it was easier but, she made it very clear that it was from Lily and not her.

"You're -" Sirius started but seemed to be at a loss for words. "Professor McGonagall!"

"No, what are you doing?" Lily hissed, got up to snatch the parchment away but McGonagall came to quickly. She sunk back into her seat with her head down, glaring at Sirius out of the corner of her eye.

"I found this on the floor, figured you could recognise the handwriting," Sirius said, innocently.

McGonagall glanced at the parchment, crumpled it up then said, "get back to work, Black," before strolling away. Lily was hunched low over her Hedgehog, making an unsuccessful attempt at using her hair to cover her blush.

"What did you do?" Eilidh asked.

"Nothing," Lily smirked.

"When I said annoy him I didn't mean bully him," Eilidh sighed. "I'm not going to help you if you're going to be mean."

Lily looked up, her blush fading to a slight pink, and stuttered out a few coy words, "I'm not being mean, that was supposed to be funny. It's not my fault he's sensitive," she argued.

"What's going on?" Marlene asked so Eilidh told her. After Marlene expressed her disagreement with purposefully annoying people, she suggested that Lily try a subtler approach. Which eventually led to Lily hexing him by Potions so his fingers wouldn't be able to grip anything.

"What the hell, Evans?" Sirius demanded, finally noticing her sniggering.

"Just having a bit of fun, Black, no need to be so sensitive," she said. Sirius glowered at her, clearly fighting the need to rip into her and having to physically bite his tongue to do so.

"Lily reads romance novels," Eilidh announced. It was a secret shared and giggled over between the Gryffindor girls and she did feel a little bad about having outed it but she needed to level the playing field. Everything Sirius had was too harmful to be an appropriate rebuttal to Lily's antics and Lily wasn't likely to stop anytime soon, she was having too much fun. However, she wasn't doing anything now but glaring at Eilidh as the boys sat in stunned silence and the girls anticipated an explosion.

And then Sirius snorted.

"Like the stuff that mums read?" James asked, trying to hide his smirk.

"Yup," Eilidh nodded.

"Tell them about Mr Sexy," Mary prompted.

"Oh, Mr Sexy is the classic hero, isn't he Lily?" Eilidh asked, throwing an arm over her shoulder.

"He's not - this is ridiculous. I can't believe you told them! I'm never going to hear the end of this," Lily grumbled and crossed her arms but didn't pull away.

"Why is he called Mr Sexy?" Remus asked.

"Because he's all chiselled and gruff and manly," Marlene said.

"But he's sensitive and he has his weak spots," Mary added.

"He oozes charisma and confidence. Women want him, men want to be him," Eilidh started. "Then the love interest, Victoria, the damsel in distress, is a purely innocent woman, practically a child, with weak ankles. She falls directly into Mr Sexy's arms and the two are instantly in love. He is her love sick slave, she his dearest divine. Until the villain, Victoria's evil betrothed, whisks her away and forces Victoria to marry him. But then, the plot twist, Mr Sexy, sexily sweaty and panting from his journy he made on a horse, comes for Victoria at just the right moment, before the villain can seal their marriage with a kiss -"

"No, he came when the minister asked if anyone had any reason for them not to be married," Lily reminded.

"Do not interrupt my dearest divine," Sirius argued. Lily scowled at him so Eilidh powered through.

"Then, Mr Sexy declares his love for Victoria in the most romantic and poetic way any woman would fantasize about," she sighed for dramatic effect. "Then Mr Sexy has to fight his way through the villain's guards, because obviously he's got guards, he's a villain. But Mr Sexy is so vallient that the only peson who ends up dying is the villain, and that was by accident because he fell out of a window. Then Mr Sexy whisks Victoria away and they ride off into the sunset, share one last kiss, and they live happily ever after. See Remus, love is real," Eilidh told him, with her hand over her heart, wiping away tears that weren't there. James clapped then Peter started clapping then Professor Slughorn told them to focus on their work. They all laughed quietly but allowed the subject to drop until Lily started stealing Sirius's quills.

"That was the most romantic story I've ever heard, my dearest divine," Sirius said, otherwise pretending to not have noticed his missing quill.

"I'm glad you liked it, Mr Sexy, maybe Lily will let you borrow the book sometime," Eilidh suggested.

"Oh, I'd much rather live it. We could ride off into the sunset together! All I need is to find a horse," he smirked.

"Alright! I give up. But the next time you threaten me, Sirius Black, I'll do more than hex your fingers," she snarled, scooping up her work station and moving it to the next table.

"Farewell, my love, parting is such sweet sorrow," Sirius waved.

"You threatened Lily?" James asked.

"Sorry, did you just quote Shakespeare at me?" Lily demanded.

"Er…." Eilidh had never seen Sirius look as if he wanted to run before, she found it funny.

"Sirius likes romance novels too," Lily declared.

"Shakespeare isn't the same thing," Josie argued.

"Have you ever read Romeo and Juliet?" Marlene countered.

"What's wrong with Romeo and Juliet?" Mary asked.

"You threatened Lily?" James repeated.

"I just said she would have a hard time getting rid of me. You know, because she thinks I'm annoying," Sirius explained.

"I reckon she's right, you are annoying," James said.

"James, relax, he didn't threaten to hurt her," Remus said.

"And I wouldn't," Sirius swore.

"Do you really like Shakespeare?" Peter asked, grimacing a little.

"I - he's not - shut up, Peter, you're favourite pet is the goldfish," Sirius said.

"Mate," Remus said, grimacing.

"Hey, Mr Sexy's gotta be well read, how else is he going to poetically pronounce his love?" Eilidh defended.

"You really don't mind Shakespeare?" Sirius asked.

"It's a lot better than the Mr Sexy chronicals," Eilidh told them.

"Why is it called the Mr Sexy chronicals?" Remus asked.

"Because, Lily charmed the books so we can't read the titles but all the covers have shirtless, muscular men on them so… Mr Sexy," Eilidh shrugged.

"So wait, that whole ordeal…" James asked.

"It wasn't completely a lie, it was just a mix of the most memorable moments," Eilidh told them.

They took a moment to reflect on this.

"Sometimes I wish we could break into the girls' dormitory," James said.

"It's just a bunch of tampons and hair," Eilidh shrugged. "It's still cleaner than your dormitory. Smells better."

"We have our reasons," James defended.

"Yeah, the house elves, I've heard," Eilidh said. "You're all getting scented candles for Christmas."

"I like scented candles," Remus said.

"How is that any better than Shakespeare?" Sirius demanded.

"You can't smell Shakespeare, Sirius," Remus hissed.

"That's not -" James started.

"Don't go there," Peter implored.

"Dead bloke would probably smell better than your dormitory," Eilidh argued.

"You're being ridiculously overdramatic," Sirius told her. "Hey, mates, we should clean our dormitory tonight."

James and Peter groaned. Remus looked a little relieved. Eilidh laughed at the lot of them.

***Thank you Love Fiction 2018 :D

***WHO UPDATED ON TIME? Me! (barely... I'm still proud of my self :P)

I might have gotten a little carried away with this one but I had fun and hopefully, you did too.

Thanks for reading

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Until next time,

XO