--

--

Chapter 8:

Bianca and Candice were sleeping peacefully in the warm beds. The sun was shining outside and it was a Sunday. They were both happy until someone ran into the room waving a piece of paper around.

"Girls, wake up" Amanda yelled pulling the blankets off.

"Amanda, what's going on?" Bianca asked whereas Candice just ignored her.

"I got a letter from the headmaster. Let me read it to you" she said sitting on the bed.

"Dear Amanda

This letter is concerning your sleeping arrangements. I am happy to say that you are more than welcome to move into Bianca and Candice's room if you feel more comfortable there.

Of course you may need to ask to make sure but if they are happy then you have a chance to move in today.

Sincerely,

Headmaster Dumbledore."

Bianca and Candice smiled, "Can I move in?" Amanda asked.

"Of course Mandy" Bianca said hugging her friend.

"Just promise me you don't snore" Candice said doing the same.

"I'm so excited. I'm going to get my stuff" she said jumping up.

"Do you need help?"

"No its ok. I'm almost done packing. I'll be finished by breakfast. See you down there" she said leaving the room before they could insist on helping.

The cousins laughed and got changed into comfortable clothes and made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. They sat opposite the Marauders as they ate quietly.

"Morning" Bianca said.

"Hello" Sirius said.

"Morning" Remus said.

"Hi" Peter squeaked.

"James?" Bianca said looking at him. He seemed to he lost in his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. How are you?" he asked.

"Fine. How about you?" she asked.

"I've been better" he told truthfully.

"Have you seen Lily this morning?" Candice asked.

"No, but Chloe and Annie came to visit her this morning as I was leaving to come here" he answered looking down at his plate.

"Have you talked to her yet?" Bianca asked.

"No, I tried this morning but she didn't open the door and just ignored me"

"Are you sure she was awake?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, I heard her brushing her teeth"

"Just keep trying" Bianca comforted.

"We have to start Night Patrols tonight. We were supposed to yesterday but McGonagall let us off" he told.

"They're coming" Bianca said. They all saw Chloe, Lily and Annie coming towards them. She looked tired with big bags under her eyes, her hair was pulled into a messy bun and her eyes were dull and that sparkle it used to hold was gone but overall acted completely normal.

They sat next to Bianca and Candice.
"Morning everyone" Annie said trying to get rid of the awkward atmosphere as everyone looked at Lily and James.

"Morning" they replied.

"What are we doing today?" Chloe asked pushing her long hair out of the way before it fell into her food.

They all shrugged, "Let's go sit by the lake. It's a nice day today" Chloe said.

"Unlike yesterday" Sirius said under his breathe although most of them heard what he said.

Chloe glared at him. They didn't need a reminder of what happened yesterday.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Sirius asked.

"Because you are an idiot" Chloe shot back and half the table groaned. Morning fights were normal behavior for Sirius and Chloe and some people from the Hufflepuff table turned around to watch.

"Am not" Sirius said standing up and towering over her .Chloe stood up as well but of course she wasn't six foot and was still shorter than Sirius.

"Yes you are. You're always first to ruin something" she yelled.

"Stop giving me crap. You do the exact same thing"

"Well at least I am not as bad as you"

"Guys stop it" Lily said softly but of course was ignored.

"Yes you are!"

"SHUT UP" James and Lily yelled at the same time. Everyone in the Hall stopped, including the fighting couple. They sat down hoping that James and Lily wouldn't have a fight.

"Please pass the pumpkin juice" Lily asked. James carefully picked it up and handed it to her. She silently took it and poured herself a drink.

"Thanks" James just nodded and watched her.

"This is going to be one long day" Bianca groaned.

--

"Come on Lily. Just come sit with us." Bianca begged.

"You don't even have to talk. Just sit there and look pretty" Annie said.

"No thanks guys. I'm not in the mood" Lily said sitting on her bed doing her homework.

"Well you can't sit in here all day" Candice told.

"Yes I can. Now go have fun with the boys"

"Only if you come" Candice said again and without warning pulled Lily off the bed and dragged her all the way outside to the beach tree.

"Candice, I have work to do" she complained.

Sirius, Remus and Peter were already sitting there and watched and the girls joined them. "Hello. We were beginning to think you weren't coming" Remus said moving over as Annie sat next to him.

"Well we are here now anyway" Bianca said, "Where is James?"

"He is on the Quiddich Pitch" Sirius answered. "Just wanted to go for a fly"

"Ok" they sat quietly for a moment. No one knew what to say so they just sat there. Lily sighed.

"This is stupid. I'm going to do my homework" she said getting up and moving before others could stop her. Once she was gone Bianca stood up. "Show me where the Quiddich Pitch is. I'll talk to him"

"Follow us" Remus said.

They all stood up and slowly made their way through the grounds passing Hagrid on the way. They walked through the locker rooms passing the showers and finally made it onto the pitch. James was flying in circles around the pitch and occasionally stopped and just looked at the castle.

"Well let us know if you need anything." Annie said.

"Alright, thanks guys" Bianca said as they left. She walked alone to the middle of the pitch and yelled up to James. "James, come down!"

She figured he couldn't hear her or didn't want to so she took a spare broom from the equipment cupboard and got on. She wasn't exactly the best flyer but she could fly. Candice and her cousins were all better at flying than her but she liked to think that she was overall a better dancer (although they disagree).

"Hey" she said hovering next to him as he looked up and Hogwarts.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Looking for you. Are you okay?"

"No. I'm pissed off and usually when I come flying because it usually helps me feel better and I can think about what to do next" he replied.

"Is it working?" she asked.

"A little" he nodded.

"Tell me about it"

"I don't feel like it right now"

"I got on a damn broom for you so you are going to tell me whether you feel like it or not" Bianca said.

James let out a small laugh, "Why don't you like flying?" he questioned slowly circling her.

"I don't mind it but I never go this high because I am not exactly the best flyer in the world." she answered.

"So then why did you come this high?"

"Because my boyfriend looks like he needed someone to talk to".

James smiled and gave her a peck on the cheek, "Let's go back down then"

When they reached the ground they sat in the middle of the pitch facing each other. Bianca didn't say anything, she just sat there waiting.
"Bianca, I'm such an idiot! I can't believe I said all that stuff but it's just that sometimes when we fight I get so frustrated and can't keep it in. I always regret saying something later and she hates me even more and the worst thing is that we were finally getting along. Now all of our Head duties are going to harder to do than necessary because I couldn't keep my mouth shut"

"Ok, before I say anything just know that Lily is my best friend" Bianca started.

James sighed, "You are going to tell me off aren't you?" his head hanging low.

"No" she said simply, "Shut up and listen"

"Alright"

"Lily is a hot tempered red-head and sometimes she goes overboard like the yesterday but that is just who she is. I'm not saying it was ok for you to say those things but she was out of line as well, all you did was try to help her"

"Exactly!" he exclaimed.

"But-"

"There is a 'but'" he sighed.

"James I don't think you fully understand why she went off at you like that. I have been friends with Lily since before she got her Hogwarts letter. She never knew that I was a witch or that my mum was either and at first she didn't want to be a witch because her sister would always tease her about it and call her a 'freak"

"She's not a freak!" he yelled.

"I know, but then she came here and everyone in the Slytherin house started calling her a mudblood and she felt the need to prove that just because she was a muggleborn didn't mean she couldn't do magic as well as a pureblood. Since then she has always wanted to do things by herself because she didn't want others to think she was weak or that being a muggleborn didn't restrict her in any way. Do you understand where I am going with this?"

"When I yelled at her I just made everything worse" James said looking at her.

"Yes, but I know that you don't mean it because I can see you care about Lily" Bianca told.

"I really do" he said. "Wait, but not it that way" he said realizing he was talking to his girlfriend.

Bianca just laughed and nodded. "So what are you going to do because Lily is stubborn as hell and isn't going to say anything first. That's up to you"

James looked up at the sky and saw it was starting to get dark. He looked at his watch as swore, "Shit! We have been out here for four hours! Dinner should be soon"

"Let's go"

"Oh and James?" Bianca said stopping.

"Yeah?"

"Whatever you do. Do not tell Lily I told you that"

--

"Good Lord! What happened to your hair?" Candice asked as Bianca and James joined them in the Great Hall.

"What is wrong with it?" Bianca asked her cousin.

"It is standing up in all directions, just like James'" she answered trying to fix it. The group started laughing, except Lily of course.

"Well I did go flying" Bianca stated as her cousin braided her hair after her previous hair-taming method failed.

"Ha! You went flying?" Jordy asked joining them at the table. As usual he and the other boys kissed their cousins on the cheek before sitting down.

"Ok, first of all you have to kiss my friends Annie and Chloe because they are important, just like Amanda and Lily and second of all, is it that hard to believe that I went flying?" Bianca commented.

"Sorry ladies" Jordy said kissing them on the cheek. They both blushed at the kisses they were receiving from the three boys.

"Why do you always do that?" Sirius asked,

"Do what?" Keagan asked.

"Kiss them"

"Why wouldn't we?"

"They are just your cousins" Sirius told. The other nodded agreeing it was strange that they always kissed.

"That is just how we were brought up. We were always taught to kiss family members whenever we see them. It was considered impolite if you didn't" Bianca explained.

"Why?" Chloe asked.

"Because we are a very tight family and that's just what we do. Besides I like getting kisses from my cousins because it shows they still care even though there mother isn't around to tell them off" Candice answered.

"Well you would tell us off if we didn't kiss you anyway" Jordy said with his mouth full, "You guys are like our mothers away from home"

"Damn straight and for God sake eat with your mouth closed" Bianca said wiping mashed potato from his face.

"See" he told the others.

"Just shut up and eat your vegetables" Bianca told.

"Anyway... No offence Bianca but you're a shit flyer" Candice told sitting down as well. They all laughed at the subject change.

"I'm not that bad. I did pretty well today anyway, right James?" she told.

James looked up from his food, "Um, sure"

The others giggled at Bianca's facial expression, "Jee thanks, my family and friends and boyfriend are ganging up on me"

"I'm kidding, you were just a bit wobbly" James told kissing her on the cheek.

"Well I can't be as good as you. How many years have you been on the Quiddich team?" Bianca questioned.

"Since second year" he answered.

"Speaking of Quiddich" Candice said, "When do the games start?"

"Well we don't have full teams because some of the members graduated last year so once try-outs are finished it will start" James answered. "I was actually thinking of getting the Gryffindor team in the common room one night after dinner to get a head start on captain choosing"

"Prongs, you know you will get captain" Sirius told.

"We'll see. Just spread the news"

--

Once dinner had finished the group all made their way back to the common room to finish up homework and get read for another week of classes, which they were not looking forward to because paired assignments were going to start.

Sirius, Remus, Annie, Chloe, Bianca, Candice and Peter were all sitting in the common room chatting while their two good friends went to perform their Heads duties. They were all worried for James' well-being and hoped there will be no bloodshed tonight.

It was the first time they were alone since the fight.

--

James and Lily walked out of their private common room and started patrolling the corridors together for the first time. They walked in silence and started with the Entrance Hall and worked their way to the top level.

After fifteen minutes of deathly silence James couldn't stand it anymore and said something, "Lily, I think we need to talk about yesterday"

"What is there is to talk about?" she asked in a flat tone.

"Well I have a few things I need to say" James started.

"Don't you think you have said enough?!" she stopped facing him and he inwardly cringed at the memory of everything he said the previous day.

"About what I said. I want to tell you how sorry I am and that if I could take it all back I would in an instant. I didn't mean anything I said back there" he told and he genuinely meant it. Lily could see something in his eyes but she didn't want to look long enough to find out. Tearing herself away from the deep hazel depths of his eyes she kept walking.

"Lily say something" James begged as she stayed quietly.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY?" she yelled. "Thank you so much for the fake apology. I'll accept it so you can sleep better at night? I thought you had changed from the arrogant git you used to be and I was starting to enjoy being your friend even if it was only for a little while." Shaking her head and turning around before her eyes well up with tears.

"Lily, we can still be friends. That wasn't a fake apology. I meant every word of it" he told catching up to her as they walked down through the top corridor.

Looking at the time on her watch suggested that patrols was over so she made her way back to Head Quarters with James hot at her heels. As she walked over to her bedroom door she felt James grab hold of her wrist, not tightly.

"I want-"he started

"Just don't James" she told him pulling her hand away and going to her room.

James sighed and collapsed onto the couch and stared into the fire. He heard the portrait hole opening and turned around to see who it was. Instead of someone he saw Simba (Bianca's cat) walk into the common room with a letter tied to his collar.

"Hey Simba" James greeted, patting him and taking the letter. "How did you get in?"

The cat just jumped onto the table and waited for him to read the letter. He opened it to see four simple words written across it.

How did it go?

He smiled and wrote a reply and put it back on Simba's collar and letting him out again.

--

Bianca picked up Simba and took the letter from is collar before putting him on her lap.

"Well?" Annie asked once Bianca sighed.

"Not well" she read simply.

"Well I guess there is always tomorrow" Remus told. "Speaking of which, I'm going to bed. See you in the morning" he said and got up to leave.

The others followed his lead, splitting up and moving to their dormitories. Bianca and Candice walked into their dorm and saw Amanda sitting on her bed reading. They smiled and sat next to her.

"Hey Mandy, you all settled in?" Candice asked.

"Yes I am. What's wrong?" she questioned putting her book down.

"Nothing"

"No I can tell something is up" she told.

"Lily and James had a fight and they aren't talking to each other" Bianca explained as she brushed her teeth.

"I thought they were friend now" Amanda said confused.

"They were but then James defended her in front of Slytherins and an argument started from there"

"Ok then"

"Really long story" Candice nodded