Lily stood up and stuck her hand out for Kay to shake.
"Hi. You're sixth year Ravenclaw prefect, right?" Lily asked her. Kay scanned Lily, then looked at James.
"Jamie sweetheart, the prefect meeting is done, you said that you'd wait in a car for me." she said. James nodded.
"I had to talk to my friend." he said. Kay looked at him with flared nostrils.
"You don't even like her. You said yourself that you couldn't stand her." she said, before she looked at Lily.
"Kay- can you give me a moment with her? Go to the compartment and I'll be there in a minute." James said sternly. Kay rolled her eyes, then stormed out of the compartment. James looked at Lily apologetically, and got prepared for the worst.
"You couldn't stand me?" Lily asked him. James sighed.
"I was just-"
"I mean; ouchie. I- jeez… I expected a few bad words, but 'can't stand'?" James looked at her apologetically. "How can you feel that way about someone who looks like me?" Lily asked jokingly. James gave her a confused look. "Well- she obviously wasn't talking about me. We only met a few minutes ago." James laughed.
"And I thought that you'd hex me into oblivion, Evans." he said.
"You can call me Lilsy, like E.J does." Lily said.
"I'm guessing that you want to be able to call me Jamie in return, don't you?" Lily nodded.
"I think its only fair." she said diplomatically.
"Well- E.J's surprise going away party is going to be held at my house, on Saturday. Can you come?"
"Um- well… how am I getting there?" Lily asked.
"Well- we could meet at Diagon Alley, you could Floo… or you could apparate." Lily nodded.
"I like Flooing." she said. "And where do you live?" James mumbled something that Lily couldn't quite hear. "Where?"
"Potter Manor." James said louder. Lily nodded.
"Wicked." she said in a laid back voice. James laughed.
"So… you'll come?"
"Um- what time?"
"Starting six… but can you come a little early? I need some help." Lily nodded.
"Okay. Formal?" James shook his head.
"Heavens no." Lily laughed. "What?"
"You just said 'heavens no'. I always had you pictured as the hell no type." Lily said. James laughed and nodded.
"I am, but- I just figured if there isn't a reason to swear, then what's the point?" Lily smiled. "So- Saturday." he said, as he got up. Lily nodded.
"Saturday." she said, before she lied her head against the window.
"See you." James said before he walked out of the car. He left Lily to think the most peaceful thoughts possible.
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E.J sat in the compartment with Sirius and Peter. She was sitting next to Sirius, with one leg tucked under her, and the other swinging. She was blowing her bangs out of her face, and staring at the ceiling, while the two boys just stared at her.
"So you're really leaving?" Sirius asked her. E.J stopped everything she was doing, and looked at him. She bit her lip nervously, and nodded.
"Yeah." she said. There was an uncertain insecurity that made it sound like a question, while she nodded and her chocolate curls bounced. "I'm leaving."
"What school?" Peter asked. E.J turned to him briefly, then looked back at Sirius while she answered the question.
"Uh- I can either take a plane to the States and… go to Acklemeyers. Or I can go to Buenas Aguas Magical Academy for Girls. Either way I'm unhappy. Either way I lose." she said.
"Then don't go." Sirius said. "C'mon, E.J- you can stay here and continue the last year at Hogwarts." E.J smiled.
"Sirius, you know that I can't." she said. "I want to… I really do- I just can't leave my mum." Sirius nodded.
"Okay." he said, before he cleared his throat. "So- where are we going on your last night? Better yet- me and you are going to Diagon Alley on your last night. Your last day… we'll get a butterbeer and look at those smelly old paper things that you like." E.J smiled and looked at him.
"You mean books?" she said.
"Yeah- whatever." E.J laughed.
"I'd like that." she said, as she gave a faint nod. Sirius graced her with a laidback grin and E.J laughed. As soon as this happened, Peter got up, and left the compartment with a slam. E.J and Sirius looked at each other.
"What's wrong with him?" Sirius asked.
"I don't know." E.J said.
"I'm gonna see how he's doing." Sirius said, before he got up. Once he left, E.J looked at her reflection in the window, and started to fix her hair.
"E.J you stupid, stupid girl… this is Sirius… and you're never gonna see him again. Get over it… and suck it up. He doesn't even like you like that." she told herself. "Why am I talking to myself? Oh- 'cause I'm crazy." Sirius walked in a minute later. He sighed, then smiled at E.J. "What's wrong with him?"
"He wouldn't tell me." Sirius said, as he sat down across from her. E.J nodded. "So… how are you and Erica getting along?"
"Who's that?" E.J asked.
"Your sister." Sirius said.
"Oh wow. She… well- I don't think I- I don't know her. She hates me and my mum… but my mum and dad got together after he divorced her mum. So- there isn't much reason."
"You can't divorce in the magical world." E.J nodded.
"Yeah- you can. You know how magical weddings work, right?" Sirius nodded. "Okay- a you make a Heart Gem. And the Heart Gem can only be kept by someone who has the maker's heart. Now… if the heart gem turns back to stone, and the people get married anyway… you can get a divorce." Sirius smiled.
"So… your dad didn't love her." he said. E.J shrugged.
"I don't know anything about his life."
"Before you?"
"Period. I don't even know him, really. I just know that he's a sick fuck. I guess his dark skinned ethnic wife was too hard for his campaign to handle." E.J said bitterly. "Then comes his dark skinned, fucked up, bohemian daughter."
"You're not bohemian and you're not fucked up." Sirius said.
"But I could be." E.J said crazily. Sirius laughed, and nodded.
"You could be… you're just a little weird and screwed up." E.J shrugged. "Besides… I've seen your mum… and- if that's what he gave up… he's not smart enough to be our head chair." E.J laughed. "Yeah- your mum's hot."
"Okay- now I'm uncomfortable." E.J said. Sirius laughed.
"Sorry." he said. "So…can I ask you a question?" E.J nodded.
"Yeah, what happened?"
"How old is your mother?" E.J laughed.
"Young enough that it makes my dad a pig/pervert." she said. "Old enough that its not so disgusting anymore."
"And how old is that?" Sirius asked.
"My sister Erica is twenty seven. My mum is nine and a half years older than her. She was twenty when she had me. My dad married her, when she was in Healer Training." E.J said.
"How old is your dad?"
"You've seen him. He's probably fifty… I think. I don't know for sure. He's no younger than fifty." Sirius nodded awkwardly. "Don't feel awkward around me… I could care less that she was nineteen with an eleven year old stepdaughter and a thirty three- or thirty four year old husband.."
"Well- its not that. Your mum already had money of her own-"
"I don't know why she married him either." E.J said. "But it makes me feel better that she didn't use him for his money."
"I understand." Sirius said. "So…how do you feel?"
"About what? My dad screwing my godmother- or my mother going crazy about it?"
"You choose." Sirius said, in a way that made E.J give a faint chuckle.
"She shut down her clinic."
"St. Eris Clinic." E.J nodded.
"So… she shut it down and… well- Madam Pomphrey is definitely a shoe in for Healer of the Year."
"So… how is she?"
"Depressed. The letter that she sent me was… drenched in tear stains and she tried her best to make him seem like a good guy, but- I know better." E.J said, as she shrugged. Sirius nodded. "Lets talk about you and your parents. Them and your little pervert of a brother."
"Okay. Well- my brother is in Slytherin and my parents don't love me. Done." Sirius said. E.J shook her head.
"No… your parents just expect something different than what you can give them." she said. Sirius smiled but shook his head.
"Its okay… I don't love them either." he said. "I love Regulus and I hope that I can lead him in the right direction… but- I won't be able to."
"So… if you don't love them, who do you love?"
"My friends. My brothers. Lily… you guys are my-"
"Get over it. I'm gone now. You're going to have to replace me." Sirius nodded.
"I've already done that." he said. E.J smiled.
"Well-"
"Don't say it." Sirius said.
"I-"
"Don't say it."
"Don't-."
"Don't finish."
"Care." E.J finished. Sirius nodded.
"Yes you do." he said. "I'm gonna have another girl who'll help me plan my ultimate pranks." E.J shrugged. "One thing I'll regret."
"What's that?" E.J asked.
"We never did snog each other." he said, as he wiggled his eyebrows. E.J laughed.
"And we never will." she said.
"Come on. You know you want to."
"Even if I do… I won't." Sirius got up, and sat next to her again. He scooted closer to her.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Sirius, the moment you kiss me… is the moment we stop being friends." E.J said coolly. Sirius shrugged.
"You're leaving anyway." E.J laughed, and pushed him away playfully. "Fine." he said, as he walked back to his previously vacated seat.
"Are you angry that I don't want to snog you?" Sirius nodded. E.J shrugged. "Its not like I care anyway." Sirius laughed.
"One of the things I won't miss." he said. E.J pouted and scrunched up her eyebrows. "Oh- you know I'll miss you, Eris."
"Stop calling me that, S.O.B." Sirius laughed.
"Are you calling me a son of a bitch?" E.J shook her head.
"Its your initials. Sirius Orion Black."
"Wow- I didn't even recognize that."
"That's because you're slow." Sirius gasped, and threw a licorice wand at her. E.J picked it up and ate it.
"So…why don't you like your name?" Sirius asked her. E.J smiled.
"Eric, Erica, and Eris. I hate that. Plus- Aphrodite is pregnant, according to my father… and they're going to name her Erin." Sirius nodded.
"Well- are you going to hate that child?"
"I'm not gonna be near that child." E.J said.
"Wouldn't that be the same thing that your sister does to you?" E.J shook her head.
"My sister is always in my house. She still loves my father. Whenever she goes there, I stay with Jamie. That's why I'm at his house all summer. I hate my sister. I'm not going to be near that child, because I hate my father also. I don't want any ties to him." she said.
"Well… are you going to visit during Christmas?" E.J shook her head.
"I'll have to be near my mum then." she said.
"What about after seventh year?" She shrugged.
"I don't know." she said. "Will you still want to see me?" Sirius laughed, and shook his head. "Just for that- I'm coming."
"So… more about the baby. Why won't you be near her?"
"I don't want to be near my dad and his new wife. I don't even like my father. Why would I want to be near him and his bitchy wife?"
"Well… I don't know. I mean- maybe they're in- maybe they love each other." E.J nodded.
"Well… this is a woman who my mother grew up with. They went to the same school in El Seibo… and this woman is my godmother. Not to mention the fact that this woman… has sat in my house every birthday party that I've had… and she's told me how much she loved me, and she's wished me all happy things… and for the past two years- which is how long they've been screwing- she's been acting different. And its occurred to me that she was being good for as long as she had to be, so that she could stick around… but at that point… my father already had a use for her… so- she didn't need to act all wonderful towards me and my mum anymore."
"Well- maybe she's always liked him… and your mum got to him first?" Sirius offered. E.J looked at him. "I can tell that you don't want to hate him. I know that you've been searching for an excuse, too." E.J smiled.
"I'm okay with hating him, now." she said. "Her too. I mean- it seems horrible, but- if it was a task… I couldn't care less about my parents marriage. I only wonder if his Heart Gem stayed a rock or not."
"Well- you can't blame them for how they feel… can you?" E.J laughed.
"I don't care about them or their engagement. I don't care about their relationship- I don't care about their fetus- what they've been doing- if they love each other. I don't care about any of that. One thing I care about is… its killing my mother. I mean… this is the man that she- I- she was the one who used to tell me stories about how much she loves him- and… its her that I care about. I could care less about Eric and his gold digger for a fiancé."
"Well- she doesn't have to be a gold digger." E.J nodded.
"She was the maid's daughter when she met my mum… and I'm not saying anything against it… but- she's been living in my house for as long as I can remember. And now she's the woman of the house. And the only part about it… the only part that really gets me is that… I know that if it came down to it… there isn't anything that I could do to make him choose me over any of them."
"Who?"
"Erica… the unborn Erin, Aphrodite… even Erica's mum. And I don't care about him but- have you ever felt like you were in a place where everyone unanimously hated you. In a place where… if one person decided to harm you, no one else would object?" Sirius nodded. "That's how I feel when I'm around my father and Erica. I feel like if she straight-out asked him to; he'd cut me out. The worst part about it is that… I'm completely okay with it. The man who's been like a father to me, really is Uncle Harry. And Aunt Marilyn is- I love her too. I just- I hate my father."
"Well- I hate your father, too." Sirius said.
"Thank you." E.J said. Sirius laughed, and got up.
"Its no problem." he said, as he hugged her and brushed his lips across her forehead.