Chapter Sixteen - Reluctant Friends and Emerging Jealousies
Lily and James were still attempting to breathe normally again as they gazed disbelievingly at Kristen, who stared back at them. The silence was becoming heavy.
"Well?" Lily asked after clearing her throat. She glanced over at James, and turned a faint shade of pink when she realized that his hand was still on her lower back, dangerously close to her bum. She removed it, causing him to shift in embarrassment.
Kristen was looking between them, the parchment clutched at her side. She resolved never to walk in without knocking again if she could help it; she preferred not to find them in these positions.
"So who was it?" James inquired, becoming impatient.
"Oh!" Kristen shook herself, gazing at the parchment she now held where she could read it. "You're not going to believe this."
"What, why?" Lily leaned forward, her green eyes wondering.
At that moment, the door opened to admit a certain light brown-haired and hazel-eyed boy named Remus Lupin. Shutting the door behind him, he scanned the room.
James frowned. "What is this, free admission?"
Remus ignored him, his eyes coming to land on Kristen. "I saw you leave the Great Hall in a hurry, and the map said- I mean, I thought I might find you here."
Kristen smiled faintly during this explanation; she seemed to forget that Lily and James were sitting on the edge of the couch, waiting anxiously to learn who had signed the parchment.
"Bloody hell!" Lily exclaimed, jumping up from the couch and snatching the parchment from Kristen, who smiled sheepishly at her friend. Lily perused it, reading it out loud. "Name…Levent Hedley…never heard of him. Seventh year…Slytherin?!" Her green eyes widened with disbelief.
James, looking profoundly startled, appeared at her side and took the parchment. Lily stared up at him as he read it for himself.
"Is he serious?" James inquired dubiously.
Kristen shrugged and Remus looked thoroughly confused, having not heard that anyone had signed the notice. James handed the werewolf the parchment, and Remus frowned, his forehead creasing.
"Why would a Slytherin sign the parchment? They don't have a part in either of the groups."
The four seventh years gazed around at one another uncertainly, each at a loss for a suitable answer.
"Well, there's only one way to find out," Lily said eventually, ending the long silence.
"What's that?" James looked over at her, taking in her disheveled auburn hair (which was his doing, and he smiled internally over the idea) and resolute expression.
"We have to meet him." The idea of meeting a Slytherin on purpose, to discuss something nicely, brought on another short block of doubtful silence.
It didn't take James long to decide that he had had enough. Taking the parchment back, he turned to Remus and Kristen. "Alright, time for you to go. We were having quite a nice time before you barged in."
Kristen's cheeks colored and she glanced at Lily, who smiled as if to say, "what can you do?" Remus grabbed Kristen's arm and pulled her towards the door, smirking to himself.
"See you later then," he said as he winked at James.
Lily swatted James as soon as the door closed behind their friends. "Horny bastard," she declared, heading towards her room.
"Oh come on, that's not fair!" He called after her. "You're just as bad as me!"
"Unlikely," she called back.
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Once outside the Heads' room, Remus dropped Kristen's arm unceremoniously. The whole idea was still rather new to him, and he was having a difficult time accepting it; he found himself easily forgetting that there had ever been boundaries, and once he realized that, it was hard for him to believe.
Kristen didn't know what to think. She had taken an early liking to Remus, even before she admitted to herself that she had. They were getting along rather well, too. It was one thing for Kristen to talk with a guy, but when that guy was so similar to her, so incredibly polite and intelligent, and so against the Ausculto rules, well, it was quite another matter.
She couldn't help her curiosity; she just had to ask. "So why did you come looking for me?"
He became embarrassed. "Oh- er- I just wanted to make sure nothing was wrong. You know, nothing important. Uh- but I thought maybe we could get together sometime- to work on that book, of course."
"Right, yeah." She felt bad for having embarrassed him, but oddly pleased that the question had caused this reaction. "What about this Saturday? We shouldn't have too much work to do, so we could go to the library."
"Er- that sounds good." He turned the corner, realizing that they were finally nearing the Gryffindor tower.
Wanting to break the silence, Kristen asked, "What do you think of our friends?"
"Lily and James? I think it's strangely right."
Kristen chuckled softly. "I feel the same way. I think they're good for each other."
"James certainly enjoys her company enough to kick us out of the room."
"You should have seen them when I first walked in."
Remus held up a hand. "I don't want to know."
Kristen grinned at him, but it faded once she remembered her other friend. "And then there's Selene." The raven-haired girl had been distant and when Lily had left for the Heads room earlier that night, Selene had been acting very strange. She came down for dinner looking thoroughly confused, and Kristen had not seen her since then.
"I'm sorry." Remus said comfortingly. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. He happened to understand her situation, having been forced to cope with Sirius lately.
Kristen look startled as she glanced down at their clasped hands, causing the two Gryffindors to become embarrassed again.
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A week passed with no new commotion. Though the rude comments continued to flow towards Lily and James, they became decidedly less harsh and less frequent. Nobody else had bothered to sign the parchment. A new one had been placed on the door of the Great Hall, as Lily and James didn't wish to exploit the boy, Levent, who had signed it, Slytherin though he may be. They hadn't spoken with him yet. It wasn't that they had forgotten; quite the contrary. The amount of work that their classes required had been piling up, however, and consequently they were left with little time for much else.
As it was, they had not seen much of one another, unless seeing each other's heads buried in a book every evening counted for something. At the moment, they were seated in the Gryffindor common room. Five of their friends surrounded them; Kristen and Remus, of course, and also Peter, and Sirius and Selene, although the two of them continued their way of half-ignoring their friends.
Sirius and Selene were glancing at each other in turn, once again. They seemed not to notice it themselves, but Kristen was certainly noticing. It was beginning to irritate her, in fact. It was difficult enough to concentrate on the Transfiguration essay that was due the next day, but now she was wondering what the ongoing staring fest between the two of them meant.
"Will somebody please tell me what's going on?" Kristen finally exclaimed, looking between Sirius and Selene.
Selene looked down at her lap. Sirius cleared his throat, breaking his eyes away from her face, and said quite simply into the air, "I need to go. I'll see you later, maybe." And that was it; he gathered his things and left through the portrait hole.
The remaining five people were staring at Selene, waiting for what she might say. "Er- why are you all staring at me?" She gazed at them with azure eyes; having regained her composure, she was now looking very unfazed.
"Oh come on, even I've noticed your recent staring competition with Black." Lily stated, staring right back at her.
Selene's mouth thinned, much like McGonagall's did sometimes. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh yes, you do." Kristen persisted, determined to get something out of Selene this time if it killed her. She didn't care if she made the thin thread keeping their friendship together thinner; it was time for this secret to come out.
But Selene had other plans. "Look, nothing is going on between Black and I. Believe me, it takes all of my energy not to hex him every time I see him, but I don't fancy the idea of another detention." She frowned. Her gaze shifted to James, Remus, and Peter, who were feeling a bit out of place. "You three, leave. I want to talk to Lily and Kristen without a few worthless Cavillors eavesdropping."
Lily shot them an apologetic look, and James simply frowned, following the other two up the stairs to the boys' dorm; he had been meaning to talk with Peter anyway. The boy had not been around much lately.
Selene continued, "Now, I've wanted to talk to you two."
Lily and Kristen leaned forward in interest. It was about time this talk happened."
Selene seemed to be having a hard time with whatever she wanted to say; it looked painful in any case. "I just…I wanted to- er- apologize."
Kristen's brown eyes widened. In all of their years of friendship, Selene had never bluntly apologized for anything.
"What do you mean?" Lily asked incredulously.
"Please don't make this harder." Selene snapped, brushing her long black hair out of her face. "I'm…sorry. For the way I've been acting, I mean. You're my friends, first and foremost, and I should never have put anything before our friendship, not even the Auscultos. And I hope that you'll forgive me for it."
Lily's expression softened. She suddenly felt guilty for ever being angry with Selene. "Of course I forgive you," she said abruptly. "How could I not?"
"As do I," Kristen put in, reaching over to pat Selene on the arm. "We've missed you."
"Does this mean that you'll help us with the groups?" Lily asked.
Selene considered this, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "No," she said finally. "At least, not yet. Give me time. I'm still a little confused about all of this. But I was beginning to get bored without the two of you for company."
"Hey! That's the only reason you wanted to apologize? Boredom?"
Selene grinned at them. "What else are you good for?"
Kristen frowned. "Well now that all of that's settled, you can tell us what's going on between you and Black."
"Absolutely nothing," Selene protested, scowling.
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Lily hadn't wanted this Levent Hedley to see the Heads room just yet, so she was presently standing in an empty classroom down the hall from Gryffindor tower. At least, it was usually down the hall from the tower, but occasionally it decided to switch places on them.
She was alone, too. She had sent James to pick Levent up; she still hadn't seen the fellow. Kristen and Remus were off working on something together, saying that they would meet Levent once Lily and James were sure that he was trustworthy and worth their time. Lily was dubious, but determined to give this a try. She had decided when she first started working with James never to be biased against someone again simply because of what group they belonged to. She grudgingly admitted that this should extend to the Slytherins as well, at least on her good days. Where the hell is James?
As if in answer to her question, James poked his head into the classroom. Upon spotting her, he scooted inside, looking thoroughly disgruntled. A body slid in behind him, shutting the door.
Lily squinted; the lighting wasn't the best in this classroom. Levent came into view and she stared. He had light brown hair, and it was long enough to slip into his eyes, which were a dark green color. His face was thin but defined. He was, quite simply, incredibly handsome. Lily suddenly realized she was staring and broke her gaze, embarrassed. James was watching her warily, and Levent smiled softly at her. Looking back at him, she noticed his dark green Slytherin robes and was reminded of the whole situation, her mind having gone off on a tangent.
"Er- so you're Levent Hedley?" She asked, wanting to break the awkward silence.
"Yeah. Lily Evans, right? He said in response. His voice was deep, but nothing like most of the other Slytherins' slurring and condescending tones.
"Mmm," was Lily's response. Then something occurred to her. "I have Double Potions with the seventh year Slytherins. Why have I never seen you before?"
"Oh- I stopped taking Potions after fifth year. But I think I remember you, Lily."
Lily nodded, glancing over at James. "Right," she said loudly. "We wanted to know why you signed the parchment." Although she was having trouble accepting the fact that a Slytherin could be this attractive, she didn't want to stray from her usually organized and prepared demeanor. She gave him another once over and quickly decided that he didn't look malicious. Delicious, well, that was another matter. In fact, he didn't look like a typical Slytherin at all.
James was looking very annoyed. He shifted on his feet and scooted closer to Lily, glaring at Levent.
"What?" Levent looked surprised at her question. "Isn't that obvious?"
"No," James replied sharply. Lily shot him a look, and then said apologetically to Levent,
"Nobody has offered to help yet except you, and well, you're a Slytherin."
"Oh." He frowned at her. "Yes, I see. I assure you that my intentions are honorable."
Lily suddenly felt embarrassed; it seemed too much like he was explaining his romantic intentions. She quickly banished the thought from her mind.
"You see, I've felt very uncomfortable in my House. They've tried to recruit me into the Death Eaters several times already, and I hear about the Dark Arts constantly. I just felt like I needed to get away. I'm against You-Know-Who and I thought helping you would be a good start. I mean, if Hogwarts is separated, we have no chance against him."
"Just say the name! It's Voldemort." James said loudly. He frowned unpleasantly. Levent shrugged, gazing at James, weighing him with his eyes.
Lily cleared her throat and asked, "But aren't you afraid of what the other Slytherins will say and do when they find out that you're helping us?"
"I'll manage, somehow. I don't really have any Slytherin friends anyway, so I'm a bit used to it."
Lily liked him more and more by the minute, and James, judging from the look on his face, liked him less and less.
"Alright, well if you're really sure that you'd like to help us, I see no reason not to give you a chance. We can use all the help we're offered."
His face broke into a grin, causing Lily to smile back. "I'm relieved to hear you say that, I thought you'd say no."
"I have no reason to, at least not yet."
James mumbled something.
"What, James?" Lily asked, turning a little to glance at him.
He shook his head, scowling insolently. "Are you sure you're not a Death Eater?" He asked Levent sharply.
"James!" Lily snapped at him, swatting his arm.
"It's alright. Here, I'll show you," Levent rolled up the sleeve of his left arm, revealing nothing on his forearm.
James only grunted, while Lily smiled. "Thank you, Levent. We'll let you come to the next meeting, and you can meet our friends Kristen and Remus."
He nodded. "It was very nice meeting you, Lily." Then he added, while still looking at Lily, "And you, James."
"You too." Lily watched as he moved towards the door.
"Goodbye." James growled, taking Lily by the hand and pulling her out the door.
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Selene and Sirius were sitting on Selene's bed, in the girls' dorm. Kristen was out with Remus, working on that book, or so Selene was told. And Lily was apparently meeting some new candidate for their little group, which Selene knew only because Lily had been talking about it all week.
So her dorm was empty except for the two of them, and she had not invited Sirius here. The situation was quickly becoming awkward. "Why are you here?" She asked suddenly, staring at him in want of an answer. He glanced up at her with his hazel eyes. He shrugged.
"Well, you're not going to be allowed to stay here acting like that."
Bewildered, Sirius frowned at her. "Acting like what?"
"You can't just come in here anytime you feel like it, like you own the place or something."
"I thought we were…you know, sort of friends or something," he protested.
"Really? We've only said about five words to each other that weren't insulting, and I haven't spoken to you at all since…well, for a week or so." She dared her cheeks not to turn pink at the thought.
"But…"
"Oh, I never should have admitted to you that I thought you were cute."
"But it wasn't just you. I kissed you, remember?"
Selene frowned. "And I told you it was a bit like kissing myself."
Sirius shrugged. "I guess."
"We're too much alike, you and I," Selene shook her head.
"How are we alike? You're an Ausculto and I'm a Cavillor, it just doesn't-"
"Our personalities, you idiot. And I'm not saying that all Cavillors and Auscultos are secretly alike, it's just- ugh. I've never had fun arguing with someone before." She smiled reluctantly, and then it faded.
"Is that supposed to be a compliment? I think I'd rather not accept it."
"Fine. Who said I wanted to be friends with you, and might I remind you that you asked. You're an egotistical prat and a Cavillor to boot."
"Ah yes, so you do want to be friends."
"Don't push it, Black! I admitted a week ago that I was attracted to you, and then that didn't work out, and now I'm beginning to think I'm just a little bit egotistical myself for liking someone who reminds me of myself…Merlin, I'm confused again." She took a deep breath. "The point is, I'm not attracted to you, not really, and I think you've already figured that one out, stupid as you are. We haven't talked since then. So what makes you think you can just come back in here because you please? What if I don't want you here?"
"Exactly, we haven't talked since then, which is why I came up here to see you."
"What are you trying to do? Because I'm still not sure if I like you enough for this 'friends' business, and this is becoming ridiculous again…"
"Oh bloody hell, once an Ausculto, always an Ausculto."
"I resent that comment."
"And I'm starting to think that I made a mistake coming up here."
"Good, then maybe you'll not do it again." She crossed her arms, peering at him with a pinched, annoyed expression.
"Can't you not snap at me? I'm making an effort, Kelehan! I haven't called you an Ausculto or anything!"
"Yes, you have. You just did."
"Oh…right. But it wasn't in a condescending tone."
"You see, there again, you're wrong."
"Whatever."
"Don't whatever me-"
"You've been staring at me all week," he tried again.
"I was only staring at you because you were staring at me! It's infuriating!"
"Well you don't have to yell at me for it, honestly!"
"Oh, go away!" Selene exclaimed. "I'm not in the mood to talk to you right now!"
Frowning, he grunted, "Fine. I take back any nice thing I might have said." He stalked towards the door.
She watched him through narrowed blue eyes, and then slipped off her bed and met him at the door. "Sirius," She said, and he turned around to look at her. She sighed. "Friends?"
He stared at her, his hazel eyes bemused. "But I thought…"
"Just answer me. Friends or not?"
"I guess…" He watched as she raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I suppose…we could try it."
"Okay then." She opened the door and pushed him out into the hall. He stared at Selene as she gave him a large smile, said "Goodbye," and shut the door in his face.
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James had pulled Lily all the way to the Heads room. He seemed to be silently letting off steam.
"Er- James? Could you let go of my arm, please? It's going a bit numb."
"Oh, sorry." He glanced down at her with a frown.
They made it back to the room in silence, and the Three Musketeers admitted them. Once inside, Lily patted James on the arm.
"Alright, what's wrong?"
"Wrong? Nothing's wrong."
Lily placed her hands on her hips. "Oh yes it is, you've been grunting and growling ever since you brought Levent in to meet me. Why do you dislike him so much?"
"I don't- I mean- He was trying to hit on you!"
Lily's mouth fell open. She knew James was bothered, but she didn't think it was…
James continued, "And you liked it!"
"What?" Her forehead creased. "He wasn't hitting on me, he was just being polite."
"Oh, sure."
Lily tried not to smile. "You're jealous, aren't you James?"
"No, of course not!" He protested, turning slightly red.
She raised an eyebrow at him, and then she couldn't help it; she grinned. "Oh, come here." She filled the space separating them and buried her face into his chest. "I would never consider him," she mumbled into his robes.
"You were checking him out," James muttered.
"Rightfully so. He's very good-looking."
"Hey!"
She pulled back and grinned at him. "I never said that you weren't good-looking."
James was still frowning as he pushed a wayward strand of auburn hair behind her ears. "Alright, so maybe I am a little jealous. But it's only because you're so beautiful and he obviously noticed that."
Lily, feeling bolstered by James's new show of jealously and his compliment, smiled softly. "Well, James, I don't think he's the one on the receiving end," she said softly near his ear, and proceeded to kiss her way along his jawbone to his mouth. He opened his eyes again when she stopped short of his lips, pausing an inch or so away. Their eyes met, and the kiss was soft at first. And then it became something else entirely. He was kissing her urgently, either in want of reassurance or for some other reason Lily preferred not to care about just yet. She realized that she had been pressed in between the insistent length of his body and the door to her bedroom. She broke away from his mouth, taking a deep breath of air.
"James," she gasping suddenly, feeling him place soft kisses along her neck. She clasped her own hands over his, where they had been wandering over her thighs. She had never been so intimately connected with someone before, and the way it made her feel was decidedly opposite from the usual controlled way she kept herself. Her heart was thumping violently and she wasn't entirely sure that she had wanted to stop his wandering hands at all. She thread her fingers through his and he slowly pulled away from her neck. Their eyes met and Lily leaned in, taking his mouth again. She allowed his hands to wander for another moment, her skin tingling.
She pulled her head back, resting it against her door. "Okay…okay. I think…"
James smiled down at her. "Goodnight, Lily." His eyes ran over her face.
She grinned, regaining her composure somewhat. "I'm sorry I made you jealous. I hope the kiss made it better."
"I'll be sure to act jealous all the time, if it will earn me a snog like that."
"Don't count on it." She shook her head at him, but smiled nonetheless. "Goodnight, James," she said softly, and slipped inside her room. She shut the door behind her, wondering if it was a good thing that she couldn't think properly.
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A/N: I'm sorry for the delay. College is…demanding. And a lot of other words. Getting home from school is officially a bitch. I had to spend the night in Atlanta and I got home twenty hours later than I was supposed to. Yep…I might as well have driven the ten hours home, except for the fact that my car is here. In any case, here is the next chapter for you. I'm sure most of you are quite busy with your families currently… :) I have finals coming up (as I'm sure many of you do), and I'm not sure that I'll be able to post during that stress, but the good news is that it'll almost definitely be a lot quicker than last time, because once finals are finished, I have no classes for a month. So good luck to you all, and I hope you're having a good, although short, break :D Thanks again for all of your feedback on this story, I really enjoy reading everything you have to say.
Helen- Lol, well I'm sorry about that. Thanks again :)
Bananas- Nope, Sirius and Selene are still a bit uncomfortable with the situation. They won't be coming around just yet. Thanks for reading!
ShadyDay9- Yeah, the word romantic just doesn't fit with my picture of Sirius. At least not right now. So, I agree. And Remus is too cute :)
Jenny- I'm really happy that you're enjoying the story! I hope that you keep reading.
GoddessoftheMaaN- Hello! Good to hear from you! No worries about not reviewing the chapter before, I'm not expecting you to all the time, I know we're all busy :)
Lobsters- Thanks! And yes, I am at William and Mary :D
♥Emily