Chapter Seventeen - Outward and Inward Appearances

Kristen and Lily were seated on what had become Lily's old and mostly abandoned bed, talking avidly and quietly. They were both in uncharacteristic moods; each for their own reasons, but this was not the topic of conversation that evening. The fact that they were both slightly out of character was of no consequence.

"I think maybe you were right about them," Lily admitted with reluctance, though a trace of doubt was still laced in her expression.

"I doubted it for awhile, but there are just too many signs," Kristen watched Lily from the foot of her bed. Her dark blonde hair was pulled back into a bun, wayward strands trailing over her cheeks.

Lily considered this, her emerald eyes thoughtful. "Well, there really haven't been that many signs. We have no proof."

Kristen smirked, her eyes flashing as a sudden thought occurred to her. "Last night I heard proof. Did you know that Selene talks in her sleep?"

"Occasionally, but- why, what did you hear?" Lily leaned forward intently, an identical smirk spreading over her lips.

"Err- let's just say she wasn't angry with Black in her dreams."

"Were they…"

"You know, I think they were just talking, but it was the strangest thing…" She trailed off, bemused.

Lily smiled absently. "Hmm, who would have thought?"

"I would have, for one," Kristen quickly glanced over at Selene's bed, which was empty for the moment; exactly what had sparked the conversation in the first place. Sirius and Selene had not made any noticeable progress towards amiable relations in the past week or so, at least not in front of their friends. But Kristen's annoyance at their staring contests had died down; she was now thoroughly amused at whatever was going on between the two of them. The only dilemma was that she wasn't sure if she was only imagining the whole thing, or if there really was something going on. In the long run, it didn't really matter, but they so seldom found a chance to tease Selene that this was indispensable.

"You always were the more observant one," Lily commented, still smiling slightly. She had been doing that a lot this past week. The fact that she had both of her friends back on her side lifted her spirits, even to the point of allowing her to ignore unwanted comments and to not care that their schoolwork was unthinkably heavy. Actually, Selene may have been on their side theoretically, as a friend, but she still hadn't agreed to help them with the groups; she was taking her sweet time with that.

Their conversation was cut short when Selene herself slipped into the room. The raven-haired girl glanced around, her dark blue eyes landing immediately on her two friends. She shut the door behind her.

"Hello," she said.

Lily and Kristen, unable to wipe the slight smirks from their faces, waved back.

"Why are you so happy?" Selene looked between the two of them suspiciously, sitting on the edge of Kristen's bed, which was next to Lily's.

"No reason, we were just talking," Lily replied casually. She slid off her bed and announced, "I should probably get back to the Heads room; it's getting late."

"Don't want lover boy to wait up for you, right?" Selene smiled innocently up at Lily.

Lily's face flushed; she seemed to suddenly regain control over herself as the uncharacteristic smirk faded. "No, it's just… late. I have enough incentive to fall asleep during History of Magic tomorrow without being tired."

"True," agreed Selene. "That is why I always fall asleep. You should try it sometime."

Kristen shook her head, arguing, "Don't listen to her Lily, that's exactly why you're Head Girl and she's not."

"Actually, it's because she's much more intelligent than I am." Selene smiled at the redhead.

"And I don't scare people off," Lily commented.

"I like that about myself," Selene shrugged. "It's not my fault people are easily intimidated."

"Like Black?" Kristen couldn't help but venture quietly.

Selene's face turned a bit pale and she stood up. "You know Lily, I think you're right. It's time to go to bed."

Lily smiled at Kristen, who winked back. "Goodnight," Lily called out, heading for the door. Sometimes she missed sharing a dorm with the two of them, and she was especially sorry to miss any possible dreams Selene might have involving Sirius Black. She should give Kristen more credit; it had taken her a couple of weeks longer to realize that Selene only turned quiet when he was around, or indignant when his name was mentioned, even casually. But that wasn't important. James was certainly waiting for her in the Heads' room, and she couldn't help but blush into the darkness as she made her way down the stairs.

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Kristen was not sure how to go about things sometimes. While she had always considered Lily good at that, she had presumed herself hopeless. She hated when things were awkward, and hated the fact that it was usually her fault that the situation had become awkward in the first place.

So she found herself in the library, alone with Remus. Ever since she first met the Cavillor, she had admired the way he was soft-spoken, but somehow avoided looking too uncomfortable. He acted as if he was resolved to something, but she couldn't read him.

They had been working on this book for the past hour; the book that was to be comprised of all the reasons they could possibly find why the two groups should be united. It was a good idea and a simple thought, but it was proving to be much more difficult than she had originally planned. When Remus had first offered to help her, she had been surprised; now she was relieved that he had- for more reasons than one, though she refused to admit it.

She realized that she had been watching him intently for at least the past five minutes, and gave a start. "Find anything interesting?" She asked, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the silence.

He lifted his hazel eyes from the book he was scanning and smiled softly at her. "Not really," he sighed. "I'm getting pretty tired."

She lowered her own book, which was still on the same page as ten minutes ago, and frowned. "I'm not sure we're going to have this completed before that meeting Lily and James are planning."

"Probably not," he replied quietly, watching her. "They scheduled it for right before holiday, right? But it's already the beginning of December."

"Yeah…" she trailed off, cursing herself for not being able to say anything remotely interesting. And no matter how much she coaxed her eyes to look away from his face, they remained fixed. She felt like there was something she needed to say, to tell him, but she couldn't remember what it was. In fact, she may never have known what it was in the first place. It was just as well; Kristen felt incapable of making any kind of intelligent conversation at the moment.

Remus was staring at her hands, she suddenly realized. At least, she hoped he was staring at her hands, because they were dangerously close to another area of her body that she rather preferred he didn't stare at. Not yet, anyway…she blushed crimson.

Remus noticed when she shifted in her chair and met her eyes hesitantly. "I- er- right," he cleared his throat. "I was thinking, maybe you would like to – uhm – come with me on the next Hogsmeade weekend."

Kristen stared at him. Two weeks from now, she thought. Hopefully by then she would have gotten over the shock of someone asking her out on a date…if this was a date? She seemed to forget that the question required a response.

"I mean," he continued quickly, now hating the silence himself, "I know it's not exactly conventional, considering everything. But hopefully by then the groups won't be as, well, forceful. We're friends, and I just thought it might be fun…" he was becoming more nervous with each work as she continued to stare at him.

She shook herself slightly and her cheeks turned pink. "I'm sorry, I…that would be great, Remus. Thank you." She smiled gently at him. Friends?

He let out a breath and grinned back at her. "Well I'm glad, I thought you might say no."

"Why would I ever say no?"

He frowned and replied quietly, "I don't know."

On an impulse, she reached across the table and laid her hand lightly on top of his. "Well, for future reference, I will never say no to you. Unless you piss me off." Really, she couldn't believe that it was coming out of her mouth, though it was the truth.

Remus, however, seemed unconvinced, even though he smiled. It was as if there was something still bothering him, but he didn't look like he was going to say anything more.

"Let's get back to the Tower, I don't think we're going to get anything else done tonight," Kristen said, snapping her book shut and gathering her scattered things into her bag, which she promptly placed over her shoulder.

He nodded, agreeing with her silently and placing the books on a nearby shelf. When he approached her again, he took the bag from her shoulder and said, "Let me get that."

Smiling, Kristen placed her hand in his. She was feeling much more comfortable now for some reason. She was now assured that he didn't think she was silly- or at least not too silly. She looped her fingers through his.

"Thank you," she said quietly as they walked down the hall. She refused to acknowledge the looks they were getting from other students; looks of disgust at the way they were walking together.

"For what?" He looked over at her, startled.

"Everything. Helping me with the book and all," Kristen looked over at him, noticing that there was a hint of brown in his blue-green eyes.

"Oh, right. Of course." He smiled and stopped walking, realizing that they were now outside the portrait hole. He was feeling a lot less tired now, looking at her.

"I suppose we should say goodnight here," he said, "since the common room is probably still full of people who would not be happy to see us on good terms with one another."

She shrugged, "You're right, though we can't hide forever."

He was shifting his feet, wondering what to do next. Kristen realized that maybe she had been wrong, and he was uncomfortable sometimes, but it only made her like him more. Smiling, she took a step forward and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his chest. "Goodnight," she mumbled.

Blinking, he placed his arms around her waist in response and hugged her tightly. "'Night."

They remained in that position for a moment; with his head atop hers, breathing in her shampoo, which smelled of some sort of flower, and Kristen savoring how un-awkward she felt in that moment.

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Remus entered his dorm that same evening, just a few minutes later, with a soft smile on his face. His light brown hair was falling into his eyes and he didn't seem to care. It took him a moment to realize that there was a weird mood hanging over the room.

James sat on his bed, Peter was on the floor near the bathroom, and Sirius was staring at the wall from atop his bed. Remus shut the door with a click, causing all three of his friends to look up at him.

James smiled, although he seemed a bit out of it. "Have a good library session, Moony?"

"Er- sure. We're still far from finished, though."

"Yeah…" James trailed off, staring at his bedspread. He was clutching a piece of parchment in his right hand; it looked like an essay of sorts.

Sirius watched indifferently. Although they had not formally made up, he hadn't been so biting towards them lately. He acted preoccupied most of the time, and his friends didn't care to make the first move towards restoring their friendship.

Peter, in his slightly unsteady voice, piped up, "Um, James. I've been thinking about it, and maybe I could- I dunno- help with the groups somehow?"

James shifted his gaze to the smaller boy, his face brightening. "Really, Wormtail? I'm really happy to hear that. Why don't you come to the next meeting?" This was surprising to James; last time he'd talked to Peter, the boy had been very edgy and ready to get away from him. He had never been so dodgy in the past…perhaps he was just embarrassed that he used to idolize James and Sirius so much in past years.

James turned to Remus, who was listening quietly. "I thought we would have a meeting this Friday night. You know, so you and Lily's friend can meet this Slytherin fellow." He frowned bitterly.

Remus chuckled, finally sitting down on his bed. "He can't be all that bad, Prongs."

"Lily would agree with you," James scowled, crossing his arms with resentment.

Sirius felt that it was the right time to enter the conversation, and announced, "Prongs, you don't need to worry about this Levent fellow. Evans won't leave you."

This caused the other three Marauders to stare at him.

"What?" Sirius pressed, wondering what he had said wrong.

James shifted on his bed. "It's just- I didn't expect you to-"

"Yes, I know. I just think I've gotten past hating Evans. I've been…thinking."

James snorted, muttering something with a half-smirk.

Sirius rolled his eyes, laughing. "No, really. And I, well, you've been my friends for so long- I'm just sorry I've been a prat, I guess."

Remus and James exchanged a glance. Then James turned back to Sirius with a grin. "I knew you'd come around, man."

Sirius smiled impishly. "So we're okay then?"

"As always," Remus replied.

"But really, Prongs. I've noticed the way Evans looks at you in class and in the hall. She's not going to push you over for some Slytherin."

James brightened upon hearing this from his friend, but he was still disbelieving. "You haven't met the bastard yet."

"In any case, I have no problems with beating the crap out of a Slytherin, if necessary for my pal." Sirius grinned, almost in anticipation. "In the mean time, I'm sure you'll be enjoying hearty snog sessions in the Heads room."

James turned slightly red; this was not something that usually happened to him. Normally he was all too ready to discuss these details with his friends. "Er- well- I suppose. Lily is fairly practical though, you know."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Sirius argued. "I think making out is perfectly practical."

Remus smiled softly at Sirius. "Sure," he said. Peter smirked, looking back and forth between his friends.

"Well," Sirius announced in a loud voice, "I think all this calls for a prank- I've been so bored these past couple of months. Prongs, old boy, you should never have accepted Head Boy."

"Hmm. Well, I suppose I could make an exception in the case of a prank."

"Now that's the James I know."

Remus simply shook his head, still smiling, and Peter was now gazing at his hands.

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James paced the Heads room, muttering to himself. The week had passed uneventfully, apart from wasting entirely too much parchment on various essays and charming dancing and singing fruit to follow certain unmentionable people. But currently, James was not relaxed. In fact, his palms were a little sweaty and he had almost just tripped over the couch.

"James, calm down already, Lily will be here any moment," Remus commented in an attempt to get his friend to sit down and stop making everyone else nervous. He was sitting on the couch, next to Kristen, who looked fairly amused at the situation. Peter had decided to come after all, and was sitting in one of the two armchairs across from them. Lily had gone to find Levent and bring him back to the Heads room.

"I should have gone with her!" James insisted. "Who knows what he's trying to pull…"

"I don't think he's going to attack her, and she's quite capable of taking care of herself," Kristen put in.

"Yeah, I know! But still…" he continued to pace.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to all who were present, the door opened and Lily walked in, followed by a very handsome boy in dark green robes. He blinked, pushing dirty blonde hair out of his jade eyes, which matched his robes nicely.

James spun around to face them, still looking rather sour. Lily said to Levent, "Why don't you sit over there," and indicated the armchair next to Peter. He nodded, his eyes scanning everyone in the room, weighing them, though not unpleasantly.

"Hello everyone," he said in a deep voice.

Lily smiled, tugging James's hand to get him to sit next to her on the couch, near Remus and Kristen. He fell beside her, his limbs still stiff.

"Alright, I suppose we should start." Lily glanced around the room, surveying everyone, her eyes coming to land on Peter. She said, carefully, "And I'm glad you decided to help us, Pettigrew." Earlier that evening, she had told James that she didn't trust Peter, although she couldn't explain why and therefore dismissed her suspicions in the hopes that she could come to trust him in the future. James assured her that he was a good friend.

"Any questions for Levent? He said he doesn't mind," Lily prompted, uncomfortable with the silence that was threatening to fall over the room.

"Er-" Kristen spoke up. She had been staring at Levent since he walked in; apparently his nice appearance was not lost on her. Remus was frowning in Levent's direction, but not scowling like James. "I was just wondering what your motivation for joining us was. I mean- Lily told me that you just felt that you should help…but I can't help but think that there must be some other reason."

Levent smiled softly, his arms now resting on both armrests beside him. He glanced at Lily briefly, then turned back to Kristen and said, "I really do want to help with the groups, and this opportunity was a good one. But I will admit that there were other reasons, for instance the fact that this group is going against what we've come to accept as rules; not only for all of you, who are involved with the groups, but Slytherins as well. I shouldn't be here by any means, and they really makes me want to be here." He was looking at Lily again, however, and James was glaring at him because of it.

"Yes, well," Lily turned to Kristen and Remus. "How is that book coming along?"

The two exchanged a glance, and then Kristen replied, "Okay. But it's going to take a long time."

"Understandable," Lily smiled, "it's taking us awhile to plan the meeting too."

James smirked; apparently there were reasons for how long it was taking them. He seemed to momentarily forget his dilemma with Levent as he gazed at Lily, placing his arm around her shoulders.

They all spoke casually for about the next twenty minutes, about nothing in particular. Peter mentioned random people he thought were not entirely for the groups, and might be willing to help out. Lily said that they shouldn't be pressed. She wanted people to help out of their own free will, although nobody else had bothered to sign the parchment yet. Levent put in a few words here or there, though nothing very insightful; mostly ideas they had already deduced. James was silent for most of the meeting, as was Remus. Kristen and Lily engaged in a small offhand conversation for a few minutes, mostly about school in general.

Eventually, to James's delight, Levent announced that he should go, though he "deeply regretted it." Peter also rose from his chair, saying that he was supposed to meet Sirius somewhere. The two of them left the room together, leaving the rest of them in abrupt silence.

"So…what do you think of him?" Lily asked Kristen and Remus. James shifted beside her.

"I dunno…" Remus said quietly. "I don't think he's so bad, James, but he's maybe a little too…I don't know, I can't place my finger on it."

"He's just a bastard." James said simply, causing Lily to frown at him.

"I think he's a little suspicious," Kristen put in, "I can't tell whether he's sincere or not."

"I believe he is," Lily remarked, "I think he could help us in the future."

"Well let's hope so, since he hasn't yet." James mumbled.

Lily turned towards him. "You are being entirely too bitter about this!" As they began to argue, Kristen and Remus started their own conversation, whispering to one another.

"I wonder how they manage to get along every night, when they're alone in here," Kristen whispered, although she realized directly after it was said how it sounded.

Remus smirked. "Oh, I'm sure they get along well enough."

"It's so weird, up until this year I had never seen her with a boy, I don't know if she's ever really had a boyfriend, and now, well…" Kristen trailed off as the two of them looked back up at Lily and James, who appeared to have come to an understanding and were now sitting very close and gazing at each other. Lily brushed her hand against his shoulder as she leaned closer, her expression suggestive. Kristen noticed this and her cheeks turned rather red. She couldn't imagine that this was the very same Lily who used to blush when Selene would describe to them her various encounters with different boyfriends.

Remus cleared his throat, looked at Kristen, and then back at Lily and James, who had turned away from one another at long last. "I think it's time I go to bed too," then he added to Kristen, "Ready?" She nodded.

"Right," Lily's face was slightly red; she seemed to have realized that she and James were not alone and how all that must have looked, and scooted a little further away from James, who looked dismayed. "Well, see you two tomorrow, then."

Remus and Kristen smiled back at them as they walked side by side out the door.

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Selene and Sirius were still stubbornly not involved in this movement to converge the groups, although they had both, by now, made up with their groups of friends. They were still avoiding each other, though neither really understood why. In truth, they had not spoken much since the second time Sirius had appeared in her dorm. If either of them was disappointed, they weren't about to admit it. At least that's what they thought.

At the moment, all seven of them were gathered in the Gryffindor common room, among scattered heaps of books and parchment, empty ink bottles and extra quills. It was surprising that their little group did not attract more attention; they were sitting awfully close together in a circle-like shape, and even if they weren't currently talking, the fact that they were "associated" with one another should have angered the others in the common room. But that evening, they were left alone, and their silence was void of all nasty comments.

Sirius stretched at one point, his essay dropping to the floor as he did so. He had been sneaking looks at Selene in a considering manner for the past few minutes, although she had not noticed. Suddenly he rose from his chair and, without a word to anyone, slipped up the stairs. Remus shrugged and James had not noticed. Peter stared ahead, and the three girls couldn't have cared less.

Sirius reappeared several minutes later, his hands behind his back. The whole group looked up at him as he stopped in front of Selene's chair, watching her. Bending over, he extended one of his arms towards her. Clutched in his hand was a bouquet of flowers- everything from lilies to violets.

Everyone, including Selene, stared at him in bewilderment as he muttered, "Truce?"

Selene blinked at him, as if she couldn't possibly believe that he could be anything but an apparition. James and Remus were utterly surprised; this was certainly not the Padfoot they knew. But Lily and Kristen had turned their surprise into large smirks as they gazed at their black-haired friend. They almost looked as if they had expected a scene like this, although they were just as surprised as the others. Selene caught sight of them and frowned.

Then she looked back at Sirius, her frown deepening, and seized his arm roughly, lifting herself out of the seat. Her quill and book slid to the floor beneath her, but she paid no attention. She was busy dragging him towards the side of the room. She noticed that all of their friends were still staring and frowned again, deciding to ignore them for the time being. She turned to Sirius, who was staring at her warily.

"What the hell was that?" Selene burst out, poking him in the stomach.

"I- I was only-"

"Only embarrassing me in front of my friends, that's all!" She scowled. "I'll never live this down! And I yelled at Lily for doing almost the exact same thing, it appears." She looked very flustered at the thought. "Did you see the way she was smirking at me?" She added hastily.

Sirius, looking defeated, was still clutching the bouquet of flowers in his right hand, which was now resting beside his body.

Selene's features suddenly softened as she studied him carefully with deep blue eyes. After a moment, she asked in a soft voice, "Did you – mean what you said? About a truce?"

"Yes," he replied watchfully, as if he was unsure how she was going to respond.

A truce would mean that they would stop acting like enemies, the main thing that had been standing in the way of a friendship between them. Selene couldn't help but act that way with him sometimes; it was amusing. But she still felt that something was missing, although she had been too stubborn to consider asking for a truce herself. His asking astounded her, quite simply.

She smiled and took the flowers from his hand, clutching them tightly in her own hand. Selene stared up at him for another long moment, still unsure about all this. It was strange, to be nice to him, yet comfortable at the same time. Still smiling, she left him standing there and went back to sit down with her friends. They were still staring at her, not having said a word.

Sirius appeared next to her within a few seconds, and she looked up and caught his eye. He looked as if he was waiting for something.

"Oh, right," Selene said quietly. "Thank you." She was already forgetting to be nice to him.

He nodded, still looking at her, and she raised an eyebrow. She wondered…climbing out of her chair, she placed a hand on his cheek and carefully leaned in, touching her lips to his. After a moment of contact, they both pulled away, shaking their heads.

"No," Selene announced, "same as before."

"Yes, definitely not there." Sirius grinned at her.

She shrugged. "It was worth another try. Now we know."

"Another try?" Lily suddenly asked, completely bemused.

Selene and Sirius ignored her, grinning at one another.

Selene gestured towards the bouquet with her open hand, "You know, I don't really like flowers that aren't in the ground. They're dead, you see."

Sirius frowned. "Well then, perhaps I should just take them back, give them to someone else."

She held them behind her. "Perhaps we shouldn't have a truce, in that case."

He immediately looked frightened at the idea.

Selene laughed, "I'm only kidding, you prat."

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A/N: I hope you all had a fun Christmas and New Year. I am personally happy that it's 2007, as 7 is my favorite number. I have another two weeks or so off from classes, so another update should be coming up soon (for once). And now I'm going to finish listening to my Wicked soundtrack…hmm… :D

GoddessoftheMaaN- Aw, I'm sorry to hear that. Are you ever getting the internet at your house? I'm glad you still bothered to read- thank you!

Shadyday9- Aww, your review made me really happy :D Thank you. Especially considering what havoc will be wrecked in the next few chapters…

♥Emily