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Chapter Four – Toad Counter Boy

It was a few days later at the end of their session at the café, when Sirius found the courage to finally open his mouth. He had decided that morning through a relatively comfortable silence that he was going to do this.

"So… what are you guys up to tonight?" He asked, leaning back casually, moving his arm behind Remus on the back of the chair. He pushed down the rising nerves at both what he was going to ask and the feel of the smaller boy next to him.

It was a round of shrugged shoulders and curious eyes that answered his question.

"Well, its Saturday night, so I'm going down town for a spot of clubbing," seeing the interest light up their eyes he relaxed marginally and let a smirk creep across his face.

"I don't suppose any of you'd be interested?" He drawled, before letting a wicked grin cross his features at the eager and anticipating looks his offer received.

That was how Lily Evans found herself in the company of three young men as they headed towards what she assumed was a muggle club if the multi-coloured lights slipping through the closed doors was anything to go by.

Getting out of James' car, she blindly followed Sirius and Remus – the later having ridden Sirius' motorbike with him – as the boys skipped the large line waiting to enter the club and, rather boldly she believed, walked right up to the intimidating looking bouncer.

"Yo, Jo!" Sirius raised a hand in casual greeting, as though this was completely normal. The bouncer looked over to him and a sudden grin flashed across his face.

"Sirius – my man." The larger man said as he right away moved to open the door.

"Good to see you. I'll come have a chat later. These are my mates; James, Remus and Lily." Sirius casually pointed to them, causing uncertain smiles to lift their lips.

"That's a first. Never met any of Sirius' mates before. Names Jo; you're friends of his so any time you're here I'll let you in. Just as long as you come say hello at some stage." He winked as Sirius laughed and then lead the other three into the club.

The first thing Lily noticed upon entering the place was the almost deafening volume of the music. The second was the continuous changing of the lights – green, blue, red, white and then suddenly everything went black before she was blinded by lights again. The third was the smokiness of the place, there was definitely a light layer of smoke surrounding everything – probably coming from a smoke machine somewhere near the DJ on a small raised platform. She allowed her eyes to trail curiously over all the bodies brushing up against one another around the packed dance floor. The bar off to one side was full of loud, boisterous people drinking and hitting on one another. Then there were all the people snogging one another senseless, she doubted that some of them were going to stop before they very publicly displayed their anatomy to the rest of the clubs population.

She was knocked out of her observations as someone roughly brushed past her, causing her to stumble and a hand to shoot out and steady her. Looking up, she saw dark brown orbs looking worriedly down at her. Grinning to reassure James – as she wasn't sure he would be able to hear her over the volume of the music – they continued pushing their way through the tightly packed crowd after Sirius and Remus.

Sirius – apparently – also knew the bartender as well for as soon as they'd gotten a spot at the bar four drinks appeared before them. Not wishing to look a gift horse in the mouth, Lily took the drink and had a sip; delighting in the warmth that pooled in her belly at the taste.

"Have some of this!" Sirius suddenly yelled to be heard over the music; holding out a small flask similar to the one from the night of the storm.

"What is it?" James called back.

"It'll prevent a hangover in the morning. There was some mixed in last time as well." Sirius explained when Remus opened his mouth.

'Well that explains the mystery of the missing hangover that morning.' Lily thought idly as Remus took a gulp from the flask before offering it to her, without any hesitation she too took a gulp. As she swallowed a thought occurred to her. A month ago, if someone had said that she would be hanging around with these three guys of her own free will, and in public, she would have called them crazy. She was even blindly drinking something one of them had given her and she had no trace of doubt in her mind that it wasn't poison or something to hurt her. These thoughts just served to astound her.

Hell, a month ago if someone had told her she would be voluntarily spending her free time over summer with the king of popularity, Hogwarts resident criminal and the Gryffindor bookworm; she would have laughed herself silly before recommending they take a prolonged stay at St Mungos. Now however, Lily Evans felt the faint stirrings of friendship; something she hadn't felt since before Hogwarts.

Passing the flask to James he too took a gulp before offering it back to Sirius who put it away again. He took a large drink of his glass before grinning and grabbing both Remus' hand in his free one.

"Have fun kids," he toasted them mockingly before disappearing into the crowd of sweaty bodies with a surprised Remus Lupin in tow.

Lily sat blankly for a moment before turning to James who looked just as miffed as she felt.

"He's a weird one." James shook his head.

"Yeah, but he's fun too." She grinned, causing James to do so as well.

***

It had been hours since they'd first arrived at the club and Lily found herself thoroughly enjoying herself. She had only caught a few glimpses of Sirius and Remus on the dance floor, cheeks flushed with alcohol and excitement. If she hadn't of been drinking she would have suspected that there was more between the two than a tentative friendship.

There had only been one moment of discomfort for her when a guy – who was clearly off his face and 20 years her senior – had been heavily hitting on her. As she had stood, racking her brain to come up with a good enough reason for him to bugger off for good, she'd found she needn't have worried. In a surprisingly gentlemanly manner – similar to that of an overprotective boyfriend – James had slung an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. With protective vibes rolling off him in waves, he had calmly told the interloper that she had company and for him to kindly leave before he punched his head in. Obviously acknowledging James as a threat the guy had sighed and pushed off in defeat; leaving them in peace.

As Lily glanced up at James beneath her lashes, she felt affection fill her before clearing her throat and grabbing her glass again. Hiding her smile behind the glasses' rim, she hoped James didn't notice any time soon that his arm was still casually around her shoulders.

***

Shifting uncomfortably Remus once again glanced at Sirius; feeling his cheeks flush slightly under the heavy silver eyed stare. As soon as his companion had gotten them alone he had casually asked to dance with him. Being who he was, Remus' first instinct was to refuse – insisting that he didn't know how to do so. Sirius, apparently, was very persistent and half an hour later found the two laughing and having fun on the designated dance floor.

Remus had found himself doing more and more things he'd previously thought he'd never be fortunate enough to experience lately. This strange study group of theirs was the most interesting mix of people he'd ever had the pleasure of being in the company of. He had never thought he would go to a party, let alone a night club; and he'd resigned himself to only having slept in his own bed and on the dorms at Hogwarts. Yet he'd now slept at another's house – a girls' at that! While he acknowledged that he sounded like some thirteen-year-old when he thought things like that, he found himself not caring.

Allowing himself another chance look, Remus once again found his honey coloured eyes connecting with silver ones and heat radiated off his face. Gathering his courage he turned to fully face the slightly taller boy who had spent the majority of their time alone tonight just staring at him.

"What?"

"Nothing," Sirius glanced away for a second before looking back at him, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips as he did so.

"Why are you staring at me?" Remus all but yelled, trying to make himself heard over the pounding music and general noise of the place.

Sirius let a wicked grin show before suddenly leaning in close to him. He could feel Sirius' warm breath washing over his ear as he spoke in a strange voice.

"I like what I see is all."

Pulling back Remus felt himself heat up so much he was sure he could have fried an egg on his forehead with no trouble at all.

"Come on, let's find the others. This place will be closing soon and I dunno about you, but I could go for something to eat." Sirius yelled in a casual voice, as if he hadn't just done something really strange.

Nodding numbly, Remus allowed Sirius to take his hand and weave them through the crowds; his mind completely focused on the warmth of the other hand clasped tightly in his own.

***

Pushing away any embarrassment he felt and hiding it under a mask of cool confidence, Sirius managed to get all three of his new friends out of the club and onto the streets where they could see the street lights were still shining brightly. Checking her watch Lily confirmed that it was only four in the morning.

"I'm hungry," Sirius said, breaking the reluctance silence that had swallowed them all.

"Me too… want to go somewhere for an early breakfast?" James pounced on the idea. Despite his black rimmed glasses, Sirius could see the longing not to return home swimming in his dark brown eyes.

"Now that you mention it, I could go for something like fast food." Lily said thoughtfully, a slight smile hidden at the corner of her lips.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Remus' shy smile caused Sirius' stomach to almost flip completely over.

"Well, James and Lily can follow me in his car. Remus you can ride with me again." Sirius sent the brunette a winning grin and had to almost restrain himself from jumping for joy at the sight of Remus' agreeing nod.

So, without further ado, Sirius climbed upon his motorbike and offered the spare helmet to Remus who accepted it tentatively. Glancing over to James' sports car to make sure the other two were ready; Sirius found himself having to once again stop himself from doing something stupid at the feel of Remus' hands resting lightly on his hips.

"You're going to have to hold on tighter than that if you don't want to fall off." Sirius called back cheekily and, before waiting for a reply, he started the engine and they were off. He allowed himself but a moment to savor the feel of Remus; arms wrapped tightly around his middle as his chest was pushed against Sirius' back. The moment saved in his memory, he began to concentrate on the road ahead; looking over occasionally to make sure James was still following them.

Arriving at a fast food joint the two teens climbed off Sirius' bike as Lily and James emerged from his sports car, laughing and joking with one another like they had been friends for years.

"She was trying to be so conspicuous about it but she was totally checking you out!" Lily giggled as James let out a loud groan and momentarily covered his face with a hand.

"Tell me you're joking," he moaned.

"Nope! She's totally into you." Lily grinned mischievously as they reached the other two.

"Who likes him?" Remus spoke up from beside Sirius, an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"Rebecca Rosbrow." Lily said in a far too delighted voice to be even the slightest bit sympathetic to James who let out another groan and playfully glared at her.

"Do you have to keep saying her name?" He asked indigently.

Lily, however, didn't reply and just giggled, something she seemed to be doing more and more recently Sirius noticed, before she lead them into the place.

It was the stereotypical fast food joint; the only people working at this hour were the teenagers who were desperate for money. The place was relatively clean and many plastic chairs and tables filled the room, large bins tucked away in corners and trays stacked on top of them. Behind the counter a guy was slumped, his face resembling a pizza and his drooping eye lids only seemed to accentuate the almost purple circles underneath them.

Bounding over to him with far too much energy for four in the morning, Lily 'hmmed' as she read the signs displaying colourful pictures of what the food supposedly looked like.

"What do you guys think?" She asked, looking back at the other three with a slightly tilted head and mild interest in her eyes.

"Well, just get some chips and a burger or something for me." James shrugged, decidedly more interested in the small microphones set up on the counter for the staff to talk into when taking orders, than what he was actually going to be eating.

"Yeah, that sounds good only I'll have a coke as well." Remus said, eyes skimming over the menus.

Lily looked over to Sirius who flashed her a grin.

"Same for me thanks."

Nodding she turned back to the muggle who looked almost dazed that someone was actually here at this time in the morning.

"Ok I'll have four chips and three burgers along with two cokes and a lemonade." She said, eyes still on the menu incase she noticed something better while ordering.

The guy fumbled around for a moment with buttons before nodding his head and clearing his voice.

"So that's three chips, a burger and two lemonades." He asked in a squeaky sounding voice, obviously breaking on three words.

There was a beat of silence in which the four looked at him blankly for a moment before Lily shook her head.

"No, I said four chips, three burgers, two cokes and a lemonade." She said in a clear voice.

Blushing a brilliant red, the teen quickly began taping buttons again, attempting to correct the mistake.

"Four chips, a coke, lemonade and three burgers." He read off the screen.

Another beat of silence filled the room before Lily sighed loudly.

"No, I said four chips, three burgers, two cokes and a lemonade." Irritation was beginning to seep into her voice now. Glancing at the other two Sirius noticed identical smirks beginning to pull at all three of their lips as they watched the inept server trying to correct the order again as Lily got steadily more irritated.

"Ok, so that was four chips, three burgers, two cokes and a sprite." He said in a flustered voice.

Lily suddenly let out an angry sounding noise and stomped her foot in frustration.

However, before she could strangle him over the counter as Sirius was sure she was about to do, Remus saved the day by coming up to her side and speaking in a clam, soothing voice.

"No sprite thanks, a lemonade instead." He said as he laid a calming hand on Lily's shoulder as Sirius and James snickered behind them.

The boy sent Remus a thankful look before punching a few more buttons.

"Ok, so it's four chips, three burgers, two cokes, a lemonade and a sprite." He said, sounding incredibly pleased with himself. It was this that sent Sirius and James over the edge and they burst into laughter, having to lean on one another so as to not fall over.

Remus let out a sigh as Lily made that annoyed sound again before he nodded.

"Yes, that's right." He agreed, too exhausted by the stupidity of the guy before him to argue any further.

"Right, we'll call you when your order's ready if you'd just take a seat," he said before turning and disappearing through a side door to the kitchen behind.

Lily turned around and shot Sirius and James an annoyed glare each.

"Come on, let's find a seat." Remus said content for the moment to play the mediator.

Walking towards the plastic booths the four seated themselves down, James and Sirius on one side with Remus and Lily on the other, the later as Lily refused to sit beside either of the 'idiot duo' as she referred to them.

"I don't think I've ever met someone so dumb," James sniggered next to Sirius, causing the later to crack up again.

"OW!" James suddenly yelped, jumping in his seat and his head snapped over to Lily who was suddenly looking far too innocent for her own good.

"What?" She said airily as she looked vaguely around the place.

"What'd you kick me for?" James cried, leaning over and rubbing his shin tenderly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She let a smirk tug at the corner of her lips as the boy next to Sirius muttered curses under his breath.

"So, anyway." Remus cleared his throat.

"Who's Rebecca Rosbrow?" Sirius suddenly asked, remember the conversation from before. An almost evil smile lit up Lily's face at the name as James once again groaned and Remus smiled lightly.

"She's this absolute bitch in Hufflepuff who's such a slag it's not funny. You know she once tried to accuse me of stealing this necklace she always wears. Gods, did she regret that!" Lily crowed happily, clearly satisfied with whatever vengeance she had enacted upon the poor girl.

"What'd you do to her?" Remus asked, looking slightly surprised by the enthusiasm in her voice.

"Oh, let's just say she was unable to meet her regular boys for a month." Was all the red head said and, just by the way she'd smiled evilly, Sirius suddenly found himself not wanting to know.

'Memo to self, do not ever get on the wrong side of this girl.'

"Excuse me!" A croaky voice suddenly called across the otherwise silent joint. All four heads turned in the direction of the dim-witted teen behind the counter who now had a tray resting before him.

"You're food's ready." He said and un-necessarily pointed to the food.

Rolling his eyes, James rose from their table and moved across the room. Grabbing the tray with a slight nod of the head to the boy, he turned and quickly walked back to the table.

"Here ya go," he said, flashily presenting the tray with their food and drink.

With a rolling of their eyes the other three grabbed their meals as James sat back down again. They were silent for a moment before Lily suddenly let out that annoyed sound once more. Looking up, Sirius saw her peering under the lid of her drink with a scowl on her face. She quickly replaced the lid and picked up another drink and took a look; she repeated this to all four drinks before huffing angrily.

"What?" Remus asked, looking at her odd behavior in complete confusion.

"That stupid little toad messed it up!" She hissed, sending the oblivious teen a venomous glare.

"Messed what up?" Sirius looked at her curiously.

"He gave us all sprites!" She suddenly cried out, like it was the worst thing to have ever happened in the history of the world.

The three boys looked at her blankly before sending each other cautious looks, lips twitching madly until Remus cracked up. Laughing loudly they ignored Lily's huff as she simply picked up a chip and took a vicious bite out of it.

"Stupid boys," she mumbled, only succeeding in setting them off even more. Sirius noted with high amusement that the teen behind the counter was giving them a weird look, Lily in particular, a bit like he thought they were about to go insane on him at any moment. Catching his eyes, Sirius couldn't resist giving him a wink, causing him to let out a squeak that echoed around the empty room before he took off and disappeared through the door to the kitchen again.

***

Lily sighed happily as she chewed her last chip, hand resting on her now full stomach in satisfaction.

"Hmm… I love food," she let out a large smile as she glanced at the three boys who all rolled their eyes at her. They had finished ages ago and had been sitting here, waiting for her to be done. As a sort of amusement she had taken to commenting on each individual bite she took, continually mentioning how good it was and how much she liked the food. They had thought it was funny until they realized how long she was going to draw this out for. As for the drinks the 'toad counter boy' had supplied them with, well Sirius and James had drunk two each and left nothing for Remus or her, not that either of them had been planning on drinking the putrid stuff otherwise known as Sprite!

"Oh, are you ready to go now?" James asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, don't rush on our account." Sirius added with a roll of his eyes.

"You two are so whiney! Why can't you just wait patiently like Remus here?" She pouted, her playfulness once again taking hold of her. She didn't know what was happening to her except that before these past few weeks, tonight in particular, she's never been so happy and willing to embarrass herself just to get others to laugh. It was terrifying and yet at the same time thrilling!

Slowly the four rose to their feet, picking up their rubbish and depositing it all in the bins located next to the doors. Waving merrily at the still bemused 'toad counter boy', they exited the joint and stood stupidly for a moment on the side walk before their rides.

"There's this beach," Lily began, catching everyone's attention. "It's about a fifteen minute ride away from here and it would be perfect for seeing the sun rise…" She blushed slightly and looked down nervously, waiting for them to reject her unsaid suggestion.

"You know I don't even remember the last time I was awake early enough to see the sun rise," James said slowly as he started heading for his car.

"Yeah, how about you lead and we'll follow behind." Sirius said, smiling encouragingly at Lily who grinned happily.

"Sure!" She said, moving over to the passenger side of James' car one again. When they were all ready Lily began directing James where to go, laughing each time Sirius would speed up and ride beside her window, Remus tapping on the glass to get her attention and making James yell at them to be careful not to scratch his car.

As predicted they arrived 15 minutes later at the pebble covered English beach, the sky graying with the rising sun. They stood in silent serenity, eyes trained on the lightening sky over the waters as the sun's golden rays slowly peaked over the horizon and greeted the new day with warmth and promise.

"It's beautiful," Lily whispered as she looked at the sight.

"Yeah," the other three breathed out, comfort and hope filling them for the first time in years.

"Come on!" James suddenly yelled, grabbing Lily's arm and dragging her towards the cold waters.

"NO!" She shrieked, laughing as she tried to get away from him. She let out a loud squeal when both Remus and Sirius grabbed her too.

The sounds of laughter and shouting could be heard in the early hours of the morning as the four friends enjoyed themselves on the pebbled shores.

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