6 – Blowin' in the wind

The next morning a poster with the Hogsmeade date was up. The girls left the dorm early only to find the Marauders studying it. Anna, Lily and Mary moved a bit closer.

"Maybe I should ask Evans," James said, his eyes on the note.

"Maybe you should rethink your life and stop bugging the girl," Sirius said and shoved James slightly.

"Yeah, honestly," Lily said as she pushed her way past them. "Maybe you should start listening a little bit more to Sirius."

"So, is that a no?" James asked, grinning.

"Hell yeah."

"Shoot…"

Anna and Mary grinned to each other, and Remus and Peter laughed. Lily scowled at James.

"Maybe we should get going?" Mary asked. "We've got Defence and Professor Summerville will not be happy if we're late."

Lily and Anna nodded and followed Mary out of the Common Room. They ran down to the classroom and sat in the middle to the far right. Next, James, Remus and Peter walked grinning into the classroom. Lily frowned.

"What did you do to Sirius?" she asked James as they sat down at the table next to theirs.

James shrugged. "He said he needed some time away. I guess he found Jessica and dragged her into a broom closet, but I'm really not sure."

Mary giggled and Anna smiled weakly. Lily, on the other hand, didn't look impressed. When Professor Summerville started to talk, everyone fell quiet. Summerville was quite a scary witch. She was young, but had a stern face that could give McGonagall a run for her money, and was in total control of the class.

"Good," she said smiling.

Her voice was low and slow, but she had a gift that made the whole class shut up and listen. Mary swallowed; she didn't like Summerville. She was always after her and asked her a lot of hard questions.

"Good," Summerville repeated, then continued in her slow voice, "Find your books… And turn to page 76. Read that very short chapter and then we'll have some wand work."

The three girls sighed and pulled their books out of their bags. Lily and Mary exchanged glances before leaning forward and beginning to read. Anna only looked at Summerville; she hated reading textbooks. Then she sighed deeply and gave reading a try.

When Lily was halfway down the page, a little crumpled paper fell down in front of her. She frowned and grabbed it while Anna studied her and the paper. She looked around after the person who'd thrown it and wasn't surprised to see James looking at her. She unfolded the paper.

'Dear Lillian. Will you do me the honour to join me the 14th on the Hogsmeade trip? I will make sure the day will be memorable. – James.'

Lily raised an eyebrow.

"'Dear Lillian'?" she mumbled. "He's really gotten it too far up his-"

Anna nudged her in the ribs and shushed her, letting her know that Summerville was looking. Lily looked up at her and nodded. When she was sure Summerville had looked away, she turned the paper and dipped her quill in ink.

'Dear Jameson' – Lily sniggered at the name – 'I am very flattered to be asked, but I am afraid I have other plans. I'm Sorry. – Lillian'

She looked up before she sent the note back to James. He opened it and read it, his smile fading as usual when she turned him down. Lily studied him a few seconds but he didn't look at her so she turned back to her book. She began to read the first line, but as soon as she finished she had forgotten it again. She read it again, only with the same result.

At last, she sighed and let her head fall into the palm of her hand and her gaze on the back of Patricia who sat in front of her. Anna sat next to her and studied her with raised eyebrows.

Anna was making her way back to the Gryffindor Tower alone; Lily and Mary had walked towards Ancient Runes, which she did not take.

She'd just made the top of some stairs when another person rounded a corner and bumped right into her. She made a little shrieking sound as she started to fall backwards. He quickly grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back up again.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Anna!" he said apologetically. "I didn't see you."

"Bloody hell, Sirius," she said. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"Err?" He looked bewildered.

"First the bludger thing and now you're pushing me down the stairs."

Anna first noticed Sirius still had his arms around her when he slowly removed one of them and scratched himself in the neck.

"Well," he said sheepishly. "I never really-"

"It's okay," Anna grinned and held up her hand. "I'm just joking."

"Oh," he said and laughed slightly. "I didn't realize. I thought you were serious."

"No," she said. "I know that's you."

He laughed. "You're taking the words out of my mouth! That's my line."

"I know."

They exchanged a grin. Sirius suddenly blushed and removed the other arm from her waist.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

She raised an eyebrow. "Don't be," she said.

He shrugged. "So where're you heading?"

"Gryffindor Tower… I have a free period. You?"

"I don't know," he said. "I was thinking of getting something to eat."

"Again?"

"Aha. But I'll rather join you back to the Common Room."

She nodded and together they started to walk towards Gryffindor Tower.

"So, where were you last class?" she asked.

"I slept," he said simply.

She raised her eyebrow at him. "Slept? But I just saw you this morning in the Common Room…"

"Yeah," he said and shrugged "I was tired."

"Are you sure? James said you were probably with some Jessica."

"Oh," he said and looked up. "Well… That was what I intended to, but I decided to break up with her instead."

"Oh yeah, those are two very similar thoughts," Anna grinned.

His cheeks blushed a bit and he put a slight smile on his lips, making him look rather sheepish. Anna grinned even more. He looked kind of cute when he did that. Anna shook her head in the same second the thought had been going through her head. She had not just thought Sirius Black looked cute!

They made it to the portrait of the Fat Lady and Sirius told her the password. They walked inside and stopped. It was all empty.

"Hmm," Sirius said. "That's what I call boring."

Anna nodded. "Yeah."

"Well…" he said slowly. "I'm going up there."

Anna nodded and watched as he made his way up to the boys' dorm. She stood still for a couple of seconds before she moved after him. He had closed the door to the seventh year's boys' dorm and Anna confirmed her thoughts. She slowly walked over to it and knocked.

"Aha?" Sirius said.

Anna opened the door and poked her head inside. "Hey again…"

"Err… hey," he said. "Can I help you with anything?"

"I was just wondering…" she said slowly. "Maybe you could… maybe you…"

"Just spit it out," he said. "I'm not going to kill you."

"Would you be very unhappy if I asked you to play a little for me?" Anna said in a rush before she was able to stop herself. Anna watched in angst as Sirius sat still for a couple of seconds before he suddenly smiled.

"Okay," he said. "But only if you promise me not to laugh."

She grinned. "I promise."

"Okay, come sit down," he said and pointed to his bed.

Anna smiled slightly and sat down at the end of his bed. He pulled out his guitar from the drawer and made it big again. He put his fingers on the strings, while his head bent forward to look. He looked up at her through his hair.

"You want me to sing too?"

Anna smiled widely. "Can you?"

He nodded. "But not very good."

"Allow me to decide that," she smiled.

"Okay," he said. "The song is called 'Blowin' in the wind' and I've not written it, just so you won't think I'm that good."

"Okay," she laughed. "I won't think that."

He nodded and began playing, Anna's eyes fell on him. The first few notes were very good, and Anna liked it. Then he began to sing.

"How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind."

He stopped suddenly, looked up for a second and caught Anna's gaze. She looked at him intrigued.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Err, nothing…" he said slowly and looked attentive towards the door.

Anna raised an eyebrow. "Okay, then. But why are you stopping?"

"Can't you hear? Someone's coming," he mumbled while shrinking the guitar and putting it into the drawer.

Anna looked at him, frowning. But she could hear it now, someone had stopped outside the door. The next second the door opened.

Mary looked at the blackboard with an unfocused gaze. Lily, who sat next to her, was writing faster than possible in her opinion. She rubbed her face with one of her hands and suppressed a yawn. At last, she grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill.

'Lils, please take my bag with you at the end of the class?'

She pushed the parchment over to Lily. She read it and frowned at Mary. Mary made a head movement towards the door and Lily nodded. She put her hand up.

"Yes, Miss Macdonald?" Professor Vector asked.

"Can I please be excused to the lavatory? I don't feel well," she said.

The professor nodded and Mary got up. She gave Lily one last smile and headed out of the door. The corridor was empty, so Mary walked towards the library. The library was almost as empty as the corridors except for Remus and Peter, who sat in a corner.

She sighed and moved over to them. Peter was the first to see her. He nudged Remus and he looked up too.

"Hey Mary," he said.

"Remus. Peter," she nodded.

"Don't you have a class to attend?" Remus asked, his eyebrows raised.

She shrugged. "I almost fell asleep," she said and leaned against a bookshelf.

"So you came here to annoy us?" He smirked.

Mary played along. "Do I annoy you? Then I'll just go again…"

Remus grinned. "Of course you don't."

"Ah, thanks," she grinned. "So what are you doing?"

"Essay," Peter said. "Want to help?"

Mary groaned. "I just got out of class."

"We understand," Remus said.

She stood still for a couple of seconds before she pushed herself away from the bookshelf.

"So," she said. "Have any of you seen Anna?"

"Yeah," Peter said. "She's in the-"

Remus elbowed him. "We saw her on the way up to Gryffindor Tower with Sirius."

"Err, okay," Mary said. Remus shot Peter a look and with a swift movement, pushed a folded piece of parchment under a book. She raised an eyebrow. "Fine…" she said. "I think I'll head up there. See you."

Both boys waved goodbye to her as she headed out of the library and towards Gryffindor Tower instead.

Anna wasn't in the girls' dorm so Mary went back to the Common Room. She looked up the staircase to the boys' dorm. Maybe…

Mary slowly started to move upwards. She reached the seventh year's boys dorm slowly. She stopped outside and heard something like a drawer being shut before she pushed the door open.

Lily got up at the end of class and packed her stuff. Just a second later someone tapped her on her shoulder. She turned around and sighed.

"Yes?" she asked James, annoyed.

"Come on," he said. "Go to Hogsmeade with me?"

"No, James," she said without further hesitation.

Even though she had just turned him down, James' face lit up. Lily raised her eyebrows until she realized what had just happened.

"No, Potter!" she said. "I won't go to Hogsmeade with you, Potter."

"Sure," James grinned and strolled off. "Sure, Lily!"

"It's Evans!" Lily yelled over the heads of two Hufflepuffs. "EVANS!"

"Miss Evans, please keep your voice down!" Professor Vector called.

Lily mumbled something no one could hear and grabbed Mary's bag, storming out of the classroom. She then realized she had no idea where Mary or Anna were so she walked down towards the Great Hall to eat an early lunch.

But when she entered the Great Hall there were no signs of either Anna or Mary. Lily sat heavily down at the middle of the table and reached for some spaghetti. But before she could grab the bowl, another person had already taken it. She looked up.

"What do you want now, Potter?" she asked.

"To help you," he grinned and sat down across from her. "You wanted spaghetti?"

She nodded. "But I can help myself, you know."

He smiled. "Yeah, I know. But I want to help. How much?"

Lily scowled at him. "Just a bit," she mumbled, sullen.

"Oh, come on, Evans," he said and poured a bit on her plate. "Cheer up! Meatballs?"

She shrugged and he gave her some too. Then he took some potatoes with gravy himself. Lily slowly started to poke her food while studying James doing the same.

"So," he said. "Interesting class, eh?"

"I guess," she said, wondering about when it would become necessary for her to raise her voice this time.

"Why did Mary leave?"

"She almost fell asleep," Lily said and shrugged.

"Really?" James asked. "I don't understand. Ancient Runes are fascinating…"

Lily's head snapped up and she looked at James instead of her meal, one thought going through her mind; 'what?'

"You've got to be kidding?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I mean, compared to other subjects. Think of Divination…"

Lily tried to suppress the smile forming on her lips, but failed. James seemed to notice.

"You took it until the OWLs," she said.

"Yes," he admitted. "You only took it for two months."

"True. It was just too much guesswork. It has nothing to do with magic."

He shook his head. "No way…"

"You've got to be an idiot to take it till NEWTs…"

"Sirius is."

"No way!"

"Oh, yes!"

Lily let a slight laugh escape her lips. "Seriously?"

"Naah… he gave it up just like me. I'm just kidding."

This time Lily smiled without trying to hide it. James seemed thrilled.

"Are you smiling, Evans?"

"Maybe…"

James leaned slightly backwards. "And I was the one who made you do so!"

"Don't think too high of yourself," Lily said.

"I won't," he said. "I'm just glad."

Lily raised her eyebrow. In the same second, Remus and Peter came walking down the hall and sat down next to them. Remus looked questioned at Lily. She just shrugged. James, on the other hand, frowned.

"Where's Padfoot?" he asked.

"In the-" Peter begun but Remus cut him off.

"We – think – he's in the Gryffindor Tower with Anna and Mary."

"Oh yeah… We think he's in the Tower." Peter repeated.

Lily raised her eyebrows. "You're acting strange," she noticed.

"Can't help it," Remus said and shrugged. "Please hand me the mashed potatoes, Lily, will you?"

Lily grabbed the bowl of mashed potatoes and gave it to Remus. Then she got up.

"Well," she said. "I think I might go find them then."

All three guys waved goodbye to her and she left.

Anna looked up to find Mary standing at the door. She had her head slightly slanted and looked questioningly at them. None of them said anything at first. At last, Anna got up.

"Hey Mary. What are you doing here? Don't you have class now?"

Mary shrugged. "Yes, but I got bored."

"I understand that…"

"So, what are you doing here?"

Mary looked past Anna to Sirius and noticed he blushed into one of the deepest shades of red she'd ever seen. She raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing," Anna said. "Talking…"

"Okay…" Mary said with raised eyebrows and a sceptical gaze.

"Oh, come on, Mary!" Sirius said. "You don't think we were… doing things Edward would not approve?"

"One never knows with you, Black," Mary grinned.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Sirius said, but he couldn't hide a smirk. "But don't worry. We've just been talking."

Anna nodded. "Want to go to the library?" she asked Mary.

"I've just been there!"

"Girls' dorm then?"

Mary nodded. "Sure,"

"You don't mind us leaving, Sirius?"

He shook his head. "Nope… I think I might go find the others. Class ends in a few minutes so…"

Anna and Mary nodded before leaving Sirius and heading up towards the girls' dorm. They both sat on Lily's bed and started to talk.

A quarter of an hour later, Lily stormed into the dorm. Both Anna and Mary looked up at her.

"I've just betrayed everything I stand for!" she exclaimed.

Both Anna and Mary exchanged glances, frowning. At last, Anna asked, "And why is that, Lily?"

"I had a conversation – a human conversation – with James Potter!"

Mary shrugged. "So?"

"So?" Lily asked. "SO?! Don't you understand what this means? I've-"

"Oh, Lily, get over yourself," Anna sighed.

"But I-!"

"Forget it Lily!" Mary exclaimed. "Why does it matter?"

"Yeah," Anna said. "We're grownups and we should be able to get over a few differences!"

"Fine," Lily said and slumped down on Mary's bed. "Fine!"