XXIV. Mistake 20-Enlisting in the Help of Sirius Black

I thought it would be easier. Picking out the perfect Christmas present. As it turns out, Marlene wasn't as helpful as I thought she would be.

"You could buy him a cleaning kit for his broom?" she suggested as we passed Quality Quidditch Supplies. I gave her a dirty look, and she sighed, "Fine, you can just buy him a new broom then."

I'm never bringing her along to help with shopping ever again. I was thinking of buying him a nice book, but then Marlene convinced me that it was completely lame. I'm terrible at picking out gifts. I know. I thought it would be easy, but then I began to realize-what do you get a guy who already has everything? Exactly.

That led me to the unfortunate situation I was in now. Mopping around my house and asking my mum what I should get him. She suggested a nice watch. My dad suggested a good old pipe, and Petunia, well, you can imagine she wasn't much help. She said she had no idea what freaks like me are supposed to receive as gifts. Tunney...always a bundle of sunshine, that girl.

As they say, desperate times ask for desperate measures. I feel like I may come to regret this. I've come to regret many things, and I know I said I would never even trust him to buy my groceries but...alas. Yes, I did ask for the help of Sirius Black.

Call me crazy (Marlene already does), but I have a feeling this might be something he may be helpful in.

One could consider this rather valiant of me-I'm swallowing my pride (enough) to actually ask Sirius Black for something. I know, I know, he thinks we're mate, but in reality, I think it's all a ruse so I would end up doing something stupid like this: trusting him.

Well, I must say, he responded very quickly to my letter. I was helping my mum bake a batch of her eclairs (Vernon was coming for dinner that night...unfortunately) when the doorbell rang.

"It must be Vernon! He's early" Petunia said, setting down her magazine and then turning towards me, "Oy, freak, at least pretend to be normal for a few hours tonight."

"Petunia!" my mother scolded, frowning deeply. I just stuck my tongue out at Petunia's back. We both ignored our mother's muttered reprimands. Ah. Home sweet home.

"Oh...hello," Petunia's voice carried to the kitchen, unnaturally high, "Lily?" she said, "Are you sure you don't have the wrong house? There's no Lily Evans here-" she began.

I immediately rushed over, "Who's at the door Petunia?" I said, nearly falling over my feet as I pushed her out of the small crack she'd made in the door, "Black?" I said in surprise to see the handsome teenage boy leaning in my doorway.

"Hello there, Evans," he said winking, "You called?"

I snorted, "Petunia, do you mind?"

She just huffed and turned on her heel, heading back towards the kitchen.

"That's your sister?" he asked, leaning against the door-frame with raised eyebrows. I nodded. "Delightful," he added, smirking, "Well, are you going to invite me in? Or am I supposed to stand here-dashingly of course-"

I rolled my eyes, "Yes, of course. Listen, I wasn't expecting you to come," I began, frowning slightly, "I thought you were going to write me back. You know, like a normal person."

"What fun would that be?" he asked, walking into my living room, "Hmm, I learned about that telly thing in Muggle Studies...how do you turn it on?" he asked, pulling out his wand and tapping it lightly.

"With the remote...Sirius, can you focus?" I added, trying to digest the strange fact that Sirius Black had shown up and was now standing in my living room.

"Of course," he said, smiling brightly, "What's a remote?"

I ignored him, "Listen, I'm assuming James told you about...er...the little run in we had in the Leaky Cauldron-"

Sirius burst out laughing, "Hilarious that was! Emmeline was furious with you by the way. You totally ruined their lunch. Very nice, Evans. I didn't think you had it in you..."

"It wasn't intentional," I said, rolling my eyes, "I was supposed to meet Marlene...never mind. That's not important. The reason I sent you the letter in the first place, if you remember, was because-"

"It smells delicious," he said, sniffing, "What is that?" he asked, letting the scent lead him into the kitchen.

"Sirius!" I said exasperatedly, following him into my kitchen. My mum looked surprised when the two of us appeared.

"Well, hello there."

"You must be Mrs. Evans," Sirius said nodding, "Like mother, like daughter," he said, beaming at her, "Gorgeous...and you have such a lovely home," he added with politeness I didn't know he possessed.

"Why thank you," she said, beaming back, "And you must be one of Lily's friends?"

"Mum, this is Sirius Black."

My mum giggled. I stared at her, "Oh yes," she said smiling, "Lily has told me so much about you." She glanced at me, "This was one of the troublemakers, wasn't that right dear?" I nodded glumly, "Handsome too," she added in a whisper behind her hand. I rolled my eyes as Sirius chuckled beside me.

"Yes Mum, if you'll excuse us-"

"Are those eclairs?" he asked. He glanced at me, "Are these the ones Marlene is always raving about?"

"Er-yes but-"

"Oh, you know Lily's friend Marlene? Isn't she sweet?" my mother asked, positively gushing. I sat down at the counter as I rolled my eyes and rested my chin on my hand. "Elbows off the counter, dear," my mother said without glancing at me, "Here Sirius, you must try one," my mother said, handing him one.

"Mmhm...it tastes like heaven, Mrs. Evans."

Sirius Black is flirting with my mother. I think I'm going to be sick. The worst thing is my mother is acting like a giggling schoolgirl. Petunia, thankfully, isn't taken in by Sirius. While he is leaning over the kitchen counter telling her some story about a prank they pulled in fourth year, Petunia whispered in my ear.

"Is that your boyfriend?"

Inwardly, I cursed. Even my own sister has thought that I've dated Sirius Black. I mean, I think it's obvious that he isn't my type. "No," I said shortly.

"Oh," she looks smug, "I didn't think so. I can't imagine you snagging anyone that attractive."

Great. I was about to retort when Sirius had pulled me by the elbow. "She's in love with James Potter, as I'm sure she's told you," he was saying, "So I'm on damage control as usual."

"Black," I hissed.

"James Potter," my mother said in surprise, "Isn't that the boy you said you absolutely loathe? Actually, I remember a few years ago when you asked if you could get a restraining order against him since he kept sending you all those letters," she laughed, "I remember all the owl droppings...remember Petunia? You were so angry," she said with a pleasant chuckle at the memory. Both Petunia and I did not look very happy. Sirius noticed and cleared his throat.

"Well, as I said, Lily and I need to chat. It was such a pleasure meeting you, Mrs. Evans."

"Oh the pleasure is all mine," she beamed, "And you know, you can take this batch of eclairs-"

"Mum!" Petunia whined, "Those are for Vernon-"

"Vermin?" Sirius asked innocently.

"I'll make more dear," mother said soothingly, "Don't worry about it Sirius, dear. You two enjoy yourselves," she said happily as I began to drag him out of the kitchen after he had taken the platter of eclairs.

"Mar was so right," Sirius said, popping one in his mouth, "Delicious!" he said, swallowing.

I sighed and pointed towards the door as I grabbed my jacket, "We're going to go on a walk."

He looked amused, "Yes, Mademoiselle," he said with an exaggerated bow. I ignored him and led the way outside.

"I can't believe you," I said shaking my head, "Was all of that necessary?"

"Yes," he said, grinning, "By the way, now that time when James got chased by the muggle police...it makes so much more sense!" he said with an appreciative chuckle, "Wait til I tell him..."

"Can you not?" I snapped irritably.

He just grinned at me charmingly, "Don't worry your pretty little head about it. Now what is it you need? To buy Prongs a present?"

"Yes," I said, feeling relieved that we were finally getting down to something important, "Marlene and I were shopping all day yesterday-which was a disaster-and I thought since you and him are best friends and all..."

"You thought I'd be able to help you with a gift idea," he said, nodding.

"Exactly," I said, smiling at him.

He nodded, looking thoughtful, "Hm. No can do."

"Yeah...wait, what?"

"How should I know? The only thing we get each other are Zonko products, and I don't think that's what you had in mind."

"But-well...if you can't help me, why are you even here?"

"I was bored," he said, shrugging, "James had to go Christmas shopping with his mum. I skipped out..." he grinned, "I suppose I could ask him what he'd like to get from you-"

"Don't," I interrupted, "That's a horrible idea."

He shrugged.

"Well, what would you like your girlfriend to get you?" I asked. After all, they were similar enough.

He smirked, "Lily. I don't have steady girls. Certainly none of them have ever given me a gift...anyway," he shrugged, "James will love whatever you get him. As long as..."

"As long as what?" I asked, frowning.

He gave me a look, "As long as you don't mess it all up again."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I demanded hotly. I knew what it meant. It meant I had a habit of messing everything up when it came to me and James. I liked him, and he liked me...why was everything so complicated? I pondered this for a good minute, forgetting about Sirius.

"So what are you getting me for Christmas?" he asked, changing the subject.

I just raised my eyebrows and shook my head, giving him a slight shove, "You're completely useless, you know that?"

"So I've been told," he said dryly. I frowned and was about to say something else, "You shouldn't buy him something," he said, looking thoughtful, "He doesn't need another broomstick kit or more fireworks..."

"Or a book," I added, nodding along with him. He stared at me.

"You were seriously going to get him a book?" he asked in disbelief, "You're worse than Moony."

"It was about Quidditch!" I said in defense. Sirius still looked skeptical.

"Well, as long as you don't get him a book, I'm sure he'll like whatever you get him," he said, smirking, "I better be off. Vermin is coming for dinner, don't forget," he added with a sly grin.

"You're so funny," I said sarcastically, although I was grinning, "Well, thanks for coming and eating my mum's eclairs. Real helpful," I added sarcastically.

"Any time," he said, smirking, "See you," he said apparating before I could say anything. Was he completely daft? I glanced down the street anxiously, thankful that no one was around. Breathing a sigh of relief, I headed back to my house, not feeling any better about the gift I needed to come up with in the next few days.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Sirius and Marlene were useless. That's okay, I think I've come up with something decent.

Remus helped me actually. I'd owled him about my whole debacle, and unlike Sirius, he responded like a normal bloke. He responded with a letter (including a list of ideas). The thing is, he had some many great ideas that I've decided to combine the lot of them.

That's right, I'm getting James Potter a gift basket.

I had to ask my mum for some spare pocket change because quite honestly, it was out of my budget, but she understood after I'd explained it all to her. She agreed with everyone else-I'd screwed up royally and had to do something to fix the mess I'd gotten in. My father just frowned behind his newspaper and told me I shouldn't be dating anyway.

Well that's just silly. I didn't say that though. He's just on edge because Petunia's all engaged now, and he thinks she'll never visit.

Which she probably won't.

But that's besides the point.

The point is I've nearly finished it. It's got everything: tickets for us to go see the Wasps, a scarf I'm going to pretend I hand-knitted (I did the corner and tied the knot...truth is, I'm horrid at knitting. My mum loves it though...but hey, it's Gryffindor colors), and I even got to put the Quidditch book I wanted to get him inside of it (Remus thought it was a good idea). Psh. Sirius Black knows nothing.

Anyway, I was trying to write a proper letter to go with my gift basket. Currently, it looked something like this:

James,

Happy Christmas.

Yeah...so I wasn't sure what else to write. Figuring that was good enough, I signed my name with a flourish and stuffed it in the gift basket before I wrote something that would just make me seem even more pathetic than I was. I written 'From'. From. Is that lame? I couldn't well enough write 'Love'. That's just moving too quickly. Especially if there's an off chance that he's got feelings for Emmeline (urgh...). Anyway, I was going to send it to him eventually...I hadn't gotten around to it when he sent me a letter.

Lily,

Hope your break is going well. I know tomorrow is Christmas Eve, but I was hoping I could stop by. I wanted to chat if that's alright. Would 2 o'clock work? Let me know.

Always,

James

'Always'? What did that mean? That meant he fancied me, right?

"Mum!" I called, "Mum!" I said running down the stairs into the living room where my family was sitting. Petunia glared at me. They were pouring over magazines.

"Yes dear?" she asked, "Ooh, Petunia that one is pretty."

"James wants a chat! And he signed his letter 'Always'! What does that even mean?"

"Er-the opposite of never, isn't that right, darling?" my father asked from his armchair. My mother gave him a stern look, setting the magazines.

"Lily, I think it means he likes you. You're lucky. After you treated the poor boy so horribly..."

"Mum," I said, rolling my eyes.

This was the last time I told my mum anything.

"He wants to come over tomorrow."

"Why, we are just getting to see all your little friends this Christmas," she said brightly, "How wonderful."

"You need to make more of those eclairs," I said anxiously, "It's part of my present."

"Of course," she said, smiling, "But I can't tomorrow."

"Wha-why not?"

"Well, I have to go dress fitting with Petunia tomorrow. And tonight your father and I are visiting that friend of ours out in the city. We haven't seen them in years, isn't that right Patrick?" she asked, turning to my father.

"Yes, yes," he said, glancing up from his paper, "Well, we really must get ready. Dressed to impress and such."

"But-but Mum, I need these eclairs!"

My mother gave me an exasperated look, "Well, you're seventeen years old, Lily. I'm sure you can make them yourself. The recipe is in the recipe box."

I stared at her. She couldn't be serious. She just couldn't.

Well, she was.

Now I had to figure out how to bake my mum's famous eclairs before 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon.

A/N: This was a bit of a filler chapter but that's okay because I'm hoping the next chapter will be really entertaining! :)