Lily turned around and found herself face to face with Remus. Her eyes narrowed as she recalled what he had done (or rather, hadn’t done, she thought). As she opened her mouth to shout some more, she was cut off by Remus.
“Look, Lily. I just want you to know that I… I’m sorry for not helping you out by the lake just then.” His words came out in a long, rushed stream. “I know I probably should have, and I know I should have stood up to my friends, and I’m really, really sorry. Can you forgive me?” He looked at her with hopeful eyes.
Lily stared at him, not angrily, but contemplating. Those eyes were too hard to resist, but her anger was still there. Finally, she decided to just be honest with him. “Look, Remus. I’m glad that you apologized, but…” She hesitated. Remus’s eyes were considerably more downcast than they had been. “Maybe we should talk about this later. I’m still a little angry.”
“Maybe at Hogsmeade? Tomorrow, after the Quidditch Cup.”
Lily gave him a small smile. “That could work. I’ll see you then. Meet me at the Three Broomsticks.”
As she was walking away, Remus called after her, “When we’re done talking, you still have to teach me that spell. It was bloody brilliant!”
*
Alex’s normally lively eyes were narrowed, and her arms were crossed. She held the boy in front of her in a scrutinizing gaze, who cowered before her in fear. “Lily tells me you were helping to torture Snape this afternoon. Is this true?”
The boy cringed. “Yes,” he let out in a barely audible whisper.
Alex’s eyes took on a look of disapproval. “I see. What do you have to say for yourself, Black?”
Sirius shrunk back even further at the use of the name of the family he despised, especially coming from the mouth of someone he lo… liked. “I’m really, really sorry. I’ll never, ever-” His face turned white at the thought of completing the sentence.
Alex sighed and rubbed her temples. “Don’t even bother. You could never keep a promise like that.”
Sirius grinned a little, and then looked up at her hopefully. “So… am I forgiven?”
She said quietly, “I don’t know-” Alex made the mistake of looking at him. “Sirius! Stop that!”
Sirius frowned, confused. “Stop what?”
“Looking at me like that. I swear, you have the cutest puppy-dog face of anyone I know.”
Sirius grinned deeply. “There is a reason for that.” His eyes widened slightly at the realization of what he had just said.
“Such as what?” Alex asked curiously.
Thinking fast, Sirius replied, “How else would I get a perfect girlfriend to forgive her very, very sorry boyfriend? Am I forgiven?” He gave her a little pout and stuck out his bottom lip.
“Argh! Sirius! Stop it!” Alex buried her face in her hands. “Don’t LOOK at me like that!”
“Like what?” Sirius asked, pulling her hands away from her face and holding them off to the her sides. “Like this?” He gave her the most puppyish face he could muster.
“Sirius…” Alex moaned, exasperated, though not as loudly as before.
“Come on, you know you can’t resist it.” He murmured, not really talking about his expression anymore. He leaned forwards, as she reached out to meet him. Their kiss was gentle at first, then deepened, until neither of their lungs could take it anymore. “So am I forgiven?” he asked quietly.
“Yeah,” Alex answered, smiling slightly. “You’re forgiven.”
Simultaneously, they leaned in for more.
*
Lily sat in the stands of the Quidditch Pitch, next to Alice and Remus. Frank, she was amused to see, had somehow worked his way to the middle of the Gryffindor section, where they were sitting, to sit by Alice.
“LET’S… PLAY… QUIDDITCH!” The announcer, Bertha Jorkins, shouted. “OUT THE SLYTHERIN END, COMES NOTT, AVERY, MALFOY, MACNAIR, CRABBE, GOYLE, AND… LESTRANGE.” With slightly more enthusiasm, she read off, “AND HERE COME THE GRYFFINDORS! BELL, WOOD, BLACK, SANDERS, SHAW, AND… POTTER! FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DIDN’T CATCH THE LITTLE EPISODE YESTERDAY, POTTER AND- OH ALL RIGHT PROFESSOR. FINE. GRYFFINDORS IN POSITION.”
To Lily, who had never really taken to Quidditch, the game seemed to drag on. Her intolerance for the sport had only increased since Potter had joined the team in their second year. There were quite a few ‘ooohhhs’ and ‘aaahhhs’ emitting from the crowd, who obviously enjoyed it more than her. Instead, Lily found her thoughts turning towards home. She loved Hogwarts, but it would be wonderful to see her family again. Actually, it would be wonderful to see her parents again. Petunia had never seemed quite taken with the idea of witchcraft and wizardry, causing their relationship to grow more rifts than it already had.
She was, literally, shaken from her thoughts and back into the game as Alice clutched her arm.
“Lily, look! Ja-” Alice seemed to realize who she was speaking to. “POTTER’s diving! He sees the Snitch!”
Indeed, James was hurtling towards the ground with Lestrange on his tail. Sirius was chasing and hitting the Bludgers towards the Slytherin Seeker, but Lestrange dodged them. It seemed his efforts were uncalled for, however, as James soon pulled out of the dive with his fist held above his head.
Three quarters of the stadium burst out into cheers and applause, and Dumbledore could be seen nodding his head in approval. It was no secret that Dumbledore had been a Gryffindor himself.
Lily turned to leave to avoid the crowd, when Remus grabbed her arm. “Three Broomsticks, don’t forget!” he shouted with a smile. Lily nodded back and made her way to the stairs, hoping to leave all thoughts of her unpleasant sister behind her.