Chapter 3: Lonely
A/N: Hi, I wanted to let everyone know that this fiction is AU and that the warning has been added. I also wanted to tell everyone that the history of the Marauder’s has been altered, and although these changes do not change the overall scheme of things, they do explain why the characters are as close as they are. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please feel free to review!!
The next afternoon, Sirius was stirring the contents in his cauldron during Potions. Professor Slughorn had given them a very complicated recipe to attempt, and he was offering 200 house points to any student who could correctly formulate the potion. Sirius was deep in concentration, measuring his ingredients carefully and following all of the instructions word-for-word. Gryffindor really needed those extra points, and since it wasn’t common for Sirius to win his house points, he thought it might be a nice change “ and a nice way to get Lily to talk to him.
Lily had been very careful all day when around Sirius. At the moment, she was across the room, also concentrating on following the instructions precisely. While waiting the instructed four minutes and ten seconds for the boar’s snout to settle into the potion, she glanced around the room, at her watch, at her textbook… anything to keep from looking over at Sirius. When he had looked into her eyes yesterday, she had felt a spark deep inside her chest, an unexplainable feeling of giddiness.
She shook her head. Concentrate, Lily. You heard Professor Slughorn. He said that anyone who concocts this potion correctly will win 200 points for their house. James will be so impressed if I win those points….
James, in the meantime, was carelessly stirring his beetle eyes into his cauldron. A large plume of orange smoke rose from the cauldron, causing him to cough. He grabbed his textbook and rifled through the pages. Orange smoke… It’s supposed to be purple! What did I do wrong? He realized, too late, that he was only supposed to add four pairs of beetle eyes, not eight.
James groaned. “Scourgify,” he muttered, causing his potion to disappear.
Another potions assignment, another failing mark. Looks like I’ll never pass sixth year potions… He thought miserably.
“Remus, did you finish your potion?” he whispered across the aisle.
“Yes, why?” came the reply.
“Can you fill me up a vial of your potion? I messed mine up and if I don’t get a good grade on this, I’m going to fail…”
At that moment, Professor Slughorn clapped his hands and announced that time was up. He asked them to please clean up and give him a sampler of their potions on their way out.
Remus sighed and filled up two vials of his potion. He handed one to James.
“I owe you one, Remus.”
***
Later that night, the Marauders, Lily, and Miranda were relaxing in their common room. According to James, Severus Snape, an extremely unpopular fifth-year Slytherin who annoyed the Marauders at any chance he got, had made a mess of his potion during the period before theirs and had earned himself a week’s detentions.
As soon as he heard this, Sirius began to laugh. “That old git. Can you believe that he actually wants to become a professor when he grows up?”
The group began to chuckle and heartily talked about all sorts of subjects, including the Winter Dance that was scheduled for this Christmas.
“I remember how they held a Winter Dance in our first year and we weren’t able to go because we weren’t old enough. How I wished that an older boy would ask me to it…” Lily sighed.
“Well this year you’re going. With me of course.” James winked at her, and Lily began to giggle. James grinned at her, and she leaned against him.
“I love you, James…”
“I love you too, Lily,” James leaned down and kissed her lightly on the forehead.
How could I ever have wanted to ruin their relationship? Sirius thought to himself. Look how obviously happy they are together…. They’re perfect for each other. He sighed audibly, causing Miranda to look at him worriedly.
“Sirius… we are going together, aren’t we?”
“Of course, love, who else would I go with? Next time we’re in Hogsmeade, we can pick out our dress robes together.”
***
Up in her dormitory, Lily pulled out her diary.
Dear Diary, she wrote, James and I are to be attending the Yule Ball together. We’re meant to be together. But I’ve been distracted by Sirius as of late. He seems to love Miranda, but I can’t help but hope that he secretly loves me too. Is it wrong to love both James and Sirius? I wish I had someone to confide in, but all I have are James and his friends. I don’t have any girl friends to ask about this… I could ask Petunia, but she seems to hate me, and besides, what would she know about a bunch of wizards? I wish I could write to Mum, but she’ll probably think it’s extremely immoral to think as I do about both James and Sirius. Well, it’s time for me to bid you goodnight, dear diary, and maybe I’ll write again soon.
She sighed, tucked the diary beneath her mattress, rolled over, and instantly fell asleep.
***
Back in the common room, Sirius sat, gazing at the fire. He was glad that he and Miranda were going to the Yule Ball together, sincerely glad. Yet he couldn’t help but feel a pinch of jealousy whenever he thought of Lily being taken to the dance by James.
He loved James as if they were brothers, and he could never do anything to hurt him. Lately, it seemed as if James and Sirius were drifting apart.
Later, as he trudged upstairs to brush his teeth and eventually go to sleep, he decided that he would do everything in his power to make sure that James and him stayed best mates “ forever.
***
Little did any of the Marauders know, Peter Pettigrew had also fallen for Lily. He had loved her since their very first day at Hogwarts, when she had agreed to let him sit with her and Remus in their compartment on the Hogwarts Express.
Remus had gone to Lily’s Muggle school for several years, but considering that the school was so large, neither had so much as said a word to each other. The two had met at King’s Cross and decided to sit with each other. It was a good thing they did, because, as it turned out, James had decided to sit with the three as well, and they all had a jolly ride to Hogwarts.
Sirius had met James, Remus, Peter, and Lily at the Sorting Ceremony, and they instantly became friends. He hadn’t met Miranda until his third year, and the two had been going steady since he was fourteen.
No one knew about Peter’s feelings for Lily, nor did they notice his failure to say anything intelligible whenever he was around her, which was practically all the time. They just assumed that he was shy around girls.
Peter also had quite a crush on Miranda, but he wouldn’t let anyone else know. He had had a girlfriend for a few months last year named Kathy, but she eventually couldn’t be bothered with him and had become infatuated with Sirius.
Sirius had such a good nature “ he was attractive, funny, mischievous, romantic “ anything and everything a girl could want in a guy. No wonder he’s always been one of the most sought-after boys in the whole sixth year, thought Peter resentfully. The only thing that seems to be wrong with Sirius is that he can be a cruel at times, to Snape in particular. But Sirius was his friend, and he was grateful for that.
Well, at least I’m not Snape, Peter thought happily, and fell into a restless sleep.