The mood within the Gryffindor common room that morning was dismal. Peter was sat with his legs draped over the arm of his armchair, his hand resting on his growling stomach in an attempt to tame it.
All of the faces around him were bleak. Hangovers were rife in the common room this morning and many of Peter’s little clique of friends were sat staring morosely into the depths of the room’s blazing fire.
Emma had not spoken to anyone all morning and Lily and Hayley, who had once again joined them up in Gryffindor Tower, seemed to think it best that Emma was given some space.
None of them had been down to breakfast yet this morning, hence the ferocious growls of Peter’s stomach, apart from Sirius who had gotten up earlier than the rest of them, a rare occurrence in itself, in order to fetch himself and Kirsty some breakfast.
Peter was still reeling over last night’s events. How could Sam do this to Emma? What gave him the right to start royally messing up her life? Surely he knew about Emma’s feelings towards him. Drunkenness was simply no excuse for kissing that bitch of a Slytherin.
The sound of footsteps resounded from the boys’ staircase as Kirsty finally decided to join them.
“And where’ve you been?” asked Sirius, sounding impatient.
“Yeah, Kirst, we’re starving!” exclaimed Hayley.
“Sorry, I took Sirius’ advice and borrowed the shower,” Kirsty replied simply.
“I gather that you’re not feeling one hundred percent this morning,” stated Remus wryly.
Kirsty groaned. “You could say that.”
“I can’t believe you spent the night up in our dorms!” cheered James, livening up.
“Believe me, neither can I,” agreed Kirsty.
“Well, what else was I supposed to do?” asked Sirius defensively.
Before anyone could give him a reasonable reply, however, the portrait hole swung open to reveal a rough-looking Sam North. The room was immediately filled with a hostile energy and Peter wondered how Sam dared to come back. He made his way through the room, his shoulders slumped and his eyes downcast. With a defeated air, Sam reached the bottom of the boys’ staircase and trudged up the steps without a word to anyone.
“He looks glum,” commented Kirsty, bemused, “I wonder what’s wrong.” Peter shared wary looks with the rest of the group. “Do you think we should ask him to join us for breakfast?”
“No!” exclaimed Emma, rising out of her chair.
Kirsty looked at her in puzzlement. “Why can’t he come? I would have thought that you’d jump at the chance of spending some quality time with him.
“Because,” stated Emma venomously, “Sam North is a good for nothing bastard who deserves to be taken to the very top of the Astronomy Tower and shoved off of it!” Emma then turned on her heel and stormed out of the common room.
“Okay,” began Kirsty, her gaze flicking questioningly from one face to another. “Did I miss something?”
*
Kirsty was still twittering on about Emma and Sam as the group all made their way down to breakfast five minutes later.
“I just can’t understand why he did it!” exclaimed Kirsty, frustrated.
“People do stupid things when they’re drunk,” Remus informed her sombrely.
“You see, now that’s what I don’t understand,” announced Lily, coming to an abrupt standstill and making Peter nearly run into the back of her. “How come we all ended up drunk?” Lily spun around to face everybody. “I mean, didn’t the Prefects all decide that it was to be an alcohol free event?”
“Was Prongs absent for that particular meeting by any chance?” queried Sirius dryly.
Peter saw James throw Sirius a look which encompassed a mixture of annoyance and alarm.
“No,” snapped Lily, “he was there, you know he was. But what I really really want to know is which thoughtless git decided to spike last night’s punch.”
James coughed. “That thoughtless git would be me.”
Lily turned her head around sharply to survey him. “What?” she asked quietly, her voice riddled with anger.
“It was me. I was the one who spiked the punch last night,” James informed her morosely, looking her straight in the eye.
Peter shared a look of apprehension with Hayley.
“I don’t believe this, James!” screeched Lily.
“Look, no one regrets what happened last night more than I do,” he explained.
“Oh, really,” scoffed Lily, “I’m betting Emma might just have something to say to that comment.”
“I never meant for any of that to happen. Everything kind of went a bit wrong…”
“So you’re telling me that you just happened to spike everyone’s drink by accident? A likely story. You know what, I should have realised that this would have something to do with you, Potter!”
“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?” retorted James, flaring up.
“Now, come on, Lil,” said Sirius, stepping between them in order to calm the situation. “James is telling the honest to God truth, he never meant for any of last night to happen, at least not to that degree.”
Lily swivelled her head around to survey Sirius instead. “You mean to tell me that he acted alone in this endeavour?”
“Well, no,” admitted Sirius reluctantly, “I kind of gave him a helping hand.”
“Potter and Black, as thick as thieves. Only happy when they’re causing someone discomfort. The only two people in the school who believe that the rules don’t apply to them!” yelled Lily, becoming increasingly louder.
“Now steady on, Lil,” implored Kirsty.
“Shut up, Kirst,” snapped Lily.
Kirsty looked more than a little taken back. “Shutting up now,” she muttered quietly.
“Leave Sirius out of this, Lily, I take full responsibility for last night. I admit to spiking the punch on purpose, but I didn’t mean for everyone to get that drunk, I was only supposed to produce a small dose of alcohol. All I can say is that I’m sorry, and that no one could feel worse than I do right now.”
“I think Emma might,” retorted Lily sharply. “But why the hell would you spike the punch in the first place, James?”
“I’ll tell you why, because some things in life are much more important to me than rule breaking and worrying about my duties as Head Boy. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” James retorted, matching Lily’s sharp tone as he pushed past her and out into the cold school grounds.
Everyone seemed dumbfounded at James’ response for he had never bitten back at Lily before. Lily was watching James go, a mixture of emotions fighting for dominance within her facial expression. Without another word, she spun on the spot and marched off into the Great Hall. Hayley followed instantaneously, probably hoping to calm Lily down somewhat.
“And they were doing so well,” Remus informed the remainder of the group glumly.
--------------
“What the hell did you have to go and do that for?” demanded Hayley, following hot on Lily’s heels as she marched with ferocity through the hall.
Lily came to a halt in the middle of the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables and spun around. “Because James I-can-do-no-wrong Potter is as much of an arrogant git as he always has been! He’s always pulling stunts like this and not once does he care who he hurts along the way, just as long as he gets the chance to cause a bit of havoc!”
“Oh, come on, I know that’s not true and if you’re completely honest so do you,” Hayley informed her, not buying Lily’s excuses for even a second.
“What does it matter? I still hate his guts!”
“No, you don’t,” Hayley contradicted her, chuckling slightly.
“Oh, what do you know?” cried Lily exasperatedly.
“Excuse me?” asked Hayley in disbelief. “Are you perhaps forgetting the conversation you had with me last summer?”
“Yes, well, I’ve changed my mind since then.”
“Come off it, nobody changes their feelings towards someone that quickly!” argued Hayley.
“Oh, yes they do!”
“Ok,” relented Hayley, “maybe some people do, but you don’t. It took you this long to finally admit that you had even the tiniest feeling of adoration towards James. It simply can’t have vanished just like that.”
Lily glared at her, her chest rising and falling rapidly. “Oh, yes it can!” she announced, turning on her heel and making her way hurriedly over to where Emma was sitting.
“What’s up?” asked Emma in monotone, glancing up upon Lily’s arrival.
“She’s just had a row with James,” Hayley informed her as she took a seat at the table.
“How come?” asked Emma, still sounding glum.
“Because James is the one who spiked the punch at the dance last night,” Lily fumed.
“Right,” replied Emma with a noncommittal shrug.
“It looks like you’re the only one who’s over reacting with this, Lil,” Hayley told her with great pleasure.
“But surely you’re angry at him,” pushed Lily. “I mean, James is technically responsible for what happened last night.”
“I suppose,” agreed Emma morosely. Lily shot Hayley a look of vindication. “But-“ Hayley looked up hopefully. “-Sam shouldn’t have done what he did; even if he was drunk beyond belief, it’s still no excuse. So really there’s only two people that I feel anger towards today, Sam and-“ Emma broke off, looking at something over Hayley’s shoulder. Hayley turned around, intrigued, to come face to face with an extremely grim looking Sian Morgan. Upon coming face to face with the Gryffindors Sian hastily retreated away to her own table where, in Hayley’s opinion, the people looked even more foreboding. Hayley turned back to address Emma but found that she had already risen out of her seat and was once again making a dash away from them, this time going out into the Hogwarts grounds, just like James had done.
Silence ensued between the remaining two girls and Lily wouldn’t quite meet Hayley’s eye. “You know what I think?” asked Hayley, leaning conspiratorially towards Lily. “I think that the reason that you acted so horribly towards James is because you’re angry with yourself for even fancying him. Especially now that you believe he’s returned to his previous ways. Am I right?”
Lily then took on a slightly sulky disposition. “Maybe,” she admitted.
“He really has changed you know, for the better; he’s not the same James he was back in fifth year.”
“I know,” sighed Lily, “but sometimes I think it would be so much easier if he was.”
“I’m not going to deny that what he did last night was incredibly stupid. It was a lapse of character, I’m sure of it. So doesn’t he at least deserve a second chance to prove himself to you?”
Lily looked up to meet Hayley’s friendly gaze and replied with a simple, “Hmm.”
Hayley allowed herself a victorious look, for, unless she was very much mistaken, she had just won the argument and magnificently proven her point.
--------------
“Oh dear, here we go again,” announced Remus seriously as Emma rushed past the small group.
“I wonder what’s gone off now?” pondered Peter.
Sirius looked to Kirsty and they both heaved a sigh. “Do you think that one of us should go and see if she’s alright?” queried Kirsty.
“I’ll go,” Peter volunteered gallantly, following in Emma’s footsteps and leaving the Great Hall.
However, Sirius soon found himself stepping out of the way again when Lily and Hayley also passed them, Hayley giving them a fleeting, although weary, smile and Lily remaining stony face, on the same mission as Peter.
“Poor James,” stated Sirius sympathetically, catching a glimpse of the solitary figure sitting miserably underneath the beech tree on the edge of the lake.
“Lily really went off on a tangent this time, eh?” remarked Kirsty.
Sirius and Remus both nodded in agreement.
“Why did he do it, Padfoot?” enquired Remus, sounding puzzled.
Sirius sighed loudly once again. “He-we-thought that a certain-erm-situation would simply run a lot smoother if a particular person received enough alcohol to give them a bit of Dutch courage, so to speak.”
Kirsty shot a confused look Remus’ way. “Did any of that make sense to you?”
However, Remus’ attention was focused solely on Sirius. The suspicion was there in Remus’ eyes, Sirius could see it. Remus seemed to have guessed that Sirius and James had realised his recent more than friendly feelings towards Hayley. Remus tilted his head quizzically to one side, asking Sirius silently for a confirmation of his inkling.
Sirius raised his eyebrows a fraction and gave Remus a rueful smile, sorry for the fact that Remus was no longer the only one aware of his current romantic feelings. Remus smiled incredulously in response and shook his head in good natured disbelief. “And this plan of yours, do you believe it worked?” asked Remus, a slightly impatient edge to his tone. Sirius deduced this as meaning that Remus was eager to know whether or not his endeavour in asking Hayley to dance last night was a successful one.
“Oh, I think so,” admitted Sirius delightedly.
“Seriously?” asked Remus anxiously.
“Yes, I believe the plan definitely set something in motion last night.”
Remus heaved a sigh of relief. “Good, that’s… good.”
Sirius and Remus shared a warm smile before Remus announced, “Well, I think I’ll go and quickly check on Emma, see if she’s alright, then maybe I’ll go down and sit with James for a bit. After all, it seems that he and I need to exchange a few words.” Remus gave Sirius a significant look and departed.
“I wasn’t supposed to understand any of that, was I?” Kirsty asked him, looking completely flummoxed.
“No, I don’t think you were,” he informed her kindly. He then shot another worried glance over at James and shuffled his feet slightly, feeling uncomfortable.
“It’s okay, you can go over there and have a heart to heart with James if you want,” Kirsty told him.
He spun his head around to look at her in surprise. “You don’t mind?”
“Of course not, I can amuse myself.”
“So what will you do? Join the Emma consolation club?”
“Maybe later,” replied Kirsty seeming rather distracted as she gazed at something over Sirius’ shoulder. “I think I’ve just found something that I’d much rather do.”
Sirius looked at her in puzzlement before turning around and following her gaze, for the life of him he couldn’t work out what she was on about. “Catch you later!” he exclaimed rather uncertainly as he strode purposefully towards the beech tree in order to console his best friend.
--------------
As soon as Sirius had disappeared, Kirsty dashed out of the Great Hall at great speed. She leapt up the steps of the grand staircase, taking them two at a time. She came to the first floor, certain that he couldn’t have gone that far, and took a sharp turn into the corridor on her left. And sure enough, there he was, the solitary figure of Sam North clad in a black and white striped hooded top and dark blue jeans with a pained expression on his face.
Sam must have heard her thundering footsteps for he spun around to face her and his expression turned fearful. After a moment of hesitation Sam turned tail and ran along the corridor.
Kirsty, who was not going to miss the opportunity to tell Sam exactly what she thought of him, followed in quick pursuit.
Sam twisted and turned down various corridors as if in the hope that he would somehow be able to ditch her. Kirsty soon became bored with these proceedings, however, and, sensing that she had a pretty good idea of where Sam was headed, she slipped off behind one of the castle’s many tapestries.
Inside, the passageway that provided Kirsty with her shortcut was cold, dark and damp but Kirsty found that she didn’t need much light to find her way around, she had grown up in the influence of the Marauders, after all.
Seemingly in no time at all, Kirsty re-emerged into a corridor on the third floor. She stood, panting slightly and trying to get her breath back, and from in front of her she could hear the frantic footsteps of the approaching Sam North.
Sam skidded to a halt at the end of the corridor upon seeing Kirsty, disbelief shown all over his face. Panting heavily after having run up three flights of stairs and along numerous corridors, Sam whipped his head around to look behind him with a confused air; obviously he had failed to notice the lack of his pursuer.
Kirsty strode towards him in a business like manner and was surprised when he made no further moves to get away; Sam had evidently sensed that the game was up. She drew level with him and Sam seemed to intuitively brace himself for the impact. Smack! Kirsty slapped him hard on the left side of his face. Sam recoiled and looked up at Kirsty in complete and utter shock; he was staring at her like he’d never seen her before. “What the hell did you go and do that for?” she demanded.
Sam regained his composure and stood upright. “Look, Kirsty, what happened last night was a mistake, I never meant for any of this to happen!”
“Really?”
“Yes, really,” replied Sam, sounding desperate for her to believe him.
“Do you have absolutely any idea what you’ve done to Emma?” Kirsty yelled at him, still outraged.
“Do you? I mean, have you even spoken to her about it?”
“No,” confessed Kirsty reluctantly, “but I don’t need to. I can tell you exactly what’s been going through her head.”
“Enlighten me,” requested Sam, the hint of a snarl evident in his voice.
“Emma pretty much realises that you know about her feelings towards you; that’s practically a given what with her having friends like Sirius and me. So you’ve made her feel like she must be so undesirable, so unworthy of dating Sam North that you’d sooner snog a Slytherin cow than even ask her out on one measly date.”
“Do you believe she really thinks that?” questioned Sam beseechingly.
“I do. But do you want me to tell you what I’m wondering?”
“Not particularly,” muttered Sam, looking down at his feet.
Kirsty carried on regardless. “I’m wondering whether or not you told me that you fancied Emma for the sole reason that you hoped that I would relay the message, me being one of the worst secret keepers in Gryffindor Tower and all. Emma would have then got her hopes up not long before having them dashed splendidly through you kissing Sian Morgan. Emma would get the message loud and clear that you were unavailable to her and you would become the talk of the castle for being such a heartless git!”
Sam looked gob smacked. “You don’t honestly believe that, do you?” he asked, shamefaced.
“I don’t know what to believe. I just find it hard to comprehend why you were telling me that you fancied Emma one minute and snogging Sian the next,” explained Kirsty.
“Are you forgetting about the copious amount of alcohol that was apparently flowing at the dance last night? I never meant to hurt Emma, alright? I feel sick when I think about what happened last night. You have no idea how much I wish it hadn’t happened. I was really looking forward to starting up something with Emma. The reason I told you about my feelings last night was in order to make sure that Emma wouldn’t laugh in my face when I did ask her out; I wanted to be certain that the feeling was still entirely mutual. And believe me, I am devastated that I’ve blown any chance I might have had with her to smithereens.”
Kirsty was quiet for a few moments, letting it all sink in. “But how do I know you’re telling the truth? How do I know that my interpretation of events isn’t in fact the actual truth? How do I know that you’re not just telling me all this so you won’t get another slap on the face?”
“Fine,” growled Sam, “if that’s the way you want to play it.” He grabbed Kirsty roughly by her wrist and, ignoring her as she struggled against his vice like grip; he lead her with ferocity back the way that he had just come.
--------------
As Sirius made his way across the currently student ridden Hogwarts Grounds, a mix of emotions made their presence known: guilt for the fact that James had taken all the blame for last night; disappointment at the fact that Lily and James’ relationship had been turned on its head after they had been doing so well; empathy for James who had once again been subjected to Lily’s scornful words; worry for Emma and her current distrusting state; anger at Sam for temporarily damaging one of his best friends; hope that something may just blossom in the form of Remus and Hayley; and last of all confusion, confusion over what had happened between him and Kirsty that morning.
He had promised himself that he would motivate his current infatuation with her no further. But saying and doing were two entirely different things. It had been an impulsive thing, kissing her on the forehead and in those precious seconds he had simply revelled in her closeness. Thank goodness he had snapped out of it when he had; otherwise, he might just have had even more emotions to add to the mix. He’d just have to be more careful in future, mask his emotions. It shouldn’t be too hard, he hoped.
Eventually he arrived at his desired destination and, putting all thoughts of Kirsty out of his mind, he settled himself down under the beech tree next to James. James didn’t even acknowledge his presence at first; he just continued to twirl a tree branch between his fingers, occasionally picking a leaf off of it. Sirius wondered if James was perhaps doing ‘she loves me, she loves me not’. “What am I going to do with you?” Sirius asked his best friend with a sigh.
James gave a small, quiet laugh. “What indeed?” he agreed.
“She’ll come round, mate,” Sirius assured him, glancing in his direction.
“No she won’t,” James contradicted him, turning around and offering Sirius a sad smile.
“Maybe if you just explained it to her-“
“What, and land Moony in it you mean?” asked James. “No thanks. I meant what I said. Some things are just more important to me.”
“Even at the cost of the girl you love?” Sirius asked, shocked.
“Maybe,”
“James, Remus would allow it, you know he would; we all know how important Lily is to you.”
“But I’m not that important to her, am I?” James questioned him morosely.
“We don’t know that for sure, Lily’s a closed book, open only to the eyes of our resident Ravenclaw bookworm.”
James laughed slightly. “I’ve lost her, haven’t I, Padfoot?” he asked, sounding defeated.
“No-“ James gave him a disbelieving look. “Well, maybe. You won’t know unless you talk to her. Look, you don’t have to tell her anything about Moony if you don’t want to, just reason with her, she might just come around.”
“But-“ protested James.
Sirius cut him off. “Just promise me you’ll talk to her. And if it really is the end of the whole Lily-James saga, then we’ll all be there to get you through it.” Sirius clapped James supportively on the back and James gave him a grateful smile in return, though he seemed to have a slight reluctance about him now.
Sirius turned away from his fellow Marauder and looked out over the rest of the grounds. Two figures emerging from inside the Entrance Hall captured his attention at once; he sat up straight, staring intently at the couple. There was no denying it, that was definitely Kirsty and Sam, but what the hell were they doing?
“Hey up!” exclaimed James, “What’s going on here then?”
Sirius shared a puzzled glance with his comrade before turning back to face the two Gryffindors. Sam seemed to have a hold of Kirsty’s wrist and was dragging her kicking and screaming into the grounds, Sirius’ features immediately formed themselves into a scowl.
As he watched the scene unfold, Sam and Kirsty stopped and exchanged a few heated words before Sam stormed away from her and towards the path which lead down to the greenhouses. Sirius visibly relaxed upon the sight of Sam leaving Kirsty’s side.
“Are you alright there, Padfoot?” enquired James, leaning forward and staring at Sirius quizzically.
“Fine,” snapped Sirius. “Why?”
James was looking quite amused now, “Nothing, it’s just…” James paused for a moment before continuing. “You know, I’ve always thought Kirsty to be a fine girl.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?” asked Sirius, taken by surprise. He already didn’t like where this conversation was going.
“Well, I was just thinking, if this whole thing with Lily is actually over, maybe I should turn my attentions somewhere else and Kirsty would be a highly worthy focal point. I mean, we get on brilliantly, she can take a joke, she doesn’t mind the pranks, we share a passion for Quidditch and she’s a mighty fine looking girl.”
“Excuse me?” choked Sirius, not daring to believe his ears.
“So what do you think, Padfoot? Reckon I’m in with a shot?” pushed James.
Sirius had the sudden urge to hit him-hard. “To be honest, Prongs, I don’t think you are.”
James’ shoulders slumped. “Really? How come?”
“Well, for one thing, how can you expect Kirsty to go out with someone whose personal grooming skills are so bad, they can’t even make their hair look right?” Sirius threw at James vindictively. James looked less shocked and angry than Sirius expected him to; he just kept staring at Sirius in amusement. “Two,” continued Sirius feeling completely riled with regards to the situation now. “Your head’s so big that you can barely fit through the doorways here, and the doorways at Hogwarts are pretty damn big.” James scowled a little this time; Sirius was finally getting to him. “And finally, nobody in their right mind would want to kiss you. I doubt that even a Dementor would!” Sirius then tore his gaze away from James, leaned back huffily against the bark of the tree and folded his arms just as James burst into hysterical laughter. Sirius gave him a cautious sideways glance. He couldn’t see what was so funny; in fact, shouldn’t James be shouting and hitting him right about now?
“I knew it!” exclaimed James, jumping up in the air and whooping. Sirius stared up at him utterly perplexed. James hurriedly sat back down again as he had managed to draw quite a bit of attention to himself from the mingling crowds. “I don’t believe this,” he gasped in awe. “I don’t bloody believe it!”
“When you’ve quite finished hyperventilating,” remarked Sirius, gazing worriedly at his friend.
“You fancy Kirsty!” exclaimed James at last, looking like he was about to explode.
“What?” yelped Sirius. “Of course I don’t, whatever gave you that idea?”
James shuffled closer to Sirius, who gave him a look full of contempt. “Come on, Padfoot, we’ve been best friends for seven years and I think by now I realise when you’ve got a crush. But this crush is definitely a humdinger! Kirsty! I just don’t believe it! How long has this been going on?”
It seemed that Sirius’ new mask was invisible. “You’re the expert, you tell me,” he growled.
James broke out into a broad grin. “I don’t fancy Kirsty, you dope!” he exclaimed, sensing rightly what was wrong with Sirius. “That doesn’t mean that she’s not a fine girl,” he amended, “it’s just that my sights are still firmly set on a certain vivacious redhead.”
“So you were just doing that to vex me then, were you?” interrogated Sirius.
“That sounds about right,” agreed James, still smiling. Sirius clipped him around the back of his head. “Ouch!” yelled James, though he began to roll about the floor laughing.
Not impressed that his secret had been sussed, Sirius jumped on top of him and the two boys started to have a good old scrap, giggling violently as they did so.
“If we could just interrupt,” requested Remus dryly from above Sirius’ head.
Sirius squinted up and smiled at the sight of the other two Marauders before removing himself from on top of James. Peter had his eyebrows raised and Remus was smiling amusedly as he offered James a hand up. James brushed himself down as Sirius, Peter and Remus all settled themselves down under the tree.
When James had also joined them Remus stated, “I believe I owe you a big thank you.”
James and Peter stared at him, puzzled.
“He knows, Prongs,” Sirius informed him.
“You do?” asked James, coming over all shamefaced.
“I do, and I couldn’t be more grateful.”
“Thanks,” replied James quietly.
“What’s going on?” asked Peter, confused.
Remus turned to him and sighed. “I fancy Hayley.”
Peter’s eyes suddenly became as wide as saucers. “You’re kidding! But this is huge!”
“Isn’t it just?” agreed James, raising his eyebrows smugly at Sirius.
“It won’t be huge if nothing comes of it,” corrected Remus.
“Well, it’d still be huge,” argued Sirius, “just not as happy.”
Remus laughed before taking on a more sombre tone. “I’m sorry for what happened with Lily, Prongs.”
“Don’t be, it was my own fault.”
“I’m sure she’ll come round.”
“See, Moony agrees with me. That means I must be right,” boasted Sirius.
“So did you really not mean to get everybody that drunk last night?” asked Peter interestedly.
“No, I honestly didn’t. It really was a mistake,” confessed James.
“Oh absolutely!” agreed Sirius emphatically. “I mean, how were you supposed to know that two litres of Firewhiskey would be just a little too much for a three litre punch bowl?”
Remus and Peter burst into hysterical laughter and James smiled despite himself.
Sirius supposed that he really couldn’t be too harsh with James; after all, he had kept his crush secret from the other two Marauders, for now at least.
As they quietened down once more everyone stared out thoughtfully over the grounds. A commotion seemed to be occurring somewhere in the close vicinity for Sirius had picked up the sound of someone shrieking wildly. Looking straight in front of him, he saw that Emma, Hayley and Lily had all come to stand next to a bewildered and slightly angry looking Kirsty. She seemed to be explaining something to them.
He turned to see that he was not the only one looking with intent over at the girls, though Sirius wondered if James only had eyes for Lily.
“Looks like that’s our cue to return,” announced Peter, indicating the assembled group of girls.
“Ready to re-enter the world of insanity?” questioned Remus with a playful smile as he too indicated over to the girls.
Sirius jumped up off the ground. “Ready and willing!” he announced cheerily.
James caught his eye and raised his eyebrows suggestively. “Oh, I bet you are,” he concurred, his voice full of the insinuation.
Sirius got the feeling that James was already enjoying this crush thing way too much.
--------------
“Let go of me!” screamed Kirsty demandingly as Sam dragged her out into the middle of the grounds. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Sam stopped abruptly and spun around to face her, letting go of her wrist as he did so. “Seeing as you don’t believe that I am truly sorry for what happened last night I am going to prove to you, and all the people gathered out here, just how deep my feelings for Emma are.”
“And how exactly do you propose to do that?” Kirsty yelled after Sam as he began to stride away from her.
Sam briefly spun back around. “I am going to prove my feelings for Emma, to Emma,” he announced simply, a confident air about him.
Kirsty watched him as he walked away, absentmindedly rubbing her sore wrist. She hated to admit it, but she was slightly intrigued as to what he was going to do.
After a while the rest of the girls came sidling over to join her as Remus and Peter went to join the other two boys. Kirsty laughed her head off upon seeing James and Sirius scrapping and when she looked to Lily she saw the shadow of an amused smile pass over her lips. There may just be hope yet, she realised. When Sirius and James had finished with their entertaining antics, Kirsty delved into the tale of what had just occurred between her and Sam. It was safe to say that Emma looked the happiest she had done all day when Kirsty recounted her slapping him in the face, though Emma did seem slightly disappointed to have not played a part in it.
Sam had been gone for ages, though some sort of commotion did seem to be going on over by the greenhouses. It was at this point that the four boys came sidling over to grace the girls with their presence. Kirsty didn’t know whether she had imagined it or not, but it seemed that Lily had tried to catch James’ eye and James had completely blanked her. Kirsty saw a flash of hurt and disappointment pass over Lily’s face but then it was gone.
The boys never even got a chance to exchange their hellos as within seconds of their arrival, Sam finally made his reappearance.
An infuriated looking Sam was dragging an even more infuriated looking Sian through a vast throng of curious onlookers. Kirsty and the rest of the group’s heads all spun around to survey Emma, some worried, some curious as to what her reaction was going to be. Emma looked liked someone had punched her in the stomach. Her face was slowly going red with anger and a furious scowl had become the most prominent feature upon her face.
Sam ploughed ferociously through the crowd of students before coming to a stop a couple of feet away from the small group and practically throwing Sian before him and nearly into Kirsty and Peter who stood at the forefront of their gathering. When Sian took a small step backwards to steady herself, Kirsty and the rest of her friends all took a rather large involuntary step away from her.
“What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing, North?” screeched Sian with as much fury as she could muster.
Sam stood his ground and roared back at her, “I’m trying to prove to everyone here that there is nothing whatsoever going on between me, and a Slytherin tart like you!”
At this point, it was safe to say that a few raised eyebrows were exchanged by the group.
“Like there could possibly be anything between us in the first place; you’re a Gryffindor for Merlin’s sake!” retorted Sian, looking Sam up in down with a look of complete revulsion. She tried to dodge past Sam and make her escape but he yet again took a firm hold of her forearm as the confrontation continued.
“Like I’d ever fall for a poisonous Pureblood bitch like you!” Sam informed her. “Not when there’s a Gryffindor girl full of so much compassion, sincerity and grace that when she’s compared with you she makes you look like the most disgusting of mountain trolls!” Kirsty couldn’t believe this was happening, Sam really was revealing his feelings for Emma. Sam’s gaze fell unwaveringly on Emma as he stated more calmly, “Why would I even look at the likes of you when this Gryffindor girl, who is so drop dead gorgeous that I simply can’t believe she hasn’t been snapped up already, is right within my grasp. Or at least, she used to be.” Sam trailed off solemnly, his pleading eyes boring into Emma’s confused ones.
Within seconds of Sam breaking his eye contact with Emma and turning his gaze back to Sian, Sian had swung her arm up and slapped Sam hard on the opposite side of the face to what Kirsty had. Kirsty grimaced at the very sight of it, feeling a whoosh of empathy for Sam.
“Drop dead, North!” ordered Sian dangerously as she spun on her heel and returned to the safety of the castle.
Sam broke out into a sadistic smile as he watched the girl who had caused him so much trouble depart.
All eyes were now on Emma and Kirsty saw that she was gazing at Sam in complete and utter disbelief and if truth be told it looked as if she was shaking slightly too. Kirsty quickly turned back to Sam to see him venture away from the gathered crowds giving Emma a curt nod as he did so.
“Well, what do you think of that, Em?” asked Hayley, smiling broadly.
“I don’t believe him! I don’t bloody believe him!” seethed Emma, gnashing her teeth together. Kirsty and Peter shared a puzzled glance. “How can he have the nerve to stand and look at me as he talks about yet another girl he fancies who isn’t me?”
Kirsty surveyed all of the faces around her; all of them looked just as gob smacked as she was. They all had their mouths open to speak the words that simply would not formulate themselves. What could you possibly say in reply to that bombshell?
“But, Em,” began Remus beseechingly, “surely you realise who he was talking about.”
“Haven’t the foggiest idea, but I bet whoever she is she’s as blonde as the day is long.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” stated Hayley dryly.
Emma gazed suspiciously at her friends before turning on her heel and rushing away from them for what felt like the hundredth time that day.
“Was she just listening to the same thing that we were?” asked Sirius incredulously.
“Apparently not,” noted Peter.
The group of friends all turned to retreat back inside the castle, but Kirsty threw her arm out to stop Lily in her tracks. “Talk to him,” she instructed indicating over to a solemn looking James. And before Lily even got the chance to argue with her, Kirsty ran to catch up with the rest of the group.
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Lily waited until all the rest of the group disappeared inside the castle, leaving her and James alone, before she made her move. She walked hesitantly towards him. He had his back turned and upon drawing level with him she whispered tentatively behind his right ear, “James, I-“
“Sorry, Lily,” he announced turning around sharply to survey her. “I haven’t got time for idle chatter; there’s something that I’ve got to do.”
He pushed past her and rushed up to the castle leaving Lily feeling deserted and confused. After a few moments of hesitation in which she watched James enter the castle and jog up the grand staircase, Lily made to follow him, running hard to catch up.
She caught up with James just as he was about to knock on the door to McGonagall’s office. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she asked him in a frantic whisper.
James started and whipped his head around to look at her; clearly he hadn’t noticed her following him. “Proving something,” answered James stonily as he knocked on the door and entered.
The words “James, wait!” died on Lily’s lips as the door clicked shut behind him.
Lily listened to the mumbling voices on the other side of the door on tenterhooks. A screech of fury from McGonagall nearly made Lily jump out of her skin. James’ calming voice soon came into play again and Lily was relieved when there came no further outbursts from their Head of House.
After what seemed like an age, James re-emerged.
“What the hell did you tell her?” asked Lily, immediately jumping on him.
“The truth,” James replied shortly, making to walk away from her.
Lily grabbed hold of his shoulder and turned him around to face her. “What?” she asked quietly.
“I told her it was me who spiked the drinks; Sirius is in the clear.”
“But… why?” she asked, puzzled.
“To prove that I can take responsibility for my actions,” he informed her.
“But, James, I never asked you to-“
James interrupted. “-I know you didn’t. I did this for me, to help clear my conscience over what last night did to Emma.”
“Oh, James, I’m so sorry for what I said-“ confessed Lily feeling horrible for what she had said to him that morning.
“Don’t apologise, Lily. Everything you said was right, I should have known better,” James ordered her sternly.
“But I really am sorry. I don’t know why I said those things. It just seems that you’re the only person who can manage to rub me up the wrong way.”
“Well you needn’t worry about that anymore, I promise to stay out of your way from now on,” James informed her morosely as he shrugged of her grip and turned to leave.
“No, please, I don’t want that!” Lily yelled after him in distress. James turned back around, out of surprise if nothing more. “I’ve really loved how things have been between us lately; our relationship has come on leaps and bounds. I loved being at peace with each other, finally, after all these years,” she confessed, wanting him to know now more than ever that he did actually mean something to her. “But I went and really stuffed all that up,” she added, coming down on herself. “I’d really love it if we could be friends,” she confessed, silently pleading with him to not leave her life.
James took a couple of small steps back towards her. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted,” he admitted earnestly.
“Come on, James,” stated Lily seriously, “let’s not kid ourselves, we owe each other more than that.”
James smiled slightly and heaved a weary sigh. “Okay, maybe friendship isn’t all that I’ve ever wanted between us, Lily, but it is definitely all that I am prepared to have.”
Lily tilted her head slightly to survey him as her chest suddenly became tight. James held his hand out for her to shake in a gesture of truce. Lily took it without hesitation and whilst their hands were still clasped together James leaned in and kissed her lightly on the cheek. As they moved apart, Lily felt heat immediately rush to the spot on her face where his lips had just been.
At that moment, James’ stomach interrupted their silence by emitting a mighty rumble. “Merlin!” exclaimed James with a laugh. “Looks like I need to get me some breakfast.”
“I think it most likely that you’ll be getting yourself some lunch by now,” Lily contradicted him.
James stared at her in interest for a moment. “Would you-“ He broke off. “-No, forget it,” he amended, making to walk away once more.
“James!” Lily hollered after him, determined to fully make amends.
James yet again turned back around; Lily sighed with relief. She held her hand out to him, indicating that he should take it. James gazed quizzically into her eyes, a slight smile gracing his features. “We could go down and get something to eat together, if you want,” she suggested nervously. James still stood looking at her in disbelief as if not daring to believe his eyes. “Come on,” Lily urged him, “the offer won’t stand all day. After all, it seems that I am only permitted to be nice to you when I’m recovering from a hangover.”
“That truly is a terrible side effect,” James stated, striding confidently back towards her. “Bloody alcohol!” he exclaimed dryly, clasping Lily’s hand delicately within his own.
Things Aren't Always Black and White by padfootsgirl1981
Chapter Notes: Here's part two of chapter seven, please make sure to read part one first (logic really!). Enjoy!
Chapter Endnotes: 0_o! Hmm, interesting! Emma is definitely the queen of blonde bombshells, bless her! What do you all think of Sam now, has he redeemed himself? Or is he still as much of a (insert nasty name of choice here) as he was before? Let me know what you all thought, I loving hearing your opinions! Thanks for reading and I’d really appreciate it if you took time out of your busy lives to review :D!