-
In the morning, the atmosphere around the table was a light one as the Marauders sat together enjoying French toast, eggs, and sausage.
For James, the calm he felt going to sleep had lasted him until the morning. He hadn’t seen Lily yet. Sirius had managed to occupy him with other things though, like Quidditch practice, the upcoming trip to Hogsmeade, and of course, their latest project: becoming Animagi. It seemed to be doing wonders.
“So, I think I’m going to ask Dianna to come to Hogsmeade with me,” Sirius said between mouthfuls of French toast.
“Good plan, mate. Are you taking her anywhere special?” James asked politely, though he still didn’t approve of his friend seeing a Slytherin.
“Oh, you know, Honeyduke’s, Zonko’s Joke Shop, the Three Broomsticks, the usual,” Sirius said with a slight grin.
James laughed at this. They both knew that every one of Sirius’s relationships started out exactly the same. First, a tour of Hogsmeade, then midnight strolls through the castle grounds (James gladly lent Sirius with invisibility cloak for this), and then, if it ever got this far, the girl would be invited to the occasional Quidditch practice, but at the request of the team, this is where the relationship usually ended. No one could stand the constant squealing and giggling in the stands when they were trying to perfect their game.
“Well, don’t get mad at me or anything, but I’ve heard stuff about Dianna. Stuff from other guys,” said James cautiously.
Sirius narrowed his eyes. “Like what? I know you don’t like Slytherins, but Prongs-”
“It has nothing to do with her being a Slytherin!” James argued. “Just don’t do anything stupid, okay, Padfoot?”
“Yeah, whatever,” Sirius muttered. The truth was, Sirius had also heard things about Dianna. He assured himself that probably less than half of it was true, and besides, Sirius wasn’t looking for things to go in that direction at all. At least, not yet. He had only thought as far ahead as his next Quidditch game against Slytherin. By that time he would have someone to go to Hogsmeade with, a date for the Halloween Ball, and someone to cheer him on at his game. Not that there weren’t plenty of people for that already, but having a special girl in the stands was, well, special.
Just then, Douglas Johnson sat down at the table next to Remus with a big, stupid grin spread across his freckled face. Happy to have something to draw the attention away from himself, Sirius immediately started in on Douglas.
“So, Doug, did you have a late night last night?”
“You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you,” Douglas sniffed, suddenly guarded.
“Try me,” Sirius challenged.
“I had a date with the future Mrs. Douglas Johnson,” said Douglas smugly.
“Oh, and who would that be?” asked James, entertained by the idea of Douglas trying to talk to a girl. Douglas pointed in the direction Dianna DiMaria, and the Marauders exchanged looks of horror mixed with disgust.
“But, I thought-” Peter began, but James kicked him from under the table and shook his head.
“I’m sorry. I forgot that I wasn’t allowed to have thoughts,” Peter said angrily. James cringed when Lily shot him a dirty look from across the table, and silently vowed to kill Peter after breakfast.
“She’s hot stuff, that one. I’m one hundred percent certain she is my soul mate,” Douglas gushed, a dreamy, faraway look in his eyes.
Sirius wrinkled his nose. “We’ll just see about that, won’t we?”
He hopped up from his seat and marched directly over to the Slytherin table, vaguely hearing Remus call after him, “Don’t do anything stupid, Sirius!” How many times did he have to hear that this morning?
Dianna was sitting with the same group of girls she was with the day before. As Sirius approached her, he could feel her friends’ beady, ugly eyes drinking him in, but he didn’t care. He was on a mission.
“Hey, Di, can I talk to you alone for a minute?” Sirius asked coolly.
“Sure,” she said. As she stood up Sirius noticed she was wearing a low-cut pink t-shirt and jeans. Today was Saturday, and students weren’t confined to their school uniforms on Saturdays.
Sirius led her behind a pillar near the entrance to the Great Hall.
“So, what’s up?” Dianna asked casually.
“Nothing. Well, actually, I’m struggling a little in Transfiguration. Know of any good tutors?” Sirius said sarcastically.
This caught Dianna off guard, but then eyes became slits. “If this is about me helping Douglas with his homework in the library last night, you really need to grow up.”
“Well, I’m sorry, I was just under the impression that you and I were…” Sirius trailed off, feeling foolish.
Dianna raised her eyebrows. “Do I detect jealousy, Sirius Black?”
Sirius faltered. “No! Me, jealous? You have to be joking.”
Dianna frowned. “That’s funny, if I didn’t know any better I’d say that you were-”
“Will you go to Hogsmeade with me, or not?” Sirius blurted, and felt himself go red around the ears. What was this? He’d never felt so nervous in front of anyone before! Well, except for that time his mother caught him sneaking in the house in the middle of the night with James… but that was a different kind of nervous. Sheer terror was more like it.
To his delight, Dianna smiled a beautiful white smile, and to his utter bewilderment, her hands travelled to the zipper on his sweatshirt, playfully tugging at it. Sirius blushed more violently than ever.
“Of course I’ll go to Hogsmeade with you,” she said flirtatiously.
Inwardly Sirius breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe blushing made him look sexier, like he’d just played a particularly rough game of Quidditch.
“Brilliant!” he said. As he leaned in to kiss her, he felt his lips meet nothing but air. Opening his eyes, he realized she was already walking back to her table. Sirius stood mesmerized as he watched her long blonde hair swish back and forth until she sat down with her beady-eyed friends.
Dianna caught him staring after her and winked at him, and Sirius’s heart did a little leap.
Only when Sirius reached the Gryffindor table did he begin to breathe again, his heart rate returning to normal.
“Success?” James asked wryly.
“I think so.”
“Merlin, Sirius! She couldn’t keep her hands off you! If that isn’t success, I don’t know what is!” Remus exclaimed. Though he didn’t make a show of it like Sirius did, Remus was just as interested in girls as any boy his age. He’d smuggled a dirty Muggle magazine or two into the dorms before, and he’d even kissed a girl last summer. He just preferred to think of himself as a gentleman, and gentlemen weren’t on the prowl for girls every minute of every day. Remus felt like enough of an animal as it was; he didn’t need it in every aspect of his life.
“Sirius, how do you do it?” James asked after a minute.
“Do what, mate?”
“Don’t act like you don’t know. Girls fall over themselves to be with you. I can’t even get one,” James said, staring longingly at Lily.
Sirius sighed. Boring, lovesick James was back. Would this ever end? “No, you just can’t get that one,” Sirius said, trying to sound encouraging. “There are plenty of girls who would go out with you. You’re a Gryffindor chaser, for Merlin’s sake! Act like it!”
James wasn’t sure what Sirius mean by “acting like” a Gryffindor chaser. If it meant finding a new girl every couple of weeks, James wasn’t interested. It was Lily, or no one.
“I think you’re both wasting your time,” Douglas said hotly, “You’ll never get girlfriends!”
Sirius was taken aback. “Listen, mate, if this is about Dianna, I don’t want that to-“
“Whatever! You’re both lousy jerks!” Douglas shouted at him. With that, he stomped away from the table and out of the Great Hall.
“At least I don’t take my dates to the library!” Sirius bellowed after him.
Across the table, Lily Evans barely managed to stifle the laughter that was bubbling up inside her. Way to go, Douglas! She thought proudly. It took a lot of courage to stand up the Marauders.
Sirius sat there fuming, until a barely audible voice next to his ear interrupted him.
“I don’t think you’re a jerk,” said Janelle. “You’re actually quite decent.”
Sirius exchanged mystified looks with James.
Janelle tried to smile but realized that he must have already forgotten her.
Remus could feel and uncomfortable silence coming on, and in an effort to spare Janelle, said, “Hey, Janelle! What’s up?”
“Nothing at all. What about you guys?” Janelle said casually, following Remus’s lead.
“Not much. Sirius, James, Peter, you remember Janelle Farraday, don’t you?” James and Peter nodded enthusiastically, but Sirius was deep within his own thoughts, where a brilliant idea was brewing.
“Hey, Janelle, you know my friend James, don’t you?” Sirius said.
“You idiot, I just introduced them,” said Remus in disbelief.
“James is going to Hogsmeade next weekend, and he needs someone to, well, keep him company. I’d do it myself, but I’m busy. What do you say?” Sirius asked eagerly.
“Well…” Janelle couldn’t help but notice James shaking his head vigorously at his friend, but Sirius didn’t seem to notice. She wasn’t interested in James, either. Then again, he was one step away from Sirius. They were best friends, weren’t they?”
“Sure, I’ll go. But only if he wants to,” She added quickly.
“Excellent! Hear that, James? It’s a date!” Sirius announced. He felt bad for James, never having a girlfriend. Lily obviously wasn’t interested, and James deserved to have a little fun.
James laid his head on the table miserably.
Taking the hint, Janelle said farewell to Remus and walked away feeling more awkward than she ever had before.
“What the hell was that?” James croaked. “I don’t want to go anywhere with her! I’ve never even spoken to her before!”
“Well you’re going. If I have to put you under the Imperius curse myself, you’re going,” Sirius said sternly. “And I haven’t even heard a ‘thank-you’ yet! Really, Padfoot, this is what friends are for. I may have just set you up with the girl of your dreams.”
“The idiot is right, you know,” Remus said. “All this melancholy ‘boo-hoo, Lily doesn’t love me’ bullshit has to end.”
James was shocked. Remus never swore, and he rarely took Sirius’ side in anything like this. He sighed in defeat. “Fine, what am I supposed to do with her?”
Sirius shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“This was your idea! Help me!” cried James.
“I don’t know… how about the Shrieking Shack?” Sirius suggested. Remus looked at him sharply, and he recoiled. “Well, I don’t know. What about you, Wormy? Thoughts?”
Peter sat there quietly, and for a second Sirius wondered if he heard him. After a moment, he said, “Do you guys think if Dianna would go out with Douglas, she would go out with me?”
The group stared at him in bewilderment.
“Well, what do you think?” Peter persisted.
Sirius shook his head and ignored him. He didn’t dignify stupid questions with answers.
-----
Across the Great Hall sitting at the Slytherin table was Severus Snape, pretending to read one of his textbooks.
“Hey Snivellus!” shouted a first-year Hufflepuff.
Severus cursed at him without even looking up from his book, silencing the boy.
It was difficult for Severus to ignore his Slytherin friends. He reminded himself that he was doing it for Lily, and that reading a book and pretending not to exist was the best thing for him to do to keep his promise to her. It was less shameful than eating in the bathrooms and just as effective. Pretending not to exist came easily to Severus. He had lots of practice here, as well as at home. It was sometimes his only coping mechanism.
This morning, Severus was wrestling with an idea that had blossomed in this mind on the way to the Slytherin dormitory the previous night. He’d decided to ask Lily to come to Hogsmeade with him, then decided not to, then decided that he would, the decided he wasn’t going at all. After repeating this several times and giving himself a headache, Severus told himself that yes, he was going to ask Lily to come to Hogsmeade with him. And no, he wasn’t changing his mind anymore after this.
As the Great Hall started to empty, Severus spotted Lily. She was hard to miss with her flaming red hair. She was leaving with a group of friends and chasing after her would not be easy, so Severus decided to wait a little longer until the crowd thinned out.
The Great Hall was almost empty by the time Severus made his move. Dashing out of the Great Hall and up the stairs, he spotted Lily once more. What was she doing?
“Five points from Gryffindor!”
“What the hell, Evans? You’re in Gryffindor!”
“Ten! Ten points from Gryffindor! I’m not messing around, Black!”
Sirius and Lily both had their wands drawn and pointed at each other, looking murderous. Severus drew his wand also, but wasn’t in any hurry to join in. She didn’t need his help. Lily was anything but incompetent.
“C’mon Padfoot, let’s just go.” That was Remus, the only Marauder that Severus could stand… sort of. He didn’t ever hex Severus himself, but he let it happen, which was just as unforgivable.
Remus repeated what he’d said, but no one was listening.
“We didn’t even do anything!” James shouted at Lily.
“Yes you did, you know you did!” Lily’s eyes appeared to be popping out of her skull, which was an odd sight to see as she was always so calm. No one had ever seen her so agitated.
“Since when is saying, ‘Snivelly is a dunderheaded Death Eater’ a crime?” Sirius shouted.
“Because it’s a lie! You don’t know anything! Any of you! All you do is lie and make everyone else around you miserable!” Lily screeched, pointing this last sentence directly at James. She hated him the most.
James was hurt, and Sirius was irate. “You bloody hypocrite! You do the same damn thing! Take points away from yourself, why don’t you?”
“I am not a hypocrite!” Lily snapped back.
“You bloody well are! Take Snivellus, for example! You run around with him all day, all friendly and whatnot, but in the common room- yes, Evans, other people can hear you- all you can say to your friends is that you feel sorry for him and that he’s really such a freak! I do a lot of stuff, Lily, but I don’t betray my friends!” Sirius roared.
Lily gasped and her face turned bright red. A large group of people had gathered around them (the Marauders always seemed to attract this kind of attention), and they were all looking at her like she was something ugly and disgusting, not to be trusted.
Severus’ heart fell to his stomach, and he felt like he could throw up all over her again. How could she have said those things? When did she say those things? Was it last night, after she confessed that she truly did care about him? All this time, Severus thought the Marauders were his only enemy. How foolish he felt now.
Sirius knew he had the upper hand now. He could choose to diffuse the situation, or blow it up. The truth about Lily was that she’d only spoken of Severus this way one time that he knew of, and that was last year. Even so, what right did she have to take away points and accuse him of doing the exact same things she herself did? Did the House Cup mean nothing to her?
Deciding that he was satisfied with what he had created, Sirius led the Marauders toward the Gryffindor House, leaving Lily standing there, feeling more alone than she ever had before.
The crowd of students began to leave, each contributing a snarky remark or a dirty look to Lily’s misery.
Just then, Professor Slughorn came jogging up the steps. “My dear girl, what on earth is the matter? I thought I heard shouting!”
“It was nothing. Just a heated argument about Quidditch is all,” Lily lied, blinking profusely. She’d never cried in front of a professor and wasn’t going to start now.
Slughorn chuckled, “Ah, well. Boys will be boys. Not to say girls can’t enjoy Quidditch. There’s actually quite a few on the Slytherin team this year. But I’ve yet to see girls get into a fist-fight over it, though!” he paused a moment. “Say, I’m having a little start-of-term get-together in a few days, and it would be a pleasure to have you.”
Lily plastered a pretend smile across her face. “It would be a pleasure to attend, sir.”
“Excellent! I’ll let you in of the details when I have them figured out!” Slughorn said merrily, walking back to his office.
“I can’t wait!” Lily called after him. But she could. She could wait a lifetime. Usually when unpleasant events such as these arose, Lily brought Severus with her as her date. But the look he was giving her right now clearly stated he would never be going anywhere with her ever again.
“Severus,” she began. There weren’t enough words to explain how she felt right now. Angry? Guilty? Betrayed? All of these, and more.
“Save your breath,” he said harshly. He tried to walk past her but she wouldn’t let him. Not before she got to explain herself.
“Severus, please, listen to me,” she begged, but it was no use. He pushed past her and continued on his way, but to where, he didn’t know.
“I thought we were friends!” he called over his shoulder.
“We are! Please, let me explain!” Lily pleaded. She thought about chasing after him, but right now she was afraid to get too close to him. What he needed right now was space. She’d talk to him later. She had to.
Severus turned random corners and took staircases he’d never seen before. Only when he found himself in a deserted corridor did he let himself sink to the floor, tears flowing freely down his face.
-
I'm With You by TheSilverEagle
Chapter Notes: Thanks to my beta, Dani!
Chapter Endnotes: A few reviews for chapter four would make this author very, very happy! :-)