Their Seventh Year

You guys would not believe the day I had.  I can’t tell you about it, because I’d get fired, but believe me when I say your reviews were spiffing and really picked me up when I needed it.

To answer a question, this story will end with the end of seventh year.  After all, it’s pretty long already.  I’m going to try to kick up the plot a little in coming chapters, I feel like it’s lagging, but I wanted to firm up the Remus/Flora thing in this chapter, but not much happens.  Our favorite werewolf needs some action.

There were a few who felt Lily’s swearing in the last chapter was a bit much, I’ll just remind you all that they are 17-18 years old, and their language is pretty tame compared to how  I (and my friends) were at that age.

Chapter 29- More Girl Talk and Boy Talk

"Soooo, Lily."

Lily winced. She knew that voice, and she knew where was going when she used it. It wasFriday night, and despite the fact that two of them had boyfriends who lived within 10 yards of their bedroom door (well, Flora insisted she didn't have a boyfriend, but no one believed that fora second) they had no plans. In fact, when Lily had asked James about his plans for the night, he had acted strange and mumbly and said vaguely he "had to do a thing".

That was fine with her, after all if they didn't spend some time apart and with their respective friends they'd drive each other mad. But it was Friday night, and even Lily couldn't bring herself to study on a Friday night, and so she was just idly paging through "Witch Weekly". She drew her eyes away from the article she was reading ("Charm your hair into the latest style!") and looked warily at Alice, who was painting her toenails, looking deceptively innocent.

"Yes?"

"I was just wondering where you were Wednesday night.”  She said in an offhand voice, then added in a slightly sing-song one,“Until two in the morning?"

Lily gave her a glare. "What are you, my mother?"

"No, but when one wakes up at half past one, and one sees that one's roommate's bed is empty, one wonders."

"I think one should mind her own business."

Flora snickered, but stilled her with a look. "Laugh if you will, my girl, but you're next. So anyway Lily, what could have possibly detained you for two hours? Hm?"

They were both looking at her expectantly now, and Lily squirmed slightly and mumbled something in which the word "James" could be heard.

"Well, we knew that. What with James?"

"We just went down to the kitchen. We had tea."

"Tea? Is that what they're calling it now days?"

"!"

"Oh Lily, you expect us to believe you were down in the kitchen in the middle of the night, alone, with James Potter and nothing happened?"

"Well, not nothing, but we didn't..." She trailed off, blushing.

"Have tea?" Flora supplied.

Lily buried her face in her pillow.  “This just gets worse and worse.”

“Oh come on Lily, if you can’t tell your friends, who can you tell?”

She shrugged.  “James had just been surprisingly….nice…lately.”

“He’s always been nice, he’s just gotten better at acting it, and you’re finally noticing it.”  said happily.  Her life had certainly improved since her two best friends had moved from extreme angst to happy coupledom, even if Flora was not quite ready to admit it.  could not help but be pleased by how happy Lily looked.

“There’s just a lot about him I didn’t get.”  Lily shrugged again, and sighed.  “He actually thinks I’m interesting.”

“You are Lil.  Why else do you think he’s been hanging around you three years?  Do you remember how harsh you used to be?”  Flora giggled and jumped off her bed, striking a pose and doing a very convincing imitation of Lily.  “You make me SICK.  I’d rather go out with the giant squid!”

Lily flushed while looked highly amused.  Nothing like turning your roommates against each other.  And sure enough, Lily went on the offensive.

“Well, you certainly seem to have a lot to say for a woman who has spent the last several months completely oblivious to a great guy right under her nose!”  Lily shot back.  Flora blushed a deep red and crawled back on her bed.

“I wasn’t oblivious, we’ve always been friends.”

“Oh yes, those looks you have been giving him are entirely “friendly”.  Because, you know, friends always look at each other like they want to snog their face off right there in the middle of a charms class.”

barely concealed a very unladylike snort.  Oh yes, this was good.

“I…you…I don’t want to snog anyone’s face off!”  Flora sputtered.

“Riiight.  Of course you don’t.”  Lily rolled her eyes extravagantly.

“Lily!  I don’t want to snog his face off!”  She yelped.

“Oh yes, and your panicked, red-faced denial is sure to convince us of that!”

“Aargh!”  Flora groaned as she reached for her pillow and pressed it over her face.  “I don’t know what I’m doing.  I don’t get it.  He’s not my type!  I don’t date the smart ones, I date the cute stupid ones.  He’s just so…nice!  And he’s funny, not in the obvious way Black is, completely dry, but he’s got this way of delivering a line……oh crap.”  She sighed and threw the pillow across the room.  “What am I going to do?”

“Well, I think the answer is pretty obvious.”  Lily said seriously. 

“Yes, quite obvious.”  agreed, nodding solemnly.

“You’re going to snog his face off!”

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It was in that frame of mind that she went looking for Remus the next evening.  Not, of course, to “snog his face off” as her friends so gracefully put it, but because she liked spending time with him, and she thought he liked spending time with her, and maybe there was something there.  He was so unreadable, she was never sure what he was thinking.

It had been an impulsive move, that morning in the common room, when she had kissed him. It had been quick, merely a peck really.  She hadn’t planned it, she hadn’t even meant to, it was odd.  It had just happened.  She had been as surprised as he was, really.  But since then it had not been awkward, as she expected, he had acted as he always had.

Did she really want to snog him, as Lily and Alice insisted?  Well, she couldn’t deny there was a certain appeal to the idea.  But Remus was not the sort of guy you snogged once and the didn’t talk to again.

Flora had never found herself so confused.  There was the one part of her mind that said the last thing she should think about was boys after what had happened over the last month, there was part arguing that with all that happened over the last month she really ought to let loose and have her bit of happiness, and there was the part of her that said that Remus was not a momentary fling to forget what had happened, but something more real.

She found him in the common room, and gave it until eleven so that he was alone.  He looked unusually pale and tired, but she had no idea when she’s be able to find him alone again, so she took her chance.  She sat next to him on the couch.

“Hey.”

He smiled, and closed the book, marking his place carefully.

“Hey.”

She took a deep breath.  “So, I wanted to talk to you.”

“Hm, hold on just a minute there.”  He seemed to be followed the progress of something across the room, and mysteriously, the portrait hole opened and closed without anyone apparently entering or leaving.  He turned his attention back to her.  She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

“Does one of your friends, by chance, own an invisibility cloak?”

“I can neither confirm nor deny that rumor.”  He said, amusement in his eyes.

“Well, that explains a great deal.”  She remarked.

He returned an enigmatic smile that clearly said he was not going to say another word on the subject.  “You wanted to talk to me?”

“Well, yes.  It’s just that…”  She trailed off.  She wasn’t sure if she could do this.  But if she didn’t bring it up, she was pretty sure he wouldn’t.  “I think, maybe, there’s something here.  And if there is, I don’t want to ignore it until we both go mad.”  She held her breath, just sure he was going to say he had no idea what she was talking about.  Instead, he smiled.

“In other words, you’re not going to act like Lily?”

She bit her lip.  “Well, I’m not sure what I’d do if you started acting like James.”

He reached out a hand, and hesitantly, traced along her bottom lip with his thumb.  His hand slipped around the back of her neck and he drew her close, hesitating just a moment, giving her time to pull back if she wanted to, but she didn’t want to.

“It’s a good thing you’re not like Lily.”  He murmured against her mouth.  “I don’t know if I’d be able to wait three years for you to figure it out.”

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“Well, well, well.”

He had more or less expected something like that from Sirius.  He hadn’t known what Sirius was going to say, but he knew it was going to sound suggestive.

“Shut up.”

Sirius folded his hands behind his head, James was looking prepared to watch someone other than him get put through this, and Peter was trying to look invisible, which meant Peter was feeling guilty.

“The walls have eyes, Mate.”

“Or Hogwarts has rats.”  He finished.  “Honestly Wormtail, a little loyalty among Marauders, hm?”

Peter looked even guiltier, and muttered something about “threatened to curse me.”

“So.”  Sirius seemed determined to bring the conversation back on track.  “Whatcha been up to?”

He dropped down on the bed.  “To tell you all the truth, I haven’t got a clue what I’m doing.”

“But you’re the one who’s always giving us advice.”  James pointed out.

He sighed.  “Yeah.”

“So how is it you’re so sure what to do in our lives if not your own?”

“I’ve pretty much been faking.”

“Well, now I’m filled with confidence in you.”

“Yeah.”  He turned and looked at all of them.  “There is…one very obvious problem that you guys don’t have.”

“That doesn’t necessarily have to be a problem.”  James said hesitantly.

“By all means James, tell me, what is the right point in a relationship to tell a girl that you turn into a bloodthirsty monster every full moon?”

“What, they don’t make a card for that?”

It served to lighten the mood.

“Flora’s a decent girl Remus, but I think the longer you wait to tell her, the harder it’s going to be.”

“Maybe I should just end the whole thing now before anyone gets hurt.”

“Right, that’s a great plan for life, just don’t get close to anyone.  Then you can end up alone.”

“Oh, I won’t be alone.  Eventually you’ll muck everything up with Lily, and it’s not as though these two are ever going to get girls.”  He shrugged.  “I’ll have you guys.”

“Now that is a depressing thought.  The four of us growing old together.”

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