Chapter 6-Only Fooling Herself
"Sirius Black just gave you, Lily Evans, the Head Girl of Hogwarts, advice?" Leah questioned, clearly in a state of shock.
"Sadly, I have sunk no lower. If Sirius Black thinks I'm demented, there must be something wrong with me," Lily proclaimed, hopping into bed.
Erin sat quietly in the corner. The topic of Sirius was still tender as to her broken heart; some things don't mend as easily as others. Sirius was one of those things that was hard to forget. He was such an easygoing nice fellow, it was hard to imagine he was capable of breaking someone's heart. Erin hadn't believed that she would have been one of those girls.
"Oh, and Erin," Lily mentioned.
Erin looked up at the call of her name.
"He wants to talk to you," Lily said, falling lazily on the pillow.
"Me?" Erin asked quietly. "Sirius wants to talk to me? Now things really are getting demented."
She got up from her bed and pulled a robe messily over her pajamas. She may as well see what he had to say. She was pretty much over him as well; she just hoped to return to being his friend.
She stepped outside the portrait hole to see Sirius Black pacing the hall, his hands in his pockets. He didn't seem to have noticed her exiting the portrait hole. Slight bits of conversation could be heard under his breath.
"It wasn't right what I did to you, I truly am sorry," he muttered. "No, that's too subtle. The words should flow."
"I think they're fine the way they are," Erin injected.
Sirius looked up, his gray eyes wide in surprise. She was smiling, that was a good thing.
"So, you and Lily went for a walk," Erin said, sitting down in front of the Portrait Hole.
"Yes," Sirius responded, joining her.
"Isn't her life so stressful? I try and keep up, but it's so hard. That girl brings drama everywhere she turns," Erin reminisced.
"I know what you mean," Sirius sighed. "Poor Prongs isn't much better. He gets himself in such awkward situations. I don't know how he does it. He's completely head over heels with Lily and she doesn't know it."
"They're an odd pair, the two of them," Erin said. "Some day, she'll learn."
"Not quite unlike us," Sirius recalled. He turned his head slightly to meet her celery colored eyes.
"Listen Sirius, I knew when we got together-" Erin started.
"No, I should be sorry. No one has ever put any two cents thought into my actions. Lily did and she helped me realize that I'm not that different than she is. I don't really regard the feelings of my girlfriends. It wasn't right to just drop you for no reason," he said, soothingly.
"Is friends more than you're willing to offer?" she propositioned.
"Friends," he said, putting his hand in hers.
"So, who's the new girl?" Erin asked.
"What do you mean?" Sirius sharply questioned. "What makes you think there's a new girl?"
"The fact that there is no new girl," Erin promptly answered.
"James said the same thing," he replied. "Some people are too perceptive for their own good."
"James-perceptive?" she pondered. "Not really the perceptive type."
"Actually, I quite agree with that. After six years, Lily's still a no-go and he's still chasing after he like a puppy," Sirius reflected.
"You know Sirius, you're steering clear of my original question," Erin pointed out.
"As I said, perceptive," Sirius muttered. "That's what I get for getting smart friends."
"It's one of my friends, isn't it?" Erin guessed.
Sirius stood up, fed the password to the Fat Lady and stepped in.
"Goodnight, Parker," Sirius called, merrily.
Erin chuckled. She knew someone would finally be able to crack Sirius Black's strict dating code.
The following morning, the birds normal chirping was slightly less noisy. The air was growing crisp with a fall chill and the leaves were changing colors. Lily loved the fall; it was such a colorful, alive part of nature.
She glanced out of Potion's window, knowing she'd rather be out there than in here. The dungeon was dark aside from the stream of light coursing it's way into the room.
She was paired with Ruby, which was obviously a good thing. She'd hate to have been paired with that slime ball Severus Snape or worst, James Potter, the most confusing of the male species.
"So, we add the dried tulip petals, stir three times-no wait, is that four?" Ruby asked, brushing her dark hair out of her face. Her blue eyes were strained in concentration.
"I have no clue," Lily confessed. Their potion wasn't half bad, looking at the competition around class.
Leah and Erin, two of the world's worst potion makers, had been paired together.
"Your hair looks really pretty today," Leah cheerfully observed, throwing in porcupine quills without her knowledge.
"Really?" Erin asked. "I thought I'd try something new with it." She proceeded to grab her ink bottle instead of the lemon juice in which was assigned.
"Is it supposed to be this color?" Leah asked, seeing the dark purple substance bubbling before them.
"That would make a really nice nail polish," Erin muttered.
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Leah confessed.
"Those two are so distracted they barely know what class they're in," Ruby sighed under her breath.
"My mum wrote yesterday," Erin went on. "She says that our cat got into my makeup. She's going to send pictures."
"That sounds absolutely adorable," Leah gushed. "Your cat does the cutest things, unlike the toad in our garden."
"You have a toad in your garden too?" Erin excitedly questioned. "That is such a coincidence."
"In Divination yesterday, the crystal ball showed green. Do you think it has to do with our toads?" Leah wondered. She took the hair ribbon out of her hair and placed it in the mess of a potion.
Someone was watching the two girls very carefully, besides the professor.
Sirius noticed their carefree manner and found it comforting. At least he wasn't the only one who didn't care about Potions. What good would it do later in life?
"Padfoot, are you listening?" James angrily asked.
"Yes, Prongs," Sirius assured his best friend. "Lily did something cute."
"Wow, you were listening," an impressed James said.
Sirius rolled his eyes when his friend wasn't looking. James was way too predictable. Maybe that was why Lily didn't give him a shot. Predictable, distracted, infatuated Prongs.
Yet, James seemed to know what he wanted whilst Sirius was still searching. He found himself watching as Leah and Erin
got told off for their explosive potion with unknown ingredients.
.X.
"Hogsmeade weekend," Leah announced, rushing into the dorm with a red flush in her cheeks.
"Who's got dates?" Erin shouted, coming in after and throwing her books on the ground.
"You two really should concern yourselves more with school than with the latest gossip," Vita advised, looking up from her Potions essay. The whole class had been assigned to write on proper potion making behavior.
"Way to suck the fun out of my excitement," Erin frowned. "I know you've got a date, little Vita. She's avoiding the question because she is afraid of what we'll say."
"Very wise, Erin," Leah denounced in a misty voice.
"Yes, what are your thoughts on the subject Miss Evans?" Erin turned to Lily.
"Huh?" Lily asked, clearly still daydreaming. She had been in the clouds all day. She had no idea why. James Potter hadn't bothered her, spoken to her, embarrassed her, harassed her, or anything. Yet, she found him on her mind. What was happening to the world she lived in?
"Hogsmeade. Your thoughts," Leah said, briefly.
"I don't know who I'm going to ask," Lily answered honestly.
"I know who you should ask," Ruby's voice was heard from the other side of the dorm.
"Who?" Erin, Leah, and Lily asked.
"Oh, honestly," Vita huffed, rolling her eyes and laughing in spite of herself.
"James Potter, of course," Ruby insisted. "Didn't you even listen to one word of Sirius' advice?"
"Yes," Lily said quietly. "This is James Potter we're talking about though. How do you know he doesn't already have a date?"
"Even if he did, he would drop whoever it was and go with you anyways," Vita said.
"And we're the bad ones in this situation?" Leah asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"What?" Vita asked. "You've lured me into it now."
"I just don't know," Lily said.
"What about you, Rubes?" Erin asked.
Ruby grinned and felt a blush rise in her cheeks.
"Remus Lupin asked me," Ruby confessed.
"This is big!" Erin and Leah said, pouncing onto Ruby's bed.
"How could you withhold such information from us?" Leah demanded.
"I don't know," Ruby said. "I just am glad it happened. He asked right after Potions, while I was covered in whatever that Potion you two made."
"See," Erin pointed out. "That teacher shouldn't have taken points off. Our potion worked wonders."
"It really did," Leah insisted.
The three of them went into details of how Remus asked, gushing like teenage girls often do.
Vita seemed to be staring curiously at Lily. She hadn't seemed to have forgotten the subject of their previous conversation, much to Lily's displeasure.
"You've got to grow up someday, Lily," Vita said. "What better time than the present?"
"But why him? Why is everyone so keen on James Potter?" Lily voiced. She knew why, everyone knew why. Yet, she made Vita state the obvious.
"Simply," Vita paced. "He's serious. His friends haven't seen him seriously consider someone aside from you. He seemed to have grown up, and now, I feel he can help you as well."
"I hope you're right," Lily said softly, getting up from her bed and walking down the steps, throwing away all her rules.
Vita smiled to herself, she knew Lily was going to make the right choice.
.X.
Lily had never felt so nervous before. The butterflies rose in her stomach and she never felt so awkward in her entire life. It was just a date to Hogsmeade.
Yet, she knew James would make it so much more. He would make it the best date to Hogsmeade. She wasn't sure if she was ready for it.
She needed to grow up. She needed to take Vita's advice and just go for it.
Her clothes seemed to just hang off her in an unflattering manner, her hair was sticking to her forehead in the most unattractive way possible, her face was pale; besides from the immense flush of color in her cheeks.
Why was it so hard to talk to a boy? She entered the Common Room, looking around.
She saw him, talking to a boy named Gary Freeman who played on the Quidditch team.
James was obviously chatting on about their last practice and what was to be expected in their next. He laughed at something Gary had said, the smile so genuine.
His black hair was ruffled, although it didn't seem as though he'd been running his hand through it. His eyes were glowing with warmth and laughter.
It was horribly hard to walk those few steps to just ask him. She knew he wouldn't turn her down, it had been what he had wanted for so long. She actually felt the feeling of wanting to spend a date with him as well; laughing and talking about everything. She knew he was a person who was comfortable around everyone, which would ease her into feeling comfortable around him.
Was she willing to throw her entire philosophy out the door and just proceed onto a relationship with no ground rules? It was asking a bit much.
Listen to Vita, walk over there, you can do it, she thought to herself.
She felt her feet move and she found herself next to James and Gary. The two stopped talking and looked at her.
"Lily," James nodded in apprehension.
"Hi Potter," Lily said, nervously.
"Anything we can help you with?" he asked nicely, smiling slightly for her.
The smile did it; she knew what had to happen now.
"Gary, will you go to Hogsmeade with me?"
Lily Evans had officially dug herself in the deepest hole possible.