Chapter Twelve: Family Ties
(Chapter's Song: 'I'll Be There For You' by The Rembrandts)
"Lee, come on! Everyone else already left," called Kate.
"I'm coming! Just give me a minute," I called back. I clipped my barrette into my hair and smiled at my reflection. Today is going to be a good day. I can feel it. It's going to be one of those days where you feel gorgeous and glamorous and intelligent and like you don't have a care in the world. You have a meeting that could potentially change your life in three days, but that doesn't matter. Because today is one of those days where you refuse to change into your pajamas because for once, your clothes fit you perfectly. It's one of those days where you fall asleep with a smile on your face, all of your homework done, and the prospect of something exciting on the horizon.
I slung my bag over my shoulder on my way out of the bathroom and grinned at Kate. "Shall we?" I said, looping my arm through hers.
"Someone's chipper today," said Kate as we went down the stairs. "Does it have anything to do with coming in last night past midnight?"
I grinned and thought about my conversation with Sirius. "Maybe."
Yep. Today is definitely going to be a good day.
***
"Hello, Professor Knight," I said gaily, waltzing into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.
"Do you know why she's been in a disturbingly good mood all day, professor?" asked Remus, coming in behind me.
"Sorry, Remus. I haven't seen Lily until now. Good afternoon, James, Sirius," said Knight. Unlike the other teachers, Professor Knight stands outside the room before class, greeting people and checking them off on his roster as they pass him. Also, unlike other teachers, Professor Aiden Knight calls his students by their first names.
"You've been in a disturbingly good mood all day," said Remus, choosing a seat two rows away from mine.
"I know! It's bloody ridiculous," said Kate next to me, leaning backwards in her chair to address him.
"I think she got a shag last night," said Sirius wickedly, his eyes glinting.
James snorted. "Unless it was you, which I know it wasn't, then I think that Lily has her own reasons, am I right or am I right?"
I lazily smiled at James. "You're just jealous, aren't you Potter? Sirius is just so manly and sexy and I just love it when he runs his teeth over my neck," I said, pulling Sirius to me by his tie.
"Why Lily, I never knew that I turned you on, so," said Sirius, sitting on my lap and combing his fingers through my hair.
Kate giggled. "You lot are all loony."
"Settle down please, I'd like to begin the lesson," said Knight, striding into the room, the door swinging shut behind him. "We're not going to do much today. Just practical revision for your test on Friday, incase any of you have forgotten. So please-"
"Oh my god, I am so sorry, Professor!" said Georgie, running into the classroom with a whoosh! of the door closing. Her long curtain of dark brown hair billowed around her as she literally fell into a seat next to Severus Snape who gave her a look of absolute disdain.
"How nice of you to join us, Georgina. As I was saying, please find a partner and practice the silent curses and counter curses that we have studied since the beginning of the month," said Knight, leaving us to partner up.
"Lilia!" hissed Sirius in a loud whisper.
I nodded. "Kate, do you mind partnering with someone else today? Sirius and I have a bit of business to take care of."
Kate shrugged. "Not at all. Oi, Potter! What do you say? Partners today? It seems as though our best mates have ditched us for each other."
"Bloody traitors," said James, bringing his stuff over to my seat.
"That's what I'm told by my dear old mum," said Sirius gaily. "Come, Lilia. We have much work ahead of us."
I dropped my bag by the foot of the table and raised an eyebrow at Sirius. "Where did this 'Lilia' come from?"
"The genius that I like to call my mind," said Sirius, twirling his wand between his fingers.
"Alright," I said, pulling my wand out of my bag's inner pocket. "Let's get to work, shall we?" I thought of a curse and spun my wand.
"Take that! Ha, ha!" said Sirius, deflecting my curse and sending another one at me.
"Okay, this is going to sound like a completely cliché question, but tell me about your childhood. You know, for my matchmaking purposes," I said, my wand twirling and flicking as I sent hexes and curses and Sirius.
"The good or the bad?" Sirius jabbed his wand at me.
I shrugged. "Tell me the good first. Then do the bad later." I brought my wand down in a slashing manner and sent a hex at Sirius.
"Well, when I was a wee lad, my father and I used to be close. Ah, bloody fuck, Lily! That hurt!" said Sirius, grabbing his ears because he hadn't blocked or ducked my curse.
I flicked my wand to make the roaring sound in his ears stop. "Sorry. Go on."
"Anyway, we used to go on these father-son bonding mini-break type things. You know, go to the country together to hunt or ride or summat. I was around 5 or so then. I was never particularly close to my mother. I remember always watching her getting ready for her stupid parties almost everyday, watching her put her glittering jewels around her neck and in her ears and on her wrists or what have you. I've always felt like she was off-limits. She was untouchable. The only things that I can remember about that woman from my early childhood are the scent of expensive French perfume, colourful silk scarves and a lot of long, dark hair, but she never carried me or hugged me. She always shoved my brother, Regulus and I off on our nannies and always made a great big fuss if we touched her. Like we'd give her happy cooties," scoffed Sirius, flicking his wand aggressively.
I ducked and Sirius's curse hit the wall behind me, blasting a crater in it. "Angry much?"
"You have no idea," said Sirius darkly. "Neurotae! Sentimo! Visardo!"
I dodged each curse quickly and turned around to see three more craters blasted into the stone wall behind me.
"How are we doing today?" asked Professor Knight, coming around to our group.
"Pretty well," I said, tucking some hair behind my ear. "Sirius here's really getting into it. Look at the wall," I said, stepping aside to show Sirius's spells.
Knight raised his eyebrows. "Nice work, Sirius. Fifteen points to Gryffindor. I like your exuberance."
"Thanks professor," said Sirius, sounding surprised. He gave me a shocked look and I grinned back at him.
"Lily. May I ask what is on your feet?" said Knight, looking at my feet disdainfully.
Sirius and I both looked down at my colourful Wellingtons. "Pucci, professor?" I said innocently.
"You're not in uniform," he said, not buying the act.
"But professor, it's the last period of the day! And it's pouring outside, sir," I said, offering my you-know-you-love-me teacher smile.
"Dress code is dress code, Lily. No matter what time of day. And as you are a Prefect for Gryffindor House, I will have to dock some points if you don't change," he said.
I sighed. "If you insist," I said, and flicked my wand, replacing my rain boots with a pair of soft pink leather ballet flats that Gran sent me yesterday.
"Much better," said Knight and walked away.
"Much better," I mimicked, rolling my eyes. "Uptight bastard."
Sirius laughed. "I'm surprised that McGonagall didn't call you on your boots."
"Because it really doesn't matter!" I said, crossing my arms. I lifted my foot and looked at them. "However, I'm not gonna lie, I really do like these shoes. Thanks Gran," I said, and pointed my feet. "Wow, they're actually as flexible as real ballet slippers." I put my feet into fifth position, did a plié, an arabesque and then three pirouettes, my hair flying around me as I spun.
"I didn't know that you dance," said Sirius.
"Danced," I corrected sadly. "I used to do ballet really seriously. I studied at the Royal Ballet School since I was 3, but then I had to stop because of Hogwarts. Bet you didn't know that, did you?" I said, extending into second position and bending into a grande plié.
"Do you wish that you could've become a ballerina?" asked Sirius, cuffing his sleeves.
I shrugged and fixed my skirt. "Sometimes. When I was little, I had these dreams of becoming a prima ballerina while somehow maintaining a career as a touring concert pianist," I said, laughing. "What about you? Dance any?"
Sirius laughed. "Other than dancing at parties, no, not really. Although when I was younger, my mum made me go to dancing school when I was home from Hogwarts for the summer. You know, learn the fox trot, waltz, swing, etc."
"Oh my god! I had to do that too! Where did you go? I was at Knickerbocker," I said giddily.
"I don't know. Some wizard place in Bath," said Sirius, shrugging. "So. Concert pianist, eh? Ballerina? What else did you do as a child?"
"You don't want to know… I had something to do every day after school. My parents made sure that I was a well-rounded and perfectly mannered English young lady. I had my ballet lessons Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday afternoons, piano lessons every Tuesday, art class Saturday mornings and riding lessons on Thursday. Sundays were the days when I had time to breathe. That's why I still like to keep my Sundays open."
Sirius let out a low whistle. "And I thought that I had it bad as a little bloke. I had Quidditch and flying lessons, riding, French and German tutors, polo training, and cello."
"You play the cello?" I asked, giggling.
"Yes. I actually liked it for a time. I was rather good, if I may say so myself," said Sirius.
"Sirius, Lily, I don't see any spells being cast!" called Professor Knight from across the room.
I rolled my eyes. "Makes me change my shoes and then do work… Madness…" I twirled my wand with an unnecessary flourish to make sure that Knight saw us working.
"Argh!" said Sirius, clutching his nose and falling to a seated position on the floor. "I wasn't ready!"
"Oh god!" I said, rushing over to kneel beside him. "Merlin, I am so sorry! Here," I said, offering him a tissue that I'd Summoned.
Sirius moved his hand to stem the steady flow of blood with the proffered tissue.
"Maybe you'd want another…" I said warily, handing him the box and edging away slightly to prevent any blood spatters on my new shoes.
"This is bloody disgusting," he said, his nose clogged.
I giggled. "You sound ridiculous. Here, move your hand. Wait, no! Don't move the tissues, you arse. Just shift your hand over bit, no a little more, that's the ticket. Alright." I gently tapped the bridge of his nose with my wand.
Sirius and I watched the tip of my wand glow a faint green, Sirius going cross-eyed. "Did I do it?" I asked.
"I think so," said Sirius, slowly lowering his hands from his face. "Yep! You did it. You just might have a career as a Healer, Lilia."
"Yes!" I said, pumping my fist into the air. I looked down at Sirius again and then burst out laughing. "Siri, you look absolutely disgusting," I giggled.
Sirius had blood all over his nose and chin, and his pristine white shirt had some flecks of dark red on it.
"Everything all right, here?" asked Knight, standing over us.
I looked up at him from the floor. "Crisis diverged, professor. All taken care of."
"Sirius, do you need to go to Madam Pomfrey?"
"Tosh, professor. Only a flesh wound! Besides, Lilia here patched me up, nice and tidy. I shall bear these marks of blood for the rest of the day, a memento of our glorious battle. The stains shall be war wounds, if you will," said Sirius.
"Right. Class is dismissed," said Knight.
"Excellent! Cheerio, professor," I said giddily, pulling Sirius up with me.
"Oh and Sirius?" said Knight, turning back around.
"Yes, professor?" asked Sirius, turning his bloodstained face back to our teacher.
"Do wash your face. It is most unappealing," said Knight.
"Methinks our teacher is a bit squeamish!" I said, putting my bag on my shoulder and following Sirius out the door.
"Methinks que tu as raison, ma cherie," said Sirius.
"Evans!"
Sirius and I both turned around and saw Reade Harrowing leaning against the wall outside the classroom.
"Oh, hello!" I said.
"Is Georgie on her way out?" he asked. "Bloody hell, Sirius! What'd you do to your face?"
"Lilia hit me with a curse when I wasn't ready. War wound. Brilliant, eh?" he grinned, clapping Reade on the back.
"I'm right here," said Georgie, exiting the classroom and kissing Reade on the cheek. "Look at you! You're so sweet. Want to go and get some tea? I'm a bit parched," she said, grinning from ear to ear.
I smiled at them, extraordinarily giddy with the way that these two are acting around each other. It's so sweet.
"Alright. I'll see you two around, yeah? And Sirius, we need to discuss some more polo strategies," said Reade.
"Righto."
"Black, don't forget to clean your face!" called Georgie as she and Reade walked down the corridor.
"Good man, Reade," said Sirius, nodding approvingly.
I raised my eyebrows and threaded my arm through Sirius's, walking with him in the direction of the Sixth and Seventh years' lounge. "He must be if you of all people is trusting a Slytherin. What's the story?"
"He's a rare product in the pureblood society. Reminds me of James, actually. Both of them are purebloods, but their parents aren't like mine. Or at least, not like my mum. It might be because their families aren't as old as mine. Anyway, we took our polo lessons at the same place and sometimes our instructors had us play each other. We've been friends since were around 8," explained Sirius.
"I see," I said. "You know, I can kind of relate to your pureblood thing. My family's kind of like yours actually. You know, really old and purely English. Every single relative of mine has been purely English. My oldest recorded ancestor was a member of King Charles I's court. Anyway, as a result, my sister and I have to uphold certain expectations and stuff. For example, I'm supposed to host my cotillion in like two years."
"And coming to Hogwarts didn't botch any of that?" asked Sirius, surprised.
I shrugged. "It did a little. I mean, I didn't get to chair as many charity functions as my friend Vittoria has, but I've still done a fair share. Anyway, I've paid my dues, so I'm hoping to persuade my Gran out of having to do the stupid cotillion. I'm going to Vitt's in the spring anyway, so that should count for something."
"Well aren't you just a martyr of society?" said Sirius, pinching my cheek.
"Eurgh, gross! I probably have your blood smeared on my face now, Siri," I said, scrunching my face up and wrinkling my nose.
"Be a man! Suck it up," said Sirius, whacking me on the back.
"Christ," I said, stumbling forward a couple of steps. "I'm not a bloody Bludger. Now I'm probably going to have a massive Sirius-sized bruise on my back tomorrow," I said, rubbing the sore spot.
"Nah, you'll be fine. '81 is loads of fun but '82 is better than you'," said Sirius.
A corner of the tapestry that covered the entrance to the sixth and seventh years' lounge curled up and the door behind it swung into the room, granting us access. Every other week, the sixth years get to change the password and this happens to be our week.
The majority of the upper classmen was in the large room, either sitting in groups around tables or off to the study rooms adjacent to the lounge. A large gathering of boys sat over in the east side of the room in a grey haze of smoke listening to a Quidditch match on the wireless. One of the perks of being a junior/senior in Hogwarts-you get to smoke on property without breaking any rules, as long as you're contained in that room.
Sirius and I sat down at a table with Kate, Seth and two Hufflepuff girls in our year.
"Sirius what happened to your face?" asked Lucy.
"Nothing," said Sirius, dismissing the question with a wave of his hand. "Lily hit me with a spell in Defense when I wasn't ready, but then she fixed me up. I'm wearing my blood as a battle wound."
I rolled my eyes. "He won't shut up about it," I said, and reached down to pull out the thick envelope that my dad sent me this morning.
"Because it is awesome," said Sirius, as though stating the obvious.
"You got beat by a girl, mate," said Seth.
"As much as I love you, you're outnumbered by estrogen, so I'd keep thoughts like that to yourself, love," said Kate, patting Seth's knee.
I pulled a stack of this month's fashion magazines out of the envelope, with Vogue on top. I handed Harper's Bazaar to Kate and began rifling through the pages of Vogue when a note fluttered out.
"Lo Lily! You might want to look at the YSL ads more closely. Just a thought. -Vittoria."
"Oh my god!" I screamed. "Kate, Vittoria's in Vogue!" I cast a searching spell on the magazine and its pages ruffled before settling on the beginning of the Yves Saint-Laurent Rive Gauche ad spread.
"No fucking way," I said, peering at the pages more closely. "There she is," I said breathlessly. One of my best friends is right there in the glossy pages of one of the most famous magazines in the world. She wore a midnight blue evening gown, which opened in the middle of the skirt to reveal long, tanned legs and impossibly high gold heels. The smoky makeup on her eyes added to the sultry come-hither look that she was giving the camera, her lips parted ever so slightly.
"You know her?" asked Tessa, leaning forward.
"Can I meet her and have her bear my children? We'll have beautiful babies running around in baby couture," said Sirius, reaching a hand out to turn the page.
"Nuh uh!" I said, smacking his hand away. "Until you wash yourself, you're not going anywhere near this monumental spread."
"Fine," grumbled Sirius. He twirled his wand four times and then all of the blood on his hands, face and clothing disappeared and he smelled like cologne.
"Oh god, I love that cologne, Siri. It's my favourite," I said, shifting closer to him.
"Present from Mummy P," shrugged Sirius.
"I can't get over the fact that this is a real girl. That you know personally," said Seth.
"I grew up with her," I breathed reverentially. "God damn it, I wish I had a phone or something! I need to call her."
We turned the pages and drooled at the next three pages of high fashion, full-lipped pouts and Vittoria posing with one of the best looking men that I have ever seen.
"Where is she from? Because if she's from the Czech Republic or Romania or something, then that totally explains it. It's physically impossible for a girl from those countries to be ugly. They're all incredibly beautiful," said Tessa.
"Like Alessandra Muvinoff," said Kate.
"Oh my god, I have a total girl crush on her!" said Lucy.
I giggled. "Me too! I thought that Kate and I were the only ones! Anyway, Vittoria's Italian. Her entire family's beautiful. Seriously. It should be illegal. They're all too pretty for their own good."
"Does she have a brother?" asked Lucy.
"God yes," said Kate. "Oh Rafe…"
"Ack!" said Sirius, jumping up.
We all looked up at him with raised eyebrows.
"I gotta run! Ack!" said Sirius. He threw the strap of his bag over his head and ran out of the lounge as if the hounds of Hades were after him.
Kate, Lucy, Tessa, Seth and I all sat quietly, transfixed with Sirius's rushed departure.
"Does anyone know what just happened?" asked Tessa.
"Not a bloody clue," I said.
"Right. I need to go. My afternoon just got way too girly," said Seth. He kissed Kate and then let himself into the smoking section of the lounge where the majority of the boys were.
Lucy giggled. "I think that we scared all of the boys away."
"That's sad," said Kate dismissively and then peered at the magazine more closely to inspect something.
"Lily, what's it like to be you? I mean, what kind of circles do you run in to be best friends with someone that beautiful?" asked Tessa, sipping her tea.
"Er," I said, running my hand through my hair.
"And you always have the best clothes," said Lucy longingly, looking at my feet jealously. "I mean look at your shoes! Honestly, what's it like to open your closet door every morning and have to choose between a million pairs of designer shoes? And you have so many of these things that you don't even care! And you try to hide it! If I were you, I'd flaunt it all."
"Er," I said again, getting increasingly uncomfortable. I tucked my feet under me to hide my shoes and bent over my bag, pretending to get something out of it but turning it around to hide the bag's label instead.
Unlike Lucy, I get embarrassed when people decide to look at my wardrobe and try to see how much money my dad or my grandmother spent on it. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm really grateful for receiving these gifts and I love using them, but I don't make it my main focal point in life to be dressed to the nines and make sure that everyone knows about it. It just kind of… happens that way.
"Right. I'm er, I'm going to go. Kate, you can keep the magazine, just don't rip any pages out or anything. Er, yeah… Bye," I said.
I quickly left the lounge and the label hunters and noise and reached the safe haven of the silent corridors. I ran up a flight of steps by the high windows, watching the rain lash down on the glass panes. The rain hasn't let up since last night and it now ran down the windows so quickly and in such a large quantity that there was a steady stream of water running down the glass; the gargoyles keeping a constant river flowing from their mouths.
I walked along the corridor leading to the Gryffindor common room, getting bored with the long walk and somewhat upset with the slightly bad mood that Lucy and Tessa's observations put me in.
"Lily!" called James, emerging from the portrait hole wearing a sweatshirt and carrying his broom. "I feel like I haven't seen you all day!"
"James, I'm in every single one of your classes."
"That doesn't count! We don't get to talk in class now, do we? Well, I suppose that we could but McGonagall and Knight would get mad at us, and besides, we wouldn't be able to get quality conversation in during class, so really, I haven't seen you all day."
I stood in the corridor and stared at James as he released his verbal diarrhea. "You just made absolutely no sense and rambled for eons," I said.
"Right, I did, didn't I? I'm just going to go and head outside, then… By the way, I really like your hair like that," said James. He winked and then jogged down the corridor.
I blinked and raised a hand to pat my hair, puzzled. "I'll see you at dinner," I called to his back before climbing into the portrait hole. I glanced at the bulletin board to check for any new announcements and remembered that I have to talk to Remus about Georgie and Reade.
I looked longingly up the girls' staircase, wanting to change out of my skirt and into a pair of trousers or something. I shrugged and started up the boys' staircase instead.
I opened the door to Remus's dormitory and immediately the harsh smell of ammonia assaulted my senses.
I wrinkled my nose and walked in to find Sirius on his hands and knees, scrubbing the floor in just his boxers, a tight white t-shirt and yellow rubber gloves.
I froze in the door frame and just watched his back muscles flex and move under his shirt and appreciated the way that his green boxers made his arse just look so damn good. Holy shit, I think that I just walked into a dream… A hot, hot boy is cleaning and not wearing much. I slowly pinched myself to make sure that I wasn't sleeping. I slumped against the threshold and continued watching his strong, sexy back as Sirius began to turn.
He looked up at me and smiled. "Lilia! What are you doing here?" he said, lifting up the hem of his shirt and wiping his face with it.
I grabbed onto the wall to keep from falling over. The muscles in his stomach rippled as he moved and my hormones went into over drive. "I-I… I'm, er, I'm," I stammered, staring at this beautiful boy.
Sirius frowned and stood up. "Are you okay? I leave you for about half an hour and you're reduced to this sorry little state," he said, shaking his head. He grabbed a pair of jeans and pulled them on as my heart sank to the ground.
"Er," I said stupidly.
My stomach flopped and I'm pretty sure that my eyes popped out of my head when Sirius pulled his shirt off and walked around to his dresser to get a new one. He tugged it over his head and I melted as his perfect back muscles (one of my favourite aspects of a bloke's anatomy) moved against each other.
"Lily?" He ran a hand through his hair and looked at me with navy blue eyes.
"Yeah?" I said, blinking and snapping out of it. I stood up straight and grinned at him.
"What are you doing here?" he laughed as he began to put his cleaning utensils away.
I was overcome with sadness as my perfect dream began to slowly be packed away into a stupid little blue bucket. "I was just looking for Remus, I thought that he'd be here."
"Oh. I think that he's down in the dungeons, but I can pass along a message if you'd like," said Sirius.
I shook my head. "Nah, it's okay. Just stupid Prefect stuff."
"All right. Well, I'll tell Remus that you were looking for him when he comes back."
I nodded. "Yeah, okay," I said, going back into a daze. I stared at Sirius and wondered how anyone could have such flawless features, even when they were covered in dried blood.
"Lily?" he said, raising his eyebrows.
"Oh… Yeah. I'm gonna go," I said, turning slightly, but not moving, my brain furiously trying to figure out how some people can be so good-looking.
Sirius flopped down on his bed and stretched out.
"Oh God," I muttered. I turned and ran out the door. I heard Sirius laughing behind me and I sprinted down the stairs and smacked into Georgie who was on her way up the girls' staircase.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked.
"I just made such a complete fool of myself in front of Sirius Black," I said, desperately latching onto her arm.
"Ah. Wait, did you just come from their dormitory?" she asked, tossing her bag onto her bed and taking out a pile of exercise clothing.
I sat down on her bed and nodded, closing my eyes to keep that picture in my mind's eye for just a little longer.
"Oi, it's Wednesday, isn't it?"
"Aye."
"So I'm taking it that you just saw Sirius Black only wearing his underthings and cleaning, yeah?"
I nodded again and flung myself backwards. "I just stood there and gawked at him for years! Merlin, Georgie it was so bloody embarrassing," I wailed desperately.
She nodded and pulled her jumper over her head. "I was hoping that it'd take you longer to figure it out. He's got a nice bod, yeah?"
"You knew?!" I said, sitting bolt upright and staring at her.
"Well… yeah," said Georgie. "What with Quidditch and all… During the warmer days the blokes generally take their shirts off after about half an hour."
"Fuck," I moaned. "Okay, I need to go and find Nate. I need to be loved."
"You do that," said Georgie, putting a pair of sweatpants on over her leggings and shorts.
"Where are you going anyway?" I asked, rolling over on her bed.
"Quidditch practice," said Georgie simply, plaiting her hair back into a French braid.
"Then how come Sirius isn't dressed?" I asked, remembering his sexy jeans and band shirt.
"Beaters have off today. Just us Chasers, Seeker and Keeper today. Lucky bastard. Hasn't stopped bloody raining all bloody day. Absolutely horrid conditions, but bloody Potter refuses to bloody cancel…" grumbled Georgie.
"Right…" I said. "Well, I'll leave you to it then." I hopped up off of Georgie's bed and grabbed my bag on my way out, with the intention of getting a brioche or something from the Great Hall on my way to the Library.
I started out the door but then realized that I had yet to change. "Hey G, have you told Kate about Reade yet?" I asked, taking a pair of jeans out of my bureau.
"No not yet," she said, inspecting her belly button. "But I plan on doing it tonight."
"What are you doing?" I zipped up and buttoned my jeans, then squatted a couple of times to get them looser after having gone into the dryer or whatever it is that the house elves use.
"Getting lint out…" said Georgie.
"Ew. Anyway, you should probably leave soon. I passed James on my way into the Tower. He had this most unfortunate case of verbal diarrhea. So sad." And he complimented me on my hair. I ducked down and looked at my hair in the mirror, taking a piece of it and twirling it around my finger. Hm. I tilted my head. My hair does look especially nice today. Maybe I should wear it like this more often.
"Right," said Georgie, heading out the door. "Wait, I left my broom," she said, turning back around.
I held her broom out, having anticipated her forgetting it. Happens every time. Sad really, especially since it's happened before every practice and game for the past 4 years.
"Ah, excellent. Thanks Lily. Out to the rain I go…"
I danced my way to my night table, humming a Joni Mitchell song that popped into my head and got the ring that my dad had given me a couple of years ago.
"Aaaw, puppy I miss you," I said, catching sight of my doggy. I sighed. I love Ringo. He's one of my best friends.
"Went to a party down a red dirt road / There were lots of pretty people there / Reading Rolling Stone, reading Vogue, la di da da da," I sang, making up words when I didn't know them.
"Pissy good mood," joked Kate as I passed her on the stairs.
"I said maybe a week, maybe two / Just until my skin turns brown," I continued, patting her on the head.
***
I hummed to myself as I stood in front of the bulletin board outside of the Great Hall, taking down announcements and flyers that have been up for a considerable amount of time. Stuff about study groups, Gobstone club meetings, etc. etc.
"'Scuse me!" said a voice, running towards me.
I turned towards the voice at the sound of pattering feet just as I was warned.
"Oof!" said the girl, slamming into me and knocking me into the wall. "Oh my god, I am so so sorry. Merlin, I'm such a klutz. I'm so sorry."
I stood up properly and shrugged. "That's okay. It was partly my fault anyway for not hearing you in the first place. What's your name?" I asked, recognizing the younger girl's face from the common room.
"Katherine. Katherine Leonard," she said breathlessly, staring up at me.
"Well, Miss Leonard," I said, smiling at her. "Just make sure to watch where you're going next time, all right? And do try to not run in the corridors."
Katherine nodded vigorously. "You're so much prettier up close. Oh my god!" she said, clapping her hands over her mouth.
"Oh. Er, thank you?" I said, raising my eyebrows, my hands poised to jab another thumbtack into the cork.
"I, erm. I have to go," she said, and ran away.
"That was odd," I muttered to myself, and continued to take notices off of the board and put up some new ones.
"Hello Lillier," said Remus, walking up to me with his hands in his pockets.
"You know, the strangest thing just happened. Do you know that third or fourth year Katherine Leonard?" I asked.
"I've heard of her, yes," said Remus, nodding.
"She just ran into me, literally, and apparently I have a fan club or something of the sort among the lower years. Anyway!" I said, turning to him and putting my hands on his shoulders. "You and I have got to talk. I have a bit of a bone to pick with you," I said, and steered him towards the stairs.
Remus furrowed his brow. "What imaginary thing did I do now?"
I pushed him down onto a step and sat down next to him. "You did not tell me that Georgina has had a boyfriend since 5th year. That is what you did."
Remus blanched. "How'd you find out about that? How do you know that I know?"
I leaned back and rested my elbows on the step above me. "First of all, what would you have done if I was bluffing? You're a terrible secret keeper. And you needn't worry about your bits because Georgie told me herself. I just wanted to know how much you knew/know about the situation."
"Not much, actually. Last I heard, they had a horrid date on Saturday but are still together, I suppose?" said Remus.
"Remus Julius Lupin. You are the worst source of juicy information in the world. Such a disappointment. Such a disappointment," I tutted and blew some hair out of my face.
"Well, I'm sorry to be of disservice, but I must go. Have a younger year to tutor. I would also like to say that I now have the upper hand because I," he reached down and swiped a shoe, "have your shoe and you can't do anything about it. Cheerio!" he said and scampered off.
"That's right. Bugger off because you can't face me a like a man. Pfft. Julius the Emperor my arse," I called after him.
"What's this? A Prefect, alone, shoeless and swearing like a madwoman on the historic and educational Grand Staircase of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? You are a shame to the Student Government," scolded a voice above me.
"Lo, Nate. Pop a squat," I said and smacked the stone next to me.
"My love, what are you doing all by your lonesome and sitting on this here perch?" asked Nate, kissing my cheek and wrapping his arm around my waist, pulling me closer.
I shrugged and pouted as my bum slid across the cold stone. "I lost my shoe," I said and wiggled my toes to prove it.
"Quite the contrary," he said and procured my shoe. "Lupin gave it to me as I passed him. Anyway, we haven't gone out on a date in a while. So how about Friday?"
"No good," I said, resting my forehead on his shoulder. "Big day Saturday so I need to get some sleep. Saturday night?"
"It's a date then. I'll figure something out. Make it something special to make up for being a horrible, terrible boyfriend."
I giggled. "If you're a terrible boyfriend, then I'm the Queen of England," I said, kissing his neck.
"Mmm, you should be," he said distractedly.
I climbed into his lap and put my arms around his neck. "I miss you, love. Why do you always have to go off and do your seventh year and Head Boy stuff?"
Nate kissed the tip of my nose. "It'll be the same for you next year. You're a shoo-in for Head Girl, trust me. No one in your year's better qualified for the job."
I laughed and let my head fall back. "You're just saying that. What?" I asked when I saw him staring intently at me.
"I can't believe that I'm sitting here right now with you. Did you know that all of last year I fancied you something awful?"
"To be honest, yes," I giggled. "I just wasn't sure if you liked the chase or if you liked the girl."
"The girl, definitely the girl. Lily, what do you say about going upstairs?" said Nate, with a meaningful look in his eyes.
"Go upstairs… Oh," I said, and put my hands on his chest. I bit my lip. "I-I don't know. I don't know if I'm ready for-for that," I said awkwardly.
"We can wait, if you want. We don't have to," said Nate.
"No, no trust me I want to. Just… not yet," I whispered.
"When did we get so awkward?" laughed Nate after we both cleared our throats several times and gave each other shifty smiles.
I giggled nervously. "I've no idea."
The doors to the school were suddenly thrown open, letting in some of the storm and drenching everything in the vicinity. A tall figure stumbled inside and then struggled to close both doors while attempting to cast drying charms on things.
"Who do you think that is?" I whispered, my hands on Nate's shoulders.
Nate shrugged and we continued to watch the lone figure.
The person, whoever it was, finally succeeded in closing both doors against the storm and the wind and set about casting drying charms on the flagstones to prevent any accidents, slipping himself a bit in the process. He, for it was definitely a man, cast a drying charm on himself and then took his traveling cloak off, draping it over his arm and looking around the Entrance Hall with a wistful look on his face.
My eyes widened and I jumped off the stairs. "Connor!" I yelled, running towards him and launching myself into his arms.
"Lily-Billy!" said Georgie's older brother, hugging me and calling me by the nickname that he'd given me years ago when I was only eleven.
"What are you doing here? Does Georgie know that you're here? Or Emmaline?" I asked.
Connor shook his head and grinned at me, his dark eyes shining with excitement. "It's a surprise. I'm here until Saturday for the first Quidditch match. Oh, hello," said Connor, looking over my shoulder.
I turned and saw Nate standing behind me, his eyes flitting between me and Connor. I rolled my eyes. "Connor, this is my boyfriend, Nate. You remember him. Nate, this is Georgie's older brother, Connor."
"Wotcher, Nate," said Connor shaking his hand. "So what are you kids doing nowadays? Why's there no one walking about?"
I shrugged. "Dunno. Probably in the common rooms. Anyway, what is up, my friend? Georgie hasn't told me what-"
I was cut off as the doors slammed open again and the Gryffindor Quidditch team trooped in, oblivious to their surroundings and looking like they'd just climbed out of the lake.
"Come on, let's get you some Pepper Up Potion, hm? You'll catch your death if you don't get some soon," said Celeste Priestly, one of the Chasers. She led a soaked to the bone and shivering Michael McFadden up the stairs while she shot murderous looks at James over her shoulder.
"James, I swear that the next time you schedule a practice when it's pissing rain, Fabs and I are going to throw you into the bloody lake and leave you there to drown," said Georgie vehemently, pushing some sopping wet hair out of her eyes.
"Oh come off it," said James, a wide, lazy grin stretched across his face. "That was the best practice yet and you know it. Besides, don't lie to me and tell me that you don't enjoy seeing us boys all wet, like. Fabian and I know that we get you all hot and-"
"Connor!" boomed Fabian, drowning out James's words and clapping Connor on the back. His wet gloves left a large, muddy handprint on Connor's otherwise pristine white Oxford.
"Oi!" shrieked Georgie, whirling around and spotting her brother. She shrieked again and pounced on Connor. "What the bloody hell are you doing here, you great big fart? Why didn't you tell me that you were coming? How long are you staying? You're such a boob!"
Connor laughed and set Georgie down, cleaning off his mud-covered front and casting a drying charm on the Quidditch team at large. "Lo, everyone. Good to see that my Captaincy was passed on to good hands. But Prewett, why didn't you get it?"
Fabian shrugged and shouldered his broom. "Didn't want it. Told McGonagall so last year before the end of term."
"Eh. Well, good to see that Potter here's carrying on the tradition of lunacy," said Connor, beaming at him.
"Easy for you to say," muttered Georgie, rolling her eyes.
"Watch it Vance, or you might just find yourself locking up after every practice," warned James.
"Lily," said Nate quietly into my ear. "Listen, I'm going to go. I have a lot of work to do and I'm supposed to meet Claire to prep for another meeting with Dumbledore, but I'll see you later, okay? I think I'll stop by Gryffindor during dinner for a bit."
"I'll go with you. I need to do work too, I haven't done anything at all and it's almost 5 o' clock. Just give me a second," I said. "Oi, I'm going to head back to Gryffindor. I'll talk to you lads later, all right? And Connor, Sluggy's going to want to see you, so you'd better find him as soon as possible. You might even get some pheasant or some other fowl for dinner."
Connor grinned. "Good old Horace. You know, I kind of miss the Slug Club. The awkward silences, the forced interactions… Ah, those were the days," he said, a mock-wistful look adorning his features.
We all laughed at his spot-on description of the dinner parties and Nate and I turned to go.
***
"What do you reckon, Lee? Has old Cottontail got himself a girlfriend or what?"
Kate and I were squeezed into an armchair in the common room, James's blanket covering the two of us.
I shrugged, watching Connor as he caught up with a group of 7th years. "I think that if Cottontail's got himself a girlfriend, then they'd be humping like bunnies right now and he would've told Georgie about it. Why, still fancy him?" I asked slyly, nudging her.
"No," scoffed Kate as if the idea was preposterous. "You?"
"Tchuh. As if I have enough time to think about Connor these days. What with trying to find time to spend with Nate, worrying about the MIA and trying to find a girl for Sirius, I think I'd explode. Besides, you were always the one who fancied Cottontail more than me," I said, using the codename that we'd given him ages ago for gossiping purposes.
"I suppose," sighed Kate, resting her head on top of mine. "You really think he doesn't have a girlfriend?"
"Kavs, he either doesn't have one or he's doing a jolly good job of hiding it, what with flirting with Alessandra and all."
"Well, you can't really blame him, can you? That girl's super pretty. And besides, they've always had a weird relationship. Anyway, what's this about being matchmaker for Sirius? You'd think that he'd be able to find a girl on his own. Hey, budge over, your knee's in my arse."
"Sorry," I said, and moved the offending body part. "But anyway, last night when we were talking, I asked him if he's been seeing anyone lately since you know, he's Sirius Black, the bloody sex god. So we were talking, right, and he said that he doesn't really fancy anyone at the moment because he said some tosh about already having snogged or shagged or something or other all of the girls that he'd be interested in. Now, I don't know what to think about that. Do you think that he meant that he's snogged every girl in our year or only the girls that he likes?"
"Well, he is a teenage boy, so there's a fine line of difference," mused Kate.
I snorted. "Yes, that's true. But anyway, I haven't thought of a girl for him yet. It's really quite difficult when you think about it, but I offered and I want to see him happy, so I'm going to do my best."
"Well, at any rate, I'm glad that you're becoming friends with him. I find it rather odd how none of us except for Georgie, but that's only because of Quidditch, really, has befriended any of the Gryffindor boys in our year up until now. I mean, you'd think that after living and learning with them for 5 sodding years we would've become mates, don't you think?" said Kate, plucking at some loose threads on the chair.
"You do have a point. I guess that you could say that they've been right prats during all of Hogwarts. Although Peter I don't mind so much and I am friends with Remus, being fellow Prefects with him and all, as well as that brief stint of ours back in third year…" I said.
"Hhemy," said Kate, exhaling through her mouth after a pause. "Have you, er, spoken to Georgina recently?" she asked, looking at me out of the corner of her eye.
"Not since dinner, no. Why?" I asked, with a sneaking suspicion that Georgina Vance finally told Kate.
"She, ah, she had a word with me shortly after Cottontail arrived. Anyway, we were talking about last weekend, you know, Hogsmeade and all that, and I asked her how her date with Harrowing went. So she-she told me that… Oh bullocks to this. Lee, Georgina's been dating Reade Harrowing since April of last year and they had sex on Sunday," finished Kate in a hiss.
I giggled. "She told me last night. Wait! Ngaaaah stop hitting me, you mad codger. Merlin. I would've told you but Georgie said that she wanted to tell you herself, and I only found out yesterday, so it doesn't really matter. Anyway, what do you think about it all?"
"Well, not to be cynical about everything, but I'm just worried about how it's going to end. You know how it is with her," said Kate, sinking down even further into the chair.
"I know! I was thinking about the same exact thing last night! Fabian Prewett should probably be warned, eh? Bloody hell, this chair's titchy," I said, shifting uncomfortably.
Kate sighed. "I wonder how the sex was. I haven't gotten a shag in two weeks."
"Kavs!" I said, smacking her arm. "What about Seth?" I asked tentatively, watching her face for a reaction.
Her grey eyes darkened and she tossed her head. "Seth's an arse. I'm going to break up with him like tomorrow or something. You saw how odd he was earlier in the lounge and I'm just sick of sitting around and being unhappy because it's bloody rubbish."
"Oh I'm so sorry, Kavs," I said, hugging her and resting my head on her shoulder. "Just remember that it's not your fault, okay? He's an arse and he doesn't deserve even half of you. You're too good for him."
"I know," sighed Kate.
"Of course you do," I said and patted her leg.
"Anyway, it was really only a matter of time before I broke up with him. I mean, don't you find it odd how all of a sudden the three of us have boyfriends? I don't really believe in Divination, in fact, I think that it's a load of rubbish that some blazed wanker came up with when he was bored in his mum's basement, but I just find our attachments and present situation rather suspicious. And besides-it's November of Sixth Year, and where's the drama? So far, there is absolutely no bloody drama and if anything, that is extremely suspicious," said Kate.
"Huh," I said thoughtfully. "Never realized that all of us had boyfriends… But anyway, the drama will come. Oh, it will definitely come," I said ominously.
Kate and I sat in silence, digesting this information. After a couple of minutes, Kate spoke. "Let's go upstairs. I can't feel my arse anymore."
"Bloody chair," I agreed.
…..
I'll be there for you
When the rain starts to pour
I'll be there for you
Like I've been there before
I'll be there for you
Cause you're there for me too
…..
A/n: First, the song that Lily was singing in her dormitory is 'California' by Joni Mitchell. And the French that Sirius said meant 'I think that you're right.'
Now, on to the important matter of business. So I said from the very beginning that Portkey would only be a temporary archive for White Tulips, and the only reason why I posted the story here is because it got deleted from ff.net for some complicated issues. Anyway, the new archive that I was waiting for is now up and running, so I'll be posting White Tulips there from now on. I've already posted revised versions of the first three chapters, and I hope to have all previously posted, but revised chapters up by the middle of January. You can find White Tulips at The Unknowable Room here. So I hope that you've enjoyed what you've read so far, and please go over to the new archive and poke around. The people who started it are really great girls and it's a very supportive community.
xox,
Mands