Heartbeat

Uno

“Operation Eliminate Oscar will begin in five, four,” Sirius Black began to count. His arm was raised, ready to give the signal for their prank to begin. Nearby were his partners in crime, the other Three Marauders.

Remus Lupin crouched down behind the nearby dumpster in the alleyway, with the Marauders Map of Hogsmeade in his hands; he was carefully watching the dozens of tiny dots with the lit tip of his wand. The moment he spotted trouble he was to send the Marauder signal and the others would cancel the operation.

“Three,” continued Sirius, his gray eyes set on the restaurant window.

Peter Pettigrew, also known as Wormtail, inched a little closer and caught the eye of Sadie Miles. The moment he got the signal from Pad he'd alert Miles and the operation would take its course.

Upon catching his eye, Sadie nodded and turned her back to the short and stocky Marauder. Instead she herself winked to another boy, one taller than the other, and much more striking.

James Potter looked down at the teacup in his hands, checking the color of the supposed “tea”. It looked all right. According to his Advanced Potions book no original shades of the potion should be seen; this was the case. At first or second or even third glance you'd be unable to tell it wasn't just a normal, simple cup of tea.

“Two,” Sirius said, his voice hushed yet clear. He swallowed and then the final word came out of his mouth, “One.”

The moment Sirius gave the signal, Wormtail waved his arms in the air to catch Sadie's attention. The stupid witch was too busy flirting with one of the customers! She had her arms crossed with a toothy grin on her face as she laughed and chatted with some seventh year Hufflepuff.

Peter clapped his hands and continued waving his arms in the air but she seemed to be writing down something on the palm of this bloke's hand. Letting out a growl, Peter picked up a nearby pebble and tossed it hard at the restaurant window.

That caught her attention because she jumped a little, and smiled apologetically.

Sadie purposely walked over to the farthest table in the corner where a man sat with a bowler hat and his face hidden behind the restaurant menu. She stopped at this table and James Potter lowered the menu to look up at Sadie.

“It's time for more tea?” he asked mysteriously.

“Sure is. Do you want a little more sugar in your cup this time?”

“I do. Take this one back. It's…bitter.”

“Gotcha,” replied Sadie, taking the full cup of tea and placing it onto her waitress tray. Blowing a bubble and popping it, she winked and turned away, heading right toward the kitchen doors. She walked through the `in' door and entered the steamy inside of the kitchen. There she picked up another cup of tea, this one not bitter, and two plates of pumpkin pie.

It was hard to balance the large, round tray in her hands as she exited through the `out' door, and headed directly for a table right in front of the huge restaurant window; through this window where the restaurants name was painted on, you could see the streets of Hogsmeade; as of this moment they were dark and lit by the streetlamps. It was late in the evening.

“Here you go, you two,” Sadie said as she set down a plate of pumpkin pie and tea in front of Lily Evans. She turned to the boy sitting across from her, a boy by the name of Oscar Macmillan and set down another plate of pumpkin pie. She lifted the teacup full of the bitter tea and placed it directly in front of Oscar.

“Thank you, Sadie,” Lily said, smiling. “That was quick. Maybe you'll get a tip.”

Sadie smiled at them and repressed a laugh.

“That'd be wicked, Lily,” she said, winking. “Enjoy your dessert.”

And with that Sadie Miles turned away and headed back into the kitchen to continue her job. On her way to the `in' door she passed right by the table where James Potter sat in a bowler and face hidden behind the menu, and she gave him a thumbs up and a grin.

James nodded and pulled his wand from his cloak pocket. He charmed the streetlamp just above his best mate to flicker on and off, sending him his signal.

From where he sat he could see Sirius nod and turn to Wormtail.

James' eyes went back to the couple sitting far across the restaurant room.

Lily and Oscar were immersed in their conversation, each seeming to enjoy their pumpkin pie. It was obvious Oscar hadn't tried his tea yet. Lily had; she took a few sips from hers and continued with her chatter. James' hazel eyes narrowed jealously as he wondered what they were talking about.

“We should start a club about it, you know,” Lily was saying, sipping yet again from her tea.

Oscar set down his fork and put his hand to his chin. “You're right, Lily. That actually sounds like a pretty good idea. I don't think many more people besides you and I would join, though.”

“Hmmm…I know I could get Madeline and Caroline to join.”

“I could get Rodney Perkins.”

“That's five. Five is better than two,” Lily chuckled.

“Good point,” Oscar said, picking up his teacup and bringing it to his lips.

James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and even Sadie all watched in suspense as the cup came to his lips and he prepared himself to take a drink. Just when they all took in a deep breath he didn't. He set back down the teacup as he snapped his fingers.

“I've got an idea! What if we get Sprout involved. She'll support us; she cares a lot about the environment being a Herbologist and everything.”

Lily's eyes widened. “Oscar, I could just kiss you! That's so brilliant!”

Oscar beamed, delighted that Lily sounded so proud of him. Now he brought the teacup to his lips and took a drink. He set down the cup and went to pick up his fork when it happened. His ears, which were normally a tad pointy, enlarged to about ten times their normal size and went hairy.

Lily's eyes were widened again, but this time for a different reason.

“Um, Oscar,” she began, but it didn't stop there.

There was a poof and a muffled bang, and a second after those two noises his face was gone and replaced by a mass of hair, bulging eyes, and large teeth.

“Oscar!” Lily exclaimed as outside the shop Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew burst into laughter and high fived each other. She stood up from the small, round table in alarm and looked around for help.

Oscar Macmillan was turning into a llama. Right before her round emerald eyes his Muggle clothes burst for they no longer fit him, and he grew hooves where his feet and hands were, and the rest of his body was covered in black fur.

Everyone in the restaurant was watching in both utter shock and horror, or amused entertainment.

“Oh my! Oscar, are you all right?” Lily shrieked, her hands on her face.

Oscar merely bah-ed a reply and licked the fur just above his hoof. Lily wanted to faint. This couldn't be happening to her in the middle of her long awaited date with Oscar Macmillan, seventh year activist!

James could no longer resist the laughs that were begging for release. He burst out into loud laughter, his bowler hat falling and the menu slipped from his grasp without him even realizing it. His eyes were closed as he wanted to cry tears of mirth, but when he opened them he discovered a livid redhead standing before him.

Smack!

Lily Evans smacked James Potter across the face, her eyes so narrowed they were thin, thin slits.

“You,” she spat furiously, “You! It was you, wasn't it, you buffoon?”

James' cheek was rosy from where she had slapped him and he touched it as he thought of something to say.

“Evans, what are you talking about?” James asked innocently. He held up the restaurant menu. “I'm simply here to have a nice dinner.”

“Shut it! You're here to turn poor Oscar into a llama!”

“A llama!? Do you know how mental you sound? How dare you accuse me of such things, Evans? I'm an innocent bystander. I just happened to be in the same restaurant as this Oscar fellow and you when he, for some inexplicable reason, transformed into a llama. It's a coincidence, really. A funny, funny coincidence.”

“That's why Sirius and Peter and Remus are all lurking outside!” Lily shouted, pointing to the window. “I can see Remus behind a dumpster, Sirius nearby in that alley between those two shops and Peter across the street! I cannot believe you, Potter! I cannot believe you've turned my date into a llama!”

“At least he's an adorable llama,” James said, shrugging.

Lily wanted to smack him again, but she exercised that self-restraint her mum had always been telling her about years ago when she'd get into scuffles with neighborhood boys. Instead she let out an enraged growl and stomped her feet.

“You're pathetic, Potter! PATHETIC! For the billionth time I'll never ever, EVER go out with you! And for the billionth time I hate your guts! Get that through your thick, Quidditch-obsessed skull! UGH!”

“Soooo…is that a definite no???” James called after her.

Lily stared at him as if she couldn't believe her ears.

“YES, YOU IDIOT! IT'S A DEFINITE NO!”

“Oh. Well…after all this trouble,” James said, sighing and crossing his arms.

Lily rolled her eyes, too aggravated and infuriated for speech.

She spun on her heel and stormed from the restaurant, which was silent even after she left. A second later, however, she returned, blushing slightly as she conjured a leash and put it around Oscar's neck. He bah-ed some more and she had to pull him away from knowing on the tablecloth. He then began chewing on the hem of her sweater instead, apparently liking the material better, bahing as he did.

She slapped him and tugged on the leash to get him to follow her out of the restaurant.

James had to bite his bottom lip to stifle his laugh; he could see Sadie snickering silently from the distance, and he knew at least Sirius and Peter were still laughing hard.

Lily left the restaurant, tugging on Oscar's leash and fighting with him to leave her sweater alone, and she disappeared into the shadows and lights of the streetlamps on that late autumn evening.

Afterwards as the customers in the restaurant began to chat again, mostly about the scene that had just occurred before them, Sadie walked up to James' table just as Sirius, Peter and Remus all entered the restaurant.

”Would you say that operation was successful?” she asked.

James shrugged, looking caught between a particular answer.

“I'd say a `yes',” James said. “Lily Evans touched me!”

Sirius and Peter exchanged incredulous glances.

“Mate, she slapped you.”

James nodded, saying, “And yet I'm still satisfied. As long as her skin is touching my skin I'm utterly happy, I tell you.”

Sadie put her face into her hands, nodding her head disbelievingly. It was the same kind of disbelief that was on Sirius and Peter's faces.

“Mate,” Sirius sighed, clapping James on the shoulder. “You're pathetic. All in capital letters, might I add: PATHETIC.”

“I'll have you know a year ago she was telling me to `sod off' and giving me death-glares, now she's slapping me!” James looked ecstatic for some reason no one else could quite figure out but him.

“Mate,” Sirius croaked.

“I'm telling you,” James sighed dreamily, “I'll never wash this cheek again.”

& & &

A/N: Thank you for reading, now please review with your thoughts. Feedback is appreciated. I don't know when the next update will be; I'm still in search of a BETA reader. Have a nice day. =]