I normally wouldn't get the next chapter out so fast, but this chapter and the next are primarily filler, and you guys are getting closer to being caught up with the other places I have this story posted. That being said, here's the next chapter!
Chapter 13- Days and Routines
Not much had changed in the three days since Remus and Ryan got together. Sure, they held hands every so often. Sure, they sat next to each other in every possible class. Sure, they kissed each other on the cheek occasionally. But they still teased each other the same way. Ryan was still happy-go-lucky Ryan (if not significantly happier as long as you don't count the day of her father and brother's memorial service-they never found her brother's body), Remus was still quiet and reserved Remus (if not in a significantly happier way as well).
The other Marauders had not hesitated to call them on any `cute' gestures. At the Halloween feast, they had even started throwing candy at the pair. Alice and Morgan were proud of the two of them. Lily thought they were just incredibly cute. They weren't anywhere near over doing it. There wasn't any awkwardness. There was just… Ryan and Remus. The way is should be.
Lily was wondering why it had taken the two of them so long to realize it and how happy she was that they finally had when James walked into the room. Sweaty, smelly, mud and grass stain covered, and in his Quidditch clothes.
Lily glanced at her watch. "You're five minutes late, James."
"Damn," he swore. "I ran all the way up here from the Pitch too."
"And you smell," Lily couldn't help but tease.
He pretended to scowl at her. "Can we meet in the kitchens? I'm starved, and dinner is almost over."
"You want me to eat with you when you smell like that?" she asked, looking horrified. He gave her a dry look, making her laugh as she stood up. "Only for you, James."
He flashed her a grin. "The house-elves save the best food for me, you know."
She laughed again, following him out of the classroom. As long as they met together, it was okay, wasn't it? McGonagall had never specified where. Just as long as they met. In the beginning, it was best to meet on neutral grounds like classrooms. Now, it didn't matter if they met in the library (Lily's territory) or the kitchens (James' territory). "What were you doing anyway? Dinner started two hours ago."
"Went straight from class to the Pitch."
"Why?"
"Had to work out." Lily gave him a dry look that was packed full of hidden meaning. "Actually, Ryan had to work out. I was just her slave driver slash encouragement slash babysitter. She gives me a run for my money, that one."
"How is she doing?" Lily asked. She knew James would be the first one that Ryan would tell if she wasn't feeling well.
"Oh, she's doing fine," James said dryly, shaking his head. "One minute I have to tell her to slow down before she hurts herself, the next I have to tell her to speed it up or I won't let her go inside to see Remus. It's ridiculous. Not that she isn't like that at all the practices. I think I need a new co-captain."
"What do you do to work out? Just have her catch the Snitch over and over? "
"Throw tennis balls for her to catch. Then golf balls. Then marbles, if she's feeling up to it. Just depends on how she's feeling. If she wants to, I'll let the Snitch out and we race to catch it."
Lily gave him an odd look. "Shouldn't she beat you every time?"
"Er… Yeah. It's more practice for me than it is for her, I s'pose. I have to be ready for it, just in case. We never know when she's going to need to skip a match, with her powers and things. So what's up for discussion today, Miss Evans?"
"The ball. We need to start planning that. It's supposed to be in little over a month, you know. Where are we?"
James grinned as he ducked around another tapestry. "First floor. You've never seen that passage before?"
"James, I didn't know where the kitchens were until last year." James pretended to look shocked, making her give him a dirty look. "Don't look at me like that. Not all of us spend our free time wandering around the castle."
He grinned again. "Not all of us have fun studying, Evans." He ducked as she reached out to cuff the back of his head. "So we just wander the castle for fun." He stopped in front of a painting of a bowl of fruit. He reached out a finger and tickled the pear. The pear giggled before turning into a handle. James pulled it open and smirked at the pair that sat in front of him. "Look, Lily. We've got company."
&-&-&-&-&-&
Ryan stopped at the door to the changing room, watching James sprint out of the Pitch. She laughed and shook her head, wondering how late he would end up being. But there was someone else coming in her direction. Someone that, no matter how many classes they had together every day, she would never get tired of seeing. Especially now.
She leaned against the doorframe, waiting. He was taking his time getting there. Maybe he was just waiting for her to come out instead of the other way around. She pushed herself off the wall, thinking she could just get a shower when she got inside, and walked out of the Pitch.
She really should have been expecting something, knowing him and the rest of Marauders as well as she did, but she still couldn't help a squeal when she found herself with her feet off the ground and wrapped in Remus' arms. "Remus!!"
He laughed and put her back down on the ground. "Hullo."
"Hullo to you too," she said, crossing her arms and pretending to look stern. "I've just been in the air for the past two hours. I don't need my boyfriend to lift me up off the ground as soon as I get off the broom."
He chuckled slightly before giving her a quick kiss on the lips. "Are you hungry?"
"Very," she answered. "Is dinner over?"
"Almost. Do you want to go down to the kitchens? I think Sirius has eaten all of the food at the Gryffindor table anyway."
"Wouldn't surprise me," she said easily, grabbing his hand. "I smell though. You might not want to eat with me."
"If you've been in our dorm lately, you would know that you smell just fine." He intertwined their fingers, ignoring how her wrist guards got in the way. "Well, maybe not fine, but better than our dorm at any rate." She attempted to playfully slap him, but he caught her arm easily. "To the kitchens then, love?"
"Yes, darling, that would be wonderful," she replied, grinning. "Did you know it's kind of difficult to walk normally when someone's holding onto both of your wrists?"
"I hadn't noticed," he answered easily, smiling. "I suppose that means you want me to let go of your arm then?"
"Please and thank you." He dropped her opposite wrist and received a peck on the cheek in return. "Oh, that reminds me. Could you ask Sirius to lay off on the teasing a little bit?"
"How does that remind you of Sirius's teasing?" Remus asked, amused.
"Because, every time I kiss you on the cheek, Sirius makes a big deal out of it. Well, Peter does too, but that really doesn't count." Remus gave her a look that said, `Be nice.' "James used to, but he's laid off. But could you ask Sirius to lay off a little? I would, but that would just make him tease us even more."
"Oh, he just does that because he's jealous."
"Of who? You?"
"No, you." Ryan snorted. Remus grinned. "Didn't we ever tell you? The Marauders became a homosexual group after you left."
"Ah. Now I understand where you picked up Peter. Although that doesn't explain James. What happened there?"
"Oh, he just decided he was too good for us. First he was skipping the meetings, and next thing we know, he's asking Lily to go to Hogsmeade with him."
"And you followed his lead and left too."
"But of course. The other side was too pretty to be left alone." He dropped a kiss on the top of her head.
She grinned. "Oh, you are so full of it. Didn't anyone ever tell you flattery will get you no where?"
"Eh, probably. I save it all for you though."
"Of course you do. That's what they tell you when they don't want you to know that they're flirting with other girls when you're not around. Or other guys, in this case."
He smiled slightly and a little wryly. "You're such a dear. However did I get such a girl like you?"
"Pure luck," she responded easily. "And patience, from what the guys have said."
"Ah, yes. A lot of that." The two of them wandered inside and headed towards the kitchens, holding hands all the while. When they stepped into the kitchens, they were instantly greeted by eager, squeaky voices.
"How may we help you today, sir and miss?" one particular house elf asked.
"Left-overs from dinner would be great, Tibby," Remus said kindly. "Thank you."
"Anything to help Master Remus and Miss Ryan," Tibby squeaked happily. "Are Masters Sirius and James and Peter coming too, sir?"
"We don't think so."
"Right over here, sir." The house elves led the two of them over to a table that sat directly under the Gryffindor table. Food was immediately piled in front of them. "Can Tibby help you with anything else, sir and miss?" the house elf squeaked.
"No thank you, Tibby," Ryan said. "This is more than enough." Tibby bowed and hurried off as she and the other house elves went back to cleaning up after dinner. Ryan started to peel off her wrist guards. "You know," she said cheerfully, "there really isn't such a thing as good Quidditch gear for girls."
Remus laughed slightly. "I'm sure you would know."
"I would. You can ask Aubrey. That's what I should do after I get out of school. Open my own line of girls' Quidditch gear. That would be-" Remus leaned over and kissed her to stop her rambling. Of course, that was when James and Lily decided to walk into the kitchen.
"Look, Lily. We've got company," James said, smirking slightly.
"Shove off, you great prat," Ryan said good-naturedly. "Just because we get to snog and you don't doesn't mean you have to be jealous."
"Nah, you two can snog all you want," James said, plopping down on the stool across the table from them. "I'm good."
"You didn't take a shower either, did you?" Lily asked Ryan, grinning as she sat down.
Ryan grinned back. "'Course not. Oh, James, you never told," she added, turning to him. "Remus told me that Sirius is gay. Why didn't you ever mention it?"
James, who was in the middle of taking a sip of pumpkin juice, choked and started coughing. "Ex-excuse me?" he sputtered.
"He said that the Marauders became a homosexual group after I left," Ryan said cheerfully, enjoying his reaction. "That's where you came up with Peter. You never mentioned it."
"Oh." James yanked off his wrist guards. "Well, that makes a little more sense then. I think. Maybe. No, on second thought, not really."
"Do I even want to know whether or not you're joking?" Lily asked, laughing.
"It clears things up," Ryan said, still grinning. "I wonder what the female population of Hogwarts would do if they found out the Marauders are gay. It would be very amusing. See, I could use that to get your ditzy admirers to go away, James, like you do for Sirius."
"I don't use that anymore," James said. "I can't exactly tell them that he kissed you while you're going out with his best mate. The Marauders are a lot of things, but we don't cheat on each other. I mean, we don't snog each other's girlfriends."
"Considering Remus is the only one with a girlfriend, it would be difficult for all of you to snog each other's girlfriends," Ryan teased. "You could pass around me, but that's about it."
James threw a grape at her. "You know what I mean. I can't use that to get them to go away anymore."
"I'm starting to think that even attempting to work on planning the Ball right now would be pointless," Lily declared.
"No, it wouldn't," James argued. "It would be… beneficial. Remus can add his input as a cert, and Rye can add her input as… another girl."
"How nice of you to notice, James," Ryan said dryly.
"Doesn't matter if he noticed or not," Remus said, wrapping an arm around her waist.
"Remus noticed," Lily added, smiling slightly.
&-&-&-&-&-&-&
Alright. That's it. I give up. Yes, you read that right.
I. Freaking. Give. Up.
You don't hear me say that very often. But this is just one of those times that there is nothing more that I can do. So I am throwing my hat in and throwing my hands up and declaring that I give up.
("Having troubles, Watson?" Sirius asks, snickering.) I want to punch him right about now. You hear me, Black? ("I hear you.") Good. Half of the problem is your bloody best mate, you know. Don't look at me like that! ("The other half of the problem is your best mate.")
Prat.
So. What do I give up about? Lily and James, that's what! They are so pathetically hopeless that I just want to strangle both of them. They think we don't catch those looks they send each other. They think we don't know what they're trying to hide from each other. They think we're bloody blind, is what they must think!
How stupid do they think we are? It's not exactly difficult to miss. When Lily is randomly looking around the room, nine times out of ten her eyes end up on James. When James needs someone to tell him how long this or that essay has to be, nine times out of ten he asks Lily. Whenever they have Head meetings, nine times out of ten they come out laughing and grinning at each other like no one will notice.
Why is it that the outsiders always understand things so much better than those going through it?
I mean, honestly. Who doesn't see it? If even the first years know that the Head Boy and Girl fancy each other, you know there is something wrong.
Not that Lily would ever admit to it. One of these days, James is going to snog some other girl, and it will smack her like a ton of bricks to the chest. Not that James would snog another girl, but that's what should happen. Or maybe Rye or I can just smack the side of her head once or twice and knock some sense into her.
Not that it would work. But it's a nice idea.
Why can't they just cooperate like Ryan and Remus did? Is that really so difficult? Just say it straight out. "I fancy you." Three words. ("I knew you'd fall for me sooner or later, Watson.") Arg. Shut up, Black. I wasn't talking to you. I was just proving how easy it is to say it. ("Talking to yourself is a sign of insanity, you know.") Then you must do it all the time.
You know, lately I've been spending far too much time with Sirius Black for my liking. The two of us are the main conspirators when it comes to setting up Lily and James, so of course we have to talk. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. That's another thing. If Lily and James would just get together, I wouldn't have to talk to Sirius as much. ("You know you love me.") Shut up, you prat. One of these days, I'm going to snap and just… stab you to death with a quill. In the eyes.
("Vicious, eh, Morgan?")
One of these days, Black, you are going to get shot. The Muggle way. Anyway… Shut your mouth, Black, I don't want to hear it! ("It was helpful.") I'm bloody well sure it was. I…
Oh. Really? ("Do I look like I would joke about that, Watson?") Yes. But not this time. Do you really think that would work? ("Yes. No. Maybe. I came up with it, didn't I?") That doesn't mean anything, Black. That means bloody squat. (He's shrugging, which means he either agrees with me or is just too lazy to be bothered to argue with me.) Hm. This just might be one of those rare good ideas though.
-Morgan
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