Chapter III: "in cahoots?"
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Sirius appeared behind James and a disgruntled look quickly took the place of the smile he had been sporting before laying eyes upon her. His address towards her was short and curt, merely a simple, "oh, it's you."
"Yeah, it's me. Now could you please tell me where Carter is?" she asked him, her voice void of any emotion, but trying to hide her heartbreak over the scene.
"He's in the shower. He should be done soon. He asked me to tell you to wait for him in here if you showed up," a boy with sandy hair yelled in response from his bed where he was stiidying.
Lily pushed past the two boys which were blocking the entrance and gave her thanks to the boy who had relayed the message to her.
"So Lillian, how is the family?" Sirius asked her, stressing her name, as he seated himself on a bed that she could only assume was his own.
"Great," she told him with false cheer. "You know, I heard some interesting stories about you during the summer," she told him with a glare as she remembered the gruesome tales regarding Sirius that she had been told while her parents repeatedly expressed their disappointment in her and her life's choices during the summer.
Sirius' face darkened as realization dawned upon him. He lowered his voice and looked at her with such detest and hatred, "You wouldn't dare." It was said with such a cruel, vile tone that he almost scared her reaction.
Almost.
"You seem to believe that I am capable of doing cruel things. In fact, if I remember correctly, you believe that I am more `devious' then the rest of the family… so enlighten me, according to your philosophy regarding my character, what would I do?" she asked him, daring him even though she knew that she wouldn't ever say anything to anyone about what had gone on that summer years go, it was too horrible and it obviously still haunted him to this day.
She couldn't do it, even if he was a total wanker and deserved it.
He glared at her and everyone in the room sat in an uncomfortable silence until she suddenly blurted out, "it always bothered me."
Her change in demeanor occurred so rapidly that Sirius was shocked, for a second anyway. "What?" he asked her in a sardonic tone.
"The fact that you claim I am this seemingly vile person, but you never even really talked to me. You always rebuffed whatever attempts I made towards friendship, you constantly rejected me. So of course I have to ask who your sources are," she asked him even though she was well aware of who they must be.
"I don't see why you would need to know. It doesn't even concern you."
"You may want to be more careful about that Sirius. After all, you seem to have copious amounts of information, but you won't even reveal your sources. Hell, some might assume that you are actually the one that's in cahoots with the family."
"In cahoots?" asked a mocking voice from behind her. "Lily, my dear, please tell me that you did not just say that. Of all terms, I beg of you! It might as well be sacrilege to use that word I tell you!" Carter exclaimed, bending down on both knees before her, in an overdramatic pleading manner. A smile took over the dangerous glare that she had just been sporting (in one Sirius Black's direction) as she looked at her best friend's playful antics.
"Get off the ground you bloody idiot," the sandy haired boy told Carter as he slapped him upside the head with a grin of his own. Then he turned to Sirius, "so, Sirius, care to explain what all the fuss is about?"
"Oh yeah, you and James didn't come to dinner. Well that's Lily. My cousin Lily."
She noticed how he put emphasis on the word "cousin" and saw how comprehension dawned upon the boy's face. However, she was still confused as to how he would know who she was if they had never even met prior to that evening.
Why would I even enter one of their conversations to begin with?
Did that have anything to do with why James had left her? After all, judging from that nickname Sirius had called James they were obviously close.
The boy stuck out his hand and introduced himself to Lily, "well I'm Remus Lupin. And that rude bum," he pointed to James as he said that, "is James Potter. We're mates of Sirius'."
She smiled at him, shaking his hand, "nice to meet you."
"Remus, you may want to reconsider befriending her. She'll just betray you in the end," Sirius advised his friend with a sneer directed towards Lily.
"Shut up black," Carter snapped at the boy whom he had considered a friend at one point. "Don't you dare say anything to or about Lily. You don't even know her; you've only said about ten words to her before she arrived at this school."
"Carter," Lily interrupted him, trying to get his attention. "Carter, it's not worth it. Just let it go."
Carter looked at her; the confusion was evident upon his face. He wanted to protect her, he needed to. He was all that she had, and he was well aware of the fact, which was why he felt so compelled to stand up for her. However, he also wanted to make her happy.
"Fine, just don't ever let me see you treat her that way again or she won't be able to stop me next time," Carter warned Sirius with one final glare.
"Come on Carter, let's go," she told him as she tugged on his arm, hoping to deviate from the conversation and be able to talk about what she had intended in the first place.
"Fine," he muttered as he let her lead him out of the room.
--
Once outside of the Gryffindor common room he turned to her and asked, "So why did you need me?"
"My father wants me to meet him at nine o'clock outside the shrieking shack," she told him.
His alarmed reaction was exactly what she had expected, "I need you to show me-"
"No- Lily, no! You can't Lils, you know why-" he exclaimed, trying to show her how ludicrous the idea was.
"I need to Carter. I want to. I can't be scared of him, I have to finally stand up for myself."
"But-"
"If you don't show me how to get there I will just find someone else who will," she told him stubbornly, her infamous red headed temper making way.
"Fine, but I am going to be at a nearby pub, and if you don't show up after half an hour, I'm going to come out to look for you to check if everything is okay."
She smiled at his protective nature, truly finding it endearing. She relished the fact that she had someone who cared so much for her regardless of her familial status.
She hugged him and whispered in his ear, "I love you. You know that?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he told her in an annoyed tone, but she could tell that he was thankful for her words, that the reassurance of the fact was readily accepted.
"Come on," he told her as he grabbed her hand and led her through various passages.
--
Hogsmeade:
"I have five more minutes until I have to meet up with him," she told Carter as she checked the time on her watch.
He took her into his arms, pulling her into a tight embrace, "I don't want to lose you Lils."
"I'll be careful. I promise."
"It's not about that, and you know it as well as I do. Why are you putting yourself through this?" he asked her, clearly aggravated by her stubbornness. "He can hurt you Lils, and you know it. He wouldn't think twice about it, he's done it before and he will do it again. Why do you do this? Why do you go back?"
"I want to prove it to them, once and for all. I want to show them that no matter what they may tell the rest of the family regarding me. I am not one of them. I never will be."
"Lils-"
"I know that you're scared… and I would be too if it were you that was in this situation. However, I need to do this for myself… If I don't, I'll regret it for the rest of my life."
He looked at her, trying to come up with a compelling argument before he finally conceded, "promise me that this is the last time."
She wanted to tell him that it was. She wanted to put his mind at ease. She wanted to give him that security, but she had never been able to lie to him throughout their entire friendship.
"I don't know."
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Author's note: thank you so much all of you who reviewed, it meant so much to me to receive some feedback. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and I will try to update again soon!
p.s. as for the poll that I took lat time it appears as though I will be updating this fic two or three times a week until I finish it, and then I will start posting my next one rather then both being updated once a week each.
p.p.s. if there is anything that you would really like to see, or any questions (or any comments regarding anything about my fic, good or bad) feel free to relay them to me, I'd be more than glad to do my best to appease them (plus it'll help me with making this fic even better, I'm biased, can't critique it as well)
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