Rest in Pieces
Look at me; my depth perception must be off again,
Cause this hurts deeper than I thought it did.
It has not healed with time. - Saliva
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"Could you just stop doing that?" snapped James, aware of all the prefects staring at him quizzically. Everyone but her looked at him. She was too busy mumbling insults under her breath, trying to organise her things into a neat pile and get them inside her bag. Meanwhile, James kept talking to her. Actually, shouting would probably be a better way of describing it.
They had just finished another prefect's meetings, the forth one in the month, and Lily had been ignoring James completely. When she did not do this, she would just contradict him in front of the prefects. She had to say for herself that the prefects had thought of James as a waste of space in the first place, but he just felt incredibly humiliated.
Remus Lupin, a prefect and James' friend, tried to take away the tension present in every meeting, but it was near to impossible. In this moment he was gliding his hand through his hair in frustration. He had tried to drive the students away from the confrontation, but they just would not budge, even if it were not the first time that they had heard the Heads battle. Remus noticed that teenagers had a tendency to meddle in people's business. He rolled his eyes at this thought and gave a significant look to James, asking for forgiveness. James responded with a small smile and turned his head back to face Lily.
"Well? You are just going to start to ignore me, after embarrassing me again in front of the whole school?" James tried for the millionth time. Lily snorted at this. "What's your problem now, Miss. Know It All? You do realize you are being a coward, not facing me, right?"
At this, Lily finally changed her position to face him. She breathed deeply, looked at him with no emotion present on the surface, even though she was tired of these conversations:
"Potter, don't you dare call me coward when you bugged me about liking you just so you didn't have to deal with it seriously. I think I've made it clear that I want to talk to you as least as possible. You must also know that it is definitely not my fault if I have to correct you in every word you say. You humiliate yourself alone. You don't need me for that." Lily attempted to convince him, not succeeding in any way. Saying this she escaped the room just in time so that her emotions wouldn't slip through her thin façade. She hated doing that: ignoring him and acting as if she didn't care. But caring just hurt too much.
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Bethany was studying in the library, wishing to be out in the sun with her friends. It was just too bad that she had the biggest conscience and couldn't help read over her textbook for the hundredth time for the test they had the following day in Ancient Runes. Her friends were used to this demeanour. She knew they loved her, even if she was kind of a geek. But she was surprisingly quite proud of it.
All her friends achieved excellent grades, but she was the best in every class, and she needed to work twice as hard as the rest to maintain this status. Many people laughed at her, but she had developed an antidote for all this hating: she just zoomed out of the world. She didn't even realize she did so.
It was getting extremely hot in the library, as Miss. Howells had obviously made her warming charm too powerful. Bethany perceived many of the old woman's small details, as she did of most people. She didn't like being out of her robes at school, but it was Sunday after all. She inspected the whole library with her eyes to make sure no one was watching, and took them off, revealing a pair of shorts and a white, plain t-shirt. After this, she was comfortable enough to keep on studying.
Time passed incredibly fast and it was already starting to get dark when she heard someone whistling behind her. She took her gaze of the book and turned her head to meet the eyes of Sirius Black, who stared back, startled. He opened and closed his mouth, which reminded Bethany of a fish. She frowned and looked at her watch. It was already past curfew. She gasped shocked. Bethany started collecting her books quickly, afraid of being caught so late at night. However, she stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Meadows! What a nice surprise!" he said with faked enthusiasm. "I never imagined you out at such late hours." He looked her up and Bethany flushed, wishing she had her robes on again. He couldn't help but notice what the robes hid. He was surprised to see that she actually had curves. Instantly, he decided to make Bethany his next pray.
"Good night, Black." She said, showing she was well mannered enough as to not kick his ass into the next decade. "I didn't realize it was so late. I'll be going now." She walked past him and didn't even turn back once. She hadn't realized Sirius' plans. After all, she was quite innocent, or so people thought.
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The next night, Lily and James were fulfilling their rounds. Lily was surprised by the quietness of his secret crush. He had been silent for the past half an hour. Normally, he would make witty comments about the people they found in closets and classrooms, making Lily daydream about them together. She knew it was incredibly wrong, and that she had to forget him. She reasoned with herself that after this last year, they probably wouldn't see each other very often, or at all. She missed him every summer, only being apart from him scarcely more than two months. She was aware that, after graduation, she would suffer terribly if her feelings didn't subside.
She finally gathered up the courage to ask him what was going through his head. When James heard her, he smiled, surprised by the girl's genuine concern. He really believed she hated him, and was incredibly sorry. Especially since he was starting to get to know her and his perception of her had altered completely. However, this didn't mean in any way that he thought she was aloud to intrude in his privacy, and he made her know quite civilized:
"Evans, it's a really long story, and it would probably bore you to death."
"Well," she insisted. "I know from previous experiences that to open up with a stranger," he looked at her frowning and she added:" To put it some way, is always better, as you get an objective opinion."
"Okay, I'll tell you." he said without resistance. Maybe, he thought, this way she would stop ignoring him. "But just because I know you won't give up until I tell you" he continued, now grinning. Lily pouted slightly at this comment, but let it pass, as now she was extremely curious.
"Okay, you know how Sirius and I are best friends?" he asked, and Lily nodded, not wanting to interrupt. "Well, we've always had the same philosophy in dating: basically to leave them when you get bored, which usually happens around the second month of the relationship. Also, when not dating, we would have one-night stands and be okay with it." At this, Lily looked stern. Even though she already knew this, hearing it first hand, made it much more real.
"Remus prefers dating seriously and Peter…Well, he doesn't date much. But, the problem is that I've changed. I don't want to date knowing it will end pretty soon. I suppose because of certain incidents at the end of last year, including your talk, "Lily grimaced. "I don't want that anymore. But Sirius just says I've betrayed him. In reality, I think he just is a bit lost. We used to think alike, and he doesn't like changes." When Jams finished, he looked at Lily expectantly. She stayed quiet for a few seconds, absorbing all the information and trying to find a disinterested tone to match her opinion:
"Well, personally, I just think you've matured and realized there is more in life. Sirius is yet to give this step. But he will. He must. Meanwhile, you just have to be patient, I think." She concluded.
James stared at her, and she started feeling the heat go up her neck and settle in her cheeks.
"What?" she asked. It took a minute or two for James to answer, as he was still dazed by her intelligent conclusion.
"Nothing. I just wasn't expecting your theory to help me at all. I'm just marvelled, that's all." She opened her mouth in mock hurt, and slapped him on the arm. James raised his eyebrows at this movement, and they both started laughing together, for the first time in seven years.
Who would have told Lily that to get James' attention she just had to ignore him? Boys were definitely too simple.
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Lunch break was about to end, and the marauders were talking animatedly by the lake, in their favourite spot.
"Well, guess what"" Sirius asked excitedly.
"You've found a new girl to get?" Remus said, knowingly.
"Remus!" Sirius whined. "You're no fun! Now I'm so not telling you who she is." Sirius pouted.
"Well, you did tell us to guess." Peter reasoned.
"But normal people, when asked this question, would just ask what." Sirius insisted. "Of course, normal people don't turn into wolves every new moon. I think." He said, more to himself than to his friends, who just laughed at his silly comeback.
"Okay Padfoot, I will bite: who is she?" James tried to make Sirius happy.
"I'm not telling you now!" Sirius said childishly.
"Hey! That's not fair" James was now curious, as much as he'd hate to admit it. " You said you wouldn't tell Moony!"
"Okay, okay." Sirius approached James slowly, trying to look mysterious. James just looked at him quizzically and impatiently, not knowing what his friend was up to now. Finally, Sirius got to James's ear and put his mouth close to it. James leaped.
"What are you doing!?"
"Hey! I was going to tell you in the ear so Remus wouldn't hear" Sirius clarified. " As much as you love yourself, not everybody does, Prongs. Sorry pal, but I prefer long legs and breasts."
James grinned goofily at this.
"Okay," Sirius persisted. " I'll tell all of you. Moony, you should feel thankful."
"Sure, sure, just spill." Even Remus was starting to get anxious.
"You know Bethany Meadows?" They all nodded. "Well, Bethany Meadows."
"No. Way." Remus said instantly.
"Wow man, this is going to be one long chase. " James pointed out.
"Why do you care Moony? "Sirius asked, ignoring James completely, and pissing him slightly off.
"She is not like the rest Padfoot. You will end up hurting her, and she doesn't deserve it. But I know you won't listen to me, so just be careful."
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Here's the third chapter. Just thought of adding something more than just J/L for a change. Please R&R, for my sake. Thanks!
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