Chapter IV: Want·ed
Song: Personal by
Stars
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Wanted:
Single f, under 33, must enjoy the sun, must enjoy the sea
Sought by single m: Mrs. Destiny, send photo to address, is it you and me?
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"You can't possibly be serious?!" Remus groaned as he and Lily sat at the Green Leprechaun, enjoying lunch.
She winced, pouting. "I know, it was stupid of me, but I mean-well I did agree to give beings mates a go a week ago and then, when he called this morning… he used a phone, Remus, a muggle phone to call me and ask me to dinner, I couldn't not say no when he did that!" she argued.
He sighed tiredly, shaking his head as he threw it into the palms of his hands.
"Oh don't be so dramatic, you prat," she angrily slapped his arm.
"I'm not being dramatic," he told her, raising his head to look her in the eyes, his tired and scrutinizing gaze making her shift in her seat in discomfort. He sighed before beginning again. "I'm just trying to understand how you could be so stupid, Lily. Don't you remember what happened the last time? Don't you remember how he broke your heart?"
"Of course I remember, Remus, you think it didn't hurt to have him do that to me?-To just leave me so he could 'sow his oats'? I hated him for it, but I'm tired, I don't want to hate him anymore, I just want to move on."
"By having lunch with him," was Remus's deadpanned response.
"I know it's probably not the best M.O.-"
His scoff, however, stopped her mid-sentence. "By 'not the best' I hope you mean worst ever!"
"Thank you," she sarcastically snapped at him with a faux smile sent his way. "But the point is that I'm finally moving on, I'm getting past it all."
"And what if he wants you back, then what ?"
She shrugged. "He doesn't."
He raised a surprised eyebrow. "And how can you be so sure, Lily?"
"Well if he does I won't let it happen, I have Amos, and I won't leave him for James," she assured him.
"Oh God, Lily," he moaned. "I don't like this, I really don't like this, I hope you realize that."
"But he's your best mate!"
"And so are you, I just don't want to see you hurt, love," he told her with a small smile, extending his hand across the table of the booth and placing it over hers, massaging it lightly with his thumb.
"Thank you," she quietly told him, smiling across at him shyly. "And you're one of mine too, but-I don't know why, but I feel as if I have to do this, prove to myself I'm over him, I guess."
"I just hope you realize that if you have to prove it to yourself, you're probably not… and are probably setting yourself up for disaster."
She paused. "Well then let's hope that's not the case, yeah?"
--
Reply to single m:
My name is Caroline cell phone number here, call if you have the time
28 and bored, grieving over loss, sorry to be heavy but heavy is the cost, heavy is the cost
--
He couldn't help but watch in amusement as she sat there, idly drawing some absurd and utterly incomprehensible pattern with her fingers into the tablecloth. He smirked as he watched her pout slightly before letting out a sigh, propping her head up against her hand, finally raising her gaze to meet his.
"Am I really so dull that you have to huff about it?" he asked her, his eyes dancing with a trace of beguilement mixed in with entertainment over the sight.
She had the decency to blush in response. "No... It's not that, it-well, it's odd, don't you think?"
"What?"
"You... me... Together, again. I mean, it didn't end terribly well last time."
"I remember. I even have a small scar to prove for it," he smirked.
Her cheeks tinted more, a feat that he hadn't even thought possible. "Sorry about that."
"No," he waved her off, "don't worry, I deserved it. And I was a prat... Even if it did hurt when you threw that blasted encyclopedia at me."
She winced. "It wasn't my biggest volume, at least."
He laughed. "Somehow that just doesn't alleviate the sting to my ego, all that much."
"Eh, whatever. Your ego's large enough as it is anyway," she quipped, winking at him teasingly.
"Now, that--that's a true testament to just how sorry you are over having thrown the bloody thing at me."
"You know... this- this isn't all that bad, actually. I was expecting it to be a lot worse," she admitted, bringing her glass up to her lips and taking a large sip of her screwdriver.
"Thanks," he guffawed, but pleased nonetheless-not that he'd ever admit to that fact unless force fed veritaserum. He did have his pride to account for, after all.
"No, really. I expected the evening to be either: a. filled with tons of awkward pauses and tension-"
"Well, I think we did just have that a moment ago, actually," he noted, sending her a sympathetic look.
"But we got past that," she retorted, correcting him in a manner that made him reminisce over all the evenings spent bantering with one another. Arguing over pointless shite only to enjoy a nice and raunchy bout of make-up sex, the only reason that they even really made such strides in riling the other up. They really did enjoy that process far more than necessary given how sadistic it could be considered, now that he thought about it.
"Plus," she continued, pulling him out of his reverie. "I was more scared of the fact that we might end the evening with my hexing you," she admitted, not the least bit abashed by the volatile confession.
He smiled at her, warmly. "I've missed this, you know."
"What?" she asked, eyebrows drawn as she tilted her head to the side, the picture of perplexity.
He shrugged. "Being with you, I missed it."
Stonily. "Well it's your fault you were put in the position where you had to miss it."
He cringed, wincing. "Come on, Lils-"
"Oh don't try to pull that line with me, James, I won't have it," she stopped him. "Just because we're giving this, whatever the bloody hell it is, a go, doesn't mean that I'm about to just forget all of the shite that's gone on in the past. How you left me. You're forgiven, but it's hardly forgotten. So don't expect me to just let it go, and if you can't handle that, then leave."
He groaned, pinching his nose. "Can't you cut me some slack?" he asked her, pathetically.
Her only response, however, was a cocked eyebrow and a look that said it all, it begged no words and at that moment he couldn't help but be grateful that there were none accompanying it. It really was a frightfully scary glare, that one.
"Fine, I'll admit, my way of ending things was less than tactful-"
She snorted.
He rolled his eyes, choosing to be the bigger man by ignoring it. Plus even he could admit that he'd really be pushing his luck by even uttering the slightest bit of protest. "But," he continued, "I did love you, I really did."
"Well you had a crappy way of showing it," she muttered morosely, forcefully stabbing her red snapper with her fork.
He nodded. "And I am sorry for that," he told her, earnestly.
She swallowed the morsel in her mouth. "I know, but..." she let out a deep breath, letting her cheeks puff up with air a bit before releasing the sigh. "Well come on, James, you dumped me so you could sleep around, you bruised my ego quite a bit with that one."
He stiffened, not having expected her to be so blunt about it, despite the fact that it was Lily and she was nothing if not brutally honest. "I made a mistake."
"Yeah... well, I'll admit it may have been for the best in the end... Why stay in a dead end relationship, right?"
"Ouch," he mumbled, gruffly spearing his steak with a well-placed glare at the meat.
She laughed lightly, shrugging her shoulders as she took a last bite of her fish, chewing the food while sending him a smug smile. "Seriously, though," she told him, swallowing her food. "We had our time and it was fun, but that chapter's over... How about we leave the past in the past and move forth, as friends?"
He winced. Well that's not exactly how I was hoping for my plan to go.
--
Reply to Caroline:
Thanks so much for response, these things can be scary
Not always what you want
How about a drink? The St.Jude club at noon?
I"ll phone you first I guess
I hope I see you soon!
--
"So you're mates with her now?" Sirius asked, cocking an eyebrow at him over his abnormally large mug of ale.
James shrugged. "Not exactly what I was hoping for, but yeah, we're mates, I guess."
Sirius's eyebrows shot up. "Hmm..." he nodded numbly.
"What?"
"Well, it's just that you two have never really been friends."
"So?"
"Eh," Sirius motioned aimlessly, tilting his head from one side to the other in a rather pathetic and pointless display of something. What, James couldn't quite make out.
"Yes?"
"Well, I mean, you two have always had a pretty explosive relationship. One minute she hates you, the next you two are mauling each other, and the next you dump her like yesterday's trash. That's the saying, right? Lily always says it, but I'm terrible with those blasted muggle phrases of hers, no matter how much she forces them on me-" Sirius rambled, going of on a tangent.
James stopped him with a nod. "That's how it goes… And why the bloody hell shouldn't this work out? We're adults. It's been two years."
Sirius sent him a look, gritting his teeth before finally answering. "Because you want to get into her pants, and I won't let you."
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Note to single m:
Why did you not show up?
I waited for an hour and finally gave up
I thought once that I saw you, I thought that you saw me
I guess we'll never meet now
It wasn't meant to be
I was sure that you saw me, but it wasn't meant to be
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author's note: eh, so this chapter took ages to write out... I swear to god if my writer's block is returning to me, especially so soon, I think I may very well cry out of a violent bout of frustration, lol. Anyway, please review.
And a special thank you to my two betas gitgit and LunaBella 006!
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