The Marauder's Tale [MOONY, WORMTAIL, PADFOOT, & PRONGS]

XLIX. The Dating Game

“Well?” Sirius asked. “Do you want to go?”

Remus nodded slowly. “All right, Padfoot, I’ll give this a try. Set it up.”

***

“How are things going with James?”

Lily smiled as she and Olivia made their way to Charms. “Fabulously. He’s wonderful, Liv. My only regret is that I didn’t see it sooner. I wasted so much time wanting nothing to do with him.”

Olivia smiled. “Don’t regret that. You two weren’t ready for each other until now.”

“I guess you’re right,” Lily mused. “I always thought that he needed to grow up, but I think that I needed to grow up just as much as he did.”

A sixth year bumped into Lily, knocking her books out of her hands. “Oh!”

The other girl turned around to see Lily bending down to pick up her books. “Watch where you’re going, bitch,” she spat.

Lily looked up at her with eyes rounded with shock. Olivia quickly dropped to her knees to help Lily pick up her things.

“What was that all about?” Lily asked, still stunned.

“Don’t worry about it,” Olivia said.

“No, I want to know! I don’t know that girl. Why did she just call me that?”

“It comes with the territory,” Olivia muttered.

“What do you mean?”

“Look, Lils, I get it, too. It’s what we get for dating Hogwarts’ two most popular guys.”

“You mean she called me that because of James?” Lily was utterly horrified.

“Yeah, that’s what I mean,” Olivia said bitterly.

“And people say things like that to you because of Sirius?”

“Yes.”

“Have you told him?”

“Are you kidding? He’d hex the entire school to get everyone to leave me alone. No, I’ve never told him and I never will. There are some things he just doesn’t need to know.”

Lily nodded. She wouldn’t tell James, either. She would deal with this on her own.

“Come on, Lils, we have to get to Charms.”

Still stunned, Lily followed Olivia to Professor Flitwick’s classroom. She felt numb. She looked around when they walked in. Peter and Kathleen were sitting together. They were talking quietly, holding hands. Lily couldn’t hear their conversation, but she could see the light in their eyes. They were completely happy together. She shook her head, forgetting her own problems for a moment. She would never have guessed that Peter and Kathleen would be so perfect for one another.

“Hey, beautiful,” James smiled as he and Sirius came into the classroom. “Shall we sit down?”

The episode in the hall came back to Lily in a rush. She nodded dumbly, and allowed James to lead her to a seat.

“Are you all right?” he asked with concern in his eyes.

Lily shook her head. “Not really.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Your attention please, ladies and gentlemen!”

Lily shook her head. “Don’t worry about it.”

The bell couldn’t ring fast enough for either Lily or James. As soon as they left the class, James dragged Lily to an empty classroom. He closed the door behind them, and turned to face her.