fatal love

chapter 94

"Is it just me," Sirius asked his fellow Gryffindors over dinner, "or are the Slytherins even worse this year?"

"It's just you," Lily replied dryly.

"But Rosier and Wilkes were right twats today! Did you hear when they called me a blood-traitor in front of everyone? They've always been shits, but they've never acted like that before."

"Not to you, maybe."

"What are you talking about?"

"What she means, Pads," Remus said gently, "is that now you're not the Black Heir, they aren't giving you the special treatment you used to get."

Sirius frowned. "You mean they always treat you lot like that?"

"Well," Lily sighed, "you're still a pureblood. You don't have to worry about walking alone in corridors, at least."

Mary grimaced, looking down, and James squeezed Lily's shoulder briefly. She didn't push him away, and Sirius wondered when their relationship had changed, that James was now allowed to touch her so casually, yet so meaningfully.

"Do you get it a lot too, Moony?" he asked.

"Not too bad," Remus shrugged, "I don't really care what any of them have to say about me, or my blood-status. And it's not like they're going around cursing me, so I mostly just ignore it."

Sirius pressed his foot against Remus' under the table, and Remus gave him a small smile, pressing back for a second before shifting away.

"This year is just shit," Peter lamented, "the werewolf attacks, Death Eaters running around and killing people every week, and all the Slytherins are going round smirking - it's vile."

"We can't let all the bad news get us down," James said. "We should have a morale boost - a party! Evans, you'd like a party, right?"

Lily snorted. "As long as I don't have to end up taking care of everyone here because no one can handle their liquor. And I'm not cleaning up afterwards either."

"Wicked," James grinned, "and it's your birthday next week, Pads! And Halloween on Sunday! We'll throw it on Saturday, and celebrate both occasions in one."

"Sounds great," Sirius said, "we can invite those Hufflepuffs that always have weed too, and stop by and see Aberforth, get some booze beforehand, and go visit Nispy, ask the House Elves to make some food for us."

"Wanna sneak into Hogsmeade on Friday then, after lessons? And then go to the kitchens Saturday morning after training, then back to collect whatever they make after dinner? Tell people to come at like nine, everything will be ready by then."

Remus rolled his eyes. "How come you two are so disorganised in every other aspect of your life, but you need to throw a party and suddenly you both become the perfect planners?"

"It's all about priorities, Moony," James said, smiling proudly.

By Saturday night, James and Sirius had successfully completed all of their jobs, and the party was in full swing. Sirius was nursing his bottle of firewhiskey, enjoying the record that was playing - he thought it was that new band Remus had told him about, Ramones - when Lily walked over to him.

"Alright?" he asked.

"Eh," she shrugged. "I wanted to talk to you."

"What've I done now?"

"Nothing," she smiled, "but I wanted to talk about Remus."

Sirius stiffened. "Oh?"

"He's been avoiding me, ever since he found out I knew about... well, you know."