// SONG: Somebody to Love, Queen \\
-//-
Andrea wasn't the only one battling with her thoughts that day. As their classes ended and the sun went down over the Scottish Highlands, Andrea spotted her friends gathered in the Gryffindor Common Room.
Well, half her friends. The other half was missing.
She walked over and Peter and James' conversation came to a complete stop. She raised her brow at them but didn't comment any further.
"What's up with you two, then?" she asked them, sitting on the armrest of Peter's comfy chair.
The boys shared a look before James cleared his throat. "Yeah, uhm... we were just talking about Lily and what I should do to get her to go out with me," he said, not meeting her eye.
Peter glared into the side of James' head. That was definitely not what they had been talking about. "Pussy," Peter muttered under his breath. But luckily for James, Andrea didn't catch it.
The only thing Andrea could hear is a buzzing in her ears.
She should take Dorcas up on that offer from last year and become a lesbian-in-training. Because she absolutely did not understand guys.
She had been caught in her emotions over James ever since he kissed her that June. And then she tried to distract herself by starting a fling with Marshall. Only Marshall wasn't interested in her, but one of her close friends. Yet here they are back where they started, James asking his friends about Lily.
Of course, he's still caught up on Lily, Andrea thought to herself. He had said so as soon as he kissed her that he regretted it and wanted to take it back.
I'm saving myself for Lily, he had told all of them last Christmas. He just got his feelings mixed up with Andrea between friendship and attraction. That's all. Nothing more.
A teacup and its saucer explode behind James on the windowsill, the glass pulverizing immediately and scolding hot tea pouring down from the sill.
Andrea's eyes went wide in shock as many other people in the Common Room go over to see what happened to it. And Andrea had a dangerous thought.
Did I do that?
Maybe with her emotions so strong, she had accidentally used some magic, losing control of what she thought was a special talent.
She didn't like that one bit.
And she was not going to lose control over herself and her magic just because of a guy. Even if it was James.
So, rolling her shoulders back, Andrea put on the fakest smile she could muster and forced James to look up at her.
"You know, even though Lily Evans is very cool and very pretty, she's still just a regular human being. When was the last time you asked her out?"
James got a sinking feeling as Andrea so easily talked to him about another potential girl in his life. He had been fooling himself.
He shrugged in response, not being able to remember the last time he had asked Lily out. "I dunno," he mumbled, not feeling in the spirit of keeping this conversation going any longer.
"And the last time you talked to her she didn't spit in your face, so, progress. Just talk to her, about normal stuff, and if she seems into it, ask her out."
Before either of the boys could respond, Andrea's survival instincts kicked in and she headed for her dorm.
Normally at first but as soon as she was out of view from the Common Room, she sprinted up the steps.
"STUPID!" she yelled to herself as she reached the hallway to the dorms. "Stupid, stupid, stupid."
She opened her door, ready to collapse onto her bed and sulk over her miserable but state, but her bed was already occupied.
"What are you doing here?" she questioned Sirius, kicking off her shoes and joining him on her bed. "Why are you grumpy?" he countered.
"I have feelings for my best friend, and I just sent him out with advice on how to impress the girl he's in love with. How's your day going?" she threw back at him without missing a beat.
Sirius chose not to argue with Andrea's problem, instead leaving it for the two of them to work out on their own. He stared up at the canopy, his face completely blank.
"Remus walked in on me masturbating and now he won't look at me."
Andrea was in the middle of fluffing her pillow but quickly froze, staring at Sirius in shock. "... OK, you win. Your day was worse."
Sirius turned on his side, casting her a sarcastic smile. "Thank you, I feel so much better now."
As Andrea and Sirius both replayed their horrendous days to each other, Peter had had enough.
So just as Marlene and Dorcas came in through the Portrait Hole to the Common Room, they witnessed the quietest, gentlest Marauder, stand up and punch an unsuspecting James right in the gut.
"Damn," Dorcas whistled, heading straight for the drama.
"Mate, what the bloody hell was that about?!" James yelled out, doubling over and clutching his stomach.
Marlene pulled a face, scrunching her nose. "Nah, too much testosterone down here. Where's Andie?"
Peter pointed at the stairs while still glaring at James, sending the girls up to Andrea's dorm.
As they were left alone again James met Peter's eye with a hard look of his own.
"What gives?" Peter scoffed, folding his arms and suddenly seeming a lot more intimidating to James. "You tell me, mate. What the hell was that? We were not talking about Lily, and you had no right to lie to her like that. Hell, we haven't talked about Lily in a long-ass time. Wonder why?" Peter almost mocked him.
"Don't start," James grumbled, taking his seat again and burying his face in his hands.
"Yes again," Peter snapped back. "What was that? What, were you testing her?" James moved his hands and refused to meet Peter's eye. Taking that as a yes Peter let out a heavy breath.
"That's not fair. She's your friend and-a" "And she just told me to go out there and go ask some other girl out. Like it didn't affect her whatsoever. Like she could care less about who I was going out with."
Peter took a deep breath to calm himself so he could explain rationally instead of snapping at him.
"Not some girl. Lily. Lily Evans who you've been pining over for five years and profess your love to on a weekly basis."
"I don't love Lily," James argued. "I don't even know her."
Peter raised both his eyebrows at him because he couldn't lift just one like Andrea and Sirius, but he got his message through with his look as well. Well, duh.
"And who was the first person to teach you that?"
James glared daggers at Peter.
"I'm going for a walk. Maybe Peeves will trip me down the stairs and I can stay in a coma for the rest of the year," he grumbled as he left Peter behind.
"We can only hope!" Peter called after him, resulting in James flipping the bird over his shoulder at him.
As James wandered the halls he came to a stop by the entrance to the library, spotting a familiar redhead inside.
Andrea couldn't care less who James was dating, so maybe it was time for him to give up on that and start thinking of other people again. Mainly, Lily Evans.
As he had told Sirius before, it was much easier to waste his energy flirting aimlessly with a person who was never going to give in to him, than put himself out there and risk getting hurt when Andrea ultimately rejected him.
Dinner was growing near, so he had time for a quick chat with Lily before he needed to head to the Great Hall.
Reaching her table, James tapped his knuckles to the desk, trying to disturb her as gently as possible.
Lily still jumped a bit in her seat, apparently the rest of the world disappearing as she did her homework.
"And how are we this fine evening, Miss Evans?" James asked flirtatiously, taking the seat across from her.
James had seen many expressions take over Lily's face over the years he had obnoxiously flirted with her, but this was a new one. Confusion.
"Fine?" she asked more than answered, closing her book and giving her full attention to James.
He didn't know what to do. He had nothing more to say and he wasn't going to start with mindless chit-chat. He hated that.
Lily folded her hands on top of her book and studied James. "Why are you here, James?" she asked, genuinely interested.
"I don't know," James sighed, throwing his hands up in defeat. "I was told to talk to you like a normal human being, and if the conversation was going alright, then I should ask you out."
Lily's eyebrows shot up in surprise at James' confession. Since he was telling her all of this, he probably wasn't planning on asking her out again any time soon. She just wanted to help him realize why.
"Ask me out again."
James froze, staring at Lily as if she had sprouted a second head. "Why?" "Just do it!" she said impatiently, tapping her fingers on top of her book.
Feeling he had nothing left to lose, James straightened in his seat and met Lily's piercing green eyes head-on. "Lily, will you go out with me?"
"No," she smiled. James pulled back in his chair, ready to chew his arm off in frustration. "Then why'd you tell me to ask you?!"
"Ask me why I won't," she went on. "No thanks, I'm not sure I want the abuse."
"Stop being such a baby, Potter.," she huffed, knocking his hand with hers as her smile stayed on permanently. "Urgh, fine. Why won't you go out with me?"
"Because you don't want me to." James paused, rolling the words over in his mind before quickly shaking his head. "No, sorry. You lost me. I'm the one who's been obsessed with you for years, remember?"
Lily rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Mindless flirting when you're bored or scared of bigger feelings doesn't count as obsessed. Now James, listen very carefully." Lily leaned over on the table, studying his face purposefully.
Against his better judgement, James wanted to know what she was going to say. He leaned onto his elbows on the table, waiting on the edge of his seat for what was to come.
"Why don't you want to ask me out?"
"Because I'm in love with Andrea."
Quick. Immediate response. No hesitation.
In sync, James and Lily both pulled back, both just as surprised at what he had said.
"You're in love with her?" Lily asked quietly, a smile starting to grow on her face.
Still in shock, James nodded slowly. "Yes." "Since when?" Lily asked, crossing her arms and looking smug. James thought about it.
He couldn't remember a time where he didn't love Andrea. But he had just always assumed that was a different kind of love. That he loved her but wasn't in love with her.
They loved each other like family, they had always said so. But he didn't think of her as a sister. Or a cousin or an aunt. He just always felt like she was just as important in his life as his family, which was why they said they were family.
He didn't love her like he loved Sirius, Peter or Remus and he didn't love her like he loved Quidditch. He just loved her in the way he could only love her. Not equivalent to anything else and not possible to change.
He was in love with his best friend.
"Since forever," he finally spoke after almost a minute of silence as he had his epiphany. He looked at Lily's smug face and narrowed his eyes at her.
"And how long have you known?"
She shrugged one shoulder, playing with her fingernails. "Since basically ever. Why do you think I've been saying no for the past three years? You haven't even flirted or asked me out since this school year started and we both know why."
"But I can't be in love with her! She's my friend. I can't ruin that. This will pass." James had been battling with this in his head for ages, but now it was finally coming out.
He didn't want to lose her as a friend, so he had already made his mind up about fifty times to forget about it and just keep being friends.
But then he saw her or heard her laugh or caught her eye and he changed his mind again.
Lily laughed. "This is a love story that has been twelve years in the making. Do you really think that's just going to pass? You don't have to do anything about it yet. Maybe take some time to yourself. Figure out how you want to handle this."
"Yeah. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Thanks, Evans."
"Glad I could help. And if you could work out your feelings before Christmas, that would be much appreciated. Then I've beaten both Mary and Remus in the bet."
James was on his way out of his seat but stopped, doubling back to Lily. "You bet on us?" She couldn't help but laugh as she opened her books to start her homework again. "Of course, we did. Everyone did."
"Huh."
Feeling ten tons lighter, James headed out of the library with an extra bounce in his step. But that bounce soon stopped as he caught Dorcas standing by the entrance to the library a death glare on her face as a wild mane of messy curls disappeared around the corner behind her.
"Hey, Dorcas," he greeted warily, his eyes focused on where Andrea had disappeared.
-//-
1 hour earlier
Gossiping up in Andrea's dorm, she grew bored of the pity party they were throwing themselves.
Resting with her head at the foot of her bed, Andrea let the Snitch James had gotten her for her birthday slowly float upwards and catch it just before it got out of reach.
Marlene watched on as if she were in a trance as Dorcas and Sirius rested against Andrea's headboard, reading trashy magazines.
Moving a bit too much to the side, Sirius shifted his pillow so much it fell to the floor. As he reached for the pillow off the floor, Dorcas spotted the two photos that had been under Sirius.
She quickly grabbed them out of the way before he sat upright again.
Studying them for themselves first, Dorcas eventually kicked Andrea, catching her attention as well.
Catching the Snitch, Andre bent her chin as far down as possible and tried to meet Dorcas' gaze. "What?" she asked, confused by the interruption.
Dorcas turned the pictures in her hand around, showing them to Andrea and Marlene.
Marlene bounced over from the neighbouring bed and grabbed the photos off Dorcas, studying them closely.
"Aw, cute," she cooed, poking Andrea's heated cheek. "You guys were adorable kids," Sirius laughed. "You should've seen all the baby pictures her mum showed us at Christmas. As toddlers, they couldn't keep their hands off each other."
Andrea gently took the pictures from Marlene, not wanting to wreck them. They had been under her pillow for almost a year and there wasn't a single crease in either of them.
Their parents must've put some extra protection charm on them of something.
Andrea smiled, remembering the stories that had been dragged up that New Year's Eve. Her parents had pulled out the photo album and corrected Andrea and James on when their first kiss had taken place.
Because it was in fact not when they were ten and watching a movie. But when they were four years old, just finished celebrating their first double birthday together.
"I can't believe I forgot I had these," Andrea muttered mostly to herself.
"My mum gave me a copy of this one because the original one all four of them had written over it keeping a conversation going on the paper."
"Huh," Marlene mused. "Sounds like the dorm room wall of some particular fifth-year boys," Marlene chuckled, elbowing Sirius' side.
Dorcas crossed her arms, studying her girlfriend. "And when, supposedly, were you in their dorm, may I ask?" she asked calmly, yet terrifyingly.
Even if Marlene hadn't committed a crime, she was ready to confess to anything with the look Dorcas was giving her.
"Oh, look at that. It's getting late. Come one, Marls, I need to show you that move while Hagrid still has lights on the field. Sun won't help us today."
Sirius grabbed Marlene's hand and helped her out of the upcoming argument.
As the two fled the scene Dorcas turned back to Andrea, who was still studying the pictures.
"A?" she questioned, tapping her arm. Andrea just shook her head, a humourless laugh erupting out. "Even four-year-old us had more balls than we do today. I mean, in this one, James has literally just grabbed my face and kissed me. No worries, no cares."
"And here, I specifically remember telling James to give me his hand because I wanted to hold it. No over-thinking and no question. I just said what I wanted and what he chose to do with that was his decision."
Dorcas took the pictures and made Andrea look up at her. "You can still do that you know," she started boldly, hoping this went well.
"You can tell him exactly what you want, and what he decides to do with that is entirely his problem." Andrea bit her lip, forcing herself not to ramble all the thoughts and possibilities surrounding what one small statement could do.
"I need to think," she mumbled. Dorcas nodded and got ready to leave, assuming she needed to be alone to think. Andrea grabbed her wrist and pursed her lips.
"I need ice cream to think. And cherry lollipops."
Dorcas grinned, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the lollipop she always kept on her in case of emergencies.
That was one of the first things James told her when he realized the two of them were friends. 'Don't hurt her, don't steal her away from me, and never leave your dorm without an emergency cherry lollipop.'
It was advice that had saved Dorcas on many occasions over the years as Andrea's friend.
The House Elves in the kitchen were more than happy to provide the two girls with bowls of chocolate ice cream. And with their bellies full, they wandered back to Gryffindor Tower, ready to collect the boys and head to dinner.
"I'm gonna do it," Andrea finally spoke up. "I'm gonna tell James how I feel and if he doesn't feel the same, too bad. I've told him and I can stop wondering what if."
"That's great news, A. I'm really proud of you. That shows a lot of courage." "Yeah well, I'm a Gryffindor for a reason," she chuckled, shooting Dorcas a smirk over her shoulder.
As they reached the landing from the stairs, quite automatically, Andrea's eyes wandered to the glass doors into the library.
And how much she regretted every decision she had made that day, including that small one.
Because inside the library, at one of the few occupied tables, sat a smiling James and a laughing Lily, having the time of their lives together.
Dorcas froze too, looking in on the scene and feeling horror in her bones. "He wouldn't..." she muttered, mostly to herself.
"Guess he took my advice then," Andrea spoke quietly. Too quietly. Dorcas had never heard her voice so soft before.
Just as Dorcas reached out to comfort Andrea, the former pulled back in shock as a book forgotten on the table closest to them, burst into flames.
This snapped Andrea out of it as well and she concentrated on the flames, making them shrink and finally disappear.
"Was that – was that you?"
Andrea groaned loudly, burying her hands in her thick hair. "Well, isn't that just kick you in the crotch, spit on your neck, fantastic?" she laughed humourlessly.
"James got the girl, and I can no longer control my magic. Like an untrained fucking eleven-year-old."
In front of them, James stood from the table and headed for the exit, right towards the girls.
"I don't have the energy for this," Andrea muttered before she quickly fled, heading straight for her dorm.
She had had enough self-inflicted torture for one day.
Dorcas, however, was not done for the day.
James came out of the library, almost shining with happiness, but that stopped as he caught Dorcas' look of disapproval.
"Hey, Dorcas," he greeted warily, his eyes focused past her shoulder.
Dorcas scoffed and turned on her heel, leaving a confused James behind.
Because he didn't know, of course, that what the girls had seen, was very different to what had actually happened.
As she left him behind, James quickly ran after her, blocking her way on the next flight of stairs.
"Woah, slow down, Meadowes. What's going on? Where did Andrea go?"
"None of your business," she huffed, getting ready to push past him again. James didn't budge. "Is she alright? Hurt, sad, angry, what? Give me something here. If Andrea's in trouble I want to help."
Dorcas' eyes turned ice-cold. "Andrea doesn't need your help, Potter. So why don't you get back in there with your little girlfriend and I'll worry about Andie."
James pulled back. If words could be felt, Dorcas' felt like a slap across the face.
His eyes bounced from the library, to where Andrea had gone, to where Dorcas had stood when he spotted her and then to Dorcas.
His eyes wide, James quickly started shaking his head. "Wha- That wasn't... I wasn't – I mean, we weren't. No. Nothing was going on. This is just a big misunderstanding."
Dorcas stepped onto the step one up from her, the same James stood on, evening out their heights again. James was a tall guy, but Dorcas was just as tall.
She stepped in closer, playing fully on the intimidation part now. "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over the little voice in my head screaming 'he's full of shit, don't listen to him, punch him in the dick'."
Putting some strength behind it, Dorcas easily shoved James out of her way now. James might be a star Chaser, but he had nothing on the Beater who had two years experience on him.
"Dorcas, wait!"
Finally getting her to stop, James explained himself and everything that happened in the library, retelling every embarrassing detail.
Safe to say, Dorcas was surprised, relieved, happy and then worried. Because she knew what Andrea thought she saw, and it was going to be hard work telling her what she saw was wrong.
But James still tried.
At dinner, Andrea had taken the rare trip over to the Slytherin table and joined Regulus, Emma and one of his other best friends from Hufflepuff, Jesse Abbott.
When she returned after dinner, Andrea wasn't in a mood to hang about with her friends in the Common Room. So, retiring to her room, she wasn't expecting any more socializing that day.
But a knock at the door forced her to get out of bed again and switch on the lights.
As she opened the door and spotted James on the other side, her frown deepened.
"James? What are you doing here?" she asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"Sleepover," James grinned happily. "I know we've been bad at keeping the tradition going this year, but I figured now was as good a time as any."
James made a move to open the door further, but Andrea kept it in place, closing it ever so slightly. James stopped up, his hand resting against the wood.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Andrea said, her voice strong, but her body betraying her as she couldn't meet his eye and her hand automatically went to the beaded necklace she always wore, telling James she was either uncomfortable or nervous.
Or both.
"Oh," he said, disappointment evident in his tone as he deflated.
Andrea let go of the door and scratched her head. "Yeah you know, the beds are small, so it doesn't make sense to keep doing that. It was fine when we were kids, but now we've pretty much grown out of it. Don't you think?"
Andrea wasn't keeping her eyes on the ground, but she would still not meet his gaze. Instead, she looked anywhere else. His ear, his shirt collar, the wall right behind him, his nose. But not once his eyes.
If she had met his gaze, maybe she would've taken a pause and seen the raw emotion shining from them. Maybe, if she had just given him a second and looked him in the eye, they both would've seen what the other felt. And that would've been that.
But she didn't. And it wasn't.
So as the two mutter their goodnights, James did not want to return to his dorm where he would have to talk to anyone. Instead, he pulled his Invisibility Cloak out of his pocket and headed off, wandering the castle alone.
Luckily for their friends. Because no one was ready for James to come back yet.
In parallel to Andrea's dorm over in the boy's Wing, all of her closest friends were gathered together, sitting in a circle on the dorm floor to the Marauders.
Many of her friends didn't have a lot in common, but one thing they all agreed on, was the topic of that evening.
Remus was leading the plan, and Sirius was his willing number two as they lay it all out to the others.
"Now, I promised myself I wasn't going to meddle. But that was before I realized just how stupid both of them are. So now, were meddling. And those two are going to look at each other and talk, even if we have to lock them in a room to do it."
Remus nodded to Sirius, giving him the floor. The older boy rubbed his hands together, looking around at Ravenclaws, Gryffindors and Slytherins alike, an evil grin spreading across his face.
"Let's go people. Operation Lion Trap: The lion tamers on the job, part one."
"Too long," Peter booed him, throwing some of Lily's popcorn at him." Sirius sulked, not wanting to drop his title. He turned to Remus but was met with a hard look, telling him he wasn't going to win this one.
Pouting, he turned back to face everyone.
"Fine whatever. Operation Lion Trap, it is."
-//-
A/N
Best thing in the world is when your friends scheme for your best interest. Gotta love these friends Xx
Also, WE JUST REACHED 1K READS! Thank you all for so much support from following this story, posting comments and voting on the chapters. You're the real MVPs <3
Question: Who's your favourite non-lead character?
– ACE
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