villain ; isabelle fierro doesn't know what to do with her life after solving her best friend's murder. james and lily provide a temporary solution.
— note that i did give away this plot to someone but tbh they haven't updated the book for a while and i found it again and i was v inspired. tw: alcohol / drinking.
❝ it's the strangest feelin'
midnight, i'm not leavin'
no, for once, i think i'll stay ❞
ISABELLE FIERRO WAS restless.
She knew she shouldn't be. Now she was finally done with everything: her NEWTs, her interview to become an Unspeakable, solving Sadie's death . . . everything was complete.
It was probably from not having anything to do. Her leg bounced wildly every time she attempted to sit down and read a book. Her hands were shaky, needing to do something but having nothing to do. Her mind was going stir-crazy from not having anything to worry about. Was this what it was like to have free time? If so, Isabelle wanted to get something to do. Something to consume her thoughts.
"Belly," a soft voice called. "What are you still doing down here?"
Speaking of things that take over her thoughts.
"I'm . . ." Isabelle hesitated, unable to think of a plausible lie, for once. She didn't look behind her, but she heard Lily's footsteps as she walked down the stairs.
"You're?" Lily pressed, finding her way to Isabelle's side. When she looked out of the corner of her eye, she could see Lily's ruthlessly curious expression.
". . . not tired." Well, at least it was the truth. That was something, right? Sadie would've said so.
Isabelle felt her face pull into a grimace at that thought. Sure, she wasn't expecting to get over Sadie so quickly, even after solving her death — her brother's death taught her that — but it still hurt, thinking those thoughts.
Lily knew that expression on her face too well. "You've made her really proud, you know," Lily told her, grabbing her hand.
"I know," Isabelle said, though to be honest it hasn't really sunk into her yet. "But what do I do now?"
Lily turned Isabelle's body so she was looking at her, then she pointed up at the staircase, and the door it led to. "You stay."
Isabelle hesitated, her gaze following where Lily's finger was pointing. She'd been in the upstairs multiple times. Heck, she's slept up there numerous nights when investigating. But she's never stayed for the entire night. She's always had something else to do.
But now . . . now, she had time to stay over. Now, she didn't have an excuse to leave. Now, she could get used to staying with Lily and James.
Her eyes drifted over to the little kitchenette. "In a second," she decided, striding over to the cupboard, opening it and flicking down the false wall to bring out the last bottle of Firewhiskey.
Lily raised an eyebrow, but didn't stop her. "James is saving that for the party tomorrow."
"He can smuggle more in," declared Isabelle, drinking out of the bottle. Granted, it wasn't enough to even get her tipsy, so it probably didn't look impressive. Especially because of the face she pulled. She hated drinking Firewhiskey, or just alcohol in general — she never joined Sadie when they snuck out and got some over the summers, even after her brother's death. And she had a clean record this school year.
"You know you don't need liquid courage around us, right?" Lily took the bottle as soon as Isabelle set it down, putting the cork on and shoving the bottle into the cupboard before shutting it loudly.
Isabelle sighed. "I know."
It was true, but she needed to get rid of the sudden nerves that she felt. She didn't know why they were there, but they needed to be gone.
Come on, Isabelle, she scolded herself. You've seen dead bodies. You solved your best friend's death. You can stay over a night at your . . . at your James and Lily's bedroom.
Just then, she realized that they didn't have a label. Well . . . James and Lily did; they're James and Lily, after all. But Isabelle's been too busy to be in a relationship — heck, the most they've ever done was sleep in the same bed, if you could even count that. What was this, then?
"Isabelle?" Lily's voice cut into her thoughts. "Tell me what's going on."
"Lily, it's really nothing," Isabelle shook her off, plastering on a small smile. Everyone always told her to let loose. What they were didn't matter, just as long as she lived in the moment. "Come on. Let's go see James. I bet he's holding himself back from coming down here now."
"Isabelle Vienna Fierro," insisted Lily. "Tell me."
"I should've never told you my full name," Isabelle muttered under her breath. "Lils," she then whispered, noticing how different it sounded today. "Do you trust me?"
Just as she always did when Isabelle used her nickname, but especially now, Lily softened. "Not when you're being like this. You always run away. For once, can't you stay?"
Isabelle's heart skipped a beat at the rare moment of vulnerability that Lily was showing. She traced a finger down Lily's neck, making her shiver.
"I'm staying," Isabelle promised. "It'll take some time for me to get used to it, obviously, but I'm staying, Lily."
Lily's expression, even though it was nearly eleven pm, brightened like the sun as it progressively rose during the day. "Really?"
"Really."
She went on her toes and kissed Isabelle, pulling her closer using her hands, which were on Isabelle's shoulders. When had those gotten there? And should she really be thinking about this when Lily Evans was kissing her?
Eventually, Lily pulled away for air, smiling cheekily as one of her hands traveled down to grab one of Isabelle's. Then she turned and started leading them up the steps without another word.
On the way, though, Isabelle kept drawing Lily in for kisses, her hands traveling up and down her body every time, trying to memorize every inch of her.
Lily giggled. "Is this the alcohol?"
"I missed you," Isabelle tucked a strand of Lily's hair behind her ear. "There were exams, and Sadie, and the Unspeakables interview . . . it's been too long."
"That is completely your fault," said Lily as they reached the door. "Why would you want to be an Unspeakable anyway? We're joining the Order after we get out of Hogwarts."
"Darling, I know James has money," started Isabelle as Lily opened the door and they stumbled through it, "But we need a steady income, and in order to do that you kind of need a job. Besides, I already know too much about their line of work, so they basically threatened me to join them."
"Belly," James whined, lounging on the bed almost like a cat, but he wasn't catlike at all, "Don't tell me you're talking about the future when you just came over."
"It's been a while since I arrived, Jamesie," Isabelle smiled, her eyes traveling to James's hands when he reached out to her, and at the calluses on them. "I was just distracted with Lils."
James pouted. "You spend all your time with Lily-Flower and not me?"
"She just likes me better, James," Lily smirked, showing him their joined hands.
"Nonsense," gasped James. "Belly, prove her wrong."
Isabelle rolled her eyes, dragging Lily over to where James was reclining on the bed that they'd charmed to be bigger when they got together earlier in the year. Isabelle leaned down and captured James's lips into a kiss, where his calluses pressed against her cheek as he reciprocated the kiss.
Sooner than he normally does, James pulled away from her, frowning. "Why do you taste like Firewhiskey?"
"She drank some from your last bottle earlier," Lily reported. She'd walked over to the dresser where she fished out some pajamas.
"You what?" James yelled, making Isabelle grimace. Lily wasn't any help. She strode to the bathroom, unbothered as she closed the door behind her.
"I wasn't . . ." Isabelle's gaze flickered to the door. "I wasn't feeling good."
"What, and you think alcohol solves that?"
"I'm sorry," she apologized. She let out a small sigh. "To make it up to you, though, I'm sleeping over."
His angry expression faded. "You're staying?"
She nodded. "There's nothing keeping me from staying," she felt her heartbeat speed up as he smiled the smile that brought her to him, and he leaned in to kiss her again.
This time, however, she was the one to pull away. "I'll try," she whispered. "I'll try to stay. But, James, if I can't—"
"I know where to find you," James said, his usual cocky expression on his face. "I've known you, like, my entire life, Belly. You think I don't know you?"
"It's not been your whole entire life," teased Isabelle.
He snorted. "It really has, Belly. Now, are you going to get in bed or not?"
"I don't have pajamas," she said, looking down at her outfit. Of course, today was the one day that she'd decided to wear jeans, along with the argyle sweater that Remus bought her for her birthday.
"Just put on one of James's shirts," Lily said as she opened the door to the bathroom, walking by and pressing a kiss to Isabelle's cheek. "Bathroom's yours, by the way."
As Isabelle stood there in shock, James pushed a shirt into her hands. "Go," he said. "We'll still be here."
She nodded, somehow displaying some semblance of put-togetherness as she walked over to the bathroom and shut the door behind her.
Once she was in the bathroom, however, she put a silencing charm on the room and screamed into James's shirt. His scent that wafted through her nostrils was the only thing that helped her put herself back together. Well, that and having him and Lily right outside the door.
Isabelle sighed before making herself get ready for bed. She took off her jeans and sweater, folding them and leaving them on the counter, slipping James's shirt over her. Then she summoned a toothbrush to brush her teeth, summoning a pair of shorts while doing that because she realized she could do that. After washing off the scent of Firewhiskey from her breath, washing her face, and pulling on her shorts, she stared at herself in the mirror for a while, took a deep breath, and opened the door, turning off the light behind her.
"Belly," James whined. "Get over here."
He sounded eerily similar to how he'd sounded when she first walked in. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she saw the person-sized gap between him and Lily that was probably meant for her.
"Scoot over," Isabelle leaned against the wall as she went to take off her jewelry, skillfully doing it even in the dark. "I hate being in the middle. I thought you knew this, since you know me and all."
"Shut up." James scooted toward Lily, and she put her head on his chest as she beckoned Isabelle to join them. "Why do you insult me like this?"
"It's a Ravenclaw thing," Lily answered as Isabelle walked over, sitting on the bed and putting the covers over them. "You're in the Gryffindor common room so often I forget that."
"You two insist on me being in there whenever I have free time and not hanging out with my very Ravenclaw friends, thank you very much." Isabelle rolled her eyes, but her lips pulled into a smile anyway as she fell back onto the pillow behind her head.
Immediately, James turned his head and started kissing at her jaw. Lily's hand reached across him and started trailing up and down Isabelle's arm.
"So do Remus, Peter, and Sirius," Isabelle added, her voice surprisingly normal but if Lily moved her hand in the right direction, she could feel Isabelle's quick heartbeat. To be honest, she could probably feel it now. "They let me into the common room every time I walk past it and they're there. I think it's just favoritism."
"You have a cute face, of course it's favoritism," Lily leaned across James to kiss Isabelle.
Isabelle wrinkled her nose in disgust, but she kissed back, because she's down bad for Lily Evans.
"When did you become the sappy one?" Isabelle asked. "I thought that was James."
"Hey!" James protested.
She laughed at him as Lily gave him a consolation kiss. Watching them kiss made Isabelle's breath hitch.
Stupidly, she said something impulsively, for once in her life. "What are we?"
They broke the kiss to stare at her. She decided that staring at the ceiling was way more interesting than staring at them.
"Isabelle . . ." Lily murmured.
"I mean, you hated me at the start of the year," Isabelle started rambling, which she usually did when she was nervous, trying to explain herself. "And James is my best friend's brother, and I never thought that I could have him, heck, I never thought that I could even like him . . . and then this year happened and suddenly I like the two of you romantically but I've not been here enough to even consider having you two like that, and—"
"Shhh," James put a finger over her lips. She knew because his finger's way bigger than Lily's. That, and the calluses on them. "We don't have to figure it out right now. Just stay in tonight, yeah?"
Isabelle turned her head to look at him, with his stupid pleading hazel eyes, and at Lily with her striking green eyes and pout.
"Fine," she relented, trying to relax her body, lull herself to sleep. "But when we get out of—"
"Stop talking about the future," scolded Lily. "Or I'm going to pummel you into yesterday."
Isabelle raised her hand in surrender, as she was laying on the other one. "Okay, okay, jeez! I don't fancy being beat up again after what I've gone through. Not, of course, that I'm going to talk about it more," she quickly added.
"Good," Lily humphed, brushing Isabelle's hair aside. "So, darling, how was your day?"
They laid there for hours, talking about good things. Isabelle's fingertips still felt restless, but she traced shapes on whatever limb was closest to her of James and Lily's.
But the more time she spent lying down, listening to their voices as they steadily went to sleep, the more relaxed she became, starting to fall asleep herself.
I could get used to this, she thought, thinking about the future despite Lily's threats. She was asleep anyway, conked out on James's chest, her hand tangled with Isabelle's.
It would take time; time that they might not have, considering outside the bubble that was Hogwarts, there was a war going on. And even then, you could see traces of the war in the school. But Isabelle could definitely get used to sharing a bed with Lily Evans and James Potter. Maybe a house. Maybe even the rest of her life, however long that would be.
Isabelle fell asleep, her head pillowed on James's arm, in the comfort of her two partners of sorts, finally able to find a solution for her existential crisis for the future.
❝ i could get used to this ( seventeen when we started to fall, but we lost it all )
i could get used to this ( and i just can't believe it all ), definitely ❞