Lily sat alone in the crowded common room, trying to study. She knew that she should just go to the library, where Dana and Kathleen were studying, but also knew that she didn't have time. She and Remus had patrol duty together, and had promised to meet in the common room. She knew that he had a career meeting with McGonagall, but was surprised it was taking him so long. But maybe the meetings did take a long time - hers wasn't for another week.
She looked up at the clock again, and sighed. She glanced down at her Transfiguration notes, and knew that she wasn't in the mood to study. For once, she wished that Olivia was there to distract her. But she was at Quidditch practice, along with James. James . . . she quickly put him from her mind. She never let her thoughts stay on him for very long. They always left her completely confused.
Sirius walked into the common room, flustering several girls, and paused to look around. Lily watched him, realizing for the first time how effortlessly he looked cool and aloof. She wondered if he tried to act that way, or if it just happened.
Sirius' eyes fell on Lily, and he smiled. He crossed the room to join her. Lily smiled. Sirius was, of course, almost as bad as James, but there was something about him that amused her. And she felt that she owed him her kindness after he had been so willing to accept her apology for the way she had treated him.
"Hey, Little Flower," he said as he sat down. "What are you doing over here alone?"
"Waiting for Remus," she said promptly. "We have patrol duty tonight."
"Ah," Sirius said. "Well, I'm afraid you're going to be waiting a bit longer. I had the meeting with McGonagall before him, and she was late getting to me. I'm sure he'll be even later."
"Oh," Lily said. "Well, I guess I'll just wait, then." She glanced down at the papers he held in his hands. "What career did you pick?"
Sirius grinned. "I want to be an auror."
"Really?" Lily asked, raising her eyebrows. "I've heard that's a lot of work."
"What, you think I can't do it?"
Lily flushed slightly. "No, that's not what I meant."
"It's okay if it is," Sirius laughed. "I'm sure that McGonagall thought the same thing. I know that I don't have the best study habits. But I also know that I'm quite bright, and that I can do the work if I want to. And I do. I really want this more than anything."
Lily looked surprised at his emotion. "Why is this so important to you? Most people our age don't get so caught up in what they want to be someday."
Sirius looked at her for a moment. "Olivia said that you don't get along with your sister."
"No, I don't," Lily said, wondering where this was going. The two thoughts seemed completely unconnected.
"Well, I think that's something we have in common - having trouble with our families. How much to you know about my family?"
"Not much," Lily confessed. "I guess I knew that you didn't get along with them, since you go home with James a lot."
Sirius grinned. "Ah, you've been watching us!"
Lily flushed again. "Stop putting words in my mouth! Everyone knows what you two do. You don't keep anything a secret."
Sirius wanted desperately to contradict that claim, but decided against it - she'd probably just make it her mission to discover all their secrets. "Fine, hide behind your excuses," he laughed. "But that's true. I do usually go home with James."
"Is that because you want to get away from your family?"
He instantly turned serious. "Well, to be perfectly honest, yes. The reason I avoid them is that my family is obsessed with purity of blood and the Dark Arts. They support Voldemort. My brother, Regulus, is in Slytherin, you know, and is quite involved with the school's Voldemort network. He's one of the students who hopes to become a Death Eater someday. He's quite a credit to the family, in my parents' opinion."
Lily gasped. "Sirius, are you making this up?"
"No," he said quietly. "Believe me, I wish I was."
"Oh, I am so sorry," she whispered. "I had no idea that your family was like that."
"Well, it's not exactly something I like to broadcast."
"No, I guess not."
"Anyway, I don't buy into my family's beliefs. I can't stand the idea that one wizard is better than another because of his or her bloodline. I'd be down quite a few friends if that were the case. My own girlfriend isn't a pureblood! And I loathe the Dark Arts. I want to fight against that - the Dark Arts, the superiority complex, the whole thing. Being an auror is a way I can combat all my family is trying to do - kind of my way to be me, and to show the world that the Black family isn't all awful."
Lily nodded slowly. "I guess I can see what you mean. I think I would be just as driven as you are if I were in your place."
"Thanks," Sirius said. He wasn't sure it was the right thing to say, but Lily seemed to get the meaning behind the word. "That's why I'm so dedicated to this auror thing. After Olivia told us that you don't get along with your sister, I figured you'd understand." He paused, and looked at his friend. "Tell me about your sister. What's your family like?"
"Well, it's nothing like your family," she said. "I mean, I feel bad complaining at all after listening to you."
"Don't feel bad," Sirius said quickly. "Come on, I'll bet it will make you feel better to talk about it."
She gave him a rueful smile. "It probably will. You know that I'm Muggle- born. Well, Petunia isn't a witch, she's a Muggle. So are our parents, so I obviously don't have a problem with that. But she has a problem with me. She basically thinks that I'm a freak, and wants nothing to do with me. She never loses a chance to tell me those two things."
Sirius gave her a sympathetic look. "Olivia said she was awful to you."
"Yeah, Olivia was right. Petunia is . . . I'm not even sure what to say about her, exactly. It's tough, you know? I mean, we were always really close when we were little, but now she can't even stand to be in the same room with me."
"I know exactly what you mean. I have the same problems with my brother." Sirius sighed. "It looks like we do have something in common, Little Flower - a complete inability to connect with our siblings."
"Sirius!"
Sirius and Lily both looked up, and saw Bree standing over them. She had her hands on her hips, and her eyes sparkled dangerously.
"Bree!" Sirius said, standing up quickly. "What's going on?"
"I could ask you the same thing."
"I'm just keeping Lily company until Remus gets here for their patrol duty."
"I'm sure you were keeping her very close company."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius asked, his eyebrows drawing together in a frown.
"You've been spending an awful lot of time with your 'Little Flower' recently, haven't you?" Bree hissed.
"What are you talking about?" Sirius said. "Lily and I are friends! We've known one another since first year!"
"I don't remember seeing you two being great friends before this year."
"So? I wasn't friends with you before this year, either, and look at us now!" In spite of his anger, he reached out and touched her cheek. "We're pretty close, wouldn't you say?"
Bree jerked her face back from his hand. "Don't touch me!"
"What's the matter with you?" Sirius' voice rose until he was practically shouting at her.
"Isn't it obvious?"
"Obviously not!"
Lily looked from one to the other uneasily. Would they notice if she just tried to back away? Could she make a graceful escape?
"SHE'S the problem!" Bree yelled, pointing at Lily.
So much for a graceful escape.
"Lily? This is about Lily?"
"Don't you mean LITTLE FLOWER?"
"IT'S A NICKNAME, BREE! I'm not in love with her!"
"Please, Sirius! It's so obvious that the two of you are together!"
"Are you accusing me of cheating on you with Lily?"
"Yeah, I guess that's pretty much it!"
"Bree, you know how I feel about you! How can you even suggest that?"
"Maybe I don't know! Maybe you've spent so much time with LITTLE FLOWER that I've forgotten!"
Remus walked into the common room, where everyone had abandoned their usual pursuits to watch the battle that was raging. Remus looked around, and stopped in shock as he took in the scene. Sirius and Bree were standing a foot apart, shouting at each other, while a frightened Lily was practically caught between them. What could possibly have happened? Sirius and Bree never fought!
Remus crossed the room, and grabbed Lily's arm, pulling her away from the battling couple. "What's going on?" he asked in a low tone.
She laughed nervously, sure that she had never been so glad to see anyone in her life. "You know, I was here when it started, and I'm still not sure."
"Come on," he said quickly. "We have patrol duty, and I'm pretty sure you don't want to stay to see the end of this."
She nodded, and allowed him to lead her from the room. Bree watched them go, then turned back to Sirius.
"Well, she's leaving, Sirius! Don't you want to follow her? Or would you rather stay with me? Make your choice, Sirius!"
"Listen to me, Bree, I'm only going to say this one more time! LILY IS MY FRIEND! NOTHING MORE!"
"I don't know how you can stand there and lie to both of us!" Angry tears began to fall down her cheeks. She didn't wipe them away; either she hadn't noticed that she was crying, or she didn't care.
Sirius threw up his hands in defeat. "Fine, Bree, if believing that I'm in love with her makes you happy, then believe it. But this - what we had - is over. I'm not dealing with this jealousy. It's ridiculous!"
"I knew it!" Bree screamed. "I knew you'd choose her!"
"You didn't leave me a choice!"
James and Olivia walked in, and stopped short.
"What's this?" James asked.
Olivia shook her head. "Isn't that Sirius? And Bree?"
"So it would appear."
"Why is Bree crying?"
"Liv, I've been in this common room exactly as long as you. If you don't know, why would I?"
Olivia giggled. "Good point."
They watched as Bree stormed up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. Two girls ran up after her, while everyone else in the common room looked at Sirius. He looked around at the crowd, and caught sight of James. He tried to smile, but it couldn't make it past the anger in his eyes. James crossed the room, ready to deal with Sirius' temper.
"What happened?"
"Bree turned into a psychopath," Sirius said. "She was completely convinced that I'm in love with Lily - which is completely ridiculous, I might add - and refused to believe me when I said it wasn't true."
"Wow," James said, running his hand through his hair. "So, she's still mad at you?"
"We're done," Sirius said shortly. "I can't be with someone who's going to be jealous like that, and thinks that I'm cheating on her with every girl I talk to. I mean, who in their right mind would think that I'd go for Lily? She's yours."
James smiled. "Actually, Danielle is mine."
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah, I do."
Sirius looked around the room tensely. "I really want to smash something right now."
"Go upstairs," James said quickly. "I'll go with you."
Sirius nodded, and led the way up to the dormitory.
***
"So she accused Sirius of being in love with you?" Remus frowned.
Lily nodded miserably. "Do you realize how awful I feel? Sirius and I weren't friends at all until this year, and we're not even good friends now. Their relationship is falling apart because of me! I'm a home wrecker, Remus!"
Remus smiled in spite of himself. "I don't think you're a home wrecker, Lil."
"Well, that's what I feel like."
"Hey, you didn't do anything wrong. It's not a crime to have friends who are dating other people. If Bree hasn't learned that yet, then she and Sirius shouldn't have been together in the first place. He's not the type to avoid everyone else to make his girlfriend happy."
"No, I guess he's not."
"And you never know. They may have worked it out."
Lily shook her head. "Bree seemed pretty irrational. I don't think they could have."
Remus sighed. "Man, I'll bet Sirius is a mess. He really liked her."
"Do you want to get back to him? We're done anyway. I can do the report alone."
"I think I'll let him destroy something first. No sense in getting back before that stage of his temper is over." They arrived at the prefect lounge, and Remus opened the door, ushering Lily in ahead of him. When he entered the room, he was surprised to see Laura sitting on the couch. "Laura! I didn't know you were here!"
She smiled. "I wanted to see you."
"Before this goes any further, he's not cheating on you with me," Lily said quickly.
Laura looked at her in complete confusion. "What?"
Remus laughed. "Lily's had a rather traumatic evening."
"So it would seem," Laura said, still looking very perplexed. "Since when have you been accused of being the other woman?"
"Since about an hour ago," Lily said wearily. "I'll let Remus tell you about it." She turned to him, knowing that he probably wanted to be alone with Laura. "Do you mind doing the report? I kind of just want to get back to the common room and talk to the girls."
Remus smiled. "Go," he said. "I'll take care of it." He walked back to the door with her. "Thanks," he said softly.
"Any time," she smiled. "Have fun."
"Oh, we will."
Lily giggled, and walked out. Remus closed the door firmly behind her, and turned back to Laura.
"Hi," she said softly.
"Hi," he replied. He crossed the room in two strides, and took her hands. "What made you come here?"
"You," she said in the same soft voice. "I missed you."
He grinned. "You saw me at dinner."
"Well, that was a long time ago," she grinned.
He smiled, and leaned down to kiss her. "I missed you, too," he said against her lips.
His hands went to her hips, drawing her closer. She reached up to put her arms around his neck, letting her fingers play with his hair. Remus sighed, and drew her even closer as their kiss deepened. Laura was finally the one to break it.
"I wanted to talk to you, too," she said.
"Sure you did," he said with a mischievous smile.
"No, I did!" she giggled. "Come on, let's sit down."
They arranged themselves on the couch, cuddling close together. Remus put his arm around her, and she laid her head down on his shoulder.
"What was Lily talking about? You're not really cheating on me with her, are you?"
Remus laughed. "No. Sirius' girlfriend just accused him of being in love with Lily. Things got a
bit out of hand in the common room."
"That's completely ridiculous! Lily would never do something like that! And I've watched Sirius with Bree - he really cares about her."
"I know that," Remus said. "I'm going to have to get the whole story from Sirius. I'm sure it will be interesting."
Laura giggled, and considered the subject dropped. "How was your meeting with McGonagall?" she asked.
"Oh, that," he mumbled. "Okay, I guess."
"Just okay?"
"Well, I don't have any real direction," he confessed. "I don't know what I want to be when I grow up."
She giggled. "Come on, you must have some idea."
"Well, I'm thinking of being a Healer, like my dad."
"You don't seem very excited about it."
"I told you, I don't have any direction!"
She laughed again. "Honestly, Remus, maybe we should just be glad that you're still in school."
"Fifteen is awfully young to pick a career, don't you think?"
"I suppose."
"When's your meeting with Flitwick?"
"Next week."
"And what do you want to be when you grow up?"
She shrugged against him. "Whatever Flitwick tells me to be."
"And you yelled at me!" Remus laughed.
"When did you hear me yell?" she asked indignantly.
Remus laughed again, and reached down to tip her chin up. He looked into her eyes for a moment. "I don't want to hear anything from you," he murmured as he touched his lips to hers.
"Me, either," she whispered, returning the kiss. She leaned back on the sofa, pulling him with her.
The door opened, and Remus and Laura jumped apart. They looked at one another with equally guilty expressions.
"Well, well, what have we here?"
"Severus!" Laura breathed. "What are you doing here?"
"Perhaps you've forgotten our patrol duty?" he sneered. "It does start in ten minutes."
"Oh, of course I didn't forget," she said. She tried to look cool, but Remus knew her well enough to be certain that she had forgotten. "I'm here, aren't I?"
"In a rather compromising position," he said. He looked from Laura to Remus, his eyes narrowing into a glare. "I wonder if that's an offense worthy of expulsion."
Remus rolled his eyes, and picked himself up off the sofa. "Get a grip, Snape," he said.
"Of course, you would consider yourself better than the rules, Lupin."
"There are rules against hanging out in the prefects' lounge?"
Snape crossed the room until he was standing within a foot of Remus. "You and your little friends should learn to follow the rules, or you will be expelled." He gave an evil grin. "Then again, that would probably be to the benefit of the school."
"And you should learn to mind your own business," Remus said. He wanted desperately to grab Laura's hand and take her away from Snape, but couldn't. She had to patrol with him.
Snape's eyes flicked away from Remus, and to Laura's face. "Well, shall we? The sooner we start, the sooner we can be done."
Laura nodded miserably, and stood up. "I'll see you later, Remus."
He leaned down to kiss her lips lightly. "I hate the idea of you going with him," he whispered.
"I've done it before. I'll be fine."
"I'm going to wait for you."
"You don't have to do that!"
"I want to."
Severus rolled his eyes. "If you're done with the love scene, I'd like to get this over with tonight."
Remus released Laura's hand, and she followed Snape from the room. Remus sank down on the couch to wait for her to return.
***
It was late when Remus finally made his way back to Gryffindor Tower. He had walked Laura back to her common room. She spent most of the walk raging against Snape and his superior attitude. Although he had not actually called her a Mudblood, the implication was there in every phrase he spoke. Remus grew angrier with each word she said about Snape, and was in a mood when he found his friends.
James, Sirius, and Peter were still discussing the demise of Sirius and Bree's relationship. Remus smiled slightly as he approached. Sirius was apparently done with the explosive anger, and was currently wishing evil upon Bree and her unborn children.
"Well, isn't this a chipper group?"
"Moony!" Sirius moaned. "Did Lily tell you?"
"She updated me to the point when we left the common room," he said. "But I'm guessing that the romance is over?"
"Completely," Sirius said dully. "And good riddance. She didn't deserve me."
Remus laughed. "Well, I'm glad to see that your ego hasn't suffered from this experience."
Sirius gave him a cheeky grin. "I wouldn't let a little event like this drag me down."
Remus sighed, and sank down into a chair next to him. "What a night."
"You're telling me! Can you believe that that girl accused me of cheating on her? I may have flirted with other girls before, but I stopped as soon as Bree and I got together. And she thought I was with Lily of all people! I mean, Lily is great, but she's definitely not my type! Bree needs to have her head examined." He gave an evil grin. "Of course, we could probably handle that for her with a well-timed hex."
Remus frowned. "Padfoot, we are not hexing your girlfriend."
"Ex-girlfriend," Sirius corrected. He grinned again. "Do you guys realize what this means? I'm a free man!"
James laughed. "And two weeks ago, you were extolling the virtues of being in a relationship. You even convinced me that it was a good idea!"
"Speaking of which, where's Danielle?" Peter asked.
"With Bree, probably. They're friends, you know."
"Watch out, Prongs," Sirius warned. "If she's anything like Bree, spending two minutes with someone other than her will automatically mean that you're cheating on her."
James shook his head. "I'll risk it." He looked over at Remus. "Where have you been all this time? Lily came back ages ago."
"In the prefects' lounge," Remus said.
"With Laura?" Peter asked with a grin.
"For awhile," Remus said. "Then Snivellus came in, and ruined our whole evening."
Sirius gave him a knowing grin. "Were you snogging when he walked in?"
"Yeah, we were," Remus said, flushing slightly.
"Moony, Moony . . . You definitely need to find somewhere more private than the prefects' lounge."
"Thanks for the advice," Remus said sarcastically. "Listen to what happened. He came charging in, saying that we could get expelled for what we were doing -"
"Yeah, and Hogwarts would suddenly not have any students over the age of thirteen," Sirius laughed.
"Do you mind? I'm trying to tell a story!"
Sirius laughed. "I'm so sorry, Master Storyteller. Please, continue."
"Oh, thank you so much," Remus said, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, after insulting us as only Snivellus can, he said that he and Laura had patrol duty."
"You let her go with him?" James exclaimed.
"What could I do? If they're scheduled for patrol duty, they have to go! But I waited for them to get back, and walked her back to her common room."
"Well, at least there's that," James said. "What did he do to her?"
"Oh, you know Snivellus. He acted like he was better than her the whole time - she's Muggle-born, you know."
James' eyes narrowed. "Did he call her a - a - what he called Lily?"
"No," Remus said, "at least, she said he didn't. I'm sure he has before, though."
"We really need to teach that boy some people skills," Sirius said grimly.
"That we do," James agreed. "What do you say, Mr. Padfoot? Should we go hunt him down now?"
"No!" Remus exclaimed. "Don't go after him now. You'll get in so much trouble."
"When has that ever mattered to us?" Sirius laughed.
"Please, guys, let's do this another time," Remus begged. "The full moon is in three days, and I really don't want you all in detention for that."
"All right," James agreed regretfully. "We'll wait. But the next chance we get, Snivelly is going down."