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Chapter Three: Gray and Black
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With the O.W.L.s practically at their doorstep, the fifth years were so deluged with homework that Lily hardly had time to eat or sleep for the next week. The workload had pushed all thoughts of Voldemort’s schemes and Dumbledore’s security measures from her mind. However it could not, to her mild annoyance, completely blot out thoughts of Roger Gray.
It wasn’t fair for him to spring that on me, she thought, staring unfocusedly at her half-finished Arithmancy problems.
‘But it shows he trusted you, felt comfortable around you,’ a little voice in her head retorted.
Well I certainly bungled that one, didn’t I? He’ll never want to talk to me again…
“Aaauuuuggghhhh!” Lily looked up in time to see Melinda dropkick her Potions book at the wall. “What kind of sick, twisted git assigns an essay comparing and contrasting Confusing Concoctions and Befuddlement Draughts?” she fumed.
“Here, you can look at mine if you’re stuck,” Lily sighed, rolling off her bed and handing it over. The clock on her nightstand showed nearly three in the morning. Looking around at her bleary-eyed friends, Lily realized that what they all needed was a break. “I’m going to Hogsmeade tomorrow,” she announced.
“Good for you,” Serena mumbled without lifting her head from the desk.
“You’re coming with me,” she said firmly. “All of you. It’s the last trip of term and if we don’t relax for a few hours, we’ll all burn out before exams even begin.”
Saturday morning dawned muggy and gray. The skies were threatening rain as they tramped down to the village, but it was such a relief to be out of the castle that nobody seemed to care.
Lily spotted Remus Lupin inside Honeydukes as she was stocking up on sugar quills. Remembering that she had wanted to talk to him, she started to wend her way over, but stopped when she heard other voices nearby.
“Come on Moony, try it!”
“If you don’t get that thing out of my face, I swear I’ll--“
“But you’re supposed to like things like this!”
“Why don’t you try it then?”
“Look, Prongsie’s trying one!”
“Does it really taste like blood?”
“Mmm, it does, Wormtail, and it’s delicious. You guys don’t know what you’re missing.”
“That’s disgusting…”
Lily decided she wasn’t that keen to talk to Lupin and hurried off to find her friends, feeling slightly queasy.
As they walked up and down the high street perusing the merchandise at various shops, Lily’s mind kept straying back to a certain sixth year Ravenclaw prefect. When she then saw him, ambling towards them and whistling off key, she had to close her eyes for a moment to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating. She opened them again and found him looking straight at her.
“Hey there, Evans,” said Roger cheerfully. “Skiving off the O.W.L. reviews?”
“Guess so,” she replied, trying to sound like she hadn’t been thinking about him for the past half hour.
“Oh yeah,” said Serena, walking over and sliding her arm through Lily’s. “She’s a terrible influence, Lily is. Dragged us all away from our studies.” Roger tsk tsk’d in mock disapproval. “But,” Serena continued, now addressing her friend, “I think we’re ready to head back.”
“Are you sure?” Lily asked, feeling disappointed. Now that Roger was here and talking to her, she was in no hurry to return to the school. “Wouldn’t you rather stay and have a butterbeer? My treat…”
“Tempting, but no,” Serena sighed. “I got a letter from mum and dad this morning. I don’t think they’d ever let me come home if I fail my O.W.L.s.”
“Well I’m not ready to go back yet,” said Lily stubbornly. Then, shocked by her own daring, she turned to Roger. “How about you? Fancy a visit to the Three Broomsticks?”
Roger looked just as surprised by her invitation as she was. He hesitated and checked his watch. It only took him a few seconds to make up his mind, but to Lily it felt like an eternity.
“Sure, why not?” he shrugged.
Serena was looking at Lily with a level of interest that was entirely unnecessary. Then she too shrugged and said “suit yourself,” before rejoining Abigail and Melinda.
“Sugar quill?” Lily held up her Honeydukes bag. As Roger was helping himself, she saw four boys emerge from Zonko’s, thoroughly laden with stuff. She was suddenly aware that she’d been running her hand through her hair, and dropped it hastily.
Pettigrew was the first to notice her, but he had the good sense to tug on Potter’s sleeve and point her out. Lily felt a slight, savage pleasure realizing that Potter wanted something he couldn’t have--namely, her. She knew his parents spoiled him rotten; every week his owl brought sweets and expensive gifts from home, and he always had the best new racing broom the day it came out. But as James took in the sight of her with Roger, his face fell so completely that it knocked all such pleasure right out of her. She looked away quickly, trying not to feel guilty.
******
“How much?” she asked as Roger set two bottles of butterbeer on the table.
“What?”
“I said it was my treat.”
“Nah, this one’s on me.” Lily opened her mouth to protest but then closed it again. If he wanted to be a gentleman, she saw no real reason to object. She took a sip of her drink and looked around idly, not seeing many familiar faces. Hagrid was sitting in a corner though. She waved at him and he waved back.
“Bet you can’t wait til exams are over,” Roger remarked conversationally.
“Of course,” she said glumly. “It’s not the studying I mind so much though, it’s the stress.”
“Yeah, your whole future hangs on this, doesn’t it? Or at least that’s what they keep telling you.”
“How’d you do when you took them?”
“Well enough,” he said indifferently. “I got all the N.E.W.T. classes I wanted.”
“Which are…?”
“The important ones. Charms, Transfiguration, Defense, Potions, and Runes. Well, the Runes may not be that important, but I like them.”
“What’d you want to be?” Lily asked.
“Minister for Magic,” Roger replied calmly. “You?”
“Supreme Mugwump.” He gave an appreciative chuckle while she took another swig of butterbeer. “So, got any exciting plans for the summer?”
“Not really, just working… same place I do every summer…”
“Which is…?” she pressed. Roger hesitated.
“Ice cream parlor,” he said sheepishly. Lily tried and failed to stifle a giggle.
“At least you’ll have something to fall back on if the Minister thing doesn’t work out.”
“Scooping ice cream professionally, there’s an idea.” Roger blew idly over the mouth of his bottle so that it sounded a deep note. “Then what’re you planning to do for the summer, Little Miss Mugwump?”
“I don’t know, just go home and spend time with my family I guess...”
“Oy, Roger!” They both looked up to see a tall, fair-haired boy waving at him from the back of the pub.
“Bertie, old boy!” Roger called back enthusiastically. “I was wondering where you’d got to.” He jumped up out of his seat then looked back at Lily. “Say, nice talking to you again. Good luck with exams and everything.”
“Oh, right,” she said, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. “Yes, I’d better be getting back…”
“Cheers,” said Roger, draining the last of his butterbeer and bounding off to join his friends. Lily gulped down the rest of her own drink and hurried out of the Three Broomsticks.
******
She was halfway back to the castle when it finally started raining. She pulled out her wand, conjured a green umbrella from the end of it, then resumed staring moodily at the dirt road ahead of her.
There was no real reason Roger’s abrupt departure should have upset her so. She had thought they were having a good time, but it was perfectly reasonable for him to go off with his friends. It was just that his parting words had come out sounding so… final. And now, try as she might, she couldn’t quite shake the image of his initial hesitation when she asked him to go for a drink.
“Hey, Evans!” She looked back and saw Sirius Black rushing to catch up with her. For most young witches at Hogwarts this would have been a welcome sight indeed--though one they were only likely to see in daydreams. Lily, however, had a fairly good idea why he was there, and she was really not in the mood to deal with him right then.
“What do you want, Black?” she said curtly as he drew level with her.
“You’ve been working on that McGonagall impression then, have you?” he replied, utterly unfazed. Glancing up at her umbrella, he pulled out his own wand and conjured an even larger one that overlapped hers. She tried taking a step away from him, but it just stretched to cover her. Sighing resignedly, she vanished her own umbrella and put her wand away.
“Well?”
“Well what? I just saw a lovely lady walking back to the castle alone and knew she would enjoy my company.”
“Oh, ha ha,” she muttered.
“Come on, you know you’re powerless to resist my charms.” He said this with such an eager puppy dog pout that Lily couldn’t help softening a bit.
“Where’re your mates?” she asked in a slightly gentler tone.
“Don’t know,” Sirius shrugged unconvincingly. “You have a good time in Hogsmeade?”
“Delightful.”
“Yeah? What’d you do?” he asked, as though he were her best girl friend braiding her hair at a slumber party. She couldn’t help marveling at how a boy who so often came across as the world’s biggest git could suddenly be so sweet when he wanted something.
“Shopped,” she said warily.
“That’s it?” Lily didn’t answer. “Who was that bloke you were walking into the Three Broomsticks with?” he asked, confirming her worst suspicions. “Do you fancy him?”
“No I do not fancy him!” she snapped. “And tell Potter it’s none of his sodding business who I walk into pubs with!” Sirius looked wholly unperturbed.
“Who said anything about James?” he asked innocently. “I only ask because, as a fellow Gryffindor, I feel honor bound to look out for your welfare. I’d hate to see you with some lowlife idiot who doesn’t deserve you.”
Lily sighed. She knew he was lying, that he had to be there because of Potter, but he was also a very convincing actor. It wasn’t hard to see why so many girls became enamored with him. With a guilty twinge, she also remembered the look on James’s face when he had seen her outside Zonko’s.
“Look, Sirius,” she said quietly, “I really don’t want to discuss this, so please just let it alone, ok?” This time he did look slightly taken aback; he had clearly been expecting her to yell a bit.
“Yeah, alright,” he mumbled as the Hogwarts gates came into view. “D'you want a cockroach cluster?”
••••••••••••
Lily Evans and the Golden Lyre by capella_black
Chapter Notes: A trip to Hogsmeade and encounters with Mr. Gray and Mr. Black.