The fact that Lily Evans and James Potter were now dating did not circulate through the school quite as quickly as the news of the attack on the Hogwarts Express, due in part to the fact that the attack had affected so many people and had been headline news in the next day’s Daily Prophet, but also because people who did hear about Lily and James tended not to believe it.
“Honestly,” Mary said exasperatedly to Lily one evening, “the number of people who have asked me if it’s true about you and James, it’s ridiculous.”
Lily, who was leaning against her bedpost flipping idly through one of Mary’s discarded copies of Witch Weekly, frowned over at the other girl. “Why are they asking you?”
“Well,” sighed Mary, who was midway through painting her toenails, “mostly they start off by asking me if it’s true that Leda and James broke up, and then things just go from there.”
“Right,” said Lily vaguely. “Well, then.”
Mary shook her head. “It’s funny how many of them don’t believe me,” she said. “People have actually accused me of making it up! As if. All of my gossip is firmly rooted in fact.”
Lily smiled, but felt vaguely affronted. “Why don’t they believe you?” she demanded, somewhat defensively.
Mary rolled her eyes. “Um, because not everyone follows every detail of your life like I do. Most people just remember fifth year, when you told James you’d rather date the giant squid. And while they may have noticed you being friends at the end of last year, to the casual observer, it just looks like you haven’t spoken to each other in months. And then James starts dating Leda, you all go away for winter break, and when you come back, not only is he no longer dating Leda, he’s also dating you? It’s a little far-fetched.”
“Well when you lay it all out like that…” Lily grumbled.
“Plus,” Mary added, “I think a lot of people have a pretty high opinion of you. But they’ve also noticed that you’ve never been, you know, really interested in boys. And to be perfectly honest, Lily, to somebody who doesn’t know the whole story, this entire thing kind of makes you look like a””
“Selfish, conniving, boyfriend-stealer?”
Lily and Mary both looked up at that, as Leda sauntered into the room, her eyes locked on the far wall. Lily narrowed her eyes.
“I wasn’t going to put it quite like that,” Mary sniffed.
“That’s not what happened,” Lily said in a low voice, looking at the back of Leda’s head. In the few days it had been since the attack on the Hogwarts Express, Lily’s interactions with Leda had dwindled into almost nothing. Leda had saved her life”Lily couldn’t forget that”but things between the two girls remained as tense as ever.
“Oh, I know what happened,” Leda said as though acknowledging this, rummaging through the bag on her bed. Then she turned and met Lily’s gaze for the barest of moments. “I’m just saying, that’s what it looks like.”
Then she turned on her heel and strode forward, disappearing from the room once again.
Lily groaned and flopped back onto her pillows. “I know,” she muttered, a hand over her face. “I know that’s what it looks like.”
“I think it mostly looks like that because Leda’s telling everyone that’s what happened,” Mary said reasonably.
Lily scowled, sitting up again. “Is she really?” she asked.
“Actually,” Mary said thoughtfully, “not really. But she did tell Annabelle, and Annabelle is definitely telling everyone.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Lily said, shaking her head.
“Yeah, I know,” Mary said. “Everyone who knows you knows that you wouldn’t do something like that, and I think people are assuming there’s more to the story. More to the point, everyone who knows Leda knows that she can be overdramatic, so I wouldn’t worry too much. People are mostly talking about the attack, anyway.”
“Well that’s something, I guess,” said Lily.
“Just do what you normally do,” Mary advised her, “and I’ll do some damage control.”
“How are you planning on doing that?” Lily asked her, a little warily.
“Don’t worry,” Mary assured her. “I can spread stories faster than anyone.”
“Merlin,” Lily said. “I just won’t ask.”
“Anyway,” Mary said, looking up from her toes, “is it worth it?”
“Is what worth what?”
“James, silly. A lot of the school may be surprised by the two of you getting together, but some of us have been waiting for months. Is it worth all the gossip that may or may not be happening?”
“Yes,” Lily said instantly, and then hesitated. For as long as she had known and”albeit, sometimes grudgingly”liked Mary, she had never really trusted the other girl. Mary was too much of a flirt and a gossip to keep a secret, and Lily, so normally intensely private with her feelings anyway, had never really felt the need to confide in her.
But right now, for some reason, she felt herself speak. “Actually,” she admitted, and Mary raised an eyebrow at her, “it’s a little weird.”
Mary, to Lily’s surprise, put down the magazine she’d just picked up and turned to face her. “How so?” she asked.
“Well,” Lily said haltingly, “we’re just sort of…don’t know how to act around each other now. We used to be able to talk”or at least argue”so much we could never get each other to shut up, but now we’re just awkward around each other. It’s like we suddenly got shy.”
Mary shrugged. “That’s actually not uncommon,” she said. “Your whole relationship has changed, so it makes sense that you’d be a little bit confused about how to act around each other. How much time do you spend together?”
“What, you mean just the two of us?” Lily asked, and Mary nodded. “Not much,” Lily admitted. “I mean, it’s only been a couple of days.”
“Well there’s your answer,” Mary said, sounding satisfied.
“What’s my answer?” Lily said, mystified.
“It’s obvious,” said Mary. “If you want to fix the awkwardness, you have to confront it.”
“Meaning…” Lily said, and Mary rolled her eyes.
“I’ll break it down for you,” she said. “Go find him, grab him, and make out with him for two hours. It should do the trick.”
“Oh,” Lily said, aware and irritated that she was blushing.
“Told you it was simple,” Mary said, stealing her copy of Witch Weekly back from Lily. “Now get lost.”
Lily stuck her tongue out at her friend, but then stood up. “You’re the expert,” she said, grinning, and then did as she was told.
Still, though, she was more than a little nervous as she wandered into the common room, taking her time. A few haggard-looking fifth years were spread around, books open, and Lily remembered vaguely that they had O.W.L.s coming up in just a few months. In another corner, she caught site of Sirius and Remus, hunched over a piece of parchment, and she moseyed over to them.
“Hey,” she said, and Sirius looked up at her as Remus, frowning, leaned over the parchment again. “Do you realize that we have N.E.W.T.s in like, three months?”
Sirius made a face. “Please let’s bring that up as often as possible,” he said.
Remus, on the other hand, looked slightly stricken. “I keep forgetting,” he said. “The professors really aren’t pushing it the way they were O.W.L.s, are they?”
Lily shook her head. “Not at all. Which is weird, because they’re so much more difficult.”
“Whatever,” Sirius yawned. “O.W.L.s weren’t exactly hard.”
“Shut up,” Remus said good-naturedly, then looked at Lily. “Probably we’re supposed to be independent now or something.”
“Or something,” she grinned. “Anyway, have you guys seen James?”
Sirius smirked lazily. “I knew that was all you came to talk to us for, Evans,” he said.
Once again, Lily wished she had more control over her blushing, and Sirius laughed at her.
“He left a little while ago,” Remus said. “You might check the Quidditch pitch.”
“But it’s freezing out,” Lily said, startled. “It’s barely February. They can’t have started practice yet.”
“They start soon, actually,” Sirius told her, “but you try telling James it’s too cold for him to fly, see what he says.”
“I see your point,” Lily acknowledged. “Anyway, I’m going to go find him.”
“Give him a kiss for me,” Sirius called, and Lily swatted him before walking away. Behind her, she could hear the two of them laughing still, and she shook her head, turning bright red all over again.
The halls were even emptier than the common room had been; dinner was over, and the professors weren’t hesitating to pile them with homework, even just after the winter holidays. They had said something about keeping everyone in shape for spring exams, but Lily had to wonder how much of it was about distracting the students from the attack in Hogsmeade.
She was deep in thought as she walked down the hall, but suddenly she paused and doubled back a few steps, standing in front of a broom cupboard she had just passed. Smiling, a little nostalgically, she opened the door; she and James had ended up hiding in broom cupboards several times last year, during several bouts of rule-breaking that she, at least, had been somewhat new to, and this one had been the first.
Laughing at herself, she pushed the door open a little farther, slipping inside and letting it drift shut behind her. It was smaller than she remembered, and she found herself wondering how they’d even both fit in here before. But it was dark and quiet, and somewhat comforting. She closed her eyes, leaning back against a wall, half-wondering if she should rehearse what she was going to say to James when there was a knock at the door.
Frowning, half thinking she imagined it, Lily opened her eyes and leaned forward, pushing the door open slightly. Her fingers curled around her wand, pulling it from her pocket, and she whispered “Lumos!” quietly just as James stuck his head around the door.
“Mind if I join you in here?” he asked, and Lily gaped at him.
“Where did you come from?” she asked as he eased himself in and shut the door again, her wandlight gently illuminating his face. “And how did you know I was in here?”
Her heart was flopping around so violently in her chest that she almost thought she might be sick”had being around him always made her this nervous? She was half-considering making some excuse and bolting when James grinned at her. “I was heading back to Gryffindor Tower,” he said, “and I had just turned the corner when I saw you come in here. What are you doing in here, anyway, reliving old times?”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lily said demurely, focusing intently on a mop to James’s right.
“Sure,” he said. “You’re in a broom cupboard because you like the company.”
“Well,” she heard herself say as she raised her eyes to his, “the company’s not too bad right now.”
His grin, if at all possible, widened, and Lily was more than aware that this was the first time they been truly alone together in months. Her stomach was in knots and she inhaled deeply, thinking, I don’t know how to do this.
The cupboard was so small that they were standing close together, and as Lily moved to tuck her hair back skittishly, her hand brushed his”it was ice-cold. “You’re frozen,” she murmured, folding his hand between hers.
“Yeah,” he said quietly, his voice gone suddenly husky, “yeah, I was out flying a little too long, it’s kind of cold out there.”
“Stupid,” she smiled up at him, and he moved a little closer to where she was leaning against the wall, their hands still linked.
“I know,” he said. “I couldn’t help myself.”
They were just inches apart. He smelled like winter, like cold and fresh air, and she breathed him in, wondering why it was that she always wanted to run from everything she wanted. But then he moved his other hand over hers, where she was still holding her lit wand, and murmured, “Knox,” as he leaned into her, and her wandlight went out.
Her pulse leapt into overdrive the moment their lips touched”gently, at first”but strangely, somehow, the butterflies in her stomach quieted, as though her body, at least, had known what she wanted all along. Huh, was her last conscious thought as she threw her arms around James’s neck, I guess Mary was right.
---
“I’m having a hard time believing this,” Sirius said to Remus, leaning forward onto his elbows.
The two of them were still sitting at a table in the common room, a little while after Lily had left them.
“What, exactly,” Remus said patiently, “don’t you believe?”
“Well, that we’re done,” Sirius said. “I mean…done? With this map? The map that we’ve been working on for years?”
“I know it’s never been complete, but we have used it before,” Remus reminded him. “Now, we just know it’s right.”
“It’s right? You’re sure? No more gaping holes where the third floor should be? It’s not going to tell us Peter is walking up to us when it’s really Filch, or vice-versa?”
“Nope,” Remus said, somewhat smugly. “Everything on this map of Hogwarts is one-hundred-percent true. Every bit.”
“Hmm,” Sirius said, looking at him intently. “I don’t know. Sounds too good to be true. Give me that.” And before Remus could protest, Sirius swiped the map from him.
“Hey!” Remus said huffily. “Be careful with that.”
“Look, me!” Sirius said delightedly, pointing at his dot on the map and ignoring his friend. “Well, I guess that part of it’s right, anyway.”
Furrowing his brow, he scoured the rest of the map, his tongue sticking out. “Now I know why you never study,” Remus muttered. “You look ridiculous when you concentrate.”
Sirius made a face at him. “Okay,” he said definitively, “there’s no way this can be right.”
“What? Why?” Remus said, half-insulted, as he tilted his head in Sirius’s direction.
“Look,” Sirius said. “I found James’s dot. Also Lily’s. It says they’re in a broom closet, which makes absolutely no sense.”
Remus considered this from several points of view. “Um,” he said finally, “well, I mean, it could””
“Come on,” Sirius said, standing up, “I’ll prove it to you.”
And he strode from the common room. Remus hesitated for a moment, half-wanting to chase after him and half-wanting to stay put. Eventually, the desire to keep Sirius from embarrassing himself won out, and he chased after his friend.
He caught up with him just in front of the broom closet door. Sirius waved the map at him. “See?” he said. “It still says they’re in there.”
He reached for the door handle, and Remus put a hand out. “Wait, Padfoot,” he said. “Maybe you shouldn’t””
Sirius rolled his eyes. “Oh, please,” he said. “What could they possib”” He stopped abruptly, having wrenched the door open. “Oh.”
Remus groaned as Sirius stepped back, leering. A moment later, Lily and James slipped out of the broom closet, both of them looking flushed and a little disheveled.
“Well,” Sirius said, turning to Remus, “it works!”
James and Lily, Remus was relieved to see, did not appear particularly upset; James’s arm was slung around Lily’s shoulder, and they both looked as though they were trying not to laugh. Really, Remus thought, he himself was the one who seemed most embarrassed about the whole debacle.
“Sorry,” he said to James and Lily, then grabbed Sirius by the arm. “Come on, Padfoot,” he snarled, and dragged him away. As they turned the corner, he heard a burst of laughter behind them.
He let go of Sirius, who was chuckling himself. “Aw, come on, Moony,” Sirius said. “Lighten up. It was just a bit of fun.”
Remus narrowed his eyes at him as they reached Gryffindor Tower. He gave the password, and then as they clambered in, said, “You knew perfectly well that they were in there, didn’t you?”
Sirius grinned. “Well, I had an idea,” he said.
Remus gazed heavenwards, sighing deeply. “You,” he said, sounding long-suffering, “really need to find a new way to have fun.”
Sirius opened his mouth, ready to retort, when a dark-blonde girl brushed past them, her elbow catching Sirius so hard in the stomach that he gasped.
“Ow,” he muttered resentfully, rubbing his sternum. “Watch it!”
The girl, who appeared to be on her way out of the tower turned sharply to glower at them. She locked eyes with Sirius, who looked baffled. Remus, who had been eyeing the girl, suddenly realized why she looked so familiar”Annabelle Fletcher, whose sister had married Leda’s brother.
The fourth-year didn’t say a word, but her grey eyes were hard as flint, and Remus was half-amused and half-alarmed to see Sirius look uncomfortable, as though he wanted to take a step back. Annabelle narrowed her eyes a little bit, then turned again, just as sharply, and made her way out of the tower.
Sirius growled softly after her. “She gives me the creeps,” he said as soon as she was gone.
“Yeah,” Remus said thoughtfully. “I can see why. What do you think she’s up to?”
“Hell if I know,” Sirius said. Then, after a beat, he asked, “Want to follow her?”
Remus raised an eyebrow. “We just got back. Also, you want to go tail the scary girl?”
“Um, yes,” Sirius said, “obviously. How else will she know what she’s doing? I mean, she could be”why are you laughing?”
Remus shook his head, still smiling. “You’re just so…fearless,” he said, a touch of envy in his voice that Sirius seemed not to notice.
“Aw, come on,” he scoffed. “She’s a fourth-year. What could she possibly be doing that we could handle?”
“Well, all right,” Remus sighed, “let’s go then. Before the trail gets cold.”
Sirius, enthusiastic as ever, winked at him, then bounded for the portrait hole.
---
Oblivious to the intrigue occurring so many rooms away, Lily and James took their time going back to Gryffindor Tower, wandering through the castle instead. Lily, who seemed almost giddy to James, took it upon herself to tease the various paintings in the halls, using her wand to swap the hats on the heads of witches sitting around a campfire for live owls, and hang a bright strand of lights all through a portrait of somber-looking monks, until James laughingly informed her that this was not appropriate behavior for the Head Girl.
“Oh, what do you know about it,” she said teasingly, and then darted down the hall before him.
James jogged after her. “So, listen,” he said, and she turned her head to look at him, her red hair swishing over her shoulder as she did so in a way that made him lose his train of thought for a second. “I, um, was just thinking. Valentine’s Day is coming up, and it’s about time for us to have a real date.”
“Oh,” she said dramatically, “But I’ve managed to avoid that for so long!” James made a face at her, then reached out and grabbed her by the hand, yanking her backwards so that, for a moment, she stumbled against them. “Well, I suppose I could be seen with you,” she said, grinning impishly up at him. “What did you have in mind?”
“There’s a Hogsmeade trip on Valentine’s Day, next weekend,” James said, “but I don’t know. Everyone’s going to be doing that. I thought we might mix it up a little bit, go into the village this weekend instead.”
Lily’s eyes widened ever so slightly, a soft smile playing around the edges of her mouth. “This weekend?” she asked. “There’s not a Hogsmeade visit this weekend. We wouldn’t be allowed.”
“Ah, well,” James said, looping his arm around her neck, “therein lies the fun.”
---
“So,” asked Mary, a quarter of an hour later when Lily reentered their dorm room, “how’d it go?”
Lily paused for a moment, and then said noncommittally, “You give good advice.”
Mary smirked. “Knew it,” she said. “So what happened?”
“Well, I don’t kiss and tell,” Lily teased.
“What’s the fun in that?” Mary scowled at her, and Lily relented, throwing her a bone.
“I may or may not have a date this weekend,” she allowed, and Mary perked up.
“This weekend?” she asked curiously. “But the Hogsmeade weekend’s not till next, what are you going to do?”
Lily grinned mischievously. “Oh,” she said casually, “Hogsmeade’s still there, even if we’re not technically supposed to go.”
Mary looked impressed despite herself. “Nice,” she nodded. “Score one for James Potter. You’ll have to tell me all about it.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Lily said, “although””
A loud cough from the doorway cut her off, and for the second time that day, she looked up to see Leda stalking into the room. The dark-haired girl went straight to her bed, flopping down with a book in her hands, and then looked over at them. “Either of you done the Charms essay yet?” she asked, her voice level. “I’m having a bit of difficulty.”
Lily and Mary exchanged the briefest of glances, neither one of them sure if Leda had heard them talking, if she was really as unruffled as she appeared. Then Mary shrugged, stood up, and walked over to Leda, saying, “I’m not done but I have started it, what’s giving you trouble?”
Lily watched the exchange before pulling out her own book, trying her best to let homework cover her growing sense of unease.
Stars Apart by Willow Rosenberg
Chapter Notes: OH HI.Sooo my crazy semester is finished, finals are over, and it's summertime! Which means, among other things, much quicker updates! Here's the first one, thanks for all your patience :)
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