You belong with me - Chap. 30

SIXTH YEAR

"Late again?" Sam snorted with resignation when two dark-haired heads, and a sandy-haired one popped inside the compartment with rehearsed angelic smiles.
"Seems like you already know us quite well," Potter said innocently, widening his white smile even more.
"We're afraid our admirors (who had offered us a place on their  compartment) could kidnap us." Sirius added, and his friend slapped him in the nape. Sam rolled her eyes and Becca looked at him with disdain.
"Shut it, Padfoot; you're not helping," Pettigrew told him off in a low voice, making Bree and Rebecca laugh.
"Can we stay?"James requested, pulling his best puppy eyes.
"Please?" Peter added,
"Pretty please?" Sirius said childishly, and even Becca laughed, and said:
"Whatever, stay. Black bothers me with his mere existence, but there isn't much I can do about it." Sirius threw her an irritated look, and sat quite offended next to Bree, kissing his friend on the cheek, who inevitably blushed, though it seemed to go unnoticed  for the Marauders. Peter and James smiled thankful and sat on each side of Sam
"Have you grown some inches?" Sirius asked, flattening Bree's jumping curls with one hand. "Or you've just had a fight with your comb again?" Brianna wrinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue at him, but Black didn't desist from his attempt to placate the brunette's tight ringlets. "The comb, definitely." He stated.
"Always so charming." She commented, frowning comically. Sirius displayed his two rows of shining teeth and raised an eyebrow seductively.
"I know," he said, puting an arm around his friend's shoulders and giving her a warm hug. "I've missed you, little midget." Samantha layed back on her seat and rolled her eyes.
"I've missed you too, Sirius," she said, scrutinizing his face.  Sirius' eyes shied away from hers: he knew that, as soon as they were alone, she would ask him about him running away from home, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to talk about it; it made him feel vulnerable, the way Bree always seemed to know exactly how he felt.
"How was your summer?" Becca asked, shifting on her seat until she was comfortable and naturally shaking her blonde, wavy hair. Black shrugged his shoulders, Brianna's attentive eyes still fixed on his face. James rushed to answer.
"Nothing out of the ordinary."
"Good." Becca simply said. "Does that mean Remus didn't have a relapse?" she asked. A smile flickered across Sam's lips; the Ravenclaw didn't even try to hide or conceal her interest in the marauder. The one who didn't notice it was either stupid, or Black; though that was practically saying the same thing.
"Err… that just... It means everything went just as always. He might have had a relapse, but nothing serious." Potter answered, elbowing Peter, who had a terrified expression on his face. "How's Lily?" he asked with anxiety: he had promised Remus he wouldn't bother the redhead's friends as soon as he saw them, but he just hadn't been able to help it.
"She… I guess she's fine, considering the circumstances. I mean, at least she pretends to be." Perks said, shrugging and looking at Bree, who was still quite bussy observing Sirius with a slight frown. Potter wasn't so sure about it.
"Have you seen her today?" He asked, and Sam shook her head, and then added:
"I mean, yeah, but just for a momento; she shot off to the prefects' meeting with Eli," James nodded once; she would ask Remus about her later.
The atmosphere inside the compartment was a bit tense and depressing, was it because of Lily's problems, or Remus', or because of Bree's concern for Sirius, and it was Rebecca (as it was usual), the one who took charge of cheering everyone up.
"Truth or dare?" She said naughtily, fixing her feline eyes on Black, who raised an eyebrow, looking at her with interest: it was a muggle game, but very well-known among Hogwarts' students.
"Dare." He said, his grey eyes shining defiant.
--
"No, Potter, you didn't carry out the dare." Moon was saying as she got off the carriage. Sirius and Bree looked at each other and shook their heads, chuckling. Since they had gotten off the train, James and Rebecca had been arguing about it.
"I did!" James insisted with obstinacy. He was supposed to ask Roger McCormack (Ravenclaw's Head Boy and Rebecca's ex-boyfriend) out – and Sirius had suggested that, in case he accepted the date, the dare would extend to a trip to Hogsmeade with him ('Who knows? Maybe after going out with this nutcase he decided he didn't like women anymore'. He had earned a kick with that comment).
"C'mon, Potter, you couldn't even finish the sentence before cracking up," Becca said, smiling.
"How could I not! Didn't you see his face?" James couldn't help letting out a guffaw when he remembered McCormack's perplex expression, with his eyes wide open.
"But according to the rules, you didn't carry out the challenge." Pettigrew said, shrugging. Potter looked daggers at him, and Sirius burst out laughing.
"I would shut up if I were you, Wormtail; remember you sleep in the same room as Prongs: think about the consequences."
"That means you owe me three dares. And you have to fulfill those." The blonde said triumphantly. Potter mumbled some complain, but as soon as they reached the Great Hall, the hungry marauders rushed to their seats.
Sam stopped by the door for a second, observing them with an odd expression on her face; something torn between resignation and outrage. Becca and Bree looked at her questioningly.
"What?" Brianna asked, smiling a bit at her friend's expression.
"When the hell did this happen?" Sam inquired with something that sounded a lot like desperation in her voice. Rebecca frowned.
"What d'you mean?"
"When did we become friends with those brainless brats?" Bree and Becca burst out laughing.
"I guess it was just a matter of time." Said the blonde.
--
Lily gently pushed the door, peeking inside to make sure the room was empty before opening the door completely. She entered and sat on the first row, as always, placing it not very carefully on the desk, accompanying the sharp noise with a sigh.
Luckily, the train's Prefects' meeting had extended, so her patrol had ended right when the Hogwarts Express had reached its destination. During dinner, she had smiled as much as she could and talked as much as posible to avoid being asked how she felt. As soon as they had entered their room, she had gone to bed alleging she was exhausted, and this morning she had woken up very early, leaving the room quietly and having breakfast alone. She didn't like avoiding her friends, but she really didn't want to talk about how she felt. Maybe if she avoided the topic for a few days, her friends would let it go. It hadn't been a happy summer, and she didn't want to talk about it. She just wanted to forget about it and try to move on.
The girl didn't hear hear the door opening; she was lost in thought and anyway she didn't expect anyone to come so early to class, but James had heard her friends talking about Lily during breakfast and he had swallowed what he was chewing, jumping out of his sear and leaving the sleepy marauders at the table. He pushed the half-opened door of the Defense Agains the Dark Arts classroom trying to avoid making noise, standing next to it for a few minutes, observing the girl. Her dark red hair reached the middle of her back now, and her tiny freckles seemed to have multiplied, as it always happened right after summer. Her delicate hands toyed with the straps of her rucksack, and her beautiful green eyes were fixed on some point of the wall, but her mind appeared to be anywhere else. Even when nothing about her look showed signs of it, to James it was obvious that grief overcame Lily. He couldn't explain exactly what it was, but her vibrant  carácter and that aura of joy that always seemed to surround her were gone; she seemed melancholic and thoughfull, as if she had no energy left in her body, or as if she had no more reasons to smile. He had observed her during dinner, and he had seen her laughing and joking around with her friends, but despite it, he knew that, actually, the redhead was suffering.
Suddenly, Lily turned to him, as if she had heard him breathing. She startled when she saw him standing there, and Potter smiled shyly. The redhead looked at him in the eye and detected an emotion she had seen a lot in her friends' eyes lately: concern. She felt something strange when she recognized it, a warm feeling on her chest, but the smile she was about to give him back died before reaching her lips: she couldn't let herself make that mistake again; trusting Potter again. She had been an idiot last year for doing so, and disappointment had been awful. As honest as his concern seemed to be, Lily knew she couldn't give in to it, 'cause that was just what Potter did; make people fall to his sweet-talking, but all his sweetness, his chivalry and friendliness were a façade, a lie.
"What's up, Evans?" The redhead's look hardened.
"Get lost, Potter." She spat rudely, and then looked back to the wall in front of her.
Lily's rudeness startled James, who stood there for a momento, without knowing what to do; this time he hadn't even brag about anything, and he hadn't asked her out. What had gotten into her? He messed up his hair with one hand and approached some steps to her.
"I just… I was wondering how were you doing," he said. The redhead didn't even look at him as she answered:
"Is it so hard to get, Potter? Leave me alone."
The bell rang, and loud mutterings flooded the corridors. James stood by the door until some students begun entering the classroom; so he sat down behind Lily, still a bit puzzled. His friends arrived and sat next to him, and Moon, Rivers, Perks and Boot surrounded Lily, lovingly pinching her arm or kissing hr on the cheek, and the redhead smiled at them as sweetly as always.
The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was an odd man; not flamboyant as Templesmith (who had retired to be an event manager), but he seemed constantly irritated and had a nervous tic in his left eye. He probably wouldn't last more than a year, James told himself trying to focus on whatever the professor was saying.
--
"For the thousandth time, Eli, I'm fine," the redhead said, planting a loud kiss on the Ravenclaw's cheek. "Stop pestering me already" she added with a smile. Eli messed up her hair.
"If you say so…" he said pompously, pointing at her seat theatrically. Lily rolled her eyes and sat down.
"Y'know what you should do instead of pestering me?" she asked once the boy had sat.
"What" he asked.
"Decide when are you gonna ask her out." She said, smiling maliciously. Eli went red, and Lily knew he would be quiet for the rest of the class; she had played dirty, but between Bree and him, they were driving her crazy.
"When is he asking out whom?" a soft voice asked. Lily and Eli looked up to meet a tired but smiling Remus. The Ravenclaw gave his friend a withering look, and Lily let out a giggle, looking at Lupin with his eyebrows raised.
"Can't you tell?" she asked.
"Of course I can; you gotta be blind not to see it. Or you gotta be Sirius." Lily and Eli laughed. Just as the redhead had supposed, Remus and the Ravenclaw got along really well, and the three of them had gotten closer thanks to the Prefects' meetings.
Remus scrutinized her face, and Lily had to make a huge effort not to roll he reyes. Bree. Eli. Now Remus.
"Li –" Lupin started tos ay, but she interrupted him.
"I'm fine, Remus. I'm perfectly fine." She said as kindly as she could, but with a trace of exasperation. The lycanthrope looked at Eli, who shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.
They left the classroom a bit late, so Eli waved goodbye and ran towards his next class, on the other side of the castle.
"You still have Potions, right?" the lycanthrope asked, pointing the corridor that led to the dungeons with his thumb.
"Of course; you too?" Lily inquired; that summer they had received their O.W.L's marks, and some professors required certain grades, and some students decided to drop certain subjects. Remus nodded and they headed to the classroom.
The boy was about to ask her again if everything was alright, but Lily's warning look stopped him.
"So why doesn't he ask her out already?" He asked instead, making a gesture towards the corridor in which Eli had dissappeared. Lily smiled.
"As cheeky as you see him, he's quite shy when it comes to tell how he feels about someone," she said, and then looked at him with suspicion. "He's nothing like Becca on that matter." Remus gave a start and look at her out of the corner of his eye.
"I guess," he said, rushing to sit with his friends as soon as they arrived at the dungeon.
"Why does she talk to him, but not to me!?" James was saying when Remus arrived and sat next to him and Sirius (Peter had been the only one without the required mark to continue with the subject)
"Because she wants to sleep with him." Sirius answered, and James smacked him in the nape, irritated.
"Why does she talk to you, but not to me?" he asked in a bad mood, staring at the lycanthrope. "I haven't bothered her! I haven't asked her out! I didn't even try to show off! And she looked at me as if I had flobberworm mucus all over my face."
"Not to mention she sent you to hell, Prongs, my dear friend," Sirius added, smiling sideways.
"You reap what you sow, James… You'll have to make a huge effort to make Lily trust you. Anyway, it's true it was strange that she talked to you that way… Doesn't sound like Lily." Remus answered.  "She's trying to get over what happened to her dad. She just need some time." He added, guessing the boy's next question.
Right then, professor Slughorn arrived, and they had to save the chat for later.
--
"I'm sleepy," Peter stated as he entered the Common Room at the end of the day, followed by his friends. Sirius chuckled.
"And it's only day one, Wormtail," he said. "And remember you don't have Prefect duties like Moony, nor Quidditch practice, like Prongs…"
"Yeah, and the practice is –" James started to say, but he suddenly stopped and brushed his face with his palm, twisting his glasses. Sirius ssmiled with fake innocence and Remus, who understood his intentions when he mentioned Quidditch practice, looked at him reproachfully. "I am the team Captain." Said James.
"Yes." Sirius said, holding back the laughter.
"I have to pick the team members."
"Yep." Black nodded, and Remus and Peter laughed.
"I have to organize the trainings."
"Uh huh," Padfoot kept on saying.
"And I need a strategy"
"Exactly."
"Shit."
"You'll have fun." Sirius told him, pinching his cheeks as if he was an old lady. James got rid of him, laughing.
"You're a moron, Padfoot. Fine, I'll Schedule the tryouts for next week, I guess… We're lacking a chaser and a beater. And well, I'm supposed to test the rest of the team as well"
"Oh, my little boy is growing up! So responsible…" Sirius said, pretending to dry his tears.
"Next week, then?" Asked Perks, who had just entered the room along with Lily and Bree.
"Uh huh. And don't be late; you're one of the best players, Perks, you're gonna help me choose the rest of the team." Potter said. Sam looked at him with an eyebrow raised and a half-smile she wasn't able to hide.
"Fine." She said, taking the bangs out of his eyes with his hand, as she usually did when she was being flattered or when she was nervous, something that James had noticed a little while ago. She waved goodbye and so did Lily, though she didn't look at Potter. Brianna, instead, approached to them and rested her arms on the sofa's back, 'cause Sirius was pouting to make her stay.
"How was your day, Nana?" he asked, kneeling on the chair and toying with her curls. Bree smiled.
"Fine, though it'll definitely be a busy year again." She answered, shrugging.
"Well, you'll have to find some spare time," he said, his knees still on the sofa. Then, he leant on the back of the armchair and got closer to Bree's year, who went red. "Next week you have the team's tryouts, and if I remind it correctly, you promise you'd give it a try."
The brunette's round, blue eyes widened and she pulled a comical grimace with her mouth, but Sirius ignored it, winked mischievously, and sat properly again.