Boys will be Boys

Chapter Five

Er- Just Browsing...

Dara acted first. In a split-second, she'd taken two huge strides over to Lily and shoved her behind the door, which opened subsequently. Lily gave her a horrified look and clutched the doorknob to keep herself hidden behind door. It was hard to say who was more shocked. Dara had decided that it was no use to pretend not to be in the room and she didn't want to dive under the bed because the toxic fumes'd probably suffocate her. For once, she was scared.

At first, Sirius was so preoccupied that he walked right passed her, standing to the side of the door. Then he stopped, blinked and looked at her incredulously. He was speechless for a moment. Then-

"Bloody hell!"

Dara was thinking very quickly. They couldn't be discovered. It was up to her.

Sirius was still regarding her with total disbelief. His mouth was open and if he hadn't been so good-looking, he would have resembled a frog. Dara bit her lip and said the first thing that came into her head.

"Er- just browsing..." She wanted to go on and confuse him more, the poor boy. She could say, 'Oh! Is this YOUR room?' Or 'Geez, I must've made a wrong turn at the kitchens! C'mon Lily!', but he wasn't that dense. If only Peter had been the one to come in...

"What?" He asked, finding his voice again. He took a step forward and she took one back, "You aren't browsing through our stuff are you?" He'd gotten his senses back and he didn't sound too pleased.

It took all of her willpower to push aside her prejudices and try to save Lily's and her own life. She fluttered her eyelashes and said very sweetly and, rather stupidly, "Of course not- Sirius!" She almost slipped and called him Black. She'd never called him by only his first name and had never planned to. But, desperate times call for desperate measures...

His expression was hard to read since he had closed his mouth. The darkness shadowed his face as the clouds passed over the moon and the light from the window was cut off. He paused for a second and Dara held her breath.

"So, then why are you here?"

Her mind raced, searching for a solution to her problem, "Well, because, because I hoped to talk to you!" She tried not to make a face.

Lily was making a dent in her lip to keep from laughing and/or screaming in terror. She couldn't believe what Dara was doing, and she knew what she was GOING to do. Lily could just see her bursting out with, 'Because I'm madly in love with you!'

However, Dara was more discreet.

"Because, you see," Dara looked down at her feet. If Lily hadn't known she was acting, she never would have been able to tell, "I realized that I really like you Sirius. And- and I just couldn't spend another moment without telling you!"

Sirius was very confused, as he probably was entitled to be. Didn't she hate him? Didn't he hate her? Well, not really...

"Really?" he asked, taking another step forward. Dara stepped back again. She still had to get Lily out! But, right now, Sirius was facing the door.

"Yes, really," she said, going to sit on the window ledge along the wall. She gave the door a look that said, 'Run!' as she passed by. Sirius followed her slowly and sat down with his back to the door. Lily started out carefully, being as quiet as she could. Unfortunately, she tripped and there was a thump of her falling against the wall. Dara's eyes grew wide and she pretended not to hear anything.

"Sirius-" she said seriously, getting his attention, "I wanted to ask you something..."

"Yes?"

Dara saw Lily slip out the door and she ached to say, 'Did you actually believe me?', but that probably wasn't a good idea...

"Do you like me?" She tried to sound as pleading as possible although she couldn't believe she just asked him that. Sirius raised an eyebrow an leaned in...

*~*~*~*~*

As soon as Lily cleared that door, she broke into a run. She pressed a hand to her head, half fell into a chair in the common room and laughed until she cried. Oh, gods! That would go down in history! She gasped for breath and waited for her best friend to come down. About five minutes later, Dara came down the stairs and plopped down in the chair beside Lily. Her face was completely blank. Lily burst out laughing again.

"Is this funny?" Dara asked coldly, but her moth twitched with suppressed laughter.

"What did he do?" she begged. "You have to tell me!"

Dara regarded her, "Y'know what, I don't think I'll tell you."

"Dara!"

Dara frowned, "Hey! I just sacrificed a whole lot for you, missy!"

Lily looked at her mischievously, "What exactly did you do up there?"

Dara shrugged, "Oh, you know...Talked...I'm going to the ball with him." She made a face.

Lily grinned, "So, how was 'talking'?"

Dara grabbed a pillow and chucked it at her friend, "I am NOT answering that question. And don't think that you're getting out of this so easily, Miss Evans! You just might end up going to the ball with one of my date's friends..."

Lily jumped up out of her seat, "Dara, you didn't! No!"

"Well, I thought that it wasn't fair for me to suffer alone..."

Lily was indignant, "Who? Who did you set me up with? Peter? Remus? ...Oh, no. You DIDN'T."

Dara's grin was pure wickedness, "Oh, yes! You, my dear, are going with James Potter, Quidditch player extraordinaire, excellent student, and eligible bachelor."

*~*~*~*~*

It was a while before this truly sunk in. Lily forgave Dara, of course, since she supposed it really wasn't fair to have her suffer by herself. Although she had doubts about this. Dara seemd to glance at Sirius a lot more often since that night. Lily shook her head and smiled broadly. They were a pair. Then she had a horrible thought. Were she and James a pair? Dara and Sirius started out hating each other...Lily's eyed were horrified. It couldn't happen to her. No. She would never fall in love with James Potter.