Nothing On Earth

Chapter 2

12:30 PM

Much to Lily's dismay, her companions had opted to go settle into their staterooms instead of going up on deck to see the cast-off. Although she had warned them that their no-show up on deck would send tongues wagging and that they would be branded unsociable for the rest of the voyage, they didn't listen and strutted off to find their staterooms.

Lily, furious with them for never listening to her, marched off in the opposite direction so she could go on deck by herself. But by the time she found her way up to the A-Deck Promenade area, Titanic was already in motion and there was nothing left to see. Frustrated at her companions and disappointed that she didn't get to see the first cast off, she stomped back inside to the First Class area, only to have her breath taken away by the splendour of what was laid out before her. She had been in such a hurry to get outside and on deck that she hadn't even noticed she had gotten there via the Grand Staircase.

She knew it was not proper for a lady of her stature to be gaping (for she should've been far used to this luxury) but the Grand Staircase was even better than she had read about. The enormous glass dome overhead had a crystal chandelier in the centre that sparkled from all the bright sunlight streaming through. The oak staircase curved much like the main staircase at Malfoy Manor (which she had been unfortunate enough to visit more than once) and the railings were intricately carved with iron insets. At the first landing there was an elegant clock flanked by the figures representing Honour and Glory crowning Time.

"It is beautiful, isn't it?"

Lily turned her head and looked at the man who had spoken. He was a rather handsome gentleman with his greying brown hair and square jaw. Lily recognized him at once as Thomas Andrews, Titanic's designer.

"Yes, it is beautiful," she murmured in reply, embarrassed that he had caught her gaping. "The clock is especially striking."

"I was rather worried how that was going to come out, but the carpenters ended up doing a far better job then I expected," Andrews commented, nodding his agreement. He opened the notebook he was carrying, wrote a quick note in it, and then snapped it shut. "Well, best be seeing to the rest of her. Have a pleasant voyage, miss."

"Likewise," Lily replied, nodding her head as Andrews walked away.

She returned her attention to the foyer, trying to see if any of her group had wandered into this area yet. To her surprise, she saw not her fiancé or sister, but another familiar face. He was just on the landing below, staring at the clock, apparently spellbound by it.

Lily left her spot on the railing and walked down the staircase. Once she was more than halfway down (and at an acceptable shouting distance) she called, "I thought I might be seeing you on this voyage, Sirius Black!"

Sirius turned, a face full of bewilderment that disappeared the moment he caught sight of Lily.

"Well, if it isn't Miss Lily Evans," Sirius replied once Lily was standing in front of him. A smile formed on his handsome features, and she returned it, looking her happiest all day. "I haven't seen you in quite a few years, but you're still as gangly and freckly as ever."

"I see you still need to learn how to be a gentlemen. I thought they taught chivalry at Hogwarts," Lily responded. "Your mother must be terribly upset about that waste of money."

"If my mother's not upset about something I've done, then I've considered it a waste of a day...She seems to think that this voyage and the sea air will 'clear my head of all those foolish ideas that crackpot Dumbledore put in it'," he admitted, rolling his eyes.

"That's why you're here. I thought it'd might've been because it's the social thing to do this season and because your mother wants you to find a wife - "

"Don't remind me. That's all she ever thinks about now," Sirius interrupted, his voice full of exasperation. "She gone absolutely mad over the fact that Regulus is running the family business instead of me and that I haven't found an acceptable girl to marry yet...My excuse now is that I'm not at the proper age yet - twenty still being a bit young to marry, in my opinion - but I bet if I don't find a girl within another year, she'll force me to marry one of my cousins."

"That's horrible!" Lily laughed. "I suppose she thinks that you should've asked me to marry you as well!"

"You have no idea...Why just this morning - for the hundredth time - she was telling me, 'Sirius Black, you should've proposed to that Evans girl before Lucius Malfoy beat you to it! She's far more suitable than these floozies you bring home every other week!' I still don't think she understands we're nothing more than friends."

"Oh....Right..." Lily muttered, absentmindedly twisting her engagement ring as she spoke. Her face darkened slightly and her smile disappeared. "...So, you know about Lucius and me, then?"

"Of course I know about you two, Lily. All of London knows; I'd have to have been living under a rock not to know," he explained, noticing her sudden change of mood. "Mother told me, but I wasn't going to believe it until you told me personally...which never happened, did it?"

"Sirius, you know I would've told you of all people first, except Lucius wouldn't let me," Lily sighed, trying to ignore the bitter tone to his voice. She diverted her gaze from his eyes and to the clock. "He said that now that I was his fiancé, I had to start acting like an engaged woman and that meant no contact with 'old beaus' - "

"Does everyone think that we're going to have a mad, passionate love affair if we come within five metres of each other?"

"Apparently," she agreed, smiling briefly. "I tried to convince him otherwise by saying it'd cause a scandal if two of the oldest and richest families in England suddenly stopped communicating, but he replied by saying that I was just to stop talking to you, not to the rest of your family...It's not my fault. I really wanted to tell you..." She glanced at him, hoping he would understand. "Do you forgive me?"

"Yes, I forgive you...I could never stay mad at you for long, you know," Sirius said, as he leaned against the post at the start of the downward staircase railing. Several passengers going down the stairs toward their luncheon glared at him haughtily. "Shall we talk about something more pleasant? Like your wedding plans, perhaps?"

"You'd better be careful about what you ask me," Lily replied, frowning in an irritated way. "I only know the basics about my wedding."

"What do you mean? Is Lucius not letting you take part in the wedding plans too?" Sirius asked, gaping at her.

"He put Petunia in charge of all the plans since she had earlier experience with them. He thought that I might be incapable of doing something as complex as picking out flowers and dates and colours," she clarified. "I haven't got to do a single thing except pick out the bridesmaids' dress colours, and then Petunia went and changed it because yellow makes her look large around the middle...She's picked out everything from something as unimportant as the type of invitations to the style of my wedding dress without consulting me one bit. I wasn't even included when she and Lucius picked out the date! You'd think it was her wedding, not mine!"

She finished with a huff, her face flushed with anger and arms crossed. Sirius watched her in silence for a moment before speaking up at last, "You're letting him control you far too much - "

"Oh, he's always been like that, don't you remember?"

"Well, that's what amazes me about you two...you actually accepted his proposal, when you probably knew his controlling was just going to get worse...You've always been the most independent woman I've met, and I just can't believe you're lying down and letting him make decisions for you." Sirius responded, staring at her intently. "The Lily I knew wouldn't have put up with that."

"...We haven't seen each other in ages, Sirius," Lily stated after a moment. "I realised that some things were more important than what I would've wanted or liked...I've had to change."

"Don't you mean that Malfoy had to change you?"

Lily kept silent for a moment, contemplating.

"Was...Was it that easy to guess?"

Sirius nodded slowly, a sad look on his face. He opened his mouth to reply to her inquiry, but something her shoulder caused his to divert his gaze for a moment. Suddenly, he stood up very quickly and regained his gentlemanly posture. Lily stared at him questioningly and was about to ask what was wrong, when a strong, cold grip closed painfully over her shoulder.

"There you are, darling," Lucius said, his voice barely above a growl. "We've been looking all over the ship for you."

Lily glanced quickly at her fiancé out of the corner of her eye and found that he looked furious. She quickly glanced back to Sirius, who was looking Lucius quite boldly in the eye.

"I - I wanted to see the cast off instead of going to my stateroom," Lily answered carefully, avoiding Lucius's gaze by looking at his chin.

"Cast off was over forty minutes ago...You should've come back to the staterooms immediately afterwards, but I see you got...distracted." Lucius hissed the last word out, throwing a venous glare in Sirius's direction.

"You didn't even tell me what staterooms we had booked, so I couldn't possibly have come back," she snapped back, noticing with every word she spoke, his grip on her shoulder got tighter. "I - I was waiting for all of you out here - "

"Mother will be delighted to know that you're on board, Malfoy," Sirius interrupted, his eyes flashing dangerously. His tones were ones of forced politeness, although Lucius had been making no attempt to be polite to him. "She hasn't spoken to you in a very long time and you'll both have the whole voyage to catch up."

Lily nearly sighed with relief at finding out that Sirius was staying on board until New York. That meant she'd have more than enough time to talk with him privately, without Lucius interrupting or spying on her. She desperately needed to talk to someone who'd actually listen to her.

"Lovely," Lucius replied curtly. "I'm afraid we really must get going. Don't want to miss luncheon, do we darling?"

Lily nodded slowly and as they turned to go down the staircase, she heard Lucius hiss, "Remember your place, Black, or there will be consequences."

***

"Honestly, Prongs, how hard can it be to locate our bloody staterooms?" Remus asked as he leaned against one of the walls. After England had finally disappeared from view, they had made their way downwards so they could dump their baggage in their rooms and go have some lunch. Unfortunately, Titanic was much larger on the inside then they had imagined. "I'm getting hungry."

"You should've had more to drink at the pub then," James replied insensitively. He looked at plaque on the wall to see whether or not their number was down this hallway. "Dammit, we've gone too far again!"

"We're always going too far! Why don't you give me the tickets and I'll find our way there."

"I told you the numbers already, don't you ever listen to me?"

"No, because half the words that come out of your mouth are either completely mad or swear words - "

"Excuse me, gentlemen, do you need directions?"

James and Remus stopped arguing for a moment to look at the steward who had suddenly appeared behind them. The two parties stared at each other before recognition settled in on each of them.

"Wormtail!" James exclaimed happily.

"James, Remus!" Peter Pettigrew replied, equally enthused as he nodded at his friends.

"I didn't know you were going to be on this ship too," Remus said, grinning. He jabbed James in the ribs and pointed at Peter's white uniform. "And you're a steward as well! We better be on good behaviour, James, otherwise he could have us thrown overboard!"

"But good old Peter wouldn't do that to friends!" James responded, throwing his arm around Peter's shoulder. "What he should do is give his best friend James a tour of the crew's quarters - "

"Oh no, James Potter. I am not falling for that trick again; you lost me my last job because you had to take a look at the employee area and then went and nicked something," Peter said, frowning at the black haired man leaning on his shoulder. "The only 'tour' you're getting out of me is how to get to your staterooms and back."

"Honestly Peter, I didn't mean to get you fired - "

"You also didn't mean to get caught, did you? Bad luck seems to follow you everywhere," Remus interrupted. "Now, Peter, can you show us where to our rooms? We've been wandering down here forever due to this prat's lack of direction."

"Of course, Remus, just let me see your tickets," Peter replied, and Remus handed him the tickets. James hovered over their shoulders, looking slightly put out. "...Well, part of the problem is that your rooms are on E-Deck and right now we're on D-Deck. The other part is that the men's quarters are at the bow and we're amidships at the moment."

"Do you have the time to show us the way?" Remus asked, glaring at James, who had been the one to lead them up another level. "Because we certainly don't want to cost you another job if you don't."

"Oh, it's not a problem. My shift doesn't start for another hour and it is my job to direct passengers around anyway," Peter replied, handing the tickets back to Remus. "Follow me."

Peter turned and led them down one of the bigger corridors, toward the front of the ship. The corridors weren't as crowded as they had been when they had first fought their way through. James supposed - with a grumble from his stomach - that nearly everyone was at the dinning saloon for lunch. He hoped the trek to the bow wouldn't take too long, for he was starting to get hungry.

"So what have you been up to for the past few months, Peter? We haven't seen you since that Order meeting in February. Usually we're running into you all over the place," Remus stated. A pretty blonde girl passed by the group, and both James and Peter noticed how Remus gave her another interested look.

The both shared knowing grins and Peter then said, "Well, Remus, I've been working mostly. Haven't had much time to see you or any girls - "

"Except for your mother, that is."

Peter shot James an offended look and then continued, "- As of late. A few months ago I moved to Southampton 'cause I heard there were better paying jobs here. I got hired as a hand on a steamer and had a few crossings before the coal strike set in and I got laid off. Then I heard they were hiring for Titanic and well, here I am!"

"Speaking of your mother, how is she?" Remus asked turning back to the conversation after the blonde girl had rounded a corner.

"Same as always," Peter sighed, as the walked down a metal staircase. "She still thinks that I shouldn't be involved with the Order...Thinks Dumbledore's a right old crackpot for challenging the society system; she's always been a stickler for tradition..."

"Does she still believe Remus and I are dragging you down the road of corruption as well?" James asked dryly as they turned down another long corridor. Peter rolled his eyes and nodded. "So next time we visit her she's probably going to chase out of the house wielding a broom and yelling, 'Never darken my doorstep again, you two demon children!' again?"

"She only did that because you stole her best set of earrings!"

"I didn't steal them; Moony did," James replied, looking offended at being accused for something he didn't do for once. "At least we gave you half the money we got after pawning them."

"That's not the point; they were a family heirloom," Peter protested with an annoyed sigh. "Anyway, I suppose you two are on board for Order business. Who do you have to spy on this time?"

"Can't tell you," Remus said shortly before James could open his mouth. "Not that we don't trust you Peter, but Dumbledore said that only the three of us assigned should know. Just in case it got leaked to the subject, you know?"

"Oh, I understand. I've been on enough of those bloody missions to remember Dumbledore's rules," Peter reminded them as they stopped in front of one of the doors in the middle of the corridor. "But who's the other bloke assigned with you? Is he boarding at Cherbourg or Queenstown?"

"He's on board right now, but he's in first class, lucky bastard. Dumbledore didn't give us his name," James explained. He pointed at the door. "This ours?"

"Should be anyway," Peter replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I think I'd better start heading back now, otherwise there'll be trouble."

"All right, then. Thanks a lot, Wormtail," Remus said, patting Peter on the shoulder as he passed. "We'll see you around!"

***

Lily was furious. Lucius was sitting right beside her, and he didn't even seem to notice that she was fuming or that she hadn't spoken a single word since they had sat down. She supposed that even if she stood up and screamed at the top of her lungs, he wouldn't even bat an eyelash.

After berating her about Sirius, Lucius had taken it upon himself to start treating her like she was a disobedient child unlike the nearly eighteen year old she was. Lily hated it when he did that; she could make her own bloody decisions and didn't need him to be dictating her every move.

They were eating their luncheon in the A la Carte Restaurant because Petunia and Vernon were down in the dining saloon, and Lucius didn't want to be seen with "that oversized oaf of a man" more than necessary. (It was no secret that he despised the Dursleys, and Lily often agreed with what he said about them, although she would never admit to his face.) It appeared that Lucius had made dinner arrangements up already, for he had led her to a table set for six, and the four people already seated were some of Lucius's closest confidantes: Rodolphus Lestrange, his wife Bellatrix, Antonin Dolohov, and Augustus Rookwood.

Lily had been shocked the see all of them there. She hadn't heard Lucius talk about any of his associates booking passages on Titanic. The foursome's sudden appearance had also contributed to her bad mood, for she didn't like any of them and they treated her the same as Lucius did.

The dinner started out well enough (at least no one had insulted her this time), but she ended up being ignored - as always - once they got onto certain subjects she "wouldn't have any interest in". So she listened to them talk about rising stocks, Parliament, and of course the bane of their existence, Albus Dumbledore.

When the waiter had come around, Lucius added more fuel to Lily's already growing fire of annoyance when he ordered her dinner for her, and it turned out to be veal, a meal she absolutely detested. Her nerves were frayed to their breaking point by the time Bellatrix started chatting up her fiancé.

"I'm afraid this will be the only dinner we'll be having together for awhile, Lucius," she said, making eyes at him across the table. If Lucius had meant a great deal more to Lily, she would've glared.

"And why's that my dear?" Lucius answered, smirking at her.

Lily wanted to hit him. Hard.

"Augustus, Antonin, Rodolphus, and I will be disembarking at Cherbourg. We have some...business to attend to in Paris," Bellatrix answered, sipping delicately at her drink.

"On the run from the authorities again, are you Bellatrix? Who did you murder this time?" Lily asked snidely, finally speaking up for the first time.

The table quieted suddenly, and Lucius shot her a deadly look. Bellatrix glared at her as if she was some disgusting bug from under her heavy lidded eyes, and Lily glared back defiantly because it wasn't her fault that the truth hurt.

"...I think you need to impress some manners onto your fiancée, Lucius," Dolohov commented at last. "Or at least teach her to know when her opinion is unwanted."

"Indeed," Lucius agreed. He sent her another dark look and then continued with their conversation as if nothing had happened. "Now...what were you saying, Bella?"

"While we may be disembarking at Cherbourg, you'll be pleased to know that Tom has decided to come and take our place - "

Abruptly, Lily stood abruptly from her chair and marched out of the restaurant. After all, she didn't need Lucius to teach her to know when she was as unwanted as her opinions.

***

"Ah, there's nothing like a good smoke with the sea air blowing through your hair," James commented as he took a long drag on his cigarette. "Don't you think so, Moony?"

"You know what I think about your smoking habits, Prongs," Remus sighed, looking at his friend over his book. "But you're right about the sea air."

The two of them had just finished their lunch and were back up on the Boat Deck, waiting for their partner in First Class to come down and meet with them. They were sitting on a bench by the rail near the entrance to the poop deck. James was watching the other third class passengers with some interest while Remus was reading a book.

"When did you say he was supposed to meet us?" James asked, glancing around the poop deck. "Is he going to be dressed like us or what?"

"He's supposed to be here when he finishes lunch, and I believe he's going to be dressed like a first class passenger," Remus replied after a pause. He turned a page in his book and didn't say any more.

James glanced around once again, trying to make sure he didn't miss an expensive suit in the crowd. Several children were playing a game with marbles in the middle of the deck, while further back someone was playing a set of pipes and people were dancing around merrily. Across the ship, just opposite of them, James saw a blonde set of hair and figured Mr. Dawson from the pub had won the poker game.

He got bored after a few minutes and was about to complain to Remus when he caught sight of a figure on the railing above. Only it wasn't their partner; it was a girl and a beautiful one at that.

James stared at her, transfixed. She had flaming red hair that could just be spotted underneath her gaudy hat and looked rather young. Her dress looked absolutely striking, and she had a wonderful figure. She was leaning rather unladylike on the railing and even though she wasn't looking at him, he could tell that she was miserable.

But why would someone of privilege and power be miserable? They didn't need to worry about when their next meal would be or where they'd sleep the next night. They had everything. Yet...she still looked like the most miserable creature on Earth.

"James, what are you staring at?" Remus asked, at exactly the same moment the girl turned her head and locked eyes with him. She quickly looked away - as if her own daring shocked her - but they had had enough eye contact for James to realize she had the most beautiful - and sad - green eyes he had ever seen. "Prongs? Did you hear me?"

"She's beautiful," James murmured, not taking his eyes of the girl.

"...And out of your league. You'd have to have angels fly out of your arse to get next to the likes of her."

James ignored his friend and continued the stare at the girl like his very existence depended on it. After a moment, she glanced curiously back at him and didn't look away.

***

Lily stormed out onto the Promenade deck, intent on getting as far away from Lucius as possible.

She couldn't believe him. He had just been lecturing her about how an engaged woman should act, and then he went and chatted up that foul Lestrange woman - who was already married!

Dolohov and the rest seemed to think that she was a stupid little thing - well, if they actually paid attention to her for once, they'd notice that she wasn't as dim as they thought she was. After all, it was no secret to her what Lucius and his associates did when they had their meetings at the Malfoy Manor or when they went out and about during the night. It hadn't been very hard to figure out what they were up to; there were plenty of stories on the streets and she was a very good eavesdropper when the time called.

Lucius and the rest were members of a secret group called 'Death Eaters.' Lily had no idea what the Death Eaters actually did or what their purpose was, but she assumed that their main objective was to take over Parliament or something as ridiculous like that. Tom Riddle - a very rich and successful man - was their leader, and Lucius was quite obviously his right hand man. Bellatrix was even part of it, although she was a woman. (Lily supposed the only reason she was even included her was because she had slept with Tom Riddle.)

Tom Riddle was the one person in the group that frightened her. Whenever he looked at her with his cold, grey eyes, Lily got the feeling that he wanted nothing more than to harm her. Just being around him made her feel uncomfortable, and she always tried to avoid him at social events. But now that Lucius knew he would be boarding, there'd be no way she could stay away from him...

At long last, she reached the well deck that separated the first class from the third class on the poop deck. She leaned on it - not caring that if it was unladylike - and watched the third class passengers longingly. A group of them were dancing and the light-hearted tunes from a set of pipes floated up to her level. They looked so happy and carefree...

Lily wondered when she had been happy last. It certainly hadn't been lately, not with Lucius breathing down her neck and controlling her every move. She had been pleased when she learned they were going to being sailing on Titanic (because she loved visiting New York) but the feeling had evaporated the moment she had stepped on board the majestic ship. If she was going to be treated like an animal all voyage long, there was nothing to look forward to.

As she observed the third class with some jealously, Lily felt the sensation that someone was watching her. She glanced quickly over her shoulder to see if Lucius had sent Snape to spy on her again, but found there was no one behind her. She looked around the deck below and spotted a man staring at her from across the way.

He looked to be just a few years older than her, and although he wasn't as stunningly handsome as Sirius or some of the other men she knew, he was very pleasant to look at with his scruffy appearance. His black hair was a mess, and his comforting hazel eyes were twinkling at her from behind his glasses.

Suddenly remembering that she was engaged, Lily looked away. She shouldn't be looking at other men - especially steerage men - when she was to be loyal to Lucius...

But Lucius wasn't around at the moment, and he hadn't been exactly loyal to her today...Well, if he could chat up Bellatrix Lestrange all he wanted, then she could look at a handsome stranger.

After a moment's hesitation, she looked back at him. He was still staring, a somewhat awed expression on his face. As they stared at one another, Lily felt her resentment and anger beginning to fade away. It was as if nothing in the world mattered but the handsome steerage man.

Maybe things weren't so bad after all...