Nothing On Earth

Chapter Eleven

7:00 PM

As much as Lucius loathed admitting it, James Potter was not a person that he could just insult and then ignore throughout the rest of dinner. The rat had already unbalanced him once (where had he acquired a suit on such short notice?) tonight and was probably ready to do so again. But Potter wouldn't have the upper hand for long...one did not start a game with Lucius Malfoy and get away with it scot-free.

Gently, he tapped a spoon against his wine glass, creating a sharp ting that quieted the whole table and drew all eyes to him.

"As I'm sure you may have noticed," Lucius began formally. He set the spoon back into its proper place and fixed Potter with a hard stare. If he wanted to play games, they'd play games. "We have a guest joining us tonight."

All attention turned away from him and focused on Potter, who - to Lucius's deep disappointment - didn't look at all as uncomfortable as he should've been.

"James Potter is joining us from the third class tonight as my treat. He was of some service to my fiancée on Wednesday night."

"Some service?" Cal Hockley repeated sceptically, picking up his champagne glass and swirling the contents around. "What did he do, return a lost shoe?"

Several people chuckled, Lucius included. Beside him, Lily glared at Cal and opened her mouth to say something in Potter's defence. Lucius grabbed her wrist under the table and gave it a hard, warning squeeze, and her mouth clamped shut.

"Actually, Mr. Hockley," Potter replied, picking a piece of dirt off his suit and casually flicking it into Black's champagne glass. "I saved her life, if you consider that a service."

Murmurs rose up amongst the occupants of the table, most of indignation at Potter's rudeness toward Cal rather than in interest of his tale.

"And how would one go about saving a life on the safest ship sailing the ocean?" Cal persisted, sending a hostile glance down the table at Potter.

The mentioned was examining a salad fork with great interest, much to the amusement of Lucius and to the disgust of Petunia and Lacerta. Perhaps the rat would provide some entertainment without his prodding after all.

"While I'm sure Titanic is safe against the elements, it obviously can't do much against a passenger's dangerous curiosity, can it now?" Potter answered, setting the fork down and looking across the table, at Lily. He arched a black eyebrow and continued, "Correct, Miss Evans?"

Eyes turned from Potter and onto Lily. She calmly took a small sip of her champagne, ignoring the curious glances. Lucius stared. This calm, mature behaviour was most unlike her...

"Indeed...You see," she explained lightly, favouring them all with vapid smile. "I'd heard so much about those giant propellers that I wanted to catch a glimpse of them myself. So after dinner on Wednesday, I went out to the stern to try and see them. I leaned over the rail, but I could only see the hull, so I stepped up onto it. Ja - I mean, Mr. Potter, was nearby, smoking - "

Lucius narrowed his eyes at her. Had she almost called Potter by his first name?

"I caught sight of her climbing the rail, so I tried to warn her that it was unsafe. She told me to mind my own business and she'd be just fine," Potter interrupted. He rolled his eyes, causing a few people to laugh, Lily included. "Well, the next thing I know she's screaming and I barely caught a hold of her before she slipped all the way overboard."

Lucius's suspicions grew as Lily picked up from where Potter had left off. If he didn't know any better, he would say that she and Potter had rehearsed this conversation. But that was preposterous. Lily had been with Petunia the entire day; Severus had even confirmed that fact. And there was no way that Petunia would let her sister consort with a steerage rat.

"...Mr. Potter almost went overboard himself, but he managed to pull me back over the rail," Lily finished, sending a glowing look toward Potter. "I owe him far more than a simple dinner."

"Oh, how very heroic," Petunia stated icily. Her lips were pursed and her eyes had narrowed into little slits, as they had been the moment she had caught sight of Potter tonight. Her expression alone seemed to unnerve Potter more than anything thus far. "Tell me, Mr. Potter. Does the part of a hero come naturally to you or does it only come out when there's something in it for you?"

Lily glared at Petunia, but the latter simply smirked in a satisfied way, taking a slow sip from her champagne.

Waiters appeared with a trolley of plates at the table a moment later. There was a flourish of moment as everyone took their napkins off their plates and laid them on their laps. Potter watched them, confused, until Black elbowed him and surreptitiously motioned for him to follow the example.

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you're suggesting, Mrs. Dursley," Potter replied after the movement had died down. He forced a pleasant smile onto his face and then eyed the plate the waiter has just set down in front of him critically.

"This is foie gras, Potter. Goose liver," Lucius stated evenly, trying to play the part of a gracious host and put his guest down as much as possible at the same time. "And you'll take your caviar with just a soupcon of lemon. It improves the taste."

"Actually, I don't want any caviar," Potter replied defiantly, waving off the waiter that tried to spoon some onto one of his side plates.

More whispers arose on the table. J.J. Astor whispered something to Cal, who nodded in agreement and fixed Potter with another haughty glare. Lacerta leaned over to Tom and muttered (loud enough for Potter to hear, of course), "What exactly is Lucius trying to prove, inviting this...beast to ruin dinner?

Potter's confidence seemed to be wavering as the whispers continued and beside him, Lily had shrunk back in her chair, nowhere near as confident or bold as she had been at the start of dinner. Lucius smirked smugly; there was no question about who was winning this game now.

"Oh, Potter's always been a hero," Regulus stated, bringing the conversation back onto it's previous path. "He was a Gryffindor, after all."

"You attended Hogwarts?" Tom asked quickly, looking at Potter in surprise.

"Same year and house as I," Black responded, picking delicately at his course. "I nearly got expelled every year because of him."

"If I remember correctly, it was nearly every month," Potter commented, taking his first drink of champagne. He emptied half the glass in nearly one gulp and set it back down. The only people who didn't seem at all bothered by this show were Lily and Black.

"That's right. You were a Gryffindor, weren't you?" Tom continued, staring levelly at Black and betraying no emotion. "How is it that generations upon generations of your family were in Slytherin and you somehow managed to get sorted into Gryffindor?"

Black shrugged carelessly as he ate a piece of foie gras and began on his caviar to avoid answering the question directly. Tom's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.

"Did you have a scholarship?" J.J. Astor asked, directing his attention to Potter. "Hogwarts's tuition is rather high, after all, not to mention the books and supplies you would need each year...I hope I'm not being offensive, but I don't see how you would be able to pay for an education."

"I managed," Potter replied evasively. "I had second hand books each year and I helped out around the castle during the summer holidays to help pay for everything that the scholarships didn't cover. I still owe Dumbledore quite a bit, however."

"And what career did you decide to go into with your Hogwarts education?" Lacerta questioned, raising a perfect eyebrow in mock interest.

"Actually, I haven't decided yet."

Lucius couldn't believe what he was hearing and from the angry murmurs of his fellow Brits, he wasn't alone in his thoughts. This unworthy vermin had an education from the best school England could offer and he wasn't going to do anything with it? Further proof that the lower classes were otherwise worthless to society...

"That is, I still think it's a bit early for me to settle down with a permanent position," Potter persisted, raising his voice to talk over the murmurs. "I'm only twenty and I have the whole rest life to find a career and work...Why not spend a few years enjoying myself and living the life I want before I get condemned to a factory?" He motioned for the waiter to bring him some more champagne. "How many other working blokes my age can say that they've been to Egypt or spent time in South America with some mad missionaries? How many can say that they've travelled outside of England?

"I want to have a life I can boast about and if I can achieve that before I get settled down, then I'll be a happy man...I want to be able to tell my children that I've actually done something with my life; that I travelled on the maiden voyage of the Titanic and I somehow managed to dine with you fine people while doing so." He raised his glass in a solitary toast to everyone at the table. "I don't think anyone wants to look back on their life and wish they'd worked more...All I'm trying to do is to make the most out of every moment I have."

Potter finished his heartfelt speech by biting a large chunk out of the dinner roll that had been clenched in his hand for quite some time.

"To life," Lily said suddenly, breaking the unexpected silence. She raised her glass, meaning to make a toast.

Lucius started and sneered at her in amusement. Did she really believe that they would toast to -

But glasses were being raised around the table, their holders looking quite moved by Potter's speech. Even Tom was holding his glass high, a look of appreciation on his face. What on earth was going on here?

Begrudgingly, as Lucius raised his glass to toast, he realised that Potter had once again moved ahead in their little game.

***

Sirius seriously hoped that Malfoy was through trying to make James out as an idiot. It was hard enough trying to pretend he hated James without adding the natural instinct to defend his friend's honour into the mess. It was a good thing they had stopped talking about Hogwarts when they had; Riddle's suspicions might've been aroused more if the conversations had continued further.

Riddle had emotions like a snake, hiding in the grass and waiting for the opportune moment to strike. At the reminder of Sirius being a former Gryffindor, the snake had reared, but then settled back into its hiding place almost immediately, waiting for a better time to make it's move.

Sirius had been ready for these sorts of attacks all evening. He'd known that this dinner would be a test of his 'loyalties' to Death Eaters and he had to pass with flying colours, otherwise the results were not worth picturing (as it usually involved the loss of a very important limb).

James, however, didn't seem too concerned with making Sirius's night any easier or defending his honour himself. He was currently busy violently stabbing his salmon with his salad fork and ignoring the shocked looks that this act of idiocy was causing.

No one decided to comment on it, however. After James's toast, everyone had been surprisingly civil toward him and they had even changed the topic out of courtesy. Only after everyone had gushed over Lily's fine necklace, of course.

Sirius didn't think the necklace was all that flattering and he certainly didn't see what was so great about wearing a fancy dog collar around your neck for hours on an end. Lily hadn't thought it was too fantastic either - she and James had shared a little grimace after the compliment session had been over and she had been constantly readjusting the necklace throughout the courses, trying to relieve the weight on her chest.

The topic then moved to something that James (and Sirius, come to think of it) couldn't participate in, like the inner workings of the United States Senate or fluctuating stock prices. Sirius had often tried to look interested in these conversations, but ended up being ignored halfway through because he'd said something stupid. James hadn't even said anything (except a few smart arse remarks here and there) and he was still being neglected, except when someone decided to send him a sharp frown.

Sirius ignored the urge to put himself out of his misery. This hell was nothing compared to that of the wedding conversations. A shudder went through him at the very thought and he reached for his drink. He'd rather not be sober if he had to listen to the horror tale that was Rose Dewitt-Bukater's wedding plans again.

***

James believed Sirius was going the right way about things. Since they had finished their salmon and two other courses, his friend had consumed at least four glasses of champagne. He was now motioning for the waiter to pour him a fifth glass to go down with his dessert. James had only had two glasses himself, but he was seriously considering adding onto that amount very quickly if dinner did not end right now.

It was no wonder Lily had been so starved for a conversation that she had resorted to talking to Sigrid earlier today. Everything this group talked about pertained to themselves, their riches, or others like them. The conversations went in endless circles and had no meaning to them. Who actually wanted to hear about the Dewitt-Bukater's troubles with wedding stationary?

Certainly not James - he'd take a half-English conversation with Sigrid over this any day.

Currently, the table had broken into two separate conversations. Malfoy and Riddle were leading a discussion of politics with Regulus and the Hockley gent, while Petunia and Ruth were busy comparing problems concerning the aforementioned weddings. James was being conveniently excluded from both these conversations (as he had been since his toast), but he didn't mind at all.

When Sirius wasn't busy getting himself drunk, he would hop between the two conversations, making snide comments about a certain politician or murmuring with sympathy when Petunia complained about something. James personally thought it was rather entertaining, but as the table hadn't taken kindly to his last few comments, he wasn't going to say anything.

Across the table, Lily was delicately tracing patterns around her champagne glass and watching the women's conversation with a look of utter boredom on her face. She paused for a moment to brush a stray piece of tantalizing hair away from her face and then resumed her tracing.

She hadn't said much during dinner, which had surprised him to no end. She always had something to say to him, always spoke her mind when they hit on a certain subject. The stunning, confident girl he'd come to know had transformed into a timid mouse within a space of two hours. Did these people and this setting affect her that much? Or was it perhaps one person that caused the change in her?

His eyes turned away from Lily and settled on the man sitting next to her. The two had been rather frigid toward one another tonight (then again, from what Lily said, they were always less than warm towards each other) and Malfoy had acted as though she hadn't existed for the majority of the dinner, ignoring her like a parent would do with a spoilt child. When he did speak to her, it was in hushed, angry tones and Lily would shrink away uncomfortably, not making any eye contact.

James hadn't been fond of Malfoy at the start of dinner, but now he absolutely detested the man. He had the most wonderful, desirable woman in his clutches, yet he treated her worse than dirt. He tried to adorn her with jewels to make her look beautiful, but all it did was make her seem like a display case to show off his money and influence. He stomped on her personality and crushed her spirit under the heel of his high-quality shoes, trying to mould her into the society woman she obviously wasn't,

Lily was stuck in a patch of thorns and weeds that wouldn't let her grow into the person she was meant to be. The biggest weed of the all was blocking everything she needed to live and was slowly killing her in a way she had only just recognised...

She glanced at him suddenly and smiled in such an adoring way that made his heart ache for the briefest of moments. He returned the grin half-heartedly and looked down at his empty dessert plate.

If things kept progressing the way the were, Lily wouldn't be the only one who was dying a slow death.

***

"Enjoying yourself at all?"

James dropped the spoon he had been examining with more fascination than he'd had for any of the table's previous conversations. He looked at her, grinned guiltily, and then looked sharply at Lucius, as if he had caught this small exchange.

Lucius wasn't paying attention to either of them. He was currently engaged in a very heated argument and was paying no attention to either of them. Lily, of course, had been aware of this for quite a while as it was a normal happening at dinner. Once Lucius got fired up, he ignored her except for the occasional reprimand.

"Are we about finished?" James asked, his voice so soft that she could barely catch it.

"Getting tired of being ignored, are you?" she responded playfully. He shot another glance at Lucius before rolling his eyes and nodding. "Exactly how I feel every night...But we'll be finished in a few more minutes...have to wait for their cigars and brandy to be rolled out."

"Good. I don't think I could stand to eat another thing..." James said, louder this time as he realised that Lucius wasn't listening to them. "Why must it take nine courses for your people to finish stuffing your faces?"

Lily snorted into her champagne glass and Rose turned and fixed her with an incredulous stare. She composed herself quickly and gave a quick smile to Rose, who turned back to her conversation with an emotionless expression on her face. Lily stared at the other redhead for a moment longer, recognising that expression as the one she had seen in the mirror a few days ago, before she had met James...

Shaking it off as coincidence and hoping that Rose wouldn't try anything stupid at the same time, Lily hesitantly looked back to James. That lop-sided grin was on his face again and she glared at him.

"Do you think it's funny to make me look like an absolute idiot?"

He shrugged carelessly and swept a piece of stray hair out of his eyes. Over the course of dinner, his hair had gone from nicely patted down back to its normal frenzied mess. James had tried to slick it back at first, but after Sirius had nudged him painfully in the ribs did he take his comb out of his water glass and stick it back in his pocket. Luckily, only Lacerta and Petunia had noticed this display, and had practically gagged when James (noticing their uncomplimentary staring) took a drink of that same water glass a few minutes later.

His hair still looked a bit tamer than usual, probably because he hadn't ruffled it up at all. She had noticed before that he had an awfully bad habit of doing it when he was annoyed and his nose scrunched up in that endearing way or when he laughed and his smile spread straight to his eyes...

"Did you really do all those things you said you did?"

Lily placed an elbow on the table and propped her chin on her hand, staring at James in interest.

"What? About Egypt and the missionaries?" James asked.

She nodded.

"Sure I did, and I saw a lot more than that too," James began, leaning back into his chair languidly. Lily envied him instantly; he didn't have to sit the whole dinner with a straight back and perfect posture. "You see, after I graduated, I basically played servant to this mad old Brit for about a year...He'd heard from Dumbledore that I was 'quite the young man' and hired me to come work at his manor in New York for as long as I wanted. I ran errands, turned away guests, cleaned, and did all sorts of things for about a month when he decides that - "

" - he wants to see the world before he dies," Sirius finished, rolling his eyes. "Lord, I've heard this so many times I could recite it by memory."

"How can you recite the story by memory if you're always half-drunk when I tell it?" James responded instantly, poking Sirius in the side in an exasperated way. For a moment, Lily could see their old friendship lurking on the surface. "Anyway, so he decides to get up and go visit all these exotic places one day and says that I have to come with him. I couldn't refuse an offer like that (plus, he doubled my pay) and I went with him to all sorts of places like China and India. Then we get to South America and the trouble starts - "

"This is where the story actually gets entertaining," Sirius muttered, taking a drink of his water glass.

"My employer catches some strange disease in the jungle and he needs to be carted back to someplace civilised immediately. The missionaries who we were camping with got him to a steamer, but it was a small thing and they didn't have room for me on board at all. Now when I think about it, they were probably lying, yet I got left behind in the jungle all the same."

"You're the one who's lying. They couldn't have left you!" Lily exclaimed, staring at James captivated.

"Oh, but they did!" Sirius cackled softly, a look of delight on his face. "He had to spend two months in the mud and rain, eating nothing but bread and stuff they got from natives while those missionaries tried to convert him and made him read the Bible daily."

"I would've died if that steamer hadn't come back when it did," James finished, lowering his voice as Petunia glanced down the table. He gave her a small smile and she look away instantly, her nose wrinkled in distaste. "But when I got back to England, I found out that my employer had forgotten all about me and had gone back to New York without even bothering to find out if I was all right. The old bastard even forgot to pay me for the last few months, but I suppose that's because someone - " he shot Sirius a dark look, " - told him I was dead."

"Well what was I supposed to say when he came around asking about you? You never wrote, so I had to assume the worst had occurred and you had been eaten by a giant reptile."

"Were you ever bothered by the fact that I was possibly in the belly of a giant reptile half-way across the world?"

"Not in the slightest," Sirius returned airily, reaching for his champagne glass again.

Earlier today, Remus had told Lily that when James and Sirius had been friends, they were as close as brothers and nearly inseparable. Lily couldn't have imagined Sirius being that close with anyone (herself included), but when this conversation had arisen and it was an eye-opener. She'd never seen Sirius act this calm or so casually with anyone before, and James, too, acted differently around Sirius than he did with her or even Remus. They were just so...comfortable around each other.

"See what a good friend he was to me?" James spat bitterly, glaring at Sirius suddenly. The other shrugged callously and turned away from James, his relapse obviously over with now. James's glare transformed back into that insufferable grin of his as he glanced back at her.

"At least Remus had the decency to buy me a cold drink after I got back."

***

The other two conversations had come to a close and the waiters had started bringing out carts with boxes of cigars on them soon after James's tale had finished, signalling the end of the dinner from hell. It was just as well; he and Sirius had slipped up so many times during that story - it was a wonder no one over heard them except Regulus, but he had heard this story almost as many times as Sirius had and was of no concern.

Riddle, who had sat next to James the entire dinner, might've heard something, but he had been eyeing Sirius all night long for one thing or another anyway. Hopefully, he had seen all the champagne Sirius had consumed and would just blame it on the alcohol.

Speaking of the devil...

"Gentlemen, " Riddle stated, rising from his chair as. A lighted cigar was in one hand and an extra was stuffed away in his suit's breast pocket. "Would you give me the pleasure of joining me for a brandy in the smoking room?"

Lily smirked at James from across the table.

"He gives this speech every night," she whispered conspiratorially. "Gives them all another two hours to gloat about their glory again."

James returned her smirk as he rose from his chair. Riddle turned and pounced on him instantly.

"Ah, will you be joining us, Potter?"

"No thanks. I think I've intruded on your night enough the way it is."

Riddle nodded in agreement and held out a hand again. "Good to have met you."

James crossed his fingers behind his back as he shook Riddle's hand.

"You as well."

With one last small smile (which looked more like a grimace now), Riddle turned and headed off with Sirius trailing behind him, looking slightly tipsy. James bit his lip, hoping that his friend had enough sense not to drink any more alcohol tonight.

He turned back to the table, nearly empty of men now. J.J. Astor gave James a small smile as he passed, his wife on his arm. Regulus remained, dutifully staying to escort his mother back to the stateroom when she felt like retiring. Hockley was saying something to his fiancée (who'd done nothing but stare listlessly at the table throughout dinner) and she nodded mechanically in return, rising from her chair and walking away from the table.

Left now was only Malfoy.

He was standing by Lily, his hand on her shoulder. He'd asked her something and she'd replied, shaking her head negatively. He frowned and bent closer, whispering in her ear as the hand on her shoulder tightened to the point that Lily's began to turn white with pain.

James's blood boiled, his heart pounding in his ears. He wanted to hurt Malfoy now, to strike him down to the elegantly carpeted floor and -

"OW!" James cried as someone rammed into him as they passed.

That someone - of bloody course - was Snape.

"Oh. Potter," he said, turning around and sneering. His black eyes raked over James's outfit and sparked with a sudden amusement. "I didn't see you."

"Right," James muttered crossly, brushing off the shoulder Snape had touched. Even if Regulus had been an utter, utter prat to him, he didn't deserve to have Snape concentrate on his dinner jacket. "Why don't you just run off and go baby-sit ickle Lucius now?"

Snape flushed slightly, but his cold eyes remained fixed on James's, the amusement having turned into something darker.

"Don't you think it's funny, Potter, that you still don't matter whether you're dressed well or not?" he asked, his eyes flickering briefly across the table.

James said nothing as Snape, a triumphant smirk on his face, walked away. There was nothing to be said. After all, it was the truth...

Lucius had gone now, not even bothering to say goodbye to him (like James honestly cared), and Lily was left alone, watching him expectantly. He felt strangely disheartened as he walked around the table toward her and took her hand in his. He'd never allowed Snape to make him feel this way before...

What was wrong with him?

"Must you leave, James?" Lily asked, using his name freely for the first time tonight. It sounded wonderful coming from her with nothing but compassion lacing her tones.

"I'll be missed in the rodent nest if I don't return soon," he replied, his tone soft. Petunia was watching them carefully from her corner of the table and Regulus's piercing eyes were bored into the back of his skull as he bent down and placed a parting kiss on her hand. "D'you think we can meet tomorrow at all?"

"I'll try," she whispered, smiling. "Goodnight, James."

"Goodnight."

Reluctantly, he let go of her hand and walked away from the table. At the dining saloon doors, he paused and turned around, impossibly trying to catch a last glimpse of her in the sea of silk and jewels of the room.

***

It was just the four of them now.

Astor had been called away by his fellow Americans after the first drink and a steward had come to get Hockley about fifteen minutes later with a matter concerning his fiancée. A few other men had come over to say their hellos, but had left rather hastily after he'd given them a warning glare. This matter with Black had to be resolved now and no two-bit American bank owner was going to be interrupting them.

The spoken was currently occupied in a stare-off with Severus, who was leaning against the mantle of the fireplace, almost hidden in the shadows. He was unusually emotional tonight because he'd been waiting most of the day to tell Lucius something important about Evans and was annoyed by... thatBlackbloodyegotisticalbastardatthistableagainwhycan'thejustgothrowhimselfoffthebackoftheship -

Tom tapped the surface of the table for attention.

Lucius, who had been very morose since the end of dinner (because Potter had been a bit more formidable than he had imagined), looked at him immediately and Black tore his eyes away from Severus, a snarl on his features.

This Black boy was quite a bit more difficult to read than his brother. He could read Regulus like a children's book, but Sirius Black was like a foreign manuscript. Sometimes, he could translate a line or two, but otherwise it was nearly impossible to tell what was going on inside this boy's head. He made it so difficult at times that it gave Tom a headache just trying to get past the first layer. There were only two other people that were usually that good at hiding their emotions; one was hovering behind Lucius and the other was most likely pacing the floor of his study at his school.

"Sirius, I believe there are some matters - concerning you - that need a bit of clearing up," Tom said at last, focusing on Black's eyes. He was a bit easier to read tonight - probably because of all the champagne he had consumed at dinner.

"Potter, I suppose?" Black asked wearily, reaching for the glass of water one of the stewards had brought him. He was dreading this...had been dreading it all night long. "Well, we were friends up until recently...Dumbledore supporter, he is. Was furious with me when I told him I was switching sides. Didn't understand..."

He'sgoingtobefuriouswithmeaftertonightwon'tunderstandit'sforhisowngood -

"It seemed like you and he were still friends tonight at dinner..." Lucius muttered, staring at Black. "You let him borrow one of your suits."

Idon'ttrusthimwhyhasTomlethimcomethisfarinthecircleweshouldhavenever -

"Potter and I are not friends!" Black hissed, slamming his glass back onto the table. "I owed him a favour, that's all."

"Prove it," Severus suggested from the shadows, his face twisting maliciously.

Idon'tbelievethosetwoidiotswouldeverstopbeingfriendshe'dneverbetrayPotter -

"How am I supposed to prove it? Smother him while he's sleeping?" Black replied scathingly, fixing his gaze on Severus.

Lucius sat straighter in his chair and his fists clenched around the armrests. Old Lucius was almost as easy to read as Regulus - he was stewing about Evans, as he usually was, and wanted to know...tellmeshewaswithPottertodayyouimbeciletellmeshewasn'twithhersisterTELLME -

"You know about Lily and him," Lucius commanded tightly, his sight set on Black. "You know something, he had to tell you - "

Tom could have told him everything, but he decided to let Black do the enlightening instead. Lucius was not going to like what he was going to hear, but that's what he got for not listening in the first place. Tom had warned him about Evans and now he was going to get his comeuppance.

"Fine...fine," Black breathed, his nostrils flaring in annoyance. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair as Lucius's knuckles started to turn white. "For starters, she's got a very bad habit of lying to you. She didn't spend the day with her sister like wonderful Severus over here told you -"

"I couldn't locate her in the time you wanted and I didn't want to upset you, Lucius," Severus responded quickly, noticing the murderous look on his employer's face.

"Didn't want to upset me?" Lucius repeated, his voice dangerously low. He looked ready to continue on into a rant but Tom sent a warning glance his way and he restrained himself. "...Continue, Sirius."

"She was with Potter the whole day; eating breakfast down in the steerage dining room, associating with all of them," Black revealed, an unreadable expression on his face. "They even found time to go for an afternoon swim in the swimming bath as well."

"I found a steward who'd come across them...Said they were lying on the floor and he was leaning over her." Severus added, trying to prove that he wasn't as useless as Lucius believed he was now.

"He likes her - maybe even loves her, if that's possible."

Lucius rose from his chair before Black had even finished, his form quaking with fury and his face set with rage. Tom didn't even bother to tell him to sit back down; he didn't like Evans and he could honestly care less what Lucius did about her latest bout of disobedience.

"I'm going to go have a little chat with my fiancée," he growled as he marched away from the table, Severus quickly following after him.

ThatlittlebitchneedstobetaughtalessonI'mgoingtokillhershe'smygoddamnfiancéeandI'mgoingtokillhersheneedstostartactinglikeitI'MGOINGTOKILLHER -

Black stared after the two, his face an unearthly shade of white.

ForhisowngoodSiriusforhisowngoodFORHISOWNGOODohbloodyhellIneedabrandy.

Tom shook his head and signalled a waiter over.

***

Lily took the last of the pins out, liberating the rest of her hair and she shook her head, trying to get the strands back into place. She set her hairpins on the vanity counter and reached for her brush. She picked it up and then paused, examining her right hand carefully. It still prickled where James had kissed it - twice - today.

"James..." she murmured and set the brush back down on the counter. She ran a hand through her hair, imagining that it was his hands instead.

She couldn't get him out of her head. Whenever she closed her eyes, he was there, that lop-sided grin on his face. Whenever someone touched her, it felt like his hands on her skin, caressing like they had in the swimming bath. Instead of Lucius's cold eyes staring at from the doorway, it was -

Lily whirled around, but he was already halfway across the room. He hadn't changed out of his dinner things quite yet and his cheeks were flushed as though he had just finished having a run.

"L - Lucius?" she asked, rising slowly from her chair. He moved closer and the light cast a menacing shadow on his face...or was it just the shadow? "I - Is there something wrong?"

"Wrong?"

Oh, God, he was angry - not angry, furious -

She stumbled backwards in a panic, but he closed the distance between them too fast -

"OF COURSE THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG!"

He slapped her hard across the face and she hit the wall, crying out as a sharp pain ran through her, but he wasn't finished - he grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her into the oak panelling; her head hit hardest and she saw stars, her head filling with pain.

Lucius's grip on her shoulders was agony as it tightened and she cried in terror, closing her eyes to hold back the tears of pain. This wasn't happening, he wasn't - what had she done? What was he going with her? He wouldn't, he couldn't -

"So," he hissed, his voice deadly and she could just imagine the wild, horrifying look on his face. "So, Lily...How is it that you'll let a steerage man try and kiss you, but you won't let your own fiancé even touch you?"

Shock overcoming her terror momentarily and her trembling increased. He knew, oh Christ, he knew - how could he, how could he -

"Look at me as I talk to you!" he ordered, grabbing her chin and wrenching in forward. Her eyes snapped open and were met with two orbs glowing with the coldest fury she had ever seen. "You are never to see James Potter again! Do you understand me?"

"L - Let go, Lucius! You're -"

His grip on her chin tightened, pinching the skin and she cried out again, tears spilling down her cheeks. The ferocity in his eyes seemed to only increase at the sight of her tears.

"I said, do you understand me?"

She nodded slowly, not trusting herself to speak without crying out again. Please make him go away, let him be satisfied, don't let him try again -

Roughly, he let go of her and backed away. She slumped against the wall, gently placing a hand on her stinging cheek, and glanced at him fearfully.

He didn't look any less angry when he had come in and his usual indifferent composure had disappeared. His hair was falling out its tie, his cheeks were flushed red, and his suit no longer immaculate.

He raised a hand again, and she shrunk back, awaiting the next blow -

"If I ever catch you with him again..." he warned in a deadly tone, pointing a quivering finger at her.

He let the threat hang, having trouble finding the right words to express his rage. But he didn't have to finish it- and he didn't as he strode out of the room, banging the door behind him a moment later.

He didn't have to finish because she knew what would happen if she disobeyed this command and it would be far worse than a stinging slap or a bruised shoulder.