Wizarding Betrothal

Chapter 6: Friends and Enemies

"Check. Check. Got that. And that. Mmhmm. Check. I think that's it!" Rather pleased with herself, Lily refolded her school list and stuffed it into her back pocket, looking up at James and Sirius.

"Are you trying to say you're ready to go home?"

Lily looked askance. "No way! We still haven't...we need to..." What exactly it was that they hadn't done remained a mystery as Lily trailed off, staring avidly at a pretty dark-skinned girl passing the bookstore window.

A happy smile lit up her face, and she was off. Lily sprinted out of the bookstore and down the sidewalk, slowing to a saunter just behind the unsuspecting girl.

"Max Trenton or Scott Diggory?"

At the sound of Lily's clear voice, the girl stopped walking and turned. "Scott."

The two girls stood, sizing one another up for a brief moment, before bursting into laughter and embracing, oblivious to the foot traffic they were blocking on the sidewalk.

"I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, Laura," Lily said. "I can't wait for school to start!"

"I know! Still two more weeks!"

"Aaah! That's too long!"

"Way too long," Laura agreed. She released Lily and looked over her friend's face with pleasure.

"I don't know how much longer I can manage without you," Lily said.

Gazing past Lily's shoulder, Laura started tapping her cheek (their secret signal that a hot guy was approaching.) She was tapping with two fingers (two guys.) Turning to look, Lily rolled her eyes; it was only James and Sirius catching up with Lily, her forgotten textbooks in tow.

Thanking them for bringing her books, Lily began to introduce her friends. "This is Laura Thomas: fellow Gryffindor and best friend of yours truly. Laura, this is James and this is Sirius."

Lily left it at that for the time being. She had, in their correspondence, told Laura a bit about James coming around her house so much - basically the same story she had given Mike - and indicated that there was more to the story that she would explain in person. With much difficulty, Lily had decided against trying to explain the betrothal to Laura in a letter; it was big enough news to warrant waiting for a face-to-face, uninterrupted, all-out gab-fest.

Laura smiled at Lily and turned to James. "You must be the 'James' that Lily's been telling me about in her letters." He immediately lit up with a smile and Lily's jaw dropped.

"Oh, and what has she been saying?" Sirius asked. He leaned in, not bothering to hide his amusement.

Opening her mouth to reply, Laura paused when she noticed that Lily was glaring with irritation. James wasn't supposed to know she'd been writing about him! As horrified as she was, Lily knew that it wasn't Laura's fault that she didn't know the whole story. Lily pulled on her ear (I'll explain later) and decided to retake control of the conversation.

"Are you here by yourself?" Lily asked.

"No, mum and dad are somewhere around here." Glancing at her watch, Laura added, "I'm supposed to be meeting them up at Eeylops Owl Emporium right now, actually."

"Do you think they'd let you hang out a little longer?" Lily asked.

"Come on, and I'll ask them."

Lily turned to James and Sirius. "Is that okay with you guys?"

"You're the boss today, sugar," Sirius answered.

"We still have a while before we need to head back," James added. "If we aren't out of here by seven, though, your mum will have my head on a platter."

"Oh, come on, James," Lily said, "if she flips out on you, you know that Sirius has got your back!"

"What? You won't save him?"

"Are you kidding? I know enough to stay on the other side of town when she's like that!"

They entered the dim owl shop; Laura spotted her parents and ran over to them while the others browsed and waited. Picking up a bag of owl treats for Fluffy, Laura's owl who was kept rather busy with their correspondence, Lily paused to caress a lovely reddish-brown owl. She was nuzzling Lily's hand with her soft head and hooting affectionately.

"Aren't you a sweet thing," Lily cooed.

"Thanks, you're awfully sweet too," said James, sidling up next to her. What a goof-ball.

"That's a matter of opinion," she commented. "Some people think I'm about as sweet as Stinksap."

"Have you ever tasted Stinksap?" He looked at her sideways and she could see laughter bursting from his eyes. While James could usually suppress a laugh in his throat, his eyes never quite co-operated.

"Definitely not," she answered, disgusted. What kind of demented person would taste Stinksap?

"Then how do you know it's not sweet?" Reaching out to stroke the owl, his hand bumped against hers.

Lily stuffed her hand into her pocket, shifting her feet. "Haven't you ever smelled it?"

"Sure, it stinks," James admitted. He continued to stroke the owl's ruddy feathers. "But how do you know that's not just to throw people off? It might taste good."

Didn't he have any common sense? "Have you ever tasted stink sap?"

"No. Definitely not." Shaking his head, he smiled as he imitated her words.

"Would you ever taste it?"

His eyes lit up. "Do I hear a challenge?"

"If it were, would you do it?" Maybe James was wild enough to try.

"I always take a challenge," he boasted.

"Then no, it's not a challenge." Lily returned her attention to the owl. "If you ate Stinksap, you'd probably stink forever and then I wouldn't want you around me."

"So you do want me!"

Lily rolled her eyes and sighed. "Don't twist my words. All I'm saying is that since I couldn't keep you away if I wanted to, I'd just prefer it if you didn't smell bad."

"Then I'll gladly refrain from eating Stinksap. No sacrifice is too great for my Lily."

She couldn't help but giggle. "You're such a goof-ball."

"Aren't you a sweet thing."

"They said it's fine," Laura announced from behind them. "Where should we go?"

"Cool." Lily turned to her friend. "James wanted to buy us all some ice cream."

"When were we talking about ice cream?" He looked completely confused.

"Just now!"

"Wow!" Laura said. "Thank you, James."

"What's James doing now?" Drifting over from where he had been flirting with a giggly sales associate, Sirius stepped up between the girls.

"He offered to buy us all some ice cream."

"Right on. What a mate!"

"No problem," James said. He laughed and shook his head.

"Isn't he sweet?" Laura asked.

"Yeah," Lily giggled. "As sweet as Stinksap!"

Completing their purchases, and saying 'hello/goodbye' to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas, the four made their way across the street to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. With four giant ice creams, compliments of a very 'sweet' James, they settled themselves at a table.

Laura nudged Lily in the ribs, nodding towards the door; Marissa Downey and her clones were slithering into the parlour. Spotting Lily and Laura, Marissa walked over to the table, sneering, while her friends followed closely.

"Well, well, well..."

"That's a deep subject, Marissa," Laura interrupted, "for such a shallow mind."

Marissa didn't quite seem to catch on; she was preoccupied with weightier matters. "So, Lily-the-Loser, how much are you paying them to hang out with you?" she asked, motioning to James and Sirius. They guys both raised their eyebrows.

"Why?" Lily asked. "Looking for a job, Marissa? You should try that pub on the corner. They're looking for a low class hooker." Alright...that wasn't exactly original, but it was still good.

Marissa's eyes narrowed with even greater loathing. "Speaking of sluts, you stay away from Black this year. He's mine, and I won't have a little mudblood whore like you getting in my way."

Growling, James and Sirius both stood, drawing their wands. Before they could say a word, Lily put out her hand and glared, silently warning them to stay out of it as she stood to face Marissa head-on. The girl was really too much.

Lily's voice was cold and deliberate. "As flattered as I am to hear you finally admitting that I could take any guy I wanted away from you, I'm disgusted that you think I would want that bastard. As far as I'm concerned, you can have Black all to your horny little self." Anything to keep his mind off Lily.

"Oh, I will," Marissa said, "and if I hear one word about you toying with him, I will personally see to it that you are very, very sorry."

Toying with him? What in the world had that jerk been going around telling people? "You're getting good, Marissa. 'Sorry' is exactly the right word for anybody who fancies that idiot."

"Say what you like, but I know you want him bad. He's my boyfriend now, though, so you can forget about having a chance."

Lily was speechless. How could Marissa believe something so absurd?

"Sucks to be you, doesn't it?" Marissa quipped, flipping her hair. With that, she and her friends marched back out of the door giggling, thoughts of ice cream forgotten.

"What a stupid tart," Laura muttered, pulling Lily back into her seat.

"Did you hear what she said?" Lily asked. "Does she actually think I fancy that disgusting snake?" Dumbfounded, she stared at Laura. "Is she insane?"

"Of course she is; she's going out with him isn't she?"

"What do you think he's been saying about me? She wouldn't come up with that on her own."

"Don't think about it," Laura said, pushing Lily's ice cream towards her. "Look on the bright side. Maybe she'll distract him well enough to get you some peace for a change."

"But who else is hearing all those lies?" She was beginning to tense with distress. "What if they believe them?" Lily could see her reputation spiralling down the drain before her eyes.

"Lily, listen to me." Laura looked her best friend in the eye. "Nobody with any sense whatsoever will believe for one second that you are going around throwing yourself at Bastard Black. He's a pig! Everybody knows it. Besides, once we get back to school, anybody saying that will get their guts hexed out by the Gryffindors - especially by me and Benji."

"Uuugghh!" Lily groaned loudly and rubbed her face. "Hasn't he done enough? I just wish he'd leave me alone!"

"Who's this that's bothering you?" At Sirius' strained voice, Lily looked up. She had forgotten that James and Sirius were even there.

"What?"

"Who are you talking about, Lily?" James repeated the question.

"Oh, just this stupid Slytherin that's always following us around, hassling us."

"Us? Don't you mean you?" Laura corrected her, eliciting a hostile glare from Lily. "Well, it's true," she said. "He's obsessed with you!"

"Lily, what is his name?" James voice had grown sharp and demanding. She had never heard him speak to her like that; he was angry.

"Regulus Black."

Sirius closed his eyes and cursed under his breath, while James' eyes were growing dark.

"Regulus Black is obsessed with you? And hassles you at school?" It was as though James didn't really want to believe it.

"What exactly does the little creep do?" Sirius asked.

Lily felt like a deer caught up in a car's headlights. They were still standing, looking down at her. Part of her wanted to tell them everything, but part of her wanted to run and hide. She turned to Laura for help.

"Do you guys know him or something?" Laura asked.

Sirius gave a hollow laugh. "You could say that."

James walked around the table and pulled a chair over to face Lily. He sat and leaned forward, meeting her reluctant gaze at eye level. Seeing her clear distress, James took her hand. "Lily, Regulus Black is bad news."

"You think I don't know that?" Lily wondered if she could be having some horribly realistic nightmare. He was going to make her tell.

"I think you know that a little too well," he said. "You wouldn't be this upset if he was only spreading rumours. He's been doing more than talk, hasn't he?" She couldn't bring herself to look at him. "We can take care of Regulus, Lily. I'll make sure he stays away from you. But I need you to give me some idea of what's been going on."

She felt like she was choking. She couldn't talk about it with James; it was too embarrassing.

A small arm embraced her waist and Laura leaned in to Lily's ear. "You really need to tell someone, Lily. From how jealous Marissa was acting, he obviously hasn't gotten over you. Maybe James can do something to help."

What was with them? It was like they all went to some kind of special training on how to force Lily Evans to spill her guts. Her throat was beginning to tighten with stress. Sirius watched her with an unreadable expression on his face; Lily turned her attention back to James who was still holding her hand.

"It's not all that big of a deal," Lily said. "You're making it seem like this huge thing. All Slytherins and Gryffindors hate each other."

"If it's not a big deal, then why don't you tell us about it?" James asked. "Does he hex you? Does he try to embarrass you or hurt you?"

"Not exactly." Laura had been urging Lily to tell an adult about it for a long time. "He sort of says things to me...embarrassing things about the way I look."

"And..." Laura pushed her on.

"And, when I'm not paying attention, he'll come up and touch me." She tried to remove her hand from James', but he wouldn't let her.

"Touch you? You mean..."

Lily's discomfort was unbearable. "You can guess what I mean." She finally yanked her hand free and stood up, backing away a few steps. She wanted to read James reaction, but his head was bowed, so she stared as he pulled off his bandanna and ruffled his hair. When he looked up, Lily couldn't tell if he was sad or angry or disgusted - maybe it was all of the above.

Sirius eventually spoke up. "We'll have a little chat with Regulus, Lily."

"If he bothers you again," James added, "you tell me right away." Standing up, he gave her a piercing look as though he knew exactly what she was thinking: she'd never volunteer anything. "Promise me you'll tell us."

"I promise," she whispered.

"How do you know him anyway?" Laura asked.

Sirius looked up and frowned. "He's my brother."

An hour later, Lily was still thinking about the look on Sirius' face when he'd said that. The mixture of loathing and sorrow etched in his eyes had burned itself into Lily's mind. Sirius seemed so kind-hearted; she couldn't imagine how difficult it would be to see a sibling become such an evil person. Sure, her own older sister, Petunia, was nasty enough; but Petunia wasn't evil, just genuinely afraid of magic. Regulus Black however, in addition to being nasty, was well known at Hogwarts for his devotion to the whole pure-blood / anti-Muggle mania; he wasn't afraid - he was evil. Poor Sirius.

With her heart full of pain for her new friend, Lily's own unhappiness seemed unimportant. Regulus had never seriously hurt her, and James and Sirius promised to keep him away from her in the future. How they would manage that, she wouldn't worry about for the time being.

A chilly wind buffeted her cheeks, and Lily tightened the collar of her jacket, hiding her face behind James' shoulder. They were who knew how many metres above the earth, soaring through the dark sky on their way home. The day in Diagon Alley had been good to her overall, but it had also been tiring. Securing her arms around James, Lily snuggled her face into his back, breathing in the smell of worn leather and wondering whether she would fall off of the motorcycle if she went to sleep. The last thing she remembered that night was a feeling of security when James placed one of his arms over hers. He wouldn't let her fall.