Love Among the Marauders

Chapter Six

The day of the Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff match, drifting along an upper story hallway in James's invisibility cloak, Sirius sees Lily standing in an alcove, arguing with Corwyn Ambring. Sirius, who is curious about the actual nature of the relations between James and Lily, not to mention Lily's infidelity, has no compunction whatsoever about eavesdropping.

Corwyn is saying, "Lily. There can't be a later. We shouldn't even be here." He is holding a lock of her curly hair in one hand, close to his mouth, and has the other arm wrapped around her waist.

Lily has both arms around his neck. Sirius notices that she is holding a small vial in both hands. She indecisively screws the cap on and off several times. "I can't believe you asked Bella to the match."

"Lily. Sweetheart. You broke up with me. You're seeing Potter, for god's sake. What the hell do you want?"

"I want you to be with me! I want you to tell me they're a bunch of hopeless bigots and you don't care about their stupid blood and you want me back! That you want to be with me forever! Not that I...disgust you."

"God, Lily, calm down. Of course you don't disgust me---"

"Your parents wouldn't even say hello to me!" She is looking down now, pulling away and holding the mystery vial slightly behind her, out of Ambring's line of sight.

Corwyn tilts her chin up to make her meet his eyes. "I know that was hard, but you have to---"

"Corwyn!" She breaks away from him. Sirius can see her bloodless fingers gripping the black glass and it occurs to him that Lily Evans is not a wise person to cross. "You know me. You love me. Don't you? Doesn't that convince you that they're wrong?"

Now he stands back, sighs theatrically, and runs his hands through his thick blond hair. "Everything is so political with you. The truth is, I'm not going to throw away centuries of history for you. I won't do it. I can't." His voice takes on a nasty edge. "Potter, on the other hand, could obviously care less, what with his pet werewolf and his boyfriend the blood traitor." Sirius feels tiny hairs all over his body stand on end. "So you were right to pick him. Okay? Because this whole thing is just over. Now I've really got to get down to the match." It is only by the greatest act of will that Sirius prevents himself from knocking Ambring cold.

"Just...wait," says Lily softly, suddenly seductive, moving close again and sliding her arms back around Ambring's neck. She has the vial open and swiftly tilts half its liquid contents along his bare nape.

He jerks back at the cold splash. "What the hell...?"

Lily, wand out, murmurs, "Obliviate!"

Sirius watches, intrigued, as Ambring shakes his head sleepily and glances around. "Lily? What are you---?"

"It's all right, Cor," Lily sounds convincingly light-hearted. "I don't mind about Bella. You'd better get down to the match."

Ambring looks at her curiously, then shrugs and walks away from her.

Lily watches him go. After a moment, she recaps the vial, pockets it, leans against the casement wall, and starts sobbing hysterically. Sirius comes up behind her and gently wraps his arms around her waist. He murmurs into her ear, hushing her and telling her to breathe.

She freezes and looks down at the still-invisible arms holding her. Sirius expects her to say James's name and is startled when she whispers his.

"Sirius?" She turns in his arms and looks up at him as he lets the cloak fall open.

"Hey," he says, a little huskily. She looks surprisingly pretty when she's crying, her face flushed pink, her lips swollen, her green eyes wet and enormous.

She stares at him, not pulling away.

He says, "Don't let that prat Ambring get to you. He isn't half the Quidditch player James is. And that is the single thing I have to say about him that doesn't involve a string of curse words that would curl, ah, straighten your hair." He tugs experimentally at one of her corkscrew locks and grins at her.

"How long have you been here?"

"Long enough to see you hex him. And spill that potion down his back. And hear myself described as a blood traitor."

"I poisoned him."

"What?" Sirius starts laughing. "Lily Evans. I'm shocked."

"He's going to pass out in about ninety minutes. Hopefully while he's fifty feet in the air." They are still standing close together, Sirius's arms wrapped around her. It is very awkward, but neither of them wants to move.

"Ah. The wrath of the woman scorned." Then his eyebrows shoot up. "Bloody hell, Lily. Moony and I bet ten galleons on Hufflepuff. No one will believe we didn't pull this." He adds, "Poor James."

Lily takes a breath. "James and I are together for kind of a strange reason."

"Wand to your head. Weighty prophecy and so forth. I know. James told me."

"He what?" She looks horrified. "But we're not allowed to tell anyone! Dumbledore will kill us."

"I'm a little too bitter to care. Given that Dumbledore has single-handedly destroyed my life for some abstruse higher purpose." He still has his arms around her.

"Oh, Sirius. I really am sorry. I mean, I know we can't stand each other---"

She breaks off as Sirius leans in to kiss her. He means it as a joke, to reassure her that he is fine and also to shut her up, but her mouth is warm and salty from the tears and her tongue touches his with a delicacy he has almost forgotten. Girls can be so much sweeter than boys. He slides one hand into her hair and one down to her hip, pressing his right thigh---

"Ahem." They break apart and whip around to face the sound of a cleared throat.

Sirius stares. "Remus."

"I didn't think it was possible for you to sink lower than Malfoy, but I now see that the quality of one's partner is not the only determiner of abjection."

"Remus," says Lily quickly. "It's not what you think---"

"I have more or less decided to stop thinking. The way things are going, it may be the only way to prevent my head from exploding."

When Remus is gone, Sirius sits heavily on the stone window seat and pulls Lily into his lap. She looks at him in consternation before disentangling herself. He watches her gathering her dignity and says, "Oh. Right. Sorry."

"No, it's just... I don't think I should be sitting in your lap right now, Sirius."

"Very prim. That's good. I now feel quite safe from the temptation to tear your clothes off and have you right here in the hallway."

"That's what you thought was going to happen?"

"It's not really something I plan. It's more...a mood that sweeps me along. Unless it's conveniently shattered by Remus, appearing and clearing his throat. Or howling like a wolf. He's quite the stalker, Remus. All those lupine tracking skills."

She stands, looking at him oddly, and straightens her robe. Then she says, "I'll see you around, Sirius," and disappears down the hall.

*

Sirius finds Remus in the astronomy tower. Remus, tinkering with a broken telescope, would know him blindfolded, his step, his quickened breath, the way he smells of sunlight and wood smoke and Muggle motor oil. Without turning around, Remus says, "One week till the full moon."

"Yes. Um. About that back there---"

"You don't have to report to me."

"I feel like I do, though."

"Well, you don't." Remus turns around and throws himself into an armchair. Sirius runs his hands through his hair. He is flushed from running, from embarrassment, from kissing Lily Evans. Remus feels inexplicably short-tempered. "I think I'm the single remaining person in this school you haven't snogged."

"There's still McGonagall. She's a bit of uphill work."

"I'm guessing Dumbledore. Though I'd hate to presume."

"And Snivellus, of course."

"It's a relief to hear you're maintaining some standards."

Sirius laughs, dropping into the other chair and crossing his ankles over Remus's knee. He says, "God, Moony. How do you stand me?" and grins his melting grin.

"Holy hell, Sirius. Don't flirt with me."

"Sorry." Then, with a suddenly serious and quite genuine expression, Sirius says, "You're my only real friend, you know."

"James will be sorry to hear that."

"Oh, James. Sometimes I think I bullied him into it. Not that he didn't enjoy himself. But he's so suggestible. Look at how seriously he's taking this bloody prophecy, for god's sake. An official mission. Now he can be bossed around by something with real authority, rather than just me."

"And Lily?"

"Yeah, that was..." Sirius laughs. "She's actually pretty sexy. Who knew? She stood up to me in the common room the other night. And poisoned Ambring, just now. If you can believe it. Quite the she-wolf. A perfect pick for protecting the miracle baby."

"These are real issues, Sirius. We're heading toward a--- She did what?"

"Poisoned Ambring. He's going to pitch off his broom in the middle of the match. I'm thinking it's going to look pretty bad for us, having put all that money on Hufflepuff."

"Jesus, Sirius. Yes, it is. Is there an antidote?"

"No idea. Snape might know."

"He won't help us."

Sirius grins lazily. "He might help me."

*

They find Snape in the Potions storeroom. He looks at them dubiously.

Sirius says, "A friend of ours just used a potion to knock someone out---"

"Ah, Miss Evans. A girl after my own heart. You know she was almost a Slytherin?"

"You gave her that potion? You are such a lowly worm, Snape. We need the antidote."

"Assuming there is one, why would I give it to you?"

"Well," says Sirius, dropping his long-lashed eyes and idly sliding a beaker across the table between them, "It strikes me that---"

"Shut up, Sirius," says Remus, looking at Snape. "You'll do it because the professors bloody well know that you're the only student capable of making that potion. And with Ravenclaw out, Slytherin would be well on its way to the Quidditch finals."

Snape smiles unpleasantly. "My lack of interest in Quidditch is notorious. No one will believe I care."

"Your lack of friends is also notorious. They might believe you did it to buy a lull in the loneliness."

"A long shot, Lupin."

"Maybe. I also have a back up plan."

"And what's that?"

"Beating you to a bloody pulp."

"The beast is never more than a few inches beneath the surface, is he, Lupin? And people are all aflutter about Mudbloods. Just think what they'd do if they knew about you."

A sharp crack yanks their attention to Sirius, who is still holding one large shard from the beaker he has just crushed with his fingers. Blood runs from his hand. He says, "Don't fucking talk to him like that. Snivellus."

Remus says, "Sirius. Calm down."

"God, you make me sick. With your vicious sanctimony and your fucking blood barriers."

"You didn't seem so sick this morning. Leaving Lucius's room. All dreamy and tousled."

Sirius flushes darkly and says nothing.

Remus looks back and forth between them. "That's enough. Both of you." He turns back to Snape. "Is that a threat?"

"Maybe." He adds, "Evans knows."

Sirius says, "James must have told her."

Remus says, "All right, Snape. You haven't outed me yet; I doubt you'll waste it on this. What do you want for the antidote?"

Snape folds his arms across his chest, tilts his head, and licks his lips consideringly. Finally, he says, "I'd settle for a night with Black."

Remus says, "No."

Snape says, "Let him answer."

Remus doesn't even look at Sirius. "No. Pick something else."

Snape shrugs. "That's my final offer."

Remus turns to leave, pulling Sirius with him.

*

Walking up from the dungeons, Remus says, "Any other brilliant ideas?"

"We could go watch the match. And then blow our ill-gotten gains getting drunk in Hogsmeade."

Remus grins in spite of himself. "May as well enjoy the spectacle."

They find seats in the Gryffindor box beside Lily and Andromeda. Lily is taut with tension. Sirius runs a hand along her arm and murmurs something to her. She drops her eyes but doesn't move away. Remus watches them and then looks up to see Andromeda's eyes on him. He asks, "Where's James?"

"Coming. He was in with Dumbledore again." Remus nods, remembering James's uncharacteristic gloom that day by the lake, and turns to watch the start of the match.

Ambring, like James, is both team captain and Seeker. He is a great favorite, burly and graceful, with a blond lion's mane and a careless air of command. When he appears on the field, Ravenclaw goes wild. Ambring climbs onto his broom and spirals up through the stands, waving. Remus, watching, thinks that James is more sinuous and creative in the air, but Ambring has a quality of easy power that is intimidating. Even from this distance, he looks large.

The first ten minutes of the game go smoothly. The best of the Ravenclaw chasers scores twice and then is knocked sideways by a well-aimed bludger. Hufflepuff slips in and scores to excited cheers from their own house, as well as raucous shrieks of triumph from Gryffindor.

Remus murmurs to Sirius. "This is not going to look good at all."

Sirius holds one hand up to his face and looks through his fingers. "Any time now. I can't even watch."

It doesn't happen all at once. First Ambring sways a few times over his broom. Then the entire broom swoops, first right and then left. It is not immediately noticeable to the crowd below, as the Seeker's search for the snitch usually follows an erratic flight path. Soon, however, it is clear that something is very wrong. The Quidditch coach blows her whistle to call a time-out just as three of Ambring's teammates streak toward him, desperate to reach him before he plummets thirty feet to the ground.

They are just too late. He slips and drops, head first. Five feet above the grass, his body smacks to a dead halt, magic rippling the air around him like heat distortion.

Remus looks sideways to see Lily, wand out, an expression of intense concentration on her face as she gently lowers Ambring the rest of the way to the ground. Then she faints into Sirius's arms.

James appears just in time to witness this. Sirius says, "Prongs. It's not what it looks like. Take your girlfriend. We have to get out of here right now."

James looks horrified. "You didn't---"

"No. But I don't feel like trying to explain that to McGonagall. So let's just go. Now. All right? Move." James shoulders Lily and follows Remus and Sirius out of the stands and across the lawn to the Whomping Willow. Halfway there, they all realize Andromeda is still with them.

She says, "Where are we going?" James, Remus, and Sirius all look at one another. "Shouldn't we take Lily up to the hospital wing?"

James says, "She'll be fine."

Remus says, "Hogsmeade."

Sirius says, "I think she could use a drink."

Andromeda crosses her arms and regards them with a combination of exasperation and disbelief. "Right. Good plan. And you're just going to march down there in the middle of the afternoon carrying an unconscious girl over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes?"

Sirius says, "Oh, shit. Drom. Don't be mad, but, ah..." He leads her into a grove of trees, slips out his wand, and says, "Obliviate!"

When he emerges, Remus has already hit the knot on the Whomping Willow and James is disappearing down the passage with Lily.

*

When James decides to stay with Lily in the Shrieking Shack until she revives, Remus and Sirius shrug and nod and head out to the pub by themselves.

After several drinks, Remus brings himself to say, "Snape. That was disturbing."

Sirius regards him gloomily. "You have no idea."

Remus says delicately, "I meant about, ah, me."

"Oh, right. The thing is, Moony, he's never had much leverage. First of all, you're under Dumbledore's protection, and second of all, a whole lot of people already know. It's kind of old news. I mean, Lucius knows."

"Beautiful. I'll assume you didn't tell him." Sirius looks wounded. Remus grits out, "How?"

"Snape, probably. Lucius made a crack about it at Bella's sister's wedding last summer, but I knew he wouldn't spread it around." Sirius regards Remus with a combination of guilt and defiance. "I didn't want to worry you." He adds, almost lightly, "It came up the first time he came onto me."

Remus decides to ignore everything before this last piece of information. "Before or after the pick up line?"

"Pretty much as part of it. He said you were a special case. But he'd be happy to bump off Lily for me."

"My god, Sirius. Remind me why you're sleeping with that homicidal maniac?"

"He didn't kill that girl last year. I asked him."

"Right. And you figure his saying no means---"
"I can't explain it, Moony, but I do know. Let's not talk about it." He pauses. "Ambring knows."

"What?"

"Yeah. He told Lily she was better off with James because of his fondness for werewolves and blood traitors."

"Jesus."

"He's right, though. She is better off with James."

"What about you?"

"If James's decision is right for him, he isn't right for me."

"Very philosophical."

"I do wish he weren't so humorless about it."

"They're dealing with a lot, Sirius. Both of them. What's coming is going to be---"

"I know, Remus. God. And I will fight when the time comes. You know I will. I'll be very valiant. But right now, there's still time to have fun."

"With Malfoy."

Sirius sighs. "Not really. He's so focused on this pureblood business. And you were right. I've been careless with him. The whole thing is kind of a mess."

"What are you going to do?"

"Break it off." Sirius looks at him and holds his eyes. "And you were right about something else. I do have other friends."

Remus feels his body temperature spike. Something flutters in his chest like a bird. He says, "Sirius..."

But Sirius is already standing and stretching, gesturing at their empty glasses. "You want another?"

Remus feels dizzy, as if a void has just opened and closed at his feet. "I, uh... Yeah. Sure. Do you need---?"

"Nope. My turn." Sirius picks up the glasses and looks at Remus again. "Thanks, Moony. I do love you, you know." Then he grins and walks across the room to the bar.