Heading the School

"Made a lightening trip to Vienna
Eating chocolate cake in a bag
The newspapers said, ‘She's gone to his head!
They look like two gurus in drag!'"
-The Ballad of John and Yoko, John Lennon and Yoko Onno

Chapter Eight

As both days and nights were filled with class and studying, it isn't a wonder that the days passed quickly. Quidditch season was fast coming upon the school, and house rivalry was getting a tad ugly, as it tended to be at the beginning and the end of the season.

Out of all of the 7th years, James was the most stressed, for he had to juggle the most. Though no matter how busy he was, he always made time to do the special two hours with Lily when they walked around the school, hand in hand, talking.

Sirius had undergone a dramatic change as the weeks passed. He no longer seemed to want to share the limelight in James' eyes with Lily, but seemed, finally, to accept their parting. The change in heart began when he received the notice from his great-aunt that his great-uncle Alphard had left him a surmountable amount of gold in his will. After that, it seemed as though Sirius had found a project to immerse himself in, which had to do with pamphlets. That was all anyone knew about it, though. When James had asked him what he was looking into, Sirius promptly put them away and gave James a grin.

"Just a bit of a project I'm working on," he would always answer, and say nothing more on the subject.

Lily, however, wanted to have a chat with Sirius about James. She was feeling bad that she got to spend so much time with him, and Sirius barely got any. So, she waited for a chance when James was sure not to barge in.

So, early morning before the first Gryffindor Quidditch match, she caught up with Sirius as he was making his way to the pitch. James was working on his team and getting them all pumped up already in the locker room.

"Lily. What can I do for you, Love?" he asked, giving her a charming smile.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"What about?" Sirius asked, putting his arm through hers and guiding her away from the path to the pitch.

"Well, I want to talk to you about James," Lily said.

"Is he being too much of a prat for you now?"

"No, no, he's wonderful, it's not really just about him, but more about him and you," Lily said. "Look, I never wanted to be that kind of girl that snatches the boy away from his mates, and I'm afraid that's happened."

"Lily, that's not your fault, you know," Sirius smiled. "James can be a bit blind sometimes."

"I know, and I'm going to talk to him about it," Lily said. "I don't want to be the Yoko Onno of the Fab Four at Hogwarts."

Sirius gave her a raised eyebrow and Lily shook her head. "Never mind, it's a Muggle thing."

"Lily, I honestly appreciate your concern about this, but I'm not as upset about it anymore. I've realized that we've all got to grow up, and I'm working on my own projects."

"But, you're still mates, right?" Lily asked, feeling horrible.

"Of course we are, Lily," Sirius put his arm around her. "Brothers, almost. And we talk and have our fun in the dorm room, where you don't see. So I don't want you to think that you've totally invaded our territory."

Lily gave him a small smile and he squeezed her to his side a bit. "I just...felt so bad. And I have, for a long time-"

"And that's how I know that you are good for him," Sirius smiled. "Now, would you like to come help me set up the Prongs fan-section?"

"Oh Merlin, you aren't going to put that bloody awful thing up again, are you?" Lily rolled her eyes. Sirius looked aghast.

"Of course, Lily, it's tradition and good luck. ‘Sides, Prongs needs to know where to smile when he scores his goals." Sirius lead her to a door on the side of the Gryffindor locker house and unlocked it with his wand. "Honestly, I don't know why he didn't start out as a Chaser, you know? I mean, it's so much more his style."

"He was quite a scrawny thing when he first joined, though," Lily said, thoughtfully, peering into the dark room. A giant roll of parchment was thrown into Lily's hands and she almost buckled under the weight.

"True," came the voice from inside. "He's filled out a bunch, even so. Poor bloke had to work out every day for the past three years to get half the muscle I've got."

"If there's one thing that's never going to change, it's how much you two brag," Lily laughed. Sirius came out of the door, a little dusty, and holding more ‘fan club' decorations.

"Lily, when you've got as much as we do, it's hard not to brag. You should hear him go on and on about you."

This caused Lily to blush. "He talks about me?"

"All the bloody time," Sirius said. "You know, he's so tickled that you're his girl." He paused. "You are his girl, aren't you? Because a few weeks ago, you were squeamish about it-"

"I suppose, I am," Lily said. "I just didn't know....it's my first real relationship. I'm not quite sure what exactly to do."

"You've certainly warmed up a bit; telling that 5th year to ‘back off,' and all."

"Oh honestly, he still isn't on about that!?" Lily said, exasperated. "For a week and a half, all I heard is ‘tell me what you told her.' Finally, I had to tell him that if he asked me one more time, I'd have to hex him."

"Yes, but I've had to deal with it for a bloody month," Sirius grinned at her as they headed up the stairs to the pitch. "By the way, nice jacket."

Lily looked down at the blue jacket and grinned. "He doesn't know I have it, I don't think."

"Lily?!" Sirius stopped and whirled around. "When did you pilfer this item?"

"Last night, while he was at practice," she blushed. "There's no alarm on the boy's stairs."

"And why, may I ask, did you want Prongs' jacket?"

"If I have one vice, I like to wear men's clothing," Lily admitted. "I steal my father's jumpers all the time."

Sirius shook his head and continued walking, coming up to the top of the stand. "I must say, I find that incredibly sexy, you know?"

Lily cleared her throat and put the giant parchment down next to Sirius' pile. "Mr. Black, I don't think I can allow that kind of statement from you."

"Only one bloke gets to call you sexy, eh?" Sirius teased. "Has he even used his privilege?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, he has," Lily grinned, taking out her wand and stringing up the giant parchment that had a crudely drawn picture of James on it. "But I don't see how it's any of your business."

"As a matter of fact, Miss Prissy, I already knew that answer," Sirius stepped back and watched her string up the parchment. "Because, as I said, he brags about you. And bragging entitles telling all about snogs and gropes and such-"

He didn't finish because Lily had rounded on him and given him a hard punch in the shoulder. "Sirius! I can't believe you!"

"Lily, it's a mate thing," Sirius said, rubbing his arm. "He tells me all about his, I tell him all about mine. Moony, Merlin save him, if he ever gets a girl, will do the same, and Pete....well, Pete just-why are you smiling like that when I say ‘Moony'?"

"No reason," Lily grinned, looking at the parchment, which showed James as a Seeker. "We've got to change this, now, don't we?"

"Lily, you know something about Moony?" Sirius grabbed her shoulders so that she was facing him.

"Come now, Sirius, no need to get rough," Lily said, lightly taking his hands off of her shoulders. "I do happen to know of someone that has a crush on our young Mr. Lupin."

"Who!?" Sirius gasped. Lily turned her head slowly to look at him.

"You do realize that you just sounded like a fifteen year old gossip queen, right?"

"I don't care, who is it?" Sirius asked.

"Now, strictly speaking, this is top secret estrogen information, but, I have it on good authority that a certain Auror trainee fancies Remus-"

"Which one?" Sirius thought, then realization and denial came at the same time. "Not Emmeline- "

Lily whistled and changed the Seeker-James to Chaser-James. Sirius sat down on a bench and had a good laugh.

"Though I wanted someone a bit more outgoing for Moony, as he's such a quiet one, Emmeline may be a good match. And she's ok with the little ‘problem?'"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Problem? She's always on about how it probably makes him a more aggressive lover and-why are you laughing!"

"The words ‘Moony,' ‘aggressive,' and ‘lover' should never be used in one sentence around me ever again," he guffawed. Lily rolled her eyes and continued to fiddle with the decorations.

After the game (an astounding Gryffindor victory over Hufflepuff), Lily was swept up in James' jubilant arms when she came onto the pitch. She cast a look over to Sirius, but he had just given her a thumbs up and stayed out of the fray. The look on his face, the acceptance of his lost place to her, made all of her happiness disappear and, even though Sirius said that they were ok, so she decided to have a chat with James about it that evening.

As it was, the party was too raucous and crazy for them to have a conversation without being interrupted. James was the popular one of the party, for he was as good of a Chaser as he was a Seeker, and people kept coming back to congratulate him. Finally, Lily asked if they could seek sanctuary in his room so that they could have a nice talk.

While no one was looking, they snuck up the stairs and into the 7th year boy's dormitory. Lily, having been there once before, sat down on his bed and beckoned him to sit down next to her.

"Can I grab a quick shower first?" James asked. Lily nodded and watched him, amused, grab some clothes out of a pile and a crumpled towel off of the floor. She wondered if the House Elves ever came in here, as it was such a mess.

Realizing her opportunity, Lily decided to raid James' trunk for t-shirts and whatnot that could double for pajamas. Her dormmates were always wondering why she never had any of his clothing (the jacket was a quite recent acquisition) and now was her chance to grab a few well- worn shirts.

"What are you doing, Lily?" James asked, coming out of the bathroom in those damn Snitch shorts and no shirt. The words sounded more muffled because he had a toothbrush stuck in his mouth. Lily turned around, like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar, and grinned.

"Just looking," she said. James rolled his eyes and went back into the bathroom. Lily continued to inspect shirts, but this time, she smelled them to see if they carried his scent that she couldn't seem to get enough of.

"C'mon, I'm am 18 year old boy, Lily. I'm not a neat-freak!" James whined from the bathroom.

"I'm not checking for that," Lily said, finally picking one (a very weathered Arrows shirt) that held his scent the most. She ran and stuffed it into her bag and sat back on the bed as he came back out of the bathroom.

"Why are you going through my clothes, then?"

"No reason," she smiled. He leaned in to kiss her, as that's why he thought they were coming up here. Lily however, remembering why they had snuck up here in the first place, broke apart from him.

"We need to have a little chat," Lily smiled. James, instead of sitting next to her, laid his head down in her lap and put her hand in his hair. Lily, a little nervous at his proximity, obliged and began stroking his hair.

"What about, Love?" James asked.

"Sirius," Lily said. "James, I'm...concerned that I'm coming between the two of you, or that you're paying more attention to me than him."

James opened his eyes and sighed. "Am I being too smothering again?"

"No, it's just...I feel bad that I get to see you more than he does," Lily said. "Have you two talked about this at all?"

James sat up and took her into his arms, putting his head on her shoulders. "First of all, we live together. It's not as if we never see each other anymore. But, still, we all had a chat about our growing apartness."

"And?" Lily said.

"And I admitted that I had been a bit bad in the friend department and he admitted that he had been a bit jealous, and we came to an agreement."

"Which is?"

"Well," James shifted and put his head next to hers, kissing her ear. "I would tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." He kissed lower onto her neck and Lily protested. James pushed her robes down from her shoulder and nipped the skin there.

"Did you have a talk today or something?" James asked.

"Yes," Lily said. "Before the game, when we were setting up your fan-section."

"What else did you talk about?" he said, in-between bites of her shoulder.

"The girl that fancies Remus," Lily grinned. James' head sprung up so fast that it made his head spin.

"Who?"

"I'd tell you," Lily kissed his nose. "But then I'd have to kill you."

"You and your comebacks," James grinned, running his hands through her hair. Before he kissed her again, he turned his head away in a giant yawn. Lily snuggled into his arms and smiled at him.

"Tired?"

"A bit, but I'm up for a good snog, if you are."

To be truthful, Lily was left a bit wanting after their last "session," and that had been a few weeks ago. She rarely got James completely alone like this, so, she picked up her wand and closed the curtains around James' bed.

"Promise that you'll stop when I tell you to?" Lily asked.

James nodded and nudged his nose against hers. "Don't I always?"

"You're so good to me," Lily smiled, putting her hands on his face and bringing him close.

"All right, time to congratulate the winner with a few swigs of Firewhiskey!" Sirius opened the door to the dorm with two big bottles. James' curtains were still drawn, which surprised Sirius, because James usually wasn't tired after a game. Then again, James had worked pretty hard scoring all of those goals. Sirius crept over, intent on waking up his friend with a bang, and threw open the curtains.

"Oh, this is interesting," he said, taken aback. Lily and James were fast asleep and snuggled in each other's arms. Sirius, ever-the-hopeful-one-that-James-would-finally-get-laid, was upset to see that they were just laying together, fully clothed. He sighed and put the Firewhiskey on his own bed. Reaching under the two of them, he pulled out the blankets and covered them up, tucking them in together.

"You two do realize that for this, I'm going to rib you horribly tomorrow morning, right?" he huffed as he covered them. "Sleep well, snoggers."

He walked towards his bed and picked up the two bottles of Firewhiskey. "Oh Remus! Where for art thou, Werepuppy...."