Without Warning

CHAPTER NINE: Bloody Sirius' Suggestion.

"So," Indigo began as innocently and casually as she could. "What happened with you and James in the Hospital Wing, eh?" She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at Lily. All thoughts of suavity lay forgotten. She'd never been able to act casual in situations where she was bursting to explode with excitement, anyway. The Mandrake incident was a constant reminder.

Lily grinned and smoothed out her bed spread slowly. She was deliberately going to draw this out to peeve Indigo right off.

"Oh, not much." She looked back at her best friend to discover Indigo now had an assaulted look planted on her face. Lily knew in an instant her current explanation would not suffice.

"Well uh, we just talked about...stuff." She looked back at Indigo to see she now had her arms crossed staunchly.

"Stuff?" Indigo repeated monotonously, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes." Lily put on her most innocent expression she could yield.

"Like?"

"Like er, Quidditch and Hogsmeade and ... and going to the Celebratory Ball together."

There. She had said it. She watched as Indigo's face lit up with what could only be described as complete ecstasy. Lily decided it was rather strange that her friend was so enthusiastic about her canoodling with James Potter. Not that there was much canoodling to be had, mind. They were only going as friends. They weren't a couple...

Indigo's eyes widened suddenly and she let one squeaking noise escape from her mouth.

"You're...you're going?!"

Lily nodded. Hadn't she just said that?

"T-Together?"

Lily nodded again.

"For sure?"

Lily wondered if she should just keep nodding until Indigo had finished her tangent. It was a better option than the one she was currently heading for which would involve Indigo wearing a neck brace later on.

"Oh Lily, finally! This is wonderful! Oh I just knew my ploy would work!" She exclaimed this to herself more so than she did to Lily.

"Uh ... hang on, I didn't quite catch that last part. Hmm, let's recount, shall we ... Finally? Check. Wonderful? Check. Ploy? Er, I'm sorry, come again?" Lily's eyes narrowed slightly at Indigo's exclamation.

"Oh, well um, you see...I just sort of...I mean you could say I er, gave Potter the tiniest little nudge in the right direction."

"Indigo! You said you wouldn't! How - I mean what did you say? Oh god. He probably felt obliged to ask me. I can just imagine the scenario now!"

"No, honestly Lil, I didn't pressure him at all! Quite the opposite really," said Indigo in a would-be soothing voice.

"What? I...what'd you say Indigo?!" Lily was on the verge of not-so-quiet hysteria. The last thing she would have wanted was for James to feel pressured into asking her to the ball. God, he probably hadn't even wanted to!

"I just sort of told him that Gilderoy Lockhart was planning on asking you ... so, so really he must have felt threatened with the competition and therefore asked you as soon as he had the chance."

Lily's eyes widened in shock at Indigo's explanation. She had to admit it was rather calming, though. At least her best friend hadn't threatened James and gunpoint...or even worse - wandpoint.

"Lockhart ... Gilderoy Lockhart." Lily breathed slowly as Indigo nodded innocently.

She stared at Indigo for a couple of moments, he shoulders rising and falling as she calmed herself down.

Then she snorted. This soon turned into a hearty chuckle. Then she burst out laughing. Indigo seemed a little taken aback at first - she'd been expecting a fully-fledged lecture on the liabilities of her playing cupid - but was soon joining Lily in laughing uproariously.

"G-Gilderoy Lockhart!" Lily cried through a particularly loud snort, which evidently caused many more fits of hysterics and concluded with the two girls lying on their dormitory floor panting for breath.

"So," beamed Lily, still lying on the ground beside her best friend and holding her sides from laughing so hard. "Now the question is who are you going to take to the Ball, Miss McKinnon? I was so tangled up in my own self pity that I fully forgot to ask you."

"Oh, well...I don't think I'll take a partner. I kind of prefer the title of 'The Most Highly Sought After Bachelorette Hogwarts Has To Offer." Indigo swept her hands out in front of her, as if pasting the name in mid air.

Lily raised an eyebrow at her. So Indigo was a tomboy. That didn't mean she couldn't dress up on a special occasion and even drool over some spunk if she felt the need, did it?

Indigo seemed to mind-read what Lily was thinking and spoke. "Besides, there's no-one decent left."

Ahh, so that was the problem. Indigo had left it too long.

Lily turned onto her side, facing her best friend and gave her a calculating look. They had always basically been able tell what the other was thinking. Indigo looked back at her.

A look of horror suddenly dawned on Indigo's theatrical face. "Oh Merlin! Lily who can I ask?! I've left it far too late! And omigosh, the Ball's right after exams!"

"See what happens when you go around playing cupid? You forget to write your own love story."

"Lily! Focus! Who am I going to take?!"

"Hmm, everyone's partnered up pretty fast..." Lily suddenly had a shrewd idea and grinned. "Perhaps ...oh, I don't know ... Gilderoy Lockhart could be of assistance?"

"You're evil. Pure evil."

******************************

"So..." Sirius couldn't hold it in any longer despite constant glares of warning from Remus. "You asked Evans to the Ball, Prongs?"

"Well, yeah. It's pretty obvious isn't it, Padfoot?"

"Apparently not," muttered Remus in an undertone.

"Are you together now?" Peter asked rather loud and tactlessly.

However Sirius, who would normally have told Peter he was a profuse git, merely nodded his head in agreement and stared at James expectantly. Remus rolled his eyes.

"Er...well, no," James stammered. It wasn't exactly the edge he'd been hoping for. He'd always envisioned himself triumphantly declaring he had won Lily's heart. Instead he found himself standing awkwardly in front of his best friends who were now currently wearing subtle expressions of disgust.

After a moment, Sirius broke the ice in true Sirius fashion. "Why the Hell not?"

"Ok...Well, I've had a breakthrough on the tactics front. See, I got talking to McKinnon the other day, and she suggested that modesty and normality were important factors and highly preferred over arrogance and obnoxiousness when it comes to winning - I mean, getting together with Lily."

"What? Oh god, this is not good - You had a girly heart to heart with Indigo McKinnon?!" Sirius cried.

"Yeah...?"

"But...but she's a complete nutter!"

"Padfoot, she's one of the best Chasers that Gryffindor has ever seen."

"So?"

"So, not only do you tend to think that about any girl that could pummel your arse, she was actually able to talk to me in terms I'd understand."

Sirius blinked. "She could not pummel my arse!"

All three boys snorted, smirked and raised one eyebrow at Sirius.

"Okay." Sirius took a deep breath. "It's okay, this is fine, I can accept this...just...just tell me you've snogged her."

"Sirius!" James and Remus bellowed together. Peter simply sat on his bed looking thoroughly amused.

"What?"

"For your information, my ultimate goal is not to snog Lily." James thought for a second as Sirius and Remus looked at him in astonishment. "Okay, well not my only goal. I want to get to know her too."

"James, you haven't ... Merlin, you have! You've completely fallen for her!" Sirius crowed, pointing his finger accusingly at his best friend.

James smiled sheepishly, running a hand through his unkempt hair. Yet again, he found himself thinking this wasn't exactly the scene he had anticipated himself in. He'd concealed it for so long. Still, at least it was now sort of out in the open. But he wasn't about to plunge in to a long-winded story of his undying love for the girl. Not yet, anyway. He waited for the wrath of Sirius.

Sirius snapped out of the hysterical look that was now occupying his face and managed to say casually; "Oh...Well, I knew it all along of course."

Remus snorted and James grinned.

"So why aren't you together again?" Peter piped up. He had failed to see the reasoning behind why James and Lily were still only on friendly terms.

"Because Wormy, he has to figure out his strategy," explained Sirius as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

"Well actually," began James, "no strategy is necessary. I've discovered - contrary to what I may've used to believe - Lily isn't a Quidditch match. I just have to be, well, normal and take it from there."

"So what you're saying is you're going as friends to the Celebratory Ball then?" aRemus asked.

"Yeah, but I don't know how much longer I can stand this whole 'friends' thing. Seriously, I want her so bad that it's like it was better when she hated me."

"Aha! I knew there were some dirty thoughts lurking under your 'unblemished' exterior!" Sirius crowed again.

Remus yet again rolled his eyes. "I think what he means Padfoot, is that his feelings are so strong for her that he can't stand being near her without actually...well, being with her. Am I right, Prongs?"

"Got it in one, Moony."

"See! Impure thoughts!"

"I mean them being together in a un-Sirius gutter minded way," added Remus.

"Yeah. It's like I'll die without her or something," quipped James looking around quickly to make sure his friends weren't going to mock him for his sudden surge of sincerity.

He was thinking back to the Hospital Wing. It was then that he'd realised how much he wanted to always be with her. He just had to make it happen.

"Or you'll die because you're with her," said Peter suddenly, smiling crookedly.

All three boys stared at him.

"Er...Because of her fiery temperament and all," he explained quickly. He'd just wanted to crack a joke, that's all.

"Git," muttered Sirius.

**********************************

The following week Lily and Indigo were sitting in the Gryffindor common room. It was rather packed due to the fact people had relentlessly started studying (more like cramming) for exams in the forthcoming week.

To the untrained eye, the two girls would have merely looked like they were studying, testing each other on questions and the like. But that couldn't have been further from the truth.

They had claimed their table before any of the sixth year boys had even stepped foot in the room and were now currently working their way through a long piece of parchment of prospective partners for Indigo - whom Lily had discovered was rather selective when it came to dates ... Or the male species in general, really.

"How about Diggle?" Lily suggested.

"Diggle? Dedalus Diggle? Sod off!"

"Okay what about, hmm...Edgar Bones?"

Indigo raised her eyebrow and nodded her head in a direction across the other side of the common room. Lily followed her gesture to see Bones snogging a petite fifth year.

"Okay," Lily said rather quickly to try to hide the fact that she was blushing. She'd never been the most suave person when it came to intimacy - more like a bumbling fool. It didn't really help that James seemed to be so smooth with that kind of thing, either.

"We're running out of candidates here, Lil!" Indigo had been bordering on the verge of hysterical all afternoon and was now threatening to burst.

"Don't worry, not every guy here can possibly be taken."

"Do you want to put a wager on that? Seriously? Lily, I'm honestly going to just start yelling out to all the guys in the room soon, desperately begging them to go with me. Quite frankly, even Slytherins are looking rather appealing at the moment!"

Okay, they had definitely hit hysterical.

"And I'm sure one would say yes. It's not like you look like a hag or anything," Lily grinned wryly. "What about Benjy?"

"Fenwick's taken."

"Either of the Prewetts?"

"Ew, they're like brothers to me...They're taken anyway."

"Okay, um..."

Indigo sighed loudly and looked out the window at the perfectly pearly white moon. "This is getting ridiculous!"

She looked over at the stairs leading up to the dorms just as James, Sirius and Peter emerged. Remus was peculiarly absent. Indigo suddenly had a great idea.

"Lil, does Sirius have a date?"

"Um, do you know, I'm not sure. "

Indigo looked back over at the boys who were now making their way inconspicuously towards the portrait hole. She decided it was now or never.

"Oi, Black! Wanna go to the Celebratory Ball with me?"

All dignity lay forgotten. Lily winced at her best friend's bluntness and held her breath.

Sirius, who had stopped in his tracks, was currently looking wide-eyed at Indigo. No girl had ever been so...blunt. Normally girls would walk on eggshells around him, bowing down to his every whim and giggling obscenely. To tell the truth, he'd never gone out with a single one of them. They weren't at all interesting. And he liked a chase. But Indigo was...different? There was something about her. He liked it.

But he also liked Alice Fletcher, his current date to the Ball

"Er, sorry McKinnon, I'm going with Alice Fletcher!"

As he yelled his response back over the common room, several people looked up in shock at his news, including Alice's ex Gideon, a few surprised seventh years and Frank Longbottom. Alice was a beautiful, intelligent Ravenclaw seventh year - Quite an accomplishment for a sixth year, even if you were Sirius 'Mr Heartthrob' Black.

He smiled, content that his comment had caused a satisfactory silence. James knowingly grinned at his best friend as they made their way over to Indigo and Lily.

"Sorry," continued Sirius, quieter this time.

"It's okay," sighed Indigo. "You were bordering on 'last resort' anyway."

"I'm flattered," he deadpanned.

"So Lily, excited about the Ball?" James smiled, focussing all his attention on her.

"Well yeah, but," she shook her notes of parchment and smiled. "Gotta get through this stuff first."

He smiled at her again. "Yeah, of course. Me too...Hey, if you ever need some help in the Transfiguration department, I could help you."

It was now her turn to smile again. "Thanks, James."

"Always a pleasure, Lily." He liked the way her name felt on his tongue. He wondered if she'd have the same effect. He could absolutely not wait for the Ball.

Sirius and Indigo rolled their eyes at the same time and in the process caught each other's gesture. Hmm, not such a nutter after all, Sirius commented to himself.

Then he had a fabulous idea.

"Hey McKinnon, Pete here doesn't have a date yet."

"Sirius, what are you doing?!" Peter hissed, turning a vibrant shade of puce. Bloody Sirius and his stupid suggestions! He was constantly embarrassing him these days.

"Getting you a worthwhile date. Sorry to break it to you Pete, but that house elf you had lined up really doesn't cut it."

Lily and James snickered openly at Sirius' remark.

"I'm so glad that you regard me higher up in the dating chain than a house elf, Black," commented Indigo bitterly.

Peter suddenly had a rush of gratitude towards her. He liked anyone who stood up for him - Even if it wasn't really to defend him, but accidentally sounded like it anyway.

He summoned all the nervous courage he could muster. "Well, er ... How about it then?"

"Er...I..." Indigo didn't know how to reject him politely, when what she really wanted to do was to tell him she was repulsed by the very idea.

She looked over at Lily for support, but she simply grinned and raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, how about it McKinnon?" Sirius took this a step further by nudging her in the ribs, suggestively winking and grinning broadly.

Indigo opened her mouth to retort, but barely made a strangled noise. She looked back over at a hopelessly hopeful looking Peter. Urgh, this was the last guy she would have wanted to go with. She would have even preferred Gilderoy Lockhart to this git. Oh, but he looked so helpless! Damned Sirius! Did she really want to be the one held responsible for trampling on the last smidgen of courage Pettigrew had?

She sighed deeply, and took another look at his now sweaty face. Reluctantly and in a monotonous tone, she spoke. "Sure. Why not."

This was going to be the worst Ball ever.

"G-Great," smiled Peter.

He was relieved that she had said yes, but also in complete awe for the same reason. This could quite possibly be the first time he had never been rejected by a girl - and he had Sirius to thank! He couldn't help but think how ironic that was.

"Great!" cried Sirius a little too enthusiastically.

Indigo turned to look at him to see he now had a cheesy grin plastered on his face. She knew immediately that he would be internally mocking the hell out of her and no doubt laughing hysterically.

"Great," she added through clenched teeth. "Didn't you have somewhere to go, Black? Far, far away from here?"

"Actually yes, yes I did - before I was rudely interrupted by you. As a matter of fact, now that that's all sorted, we were just leaving."

"Oh. Where're you guys off to?" Lily asked.

"Who cares," muttered Indigo in an undertone.

James suddenly looked very mortified by this question. "Er, to the erm..."

"Hey, where's Remus?" Lily added, noting his absence.

"Er, well he's..." James stammered.

Sirius rolled his eyes at James' inability to lie convincingly.

"That's where we're going - to visit him. He's not feeling too well."

"Yeah, that's it," added James with a nod of thanks towards Sirius.

"Must hurry actually. Seeya!" With that, Sirius ran off towards the portrait hole and with a grin, he was gone. Peter smiled hesitantly at a grimacing Indigo and then quickly followed.

"Ladies." James smiled, reclining his head towards Lily more than to Indigo and then he too was gone.

Lily let her gaze linger a moment on the spot where James had just been, then turned back to Indigo who scowled and looked back out the window at the gleaming full moon.

"Well Pettigrew's better than no one," sulked Indigo after a moment.

Lily burst out laughing.

"Why didn't you help me out, Lil!" The first sign of a grin was now forming on her face.

"Sorry," Lily breathed. "I was just having far too much fun watching you squirm!"

"Bloody Sirius," muttered Indigo.

She glared at Lily in mock contempt but eventually let out a snort, which soon enough led to both girls giggling madly, now looking forward (even if one was a tad grudgingly) to the upcoming Ball.