Love Lives {Jily}

T W O

"No fucking way!" Lily shrieks.

Marlene nods, a slightly faraway look about her. "Yes fucking way," she says softly. She turns away and rummages in her satchel. "I need a cigarette," she mutters.

"Sirius Black is... ?" Lily trails off.

"Gay? No. He's bisexual. Which causes an even bigger problem, " Marlene says, still refusing to look at Lily.

"Why?" Lily asks, confused. Why would Sirius' bisexuality matter in the least? If he was interested, he was.

"Because that idiot can just hide his interest in men behind shagging a lot of girls. And he enjoys the sex. A gay man wouldn't. The girls go around spreading stuff and there you have it. Sirius Black, the man-whore of Hogwarts." Marlene finally turns around with a lit cigarette between her fingers. She takes a long draw before pulling it out.

"He's too shy?" Lily asks, unable to imagine any universe in which that would be true.

Marlene snorts. "Are you really dumb enough to think so?" she asks.

Lily shakes her head rapidly. "No. But why else wouldn't he? I mean, Remus is close to him, they know each other plenty well, they have common friends, its not like Black cares about his family much in any case. What could possibly go wrong?"

"Remus is straight, Lilypad." Marlene says with another puff of smoke.

Lily blinks. "Who told you that?" she finally asks.

Marlene offers a smile. "Stumped, are you Lils? Sirius told me." she says.

Lily blinks a couple more times. And then bursts out laughing. Marlene glares at her. "If you find the situation funny Lily, you can just keep your fucking nose out of it. Or I could Obliviate you. I don't want you to laugh at-" She's cut off by Lily, who raises a hand, suddenly sober.

"The situation is very funny." Marlene's glare intensified. "Not for the reasons you are imagining though."

Marlene looks confused but disapproving. Its a strange expression, unprecedented on Marlene's face.

"For all he claims to know about his friends, Black knows surprisingly less about this one. And you say he's interested." Lily pauses slightly. "When was the last time you saw Remus with a date?"

Marlene frowns. "I don't know. I don't exactly keep track records of who's dating whom and when."

Lily raises one eyebrow. Marlene rolls her eyes and bites her lip. "I mean, I do, but Remus Lupin isn't exactly... I haven't seen or heard anything about him in ages," she finally admits.

"That's because he hasn't had a date in ages." Lily says gleefully.

"Yeah, so?"

"Are you forgetting I'm Remus' drink buddy as well?"

"Lupin drinks?!"

"That's besides the point, but yes."

"What is your point, Lily?" Marlene asks, eyebrows drawn together.

"He doesn't like girls. At all. And unlike Black, he's a very, very shy guy," she says. "In terms of love and sex, definitely," she adds quickly. Remus Lupin was known for being the shameless mastermind behind some of the best pranks and schemes the walls of Hogwarts had seen.

Marlene's jaw had dropped. Quite literally. She sat gaping at Lily, until a wide smile broke out on her face.

"Hey, no kidding?"

"Nope."

"Yes, fucking way?"

"All the fucking way."

Marlene leaps up from her chair and with surprising force, bends over, grips Lily by the waist and swings her around, a delighted laugh pouring from her cupid's bow lips.

"Put me down now, Mar or I'll-" The portrait swings open and the girls are faced with a shocked Potter, a mildly amused Remus and an extremely amused Sirius.

"Care to explain that?" the latter asks with a grin.

"Oh Lily just told me she was going to help me plan a party." Marlene lied, smoothly.

Remus plopped down on the couch and quickly stretched himself out on it. He looked tired. "What party would that be?"

"The party we Gryffindors will throw when we win the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw in the upcoming game. They're even worse than fucking Slytherin this year!" Marlene says, dropping Lily unceremoniously on the floor.

Sirius nods gloomily. "We have a rubbish seeker this term though, mate. Our only hope are the chasers." He high-fives Potter but doesn't smile.

"Oh, cheer up. You'll pulverise those Ravenclaws with the beaters you got and you fucking know Diggory's no good with a Quaffle. Have you even bothered to look at Miles? That dude has footballs for muscles. And his aim's pretty good too." Remus says from the couch in an appreciative tone.

"I'll give you that," Sirius admits grudgingly.

Potter sits comfortably on the arm of the couch, legs dangling. He hasn't said a word till now, but stares contemplatively at Lily. Lily groans internally. Not another proposal to go out with him again surely?

She's sure if glares could burn, Potter would be nothing but a pile of ash on the couch by now. But surprisingly he doesn't make any attempt to speak to her, turning away eventually to speak to Sirius, breaking the eye-contact. "Arse." Lily murmurs, before retrieving her Potions textbook from the floor and burying herself in it.

The less bothered, the better.

Its only after Astronomy that evening when she's returning from the tower, that Potter calls out to her. She walks stiffly on, pretending to not have heard until she feels a finger tap insistently on her shoulder. With a weary sigh, she turns around and is ready to defend her single status immediately but before she can start, Potter cuts her off.

"I'm not here to ask you out."

Lily doesn't believe him. But when she understands he isn't joking, he's serious, she feels lost. Potter has never spoken to her about anything but hypothetical dates. So if he isn't asking her out now...

"Oh." That's all she manages.

Potter smirks at that but soon enough his lip is between his teeth and he chews on it. "Come up to the boy's dorm as quietly as possible tonight. I know just how crazy this sounds, but I can't invite myself into a dormitory full of girls. Rest assured I will not behave untoward in a room teeming with guys only too ready to save damsels in distress."

She doesn't even have time to comprehend Potter's words but her lips move of their own accord. "What time?"

Potter smiles. He isn't smirking, he's smiling and Lily for a moment finds herself appreciating how good the man can look when he drops the asshat act.

"Midnight. Be there. And be quiet. Wake no one and if by chance you do, forget I exist. This conversation never took place in that situation."

He walks away but just before he's gone too far to hear the slight whisper, she catches it.

"Third bed from the right. Three taps against the headboard."

And he's gone, leaving behind a dumbfounded Lily.

What the fuck has she gotten herself into?

tbc