Shooting Star

Chapter Forty-Four

"You know who you should date, Eliza?" Remus asked as we were studying.
I raised my eyebrows at him, not saying anything. He was my boyfriend. Why would he want me to date somebody?
Or perhaps this was him breaking up with me, and we could go on with our lives as usual.
"Sirius."
"Sirius Black?" My eyebrows probably went up even farther.
"Yeah."
"And why would I do that?"
"Because he fancies you, obviously."
I laughed. "Yeah, sure."
"You should date him."
"I'll never date Sirius Black." I said.
"Just consider it? For me?"
"Fine. For you."
"Thank you." He smiled.
"So does this mean we can move on with our lives?"
"If you want. I'm good either way."
I laughed again. "Sounds good to me. I'm glad we got that over with."
"Me too." He smiled.
"MOONY!" James shouted from the other side of the library. We heard several people shush him.
"PRONGS!" Remus yelled back.
I joined in on the shushing, considering he yelled in my ear.
"WHERE ARE YOU?"
"OVER HERE!"
"WHERE'S HERE?"
"JAMES."
"OKAY OKAY. I'M COMING."
"Remus!" I hissed, covering his mouth as he opened it again.
He laughed into my hand and I jerked it away.
"PRONGS!" Sirius yelled.
Lily was pulled in by James as he yelled back, "PADFOOOOOOOOT!"
Lily shot me a pleading look, and I just shrugged. After all, what can you do?
Sirius joined our little party, putting one arm around me and one around Lily. "Looking good, ladies." He kissed Lily's cheek, then mine.
"Sod off, Sirius." I shrugged him off.
"Hey, Padfoot. Hands off my girl." James grinned.
"I'm not your girl." Lily scowled.
"Yeah, Prongs. She's not your girl." Sirius echoed, grinning.
I glanced at Remus. This doesn't bode well. He just shrugged. What can you do?
To get her point across, Lily turned to Sirius, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him. We all stared, mouths open. Even Sirius' eyes were wide. To all of our surprise, he pulled away first. Lily sat down haughtily and grabbed a book while Sirius looked at James, eyes wide. James was still staring at Lily, but we were all staring at him.
"I'll see you guys later. I've got to go over some plans for tomorrow's game." James cleared his throat, and turned and walked away.
"Fuck." Sirius said, and ran after him.
I cleared my throat awkwardly. "So, where's Peter?" I asked.
"Talking to Professor Slughorn." Lily said casually.
"So, was there a reason for that?" Remus cleared his throat, sitting down.
"I'm not Potter's property, and I may kiss whomever I wish." Lily said.
"Yes, that's true, but perhaps it shouldn't have been his best friend." I said.
"I don't care. He'll just have to get the hell over it."
"All right." Remus nodded. "Well, I've got to go grab something from my room. I'll see you guys around."
"See you." I said.
"Bye." Lily said.
"You all right, Lils?" I asked.
"Never better."
"Are you sure? You just snogged Sirius Black."
"That is weird, isn't it?"

"Are you feeling all right, Remus?" Lily asked at lunch the next day.
"I'm all right." He was paler than usual and shaking.
"Maybe you should see Madame Pomfrey." I said, touching his arm.
"I'm all right. I'm not ill." He looked down at his untouched plate.
"Remus--" I began.
"I said I'm fine." He got up to walk away.
I stood and followed, hearing James and Sirius mumbling something behind me about us 'babying Moony.' "Remus, what's--" I began as the Great Hall doors closed behind us.
He kept walking. "Nothing's wrong. I'm fine. You should stay away."
"No. Not until you--" I was cut off by him pulling me to him and kissing me in a very non-Remus-esque way.
"You should stay the hell away from me." He said, his arms still tightly around me. He dropped his head onto my shoulder.
I hugged him back, but it wasn't until I noticed my sleeve getting wet that I realized he was crying. "What's wrong, love?" I asked, running my fingers through his short hair.
"I'm sorry." He said quietly.
"It's okay. It's all right." I started crying too. I can't stand it when other people cry.
"Maybe you should go rest?" I suggested gently once we'd both calmed down.
"No. I'm fine. I'm sorry."
"Are you all right?"
He nodded and opened the door to the Great Hall for me.
"And they sat chivalry's dead." I smiled as I walked in.
James nodded at me as I sat down and gave me a small smile. Sirius continued watching me with an expressionless face. Peter gave Remus and encouraging smile. "You should try to eat a little bit." Lily told him.
We went about our days as usual, but then Sirius Black messed that up. We were in Charms, Lily, Remus, Peter and me taking notes, and James and Sirius passing notes back and forth. Remus fell asleep, and Sirius Black took his paper and started taking notes for him. "Like what you see?" He muttered to us with a smirk when he saw Lily and me staring at him.
"Sod off." We both said.
"Moony." Sirius shook him gently when class was over. "Moony, get up." He whispered. "What're you looking at?" He growled at Lily and me. "If you're trying to imagine me naked, you could just ask, and I'll be glad to show."
"That's not something we want to see, Black. Get over yourself. We were just shocked you actually have a heart." Lily informed him.
Remus fell asleep on the staircase, and almost fell over when it moved, but James caught him and steadied him.

I woke up the next morning to Lily yelling, "He's where?! Is he okay?"
I got up and ready as fast as I could and half ran down the stairs. "What's wrong?" I asked, scanning their faces. "Where's Sirius?"
"In the infirmary. We were just about to go see him." James said. "Do you want to join us?"
"What happened?"
"He fell through one of the trick stairs--"
"Oh, bull. What happened?"
"He fell through a stair." Peter said.
"Well, who's coming?" James asked.
"I think I might just stay here." Remus said quietly, not moving or looking at any of us.
"Oh, come on, Remus. Don't be like that." James pulled him up. "You don't have a choice. I was just asking Lily and Eliza."
"I'm not sure that I should--"
"Come on, Moony." James said.
"You're reaching a Sirius Black level of moodiness, love." I informed him.
Remus stopped outside the door to the hospital wing, and started to turn around, but Lily linked her arm through his, squeezing his hand as she pulled him through the door. James smiled as he held the door open. He bowed me in.
"Is Remus all right? Can I leave now?" Sirius was asking Madame Pomfrey as we approached his bed.
"No, Mr. Black. I'm keeping you for observation. But Mr. Lupin is fine." Madame Pomfrey sighed.
"Can you observe from a distance? I'm missing class."
"You expect me to believe that? You've been coming here for six years, Mr. Black. You can leave tonight."
"What time tonight? Are you sure Remus is-- MOONY! Hey!" Sirius grinned from the bed. "Are you okay?"
"I'm all right. Are you?" Remus said quietly.
"I'm good, don't worry. Eliza, Lily. I knew you missed me." He winked. "Prongs! Pete! Hey!" He grinned.
"Hey, mate." James grinned. "All right?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Somebody's making me stay." He said pointedly.
"Mr. Black." Madame Pomfrey said warningly, then to the rest of us, "You can only stay if you're quiet."
"Yes, Madame Pomfrey." We chorused.
I pushed Sirius' hair back to look at a little cut down his face. "She's keeping you just for this?" I asked.
"No. Says I might have a concussion. And I broke my arm, but she already fixed that." He pulled his head away from my hand. He could not have gotten only these injuries from falling through a trick stair. That's bull.
Remus stood against the opposite wall, watching. I went to stand beside him. "You okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine." He didn't look at me.
"You know, Padfoot, if you wouldn't be so rude, maybe she--" James began.
"Hush!" Madame Pomfrey insisted, and he lowered his voice.
"Are you sure?" I pressed.
"I said I'm fine, damn it." Remus said harshly.
I raised my eyebrows at him, only flinching a little.
"I'm sorry." He whispered, looking back down.
I hugged him tightly. "I'm here if you want to talk, love." I said.
"Thanks." He said after a moment, hugging me back.
"Oi, Moony. Get your arse over here." Sirius said.
"Sirius, I..." Remus began.
"Nope. Don't care. Come over here and join the party."

That night, I sat by the window, looking out. I thought I saw a shooting star, but I wasn't sure. I grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her from her bed, and up into the boys' dormitories to get the boys.

Sirius knew he was screaming, but he couldn't make it stop. He woke up to James, Remus, and Peter hovering over him like worried parents. "I'm all right." He said, clearing his throat.
"You're crying." Peter said softly.
"Not as far as you're concerned. Go to back to bed." Sirius said.
Then the lights flicked on, and Eliza ran in, pulling Lily along behind her.
"Are you okay?" The four of them asked.
"Come on! Come outside!" Eliza commanded, grabbing Sirius' hand with her free hand and pulling him from his bed.
The rest of them followed as she ran out.
She led them through the halls, not even worrying about Filtch or Mrs. Norris.
"Where are we going?" He asked, forgetting his cold façade.
She gave him a smile, saying nothing, but that was good enough for him.
She pulled them out into the middle of the lawn.
"Eliza--" Remus began.
"Hush! Lie down." She grinned, dropping and staring up at the sky.
Everyone looked around as if asking each other what to do.
Sirius was the first to lay down, and she reached out, squeezing his hand with a smile. Everyone followed one by one.
"What are we looking for?" Lily asked gently, as if Eliza was crazy.
"Just wait."
"I saw it!" Peter squeaked.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Eliza turned to him, smiling.
"What is it?" Everyone chorused.
"Shooting stars." Peter said.
"What are you staring at, Black?" Eliza asked.
He hadn't realized he was staring. Oops. "Just trying to figure out why it is I'm out here in the middle of the night looking at the bloody stars." He said coldly.
"Because you love me, obviously." She laughed. "Look at the stars, Sirius."
He said nothing, because she didn't know how true that was.