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A Sure Bet


Sirius Black clutched her shoulders as he led Lily away from the Three Broomsticks, on down the path, past the Hog’s Head and the turn for the Shrieking Shack. The path ran off into the woods and he only stopped when the terrain had gotten fairly rough and started to incline around the curve of the mountain, a sheer face of rock to one side and thick trees to the other and an old peeling post pointed back toward the village read Hogsmeade, pointing the way back. He stopped and let go of her and turned ‘round to face her instead. “Alright Evans,” he said in a grand tone of voice. “Let’s get on with this.”

She stared up at him with question in her eyes.

“Did we not just have a conversation about you fucking up Prongs’s heart? Or am I mad?” Sirius requesed.

“You’re barking,” Lily replied.

Sirius cleared his throat, “While I appreciate the pun, I’m not amused Evans.” He sighed heavily and rolled his thickly lined eyes and shook his head. “Why can’t you just leave him alone? You know he’s head over heels for you - why would you use him like you’ve done? That’s right - he told us the whole sordid story! How you snog and how you let him spend the whole night comforting you on about Jasper Odair being arrested and you still think he’s rubbish. What sort of horrible demon-woman are you?”

“I don’t think he’s rubbish.”

“Then why would you use him like that?” Sirius demanded. “Using him up and throwing him away.”

Lily flushed, “I don’t.”

“You do, though!” Sirius argued. “You lead him on and then break his heart. It isn’t fair! Unless you like him, you ought not to be making him think you might.”

She looked down at her maryjanes.

There was a long pause.

“Do you like him, Evans?”

“Maybe,” Lily murmured. She could feel Sirius’s stare burning into her. “Sort of. Y-Yes, yes I do.”

“Just to clarify… as a friend or…?”

Lily looked up, “Sirius, please,” she had tears pouring over her cheeks. “Please. Don’t make me say it. I don’t want him to end up hurt. I don’t. Don’t you understand?”

“No.”

Lily swept the back of her hand across her eyes, “Sirius please.”

“I don’t understand why you have to hurt him! I won’t ever understand! He doesn’t deserve to be treated like that. You think he’s such a horrible person, but you’re wrong. James Potter is the best person there is, Evans! And if you can’t see that then you’re just blind! You’re breaking his heart! You have no idea how much so! You have no idea how sad he looked and sounded when he was talking about it, Evans. No idea! He’s so great but you never see that, you only ---”

“He is great, he is!” she said sharply, cutting him off. “I can see it and I don’t want to make him sad. I don’t. But I don’t want to hurt him and I’m no good for him, Sirius. I’m no good for him. If I love him something terrible will happen.”

“What terrible thing will happen, Evans, what?” Sirius demanded.

“I don’t know,” Lily said, “But something will.”

He stared at her, one eyebrow raised. She stared back. Her face was just so… serious. “You mean it,” he said, and he started to laugh.

“Oh - don’t, Sirius, don’t laugh,” she pleaded, her eyes sad.

He was doing that stupid barking laugh and shaking his head, “I’m sorry, Evans.”

“You don’t sound sorry, Sirius. If you were sorry, you’d stop.”

“I know, I know I would, but I can’t.”

Lily frowned.

Sirius continued on laughing for several long moments and Lily’s face grew hotter and hotter as she faced him and finally, sick of being laughed at, she stamped her foot. “You stop that, Sirius Black, or I’ll ---”

“You’ll what?” Sirius asked, a challenge to his voice

“I don’t know,” she admitted, “Maybe I’ll hex you.”

Sirius smirked.

“Please, Sirius. It isn’t funny.”

“Evans, I know you don’t think it’s funny, but darling, the fact that is that you’re being horribly ridiculous.”

She shook her head. “Sirius… I’m not.” Her voice was so low and sad that his smirk started to fade off. “I’m not. People I love… they… they die or they suffer or they go away… and… I’ve hurt James enough.”

Sirius had completely stopped laughing or smiling altogether now. His eyes bore into hers. “Lilith Miranda Evans…”

“That’s not my name.”

“... you’re a complete nutter.” His voice was level with the sincerity of his statement.

Lily said, “I’m not. Alice Bell was my best friend. Derek Bell my Captain. I’m not going to lie, I had a bit of a crush on him, too. All of us girls did. He was a lovely person. And there was my Dad, and Liam Harding’s been killed. My little seagull.” She wiped her eyes as tears streamed over her cheeks. “And there’s Petunia. My sister… my twin... we’re not meant to be separated… and yet… yet we are. Not only by miles but by heart as well. Petunia hates me, and it crushes me whenever she looks at me and I see that in her eyes. And you and Remus breaking up and all the terrible sadness you were going through last term…”

“That’s bullshit. You can’t take the blame for me and Rey on yourself, Evans. That was me. I’m an arsehole.” Sirius shook his head. “And none of that other stuff is your fault either.”

Lily stared up at him. “You don’t know that, Sirius.”

“Yeah I do.”

“Enough to bet James Potter’s life upon it?” she challenged.

Sirius stared at her.




Regulus Black sat on the edge of the Fountain in the center of Hogsmeade, a copy of the Daily Prophet folded open on his lap, reading. He had a bottle of Pumpkin Juice open beside him on the stone, chewing his lower lip as his eyes watched the moving photographs. He lowered the paper to his knee and looked around. He’d heard his name.

It was Maryrose Jenkins.

Regulus folded his newspaper under his arm and stood up, waving his wand to send the pumpkin juice into a rubbish bin a few steps away.

“Wait. Reg. What’re you doing? Don’t go. Please.” Maryrose reached him before he could leave and Regulus frowned. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you.”

Regulus shifted his weight from one leg to the other.

“How have you been?” she asked.

He took a deep breath, “Alright.”

Maryrose waited for him to ask her back - he didn’t - so finally, she offered, “I’ve been alright as well. I’ve missed you. I haven’t seen you ‘round the Great Hall.”

Regulus had been spending a good deal of energy avoiding Maryrose for the past month and a half. It had actually taken a bit of work, too, because without the other Slytherin boys who were terribly prejudiced about him at the Slytherin house table, there was little hindering Maryrose from coming over to speak with him. He’d started going to visit the House Elves to get his dinner in the kitchens, though, and he actually preferred that anyway. The table meant sitting with Barty Crouch Jr., who was constantly going on about what an idiot his father was (“How could he believe that stupid Hufflepuff boy-wonder was a Death Eater? Positively ridiculous! He was a mudblood. I mean fine, send him to Azkaban, let the filth die there! But still, what an idiot my father is. And to think he believes he’ll be a Minister for Magic one day! Idiot!”), and Regulus was really sick of listening to it. Jasper Odair had never been anything but polite to Regulus, and he’d always played fair on the Quidditch Pitch, a fact that Regulus felt indicated that the boy was honest and surely he didn’t deserve Azkaban.

But now Maryrose had him cornered and with no excuse to get away.

“Yeah…” Regulus shrugged, “I’ve had other arrangements.”

Maryrose said, “Oh.”

Regulus’s heart ached. He could feel the cold circle of the medallion she’d given him pressed to his chest beneath his oxford (he was one of the only students wearing his school uniform to the village). He had to resist putting his hand over it. His jaw tightened.

“I just spotted you and thought I’d say hello,” she explained. The way he stared at her, Maryrose could tell that Regulus did not want her there. “I’m glad you’re alright.”

“I’m glad you’re alright as well,” he said stiffly. He meant it, however harsh his tone sounded. It was just that when he looked at her, all he could see was her and James Potter. All he could see on her lips was the ghost of James Potter’s kisses.

“Have a… a safe walk to the castle later,” she offered.

“Yeah, you as well,” Regulus answered, and he quickly stepped ‘round her and hurried down the street through the village.




“EXPLODING BON BONS, REY!” James said, waving the orange, triangular box at Remus with a smirk. They were squashed into the back corner of Honeydukes sweet shop, where Remus sat on a small cork-screw shaped ladder that went away into the ceiling, his knees aching. Peter was off in the shop, collecting more sweets - having not had enough time earlier when Sirius was asking after Mia Black. James’s eyes were twinkling with mischief. “I’m thinking that I ought to buy a box of these and one of regular chocolate bon bons, switch one or two out, and give them to Sirius.” He smirked.

“That’s evil,” Remus said. Then, “If you give it to him, he’ll be suspicious. If you give them to me and I give them to him… he’d eat the lot without batting an eye.”

“Genius, you are!” James said, scooping up a box of Exploding Bon-Bons and a box of regular chocolate ones.

Peter rushed over. “Will you look at this? A new flavor of sugar quill!” he held it up and waved it for James and Remus to see. “It’s blue.”

“Brilliant,” James said, “What flavor is it?”

“The flavor is blue,” Peter explained. “Thats’ what it’s called.”

“Blueberry, surely,” Remus said, holding out his palm for the sweet.

“No - just blue. It’s a muggle flavor. Mr. Honeyduke says it’s not a natural flavor. There’s no word for it except blue. He’s got licorice wands in it. Reckon Sirius might like those? Frank Longbottom’s just been eating one and it turned his tongue blue.”

Remus looked up from the lolly. “What? That’s just frightening.”

Peter said, “It was rather funny, actually.”

“What did Ali have to say about it?” snickered James, “Snogging a blue-tongue isn’t very appealing I’ll reckon.”

“Dunno, she wasn’t there.” Peter leaned closer. “Speaking of which… I’ve just overheard something rather interesting.”

“What’s that, Pete?” James asked.

Peter leaned closer, motioning for James to come over to where Remus sat so the boys heads were all pushed together. “Frank Longbottom’s got a ring.”

James stared at Peter with a dumbfounded expression. “Pardon?”

“A ring,” Peter repeated. “An engagement ring. For Ali. He was whispering about it to Andy Woodhouse just now, behind the cockroach clusters. He reckons since this is his last year here at Hogwarts with her and he’s wanting his intentions to be clear before he has to leave her. Says they wouldn’t be married for some time, of course, ‘til after she graduated… but…” Peter raised his eyebrows.

“Bloody hell, he’s mental,” Remus said. “We’re far too young for thinking of things like that.”

James looked at Remus.

“I mean, he’s only just of age!”

James said, “They’ve been together for a very long time, though. I reckon he figures that when you know, you know…. You know? A sure bet.”

Remus shook his head. “Regardless…”

James nodded, “Yeah. Regardless.” He looked down at the box of Exploding Bon-Bons in his hand and he couldn’t help but remember a certain ruby ring that Sirius Black had purchased over the summer.