Modern Marauders (Jily fanfic)(Completed)

11) Wet Mop Disease

James's P.O.V

Something was off. Something was way, way off and I could sense it. 

"Oi, mate, you okay?" I asked, nudging Sirius with my shoulder. He jumped at my contact and stepped back. 

"Peachy," He snarled back and continued to poke at his pudding, as if encouraging it to leap off the plate in a synchronized dance. It was almost ask if someone had robbed him of his will to be Sirius, the way his hair fell over his eyes and his posture curved over the plate. Not only Sirius was out of it, but the normal romance of the Great Hall seemed to be shrouded with a dark cloud of gloom. Slytherins were chatting among themselves instead of screaming across the room to provoke the Gryffindors. Hufflepuffs sat in their seats instead of dancing on the table and running around to all of their friends. Ravenclaws were quietly bent over forgotten homework as opposed to discussing recent discoveries in the world of science. Even the teachers kept their noses firmly to themselves and the ceiling was a low rumbling grey of clouds and rain. 

My eyes caught Moony's across the table. This couldn't be good. Maybe Sirius was solar powered. We hadn't been outside lately thanks to the poor rainy weather. All he needed was a little fresh air.

"Late night?" Remus asked. He didn't look too good, either, but he wasn't usually as radiant as Sirius. 

Sirius shrugged in response. "I don't know, Moony, why don't you mind your own business so I can get on with the day, yeah?" This problem was a little bigger than needing fresh air. Sirius never snapped at Remus. 

"I'll be right back," I announced, standing with a glare towards Sirius. I headed over to the other end of the table where Marlene and Lily talked quietly in a series of panicked whispers. Lily looked worried about something and Marlene was trying to assure her that she had it under control. Maybe Sirius wasn't the only one who woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.  "Oi, McKinnon, Evans!" I called and squeezed into a spot next to Alice, who shrunk away and practically climbed into Frank's lap. 

Marlene rolled her eyes. "We'll talk about this later," she assured Lily. "What do you want?" 

"I want to know what you've done to Sirius. He's had the personality of a wet mop all morning!" I exclaimed, stealing Lily's bagel. 

"A wet mop, well that's no good..." Marlene mumbled as Lily shouted "Potter!" and grabbed for her bagel. 

"Pardon me, everything seems to taste better when it comes off your plate," I said with a smirk, handing the bagel back to her. She grumbled about punching me if I ever bothered to do so much as glance at her plate again. 

Marlene groaned in frustration, nearly yanking the blonde locks out of her head. "Would you two stop flirting for one second please?" She ordered. 

"We're not-"

"Merlin's beard, Lily, won't you just go  out with him already?" Marlene whined, completely cutting Lily off. "Sirius is obviously dealing with major problems here and you two can't keep the hormones down long enough to even bother to help him! Everyone can see you two are going to get married some day, so why don't you just admit you like each other and stop- ugh, stop hogging the limelight! Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be talking to my friend. who happens to be my ex-boyfriend. Doing the right thing." 

Lily sighed in exasperation. "Limelight, Marlene- what?" She spat as Marlene sauntered away. Lily moved over so Alice no longer had to sit on Frank, not that either of them minded. "Sorry about her. She's been a bit... snarly today. It's not true- us getting married. I can't stand you, you know." 

"Yes, yes, of course," I rolled my eyes. 

"Lily, James, have you seen the Daily Profit?" Mary Macdonald asked, passing the paper over to us. "It's a bit depressing, but I thought at least Lily should know." 

'Catching Death Eaters- One By One' The title of the first page read. The following passage described how Death Eaters seemed to bee reproducing faster than flies, and no matter how many were caught, they continued to pop up everywhere. Lily's hand shook as she grasped the newspaper. One of her father's murderers remained on the run. 

"Bloody awful," She mumbled as she slid the paper back to Mary. "This entire day is just bloody awful. Everything is going to be terrible. And- iugh, we have double potions with the Slytherins! I hate today and everyone in it." 

"Yeah. It's like everyone's got some illness," I agreed miserably. 

"Wet Mop disease. The cure is undiscovered.  We'd better get out of here before we're infected!" She advised, grinning mischievously. 

"No can do. We have an exam in transfiguration this morning," I said, waving my finger in the air, secretly wishing I had studied or at least put effort into that. 

"Ugh. Now I've been infected," Lily grumbled. "You could've saved me Ja- Potter. I could've been spared." A blush caught her cheeks. I wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch her hand, but I refrained myself, mostly because I had jam on my fingers. In this world of wet mop Siriuses and moody Marlenes, I was glad Lily Evans would always be there to blush.

  I didn't tell her that my cure for Wet Mop disease had been discovered, and it was her. 

A/N: I'm a terrible person who refuses to write! And guess what, I'm going to be away for the next three weeks so please don't burn down my house in protest! 

So I have to admit that I had no plan whatsoever for the plot but I roughly do now so I'm going to write that down so I don't forget forever.  

Do you know how hard it was for me to make this chapter more than one page. You're welcome. Effort. 

You can look forward to: 

-Some actual Jilly action
-More wet mop Sirius
-A real plot *gasp*!
-Hopefully some more inspiration on my part!

Thanks for reading! Sorry I'm a lazy butt! 

I love you!

Lily