Liquid Luck [Sirius Black]/editing

chapter 70

"You're being overdramatic, Lilian." I provoke. "James isn't the only one at that table."

"I won't sit with that foul git." She says firmly, crossing her arms over her chest. I pull her by the arm closer to where the boys sit in the Great Hall. "No! I won't!" She struggles in my grasp and tries to run off before Marlene grows impatient and shoves her into the seat beside Remus. Grumpily, she stays put as I take the place to her right.

"Good morning, boys." I greet them with a bright smile, serving myself some baked beans.

"Good morning, love." Sirius smiles back.

"Morning, Evans!" James exclaims in an overly chipper voice. Lily doesn't answer him and instead stares at him through a narrowed gaze. Being the fool he is, he goes on, "Your eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad."

I can't hold back my laughter at my best friend's unsuccessful attempt at wooing the girl he fancies. Lily's scowl deepens but then her face brightens up with a newfound mischief. I watch her smirk and lean over the table closer to James. She fixes him with a smug stare, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously as she says, "I see something beautiful every time I look into your eyes."

My eyes immediately flit over to James. His Adam's apple bobs as he swallows, "Really?" He asks in pure shock.

"Yeah. My own reflection." She deadpans, leaning back in her seat again with a straight face.

Remus and Sirius whistle and roar with obnoxiously loud laughter. "Good one, Evans." James smirks, eyeing Lily up and down, "You should look into my eyes more often if you seem to find something so beautiful in them."

Lily clenches her jaw. "Well on that incontestable note." She rolls her eyes and turns away from him and to me. "I don't understand how you eat so much and don't gain any weight."

I shrug my shoulders and shovel a spoonful of beans into my mouth. "Fast metabolism, I'd assume."

"I eat so much and gain weight." Marlene adds, also spooning beans into her mouth.

"It's just more to love." I say.

Marlene announces, "I am in love with you." and I wink at her.

The group breaks into separate conversations and Lily takes that as her opportunity to whisper, "Oh, I've been meaning to ask – how is Duke doing? I haven't seen him since the day he spent in our dorms."

I subconsciously glance over to his empty seat at the Hufflepuff table and sigh. "He keeps saying he's okay but I can tell he's struggling to hold himself together. I don't know what to do, I feel so helpless when it comes to him."

"I know, me too." She admits sadly. "All we can do is be there."

"I'm going to check on him this afternoon if you want to come."

She nods her head fervently. "Yes, of course."

A snowy owl swoops down over us and drops a roll of mail directly in front of Marlene. "Ooh!" She squeals, squirming in her seat excitedly. She unrolls it and admires the cover of Witch Weekly. "This is gorgeous! Lils, look at this." The magazine is slid over to Lily and I move closer to her to get a better view of it.

The woman on the cover is some famous witch wearing the most beautiful wedding dress I've ever seen in my life. "Merlin, what a dress." Lily sighs dreamily. "I want my wedding gown to look just like this one. Look at that detail! So elegant, so classy. And with a bouquet of lilies."

I peel my eyes off the cover image and think aloud, "When I get married I'm not wearing a wedding dress. Not at first anyhow."

Lily makes a face. "What else would you wear?"

I quirk my eyebrows. "Well, I'll have my future husband wear the dress and I will wear the suit. We can switch for the party later so I get a chance to look glamorous and sparkly and all, but I think there's something so fun about the roles being reversed."

"I can get behind that." Sirius speaks up making us all go quiet and stare at him with raised eyebrows. He blushes beat red under everyone's gaze.

"What?" I choke out.

"What?" Sirius repeats, acting confused now too. Now I'm blushing just as red as he is.

Alice clears her throat with a knowing smile, changing the subject to take the heat off of us. "Shouldn't you be getting to Quidditch practice?"

James wipes his mouth with his napkin. "Yep, time for us athletes to flee. I'll grab Lettie." He swings his legs over the bench and scuttles off to find Violet.

*

Robert Wood only seems to be getting more fit as time goes on. As if he wasn't good-looking enough last year, he's now grown a few inches taller and gotten a very flattering shorter haircut.

He waves me over and I fly up to him on my broomstick with grace. "How are you, Captain Rob?"

"Oh, swell!" He smiles charmingly with all of his perfect teeth showing. "Now, I want you to be vicious out there this weekend. Alright? Don't hold back like you do during practices. You got it?"

"Absolutely!" I grin at the older boy.

"Good work," He winks before zipping off to talk to other members of our team.

"He is so dreamy." Violet says as she swoops down towards me. We both stare off after his retreating figure in a daze.

"He isn't, isn't he?" I say, checking him out. "Summer's done him good. Look at his arms!"

"Look at whose arms!" A new voice yells out.

Violet and I whirl around in the air to find James and Sirius casually hovering behind us on their own brooms. "Wood," I sigh dreamily. "He is entirely gorgeous."

Sirius scoffs. "Nothing special if you ask me. James?"

James looks past me to get a better look at our team captain and shrugs. "He has gotten more attractive." Sirius nails him with a sharp glare and James in turn raises his arms in surrender. "What? I'm not blind."

"He's a seventh year, Chiara. You wouldn't...go after him, would you?" Sirius asks uneasily.

I giggle into my hand. "Not a bloody chance! I'm not interested in him that way, I'm just appreciating his beauty."

"Oh, good!" He exclaims, a little too relieved.

"Good?" I muse.

"Er, yeah, because, you know...and then there's the – you know."

"Oh sure." I stifle another laugh.