More Nocturnal Emissions - 5. How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?

If Hestia Jones thinks that gaining Sirius Black as a date to the upcoming Valentine's Ball will garner her any more of the dark-haired boy's attention —or even some of it—she quickly discovers this is not the case. If anything, he seems to go out of his way not to be alone with her, or carry on any sort of conversation with her, even. Her suspicions regarding Sirius and Lily Evans are now reawakened, as Sirius seems intent on stalking the redhead wherever she goes. And James, in his turn, stalks Sirius who is stalking Lily. Of course, if she were more observant, she might also notice that as Sirius is following Lily, she’s in the company of one Remus Lupin. But Hestia never puts two and two together, even when it is in front of her face.

And if you thought the atmosphere in Gryffindor was cold before, it’s downright icy now, with frigid winds blowing from all quarters! The only one who is undisturbed by it all is the unflappable Miss Evans—because of course she’s the only one who truly knows what’s going on.

Sirius and Remus are thoroughly miserable. They don't seem to be speaking at the moment, because that isn't working out for them very well. And now they don’t even have the comfort of those stolen kisses to sustain them, for they’re very acutely aware of one another's proximity, and it’s as if they’ve put up an invisible barrier between them which prevents body contact from taking place. But they trace one another's movements with radar-like precision, watching and aching and longing.

James follows both Sirius and Remus, but for different reasons. The school gossipmongers have turned their attention to the unlikely duo of Lily and Remus, dubbing them the "prefect lovers", which of course only serves to inflame Sirius' unhappiness. And the girls in the school who squealed when they discovered Sirius was not dating Lily are dismayed to learn that the unfeminine Hestia Jones has taken her place as his girl du jour. Of all people! Does the girl even know what a dress is, they cattily speculate. Which is just the beginning of a great deal of rather unfeminine squawking, and earns Hestia more than a few dirty looks, which she can't even enjoy, caught up as she is in thinking Sirius is pining away for Lily!

In the meantime, Lily's brain is racing a mile a minute. It has been her idea, of course, to commandeer Remus' company, and to bogard him, so to speak—take charge of his time and keep him busy—and of course it isn't being done with the intention of hurting Sirius, although she can see the results her actions have wrought. She knows what she’s doing; she is confident in herself and her ability to solve this sticky situation. Does not absence make the heart grow fonder, after all? But how to make things work out in the best possible way for all involved?

It’s just a week now until the much vaunted Valentine's Ball, and life goes on pretty much as well as it can. Considering. Lily and Remus have just left their last class before lunch, and she pretends that she has an errand to run in the library, it'll only take a moment. Remus goodnaturedly agrees to accompany her, naive as he is, and totally unused to the machinations of women. He follows her through Madame Pince's domain, completely unaware that Sirius is shadowing them. Or him, if you wish to be precise. But Lily knows—she knows very well. She’s following Sirius' movements carefully, as she leads Remus into the back of the library, stands him in an obscure corner, and tells him she'll be right back. Of course he doesn't move, he's obedient like that.

Which allows Sirius time to catch up. But because he has to turn a corner to do so, he’s unaware that Remus is standing there alone, and almost runs into him before he can catch himself. The two boys stand there and simply stare at one another, their lips silent, but their eyes revealing the depths of their emotions at this moment.

Sirius is the first to break the silence, and trust him to be a bonehead. "Where's Lily?" he demands accusatorily.

"Where's Hestia?" Remus counters, flushing.

More silence. Loud silence even, each boy excruciatingly aware of the other, as without even being aware of what they’re doing, they inch slowly toward one another. Eyes that hungrily drink in each another, breathing that has ceased for the moment, hearts that have stopped as they seek to beat together once more. Another step. And another. Can they overcome this barrier between them, regain what has momentarily been lost?

A dark head hoves into view just then as James comes careening around the corner, having momentarily lost track of his quarry in the stacks. Damn tricky redhead that one, he mumbles to himself, half expecting to see something he really doesn't want to see—such as Lily and Remus snogging in the stacks. Seriously, why else would she bring him back into a part of the library that houses the dullest books?

But all he sees are Remus and Sirius, no sign of Lily anywhere to be had. He glares at the two boys, oblivious to the fact their faces are flushed and they’re breathing heavily. James being James he’s too stubborn to ask where the redhead is, or give the appearance of looking for her, so he has to have another excuse for being here, and as he’s currently madder at Remus, Sirius wins. "Sirius, here you are," he says, "I... um... I want to discuss something with you.... yeah, over lunch...."

"What?" an exasperated Sirius asks, as his heart breaks a little more, and the ice reforms between him and Remus.

"Quidditch!" James says the first thing that comes to his mind. He grabs Sirius' arm and drags him out before he can protest, and neither one sees the pain they leave behind. But Lily has seen, and she shakes her head in exasperation at the boneheadedness of one James Potter.