Orphic » Sirius Black

Chapter 37 - What The Water Gave Her

Those first last few months at Hogwarts were probably the most happy Juniper had ever been, without even completely knowing it. Blinded by unnecessary restlessness, she was unable to fully enjoy what was the end of the beginning, and inevitably, the beginning of the end.

She wanted to force a good year, even though she didn't have to do much. Unawarely, they all made a collective effort and squeezed out the best their last year at Hogwarts could offer. Ophelia and Lily had called her numerous times to be a part of the poem club, which gathered weekly. It was only the three of them according to Ophelia, but Juniper knew that Regulus Black was kind of the secret member. She had seen him getting out of the meeting room once with a rolled up parchment in hand, but never said anything about it, neither to Ophelia nor to Lily.

On a Thursday in autumn, James, Juniper and Lily were sitting outside the Herbology greenhouse, waiting for Ophelia to join them after the monthly prefect's meeting was over. James sat shoulder to shoulder next to Lily, both of them reading separate books, as Juniper reorganised her rucksack at the other end of the bench.

Suddenly, James gasped, his eyes glued to his book.

"What's so surprising about your book?" Lily said, closing hers. "You keep gasping and taking pauses every night in the common room."

"It has a lot of plot twists." James shrugged. "You'll have to read it to find out."

"Just tell me," Lily insisted. "I'm not reading your book."

"Well then, I'm not telling you," he said, his eyebrows up, leaning nearer to Lily's face. She squinted her eyes at him, and stared at each other for a bit too much.

"You will tell me eventually," said Lily, like it was a spell, without taking her eyes off James.

"Will not," he said, retreating and closing his book. He shoved it into his robe's pocket, and after seeing his watch, he left saying he had somewhere else to be.

"You two read together in the common room?" Juniper asked, closing her notes.

"Yeah, we've been doing it for a while," confessed Lily, "We exchange books and talk about them. I've gotten him into muggle classics. Don't tell him, but I've already read the one he's reading now. I'm pretty sure he just read about Mr. Rochester's marriage."

"Don't know what you're talking about," Juniper mumbled.

"I really fancy him." Lily had spoken so fast Juniper thought she had imagined it. "James, I mean."

"Yeah, I didn't think you were talking about that Rochester bloke."

"No, no way." Lily laughed. "It's James. He has been really good lately. We went on a date the other day and spoke for hours, about anything—everything. I don't think I can speak with most people like I do with him."

Juniper suppressed a smile. "I'm told he really likes you."

"Yes, he's said it, multiple times over the years," Lily said while braiding her hair. "He hasn't said it to me in a while, though. And I don't know what to think."

"Lily, Sirius has told me like, yesterday, that James is completely mad about you," Juniper assured her, "I bet he's just making sure you are comfortable or something like that. You know him better than I do."

Lily bit her lower lip as her cheeks turned crimson. "He really said that?"

Juniper nodded, "And I quote, James can't shut up about Lily, he's insufferable! Help me do something about it, I'm going bonkers every night," she said in a lowered-toned voice, mimicking Sirius. Lily laughed so much she almost fell backwards. "Perhaps he's waiting for you to do something about it."