Lovely Lily

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!

Marlene crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows as she listened to her friend go on and on about the subject of their conversation. "Since when have you gotten so cozy to Black, huh? You used to think he was an arrogant prat not even a year ago and now you're defending him? If I didn't know better I would say /you/ were the one, who fancied him", she replied and rolled her eyes at how Lily had ranted of what a great guy he was and whatnot.

"Oh don't be petty Marls," Lily snorted, amused at how her friend tried to divert the conversation a bit when she insinuated she was the one who fancied Sirius for just merely defending him. "He's grown up quite a bit over the past few months - we've all been sort of forced to mature a bit after all and when you look past his idiocy, he's quite the decent bloke. You can't even deny that."

It is an excellent approach, Lilsy-dear. I get to destroy things and kill things that are not technically alive so it’s no crime, so it’s perfect. But I might just end up puking in a corner somewhere, which is far less appealing. Let’s not hope that happens. And I hope you realise you’re making Dumbly sound like some sort of pervert who gets off on teenagers smooching in the hallways.

No I reckon puking in a random corner wouldn't exactly be in the spirit of things, but it's all about moderation, isn't it? {Lily laughs though, when Dorcas twists her words a bit, which consequently do indeed paint Dumbledore in a not-so-appealing light.} I didn't mean it like that Doe, dear Merlin! I just meant he's always going around spouting quips like "Love conquers all."

But think of all the first years he makes laugh when the scary seventh years get paint on their heads, think of all the bad days he’s cheered up by the objects thrown at passing Slytherins!

And think of all the times I've inevitably had to clean up all said messes...sure Peeves is great for a laugh, but I assure you, it's not nearly as hysterically when you're the one sorting it all out afterwards.

  Homeless because you ate it all, or homeless because it melted? -he laughed- I know it’s quite inpractical, but I’d just love to be in it for once.

The former, probably, I wouldn't be able to resist snacking on my chocolate house, I'm sure of it!

Marlene had already opened her mouth in an attempt of explaining her why exactly this bothered so much, when Lily suddenly insinuated that terrible idea. “What? No, bloody hell, what is wrong with you?” she asked her friend as if she was out of her mind, which she certainly was if she really thought Marlene had a crush on that git. “Why on earth would I ever fancy Sirius Black?! He’s a git, he’s a prat, he’s annoyingly arrogant, no way that I would ever fancy him! That’s not even close to my problem!” she told her and rolled her eyes slightly as she shook her head.

Lily folded her arms, not even attempting to disguise her smug grin now, because no matter how much her friend protested the fact, Lily was now convinced that it was true - every denial Marlene uttered only seemed to verify that fact to her. "I'm perfectly sane actually, it's not that much of a stretch really," she said matter-of-factly, knowing that her grin would only drive her friend mad. "And you're grossly exaggerating things, even I'll admit that Sirius is a decent bloke, hell he's practically one of the most admirable ones around. Most of the time he acts like a pompous prat for a laugh, and his heart is always in the right place even though he is known to do some incredibly stupid things. I dunno Marls, you could do a whole lot worst," Lily stated, feeling the need to defend Sirius seeing as he couldn't do it himself at the moment. 

Marlene should have known better than to think she could lie to Lily without her knowing it, but she would probably keep on trying anyway. After all, she wasn’t even quite sure what she should - she definitely wasn’t even quite sure what exactly was going on between her and Black now or if there was simply nothing at all. It confused her in a way she absolutely hated and she really hoped she would be able to figure it out soon.

At first, Lily opened her mouth as if to say something, though she wasn't particularly sure what the adequate response was for that so she just settled on muttering, "Oh," leaning her head to the side as she fully comprehended to information. "Well that's certainly quite the predicament," she agreed with a small nod. The thing was though, now that Lily had properly gotten to know Sirius this year - and truthfully had gotten much closer to him than previous years - she found that she quite liked him, she'd even go as far as saying they were fairly close friends. Though in retrospect, he had quite the notorious rapt sheet when it came to relationships - or lack thereof. As far as most knew, Sirius Black didn't do relationships, he was more of the snog and forget kind of bloke. 

I genuinely think that’s why Dumbledore got him, Lils.

  Marlene couldn’t keep a tiny smirk of of her face as she listened to Lily try to explain her why she shouldn’t talk to James about maybe fancying him. All of her reason were pointless, especially since it was just so terribly obvious that James was head over heels for you, but Marlene had intervened into their relationship enough already. She was sure that at some point, one of them was finally going to make the first step and speak up about their feeling, but until then she would just enjoy their game of hide and seek. After all, it was pretty adorable to watch them as an outsider and still know what they were thinking.

Lily was glad Marlene had let the James subject drop, at least for now. She wasn't particularly in the mood for talking about it, especially since it was something she found herself over-thinking on her own to begin with and she didn't need any more incentive to worry over it any more. Valentine's Day was certainly not the ideal time to be preoccupying such thoughts. She knew that eventually she'd have to be honest with herself and admit to the feelings but she didn't know if she'd mustered enough courage for that just yet. 

I know.. but how amazing would that be.. An actual chocolate house?! I want one, like now..

With a chocolate house, I'd be homeless in days! But I reckon it would be a dream come true, sleeping on a chocolate bed. {Lily chuckles at the very thought}

A smile widened on Marlene’s face as Lily talked, and she had to hold her back, so she wouldn’t smirk or grin too much. “Honestly Lily, considering the history of you two and now you say something like that… to me it sounds like you fancy him. A lot. But I know you and you probably won’t admit that just yet, so let me just tell you, the way you talk about him and that he has gotten such an important part of your life makes me automatically think that you like him as more than just a friend. You wouldn’t talk about me like that”, Marlene told her and couldn’t keep herself from grinning anymore.

"Sure I would, I'd say the same thing about you - I dunno what I'd do without you either, you are my best mate after all," she grinned before continuing. "And so is James, though I guess it's a bit different, considering our history. But what matters is now, that we're friends, that we're part of each other's lives, and I don't want to take that for granted. I'm really happy with how things are. And why botch that all up because I might fancy him? I dunno if it'd be worth the risk," she shrugged, sighing deeply. Now she just sounded far too mopey for her liking - and on Valentine's no less. She had far better priorities than to worry about her current relationship status at the moment. 

I don’t have romantic quirks, Lily. None. I have merely things that turn me on and things that turn me off, but that’s nothing like a romantic quirks. I could tell them to you but you know, I’d probably gross you out. Not that I’m a pervert with gross turn ons, oh god no! But it’s private. Some are. God, I’m rambling. I’m going to survive Valentine’s by destroying every little heart that I see floating around. Oh, and kill those singing angels Lockhart provides each year.

{Lily chuckles a bit, it's quite amusing when Dorcas rambles like this, it's almost like she can spout anything out of her mouth without much filter - even though she's grown used to it after years of knowing her, it never fails to amuse her.} That's as good as any of an approach to get through this pink and frilly holiday - two things which I don't usually associate with you. But I am growing zealously tired of those flying little cherubs, I think Dumbledore gets a kick of watching lovesick couples. I mean, he especially loved Christmas time, with mistletoe hanging from every entryway. 

  "Oh, thanks", Marlene replied and grinned slightly, when Lily tossed her the bag of fudge. She had always loved chocolate, especially at night, just before she went to bed. It was just so nice to be falling asleep with that taste in her mouth and that happy feeling chocolate always gave her.

Lily had to restrain herself from groaning loudly, she hadn't come here to be bombarded with questions about her and James - she got that enough to begin with. "Sure it was sweet and thoughtful, but it couldn't have really meant anything more than that. I mean, that's just the sort of thing friends do for each other, right?" Right, she answered to herself. James had always been the sort of bloke to initiate such considerate gestures - even when they weren't friends - so why read into things? Besides, he hadn't asked her out for ages, which at first she had been properly grateful for; it had meant they could forge a bond and a friendship without any lingering awkwardness, but despite that, every now and then Lily couldn't help but hope that he'd put it out there again. But she tried to dismiss that thought.

This is what I want for my birthday in two weeks.

Sounds heavenly. But also has the potential to be very fattening. 

  "Oh well, but at least you didn’t have to spend Valentine’s Day not being on patrols but still alone, like, hello, this girl here", Marlene replied with an encouraging smile and winked at her. "Not like I really care, but it’s still a little annoying to see all those lovey dovey couples around, when all I have to do is getting myself dirty in the mud rain during Quidditch practice", she explained, chuckling under her breath.

"Damn all those lovey-dovey couples to hell," Lily agreed, rummaging through her pocket where she finally produced what was left of her stash of fudge, popping a piece into her mouth thoughtfully before throwing part of the bag to her friend. She reckoned chocolate made everything better, or at least partially more bearable. "I think I might have nightmares...I started counting how many couples I found: a total of bloody nine, all giggling like lovesick idiots," she groaned, shaking her head. At least they could try to be a bit more discreet about it. 

  Marlene had been reading, while Lily had brushed her teeth, or at least she had tried to do so. Normally she didn’t have problems with reading, she liked it when she was in the right mood, and she had never had problems concentrating on her favourite book, but there was a first for everything and now was the time. She hated Valentine, to her it was stupid and useless, but a certain conversation she had had with Black today didn’t want to leave her mind and it bloody annoyed her. She had been thinking about him far too much recently anyway.

Lily leaned her head against Marlene's bedpost, sighing heavily. "Well I think it's pretty safe to say this was my worst Valentine's Day to date. By some stroke of bad luck, I got stuck with patrols, and I didn't even have a decent partner. James insisted on Quidditch practice - though you already knew that - Remus was ill, and so I was stuck with some snobby, pretentious fifth year Slytherin bloke. It was the very definition of awful," she groaned, clucking her tongue in despair of her awful luck. She knew she must've sounded terribly mopey, but the very last thing Lily wanted to be doing that night was charging through broomclosets to bust Hogwarts' lovesick couples. In her head she had constructed a hundred different scenarios in which the night could've gone better - definitely with better company - but sadly that had all failed to happen. And so here she was left moping.