#they’d actually be awful and implode because of their own egos (even if I have to admit Anders’ is a bit smaller) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lucas-koh · 4 years

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Stitches - Bryce Lahela x MC II

Also uploaded to Ao3! Go check it out there if you’d like my user is margotmuses

Doesn’t follow canon, but elements of canon. FWB.

Song: Feel Real - Deptford Goth

Rating: M

Word Count: 3409

Please check out chapter one first if you haven’t already!

Taglist: @lahellacute @tyrilsnightbloom @bubblelaureno

Chapter Two: Suki’s Flip-Flop, Intensive, Very Long Day

On a pretty big whim, Sienna, Jackie, Aurora, and Elijah had decided to look at apartments and move in together on the walk home from Donahue’s. Turned out none of their current living situations were ideal, and as crazy as it sounded, Suki felt like this might just work out. Weirder stuff had happened, right? She’d lived with complete strangers in college, so this was no huge thing, really. Over the following week they scored themselves an absolute bargain of a stunning top level apartment which overlooked the classic Boston skyline. Somehow, they’d managed to convince the landlord to rent to them for cheap, and soon enough everyone started to move their stuff in.

To celebrate their gorgeous new apartment, the group decided that they would throw a housewarming party at some point in the next few weeks. Planning was immense - everyone wanted to do something different, plus finding time where everyone would be off work was difficult. Elijah had never thrown a house party before, so he was overlooking most of the planning, while Sienna and Suki did tasks such as stocking up on cheap booze. Aurora didn’t really want to get involved in the planning side of things, too focused on her studies, but was looking forward to the party all the same. She was crazy grateful to be able to move away from her overbearing aunt. Jackie also wasn’t so involved in the planning, but more out of lack of interest in making plans. After a week or so, they’d decided on a date. All that was left to do was to invite everyone. And, yeah, that pretty much meant everyone.

Suki’s mind had been pretty occupied, mostly by a certain sun-kissed surgeon who’d swayed her to The Stone Roses. Since that first night, Suki had only seen Bryce in passing in the corridors, always taking lunch breaks and the like at different times due to the different demands of their jobs. He’d wink or grin at her and for a moment she’d be completely focused on only that. Not to mention the all-consuming sexual chemistry they had with each other being sparked each time they merely passed by one another. She was continuously bothered by the strange familiar feeling she felt with him, increasingly frustrated that she couldn’t pin it down.

About two and a half weeks in, Suki was suffering from an absolutely awful day. None of her patients were looking at a positive outcome, and she was feeling utterly helpless about it all. Existentialism: Doctor’s edition. She’d shut herself away in a supply closet to be alone with her thoughts. And to cry. What good was being doctor if you couldn’t save lives? And everything felt like a minefield. One wrong move and it could all implode. Misdiagnoses were so easy to make and so incredibly dangerous, she could prescribe someone a medicine they were allergic to and make their symptoms broaden, or even just upsetting someone because there was nothing she could do. She worried she wasn’t ready for this job. It was all very well reading up about illnesses and treatments, but actually putting it into practice? Dealing with real life people? So incredibly intimidating.

Abruptly the door creaked open and Suki jumped back.

“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t… think anyone was in here.” It was Bryce. Of course it was. He looked just as good as ever, framed in the dark by the light from the hall. “I just needed to get some suture kits...”

“It’s fine, just shut the door,” her voice cloyed but she tried to subtly wipe the tears from her eyes.

He did as she asked and came closer towards her. Even though it was dark, he noticed the red rings round her eyes and wet cheeks.

“Hey, hey. What’s going on?” His voice was soothing and gentle, his usual cocky demeanours put on a shelf.

“It’s just… I feel like I have too much power. I pretty much get to decide who lives or dies. I get to decide which words to use to ruin someone’s life I-“ she couldn’t help it as the tears began to pour out again. She wasn’t sure why she was baring her soul to Bryce, but something in her knew he would know what to say. He stood and listened, watching patiently. Bryce stepped in so he was closer to Suki.

“If I tell someone I’ll save their life, but I can’t, how am I supposed to live with myself? How do I tell a parent their six-year-old will never see it to seven? Bryce…” she continued, her eyes were wide and glassy as she stared up at him. Hearing her say his name like that stirred something in Bryce he wasn’t quite comfortable admitting.

“I know. But you’re damn good at your job, Suki. If you tell someone you’ll save their life, and you do, how do you not believe in yourself? How do you tell an old man he’s in remission? There are so many good parts to this job. It’s hard as shit, yeah, but we knew that. It was never going to be easy.” He lifted up his free hand and ran his thumb softly along her eyes to clear her tears.

“But it’s my fault. If I fail a patient... Maybe I shouldn’t be here.”

He laughed a brief hearty chuckle. “You made It through med school, climbed your way to the top of the medical interns at Edenbrook, and you really think you’re in the wrong place? I’ve seen those rankings, Moore. You’re good crop.”

She gave him a lopsided smile. His confidence had a way of rubbing off on her.

“Every doctor has their moment of doubt. It’ll pass.” He continued.

“How do you do it?”

He shrugged. “I just know I’m damn good at what I do. It’s still early days, Suki. Just let it come and go.”

She nodded and felt the desire to hug him. Lucky for her, he held his arms out to her and she collided with his hard chest, again. She still had her arms crossed in front of her, but moved to cradle her head into the crook of his neck, shifting her body so she was leaning into him. Bryce’s arms enveloped her, like a large, hard, teddy. She felt like a baby, cocooned and cooed at by the light soothing motion Bryce was drawing down her back. It felt like the most natural thing.

“Shit. I guess you are damn good at what you do,” she said. Her voice was muffled by Bryce’s scrub top, but he heard her all the same, and couldn’t help but grin at the girl in his arms.

“I told you, I’m a talented guy.”

She pulled her head back after a minute, looking up into his brown eyes, which were honey like his skin usually, but deep and alluring in the dimmed light of the supply closet. His arms still cradled her.

She suddenly wanted to tangle her fingers into his hair and kiss him passionately. Because despite the snark, the ego, the cockiness, he’d made her feel better after an incredibly difficult day. And there was definitely something scandalous about being in a supply closet together. The thick sexual tension that had been whirring for two weeks now was at an all time high. Her eyes flirted down to his plump lips, still ghosted with a smile. Her heart was pumping right out of her chest, she was surprised he couldn’t feel it against his own. The chemistry could be cut with a knife. She tightened her arms around herself as she made the flash decision. Without giving him too much time to back out, Suki swiftly moved forward and pressed her lips to his.

He hesitated at first, still as stone, giving Suki a moment to freak out – shit, he doesn’t want to be doing this. I made the wrong call - before he pushed his lips back into hers with fervent want. They reacted to each other like it was something that had been simmering for way longer than just two and half weeks. Their mouths clambered almost clumsily around each other. Bryce’s hands moved up her back and to her neck with a caress, before he steered her round and pushed her up against the shelves. A few bits of equipment fell down, but they didn’t care. Suki pulled him as close to her as she could, hands gripping his waist. She could feel his muscles move under her fingers as they kissed, which sent a jolt through her stomach. She was actually kissing him. For some reason, the idea felt unattainable and the fact that it was happening felt fantastical.

His lips were soft but applied pressure, his tongue demanding and dominating. Suki let out an unintentional moan, causing a gruff noise from Bryce’s throat, and she could feel him smiling against her lips. Caught up in the passion of the moment, and wanting to savour every part of this, Suki lifted up a leg and wrapped it around Bryce’s hip. He responded by pressing his body tighter against hers and removing a hand from her neck to support her leg, copping a feel of her backside on the way there.

Suki didn’t even care that the shelves were digging into her back. All she cared about in that moment was getting as much as she could out of Bryce. Because, god, was he hot. His kisses were practised and skilled, clearly something he’d done a lot. She pulled him closer towards her, and he removed his lips from hers to burrow his face into her neck and suck at that sweet spot. She gasped at the sensation, earning a cocky chuckle from Bryce. If he gave her a hickey, she was dead.

To avoid that possibility, she pulled his face from her neck to meet her lips again, deepening the kiss, and finally threading her fingers through his floppy hair in the way she’d wanted to before.

A loud creak and unexpected light falling on her shut eyelids indicated that the door had been opened. Suki opened her eyes wide and looked over to the door to see an older Doctor. Oh god. She knew this guy. Dr Zaid Mirani – her attending. The leg which had been round Bryce’s hip dropped immediately.

“Can you give us a minute?” Bryce asked, frustrated, eyes shut and forehead against Suki’s, not giving a single shit that they’d just been caught in the act, not even bothering to see who it was.

“I need some scissors. Don’t let me stop you,” Zaid snapped.

At this, Bryce sighed and stepped away from Suki. Suki tried turning away coyly so that Zaid didn’t see her face, moving away from the shelves to give him access. There was a deafening awkward silence as Zaid rummaged through the shelves to find what he needed, Suki looking anywhere but at either of the men in the room. Bryce’s eyes watched her, flattening her hair down on her head and smoothing down her clothes.

After what felt like far too long, Zaid left without a word. The door shut behind him and Bryce and Suki were sent back into dim light. She looked over to Bryce finally, who was leaning against a cupboard with his hands in his pockets, a humorous smile playing on his lips. Even in the dark he looked good, hair ruffled from her fingers and lips swollen from relentless kissing. Ah, shit. He looked so good. Unlike Suki, he hadn’t taken the time to refine his appearance. But, she kind of liked it that way.

“That kinda killed the mood,” he said, pushing off the cupboard.

“…yeah. We should get back to work, anyway,” replied Suki. She was hot from embarrassment, again. This boy sure knew how to get her flustered, both unintentionally and intentionally. That kiss sure had some intention behind it. It had been a nice distraction, and admittedly she felt much better, but it was time to get back to reality.

He chuckled and scratched his thumb over his chin. He didn’t seem embarrassed at all. Then again, asking a resident to leave so they could continue their steamy make-out didn’t strike Suki as something someone who was easily embarrassed would do. Unluckily for her, Suki was a stickler for humiliation. Maybe hooking up with Dr Bryce No-Fear wasn’t something a blubbering blushing mess should repeat.

Bryce walked toward Suki, and she almost jumped back, worried he might try again. For a couple of reasons: worried they’d be caught again, and Suki would never live it down with herself, but also worried she wouldn’t be able to stop at a sensible place. He was too sexy, and too experienced. But he reached behind Suki to grab a suture kit. The whole reason he’d even been here in the first place. He held it up to show her, before making his way to the door.

“You’ll kill it out there, Dr. Moore,” he reassured before opening the door, letting the light flood the room again, and shutting it behind him once again leaving Suki in the dimness.

She crept out of the supply closet, not looking where she was going and accidentally ramming straight into Jackie.

“You look a mess!” Jackie laughed, noting Suki’s scruffed up hair and creased scrubs.

Suki cursed herself internally as she once again started to sweat.

“Oh! Long day, is all. I’m only halfway through, too!”

Jackie side-eyed her blustery response. “I’ve got to get this shot to this patient. You’re lucky this time, Moore.”

—-

A couple of hours later, Suki was finally grabbing a bite to eat when she received a page from Aurora.

Suki rushed into the room, where Aurora was already debriefing the resident. Shit. It was Zaid. She prayed that he hadn’t caught her face before, that it had been too dark and she’d turned away quick enough that he hadn’t recognised her.

“Hey, Aurora. What’s the situation?” She breathed out, exhausted from speeding up there. Aurora looked grateful as she turned to Suki.

“Moore,” Zaid greeted tightly. Something told her that he had definitely seen her face earlier. He didn’t seem like the type to bring it up, though.

“Ms. Redford was admitted for a broken neck, but her blood work looks incredibly strange…”

—-

“So, Dr Mirani’s a pretty grumpy guy, but why do I feel like there was a reason he was short with you earlier?” Aurora asked as the walked down the corridor to their next patient. Damn her for being smart and perceptive.

Suki weighed up whether or not to tell Aurora. It might be quite nice to have someone on her side, to tell all the awkward stories. She hadn’t done the whole secret make-out since college, and back then, she had a roommate to gossip about it with. At the end of the day Suki still barely knew Aurora; sure, they lived together, but they hardly even had a chance to be at the apartment together with their different shifts and the like. And when they weren’t at work, they were sleeping or eating. Maybe that meant telling her would feel like less of a big deal? Then again, even the idea of saying it was making her cringe. Plus, Aurora was great but she might not be too impressed that Suki had been taking time out of work to make-out with a surgical intern. In a supply closet which anyone could walk in on. And, had walked in on. A senior attending. She decided against it.

“I don’t know. I just don’t think he likes me much,” she wasn’t a very good liar, which Aurora seemed to glean; but she didn’t push further.

—-

After what felt like the most exhausting day ever - having difficult patients, a mental breakdown in a supply closet, a hot make out session in the same supply closet, being caught by her attending, and then having hours more of gruelling work – Suki threw herself onto her bed dramatically. It felt like her whole body, including her internal organs, was on fire. She eventually got up to change into her pyjamas, clean her face, and brush her teeth. There was a knock on her door. She opened it to reveal it was Elijah.

“Hey, what’s up?” He asked, it looked like he’d been home a while. Suki was happy to see him nonetheless.

“Just winding down after work, you know.”

“Yeah, today was a long one,” he added awkwardly.

“Tell me about it.”

He seemed like there was something he knew, or wanted to say, but didn’t.

“Movie?” Elijah asked.

“Sure, I might pass out though.”

She followed Elijah to the sofa and let him load up Netflix. She pulled off the fluffy blanket from the arm and snuggled into the crook of the sofa, next to Elijah’s chair. They put on a classic romcom and settled in to watch it, everyone else either asleep or working. Suki and her other roommates had become close quickly, but she still felt she wanted to bond more with them, get to know them better. She truly loved each one of them, and they each had their own personal qualities which enriched the group.

“So-“ Elijah finally came out with about a quarter of the way in, only to turn and see Suki had passed out.

Elijah tucked her in on the sofa and shut the TV off so she wouldn’t be disturbed. He would have to talk to her again another time. He wheeled away into his own bedroom.

—-

Around an hour later, Suki woke with a stir, taking a moment to recognise her surroundings. She must’ve fallen asleep here, and she noticed how she was tucked into the blanket. Elijah. How was she ever going to bond more with her flat mates If she couldn’t even stay awake to watch a movie with them? She sighed, folding up the blanket to place on the sofa arm again, and made her way into her own bed.

In the dark of the night, Suki’s thoughts wandered to Bryce’s lips on hers, his hands on her neck, his lips on her neck, his body close to hers…

She thought about that smirk and that laugh, the way his hair felt under her fingers, his taut stomach muscles under her hands. The way he tasted clean, faintly minty, the smoothness of his lips on her own. The feeling of her leg wrapped round his hip. If Zaid hadn’t interrupted when he had, Suki wasn’t sure she would’ve been able to stop. Truthfully, it had been a while since she’d slept with anyone, and a while since she’d actually been so sexually attracted to someone.

But she tried not to think about it. He’d helped her out of a tight spot earlier, and she’d thanked him. Now, she would have to put in all her effort to be a better doctor. Not try to sleep with the other interns. No matter how sexy their body and face and demeanour was. She wondered why he’d been so kind to her, taken the time to reassure her and validate her thought. Perhaps just a ploy to get that kiss, or something more, but Suki wasn’t really sure she cared if it had been. Even so, he’d seemed genuine. She supposed he was a doctor after all, helping people was second nature to him.

Come to think of it, the way they’d kissed in the supply closet struck that odd feeling in her again. How did she know him? Did he know her? Was she just superimposing someone else on to him to make him more appealing to her carnal desires and more of a mystery to solve? Maybe it was that if she let herself get hung up in this completely farcical idea, she could ignore what she was really thinking about deep down: her failures as a doctor.

So, maybe she didn’t know Bryce at all. She just liked how he looked and wanted there to be something. They say if you desire something, it pops up everywhere. So, those feelings of déjà vu, maybe they were all in her head. Or maybe she was just spiralling, after the ridiculously lengthy and eventful day. Her eyelids started to drop unintentionally. Maybe she would think about this tomorrow, instead…

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lilydeerwrites · 5 years

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A Muggle Studies Moment 3: Part 3. A Lily and Sirius Sidequest.

After dinner, Lily had owled her mum about the neighbor’s motorcycle. Mrs. Evans, still proud to have a witch in the family and well accustomed, for a Muggle mum, to sending post via owl, did not respond until two days later. In the interim, it seemed that Sirius might actually implode into a little ball of nothing. James did his best to keep him distracted with mischief, while Remus distracted him via ... other means, but the jittery excitement was always there, just under the surface. When the owl came, Mrs. Evans had indicated that she had spoken to the neighbor, who was over the moon at the idea of someone buying the thing and had priced it quite reasonably. Mrs. Evans had also told Lily to bring her friend over for dinner if they were going to come for the motorcycle, a little fact that had James burning with jealousy.

They were to wait for the next Hogsmeade weekend, and have their Saturday in Muggle London. James, Peter, and Remus had made plans to welcome their friends back by readying the shed at Potter Manor that Fleamont and Euphemia had gladly given their permission for their nearly-adopted son to use for his newfound project. The issue of money also had to be resolved. Leaving home had left Sirius cut off from most of his funds, except for the inheritance he had received from his Uncle Alphard. Those funds were now under the guardianship of the Potters until Sirius was of age, his blood family not being able to touch that money. Fleamont came to Hogwarts to take Sirius out for an early dinner after his classes ended on Friday, took him to Gringotts, and helped to arrange and explain the Muggle exchange rate. Lily had assured them both that should Sirius forget how Muggle money worked, she would make sure things went smoothly.

By Saturday morning, when the Marauders met Lily in the Common Room, Sirius was in the best mood of his life, and Lily was starting to wonder what on earth she was supposed to do with a ridiculously happy Sirius for half a day on their own. The most time she’d ever spent alone with him, he’d been hurt and half out of it, then recovering and trying to catch up on his school work. After that, he’d leaped straight back into mischief and Quidditch with James. He’d remarked a little too casually from time to time that Lily was his hero and that she’d saved his life, but she had always shushed his praise and told him he would have done the same.

Muggle London had always fascinated Sirius, but he had never been allowed to experience it. The few times he had managed to steal away to a Muggle music shop or convenience store, he had either had to hurry so much he hadn't been able to appreciate much, or he had gotten caught and been punished for associating with Muggles. He found Lily to be an excellent and entertaining guide. She stopped at a fast food kiosk so he could try an "American style" hot dog, and get some practice counting Muggle money out. He had the hot dog gone in three bites and fortunately, the vendor was from Eastern Europe and didn't find it odd that a boy with an English accent couldn't count his change out without assistance. He probably just thought Sirius was from Australia or New Zealand or something.

Still working on her own hot dog, Lily sat on a public bench and offered to share her chips. Boys her age seemed to be oddly bottomless pits where food was concerned, she had noticed. James and Sirius in particular seemed to burn off so much energy with Quidditch and generally high levels of activity that they could eat twice what any normal human being ought to and never gain a pound. He hesitated, clearly wanting the chips, but trying to be a gentleman and not steal her food. She sighed.

"I got extra for you, Sirius. I thought you might like to try more Muggle foods. Of course, now we'll have to pretend to be hungry for dinner so we don't hurt my mum's feelings."

He accepted the chips and smiled sheepishly. "I won't have to pretend. I'll be hungry again in about an hour. Remus said I was clearly eating for two and asked if there's anything I need to share with him. He said if I'm pregnant with alien babies, he'll help me raise them to be good, upstanding citizens of this planet. Then we got into this weird conversation about whether alien babies raised by gay wizards, one of whom is a werewolf, would be accepted at Hogwarts, and what to do with our alien kids if they turned out squibs."

Lily snorted inelegantly with laughter, picturing Remus' serious expression as he declared his willingness to help raise his boyfriend's alien babies with integrity. "He's as ridiculous as you and James."

"Merlin, I love him," Sirius sighed.

Without the slightest hesitation, Lily grabbed him in a spontaneous hug and squeezed. It took him a moment, but he returned the hug, his hand hesitantly patting her back.

"Lily? Everything all right?"

She let go of him and smiled. "Sorry, I was overwhelmed by how horribly sweet you two are on each other and I just wanted to show you that I'd like us to be actual friends, not just mutual friends of Remus who sometimes talk."

He smiled, a genuine, slightly shy smile that was so different than his usual smirks and grins that Lily caught a glimpse of how Remus must have seen him to fall for him so hard.

"I think I'd like that. And, now that we're friends, I feel I must inform you that James Potter has an enormous crush on you. Like ... it's huge."

"Bigger than his ego?"

The retort was automatic, but there was no real anger behind it, not anymore. And he could tell, the absolute wanker. He knew.

"Look, I'm not going to harass you about it. I know your opinions of James are founded in the reality of his complete lack of social graces where you are concerned, but ... you used to hate all of us, then you got to know Remus and became friends with him. I - I'd like to think getting to know me a little made you change your mind about me a bit. I know watching you treat Remus so kindly made me change my mind about you."

Her jaw dropped. "Me? What did you used to think of me?"

His eyes widened as he realized what he had said, and he immediately began to backpedal. "I mean, I didn't know you, not really. All I knew was that you were always mad at James, who is basically my brother, and so when he was upset by something you did or said, it didn't make me have a good opinion of - oh, bollocks! I'm making it worse! What I meant is that you were always with Snape and sticking up for him, and - and - "

"And you hate him, so you hated me too? Were you only not bullying me like you did him because James thought I was pretty?"

"No! It's more complicated that that. Please believe me."

He looked worried. Really worried. However upsetting it was to find out that someone you used to dislike actually disliked you as well, it was a moot point. She didn't dislike him any longer. She wanted to be his friend, and that meant that she needed to listen and communicate and not scare him half to death. She took a deep breath.

"I'm not mad. We're still friends. I was just surprised, that's all. It hadn't occurred to me to think about how you lot saw me, you know?"

His sigh of relief was immediate and noisy.

"I didn't mean to be insulting, Lily. I just - "

She raised an eyebrow expectantly. "Friends talk to each other. It's fine if we don't agree on some things, okay? What was the issue with you and Snape? Why do you hate him so much?"

If she hadn't been so curious, she would have felt badly for even asking. Her question seemed to suck the joy of impending motorcycle right out of him.

"I suppose it was mostly Regulus, for me. And a little bit James. You know what my insane family is like. Regulus is my brother and I love him, but James is the brother who chose me, you know? He looked past my family's pureblood bullshit and gave a shit about me. So, when Snape and James got into it, I was Team James. Then, when Reg came to Hogwarts and got into Slytherin, Snape saw him as a way to get back at me. He started filling his head with - with reasons why I wasn't someone he should care about. Reg gave him access to a lot of pureblood society, and suddenly he was hanging out with Mulciber and Malfoy and they started teaming up to help my family make me miserable. And James saw it and fought back for me, and then it was this awful cycle. Every time there was an altercation, Snape would spin it a certain way to Reg, and then he'd ignore me or worse, tell our parents. They never let me explain anything, never cared what really happened, just that I'd embarrassed them again, and then they'd - "

She shushed him softly, rubbing his arm gently to reassure him that she understood, and he didn't need to say it. "And there I was, defending a person who directly led to you being hurt. I'm sorry for that. I really didn't know. I just hated to give up on someone who used to mean so much to me. Severus has it in him to be kind and sweet, but his fascination with the Dark Arts always worried me, and now it's carried him away from me. I'm so scared I'm going to find out that he's taken the Dark Mark. I miss his friendship, how he used to be, but I'm so mad at him for calling me ... that word, and thinking I'd be happy to be his exception to policy for hating Muggleborns."

Sirius winced sympathetically. "I worry about Reg taking the Mark too. When I was a little kid, before Hogwarts? I didn't know that word was bad. James told me. It's just what my parents always called people whose parents are Muggles. I had no idea it wasn't okay until I saw James' face when I said it. He pulled me aside and asked if that's how my parents talked at home. He knew how some pureblood families are and gave me the benefit of the doubt AND explained things to Remus and Pete so they wouldn't think I was some snobbish git."

Lily felt that now-familiar stirring of curiosity about who James Potter was to his friends and family. The picture painted by Remus was of a loyal friend who kept and defended his secret, and Sirius described a friend who became a brother who looked after him when his own had abandoned him. Her own view of James Potter had been colored by a friendship that was no longer viable and informed by a source who was no longer a reliable narrator. Yes, he was annoying when he constantly praised her and asked her out, but was his bravado simply that? A facade he wore to hide the depth of feelings that made him feel vulnerable and awkward? And, he had actually stopped, now that she thought about it. It had been a good long while since he had asked her out. He had complimented a few times, but it had mostly been about her academic accomplishments or if she had done or said something nice for or about one of his friends. She had grown and changed since the day she found out she was a witch, to finding out that Remus was a werewolf, to the moment she had realized that she was unwilling to continue to ignore Severus' views, to the moment she had discovered that Sirius wasn't who she had thought. Maybe James had gone through a similar path? She had stopped excusing Severus' increasing darkness, and maybe James had stopped constantly asking her out for similar reasons?

Aloud, she mused, "That makes sense. How were you to know if you were never allowed to associate with anyone to tell you otherwise?"

"It's still a poor excuse. I don't know how anyone could see how good you are at everything magical and not understand that you're every bit as magical as me!"

She ruffled his hair, ignoring his halfhearted protests not to mess it up. "That is my favorite thing about you, New Friend."

Still patting his glossy black hair back into place, he said, "My hair? I know, me too. It's pretty much perfect,"

"Don't be a vain git. You know what I meant. I like that you're not prejudiced. That you respect me and people like me."

"Firstly, I am a vain git. Ask James, Remus, or Pete. Secondly, my capacity for talking about my feelings is just about maxed for the week, and thirdly, I've been on the wrong end of a Lily-hex and a healthy dose of respect and fear is more than appropriate. I don't care that your parents are Muggles, especially not when you can do things with Charms that even Remus can't figure out."

She rolled her eyes at him, but she was smiling. No wonder Remus liked him so much. He was entertaining to say the very least. "Sorry I taxed your capacity for talking about your feelings. I appreciate you listening to me. I need to tell you one more thing. I - I don't know if my mum told my sister about us coming for dinner. Petunia hates magic, always calls me a freak, and ... well, I just wanted you to be prepared if she's an utter bitch. It's not personal."

Sirius stood from the bench and collected their trash, offering Lily a hand. "Believe me when I tell you that I get the whole sibling thing. I promise not to purposely provoke Petunia," he said, popping each "P" with purpose.

She giggled. "Promise?"

"Positively. Now. Motorcycle? Please?"

She laughed. "Yes, motorcycle. Come along. We've got a bus to catch!"

"Hey, Lily?"

"Yes?"

"You know who else likes to talk about their feelings?"

"Am I going to regret asking who that might be?"

“James. It's James. There's a bloke you won't wear out with that subject. Of course, I think about 75 percent of his feelings in some way pertain to you, but ... there you go."

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