Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. Everything belongs to J. K. Rowling. No profit is being made from this story. I am simply having fun and providing entertainment for other readers.

Chapter Three

Unlikely Drinking Mates

… … … … … … … … … … …

"Potter are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Lily asked angrily when she realized James had been standing behind her. She kept her back to him, trying not to make it obvious that she had just been crying her eyes out. Lily Evans did not cry in front of other people. She just didn't.

"Why don't you look at me, Lily?" James said, his voice low and serious. Lily had never witnessed him acting so solemn in her entire life. She remained still and let the rain fall down her face, hoping it would wash away any puffiness or redness from around her eyes.

"Why don't you just mind your own business and leave me alone?" Lily retorted venomously. Normally she might have felt bad about treating James so rudely, but she was just too upset to even be bothered with that right now. Besides, he didn't really care about what was wrong with her. No one cared. No one had a clue – not even her closest friends cared. People just assumed that her life was absolutely perfect.

If only they knew the half of it…

Lily heard James sigh behind her and was surprised that he hadn't left her alone yet. Emery would have just taken her into the nearest store and bought her something expensive. The thought made her shut her eyes tightly and put her hands over her face.

"Come on Lily, just turn around, I don't care if you've been crying," James whispered. He lightly rested his hand upon her shoulder and helped her to turn around to face him. Lily met his eyes reluctantly.

"Don't be ridiculous. I wasn't cr–" Lily stopped mid-sentence and stared at James as if she had never seen him before.

The way he had touched her completely mystified her…he had been so gentle about it. He hadn't hurt her or forced her to turn around; he put his hand on her shoulder so tenderly, like he was worried she might break if he wasn't careful enough. No one had ever touched her like that.

"Oh no, what did I do now?" James said smiling, though he looked somewhat like he was dreading her answer.

Lily smiled a little and shook her head. "Nothing – you didn't do anything. I just remembered some assignment I have to do." She glanced up at James and could tell that he didn't believe her. But he smiled none the less, and started up a slow stroll, signaling Lily to walk next to him. She took up the offer, and James seemed almost surprised about it.

When silence followed for quite a few minutes, Lily spoke. She asked the question that she had panicked about when she realized James had been behind her. "James – er – how long were you standing behind me?" Her heartbeat quickened as Lily waited anxiously to find out how much of her tantrum James had heard.

"Enough to know that something…or maybe someone…is troubling you," James answered simply. Did he have to be so vague?

Lily tried laughing to make it look as if it had been something stupid. "Oh I was just being silly. You know that Charms test we just took? Well I thought I had done poorly so I was just –"

"Lily, stop lying."

Lily's green eyes reflected shock and defensiveness. She glared fiercely at James but he looked back at her without blinking. He knew she was lying. This was not going to be a good conversation. "Excuse me? How dare you accuse me of lying! You don't even know me – nor did you let me finish!"

"Why can't you just talk to him like that?" James's blue eyes pierced into Lily so that she felt like she couldn't move. Her feet were glued to the ground and her eyes could not look away from his face.

"Talk to who like that? James you're not making any sense –"

"Emery!"

Lily stopped angrily flailing her arms and looked at James with an expression that she herself could not describe. It was almost something like helplessness.

"I – you can't just – we shouldn't be – argh! The reason I don't talk to Emery like that is because I respect him and I actually like him. You were being rude and obnoxious and I had every right to talk to you like that!" Lily yelled, gesturing her arms about in a wild manner. Why is it that he always made her act like this?

"OH COME ON LILY!" James shouted. Lily jumped slightly and she wore a look of pure bewilderment. "You have every right to talk to Emery like that. Don't you get it? I know you get it, you just won't admit it! He's been bossing you around ever since you first started going out, Lily! You haven't had your own life since you started dating him! It's what everyone else wants. You do what pleases everyone else, everyone but yourself! Do you even know who you are anymore?" When James finished the only sound was the lightened pitter-patter of the rain on the roofs and windows.

He was breathing loudly and Lily's lip was trembling as she slowly shook her head back and forth.

Finally she cleared her throat and spoke. "James Potter why don't you quit trying to be Mr. Good Guy and let me worry about myself! Unlike every other girl in the school I see past that 'heroic' act of yours! So get out of my face because I don't need your help!"

Lily felt possibly the worst she had ever felt in her life. So she did what she always did when she had a problem. She ran.

… … …

Remus Lupin loved the rain.

He didn't know what about it made him love it so much. Most people hated this kind of gloomy weather. They avoided it all day by staying inside and accomplishing some task that they had been putting off for weeks. But not Remus.

He preferred to take long walks outside and allow the rain to wash down him until his clothes were too soaked to handle. For him it was a cleansing process. If he had a problem, he would simply wash away his troubles with the rain.

Remus took pity on the rain. To many people, it was an unlikable word. It was a day-ruiner. It meant being trapped inside, and it took their precious sunlight away from them. But they just didn't understand the rain. When looked at closely, it was gentle, and misunderstood, and it meant no harm to anyone.

People just needed to give the rain a chance.

Remus stopped his slow amble when he came across a giant puddle of mud and rainwater. He glanced down into it and smiled. Stepping straight into a muddy puddle was always the icing on the cake after a person had a horrible day.

But Remus was different. The familiar hint of Marauder Mischief glinted in his eyes and he jumped right into the puddle, splashing mud all over his cloak and pants. Remus grinned. To him, acting like a three-year-old was a lovely relief when he got sick of the responsibilities of being a teenager. Three was such a lovely age, a free age. He hadn't been bitten until he was five.

Someone sniffed behind him, catching Remus off-guard so much that he almost fell down into the puddle. A distressed but familiar voice asked, "Remus? What are you doing?"

Remus turned his head sharply around and was relieved to find that it had been Lily who asked this question. She gave him a watery smile, even though her upper lip was trembling slightly. "What are you doing?" she asked again.

Remus shrugged and gave an embarrassed smile. "Just walking around. I – like being in the rain," he finished lamely. He turned a little red – spoken out loud to someone else, he found that his habit sounded rather stupid.

But Lily did not laugh or make fun of him. She smiled sincerely and responded, "Yeah, I like it too. It's – it's consoling or something."

Remus nodded and walked toward her. At least someone was giving the rain a chance. Upon closer inspection Remus noted that Lily's face was tear-streaked, and her eyes were most likely red and puffy because she had been crying.

It was Emery. He knew it had to do with Emery. However hard it was, Remus held his mouth shut, because bringing up the topic of Lily's boyfriend hadn't helped last time he tried discussing it with her. Instead he pretended to be perplexed about what was troubling her.

"What happened Lily? That is – if you don't mind me asking," he said, trying his best to sound sympathetic and understanding. Remus knew he was bad at this emotional kind of stuff, but he could tell Lily really needed to talk to someone.

"It's alright, I don't mind that you asked," Lily said quietly, not bothering to wipe away the raindrops that were falling into her eyes. Remus could tell she was struggling with what to say, but she finally continued. "I'm sort of uncomfortable with getting into – er – the details, but basically I…I ran into James and we sort of got into an argument and he really didn't do anything but I got mad at him anyway. And everything seems to be spilling out of control and I just feel like I can't handle any of it and I'm completely lost–" Lily paused in the middle of her venting when Remus held up his hand.

"Sorry…I didn't mean to interrupt or anything, but you started rambling. I had to stop you before you suffocated," Remus told her, smiling good-naturedly. Lily blushed and blinked back her tears several times, but Remus pretended not to notice.

"I'm sorry Remus. I shouldn't be dumping this all on y-you," Lily hiccupped and quickly threw her hand over her mouth, looking horrified.

Remus could not hold his laughter in. "Lily what's the matter? It's just a hiccup – the world isn't ending or anything." He watched in amusement as Lily nodded and cautiously lowered her hand away from her mouth.

"Sorry. I guess I – well you know how it is, at the parties and such. When you're in…certain company…hiccupping is considered extremely rude or something. But you're right I – I'm just being silly," Lily said quickly, beginning to laugh along with Remus.

When the laughing finally ceased and the mood again became one of seriousness, Remus looked around awkwardly for something to say. "Look Lily, I can understand that you're upset, and I know that whatever is going on is rather personal, but I'm not good with advice or emotional feelings or anything like that. I am skillful, however, when it comes to cheering people up."

He broke off to see Lily's reaction. Her face had become less red and she seemed to be calming down, so Remus went on. "So, er, would you want to – do you want to…to come and hang out at the Three Broomsticks with me? Sirius and Peter will be there and trust me, they will be able to make you laugh until it hurts. What do you say?"

He held out his hand and looked at Lily nervously. He hoped she wouldn't come up with an excuse and scurry back to Emery. That's the last thing she needed right now. Say yes Lily, you can do it.

"Okay, yeah – yeah I'd like that," Lily answered, looking rather excited. Her face brightened back up into a big smile and she took Remus's hand. Remus smiled to himself. She had no idea what kind of entertainment she was in for.

… … …

Remus pushed open the door to The Three Broomsticks and glanced around for Sirius and Peter, still holding Lily's hand. He looked over at Lily and felt his stomach lurch with happiness – for once, he could tell that his friend had a real smile on her face. It wasn't forced; there was no sadness hidden behind it; it was real, and Lily was finally ready to have some fun.

The minute Remus spotted a large group of giggling females, he knew Sirius had to be there somewhere. Right in the center, most likely. "Come on Lily, over this way," he said, tugging lightly on her arm. He could almost sense a slight hesitation coming from Lily, but she still walked with him over to the table.

"Hi girls!" Remus said, surprised that the small amount of shyness normally present in his voice was gone. "I trust that Sirius is somewhere around here, right?" Remus glanced up and down the table, but there was no sight of Sirius. He wouldn't think to do anything inappropriate under the table in here, would he!

"Moony! So glad you decided to join us again! How was your walk in the rain, eh?" Sirius said from behind him, slapping him on the back. Two of the girls stood up quickly so that Sirius could squish back into the booth.

"Did you get enough peace away from me? 'Cause you're not getting any more silence tonight! I feel some Marauder Mischief building up inside of me!" Sirius yelled jovially, taking several large gulps of Butterbeer. Several girls giggled, much more than necessary. Remus glanced sideways at Lily. She didn't seem surprised that Sirius was sitting at the table alone with about six love-struck girls.

"My walk was fine, thank you. But unfortunately I don't think we can go all-out on the Marauder Mischief tonight…we have a guest joining us, and I don't want to scare her too much," Remus stopped speaking and moved aside so that Lily was visible.

Sirius looked slightly surprised for a moment, but he quickly recovered. "Lily Evans," he stated simply, smirking at her. Remus didn't know what to make of that statement. Did he want her there, or was he annoyed at Remus for bringing her? Remus couldn't tell.

"Girls, you'll have to excuse me, but I've got to spend some time with my buddy and his lovely guest now. I'm sorry," Sirius said, smiling when the group of girls groaned simultaneously. Remus noticed that Sirius didn't seem to look very sorry when the girls scooted passed him and exited the booth.

Two of the girls walked passed Lily, and one gave her a look of mild curiosity, the other, jealousy. One of them sent her a slightly accusatory stare when she thought Lily wasn't looking. And the last three waved and said hi to her in what Sirius referred to as "a kiss-ass" kind of way.

When the door had finally shut and the last three girls were gone from the pub, Sirius breathed out a sigh of relief, not bothering to hide the fact that he had wanted them gone. He glanced up at Remus and Lily and grinned. "Well, were you two planning on sitting down, or what?"

Remus turned to Lily, who shrugged and scooted into the booth opposite of Sirius. Remus scooted in next to her. "Where's Peter?" he asked, realizing Peter had been gone since they entered The Three Broomsticks.

Sirius shook slightly with laughter. "Poor kid, I think the girls scared him off. At one point he tried telling a joke and none of them laughed, so he got out of the booth as fast as he could and claimed he was going to the bathroom," Sirius paused, and smiled sympathetically to no one in particular. "He didn't come back. I guess he went back to the castle or something."

Remus smiled. It did sound like Peter alright.

When the waitress walked by Sirius raised his hand up and said, "Miss, could we have two more Butterbeers over here? Thanks." The young waitress smiled brightly at him and walked off towards the bar area.

Remus openly laughed. "Must you attract the attention of every single female that you talk to? It tends to get a little annoying," he declared, pretending to be irritated with Sirius. Lily laughed in a shy sort of way.

Sirius tried unsuccessfully to block the sheepish grin that slipped onto his face. "You shouldn't be talking, Moony. After all, you managed to get the Lily Evans to come sit in a booth with us, didn't you?" Sirius smiled at Lily and continued. "So what brings you here, Lily? Got too sick of hanging out with Mr. Money?" Sirius teased.

Lily shifted uncomfortably next to Remus, and he was about to open his mouth to cut off Sirius when Lily spoke. "Actually…yes, Sirius. I got sick of hanging out with Emery – if that was who you were referring to – and the rest of his mindless mignons." Sirius laughed loudly and threw his hand down on the table.

"It's about time you spoke out about that, Lily! How does it feel?" he yelled enthusiastically, his eyes shining with amusement.

Lily smiled widely and shouted "Great! Wonderful!" causing her and Sirius to break out into hysterics.

Remus let out a laugh as well, but it was more a relieved chuckle than one of amusement. He had held his breath when Lily spoke, assuming she would break out into a loud argument with Sirius, the way she probably would have with James.

He turned to face Lily and grinned broadly. He had been waiting many weeks now for Lily to acknowledge how much she disliked the company she kept. And now she had finally let it off her chest. He was happy for her.

When the waitress returned with the Butterbeers (smiling bashfully at Sirius) Lily took hers and in a rush downed about half her glass. Sirius and Remus watched her with their mouths hanging open.

"Didn't think I could drink so much so fast, did you?" Lily said proudly. She flashed a grin.

"No, Lily, we're just used to seeing you drink your tea one little sip at a time. And we can't forget – with the pinky out of course!" Sirius told her, taking a huge gulp of his Butterbeer.

Lily looked straight at Sirius for a second, seemingly distracted with something, and said, "You're right. I don't think I've ever dined like this before." The smile that broke out afterwards told Remus that she had wanted to dine like this for a long, long time.

Thirty minutes and several Butterbeers later, Remus and Sirius were laughing hysterically as they cheered Lily on. She was trying to finish the rest of her Butterbeer in one gulp. Unable to contain herself, Lily burst out laughing, causing her drink to spray all over Sirius and Remus. Upon seeing their faces Lily nearly fell out of the booth laughing, and clutched her stomach for several minutes.

Remus took his napkin and slowly wiped his face. He looked at Sirius, who was watching Lily with obvious surprise. Remus knew that he had probably done the same thing several times during the night. It was just hard to believe that it was actually Lily who was falling out of the booth and laughing openly – he had always seen Lily with poise and elegance, never wearing a true and genuine smile across her face.

And now here she was, gulping down Butterbeer and laughing harder than she ever had before, for once not worrying about how she appeared to everyone else around her.

… … …

Belle let out a low sigh of boredom that was heard by no one except herself. She discreetly checked her watch under the table and groaned inwardly. How much longer was she going to have to sit at this table and listen to Riley talk!

She glanced up at Riley and smiled encouragingly, acting as if she had been listening to Riley's story the entire time. Truth be told, she had lost interest in the first two minutes. It was pointless to listen to anyway, she wasn't missing anything.

Every single one of their conversations was the same. It was always Riley and Kinsee talking back and forth – either bragging, whining, gossiping, or talking about shopping – and they always assumed Belle was right in with them.

But she wasn't.

She had slowly begun to ease away from them for the past couple weeks, when she had started to rethink her whole life. Was she really happy? Not really. Did she actually like Liam as a boyfriend? A small voice inside of her responded with a very fierce No! but she ignored it.

Belle felt Liam's cold arm slide across her waist and she worked hard to suppress a shiver. She knew he was not a good choice for her – she wanted to move away every time he touched her, he wouldn't let her wear blue, he solved every thing by giving her expensive things…

Bell thought about what Lily said – or rather shouted – to Emery earlier that evening. She had been right. Belle shouldn't have been putting up with Liam just because he bought her nice things.

Of course, in the beginning of their courtship, Belle had been so excited she couldn't contain herself. She wanted something, and she got it. It was that simple. She had always thought that was what love was. Liam spoiled her and so she loved him.

But she was wrong. She had been so naïve. That was just Belle's appreciation for materialistic and expensive things. It wasn't love. She didn't care about Liam, she just cared about dress robes and jewelry and gifts.

She was different now. The elaborate, glittery dress robes and the expensive diamonds became every-day mediocre types of things. Things that she could get so easily, all she needed to do was snap her fingers. She didn't want any of that anymore. None of them had been blue, anyway.

Belle turned her attention back to what Lily had done earlier, standing up to Emery and screaming in his face. Would she have had the courage to stand up to Liam like that? She glanced out of the window at the pouring rain, and almost envied Lily for being out there. She had managed to escape this torture – having dinner in a fancy restaurant with five stuck-up people who thought that the world would stop turning if they ceased to be in it. Emery gone back to Hogwarts in search of Lily.

"Hello? Earth to Belle! Do you realize how rude it is to ignore someone while they're talking to you?" Kinsee said in a snooty, irritated voice. She looked absolutely baffled that Belle wasn't hanging on to her every word the way Riley was.

Belle sat up quickly, taking a sip of her tea. "Sorry I just got to thinking about some big – er – sale I read about in one of my magazines," she stated hastily, trying to hide how proud she was for making up a lie so quickly.

Riley rolled her eyes. "Belle who cares about sales? You act as if we need to worry about money or something!" she began giggling in a voice that was too high-pitched to be plausible. Kinsee followed suit until they were both holding onto their boyfriends for support from laughing so hard.

Aidan looked down at Kinsee and could not help a smile, but it began to slowly turn to a frown; it had been five minutes and Kinsee was still laughing. Will also looked like he was beginning to get irritated, and he jumped away when Riley let out an incredibly loud snort.

Everyone at the table became silent except for Belle, who laughed so hard that her tea nearly came out of her nose. To see someone as snobby as Riley let out a snort like a pig made Belle laugh harder than she had in years.

Kinsee and Riley both glared at her, but Belle ignored them. She felt light as a feather – lighter than she had felt in weeks. It was good to finally get an authentic laugh off of her chest.

When her mirth had finally died down and the discussion had once more become dull and pointless, Belle simply stared out the window, not bothering to pretend like she was listening. She didn't want to listen anymore. She didn't want to fake her laughter anymore. She didn't want to fake being happy anymore.

It was time to wear some blue.

… … …

Sirius looked down his watch and his eyes popped out in surprise. He, Lily, and Remus had been sitting here, talking and goofing off, for nearly and hour and a half. "You guys – I think we better leave now. We've been here for exactly – one hour and twenty six minutes – and I think the other customers are going to beat us out of here with sticks if we don't leave soon," Sirius said reluctantly.

He didn't want to leave. He hadn't laughed this hard since….well he had laughed this hard, plenty of times before…but he had never seen Lily so happy in her life. He didn't want to ruin that.

Lily giggled, and Sirius was proud to see that she looked almost excited that she was annoying other people. He guessed she hadn't noticed the small group of Hufflepuff girls several feet away from them that were looking at Lily and then whispering to each other. This was probably five-star gossip to them. Could Lily never get a break?

Remus followed Sirius's eyes to see what he was looking so disapprovingly at and then saw the girls. He made eye contact with Sirius and they silently agreed to get out of here before Lily realized people were watching her reproachfully. Remus raised his arm and asked for the check.

The waitress brought it over and winked at Sirius. Sirius grinned at her, ignoring Remus's mockery glare, and then reached over for the bill in order to know how many Shickles and Galleons to pull out. "Wait!" Lily said, sitting up in her seat quickly.

Sirius looked at her curiously. "Relax Lily I'm just paying the bill –"

"No!" Lily interrupted, trying to snatch it away from him. "Don't worry; I'll pay for my Butterbeers. You really don't have to!"

Sirius laughed. "Calm down Lily I don't mind. Really, I'll get them –"

"NO!" Lily shouted again. Remus and Sirius stared at her and raised their eyebrows. Lily turned red and looked down at the table, fiddling with her straw. "Sorry. But I really want to pay for my drinks. I haven't paid for them in a long time. Just let me do it, okay?" she said, more calmly this time.

Sirius nodded, seeming to understand that this was some kind of dependence thing that Lily wanted to over come. He took out some Galleons and Shickles and put them on the table, and then handed the bill to Lily so she could see how much she needed to pay.

Her hands shaking a little, Lily pulled out a handful of coins and laid them down on the table in a satisfied manner. When the waitress came by and gathered the money, Lily beamed at it and then sat back against the booth with a content sigh.

When they finished their last glass, Sirius, Lily, and Remus gathered their things and exited the pub, into the now clear, brightly-lit sky. They were still laughing about the events of the evening. Lily and Sirius began arguing over who drank more Butterbeers.

When the argument subsided (Lily and Sirius each feeling that they had won), there was a moment of comfortable silence. Then Lily said, "Thanks, both of you. You have no idea how much I needed that." She ran ahead of them and started spinning around on the sidewalk, laughing uncontrollably.

Sirius watched her and shook his head back and forth, a smile seeping across his face. Her happiness was almost contagious. He turned to Remus and said, "Lily's right. She really did need that."

Remus nodded in agreement. "She told me she ran into James earlier and got into a fight with him, but I don't really know the details. I thought she was going to do the same to you when we first sat down," he said, letting out a snicker when Lily tripped and fell into the grass.

"I see you snickering Remus!" she yelled ahead of them. Remus shrugged, feigning his innocence.

"Come on, let's catch up to her before she ends up breaking one of her bones," Sirius said, running lightly over to her. He grabbed Lily's arm and pulled her up, overtly smirking as she tried to wipe grass stains off of her robes.

"Oh shut up Sirius," she said in irritation, grinning when she slapped him over the head.

"Ow!" Sirius said sarcastically, "you sure do pack a punch Lily!" Remus laughed at that, causing Lily to hit him on the arm.

"OH CRAP!" Lily said as they passed the window of a fancy restaurant, beginning to giggle uncontrollably. "Don't let them see me! Hide me, you idiots!" she whispered as loud as she could.

"Did I just hear Lily Evans use a potty-mouth word?" Sirius stated, acting totally shocked.

Lily giggled again.

"Lily what's the big deal? Why do we have to hide you?" Remus asked as he turned his head to find Lily. Sirius found her crouched behind him and Remus. He saw her point to the window of the restaurant, and saw several of Lily's friends eating right next to the window. Lily didn't want them to see her.

Sirius began laughing and decided to take pity on Lily, shading her from view as they passed the incredibly long window. As he walked by, he saw a girl sitting right next to the window and looking down sadly at her dinner. She was in fancy pink dress robes and was using her hand to prop her chin up. A second later, a guy who Sirius guessed was her boyfriend, grabbed her arm and put it back under the table, seemingly scolding her.

She sighed and rolled her eyes when her boyfriend looked away. Sirius recognized her boyfriend from the parties his parents used to make him attend – the boy's name was Liam, and Sirius really did not like him.

The girl was clearly uninterested in the conversation her friends were having, and she stared up at the sky through the window. Her eyes were full of hidden despair and misery. Sirius watched her curiously and could not tear his eyes away.

"Sirius!" Lily hissed. "Let's go!"

"Tell me one thing first," Sirius said quickly. "Who is the girl sitting by the window?"

"That's Belle! She's rather decent actually. Now can we please leave? I don't want them to see me!" Lily said anxiously, stomping her foot. Sirius nodded and they quickly hurried off down the road, Lily laughing with relief at not getting caught.

Sirius remained distracted the rest of the evening, curious about Belle and what had happened to cause that look of despair in her blue eyes.

A/N: I wanted to get this up in a week, but it took me a week and a day, so sorry guys! I'm going to try for an update once a week, but you'll have to be flexible because sometimes it may be a little longer than that, due to school and such...I really enjoyed the switching viewpoints in this chapter, because everyone was fun to write. I hope you guys really enjoyed the section of Belle because I want her to be understood by the readers more than Riley and Kinsee are. (You're supposed to like Belle more than them if this characterization worked).

Remus walking in the rain was also fun to write, because I got to experiment with my metaphoric writing, so tell me if you caught on. He was a difficult character to write, so let me know how you think I did with his characterization. Thank you very much for your feedback on the last chapter, and please let me know of any good thingsyou liked or improvements I could have.

One last note: I'm trying to make my summary better but I'm struggling withmy words. So if you can think of anything else I can put in my summary, or if you want to write out a whole different summary and share it with me, don't hesitate to put it in a review! Thanks guys. Hopefully you'll have chapter four next weekend!