Silver Lining

Chapter 11

"Oh no," I muttered. "No, no, no."

"No?" Lily asked, looking slightly amused as she stirred the murky liquid in her cauldron.

"I'm going to the Ball with Sirius Black!" I groaned loudly. Lily snorted and continued stirring her potion. I'd been sharing my anguish for the whole day, and she had given me every reaction she was capable of. Unfortunately, Lily wasn't the only one who heard me. James turned around in his seat, smirking widely.

"Still in denial, Violet?" Not only had James heard me complaining earlier, but no doubt Sirius had already told him of the last night's events.

"Shut it, Potter," I hissed, stabbing my beetle with more force than was necessary.

"Well, it was your idea," Remus added from next to James, turning around himself with an amused smile.

"Oh, don't you start. I thought you were on my side," I said, my heart warming at the knowing smile Remus gave me. It felt like we were best friends again, sharing a joke no-one else understood, and to me that was one of the best feelings in the world.

"Sorry, you're on your own this time," he chuckled. "This was your doing."

"And you know it," Lily added, smiling to herself, and took all my strength not to whack her with my wooden spoon. I settled with shooting her a deathly glare instead.

"The whole world is turning against me," I sighed, banging my head on the table in frustration, though I couldn't help the small smile that formed on my lips. I had to admit, it was a little funny.

"I'll always be here for you, love." My smile dropped.

"Sirius, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" I sighed, twisting in my chair to face the raven-haired boy. Man, his smirk was so infuriating.

"Probably a few more times than you already have. Which has been in the twenties, I believe," Peter added from beside him.

Since "asking" me to the Ball, Sirius had taken my suggestion to convince people that he genuinely wanted to go with me very seriously. Every time he saw me, there were calls of 'love' and 'dear' and all sorts of other names I hated. He'd even swing his arm around my shoulders in the hallways and laugh loudly at anything and everything I said. I had a feeling it was no longer convincing other people that was his main goal, rather annoying me as much as possible.

"I reckon I've got a few nicknames for you," I smiled sweetly. "Unfortunately, they're too explicit to vocalise." Remus snorted and James slapped me on the back, Peter struggling to maintain his laughter from behind me. Lily looked between the boys and me with raised eyebrows and received a dismissive look from me; I knew exactly what she was thinking and I didn't want discuss it now. Professor Slughorn cleared his throat loudly, and it occurred to me that only months ago, I would have gotten these boys a detention faster than you can say 'elbow grease'. It's funny how quickly your opinions of someone can change.

"Just make sure you look good enough next to a stunner like me," Sirius smirked, sitting back in his chair and pretending to concentrate. I threw another lot of ingredients into my cauldron angrily.

"I had better look drop-dead gorgeous," I grit my teeth, trying to ignore the amused look Lily exchanged with Remus as he went back to his work.

---

Only days later, the bell was ringing on Friday afternoon after our last class of the term; Defence Against the Dark Arts. Lily immediately went to the front of the classroom to ask about a question on the test she had "disagreed with", while I ran outside to find someone else. The test had been far easier than expected (Professor Warden had gone easy on us again), but I would never have gotten the marks I had without help.