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How to make a Venus Fly Trap blush by AineRose Chapter One: Diagon Alley Diagon Alley was jam-packed worse than she had ever seen it. It seemed that the whole wizarding world had decided to come shopping today. Lily desperately needed to get all her schoolbooks before she was swallowed by the crowd. People shot suspicious looks at each other throughout Diagon Alley and trust was at an all-time low. Lily managed to escape any wary looks because people did not suspect a teenager to be a Death Eater. And if they did, Lily’s innocent beauty eliminated her from any suspicion. She really was quite beautiful, but in a very unconventional way. She was small but thin, and gave the illusion of being fragile. Her dark red curls and large emerald eyes contributed to this theory and before many knew her name they pronounced her as delicate as a flower. She was more of a Venus Fly-Trap in reality. Though she had a sweet and caring personality, her red hair often got the best of her and her temper was often compared to a Chinese Fireball. Lily acknowledged none of this though, as she tramped through The Quill Pot and owed the pleasant smiles she received to the silver Head Girl badge pinned to her jumper. Two hours had passed and Lily was passed angry; she was exhausted, and starving. She regretted not eating breakfast, but there was still at least an hour before she was to meet her parents in the Leaky Cauldron for lunch. She had never seen the Alley so full, and she suspected she had come across nearly every single person in Hogwarts on her travels. The only place left to go was Flourish and Blotts, and she took her time in there, browsing through the books. The shop assistants were too busy to politely glare at her, and she was quite content. She was deeply immersed in “Charms to Charm” when two altogether familiar voices floated from the other side of the shelf. “Padfoot, hurry up! This is boring!” That was Peter Pettigrew; she would recognise his squeaky voice anywhere. Another voice, much deeper, answered him irritably, “I know, I know, Wormtail. Why don’t you go wait for me in Fortesque’s? I’ll meet you there when I find this bloody book.” There was no doubt that that was Sirius Black. Pettigrew, or Wormtail squeaked and left the shop quickly, as if afraid he would contract a deadly virus from hanging around books for such a long time, or worse, a paper cut! Black mumbled something intelligible and went back to searching. Lily hid herself behind the stacks; the last thing she needed was a confrontation with Black, especially now that she was allowed to use magic--the result could be disastrous. The best thing to do was to lie low until Black was gone. For his part, Black was clearly showing his dislike at being in a bookshop. He was muttering heatedly under his breath and shuffling nervously, in the fear that someone would see him with books. “…`Sirius, Sirius! It’s no bother, really. Just go into a bloody bookshop and make a bloody fool of yourself. It should be really easy to find, honestly.’ Shoot, what was it again? Oh, yeah, “A Modern Look into Ailments” Stupid name for a book! Stupid sodding books!” He glared at the books until something caught his eye. “Aha!” he said triumphantly, earning several very strange looks. He pulled the book out and grinned. Lily breathed a sigh of relief. “I should have known it was you.” Black spun around, and shot the commentator a dirty look, before responding calmly, “’Lo, Bellatrix, Narcissa.” Peeking out through a space in the books, Lily recognised the girl as Bellatrix Black. She had graduated a few years before Lily, and though she was Black’s cousin, was a Slytherin. A horrible one at that. It was she who had first called Lily a Mudblood. Beside her was her sister Narcissa, who was in Lily’s year and liked to look at her as if she was a slug. “Sirius,” Narcissa nodded curtly. “I never thought I’d see you in a respectable establishment,” she said coldly, and Lily saw that she had the same look on her face that she often regarded Lily with. “Yeah, well, I have to get my brilliant ideas from somewhere,” Sirius said flippantly and turned around to the bookshelf. “Brilliant?” sneered Bellatrix. “A baboon could come up with better ideas than you. Speaking of which, where are your delightful friends?” Sirius regarded Bellatrix with a look of pure murderous contempt. “Why?” he queried. “Looking for more people to join your little Voldemort worshipping cult?” “Not so loud!” Narcissa snapped. “Oh, soz. Didn’t mean to state the obvious, Cissa.” “Don’t call me that!” “Why not, cuz?” Sirius was taking vindictive pleasure in taunting his cousins. “I am not related to you, mudblood lover! ” Sirius placed his hand over his heart in horror. “Oh dear, don’t say it too loud- I might be sent to Azkaban!” he said in a high voice. “It would be the best place for you,” a snobby voice behind the girls said. “Auntie Meddidith,” Sirius said in a false childish voice. “My name is Meredith,” she said furiously, “and I am no aunt of yours.” “Yes, we’ve established that.” Sirius looked extremely bored. “How dare you speak to me in such a vulgar manner! What have you got to show for yourself, boy? Hmm? A home? A career? A reputation? Why, a mudblood and the son of a family of muggle lovers beat you to Head Boy and Girl.” “Number one,” Sirius said heatedly, “Lily Evans is not a mudblood. Number Two, if I were to acquire the position of Head Girl, I would be extremely taken aback, as I don’t posses a pair of tits!” Ignoring the incredulous looks on his relations’ faces, he continued on. “Number three, I would rather live with a muggle lover’s family and be their son’s best friend than admit I was related to a highly respectable family of prejudiced fruit bats! And now, if you will excuse me, I have a book to purchase, a Head Boy’s head to pour ice-cream over and a Head Girl to find and exasperate. You’re not worth my breath; she is.” And he left, head high in the air, leaving three flabbergasted relations and a pretty Head Girl behind him. * She knew she was blushing, she knew it. Thrusting the package into his chest, she mumbled something even she couldn’t hear. “Sorry, Evans, didn’t quite catch that!” Sirius said brightly, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I just wanted to thank you for defending me in front of your family,” she mumbled, staring at the ground. “It’s just Hogwarts: a History. I’m sorry it’s not that good. I wanted to get you something quickly so I just grabbed the first thing I saw from Flourish and Blotts. It’s only small but I suppose you’ll put it to some use. It makes a rather good pillow, you know.” She risked raising her head slightly but was surprised at what she saw. She had expected Sirius to laugh at her, but instead he looked incredibly touched. “Evans, Lily…I can’t take this. It was nothing, really. I just hate my family and hate the way they treat muggle-borns.” “Still,” she pressed. “Take it! I have one anyway. And…” She paused for a moment, and then plunged on. “I know I shouldn’t say this to you, what with me being Head Girl and all but... I was looking through it, and it does have a several hints towards secret rooms and passageways. And although I dare say you know them all, you never know…” Sirius grinned. “Brilliant! Thanks, Evans!” She blushed again and muttered a quick “Goodbye!” before leaving quickly. She had just reached her parents, who were waiting patiently for her, when a she heard her name being bellowed, “EVANS! LILEEEEE! EVANS!!!” She turned around quickly, along with half of Diagon Alley, to see Sirius Black jumping up and down, trying to attract her attention. “WHAT?” she shouted. “CONGRATULATIONS ON-- HEY! WHAT WAS THAT FOR? LEARN TO WALK MORON! WHAT’RE YOU LOOKING AT, BALDY?!” “GET A MOVE ON, BLACK,” she shrieked, attracting even more attention. “CONGRATULATIONS ON-- WHO’RE YOU? STOP TOUCHING ME!-- HEAD GIRL!” he roared, tripping over a stray cat and landing flat on his face, after being attacked by a swarming crowd. She shook her head and grinned wildly. Sirius better be a gentleman and read that book or he would be missing out on a golden possibility. Who gives Hogwarts: A History to a person as a present, and not as torture? Lily turned back to her family, who were staring at her oddly. “Is that your boyfriend?” her mother asked curiously. “He’s a bit…” “Odd? Crazy? Weird? Unique? Take your pick. And NO, he’s not my boyfriend; he’s not even my friend! Ugh! Sirius Black! My boyfriend? Of all the disturbing thoughts…” She followed her parents, metering under her breath. Her parents shot each other sceptical looks and exchanged knowing smiles. Lily groaned and followed them towards the Leaky Cauldron. The crowds were unbelievable, and Lily found herself getting lost in the sea of people. She felt the crowd sway, and the man behind her stepped backwards, and trod on her foot. She let out a shriek and fell backwards, twisting her ankle as she went down. She just missed the ground when a pair of strong, warm arms encircled her waist and caught her. She tried to relax but the pain in her ankle was too bad. Thankfully, the mob quickly dispersed. Her parents reached her quickly, and their faces were a mask of concern. They were swimming out of focus, and Lily had to squint to see them. Everything was blurring; another horde of people had appeared from the arch, and Lily and her saviour were once again surrounded. Lily could feel the throngs of people around her, but all she could see was a mass of colours, that were fading and blurring. She couldn’t breathe or see, and knew dimly it was only minutes until she would pass out. The only thing that stayed still were the comforting arms around her- the person had her in a tight hold, and was taking to her, but she couldn’t hear him, and only caught snatches of what he said. “Okay…crowd leaving soon…lucky it’s not worse…could be broken…hold on…listen to me…” His voice was deep and comforting, and she struggled to listen to him. She let out a weak groan and felt the blackness on the edges of her vision cloud her, and she knew no more.
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