Craving for a Butterbeer (Lily)

[Remus Lupin]

Remus and Lily walked into the Three Broomsticks, which was fairly empty for that time of day. There were three elderly witches sitting near a window, laughing at something, a bald man with a large paunch sitting at the bar, a group of four older Hogwarts students, and a shady-looking figure sitting in a back corner smoking a pipe. The bartender stood behind the bar, looking bored.

"Um, I guess we should just pick a seat," Remus said. "Anywhere but near that guy in the back."

[Lily Evans]

Lily laughed at Remus' comment. "My thoughts exactly." She looked around and spotted a table not to far away. "I guess this table will be just as good as any," said Lily walking over to the table and taking a seat.

As the barmaid came up Lily glanced up at her. "Two butterbeers please," she said kindly.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus watched as the barmaid walked away, then turned to Lily and smiled. "I actually haven't been here in a while," he commented. His eyes turned sad as he added, "The last time I was here was last year, with Sabrina."

[Lily Evans]

Lily gave a sympathetic look. She knew how much Remus liked Sabrina, and that he wasn't exactly over her. She didn't really know what to say, however the barmaid returned with their butterbeers before Lily could give any kind of verbal response. Lily gave her another smile, then turned to Remus. "I haven't been here in awhile myself, and I'm sorry about that. We'll have fun today Remus. I promise."

[Remus Lupin]

Remus smiled lightly. "Thanks," he said. He took a sip of his butterbeer and thought for a minute. He was glad she had decided not to pursue the topic of Sabrina any further. As much as he missed her, he really didn't want to dwell on the sadness. She was right... he needed to have some fun, and to relax. Between Sabrina's death, and the situation with his father and Kris, he really hadn't had a lot of fun lately. And it wasn't doing him any good to keep thinking about those things.

He decided instead to go back to the subject of James. "You know, when you first asked me to go with you, I was sure you were trying to make James jealous or something. He really likes you, you know."

[Lily Evans]

Lily raised her mug of butterbeer to her lips and took a sip.

You know, when you first asked me to go with you, I was sure you were trying to make James jealous or something. He really likes you, you know.

After Remus said this, Lily thought she was going to choke on her drink. She swallowed without a problem and looked at him with a strange look. That was her intention when she first invited Remus to come to Hogsmeade with her, but then she just told herself that she invited him, so that he could get out and have fun. Plus, since James and Sirius were going to Hogsmeade with someone, it wouldn't leave Remus alone. She reassured herself that's why she asked him to go. "It appears he does. What am I supposed to do about that," she asked.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus gave her a hopeful smile. "Well... you could give him a chance," he said. "Look, I know he can be kind of... obnoxious sometimes. But he's really not a bad guy. And he's really trying to be nicer to people, just because you asked him to."

[Lily Evans]

"Give him a chance? Obnoxious, sometimes? Come on Remus. You and I both know that he's nothing but a self-centered jerk! He's so annoying and thinks he's better than everyone else! Not such a bad guy? Remus. Really. He pulls all sorts of mess on people," said Lily. She wasn't sure why Remus was talking about James. Lily grew quite a moment. "Yes, I know that he's trying, but I honestly doubt that it will last long. He's got Sirius there to influence him. You know how those two are."

[Remus Lupin]

Remus nearly choked on his butterbeer at her reaction. Of course, he'd expected her to be reluctant and negative... but this was much more than he'd expected. He wasn't quite sure how to handle it. He sat quietly and watched her with wide eyes as she launched into a litany of James's faults. "Well," he said at last as she finished, "he's always been nice to me. He can actually be a really loyal friend. I just don't think you know him the way I do."

He took a quick sip of his butterbeer. "But we don't have to talk about him, if that's what you'd prefer..."

[Lily Evans]

Lily sighed. "I'm sorry Remus," she said apologizing. "I couldn't help it. I didn't mean to go out like that about James. It's just stuff I've been holding in. To you, I'm sure he is a loyal friend. I think that he thinks I'm some kind of challenge that he can win over by attempting to use his charms. Plus, I just wish that he would be nicer. I know he's nice to me, but I mean to other people and cut down on messing with other people."

The truth was, Lily didn't really mind so much talking about James. "I tell you what. I promise that if he continues to be nice to people and doesn't start doing what he's always done, I promise I'll give him a chance. But, he only gets one chance. If he messes it up, that's it."

[Remus Lupin]

Remus smiled at that. "Tha's fair," he agreed. "I know he messes with people a lot, and he can be pretty full of himself. But it's mostly just an act. And I think he sees you as more than just a challenge. I think he really likes you." He took a sip of his butterbeer, looking quietly at Lily. He couldn't help noticing that her green eyes seemed to sparkle like emeralds when she smiled.

Immediately, he felt guilty for thinking about it. He was trying to talk James up to Lily, and here he was noticing her pretty eyes? Ridiculous. Still, he had to admit, James had pretty good taste.

[Lily Evans]

"That's sort of what Sirius said, but not in those words. Although, I'm not really sure what he meant, maybe he was joking, but he said that I should go out with James already," said Lily. She gave a shake of her head. "Sorry. I'm just thinking out loud. I don't know about James, Remus, but I promise to give him a chance, although that's all I can promise."

Lily took a sip of her butterbeer. The thought entered her mind that maybe James wanted Remus to talk about him. "Remus. Be honest. Did James put you up to talking about him to me this morning or something?"

[Remus Lupin]

Remus widened his eyes. "What? No... no, he didn't. In fact, he told me not to. He said he just wanted me to relax and have a good time. He said he'd be upset with me if I didn't have fun." He gave her a slight smile. "And we're having fun, right? Well, except that we're talking about James and you don't really like him... Maybe we should talk about something else."

[Lily Evans]

Lily raised her eyebrows in slight surprise. The situation just turned curious, very curious. Why did Remus want to talk to her about James? Maybe he felt bad for him? Lily didn't know. Maybe she'd figure everything out soon.

"Of course we're having fun." Lily gave a slight laugh. "It's not that I don't really like him because I don't actually really dislike him. It's just, argh. I don't know." She ran a hand through her red hair. "It's okay. It's something you wanted to do. Sure, we can talk about something else." She put a finger to her chin. "Hmm. Let's talking about how pretty you would look in a dress." Lily gave a grin. "I'm just kidding. Hm. What about what exactly are we doing today?"

[Remus Lupin]

Remus thought for a minute. He hadn't really thought beyond getting off the school grounds and having a butterbeer. "Um... well, we could check out that new zoo they just put in. I hear they have a special pixie exhibit going on. And if you were hungry, we could go to that restaurant, the Hot Panini..."

[Lily Evans]

"I think that the zoo will be nice. The muggle ones are wonderful to go to! My sister, Petunia, my parents, and I used to go to the muggle ones. Petunia never really liked it much, but then again she never really liked a whole bunch. I've never been to a wizarding one," said Lily. "The Hot Panini? I've never been there. Although, that sounds nice as well." She gave Remus a smile and then took a sip of her butterbeer. "I'll be ready to go to the zoo whenever you are."

[Remus Lupin]

"I haven't been to a zoo," Remus admitted. "Not a wizard one, or a muggle one. What do you do at a muggle zoo? What kind of animals do they have?" He smiled at her as he took a sip from his butterbeer. Her eyes really were a pretty shade of green...

[Lily Evans]

"You should go to a muggle one. They're pretty neat. In a muggle zoo, you just walk around and look at all the animals. They have lions, tigers, all sorts of bears, foxes, monkeys, snakes, sea creatures, all sorts of birds, and some other animals. Sometimes is fun to watch the monkeys play around," said Lily with a smile. "Although, I'm sure that a wizard one would be far more exotic than a muggle zoo, considering we're in the wizarding world, and nothing is really like the muggle world here."

[Remus Lupin]

Remus found himself wondering whether a muggle zoo would have wolves in it. He almost asked her, but decided against it. He didn't want to seem strange for asking such a seemingly random question.

Taking the last sip from his butterbeer, he smiled at Lily. "Well, I guess we can go to the zoo now, if you're ready," he said.

[Lily Evans]

Lily nodded. "Just give me like one second." She turned up her butterbeer mug, and started drinking the rest of it, without a breath. Finally, she sat the now empty mug on the table top. "Okay Remus. I'm now ready to go." She let a smile spread across her face as she stood up and pushed her chair under. Running a hand through her red hair she stood beside Remus. "You'll like the zoo, I promise."