Last Kiss
A SongFic - Taylor Swift.
Well, hi. This is probably going to be w three, maybe four, chapter fic. And I'm not abandoning "Can You See What I See?" I just... yeah. There's a notice on it. Sorry about that, to whoever's read that one.
And to whoever's reading this one, hope you like it, and please review? As in please, and I'll love you forever more? Seriously, though, please review. I'm begging here, which makes you obliged to. I think.
I'm away laughing on a fast camel!
Love, Caroline.
Alice walked into the dorm after her date with Frank in good spirits, which immediately vanished when she saw Lily.
She sighed. "Not again..."
She could talk to Lily. She could, if Lily had acknowledged her presence the last few times she'd tried. She'd been this way for two weeks now. Ever since, The Break-Up. It was even in capitals in her brain, for God's sake.
Turning on her heel and walking back out of the room, she made her way down to the common-room. When she closed the door, Lily twisted her neck around, silent tears dripping down her face. Pulling her arms closer around herself, she lost herself in her memories.
"The plane will be arriving at London Heathrow Airport in ten minutes, ladies and gentlemen. We hope you had a pleasant flight. Have a nice day." The sound came over the loudspeaker and Lily tapped her foot up and down. Waiting.
"Stop it!" Petunia grouched at her." Why are you so excited anyways? Those people aren't coming to see you, are they?"
"As a matter of fact they are." Lily grinned in return, because nothing could spoil her good mood. Not today.
Petunia snorted but left her alone.
"Come on, come on..." Lily thought impatiently to herself. "One minute..."
The second the plane touched down and the doors opened, Lily was there, flying out of her seat and rushing down the steps.
"Lily, wait!" her father called.
Lily ignored him and ran even faster. She sprinted through the gate and followed the signs for baggage claim. When she slowed down and retrieved her bags, she strolled evenly through to the airport lounge.
Where were they?
"HEY, EVANS!"
Surly businessmen hurried past the group of teenagers, throwing them glares as they passed, but it seemed that they were oblivious to everything but to the red-headed girl standing there, looking around, well, for THEM.
Turning, she saw them, holding up a sign with glitter all over it. She supposed it might have said 'Lily Evans' on it at some point, but now...
She ran.
Straight into the group hug that Sirius Black was carefully concocting.
"Lily!"
"Lils!"
Laughing, the giant hug moved from side to side, oblivious of anything and anyone else around them. Lily untangled herself from the mess and hugged each in turn: Alice, Marlene, Mary, Emmeline, Peter, Remus, Sirius.
James.
Alice plodded down into the common room, now thoroughly depressed. Sirius, Remus and Peter were sitting beside the fire, talking to Marlene and Mary. She shuffled Sirius over and sat down between him and Remus, and dropped her head onto Remus' chest, closing her eyes.
"I don't know anymore." She muttered.
Sirius and Remus exchanged a look over her head. "Again?"
"Still. It can't go on for much longer, it will really can't. It's driving her mental."
"Lily, again?" Peter asked.
"Up in the dorms."
"I'll go," Remus offered.
Alice nodded and sighed. Sirius gave her a hug as she squeezed her eyes closed more tightly.
Remus stood up and walked up towards the girls dormitories. Casting a Freezing Charm on the steps, he walked up carefully. He still didn't trust this, even though Sirius insisted that it was completely safe and that they had tried it out enough times for it to be completely trustworthy, Remus was still apprehensive.
He knocked on the door and was greeted with the same response he'd gotten for the last two weeks: silence.
Remus opened the door; Lily was in the same place she had been for the last two weeks. Apart from classes, there wasn't much she'd done.
"And who do Inferi answer to, can anyone tell me?" Professor Tirnog asked, looking around the classroom. It was a simple question, the whole class had their hands up.
Most of the class.
"Emm... Miss Evans? Do you know the answer?" Tirnog asked, looking surprised that Lily hadn't her hand up in the first place.
"Miss Evans?"
By this stage, most of the class had turned around and were looking at Lily in surprise, even shock.
"MISS EVANS!"
Lily shook her head and roused herself. "Excuse me?"
"Were you listening to the question at all?" Tirnog asked crossly. Remus looked over to Lily in alarm, Tirnog was not well known for his patience. Or sympathy, seeing that he either hadn't noticed Lily's red eyes, or maybe he just didn't care. Remus strongly suspected it was the latter. It would be suicide to tell Tirnog that she hadn't been listening, and Remus knew that Lily knew this.
'Come on, Lily, just say that you were listening...'
Most of the class, including Remus, were mouthing the answer to her.
"No."
"What?"
"I wasn't listening." Lily mumbled.
"Detention. Today, the dungeons, seven o' clock. I do not tolerate inattentiveness in my class." Tirnog said sharply.
The class immediately started protesting, led by Sirius Black.
"Come on, sir!"
"Detention, for that?" Sirius was shouting. "I don't listen half the time and-"
"SILENCE!"
The class gulped simultaneously.
"Detention stands, Miss Evans." Tirnog said dangerously quiet. "And listen in future."
Lily could only nod in response. She stared straight ahead, ignoring the sympathetic glances from the rest of the seventh years. But as Remus faced the front of the class again, he was aware of James, beside him, looking over at Lily as her bottom lip wobbled.
'Come on, Lily, keep it together,' Remus tried to send a message to her, but he could only watch as a tear dripped onto the parchment and blurred the single word written there.
"Lily?"
She turned around: a small victory. But this was ruined by the fact that she turned back to the windows without even muttering a greeting.
"I did knock." Remus pointed to the door: rather unhelpfully. He exhaled heavily and ran a hand through his hair, walking over to the window Lily was sitting on. He sat down and looked out at the pouring rain with her.
"I don't know, Remus."
"What?" Remus answered, slightly confused.
"That's all I know, I don't know."
"You don't know what though?" Remus supplied.
"I don't know," Lily echoed, silent tears pouring down her pale face. "I don't know why he did it, and I don't know why he hasn't even bothered to get his stuff back, and I don't know why he can't face me or look me in the eyes, and I don't why I don't want to see him when I really do because I need to, and I don't know why I just want to lie down in the rain and let it spill, really rain. And I don't know why I still need him to be there, to see his face, to see him smile. I want to go to sleep and I want to not wake up, because if I do I'll remember everyone pities me, because I'm the girl who fell in love with James Potter while he dumped her on her ass."
Remus didn't say anything, he simply opened his arms, and Lily lay in them, crying openly but still quietly.
Once Lily had dozed off, Remus lifted her up and out her in her bed. He stood there for a while, looking at her, finally peaceful. He shut her curtains and walked quietly down the stairs back into the common room. The others were still there but with one addition.
James Potter was sitting on an armchair with the group. He looked exhausted, Remus noted. Alice held out her hand and grabbed Remus' arm, without opening her arms.
"How is she?"
That sentence contained so much worry in those three simple words, reflecting the anxious looks of all their friends. Remus pointed to the large damp stain on the shoulder of his white school shirt.
"That's your answer."
Alice's hand dropped simply to her side and she curled into Sirius even tighter, who looked across at his best friend, not breaking eye contact. James stared into the fire, ignoring him, or maybe too engrossed in himself.
Marlene stood up.
"Well?"
Everyone looked around, wondering to who the question was directed, though deep down, they already knew.
James tore his gaze away from the fire. "What? Was someone talking to me?"
Sirius groaned. "Please, guys... Marlene..."
"I'm not going to leave it, Sirius."
"Why not?" Sirius asked desperately. "Wouldn't it be a nice thing if we all started talking about fruit, or something relatively safe, right now? Who's with me?"
"No," James waved Sirius aside. "Go on; let her say what she wants to say."
"I'm sick of it Potter," Marlene snapped. "And I'm sick of you. I'm sick of MY BEST FRIEND not getting an inch of sleep because she's up, crying over you. I'm sick of the constant tears, and the constant sitting on the windowsill, looking at the rain. I'm sick of her grades slipping because of it. I'm sick of the letters she gets from her parents going unopened. Do you know, Alice and Mary had to open up her letter and read it, because Lily was refusing to, and when they asked after you, she flipped. I'm sick of her never talking and going upstairs straight after school. I'm sick of you, walking around like you don't give a damn, not even looking her in the eye, or asking how she was. Because she's not okay, and she won't be. But most of all, I'm sick of the fact that it's everyone, but you picking up the pieces. Sirius, Remus, me, Alice, Mary, Peter, even Frank."
"Who says I don't give a damn?" James snarled back at her.
"I don't care what you feel, Potter." James' childhood friend growled back at him. "I care about the girl that your friend just had to go up and calm down, like we've all been doing for the past two weeks. Do you even know that she hasn't been eating because everything reminds you of her? The kitchens, The Great Hall, even the damn spoons."
James closed his eyes for a second and remembered, brief flashbacks:
"Look , James, got it! And you never will!" Lily laughed, spoon dangling precariously off the end of her nose. "Wait... let me do it again..."
James grinned, and pulling out his wand, cast a sticking charm on her nose."Will this help?"
"HEY!"
"Whoops. Wand must've slipped."
"Well!" Lily said indignantly. She grabbed a spoon and clapped it to his nose, pulling out her wand and casting the exact same charm on him as he had used on her, all while James tried to fight her off, but failed miserably.
"Oops." Lily grinned smugly. "What a pity. You look as stupid as I probably do now."
James raised his eyebrows. "Doesn't matter, 'cos I can still do this."
He pulled her close, and kissed her, in the Great Hall, with everyone around them fading into the background, because she was all that was there.
He opened his eyes again. "It's for the best."
"I don't think killing her's for the best, James." Remus interrupted. "Or killing yourself, for that matter."
"What would you know?" James shouted, his temper rising. "Did anyone ever think that maybe I didn't want to let her go, that maybe I cant ask how she is because that will most certainly kill me, to be told that she can't hold it together, because neither can I. You all thought I didn't see her that day in Defence, or maybe that I just didn't care. But I did."
He sat back down, his anger receding, and an unnatural sadness in its place.
"James...?" Alice had untangled herself from Sirius, and walked over to him, slightly unsure.
He glanced up at her, his eyes becoming slightly red-rimmed.
"Oh, James..." Alice hugged him, stroking his head, as in front of everyone, James Potter, Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, completely broke down in the common room, and cried into Alice Prewett's shoulder.