I stared out at the pouring rain. From my window, the grounds looked like a swimming pool. I could only imagine what state the road to Hogsmeade would be in. It was just our luck that it would be pouring on our last Hogsmeade weekend of the year.
Grabbing my cloak, I headed down to the Great Hall to meet Emily, Mary and Lisa. The four of us have been roommates since first year, and best friends for just as long. Another girl, Sarah, had also been in our dorm for the last 5 years, but she hadn't come back to Hogwarts this year. None of us really knew why, but she wasn't replying to our letters, so we'd given up.
"Geez, Lil, you took your time." Emily grinned at me.
"Well, I'm sorry for needing my sleep." I retorted, pulling my cloak around my shoulders as we headed out into the torrential rain.
"You missed breakfast." Lisa stated, always the pragmatist.
"So? I'll have a big lunch." I winced as the rain hit me. I had until January to suffer.
"Can we hit Honeydukes? I'm out of Sugar Quills." Mary stated. Mary was a sugar-tooth, and went through at least ten Sugar Quills a week. I keep waiting for her teeth to fall out from all the sugar.
As we approached Hogsmeade, I can't help but feel a sense of loss. Usually on Hogsmeade weekends I split my time between my roommates and Severus, but since out falling out last year, I wasn't inclined to talk to him. He had called me a mudblood, for Merlin's sake! He had been constantly pestering me for all of first term, but I think, since I hadn't said a single word to him for eleven months, he was starting to realise I didn't want to talk to him. Instead, he was hanging around with Avery and Mulciber. I shuddered inwardly. Those boys were destined for bad things.
"Hey, Evans!" A voice called.
I rolled my eyes. Couldn't I have one day in peace, without the 'Marauders' pestering me? Of course not, that would be far too much to ask for.
I keep walking, resolutley ignoring the voice calling my name. Mary and Emily break out into giggles when they see my face, hardened with determination. I hear his footsteps behind us, so I walk even faster, determined to get to the safety of Honeydukes before he caught up with us.
"Oi, Evans! You can't avoid me forever!" He whispered into my ear, making me jump.
I started to run towards Honeydukes, but unfortunately he grabbed my arm, forcing me to stay.
"What do you want, Potter?" I asked, gritting my teeth.
He looked me up and down, before turning to grin at Black, who was standing behind him with Lupin and Wormtail.
"Oh, nothing Evans. Just thought I'd brighten your day." He grinned at me.
I clenched my fists together, trying to control my anger. Typical Potter, annoy me all the way to Hogsmeade for no reason at all.
"Goodbye, Potter." I stalked off, Lisa, Mary and Emily trailing behind me.
I was almost at Honeydukes when I heard him speak again.
"Why, look, it's Snivellus!" He laughed, Black joining in.
I couldn't help myself, I turned around. I blame it on habit, I'd spent all these years standing up for Severus, it was natural for me to turn towards a fight between him and Potter and Black.
Severus was coming down from the Shrieking Shack, accompanied with Mulciber and Avery. I glared at them. I might have been friends with him once, but I certainly wasn't going anywhere near those two. Whatever Potter was going to do to him, he deserved it.
I turned around, entering Honeydukes, as I heard the tell-tale crack of a jinx behind me, followed by Black's laughter. Ignoring the scene outside, I joined Mary at the display of Sugar Quills.
"Look at her, she think's she so perfect all the time, and anyone who's done the slightest thing wrong, well, she can't possibly go anywhere near them, can she?" I scowled at the red-headed figure sitting at a table on the other side of the room.
"I mean, what have I ever done to her?" I moodily picked at the food in front of me, for once not really feeling like eating.
"You've been harrassing her for years, mate." Sirius leans back in his chair, sipping on his butterbeer. I glare at him.
"So?" I snarl.
"Uh, and you're sort of rude to her…" Remus adds, but quickly trails off when I glare menacingly at him.
"Rude? Try acting like a downright arse everytime she's around!" Sirius cackles, laughing harder when he sees the look on my face.
"I do not act like an arse." I growled, wishing he would spill butterbeer on himself.
"Yes you do, Prongs. And you know it." Sirius said, with an air of finality. I knew that tone well, when he talked like that, there was no arguing with him, not unless you wanted to end up with purple-tinged skin for a week.
"Well, it's not just me. Look at what Snivellus did to her, and now she's not talking to him. Not that I'm complaining, mind you." I added, watching as she listened to something her friend was saying, resting her chin on her hand.
"Who cares what Snivellus does?" Sirius asked, and I had to agree.
I'd been awfully jealous of him last year, as he was friends with Evans and I, well, wasn't. But now that he was on the outs too, things were looking promising.
I watched her laugh; I even heard it faintly through the rest of the din in the Three Broomsticks. Remus looked at me, following my gaze.
"James, she'll realise you're meant for her eventually. You might just have to grow up a bit for her to take an interest it you." Remus said wisely.
"He won't, though. I give it a week and he'll be asking her out again. You can't deny it, Prongs. You've got it bad for Evans." Sirius looked at me, serious for once.
"No I don't." My response was automatic. They'd been asking me the same question for years, everytime I answer the same. It was stupid, really. Clearly I fancied her, I wouldn't keep asking her out if I didn't. Somehow, I could never bring myself to admit it out loud to them, though. I'm not really sure why.
"Come on; let's go find Wormtail before he gets eaten by something." I say, standing up.
The others follow, and we make our way out of the inn. As I walked to the entrance, closer to her table, I heard her laugh. Everytime I heard it, it made me smile. It was light and carefree, exactly the opposite of her. She was perfect, prim, proper. Everything I'm not.
The snores of my roommates got louder with every passing second. Usually, I could block them out, and get a decent amount of sleep. Tonight? Oh, no. I was too preoccupied with my own thoughts.
For some reason, I couldn't get the image of James Potter leaving the Three Broomsticks out of my head. He'd looked back, towards my table, and the light had hit his hair, making it almost glow. Earlier, his eyes had met mine, and I swear he'd been staring at me. Not that that was unusual, but it felt different. All afternoon I'd been jumpy, hyperaware whenever he was in the same room as me. I'd come up here, to my dorm, early just to escape him. What was going on with me? Usually the only thing I felt around Potter was disdain and anger. Now, though…I simply didn't understand it.
He was rude, arrogant and selfish. He broke all the rules; he cursed people for the fun of it. His hair was constantly a mess; he never paid attention in class. He was exactly the opposite of me. By all rights, I should hate him. I usually did. So why couldn't I get him out of my head?
Three hours later, and I still couldn't get to sleep. Groaning, I rolled out of bed, grabbing my cloak and draping it around my shoulders. It might be May, but it was still freezing at night inside the castle. I headed down to the common room, grabbing my bag as I went. I'd been meaning to write to Petunia for ages, and now was as good a time as any.
The head of messy black hair poked over the couch at the sound of my footsteps.
Perhaps now was not a good time after all. I tried to turn around and sneak up the stairs…
"Evans? What are you doing up?"
It was Potter, of course. I winced, spinning back around on my heel to face him.
"Writing a letter." I replied, crossing my arms over my chest, feeling awfully exposed with only my cloak covering my pyjamas.
"At midnight?" He asked incredulously.
I rolled my eyes, choosing to ignore him. I sat down in my usual chair, pulling a quill and parchment out of my bag. I could feel James's eyes on me as I wrote, but I ignored them. Or I tried to, at least. I had to rewrite one sentence three times, but I got there eventually. I refused to let him know that he was having an effect on me. He was James Potter, for Merlin's sake. I hated him.
I finally completed my letter, though I admit I didn't really have much to say to my sister. We haven't been close since I went to Hogwarts, and she spent her time moving from one boyfriend to another. I stretched, putting my quill and parchment back in my bag; I'd drop by the Owlery tomorrow and send it.
Unfortunately, I still wasn't sleepy. Neither was James, apparently, because he was still sitting in exactly the same spot, studying me.
"What are you still doing here, Potter?" I asked, deliberatley avoiding his gaze. I didn't entirely just myself around him. Sure, I hated him, but something else was there which I was determined to ignore. I did not, and would never have feelings for James Potter. Absolutely not.
He shrugged.
"Couldn't sleep."
I rolled my eyes at this.
"Obviously." I replied snidely.
He sighed, clearly sick of my attitude. True, I was being rude, but he deserved it.
"Evans, can't we just quit it? I'm sick of swiping at each other." He said resignedly.
I stared at him. He wanted a truce? What the hell? How was I supposed to ignore…whatever the hell I was feeling if he wanted a truce? We fought, we argued, I turned him down…that was how we worked.
"What?" I asked, flabbergasted.
"I give up." He said simply. "I've been chasing you for years, clearly you aren't interested. So, I'd like a truce. I'll stop bugging you, you stop yelling at me for no damn good reason."
He ran his hand through his hair, messing it up even more. I don't think he even realised he did it; it seemed to be a habit of his.
Part of me was in shock; I was so used to him chasing after me. I'd never wanted the attention, but that hadn't mattered, I'd still gotten it. I guess I'd never thought he'd give up. James Potter didn't give up, it wasn't like him.
That was when rational Lily departed. We were both standing up at this point, with barely a foot between us. I could see the firelight flickering in his eyes. Those...feelings…that had been festering inside me all day exploded. I stopped being rational, I became a hormone charged teenager. For once, I gave in, stopped being a good girl.
I kissed him. I couldn't believe I was doing it, but I did. I'd never kissed anyone before, but it felt good. He quickly responded, pulling me closer, wrapping his hands around my waist.
I pulled away, gasping for air.
Had that really just happened? Did I just kiss James Potter? And why did it feel so good? Was I…did I like him? No. Way.
I did the only logical thing; I bolted. Thank Merlin for the spell on the girl's staircase, he couldn't follow me. Though he probably wouldn't have anyway, he was standing there, looking like he'd been petrified.
I shut my door behind me, breathing heavily. Thankfully, everyone else in my dormitory was fast asleep and hadn't heard me come in. That would spawn some awkward questions.
I settled back down on my bed, trying to wrap my head around what had happened. At some point I must have dozed off, because when I woke up seven hours later, the sun was shining, my dormitory was empty and I was lying on my bed, on top of my covers. I yawned, turning my head to the side, almost rolling on top of a piece of parchment lying on my pillow.
I assumed it was a note from Em, Mary or Lisa, so I read it sleepily.
"My only love sprung from my only hate."
Romeo and Juliet 1:5
Someone was haunting me with quotes. I'm not kidding. First, it was Romeo and Juliet, on the night of the 'incident' that I still hadn't told anyone about. I'd also been avoiding James, choosing to spend my free time in the library, studying for our end-of-year exams. Thankfully, none of my friends had found this odd; I suppose it was normal behaviour for me.
The second quote was Shakespeare again.
"The course of true love never did run smooth"
A Midsummer Night's Dream 1:1
I was beginning to pick up the theme here; love. Considering the timing of the first quote, I was starting to worry. Had someone witnessed the 'incident'? Was this some sort of blackmail?
These sorts of thoughts had been preoccupying me for two weeks now. Our first exam, Charms, was tomorrow morning and I couldn't get these Shakespearean quotes out of my mind. Basically, I was doomed.
I still had absolutely no idea who was sending the quotes. I didn't recognize the handwriting, and they'd both mysteriously appeared on my pillow in the morning, no clues attached.
"Hey." Lisa said, sitting down opposite me, spreading her Charms books out. I smiled slightly at her, turning back to my textbook.
"I found this on your pillow." She said, passing an all to familiar piece of parchment over to me.
I looked down at it, dreading what I would see.
"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow"
Macbeth 5:5
Well, that was ominous.
"Who's it from?" Lisa asked, scratching her nose with her quill whilst pouring over her Charms essay.
"I don't know." I replied honestly.
I got up, determined to find out once and for all what was going on with these quotes. There was a muggle section to the library, so I headed there. I quickly found Shakespeare's Macbeth, and read the whole passage.
"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walkign shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."
Unfortunately, we'd never been taught to analyse Shakespearean plays at Hogwarts, so I had no clue as to what it meant. Sighing, I placed the book back on the shelf, deciding that whoever was sending the quotes would show themselves sooner or later. All I could do was wait.
A scream shattered the silence of the cool night air, waking me up. I sat up hastily, looking to my right, to the source of the scream.
Emily was standing in the doorway to our bathroom, her hand over her mouth, her face deathly pale. Her eyes, like the eyes of every other person in my dorm, were fixated on the object suspended in the middle of the room.
I was the first one to move. I got up, my heart thumping in my chest. I walked over, around the objects.
It was Sarah.
Or, more accurately, her body. She was hanging upside down, suspended by magic, from our ceiling. She was pale, and I was sure if I felt her body it would be cold. Her eyes were wide open, staring at me. She looked terrified. There was a piece of parchment pinned to her muggle clothes.
My mind had gone blank. I grabbed the parchment without thinking.
None of my friends said anything. Lisa and Mary were still sitting in their beds, frozen. Em was in the doorway still, though she was now sobbing.
Suddenly, my brain kicked in. The Headmaster had to know what had happened.
I turned, heading out of my dormitory. As soon as I pulled open the door, I saw that we weren't the only ones woken by Emily's scream. Half of Gryffindor Tower was in the Common room, several fourth year girls running up the girl's staircase, almost crashing into me.
"Lily, what happened? Did someone scream?"
"Lily! What was that?"
"Lily?"
I ignored them, pushing through the crowd in the common room without saying a single word. All the conversations quickly died as the Gryffindors caught sight of my pale, serious face, and the parchment in my hand. I walked the final few metres to the portrait hole in a dead silence. I climbed through, refusing to let any thought other that 'tell Dumbledore' enter my head. I couldn't break down right now, I had a task to complete.
"Evans? Are you alright?" James grabbed my wrist, spinning me around. I was halfway down the corridor at this point, clearly he'd followed me out.
"Dumbledore." I whispered, spinning back around and breaking into a run. This was urgent.
"What? Dumbledore? What the hell happened, Lily?" James ran to catch up to me.
Perhaps it was the use of my first name, or something else, but I told him.
"Sarah's body is hanging in our room. She's dead, James. Murdered." I say bluntly, blocking all my emotions.
James stopped dead, staring at me in shock.
"What?" He whispered.
I stopped running, turning back to him.
"I need to see Dumbledore. Are you coming or not?" I asked blatantly.
He nodded, and without a word we set of at a run for the Headmaster's office. I still had the unread piece of parchment clutched in my hand; I knew what would be on it, the same messages that had been haunting me for days.
We came to the gargoyle guarding the office. We came to an abrupt halt.
"I need to see Dumbledore." I said, almost yelling at the gargoyle.
Unfortunatley, gargoyles don't like statements. They like passwords.
"No password, no entry." The gargoyle replied, smirking.
I screamed out in frustration, my hands curling into fists, scrunching up the piece of parchment.
"I need to speak to him! My friend's been murdered!" I screamed at it.
I have no idea why that worked, but it did. The gargoyle jumped aside, and I bolted up the stairs, James hot on my heels. I pushed through the door, into Dumbledore's office, breathing heavily.
"Professor-" I began, but he cut me off.
"Miss Evans, Mr Potter! What ever are you doing here?" Dumbledore asked incredulously.
"Sarah's been murdered." I gasped, clutching my sides, breathing in gasps.
Thankfully, James stepped in.
"Lily said that she found Sarah's – Sarah's body in her room." James' voice was shaking.
Dumbledore stared at us, clearly alarmed. Abruptly, he stood up.
"Follow me." He said, and we did.
"Lily, was there anything else with Sarah? Any indication of who was behind it?" Dumbledore asked me as we made our way through the corridors, walking briskly.
"Sir, I think we can guess who did this-" James started, but stopped when Dumbledore turned his head and glared at him.
"Lily?" Dumbledore asked me again.
"Y-yes. There was. This piece of parchment." I flattened it out, and read outloud.
"Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war"
Julius Caesar 3:1
We walked the next few corridors in silence as Dumbledore pondered this. James looked furious, clearly wanting to go and hex the people responsible. I must say I sympathised.
"Miss Evans, you've received other notes similar to this in the past week?" Dumbledore asked as we approached Gryffindor Tower.
I gaped at him in silence. How could he possibly know that?
"Yes sir…how did you know?" I asked.
He never replied, however. We'd reached the tower.
"Grindylow." Dumbledore said, his tone just as grave as it had been in his office, but with more urgency.
The Fat Lady swung forward for him.
"What's going on?" She asked curiously.
We all ignored her, heading through the crowds of students who were still milling around in the common room, and up to my dorm room.
Dumbledore must have counteracted the spell on the staircase, because both he and James climbed it without problems.
They both entered my dorm without hesitating. I, however, paused before going back in. I knew I'd have to face it once I did, the horrific scene that awaited me, and the consequences of it. If that quote was anything to go by, those consequences would include a war.