Author: WhtChoc
Title: Runaway Love
Chapter Title: So Cold
Chapter Began: Saturday, January 06, 2007
Chapter Finished: Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Chapter Published: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Rating: R…
Disclaimer: None of the HP characters are mine
Summary: AU. At the prestigious private University of Percy Academy, James Potter is a rich, second year grad student who has no time and patience to deal with lowlife rejects like Lily Evans.
Warning: Very mature. You've been warned.
Author's Note: Thank you for the first reviews I got to this story: Lady Crimson of Emerant (for being my very, very first review for this chapter and story), I love fred and George, someone (anonymous reviewer), kenziegirl, LaughingManiac, kit49, Untamed Loner, alondra, Ruby89, PotterChick958, thusispeak, greengrl… if it wasn't for these reviews, this second installment wouldn't have been published and updated. Thank you very much.
This chapter is dedicated to you guys :)
On with the second chapter…
Chapter One: So Cold
Show me how it ends, it's alright
Show me how defenseless you really are
Satisfied and empty inside
Well, that's alright
Let's give this another try
--- Breaking Benjamin
"You just have to decide what kind of guy you are. The realist who sees what kind of girl Evans will always be or the dreamer that sees some kind of girl that Evans will never become."
Lily had just started to walk out of the bathroom when she heard the gruff voice that she recognized as Sirius Black's. She stopped herself from walking out completely into the hall and peaked around the corner to see Sirius and James Potter walking out of the bedroom that she had previously stormed out of.
"I guess I'm the kind of guy that's a realist," James muttered, shaking his head, "Especially after her show tonight."
The two guys disappeared down the stairs and Lily leaned against the wall of the bathroom, closing her eyes and breathing in deeply. Her first wave of emotions was somewhere between fear and shock that Sirius and James had been having a conversation about her, the campus's main reject. The second wave of emotions was her desire to kick Sirius's arrogant, holier than thou ass while the other part of her wanted to jump James Potter and fuck him senseless.
Everyone knew James. Even though he was at the top of the hierarchy at the university, you were considered idiotic if you had never heard of James Michael Potter. He and his friends and his brat kid sister, Bella, were considered untouchable, almost god-like. It was fucking ridiculous. They were like the Pope or… Ozzy Osborne.
Her head was starting to hurt from the excessive amounts of alcohol she consumed earlier that evening. She rubbed her temple and slid down the wall, wanting nothing more than to curl up in a cozy bed and sleep until the end of the world. She could if she wasn't always watching her back for one of Lucius' nasty minions.
Lucius Malfoy, on the surface to everyone in that world, was very rich and very handsome. Many women who desired power and money flocked to his riches, attracted by fame's first light. He was a grad student just like the Marauders, waiting and biding his time for his father's position at some high tech corporation. Lily Evans was fuzzy on the details and what little details she was clear about, she hadn't gotten them from Lucius himself. Word trickled down the grapevine to rejects like herself and that's how he got all the many admirers and minions he did. They were hoping he'd give. No such luck yet, though.
Unbeknownst to his rich circle of friends, Lucius Malfoy was a main player in the dirty underground business of PAU. He met Lily Evans about a year or so ago and they formed an arrangement of sorts. He would provide Lily with great amounts of alcohol and certain illegal substances when he was feeling generous while she would provide him with free, mind blowing sex.
To Lily, he was the devil dressed as God, if she even believed in that sort of thing. Sex with Lucius was better than sex with most guys at PAU. He allowed her to be creative, even let her have an orgasm from time to time. He didn't mind her drinking. In fact, he said she was sometimes even more creative when she was drunk, although she could never remember what she would do for him under the influence. He sometimes let her sleep the night, depending on who would be visiting him the next day. If it was his parents or friends, she'd have to find some place else to stay, but if it was just another follower of his, then she was free to sleep until noon the next day.
You'd think that a guy like Lucius Malfoy and the group of the Marauders with their reputations preceding them would get along or at least be amiable toward one another. The problem was that, that wasn't the case. Lucius and the Marauders hated one another with a passion not known at PAU for years. Their feuds and raging war sometimes affected those close to them and turned loved ones away.
The biggest, most competitive war was between Lucius Malfoy and James Potter, himself. Sometimes, unknown to James, Lily was caught in between this war, thrown in by Lucius. He tempted her to go to James and trick him, ruin his good reputation.
Lily never did.
As a matter of fact, Lily had never spoken to James Potter in all of her time here at PAU. Weird, because her life was so tied into the lives around James that she always found it odd that they had never come into contact with one another directly.
Examples of this odd occurrence would be that Lily had spoken to everyone James loved, even had some kinds of relationships with them. She and Sirius Black would sometimes screw around with each other when they'd argue. They almost got into something tonight when he had scared Damek off. Sirius Black was fucking hot and he was even hotter when he was below her, thrusting his hips and massaging her tits.
Lily was even closer to Remus Lupin, another one of James Potter's best friends. Although she had never had sex with Remus, and really couldn't see it ever happening, she and Remus were actually good friends despite the jokes about that fact. Remus Lupin was her only real good friend. Rather, her only real good friend that was her age.
Annette Potter was James's mother and Lily's mother-like mentor that had pulled her out of a very traumatic experience and placed her in one of the most famous schools in the country. Lily had to thank Annette for everything she'd ever done for Lily. If it wasn't for her, she probably would've ended up dead or pregnant.
Although Lucius disapproved of Lily's close ties with Annette and Annette disapproved of Lucius' hold on Lily, as she put it one day, Lily had to thank them both for the guidance that they had given her. They were both equally contributing to all that was Lily, but in very different ways.
"Evans," A voice drawled from the door, "What are you doing on the fucking floor in the bathroom?"
Lily looked up slowly, dizzily to see Damek standing above her. She was getting dizzier and dizzier. She couldn't see straight but Damek's body was outlined three or four times in front of her.
"I checked that bedroom and fucking Black is out of there. We can go party and fuck each other senseless, what do you say?" Damek asked.
"Clearly you're…" Her voice trailed off as she frowned and swallowed. She wasn't feeling too well. She closed her eyes, trying to fight it. "…out of your mind because…" She swallowed again, getting a nasty taste in her mouth. It tasted like… She glanced up at him, trying to see him clearly. "Did you put something in my drink, Damek?"
Damek didn't answer as he watched Lily collapse onto the floor, groaning and passing out. He stared at her for a second before shrugging and bending down. He checked her pulse and turned her over so that she was lying on her back. Her eyes were closed and she looked like she was in a deep sleep, "Fuck… Lucius was right about that pill."
He wrapped his arms around Lily and lifted her so that she was above his shoulder. He checked to make sure he hadn't bumped her head and that she was still sleeping before making his way out of the bathroom. He smirked at his success and turned into the bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him.
…
"Remus!" Bella exclaimed excited, as she jumped on the sandy haired guy, hugging him.
He grinned and hugged her back. "Hey, Bella."
Bella giggled and jumped off of him and settled back into her seat in the café in Hamilton Hall. Last night had been all about partying and dancing that she had decided today would be about coffee and studying for her basic courses. James was off somewhere so she had called Sirius out to breakfast. He stubbornly agreed and said Remus would be joining them. Bella didn't care, she loved Remus. He was sweet. Different than her brother and Sirius whose egos mostly got the better of them.
"Where's Sirius?" Remus asked curiously, taking a seat at the table.
Bella rolled her eyes and pointed to the breakfast line.
Remus looked and saw that Sirius was talking (flirting) with some undergrad, probably about food, trying to be funny and get her attention. The girl giggled and obviously liked the attention so it was probably working. Remus chuckled, shaking his head and pulling himself closer to the table.
"Does he ever quit?" Bella asked, her face falling a little.
Remus looked at her, noticing the bitterness in her tone. "Sirius likes to feel like he can get any girl he wants. It's who he's always been." He cracked a smile. "We accept, Bella, we don't sulk."
"It's easy for you to say," Bella huffed, "You're not a girl who thinks he's attractive."
He laughed. "True."
She shifted in her seat, as a way of changing the subject. "So, where were you last night? You didn't go to the party over at Valentine's."
Remus nodded. "That's because I was studying for an exam that Sirius and James were supposed to be studying for but weren't."
"Slackers."
"Yep." He scrunched his nose a bit and asked, "Should I rub it in their faces when I get better grades than them?"
"No." Bella said, "You're too sweet for that."
Remus smiled and leaned back in his chair. "So, how was the party? Full of drinkers and slackers all around or…?"
Bella shrugged. "It was alright. Same old stuff… couples in bedrooms trying to have sex while other people just bluntly had sex out on the dance floor."
Remus nodded slowly. "Did James break things off with Shauna?"
Bella laughed, shaking her head.
He laughed as well. "Wow, he must really like her…"
She knew he was being sarcastic but she answered anyways. "Or he must be really scared."
"Who's really scared?" Sirius said, patting Remus on the back and sitting on the other side of Bella.
"James." Bella said shortly, before taking a bite out of her muffin.
"Ooh, because he can't break up with the psycho bitch?" Sirius asked.
"Yup."
"Who was having sex on the dance floor?" Remus asked, curiously.
"Hmm?" Bella murmured, bread in her mouth.
"You mentioned someone having sex on the dance floor."
"Mate, who do you bloody think she's talking about?" Sirius asked, irritation hinting in his voice. "Your bloody new best friend, Lily slutty Evans."
"Oh…"
"Hey," Bella said, once her mouth was empty of food, glaring at Sirius, "You're the one who's screwed her a couple times so you're not allowed to sound irritated or whatever at anything."
"What?" Sirius said, defensively, "I only did her three times. That's hardly close."
"What is considered close to you then?" Bella asked, color rising in her cheeks. "I saw you last night with that girl or whatever straddling your hips. That's not close enough for you?"
"Shut your bloody…" Sirius was getting angry too.
"Okay, okay," Remus held up his hand and scooched Bella's chair back from being so close to Sirius's. "Referee definitely will call a time out." He looked between the two. "Lily was having sex on the dance floor?"
"What are you going to do, Moony?" Sirius said frustrated but mockingly. "Your charge is diminishing as we speak. Will her knight in shining armor come to her bloody rescue or not?"
Remus shook his head. "Lily's old enough to make her own decisions."
Sirius and Bella snort and then when they realize they've reacted the same way, they glare at each other before looking away.
"I just can't believe she would…" He shook his head, shocked.
Bella sighed reluctantly. "Look, Remus, she wasn't exactly… you know. But, she wasn't dancing either."
He glanced at her. "Has anyone seen her since last night?"
"Hell if we know, mate." Sirius scoffed, "I let her sleep in one time after a night… and she didn't bloody wake up until two in the afternoon the next day. Even then, she was out cold. I had to shake her awake and get her out before my uncle came."
"Yeah, I'm sure it was your uncle." Bella replied sarcastically.
Sirius was about to say something but he turned his head to see James walking toward them. "Prongs, buddy, what's happening?"
James came to stand in front of them and nodded to Remus.
"So," Bella prompted. "Did you end up dumping the frigid bitch or is she still around?"
James swallowed and the three groaned.
"It's not that I didn't try…" James started but Sirius groaned.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's got you, mate."
"…It's just she never stops talking. It's like talking to a wall except a wall doesn't talk over you." James sat down in a huff. He turned his head to Remus. "How's it going?"
Remus shrugged, glancing at the clock on the wall. "I actually have to get some place."
James looked surprised. "Where do you have to go? I can drive you…"
Remus shook his head. "No, I don't know…"
"Oh, come on. I haven't seen you in days. Let me drive you."
Remus stared at James's earnest look before sighing. "Alright, but, don't say I didn't warn you."
Sirius and Bella both gave quizzical glances and James just shrugged, standing up again and pulling out his keys to his Lexus.
"Is it far or…?" James started to ask.
"No, it's not far. Just across the campus." Remus answered and they said goodbye to Bella and Sirius.
…
James didn't know how the hell it happened but they ended up really across the campus. Across the campus meaning they were in the Underground of PAU, with the outside of dorms and Halls looking more beautiful than ever but the insides of these places probably looking terrible, smelling of booze and cloudy with drugs. The real hierarchy of the university never made it to this side of campus, never wanted to.
Sure, if they were looking to get caught up in something deep, they would journey over the invisible line but generally, if you were a true PAU student, you stayed out of the dark lives of those who just went because their parents had sent them there, those who really didn't give a shit about their futures. At PAU, your reputation was all you had and you had to safeguard that with everything.
"Uh… are you sure this is where you have to go, Remus?" James asked, again not believing that he wasn't reversing his car and speeding back to where familiar sightings were.
Remus nodded, glancing out the window. "Just park over here."
James looked to where Remus pointed to a spot under the shade on the intersection of two roads. James did as Remus said and turned the ignition off. He looked around and even though this part of the campus looked as sunny and friendly as his part of the campus, he still couldn't help but notice the different air in this atmosphere. It was darker, colder.
"You don't have to come in." Remus said softly, unbuckling his seat belt.
James unbuckled his. "Can you just tell me why we're over here?"
Remus met his eyes. "I'm here to get a friend."
James frowned, wondering what friend he was talking about. "Yeah, okay, me too… but, I didn't know you had friends over here."
Remus stepped out of the car and before slamming the door, he muttered, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you…"
…
James followed Remus into the Hall and already wanted to gag at the intense smell of vodka and something else mixed with it. The carpeted floor creaked and looking around, James wondered where everyone was. Back at his side of the campus, people would be in the halls, playing football, flirting with one another, and loud music would be blasting from each of the dorm rooms.
But here?
There was nothing that signified there was any life in this place. The air was cloudy and the light shined through the windows in wisps. Some of the doors to the dorm rooms were wide open with no one inside them. This place was fucking deserted.
"This is kind of freaky, you know…" James whispered.
Remus didn't answer or look back.
"Is this where you were last night?" James joked. "Partying with the rejects of PAU?"
Remus shot James a glare and James's smile wore off. "No, I was studying for the exam that you and Sirius will fail today."
James frowned. "There's an exam today?"
"Yup."
They turned and Remus knocked on a door after they stopped.
James was really curious about who this friend was of Remus' and why Remus was so touchy on the subject of rejects. Remus knew that's the way their school worked. They had agreed together as friends that they would accept that in order to get a good head start on their future. Why was Remus suddenly so offended by that now?
When no one answered, Remus turned the knob and opened the door. The two guys watched as the door slowly opened to reveal two beds, just like James's part of the campus, with a body lying lazily on the bed to the right. James frowned through the darkness of the room to try and see who it was. Remus quickly made his way in while James followed.
"Shit…" Remus muttered, immediately walking over to the lying form on the bed. "What did she take this time?"
James froze.
The body on the bed was the Evans girl.
What the fuck?
"James, get a bucket of water. It's in the bathroom across the hall." Remus said, lifting Lily's head in his lap.
It took James a few seconds to comprehend what Remus was saying but once he saw that Lily was passed out and seemed completely gone, his legs were forced into action. He left the room.
Remus glanced down at Lily. "Lily, what have you done this time?"
Lily didn't respond but moaned something incoherent and nuzzled deeper into Remus' lap.
James came back with the bucket of water and handed it to Remus.
Remus worked quickly with it and made Lily drink some of it. She wasn't swallowing and so when it went down, she coughed it up, and in doing so, woke herself up. Sort of. Her eyes opened a little but she was still very disoriented.
"What's wrong with her?" James frowned at the redhead in Remus' lap, confused about everything.
"Either someone slipped something in her drink or she got something from someone underground here. Either way, she won't be completely fine until tomorrow. She's too wasted and high." Remus answered matter-of-factly.
James shrugged. "So, what do we do with her until then?"
Remus glanced at the clock by the bedside. "I have class in forty-five minutes. I don't want anyone seeing her like this because it'll just ruin her reputation more. Plus, if the wrong person sees her or finds out where she is, at least until tomorrow, they might try something."
James didn't know what possessed him to do it but he said, "What about my place?"
Remus glanced at James shocked.
James was shocked too but now that he said it, he continued, "I mean… at least until she's safe or… whatever. Plus, it's off campus so no one will see her."
Remus stared at James before slowly nodding. "It's up to you. You don't have to do this."
James shrugged, getting used to his insane idea and stepping forward. "Well, my mom's always telling me that I need to connect with different people." He cracked a small, unsure smile. "Guess this is my opportunity."
"Okay…" Remus said slowly and Lily coughed again.
"Remus…" Lily murmured and the two guys looked down at her.
"She really knows it's you, huh?" James asked, shocked that Remus and Evans had a friendship he didn't even know about. "Are you two… er…?"
Remus shook his head. "We need to get her out of here. If you're serious about helping her, how about you drop me off in front of our Hall and drive out to your apartment to get her settled?"
James nodded and Remus stood up, attempting to lift Lily onto his shoulders. But being the very thin guy that he was with pretty serious back problems, he couldn't hold her light weight. He groaned and set her down again, breathing in deeply.
"I hurt my back again…" Remus explained, shaking his head.
Offering his apartment was one very, very big thing. That was something he hadn't even properly done for Shauna before she just decided to move her stuff in. Offering to touch Evans, the dirtiest girl of them all… that was something else entirely. But, he wanted to help Remus and oddly enough, he kind of wanted to help Evans and seeing her so weak… so without another word, James stepped forward and easily lifted Evans into his arms.
His eyes widened when Evans nuzzled closer to his neck, wrapping her arms tightly around his shoulders and her legs tightly around his waist. He gulped at the unsettling feeling of arousal at being so close to her. How the hell did that happen? Her hair smelled terrible, like booze and drugs, although he could smell like that too from just standing in this place because the smell was so dense.
"Mm…" Lily murmured, snuggling closer to James.
Remus looked amused when James shot him a look of horror.
"You smell so good…"
James swallowed again and motioned for the door. "Do you want to get that?"
Remus nodded and opened the door for James.
"Why do you smell so good?" Lily asked, clamping her legs tighter around his waist.
"I shower and…" He groaned a little when Lily rocked her hips against his, slowly as they walked out of the building. Remus walked behind them, not noticing what Lily was doing to James. "I wash my hair."
"Here, I'll get the car door…" Remus said, walking ahead of them.
James licked his lips and tried to ignore Lily altogether, even though he was carrying her.
"Mm… I haven't been able to shower or wash my hair safely in… I don't know how long…" Lily replied, tiredly.
That didn't surprise James. She never looked completely clean. It was sad.
"I haven't eaten a good meal in longer than that…"
"Why not?" James asked, despite his fight over whether to engage in the conversation or not.
"It's not safe."
James frowned, wondering what all of that 'safe' talk was about. Remus motioned to the open door and James gently placed Lily in his beat seat. She held fast to him but when he reassured her that it was okay, she slowly let him go.
"You sound like this really, really handsome guy I sometimes have fantasies about." Lily whispered.
James smirked, despite himself. "Really? Who would that be?" No harm in fishing around what Evans fantasized about.
"Yeah…" Lily murmured, laying her head down on the seat and closing her eyes, "But I would never give his name away. Not even for a million dollars."
He frowned. "Even if you needed it? You wouldn't tell anyone?"
"No." Lily said simply, her eyes still shut. She was gone. "I care about him too much to ruin his reputation."
James shrugged, not really caring who it was so he shut the back seat door and walked over to his side of the car and got in. He put the key in the ignition and turned it over. He glanced at Remus who was smiling at him.
"Thanks, James." Remus said, truly sincere.
James nodded and drove them away quickly back to his side of the campus.
Author's Note: So… how do you like this chapter? Remus was introduced in this one, finally. Do you like the way I wrote him? He's a bit different than the other Marauders and Bella, hmm? Plus, it was important for him to enter this chapter instead of the Prologue or the next chapter because I needed to get James and Lily talking with each other pretty quickly. Remus is their connection. And James Potter offers to take Lily Evans back to his place? That's pretty important right now in their development too. Lily will get better, I promise. She's at a low place in her life. She has the support, she obviously recognizes the support, and now she just needs to use it. And what's this danger she's always talking about? You'll find out about that stuff in the pretty near future.
Again, thanks for the reviews and I hope you keep reviewing!
