Thanks to Sarah and Piratezluver22 for reviewing, it means a lot! So you should all check out my other story, Forever and Almost Always! It's also AU, but in a different way.
Anywho, moving on, here is chapter 3(:
~Camille
Lily POV
I get that any of the girls standing in the audience would have loved to be in my shoes, but did that mean I had to keep this ridiculous smile on my face? It's been five minutes since my name was announced, but Aunt Carla insisted I keep smiling. What a joke, what's there to be happy about?
First, I'm uprooted from my home in Salem; now, I'm uprooted from my new home in Chelsea? What a dream come true…not.
Slowly but surely, the people were beginning to leave. But, not without a few longing looks to where I was standing. They could take my spot! I'd switch with any of them in a heartbeat, not that Aunt Carla would give me that option.
"So," Remus said, "do you have to go home to pack?"
"Actually," Aunt Carla butted in, "her bags are still packed from her plane ride. I'll just nip home and go pick them up!"
"Great, we'll just wait here then."
And with that, Aunt Carla was gone. "Lily," Remus continued, "I'd like to introduce you to Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. Sirius will be living here as well this summer."
"Oh don't sound so formal Remus! James and I are like brothers, we live here together."
"Hi" I said rather quietly.
"Oh a shy one! James'll love her."
"Sirius, stop talking as if I'm not here."
"Well, you weren't saying anything, and someone should welcome this lovely girl into our home!" I could tell Sirius was going to be a charmer, but I couldn't tell if I would like him or not.
James, on the other hand, I already didn't like. And he didn't seem to like me either. Well fine, I guess we just won't talk at all this summer.
"So, Lily-bean. Mind if I call you Lily-bean? Would you like a grand tour of this spectacular manor?" Sirius asked.
"Umm, actually, I'm pretty tired. Still jet-lagged from my plane ride and everything. Would you mind terribly if I just called it a night?"
Sirius looked like he was about to protest. James looked happier than I had seen him this entire evening. But, before either one could make their sentiments known, Remus jumped in.
"That's fine Lily. Let me show you to your room. Sirius, you stay here with James, talk to him." Remus and Sirius shared a meaningful look, and then, we left.
"Will you be staying here too? Please say yes, I at least want one person here I feel safe talking to."
"I'll be here for most of the summer. The three of us will be gone only three or four nights this summer. Hope you don't mind."
"No, that's fine. But where will you be going?"
"Oh, nowhere special. Just camping. It's a tradition we have on full moons."
"That sounds like so much fun! I miss doing stuff like that…"
"Do your parents not take you camping?"
"Not anymore… I haven't had any memories with them for a few years now." I didn't want to come out the first night and say 'oh yeah, by the way, I'm an orphan,' but I didn't want to lie either. It's just, everyone I've known up to this point has known about my parents, and they've pitied me. Even if it only lasted for a little, it was nice having people just look at me like Lily Evans; not 'Lily Evans: poor girl with no parents'.
"That bullocks, sorry about that."
"Hey, it's not your fault, but anyways, talk to me about this castle."
"Well first off, it hasn't been called a castle since the time of James' great-great-great grandparents" he said with a teasing voice.
"So sorry, Manor then" I said with sarcasm.
"Well, as you can see, the pseudo-façade was stripped away to reveal the minimalist Rococo design. Note the unusual inverted vaulted ceilings. This is yet another example of the late neoclassic Baroque period. And, as I always say, 'If it's not Baroque, don't fix it!' Merlin, did that joke sound as bad out loud as it did in my head?"
I couldn't even attempt to hold in my laughter, "I think worse. I can't believe you actually just said that" I said with a snort.
"Hey! Ladies don't snort."
"They do when gentlemen say such terrible things as that!"
"Touché my dear, touché."
"So, pretty much, it's a really old castle?"
"Pretty much. Anyways here is your room. I hope you have a happy stay here Lily, we could use a little bit of fun around here…"
"Me too Remus. Goodnight."
"Night. I'll just have James bring up your bags once they get here."
"Sounds great." And with that, I entered my room. I was too tired to even turn on the light, so instead, I just found the bed with my hands and flopped down on to it. Within thirty seconds, I was asleep.
James POV
Thwack!
"Bloody Hell! What was that for?"
"You arse! Couldn't you be a little bit nicer to Lily?"
"Why? She's just going to be the same as all those other girls! I bet she can't wait to tell all her friends how she landed the great James Potter!"
"Well, even if that is the case, you're mum wouldn't want you treating a guest like that in her house."
"Yeah, well it's not her house anymore." Merlin, I hated this dumb rule. Why did I have to host a stranger in my home? Being related to Godric Gryffindor doesn't seem like a good enough reason to me.
"James, don't say that. This is still Mum's place."
"Sirius, she's not here anymore. Can't I just mourn in peace? Without that Evans girl!"
"Look. Lily has no idea about Mum and Dad. No one does, as per your request. So, you're just going to have to suck it up and act like everything is normal."
Merlin, when had Sirius grown up? Now I was the child throwing a temper tantrum while Sir Sirius acted like an adult.
"You miss them too, don't you?"
He looked at me with the most lost look in his eyes. I didn't know my heart could break anymore until that moment, "they were the only real parents I've ever known. They didn't deserve to die."
"I know mate," I said patting his shoulder, "I know."
"So sorry," came a voice from the back of the hall, "am I interrupting something?"
Sirius slowly broke his eyes away from mine. As his face shifted towards Lily's relative, he took on his public persona. Once again he was Sirius Black, the most carefree boy who ever lived.
"Nothing at all… is it Evans?"
"Yes dear, Carla Evans. My husband works as a liaison in the Improper Use of Magic office."
"Well, then I'm surprised James and I haven't run into him. What with all the magic we get up to. Wouldn't you say James?"
But I wasn't paying attention. At least, not really. I couldn't help but think how much I hated women like her; women who were only concerned about their husband's job and what they were wearing. Didn't they know what was going on in the world? Didn't they care? Merlin, I bet this Evans girl was going to be just the same. Great, that's all I need this summer.
Instead of saying this to Mrs. Evans, all I said was, "sure, sure."
"Look boys, this is a rather awkward thing to ask. But, would you mind terribly keeping an eye on Lily? Making sure she is happy and all that? It's just that, she's been moving around for the last three years and she could really use some friends, especially since she won't be able to go back to Alice in the fall. Merlin, she's been an angel, but I can tell she is still sad."
"Sad about what?" Sirius asked. If it had been me, I would have asked the question a little bit differently, like, what the hell does she have to be sad about? She's pretty and comes from a rich family, her life is perfect. Most likely, "moving around" meant traveling, oh yes, it must be so hard to see new and exotic lands. God, I couldn't stand her already!
"Oh! I've already said too much! Lily wouldn't want you to pity her, just forget I said anything, she'll be fine. Forget everything I've said." That was easy for me, it was already forgotten. Sirius, on the other hand, looked like he wanted to continue this topic of conversation.
"Well, anyways, here are her bags. And I guess we'll meet her at King's Cross on September 1st?"
"That sounds wonderful, Carla" Sirius said in his 'mature voice', "let me show you out. James, could you take these bags up to Lily's room?"
"Sure," I muttered, not that I had any clue where the girl's room was. Once Carla turned around Sirius mouthed, "the purple room" then he added right onto that, "calm down!"
Not that that helped any. I could feel my blood boiling. How dare he and Remus put her in the purple room! Mum wanted that room saved for a special someone! Not some random stranger!
Before they had been killed this spring, Mum had gone a redecorating tangent. She was like a hurricane of wallpaper, tools, and upholstery. She wrote me a letter telling me how it may be too soon to think about, but eventually, I would have a serious girlfriend. And I'd have to bring her home. To fit my mother's old-fashioned sensibilities, she'd have to sleep in her own room. Which is how the purple room came about. I hadn't even looked inside the room yet; I was waiting until the girl came home. I may have let Remus choose which room Lily got to stay in, but I thought he'd have enough respect to keep her out of the purple room. Apparently, you can't trust anyone these days.
I picked up her bags. There weren't that many, nor were they heavy. I was rather surprised, I expected a rich girl like her would carry pounds of make up with her at all times, or at least have a trunk full of shoes. Without thinking much more about it, I started walking through the Manor towards the purple room.
The castle (as Mum liked to call it) had always been quiet, even when Mum and Dad were alive. But it didn't feel as full as it had before. The absence of my parents was palpable, it was suffocating. Sirius and I always talked about getting our own place, but we never actually did it. After this summer, I knew I'd have to; I couldn't keep being reminded of them all the time. I was drowning, slowly but surely.
Within five minutes I'd made it to the purple room. Praying Evans was asleep, I slowly opened the door. Luckily, she was asleep. From the looks of it, she hadn't even bothered to get under the covers; just plopped down and fell asleep. I couldn't make out many details of the room; the only light source was the light leaking in from the hall. But I didn't have to see it to know my Mum had done an excellent job, she always did.
I walked around the bed, and put the bags down. As I was making my way to the door to leave, I heard a whimper and a soft murmur, "don't go, don't go." I turned around, shocked that someone I barely knew would talk to me so intimately. But then her eyelids fluttered a little and she turned over in the bed. So she was a sleep talker…I wondered whom she didn't want to leave her. Not that I really cared, she's just some girl.
"Please," I heard the murmur again, "don't leave me all alone. I love you." This time she shivered. This was getting too personal for me. For Merlin's sake, I didn't even know her! But she looked so helpless like that, shivering on a bed whimpering. So, against my better judgment, I walked back to the bed and got her under the covers. She seemed to relax a little with the warmth. I was lifting my face away from her when the moonlight caught her face. Merlin, she was pretty. Her auburn hair was mystical in only the moonlight. Her face didn't appear to have that much makeup on, and her lips were pouting in the most adorable expression. My heart ached for her.
But none of those things were what made her beautiful. Rather, it was the tears silently falling down her face. At first they looked like jewels glistening in the light. I think she reminded me a lot of me, what I felt like on the inside. I thought back to what Carla said, and sighed. Okay, so maybe she really was sad; not some fake girl sad. Some advice from Dad came back to me from beyond the grave, "Don't ever judge a book by its cover Jamie. Because you have no idea what the story is on the inside."
That's is why I needed my parents here, they made me less bitter. I'm sure I wouldn't be so mean to people if I had my parents back.
"That's a cop-out Jamie" I imagined my mum's voice chirping at me, "don't ever make excuses for your behavior, it's all on you."
They were right, they always were. Before I could stop myself, I kissed Lily on the forehead. She looked like she could use the human contact. Mum was big on human contact.
The wrinkles on her forehead smoothed at my touch, her face relaxed. Finally, I think she was actually asleep.
I rose from her bed and made my way to the door.
"Goodnight Lily," I whispered, "sweet dreams." With that, I closed the door and made my nightly trek to the West Wing, dreading but yearning to see it again.
Oooo, so does anyone have any guesses for what's in the West Wing? If I do say so myself, it's kind of sad:/
Thanks for reading! You could quite possibly make my life by reviewing(: Sooo, yeah, please review!
~Camille
