Crying Out

By Goddessgirl16328

A/N: Hey everyone. I must apologize for the shortness of chapters; it was really only a start up thing that made them short, they're going to get much longer as I go along. Any way, thank you for your lovely reviews! Enjoy the chapter!

xXx

Granite Crest Cottage really did stand out on the large mountain, in between the many thick-branched trees. It had been built quite recently, and what a majestic home it was. It was completely made of white marble on the outer parts for show, and had large dark granite steps leading to grand oak front doors. There were several windows scattered across the front of the 4 level home and in one window sat a boy. His black messy hair fell into his hazel brown eyes as he stared out into the clear blue sky.

James Potter hated the house. A lovely place it was, but he knew that as soon as the summer ended, it would be demolished and such beautiful marble and granite and stone had been put into making the beautiful home. Such a waste. Though most would not think that James wouldn't care about such a thing like that, he was filthy rich and popular, able to do what ever he wanted. But James did care about that. Not in a huge way, but he thought it wasn't a good idea to cut down so many trees and build such a stately place just to have it demolished in a few months. He knew Lily wouldn't like something like that.

Lily Evans, a beautiful red-head who he had only just noticed how beautiful she really was a few years back in 4th year. In 1st he had asked her out on a dare and when she said no he had been taken aback. From then until the beginning of 4th year, he had spent his time trying to make her say yes. Tricking her, bribing her, black mailing her. But nothing had worked. In October of his 4th year he started thinking it through and decided now he wanted to date her not because some one had told him to, but because he wanted to. For some strange reason, Lily seemed like she was unable to tell the difference between him genuinely asking her and trying to convince her to go out with him.

It disappointed him to no end of how cruel she was to him. She gave him the cold shoulder, laughed at his small blunders, was rude to him, yelled at him for things like his existence, and she even sometimes got small revenges on him with some tricky charms that he was sure that only Remus could come close to successfully casting. It hurt when she did these things to him, and he normally retaliated with Sirius by his side by playing countless pranks on her. Remus constantly reminded him that he had been asking for it for being so rude to her for 4 years and not blame her for not immediately taking on to the idea of him being nice to her. James knew he was right, but he wasn't about to admit that.

James sighed as the sun slowly set over the trees and shifted his weight moodily and the window ledge. Lily Evans was the perfect girl. She was wonderful in every way. She read books, studied hard, was very bright, had a kind warm spirit, and had a charming brilliant smile. He would never get her, even get to know her, just because of stupid decisions that he made when he was younger.

"C'mon James! Dinner!" Remus said running past the open door as he went. The light brown haired boy backed up and looked through the door. "James?" His friend did not move from the window ledge and continued to stare at the darkening sky. Remus walked into the extra room, a small empty room that was probably supposed to serve the purpose of a coat room.

"James…" Remus said a bit more quietly. "Your thinking about her again, aren't you."

"I don't get it Moony." James said, his eyes not leaving the tree tops they were fixed upon. "I'm the perfect guy. All the girls love me; I have friggin fan clubs for Christ's sake! But Lily;" James gave a heavy sigh before turning to face his friend. "Lily hates me."

"She doesn't hate you James." Remus said with difficulty as he sat down next to his friend on the wooden ledge. "She's just…confused on how you've been treating her. One minute you hate her, the next your saying that you love her. She's just acting the way she thinks you and everyone else would expect her to act."

"You mean, she's just returning the favor of my tricks and pranks and anger…?"

"No James…she's trying to fit in and right now she's comfortable where she is, and now your changing how you act towards her and she really doesn't know how to act." Remus tried to explain, changing the harsh words Lily had used when explaining it to him.

"And how would you know all this?" James asked suspiciously as he looked up from his hands.

"Oh come off it James, you know that we're friends." Remus said, rolling his eyes. "We talk in the library all the time and meet out on the grounds to read and talk about stuff. We aren't dating though or anything." Remus put his hands up in a peaceful way to show that he meant no harm to James' love life when he looked up at him again in a slight glare.

"I wish she would just open her eyes and see how much I really care about her…" James mumbled as he brought hi knees up to his chest and went back to staring at the dark black sky.

"Maybe, James, you should start by opening your own eyes first." Remus said to his sad friend. "You might think you're the perfect guy, but there are obviously things that Lily doesn't think perfect. Maybe if you tried to change for her instead of waiting for her to change, things would go a bit faster…" Remus stood up and clapped James on the back.

"Though spending time with my best friend is nice, I think it's time we went down to the dining room and had some dinner." James gave a small smile before sliding off the polished ledge, closing and latching the window, and following Remus out of the room.

xXx

James woke up at the usual hour of 2 in the afternoon by Sirius who happily jumped on him in his dog-animagus form. After much yelps and angry shouts, the two boys came downstairs, sliding down the main banister, and slowly stumbling into the kitchens. A few house elves approached the two friends and quickly took their orders for breakfast. By the time James and Sirius had sat down at the table, they had both been served a piping hot breakfast of sausages, toast, eggs, pancakes, waffles, muffins of all flavors, and banana and blueberry bread.

"So, what are we going to do today?" Sirius asked as piled up his plate with everything he could reach.

"I don't know…I don't mind…." James said as he yawned tiredly and took a bite of toast. Suddenly James looked up, something dawning on him. "Where's Moony?"

"Ugh, off to the bookstore. Not much fun there…" Sirius mumbled as he took a quick sip of orange juice.

"You know, books aren't that bad Siri." James said pouring maple syrup on his pancakes as Sirius took a huge gulp of orange juice. Hearing this, Sirius spat the juice all over the place and looked at him in shock.

"WHAT?!" Sirius quickly looked at James with a worried expression on his face. "Are you feeling alright mate?"

"Just fine, but seriously, Quidditch Magazines are like books. I mean, they have pictures and words and stuff." James shrugged.

"ARE YOU INSULTING QUIDDITCH?!" Sirius yelled across the table looking mortified.

"No! Of course not!" James gasped, looking terrified himself.

"Phew, I thought I lost you there for a moment." Sirius said in between bites of sausage. There were a few moments of silence as they ate before Sirius looked up again. "James?"

"Yah?"

"Where do they sell magazines?"

"Lotsa places. Mostly book shops though."

"Oh…"

"Mhm."

James and Sirius both looked at each other before bounding upstairs, quickly getting dressed, and dashing out of the house.

"To the Book Shop, AWAY!!!!" Sirius yelled as he raced down the mountain. James right behind him.

xXx

Remus strolled quietly into the town, looking at the small shops and the people that littered the streets as he went along. He looked around and silently entered the book shop. It was a small cramped place and the shelves were all very close to each other. By the looks of things, most of the books were 2nd hand at least, judging by their torn pages and faded covers. Books stood in staggering piles next to full shelves that wouldn't be able to hold another book even if some ones life depended on it. In the far back sat a desk with two smaller piles of books on it. There was also a door that led to the back rooms behind the desk that had a small sign hanging on the front of it that read 'Employees Only' in twisted thin spidery writing.

Remus slowly moved to the side of the room and ran his finger across the spines of a few of the books. None of them really caught his interest, seeing as he had read several of them. Sighing, he selected a blue satin covered book with the title 'The 13th Book' on it and opened it to the first page. The yellowing pages were spotted with age and were difficult to read, but he liked the sound of it never the less.

He slowly crept around the stacks of books to the front desk and rang the small brass bell to call for the person to come to the counter. The door quickly opened revealing a black-haired girl with thin black glasses. She had deep brown eyes and was very thin and slim. She quickly sat down at the desk and gave Remus a shy smile.

"Good Morning, what can I do for you?" she spoke quietly, not meeting his eyes.

"Hi, can I uh have this book please?" Remus asked politely as the girl took the book from him and looked at the cover and flipped to the first few pages.

"The 13th Book; I remember reading this. It's very good, a very good choice. Especially for some one like you, Remus." The girl gave him a small smile as he handed the book back to him. "For such a fine choice, you may take it for no price. It is your first book that you chose from here as well any ways."

"Wait, how did you know my name?" Remus asked as he took the book back. The girl smiled mysteriously.

"If I told you, I know you wouldn't believe me."

"Oh I don't know," Remus said smiling at her last comment. "I've heard some pretty strange things." The girl shook her head and stood up and slowly went back through the door.

"Have a nice day, Mr. Lupin." She closed the door quietly behind her. Remus stared at the door for a few moments before taking the book and leaving the shop. He walked out side and was just about to turn to leave when he heard his name being called. He turned around and saw Lily's friend, Nicole, waving at him from the grocery store door.

"Care to chat for a mo?" She called. "Lily was supposed to come over at 12 but she didn't. She must be busy, and I'm bored out of my mind!" Remus smirked at Nicole as he turned and walked into her shop. When he came back inside the familiar food store, he found Nicole back on her stool.

"Your name is Nicole, right?" Remus asked as he leaned against the counter.

"Yer; yours better be Remus." She laughed good heartedly. "I just shouted it across the street at you and it would be pretty embarrassing to find out your name was, I don't know, Gregory or something."

"No, it is Remus." Remus smiled and shook his head while chuckling. "So, Lily was supposed to meet you?"

"Yer, me and her were going to go across the street to the coffee shop to go get some tea and such but she didn't show." Nicole shrugged. "It won't be the first time that she hasn't shown up. John is always keeping her in at home; she'll probably visit tomorrow since she didn't come today."

"Who's Jo –" Remus started but was interrupted as the bell tinkled above the door again and a loud yelp and a heavy thud followed it. Remus and Nicole turned to find Sirius on the ground, trying to scramble up onto his feet.

"Sirius, what the hell are you do –" Remus started but was interrupted again as James ran in, who quickly tripped over Sirius. They both fell heavily on the ground again and once again tried to stand up.

"It-it was t-terrible…" Sirius shivered, James nodding as he leaned against the wooden door.

"What was terrible?" Remus asked his friends as he pulled them to their feet.

"That b-book shop is haun-haunted…" James said as he looked nervously across the street. Remus looked as well, and saw the black-haired girl staring out the dirty window. She stared back for a few moments before backing up and probably returning to the back rooms.

"Isn't she scary?" Sirius asked as he looked at Remus. "James and I walked into the shop and asked if she had any magazines and she said no, and that she only had books. And then I said 'Books? Who the hell read those?' and I think she got a bit insulted because her eyes went dark and she started yelling at us to get out of her shop."

"I am NEVER going in a book shop again…" James said as Nicole walked up them.

"You guys aren't taking about Ebony Fate are you?" The three friends looked at Nicole questionably. "The girl who runs the book shop across the street?"

"That's her name?" Remus asked. "Ebony Fate?"

"Well, no one's sure exactly what her name is." Nicole explained. "But the book shop is called 'Fate's Book Shop' and she's always carrying around a small book with the name 'Ebony' printed across it which she's always writing in. So people round here just put the two together and called her Ebony Fate."

"Does any one else run that place?" Sirius asked as he continued to stare warily across the street at Fate's Book Shop.

"As far as I know, no. I've been living here all my life too and I've just seen her there." Nicole answered as she sat down at her counter.

"Does she ever leave the shop?" James asked curiously.

"Rarely. When she does, she just comes across the street here and buys a few things." Nicole pulled out her notebook of payment records. "The last time she came was in the spring. She always buys the same things too. Two gallons of water and a few different types of herbs. It's strange…" The three other men nodded in agreement.

"So, what were you boys doing going into old Ebony's store any ways?" Nicole asked them. "You said you don't like to read so going into a book shop doesn't seem like your type of thing."

"Oh, we were looking for Quidditch Maga –" Sirius started, but Remus slapped a hand across his mouth so he couldn't finish that sentence.

"They were looking for Queedinch Manga; it's some Japanese or Chinese thing for their home work, right guys?"

"Yah, yah; that's it!" James said agreeing happily.

"Hm. I didn't know that FBS sold Manga…I'll have to check that out some time." Nicole smiled. Suddenly, a loud tapping noise interrupted them. A small grey pigeon with a piece of white paper in its beak was hovering outside the window. Nicole quickly opened the door and let it zoom inside. Taking the letter from the bird she put it on top of a shelf that had a small dish of water on it.

"What's that?" Sirius asked stupidly, pointing at the bird.

"It's a carrier pigeon named Nevaeh. It's mine; I sent a letter to Lily not to long ago and she's just replying." Nicole's smile quickly turned into a worried frown as she read the short note.

"Uh, thanks for coming guys, but I've got to close down the shop for a few moments so you'll have to go." Nicole said quickly ushering them all out of the store.

"Why?" Sirius asked loudly.

"Is there something wrong?" Remus asked sincerely.

"Is Lily ok?" James asked. All three boys looked at Nicole worriedly who only looked nervously back at them. She flipped the sign on the front of the door that said 'Open' so that it now read 'Closed'. She slammed the door behind her as she hurried back inside.

"What was that about?" Sirius wondered aloud as the three boys began to make there way back up the hill.

xXx

Lily groaned quietly as she rolled over in her bed. Her whole body was sore from last night and all she wanted to do was to lie down and stay where she was. She knew that there were large bruises forming on her arms and legs, and the stinging on her neck couldn't be good since it was accompanied by blood. Suddenly, a soft chirping noise caught her attention coming from her window. Nevaeh was hovering outside with another note from Nicole.

Slowly Lily stood an immediately fell over, her right leg too weak to support her weight. She carefully stood on her left leg and hobbled over to the window, hissing in pain every time she moved. She quickly unlocked the window and opened it up. Nevaeh flew in and dropped the letter on the desk. Lily sat down and quickly unfolded it.

Lily,

Where are you? What happened to tea at Burgman's Coffee, Tea, and Pastries Shop? Did something happen? Are you ok? Did John get angry for the late food? Please write back soon!

Your worried friend,

Nicolletta Guara

Lily frowned and slowly took a pen and a piece of clean paper. Nicole only signed her full name when she was worried about something. She began to write her reply at a slow pace.

Nicole,

I'm afraid so. John was absoulutely furious with the late breakfast and I suspect my punishment isn't even close to being finished. I can barely move my arms as I write this, so I apologize for the messy writing. I know he'll be less then kind today so I'll try to get an outdoor job or something around three so you can meet me in my backyard. Don't worry about bringing anything this time. I just want to talk to you.

Love you always,

Lily

Lily slowly and shakily fumbled with the paper as she folded it up and held it out to Nevaeh. She quickly swooped down and took the note, gracefully flying back out the small window. Lily slowly shut and latched the door and then collapsed on the bed. It was going to be a long day.

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