7.
"No."
"Mary!"
"Never."
"But-"
"You know it's against the rules, Keenyah! You're not even supposed to know I have one! And I'm only supposed to use it to get to classes, nothing more! McGonagall said it herself-"
Keenyah glared at Mary. How could she say no? Lily's happiness was at stake here.
"Look, this is a matter of life and death! How can you not give it to me?"
"Actually, it isn't," argued Mary. "It's a matter of strength of character, which we all know Lily has."
"Whatever! You can even be the one using it you can- you can come with me!"
Mary sighed and stalked out of the dormitory. Keenyah followed her closely, and together they descended to the Great Hall for dinner.
Why was Mary being such a snob? If only she gave her the time-turner, Keenyah could go back and make sure Lily never lost that letter in the first place. Then her and that Potter would probably be an official couple by now. She scolded Mary for being such a goody two-shoe. Why did she never do anything against the rules? Even if it was necessary to help a friend?
They sat down at the Gryffindor table and joined Lily, Trisha and Tanya at the end closest to the Staff table. Lily insisted on sitting there just in case James was planning on assassinating her.
"How're you doing?" Keenyah asked Lily.
"Oh, I'm really good actually," she replied with false enthusiasm. "I've just finished my Potions project, and the History of Magic essay too. I feel very accomplished."
The girls gave her unconvinced looks.
"Who are you trying to convince Lily?" said Tanya helpfully. "Us, or yourself?"
Lily pretended she was deaf and continued gulping down her pumpkin juice. The girls sighed and followed suit by digging into their own food.
Keenyah scowled. She had a plan, despite its' many flaws. Now if only Mary would stop being stuck up and selfish… so what if she's not allowed to use the time turner for anything else except classes? It's not like they would be hurting anyone; they would actually be helping their friend! But before she could continue inwardly bashing Mary, Lily suddenly stood up.
"Well, it's been an… err, interesting couple of days," she said, maintaining the bogus optimism. "So I think I'll have an early night. Catch up on some sleep, you know?"
"Okay, night!" the girls tutted in unison.
Lily nodded somewhat awkwardly and walked out of the Great Hall, although from the girls' point of view it rather looked like she was tiptoeing. Loud murmurs of gossip erupted behind her as she walked by, and they groaned, knowing full well that Lily probably wanted nothing more than to go up to the dormitory and cry.
As soon as Lily was out of sight, Keenyah turned to her friends and gave them a stern look. If Mary wasn't willing to cooperate, then Trisha and Tanya certainly would.
"A time turner," she said, without wasting any time.
The girls gave her a curious look.
"We need a time turner."
"I know what you mean. If only Lily hadn't lost that letter!" said Trisha sadly.
"She's serious," sighed Mary.
"I'm serious," Keenyah concurred.
"I know! I'm serious too!" said Tanya, retaining her miserable tone.
Tanya sat there with raised eyebrows and said nothing. Keenyah was sure she could see that Trisha's idea of 'serious' wasn't exactly what she had in mind herself.
"I've no doubt about that," she continued, struggling to make her point clear. "But I actually do mean to use a time turner."
Both girls raised their eyebrows even higher, although for Tanya that must have been a challenge. The Head Girl, who was sitting a few seats away from them, gave them a suspicious look and Keenyah put her index finger to her mouth indicating that it would be better if they talked in low voices.
"Wait a second…" said Trisha, finally having caught on to what Keenyah was saying.
"As soon as I come on possession of one, of course," she carried on, ignoring the girls' air of negativity on the subject, and Mary's constant rolling of eyes.
"Well, it shouldn't be too hard, can it?" said Tanya, although she looked sceptical. "Mary's been using one all year, I'm sure she can lend us…"
But being a very smart girl, she finally caught on that Mary had no intention of letting them use her time turner.
"Mary!' she exclaimed, a little louder than she'd intended to.
"I'm sorry-" Mary retorted. "Wait, no. I'm not. Why should I be sorry for not wanting to break the rules?"
The girls looked like they would have liked to take her rule book and throw it down the toilet.
"Lily wouldn't want us to do it!"
"Oh, I'm sorry," replied Keenyah sarcastically. "Have you not seen her? She'd do anything to have this fixed!"
Tanya nodded.
"At this rate she'll probably start being seen as conceited and arrogant-"
"And anti-social!" Trisha cut in.
"That too," said Tanya, frowning. "And we all know Lily's none of that!"
"So why don't you just tell everybody that? I mean is it really necessary to go as far as back in time?" Mary groaned.
"Oh, so you really think any of these people will believe us?" snapped Keenyah, indicating the people around them.
Apprehension dawned on Mary's face as she noticed the many appalled looks they were receiving. People must have indeed believed that if they hung out with a traitor like Lily Evans (she had gotten that nickname since people found out what she'd done; or what they thought she'd done anyway), then they must possess the same malicious qualities as her. Which, ironically enough, Lily had never had.
Mary seemed too proud to be giving up her argument though.
"No. It's too dangerous!"
"Mary!" the girls growled in unison.
"Did you know that you can't be seen by your past selves?!" she continued pressing her point, seemingly unaware that they might just murder her any second. "If you're seen, you've no idea what can happen! The consequences will be out of our continuum, and the results-" Mary paused dramatically. "-the results can be disastrous!"
Keenyah grimaced inwardly. She'd never expected this; she knew her plan wasn't faultless, but she never expected that it could be that dangerous. No matter how much she didn't want to admit it, being seen by her past self didn't seem right, and she knew that using the time turner would mean going into risky territory… she also knew that whatever the outcome of her task would be, all consequences would indeed be out of their hands to deal with. And the idea of burdening anyone with having to take care of her mistakes didn't seem too appealing.
Keenyah felt like her ego was slowly deflating. What the hell was she thinking? Of course, she'd never be able to handle something like this! She felt stupid and foolish for even thinking of trying to attempt this. Up until now, she'd only thought of it as a great idea that would be worth all the trouble that it may cause, but now she wasn't so sure. She'd never really thought it through carefully, and she felt naïve for not doing so. The many flaws in Keenyah's plan were finally being shown clear. She didn't even think of where she'd hide while she was observing the scenes for signs of where the letter would be put, let alone how she would remain unseen and inconspicuous to the people around her…
Trisha interrupted Keenyah's musings.
"Well, we could just try it out, I guess-"
"No," Keenyah suddenly interjected. "She's right it's- it's not safe. We'll just have to find some other way to help Lily."
Tanya and Trisha nodded slightly, trying to look dejected that this plan was not going to be put into action. Keenyah looked in Mary's direction, expecting her to look triumphant, but she was instead poking her roast turkey with her fork, looking uncomfortable.
Keenyah couldn't describe how she felt; irrational would be a correct term to use. The whole time she had been contemplating this almost idiotic idea, Lily needed a friend to lean on. Feeling as much as a traitor as she thought herself to be and wanting to finally fulfill her entitlement of being Lily's friend, she put down her utensils and looked at her friends once again.
"Look, we've got to go to her," she said.
"Wouldn't she want some time alone?" asked Trisha, looking doubtful.
"If you were in her shoes, would you?" said Tanya smartly.
The doubt was wiped from Trisha's pale face and joined Keenyah and Tanya as they made to stand up from the table to go and comfort Lily.
"Oy! Keenyah!"
The girls scowled – Avery Grey's voice was unmistakeable. Putting on as unyielding a look as they could manage, they turned to him.
"Is she okay?" he inquired, looking sincerely worried.
"She'll be just fine," replied Tanya hard-heartedly.
"Err…" Avery seemed at a loss for words, obviously not expecting a response so abrupt. "Does she need anything?"
"Only for you to leave her alone," said Keenyah, almost surprised to find herself sounding so defensive. "She has enough troubles to be going on with."
"Oh," he said and stared at the ground, looking somewhat rejected.
The girls found no place in their heart for sympathy, especially not for Avery, and walked out of the Great Hall without even bidding him a decent goodbye.
OOO
Sirius said that he had to go to Slughorn about not being able to finish his Potions project, and Remus decided to go with him, most probably to be present as the authoritative figure that had failed to talk any kind of sense into him. James was now sitting in the common room with Peter, although they didn't speak much, as James was immersed deep in thought.
James and his friends spent all day doing homework, deeming that an activity that would keep them as far from the public eye as possible. Not that Peter, Sirius and Remus really required that, but they were James' best friends and had refused to leave him alone. He couldn't believe that just hours ago he was contemplating all the possible things for Lily and himself to do as a newly established couple. Now, he was making up for thinking up such absurd scenarios by envisaging all the possible ways he could get revenge on her. He could beat her on the Potions project and rub it in her face.
No. That's not nearly enough compared to what she'd done to me, he thought resentfully. No, he had to do something more, something more grand. He had enough; she had humiliated, laughed at and rejected him through the years. Well, no more. It has to be something she'll never forget something-
"P-potter?"
An uncertain voice interrupted James' thoughts. He turned his chair around to see a nervous looking first year girl holding what looked like a note.
"Are you James Potter?" she said quietly, as though he might say no and turn out to be a serial killer.
"Yeah," replied James.
"Well, I have-" she stammered. "Err- for you, this…"
James gave her a quizzical note and pointed to the note.
"This?"
"Yes. This is for you," the girl finally managed, handed him the note and sprinted out of the common room.
James folded out the note feeling a little perplexed, and read it.
"My father lives at 37 Worcester Rd, Surrey. Whatever it is, get it over with fast. You may only contact him by owl, and if I find you meddling in things you shouldn't be meddling in, you're dead."
And that was it. James thought it was laughable that Avery hadn't even put his name or initials at the end, for that was almost as offensive as the words he had written to him. But he didn't really care; he found Avery's submission to his request a little devious, but didn't care. At least he got his way.
See, when he and Avery met in the Transfiguration classroom on Friday, James hadn't told him the true nature of his task. He had just included vague hints, but stopped himself every time he got too close to revealing something important.
"But what do you need my father for?" Avery had asked him after James was finished explaining his reasons. He looked wary. "He can't exactly help you, can he?"
"Yes, he can," James replied firmly.
Avery looked at him sceptically.
"Okay. Say you know where to contact him; how do you know he'll even want to help you?"
"I know he will. So will you tell me already?"
"What, do you take me for an idiot?" sneered Avery, chuckling to himself. "I don't know what you want with me father, and knowing you, it can't be any good."
"Just bloody tell me-"
"Listen Potter, you leave me and my family alone. I want nothing to do with you."
Avery walked towards the exit and James followed in silence. Actually, James hadn't told him anything of his plans. He had, in fact, lied a lot more than he actually told of the truth. He told Avery that he was doing badly in school and the fact that his father used to be a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor here was what drove him for this favour. But Avery proved to be too clever to be fooled by this lie. It was almost like he had seen right through him, so James wasn't surprised when he told him to sod off and never talk to him again. For a brief second, he wondered what made Avery change his mind, but didn't ponder on it for too long. His task was nearly complete now…
Avery's father was Benjamin Grey. What Benjamin had done made him famous, but James found it strange, to say the least, that Avery knew so little about his own father and that he himself knew so much more. It wasn't hard to find out though, no matter how much the Ministry had tried to quiet it down all those years ago. All James had to do was sneak into the Restricted section of the library in his Invisibility Cloak at night. There, he had found all the resources he needed – all the newspaper clippings of Benjamin's arrest and conviction and books that were written on the subject by the activists who despised what Grey had done. And now, he knew exactly how he was going to accomplish his task.
Snapping back to reality with a start, James knew what he had to do.
"You know, I need to go send a letter. I'll be back soon," he said quickly to Peter and walked out of the common room without waiting for a response.
He was feeling too excited to care what people were muttering as he passed them; he didn't even care that people were giving him strange looks.
"Hey Potter, fancy watching a soap opera with me?" sneered a fellow fifth year as his friends burst in laughter.
James could honestly say he didn't care. They could laugh, but soon enough, he'd have his retribution…
In a normal situation, he would have stopped and harassed the reason for their behaviour out of them, but today he just let them pass by, their roars of laughter fading away in the distance. Benjamin Grey's help was going to be the final piece of the puzzle. Then, he'd do whatever Grey would tell him to do, and he'd finally be able to see his family again.
OOO
Lily told them she'd join them in class, and they didn't question her. After an uneventful breakfast the next day (except for a couple of sniggers coming from the Slytherin table), the girls headed down to their first class of the day. As luck would have it, that class happened to be Potions. Adding to the irony, Lily was not present.
The whole class seemed to have noticed this also, as an unusual air of mystery hung in the room. Keenyah, Trisha and Tanya exchanged anxious looks just as Mary staggered into the room, nearly dropping her books in the process.
"Okay, quiet down, quiet down!" shouted Professor Slughorn was he entered the room, expecting to find the class bustling with their usual noisy chatter.
So it was of course natural that he looked thunderstruck as he entered the room, because it was silent as the dead of night, and the students were staring at him dubiously. Needless to say, Lily Evans missing Potions was quite rare.
Professor Slughorn raised an eyebrow as he surveyed the class for signs of a guilty conscience. A silent class usually meant someone was bound to play a prank on the teacher, or something of the sort. Most notorious for that, had always been Arthur Weasley; not the most popular bloke, but brilliant at setting up practical jokes. James and Sirius told him he was welcome to join them for their pranks (which James hadn't taken part of in a while though) but Arthur always said he prefers working alone. The Marauders concluded him to be anti social with an overactive imagination.
"Everybody here?" the Professor said, to nobody in particular.
When a couple of people snickered, Keenyah sighed and raised her hand.
"Yes?"
"Lily Evans isn't here today."
If the Professor hadn't been able to control himself, Keenyah was sure he would have jumped about a mile.
"Oh. Well, never mind that, never mind that…" he muttered bitterly. "So, moving on, at the end of the class I will need you all to hand in your projects. I believe they would be done by now, seeing as you've head over two weeks to finish them."
The class groaned and Keenyah saw the Professor grimacing in Sirius Black's direction. Over the past two days, she had forgotten about her crush, and just hearing his name made her stomach lurch and sent her mind flying. As Slughorn was explaining the marking system for the project, she felt a tap on her back. Turning around, she saw Mary rolling her eyes at her and handing her a note.
"McGonagall gave it to me when she called me to HER OFFICE at the beginning of the year", was all that the note read. Keenyah furrowed her brows. Was Mary actually trying to help her with her abandoned plan? The idea re-awakened a restless spirit inside of her, as if she was now compelled to go through with it.
