N/A: so im not the happiest person right now. a person with whom i was acquainted has been bullied really badly and she tried to kill herself. this fueled a bit of this chapter. there's not much plot but i think all the plot that ISNT in this chapter shall be in the next chapter, but dont quote me on that. katy r: glad you liked it and here's the next chapter, this one as i said had something to really fuel it, so it went up faster than they usually will. i havent even started the next chapter :/ natalie: please dont rush me dear, i understand that you want more of it (not really, i dont know how you people like my writing) but it takes time. i havent even gotten to the suspenseful parts. you'll hate me then. but keep in mind that i once read a fanfic that took SIX YEARS to finish. alright. SIX YEARS. its not a fast thing. well, thanks for reading it.
disclaimer: Jo is amazing and im not, therefore, this is 99.99999999% hers :P
Chapter 6 The Teacher
(Lily)
"Whoa." Exclaimed Rachel Trevino as they sat down for lunch.
"You have Slouther's class just now?" Asked Allison Archter, one of Lily's friends with whom they were sitting.
"Yeah..." Her voice was still awed. Lily was making a pointed effort to not look at Rachel. But when she did there was always a sardonic smile on Lily's face.
Lily, Allison, Alice, Kate (another one of their friends) and Rachel were all in deep conversation about Slouther when James came up to them and Lily felt that choking feeling again. "Might I steal Rachel from you lovely ladies for a moment?" He asked politely, sending Lily a wink. Her palms were clammy. Why didn't he wink at Alice or anyone else? Well, it was proof that James was back to his normal, cocky, self. Alice and Kate shooed them away, laughing. Lily just looked sour. "I don't know why you never dated him..." Kate sighed with envy. Kate had a bit of a crush on James, but so did everyone in the school.
"Honestly... Just look at him." Alice contributed.
"I will admit he's eye candy, but he's such an ASS. And a player. And just rude." Lily sniffed with loftiness.
"Was that rudeness when he asked if he could talk to Rachel?" Allison questioned. Lily thought that if it had been before their kind of kiss, James would've sat right down, but she wasn't going to say that so she just concluded with a weak, "That was a once in a life-time thing."
But it happened every day at lunch for the next week. "I think they're up to something." Kate said curiously. "Every day at lunch James asks to talk to Rachel alone. There HAS to be something going on." Lily didn't want to know. She was afraid of what it might be. She was a Gryffindor and she was afraid. She snorted.
"What is it, Lily?" Allison said.
"Why am I in Gryffindor?" Lily asked, honestly wondering why the Sorting Hat had put her in this house, all those years ago.
"You can be so stubborn and crazy brave when you put your mind to it." Kate answered, then whispered, "Talk to me later." Out of all her friends, Marlene McKinnon, Kate Shepperd and Alice Prewett were the ones Lily trusted the most. Unfortunately Marlene was not available 24/7 even though, if Lily had to choose whom to tell a secret to, it would be her. So they finished their meal, talking about the upcoming Quidditch tryouts. They all headed to their next classes, but Professor Slouther stopped Lily. "Ms. Evans?"
"Yes?"
"Can I talk to you about your test for a moment?"
"Of course." She told her friends to go on. "Yes, sir?"
"Most of your answers were straight from the book quotes. While I did not take points off for it, I might start doing it occasionally. You should learn the technical application and stop quoting the book." Lily didn't know what to say. This was unexpected.
"Of course, sir. I will work on fixing that." She wasn't quiet sure what else to say.
(Alice)
"Lily! Lily! Snap out of it! Lily wake up!" She was on the floor of the Charms classroom. Alice was shaking her shoulders. Lily's eyes were glazed with unshed tears, yet again. "Professor?" Alice was trying to get the attention of their Charms professor who was busy trying to get everyone to calm down since Lily had fainted. "Yes Ms. Prewett?"
"I think I should take her to the Hospital Wing, if that's okay with you." Alice was sugar-coating her voice.
"Yes, yes. Of course. Just get her taken care of." Professor Nikols was small and thin, which always made everyone treat him as a bit of a joke.
"Thank you, sir." She threw Lily's arm around her then whispered, "Lily you have to help me out here. Just a little, come on, you can do it."
"I'm trying." Her voice was drowsy and you could hear the pain in it even if you weren't listening closely. Alice had practically carried Lily all the way when they ran into Frank, Alice's crush. "Oh!"
"Alice! What are you doing?"
"Carrying Lily to the Hospital Wing." She was blushing red.
"Let me help you." He took Lily from Alice and scooped her (Lily) into his arms and really did carry her the rest of the way. "Frank?"
"Mhm?"
"Why aren't you in class?"
"Err... Well..." Fortunately for Frank, Madam Pomfrey, the pretty young witch who was the nurse at Hogwarts, decided that moment to walk out of the Hospital Wing.
"What on earth are you three doing here during class hours?" She screeched. Alice whispered (so that Lily could not object), "Lily hasn't slept well for at least a week and when she really tries, she has nightmares. Could you give her some of the dreamless sleep potion?" Madam Pomfrey looked suspicious so she asked, "Why are you here NOW, though?"
"She fell asleep in Charms and when she fell of her chair she started screaming so Professor Nikols told me to bring her here."
"Very well. You might as well bring her in here." She sighed tiredly. "Just put her on an empty bed," Madam Pomfrey said as she rushed to get her dreamless sleep potion. They put her down gently and decided there was not much else to do. "I'm going to head back to the Common Room now; I don't think I could sit through another class." Alice sighed.
"I'll go with you. I wasn't really doing anything anyways." Frank offered.
"All right," Alice said, blushing. By the time they were right in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady they were laughing all their troubles away. They stood outside the room because they knew if they went in they might have to return to reality. "So... Why weren't you in class, Frank?"
"I... Well, I was told by a pretty reliable source that there was something I should look for." Frank was being vague and Alice was getting a bit annoyed.
"Frank, if you don't want to tell me it's okay. I was just curious."
"No no no! It's not like that! It's just that... Well... I don't know how to put it..." Alice noticed that they were standing quiet close to each other now. Their faces were mere inches apart. She blushed a violent scarlet. But Frank didn't care. He reached up to brush back a stray strand of Alice's hair away. He was leaning closer. "Oh Merlin... Frank is going to kiss me..." Alice thought to herself. As soon and his lips brushed hers, they heard a shriek come from inside the Common Room. The Fat Lady swung open without waiting for a password (that woman was going to get in trouble one day...). Frank and Alice rushed inside to see a distraught Rachel Trevino staring, horrified, at her friend, Elizabeth Fredrik. Alice's eyes move cautiously to Lizzy, as they called Elizabeth. She was a bit scared to see what awaited her. She was right to. Blood was gushing from her wrist. Bright and... Well, blood red. It was horrifying. Alice almost threw up, but Frank was perfect, as always. He knelt by Lizzy and took her other wrist in his hand feeling for a pulse. His face went ashen as he dropped her hand. He mutely shook his head. Alice really felt like throwing up. But she didn't, for the sake of Rachel. "Rach... Come here..." But Rachel couldn't move. She was paralyzed, her mouth agape, staring (without seeing) at her friend who had killed herself.
(Rachel)
Rachel screamed as she walked into the Common Room. A sight she had definitely not expected awaited her. Lizzy had all but drowned in her blood. Her right wrist was slashed. Rachel fell to the ground, terrified. What was she supposed to do now? Her best friend had gone. How was she supposed to keep going? Who was she going to tell all her fantasies about James to? Who would lean on her shoulder, crying, needing comfort Rachel could give? Lizzy was gone. This was all she could comprehend as Frank and Alice burst into the room. She barely noticed that Alice had turned a nasty shade of green. She barely saw Frank search frantically for a pulse. She knew it was useless. Lizzy was gone. Even as Alice pulled her close, she couldn't really move. She couldn't stop staring at the horrifying sight before her. No matter how much she wanted to, her eyes wouldn't move. "Lizzy." Was all Rachel said. No more, no less. Alice moved to her friend's side and held her close, brushing her hair. Rachel didn't hug her back. She didn't cry. She didn't know what to feel. Her best friend had just killed herself. How could she have left her? Lizzy would be so alone in Heaven. Rachel knew that even though some people say that those who kill themselves go to Hell, the sweet, innocent, carefree, loving, beautiful, and kind Lizzy would be happy in Heaven. She could make friends. Friends who weren't Rachel. As this thought passed through Rachel's mind, she lost it. She hadn't cried until then but at that point she began to cry and couldn't stop. Her body was heaving with the tears that had been waiting to get out. Her make-up was smearing, but she didn't care anymore. The only thing that matter was that Lizzy was alone and Rachel was alone. Lizzy could make new friends, but Rachel was stuck with the same people that already did not like her. This caused Rachel to sob even more. "Shh... Shh..." She heard Alice whisper. "It's going to be okay." And now Rachel blew up.
"No Alice! It's not going to be okay! First of all we all know that my boyfriend is still in love with Lily! But that doesn't matter right now! My best friend just killed herself! And she didn't even leave a note! She didn't tell me what do to without her! She was the only one I really had. Through everything..." She had fallen back against the wall in agony. She begun to cry again, because really, what else can you do when your best friend just killed themselves and you didn't even know anything was wrong? What was there left to do when your best friend was left alone? Even if she was in Heaven, she was alone at this moment. And so was Rachel. So she did all she could do at that moment. She cried and cried. And she went to her dorm and continued to cry. She cried herself to sleep and that night she had nightmares about blood and people she loved dying. She saw each one of them dropping dead, their right wrist slashed. She woke up crying. She couldn't go back to sleep. She just stayed awake all night crying.
(Lily)
*italics* "You are so STUPID, Evans! When will you get that I DON'T LIKE YOU?" Lily had tried time and time again to get into that circle of James' and yet every time he just pushed me away.
"James don't- don't say that." She pulled his arm to make him face her.
"I can't tell you something I don't mean, Evans. I can't tell you I want to go out with you, because I DON'T." He turned and left her alone in the hall. She felt her knees buckle and she was sitting with her head between her knees and sobbing uncontrollably before she knew it.
She heard Alice yelling at her to wake her up and she was more than willing to accept reality, which was always better than her nightmares. "Lily! Snap out of it!" She heard Alice yell. Lily was awake but all her bones felt like lead. She couldn't move. "Lily you have to help me out here. Just a little, come on, you can do it." Alice heaved her onto her shoulder and begun to walk. Lily was doing her best to try and walk but she wasn't getting anywhere. "I'm trying." Her voice was tired and weak. She /was/ trying to walk, but her nightmare had left her weakened. Lily almost laughed at herself for being so stuck on something so vain, but she was so sore she decided against that. Suddenly Frank Longbottom was by Alice's side. They said some things to each other but Lily didn't hear and was quite surprised when he decided to carry her the rest of the way to the Infirmary. Alice said something to Madam Pomfrey and after a little conversation Frank carried Lily into the hospital and placed her lightly on the bed, when they saw that she wasn't going to talk, they left. "Go get 'im, Alice." Lily thought to herself weakly. When Madam Pomfrey returned with the dreamless sleep potion, Lily was very nearly asleep. "Good heavens, Ms. Evans! Whatever was your nightmare about?!" Madam Pomfrey explained when she saw how horrible Lily really looked.
"Don't wanna say..." Lily mumbled.
"Very well..." She looked a bit dissatisfied. "Just drink the potion and try not to fight the sleep. It might keep you asleep for a while." Madam Pomfrey instructed Lily. "But it looks like you need it..." She murmured to herself as Lily drank the purple potion. Lily immediately began to feel drowsy. "Thanks Madam Pomfrey..." She whispered before falling into a dreamless sleep she desperately needed.
A/N (another note): this had so much suspense, right? *sarcasm* the next SHOULD have more, but no promises. thanks for reading 3
