If you've been following my updates on my profile, right now you should be going "YOU'RE UPDATING?!" Yes, I am.
If you haven't, here's what happened: My laptop was sent away because a button was loose. They kept it for a month. They kept telling us we would get it back and we never did. They wanted to destroy it. I told them to back up my hard drive and then destroy it and send me a new laptop. And the newest update in the saga: They officially lost my laptop and I'm never getting it back. So, all my stories are lost. Including And Then There Were None. To the readers of ATTWN, chapter five needs to be rewritten, edited, and then posted. It might be awhile yet.
I told myself I was going to mourn over all of my lost stories, but I had extra time at college because my roomie is in class, she lent me her laptop, and I have nothing to do until she gets back.
So here's chapter seven. Enjoy!
Oh, and WARNING. LITTLE DH SPOILER.
"What time is it?" a tired Lily Evans sleepily asked late one night.
There was a pause and a rustling. "Hmm...one," an answer finally came in an equally tired yawn.
"We should start packing up," Lily said logically, finally sitting up for her lounging spot on the couch.
James watched her with unfocused eyes. "We have to finish the-" James stopped as a yawn interrupted his sentence. "-the Patronus charm," he finished, slumping back into his seat across from her.
"I'm too tired," Lily said, placing a hand on her head to stop herself from falling back down.
"One more time," James countered, blinking a couple times to get his vision back. "And then we can sleep."
Lily sighed. "I can't think of something happy when all I'm thinking of is sleep."
James chuckled softly. "Think of peaceful sleep then."
They had been practicing the Patronus charm for the past couple weeks. Lily could conjure one, a wispy silver mist, but it hadn't taken a shape yet. She knew that she was almost there but she was just too tired to try again.
Lily straightened up and cleared her throat dramatically.
What could she think of this time? She had been thinking of Caradoc lately – even though she had stopped thinking of him all the time, she just couldn't help it sometimes. She thought of him briefly and then shook her head slightly. He wasn't strong enough.
What else? Her family. Her friends. Nothing stood out. She couldn't think of something strong enough. She was just too tired.
"James, I can't think of something right now. Sleep is the only thing on my mind." She looked up at him.
He looked weary from the lack of sleep and as if he was going to tip over at any second. He had his head tilted and only his hand was holding him up. He was watching her carefully however. "Just once?" he pleaded again, giving her a tired smile.
Lily gave him an exasperated look.
He just continued to smile back at her.
James had proved himself to be a great teacher. He kept her focused on the task at hand and never once had Lily found herself regretting asking him to tutor her. He had definitely changed from how she remembered him from fifth year.
Lily thought and then said strongly, "Expecto Patronum!"
There was a moment of silence after the brilliant beautiful doe erupted from her wand. Both stared at it, wide-eyed and in awe of such a creature.
"It's a doe," Lily whispered, a smile making its way onto her face.
James was staring ahead at the doe, not even bothering to look at Lily as she spoke. He was transfixed on the silver animal, watching it carefully and with a slightly opened mouth.
"It is," he finally commented, also speaking in a hushed whisper. He still hadn't dared to move his gaze away from the doe that was pawing at the ground. Finally, the doe vanished in a wisp of smoke and another bout of silence ensued.
Lily turned to look at James who was staring ahead at where the doe had been. Finally, he glanced her way, breaking out of his transfixed state. He was looking at her differently and she didn't understand why. There was an emotion in his eyes that she couldn't place.
"Why?" James asked softly.
Lily waited a second before answering. She didn't know exactly what he was asking but she thought it had to be why her Patronus was a doe. "I just like forest animals. Deer were always my favorite I guess."
James blinked once and then looked down at the books in his lap. "Okay." He nodded.
Lily wondered why it had shaken him up like that. It was only a Patronus.
Suddenly, Lily realized that she had finally conjured a full Patronus. She bit her lip to hold back her smile and knew that he would never hold her back again.
The end of the latest Order meeting was winding down quickly. Dumbledore had insisted that they once again were to work on Patronuses. It was an easy meeting for both Lily and James and they spent most of the time helping their fellow Order members.
"He can't even get it right," Marlene exclaimed suddenly.
Lily gave her a strange look. "What are you talking about?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at her friend.
"Take a look over there," Marlene announced, pointing over to the other side of the room.
Caradoc was working with Dorcas as usual but today, Caradoc was having trouble conjuring even a weak Patronus.
Lily had to grin. "He's really struggling," she said somewhat happily. Even though it was amusing to see her ex-boyfriend fail, she felt the stabbings of guilt. Maybe she still had feelings for him. She didn't really want him to fail.
"Maybe I should go help him," Lily found herself suggesting.
Marlene looked over at Lily with wide shocked eyes. "Oh, no. No no no no no. Don't start this again."
Lily tried to keep on a straight face. "I just want to help him. Not declare my love for him."
Marlene grimaced at such a thought. "Fine," she caved in, an air of disapproval in her tone, "Go over there. But, just to warn you, Dorcas will probably not even let you get near Caradoc. They're inseparable."
Lily frowned. "They've only been going for two months. It's not that serious."
Marlene paused before saying, "Well, they look serious to me."
Just by watching the two, Lily couldn't even dream going over there and helping Caradoc anymore. She continued to frown watching this, and Marlene wisely decided not to speak up about how she was wistfully staring in their direction.
"I think we're supposed to be working on Patronuses."
Interrupting her thoughts, Sirius Black came grinning into view. Her attention was immediately transferred from Caradoc to the Marauder who was also not working on his Patronus.
Marlene looked at him. "You're not," she pointed out. "Besides, we're talking about personal matters."
"You're talking about Caradoc Dearborn," Sirius quickly said.
Lily blinked and shook her head. "I don't want to know why you know that."
Sirius put his hands together and tilted his head to try to look menacing. "I know everything," he spoke in a low voice.
"Anyway," Marlene said loudly. "Back to working."
Lily sighed and tried to think of something happy. Racking through her thoughts, she found herself enjoying a rather happy one. "Expecto Patronum!"
The familiar silver doe appeared once again. Both Sirius and Marlene stopped what they were doing to marvel at the beauty of the creature.
"I didn't know James was that great of a tutor," Sirius commented as soon as it went away, staring wide-eyed at Lily.
"That was amazing," Marlene added. "Those lessons are really paying off."
Lily decided to play it off nonchalantly. "I've had less on my mind the past couple weeks."
"Nice job, Miss Evans." Lily turned around to see the headmaster standing behind her, a small smile playing on his face.
"Thank you." Lily had to fight really hard to keep herself from smiling like an idiot. Even Caradoc had noticed her Patronus. He was looking over at the group, surprise lighted up in his eyes.
"Lily, that was impressive." Remus and Peter had joined in the group by the time she had turned her gaze away from Caradoc. Remus was smiling at her after his compliment while Peter just stood, staring at where the doe used to be.
Faintly, Lily wondered where James was.
"Members." Lily looked up to the front of the room to see Dumbledore addressing the Order. "As you well may know, the war is becoming increasingly more difficult. I have discussed this among the older members of the Order and we have agreed to take four students on an assignment after school ends."
A murmur of excitement filled the room.
"One of you will be the leader of the assignment but all four will work together. This is a dangerous assignment, especially for students, but I believe you all have the skills to make it through. However, I will only take the four that I believe are ready for this assignment. If you do not get it, it does not mean that you are inferior. There are certain skills and traits that are applicable to this assignment and those showing the correct ones will be my choice."
Caradoc took this moment to raise his hand. "When will we know?"
Dumbledore took a moment to answer, leaving an anxious pause in the room. "I already have chosen the four. I believe right now will be the right moment to let you know and prepare."
Another excited outburst came from the students. Marlene turned to Lily and whispered, "I hope that the perfect couple doesn't get it."
Lily had to chuckle at Marlene's tone. "I don't know. It will probably be the ones that have been in the Order for awhile."
She then noticed that Caradoc was speaking to Dorcas and it looked very serious, to say the least. Grabbing Marlene's arm, both of them started to inch closer to the couple. She was finally in hearing range when she stopped abruptly.
"I just want you to know that it doesn't matter if we get this assignment. Because I love you and I want to be with you." Caradoc took a deep breath before uttering four very serious words.
"Will you marry me?"
Dorcas didn't waste any time before squealing her happy answer and throwing herself in her now fiancé's arms.
Lily watched this all with a broken heart. She told herself to just keep breathing and maybe her chest would stop aching.
She had lost.
The entire time she told herself that if she was patient, he would love her again. She thought that he would come to respect her mind and at least he would love her.
She turned her whole world upside down for him. For one person. For the person she loved. She didn't want to let him go yet. Watching him walk away felt like a fatal blow.
"And...Lily Evans."
Breaking out of her dazed state, Lily looked up, startled. "What?" she asked out loud, turning to Marlene.
Marlene looked back at her with a giddy look. "You got it!"
It was then that Lily realized that there were three more important words than what she wanted to hear from Caradoc.
She got the assignment. Lily Evans did.
The trivial things didn't matter anymore. Caradoc didn't. Dorcas didn't. Nothing mattered. All that mattered was that she got it. She got something that only three other people did. It deemed her worthy. Worthy for something more than him.
But maybe she was dreaming. It was just too good to be true. She couldn't possibly be awake. If she was dreaming, how would she know?
"I guess we'll be working together."
Lily looked up at James and truly smiled. "I guess we will." He made to leave but Lily stopped him by a hand on the shoulder. He turned around and looked at her with a puzzling look. "Thank you," Lily said.
James grinned. "You're welcome." And then he disappeared to find the rest of his friends.
Marlene watched this all from behind Lily. "You guys are so cute," she announced, nodding.
Lily just shook her head and noticed Caradoc talking to Dorcas.
"Excuse me," Lily said to Marlene and began to walk over to the two of them. "Caradoc!" she called in a sweet voice.
Dorcas turned to her with an evil look. Caradoc just looked confused. "Lily?" he asked cautiously.
Lily stopped in front of him. "I just want to say that I'm sorry if you've seen me as a pest or anything. It's all right. I've realized that I'm better off without you anyway."
Caradoc's mouth dropped open. "What?" He seemed appalled at such an idea.
"Remember our first kiss?" Lily changed the subject.
Caradoc looked over worryingly at Dorcas before slowly answering, "Yes."
Lily grinned. "This is so much better than that."
The look on their faces was worth it.
Next chapter to be out whenever. I don't have a computer at college and I have college classes and all that stuff. I'll try though.
Review?
