Tell Me Where it Hurts
Lily's POV
The first day of school started rather early for me. As usual, Jane's bed was empty; her morning routine of waking up before humanly possible to go for a run was something that I had gotten used to years ago. It was Dora's bed that held my attention. For some obscure reason, it too was empty. Now something you need to understand about Dora; she will take any opportunity to sleep that she gets. I would know, considering it is my unspoken of task to wake her up every morning. If ever there was a person who was not a morning person, it's Dora. Me? My only rule is the sun has to be up before I will be.
And I never sleep in.
I actually considered the possibility that I had slept in, which did cause a moment of panic. But, considering that the sun wasn't up yet, that fear was absolved. Which did leave the mystery of why Dora was up. Figuring it would be pointless to go back to sleep, I start my get-ready routine. Shower, uniform on, towel-dry hair, apply chap stick, pin on head girl badge. After six years, I honestly don't care about how I look on a normal school day. These people had seen me at my worst, so what did vanity prove now?
In that short amount of time it took for me to get ready, Dora had still not returned to her messed up bed. Something was up with her, it is obvious. And with the way Remus is acting? I'm willing to bet he is a part of it. But Lily Evans does not bet, so I won't.
Oh wow, I forgot to introduce myself. Lily Evans, Head Girl. Top of most my classes, too. And, best friend to Dorcas Meadows, Jane Potter and Remus Lupin. Pretty much, that's it. Nothing really special about me, other than the fact that I'm smart. Though book smarts don't seem to mean much to people. But that's their problem.
So anyways, I'm sitting on my bed, looking at Dora's as though the answer should be obvious. "You're up early." Jane's voice says as plops down next to me, startling me from my thoughts.
"So is Dora." I answer simply.
She has obviously just showered; her hair has made a wet match on the back of her shirt. But she doesn't seem to care. Jane is a fascinating person; she notices only what she wants, and only if it is obvious. She acts like she doesn't care about how she looks, but she does. And she pretends like she doesn't realise the attention she gets, but I know that it is deliberate. Jane is arrogant, demanding and reckless, but for some obscure reason, she is my friend. That's probably because of her confidence in herself and others, and her passion for what she believes in. A passion that seems to make her, and by default me, plenty of enemies.
She shrugs her shoulders and stands up. "I saw her walking up to Dumbledore's office on my way here. Probably because she is new to life as a prefect or something."
I nod my head. "Probably. Should we wait, or just go to breakfast?"
"Food." Is her simple answer.
Laughing lightly, I follow her out, the mystery of Dora's early rising pretty much forgotten. The walk down to the Great Hall is mostly uneventful; the few students awake glancing fearfully at Jane before scurrying away. I'm assuming this is a result of the suspense involved with Jane's prank. Immature.
Something I will really miss about Hogwarts is the breakfast. I take what I usually have; an orange and poppy seed muffin. No one makes orange and poppy seed muffins like the Hogwarts elves. About to take a bite, something happens that has never happened before; Amos Diggory took a seat opposite me and Jane. The Amos Diggory. As in, Hufflepuff quidditch dream boy. He is nice enough; I've helped him with potions before. But he isn't here for my help.
"Good morning, Jane." He says casually and I roll my eyes. Typical.
"Oh, Diggory. Hi." Jane commented back, oblivious as to his motives. Again, typical. Silently, I watch their interaction.
"You doing anything on Saturday?"
"I'll probably have detention."
"Oh."
"Yep, how about you?"
"Yeah, I have nothing planned."
"Oh."
"Well, if you get out of detention early, maybe we can do something."
"We could. What do you suggest?"
"A picnic?"
"Picnics are nice."
This is painful. It really is. He is obviously being a bit flirty. Jane? Not even picking up on that. In her opinion, he is just being friendly. And it is painful to hear. "Jane," I begin, my eyes darting to Diggory then back to her. "He is trying to ask you on a date."
It is worth the satisfaction of seeing a small blush grace his cheeks. Jane smiles warmly at him, the smile she knows makes most boys weak in the knees. "We could definitely have a picnic. Meet me at one?"
All he can do is nod his head before stumbling back to the Hufflepuff table with a silly grin on his face. It will never cease to amaze me how Jane enjoys the effect she has on people and how she likes to toy with people. Jane is probably the most interesting person i have ever met. Honest. Somehow, she just has an air of importance and power about her. I asked her about it once, and all she said was that she just ignores half the people and pretends that she is better than the rest. Kind of bitchy, if you ask me, But I guess I'm lucky, because if she hadn't decided that she was better than everyone else, then she would be one of the popular girls and therefore not my friend. And Jane makes an excellent friend, because she makes you feel important, and since she likes to think she is better than everyone else, it is like you are more important than everyone else. And who doesn't like that?
But yes. Now she is smiling like an idiot. Of course. "I have a date." Is all she says, grinning at me like a madman.
"A date!" I repeat to her, grinning too. She is such a child at heart, I love it.
"A date!"
"With Amos Diggory!"
"With the Amos Diggory!"
We burst into very girly giggles which stop abruptly at the sight of Dora walking towards us with a very serious look on her face. Following her are the Marauders; Remus looking extremely sombre, James looking concerned, Sirius looking confused and Peter looking baffled. Immediately, Jane and I pulled our act together as the new arrivals sat down. Jane shot James a questioning look and for a few moments they just looked at each other before James looked to Dora, causing Jane to glare at him. Sometimes I wish I had a twin just so we could do that too.
A rather awkward silence followed, everyone looking at Dora expectantly. Finally she opened her mouth to speak.
"Remus said I should probably tell you all... especially before the post comes..." she muttered and as her best friend I got the distinct feeling that she was holding back tears.
She took a deep breath and I had to force myself to not launch across the table to pull her into a comforting hug. Dora glanced nervously at Jane before continuing. "Over summer..." she cleared her throat. "." She gushed in one breath before clamping her mouth closed with an audible click.
All of us seemed to be holding out breaths as we comprehended what Dora said. Death Eaters? They were just words we read on page 3 in the Daily Prophet every other morning. Not anything dangerous, just words and rumours. Now this... well now Jane couldn't deny their existence. Now they weren't fictional characters reserved for horror stories.
I glanced around at everyone again, gaging their reactions. Peter looked like he was going to faint or be sick, whichever came first; Remus just looked sombre, he obviously already knew; Sirius didn't look surprised, but he did look absolutely livid; James was in shock, as though Dora had told him Gravity doesn't actually exist. Jane? Looked positively terrified. Understandable; she had refused to acknowledge the possibility that they were real, and now she was faced with undeniable evidence saying otherwise.
Unable to hold myself back, I launched myself at Dora and pulled her into a hug. I could feel her cry, and I knew how much she hated to cry so I just held on like it was the only thing keeping her alive. Remus soon joined the hug, his eyes full of emotions I didn't recognise. Soon Peter joined us too. James had sat between me and Jane and I could hear his low tones speaking to Jane.
James was an insufferably prat at best, and it usually took all of my willpower to not hex him into next year. But hearing him look after his shell-shocked sister, I felt something akin to respect for him. But I also felt annoyance towards Jane; she had better not be making this all about her. Then I felt guilty because Jane had just been given a rather fat reality check that was probably like a massive slap in the face.
By the time we all separated from our group hug, most of the Great Hall was filled with students talking excitedly about the start of term as though nothing had happened, and I hated them for that. Wiping sympathy tears from my eyes (I'm a sympathy crier), I looked at Jane, who reached across the table and gave Dora's hand a squeeze. The toot of an owl echoed through the hall, and Jane suddenly had a panicked look on her face. Oh Merlin, she has done something. I can tell. The mail arrived and students all grabbed at their Daily Prophets. Front page was the article we were all dreading, and as soon as people read the first paragraph they were looking at Dora like she was the most interesting thing ever to grace Hogwarts with her presence.
Faster than you could say 'Quidditch', Dora was standing with a horrified look on her face. The rest of us followed and were all standing before there was a small flash and with a start the students of Hogwarts realised they were stuck to their chairs. Jane, Sirius and James had a mortified expression on their face. Sucking in a breath, I waited for the reaction I knew would be coming. Dora, with a now hurt expression on her face, was looking at Jane. There was a moments exchange between then, and I knew that although nothing was said vocally, a lot was said. Dora turned on her heel and marched out, followed by Remus.
"POTTER!" McGonagall shrieked as I turned to follow my blonde friend. Jane was screwed.
I knew she hadn't meant to have a prank happen right after Dora had told us what had happened, it was just bad timing. By the look on her face, I knew she was thinking that this must be a rather bazaar dream. Or rather, nightmare. I almost felt sorry for her, but the sticking thing had gotten a bit old and over used.
Exiting the Hall, I had to admit that Jane had unintentionally done something right; at least now the student population's attention had been diverted from the article and to the small fact that they were stuck for an unknown length of time to the benches.
Smiling just a bit, I caught up to Dora and watched as my friend raged about what had just happened. My friend who never loses her temper, who never throws tantrums, who is always collected, cynical and sarcastic instead of frazzled and angry. I knew it was anger at Voldemort, not Jane, that was making her like this. But what she need now was for me to just listen and be there. So that is just what I did.
A/N
First off, title is a song by Garbage. Haha, I kind of love 90's grunge music right now. Oh the memories... haha. But yes, I have tonsillitis right now, and no one at home feels sorry for me :-( I am such a baby it's not funny.
Pretty sure I have fixed up all the errors in this, but there are probably more and for that I humbly apologise!!
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed my story!! Even bad reviews make me smile because it means someone has actually read this. Ahh, the joys of being optimistic.
Also, I apologise if it is painful reading the part where Dora tells them about the death eaters. I know it is bad. It was painful to write. Hell, just those few paragraphs took me a whole day to write. Haha. So I'm sorry.
x
