Beautiful Mistake
Chapter Nine October Nineth Part One
The first week of term passed quickly, and soon the September breeze turned into the cool October wind. And with it came the cool reminder that Chloe had missed over a month of her baby boy's life. Chloe got up early, eight o'clock, and went to breakfast alone. There were only a few people up at the time, Professor McGonagall the only teacher awake.
She took a seat at the Gryffindor table and her owl swooped in dropping her daily letter from her mother in front of her. She read it eagerly and learned of how much Ryan had grown and how he would need his first haircut soon.
"Morning Chloe," Kathy greeted when she entered the Great Hall.
Chloe looked up from her letter, and quickly shoved it into her pocket. "You're up early," Chloe smiled.
Kathy nodded. "I have to get some study help from Remus. I'm getting behind in Transfiguration." Kathy explained as she put butter on some toast. "Why are you up so early?"
"Not sure, I just couldn't sleep any more." Chloe shrugged.
"What time did you get up?"
"Around eight," Chloe replied finishing her own breakfast.
"Nadine would think you're mental." Kathy laughed.
"She probably already does," Chloe laughed and stood up. "I'll see you later, say hi to Remus for me."
"Okay," Kathy said as Chloe made her away from the Great Hall. More students were up by then, and the Hall was noisier than before. She saw no one that she knew as she made her way back to the Common Room, and when she entered the room was abuzz with people awake. James was standing near the fireplace talking to a group of girls who all looked very excited about something, while Peter stood near the door to the boy's dormitory talking to younger girls.
Finding it strange, Chloe hoped Lily was awake so she could ask. When she entered the Seventh year dorm, she found Nadine changing into Quidditch robes.
"Training," she explained leaving in a rush. Chloe nodded, and walked over to her bed to get her jumper feeling the chill of October run through her.
Lily stood by her own bed, buttoning up her pants. Chloe leaned against her bed post and looked at Lily. "Do you know what all the fuss is about down stairs?"
Lily pulled down her shirt, looking thoughtful and looked behind her. "Well, today is going to be an interesting one," Lily said looking away from her calendar near her bed.
"What do you mean?" Chloe asked slipping her jumped over her head and shoulders. "It's a Saturday, what's so interesting about that?" She grinned, and picked up her wrist watch off her bed.
Lily glanced at Chloe, as she picked up her shoes and sat on the edge of her bed. "Well, I was referring to the fact that it's the Nineth of October."
Chloe dropped the watch she was putting on her wrist, and in swift motion picked it back up again acting as if she had done nothing. Closing the clasp, she pulled her sweater down, and began fiddling with the clip in her hair.
"Stop pretending, because I know it bothers you." Lily said, standing up from her own bed.
"It's only Sirius' birthday, nothing special. It doesn't bother me, okay?" Chloe said, hoping that Lily got the message.
"All right, if you say so." Lily turned away from Chloe and swung down to grab her bag. "Why don't we go to Hogsmeade today, just you and I?" Lily asked with a grin.
Chloe grinned, but than looked at lily bewildered. "How are we going to get there?"
Lily grinned. "I know a way – James showed me."
Chloe blinked. "Not through the Whomping-"
"No, not that way! Do you think I'm mental? I'm talking about another way that it entrance does not even require leaving school grounds." Lily grinned devilishly.
Chloe shrugged. "Sure, sounds great." She turned to gather her own things and looked back at Lily. "Hanging out with those Marauders have definitely made you more adventurous."
Lily said nothing, but led the way out of the girl's dormitory. When they entered the Common room they found Nadine talking to James, and neither of them paid attention to Chloe or Lily, though James looked distracted. Meanwhile, Kathy sat at a table studying with Remus. There were more girls, and boys now in the Common Room talking loudly. When Lily and Chloe finally made it through the crowds they saw why.
A large banner hung above the Portrait Hole reading:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIRIUS!
Chloe glanced at Lily, and rolled her eyes. "Let's get out of here before he makes his grand entrance."
Lily laughed and together they exited the Common Room. Outside the Common Room was much quieter though there was a small cluster of Fourth Year Hufflepuff's standing close to the Portrait Hole. They glanced at Lily and Chloe, and realizing who they were they went to start walking.
"Hold on you five," Lily said with authority. "Why are you going that way? This corridor leads to a dead end."
The girls stopped and looked at each other hoping that someone would come up with an excuse, but they knew they were caught.
"Go to the Great Hall, get some breakfast. If I ever I see you in this part of the Castle again I will talk to your Head of House and than you will wish I had never been born." Lily finished darkly, and Chloe fought hard not to laugh as the girls walked down the other way, all looking very sour.
"You're so cruel, Lily. Couldn't you see they just wanted to wish Happy Birthday to Sirius?" Chloe laughed as she and Lily started walking down the halls.
Lily rolled her eyes. "I honestly have no idea how they manage to have a hold over so many girls here."
Chloe took her turn to roll her eyes. "Yes, because we never fell for it."
"We certainly didn't stalk them!" Lily exclaimed, but laughed anyhow.
They reached the Third Floor in no time, as it seemed that either all the students in Hogwarts were at the Great Hall or near the Gryffindor Common Room. Lily pointed to a humpbacked statue and looked at Chloe.
"Behind that is an entrance to Honeydukes." She explained.
"How on earth do you get to the entrance?" Chloe asked, curious.
"Watch," Lily said simply and walked forward to the statue. Looking around her, to make sure no one was coming, and looked back at the statue. "Dissendium," she spoke it softly but with a commanding tone that seemed so fitting for Lily.
There was a loud clicking noise and the statue moved forward, and revealed a small passage way large enough for one person to walk through. It was dark, and Chloe glanced at Lily.
"I hope your right about this," she said taking the first step forward.
"I am, James and I used it once to find Sirius." Lily said, and Chloe waited for her to go on, but she didn't. A little afraid by the silence, Chloe decided it would be best if she didn't know why Sirius had gone to Hogwarts, she walked into the tunnel and pulled out her wand lighting the tip.
The dark tunnel flooded with light, and with Lily's wand, she was able to see two meters ahead of her. The tunnel was wet, and smelled like moss and earth. But it had a soothing affect on Chloe, how or why she did not understand, but being able to walk along a silent tunnel – except for she and Lily's footsteps – made her feel as if she could breathe, and be free without having anyone look at her expecting something.
After walking in silence for thirty minutes, Lily cleared her throat. "The tunnel should turn upwards a little and stop in front of stone steps. Than we climb," Lily explained.
Sure enough, Chloe felt the tunnel turn upwards and it wasn't long before she arrived at the steps. She was tired now, and a bead of sweat formed on her brow, and she wiped it away just as she came to the stone steps like Lily had told her.
"We're almost there," Lily said behind her, and Chloe moved on.
The steps seemed to go on forever, and Chloe lost all train of thought, all realization that she was walking in a tunnel only thinking about the steps, and to move one foot after the other on to each one.
"Watch out!" Lily called, and Chloe stopped short, her heart pounding and she realized why. If she had gone one more step she would have hit her head off the trap door just an inch or so above her.
"Thanks," she said breathlessly and reached for the handle. Pausing to hear if there was anything moving above, Chloe glanced at Lily. "Theirs no one there," she said and pushed up.
It was heavy, but it gave way easily and Chloe found herself in a storage room. Boxes and crates reading different ingredients were stacked through out the room. She stepped out of the trap, and heard talking from above, in the shop. Lily quickly followed and together they put the door back into place.
"So how are we going to get out of here without being caught?" Chloe asked, looking at Lily.
Lily looked at her for a moment and turned in circle looking around the large basement room, before stopping at a window. Behind it Chloe could see that it led out into the more rural parts of Hogsmeade.
"We can go that way," Lily suggested.
"How did you get out last time?" Chloe asked, deciding that going through the window would only be used as a back up.
Lily shrugged. "We went up those stairs, but the store was closed at the time, and we just Apparated outside."
Chloe stared at Lily, with an exasperated look. "Why don't we just Apparate out?"
Lily looked disappointed for a moment, realizing that she had missed that step. "Sorry, I'm not used to being able to do that."
Chloe grinned, and walked over to Lily. "You'll need to take me with you, I haven't become of age yet."
Lily nodded, "Take my arm." Chloe gripped Lily's arm, closing her eyes to prepare herself for the uncomfortable feeling she hated. It came quickly, and just as it came it left quickly and Chloe opened her eyes to find herself behind Honeydukes. She let go of Lily, and righted her clothing.
"That wasn't too difficult." Lily smiled, and looked at Chloe. "I've never done a side-along Apparation."
Chloe blanched. "Why didn't you tell me that before? I thought you were implying you had."
Lily rolled her eyes at Chloe's dramatics and made her way to the short Alley way between Honeydukes and the neighboring building. Chloe quickly caught up, and together the two girls headed towards the Three Broomsticks.
"It's nice to come here when there are no other students around." Chloe commented as they turned down another street and she could see the pub from where they stood.
"It is," Lily agreed picking up speed. "I wish I had brought a jacket or cloak or something, it's colder than I thought."
"It's because we're closer to the mountains," Chloe explained just as they came to the pub. Letting Lily go first, Chloe took a moment to see if she saw anyone she knew sitting in the pub. It seemed there was no one there she knew at first glance, and feeling better she followed Lily inside.
They took a seat close to the window, but hidden in the back corner of the pub. It was mostly empty, the only patrons an old witch at a table and three wizards at the bar. Madam Rosmerta stood behind the bar, and when she saw the two girls put her cloth down and went around the table over to them.
"What can I get you?"
"Just two butterbeers please," Lily said and Madam Rosmerta disappeared.
"It feels like ages since I was last here," Chloe said looking around. She wasn't lying; she hadn't come to Hogsmeade since her first date with Sirius in Fifth Year. After that they kept to the Hogwarts grounds.
Madam Rosmerta returned with their frothy drinks, and placed one in front of each before returning to the bar. Chloe gripped her glass eagerly, and took a large swig of it. She felt her insides warm immediately, and she grinned at Lily.
"This was a great idea." Chloe congratulated her friend.
But Lily was paying attention to Chloe, but behind her. "I wouldn't say that for long. That's Professor Underwood with Professor McGonagall. I doubt either of them we'll be happy to see us."
Chloe turned to look, and sure enough walking up the road was Professor Underwood, the Herbology teacher, and Professor McGonagall coming towards the Three Broomsticks talking in an amenity.
"We need to get out of here," Chloe jumped up taking another sip of her butterbeer. "Let's go to the loo," she said throwing a few sickles on the table. Lily did the same, and together they walked quickly to the lavatory just as they heard the door jingle open.
Once inside, Lily leaned against the sink while Chloe leaned against a stall door. "What do we do now?" she asked.
"I don't know," Lily replied, "If we walked quickly they probably won't notice us leaving, but where to after that?"
Chloe's mind raced as she tried to think of some where to go; some where close to Hogsmeade.
"We could go to that old shack near the woods." Chloe suggested.
Lily grinned. "Agreed, I just hope Remus doesn't mind."
Chloe laughed, and turned to the door. Making sure she had all her things, she slipped out and walked down the hall a little, Lily right behind her. She stopped, and pulled out a compact mirror from her purse. Angling it she could see that the Professor's were in deep conversation sitting in the very seats they had been minutes before.
She put the mirror back in her purse, and nodding to Lily they quickly walked to the door, hoping not to make too much noise. To their luck a large man was entering at the same time as they exited so that if the professors looked up they would have only seen the man.
"That was pure luck, you know that right?" Lily said exhilarated as they walked to the end of the road coming to the outskirts of town.
Chloe laughed, "It was fate."
The too girls laughed, joking about the situation before they found the familiar path though neither wanted to admit that to the old house that had gotten the name 'Shrieking Shack' since Remus inhabited it almost seven years earlier.
They entered the building, and were surprised to find that it helped against the cool weather outside of its windows and doors. Sitting down in large loveseats that were the only distinguishable thing in the parlor, Lily started a fire in its old battered fireplace.
"You would think that Remus would try and clean this place up when's he's finished," Chloe joked, though Lily did not crack a smile. She was staring into the fire, a thoughtful and sad look on her face. "What's wrong Lily?"
Lily's head shot up from the flames and looked Chloe confused. "What?"
Chloe took a deep breath, and repeated her question.
"Oh, nothing's wrong. I'm just thinking," Lily answered.
"Thinking about what?" Chloe pushed on.
Lily shrugged. "Lot's of things. About this house, about how Remus must feel when he wakes up to find it like this. How he feels when he sees what new wounds he has given to his three best friends."
"You're not thinking about just Remus, are you?" Chloe moved off her chair, and slid on to Lily's.
"No, I'm not." Lily didn't look at Chloe, but continued to stare at the flames. "James started talking to me on patrols again."
Chloe nodded, understanding what her friend was referring to. Ever since the two had ended things for good, James had stopped talking to Lily completely. Neither of them had understood why he did this, but Remus guessed it was just James' way of trying to show Lily that he was going to respect her.
"I don't know what to do about it. He's not talking about anything earth shattering, just talking about school, sometimes Quidditch, small talk really. It's nice to talk to him again, but I can tell he's holding back from something." Lily finally looked at Chloe, tears were in her eyes. "And I don't know what to say or do. I miss him a lot, and every time I see him he's being the good side of him. But when he thinks I'm not around I see the way he and Sirius plot against Severus, and the other Slytherin's."
"Plot against them; how so?" Chloe asked, confused.
"Mostly with Quidditch; Sirius likes to take advantage of the fact that his best friend is Captain of the Quidditch team. But when it comes to Severus, it's not pranks, just plotting. I think James blames Severus for all of this." Lily finished looking at Chloe for disagreement.
Chloe did not know what to think. The love triangle between Lily, James, and Severus was a confusing one. Both men loved her, and would do anything for her except give up their pride, which was something that rarely any woman could have.
"If that is true, than you and James aren't meant to be together yet." Chloe finally said, looking at Lily, glad that she could have an answer.
"I guess your right," was all that Lily said before turning her gaze back to the fire.
They spent another two hours in the shrieking shack, laughing and talking about less important and serious things. Chloe avoided anything on the subject of what she had been doing for the last year or so, and Lily seemed happy to catch her up on all the details.
When it neared five o'clock the two girls decided it would be best to start the trek back to the castle. Feeling light-hearted and happy they traveled along the tunnel and came to the Third Floor corridor.
"I can't believe we managed to waste a whole day in Hogsmeade." Chloe laughed as she and Lily and made their way to the Great Hall for dinner.
"I know, I don't think I've ever spent such a long time there." Lily agreed as they turned on to the main floor.
"Lily, Chloe, there you two are!" Remus and Kathy were at the end of the hall, and walking towards them. "Kathy and I were looking for you all day."
"We snuck down to Hogsmeade," Lily explained joining them.
"You could have told someone," Kathy complained.
"Why, has something happened since we 'disappeared'?" Chloe asked, smirking at Kathy.
She rolled her eyes. "That isn't the point. I was bored out of my mind. Nadine trained the whole day with James and the other Gryffindor players and Remus spent the whole day with Peter and Sirius. I was all alone." She told them.
"Oh come on Kathy, like we'd believe that! We know you well enough to know that you probably found someone in this school to spend the day with." Chloe went on.
"I wouldn't call Alice Truman, company." Kathy said.
"What, Alice is a nice girl isn't she?" Lily asked, bewildered.
"Not since she started dating Frank Longbottom last year." Kathy explained.
"Are we talking about Alice in Sixth Year, and Frank who graduated last year?" Chloe checked as they entered the Great Hall.
"Exactly who we're talking about," Lily confirmed.
"Wow, I didn't see that coming." Chloe said thinking of the two people she wasn't sure if she had ever seen in the same room together besides the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Yes, just another thing that happened while you were gone." Kathy said sitting down at the table.
"I'll talk to you all later," Remus said continuing to walk to where the other Marauders were.
"All right, bye Remy!" Chloe said grinning. Remus groaned, but said nothing, and kept going on his way. Before Chloe sat down, she watched as he went on his way and her eyes fell on Sirius.
He sat laughing at something James had said, a crown on his head reading 'Birthday Boy'. She rolled her eyes, and finally sat down looking at Lily. "He thinks he's king, does he?"
Lily looked to see what Chloe was talking about, and looked back shaking her head. "They never like to break tradition, those two."
"I think it's funny," Kathy added, and looked at the double doors. "I wonder where Nadine is."
"Probably in the showers," Chloe suggested, starting to put some food on her plate. She took extra helping's of everything being in one of the best moods she had been in since starting at Hogwarts that year.
Nadine joined them ten minutes later, her hair still wet from the shower she had taken, just like Chloe predicted and she took a seat next to Kathy.
"That was probably one of the toughest practices ever." Nadine stated tiredly.
"Yeah, how come you were out there all day?" Kathy asked.
"I swear you never listen to a thing I say. It's because of the big match next weekend. James said he wanted to have one really good practice before than." Nadine explained, putting double the amount of food on her plate as Chloe had.
"Sounds exciting," Chloe commented.
"Not really. James spent half the time making sure we knew all the plays. I was ready to punch him by time we actually got to go on the field." Nadine said looking sour.
By time desert rolled around, Nadine had gone through the whole event, and when Chloe went to change the topic the hall suddenly became quieter than normal. She looked up and saw five girls from around the hall stand, gifts in their hands. Some first and second year did as well, and she watched bewildered.
"What in the name of Merlin are they all doing?" Lily asked to no one in specific.
But Chloe got the idea. They were all headed to where Sirius sat, still talking to James, Remus, and Peter, laughing, when the first girl made it to their spot. They exchanged a few short words, and the girl stood by to watch as Sirius opened her gift to reveal a box of chocolates. He thanked her, and she quickly left just as a set of girls approached Sirius.
Chloe did not care, but she kept watching intently, wondering if Sirius would show any of the girls' special attention. He didn't though, thanking each and everyone with the same smile, sometimes saying something extra if the girl was closer to his age. And then she approached him.
Allison wood looked coyly at Sirius as she handed him her small parcel. She stood, waiting for him to open it when Sirius offered her the seat next to him. Knowing she would not say no, Chloe craned her neck to get a better look. She did not know why she was interested, but she wanted to know what was going to happen; it seemed the entire hall was.
Sirius began un-wrapping the gift and finally revealed a shirt. Chloe could not tell what was so special about it, but Sirius looked happy. Than he stood up, and pulled the shirt over his robes and Allison stood up.
Chloe did not tear her eyes off the pair, and that's when she saw it. Allison was looking right at her, her coy smile gone replaced with the smuggest of all faces. Sirius followed Allison's glance, and smirked in her direction before turning back to Allison.
Chloe's heart pounded as she watched Sirius deliberately turn Allison to the angle so that when he took her hand Chloe could watch him kiss her lightly on the lips. Though Great Hall was filled with its normal chatter again, perhaps more because of Sirius' actions, Chloe could hear nothing. Her stomach churned, and she gripped her seat. Sirius pulled away, and Allison looked back at Chloe, her wicked smug smirk seeming to burn Chloe's flesh.
A/N: Yes, I chose to
end it here, and I am sure you are all very angry at not only me but
at Sirius as well for it. Haha. This was probably one of the funnest
(I know it's not a word) chapters for me to write. As you probably
noticed, this chapter is in parts, only two to be exact. I decided
that it would just be better that I would put it in two parts, and
the second one will be the conclusion to this long October Nineth
day. I don't think I could type any more anyway, as my
finger are frozen from the below zero weather outside. Lucky for me
my computer has to be placed in the coldest place in the house. Haha.
Along with that I've written the next chapter (it just needs some
tweaking) and started the 11th one already. Well, I hope you enjoyed
it, thanks for reading!
