A/N- guess who's back? Back again? ... I am back… tell a friend?
(that to the tune of slim shady, of course)
It's true. Unbelievable, I'm quite aware, but true nonetheless. You thought I was gone, you accused me of abandonment, yet here I am, back to prove you all wrong. I was recently alerted that it has been more that a year since my last update. I must apologize, that's rather ridiculous, even for my standards. Read my profile for some insight as to why this had been such a long and arduous process.
As for this update, I would lend at least some thanks to Victoria Humblydum who's five reviews and friendly urging, somehow got me to finally write the last bit of this. This update is dedicated to you for unknowingly giving me the inspiration I needed.
Since it has been so long, it's only fair to assume that at least a few of you have forgotten completely what's happened thus far in this story, as I'm sure you're reading scads of others at the same time…and so you won't have to go back and re-read the whole damn thing (or worse yet, not and just give up on reading the chapter altogether), here's a brief plot refresher:
Ch1: Lily has a flashback to dying her hair black at the beginning of third year. We meet Kelly and Sydney, her two best friends, along with the Marauders. We discover she hates James, and a little later that James has no idea why.
Ch2: On the train to Hogwarts, Lily feigns sleep and overhears the other lamenting over the fact that they don't hang out as much as they would like b/c of Lily and James' feud, James tells them he doesn't hate her, the other are surprised and Lily scoffs to herself.
Ch3: Lily feels bad keeping her friends apart, so she tells them not to let her get in the way of their friendship. Lily evades Sydney's questions about why she hates James. James and Sirius discuss James' discontent with the current situation w/ Lily.
Ch4: The girls find Sydney sick in bed and take her to the hospital wing.
Ch5: Remus worries about Sydney. The group goes to visit her. We meet Jordan, Kelly observes him staring at Lily, she recalls hearing bad things about him.
Ch6: That night, Kelly goes down to the common room after Sirius calls for her. He wants to figure out why Lily hates James, he questions Kelly to see what she knows. Kelly agrees to help Sirius with his detective work, they agree to arrange to question Sydney when they visit. Sydney is getting fed up with being bedridden. The gang goes to visit her.
Ch7: Sirius gives Sydney a 2-way mirror so they can question her later after everyone else leaves. We meet some of the girl's in their year: Corbin Deasy (nice, quidditch player), Claire Gold ("devil herself", typical snobby teenager, Lily hates her), Rochelle Renovo (follower of Claire), Jana Knight (badass, witty, tells off Claire, Lily likes her)---basically just sets up some more minor characters. Sirius and Kelly talk to Sydney on the mirror, she doesn't know anything either. Kelly walks in on Lily having a nightmare (or possibly a flashback?). Kelly takes Lily to the hospital wing, she gets a sleeping draught, takes it in the common room, immediately collapses, Jordan appears and levitates her back to bed.
Ch8: Sydney is in the hospital wing, Pomfrey puts her in charge of two students who were fighting, the boy insulted the muggle-born girl, Sydney threatens him to keep him from attacking her too. Peter, after having spent the subsequent period at Durmstrang, has just arrived at Hogwarts. The group goes to visit Sydney, we discover the boy is Regulus Black. Sydney is released finally. Kelly and Sirius explain their plan to Remus, he disapproves of their meddling, esp when it seems Lily doesn't want people to know. But he suggests they convince the two to sit down and talk it out.
Ch9: Lily muses about how she's changed as she watches the sun rise. Remus muses about how Lily's changed and how she confuses him as he watches her in the common room. Lily thanks Jordan for rescuing her that night. Lily looks through an old photo album and at some point starts crying, Sydney finds her there and comforts her, she seems to know why Lily is crying, though it is unclear to the audience.
Whew, that took upwards of 15 minutes, so I hope you all found it useful.
Disclaimer: I wouldn't flatter myself to think anyone would get me mixed up with the person who actually owns all this.
Incorrect Assumptions
The night was punctured with the soft thudding of feet on cement. Lily's breathing became labored and heavy, but she refused to slow her pace. She chanced a glance over her shoulder; she could see him, far away, but closer than last time. He was gaining on her. Her mind sifted through thirteen years of living in the place for some advantage. The idea struck her out of nowhere, and with renewed determination she increased her pace. She ducked into an alley and raced to the chain link fence at the end of it. Sucking in her breath, she slipped through the opening, ducking her head to avoid the chain locking it shut. She stopped in front of a circular piece of metal in the street and, grasping onto the handle, pulled it aside. She descended the slippery ladder, careful to pull the metal cover back over the hole once she was through. Ten feet down her feet met water. She gasped from the cold, but clenched her hands into fists and let herself drop into the knee high water of the abandoned sewer pipe. It had been damaged in an earthquake seventeen years prior and she had snuck down here half a dozen times before. Only this time, instead of hiding from her own demons, her pursuer was real. She heard a clatter of shoes on the ladder. She quickened her pace, sloshing through the water as silently as she could. The clanging became louder. It sounded as if the ladder were right next to her, even though she knew for a fact it was at least thirty feet back. "Damn echo," she thought with a shiver. But the volume continued to increase—only now there was a rhythm, long short short, almost as if he were playing a drum. In fact very much like he was playing a drum, why the sound was really quite identical, she wondered why she hadn't noticed it before. Suddenly cold, clammy hands wrapped around her arm. Her muscles clenched in terror and her mouth opened to scream.
Her eyes snapped open and were confronted with a pair of bright blue eyes. Lily blinked. They were attached to a yellow blob. She blinked again. A head…with the hair wrapped up in a towel. Kelly's head. And Kelly's cold, wet hands pulling away in fright. Kelly's eyebrows scrunched up in concern. "Are you alright?" Lily took in a long shaky breath, trying to root herself more firmly in reality.
"Yeah, fine," she said dismissively.
"I didn't mean to startle you."
"Really, it's no big deal." Lily roughly shoved back the covers and rolled out of bed straight onto the floor. She winked at Kelly, who laughed, and jumped to her feet. "See? Fabulous as ever."
"Yes, yes, very cute. Why don't you get your fabulous self into some fabulous clothes so you don't miss a fabulous breakfast and end up fabulously hungry all day. For that would be most unfabulous, and then I would have a valid reason for concern."
Lily slipped into her robes, flattened away a few stray wisps of hair with her hands, and declared herself ready.
That evening Lily found herself in the common room, putting the final touches on a potions essay. She re-read the last sentence and, with a satisfied smile, rolled up the parchment and tucked it into her book bag. She sucked in a deep breath, realizing that the air felt thick. All of a sudden it was too hot and there were far too many people surrounding her. She felt her head spin and she was certain of one thing; she had to get out of here. She looked around, noting the positions of her friends. Remus, Sirius, and Kelly were sprawled out on the floor in front of the fire. Sirius seemed to be entertaining them with impressions of various Hogwarts residents. Remus was filling in a star chart, but seemed to be paying more attention to Sirius. Sydney was off in a corner discussing Quidditch strategy with James and one of the Gryffindor chasers. Lily's exit would not be noticed.
She pulled a purple woolen sweater over her head and, as unobtrusively as possible, exited the common room. The corridors were blessedly empty. She pushed through the double doors and entered the grounds. She noticed a few lingering groups of students near the lake. She headed away from them, nearer to the forest. When she was out of sight of the other students, she halted her trek and flopped onto the ground. Somehow the silence and the emptiness soothed her agitation. She gazed up at the steadily darkening sky, wistfully considering how lovely it would be if she could remain out here until the stars came out. She loved the night sky, and at Hogwarts, away from the city, she could see so much more. It really was too bad that curfew prevented her appreciating it at any other times than during Astronomy class. Unfortunately, such a train of thought could only serve to remind her of the hour. And so she picked up her bag and, with one last upwards glance, she turned around and started to make her way towards the castle. She had only taken a few steps when she felt a shocking sensation on her nose. And there it was again. The same feeling, this time just above her left eye. Now there were five more, tickling her cheek. And with no more warning than that, the heavens opened and the first rain of the year came crashing down to earth.
She could, of course, have cast any number of spells to protect herself from the downpour. But sometimes, she preferred to just experience life instead of using magic to protect herself from it. And so, an hour after she had left, Lily clambered into the common room, her robes dripping onto the floor and her cheeks flushed. Remus puzzled over the unusually carefree smile. And then he smiled too.
Our lives are full of incorrect, and often unfounded, assumptions. Such was the way with Lily's, when she concluded her absence would go unnoticed. Granted there wasn't much at stake to cause her to verify such thoughts, but nonetheless she was mistaken. A pair of hazel eyes had darted up when they saw a flash of red go by. And so she did not go unnoticed. And she did not go unfollowed either. For not ten minutes after she departed, the hazel eyes excused themselves as innocently as possible and slipped away. Following her outside would have been far too obvious, and so one would logically predict that they would head to the Astronomy tower, giving them a great view of the most popular lurking grounds. But the hazel eyes had taken circumstances into account…and so they do not go the predictable route. They had seen that the red head was not simply going for a walk, she was fleeing. From what, they could not tell, but they imagined she would not flee to a crowd, or to a place she would be looked for first. And so instead, those hazel eyes found themselves somewhere entirely different, in a rather obscure corner of the castle. There were no classrooms in this area, and they wondered if many students had ever been here at all. The air here was stale and untouched; it lacked the buzz of energy that electrified the rest of the castle. The eyes found a window which revealed an unextraordinary section of a grassy field bordering the forest. And there it was, that bright shine of red, standing out in the midst of all that green.
How he had found her, he did not know. He did not even know why he had followed her. It had been an impulse, like choosing this corner of the castle to search for her. She looked so content, eagle-spread on the grass, looking up into the sky. For a moment, his eyes focused on the area behind her, the dark shadowy area created by the trees. For a moment he started straight into another pair of eyes. And in that moment, the full fallacy of Lily's assumption became clear.
James' trance broke and he hurried back to the common room. He did not see the rain. He did not see Lily dance for a moment, before laughing foolishly and continuing on her way. It was probably best that way, for when she burst into the common room, he was able to look genuinely surprised at her waterlogged state. But most of all, he did not see the eyes in the trees creep forward until silver moonlight lit up a nose, and then a forehead, cheeks, a mouth. He did not see the figure walking just behind the first row of trees, the sparkling eyes glinting, their stare following the redhead, although they could not follow her out of sight of the forest. Perhaps this was for the best too, although such perspective could not exist until much farther into the future. For if James had stayed at that window, he would not have gone unnoticed as he assumed. For he was bound to conclude that such glittering surely could possess only equal or worse eyesight than his own… that such glittering eyes were, of course, human. Once again, dangerous assumptions.
Remus, James, and Sirius strode across the grounds to the small shed just outside the forest that housed the Care of Magical Creatures classes. It was an odd group that had chosen to sign up for Care of Magical Creatures, and Remus had noticed that they all seemed to have very different motivations for doing so. There was a handful or so of Slytherins who seemed to have signed up on orders from their Dark-Lord-sympathizing parents, clearly in the hopes that they would become familiar with the more dangerous creatures of the world and begin learning the art of their control and manipulation. There were a large number of practical Ravenclaws who seemed to feel it was a necessary subject to familiarize one's self with as a part of living in wizarding society. And then there were The Gigglers, a gaggle of air-headed girls who seemed to have joined the class for two very shallow reasons: first, because it involved things that were both cute and fluffy, and secondly, because somehow word had gotten out the three most attractive Gryffindors in their year would be attending…much to the chagrin of the aforementioned boys.
Oddly enough, it was those very same boys who had signed up for the most interesting reason of all. Remus, practical as any of the Ravenclaws, had come to the conclusion that if they were going to be running around the forest every month, they had at least better be prepared for what they might come across. And even more unusual, James and Sirius had not protested his logic. Peter, however, had been another matter all together. Most of the required subject material frightened him—if truth be told, he often got squeamish during Herbology—and besides, he had argued, as a rat he would easily be able to escape from potential predators much more easily than the rest.
The trio descended the wooden steps that led to the shed where they held classes, and loitered in the brick patio along with the rest of the class until Professor Kettleburn arrived. When he did, shortly after the boys had, a large number of the class grinned. It had rained almost every day the previous two weeks, but today the sun beamed down, finally unobscured by clouds. Professor Kettleburn pretended to ignore the eager looks most of his students were giving him. He slowly put down his leather bag of teaching materials and stretched his arms into the air. He greeted them all with a cheerful "Good Morning". Finally he sighed, trying to hide his grin—a useless gesture; the class knew he enjoyed this even more then they did—and with a feigned look of boredom, he flicked his wand and several things happened in quick succession. The shed's peaked roof split in the middle, each side tipping and sliding down till it was flush with the outside of the walls, then the entire house rose three feet into the air, and all four walls detached from one another and swung under the shed, filling in the space between it and the ground. The shed squirmed for a moment, then jolted another foot into the air and slammed down, somehow squishing the walls into nothingness so that the floor was now flat on the ground, looking like an extension of the patio with desks and chairs.
"Now, class, your attention please." Professor Kettleburn clapped his hands together twice and silence overtook the students as the last of them found seats at the long tables. "Today we are having a very special lesson. It will be unlike any we have had thus far because today we will not have a subject to study, but rather a guest to whom we are extremely lucky to have as a neighbor and whom we will treat with the utmost of respect." He looked rather pointedly at the Syltherins in the back. "I think I will let him introduce himself, so," he turned to face the forest for the last bit and raised his voice slightly, "Ingomar, we are ready for you." A caramel colored centaur with an unattractive face appeared out of nowhere amidst the trees, hesitantly approaching the eager looking Professor.
The Gigglers in the back tried to stifle their laughs, and Remus could just make out their whispers.
"Ingomar, what kind of name is that?"
"Guest? He's just a big ugly horse."
He shook his head and muttered under his breath, "Idiots". The centaur population really got a lot less respect that they deserved. He wondered briefly what snarky comments they would make about him if they knew the sort of creature he was. "Stupid, shallow idiots."
Sydney walked with Lily across the less traveled section of the Hogwarts grounds, and approached Professor Kettleburn's patio. Their class got out ten minutes before the boys' did and they had made a habit of meeting them there before lunch. They plopped onto the grass thirty feet away, not wanting to intrude on the class while it was still in session. They looked up at the sound of many chair legs scraping against the brick and a moment later the boys jogged over to meet them. Lily carefully maneuvered the situation so that she and James were on opposite sides of the group. Sydney saw that he abruptly turned his head the other direction but made no other acknowledgment. He seemed bothered, even if he didn't want it to show, and Sydney was perplexed. The whole dastardly situation was so strange and clouded in mystery. Yet no one openly talked about it and if the others were at all like her, they didn't think about it a whole lot either. It was as if the whole affair was so complicated that no one bothered figuring it out and subsequently, it got shoved out of sight… and out of mind.
They entered the castle through a small, rarely used entrance and found themselves in a narrow passageway, now full of hungry students talking animatedly. The low-ceilinged hall was far too small to contain this much energy. Far, far, too small. Sydney looked from side to side nervously, had the walls really been that close a moment ago? She tried to shake her sudden claustrophobia and drew in a big breath. The air was hot and sticky. She inhaled once more, feeling as if her nose was extremely congested, though she knew it wasn't. She felt slightly light headed and noticed her breaths had become shallow and more frequent. She tried taking a long slow breath through her mouth, but it felt as if she were sucking air through a straw. Her lips and fingertips tingled and she could hear her heart pounding in her ears. The noises around her were muted, her concentration fully focused on trying to slow the rapid breathing before someone noticed. Her legs felt like jelly. She was gradually loosing the battle as the rate of her breaths increased. Abruptly, they turned loud and shaky, as if she had just run a mile. She could escape notice no longer and Remus, who was closest, grabbed her elbow to steady her and gazed at her with concerned eyes. And then a dozen other pairs of eyes were on her as well. She tried to speak, unsure herself if she was trying to reassure them or seek help.
"I…I…don't…I…", each word was punctuated by an uncontrolled intake of air, her shoulders and chest roughly jerking upwards with each one. James cleared his throat and spoke with authority.
"Someone fetch Pomfrey." He looked around, but no one moved. "Go, god damn it!" This time there was an undercurrent of panic in his voice. Four students jumped up and took off running. He shook his head, muttering to himself. Then he rounded on the rest of the students, still standing in the hallway, gaping shamelessly. "As for the rest of you lot, clear out." His hazel eyes glared fiercely, challenging anyone to defy him. The whispering crowd immediately dispersed and hurried down the hallway, a few glancing back over the shoulders one last time. James sneered at them for emphasis before turning back to see Kelly and Sirius looking at him curiously. Lily and Remus were crouched beside Sydney, who looked as though she had fainted. He quickly dropped to his knees to help.
Remus looked over at him uncertainly, "Should we try to move her?"
Just then footsteps thudded down the hall as the nurse came flying in at top speed. They all jumped out of the way, leaving her an open path to the still unconscious Sydney. Madam Pomfrey conjured a stretcher, levitated the girl onto it, and proceeded to bustle down the hallway without any further explanation. They all looked from one to the other, none of them exactly sure what had happened.
A/N- I think ffnet is trying to punish me, it kept the formatting of my chapter, but none of the spacing...I had to go back through and hit enter for every single paragraph...err. Anyways...
Thanks to everyone who has kept up with this story, I really appreciate all the continued feedback and support.
Oh, and I think you'll all be delighted to hear that a whole new bit of plot that fits in ever so nicely with what I have planned already just popped into my head, so hopefully the next update won't take nearly so long.
Just a reminder, I do still post status reports on my profile pretty much every time there is any sort of development with this story. If you'd been reading it recently, you would have known this chapter was coming several weeks before it was actually posted on the site
ALSO, I HAVE A NEW STORY. I'm afraid I've been abducted by the Twilight and New Moon books and have created a new story under that category. If you haven't read these books, you might want to read them first...but honestly, my story takes place before they begin and is based on a few basic facts from the books. It won't ruin the books for you and shouldn't be too confusing if you haven't read them (though there might be one or two things you might be confused about that you'd figure out as it goes on) ... but really they are amazing books, so you should read them anyways.
from now on I'll be responding to reviews using the review reply feature. But since my last update was so long ago, here the responses to those I didn't contact that way because it didn't exist at the time. Keep in mind, I write these as soon as I receive the review, in case they seem outdated in any way.
Jersey Princess: ooops… yes I did mean Kelly when I said Vanessa…see the character Kelly is named after my friend Vanessa (don't ask)… so yeah, it was an error. I'm so glad you're so enthusiastic about this story. And that you liked the chapter… I wasn't sure if my warped sick (literally… since if you recall I was sick when I wrote most of this) mind had made it really weird without me realizing. Good theories…afraid I can't confirm or deny...per usual. Ly loads too…thanks for the review as always.
Kyle Broflovski: hey Syd! I remember when I was sick too… wasn't one of my more enjoyable experiences I shall admit. Oooh you're birthday party is coming up… gonna be rocking. I have no idea what im getting you…though when you read this I'm sure we'll both know what I got you. oh and congrats on being the first to review this chapter… or at least ur review email was first in my inbox. As for the "up against a wall and yell shoot"… well when someone wants to execute someone (such as for taking such a long time to update) one might enlist the help of a firing squad. Needless to say I'm quite pleased that no one decided to do this after all. Livingdead2010: thanks… I'm glad you liked it.
IcyCrystal: first off I would just like to say thank you for that incredibly nice review. I truly appreciate it. Yes, Sydney's last name is Schwartz. As for the german thing, that very well might be, but I used it because it is one of my closest friend's last names, and I happen to like it. However, there is one character in this story whose name I did in fact choose for its meaning in another language, though what it means doesn't reveal new information, just stuff I've already said. Thanks again for such a nice review.
Jeshie: I'm so glad I've got you "hooked"… good to know there's a loyal reader out there. Me..an author someday… wow thanks, that's quite a compliment:D
Clairebear: damn you, I have two more weeks left of school. We get out the 24th…grr. Ooh yay, im glad you like my description. I understand darling…I've got finals next week (but no Tahiti, unfortunately). Ooh so Ollie's coming the first week of august (its pretty much for sure)… so you'll meet him again. And Young isn't coming so like you're gonna be my main person to hang out with (lucky you). Love you to death as well (platonically, of course… as you said, I have my Ollie :D )
Xarli: oooh a new reader, that's always nice to know. Thanks, I'm glad you like it, and I certainly don't plan on stopping.
slippersRfuzzy: why thank you. I'm a rather slow writer as you may have noticed, but they always come out eventually.
Beachbabe17: why thank you, I really like you for reviewing.
Mandakhristine07: wow! It made you cry, I'll take that as quite a big compliment. I'm really really glad it touched you. Although I haven't had a major event steal my innocence, I often find myself missing the good old days when things were so much more simple and pure. Thanks for such a nice review.
Emily Kert: hey cuz, thanks for reading my weirdo story, glad you like it
Cilverblood: aww that's too bad, well hopefully it wasn't too confusing for you and that you catch on… or possibly have time to re-read. Or check out the chapter summaries at the top of this chapter for a quick refresher.
Calcgirl: oh wow thanks, im so glad you love the mystery; I really quite enjoy writing it.
Maria: thank you…your threat gave me a good laugh, hopefully I have updated soon enough to escape such a gruesome punishment
MaraudersFan: Hey, if you're happy, I'm happy. And right you should be happy, because this is another update.
Come on, it's been over a year, give me some love, huh?
After all, this chapter was the product of the inspirational powers of reviews
…you never know when yours will be the ONE that made it all possible.