Plink. Plink. Plink.
The darkened room was devoid of movement, save for the subtle rise and fall that proved the five sleeping girls were in fact alive.
Plink. Plink. Thump.
Moonlight drifted in from the one window the girls had neglected to close, casting an eerie blanket of light over the bed closest to it. Amidst the shadows, the light managed to emulate the only lock of intense apricot hair that was not covered by the blankets.
Thump. Thump thump. Thump.
A shadow that had been floating outside for some time raised a hand to its (his, actually) head and brushed his hair back in an irritated manner.
THONK.
Finally, the redhead in the moonlit bed rolled over with an exasperated sigh. "Lily, can you please go see what Potter wants so the rest of us can get some sleep? Oh, remind him that if he breaks that glass, he`ll be the one telling Minnie why he no longer has a broom with which to play Quiddich."
Lily signed, reluctant to leave the warmth of her bed. The sharp cold only got worse as she padded over to the window and pushed it open, letting the wave of winter wind chill her and her (granted, more protected) roommates to the bone.
"Potter?" Lily said groggily, half sure she was still asleep.
"Yeah, it's me."
"Why are you floating outside my window in the middle of the night?"
"I'm hovering, and it's romantic."
"To watch me while I sleep? That's creepy, Potter."
"No, no! You're supposed to come with me so we can talk, and I can fly us around the world!"
"Who told you that was supposed to be romantic?"
"Well, Mel was just telling me a couple days ago about this movie they saw in Muggle Studies, where this thief showed up outside a princesses' window on a broom and they flew around the world in the middle of the night. She said that was the most romantic part of the movie!"
"It was a flying carpet, and the hot thief turned up before she went to sleep." Mel piped up.
"It`s romantic."
Rolling her eyes and pulling a blanket over her shoulders, Lily replied, "It`s bloody senseless, that`s what it is. You realize the month, right?"
From the darkness behind her, Lily heard one of her friends moan, "Shut the window."
"I`d love to." She replied, and James frowned. The other girls were growing consistently more tired and cold, and their groans were getting louder and more frequent.
"Mmmph, too cold."
"Potter, when I said to do something, I didn`t mean at bloody two in the morning!"
James felt his plan slowly going up in smoke, and his ears began to feel hot. "I was hoping we could talk?"
Looking between her bed and the boy she, during sane hours of the day and in warm months, would have been thrilled to see at her window; Lily took a deep breath, which turned into a sad sigh. Even with the cold, she would gladly go with him, if not for one small factor.
"What about Anna?"
He hadn`t dumped her. She could see it in his eyes. "What about her?"
"James, she`s your girlfriend, and a human being. I would never do that to someone… and also, I don`t want to ever think that you would, because that means that if we ever dated, you could very well do this to me."
"Lily, I just want to talk."
"Really?" She leaned out the window, whispering so her totally not sleeping roommates couldn`t hear. "Because I don`t."
Neither did James, it was obvious in his expression, but to say aloud what he had been planning would be to confirm her fears. He was, and always would be, a cheating, lying, player.
"Lily…"
"Goodbye, James."
She latched the window shut, and shuffled back to her bed.
Alice came over and hugged her best friend. "Wow. That was incredibly strong of you, Lils."
"It was nothing. I just didn`t want to talk to him."
"Is that what they`re calling it these days?"
"Come on, can`t you see she isn`t in the mood for jokes?"
"Sorry."
"It`s okay." Lily sniffed. "Or it will be, at any rate."
Mattie padded over and joined the midnight support group on Lily`s bed "You did the noble thing." She consoled, "Not everyone can do that. It sure isn`t easy, but believe me, it will be worth it."
"No kidding."
"You`re kidding."
"She had a point." Remus said, and Sirius shot him a glare.
"Not helping. Check the reason at the door, Moony."
James picked his head up, eyes closed. "No, he`s right. She`s right. I`m a horrible, egotistical twat. I always have been. I forgot about Anna, because Lily isn`t Anna, and now I have to convince her that I`d never forget her, because how could I? But what if I do, and end up hurting her like all the others?"
"Prongs, you`ve said it yourself, Lily`s not like the others. She`s always been a presence in your head. You of all people should know, Lily Evans is not going to be forgotten any time soon. You just have to tell her that."
Frank rolled over. "What are you going to do about that Anna bird?"
"She`s getting the boot, obviously." Peter explained.
"Yeah, but he`s got to let her down gently, or he`ll never hear the end of it from Evans."
"Sleepy`s got a point." Remarked Sirius. "How can we fix it so she feels the least sadness possible?"
"I know a way that can make everyone involved feel the least heartbreak possible."
Lily reached into her trunk, and pulled out the purple vial with the infamous seal.
A hush fell over the room. "What does it do?"
"It will make me forget about him for a little while, or at least until I`m over it."
Alice softly asked, "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Connecting eyes with Mattie, she nodded. "It`s the noble thing to do."
So, as her roommates looked on in horror, Lily broke the seal, and popped off the cap.
"Here goes nothing."
But in fact, she knew that it was truly everything that was going to be gone.
Goodbye, James.
Lily raised the vial to her lips, closing her eyes in the process. Ready to drink.
Goodbye-
The liquid never passed her lips. Suddenly, Lily`s hand was empty, the stopper on the bed snatched up. Melody was flying out of the room, vial in hand, sprinting like a madwoman.
"Mel!" Mattie raced after her friend, wand in hand.
The rainfall of footsteps grew softer as the chase lead down to the common room.
It had started to rain.
"Good thing you didn`t end up flying around in this." Sirius observed. "The two of you would have been struck by lightning.
"Still would be better than this." James grumbled.
The whole situation was beginning to wear on the other four roommates, who had been subjected to five and a half years of Lily-mania, and were already quite tired of the whole thing, especially Frank, and especially since it was the middle of the night. "Come on, James. You have a girlfriend."
"Not for long."
"Not if you want to win Lily back." Remus reminded him.
Thunder cracked outside the window, and James resumed his miserable position. "Urg. Can`t divine intervention stop this madness? Can`t it see Lily and I are soul mates? What ever happened to the guy just getting the girl the easy way and riding off into the sunset?"
"Nothing`s fun the easy way."
"Will the heavens just sit by and let true love be destroyed?!"
Sirius, Remus, and Peter shook their heads at each other at the extreme drama, and Frank began to head back to bed. "Give it a rest, Potter. Oh, and keep it down, I`m going back to sleep."
In the moment Frank peeled back his covers, several things happened at once. Lightning flashed out the window. James` head crashed back onto his mattress in exasperation. A desperate hand closed around the doorknob, and pushed.
Crack.
Melody Williamson stood in the doorway, wild hair and wilder eyes, lit only by the candles –and for the briefest moment, a flash of lightning- held up a mystical purple vial like it was her firstborn child.
"Potter, you`re not going to believe what I`ve got. Lupin, Black, barricade the door, there`s a madwoman on my tail."
The boys, dumbstruck, did as she said, and Peter guided her to the bed next to James.
"What is it?"
Mel and James were face to face, eyes locked, and she held the vial between them like it contained existence itself.
"The key," She replied, her voice hushed, "to your happiness."
A loud noise rang out, which at first everyone assumed was thunder, but they then realize was coming from the door as it continued.
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
"Mel! Guys, open up, she`s gone mad! Don`t listen to her, it`s too dangerous! Mel, you`ve got to stop this!"
Terror filled Melody`s eyes. "You locked it?"
Remus nodded. "With the extra precautions."
"That won`t hold for very long. Help me move this dresser."
Even Frank, too filled with adrenaline to be sleepy anymore, ran to the furniture by the door and began to push.
"Why are we trying to keep Mattie out?"
On the other side of the door, the pounding had stopped, but the yelling continued. It was a wonder she hadn`t woken up the whole castle.
"I know what you`re up to, Melly, but it`s not going to work! I know Lily shouldn't be drinking it, but it`s equally horrible to give to an innocent Ravenclaw!"
"What exactly is she talking about?"
The dresser was moving, but due to the overabundance of clothing lying all over the ground, it was still not in position. The knob was beginning to rattle, meaning Mattie was over halfway through unraveling the curses the Marauders had placed on the door.
"She knows too much, I suppose." Mel signed. "Let her in, but tie her up or something so she can`t fight. Oh, and she probably has a wand."
Remus opened the door, and Sirius expertly stunned the battle-ready Mattie, catching her easily before dragging her inside the dorm room.
"Hopefully, the storm covered up those screams."
Mattie was placed on one of the beds, and Mel again sat down opposite James.
"So, I think you remember the drug Lily took the day of the last match?"
All of the boys nodded, James having informed them of the events that had conspired after his detention.
"Well, Madeline did not just give Lily one vial. She had originally given her two, and would not specify which was which. The first, the one that Lily obviously mistakenly took, which I`m guessing I do not need to explain the side effects of," The others nodded, except for Mattie, for obvious reasons. "And the second, darker one, which Lily had been trying to drink. This."
The vial was held high for all to admire in the eerie midnight light.
"This potion is designed to erase memories of people so that they can go through the phases of heartbreak or grief without remembering or holding on to the memories of the person who has left them. It`s not ideal, but it has apparently worked on tons of Hufflepuffs. You, Potter, can use this on your Ravenclaw girl."
Melody sat there proudly, as the boys stared on in awe.
James shook his head, an expression of pure mirth occupying his face. "Mel, I could kiss you."
"Please don`t. It`ll just make everything waaaay more difficult than it already is."
On the next bed over, the stunning spell had worn off, and Mattie whacked Sirius hard with her arm.
"Ow! What`s that for?"
"Not opening the door, you prick. As for you," she turned to her best friend, "you`re making a huge mistake."
"Oh?"
"We can`t trust Madeline, remember? Just because she said it`s a recovery potion, does not mean she is telling the truth! I`m all for drugging ol` Blondie Ravenclaw, but not unless we are positive what the stuff is going to do to her."
The ethical reasoning put a damper on the mood.
"What if we can test it somehow?" Peter asked.
Thinking it over, Mattie nodded. "Sure, as long as the test subject is willing and knows what could happen, I suppose we could give it a shot."
"I`ll do it." Mel offered.
"No."
"Mats, I`m the only one who`s got someone to get over." James knew Mel, and when she had her mind set on something, it would take forces of nature beyond wizard control to stop her. "The only one who should be getting over someone, anyway. It`s about time."
Everyone looked to Mattie, as if asking permission.
"Fine. But if I so much as suspect something funny has happened to you, I`m hauling you up to Dumbledore and getting Madeline expelled."
Everyone gathered around the small redhead, and Remus poured several drops into an empty cup.
"Bottoms up." Mel joked, and after giving her best friend a reassuring look, downed the potion.
James knew nobody even breathed in the second after Mel downed the drink. Besides a far-away look in her eyes, nothing seemed to have changed.
"Are you…" Frank started to ask, but then Melody slipped off the bed and fell to the floor, clutching her head.
The glass cup smashed instantly upon impact, and James swore he saw red flash through the small shards.
A/N: Yes, I know, I am evil.
To the guest reviewer of my last chapter (Ermaherd?), I`m thrilled that you seem to be enjoying my story so much. Don`t worry, I`m writing as fast as I can.
...And because I don`t think I say this enough, thank you to the consistently glowing reviews from Elefantinchen, MasterAssassinScrolls, and . , and all of the support from BlueViolets87. You guys keep me writing.