Instantly, I changed my mind. Frank, though, was having none of it, and firmly continued to push me until my nose was brushing the inside stones of the fireplace. The grey rocks were sooty, covered in terrible ash. It was as though I sprinkled pepper straight up into my nostrils, for at that moment, I let out a great sneeze, followed by a loud, "No–ooooooo," my word of protest turned into a fancy little tune as Frank threw some powder into the building fire, and said the location for me.
Funny, Frank seemed to be a lot more presumptuous than the last time we'd met— if you ask me— but then again, he's not the one hurtling through whatever wizards hurtling through to make it to their intended destination via the Floo Network— no, that would be me.
"–ooooooo–umph," I finally stopped. For the second time that day, I landed flat on my bum, blowing locks of hair out of my eyes. My mood was slowly beginning to sour. After moving out of the line of fire Frank was most likely going to appear through, I slowly leaned back until my back was flat on the hard wood floor. Staring straight up at the wooden beams supporting the molten, decomposing ceiling, the putrid scent settled over the room suddenly made itself known to me. Where was I? Surely this wasn't the Grape Vine. It was dimly lit, and smaller than that shack Black Magic had taken me to initially. Rock stars of their prominence certainly wouldn't stand for boarding in a one-roomed shanty.
The sudden sound of a body landing harshly on the ground next to me caused my lip to curl slightly. Huffily, I crossed my arms over my chest, glaring up at the balance beams. A few house elves shifted around in the corners, somberly cleaning the dust and mildew from the walls and floor, causing me to wonder what this place exactly was.
But, at the moment, I had other matters to attend to. Such as. . .
"You pushed me into a ride of spirally death," I snarled at Frank.
Not at all affected by his journey, nor my spitted words, Frank hopped up to his feet, turning around to help— well, pull— me up as well. Shakily, I regained my bearings, holding me hand out and grasping on to the rickety, dangerously loose piece of wood used as a mantle as I saw only black spots. I was drowsy, and it was beginning to affect me.
"It was inevitable, Lily, really," answered Frank briskly. He gently took my arm and guided me out a door not six feet away from the fireplace. I crossed my arms, trying to make sense of the situation. How, exactly, would I be contacted when my flight to Chicago was once more ready to be boarded? Why was the band going through so much trouble just to bring me to them? My luggage, of course, was with them, but that could easily be shipped out to me. They were wizards, after all, and could find where my father lived without breaking a sweat from the non-existent effort they would have to go through.
As soon as Frank opened the door, my vision was filled with startling light. This room he was leading me into was the exact opposite of the one I had just lain in a few moments ago. Large, and cheerful, the room— I suppose it was a parlor of some sorts— was painted an ivory white. Great pillars held the chandelier-spotted ceiling, boughs of grape vines spiraling down the white columns. Paintings of landscapes, people, and many oddities one wouldn't expect in a painting littered the walls.
This was the Grape Vine.
The marble floor beneath my feet seemed to vibrate suddenly. I looked over at Frank, who was staring expectantly up at the massive staircase to our right. Curiously, I followed his gaze and found myself staring at a large abundance of males stampeding down the stairs.
Remus was the first of the crowd to approach us.
"Excellent," he breathed out with relief. "Dreadfully sorry about the misunderstanding, Lily. We've taken the liberty to move your luggage up to a room hopefully up to your standards."
"Hey Frank, you found her!" exclaimed Sirius happily, bounding up to us, a wide grin on his face. For half a second, I found myself annoyed with his carefree tone. How could anyone be so mellow after the hell I've just been through?
"Lily!" Peter tackled me into a large hug, knocking the wind from me.
"Hi," I answered breathlessly, and very much in discomfort.
"Give her some air, won't you, Wormtail?" James spoke from a few feet away, breaking away from his hushed conversation with another grungy only for a moment to wink reassuringly at me. "The girl needs to breath, ya know."
Another set of footsteps sounded from the stairs. Jim came barreling down so fast, I was struck grateful for the fact that his hand was making good use of the railing and not trip down the marble steps. It didn't take five seconds before Peter was flying away until his back hit the wall behind me non-too-gently, and Jim's arms replaced Peter's around my form.
"Man, Lily, I'm so sorry. We should have paid more attention. Oh, man, where'd you end up? I hope you didn't think we'd abandon you and leave you to make due on your own." I slowly breathed in, my head spinning. He smelt like cinnamon. . . It took everything I had not to drop into a faint then and there in Jim's arms.
"We put your bags up in the pearl room, right next to mine. It's really nice; you'll like it. You should go and lie down, or maybe take a shower. Just relax," he continued to babble on, even as Sirius was pulling him away from me. He then got a full shot of my state and tripped into another stream of words, "What happened to you? Have you been crying? Where'd you end up? Your sweater is torn. Did someone do this to you? I'm so sorry; we should have been paying more attention. The Great Swine, is that where you ended up? Shady place, that is Lily—,"
"Well, we could let Jim continue on with his incoherent prattle, or we could get back to work and let Martin take Lily up to her room; she looks like she could faint dead on the spot," Sirius broke through, staring at Lily.
Before Jim could answer, Remus cut in and said, "I, on behalf of everyone, choose the latter." He rubbed his ears moodily and nodded at a guy I assumed to be Martin. The guy had a funky nose ring, dread locks, and shabby clothing.
I let him take me up the staircase and down endless rows of halls until we finally reached mine. Not even taking the time to observe the room, I made a beeline for the bed and instantly fell asleep when my head hit the pillow.
"Tolly wishes Miss Lily to please awaken."
Cold, slithering fingertips prodded at my face and arm. That was the first sensation I felt, which brought me out of my heavy slumber. Feeling like I'd been strongly sedated, I lazily opened my eyes, staring straight into another set of large, golf ball eyes of mint green. The house elf who had woken me was wearing a turban around its head, covering the large ears I knew had to be stuffed underneath.
With a joyous, ugly smile, the house elf, Tolly, continued, "Master James wishes for Miss Lily to meet him and the rest of Master James' band in the dining room for dinner. Master Sirius wishes for Tolly to lead Miss Lily there."
"Alright," I murmured, fighting off the drowsiness that still threatened to throw me unconscious once more. "Alright, I'll only be a few moments. I should really take a shower first."
"Tolly will wait for Miss Lily," announced Tolly, clutching her hands in front of her patiently. I smiled and dragged myself up to my suitcases, pulling out new clothes and socks. Curiously, I pulled open a door I knew didn't lead to the hall and peeked through it, happy to see it was a bathroom.
A quarter hour later, I found myself refreshed and following Tolly along the carpeted hall to a large room filled with laughter. I watched, for a few concealed moments, as Sirius head banged and flailed a pair of drumsticks— I assumed he'd nicked them from Remus' luggage— around, lost in a musical world all his own. Beside him, Jim, James, and Remus were lounging back, casually sipping some sort of beverage and cracking jokes.
"C'mon, Lily," a voice sounded behind me, suddenly, causing me to jump slightly. I turned, expecting to see Tolly standing there, but instead, Peter stood there.
Grinning, he took my gently by the arm and guided me into the room, "We've been waiting for you, and I for one am starving."
"Oh, sorry," I apologized, taking a seat in an unoccupied chair right next to Jim, across from Peter, "I dozed off for a while. Must have lost track of time."
"Not a problem," answered Remus, motioning someone to come to him. In response, an older woman walked into the dining room, a dozen or so platters of food levitated behind her. For a moment, flashbacks of my first feast at Hogwarts came to my mind. "We've just been discussing the finer aspects of Professor Norrington."
"Remember him, Lily?" asked James conversationally.
"Of course," I exclaimed, my eyes wide as I began to scoop some mashed potatoes onto my plate. "He was such a pleasant man; taught Potions so explicitly and with such vigor and passion. I really admired him."
A moment's silence passed through the room, and for that short amount of time, I felt more self-conscious than I've ever felt before. And, with my past discretions and humiliating escapades, that was saying something. Then, just before my face was going to burst into flames (by then, it was red and hot enough) everyone began to laugh. I stared at them, bemused.
A reassuring hand was placed on my shoulder as Jim gave it a gently squeeze. I looked over at him, my heart melting when he winked at me. "We're not laughing at you, Lily," he assured me, chuckling heartily himself.
"What are you laughing at, then?" I asked, fidgeting nervously in my seat as I fingered my utensils hesitantly. My appetite was slowly dispersing.
"Professor Norrington hated us," indulged Peter, before stuffing a large portion of peas into his mouth, his shoulders quivering with giggles.
"He hated everyone," informed Sirius, who had ceased his musical actions and was now focusing intently on the volcano mound of mashed potatoes he had formed, "except his 'select few' of acceptable students."
"Translation: young, beautiful, female students," Remus explained, rolling his eyes as he thought back to his most abhorred professor, "He's such a nasty, old man."
"No way!" I cried out, thinking back to the potions instructor. It did kind of make sense. I did recall a few times he'd give me and a few other girls extra points for just turning in assignments. Though, at the time, he had remarked that those essays were 'exceptionally written'.
Though. . .I had only just scribbled about three paragraphs with no research, five minutes before we were to turn them in.
Leaning forward, I rested my elbows on the table, my mouth hanging open, aghast and shocked. "Wow," I said.
That only made them laugh all the harder. As embarrassed as I was at that moment, the fact that Jim suddenly had his arm around me in a half-hug made the humiliation all worth while.
"That's just too funny, Lily," he gasped out.
A/N: Sorry about the wait. . . wow, almost four months. God bless anyone still reading this! Anyways, I'm not sure I like the ending to this chapter, but it'll have to do, I suppose. Now, all readers, don't get selfish on the reviews. I slaved over this chapter (coughs) for hours, hoping to get a response.
