A/N:
Here's the second installment to my story. I'd appreciate it greatly if you'd
review after you read. Many thanks to Aura Potter, Sirius, and Michelle. ;)
Trepidation of A Rose
Chapter
Two: Rebel Without A Cause
"Do
you like it?" Natalie asked much later that night, as she and Lily collapsed
tiredly on the battered red loveseat that used to belong to Natalie's great
aunt. Natalie, of course, was referring to the flat.
"Are
you kidding? I love it. It's positively perfect," Lily gushed, and in her eyes,
it was. The sitting room was surprisingly large, with refined hardwood floors,
and a bay window that overlooked the northern edge of Hogsmeade. The door to
the left of the loveseat led into the kitchen, with its waist-high cabinets
that were topped with pallid marble. Beside the kitchen was a green-carpeted
hallway, with adjacent bedrooms and a bathroom, that the two young women would
undoubtedly fight to get into first in the mornings.
"Did
I tell you I have a job interview tomorrow, with the Daily Prophet?" Natalie
yawned, snuggling under her blanket a bit more.
"No,
you didn't tell me," Lily said, surprised her best friend hadn't shared this
information with her. She tugged stubbornly on the blanket as Natalie burrowed
further into it.
"Oh.
Well, I do. If I get the job, I'll be doing reporting; little stuff at first I
suppose, but I'll work my way up." Natalie was highly ambitious, and had placed
extremely well on the N.E.W.T's, so Lily had no qualms that Natalie would get
her job.
The
two sat in companionable silence for a long time, both gazing out of the window
to the street below, watching as store after store turned off their porch
lights, seemingly in sync. The flat was nestled at the base of the mountain
that shadowed Hogsmeade, directly at the end of the main street. It really was
the idyllic house.
"I
got the idea at dinner that Michael doesn't very much like James. Or Sirius,
come to think of it," Natalie broke the silence, turning her head slightly, to
watch Lily's expression.
Lily frowned, not wanting to admit to
Natalie, that her boyfriend hated James. Kneading her forehead with her
knuckles, she explained tentatively. "He doesn't. I asked him about it once,
and he just told me that he didn't like them because they were 'Quidditch
loving fools'. I've asked him about it many times since then, but he refuses to
give me a straight answer." Lily shrugged, lost for answers, and pulled the
blanket around her shoulders. "That's why I was less than… enthusiastic when he
arrived at Auliera's. I knew that he'd come with us to dinner, despite his
dislike for James." She paused for a moment, and Natalie stayed quiet, knowing
that her friend wasn't quite finished. "I don't know what to do, Nat. Michael is
nice, respectable, polite…but I can't keep dating him when he doesn't approve
of my friends."
"I
can't tell you what to do, because frankly, I have no idea myself." Natalie
abruptly stood then, taking the blanket with her. "I'm going to bed. 'Night."
"Good
Night," Lily sighed as Natalie left, leaving Lily to watch the stars, until her
eyes closed in exhaustion, and she fell into a fitful sleep.
* * * * * * * * *
Lily
was in a dark, steel cell, and the air was heavy with danger and evil. For some
indefinite reason, she was crouching in the darkest corner, and she was acing
all over, and gasping for breath. A tall, cloaked figure came to her cell door,
and Lily felt an icy hand grip her heart.
"Are you ready? Ready to die?" a
man's voice, full of hatred screamed.
"Ready to die if I get to fight you,
you cowardly bastard," Lily spat, rising to her feet.
The hooded man whipped out his wand,
and screeched, "Crucio!" And he laughed, hard and loud, as the beautiful young
girl quaked with pain. She didn't scream out in pain from the throbbing, aching
curse though, and that made the man fill with rage. She collapsed to the floor,
her pale skin shining in the dark.
"Stop! Leave her alone!" came a new
voice, from beside the steel cage Lily was in. The shapeless, nameless man
turned, and with a flick of his wand, he repeated the Cruciatus Curse on the
young man, who didn't scream out in pain either.
"Did that hurt?" the shrill voice
came from the tall man. There was no response, and the man raised his wand once
more. "I asked you if that hurt Potter." Still there was no response, and the
man again seemed to be filled with fury. "ANSWER ME BOY! IMPERIO!"
There was silence, which was broken
when the young man, yelled with odium, "NEVER!"
"Then I shall torture you until you
learn how to obey your master!"
"You will never be my master, and I
will die before I obey you," the man beside Lily said softly, with hate.
"I value courage, boy, not ignorance.
You will learn, or else I will kill you." The hooded man turned and left,
slamming a door behind him.
"Je t'aime, lis." The young man
whispered into the darkness.
"I love you too," Lily whispered
back.
* * * * * * * * *
Lily
fell asleep on the couch, and it was really unfortunate that she was not a
morning person, because the sunlight that streamed through the window from the
rising sun was really something. But Lily didn't appreciate it at all, as it
had woken her up, and since she was never in a good mood the first thing in the
morning, Natalie knew better than to comment on Lily's hair, as she passed her
in the hallway, on her way to her interview. Lily's hair looked worse than James's when he hadn't even attempted
to brush it for a few days, but Natalie said nothing of the sort, and just
smiled angelically in passing. Lily glared at her through her snarled hair, and
stomped off to her room, where she met a flock of chirping birds outside her
window.
She
growled under her breath at the birds, who were perfectly content with
screeching to each other piercingly. She turned on her heel sharply, and
walked, bleary eyed into the kitchen, where Natalie was buttering a piece of
toast.
"I
will not kill the birds, I will not kill the birds," Lily chanted darkly, as
she jumped half heartedly unto the counter, succeeding in knocking the salt
shaker to the floor.
"That's
the spirit," Natalie grinned, tossing her knife into the sink, where it clicked
metallically against a few glasses. "Morning, by the way," Natalie added as an afterthought, stuffing here
toast into her mouth.
Lily
merely grumbled incoherently in response, dropping her head into her arms.
"I was thinking," Natalie told
Lily airily, "if you got some free time today, you could straighten up around
the house, maybe clean up the backyard, get us some groceries, and do the
dishes." She paused thoughtfully, her face drawn in mock concentration. "And
would you mind ironing my navy blue skirt?" Natalie kept a straight face, but
her gray eyes were laughing.
"I
wouldn't mind giving you a swift kick in the- " Lily said threateningly,
picking up the tub of butter and hurling it at Natalie, who apparated away in
the nick of time.
Lily
put her chin in her hands, sighing heavily and looking demure as she wondered
what she was really going to do that day. She was not employed yet, so
there was no job to scurry off to; yet all her friends had jobs, or was getting
interviews for everything from the Ministry down to the Ireland Quidditch team.
Hell, even Sirius was grabbing responsibility by the horns, and getting steady
money. She wasn't quite sure what he did to get that money, but he claimed he
had a job, so Lily just prayed it was permissible, since Sirius hadn't given
any elaborate details as to what he did, and knowing Sirius- well it very well
could be illegal.
Even
little Peter Pettigrew, who was as talented as a toothpick, was working as
floor supervisor at Flourish & Blotts in Diagon Alley- in other words, he
stacked the books, and swept the floors, but a job was a job. Lily sighed
deeply again, tapping her fingers on the table, to rid herself of the deafening
silence. She could always take a trip down south, and drop in on Remus Lupin,
who was, last she checked, spending the summer with his parents, in London.
The
Lupins were a superior family, and they lived in an imposing brick mansion,
with remarkable panorama. They had desecrated Remus since he had been bit by a
werewolf, and he was only welcomed into their home because his mother had a
certain affection for him. Ronan Lupin, Remus's father who was head in the
Department of Mysteries for the Ministry, only acknowledged his son when
exalted officers in his department asked how Remus was doing at Hogwarts, and
even then Ronan couldn't hide his repugnance for his son.
Lily
knew his summer would be generally horrible, and that Natalie wouldn't mind
having an extra room mate, especially if it happened to be the tall, sandy
haired man with amethyst eyes, and a satirical sense of humor. Lily smiled
brightly, as she headed to the bathroom for a shower, imagining her life as a
magical psychiatrist. Or maybe, just maybe, she should picture her life as the
patient of a magical shrink.
* * * * * * * * *
Remus
Lupin had been sitting at his ornate desk for what seemed like hours, when a
saint- whoever it was, it didn't really matter at this point, Remus would have
welcomed Satan himself in fluffy, pink bedroom slippers- knocked on the side
door of the kitchen. Remus practically sprinted from the sitting room into the
kitchen, a merciful smile plastered on his face, exceptionally glad to get away
from the atrocious report his father had given to him at dawn, with strict
orders for it to be done by the time he got home.
"Lily!"
Remus cried as he flung open the door, his smile wide, and his eyes bright.
Lily
stepped into the house, her lips twitching upwards. "Don't take this the wrong
way Remus, but you look like hell wormed over." Remus chuckled as he led her to the plum overstuffed couch in the
sitting room.
"I appreciate your bluntness. Tea?"
"No
thanks, it's a bit too early for me yet," Lily said.
"No
tea? Lily, you're just a rebel without a cause," Remus tried his best to look scandalized.
Lily waved her hand in impatience, as
Remus sat down across from her and poured himself a cup of tea from an antique
chipped white teapot.
"How
have you been?" She asked as he sipped his cup noisily.
"Since
I saw you two weeks ago at graduation? Just dandy, thanks," Remus grinned
cheekily, his voice heavy with sarcasm. Remus gestured to the books and papers
that covered his desk, and sat his cup down.
Lily
cocked an eyebrow, and said, "Tell me your father hasn't made you do report
after report."
"Oh,
but he has. Right now I'm working on pewter cauldrons." Lily pressed her lips
together in a desperate attempt to not laugh out loud at Remus's fate, but
Remus caught this and started to laugh himself.
"I
have a proposal for you." Lily told him after he collected himself. "Natalie
and I have bought ourselves a house in Hogsmeade, and I know that you want to
get out of here as soon as possible, so…would you like to move in with us until
you can find a place?"
"I'd…love
to. But I don't think I should, considering my-er condition." Remus trailed
off, shrugging his shoulders in despondency.
"About
you being a werewolf? I've already thought of that. We could just lock you in
one of the rooms, Remus, nothing to it. Don't worry about it." Lily said
easily, not at all bothered by the thought of having a werewolf living with
her, or by putting herself in danger of being bitten.
Remus
smiled softly, amazed at what great friends he'd been blessed with. "I'll think
about it Lily." She grinned back, and the two soon got in a 'heated' debate
about who was likely to win the Quidditch World Cup this summer, and whether or
not they'd be lucky enough to scrap enough money together to buy tickets. Remus
nor Lily had never been all that good at the sport (Lily was afraid of
heights), but they had been avid fans of the Gryffindor team when they were at
Hogwarts, and hadn't missed a game, mostly because James and Sirius had been
Chasers for the Gryffindors.
"Do
you want to go get something to eat?" Remus asked when they had decided that if
they ever got jobs, they would save their money, and get Top Box seats.
"I'd
thought you'd never ask, Remus." They
grabbed the coats, headed for the door.
The two Apparated discreetly in a downtown crowded street in London. "Do you want to go to Tisco's?" Remus asked
vociferously, over the slight roar of the crowd. Tisco's was notorious for it's
Italian pastas and breads, and it's café like tables that were set outside on a
veranda.
"How'd
you know I was craving their treacle and a hot chocolate?" Lily asked in mock
surprise, laying a hand on her forehead, in the act of a damsel in distress.
"I
suppose I just know you too well," Remus laughed, offering Lily his arm, which
she gladly accepted, and they strolled off to Tisco's.
* * * * * * * * *
"Broken
any young man's heart lately?" Remus
asked as Lily stirred sugar into her mug of hot chocolate. They had both
finished their lunches, and were chatting about everything in general.
"No.
I'm still dating Michael Vorkosy," Lily said, taking a sip of her steaming
cocoa.
"The
20 year old who's a junior Hit Wizard? The bloke from the Ravenclaw team that
beat Gryffindor when we were in our fourth year, and who slightly resembles a
Malfoy?" Remus asked with a slight snicker, sticking his finger in Lily's
treacle sauce, and licking it off his finger. Lily pulled a pace.
"He
does not even remotely look like a Malfoy," Lily said sharply, even
though he did. He had the same pale flaxen hair, that was always slicked off
his forehead, and the pale blue-gray eyes. "And don't steal my sauce."
"So
sorry," Remus said, as he leaned over to swipe some more, but Lily slapped his
hand away. He sank back in his chair,
and crossed his arms over his chest, sulking childishly.
Lily
laughed at his antics, and passed him the plate. "Mangez Vers le haut." Remus
met her bright green eyes in a blank stare.
"It's
French," Lily said, and waved the waiter down. "It means Eat up."
"I
didn't know you knew French," Remus said, interested at this fact, but even
more interested in slurping up the treacle sauce.
"Auliera
taught it to me the summer before our seventh year. It's really not that
hard." Lily told Remus, and took the
check from the waiter. She started to grab for her purse, but Remus shook his
head.
"We'll
split," he said through a mouthful of food. Lily shook her head and handed the
waiter two green pieces of paper.
"You
don't even have any Muggle money," Lily said, as soon as the waiter was gone.
"I'll
pay you back," Remus said, but Lily just looked amused. "I will," he protested.
"Whatever
Remus. Are you almost done? I came to shop," Lily smiled blissfully, as she
eyed the small shops that lined the street. Remus groaned, burying his face in
his hands.
"I
should have known you had an ulterior motive."
Lily grinned sneakily. "Don't I
always?"