James finally managed
to get into the dormitory at around one o'clock that morning. After hiding
from two teachers and several ghosts that would have turned him in, he
got to the Fat Lady muttered 'Horse tails' and got into the common room.
Creeping up the stairs,
he walked into the dorm quietly and pulled off his shoes. With a rather
loud yawn, James pulled his robes off over his head and collapsed down
under the blankets. Taking several deep breaths he closed his eyes, saw
three stages of darkness, and then was completely asleep.
The window that separated
the cold wind from the crackling fire creaked silently emitting a dark
purple light. With her finger locked and her eyes closed into squints,
Nox hovered into the male dormitory.
A gust of wind chilled
her, until her tiny teeth chattered. She used a little more magic then
necessary and the window slammed closed with a loud bang! Letting out a
fearful yelp, she dived onto the floor and waited for someone to get up.
Remus' eyes snapped
opened immediately and he quickly glanced around the room. Nox was hiding
under Sirius' bed but her dark purple aura still glew slightly. Remus appeared
to think this over, decided it was his imagination, turned over, and fell
asleep again.
Nox let out a sigh
of relief, and turned back to stare at James. Landing carefully on his
blankets, she kneeled and began crawling towards him like a cat. When she
reached the end of his blanket, she stood up and cracked her fingers. When
she was just about ready to attack him, he threw his blankets off the bed
and she tumbled with them onto the floor. Nox let out a yelp of surprise
from underneath the heavy quilt.
"Wretched boy!" she
hissed, flying up into the air. Diving down for her second attempt, she
paused and looked at him from high above. He was quite handsome, laying
there, bathed in moonlight without a night shirt on. Nox could feel her
face tingling, like it was trying to pull into a smile, but at the last
second she smacked herself across and her expression changed into a scowl.
"No way am I changing
into another Luna!" she spat out, putting her hands on her hips. Her wings
flared out as she flew towards him again, "Now lets see," Nox paused to
think to herself out loud, "Which would work the best to break his bond
with her...? I could boil him in a pot, or make him an inch high; I could
make him hate Lily." She thought for quite awhile until she decided that
if she could reverse all of his emotions, it would be the easiest way to
get her to hate him and vice versa. Nox shook out her hands and flicked
a length of hair over her bare shoulder.
She mumbled her enchantment,
and watched it instantly go straight for his forehead, but when it reached
him it shot back and, at twice the speed, it made Nox dart downward to
avoid being hit.
"What the hell!?"
she asked, floating down on top of James' bare chest. There was a small
giggle, and Nox covered her face when a white light illuminated in the
air.
"Nice to see you're
still alive, Nox," Luna said, giggling as she meet Nox eye to eye.
"Luna," Nox said with
a small angry scowl, "What are you doing here?"
"Oh nothing really,
I just thought I'd make sure this boy was OK," Luna said, walking over
towards his head and kissing him on the cheek.
"I see you've chosen
him," Nox said, pretending to brush off her tiny skirt, "I'll be on my
way then."
"Oh, you wanted to
choose him?" Luna asked, running forward in with a fleet of giggles.
"Of course not," Nox
said sternly, not even the slightest bit blush covered her face, "You know
I'd never give up my dignity. I wouldn't slip so low as to loving a human."
Luna shrunk back.
She looked hurt, her cheeks puffed pink, and she looked like she was going
to cry. Nox began flying away, when Luna noticed something on the tips
of her wings. They sparkled white and reflected the same aura as Luna always
did.
She laughed and flew
up to block Nox's exit, "What do you want?" Nox asked angrily.
Luna laughed and pointed
at her wings, "You might want to reconsider your thoughts." Before Nox
could ask any questioned Luna disappeared with another small giggle. Nox
turned and looked at her wings; they were black as night with jagged tips.
She examined the points and the texture, which felt completely normal,
but when she reach the last tip she gasped and nearly died to shock, it
was a glittery silver and reflected white light in her eyes.
"There's little time...
I must get a stronger body," she looked around the room one last time then
disappeared underneath the floor boards.
@---^--
Sirius yawned and looked
at his night stand. His clock read 7:45. He smacked it into silence, "Great,
only fifteen minutes," he said angrily throwing his blankets to the ground,
"I hate getting up late! Too bad I'm addicted to it," he walked over to
James' bed who (as per usual) was still sleeping, "Get up, James, we have
to get ready," Sirius said, shacking his friend into a mild consciousness.
"What do you want,
Sirius?" James asked, rolling over and away from his friend.
"We only have fifteen
minutes to get to Herbology," Sirius said, shacking him again.
"Tell Athens I'm going
to be late," James said, tucking his head underneath his pillow.
"Yeah, fine, whatever,"
Sirius gave up and headed down stairs to the common room.
James didn't want
to get up, his body wasn't functioning properly. He meant to go to class
but didn't realize how tired he was. He fell asleep again and started to
dream.
@---^--
"James...?" echoed
a familiar voice somewhere nearby. His eyes fluttered open, and he gawked
at his new surroundings. No longer the dark dormitory, but a brightly lit
forest area. The trees surrounded him and shut off his exits. There was
a tiny waterfall that danced down dark gray stones and entered a tiny pool.
Roses giggled around the little pond, creating a dark red border. The trees
pushed him closer to the pool of water. It was getting suffocating.
"James....?" the same
echoed female voice said. The sky instantly darkened, and the waterfall
ceased it's descent. Moonshine pierced the dense forest and illuminated
the resting pool of water. A ripple began in the center... slowly it reached
the outer edges. The roses reacted and turned dove white, like the sea
when the winds make the waves crash.
Lily's image appeared
above the lake. She floated weakly above its surface. Her eyes snapped
open and she smiled brightly. Her image was almost transparent,
but the roses flew up from the ground and covered her in a white elegant
gown.
"I'll remember this
day always," she said, stepping down on air. She reached him and took both
his hands, "It's been a long time. I missed you."
The sun appeared again,
and Lily still stood in front of him. He just remembered that he'd fallen
asleep in his underwear, quickly looking down he realized that he was in
a white tuxedo that matched the flower petals that scattered Lily's dress.
She giggled, plucking
a flower from a nearby tree. She pinned it gently onto her cloak and smiled
at him brightly.
"I love you," she
whispered, kissing his cheek.
"I love you too,"
he felt himself saying... what was he thinking?! He'd had a crush of Lily
for awhile, but he wasn't ready to admit it to her. He covered his mouth,
causing a smile to form on her face.
"Come with me, we
must call out the fairies to grant our wish," Lily said, dragging him alone.
The trees separated for her and she showed him a circle of stones with
a large pool of water that seemed to be bottomless.
"Help me call out
the fairy so we can get our wish granted," Lily said lifting one stone
and putting it in his hand.
"What wish would that
be?" he asked, turning the stone over. It was pearly white and shined in
the sun.
"To get married, of
course," Lily said lifting another rock from around the circle. He gawked
at her openness... this wasn't the Lily Evans whom, on the first time she
rode a broomstick, tried to save Peter from the top of a tree, only to
get stuck there herself; this wasn't the Lily who never spoke to anyone
because she was shy, or the Lily that tried to impress the teachers with
her knowledge.
"But... I-..." James
began. Lily silenced him with one finger.
"Let's call out the
fairies." she insisted, dropping her small stone into the water. James
mimicked her and threw his stone in. Lily smiled and looked down at the
water. It turned a light translucent green, and several fairies flew up
into the air.
"Finally!" a familiar
looking Sirius fairy said, landing on Lily's shoulder, "You really ought
to let us out more often."
"I'm sorry," Lily
said, patting the little Sirius's head. He was wearing tight forest green
trousers that were torn at the knees. He didn't have a shirt on, and James
couldn't help but laugh at his mini-sized best friend, with light pink
wings and dirty feet.
"And whom might this
be?" a blond fairy asked, surveying James' facial features, "He's new isn't
he, Lily?"
She nodded. James
held out his hand, and the tiny Remus fairy landed in his palm. Remus had
tight blue trousers on. He was also shirtless, but seemed to be cleaner
then Sirius.
There was a small patter.
The 'Moon Garden', as it was called, rippled, tense, as one coughing Peter
fairy tried to flap out, but with wet wings it was nearly impossible. Lily
lowered her hand and lifted the small fairy slowly.
"Thank you," he coughed,
shacking off like a wet dog, "Who is this?"
"This is James Potter,"
Lily said. The three fairies landed next to her as she sat on the ground,
"We're going to get married."
The three fairies
appeared happy for them. They flew up and landed on her shoulders, congratulating
her. Then they flew over to James and inspected him, to see if he was 'worthy'
of donning their treasure.
As they talked it
over with each other, no one noticed that the water in the Moon Garden
was turning slowly scarlet. It began getting turbulent, when one more spirit
appeared. It was dark. The sky faded into blackness, scaring the three
fairy men into Lily's arms. A dark purple aura surrounded the newcomers
weak body as she slowly lowered herself to the first white stone.
Sirius, Remus, and the rather
shacking Peter landed in front of her, and blocked her entrance to their
'Mistress'.
"What are you doing
here?" Sirius snapped, stepping forward.
"Dirty again, I see,"
Nox said quickly scanning him with her eyes, "You were never able to keep
clean were you? Honestly! You even live underwater!" She threw some hair
over her shoulder, and strutted over towards Lily. Lily lowered her head
in a respective bow. Nox pushed Remus behind her and into Sirius. She only
glared at Peter, who slowly shuttered out of the way.
"Lily," Nox began, she looked
disapproved, "You bring another suitor with you.... have you not learned
from what happened last time?"
"He's worthy! I can
feel it," Lily explained lowering her hand to let the dark pixie sit on
it. Nox refused. She flew up to to stare into James' eyes. He instantly
felt a sharp pain. His eyes watered as she refused to let go of her glare.
"No! Like all the
others, none of them can live up to your expectations." Nox said, gliding
down to the ground.
"That's a lie," Sirius
spat out, and Nox turned towards him. She looked at him confused.
"You would know, would
you?!" she began, "If I remember correctly, you're the fairy who allowed
those people to turn into animals... Animagi, as you called it. Ha! Transfiguration
helped our civilization for years. The pathetic witches and wizards of
the world should be happy that they can do simple spells!"
Nox was getting carried
away. Sirius grew tense. He would have punched her if she wasn't female.
Remus lead him away and hissed in his ear, "She's just protecting Lily."
"She doesn't have
any reason to exclude him," Sirius said, gesturing to James, who didn't
hear their tiny conversation, but noticed that they must have been talking
about him.
"Nox, I'm going to
marry James," Lily suddenly said, as she was meditating on one of the several
stones.
"I can allow that,"
Nox said sternly.
"If you don't let
me, then we'll...." Lily thought of the right word, "We'll elope!"
James flushed. He didn't
want to marry her, or run off together, despite his thoughts about her,
he wasn't ready for this yet.
"Lily, I..." James
began, taking her hand.
"Yes, Darling?" Lily
asked, looking up at him with glassy emerald eyes.
"I can't marry you
right now," he said quickly, hoping she wouldn't be angry with him. He
hated to see her hurt, every time Severus burnt the tips of her hair, or
tripped her on purpose, he felt her irritation and pain.
Lily didn't react
at all. She didn't speak. It was like a frozen shock, "Bu-But I thought..."
"You see! Told you
he wasn't worthy!" Nox screamed, pointing her long index finger at James.
Lily's hair flared up like lightning blots. Fire surrounded the entire
forest. Lily was shouting for Nox to stop, but when Nox took her deadly
aim at his heart, he quickly felt someone jump out in front of him and
take the hit. Lily landed on the dew- covered ground, her eyes opened straight.
It was like she was off in a hypnotic glaze.
The fire burnt the
tips of his fingers as he tucked back a lock of dark red hair. She reached
up slowly, her eyes still haunting his mind, her fingers pointed to her
eyes, then she clutched her fist to her chest. Then, reaching up weakly,
she pointed at him before falling limp, still keeping her frozen stare
at the ground.