Chapter 7 - Murder in Mairyland Park (from Sarah Brightman: Fly)
Things that happen
Just once
If she'd looked,
She would have seen it...
A, E, G, F#...perfect. I tentatively tried a few more chords on the harpsichord. Good. Allright, then. I opened my sheet music and carefully, painstakingly, began to sound out the notes.
"Lily!" The door to the practice room burst open, and James and Severus burst into the room.
I was beyond frustrated. "You might have knocked, James. I was finally getting it right."
"Right. Sorry, Lily." He didn't look sorry at all. "Marianne and Antares are raiding the kitchen as we speak. We're dinner at the lake. Come on!"
I looked longingly at the harpsichord for a moment more, then gave up and followed them out, locking the room behind me. It took us no time to get down to the lake. We used the obscurity charm, as always. I'd found it in a book of intermediate charms in the library, but it wasn't near as difficult as the others in the book, and I was good with charms. We weren't breaking any rules by going to the lake right now, but we didn't want anyone seeing us anyway - the lake was our own private world.
It was nearly the end of March, and the weather was beautiful. We pulled off our shoes and socks and lay back against the little hill near the lake, enjoying the feel of the grass between our toes as we waited for everyone else. Remus arrived soon with Peter and Sirius in tow. Not long after, Marianne and Antares appeared, each carrying two massive picnic baskets stuffed full of mashed potatoes, fried chicken, and beakers of pumpkin juice. We sprawled near the lake and stuffed our mouths, talking non-stop at the same time. It was a beautiful night. The food was incredible, and the friends were even better. When I look back now, I think of that evening as one of the most beautiful in my life, until...
Marianne waited till the best possible moment (when everyone else was dogpiled on me, trying to wrest away the last piece of chicken) to yell, "Last one in the lake's a warty muggle!", then run headlong toward the lake. Severus and James, who were on top the pile, leapt up with loud whoops and barrel after Marianne, shucking their shirts as they went. By the time I managed to get up, the three of them were only a foot or so from the lake...which was suddenly a frightening black. The sky was pink, though. Now orange...now green...
Marianne and James and Severus were suddenly moving in slow motion, only a few inches from the surface of the lake. I felt, rather than heard, Remus yell, and turned to look at him. My head moved sluggishly, as though through thick honey, and left blurred trails in the air behind it. Now Marianne was out over the lake...she was trying to backpedal, but it was too late...Severus lunged to grab her back...the sky was changing colors at an alarming rate, but the lake was so black...so black...Marianne screaming...me screaming...the lake reached up to grasp at her ankles...her head thrown back in pain...and that was all.