*Chapter Four*
Through The Air As If On Silver Wings...
All characters are copyright J.K. Rowling, I take no credit whatsoever for them. Please enjoy the fic...
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Lily awoke drearily the next morning, toppling out of bed as light poured in on her body from an open window.
"Rise and shine, Lily!" shouted Anne gaily, who was already half dressed. Lily glared at her, using her hand to shield the light from her eyes.
"What are you doing getting me up this early?" asked Lily groggily.
Anne laughed. "Lily, it's not the weekend anymore, and after breakfast we've got classes!"
Lily jumped out of her four poster, trailing blankets to the floor. Anne giggled, her laughter muffled quickly by the torrent of sheets that were thrown atop her beautifully brushed hair.
"What's the big idea?!" growled Anne.
Lily was almost in tears. "Oh, sorry, I've gotta get ready... I'm so dead... I'm never going to make it on time -- !"
"Sorry Lily, I've still got a way to go, including my hair --"
Lily was hardly listening. She pulled on a fresh pair of robes and jammed on a shoe, all the while tying her hair back into a neat bun. After at least thirty minutes, she stood up, dazzling, ready for the day.
She wore a triumphant grin. "Ready!"
Anne was glaring angrily at her. "That's great, Lily, because breakfast started twenty minutes ago." Lily flushed.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" She gave a desperate glance at Anne. "If we're going to get at least one slice of toast, we've got to run!" Lily grabbed Anne's hand and dashed down the stairs, Anne screaming the entire way.
Anne and Lily reached the Great Hall just as everyone began to exit to their classes. Anne shot a look - somewhere between anger and hunger - at Lily. Lily's stomach dropped, to a timely growl.
As James and the other three boys came out, however, they were grinning widely at Lily and Anne, in silent laughter. Lily caught James by the throat of his robes. Anne took this opportunity to run towards the class - as far away from possible as Lily and the other four boys.
"What, pray tell, is funny James?!" roared Lily.
James snorted. "If you don't let go Lily, I might not give you the breakfast that I saved you." Lily eyes grew wide with affection.
She let go of his robes. "You saved me breakfast, darling?"
James laughed. "No, sorry Lily, but I'll help you break into the kitchens and we'll swipe some for you."
Lily's eyes narrowed, and Sirius laughed madly. "We'll miss our first class," said Lily in a worried tone. "It's the first class of the school year, we really shouldn't..."
Sirius took a schedule and peered at it carefully. "We'd be skipping Potions, but we'd be back in time for the next class..." He smiled. "Potions, that's okay then, Lily. I'm good at Potions, I'll teach you everything that our Potion's master will this afternoon, I promise. But come on and give us a laugh, and we'll high tail it to the kitchens. Please?" Sirius fell back to his dog face, complete with the occasional whimper, and Lily giggled merrily.
"Oh, all right," she said faintly. "I give in, let's make our way to the kitchens..." She began to walk forward, but abruptly stopped as she felt James's hand on her shoulder.
"The kitchens would be the other way..."
Lily gave a small and shrill laugh. "I knew that..."
"I'm sure you did," said Peter sarcastically. Remus laughed, then took Lily's arm - to a muffled cough from Sirius.
"I know the directions," began Remus. "And
I won't tease you the entire way either." The four boys chuckled a bit,
Lily rolled her eyes, and the five of them began on the trip down to the
kitchens.
"So... this is the place?" James nodded in response to Lily. They all stood staring up at a portrait of a basket full of fruit.
Sirius reached over towards the lowest fruit - a pear - and slowly began to --
"Why on earth are you tickling the painting, Sirius?" sputtered out Lily, in a fit of choked laughter.
Sirius reached back and pushed her gently. "Shut up, you, I flatter myself that I know a tad more about this whole business than you." Seeing that Sirius was right, Lily made no further argument towards the subject.
Sirius's efforts proved true, as well. As soon as Sirius's finger touched the pear, it began to shake uncontrollably, then abruptly transfigured itself into a gleaming brass doorknob.
Lily applauded. "Way to go, Sirius!" She beamed at him, who in turn bowed, his long black hair falling into his handsome face.
"Ladies first," whispered James, and he turned the knob quickly, opening a large doorway. Lily stepped inside and gasped.
The kitchen was a large, odd place, filled with all sorts of pots, pans, and various cooking utensils, but most impressive of all were the hundreds of elfin creatures slaving around the tables. They all wore long white garments stamped with the emblem of Hogwarts.
"Oh, look!" squealed Lily. James rolled his eyes.
"They're house elves, Lily," said Sirius coolly. "They're the ones that heat the fires, make the food, every other little thing that you can imagine, they're on it, wonderful little creatures."
Lily smiled, then began to walk over towards one. "Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to have any marmalade toast left over, would you?"
James elbowed her. "Lily, once you've gotten into here, you might as well use the opportunity wisely." He turned towards another elf that wasn't quite so busy. "Would you mind terribly if I had a couple of cream puffs?"
Lily's elf returned shortly, piling stacks of bread into her arms. Lily's eyes sparkled with delight. "Thank you ever so much!"
The elf went scarlet, grinned, then strode away to another patch of working elves. The second one returned carrying an armload of not only cream puffs, but every other pastry imaginable.
Lily stood gaping as she watched James shove doughnuts into his mouth two at a time. "You're such a pig!" she laughed out.
"Thank you," said James, spitting out pieces of bread as he went. Sirius's face drooped.
"I hope you didn't spit on any of the cakes," Sirius said sadly. "I really had my heart set on them..." He grinned at James, then grabbed random desserts from his friend's arms. Lily snorted, wondering how the two of them could really eat so much.
"All you ever think about is food," Lily longed to say. However, it came out more like, "Would you mind if I had a couple of those tarts at the bottom?"
"My, my, our little piglet has rejoined our ranks. Help yourself," said James, grinning broadly at her. Lily grabbed a few of the pastries and stuffed her face, content as a kitten after a warm bowl of milk.
Peter stole a glance at his watch. "Oh crap, the next class starts in eh...." He squinted harder at his watch. "Five minutes, c'mon, we've got to go now." The five of them - three still holding onto various fried breads - raced out of the kitchens and tore down the hallways.
"I'm just running alongside you four, but where exactly are we going?!" shrieked Lily. James went red.
"I'm just following Sirius, how would I know?"
Peter and Remus nodded, and all heads turned to Sirius, who stopped suddenly in his tracks. "Why is everyone staring at me?!"
Remus went pale. "You - you do know where we are going, correct?"
Sirius looked down and held his hands behind his back, whistling slightly to avoid notice to his flaming face.
"You really don't?!" cried Lily. "After a summer of sneaking back in here to write that map, you haven't got this whole place memorized?!" Sirius shook his head. Lily fumed a bit, her red hair only adding to the effect. "I'm gonna kill you, Sirius Black!"
The young, bespectacled witch came along at precisely that moment. "Excuse me, students, what exactly are you doing out here at a time like this?! I believe you should be in class --"
"We were trying to find our way, Professor," said Lily innocently. However, the sundry pastries in her arms were a slight give away.
The young Professor turned to Lily, Sirius, and James. "Evans, Black, and Potter, I presume?"
The three nodded. "Professor McGonogal, we apologize, but -- "
"Apology in a situation like this is simply not enough. Come with me, each of you will be receiving detentions." She stole a glance at the overhead clock. "Only after, however, your next class." With that, she sent them all off in the right directions, each one of them steaming in embarrassment.
"To do that to me!" screeched Lily. "It wasn't my fault, I cannot believe you all got me into this trouble, and then I got the blame, just because I happen to like pastries a bit..."
James laughed. "I'm in it too, Lily, we can brave detention."
"It's only the third day back and my reputation is already spoiled!" said Lily in her most anguished voice, tears fighting against the brim of her eyes.
"Really, Lily," began Sirius. "The way you're acting, you'd think it was something bad..."
"It is bad!" screamed Lily, piercing the eardrums of the other four.
"Excuse me," said a small wizard in front of the classroom which they had just entered. "I would prefer it if you would refrain from screaming in my classroom..."
Lily flushed and bowed graciously to the Professor. "Professor, Professor Flitwick, I apologize completely, please excuse me, my manners are unacceptable, but if you can forgive me..."
Flitwick smiled. "What a polite young lady, I can hardly believe it was you who was screaming only a fraction of a minute ago." He motioned towards a cluster of empty desks near the back of the room. "Seat yourselves, please."
Lily grinned. Professor Flitwick was certainly letting her slide as far as the rules went. She humbly seated herself at a desk in the far back and pulled out a few books, giving the Charms teacher her full attention.
Lily listened attentively as the professor spoke, taking in quite every thing he said. By the end of the day, they were at last allowed to experiment with their wands.
Lily, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter all gathered around a table in the same location as they had been during the lesson.
"All right," began Remus. "Now what?"
Lily grinned. "It's just experimental time, to test out some of the charms we've been speaking of."
James blanched. "Um.. and that... would be..."
Lily groaned. "You weren't listening?" James shook his head. Lily laughed.
"Your stupidity never ceases to amaze me, James." Lily giggled, then eyes the other three boys. "Anyone else know what they're doing?"
All of them backed down except for Remus. ("Really? I'm the only one of you four that was listening aside from Lily?!")
Remus grinned shortly afterwards, however. He pointed his wand directly at James and muttered a short incantation under his breath. Instantly, James fell to Sirius's feet, looking up into his eyes with longing.
"Enticing Charm," said Remus with a grin.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Remus, I can hardly believe that they taught us that one today."
"No, I learned it from James, poor thing, look at him now..." James was trying dearly to latch his arms around Sirius's waist, to no effect, Sirius kept kicking him sharply in the head.
Lily pointed her wand at Sirius and whispered another spell. Sirius's arms fell to his side, his feet positioned themselves next to each other, and he stood still as a statue. "They really did teach that one, though I doubt we were supposed to try it out...!" Lily laughed, and Sirius twinged.
"You deserved it though, Sirius," said Lily shortly. "You were just about to destroy the little brain cells that James keeps prize up in that great empty space." She smiled innocently at James, but James's eyes were instead fixed on Sirius, who now had no defense against James.
Lily's face went green. "Please take that charm off of James, it's sickening to watch this."
"All right then," said Remus with an air of disappointment. "But it was highly amusing..." He twirled his wand and shot out the counter charm against the enticement. James immediately fell to the ground, sprawled across the floor.
Lily laughed at him. "You and Sirius are so adorable together!" she squealed with delight.
Remus chortled. "Exactly what I told him only
a few nights ago." By the venomous stare that James was giving him, Remus
shut his mouth, and remained quiet. Sirius only stood there, a blank
look across his face.
Sirius limped slowly through the corridors, James and Peter holding him up. It wasn't easy, though, as Sirius was taller than the both of them.
"So, tell me Lily, why did you freeze me?" asked Sirius, bad tempered.
"You were hurting poor little James when all he was trying to do was be affectionate." She shot a sarcastic grin at James, who looked down at the floor, reddening.
"Affectionate?!" shrieked Sirius. "He was trying to pull me down to the floor, I was only defending myself."
"Quite frankly," began James. "I can't believe you put that hex on me. You're a horrible, horrible person, Remus." Remus grinned with pride at his work well accomplished.
"Oh, shut up you three," snapped Lily. "We've got our flying class next, and Sirius here is going to have to learn to walk himself for this one."
"You still have that bet, remember that," stated Sirius as Peter and James let his arms go. "And you've got to remember after you lose."
"Ha ha," said Lily sarcastically. "I'm going to win, no doubt about that." She held up one of James's arms. "Look at this, sickly and thin, no muscle at all."
James rolled his eyes. "Your arms don't count, it's your legs."
"Well," started Lily in a ladylike tone. "You don't well think that I'm going to hold up one of your legs do you?"
"You'd better not do so much," huffed James. Sirius gaped at the pair.
"You two shut up, it's going to drive me crazy."
"Drive you crazy? You're his best friend, Sirius Black, you put up with him every day!"
"That's my point," said Sirius steadily, his shoulders drooping in emphasis. Lily shrugged. "Whatever.."
Remus laughed, then hurried off through the
doors, as they were quickly approaching them. James quickly followed him,
then Sirius and Lily. Peter lagged behind the rest, far too lazy and out
of shape to run.
Madam Hooch blew her whistle shrilly, and each student held their hands tightly to their ears.
"All right now, come all of you and pick out a broom." She waved her hand towards a large pile of brooms, and the students all scurried off to pick out the best broom that they could manage.
Sirius dived headfirst into the pile, and pulled out five highly polished broom, handing one to each of his friends. As James read the title on the side of the sleek wood, his eyes sparkled.
"Oh... my... Cleansweeps, these things just came out... how'd the school afford them?" He smiled and straddled the broom, patting it affectionately.
Lily looked from their brooms to the older ones, not being quite able to tell the difference. Her thoughts were interrupted by another sharp whistle.
"All right, now, mount the brooms like so.." Madam Hooch pulled out a broom very like the one Lily clutched in her hand and sat herself upon it, her feet just touching the ground. Lily put the broom under her legs and allowed herself to float lightly above the ground.
Suddenly, the headmaster Dumbledore strode out onto the field and tapped Madam Hooch upon the shoulder. He whispered something into her ear, and her face grew white. She turned back to her class.
"Something's come up, terribly sorry, if you would just wait for me, really appreciate it.." She disappeared into the castle.
"Perfect," said James with a smile. He turned to Lily. "Now, you can practice, and I'll - er - help you." Lily returned with a confident grin.
"Fine then, if you must have it your way!" She kicked her feet against the ground instinctively and rose a few feet off of the ground. She rose smoothly, barely using any force whatsoever. James, however, was already surpassing her height by ten feet.
"Fine, I'll take this full throttle!" Lily jerked her broom upwards, and shot towards James at an alarming speed. She moved in such a smooth path, hardly breaking a sweat as she drove straight upwards, breaking the laws of gravity.
James's eyes widened. This girl was good, maybe even better than himself, and this was only her first time... She reached him easily.
"Hello James. Weather's nice up here, isn't?" She shot him a trying glance.
"So what, you're good. So am I, and better for that." He grinned, then began slowly inching forward, challenging her to race him.
Lily gave a natural and steady laugh. "Okay, let's go!" James took off, but she shot out right after him. It was the most blissful feeling she had ever felt.
The wind whipped her from under her hair, and all around her face, her robes were thrashing dangerously, she hoped against hopes that she wasn't flashing anyone below.
Slowly, she began to pick up her pace, she was edging in front of James. Lily closed her eyes and released her grip on the broom, her legs the only things attached to the thin strip of wood. It was as if she were gliding through the air on wings, it was so calm, so fast paced.
Her fantasies were interrupted as someone grabbed her leg, and she nearly toppled off of her broom. James was directly behind her, holding onto her.
"You cheater!" she screamed at him through a face full of both laughter and anger.
"You're beating me, what am I supposed to do?" said James desperately, still clutching onto her. He was almost in tears of laughter that a girl - and one on her first time, no doubt! - could really be beating him on a race through the skies.
"You could give up!" was Lily's short response.
"We'd better be getting back, if you know what I mean..."
"Yeah, right, of course. If Madam Hooch catches us, we're dead..." Then Lily took off towards the field in which she had taken off, James letting go off her leg and shooting out from under her.
"You know," began James to Lily. "Remus was wrong about that..."
"About what?" she asked curiously to James, who was now leading the way, herself obediently following.
James laughed loudly. "Pink undies look much
better on you than blue." Lily's face went a ghastly green.
James and Lily landed back down upon the ground just as Madam Hooch stormed out of the doors, neither one of them receiving any sort of detention or point deduction.
"What is it?" asked the small boy that Lily had seen at the boats.
Madam Hooch shook her head, her short gray hair bobbing off of her shoulders, her sharp eyes trembling. "It's - it's - nothing, really, nothing that concerns you, at least..."
"You can tell us..!" chorused the class, their brooms lying forgotten across the ground.
"It's nothing, but I've been instructed to lead you back to your dormitories, classes are canceled for the whole of the day, please, please just - just make your ways back to your dormitories.." She pointed a long, thin finger towards the end of the field towards Hogwarts Castle, and every student trailed off towards it without another word. It was only as they made it through the doors that whispers broke out through the school like wildfire.
"I wonder what it could be?"
"What on earth would they have to cancel classes for? The weather's fine --"
"What do you reckon?" asked Lily to James as they all exited towards Griffindor Tower, taking every shortcut that Sirius knew.
"I don't know, nothing like this has ever happened before..."
"How would you know?" reasoned Remus. "You've only been here for a couple of days!" James went red.
"Well, I've never heard of anything like this happening, so I wouldn't know what's going on." Lily shrugged at this comment and climbed through the portrait hole as the painting swung open to a password from Peter. The room was already completely crowded with fellow Griffindors, all white and panicked.
The very atmosphere was frightening, as no one seemed to know what to do, or why to do it. Lily, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter quickly found an empty spot of floor, and they sat themselves down, breaking into conversation instantly.
"And during flying classes, yet!" shouted James and Lily simultaneously. They shot side grins at each other, though torn at the indignity of it all.
"I wouldn't complain," said Remus in a serious air.
"He's right," noted Sirius. "It must be something very serious..." He turned to Peter. "You're being awfully quiet, do you know anything of this matter?"
Peter shook his head nervously, but it was obvious that he knew more than the rest of them. However, he looked downright scared, and neither of the other four had the heart to badger the truth out of him. His face was pale, his eyes were wide and watery, and his entire body was trembling.
Lily for one was curious as to what was going on. "Would anyone like to have a run with me through the halls to see what's the matter?"
Remus shot a look of horror at her. "Are you crazy, Lily? You might get yourself killed!"
Sirius sniggered. "Oh, come off it Remus, I'm sure it's not that serious, but you never know... sorry Lily, but I think I'll pass."
James, however, smiled. "C'mon Lily, let's go get my cloak..." Lily knew that he meant the Invisibility Cloak, and she crept silently out of the Common Room into the boys dormitory, grabbed the cloak, threw it over the heads of James and herself, then stalked out of the Griffindor Tower.
"How come you want to come with me?" whispered Lily with a sly grin as the pair of them slunk silently through the hallways.
"I want to find out just as much as yourself why everyone's in such a fuss, mind."
"I wouldn't dream of it," said Lily calmly. At last, they reached the classroom where Transfiguration was taught and heard hurried voices being issued from it.
"How did this happen?"
"I don't know, I honestly don't know!" A dry sob pierced the air around them.
"So, this does mean that he's reached his full power then, Albus?"
"Afraid not, Minerva, I fear that this is only the beginning. Someone such as this will surely want more once they've had the first taste..."
"What in god's name are you rambling on about?"
"Can't you see?! After these first few deaths, more murders will occur, Voldemort's a very powerful wizard, and his supporters are vast, I regret to say that this is more than serious, after all, that poor child, Gregory, I believe?"
"Yes, that's the one, poor thing. The warmhearted dear, how he's fought through for hope that he would receive his mother's praise - but now -" The sobs once again echoed off of the walls.
"So, the Dark Lord has killed the parents of Mr. Patrick Gregory, correct?" said a solemn voice, it sounded as though the speaker was trying dearly to stiffly a tremble in their throat.
"Yes, but other murders have already been reported across the country --"
"I swear it to you all, we cannot allow things such as this to prevent our students from being educated -- !"
"We're talking about the death of a student's parents Albus, be reasonable!"
"Voldemort wouldn't dare harm any student while they are at this school, I will make sure of it! Protection will be ensured, but we cannot panic, not in a time like this, we must hold together, brace ourselves, and be strong as will might make us!"
"Oh - how right - how noble - true!" A frail cry rang into the hall, where Lily and James stared at each other, white faced, though neither could really see the other.
"So, Patrick's mother and father were killed," said Lily breathlessly. James nodded, and for Lily's sake, he added a short "yes."
"I can't believe this..." said Lily slowly, and she sank to the ground, pulling James with her. "Of all things, I didn't think - I was too ignorant -" She burst into tears.
James slapped her across the face. "Lily, stop it! You're not ignorant, I'm terribly sorry, but honestly --" Lily's wails only became louder, and James broke a small sweat at the noise she was causing. He began to worry less about their being heard, however, but more about Lily's emotions.
He gently stroked his hand through her hair, softly patting her back, embracing her tightly. "Oh please, Lily, don't cry, it will be okay, I promise you..."
Lily's sobs stopped, and she slowly removed
his hand from her waist. "Thank you, James, we'd best get back up to the
common room and tell the others..." He took her hand and hoisted her back
up, and the two of them headed back up towards Griffindor Tower.
"You're - you're joking - right?!" asked Sirius, white-faced.
James and Lily shook their heads sullenly, each revealing the dark truth. Remus got to his feet immediately from his four poster.
"I told you it was something serious, but I didn't think that it would be like this..."
Lily sighed, casting a weary eye at James and Sirius, who were still sitting nervously on the ends of their beds. She flopped down backwards onto Peter's - he had begun to feel queasy after she and James left, and was escorted to the school nurse. With the absence of Peter, the group had met up in the boy's dormitory to discuss the event that had occurred only hours before.
"I still don't understand, though," began Sirius darkly. "Why they canceled our classes, it didn't occur at Hogwarts, we're all perfectly safe here... we've got Dumbledore, I mean to say..."
Lily shook her head. "No, the teachers - they've - well, I reckon they've got to meet, to discuss what they're going to do with Gregory - bless the soul..." Her voice trailed off slowly. "I still don't know if I can believe it."
"You've got to, though," said James quietly. "We're all going to have to. It'll be a bit tough, of course... going through this all in the condition we're in..." He sighed and turned to face the ceiling. "We're all so lost..."
Lily gave a deep sigh and pulled Peter's sheets
up around her neck. She didn't care if this wasn't her room, there was
no way she'd be able to face her other friends - her eyes bloodshot and
her face tearstained. She lay down among the vast scarlet blankets, watching
James, Sirius, and Remus through blurred vision, and eventually drifted
off.
Lily awoke later that afternoon, a very disgruntled looking Peter staring her in the face. Lily went red at once.
Immediately she scrambled out of the bed, throwing the sheets and blankets back onto the mattress, hoping Peter would forgive her. "Oh, very sorry Peter, I didn't know what had happened to you..."
"And so you decided to claim my four poster?" he asked with a grin. Lily gave him a playful shove in the arm.
"Really, though," she said from the floor, Peter staring down at her. "What's wrong with you? I mean, going to the nurse, being so pale when you found out about the attack - no, no, that was before we knew it was an attack." She paused there. "At least, before the rest of us knew it was an attack..."
The grin from Peter's face instantly dissolved into a scowl. "Why do you assume I knew something that the rest of you didn't? I was just as confused as the rest of you!"
Lily gave him a small, knowing prod in the chest. "Not true. No one else knew what to worry about aside from you... I know that you knew something Peter, please tell me what it is!" Her brilliant green eyes flashed yearningly.
Peter swelled up and shouted angrily, "I do not know anything of the sort, Lily Evans! Now, kindly remove yourself from the boy's dormitory!" A bit shocked - and a bit hurt - Lily drew herself up and walked the length out of the boy's dormitory and into the common room, where the rest of the boys were anyway.
Peter shook his head pathetically as she left, and the moment she was out of sight, he fell into anguished tears.
"Hello!" said Lily merrily as she skipped into the Common Room. The rest of the Griffindors shot surprised looks at her, some of them dropping the books in bewilderment that she could be so ignorant when a Ravenclaw student's parents had just been killed. Lily had forgotten, and almost died of embarrassment when she realized what she had done.
James, however, was sniggering her way. "Way to go, Lily," he said with a false morbid air as she walked next to him.
"Oh, shut up James Potter, I was asleep, I had forgotten." Lily shot him a pleading look, and he only batted his eyes with a pouted lip.
"The world really doesn't revolve around you, you really should be a little more considerate." Sirius shook his head at James's words.
"A little? A lot --" Lily gave him a brutal punch in the jaw. "Lily, what the hell -- why'd you do that?!"
Lily threw her arms down to her side. "I can't take you two any more!" James and Sirius shot triumphant glances at each other. Remus walked over to her and put his arms around her shoulders.
"Come on, Lily," he said, grabbing the Invisibility Cloak and headed towards the portrait. "Forget them, I want to show you something anyway..." Lily's expression brightened as she gave Remus a grateful smile. She clutched his hand, then disappeared through the portrait hole.
James turned to Sirius, shaking his head. "Do those two realize how disgusting they are when they do that together?" He pulled a face. Sirius laughed.
"Well, I don't deny that they are a bit - eh - well, a bit too sweet for my taste." He grinned at James. "But don't you worry, when it's your turn with Lily, you'll act just the same!" James made a gagging motion.
"Excuse me, I wouldn't wander off with that
redheaded tomboy while romantically batting my eyes for my life."
He smiled to himself, wondering how he and his friends could possibly remain
so calm during such a crisis. "Talent, I suppose," he thought to
himself. He gave a small laugh.
Remus and Lily entered the Common Room when the clock neared midnight, laughing and gossiping. They came to a sudden halt when they met two pairs of eyes gleaming in the darkness of the room.
"Hello Sirius, James," said Remus calmly, lighting a nearby candle with his wand. Light flooded the room. Sirius and James squinted their eyes tightly.
"Why are you two back so late?" asked James possessively, rather more protective of Remus than Lily.
"We - we found a quaint little room full of instruments and this great big mirror, it was wonderful --" started Lily dreamily, but she was interrupted by a cough from James.
"A mirror? A large mirror with letters engraved upon the sides -- a golden frame?" Lily nodded.
"Why? It was quite marvelous, in fact . . ."
"I've heard things about that mirror, I've picked up things from the staff. It's going to be moved out of Hogwarts pretty soon, someone else is going to be needing it - something like that..." He purposely forgot to mention the powers of the mirror. "So, what did you see in it?" he asked.
Lily beamed. "Oh, so glad you asked! It was the queerest thing, really, because when I looked in it, I wasn't the only one in the mirror. Me and Remus were there, standing together, our arms around each other, but we were much older in the picture, much adults.. and there - there was a little child at the hem of my gown, with wild red hair and electric blue eyes, he was the most adorable thing, really -" Her voice hushed as she reached the part about the child.
James's eyes widened, and Sirius feared that they would pop out of his head. "What's wrong?" asked Sirius. James snorted.
"That - that mirror is the Mirror of Erised... it shows the truest wishes and dreams of the viewer..." He glanced at Lily, who was now beet red. "Which would mean..." He shot a wicked grin towards Remus and Lily. "You two, or at least in Lily's eyes..."
Lily gave a small whimper, before punching James square in the eye. He toppled over, blood streaming down his face. Lily's face paled.
"James! James, oh please, please answer me!" Tears poured down to the ground, and she fell down next to James, stroking her fingers through his hair, tears staining the front of his robes. "James, please, I'm so sorry, I can't believe I did it to you!" She clutched his shoulders tightly and threw her face close to his.
"Really," groaned James. "I just need to make it down to the Hospital Wing, Lily, I forgive you..."
Lily pulled him up, then flung her arms around him, almost knocking him over again. "Oh, I'll take you James, it's all my fault..."
"No argument there," said Sirius quietly to Remus, who in turn nodded. Lily was too busy to notice, she was escorting James down to he portrait hole. Within seconds, they had disappeared.
"For a girl, she's awfully violent," noted Sirius. Remus shot a desperate look at him.
"Oh, don't be so harsh on her," remarked Remus. "She may be a tomboy, but she's quite an amazing one, you know..." Sirius shook his head. "I wouldn't know."
James opened the door to the Madam Pomfrey's office and stepped inside, a hand still over his eye. "Madam Pomfrey?" he called out into the darkness, and shortly a witch strode over to him, looking quite sleepy.
"What is it? What are first years like yourselves doing at this time of night?!" James reluctantly lifted his hand from his eye, revealing the mess beneath, and Madam Pomfrey gave a small shriek.
"Dear me, child, who did such a thing to you?" James jerked a finger irritably at Lily, who was busy sinking into the shadows. Madam Pomfrey looked her over with disgust.
"A young lady like yourself doing something like this... hard to believe, really!"
Lily rocked back and forth nervously, and at last muttered, "He was teasing me about - eh - another boy named Remus Lupin..." A smile spread across Madam Pomfrey's face.
"You young ones are falling in love so early." Lily went white and shook her head and waved her hands furiously. "No, no, that's not what I meant!"
James grunted, as if to indicate that he was
in pain. Madam Pomfrey turned to him, and her stern face whisked back.
"Young lady, I'm afraid that you'll have to get back to bed, your friend
here will be all right by morning, but I think he'd better stay the night."
She gave her a wave before ushering her out of the wing. Lily scowled,
then stomped away to the Griffindor Tower.
When Lily awoke that morning, only one thing was on her mind : James. She crept quietly to Anne's bed and nudged her in the side.
"What is it?" asked Anne drearily. "Classes are canceled today as well, Lily, go back to sleep or something..."
"You've got to come with me down to the Hospital Wing, we've got to go check on James."
Anne bolted upright in her four poster. "James? Why is he in the Hospital Wing?" A curious look was spread across her thin and tan face.
"Eh... well, you see, I sort of gave him a - a black eye...." Lily told her quietly. Anne gaped, her mouth wide open. She then broke into a laugh.
"All right, let's go fetch him then." She pulled on a pair of robes and slipped on some shoes, looking at Lily - who was already dressed, her hair resting at her shoulders in ringlets.
Lily nodded, then grabbed Anne's arm. They raced through the common room, where other sleepy Griffindors stared at them curiously, only half awake. Lily and Anne paid no heed to this as they dashed through the portrait hole and disappeared into the hallways.
After taking her fair amount of turns through the castle, she had almost learned the main floor's layout by heart. They made it easily to the Hospital Wing, panting at the door. Lily slowly reached up a hand and knocked. The door creaked open slowly, and without warning, Lily and Anne were pulled in through.
"Hello James," said Lily civilly to the figure that was now resting on the white flannel sheets of a small bed.
James drew his finger to his lips. "Do be quiet Lily, I'm not supposed to have visitors...! Don't know why you thought you could just come in."
Lily rolled her eyes. "Well, excuse me. I knocked, it was you that pulled me in." She grinned at him. James smiled sarcastically, squinting his eyes, which was very effective as James's eyes was still swollen.
"Listen, could you just wait outside for me?" asked James impatiently. Lily hung her head and turned to face the door.
"I'll wait, James dear. I woke up at the crack of dawn --"
"It's eleven."
"I don't care. I've been worrying about you only to be pushed out of the Wing, but that's okay." She smiled to herself at James's drooped face. He'd fell straight into her trap. She stalked out of the room, trying her hardest to look hurt, Anne trailing closely behind her.
As the door closed behind them, Anne squealed with delight. "Lily, you're awesome, that was the best one you've ever come up with!" She wrung her hand, as if presenting her with an award.
Lily flushed, but grinned all the same. "Yeah, I know, I'm brilliant." She and Anne shared triumphant glances.
"You think he'll come after you?"
"No doubt about it."
And - on cue - the door to the Hospital Wing burst open, revealing James, now completely dressed. "Madam - Pomfrey - said - I could come..." He raced over to Lily and grabbed her hand, then he caught her grin. "You horrible little girl - you tricked me!"
Lily nodded. "Oh well, I'm glad you're okay. Let's take it over to the Great Hall, I'm starving--" Anne shook her head pitifully at her friends, then stomped off to join them at the Griffindor table for a breakfast that just happened to include a wide range of pastries. James shot a look at Lily, who giggled in her seat. They were back together again...
Z Z Z Z Z
"Checkmate!" announced Lily proudly. She looked up at James, his glasses gleaming handsomely, his eyes shining merrily, drooping a bit at the predicament which he currently found himself in.
"How is it that a commoner like you has managed to beat me in every game of chess we've played since the beginning of the year?" James shook his head, and Lily gave a full laugh.
She shook her full red hair back behind her shoulders, grinning madly. She had beat him in every chess game, now, hadn't she? And it had been - well, it had seemed like more than a year. It was hard to believe that it had only been nine months since they first met that fateful day in Flourish and Blotts book shop.
"Talent, I suppose," answered Lily. Sirius yawned from an armchair next to the chess board. Remus prodded him in the side to shut him up. Peter only smirked.
"Really," said Sirius with exasperation. "We've been watching you two play chess for over an hour. Can we please go out and do something we can all agree upon?"
Remus laughed. "Sirius is right, you know. Let's all do something time worthy before we're shipped off back to our homes..." He gave a longing sigh as his blue eyes darted around the common room. "I'm really going to miss this place."
Peter laughed. "It'll only be a summer, Remus."
"All the same..."
"Oh!" exclaimed Lily as she clapped a hand to the floor. "Let's take a ride across the Hogwarts grounds!" James grinned.
"I assume you mean broomsticks?"
Lily nodded. "It'll be easy enough to swipe them from the stockroom. Are you all in?" They nodded simultaneously. "Good then."
They all piled out into the hallways and crept out onto the grounds. Each, in turn, stole a broomstick from the shed which contained them.
A light breeze played across the five of them, as if wishing them luck. "Let's go," said Lily shortly. All five of them mounted their brooms and shot into the air, Lily and James leading the way.
"Nice weather?" shot Lily at James, who smiled at her. The two of them knew that it would be no use waiting for the others, they would only weight them down, so they sped off at top speeds, scaring the occasional flocks of birds.
"It's the most wonderful feeling, being up here," shouted Lily to James.
"It is, isn't it? You've got all this power - just flying --"
"Through the air as if on silver wings," Lily quoted herself.
James nodded to her, acknowledging the experience
that the two of them could only share together.
Her hair tangled and wind beaten, her robes drooping, and her eyes full of tears, she bid a farewell to each of her boys.
"I'll miss you all, I promise to write!" She fell into Remus's arms, and gave him a short kiss. "Buh bye, Moony." He grinned down at her.
"I promise to write back, Lily. Come visit some time." Lily smiled, then departed from Remus's grip. The next person who held her in their arms made the first move. Before she had taken a step away, James pulled a hand under her back and pulled her down, her head inches from the ground. Her bags toppled to the ground, along with her owl, who was now screeching loudly.
"James...!"
"What?" asked James, still holding onto Lily. "Just wanna good bye, a bit memorably."
"Don't you worry, Potter. I won't forget you. I'll think of you lots, and keep in mind that I'm still a better flyer than you."
James shook his head. "Tsk tsk, not true Lily. Meanwhile, you keep this in mind --" He handed her a small package then left towards his parents. Lily gave a last wave to her friends, then raced off towards her own family.
"Afternoon, sweetums!" cried Lily's mother. Lily blushed deeply, but sat herself into the car. As they drove away from Platforms Nine and Ten, Lily unwrapped the package that James had given her, and as she lifted it out, her mouth opened in amazement.
In her hands was what might have passed for a muggle snow globe, but instead of snow, a soft blue mist filled the glass globe. Inside was a tiny field, carved solely of stone, and among it were two small people, laughing alongside each other, broomsticks in their hands. Each were oddly familiar. As soon as she noticed the flaming red hair, she knew that the two people inside were herself and James.
However, that was hardly all. Alongside the glass globe was a beautifully carved base, ornamented with tiny lilies that swayed at the touch of her hand. Lily sighed, admiring the beautiful gift.
"What on earth was this for?" she wondered. She would shortly find out, but the matter was hardly on her mind as she held the globe close to her chest, close memory of James now in her heart.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Okay, I'm terribly sorry that this one took so long to get up. I haven't been able to get onto the internet for a week now, and before that, I had been procrastinating anyway... FORGIVE ME!
Yes, Remus still gets a key part in my fic, and he will keep that role until the very end. If you have anything against Remus, or you are waiting for him to be blocked out of the story, you might as well give up. He's my favorite char and there's nothing that can be done about that. I'm sorry.... ^^;;
You may also have noticed that I have changed Lily's last name from "Peterson" to "Evans." I was kindly informed that this was her correct name, or at least, it's the maiden name that she goes by along the lines of fanficiton. It also sounds much much much better. Thank yous to all those who corrected me!
Okay, I don't take any credit for the characters except for Anne. All credit goes to J.K. Rowling, though I think that I deserve at least some credit for the storyline.... *glances around at all the evil lawyers* No, I didn't say that, everything goes to her.... *points* Her, not me....
There were a few people who emailed me with comments suggesting that I added more female characters, to drive Lily away from the boys so much, and I agree with them. With only five characters, it gets very boring very quickly. In the next chapter I will introduce Elizabeth and Raye, two other Griffindor girls, and Frank Longbottom will get a line or so. I have serious problems with using more than two or three characters at once, and this is my sad little defense. I promise you that the storyline, plot, and character lists will get more complex, just be patient.
I'm very sorry, to all of you that think this story is moving along slowly, because I KNOW IT IS. Okay, just wanted to get that off of my chest ... ^^ Chapter five is on the way, hold on. Just a little longer....
MORE REVIEWS, PLEASE???
~arch angel