James Potter and The Unogua Board
James Potter and The Unogua Board Chapter 7: The Strange Note

'Aah! Home! Time to eat, sleep and eat, sleep all day!!!' James said, waking up and staring out of his room window. 'That's the holiday rule, yep!'

'James? Have you done your homework yet?' a shrill voice called. The twelve year old boy winced at that very hated sentence by all kids.

'Then again, holiday rules always include homework. Some sort of break the school's giving. If they say holiday, mean it!' James grumbled under his breath, getting up to dress.

'James! James! Come play with me!' a young girl cried eagerly, running into the room, slamming the door on James's face, as he was standing behind it because his closet happened to be there.

'Yow!!!!' James yelled, rubbing his slammed face. 'SHIRLEY!!!!'

'Ooops! Come play with me, James!'

'Can't, Shirley. I'm planning only to eat and sleep this holiday, and my top dock – my brain, you monster – sends message to my stomach to tell me that I should eat first,' James said solemnly to his younger sister, still nursing his face. The little girl pouted.

'Momma says you will! After doing a bit of your homework!! You will, you will!' Shirley cried.

'Spoil brat,' was James's reply.

'You will, James Potter, and you will!!!' Shirley cried, stamping her small feet. James stared at his sister for a short while.

'Y'know what, Shirley Potter?'

'I know! You're playing dolls with me cause you're scared of momma!' the girl said eagerly, jumping enthusiasticly.

'Of course not! You remind me of this friend in my school, only that she's not a spoil brat. And you have black hair,' James said, ruffling his sister's shoulder-length hair in a manner she hated. Shirley ignored the hand on her head.

'What? She's like me?' Shirley asked, staring at James quizzically.

'No. She has green eyes like you, though.'

'Who's she? Your new girlfriend? Momma!!! James has a girl—oof!' James had clamped his hand over Shirley's mouth.

'Shut up, Shirley! Trust me to get a green-eyed girlfriend!' James said.

'What???' Shirley screech in demand, 'You saying I'm not pretty???'

In James's mind, he could well say that, along with the remark of "spoil brat" to Shirley Genevieve Potter. But never from his lips. No. Mom will skin him first. Deciding to take the second best option to "You're not pretty", James changed it to something really general: 'I didn't say so, Shirley.'

'I don't care! You're playing dolls with me and that's that!!!' Shirley cried, clutching James's arm firmly so that he won't run off. James groaned.

'Give me a break. Whoever heard of a twelve-year-old genius playing with a five-year-old girl dolls?? I'd be humiliated, if the word gets around!' James said, trying to pull his arm off, but careful to not break the bones.

'You'll be first in history!!! C'mon!' Shirley cried, tugging him.

'No.'

'Yes! Yes, yes, yes!'

'No! No, no, no!'

'Yes!'

'No!'

'Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!!! Yes!'

'No! And that's final, Shirley Potter,' James said firmly, tugging hard at his robes's sleeves and freed it from Shirley's grip.

'Hmph!' Shirley pouted, folding her arms – or at least, tried folding them – across her chest. Sensing the urgency of shooing his sister out, James hurriedly did that before she could call for Mrs. Potter, or turn him into a doll himself. He locked the door hurriedly behind him and heaved a sigh of relief.

'Hey! Let me in! James Potter, let me in!!!!' Shirley cried, banging the door hard. James stuck out his tongue and covered his ears, pretending to not to hear her wails and yells.

'MOMMA!!!!! JIMMY WON'T PLAY WITH ME!!!' Shirley yelled.

'JAMES!!!!!!!!' came Mrs. Potter's shrill voice.

'MOM, I HAVE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO!!!!!!!!' James yelled in return, knowing that a white lie would help. It did. In a short moment, his mother called for Shirley to help her with the shopping. Shirley went, but not before calling James a few names (like Goggle Goo and Four-Eyed Toad). James heaved another sigh of relief.

Anyway, his sister had just reminded him that he wanted to owl Lily and ask if he could go over. Extra work from Professor Hart will definitely beat playing dolls with five year old girls like Shirley. The fact is, everything beats playing dolls with any girls.

James pulled out a quill and parchment, dipped the quill into the ink bottle (or refill it – it dried out yesterday), went over to the simple wood desk and pulled out a parchment from the desk. He thought for a while before scratching the quill against the yellow parchment's surface.

After scribbling for ten minutes, he re-read what he'd written.

Dear Lily,

Hey there! How's life with Bec? Hope you guys are doing well. Listen – or see, whatever you prefer – can I come over someday? I have this doll-crazy maniac sister that wants me to play with her. I need to run away, and I need to run fast. Can I have your address, so I can go over for a few weeks until Shirley's dire thirst of dolls ends? Or better still, for the rest of the holidays, cause I don't think it'll ever end. Which five-year-old don't play those dolls anyway?

Thanks!

James Potter

'Oh Carrot!! Where are you?' James sang for his owl. He waited patiently for the owl to come. After five minutes, James started hunting for his owl in his room, feeling that the stupid bird probably slept again, since it was already morning.

'Carrot!' James said at last, pulling the owl from the roof above his window. The sleeping owl woke up and gave its owner a welcoming and questioning look. Why had James woke him up so early?

'Here, bring this to Lily Evans,' James said, handing Carrot the envelope, the letter sealed in it.

'Hoot?' Carrot asked blankly. He didn't know of any "Lily Evans".

'That red head girl with green eyes that always hang around me and Sirius,' James said. Giving his master a knowing nod, Carrot flew off into the sky and James was half wondering if he should trust his owl. After all, no one knows where Lily lived.

An owl is an owl, and they'll eventually find the place whether rain or shine, so there's no point of me worrying about Carrot losing his way, James said to himself.

~**~

A week went by and Carrot the Owl still hadn't returned from his trip to Lily's. sirius had owled James a couple of times, using the family owl because his owl – Joker – hadn't returned from his errand to Lily's place.

Carrot returned, on the eighth day, looking tired and exhausted, and the letter still tied onto his left leg with a simple but firm knot. James's tidy writing addressing to Lily told James that his letter hadn't reached its recipent.

'Why? What happened?' James asked in surprise, when Carrot flew in energeticly.

'Hoot!' Carrot cried, flying around the room in circles.

'What, you couldn't find her? Shame on you!!!' James said. carrot bit his finger. 'Ow! Anyway, why couldn't you find her? You're an owl, Carrot!'

Carrot bit his finger again. It flew around the room and landed on the table. Then it flew around the room and fell onto the table again. James stared at it in puzzlement.

'Sheesh! I can never understand you,' James muttered. 'Thanks for the effort anyway, and throw that into the bin.'

Carrot tugged tightly at the letter.

'Oops! Sorry, I forgot. Here, why not you go to mom for some water? I wasn't expecting you-' James said, as Sirius's owl flew in '-yet. What do you want, Joker?'

Carrot flew off, glad that the letter was left with James. James threw it into the nearby bin and tore the letter from Joker. It read:

Hey james!

Joker just came to me and can you believe it? Bet you can't. Well, I'll tell you, then.

I thought my letter wasn't sent, cause the envelope I addressed to Lily was still there, as if untouched. Probably Carrot should be in your place sometime soon. I suggest you open it and tell me what's written in it. After that, turn this letter over.

Sirius

James decided to heed Sirius's intructions. He picked up the letter he threw from the rubbish bin and turned the envelope over to open it. To his surprise, the seal was taped neatly, and James tore it open hastily. When he mailed, he used glue.

Two folded parchments fell out. One was his original letter to Lily. The other one was in a small and neat handwriting. It seemed more of a note than a letter, though, because it was very short, written in beautiful cursive letters in purple ink. The note read:

Help Lily

Add: 15, Owl Street

Mag Cross

London Outskirts

Puzzled, James turned Sirius's letter over. It read:

Did you get one that said something like "Help Lily" and an address in purple, cusive letters? So what d'you think of it? I'm coming voer and will be at your place in ten minutes.

'James! Sirius's here!' James's mother called from below.

'No time to chat, Mrs. Potter. And no, I'm not here to play dolls with you, Shirley!' Sirius yelled, running straight for James's room, broom in hand. He banged the door open and the door slammed into James's face again, this time nearly cracking his glasses.

'Oops!' Sirius said sheepishly, helping his friend up.

'Thanks a lot, Black.'

'…'

'Black… Sirius!! Sirius, what does this mean? And this isn't Lily's handwriting, nor Bec's!' James said, waving the note. Sirius stared at him oddly before deciding that James is fine enough. Besides, he managed to survive after his head collided with the Bludger with no brain injuries or physical.

'I'm not very sure, that's why I came here to ask you about it. I thought that Joker must've lost his way, trying to find Lily, but the letter's answer in a weird way. She's not a sort of selfish one, is she? I mean, the envelope costs only a few cents!' Sirius said.

'No, I don't think so. If I hadn't opened your letter, I would've thrown it! Well, not that I hadn't thrown it, but I hadn't burnt it, and that's good enough,' James said.

'I wanted to throw it, too, but Joker forced me to read it,' Sirius said, showing James a bruised finger Joker must've bitten to force his master to read the letter.

'Pity. So whaddyou reckon? Investigate?' James asked.

'You betcha! We have the address already!' Sirius said, holding out his broomstick and the note. James pulled for his in his closet, pocketed his wand and the note before the two shot off into the sky through James's window.

'Your mom wouldn't mind right, to pay for the glass bill?' Sirius said, staring back at James's broken window.

'No. Last thing I broke was the sliding door. She'll be thankful,' James said.

'Where's Mag Cross?' Sirius asked, when the boys saw the large city of London.

'Well, we'll just take the Knight Bust, I guess,' James said, landing. He stuck out his wand hand in the empty drive.

Bang! A violently purple bus came to sight and the boys hopped onto it, paying their fees.

'To Mag Cross, please,' James said.

'Aye,' the driver replied gruffly. And after an hour or so, the bus reappeared at Mag Cross. James and Sirius got down thankfully and began their hunt for 15, Owl Street, the place where Lily was supposed to live.

'Flamingo Drive,' Sirius said, reading the old-fashioned and battered sign board. 'Peacock Alley. Parrot Pave. Owl Street. There!'

The boys hopped onto their brooms again and flew to the direction where the sign board pointed them to. Finally, they came to a sign where an owl stood, holding up the letters that form the word "Owl Street" in large, old letters.

'Yes, right place. It should be easy to find the house now,' James said in gladness.

'Yeah, c'mon! I wanna see how Prof. Hart's house look like!' Sirius said eagerly. James said nothing, but went to the edge of the windy hill. His jaw fell, when he saw what was before him.

'S- Sirius! Come here!! Look at all these mansions!' James exclaimed, when he found his voice.

'Mansion?'

'Yes! These are awfully rich people!' James gaped.

'Wow…'

'Forget this,' James said, pulling Sirius away. 'House number 15, 15, 15, 15… Here!'

James stopped before a huge mansion, made to look like a large, tropical rainforest, with its tall, green trees, the birds's chirrups, crickets's song, the rushing song of the waterfall and large flowers. Sirius's jaw fell in response.

'She don't even have to work anymore, with a house this big!' Sirius choked.

'HELLO!!! LILY, YOU IN THERE?' James yelled at the top of his lungs. Sirius groaned.

'They can't hear us! Let's just fly in,' Sirius suggested impatiently.

'F- fly in?'

'Yeah! We're invited, remember?'

'… I can't be too sure, though.'

'Scaredy cat,' Sirius huffed, flying over the towering wood-gate. 'Oof!' Sirius backed off hurriedly.

'Hey Sirius, you okay?' James called.

'There's something here. Best just smash open that door,' Sirius muttered, clutching his bruised nose.

'Yes?' Hart's voice came.

'Bec! Hey, Bec! James and Sirius here! Open the door!' James called. The door swung open automatically.

'Nice. I wonder what spell that is,' Sirius said in awe. 'Then mom can stop begging me to open our door for visitors.'

'It's not a spell. It's a muggle device the mistress insisted on having, since little miss is a muggle born!' a squeaky voice said.

'Hey, for a house-elf, you speak pretty good English,' James said.

'Thank you. mistress taught me. My name is Tibby and I'm a house-elf, as you'd guess,' Tibby said, bowing low. 'Welcome in, please.'

'Thanks!' Sirius said.

'Miss didn't say she'll be having company. Nor mistress,' Tibby said.

'But we're invited! Or sort of. Can we see Lily?' James asked.

'Miss is not well,' Tibby said, shaking her seemingly large head.

'What's with her?'

'I don't know. Perhaps mistress can tell something' Tibby said, bringing them into the waiting room, where Hart sat, grading some papers. She grinned at them warmly.

'Thanks, Tibby. So, which wind brought you boys here? Or rather, how did you know I live here?' Bec asked.

'Address. Nice place here, Professor,' Sirius said in admiration, staring at a lamp. 'Must've cost a fortune.'

'My late mother's. And who gave you the address?'

'Lily.'

'Lily?' Hart said, frowning a little. 'She's not even well enough to get up, let alone write!'

'Really? Well, this letter we received this morning…' James said, taking the short letter out. Hart studied it carefully.

'That's not Lily's writing,' she said.

'Yeah, James said so to me, too. But it seems as if something important happened and I don't feel like missing out,' Sirius said.

'Lily's been sick ever since we returned from Hogwarts,' Hart said worriedly. 'And doctors don't help, nor the medics.

'How come?' James asked curiously.

'I'm not sure myself,' Hart sighed. 'I love Lily like my sister, and I think she does, too. But she just wouldn't tell me – or couldn't, in this case – what is wrong with her.'

'Can we see her?'

'I guess you can. It doesn't seem contagious to me, or I'll be in bed by now,' Hart said, smiling weakly. 'Come, let me take you there.'

Hart kept her work neatly in her leather bag before bringing them up the spiral stairs and into the first door on the right. She opened the door and the boys stared at the room.

It was dark blue, like the night sky, with bits of stars sprinkled all around it beautifully, decorating the whole room. In a corner, James recognized, was Lily's Unogua Board's box. After that came a whole set of bookcase, the books stacked neatly. The books were mainly on Astronomy and Defense Against the Dark Arts.

'Lily decorated this herself. When I ask her why, she said it's because she feels more at peace with the stars. And the stars are all in the right position too, wonderful thing. I don't know how she did it, but I think it's brilliant of her,' Hart said quietly, shifting her gaze to the small lump on the bed.

'Really? Hmm… let's see… Canis, canis, canis… aha!!! Sirius!' Sirius said, pointing triumphantly at a bright blue star. 'Look, James! I'm there! I'm there!!! On Lily's wall!'

'Sirius…' James said warningly.

'Hehe, sorry!'

'Lily, are you better?' Hart asked gently. Lily sat up, with difficulty, and coughed badly.

'I'm… fine, Bec. Don't worry 'bout me,' Lily muttered in a hoarse voice. Like a sore throat, James recollected. She coughed again.

'Liar. James and Sirius came over to visit you,' her cousin replied.

'How did they know?' The boys felt offended. Lily was saying it as if she didn't want them there, and that isn't really ncie.

'Someone told them the address,' Hart said.

'You okay?' James asked.

'I look healthy, don't I?' Lily retorted. She coughed again.

'Y'know, the God will cut your tongue if you lie any longer,' Sirius said. 'That's what Gran always say. Gramp always says that you'll die a horrid death if you tell lie. But my tongue isn't chopped yet, and I haven't died yet, so I guess they're just lying themselves.'

'Well I'm fine,' Lily said stubbornly. She coughed even harder.

'Lily… Lily, that's blood!' James, Hart and Sirius gasped as they noticed the dark red liquid dripping between her fingers that covered her mouth.

~**~

AN: Ta-da!!!! I wonder if this is a cliffhanger because I'm not really that good at making cliffhangers :P but I don't think bothers you much, right? I know "Carrot" is really common for a nickname for Lily [yep. News of the day] but when I sang "Carrots and Lettuces with Seaweed and Chocolate goes to Seaweed and Lettuces!", my friend rolled over with laughter. She asked what made me sing such a song like that, and I answered, "Carrots and Lettuces means Lily with green eyes. Seaweed and Chocolate means James with brown eyes. That makes sense, doesn't it? And Harry is Seaweed and Lettuces."

I'm funny? Yeah. I guess I'm insanely funny, because of my mind's weird arrangements. When I try to be funny, it's horrid. When I try to be serious, it's funny. Really, are you all mocking me??? I know I can't write much humour and I have no taste for horror, which is really self-explainatory :) anyway, whilst I still ponder on the seventh chapter of The Marauding Five (TMF) [loads of things to sort up… I'll explain in that 7th chapter…], I thought maybe I should try finishing this fast so I get to let one story off my hands ^_^ it's nearing the end! Only 5 more chapters! Hurrah! Review, please?