Sunshine If Eternal; Lily, James, and Gem
By Ginny :)
OK, Part 13 [unlucky for some...!] is here! Finally! 3 months later! I have killed off a my writers block for this series [yay!]. I'm sorry this took so long... I thought I'd accidentally deleted this part, and couldn't be bothered to write it all again... lol! THEN I found it!
So, reassure me that I have not been wasting my time... and read & review! Pretty please...?
There will be one or possibly 2 more part after this one, in which loose ends will be tied. :)
Ginny :)
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Lily's POV
I stood there, hugging myself, watching Gem's body as it lay on the cold ground, willing her to move.
I don't mind admitting that I was afraid. It isn't every day that your friends drop down... as if dead. I was having an awful time convincing myself that she wasn't dead... I knew she wasn't... but that didn't stop the thought running through my head at last a million trillion times.
What I didn't see, was, how on earth could an object like a ring cause someone to... well... faint like that? The others all seemed to think that it could, and so Moony removed the ring from Gem's finger.
Then she sat bolt upright, her eyes wide open, her face as white as chalk, seemingly drained of blood. And she was screaming. Screaming and wailing like a banshee. The sight and the sound of this made me scream too. Ana and the boys also screamed- although the boys would not admit it afterwards. Especially not Potter. He thinks far too highly of himself!
Gem was thrashing on the ground, apparently trying to fight off something invisible. In a way this was worse then when she had just been lying there... but now at least we knew that she was alive.
"Gem! Gem, stop it!" I screamed at her, although I knew it was hopeless.
Potter tried to grab her and stop her from moving so violently. He tried to pin her down, but she scratched him with her nails, bit at him with her teeth, so he jumped back, with his face and hands covered in scratches and grazes. I almost admired him for a moment. I could never have done that, although I would never admit as much to him!
We all stared at each other, aghast. Ana was whimpering, and had her hands clamped over her eyes. Pettigrew's face was almost as white as Gem's. Moony's mouth was open, and he too looked horrified. Potter looked frightened, but determined.
"Moony, give her the ring back, you idiot!" I screeched at him.
"How can I get it on her finger?" he looked panicky.
"How should I bloody know?!"
Moony made an exasperated noise, and just threw the ring at her!
"You idiot! What's that going to-"
The ring had stopped in mid- air. It was hovering above Gem. The gold of the ring glinted in the light which filtered through the trees, and the red stone glowed as though a light bulb was inside it. Gem was still once more.
I didn't understand what was happening. I just stared. I realised my mouth was open, and closed it.
The ring continued to hang there. None of us knew what to do. And then, as I watched, the circle made by the ring seemed to grow larger and was filled with a silvery bright light. It continued to grow, until it became large enough for a child to stand inside. The red glow from the stone in the ring stretched out, and encircled the sphere of light. We all watched in wonderment.
A silhouette also appeared, inside the sphere. As it's outline became clearer, I could see that it was the outline of a girl, and then...
"Perdita!" Pettigrew exclaimed.
She smiled hazily.
"You have found me, then," she said.
"Obviously," I replied, although I didn't understand how this was working. It must be magic.
"Do you know what happened to Gem?" Pettigrew asked.
Perdita stared at Gem, as she lay on the ground, and I thought I could see tears forming in her eyes "A little," Perdita sighed "but I think she will be all right-- 'Where the water's cold and deep,
Where Her spirit shall lie down to sleep,
Deaths like yours are hardly more
Then the little deaths before'." Quoted Perdita.
"That's about Gem?"
Perdita nodded, "I have it worked out now. Look after her!"
My breath caught in my throat, as I remembered the prophesy... but now everything made even less sense then it had before! Gem was in danger! We had to do something! Fast! I prayed that Perdita would hurry up and explain.
"I have to leave," Perdita spoke again, "so as you can give Gem the ring. You do not need to help me any more; I am safe here for now. Have you still got the cloak?"
"Yes, Moony's got it," Potter reassured her.
"Good. Give it to me," Moony did so. As she took it, I noticed an identical gold ring with a red stone on her finger "This will all be explained someday- I promise! Farewell! Remember-- Gem must keep the ring!" Perdita vanished, Gem's ring falling back to the ground with a small clatter.
"Well, that made sense." The voice was sarcastic.
"Shut up, Potter," I told him.
"Look, stop saying that, will you?!"
"No. Honestly, what planet are you from, and why isn't it further away? Remind me, please."
"Because it is my supreme and divine mission to annoy you, Lily Marie Evens!"
"Aw, look at them," Pettigrew put his head on one side, "Arguing and everything... next thing we know, you two'll be married."
"Shut up, Pettigrew! That's not funny!" I snapped. It wasn't, either.
"Um, hello?" Moony interrupted, "for pity's sakes, please, let's do something about--" but he stopped. A new problem had arisen.
Gem had up and left!
GEM'S POV
The evil demon- like creature's red eyes were fixed on me. The moment the ring slid off my finger, I knew something bad was going to happen.
It did.
The demon sprang at me, and I was running, running as fast as I possibly could, the devil creature always at my heels. I ran... and ran... and ran... my legs were aching something terrible, by brain almost seemed to have stopped working....
I was terrified, and I don't mind admitting it!
JAMES'S POV
"Now look what you've done!" Evens turned on me.
"Me?! What did I do now?!"
"Yes, you! We could have been watching her, looking after her, but no, you have to start an argument, and--"
"It's not my fault! Moony, tell her--" I began.
But Moony, Peter and Accentios were fast disappearing through the bushes after Gem, presumably.
"Hey, wait!" We chorused, running after them.
They weren't far ahead of us, and we caught up fairly quickly, even stumbling over the uneven ground as we did.
It wasn't until we were on the very edge of the forest that I realised where we were headed; the school lake.
I could see Gem now, several feet ahead of us, moving very fast-- not running, but... floating through the air, very quickly, too fast for us to catch up with. I could not see the expression on her face, but her scrappy hair was flying out behind her, like a haystack in a gale.
"Oh, God..." I muttered, "Oh my God..."
Accentios's face was white, and Moony looked as though he was stopping himself from crying. Peter looked absolutely terrified.
"This isn't good..."
"Shut up, Potter!"
We ran as fast as we humanly could, toiling along after the shadow of the floating girl. My heart was in my mouth. If Perdita was correct, this was a matter of life or death. Gem's life or death.
She stopped above the lake, hanging in the air like a sack. Her robes billowed about her. The moon, which hung in the sky behind her, was reflected in the water, shining and shimmering.
But there was something wrong with the refection. With a jolt in my heart, I realised that it was not silver, as it was supposed to be, but giving out a glow of reds and golds. It seemed to be on fire!
Did people at the school notices us?! We weren't far from the castle, and although it was dark, surely someone must realise where we were?!
Someone screamed.
Gem, who had been hanging in the air, fell. Down... down... down... into the fathomless depths of Hogwart's Lake.
"Gem!"
We raced towards where she had fallen. A dark figure in the water...
"We have to go and get her," I yelled, "we can't just leave her!"
"You don't know how deep that lake is!" Evens held me
back, her voice hysterical, "You could drown!"
"I never knew you cared!" I said, angrily.
"We can't go in there... does anyone know any spells... anything?!" Accentios asked urgently.
"I don't know anything that could help!"
We all agreed with Peter, helplessly.
"I'll go and get a teacher!" Moony raced off. Why didn't any of us think of that?! As it was, none of us knew what else to do. My heart was racing, and I wanted to help her, but Evens held me back. She obviously thought I was insane.
"Oh, God..." Evens was muttering now, "Please God, let everything be all right... oh, God, please..."
I stared at the figure in the water. She lay quite still. I hoped we wouldn't be too late.
GEM'S POV
Then I seemed to trip over something. I was falling... falling... falling... down and down and down.... then I hit something freezing cold, wich shocked me to the bone. I gasped for breath like a fish out of water. I could find no air. I lay still.
The beast was gone, and I was surrounded by flames. They were freezing cold, but seemed to prick my skin, like thousands of pins and needles. My chest felt tight.
And then the pain was gone... and I was surrounded by blackness once more.
'Where Her spirit shall lie down to sleep,
Deaths like yours are hardly more
Then the little deaths before'
I knew what the poem was about now... but I didn't want to die... I wasn't going to let myself... and I was surrounded by blackness.
If I was asleep or dead, I couldn't tell. Maybe being dead was like this...
I hoped I would wake up.
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Well, end of part 13!
Incidently, the fics I said I was going to write, in my last chapter, are incorrect. I have written 'To Sleep No More', and finished it, and next I am posting 'Fluke' [a Tom Riddle fic], and then a 5th Lily and James series in the saga, of uncertain title. :)
If people want me to do a 2nd series to connect with this one, once this has ended; I have an idea for a simple romce fic that I could do, about these same charactors. It would be L/ J... if I can actually get them to co- operate for 5 minutes*Rolls eyes* so much for friendship!!! But that won't be for some time, because of 'Fluke' and 'Lily and James', which people are demanding I write.
Well, pretty please... read & review!!!!!
