Prelude to a Love Story
::Epilogue::
"SIRIUS BLACK! COME HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"
"Prffssr Mcgnggg?"
Sirius rolled back over in bed, sinking his head further into the soft pillows in the hope of regaining his sleep. Unfortunately, all hopes were lost as the blankets were wrenched from his tired grasp. When that didn't encourage him to remove himself from the bed, someone pulling him off succeeded in bringing about the same result.
"Remusss?" questioned Sirius, still sleepy. "Is that you?"
"Yes, it is," came Remus Lupins hurried reply. "You'd better get out, quick smart."
--- --- ---
James Potter - known in later years as the man who sired "Harry Potter: The Boy Who Lived!" - stood, clutching close to his heart what was the remains of what had been one of his most prized possessions. Devastated, he could only sob quietly, concentrating on the fond memories that ran through his mind. Previously he had contained within him the strength to scream, to rage... Yet now, all was lost.
Sinking to the floor in sad defeat, James held the remains of his toothbrush to his eyes.
Most of the bristles had fallen out, though the few left showed that they had endured horrors beyond the imagination. Bent and twisted corpses, their bodies stained forever brown with the muck that lurked on dungeon stones. The handle, too, showed signs of dreadful abuse, bent out of shape and covered in the dirty fingerprints belonging to the hand that had bashed it. His toothbrush... was dead.
Sirius stepped quietly through the door into the bathroom, trying not to laugh at the image of his best-friend crying over a toothbrush. James didn't look up at the tentative approach.
"James?" asked Sirius, hesitant.
James continued to sob, refusing to look away from the disgusting brush. Decorated in shades of blue, the bathroom appeared to have adopted his mood of melancholy. Sirius felt that it was all a bit absurd, and felt like flushing one of the toilets just to break the silence.
"Snap out of it, James!" Cried Sirius. It was, after all, only a toothbrush.
At this, James looked up. Sirius couldn't figure out whether it was humour or anger that clouded his friend's gaze, and didn't have much time to figure it out, either, as his James' eyes returned to the toothbrush.
"I'll never love again!" James whispered fiercely, and then lay flat on the floor.
Sirius looked at his friend, bemused. Ignoring what James had just said, Sirius stepped closer to the prone figure of his friend upon the floor. To all appearances, James had gone to sleep.
Pulling a dog biscuit from the pocket of his robes, Sirius transfigured it into a long stick and professed to poke James with it in the ribs.
Startled, Sirius jumped back suddenly, tripping over a mat and falling into the bath.
James couldn't contain his mirth at the shocked expression on Sirius' face. After throwing the 'dead' toothbrush at his mate's forehead, he slowly walked over and laughed at Sirius' helpless position in the bath.
"You look a tad stuck, Siri," pronounced James, refusing to answer Sirius' silent plea to reach down a hand.
"What about the toothbrush?" Sirius managed to mutter out around his surprise.
"Why, is it stuck, too?" asked James, frowning in mock concentration.
"About as stuck as I am, I suppose," replied Sirius, warming to the topic.
"Then it's very stuck indeed, I'm afraid," responded James as he started to walk towards the door.
Sirius soon figured out his meaning.
"Wait!" cried Sirius, a little desperate, "What are you doing?"
"Why, I'm leaving," answered James. "Isn't that obvious?"
"What about me?"
The door was open now, and James was partway through before he turned around and concluded:
"If you're still stuck after the quidditch match then I'll pull you out. As for now: I want you to spend your time trying to make it up to Brumhilda."
"Brumhilda?" squeaked Sirius.
"The toothbrush."
With finality, James softly closed the door behind him. A few muttered words that sounded suspiciously like a locking spell were the last words Sirius heard for many hours. Once again resorting to the use of his own voice as distraction, Sirius pulled a very grotty and worn toothbrush from out beneath his robes.
"It seems like it's just you and me again, Brumey..."
***//\\//\\***
"What do you mean, dangerous?" asked Sirius, annoyed. "I told you that we put in some unicorn horn - that immediately cancels out all poisonous effects!"
Remus looked a bit dubious on that account. James was still in the common room, no doubt still celebrating in Gryffindor's victory. It didn't make Sirius any happier to know that his usual position as beater had been given to a second year, which had apparently succeeded admirably. If he could pull this off, it would be one of the best pranks he had ever performed.
"I just think that it would be quite easy for something to go wrong..." stated Remus, a sigh escaping his lips. It was pointless to try and debate with Sirius when his mind was made up.
"What could possibly go wrong?" exclaimed Sirius, now frustrated.
Remus had a harried look in his eye, as though sick of the conversation.
"I don't know. Stuff." His lack of evidence only made Sirius more irritated. Seeing his friend's expression, Remus decided to change tack. "I doubt you could even get into her room to administer it, anyway."
A sly look grew in Sirius' eye, and Remus wondered just what he had provoked.
"Oh, you needn't worry about that! Professor McGonagall gave me all the necessary information - and I doubt she'd change any of the passwords." Sirius shined with confidence and pride; he was certain that prank was fool proof.
Remus sat down on his bed, amazed and surprised that he hadn't even realised it.
"You've thought of everything, haven't you?"
Sirius' smile grew wider.
"Everything," he agreed.
"If something goes wrong-," murmured Remus, worry returning to his voice and eyes. Sirius rolled his with an exasperated grimace, saying:
"I know, I know - If something goes wrong, you've warned me." His smile returned, however:
"But nothing will."
***//\\//\\***
Dinner that night was met with a welcome piece of information. Since the room's completion, Sirius had had Peter watching the room, waiting for the day in which Lily was moved from the hospital wing into her new quarters. Apparently the nurses had decided that during the quidditch match, while almost the entire school was distracted, was the best time. At this moment, Lily Evans resided in the white room behind an old statue of armour.
As Sirius muttered his thanks, a gleam of mischievous excitement shone bright in his eye. James noticed it, and wondered, but soon Sirius had brought himself back into control and returned to eating his roast beef.
Although the strange dreams were still quite frequent, James had begun to accept them and lost some of his solitary mannerisms. He had actually enjoyed the game of quidditch and all the celebrations afterwards today - the first time James had done so since his dreams had commenced. Yet he was still happiest on his own, allowed to contemplate his own thoughts and ideas. Yes, alone was how he liked being. James quickly stood up from his half-finished dinner and left the table, purposefully heading to somewhere that he could be by himself.
Sirius and Remus watched James leave their table with sad eyes.
James was improving, certainly. But he still wasn't back to how he'd once been.
***//\\//\\***
The room looked different now that it was fully furnished; somewhat more cluttered... and certainly whiter now that it didn't even have the blocks of old brown wood to break up the regularity. Someone had replaced the elephant with a real bed. Sirius thought it a shame - his elephant had been a work of art, not to mention effort, and deserved its pride of place in this never ending whiteness.
One thing did break up the white, however, and that was a spot of bright curly red hair, resting on the pillows and framing the face of Lily. Her fist clutched the blankets that lay tucked up to her neck, while her lips were parted slightly. Making Sirius' job all the easier.
Stepping slowly closer to the sleeping girl, Sirius stopped suddenly as his weight made a floorboard beneath the white carpet creak. One of Lily's eyelids flickered, yet it seemed that was all her movement used up, for she did not wake. Sirius breathed a quiet sigh of relief and walked closer to her.
Seeing her peaceful beauty, Sirius almost felt jealous of the girl that James was being given. Of course, Sandra was wonderful, but she could be slightly tiresome...
Rather than letting himself think worse thoughts of his girlfriend, Sirius decided to get the job done. Reaching within his robes, Sirius pulled out the bundle of pink and red material. Carefully unwrapping it, he grasped the tightly stoppered viol and made quick work of removing the lid.
Very little of the original red liquid remained, yet Sirius was certain that what was left would be more potent than four litres of the previous potion.
Gently, he brought the viol close to Lily's open lips, and before doubt could halt him, tipped the bottle and dripped the liquid to her tongue.
Not quite a kiss, he thought quietly to himself, whilst quietly praying that she wouldn't wake. Slightly, her lips moved, as she appeared to savour the taste. Deciding that he had already risked too much time, Sirius quickly wrapped the invisibility cloak he had... procured... around himself and rushed from the room.
--- --- ---
Upon a bed of stiff white sheets, within a room of white curtains, white blinds, white cupboards and white carpet, Lily Evans lay. Not knowing that she would wake quite soon, with only one thing on her mind.
A/N
Well. That's it. The end of Prelude. 'At long bloody last,' I can hear you muttering, and I must say that I quite agree. To me, Prelude has been an extremely long lot of nothingnesses. I realise that is not a word, Ariqua... Please do not attempt to correct it. ;o
Once more, I give thanks to the great people at Fiction Alley who are being kind enough to review Revenge and to Ariqua, my superb beta-reader.
Yes, I know this is a really short chapter, and that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense (particularly the toothbrush scene) but it is an epilogue, and I basically just wanted the whole thing over and done with. Lily Love is next on the list, and I'm expecting that to be a LOT of fun. Actually, I'm really looking forwards to writing Lily Love, and I mean really, really.
So stick around! I'll write more soon.
-wildcat-
::Epilogue::
"SIRIUS BLACK! COME HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"
"Prffssr Mcgnggg?"
Sirius rolled back over in bed, sinking his head further into the soft pillows in the hope of regaining his sleep. Unfortunately, all hopes were lost as the blankets were wrenched from his tired grasp. When that didn't encourage him to remove himself from the bed, someone pulling him off succeeded in bringing about the same result.
"Remusss?" questioned Sirius, still sleepy. "Is that you?"
"Yes, it is," came Remus Lupins hurried reply. "You'd better get out, quick smart."
--- --- ---
James Potter - known in later years as the man who sired "Harry Potter: The Boy Who Lived!" - stood, clutching close to his heart what was the remains of what had been one of his most prized possessions. Devastated, he could only sob quietly, concentrating on the fond memories that ran through his mind. Previously he had contained within him the strength to scream, to rage... Yet now, all was lost.
Sinking to the floor in sad defeat, James held the remains of his toothbrush to his eyes.
Most of the bristles had fallen out, though the few left showed that they had endured horrors beyond the imagination. Bent and twisted corpses, their bodies stained forever brown with the muck that lurked on dungeon stones. The handle, too, showed signs of dreadful abuse, bent out of shape and covered in the dirty fingerprints belonging to the hand that had bashed it. His toothbrush... was dead.
Sirius stepped quietly through the door into the bathroom, trying not to laugh at the image of his best-friend crying over a toothbrush. James didn't look up at the tentative approach.
"James?" asked Sirius, hesitant.
James continued to sob, refusing to look away from the disgusting brush. Decorated in shades of blue, the bathroom appeared to have adopted his mood of melancholy. Sirius felt that it was all a bit absurd, and felt like flushing one of the toilets just to break the silence.
"Snap out of it, James!" Cried Sirius. It was, after all, only a toothbrush.
At this, James looked up. Sirius couldn't figure out whether it was humour or anger that clouded his friend's gaze, and didn't have much time to figure it out, either, as his James' eyes returned to the toothbrush.
"I'll never love again!" James whispered fiercely, and then lay flat on the floor.
Sirius looked at his friend, bemused. Ignoring what James had just said, Sirius stepped closer to the prone figure of his friend upon the floor. To all appearances, James had gone to sleep.
Pulling a dog biscuit from the pocket of his robes, Sirius transfigured it into a long stick and professed to poke James with it in the ribs.
Startled, Sirius jumped back suddenly, tripping over a mat and falling into the bath.
James couldn't contain his mirth at the shocked expression on Sirius' face. After throwing the 'dead' toothbrush at his mate's forehead, he slowly walked over and laughed at Sirius' helpless position in the bath.
"You look a tad stuck, Siri," pronounced James, refusing to answer Sirius' silent plea to reach down a hand.
"What about the toothbrush?" Sirius managed to mutter out around his surprise.
"Why, is it stuck, too?" asked James, frowning in mock concentration.
"About as stuck as I am, I suppose," replied Sirius, warming to the topic.
"Then it's very stuck indeed, I'm afraid," responded James as he started to walk towards the door.
Sirius soon figured out his meaning.
"Wait!" cried Sirius, a little desperate, "What are you doing?"
"Why, I'm leaving," answered James. "Isn't that obvious?"
"What about me?"
The door was open now, and James was partway through before he turned around and concluded:
"If you're still stuck after the quidditch match then I'll pull you out. As for now: I want you to spend your time trying to make it up to Brumhilda."
"Brumhilda?" squeaked Sirius.
"The toothbrush."
With finality, James softly closed the door behind him. A few muttered words that sounded suspiciously like a locking spell were the last words Sirius heard for many hours. Once again resorting to the use of his own voice as distraction, Sirius pulled a very grotty and worn toothbrush from out beneath his robes.
"It seems like it's just you and me again, Brumey..."
***//\\//\\***
"What do you mean, dangerous?" asked Sirius, annoyed. "I told you that we put in some unicorn horn - that immediately cancels out all poisonous effects!"
Remus looked a bit dubious on that account. James was still in the common room, no doubt still celebrating in Gryffindor's victory. It didn't make Sirius any happier to know that his usual position as beater had been given to a second year, which had apparently succeeded admirably. If he could pull this off, it would be one of the best pranks he had ever performed.
"I just think that it would be quite easy for something to go wrong..." stated Remus, a sigh escaping his lips. It was pointless to try and debate with Sirius when his mind was made up.
"What could possibly go wrong?" exclaimed Sirius, now frustrated.
Remus had a harried look in his eye, as though sick of the conversation.
"I don't know. Stuff." His lack of evidence only made Sirius more irritated. Seeing his friend's expression, Remus decided to change tack. "I doubt you could even get into her room to administer it, anyway."
A sly look grew in Sirius' eye, and Remus wondered just what he had provoked.
"Oh, you needn't worry about that! Professor McGonagall gave me all the necessary information - and I doubt she'd change any of the passwords." Sirius shined with confidence and pride; he was certain that prank was fool proof.
Remus sat down on his bed, amazed and surprised that he hadn't even realised it.
"You've thought of everything, haven't you?"
Sirius' smile grew wider.
"Everything," he agreed.
"If something goes wrong-," murmured Remus, worry returning to his voice and eyes. Sirius rolled his with an exasperated grimace, saying:
"I know, I know - If something goes wrong, you've warned me." His smile returned, however:
"But nothing will."
***//\\//\\***
Dinner that night was met with a welcome piece of information. Since the room's completion, Sirius had had Peter watching the room, waiting for the day in which Lily was moved from the hospital wing into her new quarters. Apparently the nurses had decided that during the quidditch match, while almost the entire school was distracted, was the best time. At this moment, Lily Evans resided in the white room behind an old statue of armour.
As Sirius muttered his thanks, a gleam of mischievous excitement shone bright in his eye. James noticed it, and wondered, but soon Sirius had brought himself back into control and returned to eating his roast beef.
Although the strange dreams were still quite frequent, James had begun to accept them and lost some of his solitary mannerisms. He had actually enjoyed the game of quidditch and all the celebrations afterwards today - the first time James had done so since his dreams had commenced. Yet he was still happiest on his own, allowed to contemplate his own thoughts and ideas. Yes, alone was how he liked being. James quickly stood up from his half-finished dinner and left the table, purposefully heading to somewhere that he could be by himself.
Sirius and Remus watched James leave their table with sad eyes.
James was improving, certainly. But he still wasn't back to how he'd once been.
***//\\//\\***
The room looked different now that it was fully furnished; somewhat more cluttered... and certainly whiter now that it didn't even have the blocks of old brown wood to break up the regularity. Someone had replaced the elephant with a real bed. Sirius thought it a shame - his elephant had been a work of art, not to mention effort, and deserved its pride of place in this never ending whiteness.
One thing did break up the white, however, and that was a spot of bright curly red hair, resting on the pillows and framing the face of Lily. Her fist clutched the blankets that lay tucked up to her neck, while her lips were parted slightly. Making Sirius' job all the easier.
Stepping slowly closer to the sleeping girl, Sirius stopped suddenly as his weight made a floorboard beneath the white carpet creak. One of Lily's eyelids flickered, yet it seemed that was all her movement used up, for she did not wake. Sirius breathed a quiet sigh of relief and walked closer to her.
Seeing her peaceful beauty, Sirius almost felt jealous of the girl that James was being given. Of course, Sandra was wonderful, but she could be slightly tiresome...
Rather than letting himself think worse thoughts of his girlfriend, Sirius decided to get the job done. Reaching within his robes, Sirius pulled out the bundle of pink and red material. Carefully unwrapping it, he grasped the tightly stoppered viol and made quick work of removing the lid.
Very little of the original red liquid remained, yet Sirius was certain that what was left would be more potent than four litres of the previous potion.
Gently, he brought the viol close to Lily's open lips, and before doubt could halt him, tipped the bottle and dripped the liquid to her tongue.
Not quite a kiss, he thought quietly to himself, whilst quietly praying that she wouldn't wake. Slightly, her lips moved, as she appeared to savour the taste. Deciding that he had already risked too much time, Sirius quickly wrapped the invisibility cloak he had... procured... around himself and rushed from the room.
--- --- ---
Upon a bed of stiff white sheets, within a room of white curtains, white blinds, white cupboards and white carpet, Lily Evans lay. Not knowing that she would wake quite soon, with only one thing on her mind.
A/N
Well. That's it. The end of Prelude. 'At long bloody last,' I can hear you muttering, and I must say that I quite agree. To me, Prelude has been an extremely long lot of nothingnesses. I realise that is not a word, Ariqua... Please do not attempt to correct it. ;o
Once more, I give thanks to the great people at Fiction Alley who are being kind enough to review Revenge and to Ariqua, my superb beta-reader.
Yes, I know this is a really short chapter, and that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense (particularly the toothbrush scene) but it is an epilogue, and I basically just wanted the whole thing over and done with. Lily Love is next on the list, and I'm expecting that to be a LOT of fun. Actually, I'm really looking forwards to writing Lily Love, and I mean really, really.
So stick around! I'll write more soon.
-wildcat-
