Chapter 31- Surprise
As it was, things were not good. Too much homework, too many disagreements, and above all, no friends to complain to. Lily was not a happy person. But, as some compensation, the rest of her friends seemed equally miserable. Except for Sirius and Chloe, who appeared to be doing just fine.
She looked up from her corner of the common room to see the two of them laughing hysterically over something. It was amazing how well they seemed to get along, when they were surrounded by scowls and rude looks. She shifted her gaze to another end of the room. And there was James. No, she would not waste time looking at him; he was worth nothing to her. Her emerald eyes traveled to the stairs, where Jennifer was walking down. She stopped at the bottom, glancing at Sirius and sneering, then walking over to the only corner of the room not already occupied by one of their 'old group'. It had been a week already. So couldn't Lily start calling it the 'old group'? One that would never be together again?
She sighed, a seemingly uncaring look invading her expression, and turned back down to her book, which she wasn't exactly relishing at that moment.
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Remus threw his quill down in defeat. It landed with a clunk on the library desk, slowly rolling to a stop. No more homework. No more of anything. He couldn't study, he couldn't read, he couldn't think. He rubbed a hand through his light auburn hair, and shook his head. He hadn't accomplished anything this week, least of all on trying to get Chloe back. He might have had some chance- if it weren't for Sirius. Those two had been inseparable the past few days. It made him wonder, was his girlfriend cheating with his best friend? Then he reminded himself with a grimace- she wasn't his girlfriend. Nor was Sirius his best friend anymore. He was consistently more angry with him every time they encountered each other.
And, in vain, Chloe and Sirius had tried, numerous times, to get everyone back together again. Happy, and inseparable. What had those days been like? It had only been a week, but it seemed a lifetime ago. All of this homework, this last-minute work their professors felt they must give them in order to be successful wizards and witches, had caught up with him. His eyes were marked with dark circles, and had lost any old brightness he might have had.
No, he wouldn't, he couldn't, sit here and feel sorry for himself anymore. He had done plenty of that in the past week. And it hadn't gotten him anywhere.
"I'm going to go find Chloe," he muttered to himself. "What good it will do, I don't know..." he cleared his books from the table and made his way out of the library.
He walked slowly back to the Gryffindor common room, trying as usual to clear his mind, to figure out exactly why he was going to find Chloe. It would just cause him to mope more. He realized that.
He mumbled the password, the Fat Lady mentioned something about 'too many grumpy, worthless students', and entered the common room. Amazingly enough, it was empty. He decided to wait a second before going to find Chloe. It would do him no good to stutter when trying to get her back.
Remus seated himself near the fireplace- the old spot. A sound of footsteps reached his ears, and he turned around to see who was approaching.
"Chloe!" he said loudly, surprised.
"No, it's the boogie monster." she answered dully, without stopping. He whisked out of his chair, moving in front of the portrait hole to stop her from leaving.
"Please. We need to talk." he pleaded, putting on the most sincere look that he could manage.
Chloe sighed in response, her hazel eyes flashing and encouraging him to get on with it.
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Jennifer stumbled through her dorm, only half wondering where the other girls were. Why should she care, anyway? She had plenty of homework left to do, that was one thing of which she was certain.
"Ugh!" she grunted in frustration after running into Lily's trunk. A good kick would do it good, and that's just what she did.
"You shouldn't do that, honey. Not very nice." She spun around, her aqua eyes daring whoever it might be, and grew angrier after learning it was the person she wanted least to see. Sirius.
"Get out! How many times must I tell you that you aren't wanted?!"
He shrugged, moving closer to her. "I'm not that easy to get rid of."
She took a step back, so that she could breathe without having to look him in the face. He was infuriating!
"I just wanted to see if you're as beautiful angry as you are happy." he laughed.
"I would think you'd know that already."
"Oh, I do. Just trying out the sarcasm. So how are you today, my lady?"
"Horrible, with you in the room. Please, I'm asking nicely now. Just leave me alone, I don't have the energy to deal with you."
"Not until you give me a kiss." he grinned impossibly, pleased with the way her face was reddening gradually.
She made a highly exaggerated sound and moved around him, towards the doorway. He followed.
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James ran into something. He rubbed his head and looked up.
"Lily!" he said with disdain.
"Of course it would have to be you, of all people." she mumbled back, gathering up the papers that had fallen out of her arms.
He stared down at her, watching her every movement. What he would give to know, to really know, that she was loyal to him. That she loved him, and would never leave him. But he know that such a thing would not happen, and so he simply admired her unwavering beauty while maintaining an angry expression.
"What now? Why haven't you left yet?" she demanded, up righting herself. He loved her, even when she was angry with him. He smiled at her. "Jerk!"
"What, I'm the jerk now?" he looked down the hall behind her. "Where's Chris? He waiting for you in a secret room, so that you can meet him there in the middle of the night?" he smirked, his anger showing itself clearly on his face.
Lily moved closer, simply staring at him, fury raging. And then he felt a sharp pain across his cheek. His hand instinctively reached up to his cheek and attempted to rub the pain away. She had slapped him! She had really hit him.
"Lily! Wait!" she wasn't going to get away with that. Not this time.
But Lily kept walking, only quickening her pace. He followed behind, sulking and rubbing the side of his face. He realized after a few minutes that they were headed toward the common room. Oh well, he had had enough for one night anyway. He needed to lie down and clear his head. It was pounding again.
Lily took one look back to see him following as they approached the Fat Lady, and made a face. He heard a faint password and the portrait hole opened routinely.
They both stepped in, one after the other, and stopped. Jennifer was coming down the steps, and Sirius was following close behind her. All four of them were staring at the couple in the middle of the room kissing furiously, almost madly, totally unaware of the four others in the room. Chloe and Remus.
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A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter- hopefully I'm putting things together a little better ;) Lol, thanks for the reviews guys! Without you I would not have any reason to continue this story, busy as I am. So if you want more- let me know! Lol, just kidding, I won't make you. But I sure would appreciate the comments!!
~Emily~
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