Chapter 8: Tears
"Hey guys," Remus whispered. "It's a full moon tonight." They looked at him and nodded, barely glancing up from their cinnamon oatmeal. Remus noticed sadly that James didn't even glance up. When is he going to get over that fact that I asked Lily to the dance? Remus wondered, sad that his friendship with James was at jeopardy because of a girl. Remus glanced up and noticed that the owls had started coming in. He looked up hopefully; maybe today he would get something. The owls had all landed and there was nothing for Remus. He wasn't too surprised, but a little disappointed.
"Wait, Lily!" Remus heard Lisa cry. He glanced up and saw Lily running out of the Great Hall, her fiery red hair spreading out behind her, holding an envelope.
"Lisa!" Remus cried, grabbing a hold of Lisa's arm. "What's the matter with Lily?"
"I don't know," Lisa replied, not glancing in his direction. "She got a letter, opened it, and ran out. I have NO clue what it's about." Remus nodded and let go of Lisa's arm. If she hadn't been wearing a long-sleeve cloak you would have been able to see the finger-marks from where Remus had grabbed her.
"Should I go after her?" Remus asked after a slight pause, he had no clue what to do. Lisa looked at him with a skeptical look and slowly shook her head.
"No, she'll come to us when she needs us," Lisa said sadly, wishing there was some other way to help her friend in distress.
"Attention!" Dumbledore said from the front of the room. "Please!" the room quickly quieted down and Dumbledore continued. "Please follow the new curfew from now on, more closely. Also, please don't go out of doors without an adult with you, this is very important to EVERYONE'S safety. There have been more attacks and we're afraid that Voldemort," everyone in the room flinched when he said that name. ".and we want to take all precautions to keep our students safe." Another pause and then, "You're dismissed!" There was a loud commotion of benched being pushed out and feet plodding out of the hall.
"Where's Lily?" Sonya whispered to Lisa in transfiguration.
"I don't know, she hasn't been in any of her class today," Lisa replied.
"Girls!" Professor Stefani said from the front of the classroom. "Would you mind addressing your conversation to this class instead of whispering?" Lisa glanced at Sonya nervously, and then stood up.
"Yes, Professor," Lisa said, ignoring the constant kicks coming from Sonya's direction. "We were asking each other if either of us have seen Lily since breakfast." Whispers broke out throughout the classroom.
Professor Stefani cleared her throat. "Well, Lisa," she said after a pause. "If you must, I'll let you go for this class to find Lisa. We don't want her wandering outside, you know." Lisa nodded and picked up her stuff.
"Thank you, Professor," she said as she headed towards the door.
"Can I go too, Professor?" Sonya asked, to which Professor Stefani just shook her head in response.
Up in the Gryffindor common room Lily was huddled in a corner, hiding underneath a dark blanket. She was hoping nobody would notice her shaking figure. The note she had received at breakfast was crinkled from her fist clutching it in a death-grip. Uncrinkling it she read through it again:
Dear Miss Lilian Jean Evans, We are sorry to tell you that your parents have been killed by another attack from You-Know-Who Friday, September the 20th. They were brave in their last efforts and stood up to the Dark Lord in an effort to over-throw them. Their funeral will be held the first of October. We are sorry for this unfortunate turn of events. Sincerely, The Minister of Magic.
This must have been Lily's millionth time reading it and for her millionth time crinkling it back up in anger and pain and fury. She let out one loud sob and quickly stifled it, hoping nobody had heard her; she did not want to share her sorrows with anyone at the moment. Somebody had her though, unfortunately.
"Hello?" a boy's voice called. Ugh, it was James. The LAST person she wanted to talk to at a time like this. She didn't respond, hoping he would go away. She was disappointed again; he didn't stop walking in her general direction. "Who's there? What's the matter?" he asked in a soft voice. "I'll talk to you about it." Lily heard his footsteps stop and everything was silent for a few minutes; she was hoping that he had given up and gone away.
Who was crying? James thought. And why are they crying? He wanted so much to help them, but they didn't seem to want his help and the common room was too dark to see anybody in. He stepped closer to where he had heard the loud sob when he stepped on something crinkly, like paper. 'What's this?' he thought as he picked it up. 'A crinkled letter.hmm.' he opened it and gasped when he saw who it was addressed to and what was in it. Minutes passed and he didn't know what to do. Finally he said something, "Lily.I'm sorry.I know how you feel." He heard a gasp and moved closer. "Lily, please, can we talk?" James couldn't believe what he was doing, talking to the one person he probably hated the most (besides Snape and Malfoy) about something he hadn't even told his best friends.
"James?" she asked, peeking out from underneath the dark blanket she had covered herself with.
He smiled and handed the wrinkled letter he had found to her, which she immediately crinkled up and threw to the other side of the room.
"Accio letter!" James said and the paper ball flew back in his direction. Once again, he handed it to Lily. "I'm sure you don't want anybody else to find it like I did." Lily took it, nodding; she sniffed loudly and wiped her nose with her hand.
"What do you want?" she asked in a shaky voice.
"Well." what did he want? To help her? But why? He'd never liked her before and why help her now? "I know I'm probably the only one who knows about..well.this, and I think you should talk about it."
"With you?" Lily spat out and seconds later burst into uncontrolled sobs.
"Yes, with me," James said softly. He didn't say anything else, just listened to her sobs and wondered how else he could help.
"Well." Lily started. In between sobs she continued, "They were at home with my sister and." she stopped and her crying increased.
"Shhhh," James shushed, not sure what else to say. He was sure that she didn't want anybody else to find her there, but did she really care right now? She brushed a portion of her red hear behind her ears and hid her face in her blanket. "Come on," James urged.
"They were with my sister and.and.you-know-who came and." she stopped again and another heart-wrenching sob escaped her throat. James gasped and looked in Lily's direction.
"Lily." he started but, again, he had no clue what to say.
"Please, go away," she whispered. James nodded and stood up to go. "Wait," he heard her whisper and turned back around. "You won't tell anyone, will you?" He nodded silently and examined her face which she had lifted up to ask him not to tell anyone. It was tear-streaked and the areas around her eyes were red and blotchy.
"I hope you'll feel better soon," he said and left the common room. She buried her face in her blanket and started crying, her sobs muffled.
A/n: There it is! The ninth chapter! Woohoo! Sorry it took so long, I had writers block the first half but once I got into the whole scene between her and James it was easy. Oh, and can anyone guess what he meant when he said: I know how you feel.? Woohoo! Foreshadow, or preshadow, umm, not sure which. duh duh duh duuuuh!
A/N: Somebody pointed out to me that it was a great hall, not a cafeteria. Sorry about that! I couldn't think of what it was and so said cafeteria. There are too many to 'edit' so I'm going to keep it that way. Hope you don't mind!
"Hey guys," Remus whispered. "It's a full moon tonight." They looked at him and nodded, barely glancing up from their cinnamon oatmeal. Remus noticed sadly that James didn't even glance up. When is he going to get over that fact that I asked Lily to the dance? Remus wondered, sad that his friendship with James was at jeopardy because of a girl. Remus glanced up and noticed that the owls had started coming in. He looked up hopefully; maybe today he would get something. The owls had all landed and there was nothing for Remus. He wasn't too surprised, but a little disappointed.
"Wait, Lily!" Remus heard Lisa cry. He glanced up and saw Lily running out of the Great Hall, her fiery red hair spreading out behind her, holding an envelope.
"Lisa!" Remus cried, grabbing a hold of Lisa's arm. "What's the matter with Lily?"
"I don't know," Lisa replied, not glancing in his direction. "She got a letter, opened it, and ran out. I have NO clue what it's about." Remus nodded and let go of Lisa's arm. If she hadn't been wearing a long-sleeve cloak you would have been able to see the finger-marks from where Remus had grabbed her.
"Should I go after her?" Remus asked after a slight pause, he had no clue what to do. Lisa looked at him with a skeptical look and slowly shook her head.
"No, she'll come to us when she needs us," Lisa said sadly, wishing there was some other way to help her friend in distress.
"Attention!" Dumbledore said from the front of the room. "Please!" the room quickly quieted down and Dumbledore continued. "Please follow the new curfew from now on, more closely. Also, please don't go out of doors without an adult with you, this is very important to EVERYONE'S safety. There have been more attacks and we're afraid that Voldemort," everyone in the room flinched when he said that name. ".and we want to take all precautions to keep our students safe." Another pause and then, "You're dismissed!" There was a loud commotion of benched being pushed out and feet plodding out of the hall.
"Where's Lily?" Sonya whispered to Lisa in transfiguration.
"I don't know, she hasn't been in any of her class today," Lisa replied.
"Girls!" Professor Stefani said from the front of the classroom. "Would you mind addressing your conversation to this class instead of whispering?" Lisa glanced at Sonya nervously, and then stood up.
"Yes, Professor," Lisa said, ignoring the constant kicks coming from Sonya's direction. "We were asking each other if either of us have seen Lily since breakfast." Whispers broke out throughout the classroom.
Professor Stefani cleared her throat. "Well, Lisa," she said after a pause. "If you must, I'll let you go for this class to find Lisa. We don't want her wandering outside, you know." Lisa nodded and picked up her stuff.
"Thank you, Professor," she said as she headed towards the door.
"Can I go too, Professor?" Sonya asked, to which Professor Stefani just shook her head in response.
Up in the Gryffindor common room Lily was huddled in a corner, hiding underneath a dark blanket. She was hoping nobody would notice her shaking figure. The note she had received at breakfast was crinkled from her fist clutching it in a death-grip. Uncrinkling it she read through it again:
Dear Miss Lilian Jean Evans, We are sorry to tell you that your parents have been killed by another attack from You-Know-Who Friday, September the 20th. They were brave in their last efforts and stood up to the Dark Lord in an effort to over-throw them. Their funeral will be held the first of October. We are sorry for this unfortunate turn of events. Sincerely, The Minister of Magic.
This must have been Lily's millionth time reading it and for her millionth time crinkling it back up in anger and pain and fury. She let out one loud sob and quickly stifled it, hoping nobody had heard her; she did not want to share her sorrows with anyone at the moment. Somebody had her though, unfortunately.
"Hello?" a boy's voice called. Ugh, it was James. The LAST person she wanted to talk to at a time like this. She didn't respond, hoping he would go away. She was disappointed again; he didn't stop walking in her general direction. "Who's there? What's the matter?" he asked in a soft voice. "I'll talk to you about it." Lily heard his footsteps stop and everything was silent for a few minutes; she was hoping that he had given up and gone away.
Who was crying? James thought. And why are they crying? He wanted so much to help them, but they didn't seem to want his help and the common room was too dark to see anybody in. He stepped closer to where he had heard the loud sob when he stepped on something crinkly, like paper. 'What's this?' he thought as he picked it up. 'A crinkled letter.hmm.' he opened it and gasped when he saw who it was addressed to and what was in it. Minutes passed and he didn't know what to do. Finally he said something, "Lily.I'm sorry.I know how you feel." He heard a gasp and moved closer. "Lily, please, can we talk?" James couldn't believe what he was doing, talking to the one person he probably hated the most (besides Snape and Malfoy) about something he hadn't even told his best friends.
"James?" she asked, peeking out from underneath the dark blanket she had covered herself with.
He smiled and handed the wrinkled letter he had found to her, which she immediately crinkled up and threw to the other side of the room.
"Accio letter!" James said and the paper ball flew back in his direction. Once again, he handed it to Lily. "I'm sure you don't want anybody else to find it like I did." Lily took it, nodding; she sniffed loudly and wiped her nose with her hand.
"What do you want?" she asked in a shaky voice.
"Well." what did he want? To help her? But why? He'd never liked her before and why help her now? "I know I'm probably the only one who knows about..well.this, and I think you should talk about it."
"With you?" Lily spat out and seconds later burst into uncontrolled sobs.
"Yes, with me," James said softly. He didn't say anything else, just listened to her sobs and wondered how else he could help.
"Well." Lily started. In between sobs she continued, "They were at home with my sister and." she stopped and her crying increased.
"Shhhh," James shushed, not sure what else to say. He was sure that she didn't want anybody else to find her there, but did she really care right now? She brushed a portion of her red hear behind her ears and hid her face in her blanket. "Come on," James urged.
"They were with my sister and.and.you-know-who came and." she stopped again and another heart-wrenching sob escaped her throat. James gasped and looked in Lily's direction.
"Lily." he started but, again, he had no clue what to say.
"Please, go away," she whispered. James nodded and stood up to go. "Wait," he heard her whisper and turned back around. "You won't tell anyone, will you?" He nodded silently and examined her face which she had lifted up to ask him not to tell anyone. It was tear-streaked and the areas around her eyes were red and blotchy.
"I hope you'll feel better soon," he said and left the common room. She buried her face in her blanket and started crying, her sobs muffled.
A/n: There it is! The ninth chapter! Woohoo! Sorry it took so long, I had writers block the first half but once I got into the whole scene between her and James it was easy. Oh, and can anyone guess what he meant when he said: I know how you feel.? Woohoo! Foreshadow, or preshadow, umm, not sure which. duh duh duh duuuuh!
A/N: Somebody pointed out to me that it was a great hall, not a cafeteria. Sorry about that! I couldn't think of what it was and so said cafeteria. There are too many to 'edit' so I'm going to keep it that way. Hope you don't mind!