Yes, I remember what I said I would do for this chapter, and I'm sorry. I tried to literally write a short chapter with some plot in it as quick as I could so I could update for you guys, but the characters ran away from me and got out of control... so the plot here took another little detour. And the chapter became long. And... yeah, I think you get the point. I'll stop rambling now.
Here's chapter 7, and thanks to all my reviewers!
Author's Note: Special thanks to The Omniscient Bookseller, for coming up with the coolest words and descriptions and stuff. These things just kind of sit in my head, and I occasionally find times to use them, like now. ^_^
Oh, and some swearing in this chapter. Not a lot, but this is –Arabella- getting pissed, mind.
Chapter 7: Fate Thinks Otherwise
Bloody hell, muttered Remus as he searched the library, wasn't Lily just here a few minutes ago?
After thoroughly combing the library and finding no sign of Lily or her whereabouts, Remus was rather pissed. He needed to find Lily now, or it wouldn't work. Muttering darkly under his breath, Remus pushed open the door again and left, with a mumbled apology to the librarian and a mumbled "'Scuse me" to the person he bumped into as he emerged into the hallway. Had Remus been paying attention, he would have realized that that person was Tiffany Ciera, and immediately run in the other direction as fast as he could without being overly conspicuous, but as he wasn't, he didn't notice the other girl's gaze follow him all the way to the end of the hallway. The only thought on his mind was, Where the hell is Lily?
Cursing, Remus set off once again to find her.
~*~*~
After what seemed like many long hours, Ariel finally returned, Lily in tow. Arabella was fidgeting by the chair, checking James's pulse every minute or so as if afraid he would suddenly die on her.
"About time!" she snapped, immediately running up to them. "C'mon, Lily, get over here!" She seized Lily's arm are dragged her over.
Once they reached the chair, Lily yanked her arm back and rubbed it gingerly. "What on—"
Then, she spotted the unconscious figure slumped on the chair. A myriad of unreadable emotions flitted across her face, as Lily fidgeted uncertainly.
James...
She knew what she should do. She should turn around and walk away. She should act like seeing James didn't matter to her, like it didn't rip her heart to pieces.
Like it didn't hurt to pretend she didn't love him.
Lily tried to walk away. She had turned and taken her first painful step towards the portrait hole when Ariel's gentle voice reached her ears, "Lily, James is hurt. If you can look me in the eyes and tell me you can walk away from him without a single care or concern, I'll leave you alone and never mention him again." Ariel paused, then continued, her voice soft but clear. "Lily, stop trying to fool us. Most of all, stop trying to fool yourself.
"You love him."
Hearing the truth stated so bluntly, Lily's resolve wavered. But she couldn't back down, not now. Not when so much depended on her being strong.
She raised her chin defiantly, locked gazes with Ariel, and whispered through clenched teeth, "I don't. I don't love him."
Then she turned and fled out of the room.
~*~*~
"Lily!" Arabella streaked past Ariel, startling her. "Lily, wait up!"
Lily's muffled sobs could still be heard, as could Arabella's footsteps running down the hall.
Ariel turned to James, her eyes cold. "James Potter, you're blind," she half-whispered to his unconscious form. "You're bloody dumb, deaf, and blind. You can't see how much she still loves you."
Ariel then turned and ran after Lily and Arabella.
~*~*~
Just as Ariel rounded the corner in chase of her friends, Remus ran up the stairs on the other side of the hallway, panting.
A minute after he disappeared through the portrait hole, a heartfelt curse echoed down the stairs.
Not only had Lily seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth, but the Marauder's Map was also nowhere to be found.
~*~*~
Ariel almost crashed headlong into Arabella when she turned another corner, because Arabella was just standing there in the middle of the hallway, gaping.
The entire stretch of hallway ahead of them was empty.
Brushing herself off, Ariel asked, "What happened? Where'd she go?"
Shakily, Arabella replied, "I swear I saw her turn the corner. When I followed her, I caught a glimpse of— of— of her back. And she looked pale. Transparent, even. Like a ghost. And then she just disappeared."
Ariel looked around her, but she only saw a few paintings on the walls and a suit of armor at the other end of the corridor. "It's worth a try," she muttered.
Walking up to it, she rapped it sharply in the chest. "Have you seen Lily Evans? Red hair, green eyes—"
The visor lifted ever so slightly. "Eh? Eh? Who's there?"
Arabella winced and fought the urge to clap her hands to her ears. Its voice sounded like a cross between a broken heater and a dying cow.
"Sir, have you seen Lily Evans? Red hair, green—"
"I heard you the first time! I ain't deaf, missy!"
"Well then, have you?"
"I may be old, but I ain't senile. You young 'uns ain't got no respect for yer elders no more. Disrespectful bunch, the lot of you—"
"Shut your trap, you lousy chunk of rust, and answer me!" Arabella marched up to it and jabbed it threateningly with her wand. "Have you seen Lily Evans?"
The suit of armor tried to do the equivalent of sniffing disdainfully and poking its nose in the air. "For that, young lady, I shall not answer you."
"I'll hex you!"
"Thou shall do no such thing—"
"Cantare semper!"
The strains of one large lovable purple and green dinosaur's infamous "I Love You" song followed Ariel and Arabella as they bid the armor their leave, snickering, and continued their search down the corridor. The noise could be heard halfway across the school. As could the clanging of metal as the suit of armor repeatedly bashed its head into the wall.
~*~*~
Arabella and Ariel were walking at a fast pace, eyes carefully scanning for a trace of telltale red hair, when Arabella stopped abruptly. "Ariel, what if something's happened to James? We left him alone in the common room. What if he's slipped into a coma? Or— or— or worse?"
Ariel tried to reassure Arabella, though her voice was nearly as shaky. "Ara, I don't think it's that bad—"
However, instead of pacifying her, Ariel only succeeded in getting Arabella even more riled up. She whirled on Ariel, her face now pale except for two bright splotches of temper high on her cheeks. "Not bad? Not bad?! Ariel, didn't you see what happened? Crucio— it looked like the fucking Cruciatus Curse!"
Had they been listening, they might have heard Lily's sharp exhalation of breath behind them.
Arabella was shaking visibly now, and her voice had dropped to a horrified whisper. "I— I was there when Voldemort killed my parents. The bloody bastard put fucking Crucio on them for minutes. It drove them insane. Completely insane. It was mercy that he killed them." She gave a harsh, bitter laugh. "Can you believe that? Mercy. Mercy. God, it's so ironic— it's wrong."
She sagged against the wall, her body trembling as she fought to stifle the sobs in her throat. Ariel stood by her, murmuring softly into Arabella's ear and just providing her with the soothing comfort of human presence.
Lily, her head reeling with all that she'd observed and a horrible sinking feeling in her stomach, turned abruptly and raced to the Gryffindor Common Room.
~*~*~
As Remus was riffling through the mess piled on the foot of James's bed, searching for the familiar piece of parchment and muttering incoherent curses, he suddenly saw a blurry shadow zip past the window. For a moment, Remus was confused, but then he saw the tail end of James's beloved broom and a head of black hair, and it clicked.
He opened the window, stuck his head out, and shouted, "Oy, Padfoot, where's the Map?"
Sirius laughed, then waved what looked suspiciously like the aforementioned object around in the air.
"Bloody hell! Sirius, I need—"
But Sirius had zoomed away already, laughing manically and doing steep vertical dives while flailing his arms around dramatically, one hand clutching the parchment.
Eyes flashing, Remus dashed down the stairs and out of the portrait hole. Oh Padfoot, you will pay dearly for this. If my plan doesn't work...
If I didn't know better, I swear you act like you know my plan and are trying to sabotage it.
That's not true, is it? It's not possible...
Oy.
~*~*~
Lily stared at the portrait of the Fat Lady. She didn't know why she'd run up here, why she had felt that she'd had to come up here. One minute she had been listening to Ariel and Arabella, and in the next she'd found herself racing up the stairs like one possessed, Invisibility Cloak draped over one arm and heart pounding wildly.
Why was she bothering?
The Fat Lady was looking at Lily expectantly. "Password, dear?"
Lily was about to automatically reply, "Chocolate muse bunny" when the nasty little voice in her head spoke up again.
Why are you doing this?
... I don't know...
She was turning to walk away when she heard the familiar creak of hinges behind her. Lily turned around, and gaped.
The Fat Lady had opened without the password? Who— how— why—
"Go on, dear." Lily gave the Fat Lady one last bewildered look, then did as she was told, telling the nasty little voice in her head to shut its mouth already.
~*~*~
Remus ran down the stairs on the other end of the hallway, mumbling apologies to those he nearly knocked over in his mad dash. Finally he shoved open the door and emerged into the cool, crisp air, racing towards the Broom Shed. When the small structure appeared in his line of vision, he slowed and took out his wand. "Accio broom!" As the broom took its sweet time floating over to him, Remus groaned. It was in these situations that he envied Lily, Charms Master of Hogwarts. If he had even half her talent, he probably could have summoned a broom all the way from Gryffindor Tower without breaking a sweat. And then he could have just flown out the window and gotten the Map from Sirius, and his plan would be working. But no, instead, he had to run all the way to the Broom Shed so— with his at-most-satisfactory Charms skills— he wouldn't accidentally crash a broom while trying to summon it through the window of McGonagall's office, as James had done in his first year.
Remus finally ran out of patience, and raced to meet the broom halfway. Shakily, he hopped on and took off, performing a small spell to point him in Sirius's direction. As he sped off, he gulped and tried not to think about the endless list of reasons the Marauders had come up with about why school brooms were not to be trusted.
Such as their perpetual wobbling.
As Remus neared the lake, he spotted a small blur doing loops and figure-eights over the surface. He gritted his teeth and flattened as much as he could, urging the broom to go faster.
If anyone deserved to have a Fully-Body Bind cast on him while he were flying over the lake, it was Sirius. And Remus would have happily treated Sirius to such an honor had he not feared the Map might be lost or damaged in the waters.
Sighing resignedly, Remus resorted to relishing the idea of casting an Aqua Phobia charm on Sirius and watching him freak out. And then, mused Remus, maybe I could get the Map from him, and then I can put a Full Body Bind on him... He laughed with sadistic glee as he imagined Sirius falling into the lake, immobile and screaming bloody murder at the sight of water... it would almost be worth having to fly on a crappy school broom.
~*~*~
Hesitantly, Lily walked towards the chair. There was James, sprawled limply on the cushions, his face pale but oddly peaceful. He might have just been sleeping, had it not been for the ropes binding him. She carefully reached out a hand and felt the ropes, eyes scanning for— though not expecting to find— any knots. Her guess was confirmed— it was only a magical spell, and therefore only needed a counterspell.
Lily searched her memory for the possible spells that could have been used, and came up with several. Some were less likely than others, though. It's probably a simple Binding Spell, mused Lily, and Arabella knows the counterspell. Why'd she ask me?
Oh, but she knew. She could see right through her friends' attempts to set her up again with James. If only they understood...
Lily sighed. Might as well just get it done with. Nothing to get riled up over at all.
She took out her wand and uttered the incantation for the counterspell, then quickly turned to go, hoping she could disappear before James woke up. However, a sizzling sound and the faint odor of burning fabric stopped her in her tracks, and Lily whirled around.
Her eyes opened wide when she took in the scene in front of her. The ropes were glowing the color of burning embers, and James's robes were beginning to burn through.
Arabella's voice rang in her mind. Crucio— it looked like the Cruciatus Curse—
James began to twitch and moan, having regained some consciousness. Little beads of sweat formed on his forehead, and he bit his lip, a thin line of blood trickling down his chin. For a split second, his eyes fluttered open without actually seeing, wide and mindless with pain and terror.
Lily gulped, her hand shaking. Binding Spell— powerful— side effects— burning—
She racked her brain frantically for the spell that had been used. It had to be a very powerful one, or the side effects of failed attempts to break it wouldn't have been this vicious. Lily had a nagging suspicion that the person who had cast this charm had had her in mind, because she was sure no other student in Hogwarts would have been able to break it. As vain as it sounded, it was true, and Lily didn't like it. It was a warped kind of compliment in a way, but she didn't appreciate it in the least.
She looked down at her wand, which she had been subconsciously gripping so tightly that her knuckles were white. As much as she enjoyed a challenge, breaking this spell was not one she particularly wished to take.
Especially because there was no counterspell. The only possible way for her to get James out of the ropes was through a blast of pure magic. A blast that, if abused or handled incorrectly, could end up burning one of them alive.
Taking a deep breath, Lily extended her wand arm and closed her eyes.
The bloody idiot who cast this charm really had no idea what he had gotten himself into.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As I said before, this chapter ran away from me... I really didn't plan on this sudden turn of events. When I posted the last chapter, what I had in mind for this chapter was a short, maybe 6 page chapter that solved the problem, and introduced a major point in the plotline. But, as you can see, that didn't happen. I would have written more in this chappy, but I wanted to upload, so I'm ending it here.
If you really wanna know, the entire blast of magic thing was made up spontaneously from the top of my head half a minute ago. Probably influenced by Tamora Pierce. I'm sorry if you think it's clishe-ish, but I really couldn't think of another, better way to get out of the corner I'd backed myself into.
Ok, so next chapter... this problem gets solved, and I will –make- myself actually include what I wanted to. I will. **firmly makes oath**
I'm going to start writing it right now. And it will probably be kinda short... ok, my definition of short varies a bit. But it hopefully shouldn't detour any more than it already has, or this story will never get anywhere… **sigh**
Please review to make me happy! ^_^
Making me happy probably isn't on your top ten list of most important things to do, but... do it anyway.
=^.^= Merlin's Quill