Chapter Four: Tears
Lily sat there for a minute, gathering her thoughts. When she looked up into Archer's face, her eyes were glistening. From the single glance that the best friends shared, they each knew that they had to tell.
Taking a deep breath, Lily began the story. She told of life at the orphanage, of how, when she and Archer met, they had learned of their magic. She told of what they would do at night, and to the other people living there. When Lily could no longer talk of how horrible their life had been, Archer stepped in.
"Madame Miriam would punish us terribly if we did anything wrong. Right before we left Miriam had grounded Kal for 'decorating' a room. Kal wasn't allowed to leave her bedroom. No one quite understands what that means though. Food was not allowed into any room except the kitchen and dining room. Therefore Kal wouldn't have been able to eat at all unless we snuck food into her room, or got her out, and that was very hard to do. Miriam would put a guard outside her door to keep her in."
Archer stopped for a moment and looked down at Lily. He had his arms wrapped around her, rocking her in his lap. Her red ringlets were buried in his chest, tears streaming down her face. She looked up at him, drawing strength from his warm gaze. She began to speak again, but in a whisper this time.
"We didn't tell you one thing though. Besides being deprived of food whenever we did anything wrong, Miriam was a very violent person. She would hit, and whip us. She would also throw things at us." Lily paused and took a deep breath. "One time I dropped my plate, and it shattered. She got so mad at me that she picked up the knife used for carving chicken, and threw it at me. It sliced through my right arm." Pulling up her right shirtsleeve, Lily showed them the scar. The boys gasped. The scar went from the front of her arm all the way around to the back, making it look like she was wearing a bracelet around her arm. "The only reason that the knife didn't cut my arm off is because Sil pulled me over."
"To make things worse Kal's older sister, Petunia, would laugh at her whenever she got hurt, thinking it was the best thing that had ever happened. She is Miriam's favourite out of all of the children. Saying that Kal and Petunia hate each other is an understatement." Anger flashed across Archer's handsome face, when he said this.
"After that happened, we decided to get out as fast as possible. This occurred about a year or less ago. Since then we have been searching for a way out of there. When you found us, James, we had been travelling for a couple weeks." James nodded in understanding.
"You forgot to explain one thing though. When I found you, you weren't like you are now." Remus gave James a confused look, but didn't say anything.
"Oh, yes, that. You're right, we did forget." Archer looked down at Kal, whispering, "Come on, Kal. We need to show them." Both of them got up. "It's better if we show you and then explain." Archer told the three boys. Turning to face Lily, Archer her caught her gaze, pleading with her to do as he asked. She nodded slightly, and he smiled.
Within the blink of an eye, Lily and Archer were no longer there. In their place stood two powerful leopards. One of them was a graceful, glowing white. The other was a glossy, impressive black. Each had a dangerous yet mysterious aura surrounding it, causing James, Sirius, and Remus to retreat slightly.
Letting out a soft growl the leopards transformed back into their human selves. Sitting down once again, Lily and Archer looked up expectantly at the boys with questioning eyes.
"Wow," was all that Sirius could get out.
"You guys are animagi?" Remus asked.
"Yeah, if that's what you call it."
For some reason unknown to him, James felt that he could trust the two teenagers sitting silently in front of him. Lily and Archer told us everything about themselves, and we've only known them for a month. How come I trust them so much? They won't tell our secret. I know they won't. Right? James hoped he was correct.
Giving the other two boys a confirming look, James decided that they needed to tell Lily and Archer their secret. It's only fair, James thought. "Guys, we also have something to tell you. Sirius and I are animagi too," with that they both transformed.
Lily and Archer were less shocked than the boys were, but they were surprised to say the least.
In front of them stood a muscular stag with a beautiful head of horns, and a huge, perilous-looking, black dog. After James and Sirius transformed back, Remus took a deep shaking breath.
"I guess that it is only fair that I tell you my secret too," he said. "I . . . I'm a . . . a werewolf." Remus slowly looked up, searching the faces of the two sitting in front of him.
"Remus," Lily quietly began, "are you expecting me to go running from the room or something? You look terrified."
"Almost everyone in the wizarding world has a terrible prejudice against werewolves," Remus explained quietly. "They would run away as fast as possible, actually." Lily stood up, walked over to Remus, and enveloped him in a warm embrace.
"I'd never run," she whispered in to his ear.
"Thank you so much, Lils," he replied, tightening the embrace.
"We would never do that, mate. We just aren't that kind of people," Archer said.
Releasing Lily, Remus smiled happily. "You don't know how much that means to me."
"Ok, so we have successfully depressed everyone in the room. Now, before we get all too gloomy, could you guys please explain this whole name thing? I am royally confused!" Sirius exclaimed.
Laughing Archer replied, "Sure, Sirius. Lily's entire name is Lilith Kali Evans, mine is Archer Silas Keith."
"You guys aren't related?" James interrupted.
"No, we're not."
"Wow, you guys are so close that we thought you were twins. Your eyes also look exactly alike. So, I just assumed that you were brother and sister.
Lily laughed, "I guess I understand the mistake. We wish we were related. I know we act like we are at least."
"That's kinda surprising, but anyway, back to the nickname thing," Sirius said.
"Ok. Well, the nicknames come from our middle names. They helped at the orphanage because eavesdroppers couldn't tell who was talking. No one had these names at the orphanage, and no one knew our middle names. So, it all worked out."
"Ahhhh, that makes sense. Interesting," mused James. All of a sudden he turned and said, "Sirius, what time is it?" Snoring away on the floor next to them lay their friend, fast asleep. Everyone laughed at the sight.
Lily looked at her watch saying, "It's 11:00 pm. No wonder I'm so tired. I'm going to bed. See you in the morning." As she stood up, so did Archer.
"Hold up, mate. I'll come with you. I'm about to fall asleep as well. Night everyone." He walked after Lily towards the stairs. "And James," Archer said right before he left the room, "please don't tell anyone about Kal and I." With that, he smiled and ran to catch up with Lily.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Lily dashed up the stairs running from her friend. "Kal! Kal, come on. Wait up!" She laughed and ran faster. "Kal! You know that I am going to get you for running." Lily laughed once again and dashed into Archer's room.
Quickly transforming, she bounded up onto the top of one of the posts of his bed. Archer ran into the room, gasping for breath. He had seen her turn into the room, so he knew she was in there, just not where. Making a quick guess that she had changed into her leopard form, he transformed.
Lily watched from atop her perch, silently laughing. Closing her glowing eyes for a moment, Lily smiled. I should have known that he would transform. Now he can see better. I'm as good as caught. When she opened them once again, Archer was nowhere to be seen. Shoot! Where did he go?
Just as she was wondering where Archer had gotten off to, something landed on her back, throwing her to the bed. Landing on top of her, a black leopard growled at Lily. Laughing, Lily changed back into her self, and pushed the now human Archer off of her.
"I told you I would find you. And look what you have done! You woke me up. I'll never be able to get to sleep now," Archer teasingly complained.
"Well, I will still be able, and am going to, Sil." Lily then nimbly jumped off his bed, ran over to the balcony, and dove over the edge. Within a minute she was standing in her balcony. "Night, Sil. Sweet dreams."
"You too, Kal. See ya' in the morning." And before anyone watching could have blinked, the best friends were in bed, asleep.
Lily sat there for a minute, gathering her thoughts. When she looked up into Archer's face, her eyes were glistening. From the single glance that the best friends shared, they each knew that they had to tell.
Taking a deep breath, Lily began the story. She told of life at the orphanage, of how, when she and Archer met, they had learned of their magic. She told of what they would do at night, and to the other people living there. When Lily could no longer talk of how horrible their life had been, Archer stepped in.
"Madame Miriam would punish us terribly if we did anything wrong. Right before we left Miriam had grounded Kal for 'decorating' a room. Kal wasn't allowed to leave her bedroom. No one quite understands what that means though. Food was not allowed into any room except the kitchen and dining room. Therefore Kal wouldn't have been able to eat at all unless we snuck food into her room, or got her out, and that was very hard to do. Miriam would put a guard outside her door to keep her in."
Archer stopped for a moment and looked down at Lily. He had his arms wrapped around her, rocking her in his lap. Her red ringlets were buried in his chest, tears streaming down her face. She looked up at him, drawing strength from his warm gaze. She began to speak again, but in a whisper this time.
"We didn't tell you one thing though. Besides being deprived of food whenever we did anything wrong, Miriam was a very violent person. She would hit, and whip us. She would also throw things at us." Lily paused and took a deep breath. "One time I dropped my plate, and it shattered. She got so mad at me that she picked up the knife used for carving chicken, and threw it at me. It sliced through my right arm." Pulling up her right shirtsleeve, Lily showed them the scar. The boys gasped. The scar went from the front of her arm all the way around to the back, making it look like she was wearing a bracelet around her arm. "The only reason that the knife didn't cut my arm off is because Sil pulled me over."
"To make things worse Kal's older sister, Petunia, would laugh at her whenever she got hurt, thinking it was the best thing that had ever happened. She is Miriam's favourite out of all of the children. Saying that Kal and Petunia hate each other is an understatement." Anger flashed across Archer's handsome face, when he said this.
"After that happened, we decided to get out as fast as possible. This occurred about a year or less ago. Since then we have been searching for a way out of there. When you found us, James, we had been travelling for a couple weeks." James nodded in understanding.
"You forgot to explain one thing though. When I found you, you weren't like you are now." Remus gave James a confused look, but didn't say anything.
"Oh, yes, that. You're right, we did forget." Archer looked down at Kal, whispering, "Come on, Kal. We need to show them." Both of them got up. "It's better if we show you and then explain." Archer told the three boys. Turning to face Lily, Archer her caught her gaze, pleading with her to do as he asked. She nodded slightly, and he smiled.
Within the blink of an eye, Lily and Archer were no longer there. In their place stood two powerful leopards. One of them was a graceful, glowing white. The other was a glossy, impressive black. Each had a dangerous yet mysterious aura surrounding it, causing James, Sirius, and Remus to retreat slightly.
Letting out a soft growl the leopards transformed back into their human selves. Sitting down once again, Lily and Archer looked up expectantly at the boys with questioning eyes.
"Wow," was all that Sirius could get out.
"You guys are animagi?" Remus asked.
"Yeah, if that's what you call it."
For some reason unknown to him, James felt that he could trust the two teenagers sitting silently in front of him. Lily and Archer told us everything about themselves, and we've only known them for a month. How come I trust them so much? They won't tell our secret. I know they won't. Right? James hoped he was correct.
Giving the other two boys a confirming look, James decided that they needed to tell Lily and Archer their secret. It's only fair, James thought. "Guys, we also have something to tell you. Sirius and I are animagi too," with that they both transformed.
Lily and Archer were less shocked than the boys were, but they were surprised to say the least.
In front of them stood a muscular stag with a beautiful head of horns, and a huge, perilous-looking, black dog. After James and Sirius transformed back, Remus took a deep shaking breath.
"I guess that it is only fair that I tell you my secret too," he said. "I . . . I'm a . . . a werewolf." Remus slowly looked up, searching the faces of the two sitting in front of him.
"Remus," Lily quietly began, "are you expecting me to go running from the room or something? You look terrified."
"Almost everyone in the wizarding world has a terrible prejudice against werewolves," Remus explained quietly. "They would run away as fast as possible, actually." Lily stood up, walked over to Remus, and enveloped him in a warm embrace.
"I'd never run," she whispered in to his ear.
"Thank you so much, Lils," he replied, tightening the embrace.
"We would never do that, mate. We just aren't that kind of people," Archer said.
Releasing Lily, Remus smiled happily. "You don't know how much that means to me."
"Ok, so we have successfully depressed everyone in the room. Now, before we get all too gloomy, could you guys please explain this whole name thing? I am royally confused!" Sirius exclaimed.
Laughing Archer replied, "Sure, Sirius. Lily's entire name is Lilith Kali Evans, mine is Archer Silas Keith."
"You guys aren't related?" James interrupted.
"No, we're not."
"Wow, you guys are so close that we thought you were twins. Your eyes also look exactly alike. So, I just assumed that you were brother and sister.
Lily laughed, "I guess I understand the mistake. We wish we were related. I know we act like we are at least."
"That's kinda surprising, but anyway, back to the nickname thing," Sirius said.
"Ok. Well, the nicknames come from our middle names. They helped at the orphanage because eavesdroppers couldn't tell who was talking. No one had these names at the orphanage, and no one knew our middle names. So, it all worked out."
"Ahhhh, that makes sense. Interesting," mused James. All of a sudden he turned and said, "Sirius, what time is it?" Snoring away on the floor next to them lay their friend, fast asleep. Everyone laughed at the sight.
Lily looked at her watch saying, "It's 11:00 pm. No wonder I'm so tired. I'm going to bed. See you in the morning." As she stood up, so did Archer.
"Hold up, mate. I'll come with you. I'm about to fall asleep as well. Night everyone." He walked after Lily towards the stairs. "And James," Archer said right before he left the room, "please don't tell anyone about Kal and I." With that, he smiled and ran to catch up with Lily.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Lily dashed up the stairs running from her friend. "Kal! Kal, come on. Wait up!" She laughed and ran faster. "Kal! You know that I am going to get you for running." Lily laughed once again and dashed into Archer's room.
Quickly transforming, she bounded up onto the top of one of the posts of his bed. Archer ran into the room, gasping for breath. He had seen her turn into the room, so he knew she was in there, just not where. Making a quick guess that she had changed into her leopard form, he transformed.
Lily watched from atop her perch, silently laughing. Closing her glowing eyes for a moment, Lily smiled. I should have known that he would transform. Now he can see better. I'm as good as caught. When she opened them once again, Archer was nowhere to be seen. Shoot! Where did he go?
Just as she was wondering where Archer had gotten off to, something landed on her back, throwing her to the bed. Landing on top of her, a black leopard growled at Lily. Laughing, Lily changed back into her self, and pushed the now human Archer off of her.
"I told you I would find you. And look what you have done! You woke me up. I'll never be able to get to sleep now," Archer teasingly complained.
"Well, I will still be able, and am going to, Sil." Lily then nimbly jumped off his bed, ran over to the balcony, and dove over the edge. Within a minute she was standing in her balcony. "Night, Sil. Sweet dreams."
"You too, Kal. See ya' in the morning." And before anyone watching could have blinked, the best friends were in bed, asleep.