Disclaimer: not mine
A/N: Hey, thanks for all the reviews, I went on 'stats' and almost fell off my chair, 74 reviews, 74!!! THANK YOU :) Now here comes the minor problem *grins sheepishly* am going to Amsterdam for 4 days and then am going home for the weekend, so won't have internet access for next…. *counts fingers*… nine days (the horror!). I'll try and post another chapter on Friday, but otherwise it'll be when I get back, sorry!
Summary: many a true word spoke in jest … or anger. They're the same right? *grin*. Am very nervous about this chapter… if you hate it… well am leaving the country, but please tell me what you think! :D
"Fee, they'll be fine," Arabella said, trying to calm her down,
"Yeah, ok," Fee retorted sarcastically, continuing to mumble to herself about all the possible horrors that could be facing her friend.
"We've got to find them now!" Arabella hissed to Sirius, who was watching Fee's actions with amusement. "If only we knew where they were, they've got to be on the grounds somewhere," Bella said, groaning in exasperation.
"That's it!" Sirius said grinning. "The map!"
"What map?" Bella asked, looking totally confused.
"The Marauder's Map, we made it, the four of us, it shows everybody who is on the school grounds."
"You're kidding!" Bella exclaimed. "How on earth did you lot manage to perform that level of magic?"
"Ha bloody ha," Sirius said glaring at Bella. "We're cleverer than you lot are, we just don't feel the need to show off in class to prove it."
Bella rolled her eyes. "Can we focus on the map here?" Bella asked scathingly,
"It's on the floor by my trunk. It just looks like an old piece of parchment, until it's magically activated," Sirius replied, making a move towards the door.
"Great," Arabella said grinning. "I'll get it then, you can stay with nutso over there." She gestured to Fee, who was now conducting a whole conversation with herself.
"Oh my God!" Fee cried pacing up and down the length of the dormitory, "they've been gone for hours, what if they're stuck, or hurt, or have been killed… oh my god! What if they've killed each other!" Fee exclaimed. Sirius stared at her, he'd never heard her sound so worried before, she was practically wearing a hole in the floor.
"Fee, calm down," he demanded. "They'll be fine."
"Calm down!? Calm down!?" she yelled, turning to face him. "My best friend is stuck God knows where, with James Potter of all people, and you're telling me to calm down!" She ranted at him, her voice steadily rising in pitch. "If something happens it will be all my fault and there is nothing I can do to h-" her diatribe was cut off by Sirius pressing his lips firmly against hers.
He pulled back, his face scarlet with embarrassment. "Shut up and calm down," he mumbled, turning around to face the window, leaving Fee standing there gaping at him, her face a picture of complete shock.
~*~*~*~*~
Lily was shivering violently now; even her teeth were chattering. "Isn't there any way we can warm up?" she asked.
James stared at her. "We are so completely thick!" he exclaimed. "We can just light a fire!" Lily blinked at him slowly. "Hellooooo?" James inquired, waving his hand in front of her face. "Magic? Any recollection at all here?"
"I checked for my wand ages ago. I think I must have dropped it in the entrance hall, I don't have it on me," Lily said, looking at James like he was stupid. "It was the first thing I though of."
"Well fine, if you don't have to be snotty about it," he snapped, trying to cover his embarrassment, as he rummaged in his robes for his wand.
"You won't have yours either," Lily said, matter-of-factly. "I conjured the port key so that it wouldn't transport magical items, come to think of it, that is probably why I don't have mine either," she sniffed slightly, and pulled her knees closer to her, in an attempt to keep warm.
"You were going to leave me and Sirius outside the forest wandless!" James asked, dumbstruck.
"Will you just shut up about this being my fault," Lily yelled at him. "If you hadn't of been a complete git for the last six years I never would have resorted to this in the first place, the pranks, the name calling, you were a total ass!" Lily was now on her feet, shaking in anger.
"Me! Oh right, I'm the ass, I wasn't the only one with the name calling, and the pranks, do you know how many times I've woken up in the morning to find you've turned my hair bloody orange!" James bellowed back at her.
"You deserved it for calling me carrot-top and jokes about putting out the fire on my head. And for your information…" she took a step closer to him, "I happen to like the fact that my hair is red!" she practically screamed at him.
"Just because you look gorgeous with that colour hair, doesn't mean it suits me!" James yelled back at her. Lily's jaw dropped as her brain finally processed the last thing he'd said. James' eyes widened and he could feel himself blushing scarlet. He tried desperately to keep the panicked look of his face.
"E… e.. erm," he stuttered, "j-j-just don't do it again," he mumbled finally, turning away from her and fixing his eyes firmly on the pebbled ground, as he wandered down to the waters' edge.
~*~*~*~*~
"I found the map," Arabella cried, waving it in the air and running into her dormitory. "So, how does it work?" she asked Sirius, panting slightly from her mad dash up the stairs.
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," he said as he placed his wand on the parchment, deliberately avoiding looking at Fee.
"Wow," Bella exclaimed. "This is amazing," she said her eyes scanning the moving dots for any sign of Lily or James' names, "do you see them?" she asked.
"There they are!" Fee said loudly, causing Sirius to jump, "but why are they so pale?" She asked confused, for Lily and James were not black like everyone else, but a faded grey.
"They're underneath Hogwarts."
~*~*~*~*~
James sat by the waters edge, throwing stones into the river. Sighing heavily, he searched through the pockets of his robes, his fingers settling on an old, worn crystal. He was so intent at looking at it, he didn't notice Lily sit down beside him, he jumped slightly when she spoke. "What is it?" she asked.
"Crystal," he said noncommittally.
"Where did you find it?" Lily enquired, hoping to goad him into conversation.
"It was my Dad's. I got it when he died," James said quietly,
"When did he die?" Lily asked. "I mean… it doesn't matter if you don't want to tell me… I mean it's a personal question, and…" she trailed of blushing with embarrassment, cursing herself for being inquisitive.
"When I was eight, he was an Auror, it was a dark magic attack on the Ministry… Mum never told me anything else, she wouldn't even tell me how it happened, how he died and stuff, I just kept imagining what must have gone on…" he blinked back his tears, curling his hand tightly round the crystal.
Lily pretended not to notice, "I'm sorry," she mumbled, feeling like it was a totally inadequate thing to say. "What does the crystal do?" she asked, hoping to bring his attention away from his dad's death.
James jumped slightly, dragging himself back to the present. "Nothing, it's never done anything remotely magical, as far as I know, it can't do, otherwise it would have been blocked from coming here by that spell you put on the port key," he said shrugging slightly.
"Unless it's very old magic, I really didn't put a very good spell on the port key, really only enough to stop the wands from coming with you," she said, trying to cheer him up.
"Doesn't matter anyway," James said quietly. "Mum said to always carry it with me, she said Dad always did… he had it with him the day he died. He said it kept Mum close to him."
"What did he mean by that?" Lily asked, puzzled. James just shrugged softly, and continued to stare into the river. Lily bit her lip, blinking to keep herself from crying, James looked so upset, like a lost little boy, she didn't know what to do.
"Can I have a look?" Lily asked.
James turned towards her for the first time during their whole conversation, he smiled slightly. "Sure," he said, holding out the crystal to her. Lily leaned forward to get a closer look in the gloom, at the glassy pink-coloured crystal. James swallowed, and turned again to face the river, the cave's temperature seemingly rising at her closeness.
"It's beautiful," Lily said softly, her eyes focusing on the smooth planes of the crystal, her hand reached out, as her fingers touched it, it seemed to glow from within, casting a pale light on their faces.
~*~*~*~*~
Fee and Bella gasped at his words, "What do you mean 'they're underneath Hogwarts'?" Fee demanded.
"What does it sound like?" Sirius snapped. "They're underneath the castle."
"How is that even possible?" Fee demanded, turning to face Sirius, "Isn't the castle built on like, I dunno… rocks?"
"Well done," he said rolling his eyes. "There must be like, caves or something," he said mockingly.
"You mean they're in a cave somewhere?" Bella exclaimed.
"How the hell do we get them out!" Fee yelled.
"Ropes and a large drill rig?" Sirius suggested, shrugging.
