Everlasting

chapter 6: lily's inner demons

Lily dashed down the stands towards the pitch, where Sirius was being magically lifted onto a stretcher. Her umbrella lay long forgotten next to a befuddled Peter, and thick raindrops splashed down her face. Remus followed close behind, holding onto an umbrella for dear life, and trying to catch up with Lily.

"Wait! I'd like to go along, please!" Lily cried out pleadingly, and the small group of teachers turned to face her.

"And of what help could you possibly be to Mr. Black?" Trafield asked coldly, and Lily faltered.

"Oh, just let her go along, Fredrick. She's one of my best students; you've nothing to fret over," a voice spoke out, and Lily turned to face a dripping Professor Caliga.

Trafield scowled disapprovingly, but didn't object. Lily shot Caliga a grateful smile, which the professor answered with a small nod.

Lily ran to catch up with the floating stretcher, and though Remus tried to follow her, he was stopped by a disgruntled Fredrick Trafield.

***

"You really scared me half to death, Sirius!" Lily said wearily, and Sirius shot her an apologetic smile.

He had been revived, and all his bones were perfectly mended. The two were presently in the Infirmary, chewing on large chunks of chocolate.

"Well, what happened to the game? Who won?" Sirius asked through a mouthful of chocolate.

"The game was postponed because of you, silly!" Lily shot back impishly. "Gryffindor couldn't find a suitable replacement, and so they postponed the game for two days later. You had better win for Gryffindor, then!"

"You know I will!" Sirius grinned, and Lily smiled back.

Suddenly, the door to the Infirmary creaked open, and Narcissa poked her head in.

"Sirius!" she exclaimed upon spotting him, and smiled. Sirius smiled back widely.

"Did you come all the way here to see me?" He grinned. "I'm so flattered!"

"Well, I'm starting to regret my decision." Narcissa replied, but smiled all the same, and handed him a slice of apple pie. "I got this from the kitchens for you. Hope you feel better soon."

"Thanks," Sirius said, his whole face alight. Lily watched their exchange uncomfortably. Neither of them seemed to notice her presence in the room.

"Well, I'd better be going now. Lucius apparently has something extremely important to tell me. Everything he has to say seems to be important..." Narcissa rolled her eyes, and Lily noticed a glint of jealousy in Sirius' eyes.

"Well... yeah, I'll see you around then."

"Alright. Get well soon!" Narcissa waved, then disappeared out the door.

Sirius immediately reached for the slice of pie, and offered Lily a bite. She declined however, feeling repulsed at the very idea of eating anything from Narcissa Libelle.

"I didn't know Narcissa was such a sweet person..." Lily said sarcastically, but Sirius didn't notice the bitter edge to her tone.

"Yeah, she's a lot nicer than she seems."

"She was always so famous for being extremely rude and stuck up... " Lily spoke bitterly.

"It's just dignity, you know. Very attractive, if I may say so myself..." Sirius said with a grin. "I think she really fancies me; I asked her to accompany me to Hogsmeade next weekend and she accepted. Definitely a date..."

Lily remained silent for she couldn't think up a single thing to say.

***

The next day, after classes had finished, a message arrived to Sirius via owl. He quickly dashed out of the common room, leaving a puzzled Lily sitting alone by the fire.

"I'll bet it's that Narcissa Libelle," Lily said to herself quietly, unaware of James' stare. He had watched Lily follow Sirius around for the past few days, and it was tearing him apart.

Lily had also noticed James' recent bad mood, but had been afraid to confront him about it. She realized that telling him the truth would only put her in an awkward position, and also ruin James and Sirius' friendship.

She looked around the common room, and upon noticing James, quickly walked up to the dorms. Although she felt terrible, she just couldn't bring herself to face him yet.

She studied in her room for several hours, then decided to check whether Sirius had returned or not. She opened the door to the dormitory slightly, and peered through the crack.

On two armchairs facing each other, sat Sirius and James. Sirius had his face buried in his hands, and James seemed to be comforting him. Lily strained to hear what they were saying.

"The Hogsmeade date's been canceled..." Sirius spoke glumly.

"Nothing wrong with that, you can always go another time. Something probably came up," James replied, patting Sirius' shoulder.

"No. I reckon I won't be seeing Narcissa again... ever."

"Don't be a silly git, Sirius. That's totally overdramatic. You'll get your chance sooner or later."

"You don't understand, James... she's... she's engaged!"

"Engaged...? She's in third year..." James raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"Well, she's apparently been promised to Lucius Malfoy by her parents... Slytherin custom or something, they say."

"You've got to be kidding, mate. And she's taking it seriously?"

"I laughed it off at first... But she insisted that there's no way out of it. She said she wishes not to see me anymore; that it would only complicate things." Sirius sighed, and yanked at his hair irritatedly.

"I'm really in complete disbelief here..."

"Tell me about it... I don't think I've ever been so shocked in my life!"

Meanwhile, Lily stood wide-eyed by the doorframe, slowly letting the new piece of information sink in. Narcissa is engaged... to someone other than Sirius! she thought to herself, but couldn't get herself to smile for some reason. It seemed the blessing of a lifetime, but seeing Sirius' miserable face made her feel horrible.

Was she to grab this opportunity, and admit her feelings to Sirius? Or was she to help him get back together with Narcissa one way or another?

Lily slowly slipped back into the dormitory and shut the door behind her. She sunk to the floor, a sad smile on her face. She hadn't planned for things to go this way. Although she despised the idea of Sirius and Narcissa being together, she had had no idea that Sirius liked her so much. She couldn't help but feel guilty; as if Narcissa had gotten engaged because of her.

That's ridiculous! she assured herself, shaking her head furiously, but the guilt wouldn't disappear.

Nevertheless, she decided to take a try. After all, this could only be the work of Fate, telling her to go to Sirius. Or so she thought.

Now there was only James to take care of. It would be a rough journey...






A/N: Whew... you really have no idea how hard it was for me to get this chapter out... Projects, presentations... and mid-term exams^^;; Oh the horror... Anyway, the sixth chapter is finally done. Rather low-quality work, I'll admit, but I tried my best! Wish me good luck on the exams! ^^

Disclaimer: Characters and background belong to JKR. Infringement of trademark or copyright not intended.