Landslide :: 7 ::
Lily's eyes fluttered open. It was dark in the infirmary, moreso with the blinds around her bed. The day was a haze, but at least she was feeling better. Her head wasn't throbbing, she could blessedly see clearly, and her knees were - still bruised, and the left was covered in a large white square of bandage - but the pain was gone. Her uniform - cleaned and dry, was folded neatly on her bedside table. She glanced at her watch. Broken. Glass gone and everything.
"Wow."
This was going to seriously complicate her daily schedule. She snatched her hairtie from on top of the pile of clothes and swung her hair up into it's usual high ponytail.
Well, before the elastic broke.
"Shoot."
Lily pulled the covers off of her legs, immediately making her feel cold. The covers flew back into place, Lily drumming her fingers on the crisp white sheets. Getting up in the morning was never this annoying.
Breathing angrily out of her nostrils, she edged closer to the side of the bed, and reached her arm out for her clothes. Why were they on the farthest corner of the table?
Just farther, just an ooch farther - got it.
"Oh!"
Before she knew what happened, she was on the floor, clothes dissheveled and now wrinkled. Backside frozen.
"Damn it." she breathed. Lily gathered her blankets - also included in the fall - and tossed them onto the bed. She eased herself onto her feet, and picked up what had seconds ago been neatly folded clothes.
It took about half an hour, but Lily was finally dressed. Her skirt had a few too many pleats in it, which only added to Lily's mood. Making the bed expertly in minutes, she took her wand and headed out the door.
Straight into Madame Pomfrey, who - conveniently enough - was carrying a tray of medecines and cleaned utensils, all of which clattered noisily to the floor.
"Oh, no. It's alright, Miss Evans, I'll clean this up. Oh, and you've gotten something on your shirt. Oh, just cleaned and everything. If you want I can look up a spell for you, just give me a moment with this..."
"No, it's fine, I'll clean it out."
"Are you sure? How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine, really."
"That's good. Well, go eat something. Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't want to see you back in here for exhaustion."
"Thank you, Madame Pomfrey."
The patron smiled, looking too distracted to answer.
Lily rounded a corner, slowly and widely this time, just for good measure. The hallway was empty anyways, so Lily sped up her pace, wanting to get some breakfast before anyone at her table (namely James) claimed half of it.
In her mind, she was doing a quick review of her schedule for today. Potions, Transfiguration, and Divination. Not one good class. What she desperately needed was a charms class to lift her spirits. Lily's day was just spiraling ever downwards.
"Miss Evans!" croaked someone. Lily came back from her stupor, and saw wood. She stopped abruptly, but her foot kept going until her toe knocked the door with a hollow thud. She was about to scream obscenities when she half noticed, half remembered the person standing on the other side.
"Do pay more attention!" Filch said, craning his neck around the doorframe to check for damage.
"I'm sorry." Lily said through clenched teeth.
"Students never pay attention to smaller things." he mumbled to himself, now swinging the door back and forth on its hinges. Lily just stood there, frustration building. She sidestepped the door and was about to continue on her way, when Filch cried out.
"Y'hear that?!" he cried.
"Er - hear what, sorry."
"Listen."
Filch swung the door away and back again. Lily heard nothing but the gentle swish of air it created.
"Well?"
She looked from him to the door to him again. "Nothing, sir."
He grabbed hold of the door again, and extended his index finger. Slowly, very, very slowly, he pushed the oak door. It was quiet at first, and then grew to the audity of a whisper. A slow, continuous squeak. Barely there. Filch's face contorted into an 'I-told-you-so' stare.
Lily didn't know what to say at that moment.
"R-Right. I really should be going, Mr.Filch. I need to have breakfast before I get to class. Bye!"
She walked off in a hurry, leaving Filch with his cat - who had just come slinking out of the classroom.
"I don't suppose we have any oil left for these hinges?"
A meow.
"Well, we'll add it to the list for Dumbledore."
He clicked his tounge against his teeth and the cat sprang onto his shoulder.
"And what's this about the Durmstrang ship?"
*
Lily had made it to the Great Hall, but not on time. As she sat down on the table, she noticed James' chair was empty, and what looked like the last slices of bacon left on his plate. Lily looked towards the grandfather clock, and saw that she was more behind schedule than previously imagined.
Pulling a few pieces of cold toast onto a napkin, she tore off as fast as she could run with her knee bandaged up towards the Potions classroom. She screeched to a halt by her desk with minutes to spare. Arabella looked up from her textbook when she heard Lily's toast bounce annoyingly onto the desk.
"Missed breakfast again?"
Lily took off her heavy backpack and threw it on the back of the chair. She didn't sit down fast enough, and the chair fell backwards from the uneven weight distribution. Lily righted her chair, kicking the bag under the desk, and sat down. Arabella wasn't stupid enough to press her friend for conversation. She returned to her textbook, occasionally glancing sideways at Lily, who was drumming her fingers at an abysmally fast speed on the desktop.
Professor Rummonds had walked into class after a few moments, a tray of half filled vials balanced on each arm. He lay them gently down on his desk before adressing the class.
"Attention please! Mr. Black, face the front."
Once everyone was silent, Rummonds walked around to the front of his desk with a roll of parchment
"Today we will be doing a practical experiment. You will need your cauldrons, and the basic ingredients listed in your textbook, page 173. The potion is moderate forgetfullness. It is only moderate, because of the small amount of the main ingrediant, Oublius Oxidium."
At this, he gestured to the vials behind him.
"Your concoctions are not as powerful as the base alone. The entire vial you will produce will have the ability to make you forget the past week, but since you are working in groups, your individual potion has only the ability to blur the last day or two. Now then, you will be working in groups of 4, which I have previously assigned."
A few groans, and an obvious "boo" was heard from the group of students. Rummonds needed only to clear his throat and the class went mute.
"Good good. The first group will be Ms. Figg, Ms. Bowles, Mr. Black, and Mr. Lupin. Group Two will be Mr. Pettigrew, Ms.Evans, Mr.Potter, and Mr.Snape. Group three will be - "
Lily's temper, if it were at all possible, rose. And this was only her first class. When Rummonds finished calling out the groups, Lily grabbed her textbook and cauldron, and made her way to the back of the class.
Her whole group looked upset. Potter and Snape were glaring at each other, Peter just looked worried, and Lily was just very very frustrated. It was going to be an interesting class.
"I'll get the base." Lily said through the odd silence.
"Fine." said James, not looking away from Snape.
Lily rolled her eyes, and went to the front of the room, where she met up with Arabella.
"These groups suck." her friend said.
"Predecided groups always suck. It's an elaborate hoax set up by professors in hopes of turning us against each other in all out war. It makes for small talk on the coffee breaks. But then there's always the lecture on teamwork. That must be for kicks." Lily said quickly. She grabbed a vial and wrenched it out of the tray, almost spilling some of the clear base.
"Be careful, Ms. Evans!" tutted the Professor. "Don't spill any of that!"
Lily turned away from the desk, clenching and unclenching her jaw.
"Mmm-hmm."
Once she had gotten back to her group, Peter was trying to use a flint lighter to spark the fire underneath the cauldrons. He wasn't having very much luck.
"Wouldn't a wand work?" Snape said, staring down at Peter as if he was an idiot. Peter drew back, his cheeks beginning to redden.
"If you'd have cared to read the book, you'd notice that it said non-magic fire produces the best result." James shot back at him. "Give it here, Pete."
Peter's back straightened a bit, and he handed James the flint lighter. James looked at it for a moment, before extending it to Snape.
"Or would you like to do the honours?"
Snape narrowed his eyes at James.
"A pure-blooded wizard like myself wouldn't stoop so low as to use primitive muggle tools. You'd be better off handing that god-forsaken contraption to the mudblood on your left."
It could have happened in an instant if Lily hadn't intervened. She grabbed the lighter from James' hand, which also prevented him from jumping across the desk. He sat back, fuming.
"Severus, if you can't wrap your brain around the simplicity of a scientific piece of equipment, just say so. There's no need for time consuming bullshit."
Lily snapped the flint lighter and soon the cauldron was simmering over a fair sized flame. Lily dropped the lighter and sat back in her chair, examining her textbook.
"Add the toenails once it turns green." Peter spat out, eager to get a crack at Snape.
James had to hide his smiles behind his textbook. Pete tries so hard, but -
The class was beginning to wind down, and Lily was impatiently waiting for the base to finally be added. Her toast was as hard as a slab of rock.
"There's a filling breakfast." James said, wiping what was left of powdered tooth off of the desk with his hand.
"If you left any bacon on the table, it might have been otherwise."
"You know what they say about the early bird."
Lily shook her head.
"What I wouldn't give to see you eat a worm."
"Herbology isn't until next week somehow. Too bad."
"I don't need a herbology class to get my hands on a worm."
"Add the base." interrupted Snape. He looked at Peter, who was the designated observer, jotting down notes on the experiment. His elbow 'accidentally' slipped, and Peter's quill scratched a heavy line across his detailed observations.
"Don't worry Pete, we can fix that." James said.
Lily tipped the vial into the cauldron, making the colour go from dark red to black, to clear liquid.
"That means it's finished. Now we just need to pour it into seperate vials."
"Well then let's get on with it. This class is almost over."
Snape grabbed the ladel and dolloped some of the forgetfulness potion into a vial for each of them. He distributed the finished product to everyone, lastly Lily. Hers was obviously only a quarter full as compared to the others.
"Hand me the ladel." she demanded, arm fully extended towards Snape. He did as he was asked, but as soon as Lily's hand clasped over the object, Snape roughly knocked her hand. The cauldron, and the last remnants of the potion, spilled over the desk, and over a corner of her backpack. There was a low hiss and a potently burned smell.
Snape had left the table by this time, heading back to his own desk. Lily was left speechless, only knocked out of her reverie as the class was dismissed.
*
The remainder of her classes that day went by in similar fashions. Something always went wrong, and there she was, right at the center of it.In transfiguration, she couldn't, for the life of her, perform the simple review tasks - something that McGonagall commented loudly on in class. In Divination, she spilled tea all over Trelawney's favourite tablecloth, something that could have been fixed, if she hadn't put the hot metal teapot down on it shortly thereafter. The tablecloth now had a large, obvious black mark somewhat near the center. Trelawney was in tears. Lily was almost at breaking point.
She was again late for dinner, having offered to help clean up her mess. The teachers were gone, as well as most of the students.
However, Potter was still at the head table. Lily sat down in her seat, angrily piling food onto her plate.
"Whoa. The klutz sits down to a hearty meal."
Lily broke.
"That's it! That's IT, Potter! I've had it with everything today!I've had the worst day imaginable - do you understand? I've spilled tea, been humiliated on several accounts, knocked things over, had things spilled on me and my things, fallen out of bed, had my hairtie break, my toe stubbed, been lectured for things I never did, and YOU took the LAST - PIECES - of BACON - this - MORNING!"
James stared at her in angry disbelief.
"Everyone has bad days, so don't take your PMS out on me just because you've had one, Evans."
Big mistake.
Lily had every intention of strangling him, but for some reason, she held back.
"You just wait," she whispered. "I swear to god - you just wait."
Lily turned and strode off quickly, her eyes stinging. She threw open the doors of the main entrance and walked outside. Tears were spilling down her cheeks and blurring her vision. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the Durmstrang Ship, sitting lazily on the edge of the lake. She stared at it for a moment. Wiping her eyes, she turned and headed for the small footbridge.
Praying that he would be there, she knocked on the massive black door. A student opened it, and stared down at her.
"Vat do you vant?" he said.
"I need a word with Emanuel."
"He is busy."
"It's very important." Lily pleaded, pinching her sleeves out of nervousness. She looked up again at the student, who in turn, slammed the door in her face.
Lily shrugged her shoulders and nodded slightly.
"Of course." she muttered. She turned and walked back onto the grounds, feeling idiotic at disturbing the international guests.
"Lily, vait."
She turned, and saw Emanuel jogging towards her.
"Sorry. Doran is a fool."
"He said you were busy."
"No. Vy are you upset?"
"Bad day." Lily said, her bottom lip quivering and a few more tears spilling down her face.
Emanuel reached up and brushed them away. Lily was caught off guard when he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. She didn't know what to do but kiss him back, feeling her emotions shatter away to pieces as her mind went mute to anything but him.
*
James trudged back up to the Gryffindor common room, feeling quite annoyed by Evans and her bad temper. Where did she get the idea that she could just yell at him for her problems?
He pushed through the portrait hole and fell back onto the couch by the fire. Remus and Peter were there, playing chess.
"You were at dinner a while." Remus commented, staring intently at the chessboard.
"I went and cleaned my dorm afterwords."
Peter nodded as his bishop overtook Remus' pawn.
"Another fight with Lily?"
James shook his head.
"She just pisses me off sometimes. No - too many times. And then she just yells at me for no damn reason, like I'm the to blame for her problems."
"Well, you know she just -"
"Guys!" Sirius yelled, running down the stairs two at a time. Everyone looked up at him, surprised to see him in such a panic.
"The map," he breathed, "It's gone."
***
I am so - so - SO sorry that this came out so late. My computer finally crashed after almost six years. Everything was gone, and it couldn't be brought back. We took it to a future shop, and they told us that this was it. Our slow contraption was finally dead. I had a big chunk of this chapter written on the computer by then, so I was very angry.
But after a few weeks, we got a new computer. Hazaah! - well, partially. I was forced to write this chapter all over again, trying as hard as I could to remember what I had before. And AT LAST - it got posted. The day after HP2 came out on DVD. I'm posting this just before I go and watch it.
And so, I'd like to once again apologize for the stupid inconvenience. I'm going to have another chapter out before Tuesday, I promise. Things are starting to pick up, and here's hoping that I don't make a mess.
Lily's eyes fluttered open. It was dark in the infirmary, moreso with the blinds around her bed. The day was a haze, but at least she was feeling better. Her head wasn't throbbing, she could blessedly see clearly, and her knees were - still bruised, and the left was covered in a large white square of bandage - but the pain was gone. Her uniform - cleaned and dry, was folded neatly on her bedside table. She glanced at her watch. Broken. Glass gone and everything.
"Wow."
This was going to seriously complicate her daily schedule. She snatched her hairtie from on top of the pile of clothes and swung her hair up into it's usual high ponytail.
Well, before the elastic broke.
"Shoot."
Lily pulled the covers off of her legs, immediately making her feel cold. The covers flew back into place, Lily drumming her fingers on the crisp white sheets. Getting up in the morning was never this annoying.
Breathing angrily out of her nostrils, she edged closer to the side of the bed, and reached her arm out for her clothes. Why were they on the farthest corner of the table?
Just farther, just an ooch farther - got it.
"Oh!"
Before she knew what happened, she was on the floor, clothes dissheveled and now wrinkled. Backside frozen.
"Damn it." she breathed. Lily gathered her blankets - also included in the fall - and tossed them onto the bed. She eased herself onto her feet, and picked up what had seconds ago been neatly folded clothes.
It took about half an hour, but Lily was finally dressed. Her skirt had a few too many pleats in it, which only added to Lily's mood. Making the bed expertly in minutes, she took her wand and headed out the door.
Straight into Madame Pomfrey, who - conveniently enough - was carrying a tray of medecines and cleaned utensils, all of which clattered noisily to the floor.
"Oh, no. It's alright, Miss Evans, I'll clean this up. Oh, and you've gotten something on your shirt. Oh, just cleaned and everything. If you want I can look up a spell for you, just give me a moment with this..."
"No, it's fine, I'll clean it out."
"Are you sure? How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine, really."
"That's good. Well, go eat something. Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't want to see you back in here for exhaustion."
"Thank you, Madame Pomfrey."
The patron smiled, looking too distracted to answer.
Lily rounded a corner, slowly and widely this time, just for good measure. The hallway was empty anyways, so Lily sped up her pace, wanting to get some breakfast before anyone at her table (namely James) claimed half of it.
In her mind, she was doing a quick review of her schedule for today. Potions, Transfiguration, and Divination. Not one good class. What she desperately needed was a charms class to lift her spirits. Lily's day was just spiraling ever downwards.
"Miss Evans!" croaked someone. Lily came back from her stupor, and saw wood. She stopped abruptly, but her foot kept going until her toe knocked the door with a hollow thud. She was about to scream obscenities when she half noticed, half remembered the person standing on the other side.
"Do pay more attention!" Filch said, craning his neck around the doorframe to check for damage.
"I'm sorry." Lily said through clenched teeth.
"Students never pay attention to smaller things." he mumbled to himself, now swinging the door back and forth on its hinges. Lily just stood there, frustration building. She sidestepped the door and was about to continue on her way, when Filch cried out.
"Y'hear that?!" he cried.
"Er - hear what, sorry."
"Listen."
Filch swung the door away and back again. Lily heard nothing but the gentle swish of air it created.
"Well?"
She looked from him to the door to him again. "Nothing, sir."
He grabbed hold of the door again, and extended his index finger. Slowly, very, very slowly, he pushed the oak door. It was quiet at first, and then grew to the audity of a whisper. A slow, continuous squeak. Barely there. Filch's face contorted into an 'I-told-you-so' stare.
Lily didn't know what to say at that moment.
"R-Right. I really should be going, Mr.Filch. I need to have breakfast before I get to class. Bye!"
She walked off in a hurry, leaving Filch with his cat - who had just come slinking out of the classroom.
"I don't suppose we have any oil left for these hinges?"
A meow.
"Well, we'll add it to the list for Dumbledore."
He clicked his tounge against his teeth and the cat sprang onto his shoulder.
"And what's this about the Durmstrang ship?"
*
Lily had made it to the Great Hall, but not on time. As she sat down on the table, she noticed James' chair was empty, and what looked like the last slices of bacon left on his plate. Lily looked towards the grandfather clock, and saw that she was more behind schedule than previously imagined.
Pulling a few pieces of cold toast onto a napkin, she tore off as fast as she could run with her knee bandaged up towards the Potions classroom. She screeched to a halt by her desk with minutes to spare. Arabella looked up from her textbook when she heard Lily's toast bounce annoyingly onto the desk.
"Missed breakfast again?"
Lily took off her heavy backpack and threw it on the back of the chair. She didn't sit down fast enough, and the chair fell backwards from the uneven weight distribution. Lily righted her chair, kicking the bag under the desk, and sat down. Arabella wasn't stupid enough to press her friend for conversation. She returned to her textbook, occasionally glancing sideways at Lily, who was drumming her fingers at an abysmally fast speed on the desktop.
Professor Rummonds had walked into class after a few moments, a tray of half filled vials balanced on each arm. He lay them gently down on his desk before adressing the class.
"Attention please! Mr. Black, face the front."
Once everyone was silent, Rummonds walked around to the front of his desk with a roll of parchment
"Today we will be doing a practical experiment. You will need your cauldrons, and the basic ingredients listed in your textbook, page 173. The potion is moderate forgetfullness. It is only moderate, because of the small amount of the main ingrediant, Oublius Oxidium."
At this, he gestured to the vials behind him.
"Your concoctions are not as powerful as the base alone. The entire vial you will produce will have the ability to make you forget the past week, but since you are working in groups, your individual potion has only the ability to blur the last day or two. Now then, you will be working in groups of 4, which I have previously assigned."
A few groans, and an obvious "boo" was heard from the group of students. Rummonds needed only to clear his throat and the class went mute.
"Good good. The first group will be Ms. Figg, Ms. Bowles, Mr. Black, and Mr. Lupin. Group Two will be Mr. Pettigrew, Ms.Evans, Mr.Potter, and Mr.Snape. Group three will be - "
Lily's temper, if it were at all possible, rose. And this was only her first class. When Rummonds finished calling out the groups, Lily grabbed her textbook and cauldron, and made her way to the back of the class.
Her whole group looked upset. Potter and Snape were glaring at each other, Peter just looked worried, and Lily was just very very frustrated. It was going to be an interesting class.
"I'll get the base." Lily said through the odd silence.
"Fine." said James, not looking away from Snape.
Lily rolled her eyes, and went to the front of the room, where she met up with Arabella.
"These groups suck." her friend said.
"Predecided groups always suck. It's an elaborate hoax set up by professors in hopes of turning us against each other in all out war. It makes for small talk on the coffee breaks. But then there's always the lecture on teamwork. That must be for kicks." Lily said quickly. She grabbed a vial and wrenched it out of the tray, almost spilling some of the clear base.
"Be careful, Ms. Evans!" tutted the Professor. "Don't spill any of that!"
Lily turned away from the desk, clenching and unclenching her jaw.
"Mmm-hmm."
Once she had gotten back to her group, Peter was trying to use a flint lighter to spark the fire underneath the cauldrons. He wasn't having very much luck.
"Wouldn't a wand work?" Snape said, staring down at Peter as if he was an idiot. Peter drew back, his cheeks beginning to redden.
"If you'd have cared to read the book, you'd notice that it said non-magic fire produces the best result." James shot back at him. "Give it here, Pete."
Peter's back straightened a bit, and he handed James the flint lighter. James looked at it for a moment, before extending it to Snape.
"Or would you like to do the honours?"
Snape narrowed his eyes at James.
"A pure-blooded wizard like myself wouldn't stoop so low as to use primitive muggle tools. You'd be better off handing that god-forsaken contraption to the mudblood on your left."
It could have happened in an instant if Lily hadn't intervened. She grabbed the lighter from James' hand, which also prevented him from jumping across the desk. He sat back, fuming.
"Severus, if you can't wrap your brain around the simplicity of a scientific piece of equipment, just say so. There's no need for time consuming bullshit."
Lily snapped the flint lighter and soon the cauldron was simmering over a fair sized flame. Lily dropped the lighter and sat back in her chair, examining her textbook.
"Add the toenails once it turns green." Peter spat out, eager to get a crack at Snape.
James had to hide his smiles behind his textbook. Pete tries so hard, but -
The class was beginning to wind down, and Lily was impatiently waiting for the base to finally be added. Her toast was as hard as a slab of rock.
"There's a filling breakfast." James said, wiping what was left of powdered tooth off of the desk with his hand.
"If you left any bacon on the table, it might have been otherwise."
"You know what they say about the early bird."
Lily shook her head.
"What I wouldn't give to see you eat a worm."
"Herbology isn't until next week somehow. Too bad."
"I don't need a herbology class to get my hands on a worm."
"Add the base." interrupted Snape. He looked at Peter, who was the designated observer, jotting down notes on the experiment. His elbow 'accidentally' slipped, and Peter's quill scratched a heavy line across his detailed observations.
"Don't worry Pete, we can fix that." James said.
Lily tipped the vial into the cauldron, making the colour go from dark red to black, to clear liquid.
"That means it's finished. Now we just need to pour it into seperate vials."
"Well then let's get on with it. This class is almost over."
Snape grabbed the ladel and dolloped some of the forgetfulness potion into a vial for each of them. He distributed the finished product to everyone, lastly Lily. Hers was obviously only a quarter full as compared to the others.
"Hand me the ladel." she demanded, arm fully extended towards Snape. He did as he was asked, but as soon as Lily's hand clasped over the object, Snape roughly knocked her hand. The cauldron, and the last remnants of the potion, spilled over the desk, and over a corner of her backpack. There was a low hiss and a potently burned smell.
Snape had left the table by this time, heading back to his own desk. Lily was left speechless, only knocked out of her reverie as the class was dismissed.
*
The remainder of her classes that day went by in similar fashions. Something always went wrong, and there she was, right at the center of it.In transfiguration, she couldn't, for the life of her, perform the simple review tasks - something that McGonagall commented loudly on in class. In Divination, she spilled tea all over Trelawney's favourite tablecloth, something that could have been fixed, if she hadn't put the hot metal teapot down on it shortly thereafter. The tablecloth now had a large, obvious black mark somewhat near the center. Trelawney was in tears. Lily was almost at breaking point.
She was again late for dinner, having offered to help clean up her mess. The teachers were gone, as well as most of the students.
However, Potter was still at the head table. Lily sat down in her seat, angrily piling food onto her plate.
"Whoa. The klutz sits down to a hearty meal."
Lily broke.
"That's it! That's IT, Potter! I've had it with everything today!I've had the worst day imaginable - do you understand? I've spilled tea, been humiliated on several accounts, knocked things over, had things spilled on me and my things, fallen out of bed, had my hairtie break, my toe stubbed, been lectured for things I never did, and YOU took the LAST - PIECES - of BACON - this - MORNING!"
James stared at her in angry disbelief.
"Everyone has bad days, so don't take your PMS out on me just because you've had one, Evans."
Big mistake.
Lily had every intention of strangling him, but for some reason, she held back.
"You just wait," she whispered. "I swear to god - you just wait."
Lily turned and strode off quickly, her eyes stinging. She threw open the doors of the main entrance and walked outside. Tears were spilling down her cheeks and blurring her vision. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the Durmstrang Ship, sitting lazily on the edge of the lake. She stared at it for a moment. Wiping her eyes, she turned and headed for the small footbridge.
Praying that he would be there, she knocked on the massive black door. A student opened it, and stared down at her.
"Vat do you vant?" he said.
"I need a word with Emanuel."
"He is busy."
"It's very important." Lily pleaded, pinching her sleeves out of nervousness. She looked up again at the student, who in turn, slammed the door in her face.
Lily shrugged her shoulders and nodded slightly.
"Of course." she muttered. She turned and walked back onto the grounds, feeling idiotic at disturbing the international guests.
"Lily, vait."
She turned, and saw Emanuel jogging towards her.
"Sorry. Doran is a fool."
"He said you were busy."
"No. Vy are you upset?"
"Bad day." Lily said, her bottom lip quivering and a few more tears spilling down her face.
Emanuel reached up and brushed them away. Lily was caught off guard when he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. She didn't know what to do but kiss him back, feeling her emotions shatter away to pieces as her mind went mute to anything but him.
*
James trudged back up to the Gryffindor common room, feeling quite annoyed by Evans and her bad temper. Where did she get the idea that she could just yell at him for her problems?
He pushed through the portrait hole and fell back onto the couch by the fire. Remus and Peter were there, playing chess.
"You were at dinner a while." Remus commented, staring intently at the chessboard.
"I went and cleaned my dorm afterwords."
Peter nodded as his bishop overtook Remus' pawn.
"Another fight with Lily?"
James shook his head.
"She just pisses me off sometimes. No - too many times. And then she just yells at me for no damn reason, like I'm the to blame for her problems."
"Well, you know she just -"
"Guys!" Sirius yelled, running down the stairs two at a time. Everyone looked up at him, surprised to see him in such a panic.
"The map," he breathed, "It's gone."
***
I am so - so - SO sorry that this came out so late. My computer finally crashed after almost six years. Everything was gone, and it couldn't be brought back. We took it to a future shop, and they told us that this was it. Our slow contraption was finally dead. I had a big chunk of this chapter written on the computer by then, so I was very angry.
But after a few weeks, we got a new computer. Hazaah! - well, partially. I was forced to write this chapter all over again, trying as hard as I could to remember what I had before. And AT LAST - it got posted. The day after HP2 came out on DVD. I'm posting this just before I go and watch it.
And so, I'd like to once again apologize for the stupid inconvenience. I'm going to have another chapter out before Tuesday, I promise. Things are starting to pick up, and here's hoping that I don't make a mess.