A/N: Hey people! I'm back and posting! Here's chapter 2 for you .
But first - I've had a few people asking me if this is going to be one of
those fanfics where somebody gets killed off every chapter. Don't worry, it
won't be. I'm not planning to kill anyone else for a long while yet .
*battles with self not to kill Peter*
Indifference.
By snowflakey
Chapter 2
It all happened in the blink of an eye, really. Just as the glass case was being wheeled off the stage, a series of loud, almost earsplitting popping noises began as people with black cloaks and masks appeared all over Diagon Alley. In between the crowd, in the shops, on the stage - there were so many of them they nearly outnumbered the "innocents". People began muttering in confusion, and nothing happened for almost ten seconds until one of the masked people on the stage lifted his wand to the auctioneer and cried "AVARDA KEDARVA!"
A flash of green light flashed across the stage as the goblin fell.
"AVARDA KEDARVA!" "AVARDA KEDARVA!"
There were many more screams and cries of pain before anybody realized what was happening. Diagon Alley was under attack. The people in back cloaks were everywhere, killing people and blasting shops apart, taking no prisoners. The whole of Diagon Alley was a mass of confusion as people tried to make an escape, most of them failing. There was green smoke everywhere, making it impossible to see anything. (A/N:Then James swoops in and saves Lily, right? Wrong).
Lily, Hayley and Michelle scrambled out of their seats and headed towards the back door of Fortescue's. Not before Michelle grabbed her sundae, though. Yes, that's right. Diagon Alley was under attack, people were dying all over the place, being killed by unknown people in masks, and the most important thing in the world to Michelle Finley is her triple - choc ice cream with nuts, cream and hot fudge, which she has to bring with her before she goes to safety (which is not exactly safe anyway).
Once there, the girls looked around to see a few other people they didn't know there. Lily turned to Hayley and Michelle, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. Although no words came out of her mouth, her face said it all. My perfect world. The place I love most, the place where I belong, is under an attack and there's nothing I can do about it.
Peeking in between the swinging doors leading to the parlor, it seemed to the girls like they were doomed. There seemed to be nobody fighting the masked men (A/N: There's women in there too, but masked MEN sounds better), and they were winning the one - sided battle easily.
"What happened to the Aurors?" Hayley whispered. As soon as she said it, more people - ones without masks began Apparating and trying to fight off the masked men. They seemed to be failing though, because all they were doing was trying to dodge the killing curse, which wasn't very successful. Then more people Apparated in, holding banana peels and other rubbish. "Port keys," whispered Lily. "To get us out of here,"
After about ten minutes a tired - looking man with grey hair and a muggle baseball cap crept furtively towards them and whispered
"C'mon, next portkey's leaving in thirty seconds," he whispered hoarsely, grabbing the closest person (which just happened to be Michelle) by the wrist and crept out, dropping to his knees and doing a belly crawl towards the front of the shop, where Lily caught sight of a crushed can of the muggle soft drink, Fanta. All of the people following the man grabbed onto it, which was quite a feat considering how small it was. "Where are we going?" a woman holding a very small child asked. The child, like many others in the small group, was silently crying.
"To Hogwarts, the safest place on Earth," The man checked his wrist watch, a muggle-like version that told time. "We're leaving in five . four . three . "
Lily turned around, and for a moment the smoke cleared and she saw a skull with a snake protruding from it's mouth way up in the sky, above the stage. She closed her eyes, and felt a jerk behind her navel, and when she opened them again she was in the very, very crowded Great Hall at Hogwarts. ~*~ At Hogwarts ~*~
The Great Hall at Hogwarts was absolutely full of people yelling and calling out, running around in search of loved ones. It looked as though the entire wizarding population of the world was there. Well, not quite, but close enough. Lily, Hayley and Michelle looked around and saw some reunited with their families, but many more looking, eagerly scanning the people coming in by Port keys and floo powder for those they knew. The three girls joined the search for their parents, with the exception of Lily, who knew her mother would not have been in Diagon Alley that day. Hayley and Michelle, however, did search but due to the number of people in the Great Hall, the search turned out to be fruit less. After about half an hour, the new arrivals of people seeking refuge at Hogwarts became less and less frequent, at which time Dumbledore stood up. Because of the large amount of people (and noise) it took a few minutes for the hall to fall silent, but as soon as they realized Dumbledore was about to speak, they shut up. When Dumbledore began to speak, there was sadness in his eyes, and he looked old; older than he ever had. It was then that the girls, Lily in particular, realized that the Headmaster of Hogwarts was not, in fact, perfect, but human.
Albus Dumbledore was definitely a role model and mentor for the Hogwarts students. Unlike most of the staff, the students felt as though Dumbledore understood them, and that helped a great deal in the closure of the gap between staff and students. The magical community had a great amount of respect for him, and they had reason to.
"Today," he said. "There has been a huge tragedy in Diagon Alley. Many of our friends and family have been injured or killed today and the remainder of us are assembled here. It is imperative, in these times, that we stick together as a group and fight back as one, because it is the only way we will defeat the enemy.
But firstly, these attackers, or, in the words of a muggle, "terrorists", have been overthrown by our Aurors and there are none left in Diagon Alley. However," he added with a twinkle in his eyes "I am correct in assuming that many of you will be in no hurry to return."
Nobody laughed.
"As of yet, the ministry has no information about these attackers, and surprisingly, they have left little trace. However, all of those with family in Diagon Alley today, even those with muggle or half blood parents, have been automatically notified by Express Owl and should all be here by now. I am sure you are all eager to find your families, so to speed the process up can I ask that all those with their families leave and take seats outside on the grounds until further notice. This way it will be easier for those left to locate their relatives. These people can step up to the microphone - "
"What microphone?" hissed Hayley to Lily and Michelle. As she spoke, a microphone on a stand appeared in front of Dumbledore and he leaned down slightly in front of it and continued.
"- As to make it more productive. As soon as this process is finished we can all come back in and announcements can be made. Thankyou,"
People began to move, either out of the Hall in groups or in singles or pairs towards the microphone, where a long line was already forming. Dumbledore suddenly stepped back and said
"Oh, and one more thing you may want to discuss with others whilst you are waiting outside. Any students of Hogwarts who now feel unsafe in the wizarding world are welcome to stay at Hogwarts in their usual dormitories until school begins. Thankyou." Once again, he stepped away.
Hayley and Michelle got in line to ask for their parents. Although neither thought their parents were in Diagon Alley that day, they wanted to find them as to reassure their elders that they were okay. Lily, however, moved automatically to the place that she usually ate her meals in at school time at the Gryffindor table and sat down. She knew that her mother wouldn't come to check on her well being, not after what she had done that morning. Only then she started to feel the slightest bit of guilt over running away from the photographer, and letting her mother down. Then she remembered "Tim" and quickly swallowed those thoughts. She had not the slightest bit of remorse over blowing up his camera, even though she had done so unintentionally. She turned her thoughts instead, to the raised platform in which the teachers at their meals at during term time.
A man was awkwardly leaning into the microphone, obviously not sure how to use this muggle contraption. He jumped, startled, when he heard his own voice magnified.
"I'm looking for my wife, Lucinda Longbottom, and my two sons, Frank and Theodore."
The two boys piped up, yelling "Dad! Over here!" and the man sighed with relief upon the sight. His wife, however, was not found, and it was ascertained that she had been killed while looking for new robes. Lily, for one of the few and far between times in her life, wanted to cry. Cry for the man and his two children, left widowed and motherless, and for all the others she knew would have similar stories. Only then did it hit her the seriousness of the attack, and just how many people were massacred. This continued on for quite a time, some leaving happily with relatives whilst others turned away and left the hall sadly, many orphaned or alone in the world. Lily perked up a bit when Michelle stepped up.
"I'm looking for my mom, Amanda Finley?" "Over here, Honey!" A woman Lily recognized as Amanda Finley jumped up. Michelle ran over and engulfed her mother in a hug. Her mother, equally relieved, hugged her back. With a wave at Lily and a thumbs up sign to Hayley (for luck), Michelle exited the hall with her mother.
Hayley, who had been standing in line behind her, stepped up to the microphone.
"I'm looking for my mom, Catherine Brooks?"
Silence.
Finally, a man that Lily didn't recognize spoke up. He would have been in his forties, hair going grey, with a lanky frame.
"She died, Hayley. She died looking for you."
Hayley stepped back, ashen faced. She stood there for a few moments, but it seemed like and eternity.
She's dead. Thoughts were racing through her head. She died because of me Hayley turned and ran out of the hall, pushing through the crowds with Lily hot on her heels. Running out of the hall, Lily pummeled straight into a tall, muscular figure. She looked up and groaned.
"What's the matter Evans; aren't you pleased to see I made it out alive?" came the overconfident and egotistical voice of James H. Potter.
"I'm overcome with joy," Lily replied sarcastically.
They deeply disliked each other, to say the least. James Potter lived the kind of life where the girls look like Barbie's and the boys drive Ferraris (well, the broomstick version, anyway, if you can imagine that). Yep, James Potter was as rich as they come. He was richer, in fact, than the Minister for Magic, as he would one day inherit the Potter family fortune. On top of all that, he was good-looking, athletic and popular, and he knew it, too. Lily and her friends were just about the only people (besides the Slytherins, that is) that disliked James and his group, the "Marauders" and stood up to them. "So, Potter, did you inherit your parent's fortune today?" Lily asked in a hopeful voice. After all, if James couldn't have died, the next best thing would be his parents or friends, right?
"No, actually," James grinned. "The were shopping in Doulton Square at the time,"
Lily scowled; Doulton Square was the uptown version of Diagon Alley, where everything was fancier and more expensive. It would be typical for the Potters to be there at the time of the attack.
"Feel lucky, Potter," Lily growled lamely. "Not all of us have the perfect life like you,"
James was speechless. He could us many words to describe his life, but perfect definitely wasn't on the list. He stood there for at least twenty seconds before he could open his mouth to speak. For that twenty seconds, Lily was glaring at him and sarcastically mouthing the words "C'mon Potter, open your mouth and s-p-e-a- k. You know you want to ... anytime now ... "
"My life is not perfect! You don't know anything about me!"
People began edging away; Potter temper versus Evans temper was something the sane portion of Hogwarts avoided at all costs. However, the rest of the Marauders were nowhere near sane, and therefore felt obliged to join in on the fight that was sure to erupt. "Why, hello, Lily dearest," came the smooth, charming voice of Sirius Black that did absolutely nothing to charm Lily Evans. In fact, in amplified her rage even more (A/N: see why Harry gets so angry in book 5? He inherited it from his parents).
Sirius Black could easily be mistaken for James's twin brother. He looked like James, except with longer hair and a slightly lankier frame, he acted like James, and even ate like James. The only thing missing was the genetic link. The two were best friends and most likely the biggest pranksters Hogwarts had ever seen.
Behind Sirius, or "Padfoot" as he was known to his close friends, was another quarter of the famous Marauder gang. Remus Lupin, accompanied by his long - time girlfriend, Bridget Combs, came into view. Remus had light brown hair and tired grey eyes that gave him an aura of mystery. Bridget, who was entering fifth year like Lily, Hayley and Michelle shared the girls' dorm with them, and Lily found her to be a very nice person. Pity she spent so much time with the Marauders. She was among those who put a lot of work into their studies but still managed to have a life outside of the library. She was a quiet, soft spoken girl who Lily found to have a strong sense of justice and faith. She had light brown hair, green eyes not unlike Lily's and a beautiful smile. Bridget was perfectly suited to the quiet, thoughtful Remus. Well, quiet and thoughtful in comparison to James and Sirius, anyway.
James was a born leader, and if James was the king then Sirius was the court jester, and Remus was the adviser who managed to keep them from being expelled. Those three, along with the presence of Peter Pettigrew, ruled the Hogwarts popularity ladder. Peter was very quiet and never said very much worth listening to. While James, Sirius and Remus were all fairly tall, Peter was shorter than Lily, which was quite a feat. He was a chubby boy with dirty blonde hair and watery blue eyes.
As you would have noticed by now, Remus was the only member of the Marauders that Lily halfway liked. However, she could probably learn to live with Sirius and Peter if it weren't for Potter and his alter ego.
"Shut up Black/Sirius!" James and Lily snapped at the same time, consequently glaring at each other. As much as they hated it, they were so very similar to each other, making their personalities clash horribly, coming out with the same thing at the same time, which they very much disliked. Sirius, Remus and Bridget, however, found it highly amusing. "I can not believe you, Evans," James continued, his voice rising. "You have the stupidity to come and tell me that I have the perfect life when you know absolutely nothing about me!"
Lily matched his shouting by her screaming.
"I know you're an egoistical idiot who got lucky, Potter. That's all I need to know!"
"YOU CAN'T TALK EVANS! IT'S NOT LIKE YOU'RE AN ORPHAN LIVING OUT ON THE STREETS OR ANYTHING, EITHER!"
"YEAH, WELL, ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS IS CLOSE TO IT!"
At that point Lily remembered exactly why she had run out of the hall and rushed out of the castle to find her almost - orphaned friends, leaving a very angry James Potter to his thoughts, who stood there looking like an idiot for another twenty seconds before Sirius spoke.
"I have to say, Prongs, she was pretty off - base,"
"Of course she was off base! She knows absolutely nothing about me!" James whined. How would Evans know anything. Sure, on the outside his life might have been perfect, but on the inside he was very unhappy. His life might be perfect on the outside, but inside he was very unhappy. James' parents were both "unspeakables" and worked in the Department of Mysteries at the ministry, leaving them very little, often no time to be with James, their only son. In fact, Mr. and Mrs. Potter's responsibilities at the Ministry meant that all they did was make sure James was alive and well and speak to Dumbledore before leaving the continue whatever they were doing beforehand.
Even when James came home in the summer holidays his parents weren't there. Sure, they bought him expensive broomsticks and let him have friends over to stay whenever he like, but James lacked the loving upbringing that most children took for granted.
Sirius practically lived at the Potter's during the summer; he was considered as the black sheep of his family, and, like James, enjoyed being at Hogwarts more than anything else.
Remus Lupin was a werewolf, and thus found life at home very difficult. His mother was a pureblood, but his dad was a muggle, and easily influenced by his wife's fear of werewolves. As a result, Remus preferred to spend as much time as humanly possible out of the house: he hated how his parents walked around on eggshells whenever he was near, as though he was some kind of Jekyll/Hyde character that would kill them any minute. Peter Pettigrew, who was in Sweden all of the holidays with his parents, was equally unhappy. Although he went to Hogwarts, he was so close to being a squib that it wasn't even funny. It was to Lucius Malfoy, but that was beside the point. Peter's parents were both pure bloods and disappointed over and over again regarding their son's abysmal magical skills. James, Sirius and Remus tutored him for all it was worth, but after five years his marks had shown no visible signs of improvement.
For entirely different reasons these seven teenagers (Lily, Hayley, Michelle, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter) were all unhappy within themselves, and longed for Hogwarts. Although all of their parents (minus Hayley - her father had left after Jason had been born - she was now an orphan unless her father could be found) had survived the worst attack to the wizarding world in many years, they all felt as though there was something missing .
~*~
After quite a while of searching, Lily found Hayley down by the Great Lake, watching "Bob" the giant squid. Hayley had her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around herself. Lily, having absolutely no idea what to do, awkwardly plopped down next to her. The sun was high in the sky (A/N: Hey! I'm a poet and I didn't even know it!) and when Hayley turned her head towards Lily she had to squint to be able to see. She spoke with tears in her eyes, a rarity, her voice wavering.
"She died because of me, Lils. My dad is God knows where and Jason and I are all alone because I just had she sudden urge to sneak out of the house,"
Lily felt so bad for Hayley at the moment, but couldn't think of what to say. So she went with the "Don't blame yourself" theme.
"It's not your fault, Hayley; you couldn't have known,"
"But if I hadn't-"
"Stop," Lily interrupted firmly. "You can't change anything now except to try and make sure Jason is okay," "He's at a friend's place," Hayley replied dully, turning once more to stare across the lake. She looked so different now - so life less, so defeated. Lily thought back to the moment when Hayley had been crushed beyond belief, when that man had said "Hayley, she's dead. She died looking for you." That man ... who was he?
"Hayley?" Lily questioned.
"Yeah?"
"Who was that man?"
"Which man?"
"The one that told you .. you know ." Lily trailed off, not wanting to put her friend's trauma into words, as if they both avoided saying those words "Your mother's dead" one or the other would wake up and find it all a nightmare, something to laugh over at breakfast the next morning. Unfortunately, it was too real to be a dream.
"I have no idea ." ~*~ You like? Then tell me so! In upcoming chapters: A prank on Snape gone wrong (not the Animagi one) the girls become Animagi, Sirius with detention in the library, and plot development. Also, I update on the Harry Potter Boards more often than I do here, so if you want to visit you can see all the new updates before they appear here. Thanks.
Author thankyous: Kitty7285: Thank you sooooo much for reviewing and telling me what was wrong with it! I hope you like it better now . Yeah I know Lily's parents liked her . call it artistic license on my part! But you know what was weird? In the fifth book prefects can't take house points but in the second Percy Weasley docks 10 points from Gryffindor when he catches Ron and Harry coming out of moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Strange . The Paper: Thanks for your opinion. Hope you're enjoying this. Trapped In Icy Flame: Yeah, starborn does get on my nerves sometimes :P Thanks for reviewing. Chocolate Taco: Thanks! Hope you like this! Lil K: Continuing . hope you're enjoying this! Thanks for reviewing! And by the way, I love your story so far =) princess emily: Like, Thanks! Alya1989262: Yup, that's me! Check out her new chapter and thanks for reviewing! Erica the Flying Tree: Charlie's Angel's like, huh? Hmmm . I might have to change that . VoldemortsIllegitimateChild: Yeah, I'd be embarrassed, too! Thank you for reviewing! I like having characters that other people can relate to. Angel Flower: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like it! Larka: Thanks! Hope you like this chapter! Tinkerbell: Hey tinx! Thanks for reviewing! vamperfly: Aww don't cry! Update on the way! Thanks for reviewing! tanx: Thanks for reviewing! Yeah, I might check that out . I haven't really had time lately what with getting this chappie up but I will! Liz411: Thanks for reviewing! Yeah, my friend made up the title . it confuses me too! That's all folks! Tata! Luv snowflakey.
It all happened in the blink of an eye, really. Just as the glass case was being wheeled off the stage, a series of loud, almost earsplitting popping noises began as people with black cloaks and masks appeared all over Diagon Alley. In between the crowd, in the shops, on the stage - there were so many of them they nearly outnumbered the "innocents". People began muttering in confusion, and nothing happened for almost ten seconds until one of the masked people on the stage lifted his wand to the auctioneer and cried "AVARDA KEDARVA!"
A flash of green light flashed across the stage as the goblin fell.
"AVARDA KEDARVA!" "AVARDA KEDARVA!"
There were many more screams and cries of pain before anybody realized what was happening. Diagon Alley was under attack. The people in back cloaks were everywhere, killing people and blasting shops apart, taking no prisoners. The whole of Diagon Alley was a mass of confusion as people tried to make an escape, most of them failing. There was green smoke everywhere, making it impossible to see anything. (A/N:Then James swoops in and saves Lily, right? Wrong).
Lily, Hayley and Michelle scrambled out of their seats and headed towards the back door of Fortescue's. Not before Michelle grabbed her sundae, though. Yes, that's right. Diagon Alley was under attack, people were dying all over the place, being killed by unknown people in masks, and the most important thing in the world to Michelle Finley is her triple - choc ice cream with nuts, cream and hot fudge, which she has to bring with her before she goes to safety (which is not exactly safe anyway).
Once there, the girls looked around to see a few other people they didn't know there. Lily turned to Hayley and Michelle, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. Although no words came out of her mouth, her face said it all. My perfect world. The place I love most, the place where I belong, is under an attack and there's nothing I can do about it.
Peeking in between the swinging doors leading to the parlor, it seemed to the girls like they were doomed. There seemed to be nobody fighting the masked men (A/N: There's women in there too, but masked MEN sounds better), and they were winning the one - sided battle easily.
"What happened to the Aurors?" Hayley whispered. As soon as she said it, more people - ones without masks began Apparating and trying to fight off the masked men. They seemed to be failing though, because all they were doing was trying to dodge the killing curse, which wasn't very successful. Then more people Apparated in, holding banana peels and other rubbish. "Port keys," whispered Lily. "To get us out of here,"
After about ten minutes a tired - looking man with grey hair and a muggle baseball cap crept furtively towards them and whispered
"C'mon, next portkey's leaving in thirty seconds," he whispered hoarsely, grabbing the closest person (which just happened to be Michelle) by the wrist and crept out, dropping to his knees and doing a belly crawl towards the front of the shop, where Lily caught sight of a crushed can of the muggle soft drink, Fanta. All of the people following the man grabbed onto it, which was quite a feat considering how small it was. "Where are we going?" a woman holding a very small child asked. The child, like many others in the small group, was silently crying.
"To Hogwarts, the safest place on Earth," The man checked his wrist watch, a muggle-like version that told time. "We're leaving in five . four . three . "
Lily turned around, and for a moment the smoke cleared and she saw a skull with a snake protruding from it's mouth way up in the sky, above the stage. She closed her eyes, and felt a jerk behind her navel, and when she opened them again she was in the very, very crowded Great Hall at Hogwarts. ~*~ At Hogwarts ~*~
The Great Hall at Hogwarts was absolutely full of people yelling and calling out, running around in search of loved ones. It looked as though the entire wizarding population of the world was there. Well, not quite, but close enough. Lily, Hayley and Michelle looked around and saw some reunited with their families, but many more looking, eagerly scanning the people coming in by Port keys and floo powder for those they knew. The three girls joined the search for their parents, with the exception of Lily, who knew her mother would not have been in Diagon Alley that day. Hayley and Michelle, however, did search but due to the number of people in the Great Hall, the search turned out to be fruit less. After about half an hour, the new arrivals of people seeking refuge at Hogwarts became less and less frequent, at which time Dumbledore stood up. Because of the large amount of people (and noise) it took a few minutes for the hall to fall silent, but as soon as they realized Dumbledore was about to speak, they shut up. When Dumbledore began to speak, there was sadness in his eyes, and he looked old; older than he ever had. It was then that the girls, Lily in particular, realized that the Headmaster of Hogwarts was not, in fact, perfect, but human.
Albus Dumbledore was definitely a role model and mentor for the Hogwarts students. Unlike most of the staff, the students felt as though Dumbledore understood them, and that helped a great deal in the closure of the gap between staff and students. The magical community had a great amount of respect for him, and they had reason to.
"Today," he said. "There has been a huge tragedy in Diagon Alley. Many of our friends and family have been injured or killed today and the remainder of us are assembled here. It is imperative, in these times, that we stick together as a group and fight back as one, because it is the only way we will defeat the enemy.
But firstly, these attackers, or, in the words of a muggle, "terrorists", have been overthrown by our Aurors and there are none left in Diagon Alley. However," he added with a twinkle in his eyes "I am correct in assuming that many of you will be in no hurry to return."
Nobody laughed.
"As of yet, the ministry has no information about these attackers, and surprisingly, they have left little trace. However, all of those with family in Diagon Alley today, even those with muggle or half blood parents, have been automatically notified by Express Owl and should all be here by now. I am sure you are all eager to find your families, so to speed the process up can I ask that all those with their families leave and take seats outside on the grounds until further notice. This way it will be easier for those left to locate their relatives. These people can step up to the microphone - "
"What microphone?" hissed Hayley to Lily and Michelle. As she spoke, a microphone on a stand appeared in front of Dumbledore and he leaned down slightly in front of it and continued.
"- As to make it more productive. As soon as this process is finished we can all come back in and announcements can be made. Thankyou,"
People began to move, either out of the Hall in groups or in singles or pairs towards the microphone, where a long line was already forming. Dumbledore suddenly stepped back and said
"Oh, and one more thing you may want to discuss with others whilst you are waiting outside. Any students of Hogwarts who now feel unsafe in the wizarding world are welcome to stay at Hogwarts in their usual dormitories until school begins. Thankyou." Once again, he stepped away.
Hayley and Michelle got in line to ask for their parents. Although neither thought their parents were in Diagon Alley that day, they wanted to find them as to reassure their elders that they were okay. Lily, however, moved automatically to the place that she usually ate her meals in at school time at the Gryffindor table and sat down. She knew that her mother wouldn't come to check on her well being, not after what she had done that morning. Only then she started to feel the slightest bit of guilt over running away from the photographer, and letting her mother down. Then she remembered "Tim" and quickly swallowed those thoughts. She had not the slightest bit of remorse over blowing up his camera, even though she had done so unintentionally. She turned her thoughts instead, to the raised platform in which the teachers at their meals at during term time.
A man was awkwardly leaning into the microphone, obviously not sure how to use this muggle contraption. He jumped, startled, when he heard his own voice magnified.
"I'm looking for my wife, Lucinda Longbottom, and my two sons, Frank and Theodore."
The two boys piped up, yelling "Dad! Over here!" and the man sighed with relief upon the sight. His wife, however, was not found, and it was ascertained that she had been killed while looking for new robes. Lily, for one of the few and far between times in her life, wanted to cry. Cry for the man and his two children, left widowed and motherless, and for all the others she knew would have similar stories. Only then did it hit her the seriousness of the attack, and just how many people were massacred. This continued on for quite a time, some leaving happily with relatives whilst others turned away and left the hall sadly, many orphaned or alone in the world. Lily perked up a bit when Michelle stepped up.
"I'm looking for my mom, Amanda Finley?" "Over here, Honey!" A woman Lily recognized as Amanda Finley jumped up. Michelle ran over and engulfed her mother in a hug. Her mother, equally relieved, hugged her back. With a wave at Lily and a thumbs up sign to Hayley (for luck), Michelle exited the hall with her mother.
Hayley, who had been standing in line behind her, stepped up to the microphone.
"I'm looking for my mom, Catherine Brooks?"
Silence.
Finally, a man that Lily didn't recognize spoke up. He would have been in his forties, hair going grey, with a lanky frame.
"She died, Hayley. She died looking for you."
Hayley stepped back, ashen faced. She stood there for a few moments, but it seemed like and eternity.
She's dead. Thoughts were racing through her head. She died because of me Hayley turned and ran out of the hall, pushing through the crowds with Lily hot on her heels. Running out of the hall, Lily pummeled straight into a tall, muscular figure. She looked up and groaned.
"What's the matter Evans; aren't you pleased to see I made it out alive?" came the overconfident and egotistical voice of James H. Potter.
"I'm overcome with joy," Lily replied sarcastically.
They deeply disliked each other, to say the least. James Potter lived the kind of life where the girls look like Barbie's and the boys drive Ferraris (well, the broomstick version, anyway, if you can imagine that). Yep, James Potter was as rich as they come. He was richer, in fact, than the Minister for Magic, as he would one day inherit the Potter family fortune. On top of all that, he was good-looking, athletic and popular, and he knew it, too. Lily and her friends were just about the only people (besides the Slytherins, that is) that disliked James and his group, the "Marauders" and stood up to them. "So, Potter, did you inherit your parent's fortune today?" Lily asked in a hopeful voice. After all, if James couldn't have died, the next best thing would be his parents or friends, right?
"No, actually," James grinned. "The were shopping in Doulton Square at the time,"
Lily scowled; Doulton Square was the uptown version of Diagon Alley, where everything was fancier and more expensive. It would be typical for the Potters to be there at the time of the attack.
"Feel lucky, Potter," Lily growled lamely. "Not all of us have the perfect life like you,"
James was speechless. He could us many words to describe his life, but perfect definitely wasn't on the list. He stood there for at least twenty seconds before he could open his mouth to speak. For that twenty seconds, Lily was glaring at him and sarcastically mouthing the words "C'mon Potter, open your mouth and s-p-e-a- k. You know you want to ... anytime now ... "
"My life is not perfect! You don't know anything about me!"
People began edging away; Potter temper versus Evans temper was something the sane portion of Hogwarts avoided at all costs. However, the rest of the Marauders were nowhere near sane, and therefore felt obliged to join in on the fight that was sure to erupt. "Why, hello, Lily dearest," came the smooth, charming voice of Sirius Black that did absolutely nothing to charm Lily Evans. In fact, in amplified her rage even more (A/N: see why Harry gets so angry in book 5? He inherited it from his parents).
Sirius Black could easily be mistaken for James's twin brother. He looked like James, except with longer hair and a slightly lankier frame, he acted like James, and even ate like James. The only thing missing was the genetic link. The two were best friends and most likely the biggest pranksters Hogwarts had ever seen.
Behind Sirius, or "Padfoot" as he was known to his close friends, was another quarter of the famous Marauder gang. Remus Lupin, accompanied by his long - time girlfriend, Bridget Combs, came into view. Remus had light brown hair and tired grey eyes that gave him an aura of mystery. Bridget, who was entering fifth year like Lily, Hayley and Michelle shared the girls' dorm with them, and Lily found her to be a very nice person. Pity she spent so much time with the Marauders. She was among those who put a lot of work into their studies but still managed to have a life outside of the library. She was a quiet, soft spoken girl who Lily found to have a strong sense of justice and faith. She had light brown hair, green eyes not unlike Lily's and a beautiful smile. Bridget was perfectly suited to the quiet, thoughtful Remus. Well, quiet and thoughtful in comparison to James and Sirius, anyway.
James was a born leader, and if James was the king then Sirius was the court jester, and Remus was the adviser who managed to keep them from being expelled. Those three, along with the presence of Peter Pettigrew, ruled the Hogwarts popularity ladder. Peter was very quiet and never said very much worth listening to. While James, Sirius and Remus were all fairly tall, Peter was shorter than Lily, which was quite a feat. He was a chubby boy with dirty blonde hair and watery blue eyes.
As you would have noticed by now, Remus was the only member of the Marauders that Lily halfway liked. However, she could probably learn to live with Sirius and Peter if it weren't for Potter and his alter ego.
"Shut up Black/Sirius!" James and Lily snapped at the same time, consequently glaring at each other. As much as they hated it, they were so very similar to each other, making their personalities clash horribly, coming out with the same thing at the same time, which they very much disliked. Sirius, Remus and Bridget, however, found it highly amusing. "I can not believe you, Evans," James continued, his voice rising. "You have the stupidity to come and tell me that I have the perfect life when you know absolutely nothing about me!"
Lily matched his shouting by her screaming.
"I know you're an egoistical idiot who got lucky, Potter. That's all I need to know!"
"YOU CAN'T TALK EVANS! IT'S NOT LIKE YOU'RE AN ORPHAN LIVING OUT ON THE STREETS OR ANYTHING, EITHER!"
"YEAH, WELL, ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS IS CLOSE TO IT!"
At that point Lily remembered exactly why she had run out of the hall and rushed out of the castle to find her almost - orphaned friends, leaving a very angry James Potter to his thoughts, who stood there looking like an idiot for another twenty seconds before Sirius spoke.
"I have to say, Prongs, she was pretty off - base,"
"Of course she was off base! She knows absolutely nothing about me!" James whined. How would Evans know anything. Sure, on the outside his life might have been perfect, but on the inside he was very unhappy. His life might be perfect on the outside, but inside he was very unhappy. James' parents were both "unspeakables" and worked in the Department of Mysteries at the ministry, leaving them very little, often no time to be with James, their only son. In fact, Mr. and Mrs. Potter's responsibilities at the Ministry meant that all they did was make sure James was alive and well and speak to Dumbledore before leaving the continue whatever they were doing beforehand.
Even when James came home in the summer holidays his parents weren't there. Sure, they bought him expensive broomsticks and let him have friends over to stay whenever he like, but James lacked the loving upbringing that most children took for granted.
Sirius practically lived at the Potter's during the summer; he was considered as the black sheep of his family, and, like James, enjoyed being at Hogwarts more than anything else.
Remus Lupin was a werewolf, and thus found life at home very difficult. His mother was a pureblood, but his dad was a muggle, and easily influenced by his wife's fear of werewolves. As a result, Remus preferred to spend as much time as humanly possible out of the house: he hated how his parents walked around on eggshells whenever he was near, as though he was some kind of Jekyll/Hyde character that would kill them any minute. Peter Pettigrew, who was in Sweden all of the holidays with his parents, was equally unhappy. Although he went to Hogwarts, he was so close to being a squib that it wasn't even funny. It was to Lucius Malfoy, but that was beside the point. Peter's parents were both pure bloods and disappointed over and over again regarding their son's abysmal magical skills. James, Sirius and Remus tutored him for all it was worth, but after five years his marks had shown no visible signs of improvement.
For entirely different reasons these seven teenagers (Lily, Hayley, Michelle, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter) were all unhappy within themselves, and longed for Hogwarts. Although all of their parents (minus Hayley - her father had left after Jason had been born - she was now an orphan unless her father could be found) had survived the worst attack to the wizarding world in many years, they all felt as though there was something missing .
~*~
After quite a while of searching, Lily found Hayley down by the Great Lake, watching "Bob" the giant squid. Hayley had her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around herself. Lily, having absolutely no idea what to do, awkwardly plopped down next to her. The sun was high in the sky (A/N: Hey! I'm a poet and I didn't even know it!) and when Hayley turned her head towards Lily she had to squint to be able to see. She spoke with tears in her eyes, a rarity, her voice wavering.
"She died because of me, Lils. My dad is God knows where and Jason and I are all alone because I just had she sudden urge to sneak out of the house,"
Lily felt so bad for Hayley at the moment, but couldn't think of what to say. So she went with the "Don't blame yourself" theme.
"It's not your fault, Hayley; you couldn't have known,"
"But if I hadn't-"
"Stop," Lily interrupted firmly. "You can't change anything now except to try and make sure Jason is okay," "He's at a friend's place," Hayley replied dully, turning once more to stare across the lake. She looked so different now - so life less, so defeated. Lily thought back to the moment when Hayley had been crushed beyond belief, when that man had said "Hayley, she's dead. She died looking for you." That man ... who was he?
"Hayley?" Lily questioned.
"Yeah?"
"Who was that man?"
"Which man?"
"The one that told you .. you know ." Lily trailed off, not wanting to put her friend's trauma into words, as if they both avoided saying those words "Your mother's dead" one or the other would wake up and find it all a nightmare, something to laugh over at breakfast the next morning. Unfortunately, it was too real to be a dream.
"I have no idea ." ~*~ You like? Then tell me so! In upcoming chapters: A prank on Snape gone wrong (not the Animagi one) the girls become Animagi, Sirius with detention in the library, and plot development. Also, I update on the Harry Potter Boards more often than I do here, so if you want to visit you can see all the new updates before they appear here. Thanks.
Author thankyous: Kitty7285: Thank you sooooo much for reviewing and telling me what was wrong with it! I hope you like it better now . Yeah I know Lily's parents liked her . call it artistic license on my part! But you know what was weird? In the fifth book prefects can't take house points but in the second Percy Weasley docks 10 points from Gryffindor when he catches Ron and Harry coming out of moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Strange . The Paper: Thanks for your opinion. Hope you're enjoying this. Trapped In Icy Flame: Yeah, starborn does get on my nerves sometimes :P Thanks for reviewing. Chocolate Taco: Thanks! Hope you like this! Lil K: Continuing . hope you're enjoying this! Thanks for reviewing! And by the way, I love your story so far =) princess emily: Like, Thanks! Alya1989262: Yup, that's me! Check out her new chapter and thanks for reviewing! Erica the Flying Tree: Charlie's Angel's like, huh? Hmmm . I might have to change that . VoldemortsIllegitimateChild: Yeah, I'd be embarrassed, too! Thank you for reviewing! I like having characters that other people can relate to. Angel Flower: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like it! Larka: Thanks! Hope you like this chapter! Tinkerbell: Hey tinx! Thanks for reviewing! vamperfly: Aww don't cry! Update on the way! Thanks for reviewing! tanx: Thanks for reviewing! Yeah, I might check that out . I haven't really had time lately what with getting this chappie up but I will! Liz411: Thanks for reviewing! Yeah, my friend made up the title . it confuses me too! That's all folks! Tata! Luv snowflakey.