Pistol
By: MerlinsApprentince
***
A/N: Holy Toledo another chapter!!!! Whoopdedoo!!!! I'm a big kid now....
Disclaimer: Please... must I do this? *Junebug knods pleasure in his littles eyes* I hate you Junebug. Harry Potter etc isn't mine but guess what? My marshmallow fluff's mine!!! Yum Yum Yum...
***
Lily starred at the book before her. Unicorns and the Horns by Thelma Saidar. Flipping through it after classes hadn't help clear her mind much at all these last few days. Quietly the Gryffindor fire crackling merrily before her she skimmed the last page and sighed. Nothing about Unia. And she had checked out a million books on magical jewelry and the necklace Lily found was absolutely no where. She was lost in the dark.
"Hey Evans" James's voice called breaking her thought process. Closing her eyes, silently she wished for him to go away. All she needed was another blow up with him. Even after their little truce, with him saving her life and all, Lily couldn't find the guts to be nice to him. He was so gullible.
James came up behind her leaning down from the couch, Cicily, at his side. Lily and Cicily had become good friends now, and she hadn't mind talking to her. "What Potter? I'm kinda busy at the moment..." Lily grumbled now very agitated. She had been searching all day through Hogwart's library and couldn't find a single thing on anything they encountered two weeks ago.
James eyed her. He could see she was tense. He sighed shaking his head sending his raven locks flying. "Don't worry I won't take much of your precious time" he stated rolling his emerald eyes. "Good" Lily responded throwing the book into the big pile she was creating. James stuck his hands in his pockets and came and sat in the big armchair. "Detention"
Lily winced. She was going to have to have her first detention tonight. She had forgotten. "When and where?" she questioned her voice telling the two that she was not in a pleasent mood. James was actually afriad to tell her. Cicily took it upon herself to do that. "You and James have to do detention with the potions master, well I help Hagrid with the school's garden. Without magic. And it's tonight, after our last class" she informed gloomily starring at her pretty white wand.
Lily gaped. She had James in all her classes, her house, and now detention?! And she wouldn't even have Cicily to help her control herself. And she was doing so well too. "Oh dear" she grumbled quietly her mood going from bad to worse. Detention with James, Homework piling painfully, and she was still so confused and in the dark about that locket.
As her attention wandered she felt a tiny pain twinge in her chest excatly where the odd gem shoved itself into. Lily sighed wincing. Ever since that she felt odd chest pains every once in awhile. Nobody else knew about the gem except her and the unicorn she knew for a little time in the Forbidden Forest. Cicily and James came only a bit after it had came, so they hadn't a clue of her odd behavior in no longer wearing anymore jewlery in fear that that would suck inside her too.
James watched her face and frowned when he saw it distort into pain. "Hey Evans you ok?" he asked a tint of worry in his voice he didn't intend for it to be there. Lily starred and him quizzically and shook her head. "Yeah... Yeah I'm fine. Absolutely perfectly fine"
***
Lily felt herself drop the extra books she was carrying onto her transfiguration desk, exhaustion overtaking her body systems. It was way to late at night to do any detention. Too late. Why couldn't she go to sleep instead? Yes... Sleep sounded good now... extrememly good...
"Evans don't fall asleep on me" James warned watching her doze off for a minute and then back on again. Lily gave him a glare. "I can doze if I want to" she protested, yawning loudly as the two walked out on their way to the dugeons. "Whats with all this staying up late stuff? I thought Good Girls went to sleep early...?" the raven haired boy questioned fixing his robe as they walked.
Lily shook her head, slowly trying to wake up. "Not that its any of your business, I've been trying to do some work on that creature we found in that library... That nasty ugly man thing..." James winced at the memory. "Yeah, I know what your talking about..." he said reluctantly as he pictured the grostesque slimy dry figure in his mind. "Have you found any information on it?"
Lily shook her head furiously as they headed down the steps. "Not a thing on what it was. I'd like to think it was a human at one point or another, but it only has the characteristics... it looked so inhuman, but human at the same time" she emphasized by holding her hands out and acted like they were weighing them both. "I just don't get it" James listened quietly and then slowly asked a question that was nagging him on and on. "And you haven't told a professor this? I mean you lied to them earlier, but I swore, I'd think that you'd go back and tell the truth to get yourself out of detention..."
Lily looked sharply up at him. "I did it for my reasons. I'd rather not have the Headmaster squirm all over the forest and make Unia's life a living hell. We've already ruined her life, I don't want to make it any worse. And I'm sure that creature won't come back anymore. It was just at the wrong place and the wrong time situation" James raised a black eyebrow. She sounded so certain, but he surely had his doubts. At the time, that thing was consisently asking for the light. It wasnt a coincedence. He was here for something. James knew that.
"I don't think so" he countered back stubbornly. "He was their for a purpose I think" Lily rolled her eyes sharply turning a corner, making James stop and sidetrack in confusion. "I'm sure you think something the opposite of what I do, but considering your thoughts is something I don't do" she stated simply. James gave her a look. "You know you could at least pretend you didn't hate me!" he exclaimed crossing his arms.
Lily gave him a smug smile. "No, thats ok. I'm having way to much fun with this"
Trekking down a few more stairs in silence they came to Professor Highlick's classroom. He had to be the blandest teacher that Hogwarts had ever had, after Professor Binns the Hogwarts Historian. Lily sighed thinking of all the long boring detention he of all people could assign to us.
"Probably washing his stone desks with toothbrushes" Lily muttured under her breath as the two came through the large wooden door. Inside however it was empty. The classes desk were neat and clean, and the teacher's desk was empty. James and Lily both frowned in unison, looking about for the missing Mr.Highlick. "I thought you said he was our detetion-ist" Lily exclaimed looking to the torches at the side of the dugeons.
James bit his lip. "He is" he replied racking his hands through his hair. "I swear, Professor Mcgonnagall told me that. Cicily can back me up on that too" Lily frowned contemplating if he had indeed made a mistake. "Well, maybe Professor Highlick forgot" she wondered aloud, playing with a red tendril that had fallen from her ponytail.
"Professor wouldn't forget. You know how much fun he finds detentions..." James grunted. He should know. He had been through enough with the potion's master. Lily bit her lip. "Should we go back up to Mcgonnagall's and see if we can figure this out? Maybe we can get her to lay us off...." she thought throughly in hopes. "We are well... smart students. She favors me. And maybe you can butter her up a bit..."
James snorted at the thought of 'buttering up' Professor Mcgonnagall. "Been there, done that" he stated, shrugging as if it wasn't a problem. "So we'll go back up? Sorry, but I can't stand of being alone in these damp disgusting dugeons..." the young women mummured, wincing. James frowned. "Hey, I'm here" he countered back a manly tone in his voice. "You, Potter, don't count, needless to say your a kid like me. I'm talking about an highly edcauted adult. Like a Professor prehaps..." she teased rolling her emerald eyes at the man's stupidity.
James made mocking faces at her back, as he stooped down to get his bag. "Alright then lets just go before we end up killing ourselves" he stated simply as if he had been through a sitaution like this. Lily wouldn't have been surprised. Not every girl found him adorable and sexy. She was throughly surprised someone hadn't commited suicide when talking to him.
Lily gathered her bookbag strewning it over her shoulders, as she and James headed back up the rocky steps. The torches flickered reluctantly as they headed up slowly. "You think he could be in one of the other rooms?" Lily questioned herself and James as she starred at the old rotting wooden doors the students were forbidden to touch. "I see him go in them all the time. Maybe he forgot about it. He may have a very good reason, and we can get him in the room---"
" Do you want to get detention?" Potter asked with a ludicrous smile. Lily looked up confused. "What? No, I don't" she stated honestly. James rolled his emerald eyes. "Then shut your mouth and keep moving. At this rate, Mcgonnagall won't be able to assign us a new one, and we'll be doing it later. If we're even luckier she'll prolong it and forget all about" Lily listened to the words, thinking that it. It was true, but it seemed so wrong at the same time.
"I...I don't know. We've been pushing our luck at going into the Forbidden Forest and lieing to the teacher..." James laughed madly looking back at her. "We? Whats this we? YOU ran into the forest, me and Cicily went after you because of your distress, and you lied to the teacher. I had a perfect setup but your the one who thought to lie not me..." Lily looked up distressed. "Me? Me?! Listen, buster, your lie wouldn't have gotten us nowhere she is so use to you! You've probably used that same lie with her once and hardly knew about it!!"
James frowned biting his lip. He was certainly not going to admit she was correct. He was planning to use the same hoax he used when he, Sirius, and Remus had decided it was time to pay the houselves a small visit. They had just brought a couple snacks along with them. "No! I wasn't!" he shot back almost pitifully. Lily rolled her eyes shaking her head. This was getting stupid.
"Look. Just forget it. I'm going back to the common room. I found another book that could be helpful, and I wanna read a few chapters before I get to bed" she muttured as she came to the Hogwarts hallway, the dampness and stinky stench gone. James knodded finding no reason to go on with their little fights. "Your right. I've got a bit a homework to touch on as well" Lily had a really good comeback for that, but silently kept it to herself.
Lily starred quietly at the barren dugeon. They just made it to the staircase in silence which was pretty much an accomplishment for the two. It was hard for James to keep his big mouth shut and for Lily to not make a sarcastic comment was a miracle.
She silently clutched her books to her chest never noticing how disgusting the dugeon steps were.Have they ever noticed how dusty and dirty they were? Starring at them for excatly 3 minutes striaght showed her how much this castle was seriously neglected. Didn't anybody care?They had to teach here and students actually boarded here for a year in this filthy dugeon.
Blah dust and dirt everywhere....
Boo
Lily jumped quickly her books and papers falling into that dusty dugeon floor. She flipped quickly her emerald eyes searching through the flickering shadows of the hallway. Her heartbeat instantly quickened with fear, and her chest ached unbearably. James frowned turning back to stare at her.
He was just a few steps ahead of her, and the papaers were scattered at his feet. "Evans?" he questioned eyes looking at her frightened face. Lily turned back to stare at him with those haunted eyes and drawn in pale cheeks. "What?" she asked her usual cockiness gone replaaced with a high pitched squeak. It was the voice she had used in the Forbidden Forest that had echoed throughout the castle and ringed in his and Cicily's ears.
"Whats going on?" he asked. "Nothing, Nothing" she insisted putting her red tendrils beind her ears and quickly bent down to pick up her mess. Her heartbeat returned to normal after a moment or two of silence. And from the confused and superior look on James's face the jerk hadn't heard the voice or whatever it was she heard. It must have been a figment of her imagination.
Yup it had to be. Why would she, Lily Evans, be hearing voices? In the dugeon? I mean, c'mon, just because she found a talking unicorn, a necklace that was stuck somewhere inside her freakin body didn't mean quite anything....
Scared aren't we?
"Oh god!" she jumped quickly, and watched James go quickly for the wand in his robe. Even though Lily wasn't excatly his fair lady he would still protect her, if it came to that point. The X chromosome. He couldn't help it. "That voice" Lily mummured and to James amazement watched her collect her cool quite quickly.
She grabbed her wand out with a flick of her wrsit, drew her stuff to a pile and pulled herself together. The paleness disappeared from her face but her fear still layed in those eyes. "C'mon" she whispered grrabbing the end of his sleeve and pulled him away from the door. "Um... Evans what are you doing? Hearing stuff isn't excatly a good sign, and its something we run from, not go looking for!" James hissed as she yanked him farther and farther away from their only escape hatch.
"Potter, do me a favor" Lily said with such a calm clarity, James once again faced another bout of amazement. One minute she's whimpering on the floor, the next she's macho woman. Geez. "What?" James asked almost tripping over the hidden steps she pulled him over to. "Shut it" the red head said simply and muttured "Lumos" to her wand.
Lily had no idea what was really happening but after hearing that one voice everything went blank inside her. Her body and mind went on automatic. She sat in the passenger seat of her life. Someone else inside her was taking the wheel. "Look" Lily whispered approaching the wall. Lifting her wand, the light from the wand illuminating the dusty, hidden doorway.
"Holy Crap" James whispered his jaw slacking from his third hit of surprise. "It's a door" Lily shook her head her fringers letting loose of his sleeve to roam the edges of the hidden doorway. "No duh, Sherlock. I betcha the voice is coming.... from... here...." she pulled the edge where it looked loose, sending dirt and cobwebs into choas, yanking the secert compartment open, large enough for her and big fellow, James to go through.
Lily took a breath, the air lost from her efforts and wiped her dirty hands on her robes. "You know, maybe, this isn't such a good idea" James finally mustered starring at the huge opening in the wall. "I mean first your attacked by something in the forest. Our Potions Professor is missing. You hear voices. Then we find a hidden doorway? Ok, thats creepy. And we are in big enough trouble as it is ----"
"Oh, Potter, your running away?" James instantly stopped talking, once those few innocent words left Lily Evans's mouth. "What?" he cried his temper boiling instantly. Lily put her hand on her small, bony, unattractive hips and raised an eyebrow. "Your scared arentcha?" she teased. "Oh, honey, your going to wish you've never said that" James muttured his eyes turning ice cold and took a giant step forward. "Your going to regret it sooo much" The look in those eyes made the girl take a small step backwards. "Then I guess... your going in with me right? I mean you not being scared and all?" she insisted desperately trying to keep eye contact.
She didn't know why but she knew... she knew!... she had to have the upper hand in this situation. Something.. something in Lily's gut told her this was her first job and she was to take charge. To find out the mystery of this peep-hole. Which explains her once whimpy state gone and this daredevil taking it's place. If Lily Evans had no gut, if she was just skin, bones, and organs, hell she'd be bloody half across London by now. But her gut was was obviously the boss of her logic right now and it was telling her to lead both of them into that room.
James kept the stare going and briefly whispered "Lumos". His wand flickered to life, the light strengthing around the trwo. "Yup. You know, because I'm not scared" he fought back and to show her Lily could just eat her words up headed into the hideaway first. Lily sighed reluctantly looking side to side and followed. The room was pitch black except for their wands floating aimlessly. The atmosphere thick and it was hard to breath so they left the door open. "Needs fresh air anyways" James muttured as he saw how dirty it was.
If it was dusty on the steps it was the sahari in here. Dust piled atop each other on the furniture in the room and all in the air. The room was circular like alot of the common rooms in Hogwarts. It was wide too, large and spacious. Furniture lay empty hidden under white bedsheets. Rugs and carpets were barely seen from the trash and the once blooming flowers in the vases surrounding the room were dead and brown. "Whoa" Lily finally whispered her gaze searching the room in smiles.
"This place is brilliant! Look at it! It's like a common room forgotten! You think thats it? Huh? Maybe..." James shut Lily off in his mind, as she rattled on and wandered over to the edge of the room. Everything was intact. It was kind of weird, why would someone just abadon a perfectly good room? Something had to be wrong with it or... James sighed shaking his head of his thought. Now he remembered why he didn't like thinking now. That it just got way out of hand.
"Lily, is it just me or is this just alittle bit weird?" he questioned looking around. Lilly turned to stare at him. Wow. This was a first. He used her first name. Hmmm. "Yeah, I guess, your right..." she reluctantly gave in giving a last quick peek around and took his sleeve again. "Lets go and get Mcgonnagall"
Running away now are we?
Lily jumped flipping around quickly and ran. James blinked watching her suddenley run up the staircase seen above them. "Evans! Evans are you crazy, what are you doing?! The stairs could collaspe any minute...." he exclaimed screwing the whispering and with a hiestating step followed the slightly derganed Grffyindor girl up the staircase. Lily didn't answer her breathing rapid and short her eyes wild and frantic. She came to the second floor of the forgotten room, her head turning sharply to her right.
"Bloody heel, Evans, whats going on???" James gave another feeble attempt at connection with the girl, trying desperately to keep up with her. Lily's pace was even and fast as if someone else was leading her there to where ever her destination is. Lily felt her heartbeat race and she stopped in front of a closet door hidden almost completely by dust. But you could also some how tell it was disturbed. The lines of the door were clean as if someone had just openbed it. Handprints were on the dust.
Large, spindly hands, the fingers twice as long as Lily's lean ones. She blinked her heartbeat jumping about thrice its orginial and she almost doubed over from the pain in her chest. Something was in here. Something she didn't want to see. The thing the striaght A student wanted to do was run away as far as possible from this door. As far as freackin possible. But Lily's feet were glued to the old wooden floor. Her legs wouldn't move away. She left herself on autoway to long and know she couldn't control herself.
Her arm was raising without her order and dug her fingers into the cracks. "Another one? Man, thats not good. You should leave it alone" James argued watching over her shoulder, breathless. He didn't know why but he was alittle creeped out at the Ice Queen. How'd she know where the door to this place was anyways? And how'd she find another one?! And even though he had never talked to her until the train accident this year. he had a feeling Lily wasn't excatly the kind of girl who would do this. Go gallavanting into what looked like forbidden rooms in her school and whatnot.
But Lily ignored him, using the most of her strength to pull open this new found door. "It's not hidden. It use to be a closet. Someone got rid of the handle" Lily grunted sending the dust in a flurry around the two. "Well maybe we shouldn't open closets that aren't closets anymore. Truth be told, I don't..." but he stopped talking when the young Evans girl dropped her wand with a loud piercing scream. The door was inching open slowly but surely showing a small crack. A crack big enough to slide a textbook and a half through.
A crack bi enough for the foot of some poor human being to pop out, and reflect off the light of Lily's forlorn wand. "Oh my bloody god" James muttured as Lily let out another hysterical scream. The cool calm collected Lily Evans was suddenley gone replaced by the one James thought he knew. Her face paled, her eyes wide and frightened and the only thing she could do it seemed was scream.
James felt like screaming in disgust and fright as well, but it was his turn to be the cool one. "Lily... Lily... Evans!!" he cried loudly breaking off her screams with a rough shake of her thin shoulders. Lily stopped her mouth closing her bottom lip trembling roughly. "Theres... t-there's a body... a body..." she whimpered threw her choatic stuttering her eyes turning shakily to the door and back to his face.
Whoever controlled her for those few precious moments left her the minute that foot popped from the opening and let Lily the coward take her place, back in control. Which was the last thing Lily wanted to do. James sighed trying to keep his own wandering gaze away from the door. His heart was beating uncontrollably , and his throat kept clogging up desperately with vile as he kept thinking the fact that there was a body ... dead or not in the room with them. And the stench wafting throughout the room clearly distinguished that ethier it was decomposing or someone hadn't taken a bath in a few years.
"Look, we need to get a teacher. Now. Ok? Don't go in shock alright? Ok, Evans?" Lily managed a weak knod and looked at her wand a inch away from the shoe that the deceased foot wore. She swallowed painfully and with a blink jumped for her wand and shot back up clumsily. She felt tears swim in her large eyes and she looked at James.
"Let's go" she whispered and with that the two raced out of the room as fast as their feet would possibly allow them.
***
Whew....
Thank You and Have A Nice Day
~MerlinsApprentince
By: MerlinsApprentince
***
A/N: Holy Toledo another chapter!!!! Whoopdedoo!!!! I'm a big kid now....
Disclaimer: Please... must I do this? *Junebug knods pleasure in his littles eyes* I hate you Junebug. Harry Potter etc isn't mine but guess what? My marshmallow fluff's mine!!! Yum Yum Yum...
***
Lily starred at the book before her. Unicorns and the Horns by Thelma Saidar. Flipping through it after classes hadn't help clear her mind much at all these last few days. Quietly the Gryffindor fire crackling merrily before her she skimmed the last page and sighed. Nothing about Unia. And she had checked out a million books on magical jewelry and the necklace Lily found was absolutely no where. She was lost in the dark.
"Hey Evans" James's voice called breaking her thought process. Closing her eyes, silently she wished for him to go away. All she needed was another blow up with him. Even after their little truce, with him saving her life and all, Lily couldn't find the guts to be nice to him. He was so gullible.
James came up behind her leaning down from the couch, Cicily, at his side. Lily and Cicily had become good friends now, and she hadn't mind talking to her. "What Potter? I'm kinda busy at the moment..." Lily grumbled now very agitated. She had been searching all day through Hogwart's library and couldn't find a single thing on anything they encountered two weeks ago.
James eyed her. He could see she was tense. He sighed shaking his head sending his raven locks flying. "Don't worry I won't take much of your precious time" he stated rolling his emerald eyes. "Good" Lily responded throwing the book into the big pile she was creating. James stuck his hands in his pockets and came and sat in the big armchair. "Detention"
Lily winced. She was going to have to have her first detention tonight. She had forgotten. "When and where?" she questioned her voice telling the two that she was not in a pleasent mood. James was actually afriad to tell her. Cicily took it upon herself to do that. "You and James have to do detention with the potions master, well I help Hagrid with the school's garden. Without magic. And it's tonight, after our last class" she informed gloomily starring at her pretty white wand.
Lily gaped. She had James in all her classes, her house, and now detention?! And she wouldn't even have Cicily to help her control herself. And she was doing so well too. "Oh dear" she grumbled quietly her mood going from bad to worse. Detention with James, Homework piling painfully, and she was still so confused and in the dark about that locket.
As her attention wandered she felt a tiny pain twinge in her chest excatly where the odd gem shoved itself into. Lily sighed wincing. Ever since that she felt odd chest pains every once in awhile. Nobody else knew about the gem except her and the unicorn she knew for a little time in the Forbidden Forest. Cicily and James came only a bit after it had came, so they hadn't a clue of her odd behavior in no longer wearing anymore jewlery in fear that that would suck inside her too.
James watched her face and frowned when he saw it distort into pain. "Hey Evans you ok?" he asked a tint of worry in his voice he didn't intend for it to be there. Lily starred and him quizzically and shook her head. "Yeah... Yeah I'm fine. Absolutely perfectly fine"
***
Lily felt herself drop the extra books she was carrying onto her transfiguration desk, exhaustion overtaking her body systems. It was way to late at night to do any detention. Too late. Why couldn't she go to sleep instead? Yes... Sleep sounded good now... extrememly good...
"Evans don't fall asleep on me" James warned watching her doze off for a minute and then back on again. Lily gave him a glare. "I can doze if I want to" she protested, yawning loudly as the two walked out on their way to the dugeons. "Whats with all this staying up late stuff? I thought Good Girls went to sleep early...?" the raven haired boy questioned fixing his robe as they walked.
Lily shook her head, slowly trying to wake up. "Not that its any of your business, I've been trying to do some work on that creature we found in that library... That nasty ugly man thing..." James winced at the memory. "Yeah, I know what your talking about..." he said reluctantly as he pictured the grostesque slimy dry figure in his mind. "Have you found any information on it?"
Lily shook her head furiously as they headed down the steps. "Not a thing on what it was. I'd like to think it was a human at one point or another, but it only has the characteristics... it looked so inhuman, but human at the same time" she emphasized by holding her hands out and acted like they were weighing them both. "I just don't get it" James listened quietly and then slowly asked a question that was nagging him on and on. "And you haven't told a professor this? I mean you lied to them earlier, but I swore, I'd think that you'd go back and tell the truth to get yourself out of detention..."
Lily looked sharply up at him. "I did it for my reasons. I'd rather not have the Headmaster squirm all over the forest and make Unia's life a living hell. We've already ruined her life, I don't want to make it any worse. And I'm sure that creature won't come back anymore. It was just at the wrong place and the wrong time situation" James raised a black eyebrow. She sounded so certain, but he surely had his doubts. At the time, that thing was consisently asking for the light. It wasnt a coincedence. He was here for something. James knew that.
"I don't think so" he countered back stubbornly. "He was their for a purpose I think" Lily rolled her eyes sharply turning a corner, making James stop and sidetrack in confusion. "I'm sure you think something the opposite of what I do, but considering your thoughts is something I don't do" she stated simply. James gave her a look. "You know you could at least pretend you didn't hate me!" he exclaimed crossing his arms.
Lily gave him a smug smile. "No, thats ok. I'm having way to much fun with this"
Trekking down a few more stairs in silence they came to Professor Highlick's classroom. He had to be the blandest teacher that Hogwarts had ever had, after Professor Binns the Hogwarts Historian. Lily sighed thinking of all the long boring detention he of all people could assign to us.
"Probably washing his stone desks with toothbrushes" Lily muttured under her breath as the two came through the large wooden door. Inside however it was empty. The classes desk were neat and clean, and the teacher's desk was empty. James and Lily both frowned in unison, looking about for the missing Mr.Highlick. "I thought you said he was our detetion-ist" Lily exclaimed looking to the torches at the side of the dugeons.
James bit his lip. "He is" he replied racking his hands through his hair. "I swear, Professor Mcgonnagall told me that. Cicily can back me up on that too" Lily frowned contemplating if he had indeed made a mistake. "Well, maybe Professor Highlick forgot" she wondered aloud, playing with a red tendril that had fallen from her ponytail.
"Professor wouldn't forget. You know how much fun he finds detentions..." James grunted. He should know. He had been through enough with the potion's master. Lily bit her lip. "Should we go back up to Mcgonnagall's and see if we can figure this out? Maybe we can get her to lay us off...." she thought throughly in hopes. "We are well... smart students. She favors me. And maybe you can butter her up a bit..."
James snorted at the thought of 'buttering up' Professor Mcgonnagall. "Been there, done that" he stated, shrugging as if it wasn't a problem. "So we'll go back up? Sorry, but I can't stand of being alone in these damp disgusting dugeons..." the young women mummured, wincing. James frowned. "Hey, I'm here" he countered back a manly tone in his voice. "You, Potter, don't count, needless to say your a kid like me. I'm talking about an highly edcauted adult. Like a Professor prehaps..." she teased rolling her emerald eyes at the man's stupidity.
James made mocking faces at her back, as he stooped down to get his bag. "Alright then lets just go before we end up killing ourselves" he stated simply as if he had been through a sitaution like this. Lily wouldn't have been surprised. Not every girl found him adorable and sexy. She was throughly surprised someone hadn't commited suicide when talking to him.
Lily gathered her bookbag strewning it over her shoulders, as she and James headed back up the rocky steps. The torches flickered reluctantly as they headed up slowly. "You think he could be in one of the other rooms?" Lily questioned herself and James as she starred at the old rotting wooden doors the students were forbidden to touch. "I see him go in them all the time. Maybe he forgot about it. He may have a very good reason, and we can get him in the room---"
" Do you want to get detention?" Potter asked with a ludicrous smile. Lily looked up confused. "What? No, I don't" she stated honestly. James rolled his emerald eyes. "Then shut your mouth and keep moving. At this rate, Mcgonnagall won't be able to assign us a new one, and we'll be doing it later. If we're even luckier she'll prolong it and forget all about" Lily listened to the words, thinking that it. It was true, but it seemed so wrong at the same time.
"I...I don't know. We've been pushing our luck at going into the Forbidden Forest and lieing to the teacher..." James laughed madly looking back at her. "We? Whats this we? YOU ran into the forest, me and Cicily went after you because of your distress, and you lied to the teacher. I had a perfect setup but your the one who thought to lie not me..." Lily looked up distressed. "Me? Me?! Listen, buster, your lie wouldn't have gotten us nowhere she is so use to you! You've probably used that same lie with her once and hardly knew about it!!"
James frowned biting his lip. He was certainly not going to admit she was correct. He was planning to use the same hoax he used when he, Sirius, and Remus had decided it was time to pay the houselves a small visit. They had just brought a couple snacks along with them. "No! I wasn't!" he shot back almost pitifully. Lily rolled her eyes shaking her head. This was getting stupid.
"Look. Just forget it. I'm going back to the common room. I found another book that could be helpful, and I wanna read a few chapters before I get to bed" she muttured as she came to the Hogwarts hallway, the dampness and stinky stench gone. James knodded finding no reason to go on with their little fights. "Your right. I've got a bit a homework to touch on as well" Lily had a really good comeback for that, but silently kept it to herself.
Lily starred quietly at the barren dugeon. They just made it to the staircase in silence which was pretty much an accomplishment for the two. It was hard for James to keep his big mouth shut and for Lily to not make a sarcastic comment was a miracle.
She silently clutched her books to her chest never noticing how disgusting the dugeon steps were.Have they ever noticed how dusty and dirty they were? Starring at them for excatly 3 minutes striaght showed her how much this castle was seriously neglected. Didn't anybody care?They had to teach here and students actually boarded here for a year in this filthy dugeon.
Blah dust and dirt everywhere....
Boo
Lily jumped quickly her books and papers falling into that dusty dugeon floor. She flipped quickly her emerald eyes searching through the flickering shadows of the hallway. Her heartbeat instantly quickened with fear, and her chest ached unbearably. James frowned turning back to stare at her.
He was just a few steps ahead of her, and the papaers were scattered at his feet. "Evans?" he questioned eyes looking at her frightened face. Lily turned back to stare at him with those haunted eyes and drawn in pale cheeks. "What?" she asked her usual cockiness gone replaaced with a high pitched squeak. It was the voice she had used in the Forbidden Forest that had echoed throughout the castle and ringed in his and Cicily's ears.
"Whats going on?" he asked. "Nothing, Nothing" she insisted putting her red tendrils beind her ears and quickly bent down to pick up her mess. Her heartbeat returned to normal after a moment or two of silence. And from the confused and superior look on James's face the jerk hadn't heard the voice or whatever it was she heard. It must have been a figment of her imagination.
Yup it had to be. Why would she, Lily Evans, be hearing voices? In the dugeon? I mean, c'mon, just because she found a talking unicorn, a necklace that was stuck somewhere inside her freakin body didn't mean quite anything....
Scared aren't we?
"Oh god!" she jumped quickly, and watched James go quickly for the wand in his robe. Even though Lily wasn't excatly his fair lady he would still protect her, if it came to that point. The X chromosome. He couldn't help it. "That voice" Lily mummured and to James amazement watched her collect her cool quite quickly.
She grabbed her wand out with a flick of her wrsit, drew her stuff to a pile and pulled herself together. The paleness disappeared from her face but her fear still layed in those eyes. "C'mon" she whispered grrabbing the end of his sleeve and pulled him away from the door. "Um... Evans what are you doing? Hearing stuff isn't excatly a good sign, and its something we run from, not go looking for!" James hissed as she yanked him farther and farther away from their only escape hatch.
"Potter, do me a favor" Lily said with such a calm clarity, James once again faced another bout of amazement. One minute she's whimpering on the floor, the next she's macho woman. Geez. "What?" James asked almost tripping over the hidden steps she pulled him over to. "Shut it" the red head said simply and muttured "Lumos" to her wand.
Lily had no idea what was really happening but after hearing that one voice everything went blank inside her. Her body and mind went on automatic. She sat in the passenger seat of her life. Someone else inside her was taking the wheel. "Look" Lily whispered approaching the wall. Lifting her wand, the light from the wand illuminating the dusty, hidden doorway.
"Holy Crap" James whispered his jaw slacking from his third hit of surprise. "It's a door" Lily shook her head her fringers letting loose of his sleeve to roam the edges of the hidden doorway. "No duh, Sherlock. I betcha the voice is coming.... from... here...." she pulled the edge where it looked loose, sending dirt and cobwebs into choas, yanking the secert compartment open, large enough for her and big fellow, James to go through.
Lily took a breath, the air lost from her efforts and wiped her dirty hands on her robes. "You know, maybe, this isn't such a good idea" James finally mustered starring at the huge opening in the wall. "I mean first your attacked by something in the forest. Our Potions Professor is missing. You hear voices. Then we find a hidden doorway? Ok, thats creepy. And we are in big enough trouble as it is ----"
"Oh, Potter, your running away?" James instantly stopped talking, once those few innocent words left Lily Evans's mouth. "What?" he cried his temper boiling instantly. Lily put her hand on her small, bony, unattractive hips and raised an eyebrow. "Your scared arentcha?" she teased. "Oh, honey, your going to wish you've never said that" James muttured his eyes turning ice cold and took a giant step forward. "Your going to regret it sooo much" The look in those eyes made the girl take a small step backwards. "Then I guess... your going in with me right? I mean you not being scared and all?" she insisted desperately trying to keep eye contact.
She didn't know why but she knew... she knew!... she had to have the upper hand in this situation. Something.. something in Lily's gut told her this was her first job and she was to take charge. To find out the mystery of this peep-hole. Which explains her once whimpy state gone and this daredevil taking it's place. If Lily Evans had no gut, if she was just skin, bones, and organs, hell she'd be bloody half across London by now. But her gut was was obviously the boss of her logic right now and it was telling her to lead both of them into that room.
James kept the stare going and briefly whispered "Lumos". His wand flickered to life, the light strengthing around the trwo. "Yup. You know, because I'm not scared" he fought back and to show her Lily could just eat her words up headed into the hideaway first. Lily sighed reluctantly looking side to side and followed. The room was pitch black except for their wands floating aimlessly. The atmosphere thick and it was hard to breath so they left the door open. "Needs fresh air anyways" James muttured as he saw how dirty it was.
If it was dusty on the steps it was the sahari in here. Dust piled atop each other on the furniture in the room and all in the air. The room was circular like alot of the common rooms in Hogwarts. It was wide too, large and spacious. Furniture lay empty hidden under white bedsheets. Rugs and carpets were barely seen from the trash and the once blooming flowers in the vases surrounding the room were dead and brown. "Whoa" Lily finally whispered her gaze searching the room in smiles.
"This place is brilliant! Look at it! It's like a common room forgotten! You think thats it? Huh? Maybe..." James shut Lily off in his mind, as she rattled on and wandered over to the edge of the room. Everything was intact. It was kind of weird, why would someone just abadon a perfectly good room? Something had to be wrong with it or... James sighed shaking his head of his thought. Now he remembered why he didn't like thinking now. That it just got way out of hand.
"Lily, is it just me or is this just alittle bit weird?" he questioned looking around. Lilly turned to stare at him. Wow. This was a first. He used her first name. Hmmm. "Yeah, I guess, your right..." she reluctantly gave in giving a last quick peek around and took his sleeve again. "Lets go and get Mcgonnagall"
Running away now are we?
Lily jumped flipping around quickly and ran. James blinked watching her suddenley run up the staircase seen above them. "Evans! Evans are you crazy, what are you doing?! The stairs could collaspe any minute...." he exclaimed screwing the whispering and with a hiestating step followed the slightly derganed Grffyindor girl up the staircase. Lily didn't answer her breathing rapid and short her eyes wild and frantic. She came to the second floor of the forgotten room, her head turning sharply to her right.
"Bloody heel, Evans, whats going on???" James gave another feeble attempt at connection with the girl, trying desperately to keep up with her. Lily's pace was even and fast as if someone else was leading her there to where ever her destination is. Lily felt her heartbeat race and she stopped in front of a closet door hidden almost completely by dust. But you could also some how tell it was disturbed. The lines of the door were clean as if someone had just openbed it. Handprints were on the dust.
Large, spindly hands, the fingers twice as long as Lily's lean ones. She blinked her heartbeat jumping about thrice its orginial and she almost doubed over from the pain in her chest. Something was in here. Something she didn't want to see. The thing the striaght A student wanted to do was run away as far as possible from this door. As far as freackin possible. But Lily's feet were glued to the old wooden floor. Her legs wouldn't move away. She left herself on autoway to long and know she couldn't control herself.
Her arm was raising without her order and dug her fingers into the cracks. "Another one? Man, thats not good. You should leave it alone" James argued watching over her shoulder, breathless. He didn't know why but he was alittle creeped out at the Ice Queen. How'd she know where the door to this place was anyways? And how'd she find another one?! And even though he had never talked to her until the train accident this year. he had a feeling Lily wasn't excatly the kind of girl who would do this. Go gallavanting into what looked like forbidden rooms in her school and whatnot.
But Lily ignored him, using the most of her strength to pull open this new found door. "It's not hidden. It use to be a closet. Someone got rid of the handle" Lily grunted sending the dust in a flurry around the two. "Well maybe we shouldn't open closets that aren't closets anymore. Truth be told, I don't..." but he stopped talking when the young Evans girl dropped her wand with a loud piercing scream. The door was inching open slowly but surely showing a small crack. A crack big enough to slide a textbook and a half through.
A crack bi enough for the foot of some poor human being to pop out, and reflect off the light of Lily's forlorn wand. "Oh my bloody god" James muttured as Lily let out another hysterical scream. The cool calm collected Lily Evans was suddenley gone replaced by the one James thought he knew. Her face paled, her eyes wide and frightened and the only thing she could do it seemed was scream.
James felt like screaming in disgust and fright as well, but it was his turn to be the cool one. "Lily... Lily... Evans!!" he cried loudly breaking off her screams with a rough shake of her thin shoulders. Lily stopped her mouth closing her bottom lip trembling roughly. "Theres... t-there's a body... a body..." she whimpered threw her choatic stuttering her eyes turning shakily to the door and back to his face.
Whoever controlled her for those few precious moments left her the minute that foot popped from the opening and let Lily the coward take her place, back in control. Which was the last thing Lily wanted to do. James sighed trying to keep his own wandering gaze away from the door. His heart was beating uncontrollably , and his throat kept clogging up desperately with vile as he kept thinking the fact that there was a body ... dead or not in the room with them. And the stench wafting throughout the room clearly distinguished that ethier it was decomposing or someone hadn't taken a bath in a few years.
"Look, we need to get a teacher. Now. Ok? Don't go in shock alright? Ok, Evans?" Lily managed a weak knod and looked at her wand a inch away from the shoe that the deceased foot wore. She swallowed painfully and with a blink jumped for her wand and shot back up clumsily. She felt tears swim in her large eyes and she looked at James.
"Let's go" she whispered and with that the two raced out of the room as fast as their feet would possibly allow them.
***
Whew....
Thank You and Have A Nice Day
~MerlinsApprentince