Complications

By Dimantrien

Chapter 10: What Binds Us

"Will you two ever tell me what was in those parchments that made you so awfully quiet for the past thirty minutes?" Celeste asked, already at the end of her patience.

Chase snapped out of her trance-like state and stared at her twin as if she just noticed that she was there. "Well…you know what that lady said, that they would contain something we were to ponder over," she answered. She had always believed that Divination was just a bunch of riffraff, even if she did take the subject, but for the past few minutes she realized that she had been seriously considering forgiving Sirius and getting back together with him. Although I'm sure he's happy with Rhiannon now, and must think that I'm an insufferable, high-maintenance witch, she thought gloomily.

"That doesn't mean that you have to keep its contents secret," Celeste argued, turning to Lily instead.

Lily rolled her eyes. "If you want it so badly, here," she said irritably, at the same time Chase shoved her own parchment into her sister's hands. Celeste quickly read the curly handwriting.

"Hey! You two got the same messages. See, 'To err is human, to forgive, divine.' It means that you've both got to let James and Sirius apologize! And maybe it's saying you ought to forgive Damaris too, Lil!" Celeste said excitedly.

Lily snorted. "James is one thing, but I doubt I'm going to be having an affair with Damaris anytime soon, thanks." Chase snickered while Celeste merely looked annoyed.

"I didn't mean it that way, and you know it," she huffed. "All I'm saying is, those Seers—or whatever they were—seem to know their stuff and that it wouldn't hurt to follow their advice. And I should remind you that they didn't know your problems in the first place, which means they're not frauds as all their predictions hit the nail on the head—"

"We know, Celes," Chase interrupted exasperatedly. "Why do you think we've been quiet all this time? But I still think there's something fishy going on. I know there are real Seers, but those two sure didn't look like they were—"

It was Celeste's turn to snort. "And you're basing your observations on what? How many Seers have you met in your life? The only person I can think of that's remotely related to Divination is Trelawney, and I'm sure she's no Seer…and I know you think so too."

"What I think is that it's not a good idea to initiate bought advice," Chase said defensively. "Especially from anonymous people who disappear once you take a second glance."

"You said it yourself. Just a second ago you were considering their counsel," Celeste retorted.

Lily sighed. "We're here, guys," she pointed out, gesturing at the front steps to the castle.

The two sisters continued to bicker until they reached their seats in the Great Hall.

"Well, I really think you should—"

"I don't care what you think—"

"You guys…" Lily said in a louder voice, noticing that a few people were starting to look up from their plates and stare at the twins.

"—lay off me just this once…"

"I would if you knew how to make level-headed decisions—"

"I'm going to talk to James."

The two brunettes stopped in mid-sentence and turned to stare at her, their shocked faces identical to the last detail, both at a loss of words.

Lily almost smiled. That shut them up.

***** 

The four marauders trudged up the front steps leading to the entrance of Hogwarts Castle in silence. Even Sirius didn't have anything to say, but then again, he hadn't been living up to his garrulous personality for the few previous days.

One could say that he had already started to recover during their trip to Hogsmeade, and had lightened up a little, but his depressed mood started to sink into him once more now they were back to the school, where all their problems started. And it didn't help that James had become awfully quiet (not that he wasn't already) ever since he read whatever was in the silver strip of paper he had picked up at the wizard fair. 

It was Peter who broke the silence, as they stepped into the spacious entrance hall. "What did Madame Rosmerta put into the butterbeer that you three drank that made you so quiet?" he piped up, rolling his eyes for emphasis.

"Well, if it would do anything for your abysmal memory, I'd like to remind you that you too drank butterbeer in the exact same pub as we did, and you consumed roughly three mugs of it, if I remember correctly," Remus not-quite-answered pleasantly, looking pointedly at the sheepish shorter boy. "And I must say you weren't any more loquacious than Sirius on a Reticence Curse."

"Hey…" Sirius started in a disapproving tone.

Remus looked at him innocently. "What? I didn't exactly say that you're so talkative that we need a Reticence Curse at the ready to shut you up, I was merely using a metaphor so as to emphasize Peter's silence in the simplest way for him to understand."

Peter had started to laugh at Remus' second sentence, and went on sniggering for a few moments after the werewolf had stopped talking, when the meaning of Remus' last statement finally sank in. "Hey!" he shouted in protest, glaring at Remus, who had already ran ahead of them and was laughing his head off. Sirius was already running after him, but Remus' advantage of being part wolf helped him in running at just the right speed to be out of his friend's reach.

Sirius stopped chasing him and looked to James helplessly for backup. "Prongs, don't just stand there, help me catch the insufferable wiseass—"

"—love something, you'll set it free…" James was mumbling under his breath.

"What are you saying, mate?" Sirius asked, throwing James the look that the sane give the crazy. Of course, Sirius wasn't what most people would call entirely sane, so the dog-Animagus' expression didn't have the desired effect he had originally intended. Remus, too, had stopped running, and slowed down in front of James, who still looked a bit zombie-like.

Peter called to them from the doorway into the Great Hall. "Are you guys coming or what?"

Remus, who was looking quizzically at James, glanced at him. "Oh yeah…sorry 'bout that, Wormtail," he said, and the two of them headed into the Hall.

Sirius watched them leave and turned back to James, hooking an arm over his friend's shoulder and speaking in mock-confidential tones. "Prongs, as your best mate, it is my duty to inform you that you have officially cracked."

James said nothing and shrugged him off, following Peter and Remus' trail into the Great Hall.

He had left his best friend staring after him. James must be really out of it if he ignored Sirius' usual attempts to annoy the hell out of him. Even in the previous days, James had managed halfhearted retorts to his best friend and the other marauders when they teased him about his lackluster attitude. Sirius shook his head. Man, Prongs is really losing it. I've gotta make a mental note to beg Lily to take him back; his zombie act might eventually become permanent… His eyes widened in horror at the prospect. But he was just a teensy bit curious…

Before James' back completely disappeared from his best friend's view, Sirius whipped out his wand. "Accio parchment!" The silver strip of paper shot out of James' robe pocket and into Sirius' waiting palm. James didn't even notice.

Sirius started to read the words written in golden ink.

***** 

Celeste sighed, picking at the olives on her half-finished plate of food. Lily and Chase had left a few minutes ago. After her redheaded friend's proclamation, she and Chase had lost their mood to fight. Chase had, predictably, raised an eyebrow at their friend's sudden change of heart (after a few moments of stunned silence, of course) and went off, muttering something about unfinished Charms homework. Celeste smiled. She knew that her twin had gone off somewhere thinking about what Lily had said, and whether she should do the same.

She supposed Chase wasn't really that hard to figure out, after all.

And speaking of Lily and Chase's problems…

Remus and Peter arrived, taking a seat on either side of her, and trailing behind them were James and Sirius, who both looked…a little bit lost in their own world.

"Hey, Celes," Remus greeted, and Peter, whose mouth was already filled with food, nodded in way of saying hi also.

Peter swallowed just as James and Sirius sat down across them. He glanced at them before turning to Remus and saying, "You know, I think we better keep away from these guys for a while; James' zombie-itis must be contagious."

Remus laughed, and explained to Celeste how James had been acting weird ever since they left Hogsmeade.

"—and I reckon Peter might be on to something when he suggested that Madame Rosmerta put something into their drinks, she might be getting revenge, you know, after Prongs and Padfoot enchanted their empty mugs last time so they'd make whoever touched the handles get shriveled-up hands…"

Celeste smiled at the normally hyperactive duo. "Oh, come on, guys, cheer up a little. Things'll get better soon, I'm sure." Her sympathetic grin turned smug as she recalled the incident with those maybe-Seers. "Real soon."

And Peter and Remus had looked at her oddly, not knowing what she meant.

On the other side of the Gryffindor table, Rhiannon and Damaris had just settled down to dinner, Damaris eating with much gusto, and Rhiannon moving her food around in her plate in a dejected manner.

"What's wrong, Rhi? The food's good," Damaris pointed out as she took second helpings of steak, which was a very un-Damaris-like thing to do.

"Sure it tastes good to you, we just ran into Lily and she was all smiley and said that she forgives you," Rhiannon said, recalling how Lily had met them at the entrance hall and said in apologetic tones that she shouldn't have been so strongly against Damaris and hadn't considered her side of the story. All in all she had put Damaris in a happier mood than she had in days.

Rhiannon was, on the other hand, still brooding over breaking up with Sirius and acting incredulous at herself for encouraging Chase Tarlise to get back together with him. She sighed and put her head in her hands. Life was so unfair…

A hand tapped her on the shoulder, and she looked up and met Damaris' green eyes. "Hey," the brunette said, smiling at her. "Love is making the one you love happy, even if it means sacrificing your own happiness, right?"

Rhiannon rolled her eyes. "Thanks for trying, but that didn't exactly make me feel any better."

Damaris shrugged. "Come on, there are other guys in the world aside from Sirius Black. It's better this way, you know. Next year we're going back to the newly reconstructed Zynergrand Academy and that'll be way far from here. Everybody knows that long distance relationships never work." Rhiannon scowled at her. "Most of them, anyway," she said hastily.

"I suppose you're right," Rhiannon said, though her words sounded forced. Damaris just smiled sympathetically at her before turning back to her dinner.

Her would-be retort still stuck in her mind. Yeah, but didn't somebody say that absence makes the heart grow fonder?

The blonde girl sighed. Her plan had worked flawlessly, but, self-contradicting her thoughts the previous day, she felt that a well-placed love quote didn't really solve anything.

Or maybe it was just her.

Life was seriously unfair.

***** 

James Potter stood against a beech tree in the vast Hogwarts grounds, ignoring the wind that tousled his already untidy hair. He clearly remembered Chase's urgent words when she had pulled him aside after the last class of the day, Transfiguration.

"Meet me at the beech tree beside the lake at 5:00."

But before he could ask her why he was supposed to meet her, she had already disappeared in the crowd of students trudging through the Transfiguration corridor. It seemed a little too strange, so strange, in fact, that he had suddenly lost his depressed state with a bit of curiosity and suspicion.

His wariness grew when Sirius told him that Lily had done the exact same thing, except their meeting place was at one of the school towers. He frowned. If Lily and Chase thought it would be better if they exchanged boyfriends…

His ears pricked up as he heard the sound of crunching leaves behind him. He turned around and saw red hair, and startlingly bright emerald eyes. And a smile.

His depression, he was certain, had completely left him.

***** 

No sound came from Sirius' hurried footsteps up one of the more insignificant towers of Hogwarts Castle. He was positive that the place hadn't been entered in years, as there was a thick layer of dust on each step of the spiraling staircase, except for a single set of fresh footprints leading up to the tower. Had to be Lily's. The footprints were small, and Lily was known for being punctual. Of course, he wasn't, and that was why he was running up the steps as if his butt were on fire. Lily was his friend, but she was a prefect. And prefects had clean, spotless records, which meant that they were absolute angels in the punctuality department too. Of course, since Lily was his friend, she might forgive him if he were about, say, five to ten minutes late, right?

Yes, he was positive she would. The problem was, he was a little bit over that reasonable arriving time of 5:10… OK, fine he was forty minutes late, but it wasn't his fault; he hadn't known that Professor McGonagall would award him with thirty minutes of telling-off when he accidentally transfigured his beach ball into, not an armadillo, but ten boa constrictors…

So he silently thought of what to put in his last will and testament which he would have to beg Lily to write for him before she unleashed her wrath over him…

He braced himself as he reached the last step on the landing, leading to a high oak door. He pushed it open, prepared for the worst.

"Lily, I'm really, really so—"

He stopped midsentence as he looked at the person sitting on the windowsill. Chase jumped down and brushed the dust off her school robes. "Not the person you were expecting?" she said. There was no smirk on her face, and if he looked really closely, he'd see that she almost looked apologetic, her head bowed slightly, her right foot making small circles on the dusty floor.

Sirius didn't know which made him more relieved (and happier): the fact that Chase was finally talking to him, or the fact that he wasn't in the face of near-death punishment for being more than fashionably late.

***** 

The fire in the Gryffindor common room crackled merrily.

"D'you think everything will work out now?" Remus asked Celeste, who had just retold the whole story, fortunetellers and all, in the span of five minutes.

Celeste smiled. "That's a rhetorical question, love. What could possibly go wrong?"

Remus shrugged. "Well, I suppose 'happy ending' in their cases translate to 'mega-snogging session'…" he said mock-thoughtfully.

"Your point being…?"  Celeste asked, raising a perfectly-plucked brow.

"The worst thing that could happen is that they stay wherever they are until past curfew because they'll be rather busy…and since neither pair has James' invisibility cloak, they'll have to figure out some creative way to get past the caretaker and roaming teachers without getting caught… Then again, they'll probably be so preoccupied with their newfound happiness that they'll get caught anyway…"

Celeste rolled her eyes. "You think too much."

Remus smirked. "So, you wanna go crash their fun before they get too carried away?"

"You know, you're being really insensitive…can't you give them their much-needed privacy?" 

There was a pause. "I'm just going to give them as much privacy as they've given us."

Another pause. Celeste stood up abruptly after a moment. "Let's get to it."

"Give them another hour. They're probably still in the I'm-so-sorry-will-you-ever-forgive-me stage…" Remus said with a laugh.

"And after that is the It's-OK-I'll-always-love-you part…then it's happily ever after," Celeste added.

The werewolf shook his head. "No, that won't happen because at a quarter to seven we'll be there to intrude in their little love fests…" He smiled. "There's no such thing as the perfect ending."

***** 

Everything was silent; only the wind entering the open window made the soft whistle of sound. The two figures facing each other on opposite ends of the room were stationary, before one of them finally had the initiative to speak.

"Well? Aren't you going to yell at me, or tell me that I'm an ungrateful bitch for not appreciating everything you did for me and for ignoring you completely because of something that wasn't even your fault?" Chase blurted out.

Sirius smiled weakly. "Why would I do that?"

Chase slumped against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest. "Gee, I dunno. Because I deserve it?" she replied with a hint of exasperation and sarcasm in her voice.

It appeared that Sirius had nothing to say, except to stutter a nervous "er" or "um" on occasion. It was very un-Sirius-like behavior; if the other marauders were there they might have viewed a rare and amusing show.

Chase sighed, shaking her head as if trying to clear what she'd just said. "Sorry about that," she mumbled, saying something under her breath that Sirius didn't quite catch. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? For everything. For yelling at you like that when all you had were good intentions, for ignoring you all this time, for not telling you sooner that I befriended your mortal enemy so that I could make you understand. For all the other idiotic things I did that made you mad." 

"I was never mad at you," Sirius said, finding his voice. "And you don't have to apologize. It's not your fault—"

"Everything's my fault, and you know it," Chase interjected. "Stop trying to make me look like the innocent one."

Sirius smiled crookedly, walking closer. "Fine. It was your fault; now you have to grovel at my feet until I grant you my forgiveness." His statement brought an end to the awkwardness of the situation and at the same time lightened their moods.

Chases laughed. "I don't think I can go that far… I do have my pride."

Sirius raised an eyebrow mock-skeptically. "Isn't apologizing supposed to be all about laying down your pride? I won't listen to anything else you have to say until you drop down there and do fifty!" Chase looked at him blankly. "Uh, never mind, it was just a line in a Martin Miggs issue…"

"Does this mean that you forgive me?" Chase asked in a doubtful tone.

"Well, yeah, I suppose. I mean, I'm just glad that we're talking now… Wouldn't want to ruin that, would I?"

"I guess so," Chase said slowly before looking out the window at the darkening sky. "You're letting me off easy, you know. You're supposed to get mad, and tell me that I'm a worthless friend, and try to get back at me by doing thoughtful things like putting hair dye in my shampoo or filling my sock drawer with cockroaches."

"Do you want me to? I will, if it'll make you feel better," Sirius said with a smirk.

Chase just smiled, and it occurred to him how much he missed that. It had been almost a year since he saw that smile, because after they broke up she never graced him with that expression ever again. Oh, she would flash him her trademark smirk, but there was a major difference. Smiling made her seem so…open and pleasant, while smirking gave him the impression that she was putting up a sarcastic front to defend herself from being vulnerable to others. She never really liked showing her true emotions. Not until now.

"Even though I do deserve it, I must admit that I'm about as fond of roaches as my sister is…so… thanks, but no thanks." They stood there for a while, staring at each other, before Chase again broke the silence. "So…how've you been?" she asked in a polite—but slightly strained—voice.

Sirius shifted uncomfortably; he definitely didn't have to tell her that he'd spent the last few days pining for her, and he suddenly remembered his breakup with Rhiannon, for which he was beyond guilty. He didn't know why…before Chase, he hadn't really minded whether he was hurting a girl's feelings or not when he dumped her.

But maybe he did know why. His 'player' reputation started to die down last year, when he had started going out with Chase. She had changed him, somehow, making him more sensitive to a woman's feelings, compelling him to break his one-week flings. She was the only girl that he got serious with, and after he lost her, other girls didn't matter as much anymore.

"…Sirius?" Chase asked tentatively when he didn't respond. He snapped out of his trance at the sound of his name.

"Uh…right, I've been fine, I mean, everything's fine this week, no problem," he said in a rush. "And you?" he added, evading further details on his answer.

Chase's smile faded slightly. "Everything's been going well for me, too."

"Yeah, you sure look it," Sirius pointed out half-sardonically, noticing her change in mood.

Chase rolled her eyes. "I wasn't finished. Everything had been going well—if it weren't for the fact that I was worried sick of how mad you'd be at me when I planned to talk to you!" She seemed to realize that she had let something slip; her blue eyes widened slightly and she shut her mouth, saying no more.

A wide grin spread on Sirius' face. "You, worried sick? That's priceless…" he teased, imagining Miss Indifference wringing her hands out in anxiety over a talk with him.

"Oh, shut up," Chase said with a scowl. "You don't know how hard it is to face the prospect of showing up to meet an insane person in a rage at you, inside a secluded tower, alone…"

"Insane? Oh, how hurtful you are…" Sirius said melodramatically, pretending to look wounded. His antics elicited a laugh from the brunette.

"It's so nice to see you back to your stupid self," she said in between giggles.

"Hey, you're looking at one of the smartest, most brilliant students in this school," Sirius protested, gesturing at himself in a grand manner. "You can't call a genius stupid."

"Genius? I wouldn't say that… Although if you were, that'd explain everything…"

"You mean, explain my exceptional accomplishments in academics?"

"No, the proof that there really is a thin line between genius and insanity."

Sirius attempted to look cross, but gave in to laughter as well. He hadn't felt this light in ages.

It was good to be back. Back to having an easy, constantly-banter-filled relationship with Chase, the way they used to. Well, maybe not quite. She wasn't his anymore. She had moved on. Or had she?

He had tried to move on. And it hadn't worked. Maybe, somewhere inside her, she hadn't either. Maybe there was still hope.

Maybe he could make things really go back to the way they used to.

His laughter subsided, and gradually his companion's did too. "You know, it's nice that things are back to normal again. I feel like a heavy burden's been lifted from my shoulders," he said honestly, running a hand through his hair. "I really missed you."

For a moment he thought he saw a look of surprise on Chase's face, but then she smiled in a melancholy kind of way. "Yeah, me too," she said softly. She turned her back on him and rested her hands on the windowsill, staring up at the darkening sky.

Sirius was baffled at her abrupt change in mood. First she was laughing, and then she suddenly looked so sad. The picture of her standing there, looking at the setting sun, reminded him fleetingly of one of those romance novels where the girl contemplates her case of unrequited love. It rang a bell…

And it then occurred to him that Chase didn't know yet that he had broken up with Rhiannon. Did she still…?

She might. And that possibility, likely or not, gave him all the hope he needed.

***** 

Lily stood against the beech tree, all the while staring at the boy before her. She hadn't realized that she had missed him this much. Or maybe she did, it was just that she didn't want to accept it. But maybe it was time to put things in the past.

She sat down on the grass, aware that James hadn't moved in the last minute that they had been in each other's presence. She sighed, just wanting to get this all over with. Gods, she really wanted him back. And she wanted to know the truth. Not a twisted story, but the real one. "You have ten minutes to explain and convince me," she spoke firmly, fixing her ex-boyfriend with a hard stare. She did want him back. Badly. But she wasn't going to make it easier for him by running straight into his arms as if nothing had happened.

She deserved the truth. And she wasn't going to leave until she got it.

James sat down Indian style in front of her, looking relieved. Well, that was a bit of an understatement. He looked like he couldn't believe that the gods had granted him this miracle. Lily was almost inclined to laugh, but she tried to keep her expression set as stone.  

"Well, it's like this…" James started to say, and after that he ran through a detailed description of how he had just been tutoring Damaris on Professor McGonagall's orders, how he hadn't seen anything coming when Damaris suddenly kissed him, and how he barely had time to react when Chase had suddenly barged in, all kinds of assumptions running through her head at the sight of them. "And I had no idea that she would do that, honest," he concluded, staring at Lily as if begging her to believe him because his life depended on it. "I would have pushed her away at that second, but Chase did that for me already."

Lily raised her eyebrows. "Chase pushed you two away from each other?"

"No! I meant I was going to push her away at the exact moment that Chase came in, so naturally Chase thought that I was cheating on you—"

"Then why did you break up with me?" Lily challenged. "You didn't exactly give me a rational answer the first time I asked that question."

James looked more strained than ever. "I know I sounded stupid when I said I was doing what was best for everybody. Remember when I said that Damaris had a serious problem, or something? I don't know what it is, but it must be something that's got to do with her lack of self-confidence…I reckon she must be handling a lot of high expectations from her family, like McGonagall hinted to me." (A/N – Damaris is a Metamorphmagus, remember? Her family expected a lot from her because she was supposed to excel at Transfiguration like they did…)

"Well, that's no reason to dump me," Lily objected, a look of irritation on her face.

"No, it isn't," James replied quietly, looking like the perfect picture of guilt. "I've done a lot of dumb things in my life, and this is one of the worst of them." Lily glared pointedly at him. "All right, the worst of them. What I just want to know is…can…will…will you forgive me?"

Lily stared at him. He really did look desperate…and remorseful. She couldn't imagine the fourteen-year-old James having that expression; in their previous year he wouldn't be caught dead wearing such a helpless and pitiful countenance. James Potter had a lot of pride, and though he wasn't what you would call completely arrogant he still refused to give in to other people's demands. He was stubborn, and he hated being the lower person, the one with no power in a situation.

But here he was, doing something he never wanted to do: show his weaker side; put all his pride down for another person. He was, in a word, vulnerable. And he did it for Lily. He did it for guilt, for forgiveness, and for a second chance.

Did he deserve it?

Yes, Lily decided as James continued to look at her pleadingly. If he could lay down his pride, then why couldn't she? "I forgive you," she answered, and she never knew that those three little words could do so much for a person: James' eyes lit up, heck, everything about him suddenly looked much more radiant, and his expression transformed from despondent to euphoric.

He lunged forward and hugged Lily tightly, catching her by surprise. "Thank you," he whispered in her ear before pulling away. He smiled his heart-stopping smile and brushed away the tears that were forming at his eyes. Lily smiled back. James, at the verge of crying? It was a very rare sight; she was quite sure that not even his best friends had ever seen him so…humbled. "I love you, Lily," he said before pulling her close and locking his lips with hers. It was a sweet and gentle kiss, a kiss that both wished could last forever. But, of course, it didn't.

"I love you too," Lily echoed after they broke away. She never felt lighter in days.

I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned
I believe you can't appreciate real love until you've been burned
I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side
I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye*

Love wasn't perfect. Love came with a lot of sacrifice and pain, but that was what made it all the more wonderful. To know that the one you love had limitations that you had to accept, and vice versa. To know that even though both had misgivings, they had to shape those doubts into trust, in a way that would bring them closer together. Love wasn't perfect.

And that was what made it all the more special.

*****

Meanwhile, two people were under a 'borrowed' invisibility cloak, heading for the beech tree where two other people had chosen as a meeting place. They had decided to go there first, because it was tiresome to climb the steps to a certain tower, which was their alternative destination.

And on the other side of the castle, two other people were coming down the said steps, both too amazed by the previous events to have much of an appetite for dinner. They decided to head for a particular tree beside the lake.

They were both in a blissful mood because of the conversation they had earlier. Both secretly longed for the other, but felt that it wasn't the time to admit so. They weren't holding hands. But they were content all the same.

The sun was setting when they went through the front doors. They found it strange that it was already open, as if there was somebody who, like them, decided to take a stroll around the grounds at a quarter to seven. It was unusual that the sun was setting this late. But there were a lot of unusual things that happened in a magical place, in a magical time. The time of forgiveness. The time of renewal.

I believe the sun should never set upon an argument
I believe we place our happiness in other people's hands
I believe that junk food tastes so good because it's bad for you
I believe your parents did the best job they knew how to do
I believe that beauty magazines promote low self-esteem

I believe I'm loved when I'm completely by myself alone*

All four wanderers wondered what would happen at their destination. The pair that was already at that place had no idea that the tree they were sitting under would be a bit crowded soon. But all six of them, under the red-and-orange-stained sky, felt the head rush caused by a certain force that at that moment was at the zenith of their hearts, an intangible thing that kept them as they were, that sometimes failed them, that at the moment enveloped them with its ties: love.

I believe you can't control or choose your sexuality
I believe that trust is more important than monogamy
I believe your most attractive features are your heart and soul
I believe that family is worth more than money or gold
I believe the struggle for financial freedom is unfair
I believe the only ones who disagree are millionaires

I believe forgiveness is the key to your unhappiness
I believe that wedded bliss negates the need to be undressed
I believe that God does not endorse TV evangelists
I believe in love surviving death into eternity

I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned
I believe you can't appreciate real love until you've been burned
I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side
I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye

The End

*****

On some secluded part of Hogwarts castle…

"Hello? Hey, is anybody there? Moony? Padfoot? Prongs?"

Peter Pettigrew wandered the dark halls, feeling the creeping sense of foreboding. He hated the dark. It made him feel all cold and clammy. It made him feel…oddly left out.

He believed he was lost.

"Where is everybody?"

***** 

A/N – Sorry for adding in that part above ^_^ Couldn't resist… Yes, and it wasn't supposed to end at the part where they were going to meet each other, but I thought it was a good place to end the story…

Thank you to everyone who supported this fan fiction. It isn't one of my better works, I know, and I'm glad that there are people who appreciated it. Well, this is the last chapter, and I gave it my best shot, so…some feedback wouldn't hurt, right?

* The song Affirmation was sung by Savage Garden. The bits of lyrics in the fic were not encoded in the right order. Don't own it, don't sue.