Disclaimer: It's not owned by me and I'm not making any money, please don't sue me.
I'm BACK! I know you all thought I'd died or something, but I did warn you I would be gone for three weeks. But alas, the prodigal writer has returned at last! And with a new chapter too! *Beams* Aren't you so proud of me?! While I was gone, I got tons of reviews (all of which I loved and read at least twice apiece). Eleven! Eleven wonderful, masterful, beautiful reviewers! I was so happy I almost spontaneously combusted…which would have been very messy. Believe you me, though, I was overflowing with warm fuzzies and the like…ever been so happy that you randomly get the chills and kind of shiver and twitch when you do and people look at you weird…uh, like some people might be looking at me now…*starts muttering to self* must remember, stop while you're ahead, I repeat, stop while ahead…
And thank you to my lovely beta, Char!
Alrighty then, to reviewers:
Lady Unluck13- Ah, this chapter's first reviewer! Dear-heart, I'm glad you like it, and if the only complaint you have is length, then I can certainly fix that for you…uh, well, actually, this chapter just turned out longer than the others because I couldn't find a stopping point…so, I temporarily fixed the length, and I hope the ones to come aren't too short, since that's just a waste of my time considering how long it takes to post…getting off subject, where was I? Oh, thank you for reviewing!
Rena Lupin- I try…hope this chapter is just as "loveable!" Enjoy darlin!
stellar- faith? You have faith in me?! *bursts into tears* you, my doll, are one in a million. Reviewing all the time, inspiring me to be better! So far, I hope you're liking the direction the fic is taking, since you were originally just testing this fic out. Okay, okay, down to the business! I hate to disappoint you, but while I try to keep this fiction lighthearted, the drama gets away with me sometimes…(however, if you're not minding the mild slash, there is another fic of mine I might post soon called A Different Kind Of Girl, and it does have some drama, which I can't seem to get rid of, but it is much more humorous, imo…let me know if you're interested, and I might post it early, just for you!) and hey, I get it, she's not a bimbo, but she's still kinda girly, with the crying and the giggles and stuff…I'm glad it wasn't just me doing a horrible job, and personal preferences are embraced in this Self Help Group! Oops, wait, that's something else. Uh, this… this fic? Yeah, in this fic (not S.H. Group) personalities are a must, even in reviews! I promise you, you make sense to me stell! Happy reading dove.
doompaw- I am a reason to return to FF.net? *blush* I'm flattered! Sorry it took so long to update!
Tinki-chan - thank you, I appreciate your reviewing!
Flame Rhiannon- Thank you, ma belle, I like it too (my fic, I mean). Did you know, that when I grow up, besides being a writer, I was thinking about teaching on and off, as I write? So I think what you want to be is cool! (lol) Oh no, the dreaded but! I understand what you mean about Lily finding things out for her own, but see, the thing is, this has been happening to her for years, and has worsened dramatically in a short period of time- she's scared, and she's also starting to think maybe there is something dark about her. All she knows is that it's starting to cause problems. I was trying to imply that she'd been struggling with it for years, and during that time, she was trying to figure it out on her own, but she couldn't find anything (it was a well kept secret.). Sorry if that didn't come across the way I wanted it to. I'll try to let her be more independent about her sleuthing later on!
Shinnyu Kudzu- Wow! You made my day, madam, to be sure! I am very original! Woo hoo! That makes me so happy, because being cliché is one of the worst things that can happen to a fic. I truly love Siri/Rem too, I think they are just so cute together! Enjoy this chapter!
mackenzie- hey mac, I see you're back again, my dove! I'm glad you liked the 'heir descendent plot.' Truthfully, I almost changed it completely, but I thought Lily being an actual death eater (even with the twist I was putting on it) was too trite, so I guess you lucked out! Thanks for reviewing!
akisawana- we? Ah well, "we" means more readers, so thank you!
Senya Starseeker- Thank you! You know, these characters with their damn personalities are so hard to control, but I try to reign 'em in when I can…otherwise, they mostly boss me around, and it just comes shooting out of my fingers their way. This chapter is promising more detail, and some plot, that will leave you wondering what the hell I am doing next. Um, at least, I hope it does!
And now, for your reading pleasure!
Chapter 4: Living in Cloak and Dagger, Fighting Suspicions
Refresher from the previous chapter:
Lily just shook her head wearily. "I am Voldemort's chosen love? Oh, Sirius, when did things get so complicated?"
"I don't know, Lil, I don't know."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Remus, you must listen to me! She will understand. She is your friend and she will not desert you. She has to know. If you're supposed to be guarding her, she will notice when you disappear monthly. She will realize what it means, and it will hurt more that you didn't trust her."
"But sir- now, with this whole thing with Voldemort, Lily'll think I work for him. She won't believe in me anymore. She'll see me as a monster, she could tell anyone!"
"Lily Evans, heir of Ravenclaw, desert her friend because he happens to be a werewolf?" Dumbledore snorted in disbelief and aggravation. "I'd more likely believe you if you told me Professor McGonagall had stopped giving out detentions and held hoe downs in her classroom! Tell me, Remus, would she do that? Would your friend Lily, who you've known for 5 years, do that? What does your heart say?"
"I don't know," he groaned, burying his face in his hands.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remus hurried into the near empty Great Hall, late. Spotting Sirius and Lily sitting alone at the end of Gryffindor table, he rushed over to them. Lily was staring at her plate, not eating a thing, and Sirius was whispering comforting things to her. He looked up when Remus plopped down across from him. "How's she doing then?" Remus asked softly.
Sirius shook his head and mouthed 'not too good.' Remus nodded his head in understanding. 'What shall we do?' he mouthed back. Sirius shrugged his shoulders. Lily glared up at them. "I don't appreciate you both talking about me as if I were not here! I'm fine, really…I'm just not hungry, that's all. I think I'll head up to the Tower." As she stood, so did the boys. "No! I just, I need to be alone for a bit. Finish your dinners. I'll see you at seven thirty, Remus. And Sirius, we'll meet you at nine, in the common room." Robes swishing, she stalked out of the Great Hall in a graceful manner that hid her inner turmoil.
"Poor girl," Sirius muttered. "Can you imagine the horror of finding out a guy like Voldie is in lurve with you?"
"Sort of," Remus replied shortly, thinking of his own love. Sirius looked at him curiously. Remus, uncomfortable, spoke up hastily. "Never mind. Anyway, this is better, I was going to have to meet you later tonight to discuss some things Dumbledore and I talked about. Now is as good a time as any."
"And?" Sirius asked nervously.
"First off, he gave me these- oh, I don't know, medallions, I guess. Shaped like a dragon of some sort. We're to wear them around our necks. They hum whenever she's distressed, in trouble, that kind of thing. Corresponds with the necklace he gave her earlier."
"All right, Dumbledore," Sirius whistled approvingly, taking his from Remus's hand and linking it around his neck, Remus following suit. They both tucked the metal dragon underneath their robes, so as not to draw any attention to them.
"Okay, we eat meals with her as well as escorting her practically everywhere; including classes, meals, events, back to the room, etc. We check on her three times a night after she's retired for bed." Remus ticked off the points on his hand.
Sirius nodded grimly. "Good. I don't want anything to happen to her, but I feel less like a stalker when Dumbledore orders that we check up on her at night. I would have looked in on her even if he hadn't said anything, but this way- I feel better about it, you know?"
Remus agreed. "And," he paused, looking unsure. "Dumbledore knows we'll need time of our own, but think about it…she can't leave her room otherwise. He was hoping we'd be able to spare some time, hang out with her, do homework together, anything. I'm willing to do it, but you don't have to-"
"I'll do it," Sirius pledged fervently. "She's like a sister to me."
"Okay," Remus let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. "I would've done it anyway, though. I mean, can you imagine? Staying in a solitary room, with nothing to do, no one to talk to, for hours upon days upon months?"
"I'd go insane." Sirius stated.
"You are insane," another voice offered from behind them. They looked up sharply; James. "Hullo Padfoot, Moony. What's up?"
Please don't say anything stupid, Padfoot, Remus begged Sirius silently. "How much did you hear?" Sirius asked worriedly. Too late.
"Not much, except for the insane part. Why?" James looked downcast. "There's nothing we can't tell each other, at least, I don't think. What aren't you telling me?" he questioned.
Sirius looked up at him pleadingly. "Please, Prongs, please don't ask us. We can't tell you. We're sorry, truly-"
"It has to do with that Lily girl, doesn't it?" James demanded quietly.
"Sort of. James, it- we-" Remus faltered at the look on James's face. James had befriended him when he'd been alone and miserable. He owed James. Say something to make it right, he thought. "James, ask Dumbledore. If he thinks you should know, then you will." As James's face fell, Remus's heart fell with it. Wrong answer, Remus, you daft bugger!
"Dumbledore?" James asked.
"Yes, him," Remus said.
"Fine," James fumed. "Just- fine! Seeing as my supposed friends won't tell me, I
think I will go talk to him. I'd rather talk to him than you two blokes."
"Don't be like that," Remus begged, but Sirius spoke up in an icy cold voice.
"Well, I'd rather it too. James, what's your problem anyway? I mean, really! 'Supposed friends'? Are you off your rocker? You know us better than anyone! Would we keep it from you unless it was important? Maybe we need to find someone else to hang out with if you've got a problem trusting us, James. Doesn't sound like much of a friend to me, how about you, Remus?"
James's mouth fell open and he stared at Sirius. Sirius met his eyes momentarily then studied the table as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. "Maybe you should," James replied softly. He blinked, as if seeing his surroundings again, and then stomped out of the Great Hall.
"Prongs, wait!" Remus called after him, but he left anyway. Amber eyes alight with anger and frustration, he whirled on Sirius. "Why did you do that? Why?!"
"Had to," Sirius replied in a dull voice, eyes looking dead. "He would've been too curious about why we stopped hanging out with him, would've snooped around until he got answers. And don't defend him, because he would. We would too, in his place. This way, he thinks we're mad at him. It's for the best. So we get a 'new best friend', someone we hang around all the time, someone we already know-"
"Lily," Remus finished for him. "Lily is going to be our 'new best friend', isn't she?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lily clambered into the empty common room and sank down into a chair near the roaring fire, weary to the bone. No one's here, she mused, slightly confused. Then it dawned on her. It's Friday. Who'd be in the common room? This whole weekend is a Hogsmeade weekend. How could I forget? Oh yeah, I don't have normal teenage problems- who cares about Hogsmeade? Life sucks. Her face was awash with both fear and rage, both foreboding and a sickly sweet need for vengeance. Too many had suffered for her and now she knew why. Her parents- they hadn't deserved to die, it hadn't been their time. Petunia- miserable and alone in the orphanage, the last drop of love she'd had for her 'freak' sister wrung away, filled by a black void fed by hatred and blame and resentment. Her unborn brother, Eric, dead in the womb of her mother, not ever knowing life, never experiencing it's joys and sadness.
Lost in the past, staring blankly into the flames for long minutes, tears swashing down her pale cheeks unchecked. She shifted her thoughts, relived everything that had happened to her in the past few hours. She hadn't thought her life could get any worse- boy, was she wrong. Her world had gone from being slightly saddening and a little grief stricken to bleak and depressing in such a short time. Her thoughts shifted to her current friends, the only similarity to family left in her crumpled life. "What do I tell Belle?" she tossed out into the seemingly empty common room.
"How about you tell her you're evil?" an unwanted voice spoke up. Lily lurched from her seat, glaring at the intruder of her solitude. "How about you tell her she's friends with a traitor?"
"James Potter," she spat. "What are you doing here? I thought I told you to never speak to me again!"
"Hey, I'm not one for orders- especially from someone who's in league with Voldemort."
"You don't even know what you're saying," she cried, trying to push past him to no avail.
"Oh, I don't, do I? Then explain what happened this afternoon. How did you do it?"
"Do what?" she asked brokenly in an attempt to avoid the subject completely.
Do what? He mimicked in her mind. Come on, own up!
"Own up to what?" she whispered desperately.
See, you can't hide it. You hear me, don't you? But, if you can hear me, then why can't I hear you? What do you hide, Lily?
"Never call me Lily. Never. Only my friends call me that. And you, James 'Lainie-is-it?-Or-maybe-Lexi?-You're-in-my-year?-My-house?-Friends-with-two-of-my-best-friends?' Potter, are not one of my friends."
"For a mind reader, you're way off," he taunted. "My middle name is actually Tristan. James Tristan Potter, at your service, your Darkness."
"Fuck you, James Tristan Potter. I hope you have a nice life," she snapped, ducking past him and marching up to her dormitory.
"You too, Lily!" he called after her.
"Evans to you, Potter, even though frankly I don't think you're worthy enough to refer to me at all," she shot back over her shoulder, slamming the door behind her.
"Well," he shouted at the door. "Who says I'd refer to you anyway? Waste of my time, in my opinion. Hey! I'm not finished with you." After standing there a moment, he slowly grinned. He could still get to her. Her mind was still open to him. You traitorous snake! You can't hide forever behind closed doors. Wait until everyone sees you for what you truly are! The only reply he got was a yelp and then a loud rustling kind of sound followed. Only moments after the rustling began a moaning also emerged from the room, an unearthly sound, not like anything he'd ever heard before, distressed and utterly afraid. Satisfaction quickly overlapped his apprehension and he headed back down to the common room.
He'd only just plopped down into the chair across from the one Lily had vacated when the portrait hole flew open, Remus and Sirius toppling in. Spotting James, they stopped their sudden dash for the girls' dormitories. Frozen now, James could see Sirius clutched something that hung around his neck, something that seemed to be humming, while Remus was hastily shoving a similar something underneath his robes and nudging Sirius.
"What did you do to her now?" Sirius demanded angrily.
"Nothing," James replied shortly. "What have you got in your hand?"
Sirius seemed to realize what he was clutching and also shoved it under his robe. "Nothing."
Remus's eyes flicked to his watch and he cleared his throat, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "Seven thirty. I've got to go. See you at nine, Padfoot," he said, trying to sound casual. Turning, he headed up to the boys' dormitories without a backward glance.
James seethed silently as Sirius, without a word, sat on the couch, and eyed James. James was so angry, he could barely see and at the same time, he felt incredibly hurt. They were keeping more secrets from him. Staring into space, he was startled when Sirius suddenly sighed, sounding tired. "I can't do this, Jamie, I just can't."
"Do what, Sirius?" James asked coldly with an air of disdain.
"I can't lie to you. You're like a brother, and brothers don't keep secrets. It's not like I wanted to fight with you earlier, in the Hall. I didn't know how to handle this, I've never kept things from you before. I thought if you were mad at me then it would be easier. But it hurts more. So even if you'll still be mad, I can't keep you in the dark." Sighing again, he stood up and headed towards the dormitories.
"Where're you going?" James asked quietly, subdued by Sirius' odd display of emotion.
"To get my homework."
"I thought you were going to tell me what's up with you and Moony."
"I won't. Tomorrow, you and me go see Dumbledore. Until then, might as well be productive. I have one mean Herbology paper due Monday."
"Sirius Black, doing homework on a Friday? No one would believe it."
"Well, I've had a rough day. Want me to grab your things while I'm up there? We can do it together."
James' shoulders loosened, and he sagged thankfully against the chair. He and Sirius would be all right. "Sure."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alrighty then, some turmoil, some arguing, some sparks aflyin', a mystery…I think I'm done here.
*author glances at her trashed surroundings, which during her frenzied writing, has changed from a normal bedroom to something that is looking more and more like Gotham City*
Stupid Two-Face, dumbass Riddler, and/or asshole Mr. Freeze…damn them all for destroying my city while I was busy! *author then notices the bat signal shining in the sky* Well shitola! Duty calls, my ducks, I mean, not just anyone can help the super pimp Batman and his sidekick idiot Robin…only me! Uh, did I say me? I meant Batwoman…yeah, Batwoman will assist them!
Hope you enjoy while I…er, BW saves Gotham! Reviews are savored like chocolate on your tongue!
*author wanders off muttering to self* I wonder if he'll let me drive the Batmobile this time……
Crys