Chapter 17
Kari
The scarlet Hogwarts Express barreled away from the school. Lily stared out the window watching the castle shrink smaller and smaller until finally, it disappeared around a bend. She sighed and turned her green eyes blankly towards the landscape thinking how the dark, grey clouds were echoing her mood of despair.
The compartment door slid open and Lily twisted to see James sit next to her. He looked out the window for a moment before speaking.
"Well, I have it all sorted out. My parents are going to meet us at the station, they said that we can stay with them for the night and then they will drive us to the house in the morning. Is that ok with you?" He questioned quietly and she nodded.
James got up to leave, "Wait," Lily grabbed his arm, "will you…sit with me for a while? Then you can leave and do whatever you want." Her eyes were pleading, she'd never felt this small, this alone.
He sat back down and pulled her head onto his chest, "Just relax, it'll be fine." A single tear dropped from her face, staining his shirt. James silently smoothed her hair until he fell asleep.
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Kari, Remus, Lizzie, Sirius, and Alisa were in another compartment, far from the one being shared by Lily and James. They all were playing Exploding Snap except for Kari. She was restlessly dreaming. True-to-life dreams of her and James, the way he kissed her, the way he touched her, the way her dark skin blended with his lighter shades. Kari kept reminding her self that it was just a one-time thing, but nothing was helping.
Through out the entire graduation, she felt awkward around him. But since he seemed to think nothing of it, she tried to act natural as well. Besides that, she held in reserve the dreams, or more like, the visions. Hadn't she seen James and Lily together? She had a feeling that no matter how they felt right now, they were meant to be with each other.
Kari twisted uncomfortably in the chair, her eyebrows knitted as she tried to think of something else, anything else. Unfortunately, nothing came to mind and so the scenes kept replaying over and over.
When she finally opened her eyes, the food witch was pushing the trolley through their door.
"Anything from the cart, dears?" The 'lunch lady' asked sweetly. Kari looked up to see what was available and noticed two people standing behind the elder woman. It was Lily and James. She felt her face blush without control and decided to look at Lily instead, but before she had a chance to wave, Kari noticed something…they were holding hands. Suddenly, she wanted to be anywhere but there. She stood up and pushed through the door muttering that she was going to the bathroom.
As soon as she got a few cars away, Kari sat down with shaking hands. God, I can't believe how stupid I am being about this whole thing! I don't want to like him…I'm being such a dumbass! She knew this was going to happen, but she had asked for it so she was just going to have to deal with the consequences.
When she had calmed down, Kari decided it was time to head back to the compartment, fully prepared to deal with James. She opened the door and came face to face with Lucious Malfoy, a Slytherian whom she had never spoken to. His white-blonde hair was a heavy contrast to his quidditch tanned face. He had small, cold eyes that bored into her own as he blocked the exit. Behind him, three other Slytherian's stood menacingly.
"You're Kari, right? Friends with Lily and James?" He asked in a deep, even voice. Kari nodded slowly, wondering why she was being hassled. Malfoy spoke again, this time so quietly, that she had to lean in to hear. "What do you know about the child?"
Kari was confused, "Child? Well, I don't really know anything if you're talking about Lily's because she hasn't had it yet…"
Lucious grabbed her wrist tightly, "Don't screw with us, we've heard about your visions, the Dark Lord has heard about them too and he will reward you greatly if you help us."
She remembered her dreams; could the object in their hands be a baby? It had seemed too small to be that, but…"I swear I know nothing." Kari tried to make her voice steady, but it shook a little; giving away her fear. Even if that thing was a kid, she really didn't have any information that could possibly be useful.
Lucious shoved her into an empty car. Pointing his wand at her heart, he asked more forcefully, "What the fuck do you know about the baby? The one that could someday be so powerful that he will kill the Dark…"
One of the boys from behind punched him. "You weren't supposed to say anything about that! Now what are you going to do?"
Malfoy looked horror-struck, "Damn-it…" He shifted nervously, gripping his wand even tighter.
Another of the guys stepped forward, "Well, you're going to be in trouble whatever you do. We might as well just kill her; she knows too much…it'll lessen his anger."
Kari started crying. "Please, please don't kill me! I won't say anything, I swear," she sobbed, shaking so hard that her knees gave way and she crumpled to the floor. This wasn't happening! "I'll do anything! Please! Anything you want! Just have mercy!"
The boy who had just spoken appeared to ignore her, "Just do it Malfoy, quick, before anyone comes."
Lucious looked at Kari through the corner of his eye, she was giving dry sobs now.
"Please let me go! I'll do anything, I'll do anything at all, just name it, please!" She stuttered, trying to regain her breath.
He took a stepped forward adjusting his wand to her body. His hand was shaking slightly, he didn't really want to kill her…
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"We will be arriving King's Cross train station in five minutes. That's five minutes. Please have your trunk and belongings ready to unload. Thank you." A gloomy voice rang out as the train began to slow down.
Lily, Alisa, Remus, James, Lizzie, and Sirius stood up and gathered their stuff that had somehow spread all over the area. When she was done, Lizzie sat back down and looked curiously around.
"Where is Kari? I don't think she ever came back from the bathroom. That was about 12:30 and it's 3:00 now. I would think she would be back by now."
The rest murmured consent. Remus shrugged, "Maybe she just found some other friends. She's probably just with some other people."
Outside, the rain was pouring down hard. Giant droplets that pelted against the windows, drowning away all thought and suspicion. The Hogwarts Express glided to a halt and the students began filing off the train, covering their heads and giggling as they ran through the barrier.
Lily stepped off and waited, she wanted to at least say goodbye to Kari. The others stood beside her; they waited as well, seeming to have the same idea in their heads. They stared expectantly at the doors as people swirled around them, talking and laughing.
The last few students trickled through the gateway. But Lily hadn't seen Kari get off at all. The rain was stinging her skin and her normally sleek, curly hair was limp and frizzy, but she wanted to continue waiting.
Alisa shifted her weight. "I think I'm going to look through the train. She might've fallen asleep and just didn't realize what was going on." Everyone else nodded.
James touched Lily's arm. "My parents are waiting, we better get going." She nodded mutely, wanting to see Kari one last time. They turned and headed towards the barrier. But before the had gotten all the way through, a scream rang through the station.
Alisa stumbled out of the Express, "Kari…Kari…she's dead." She muttered before collapsing to the ground.
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Opps, I kinda killed her. Sorry. I'm also sorry this is such a short chapter. I hoped you enjoyed it though. Thank you to all my reviewers, it really made my day. And, did you notice the lack of song, ? :-P
The same deal for reviews—10 and you get a quick update, 5 and you get one whenever I feel like it, less and just stop writing the story, Ok? Bye!
---dOOdles
