CHAPTER NINETEEN
"Shit!" I look up painfully at Martin and the group of Gryffindors. Lily has a horrified look of comprehension on her face. She crawls into a corner away from me, taking my cloak with her. (Hey, I might want my cloak…)
"What was that for?" I rub my eye as I stand up.
Martin rolls his eyes. Then without warning, punches me in the stomach. I double over with pain.
"Did that help you figure it out?" Martin mutters as he pushes me against the wall. What kind of question is that? Duh it didn't help me figure things out. All I manage to reply is a moan.
"Argh!" Martin throws his hands up in the air and walks out, casting Lily a very dirty look on the way.
There's silence, then someone calls, "Professor Yrotsih is coming!" They all retreat to walls as the professor enters.
"What happened here?"
Silence.
"Potter, Evans, to my office now," professor says before turning to leave. Lily and I follow hurriedly behind him.
We pass several corridors filled with students and frantic whispering. No doubt some rumor about Lily and I has already spread like wildfire. Professor Yrotsih opens his office door and motions for us to take a seat.
"Potter, Evans, I want to hear the truth about what happened last night."
Lily and I glance at each other. Lily looks too scared to say anything, so start to speak.
"We finished our detention, and we were going to leave, but the door was locked and we couldn't figure out a way to get out…"
"And then?"
"I can't remember professor," I lower my head.
"Evans?" Lily looks up in surprise.
"I…I, I can't remember…" Lily stutters.
"Well, I think that twenty butterbeer bottles would explain the fuzziness of the situation," Professor Yrotsih pours a purple liquid into two glasses, "Drink it. It will clear the hangover."
The heaviness in my head is immediately reduced after I drink the potion.
"You will both receive detentions for getting drunk in detention, and you will also lose 100 points each from Gryffindor."
"What? 100 each??" I yell.
"You should be glad it isn't more. Now get out of here before I take more off," the professor pushes us out of his office into the now deserted corridor.
Lily and I walk back to the Gryffindor tower in silence. I head up to my dormitory and flop down on my bed until there is a light knock at the door. I haul myself off my bed and peek through the slightly ajar door. It's Lily. She's already showered and changed into clean clothes. I open the door wider.
"Here's your cloak," Lily hands me my cloak. She winces as she looks up at my face.
"Thanks," I manage a smile. We stand in strange silence for a while.
"I'm really sorry," I murmur.
Lily closes her eyes and sighs.
"Sorry," I whisper as I try to give her a hug. She turns around and walks away with as much dignity as one can muster with tears rolling down their face.
~*~*~*~*~*
"You know Lily, you're such a slut," Bertha says to me at lunch. I don't reply.
"You broke my brother's heart. And how? Not by dumping him, no that's not good enough for you, you have to go sleep with some other guy. No prizes for who. Yes, that's it, the guy who bashed him up for going out with you. Lily, are you listening to me!"
I continue eating my lunch.
"Lily!" Bertha's new best friend Jenni (very popular Gryffindor in our year) slaps me across the face. Bertha doesn't do anything to stop her.
"Please go away," I say softly.
"No, Slut!" Jenni slaps me on the other side of my face, "Why don't you leave?"
"Fine," I reply and stand up to leave. The whole table hushes and stares at me. James and Sirius aren't at lunch I notice. The thought doesn't stay for long because Jenni tips a glass of juice on me. Some of the girls laugh with her. I walk out of the hall head held high.
~*~*~*~*~*
"Do you want to talk about it?" Sirius asks.
"Not especially," I reply bluntly.
"Ok…"
"Fine, whatever, what do you want to know?" I can tell he wants to know what happened like the rest of the school.
"Everything!"
I sigh as I tell him as much as I can remember of what happened last night.
"Man, she's going to hate you," Sirius says after we've finished.
"Thank you Einstein," I mutter.
"Did you apologize?"
"Yes."
"Well, there's a start…"
~*~*~*~*~*
So this is how it feels surrounded by nasty rumors and no one to talk to. I sit through each class with as much concentration as I can muster with everyone muttering about me. I trudge back up to the common room after dinner, hoping for a bit of quiet time before detention. Martin meets me as soon as I enter the portrait hole. I avoid his eyes and make to go around him. He grabs me by the arm.
"We need to talk," Martin says.
"What do you want to talk about?"
"Hmn let's see, maybe about how you slept with James last night in detention!" Martin mutters sarcastically.
"I did not sleep with him," I reply.
"Oh fine then, how do you explain how you were both lying half dressed under the same cloak this morning?"
"Nothing happened, ok?"
"Sure," Martin shrugs, but doesn't believe me, "If you were drunk, how would you know nothing happened?"
I am spared answering.
"Evans, we have detention now," James comes up to us.
"Oh good, go have another detention together!" Martin throws his arms in the air and storms up to his dormitory.
I follow James to Professor Yrotsih's office where we are given instructions for detention.
"You are to go into the forest and collect a basket of each of these herbs," we are given a list, "I will wait for you in the hut on the edge of the forest. If there is any trouble, shoot red sparks into the air."
"What, don't we grow these herbs, why do we have to pick them from the forest?" James says. The professor ignores him and indicates for us to carry the stack of baskets to the edge of the forest.
"Ok, let's pick the Jexons-curse first," James and I carry a basket between us, and head into the forest.
~*~*~*~*~*
Lily and I walk for a while looking for Jexons-curse. There's hardly any around. Finally the basket is almost full. We head back to get a basket for the next herb. This continues for maybe six hours. There is little conversation. I apologize every so often, but Lily doesn't seem to have any reaction. Eventually we have finished picking all the herbs.
"Very well, you are to return straight to your tower," Professor Yrotsih dismisses us.
Lily and I walk side by side up to the castle.
"Lily, do you hate me now?" I ask as we walk up dark stairs. Lily falls through a disappearing step and doesn't have time to answer. I pull her out and look into her eyes. Lily looks away and brushes my arm off her.
"Thanks," she mutters and continues quickly up the stairs. She stops abruptly at the top.
"What?" I ask, catching up to her. Then I notice what she notices. There is classroom with the door slightly open, and a dim light coming from within. There are strange sounds coming from it.
Lily steps forward and pushes open the door. She makes a weird squeaking sound and falls back into me. I steady her round the shoulders and the scene meets my eyes too. It's not pretty.
~*~*~*~*~*
AN: -suspense- what did they see? I love you reviewers. I asked for 130 and u got me 140+ reviews! Thank you so much! Long list of replies… also, I partly dedicate the idea of Martin going to Russia to zoe, and the rest of the plot is partly dedicated to tori for helping me.
Angelbud2233 – yay, thanx for contributing to the review minimum of 130! Yay!
Alison – I wasn't online. I was asleep. I forgot to log off. Why was I an idiot for putting up 'hmn… let's try for 130 reviews'?
LimeJuiceTub – ah, but the hp books never say she's a goody-goody. Only writers on ff tend to make her that way. But thanks for being critical.
Kittiy – I don't have much time to update much.
SiriusVeela – be ready for lots more! I thought I was almost finished, but now I have changed how I was going to make the plot.
DarkeningSky – who would be happy finding their gf in someone else's arms?
Bree – y don't you normally review? U should! I would update faster if you did!
Diane – yay, keep reading!
Ladyannabee – thanks for supplying four reviews! Wait, no, five reviews! Legend!
Marion – haha! I laugh at you!
Padfoots-angellover – writing more… only cuz u asked nicely.
Tori – we have three boxes of ice cream. Ha! Wat was the prezzie?
Jeaniebeanie33 – thanx. I can't think of more to reply…
Ljstagflower4e – I don't get ur name…
Calanthea Willow – I am bored. I am bored. I am bored. Oh, sorry, I am probably scaring you…
Angie – I know I have spelling mistakes, but I can't be bothered to change them.