Yes, yes, I know chapter five was stupid and uneventful, but this chapter will be different, I swear. Well...toward the end anyway. The beginning is just small talk about Quidditch. I just plain like Quidditch because it sounds like lacrosse...OK...no...not at all...I just like lacrosse...and Quiddtich... But anyway, I suggest you read it because it's gonna be important later on in the story. Blah, blah, blah, and I'm proud cuz I finally wrote a chapter from James' POV. If you haven't noticed yet, this story switches between different ppl's points of view...which I thought would be interesting, but that's just me. So read and review people, read and review!
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Chapter Six : : James
The new term rolled around and the murder of Marie Hallicomb was spreading through school like wildfire. Rumors of ancient curses placed upon the castle, ill omens of darkness, and Steorra Ming's integrity flew around. but this was the lease of James' worries as Quidditch season rolled around.
It was Monday and James had to be slapped awake by Sirius after a lazy weekend.
"Wake up! Or we'll miss breakfast altogether today!" Sirius said as he rushed to dress.
"Let's just skip class today," James moaned, sitting up a little, "I mean all we'll probably get are detentions. Besides, I think it's about time they made Monday part of the weekend, and --"
"And Tuesday, Wednesday, and the rest of the week," Sirius finished the sentence for James. "Yeah, yeah." He threw a wadded-up robe at James, "Just shut up and get dressed."
when they arrived at the great Hall though, the food was already gone from the tables. Yet everyone sat unnervingly still as Dumbledore stood up, apparently ready to say something. Sirius and James' footsteps echoed loudly as they hurried toward the Gryffindor table. They slouched a bit more than usual, as if trying to remain small and avoid being seen. This, of course, didn't work, as hundreds pairs of eyes turned toward them. they sat down and smiled nervously.
They eyes soon turned back to Dumbledore as he started to speak.
"I have two announcements to make," he began, "First, I am reminded by our caretaker, Mr. Kedemoth, that magic should not be used in the corridors. So whoever charmed the bricks on the fourth floor to speak, please refrain from doing so in the future." Sirius and James looked at each other and then around the Great Hall, staring accusingly at everyone who looked smart enough to pull off such a task, all the while carrying perfectly angelic and innocent expressions.
Dumbledore continued, "Second of all, I am please to announce that the Quidditch tournaments will take a different form this yea." The Great Hall began to buzz with curiosity. "We will have seven games between pairs of house teams. Whoever wins four games out of seven will advance to the next round. In the end, the Quidditch Cup winner will be about to go to Durmstrang and compete with their champion for the title of 'Grand Champion.'"
The Great hall burst into excitement as Dumbledore sat down.
"Durmstrang? Isn't that up north somewhere?" Lily asked, and shuddered as she hated the cold.
"Yeah, uh-huh. I hope they can't fly too well...I'm not sure if I would want to be up against them," Sirius said.
"Why?" Lily gave him a quizzical look.
"Have you seen their pictures?" James answered, "They are all like over six feet tall and three hundred pounds."
"So? You're over six feet tall," Lily said.
"Yeah, but I'm not three hundred pounds," James said.
"And I'm not either one of those," Steorra cut in.
"Hey, we can always hope that they'll weigh down their brooms so much that they won't be fast enough to chase you anywhere," James said. He desperately hoped that this was true. The Chasers on the team were very prone to injuries for some reason. If Steorra wasn't strong enough to fly her best, he wasn't sure if the other two chasers would be able to stay injury-free until the end of the tournament.
"You can talk. All you have to do is fly around and look for a Snitch instead of being clubbed by Beaters all the time. Anyway, let's worry about actually winning the Hogwarts championship, and then deal with Durmstrang." Steorra said.
"Oh, I don't know about this," Lily said worriedly, "I heard that Durmstrang school was full of dark arts. What if they curse you guys in mid-air?"
Sirius snorted and choked on the glass of milk he was drinking. "give it a break, Lil! James is probably the best there is at Defense Against the Dark Arts, and star ain't half bad either. Besides, I'm sure we'll find a way to watch the tournament and we can always jinx anyone we think is going to attack our team in advance." Sirius gave a dark smile and lovingly caressed his wand.
"Shut up, Siri and chase after some girls or something," Steorra said irritably, "Can't you see that you're scaring Lil?"
"Whatever you say," Sirius stood up and smoothed out his hair as a group of Ravenclaws caught his eye.
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James watched intently as Steorra moved around little teapots in mid-air during Transfiguration to simulate a game plan for their upcoming Quidditch matches. Lily, always their strategist, thought of variations on many plans so that they were unpredictable. In fact, that was probably the only reason Gryffindor had the best Quidditch team in the school, because of Lily. Every plan the team thought of had probably already been in play for years. It was all up to Lily to figure out how to manipulate them so that they became something completely different.
This is what James loved about Lily. Her mind had not been dulled by the mindless people who populated the school. She was good at making conversation, able to think of topics that didn't relate to the latest gossip. Lily. James like the sound of that name too. they were his favorite flowers, or at least would be if he had a favorite flower. She was beautiful too...James' eyes glazed over as he imagined a future for him and Lily...there were children...lots of them, miniature replicas of themselves...that the were all holding hands...and smiling...A goofy smile spread over James' face.
"Gaahh!!" There was a frustrated shriek, the sound of glass and porcelain breaking and a loud "Ow!" James was once again back in reality. He looked over. Sirius was clutching his head and moaning in pain (a bit faking it) as Steorra tried to pry his hands away so she could see what had happened to him. Apparently, Sirius had done something to cause Steorra fling all her little teacups, plates, and saucers Quidditch model at him.
"Stop moving, you big baby!" Steorra snapped and kicked Sirius in the shins.
"Ow! You're just hurting me more!" Sirius' hands went to his legs.
James flinched. It wasn't a pretty sight. Sirius' hands were stained red as the blood gushed out from a deep gash above his left eye. Steorra stared at him, her expression blank all of a sudden. she seemed to be struggling with something inside her. Her hands twitched slightly. On of her arms suddenly flew up as it began to claw at her scabs on her arms, which broke open as a black liquid flowed out.
"NO! Stop it!" Steorra screamed, collapsing to the floor, "I'm still here! I'M STILL HERE!!"
"Star!" Lily rushed forward, "Star!" she grabbed Steorra's flailing arms, but was repelled by an invisible shield of some sort.
"Go get McGonagall!" someone shouted.
There was a rush of footsteps toward the door as just about the whole class ran out.
James found that he couldn't move, held paralyzed by some unknown force. His body wasn't obeying the commands that his brain screamed. All he could do was watch in fear and awe as the scene before him played out.
Lily was struggling to get up, clutching to an oddly bent arm and squinting, her face all scrunched up as if a gale was blowing Steorra was still screaming incomprehensible gibberish. The blood gushing out of her open flesh wounds were intermittently changing colors between red and black, like a flickering television set. Sirius sat on his chair, wide-eyed and afraid. Steorra seemed to be reaching for him and trying to pull away at the same time. Some sort of glowing force field surrounded her, shimmering like on of those bubbles children blew from the plastic hoops.
James tried to blink, as if there were some sort of nightmare, but he couldn't move his eyelids either. His eyes were starting to burn and water. This is a dream, it just has to be a dream, he thought. It's...it's impossible. This isn't real...not at all...
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"James...James..." a sweet, melodious voice, echoing oddly rang in his head. A gentle and warm hand brushed against his face, "James, hon! Wake up!"
James' eyes snapped open. Above him, was the angelic face of Lily Evans, her bright red hair cascading down her shoulders and her luminous green eyes staring devotedly at him. Only she wasn't Lily...she was different...she was...older.
"Lil? What happened?" he muttered.
"You fell asleep on the couch, that's what happened," Lily smiled affectionately at him, "Come on, get up, or you'll be late for word."
"Word? But we're still in school," James said.
Lily's smile disappeared as she pursed her lips. "Now, now, James, you know you're not suppose to bring that up again."
"Bring what up?"
"Your story that you imagined. Just remember that there isn't a Hogwarts, or magic, and you're not a wizard," Lily pleaded, "Please, James. It's tearing me apart to see your mind ravaged like this.
"What do you mean? No Hogwarts? No magic? We go there," James struggled up and reached for his wand in his robe pocket; except that he didn't have any robes on. He was in a wrinkled dress shirt and equally wrinkled and rather uncomfortable dress pants.
"Where's my wand?" James asked, looking around.
Lily let out a sob and collapsed on the armchair to the left. "Oh James. You said you wouldn't bring up that story again! I've been worried sick and I was so happy when you were cured! I don't want to send you back to that asylum again!" she wailed.
"What? An asylum?"
Lily looked determined as she stood up and walked to a muggle talking box, "But I will send you back if I have to. I'm going to call Dr. Yuki now." She picked up the phone and dialed.
James wanted to run over and knock the receiver out of her hands. But once again, his limbs were frozen by some outside force. What was happening? How could there not be magic in himself? Was he a mere insane muggle dreaming up the magical world? No, it couldn't be. No one can just make up such a complicated world off the top of their head.
Lily said something on the talking box which James couldn't understand, and then looked tearfully at him. How could this be Lily? The Lily he knew, loved, and respected. she was usually so strong and unbreakable, and now she was having a nervous breakdown. James laughed, a hollow and empty laugh. Doubt grew in his mind. Maybe this was what the future had in store. They would be married and live in a rather run-down flat. One of them would be schizophrenic and the other constantly on the verge of breaking. Maybe he did imagine magic and basically his whole life. The doubt grew stronger and stronger. He was just a pathetic muggle going through a mid-life crisis. There was no magic.
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Wow, that took me like a week to type because I keep on starting to type and like 5 minutes later, I have to go. But yeah, wasn't that such an exciting ride? Er...yeah...kinda? Sorta? No? Oh well...there's always the next chapter...what has been written for weeks now...I'm trying to add a subplot...but I can't think of any...and I've got writer's block...totally stuck in Chapter eight...
And my stupid FrontPage is all weird and stupid...it's all white and stuff...ugh...glaringly bright...