Catch Me If You Can
Chapter Seven ll Halloween Riot Girl
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"Can you please pass some of the pumpkin pie over, Potter?" Lily asked with an incredible amount of forced politeness in her voice.
"Yes, Master Lily," James said obligingly. Lily made the mistake of looking away while James got her a piece.
She looked back in time to see James pocketing his wand. Lily looked at him suspiciously as he pushed the plate towards her.
"What?" James asked innocently, studying Lily carefully. He was biting back the urge to laugh.
"Nothing..." Lily said rancorously, though her face proved otherwise. Very carefully, she lifted her fork and took a bite of her pie.
She immediately spat it back out.
"Potter! What did you do to this pie?!" Lily shrieked, her face alight and her eyes sparkling with heat.
Many people in the Great Hall stopped eating and talking to watch the two argue. Watching them was always fun.
True, Lily had stolen a few hearts. Some boys gazed lovingly at her, wondering what this angel was doing away from heaven.
"I didn't do anything," James responded innocently, smiling at Lily. He knew this would irritate her further.
"Don't -- play -- innocent -- with -- me," Lily huffed through clenched teeth. Her green eyes were blazing.
[ Emergency, call 911
She's pissed off at everyone
Police, rescue,
FBI
She wants a riot, she wants a riot ]
"Why not?!" James asked with an adorable little pout.
Lily ignored him, "What did you do to the pie?"
"Nothing!" James said in a convincing voice.
"I'm not going to buy that!"
"Did I ever say it was for sale?"
Some people chuckled and giggled at this, which just infuriated Lily. Glowering at the students staring at them, she yelled "MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!" and slumped back down into her seat. (She had stood up during her shouting match with James.)
And so after that excitement, they resumed back to enjoying the Halloween Feast.
"Way to go Lils and Jamie," Sirius said with a grin, eating a roast potato, "Providing free entertainment."
"Oh, shut up Sirius," Lily murmured, slamming down her fork.
"Anger management--"
"I SAID SHUT UP!"
[ Emergency, call 911
She's pissed off at everyone
Police, rescue,
FBI
She wants a riot, she wants a riot ]
Title: Riot Girl ll Artist: Good
Charlotte
Sirius pouted while James grinned.
"Know how I feel now, Siri?"
"Yeah, wow, how do you survive?" Sirius said in awe. James and Remus laughed.
Lily glared at them.
They shut up.
"You know Lily, if you just keep letting James crawl under your skin like that, it's useless," Anna advised quietly, cutting up her roast chicken.
"He's so annoying! --"
"We know he is," Paige said calmly, "But honestly Lil -- try to laugh it off. You know that if it had been Sirius in place of James, you would've taken it as a joke."
"But since it's James, you blow up every time," Anna finished.
Lily sulked. No one understood her. Absolutely no one. And that's what pissed her off so much.
After a few moments in which silence reigned, Paige glanced up at Lily again. She was startled to see her skin very pale. She was so white that her skin seemed to glow. Lily didn't blink at all, but just sat rigidly staring into space. Her green emerald eyes were no longer green -- they had turned into a silver colour. And her hair had gone from orangey-red to a spooky blood-red.
"Ahhh Lily, are you okay? You seem seriously off colour to me," Paige said testily.
Anna turned to Lily as well.
"Whoa, she looks so scary," Anna gasped.
Lily's head moved a fragment to the left, and Paige shut her eyes quickly as Lily's silver eyes pierced her. It was spooky.
There was a thump, and Lily was now lying spread-eagled on her back. Her eyes were tightly shut, and her hair seemed to be changing back to it's original orangey-red colour. Her skin also coloured a little.
"Oh Merlin," Paige said blankly, leaping out of her seat and rushing over to Lily.
James turned pale and also went over to her.
"Is she alright?" he asked, looking concerned. He glanced over Lily's body.
"Not sure," Paige said, looking scared, "She just collapsed onto the ground, but before her skin had gone really pale and her eyes went silver and her hair looked like blood and -- it was just scary.
"Someone call for a teacher," Anna said desperately, as a group of eager and curious students began to crowd around.
"PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE!" Sirius bellowed, causing the fifth year two steps away from him to jump and curse angrily.
A quick glance at the High Table, and Dumbledore, McGonagall and a few other teaches had scurried away from their seats and were making their way towards the crowd.
"What has happened?" a breathless Madam Leyla asked.
"Tiffany, please go back to the Hospital Wing and conjure up an Enlightening Potion," Dumbledore said at once. Madam Leyla glanced at him warily, then nodded and hurried off.
"What's wrong with her?" Paige blurted out.
Dumbledore looked at her with sympathy, "I am not quite sure, Miss Bernard. But rest assure, it is nothing too serious. Mr Potter?"
James' head snapped out into attention at once, "Yes, Professor?"
"I understand there was a little commotion about a pumpkin pie... Did you do anything to it?" Dumbledore asked politely.
"Just a mild spell to make it taste bad," James babbled, embarrassed.
"Alright then," Dumbledore said heartily, with a warm smile, "Can you five kindly escort Miss Evans to the Hospital Wing?"
"How?" Sirius said bluntly.
"I'm sure a simple hovering spell will do," Dumbledore suggested, "When you reach the Wing, ask Madam Leyla for the potion. Miss Evans may need to stay overnight to gain consciouness."
"But what's the matter with her?" Paige asked again.
Dumbledore's eyes flickered for a second.
"May be a mild case of poison--" the girls gasped, "--but it's curable," Dumbledore said hastily, "Don't worry girls, she'll be just fine."
Not at all convinced, the five of them (Anna, Paige, Sirius, James and Remus; Peter wanted to finish his dessert) began to walk down to the Hospital Wing, while Anna used the "Wingardium Leviosa" spell to levitate Lily steadily through the air.
"Be careful not to drop her," James said in a warning voice, as they rounded a corner.
"Like I'm really going to!" Anna scoffed, carefully directing the body with her wand.
When they reached the Hospital Wing, Madam Leyla bustled forward at once.
"Just direct her to this bed, Miss Charley," she requested, patting onto a white bed near the window. Anna obeyed, and soon the body of Lily was lying peacefully.
They hung around, until Madam Leyla told them to leave.
"She'll be fine, dears. There's not a single reason for you to be worried. Return back to the Halloween Feast. Run along, now."
They walked back out, talking in worried tones, despite what all the teachers had been saying.
"What if she's not okay? What if she gets really sick?" Paige said, looking frantic.
"She'll be fine, don't worry," Sirius said gently, "Dumbledore never knows wrong. He's quite smart, you know."
"I'll say," James murmured, "Y'know, maybe I did something else to Lily's pie without knowing it..."
"Nah, don't be too hard on yourself," Remus said sensibly, "It's got to be something else."
"But what?" James asked bitterly, glancing around the group.
They all fell silent, and continued walking back to the Great Hall.
"You know, what if there's an evil house-elf lurking around, and they decided to poison Lily?" Sirius suggested.
Paige sighed, "Sirius, quit being a moron."
"And anyway, what are the odds of that one pie reaching Lily, whose one of about a thousand students in the school?" Remus questioned.
Sirius shrugged, "Cartoons don't need explanations."
"But this isn't a cartoon," Anna murmured.
"How d'you know if house elves even work here?" Paige asked logically.
Sirius' face darkened suddenly. The others all stopped and looked at him surprise. Since when had Sirius looked like that?
"My cousin Nessima told me," he said shortly, before walking off. Ignoring the calls from his friends, he disappeared around a corner.
"What was that?" Paige said, astounded.
James and Remus exchanged glances. They had no idea themselves.
"I'm not sure, but I'm going to find out..." James sprinted after Sirius.
He found his best friend heading back to the Gryffindor common-room. Now this was strange, because Sirius had an enormous appetite and had only eaten some roast potatoes and a lollipop at the Halloween Feast, before they had been interrupted with Lily's collapse.
"What are you doing here?" James heard the Fat Lady say, as he hid behind a corner and peeked around, "You're supposed to be at the feast with all the other students."
"Chocolate flake," Sirius murmured angrily, glaring at the portrait. He climbed in when it swung open, and slammed it shut.
"Well I never," the Fat Lady huffed, as James emerged from the corner.
"And you're supposed to be at the feast, as well!" she exclaimed when she saw him, though she shrank back as if she thought James might also have Sirius' bad temper.
"Yeah, I'm following that guy before," James said hastily, "Chocolate flake."
The portrait of the Fat Lady swung open, and he took care to close her as gently as possible.
He looked around in time to see Sirius stalking up the boys' dormitory staircase. Walking quietly, James followed him, but made sure he was at least two metres distance behind Sirius. When he reached his dormitory, he glanced over at Sirius' bed and saw the curtains had just been drawn as they were still ruffling. Other than that, everything was still.
Knowing better than to disturb his friend when he was in a bad mood, James perched himself in a chair and studied his dormitory for five minutes. What a fascinating place.
Five minutes cooling down time, Sirius. Are you ready to face my wrath? Maybe I should give him ten minutes. Ahh, I never thought I'd think this, but I better do some homework.
While James shuffled around quietly, looking for his quill and some parchment, he noticed an envelope addressed to Sirius sitting neatly on top of a stack of textbooks.
His curiosity got the better of him, and took out the letter. It had already been read, as the envelope was ripped.
Dear Mr Sirius Black,
It is with sad duty for us to inform you that your cousin, Miss Nessima Black, has died of dark purposes. Witches and wizards involved in this murder remain unknown. We are with knowledge that you stayed at Miss Nessima Black's home frequently, but that privelige for you no longer exists.
You are permitted to remain at Hogwarts during Easter and Christmas, and at your parents' house (Number 12, Grimmauld Place) during the summer holidays. Your parents have agreed to this proposal.
Our hope and best wishes go with you.
Sincerely,
Ministry of Magic
Professor Albus Dumbledore
James blinked. He glanced down at the letter.
Nessima... dead?
It was a lie.
It had to be.
She couldn't possibly be dead.
Yeah, it was a lie.
...Wasn't it?
James had met Nessima before. Ages ago, when they were little nine-year-olds. Nessima was eighteen. She was a pretty teenager; a queeny blonde with hazelly green eyes. She was like Sirius' older sister, best friend and mother at the same time. The two were very close.
How had her death happened?!
What did they mean, 'of dark purposes' ?!
Was she murdered?
Then James' eyes fell onto Sirius' four-poster bed. Poor Sirius...
How does Sirius manage to cover up his feelings so well....? I didn't even notice a thing. And he got the letter last week.
"Sirius!" James said loudly and commandingly, "Damn boy, why didn't you tell any of us?!"
There was a rustling sound, and the curtains on Sirius' bed had been drawn open.
"James? What the bloody hell--?! Oh. Oh," Sirius eyed the piece of parchment in James' hand.
James just looked at him, and he hung his head in shame.
With a deep sigh, Sirius lifted his head again.
"I was scared James -- I don't know what I'll do and where I'll go. My parents -- those people," he said bitterly, "They don't want me in their house and I don't want to be in their house. Nessima was the only person who cared for me -- her parents had both gone as well, but she was sixteen and strong enough to cope."
James gently put his arm on Sirius' shoulder, "What about Andromeda? And that uncle of yours, he's pretty nice--"
"Andromeda still lives with her parents, and they hate my guts," Sirius said darkly, "They aren't fond of Andi either, and those two sisters of her are deadly. My uncle will get kicked out of the family if he let me stay with him. Face it, James, I've been checkmated."
Then he sighed again.
"Nessima was always there to hold my hand and to hold me when I was scared. Now she's gone. My 'family' aren't decent people. They kicked me out of their house when I was eight, James. They threw their own son out. Nessima cared for me during the day, and managed to work through my parents in letting me back in their house. But I never wanted to be in there. I just wanted to stay with Nessima everyday. Now she's gone. What the hell am I supposed to do?!"
"I'm sorry, Sirius," James said quietly.
Sirius said nothing; simply stared with dry eyes at the carpet.
After ten minutes of silence, James shifted uncomfortably. Sirius seemed to snap out of his reverie and he moved as well.
"I'm sorry, I just had to let it sink in," Sirius said bitterly.
"It's alright, really," James said truthfully, "Um, do you wanna go back to the feast?"
"No, you go on ahead," Sirius said quietly, dropping his curtains.
Feeling uneasy, James stepped out of the dormitory and closed the door behind him.
As he went down the stairs, he stumbled on the top stair and tripped. He began to curse as he fell head down and tumbled down the rest of the stairs.
"Merlin--!"
On his fall down, James crashed into an unsuspecting person. They got tangled together and crashed into the common-room.
"Potter-you-moron-I'm-never-standing-near-you-again-you-are-a-walking-disaster."
"Lily?" James said in disbelief, untangling himself, "I thought you were in the Hospital Wing!"
"I was," Lily groaned, getting up from the floor and brushing invisible dust off her robes, "I suppose I just woke up. Of course, it wasn't absolutely necessary to poison me," she added sarcastically.
"Hey! I honestly didn't put poison in it!" James said heatedly, "As if I'd actually try to poison you--" Lily wondered what he meant by those words "--and anyway, you spat it back out--"
He broke off, realising what his words meant.
"Wait a second -- you didn't swallow that mouthful of pie -- which means ... the poison didn't come from it!"
Lily was confused and tired; she didn't make sense of James' words.
"What did you eat before?" James blurted out.
"I fail to see any relation between that and the subject at hand," Lily said loftily.
"I'm not surprised," James said mockingly.
Lily didn't quite know what she was doing, all she knew was that she just wanted so badly to attack James. Friendly attack. It didn't make sense.
She lunged at him and knocked him over.
"Holy hell!" James' muffled voice could be heard as Lily's robes covered his face.
Lily blinked and realised what she was doing. She rolled off of James and groaned as she felt a headache coming up.
"You didn't have to attack me!" James accused. Lily rolled her eyes.
After a few moments of silence, James spoke up.
"So why aren't you at the feast?"
"I could be asking you the exact same question," Lily said haughtily.
"You're so mean; and anyway, I asked first."
"Well, getting poisoned does ruin your appetite. And I'm tired, I just want to sleep."
"No you don't," James said cheekily, pulling on the back of Lily's robes as she tried to go up the dormitory stairs, "Just come with me. I think Anna and Paige want to see you, anyway."
"Let go, Potter!"
"No."
"For Merlin's sake! Go down by yourself! What are you doing up here anyway?!"
"Ask no questions and I'll tell no lies," James quoted, "Oh, please wonderful Lily? Can't you please, please, please accompany me down to the Great Hall?"
He gave her puppy dog eyes.
"Go -- away!" Lily said agitatedly, trying not to look at him. She fought him off and escaped up the stairs.
"Well I tried," James grinned to himself, talking to no one in particular.
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----> A/N: Asian pride... Lol. Like the chappie? =] --MSQ.