Betrayed
III
Summary: He loved her. She told him she loved him too. Then why... did she betray him?
Disclaimer: I'm not sure... but isn't supposed to cover this! Anyway... Harry Potter NOT MINE!
He saw her embrace and kiss her date in the Great Hall, and the mere sight of it pained him so much that for a minute, he thought he would just die. Memories of her flooded his head, and it hurt… a lot. He tried to tell himself that she was happy now, even though his heart was ripped into shreds. Every time he closed his eyes, he heard small, menacing voices in his head, whispering his flaws and repeating every striking word she said. Finally, in an attempt to escape it all, James slipped out of the castle and onto its grounds, hoping to calm down… and just forget.
Who am I kidding? That's impossible, he thought bitterly as he realized that no matter where he would be, Lily's sweet face would haunt him. Once again, he asked himself why she chose another guy... wasn't he good enough? Ever since they started going out, he had put his heart and soul into pleasing her. When she was furious, he comforted her, and when she was furious at him, he would sincerely apologize… eventually. He put all his love and devotion in every embrace and kiss they had, but in the end…
It wasn't enough. She's gone, Potter: live with it.
He suddenly felt small, forming tears in his eyes, and he bit his lips hard to prevent himself from crying. He had to be strong; it was no use crying for a girl… especially in these times. Instead, he wandered restlessly on the castle grounds, his mind drifting to past memories, past friends, past enemies… everywhere. Unknown to him, a dark shadow was creeping around his surroundings, waiting.
After awhile, he sensed it. He didn't know what it was or where it came from, but he knew that it was following him. Under normal circumstances, he would've tried to figure out what it was and stop it from following him. But now he didn't see the point to it at all. If it wants to follow me, I'll let it, he thought as he continued to walk at his slow and even pace. His thoughts and memories were invaded by a certain redhead girl, and no matter how many times he tried to escape her, she was always there, lingering in his mind. He felt many things towards Lily: anger, shock, frustration, amazement, bitterness, confusion, but mostly...
Sadness.
He gave it all to her: his love, devotion, attention, protection... everything. It all seemed so perfect, and before he thought that nothing could shatter this dream... How naive he had been. He sighed then, and let the strong wind mess his already untamed jet-black hair. Getting Lily to like him... to love him... was the only thing in his life that had caused him to work truly hard. Yes, Quidditch sometimes took a comparable effort, but his relationship with Lily... took years. He had tried every single method he had, from being egotistical to actually becoming the respectable Head Boy he was now. And when she declared to him that she loved him, it seemed that it was all worth it. The feeling he felt then... it was an unique sensation that he would probably never feel again: it was the feeling that he had actually accomplished something. More than a simple Quidditch match. More than a trivial prank... but something important. However, it was apparent that every word Lily had said before didn't mean anything to her now because...
She dumped me... for another bastard, he thought harshly.
He now wondered if it was worth it at all: giving his heart to a girl... and trying in the first place. If he could let something as vital as Lily escape from his grasp, then... it just wasn't worth it. Everything. His heart hurt so much, and it felt as if any moment, he would break. It was so intense that it actually felt like physical pain, and for one brief fleeting moment, he wondered if he could just end it all...
James was too deep in his thoughts to notice the shadow suddenly jumping from its hiding place and attacking. When he did look up, it was too late.
"Expelliarmus!" a low, menacing voice hissed.
Somehow, even when his wand suddenly flew out of his robe's pocket to crash onto the ground, James remained unfazed. And even when he met the cruel, cold red eyes of his adversary, his thoughts were still on the girl, her loving kisses, and how she betrayed him.
"Hello, James," the striking stranger said, grinning an evil grin that revealed impossible fangs.
The boy did not respond but just merely continued to gaze coolly at the stranger. Unknown to him, he was now facing the Dark Lord: Voldemort.
The boy was interesting; he had to admit that.
Before, the boy drew him merely because he could sense a dark aura around him. Approaching him, the Dark Lord's formal plan was to toy with his mind before torturing him with the Cruciatus Curse and finally killing him. But as he expelled his wand and actually got to talk to the young wizard, he couldn't help notice his cold, glistening, apathic hazel eyes... so much like his own.
He immediately took a liking to the boy.
"So, James..." he drawled. "What brings you outside instead of joining your other friends at the graduation ball?"
"I have my reasons," he responded simply, looking straight ahead.
The evil wizard just smirked.
"Oh really?" he carefully asked. "Are you sure that it isn't because... of a certain person?"
He watched as the boy stiffened and his eyes became suddenly alert. Although the Dark Lord was before just guessing, he could now picture the situation as he began entering the saddened boy's mind. Nothing could be hidden from Lord Voldemort.
"A girl..." he began, his mouth twitching into a vicious smile. "A beautiful sight, isn't she? With her gleaming red hair and twinkling green eyes..."
The boy's face darkened, and the Lord could even sense the air tremble around him.
"But..." he continued, his voice lowering to a barely audible whisper. "She... dumped you."
The novice wizard suddenly completely stopped. The elder warlock now knew that he had hit something vital.
"Crushed your heart, didn't she?" he sneered, waiting for a reaction. "Tore it into shreds... for another bastard."
An uncontrolled sob could be heard, and the Evil One just smiled in delight. But when he turned to face the boy, he didn't see a heartbroken lover... instead he saw a cold, uncaring warrior.
"It doesn't matter now... does it?" James asked, his hazel eyes darkened behind his glasses as they gazed directly at the Dark Lord.
The older wizard's smile just grew wider as he replied:
"Of course it doesn't now, James. Now is time for new beginnings, new friends, new ways., and..." his feared red eyes glistened, "new morals."
Slowly, the teenage boy nodded, somehow forgetting about his immense sadness.
"I can help you, James," the Dark Lord said, using a soft, soothing tone. "I can help you become stronger and forget all about... Evans."
He put his ghostly pare hand on the boy's shoulder, and as he gazed at him, he could see curiosity in his eyes.
"When you want me..." he hissed into the boy's ear. "I'll be there."
Slightly surprised, the younger wizard just nodded as Lord Voldemort gently lifted his hand off his shoulder.
"Until then," the Evil One whispered, and before James could say anything else, his long black cloak enveloped him, swallowing the Dark Lord into the night's shadows.
Although the boy didn't know it yet, he was his now.
----- ----- -----
"Prongs! Prongs! JAMES!" Sirius yelled from just outside the castle. "This is seriously getting old, James! So... GET OUT FROM YOUR STUPID HIDING PLACE!"
"He's not going to get out simply because you order him to," Remus retorted, a little annoyed at how Sirius tried to face the current situation. "JAMES! JAMES! CAN YOU HEAR ME!"
"Oh yeah, and like your way is better?" Sirius sarcastically asked.
Ignoring the bickering of his fellow marauders, Peter continued to shout as he wandered around:
"JAMES! JAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS!"
"I feel guilty now," Remus suddenly said as he watched Peter bravely continue their search despite his and Sirius' minor fights. "Look at Wormtail: while we're bickering about trivial matters, he continues to look for James. If we could just become a little more like him, maybe James would've appeared sooner."
"Speak for yourself," Sirius snorted. "But you're right: Wormtail is doing a good job... GO WORMTAIL!"
Peter blushed when Sirius yelled that comment and continued to search even faster.
"Now about that bitch..." Sirius muttered, abruptly thinking about James' formal girlfriend. "Didn't even want to search for him... after everything he did for her..."
"Knock it off, Padfoot: we can't make her do anything," Remus said, trying to defend Lily although he himself quite resented her at that moment.
And then suddenly, all three marauders could hear shuffles and other strange sounds coming their way.
"Maybe it's James!" Peter hopefully cried.
However, as it become more obvious that it wasn't human steps, Sirius shouted:
"No, even better: maybe it's a stag!"
And although what Sirius said was a pure guess, he was right in the end. Pretty soon, stamping hooves could be clearly heard and before long, the three of them could see the majestic form of a stag.
"Do you think that he'll charge at us?" Peter worriedly asked.
"Let's hope not," Remus answered at the exact time Sirius snorted in disbelief.
Finally, the stag stopped and was enveloped by a blinding blue light. When the light vanished, the imposing beast was replaced by a tall, teenage boy.
"JAMES!" all three marauders cried joyfully.
But as soon as they saw him clearly, both Remus and Sirius immediately knew that something was different about him. His appearance was still completely the same, but his eyes... Were they just imagining it or were his eyes now cold and dimmed?
"Are you okay, James?" Peter asked.
The fourth marauder managed a small smile as he replied:
"Don't worry about me: I'm fine."
A/N: I really hope you like the third chapter! It was originally supposed to be the last part of the second chapter, but I changed my mind at the last minute . Now to other things... first of all, maybe some of you are thinking that I'm giving Peter way too much credit, but when I read other marauder fanfics, I'm so tired of them portraying Peter as a dumb, whining idiot... which he becomes later. I mean, I know that he is probably all that, but I also want to give the guy at least one good trait. Think about it: if he was that bad, would the other marauders stick to him in the first place! Second of all: I don't know why, but usually I don't see the marauders transforming to their animal –or werewolf for Remus- form in other people's stories... J.K. Rowling added that cool detail for a reason, you guys! That's why I personally added the last part where James transforms into a stag! Hope you like it! And now, finally, the most important thing... drum roll... THE BEST REVIEW OF THE LAST CHAPTER IS...
Oh yeah... since we're at it, I should mention something . (readers groan) There is one little rule to this... uh... competition: if you have already been the best reviewer once, you can't be it again (well, unless the same readers review again and again and again... but I hope that won't happen). Now, where were we? Oh yeah...
Congratulations to rOkstA !
Okay, I have to admit that this time, choosing the winner was really, really hard, and once again (because I'm such a good person), I would also like to thank Living In A Nightmare again for her wonderful support, and also LeatitiaVia and Niux! I hope all of you will read this chapter and review again! And to the winner, you have the big decision of choosing what wand you want: James' or Lily's...? Unfortunately, if you do not review this chapter, you forfeit your prize (this is not a threat!)... Until the next time
P.S.: If you were smart enough, maybe you would've figured out that I post a new chapter every Friday (or Saturday –depends when posts them). So if you are looking forward for the next chapter, remember to come back next week!