Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter; JK Rowling does. I'm just making
stuff up.
Dedication: This is dedicated to many many people! Here it goes: Sirius - Oh, most of all Sirius, Carmen - cuz I really had this image of them together for so long, and all of my reviewers and readers! Here are just a few little thank yous!
Magnolia - thanks for the great compliment.
Kat - Thank you so much for taking the time to come and read it here. I really like Carmen, too. She's based on me really. Some of me went into Lily also, but I love everyone.
Jamesweetie4eva - keep reading!
Angel Food Cake - You are my top reviewer! I love ya! Thank you so much!
Sabner - Thank you for reviewing all of my stories. Sorry I didn't dedicate the last one to you, I kind of forgot what with book 5 coming out.
Tinkerbellhp07 and Devin Jamie- I hope you're still reading!
Kat097 - I have no clue if she's even read this, but she's one of my favorite authors and a friend. You inspire me!
Also, a big hug to the rest of my reviewers and readers! Thank you so much for all of your support! You don't know how happy I am to get reviews for this story!
I'm sorry that this took so long. I'm writing two other stories at the same time as this one, so if you get bored, please check them out! This one will probably always be my favorite. Well, this is a super long chapter. Just the story part of it alone is about 3,542 words! Wow! I just couldn't stop once I got going and I really wanted all of this to be in here. It'll probably be my favorite chapter in the whole story. I just hope that I wrote it alright. Okay, enough of my rambling. I'll let you get on with the story. So here you are -
THE RAIN ALWAYS FALLS
Chapter 11: When Souls Soar
Remus came to transfiguration at around midday on Tuesday. When he entered the classroom, everyone turned their heads to look at him. He handed Professor McGonagall a note and took a seat next to Morgan.
"Look at this," Morgan told him when the lesson ended, brandishing her essay under the table for him to see. "This is my first A+ since first year."
"Congratulations," Remus replied, seeming very pleased.
"It's all because you helped me. Thank you." To his surprise, she leaned over and threw her arms around him. Still a little taken aback, he put an arm across her back. A wide smile spread across his face.
"Hem, hem," a voice from the front of the class said.
"Oh, sorry, Professor," Morgan said hastily, pulling away from him.
For the rest of the lesson, Remus found it impossible to pay attention. He kept glancing out of the corner of his eye at the girl sitting next to him, butterflies flying around his stomach each time he did this.
**********
Carmen stayed up very late that night, reading one of her many volumes of books; at least she was trying to read. Thoughts kept streaking through her mind, thoughts of what Lily and Morgan had said to her at dinner the previous night. "It's so obvious that you like him.And he eyes you during practically every class." Was it true that she liked him? It seemed almost impossible. She was a prefect; he was one of the two biggest troublemakers in school. How could she possibly have feelings like that for him? She didn't, or did she? His face floated across her mind, his smile, his laugh. She remembered how, over the summer, she had smiled at his face in her picture frame, how she laughed at his jokes. She heaved a deep sigh and smiled herself.
She read page 372 for the sixth time before saying out loud, "I do."
**********
As the end of September approached, the long anticipated Hogsmeade trip could not have been more welcoming. The teachers were piling more homework on the fifth years than ever. In their core subjects alone, they had three essays due: one for defense against the dark arts, one for potions, and another for history of magic; they had to practice transfiguring mice into rabbits; and on top of all that, they would be performing Felunter charms in front of the entire class next week.
However, no one spent as much time working as Carmen who was frequently seen poring over books in the library.
It was the Monday before the third of October, and Lily and Morgan were sitting through another boring Divination lesson. They were supposed to be reviewing star horoscopes.
"It is very important, class, that you understand perfectly the positions of the stars and their meanings, not so much for your O.W.L.s, but to help you in the future, when you are out of school."
"Do you think that I can drop this class after next year?" Morgan asked under her breath.
"Maybe the stars will show us," Lily snorted.
"Yes, it is very clear," Professor Opaelle rasped, now leaning over Lily's shoulder. "You are in grave danger, even as we speak."
When she turned away, Lily whispered to Morgan, "Yeah, I'm going to have a stroke right now because Jupiter decided that it wants to revolve around the sun. I need to get out of here. Professor," she now said more loudly, "may I go to the bathroom?"
Professor Opaelle surveyed her for a moment and then nodded her head. Lily stood up, and exited through the trap door. It seemed like heaven just to be out of that class for a mere ten seconds. Since, at the moment, she really didn't care about going back to class, she strolled down to the first floor. Just as she turned to go down to the entrance hall, however, Professor McGonagall emerged from behind a tapestry. Heart pounding at the thought of getting in trouble right before the Hogsmeade weekend, Lily, burst into an excuse for being so far from her Divination class.
"Oh, Professor, I was just going d -"
"At the moment, Miss Evans, I frankly don't care where you are going. I am a bit preoccupied." Preoccupied wasn't a strong enough word. Professor McGonagall looked livid. "Could you do something for me, Miss Evans? Please go out to the grounds, find Mr. Potter and Mr. Black, and tell them that they are to come to my office immediately."
Wondering what they did wrong this time, Lily nodded. Being grateful for not getting into trouble, she opened the great oak doors and walked into the streaming sunlight.
Meanwhile, in care of magical creatures, Professor Adamson decided that they would now be studying fire crabs ("Big surprise," Sirius muttered). "Fire crabs," the professor explained with great enthusiasm, "are highly dangerous creatures when not looked after properly." He gestured to the large turtle-like creatures tethered to a nearby tree. "When fully grown, like the ones we have with us, the flames that they spit out can be quite damaging. I believe I've heard of a person who was passing by a fire crab and got a barrel full of flames thrown on them; they were forced to stay in St. Mungo's for a week."
"Great. That's just what we need. To spend the weekend in the hospital," Sirius told James.
"Hey," James whispered back, "at least we would miss a couple of more lessons like this." Natalie suppressed a small giggle nearby.
Professor Adamson then explained to them that if they, the fire crabs that is, did not get enough exercise, they would get more disgruntled, and therefore, more dangerous. So, they worked in pairs and were to take the creatures for a walk. James paired with Natalie, while Sally leapt at the chance to work with Sirius. Before walking away with Natalie, however, James heard a distinctive groan coming in the direction of his best friend.
James and Natalie attempted to walk the fire crab along the edge of the forest. They had made it quite a bit away from the rest of the group, but it did not seem to want to move any more. After a few minutes of hopeless tugging, James let out a sigh and said, "This is just pointless." With that, he tied its rope to the nearest tree and sat down safely away from firing distance of the crab.
"Don't you think other people are going to notice?" Natalie asked, walking over to him.
"No," James answered, looking over at the rest of the class. They all seemed a little preoccupied what with trying to control the creatures. Natalie soon sat down to join him.
They were soon deep in conversation, mainly about quiditch.
"But, you know, I think that Luxemburg definitely has a shot for the next quiditch cup," James explained. "They have fantastic beaters."
"Yes, but beaters don't necessarily make a team good. Their chasers are definitely weak this year." The fire crab let out a little puff of fire.
"Yeah, well what they really need are chasers like.Lily?"
"Lily?" Natalie asked, taken aback. "Why Lily?"
"No, she's coming here." James pointed across the grounds. Lily was, indeed, walking in their direction. She waved. James's heart skipped a beat, and he waved back, but Natalie, looking from James to the redhead, gave her a glare.
The fire crab, being extremely disgruntled by now, suddenly allowed its end to explode in furry. The rope binding it to the tree easily snapped. Instinctively, James lunched forward to grab it before it got away. However, the rope slipped from between his outstretched hands. It sped farther across the lawn - directly towards Lily. Heart beating very fast, James leapt to his feet and sprinted to her, stumbling on the way.
With another blast of raging fire, the crab spun around in a circle and made to attack the first person in sight. Lily couldn't move. Another burst of fire blazed through the air. It hit Lily straight on, the flames searing horribly across her body, and she fell to the ground silently.
**********
She was holding a small black-haired baby boy in her arms. She looked up and smiled. "I love you," she mouthed.
"I love you, too," a man silently spoke. It was James. She looked back down at the baby cradled in her arms and smiled.
She glanced at the window. A horrible, pointed face appeared, looking in at them. She instantly felt her stomach collapse, and all of the air seemed to leave from her lungs. She felt like she was going to be sick. "James," she whispered. Seeing the strained and terrified look on her face, he turned to the window and leapt to his feet, pulling out his wand.
"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off," he yelled, throwing his arm out.
She ran to the staircase stumbling slightly as she went. At the top of the stairs, she turned around. The door burst open.
Lily woke with a start and sat up. Someone gasped from her right. It was Carmen. She was sitting on a chair beside the bed in which Lily was laying on. Lily looked wildly around her, breathing deeply, her heart beating fast. She was in the hospital wing. Suddenly a searing pain stretched across her entire body. Looking down at her arms, she saw thick searing burns, and she winced.
"Oh, Lily, thank god you're okay!" Carmen said, clutching her heart. "We were all so worried."
"What happened?" Lily asked, her chest rising up and down.
"You were attacked by a fire crab. We were all so worried. You've been in here so long, that we all had to take turns staying with you so the others could eat and sleep. James was just here a little while ago."
"James?" Lily asked, trying to remember what had happened to her while her head was spinning. "Why?"
"Well, he's worried about you. He's been up here an awful lot lately; more than any of us, in fact. I think he might be blaming himself for what happened to you," Carmen explained.
"Lye back down, you'll hurt yourself," said a nurse, bustling over to Lily. "You'll be here for a while, so get used to it. Honestly, I don't know what Professor Adamson was thinking, bringing in fire crabs for fifth years. Keep still," she added, taking a large green bottle off of the desk beside the bed. She dipped a large amount of thick yellow liquid onto a cloth. "This will sting, so brace yourself." Lily took Carmen's hand and squeezed it tightly as the burning potion touched her wounds. It felt like someone stabbing her with sharp knives. When the nurse had finished, she walked to her office on the other side of the hospital wing.
"Carmen," Lily said, wanting to get to the most pressing matters, "I need to tell someone. I - I think that I've been having dream premonitions." She then went into explaining her dream, everything about it: James, the baby called Harry, and the face in the window.
"Are you sure it's a dream premonition?" Carmen asked in a small voice when she finished. "I mean, you said that they're really rare, right?"
"I'm almost positive. I've had this dream once before, but this time it went further. I haven't learned much about them, but so far, all of the clues point to that solution," Lily said, lying back down. "I meant to research it more, but then quiditch started, and I completely forgot about it. But that's why I need you." She turned to Carmen beside her. "I need you're help. I really need to find out what this all means, and I can't do anything right now. Please."
Seeing the look of desperation on her face, Carmen nodded and said, "Of course I'll help. I'll do everything I can."
"Thank you so much," Lily said giving her a weak smile. "And, Carmen," she added, "please don't tell anyone else about this. I don't want everyone to think I'm going crazy."
"Don't worry, you can trust me."
**********
The rest of the week passed slowly, especially for Lily, but Saturday did eventually come, signaling the Hogsmeade weekend.
Lily, of course, was still in the hospital wing, though her wounds seemed to be clearing up exceptionally well. The nurse, Madam Jacque, now allowed her to read in bed. Carmen had brought her a book from the library called Dreams and What They Mean When You Can Remember What They're About. It was interesting, but not very informative on the subject of dream premonitions. All she could interpret from this book so far was that it said that her dreams supposedly meant that she felt the need for security in her life. However, she didn't think that this was what her dreams were really trying to tell her.
She had just finished Chapter 12: Dreams of Paradise when she heard someone enter the ward. She looked up and saw that it was James. She smiled and put her book down. He hadn't come to see her all week. He approached her bed and thrust some flowers toward her. A little more normally he asked, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine. Thank you for the flowers," she answered, smelling them. "Why aren't you in Hogsmeade?"
"Oh, well, remember how I told you about the prank that Sirius and I played on Malfoy and Snape? Well, they couldn't think of another way to get back at us, so they told McGonagall on us."
"Is that why she was so mad that day?"
"Yup. Anyway, Sirius and I are both banned from going to Hogsmeade at all this weekend."
"What happened to meeting Natalie, then?" Lily asked, putting the flowers on her nightstand.
"Well, she needed to get some quills and stuff. I'm meeting her later today, but I wanted to talk to you." He suddenly looked quite nervous again, and he ruffled the back of his hair. "Look, Lily - I'm sorry for what happened before. I was being -"
"No, James, you don't have to," Lily interrupted.
"No, I need to. I'm sorry. That was really a stupid thing to do. I didn't want to hurt you."
"I'm fine, James," Lily said. "Really. Thank you for caring."
"I have something for you," James said with a little more spirit, reaching into his bag. He pulled out a gleaming chess set. "I ordered this for you. Thought you might like something to do while you're here." He began to set up the pawns. "So, tell me about yourself. Tell me about your family."
"Why would you want to know about that?" she asked, a little puzzled by the odd question.
"I want to know more about you. Tell me anything."
"Well, I'm a muggle born, I have a sister, I like to read, my favorite class is charms, and someday, I want to be a teacher," she said, moving a knight. "How about you?"
"Both my parents are wizards, my favorite class is ancient ruins, and I want to play quiditch professionally." James said, taking her pawn.
"Tell me a secret," Lily smiled, taking his castle.
"Okay. Life isn't all games and hating Slytherins. Some people have hardships that are better kept away from everyone." He paused and looked down at the chess set. "My dad died when I was nine."
Lily stared at him. She had never seen James this honest - so serious. It was different. "I'm sorry," she muttered.
"It's fine," James said. "Now tell me a secret."
"Alright. I've never really felt like I fit in at home. My sister hates me and my parents know nothing about the wizarding world. I only feel home, here, with you - and the others," she added hastily, blushing. That last part didn't come out exactly like she planned.
"You know, you can always talk to me about anything," James said, looking up from the chessboard. He met her eyes, and they looked away very quickly.
"Thanks," Lily whispered, blushing again. "Checkmate."
**********
Carmen was in the library, pouring over thick volumes of books. Ever since her visit with Lily, she had spent every spare moment looking up facts on dream premonitions. She wasn't about to let a little Hogsmeade weekend spoil her promise.
Just as she opened Divination: A Prediction for the Future when someone entered the library. She looked up and spotted Sirius. He had his broomstick over his shoulder, and his hair looked a little wind blown. He craned his head, looking around, and finally spotted Carmen. She quickly returned to her book, feeling her face turn red. She had been trying to avoid Sirius ever since she admitted to herself the truth about how she felt about him. It didn't seem to be working, however.
Sirius walked over to her with a smile spread across his face. "Hi," he said, sitting down across from her.
"Hi," she said not looking up. She couldn't possibly look up at him. It seemed almost impossible, yet so hard to look away.
"Why aren't you in Hogsmeade?" he asked.
"I have work that I need to get done," she said simply.
"Come on, you don't even take divination," he told her grabbing a book. "What's this all about?"
"Well, I'm helping someone out."
"That's really nice of you. You're the smartest person I know. You're amazing." She couldn't resist it. She looked up and gazed into his dark and beautiful eyes. He gazed back. For a moment they just sat there, seeming perfectly content. Then Sirius said abruptly, "You know, we need to get some fun into your life," and Carmen tried to turn back to her book, but once again found it impossible to concentrate.
Then he stood up and grabbed her hand. "Come on," he told her, helping her up. She took his hand, not really sure of what was happening.
"Sirius, what are you doing?" she asked now with a very confused look on her face. He began pulling her across the library. "What about my books?" she asked. However, he didn't seem to hear her because he dragged her out of the library itself, into the entrance hall, and through the great oak doors that led to the grounds. Heart beating fast, she asked, "Really, Sirius, what are you doing?" With great difficulty, she stopped and leaned all of her weight backward. To her surprise, Sirius turned around to face her. They looked into each other's eyes again for a moment. A moment was all it lasted because a second later, he reached down, grabbed her around the waist, and threw her over his shoulder. She was so shocked that she could barely do anything. Seconds later, however, she came to her senses. She kicked and struggled helplessly. "Sirius, put me down this instant! What do you think your doing? Sirius, where are you taking me?"
Her question was soon answered as the quiditch stadium came into view. "Sirius, this isn't funny," she pleaded. "What is going on?" Yet again, he didn't answer her question. He walked across the grounds with both Carmen and his broom flung over his shoulders until he reached the quiditch pitch. He carried her through the gap in the stands and into the stadium itself. Once they were in the middle of the field, he let her down. She stared at the ground trying to regain her balance. When she looked up again, she saw that Sirius was sitting on his broom.
"Get on," he said.
She gapped at him. "What?"
"Get on or I'll throw you over my shoulder again and carry you." She looked at him in amazement - he was serious.
Very reluctantly, she leaned sideways onto the broomstick behind him. Suddenly, Sirius kicked off of the ground, and he felt Carmen's arm wrap themselves tightly around his waist. He could hear her breathing very shallowly.
They soared around the stadium once and then out over the grounds. As he steered it over the lake, he felt Carmen give another little squeeze and a gasp. Once in the middle of the vast mass of water, he slowed the broom until it was flying just faster than a butterfly. Straightening up, he felt Carmen loosen her grip. He flung one leg over his broomstick and turned to face her. She was staring at the lake below, no longer looking fearful, but with a blank and unreadable look across her face. He lifted her chin gently with his pointer finger. She slowly glanced up into his deep eyes, and he gazed back. Her perfect lips were parted slightly. He longed to do it; he had wanted to do it for so long. She reached up. He leaned into her. They were inches apart. She closed her eyes. So did he. Their lips met sweetly as they continued to soar over the motionless lake, into the horizon.
However, they were not alone. Someone with bright blond hair was gazing up at them with a pure look of hatred plastered across her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~Bum bum bum! Like I said, this will probably be one of my favorite chapters in the entire story. I really hope you liked it. Well, if you review for any chapter, please review for this one! I'll be waiting!
Lots of love,
Carmen Willows
Dedication: This is dedicated to many many people! Here it goes: Sirius - Oh, most of all Sirius, Carmen - cuz I really had this image of them together for so long, and all of my reviewers and readers! Here are just a few little thank yous!
Magnolia - thanks for the great compliment.
Kat - Thank you so much for taking the time to come and read it here. I really like Carmen, too. She's based on me really. Some of me went into Lily also, but I love everyone.
Jamesweetie4eva - keep reading!
Angel Food Cake - You are my top reviewer! I love ya! Thank you so much!
Sabner - Thank you for reviewing all of my stories. Sorry I didn't dedicate the last one to you, I kind of forgot what with book 5 coming out.
Tinkerbellhp07 and Devin Jamie- I hope you're still reading!
Kat097 - I have no clue if she's even read this, but she's one of my favorite authors and a friend. You inspire me!
Also, a big hug to the rest of my reviewers and readers! Thank you so much for all of your support! You don't know how happy I am to get reviews for this story!
I'm sorry that this took so long. I'm writing two other stories at the same time as this one, so if you get bored, please check them out! This one will probably always be my favorite. Well, this is a super long chapter. Just the story part of it alone is about 3,542 words! Wow! I just couldn't stop once I got going and I really wanted all of this to be in here. It'll probably be my favorite chapter in the whole story. I just hope that I wrote it alright. Okay, enough of my rambling. I'll let you get on with the story. So here you are -
THE RAIN ALWAYS FALLS
Chapter 11: When Souls Soar
Remus came to transfiguration at around midday on Tuesday. When he entered the classroom, everyone turned their heads to look at him. He handed Professor McGonagall a note and took a seat next to Morgan.
"Look at this," Morgan told him when the lesson ended, brandishing her essay under the table for him to see. "This is my first A+ since first year."
"Congratulations," Remus replied, seeming very pleased.
"It's all because you helped me. Thank you." To his surprise, she leaned over and threw her arms around him. Still a little taken aback, he put an arm across her back. A wide smile spread across his face.
"Hem, hem," a voice from the front of the class said.
"Oh, sorry, Professor," Morgan said hastily, pulling away from him.
For the rest of the lesson, Remus found it impossible to pay attention. He kept glancing out of the corner of his eye at the girl sitting next to him, butterflies flying around his stomach each time he did this.
**********
Carmen stayed up very late that night, reading one of her many volumes of books; at least she was trying to read. Thoughts kept streaking through her mind, thoughts of what Lily and Morgan had said to her at dinner the previous night. "It's so obvious that you like him.And he eyes you during practically every class." Was it true that she liked him? It seemed almost impossible. She was a prefect; he was one of the two biggest troublemakers in school. How could she possibly have feelings like that for him? She didn't, or did she? His face floated across her mind, his smile, his laugh. She remembered how, over the summer, she had smiled at his face in her picture frame, how she laughed at his jokes. She heaved a deep sigh and smiled herself.
She read page 372 for the sixth time before saying out loud, "I do."
**********
As the end of September approached, the long anticipated Hogsmeade trip could not have been more welcoming. The teachers were piling more homework on the fifth years than ever. In their core subjects alone, they had three essays due: one for defense against the dark arts, one for potions, and another for history of magic; they had to practice transfiguring mice into rabbits; and on top of all that, they would be performing Felunter charms in front of the entire class next week.
However, no one spent as much time working as Carmen who was frequently seen poring over books in the library.
It was the Monday before the third of October, and Lily and Morgan were sitting through another boring Divination lesson. They were supposed to be reviewing star horoscopes.
"It is very important, class, that you understand perfectly the positions of the stars and their meanings, not so much for your O.W.L.s, but to help you in the future, when you are out of school."
"Do you think that I can drop this class after next year?" Morgan asked under her breath.
"Maybe the stars will show us," Lily snorted.
"Yes, it is very clear," Professor Opaelle rasped, now leaning over Lily's shoulder. "You are in grave danger, even as we speak."
When she turned away, Lily whispered to Morgan, "Yeah, I'm going to have a stroke right now because Jupiter decided that it wants to revolve around the sun. I need to get out of here. Professor," she now said more loudly, "may I go to the bathroom?"
Professor Opaelle surveyed her for a moment and then nodded her head. Lily stood up, and exited through the trap door. It seemed like heaven just to be out of that class for a mere ten seconds. Since, at the moment, she really didn't care about going back to class, she strolled down to the first floor. Just as she turned to go down to the entrance hall, however, Professor McGonagall emerged from behind a tapestry. Heart pounding at the thought of getting in trouble right before the Hogsmeade weekend, Lily, burst into an excuse for being so far from her Divination class.
"Oh, Professor, I was just going d -"
"At the moment, Miss Evans, I frankly don't care where you are going. I am a bit preoccupied." Preoccupied wasn't a strong enough word. Professor McGonagall looked livid. "Could you do something for me, Miss Evans? Please go out to the grounds, find Mr. Potter and Mr. Black, and tell them that they are to come to my office immediately."
Wondering what they did wrong this time, Lily nodded. Being grateful for not getting into trouble, she opened the great oak doors and walked into the streaming sunlight.
Meanwhile, in care of magical creatures, Professor Adamson decided that they would now be studying fire crabs ("Big surprise," Sirius muttered). "Fire crabs," the professor explained with great enthusiasm, "are highly dangerous creatures when not looked after properly." He gestured to the large turtle-like creatures tethered to a nearby tree. "When fully grown, like the ones we have with us, the flames that they spit out can be quite damaging. I believe I've heard of a person who was passing by a fire crab and got a barrel full of flames thrown on them; they were forced to stay in St. Mungo's for a week."
"Great. That's just what we need. To spend the weekend in the hospital," Sirius told James.
"Hey," James whispered back, "at least we would miss a couple of more lessons like this." Natalie suppressed a small giggle nearby.
Professor Adamson then explained to them that if they, the fire crabs that is, did not get enough exercise, they would get more disgruntled, and therefore, more dangerous. So, they worked in pairs and were to take the creatures for a walk. James paired with Natalie, while Sally leapt at the chance to work with Sirius. Before walking away with Natalie, however, James heard a distinctive groan coming in the direction of his best friend.
James and Natalie attempted to walk the fire crab along the edge of the forest. They had made it quite a bit away from the rest of the group, but it did not seem to want to move any more. After a few minutes of hopeless tugging, James let out a sigh and said, "This is just pointless." With that, he tied its rope to the nearest tree and sat down safely away from firing distance of the crab.
"Don't you think other people are going to notice?" Natalie asked, walking over to him.
"No," James answered, looking over at the rest of the class. They all seemed a little preoccupied what with trying to control the creatures. Natalie soon sat down to join him.
They were soon deep in conversation, mainly about quiditch.
"But, you know, I think that Luxemburg definitely has a shot for the next quiditch cup," James explained. "They have fantastic beaters."
"Yes, but beaters don't necessarily make a team good. Their chasers are definitely weak this year." The fire crab let out a little puff of fire.
"Yeah, well what they really need are chasers like.Lily?"
"Lily?" Natalie asked, taken aback. "Why Lily?"
"No, she's coming here." James pointed across the grounds. Lily was, indeed, walking in their direction. She waved. James's heart skipped a beat, and he waved back, but Natalie, looking from James to the redhead, gave her a glare.
The fire crab, being extremely disgruntled by now, suddenly allowed its end to explode in furry. The rope binding it to the tree easily snapped. Instinctively, James lunched forward to grab it before it got away. However, the rope slipped from between his outstretched hands. It sped farther across the lawn - directly towards Lily. Heart beating very fast, James leapt to his feet and sprinted to her, stumbling on the way.
With another blast of raging fire, the crab spun around in a circle and made to attack the first person in sight. Lily couldn't move. Another burst of fire blazed through the air. It hit Lily straight on, the flames searing horribly across her body, and she fell to the ground silently.
**********
She was holding a small black-haired baby boy in her arms. She looked up and smiled. "I love you," she mouthed.
"I love you, too," a man silently spoke. It was James. She looked back down at the baby cradled in her arms and smiled.
She glanced at the window. A horrible, pointed face appeared, looking in at them. She instantly felt her stomach collapse, and all of the air seemed to leave from her lungs. She felt like she was going to be sick. "James," she whispered. Seeing the strained and terrified look on her face, he turned to the window and leapt to his feet, pulling out his wand.
"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off," he yelled, throwing his arm out.
She ran to the staircase stumbling slightly as she went. At the top of the stairs, she turned around. The door burst open.
Lily woke with a start and sat up. Someone gasped from her right. It was Carmen. She was sitting on a chair beside the bed in which Lily was laying on. Lily looked wildly around her, breathing deeply, her heart beating fast. She was in the hospital wing. Suddenly a searing pain stretched across her entire body. Looking down at her arms, she saw thick searing burns, and she winced.
"Oh, Lily, thank god you're okay!" Carmen said, clutching her heart. "We were all so worried."
"What happened?" Lily asked, her chest rising up and down.
"You were attacked by a fire crab. We were all so worried. You've been in here so long, that we all had to take turns staying with you so the others could eat and sleep. James was just here a little while ago."
"James?" Lily asked, trying to remember what had happened to her while her head was spinning. "Why?"
"Well, he's worried about you. He's been up here an awful lot lately; more than any of us, in fact. I think he might be blaming himself for what happened to you," Carmen explained.
"Lye back down, you'll hurt yourself," said a nurse, bustling over to Lily. "You'll be here for a while, so get used to it. Honestly, I don't know what Professor Adamson was thinking, bringing in fire crabs for fifth years. Keep still," she added, taking a large green bottle off of the desk beside the bed. She dipped a large amount of thick yellow liquid onto a cloth. "This will sting, so brace yourself." Lily took Carmen's hand and squeezed it tightly as the burning potion touched her wounds. It felt like someone stabbing her with sharp knives. When the nurse had finished, she walked to her office on the other side of the hospital wing.
"Carmen," Lily said, wanting to get to the most pressing matters, "I need to tell someone. I - I think that I've been having dream premonitions." She then went into explaining her dream, everything about it: James, the baby called Harry, and the face in the window.
"Are you sure it's a dream premonition?" Carmen asked in a small voice when she finished. "I mean, you said that they're really rare, right?"
"I'm almost positive. I've had this dream once before, but this time it went further. I haven't learned much about them, but so far, all of the clues point to that solution," Lily said, lying back down. "I meant to research it more, but then quiditch started, and I completely forgot about it. But that's why I need you." She turned to Carmen beside her. "I need you're help. I really need to find out what this all means, and I can't do anything right now. Please."
Seeing the look of desperation on her face, Carmen nodded and said, "Of course I'll help. I'll do everything I can."
"Thank you so much," Lily said giving her a weak smile. "And, Carmen," she added, "please don't tell anyone else about this. I don't want everyone to think I'm going crazy."
"Don't worry, you can trust me."
**********
The rest of the week passed slowly, especially for Lily, but Saturday did eventually come, signaling the Hogsmeade weekend.
Lily, of course, was still in the hospital wing, though her wounds seemed to be clearing up exceptionally well. The nurse, Madam Jacque, now allowed her to read in bed. Carmen had brought her a book from the library called Dreams and What They Mean When You Can Remember What They're About. It was interesting, but not very informative on the subject of dream premonitions. All she could interpret from this book so far was that it said that her dreams supposedly meant that she felt the need for security in her life. However, she didn't think that this was what her dreams were really trying to tell her.
She had just finished Chapter 12: Dreams of Paradise when she heard someone enter the ward. She looked up and saw that it was James. She smiled and put her book down. He hadn't come to see her all week. He approached her bed and thrust some flowers toward her. A little more normally he asked, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine. Thank you for the flowers," she answered, smelling them. "Why aren't you in Hogsmeade?"
"Oh, well, remember how I told you about the prank that Sirius and I played on Malfoy and Snape? Well, they couldn't think of another way to get back at us, so they told McGonagall on us."
"Is that why she was so mad that day?"
"Yup. Anyway, Sirius and I are both banned from going to Hogsmeade at all this weekend."
"What happened to meeting Natalie, then?" Lily asked, putting the flowers on her nightstand.
"Well, she needed to get some quills and stuff. I'm meeting her later today, but I wanted to talk to you." He suddenly looked quite nervous again, and he ruffled the back of his hair. "Look, Lily - I'm sorry for what happened before. I was being -"
"No, James, you don't have to," Lily interrupted.
"No, I need to. I'm sorry. That was really a stupid thing to do. I didn't want to hurt you."
"I'm fine, James," Lily said. "Really. Thank you for caring."
"I have something for you," James said with a little more spirit, reaching into his bag. He pulled out a gleaming chess set. "I ordered this for you. Thought you might like something to do while you're here." He began to set up the pawns. "So, tell me about yourself. Tell me about your family."
"Why would you want to know about that?" she asked, a little puzzled by the odd question.
"I want to know more about you. Tell me anything."
"Well, I'm a muggle born, I have a sister, I like to read, my favorite class is charms, and someday, I want to be a teacher," she said, moving a knight. "How about you?"
"Both my parents are wizards, my favorite class is ancient ruins, and I want to play quiditch professionally." James said, taking her pawn.
"Tell me a secret," Lily smiled, taking his castle.
"Okay. Life isn't all games and hating Slytherins. Some people have hardships that are better kept away from everyone." He paused and looked down at the chess set. "My dad died when I was nine."
Lily stared at him. She had never seen James this honest - so serious. It was different. "I'm sorry," she muttered.
"It's fine," James said. "Now tell me a secret."
"Alright. I've never really felt like I fit in at home. My sister hates me and my parents know nothing about the wizarding world. I only feel home, here, with you - and the others," she added hastily, blushing. That last part didn't come out exactly like she planned.
"You know, you can always talk to me about anything," James said, looking up from the chessboard. He met her eyes, and they looked away very quickly.
"Thanks," Lily whispered, blushing again. "Checkmate."
**********
Carmen was in the library, pouring over thick volumes of books. Ever since her visit with Lily, she had spent every spare moment looking up facts on dream premonitions. She wasn't about to let a little Hogsmeade weekend spoil her promise.
Just as she opened Divination: A Prediction for the Future when someone entered the library. She looked up and spotted Sirius. He had his broomstick over his shoulder, and his hair looked a little wind blown. He craned his head, looking around, and finally spotted Carmen. She quickly returned to her book, feeling her face turn red. She had been trying to avoid Sirius ever since she admitted to herself the truth about how she felt about him. It didn't seem to be working, however.
Sirius walked over to her with a smile spread across his face. "Hi," he said, sitting down across from her.
"Hi," she said not looking up. She couldn't possibly look up at him. It seemed almost impossible, yet so hard to look away.
"Why aren't you in Hogsmeade?" he asked.
"I have work that I need to get done," she said simply.
"Come on, you don't even take divination," he told her grabbing a book. "What's this all about?"
"Well, I'm helping someone out."
"That's really nice of you. You're the smartest person I know. You're amazing." She couldn't resist it. She looked up and gazed into his dark and beautiful eyes. He gazed back. For a moment they just sat there, seeming perfectly content. Then Sirius said abruptly, "You know, we need to get some fun into your life," and Carmen tried to turn back to her book, but once again found it impossible to concentrate.
Then he stood up and grabbed her hand. "Come on," he told her, helping her up. She took his hand, not really sure of what was happening.
"Sirius, what are you doing?" she asked now with a very confused look on her face. He began pulling her across the library. "What about my books?" she asked. However, he didn't seem to hear her because he dragged her out of the library itself, into the entrance hall, and through the great oak doors that led to the grounds. Heart beating fast, she asked, "Really, Sirius, what are you doing?" With great difficulty, she stopped and leaned all of her weight backward. To her surprise, Sirius turned around to face her. They looked into each other's eyes again for a moment. A moment was all it lasted because a second later, he reached down, grabbed her around the waist, and threw her over his shoulder. She was so shocked that she could barely do anything. Seconds later, however, she came to her senses. She kicked and struggled helplessly. "Sirius, put me down this instant! What do you think your doing? Sirius, where are you taking me?"
Her question was soon answered as the quiditch stadium came into view. "Sirius, this isn't funny," she pleaded. "What is going on?" Yet again, he didn't answer her question. He walked across the grounds with both Carmen and his broom flung over his shoulders until he reached the quiditch pitch. He carried her through the gap in the stands and into the stadium itself. Once they were in the middle of the field, he let her down. She stared at the ground trying to regain her balance. When she looked up again, she saw that Sirius was sitting on his broom.
"Get on," he said.
She gapped at him. "What?"
"Get on or I'll throw you over my shoulder again and carry you." She looked at him in amazement - he was serious.
Very reluctantly, she leaned sideways onto the broomstick behind him. Suddenly, Sirius kicked off of the ground, and he felt Carmen's arm wrap themselves tightly around his waist. He could hear her breathing very shallowly.
They soared around the stadium once and then out over the grounds. As he steered it over the lake, he felt Carmen give another little squeeze and a gasp. Once in the middle of the vast mass of water, he slowed the broom until it was flying just faster than a butterfly. Straightening up, he felt Carmen loosen her grip. He flung one leg over his broomstick and turned to face her. She was staring at the lake below, no longer looking fearful, but with a blank and unreadable look across her face. He lifted her chin gently with his pointer finger. She slowly glanced up into his deep eyes, and he gazed back. Her perfect lips were parted slightly. He longed to do it; he had wanted to do it for so long. She reached up. He leaned into her. They were inches apart. She closed her eyes. So did he. Their lips met sweetly as they continued to soar over the motionless lake, into the horizon.
However, they were not alone. Someone with bright blond hair was gazing up at them with a pure look of hatred plastered across her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~Bum bum bum! Like I said, this will probably be one of my favorite chapters in the entire story. I really hope you liked it. Well, if you review for any chapter, please review for this one! I'll be waiting!
Lots of love,
Carmen Willows