A/N: Thanks to anyone who reviewed the last chapter! I am glad you guys liked it! Not much else to say, except here is chapter five! Enjoy! Please read and review and tell me what you think!
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More Than Yellowed Pages
Chapter Six
"Lily, will you go to the graduation ball with me?" Harry's father was down on one knee as if he were about to propose marriage.
Lily's face brightened. "Yes, James! Of course I'll go!" she smiled, wrapping him in a hug.
"I'm taking Sara," smiled Remus, coming up on the two of them in the Gryffindor common room. "I just asked her about an hour ago. And of course, we all know who Sirius is taking..." he laughed.
"Isn't Peter going?" Lily asked.
"I don't know. He's applied for a new job near here, and I think he has something to do that night," Remus remembered.
Lily sighed. "That's too bad. Well, Remus, I'm glad you're going. I'm sure it will make you feel better, especially after last week, eh?" she punched him lightly in the shoulder.
"Yeah," he nodded. "You know, Dumbledore has offered me a job here...it's not like I can get one anywhere else..." he frowned.
"Don't worry about it, Moony. After all, those Ministry prunes don't know what they're talking about. You would've made a great Auror."
"Thanks." He yawned. "We best get some sleep. The ball is tomorrow!" he waved to his friends and headed for the Gryffindor boys' dormitory.
"Lily, you look great!" James beamed at Lily as she came down the stairs.
"Ditto, Potter," she smiled at him. "Where is everyone else? I was hoping to talk to Jackie before we left. Sirius is planning to..."
"Sh!" warned James. "He wants to surprise her!"
"All right! I wasn't going to actually tell her, you know!" Lily whined. "Are we leaving now?"
"Yes," James nodded.
The decorations at the ball were grand. Candles of various colors hung mid air, and above, there appeared to be no ceiling, but a starry night sky. It was the kind of thing only Dumbledore could have done, and the beauty of it all made Lily gasped as she walked inside with James.
"Look, James! There's Jackie and Sirius! And over there near the butter beer is Remus and Sara! They look so nice together, don't they James?"
"Yeah, they do..." James smiled for his friend, and held out his hand to Lily. "Do you want to dance?"
She nodded, and took his hand. The two of them danced past Sirius and Jackie, who smiled at them. When the dance was over, James and Lily joined Jackie, Sirius, Sara, and Remus by the food tables. The group ate and laughed for nearly an hour, taking an occasional time out to do a dance or two.
Several hours passed. Finally, it started to get late.
Jackie yawned. "Sirius, why don't we head back to the castle? I'm really sleepy..." she grabbed on to his arm.
"Hold on for a little while, Jackie...I have a surprise for you."
"A surprise?" she smiled. "What is it?"
"If I told you, it wouldn't be much of a surprise, would it?" he smiled as James struggled to hold Lily back from blabbing the secret to her friend. "Just give it about a half hour...and then you'll see. After that, I promise, I'll take you straight back to your dormitory." Sirius smiled.
Twenty minutes passed. With each second, Jackie grew more and more excited about the prospect of finally receiving her surprise. Eight minutes later, Sirius glanced up at the ceiling, and then back down to the floor. He smiled. "Jackie, look up." He whispered.
Jackie did as she was told, and nearly screamed. Going through the night sky above their heads were several meteors. In the midst of all this was written 'Will you marry me, Jackie?' Jackie finally did scream, and wrapped Sirius in a tight hug, yelling, "Yes, I will!" into his ear. She released her death grip and smiled at him. "Was that the surprise, Padfoot?" she asked, and he nodded. "It was a pretty good one. You got me," she laughed.
"You are a seer, are you not? I thought you'd figure it out for sure!" he smiled back.
Sirius hugged James, pat Lily on the back, and talked to Remus for about five minutes before finally taking Jackie's hand in his own. "We're headed back to the castle to tell Dumbledore the news. Besides, Jackie is tired..." he explained to the group.
"Wait for Lily and me! We'll be right behind you!" James promised.
"Can we wait?" he asked Jackie, and she nodded.
Not five minutes later, there was a huge explosion. Several people screamed, including Lily and Jackie. Remus rushed over to his friends, dragging Sara by her hand.
"What happened? We have to get out of here, now!" he screamed urgently.
"Death Eaters! There are six of them, Remus!" Sara cried.
Remus drew his wand. "What the hell are death eaters doing at the dance? Who the hell invited them?" he demanded, as if he expected one of them to answer.
A cackling sort of laugh could be heard somewhere on the other side of the room. A purple beam of energy shot through the crowd. Lily, James, and Sirius had to jump to avoid getting caught in its path.
"Sirius! Arm yourself!" Jackie practically ordered.
Sirius jerked his wand from his robes. "Lily! James! Get out of here! I bet he's after..." Sirius watched the yellow beam of energy shoot towards the ceiling. He heard it make impact. He screamed. When the dust cleared, Jackie was laying under a large piece of the marble ceiling. "Jackie!" he gasped, dropping to his knees.
"Jackie!" screamed Lily and Sara in unison.
Sara tried to run, but Remus held her tight. He wrapped her in a hug so that she was not facing the horrible sight, and buried his head in her shoulder. "No, Sara. Let them have their time..." he cried. He knew that there was no saving Jackie.
"James! Help! We have to get this thing off of her!" Sirius cried. He and James lifted, but it did not move. Remus released Sara, took another end of the marble, and lifted with his friends. Finally, Jackie was free.
Sirius dropped back down to his knees. "Jackie! You'll be all right! We'll get you back to the castle! Madam Pomfrey can heal anything! You're going to be fine!"
"No, Sirius. No I'm not. You have to leave. You have to get everyone out of here. If he finds Lily and James..."
"I won't leave you here, damn it!" he yelled, a tear dripping down his face.
"Go, Sirius. Go." Jackie took his hand in hers. "I love you, Sirius." She whispered, and was quiet.
"Jackie! Oh, god!" Sara bellowed at the top of her lungs. "No!"
"Sirius! Sirius! Get up! It's Voldemort!" James whispered to his friend. He drew his wand, and stood in front of Lily.
Remus glanced at Sara, who was understandably still sobbing. He waved his wand, and something that looked like a blanket appeared. He smiled weakly to Sirius, carefully picked Jackie up, and put her on the blanket. He handed his wand to Sara. "Take this. If you flick the wand, the blanket will levitate, and it will follow you. Do it, and run. Take Lily and run until you get to the castle, you hear? Don't stop running!" He kissed her lightly on the cheek, and glanced at Lily, who reluctantly nodded at his instruction. "Go. We'll be there when this is over..." he whispered.
Lily and Sara ran, the white blanket carrying Jackie's body hovering in front of them. Sirius, red faced and angry, raised his wand. James and Remus stood on either side of him. Voldemort was within their sight. He was smiling at them. Sirius opened his mouth while he aimed his wand, but before anything could happen, Dumbledore had appeared out of nowhere.
"Dumbledore!" James smiled.
"Run back to the castle, now!" Dumbledore ordered. "I will meet you in the infirmary!"
"But..." Sirius began. There was a flash of bright light, and the three of them found themselves standing in front of the main entrance to Hogwarts. They ran to the infirmary.
Lily was sitting in a chair next to the bed where Jackie was laying. She was humming something, and did not blink, except when she saw James. She cast her eyes down towards the ground, and shook her head. James wrapped her in a hug.
Sara was sitting in another bed, adjacent to the one Jackie was laying in. Her eyes were glazed over, and she was staring at the ceiling. She, like Lily, did not blink. Remus slowly walked over to Sara's bed, where Madam Pomfrey was standing. She looked very perplexed. Sara did not even blink when Remus came over.
He frowned. "Is she all right?" he whispered.
"Jackie was gone before she got here, Remus. Poor Sara. I've never seen anything like it. Were they close? She has not blinked, nor moved, nor spoke since they got here. I can't do anything. She is unresponsive. I called St. Mongo's just before you came in. I'm afraid I can't do anything to help her. She's really out of it. Maybe they can help her..." Madam Pomfrey's voice was very soft. It was almost impossible to hear. She glanced to the doorway, where Sirius was still standing. "Oh, Sirius...oh I'm so sorry...there was nothing I could do..." she wept, and walked over to wrap him in a hug. He sobbed into her shoulder.
Dumbledore walked into the room only seconds later. He frowned. "Voldemort and his followers are gone for now..." he reported. His face fell when he saw Jackie. "I will contact her parents. Come, Sirius..." he whispered, leading Sirius away.
Harry woke with a start. He could not believe what he had just seen. What Professor Lupin had told him about...that must have been the night it happened. Why did he have to see all of this? There was so much pain in it. He glanced around the room. There was sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows, and no one was still in their beds. He had slept late.
"Ron! Hermione! Luna! Neville!" he screamed, running down the stairs that led to the common room.
Luna and Hermione closed their magazines and smiled when they saw him. "We didn't want to disturb you from your sleep, Harry. Dumbledore excused you from this mornings classes." Hermione explained.
"I wish someone would've disturbed me!" he yelled. "Where is Professor Lupin? Is he still around the castle?"
"Of course he is, Harry. Calm down." Luna whispered. "You look rather upset."
"I am!" he screamed.
"You could vent all that anger into the Quiddich game, Harry. It starts in fifteen minutes..." Ron informed him, coming in through the portrait hole. "Did you sleep well?"
"No." Harry growled. "I didn't."
"Today's match: Gryffindor versus Slytherin!" yelled Jordan. "Glad to see Potter's alive! We would have been in some trouble!"
Ron nodded. "That does sound pretty harsh, Harry." He agreed.
"I know. I wonder why my dad would put something like that in there?" he asked Ron. "It was just...horrible."
"Maybe he's showing it to you for a reason? I bet that's why Dumbledore gave it to you. Maybe he's worried that something like that might happen again?" Ron suggested.
"Are you mad? I doubt Voldemort would try the same trick twice..."
"Actually, it would be sort of brilliantly twisted, if you think about it. Sirius was your godfather, right? And your parents were there...it would be perfectly hilarious to him, Harry, to get you just like he got Sirius. He didn't even have to kill Sirius..." Ron looked disturbed at his own thoughts. "...Let's focus on the game, shall we?" he suggested nervously.
Luna and Hermione were decked out in every piece of Gryffindor memorabilia imaginable. They were easily spotted among the crowd of Gryffindors when Harry and Ron flew out onto the field. Next to them, Harry noticed, stood Professor Lupin and Mad Eye Moody.
"Look, Ron!" he called, but his voice was drowned out by the wind.
Ron let in three goals for the Slytherin side during the game. The new Gryffindor chasers, however, quickly had Slytherin's thirty points beat. The game dwindled on for nearly an hour before Harry caught sight of the snitch. He caught it easily, and the game was called. Gryffindor had won by a margin of 210 to 130. The crowd erupted in applause.
Harry landed his broom and immediately ran to the stands. Professor Lupin met him half way. "We've been worried about you today, Harry! When I didn't see you in Defense Against the Dark Arts, I thought you might have...but then Dumbledore came in and explained to me that the dream journal had not completed it's round..." he sighed deeply.
"You thought I might have what?" demanded Harry. "I know that the Order is here at Hogwarts, Professor. Luna told me. The rest of them are in Godric's Hollow, right? Is that where you thought I'd gone?" he asked, not blinked.
Lupin nodded. "Yes, Harry. That was where I thought you might go, actually." He admitted. "I'm glad you were only sleeping, though..."
"Only sleeping? I wasn't only sleeping! I was being horrified! I saw it all! The whole thing, Professor...what you told me about the other night...I saw it happen as if I were there." His voice softened. "I don't understand...why would my dad want to put something like that into his journal?"
Lupin frowned, and sighed very deeply. "Harry, Jackie was no ordinary witch. She was a seer. It was she who saw the fate of your parents. Her prophecy still sits in the Department of Mysteries. Professor Trelawny, bless her soul, can not hold even a candle stick to what Jackie could do...yet Trelawny was the one who made the other prophecy..."
Harry frowned, and nodded. "The one Voldemort wanted in my fifth year. I remember," he paused. "Voldemort thought it would show which one of us was going to..." he stopped, and gulped hard.
"Well, Harry...I understand that Luna has told you why the Order is in Godric's Hollow, but perhaps I had better explain." He paused, and Harry nodded. "Every year, the Hogwarts Graduation Ball is held at the hotel in Godric's Hollow. The hotel and the land it sits on used to belong to your grandfather...then your father, after he graduated, and soon, it will be yours." Lupin took a deep breath. "The problem is, Harry, that Voldemort has supposedly been sighted right where Luna's father claimed he would be...and the reason, Harry, that this is a problem, is because of what happened at the hotel seventeen years ago."
Harry nodded. "But, why, Professor..." he began.
"Voldemort went to the hotel with several of his death eaters actually looking for Jackie, Harry." Lupin explained before Harry could finish. "Several people ended up in the hospital wing, Harry...but nobody except Jackie was killed...because Voldemort wanted her dead." He exhaled. "Sara was sent to St. Mongo's. Later that night, as we were all trying to calm ourselves in the common room, your mother and father just sort of vanished right in front of us." He shook his head. "Peter...he ran and got Dumbledore. By the time the two of them got there, Lily had reappeared, sitting on the floor near the fireplace with James's head in her lap. Voldemort had found a way to attack them, even though they were inside the castle..."
Harry gasped. "But...why are you telling me all this, Professor? I'm sure my father's dream journal won't leave it out..." he scowled unhappily.
"Because, Harry. Don't you see? Dumbledore is afraid that what happened seventeen years ago to us," he gulped. "He's afraid it could happen to you and your friends, Harry. If the Order cannot guarantee safety in Godric's Hollow, it is likely there will be no dance at the hotel this year. Dumbledore is too afraid of the consequences."
"He's afraid...it could happen to us?" Harry repeated in disbelief, thinking back on what Ron had said earlier.
"Are you mad? I doubt Voldemort would try the same trick twice..."
"Actually, it would be sort of brilliantly twisted, if you think about it. Sirius was your godfather, right? And your parents were there...it would be perfectly hilarious to him, Harry, to get you just like he got Sirius. He didn't even have to kill Sirius..." Ron looked disturbed at his own thoughts. "...Let's focus on the game, shall we?" he suggested nervously.
Harry shook his head to try to get the images out, and glanced back at the stands, where Luna was waiting for him with a confused look on her face. Ron was talking with Hermione. He glanced back at Professor Lupin. "Professor, that won't happen again. I can't let that happen again..." he whispered.
"I know Harry. I know. That's why we're here..." Lupin smiled weakly at him. He turned to leave, but turned back around. "And Harry..." Harry turned. "Pay attention to what your father shows you. He just doesn't want anything bad to happen to you..."
"I will." Harry promised, and ran over to join Luna.
"What was it?" she asked him curiously.
He frowned. "Tell Hermione and Ron to meet us in the common room when they are through. I have to talk to you guys..."
"What is it? What's wrong?" Luna cocked her head sideways and studied him. "What happened Harry?"
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A/N: Wow! Finally finished...with this chapter, anyway! Tell me what you thought! Thanks a bundle! Bubye!