Chapter 6: Magic Cockroach
Lily awoke the next morning as if she had only had half the amount of sleep she had actually slept for. It was very cold, even as she lay under the covers of her duvet. The girls' dormitory was illuminated only by the natural daylight, other then that there was no sign of the bright sunrays at all.
Lily sleepily sat up in her sheets and glanced around the room. It didn't take her long to establish that she was the only person awake, as everyone else was clearly asleep. It was only seven a.m., and today was a Sunday, so no one would feel the need to wake up so early.
She stared intently across the dormitory, pausing to look out of the opposite window from her bed. She had not forgot the events of last night, how James had acted so differently and just as inexplicably- about the dog and stag. The howl was also another bewilderment to Lily, she remembered how it had echoed across the grounds like a sharp, piercing cry of pain.
She frowned and ran her hands through her knotted hair, only to feel a mass of kinks and curls. She sighed as she stepped down from her bed and pulled on a pair of maroon slippers before reaching for her green night robe. She needed to empty her head of her current matted thoughts, so decided to grab her favourite poetry book, 'Poems of Love' and exited down to the common room.
She hadn't really had the chance to read anymore, going back to Hogwarts bought back all the hectic-ness that disabled her from doing such things like reading. Lily closed the dormitory door softly behind her and quietly descended down the spiral staircase, it was only until she reached the bottom step that she realised that she was not alone.
Reclined on one of the sofas close to the back end window, clearly asleep, was James Potter. His head was resting against the arm of the sofa, and he was sprawled across with his arms lightly hugging his waist. He was wearing grey pyjama trousers and a navy blue T-shirt that flattered his toned torso quite pleasantly. Lily watched as James continued to exhale gently, she considered whether to wake him- but was saved from making any effort as his eyes suddenly flickered open and he stared wide-eyed around the room.
"Good morning, James" said Lily, smirking as she watched his eyes spin round to match hers.
"Ah, Lily, I always wanted you to be the one to say that to me," he said impishly, gaining his usuall composure by sitting up and smirking ardently.
Lily sighed, but was nevertheless slightly relieved that James was actually talking to her, she had expected him not to.
"What are you doing down here?" Lily asked.
James frowned as if he was struggling to remember what he was doing in the common room himself, "Well, I woke up really early about three a.m." he finally said, "and I came down here because I couldn't get back to sleep, and I guess I must of fell asleep,"
Lily frowned, still slightly confused, not about why James was down in the common room, but why he walked away so rashly without a word to her the previous night.
"I was wondering, why did you walk away so quickly last night?" she asked.
James smirked and ruffled his unruly hair. "What, did it bother you?" he questioned.
"No, I was just expecting one of your childish remarks before you left," Lily answered edgily.
James laughed, "So it did bother you, sweet Lily," he said, obviously not expecting an answer.
"Whatever, Potter," Lily argued irritably. "Not that I care, but where were you hurrying off anyway?"
"A Marauder never reveals his secrets," replied James simply, " anyway, I know you didn't go to bed until gone past ten,"
"How do you know?" Lily asked cynically, watching the corners of James's mouth curl upwards.
"A Marauder never reveals his secrets, Lily,"
Lily rolled her eyes at his satirical reply, she dreaded to think about the Marauders 'secrets' or even their newest plans, as they were more than often dangerous. However, James took a large contrast to this- as he was a fully-fledged Marauder and excessively proud of it.
"Usually, I wouldn't mind more interrogating off you, but I have to catch up on my sleep, see you later, sweet Lily," said James, getting to his feet and turning towards the curled staircase.
"Ok, Potter," replied Lily, taking a seat on the now-vacant sofa and finally opening her book.
James span around from his position at the top of the staircase and turned to watch Lily keenly, "I knew James wouldn't last long," he mocked.
Lily frowned. "What do you mean?" she asked, somewhat bemused.
"Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that I witnessed you calling me James earlier, not Potter," he answered readily.
"Err- yes, you did," Lily replied.
"So I take it that when you feel bad about something you call me James, but when everything's fine you call me Potter?" James questioned, leaning across the glossy black banister while watching Lily.
"What do you mean when I feel bad about something?" snapped Lily, shutting her book quickly and turning to watch James.
"Like earlier, you were feeling bad about what you said yesterday," he supplied instantly.
Lily could feel her cheeks glowing red, what right did James Potter have to say that she was feeling bad about anything she had said to him?
"I call you Potter for a reason, because there's times when you annoy me, like now, and you deserve to be called it!" sniped Lily, watching James's patronising smirk broaden as her voice became louder and higher.
"Will you just go up to your dormitory?" she added angrily, scowling at James who seemed to be growing happier by the second at Lily's expense.
"If you wish, Lily," he added teasingly, before turning and entering his dormitory.
Lily sighed and rested back further into the sofa, she had yet again lost her temper with James- which by now was happening on a weekly basis. Deciding to disregard all thoughts of James, she cleared her mind so she could read without any mental distraction.
She wearily opened her book once again and began to scan through the pages, pausing every now and again to read a poem she rather liked in more depth. The tranquillity lasted for thirty minutes until the calling of her name interrupted her.
"Lil's?" asked a quiet voice to her right.
Lily unburied her head from her book and peered up to see Herra watching her oddly from the top of the girls staircase, she was also dressed in her night-robe, but navy blue instead of green.
"Hey, Herra," replied Lily, patting the space next to her on the sofa and hinting for her to sit down.
Herra began to slowly walk down the staircase and sluggishly sat down onto the sofa.
"Why are you down so early?" she asked, yawning.
Lily frowned as she recovered the thoughts she had only just recently spent time forgetting.
"I guess I couldn't sleep, but I think I know why," she replied thoughtfully, closing her book and perching it onto her lap.
"Why?" asked Herra, curiously.
"Well, last night when I went to the meeting about Hogsmeade, I stayed down in the hall after it finished on my own for a while, and I saw something out the window." Answered Lily quietly. "There was a stag and a dog chasing after each other on the grounds- and they even turned round to face me and just stared-, but- they were so humanlike, and there was something about them that reminded me of something. Anyway, then there was this awful loud howl that scared them away."
Herra's eyes grew wider as she listened to Lily's reminisce. "Are you serious?".
Perhaps it did sound a bit farfetched, after all, it was very unlikely to see a stag and dog running around the Hogwarts grounds together- not to forget hearing a ear piercing howl.
"Of course I'm serious, but you can't tell anyone," Lily replied quickly.
Herra laughed at Lily's intent look of caution, "What, afraid people will think you're delirious Lily?" she asked lightly.
Lily glowered at Herra, who in return smiled softly.
"Only joking Lil's, of course I believe you," she asserted. "But that's a bit strange, what do you think they were doing?"
"I don't know," Lily replied bemusedly, "but the funny thing was that James was looking out the window closely before I came in, and then he rushed off as soon as Professor Dumbledore left and didn't say anything to me."
Herra's expression quickly turned to utter disbelief as soon as Lily finished her sentence, "He didn't speak to you, bloody hell Lil's, I cannot believe that!"
"I just spoke to him now and he's back to his normal manner, y'know, annoying the hell out of me," replied Lily wearily, "so you can-"
However, Lily did not get to finish her sentence because at that moment a voice curtly interrupted her, "Talking about Prongs are we?"
Sirius Black stood casually leaning against the black banister at the top of the boy's staircase. His lips were frayed into a playful grin. Sirius was wearing what Lily supposed were his muggle clothes- baggy dark blue jeans and a white T-shirt. He made his way down the spiral staircase and parked onto the sofa next to Herra.
Lily was suddenly very much aware that Herra and herself were still wearing their night-robes, while Sirius was dressed in his day clothes.
'Prongs', was the nickname the Marauders had given to James, Lily had no idea why they chose this name, and didn't particularly care.
"Problems on the marriage front?" Sirius asked wryly.
Lily irritably shook her head, "I would never be crazy enough to marry Potter, " she replied. "How long were you listening to our conversation for?"
Sirius idly scratched his hair and shrugged, "Just so I could hear that Prongs allegedly wasn't talking to you, but is now- did he see you this morning?"
Lily nodded. "Yes, he was down here when I came down earlier," she replied.
"And he didn't die of fright, did he?" Sirius asked again.
Lily frowned. "What?" she snapped incredulously.
"Well, you're exactly as fresh as a daisy in the morning, are you Evans?" he replied puckishly, patting down his neatly slumped hair.
"And you are?" asked Herra, stepping into the conversation, casting a cynical glance at Sirius.
"Not me alone, you as well, Herra," he replied, winking at Herra, who rolled her eyes in an attempt to conceal her crimson face.
There was a sudden bang that echoed across the common room, and a moment later, a very tired and agitated looking Remus Lupin stood leaning against the front of the portrait hole.
"Moony, are you all right?" asked Sirius abruptly, quickly moving towards Remus.
Remus merely nodded his head and swept a pale hand through his damp hair, "Yeah, I, err- guess, " he panted.
Remus, also known as 'Moony' to the other Marauders, was the only Marauder Lily actually liked to be in company of, she had previously been a prefect with him and got to know him as a good friend.
Lily's thoughts rang with concern, why was Remus looking so pale and tired? He normally carried this look, but at the present moment he was looking exceptionally ill. Beads of sweat were formed on his forehead, and his eyes were dull and lifeless, reflecting the rest of his appearance.
Sirius's frown deepened, he took a step closer towards Remus and they began conversing in hushed voices that only he and Remus could possibly hear. As they continued whispering, Remus' expression suddenly turned from anxiety into complete shock and his eyes widened immensely. He frowned tautly and swept a glance towards Lily, who was now feeling completely confused.
"Are you okay, Remus?" asked Lily.
Remus slowly nodded, "Just a run in with Peeves," he breathed. "For some reason, he was accusing me of a making loud howling noise. He's been accusing everyone, actually."
Lily frowned. "Something did howl last night, I heard it," she answered.
"Really?" asked Remus.
She considered whether to tell Remus about what happened last night and decided to go ahead as her concern deepened. "I stayed on my own in the Great Hall for a while after a meeting about Hogsmeade trips, and when I was looking outside the window I saw a stag and a dog running across the grounds, and then I heard the howl-"
Lily halted, she had noticed Remus and Sirius exchange glances.
"Oh, that's strange- they could've been from the forest... strays, maybe," replied Remus slowly, as if he was holding on to every word.
Lily felt herself grow slightly dubious towards Remus, "Are you sure you're all right?" she asked again.
"Certainly," he replied.
There was a moment of awkward silence until another voice broke the stillness.
"Hey, what's going- Moony are you okay?"
James Potter came running down the boy's staircase, he too had the same uneasy expression as Sirius.
"Magic Cockroach, I think we need Peter, too," said Remus, nodding his head towards the portrait hole.
James nodded, "Oh, sure, you're going to have a bit of a job waking Wormtail up though," he replied.
"Nah, it won't be that hard, don't forget how much I like a challenge, Prongs," replied Sirius, before sprinting up the boy's staircase and instantly opening the seventh year boys' dormitory door.
Lily was completely confused, she had no idea what was happening so decided to wait in silence along with James, Remus and Herra until Sirius returned. A short while later, he appeared from his dormitory with a fully dressed Peter Pettigrew tailing his feet.
"He was already up," Sirius said in reply to the many looks of confusion as Peter paced down the stairs after him.
"What's going on?" asked Peter strangely, peering in perplexity at the many anxious faces.
"I'll explain now, please excuse us," replied Remus, smiling benevolently at Lily and Herra before quietly opening the portrait hole door and climbing out, shortly followed by Sirius, James and Peter.
"What the bloody hell was all that about?" asked Herra, once the Marauders had closed the portrait hole door behind them.
"I don't know, but they usually do conceal things- but that was just strange, even for them," said Lily peculiarly, milling over the events of the past few minutes.
"I wonder what was wrong with Remus?" asked Herra again, staring at the portrait hole fixedly with a frown.
"That's what I was thinking, he usually looks tired and ill, but I don't think I've ever saw him look so bad," replied Lily, creasing her forehead.
"Y'know, we could just listen to what they're saying...their only behind the door," said Herra, with the air of hopeful curiosity.
"Herra, we can't listen to their conversation!" snapped Lily indignantly, rather surprised at Herra's idea to intercept, "what type of people would that make us?"
Herra sighed, "Yeah, I guess your right... as usual," she said indolently.
"You know it," joked Lily. "C'mon, we should get changed. I thought you were going to die of embarrassment earlier, with what Sirius said."
Herra laughed, and her cheeks flushed red again, "I think your right, c'mon then... 'not-so-fresh-as-a-daisy-in-the-morning'," she said, linking Lily by the arm and steering her up the girls staircase.