Ch. 11 "Secrets, Secrets, and More Secrets"
"Liiiiiiiiiily. Lillian Eeeeeeeeeeeevans. Are you awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaake? Are you awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaake?"
Lily groaned and clutched her head. "Shut up," she mumbled.
"Oh goody, you're awake," Sara said happily and grinned. "I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that you've been in the Hospital Wing for twenty-seven years, so you'll have a little catching up to do. I graduated from Hogwarts and am now a hobo, and let me just saw that it is working for me. My sixteenth husband took all my money and my clothes, and because of that, I am now a professional nudist."
"And the good news?" Lily groaned. "Oh Lord, my head is killing me."
"Yeah, the headache was to be expected," Sara told Lily sadly. "You kind of fainted and hit your head on one of those creepy suits of armor in the corridors, but I still don't know why you fainted in the first place because no one will tell me. Oh, the good news is that Robert Saye and I are now official! Would you like to see my engagement ring? It's really something."
"So he would be your seventeenth husband?" Lily asked distantly.
Sara chortled. "That's right."
Lily reached her hand up to scratch her cheek and cried out in pain. Sara winced. "Oh, you shouldn't have done that. You just opened a really deep cut. Ouch."
"Ow!" Lily cried out. "Where am I?"
"The Hospital Wing," Sara said. "Remus and his friends were up here awhile ago. He looked really sad for some reason. So did James."
"I wonder why." Lily swallowed and winced. "How long have I been here? Really."
"Six days."
"Six days?!" Lily exclaimed and coughed hard. "How much have I missed?"
"You mean in class, right? Not that much, honestly. I can get you your homework if you want. Well of course you want it. Oh Lily, are you okay? I really don't want to say it but you look terrible."
Lily gave a small smile. "I'll be fine," she said and coughed again. "Why am I in here? Why am I coughing? Why can't I remember anything?"
"Well then how do you remember not remembering?" Sara asked lightly. "Sorry, but I had to make a joke. You will have a slight memory loss for the next five to twelve hours –"
"Five to twelve hours?" Lily complained loudly. "You have got to be kidding me."
"Sorry, but I'm not. The truth is, no one really knows why you're like this. You were gone all night and by doing so you drove me crazy! I thought you had died or something! But I forgive you."
"Oh, okay then. What happened?" Lily asked anxiously.
"Okay, from what I know? Okay. Well, you're gone, me, the Marauders – isn't that such a funny word? – And Tanya, for like two minutes looked for you. We searched the whole castle and didn't find you. I'm in the common room having a panic attack, suddenly James darts upstairs, followed by Sirius, they're up there for a few minutes, then James comes running down the stairs. I ask him where he's going and he keeps running. Then Sirius comes running after James holding this piece of parchment. I pull him aside and ask what it is but he wouldn't tell me. I stole a glance at it but it was just a blank piece of parchment."
"Weird," Lily commented. So what does that have to do with me?"
"I'm getting there. They were gone for awhile, I don't know how long. Then around one in the morning they come in panting, really dirty and tired. I asked them what happened and they said some crap like they couldn't find you but I knew they were lying."
"How?" Lily interrupted.
Sara shrugged. "I just knew. It's one of my many talents. I pulled Sirius to the side again and asked about the parchment and where they were and stuff. But he still wouldn't tell me! He still won't tell me, I should say. Okay, now your story."
Lily opened and closed her mouth confusedly. "Uh, to be honest I don't know where to start."
"Start from where you ran out of the Great Hall; something the Lily Evans I know would never do. Never!"
Lily paused. "You know, Sara, um . . . I kind of don't really want to talk about it right now."
Sara cocked her head slightly to one side and furrowed her brow in confusion. "Okay," she said uncertainly. "Well, you'll tell me when you're ready. Right?"
"Um," Lily said hastily. "Yeah. Yeah I will. I will."
Sara leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. For a few seconds the two girls sat in silence and listened to the rain hitting the windowsill. Lily shifted uncomfortably and looked at Sara. She felt a pit in her stomach but before she could say something, Madame Lee came bustling in.
"Time for you to take your medicine," she said briskly. Madam Lee was old, she was expected to retire soon but she was as stern and quick as anyone half her age. She walked over to Lily ands held out a spoon covered with a thick, black, syrup-like liquid that smelled like raw fish.
"You'll have to leave," she told Sara. "Miss Evans will be out in a matter of seconds."
"Okay then. Bye, Lily," Sara said. She turned around before she could watch Lily drink the foul-smelling liquid. She dragged her feet down to the common room and stopped at the Fat Lady.
"Password?"
"Blue pixies," Sara mumbled. She lazily walked into the common room and threw herself on the couch in front of the fire. She breathed in deeply and stared at the fire.
Sara felt someone's eyes on her. She looked up and saw Sirius Black's lopsided smile directed at her. "What's up?" he asked charmingly. He sat down beside her and casually lay a hand over her shoulders.
Sara shifted slightly and shrugged. Sirius raised an eyebrow at her. "You're suppose to push me off the couch and tell me never to touch you again, just in case you forgot," he said cockily.
Sara shrugged again. "I'm just not in the mood to be angry, I suppose."
"Oh, well in that case . . ." Sirius pulled Sara even closer to him and leaned his head on top of hers. "Isn't this cozy?" he said and sighed deeply. "I'm in heaven."
Sara quickly untangled herself and moved to the other end of the couch. "Quit it, Sirius, you know I'm with Robert," she mumbled and hugged herself distractedly.
"Is something wrong?" Sirius asked concernedly. "I was just joking, Sara, I didn't mean it."
"No, Sirius, it's not that," Sara said exasperatedly. "It's Lily."
"What's the matter with Lily?" Sirius and James asked in unison. James stood behind Sirius with a confused expression. He walked around to the other side of the couch and sat down next to Sirius.
"Jeez, do I really need a crowd?" Sara asked loudly. James blinked and began to get up again. "Sorry," he said apologetically. "I was just curious."
"No, James, wait!" Sirius began to say. James ignored him and walked out of the common room. Sirius turned to Sara. "What the hell was that for?"
"Oh, so it's my fault?" Sara shouted. "So now I can't be trusted?!"
Sirius stood up. "I never said that," he said defensively.
"Sorry, but I'm just so mad!" she said huffily. Before Sirius could ask what was wrong, Sara jumped out of her seat and began pacing around the common room. "Something's wrong with Lily! I asked her what happened that night when she fainted but she won't tell me but that doesn't make much sense because she tells me everything but since she won't tell me I know it was bad and I have no idea why she won't tell me since I am her best friend and I really want to know what it is!" Sara said quickly and tugged her hair.
"But if you already know it was something bad then you don't have to ask, right?" Sirius asked hopefully.
"That's not the point!" she yelled and tugged at her hair again. "What I know doesn't matter if she doesn't tell me first!"
Sirius walked up to Sara and untangled her hands from her hair. He held them tightly in his and said, "Sara, calm yourself. At this rate you'll be bald within the next ten minutes." He grinned. "Look at it this way: Lily just woke up, and I'm not sure that even she knows exactly what happened. So give her some time to think about it, okay?"
Sara sighed loudly and smiled. "Okay," she said. "My head really does hurt, too." She gently pulled one of her hands from Sirius's grip and held a lock of her golden-brown hair in her hand. "Ouch," she said and laughed quietly. "What would I do without you, Sirius," she asked and smiled again. She looked down at the hands that still remained interlocked and her smile vanished. "You heard that I'm dating Robert, didn't you?" she asked suddenly.
Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Saye, right?" Sara nodded. "Yeah," Sirius said slowly. He opened his mouth to ask why she said that and noticed her looking warily at their hands. "Oh!" he said and dropped her hand.
Sara backed up and looked at the floor awkwardly. "I'm going to go meet him," she said and looked at the wall behind Sirius. "Now."
"Oh, okay," Sirius said and cleared his throat. "Well, uh, I won't keep you." Sirius turned around and walked up the boys' dormitory stairs.
Sara watched him until he turned the corner and was out of sight. "That was brilliant," she muttered angrily to herself. "He'll really want to talk to me again," she added almost sadly and left to go meet Robert.
Lily picked up her cup of tea and blew on it absently, her mind racing. A werewolf. A werewolf in the Forest. In the Forbidden Forest. On school grounds. A werewolf. Running into the Forest. Running from the werewolf. Falling. The werewolf not catching me. A deer. A pure white deer. Something I've never seen. Hagrid's never talked about. Defending me. A dog. A huge dog. Almost as big as the deer. Also defending me. The werewolf didn't hurt me. Getting on the deer's back. A deer letting a human on its back carrying it away from the werewolf? The deer dropping me off at school. Me walking in the corridor. Running into Black . . .
Lily closed her eyes and winced. "Brain freeze," she muttered and blew on her tea again.
"Yeah, I know how that feels," James said as he pulled a chair next to her bed and sat down backwards in it.
Lily blinked in confusion and took a sip of her tea. "Hi James," she said uncertainly.
"Hi," he said and grinned cockily. "So . . . I haven't seen you since forever."
"Six days, to be exact," she said and set her tea down. "May I help you with something?"
James smiled at her. "Manners, nice touch. Well, I'm here on two accounts."
"And the first one would be . . .?" Lily asked helpfully.
"Uh, well, the first one is that I am here on Tanya's behalf."
Lily wrinkled her nose. "Oh you really don't have to –"
"But I want to," he argued. "Anywho, I just wanted to apologize for her, well, off behavior."
"'Off'?" Lily repeated. "You're actually calling her behavior towards me off?!"
"You know, I think that is the longest sentence you've ever said to me since I've known you, which is kind of sad if you think of that," James said distractedly.
Lily's neck reddened and she clutched her blanket protectively. "Is there anything else you need, because if there isn't, I wouldn't mind if you left," she said harshly.
"Nope, that one had to be the longest," James told her and smiled. "Well, Tanya really is sorry for her behavior, even though she won't admit it. She hasn't had the best life," James said sympathetically.
"Oh, I wonder what that would be like," Lily said sarcastically. "Now could you leave?"
"One more thing," James said cheerfully. "I was just wondering how you are feeling. You know, since you ran into that were – since you fainted."
Lily's eyes widened. "What did you just –"
"Out, out, out!" Madame Lee screeched as she appeared out of the middle of nowhere and pushed James towards the door. "Visiting hours are over, Potter, come in tomorrow! Out!" James glanced over his shoulder one last time to look at Lily and smiled apologetically. Madame Lee slammed the door shut and walked to her office, muttering incoherently.
Lily's stomach tightened and her hands started to sweat. She swallowed hard. How does he know about that? she asked herself. She leaned back against the pillows and frowned. "No one is suppose to know about that. Ugh, I'm so stupid!" She smacked herself in the head and sighed deeply. "He has no idea what he's talking about," she sternly told herself. "He'll probably forget all about it in the morning. He will, I know he will."
Lily slowly moved the heavy quilt to the side and pulled up the checkered nightdress she wore. She stared silently at the large scar she had on her right thigh. It was just a scar now, thank God. Lily shuddered as she remembered the pain it had caused her. As it turned out, the cut was extremely deep and even Madame Lee had her doubts that it would mend properly.
She ran a hand against the scrape on her cheek and her frown deepened. There has to be a spell somewhere in one of Sara's beauty magazines that will cover this up, she thought desperately. There has to be.
"How did he find out," she asked herself again, this time so quietly she could barely even hear her own voice. "No one can know about that. No one."
It rocks that we can change the colors of the bar. Whoo hoo. Now, for those of you who are like, "WTF this chapter sucks" I couldn't agree more. Okay okay, I really shouldn't say that cuz then it makes people think I need comforting and engouraging words. Nooooooooo, not this chick. Anyway, just so you know, the direction I'm going in is something like ............................... HA! You really think I'll unleash the dreaded spoiler? Hell no!
I just noticed something. I forgot a disclaimer! If I already mentioned this, I apolegize. I thought about putting one in, and I imagined myself doing that, and I forget if I actually did do it, or if it's just the daydream. Anywho, I don't own Harry Potter yadda yadda yadda. One more thing! The TV show Lost on ABC is OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!!!!!!!!! For those of you who couldn't agree more SCREAM IT!!!!!!!!!! May I just mention that caffine ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SecretlyBeautiful: kick-ass name. i love it. anyway, many thanks for your review. huggins is ruining everything, and in the creative, twisted mind that is mine, that is what i call humor. i actually am hoping that there is some physical action between the two brits, thank you for your concern. anyway, the summary? right, i really should change that. i wrote it after my first chapter, and that was just a basic outline for the whole entire story. but, since i haven't gotten that far yet, i guess i really should fix it so it does correspond with the story .... thank you. the makeover is coming during the summer between 6th and 7th, so it's like a suprise or whatever. it is 6th year, just in case you haven't caught on. or that i'm a really crappy explainer. either one works for me.
InLuvWitRupert: so ... we meet again ... lol. yes, i am not dead, and if i was, don't worry, i would tell you. tampa bay, you say? hmmm ... classy. i went to orlando. yeah, it was cool. but then again i already said that. sorry for the long wait, a habit i hope to break. oh, and the computer thing, i totally understand. i had a really crappy internet connection awhile ago and it would just disconnect sudden;y without warning, then sometimes wouldn't work at all. damn technology. anywayz, thanks for the reviews, however long they happen to be, hope to hear from you again. ciao.
Flame Of Desire: very, very glad you like my fic, i have my doubts, but it's nice to know at least one person likes it. two people would completely rock my socks.
soccerchic1989: many thanks, luv ya for reviewing.
Annmarie Aspasia: coolio is a very lame word, but that is why i say it. used to say it, actually. if people look at me weird for saying it, screw them. lol, lovely name, if i haven't already said it. if i have, i'll say it again. lovely name.
The ORIGINAL Meathead: well, if you weren't the ORIGINAL, i would be apalled. did i spell that right? ...............maybe. i admire your creative imagination. not too many people could ask that many questions so quickly. oh, and the ap and wand thing, i thank you. your compliments made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. lol. snaps for sam! (major legally blonde flashback) P
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