Lily nervously walked towards the Gryffindor table and sat down. "Hi, Sara," she said as cheerfully as she could.
"Hi," Sara replied casually and kept her head down.
Lily fidgeted slightly and said, "I can't wait to leave. These next few days are going to be unbearable." She smiled.
Sara mixed her mashed potatoes with her peas. "Mm."
Lily's smile vanished. Lately, Sara had been rather short with Lily, and she knew it was because she wouldn't talk to Sara about that night with the werewolf. But Lily didn't see any harm in it; it was her business and she would talk about it if she wanted to. "What are you going to do over the summer?" she asked in another attempt to pull Sara into a conversation. Sara shrugged.
"I don't know how I'm going to handle Petunia this year," Lily admitted. "I guess I'll just have to run away," she said lightly.
"Mm," Sara said again.
Lily sighed deeply and glanced around the Great Hall. It wasn't as crowded as usual. Many students from Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw have disappeared as a result of Lord Voldemort. There were stories every day in the paper about people of the Muggle heritage being killed, tortured, and simply vanishing every day. Lily stole a look at the Slytherin table. It was the most packed table in the Great Hall. Everyone at it was talking loudly and laughing. No one was missing. Lily narrowed her eyes. That's strange, she mused. That's very strange.
Lily turned her attention back towards Sara. Sara's head was drooped and all the food on her plate was mixed together and formed a lumpy, reddish-gray lump, spotted with green and yellow. Her shoulders were hunched over and she wasn't moving.
"Sar?" Lily asked and nudged her lightly on the arm. "Sara, whassa matter?"
Sara's head snapped up and she looked at Lily. "What?"
"You looked kind of sad . . . is everything okay?"
"What? Oh, yeah. I was just thinking."
"What about?"
Sara opened and quickly closed her mouth. Her brow furrowed in confusion and she slowly reopened her mouth. "If I tell you, will you tell me?"
Lily instantly knew what Sara was talking about. "No," she said firmly.
"Why the hell not?" Sara asked enraged. She stood up and towered over Lily. "Why not?" she repeated.
"Why is this bothering you so much?" Lily retorted loudly. She, too, stood up and the two girls glared at each other. Lily noticed that, for the second time that year, she had gotten the whole Hall's attention. "Outside," she said quietly. Sara lifted her chin in the air and swiftly walked past Lily to the nearest exit. By doing so, Sara had managed to carefully bump into Lily as she walked by. Lily stumbled slightly but quickly recovered.
Lily followed Sara out of the Great Hall and turned to her in the hallway, waiting for her to speak. Sara crossed her arms, waiting for Lily to speak. They stood in the corridor silently, still glaring at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. After a few minutes, Lily's eyes began to soften and her muscles began to loosen. Sara remained untouched.
"Sara," Lily whined. "Come on, Sara, it's nothing . . ."
"Oh, so now it's nothing?!" Sara screeched. Lily took a step back. Sara continued on, "So now telling me is nothing?! It's not just about telling me about that, Lily, it's about telling me in general! All I want to know is why you will not tell me. Is it because I'm untrustworthy? Because you'd rather tell someone else? Because I'm the one person you want to leave ignorant to the details of your life? Well? I want an answer, Evans!"
Lily tries very hard to hide her surprise to Sara's reaction. "Uh – well . . . you see –"
"That's not an answer, Evans," Sara said coldly.
"Well, Williams," Lily retorted as naturally as she could. "I honestly don't see what the big deal is. Do you really have to know everything?"
"Why won't you answer me?!" Sara yelled. Her voice echoed loudly through the corridor and Lily was surprised that nobody had come yet. "I don't want to know what happened anymore, I just want to know why you won't tell me! Is that really too hard to answer?"
"I just don't see why it's any of your business," Lily shouted as she matched her volume with Sara's. "I bet there's a lot of stuff I don't know about you, but I'm okay with that!"
"There is NOTHING you don't know! I told you everything, and now I regret it all!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"Really?"
"Really!"
Lily was speechless. She just stood there gaping like a fish out of water, searching her mind desperately for a good comeback. "You want to know why? It's because I don't want you to know. I don't want anyone to know! It is my business and mine alone! Is it really that hard for everyone to properly digest that? Why can't you people just leave me alone?!"
Sara didn't move a muscle. She stood there, unmoving, staring at Lily for what seemed like eternity. "Fine."
Lily was startled by the sudden noise and she didn't really hear what Sara said. "What?"
But by that time, Sara had already turned on her heel and walked swiftly down the corridor, her robes flaring out as she turned the corner. Lily felt a huge pit in her stomach. I should go after her, she thought sympathetically. I was too harsh.
As much as Lily willed her legs to move, or even make a simple move to reassure her that they were still there, they refused to budge. Lily's whole body felt numb, and she felt paralyzed. She had no idea how long she stood there. She heard the happy chatter and laughter of students coming from dinner, and the clatter of several paintings hitting the floor, thanks to Peeves.
Lily sighed deeply but still didn't move. It wasn't like she wanted to, either. She'd much rather stand in that dark, dimly lit corridor than face anybody right now. Especially Sara. The pit in her stomach grew. I was way too harsh on her, Lily thought. She really didn't deserve that. Would it really bother me that much if she knew?
Lily was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't hear the approaching footsteps, the girlish giggle and a gasp, followed by a tap on the shoulder. Lily turned around, despite the many protests from her numb legs, and made a face. "Ew."
Suspense! Is there anything greater? Okay, yeah there is, but ... yeah. Hey! I have 100 FRICKIN REVIEWS!!!!!! The most I've ever gotten was 46! So this is good! Whoo hoo, you guys rock!