Welcome back for Chapter 14. I think as most of you know, I know have two fan fics. My other one is a Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon fic called A Tale of Ages, a Serenity/Endymion fic, based on the original manga story. For all of you who are pissed at me for starting another story, get the crap over it. Because I have been working on this one for a much much longer time period, this story will ALAWAYS get the first priority until finished. Technically I am hoping to split my story up into two parts, the first being at Hogwarts and the second being after Hogwarts. I already have all of the first part planned out on paper. All of it. I know exactly where my fic is going. Let's just say that that a majority of the people will want to dismember me after I write the official ending of the first part. But of course, it will all pick right back up in the second part.
I think I have figured out something pretty big for book 6, Half-Blood Prince. For a full description see my Live-Journal account, CrimsonPheonix. I don't want to post it with my fanfic because this is a place for my fanfic, not my theories on book6/7. Actually if I wrote down all my theories they would fill the pages of six Order of the Pheonix's. Lol.
Disclaimer: I don't own nuttin' All is property of J.K. Rowling. I am too tired to come up with a witty remark. Get over it.
With THAT out of the way, on with the fic....
XVIVX
School had been officially resumed for three weeks. Everyone was, of course, bumming that their Christmas Vacation was over, and even the teachers seemed in a slightly fowl mood. But that was to be expected, if someone had to spend every moment of everyday with a bunch of hormonal teenagers they would feel the same way too with time. Or at least that was how Lily saw things. Homework on the 7th years was at an all-time maximum with their N.E.W.T exams just a few months away. Amberle was feeling the stress worse than anyone else. The school curriculum between America and Britain was so different and they covered such different spells and other materials at different years, she had to catch up on some spells that America did not deem "fitting for the average school curriculum". At one point Amberle had a complete mental break down to which she had to take a calming potion from the school nurse. Even with the potion, she got very little sleep that night and did not attend classes the next day. No one blamed her either. Lily often felt like throwing in the towel with all the school work they were assigned, she had no idea who Amberle was getting through it all and still had energy to burn. The only person in Hogwarts who was having a harder time than Amberle was Peter Pettigrew. So idiotic in the ways of advanced, or even some basic magic, he seemed to be failing in all of his classes and had almost no time to even sleep just trying to get through all his homework. Eventually Remus or James had to help him out and let Peter to copy their worksheets, or do some extra tutoring. Sirius couldn't help Peter because he was up to his face in "family problems" to go along with his extra work. Everyday he was bombarded with Howlers of all sorts coming from, what seemed, every member of his family. Sirius began to work alone because of the threats made in the Howlers, such as "you and your mudblood friends better watch your back for a stray Death Eater may be on their way," and other such material. Knowing his family beliefs and the fact that several of the Blacks were indeed Death Eaters, many of the threats were taken with caution. Tonks was also having her fair share of problems regarding the same matters. Except for her it was worse because the other first years would distance themselves from her, not understanding her family position. At least Sirius had James, Remus, Peter as well as Lily and her friends.
Of course it wasn't as if Lily was sitting in a bed of roses herself. The subject of N.E.W.T. Transfiguration was giving her such a hard time that Lily often found herself wanting to throw in the towel and give it all up. If it were not for James and his ability to excel in Transfiguration Lily wouldn't have any clue what-so-ever of how she was going to pass her exam. But Lily more than made up for it because she excelled in an area that James was weak at; Charms. He would often come to Lily for advice with his Charms work. Lily was glad to give back to James after him helping her so much. It was the least she could do to give back. Potions was the subject that was giving Dorcas and Anthy a good run for their money. Neither was particularly good at potions and the exams that Professor Lantis gave out were literally murder on paper. They had to study just as much as Lily was for Transfiguration and James for Charms. Remus was the only person who seemed to be fairing better than the others in terms of his studies. But he was always willing to lend a helping hand.
However in terms of his health Remus was appearing more and more pale as time passed. He began to have slight mood swings and become somewhat more irritable. James, Sirius and Peter acted as though it was normal and seemed to be on edge themselves. Lily knew that Remus was a werewolf. She had known it since her third year, but he had always been a good fellow so she didn't really care and kept his secret safe. But what Lily didn't know was about to be revealed on the eve of the full moon on a chilly January night. She was heading up the stairs for a few hours of sleep before the strenuous routine of school resumed the next day. She had been up all night cramming for a big exam the next day. Lily had large baggy circles under her eyes and was eager for sleep. When she made it up the stairs and into her dormitory she found that Dorcas, Anthy and Amberle had yet to fall asleep and were all situated on their beds with heavy textbooks spread across their laps. "Yo, Lily," Amberle greeted.
"Hey. Now this is a rare site, the three of you up past midnight to study," Lily remarked with a laugh and a yawn.
"I would give anything to wring Lantis' neck for giving us such pain-in-the-ass exams," Dorcas said.
"The feeling is mutual," Anthy replied. "But we shouldn't complain because I would say that Lily has it worse off than any of us because she is in N.E.W.T Potions".
"No kidding. How do you get through that hour and half a day hell hole?" Dorcas said.
"Patience. Relaxation. Herbs," Lily joked as she took a seat on her bed. She shoved a heavy textbook onto the floor, not caring that it damaged several of the pages. At that point, she didn't care if she failed all her subjects, only that she wanted to get some sleep. Fifteen minutes later all the lights had been extinguished but despite her fatigue, Lily could not bring herself to fall asleep. She felt as if she was on alert and something was not right. Two hours later and at two in the morning she still could not shake the feeling of unease. Convinced that she wouldn't be able to sleep anytime soon, Lily eventually rose from her bed and went outside to catch some evening air. She knew it would be cold, but that was the point, maybe the cold air could help her sleep. Besides, it couldn't hurt to try. (A/N: or could it?)
VIV (two hours previous)
The Marauders were beginning to become on edge. Remus was well due for his transformation but they had not heard his "signature howl" that he made every time he transformed. If something went wrong...no, they had worked too hard to comfort Remus in his time of need for anything to go wrong. Who would be fool enough to be outside, past midnight and on a full-moon no less? Of course Hagrid might be brave enough to do so, but he wasn't stupid enough to pull such a stupid stunt. Besides, he knew that Remus was a werewolf and took extra care to tie Fang up inside on full moons. James looked around at the anxious looks on his friend's faces, Sirius was pale and Peter looked like he would positively sick. Another ten more minutes went by with nothing and the Marauders finally ran clear out of patience. James went for his invisibility cloak while Sirius took out the Marauder's Map. All three of them managed to squeeze under the cloak and Sirius muttered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good".
Like a spider's web, lines of ink spread out in all directions eventually forming an exact replica of Hogwarts. The three surveyed it to make sure that they would have no "interruptions". Dumbledore was safe asleep in his office, as was Lantis. The ancient care-taker, Ogg, was busy cleaning the Trophy Room, due to an accident that James "accidentally caused". James' eyes made a quick dart to the dot "Lily Evans". The map showed her in her dormitory along with Dorcas, Anthy and Amberle. Out of the corner of his eye, James could see Sirius' face dart up at the dot "Amberle Adams" but tried to hide it as soon as he knew James had noticed. James smirked. Only the infamous Sirius would fall for the American "yank" transfer student. In all actuality James knew that he fancied her from the moment they saw her in Hogsmead and as the year went on his suspicions became all but confirmed. She was the single individual in 7th year Gryffindor that had not fallen victim to the Marauders' pranks. That was saying enough just as it was. But there were other sings as well; James caught the pair in a so called 'study group' which looked more to him like a snog session, or maybe it was just the angle from which he was entering the library. But the best thing to do was to just leave it as it is and not peruse the subject; James had learned that from experience.
Within three minutes the trio was safely outside on the Hogwarts Grounds. As if on cue, Remus' howl could be heard piercing the night sky like a gun. Judging by the magnitude of the howl he seemed to be close. The three friends separated and transformed into their Animagi forms. James could soon feel his bones melting and twisting into a new form. With the growth of a longer spine James crouched down as his legs and arms became longer and sprouted chestnut colored hair. He could feel slender antlers sprouting from the top of his head and a small stub of a tail protruding from his back end. Hooves soon replaced his shoes and socks, and James' glasses fell onto the grass with a soft thump. In his form as a stag James had perfect vision. He felt so free. Like nothing and no one would be able to stop him, as well as a sense of daring knowing he broke the highest Statue to the Animagi laws known to the Ministry of Magic. A sense of guilt would sometimes befall him with the feeling of betraying Dumbledore but that was always soon blown away with the wind as he would run with his friends, free as the night. With the transformation complete James walked over to a large boar-like dog. The dog gave his best version of a grin and a small squeak indicated Wormtail on Padfoot's muzzle. They then turned towards a dark silhouette against the moon. Moony was there howling; asking for a call of kin. The three approached Moony at a run, or in James' case, gallop.
At their approached Moony jumped back and began to rear his deadly fangs. But within the next second it was as if a flash of Remus' heart became present and the werewolf reared forward in a display of mock aggression and began running around the dog and stag with a mischievous glare in his yellow swirling eyes. Padfoot was the first one to lunge playfully at Moony. The pair was soon embodied in a fight of false and playful aggression. Prongs too entered the wrestling contest. Wormtail, being the weary one, jumped off Sirius' muzzle in time to avoid the curse of the werewolf's jaws. But none blamed Peter, because of his small size there would be little chance of safety within the brawl of wolf, dog and stag. In a way James felt that his stag form freed him of his human limitations. Sure it had taken three years to get the hang of, but James loved it when he was in his stag form. Sirius took could relate the feeling, it was as if nothing could ever confine them.
While in the middle of their romp Moony eventually stopped cold in his tracks. Prongs and Padfoot stood wondering what would make him stop smack dab in the middle of his tracks. Moony seemed to be sniffing the air, and then without warning he let out a mighty howl to the full moon. James and Sirius stood momentarily in horror; they knew what that howl meant, blood. Remus must have smelled human flesh for there would be no further explanation. As the werewolf took off in the direction of the lake James galloped as fast as his hooves could carry him. It had to be a student. All of the teachers knew of Remus' condition, and none would be dumb enough to step out on a full moon. To James' knowledge none knew of Remus' curse and he had to keep it that way. Sirius did his best to distract the wolf and James eventually got the lead and speed off to find the individual that gave off the scent of fresh and young blood. As James was moving closer and close he could too pick up on the smell. A slight itch to his left ear told James that Peter was on his head. The tiny mouse whispered in the stag's ear, "James ahead!" The stag's superior eyesight soon caught on to the human being that was sitting on the lake's shore. It was Lily!
No, she couldn't know. Why did it always have to be Lily? She soon heard the galloping animal coming across the grounds and turned her head to see. Lily couldn't believe her eyes that a magnificent deer was standing right in front of her eyes. But as its rate of speed did not slow she quickly got to her feet and tried her best to doge the on-coming animal. To her surprise the animal halted and a little rat jumped off of the stag's head. Lily stood in confusion; it was as if the stag knew exactly what it was doing. But another ear piercing cry shook the night as Moony and Padfoot fighting with each other could be seen clearly in the distance. Her eyes opened in fear as she turned her head and saw the full moon shining bright against the sky. James, obviously understanding that Lily knew the danger she was in, proceeded to heard her to safety. Lily dashed to the castle as fast as her legs could carry her without needing the hint from James. A loud shriek from Padfoot and Prongs looked back to see his best friend with a large wound across his muzzle. James stood in horror, and glanced at Lily who obviously realized what was going on. James, finally losing all his patience, shouted at Lily at the top of his lungs "LILY, RUN. GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE".
The red-headed girl stood in shock for a moment but the stag reared his front legs and shouted again, "GO". Getting the clue Lily dashed inside. Out of harms way Prongs proceeded to help out Padfoot who was still in a helpless struggle against the werewolf. James lost it again and butted his best friend with his large antlers. The werewolf cried out in pain and took off in the opposite direction of the forest. Wormtail could be seen against the dark sheen of Padfoot's coat and the three resumed their original form. Inside Lily was inside, and in shock. Her eyes were as round as disks and barely acknowledge the presence of James, Sirius and Peter until James shouted, "What the hell were you thinking?"
In that moment Lily snapped out of her initial shock, "What do you mean 'what the hell was I doing? I should be asking you that question. Do you do that every time Remus becomes a werewolf?" she shouted back.
"You knew what he was!?" James hollered back at the top of his lungs. "How long?"
"Since my second year. I figured it out then," Lily responded. "What the fuck difference dose it make if I knew or not? I never said anything to anyone," she said, letting her temper rise again.
"If you knew than what possessed you to go outside?" Sirius eventually said. He was more calm then James, but still pretty pissed as it was.
"I DON"T CARE that he is a werewolf. I don't check lunar charts every month the see if he is going to transform. I went outside because I couldn't fall asleep," she yelled back. "You still haven't answered my question, do you do that every time he transforms?"
The three Marauders all glared at Lily. James was feeling an impulse to slap some common sense into her, but he didn't. How could she be so stupid even if she did know? "Since when?" she asked.
"Fifth year," James answered truthfully. "Don't go on one of your Miss Perfect rampages and rat to McGonagall. If you do I swear I will..." James trailed.
"You'll what, you bastard? If I was going to "rat" you asses out I would have done it years ago when I first saw a stag, dog and rat with Remus. I saw you guys last year outside. I knew that the wolf was Remus, but I guess I should have smacked myself for not realizing that only the three ignoramuses known as the Marauders would even ATTEMPT to pull a stunt like that," Lily said. What was saying was nothing but the truth. James looked as if he had been smacked in the face; Sirius and Peter were paler than the moon outside.
"What do you think Moony will think when he finds out tomorrow that not only do you know his secret, but he tried to kill you?" James shouted, as he began to resume their shouting match. It was Lily's turn to be silent. "You know he will blame himself when it is really your fault for pulling such a stupid stunt..." but he was cut off at the sound of a teacher's footsteps. He quickly pulled out his Invisibility cloak and hid himself along with Sirius and Peter. At that point, he didn't care of Lily was caught. James almost regretted what he thought the moment the frame of Professor Lantis came into view. Lily was right in the middle of the entrance to Hogwarts, shouting at, what seemed to be, herself.
"Miss Evans! Of all the people to abuse their prefect ability I should think that you would be the last one to do so. Well, it looks as if a visit to the headmaster's office will be in order," he smirked. Lily threw the most loathing glance at the three boys under the cloak, 'she even knew about the cloak' James thought to himself. Lily soon adverted her vision to the ground and followed Professor Lantis up the stairs to Dumbledore's office. A tidal wave of guilt washed over him. She knew about almost everything and never said a word. James wanted to kick himself in the ass. She did nothing wrong. How could he get so mad? Now she would take the heat for what happened when it wasn't her fault. He glanced over at Sirius who gave him a 'sorry mate' look. Peter did nothing he just looked at James, his face expressionless.
XIX
The next morning everyone awoke early except for Lily. She had been up all night in Dumbledore's office. And once she got back she spent the rest of the evening absorbing her fight with James and concluding he was nothing but a good-for-nothing-lying-toerag. The time when she finally fell asleep was around 5:00 in the morning. Lily felt worse than she ever felt in the past seven years. It like everything was beginning to fall apart one by one. First her sister, then James returned to being an ass ('only after he got a nice shag out of me,' Lily admitted one night), her reputation with all the teachers was on the line because it was now public, or with the teachers anyway, that she knew about Remus. Up in Dumbledore's office, she spent most of the time explaining to the headmaster everything she found out about the Marauders. The headmaster did seem somewhat amused that Lily had figured out Remus' secret so quick, but his expression changed to nothing as she told him what she found out about James, Sirius and Peter. Dumbledore looked as if he had expected something like that to happen, but Lily couldn't be sure. One could never be sure with Dumbledore; he was so intense and wise. She knew that Dumbledore would keep their conversation in the strictest of confidence, but she still felt guilty.
Lily wanted to kick herself in the arse for believe that James' feelings were sincere, 'that bastard only wanted to get my body' she sobbed one night. She felt so used and, almost, violated, that she let him so close. 'Once an ass, always an ass,' she reminded herself that same night. Dorcas, Anthy and Amberle too noticed that Lily had started referring to James as "Potter" and "that damn bastard". Everything was just so screwed up.
Two weeks later in the library Lily was sitting at a table, studying for her next Defense against the Dark Arts class for Professor Flynn. Studying was the only way that she felt like she could totally escape the problems of reality. Cramming yourself in a book was always the best way to escape; she had used it before when Petunia first began acting like her sister had the plague and it worked very well. Everything was blotted out save the feeling of empty words. But only this time the only empty word that coursed through Lily's mind was "James". Lily cursed herself for being so weak. She felt so weak that a player could control her heart so much, it was terrible. Dorcas and Anthy could clearly see that in their friend, but it seemed that Amberle knew exactly how Lily felt and asked if she wanted to take a walk with Lily. "Yes," she responded.
A small layer of sheer frost still remained on the frozen ground but the weather was beautiful. A light winter breeze blew and everything felt like complete and utter bliss. Amberle was chewing on a piece of toast while Lily just strolled on down the path with her eyes downcast. "Lily, what happened with you and Potter?" Amberle questioned.
"Let's just say that he proved himself to be a complete and utter bastard," Lily spat out horribly.
"They always seem to be bastards when you love them," Amberle said softly.
"L...love? How did you know that?" Lily stammered. She never shared her feelings with anyone. Dorcas and Anthy clearly knew that she liked James, but surely she hadn't let on enough that she loved him.
"It is obvious when you look at him or utter his name. Besides, when you have been through the same situation you know how it feels," Amberle answered.
"What do you mean?" Lily questioned. Amberle seemed too independent and focused her ambitions to take the time to even consider caring about someone of the opposite sex. Or at least that was how she seemed. She had cursed at least five different boys who had attempted to ask her out in the few months she had been at Hogwarts.
"Before I moved here I cared deeply about one of my friends. I didn't know the true depth of my feelings until I left him and moved here and I realized I cared about him much more than I would dare to admit even to myself. I don't know if it was love that I was feeling but I do know how much I cared. We still keep in contact, but by owls only. It is tough," Amberle said. She paused for a moment, laughed and then continued, "When I first met him it was exactly how you felt about James. I thought he was nothing but an S.O.B. but as time went by we became friends. I never realized how much I cared till I moved away, or how much of a good person he was until he sent me a letter asking how I was doing. But he is my best friend and I miss him more than anything, the Quidditch, my old friends, Quodpot, or even my old home North Carolina," she finished. A light sparkle of liquid was visible in her eyes, but she swallowed it back.
"Amberle..." Lily said. She had no clue; absolutely no clue at all. Amberle seemed that it just wasn't in her nature to care for someone that much. Often the fire spirited American acted like guys were the scum of the Earth and didn't deserve to live at all. Lily marveled at how much she hid it under her rough exterior.
"You should talk to him. It is possible you two just had an over-proportioned misunderstanding. Don't make the same mistake I did about hiding how I felt," Amberle finished. She finally gulped down the last piece of toast in her mouth and then took off. Lily looked down at her watch and nearly panicked, no matter Amberle took off, they had only three minutes to get to class!
XVIVX
END CHAPTER. So waddya think? I somewhat like it. I think I made the whole full-moon scene too sort, but it was a right pain in the arse to write. I hope I made up for my previous insults about Amberle being American. So many people were bitching at me about that, saying that Americans were not like that at all. I know they aren't, I am American. But that is how many many British people view Americans, and of course everyone in this is British, except for Amberle of course. So I hope that makes up for what I said earlier.
I just finished watching the 1979 version of Dracula, and hooly ballz did it SUCK!!!!! It follows absolutely NO aspect of the book. It was TERRIBLE. I am a HUGE fan of Dracula. I love that book by Bram Stoker and the movie Bram Stoker's Dracula, the ONLY movie that followed the book plot. Dracula rules so much because it touches on a lot of human aspects that many others tend to look over. In the 1979 version I nearly stopped watching it when they had Mina die and not Lucy. COME ONE FOLKS, Lucy dies from Dracula's bite not Mina. Darn...it is just infuriating. Grrr...it is enough to piss anyone off.
I have another story that I might or might now put on the internet. It is an original works, based on a story that I have jumbled around in my head for a long time. It is in a mid-evil fantasy setting with Elves and Dwarves and Warlocks, and other such things. It is rather dark and complex. Right now I am VERY iffy about putting it on the internet because of all the literary thieves. One of my favorite online writers, Adele Sesslar, had a very bad problem with someone stealing her works online. I don't want to put up with that sort of crap, because I DO NOT want it stolen. I have put in countless hours thinking and coming up with original characters and plots. On the other hand I do want some other input from people other than my family. Whenever I have someone read something I wrote that is in my family all they EVER say is "wow that is so good" but they don't tell me what I need to improve on and other such issues. My English teachers won't do that either because they are so swamped with school work that they won't read it. So I am just curious as to weather or not I should post it online. I don't want it stolen but I also want other people's input that won't be "that is so good". Any advice?
More reviewsthe quicker the next chapter will come out. All flames will be read, laughed at and deleted. Or if they are funny enough I will post them in my live-journal to make fun of.