Chapter 22
"Lily?" Roseline called as she and Cennia hurried down the corridor.
"Where did she go?" Roseline heard Cennia mutter as they turned yet another corner, only to find the corridor deserted like all the ones before.
They were coming into the main part of the castle now, away from the quiet area near Gryffindor tower. The corridors were wider, lined with classrooms and portraits, and slightly busier, but still no sign of Lily.
"Maybe she went outside?" Cennia suggested as they paused to catch their breath.
"That's it!"
Cennia stared at her.
"What's it?"
"I know where Lily went! Follow me."
Roseline ran up a staircase, turning left at the top along a narrow, winding corridor, lined with burning torches. Eventually the corridor widened out again onto a small, circular landing with several corridors leading off it, and one large door directly in front of them.
"The owlery," Cennia whispered. "Of course."
Lily often sought refuge in the owlery when she was upset, although Roseline was sure Lily thought it was a secret. In fact it was far from it - most of Gryffindor knew, as Lily was rather prone to temper tantrums, but in general they didn't like to disturb her when she was in a bad mood - everyone knew better than to risk the redhead's notorious temper.
"Here goes," Roseline said quietly, holding her breath as she pushed open the door, Cennia just behind her.
Lily was sitting by the window, her back against the cold stone wall. Her head was lowered, a curtain of red hair hiding her face from view.
"Lils?" Cennia whispered.
Lily looked up, her eyes damp and her pale face streaked with tears.
"This is not my day," said Lily, with a kind of broken half-laugh.
"Shhh, it's okay," said Roseline, as she and Cennia sat down on either side of their friend.
"James is an ass," Cennia added, for good measure.
Lily shook her head.
"No," she said. "They're right. They all are. I'm a crap girlfriend, and Timothy deserves better."
"Deserved," Cennia muttered absentmindedly. "Past tense."
Roseline glared at her.
"Don't worry about it Lily, you're worth ten of them. Timothy doesn't know what he's missing, and James-"
"-Will regret ever opening his mouth," said a smug new voice.
Roseline looked up.
"Sirius!" she exclaimed, surprised. "Remus! What are you two doing here?"
At the sound of Remus' name, Cennia's head shot up. Blushing scarlet when she realised he'd seen her reaction, she gave him a small smile and looked back down at her feet.
"Switching loyalties," said Sirius lightly, sitting down next to Roseline.
Lily quirked a sceptical eyebrow at him.
"Oh really," she said.
"Well, sort of," Remus said, glancing at the empty space next to Cennia before crossing to sit on the other side of the room. "We're still friends with James and all that, but-"
"Even we could see that was out of order." Sirius finished.
"You really like stealing the words out of people's mouth, don't you?" Roseline remarked amusedly, glancing at him.
"Yes," he said grinning. "Especially yours. They're more fun to steal."
"And what exactly do you mean by that?"
"This," said Sirius, placing his lips on hers.
"Excuse me," said Cennia loudly, at almost the exact same moment that Remus gave a cough that sounded oddly like "Get a room."
"There goes your next sentence," Sirius smirked, pulling away. Roseline scowled, and Remus rolled his eyes. Cennia looked like she was torn between amusement and disgust.
Lily sniffed loudly, and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
"I know I'm being stupid," she mumbled. "It's only Potter. But I………." she trailed off, and sighed again.
"Don't worry about it, Lily," said Remus reassuringly. "We'll deal with James for you."
Sirius looked at him. "We will?"
"Yes, Sirius," said Remus, as though he was explaining something very obvious to a very stupid two-year-old, "that's why we're here. To help."
Sirius considered this for a moment. Nowhere in Remus' talk about justice and fair play had he realised they were actually going to confront James about it. When he said James would regret saying anything, he just felt that James would regret making Lily hate him even more. Apparently, there was more to it that that.
"Ah." He said. He cleared his throat. "I think I'll go and find James now. Before he…......forgets." And he disappeared.
"It seems Sirius isn't used to being helpful," Cennia commented.
Remus shrugged. "He won't do any harm."
Lily climbed to her feet.
"I'm going to the library. I have a transfiguration exercise to finish. I'll see you later."
"Okay Lils," Roseline said, standing up. "We're here if you need anything." She turned to Remus and Cennia. "Coming?" she asked, as Lily left the room.
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"And then Flitwick told us to try and levitate them, and Daniea's frog spat at her," Cennia giggled as they rounded the corner.
"You should have seen James," Remus laughed. "His turned purple and nearly exploded. The look on his face was priceless."
The three of them burst into fresh chuckles.
"Hey hey, everybody!" came Sirius' voice, shortly followed by Sirius himself.
"Hey Sirius," gasped Roseline, fighting to control her laughter. "Find James?"
"What would I want James for?" he asked, looking puzzled.
She smiled, and shook her head. "Never mind."
They were walking along a corridor that lead to Gryffindor tower when Cennia's voice broke the silence.
"It's getting dark," she remarked, glancing out the window. The effect of those words was considerably larger than she'd anticipated. At her words, Remus froze and paled, looking terrified, Sirius jumped to the window, eyes widening in horror as he scanned the darkening sky, and Roseline, looking as though a thought had just struck her, started muttering to herself, counting quickly on her fingers.
"Remus and I have to go," Sirius said frantically, grabbing his friend's arm and pulling him down the corridor after him. The two of them broke into a run, their pounding footsteps echoing against the stone.
Cennia looked quizzically at Roseline, who was still counting. Suddenly she stopped, clapping a hand to her mouth.
"Oh no," she said quietly.
"What?"
Roseline seemed to notice Cennia's presence for the first time.
"Oh," she said, stalling desperately, "I erm……Forgot to do my Herbology homework. Yeah, that's it."
Cennia raised her eyebrows. "Ro?"
"Yes?"
"You're a crap liar."
"I'm not lying," she said absentmindedly, as she started for the door. "Come on, we need to get back to the common room."
Cennia shook her head, and followed, deciding to find out later.
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Five minutes on, and Roseline was getting frustrated. In her hurry, she'd managed to get the two of them lost, somewhere in the dungeons by the looks of it. Damn staircases, she thought to herself. Why can't they just stay in the same spot? But she knew there were more important things to worry about. The moment she saw Remus and Sirius' reactions, she guessed it was full moon, and her calculations had confirmed it. She knew that once night fell, Remus could transform at any time, and she and Cennia had to be back in the common room by then or- well, she didn't really want to think about what might happen if they weren't.
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"Come on, Moony," Sirius yelled as he and Remus sprinted across the lawns, away from the castle.
"I'm coming," he panted, fighting to keep going. The last few days had drained him of all energy, and now it was taking all his willpower to keep running. He knew he had to do it though- he didn't want to think about what would happen if they didn't make it to the Whomping Willow in time.
Sirius transformed as the tree came into sight, glancing back over his shoulder and willing his friend to keep going. Come on, Moony, old mate, he thought furiously as his friend stumbled and almost fell. Keep going. You can make it.
Remus could see the Willow ahead, growing closer by the second as darkness feel around him. It would be close, he knew that much, but he hoped to Merlin that he'd make it. He had to.
A large stag emerged from the trees, and looked around. The rat at its hooves sped off towards the base of the Whomping Willow. He quickly made his decision, racing over to where a large black dog was trying to help a pale, exhausted looking youth towards the tree. The sky had darkened completely as Prongs wheeled to a stop, trying to help his friends. Stag and dog locked eyes over Remus' back and the stag shook his head. The dog glanced at the sky and back at the stag. They stepped back from the boy.
A cloud moved, and a shaft of silver moonlight cut through the darkness, casting its ghostly light on the scene below.
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(A/N): Thanx to all my brilliant reviewers, I love you all…….
Jeladore Black: Thanx, I love Lily. She's fun to write. I checked out your story and I think I reviewed. Please tell me if I didn't. It's really good.
badmoony: You rock, as always, you're my most faithful reviewer. Yeah James was nasty, but then he's bitter and jealous and doesn't know they broke up, so……yeah that's my excuse for him. He's an ass, but I love him.
pen of the dark: Thank you so much! I love new reviewers.
