(A/N) Thanks for the reviews last chapter! I love coming home after school every day and checking out my reviews! Just to let you know, I read every single one of them!!
Uh…this chapter is very strange…you might not want to read it…LOL! Read it if you dare…mwhaha…
# of Words- 2832!!!
Disclaimer- I don't live in England, I'm not richer than the Queen, I don't write the Harry Potter series, and I'm not J.K. Rowling. Happy?
Chapter 8- Losing is Believing
"Lily, you bitch, I thought you were nice!"
"God damnit, Hilary, give it a break," said Lily. Hilary just stuck her nose in the air and walked off with her new best friends, Claire and Summer. They both knew that Hilary was a popular kid so when she came up to them in the common room they automatically ditched their other friend, Meghann, and left her sitting there looking like a loner.
Claire and Summer smirked at Meghann and followed Hilary out the door. Meghann fingered her ex-friends and went back to doing her homework.
Lily felt sorry for Meghann, she had been in the position that Meghann was in now only a few months ago. Fighting to not look like a loner, trying every night not to start sobbing uncontrollably. Lily hated people like Claire and Summer, just following the popular kids just to look cool.
Hilary would ditch them eventually, and then Claire and Summer would come crawling back to Meghann, pleading for her forgiveness. Lily would probably be sick if Meghann accepted them back, after what they did to her.
Lily leaned over to Elle. "Hey, do you see what Claire and Summer are doing to Meghann? We should have dinner with her tonight or something." Elle nodded her head in approval. "C'mon, lets go," whispered Lily.
Elle and Lily walked over to Meghann and plopped down on either side of her. Meghann didn't look up but Lily guessed she thought they were Claire and Summer cause she fingered both of them.
"Uh…" started Elle, uncertainly.
Meghann looked up in horror. "Oh my God! I'm so sorry! I thought you were Claire and Summer!" She looked at them frantically. "Please don't take it personal!" she begged them.
Lily studied her looks. She had long, dark brown hair that was just a little bit wavy. Her eyes were a gray blue and Lily thought she looked very pretty.
"Actually, we came over here to ask you if you would want to have dinner with us tonight?" Meghann's face broke into a happy smile when Lily asked this.
"Are you serious? You guys are the first people that have talked to me since Claire and Summer ditched me! Of course I'll have dinner with you!" She hugged Lily and Elle. "Oh, I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself! My name is Meghann Mulrony, and you are…?"
"I'm Lily Evans and this is Elle Benson. Over there is Katie Pilker and Rebecca Potter." Meghann's eyes went wide at the mention of the name 'Potter'.
"I know a Potter. Her name is Josie, but I haven't heard from her in a long, long time. Actually, I think its been 5 or 6 years," Meghann stated.
"Oh. I'll have to ask Beck or James about what happened to her. Do you want me to ask?" Lily asked Meghann. She shrugged.
"Ok I'll go ask," said Lily. She walked over to where Rebecca was sitting with Katie. "Beck?"
"Mmhm?"
"Who was Josie Potter?"
"Josie? Josie, Josie, Josie…uh…oh yeah! Josie was my 2nd cousin. She was 15 years older than me. About 5 years ago she went to Peru and didn't come back. Oh well, I don't really care. She was an embarrassment to our family. A little bit…uh…disordered in the head, if you know what I mean."
"So she was mentally retarded?" Lily asked.
"No, no, no! Of course not! She just spent a lot of time in her room, wandering around town, and going to old abandoned parks. She was just a little bit alone, and it made her go mad. So she went to Peru. Probably committed suicide, I don't know."
Lily gulped. She had spent a lot of time in her room, wandering around town, and going to old abandoned parks before she came to Hogwarts and met some friends. If she wasn't a witch, would she have gone mad and committed suicide? Would she even be alive right now if she didn't come to Hogwarts?
Lily didn't know.
"S-so, uh, you don't know what happened to her?"
"Nope. She just vanished. Stopped sending postcards, everything. Haven't heard from her since."
"O-oh…ok, um, thanks Beck," stuttered Lily.
"No problem," said Rebecca. Lily walked back to a very anxious Meghann.
"So? Does Rebecca know where she is?" asked Meghann excitedly.
"Meghann."
"Yeah?"
"Josie is presumed dead."
"Oh." Poor girl, thought Lily. Just the look on Meghann's face was heart wrenching. Lily could see Meghann's eyes starting to swell and her shoulders shaking.
"S-she w-w-was my b-best friend…I didn't care that she was 15 years older than me, we still did everything together. When they moved out of town, we didn't see each other as often. The next time I heard of her she was in Peru studying ancient artifacts. And now she's dead? Oh my God…" Meghann stood up and threw her transfiguration textbook against the wall and ran up the stairs.
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Meghann didn't show up at dinner that night. She didn't show up at breakfast the next day either. Girls in her dorm said that she was sitting on her bed, meditating and crying. They didn't exactly know why, but they said that last night they heard her talking in her sleep. Once she even screamed.
Maybe she's going insane, like Josie did, thought Lily. She quickly shook that thought out. Meghann was a normal girl; she was just going through the grief of loss. Lily remembered that empty space in the very center of you that made you cry and scream.
Meghann was just going through that phase. She would get over it in a few days. Lily remembered she got over her dad's death in 2 weeks. Sometimes it takes people years and years to get over a loss. Lily once read of this one woman who loved her dog so much, that when it died after a full life of 14 years, she was overcome by grief. She didn't eat or anything, and a couple of weeks later she died.
It said in the woman's will to be buried by her dog. Lily thought she was a crazy woman. Ok, she loved the dog, but she didn't have to kill herself. Dogs die after 10-15 years. You have to know that when you buy a dog.
Lily just hoped that wouldn't happen to Meghann.
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After a few days, teachers started to get worried at Meghann's absence. Professor Dumbledore asked the girls in her dorm what her condition was like almost every morning. The girls always answered 'she is doing pretty bad'.
Lily was getting worried now. She had been in her dorm for almost a week now. She wasn't eating, and Lily didn't want to be responsible for Meghann's death.
Tonight, Lily would go up to her dorm and talk to her.
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After the last class that day, Lily spotted Hilary with Clair and Summer. She walked straight towards them, and Hilary walked away. Summer quickly followed her, and Claire attempted to, but Lily had a firm hold of her collar.
"Let…me go!" shouted Claire, attempting to free herself.
"You, are coming with me tonight. We're going to go and talk to your old friend Meghann." Claire spun around and spat in her face. Luckily, Lily was ready for this, and she had a sort of clear shield covering her face. The spit just rolled off the shield and onto the ground.
"I don't want to," snarled Claire. Lily shrugged.
"Fine, but let me tell you, Hilary is going to ditch you eventually, and if Meghann is dead when she does, you and Summer won't have anyplace to go." Lily knew she was starting to convince her.
Claire sighed. "Uh, can you keep a secret?"
"Sure."
"Ok…I hate Hilary! She is really mean to me and Summer, but Summer doesn't care. I want to be friends with Meghann again. I miss being carefree like her. I want to go back, so I'll come with you tonight." Claire attempted a smile.
"Ok, I'll meet you by the fireplace tonight at 9, ok?"
"Ok."
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That night at nine o'clock sharp, Lily slipped out of her dorm while Rebecca, Katie and Elle were in the bathroom, washing their faces. Lily didn't know where Hilary was.
When Lily got to the bottom of the stairs, she realized that Claire was sitting there. She obviously noticed that Lily came in, because she stood up and nodded.
"I asked Summer if she wanted to come, but she said she didn't want anything to do with Meghann. She said that she was going out somewhere with Hilary. So I guess its just you and me?"
"Yeah, I guess," said Lily. They started going up the stairs to Meghann and Claire's dorm. When they opened the door and came in, a girl named Hallie poked her head out.
"Hey Claire. Who's this?" asked Hallie, nodding at Lily.
"This is Lily. We've come to talk to Meghann," answered Claire.
"Oh, okay. She's in the last bed on the left," said Hallie.
"I know where she sleeps, Hallie, I share a dorm room with her. Geez, I'm not stupid," said Claire rather stupidly. Lily thought she sounded like a childish 6-year-old schoolgirl.
They walked over to Meghann's bed and opened up the curtains. Lily gasped at what she saw.
Meghann was pale, skinny, and sick. She was too lazy to get up and go to the bathroom, so her crap was surrounding her. Lily felt pity for her.
"M-meghann? Are you awake?" asked Lily, her voice shaking. Please don't be dead, thought Lily.
Meghann's eyes slowly opened. "Who's there? Who's talking?" she asked. Then she spotted Lily and started crying.
"Oh, Meghann…" said Lily, and she went over and hugged her, careful not to touch the crap.
"O-oh, Lily, I m-miss her s-s-so m-much…" sobbed Meghann.
"C'mon, Meg. You have to get up sometime, or else your going to die. How about you get up and eat something?" asked Lily hopefully.
Meghann shook her pale head. "No, I want to die. My life has no meaning anymore. If I didn't know that Josie died, then maybe I would actually want to live. But right now I don't. Now please leave." The last sentence she said wasn't a question, it was a command. Lily left slowly and silently. She noticed that Meghann had gone back to sleep, and the other girls in the dorm closed the curtain to cover up the smell.
It was like closing the door to Meghann's life.
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Meghann's funeral was two weeks later. Almost everyone that went to Hogwarts attended it. Even the Slytherins went. Lily couldn't help but feeling sort of responsible for Meghann's death. In fact, it was Lily who asked Rebecca who Josie Potter was and it was Lily who told Josie the bad news.
Lily felt that empty hole in the center of her growing. The saddest thing was that three days after Meghann died, a letter addressed to her arrived. It said that Meghann's parents had died in an airplane crash.
That was he biggest blow of all. Meghann didn't have any parents, but they would see each other in heaven. Right?
There was one good thing about all this. Meghann was in a better place now, and she would be able to see Josie and her parents again. Maybe Lily would go and see them in heaven when she died.
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December 14, exactly a month after Meghann died. It was early in the morning, about 6:30 am. Lily got up and took a shower. When she got out she changed into a black shirt, black pants, and her black Hogwarts robes.
She was mourning for Meghann.
Only a few people noticed that Lily was wearing all black. Lily saw a couple other people wearing black, including Claire and Summer, who had ditched Hilary earlier that month. Hilary was wandering around aimlessly now, since she didn't have any friends.
She was awful at Charms. Lily didn't pay attention at all. When they got a surprise quiz about what they did that day, Lily failed miserably. Even Potter got better than her.
She couldn't believe her grades. They were slipping rapidly since Meghann died. Lily was on the verge of breaking down. She couldn't take this anymore. She needed to get some sleep, probably.
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After her last class that day, Potions, she quickly went up to her dorm, leaving her friends behind. She passed Freddy and Jake in the hall, but they seemed scared of her now. Lily was utterly relieved that she didn't have to worry about getting attacked now.
When she got to the portrait of the Fat Lady, she said the password and went up to her bed. She dumped her stuff in her suitcase. She would organize them later.
Lily took off her robe and climbed into bed. After a few minutes, she fell into a deep sleep.
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Lily felt someone shaking her shoulder.
"Geoff, mum. Five more minutes," Lily remembered saying. The person still shook her shoulder and Lily opened her eyes. It was dark out, and Lily had to squint to see who was towering over her.
"Here, Lily. You missed dinner, so we brought you up some food. I hope you like roast beef," said Katie. Lily nodded and sat up. She pretty much inhaled the food. She was starving.
Katie nudged her again.
"What?" asked Lily, her mouth full.
"You got a letter, Lily. I don't think its good news," said Katie.
"Oh, no! Not more bad news? I think I've had enough bad news to last a lifetime!" Lily said as she rolled her eyes and grabbed the letter.
Sure enough, it was addressed to Lily, from Professor Dumbledore. Why did they always bring bad news in a letter? Couldn't they just come and tell them in person?
Whatever, thought Lily. She tore the letter open and a sheet of parchment and a picture fell out. Hmm, a picture? She thought. She grabbed the letter first.
Dear Miss Evans,
Your mother would have been writing this, but she thought it would be better if I wrote it. She thought that her writing would have not been readable, because her hands would be shaking too much.
I have some good news and some bad news. I'm so sorry to tell you this, but your house and everything in it is gone forever. A couple of kids put gas around your house and set a torch to it. I am sorry, but your house has been lost in the flames. Everything inside of it is gone, too.
To hopefully cheer you up, your mother, sister, and owl escaped with only minor injuries. It is a miracle, since the house burned to the ground in a total of 43 seconds. They got out very quickly.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Dumbledore
Headmaster
Lilt took the picture out. When she saw it, her eyes filled up with tears. It was a picture of her mother and sister standing together in front of their burned down house. Kantu was circling overhead. It was a muggle picture, so the people weren't moving.
Everything was lost. All of her childhood toys were lost. All of her dad's old stuff that he once treasured was lost. Nothing could replace those things. Nothing.
Lily didn't even know if they had house insurance. If they didn't, then her mother and sister would have to live in a caring center or something, or even worse, they would have to live on the streets.
But neighbors and friends would take them in, wouldn't they? Lily was about to ask this question out loud, but her lips were glued shut. Instead, Lily picked up her book, un-glued her lips, and screamed. She threw the book at the wall and it hit it with a thud.
Lily stood up, but her knees crumpled underneath her. She just sat on the ground and sobbed her heart out.
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(A/N) Okay this chapter was the longest I've ever written. Consider it a Christmas present because it took me almost a week to finish it. So yeah, about the Meghann thing. Yeah it is part of the plot. Some of you might not like it that she came in on this chapter and died in this chapter too. Sorry if it bugs you. And to my BFF Meghann, sorry that you had to die LOL. I hope you're not mad at me!
Rittzi