Chapter Five: Moony to the Rescue!
Ermengarde talked with Lily until late that evening, swapping silly stories and giggling, something that Ermengarde had never really taken part in before.
"You know...I could swear I've seen you before," said Lily. "You just...you seem so familiar, but I can't put my finger on it."
"Well, believe me, you're rather familiar to me as well," said Ermengarde.
"Hello, Bright Eyes!" came a call from behind the girls.
James had snuck up behind them, grinning broadly.
"But which one of them do you mean?" said Sirius, who had also appeared suddenly behind them.
"Good point," said James in mock seriousness.
"There's Miss Evans...her eyes are certainly bright enough...about the color of, what, limes, would you say?" said Sirius, leaning close to Lily's face and peering at her eyes.
"Emeralds, more like," said James.
"And then there's Miss Switoviak, with eyes the color of tropical waters!" said Sirius, now fixating on Ermengarde's eyes. She felt herself blushing.
"Which to pick, which to pick?" said James, pretending to try to decide between the two of them.
"Tell you what...I'll take Switoviak and you take Evans. Fair deal?" said Sirius, stretching out his hand.
James shook it. "Deal!"
And at the exact same time, both boys produced from nowhere small bouquets of daffodils for Ermengarde and Lily.
"I would have gotten lilies, but I thought it would seem a bit too obvious," said James, brandishing the flowers at Lily, who took them reluctantly with an irritated look on her face.
"Thank you," she said coldly.
"And here you are, Ermengarde...beautiful though the flowers may be, they can't hold a candle to your exquisiteness!" said Sirius in a ridiculous imitation of a Romeo-like character.
Ermengarde giggled and took her flowers. Sirius winked at her and indicated James, who was once more looking at Lily with fervent expectation. Lily, however, looked as though this meeting had long since ended and that James had ought to go on his way. When he didn't move, she sighed.
"What is it you want, then?" she asked in exasperation.
"You to go to Hogsmeade with me," said James immediately.
"No, James," said Lily sharply.
"Oh, come on...quit playing hard to get like that...you really don't want to go to Hogsmeade with me?" said James in a teasing voice.
"No! For heaven's sake, how many times do I have to tell you? I would sooner go out with a barrel of Stinksap than you!" said Lily, thrusting the flowers at James's chest and storming off up the girls' staircase.
James blanched slightly and looked at the flowers, hurt. Ermengarde and Sirius kept silent for a moment, very uncomfortable.
"Well," said Sirius. "I – I think I'll go to bed. Prongs?"
"Yeah, sure," said James quietly, and he followed Sirius up the boys' staircase.
Ermengarde was now alone in the common room. She sat for a long time, watching the embers in the fireplace glow an ashy red, then burgundy, then fade to black. She stood up and walked over to the window.
This is mad, she thought suddenly. What am I doing here? Clearly, something happened that I'm supposed to change...but what? And how did I get here in the first place?
She sighed and got ready to walk up the girls' staircase. She had reached the bottom stair when she heard a sound behind her that made her stop and turn around slowly. Squinting in the pitch darkness, nothing seemed to be there, yet she had the odd feeling that she was not alone.
"Lumos," she muttered, lighting her wand's tip.
She used the narrow beam of light to peer around, but nothing was to be seen. Shaking off her fear, she climbed the stairs and went to bed.
Despite the fact that she hadn't gone to sleep until very late, Ermengarde rose earlier than anyone else and headed straight for the common room. The sun had not quite risen, causing the sky to become a vast array of blues and blacks, the lightest of which matched Ermengarde's eyes precisely and the darkest of which was the color of a raven's feathers.
Just as these poetic thoughts began to form in Ermengarde's mind, a whoosh sounded behind her. She whirled around, trying to spot the source of the noise, but there was still no one in sight. She headed quickly back to the staircase, terrified, and had no sooner put her foot on the first stair than she felt an icy cold hand on her throat. She screamed and tried to wrench away, writhing and twisting and kicking. The hand let go, and Ermengarde distinctly saw someone standing above her. Whoever it was knocked her to the ground and stood over her, holding up a wand as though about to strike. She screamed even louder, shaking and panting for breath.
"What's the matter? Who is it?" came a shout from the boys' staircase...it was Remus.
"It's me!" she shouted. "It's Ermengarde! Please – please come!"
The icy hand slapped her across the face and whoever it was retreated. Remus's figure flew right past Ermengarde, having obviously not realized that she was where she was, and he tried to run up the stairs to the rescue of the damsel in distress. Unfortunately, the flaw in this plan was the fact that boys were not allowed in the girls' dormitories. The staircase suddenly turned into a slide and Ermengarde stepped in front of where Remus was about to fall in order to try and catch him. Remus landed bang on top of Ermengarde, knocking the wind out of her.
"Lumos!" came two other shouts, this time Sirius and James, and they came bounding down the boys' staircase.
Remus got up quickly and knelt next to Ermengarde, helping her sit up. She was trembling and sweating.
"Ermengarde, say something! Come on, say something!" Remus was saying, supporting her as she sat up, clinging to his arm.
"Prongs, get her some water or something!" Sirius said as Remus helped Ermengarde stand up.
Ermengarde's knees were shaking and suddenly gave out. Remus caught her before she collapsed, however, and helped her into an armchair. James returned with a glass of water, which she tried to hold, but she was quivering so badly that she slopped a lot of water down her front. Remus quickly took the glass from her and put it on a table nearby.
"What happened, Swi?" Sirius asked as she put a shaking hand to her cheek.
"I don't know," she said unsteadily. "There was a noise, and I turned, and there was a hand – cold – on my throat, and it slapped me, and..."
Ermengarde trailed off. The boys appeared mystified at this story and looked at each other as though not sure what to think.
"It's true," she insisted.
"We never said it wasn't," said James. "But...well, that's a bit odd, isn't it? Are you sure it wasn't a bad dream?"
"It definitely wasn't," said Remus evenly. "Look at her cheek."
Remus took Ermengarde's hand gently from her cheek and pointed. Ermengarde obviously couldn't see what they were looking at, but by the sudden grave expressions on their faces, she deduced that it was nothing good.
"What is it?" she asked frightfully.
"There's a hand mark on your face...you said you were slapped?" said Sirius.
"Y-yes," said Ermengarde.
"Whoever did this...don't worry, we'll find out who it was," said James reassuringly.
Peter suddenly appeared, panting and pink-faced. His watery eyes were round with worry and fear.
"What's happening?" he squeaked. "I heard her screaming..."
"Took your time coming to her rescue, didn't you?" said James sarcastically.
"She's okay now, Wormtail. Relax," said Sirius. "We've got it sorted out."
"Oh...right...okay..." said Peter with a quivering smile. "Well...I guess I'll...get dressed, then..."
And before anyone could say otherwise, Peter scurried away up the boys' staircase. Sirius shook his head.
"Probably more scared than you were," he muttered to Ermengarde.
"Are you really all right, Ermengarde?" asked Remus, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"I think so," she said. Her voice was slowly returning to normal.
"Drink some water," Remus said firmly, pressing the glass into her hand. "Don't worry. You'll be fine."
Ermengarde tried to smile, but couldn't help feeling that being "fine" was easier said than done.
Ermengarde talked with Lily until late that evening, swapping silly stories and giggling, something that Ermengarde had never really taken part in before.
"You know...I could swear I've seen you before," said Lily. "You just...you seem so familiar, but I can't put my finger on it."
"Well, believe me, you're rather familiar to me as well," said Ermengarde.
"Hello, Bright Eyes!" came a call from behind the girls.
James had snuck up behind them, grinning broadly.
"But which one of them do you mean?" said Sirius, who had also appeared suddenly behind them.
"Good point," said James in mock seriousness.
"There's Miss Evans...her eyes are certainly bright enough...about the color of, what, limes, would you say?" said Sirius, leaning close to Lily's face and peering at her eyes.
"Emeralds, more like," said James.
"And then there's Miss Switoviak, with eyes the color of tropical waters!" said Sirius, now fixating on Ermengarde's eyes. She felt herself blushing.
"Which to pick, which to pick?" said James, pretending to try to decide between the two of them.
"Tell you what...I'll take Switoviak and you take Evans. Fair deal?" said Sirius, stretching out his hand.
James shook it. "Deal!"
And at the exact same time, both boys produced from nowhere small bouquets of daffodils for Ermengarde and Lily.
"I would have gotten lilies, but I thought it would seem a bit too obvious," said James, brandishing the flowers at Lily, who took them reluctantly with an irritated look on her face.
"Thank you," she said coldly.
"And here you are, Ermengarde...beautiful though the flowers may be, they can't hold a candle to your exquisiteness!" said Sirius in a ridiculous imitation of a Romeo-like character.
Ermengarde giggled and took her flowers. Sirius winked at her and indicated James, who was once more looking at Lily with fervent expectation. Lily, however, looked as though this meeting had long since ended and that James had ought to go on his way. When he didn't move, she sighed.
"What is it you want, then?" she asked in exasperation.
"You to go to Hogsmeade with me," said James immediately.
"No, James," said Lily sharply.
"Oh, come on...quit playing hard to get like that...you really don't want to go to Hogsmeade with me?" said James in a teasing voice.
"No! For heaven's sake, how many times do I have to tell you? I would sooner go out with a barrel of Stinksap than you!" said Lily, thrusting the flowers at James's chest and storming off up the girls' staircase.
James blanched slightly and looked at the flowers, hurt. Ermengarde and Sirius kept silent for a moment, very uncomfortable.
"Well," said Sirius. "I – I think I'll go to bed. Prongs?"
"Yeah, sure," said James quietly, and he followed Sirius up the boys' staircase.
Ermengarde was now alone in the common room. She sat for a long time, watching the embers in the fireplace glow an ashy red, then burgundy, then fade to black. She stood up and walked over to the window.
This is mad, she thought suddenly. What am I doing here? Clearly, something happened that I'm supposed to change...but what? And how did I get here in the first place?
She sighed and got ready to walk up the girls' staircase. She had reached the bottom stair when she heard a sound behind her that made her stop and turn around slowly. Squinting in the pitch darkness, nothing seemed to be there, yet she had the odd feeling that she was not alone.
"Lumos," she muttered, lighting her wand's tip.
She used the narrow beam of light to peer around, but nothing was to be seen. Shaking off her fear, she climbed the stairs and went to bed.
Despite the fact that she hadn't gone to sleep until very late, Ermengarde rose earlier than anyone else and headed straight for the common room. The sun had not quite risen, causing the sky to become a vast array of blues and blacks, the lightest of which matched Ermengarde's eyes precisely and the darkest of which was the color of a raven's feathers.
Just as these poetic thoughts began to form in Ermengarde's mind, a whoosh sounded behind her. She whirled around, trying to spot the source of the noise, but there was still no one in sight. She headed quickly back to the staircase, terrified, and had no sooner put her foot on the first stair than she felt an icy cold hand on her throat. She screamed and tried to wrench away, writhing and twisting and kicking. The hand let go, and Ermengarde distinctly saw someone standing above her. Whoever it was knocked her to the ground and stood over her, holding up a wand as though about to strike. She screamed even louder, shaking and panting for breath.
"What's the matter? Who is it?" came a shout from the boys' staircase...it was Remus.
"It's me!" she shouted. "It's Ermengarde! Please – please come!"
The icy hand slapped her across the face and whoever it was retreated. Remus's figure flew right past Ermengarde, having obviously not realized that she was where she was, and he tried to run up the stairs to the rescue of the damsel in distress. Unfortunately, the flaw in this plan was the fact that boys were not allowed in the girls' dormitories. The staircase suddenly turned into a slide and Ermengarde stepped in front of where Remus was about to fall in order to try and catch him. Remus landed bang on top of Ermengarde, knocking the wind out of her.
"Lumos!" came two other shouts, this time Sirius and James, and they came bounding down the boys' staircase.
Remus got up quickly and knelt next to Ermengarde, helping her sit up. She was trembling and sweating.
"Ermengarde, say something! Come on, say something!" Remus was saying, supporting her as she sat up, clinging to his arm.
"Prongs, get her some water or something!" Sirius said as Remus helped Ermengarde stand up.
Ermengarde's knees were shaking and suddenly gave out. Remus caught her before she collapsed, however, and helped her into an armchair. James returned with a glass of water, which she tried to hold, but she was quivering so badly that she slopped a lot of water down her front. Remus quickly took the glass from her and put it on a table nearby.
"What happened, Swi?" Sirius asked as she put a shaking hand to her cheek.
"I don't know," she said unsteadily. "There was a noise, and I turned, and there was a hand – cold – on my throat, and it slapped me, and..."
Ermengarde trailed off. The boys appeared mystified at this story and looked at each other as though not sure what to think.
"It's true," she insisted.
"We never said it wasn't," said James. "But...well, that's a bit odd, isn't it? Are you sure it wasn't a bad dream?"
"It definitely wasn't," said Remus evenly. "Look at her cheek."
Remus took Ermengarde's hand gently from her cheek and pointed. Ermengarde obviously couldn't see what they were looking at, but by the sudden grave expressions on their faces, she deduced that it was nothing good.
"What is it?" she asked frightfully.
"There's a hand mark on your face...you said you were slapped?" said Sirius.
"Y-yes," said Ermengarde.
"Whoever did this...don't worry, we'll find out who it was," said James reassuringly.
Peter suddenly appeared, panting and pink-faced. His watery eyes were round with worry and fear.
"What's happening?" he squeaked. "I heard her screaming..."
"Took your time coming to her rescue, didn't you?" said James sarcastically.
"She's okay now, Wormtail. Relax," said Sirius. "We've got it sorted out."
"Oh...right...okay..." said Peter with a quivering smile. "Well...I guess I'll...get dressed, then..."
And before anyone could say otherwise, Peter scurried away up the boys' staircase. Sirius shook his head.
"Probably more scared than you were," he muttered to Ermengarde.
"Are you really all right, Ermengarde?" asked Remus, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"I think so," she said. Her voice was slowly returning to normal.
"Drink some water," Remus said firmly, pressing the glass into her hand. "Don't worry. You'll be fine."
Ermengarde tried to smile, but couldn't help feeling that being "fine" was easier said than done.