The Room of Requirement
By: neen
Just a little note to help reduce the confusion…this story takes place in their SIXTH year! Thanks.
Utter Confusion
Lily couldn't think clearly—not in the Common Room with so many people and definitely not in the girl's dormitory, which was currently full of giggling girls gossiping about the latest rumors.
Serenity had been waiting for her in the Common Room. As soon as Lily entered, Serenity stood up and walked over to her, but Lily refused to even look at her, let alone talk to her. Her best friend, Lily scoffed. Yes, her best friend that teamed up with James Potter's best friend to lock the two known arch enemies together in a confined room. Yes, her best friend, soft-spoken, caring Serenity Harrington—the chestnut-haired and chocolate-eyed pretty girl she had been friends with ever since her first day here at Hogwarts.
She longed to go back to the Room of Requirement without James for some peace to think things through. There were hundreds of crazy things floating in her head and she suddenly felt that her head was very cramped up.
Lily decided to risk it. The Room of Requirement would turn into anything the requestor wanted, didn't it? So she could ask for a quiet room, all alone to herself. Brilliant.
Lily left at top speed to the Room of Requirement, not heeding to a protesting Serenity.
She ran through the halls and suddenly collided with someone. "I'm so sorry!" she murmured, looking down before taking a run again.
"Clumsy Mudblood," the voice said spitefully, staring coldly at the departing red-haired beauty, and bent down to pick up his beloved, battered textbook—Advances of Potion Making, and made another scribble in the middle of the corridor.
Lily finally halted when she found the door handle, gleaming at her. I want a place where no one can disturb me—somewhere quiet, peaceful, and without James Potter.
She threw open the door and went inside. There were soft, large pillows piled on the floor and a gentle breeze blowing in from a sunlit window that was not there this morning when she was stuck in the room with James Potter.
She sighed, somewhat contented, and fell back onto the pillows.
Finally, somewhere she could think without that stupid James Potter finding her.
It was interesting really, she thought. How could she, after five years of loathing, hexing, jinxing him, actually fall for him—her sole—her worst enemy? It was all too rushed. She shook her head. No, she didn't like him, really. Attractive, yes, but she didn't like him.
"Oh, this is so confusing," Lily sighed, sitting up and letting the breeze wrap around her.
It was as if she were seeing him in a new light—she saw qualities in him that she had not seen until today.
How could she not have ever spotted his deep hazel eyes, framed with his black, round glasses that so suited his crazy, unkempt hair and most of all—his very nice, dazzling smile that made girls swoon over before?
She shook her head more vigorously this time. No, it was just all a crazy dream. But James's confession to her that morning kept on drifting back to her head over and over again, whether she wanted it or not.
I need somebody to comfort me—to help me make out the right decision…
Lily sighed. The door swung open, and Lily spun around.
"Potter?" she called out wonderingly, speculating if he was real or not.
"What are you doing in here, Ev—Lily? The door just popped me in here," James said, looking around at the Room of Requirement, which he did not recognize.
Lily thought back to her thoughts and groaned. She had accidentally summoned James into the room. Great.
"So," James seated himself on a large pouf, staring at Lily. The wind wrapped itself around James's hair, making it wilder and even more windswept. "How are you?"
"I'm—well, I'm fine," Lily said quickly, turning away from James and letting the sunlight catch her hair.
"You know, about this morning—" James began after an awkward silence.
"I already said all I wanted to on the subject, Potter," Lily said sharply and stared out the window.
"Oh," James said, slightly disappointed, but did not press on any further.
Lily stood up after a moment. "I'm leaving."
"What? Oh, all right," James looked startled before he too, stood up and followed Lily out of the bright-lit, peaceful room.
"Don't follow me, Potter," Lily said, halting in the middle of the hallway.
"I—yes, fine then," James sighed and slipped behind the portrait, out of view.
Lily turned around to tell James off again but he was gone. Lily stared into the emptiness, but James was no where to be seen.
Lily walked back to the Common Room, looking rather gloomy and dragged herself into an armchair, sitting down.
Serenity was waiting, once again. "Listen, Lily, and don't run out on me again like you did two hours ago, and hear me out! I'm really sorry, all right? But Sirius had a good theory and we decided to test it out and if you're still not listening to a word I say, then I won't attempt to say anything anymore!" Serenity burst out angrily.
Lily looked surprised at the sudden outburst by Serenity. Her best friend was usually a calm, sensitive person—definitely not this angry, irritated girl.
"I see," was Lily's answer and she stared at the crackling fire.
"And if you're still angry at m—what?" Serenity stared hard at Lily, in full disbelief at what Lily just said.
"I see what you're saying, Serenity," Lily repeated again, her eyes not moving away from the fire.
"Oh," Serenity said in a much smaller voice. "I'm really sorry, Lils—I know I shouldn't have locked you in there—but Sirius said that, well, you know…" Serenity trailed off, looking at Lily.
"I don't know," Lily said softly, still staring intently into the fire.
"What? What is it, Lily?" Serenity asked gently, seating herself down next to Lily.
"He confuses me so much, Serenity—I don't know—it's crazy—we've always fought until now…he doesn't want to be my enemy anymore," Lily said, her eyes shut.
"James, you mean?" Serenity asked, an excited tone seeping into her voice.
Lily nodded slowly.
"Yes! Sirius was right—I knew it!" Serenity smiled broadly and nearly knocked over Sirius Black, who had just walked through the portrait hole.
"My dear Serenity, I know my charming looks are magnetic—but really," Sirius said with a large grin on his handsome face.
"Sorry—it's just that James does like Lily! You were right!" Serenity explained, beaming.
Sirius beamed brightly as well. "Ah, well yes, these brains of mine…"
Lily seemed to come back to earth and shot Sirius a dark look.
"The ones addled by that crazy Potter?" Lily asked smoothly.
"Now, wait a minute, I thought you and Prongsie had a good bonding time together—how else did you get out?" Sirius asked, frowning slightly, scratching his chin thoughtfully.
Lily turned away, looking at the fire again, and blushed slightly. "I—I—escaped. I lied to him, you know. How else could I have gotten out? Like I would really resolve differences with that mad git!" Lily snapped indignantly.
"Oh dear," Serenity breathed out as she looked up after hearing a slight creak. "James."
James slowly walked down from the boys' dormitory, never taking his eyes off Lily. Lily stared at the fire defiantly, determined not to glance a square inch of James Henry Potter.
"Prongs, old pal, the little spitfire's at it again," Sirius shook his magnificent head, clamping a hand on James's shoulder.
Serenity then nudged Sirius and jerked her head towards the door and Sirius, cottoning on, followed her out.
James stepped towards Lily, as he too, stared at the fire, not blinking.
"Lily," he said, his eyes reflecting the large, cheerful fire.
"Potter—I don't want to hear it," she said tiredly, now staring at the floor.
"I didn't lie to you this morning—I meant every word I said…I can swear by it, Lily. I just can't believe you—"James continued on as if he never heard Lily and then broke off, disappointment clearly slipping in his voice.
"Sorry—I never should have said anything in the first place," James's tone was icy now, and he swished his cloak, leaving the room.
Lily now looked up, her face quite expressionless. She stood up, glancing at the spot James had stood just a minute ago.
Author's Note:
Ahh…not one of my best chapters…sorry, I've been somewhat busy writing a new Harry Potter and crew (yes, my first—I usually write Marauder era stories) story which has a lot of my theories and thoughts about what will happen in the seventh installment of the series…
reviewers:
: angelwriter2492,chikichiki, NoName, heather : thanks!
: Alexis : thanks for the lengthy and thorough review! Yes, I thought about setting up Serenity's character during the first chapter, but found that many other writers characterize the characters too soon...so I went and added to her image this chapter instead...but I'm very glad you noticed that! I know that it went a tad bit too fast...but it's because I've had this idea in my head for the longest time and I just needed to see what people thought of it...hope you had satisfactory answers in this chapter...I will continue to flesh it out a bit more overall. But thank you for the constructive criticism and compliments! I hope you will continue reading my other stories and write your great opinion!
: Prongsie4028 : Goodness, I just love your reviews! Excellent! Ahh, sorry for the long wait--I've been reading HPVI and it's just...sigh...so I've started writing a HP crew story (called The Chosen One's Battle) if you or anyone else is interested in hearing my theories...I'm touched by how long you took to write the review...thank you! I will try to read your stories when I have time...(might be a few days, sorry!)
: Sweetblood64 : Ahh, thank you! Hope you liked this chapter...It's not my best ones, but...I've been working on other stories, sorry!
Thanks to Prongsie4028 for placing this on your favorites and to Prongsie4028 and chikichiki for posting this on your alerts list!