Author's Note:
Man eating plant: I don't think I've posted this chapter before. Maybe you read the first version of it (Together Forever)
OTHCharmedHPFreak: It'll all work out, I promise.
Jean DARK: I like Cerise a lot better too. It means "cherry" in French, but you probably already knew what, because of your name
HarryxJames: Don't worry! I'll review (I'm still SO happy!)
Celina Black: Thanks for the critique darling! It's definitely been very helpful and I'm not offended at all!
I love you guys!
Chapter Four: It's My Life
"It's
my life
Don't
you forget
Caught
in the crowd
It
never ends."
-No
Doubt, It's My Life
That night Lily slept fitfully in her warm, Head Girl bed, continually tossing and turning at night.
She is running through the Forbidden Forest to Lucius, wanting to be enveloped in his strong arms. There is a smile on his face, but as she gets closer, she sees the coldness in his smile. Suddenly, Lucius is no longer there, but in his stead, a tall, cloaked figure that is laughing maliciously, his voice absurdly high-pitched.
Heart stopping with fear, Lily backs away from him before turning around to flee. The man reaches out in a quick, fluid movement, brushing her arm with long, pale fingers, chilling her to the bones like the touch of Death itself.
Lily finds it so difficult to move her feet – it is like trying to run through molasses. Stumbling along the ground like a drugged person, her struggling mind comes to the frightening realization that his touch is venomous.
Gazing around her for help, Lily is surprised and relieved to see her dear sister, Petunia.
"Help me!" she yells, only it emits from her throat like a croak.
Petunia draws away from her, face stony, as though Lily is some sort of disfigured leper or something.
"I'm your sister!" Lily tries to cry. "Help me, Petunia!"
But her sister turns and walks away, head held high. Unable to move, Lily falls face forward.
Opening her eyes, Lily looks around to find herself beside James Potter, of all people. There is a crash from somewhere outside, and James sits up with a start. He stares at her in horror, then jumps out of bed, dashing into the hallway.
"Take Harry and run!" James commands, his eyes flashing with…fear.
"What about you?" Lily hears herself cry, wondering where this is coming from. "I can't just leave you!"
"Go now!" James pushes her behind him.
Lily dashes down a dark hallway into a blurry room. She scoops a little baby into her arms and gives him a kiss on the head before setting him back down as she hears two frightful words uttered and sees a flash of green light out of the corner of her eye.
James…he can't be…
Villainous laughter trails the hallway and a familiar, tall, cloaked figure approaches her.
"Won't you give me the boy, Lily?" he asks.
"No," she responds bravely, not even really knowing who this boy actually is.
"Come on Lily, I won't hurt you if you give me the boy."
"Never, do you hear me?"
"Then I guess I'll have to take him."
"No, not Harry," Lily pleads. "Take me instead."
"Avada kedavara!" he roars.
And then there is nothing.
Lily awoke with a start from her painfully lucid, frightening dream, her skin clammy and slick with sweat. What did this all mean? What was the dream anyway? The more she thought about it, the less she could remember it.
For the rest of the night, she had trouble falling asleep.
Unbeknownst to Lily, she wasn't the only one up all night. James had opted to sleep in the seventh year boys' dorm that night and was currently lying awake – then again, so were Remus, Sirius, and Peter. It was sort of a first week ritual for them – staying up the whole night, that is.
"So, what'll we pull this year?" asked Sirius with anticipation. "Spiders in Snivellius's underwear?"
"Hmmm," commented James, not really listening at all.
But honestly, how could Lily have agreed to date some other guy when she had refused him? Did that mean she was really, truly in love with that jerk? And did that mean she would never be in love with him?
Sirius frowned at James, then said craftily, "Or maybe you should do the Mexican hat dance in front of McGonagall and Dumbledore. In the nude."
"Good idea," James said vaguely. "It's Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore, by the way."
Sirius exchanged astonished glances with Remus.
"Prongs? Hello, Prongs? PRONGS!" Sirius practically yelled.
"Huh?" James blinked, snapped out of his reverie.
"What's the matter with you, mate?" Sirius asked. "Why've you been so quiet since you've come back from patrolling the corridors? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you've become boring over the summer."
Sirius and Peter gasped with mock terror. Remus just tutted at them.
"But he is right, you know," Remus told James. "You have been awfully quiet all night. Is everything all right?"
"Not really," he replied with a slight sigh. "Did any of you know Lily has a boyfriend?"
"She what?" Sirius exploded. He let out a stream of colorful expletives.
"I'll take that as a no," James muttered.
"How could she have a boyfriend when she's madly in love with you?" Sirius asked. "Sure, she doesn't know it yet, but she is, and someday she'll realize it."
"I'm not so sure," James said, running a hand through his hair. "Think about it. Let's say she only said yes to this guy because she didn't want to hurt his feelings. If that's the case, why would she have said no to me?"
He didn't mention it, but he knew that all his friends knew what he was thinking, 'Don't I have feelings too?'
"Maybe this guy is more sensitive than you. After all, you do give the impression of being above petty emotion," suggested Remus.
"Maybe," he said with another sigh.
Lily woke up the next morning, feeling unrested and scruffy, but unable to remember her dream beyond the fact that there was a baby and Petunia in it – Petunia's baby, perhaps? She brushed her hair and pilled it back into a ponytail but didn't bother doing anything else to it.
She went downstairs to the seventh year girl's dormitory and woke up Amirah, who was still asleep. Chelsea was already gone, her bed neatly made.
Yawning, the two of them went into the Common Room to see Remus and Chelsea looking mighty cozy on a crimson sofa. They were talking in low voices, and Remus was playing with her hands.
When Lily and Amirah went over to them, they stopped talking immediately, and Remus pulled his hands away from Chelsea's almost guiltily.
"Morning," Lily said.
"Morning," they responded.
"Would you mind if I talked to these two alone?" Chelsea asked Remus.
"Absolutely not," he responded, rising and leaving.
"Why didn't you tell us you have a boyfriend, Lily?" Chelsea asked accusingly, her hands on her hips.
"Since when?" exclaimed Amirah, her dark hair falling gracefully around her face.
"Remus of all people told me," Chelsea said, raising her eyes at me. "You should have been the one who told us. Why didn't you?"
"Because you wouldn't understand," she replied agitatedly.
"What are you talking about? We're your best friends. You're our best friend. Why wouldn't we understand?" demanded Amirah.
Lily blinked abruptly , staving off an onslaught of tears. "You just wouldn't, okay?"
"I don't believe this," muttered Chelsea. "We tell you everything, Lily. Don't you trust us?"
"Like you told us about Remus?" Lily snapped. "Okay, I'm sorry, Chelsea. Fine, fine, I'll tell. You'll hate me forever though.
She shut her eyes and sniffed as a few stray tears escaped.
"Is it James Potter by any chance?" asked Amirah, feigning indifference, but she was obviously interested.
Lily shook her head and drew a deep, shuddering breath. "My boyfriend is…Lucius Malfoy."
Both of them just stared at her.
"You're joking…right?" asked Amirah, raising a perfect eyebrow.
"No, see, I told you, you wouldn't understand," exclaimed Lily. "But he's really sweet and loving and wonder full and…"
"And Slytherin," Chelsea said.
"So what?" Lily asked stubbornly.
"You've been here for how long? Almost seven years?" asked Chelsea. "You know enough to know that anyone who has ever been in Slytherin turns out…well, evil."
"It's just a stereotype," Lily said.
"We don't want you to get hurt," Amirah explained in her signature smooth voice.
"I won't get hurt," Lily said, starting to get mad. "I love Lucius, and think you should stop insulting him so much."
"You're on first name terms with him?" exclaimed Chelsea at the same time Amirah asked, "You love him?"
"Yes, we are, and yes, I do," she insisted. "And if you guys can't deal with that…well, that isn't my problem."
With that, she stomped out of the Common Room.
In serious, low voices, Amirah and Chelsea related the entire conversation to James, leaving out the part where Lily said, "I love him."
"She loves him, doesn't she?" James asked stonily.
"You sure she didn't hit her head or start having hallucinations over the summer?" Sirius asked wryly.
"Positive," Chelsea said. "And no, I don't think she loves him."
"Then why did she turn me down and agree to go out with him?" James said quietly.
"Maybe he asked nicely," Chelsea responded. "You have to admit you were a bit of a jerk every time you asked her."
"Was I?" James said. "Yeah, you're right. Why don't we just go down to breakfast?"
Silently, all of them followed him through to Portrait Hole and to the Great Hall.
Sneak-peek of Chapter Five:
"I know," Chelsea agreed. "God, we tell her everything – well, almost everything, in any case."
"What secrets are you hiding?" Amirah asked in surprise. What a perfect way to start off their last year at Hogwarts – by finding out her two best friends kept secrets from her.