Wow! We've got a lot of snow here in Michigan. It's great! I'm so happy. I love it when it snows. And the strange part is, it only started yesterday! Now we've got like 5 inches or something!
So now that I'm here, maybe I'll write another chapter? Yeah. I think so too.
Chapter 6: A Night to Remember Pt 2
Lily darted across the dew-strewn grass and towards the general direction that the group had gone.
She wondered why in the world those three would be out at this time of night. Was it some sort of secret meeting? A secret society! What about sneaking into the Forbidden Forest to try and wrestle an acromantula or something?
Her stomach lurched at the thought and increased her speed. Even James shouldn't be arrogant enough to do something as stupid as that…. But Sirius might….
She turned around the corner behind the forest and stopped once she saw was in front of her.
A monstrous willow towered over the grounds. Lily stared up at the branches. She'd heard stories about this tree. Bad stories.
She swallowed hard, trying to figure out where they had gone.
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The three Marauders finally made it to the Shrieking Shack.
As James pushed open the trap door concealed in the floor, they all transformed into their Animagus forms.
James was a stag, Sirius as the great black dog, and Peter returned to his rat shape.
The three stepped into the Shrieking Shack and approached the separated room where Remus was waiting.
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Lily tapped her foot impatiently. She was getting tired of trying to wait and see if the others came out of the forest or not.
When she looked down, trying to figure out some way to get them all back without getting into trouble, an interesting pattern caught her eye.
She stooped down to the grass and saw shoe marks in the grass. It led all the way from where she was to the Willow itself.
She moaned and looked up at the tree again.
With a determined sigh, she straightened up and headed right for the trunk.
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The complete Marauders ventured out of the Shrieking Shack and down the sloping lawn to Hogsmeade.
Peter was perched on James's head, right in between his large antlers. Peter was too small to keep up with the strides of the others. But James didn't mind carrying Peter at all.
They walked into the deserted streets of Hogsmeade and Sirius look in all of the windows, trying to find something of interest.
His breathing misted up the window and he moved on. He ran ahead and looked inside the Three Broomsticks.
Inside, it was dark like every other shop but for one exception.
A single lamp inside was lit on a small table in the back. Seated around it were three figures.
One was the bar keeper Jason Zembrowski. Zembrowski was a built man with broad shoulders and a strong body. He may look like he could break your neck with a flick of his wrist, but he was one of the nicest guys in the area.
The other was Professor McGonagall and finally Professor Dumbledore himself.
They were speaking in low voices, even Sirius couldn't hear what they were saying very well. They were bent low over the table and muttered to each other over something very grave.
McGonagall's face was ashen and she didn't seem to look very well.
"Hey, Sirius," said James, from back in the main part of the village. "We didn't come all the way out here to look inside shop windows."
Sirius looked at James, then back into the bar. He wanted to find out why the three of them looked so uneasy. It was something serious and Sirius didn't feel too confident about the matter either.
Finally, Sirius dashed away from the window and back to the group.
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Lily jumped back and forth, dodging the smashing branches of the tree. She dove into a space and rolled out of the way as a branch smacked into the ground were she had been only moments before.
She scrambled up and tried to make it to the trunk but was smashed in the abdomen with a large branch and throw backward away from the trunk.
Lily lay on the ground, breathing heavily. This was the 17th time that she tried to make it through the branches but it was no use. Even paralyzing spells wouldn't work on this thing.
She had multiple bruises on her stomach and back and had a small cut above her eyebrow.
Getting thoroughly frustrated, Lily jumped up and picked up a rock from the ground. "Augh! Bloody tree!" she roared, throwing the rock with all her might at the trunk.
But something happened that made her calm down. The small rock hit the tree trunk exactly on a knot located just above the base. The tree shivered for a moment, then froze completely.
Lily looked up at the branches, then back down at the base. She smiled with victory and headed straight for the unmoving trunk.
She wiggled in between the trunk and slid down into a dank tunnel. Straightening up, she looked around for James or anyone. But no one was in sight.
Taking a deep breath, she walked deeper into the tunnel.
After what seemed like ages, the tunnel began to slope upward. Lily increased her speed in the dark and bumped her head on something hard above her.
She retreated, grabbing onto the top of her head, tears streaking her eyes.
Lily put her hand upward and approached the thing again to find that it was made of wood.
Pushing harder, the wood opened up to reveal moonlight shining through the cracks. She poked her head above the floor and saw that she was now in some sort of musty room with absolutely no furniture and peeling wallpaper.
She pushed open the trap door even more and crawled out onto the dusty floor.
Lily straightened up and looked around the room for some sort of sign of James.
In the corner of the room, she did notice a dark cloth lying on the floor. She walked over to it and picked it up. It felt watery and smooth in her hands. Lily recognized it as an Invisibility Cloak.
She dropped it back to the floor and saw paw prints of various different animals all over the floor.
Her brow furrowed with curiosity as she followed them into another room and out a window.
She jumped out of the building and looked up to the place where she had just left. It was the Shrieking Shack. A shiver went up her spine at the thought that she had just been in one of the most haunted places in Britain without even realizing it.
Turning and walking down the sloping lawn, she hopped the wire fence and into Hogsmeade.
The village was quiet and dark. It gave Lily an uneasy feeling as if she was being watched.
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"Is it just me or do you think that Lily followed us?" asked Sirius sarcastically as he watched her .
The four of spotted her long before she had made her way into town and hid behind a group of barrels in front of Honeydukes.
James had to hunch down low or else his antlers would be seen. His heart pounded at the fact that Lily had followed them.
"Hey,… where'd Remus go? He was just here," Sirius said, looking behind him.
James head snapped up and he looked frantically around for any sign of a great big werewolf lurking in the shadows.
"Oh no," he said quietly.
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Remus prowled around the shop and looked out at Lily from around the corner. Two sides of him fought for domination.
One part said to leave Lily be. She was innocent.
But another side, a more ravenous side, told him to get her. He hadn't had fun in a while and needed to play. To kill.
Remus fought off his more demonic side, trying to keep it at bay. But it was stronger. Even though he had taken the potion, he was still dangerous.
Remus lunged out of the shadows and charged straight for Lily.
Okay, well, I've got to go get ready for Thanksgiving festivities now! But as soon as the cheek squeezing and hugging is over after dinner, I'll probably write some more!
Review! It always makes me happy to know that people enjoy my writing. Also, give me some constructive criticism! It's killing me how you aren't saying anything about how I can improve! (Hehe. Thanks Rosie for that last review!)
See you guys soon!