Disclaimer: JKR owns it all
AN: Please forgive me! I am so sorry but this year has been so busy so far with school and stuff. Please review, if any of my reviewers are left.
This has been my favorite chapter to write so far. I hope it was worth the wait!
Kay and Lexy Granger: Thanks for reviewing and sorry for the wait. Here's the update!
ShelbyBlack: My only reviewer who has reviewed every chapter! Pink and green are cool colors; that's why I picked them :)
It was nearly midnight and time for everyone to remove their masks. Bridget and Lily had spent the whole night dancing with the men in black. They were eager to know who they really were. 'It really is like a dream come true,' Lily thought happily.
James and Sirius, however, were not overly fervent to reveal themselves. They were pretty sure that Lily and Bridget would probably never speak to them again, but they weren't really on acquaintance terms anyway.
The clock chimed twelve times. Lily and Bridget both removed their masks first and waited to see who their Prince Charming was. Sirius lifted his mask over his head and gave Bridget a nervous smile.
Bridget's eyes closed and she dramatically crumpled to the floor. Sirius made a catch for her, but of course, missed, and fell on top of her. Lily pushed Sirius off her friend and said, "Quick, help me get her to the hospital wing." She was desperate for anyone's help at that point.
James, who still had not removed his mask, leaped forward at the oppurtunity to help Lily. She smiled slightly and together, with the help of a distraught Sirius, they hauled Bridget to the Hospital Wing.
When they finally arrived the only thing Lily, James, and Sirius could do was wait for Bridget to be treated by Madame Pomfrey.
"Well, I guess you're James then," Lily sighed.
James hesitated before answering, "Are you going to faint if I say yes?"
Lily laughed. "No, I won't."
James let go of a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. He flung his mask off and it landed gracefully on the floor.
"But how could you be James Potter, the most egotistical guy in school," Lily wondered aloud. "You seemed so nice while we were dancing."
"Some people do that to me," James replied casually.
"Please stop with all that mushy stuff while I'm here," Sirius said, coming out of his self-pitying state for a moment.
"Thanks for helping with Bridget by the way," Lily said.
"Anytime," James continued, ignoring Sirius.
"Well, I can't believe I'm about to say this, but friends?" Lily offered her hand.
"Friends," James confirmed, wanting more but this would have to be enough at the moment.
"What did I say about the mushy stuff!" Sirius exclaimed agitatedly.
But Sirius was forgotten because it was then that Bridget made her entrance, with Madame Pomfrey behind her saying, "…from shock. Relaxing activities please, Ms. Monbourne. And take this before meals just to be safe. You really should stay overnight…"
"I'll be fine, thank you," Bridget managed politely. She spotted Lily and rolled her eyes. Lily grinned, glad to see her friend was fine so soon.
Bridget escaped Madame Pomfrey's clutches and made her way over to the group of three. "Where's Meghen?" she asked Lily.
"I haven't seen her since the Masquerade," Lily frowned. "I wonder what's up with her and Remus…"
Sirius and James exchanged a glance. "They're probably, ah, trying to carry on the population," Sirius considered. "Well, James, we can't stay in our dorm tonight. Unless they went to the girls…"
"Sirius Black!" Bridget shrieked.
"Hey, it's better to be safe than sorry," James pointed out.
"Now I'm going to have a mentally disturbing image in my head for the rest of my life," Lily muttered.
The four began to walk back towards Gryffindor Tower. "Back to the Masquerade…" Bridget paused. "…why won't you let it go?"
It was blatantly obvious who the question was directed to. "Well, Angel," Sirius hesitated before answering. "I figure that our destinies are connected and that we are meant to be. Besides, I can't seem to stay away from you."
With a flourish, Sirius was down on one knee grasping Bridget's hand and kissing it. When he tried to stand back up, James tripped him ("It was an accident!" he later claimed) and Sirius fell back.
The only problem was that he was still holding on to Bridget's hand. She, too, fell—her head landing right on Sirius's chest.
"What did I say about the mushy stuff!" Lily mimicked through her giggles.
"Yeah, seriously, Sirius!" James laughed.
"That line is only funny when I use it," Sirius claimed, putting great emphasis on the I.
Bridget climbed off Sirius and offered a hand because she would have felt guilty otherwise. He took it and hoisted himself up.
"Aren't you afraid of getting Sirius Germs?" Sirius mocked playfully.
"I figure I got them all when you kissed my hand," she said.
In the Gryffindor girl's dormitory, sobs wracked the room. "The abc's of love," Megen cried. "Love is awful, bad, completely depressing, evil, fake, ghastly, horrible, oh what for I?"
Meghen suddenly stopped crying and her face became very solemn. "I'm in love!" she cried out and this was followed by a fresh wave of tears.
Bridget and Lily heard the noises from downstairs.
"Meghen," they said together.
They found Meghen on her bed. They quickly took in the tears and guessed that she had been crying for a while. There was no time for explanations.
Bridget and Lily both sat down on Meghen's bed on either side of her. They both hugged her tightly and let her lean against them and wet their dress robes with her tears. It was a moment they would look back on in the short years to come and think that even though Meghen was going through a hard time, it was would be better because of friendship.
That's how the three fell asleep—peaceful and content in each other's arms.
Sirius and James found Remus in a similar state, without the tears or abc's of love. When Remus was sad, depressed, or in this case heartbroken, he became very quiet. And it was not a good idea to disturb him. Of course, James did anyway.
"Remus! I finally got Lily not only to talk to me, but to be friends with me," James announced proudly. There was no response.
In usual circumstances, this would be accompanied from Remus by, "Prongs, it's five months until April Fools, will you give it a rest?" or "I know we're the Marauders, but that got old in third year, Prongs."
Hence James and Sirius knew that something was terribly wrong.
"Full moon," Sirius mouthed to James.
James shook his head. Although Remus acted differently before the full moon, he usually became snappy rather than quiet. James and Sirius both bolted out of the dorm. If you knew Remus, he needed to be left alone by himself when he got like this.
"Room of Retirement?" Sirius suggested.
"Room of Retirement," James confirmed.
"Peter will have a nice surprise," Sirius said cheerfully.
"We really should warn Peter, our fellow Marauder," James said but made no move to change his course.
"Remus needs the company and support," Sirius invented, knowing the opposite was true.
"Yes he does," James agreed. "Let's do our annual Halloween Prank late this year, just to throw off the teachers."
"Wow, Prongs, I thought Lily had negative effects on you but it really is the other way around!" Sirius clapped him on the back.
"She's the only one," James muttered before they turned the corner, leaving a dark empty hallway behind them.
AN: R&R
outtake from the movie in case you missed it