Chapter 4: Comfort

By: Almicene Melwen

Updated: August 11, 2004

"You sure you're alright Lily?" Persephone asked cautiously, wanting to see how her friend was doing while trying to not upset her.

The petite redhead sighed. "Yes I'm sure." Now she was beginning to regret mentioning the incident to her friend.

"It's too bad Lucius didn't get expelled though . . ." Seph offered, tossing in a sympathetic glance.

"Yeah well . . . apparently he wasn't the one that shot off that curse." The boy that had put the Unforgivable on her had been expelled, while the others had been suspended for two weeks for attacking a student. Not surprisingly, Lucius had managed to get out of being suspended or expelled, despite the fact he was going to put another Unforgivable on her. She sighed, the things people could get away with by having a lot of money and power. Lily shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she nibbled on a croissant with dainty fingers. Focusing all her attention on the soft yet crispy warm piece of bakery, the witch gave a small satisfied smile, ignoring the thoughts that she would have to spend double potions with the Slytherin first thing in the morning. She had been getting nasty stares from a few of them upon entering the Great Hall. Apparently she wasn't on their most popular list for getting one of their own expelled and others suspended.

Her bliss was short lived as her violet-eyed friend groaned.

Lily raised an inquiring eyebrow. "What?"

Persephone gave the redhead an annoyed look. "This is all yourfault," she hissed, jabbing a finger into Lily's arm. The elegantly dressed witch seemed to slide a little further down in her seat.

Lily was about to inquire what exactly was her fault this time when she saw a note magically appear on Persephone's now empty plate. The dirty blonde shoved the note at Lily, crossing her arms and huffing.

The redhead opened the piece of parchment slowly. What if there was something that would scar her for life on that paper?

"Oh for Heaven's sake," she mentally chided herself and quickly opened the note. She spotted what could only be from Sirius's handwriting and her best friend's response.

To the loveliest seventh year witch named Persephone:

How about 6:30 P.M. at the Astronomy Tower tonight?

How about sod off!

. . . 7 P.M.?

Argh! Just leave me alone Sirius.

. . . Too early huh? 8 P.M.?

Seph? 9 then? I can make time for you . . . Seph? Darling?

Lily laughed at Sirius's antics, earning another glare from Persephone, who snatched back the note. "I don't see what's so funny Lily."

The redhead smirked when she saw Persephone hastily tucking the note into her book bag. "I have to give the guy credit. He's definitely persistent."

"Yeah – thanks to you!" the seventh-year sputtered out, not noticing Professor McGonagall approaching.

Lily began to laugh again, but immediately sobered when the teacher stood beside Persephone. The grim look on her Transfiguration teacher's face did not bode well. "Hello Professor, what can I do for you?" she asked politely, expecting Head business. Professor McGonagall turned her eyes to Lily, as if just noticing she was there.

"Oh, not you Miss Evans," the elder witch answered slowly. "Miss Olwen . . . the Headmaster would like to speak with you."

"About?" she asked bluntly, nervous at the look on McGonagall's face.

"Please, just come with me."

Lily gave Persephone a reassuring squeeze on the arm as her friend got up quickly and followed Professor McGonagall out of the hall.

Hopefully her friend wasn't in trouble for sneaking around the hall after hours.

The Head Girl sat in one of the front seats, wanting to be the good student. She shifted a little nervously as the Slytherins saw her unaccompanied by Persephone. Lucius passed by her desk, giving her a cold smile, whispering as he passed, "It was your fault – wonder if your blood traitor of a friend will thank you later."

Lily gave him a confused but angry stare. She continued glaring at his back as if she would be able to make him suffer if she just thought hard enough.

Then she felt a warm hand upon her shoulder. Whipping around, startled, she met the kind eyes of James Potter. "Mind if I sit there?" He pointed to the empty seat next to her.

Still a bit shaken by Malfoy's smug look, she nodded. James's presence was comforting and he'd keep Lucius away if his aggressiveness during Quidditch was any indication.

He gave her a lopsided smile and slid into the seat next to her. "Don't worry about that git," he said in a quiet voice, "he's always causing trouble." James gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, making Lily's cheeks tinge with color at his friendliness. She'd have to ask him later why he had gotten so much nicer to her in the last couple of days.

But despite the comfort he offered, Lily couldn't help but feel worried.

Holding a plate of food from dinner in her hand, Lily headed towards the Gryffindor common room. So far, Seph hadn't shown up for any of their classes. Perhaps she had been called away by her parents for some emergency? The redhead frowned as she gave the Pink Lady the password and the door swung open.

There on an armchair in the corner scrunched up in a ball was Persephone. The girl was shivering despite the heat from the fireplace. Lily approached her longtime friend cautiously.

"Seph?" she asked concerned. "I brought you some food back from dinner." She offered the sandwich towards the witch but it was quickly smacked out of her hand and sent flying across the room.

"Get away from me!" Persephone hissed, leaping out of the chair. "You know what's your problem? You always had to be little miss goody two shoes, having to report everyone for doing anything wrong!" her voice began to grow louder and soon the people on the other side of the common room couldn't help but overhear the conversation.

"Seph?" Lily asked confused and hurt. "What happened?" She didn't understand what could have made her friend so upset to lash out at her.

Her friend gave a bitter laugh. "Yeah, easy for you to say – 'what happened?' Why do you care?!" she shrieked, as angry tears spilled down her face. She thrust a crumpled letter towards Lily. "It's entirely your fault they're gone! I hate you so much!" she spat, angrily wiping away the tears. Hissing, she added, "You are so lucky that using an Unforgivable is illegal!" With that, Persephone ran off up the stairs to the girls' dormitories, dark blonde hair flying wildly.

Lily sucked in a deep breath, trying not to feel as if her friend had hurt her deeply. She began to read the letter.

Dear Ms. Olwen,

By the time you read this letter you will have learned of your parents' deaths. It is with great pleasure that I tell you the reason why they had been selected. If it hadn't been for your friendship with the Mudblood, Lily Evans, who hindered the Dark Lord's plans, then your parents wouldn't have been tortured to death for hours by our master himself. What fun that was, but I digress. I hope you have learned your lesson about the trouble Mudbloods cause.

Sincerely,

A Concerned Death Eater

Connecting the pieces together, Lily remembered what Lucius had told her early. She crumpled the letter angrily as tears fell from her eyes.

"Lily?" a deep male voice interrupted her.

Turning around she met the concerned eyes of James, whose eyes widened at the sight of her tears. Instinctively he stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her. He stroked her hair soothingly, not making empty promises of reassurance.

"I promise that Voldemort will pay," she said angrily, clutching to the black-haired wizard as tears streaked down her lovely pale face. "Even if it's the last thing I ever do, I will bring him down," she swore.

"J'aime Quidditch," James said in a low voice. He knew Lily could hear him, but as long as no one else could, he'd be fine.

Lily managed to wipe away her tears and brought her bright green eyes to meet his as his door swung open. "Two questions – how do you know French and why did you let me hear your password?"

James turned his gaze away from her uncomfortably as she plopped down onto the soft maroon couch in his room. "I just picked it up from uh . . . vacation in France with my parents." He wasn't lying, but it wasn't the complete truth either. "As for the second question – I don't mind a certain 'pervert' coming in my room at any time." He winked at her.

The redheaded witch sighed softly and shook her head. She knew exactly what James was doing. She appreciated that he was trying to lighten the mood, but she felt a numbness that no jokes would take away any time soon.

He continued teasing her, trying to make her feel better. "Don't worry; you're the only one that knows my password. I won't call you a pervert if you give me your password too."

"James!" she said, her eyes opening wide at his persistence.

"Oooh, say my name again," he teased, coming closer to her on the couch.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," she murmured and rose to leave, thinking he didn't understand that it wasn't the time for banter.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her back down. "I'm sorry. I'll behave." She gave him an incredulous look as if to say, 'you behave?' "Er," he ruffled his hair from nervousness, "as best as I can anyways."

She sighed and curled up into a ball. "Thanks for leading me out of the common room . . ."

James waved the back of his hand at her, dismissing the importance. "It was nothing."

"It . . . meant a lot to me," she wanted to say, but no words came out. Instead she looked away from him suddenly feeling very alone. Her best friend wanted nothing to do with her, and she wasn't close to anyone else. She wanted to tell Persephone that it wasn't her fault and she was sorely grieved by the loss of Persephone's parents as well. Seph couldn't know how much she had hurt her friend by the accusation it had been Lily's fault.

Lily lifted her eyes to James, planning on thanking him for his kindness and leaving before she would be any more of a bother to him. But instead she started to cry. She covered her face with her hands, but James moved them. Pulling her to his chest, he held her as she wept softly about the unfairness of life and fate. He held her even when the tears stopped and she fell asleep. He held her even long after he lost the feeling in his arms and the sun began to rise.