Chapter Five James Decision
Flower looked at herself in the mirror; she had just woken up from yet another horrible reoccurring dream. She has been waking up at night to another horrible dream.
The most recent one was of her hanging from a long cliff holding on to a blurry persons hand... She woke up every time she slipped.
She washed her face again, she took her contacts off, and she had to use them to see. She saw her familiar green eyes through the mirror. She wore brown contacts so she could see, they let her choose a color and she was just in a hurry and picked the first one she saw.
She looked outside her door, she usually picked up the daily prophet, and there it was next to a pretty yellow tulip. A little note laid next to it and it read Remus.
She grabbed a nice blue sun dress and a gray vintage coat, she let her hair hang loose and she grabbed her bag and left.
She didn't really know what she was going to go this morning; she didn't really expect to see anyone out of the ordinary. Who was there to see?
At one she had to go to work, Sirius was going to apparate to her house but the problem at hand was how was she was going to entertain herself until then.
In the end Flower decided on cleaning her shabby little flat up, why she decided on doing this she had no idea since she almost never cared about it before. Maybe it's because I've never had visitors before, or maybe it's because Sirius is coming over. Flower decided it was the first since impressing Sirius was one of the last things on her list.
Flower wasn't much of a disorganized person, on contrary she usually liked to keep very clean but lately her mind had been elsewhere and she grew to not really care how she kept her house.
She started to make tea, she wasn't much of a tea drinker but it did calm her down.
She heard a strange knocking at her door, "Yes?"
No response. Knock Knock.
She reached for the knob her mind full of paranoia; who can it be?
Her face pulled a smile, "Oh hi. I didn't expect you."
Remus stood in front of her door, "I hope you don't mind me coming."
Flower smiled, "Not at all, but you look rather tired. Are you sick?"
He laughed nervously, "Not really. I just didn't get much sleep."
Flower nodded as she let him in, "Do you want some tea? I just made some." He nodded, biting his lip. "Here you go."
Remus sipped the tea silently, wondering if he had been too presumptuous to have popped out of no where, so spontaneous.
"So...is there a reason you're here?" Flower asked nervously, tapping her thighs.
Remus stuttered, "N-No, n-n-not really. Just came by t-to visit."
Flower laughed, "How nice."
Remus shrugged, "What can I say? I'm just one of those types of people."
"Awe, are you really this modest with other girls?" Flower snorted, she had been sarcastic.
Remus chuckled, "It works most of the time..."
"What are the girls deaf?" Flower sat across from him.
"Ha-ha, why aren't you the shy one?" Remus said laughing, blushing.
"Always have been." Flowers smiled.
Remus went quiet and a distant look was in his eyes, almost as if he was remembering something, but he quickly shook it off.
"So what do you plan on doing today?"
"Working for Sirius, I mean he's a good guy and everything but-"
POP
"Did I just hear my name?"
Flower looked up and smirked, "Whoa..."
Sirius looked down at Remus, "Odd, I don't remember you telling me you were going here. I recall you saying, 'I'm going out to get some more milk,' where's the milk?"
Remus gave him a halfhearted grin, "I had to make a quick stop-"
"I'm sure," Sirius said cutting him off, he turned to face Flower, "Ready?"
Flower looked over at her watch, "Yeah I am, let me just add this one thing into this potion I've been working on."
"Why didn't you do it earlier?" Sirius said, his voice growing irritated.
Flower gave him a sheepish grin, "Um, let me just do it now. I have to do it before the full moon, which is tomorrow, if you blokes didn't know."
"Oh, we knew." Sirius shot a look at Remus, who coincidentally looked away. When Flower was out of earshot he looked over at Remus. "What, may I ask, are you doing here?"
Remus felt his face burn, "I-I-I'm not sure..."
"Then leave." Sirius hissed, Remus gave him a look and before Sirius could say anything else, pop and Remus was gone.
Flower came back out, taking off gloves, "Where's Remus?"
Sirius shrugged, "He said he had to leave and just...left."
"Oh..." Flower said, heaving a disappointed sigh.
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Marie stood in front of their kitchen; she knew James was home, she had heard him earlier. She heard footsteps creeping down the stairs.
She sat on the chair, hands folded. She felt her palms sweat with anxiety.
"Gah!" said a voice that rang with jarred.
"Hello James," she said, her face splitting with a grin. "I've missed you."
James ran a hand through his hair, he didn't know what to do, "How did you get in?"
"Is that how you greet your girlfriend?" She got off the high stool chair and put her arms around his neck.
He took her arms away from his neck, "Not now..."
"You look awful! Have you done anything about your bags under your eyes?" she said in a creepy soothing voice.
James looked at her; he didn't know how to react, "Are you okay?"
"I miss you," she repeated. "When are you coming home?"
James groaned, "I'm not sure I want to come home."
She narrowed her eyes, "Did Sirius talk you into this?"
"No, I did. I want to be here, by my friends, family and my life-"
"You had a life with me." Marie snapped, cutting him off.
"You think I can pay for our flat myself? If you leave me there, I'm going to have no place to live, and you can just do that to someone?"
James sat down, his face in his hands. Marie knelt next to him, voice in his ears, "Look at yourself, you're a wreck. You look tired, sick and extremely underweight. You think this is the life for you? Some life. Living with a bunch of bachelors and taking care of your sickly mother. Do you really want that?"
Did he? James didn't even know. Why did he come back here? He had no reason. He was just throwing his life away.
"If you come back to Paris with me, we can live happy together. Far away from here. Just us. We can take care of each other. I can take care of you."
"What about my mum?" James found himself saying. "I can't leave her again."
Marie put an arm around him, she can see her plan was working, "Do you love your mother James?" He nodded swallowing. "Then, why do you want her to see you like this? A wreck, you're only going to break her heart."
James felt tears trickle down his cheek, "I don't want to break her heart."
"Then let's go. I'll be back tomorrow to pick you up, make your good byes and then we'll leave." Marie gave James a big kiss, leaving him very confused.
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"So what exactly do you want me to do?" Flower asked when they arrived at Sirius' office/house.
Sirius shrugged, "Deliver my articles to the Daily Prophet, bring me food, and do whatever errand I need to be done."
Flower raised an eyebrow, "That's it?"
Sirius shrugged again as he sat down beside his desk, "Yeah, I guess."
She sighed, "So what do you want me to do for today?"
"Now that you mention it," Sirius ruffled through some of the piles of papers on his desk and pulled out a rather lengthy looking one about one of the players of Puddlemear (NOT SPELLED RIGHT. CAN NOT FIND Q. THROUGHOUT THE AGES) United, "I do need you to Floo over to the Prophet and delver this to Amy Gwen."
"Amy Gwen?"
Sirius nodded, "There's Some Floo Power in the pouch over by the fire place, take it with you since you can't apparate and since they usually don't have Floo Power over there."
Flower nodded, she didn't even know why she took this job now, "I'll be back in a few."
As she was leaving she felt a giant shove by her shoulders, "Excuse me."
"You're excused," it snapped back.
"Sirius, you seem to have a guest." Flower said, glaring at the taller brunette. "Though I didn't quite hear a knock at the door."
"Don't worries, no one ever knocks around here-" Sirius stopped in mid-sentence. "What in bloody hell are you doing here?"
The woman gave him a very snotty smug smirk, "I had small business with Mr. Potter." Her smirk grew smugger. "In his bedroom."
Flower felt the air around her tense up, and then she realized something, "Potter?"
Sirius swallowed, she could tell he wasn't at all pleased, "That's my mate's last name."
"My business here is done Sirius, but I will assure you, that you will be seeing much more of me." The woman looked disgustingly pleased. "Have a good day Sirius?"
"Get out." He spat. "NOW!"
The woman laughed a bitter cackle and then pop she was gone.
"Who was that?" Flower asked, crossing her arms.
"No one. Go do what I told you to do. I have a little business to get in touch with. Go, there's a deadline to that article." His voice was stern. Serious.
She felt a head ache coming on...she saw pictures fly in her head...broomsticks...full moons...Hogwarts...
"I'll be back." She said turning around to leave. Sirius watched her leave through the fire place.
As soon as she was out of earshot, he stomped upstairs to James room. He felt his fist tremble as he pounded on the door.
"Didn't you have a--" James started in a mellow tone.
"What the hell was that slag Marie doing here?" Sirius spat. "Did you enjoy your business knowing your mum was in the next room?"
"I'm going back to France." James said looking away. "I don't want to be here anymore. It's too much. You two have new lives and I'm just trying to find my old one, I'm going back to France. I had an interview with Quidditch captains and I let it go for a dream that isn't worth chasing."
"What about your mum?" Sirius said his voice tensing.
"Look at me Padfoot! I'm a bloody wreck! My mum wouldn't want to see me this way! I might be back...I don't know..." James said grabbing something on a shelf. It was silver, had sapphires around it and engraved it said L. E.
"What are you going to do with that?" Sirius said staring in disbelief.
James handed it to him, "You keep it, do whatever you want to it. I don't want it."
"But--"
"Keep it."
James left to the other room, probably to talk to his mother. Sirius looked down at the silver box, he had to save James. He had to persuade him to stay. How...How?
A/N-Finally another chapter. Constructive Criticism please, no flaming. I would like to thank Ashy for her help, please continue you to read her ficcy The Black Years and keep reading Starry's fic Lives Once Lived. Next chapter...will Flower find the box? Will James really leave England for Marie? What about Annabelle Lee? What about Remus and Flower? Tune in next time for Finding Lily!
