Serendipity
Chapter 10: Shadows in the Background: Part II
By: Ruth3
Disclaimer: I own NOTHING that you RECOGNISE; all belongs to J.K.'s brilliant mind and the richest woman in Britain!
Warnings: Lily. James. Stuck together for three hours. Enough said.
Author's Note: Why, why, why. I'm doing pretty well at this, aren't I? I decided to update this for all you wonderful, faithful reviewers that I love dearly! I live in the United States of America and today was our Independence Day, it was quite pleasant – I spent it with family and relatives instead of friends. I am completely stuffed from the delicious food that was served; the thought of food makes my stomach cringe! I'm currently reading the novel Rebecca for my accelerated English class next year, have any of you read it? I'm only on the 5th chapter, but it's getting more interesting; thankfully. Anyways, hope you all had a good weekend and here is some midnight reading.
To My BLOODY BRILLIANT Reviewers:
Living In A Nightmare – When did they spell 'Moony' wrong? I didn't catch that one! Thanks for the time period – it will help for my next fic, but I won't be starting that until I have finished at least one of my pending three. Thanks for the review, and enjoy!
SilverBelle – I, personally, like the second one the best. I think my standards were too high for this moving since the third book is my favorite; and it didn't quite reach them. Thanks for the review and enjoy this chapter!
Lily Natalia Evans – Thanks and enjoy!
forsakenphoenix1 – Thanks for updating your fic, it really is brilliant! And this chapter goes out for you for all your generous help about when Lily and James attended school – it was highly appreciated. Enjoy this chapter!!
Vanima Failiss – I read and reviewed your fic, it was lovely! I think the third movie just dragged a little bit all around, you know? Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
pakita88 – Oh, why thank you! Do you have an LJ? Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
You aLL roCk mY soCks!
Let the Harsh Words Begin…
---
When you hate a person,
you hate something
that is part of yourself.
What isn't in us,
doesn't disturb us.
---
The first slow song began and James looked down at Lily, "May I have this dance?" He asked graciously.
"I don't have a choice, do I?" Lily countered, grinning. James grinned back at her. "If I must…" she teased. James grabbed her hand, which he noticed was quite cold, and led her to the centre of the dancing area. James tightly held onto her hand while his other arm snaked around her waste. Lily, reluctantly, held onto his hand while her arm was firmly on his shoulder.
James pulled her closer as he whispered into her ear, "You look beautiful tonight." Lily was glad that he couldn't see her face, which was now against his chest, as she could feel heat rise in her cheeks.
"Thanks," she muttered, "you too – well I mean, you look very handsome." James grinned and pushed her as he spun her.
"You're going to make me dizzy!" Lily complained. He then brought her back to their original position, only much closer so that he was intoxicated by her scent.
"Who would have thought," James chuckled, "that you and I would be dancing together?"
Lily snorted, "We almost certainly wouldn't have been here if it wasn't for Professor Dumbledore's rules."
James laughed, "Remind me to never call him 'mad' or 'off his rocker' again, and to…thank him."
Lily looked up at him for the first time all night and searched his gorgeous, hazel eyes. "I thought you didn't want to be here with me, Potter?" She enquired as she raised an eyebrow.
James blushed slightly, "Now, Evans – why wouldn't I want to spend time with the most magnificent girl I know?" He finished off coolly. Now, it was Lily's turn to blush as she broke their eye-contact.
"Look at what we started," Lily stated, motioning with her head to the other students that had joined in with the dancing.
James grinned, "Everyone's been dancing for awhile now." Lily gaped at him and looked at her watch; sure enough they had been dancing for about thirty minutes.
"I'm getting hungry, care to get some food?" Lily asked, breaking away from James' warm grasp.
"Alright," he replied as they walked towards the food tables that some of the Professors were in charge of. Lily filled a plate with: pumpkin cookies, chicken, and Chocolate Frogs; she also grabbed a mug of butter beer. Lily smiled to herself as she noticed that James piled his plate with everything; soon he had a tower of food on one plate.
James caught Lily staring at him and grinned back (which caused her cheeks to turn pink), "What, I'm a growing boy; I need my food," James stated defensively. Lily rolled her eyes and walked over to a deserted table.
"I love butter beer," Lily mumbled as her body tingled with warmness.
"Were you cold?" James asked concerned. Lily shook her head and continued to sip her butter beer. They sat there in silence for about ten minutes as Lily slowly ate her food and James rapidly tried to demolish the food that is on his plate.
"So…" James began with chicken in his mouth, "What (he swallowed) do you want to do after Hogwarts?"
Lily's gaze went to the Great Lake as she was obviously thinking, "I'm not sure yet," she replied contemplatively.
James snorted, "How can you not know? You, Lily Evans, have your whole life planned out!"
Lily smiled sadly, "Well, I have a few ideas of what I might want to pursue as a career."
"And they are…"
"Well, I'd like to work in Saint Mungo's as a Medi-Witch, or for the ministry as an Unspeakable, or…" Lily trailed off, taking great interest in her hands that were nervously entwined with one another on her lap as her cheeks went very red.
"Yes?" James offered.
Lily let out a mumble, "Or, a-an a-auror." James looked at her to see if she was joking, but he knew that Lily Evans hardly ever joked.
"That's brilliant!" James beamed. "I can definitely seeing you as any one of those, although the Medi-Witch career seems to fit you the most."
"I want to fight You-Know-Who though," Lily whispered determinedly, "I want to help bring his downfall. I want to fight him to show that witches and wizards that are muggle born are just as powerful as pure-blooded witches and wizards." James just nodded; impressed that Lily would do something so dangerous.
"Mind you, you would be in so much danger though –" James pointed out.
"I know," Lily replied simply, "But I can't spend my whole life hiding, I'd rather die for something that I believe in. I'd sacrifice myself, any day, if I knew it would help bring peace and victory to our side."
"I'd like to be an auror too," James thoughtfully said, "I want to fight the villain that causes so many people pain and fright."
Lily took a sip of her butter beer, "You'd be good at it." James nodded as they sat in silence again; both thinking about their unclear futures.
After many minutes, Lily looked at her watch and read that it was now 10:10; "Make a wish!" Lily cried.
James looked at her sceptically, "Err – why?"
Lily hastily demanded, "Don't ask questions – just do it! I'll explain later, hurry!" Both Lily and James closed their eyes and unison for a few seconds as they both made a wish.
Slowly opening his eyes, James asked, "Now, why did I make a wish?"
"It's a muggle thing," Lily replied sheepishly, "When the time is the hour repeated into the minutes, such as 2:22, or 10:10, you make a wish in hope for it to come true."
James smiled, "Well, are you ready to play some games?" Lily nodded and eagerly stood up and started skipping to the Jack-O-Lantern Carving booth.
"I haven't carved a pumpkin into a Jack-O-Lantern in ages!" Lily beamed, "Will you carve one with me?" She pleaded, giving James her puppy dog eyes.
"Fine," James caved-in as he grabbed a pumpkin and carving book, one for her and himself.
Lily opened the book, flipping through the pages until she landed on one that obviously pleased her since James noticed she was biting her lip in what look like satisfaction. Lily pulled out her wand and started mumbling a few spells, James following her lead; flipped open his book and, coincidentally, landed on a picture of a full moon with a wolf howling on its hind legs; surrounded by a forest.
"Finished!" Lily yelled triumphantly, smiling broadly.
James muttered one last spell and said, "Me too, let me see yours then." Lily shook her head mischievously.
"You first."
"Oh, fine," James muttered as he turned his Jack-O-Lantern around.
"Wow, that's bloody brilliant!" Lily awed. James mumbled, embarrassedly, what sounded like a 'thanks.'
"Can I see yours then?" Just as he let out the last word, Lily turned her Jack-O-Lantern around so that it faced James. He saw that she had carved out a picture that showed a cat on a fence looking at what looked like a witch and wizard, above the picture was written in curly letters, Best Halloween, 1978. James smiled and was shocked to see that Lily had run off towards the Win a Magical Fish booth.
James was about to pick up their two Jack-O-Lanterns when the person in charge stated, "No, they will be delivered to your dormitories tomorrow." James nodded and then started walking towards Lily.
"Oo, so close Miss Evans," Professor McGonagall cheered. James looked at Lily and saw that she looked frustrated.
"One more go, then," Lily said firmly. A pebble shakily hovered over a bowl and then dropped into it. The bowl became a clear colour, and inside was nothing. "Aww…" Lily groaned.
James rolled up his sleeves, "Let me try," he stepped up and did the same thing Lily had done, only when his bowl became clear there was a gold fish swimming around! "Brilliant!" James cried.
"You arrogant prat," Lily muttered half-jokingly as she softly punched his shoulder. James cockily laughed, but handed Lily the bag in which the fish was in. "For me?" She asked excitedly. James nodded. "Thanks!" She cooed and happily skipped off to the next booth, Find the Red Bat. James grinned, and followed her.
---
By 10:37, Lily and James had played most of the booths – and pitifully lost at almost all of them. Although there spirits could not be ruined, Lily skipped in circles around James as they headed towards the Magical Pumpkin Carriage Rides that they would have to release at 10:40.
By the time that they got there the carriages were all set to go. The young Professor Flitwick obviously put a charm on the normal carriages by making them turn into pumpkins as they were "attached" to thin air. James opened the door for Lily and offered her his hand as she gracefully climbed in, and James followed.
"Welcome to the Magical Pumpkin Carriage Rides here at Hogwarts!" Professor Dumbledore beamed, "Our Head Boy and Girl, James and Lily, will start the rides off and then you can step up with two to six people into your own carriage. Each carriage ride will last for twenty minutes and will run until midnight, only ten carriages will go at a time and they all travel a different path." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, as he continued,
"Please, now! Form a line…" Many students heard Dumbledore's thunderous voice and started to assemble around, swiftly forming a line. Lily and James' carriage began smoothly going.
"I wonder what pulls these carriages…" James thoughtfully said.
"Thestrals," Lily replied simply and seeing James' bewildered look, she continued, "It's all in Hogwarts, A History. They're creatures that can only be seen if you've witnessed, first handily, a death."
"Can you –" James began.
"No," Lily replied, "Fortunately, I haven't seen anyone die – yet," she answered solemnly.
James just looked out the window, not quit sure what to exactly say. "I wonder what path we'll be taking…"
Lily replied matter-of-factly, "Around the lake and on the very outside of the Forbidden Forest."
James raised an eyebrow at her, "How do you – "
Lily interrupted impatiently, "I mapped out all the roots, and that's the one I chose for us – it's the best. Besides, Dumbledore thought it would be a good idea if our ride went for rest of the time, to give us a break from all of our hard work."
"You know," James began seriously, "you really did make this night happen."
Lily smiled, "Thanks, but I couldn't have done it without you." James let out a you're-just-saying-that laugh.
"No really," Lily responded, "I probably wouldn't have come up with those good ideas if you wouldn't have gotten me so upset. Besides, you helped with posters and volunteers – we did equal share."
Lily and James continued to chat and laugh while the carriage went around the Great Lake. They discussed their families, interests, memorable memories, and embarrassing moments.
"It was horrible!" Lily laughed, "My hair was green for a week!"
"It matched your eyes though," James chuckled as Lily let out a moan. James just realized how close they actually were to one another, he could see every freckle on Lily's delicate, cream nose. James looked at her intensively, "You know now, I wouldn't have – "
BANG!
"What the bloody hell was that?!" James shouted, pulling out his wand, "Lumos!" Lily pulled out her wand and did the same.
"Do you see anything?" Lily asked nervously.
James squinted through the darkness, "No," he replied, "but I reckon there's something out there that isn't supposed to be there." Lily shifted uneasily in her seat.
"Should we send up sparks?" Lily asked.
"I don't kn – "
"Expelliarmus!" Both James and Lily were thrown out of the carriage and Lily was able to see that it continued to carry on.
"Lily!" James yelled concerned, "Are you okay?" His vision was blurry since he couldn't find his glasses, so instinctively he put his arms out and started searching for Lily.
"Err – James," Lily replied panicked as she passed him his glasses, "What do you reckon is going on?" James put on his glasses and stood up, Lily quickly stood up as well. They still couldn't see anything in the darkness.
"There's definitely something, or someone, that isn't supposed to be here," James concluded.
The hairs on the back of Lily's neck began to prick up, so she immediately spun around – and to her dismay, she still couldn't see anything.
"Well, well, well," a voice taunted, "What do we have here?" A icy voice drawled.
"I smell a mudblood, master" snarled a second voice.
"Show yourself!" James shouted, turning in circles. Soon he heard a twig snap and there before him and Lily was Lord Voldemort and a death eater. "Lily, run!" James screamed. James looked over to Lily and saw the colour drain out of her face, her whole body trembling.
James began to run over to Lily to protect her, but fell to the ground hearing one of the hooded figures yell, "Crucio!" James knew he mustn't scream out in agony or pain, he laid there twitching – biting his tongue. The pain was crucial, he didn't know how much he could take…
"NO!!" Lily screamed raising her wand arm, "Incarcerous!" Lily shouted at the top of her lungs, she took a quick glance at James and noticed he had stopped twitching; but was breathing heavily – it had work!
"Foolish girl," hissed the first voice.
"Master," the second voice timidly asked, "may I?" He must have gotten a nod from his "master" for he cried out, "Crucio!"Lily dropped to the floor instantly, and like James, she tried to hold back her pain – but little whimpers escaped her mouth.
"Lily!" James screamed, "Petrificus Totalus!" It hit the second figure and the spell was broken, Lily tried standing up but couldn't.
"Foolish, foolish children," the first voice venomously shouted, "to try to take on the most powerful wizard of all time! You will pay for your foolishness…Avada Ke – " James was waiting for the spell to hit him, standing up straight, when the third figure came out of nowhere and shouted a spell at the two evil cloaked wizards; then James crumbled onto his own legs and watched the two figures apparate.
"James?" The third voice asked as he approached him, "Are you alright?"
"I'm not sure Professor Dumbledore – " James replied, until he remembered, "Lily!" He dragged himself over to where she was and kneeled down beside her, "Oh Merlin, please still be alive!" He cradled Lily's unconscious body in his arms.
"She'll be okay," Dumbledore whispered, "lets get you two to the hospital wing." James began to lift Lily's body, but Dumbledore murmured a spell that floated Lily's body in the air as they walked. "We'll take a short cut so you aren't disturbed by the rest of the students. Follow me."
James couldn't keep his mind off of Lily the entire way there, how it would be his fault if she died; even if she was hurt it would still be his fault! He should have protected her somehow, told her to leave sooner, and listened to her advice of sending up sparks. But no, he was too much of a git to listen; too arrogant as she always tells him…
Dumbledore opened the door and muttered something to Madam Pomfrey, he then summoned Lily onto a bed and left. Madam Pomfrey immediately took command, "Put on these," she said handing James a pair of pyjamas, "and take this when you're done," she handed him a potion, "it will give allow you to have a dreamless sleep."
James walked over to the bed next to Lily's; he set the potion of the nightstand and pulled the curtains around. He then changed into the clothing, and pulled the curtains to their original state. "Accio Chair!" he muttered as a chair slid across and landed next to Lily's bed. James sat down and grabbed Lily's hand that was lying on her stomach; it's even colder than earlier, he thought. James put his head down and started muttering his apologies and sympathies.
"Lily, please, just please wake up. I would take it all back, everything. Every mean word I said, I'd take it back and I'd never do it again! I'd even stop hexing Snape, just wake up!
"I'll stop being an arrogant prat, and I'll stop – or at least cut back on – pulling pranks…"
"James will stop bloody ranting, I'm trying to get some sleep!"
"Lily!" James shrieked, smiling madly.
"Are you mad?" Lily glared, "BE QUIET!"
"Sorry," James muttered.
"I don't feel too well…" Lily mumbled. "What happened?"
"We were attacked," James replied softly.
"Did anyone – "
"No."
"Oh."
"Lily?"
"Hmm?"
"...We actually defied him...once."
---
At least two people
in this world
love you so much…
they would die for you.
---
Author's Note: Wow, I was never planning on writing something that dark. Did I surprise you? Because I sure did surprise myself. Goodness, a good night was ruined – terrible. Anyways, how'd you like it? Leave me a review? Please!
Much Luv xoxo MWAH!
Ruth3
So please REVIEW now!
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