Hard Times chapter 6, a harry potter fanfic

Chapter 6:

A week later Mae was still in the Hospital Wing. She had fallen asleep the day after Lily had talked to her and had not wakened up.

Madam Tarty had given her all sorts of potions and done many spells on Mae but nothing seemed to work. That day at breakfast Lily got a letter.

She ripped it open curiously and read it.

Mudblood Brat,

Tell Dumbledore that we have the girl under spell and won't release her unless he lets free Ben and Jack who were put into Azkaban.

Lord Voldemort

Lily gasped and ran out of the hall. Her three friends chased after her used to this by now. Lily kept running until she reached Professor Dumbledore's office.

She stopped once she realized that she didn't know the password. She started yelling words at the two gargoyles but nothing happened.

She collapsed on the floor sobbing and fainted. Running sounds came from behind her. James ran over to Lily and picked her up. He also grabbed the letter that she had been holding.

He said, "Lemon Pops," to the gargoyles. The door opened and a stone staircase appeared. James ran up the steps as fast as he could since he was carrying Lily.

When he got to the top he barged through the doors. He saw Professor Dumbledore sitting behind his desk. He quickly got up eyeing James and Lily.

Wordlessly he put a spell on Lily and she was on a stretcher. He pointed his wand at the door and the stretcher floated out. "She's on her way to the Hospital Wing," said Professor Dumbledore grimly.

"What happened?" he asked James. "I don't know." "We were eating breakfast and she got this letter and she ran out of the room."

"Is she going to be okay?" James asked in a rush. "She's just having mental exhaustion from worrying so much," said Dumbledore. "She may need to take some of Madam Tarty's medicine to restore her back to her usual strength."

Dumbledore took the letter that James had in his hands and read it. He sighed and sat down. "Lord Voldemort had a spell on Mae so she can't wake up until we release Ben," said Dumbledore wearily.

James didn't flinch at the name but instead thought for a moment. "Does the Ministry know about this?" asked James.

"I have told them yet they refuse to believe it," said Dumbledore. "Why not?" asked James getting angry. "It would mean so much more work for them," said Dumbledore calmly.

Suddenly Dumbledore started. "Of course!" He began mumbling to himself. "Er Professor?" questioned James.

"Oh, sorry James, I forgot you were there." "I might know a spell to wake Mae," said Dumbledore. "However it has to be done on the full moon," said Dumbledore.

"But that's tonight," said James. Dumbledore nodded. James left his office and went to visit Lily. She was awake when he entered. He smiled kindly at her.

Lily slowly got up out of bed and shakily walked over to James. He looked down at her. They were so close. He couldn't think.

And she looked so beautiful. He bent his head down to hers and his lips caught hers in their second kiss. James felt like a jolt of static electricity was running through his body.

He knew they should stop but then Lily ran her fingers through his hair. He moaned in pleasure. He slowly stuck his tongue into her mouth.

She opened her mouth granting him permission. Suddenly the door opened. They didn't stop. Suddenly they heard catcalls and shouts of "Get a room!"

They broke apart and saw Sirius and Remus standing in the doorway grinning. James flicked his best friends off.

"Professor Dumbledore said we could find you here," said Remus. "We didn't expect to find this though," joked Sirius.

Lily hobbled back to her bed and lay down. "Are you okay, Lily," asked Remus kindly. Lily nodded.

"James what about Mae?" she asked quietly. "Dumbledore thinks he might have found a spell that will get her to wake up!" said James grinning. Sirius and Remus high fived.

Lily smiled and looked so happy. "When is he going to do it?" asked Lily still smiling. "Tonight," answered James. Lily smiled at the thought of having her best friend back.

Lily had thought that Trish might have stopped by to see Mae since they used to be friends but Madam Tarty said that she didn't.

Lily thanked her and walked to the Common room with her friends. During the day Jeff came up to Lily.

"Is Mae going to be okay?" he asked looking worried. "Yeah, Dumbledore found a spell that should wake her up," said Lily cheerfully. "You can come by tonight." "That's when he's going to do the spell."

Jeff nodded. "Thanks Lily." Lily smiled and headed to Charms. She could tell that she was feeling a lot better after she was the only one who could get the spell right and therefore the only one with no homework.

She met Sirius, James, Remus, and Jeff outside the Hospital Wing. They quietly entered. They found Mae sitting awake in her bed.

Lily went over to hug her friend. "Are you alright?" she asked. "I feel great," said Mae. "I'm allowed to leave in a few minutes.

They all walked Mae to the Common Room where Jeff said good-bye and left to go back to the Ravenclaw Common Room.

Lily and Mae went up to the dorms and Lily got Mae caught up on everything that had happened while she was asleep.

3 WEEKS LATER:

The last few weeks had been pretty uneventful for the Marauders. They had only played a few pranks.

Lily and Mae headed to the Great Hall to eat. "Before we eat, I would like to announce that we will be having a Halloween Ball for years 5 and up," announced Professor Dumbledore. You may dress up in a costume or for the girls in a dress.

The girls began to giggle and the boys looked a bit uncomfortable. ''We also decided that instead of hiring a singer we will have a talent show where you can sing or dance on stage.

"Each person is required to dance or sing in at least one act," announced Dumbledore. The Slytherine's frowned.

"Thank you," he said sitting down. "Wanna sing our song?" asked Lily to Mae. Mae grinned and nodded. "Let's make up a dance too!" she said getting excited.

The two girls were so busy thinking up ideas for the talent show that they forgot about a date. However as they got up to leave they had many boys come up to them and ask that they didn't even know who they were.

Lily and Mae were pretty and popular. Lily had long red hair that looked silky. She had bright green eyes. Mae had medium long jet black hair with huge blue eyes.

Lily and Mae politely declined everybody who asked. They decided to go alone. Then someone tapped Lily from behind.

Lily turned around and saw James. Lily smiled at him. "I wanted to know if you could come to the ball with me as friends?" asked James. Lily smiled and said "I'd love to James.

Meanwhile Mae who had gone on without Lily ran into Sirius Black. "Mae, I wanted to know if you wanted to come to the ball with me as friends," said Sirius quickly.

Mae smiled and accepted. Then she thought. Uh oh. I told Lily that I would go alone. She ran to find Lily. "Mae," said Lily from behind her. Mae turned around.

"Yeah?" she asked. "You know that whole going alone thing?" Lily asked. "Uh huh," said Mae. "Well I just told James I'd go with him as friends.

"That's funny." "I just told Sirius I'd go with him as friends," said Mae. The two girls laughed and went to practice their dance.

"Hey James," shouted Sirius, "Did you ask her?" "Yep," said James, "What about you?" "Of course I did," said James. Remus was going with Becka.

The Marauders decided to make a dance to a song. The girls laughed and teased but the boys still wouldn't tell them what song. The girls didn't tell the boys what song they were doing either.

The next week the 5th 6th and 7th years were allowed to go to Hogsmeade to get their costume. Lily and Mae decided that since the boys were their dates (even If they were just going as friends) that they shouldn't be allowed to see their costume till the dance.

Lily and Mae headed towards a small dress shop that was owned by James's aunt.

"Lily!" "Mae!" "I haven't seen you girls in forever!" said the shopkeeper Holly. The girls hugged her. "What's the occasion?" asked Holly. "Halloween Ball," said Lily.

"Who are you two going with?" asked Holly grinning. "James," said Lily. "We're going as friends though!" she assured when she saw Holly's smirk.

"Sirius," said Mae, "and we're going as friends." "We gotta find you girls an outfit that will shock them senseless!" said Holly getting excited. Lily and Mae laughed and agreed.

"Lily, you're so picky," complained Holly. Lily had tried on almost every outfit in the whole place. Mae had chosen a periwinkle blue dress. It was soft material and was just the right size.

"What about this?" asked Holly picking up a dress that was a beautiful blue color. The bottom part sparkled and the top fit her just perfectly. They all agreed that this was the perfect dress for her.

Holly gave the girls a discount on the dresses and also gave them each a make-up set that went with their dress.

The girls met James, Sirius, and Remus in the Three Broomsticks. James and Sirius kept trying to peek into the girls bags while Remus watched amused. The girls kept slapping their hands so the boys wouldn't see the dresses.

The girls had also bought an outfit for their dance and singing. They wouldn't let the boys see these either.

"You guys won't let us see any of your stuff!" complained Sirius. "That way you'll be nice and surprised when the ball comes," said Mae giggling at his impatience. "The ball is tomorrow, Sirius," said Lily coming up behind them. Sirius pouted. "I think I liked the glare much better than the pout, Sirius," remarked Lily. Sirius glared at her. "Much better," said Lily grinning.

The next day (Saturday) was the day of the ball. After lunch Lily and Mae went to get ready. Lily straightened her hair (even though it wasn't really curly) to make it look longer.

Lily put on the dress. She slipped on the blue heels that had come with the dress. Lily was wearing dark bluish purplish eye shadow and black eyeliner to make her eyes look bigger. She was wearing a sorta dark shiny lip gloss.

Mae put on her dress, put her hair into a ponytail with some of the hair in the back down and clipped it with a purple blue butterfly clip. She wore purple blue eye shadow, black eye liner, a little bit of light pink blush and light pink lip gloss.

"Ready Lily?" asked Mae. "You go on down, I'll be there in a minute," said Lily. Mae went down and greeted Sirius. He gaped at her. She giggled. Sirius took her hand and they headed out of the common room. "Lily will be down in a minute," Mae called back to James.

Lily slowly walked down the stairs. Then he saw James. He looked soo cute in his black dress robes with his hair spikey. Lily mentally slapped herself she couldn't think this way about one of her friends.

Her thoughts about friends quickly disappeared as James met her lips with his. She clung to him as he made the kiss more passionately.

"James, we have to go to the ball Lily whispered not wanting him to stop. James nodded then whispered in her ear, "We aren't done with this though." Lily giggled.

Wait a sec, thought Lily. Did I just giggle? Lily and James headed to the Great Hall. When they got there everyone was dancing.

James offered a hand, "May I have this dance?" Lily accepted. They saw Sirius and Mae dancing very close to each other. James laughed. "I guess they didn't need as much help getting together as we thought."

Lily laughed. After a while Professor Dumbledore stood up. "Now we will be having a talent show." "After we are finished everyone can vote on who they thought had the best act."

"First up we have Lily and Mae singing Bad Reputation." Lily and Mae came out onto the stage that Dumbledore had made. The boys all gaped. Even the ones with their dates. They had never seen Lilly like this.

Lily was wearing long light blue mudd jeans with a white belt, a light green tube top and her hair hang loosely at her sides. Mae was wearing long light blue mudd jeans with a black belt, a blue tube top and her shiny black hair hang loosely at her sides.

Lily was lead singer and she was playing the electric guitar. Mae was a backup singer and the drummer.

No, I don't give a damn about my reputation,

You're living in the past there's a new generation

And a girl can do what she wants to do and that's what I'm gonna do

And I don't give a damn about my bad reputation

No no not me

And I don't give a damn about my reputation
I never said I wanted to improve my station

And I'm always gonna do it when I'm havin fun

And I don't have to release no one

And I don't give a damn about my bad reputation

No no not me oh no not me

And I don't give a damn about my reputation

I've never been afraid of any situation

And I don't really care if I'm strange

And I aint gonna change

And I'm never gonna care about my bad reputation

Oh no not me oh no not me

Break it down

And I don't give a damn about my reputation

The worlds in trouble there's no communication

And if everyone could say what they want to say

It'd never get better in a way

So I'm gonna care about a bad reputation

Oh no not me oh no not me

The girls finished their song and bowed. Everyone was screaming and applauding. They grinned. Next up was Lisa and Becka singing to I don't Want to Be.

They did pretty good. Then it was the Marauders turn. They all came out wearing dark blue baggy jeans and tank tops.

Sirius was the lead singer, James was the drummer, and Remus was the electric guitar player. Their song was Welcome to My Life by Simple Plan.

Do you ever feel like breaking down

Do you ever feel out of place like somehow you just don't belong and no one understands you

Do you ever want to run away do you lock your self in your room with the radio on turned up so loud that no one hears you screaming

No you don't know what it's like when nothing feels alright you don't know what it's like to be like me

To be hurt

To feel lost

To be left out in the dark

To be kicked when you're down

To feel like you been pushed around

To be on the edge of breaking down when no one's there to save you

No you don't know what it's like

Welcome to my life

Do you want to be somebody else

Are you sick of feeling so left out

Are you desperate to find something more before your life is over

Are stuck inside a world you hate

Are you sick of everyone around

With the big fake smiles and stupid lies while deep inside you're bleeding

No you don't know what it's like when nothing feels alright

You don't know what it's like to be like me

To be hurt

To feel lost

To be left out in the dark

To be kicked when you're down

To feel like you've been pushed around

To be on the edge of breaking down when no one's there to save you

No you don't know what it's like

Welcome to my life

No one ever lied straight to your face

And no one ever stabbed you in the back

You might think I'm happy but I'm not gonna be okay

Everyone always getting what you wanted never had to work it was always there

You don't know what it's like

What it's like

To be hurt

To feel lost

To be left out in the dark

To be kicked when you're down

To feel like you've been pushed around

To be on the edge of breaking

No you don't know what it's like

What it's like

To be hurt

To feel lost

To be left out in the dark

To be kicked when you're down

To feel like you've been pushed around

To be on the edge of breaking down

When no one's there to save you

No you don't know what it's like

Welcome to my life

The boys finished. A lot of the girls were clapping. The Marauders grinned at the girls and went down by them.

No one else would sing so Lily and Mae decided to go again. This time they did it to

Grew up in a small town

And when the rain would fall down

I'd just stare out my window

Dreaming over could be

And if I'd end up happy

I would break

Trying not to reach out

But when I tried to speak out felt like no one could hear me

Wanted to belong here

But something felt so wrong here

So I'd break

I would bread

I could break away

I spread my wings and I learn how to fly

I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky

Make a wish

Take a chance

Make a change

And break away

Out of the darkness and into the sun

But I won't forget all the ones that I love

Take a risk

Take a chance

Make a change

And break away

Want to feel the warm breeze

Sleeping under palm trees

Feel the rush of the ocean

Get on board a fast train

Drive along an airplane

Far away

And break away

I spread my wings and I learn how to fly

I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky

Make a wish

Take a chance

Make a change

And break away

Out of the darkness and into the sun

But I won't forget all the ones that I love

I gotta Take a risk

Take a chance

Make a change

And break away

Buildings with a hundred floors

Swinging in the

Maybe I don't know where they'll take me

Gotta keep moving on

Movin on

Fly away

Break away

I'll spread my wings and learn how to fly

Though it's not easy to tell you good bye

Gotta take a risk

Take a chance

Make a change

And break away

Out of the darkness and into the sun

But I won't forget the place that I come from

I gotta take a risk

Make a change

And break away

Break away

Break away

The girls finished the song to applause. They grinned bowed, sat down, and smirked at the Marauders. The Boys taking this as a challenge jumped up to sing

I never could have seen this far

I never could have seen this coming

Seems like my worlds falling apart

Yeah

Why is everything so hard

I don't think that I can deal with the things you said just won't go away

In a perfect this could never happen

In a perfect world you'd still be here

And it makes no sense

I could just break out the pieces what do you

This means nothing

Nothing at all

I used to think that I was strong until the day it all went wrong

I think that I need a miracle to make it through

I wish that I could bring you back

I wish that I could turn back time

Cause I can't let go

I just can't find my way

Without you I just can't find my way

In a perfect world this could never happen

In a perfect you'd still be here

And it makes no sense

I can just break out the pieces what to you

This means nothing

Nothing at all

Don't know what I should do now

Don't know where I should go

Still here waiting for you

I'm lost when you're not around

I need to hold on to you

I just can't let you go

Yeah

In a perfect world this could never happen

In a perfect world you'd still be here

And it makes no sense

I can just break out the pieces what to you

This means nothing

Nothing nothing at all

I feel nothing

Nothing at all

There was a ton of applause. Then everyone did their dances. The girls did 2 and the boys also did 2. Then Dumbledore gave everyone a ballet to vote on who the stars of the evening had been.

Once everyone had voted Dumbledore read, "The winner for the girls is Lily Evans and Mae Si-Ching. The winner for the boys is James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin.

There was a ton of applause. Lily headed back to the Common Room with James. "Hey Lils, do you wanna hang out a little before we go back," asked James smirking.

Lily remembering what James had said at the beginning of the evening smiled and nodded. Lily and James walked until they were in a hallway with nothing in it.

James concentrated for a moment then a door popped up. Lily gasped. "Where did that come from?" she asked. "This is the Room of Requirement," answered James.

They walked in. They saw a couch and sat down. Suddenly James turned around and met his lips with Lily's. A warm feeling went through Lily's body.

She reached up and ran her fingers through James's hair making him moan in pleasure and causing him to fill the kiss with more passion.

Suddenly the door burst open. Lily and James didn't move. "Eww!" said Sirius eyeing the two. James broke apart at his friends voice.

"Get a room!" said Sirius sounding disgusted. "We have on, it just so happens that you're in it!" said James to Sirius. "You had your tongue down her throat," he moaned. "That's disgusting."

"You do it all the time," pointed out Lily. "That's different," he answered. Lily rolled her eyes. "I have and idea of how to get him to leave," said Lily.

She leaned over to James and deepened the kiss. James started to stick his hand up her shirt. Sirius fled. Lily slapped his hand and broke apart.

"We should probably go back before Sirius tells everyone," said Lily. James nodded. "Let's not tell anyone about this yet," said Lily. James agreed.

They headed back to the Common Room. When they got back they saw that almost the whole house was there. Someone came up behind James and pushed him.

He ran into Lily. They were just so close, he thought moaning mentally. He did the only thing he could think of. He gave Lily the most passionate kiss that she had ever received.

Lily clung to James for fear of falling. Everyone in the room stopped to watch surprised. Then they began catcalling and whistling.

Lily faintly heard the Portrait open but paid no attention until someone tapped her on the back. She broke apart and turned around to face Professor McGonagall who looked furious.

"Uhh-," was all Lily managed to get out. "Please refrain yourself from displaying inappropriate feelings in public," she asked not sounding as mad as usual.

She turned back to everyone else in the room. "The quidditch match tomorrow will be canceled due to the fact that many people's parents or siblings have been killed.

The room went dead silent. "You will receive a letter in a few minutes if something is wrong," she said looking sad. "If you need help you may go to Madam Tarty for a sleeping potion or advice." She left the common room.

Suddenly about 50 black birds flew in. One of them stopped in front of Lily. Lily was white and shaking. She opened the letter and read it.

James, Sirius, Remus, and Mae who hadn't gotten a letter watched her silently. Lily just sat there looking lost. James pulled her into his arms.

He looked at her in shock. She was freezing and was shaking. The others quickly helped him take her to the Hospital Wing.

Madam Tarty cared for her and went to talk to the others. "She was in shock," said Madam Tarty. "She will be fine though." "Just make sure you watch out for her"

The others nodded. Madam Tarty led Lily over to them. Lily looked so lost. Mae pulled her into a hug. Lily stayed numb.

Lily spent the night tossing and turning. She went down to breakfast at 6 o'clock. She saw James sitting on one of the couches. He got up when he saw her.

"I'm going to go eat breakfast," said Lily trying her best to act like normal yet failing. James nodded and followed her out of the Common Room.

The next few weeks were pretty uneventful as Lily was trying to act like normal and was refusing to talk to anybody about what had happened.

"Lily?" said James as they sat in the Room of Requirement. "If you want you can talk to me about it," said James. "I know how you feel."

Lily was about to deny it when she remembered James's sister Amanda. Silent tears rolled down her face. She leaned against James.

"I just miss then so much," she said sobbing. James heart ached seeing one of his best friends so unhappy.

He decided that he would help her have fun again like Sirius and Remus had don't to him during his hard times.