Dreamlikechesse: I hope you get better soon, I updated quickly so I hope you like it!
CHAPTER SEVEN You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it wear a cardigan
The red head lay sleeping while the hazel eyes watched her with a smile. She was absolutely amazing, he loved her and he was so sure of it. He had been sure of it for two years but after being with her he knew it.
She looked so peaceful lying next to him, the sheets draped around her naked body. I could stay like this forever James thought to himself as he gently kissed her shoulder. Moving slightly he heard her groan with sleepiness as she turned towards him putting her arm around his waist and one leg over his. Gently kissing her cheek the red heads eyes fluttered open. It took her a moment to register where she was and then it came flooding back to her, this was the Room of Requirement, where she had slept with James.
A sense of urgency filled her body as she sat up searching for some sign that it was still evening and that she wasn't missing any classes. But outside the windows there were still stars in the sky.
Relieved she lay back down into James' strong arms as he absent-mindedly traced patterns across her skin. After a few moments she sat up looking around for her clothes, but James pulled her back down playfully, kissing her again.
Tickling him she jumped out of bed and started to dress, she had to get back to the common room before anyone noticed she was gone. Imagining the questions she would be asked she shuddered. The red head could just see her friends squealing if she told them what she had been up to tonight. It was very personal though and she didn't think she could share it with anyone. How could you explain the feelings between her and James? How could people understand why she had slept with him? The answer to the questions was obvious. They couldn't.
Throwing James the clothes they had tossed aside earlier Lily strode across the room to look out of the windows.
James snaked his arms around her waist as he stood behind her and also looked out of the window.
"We should go" Lily told him. Silently he agreed and collecting the rest of their belongings they left the Room of Requirement.
On her way to potions Lily thought about what had happened the previous night. Did she love James? Was she too young to be in love? Lily knew she felt very strongly about James and she thought she was in love with him, but would the passion die out? Could she stop loving him?
As she entered the dungeon she swept these thoughts aside. Professor Slughorn had already written up the instructions for the class. The red head began to collect the ingredients for today's potion: the Hiccoughing Solution.
Lily had always enjoyed potions and she found it relatively easy in comparison to her other subjects. Ancient Runes was by far the most difficult and she continually wondered why she was still doing it.
The N.E.W.T class for potions was quite small as many people hadn't received the adequate grade. Having received an Outstanding OWL Lily was safely one of the top members of this class.
Just as she began to add wormwood the dungeon door was opened by a pale faced Professor McGonagall.
"I am very sorry to interrupt Professor Slughorn, but may I please have a word with Lily Evans? She said.
"Why of course Professor McGonagall" he replied his beady eyes glancing at Lily.
Gathering up her materials she followed Professor McGonagall to her office. She wondered what was going on. The red head began to feel extremely nervous, were her marks really this bad? Another thought crept quietly into her mind, maybe someone had seen her and James together. Maybe she was going to be in lots of trouble.
Small beads of sweat appeared on her upper lip and snakes appeared in her stomach twisting and squirming, making her feel very uncomfortable.
"Take a seat Miss Evans" said Professor McGonagall, not unkindly.
"I am afraid I have some terrible news, there has been an attack on Elephant and Castle. A wizard calling himself Voldemort and his followers the Death Eaters apparently murdered everyone in the area, including your parents. No bodies have been recovered as of yet, but it appears as though your sister Petunia was out at the time and she has survived this attack. I am terribly sorry for your loss".
The red head looked at the stern teacher and almost laughed as if this was some ridiculous practical joke and someone would jump out and yell 'got you!'
Darkness surrounded her thoughts; they were gone, never to come back. She was all alone. She felt like she would throw up and wasn't sure whether or not to scream her head off or be sick.
Wait…they were gone? They couldn't be gone! Her parents had always been dull and intrusive presence in her life but they would always be around. They would see her graduate, she was sure of it.
"As to how we proceed from here, you are quite welcome to return home if you wish. Dumbledore is willing to make exceptions in relation to your classes. If you need anything at all you are always welcome in this office".
Without a word the red head rose from her chair and walked out of the room. She was hardly aware of where she was going, she just needed to leave, to get away. Escape. The word came floating in her mind as though it had been there all along. Escape. It was enticing she could just leave and never come back. She would never have to deal with any of this.
The grey eyes glanced over the Daily Prophet and saw the bold heading 'Mass attack in Elephant and Castle'. Elephant and Castle, Elephant and Castle, where had he heard of that suburb before? Hoping to trigger his memory he kept reading. There were no names of those who had died and apparently many bodies were missing. A whole street had been destroyed, Idaho St. It all sounded so familiar. Nudging James in the ribs he pushed the paper to him, hoping his friend would recognise something he didn't.
The hazel eyes skimmed over the news and they stopped abruptly, widening. The spoon he had been using clattered to the floor and his face was pale and strained. Pulling Sirius out of his chair James ran as fast as he could towards the Gryffindor common room.
"Mate…what's…going…on?" asked a puzzled Sirius between breaths.
"Elephant and Castle, Lily's street, her family is…" he paused turning to Sirius "gone".
Memory flooded back to him, Lily had mentioned her family on the odd occasion. As realisation hit him he ran faster knowing they had to find her, she needed support. The two boys burst into the common room searching in vain for Lily. She was nowhere to be seen. They searched everywhere they could for her, the dormitories, the astronomy tower, the lake; but she was gone.
"We'll find her Prongs" said Sirius bracingly "We have to".
There was a soft pop and a figure appeared on Idaho Street. She was not dressed like a normal person, but appeared to be in long black robes. With stony eyes the young woman surveyed the street. It looked as though a hurricane had hit. Many of the houses lay in piles of rabble while others bore marks of being burned and charred. There was not a single house that did not look as though it had been through a war. Doors lay next to frames and some foundations remained. Some work had gone into clearing the wreckage, but it seemed as though there was no one around.
The young woman almost expected people to appear as though they had been hiding all along. Seeing a small figure in the dust she bent down and picked it up. It was someone's doll although many of the hairs had been singed. Placing it gently in her pocket the figure walked down to number seven.
This house was no different from the rest. The same austere outward appearance, but the young woman had singled this one out for a reason, it had been her home. She would never live here again however. The different areas of the house stood out at once, although she did not dare go upstairs for the foundations looked extremely weak.
There were no tears, no acknowledgement that this girl had lived in this house before, no acknowledgement that it had been her home. She had sworn that this would never happen to her, she was going to fight and take down as many of the people that did this as she could.
The red head had one mission, to find her sister for she had been told that she was still alive, to tell her the truth and then disappear. She was going to train, all day every day if she could. Learn to fight these people, learn about who they were and learn how to win.
Deciding she might as well look for her sister now she pulled out her wand and performed a concealment charm; she was not going to risk being held back by pushy relatives. No longer was she a child. The young woman tried several places before she found where her sister was staying.
Waiting outside in the cold, she watched her sister until she came outside to go for a walk. Muttering the counter spell to the concealment charm, the red head politely coughed to let her sister know someone was behind her.
The initial look of shock was quickly replaced with a scowl that clearly indicated she didn't want to see Lily. The sisters had never got along, this partly to do with the fact that Lily was a witch and Petunia was not.
"So you've finally come back from the freak school" Petunia sneered.
"I am under no misapprehensions that our parents death would have caused us to act civilly, I am here for one reason only, to inform you of how our parents died" retorted the red head.
"Well it's been a wasted journey for you then" Petunia began "I already know, it was a hurr…"
Before she could finish Lily interjected: "Wrong sister dear, it was not a hurricane or any natural phenomenon. It was an evil wizard and his followers". She swallowed before continuing "our parent's were murdered in a mass attack".
Petunia stared at her wordless before she asked: "So it was your kind that did this?"
Lily could not answer this question because Petunia was now screeching at the top of her lungs "I do not ever want to see you again, YOU FREAK". Hissing loudly she returned to the house from whence she came.
With a sigh the red head walked to the end of the road, she suddenly felt very tired. She had been journeying for two days now and had had no sleep. Another soft pop took her back to her home, the only place she knew for now to sleep; at least it was cover.
Collapsing on the cold wood she fell asleep.
A/N: Thank you to Dreamlikechesse and LBuccalo for their constant encouragement and reviews, I love you guys!