Title: Light
Author: Amelia Bedelia
Chapter Eleven: A New Day Has Come
AUTHORS NOTE: Ok, so here's chapter eleven, sorta, but not that much, connected to the tenth chapter. It's still the same night.
One more thing - WARNING! CAUTION! ¡ADVERTIR! ¡EL CUIDADO! PRUDENCE! AVERTISSEMENT! ACHTUNG! WARNEN! L'ATTENZIONE! L'AVVERTIMENTO! WAARSCHUWING! WAARSCHUWEN! A CAUTELA! O AVISO! (Heh heh heh… I had to do that again, sorry!) Anyway, BE FOREWARNED!!! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS MAJOR FLUFF TOWARDS THE END!!! Also, many more death-like chapters and some sad as well! So don't worry, I'm not going soft! And, now, that would be it!
But PLEASE read some of my notes at the end!
A New Day Has Come
Celine Dion
I was waiting for so long,
For a miracle to come,
Everyone told me to be strong,
Hold on, and don't shed a tear.
Through the darkness and through the times,
I knew I'd make it through,
The world thought I had it all,
But I was waiting for you.
Hush now, I see the light in the,
Sky, oh, it's almost blinding me,
I can't believe I've been touched by an angel with love.
Let the rain come down and wash away my tears,
Let it feel my soul and dry my fears,
Let it shatter the walls for a new sun,
A new day has come.
Chapter Eleven: A New Day Has Come
I am such an idiot. I can't believe I just ran away like that.
James had been pacing around the room for nearly the whole day, pulling his hair out. His bag full of books lay untouched in the middle of the room. He hadn't used this time to catch up on any last minute reading or homework; it was spent all on thinking about that special someone.
It was most likely past dinner now, but James hadn't looked at his watch for hours and hours now. He didn't need to go to lunch or dinner at all today because it seemed almost as if he had too much food in him to last an eternity. James felt as if he needed to get rid of some of the excess food by being hurling it then and there. But he didn't.
He still wouldn't let his eyes show the truth that was clearly there right in front of him. Lily was going out with Cedric Diggory now. She didn't care for him, James Potter, at all. She never had. That was the clear truth. Helen had tried several times to capture his attention during James' long stay in the room as well, though nothing seemed to work much.
"She's gone, she'll never look at you again, Potter. Everything she pretended over winter break – it's all a lie. It was fake. That's all it even started as. You were pretending, too, Prongs. You're just a bit confused now," James spoke, trying to persuade himself more than anything else.
But as much as he tried, he couldn't deny the fact that James Harold Potter, the star chaser, Quidditch captain of the Gryffindor house team, infamous Marauder, teenage heartthrob, and all around good-guy, had fallen for the Lillian Amy Evans.
And there wasn't anything he could do about it.
James stopped in front of the wall he was pacing beside. There was writing all over it. James started to feel guilty. Helen had been trying to talk to him all day long without any success. But that might've also been because he'd been purposefully ignoring her. He didn't feel like talking to anyone else. James just hated talking to people whenever he was sad. It was as if nobody ever said the right thing when trying to console another. Why couldn't people just keep their mouth shut?
Then again, Helen had been trying so hard to catch his attention. She wouldn't give up. So James gave in.
James, darling, what's wrong dear? Are you going to talk to me now? Come on, sweetie, talk to me.
Don't call me darling. Or sweetie.
Oh. I'm sorry, James.
James blew air out of the corner of his mouth, pushing away his messy hair that had fallen in front of his eyes.
It's fine.
Will you tell me what's wrong?
You don't even want to know.
Sure I do! Come on, how bad can it be?
James let out a hollow, empty laugh.
Pretty bad.
James, I know –
James waited. She didn't finish her sentence. Uh, Helen?
Uh-oh…
What? What's uh-oh?
James – brace yourself.
Brace myself for what? Helen, what is –
But James never had a chance to say what he wanted. He heard a soft click and a doorway was made next to where James stood.
And somebody was standing in it.
!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~Lily~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
Finally, Lily thought, grateful that the day was over. I don't think I could stand it another second with Amos! He drives me up the wall!
After dinner had finished that night, Amos had insisted on bringing Lily back up to Gryffindor tower. Thought no matter how much she tried to persuade him to change his thoughts, he won anyway. So Lily walked very quickly to her house common room. The minute she saw the fat lady in sight, however, Lily took off running with a faint call of, "See you tomorrow," from over her shoulder.
There weren't many older students in the common room. She would have expected that the fifth years and the seventh years would be at every available table, cramming their brains with knowledge for their OWL's or their NEWT's. But as a matter of a fact, they weren't fifth years or seventh years. They were all pesky first years and a few second or third years scattered here and there. No one Lily knew personally.
She walked over to the couch with four first years, squished together side by side and two other first years opposite them, kneeling in front of the small table. None of them seemed to be doing any homework whatsoever. They were just enjoying one another's company in front of the hearth.
"Excuse me," Lily cut into the middle of their conversation. "I need you all to move."
"Well, excuse us," one of the three girls with long raven hair to her back retaliated, "but I believe we were here first."
"Yes, I can see that," Lily said, not losing her composure, "but I happen to be a bit older than you and a prefect as well."
"So?" the same, annoying little girl asked.
"So, that means you have to move."
"Why?"
"I have to study. And as you six are all clearly demonstrating that you are not using this area to study or finish homework, and then I suggest you move before I get ugly."
"Or what?"
"Or I'll take points off and assign detentions."
"You wouldn't take points off of your own house!" The boy sitting across from her said defiantly.
"Oh, wouldn't I? Well maybe we'll just have to find out, then, shall we?"
"We were just talking!" a small, blonde-haired, pig-tailed girl cut in. "And I don't see a sign here anywhere that says this is your couch."
Lily waved her wand and a white sign, hung by a small string, dangled off of one of the armrests on the couch that read, "This couch is currently property of Lily Evans."
Lily smiled at the simplicity of it all. "I do."
Three of the first years, which had not yet spoken to Lily, leaned over to read the sign. The two boys scoffed and laughed at it while the third, a petite girl, looked as if she were scared for fear of actually breaking a rule.
"Guys," she piped up in her small, mouse-like voice, "I think we should move. After all, it does say it belongs to her tonight."
Lily smiled. "Thank you, uh – what was your name?"
"It's Kelsey," she said, smiling.
"Thank you, Kelsey. Now, if everyone would be so kind as to follow Kelsey and leave my eyesight now, I might not dock any points from our house. Understood?"
The group of first years stood and glared at Lily, also shooting a few scowls at the girl named Kelsey, and left the vicinity, instead moving to another table where one other boy was sitting, writing a long essay.
Loudly, Lily dropped her book bag on the table. Then she held her arms out, straight to the side and fell backwards, sprawled, more or less, the long way on the couch.
I can't believe I still have homework to do now, Lily thought, miserably opening up her bag. My Astronomy essay is due tomorrow and I have a forty-two inch essay in Potions to hand in by the end of the week. Even Professor McGonnagol wouldn't assign forty-two inches of homework - especially when it was just given today.
Lily flicked through the pages of Magical Drafts and Potions: Sixth Edition. There was a loud squealing noise across the room. Lily looked up. The mousy girl, Kelsey, was laughing and rolling around on the ground at a joke someone must've told.
Rolling her eyes, Lily went back to reading the chapter about illegal love potions. Her eyes continued re-reading the same sentence over and over. She couldn't focus. There was too much commotion in the room.
Groaning, she packed her backs back up and stood up, leaving the common room with a soft, "Hey! You kicked us off the couch for nothing!"
Lily rolled her eyes, marching down the empty corridor with her book bag slung over her back.
Where to now? I can't exactly get into the library at this time of day, can I?
Lily passed several empty classrooms until she gave in, about to turn to go back to the noisy common room. But there, a few paces in front of her, was Helen – her wall.
That's it! Lily thought. I'll go talk to Helen and make up with her. Now that I think about it, I guess I was a bit harsh on her earlier.
Lily walked up to the wall and began writing. Helen, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you earlier.
Little Lily? What are you doing here?
Lily chuckled. Ok, Helen, I know what I did was very unexpected and uncalled for, but you didn't expect me to never come back, did you?
Oh, no, I didn't think that at all! I'm just shocked that you came back so – quickly!
Lily smiled. I couldn't be mad at you for so long! And I was never even that mad at you in the first place! I just felt at the time that I had to take all of my anger out on someone else rather than bottle it up inside. So, can I come inside?
Ok, then. Almost reluctantly, a small doorknob appeared by Lily's feet, poking through the wall. Lily bent down and turned it, then stood back up.
And somebody was standing near the entrance.
-----------------------------------James-----------------------------------
"James?"
Both teenagers stared avidly at the other.
"What are you doing here?" James asked, taking a small step forward, almost as if to check and see if she were actually there in flesh and bones.
"Well, why else would I come here? This is my wall! I should be asking you – what are you doing here?" Carefully, Lily took a step backwards.
"Well, I – uh – I was just - " James began flailing his arms around, looking for an excuse until he finally shouted, "I come here! And you?"
"I come here too! Helen's my friend!"
"Well, she's mine too!"
Both continued eyeing the other hesitantly. It wasn't until a few minutes later that James ruffled his hair and sighed, plopping onto the couch, relaxing. "I can see we won't get very far with this conversation. Come in. Have a seat."
Tentatively, Lily stepped inside, sitting on the opposite end of the couch. It felt very awkward being invited to enter a room she also called her own. Lily glanced around, expecting everything to have changed, but the couch, the chair, and the bed all looked the same. Although, one thing had changed. Helen, who normally wrote paragraphs of words at a time, now wrote nothing.
Neither of the teenagers spoke until James noticed Lily's book bag. "So, did you come here to work on homework?"
"Er – yeah, I did." They shot each other a furtive glance and chuckled nervously. It was odd sitting next to your enemy and not insulting the other. "Uh, maybe I should just go back to my dormitory, now."
"Sure, alright." James was currently fighting a hard, mental battle with himself. What do I do??? Let her go? Make her stay? Come on, James; make up your mind once and for all!
He let his gut take over. James stood up in front of the couch.
"Wait, Lily! I have something I need to tell you."
Lily turned, standing just in front of the closed doorway. "Yes?"
James laughed a shallow laugh. "You might want to sit down for this."
Lily's eyebrows creased, but she sat anyway. "What's wrong?"
James sat next to her, mesmerized by her wide, concerned eyes. She looked genuinely worried at what he was about to say. This was something completely new for him. His stomach flopped.
James paced back and forth a few paces in front of Lily and the coffee table. "Now, Lily, I want you to know, before I even say anything, that I didn't mean to. I didn't think he'd do anything and it's entirely my fault. I just didn't have enough courage to tell you earlier. I'm sorry, Lily, I really - "
"James!" she cut in. "I don't exactly have all day, you know." Now that's the Lily I know, James thought, miserably. "Hurry up."
Taking his final breath, James blurted his secret out;
"I'm Gryffindor's heir."
James' head drooped in front of him. Lily stared at him and did what he had expected her to do least; she threw back her head and laughed.
"What?" James looked up, confused, and sank into the couch. "What's so funny?"
Lily choked a few giggles away, speaking clearly. "It's just that you made such a big deal out of something that I don't even care about!" She laughed a bit louder now. "Look, James, I have got to go, really. Bella and Breanna will be wondering where I've gone! I just don't - "
She made a move to stand, but James grabbed her hand and pulled her back down. His quick reflexes from Quidditch training paid off.
"Lily, you don't understand! Listen to me – hear me out!"
Lily looked down at James' grip on her hand; he didn't move his hand. Until, of course, he glanced down as well, quickly pulling his hand away, flushing an odd shade of red. Why did I ever do to be cursed with this annoying habit of blushing? "Sorry," he mumbled, wringing his hands.
Lily cradled her own as well. Though it felt a lot colder than before. "Explain," she said, crossing her arms.
James breathed out a sigh of relief, thankful that she was staying. "Alright, but I need you to promise me that you won't talk to anyone about this. Sirius and Remus and Peter don't even know, though at points I think they would've questioned some things that happen to us. Dumbledore knows and my parents – knew – but other than that, no one. I don't want you telling everyone. Promise?"
"Alright," she said, holding back giggles.
"What is funny now?" James asked, getting angered.
"Why is it all hush-hush? It's so stupid to keep quiet! I just think you're making a much bigger deal out of all of this than you should be!"
"Lily, if you'd just listen to me for a minute, you might find out why!"
They glared at each other. It was a contest. James won.
"Fine," Lily mumbled, turning away again. "Talk."
"Lily," he started. His tone became much softer. "Dumbledore – as well as my parents – told me not to tell anyone that I'm heir of Godric Gryffindor. I think they thought that if I didn't tell anyone, Voldemort wouldn't find out. But – he did."
"Voldemort? What does he have to do with this?" She seemed to look a lot more interested now.
"You remember when we went to Diagon Alley for ice cream? Just before we, uh…" James glanced at Lily to see how she would react to him talking about this sensitive topic. Tears welded in her eyes, but he had to continue. "Before we got back to your house?" he finished.
"Yes, I remember."
"And I told you that he was attacking all people from Gryffindor?"
"Yes."
"He's not. Well, he is – but it's after one person." He pointed at himself. "Me."
Lily rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the overwhelming feeling of grief. "So Voldemort's after you just because you're the heir of Gryffindor?" she asked, disbelievingly.
"Yes and no. He's coming after me 'cause I'm the heir of Gryffindor, but not just because of that." He was talking much faster and much more confident now that he had spilt the bigger part of his secret. "Lily, there was a prophecy hundreds and thousands of years ago. It said that the heir of Gryffindor would destroy the heir of Slytherin. I am the heir of Gryffindor – Voldemort is the heir of Slytherin. For centuries, the descendents have fought each other. Now there's only one left of each – Lord Voldemort and I."
Lily gazed at him. "So this is all over who kills who first?"
"You could say that," James shrugged.
"But why do you have to kill each other? Why can't we all live together in 'harmony'?" she asked, sarcastically.
"Since the beginning of time, Slytherin descendants have been trying to control the world; make people bow down to them. The only person who can rid the world of evil is the Gryffindor descendant. And to do that, they – or rather, I – must kill the Slytherin descendent – also known as Lord Voldemort."
Lily stared at him in awe, earning a new respect for him. "And when did you find all of this out? You can't possibly have known this your whole life."
"I actually found out a year or so before school started. They told me about myself, really, and they also told me one other thing." James swallowed. Was it really all that necessary to tell Lily this detail? It didn't matter much. But James threw it in anyway, even if he wasn't sure why. "My parents told me that each descendant has their own, unique power that none others have. Though no one comes straight out and says what it is. You have to figure it out yourself. My grandfather could do wand less magic for charms only. And my mother – she was Gryffindor's heir – had a better memory than many others did. She could memorize things left and right. And in the past few days, I've only realized what it is that I can do."
Lily leaned in, curious. "What can you do?"
"I'm, in a way, like a diviner, though not exactly. I can sense when danger is near." Lily raised an eyebrow, partially confused. James continued. "Do you remember that night after we had the big food fight? And we were outside on the swingset?"
Lily chuckled. "Yeah, I remember – my dad was really angry when he saw what we did to the kitchen."
James laughed along for a few seconds until he regained his train of thought. "Do you remember when I said it didn't feel right?"
"Ah, I get it now." Lily nodded. But as soon as she seemed to have grasped why James was making a big deal out of it all, she lifted an eyebrow. "So how do I play into this all?"
This was the hard part.
"Lily, Voldemort's trying to kill me."
"I know that," she interrupted, rolling her eyes.
"I wasn't finished," he said patiently, his stern look not wavering on her face. He continued once she seemed to have relaxed again. "In my third year, Lord Voldemort killed my parents – and tried to kill me. But he didn't – I escaped. It was merely luck that saved me. Luck has it that I happened to go downstairs seconds before he came. Luck that my broom happened to be there as well. And pure bravery at my father's expense that he distracted Voldemort by sending him in the opposite direction that I was in. It cost him his life. If he hadn't have done that, then Voldemort would have killed us all."
Lily nodded, not speaking, but letting James continue. "Ever since then, his target hasn't been for me; he's now going after people I care most about. He killed my parents as a start, obviously. A while after I befriended Remus, Voldemort killed his father leaving only his mother and him behind, seeing as he's an only child. And two years ago, he killed Sirius' twin."
"What?" Lily exclaimed, shocked. "Sirius had a twin? Were they magical?"
"No, she wasn't a witch. Atria Black." James' face seemed to grow distant for a second or two. "She was just like my sister; another one of my best friends. But she and I were never as close as Sirius and her ever were. Nearly inseparable. He would write her all the time during the school year – I remember that, 'cause he hardly ever even wrote his parents! Every summer between school years, I would either spend most of my time there or she and Sirius would come to my house." James smiled to himself. "One time we played a prank on their next door neighbors. They had rashes for a week afterwards. Atria loved to play pranks with us. She was nearly the spittin' image of Sirius too: in personality and looks both. But, of course, the night that their parents had been out and Atria and Sirius were left home alone, Voldemort chose then to attack."
Lily gasped, unaware of James' teary-eyed look. "What happened?"
"Voldemort came and killed Atria. I never saw Sirius that subdued ever before in my entire life." That was all he said.
"How did Sirius escape?" she asked, pressing for more details.
"He didn't."
"What?" Lily was confused again.
James breathed out a shuddering sigh. "Voldemort wants me to suffer. Though he's not going after people I care about most, exactly; he attacks whom they care about the most. He attacks their family."
"I still don't understand," Lily said slowly. "Why doesn't he just attack the people you care about?"
"Because he knows that I care about my friends and their wellbeing very deeply. So if he hurts them, then I feel sorry as well as guilty. And he knows this. So he left Sirius after he killed Atria. Remus and his father were home alone and Voldemort killed his father, but not Remus.
"And this fact I just now realized as well as my 'new power.' At first I thought Voldemort was trying to attack my friends and never managed to because of some unknown reason, but after this past week I realized what his real plan was. And trying to make me feel guilty and sorry, he thought I would give up and let him kill me: end the line of Gryffindor descendants. But so far I haven't given up. Not yet, at least."
Lily nodded. And then a light bulb clicked on in her face. "I understand! Voldemort thought I was your girlfriend, right?"
"Yes…"
He let Lily figure the rest out.
She continually mumbled to herself for several minutes until one point. "And that other time in the kitchen – you said you felt some strange feeling – Christmas day, right?"
"Right."
"And – and you - " a look of stunned gratitude fell on her face. "You took me to Diagon Alley. You – you were trying to save me."
James shrugged. "All in a days' work, ma'am," he said, pretending to bow a hat on his head.
And then, unexpectedly, Lily reached over and hugged him. He drew her close, taking in the strawberry smelling hair and the way she seemed to fit perfectly inside his arms.
Lily smiled, backing away. He definitely knew how to lighten the mood. Although right now she needed to get back on track once again and dampen it. "At the time, you thought Voldemort was trying to attack your friends which you thought always failed. And you took me to Diagon Alley to save me – your enemy. Instead my parents died."
James cringed. "Lily, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this whole Voldemort situation to get dragged into a prank that you were trying to pull on me. I only wanted to get my broom back and - " James stopped speaking. Lily's eyes looked as if she were gazing out of a window that wasn't there. But her face didn't look as if she were thinking. It looked as if she were being tortured or something along those lines.
"Lily? Lily, what are you doing?"
Lily shook from her reverie, composing herself. "I – oh – sorry. I was just – I have to go, James." She stood and walked swiftly over to the wall.
"Lily!" he shouted in a stern tone. He wasn't going to leave this matter unsettled.
She spun on her heel. "What do you want now, James?" she asked, tiresome.
"What is it, Lily? You were thinking something and I want to know what it is. I can help you. Trust me."
Lily reached up to her locks of crimson hair, tucking them behind her ears. She nodded, stepping back to the couch tentatively. But the minute she sat next to James once again, she broke down into sobs, shoulders shaking. And now, much more confident than before, James moved over, encircling her once again in his embrace.
"There, there, Lily. Cry everything out," he soothed. Lily turned her head so that she cried straight onto James' shoulder. He didn't mind that his shirt would smell of dry, salty tears later on. Lily needed someone to talk to. Or, in this case, someone to cry on.
"Now," he finally said once the tears had subsided, "What is it, Lily? What's wrong?"
She took deep, shuddering breaths, trying to calm herself down. "I – oh, James! It's my entire fault! You can't be blamed for this! I killed my parents!"
James' eyebrows rose amusedly. "You killed – Lily, you're making things up." He chuckled softly. "It wasn't your fault. I should be to blame."
Lily shook her head. "It was me, James! I lured you to my house! I pulled that prank! It was my fault we even had to play pretend! And because you came, Voldemort thought I was your girlfriend – therefore that makes me at fault here! I killed my parents!"
James searched Lily's face. Did she really believe this nonsense she was speaking? She was obviously delusional. Worried, James grabbed her shoulders and shook her slightly with every syllable he spoke. "You – did – not – kill – your – parents."
She shrugged out of his grip and curled up in a ball on the other end of the couch.
"Lily! Listen to me!"
"No! James – you listen to me!" she shrieked.
Shocked, he waited patiently for her to speak.
After a few moments of heavy breathing, Lily sat up and talked. "James, it was my fault that my parents were killed. I take the blame for it! I should've known better than prank you causing you to come to my house. I should've thought about it! But I didn't and - "
"Lily, it's not your - "
"James! I told you to listen to me!" Lily yelled over his voice. "Thank you. Now, it is my fault and there's nothing you can do to make me change my mind."
James shook his head at her. She just didn't understand. He was to blame! It wasn't her fault at all, and here she was trying to put the pressure of her parents' death on herself! What a unique girl…
"And even if we ever retold this story to some other person," Lily continued, "they would think it were my fault as well! Even Petunia thinks - "
"Hold on," James interrupted again, though much fiercer this time, ready to override any of her yells. "Is this all about what Petunia thinks? She's got you tagged for whom to blame, doesn't she? Why that little - "
"James, don't insult my sister! Even if you don't like her – she's family! And I won't have her being talked about behind her back!"
"Lily, you do the same exact thing to her, don't you?" James asked.
"Maybe," Lily muttered, burying her face in a pillow on the couch.
"Well I bet she insults you twice as much as you do to her." He wasn't trying to make her feel bad by saying that Petunia insulted her, but she had to understand that her sister was not as good as Lily thought. "I understand you two are family, but she can't go around saying that you killed her parents! Because you didn't kill them!"
Lily didn't move. Her face was buried in the small pillow and she was curled up in a small ball, acting as if she didn't hear James. But as she tilted her head a bit to the right, James' face came into view.
She smiled and wiped the remaining tears away.
"Thank you," she whispered, sitting up.
James cracked a small smile. Instead of saying, "For what?" like he had twice before, James said, "You're welcome."
Lily molded into James for the third time that night, holding each other close. James was ecstatic. Maybe she really did care for him in the slightest.
And just as he ended this thought, they leaned back, away from the other. "Lily, I think we have to tell your friends."
Lily nodded. "James," she spoke nervously, "Will you come with me?"
"Come with – to where?" he asked.
"To talk to Bella and Breanna. I don't want to tell them alone. Will you come with?"
James smiled at her kindly. "I'd love to come with."
Holding out her hand, Lily spoke once again. "Friends?"
James grinned at her. Well, it's a start. "Friends," he confirmed, taking her small hand in his and shaking it.
"And we can tell your friends tonight, too. We'll have a big meeting down in the common room!" Lily spoke very excitedly.
James cringed a bit when she talked of telling his friends. "Lily, there's one more thing I have to tell you," he said as Lily wrote, Can you let us out, Helen?
Sure.
The door opened. "What is it, James?"
"Uh… Now we just became friends and all – I don't want you to get mad at me."
"James, what'd you do?" she asked, almost as if she were expecting something like this. She stopped and put her hands on her hips, facing James.
He gave her a guilty, full-fledged grin. "Remus kind-of already knows."
Lily rolled her eyes and kept walking. "So you told him after I said for you not to tell anyone?"
James caught up to her stride. "He found out. I didn't tell him, but he knew something was up and he confronted me!"
Lily shrugged. "Ok."
James stopped walking for a second and raised an eyebrow, questionable. "Ok?"
"Yeah," Lily said, waiting for James to catch up once again. "I don't care."
"You – you don't? I thought you would be really mad at me and everything! You don't care?" he repeated, stunned.
"I knew you would've told someone anyway. I mean, you and all of your friends are really close! You couldn't exactly keep a secret from them for that long, could you? I actually thought you might've told Sirius already."
"Sirius – oh, crap. What's he gonna do to me? He's going to murder me! I told Remus and not him. He's – ugh…" James began to moan, but the two teenagers continued walking down the hallway.
"James, just tell him what you told me. That Remus confronted you. And then say that I didn't want you telling anyone either. Alright?"
James shrugged. "It's worth a shot."
Both walked in silence until they reached the fat lady.
"Jobberknoll," Lily said. The portrait swung up, revealing a crawl space. Lily and James crawled inside. "James, go up and get Sirius, Remus, and Peter. I'll get Bella and Breanna."
James looked at her with an incredulous look. "Wake the guys up? When they're sleeping? Lily, you don't understand – you never wake a Marauder after they've fallen asleep."
"Oh?" she asked, taking this as a challenge. And she marched right up the boys' staircase and opened the door to their room. She pulled out a few objects from her pocket and set them on a floor. Pulling out her wand, Lily prodded them a bit and ran out of the room, closing the door behind her. "I do this all of the time to wake my friends up," she said with simplicity.
"Oh."
And not a second later, there was a sound of an explosion in the room. And it was a good thing Lily had closed the door. If she hadn't, it might've woken up the whole house. And that might not have been the best thing to do at eleven o'clock at night.
The sounds faded out and Lily cracked the door open. There was slight movement.
"James?" one squeaked.
"Don't let the light in!" another called, pulling their bed hangings shut angrily.
James marched into the room, feeling much more comfortable with the awoken surroundings. "Remus, Peter, go downstairs." James walked over to Sirius' bed slowly, peaking inside. He was motionless. "Leeeeeeeeeeeleeeeeeeeeeeeee," James moaned, walking back to the door where Lily stood. "Sirius still isn't awake!"
"He – what? Nobody's ever slept through my wake up call before!" she murmured, incredulously.
"Yes, well Sirius is a one-of-a-kind individual. And not to mention one of the most prone people to sounds and explosions. So I think we're going to have to do this the hard way." James waited until Remus and Peter left. "Lily, you may want to shut the door. And possibly get ear plugs if you want them."
"I don't need them," she said, waving it off with her hand.
"Suit yourself," James muttered, conjuring ear plugs in his ears. It was now James' turn to pull out his wand. "Agito."
A line of water spurted out of the end of his wand and was pointed directly at Sirius' face. And seconds after the two objects met, there was a sound of shrill screaming coming from the person next to James.
Lily was caught unaware. She threw her hands over her ears in a desperate attempt to block the sound out. But it didn't seem to work as well as ear plugs might have.
And as soon as it had started, the screaming stopped and all was silent.
"J – James?" Sirius sat up in bed and looked at the alarm clock next to his bed. "Why the hell are you waking me up at eleven?"
"Uh - " James glanced at the open door. Lily must have darted out of the room after Sirius had woken up. "I'll explain in a bit – just don't hurt me first, ok?"
Sirius narrowed his eyes with his arms crossed over his chest with a pout creeping on his lips. All in all, it was a very funny look on him. Here was Sirius with a white T-shirt and scarlet bed covers to his waist and a 'morning face' at night. James just barely held in his laughter.
"Alright, I won't kill you yet," he mumbled, stepping out of bed and walking down the stairs. "Uh, James, before we go downstairs, I have something I have to ask – no, something I have to tell you."
"Ok," James said, raising an eyebrow, curious.
"James, Bella and I are going to Hogsmeade on Saturday this week."
James didn't speak or move. There was silence and then James held up his hands, as if he were expecting something more. "And?" he implied.
"And? And what?" Sirius asked, shocked by his behavior. "I'm telling you that we're going to Hogsmeade whether you want us to or not."
"Is that all?"
"Yes… Were you thinking there was more?"
"I guess." James shrugged. "Oh well. Good luck, then."
"Wait, one more thing," Sirius said. "Can we – er – borrow your invisibility cloak? Please?" Sirius pleaded with a grin spread across his face.
"Sure," James approved. "But only if you really like her. I don't want every girl you go out with to know about my cloak!"
Sirius raised an eyebrow at his awkward attitude towards this news. And then smiled, gratefully. "Thanks, Prongs."
"You're welcome, Padfoot, old buddy," James said. And then he looked as if he were searching for something in his brain. "Uh, Sirius, just a little question for you. Who exactly did draw that picture of you and Bella?"
Sirius grinned at him. "Me."
"You – you – what? You can draw?"
"Hard to believe, isn't it?" Sirius asked, chuckling. "Now, what is it you have to tell me?" Sirius asked, walking back down the stairs again.
"Just go downstairs for a bit."
Sirius nodded, suppressing a large yawn. The two boys rounded the last corner and Sirius raised his eyebrow at the scene laid out before him. Remus and Peter had each picked an armchair on opposite ends of the coffee table while Bella and Breanna sat on the couch. Lily sat on the ground, waiting for James and Sirius to arrive.
Sirius walked in and sat next to Bella with her in between Breanna and him while James walked over to Lily and sat next to her on the floor.
Everyone's jaws dropped.
"Everyone," Lily said in a commanding-like voice, taking advance of the stunned silence and the astonished looks, "James and I have something we need to tell you all."
James nodded, glancing at every one of their stunned faces. He let a smile crawl on his face.
Breanna spoke before any others could but said exactly what others were thinking. "You two are going out, aren't you?"
Lily shook her head and rolled her eyes while James buried his face in his hands, hoping beyond hope that others thought he was laughing at the absurdity of the idea instead of hiding his red face. "No, we're not going out, Breanna. But we do have some news we have to tell you. And I'm really sorry I didn't tell any of you sooner. I was a little scared, but James and I just managed to figure everything out now."
"And so you had to wake us up at eleven to tell us that?" Sirius asked grumpily while Bella slapped him on the arm, shushing him.
"Be quiet, Sirius! Just let them talk!"
Sirius crossed his arms and leaned into the back of the couch. "Speak!" he commanded, yawning.
James smirked at Sirius. They make a pretty good couple.
"Alright," Lily started into the story, speaking nearly every detail that had happened – except for the parts where James had his "bad feelings." There were several "Oh no!" and "What'd you do next?" from their audience. Once they reached the part where they had come back home from Diagon Alley, James spoke the rest of the way considering Lily was too busy crying on his shoulder again. Though they weren't sobs now, just tears. A few other people began crying or tearing up as well in the audience. Bella and Breanna both stood up and walked over to Lily to comfort her. ("Are you sure you're ok, Lily?" Bella had asked, worried.)
Peter, Sirius, and Bella seemed to be taking this news very hard to absorb. It was funny having these two fighting one day, and then the next they go and befriend the other! Not to mention they also acted as if they've been life long friends.
Sirius began thinking to himself. Boy is Hogwarts about to get a surprise tomorrow morning.
The one-sided conversation finished at one thirty which seemed almost too soon. "And so we decided to be friends just now."
Sirius sat straight up, laughing. "Whoa – wait – just like that? You decided to be friends? Is that even possible?"
James and Lily looked at each other and shrugged, turning back to face him. "I guess so."
Sirius just stared at them. "Bella?" he managed to choke out.
"Yes, what is it?" she asked, looking at him, amusedly.
"Am I hallucinating? Do I have a temperature?"
Bella put her hand to his head and pretended to feel for a temperature, but soon pushed him backwards into the couch farther instead and took a pillow to hit him with.
"Ack – hey – Be – ew… fere er fafers in myf mouf!" Sirius choked out, spitting feathers out of his mouth, still being bombarded by pillows from others now.
"What was that, Sirius?" Bella asked sweetly, holding back her pillow.
"I said that there were feathers in my mouth!"
"Huh," she muttered. "That's what I thought you said."
And she threw another pillow at him.
Remus rolled his eyes at the couple. "So you two became friends and now you're here telling us what happened?"
They nodded.
"Ok – good!" Sirius choked, trying to make it to the steps.
"Hold it, Black!" Bella yelled, jumping on his back, still continuing all the while to hit him with the feather pillow.
Sirius yelled and ran in circles around the room with Bella still holding onto him, hitting like a mad woman.
Peter, Remus, and Breanna left quietly and quickly before they could get blamed for waking the whole of Gryffindor house up. Lily and James managed to pull Bella off of Sirius in about ten minutes, while still laughing like a maniac.
"Come on, Bella, let's go upstairs now – we can resume this game tomorrow morning, alright?"
"Whoa! No way! Lily – you are not going to have that mad woman attack me right when I come downstairs before breakfast!" Sirius called to them, a little worried.
"Don't worry, Sirius. I won't have her attack you when you're down here," Lily replied, walking Bella up the stairs.
James watched as Sirius' face changed from that of a scared man, to a joyful man. "You really like her, don't you?" James asked, sprawling out on the couch.
Sirius sat on the armchair, near the top half of James, and ran his hand through his hair, causing a few feathers to fall off. "She's really something," Sirius whispered, just as the girls' door closed shut.
James laughed and put his hands behind his head. "She's like your other half, Sirius. Did you see how she was acting? Just like you!"
Sirius laughed. "Is that how I seriously act?"
James shrugged, a smile tugging at his lips. "Most of the time."
Sirius rolled his eyes and leaned back. "I hope I'm not like that all of the time."
"I just said most of the time, Sirius," James repeated.
He waved his hand at James. "Whatever."
They sat in silence for a few minutes, thinking.
"You know, James, you and Lily are getting pretty buddy-buddy there, too, don't ya know?" Sirius said.
James laughed. "So now you're going to try and set us up after we just finally overcame our enemy stage? Shouldn't you be happy we're at least friends?"
Sirius raised his hands in defense. "Hey, I'm just speaking my mind! I mean, come on, look at her! She was crying on your shoulder, man! Do you know what that means?"
James rolled his eyes. But he was still curious about Sirius' answer. "What?"
"She wants you! She needs you! I think you should ask her out on a date this weekend – but you can't go to Hogsmeade 'cause Bella and I are going there."
James sat up and rolled his eyes again. "Sirius, I'm not going to ask Lily out on a date," were the words he spoke, though inside, James was wishing that Sirius was right.
Sirius shrugged. "Suit yourself. But I know she likes ya, Jamesie, and there's nothin' you can do about it!"
James said nothing. His mind was whirring with fresh thoughts. Was Sirius right? Maybe he should take his advice and ask her out. But what if that ruined their friendship? Sirius helped him out of his tangled mind.
"James, there's something I have to confess again."
James' eyebrows rose. "You mean something other than you've been associating with Bella behind my back?"
Sirius was alert once again. "Hey, stop right there, James! I wouldn't be talking if I were you!"
James shrugged and smiled. "Oh well. Continue."
Sirius began to squirm in his seat uncomfortably. "I sort-of heard you and Remus talking last night. I wasn't exactly asleep then. I'm sorry, James, really, I am!" he pleaded.
James didn't do anything. It was his reaction to a lot of things these days, Sirius realized. "I should be the one who's sorry, Sirius. I was a jerk. I should've been able to trust you! I mean, my best friend in the whole world and I didn't tell him what happened over winter break."
"No, James, I understand why you wouldn't trust me! Really, it's ok."
James shook his head. "No, Remus knocked some sense into me last night. If I really wanted you to keep a secret, then I should've known you would have."
Sirius smiled at him and held out his hand. "Let's call it even."
"Deal."
The boys shook on it and walked up to their dormitory, arms slung over the other's shoulder.
AUTHORS NOTE: WHOA! Exciting, no??? JAMES?!? He's in LOVE?!? Well, we all knew it would come eventually. :)
Ok, first deal of business – I NEED SOME BETA'S!!! I currently have no one editing any of my stories and if anyone would want to and has any free time, I would be GLAD to welcome you aboard! I'm looking for somewhere between 1-3 people, possibly more if there's really that many that want to edit! Tell me in your review and leave your e-mail address if you want to beta! Thanks!
SECOND thing – honestly, I don't like the title of my story. Small vote – if you like the name, tell me you do, if you don't, then please give me an idea that I kind use to change the title! Thank you AGAIN!
And, FINALLY – I still need some pranks against Slytherins, mainly, pranks against the whole school, or any ideas for things that happen throughout most of the school year. So far, everything I've gotten has been a GREAT help and I believe I'm using most everything at some point in one of my future chapters!!! I have chapter 12 written already and part of 13, so most of your ideas will come after those chapters!
PLEASE help me as much as you can, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
REVIEW SECTION:
Fallen Faith Angel: I'm glad you liked the Sirius/Bella stuff! I can see I'll be having fun with their relationship from here on out! Very interesting ideas already forming in my mind. That can't be good. And I can't wait for your next chapter!
Caitlin: Thank you! And thanks for reviewing!!!
All Knowing Jenna: Love the name. :) You love the mushy's??? That's good! Well, bit more mushy here, little in the next chapter but mainly funny, I think. Thanks for reviewing!!!
Lucky_719: Whoa! You reviewing about seven times! :) And thanks for all of the chapter ratings! And happy late birthday! Thanks for reviewing!!!
SVZ: Yes, that Diggory thing… ::cringes:: I despise Diggory. And, yes, O is highest – my mistake! I realized that after I posted the chapter. I was looking in the book and Hermione said E first so I put that first! Stupid me! Thanks for reviewing!!!
Frozen Quill: "egghh… Lily and Amos? *gags*" :) That was funny! Thanks for reviewing!!!
Snowlily: My amazing writing talents! ::blushes:: Thank you! And, yes, the whole guy with the girl thing – EXTREMELY unlikely. But hey, my mind likes to think that way and then everyone's happy! :) Of course, just leave Peter out of the picture and everything's good then. And, I agree with you, everything is very predictable. I think most of the next chapters will have a lot of predictable type things, but I'll try to add a lot more twists! Thanks for reviewing!!!
Kantomon: Yes, I messed up the grading scale! I looked from the book and E was the first one they said so I switched them by accident! And the mushy Sirius – I loved that! Yes, EXTREMELY mushy, but pretend he cares for her so much that he acts very mushy, ok? Mushy is very fun to write, especially when it's to characters that are normally not mushy. Thanks for reviewing!!!
Jessica: HA! Another God chapter! :) Well, two weeks is up! Thanks for reviewing!!!
CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur: I LOVE your idea! I don't know if I'll actually make them go in the future or past, but I'll probably have something relating to that! Thanks for reviewing and for the idea!!!
Cay: Thanks! And thank you for reviewing!!!
Starblaze: I like the Bella/diary idea! I should probably add more! Let's see… ::mumbles to self:: Ah! Except a diary entry in chapter… uh… ::counts on fingers:: chapter 13 or 14. Most likely 13. And I don't know about the whole invading Bella's privacy thing – that's a good idea, though! I'll try to work something in! By the way, I saw your info! That whole Marauder conversation was VERY funny! Sorry, just had to add that. Especially the part where you called James shorty and Sirius yelling that he resented that. That was HILARIOUS!!! Thanks for reviewing and for the ideas!!!
Tapaidh Sidh: Yes, her name has always been like a death wish for me. :) And just yesterday I was looking it up to make sure I spelled it correctly and now I added it to the computer spell check dictionary and I shouldn't get it wrong anymore! :) Sweet and cute! Yay!!! Thanks for reviewing!!!
BastsCleopatra: You're absolutely right! Fluff and chocolate make the world go roud!!! I agree with you completely!!! Thanks for reviewing!!!
FEAngel258: Yes, borrowing your idea. :) YAY!!! A P!!! :) Maybe I shouldn't be celebrating a P unless people knew that NOW it stands for perfect! Thanks for reviewing!!!
Hermione101888: OOH! DRUMROLL!!! I love drum rolls!!! :) Thanks for reviewing!!!
Julyborn09: Aw, you were crying??? Am I really that powerful of a writer??? Jeez – never knew I was that good. :) Thanks for reviewing!!!
Morrigan: Yes, I messed up the grading scale by accident! E came first in the book when they said it and I accidentally forgot to change it. Thanks for reviewing!!!
Loud Silence: HA HA HA!!! I love the idea for your prank!!! Even now that they're friends, there's NO way I can let this one pass by!!! THANK you for the ideas and for reviewing!!!
April: Yes, I accidentally messed up the O and E thing! In the book they talk about E first and I forgot to switch it around. Thanks for reviewing!!!
Charly and Utah: Thanks! Glad you liked the funny stuff! And thanks for reviewing!!!
Ktsprstr78: See, wasn't as cliffy as you thought, huh??? Not as bad as what I WANTED to do! :) Well, see, people don't actually see Remus and Breanna together. They're usually in the library in that corner so no one sees them. And they've basically been friends since the beginning of school, but just a sorta "hidden" friendship, longer than Bella's and Sirius'. Uh… Sorry, bad memory, but what about the job thing? What'd we say??? And sorry bout the deaths – maybe I'll just have a newspaper article and have the other character's point of views, but I'm gonna have to do it if I want to have a sequel AFTER that, thank you very much! (I just realized that the other day.) And glad I cleared up that fall thing. :) Ok, characters based off of? ::sigh:: I'm talking too much now as is – I'll e-mail you, ok??? Thanks for reviewing!!!
NEXT CHAPTER: Nothing important to the plot, really. A bunch of plain old Marauder/girl hang-out time with classes in between! And there's a new – mealtime? Hmm… Interesting… It's mainly a gossip-y chapter, as I call it. "He said she said you said blah, blah, blah." Or "You what?!?" Expect those things. :)
RATE ME!!! I want you to rate each one of my chapters I put up!!! (By the way, this is Hogwarts scale incase any of you were wondering… I didn't come up with it myself.)
O = Outstanding
E = Exceeds Expectations
A = Acceptable
P = Poor
D = Dreadful
T = Troll
(I fixed the scale! Smart me! :) Don't forget – ideas for pranks and title names!!! Thanks!!!
Yours truly,
Amelia Bedelia
