Falling
Chapter 4: Weird
Disclaimer: Don't own squat.
Where we left off...
"...so you think the dreams are prophetic, then?" Lily asked Isis as Nadia stretched and walked over to the fireplace to warm her legs.
"More than likely, yes. But I'd have to do some research on it. I'll head down to the library tomorrow after breakfast. You can come with me, while Nadia's at quidditch practice."
"Um...guys? You might want to come look at this..." Nadia cut in looking up at them with a confused expression on her face and a small golden mirror in her left hand.
Lily and Isis looked at each other, clearly confused as to what this could be about. They walked over to Nadia and peered over her shoulder into the mirror and were shocked to be looking into the very scared looking face of Remus Lupin.
What in the world?...Lily thought to herself. "Remus?" she asked aloud. "What's he doing in there?" Her eyes widening.
Isis' previously shocked look turned to one of scepticism and she eyed Remus warily and turned to Lily and Nadia. "It's a called a two-way mirror." she explained to the two still very confused girls beside here. "They can be used as a way of communication. I've seen James and Sirius using them before...but I can't imagine that James or Sirius would be so careless to just leave it lying around on the fireplace mantel. They're quite rare." All three girls turned their attention back on the mirror and at Remus, and he both audibly and visibly gulped.
One could almost see the wheels turning in Lily's head as her expression changed from thoughtful to one of rage. "Remus, are you spying on us?" She asked incredulously.
On the other end of the mirror, Remus cleared his throat, "Um, no. I-It's not what you think, Lily."
"Explain." Nadia said dangerously.
"Uh, um. Oh, well, you see... I... I was just." He paused. "What I mean to say is, oh, fine. Well, you see, Sirius and I were just innocently playing a nice game of exploding snap, when James was getting all excited over something he heard in his two way mirror, and he explained to us his brilliant idea," he said sarcastically "of spying on you girls, to see what you were up to."
By the time Remus finished his little explanation, both Lily and Nadia were absolutely fuming. Isis calmly looked into the mirror and told Remus to tell James that he had better steer clear of Lily and Nadia for a few days, while they cool down.
He quickly agreed and apologized profusely about his friend's idiotic behaviour. The girls shut the mirror off and headed to bed, lost in their thoughts.
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"Bloody Hell." Sirius said somberly after Remus relayed his conversation with the girls with the rest of the marauders.
"Tell me about it." James replied in a defeated tone. "Now she's going to hate me for the rest of our lives"
"Cheer up...She might not hate you forever." Peter chipped in hopefully and James just scowled and jumped into his old bed, pulling the curtains shut around him.
The other marauders took this as a hint, and decided not to bother him, heading to bed as well.
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"Thank Merlin it's Saturday" Lily mumbled as she sat up and stretched. The other two girls began to wake as well and soon they were all up and ready for breakfast.
As they entered the dining hall, they were surprised not to find the marauders in their usual seats, scarfing down their food. It was quite the contrary, in fact. Of course Lily expected them, especially James, to lay low for a while after the little 'incident', but it seemed that the famous trouble makers were nowhere to be seen. And it was awfully unlike them to skip a meal.
'Hmm...Maybe we're just early' Lily thought to herself as she checked the magical watch on her wrist and found that it was, in fact just the opposite of that, and that the girls managed to just catch the end of breakfast. 'And they were most certainly not here early. The marauders are never early'. Isis seemed to share Lily's thoughts as she voiced them aloud.
"Where are the marauders?" She asked idly as she scanned the dining hall for the four boys.
"Probably skipped out because they're afraid of Lily" Nadia snickered.
"No, it's just not like them to skip a meal." Isis replied as she shook her head. "Even if their lives may be on the line" she added with an amused smile directed towards Lily.
Nadia laughed heartily at Isis' joke and shook her head, "No, I know they would never skip a meal. They probably just went down to the kitchens for breakfast to avoid us."
"The kitchens?" Lily asked, confused.
"Yeah, there's a secret entrance to the kitchens behind this on portrait of a bowl of fruit down the corridor off the entrance hall.
"How do you know that?" Isis asked.
"You forget, I dated Sirius last year, remember? We went down there all the time for snacks and tea." She explained.
Oh, yes. Lily certainly remembered when Nadia and Sirius were dating. She didn't talk to Nadia for a week after she found out. She was furious that one of her best friends would even consider dating the enemy. It was a short fling, however; lasted just short of two months, if Lily recalled correctly, and of course she did. And Lily forgave her after a few weeks, and even started to accept it. She felt guilty at the sense of relief when they (finally) ended it. It was maybe the longest relationship either of them had in their entire six years at Hogwarts.
Lily, Nadia and Isis found a space at the Gryffindor dining table, and began filling their plates with delicious food.
After they finished their food, the three girls rose from the table, and Lily looked up at the ceiling which mirrored the sky above them. It was clear and blue, bright and sunny; the perfect autumn day. "Let's go sit out by the lake today, it's beautiful out." she said as she gestured towards the ceiling.
"Perfect." Nadia agreed.
They walked out of the Great Hall and up to Gryffindor tower to get ready. Lily parted with them at the entrance and walked a bit further down the corridor where the heads common room entrance was, and Isis and Nadia walked through the portrait of the fat lady, calling to Lily that they would meet her outside of her common room.
Lily went up into her room to pick out some appropriate clothes for sunning by the lake, and then proceeded to her adjoining bathroom to take a quick bath.
After her bath, she dressed in a pair of jean shorts and a yellow knit halter. She pulled her long hair back into a low braid, slipped some flip flops on and grabbed her sunglasses and a book and went down to her common room to wait for her friends.
Isis and Nadia changed their clothes and began preparing a basket for lounging by the lake all day. Nadia suggested going down to the kitchens to stock up on butterbeer and snacks, and also so she could show them to her and Lily.
Isis changed into a simple, red sundress and left her short hair go wavy. She packed a few books and a blanket in the basket, and headed out the door with Nadia following. Nadia was wearing a pair of khaki coloured bermuda shorts and a fitted tye-dye tee-shirt, tying her long blonde hair back into a low ponytail and grabbed her sunglasses and the latest issue of Witch Weekly and headed to the heads common room alongside Isis.
The girls walked up to the entrance to the heads common room and knocked on the portrait. Lily scrambled up and smiled at them, following them out into the corridor. Nadia told her of their plan to stop by the kitchens on the way and Lily thought it was a great idea. Plus, she was excited to see the kitchens, considering she had never been there before, and the thought of a secret entrance thrilled her.
When they made it to the painting of the fruit, Nadia reached out and tickled the pear, and it giggled and turned into a doorknob. She turned it, and went inside, with Isis and Lily in tow. She met up with one of the many houselves and asked him for a few butterbeers and some pumpkin pasties and other assorted snacks to hold them over until dinner.
By the time they left, it was just about noon. Lunch time. So they headed out of the kitchens and started down the corridor when they saw someone coming ahead of them. As they came closer, the girls recognized them as the 'most famous' marauders, and Isis turned nervously to Nadia and Lily's fuming expressions. She never did like confrontations. Lily just glared as they passed, the tension in the air was so thick, you could almost touch it. Nadia began forming a fist and was just about to swing a good hard punch at James as he walked by, but Isis grabbed her arm and led her out of the corridor, into the entrance hall.
"Why I oughtta..." she mumbled to herself as she pushed the doors open roughly and headed to a spot by the lake and began to chuck stones into it.
Lily and Isis just chuckled at their friend's antics and parked the basket under a tree by the lake, and Isis proceeded to spread the blanket out underneath them.
Lily sighed and pushed her sunglasses up to the top of her head as she pulled her book out and grabbed a cool butterbeer, enjoying the serene atmosphere (with the exception of Nadia, of course). Isis followed suit and that was how the girls spent most of their day by the lake. Eventually, of course,Nadia grew tired of throwing stones into the lake and came back to join them under the shade of an oak, pulling her magazine from the basket, and all three of the girls lye there reading in comfortable silence.
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Meanwhile...
James was busy sulking in his common room, drowning his sorrows in a bottle of firewhiskey while Sirius and Peter played a violent game of exploding snap. Remus was in the infirmary, preparing for the full moon tonight.
There was a loud SNAP! and a small explosion as poor, unsuspecting Peter got his eyebrows singed off. He screamed in fright and rushed upstairs to the bathroom to assess the damages done this time. Sirius merely laughed in delight and then looked up at James. He was miserable. Come on, it's not like Lily ever liked you before. He thought to himself as he sat in the armchair across from his best friend.
He snatched the half-empty bottle of firewhiskey from his best friend and threw it to Peter as he came down the stairs clutching at his eyebrows. He caught it clumsily and took a sip as he sat on the love seat across from the fireplace.
"Can't have you stumbling noisily around tonight, Prongs." Sirius said to James.
He sighed. "I know. It's just. I feel I've really, really screwed up this time. She'll never forgive me." He replied.
"Don't worry 'bout it, Prongs. She'll come around."
"Eventually" Peter chipped in, hiccuping.
"Alright, I think you've had quite enough of that, as well, there, Wormtail." Sirius smiled playfully at Peter as he pried the bottle from his hands and sat it down atop the fireplace.
James glanced at his watch. It was nearly six, and the sun was just setting. "Come on, we'd better get going."
"Right then" Sirius replied as he pulled out the Marauders Map, activated it, and crawled under the invisibility cloak along with James and Peter.
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As the sun was just beginning to set, the girls packed up and headed in. Lily parted with Nadia and Isis and just as she approached the entrance to her common room, the portrait swung open and slammed shut by itself. Lily panicked for a moment before she thought back to last night, on the way to Hogsmeade. She felt the smooth fabric of the cloak brush up against her as she walked past, and she grabbed a handful of the material and it fell off of the three boys' backs and they stopped dead in their tracks.
"Just where do you think you're going?" She asked the boys as she slung the cloak over her shoulder. "I want to talk to you." She said to James and glared at him, but he wouldn't look her in the eyes, he just stared down miserably at his feet.
"I'll catch up with you later, okay? Promise" James said to Sirius and Peter, knowing that Lily was not about to let them go any time soon, and they needed to get down to the Shrieking Shack for Remus. She tossed the invisibility cloak towards them, and Sirius caught it, throwing it over himself and Peter and making their way towards the passage under the whomping willow that lead to the shrieking shack, where Remus would be waiting.
Lily grabbed James by his ear, and pulled him into their common room, and practically shoved him on the couch, and sat down on the armchair to his right. She glared at him. "Now." She started, clearing her throat. "Would you care to tell me why exactly you were spying on me last night?"
"Not really." He replied sheepishly.
"Well, that's too bad. Spill"
"Er, well...you see, I...I was just curious as to what you girls were talking about. Something so important that you had to kick me out of my own dormitory.!" He said, getting a little angry by the end of it.
She looked flustered. "I can't even believe you!" she screeched. "The entire reason we kicked you out was because we didn't want you to know what we were talking about, and you knew it, too. So why would you think that listening in on us would be such a good idea? Did you think we wouldn't find out?"
"Well, if it weren't for Remus, maybe you wouldn't have! Besides, I think it worked out pretty well considering I heard the entire conversation. And now you can't deny I'm the man of your dreams. Literally." He said smugly. As soon as the words left his mouth, though, he realized that might not have been the best thing to say to her right now. She shot up and grabbed him by the collar, sneering in his face.
"You're so pathetic." she spat. The fire in her eyes made it clear what she would like to do to him right now, and James was grateful that she didn't act on her impulses...he rather liked his face and, er, other parts, the way they were, thank you very much.
She was still grabbing the collar of his shirt, face flushed from anger, breathing heavily and angry as hell, and he thought she never looked more beautiful. At the same time he thought this, her eyes widened incredulously, and he realized he must have voiced that thought out loud. His eyes widened as well, and he was seriously afraid for his life for a few moments.
They just sat there for a few moments, (well, James was sitting on the couch, with Lily crouched over him) staring at eachother with wide eyes, when Lily let go of his collar and shook her head, smiling. A real, true, genuine smile, caused by...James Potter? What is the world coming to? She chuckled and went to her room, muttering something about timing.
James sat there, pondering what just happened, mouth hanging open slightly, and a slow smile spread over his face. He took it he was forgiven now...at least, he sure hoped so. So he went off to the shrieking shack with a dazed smile on his face and a faint hope in his heart.
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The next day went fairly smoothly. Lily ignored James as usual, although Nadia was still quite angry with him. (Lily had relayed she and James' conversation this morning at breakfast) The marauders were their usual pompous selves (excepting Remus, of course), and by the end of the day they all ended up in the Gryffindor common room. The marauders were playing exploding snap, and the girls were studying (Lily's idea) for their upcoming history of magic exam.
At 9, Lily left for her own common room to catch up on some reading, and the girls went off to go gossip with some other 7th years. She was sitting in front of the fire reading when James walked in at 10 45.
"Wow, James Potter, back before curfew? What is the world coming to?" Lily asked to herself loudly.
He just glared at her and went to his room to change. He came back out in a tee shirt and boxers and plopped himself down right beside Lily.
She didn't look up from her book, only raised an eyebrow. So he scooted a bit closer. Her eyes flicked to him and back to her book. He rests his arm on the back of the couch behind her, she scoots forward an inch or two. He shifts slightly toward her. She's getting flustered now, and its obvious she's putting every ounce of her energy into ignoring. Her eyes are glued to one very interesting spot inside the book. He rests his hand on her knee. She flushes, and not from anger. He smirks, slowly sliding his hand up, he's at about mid-thigh now...finally, she reacts. She turns whips her head around to face him, and tosses her book on the floor.
"What do you think you're doing!"
He just smiled in return.
Her eyes narrow, and she realizes he's still got his hand on her leg. She bats his hand away and smooths down her pyjama shorts. He leans in and whispers, "Goodnight, flower" into her ear, which makes her shiver involuntarily.
Lily is stuck sitting there in shock, while James gets up and stretches, then goes into his room for bed. What the bloody hell? She thinks to herself as she sits there for about five minutes before she can even move from the spot.