Flower Tears and Maurder Fears
Chapter Six: Reacting
Lily could feel James breath on her face and his lips on hers, and felt the gentle weight of his arms on her waist. But her brain had turned to mush and she didn't – couldn't – do anything but stand there. Of their own accord her arms curled around the back of James' neck.
James had not planned to kiss Lily, he had wanted to show her that he wasn't such a prat as he pretended to be, he was actually planning to listen to Remus on this one. When he had seen the hurt and guilt in Lily's eyes he felt like he had to comfort her.
Lily felt James' gently try to deepen the kiss and it was like she snapped out of a trance. "I'm letting James Potter kiss me!" Lily scolded her self mentally "You like it" a small sincere voice told her "And you probably won't be able to stop next time…"
Lily wrenched her head back at the thought, surprised at the sudden with drawl James arms fell away. They stood looking at each other for a few seconds, then –
SMACK! "Don't ever do that again" Lily said furiously as James stood shocked in front of her. James quickly composed himself.
"What's wrong Lily? Afraid you enjoyed it?" James asked his arrogance an attempt to hide his confusion and hurt.
"You are such a prat; I don't believe I ever thought you could be anything else!" Furious that James had hit a nerve and angrier than ever because he looked unaffected when she felt as if she'd been hit in the head with a potions book; Lily put her hand on the door knob her anger giving her an idea.
James was standing just on the threshold of Lily's room, and just as he opened his mouth to say something stinging in return the door closed sharply forcing him out of the room.
"Stay Out there!" Lily yelled leaning against the door, when she was sure he was no longer outside her door she slumped to the ground and cradled her head in her hands.
"Grrrr … I'm never going to live this down" Lily thought tiredly, and went to lie down on her bed.
As James lay on his own bed he thought of what had just happened.
"I think I've just made a big mistake." James thought as he rolled over to face the window, he stared at the sliver of a moon he could see behind dark clouds.
"A very big mistake."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Amber paced from the window to the fire, continuously stopping to look at the clock on the common room wall. "It's almost midnight! I hope Lily didn't do something drastic." Amber thought, in frustration she dropped on to the temptingly soft looking couch just before the fire. After Lily had left ( and James not far behind her), Amber had hunted down the maurders – glad that Remus wasn't with them – and …persuaded Sirius into telling her why James had left the dormitory.
When he had told her that James had indeed been made head boy, Amber had come back to the common room where she had paced trying to figure out how she was going to keep Lily from killing James (or James from killing Lily). "At least it'll be an interesting year" she thought, grinning slightly. Looking up from where she was on the comfy couch Amber noticed she was the only one left in the common room. Stifling a yawn she tried to resist lying down for a second or two.
Relenting she laid down on the crimson cushions. "I can't fall asleep" she thought sleepily, closing her eyes "I'll just lie down her for a second…" Amber trailed off as her breathing drew even and she was sound asleep.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
The portrait opened quietly and a tall boy with sandy brown hair stepped into the common room. His tired face searched the all but empty room as he silently crept across the carpet. As he crossed Remus thought about the night he had had. Madam Pomfery had healed deep cuts on his back and he had found blood (that wasn't his own) smeared across his face. Shuddering because he knew the blood was human, Remus shook his head in disgust. He never remembered what he did after the moon had taken away his human form.
A slight movement caught his eye and dragged him from his thoughts. Remus could see a cap of full raven hair peaking out from the arm rest of the couch in front of the dieing fire. Quietly moving closer to see who had fallen asleep in the common room, Remus was stunned when he saw Amber lying deep in sleep.
Her long raven hair was spread over the arm rest, her limber arms tucked around her in an almost defensive gesture and her long legs curled up close to her body. Amber's face held Remus' attention above all else. Instead of the cold mask her face usually was molded into, it was relaxed in sleep, the pale skin of her face looked angelic and hey eyes were closed in peaceful sleep instead of glaring in disproval.
Suddenly Amber cried out, fighting a phantom in sleep. Instinctively Remus reached out to lightly touch her check. He had the time to register how smooth her skin was, when a startled pair of gorgeous amber eyes were pinning him in place. His breath caught.
"That's why your name is Amber" Remus said softly, recovering himself quickly he asked: "Why are you sleeping here?"
Amber looked around confusedly for a second, a look of frustration registered on her face. "I was waiting for Lily" she said just as quietly, still a bit unnerved that he had found sleeping in the common room and slightly confused as why she had felt as if he had fought away a common night terror.
"She left for head duties… and so did James… I wanted to be sure both came out alive" Amber admitted, grinning slightly.
Surprised yet again that night, Remus smiled himself. "If anything I'm sure Lily taught James something he won't forget soon. James and Lily have to share a dormitory, in the heads tower." Remus said to soothe Amber, seeing the amused look he continued "I stopped by to check if they had done each other in myself. It looked as if there already on each others' nerves." Remus said lightly.
"Great. I wonder how many flying objects we'll have to duck this year." Amber said with a grin. Suddenly her face sobered "Or hurt feelings…" she muttered quietly looking away from Remus.
"I'm sure if there are any, even two people as stubborn as they can learn to admit when they've been wrong" Remus said tilting Amber's head back up and smiling a friendly smile.
Amber looked doubtful, hoping that would hide the fact that her heart beat had raced when Remus touched her. "I'm not sure about that…" she said lightly "But with how this year has started… who knows."
"Who knows?" Remus agreed having already had his share of surprises as it is. "Come on, I'm sure you'll end up with a sore neck if you sleep on the couch." Amber hesitated looking toward the door "I'm sure Lily will be alright for another 6 hours" Remus said as the clock chimed 1:00a.m.
Amber nodded and grabbing the book bag she had abandoned hours ago in front of the window followed Remus up the stairs to their separate dormitories. They stood awkwardly at the top for a minute.
"Goodnight Remus" Amber said softly "Thank you for telling me about Lily" blushing slightly for no reason, Amber turned to go into the girls dormitory. A hand shot out to stop her and she turned back, looking directly into a pair of deep brown eyes.
"Sleep well" Remus said remembering how she had cried out "Dreams can be escaped. Good Night" his mouth curved in a small smile before he disappeared behind his dormitory door. Going into her own, Amber sat dazedly on her bed. Lily's bed had been removed and all the other beds had been shifted so there was more space.
Amber contemplated the far from uneventful day. It seemed that almost all the events centered around the maurders. Laying down, Amber stared out of the window and saw the reflection of the quarter moon shimmer on the lake. "If the maurders are involved this year will be far from uneventful"
(Well? I'm very unhappy to report that only my devoted reviewers reviewed my new chapter/story. On the other hand I'm happy to report that this is no longer my only story. I've recently published a new story called "Royal Feuds". I'd very much appreciate it if I could get some input on that as well. Happy Reading!"
Madusa's Daughter