All will succumb to the power of love.
~Unknown
Chapter Two: Of Fish and Murderous Witches
Lily lay in bed for a moment longer than she should, and glared up at the ceiling. She had a very long day ahead of her, and it could have been almost two hours shorter if her sister hadn't insisted on being… well, her sister. Petunia Evans could easily have done the errands that their father needed done today, Lily thought that they should have been done by Petunia actually. It would have been much easier for her older sister to go out later in the day and get the things that their father needed for the house and his work, but Petunia thought herself above such things. Which left Lily to get up earlier than normal, before she had to go up to the castle, and head down to the market before the sun had even begun to rise up over the mountains.
Petunia Evans was two years older than Lily and, in her younger sister's opinion, a very silly girl. She spent almost all of her time walking around the streets with her friends, waiting for suitors to come and court her, or at least that's what it seemed like to her younger sister. Petunia did not have a job and she rarely did anything to help around the house. Her father said that this was because Petunia was delicate, but Lily knew that the true reason that Petunia stayed out of the house so often was because she didn't want to see Lily. The two girls hadn't gotten along well since they were young children. The last fond memory Lily had of Petunia was when their mother was still with them.
Their father had tried to talk to Petunia the night before, asking her to go to the market for him, but she had explained to him, in a ridiculous accent that the nobles typically spoke in, that she just didn't have time to run to the market for him. She had breakfast with Yvonne and two gentlemen from Wolfpine, a neighboring city known for their wealth. She explained that she couldn't cancel because Yvonne's aunt had been keen on the girls meeting these men for quite some time.
"Besides, daddy," Petunia said, putting a small, clean hand on their father's shoulder. "You wouldn't want me to go to the market all alone now, would you? I'm not very practiced when it comes to handling money and those men will be able to tell. I'd be taken advantage of." Lily wanted to throw something very heavy at her sister's head, but she refrained and opted for imagining that she was sitting on the riverside instead. She pretended that she couldn't see her father swallowing her sister's ridiculous explanations, and that she was catching turtles and picking flowers as she used to do when she was a child.
And now, Lily was up before she had to go to work, doing what her father needed done. However, not many people were up at such an early hour and that made the errands a bit difficult. Lily had to wake up one man at the dock and ask him if the iron shipment had come in yet, and then she had to wake up two boys so they could carry the iron to her father's shop for her. They were extremely disgruntled, but cheered up a bit when Lily gave them a silver coin each for their troubles.
When all of this was finally finished with, the sun was just starting to peek over the mountains, so Lily dashed up towards the castle, not having eaten anything for breakfast and with the bottom of her dress still wet from being down by the dock.
"Don't know why she couldn't do it." She muttered to herself, rushing down the corridor towards Lady Bella's chambers. She hadn't even gotten the chance to put her hair up this morning, and was finding it rather difficult to tie a ribbon while she was moving as quickly as she was. "She's going to make me late one of these days, then what will she do? We won't be able to afford our house and she'll be sorr- Oof!"
Lily's ramblings were interrupted when she rounded the corner and ran into Prince James. Not realizing who it was, Lily sighed angrily. "Why don't you watch where you're going?" She asked, pushing her hair back behind her ears, before she re-gathered her hair to try to tie it back again.
"I'm terribly sorry." James said quickly, reaching out a hand and placing it on Lily's arm. "I didn't hurt you did I?" Lily looked up and blushed. Of course she had crashed into James. Her hair fell in waves down her back as her hands went to her sides and clenched her dress. Her curtsy was clumsy.
"I'm sorry, sir." She muttered, trying to clean up her accent. She was still speaking like she was down in the market. "I didn't realize it was you. I should have been watch-"
"It was my fault." James said quickly, not letting her continue with her apology. Lily pressed her lips together and took stock of the man before her. This was the third time in two days that she had seen him, been close to him. Normally, she hardly saw him at all. Only when he would come to Bella's room to visit, or if Bella had Lily accompany her to dinner.
"Alright, but I should not have spoken to you like that." She said, still blushing. "It was inappropriate." Not that this entire exchange wasn't inappropriate, but she couldn't say that. She had to hold her tongue and be agreeable. Two things that Lily Evans didn't particularly like to do.
"Nonsense." James said. Then he laughed a bit and looked down. "Apparently I need people to yell at me more often." Lily squinted at him, slightly confused as to what he was talking about, but then she remembered that Bella could be waking up any moment.
"I'll just be on my way then." She said, stepping around him and giving him another curtsy. "Have a nice morning, your highness."
"You as well, Lily."
Lily stopped walking and turned around to face him, but he had already rushed off down the corridor. How did he know her name? She wasn't his servant, she was quite certain that this was the only conversation that they'd ever had. It was an odd thought, the Prince knowing who she was. Then she remembered the previous night, how he had kept casting side glances at her every so often, Lily had assumed that he had done that because he hadn't wanted her there, eavesdropping on a private conversation, but after today's exchange, maybe there was a different reason he had kept looking at her. She brushed it off and rushed off to Bella's room.
"Oh, there you are." Bella said when Lily opened the door a few moments later. She was still seated in bed, though wide awake. Lily could tell that she had been waiting for Lily to arrive. "I was beginning to worry about you."
"I'm so sorry, Lady Bellatrix." Lily sighed. "I ran into the prince a few moments ago."
"Well, then it is I who should be sorry, no?" She laughed and Lily smiled appreciatively. Bella and James's relationship was much like that of a brother and sister. They joked and pestered one another, but everyone knew that they cared for each other a great deal. "He's such an arrogant fool; a lovable arrogant fool, but an arrogant fool nonetheless." Lily rolled back Bella's sheets and then stepped back so Bella could get out of bed. "What did he want with you then? He seems to be floundering without a permeant servant of his own."
"He didn't want anything. I meant to say that I collided with him. I was walking around the corner and we ran into one another."
"Oh dear! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. No one got hurt."
"That's good." She floated over to her dresser and ran her fingers over the fabrics. "Why don't you pick out my clothes today, Lily. You have such a way with colors."
"Thank you, my lady. I'd be happy to."
"I want something impressive though. I'm supposed to go on a ride with the king later."
"Of course, my lady."
"Lily?"
"Yes?"
"Why do you smell like fish?" Lily bit her lip and cursed her sister yet again.
oOoOo
It was past noon and still Lily had not had anything to eat. Not only was she hungry, but she was also nursing a headache and attempting to cover up her stomachs rumbling whenever Bella was around. She had snuck down to the kitchens after preparing Bella for her ride with the king, but the cook had caught her and kicked her out. All she was able to get was a shriveled up apple, and that was only because someone had thrown it at her as the cook was shouting at her to leave. It was slightly mushy and she ended up feeding it to one of the guard's horses. And even the horse didn't seem too pleased with it.
She had maybe an hour or two until Bella came back from her ride so she went out to the courtyard, hoping to buy some bread or fruit, but instead she ran into Remus, the odd boy who moved to the city yesterday. She didn't know what to think of him yet. She had seen him stand up to the prince, though she hadn't decided if that made him brave or stupid. She supposed it made him a bit of both. Curious as to how he was able to walk about the courtyard freely after yesterday's show, she decided to go over and talk to him.
"Hello, Remus." She said cheerfully, walking up beside him. He jumped slightly, his head jerking around to see who she was. That was another odd thing about him. He was a rather nervous bloke, especially for someone who had the gull to stand up to three knights when he didn't even possess a blade of any kind. He did relax when he recognized her however and set her with a thin-lipped smile. Lily couldn't tell if he was relieved or disappointed to see her, but she decided not to ask. She didn't often get to talk to people her own age. Apart from Bella, she didn't really get to talk to anyone all that much, and she wasn't about to be choosy about potential friends. Even if this potential friend had already managed to anger the prince in less than a day…
"Lily! Hello. What are you doing up here?" He asked, his eyes red and weary. She almost made a comment about how he wasn't doing a whole lot to convince her that he wasn't sick, but thought better of it and decided to simply answer his question instead.
"At the castle you mean?" He nodded. "Well, I'm Lady Bellatrix's personal maid." She recoiled as soon as the words left her mouth and shook her head, which caused it to throb painfully. She closed her eyes for a moment before continuing, "I tried to make that sound impressive by putting 'personal' in there. I'm still just a maid though."
"It sounded impressive." Remus said with a grin that looked only slightly more sincere than the first one. "And you get to be in the castle all day, which must be nice."
"Yes." Lily sighed, sweeping her stray hairs back behind her ear. She could hear her stomach grumbling and wished her sister to hell for the hundredth time that morning. She hoped Remus couldn't hear it. "I get to look at all the fine things in life that I will never have. It's grand."
"I guess you could look at it like that." Remus said, stuffing his hands into his pockets and looking down. "I'm choosing not to though." Lily was beginning to think Remus was a glass-half-full kind of person. If she wanted to be friends with him, she would have to cut back on her pessimistic remarks.
She really wasn't making a good impression on this bloke.
"Oh, you work in the castle too?"
"Well, I'm acting as Dumbledore's assistant until I can find a paying job."
"That's fun. Is he going to teach you how to be a physician?" Remus laughed.
"I doubt I'd be any good at that." Okay, so maybe he wasn't a glass-half-full kind of person. Lily usually prided herself on being able to read people, but Remus wasn't quite the open book people usually were around her. Maybe her headache was throwing her off. Or her lack of nourishment.
"Why not?" Lily asked, spying a trolley of smoked walnuts. She forced herself to look back at Remus. "You're around a great physician all day, you have all the books around you. If you wanted to, you could learn."
"I suppose." He looked down at the ground and kicked a rock with his foot.
"Oh don't act all shy now." Lily said, forgetting about her hunger as she found a way to lead him towards the topic that had sent her in his direction in the first place. "I saw what you did yesterday." Remus looked up at her.
"What?"
"I saw you stand up to Prince James. Not only to Prince James, but to two other knights as well. That was mighty impressive."
"Oh, that." Remus scrunched his face up and pressed his lips together. "You know he threw me in a cell for that."
"Well, I'm surprised that's all he did. Actually, I was more than a little surprised to see you walking about just now. How did you managed to talk yourself out of that? The King's had people imprisoned for less."
"That's encouraging." Remus muttered under his breath. Then he reached up and tugged at a lock of his hair. "That's the odd part though, isn't it?" He looked over at her and shook his head. "The prince came down to the dungeons a few hours later and apologized. I don't know him very well, but from what I saw yesterday, that seems extremely out of character."
"Well, your offence wasn't really that bad. And you did something really no- Wait, what? He apologized?" Remus nodded. "James Potter came down and apologized to you?" The words 'arrogant fool' were playing over in her head from this morning. "Sincerely?"
"Yeah. And he brought three of his knights, who also apologized and then he let me go." This threw Lily. It was one thing for him to apologize to her when they were alone after her ran into her, but it was another thing entirely for him to apologize to someone who had publicly called him out on his wrong doings. And he apologized with an audience no less.
"I don't understand him." Lily said. "He's a prat, really he is, but then he does something like this and I just… I don't know. He knows my name. And that may not seem very odd but it is. There are dozens of maids all about the castle, and I didn't know that he took the time to learn our names."
"I'm not going to commend him for learning people's names. He was still bullying that kid yesterday and made me go to the dungeons for telling him to knock it off."
"That's fair." Lily nodded. "I just can't believe that he admitted to being wrong. And in front of some of his knights. Oh, I wish I could have seen it."
"The fact that you're so surprised makes me wary about the state of our kingdom."
"Shh." Lily said, looking over her shoulder. "Do you want to end up in the dungeons again?"
"I'm not going to get thrown in the dungeons for saying that… am I?"
"I don't know, but you can't walk around insulting the royal family like that."
"Right. Well, I should be getting back to Dumbledore. I'll see you round."
"I'm sure you will. Have a nice day."
"You as well." He said.
Lily watched him walk off, but didn't waste much time rushing over to the trolley of walnuts and purchasing a small sack. As she walked towards the stitchery, where she had three gowns to order and another that Bella had asked her to mend herself, she contemplated her previous interactions with Remus.
He seemed to get upset at her apathy she had decided by the time she had reached the second floor and finished off half of her walnuts. She had made droll comments at the execution that had put him off and then she had spoken of the king misusing his power with only warning in her voice. He was new to the city, fresh from a tiny farm town she imagined, and he wasn't used to the ways of the kingdom. Though that didn't make the ways of the kingdom right, Lily thought. She knew that it wasn't right to behead someone without solid evidence, and that a king should not toss people in a cell as flippantly as their king did, but she needed her job and she had seen people leave for far less than insulting the royal family. Her family couldn't afford for Lily to have such thoughts, so she never thought them.
Lily promised herself that she would find a way to explain all of that to Remus and then, having reached the stitchery, pushed open the door and began working again. "Afternoon, Madam Malkin."
"Afternoon, Lily. Have you spoken to Bella about getting me a few more hands in here?"
"I'll ask her as soon as she gets back from her ride." Lily said, setting her walnuts down on a long pine table that was covered in satin, silk, lace, velvet and cotton. Madam Malkin sat at the head of the table, a blue gown draped over her lap as she worked to sew hundreds of different beads to the collar. "Bella will be pleased with that gown."
"This one's not for Bella." The Madam said, weaving the needle expertly through the delicate fabric. She nodded to her right and Lily followed the motion. "Bella's is over there."
Lily walked up to the dress and ran a hand over to laced sleeves. "It's lovely." She whispered.
"Put it on." Madam Malkin said, tying a knot in her thread and biting it in two. She stuck the needle into the strip of fabric she had stuck into her cleavage and was now looking at Lily.
"Why would I put it on?" Lily asked, taken aback.
"Because you and Bella are finally, mercifully, the same size." The seamstress said, quickly. "And because Bella never has time to come and get fitted for her dresses and then complains to me when they don't fit. Stop asking questions and put the dress on." Lily was then all but shoved behind a paper-thin partition.
"I smell like fish." Lily warned, stripping out of her own dress. She hadn't noticed that Bella and her were the same size, but maybe that was because she didn't really know what size she was. All of her dresses were too big because she had just taken them from the bin that Madam Malkin kept in the room for the servant girls who entered the castle with nothing suitable to wear.
"I don't care what you smell like. I'll pour some perfume on the dress if you make it stink. Just hurry up. I've got another dozen dresses to finish up today."
The silk was like water, falling down in waves and pooling on the floor once she pulled it over her head. The sleeves were light and airy on her arms, nothing like the coarse cotton that her dresses were made of. She stepped out from behind the partition and pushed her hair behind her ears.
"Come stand over here." Madam Malkin motioned to a small stool in the corner of the room and then began pulling pins out of her fabric scrape and rushed at Lily. For a moment Lily was afraid that she was going to get pricked, but the Madam's hands knew what they were doing, even when it seemed that she wasn't watching them. She pulled up the fabric here and folded it over here, cinched it there. Lily watched, thinking of her own clumsy fingers and the amount of time something like this would take her. Though, there was a reason that Madam Malkin was the most sought after seamstress in Camelot and Lily was a maid.
There was a sudden rap on the door and Madam Malkin let out a sigh, a pin falling from between her lips. She huffed and bent down to pick it up. "Come in." She called, still on the ground, searching for the thin metal.
"I've come to pick up my- Lily?" Lily looked over and was astonished to see, for the second time that day, James Potter. "What are you doing in here?" He looked around the room, checking to see that he had entered the right room. Due to the placement of the table, he could not see Madam Malkin crouched down, still looking for her pin.
"Well- I- Umm-" Lily shook her head and cursed herself to hell. He had to think that she was playing with Bella's dresses, that she had sneaked off to try them on and play at being royalty. "It's not-"
"What do you need, Sir?" Madam Malkin stood up, stuffing the pin back into place. James looked as though he was at a loss for words and stood in the doorway with his mouth slightly ajar. "Sir?" She repeated. Lily felt herself blush and looked down at the floor. What if he told Bella? Lily knew that she wasn't doing anything wrong, but that didn't mean that Bella would be alright with Lily wearing her clothes.
"I-" He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair. "I came to pick up my dress clothes."
"Of course." The Madam stalked off to a smaller room at the back of the stitchery and began digging through a bundle of orders. Lily stood awkwardly on the stool, and James in the doorway.
"We're the same size." She blurted out, not sure when she had given her mouth permission to let any words come out, let alone ones that didn't make any sense. She saw James' forehead crinkle in confusion. She took a deep breath and forced herself to explain. "Bella and I are the same size. She thinks fittings are tedious so Madam Malkin asked me to stand in for her." And then, because she forgot, "Your highness." Her curtsy was awkward, weary of moving too much for fear of getting poked or losing her balance and falling off the stool.
"Ah." James nodded, smiling now. "Well, I wouldn't let Bella see you in that. She'd never wear it," Lily looked down, blushing even more. There was nothing like a quick gab to knock you down a few pegs- "Not knowing that she couldn't hope to look as beautiful as you do in it."
Lily mouth opened, but any response that she might have had to that died in her throat. Luckily, Madam Malkin walked out of the back room with a deep red cloak and dress coat. "Here are you dress clothes, my lord."
"Thank you very much Madam. Have a good day, ladies." Before he turned to leave, he sent Lily a wink.
oOoOo
Sirius Black was not what one would call a good man. Though, strictly speaking, he was no exactly a bad man either. He spent most of his time in taverns conning men of questionable moral character out of their hard-earned money and then spending it on alcohol and women. To be fair, Sirius Black did not often have to spend any of his ill-gotten money to get women. They usually threw themselves at him because Sirius Black was that type of man.
He had a strong jaw line, a long thin nose, a crooked smile that made people go weak at the knees, mysterious grey eyes that always appeared to be looking through you and wind swept hair that he liked to let cover half his face. In short, he was an extremely attractive man.
At the moment however, Sirius Black was an extremely drunk man. After having spent most of the afternoon hustling men at sword fights and archery contests, he had earned himself a fair bit of money. More than he usually did anyhow and that meant that he was probably going to have to leave tomorrow. The men he bested did not like him to stick around very long, nor did they like to lose more than once against him. Moreover, once everyone learned that they couldn't beat him, he had no way to earn any money. Every so often, one or two of them would get cocky or drunk and ask for a rematch, which Sirius would always agree to, and then they would lose even more money and get angrier. It was a vicious cycle. He could have gone out and got himself a real job, but he fancied himself more the nomadic type and didn't see the appeal in settling down in one place.
So yes, he would have to leave tomorrow. He would have to get on a horse (not his own of course, he couldn't possibly keep a horse) and ride into another town.
"Mr. Black?" The innkeeper behind the bar leaned her head down so that it was closer to his. She had dark brown hair and eyes to match. If she had been a few years younger, Sirius would have called her beautiful. "Are you going to be alright?" She had most likely asked this because Sirius had not moved properly for almost an entire hour. He had his head resting on a limp arm that lay across the bar and his feet kicked up onto the empty stool beside him. There was a single candle lit in the room, because Sirius and the barmaid were the last two left in the tavern. Everyone else had stumbled out almost an hour ago.
"What a question, m'lady." Sirius said. He let out a yawn and sat up, stretching out his limbs, but keeping his eyes locked on the flickering candle. "But I've got one for you as well. Are any of us going to be alright?"
"Excuse me?" The older woman asked collecting some empty mugs at the end of the bar and dumping them in a washtub. "I should think so. Besides, I'm not the one drunk out of my mind thank you very much."
"In the end I mean," He said, slurring his words slightly. He moved to touch the dancing flame with his fingers, but the barmaid walked over and moved the candle out of his reach. His eyes snapped away from the flame and found her face. It was tired and worn and Sirius felt bad for keeping her so late, but not bad enough to actually leave quite yet. "We're all going to die," He said, looking her right in the eyes. "So are any of us really going to be alright?"
"If we're honest and true," She said with a pointed look at the drunken man before her. "God will let us into heaven, son. If we're good, we get to go to heaven." Sirius was quiet for a moment, as he thought about this. He then sighed and brought his fist up to rest his chin on.
"So I'm damned then?" He asked, more curious than anything else. "I haven't been honest or true a day in my life. And I'm most definitely not good."
"God can forgive all." She said, picking up his empty mug and refilling it. "If you ask, he can forgive you."
"I never asked for a refill." Sirius said, taking the mug from her anyway. He took a long, slow drink and let the warm liquid work its magic on his body. He felt his toes and fingertips start to tingle and his head was swimming in a clouded fog that got thicker with every swallow.
"That one's on the house." She said, grabbing a rag and wiping down the bar. "You've got me feeling all sorry for you now, you poor, drunken fool."
"What's your name?" Sirius asked. Then with as much sincerity as he could muster he added, "I've been to a lot of bars, but I think you're one of the nicest barmaids I've ever met. Giving me free drinks and all that."
"I'd thank you kindly if you weren't so drunk, lad." She smiled. "The names Emmaline, and you?"
"It's Sirius." He said waving it away as if it was some sort of distraction. "Emmaline… that's an unusual name." The barmaid nodded. "Very pretty too." She blushed. They always blushed. "Have you got another name, Emmaline?"
"Vance. It's Emmaline Vance."
"I thought as much."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You've got a cousin up in Lorkeep, no? Doe- I mean Dorcas Meadows."
"How do you know Dory?"
"I met her in Lorkeep."
"Well how did you know about me then?" Emmaline had her hands on her hips. "She doesn't just jab about me to strangers. I'm not the type that anyone brags about, working in a bar and all. The profession doesn't garner much respect in my family."
"It should. Anyway, I know of your family." Sirius said with another yawn. "I am a Black."
"Right," She put the rag down and looked at him skeptically, hands finding her hips. "Are you really though? I mean, you look the part, but Blacks don't normally hang about pubs like this one. They think they're better than most of the folk that come in here."
"And the Vance's don't?" He asked, raising a sharp brow and cracking a grin. Emmaline shrugged, avoiding eye contact now.
"Me and my family have had our disagreements, and now I'm here. I think that tells you all you need to know."
Sirius nodded languidly. "S'fair. I'm not your typical Black though, am I? I'd like to think of myself as a decent person."
"I've seen you rob more than a dozen men today. And didn't you just tell me not five minutes ago that you've never been honest and true a day in your life?"
"I did." He smirked. "I suppose your right. I'm not a decent person. But I didn't rob those men, those were fair wagers."
"You knew you were going to win." Emmaline said.
"I didn't know that I would win. Though, I did assume as much." He allowed.
"So are you a typical Black then?" She asked, her head tilted to the side. He closed his eyes for a moment and that's all it took for him to see the flashes of angry faces, hear the shouting that had chased him out of his home. He was no longer in the pub, but kneeling in a pool of blood holding onto a limp hand, hoping against hope that he could just take it back, that he could will this nightmare to be over-
Emmaline coughed and when his eyes opened, he back in the pub. His knuckles were white from gripping his mug and he pushed it across the bar, no longer feeling the need to drink.
"Apparently." He said bitterly. "I'm better looking though." Emmaline clicked her tongue.
"I'm not so sure."
"Oh come now, Emma. At least let me have that." Her lips turned up at the corners and she sighed.
"You're not half bad for a damned man, how's that?"
"That'll do, Emma." Sirius grinned. "I suppose that'll have to do."
oOoOo
"Put on something nice and meet me in the Great Hall."
Remus didn't have anything nice to wear, but those were the instruction that Dumbledore had given him. Put on something nice. The words replayed in his head over and over as he lorded over his bed where he had laid out his three shirts, two pairs of trousers and only pair of shoes. He supposed that his white shirt and black trousers were his nicest clothes. And if he wore his red scarf then that would cover up the stain on his collar. Then he would brush his hair to the side and hope that he looked suitable enough for whatever Dumbledore wanted him to do.
After he got dressed and caught a look of his reflection in a darkened window on the way down to the Great Hall, Remus decided to invest in some proper dress clothes when he found himself a job.
When he reached the Great Hall, Dumbledore was already there, standing off to the side with an elderly woman who Remus had yet to meet. Dumbledore noticed his arrival and waved him over. Self-consciously, Remus reached up to flatten his neatly parted hair before walking up to the Physician.
"And this is the boy I was telling you about Minerva." He said, smiling brightly at Remus. "His mother was a good friend of mine, you remember Hope Howell. This is her son, Remus Lupin."
"Yes of course." The woman named Minerva said with a tight-lipped smile. "Your mother was a very kind woman. Minerva McGonagall."
"She still is." Remus said, extending his hand to the woman, who nodded her head in approval and shook it. "It's nice to meet you, Minerva."
"You as well, Remus." The woman said. Then she turned back to Dumbledore. "I'm awfully excited for the performance." She said nodding her head towards the great oak doors that led to the dining hall. "She's said to be one of the greatest singers in all of England."
"Yes. And I'm looking forward to the pudding. The castle cooks make some wonderful puddings." Remus grinned and Minerva, clearly used to Dumbledore's oddities, nodded curtly.
"I'm sure the pudding with be sublime." She said.
A few moments later, the doors were opened and the three of them, along with another dozen people who had been waiting, entered the hall. The ceilings were either not there, or glass, but Remus couldn't tell. There were great chandlers hanging above each of the four long tables that ran vertically across the room. On the other side of the room, there was a raised platform with one long table, running the opposite direction as the other four, and this table had grand chairs instead of benches, and only on the far side. Remus assumed that was where the Royal family sat, and started after Dumbledore towards the front of the second table.
"Remus?" A voice called out from behind him.
"Hullo." He said, turning around to greet Lily. He wasn't sure what to think of this girl yet. She was by far the friendliest maid he had met in the castle so far, but he was still upset about her reaction to yesterday's execution and the way she generally referred to the Kingdom.
"Aren't you excited? You're first royal dinner!" She said, smiling brightly. "I remember my first dinner. Of course, I spent most of the night feeling guilty because my family couldn't come with me and they didn't get to eat any of the food. I had nothing to worry over though, I went to the cook afterward and she gave me some to take home to them."
"That's very kind of her."
"I thought so. Though, fair warning, I wouldn't go into the kitchens unless explicitly told to do so. She's kind only sometimes. Most of the time she yells and throws things at people."
"Whatever it takes to run things smoothly I suppose."
"I suppose." She stuck her jaw out and pursed her lips. "Have I done something wrong?"
"What? No. Why would you think that?" He asked, hoping she wouldn't press the subject. He didn't like lying, but he didn't like confrontation more. Nor did he want to upset the only potential friend he had here.
"Well, I got the feeling that you didn't like to talk much when you first got here, but… You're acting cold towards me."
"I didn't mean to." Remus said quickly and almost honestly.
"Don't lie." Lily said. "What is it?" Remus sighed and looked around. They were still standing and nearly everyone else had taken a seat. If they didn't sit down soon, they would have to stand.
"Now isn't the time." He said. "And it's nothing."
"We'll talk later then." Lily said, pulling a ribbon out of her hair and letting it fall down her back. "Yes?"
"Yes, alright." He agreed. Lily took a few steps towards a bench. "Wait, Lily?"
"Yes?"
"Do I look alright? I mean," He bit his lip and looked down. "Am I dressed appropriately?" Lily giggled.
"Remus, you look fine. I still smell like fish from being in the market this morning. At least your clothes are clean. And you got to comb your hair. I haven't done that in a week." She brushed some stray strands behind her ears to make her point. Remus nodded.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome." She said. "Now, come on. We don't want to get stuck without seats." She grabbed hold of his wrist and pulled him to the front of the table.
They were not the last to take their seats of course, though they had come close. After they had sat down (almost directly in front of the royal families table much to Lily's satisfaction,) the king, the prince and Lady Bellatrix entered the room. Everyone stood until they reached their seats and sat down. Then, once everyone was seated again, the king stood up and greeted everyone. Remus got a very different feeling while listening to him speak now than he did yesterday in the courtyard. It was almost as if the king was a completely different person. He was smiling for one thing, which made him look much kinder.
"Good evening, my good people. I would like to welcome you all to tonight's fine meal. Not only will we be dinning on the best food that Camelot has to offer, food that my son had a hand in catching," He nodded in James's direction and the prince put up a hand as the hall clapped to show their appreciation. "But we will also be enjoying the exceptionally talented voice of England's best; Lady Celestina Warbeck!" He motioned to the back of the room where the doors had been thrown open to reveal an attractive young woman dressed in stately clothes and fine jewels.
The room broke into applause and Celestina bowed and tittered happily. "Thank you." She cooed. "Thank you all ever so much. It is my greatest pleasure to perform for you all tonight."
"She's amazing." Lily whispered quietly in Remus's ear. "She came last year for Bellatrix's birthday, and I was in awe."
"What's the occasion this time?" Remus asked, not having heard about any royal birthdays.
"Oh, this isn't really an occasion so much as the king heard she would be passing through Camelot and asked her to sing."
"Let us all enjoy a song or two before our meal." The king said, his smile wide and bright. Celestina matched his look of delight and nodded in agreement. "Whenever you are ready, my lady." The king gave her a small bow and then sat down, giving her the floor.
There was a moment of silent anticipation while Celestina bowed her head. Suddenly the room was filled with a soft melodic voice. The notes came out long and full and slow. The pitch rose and fell in a hypnotic, riveting way leaving the entire room instantly captivated by the beautiful music.
Remus felt completely content listening to the woman sing. He had never before heard anyone sing this well. There was one girl back in his home village who could sing fairly well, but she had nothing on Celestina. Celestina was beautiful and her voice, even more so. He could hardly think of anything at all except for the sounds emanating from her small, lovely mouth. He felt warm and comfortable and he was only just aware of the fact that he was swaying slightly to the rhythm of the song.
He was jerked out of his trance like state when he felt Lily's head fall onto his shoulder. He looked down and saw that she had fallen asleep. Remus momentarily wondered how anyone could fall asleep during such an awe-inspiring performance, but then he realized that he was rather tired himself. He looked around the room and noticed that Lily was not the only one who had succumbed to sleep. He looked to his right and saw Dumbledore and Minerva sleeping against one another. On the other side of the room, the couple of guards that were standing watch at the door had fallen asleep against the wall. Remus raked his gaze up and down the four tables before coming to the conclusion that he was the only person, apart from Celestina, who was still awake.
With the good feeling completely gone, Remus jumped up from his seat, causing Lily's head to fall onto the table. He looked up at the singer and saw that she was zoned in entirely on the prince, it was as if she and James were the only two in the room. She had not noticed that Remus was still awake, but she didn't seem at all surprised that everyone around her had fallen asleep. Remus reached up and covered his ears as quickly as he could. As soon as he could no longer hear the song that Celestina was singing, his head felt normal again.
"What are you doing?" Remus shouted. Celestina ignored him however, or maybe she didn't hear him, and continued walking toward the sleeping prince who was completely defenseless. She never took her eyes off him as she reached into her gown and pulled out a long, thin dagger. Celestina drew back her arm, her sleeping song still filling the room, and Remus knew what was going to happen. He knew that this entire performance had been set up to harm the prince and that if he didn't do anything about it, Prince James would die in his sleep. She drew back her arm, and Remus knew what was going to happen before his mind had fully caught up with the singer's actions, and more importantly, he knew what he was going to do before he even started to move.
Celestina's arm started to sling forward and everything around Remus started to move in slow motion. He could feel the magic in him, coursing through his entire body. The note that Celestina was singing got lower in pitch, her throw that would surely kill James almost completely stopped. Remus got up and started for the royal table, walking at a normal pace through the mass of sleeping people. He reached the Prince and grabbed him under his arms, pulling him from his chair and onto the ground. As soon as James was out of harm's way, Remus stopped using magic, though he couldn't tell you how, and the dagger flew from Celestina's hand, whirred through the air and sank into the top of the chair where James's head had been only seconds before.
Celestina screamed in outrage causing everyone to wake with a start.
"What the-" James pushed himself up off the ground, into a sitting position, and looked around his eyes landing on Remus. Before anyone could work out what had happened, a dozen knights had stood from their tables and drawn their swords. Remus put his hands up to show that he meant no harm. "What do you think you're doing?" He asked. Then he spun back around, looking at Celestina, who was glaring at him viscously. "Why did you knock me off my chair?" He asked, turning back to Remus.
The king had been looking around while his son was trying to work out how he had ended up on the floor at Remus's feet. He saw that angry woman standing before them, the dagger in his son's chair and the red-faced boy standing beside his son and he had figured things out for himself.
"You save my son's life." He said quietly, looking at Remus in a way that he had never been looked at before. The gratitude that shown through the king's eyes was enough to make Remus's ears go red, but the king said no more, he just looked at Remus, waiting for him to speak.
Remus reached down to help James up. "Well, everyone was asleep." Remus said quickly thinking that, maybe just maybe, the king had saw something or just knew that Remus had used magic. "I'm sorry I shoved you, but I didn't know what else to do." James let out a dry laugh and took his hand, letting Remus pull him up off the ground.
"Well, I'm glad you did." He said, eyeing the dagger warily.
"Guards!" King Charles called. The guards that had been stationed at the ends of the tables and the doors stepped forward. "Arrest that woman."
"You were lucky!" Celestina shouted. "You were so lucky!" She screamed again in frustration. "He should have died! You do not deserve him! You took my son away and then you throw a party! You rejoice in the death of an innocent man! I will take your son from you, if it's the last thing I do! I will take him from you!" She reached up and clapped her hands together over her head and disappeared before the guards could capture her with a loud 'crack'.
"A witch!" The king called out unnecessarily, completely flabbergasted. "She was a witch!"
"Of course she was, dad. Why do you think we all fell asleep?" James said. Remus laughed, but tried to disguise it as a cough. James grinned at him.
"What's your name boy?"
"This is Remus." James said, clapping Remus on the back. "We met yesterday. He's new to Camelot."
"I am. I arrived yesterday morning." Remus said. Then he stretched his hand out toward the King. "I'm Remus Lupin, your majesty." The king eyed his hand for a moment and then looked up at Remus who felt his cheeks burning this time, and quickly put his hand back down at his side. He saw James smirking at him out of the corner of his eye.
"You shall be rewarded, Remus." The king said. Before Remus could dispute him, he turned to James and said, "You still need a new man servant, yes?"
James' smiled dropped from his face. "I do, but father-"
"Remus, you will be James' man servant. The kingdom owes you a great debt, young man." Remus and James both looked at the king with dumbfounded expressions. The king didn't pay them any attention however because he was now nodding to the applauding room.
AN: And there is chapter two. I hope you love it. Or like it. I also hope you leave a review. Reviews... well, they're the shit. I love them.
I would like to take a moment to thank everyone for all the positive feedback I've been getting, I'm glad most of you seem to be enjoying this story and the way that I've been characterizing everyone. I hope I don't let you down.