Chapter 13

James instructed Peter and Remus to stay downstairs with the girls. Remus tightened his hold on Alyssa and nodded at him. James and Sirius proceeded up the girls' staircase, with Alaina right behind them. Though she was nervous about entering the room from which the voice had been, she was determined not to see the two boys come to any harm.

"Lainy," Sirius whispered as the three of them walked up the stairs. "Maybe you should stay downstairs..." Alaina shook her head and grasped Sirius' elbow, tightly.

"No, I want to help," Alaina whispered, though her fearful shaking gave her away. "That was probably the most frightening thing I ever heard...," she whispered, as her eyes looked down at the floor. Sirius looked down at her with concern in his eyes. He hesitantly went to drape his arm around her shoulders, but did not. Alaina was disappointed.

"Don't worry, Alaina," James whispered as he pushed open the door to the girls' dormitory. "I am sure we will find out what ever it was that you girls heard." Alaina nodded and slipped into her room after Sirius.

However James was wrong. James, Sirius, and even Remus came up at one point and they had all searched through the room twice. They had looked everywhere, under the beds, and in the bathroom. Sirius had even looked through Alaina's dresser, but she was not sure if he was actually looking for the cause of the voice.

They had eventually given up, and trudged back down into the common room, looking very defeated. Currently, Brittney was sitting in front of the fireplace, her arms wrapped around herself. Lily had herself in an armchair and was rubbing her forehead. Peter was fast asleep in an armchair, his mouth hanging open delicately. Remus was leaning against the wall, with his arm wrapped around Alyssa's shoulders. Sirius and Alaina were sitting on the couch that was directly in front of the fireplace, while James stood by the window, gazing out into the cool, misty night.

"We're not imagining things, Potter!" Lily snarled, when he brought up the possibility. It had been two hours since the girls had heard the bodiless voice in their room, and the eight of them had stayed up discussing possibilities.

"Lily, how do you explain it then?" James growled, obviously he and Lily both were getting agitated with one another. "You are telling me that there was just some random voice that said it wanted to kill you?" Lily scowled, but before she could answer, Brittney did.

"She wasn't the only one who heard the voice, Potter!" Brittney said, as she stood up. James sat down on the arm of Lily's chair. "We all did! And none of us said that it wanted to kill us directly. It just told us to die! Not tell me you would not be frightened if a bloody voice told you to die!"

"Look, Lily," James whispered in his softest voice, completely ignoring Brittney's comment. She growled and returned to her spot in front of the fire. Lily relaxed as James put his hands on her shoulders, which left her

feeling slightly tingly. "There is nothing up there anymore, I swear it. Even if there ever was. Its almost four in the morning. Lets all go back to bed, and talk about this tomorrow."

Remus and Sirius both glared as James. Remus did not move from his spot with Alyssa, and Alaina could tell that he would not dare leave the lovely girl alone and unarmed. Alaina almost panicked when she felt Sirius' warmth grudgingly leave her side.

"Oh no, you don't!" Alaina snarled. She grabbed Sirius' arms and tugged him back down next to her. She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and snuggled into his chest as though he was the only thing keeping her alive. Sirius grinned like Christmas had come early. "You can not leave me down here alone. If you think I am going back upstairs with that - that thing! You have another thing coming, Sirius Black!" Sirius wrapped his arms around her shoulders and shrugged apologetically at James. Alaina sighed into his chest and felt safe as she heard his heart beating rhythmically under his ribs. James looked at Lily, his hazel eyes wide.

"Do you want me to stay down here with you, Lils?" James whispered. Lily looked up at him from under her long eyelashes. She nodded her head gently and James let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the floor in front of her chair. Lily hesitated but slid down next to him.

"So are we going to sleep out here?" Remus asked, and though none of the girls could see it, the boys were grinning at their fortunate luck. Though none wanted to admit it, they were defiantly glad that their princesses had sent their newfound princes to their rescue.

"Yes," The four girls said harmoniously. The boys grinned at each other once again.

No words were said as the four girls and the three boys stayed in the common room. Remus had conjured up blankets and thrown them to each person. Brittney had conjured a pillow and laid her head down to rest. Sirius had leaned into the arm of his chair and pulled Alaina to him tightly, a blanket across their laps. Remus and Alyssa slid down the wall, their arms entwined around each other.

"Nox," James sighed softly, as he draped a blanket over himself and Lily. "Good-night, lovelys."

"Sleep..."

"BLOODY HELL!"