Disclaimer: I can only imagine how cool it would be to be an author of a best selling series and how awesome it would be to have a wicked cool British accent...
A/N: Thanks to all of you who reviewed!! TheDarkLordMoldyShorts, Lady Potter of Tortall, daydreamin' angel, Ilove theLORD, E Patronum, Kurinoone, Isolde Eris, Phantom of a Rose, PSTurner, and Gloryofthesilent! Sorry if I missed anyone...my email hasn't been working lately...don't really know why.
HAPPY (late) NEW YEAR!! I hope you all had a fantastic time bringing in the new year. Hello to 2007! Wow, I can't believe that 2006 is already over. Alright, so enough of me going all sappy about the year being over. But, on the bright side, we now know the title for BOOK 7!! How exciting! It better be coming out soon otherwise I might go insane (okay, so I might be exagerating a bit, but it's still exciting!)
So, here's the next chapter. I'm planning on only having one more chapter after this one. This story is coming to an end...how depressing. I've had so much fun writing it!! Anyways, get on and read the chapter and I'll stop my babbling! I hope you all enjoy it!
Chapter 16:
Harry sighed and looked over at his clock as his stomach growled. How had two hours already passed? Well, actually it had felt like Harry had been in his room pouring over the Marauder's Map for days, not a mere couple of hours.
"Mate," Ron said, "I think it's time you took a break."
If Ron didn't want to help, he could just leave. Granted, Ron had helped for the first forty-five minutes or so before he'd claimed his eyes would melt out of his head if he stared at the map for a second longer. "I can't," Harry replied in an annoyed fashion. Did no one else understand the importance of the matter? Not even Lily and James seemed to care even though this whole ordeal was for their benefit!
When Harry had said they needed a plan to help Lily and James get into the Room of Requirement, he hadn't expected everyone to think he'd already had a plan. Truth be told, Harry had no clue how they were going to draw Malfoy away from the Room of Requirement. Yet, Harry didn't like admitting defeat; he didn't like admitting he didn't know what to do. So, he'd taken liberty to searching the Marauder's Map for hours on end in hopes of finding Malfoy somewhere besides the seventh floor corridor. At least this way it looked like Harry was doing something.
Perhaps if James had offered to help with Harry's lousy attempts of scouring the map then they would have already come up with some sort of conclusion; James had made the map after all and could, therefore, know some sort of tricks or shortcuts. Harry scowled slightly, mad at his parents for not being here to help him. Although, I should be used to it by now, Harry thought.
As if he could read his friend's thoughts, Ron sat on the corner of Harry's bed. "You know, I'm sure if you just asked James and Lily to help you they would."
"They're in the library researching any other possible means to time travel," Harry answered dully, bending his neck further over the piece of parchment.
The door to their dormitory swung open and Harry heard soft footsteps that couldn't possibly belong to a boy approach his bedside. He glanced up and to his surprise saw Ginny standing over him.
"It looks like somebody's died in here," she exclaimed jovially, opening the curtains and allowing the sunlight to spread throughout the room.
Harry watched her for a second before turning back to the map in his lap. "Ginny, this is the guys' dormitory," Ron stated.
Ginny smirked. "Really? I had no idea, Ron. Thanks for informing me," she replied cheekily. She shoved Ron off of Harry's bed and sat down in the now vacant spot.
Ron glanced from Harry to his sister uncomfortably. "I—uh…"
Smiling politely, Ginny looked at her brother expectantly as Harry looked from his best mate to his girlfriend. "Yes, brother?"
The tips of Ron's ears reddened. Whether it was out of embarrassment from being stuck with his little sister and her boyfriend, or if it was out of anger that Harry had still asked Ginny out, Harry wasn't sure. But before Harry could reassure that he had no dirty intentions, Ron muttered a small "see ya later" and exited the room rather quickly.
"He's quite pathetic, really," Ginny laughed, pulling her legs up onto the mattress and crossing them Indian-style. When Harry only offered a rather weak smile, Ginny sighed and placed a hand on his leg. "Harry, you're working yourself too hard."
His leg twitched slightly at the contact and his eyes flickered towards his girlfriend's hand to her face. "Not you too," Harry muttered, rubbing his blood-shot eyes.
"Well, it's true," she replied defiantly. She continued to stare at him. "Harry, there's something else wrong."
"What are you talking about?" he snapped back.
"What else is bothering you?"
"Nothing. I'm fine," he said, avoiding her gaze.
He jumped slightly when he suddenly felt her right beside him and her hand somehow wound its way into his own. "You're doing a really nice thing, Harry."
Harry turned his head sideways to face her. "What do you—"
"I know you don't want them to go," she replied, squeezing his hand.
How did she know? How did Ginny know that he actually wanted his parents far away from here and that he hated them for ever coming here in the first place? In reality, his girlfriend was right. Harry had known this; there was just something about having someone else say it out loud that made him feel overly pathetic. Fifteen years he'd been without his parents and suddenly he felt like he couldn't live without them?
"It's stupid," Harry muttered, looking away from Ginny and swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat.
With a nod and without another word, Ginny pulled her hand away from Harry's and reached out to take the Marauder's Map. "Come on; I'll help you."
"You don't have to—"
A smile crossed across her face. "Now, I don't see Malfoy near the dungeons," she began, ignoring her boyfriend as her eyes began scanning the map.
Unable to help it, Harry smiled and scooted closer towards Ginny so he could look at the Marauder's Map as well. "I've already looked there," he announced.
Together, Ginny and Harry continued to devour the map and its contents and never found Malfoy anywhere, which only meant that he was in the Room of Requirement. Despite their failed attempts, the two never stopped. About an hour later, Ginny had taken to resting her head on Harry's shoulder as Harry slouched against the headboard of his four-poster bed.
"I'm convinced Malfoy has chosen to become a secluded soul and he'll spend the rest of his life in the Room of Requirement," Ginny proposed tiredly, running her finger across the surface of the map. "It would be an improvement, though." Harry chuckled as he moved Ginny's finger out of the way so he could see the area of the map it had been covering.
"Harry, James and I—" Harry and Ginny looked up from Harry's bed quickly, snapping their necks up at the sudden interruption, only to find Ron and James standing in the doorway.
Ron's eyes widened, his mouth stuck open, as his eyes traveled from Harry propped up in his bed with his little sister practically sprawled on top of Harry—alright, so maybe her head was simply lying on his shoulder, but Ron's big brother instincts seemed to think way beyond that.
Shoving Ron from behind in order to get him moving again, James nodded off towards Harry and Ginny as if he'd seen this type of stuff everyday. "Hey guys," he greeted.
"Find anything in the library?" Harry asked while eyeing Ron worriedly, trying to communicate that everything was alright. When Ron's ears began heating up, Harry knew that it was a bad sign.
"Nah. Tried to sneak into the Restricted Section but Lily wouldn't allow it," James shrugged, walking over towards Harry and Ginny and leaning over the two so he could get a glimpse of the map. "Any updates on Malfoy?"
Ginny shook her head. "We've been looking for an hour and he—"
Ron's ears reddened even more, reaching a new shade of red that no one had ever seen before. "Wh—I—You've been up here alone for an hour?" he practically stuttered out.
"No," Ginny said slowly, watching her brother, "Harry's been with me."
This appeared to be the wrong thing to say for Ron began stuttering even worse, his face turning from red to white to red again. "What have you been doing?" he asked, looking between the two wearily as if part of him didn't even want to know what his little sister had been up to in the boys' dormitory.
"Ron, you're such a—Harry! Look," Ginny suddenly shouted, her head jumping from his shoulder as she pointed to a spot on the map.
Everyone in the room jumped at the sudden outburst, but Harry quickly straightened his glasses and looked to the spot Ginny was pointing towards. The two dots standing in the seventh floor corridor labeled 'Gregory Goyle' and "Vincent Crabbe' had just been joined by a third dot.
"Malfoy! He's out!" Harry exclaimed, jumping up from his bed so suddenly that he knocked heads with James. "Where's Lily?" Harry continued, ignoring his throbbing head.
"With Hermione in the Common Room," James replied, rubbing his head.
To everyone's surprise, Ron was the first one out the door and the rest of the group followed. Harry held the map tight in his hands, every second looking down at it hoping that Malfoy hadn't changed his mind. Yet, the spot right outside the Room of Requirement remained free and Malfoy's labeled dot continued to move further away.
As if they had nothing else better to do, the whole common room turned their heads and watched curiously as some of their fellow Gryffindors raced down the stairs and skidded to a half in front of the best armchairs by the fire. James looked at Lily and then back at all of the faces pressing in on them. "Er…forgot to turn in a library book," he said loudly, hoping to draw the crowd away.
It appeared to work as the Gryffindors turned away and began doing whatever they had been doing before all of the excitement. "I'll take it for you, James," Neville offered, coming up from behind them, "I'm going down there anyway."
"Uh, no that's really alright, Neville," James reassured, knowing he had no book to give to Neville to return anyway.
Hermione and Lily glanced at each other and then back at the boys and Ginny curiously. Once the portrait hole closed behind Neville, James turned back to Lily.
"It's free."
OOO
James and Lily tried to appear casual as they sped walked through the halls and staircases of Hogwarts. Not wanting to draw attention to themselves, they tried not to break out into a full sprint, but the need to get to the Room of Requirement while it was still open was strong on their minds.
"So, any ideas on the whole 'subconscious wishing" thing?" James asked.
Lily shook her head. "First things first; I just want to get into that darn room," she replied as they rounded a corner. She didn't really feel like talking for this very well could be that last time that they spend in the future. Part of her was sad; well, more accurately, three fourths of her was upset. Everything that had happened in this time, everything that she had discovered had become a part of her. The second that the Room of Requirement plunged them backwards through time, she wouldn't remember anything. Her and James's friendship, Harry, Hermione, the Weasleys—she wouldn't remember anything and that was a very scary thought indeed.
The worst part was that everyone here would remember them; would remember the good and bad times. Harry wouldn't have the privilege—or the curse depending on which way you looked at it—of not remembering them. He would be able to recall the attack on Hogsmeade and how he and his parents were almost all killed; he would forever have to feel the pain of his parents coming and leaving him again.
Her thoughts continued to carry her and before she knew it, she and James were standing at the end of the seventh floor corridor and Lily's heartbeat rose enormously. "Why did this have to happen?" she sighed, slumping up against the wall and glancing around the deserted corridor.
James frowned. "I'm going to miss it too."
"No you won't," Lily replied. "Don't you see? You can't miss something you never had. Once we step into that room and get back to our own time, we won't remember any of this," she cried, feeling close to tears.
"Lily…" he approached her and held her arms gently. "I—"
"Oh, Miss Evans, there you are."
Lily and James both jumped at the sudden new arrival. Lily's first thought was that Malfoy had returned, but then she stupidly realized that it had been a woman's voice that had spoken. Professor McGonagall stood in the middle of the corridor and something about the way she was looking at Lily made her feel like something was wrong.
"Professor?" James asked, glancing at the blank piece of wall behind them.
McGonagall observed them somberly. "Professor Dumbledore needs to speak to you, Miss Evans."
Lily stepped forward, her face paling. "What is it?"
The stern eyes of the deputy headmistress softened slightly and she motioned with her hand for Lily to follow her. Nervous, Lily began playing with the necklace James had given her that laid around her neck as she glanced at James and then back towards the Room of Requirement. How long would Malfoy stay away from the room? Was it really worth it to find out what Dumbledore had to say anyway?
"Mister Potter, you may come too if you like," McGonagall offered, before she turned on her heel and led the way. Praying that Malfoy would fall asleep or something while they were gone, James threw a worried glance towards Lily before they both followed their professor.
Oh dear, they were so close that time, weren't they? Don't worry, this all has a point to it and it will all play out in the end. Thanks for reading and please review!
Next chapter: ...Drum roll, please...The end has finally arrived!
--HeyLookTheSnitch