A/N: Okay, loves, I am really, really sorry for not writing in such a long time! Life has been bogging me down lately, what with trying to send off my college applications for early admission and trying to juggle about a billion and five AP classes without exploding. But I'm back again, and I brought a very suprising chapter along with me. Enjoy!
Lilly and Sora walked down the hallway, not saying anything to each other. An odd silence filled the long corridors as the two girls slowly walked through them. Neither girl knew what to say to the other- what had just happened was too odd to put in words. Finally, Sora looked up at her best friend. She took in Lily's newly styled hair and makeup and felt a smile tug at her lips. Lily felt Sora's gaze and looked up as well, taking in her friend's new look. Both girls stopped walking and just started at each other for a bit. All of the sudden, both girls erupted into peals of laughter, the rich sound of it echoing in the empty hall.
Sora looked up at Lily through teary eyes and shook her head.
"That was the worst attempt yet" she said, her voice breathless from laughing. Lilly nodded her head in agreement.
"I think they're slipping" Lily said, looking at her newly manicured nails "though I do have to say, this makeover was rather nice" she added, smiling brightly.
"Yes, it's all the rage in war now- make your enemies look as good as the possibly can" Sora added, causing Lily to laugh all over again.
"Let's go celebrate" Lily said brightly- she didn't care about missing classes anymore; she was already too behind to bother.
"Sure- I've just got to send a letter home real quick. I'll meet you in the common room" Sora said, turning towards the doors leading to the owlery. Lily said goodbye to her and walked towards the direction of the common room, not thinking about where she was going. When she finally stopped walking she found herself in front if the astronomy tower. Not really wanting to go back to the common room yet, Lily decided to climb the endless flight of stairs to the top. She hadn't been up there since her first year when she had taken a completely useless astronomy class. Lily hated the subject, all full of guesswork and predictions- too much like boring divination. Sora on the other hand, loved both subjects and Lily knew that she went to the astronomy tower often, just to calm herself.
Lily was out of breath by the time she reached the top of the tower, and she grasped the balcony ledge, bending her head, gasping for air.
"A little out of shape, are we?" a familiar voice sounded next to her. Lily spun around to what she had thought was just a wall, but had turned out to be a little divider between the two sections of the tower. Standing on the other side, looking extremely handsome and surprisingly normal, stood Sirius Black. Lily immediately went on guard. After what had happened today, Lily didn't really know what to expect.
Sirius, on the other hand, just went continuing to read a book that he had brought with him. Lily craned her neck and saw that it was a tour book of the United States. Suddenly Sirius looked up at Lily.
"What is the time difference between London and New York?" he asked Lily, who was quite taken by surprise at the random question.
"Um, six hours, I believe" she answered quickly. She didn't know where this conversation was going, but she wasn't about to let herself get off guard.
"Right, thanks" Sirius said, turning around and walking away. Lily stared at the boy's receding back, a bemused expression on her face. Her mind reeled. What had just happened there? Was Sirius trying to give her some time of hidden, veiled threat? Or had she just had an almost normal conversation with one of the marauders? After a few minutes, Lily realized that she was still standing on top of the astronomy tower and that Sora was probably already back in the common room. Lily rushed down the stairs and back to the common room, where Sora was sitting in front of the fire, a hearty feast (nicked from the kitchens, naturally) set in front of her.
"Oh, good you're here! I just came back from the kitch. It seem as though the house elves are rather happy with our war. They aren't the biggest fans of the marauders, either" she said, smiling. She didn't question Lily about where she had been, and Lily didn't tell her about it either. For some reason, Lily didn't want to share what had happened with Sora, at least not yet.
The two girls spent the rest of the day lounging by the fire, gossiping, and eating. They went to bed early and slept well. When Lily woke up the next morning, though, everything seemed off balance.
She noticed that Sora wasn't in her bed, even though her friend always woke up later than she did. She also noticed that the dormitory seemed rather empty- nobody was there. Looking wildly around, Lily noticed that there was a single piece of crimson paper taped to her bedpost.
"Here we go again" Lily groaned, getting out of bed and putting on her school robe. She wondered where Sora was, and hoped that James hadn't done anything to her- not that he really could. Sora's uncle was the founder and head master of the largest martial arts dojo in Japan and had taught his niece martial arts since she was old enough to stand up on her own. If there was any girl who could take care of herself, it was Sora.
Lily rushed to the great hall, wondering what in the world James had in store for her. She was received with a large, jeering crowd. Ignoring everybody's comments, Lily made her way to the center of the room when she saw the most odd and unexpected sights she could ever imagine.
Standing in the center of the great hall was James and Peter (Sirius and Remus were missing). Next to James, unconscious and bound at the wrists was Lily's younger sister, Petunia.
"How, how…" Lilly stammered, not really believing the sight in front of her. Petunia- in her school! How in the world had the headmaster allowed James to bring in an ordinary person into a magical school!
"Shocked, Evans?" James said, smiling "I knew you would be. Getting your little sister here wasn't to hard really. I just had my mum's men place a simple spell on her and poof! Here she came" James added. Lily stared at him- wondering why anybody on the earth would be so sadistic.
"What has Petunia ever done?" Lily asked James "and it's not like I even talk to her that often" she added. The sad part was that it was true. The two sisters did not have that great of a relationship with each other, but Lily still cared about her sister greatly.
"It's not a matter of what she has done to me- it's a matter of what you've done to me" James said lightly. "I tried to resolve our differences nicely- but you and that little pest of a friend of yours did not agree" James added. "If we are actually going to go on with this war, I thought I would start it off with a bang" James said, smiling at the shocked Lily in front of him. Suddenly, the boy snapped his fingers and two people from the crowd brought him a huge bucket of shining purple ink.
"Wonko's Permanent Ink" James said, smiling quite evily at Lily. "It will dye anything it touches a lovely shade of violet. And the best part is, that it will never come off" he said, his voice soft and light. "I wonder how your little sister would look in purple" James taunted, casting his eyes on the limp Petunia. The boy who had handed James the bucket of ink gave him a paint brush. James dipped the paintbrush in ink and made his way towards Petunia. Lily, acting on pure instinct, ran up to james and slapped the paintbrush out of his hands. The brush landed with a loud clank on the floor below, echoing throughout the painfully silent hall.
James looked at the paintbrish lying at his feet and then back at Lily. A slow, wide smile crept onto the boy's lips and Lily felt a sinking feeling in her stoumach. James only smiled at other's pain and discomfert.
'Bend down and pick it up" James said pleasantly. Lily looked at the paint brush at the boy's feet. If she bent over to retrieve it, it would be like bowing at Jame's feet and accepting surrender.
"I will not" Lily said, looking straight at james- the daggers of her emerald eyes meeting the cold harshness of his hazel ones. James just shook his head slightly.
"If you do not pick up the brush, I will be forced to dumo this bucket of ink not only on your sister, but also on you" James said, chuckiling. Lily heard a murmer going through the crowd. Everybody was wondering if this would be the end of the much coverted Hogwarts War.
Lily bowed her head, knowing that she had been defeated. There was nothing she could do now. As much as she hated James she knew that she couldn't go through her life being purple, nor could she live with herself if she was the cause of her sister being permanently dyed either. James might not have any morals, but Lily did and she knew that that was her downfall. You can't fight with the devil, he has nothing to lose. Tears pricked Lily's eyes. She had wanted so bad to win this war, to stick it in Jame's face and bring him down! But there was nothing that she could do, especially when Sora wasn't there to help her.
Lily was about to bend down to pick up the brush and give up on the whole war when she was stopped by a familiar voice.
"Actually, Evans, the time differance is seven hours, you forgot to count the idiotic daylight savings time they have in the US."
Lily looked up and saw Sirius standing not too far away from her, looking exceedingly gorgeous in his tailored emerald green robes (none of the marauders usually wore school robes). he looked at lily and winked slightly, causing the girl to blush to her roots. Suddenly there was a great racket at the doorway to the great hall. Lily's eyes swung from Sirius to the cause of the noise.
In the doorway stood two huge boys, one of them holding a kicking and seething Sora. Both of the boys were bruised and scratched and had the air of soldiers who had just lost a long battle.
"We can't keep her anymore James- she's a hellion. It's been nothing but trouble for us since we took her" One of the boys said, dropping Sora on the floor. Sora immediatly got up, kicked the boy in a place where she was sure would hurt for hours and swiftly made her way through thr rapidly parting crowd to Lily's side.
"What did I miss, love?" Sora asked Lily. James looked at Sora, to the two beaten up boys, and then finally to Sirius. His mouth was set in a thin frown and his eyes turned cold when they fell upon who he thought was his best friend. He stromed out of the great hall, his eyes only tearing away from Sirius when he went through the dorrway. Peter scampered after James, like a little rat. Sora looked at Lily, who was looking around her in shock.
"Lily? What happened?" Sora asked. Lily, though, didn't answer. Lily didn't know quite what happened either, but she did know one thing for sure. She was in love with Sirius Black.
A/N: Okay, so how's that for a twist? Hehe, stay tuned dear readers- thr next chapter is going to get even hotter...