Chapter 30
"Serious? That's what old man Dumbledore said?" Peter, having given up on his essay had now settled on the floor, his pudgy cheeks shaking to and fro, not believing any of James Potter's words.
"No offence Prongs...but I have to agree with Wormtail; Evans in love with you? Dumbledore must have been off his rocker…the old man's brain mustn't working too well this year, first he appointed you as Head Boy and now this!" Sirius, leaning against the wall, was inspecting his nails and contemplating what the hazel eyed boy was revealing.
"I don't understand…shouldn't you be happy about it James, I thought you would be dancing off the walls to know that Lily supposedly loves you" Even Remus's expression was of doubt as he inspected the weak and crestfallen body on the bed. This was certainly not the James Potter he knew and respected even, something had happened to the both of them…something not quite right.
"He's got you there mate" Sirius was now combing his sleek shoulder length hair with his fingers much to the disgust of Remus, who was furiously gesturing at him to pay some more attention to their closest friend who was going through something Muggles would call a life crisis.
"Well, Lily kind of refused to accept what Dumbledore had to say…she kind of blew up in his face…not that I expected anything different from her" He sighed in defeat as he turned on the bed to face his friends, adjusting his spectacles slightly. "Maybe I underestimated Lily Evans…perhaps I was a fool to think I could ever earn her love."
"Wow Prongs…I'm starting to get worried. I've never seen you like this! The girl of your dreams, the one you've pined over ever since I can remember is apparently in love with you? So…this is your chance, go on a date with her or something!"
Leaning down to Remus who was still on the couch, Sirius whispered "See Moony…our Prongs is definitely on crack, or possibly overdose of Firewhisky. Once, when I drank more than 10 jugs, you don't even want to know the troubles I had…Terrence told me she was pregnant! God…it was –"
"Shutup Padfoot, it's about James not you" Remus was nudging Peter on the floor who seemed to have fallen into a rather disturbed sleep and kept muttering "no". With a shrug of his shoulders, Remus levitated Peter to his bed with some effort and returned back to James.
"Who knew the course of love would be so painful…Prongs, maybe it's better to forget her. I certainly don't see any chance for me and Davies…eek, love is just overrated, you don't need it to enjoy life" Sirius, content with his words, muffled a yawn as he noticed it was almost 4 a.m. Time for 2 hours of sleep, a quick rinse and fresh as a daisy to breakfast!
"I actually agree with Padfoot on this one…maybe you're hoping for too much James…what if you just let things run as they are and see how that turns out" Remus, finding his position on the couch quite comfortable, felt himself drifting off into an easy sleep and his thoughts automatically drifted to the slender form of Eva Milton. All this talk about love was putting pressure on his wounds, Remus knew he was falling deeper and deeper into a trap, but he wouldn't change anything. Maybe the Marauders were cursed not to love…to not benefit from love's uplifting power and energy. No, love, they realized had only brought the Marauders endless heartache and scars…and for Peter, they had brought endless hours of worthless discussion when they could have been talking about their glorious futures or furthering the capability of the Marauder's Map.
Yes…love was like a butterfly, it is beautiful to think about, to look at and to want to possess, but once it is not possible to be possessed because if forced into a cage, love will lose all of its beauty and face a slow and painful demise. In other words, love is a delicate and subtle thing which cannot be forced or bullied into happening.
With those depressing thoughts, the 3 remaining Mauraders drifted off into a…loveless sleep.
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As she slowed down to a walk, her breath staggered and her limbs numb from cold, Lily Evans could not remember for how long she had been aimlessly running for. The irony lay in that she was Head Girl, she should be catching those outside of bed after curfew, yet she was breaking the rule she was to be enforcing, all over one irksome James Potter. Her tears had come like an endless river of grief yet as they dried up, one thought of the nauseating images she had witnessed and a fresh bucket of tears would come pouring down. Lily hated tears, they were a form of weakness…and she hated when she could not control her tears. Closing her eyes only made the situation worse, James Potter's annoying face and charming smile would not leave her memory.
Her thoughts constantly drifted back to Dumbledore's words as well as to when James and her had fought together, suffered together and triumphed together. Things were already complicated back then when she was beginning to accept James Potter for someone who was more than an arrogant jerk, for somebody who was worthy of her friendship and attention. Yet things were moving too quickly and were getting way too complicated for what her mind could handle…she needed a breather. Not wanting to face the Damsel or the Heads Common Room, she shuffled her footsteps to God knows where, feeling quite lightheaded as night was disappearing. She squinted her eyes as she could make out two shadows coming towards her in the distance…two males slapping each other on the back.
"C'mon Moony I'm busting…maybe we can even catch some junior girls, I hear they're most frisky just before sunrise"
"Shutup Padfoot and keep your voice down" Remus squinted at the Marauder's Map in order to make sure nobody would be able to catch him and Sirius sneaking out of bed…again. He wasn't the one to break the rules, but for the Marauders, his closest friends in the world, he knew that he would do anything, anything in the world.
"Hey" Sirius yelped, snatching the Map from Remus, pointing his lighted wand onto it, he whispered "uh oh Rem I think there's a problem. Evans is heading right for us!" He pointed a shaky finger at the approaching dot marked Lily Evans, and he knew that if the Head Girl caught them up, he was going to cop it.
"Yeah Padfoot, way ahead of you" As Sirius looked up, Lily Evans was right in front of him and Remus, a stunned expression on her face. She looked a mess, her nose was clogged and bits of her hair was stuck to her shriveled face that almost screamed out for sleep. Without warning, Lily dropped her wand and promptly collapsed into Remus and Sirius's waiting arms. Never the one to cause a dramatic scene, Lily Evans had just fainted into the arms of 2 men…how was she ever going to live this one out?
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"So let me get this straight Black…James has been acting weirdly ever since a supposed meeting with Dumbledore where he reveals that Lily Evans is actually in love with James Potter. Following on, you and Remus stroll around a Hallway at say 5 a.m. and just happen to find the Head Girl as well…and she collapses into your arms without so much as a much as a word?" Brittany tugged at her hair as she tried to get a brush through it, enjoying the sunshine of a cool Saturday morning as she lay curled up on the couch of the Gryffindor Common Room in her pyjamas having just woken up.
She had to admit she had been angry at Sirius, so angry in fact, that she had ground at least 1cm off her teeth and re-dyed her hair green and fluorescent orange…you wouldn't have thought the two colours went together, but anything on Brittany Davies just revealed more of her sparkling personality. Yet as she thought about it, Brittany decided that Sirius was just a lost cause…they had had their fun, their petty disputes, even some moments of undeniable chemistry, yet they both knew that it wouldn't last. They were just two different people, with different aspirations and dreams and most of all, the both of them had commitment issues, big issues that could not be solved just like that. To both Brittany and Sirius it seemed that love was a foreign creature, something that they would never come to know and understand. After the nasty incident of Brittany witnessing Sirius Black's womanizing ways, she came to an unspoken understanding with him, maybe it was better for them to have a spontaneous relationship, something they could both go in and out of. It was then and there that Brittany realized, it was an impossible feat to tame Sirius Black's wild heart and if she couldn't do it, nobody could.
She admitted she was hurt but she had already learned the hard way that to love, especially Sirius Black was the same as playing piano to a cow…nothing would come out of it. She had vowed she would never be hurt again…but this time had been entirely her fault, she could not blame anyone. So Brittany did what she did best, she covered all of her shattered emotions with a cool masked expression and uncaring actions. Meeting Sirius Black's somewhat guilty expression had been difficult at first, yet the two were slowly beginning to return to their previous light relationship, and that was hopefully where it would stay.
"I think James and Lily have got it worse than we have…" Sirius dared not meet the blonde's eyes, for once in his life, he was confused and perhaps, this was exactly how James was feeling. Things were progressing at an unhealthy speed, too many unforeseen problems were developing and he most certainly did not contain the energy to meet them all.
Both Brittany and Sirius glanced at Lily's sleeping form curled besides the fireplace on the floor and Brittany shot Sirius a quizzical glance. She had not noticed Lily there before when she had woken up and trudged down the stairs in her sleeping gear. In fact, it was already almost into the afternoon and she had not only missed breakfast but her stash of food from Hogsmeade was thinning at an alarming rate. Most people were either outside, by the lake, basking under the sun or in the Library catching up on unfinished assignments. Brittany always liked late mornings so when she had come down the Common Room, she had not expected anyone there so it came a little bit of a shock when Sirius Black was laying quite comfortably on a chair, completely upside down, his head hanging near the floor and his legs stuck up awkwardly in the air.
As Brittany watched him, she could not help but smother a smile…as much as she hated the guy, nobody could deny he wasn't cute, besides, checking out someone wasn't a sin! As her thoughts drifted back to Lily, she shot Sirius an inquisitive glance.
"You say whenever you levitated her onto the couch she would fall straight off so you decided to arrange her in a curled position next to the fireplace. You're insane Black! This is one of my best friend were talking about" But as Brittany was about to lift her wand, Lily's serene expression made her think twice, how could she disturb her sleeping form, it would be too cruel.
"Maybe we should get Potter in here" Brittany continued
"Yeah…wow I don't feel so good" as he managed to struggle his way back to a sitting position, Sirius Black promptly fell on the floor in a mangled heap of limbs, and sheepishly flopping onto the floor, he looked up at Brittany "I'm not so sure, Pr-James didn't seem as if he wanted to talk to Evans…I think the two have some kind of issues"
As Brittany rolled her eyes, as if to say obviously, Sirius pouted "I don't mean their usual at each others neck issues, I think the two are going deeper than that. Something about Evans's I-would-rather-go-out-with-the-Giant-squid-than-Potter attitude has changed. You wouldn't believe it also, James does not seem to be so caught up with her…he keeps on moping and none of us know what the hell he's upto, all I know is that love screws you up really bad."
"Wow Black, for someone who looks so daft, you've actually nailed it…I wonder what's happened between them" Brittany inspected her nails with curiosity as she thought back to what Sirius had just said. Sirius, having just received a seemingly innocent compliment from Brittany was gloating and unconsciously puffed out his chest, dangling his legs in the air like a girl.
There was a silence for a minute and then Sirius promptly pointed out "Hey! You think I'm…dumb-looking!" He hastily got up and was about to chase Brittany when she began squealing and as she missed his swipe, she ran up the stairs declaring she was going to get changed.
Sirius, knowing he would be in more trouble than he could handle if he was caught entering the Girls Dormitory, sighed in defeat and decided to go grab some grub. If he was lucky and saw James, he would trick him, something Sirius was very good at, into entering the very empty Gryffindor Common Room…well, excluding the only one there, Lily Evans. Yes…the only way that the two would settle their dispute was to be locked together, he was sure he could charm the Fat Lady into not letting the Head Boy and Girl out of the Room until they had sorted out their differences. Yes, as he strolled into the Kitchens, multiple Elves coming to greet him cheerily…he came to the conclusion that he, Sirius Black was a genius.
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As James Potter flew through the painting of the Fat Lady who seemed somewhat concerned at his hurry, he yelled at the top of his lungs.
"ALRIGHT, WHO SET OFF A DUNGBOMB IN MY OWL'S CAGE?" he rushed for the stairs to the Dorm where Sirius, Remus and Peter shared in search of the destruction which had surely caused some fright to Poms…Poms had always been an owl on good behaviour and James only did not keep his cage in the Owlery or in the Heads Room because it had displayed particular affection for Sirius's female owl, Nurse. Typical of Sirius Black to have a female owl and to name it well…anyway, the two owls were almost inseparable, but if James had known someone was to be as cruel as to torture his owl…
Hang on. He paused mid-way up the stairs and calmed his breathing…Poms was out on a delivery! He remembered attaching a reply letter to his dad asking about his studies to Poms before using every trick in the book to convince him to leave Nurse for a while. That bastard…Sirius had lied to him down in the Hallway, his best friend knew how to get his attention! And he had looked so serious…it was very un-Sirius for him to suddenly be so concerned for Poms, and now James knew why.
In his fury, James had not noticed Brittany bounding down the stairs in a chirpy mood and just before she left the Common Room, she whispered into his ear "I'd be careful if I was you, Potter..." With that, Brittany pointed to the direction of the Fireplace "Well, I'll leave you to it. If you're in one piece tonight, I'll shout you a glass of Butterbeer" Winking and bidding him good luck in a pitiful way, Brittany bounced out, leaving James Potter to face certain doom. Yes, as James turned towards the stirring form of Lily Evans, his heart began galloping a mile a minute. He gulped nervously, trying to think of any possible way for her not to wake up long enough for him to escape the room and temporarily forgetting about his anger for Sirius, James knew he was going to be in for one.
In his dilemma to turn up or down the stairs to make the least possible noise, James lost his footing and unfortunately, came tumbling down the stairs with a crash…and that was all Lily Evans needed to wake her up after a well rested sleep. As she stretched and got up from the floor, feeling a slight headache but appreciating the sun's warm rays, her yawn was cut off mid-way as she met James Potter's nervous glance at her. As he fixed up his spectacles and ran his hands through his black hair and smiling unsurely at her…all the memories of the night before flooded back into Lily's mind.
All her heartache returned, her tears had run dry and her patience, used up...her whole body had numbed and her vision turned red, a dangerous sign that had always been the perfect indication of her uncontrollable temper. As James opened his mouth, Lily felt the blood rush to her head and she bolted off the floor so fast as if it was burning her.
"Er…look, Evans…what Dumbledore said, I unders –" James spoke slowly as he inched up off the floor, his palms were sweating as he could detect the rising temperature in the room as a result of Lily's rising temper.
Before he knew it, James Potter was pinned up against the wall by the petite form of Lily Evans whose eyes flashed dangerously emerald, her wand directed at his heart and her free hand around his neck. What was her problem? What Dumbledore said angered her certainly, he gathered that, but it shouldn't have caused such a large reaction. As James stared at her face, he felt that she was struggling against something and that she was on the verge of really, actually killing him…
Boy, this wasn't going to end pretty…that was for sure.
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A/N: Uh-Oh…something bad is going to happen! Poor James, but I still love him! I'll keep all the twists happening but just to let you know, things will get better after the Halloween ball, which should be coming up next chapter
Thanks for the feedback guys:
WhiteCamellia: Yeah, Chap 29 after I read back was somewhat confusing hmmm let me try and explain after Lily and James got out of Dumbledore's office, both their actions were in present time. So the Marauder's conversation happened while Lily was lost in her own thoughts about the past D. Further, I've been trying to portray James's insecurity also as he's scared to realize that Lily might actually like or love him. I gathered that James Potter was always up for a challenge for Lily had been someone that he was sure he would never possess…and when this changes, I think he or anybody else would be scared in reality. So yeah…pretty confusing still, maybe I'm just weird. Oh well hope you like this chapter, and keep reviewing thanx!!
Sally: Thanks for your positive comments! They really brightened my day and have kept my passion for writing up, tell me what you thought of this chapter if you read it!!
ThestralWhisperer: Wow wat a cool username, I didn't get it at first I thought it was the stral whisperer but then yea…I got it and it's so mysterious! You know what? I've always liked Snape…I think he's really noble to be Dumbledore's spy etc. and all for Lily, someone that I'm sure he deeply loved but couldn't be with…and I can relate to the hate he must've felt for James…but in relation to your comment, I don't know whether he would've gone to the extremes of hurting Lily in order to break their possible relationship…but yea I'll try my best to make everything seem realistic. REVIEW I'd really like to hear what you have to say about this one!!
GiddyGirlie: Thanks for everything…farrout my grammar is such a problem because I'm too lazy to read over my work, I just post it up and some of my sentences are too long But because of you, I will try to improve it as I know it can get really annoying sometime when you're just into reading a good part. Thanx for all the advice and kind words, plz keep the coming!!!
Again, if you could just leave a few comments whatever they are, I'd like to hear from all of you,
Purebliss90