Devastation And Destruction

Maril Street and Patrisha Adams.

There was nothing I had to say about them. I mean, I had a lot to say about them but nothing that I would say when asked. It was habit.

Before I went to America, every time the duo would come up in a conversation, I only had bad things to say about them. Lily would then give me a look and I would shut up, feeling guilty.

I did try to think of something positive to say, but nothing ever came up. Those two are just the most interfering, annoying… See? Even in my mind I can see Lily's face, glaring at me and I just have to shut up. The phrase 'If you don't have something nice to say then shut up' (or something like that), was practically imprinted into my mind.

I would only say what I really thought of those two when I was alone with Sirius, Remus and Peter, but I stopped talking about the duo altogether halfway into my first year. Lily's gaze was shooting daggers at me and I couldn't stand the guilt of doing something she hated behind her back.

Sirius, Remus and Peter knew of course how much I disliked those two girls (Sirius even shared that feeling) and they would occasionally drop hints in front of Lily to irritate me. Like: 'Devastation and Destruction are really terrible things'.

Devastation is my nickname for Street and Destruction is my nickname for Adams.

Those nicknames are totally justified. They come from experience. The number of times those two got on my nerves… Take for example my first "conversation" with them since I got back to England:

King's Cross – Platform 9 ¾

I had spotted them a second after I got on the platform. Sirius, Remus and Peter followed me but kept quiet and I was grateful. I needed to let out some steam after seeing Lily with Appleby and the duo were the perfect people to aggravate without too many consequences.

It wasn't the happiest of reunions, but there was constant rivalry between the duo and us Marauders as a rule.

I had been trying to get information out of them for quite a while with no luck. Street did try to put in a word every five seconds, but Adams would stamp on her foot every time. I haven't realized how much they resembled Sirius and Peter. My only chance was to get Adams to shut up long enough for Street to string a few words into a sentence and judging by the expression on Street's face, it wouldn't take too long.

"Look, I deserve an explanation. I'm her best friend," I said, losing my temper.

"You mean you were her best friend". It seemed like Street finally managed to string those words.

"RIL!" yelled Adams, glaring and elbowing her friend.

"Sorry!" she responded hastily, massaging her ribs.

"What do you mean I was her best friend?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"Look, you don't…"

But she trailed off. Both her and Adams turned deathly pale and stared at something behind me. The guys and I turned around and I came face to face with my newfound enemy: Logan Appleby. We just stared at each other. Five seventeen-year-olds were standing behind him, looking so pale they could've been mistaking for one of the ghosts.

"Friends of yours, honey?" asked a voice I will never forget from behind Appleby. And then she was there, facing me for the first time in three years.

Her expression barely changed when she saw me. She just stared at me questionably and I stared at her, shocked at her behavior. After all this time apart I could still easily read her expressions. In that moment I wished I couldn't.

Her green eyes were so pure and sincere, as though she had done no wrong in her entire life. The deep and dignified expression left no doubt in my mind. Her questioning gaze just settled my opinions further; she didn't recognize me.

Apparently, the shock in my expression was clear because Appleby looked at me, suspicious. Probably thought that my friends and the girls would've told me by then. Yeah, well, that makes two of us.

"Oh, you're Head-Boy".

Lily had, obviously, noticed my badge and held out her hand, beaming.

"Hi, I'm Lily Evans, Head-Girl".

"James Potter" I said, taking her hand and shaking it, my entire arm tingling as I did so "It's a pleasure to meet you". Again.

"The pleasure is all mine" she replied, smiling at me, her eyes sparkling.

We stood like that for several seconds. I could've stayed like that forever, holding her hand and staring into her eyes while she smiled at me.

"Lily" said Appleby abruptly.

I noticed his tone was impatient and annoyed and, apparently, Lily noticed too because she hastily dropped my hand and stepped back. Appleby put his arm around her shoulder and I had to bite my tongue to keep from commenting about how possessive he was. He led her down the corridor, making sure to bump into me as he did so. Their gang soon followed and they were gone.

There was silence, except for the chattering in nearby compartments and several sighs of relief from behind me. It seemed that, like me, the others had held their breath. I felt five pairs of eyes staring at me as though they were attached to my skin, but I stayed silent and still.

Street cleared her throat to get our attention and said quietly: Now might be the time, but it's definitely not the place. We'll tell you guys everything once we get to Hogwarts".

I turned to face her abruptly. "No", I said flatly "we'll find an empty compartment and you'll tell us now".

Street's nose twitched in annoyance. "For that, I have two comments. One: I don't take orders from anyone. Two: You better use the free time you have here to work on being more patient; If you're going to try and get Lily back, that's one thing you are going to need".

AN: Three points:

1 – I can't believe J.K. killed… that person… Although I kind of saw it coming. And the half-blood prince's identity surprised me.

2 – I am sooooo embarrassed about the mix up with the chapters. Let me know about any more mistakes (I'm not the most observent of people).

3 – Guess what? I'M BACK!