Ch. 16

Viva en VIMA

A/N: I'm finding it so much easier to continue with this story so I'll try to update more often (:

I could hear her breathing


No one believed me


I could hear those voices


So deceiving


Do you know how it feels to be afraid


Lying there frozen


With my eyes wide open

I know your secret

Tell me all your memories


I'll keep them alive

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Er," Sirius stared blankly at the open field which was completely bare except for the ruins of a building with a danger sign over it. "This is VIMA?"

James blinked. "Its…nice?"

Lily scoffed while Remus hid a smile.

James and Sirius turned towards Lily. "What?" they asked. "It's a pile of rubbish."

"Don't be so thick-headed," Lily snapped. "Obviously, VIMA had protection spells around it. Honestly. If you people would just use your brains for once." Shaking her head, Lily drew form her robe pocket, a slip of parchment. James turned to Sirius and shrugged. Sirius offered him a butterbeer (that apparently he conjured up form nowhere) which James took.

"What's that?" Kaleen asked curiously.

"Dumbledore gave it to me when I told him about our trip," Lily replied.

James chocked, sputtering butterbeer all over himself. Lily gave him a look of the deepest disgust. "You told Dumbledore? Do you have a brain at all?" He managed to spit out.

"Excuse you," Lily turned away from him with a frown. "Yeah, I told him. Have you got a problem with that?"

"Lily darling, here's a word of advice," Sirius smirked. "When ditching school, you never tell the headmaster." James nodded and Remus reluctantly gave a nod of agreement.

"He had no problem with it. He seemed to understand," Lily said in a matter-of-fact voice, choosing to ignore the boy's incredulous looks. "Anyway, if it weren't for him, we wouldn't be able to get inside VIMA at all."

"Okay," Madeline cut in. "So what now?"

The group turned to Lily. Lily released the slip of parchment and it fluttered into the air. She then pointed her wand and muttered something incoherent under her breath which made the paper dissolve into a million sparkling dust particles. The dust swept over the ruins, causing a bright glow to emit form within. When the light extinguished, it revealed a huge, modern looking building with spiraling staircases and angular blocks. Near the front, there was a huge arc, and the inscription: Venezuelan Institution for the Magical Arts: entrada del visitante, Visitor's Entrance

"This place is beautiful," Marcie breathed as she looked up towards the building. The group had Apparated from St. Mungo's.

"I agree," Lily marveled at VIMA's campus. "The gloomy Hogwarts castle is nothing compared to this!"

"And everything's so…sunny," Madeline observed with a huge smile. "Ii makes me feel so cheerful."

"Shall we proceed? We're wasting time outside," Remus noted lightly.

"Of course. You're so thoughtful!" Marcie beamed at him while Lily rolled her eyes.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Headmaster Ambrosius faced the group, wearing an unreadable expression. "You say you're here to visit one of our students?"

"Um, yes," Lily replied nervously. VIMA'S headmaster was very intimidation in his dark red robes and he had the most piercing eyes that Lily suspected could tell if you were lying. "Er, here's a letter from our headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, explaining the situation."

Headmaster Amborsius took the letter and read it. After reading it, he set it down and to everyone's big surprise, beamed. "Ah, Dumbledore," he said, not noticing their surprised faces. "It's been ages since we spoke. He's a fine wizard, that one. Of course, you have my permission!"

"Thank you sir," James replied, offering a smile of his own. "You have been most helpful."

Lily breathed a sigh of relief. "So it's okay with you if we talk to Claire de Velaquez?"

"Miss de Velaquez?" the headmaster frowned. "You wanted to talk to her?"

"Is there a problem?" Marcie asked quickly.

"Ah not at all," but the Headmaster was still frowning. "It's just that…I'm afraid Miss Velaquez is, erm, temporarily unavailable."

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.

"She- … left this institution about a year ago. I believe she's currently home schooled." The Headmaster replied, with a bow of his head. "It is most unfortunately, as she was one of our top students."

"Why did she leave?" Lily asked urgently. "You just said she was one of the top students."

"There was a slight accident, I believe, involving Miss de Velaquez along with two of our other students," the Headmaster began but James interrupted.

"Which two others?" He persisted, even though Lily had an idea who they were.

"Miss Harmony McKinnon and Miss Ava Mercendez," the Headmaster continued gravelly. "They were, I believe, experimenting with one of the more difficult spells and it went terribly wrong. Miss Ava Mercendez suffered a major injury and is currently at St. Mungos. Miss de Velaquez was in despair and dropped out of VIMA. Miss McKinnon decided to enroll in the exchange student program. Perhaps she wanted to get away from the memories."

"That's terrible!" Kaleen breathed in shock.

"Did anyone ever figure out what happened?" Remus asked, concern showing on his features.

"Unfortunately no. The girls were still in shock when the authorities arrived. By the time they calmed down, they all refused to say a word about what happened. Perhaps they didn't any memory of the incident. We'll never know."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

They left the Headmaster's office in silence, each recovering from what they heard.

Madeline was the first to break the silence. "What are we going to do now?"

Lily held up the sheet of fine parchment the Headmaster gave her. On it was Claire de Velaquez' address.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

A/N: sorry this is so short! But it just seemed right to end it like that. Anyways, REVIEW! And I'll update soon.

I realized that I should give credit to all the song lyrics I've been using in my story.

Ch.3 Happy: SavingJane (XO)

Ch.4 Thoughts:

Ch.5 Invisible: Ashlee Simpson

Ch.6 Reason Why: SavingJane

Ch.7 Can't Behave: Courtney Jade(XO)

Ch.8 Hate(I really don't like you): Plain White Ts

Ch.9 Suddenly I See: KT Turnstall

Ch.10 Sweet Escape: Gwen Stefani

Ch.11 Bite the Dust: Pussycat Dolls(XO)

Ch.12 When it All Falls Apart: Veronicas (XO)

Ch.13 Stand: Rascal Flats(XO)

Ch.14 Potential Breakup Song: Aly&AJ(XO)

Ch.15 Catch Me When I Fall: Ashlee Simpson

Ch.16 Eyes Wide Open: Ashlee Simpson

(XO): songs that are REALLY GOOD! And you should go listen to them if you have time (:

Oh and if you are waiting for me to update…please check out my new story NECKLACE OF SILVER (:

It's Sev/Lily and it's a one-shot. And all you lily James worshipers…please read it! Sev/Lily is just as good as L/J! I promise!

XOXO

Cynthia