Turning Saints Into the Sea
Chapter 6: Masquerade
Her voice died as she walked into the Common Room. There, on the couch, was James Potter and Juliana Hernandez.
Kissing.
Lily felt her heart stop.
It was as if someone had glued them together at the mouth. James was lying on top of her, propped up with his elbows, as if to create a boundary between the two of them. A boundary Juliana was determined to break. She was touching him wherever she could; his chest, his hair, his . . .
Lily fought back nausea as she watched the two of them. It was like cheap pornography.
She cleared her throat. Nothing happened.
She cleared it again.
Nothing.
Fed up, she searched through her bag for the heaviest book she could find; her Ancient Runes textbook sat nestled between her quills and The Standard Book of Charms.
Perfect.
Lifting the book up, she made sure the cover was parallel to the ground and dropped it.
The loud BANG! on the wooden floor made James to throw himself from Juliana, who, equally frightened, pushed him off, causing him to fall off the couch and onto the floor.
Panting, James looked up at Lily with an odd expression on his face.
"Evans?" he said between breaths. "You're back early."
Lily gave him a withering look. "Mm, and I would have been later if I had known I would have known there would be two teenagers on the verge of sex on my couch."
Juliana blushed as James stood up, his eyes dark.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded, walking over to Lily in an attempt to intimidate her with his size.
Lily looked into his hazel eyes confidently. "It means exactly what I said. If I wanted to watch you two snog, I would have asked for an invitation. In case you forgot, Potter, I live here too. And I certainly don't want you and . . . her snogging all over the place." She threw Juliana a disgusted look.
James seemed to be searching for a comeback.
"Look, this is stupid. Hernandez, leave this dorm," Lily said, motioning for her to move.
The girl snorted. "You can't order me around, you have no right-"
Lily laughed bitterly, pointing to the Head Girl badge on her chest. "On the contrary; I have every right. And you had better leave in the next five seconds, or I'll give you a detention."
Hernandez gasped, outraged, turning to Potter. "She can't . . . Can she, James?"
He nodded begrudgingly. "I'm afraid she can. Sorry, Julie, but you have to leave."
Juliana sighed, glaring daggers at Lily. She walked over to James, pouting. "See you Saturday, James," she murmured silkily, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a deep kiss.
Lily rolled her eyes and looked away, tapping her foot. "Potter! Hernandez! Shall we not?!" she shrieked, losing her temper.
James decided to dislodge his tongue from Juliana's throat. "Fine," he said coolly. Taking Juliana's hand, he led her to the portrait hole.
"You can't go, Potter. We have rounds tonight," Lily called. He shot her another nasty look, pecked Juliana, and led her out the door.
Seeing that they were gone, Lily turned and sprinted up the stairs. Midway up, she tripped, feeling her skin break as it hit the wood, but kept climbing as ferociously as she could.
Slamming the door shut, she breathed heavily, looking at her knees. One was cut and bleeding. Lily watched the blood trickle down her leg slowly.
She stood up and rushed into the bathroom, turning on the water in the bathtub.
As she felt the temperature with her finger, she looked up at the ceiling. What is wrong with me? she silently prayed.
Picking up a sponge, she dabbed gingerly at the cut, wincing at the stinging. Lily then began to put a Band-Aid on it, but suddenly stopped. Idiot! she thought. Are you a bloody witch or not? She pointed her wand at the cut and quickly muttered "Episkey" then trudged down the stairs.
James was sitting on the couch, his robe in a ball next to him. He turned around when Lily entered the room.
"Are you ready to go?" he said, pulling his robes on. Lily nodded, watching him twist around to fit his arms in their sleeves. It was sort of fluid, graceful.
Ew ew ew ew ew ew EEEEEEWWW!!!
STOP IT, EVANS!!
As Potter turned around to fiddle with the fire, Lily lightly smacked her head, trying to clear all thoughts of James Potter.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Lily whirled around to see Potter staring at her as if she were deranged.
. . . Um . . .
"There's a bug," Lily stammered, swishing her hands around the air to swat away imaginary insects.
Potter raised an eyebrow, but didn't pursue the topic. "Anyway, rounds don't officially start for," he said, checking his watch, "Another fifteen or so minutes, so we have some time to kill." He sat down in an armchair and looked at her expectantly.
Feeling suddenly exposed, Lily awkwardly walked over to the chair furthest away from him and self-consciously sat cross-legged, making sure her skirt was well below her knees.
"So . . . how's life?" she asked cheerfully.
Potter shrugged. "It's cool."
A deafening silence filled the room. Lily felt as if she were being suffocated.
"How long have you and Juliana Hernandez been going out?" she asked, trying to keep the conversation casual.
He looked at the clock on the mantle. "Around two and a half hours."
James Potter silently enjoyed the effect of his words. Lily's face paled, before turning a deep crimson, which clashed horribly with her hair.
"T-two and half hours?" she practically shrieked.
Forcing down a laugh, he raised an eyebrow. "Is that a problem or something?"
She sat back, chewing her tongue. "Of course it's not a problem. Why would it be a problem?! Do you think I think two and a half hours is an abnormally short time to wait until you snog another person? Why would you think I have a problem with that? Why, James? Why? Why?!"
"Evans, calm down!" James said, failing to keep his smile hidden. "Why do you even care?"
She scoffed loudly. "I don't care! Why in the world would you think I give a damn who you're shagging?"
What?!
James stood up. "What the hell are you talking about?! I'm not shagging anyone!"
Lily stood up and walked over to him. "You were pretty damn close on the couch! My God, if I'd been there a few minutes later I'm honestly afraid I would have walked in on something truly terrible!"
She was taking this all wrong.
"We had it under control," James said, sounding unconvincing to even his own ears.
"No, you didn't. You were acting stupid and randy and immature. You're the Head Boy! You can't be doing things like that! Are you really willing to sacrifice your badge to your libido?" Lily looked straight into his eyes.
James took a step back. She was very blunt.
DONG! DONG! DONG! DONG! DONG! DONG! DONG! DONG!!
The clock struck 8:30.
James and Lily looked at the mantle.
"We'd better get going," Lily mumbled, grabbing her cloak and throwing it over her shoulders.
"Yeah, we wouldn't want to be late for rounds," James quickly added, desperate to leave the room.
Outside it was cold, dark, and silent. Lily shuddered, subconsciously leaning in towards Potter, who seemed like an island of hope.
"Do you want to do rounds together?" he asked hesitantly.
Lily jumped; his voice sounded incredibly loud.
She nodded, drawing closer.
They walked together slowly for a few minutes. This is stupid, Lily thought. No one's out. Can't we just go back to our Dorm?
A sound around the corner caught both of their attention. Dread washed through Lily.
"P-Potter?" she whispered, frightened.
He looked at her, realizing her fear. "I'll check it out."
Thank God for James Potter.
Did I just think that?
Potter walked ahead, scoping out what happened. Lily watched his expression grow from grave to amused. He turned back to her and motioned for her to join him.
Coming around the corner, Lily squeezed between him and the wall to see what was going on. He coughed and she realized how close he was to her; she could feel his breath on the top of her head.
Dazed, Lily shook herself slightly and concentrated on what was so funny, before clapping a hand over her mouth.
Pressed up against the statue of Colleen the Confounded were two passionate second years.
Potter wrinkled his nose. "Merlin, I hoped I didn't look like that when I was their age," he muttered.
Lily laughed. "You certainly looked like that a couple minutes ago."
Potter gagged. "With Julie? Ugh." He pretended to retch, before straightening up. "Oh well. We'll go down another hallway."
Lily grabbed his arm as she started to walk away. "What do you mean? We have to stop them!"
Potter surveyed them before shaking his head. "Nah, let them have their fun."
"Fun?!" Lily sputtered, turning him to face her. "That's not 'fun,' it's inappropriate."
He looked at her incredulously. "What do you mean, 'It's not fun?' Kissing's fun." A wide grin spread across his face. "But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you, Miss Evans?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Lily huffed, turning away.
Potter laughed. "So you've never kissed anyone?"
"I have so kissed people." He was really annoying.
He sighed. "Family doesn't count, Evans. I mean you can't breathe, tongue-down-the-throat, full frontal snogging."
"If you put it that way, then yes I have!" Lily said, blushing.
Potter scoffed. "Yeah, right."
"I have!"
"Who, then?" He crossed his arms defiantly, walking right up to Lily. She instinctively backed up until she hit the wall. Potter, the rat bastard, kept on walking until she pushed him away.
"Who?"
"His name was Malcolm Arevaderci," Lily invented.
Potter smiled. "'Was?'"
She sighed. "'Is.' We met this summer at a camping resort. He's eighteen and Italian."
It's a good thing you lie well.
"Is he a wizard?" Potter said, sounding interested.
"N-no," Lily replied, not expecting the question.
Potter shuddered, throwing her a disgusted look. "You snogged a Muggle!?"
"He was better than you'll ever be!" Lily shrieked.
Potter expression suddenly turned serious. He stepped closer to her until his eyes bore into Lily's. She inhaled quickly, unsure of what he was doing.
"There's only one way to determine that," he said quietly.
He gently pushed Lily up against the wall.
Lily felt her heart pound over time. Was it normal for someone to generate to much heat?
Potter started leaning down, before they heard footsteps behind them. Whirling around, they saw the two second years dashing down the corridor as fast as possible.
"Hey, stop!" Lily screeched, shoving James away. The two halted and turned around guiltily.
"Come here!" she commanded sternly. The second years trudged slowly towards them.
"What are your names?" Lily asked as they reached the kids.
The two looked at each other. "Desiree Alban," the girl said dejectedly. "Ravenclaw."
Lily turned to the boy, who sighed. "Lawrence Garafola. Slytherin."
"Ten points from each house," Lily said, which made both of them groan. "You two are way too young to be doing things like that! Besides, it's late."
"You were doing it!" Garafola said angrily, pointing at Potter.
"No, we weren't," Lily said, blushing.
Garafola nodded vigorously. "Yes, you were! We saw, didn't we, De?" he said, turning to the girl, who nodded as well.
"You were mistaken," Potter said, coming to her rescue. "I have a girlfriend. I wouldn't be cheating on her with Evans, especially after hours. Now go back to your Common Rooms right now and we won't give you both detentions. Separate detentions."
After the second years left, Potter brusquely started walking away.
"Hey, Potter, wait!" Lily said, hurrying to catch up with him. "What was that back there?"
"What was what?" he said, sounding confused.
"The-the leaning in and the heavy breathing and the . . . you know," Lily stammered.
He rolled his eyes. "It was a joke. You didn't honestly think I would snog you after you kissed a Muggle?"
She stopped. "That was a joke?"
Potter shrugged. "Of course. I'm dating Julie. Did you think I would cheat on her with you or something? Do you think I'm that type of person?"
"No . . ."
"Then let's continue with rounds." He started walking again.
Lily stood there for a couple of moments, before the shock settled in and the darkness started scaring her. "Wait up, Potter!" she called, joining him.
Sam darted outside. 10:04, her watch read. Lily and Potter should be around the second floor by now.
She ran around the corridors silently, carrying only a case of paints, three brushes, and her wand. When she reached the seventh floor, she walked around, thinking I need my painting room, I need my painting room, I need my painting room.
Magically, a door appeared.
Almost sighing in relief, Sam rushed inside and looked around. It was a small room, containing a stool with a padded seat, an easel, some canvases, and a window with the moonlight streaming through. Candles floated around, illuminating the room softly.
Smiling, Sam placed her brushes and paint on a table that appeared instantly with a small charcoal pencil on it. Picking up the pencil, she sketched out a mask.
Picturing the mask in her mind, she mixed the paint and started swirling it around the canvas.
DONG! DONG! DONG!
Sam jumped from her daze. Hurriedly checking her watch, she realized in horror that it was three o'clock in the morning. Without even meaning to, she had been painting for five hours. Outside, the sky was dark and sprinkled with winking stars.
Smiling, she stretched and looked at her painting for the first time as a whole.
The mask was gold and intricately designed with roses and ivy on one side. Behind it was a sunset-like background. The other side was made of what seemed like black-purple feathers and red thorns. The background was a starry sky with little bats flitting around.
Bewildered, Sam looked into the eyes of the mask. They were blue and green, cynically laughing at her in a way.
Cat eyes.
My eyes.
Gasping, Sam picked up her wand and sprinted from the room, not looking back.
I'm the mask, I'm the mask, her brain silently chanted.
I'm the mask.
