Beautiful Mistake Chapter Five
Only A Formality
Chloe followed Kathy and Nadine silently into the Great Hall. She had been filled with such joy entering Hogwarts again, and she was also thankful that Lily was busy making sure first years got to Hagrid rather than standing by her, James being very close.
"Do you think Lily will want to sit with James and the other boys?" Kathy asked loudly over the chatter in the Great Hall.
"No, she hates how rowdy they get at mealtimes. We should sit near the front of the table, away from them." Nadine said, casting a weary eye towards Remus, Sirius, and Peter.
Chloe had not noticed them sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table until then. Remus cast her a friendly smile, and Chloe smiled back.
"Hey Remus," she said gently as she and the other girls walked past.
"Hi Chloe," Remus said more formally than she figured he would.
She was aware that Sirius was looking at her, and feeling a little brave she looked at him. The air in her throat caught, making her almost choke. His eyes were so much like Ryan's, more than she ever remembered. His eyes quickly moved away from hers, but to her surprise his mouth opened.
"Hello Chloe, had a good break?"
Chloe swallowed hard. His voice was empty, devoid of any emotion at all. She knew what it meant, in his strange way he was telling her to leave, but because he was brought up to be polite, he had said hello.
"Yeah, it was fine." Chloe said, fighting the nerves. "Yours?"
"It could have been better." He said, his voice still blank.
"Sorry to hear that," it was all she could say, shock took over. "Well, see you all later."
Remus nodded, giving her an encouraging look. Slowly Chloe turned around and walked quickly to the spot where Kathy and Nadine were sitting. They were giving her strange looks, and she was sure that she had probably lost all colour in her face. It had been almost two years since she and Sirius had shared a word, and that he had spoken to her first surprised her; petrified her.
She wondered if Remus had put him up to it, forced him to talk to her. It wouldn't have been the first time Remus had done something like it. If he had, she knew the he was only trying to get them to speak, but she wished he would stop. Talking to Sirius would only bring to many painful memories back; memories she had fought very hard to put behind her. She had better things to focus on then repairing old flames.
"Hey, Chloe, are you all right?"
Lily had joined them. Chloe looked at her and nodded her a little towards where Sirius sat. Recognition crossed on Lily's face, and she frowned.
"What happened?" she muttered so Kathy and Nadine wouldn't hear.
"Nothing, we just said hello and asked about each other's summer." Chloe told her. "But still, we haven't spoken since the break-up."
Lily frowned a little. "Maybe he's just trying to create some common ground between you two. Make the year easier for you two to live near each other."
"Do you honestly believe Sirius would do such a thing?" Chloe asked, knowing she was right.
Lily looked thoughtful. "Maybe," she started. "Sirius has changed a lot, just like James has since you left. He ran away from home in the beginning of the summer and now he is living with James. He's a lot more subdued."
Chloe stared. Sirius had run away from home? He had finally gone through with it? Ever since Sirius' second year he had told Chloe that he would run away from home when he could. He had told her one afternoon in their fifth year that he would run away. When she asked why he hadn't yet, he told her: "I can't, not yet. I can't leave Regulus alone, not until I'm sure he will be okay." She had never understood why he said that. He had told her his parents loved Regulus, thought he was the best thing to walk on planet Earth. So what did this sudden change mean? Had he left because of something that Regulus did, or had he realized he be would okay.
"Does that mean there are no more mass pranks any more?" Chloe found herself asking.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Only in my dreams."
Soon all the students were settled in their seats, Chloe casting a weary look at her sister who sat at the Hufflepuff table. The first years entered, and an hour late they are sorted in their respectable houses.
"Thank God, I'm starving." Nadine muttered to Chloe.
Chloe smiled, and turned her attention to Dumbledore, who was now standing, smiling. She felt a great amount of affection towards the man. It had been him who had helped her complete her sixth year, and allowed her to return to Hogwarts. He had been so kind to her the whole time, and did not even hint at any sort of judgment he had made of her.
"Welcome!" He started, his voice seeming to echo throughout the whole school. "To another year at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. To the first years, I hope that you grow to love this school as so many more before you have. To those who have returned for another year, I do hope that you enjoy your year as well."
Chloe tuned out the Headmasters voice as she had the sudden sensation that someone was looking at her. Like a fire, their eyes seemed to burn into the back of her neck, and she shifted in her seat a little uncomfortable. She fought her head, which was screaming at her to do the natural thing and see who was looking at her, but she was not going to turn and possibly cause unwanted attention for looking back on a long row of students. But the sensation did not leave, and like a horrible itch, she could no longer to ignore it. Turning her head ever so slightly so she could see from the corner of her eye, she saw who was staring at her so intently.
The air caught in her throat, and for the second time that night she found it hard to breathe. Turning her head again to quickly look forward again, she felt the sensation disappear as the eyes of Sirius Black left her, and wander to where ever he pleased.
Why was he looking at her? What did her want? Was he expecting her to feel sorry for 'breaking his heart' as Remus had told her? He had broken hers first and it had only been fair – well, she hoped it was fair. She glanced at Lily, and though Chloe could see that she was seemingly focused on the Headmaster, she saw her eyes break for a moment and travel to meet Chloe's.
"What's wrong?" she mouthed.
"Nothing," Chloe mouthed back, feeling her cheeks tinge pink a little. She didn't like having Lily so knowing – so observe.
Lily knew Chloe was lying. "Ignore him," she mouthed again, "He is nothing but pathetic dog spew." She finished, her nose wrinkling in disgust for a second, causing Chloe to grin.
Turning her head, feeling a little light-hearted by Lily's comment she focused on the Headmaster again. He had finished speaking, and smiling down at everyone. For a moment his twinkling blue eyes met Chloe's and he winked before settling to look abroad. "Now, we eat!" he exclaimed waving his hands.
Food appeared on plates and grand platters in front of Chloe, as she turned attention to it. Before Chloe could even speak, Lily was pouring pumpkin juice in a goblet in front of Chloe, and shoving it in her hand.
"Pumpkin juice always makes me feel better," she said smiling a little.
Chloe grinned, and took the goblet gratefully. It did not take long for Kathy to start rambling on about the latest gossip to Lily – who had fortunately missed the much more in-depth version on the train.
"Do not even tell me you two weren't even talking about James and I." Lily said with a knowing smile.
"Of course we were – we can't lie. But it was nothing cruel, just that you two are too cute." Kathy giggled, dimples appearing on her cheeks. Chloe fought hard not to roll her eyes, and looked at her plate.
"Glad to hear it," Lily mumbled while Nadine launched into a full rant about how small the first years were this year. Lily looked to Chloe, and rolled her eyes, and mouthing the words 'Blah, Blah, Blah' and laughing.
Chloe laughed, but the other girls paid no attention to them but just kept talking. The feast moved quickly – faster than Chloe had ever imagined. In her head, she saw the whole ceremony to last a life time with taughts from Sirius and his friends alone with Nadine and Kathy's unnerving remarks. But she was wrong. She had completely forgotten about Sirius' presence in the room, even if they were nearly fifty feet away from each other. Kathy and Nadine had been good, barely brining up the topic of Sirius. When desert was cleared, and Dumbledore rose to tell everyone to head off to their beds, Chloe looked to Lily unsurely.
"He won't bother you – I told James to make sure of that." Lily explained quickly.
"You told James what?" Chloe replied a little nervous.
Lily shook her head. "Don't worry, like I told you, James has changed."
"It didn't feel that way back in Diagon Alley." Chloe muttered glumly. She had no idea where the sudden confidence she had made when it came to confiding with Lily.
"Oh, well, he was just annoyed that we were going to Diagon Alley, he had wanted to-" she cut herself off turning pink.
Chloe ignored this, and nodded. "So I don't have to worry about Sirius jumping on the nearest girl to him when I enter the common room?" she tried to laugh at her own joke but found it too difficult.
Lily had smiled, but it fell when she saw Chloe's reaction. "I know, it's horrible. I don't really understand it – I mean it's his own fault, right? He's the one that ended it that day when he didn't answer. He shouldn't have expected you not to break things off."
It surprised Chloe at how much Lily seemed to know things; understand everything. Looking at her, Lily realized what Chloe was thinking. "I notice a lot more than you think I do, Chloe." She said in an undertone. Chloe saw in her eyes that she had more to say, but at the moment James was making his way over to them and she was distracted by his presence.
Students were standing and walking every where, talking loudly, and heading towards the Great Hall double doors. Lily looked at Chloe disappointed. Quickly she whispered, "We'll talk later." Than dashed off towards James before he could reach them. They met in a quick kiss before they started calling for First Years to join them.
Turning around slowly, Chloe found that Kathy and Nadine had already disappeared, probably chasing a couple of Hufflepuff's they had been eyeing during dinner. Sighing to herself, Chloe quickly made her way through the crowds and towards the double doors. As she neared, behind her she heard someone calling her name. Stopping, she turned to see who was saying her name.
She saw Remus only a few yards away from her, smiling widely. He was alone, none of his friends standing near him. Deciding it was safe, she waded through the crowd so she could walk with Remus. When she had reached him, he surprisingly pulled her into a hug.
"Make them believe we haven't spoken alone before." He mumbled, nodding behind him.
Chloe saw that maybe ten yards behind Remus was Sirius and Peter. Peter was watching the two, while Sirius pretended to be more preoccupied with a fifth year Ravenclaw who he was talking too, a fake grin sliding on his face.
"He makes me sick," Chloe grumbled pulling away from Remus. He frowned, but said nothing. "Come on, let's walk." She said, wanting nothing more than to leave the Great Hall and crawl under the covers of her four-poster bed.
Remus stood next to me silently until we turned down a corridor and slipped unnoticed in a secret passage way and finally he broke the silence. "I saw him looking at you."
"Save it for someone who cares, Remus." Chloe snapped before he could elaborate. She started to climb a staircase, but stopped realizing Remus was not beside her. Turning around she looked down at Remus – probably the only time she ever could – and frowned. Her friend looked crest-fallen, and she realized she had just snapped at the wrong person. Running back down to his level she said, "I'm sorry Remus, I didn't mean to be rude. It's just that… well I don't really want to talk about Sirius right now. I just want to talk about you – I mean we haven't seen each other in over a year. I want to know what's going on with my best friend."
Remus nodded, understanding. "Your right," he grinned, "You are my best friend."
Rolling her eyes, Chloe grabbed his hand and pulled him up the steps, letting go once he started moving on his own accord. "So what did you do all summer?" Chloe started.
"Nothing really," Remus started tonelessly. "I went to Ireland for a week to visit my Aunt, and besides that I read." He finished, smiling sheepishly.
Laughing lightly Chloe moved a little quicker up the stairs. "Well it sounds more exciting than my summer. I spent most of it cleaning up after Ryan, and driving Danielle around like I'm her personal cab driver."
Remus didn't laugh, but he did smile. It was the usual response Chloe got from him – he rarely laughed as they got older. Her friend had suffered too much pain for being so young. At first glance, you can look into his eyes that reveal the much younger man his face denies. But if you look a little closer you could see the wisdom his young eyes carried; the pain he carried with him every day.
They finally reached the floor they had been searching for, and they stepped out into an empty corridor. They could hear laughter, and light chatter of students. They turned the corner and watched as a group of chatty fifth years entered the Gryffindor common room. Looking sideways, Chloe caught Remus' eye.
"You're not going to stay down stairs are you?" he asked. He already knew the answer, but he asked anyway.
Chloe shook her head. "I'm exhausted," she said tiredly. "I think I will just curl up under my covers and write a letter to Mum, she's expecting one soon." She told him.
Remus nodded sadly, but didn't hesitate to say anything to her once they reached the portrait hole. He muttered the password – Emerald – and let her go in first. A splash of familiar hot air hit Chloe full in the face, warming every inch of her body. Remus trailed behind her, his light breathing drowned out by the shouts and cheers coming from the common room.
Chloe stepped into the familiar, round, and cozy common room and saw what all the commotion was about. Streamers and balloons hung every where. One of the old study tables was covered in cakes, tarts, refreshments, and Chloe couldn't help notice the bottles of Fire whiskey being passed around among the older students. Music came from an invisible source but filled the large room. Looking back at Remus, Chloe grinned.
"I wonder if Lily knows about this," Chloe said laughing a little.
Remus looked just as surprised as Chloe was feeling. He looked around for only a few seconds before settling his eyes on someone. Turning to see who he was looking at, she saw immediately who it was. In the middle of the large dancing crowd were Sirius Black, and James Potter – both wearing large grins on their faces. Lily was no where to be seen, and Chloe knew immediately that in fact, Lily had no idea of the party. Before she could turn back around fully, before she could even speak, she heard the portrait door swing open and the sharp in take of breath that could only belong to one person.
"Lily…" Chloe muttered, looking at her friend watching as she looked about to blow.
A/N: I would like to begin by saying how sorry I am for taking so long to update. I got a little stumped on this chapter; I knew what I wanted to do, but I wasn't sure how to begin. This is actually the second draft, the first one was very different, but I like this one much better. Tell me what you think, do you agree? Do you like this chapter? I will and update faster, but as I am trying to complete another story of mine, don't hate me if it takes longer than a week (but I will try and keep it from being a month).
Any how, thanks for reading this! I know you are all fuming about the minor cliff-hanger. :D