Chapter Nineteen: "It's gonna be a long night."

I woke up with a start the next day. Something had pricked my arm. When I glanced down, my blood was staining the bed sheets. Next to me, lay the most beautiful rose I have ever seen. The petals were a deep red and its fragile stem had been cut at a 45 degree angle. Only one thorn had been left on, which is what I had pricked myself on.

Underneath the rose was a note, written on in exquisite calligraphy handwriting. The parchment was folded over and my name had been inked onto one of the folds.

I teased open the parchment, in case there was a spell waiting to envelope me in its clutches. But no, just writing.

Lily,

One dilemma has been left in our relationship,

Just as only one thorn has been left on this rose,

To help solve this,

Meet me by the Lake at 1:30am,

Wear warm clothes.

Yours,

xXx

"Belle? Cass?" I whispered softly. A grunt and a snuffle were my replies. I glanced at my clock, which read 1:20AM. Might as well. I thought to myself.

I heaved myself out of bed and dragged on a pair of jeans. I left my pyjama top on and pulled a thick cream roll-neck jumper over the top. My Chinese slippers completed the picture. I left my hair down, running a brush through it briefly.

I slipped out of the dorm, clutching the rose and the note. Down in the common room, the air was cold and inviting. I had to use all my womanly wiles to slip out to the Lake unnoticed. If I had been caught by Mrs Norris, I was as good as dead.

When I finally arrived, a golden stag awaited, pausing every now and then, to sniff the air.

It trotted over to me and threw its head good-naturedly. It whickered and let me rub its nose. Its chocolate brown eyes were closed in a state of bliss.

"Hey." I smiled softly and began to stroke its back. It nudged my hand with its nose and motioned for me to follow. We wandered into the trees for a little while, before it led me to a small pond. And it was filled with lilies. A faint smile quirked the corners of my mouth and my eyes gleamed in the darkness.

I turned to thank the stag, but it had disappeared. In its place was someone I most definitely didn't want to see.

"Potter!" I spat angrily.

"The one and only." He replied, throwing out his arms.

"You did this?" I asked, in slight disbelief.

"Yes." His eyes, I had seen them… the stag.

"You're an Animagus." I gasped involuntarily.

"Took you longer than I thought to figure that one out." He grinned the lop-sided Potter smirk.

"If Remus is a werewolf… you help him!" My voice was shocked.

"Well done, full marks."

"If you're just going to throw sarcastic comments at me, then I'm leaving." I snapped.

"But you can't. You have no idea how to get back." He shot back smugly.

I opened my mouth, then shut it again. He was right.

"So what do you want?" I asked, my voice faltering. I was cold, tired, confused and unhappy.

He noticed my shivering and draped his cloak around my shoulders. It smelt of him, of peppermints and faint cologne. The smell filled my nose and I smiled back at him.

"Thank you." I whispered.

"No problem. Lily, what happened to us?" His voice was filled with despair.

"You were with Melinda. I guessed that you were cheating on her with me and I lost it." I answered simply.

"Correction. Melinda was all over me, but I had broken up with her." James replied.

"So you cheated on me with her?" I asked softly.

"No! Lily, I would never… I couldn't help it. She seduced me. I was powerless." James stared at me, begging me to take him back.

"I think that maybe we shouldn't go out. I mean, I hate you, remember? Let's just be friendly acquaintances." I stood up and walked back to the Castle.

Mrs Norris sat smugly infront of me, her eyes large like lamps. Then she turned around and ran off, no doubt to get Filch.

I took to my heels and galloped back to the common room. Just as I approached the Portrait hole, I realised that the Fat Lady had disappeared.

Then, to complete my horror, James arrived.

"She's gone walk about!" I fumed. Then Filch's unmistakeable clunk of his boots was heard down the corridor.

"Oh no." I moaned.

"I don't have the cloak!" James hissed.

Filch appeared, but hadn't spotted us. I flicked my wand at us both and muttered a spell under my breath. We became invisible. I grabbed James' arm and pulled him into the shadows. I held my breath and hoped that the Gods had us in their favour. Apparently, they did.

Filch mumbled to Mrs Norris under his breath and they sauntered off, no doubt to terrorise someone else.

The breath I had been holding was let out in a long sigh.

"Nice one Evans. Who would have thought that you, little miss goody-two-shoes, would know how to save our asses from Filch's wrath!" James chuckled.

"Potter, we have to find the Fat Lady." I said flatly.

"Or we could wait for her to come back." Potter suggested.

I held out my wrist and looked at my watch. It had slid around my thin wrist and the face was on the inside of my arm. "It's 2:30am. She'll be back soon."

"We'll have to wait then, won't we?" He grinned smugly, plonking himself down on the steps.

"This is gonna be a long night." I sighed.

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