Personally, I don't think this chapter is as good as the others, probably because I took a few days' break…please R&R telling me what you think. As you read in this chapter, Lily and Sirius meet spontaneously in the Owlery. To those who have read Harry Potter, what does this remind you of? ;)
Chapter #6: Owlery
The next morning, Lily Evans woke up before dawn. When this happened, it was either because when she had had an excellent sleep that previous night or because she couldn't sleep at all. On this specific day, it was because of the latter. Things had been troubling her lately, things that involved Severus Snape.
Lily knew that her best friend was an oddball, an outcast. Nobody outside of Slytherin talked to Severus, not really. And even those in his own House would only talk to him if they had to or if they had nothing better to do. He only had his small group of Slytherin friends, or whom he called his friends. She knew them as Crabbe, Bulstrode, Severus Snape and Malfoy—she only knew the other three's surnames because though she never talked to them, teachers always called students by their last names. To Lily, these friends didn't seem like real friends; they seemed like people who only spent time with Severus because of his interests and certain talents. And she knew what they liked about him—his passion for the Dark Arts.
When they had been little, Lily and Severus were indeed best friends. And they still were—though not in the same exact sense. Lily had told herself distance away from Severus; not because of him, but because of his friends who seemed so queer, so dangerous—even for Slytherins. She knew the Slytherin House was known to bring up those who transformed into criminals and Dark wizards years afterward.
In their earlier years at Hogwarts, Lily had often tried to persuade Severus to stop hanging out with that kind of crowd. And at first, Severus paid attention to her but did not listen. Then, he got annoyed after her warnings had become consistent and her lectures were daily. He became angry one day, when the 200th "I dunno, they seem really bad, Sev…" was the last straw.
"SHUT UP!" Severus shouted to Lily. And for the first time since they had known each other, Lily saw fire in his eyes. She could see flames bursting in those black pupils, looking like Hell itself. And she became frightened.
"I—I'm sorry, Sev…" Lily said tearfully in a small voice. "I just want to make sure you'll be okay. I don't want anything bad happening to you…" She buried her face in her hands and began crying, angry at her own self for making her friend upset.
And Severus' eyes softened, those flames dimming. And soon they became those watery beetle black eyes once again. He awkwardly put his arm around Lily.
"I know Lil'," he said, "I'm sorry I shouted. But they are the only ones I've got, you know. I have no other friends." Lily looked up, upset at him now.
"You've got me! You've always got me." she reminded him shrilly. Severus laughed.
"And you think I'd be able to fit in with you and Gizelle and Gwen and Simon, eh? Really now." At the thought of her talkative and naïve friends bonding with shy and quiet Severus, Lily giggled.
"Nah, didn't think so." Severus's smile looked more like a thin line across his white face. "Listen, don't worry about me. I'll be fine, okay? And…and I have to do something for myself for once." He bowed his head, and then continued, "What I'm worried about is you, Lily. You keep yourself away from that Potter boy and his stooges. I can't stand seeing them teasing and making fun of you like that."
Lily hugged Severus even tighter. "You're a good friend, Sev. And I don't care about Potter…he's stupid anyway. If he keeps bothering me I'll hex him with those Jelly Legs you taught me last week."
Just then, Lily's mind was cleared of those memories as she caught sight of her usually gold and clear Remembrall, which was now smoking a temporary blood-red fog inside. This had been a present from Gwen two Christmases ago and since then she'd always kept it on her bedside table. Lily didn't have a bad memory, but she didn't get many magical presents at Christmas (as her whole family consisted of Muggles) and cherished the ones she did.
Presently, Lily picked up the Remembrall—and she remembered. Last night, she had just finished an article for the Daily Prophet about The Top 10 Most Effective Antidotes, an extra credit assignment for Professor Slughorn, and needed to send it off today—this morning.
Lily jumped out of bed. As quietly and quickly as possible she threw red Gryffindor shower robes around her pajamas, put her slippers on, and dashed off to the Owlery with the folded article in her hand.
It was cold in the still-quiet corridors. Lily pulled her robes tighter and hurried up the long staircase to the Owlery, which was a lot warmer. She loved the Owlery, though she seldom went there. Because she didn't have an owl of her own, she usually had to use a school owl for sending mail. Lily often dreamt of having her own snowy owl (as they seemed to be the most elegant and beautiful species to her) and naming it Santo Salvatore De Luca, St. Lucy for short; Mr. and Mrs. Evans had had promised to buy her an owl during her second year, but as her sister Petunia complained she wouldn't be able to sleep during the summer because of "an oversized bat" in the house, Mrs. Evans soon changed her mind.
Presently, Lily was attaching her article lovingly to a brown barn owl, wondering if the Daily Prophet would actually think about publishing it. Suddenly, she saw a tall, dark figure moving toward her way; instantaneously she pulled her wand out and turned around and shouted "Stop!"
"Wow—hey there—a little too fast with that, aren't you?" came a voice she knew but seldom heard.
Sirius Black had emerged from the morning shadows. He was still dressed in his
pajamas, striped black and green.
"Did you follow me from the dorm?" Lily asked incredulously. Was this it? Was this Potter's plan—to send his little faithful dogs to come watch what she's been doing, to memorize her schedule so he'd take every attempt to try and ask her out?
"What? No!" Sirius looked at her as if she was crazy.
"Okay then, why are you here?" She placed her hands on her hips, ignoring the
barn owl that was impatiently nipping at her robes, ready to take flight. "And," she added with raised eyebrows, "why on earth are you wearing Slytherin robes?"
"They're the only ones I have, my mum won't give me any others," Sirius told her, quite unabashed. "And I haven't any money to buy me some Gryffindor ones."
Lily's look softened; she knew this was true, because of all those whispers of other students that Sirius Black was the only one in his family who ended up in Gryffindor, and that his other relatives had all belonged to Slytherin—something that hardly ever happened.
"And I wasn't following you around," Sirius added defiantly. "I usually come up here to watch…well, watch the sun rise." He finished with those last words fading, as if he regretted opening his mouth at all.
Lily stifled a snort; Sirius Black liked to watch the sun rise?
"Hey, man, you can laugh all you want, but I like watching the sun rise. Dunno what you do in your spare time except boil potions up." Sirius shrugged.
"I watch the sun rise too, if I wake up early," Lily informed him, "but I usually stay in the dorm."
Sirius looked at her as if to say Why on earth am I talking to you, and about
sunrise? but instead asked, "then why are you here now?"
"I'm sending an article to the Daily Prophet, if you must know," Lily told him. "Extra credit for Slughorn."
There was awkward silence for a while, and then Sirius blurted out, "So are you going to Hogsmeade today?"
For a moment, Lily looked angry. "What kind of question is that? Who doesn't go? And why are you asking me—are you doing this for Potter?"
"What? No!" Sirius said again. "I was just…just wondering." Lily looked at him with disbelief and said nothing else. Instead she let the barn owl fly out and looked out the window.
"Oh, look…the sun's up."
"It is?" Sirius stuck his head out. Indeed, a piercing ball of gold had peeked its way out, now fully developed above the horizon.
"Damn, I missed it. I guess it rose while we were talking." Sirius rumpled his hair in a way very similar to James Potter. "Ah well, there's always tomorrow."
"Yeah…well, I guess I'd better go down to breakfast and get the best of the food first," Lily said. She made her way towards the Owlery door.
"Okay." Sirius waved at her. "See you around, I guess, maybe at Hogsmeade."
"Yeah. Maybe." And Lily left without another word, closing the door behind her. She walked down the steps and headed to the Great Hall, still wondering what on earth had just happened.
On the other side of the door, Sirius Black was still standing by the window with his hands in his pockets. He whistled the tune to Sinful Tragedies by the Bamboo Ghouls and looked back out the window, at the gleaming sun. And somehow, for once, Sirius did not regret missing the sun rise.
