Chappie 52- Beginning of the End

 

“Hungry, girls?” Avia asked with a smile as the kind lady with the food cart appeared outside their compartment on the Hogwarts Express.

Emia cheerily reached into her pocket for her money, but Lily just clutched her stomach and shook her head.

After the twins had gotten their food, Avia turned towards Lily.  “What’s wrong?”

“I feel really funny or something, Avie,” Lily moaned.  “My stomach feels like it’s twisting into knots.”

Avia’s eyes darkened considerably. “Are you still taking that bloody potion?”

Lily nodded and replied, “I don’t see why it’s such a big deal, Emia’s taking it too.”

Emia sighed. “Yes, I am…but it’s not affecting me the way it is you…I’ve never had stomach problems before.”

Lily moaned and clutched her stomach again in response.  “I’ll read the page in Difficultas a Amor again, but I don’t think it said anything about this!”

The door to the compartment suddenly slid open, and the girls were faced with the very people all three had been trying to avoid- the Marauders.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Remus’ and Peter’s eyes widened significantly at the sight of the girls, and James and Sirius just stood speechless.

Lily doesn’t look too good, James noted, noticing Lily’s clutched stomach and the dark circles underneath her eyes.

Sirius threw an angry glance in Emia’s direction.  “What are you doing here?”

The momentary shock in the blonde’s eyes faded, and was replaced by hurt and anger.  “I have every right to be here, thank you.  What do you think you are doing here? Why aren’t you off with what’s-her-name…Lasombra?”

Obviously Emia had touched a nerve, because the sneer on Sirius’ face was replaced with…could it be? Sadness?

He did not want to give Emia that satisfaction of knowing that she had hurt him, though, so he spun on his heel and started walking back down the corridor.

Emia ran, quick at his heels, to stop him.  “Sirius, please! Stop!  I’m sorry!”

Sirius turned around to face her, and replied, “We broke up last week.  I don’t think that’s what’s really been bothering me, though.”

Emia asked, “Well…what has been bothering you, Sirius?”

Sirius took a step towards her, and simply stated, “I miss you.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Meanwhile, in the compartment, Remus was trying to be friendly with Avia, while James and Lily sat at opposite ends of the bench, refusing to acknowledge the others’ presence.

Peter sat in between the feuding pair, looking rather nervous.  “James, Lily, really,” he coaxed.  “Emia and Sirius are out there talking and working things out right now, why don’t you do the same?  You two are only fighting because of them anyway.”

“This is not just about them!” Lily yelled at Peter.

James nodded, “Yes, we’re fighting about much more than that.”

“Yes, we are,” Lily agreed.

Peter looked in shock at the two, then at Remus and Avia.  “Now that they’re fighting, they’re actually agreeing on some things.”

“Oh, shut up, Peter,” Lily and James said in unison.

 *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Emia’s eyes widened at Sirius’ statement.  “I miss you”, huh? Her thoughts whirled. How do you know he’s just not trying to break your heart again?  Why do you think you’ve been so dependent on a purple liquid for the past month? It’s because of HIM! And now you’re going to forgive him simply because he wants you to? But he seems so sincere, said another voice inside Emia’s head. Sure he’s sincere.  I think he is. Well, you’ll just get hurt, won’t you? No more hurt! I’m sick of being hurt! Well, at least we agree on something.

Her blue eyes looked sadly back up at Sirius.  “I miss you, too, Sirius.”

A smile graced his features, and he softly asked, “Why do you hate me, then?”

Emia looked confused.  “I don’t hate you, I never hated you.  You wrote me an obnoxious letter talking about what a horrible person I was and how you hated me and were perfectly happy with Lasombra…so naturally, I figured you hated me…since you said it in the letter.”

Sirius brow contorted with confusion.  “What? What letter?”

Emia sighed.  “Don’t pretend you don’t know, Sirius.  That’s even worse than saying outright that you hate me.”

Emia shook her head, muttering angrily to nobody in particular, and walked back to her compartment.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Once arrived at Hogwarts, seven Gryffindors all listened to the last Sorting Hat song that any of them would hear.

“Decisions will be made,

A war will be won.

But for many of us,

The fight inside has just begun.”

At this, Severus Snape and Peter Pettigrew began to shift uncomfortably in their seats.  Where was the Sorting Hat going with this, anyway?

“Loyalties will lie where they will,

All of your friends will be there still.

In this place where conflict started,

Ways between houses will be parted.

Godric always wanted

All students to have the chance to learn,

But Salazar wanted

Muggle blood never to return.

Gryffindor, champion of the cause,

Continues to fight with not a moment’s pause.

As Slytherin continues to sort,

Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs,

Hold down your fort.

Rowena and Helga, the women of old,

Advise you to make your own choices

In this battle foretold.

Your choice is yours,

Not for anyone but you.

As cliché as it is,

“To thine own self be true.”

A uncomfortable silence reverberated through the Hall.  The teachers were all looking at one another with shock.  Apparently, the Sorting Hat had never acted like this before, and even Dumbledore looked considerably shocked.  Not for long, though, because he soon stood up and clapped.  Everyone followed Dumbledore’s lead, though whispers still punctuated through the clapping.

After the Sorting and the feast, Dumbledore stood up to make an announcement. The seven Gryffindors were all sitting in a line, Remus and Avia sitting together, talking quietly, with the girls on Avia’s side and the boys on Remus’. 

“I would like to introduce you all to your new Head Boy and Girl of 1976-1977, Lily Evans and James Potter!”

Considerably more clapping occurred after James’ name was called, but Lily didn’t mind.

Dumbledore continued, “I would like to speak with you two after the feast is over, to discuss your new responsibilities.”

Lily and James nodded, and Dumbledore turned back to everyone else.  “Students, I hope your year here at Hogwarts will be a good one, and let us all join in in the school song before heading off to bed!” 

A ribbon trailed out of his wand, and these words poured out.

“Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something, please,

Whether we are old and bald,

Or young with scabby knees.

Our heads go do with filling

With some interesting stuff,

For now they’re bare and full of air

Dead flies and bits of fluff.

Teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we’ve forgot,

Just do your best, we’ll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot.”

Dumbledore beamed at the students as they all finished the song at different times.  “Very good, very good.  Ah, well, off to bed with all of you!”

As the students began to stampede out of the Hall, Lily and James fought their way towards the front and to Dumbledore.

“Ah, Hello Lily, James.”

They nodded with smiles, and waited for Dumbledore to continue.

“I’ve brought you up here to tell you not what your responsibilities are, but what your room arrangements shall be,” he began. 

Lily and James looked rather confused.

“Well, two or three years ago I built a Head Lounge for my two Head students.  You two will stay there, there are separate bedrooms and you both share a bathroom.”

Lily looked close to fainting.  No more Emia and Avia sleepovers? No! This can’t be happening! And I have to stay with…HIM?!

James looked unreadable, but he didn’t seem too happy about the way things were panning out.

“Let’s go look at the Lounge, shall we?” Dumbledore said with a smile. 

The duo nodded faintly.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dumbledore stopped walking in front of a painting of a nymph near the Charms corridor.  “Hello, Abrielle,” he said with a smile.

The nymph looked at him with kindness etched on her features.  “Good evening, Professor.  Who are these two?”

“These are your two new Head students, this is Lily Evans, and this is James Potter. Lily, James, this is Abrielle…you two can decide on a password for the new year, and I’ll leave you to get situated.  You will find that all your things have already been brought up.”

Dumbledore smiled at them, and walked down the corridor.

Lily sighed.  She hadn’t been expecting on having to compromise with James on something so...soon! How would they be able to agree on a password?

James seemed to be thinking along the same lines because his brow furrowed in contemplation.

Lily cleared her throat, and asked quietly, “What do you want for a password?”

James shrugged.  “Anything’s fine.”

Lily rolled her eyes.  “Well, do you have any ideas?”

James looked at the ceiling for a moment, before looking into her eyes.  “How about ‘heartbreak’?”

Abrielle watched the exchange with a knowing smile.  “‘Heartbreak’, hmm?  Sounds a bit depressing to me, but if that’s what you want.  Is that okay with you, Lily?”

Lily looked up at the nymph with a smile dripping of saccharine and replied, “Oh, yes, that’s just PERFECT.”

Abrielle shrugged and opened wide so the two could enter.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Lily ran her hands over the interesting objects in the Lounge.  Bookcases full of books, even Muggle ones, a roaring fireplace and mantel decorated with pictures of Head Boys and Girls of the past, two comfortable armchairs in front of the warm fireplace, a couch in the corner.  She then turned towards the door.  The door on the left was oak with a plaque that read. “HEAD BOY” and a smaller plaque underneath that said, “James Potter- 1976-1977”. On the right was her door, also of oak, with a plaque of “HEAD GIRL” and “Lily Evans- 1976-1977”.   Another door was in between the two, and Lily assumed it was the bathroom. 

Eager to explore her bedroom, she turned the knob to the door on the right.  It was distinctly girly, with lace and cherry wood furniture.  She even had a burgundy velvet window seat and a beautiful view.  She began unpacking her trunk, as there was a large closet inside the room.  After her clothes were put away, she looked inside her trunk for whatever else she may have left.  There were three pictures in frames, one of Lily, James, and Lily’s parents done by Muggle camera when he had stayed over that Christmas, one of her, Emia and Avia just a few weeks ago in Diagon Alley, and one of all the seven Gryffindors just two years ago, when they were all friends, before Emia had left for France.  Lily set the last two aside, and ran a gentle hand over James’ face in the picture.  I miss him…we were truly happy then.  Our friends weren’t getting in the way of our relationship, it was just…us.

James, exploring the bathroom, thought he heard muffled crying, but didn’t think anything of it.  The plumbing must be acting up, he thought to himself.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The first few weeks of living together passed quickly for James and Lily, and outside of our Head Lounge, things were also much the same.  Emia and Sirius talked occasionally, but not for very long and not about anything but small talk.  There was a definite tension in the air whenever they spoke, and both could sense it, as could anyone around them.  Remus and Avia were doing well, despite all the problems their friends were experiencing.  Peter usually hung out with Remus and Avia, stating that they were the most ‘sane’ out of all of his friends at the moment.

The weeks were passing so quickly for James; he was very surprised when he was approached by Frank Longbottom after Transfiguration on a rainy Wednesday morning.

“James, when are we holding tryouts?” he asked curiously.

“What, Frank? Tryouts?” James said with confusion.

“Are you kidding me, James?  Charli graduated, remember? We don’t have a seeker! The first game’s in about two weeks!”

Frank had obviously been thinking about this quite a bit, because he was in quite a panic.

James’ eyes widened, obviously he hadn’t thought about Quidditch recently.  “Tomorrow,” he croaked, overcome with nervousness.  “We’ll hold them…tomorrow.  Tell everyone you know, we don’t have time for advertising now.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

James threw his bag on the floor of the Lounge and flopped into a chair that evening after classes and dinner.  Lily soon came in through the door, and asked, “Hard day?”

James looked up at her with surprise, she had not said more than two words to him since they had arrived, except when she had to, so it was rather odd that she actually started a conversation with him.

“Um, yeah,” he said softly, recovering somewhat from his surprise.  “I have to have emergency tryouts for Seeker tomorrow…I hadn’t even thought about the fact that Charli graduated.”

Lily looked at him sympathetically, and replied, “Who do you think would be good for it?”

James sighed. “I don’t know…None of the second years are really that great, but David King, remember him? He’s actually pretty good with a broom, and he’s very light.”

Lily smiled, remembering that day after their first kiss with David and Maxine Creevey…Lily and James never did get them together.  She replied, “Yes, I remember him, all right.  What year is he now?”

James adjusted himself in his chair, motioning for Lily to come sit down.  “Well, he was in first year when we were in fourth, so I guess he’s a fourth year now.”

Lily laughed.  “He and Maxine were always so excitable.  We really should get them together; they would make a wonderfully funny couple!”

James chuckled, and both could sense that a friendship was beginning to take root in their lives again.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

In the Gryffindor Common Room that night, Remus and Avia were sitting on the couch in front of the fire, talking.

“How long do you think this awkwardness is going to go on?” Avia sighed into Remus’ shoulder.

Remus held her hand reassuringly, and replied, “Sirius just doesn’t know what to do, that’s all.  He thinks she hates him, and she thinks he hates her.  I think it will end when they sit down long enough to realize that neither of them hate the other and this is all a disorganized mess.”

Avia sighed. “Why can’t we just show Sirius the letter? It’s Emia’s proof, her whole life depends on that bloody letter, and if we showed it to Sirius, he wouldn’t think she was insane!”

Remus sighed and shook his head.  “We know what happened, and we’re the only ones that do.  I don’t think interfering would be good for either of them, they need to learn to trust on their own, it’s something I’m afraid we can’t teach them.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After talking with James for a few hours, Lily retired back to her bedroom to check on the simmering cauldron on her desk.

“That’s it, just a few more minutes… ah! Purple!” She smiled as the potion changed to the color it should be, and ladled some out into a beaker.

She held the beaker up to her lips, and then thought about what had happened on the train those weeks ago.  Her stomach had felt horribly, and it had not happened recently.  Lily set the beaker down, and took up Difficultas a Amor into her lap.  She turned to the page with the Heartbreak Potion, and read past the instructions for making it, and for the first time, looked to the paragraph underneath that.

However, this 48-hour relief from heartbreak does not come without cost for some.  There have been very few documented cases in which the taker of this potion sinks further into a depression and often has stomach problems as well.  This is caused from the body rejecting the potion as a substitute for their lover.  These people that reject the potion are those that are destined to be with the person they are trying to overcome.  It is a sign that no matter how far you run from your problems, there is no other person in the world for you. 

Lily dropped the book, and the book hit one of the legs of the desk, and the potion toppled over onto the floor.  An odd odor arose from the floor, and purple fumes seeped everywhere, out the windows, underneath the door cracks.

James was still in the Lounge, flipping with boredom through a Muggle book, when he noticed the fumes and the purple smoke that Lily’s room was emitting.  He arose quickly, and knocked on Lily’s door.  “Lily, are you okay?”

A meek squeak was his only response, so he turned the knob and opened the door.  He stood in shock at the strange sight that met him.  Lily was sitting, looking stunned, on the bed, and a purple potion was traveling across her floor, and through the pages of a very old book.

A tear was making its solitary journey down the pale cheek of the redhead, and she turned towards James with wide eyes.  “I’m sorry.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Emia walked glumly down the Charms corridor towards the Head Lounge she had frequented often late at night for potion.  Lily always made the potion, as she was better at potion brewing than Emia, and tonight was time for another dose. It’s probably done by now, Emia thought to herself. I wonder why Lily’s been having so much trouble with the potion, I feel a lot better when I’m on it. 

“Heartbreak,” she murmured absentmindedly to Abrielle, and her brow furrowed when she saw that Lily’s door was open, and there were purple fumes everywhere. James is probably at Quidditch practice, Emia thought to herself. “Lily,” she called as she took the knob of the door and began to push it open, “have you finished-”

Emia stopped mid-sentence and stood speechless, staring at the pair inside Lily’s room.  James turned to Emia, and looked from Emia to Lily, and shook his head.

“Lily, there are only two potions with that odor and color in the world.  Both contain a Grindelwald squid, and one is illegal…the one I think you are making.  Start explaining.”

Lily and Emia looked in panic at each other.  They were caught, like mice.  What could they say?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

B/A/N- I’ll see you all next time for Chapter 53! Don’t forget to review!