B/A/N- Sigh…I have never been pelted with so many of the
same questions in reviews since the “James was a Seeker, not a Chaser”
crap. Okay. Avia did not leave
Sarah’s home to go find Remus because she had absolutely no idea where she was,
first of all, and secondly, because she had become attached to Sarah and did
not want to leave her. (So obviously,
now that Sarah’s dead, Avia might be leaving.) Then there was the other side to the
question. Why did nobody look for her?
Well, I suppose you would figure if Lily can Apparate out, she can go back in. I decided not to have her do that, because
she is trying to maintain her appearance as a spy, and
for her to go back to the castle instead of spying on her friends would arouse
suspicion. Finally, I was asked what
made Lily change sides. She hasn’t. She confidently strode forward at Auror lessons and showed great determination; she lied
directly to Voldemort about breaking out Avia. She just did what she could to break out of
the castle.
Author’s Note- I have
had many reviews on Portkey.org that have been less than encouraging, and MANY requests
to stop the songs and the Bloody Author’s Notes (my B/A/Ns…which makes me
sad). I will try this one chapter
without both, but if I don’t like it, then you can just stop reading and I’ll
continue to do it my way. Thanks.
Chapter 57-
Unfaithful
Lily fluttered open her eyes and looked over the bed at James. Sharing an apartment and a room had been
totally new experiences for Lily, but if she was totally honest, she was having
a better time than she had had in ages.
She loved being with James, his mere presence was relaxing to her. She couldn’t help but think while looking at
the cute expression he had when he was asleep, how good they really had
it. They had gotten together in 4th
year, before Voldemort was a huge threat, and they were still together
today. As Lily really thought about it,
she realized…they had never really had a huge fight. They had petty ones in the past, to be sure,
but it was just Lily’s stubborn nature that would keep them apart. It was never something truly threatening,
like another person, or changed emotions.
Their lives had been fairly stable.
Lily couldn’t help but feel like all that was changing.
“Morning, honey,” James yawned as his eyes fluttered open. “How are you?”
“Good,” Lily said with a smile.
“I was just watching you sleep.
Did you know that you talk a bit in your sleep?”
“Well,” James said with a laugh, “I guess its fair. I seem to remember telling you over the
holidays in fourth year when you stayed at my house that you snored…and that
sure hasn’t changed.”
Lily’s face turned to an expression of outrage. “Take that back, James!”
“Well, it’s true!” was all James could get
out before Lily threw her pillow into his face, and the obligatory pillow fight
ensued until they both agreed to go to the kitchen for coffee.
After a hurried breakfast, James and Lily rushed to get dressed and
Apparate to the Ministry of Magic. They
were late.
“Where’s Siri?” Lily asked, trying to shove her right arm into her
coat’s sleeve.
“I don’t know,” James said, draining the last of his coffee mug and
trying not to choke himself while tying his tie.
“Didn’t he say something about a girl the other day? Is he out with
Emie?” Lily asked.
“Probably,” James called from the bathroom, now trying to shave without
cutting himself. “He’s been out with her
an awful lot lately. Do you think he’ll
propose?”
Lily laughed. “He’s not you, James.
He’s way too…rebellious to be ready to settle down right now.”
“Right,” James said, his gaze landing on
the ring on Lily’s left hand. “Of course.”
Meanwhile, in a lonely cottage in the forest, Avia was nervously pacing
the floor.
“What am I supposed to do? It’s
Sarah’s cottage…and what do I do with the body?” Avia murmured to herself.
“She doesn’t really have any friends…but the Ministry inspectors will
be coming down on us any moment…they usually inspect deaths of Squibs
lately…just in case it’s the work of Voldemort,” Avia said nervously. “I have to get out of here. If the inspectors come, Voldemort will
see. The cottage will become a spectacle…and
he’ll know where I am. I have to get out
of here…and now. But where am I supposed
to go…I don’t have a wand, perhaps I could brew a potion… but even if I could,
where would I go? If I go to Lily and
the gang, I could put them in serious danger…but I miss Remus…so much. I have to see him.”
Looking down at her wedding ring for some final resolve, Avia looked up
with a grim expression. Closing Sarah’s
eyelids, and removing one strand of her hair, Avia, tears in her eyes, lugged
the body outside, and into the hole Sarah had been having her dig. Avia had not known why at the time she was
digging the hole, but apparently possibly Sarah knew she was nearing her
end. Carefully covering Sarah’s body
with wooden planks from behind the house, Avia shoveled dirt back into the hole
and smoothed the top. As
she lingered a moment at the unmarked grave to pay her final respects, Avia let
a tear slip down her cheek.
After, Avia went back inside with the piece of hair. Time to brew a potion, she thought to herself.
One Polyjuice gulp later, she was looking at the mirror image of Sarah.
“How depressing,” Avia said. “I’m
impersonating a dead person…this seems downright wrong…but it’s the only way I
can get out of here unscathed. Voldemort will be looking for me, but I can get
out of the forest looking like a Muggle and try to live life in hiding. Perhaps I can chance a visit with my friends
every now and then…but unfortunately until I can get my hands on money and a wand, I can’t do much of anything.”
Content with her likeness to Sarah,
Avia went upstairs to find some Muggle clothing of Sarah’s that would
fit her new body for a few hours, and packed away her own clothing carefully
into a suitcase. “Now how did Sarah get
around?” Avia asked herself softly. Sarah
had to have left her home occasionally, she did manage to keep her fridge fully
stocked, after all. After a few moments
of looking, Avia found some keys hanging on a peg, with a Muggle automobile
logo imprinted on the key.
“This shouldn’t be too hard.”
Three false starts, random windshield
wipers and accidental fog lights later, Avia managed to get the car to turn on
and stay on. She found a map in the door panel, and opened it to find that she
was in the Heatherton Woods, and in the very remote countryside. She found some Muggle money in the glove box,
and started in the direction that, as far as Avia could gather from the map,
led to
Mad-Eye Moody hobbled to the front of the
class. “Okay,” he said gruffly, “today’s
lesson will separate our men and our women. The training will be separate from
here on out, as it is mostly practical training, and there are different
regimens for the different sexes to help them perform as best they can. Ladies, please follow Professor Kaufman, who
is an accomplished wizard who’ll take you through some defenses you can
personally use if harassed by a Death Eater.
Men, follow me.”
As Lily practiced a blocking move that
would stun her attacker for what seemed like the fortieth time, she let her
mind drift to other things. She didn’t
know why she had thought what she had thought this morning. Perhaps
nothing is wrong with our relationship, Lily tried to think
positively. But the more she tried to
convince herself, the more false she felt.
James had been meeting with the lawyers that covered his father’s estate
far too much for Lily’s liking. One of
the lawyers at Shelby and Sons, Madison, was a tall, thin blonde who looked in
her early twenties. Lily had caught
James looking at her when she went to co-sign some documents for James. Lily did not know quite what it was about this woman that made her nervous,
but there was something, something that fired Lily’s anger, and made her feel
territorial. James was nobody’s property
but hers.
James, meanwhile, was practicing a blocking
spell in the next room. I know I’m engaged to Lily, he thought
to himself, but I can’t help it. I see
“James,” a voiced purred softly
in his ear as he ran on the treadmill, “I have some papers for you to sign.”
James turned of the treadmill and smiled at
“Oh, you know what?”
“You know I’d love to,” James gushed, “but I have to stay home
tonight. I think Lily’s beginning to
suspect something.”
“You’re probably just imagining it,”
Pulling his tie, she brought James in for a long kiss.
James closed the door to the gym to
continue the kiss, just as the women’s class let out across the hall.
A classmate was talking to Lily as they finished their women’s
protection lecture.
“What was that?” Lily asked as the door thudded shut across the hall.
“Nothing, just a door,” her classmate offered. “Probably one of the ghosts
around here.”
“Yes, probably,” Lily smiled, and started
to Apparate home. James had not met her
after her class, so she assumed he probably had some work to do back at the
firm. She knew that lawyers generally
took a long time to get things done, and for an estate as large as Thomas’ was,
there would be a lot of work involved in marketing it. In fact, Lily and James weren’t entirely sure
what they wanted done with it. While
part of them would feel guilty for selling it, as it was a historical landmark,
the other part did not want to look at it.
James had already stated when they started the process that he wanted no
child of his seeing that attic…that cursed attic that still had floors soaked
with blood of the Potters, that cursed
entrance to the kitchen with remnants of Thomas and of the guardian statue…that
amazing mansion once full of life that was now most definitely dead.
Once home, Lily bustled about in the kitchen making herself a cup of
tea. We
waited so long after we dated to be “intimate”, Lily mused to herself. I know that wherever he is right now, he’s
with that accursed woman. And he
probably has no qualms with being intimate with her, since he’s already done it
once with somebody else, what’s the big deal, right? Lily felt large hot tears roll down her
cheeks. She sniffled a bit at first, but
then began to sob uncontrollably.
Then, the doorbell rang.
Lily looked cautiously through the peephole, and let out a huge sigh of
relief. It was Emia and Sirius. She didn’t think she could take another round
of pretending to be Voldemort’s ally right now.
She knew the Ministry needed spies for the dark side and she was ideal
as she was going through Auror training, but that thought did not thrill her in
the slightest.
When Lily opened up the door, Emia’s face faltered. And, really, who could blame her? Here was normally gorgeous Lily, now
resplendent in pink bunny pajamas, carrying a large mug of tea, with huge puffy
red eyes. Emia quickly shuffled in, shut
the door, and opened up her arms. Sirius
looked around uncomfortably, and muttered, “I guess I’ll be going then…”
Lily hugged Emia without protest, sniffling occasionally. “S’okay, Siri,” Lily said softly, “you can stay if you want.”
“No really, Lil…I think I’ll let you two hash it out.”
The girls nodded softly, still wrapped up in a hug.
When the hug was over, Emia looked closely at Lily. “Okay, what’s wrong? I know it has to be big…because usually if
it’s something small James or I can have it cured like that and all you would
have had to do would be Floo…but this must be
huge…wait. You’re not having trouble
with James, are you?” Emia finished the question hurriedly and proceeded to the
kitchen, where she pulled out some chairs from the table so they could sit
down. “A bit,” Lily managed softly.
Emia looked sternly at her. Something was up. “What is ‘a bit’,
exactly? Is ‘a bit’ big enough to wreck
your wedding, that’s the real question here isn’t it?”
Lily looked up at Emia in shock, and down at her ring. Do I
really want to marry James when he’s doing what he is? Of course not.
“I really think it is, Em…I guess it just never occurred to me until now
that this issue was so huge. And to be
fair, I have no proof…only suspicions.”
Emia looked intently at Lily. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”
“SODDING BASTARD!”
Emia was completely furious. She
knew that Lily was not entirely sure about the accusations, but to be sure,
Lily had decently founded ones. Did he
really have to be around the lawyers as much as he had been? Of course not. It was not necessary in the slightest. And to be so insensitive as to do this while
his fiancée was knee deep in their wedding plans?!
“We don’t even know if I’m right,” Lily protested weakly.
“But you probably are!!!” Emia said with vigor.
“Well, then, what’s your solution to all this?” Lily asked with
exasperation.
“I think you should move out.”
“But where?” Lily asked. “I’m living on
James’ money from the sale of the mansion.
I don’t have enough to get by on my own.”
“How about you go stay with your parents until this whole thing blows
over?”
“No,” Lily said softly, “They’re already busy trying to field all of
Petunia’s annoying calls on how to be a decent wife.”
“Well, I’ll tell you what,” Emia said in retort, “I’ve some money
saved. We can do this together. We’ll leave the boys here, and we’ll get an
apartment. That’s what we’ll do. Peter and Remus are forever complaining that
they weren’t asked to stay, so there’s the solution.”
“Well,” Lily managed with a smile, “I guess
if it will help Remus.”
One look at the Muggle classifieds later, Lily was making calls from
the kitchen. “A 2-bedroom, 1.5- bath,
you say?” she asked with interest. “And
how much would you like monthly?”
Lily’s jaw dropped. “Excuse me, I think I didn’t hear you correctly. How much?”
Emia rolled her eyes and took the receiver just as the person on the
other end spouted the amount. “We’d like
a showing, and right away,” Emia said decisively into the receiver. “Please bring your application…and how many
references would you like? Mm hmm…okay great. We’ll see you at five this
evening. Great. Thanks.”
“You are such a weakling,” Emia said with a smile.
“I’m sorry, Emia, just because I don’t pay that much for one pair of
shoes!” Lily retorted.
“Hey! These are Jimmy Choos, I’ll have you know!
All the rage in
“Whatever,” said Lily, hitching up her Levi’s.
After viewing the flat, which Lily stubbornly still said was not worth
what they were charging, Emia and Lily applied, and the landlord had them sign
the lease that same day.
“It’s because we’re just such gorgeous women,” Emia said simply.
“Um, Em…not to bring you down or anything…but the landlord was a woman,
and she only handed us the lease after we told her we didn’t have pets or
children.”
“Those two are essentially the same
nowadays, anyway, aren’t they? Oh
well. Let’s go back to your apartment to
collect your stuff. That landlord was so
nice. She said we could move in
tonight!”
When Lily and Emia got back to James’ flat, they were surprised to find
Remus asleep against their door.
Checking her watch, Lily looked curiously down at him. “It’s only
“Remus!” Emia said loudly, nudging him with her stiletto.
“H-huh?!” Remus said, jolting awake. “Oh!
Girls! You two are just who I needed to see!”
He took an envelope out of his jacket.
“I think it’s from Avie.”
The girls’ eyes widened. “Well, come inside, Remmy…” Lily said
softly. “It’s chilly out here.”
The tea kettle whistled as Emia and Remus sat at the kitchen table,
poring over the letter.
Lily, meanwhile, was bustling through the house, throwing her things
randomly into suitcases, using her wand to clean up the mess.
“It certainly looks like her writing,” Emia said, finally. “What does it say?”
“No! Don’t read it without me!” Lily protested from the bathroom.
“Well, hurry, then! I don’t think I can stand another second only
looking at my name in her writing! I
would have opened it sooner but I was worried it might have been from Voldemort
or something.”
“Okay, okay!” Lily said, running into the kitchen with two fully packed
suitcases. She had decided to take most
of the kitchen supplies, but it was Emia’s responsibility to pack that stuff…so
of course a frying pan, wine cork, and a teaspoon were messily thrown into a
paper bag. Lily shook her head…she’d
deal with that later.
“Okay, Remus… read it!” Emia urged while pouring the tea into three
cups.
Remus opened the envelope to reveal a short note that looked as if it
were written on stationery from a cheap motel.
“Here goes,” Remus, said clearing his throat.
Dear Remus (and girls…because I’m
sure you’re listening),
I am safe. Do not worry.
I am trying to get to you all…I
miss you desperately.
I hope you are all doing all
right, and I will try my absolute best to be there for your wedding, Lil.
(At this, Lily and Emia exchanged an uneasy look.)
I miss you, Remus…I love you so
much, and I’ve thought about you so much over the past couple months.
Some honeymoon, huh? Well…It’s dangerous for me to contact any of
you as Voldemort is looking for me nowadays.
But I desperately need to see
you, Remmy…Girls, I want to see you too…but for this first time, it’s just too
risky.
Remus, please meet me at the
Hog’s Head next Wednesday at
I’m in disguise. I can’t just go out looking like me anymore
with all the Death Eaters. Memorize the
date and time, because this note
will
disintegrate after you’re done reading.
Hog’s Head. Wednesday. 3.
All My Love-
Avia
Sure enough, after Remus had finished reading, he and the girls
watched, stunned, while the note disintegrated before their very eyes.
Then there was a key in the lock. James was home.