Semele Perdita

You should be glad I was hit with inspiration and didn’t want to sleep, because I have to get up seriously early tomorrow morning and leave and go without internet for daaaaaaaaaays and its already killing me. So be grateful and no complaining about length. So there. :-/  not that you shouldn’t be mad at me, but it would be rather nice if you were just happy that I wrote something instead of noticing anything else. Oh and just a hint, there might be *something* slightly important in this chapter…*whistle*

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Semele Perdita

Chapter 15: Making Tracks Home

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Last time on SP:

“Brilliant,” he sounded excited and released his hand that I realized was still holding onto my arm. “I’ll catch up with you after I get back from the holidays. You’re staying, right?”

“Yeah,” my voice, to my internal horror, was tinged with slight depression at the thought of staying in the empty, drafty castle for Christmas.

He gave me a quirky smile that I couldn’t remember ever seeing on him before when he heard me and I wondered if he noticed the tone, I hoped not.

“I’ll see you later, then,” he broke the brief silence and gave me a nod before he turned around, walking away.

“See you around,” I agreed, my voice back to its normal sound, I thankfully noted. I turned around myself, heading in the opposite direction than him, towards my Common Room.

Before I had gone but two steps, he called out to me, “Hey, Evans!” I spun around to see him watching me at the end of the hallway.

“What?” I called back to him, tilting my head to the side again.

“Thanks.” That damn maddening grin was back in place on his face, but I found that it annoyed me a notch less than it did just a little while ago.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

-James-

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

This was the first time in three years that I was going home for Christmas, I usually stayed at Hogwarts with the rest of the Marauders so we could plot, plan, and other cause trouble in the peace of an almost deserted castle. This year however was different: Remus’ full moon fell a little bit after the end of the holidays, giving us no real obligation to stay at the castle. So we decided we would all travel to my house for the Christmas Break, after all where else could all four of us go to be alone in our plotting?

We had to put the last touches on the Map, but after talking with Remus about the Charms we had come to the conclusion that no matter how well we could all get by in class, none of us were proficient enough to cast the final tracking charm on the Map. The only person, who would be able to, who even had the probability of having the talent in Charms, was one Lily Evans, a Ravenclaw who I had had a handful of experiences with over the years.

Peter had been the one to find her earlier this year when she had fainted, that was when I had found out from a rare moment of straightforwardness of Meara Riley’s that Lily’s parents were now dead and she was most likely suffering from grief that she wouldn’t let anyone see. That was the thing that caught my interest for this girl, she had no desire to use the things in her life to raise pity from anyone around her and she would rather suffer in silence than everyone to know what she was going through. I admired that more than I let in at the time because it surprised me how a Ravenclaw would show that kind of internal bravery.

So this had led me to inquire after her help with the last charm we needed, hoping against hope that she wouldn’t be against breaking a few rules. To my great relief she had agreed with the minimal details because as Remus had put it, “the less information she has to think over during the break, the less chance she’ll back out.”

After all, it wasn’t everyday that people created a Map which would tell you not only of every passage known to us, the biggest sneaks in Hogwarts, but if this charm was pulled off, where people were in the castle at all times.

Now we were on the Hogwarts Express, steaming forward to Kings’ Cross for us all to go to my house. All four of us had only ever been all at one place during holidays, besides the times we stayed at the castle, once before and that was during the Quidditch final last summer between the Appleby Arrows and the Wimbourne Wasps.

The ground outside was covered in a frosty blanket of snow, making the world a white, colorless place. Inside the compartment we were sitting in, it was quiet, for us, I mean. Peter was reading a book, on what I didn’t know and Sirius and Remus were engaging in a relatively hushed game of Exploding Snap. It obviously hadn’t gone into the Sudden Death round, that had a tendency to get very loud especially when Sirius was playing.

I continued to stare out the window at the snow, with nothing better to do and tap my fingers in an unsteady rhythm on the window sill.

Some time later, Peter put down his book, apparently growing bored with it. He sighed and looked over to me, following my eye line out the window to the snow.

“Something interesting out there, Prongs?” he asked after a moment. I broke my vacant gaze away and looked fully towards him with a small grin.

“Not really, but nothing more interesting to look at,” I answered truthfully. My drumming fingers stopped and I leaned forward to hear Peter better as Sirius had just decided to liven up their game by adding a bit of extra spark to the cards. No doubt Sudden Death would start soon.

“So who do you think will win this time?” he jerked his head to indicate Sirius and Remus as they battled it out over the smoking cards.

“I’m putting my bet on Sirius, the king of Exploding Snap,” I stated confidently. Sirius rarely lost a game of it, even when he played with himself.

Remus carefully set a card on top of the precarious tower, breathing out a sigh of relief when it didn’t knock it over immediately. However his breath caught the shaky formation off guard and sent the assembled cards tumbling with a loud POP! to the ground of the compartment, sending the colorful sparks of Sirius’ in every which direction and singeing the carpet.

“Nice, Moony,” I commented with a laugh as I noticed the small explosion had caused his eyebrows to disappear.

“Shut up,” he grumbled and turned back to view the cards Sirius was gathering up again with a sour look.

“Time for Sudden Death,” Sirius announced with a wicked grin at Remus. The sour look on his face deepened as Sirius gave him back half the cards and they prepared to start the final round of the game even though it was obvious that Sirius was going to win. After all, he barely ever lost to anyone unless cheating was involved, which though none of us were below it once in a while was rarely imposed during a game of Exploding Snap on an unspoken principal. Now chess was a different story.

The rest of the train ride was spent in rotations of Remus, Peter and I trying to beat Sirius once and for all the game, but none of us were successful this time. We all vowed as we got off the train to meet up with my father who was waiting for us that we would find a way to defeat the now self proclaimed Almighty Master of Exploding Snap before this holiday was over. After all, we would have a lot of spare time.

“Hello boys,” my father greeted us with an amused smile thrown toward us. He was in his usual informal black robes and was leaning against the column at the far side of the platform, near the Floo fireplaces. I noticed with a twinge that the dark shadows under his eyes from lack of sleep that had started appearing some time last summer had grown worse now and cast a dark pallor over my father’s usually warm, vibrant features.

“Heya, Mr. Potter,” Sirius replied almost with a disarming grin that he used most of the time to get out of trouble and he threw an arm around my father’s shoulders with a  grin.

This caused my father’s smile to deepen, revealing the laugh lines that crinkled at the sides of his eyes and he laughed his deep, rumbling laugh that did much for assuaging my fears that his work was completely consuming him. If he could still laugh at Sirius then it couldn’t be too serious. Maybe a case at work just wouldn’t get solved and he had to put in a few extra hours…nothing serious.

We waited patiently for the Floo to open long enough for us all to get through with our trunks to get to my house, all of us clustered by the column my father had been leaning on. After a minute of waiting we lapsed into comfortable silence until it was our turn to go through the fireplaces.

“Time to go, boys. Grab a handful, you know how to do it,” my father instructed gently, out of habit, I suppose, as he passed around the pot of Floo Powder.

Sirius went first, without mishap thankfully and then Peter and Remus soon followed, dragging their trunks along with them with a bit of difficulty as neither one of them was entirely accustomed to the Floo Network.

Finally it was my turn to go forward and I took my handful of the sandy Floo Powder but before I could throw it in, my father called me back with a quiet call.

“James,” he spoke softly, as if he didn’t want anyone; however few people there were left at the station, to overhear him. “I want you to be careful with the boys over this break. Don’t wander far from the house, you hear me?”

“Yes, sir,” I answered automatically. I knew better than to argue with my father, but I couldn’t help being curious as to why. We had never been restrained to the house before and had always at least been able to wander around the village.

My father seemed to see these questions cross through my mind and let out a mournful sounding sigh.

“I can’t give you the full details of what’s going on right now, James, but I need you to be careful. You can’t afford to be as reckless as you have been in the past.” His mouth was set into a deep line of disappointment, of me or something else, I couldn’t be sure.

 It struck me suddenly how impossibly old my father looked at that moment as he warned me patiently. I had never thought of him that way before, in my mind he had always been the same steady reliable source of advice that would always be there. But now, the shadows on his face and the deepened wrinkles somehow had aged this man who I knew to be my father almost beyond recognition to me and it scared me somewhere deep inside.

“I’ll be careful, Dad,” I assured him quietly, sensing instinctively that he needed the confidence that I would be. “I’ll make sure the others are too.”

He looked unexplainably relieved at this and he let a small smile permeate his features, lifting several years off his face and assuaging some of my own fears for him.

“Thank you, James. Now go on through, your friends must be wondering where you are. I’ll be home soon. I have some things at the office to take care of.” He gave me a small nod and gestured towards the fireplace. I could feel his eyes following me carefully as I stepped forward, throwing my dust into the fireplace and the flames flared up in a sickly green color, painting the bricks around us.

“Potter’s Residence!” I shouted and jumped forward, feeling my feet begin to spin forward and the platform around me slowly dissolved until I was completely swallowed by the whirling flames that eventually pushed me through the old familiar gate to my home where the rest of the Marauders were waiting impatiently for me to arrive.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 And that is your chapter for now…..

KJ Bridgerton – I think I still took months, but I’m really sorry and next time I take months you have my permission to email me incessantly to bug me about it, that usually works. I totally understand being delirious from homework so don’t worry about that:-D

Lady Starlight – I hope this chapter explained a bit more about the project. That will really start picking up the story soon, so watch for information about it carefully*wink*

Remus’ sweetie – thanks for reviewing. I hope this was realistic for you too. I hate those scenes that feel so forced and everyone has perfect grammar and stuff. Honestly, people don’t talk like that ;-)

Brie – I would love for you to beta for me and as for dedication to this story and all that garbage, I don’t think I’m that dedicated to it so time is not a problem as long as it doesn’t take as long for you to edit as it does for me to write. :-D Some L/J action will be beginning soon, so don’t fret. *hehe* my email is on my profile if you’d like to talk about betaing for meJ

Mani12191 – I once again haven’t updated in forever, but you should still review because you love me…you know you are secretly amused by my horrible writing tendencies. Lily will probably not realize that she *likes* him for a long time, buuut something big will happen soon between them…

Peccavi – Laila will get her dues soon. J don’t fret, lol

Eschiva – yes it was months, but gosh don’t be pessimistic, one day I will get a chapter out within two weeks of another one….that day is probably far in the future though. You realize it’s almost been two years(or has it been?) since I started this. That’s so sad I’m only on 15….

Lady in Black – ohh great because breaking a rib wouldn’t bother me at all. :-D this isn’t very long either, but I’m sorry, lol. There was some important stuff in this one though.

Draco’s gurl – I rose from the dead again, but not quite as spectacularly as last time, I suppose. My ego is sufficiently boosted. :-P I tried writing D/G a looong time ago, but I didn’t like the way it turned out, I may try my hand at it again though.

Bondariana – oh I love your stories, really :-D they make me laugh like crazy. We never get to talk on msn anymore because we never catch each other in time, oh well. Did you go hunting for a hit woman too then? Cause this is kind of short but not the shortest it’s ever been…soo….lol

And that is all for now….leave me lots of reviews so I’ll be happy when I come back from my trip…oh and for those of you who are curious and stalker-ish, you can check out my livejournal for some occasional tidbits of writing if you’d like at livejournal.com/users/astarstrucklady