Semele Perdita

Another chapter…this one's a bit short, but you all will survive, I'm sure. It had to be short or it wouldn't have worked as a chapter…so…read on!

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Semele Perdita

Chapter 18: An Evening of Bad News

Author: LadyAkako

Rating: PG-13

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From Chapter 17::

“Huh?” I kicked myself internally. “Oh, yeah, right. Uh...let me know when you want to hit the books and I'll come help you out. Make sure you don't fall asleep and all that.”

I threw in a grin for good measure at the end of my sentence and she smiled back for instance before her face crumpled.

“Oh, no…” she moaned.

“What?” I asked, worried at the sudden change in temperament.

“I never finished my Runes essay,” she said, finally, looking devastated.

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[ Lily ]

James stared at me for a moment before bursting out in laughter. He bent over double, his whole body shaking in the obvious hilarity he found in the situation.

“Don't laugh,” I said, in a defensive tone, embarrassed of myself. I couldn't believe I had forgotten to do something so important. Honestly, I had had the whole winter break to finish!

“Sorry…sorry,” he forced out through his laughter. He straightened up again and faced me with a more serious expression. “I'll help you finish, if you want,” he offered tentatively.

I looked up in surprise; it wasn't like him to do his homework in advance. He usually scribbled it down in the passing period before the class it was due in. Maybe he was growing up.

“I mean…not that I've done it yet or anything,” he added, reading my mind. “I was planning on working on it tonight anyways, so you know…you can join me if you'd like.”

Nope, he hadn't changed, I corrected myself. Still the same old James Potter, not doing his homework until the very last second. I kicked myself for even getting into this situation.

I stole a glance at his face which was staring quizzically back at me. I realized a second later he was waiting for an answer about working together on the essay. I flinched inwardly, what to do? I never worked with anyone on my schoolwork and frankly, his proposal sounded entirely too much like a date and I'm not sure I could ever go on a date with James. He wasn't exactly the type of guy that I looked for.

“I don't know if that's a good idea, James,” I finally said quietly, flashing a small smile to ease the rejection. “I think I have to do this one alone. Maybe some other time.”

I pivoted around and rushed into the Great Hall before I heard his response, not even taking the time to look at his expression. I just hope he would still talk to me.

I hurried across the Hall to the Ravenclaw table and slid into the empty spot across from Meara quickly. Before I even said hello to her I began to hastily put things on the plate in front of me, realizing my hunger finally.

“Hello, Lily,” she greeted me softly, her voice cause me to look up to see her penetrating gray eyes already studying me. “Have a nice Break?”

Her tone was deceivingly casual and I was startled to realize that it sounded strained. Her face looked hollow, as if she had aged years in just the few weeks since I had last seen her.

“Fine,” I said cautiously, watching her face. “And yours?”

She didn't answer, but only looked down at her still full plate. Before I could say anything more, she had scooped her things up and walked briskly out of the Great Hall, obviously upset.

No longer hungry, I rushed after her, sensing that this was a time when I was needed whether she liked it or not. I picked my way through the labyrinth of hallways that led to our dorm in the tower, until I finally arrived at the statue that marked the entrance to our common room.

“Callidus!” I shouted the password quickly, hopping into the portal as soon as it opened. I darted up the stairs, bursting into our dormitory to see it empty except for one of the beds with the curtains drawn close. I approached the bed slowly, careful not disrupt anything lying on the floor to alert her of my presence.

“I know your there, Lily,” a thick voice stated, that I identified after a moment as Meara's. I had never seen her cry, nor heard her. She had always been the strong one, with me having the emotional tendencies.

“Do you want to talk?” I asked, after a moment, as gently as I could.

“Not particularly,” her response came with a sniffle. I pulled aside the curtain that separated her from me and sat down on her bed beside her. Her back faced me and it shook with her sobs. I placed my hand in the small of her back and rubbed it gently, not knowing what else to do. She turned to me slowly, her face streaked in tears.

“My father's dead,” her voice was empty, devoid of the emotion that ran so freely across her face and my heart dropped to my stomach at the words. I had never cried after my parents died, I just gritted my teeth and went on, determined not to give up living and to see her in such emotional turmoil was unsettling to me.

“How?” I finally asked, with tears beginning to form in my eyes at my friend's state. How could I have ever thought that we could have given up each other so easily? I needed her more than anything, I realized.

“He was m-murdered by…by…” She stopped, overcome by her own words and I began to rub her back once more. Meara leaned into me, fresh tears rolling down her face.

“By who, Meara?” I probed, sensing once more she needed to get this all out and I was the only person she could confide in.

“Voldemort.” The tone of her whisper sent a nasty shiver shooting down my spine. I had never heard the name but the connotation of it didn't sound good.

I sucked in a sharp breath before asking the next question on my mind: “Who is that?”

She looked at me with a stunned expression, her tears stopping momentarily.

“Have you not read the papers?” she said, alarmed. “Lily, he's begun a sort of killing spree and no one can stop him. They say he has a band of followers that call themselves Death Eaters. It's horrible.”

“When did this start?” My heart felt like it was being squeezed to the point of bursting inside my chest and James Potter's saddened eyes that I had seen only briefly earlier that day flashed through my mind for a moment.

“Just last week.” Her voice had quieted again, but her face was agitated.

“I haven't heard anything about it,” I said, ashamedly glancing at the untouched editions of the Daily Prophet that I had never even unrolled. If I had only known…

Just as I had begun to walk over to my desk where they were piled, Meara and I both heard the footsteps storming up the stairs toward our door. She squeaked and rushed into the adjoining bathroom to assumedly wipe her face free of the signs of distress and I hurried to follow her.

Meara began to furiously scrub at her puffy eyes with a wet rag before I took it from her and swept it gently across her face. I took my wand out of my pocket and muttered a spell to hide the redness that rimmed her eyes just as we heard Laila storm into our room, no doubt with Violet at her heels.

“I can't believe him! Honestly, just to say `no' that calmly to me when I ask him that kind of question!” We heard Laila scream from behind the door, the scream was accompanied by the sound of something being thrown and broken. “Gryffindors!”

“Let's get out of here before it gets violent,” I whispered conspiratorially to Meara, in an attempt to cheer her up, even though I knew if she did smile it would probably be an act. She sniffed one last time before nodding and I summoned all the nerve I could and pushed the door open.

“Do you mind keeping it down?” Meara asked coldly, immediately after we stepped through the doorway. I looked at her in shock, not expecting her to have spoken at all. “You're not the only one in this room,” she added, in a similarly frosty tone.

“Why don't you mind your own business?” Laila snarled back and I saw Meara tense in anger.

“Well I would, you see, but you were shouting yours all over the Tower and I while I love the thought of some boy blowing you off, I'd rather not hear about it,” Meara shot at Laila before storming out of the room with me following after her, grabbing my Runes essay from my cluttered desk.

I knew she would head to the library, so I thought I might as well bring it along. After all, I had to finish it anyways.

The library was completely deserted except for the squat lady who ran it, Madam Pince. She gave us suspicious looks when we flew into the huge room full of books, but went back to her own work after a moment.

Meara sat down huffily in a seat, crossing her arms and fixing her gaze determinedly at a faraway shelf.

“What was that?” I asked, out of breath when I joined her at the table. I looked at her in wonder; I had never seen her blow up at Laila like that.

“I'm tired of her whining about her life, it's not that bad. So a boy won't go on a date with her, at least she still has both her parents,” Meara responded forcefully, not averting her stare in the slightest. “She's so ungrateful.”

I was quieted by this, my throat constricting painfully at the statement that I had thought so many time before. I placed the parchment with my essay on the table carefully, realizing that I had no ink to write the rest of it with anyways. I sighed, putting my head in my hands in frustration, wiping tears from my own eyes.

“I know, Meara, some people are just like this,” I answered her sadly and finally felt her gaze shift to me.

“What's that for?” Meara's gentle tone comforted me, even though I knew I should be the one comforting her.

“Ancient Runes…I never finished,” I replied after a while.

“Well, let's go find the books you need, then,” she said with a ghost of a smile. I returned it with a flicker of my own before getting off to wander in the direction of the section I needed with Meara following calmly behind me.

We pulled the few books I would need to write the last few feet of the essay and on a whim I pulled a few books from the surrounding shelves on Locating Spells, deciding I would begin to look into that special charm the Gryffindor boys needed as soon as possible to avoid any more uncomfortable situations with James Potter.

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Well…that's it…sorry for shortness, but it does work a little better for chapter-ness, as I said before. Thanks for the wonderful responses, I replied to them on the review page if you're curious.

By the way, 15 reviews would be nice:-D(you're at 191, so it would be 206 for the math impaired) buuuut, the more reviews over 200 I get, the more likely I'll be to update soon ;-) And, this is just a suggestion, but all you anonymouses out there, could you put some kind of name, so I could recognize who is the same reviewer and who's new and all that? You don't have to though. ;-)

See you soon(hopefully)!!!

--Julie