Chapter 16: Red Eyed Rats
The doors to the hospital wing finally opened. Dumbledore emerged, his face lined with exhaustion
and worry. Remus jumped to his feet, and together with James pounced on the headmaster.
"She will be fine," Dumbledore said before they could speak. "In time.
I trust you will both attend to her? There are things I must take care of, things I have overlooked for too long."
Both boys nodded, though neither one knew what was going on.
Dumbledore looked at them each in turn, nodded and swiftly swept down the hall and out of sight. James and Remus
looked at each other, shrugged, and crept silently into the hospital wing. Lily lay in a bed at the far end of the
hall. Rosy red light from an open window streamed across her, making her hair seem even more red. It flamed against the
white of the pillow, thick and shining. Angry purple and black bruises appeared in stark contrast to her pale skin. She
had scratches across her cheek, her neck, her chest and arms. Her eyes beneath her closed eyelids seemed sunk into her
head, and there were dark circles under her eyes. To both boys, she was the most gorgeous creature they had ever
seen.
"I have to go," Remus said quietly. James looked
at him strangely, then realized: red light. It was sunset. James nodded.
"I'll be there soon, Moony. I just need--"
Remus put his hand on James' arm. "To stay with Lily tonight," Remus finished for him.
"Don't worry about me, I'll be all right. I did do this for years without you guys, I can survive one
night." Remus winked at him, then turned and strode quickly out of the hall. The sun was setting lower every
second.
James turned to find Lily's gorgeous eyes looking at
him. His heart melted as he crossed to her and sat on the edge of the bed.
"Hi, love," he said as he gently stoked her face. Lily's eyes teared up as she smiled at
him.
"Hi," she whispered.
"How do you feel? Do you need anything?"
"Just you," she answered. "Please stay with me tonight, James."
"No where else I'd rather be in the world," he said. James lay down
next to Lily and folded her in his arms. She laid her head on his chest and sighed.
Finally, they thought. Both knew this was exactly what the other
needed and had longed for. At peace at last, they were both asleep in moments.
*******
"You are at school, Sara," Sirius replied. He was trying to catch her eye, but she
refused to look directly at him.
"Sara," he pushed,
"what happened to Lily?"
"I don't know. I left.
. ." Sara turned away and walked toward a nearby window. Sirius ran to her. He grabbed her
arm and whirled her around to face him.
"Left her where?"
he demanded.
". . . the lake. . . it was just us and
I left. . ." The far away voice was seriously creeping Sirius out now.
Something was very wrong. He knew it in his gut.
"You left her
alone? Why would you do that?" Sirius shook her hard, trying to get her to snap out of whatever spell she was
under. Sara finally looked directly into his eyes and he was stunned at what he saw there: fear, rage, confusion,
hate.
"BECAUSE YOU TOLD ME TOO!" she screamed. Her voice
echoed off the stone walls. Sara burst into sobs and collapsed in Sirius' arms.
"You told me --- yo-you were in m-my ---- my head and ---- and you said --
b-bad things ---- we--we were walking -------- I heard your v-voice --- the rat ---
my foot ----- and L-Lily w-w-was--" Sara couldn't continue
anymore and buried her face in Sirius' chest sobbing her heart out.
Sirius' mind was reeling with everything she'd just told him. As he went over everything his mind focused
on something she'd said. The nagging feeling that was already in the pit of his stomach increased and he gently
knelt down and held Sara's head until she was looking at him. Unfortunately, he could tell she was still under the
effects of the spell. Still, he had to try and get her to tell him-"--about the rat," Sirius said firmly.
"Tell me about this rat."
Sara shivered in his arms.
"I hate rats," she whispered.
"I know Sara, but I
need to know about the rat." Sirius gripped her arms tighter. C'mon, Sara, stay
with me here. Her eyes watered again and she whimpered.
"I hate-"
"TELL ME!" Sirius
shook her hard, his impatience growing. This was ridiculous. They were sitting here talking about rats when Lily was
hurt. . . he knew she was hurt. He could feel it in his bones.
Sara
sniffled. She looked at Sirius like he was crazy to fixate on this little part of her story, but there was fear in her
eyes too. She was still shaking, but when she spoke her voice seemed amazingly calm, almost like the real Sara.
Almost.
"We were walking. . . . . . it just ran out from under
the bush. . . I screamed and it ran over my foot. . . then it--" she broke off and jumped back, her eyes wide and
staring behind Sirius. He turned and jumped up in horror. Dozens of rats were pouring out of the cracks between the
wall and floor. Huge, furry, black rats, with their horrible pointed noses sniffing, their bald tails swishing behind
them, and their beady eyes fixed on Sirius and Sara.
Sirius pulled
out his wand, but one of the rats bit his wrist. The world instantly began to spin out of control. He glanced over and
saw through bleary eyes that Sara was already unconscious, rats swarming over her entire body, biting and scratching as
they went. The rats were all over him too. They kept biting. . . he saw blood. . He tried vainly to hit them away, but
he was so dizzy. . . he saw the blurred outline of someone walking towards him. . . his voice caught in his throat, but
before he could choke out the name his eyes closed, and the world stopped.
Peter Pettigrew stood in the midst of the swarm of rats staring at the sleeping forms of Sirius and
Sara. He bit his tongue until it bled to keep the cry of regret from bursting out of his throat. His eyes looked upon
Sirius, one of the people who had been his friend for many years. Had taken care of him, helped him become an Animagi,
laughed and talked and played with him.
And Sara. Poor, poor Sara.
His eyes traveled over her lovely face, drinking in every detail. She was so pretty, just like
the others had been. . . but none of that mattered now. He was in too far to back out. And he
had someplace to be.
"Mobilicorpus." Sara and Sirius were
lifted off the ground. They floated in midair, the army of rats milling about beneath them. . . waiting. Peter directed
the bodies with his wand and led them into the glaring red sunset. . . into the dark, foreboding woods of the Forbidden
Forest where the Slytherins waited for the red eyes.