Chapter 21: The Darkness of Anger
Lily sobbed into her pillow. I should have gone with her from the lake.
Would have saved me some troubles too. She felt instant remorse at her selfish thoughts.
Sara's death was not the time to bark!! about her own troubles. Her best friend was gone forever, and the worst
part was she hadn't been there to help.
She just couldn't
believe that Sara wouldn't be around to play pranks on the Kings of Pranks themselves, James and Co. Even though
her pranks had never worked, she still tried. Sara had never given up on anything. It was something Lily had admired
about her.
Memories of Sara ran through her head: Sara bursting in
on her reading on the train and introducing herself by asking Lily if she wanted her to style her hair. . . holding her
hand while they waited to be sorted into their Houses, then cheering when they both made Gryffindor. . . stealing candy
from Honeydukes for them to eat during midnight study sessions. . . watching movies over the summer. . . . . . helping
Lily cheat at chess so she could beat Petunia for a change. . . . . drooling over Sirius. . . . letting Lily cry when
Petunia made fun of her again. . . . .showing up this year with her blonde hair ridiculously streaked with red and
black. . . .cheering and laughing about James Potter.
And now Sara
was nothing but a lifeless body being "examined" by Madame Pomfrey. Lily cried harder at the thought of her
best friend being cut up and looked at like she had been nothing. She'd been a person! Sara wasn't something to
be examined and poked at! This was the worst feeling ever, worse than hearing Petunia taunt her and taunt her until she
finally broke and cried. Worse than seeing James' face after she and Sirius had kissed. Even worse than how she
felt after running away from Malfoy at the lake. She was dying herself, slowly, from the inside out.
***************
Peter struggled against his captor, but whoever was holding him was exceptionally strong.
They had him about his face and chest, pinning his arms against his sides.
The shadows by the greenhouses were long, the area deserted. No one would see them.
"You son of a bitch!!." The voice spoke harsh, but Peter knew it instantly.
His captor's arms finally released him and Peter spun around to face a very angry Remus Lupin, silhouetted against
the dusky red sky of sunset.
**************
Lily finally rolled over and faced the ceiling, letting the last of her tears roll down
her cheeks. She felt puffy-faced from all the crying she had done recently. She lay back against the pillows, one hand
by her face, as she stared morosely about. Time had flown, it was once again sunset.
She heard the doors open and she closed her eyes, feigning sleep. Go away,
whoever you are. I don't care, just let me sleep. She heard a click, then a clinking
rustle of what sounded like. . . Chains?
Lily opened her eyes. She was facing the end of the hall and saw that heavy silver chains crisscrossed
the door where Madame Pomfrey had disappeared with Sara's body, locking her in the little room. Lily turned her
head. Lucius Malfoy was standing by the now-locked doors leading from the outside. They were alone together, trapped.
The look in his eyes was very familiar and Lily felt the fear return as he began to move towards her.
************
Dumbledore and James walked quickly through the halls, not paying any heed to the hails of students
and staff as they passed. He hadn't said so, but James felt a sense of urgency from Dumbledore, like they were the
last pieces of sand in an hourglass about to fall.
The sky burned
in hues of pink and orange above them. Sunset was upon the world again. It amazed James. His personal world was
collapsing, yet nature spun as normal. He stopped suddenly as a thought occurred to him. Moony. "Damnit," he muttered.
James realized Dumbledore was looking at him. "Sorry," he muttered. "It's just
that--"
"Yes, I'm aware your thoughts are with Mr.
Lupin. Unfortunately, we don't have the time to worry about that right now."
James hesitated. He had a feeling. . . Dumbledore gave him a kind
look.
"Remus will be alright," he said softly. "Come
if you're coming."
James nodded and followed once more. He
took one more glance at the sun. The last of the burning red disk was barely visible above the mountain
tops.
***************
"You son of a bitch," Remus said again. He shoved Peter against the greenhouse
so hard the glass shook. Peter's eyes darted about, trying to find an escape route. The fury in Remus' eyes was
burning fire and in the last light of the sun they glowed red, just like. . .
"W-w-w-what ar-re you t-t-t-t-t-t-t-talk-king ab-b-bout, R-Remus?" His usual mild stutter was almost out of control.
"I saw you," Remus hissed. His voice lashed at Peter like the crack of a
whip.
"S-s-saw m-m-m-m-me w-where? I-I've been here all
d-d-day-"
"Last night. In the woods. With all your
slithery friends. You bloody traitor!" Remus advanced on him slowly. His hands were balled into fists and he was
shaking with anger.
Peter's eyes widened as he realized that
Remus must have been loose on the grounds and had stumbled upon the horrible ceremony in the
clearing.
Remus grabbed Peter by his throat. "How could
you?!" he growled. "Sara was an innocent--" Remus put his head down and began to shake even
harder.
Peter tried to choke out Remus' name but Peter
couldn't breathe, his throat was being squeezed so tight. Fingernails were digging into Peter's throat; he felt
blood trickling down his neck. Remus doesn't have long fingernails. . .
Peter glanced at the dark sky. The sun was gone. The hair on Remus'
hands itched Peter's skin. Fear increased as Peter realized Remus wasn't shaking from anger. He was shaking
because. . .
Remus raised his head to the sky and let out an
earth-shattering howl. Peter was trapped with a 9 foot tall, hungry, pissed off werewolf.