A/N: There are a couple of things that changes since this was last seen and so it would be better if you started from the very beginning. This one came really fast. See what can plenty of time do to your fanfiction? Wish I had more time to do more chapters. Sad to say, I won't be posting another chapter until the 36th review since I promised myself to be more attentive to my studies.
I weep to part with this fic but the parting is only momentary and though this chap be sappy and a tad bit confusing, I'll try my best to make the next chap better. I am sooooo sorry if the achy part hasn't come yet. For some reason, I felt compelled to stray from my original outline and write as LadyAkako suggested.
Merci again and again for those who reviewed! I would not have gotten this far without the readers' reviews.
Meaning, if you want me to put up another chapter again, READ AND REVIEW!!!
You've seen what I written above! No chapter until the 36th review!!!! *** Gir laugh ***
(People strangle the author. Author dies.)
Chapter 4
'Peter!'
The voice, melodious and sweet-Lily's voice, he recognized-floated above the din of the crowd wandering aimlessly in Diagon Alley.
An uneasy smile crept into his face as the young woman approached him. He could easily see the way a few tendrils of her copper hair escape from a hurried braid, her emerald eyes brilliant and dancing with a soft light despite the grey day, her cheeks tainted with a natural blush-either from the cold…or for a reason…
He knew the reason. He wasn't that blind to know.
James…
Lily finally caught up with the other and beamed a smile at him. 'Hullo,' she began amiably. 'I was wondering, Peter, if you saw James this morning-'
He couldn't bring himself to listen to the words she was saying. Inside, he could feel the familiar throbbing of unrelenting pain as he heard her mention the other's name. His hand, fisted inside his pocket, curled up tighter.
James. It was always James you thought about…
…nothing but a thieving son of a bitch!!!
He could vividly remember the day he first met Lily. In fact, of all the Marauders, he was the first one to meet him. Peter was not even a Marauder then. Only a sorry Gryffindor, with no friend and plenty of enemies, especially from Slytherins. Because he was such a loser, he was nobody, he had nothing. Unlike Sirius, who was a Black-which says it all: money, name, influence. Unlike Remus, whose disarming politeness, eloquence and good boy charm and mannerisms made him look like the perfect gentleman. Unlike Potter who had both, although in a slightly lower level, but made up with his exceptional skills, charisma and a certain force that magnetizes almost everyone that comes in contact with him.
But him? He was just a sorry nobody. No better than shit on the pavement.
And he believed himself to be that way, that's why he craved for the approval of so many; to be popular, loved and idolized by all-like the three.
Then, one afternoon, he had been cornered by a few Slytherins. Suddenly, Lily came and confronted them. The details, he could never exactly recall. But what was important is that, she protected him and offered her friendship to him. Him! A nobody! She even knew his name!
That was why, from then on, Lily was his saviour, his angel, his goddess.
Then, probably seeing how he could use him to get closer to Lily AND appear like a compassionate hero, James took him into his circle of friends.
Although he never wanted to, he was desperate to have the popularity that being into his group brought. He needed recognition so that Lily could see him for what he really was. He played the part of the buffoon, the pawn, the weak one in the Marauders. He was that desperate. Until now, he was the butt of the jokes and the idiot. Even now, though outside Hogwarts, he kept on play-pretending.
Then, he watched everything he had built with his sufferings the moment he realized that Lily was besotted with James.
'Peter?'
He gave a small jump as he came back to the present. Those verdant eyes were inquiring. 'Are you all right? You seem out of it today.'
A nervous laughter came from him. 'It's the cold. I didn't hear too much what you said. What was it again?'
'I wanted to ask you if you could hand this to James as soon as possible. You could do that, couldn't you?' her light laughter was full of warmth. 'What am I saying? Of course, you can. But could you please hand this to him. It's a bit urgent.'
Her small hand brought out an envelope, the size of an invitation, and placed it on his hand. 'I know I can count on you.' She smiled and bid her goodbye before disappearing into the crowd once more.
A smile on his face lingered for a while but how his chest burnt when he glanced back to the letter at his hand. Opening it, he read the hasty note and was careful to remember the details written. Just as carefully, he slid the two pieces of parchment back into the envelope.
And, without hesitation, he ripped the invitation apart and let its torn pieces litter on the pavement before being scattered by the wind.
He felt his lips curve into a grin and began to trudge to meet with one of his companions. Maybe with Nott. He was not as high-headed as Malfoy or Snape or anyone of the other Death Eaters.
You stole Lily from me, James…
And you are going to pay for everything you did.
……
Once more, Remus was walking down these familiar corridors, the same path that he tread once as a young boy-no! Rather, make that a young werewolf. His grey eyes lit with the memory of his second but real home. The cold stone walls that echoed every sound. The impressive furnishings: talking tapestries, moving knights and everything else.
And this path was the most memorable at all.
Stopping his steps at a certain point, he took his time to glance around and survey if no one was looking at him. The gargoyle in front of him even seemed to have a lighter mood than he last saw it, he noticed.
Satisfied that no one, and nothing, was around or looking at him, he murmured: 'Licorice Leeches.'
The stone figure grudgingly sprang to life and unblocked a stair passage.
Indeed, it had been sometime since he had seen the place-for reasons that he could spare no time dallying around. To keep himself alive, he had to work almost around the clock-work meaning a plethora of jobs, may it be normal, odd or extremely odd. All of them lasting at the maximum of three weeks (should have been a month but one week was subtracted since he didn't work on the full moon week). No one wanted to him once they knew of his background that he was a werewolf although he managed to do things excellently on whatever work he did.
It was so unfair, this way of living. Others get to live a normal, well-to-do life while he could barely feed himself. Then the pain and prejudice he had to endure along sides that.
It was so unfair that he was a werewolf. But he had gotten used to it.
So now, he took pleasure on the simplest of things: like the prospect of seeing an old friend of theirs. A true friend, who had been the first to take him under his wing though he knew what Remus was.
Reaching for the knocker on the door, a gentle voice quipped from the other side that he could just enter.
The heavy wooden door swung open and he greeted the man inside with a bright smile.
'Headmaster! It's really wonderful to see you once more.'
Dumbledore cast a worried eye on the young werewolf. He smiled back at the fact that at least the boy still had his wonderful characteristics and warm smile. Others tended to change remarkably after exiting the institution. 'You should have come long before, Remus. I haven't heard from you for months.' His voice reflected the apparent concern for the other.
Remus took the soft seat before the headmaster's table. His eyes scanned the surrounding, he noted that nothing much had changed around the office and he was recognized smilingly by some of the past headmasters and headmistresses. 'I know how caught up you can be with school matters, sir. I had no wish to bother you.'
'How can you be a bother to me? You and the others are always welcome.' He nodded indulgently, like someone's benevolent grandfather would to a favourite grandson. 'In fact, I had been waiting for your visit. I have heard from Alastor just the other day what miscalculated event had taken place. Is Lily taking things lightly, or James, for that matter?' he inquired at him.
At hearing this, he was suddenly taken aback by his hesitation. 'I..I don't know exactly the details, sir. Lily… she doesn't know about the whole thing.' For the uncounted time, he felt the guilt that made his stomach churn, regretting bitterly at how lightly he and Sirius had taken the businesses in the Order.
How he wished that things had not turned out as it had!
'Remus?' the old man's voice interrupted his thoughts, sensing the shift of emotion flitting through Lupin's face.
'Ah…Yes, I do believe she has no understanding of the importance of Alfred's death.' He avoided the probing blue gaze of Dumbledore, fearing all of the sudden that the trust that had been given to him would be reversed due to his lack of foresight and sheer irresponsibility.
Tiredly, Dumbledore rubbed at his silvery beard. 'But have you realized why have we been tailing Kennings at the first place?'
A tilting of the head confirmed his suspicions before he could continue.
'I had posted Alfred in Dublin to keep an eye on the activities there. He was a very good man and auror, such a grievous loss for the Order. Over the past months, he had been reporting to that place more often than usual.'
At the momentary pause, Lupin took his chance and spoke up. 'I'm sorry to interrupt, sir, but Ireland had a very few records of activities from eleven months before up to now. I cannot understand. If Kennings did note a rise in the dark practices there, why weren't there any written reports?'
The old man glanced sharply at him; and for a few seconds, Remus felt a shadow passing over them.
'Voldemort has many eyes, in and out the ministry and within almost every institution that he thinks to be valuable… even if it was inside the Order of the Phoenix.'
The once warm blue eyes gleamed coldly as he said the next statement.
'Our defenses have been breached and someone is watching us…from inside.'
……
He HAD to hurt her.
Again.
James kept his gaze on the miniature photograph of Lily he was holding, its edges bent, torn and yellowing. But the main picture was still clear.
It was his first picture of her, taken during the All Hallows' Eve of their sixth year. As a project in their Muggle Studies, every house was to play any wizard-related literary piece made by a muggle named Shakespeare. Hufflepuff got "The Tempest", Ravenclaw had "Cymbeline", while Slytherin gave "A Midsummer's Night Dream" a shot (and boy! was the sight of Snape in a fairy costume certainly something to remember!) and they opted for Macbeth.
Whoever that Shakespeare was, James wished at that time that he is in Hell for writing those pieces because the man made HIS life into a living hell for several weeks. Cast for the role of the main role, it was he who had the greatest number of lines and how he HATED those grueling weeks when he had to memorize all of it! Damn Macbeth! Damn Shakespeare! Damn Muggle Studies! and most especially, damn Professor Whittington!!!
Then, the one who was supposed to play Lady Macbeth was confined in the hospital wing for a week and was replaced by Lily, the ultra-conservative, monkish and overly bookish goody-two-shoes of a Prefect! James thought before that time that she probably thought too highly of herself and above him when she cut off his advances (can you blame him when he noticed that she was beautiful too although she was an intolerable prude?).
*** (interruption) ***
There were strange sounds emanating from the cubicle where Lily confined herself. Strange sounds that were like a cat sneezing up a hairball.
But in fact, she was really sneezing. Not only once or twice but a severe sneezing fit that lasted for several minutes nonstop.
When finally she ceased her sneezing, Lily drew one big breath of relief. 'I thought I was dying of asthma back there!' she muttered to herself.
A concerned voice from outside asked: 'Lily, you sure you don't want to take something for that cold of yours? You sound really sick!'
'No, thank you. I'm fine, really. I don't have colds.' she replied hoarsely over the door.
'If you say so…'
Still rubbing at her breathless chest, she thought of her sneezing fit and wondering whether or not someone was casting a curse on her or had she suddenly inhaled an irritant.
And then she reflected inwardly, 'Or maybe, someone had been thinking of me…hmm.. who can that be?'
*** (back to the chapter) ***
But, surprise, surprise! One afternoon, after rehearsals, he was genuinely surprised when Lily asked him to help her with her lines!
And, it was the first step that brought them two together.
The picture was taken the evening before the final performance and both of them had been practicing in front of the silvery light of the moon in the Astronomy tower where both of them usually went to rehearse, since it was only there that they wouldn't be so bothered.
In the photograph, Lily's sixteen year old image in cotton pajamas stuck her tongue out at him before flashing a mischievous grin and going back to reading her lines, once in a while losing her guard and she would be caught smiling wistfully at the starry knight… and then, at him.
She probably didn't know that he was keeping at up to this time but he had always kept it, carried it everywhere with him-probably to remind him that it was for Lily's sake he became an auror in the first place, and later, joined the Order.
A slight knocking at his door made him jump from his seat before he hastily shoved the image under several sheaves of papers on his table.
Remus' head peered inside and he flashed an apologetic smile, but James could sense a heavy feeling from his wan face.
'Hey, Prongs, can I talk to you for a moment?' Even his voice sounded a bit different, like he was afraid of something.
'Why not?' James answered while he poured the werewolf a cup of tea from a nearby teapot. 'Something's up, I guess. So, what's the matter?' he inquired.
'I know it is not my business sticking my nose in your business,' he started. 'But I wanted to ask if you're all right? I mean, about what Moody wanted you to do… I spoke to Dumbledore yesterday, and, I'm sorry, mate. Lily had been close to you, that's why you might have regrets for what you have to do. But there's something really wrong going on.'
'There's no need to be sorry, Moony. I'm an auror, remember?' James plastered a grin on himself. 'I can handle this. If it's for work, I'll do it.'
'You don't sound so sure yourself.' Remus frankly pointed out, a frown knitting his brow.
For a moment, James felt cold causing his hand to trip his own hand at his cup of tea and spilling half of its contents. Of course, Remus was a werewolf, he reminded himself. There was always no sense in lying at him. But if he cant convince other people, how can he even convince himself?
'I said all right. Geez, you all are acting like hens about that. Look, Remus. Lily's only a girl! She may overreact at first when I break the news at her but I'm sure she'd understand. And besides, nothing serious is going on between us.' He said offhandedly, waving his hand in the air in a nonchalant manner.
Remus suddenly stood from his seat, surprising James. 'I thought you'd be less of a pig than that.' He said, his tone throwing daggers at him.
James wanted to retort 'But you gave me no choice to do it in another way!' But Remus won't understand him. So he pursed his mouth in a tight line and did nothing to respond.
He started to walk towards the door again but stopped when he was a hairbreadth away. 'But even if you said those words, I know you…you…' Remus couldn't find his voice to continue the broken sentence.
'Just don't hurt her too much, all right? Please. She doesn't know a thing yet. She doesn't deserve to be hurt. Not like this way…'
The door shut quickly behind Remus that it barred him from getting a glimpse of his friend after he walked out. Strange that Lupin said that. It was like he was going somewhere.
The flow of his thoughts were again disturbed when he felt something cold creeping down his arm and it was only then that he remembered that he spilled his tea earlier.
Muttering a curse, he mopped the liquid with a rag. Almost half of his table was wet.
The picture!
He tossed the paper from his desk and searched frantically, hoping that the tea had not yet reached it
But it had. And the image was totally blurred. And something inside him ached, feeling a sort of loss.
First, Lily. And now, even my memories of her. What's going on!
……
Because of the impending storm, judging from the bleak clouds, the public square was had but one person in it. Everyone else were keeping on the move, afraid that the flurry of snow might catch up on them. Already, an innumerable count of the intricate crystals danced in the slight breeze.
There were only pigeons whose colours reflected those of the sky's: steel grey, light grey or speckled. Mindless of the cold, they strutted as if they owned the plot, pecking now and then if a scrap of food was to be found.
Remus sat morosely at the edge of the stone fountain in the midst of the park, his hand listless and throwing pinches of the loaf of bread he had with him. His eyes blank but at contrast with the train of thoughts flowing undisturbed within him.
"Our defenses have been breached and someone is watching us…from inside."
"Have you guessed who?"
A shake of the head.
"But there is no one from within us that will betray us! Is there?"
"I am not the one to say that…"
A pause.
"As of now, Remus, you are one of our most inconspicuous members. You are not seen as really near to me, like the faculty of this institution. You are not an open fighter against of Voldemort, like Kennings or anyone within the Order who works for the ministry especially the aurors-and that includes Black and Potter …"
"…That is why I'm sending you to Dublin tomorrow to find what you can on what he was doing there, who was he tailing or what was that that he saw."
"But, sir-"
"You possess such an immense but unfortunately unacknowledged skill and genius. And I believe in you."
In a flurry of feathers that blocked his vision for some moments, another's presence was heralded.
Her scent was recognized by his heightened senses and he smiled. 'Nice weather.'
'If you like snow.' Lily returned the gesture and plopped down beside him. 'This spot is freezing!' she shouted.
'I know.'
'So why are you still sitting there?'
'Just waiting.' He shrugged but continued staring far away.
'Waiting for what?'
'You.'
'Oh.'
Lily's eyes rounded, debating inside herself whether or not she'd believe in what he said. But she didn't mutter a word in opposition. Instead, she took a piece from the loaf and began to feed the docile birds too.
'Nice seeing you again.'
'It's been a while seen I had a chance to talk to you, Remus.'
'How's work?'
'All right, I guess. You?'
'…'
One pigeon plucked up its courage to perch at Lily's hand where she had a big piece of bread. While eating, it allowed itself to be subjected to the woman's gentle petting. Lily smiled at it and shooed it away after the piece was gone so that she can feed the other birds too.
Sighing, she broke the silence that was there. 'You're going away, aren't you?'
His dark head finally turned her way and now she saw his translucent eyes. There were no need for words to affirm her question. It was written in his glance.
'Where?'
'Ireland.'
'Have you told anyone besides me?'
'I have no one to tell.'
This took her back for a moment. 'What about James and the others?'
'They shouldn't know.' His brow lowered slightly, the way it did before when he was talking seriously, Lily remembered.
'Had a spat with one of them?'
A corner of his lips curved up in a wry smile. 'Nearly, but not that. More like business…you know…'
'I don't.' She pouted at him.
For the first time that day, he laughed for real. 'Maybe you do.' He pointed out enigmatically. 'You just don't realize it.'
'You're being mysterious.'
'Am I?'
'After I realized you're something else, you weren't so secretive.' She thought aloud, staring at the two birds fighting over a bit of bread. 'Maybe it's the weather. Maybe it's because everyone's being so mysterious nowadays. Maybe it's the news about the bad things being widespread.' She wanted to go on about the Snuffles-man thing that bothered her but decided not to tell. It was supposed to be a secret, she reminded herself. So she quickly continued, 'But whatever's happening, I feel so depressed. And it's Christmas Eve tomorrow! I'm supposed to be happy.' She groaned and theatrically placed her gloved hands to her face.
'Don't be. If I know rightly, there's that Christmas party at the hospital , right? Go and get busy to take your mind of your misery.' Then he paused. 'I assume you're inviting James?'
Behind her gloves, her cheeks brightened visibly, which the other saw-eliciting from a him a sigh. Lily perked her head up when she heard the heavy breath. But before she could ask what was that about, he spoke up.
'Here.' And Remus dug up something from the deep pockets of his trench coat. His hand emerged with a brown parcel wrapped and tied plainly but painstakingly neat. 'It's a bit advance, I know. But I'm not staying here until the holidays.' He caught the disappointed expression on her face. 'Don't be sad. I hate it when I see you sad, and more so when I'm the cause of that.' He pointed at her face.
'I didn't mean to be ungrateful. In fact, I'm really happy about your gift. I'm sad because I don't have anything to give to you…yet.'
'You don't have to.' He brushed her statement and offered a comforting pat. 'I'd be happy when I see you happy.'
She positively brightened up after that. Curiously, she tuned the gift round and round.
'Open it.' He nudged her.
In seconds, the wrappings were gone and there was a box. Opening it, Lily saw a purely black, tear-shaped stone hanging from a thin chain of a silvery material. Surprisingly, although it had the appearance of silver, it did not have the weight nor solidity, for that matter. The moment she lifted it from its box, the chain seemed to slip through her fingers that she quickly cupped it in her hands so that it wouldn't entirely be lost. It was icy to the touch.
'Wha-'
Sensing her loss of words, he tapped the gift with his wand and, whatever it was, it regained a chain form and wrapped around her neck when the end touched Lily's neck.
'Dwarves are really nice thi-err, people, once you get to know them and be really nice to them too. And when they make something, they always surpass our narrow-minded expectations…' He ended whimsically, eyeing the craft appreciatively.
Her gaze was fascinated and locked at the necklace, which shimmered and moved like a rivulet of liquid silver on her neck. The amulet didn't look like tied nor hooked at the watery fob. It went through it though no hole was there. Her fingers skimmed the flat surface and felt a certain pattern of engraving on it.
Remus had outdone himself.
She felt her throat lock. Shame that she didn't have anything to give to him. She didn't even feel worthy of the gift.
'I-I can't.' she murmured.
'Meaning you're rejecting what I gave to you?' His left eyebrow rose but in a friendly manner. 'I gave it to you, Lily. It's yours.'
'But why? This is probably expensive and I know you don't have that much-'
'Do me a favor, Lily. Don't think about how I managed to lay my hands on that or something running at the same line.' He glanced once more at a distance, as if sensing something.
Abruptly, he rose from his stone seat and brushed the crumbs from his lap. 'I have to go now. Happy Christmas.'
'Wait! I mean-thank you… I don't know how I can get even with you. I don't feel that right when I haven't been any use to you at all.'
He stooped down and ruffled her bonnet. 'You were the first one who accepted me as I was asides Dumbledore. And you were also the one who put up with my "periods" and mood swings-'
'That was also because you put up with mine.' She quipped, making him laugh.
'And… I'm not sure when I'm coming back.' He admitted, his face growing serious all of a sudden and a wave of panic surged within Lily.
'Where and why are you really going away?'
'I told you the answers already. I was not lying.' Straightening up, he beamed the brightest smile that he could muster that moment., which made her a bit teary.
In an impulse, she hugged him fiercely, squeezing the breath out of him. 'Wish you could've stayed at least for Christmas. Wish you always stayed near us. With the full moon only days away… you sure you'd be all right?'
'I'll be staying away from people when my time comes.' He assured her.
Remembering something, Lily began to rummage in her bag and produced a torn and yellowing page of a book crammed with little scribbles of her handwriting, a whisky flask and a very fat pouch. All of it, she forcibly shoved to him.
'I almost forgot, so stupid of me!' she muttered. 'I found some time to go and research something in our library and found that.' She pointed at the torn page. 'It's an old potion. I wrote down a few alterations to the original recipe since I thought it was a bit unstable.' She explained sheepishly.
The young man was examining the flask carefully before opening it. He quickly closed it as soon as the scent dispersed and reached to his nose, trying his best not to offend Lily by putting on a smiling face though the smell was nearly enough to cause him an allergic reaction.
'What?' She pouted once more when she caught his weird expression. 'Oh… I forgot. You're supposed to be put off by the aconite in that thing. But I thought I had already lessened the odour…' she trailed off thoughtfully.
Wolfsbane! 'It's just me, I'm sure.' He said, hiding his sudden dread of using the potion-should it prove to be too strong, and therefore fatal, for him. But he quickly shook the feeling away, since he trusted Lily enough to think that she wouldn't be so careless as to miscalculate the odds. 'And what's this?'
'A spare set of ingredients for the potion in case what I made had already ran out and you can't immediately get your hands on what you need or if there isn't any at all. There's also powdered willow ash to kill the pain. And a couple of sedative herbs too, if you need them.' Her manner of talking made her sound like a mother. When she had piped down, she said quietly. 'I know that this isn't really enough to help you during your period…but I hope it would ease things a bit for you.'
It was his turn to envelope her in a hug. 'This is more than enough.' Putting the things carefully in his own bag, he patted her and started to walk away.
Lily lifted her eyes to the rapidly darkening sky and tried her best not to be sad.
'And Lily?' he spoke, almost inaudibly, from a distance.
'Yes?'
'Take care of yourself.'
The birds all took to the sky and when they were gone, he was also gone too.
It was only then that she realized the snowfall had ceased but replaced by a thick, white fog, a fact she had ignored while talking to the werewolf.
And she was all alone in that darkening place.
For some time-she wasn't sure of the real length of the minutes that had passed-Lily lingered there, her hand touching the dwarves' necklace-unaware of the fact that she may be on the verge of hypothermia. But still she sat there, unsure of what do to next, shivering more and more.
A gentle warmth spread throughout her whole body. She looked up and saw James, draping his own overcoat over her, his face marked with concern unhidden.
'He'll be back, Lily. Remus is made of stronger stuff than you think.' He murmured, hoisting the weak-kneed girl to a standing position.
Bending her head more, she let loose a quick tear, hoping that it would go unnoticed. To her horror, it fell on his (again) bare hand.
In his pity, James gingerly carried her in his two arms and pressed her head against him and spoke, 'It's all right. You can cry if you want. It will only hurt you more if you keep everything to yourself.'
A small whimper came from her before falling unconscious, as a toll from all the inner turmoil and exhaustion she had gone through in the past few days.
……
In a hidden street somewhere in Dublin was a wooden door unlike a lot of the modern wooden doors one can see everywhere. This was different; really old, judging from its deep earthy colour and signs of wear and tear on its surface. Above it and a few rows of age-worn stone walling was a crooked sign saying "Nessie's Nest" with a primeval depiction of the famed local creature.
As usual at that time of the night, the sound of clinking of silver to china and glass to glass and other sounds of eating, drinking and good old merrymaking filled the air and came from every single one in the pub.
But a man, sitting solitary in the most dimly-lit corner, had not partaken with any of it. Every now and then, someone or something cajoled him to join them but he politely shook his head.
'Who's 'e?' one or two friendly leprechauns asked the rotund bartender-slash-tavern keeper, their pointy hats swinging to his direction. ''e ain' singin' or eatin'. Only sulking in his own world and looking aroun' 'im.'
''E's just a newcomer. He ain' botherin' anybody an' he asked to be alone so go yer own way.' He shrugged and returned to serving the other customers.
Finally, the man signaled for the tavern keeper and gave his order.
'Steak and potatoes, please, done very rare. Do you have any firewhisky or something a bit strong to drink?' he spoke, keeping his voice only barely heard.
'Firewhisky, you say? Blimey! Those 'un down there already guzzled every drop of what I had left!' The keeper apologized, pointing at the now dancing leprechauns to the singing of a kelpie.
'It's fine. I never liked whisky much, anyway.' He laughed, somewhat self-deprecatingly. 'What have you got left?'
'A bit strong, eh? The ale's a bit too old, not in the best taste. I'd say you won't like it much. We got some really old mead from the north, couple o' decades or so.'
He began to nod when another man, heavily cloaked for the frigid weather, plopped wearily down the seat beside him and began to interrupt.
'I'll have whatever's the house specialty for tonight and the mead too. I'll take the charge of both orders.' The new one suddenly dictated the surprised keeper, who very wisely said nothing and left quickly rather than stick his nose in their business.
The newer man was removing his thick mantle when the other spoke up. 'Shouldn't have taken my order, Padfoot. I have my money.'
Sirius shot him an incredulous look. 'Oi! I'm the one here who's being real nice and all. And besides, you pay for breakfast tomorrow.'
A pair of grey eyes rolled but he smiled nonetheless. 'So, you're staying here? Why?'
Being unable to unclasp the fastening to his mantle, Sirius looked at him straight in the eye. 'In case you've forgotten, Moony, I was part of the grand plan. Naturally, when Dumbledore realized you planned to go solo here, I was told to trail after you as a form of punishment. Anyway, nice move you did down there.' He commented offhandedly.
'What move?'
'Move to put them together. You know, the gift, then goodbye then allowing James to see both of you so that had seethe in envy and then she fainting in his arms.' He narrated in a nursery story-telling manner.
'So it worked?'
'Yeah. Bet by the time we come back to London, he's going to wring your neck for pulling that stunt on Lily.'
'That wasn't a stunt, dummy. That was real. I was just hoping that somehow James would see what happened and would react, but it was only wishful thinking.' Lupin shot back at him.
But Sirius only raised a disbelieving eyebrow. 'And the gift? That was a real dwarves' necklace, I can tell.'
For a moment, Sirius thought he saw Remus blush but, when he looked again, there was none. So he dismissed it as only a product of his imagination.
'It was only a gift.' He replied and began to eat the food set down before him by the congenial bartender.
'Gift-shmift. Yeah, right.' The other mumbled over his mead and took a sip of the strange brew.
'Padfoot,'
'What!' He shot back rather crossly.
'Thanks for coming here.' The werewolf murmured. 'And go to Hell.'
Sirius smiled behind his mug and the two of them proceeded to eat their late dinners in silence.
……
The moment Lily opened her eyes, even though just a bit, she knew she was sick. Really sick.
Everything around her seemed to swirl and her head and chest throbbed like hell. Moaning, she tossed and turned for a cooler place on the bed but found none. But, when a wet towel was placed on her skin, she was shocked and recoiled from its cold.
But a firm hand that wasn't hers stayed her head until all of it was wiped. But when she felt her arm being subjected to the sponge bath, she found her voice to object.
'It's going to be fine, Lily.' Someone spoke to her, gentle but firm.
Hearing the warm voice, she grew limp once more and let the bath proceed. The long, slow movement of the gentle hand was comforting that she was nodding off once more.
The next time she opened her eyes, Lily bolted upright too fast that it made her nauseous. Slapping her clammy hand on her face and feeling the burning heat of her forehead only did the details of what happened before come back to her. It was still night.
A sponge bath and someone saying that everything would be fine.
Screwing her eyes open, she saw that the bed she was lying on was different from the one she had on her flat: this had a linen bedcover in plain white and smelled faintly of the dry-cleaners. Everything was different, now that she thought of it. From the ceiling and walls, to the furnishings. Everything!
Finally, she took a look at the clothes she had on, if she still had one. Peeking under the covers, she felt her pulse race when she found out she only had her underwear on.
Now, her anxiety had grown into a full-blown panic attack.
Fortunately, she didn't feel see or feel any bruise in her body (except for the fact that her muscles were really sore). Nor did she feel violated.
Despite the fact that she was still sick, she gathered the thick quilt blanket that covered her and wrapped it around her body. Moving quietly, she sneaked out of the thankfully open bedroom door. Still, her stealth wasn't enough. A small cry escaped her when she tripped and fell on what looked like a man-sized cocoon that was fortunately soft.
But the "cocoon" let out a muffled curse and the next thing Lily knew was that she was pinned under it and there was a wand point blanc beneath her chin.
And James' hazel eyes were staring incredulously back at her.
He let forth another curse and said, 'Bloody hell, I almost killed you, Lily. DON'T. DO. THAT. AGAIN.' His voice was shaky as he spoke. Inwardly he was beating himself up and shuddered involuntarily at thinking what might have happened if he recognized her too late.
Me and my reflexes, he thought irately. He was going to blow his cover if this continued any longer.
'Do you mind getting off me, please?' she spoke in a small voice. At least now, she knew who owned the bedroom she was staying in and was comforted but by the realization that it was James who took care of her. But the fact that he stripped her of almost every thing except her lace underwear made her anguish in silence and colour her cheeks into a scarlet red.
Blushing furiously, James let her sit properly before coming at his senses to ignore the fact that a moment ago, she was half-naked and lying below him.
STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! She's Lily and you must not think lewd thought about her!!!
But it was only when she slapped him across the cheek did his thoughts plummet back to earth.
'What!' he cried indignantly, rubbing his now sore cheek.
Her mid raced for anything. Truthfully, she didn't know why she really did that. 'You undressed me!' she cried in the same tone.
'It was because you were sick!' he pointed out, matter-of-factly.
'But you could've just brought me back to St. Mungo's or at my flat. I'm a Healer, you know, and I could take care of myself!' she answered back, but she couldn't understand the reason why she was acting that way to James.
For some reason, he felt as if she was saying that he couldn't even look after her. 'Look, Lily Evans. I saw you sitting and nearly frozen to death on that fountain the yesterday night-'
'waitaminute! What do you mean yesterday night? It's still evening and-'
'-And you have been asleep for twenty-something hours straight.' He heaved a heavy breath and lowered his irrationally high voice. 'Look. I'm sorry if I surprised you by taking you to my flat without you knowing, if that's why you're angry with me. But rather than letting that fever of yours get the best of you, I thought that…'
'I thought that I can take care of you. I mean, I can take care of you as well as any fully-trained Healer in your hospital.' he finally admitted, surprising even himself that he said that to her.
The guilt made the lump on her throat rise and her eyes well-up once more.
Feeling her forehead, he broke into a smile. 'Well, at least you aren't as bas as you were this morning. Wicked hell, you made me worry back then too.'
To his wonder, her own hand reached to hold his and said in a broken voice, 'You worried about me?'
Looking at her eyes, he said quickly: 'Why shouldn't I be.? I mean, you're not so insignificant to me as you think you are. I mean… oh hell.' He stopped, not knowing how to continue anymore.
'Besides… with Remus going away, I thought that maybe you'd need someone's company so as not to be lonely. I don't want to see you sad because you didn't have someone to be with you. And you also said you were a bit down this Christmas, so… here I am. I mean, here you are.' He rambled a bit confusedly.
'Did you receive the invitation for the party today that I gave through Peter?' she suddenly asked.
'Umm… what party?'
Finally, her face lit up in a smile, rather weak and a bit wobbly but it was a smile. 'Never mind.' She shook her head, much to James' confusion.
Kneeling down on all fours, she crawled to where he was sitting on the floor. Then, very lightly she planted a small kiss to where she slapped him a little while ago. Then, hugging him as well as she could with the quilt and his blanket encumbering the embrace, she whispered 'Happy Christmas.' All of a sudden, she felt a small pressure on a chin and realized he was cupping the side of her face. Very carefully, he laid his lips on hers and kissed her.
Somewhere, a bell rang faintly, signaling the arrival of Christmas day.
…
A/N: All right. So that was a bit sappy but there is a reason why that was sappy and I shall elaborate on that by the next chapter-which, may I remind you, won't be posted until the thirty-sixth review. So, DON'T JUST TURN YOU EYES AWAY AND ACT AS IF YOU DON'T CARE! READ AND REVIEW! THERE ARE ENOUGH APATHETIC PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD, PERHAPS TOO MUCH. DON'T BE ONE OF THEM!
Press the button that has the word review and make a little author's day less depressing.
This way, please. Thank you.
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