In the Tower
Part Two: 1978-1979 and HALF
Summary: Sirius, Remus, and Peter lock James and Lily in a tower over Christmas Break. They don't have anything, except a little bit of food and the passion within themselves. And right now, they're just letting it out.
Disclaimer: Huh, let me think, check my accent, age, children, amount of money, place of residence… nope, sorry. Not J.K. Rowling.
Author's Note: Skipping around and with so much time differences it isn't even funny. That kiss... my friend loves him. I had to. I don't like the ending, but… oh well.
Previously: "What," she said, dropping her newest chicken wing and stroking his hair.
"Before you're born you can only hang out with people who've already died. You're great fun and all, don't get me wrong, but you didn't have to go through what I did."
"I've been through a lot more than you know," she said softly, and hugged him tightly, before he fell asleep in her arms, exhausted from her tears.
"Hurry up, James and Lily, so he'll know what real love is before he's too far gone." She whispered into the fading afternoon, and it flew away from her into the howling wind below.
Every human being on this earth is born with a tragedy, and it isn't original sin. He's born with the tragedy that he has to grow up. That he has to leave the nest, the security, and go out to do battle. He has to lose everything that is lovely and fight for a new loveliness of his own making, and it's a tragedy. A lot of people don't have the courage to do it. Helen Hayes
Lily grinned as she flopped down onto the bed that she now shared with James. Their little apartment, well it wouldn't be little after the boys did their adjustments, wasn't much, but she was completely fine with that. It was homey and welcoming. They weren't completely finished unpacking, so there were boxes cluttering all the rooms around them.
And then of course, is the fact that not only does she share this apartment with James, but Remus and Sirius as well. At least the most lavish of the bathrooms and half of the master bedroom is hers. The rest, well, no pun intended, goes to the dogs. Just as she was getting comfortable, three rapt knocks were wrought on her door, and then Remus breezed through, clutching a letter. "I got the Hogsmeade dates," he said airily, and she snatched the parchment out of his hand.
"Let me see it," she said, unfolding it hastily.
He folded his arms over his chest and looked down his nose at her. "You already are."
"Oh shut up," She snapped, as she scanned over the dates.
"Ooh, bit feisty are we? What is it, just not in the mood or PMSing? I'll have to tell James he'll need to kick you know what up a notch."
He ducked, grinning, as a large feather pillow went right where his face would have been. "Ah, must be James." He moved a bit as another pillow went flying. He jumped on the bed and read over her shoulder the dates, pressing his chin onto her shoulder. "Next one is in two weeks," he said softly.
"Should I write her or let her little husband do it for me?" She questioned him innocently and he tugged on her hair light enough to still be painful but hard enough for her head to tilt toward him.
"How about we both do it?"
"You're not planning on telling me you want a divorce to be with Remus now are you, Lily?" James said stepping into the room and dropping the bags he picked up.
"Of course not," Remus and Lily said in the same tone of voice. "We were just thinking who should owl Somailia first." Remus finished.
"You should Remy; she's your girlfriend after all." James nodded at him and tossed Lily a letter which she grabbed up as soon as it landed on her stomach. "And that's from Somailia as well," he told her, and she snorted but opened it anyway.
She read the first lines and blushed crimson. Remus tried to read it over her shoulder, but she elbowed him in the nose. "That's impolite to read over someone's shoulder,"
"But you didn't mind before,"
"I mind now," then she got up and kissed James' cheek but pulled away as he pulled her closer to him, holding her by the waist. "No, not right now," she said, blushing harder. "I'm gonna go read this and then make dinner."
She then positively fled the room. James raised an eyebrow at Remus, who instantly jumped off the bed and backed away from it. "Didn't do anything, I swear."
"Yeah I know you don't," James said, and then just sighed and tossed Remus a bag, which he caught with oomph.
"What the hell is this?" He asked, breathing heavily, and trying to shift the bag into a comfortable position. "And how the hell did you hold it so easily?"
James grinned slyly but did not answer. "Put those on yours and Sirius' beds please." James opened his bag, and snapped the blanket smartly and laid it down on the bed, tucking in the edges neatly. He reached into the bag again and pulled out a quilt, which he folded nicely at the end of the bed. He then pulled out matching pillow cases and then picked up both the pillows Lily threw and put them in, placing them in their proper places.
"Oh my gods, it must be a miracle," Remus said watching James, fascinated. "Or a bad omen," He ran out of the room just as James threw the empty bag at him.
Remus threw the blankets and pillow cases onto his and Sirius' beds haphazardly, trying to finish the job quickly as possible. He snuck toward the kitchen and then quickly retreated, covering his eyes. James and Lily were going at it.
"James!" She squealed, and then shoved a handful of flour into his face, making him look quite pale. He grabbed an egg and cracked it in her hair, taking some of the yoke on his fingers and smearing it on her face, laughing. She grabbed her open can of tomato soup and threw it at his shirt, making it splatter everywhere. James went to grab the milk jug but she was quicker. She opened it and poured the contents of it on his head. He grinned and opened the drawer behind him and Lily could only blink before she had chocolate chips dripping from her forehead. Her eyes narrowed in glee, summoned up the worst possible thing she could think of, spinach, half cooked, and threw it at him, and he ducked laughing ran over to her despite being hit repeatedly with the spinach, grabbed her up and twirled her around.
Sirius walked into the apartment and tried to walk into the kitchen but Remus grabbed his sleeve and pulled him away from the door. "What?" Sirius asked. "I'm hungry."
"Not now," Remus pleaded with him, but Sirius ignored him and swung the door open, took in the sight of James and Lily and then the kitchen, put his hands on his hips and said in a girly tone, "now all we have to do is put you in the oven and then we can eat you all up!"
James and Lily froze and looked at him, and then looked at each other, and then snorted loudly. "You're a right state," Lily said, looking at James up and down.
"Well you've always looked a bit off to me, but hey insanity looks good on you," James said, smiling slightly at Lily. She gasped, grabbed the closest thing to her, onion, and threw them at James. He caught it three inches from his face. "Shame, shame, shame,"
Sirius snuck in and stood behind James. He grabbed a bowl of ice cold water, and then dumped it on his head. James yowled, shook and started to dance around, looking like a monkey. "Why do you cook like this anyway?" Sirius asked, leaning against the counter, then deciding against it and looked at his hands, covered in butter and flour and yoke.
"Its lots more fun," she told him, watching James with a big smile on her face.
James scowling stepped out of the room for a moment and then pulled Remus in. He summoned up the closest thing to him, and then dumped it on Remus. It happened to be hot butter tea. He started jumping around screaming, moving with exaggerated movements. Lily, getting the idea, threw homemade ranch sauce at Sirius and then ran toward James, where they did a quick, idiotic bit of tango they made up. "Well this is all fun and dandy, really, but the food is kind of drying its very uncomfortable," Sirius told them after an half an hour or so, "So I'm gonna hit the showers."
"Don't track any food into the carpets!" Lily shouted after him.
"Yes ma'am!" They heard as the door swung shut behind him.
"Lily, do you mind if I use your shower? I promise I'll clean up," Remus asked.
"As long as you leave it very clean," she said severely.
"Promise," he said sweetly.
"Fine, you may go now." She said, and he smiled at her, as some tea dripped down from his forehead, down his nose and hit his lip. She laughed.
"You sound exactly like McGonagall," James said, holding Lily as she leaned against the counter. She giggled and placed her head on his chest, closing her eyes and sighing contently.
"I don't care who I sound like as long as I'm here," she said softly, and then shuddered as he kissed her neck lightly.
"You taste like chocolate chip cookie dough," he told her, and then added, "with the smell of…flowers."
"How original," she commented dryly. She waited a moment, and then said thoughtfully, "You know, I'm still hungry."
He pulled back from her, spread his arms out wide, and the pointed at himself. "I'm edible,"
"For worms when you die," she said, looking him straight in the eye.
"Well…" he couldn't think of anything else to say so he stuck his tongue out at her.
She walked forward and patted him on the chest, looking up at him and smiling sweetly. She stood on her tiptoe so her mouth reached his ear, and said seductively, "maybe later."
"Why not now," He said, completely unfazed.
"Because our room mates could walk in at any moment, and if they didn't walk in on us, then they would hear us. And our mating call, as they like to put it."
"Silence charm is still quiet effective."
Somailia told me over the summer that Remus told her that when we first woke up next to each other my scream broke the silence charm and they heard it almost a mile away."
"Yeah, well, it made my ear drums ring the whole time we were in that bloody tower."
"You're off topic," a voice said, barley masking laughter, and they both jumped. "Fire place," the voice said again, and then walked toward the fireplace. They had one in the kitchen, the lucky little devils. James blushed crimson, as did Lily.
"Hullo, Mum," James said in a strangled voice.
"Hello, Mrs. Potter," Lily said.
"Oh don't call me that," Mrs. Potter said, looking her straight in the eye. "You're a Mrs. Potter too, you know."
"I know," Lily said bashfully, looking down at the floor.
"Anyway, Jamie, I have to tell you something awfully important."
"You can say anything in front of me and Lily, mum."
Mrs. Potter glanced between them both, and then sighed. "Very well, if I must say it in front of you both. We've, me and your father, have been receiving… notes. Threatening notes from sources, we don't know. We told, Dumbledore of course, and he reckons that they're from Voldemort," she looked so worried. "But the worst part is, Jamie that your dad went to the office yesterday, and there was an attack, and Voldemort's Death Eaters, or so they call themselves, took many people hostage. And some they just killed. Jamie," she said, her eyes tearing up, "Jerome is dead,"
James smacked his head against the brick of the fireplace, mumbling and squinting ferociously to keep the tears at bay. Lily gave him a concerned glance, and then looked down at Mrs. Potter's crying head in the fire. "Thank you for telling us, Mrs. Potter," she stated awkwardly. "We'll… find a way to deal with this. Good bye for now, then,"
Mrs. Potter nodded at her once and disappeared. Vexed, Lily crawled over to James, and then wrapped an arm around his stomach and pulled him toward her so he leaned down and his head was buried in her hair. "Let it out," was the only phrase she muttered before he let out a dry sob and his frame started wracking in her arms. She had trouble holding onto him, so she shifted so she was leaning against a cabinet and he was leaning against her.
Her shirt was soon soaked with tears, but Lily didn't mind in the slightest. She buried her head into his chest and moved so she was comfortable, spreading her legs out stiffly and James moved closer to her, still on his knees, moving between her legs. She blushed instantly but in faded at the same moment it came. He wasn't trying anything except to cry. And she let him, forgetting completely that they were covered in slimy, sticky food or the fact that she was ravenous.
Somailia walked quickly out of the Great Hall as most of the mob came in, yawning and stretching or bright and cheery. "Two more weeks until Hogsmeade, two more months until Christmas, six more months until Easter, and eight more months until I'm free." She repeated this phrase to herself over and over, saying it loudly enough for people to glance at her like she was a crazy lunatic. "Hey," someone said to her, and she whipped around and narrowed her eyes, glaring. "Oh it's you," she said snidely, "now my day is really perfect."
His baby blue eyes twinkling madly, he said to her, "Hogsmeade in two weeks, go with me." He made it a statement more than a question. She pushed a random strand of hair out of her face and behind her ear, and hitched her bag more firmly on her shoulders.
"No, I won't." She walked past him briskly, and he jogged after her.
"Why not, I want you, you want me," she snorted, "I'm handsome and a Quidditch player and you can't resist me."
"I can, and I will."
He reached out and grabbed her shoulder tightly, jerking her around. She glared up at him. "You will go out with me," he stated firmly, his grip tightening on her arm.
"No, I don't think so." And she punched him square in the eye. "Never touch me again," she spat, looking down at him as his eye started turning dark colors, already. For good measure, she clocked him hard in the jaw, and the blood rushed out of his nose and onto the stone floor on which he fell. She kicked him lightly, playfully in his full head of blonde hair. "This is just showing you what you'll get next time,"
"There won't be a next time, because you won't be able to bring me down. No one can defend you, you stupid little Ravenclaw whore."
She kicked him deftly between his ribs that made him writhing and gasping on the floor. "My boyfriend will. Do you not remember the Marauders? My boyfriend is Remus Lupin, but I'm sure that James and Sirius will happily pitch in to help me torture you into insanity." With one last triumphant look, Somailia walked off, leaving Ludo Bagman squirming and making a spectacle of him on the ground.
Lily ran over to Somailia as she threw open the door to the Three Broomsticks, bringing in all the snow. They hugged each other tightly. "I'm really sorry I couldn't get to see you last time," Lily said, apologizing profusely as she led Somailia to the booth she kept for them.
Somailia snuggled into her corner of the booth and drank some of the butterbeer Lily bought for her while waiting. She shivered as the warmth of it seeped into her pores and created a happy little fire burning in her stomach.
"It's okay," she said, smiling slightly as she took off her thick wool scarf. "Remus was fun enough." She grinned then. "I paraded him around so Ludo Bagman could see that I was not boyfriend less and Remus truly was my boyfriend."
Lily grinned at her and sipped on her butterbeer, licking the froth off her lips. "Ludo Bagman is a stupid little arse, there's no need to give any thought of him."
"He asked me out every day for two weeks before Remus showed." She paused, and then continued on, "and then he started again."
Lily laughed. "Anyone else joined the guild with him?"
Somailia frowned. "Sadly, yes." She shifted a bit in her seat and looked up at Lily. "A few Slytherins,"
Lily looked at her in rapt attention. "I'm listening,"
"Some Zanbini character and…"she shivered violently, "Snape,"
"No fucking way," Lily said, flabbergasted. "That grease shop? Not trying to make fun of sweat shops, of course. But, EW, Grease fest,"
Somailia shivered again and chugged her butterbeer. "The thought of it makes me cold to the bone. Like I'll never feel cheerful again,"
"How long has he liked you, and how do you know?"
Somailia leaned closer to her over the table. "He's been sending me letters," she said, her eyes flickering with the hint of fear. "And not love sick one's either. He wants me to join that Voldemort character so we'll always be together."
"Be right back," Lily said, standing up quickly, and heading toward the bar. Somailia waited impatiently for a few minutes, and then Lily came back, handing Somailia a bottle in a brown paper bag. "Drink a little bit now."
Somailia raised an eyebrow. "Fire whiskey," Lily replied, opened her bottle, she is over age now, and took a large swig. She made a face and swallowed. "Burns as it goes down, but you might want it come later times. Don't drink too much now, you'll get a buzz taking only a few sips or so at a time."
Somailia, still curious, unscrewed the top, and after taking a deep breath, took a shallow sip. "That's gross!" She cried, reluctantly swallowing it.
"Aye it does, but do you feels as bad as you did before you drank some?"
"No, I don't." Somailia replied truthfully.
"Good. Now, tell me more about the letters."
"Its sick stuff Lily, I'm afraid to look at my letters anymore, fearing they might be from him, or worse, Voldemort." She bit her lip, and looked up at Lily. "I don't want to be here alone anymore. I get sick and scared and everything is just going wrong! I'm doing underage drinking right now, for crying out loud!" Somailia said loudly, and a few people shot some glances at her.
"Okay, Som, I think its time we take our `we're going to freeze our asses off walk' here." Lily said, standing abruptly and taking Somailia's whiskey from her hands and putting the top back on expertly. She grabbed up Somailia's scarf and wrapped it tightly around Somailia's neck before taking her hand tightly and leading the way out of the pub. The wind was blowing harshly against them, but Lily pushed herself and Somailia against it, who stumbled along behind her, whistling `Somewhere over the Rainbow' faintly. "It seems that you, my dear, can't hold your drink," Lily told Somailia, pushing her down firmly on a bench and holding her steady.
"Appears so, don't it?"
Lily gave her a quizzical stare. "You're faking it, aren't you?"
Somailia stared at her, eyes going in and out of focus. "Yeah,"
"You just humiliated yourself and I back there. Do you even care?"
Somailia burst into tears and threw herself against Lily, and Lily hugged her awkwardly, petting her hair. "I'm so fucking alone here! No one I can talk to, be with, cry with at the night and sob with during the day."
"You can't skip out of school, Som, you know you can't."
"I wish I could though," Somailia shouted at her, beating her gloved fists onto the cold stone bench.
"We'll visit you as often as we can," Lily promised her.
"Often isn't enough," she whimpered, "You can't be there every night so we can just talk about things. You have bloody James to look after, and Remus and Sirius because you know they can't do anything for themselves."
"You'll be out of here in what, four months? And I know for a fact that Remus really wants to get serious, if you use that pun I will throttle you, with you." Somailia pulled herself away from Lily and wiped her eyes, brightening up.
"Do you really think so?" She questioned anxiously.
Lily gave her an amused smile. "I hear him mumbling proposals to you in his sleep. And I saw him twiddling something in his pockets one morning, so when he went to uh, job hunt, I snuck into his room and found a ring."
"What does it look like?" Somailia asked excitedly.
"Nah, nah, I can't tell you. All I'm gonna say is that you'll adore it. That is, of course, if you say yes."
They sat that way for a moment. Somailia looked up at her questioningly. "Earlier in the year, I sent you a letter, barely at the start of the school year. Do you remember that?"
Lily blushed absolutely crimson, remembering. She nodded her head. "Yeah, what about it,"
"You still haven't answered the questions."
"It's- well, I can't really describe it."
"How can you not? You're not even twenty and you've already married. You should have done it loads by now. How do you not know when the best part is, the feeling?"
"Can you not ask someone else?" Lily said, keeping her eyes away from Somailia's face, her expression unfeeling.
"Who would I ask?" Somailia scoffed incredulously.
"Fine, fine I'll answer," Lily said, looking down at her feet as the made feet angels in the snow. "My favorite part is the fact that I don't have a favorite part. I love it all, besides the fact that it hurts at times. There's so many feelings' contradicting themselves at every point of it all you want to do is feel. And then, and an absurd amount of ecstasy." Lily was silent for many moments.
"What, nothing else?" Somailia asked, and Lily shot her a bashful look.
"I think it's something you have to feel for yourself." Somailia scowled at her.
Lily stood, looked at her watch and sighed. "It's about time you should head up to the school, and I have to go," She sighed, looked at Somailia and grinned, "As you said, the boys need me. Who else can make burnt toast like I can?" She leaned down and hugged Somailia hard. "I'll owl you as soon as I can… have something interesting to say."
"But, Lily, what do you-?"
"Bye!" Lily said, cutting Somailia off and apparating away. Somailia slammed her hands onto the bench, bit her lip and tried hard to keep off the tears that were lately coming fluently. She blinked them away and looked up at the sky, watching as a gentle snow fall came.
She snorted and stood and walked slowly over to a waiting carriage. "Nothing is gentle as it appears to be anymore," she said, slamming the door open, jumping in and slamming it shut. She moved idly to ward off the chill settling into toes.
"Hey, Som," A voice said in the shadows of the seat in front of her, interrupting her brooding thoughts.
"What," she said snappishly, and leaned farther into her seat, inhaling the scent of moldy hay.
Long legs unfolded themselves from the seat in front of her, and by the time she blinked, a hand was at her throat but she still couldn't see the person. "Open your eyes and you're going to be in a world of hurt,"
"I highly doubt that," she said, and she was shoved back farther into her seat, being pushed up farther up until she felt her head touching the ceiling. She kicked at random, and she was dropped, as the person backed away, clutching their stomach in pain as they breathing shuddered. "Never attack a girl who knows where to hit someone with a steel toe on her boot," she said, folding her legs and jerking her foot, bored. She looked out the window. "Come on, hurry up, we're almost there."
His face appeared out of the shadows, and she drew back almost immediately. "You're exactly who I think you are, aren't you," she said, pushing herself against the back. He looked up at her with those uncomfortable intense gray eyes of his.
He said in his gravely voice, "Who else would I be?"
"You graduated around eight years ago, did you not?" He leaned forward, his long fingers drumming playfully on her knees. She flinched away from him, but he held her there, until all she could do was sitting and stare. And squirm uncomfortably.
"I did," he told her nonchalantly.
"Then why are you here," she said, looking at him straight in the eye.
"For you," he said, holding her gaze until he glanced away. She smiled, triumphant. "I wouldn't be so happy yet," he said, as he reached back, grasped something, and pulled it forward. Snape came from within the confines of an invisibility cloak, and she squeaked in fright, cowering into the corner of a wall.
"Hello," Severus said pleasantly. Or as pleasantly as you can when you're a greaser like that.
"Hell," she responded, shocked.
"What should I do," Snape asked Lucius, turning his head to look at him.
He shrugged. "I don't care, just don't get your grease on me," Severus glared at him when his head was bowed, inspecting his nails, and he scowled, then straightened his face and stared at Somailia.
"Hey there," He said, trying to strike up a conversation.
"Erm, hi," Somailia said, glancing around suspiciously. The snow had picked up until she could barley see outside the carriage window, but she clearly saw the fact that the castle was still too far away for her to escape.
"Could I ask you something?" Snape asked, leaning forward.
"Go ahead," Somailia said; relieved that she didn't have to really talk to the greasy bastard she knew he could be. Or so the Marauders and Lily told her.
"You think," he said, but then backed away and blushed heatedly. "No, no I couldn't possibly ask," he was muttered to herself now.
"Out with it, if you please," she said, and he leaned suddenly forward, held the back of her head tenderly, rubbing her hair through his fingers, and then kissed her slowly on the lips.
She groaned into his mouth, surprising even herself, and jumped away from him, wiping her lips and looking at him horrified. She opened the carriage door, not caring that it was still in motion, slammed it shut, and ran off into the snow. "Good one," Lucius said, looking up at his now gleaming nails and scrutinizing Severus face, who was looking down at his hand that held her head, disbelieving.
"Oh…" Was the only thing that he could say.
"Yeah, oh, you half wit, why the hell did you talk me into coming here in the first place?"
"I wanted to watch her," Snape said slowly.
"Well I had to watch her, idiot. Orders from the Dark Lord, and now you just tainted her blood stream. Great job, Godric," he said scathingly, and it took a moment for Severus to grasp the words.
"I would never be a Gryffindor!" He said, his eyes narrowed, trained onto Lucius, who was stretching luxuriously in the small place he could stretch in.
"You keep telling yourself that," Lucius said as he threw the invisibility cloak over himself and Snape, opened the carriage door, and trudged into the Forbidden Forest, the closest place they could go to for apparating.
"Mum, please," James groveled, looking at his mother as she rushed around within their huge house, grabbing certain things and leaving others after a few moments contemplating. "You can't fight them on your own!"
"If I die doing this Jamie," she said offhandedly, "Then you get everything."
He closed his eyes a moment, and then opened them and stared hard as she walked toward the front door. He quickly followed her. "You can't save him."
"I know I can't save him," she said pressing her forehead against the door. "But I can try and save the hostages, can't I?"
"Mom," he said, walking closer to her and hesitantly leaned against her shoulder. She turned, and wrapped her arms around him tightly, kissing him on the forehead and the cheek.
"I love you kiddo, you know that right?" She said, looking him straight in the eye. He closed his eyes sadly for a moment, and nodded sighing.
"I love you too, mom."
She stared at his face for a moment. "Good," she said to herself, nodding.
She pulled away from him, and he backed away. She opened the door and stepped outside into the pale early spring light. He stepped out of the door and bellowed to her as she walked out of the drive toward the stables, "You're not an auror anymore!"
"I know I'm not!" She said, turning around, her hair flying. "But I still have it in my heart to try." She walked into the stable, talked soothingly to all the horses, mainly Charlie, and he heard her pop as she apparated away. He sat down on the front steps, leaving the door open and bringing in the chill of the defiant dawn. He put his head in his hands, and tried his best not to cry.
Mêlée rode up not a bit later, pulling up in front of him uncertainly. Clam Chowder impatiently tossed her head. "Jamie?" She asked quietly, and he looked up at her with a watery smile.
"Yeah Hun," He said, looking up at her.
"Where've you been? I've missed seeing you around the property lately."
"Sorry doll, but I've been hanging out with Sirius and Remus and my wife."
"You're wife?" She asked, swinging down gracefully from Clam Chowder and came closer to him. "You're married? But you're only nineteen!"
"I really love her, Mêlée, I thought you would be happy for me," he lied tenderly. Of course, he didn't think that, but she was a good little friend of his, and he liked talking to her.
"Have I seen her before?" She asked, sitting down next to him and moving immediately closer to him, burrowing her tiny body into his large, and rather gangly, arms. She picked up one of his hands and began examining them, looking at them critically in turn.
"Yeah, you have. She was sitting across from me in the Great Hall when you and your mum and dad first came in for, you know, last year."
"Ah…" she said her voice misty. "The red head,"
"Yes," he said, looking off at Clam Chowder, who was busily eating grass and not paying them the least bit of attention.
"I didn't like her," Mêlée said thoughtfully, and James laughed outright, surprising her, to say in the least.
"You're not the only one, trust me," he said, grinning as he rested his chin on the top of her head. "Katie absolutely despised her, and Lily reciprocated the feeling. They only just made amends with each other before, well, you know," he said, leaving it hang in the air.
"Yeah," she said in that sweet small voice of hers. "I know,"
She moved uncomfortably. "I think I should go back, my mum and dad would of awakened by now, and they'll be wondering where I am. They're too protective ever since she died. Damn her," she silently cursed as she crawled out from his lap and collected Clam Chowder's reins, mounting gracefully as easily as she as if she was made to fit into that saddle. "By Jamie," She said, waving, and then she rode off, full tilt.
"Bye!" He called after her, standing and going back into the house. He wandered the familiar old hallways, now looking so cold and bare. He wound up in front of his bedroom door, and he went in and looked at it. It looked pretty neat, considering the last time he had been in it was before he left for Hogwarts. Something sat simply on his bed, and he walked over to it and sat down, and immediately choked back the tears rising in his throat. He sat down heavily on his bed, clenched it in his fist, and cried pitifully.
"Je pense que j'essaye de sauver le monde pour vous," he mumbled quietly, singing it with a slight melody. He stood after a long time and shook out the numbness in his legs, and walked over to his neat desk, took a bottle of ink and a quill from his secret stash, and wrote in his simple, flowing words, if all dogs go to Heaven, then certainly a stag will as well. He placed everything back in neat order, and then walked slowly across the hall to Sirius' room, which he still came to when he had dinner with the Potters. Or, rather, Mrs. Potter.
He placed it softly on the white feather pillow, and then grabbing a handful of floo powder, he screamed, "Hogsmeade!" Where he walked against the rising snow into the Hog's Head, got drunk off his ass, and after a few too many drinks, flooed home and passed out on the floor of the kitchen.
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