Silver and Cold
I, I came here by day,
But I left here in darkness,
And found you, found you on the way. -AFI
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The Beast was going after her. She could sense it behind her. She was running, but she knew she wouldn't be able to escape. The floors creaked with each step she took, making herself more easily found. Tears had started flowing down her face. She didn't know when she had started crying. Had it been when she had seen it? Powerful, staring at them from above, deadly. Or had it been when she had lost her friends in their seek for a way out? She didn't know anymore. She just wished she could stop running. She almost hoped for the Beast to catch up with her, so the torture would end.
But she couldn't. She wasn't going to give up on life that easily. Because she knew, she shivered just thinking about it, she knew that if the Beast found her, she would not wake up once more.
She turned around the corner, hearing It's treading, getting nearer, following her scent, and found herself with no way out. She was terrified. What could she do now? She heard the Beast howl, its hot breath on her ear made her jump. She hadn't known it was so close. She knew it was howling in joy, he had finally caught his pray. She breathed deeply, closed her eyes for a second, making herself think that maybe this way, she could wake up from the nightmare. When she opened them again, her gaze met the rotten wall she had abruptly stopped in front of. Resigned, she turned slowly, and she met the eyes of that horrible creature, which was waiting for her patiently now that it knew it had nothing to loose. She could almost swear that she saw some kind of intelligence behind those red, bloodshot eyes. The Beast was sniggering evilly, which distorted its face and made her even more terrified.
And so, she waited for death to come.
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"Cass, come on, go to bed. I'll stay with her" Lily tried, for the millionth time. But Cassie would not budge. She looked up at Lily, and they both saw in the other their reflection: bloodshot, shiny eyes which hadn't been able to stop crying since two days before, when they had woken up, in the hospital room, to find out that Mandy was in a coma.
The three girls who had been there that night wouldn't talk about what had happened. The teachers and Dumbledore only managed to gather all the information by word of the Marauders, which, the girls didn't know how, knew everything. Bethany, however, was clueless, as she had been on a date with no other than notorious Sirius Black. She just knew that something horrible had happened that night. But she didn't know what.
So that day, after spending some time in Mandy's bed-side, trying to convince Cassie that whatever had happened wasn't her fault, she went to find the only person who she thought could reveal to her why one of her best friends was having difficulties coming back to the real world and why the rest of her friends couldn't stop imagining that night in their heads but wouldn't dare to speak of it out loud.
She searched for him the whole day through, but could not find him. How could a person disappear like that? It was just her luck though. Finally, tired and frustrated, she went to the library to find peace in her books.
That was where Sirius Black found her much later, sleeping on top of one of the classics: Jane Eyre. He smirked at the sight. He just knew that she would be ashamed of herself for it, and more even if she found out that Sirius Black nonetheless had caught her. After all, she had been ignoring him for the past two days. When he had asked her about this, knowing that she would speak the truth, she confessed that in Hogsmade, she had thought better of him than in the last seven years. However, that didn't mean that she had suddenly changed her mind completely. She still thought that they were, as she tried to put it mildly, way to different.
"Ah, but you see Bethany, they say that opposites attract." He had reminded her, his big, genuine smile never leaving his face.
"They also say that two people who are the same repel. However, Black, I see you and Potter pretty close." She hinted, mocking him. He was completely taken aback by her answer, but he would never show it.
"Wow. Who knew you were funny Bethany?" he asked rhetorically. However, instead of smiling back as he expected, she looked at him and said:
"Just…Please stop trying." And with this, she took off in the other direction.
Returning from his memories, Sirius debated on what to do with the sleepless form and finally decided to wake her up. She wouldn't want to rise the next morning to find herself late for class or something similar after all.
He kneeled beside her chair and looked up at her dreaming form. She had to be dreaming, he thought, because she had her brow furrowed. He noticed that she didn't look her best and wondered how she was really coping. It had to be a blow to have one of your best friends so ill and the rest crying along the corridors, and still stay clueless. He got closer to her face to scrutinize anything that might have passed without notice.
She probably felt his breath on her face, as she slowly opened her eyes, and still half asleep, smiled dreamily at Sirius. However, when he grinned back goofily, she realized what was truly happening and fell of the chair because of the shock. Now she had even more reasons to be embarrassed, she thought, as her cheeks turned bright crimson and she clumsily stood up.
"What are you doing here?" she asked him, confused, biting her lip.
"Good morning to you too. Had a nice sleep?" he said, teasingly, ignoring completely her question.
"Okay, so I fell asleep. No big deal. Stop grinning like that." She tried to shove him but he was too strong and she was too little. He just grinned even wider.
"I can't help it. It's my default setting," he admitted.
"I guessed that much," she mumbled, more to herself than him, but still he heard, and he laughed.
"Well," he started, finally calmed down, " my job is done here."
He started to walk to the door. Meanwhile, Bethany debated herself. She had actually been looking for Lupin, who would sympathise better, but Black would have to do.
"Wait!" she shouted, and ran to where he had stopped. He didn't turn around however. "Can-Can I ask you something and you promise that you will answer sincerely?" she blurted.
"Why?" he simply asked. She knew it was a logical question but still she grunted.
"Because I have no one else to ask." She admitted.
"Ouch!" he said, faking tears.
"Oh, please! You are such a drama queen."
"Am not."
"Are too."
"Am not."
"Are- Wait! Okay, enough playing around. Will you?" she asked, exasperated.
"Will I what?" he asked jokingly.
She just had to hit him.
"Hey! That hurt! We're going to have to work on filtrating your anger on a dummy or something. Just something, or someone for all I care, that isn't me. Look, so you can finally realize I'm a good person, I'll let you hit Peter."
"Please. Really." She was now tired and just wanted to go back to check on her friends. "I'm really not up for the mood for Sirius' games."
His face softened and he smiled kindly at her, which surprised her, but not in a bad way.
"Okay, what do you want to know?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.
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"Any change?" Cassie asked, coming back from an obligatory sleep forced by non other than Dumbledore himself. She had left Mandy's side reluctantly but she admitted, though only to herself and never out loud, that she needed the rest.
Now, sitting beside her were Lily, whose turn was finishing, and Mandy's own parents. They had come immediately after they had been notified about the accident and were currently staying with Hagrid, in his little hut. They had confessed, after a short interrogation from the girls, that it was turning out to be an unpleasant experience, as much as they liked Hagrid. It was mainly the fact that there was nearly no space. Add to that Hagrid's inability to cook and the constant barks from his current dog and you got sleepless nights for two people who were in serious need of a time off.
The girls were quite comfortable around the Darwins, as they were very open and affectionate. However, Mandy was their only daughter and it was a hard blow for them what was happening.
"No, I'm afraid not." Mr. Darwin spoke, with a husky voice, which showed that he had been crying. Mrs. Darwin however, was just pale and looking straight ahead. She had become numb. She couldn't deal with what was happening and that broke her husband's heart.
Madame Pomfrey had administrated Mandy a few potions for all the external and internal damage, which were supposed to bring her back after, maximum, one week. If she didn't wake up after this time, it meant that, even though her heart would keep on beating, her brain would be dead. No one could begin to imagine what would happen if she didn't wake up.
Mandy was well liked across the school. She was a bubbly-but-not-in-a-repulsive-way kind of girl. She smiled and saluted everyone, she didn't get in fights, she was a good student, but not a stuck-up. It made Cassie smile bitterly when she entered the hospital wing and took in the sight of all the flowers, get-well-soon cards and teddy bears Mandy had received.
That night, when everyone was sleeping, Cassie snuck out of her room and left for the hospital wing. When she saw Mandy in her bed, bloodless as she seemed, her breath caught, as it had been doing every time she saw her and, as it would continue to do until she woke up.
Cassie stepped towards her bed and seated herself on the chair besides her friend, thinking about everything and how she had insisted stubbornly to enter what would now had become a part of her night and daily nightmares. Then, and only then, did she start crying. She cried because she felt guilty. She cried because she knew that Mandy didn't deserve it. She cried because of the frustration of not knowing what had really happened. But most of all, she cried because she loved her friend and didn't know what she would do without her.
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James Potter was patrolling alone. He was normally the one that forgot about his duties, having to be reminded constantly. However, these last two days he had done his best, so that Lily wouldn't have to patrol. He had told her that he would do the work and she had smiled thankfully, though what showed on her lips had not reached her eyes.
James was no fool. He could see perfectly how everything was affecting everyone. It was affecting him too, even though nobody except the rest of the Marauders and Dumbledore knew. However, he knew that Remus was suffering even more, as he was convinced it was his fault. He had gone home, quitted school, saying he wouldn't risk the life of any other student, especially his friends, because he was too selfish to give up his studies.
Everyone had tried to make him see that he wasn't to blame for an illness he had. Dumbledore had even ordered to put a restriction spell around the Shrieking Shack, so no one else would ever enter. But Remus had just shook his head, packed his things, hugged his friends and taken a last look at what had been his home for the last six years and a month, before he vanished. He had promised that he would never return again.
Meanwhile, Mandy struggled for her life. She had five days left.
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So I'm back. I'm really sorry for taking so long. It's been a while. However, I had a huge writer's block. I kept picturing this chapter in my head, but nothing convinced me. Finally, I just decided to sit in front of the computer and let the words flow, and this is what I got. I hope it's good enough! I tried it to give Bethany and Sirius' part a bit of lightness so the chapter wouldn't be so emotional. Please tell me what you think. I'm looking forward to receiving many reviews! (So yes, press the button where it says, "submit reviews" and say something nice xD). It really does make my day, even though that's what everyone says=P.
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