Proving Me Wrong

PROVING ME WRONG

LAST CHAPTER:-

"Nothing," replied James bitterly, walking towards the staircase.

Remus ran to catch up, something was definitely wrong, and he was going to find out.

CHAPTER 8

"Axis II"

Evans didn't appear in the Great Hall for breakfast, nor did she come for lunch either. It was dinnertime, and James Potter hadn't caught so much as a glimpse of the redhead all day. She wasn't in any of her classes, James knew this was most unlike her, and as he had expected, the teachers noticed immediately that their star pupil was absent.

James thought back to Transfiguration, which had been the last class of the day, remembering how Professor McGonagall's head had snapped up halfway down the register when she realized that Evans was missing.

***

"Where is Miss Evans?" she asked in a curious tone of voice, creases becoming visible on her forehead.

The class was silent except for the sound of James shifting uncomfortably in his seat at the back of the class.

I don't know where she is, he thought truthfully. Yes, but you should know, his mind replied, if anything has happened to her, it will be your fault. You knew she shouldn't have left alone; she was weak, and upset, an easy target for anyone with a grudge against her...James thought hard, who would hate Evans? Apart from every living person of course...

James was brought back to earth as McGonagall stood up behind her desk, hands pressing down on the wood as she leant forwards to peer over her square framed spectacles at the seventh year class.

After a minute she spoke again, firmer this time; "Where is Lily Evans?"

No one answered.

Sirius nudged James and whispered, grinning madly, "Seems as though your hex worked Prongs! I knew we were crazy to think that you'd made a mistake, ha! It's better than we expected, isn't it? I never thought it would make her miss class, she'll be out of that tower by tonight, you wait and see!" Sirius stretched in his seat and put his hands behind his head, "Worked like a charm," he murmured, still grinning.

"Yeah," replied James in a hoarse voice, as he had hardly spoken all day. He ran a hand distractedly through his black hair, with a grim smile on his face, "like a charm."

McGonagall was annoyed now, "Are you telling me that no one in this class knows where the Head Girl is? Mr. Potter," she shot at James, "when did you last see Miss Evans?"

"Yesterday, Professor, in Charms," he answered smoothly as ever, but his eyes never left the desktop.

"And when you returned to your dormitories, there was no sign of her?" McGonagall pressed on, "Did you look for her, Potter?"

"No," James mumbled, shaking his head.

The professor walked around to the front of her desk, arms folded and said, "Why did you not look for her?"

James's mind went blank, for the first time in his life, he couldn't think of an excuse. He sat there in silence, staring at his desk. He listened to the clicking of McGonagall's heels grow louder as she approached the back row.

McGonagall stood before James, and said in a low voice, "Why didn't you look for her James?"

The Head Boy glanced up at the teacher's face and saw that she was angry, and- worried?

This was when Sirius decided that enough was enough. He wasn't going to let his best friend sit there making a fool out of himself, although he was quite enjoying it. He stood up and said in an incredulous tone, "Come on, Professor, you can't expect James to go running after Evans every time she decides not to turn up for class!"

"Do not tell me what I can and cannot expect of him, Mr Black. Now sit down," McGonagall said in an icy tone. With a last cold look at James she walked back up to her desk and continued with the register.

For the next forty minutes the seventh year Gryffindors were all wondering what was wrong with James Potter, and where was Lily Evans? They were also wondering why McGonagall was so interested in Lily's whereabouts, but they reasoned that it was because she was McGonagall's favourite, and Head Girl.

How wrong they were.

***

James came back to the present after getting a very sharp poke in the ribs with-

"A fork, Padfoot?" stated James, raising an eyebrow and turning to his right, "Are you trying to kill me?"

The long-haired boy swallowed a massive amount of food before narrowing his eyes and muttering darkly, "Damn you Potter, you're just too smart for me."

James just stared blankly at his best friend; he had too much on his mind to appreciate Sirius's strange sense of humour right now.

Admitting defeat, Sirius shook his head, smiling, "Pass the salt, you prat."

James got out his wand, and muttered, "Accio salt," without looking where he was pointing it.

Big mistake.

Angry shrieks and yells came from the opposite side of the hall as a large metal salt shaker came whizzing through the air towards the Marauders, hitting a few people on the side of the head, and one unfortunate Hufflepuff got a painful smack on the nose.

"What are you playing at?" came the muffled shout of Gideon Prewett, a 5^th year who had his two hands clutched over his nose. He paled when he realised who he was speaking to.

James cringed, but his three friends were sitting wheezing beside him, they could barely breathe as they were laughing so much.

Sirius, Remus and Peter stopped laughing however, when James replied.

"Uh- s-sorry, 'bout that Prewett, it was an accident," he called back, rubbing his forehead with embarrassment.

The fifth year boy was in shock, he even removed his hands from his nose, which was very red and swollen. Gideon's mouth was hanging open in amazement, and only closed it after getting a nudge from his friend.

James turned back to his dinner, bangers and mash, and found that he was no longer hungry. He pushed himself back from the table and stood up, "I going to go and start that Transfiguration homework," he said to his friends, not meeting their gaze.

"See you later," he said and then left the great hall without waiting for a reply.

The three young men sat at the Gryffindor table in stunned silence. After a few minutes had passed, Sirius spoke, "What the bloody hell just happened?" He looked to Remus for an answer, but the werewolf was lost in thought, so he turned sharply to Peter.

"Did Prongs apologise to a fifth year there now? A Hufflepuff fifth year?" he asked the watery-eyed boy, looking for reassurance that he wasn't going mad.

The small boy nodded, though he too looked very confused.

Sirius shook his head, as though trying to clear his mind, and continued, "Did Prongs go red a minute ago? I mean, did he actually blush?" He said the question slowly and clearly, so there could be no problem with Peter hearing it.

Peter nodded again fervently, and Remus inclined his head also.

Sirius sat up straight in his seat, his dark eyes glittering. He asked the next question with a mixture of glee, and genuine concern showing on his face. He waited a moment, then said it,

"Did James just stutter?"

The question hung in the air for a moment, then Remus answered croakily, "Yeah, yeah he did Padfoot," looking up at his friend with a serious expression.

Sirius's brow was furrowed; he was clearly trying hard to get his head around this last fact.

Remus lowered his voice and leaned in closer to Peter and Sirius.

"Listen," he said, "I noticed it this morning, something's up with James, something big."

"Well, that's obvious," scoffed Peter, taking a spoonful of treacle tart, "I haven't seen James stutter since- wait... James has never stuttered!"

"Clap, clap to Mr Genius here," said Sirius darkly, looking at him with loathing.

Remus rolled his eyes, "Do either of you know why Prongs is acting so strange?" he asked.

"I haven't got a clue," replied Sirius honestly.

"Me neither," answered Peter.

They were silent for a couple of seconds, until Sirius jumped in his seat, "Moony, this morning, what did Prongs want to talk to you about?"

Remus gave a frustrated sigh, "That's just it, I don't know! He was about to tell me when he changed his mind and said it wasn't important anymore."

The werewolf slammed his fist down on the table, probably with a bit more force than intended.

He winced at the noise he made, "Sorry," he said meekly, "don't know my own strength."

"But I do know this," Remus looked at his two friends with deadly seriousness, "Yesterday he missed the start of lunch because he said he was meeting some Ravenclaw in the Astronomy Tower, but all the sixth and seventh year Ravenclaw girls were here from the beginning of lunch, and we know that James wouldn't go out without anyone below sixth year.

He seemed really annoyed about something when turned up late though, like he had a fight with someone."

Peter looked unconvinced, "But who would have an argument with James- ?"

"Think, Wormtail," said Remus, cutting him off.

"Evans," answered Sirius, his eyes darkening.

"Don't jump to conclusions, Padfoot," said Remus hastily, "Evans might not have anything to do with James's behaviour."

Sirius gave Remus a sceptical look, "Yeah, Moony, and I'm a Death Eater. What are you saying anyway, are you trying to protect her or something?" The black-haired boy stared at him accusingly.

"Sirius, calm down," said Remus quietly, "I'm just thinking this through."

Now it was Sirius's turn to slam his fist on the table, making the cutlery rattle, "Calm down? I just watched my best friend apologise to someone, a fifth year Hufflepuff no less! I just listened to my best friend stutter like some nobody. But he's not a nobody, he's quidditch captain, he's Head Boy...he's a Marauder for Christ's sake! And Marauder's do not stutter!"

Peter raised his eyebrows at Sirius and said, "Okay-."

"Shut up, Peter," Sirius spat, and he looked to Remus, "Moony, we need to find out what's wrong with James, and Evans is our best bet." Sirius waited for him to agree.

"She is our best bet, for the minute," Remus began, "but I can't go investigating tonight, I have to do that Transfiguration homework, like James." He stood up, noticing that most people had already left.

The two other young men stood up as well, Sirius said, "If you believe that James is doing homework right now, you're slower than I thought Moony. Homework is the last thing on his mind at the moment, trust me."

The three made their way back to the Gryffindor Common room in silence, but after Peter had scrambled through the portrait hole, Remus held Sirius back.

He spoke in a low voice, "I just wanted to give James the benefit of the doubt, you know."

Sirius studied his friend for a moment, then replied, "I know Moony, James deserves the benefit of the doubt."

As Sirius crawled through the hole he continued speaking, "Evans now, she's a different story."

***

Lily had woken at daybreak, drenched in sweat and aching from head to foot. She had slept on her stomach the entire night, not very comfortable. She forgot why she had stayed in this position when she rolled over onto her back; however, the blinding pain jogged her memory quite effectively.

She tried to sit up, but found that she couldn't. Her body was completely drained of energy and all Lily wanted to do now was go back to sleep, or pass out, whichever happened quicker. Before the darkness swallowed her again, Lily had one thought; Potter.

Twelve hours later, the redhead regained consciousness. She now had enough strength to get out of bed and change her clothes. She had gotten a cold and a headache because she had gone to bed with wet hair, but that was definitely the least of her worries as Lily tried to remove the shirt from her back. The blood had dried, fusing the green cotton to her skin; even the slightest tug caused agony.

In the end, she had no other choice. Closing her eyes and biting her lip, Lily got the shirt's collar and wrenched it up over her head.

She screamed with the pain.

Angry tears sprung from her eyes as she put on her robes and got her schoolbag. Lily undid all the locking charms on her door and she walked downstairs to the common room. She looked at the clock above the fireplace, and swore loudly. It was dinnertime. She kicked her bag across the room and slumped down on the ground.

Why me? She thought, while fiercely wiping her tears away with her hand. Before Lily could think of a reason, someone else's voice answered in her head.

Because you're just like your good-for-nothing mother, came her father's slur, thinking you're smarter than me, better than me, when you're not, and not knowing when to keep your mouth shut. You only listen to me when I use my hands, when I make you listen, you're just like her.

Another voice entered Lily's mind, it was shrill and spiteful; because you are a freak, Lily, that's why! You, the abnormal child, tore our family apart, and now you're paying for it.

Because you're a filthy little mudblood who shouldn't even be at this school. You're not even a proper witch, Bellatrix Black's cold tone pounded in Lily's ears.

Evans, just face it; you are a nobody, said the gleeful voice of James Potter, you have no friends, definitely no boyfriend, and your family hate you.

Lily knew this was all true, she believed it after so many years of denying.

Mother

Freak

Mudblood

Nobody

She covered her ears with her hands, trying to block out the voices that were growing louder.

"Stop it," she breathed, although she knew that this wouldn't help.

"Stop it," she whispered again, closing her eyes and trying to concentrate on something else.

She repeated the two words over and over again, and a few minutes later, there was silence.

Lily raised her head and stared into the flames of the fire. She felt her body relax, her heart rate slowed, and then-

The portrait hole opened, and James Potter emerged looking a mess; his school shirt was ripped, his right hand was bleeding, and his glasses were shattered.

Lily's eyes widened at the sight of him, what happened?

Before she could say anything, before she could even think, Potter lifted a shaking hand and pointed at her, Lily cowered on the floor.

He was clearly out of breath; he looked at her with mingled fury and fear.

"You. Evans. Stay the hell away from me."

He turned and stamped up the stairs to his room. At the top, he kicked his door open and called down in a dangerous voice,

"I mean it, Evans. Stay. Away."

Lily flinched as she heard the bedroom door slam shut, and as she sat there, began to shiver.

Potter had always hated her, and she had always hated him.

But why then, why did it feel different this time?

Right then Lily made a new vow, to never find out.