Something Worth Leaving Behind

Chapter 3

"Oh, that is so not going to work..."

"Have you seen my brush?"

"Where the bloody hell is my corset!"

The sixth year girls' dorm was absolute chaos as they ran around snatching up this and that as they desperately tried to get dressed.

Lily was glaring at her reflection as she let her hair fall over her shoulders yet again.

Alice looked over her shoulder as she tugged a small lock of hair from her tight ponytail and wrapped it around her finger.

"What do you think, Lily?" she asked as she let it fall to the side of her face.

"You look great!" said Lily, forcing a smile.

"You're not just saying that to make me feel better are you?" She looked back at the mirror, worried, and reached a hand up to her head.

"No, no!" shouted Lily, stopping her. "Please! Your hair is perfect and I would kill myself if I made you take that out."

"Really?"

"Yes! Bloody hell, you've been putting it up and taking it out for an hour and a half now, and it's making me sick! I can't even do mine that well. Actually, can you put my hair up like that too?"

Alice blushed. "Sure."

"Thank you," Lily said, sighing with relief. "I thought I'd be here all night doing this!" she added dramatically, receiving a giggle from her friend in reply.

"Guys, have you seen my bloody corset?" asked a desperate Morgan behind them.

"Have you checked under your bed?" suggested Lily.

Morrigan paused. "No, I don't think I have."

Lily rolled her eyes as Morri turned to her own bed and Alice giggled quietly behind her.

"I got it!" Morri reported as she pulled a black corset from under her bed. "Thank you!"

"No problem," replied Lily in a singsong voice only to hear the bathroom door slam shut behind her.

"She'd better hurry up."

"I know... If I'm late, I'm blaming it on her." Alice smiled.

"Okay, now I'm going to need you to stay very still..."

"Is everyone here?"

"I don't know. What do you want me to do, roll call?"

"Roll call? Hmm... you think we should?"

"I don't know. Why are you asking me these things anyway?"

Sirius glared at James and then turned to the Common Room at large which was filled with costumed Gryffindors in the sixth and seventh years and some of the lower years, mainly girls, who were hanging around to admire what costumes they could.

"Okay, everyone!" shouted Sirius, quickly gaining everyone's attention. "Who isn't here?"

A few chuckles and James muttering, "Way to go, Padfoot," answered him.

"What are you doing now, Black?"

Sirius turned to Lily and was, frankly, surprised by her wardrobe. Her dress was a beautiful emerald with a Shakespearean twist and showed off quite a bit of cleavage. It made him wonder what her mother would say if she saw it--from what Remus had said of Mrs. Evans, she probably would have fainted.

"Wow..." whispered James beside him. "Love the dress, Evans..."

Lily noticed that his eyes were considerably lower than her own and gave him a good slap.

"You'd better mind yourself, Potter," she said, glaring at him. "I am a Prefect and as such, I have powers you don't. Don't push it."

She stalked away and left James watching her dreamily.

"She's nuts about me."

"Yeah, and I'm married to the giant squid," replied a sarcastic voice behind them.

James turned to find Frank chuckling to himself.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're mad if you think Lily likes you. Everyone knows she hates your guts."

"Well, why would you like someone's guts?" asked James as if this was the strangest thing he'd ever heard. "Besides, it's a very...complex... relationship... Nothing you would understand," he added, sounding overly dignified.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really. For your information, it's a love-hate relationship."

"Yeah," Frank replied, chuckling again. "You love her but she hates you. Face it Potter, you're chasing an unmatchable girl. The odds of you two getting together are a million to one."

"But there's still a chance..." James said dreamily.

"You know, I don't think I've ever heard you be this optimistic about any other subject than Lily Evans," said Sirius in accusing tone.

"Well, why would I?"

Frank shook his head at what seemed to him to be a lost cause.

A short while later, Clarissa, a fellow sixth year, joined them.

"Hey, guys," she said cheerily. "Have you seen Remus?"

James shook his head. "Nah. Lily saw him last, though."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Sirius interrupted suddenly. "Lily said she'd seen him up on the seventh floor, but that was hours ago. Why hasn't he come down yet?"

James pondered this, but only for a moment. "I don't know," he replied, shrugging his shoulders.

Sirius scoffed at his friend's uselessness. "Well, if I don't know where he is, what are the odds that you would?"

Again, James pondered, but didn't waste much time on it. "I don't know."

"Is that always your answer?" asked Clarissa, grinning at the duo. "Well anyway, if you see him, tell him I'm looking for him."

"What do you need him for, anyway?" asked Sirius, his handsome features twisting into a dramatic look of suspicious curiosity. His devilish grin told her to be wise with her answer.

"It just so happens, Mr. Black, that I have an essay due Monday and Remus Lupin happens to be the best tutor in Hogwarts."

"Oh, really?" asked James, stroking his chin as he mimicked his friend.

However his better-groomed counterpart merely glared at him.

"Must you always do that?" he asked, annoyed.

But James just grinned.

"I'll leave you two to it," added Clarissa before turning away.

As she did, Sirius shook his head and sighed. "How can Moony turn down such a fine arse?" he asked James.

"I dunno. Then again, I've always been partial to busts myself."

Sirius gave a hearty chuckle before turning toward their dorm.

"Should we try the map, then?"

"Lead the way, captain."

"What do you think?"

Remus turned to the open door of the changing room where his date to the end of the year ball stood, holding her skirt out a bit to get the full effect. He marveled at the simple elegance of the design and wondered what his intended might have looked like in it...

However, being the kind gentleman that he was, he smiled at her sweetly and answered, "You look like a dream."

She blushed at his compliment and moved closer.

"Thank you, she replied, bowing extravagantly, making him chuckle.

"Shall we depart, then, my fair lady?" Remus asked, offering her his arm.

"Indeed we shall." She took his arm and he led the way to the door, but stopped just before it and extracted a spare bit of parchment from his pocket.

"Nearly forgot..." he muttered. She watched Remus curiously as he placed his wand to it and whispered, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

She gave a gasp as she saw hundreds of lines trickle from the tip of his wand as a map of Hogwarts appeared before her.

"Is that...?"

"Hogwarts, yes," he said quickly as he flipped through the pages before finding the one he wanted. Up in the Gryffindor Tower, in what was labeled as "Sixth year boys' dorm", were two dots labeled James Potter and Sirius Black, rushing around the room, as if looking for something.

Remus chuckled. "I think they've realized my absence." He muttered a password of some sort and the map cleared. He folded it up and replaced it back in his pocket before taking her arm once more.

She smiled as they made their way down the stairs together. "You are a troublemaker."

"The term is 'Marauder", if you please."