Cloak Revealed

Clock Revealed: Chapter I - The Fall

Ophelia_lane

Chapter I

Lily was sitting silently by the common room fire, staring into the dying embers. It was three am and the room was empty. She often woke up around this time and would come down here to be alone. In all the years she had been at Hogwarts, she had never been disturbed and so now never gave being interrupted a second thought. She often used this time to reflect, to think, and to cry.

Lily Evans didn't have many friends; in fact she rarely spoke to people outside of class. She found that she could be easily forgotten and often went unnoticed all together. While at night and at the weekends especially, she often felt lonely and so would push the feelings away and do something productive. As a result, she was easily the cleverest witch in her year and as she spent most of her time in the library, she knew most of the books by heart.

Now, in the sixth year at Hogwarts, she found it difficult to really fit in with people since the friendship groups had been formed since the first year. She had people that she sat with in class and would work with on projects, but overall she wouldn't talk to anyone at the end of the day. She ate breakfast early, tea late and would just find an empty corner to sit in behind a book in the evening.

Silently observing her fellow students, she knew their flaws and on the most part she didn't really want to get to know many of them more than she already did. The one big exception was James Potter. Potter; already the Captain of the Quidditch team and easily the most popular guy in school. Every time she saw him her heart skipped a beat and so consequently she made herself more invisible lest he should actually talk to her.

She remembered every contact that they had had. Every word spoken, not that this was hard as it rarely happened. She knew all about him, his friends, his favourite food and his best and worst subject. She knew that to him she was just another nameless student, not interesting or beautiful enough to excite him or gain his attention. And, while she accepted this deep down it hurt, and every time his gaze drifted lazily over her, not seeing her, she wanted to cry.

The truth was that she was pretty but she had become so practiced in hiding and avoiding attention that she remained invisible to people. She never made herself stand out or look in anyway different. Most days she enjoyed the freedom of being able to go anywhere at anytime. She explored the castle and had found all the secret passageways in the first month, while James and his friends were still looking in the second year.

In the first year she had often gone down to the kitchens, enjoying the house-elfs' company and preferring to eat there rather than alone in the Great Hall. But then James and his friends found the ticklish pear and so she stopped going, in case they bumped into her.

She often went up to the Astronomy Tower at night; she had never once been caught. She found it hard to sleep these days. Lily had been made Prefect at the start of the fifth year but this had not affected her popularity, just a few more people had learned her name and just as quickly forgotten it.

Lily stood up, picking up her wand that she had set down on the table beside her. She walked over to the painting, looking around her just to be sure, then whispered the password and crept into the dark hall. She loved sneaking around. It made her feel exciting and she craved to be caught. She was getting sick of appearing so good all the time. She walked along the corridor to the stairs, keeping her back to the wall she began walking up them slowly, and when she got to the eighteenth step she tapped her foot three times on the brick behind her and the wall melted away. Once through the wall, she walked along the dusty steep incline that led right up to a small room that was blocked off from the rest of the school. The outside wall had been destroyed years ago and was totally exposed to the elements. Tonight it was clear and cool.

Lily sat down. Dangling her feet off the edge, she leaned back and looked up. The sky was dark and littered with stars. There were no clouds. This sight, the vastness of the sky, made Lily sink down and suddenly start crying.

She was sick of it all: everyone and everything in this damn place. She loved the magic and everything she had learned but she wished that she had just gone to a normal school, with her old friends, and then she wouldn't be sitting here crying all alone with no one to turn to. No one to give her a hug and tell her it's all right.

She sat up and hugged her knees. Only two more years and then she could leave. She could be free to live as she wanted. She could get a job and meet new people and make new friends. Get away from James Potter. She knew she needed to get away from him. He was in her thoughts more than was natural. She would often find herself lost in a daydream where he would talk to her; they were not all passionate declarations of love but just the two of them meeting in the hallway and sharing a secret smile, or sitting beside each other during dinner.

She let herself wander into these thoughts now even though she knew that when she thought about it, it would make her feel worse. She let the tears run down her cheeks unchecked as she thought about what could be in a different life; if she was prettier, if she was more interesting and outgoing.

"Shut up," she said suddenly. "Shut up. Shut up." She stood up quickly, frustrated with herself for letting herself get like this. As she stood she lost her footing and began to fall. She reached out behind her to lean against the wall but found herself against nothing. The wall was not there, and she was falling backwards off the highest point of the castle. All alone and no one will know I am gone, she thought as she fell back. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to fall when she suddenly stopped, hitting what she thought must be the ground, though it seemed to come a lot quicker than she had expected. Then she realised that she was still moving, downwards but not falling. The movement stopped and then she felt the cool grass beneath her body. She reached out and pressed her hands into it. She didn't hurt, in fact she felt quite well. Her eyes were still closed.

"Are you okay?" a voice filtered through the shocked silence. Ah. I must be dead, how nice that I can still have my dreams when I am dead, she thought.

"Can you hear me?" she felt someone touch her cheek, and she opened her eyes to see large hazel ones staring worriedly back at her. He helped her sit up, not taking his eyes off her. She looked about, and when her eyes connected with his broomstick it all began to make sense. He had saved her. She was not dead. This was James Potter. Looking at her. The shock hit her like a bus; she paled and then started to tremble.

"You must be cold. Here have this." He shook off his cape and put it around her shoulders. She didn't look him in the eye.

"Do you want to go to the hospital wing? I think maybe you should," he said softly. She shook her head, turning away from him and wiping the tears that were falling down her cheeks with the back of her hand. She tried to stand up but found that she had to take his offered hand to stabilise herself. As soon as she was up she let go.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he said, the concern in his voice breaking Lily's heart.

"Thank you. I'm fine," she said quietly, still not looking him in the eye. She turned and quickly started to walk towards the castle. Her head was buzzing with everything that had happened, yet the only words she kept hearing in her head were 'He saved me.' She heard hurried footsteps behind her and her first thought was that a teacher had caught her; James surely wouldn't have followed her.

"Wait up. I'll walk you back," he said before falling into step beside her.

"So you're Evans, right?" he said, remembering her last name from the prefect list. She nodded.

"What's your first name?" he asked, wondering why she was being so quiet. Then again, she had just tried to jump out of a window and he had stopped her.

"Lily," she said, her voice barely audible.

"Well how do you do Lily, I am James. James Potter," he said offering his hand, trying to distract her from what ever she was thinking of.

"I know who you are. Everyone knows who you are," she said back, though after a moment of hesitation she took his hand. Her hand was small and cold and his, larger and warm despite the chill in the air. She barely touched him and then moved her hand away.

They carried on walking in silence. James was wondering why he had never really noticed Lily before. She had extraordinary green eyes. He was also wondering what would move such a girl to try and commit suicide. He had never really been close to anything like this before. He didn't know how to act or what to say. Had he done the right thing to save her? Had she wanted to be saved? Though he dismissed this thought, as he knew he would have saved her, no matter what. He still felt he should apologise though, even if it seemed ridiculous.

"I'm sorry," he said, cutting the silence.

"What for?" she mumbled back, so unsure of how to act.

"For what I just did," he said reaching out to touch her shoulder. She flinched away, turning to him, her eyes shining with tears. Her face showed how hurt she was. He was sorry for saving my life. How could he say such a thing?

"Lily, are you okay?" he said looking worried. She shook her head ever so slightly, her hauntingly sad eyes staring at him, and then she suddenly turned and stroked the wall and vanished behind it. When he realised what happened he lunged forwards only to find that the wall had turned back to stone. He stood for a while trying to do the same as she did, but he couldn't get through. After a while he dejectedly turned and walked back to the common room.

What a strange night he thought as he walked into his dorm and got ready for bed. He had been out flying. He often did this late at night as he had trouble sleeping. It helped him to think and he liked the time alone. When, out of the corner of his eye, he had seen something fall from the tower and his quidditch instincts kicked in. He had flown as fast as he could to the falling object, shocked to find it was a girl, and a Gryffindor Prefect no less. He only vaguely knew her, but he couldn't think of who she hung around and he couldn't seem to place her anywhere around the castle except classrooms.

Well, he thought, hopefully she is fine now and I can forget this whole thing. But as he closed his eyes all he could see were Lily's, shining and sad.