Five Friends

Chapter 3

Tension broke out in the common room. People gathered, in a circle, around the three people. Bets were placed on either of the two, and one person was even selling tickets for it. The three people in the center were oblivious to this, however. They were staring at each other in loathing and anger.

Sirius and Lily had finally caught up with Peter.

Sirius stood stock-still in the corridor. "Explain yourself," he said through gritted teeth. So much anger and venom were put into the words that some people took a step backwards, trying to avoid looking at him.

Peter was visibly shaking. "I--I--I was just--I don't have to explain myself to you two!" He turned to try and run away, but the throng of children around him pushed him back, hoping for a duel. He looked helplessly from one face to another, and Lily could tell he was debating what to do.

"Yes, I'm afraid you do," Lily said, eyes narrowed.

"I--I--Just leave me alone, you--you--Mudblood!" Peter exclaimed. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, his eyes widened, having just realized what he had done.

Lily was so angry she was seeing red splotches in her line of vision. "What did you call me?" she said quietly.

"He called you a Mudblood!" Sirius yelled, face red with anger. "That's it, Pettigrew! James and Remus and I tried to be friendly to you! But all you are is a blubbering idiot!" He raised his wand in the air and several black sparks shot out of the end. His mouth opened to say a curse, and--

"Say another word and I'll hex you."

Every head turned towards the sound of the soft voice in the background. People stood on their toes to look over the heads of others in the general direction of where it came from. Lily and Sirius, distracted from Peter, turned around to see who challenged them. The crowd slowly parted, and they discovered the speaker was a boy, about fourteen years old. He had spiky blonde hair that glistened by the light in the corridor, and Lily found herself staring into his silver eyes. No one she knew had silver eyes.

Peter suddenly turned on his heel and ran away now that no one's attention was focused on him. Sirius watched him leave but didn't try to curse him. Instead, he spat, "Who are you to tell me what I can and can't do?"

The boy never lost his calm, cool appearance. "I'm Adrian McVassar, not that it matters to you. But I do know you won't harm that boy just because he called that fair lady a Mudblood."

Lily gave a small smile when he called her "that fair lady", then scowled. Her heart gave a flutter, not unlike the one she used to get from James; her knees were slightly weak; she kept staring into his eyes; and she loved it when he was focused on her. She knew the symptoms. She was in love.

"That's not the only thing he did," Sirius retorted. "And I'll do what I want, when I want to."

Adrian raised his eyebrows. "Do what you wish," he said slowly. "I can't stop you. But just know that I will be right behind you, where ever you go, to make sure you don't harm that boy over petty words." He turned his back to them and starting walking away.

Sirius stared at his retreating back for a moment, then ordered, "Let's go, Lily."

Lily stared at him. And who did he think he was, ordering her around? Did he think she was just going to follow him like a dog? And she really disliked the way he'd treated Adrian. It was wrong of them to just corner Peter like that. They should have talked to him calmly...the way Adrian had. She amused herself for a moment, imagining his cool, collected manner and interesting silver eyes.

"Lily, I said let's go."

Sirius continued to pester her and Lily weighed her options. Go with him, like a good friend should, or confront him about Adrian and his treatment of him? Sirius waved a hand in front of her face, now confused. "Lily?"

She made her decision. With lightning quick speed, she grabbed his arm and held it steady, and then took a deep breath. She reared back her leg, and before Sirius knew what was happening, she had kicked him--hard--in the shins. He jerked his arm out of her grasp and rubbed his leg tenderly. Then he looked up and stared at her, hurt displayed on his face. And it just wasn't the pain kind of hurt. It was the total I-thought-you-were-my-friend look. The kind of look that made Lily instantly wonder if she had done the right thing.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said, trying to ignore his eyes. "I don't like the way you treated Adrian and I'm not going to follow you. Leave me alone." Lily then lost her self-restraint and looked into his eyes. They flashed with pain and hurt, but he never the less got up.

There was silence for a moment. "So now you're defending mysterious strangers and ignoring your friends? Fine, be that way. But mark my words, you'll regret it, Lily." Sirius limped away.

* * * * *

"Today we will be learning about Emocons," Professor Kiggle announced to his first year Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Lily wasn't really paying attention. She was too busy avoiding the eyes of Sirius and James. Word of her act against had spread around the rest of the first years like fire, and nearly everyone had something to say about it. A few were interested in why did it, but for the most part, people had harsh words and insults to throw her way. Nearly every boy and girl in their year had started to shun her, except for the few who ignored her anyway. No one wanted to associate with her anymore, because "if she could treat one of her used-to-be best friends that way, imagine how she'd treat us".

Even Bell was somewhat distant with her. Lily sometimes caught her throwing glances at Sirius and James in some kind of eye-communication. She never pushed it, though--she'd take whatever support she could get. She thought James might have found it in his heart to still talk to her, but he remained loyal to Sirius, for the most part. She couldn't believe she used to think that she was in love with him.

"Miss Evans? Perhaps you would like to demonstrate?" Kiggle asked pleasantly. She was jerked out of her daydream and stared at him. What had he been talking about? Emocons? What were those?

In the thick silence that followed, Kiggle became aware that she hadn't been paying attention. "1 point from Gryffindor for not paying attention, and please do so in the future." People shot her dirty glances for losing points. She tried to ignore them.

"Now, Emocons are simple. You just say the incantation--resero affectus--and a screen will appear in front of you. They will show whatever you're feeling, no matter what it is, through colors. Turn to page 319 in your book for the complete list of all one hundred two emotions." Kiggle explained again for her benefit. "Do I have any volunteers?"

No one moved, and Lily couldn't blame them. She wouldn't want what she was feeling to be displayed to everyone.

"Miss Evans, would you like to demonstrate?" Kiggle asked. Lily opened her mouth to say no, but then she saw their faces. Everyone looked smug that she was scared to do it; she could read it easily. They might as well had a sign hanging over their heads that flashed in neon colors, "We think Lily is too chicken to do something in front of the class". Well, she'd show them.

She stood up so fast that her chair was knocked backwards and clattered to the floor. She ignored it, just walked to the front of the room with determination. Kiggle waved his hand to indicate that she could begin when she wanted to. She raised her wand and said fiercely, "Resero affectus!"

Instantly, a bright flash illuminated the entire room. Lily was slightly alarmed, but then the flash subsided and in front of her was a giant, ghostly screen. She bet that if she reached out and touched it, her hand would go right through it.

The screen made a few bright flashes, all blinding, and then all was silent. Lily cocked her head to one side and looked at the front of her screen. "When will it change?" she asked, for she was staring at a normal, ghostly screen.

Kiggle stared at, perplexed. "It should have already."

"Maybe she screwed it up," someone called from the back of the room. Snickers followed this comment, and Lily felt her face turn red.

Kiggle stroked his chin, deep in thought. Then he took out his wand and said forcefully, "Resero affectus!" More lights followed, and when they stopped, Lily continued to see a ghostly screen. "Puzzling," he muttered. "Well, Miss Evans, you seem to have forced the Emocon to create a new emotion."

"What is it?" Lily asked.

"That I don't know." Kiggle smiled.

James raised his hand and asked, "Why is this considered a Dark Art? I mean, it just displays your emotions."

Kiggle picked up his copy of a textbook and pointed to something in it. "Page 320. It broadcasts what you feel inside. People can use that against you."

He glanced at his watch and announced that it was almost time to go. "Homework is for you to write an essay about this certain Emocon's behavior and what emotion the transparency of it may be. You're dismissed." Everyone groaned, and started to file out of the room, chattering about this and that. Lily went and gathered her belongings and walked out into the hallway, stuffing her parchment into her bag.

"I need to put these books up. I'll catch up with you soon." Bell told her, and she nodded.

She checked her watch and discovered that it was time for lunch, so she slung her bag over her shoulder and set off. Walking through the hall, people shot her dirty looks and made some not-so-polite hand gestures. She bent her head down slightly and entered the Great Hall, wondering if she should just skip lunch and head up to her dormitory. But her stomach chose that moment to rumble loudly, and she knew she had to stay.

A few people glanced over from the Gryffindor table and saw her. Suddenly, every seat was mysterious saved for someone else. Lily felt her cheeks redden again, and she took the hint and sat down at the end of the table, away from everyone else. She ate her sandwich in silence for a moment and stole glances at the doorway, looking for Bell.

"Lily!" Lily turned her head and was met with a tomato in her face. She shook her head disgustedly and picked the red fruit out of a few strands of her hair. Gales of rather nasty laughter followed, where everywhere pointed at her. She lowered her head and stared at her plate. She would not cry; she couldn't give them that satisfaction.

"Lily, you've got tomato in your hair."  Someone sat down next to her, and Lily saw that it was Bell. At least she didn't totally hate her.

"Someone thought it would be funny," Lily mumbled, stating the obvious.

Bell busied herself with preparing her own lunch. "It does look kind of silly," she replied nonchalantly.

Lily raised her head and stared at Bell in awe. Before she had a chance to think, she blurted out, "Oh, yes, let's all laugh at Lily! She's got tomato in her hair! I've never seen that before! Honestly, Bell, that's so childish."

Now it was Bell's turn to stare at her in awe. "You're one to say that I'm acting childish! With all of your 'let's kick Sirius because he defended you from Peter'!"

"He treated Adrian badly!"

"Adrian is someone you just met yesterday! You should have defended your friend!"

"He's not my friend!"

"He was before Adrian came along!"

"You weren't even there! You're just saying this for Sirius! I should have known you would jump to conclusions!"

Bell was silent for a moment. Then she stood up and said loudly, "Everyone's right. I shouldn't be friends with you. You care more about strangers than you do your own friends! From now on, I don't want to see you again, Lily." She grabbed her bag and stormed out of the Hall.

Lily was uncomfortably aware of everyone's eyes of her. She, too, grabbed her bag and stormed out of the Hall. She fought back more tears as she ran in the halls. How dare Bell say that! She was just so--wrong! Adrian was a nice guy, he was just covering for Peter because he didn't want him to get hurt!

She didn't realize it when she walked into a deserted classroom. She sank into a chair and sniffled, while a solitary tear rolled down from her cheek. She didn't notice a shadow loomed over her before it touched her shoulder.

She jumped, startled, while the shadow tilted her head up and asked, "What's wrong, fair lady?"

Silver eyes were staring at her. Embarrassed, she lowered her head and hastily wiped her tear away, hoping Adrian wouldn't have noticed it. "Nothing," she muttered. "What are you doing here?"

"I could have asked you the same thing," Adrian said, with the ghost of a smile. "But if you insist, I had to practice a Charm that I am having trouble with. Then I see a gloomy young lady enter the room, and I decide to investigate. Which brings me back to the question: What's troubling you?"

Lily shook her head and stubbornly refused any more tears to come. She wouldn't break down in front of Adrian. She would show him that she was strong. "It's nothing. I'm fine." She dared to look up a little, and saw a large white crystal hung on a delicate silver chain hanging on his neck. "What's that?" she asked curiously, touching it slightly.

"It is a necklace I got from my mother last Christmas," he said quickly. "Nothing more."

Lily smiled. "It's beautiful."

Adrian never broke eye contact. Lily soon found herself lost in his eyes, and only snapped out of her trance when he looked at his watch. "I must go," he said swiftly. "I hope we meet again, fair lady."

He walked out of the room, leaving Lily wondering about his sudden departure.