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[ CHAPTER THIRTY TWO ]
Let the Manhunt begin...
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The school remained a cacophony of cries and shouts, people running frantically in all directions. Given the dark political times, Exie had hoped the school's protocol would be a little better but things had been quiet recently, the unexpected always caught people off guard.
"Hold on - " Sirius suddenly stopped, causing the other two to crash into him.
"What is it? What do you hear?" Exie asked as he gestured for them to look down over the balcony.
Trying to zero in the sound, Exie's ears picked up a familiar shrill voice with the rare ability to cut through crowds, "It's Marlene and Mary..." She noticed another voice, "And... Peter?"
Looking equally as confused, Sirius nodded, "I think so - "
"Come on, those stairs are about to move, let's go!" Remus pointed out, pulling the two of them as they leapt onto them just in time, legging it towards their friends.
Annoyingly Lily was nowhere to be found, just Peter with his arms around both Mary and Marlene.
"Woah, hello, think we've got ourselves a ladies' man," Sirius chuckled despite everything.
"He's not seducing them, look," Remus pointed down: Peter was putting less weight on one foot than the other, obviously hobbling.
"Oh no," Exie moaned before shouting, "Mary! Marlene!"
They turned instantly, faces cracking into relieved grins as they cried back, "EXIE!"
Running down to meet them, the pure frustration on Marlene's face was evident. Even Mary for once looked a little annoyed although it could have just been the tiredness hitting her; she was an early riser but half four was taking the piss.
"We found your little friend," Marlene sneered before her face suddenly creased up, "Ow, Peter, you just pulled my hair!"
"Sorry, my foot slipped off the step so I grabbed the first thing I could!"
"Pull my hair one more time and I'll push you down the stairs again..." Seeing the look of horror on the newcomers' faces, she quickly added, "I would like to clarify I didn't push him down the stairs at all despite what my 'again' implied. I was merely referring to the fact this isn't his first tumble of the night."
Exie shot Peter a sympathetic grimace, "Oh dear, what happened?"
"Well, after we stumbled across one of the explosives I ran and didn't realise you hadn't all followed. So I went back to look for you but got lost in a crowd going the other and when I tried to push my way out, I fell down the stairs and twisted my ankle!" He gave the girls on either side a relieved smile which was not returned, "I'm so glad you two found me or I would have been there all night, probably blown to pieces!"
At this, Marlene scoffed, "Oh really, Peter, because from where we were stood it looked like you tried to push a bunch of third years girls out of the way who were just waiting for a friend before going down the stairs! Bet you weren't expecting them to push back - "
"That is not true!" Peter stammered, looking almost on the verge of tears.
There was no sympathy in Marlene's eyes as she shot him an evil side eye, "Some Gryffindor you are."
"I was scary, please stop being so mean!"
"Marlene, stop, this isn't helping," Mary said flatly, "That's only what the terrorists want more of, friends turning on friends but not my watch..."
"You know what else isn't helping? Him slowing us down, we'd be outside and have found the others by now if we didn't have him literally weighing us down."
"The others..." Exie realised the girls could hopefully provide some answers, "Do you know where Lily is? I saw you all together earlier."
"Not for a little while, actually we were hoping she'd found you," Mary admitted sheepishly, "We were all on the second floor near the Charms classroom when one of them went off right at the end of the corridor! She suddenly said she'd seen something, we assumed maybe it was you guys and then bolted off in the opposite direction before we could stop her!"
"Wait, you saw one of them go off?" Sirius pounced on it, "Did it look like a Firework?"
"Come to think of it yes, it did actually. Honestly, it was all a bit anti-climatic given all the hype, doubt that measly thing could have hurt anyone," Marlene sniggered, "It was so weird, it just began to spark then sort of rebounded off the wall. You know how fireworks are usually so cool and huge, this one just kind of exploded a bunch of measly white and green sparks."
"It looked like a shape of some kind," Mary admitted, "You know like those ones that make hearts in the sky. I thought it was going to become a cloud or a flower - "
"A white flower," Remus breathed, "A Lily... she must have figured it out. Mary, Marlene, how long ago was this?"
"I'm not sure," Mary pondered thoughtfully, checking her watch "Oh wow, it's only been about five minutes, time really does feel weird when things get crazy."
The boys and Exie exchanged a look: this was a lead. Even if they only found Lily, right now she was the best way of finding their missing friend and it would be good to check she was all okay too.
"Thank you so much," Sirius called back as the three of them all bolted off back upstairs once more.
"Hey wait, what are you going? What about me?!" Peter called.
Although she knew first hand how nasty it was to feel left out, they needed to act fast and with his twisted ankle, Peter would admittedly be a hindrance.
"Just stay with Mary and Marlene - " The latter groaned loudly, " - we'll explain it all later! You'll be safe outside and you can cover for us if anyone wonders where we've gone! That's very important!"
"Do a good job and we'll bring you back a souvenir," added Sirius.
"Wait, it could be dangerous, come back!" Mary shouted after that, "We don't know who did this, it could be You-know-who or Soviet spies! Please just come with us - "
"Don't worry, girls, we reckon the person who did this isn't dangerous, just a little bit reckless!" Sirius called as the trio turned a corner and dashed out of sight despite the girl's cries.
It appeared most people had got out by now as everything had quietened down considerably; the echo of their footsteps was soon the only sound in the hollow halls.
"We've got to be careful, bet McGonagall will soon notice we're missing so we have to act fast," Sirius said as they ran.
Predictably the corridor near Charms was now deserted, their one lead running dead.
"Hmm..." Exie tried to think like her very intelligent girlfriend, "Maybe she um ... headed in the direction of the Gryffindor tower to find us? Or maybe towards outside - "
"No, I don't think so," Sirius interjected, his eyes fixed on something at the far end. On the floor above one of the doors, something brilliant white against the dark stone. Moving closer she realised what was it: a tiny Lily made entirely of light. As they drew closer, Exie spotted something familiar on the floor: the emerald scrunchie.
"Look there, that's Lily's," Exie picked it up, "It's her's, I saw her wearing it as she left the dorm."
"You're as bad as James," Sirius sniggered.
"She's my girlfriend, I'm not going to apologise for being attentive especially in dangerous times," Exie huffed back, "It shows she's been here anyway, reckon she could have left it for us."
Peering around the corner, Remus pointed, "There's another one. She must have noticed it too, a trail of Lilies..."
It seemed James really didn't know much else about Lily beyond her name.
As they cautiously followed, Exie looked around suspiciously, "How did nobody else spot them?"
"I don't know, Sirius admitted, "Guess we've just got to be grateful they're here at all - this one's quite faded already so we'd better hurry,"."
"There are so many..." All this effort really made her rooftop date look small by comparison, "It must have taken a lot of work."
"He had a few hours to be fair, we were in bed by what... nine? Maybe even before that and it was half four when we woke up," Sirius pointed out, "That's over seven hours, for James especially in his determined state, that's very doable. He can be very motivated when he wants."
Another thought suddenly occurred to Exie, her stomach tightening, "He knows about me and Lily... do you think he's still going to ask her out?"
It appeared this hadn't yet occurred to the other two, both of them exchanging a concerned glance.
"I... I don't actually know," Remus said.
Clenching his fist, Sirius gravely replied, "I guess we'll find out."
Annoyingly, after several minutes the trail of Lilies suddenly came to a stop. The last one had flickered so brightly, it had most likely been done within a few minutes but there no more nor indication of where they'd gone.
"I can't see anymore inside..."
"Yeah..." Sirius agreed before his eyes seemed to light up, "Exie, that's it."
"What? Me being blind?"
"No, inside... maybe they're outside. I know this place, the rooftop outside is flat and if you jump down a bit you can basically scale the entire left side of the castle from here," Excitement only seemed to burst as he rushed towards one of the windows, quickly climbing up, "There! I can see another one."
They watched as Sirius, without any hesitation, practically began to sprint along the roof. Taking a deep breath, she heaved herself up, tentatively crawling after him.
Sirius had since vanished around the corner but there really was only one way. Not looking down was the first rule of being in high places but Exie couldn't help herself. It was a mistake: from where they were they had the perfect view of all the evacuated students who looked like nothing more than a bunch of little ants.
"This is why you don't look, you idiot!" She chided herself.
Honestly, time had gone weird, an hour or ten minutes could have passed and she'd wouldn't tell the difference. Right now, she was just focused on following the lilies and not tumbling to her death. At last, she came to a large, flat rooftop and noticed Sirius standing alone, looking out over the view. It really was spectacular, the crowd of students still visible although now the entire great lake could be seen, the large crescent moon glimmering on the serene surface of the water.
"Are they here?" Remus asked, slowly standing up and offering his hand to Exie.
"I don't know..." Sirius whispered, "There aren't any more lilies - "
"NICE OF YOU ALL TO FINALLY MAKE IT!"
James's voice cut through her like glass. She spun around, looking up to see two silhouettes looming tall against the ginormous, bright, crescent moon.
Lily and James.
Without thinking, she rushed forward, "Lily - "
"Exie, I'm here!"
The rooftop the pair were on was much steeper and precarious than the one below which made Exie cry, "James, are you crazy? Get down from there, you could fall! Lily could get hurt!"
"How stupid do you think I am?" Usually his laugh would have come across as cheery but right now it only sounded manic and forced, "This whole place is surrounded by protection charms, if anyone falls they'll just bounce right back. Granted they might get a bit of a bruised arse but that's just part of the fun, right?"
"James, I want to get down," Lily said firmly, her voice ringing clear over the silent air.
A pause followed but after a few moments, she heard a sigh. James sat on the edge, holding a hand out for Lily to follow before the pair carefully leapt down together. The moment her feet were back on the roof, Lily let go of him, instantly rushing into Exie's arms. In that second nothing mattered except Lily's safety, holding her so tightly it was like she'd never let go.
"I was so worried about you," She whispered.
With a small laugh, Lily replied, "Well, I was worried about you. But I'm okay... we're both okay."
"So it's true," A hollow voice came from behind them.
Slowly, the girls pulled apart a little, their arms still loosely around each other as they turned to face him. Although James's poker face was absolutely rubbish, there were so many conflicting emotions lacing it right now it was impossible to read anyway.
"James - "
"I heard all of it back in the dorms. You know I never work without knowing what I'm up against, you should have guessed I wouldn't have just dashed off like a lunatic now. You checked so many places but forgot my favourite one was my own bloody room," He looked up blankly, "How long has this been a thing?"
"Officially since a bit before Christmas," Lily replied plainly, "But I've liked Exie since the start of Third year now."
"I see. Thank you for being honest with me, Lily," His expression hadn't softened at all although his tone didn't sound angry. Honestly, that would have been better, at least the glimmer of the passion that was always burning in James's eyes would be there. Right now he just seemed grey inside and somehow that was even more terrifying.
"What was the plan, James?" Sirius asked sheepishly, "Seems like you put some effort into this."
"Yeah," He admitted, "I did. It had to be something big and I had all those fireworks we bought the weekend before Christmas. The manual gives instructions on how to change the shape, Mr Zonkos likes that. Most people use it to write mean messages to enemies though, not... this. They were meant to go off in the shape of Lilies, just little ones all around the school in celebration if she said yes but they had another use too..."
"You knew they'd cause an evacuation," Sirius filled in to which he nodded.
"Exactly, I knew you'd keep Lily under careful watch even before I heard it. It was so obvious from your faces as Sirius shouted that none of you wanted me to go through with it. You wouldn't let her leave the dorms or be alone unless there was a bigger emergency ... so I simply created one. You make your own luck, you know. I realised that if the fireworks were found, the school would have to evacuate out of protocol. Even if they figured out within minutes they were harmless, given how things are they'd really have no choice. Lily would have to leave and in the pandemonium, it would be impossible for you to keep track of her. Panic makes every man think for themselves. It was the perfect way to get her away from both the dorms and your watchful eyes."
"I just feel like there were other things you could have tried before this though..." Remus murmured to himself.
"After everything was in place, it was just a matter of time until one of the prefects stumbled upon something. I merely waited in an alcove by the portrait until Lily and her friends came out then followed from there, concealed by the cloak. However she was still with Mary and Marlene so I had to figure out how to get them to split up. For this I merely had to stay close until they came near one of the fireworks I'd planted and it didn't take long - I must have planted at least fifty, used up every one I had."
"The one near the Charms classroom was an early attempt so I knew the lily would be a little funky but had to make do. Nobody was near, not that they're strong enough to cause serious damage anyway, but Lily was close enough to see so I set it off. Even if the shape was blurry, I could tell that she'd twigged on it what it was meant to be and who was behind it all. You were prepped for a plan like this anyway."
"The light lilies were easy, I've been able to do light charms since second year and it was just a matter of applying the shape I'd already enchanted for the fireworks onto them too. Once I had your attention with the firework, I cast the first lily light charm and then the next. You followed as I'd hoped, Lily which finally brought us to here."
"This rooftop was the only place for it to happen, just look at the stunning views," He pointed around them as Exie noticed that his broom was resting in one corner, "There are five fireworks here. If she'd said yes, we would have got on my broom and left into the night. That would have triggered them to go off at the same time to make the shape of a giant lily above the castle that nobody could miss. I guessed you'd all either be here or evacuated, so you'd see the lily no matter what and know I was right."
The four of them stood speechless, nobody sure what to say.
"James..." Lily's voice was breathy when she finally spoke, "This is impressive but... it's just too much. You've always been too much for me honestly. I mean, just look at this: you evacuated an entire school just to get to me probably scaring hundreds, that's really intense. You do these big, grand gestures that get everyone's attention in the name of love but they're not for me really. They've always been for you and your enjoyment, I'm just an excuse for you to do the things you love. Personally, I'd rather hide in the corner with a book and a warm mug of tea than be the centre of some grand scheme. Some girls would love this but I'm not one of them and if you really knew me, you'd understand that. I'm sorry - "
"No need to apologise, Lily," James held his hand up, his teeth clenched despite the smile, "You can't help the way you feel."
An idea suddenly came to Exie's mind, something that didn't quite make sense, "Wait, you said you overheard everything we said which means you knew about me and Lily within moments of leaving yet ... you set it all up anyway. Why did you do this whole plan when you knew she'd say no?"
"Because he wanted to show us what he could do," Sirius answered softly, "You must have been inspired beyond anything to finish it so fast, James. He couldn't bear to let such a spectacular plan go to waste even if it would inevitable be tainted by rejection."
The look on his face suggested Sirius had hit the nail on the head, "Exactly, might not have got the girl but at least I've still got my brain, you know? It was better than going back to the dorms anyway, seeing all your faces and... maybe..." His fist suddenly tightened as a sadness replaced the emptiness in his eyes, "Maybe ... a small part of me still hoped she'd say yes. But I can see that's not the case now."
James's smile didn't reach his eyes as Exie desperately tried to remember anything from her pre-planned speech to salvage this disaster, "James, we never wanted to upset you ... it's been hard - "
"I'm not upset," He pointed to his upturned mouth, "See this smile? Could an upset person do this? I just found out all of my best friends have basically betrayed me... why would that effect me at all?"
"James, we never wanted to betray you but you had to see you and Lily - Sirius began but was cut off.
"You could have told me," The lines on his forehead deepened as his face screwed up, James's face betraying complete and utter sadness for the first time, "Look, Remus and Exie I ... I get it but you're my best friend ... why didn't you tell me - "
"I don't know, James, I should have done, I'm sorry - "
"It's fine," Suddenly calm overtook once more as James began to take a few steps back, feeling around for his propped up broom, "You know me, I take everything in my stride, this is nothing more than a slight bump on an otherwise smooth ride."
"James, please talk to us ... or have some space if you need... actually no, please stay," This was too much as a fat tear rolled down Exie's cheek.
He was on the edge of the rooftop now, the dead smile still on his face, "You two look nice together really and I do hope you're happy. Don't worry about me. I'm James Potter and I'll be fine..."
They all gasped, rushing forwards as James stretched his arms out, tumbling over the edge of the roof like it was nothing. She knew there were charms but it made her heartbeat thump into her head. Suddenly he shot past them, suddenly astride his room as he skyrocketed upwards towards the dark night sky.
"JAMES, COME BACK!" Sirius called after him but everyone knew it was in vain, that wasn't happening right now, "We need to - "
All of a sudden, his words were drowned out by a strange fizzing that came from all around them. Remus was the first to clock on, suddenly shouting, "The five fireworks, they're triggered by him leaving, quick we need to get away!"
Nobody needed telling twice, running as fast as they could although they barely got away in time as the fireworks went off, a brilliant white Lily shimmering in the dark night sky high above them.
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Kinda wanna write a James Potter II second novel but am still formulating the ending. Someone once said never start a book before you know the ending as it's like going on a journey with no destination which has actually helped me a lot. All the twists and turns can figured out as long as you know the end - E x