DAYS OF THE MARAUDERS [eng]

Chapter 11. Leather-jacket wizards

LILY

It was getting dark.

Twilight fell like a curtain over the magical forest, and like moths, the people reached for the only source of light they had left, a brightly lit stage that towered over the entire forest like an enchanted castle.

People poured out of their tent camps, merging into a single stream and slowly pouring along the forest paths, only to merge again into a vast sea of leather, spikes, and hair. Nearly all the fans were dressed as vampires to support their idol, and Lily was stared at from all sides by pale, powdery faces and unhealthily glowing eyes in streaks of black paint.

She walked, holding tightly to Alice's hand, who turned her head curiously to look at each vendor. She wore bright red horns, thick bracelets and three flashing flashlights.

Not that we want to be stuck with you all night,' James said. He walked beside Lily, his hands casually shoved into his jeans pockets. The chains hanging from the loops rattled as they hit his feet. Potter's hair, usually shaggy, was now standing on end as if it had been shocked. It made James' head look almost twice its normal size, but he was obviously enjoying it, as he lifted his chin in satisfaction and scratched it with his fingerless leather glove. Lily burst out laughing as she looked at him, but she held it in.

'You're going to drag us away to get ready for the N.E.W.T.s, aren't you, Evans? How can there be concerts with an event like this coming up?' he nudged her lightly with his shoulder.

Lily looked at him sideways but didn't say anything.

Potter hadn't stopped talking all evening and was getting on her nerves. For some reason, he was particularly unhappy about her clothes.

Unlike Alice, she had dressed today in a way that made her feel comfortable and warm a simple black turtleneck sweater and comfortable blue jeans. Except that she let her hair down. At first, Lily thought her simplicity made her stand out too much, but when she looked in the mirror, she saw that the dark fabric went well with her red hair and accentuated her pallor after a sleepless night. Her eyes sparkled strangely today, like two pebbles, and she looked good, but James, seeing her, made idiotic jokes about nuns and honors students, and he kept trying to touch her.

Besides, we have better things to do! But we don't want you to get trampled, do we?' Lily jumped nervously when she heard James' voice just above her ear.

'There was nothing funny about you jumping out of a window for a bloody kiss!' he looked at her in a way that made Lily involuntarily blush. She wanted him to stop. He just looked away and that was that.

'It's amazing how beautiful you are when you're angry,' James said.

Lily shrugged.

'So stick with us, ladies, and you won't get lost,' he concluded, but then he broke the agreement himself and rushed off to see someone he knew. And before he did, he managed to pinch Lily's side unnoticed.

Lily turned sharply, but he was already gone, and she was annoyed.

'Come on, Lily!' Alice pulled her hand, and they tried to catch up with the boys running ahead, but then a huge stream of fans poured out of the neighboring tent city, so fast that the girls were separated from their friends instantly and carried forward.

'Do you think they'll find us?' Lily asked anxiously, clutching her friend's hand as their 'river' merged into the vast sea of humanity that buzzed and stirred beneath the empty but already finished stage.

'Let's get closer to the stage, you can't see anything from here!' she complained, standing on her toes.

As she pushed forward, Lily suddenly remembered what everything looked like from a bird's-eye view: the clusters of trees, the tiny stage burning in the darkness, and the huge blur that was spilling out all around it people, people, people.