Alright Evans?

Chapter Six

Rays of light were bursting into the room. Lily groaned as she pushed her face further into the cushion to block out the light. Another day where her head was going to be banging all day, luckily she was going home today. She smiled into the cushion pulling it further into her chest.  'I'm leaving today' she exclaimed in her head. Then, as though a bolt of electricity had passed through her, her upper body jerked upwards, getting the full impact of not only the light coming through the double pained windows, but the force of her hangover in the process. She dry sobbed and pushed her head back into the pillow for a few moments. Slowly, she pulled herself into a sitting position, holding her head gingerly. She noticed the rug under her feet. 'Why am I in the common room?'  her eyes darted to the clock on the mantle.  It was only 6 am, but she needed to get dressed and finish packing. It was a long process getting herself off the sofa and unsteadily making her way up, what felt like, the never ending staircase to the girls dorm.

As she entered the dormitory, her ears were filled with the musical notes of heavy breathing and soft snores. Her bed was made from the day before, her case still laid open at the foot of her bed, where she'd left it. Holding onto the wall as she went, she got herself into the bathroom to pack her remaining items.

"Yuck" she whispered, looking at herself in the mirror. Gently, she wiped the run mascara from underneath her eyes, but it didn't have much of an effect. After she'd managed to remove as much as she could, she reapplied the mascara and started hunting for the rest of her toiletries, shoving them into the bag her mother had given her for her birthday previously. Lily smiled at the memory, the year previous when packing to come home, Lily's toothpaste had exploded all over everything, it was a running joke in the house now, so her mum had bought her a toiletry bag to ensure it didn't happen again this year.

After checking and checking again... and then checking a third time, Lily was satisfied she had everything. As she took one last look in the mirror she noticed her hair, matted and sticking out at all sorts of angles. 'Oh god' she thought, staring anxiously down at her brush 'This is going to be agony.'  Gingerly, as if it was an Acromantula about to pounce, Lily picked up her brush and began to untangle the knots, baring the brunt of the pain by gritting her teeth. Her eyes watering as she pulled hard to get some of the bigger ones out,  she kept her mind on what she wanted most in the world at this second: a large cup of tea.

Once her hair was tangle free, Lily proceeded to take everything from the bathroom and shove them into her case untidily, giving her hair brush a particularly violent departure. With her dehydration rocketing by the minute, she closed the case, scanning the bed once more for anything she'd missed and noticed something. There was a small box on her pillow beside her wand, which she only just realized had been missing. Confused,  she reached for the box, studying the label intently.

"Thank you" she muttered into the heavens, clutching the box of paracetamol to her chest in glee. Without a seconds pause, she popped two into her mouth and swallowed without water, which was uncomfortable, but she wanted the pain numbed as soon as possible. Picking up her wand, she walked zombie-like to the great hall which was of course, empty. As she sat down in her usual seat, her mouth salivated as she watched the condensation drip down the ice cold jugs of water, her body sighing in relief as she downed cup after cup.

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James sat up in his bed, staring around at the others who were sound asleep. He'd  been awake for several hours, changed and packed. 'Better go and check on Lily again.'   he thought, his wand sticking out of his robes pocket. When he arrived however, she was nowhere to be seen. He ran back up the stairs, slowly opening the girls dormitories. The other four girls were sound asleep and he could hear someone in the bathroom, relief washed over him. Quietly he laid her wand and a box of paracetamol on her pillow,he'd found in the dormitories. Closing the door silently, he ran his hand through his hair, sighed deeply and made his way out to the castle grounds for an early morning cigarette.