Through The Books

Chapter Sixteen

Almost F-five hundred reads? 71 votes! My heart has officially leapt out of my chest. Ok onto the important stuff, this chapter is dedicated to Fantasy_Freak11 because she finally decided to join Wattpad and because she's my best friend and because she gave me a wonderful idea. Time for some Averius. XP

Chapter 16

Avery's breath caught in her throat. Professor Dumbledore couldn't be serious. "Prophecy? Sir, you must be mistaken." Avery managed to choke out. Everyone was looking at her, so she quickly scrambled to get her wand so she could protect herself. She didn't feel safe, and the eyes were making her queasy.

"Avery-" Sirius started, but Avery was already out the door. Sirius began to stand, ready to chase after her, but Dumbledore put his hand on his shoulder and instructed him to wait. After about five minutes of just standing there, Sirius' anger heightening, and his irritation blossoming, Dumbledore let go of him and Sirius was out faster then you could say a word. His friends all watched him leave, one of them more depressed than the rest.

Avery collapsed a short ways away, next to the black lake. She crawled over to the bank and, with a heavy heart, she peeked over the edge to catch a glance of her reflection in the water. What she saw horrified her. She didn't look the same with midnight black hair and violet eyes. She was tired of this, tired of everything. She wished she could go back to her previous life, where new problems weren't popping up out of the blue.

First she just suddenly appeared on the Hogwarts Express. Then she became a werewolf, and now she was a Seer. It was a lot of pressure and she could feel it gaining on her. She was tired of being the center of attention. She loved Lily, she truly did, but she would have to find a way to escape. The black lake suddenly looked very welcoming...

"Avery!" Shouted Sirius, ripping her from her thoughts. She shook her head, stood, and sprinted away towards a cave near the black lake. She scrambled inside, barely daring to breath for fear he would find her. She didn't want to deal with the feelings anymore. She just wanted to sit here in the darkness, alone forever.

But Sirius didn't stop shouting. He went on and on for an hour before she heard her friends voices also shouting. She knew she was being selfish and childish by hiding and worrying them, but she didn't want to face them just yet.

"Guys what if she's hurt? She's been through so much stress lately, what if she...you know...t-tried something." She recognized Lily's voice right away. They were standing above her. "Lilyflower, she can handle herself. Don't you remember the time she socked Lucius Malfoy for talking bad about you?"

Avery smiled through her tears and let out a weak laugh.

Sirius heard, but couldn't quite pinpoint where it came from so he decided to try something. "And remember that time she tripped Bellatrix for shouting 'mudblood' in the hallway. She couldn't get the ink out of her skirt and we laughed for about an hour." Sirius added. He heard another small laugh from below him.

"Oh, and the time she threw chocolate up in the air when she heard that she was going to get to have Astronomy four days out of the week? I caught that in my mouth." Said Remus. They all heard the small giggles from below this time as Avery replayed the memories in her head.

"And that time when she attempted to steal our honey dukes stash? We all about had a heart attack." Added Peter. James' heart warmed at the sound of the small laugh that came from Avery's lips. He looked at Lily and waited for her to speak.

"My favorite had to be the time when she smacked you and Sirius on the back of the head with a book for trying to cheat off of her homework." Lily stated with a smile. All chuckled. Sirius and Remus looked at each other before smiling and getting down on their knees right next to the entrance of the small cave they knew Avery was hiding in.

"And what about the time we jumped down in a cave so we could all consume Avery with hugs?" Sirius said, giving a backwards glance at the rest of the group before landing in the cave and pouncing on Avery, waiting for the rest of the group to join him in the group hug. Remus came next, then James, then Lily, and even Peter. They smothered her with hugs.

They had been friends for four months, but Avery already felt herself getting attached. She was soon crying tears of joy and happiness because she had such a great group of friends. Even though they hadn't known each other very long, she felt as if they were family. She wrapped her tiny arms around them too, and pulled them all closer.

"We're here for you Avery. We may not know much about you," Remus and Lily looked down awkwardly, "but your a great friend. And besides it only fifth year, there's much more to come. Hopefully it will be a smooth ride from here. We can all graduate and move to some fancy place like France." James said in a dreamy voice. Her heart ached a bit, but she knew something. She wasn't going to let this boy die.

"G-guys. I want to tell you everything." She gulped. Lily gave her a nervous glance and came and sat next to her on the damp ground. Sirius sat on her other side and put his arm around her, sending shocks through both of them.

The group stared intently at Avery as she started to tell her story.

"I had an incurable disease..." She started. Then everything poured out leaving only the important details about them out. Emotionally exhausted, she eventually fell asleep in Sirius' arm  as he cradled her close to him.