Letters From A Stranger || James and Lily ||

Fading rainbows

Disclaimer: Sadly, Harry Potter belongs to someone I no longer admire.

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Chapter 52

The sun was beginning to sink into the horizon as Lily sat at her study corner in the common room, watching hues of purple and indigo cascade down the sky as night fell. It was drizzling ever so lightly, the splatter of rain drops against the glass window obstructing her view. The wisp of a rainbow had appeared in the sky, fading away into the night, before it could even take form.

Lily briefly considered getting up and opening the window, letting the pitter patter of rain drown out the defeaning silence in the room and the looming loneliness she felt. But she was already too cold, practically shivering. The lack of warmth was more metaphorical than literal, more emotional than physical.

She stayed sitting on the armchair, twirling around the quill in her hand. A long piece of parchment was spread out in front of her, waiting for her to write down the new prefect schedules. Lily procrastinated, not because she was lazy, but because she wasn't used to making perfect schedules. She barely knew who took which shifts. She had never bothered to know, James did all that work for her.

The thought of James made her frown deeper. Three days had passed since Mcgonagall had told them about James's father, three days since James and Sirius had left Hogwarts.

James had promised to write to her as soon as he reached home. But he never did.

Lily waited patiently everyday as the flock of owls flew into the Great Hall. She barely suppressed her sigh of disappointment when she found out there were no letters like she had been promised. The only letter she got was from Harry, two days after James left.

The utter Jamesness of the space around her didn't make it any better. It was almost suffocating. His quills and paperwork were spilled across his study area, an empty carton of chocolate frogs sat on the desk corner. His Quidditch strategies book still lay open on the corner table. The robe he had abandoned in haste before he left, hung on the arm of the couche, now folded and placed neatly by Lily. Everything around Lily had a touch of James and it made her shut her eyes tight in frustration.

Just as she was forcing herself to start writing the prefect schedules, she heard the portrait door spin inwards.

The lady on the portrait looked over at Lily. "There's someone outside who has something important to say to you."

Lily nodded, abandoning her work as she approached the door. The lock clicked open and Lily stepped outside. She was surprised to see it was no one she had expected.

"Hi, Lucas." Lily greeted as the portrait door closed behind her.

The said boy looked up at her voice, slightly startled. Lily didn't really know Lucas, except as the Marauder's roommate Andrew's boyfriend. The boy look scared to be in her presence.

Lily blinked. She was sure she wasn't that intimidating. But then again, she hadn't been sleeping properly since few days, the nightmares getting worse with each passing day. The dark circles and expressionless face didn't exactly help her look approachable.

"Dumbledore wants to meet you. In the headmaster's office." Lucas said, "I was asked to inform you."

Lily frowned. Dumbledore hadn't been in school the past two days. She couldn't fathom why the headmaster wanted to meet her suddenly.

In spite of her confusion, she smiled at Lucas.  "Thank you, I'll get going then."

Lucas returned her smile and walked away. Lily had formulated at least twenty different scenarios in her head by the time she reached the headmaster's office.