Azalea Evans °Marauders Era°

Chapter 9 - The Fighter

Lily," Azalea called, "Come on," she sniffed, "Get up. We have to leave soon." 

   "But-," Lily tried to object, rolling onto her stomach. 

   "No but's," Azalea snapped, "Up. Now." 

   "Harsh much," Lily questioned under her breath, shooting daggers in her sisters direction.

   "Sorry," Azalea sniffed, "I'm just a bit grumpy is all. Don't tick me off today."

   "Got it," Lily neatly made her bed, turning to Azalea. "I'm going to miss it here," her voice cracked. 

   "I know. I'll come back, though. I'll always come back home."

   Lily smiled sadly at her, holding out her arms. "I can see your tears, Azalea," she whispered, wiggling her fingers.

   "I don't want to go," Azalea fell into her sisters arms. 

  "I know," Lily ran a hand through her twins hair, "I don't either." 

   "And I know I'm coming back, but I feel like something's going to go wrong before I do, you know? Like I won't get to enjoy coming back." 

   "I wonder why," she murmured. Azalea shook her head in reply, crying into her sisters neck. 

   "Come on," Lily nudged her sister after a while, "Let's get packing." Azalea nodded numbly, wiping her eyes and muttering a weak "sorry" under her breath. She began gathering her things and dumping them in her trunk, not bothering to fold her clothes or organize them in any specific way.   

   "I'm done," Lily announced from the side. 

   "I want to put everything back," Azalea slammed her hand on the mattress of her four poster bed. 

   "You can't, Azalea. Come on, let's go down and eat lunch. Then we can go board the trains, okay?" 

   "Yeah, okay," she sighed, glancing around at her bare room once again. She would never get to see that room again, and it tore her heart apart. She had been in that room for as long as she had known, sharing it with Lily and the other girls. How could she just leave it and not be upset?  

   Azalea followed behind Lily quietly, not strong enough to say anything. She felt exhausted and she felt sad, two things that did not make the best day. She knew she would finally get to leave school and go out into the real world, but how great would that be, really? To leave her teenage years and become a mature adult? She was never mature, so how could she be now? And how could she go places knowing there was somewhere else she would rather be?

   Azalea looked at Lily as they climbed down the steps, noticing that, like her, she stepped down sideways. What else hadn't she noticed about her sister? Was she too busy seeing the worst of her to see the best? Did she even know her sister at all? Or Remus? What about James? Did she really know any of them?

   The people in the paintings they passed shouted a congratulations, smiling and clapping as if they were proud. They might have been happy that they were leaving for good. Azalea knew they probably didn't see the large castle as she did. They lived in the castle all of the time. They knew all of its secrets and all of its hiding spots. But she didn't. It wasn't the same for her. She had so much more to discover, so much more she could learn.

   Azalea let her fingers glide over the wall as they passed, looking teary eyed up at the portraits. "Don't worry, honey," one had assured her, "You'll always remember Hogwarts. And Hogwarts will always remember you." But how could she be remembered rightly if she never did anything right? She would be remembered as the redheaded girl with a temper. The girl who fought and got jealous easily.