See You Again

-𝕏𝕃𝕀-

'You coming Lily?' Asked Alice with a beaming smile. 'No, you go on ahead. I want to see if Sev is in the library.' Alice shook her head a little before leaving to meet up with Dorcas and Marlene. Lily finished grabbing all her textbooks needed to do her homework before making her way to the library. She was starting to feel a little worried. Sev, seemed to be avoiding her lately and she couldn't figure out why. As well as how odd the Marauders have been lately, they seemed to have distanced themselves from Peter and whenever she's around them they all tense up. Then there's the new girl... who seems to avoid her like one tries to avoid the plague. Ever since she arrived, everything has been so - odd! But for some reason she couldn't help but find the girl familiar, which is impossible as they've never met prior to her traumatic arrival. It isn't like she could ask her either, as she has Amnesia. But it was hard not to be irritated with her, when she seemed to be a natural with classes and at gaining the attention of James Potter. The idiot has always been one of the most popular guys in school with a drooling fanclub of girls behind him, but he has always been so oblivious to it, to the point where she never had to worry about it ever. But now, ever since Ara arrived... him and his friends had been following her around like a lost puppy! And it was driving her mad! What was so special about Ara Lovella!?

As Lily expected when entering the library, the first thing she saw was the usual groups of students with their noses in their books studying or rushing to complete their latest homework. Madam Pince, was eyeing everyone like a hawk just daring them all to hold a book wrong! Lily came to a sudden stop as her jaw dropped open in shock. For right in front of her at a table in the corner sat none other than Severus and his usual group of Slytherin friends, but what was shocking was the group of Marauders sitting with them. No heated arguments, no exchange of spells back and forth... They seemed to be talking to one another, though they all looked incredibly worried about something. She had to literally pinch herself to see if she was dreaming or not! Realizing that she was in fact, awake, she slowly made her way over to the conversing group. The closer she got, the more bits and pieces she got of their conversation... '-mmauld! What if Walburga has her!? What then!?' She heard Sirius whisper harshly towards his brother. 'I'm sorry! Okay! I didn't - ' James quickly cut him off, looking more furious than she's ever seen him look before. 'So, help me Regulus! If anything happens to Ar-!' Noticing her incoming presence, all conversation halted.

Lily tilted her head in thought, was James about to say Ara? Is that who they were talking about? Quickly putting a small smile on her face, acting as if she heard nothing at all. 'This is new. Have you boys finally made up?' Her brows furrowed as all of them stared pointedly at the table or off in the distance, clearing her throat trying to move past the sudden awkward, tense atmosphere. 'Sev, I thought we could work on our potions essay together!' Making sure to put on a bright beaming smile. He clenched his jaw before raising his head a little, but still not making eye contact with her, 'Can't. I.. have other plans. If you'll excuse us, we were in the middle of something.' 'Oh, o-okay.' She whispered crestfallen, turning to leave only to suddenly stop and turn back. 'Say, you boys haven't seen Ara have you?' She asked. Immediately everyone seemed to inhale a sharp breath as their eyes turned to her, smiling awkwardly. 'It's just... she seems to disappear a lot lately. Me and the girls keep trying to -' 'Leave her alone!' James suddenly snapped, taking her by complete surprise. Clearing his throat he added a bit more gently, though looking a bit pained in doing so. 'I mean, She likes... her space. Not a big crowd person.' Clenching her fists tightly behind her back, 'I see. I'll make sure... to give her some space.' She spoke a bit harsher than she meant for it to come out.

Quickly exiting the library, fuming and ranting in her head about stupid, annoying, boy stealing, ARA LOVELLA!!!! She made her way back to Gryffindor tower, marched straight into the dorm and plopped onto her bed. Covering her face with her pillow, she let out a furious scream! After a good solid minute, she tossed the pillow to the side. She laid in the silence for another few minutes, before her gaze naturally drifted over towards Ara's bed. She just knew something was off about that girl. It would be the right thing to do! To make sure she wasn't a threat to Lily or her friends. With that justification in mind, she slowly crawled off her bed and tiptoed over to Ara's. Carefully, she began searching the drawers, her trunk, under the pillows and bed for something... anything... yet, there was nothing! How could there be absolutely nothing! She clearly remembers her changing her outfits, grabbing things out of her trunk and yet... it was absolutely empty! This just made her even more furious! What the bloody hell was going on!?

It was almost curfew and the girls returned back to the dorm, so Lily went down to the common room pretending she needed to study. But really it was because Ara hasn't returned yet, and like she expected she wasn't the only one in the common room. The Marauders sat in the corner staring fixated on the entrance with grim expressions. Whatever was going on with that girl, the Marauders knew about it... and so did Severus and his friends. Ara was friends with one of them, wasn't she? The Crouch boy. Obviously copying her with the whole Gryffindor being friends with a Slytherin, Lily scoffed silently to herself. Opening her textbook, she pretended to study as she quietly observed them waiting for Ara. Sirius kept nervously bouncing his leg and picking at the arm of the chair he was sitting in, eyes focused, but paler than usual. Remus kept chewing on his bottom lip and tapping his fingers against his thighs repeatedly - staring back and forth from the entrance to James. James on the other hand, looked focused. Still as a statue, he had his elbows propped on his knees as he was leaned forward slightly with tightly folded hands. He barely even blinked as he stared at the entrance. The portrait door opened and they all looked so hopeful for a moment, then it instantly vanished, seeing it was only a group of students returning before curfew.

It was now 9:30! 15 minutes past curfew, and still no sign of her. Was she trying to gather a group of Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs now? Was the Marauders, Severus and his group not enough? She tried her best to fight off a yawn, glancing over at the Marauders once again. They were still so focused... Were they not tired? Not even a little bit? She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of the portrait quietly creaking open. This time it was Ara... and the smile on James face when he saw it was her as well, infuriated Lily! She slammed her textbook closed and put on a faux smile, which turned real when she saw them jump at the sound - breaking up their spontaneous group hug. Ignoring the harsh glare Sirius directed at her, 'Ara! There you are! I was so worried... you know it's past curfew, right?' Ara pasted on a smile which looked more like a slight grimace. 'Oh. Um... I - I went for a walk. It took longer than I thought to get back.' Lily tilted her head, clearly displaying an expression which told them quite plainly she wasn't buying it. 'Uh-huh! Sure. A walk. Well, now that you're back... we should really get to our dorm, don't you think?' Trying not to roll her eyes at Remus's added glare, she walked over and wrapped her arm around Ara's leading her up to the dorm before anyone could protest or say anything else. For now on... she'd have to keep a close eye on Ara Lovella!