ᴅɪsᴘᴇʟ ᴍʏ ʙᴏʀᴇᴅᴏᴍ | ᴍᴀʀᴀᴅᴇᴜʀs' ᴇʀᴀ

Chapter 37: An Eye for An Eye

merry christmas fellas

The common room was mourning. Lily couldn't remember a single moment when Gryffindor house was so unnaturally quiet. It seemed that even golden lions on red draperies drooped. Lily couldn't cry, she just sat in an armchair looking at the fireplace.

James left the tower a couple of hours ago and Evans was sure that he's sitting somewhere on top of the Astronomy Tower or outside the castle, drunk and frozen, yelling something obscene in the night void; Aurors are listening to this and do nothing. A thirteen-year-old girl hanged herself at Hogwarts and they let it happen, since that moment they have no right to say anything.

Lily buried her forehead in her knees and immediately shook her head violently – no sooner she closed her eyes, pretty face with curls popped up in her mind. Rippling laughter, dazzling smile... She didn't notice before how beautiful Bindweed is. Was.

"Lily," Alice Longbottom sat next to the girl; her lips no longer trembling, her tears almost dry.

"Alice," Lily nodded slowly instead of greeting. "How are you?"

"Holding on," Alice smiled crookedly. "You?"

"Me too," Lily said. "Where's Frank?"

"They're... Merlin, Lily! I know what they're up to! I'm so... I'm so scared."

Gryffindor seniors gathered in Marauder's bedroom. Strangely enough, Marauders themselves weren't there, but there were a lot of people who wanted to teach a lesson to those who did it. Everybody knew exactly who to blame, no evidence was needed.

"They've been there for two hours," Alice said dully. Girls and junior students weren't allowed inside. Alice's eyes flashed, "I want to be there."

"Me too, but they don't let us in," Lily sighed. "They think that girls shouldn't see what will happen."

"I have the right to be there," Alice pressed. "She was like a little sister to me. We are Gryffindors. We are family."

Lily nodded and immediately grabbed Alice's hand, glancing behind her.

"They're coming out," she said quietly.

Both girls rose from their seats, silently watching the boys descend the stone steps. Frank, seeing two friends in front of him, stopped with a doomed sigh.

"I know what you're up to," he said slowly. "But this is not─"

"You can't decide for me," Lily said firmly. "I'm coming with you."

"Me t─"

"No, Alice!" Frank said harshly and shook his head. "I can't deny Lily, but I can deny you. You are my wife and you have nothing to do there."

Alice's eyes flashed again. She stood opposite Frank and looked at him almost with hatred. She knew that he was right but couldn't just accept it. She turned and walked away, slightly staggering.

"It's the right thing to do," Frank said and looked at Lily, waiting for support. But she only shrugged briefly and pursed her lips. "Are you sure James is─"

"James left, abandoned us all and probably is getting drunk with Sirius! Why the hell should I take his opinion into account?"

At this point, the argument was over.

"We're going now," Frank said, still hoping Evans would change her mind.

"I'm with you. What are you going to do?"

"Improvise."

✨ ✨ ✨

Narcissa's hands were shaking. She rocked from side to side, the room floated before her eyes, and the boy, hunched over on the sofa, seemed a dark blurred blot, shamelessly spreading over the emerald plating.