Tides of Fate | ᴍᴀʀᴀᴜᴅᴇʀs ᴇʀᴀ

08 | Crossroads

  ̶«̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ ̶ ̶̶̶ ̶«̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ ・☽ ༓ ☾・  ̶»̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ ̶ ̶̶̶ ̶»̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ ̶  ̶̶̶̶

Carina stormed upstairs, angry tears blurring her vision the entire way. The fact that part of her felt completely heartbroken only angered her further. 

Maybe you're not who I thought you were. James's words kept ringing in her ears until she could think of little else. 

How dare he? She'd done everything for them! Never said no, never pushed for the truth. She's been a rock for them, steadfast and loyal. Dependable. So what if she'd been with Lucius Malfoy? What if she'd slept with him? It wasn't like the Marauders were fighting for her company in their fifth year- they were busy with their own adventures!  

She pushed into the Gryffindor common room, counting her blessings that is was empty. Hopefully the dorm would be too. She was just about to push her way into the 7th year girl's bedroom when she heard hushed but urgent voices whispering furiously. 

"What am I supposed to do?" Lily asked in a rare voice of panic. 

"Calm down," Alice soothed. "It can't be that bad." 

"Not that bad? Bloody hell Alice, I actually felt sad when he left the table to go after Carina. How am I supposed to take that?" 

Carina froze on the other side of the door. Was she talking about James? 

"Are you sure you weren't just annoyed?" Alice asked dubiously. 

"No I was downright sad," Lily said fearfully. "And I shouldn't be. This was exactly what I've been wanting for years..." she trailed off uncertainly. 

"You've got to be careful Lily," Alice warned cautiously. "If you're saying what I think you're saying..." 

Lily gulped, staring at her friend wide-eyed. "I don't want to be," she whispered helplessly. 

"But you are," Alice nodded. "You're jealous." 

Lily didn't answer, looking down at her feet instead. 

"Are you sure you're not just jealous about his shift in attention?" Alice tried. "I mean you've got to be absolutely sure, especially now that he's trying to date Carina. It's not worth you ruining something real they have for the sake of finally giving him a chance because you simply miss his courting." 

"I know," she mumbled helplessly. "But isn't jealousy supposed to be anger? I just feel sad," Lily whispered. "Like I missed something really important." 

"Bloody hell..." Alice whispered, realizing Lily was telling the truth. 

"What do I do?" Lily pleaded with vulnerable eyes. 

"What caused this now? You couldn't even stand him a few weeks ago!" 

"Carina was right," Lily groaned. "He has matured- he's sweet, funny, and attentive! And he's been there the entire time." 

Alice watched Lily in sinking curiosity as the witch thought of James with a dazed look on her face. 

"I mean, yeah he's still showy, but he's just trying to get everyone to laugh. And he does care, he's rather detail-oriented." 

"You've got it bad, Lils," Alice grimaced. 

"That's what I'm afraid of," she whispered. 

"Do you want to tell him?" 

"Should I?" she asked helplessly. 

"If you tell him, you need to be at the point where you're ready to enter a serious relationship with him. Otherwise you'll be breaking up James and Carina for a passing fancy."