It All Fell Down | A Marauder's Story

Eleven

"My heart is so tired." - Mark Zuzak, The Book Theif 

     The sharp sound of paper crumpling filled the morning air. James lifted his eyes to see Lily Evans reducing the Daily Prophet to a sad, paper ball. All he could make out of the headline was MURDER; that was enough, he understood. 

     "You okay, Lily?" Remus asked over his cup of steaming coffee, nodding at the wrinkled paper on the table. 

     She took a deep breath as if she were seriously considering her answer. "I'm just tired."

     Remus sipped his coffee quietly, waiting for her to elaborate, and Sirius' attention was shifted to the redhead. 

     "Tired of the death," she continued. "Tired of the fear. Tired of being so anxious that I'm going to read a name that I know. Just...tired."

     Remus nodded. "I get that, and I'm sorry that it's worse for you, being muggle born and all."

     "Yeah," Sirius nodded through his bite of toast. "Fuck those muggle borns, just don't be one. Problem solved."

     Remus knew he was only trying to lighten the mood and get a laugh out of Lily, which it did, but he still rolled his eyes at the comment. 

     "Where's Charlie?" Marlene asked, changing the subject, as she sipped her pumpkin juice.

     James shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "Yes, Prongs?" Sirius asked with an arch of his eyebrow. 

     "She's been weird lately," James mumbled, moving the eggs on his plate around with his fork.

     Remus quirked an eyebrow. "I've noticed. She's gone kind of quiet."

     "When did it start?" Peter inquired.

     James scrunched up his face, going deep into thought. "New Years-ish?"

     Sirius snorted. "What'd you do?" 

     "I didn't do anything!" James' words flew from his lips in a buzz. 

     Lily gave him a look. "James." 

     "I didn't!" He insisted.

     "We love you, dude," Marlene said taking a bite of her toast. "But, there's every chance you did do something."

     "You can all fuck off," he muttered bitterly. 

     "Where are you going?" Peter asked with a mouthful of cereal, as James got to his feet. 

     James threw them all an annoyed look over his shoulder. "To find my girlfriend."

     Two floors up Charlotte Riggs was laid across a bench tucked away in a far corner of the Hogwarts library. She flipped through the pages of a book she had found at a muggle bookstore but was too distracted to keep her mind trained on the lines of the paper and threw it to the side in disgust. 

      She covered her face with her hands, suppressing the urge to scream. The tips of her fingers dug into her skin in her madness. Tears began to sting her eyes, and it made her want to scream even more. She didn't figure Madam Pince would appreciate that too much.