I Walked into the Common Room. The Marauders sat around the fire. They
looked up at me, glaring. I sighed and lowered my head. I walked up
stairs.
"He did not! That twat!" Ellie yelled.
"He...he did. I ca...can't believe he would do...do that," Lily sobbed.
"It's okay, Lils, it'll be alright," Alice cooed. I knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Marlene called.
"It's, uh, me," I whispered.
'Oh, Serana," Ellie said coolly.
"Since when did you need to knock?" Snapped Alice. I shrugged.
"Since
now," I replied. I looked at Lily. She had tears pouring out of her
eyes. I had managed for months to resist the urge to hug her when she
cried, but this time, this time I lost it. Seeing Sev the way the he was
reminded me of what I had done to her as well. I sat next to her.
"Lily,
I am so sorry. For everything I've done. Everything I've said. I hate
it. I hate myself for it. I was just so angry at myself, that I took it
our on you. I wish everything could go back to the way it was," I said.
Everyone went silent.
"If you want me to piss off, I still can," I said, standing up, turning to leave.
"I
think that'd be best," Alice hissed. But Lily had a different plan in
mind. She grabbed the sleeve of my jacket. She pulled herself up and
hugged me. I hugged her back, equally as tight.
"There is absolutely no need for you to be sorry. I caused all of this. It's my fault," she whispered. I shook my head.
"I never should have kept those secrets. I just didn't want you to hate me," I said. She pulled back.
'I could never hate you," she said, wiping away her tears.
"So, you're just going to forgive her, just like that?" Marlene snapped her fingers.
"She's
my best friend. We've been best friends since kindergarten. She earns
the benefit of the doubt. After all, I did tell her I wished she was
dead," Lily said. Ellie collapsed in tears.
"I've been trying so hard
to get Remus to talk to you for me, but he said I needed to sort out my
own problems. He was right! I missed you so much, Rani, I can't even
explain," She wrapped her arms around me.
'I did too!" Marlene shrieked. Alice's glare softened.
"Five is always better than four," she said, smiling. Soon we were all in a massive ball of tears.
"Does
this means I can call you by your nicknames again?" I asked, my voice
still cracking. They each nodded before we returned to our hug.
That night, after the other girls had gone to bed, Lily...Lils...and I sat in her bed, talking.
"I saw what happened today, with Sev," I whispered, "He's really sorry-"
"Don't. If he's actually sorry, he'll come to me and say it him own self," She sighed.
"You know he won't. He's too proud for that." We were quiet for a moment.
"I tackled James though," I said quietly. Lils laughed.
"You what?" she giggled.
"I
tackled him." I started from the beginning of the story and told her
the whole thing. After that, I decided to tell her everything that had
happened since we stopped being friends. In turn, Lils told me
everything she and the girls had been doing. Their lives were incredibly
boring without me.
"Okay, back to your story. You tried to jump off the Astronomy Tower?" Lils asked. I nodded.
"I
was distraught. It was a few days after you'd stopped being my friends.
You said you wanteed me dead and I wasn't thinking right. After I
jumped. Tony caught my arm and I hit my head on the wall. That really
knocked me into my senses," I told her. She wrapped her arms around me.
"I'm so sorry," She whispered. I pushed her off.
"Hey, clean slate, right?" I looked into her eyes.
"Yeah, clean slate."