Unpopular (Kris, Lily, Rori)

[Natalie St. Clare]

Natalie was terribly relieved when classes were over and she could sneak outside to the tree. She still felt strange and out of place inside the stifling hallways of the castle. It was as if thousands of years of history was pressing down on her, crushing her. She couldn't breathe in there.

Now, outside by the lake, she felt free. She gulped in great gasps of air, enjoying the nip in the air that made her lungs feel icy cold. She took off her stifling robe, so that she was wearing just her simple white lace dress that she loved so much, then climbed up the tree to sit on the large branch that stretched close to the water. At last she was able to relax.

[Lily Evans]

Lily tried to study in the common room, but as usual, James and his friends were making too much noise. She finally got annoyed and decided to slip outside for some fresh air. The sun would be setting soon, but she didn't care. She just wanted to get out of there for a while.

As usual, she found herself wandering down to the big tree by the lake. As she sat down against the trunk, she found herself thinking about her upcoming date with Remus. Why had she done it? What was she thinking? Remus was a nice guy--too nice to be friends with James and Sirius, in her opinion--but did she really like him like that?

[Kris Lupin]

Kris was thinking about everything that had happened before school was out. She knew she shouldn't but she couldn't help it, it was another family secret for her to carry. She felt like she had the world on her shoulders and she couldn't stand it. She hated lying to Sirius, she felt bad for it, she couldn't see how Remus had done it all last year.

She had been walking without knowing were she had been going and noticed where she was. She bit her lower lip as she saw it was the big tree by the lake and the girl that had asked Remus to Hogsmeade in potions class. She looked up as she saw the girl she had spoke to before last year.

[Lily Evans]

Lily was still deep in thought and didn't notice right away that anyone was there. She was thinking about James, wondering just why it was that she enjoyed making him so miserable. Was it just because of his oversized ego? It certainly needed to be cut down once in a while.

But it was more than that. She couldn't quite understand what it was. Finally she forced all thoughts of James out of her head--why think about him more than was necessary? Looking up, she noticed a girl standing there.

Lily smiled. "Hi," she said. "You're Remus's sister, right? I'm Lily."

[Rori Logan]

Everything in the common room was just to quiet. It was kinda creepy. Rori headed down to her usual spot near the lake. Upon arriving, she noticed three other people there. She smiled and greeted each one. "Hey Lily and Kris," she said with excitement that she wouldn't be by herself today. "How are you?"

[Lily Evans]

Lily smiled. "Hey, Rori!" she said cheerfully. "What are you up to? I had to get out of the common room; it was so noisy in there. I swear, that James Potter just never stops talking!"

[Rori Logan]

She laughed. "Well, it was just the opposite in my common room. It was way too quiet and creepy," said Rori. "It's good to get out of the castle and away from things every once in awhile, well, I guess in your case, the thing you get away from most of the time is James," she said with a smile.

[Lily Evans]

"Yeah, no kidding," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "Between him and Sirius Black, they really kinda take over the common room. I really came out here to study, but I'm not really in the mood. I just want to be away from all the noise."

[Kris Lupin]

"Sirius isn't all that bad, he just shows off with James." Kris said wondering if they would be alone at Hogsmeade or if Sirius would want to stick with James. She hoped they would be alone, she really didn't want to be around the others when they were suppose to catch up. How can two people catch up if they're others with them.

[Lily Evans]

"I've seen him with you," Lily said kindly. "He seems nice enough when he's with you. But when he and James get together, it's trouble. I'm pretty sure James is the ring leader. He's so arrogant and obnoxious and rude..." As she spoke of James, her eyes and nostrils flared and she clenched her fists tightly at her sides. "I just can't stand that guy! And he'd better be nice to that poor girl Robin, or he'll have to answer to me!"

[Natalie St. Clare]

Natalie sat up in her tree branch, looking down on the girls and silently observing them. She was sure one of them, Kris, the girl she had talked to once before in this very spot, knew she was there, but the others did not. It wasn't hard to read each girl's feelings. Kris was nervous and uncertain. She was also worried about something. The redhead, however, was secretly confused about her feelings. She reminded Natalie of a quote that she'd once heard her father use, "the lady doth protest too much." Natalie smiled to herself, then said quietly, "You really talk about him a lot for someone you don't actually like."

[Lily Evans]

Lily nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of the voice that seemed to come from nowhere."Hello?" she called, looking around in confusion. "Who said that?"

[Natalie St. Clare]

Natalie climbed down out of the tree and jumped down in front of them. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. I was already up there when you got here, and you didn't notice me, so I didn't say anything. I can go now." She bent down to gather up her discarded robe.

[Lily Evans]

"No, you don't have to leave," Lily said, now that she had caught her breath again. "Please, stay. Talk to us. We won't bite or anything, I promise." She cringed as she remembered James saying almost exactly the same thing earlier in potions class. "You're Sabrina's sister, right? Natalie?"

[Natalie St. Clare]

Natalie nodded quietly. "Yes, Sabrina was my sister," she said. "Were you friends with her?" Somehow the question just slipped out. She still sometimes felt the need to talk about Sabrina as a way to keep her close.

[Lily Evans]

"Kind of," Lily said. "She was a really nice person, and everyone liked her. But I didn't talk to her too much. Rori knew her better. Right, Rori?"

[Rori Logan]

Rori started to giggle as she heard a voice from the tree. She remembered that Natalie liked to climb trees, and that she met her there once before. "Hey Natalie," said Rori. "Yeah, she was. Sabrina was one of my friends. How are you Natalie?"

[Natalie St. Clare]

"I'm OK," Natalie said quietly. She looked at Rori, trying to read what was going on with her, but could see nothing. Later she would have to ask about Isabella and Voltaire, but she didn't want to say anything in front of the others. "It's good to see you, Rori." She looked back at Lily. "I'm sorry if I scared you. I didn't mean to. I just like to sit in the tree, and I didn't want to say anything when you first got here."

[Lily Evans]

"It's OK," Lily said. "You about gave me a heart attack, but I'll be fine." She smiled at her. "I used to like to climb trees when I was younger, but my older sister Petunia used to yell at me for it. So what was that you were saying earlier?"

[Natalie St. Clare]

"Oh, just that you really talk about James Potter a lot, even though you say you hate him. If he really bothers you that much, you should try not to talk or think about him." Now that she was standing so close to the red-haired girl, Natalie was starting to get flashes of memories, from long-ago dreams. She could see the girl, only older, with a dark-haired man wearing glasses who looked like James. She had a small baby in her arms.

Natalie shook her head to clear these thoughts.