FINDING LOVE IN THE PAST
Chapter Six
Lily was running along the
boat deck. She had to find James. When she finally saw him, he was with
Kathleen and Max. "James!"
"What’s wrong,
Lily?" James asked.
"James, the ship is
sinking! We have to get to a lifeboat!"
"That’s impossible. The
Titanic can’t sink," Max said.
"Max is right. The
Titanic is unsinkable," Kathleen joined in.
"What’s wrong with all of
you?" Lily exclaimed. "The Titanic struck an iceberg almost two hours
ago! We have to get off the ship!"
"Leave! Are you mad? This
ship is so stable, there is no way I’m stepping foot in a small, dark lifeboat.
Besides, this is only a drill," Kathleen said, trying to calm Lily down.
"But it’s strange." She looked at Max and added, "Why would they
have a drill at one o’clock in the morning?"
Tears started to form in Lily
eyes from frustration. Why aren’t they listening to me? She looked around. She
saw other people acting like James, Max, and Kathleen. Why isn’t anyone getting
in a lifeboat? The ship is sinking! Lily walked to the edge and saw some
lifeboats paddling away. Away from the ship, away from her. What frightened her
most about that was that the lifeboats looked so empty. When she turned around,
she saw some passengers looking panicked and some worried. I have to get them
to a lifeboat, she thought. "Let’s ask a crew member what’s
happening," she said to them.
"That’s an excellent
idea. I’m freezing out here," Kathleen said. They started to walk near the
bow. When they reached the first lifeboat they saw, James was about to ask the
crewmember what was happening when they overheard a conversation.
The elderly woman in front of
them turned to her husband and said, "We have been living together for
many years. Where you go, I go." They turned and started to walk away from
the lifeboat.
Lily’s eyes started to tear
up. She heard Max ask the crewmember what was going on. She heard his response.
He said that the ship was going down. She looked up and saw the terror in
Kathleen’s eyes. Max turned to Kathleen and told her to get into the lifeboat.
She was about to agree, but then she heard women and children only. Lily saw it
in her eyes--fear of losing Max. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t leave him
behind. "Let’s get into another lifeboat, one that allows men also,"
Kathleen said pleadingly.
"No! We have to get into
a lifeboat!" Lily screamed.
*****
"Lily!" James said.
Lily gasped and sat straight up.
"Lily, are you okay? You
were screaming in your sleep."
James looked worried. She stared
in his blue eyes, eyes that reminded her of the ocean. Tears started to stream
down her face. "I had a nightmare about the Titanic. No one would listen
to me. The ship was sinking and no one would…no one…listen…" Lily started
to cry.
James sat down next to Lily and
held her comfortingly. "It’s okay. You’ll be fine."
Lily rested her head on his
shoulder. Her crying subsided. She thought of what had happened at the party.
She and James had fun talking while John danced with a blonde girl. Later, they
were introduced and all four of them talked. They found out why John and Linda,
the girl John danced with, wanted to go to America. James and Lily had to make
up a reason for going to America. But they all had fun nonetheless.
James looked down at Lily, who
was now sleeping. He leaned against the wall and thought for a while. He closed
his eyes and soon fell asleep, still holding Lily in his arms.
*****
The early morning sunlight shone
through the small porthole. Lily opened her eyes slowly, not wanting to wake
up. She looked around and saw that James’ bed was empty. She wondered where he
was. She tried to get up, but felt someone holding her back. She glanced behind
her and saw James, still sleeping, with his arms around her waist. He looks
so innocent when he’s asleep, Lily thought. She tried to get up slowly, not
wanting to wake him, but that only made him hold her tighter. She rested her
head on his shoulder, thinking to herself how comfortable she was.
Hogwarts
She walked into the
pitch-black room only with a flashlight. She glanced around and saw something
on the floor in front of her. She picked the object up. A knife? What was a
knife doing in the middle of the floor? She noticed something on the tip of the
knife. She held the knife to the glow from the flashlight. She gasped as she
dropped both objects to the floor. The flashlight blacked out as it hit the
floor. She jumped back when she saw what was on the knife. Blood. Her heart
started to beat faster. Her mind was racing. She was standing there in the dark
room when someone grabbed her by the neck.
"Jacqueline!"
"Oh, my God!"
Jacqueline screamed at the top of her lungs, jumped off the chair she was
sitting in, and fell to the floor. She looked up and saw Remus, laughing and standing
behind the chair she had been sitting in. She smiled. "Don’t ever do that
again. You gave me a heart attack!"
"I’m sorry," Remus
said, helping Jacqueline up. "What were you doing that made you so
jumpy?"
"I’m sorry. I was reading my
favorite mystery novel. And the main character just found a bloody knife. And,
so, yeah…" Jacqueline said, thinking about how stupid her answer was. Just
then, she realized that everyone in the common room was staring at her. She
blushed slightly and yelled out, "Sorry! I had another blonde
moment!" Everyone turned away and started to complain that that was
Jacqueline’s third blonde moment this week. Jacqueline looked at Remus and
asked, "So, what do you want?"
"What? Oh, yeah. I was
wondering if you’d seen Sirius around here somewhere."
"Um…now that you mention it,
I haven’t seen April for a while. Do you think we should look for them?"
Just then, they heard the portrait open. They turned around and saw Sirius
carrying April. "Am I seeing things?" Jacqueline asked.
"I don’t think so."
When Sirius walked over to them,
he laid April on the couch, and before they could ask, he said, "She
twisted her ankle."
"Really?" Jacqueline
and Remus asked in unison.
"Yes. Why do you think
Sirius carried me here?" April asked.
"Well, let’s see. You two
were missing for a long time, and I just saw you carrying April in here. So,
you two eloped."
April rolled her eyes and said,
"Yeah. Let me tell you I’m married."
"What?"
"I was kidding."
"I was, too. Fine. What were
you two doing when you twisted your ankle?" Sirius looked away and April
blushed and turned her head so she wouldn’t see Jacqueline. "Oh, my
God!" Everyone in the common room was now paying close attention to
Jacqueline, who they all thought was going crazy for the second time today.
Peter, who was too scared to go anywhere near them, summoned popcorn and
started to pig out. "You were snogging again! What is wrong with you? Your
best friend is missing, your other friend is having a nervous breakdown, and
all you can do is snog Sirius! I have a headache now," Jacqueline said in
a raspy voice. "I’m going to bed."
"What is wrong with
her?" Sirius asked.
"She’s just having another
nervous breakdown. Nothing important," April said.
Remus, however, was concerned and
went to go comfort Jacqueline.