Open Your Eyes

The rest of the day came and went after that.

I found myself sitting at the table in the Great Hall by myself. I kept my head down and my eyes glued to the food on the plate in front of me. The fork sat limp in my hand on top of the table.

Things today have just been so confusing, and I don't know what to do. I know that I shouldn't have snapped at Lily the way I had. She's my best friend, and the closest thing I have to a sister. I always say that I would never do anything that would ever hurt her; but I think I might've crossed that line this morning.

I was pushing the food on my plate around with the fork, when a body sat down next to me at the table. Looking to my left, I saw that it was Lily.

I was actually kind of surprised to see her sitting there. She had a calm look on her face and her hands were folded casually down in her lap. "I'm worried about you, Amery" Her voice was soft as she spoke to me. My eyes found hers, and they made it obvious just how worried she was. "I didn't mean to snap at you this morning." I was very quick to apologize. She shifted ever so slightly in her seat. "Amery, we've been friends for six years now, almost seven. This time next year we will have finished our schooling. something as simple as this isn't going to tear us apart. You're stressed, and I understand that completely." She smiled.

Lily is such an understanding person, I honestly don't see how she does it. I couldn't stop myself from smiling up at her. "Thank-you for understanding." I whispered softly. Almost as soon as the words left my lips, a barrage of people sat down at the table around us. Sirius sat next to me, while James and Remus sat down across from the three of us.

"So, are we all friends again?" James had that familiar cocky smirk on his face. Lily and I looked at one another briefly before nodding our heads. "We are." Lily said with a rather large smile on her face.

I never thought that I would be where I am. My first year at Hogwarts, I never imagined that two months away from the end of sixth year that I would have actually made friends with this group of boys. I mean, I guess I could call them my friends. Lily was right, as always, that they're not that bad once you get to know them.

"So you're alright, Amery?" Remus was the one to speak next. My eyes quickly found his, trying to read his emotions. There was a mix of worry and something else that I couldn't exactly place. "I'm fine, just a few scratches." I shrugged my shoulders.

I tugged the sleeve of my robes down ever so slightly in order to be sure they were hiding the bandages. "Your bandages are starting to look a bit red there , Ames." Sirius' words took me by surprise. I could feel my mouth drop open ever so slightly. My dad was the only one who had ever called me that. It was strange hearing it coming from someone other than him. "Yeah, uh, Madam Pomfrey is going to change them for me after dinner."I spoke, clearing my throat in the process.

"Whoa, what just happened there?" James questioned me suddenly, his eyes narrowing down ever so slightly. "What are you talking about?" Lily sounded confused as she looked at the boy sitting across from her. She wasn't the only confused one. "Right then, it was like her entire mood just did like a 180." James explained himself, still eyeing me cautiously.

"Oh, he just surprised me is all." I waved James off rather simply. He watched me for a few seconds before nodding his head. So, we all turned our attention to the food in front of us.

"I cannot believe that we're already at the end of our sixth year! The next few weeks are going to go by so fast!" Lily gushed in between bites of her food. She said the same thing every year, so this is definitely nothing new to me now. "Yeah, maybe for you guys." Sirius scoffed, pushing his food around his plate with a spoon. Smirking, I looked at the boy who was sitting to the left of me. "What's that supposed to mean, Sirius?" It was my turn to question him. Sighing, he dropped his fork down on the table completely before looking at me.

"You guys are all in the top of the class, you're going to breeze through exams. I, on the other hand can never focus long enough to sit down and study!" Sirius exclaimed, slamming his hand down on the table.

I was surprised by his sudden our burst. He seemed so calm and collected a majority of the time. "So, let us help you study." I spoke out rather suddenly, taking even myself by surprise. Sirius whipped his head around and his eyes found my own. "You can't be serious." He scoffed, shaking his head ever so softly. I almost felt kind of insulted by his words. He was sitting there complaining about not being a good study, so I offer to help- and he thinks it's a joke.

"Of course not, I'm Amery. Which is why you should let me help you study." I smirked softly, giving him the offer once more. The harsh expression abandoned his face, and he looked at me with soft eyes. That's when I realized what was going on.

The boy sitting next to me had been badly hurt. He didn't know me, so he still had all those walls built up around him. If you cannot trust your family enough to stay by your side through anything, how can you possibly be expected to trust anyone? "She's right, Sirius. Any help at all at this point is better than nothing." James, the one person Sirius does trust, spoke up.

Sirius looked to his friend that was sitting across the table from him. He almost looked kind of sad as he brought his eyes back to me and nodded his head in agreement.

"Great it's settled then. You have a free period tomorrow, don't you? If you'll meet me in the library then we'll get started!" I informed him. Reaching down, I picked my napkin up off my lap, and used it to wipe any crumbs of food away from the corners of my mouth. Throwing the now crumpled napkin down on the empty plate in front of me, I moved away from the table. "If you all would excuse me, I have a date with Madam Pomfrey for some fresh bandages." I excused myself before walking away.