Potters, a History

Chapter 9. Hexes and Lies

Peter Pettigrew, meanwhile, had never been so scared or confused in his life. What am I doing here? he thought. This is not where I am supposed to be. I should be back in Gryffindor Tower, asleep in my bed, completely unaware that any of this is going on. Ignorance is bliss. He shivered. He also had a weird feeling in his stomach. The only thing he could compare it to was the feeling he had time that he ate all the cookies from his mum's cookie jar, and then blamed it on his cousin. But this feeling was much worse, more intense. He thought he was going to be sick. What have I done?

Then she smiled at him. Narcissa. Loveliest girl in the seventh year. Smiling at him. He blinked, thinking he might have been hallucinating; but no, she was clearly walking over toward him.

"Hi, Peter," she said, in a silky voice, flashing her dazzlingly white teeth at him.

He gurgled. Think, Peter, think. What would Sirius do? "Hi, Narcissa," he choked out. "So, um, do you come here often?"

She laughed as though it was the wittiest thing she had ever heard. "I'm kind of new here, too." Her eyes danced. They were a deep violet, and like everything about her, absolutely lovely. So lovely, in fact, that Peter was finding it difficult to think with them looking at him.

"Just like you," she added, shyly. He thought he might faint. She got a little closer to him, looking down at him (as he was a good two inches shorter than she), but in a way that somehow made it seem as though she was looking up. But he hardly had time to consider that. He was too busy wondering how it was that a girl so striking could possibly look so bashful.

She pulled a lock of white-blonde hair behind her ear, letting it fall on the hood of her black cloak. "Not to be forward, or anything, but... Lucius suggested that you walk me up to the Ravenclaw dorms. You know, because we're from different houses... that way, if we're caught out of bed, we can just make it look like..." she blushed, just a spot of colour appearing on her high cheekbones. "Well, you know. And your dorms aren't so terribly far from mine."

Peter felt his face colour, too. He gulped, and then nodded. "Yeah, sure. I mean, of course. That makes sense." He turned to see Lucius Malfoy sprinkling a fine dust of Floo Powder into the fireplace. Peter gave a little wave, and, suddenly very grateful to him, said cheerfully, "Have a good night, Lucius!"

Malfoy gave him an odd smile before stepping into the flames, apparently to return to his estate. "You too, Pettigrew."

Then Peter, showing a rare spot of the famed Gryffindor courage, linked his arm through Narcissa Drake's. The pink spots reappeared on her cheeks, and they quietly slipped out into the Charms corridor. Soon they were deep in whispered conversation. "So, Peter. Why did you decide to come to tonight's meeting? I didn't think we'd ever have a Gryffindor."

Oh, great, Peter thought. What was he supposed to say? Well, Snape scared me into doing it. He said he'd have Voldemort kill me and my friends if I told them about it. And that he'd come after me if I didn't show. Instead, he shrugged. "I've always had a little thirst for power."

Narcissa arched an eyebrow, looking at him appraisingly. "Really? I never figured you for the power-hungry type." Then she gave a quiet laugh. "Actually, I thought maybe Snape had bribed you."

Bribed... not bullied? Peter wondered. What was she playing at? For a moment he almost felt that she might actually respect him, as his own person, apart from the Marauders. It was a strange feeling, certainly one he was unaccustomed to, but not entirely disagreeable. All the same, though, he suddenly felt awkward. "Nope." Silence. "Why did you join?" he asked, trying to turn the conversation from him.

She looked down at her perfectly manicured hands, obviously as uncomfortable with the question as he had been. Can I tell him the truth? No. At least, not yet. Perhaps when we know each other a little better... "Well, I've always been interested in all types of magic. Dark magic included. I didn't really think of going to a meeting as choosing a side, per se... and it's not, so far anyway. I mean, you saw tonight's meeting. Aside from that absurd little initiation rite - no offence - they don't really do anything, Dark or otherwise. Mostly just talking about how excellent torturing Muggles is... it's not like they ever go through with any of it, though."

Peter looked away, thinking of Macnair and Nott. "Yeah." He paused. "Did you have to go through an initiation ceremony, too?

She looked at him, then said rather bitterly, "No. Girls don't get initiated. We're just there to look pretty. It's a little frustrating, to tell you the truth. I want to learn this stuff!" Seeing the brief flicker of horror on Peter's face, she became apologetic. "Not that I want to start practising the Unforgivables on people, that's not what I'm in it for. I just want to know what's out there besides Cheering charms."

"True Ravenclaw, you are," Peter said, and he succeeded in getting a smile. And then, without thinking, he did something that was almost completely out of character. He stood up on his tiptoes and touched his lips to hers. Much to his surprise, she didn't pull away. Instead, she kissed him back. Holy Merlin. I'm snogging Narcissa Drake, he thought. And she hasn't slapped me yet. When they broke the embrace, he noticed that the flush had spread beyond her fine cheekbones.

"And true Gryffindor, you are," she whispered, before dashing the rest of the way to the Ravenclaw dorms.

For the second time that night, Peter Pettigrew thought he was going to faint. Only this time, he actually went through with it.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Narcissa Drake slipped into the Ravenclaw common room, a bit breathless.

"Just getting in?"

Narcissa gasped. "Elisabeth. What are you doing up so late?"

She looked at her suspiciously. "I thought I heard a noise. A couple hours ago. Where've you been all this time?"

Narcissa's forehead crinkled. "Promise not to tell anyone?"

"Maybe. Was it Lucius?" She had noted the pink in her cheeks.

She smiled. "Maybe. You won't tell, will you?"

Elisabeth was still wary. "No... but... I don't understand why you always have to leave the dorms. Couldn't you just have him Floo into the common room? You're sure to get caught sometime, and you know it's a good 20 points from Ravenclaw, not to mention a detention with Filch" -- she wrinkled her nose -- "if you're caught out of bed after hours. We've almost caught up with the Gryffindors, you know, and we can't afford to lose any more points. We've actually got a chance of winning the House Cup this year."

Narcissa smiled beatifically. "Tell you what, if I get caught, I promise I'll let Derek get the snitch first thing in our match against Gryffindor." She sighed. "Before Potter has a chance to rack up their score." Elisabeth couldn't help but think how ironic that statement was. Derek Chang was the Ravenclaw seeker, and Narcissa quite frequently tore him to shreds for capturing the tiny, whinged ball before the Ravenclaw chasers could score more than 50 points. Not that they were anywhere near catching Gryffindor for the cup, but it was widely agreed that they would be comfortably in second if Chang ever let Narcissa and the two other Chasers shine.

Elisabeth gave a reluctant half-smile, and pushed her glasses back up her nose. "Well, alright." As Narcissa ascended the stairs to the seventh years' dorms, Elisabeth muttered, "But I'd really rather you bloody stayed in bed once in a while..." And I don't believe for one minute that you're risking your neck just to snog that creepy Malfoy, either, she added silently. But what was she supposed to do about it? Narcissa Drake generally did whatever she wanted, and she generally got away with it. Wish I was part Veela... only one part of thirty-two, but still, she thought irritably, as she closed the potions text she'd been reading and headed back up to her bedroom.

~*~*~*~*~*~

They sat in Dumbledore's office on Monday morning, waiting for the headmaster to arrive. Lily was trembling just thinking about the ordeal. It was so unlike her to be frightened of anything, James thought, but then, he supposed what had just happened to her was terrifying. Not that they're not after me, too, he thought, but at least I've been prepared my whole life for this. She just kind of got thrown into it.

He wished there was something he could do, something he could say; but what do you say at a time like this? His heart ached for her. He realised that he was also finding her unreasonably, desperately attractive at the moment. She looked very much like a child, and something about her was so innocent and helpless... she just demanded to be held. Completely unconsciously, she had curled her knees up to her chin, wrapping her arms around them, long loose curls falling in beautiful contrast to the black robes she was wearing. He crossed the room and sat next to her. She tilted her head toward him, resting it on the bare knee that was peeking out of its cover.

She knew she didn't have to say anything, the look on his face was one of complete sympathy. But she wanted to tell him how she felt anyway. "James... I'm so scared."

He wrapped his arms around her, and she uncurled herself from her little ball, resting her chin on his shoulder. "I know, Lily. I didn't think he had this much power, yet... I can't believe they'd be having a meeting here, of all places..." His voice trailed off. "That means it's really bad, doesn't it?" he said softly.

"I think so." They were silent for a moment. "You don't think he was actually here, tonight, do you?"

He didn't answer right away. He wanted to say emphatically no. Then again, if you had asked him yesterday if there were Death Eater meetings being held at Hogwarts, that was the answer he would have given. But now... how could he know how bad it really was? "I'm not sure. I don't think so though... it would be too risky."

"Too risky?" Lily gave a choked laugh. "James, they were doing some kind of ritual there last night. In the bloody Charms classroom! What would be riskier than that?"

"I don't know," he answered truthfully. "But... I think Voldemort's evil is so powerful that... that... Dumbledore would have sensed it, somehow. If he was here, I mean. I think if there was really powerful Dark magic happening in that room, we wouldn't have been the only ones there investigating. You've read Hogwarts, A History. You know all the spells they've got on this castle."

Lily sighed deeply. "I know. But... there could be a loophole. You know Voldemort is Slytherin's heir... maybe there's some special enchantment that would allow him to..." She bit her lip, trying desperately to reign in her emotions. "I'm sorry, my imagination is running off with me again. I'm just... really frightened right now, everything seems plausible."

He squeezed her more tightly, breathing in the scent of her rather tangled locks. His voice became throaty. "Lily... I know this probably isn't a good time to bring it up, but..."

Dumbledore coughed, and they jumped apart as though someone had thrown a wild hinkypunk between them. "I am glad to see that neither of you have sustained any lasting damage from your reconnaissance mission," he started, stroking his long beard. "I don't understand, though, why you didn't come to me. Why would you go off on your own?"

"I don't know, sir," Lily answered. "I suppose I wasn't thinking straight." She stopped. "I didn't really think there would be anything there."

The headmaster frowned at her over his spectacles, his blue eyes penetrating. "You need to take this gift that you have been given more seriously, Lily."

She looked up meekly, barely registering that Dumbledore had called her by her first name. "I'm sorry, Headmaster."

James interrupted. "Professor Dumbledore. I've been thinking about this quite a lot, and I was wondering, do you think they were all Hogwarts students? And, if they weren't, how did they get here? I would assume by Floo, but ..."

"Yes, we're working on disconnecting the Hogwarts hearths from the Floo network. Rather inconvenient, for those who must travel, but a necessary precaution, I think." The pair nodded their agreement. "As I was saying, though, Miss Evans, I think it is time for you to begin developing your talents. I've taken the liberty of setting up a meeting with Professor Cassandra for you, she should be here momentarily. Mister Potter, if you would come with me, I believe there is something that we must discuss."

James nodded soberly, and, apparently unaware of the questioning look he was getting from Lily, followed Dumbledore out of the office. Lily found herself alone. She looked about the office, a bit nervously, started tapping her feet. When exactly was the Divination professor coming? she wondered to herself. As though on cue, Professor Cassandra swept in. She was much younger than Lily would have thought, but with long, silvery hair that was tied back in a sleek braid. The next thing that Lily noticed about her was her eyes, so dark they were almost black. And her complexion was much darker than she would have expected, as well.

"I'm Greek, if you must know," she laughed, kindly.

Lily looked at her in awe. She had a feeling that this was going to be an interesting lesson.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"I was only showing her the homework, you know." Snape said suddenly.

Lily looked up from the Charms N.E.W.T. review book that she had been scanning. It was getting close to exams period, and Professor Flitwick realised that his students could hardly be expected to stuff more charms into their brains, so he had given them the period to "work on some review" with a partner. She had been pleased, until he had stuck her with this git. It was bad enough even having to be in this classroom in the first place - it still gave her the creeps, thinking about the meeting she and James had witnessed - but to be stuck with Snape as well? Flitwick had smiled as he assigned partners; apparently thinking he was doing them some kind of favour. She guessed that Cinna had been telling the rest of the faculty that they were working together for him. Right. Working together. You could almost call it that. If, by working together you meant working alone with someone sneering over your shoulder. "Sorry?" she said, in a tone that suggested she hadn't caught what he had been saying.

"I said, I was only showing her the homework. Nothing else." She cocked her head at him, pretending she had no idea what on earth he could be talking about. He narrowed his eyes at her. "In Astronomy. I wasn't talking about Remus. Not everything is about you and your little friends, no matter what you and Dumbledore might think. And you didn't have to hex me."

Lily sighed, turning her gaze longingly across the room. Remus, Sirius, and James seemed to be having a fabulous time goofing off, using Banishing charms to play Keep-Away with Peter's books. The smaller boy was being quite good-natured about it, jumping up to try to get his books, and occasionally trying a Summoning charm, even though he knew it was hopeless. Flitwick, meanwhile, was playing along too, had turned a deaf ear and blind eye, as he so often did with them. How she wished she could be over there, impressing them all with some tricky wand-work. In fact, she thought, I would rather be arm wrestling a rabid Manticore than having this conversation. "I didn't hex you," she said simply, then turned back to her book.

This only infuriated Snape more. "Really?" he spat. "Then why was my vocabulary restricted to guttural noises that day?"

She suppressed a grin. Oh, the possibilities... but she merely shrugged. "I don't know."

He glared harder.

"Ask Sirius, if you really want an answer." She rolled her eyes. "Look, can we focus on charms, please? I'm almost sure that Cheering charms will be on the N.E.W.T.s. Here, let me practise on you." Because you could certainly use it, she thought. "Bonitas!" she said, pointing her wand directly at his chest. A little beam of pink light shot out of the tip of her wand, and Snape smiled suddenly. While she was pleased that the charm had worked so well, she was also a little disturbed to see the positively merry look on his normally scowling face. No, she thought. Some people just aren't meant to smile.

After a minute of grinning stupidly (Wow, that one was stronger than I thought!), he snapped at her. "Oh, what are we even doing this for? It's not like you need any more practise in charms. Let me try one." A sneaky look swept across his features, but before Lily could react, a deep red wave enveloped her. "Amatus distractus!"

Suddenly, she was beginning to feel positively randy. She looked again at the little group of Marauders, her eyebrows arched this time. James's eyes were quite definitely dancing with glee... she sighed. He should be put in Azkaban for reckless endangerment of the hearts of young witches, she thought. And those lips! She vaguely remembered having tasted them recently... and she wanted to taste them again. As though out of nowhere, she had the fabulous idea of going over to his desk and playing a bit of tonsil Quidditch with him, right here, in the middle of Charms class. In fact, she thought that maybe she would. Although... her lips curled up into a lustful smile as her eyes flickered over to Remus. Why settle for just one, though? She licked her lips, brain racing... she was about to take the first long stride over to James and Remus when the charm's effect faded. She felt the ridiculous expression on her own face and immediately knew what he had done. The Passion Charms... she thought, impressed. Would have thought they were too advanced for him... but two can play at this game. At least, they can when I'm the second.

She looked about briefly, furtively, to make sure that Flitwick had gone out to the bathroom, then hissed, "Iratus est!" She concentrated with all her might on a thought of Sylvia Baddock as a black laser shot out of her wand and connected with Snape's chest. His face immediately turned beet red, and Lily smiled, quite a bit more malevolently than was normal for her. She did so hope he wouldn't cause a scene...

"Sylvia Baddock," Snape said furiously, stomping over to his utterly surprised housemate. Lily's smile grew broader as she saw every student in the class turn to see the commotion - and she remembered that the Irae charm had a peculiar way of stirring up old resentments. "I just wanted to tell you that I am absolutely sick and tired of the way you're always leaving your under things in the boys dorms." Lily's eyes widened. Under things? This was getting interesting...

"And the noise. Could you keep it down? Honestly. To a dull roar. I don't care if you are shagging Evan Rosier, or Marcus Parkinson, or whoever it is this week, but the whole sodding house doesn't need to hear it! Not at four in the morning!" Sylvia, horrified, burst into tears. "Oh, shut up." Snape said irritably. "And by the way, I'd appreciate it if you'd stop cheating off my Potions papers. Stupid tramp." He flounced back to the desk, leaving everyone in the room gawping, Lily included. Then the laughter started. The heartiest guffaws came from a certain group of male Gryffindors.

Professor Flitwick bustled in, then looked about, tremendously pleased. "Ah! I see you've all practised your Cheering charms! Well done!"

Snape, however, was still fuming, and poor Sylvia (Lily disliked her immensely, but she didn't think that anyone deserved that) was still trembling. Discreetly, Lily performed two quick spells - another Cheering charm and a simple Memory charm - to brighten Sylvia's mood, though she wasn't sure the girl's reputation would ever be repaired. She then turned to Snape and whispered, "Finitus Incantatem!" He blinked, a bit confused.

"Um, Snape?" Lily said innocently. "You might want to go apologise to Sylvia." She smiled sweetly, and Flitwick dismissed the class. Lily was already twenty feet down the corridor, accepting a hearty (and not a little painful) slap on the back from Sirius, before Snape realised what he had done.

"Oi, Lily! Was that the Irae charm?" Sirius asked, obviously impressed.

James grinned. "'Course it was. What else would make Snape act that way?"

"You mean, besides his personality?" Remus asked dryly, prompting a fit of giggles from Lily.

"No, no, it was the Irae. Thanks for your confidence in my abilities, though," she said, giving him a playful swat.

Peter gave his assessment of the situation. "Well, at least you gave me a chance to get my books back."

Sirius chuckled again. "What, did you think we were going to leave them stuck to the ceiling?" The smile faded from his face. "D'you know, I think we might've left your Transfiguration book there..." A look of horror crossed Peter's face. "Just kidding," Sirius grinned, producing the book from behind his back.

"Honestly, Sirius," said Lily, "And you, too James. Even Remus. You three torture poor Peter!" She turned to him and whispered something in his ear. A broad grin replaced the look of horror.

"Billy Wigglestick!" he shouted, waving his wand energetically at the three of them.

Sirius looked around, confused. "Methinks the poor boy hath gone mad," he said, then realised how odd he sounded.

Remus grinned. "Agreed, good sir. He hath not so much brain as ear wax."

Lily was sent into more hysterical laughter when James taunted his two friends, "You speak unskilfully: or, if your knowledge be more, it is much darkened in your malice..." only then realising that he was not unaffected by the spell. "Good lady! What is this magic that thou hast given him?"

"Thou impertinent earth-vexing clack-dish! Thou art unfit for any place but hell," Sirius added. Lily was now laughing so hard she could barely breathe.

"Just a funny little charm I stumbled over the other day," she gasped, now doubled over with an infirmary-worthy case of the giggles. She whispered something else into Peter's ear.

He seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself. "Did you guys happen to notice what you're wearing?" he asked, gesturing at his friends to open their cloaks. When they did, they had to gasp. All three of them were wearing two-tone tights and jerkins. Lily was now beyond the point of vocalisation. She wasn't sure if it was from the sheer hilarity of the scene laid out before her, or because James looked so utterly, incongruously sexy in his Elizabethan attire. She could hardly take her eyes off the tights.

"Oh Merlin, I think I've gone blind," Peter giggled.

"Oh, shut thy mouth, thou rank, bat-fowling popinjay," Sirius muttered. He then examined his jerkin more fully, and Remus's. "Thine attire dost not vex thee. For it maketh thine forays into courting of the fairer sex of much greater aptness of success."

Remus nodded in agreement, looking down at his tights. "Thou speakest truly."

But James was not to be distracted. "Thou warped, dread-bolted glockenspiel," he shouted. "How long shall this wretched curse continue?"

Lily shrugged. "No more than a day."

Sirius and James gawped at her. "A plague on both your houses!" Remus said grumpily.

She nudged Peter, who reluctantly waved his wand, whispering, "Finitus Incantatem." Then he grinned up at his friends. "That'll show you not to pick on me," he added proudly.

Sirius looked positively murderous, but a glance from Lily kept him from hexing the smaller boy. "Be nice to him," she whispered. "Sometimes you three can really dish it out." The frown on Sirius's face softened, and she chuckled, "Really, someday he'll probably get you all back for every prank you pulled on him..."

He coughed. "Right," he said sarcastically.

She smiled. "Well, you never know." Just then, she doubled-over laughing again. "James! You... you... you git!" she gasped, chasing after him.

Sirius turned and looked at him quizzically.

"Tickling charm!" he shouted, and as he ran, Sirius, Remus and Peter nodded understandingly.

~*~*~*~*~*~

James had been reviewing his Quidditch play book in the Gryffindor locker room for a good twenty minutes before Ryan MacAllister walked in. "Oh, James!" he said. "I've been looking for you. Wanted to thank you for the Bertie Botts... I ended up giving them to my sister, it was her birthday the other day and I forgot. They were a lifesaver."

James looked at him in horror. "You didn't!"

Ryan chuckled. "I know, I know, I'm horrible, forgetting her birthday like that. But who are you to talk? Weren't you the one who gave Lily Evans a used Remembrall last year because you forgot hers? She never forgets anything anyway, from what I've heard..."

"But... but... you can't have... I mean, those were for you..." His eyes were wide, mouth open in dismay.

Ryan shrugged. "Sorry, James, didn't think it meant so much to you." He eyed him carefully. "What's the big deal, anyway?"

James thought it might be best not to tell him. "Oh... no reason. Just, make sure you get her something good for Christmas." Ryan nodded solemnly as James looked around the still-empty locker room. "Have you seen anyone else around? Practise is in ten minutes."

"Nope, sorry. Just me. Oh, but I saw Daphne and Chloe after Transfiguration today, they said they might be a little late." Daphne and Chloe McKinnon were fifth year twins, and James's fellow Chasers. Lately, they'd seemed to feel that James had been getting too much of the glory, and were being very pouty at practise. James had to try very hard to keep from rolling his eyes.

"Well, as long as they show up. We've still got a lot of work to do if we want to out-Chase Ravenclaw. They're pretty good, and I know their Seeker is excellent." He frowned, hoping that their Seeker, Nate Williams, had studied up on the Wronski Feint. He had a better broom than Chang, but he lacked experience and daring... his eyes misted over as he went through the strategy in his head. Their only hope was to rack up the points early, and have their Beaters distract Chang... unless Nate had gotten comfortable enough on his Shooting Star to use his speed as their main attack...

He was muttering something about sending Nate on a wild goose chase to misdirect Chang when Ryan interrupted him. "Um, James? I think it's time to head out now." He looked up and realised that every member of the Gryffindor team was now present, and staring at him as though he had gone nutters.

"Oh. Right." He smiled a bit stupidly. "Well, why don't we go over some of these plays, first..."

After about half an hour of focusing on the new plays, James led the team out to the pitch, instructing Chloe and Daphne to fire a round or two of Quaffles at Livia Field, their Keeper, while Cameron Humphrey and Gabriel Alexander, the Gryffindor Beaters, batted Bludgers at all the reserve players high above the pitch - one of their favourite drills. Meanwhile, James worked with Nate on misdirection, which he had decided would be their best bet. He knew every other house team underestimated their young Seeker - only a third year, after all - and wouldn't be expecting such a subtle play.

Two hours later, after much cajoling from his team-mates ("But James, we're tired," the twins had said), he ended practise. "Make sure you're all eating well! Don't want you with no energy on Saturday!" he called after them, ignoring the sarcastic replies the last bit generated. Inwardly, he debated going in to work on his Transfiguration lesson, but decided to take a little extra practise himself. It was only when the moon came up, and tiny snowflakes began to fly, that he went inside.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The next day, as she only had two morning classes, Lily decided to get to work on the assignment Professor Cassandra had given her. What was it she had said? Oh yes. "Rely not only on your intuition... but also on your senses."

She bit her lip, and looked around the Gryffindor common room, trying to select one person to observe. She settled on Sirius; after all, Professor Cassandra had suggested that it would be easiest to start with someone she knew. She sunk into an overstuffed chair and began to study him. He was in full flirt mode right now - hands gesturing wildly as he charmed an unsuspecting girl who Lily didn't recognize. The expression on his face, an imitation of comic fury, told Lily that he was re-enacting Snape's reaction to the tongue-tying charm in last week's Astronomy lesson. She noticed that he didn't seem to be reenacting his case of Elizabethan-tongue, but that hardly surprised her.

Below his outwards expressions, though, Lily could see (sense?) other gears turning in his head. Lovely hair, this one's got, nice face too. His eyes flickered down for a moment: Her robes are nice and tight. Back up to the face: Ooh, she's laughing hard now, good sign. Time to go in for the kill. Lily didn't bother to stifle her smile as she watched Sirius sling his arm casually around the girl. Poor thing, she thought idly. Doesn't have a clue what's coming. She felt proud momentarily, then annoyed with herself. Any girl with half a brain (though not, apparently, the naïve Gryffindor) could see what Sirius was doing; it was no big achievement to have figured him out, really.

She was about to turn her attentions elsewhere when she realised that the "naïve Gryffindor" was not really a Gryffindor at all, but a Hufflepuff. No wonder she hadn't recognised her. She had mistaken the yellow on her vest for the gold on the Gryffindor vests, apparently... Good job, very observant, Lily, she thought sarcastically. So what would a Hufflepuff be doing here? She saw the girl look over at her furtively. For me? Merlin, I'm batting a thousand, here, she thought, smiling at the Muggle expression she'd always loved. Then she decided to interrupt Sirius, as the girl had obviously not come here just to flirt with him. Although she looks like she's finding it a lovely bonus.

"Hi..." she squinted. "Katharine... MacAllister, was it?" she asked, coming up with the name from out of nowhere.

The girl's jaw dropped. "How did you know?"

Sirius was frowning at her. "Oh, probably eavesdropping on my conversations, as usual."

Lily shot him an annoyed glance. "Excuse me, Sirius, but I do not. I just thought that Katharine might have been here to look for me. Did Professor Sprout want to see me?" she asked the girl, although it was really more like wondering aloud.

"Actually, no, I was coming back from a little pickup game of Quidditch, and I ran into Dumbledore... he gave me this weird smile and said I ought to go up to Gryffindor Tower and find you. Said I might find something else there to make it worth my while."

Lily bit her lip quite hard to keep from laughing, as a picture of Katharine and Sirius getting rather... er, close... in the Astronomy Tower floated into her head. She had little doubt that she was seeing only a short way (wait, scratch that, a very short way) into the future. "Right, well, thanks then. I know where Dumbledore's office is, don't worry about showing me there." She allowed herself a little smile. "Please, I really think that you and Sirius ought to continue with your conversation."

Sirius looked a bit confused, as he wasn't sure what was going on, but he resumed talking to the Hufflepuff girl quickly anyway. As Lily left, she heard him saying, "Absolutely I think the Gryffindor women are overrated. Every guy is looking for a little loyalty in a girl, after all. Now, the men, though... oh, we're brave." He flashed her a charming smile. "In fact, I wager I'd wrestle a troll just to prove it to you. Ooh, are those Bertie Botts?"

As she made her way to Dumbledore's office, she became aware of just how quickly winter was approaching. Someone had opened all the windows down the main corridor (probably Peeves, she thought), and a cool wind was blowing tiny, wet snowflakes, and very brown, very dead, leaves down it. She shivered, paused to wrap her robes a bit tighter around her middle and went on. Suddenly she found herself at the gargoyle that marked the entrance to Dumbledore's office, and realised that she didn't remember what the password was. "Um." She paused. It was a Muggle candy, that much she knew... "Liquorice drops?" she guessed, and entrance was granted. He really needs to make this password harder to guess, she thought.

She peered around the corner and into his private chambers. "Hullo? Headmaster?" She walked in a bit further, stopping to pat Fawkes, Dumbledore's pet phoenix. She reached into her pocket, and conjured up a bit of toast with her wand. She made it rye, which she somehow knew would be Fawkes's favourite, and apparently she was right; he nibbled at it greedily. After he had gobbled it all down, he looked at her with a sort of twisted grimace that she understood must be a phoenix's smile.

She pulled an errant leaf out of her hair, looking around for Dumbledore. He was nowhere to be found, of course, so she looked about the now-familiar room a bit uncomfortably. Why would he ask to see her if he wasn't going to be here? Maybe he wants me to find something in his office, she thought absentmindedly. But as she scanned the room, nothing really jumped out at her. She reached for the candy dish.

As she popped a caramel into her mouth, Dumbledore materialized as though from out of nowhere (even though Lily knew he had just come in from the next room). "Ah! Here so early?" he asked. "I imagined it would have taken you a lot longer to tear Miss MacAllister away from young Mister Black." A wise smile played across his face.

Lily couldn't keep herself from rolling her eyes. "Well, it was a challenge. But... if you don't mind my asking straightaway... why did you want to see me?"

He sighed heavily. "I'm afraid this may come as a bit of a disappointment to you, but I've owled your parents and they seem to agree that it's the best course of action. I'm afraid you'll have to stay at Hogwarts over the Christmas break."

Lily frowned. "I don't understand... why?"

"We just want you to be safe, Miss Evans," he said, and Lily immediately looked alarmed. "You're not in any immediate danger, you understand, but I would feel better if we were able to put some kind of Protection charm on you or your home, and I'm afraid there's just not enough time before the end of term. We only have two weeks."

"Protection? From... from Death Eaters? And Voldemort?" Dumbledore nodded, and Lily began chewing on her lip. "It's not really me they'd be after, though," she said, bewildered. "I know I'm a Mudblood and everything," Dumbledore winced, "... but I can't possibly be that important, and most of the Muggle-borns are going home, aren't they?"

She frowned again. "It's James they'd want, isn't it? They'd be using me to get to James?" The headmaster looked uncertain as to how to continue, but the look on his face told him she'd been right. She gave a small smile. "Well, at least that means James will be here with me, doesn't it?"

Now it was Dumbledore's turn to frown. "I'm afraid that isn't the case. You see, we had known that James would be a target long before we thought you ever might... so, he's well protected. We performed the charm just a few days ago."

"Oh." Lily's face fell. "Well, that doesn't seem fair, does it?" she sighed wistfully. "Can I ask you a question though, before I go?" Dumbledore nodded. "Why me? Why would they be using me to get to James?"

He gave a soft smile that Lily thought she recognised. Then the realisation hit her. That was the exact same roguish look James used when he was hiding something funny from her, only aged about a hundred years.

"Well, Miss Evans, I'm not sure it's my secret to tell. I daresay, though, that you'll figure it out soon enough."

She smiled at him in spite of herself. "Well, if you're really not going to tell me... I should get down to studying for exams period..."

He waved his hand. "Of course, Miss Evans. We all know your schoolwork is very important to you."

She smiled. "Oh? Is it really that obvious?"

At this, Dumbledore laughed, and patted her on the shoulder gently. "Don't be too disappointed about the holidays. We always find a way to have some fun over the break here at Hogwarts." Lily, understanding that she was dismissed, gathered her things, walking back down the breezy corridor. Though she still felt slightly put out at the prospect of not returning to Surrey for the winter, she was inclined to believe Dumbledore. Ancient as he was, he still seemed to have quite the sense of humour, and somehow he always managed to put her at ease. As Lily walked down the corridor, she was so lost in thought that she didn't notice James Potter until she almost walked into him.

"Lily! Hallo! Where've you been all afternoon? I thought we were supposed to be reviewing for Magical Creatures," he said.

Lily was stunned; she had completely forgotten their review session. She thought this must have marked the first time she'd ever forgotten about something school related - or about something related to James Potter, a little voice inside her said. She shut it up quickly. "Oh! Right! I was just coming up to meet you. Only, this Hufflepuff girl had come up to the Tower and said that Dumbledore wanted to see me."

James laughed. "Did this Hufflepuff's name happen to be Katharine?" he asked, mischievously.

Lily gave him a questioning look. "Yes, actually... how did you know? Did you meet her?"

"Nope," he said, smiling infuriatingly.

She waited for a minute for him to tell her, then grew impatient. "How, then? Unless you have the gift too...?"

"Not that either," he said. Then, grinning, he showed her the piece of parchment in his hand. He pointed at two little dots. "See that? That's the Astronomy Tower," he said.

She read the names quickly. "Sirius Black... and... I think it's Katharine MacAllister, but they're so close you can't tell..." She looked up at him. "What is this?"

"Kind of a test copy of..." he paused, as if to do Sirius's beloved name justice. "The Marauders' Map."

"This is incredible, James!" she said, looking over the map. "This shows all of Hogwarts?" He nodded, proudly. "And all the people? It shows where they are? Oh wow, look, and here's us!" She pointed at the two dots bearing their names. "Who gave this to you? Was it Dumbledore? No, no, must have been Moody." She smiled, thinking of the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. He always did seem to get a kick out of their pranks.

James looked insulted. "Gave this to us? Gave it to us?" He snatched it out of her hand. "We made this."

Lily looked at him incredulously. "Get out." He looked confused. "It's... it's a Muggle expression. Means, 'no way.' Or, 'I don't believe you.'"

He was now even more indignant. "We did! I can show you the spells and everything!"

"James, there's no need to shout. I do believe you."

"Then why'd you say..."

She shook her head. "Never mind. Can I see it again?" He handed it to her reluctantly. "Wow. Wow. This is amazing. How did you do it?" He opened his mouth to say something, but she interrupted him again. "No, wait, don't tell me..." and then proceeded to rattle off the charms that had taken them nearly two weeks, and eighty hours between the four of them, to figure out. He knew he should have come to her first.

"So... does it look all right to you?" he asked hopefully. "I know Sirius'll kill me if he knows I've asked you for help, but... I was wondering if you could, er, try to break it, or break into it, or something. Just so I know we've done it right."

Lily smiled warmly. "Of course! I'm flattered that you thought of me, really..." she started, but he shushed her.

"You're the best Charms student in the school, Evvie, everyone knows it. Even me. And certainly you." He winked. "No need to go fishing for compliments."

She felt herself blush. "I wasn't..." she denied, even though she knew she sort of had been fishing.

He handed her the map, now cleared of all writing, and asked Lily to try and get into it. She used almost every intermediate opening charm she knew, and a few of the more advanced lock-breaking ones, but with no success. She even tried the three spell-breaking charms that she'd been studying with Professor Flitwick (extra credit, of course), but none of them worked. Finally, she whispered at it, "Alohomora." The script began unfurling down the page. She glanced up at him, trying unsuccessfully to keep from giggling. "Better hope no first-years get their hands on it."

James, far from being upset, burst out laughing. "Lily, I think you're the only person in this world who could possibly cast Alohomora with such strength." He shook his head, almost disbelievingly. "But we'll reinforce it anyway." He looked up at her and smiled. "So. Heading back to Gryffindor Tower?" He offered his arm.

Lily, rather than linking her arm through his, took his hand, intertwining her fingers with his. He looked down at her meaningfully, but she just smiled, eyes sparkling, and they began back down the hallway toward their dorms. They'd gotten as far as Great Hall before Lily brought up the subject that had been weighing so heavily on her mind. "So, what are you doing for the hols? They're coming up really soon, you know..."

"Fifteen days and three hours, to be precise," he said, laughing. "I think I'm just going to spend it with Sirius's family, like I did over the summer. Ooh, d'you think you could visit for a day or two? You could Floo in! Don't worry about getting your house connected to the network, Sirius knows how to do it, it would be really easy... and there's a great field over by his house, Quidditch is a bloody blast in the snow!" He was getting excited at the idea.

She frowned. "I wish I could, but there's no way. I'm stuck here over Christmas."

"What? Why?"

"Oh, you know, so I don't get kidnapped by Death Eaters," she sighed. "That's why I went to go see Dumbledore - he told me that I might very well be in mortal danger if I left the Hogwarts grounds before they did a Protecting charm on me, or my house. Apparently there's not enough time before I'd leave, though, so..."

"Get out!" he said.

She wanted to laugh at his prompt incorporation of this new phrase, but she was too disappointed about the holidays. Quidditch in the snow did sound fun. "Nope, not joking."

"Well... I'll stay too," James said immediately. "We all will. I'll tell Remus and Sirius and Peter."

She looked up at him sceptically. "You don't need to do that, James... besides, I'm sure their families will want to see them a bit before the summer..."

He was resolute. "Whether they stay or not, I'm going to. It's probably safer for me to be here, as well," he said, then added softly, "Besides, I'd wager it's my fault you have to stay anyway."

She didn't deny what he had said. "Well, as long as you've made up your mind... I think I'd like having a bit of company." She gave him a shy smile. "Now, what was it that we were supposed to know about our Pogrebins, again?"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Severus Snape was not in a good mood. After the trick that little bitch Lily Evans had pulled on him in Charms class... he prodded the puffy ring around his left eye gingerly. Evan Rosier, Marcus Parkinson, and three other boys (all Slytherins) that Sylvia Baddock had been shagging off-and-on had come after him. He would normally have had no trouble warding any of them off, but casting the Amatus charm had drained him. Besides that, there were five of them, only one of him, and they were all much, much bigger than he was. It seemed that every friendship he had in Slytherin House had gone out the window... but that was the least of his worries. He would end the day a good deal uglier than he had begun it, no doubt about that. He peered in the mirror. Aside from the blooming black eye, his nose seemed to be broken in two different places, and he had three large bruises on his ribcage, along with serious doubts that he would ever be able to bear children.

He poked at his eye again, cursing silently. Madam Pomfrey, who was also a stupid bitch, refused to mend him because the injuries had been sustained while fighting. He noticed that perfect prefect James Potter, who had stumbled upon the incident, hadn't told Pomfrey that he was probably attacked unprovoked. He did, however, take twenty-four points away from Slytherin ("Four for each of you, and you're lucky it's not far more,") pompous arse that he was, and in doing so dropped them to third place in the House Cup, behind Ravenclaw. His housemates would be livid with him when they found out. At least, those of them who weren't already livid with him because they were friends with Sylvia or had just been sleeping with her. He sighed. Sometimes he felt that the entire world was conspiring against him. And if not the entire world, then certainly the rest of Hogwarts.

He grimaced into the mirror and performed a healing charm the best he could. He had never been good at healing charms anyway, and this one was particularly weak due to the effort he had already expended in fighting off his fellow Slytherins. Still, the swelling around his nose seemed to have gone down a little... he sighed in disgust. Who was he kidding, it was probably just the light. He flung himself down in front of his desk, grabbing a quill angrily. He started to write.

5 December

Dearest Julia,

As the Christmas holiday draws nearer, I find myself looking more and more forward to seeing you. I miss home dreadfully. Are you enjoying your term at University? I still must question your decision to go so far away from Slippery Rock, particularly in the present climate - are you sure you've made a wise decision? Although I know how long you've put it off already... I suppose it's alright as long as you're enjoying what you're learning and staying safe, but I hope you're being careful.

Speaking of learning things, today in Charms class I managed to cast the Amatus. It only worked for a short time, but I wish you could have seen the look on Lily Evans's face. I thought she was going to jump on top of James Potter right in the middle of class! Although she could have been looking at Remus Lupin or Sirius Black, it was hard to tell. You know those gits, they're never more than a meter apart at a time.

Aside from having to work with a Gryffindor, the potions research is going fairly well. Cinna says he has no doubt that I will be ready to take his place in a few years - though I'm not sure how well I will like teaching, a position at Hogwarts is prestigious indeed.

Give dad my love, and I'll see you both soon (fifteen days, I believe).

Your loving brother,

Severus

He sighed. He felt a little guilty for not detailing what happened after he cast the Amatus on Lily, but... there was no reason for Julia to know. If anything, it would be better for her not to know; she seemed to think her little brother was destined to be the most powerful wizard in the world, and Severus had always been careful to reveal as little as possible that would dispel this notion. Their mother had died giving birth to him (something he had always felt a little guilty about) and so Julia had been sort of a mother to him - six years older, and always fussing over him. And he felt the need to please her, live up to her expectations, the same as any boy would feel to his mother.

He glanced surreptitiously at the picture of the two of them that he had on his desk, taken right before he left for Hogwarts. His eleven year-old self was scowling, did not like having his picture taken. Snape gave a little smile, remembering that this must have been right around the time that he'd thought cameras would steal your soul. Julia, however, was smiling, bright blue eyes sparkling, straight black hair shining in the sun on Platform 9 and ¾. She was waving out at him, tight grip on his picture-self keeping the younger Severus in the frame.

Julia had always been pretty, he reflected, but at seventeen she seemed to be at the height of her good looks. The royal blue robes that she was wearing served both to bring out the colour of her eyes and accentuate her newly gained figure, and her smile seemed to bring a glow to the entire picture. She had fine features, their mother's, not the overlarge nose and thin lips he had inherited from their father. Looking at the picture, you would hardly know they were related, except for the milk-white skin they shared (on Julia, it looked lovely; on him, it looked sickly). Of course, the maternal way she kept prodding him back into the picture, and the younger-sibling way he kept resisting her more than cancelled out the lack of physical resemblance. He missed her.

He put down the picture and went back to the mirror, feeling a little better about the afternoon's events. Yes, he thought, nose is definitely a little less puffy than before. Even if my eye still looks like a plum.

~*~*~*~*~*~

She looked around. The common room was empty. Thank Merlin. She threw a handful of Floo powder in the fireplace, whispering, "Malfoy Manor, third floor, second bedroom on the right." She hoped she had said it right.

The slightly slimy voice of Lucius Malfoy answered shortly. "What is it now? And I thought I told you not to Floo this room."

She shrugged. "Sorry, I forgot. Look, I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. I think Elisabeth Norris suspects something, she's been questioning me a lot lately, and last Saturday night she was sitting in the common room when I came in. I don't think she believed me when I said I was with you."

"Why don't you just do a Memory Charm on her, then?" He sounded annoyed.

"Lucius, in case you haven't realised, I'm still a student. We're not supposed to do real Memory Charms on people, and Dumbledore would be all over me if I tried."

He sighed, now sounding very annoyed. "You know, we've been over this, Cissa. You don't have to go to the meetings."

"What do you mean I don't have to go to the meetings?"

"I mean, you know you can't become a real Death Eater anyway, the Dark Lord doesn't accept women. You know that. You're only wasting your time trying." She was silent. "It's not that I don't appreciate having you, I know too well how useful a tool your feminine wiles can be. But if you want more than that..." his voice trailed off.

She shivered. "Lucius, I have to go. I think I hear someone coming," she said quickly. Hastily throwing a handful of Oolf powder on the fire to close the connection, she turned to the corner of the room and gaped incredulously. "Death Eater, Narcissa?"

Narcissa Drake, eyes wide, mouth sealed, and hands bound, watched her Polyjuice-self turning slowly into Elisabeth Norris. She had a distinctly sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

~*~*~*~*~*~

To be continued...