Prelude to Destiny

Chapter 13

Barely Acquainted Meetings

"How much longer can this last?" Lily muttered.

She was lying on a couch, head against the armrest as her left arm was thrown over her eyes. She had briefly considered standing since the other people in the room were politicians and important figures that refused to even sit on the couches, let alone lie down on one. Then she mentally shrugged and laid down on the couch anyway. Let them do what they wanted, Lily had been here for six (six!) hours now and she was ready to get this over with. Honestly. They told her to be here at ten. It was nearly four-thirty.

"Lily Evans."

Lily sat up, thinking she was being called to speak, only to realize belatedly that the voice had been too quiet and too close for it to have originated across the room. She looked to her left and right but could not find anyone that looked to be addressing her.

"Lily Evans."

She spun around and jumped into a standing position in surprise when she realized the speaker was standing directly behind her. When she identified the speaker she almost took a step backward. She was one of the ugliest people that Lily had ever seen. The woman was short with dark, tight skin, and many moles sprinkled on her face. There were five on her left eyelid alone.

"Lily Evans," she whispered in a thick German accent, and Lily had a brief flash of memory.

"I saw you at the Leaky Cauldron in August. You grabbed my arm," Lily said, remembering. And then your eyes flashed orange and you practically ran from me, she recalled but did not say aloud.

"You were at Ball?" the woman asked in broken English.

"Yes."

"Shouldn't have been," the woman said.

"I was a guest of a friend of mine," Lily explained. But why did she explain? Why was she talking to this spooky little woman at all?

"Should have been at party not Ball."

"What?" Lily asked, crossing her arms over her chest. How did this woman know about Tracy's party? What was going on here?

"Should have helped Black family heir." Black family heir? Who was that?

"Excuse me?" Lily asked, uncomfortable with the conversation and the questions and the strange eyes and those moles. Who was this woman?

"Black family heir: Sirius. His future is tied to your choices."

"Sirius? Sirius Black? What? What are you talking about? Who are you?" Lily asked, staring hard at the woman in front of her. Then it happened again: the woman's eyes flashed orange. But unlike last time, when Lily had seen only a flash of colour, this time she saw something else. She could have sworn she saw a dog in those orange eyes. What the hell?

"Tied," the woman repeated softly as she shook her head. Then she turned and began to walk away.

"What?" Lily said again, dumbfounded. Not willing to let this woman escape another time, Lily ran to catch up with her and blocked her way. "Who are you?"

"I didn't know," the woman replied, as if that stupid cryptic answer would be enough for Lily. The young redhead extended and hand to put on the woman's shoulder, only to have her hand pass through the other woman. Then the woman disappeared. Disappeared.

"What. The. Hell."

"Lily?" Lily turned and came face to face with Christian Knowles, who looked both sickly and nervous.

"Christian?" Lily asked slowly.

"Yes."

"Did you see the creepy woman disappear into the floor like spilled fruit?" Lily asked, turning and looking around the room as if to try and spot the woman. She refused to believe that she could have just disappeared.

"Lily, we need to talk. Now." She looked back at Christian, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"What is the world is going on in this room?" Lily exclaimed, lifting her hands and holding them out to her sides. "Am I stuck in A Christmas Story? Was she the ghost of Christmas future and you're the ghost of Christmas past?"

"Lily Evans!" called the voice at the door.

"Ah! The ghost of Christmas Present, right on time," Lily snapped.

"I need to talk to you." Lily opened her mouth to reply but was cut off.

"Lily Evans!" the voice summoned again.

Lily turned to face the door and yelled, "Now? You want me to come in now? No. Never mind. Of course you do. Of course I should have to speak right at this moment without any explanations because that is how magic works. It's meant to confuse and confound and then destroy the sanity of people, isn't it?"

"Lily, I need to speak to you," Christian said.

"Big freaking surprise!" Lily snapped at him, turning toward the door. "But I have to go talk to the Inquisition. Owl me."

"Lily Evans, please come forward," the voice said. She began walking towards it.

"This isn't a matter I can discuss through owls," Christian protested, grabbing Lily's arm to halt her movements.

"Well, too bad," Lily replied, yanking he arm away. "You ignored me at the Ball, you didn't reply to my owls during this week when I was freaking out trying to figure out how you were, and now that I definitely have to go, you want to talk?"

"I need to talk."

"Well, I need to go answer questions from another imbecilic politician." With that Lily turned and walked away, not looking back in time to see his crest-fallen expression, not looking back in time to see the way that his shoulders sagged and his head drooped. He looked like a defeated man at that moment and Lily did not even take the time to look back and see it. Instead, she marched toward that loud voice and that stupid inquisition, grateful to be that much closer to done.

The man at the door barely nodded at her before opening it and letting her in.

She walked through the dark entranceway (what sort of dummy made an entrance dark, anyway?) until she reached a room that was much too big to be her destination. There were rows and rows of people facing her, with three people in the front looking prominent, and there were three rows of people watching the proceedings, also turned to look at her. She almost turned around and headed back into the lounge, convinced that she had the wrong room, when a voice announced her as "Lily Evans, witness number twenty-four."

"Please take a seat, Miss Evans," suggested the woman in the middle of the trio in the front. She nodded toward a chair in the middle of the room, in-between the rows of people looking at her and the rows of witnesses.

Who did she think she was kidding? Lily was not about to sit there. She had just met with Ian, heard Mrs. Crouch's crazy ideas, seen a woman disappear, and now this power-crazed woman thought she could tell Lily to just sit down? Right! This situation needed a bit more detailing. As the shock of everything that had come to pass - including seeing Christian so disgruntled - wore off and the basic freakiness of the situation settled in, Lily became more and more agitated.

"Miss Evans, please sit." What would happen if she refused? If she just turned and walked away and ignored all future summons?

The person on the left of the trio of people in the front row of the mass of people facing her stood, walked to the end of the row, and proceeded down a set of stairs. Didn't anyone else think it was odd that Lily couldn't see his face because of the poor lighting? If she were Minister she would fire the designer of this room. Twice. And then sue him for damaging the eyesight of all involved parties - the inquisition and the witnesses.

A moment later the figure was at Lily's elbow, leading her toward the chair. She was about to rip her arm away when she finally looked at and recognized him. It was Dumbledore, just Dumbledore, the crazy/eccentric/very, very old headmaster of Hogwarts. Good. He was good. He was nice. He wasn't some creepy mole-covered woman ranting about Sirius Black or an ex-boyfriend looking like death walking when he finally decided to grace her with his presence.

"Hello, Headmaster," Lily said, letting him lead her to the chair.

"Hello, Miss Evans," he replied, sitting her down, and taking the chair next to hers.

"Don't you have to go sit with them?" Lily whispered, jerking her head toward the masses.

"Not right now."

"So you're going to sit with me?" Lily asked, annoyed that she cared, annoyed that she was comforted by his presence.

"Yes."

"The whole time?"

"Yes."

"Okay," Lily replied, shifting in her seat so as to face the 'inquisition.'

"Please state your name and current place of residence," commanded the woman on the left of the trio.

"Lily Evans, Hogwarts Castle," replied Lily, sitting up straighter and pushing thoughts of the waiting room out of her head. Maybe if she just ignored those memories they would go away.

"And you were a guest of the Knowles family heir at the Crystal Ball?" Knowles family heir? Why heir? Why not just call him Christian, his name?

"Yes." Why all this business about heirs? Why the cryptic messages about Sirius Black, who was apparently an heir himself? Oops. She was supposed to be ignoring those thoughts.

"How did you meet Mister Christian Knowles?" Sure, now he has a name.

"He spent the summer near my home with a friend of his from school. We dated for nearly three months," Lily answered, never letting her back touch the chair. She did not want to be comfortable.

"How did he invite you to the Crystal Ball?" came that same cold, distant voice.

"He visited Hogwarts for my birthday and asked me then," Lily replied.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Lily asked.

"Why did he invite you to the Ball?" It sounded like this woman did not enjoy people asking her to clarify herself.

"Why did he invite me?" Lily repeated, disbelieving that anyone would ask such a potentially mean question. "I don't know why he asked me. He probably needed a date."

"And you were the best option?" asked the woman sceptically.

"I don't know. Maybe I was the third best option and the first two turned him down. You ought to ask him," Lily replied, gratified to hear a few appreciative chuckles from the mass of people in front of her.

The questioning became progressively more detailed ("What drink did you order?") and progressively stupider ("Could you recognize any of the Death Eaters?"), but Lily answered as honestly as she could. She even managed to hold back her annoyance and impatience to an extent. The questions were the same that the two others had asked her, if they were a bit more detailed. She only wished she could have given them a transcript of her old answers and skipped this proceeding. Why should they want her to answer them again? Wasn't twice enough? Lily definitely thought it was.

But the questions dragged on and on. As Lily fidgeted, Professor Dumbledore sat quietly beside her, exuding a sense of calm that irritated her. Why was he allowed to be so calm while these people would not stop harassing her by making her answer the same questions repeatedly? Why did three different people ask about her shield? No, she did not know what she was thinking when she cast it. No, it was not Mrs. Crouch who cast it, it was definitely her. Yes, she was sure she cast it. Didn't these people ever listen to the answers she was giving?

Then the questioning took a turn that was both uncomfortable and unwanted.

"I understand that your wand broke during the Ball." And that was another thing that irritated Lily. Why did they insist upon calling it the Ball? Why not call it was it was: an attack?

"Yes, my wand broke during the attack." Oooh! That irritated them. The entire group seemed to jump at the term.

"Please explain the circumstances."

"What do you mean?" Lily asked, suspicious and annoyed as she reached her hand into her robe pocket and fingered the wand she recently purchased. Why did her wand matter?

"I would like for you to explain the circumstances that led to the loss of your wand," the person repeated.

"It wasn't lost. After the Death Eaters cursed me it fell out of my pocket and broke," Lily said, implementing the condescending tones she knew adults, and especially insecure authority figures, hated.

"How exactly did it break?" the woman asked in clipped tones, showing her extreme dislike of any mention of Death Eaters. Oh this was too easy.

"I don't know what happened. As I said, one minute I cast a shield, the next I woke up in the hospital and a Ministry Official was telling me that they burned my wand."

"A Ministry Official?" It was the first time the voice sounded surprised.

"Yes," Lily replied slowly.

"Who?" And for a long moment Lily thought about her answer. The response she should have given was Auror Director Diana Brooks. Instead, in that instinctive place in her soul that had saved her during the attack, she heard a voice screaming to keep Director Brooks's visit a secret.

"The man who came to speak with me," Lily replied after that brief hesitation. "I don't remember his name, but I'm sure her remembers."

"Mister Pinfold, do you remember relating this information to Miss Lily Evans?"

"No," came a watery voice from behind the trio. "I most certainly do not."

He was there? Well that certainly created a problem.

"Miss Evans, are you sure it was Mister Pinfold?"

"No," Lily replied, her mind immediately finding a way out of this messy lie. "I don't even remember his name. Everything is blurred together. Maybe it was a nurse that told me. I only really remember going to Diagon Alley with my mother and buying the new wand."

The questioning ended soon after that. Lily had barely spoken for thirty minutes.

Many witnesses passed through the Wizengamot that today - important people with agendas and prominent family members with reputations to uphold - and few would remember the testimony of Miss Lily Evans, Muggle-born guest of the Knowles family heir. She was little more than an annoyance to most. Her answers were crudely honest and her injuries far too extensive. People would panic if this girl's story became public knowledge. The Ministry was of the opinion that the Aurors would apprehend Voldemort soon enough, so there was no need to cause public fear.

Luckily, only two people had mentioned Lily Evans in their testimony and the press corps disregarded Lily, so it was clear she was exactly what they expected: unimportant and easily ignored. Lily was merely a girl that should never have been at the Ball and should not have been questioned.

As she was leaving the inquisitional room, Lily saw three redheads - two men and one woman - sitting in the 'audience' portion of the room. Lily always noticed redheads, but these ones kept her attention. Specifically, their faces kept her attention. While Lily could see beauty in the woman and a certain charm in the men, the anguish on their faces and the tearstains running down the woman's cheeks were the most noticeable thing about them. In all of the audience, these three people were the only ones sitting next to each other. In fact, they looked as though they were relying on one another for the very ability to breathe.

Eyes never leaving them, thinking she knew the answer before it was spoken, Lily asked Dumbledore who they were.

"They are Fabian, Gideon, and Molly Prewett." And her suspicions were confirmed. She'd asked the nurse what she knew about the Prewett family while she was at St. Mungo's and been sad to discover the pair had shared three children, though all had left school by that point.

"Oh," Lily murmured as she walked right past them. But just as soon as she reached the door she stopped. Professor Dumbledore stopped beside her. Neither said a word as Lily turned and walked back over to the three siblings.

The three of them watched her approach with conflicting expressions on their faces: interest and disinterest, annoyance and compliance, but most prevalently they looked sad. Lily stopped in front of them and tried to think of the appropriate words to convey her feelings about what they were going through, but she could not find the words to show that. Instead, she hugged them each in turn and whispered words she did not understand: "They did not die in vain."

Never guessing the way their lives would come to touch, the three siblings watched Lily leave and forgot her name a moment later. Such was their grief. But the comfort of her hug and the true empathy she expressed stayed with them for years.

~*~*~

The train ride back to school was not nearly as uncomfortable as the one to the Ministry. This time, Lily's nerves weren't wound tight and she had no desperate need to cover up the silence with her words. Instead, she just sat and stared out the window, remembering the look in the eyes of the three Prewetts and wishing she could fix it.

"Chocolate, Miss Evans?" Headmaster Dumbledore asked. The sun had long since dove into the pool at the end of the horizon.

"All right. Thank you," Lily replied, reaching out and taking a piece from his outstretched hand and popping it into her mouth.

"I find it always makes a day better to end it with chocolate," Dumbledore explained.

"I don't know if anything could make this day better," Lily admitted, slumping against the seat.

"Oh?"

"That was the longest day of my life. I ran into all sorts of people I hadn't expected to, drudging up a lot of things I just wanted to forget."

"Forgetting will not lessen the pain," he replied, blinking at her.

"There is no pain." In the darkness outside, the trees blurred as the train zoomed past.

"It is remembering that makes us strong, that leads to change and betterment. Forgetting only allows history to repeat itself." The train moved so quickly that everything except the stars blurred together. Lily briefly wondered if she looked like a blur to someone outside.

"I just can't- I can't keep telling this story." Lily wrapped her arms around her stomach and hating herself for feeling so weak and tired.

"Though I would encourage you to confide in your friends, this inquisition was the last time you will ever be forced to repeat it," the headmaster said. He caught Lily's gaze and she knew (without quite knowing why she knew) that he knew she had lied at during her questioning.

"Someone else interviewed me after Mr. Pinfold," Lily said, swallowing the last of the chocolate.

"You didn't mention that."

"It didn't feel right to talk about her. I doubt her trip was strictly approved by the Ministry."

"And yet you answered her questions?"

"She had more of a right to hear the truth than Mr. Pinfold," Lily said. She knew Mr. Prewett and the Auror Director. She worked with them. What connection did Mr. Sweaty-Grossness claim?

"And even with me you do not feel comfortable revealing her identity?" His blue eyes looked steadily at her and she felt ashamed not to trust this man with Director Brooks's identity, but even still she knew she could not tell him.

"It's not that I don't trust you," Lily began, "But that I wouldn't tell anyone. If you had spoken with her, you would understand. You know how the Prewetts looked when we were leaving? That's what she looked like: destroyed."

"Then she is the person who told you about the deaths of the Prewetts?" Professor Dumbledore asked, and only then did Lily remember that she was not supposed to know about that. In fact, Dumbledore technically wasn't supposed to know about that, though as a member of the inquisition he must have be briefed about it at least partially.

"Yes," Lily said, "but I haven't told anyone that either, and I won't."

"Why not?"

"Because-" Lily cut herself off. Why wasn't she telling anyone? Was it because the Ministry didn't want her to? No. That wasn't it. "Because it isn't my place to tell anyone."

"Then did their deaths have no effect on you?"

"Of course they did," Lily said. She wasn't callous, after all. "But that doesn't mean I have a right to announce their deaths."

"You don't?"

"No."

"Then how did their deaths affect you?"

"I'm going to fight for what they died for," Lily said without thinking. Shocked at her own words she met the headmaster's gaze with wide eyes, her right hand in her pocket holding her wand - her wand.

"A noble ambition."

"Psh!" Lily said, disagreeing with his comment and waving her hand as if to brush it aside. Mrs. Crouch's words sprung to mind and Lily didn't want to have more than just one person thinking she was something she wasn't. "I don't even know what I meant by that. I've probably read that somewhere."

"Could you tell me what happened in the waiting room?" Dumbledore asked, seeming to read Lily's thoughts.

"I couldn't even begin to describe my strange encounters in that room," Lily said. "I ran into Ian Tailor, my friend from home, then Mrs. Crouch, and then this mole-covered woman, and then Christian - all the in the span of seven hours or so."

"I heard Mr. Tailor's testimony. I remembered him from his visit to the castle."

"That's right. I'd forgotten that he came with Christian," Lily said, smiling as she remembered her friend loving her pumpkin costume. Then a thought sobered her and she asked, "Did you hear Mrs. Crouch's testimony?"

"I did."

As Lily sat there trying to think of a clever way to ask if Mrs. Crouch had mentioned her without blatantly asking the question, Dumbledore handed her another piece of chocolate. She put it in her mouth without thinking.

"Did anyone mention me?" Lily asked, deciding the broad question worked better.

"No one knew who cast it, but many mentioned seeing your shield."

"I wonder why." Lily mused aloud, thought of Mrs. Crouch briefly put aside. "Did I accidentally make it neon pink or something?"

"No. They noticed because it was the only shield cast in the room."

"What?" Lily asked, doing a mental double-take. "How did the others protect themselves?"

"They did not. Most ran to their Portkey immediately after the Death Eaters appeared."

"But that's so stupid!" Lily protested, sitting up straighter.

"Stupid to run from men intent on attacking them?"

"All right. It wasn't stupid, exactly, because my shield did get destroyed rather quickly, but running offers little to no protection."

"Running saved many lives."

"At what cost?" Lily exclaimed. Hearing her voice echo around the small compartment, Lily realized she had been yelling and immediately quieted her voice, though her comments were no less forceful. "They stranded people by taking those Portkeys."

"Is that why you cast the Shield Charm? To save strangers?"

"No!" Lily said, annoyed that everyone kept trying to give her some sort of noble purpose. She was just trying to make a point. "My shield was a reflex."

"Of course," the headmaster said, inclining his head. But Lily had a feeling there was no 'of course' about it. She had a sneaking suspicion that Dumbledore did not believe her.

"Have you spoken with Mrs. Crouch?" Lily asked.

"I have. Earlier this week she wrote to ask me of your condition."

Lily wanted to scream in frustration. Why wouldn't he just tell her if Mrs. Crouch had mentioned that nonsense about a 'Wizard's Debt'? Why couldn't he just answer the questions she did not want to ask?

"It is ironic," Professor Dumbledore began, "that the Shield Charm, which you executed so well, is a prime example of a Defence Against the Dark Arts spell, a class I understand you have no interest in."

"Ah, yes, but we happened to learn that spell in Charms, a class I adore," Lily replied.

The train ride passed more quickly than Lily thought possible and soon they were pulling into Hogsmeade and getting into the horseless carriages. The bumpy journey was almost the hardest part for Lily. She was so close to the castle and yet had to wait out this twenty minutes ride. It was painful. Soon, though, the odd pair walked up the night-covered steps to the main doors, and as the doors to the Great Hall opened to reveal an empty castle, the Headmaster addressed Lily.

"Thank you for letting me accompany you today," he said, walking into the main entryway.

"Thank you for coming," Lily replied, surprised to find that she really was grateful.

"My door is always open," he said, and Lily understood that this was her fourth invitation to talk about the events of that night. Yet unlike the invitations from the other professors, this one was neither awkward nor uncomfortable. He looked her in the eye, and she understood why. He, unlike everyone else, had been through an attack of this sort. He survived Grindelwald. He understood.

"Thank you," Lily said, smiling a half-smile at him.

"Would you like for me walk you back to Gryffindor Tower?"

"No, thank you. I can find my way."

"All right. I have some business in my office, but Professor McGonagall excused you from your morning Arithmancy class," he commented.

"Oh. That was nice of her." Annoying more like. Why did McGonagall think Lily was made of eggshells? First she excused her from patrol and then the prefect meeting and now class?

"Good night, Miss Evans."

"Good night, Headmaster."

Lily took the long way back to the Tower, avoiding main passages and sorting through the jumble of thoughts tangoing across her brain. Why had Mrs. Crouch thought she saved her life? Why had Ian turned down the Ball? Who was that creepy woman? What the hell was wrong with Christian?

Her feet guided her soundly through the corridors, one step after another, until she finally reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. And found the portrait empty. What? Could portraits be empty? Could she get in without the Fat Lady? After tugging on the frame a few times, she found her answer to that question.

Having no other option but to wait out the Fat Lady, Lily sat on the closest set of staircases. Magical schools were confusing.

In her boredom, Lily began to charm the dirt of the ground to spin in circles in the air. Growing bored with parlour tricks, Lily began trying to conjuring fire and write with it the air. That was fun; it was like a magical sparkler. She only wished the words would stay around longer, instead of turning into smoke and drifting away. Maybe if she used a-

"So, you're back, are you?" asked a voice behind Lily, shocking her. She jumped up and spun around to find Gertrude Wrightman descending the stairs. Lily's heart was beating erratically, but she felt better to see a familiar face, even if it was the face of a girl that hated her.

"You scared me," Lily replied. The cold, slow way Gertrude stepped freaked Lily out. The Slytherin's ever-present aura of majesty radiated off of her, making her movements more graceful and ancient, like she belonged in a castle. Maybe Gertrude was on patrol - she was a Slytherin sixth year prefect - but where was her patrol partner? The glare that Gertrude fixed on Lily when she reached the landing was mildly comforting in that it was the same look she always bestowed upon Lily. At least some things never change, thought Lily.

"You were at the Ministry."

"Uh-huh," said Lily, trying to figure out why Gertrude's voice sounded so strange to her ears. Hadn't she heard her voice in prefect meetings?

"He took a lot out of you," she stated, and Lily began to think that no, she really had never heard the other girl speak before.

"Who?" asked Lily, distracted, as she wondered why the girl wouldn't have spoken at meetings. And if Lily had never heard her speak before, how did she know with such certainty that the Gertrude hated her?

"The Dark Lord," replied Gertrude.

"What?" asked Lily, certain she'd misheard the girl.

"The one who hurt you so much," explained Gertrude.

"Voldemort?" Lily asked.

"You ought not to speak his name," Gertrude snapped. Lily stared at the girl, not knowing how to respond without completely berating the girl. "Your whole house is falling apart, Lily."

"What do you mean by that?"

"The house of Gryffindor is splintered."

"We aren't splintered!" Lily replied, confused.

"If you aren't, then you will be soon," Gertrude said. "You ought to really think about which side of this fight you want to be on."

"Listen, Gertrude," Lily snapped, taking a step forward. She was gratified to see the smaller girl step back. "I don't need a shady conversation with you right now. In fact, on my list of 'Shit I Definitely Don't Need to Deal with Tonight,' this is number two. Number one is Voldemort attacking the castle. Explain yourself or leave me alone."

Drained, Lily stood staring at the smaller girl for a long time. They looked into each other's eyes from across social barriers, from red house to green, and then they made a bridge.

"Walk with me, Lily," commanded Gertrude. Of all of the possible reactions to her outburst, Gertrude's real reaction was surprising. So surprising, that Lily took her up on the offer. Before the other girl began walking, she took her wand and pointed it at her prefect badge, lighting it as though she were on patrol. Lily did similarly, though she had to pull her badge out of her pocket to do so.

"You don't wear your badge at all times?" Gertrude asked, nodding her head at Lily as she pinned it to her.

"Hell no," Lily replied, lighting it. Gertrude nodded and turned to walk down a set of stairs. Lily paced with her, deciding to not be shocked by anything else that could possibly happen.

The silence that enveloped them was actually comforting. It gave Lily time to let her mind sort through the thousands upon thousands of thoughts racing through her mind. They walked by portraits and doorways, suits of armour and two cats before Gertrude began speaking.

"I don't like you."

"Yeah, I know."

"Why'd you speak up for the Slytherins at the December meeting?"

"Because Diana the Dufus wouldn't let me pass," Lily replied honestly, noticing a window near the ceiling. Moonlight poured in through that little window.

"But why Slytherins?"

"It makes me sick sometimes," Lily replied, still watching the window as they walked by it. "I mean the rest of the school treats Slytherins like they are the pre-made villains of everyone's lives and they aren't."

"It's not your concern," Gertrude countered.

"Like hell it isn't," Lily replied, turning her head to look at the smaller girl. "I live here too, and I think it's a stupid stereotype brought about by an archaic sorting system that has never done anything except make enemies of people who might have been friends. It sucks that you guys are booed on the Quidditch field and that people cheer when you lose the House Cup. I was not about to sit there and listen to Princess Jodie and Idiot Jenna complain about food and first years when there are real concerns plaguing the school."

"Why do you care?"

"Why not?"

"Because it has been this way for a thousand years."

"My friend Sam once told me that Muggle-borns bring change."

"That they certainly do," Gertrude said. She turned to Lily and stopped walking and said, "Do you only talk about equality in order to become head girl?"

"No!" Lily exclaimed. "On my list of 'Shit I Never Want to Deal With,' becoming head girl is ranked higher than Voldemort attacking the castle."

The pair began walking again, walking in circles on the deserted third floor. Lily stopped to take off her shoes and carry them in her hand. Gertrude looked disgusted at the idea, but Lily hardly cared. The cold stone floor felt nice against her bare feet.

"To tell you the truth," Lily said, opening the conversation again, "I always assumed you'd be head girl and your partner, whose name I never can remember, would be head boy."

"That's interesting," commented Gertrude, though she said no more.

"Well, who else could it be? Jodie? Jenna? They're both insane. And the blokes have shown zero desire."

"What about you?"

"What about me?" Lily asked, swinging her shoes in her hand.

"Couldn't you be head girl?"

"Ha!" Lily laughed. "You must be joking. Have you seen me at meetings? I hardly ever pay attention. The younger students don't respect me. They don't even know who I am except vaguely as the annoying prefect who spoils James Potter's fun. I'm not a leader. Hell, I'm not even nice to most people."

"I must admit," Gertrude began, her mouth set in a line, "that you are exactly as I imagined you would be."

"That sucks. I was hoping to be amazingly different. Then we could have become secret best friends and formed the type of inter-house bond that everyone else seems to fear," Lily quipped, not sure herself it she was joking.

"We will never be friends."

"No. I suppose we won't be," Lily replied, leading the pair to a long stairwell which led to the ground floor.

"Maybe we can be something else," Gertrude said.

"Well, doesn't that just reek of innuendo," Lily replied jokingly. "Sorry to dissapoint, but I'm not interested in women."

Gertrude simply looked at Lily. When their eyes met, Lily cast her eyes downward.

"Right. Sorry. Poor joke," Lily muttered.

"I meant that we might find away to inspire one another," Gertrude said, ignoring Lily's comment.

"I don't understand." Despite herself, Lily was intensely curious.

"I would like for you to convince me that fighting the Dark Lord isn't stupid, that I might be able to achieve great ends by fighting alongside Dumbledore. In return, I will convince you that you are right about Slytherins; that we are not all evil, that your work is worthwhile."

Lily looked at this girl who was as close to an enemy as she had. She looked at this regal woman of sixteen, whose hair was blonde and curled at the ends near the middle of her back. She looked at the way she walked and suspected that if she put a book on her head, she could balance it without changing her movements.

"Why me?" Lily finally asked.

"You understand the true danger," Gertrude answered, and Lily looked down at her bare toes.

"My friends think Voldemort will be caught soon," Lily said, unsure why she mentioned that at this moment to someone she did not trust. Gertrude, Lily knew, would use anything Lily said against her if she could. She would remember these words in case they may provide a weakness in Lily someday. Not because she was a Slytherin, but because, as she said, she still disliked Lily. And yet, Lily knew somehow that talking with this girl was easier than talking to any of her best friends.

"You know differently."

"He ran from the Aurors," Lily replied.

"Yet the Aurors did not catch even one of his followers."

"So why do you want me to convince you to join the Aurors's side?"

"I don't. I want you to convince me to join your side, which I suspect will eventually be Dumbledore's side, though I make no presumptions."

Well, wasn't Gertrude just full of surprises? She didn't automatically assume Lily would side with Dumbledore in this fight? Lily couldn't believe that. She was a Muggle-born. What other side would she take? Actually, Lily couldn't quite believe that she was even acknowledging that a battle coming. When had she accepted that fact? But she knew the answer to that. She had accepted that fact the moment she looked into the eyes of the Prewetts, after she realized the Ministry would never be able to capture Voldemort.

"Why me?" Lily asked as the pair passed a statue of a gargoyle. "I'm just another Muggle-born."

"I've heard about what happened at the Ball. You put your life on the line by casting a shield."

"I didn't mean to." Why did everyone care about that stupid thing?

"I never said you meant to," countered Gertrude. "I don't care what you meant to do. You cast a shield as a reflex, and it's always good to have an ally with that reflex. That means their first instinct is to protect, and I want to join the side that would look out for me."

"But you don't even like me."

"Fortunately, you don't have to like someone in order to fight beside them. You only have to share a common belief, if only for a moment," Gertrude said. The creaking movements of a statue made both girls turn around in time to see to black haired figures immerge from the shadows.

Lily lifted her wand - the one that would let her fight in the upcoming battle - and shone light on the two figures. James Potter and Sirius Black both raised a hand to block her light from hitting their eyes. Lily mentally shook her head. Of course. Because her day would not have been complete before she ran across all of the people who could manage to make her feel small.

"Go back and help rebuild your splintered house," Gertrude whispered, capturing Lily's attention. "And convince me."

The blonde, elegant girl turned and walked off into the dark hallway, walking until nothing of her remained except a silhouette outlined by the light of her fading badge. Lily turned toward the boys who remained still outside the statue of the gargoyle, then she walked up to them.

She met the eyes of James Potter and Sirius Black, lingering on the latter and wondering if the orange-eyed lady knew what she was talking about, wondering if Sirius Black's fate was in her hands. Both boys had a hollow look in their eyes, a look comprised of mingled guilt and regret. Once upon a time, Lily reflected, she would have been very happy to see them look so humbled. As it was, she could only wonder if maybe she had a look like that in her own eyes.

"Heading back to the common room?" Lily asked, too tired to be anything less than blunt. She had zero desire to discuss what had just transpired between her and Gertrude.

"Yes," replied James Potter.

"Then for tonight," Lily replied, in quiet tones, "let's walk there together and pretend like we are simply strangers, instead of almost-enemies, and exchange no angry words."

"Aren't you on duty?" James asked, directing his gaze toward her badge. Lily reached up with her left hand and took it off, pocketing it.

"No. I'm not."

"Aren't you supposed to report us?" James pressed. Still no one moved and Sirius Black did not open his mouth.

"I suppose so," Lily said. The three stood there looking at one another, the three whose lives would become so intertwined that none could separate them. And though it took a moment, James finally nodded his head, accepting Lily's offer, and the three turned back to the common room together.

The Fat Lady had returned by the time they reached her, though she was very drunk, splashing her drink everywhere as she opened. Sirius went up to his dorm like a blur, leaving James and Lily together. Lily thought nothing of it as she moved toward her own dorm.

"It's really decent of you to keep this quiet," James said as way of gratitude, stopping her in her tracks. When was James Potter ever grateful? She turned to address him, though she kept walking backward.

"Decent nothing," Lily said, gesturing as if to wave the words away. "I'm so tired my face hurts."

"Don't you want to know where we were?"

"That's your business. Not mine," Lily replied, reaching the door to the girl's wing and holding the handle in her hand.

"You're not curious?"

"Of course I'm curious, but as I said before: I'm tired. In fact, my bed sounds so inviting that even my excessive curiosity regarding the whereabouts of two boys I barely know cannot combat my need for sleep." Lily turned around, pulled the handle, and swung open the door.

"We weren't doing anything wrong."

"I don't care," Lily replied, walking through her door and shutting it behind her.

The idea of sleeping did sound fantastic, but unfortunately it would not happened for hours and hours. Not until twenty feet of parchment had been filled with words and wishes and dreams and strange encounters with barely-acquaintances. When she woke the next day, Lily would find to her dismay that there were even a few hearts with J.P. written in them.