Lily Evans: A History

The first Quidditch match of the season was very full of
excitement. There had been several prep-rallies for Gryffindor's new
team, since their first match would be against Slytherin. The
Slytherins (being Slytherins, after all) had tried to sabotage some of
Gryffindor's equipment and even tried to put a couple of players out of
the game.
	Fortunately for Gryffindor, and unfortunately for Slytherin,
James Potter was now on the team and he wasn't one of the school's
biggest trouble makers for nothing. Not to mention his best friend,
Sirius Black, tended to come up with anything he didn't. Between the
four boys, with help from the rest of Gryffindor house, there was a war
of the wills going on between the two houses the entire week before the
game. So it was almost a relief when Saturday came around, the tension
was just about to a breaking point.
	Lily and Kassie went down to breakfast that Saturday morning,
following closely behind the Quidditch team, as much of the house was
doing. It seemed that they were afraid that the Slytherins would try
something drastic. When they entered the Great Hall for breakfast,
however, it seemed that they didn't need to worry. There was a great
uproar from the Slytherin table, but none made a move for the
Gryffindor team.
	Kassie, casting a sideways glance over at the furthest table
from them, chewed thoughtfully on her toast before turning to Remus.
"What's going on that we obviously don't know about?"
	Remus, grinning broadly, picked up his pumpkin juice and took a
drink. He glanced around to make sure no teachers were within ear shot
and ducked his head close to Kassie and Lily. "Sirius and James found
out that the Slytherin seeker, Terrence Higgs, has a 'lucky' pair of
boxers that he wears every game. If he doesn't have them, he won't
play." Kassie and Lily instantly donned identical evil smiles. "You
remember that day you found us coming out of the broom closet?"
	"You took them?" Kassie asked in amazement and pride.
	Remus nodded, reaching to get another spoonful of porridge. "Sure
did. And we told them that if one Slytherin comes near us before the
game that we won't give them back."
	Lily laughed out loud, though she tried to refrain herself. "That
was horrible!" The giggle that followed her words proved she didn't
think it was all that terrible, though.
	"No, what's horrible is where he will find them at," Remus
promised, going back to his breakfast. "Follow us after breakfast, this
should be nothing short of interesting."
	With the promise of finding another outstanding joke against the
Slytherins, not to mention that there was many bets going around about
the chances of Slytherin loosing quite badly, everyone ate a hurried
breakfast and headed for the Quidditch pitch.
	With a grin as broad as if he had just been named the biggest
trouble maker of all time (Lily could only imagine how proud that would
make him.), Sirius marched to the field with Peter, Remus, Lily and
Kassie in tow. Before they even made it to the pitch, however, there
was a huge uproar of laughter.
	Sandra Bennett, a Hufflepuff third year, came around the corner,
nearly holding her sides she was laughing so hard. Sirius grinned
broadly as she patted him on the back as she passed, yelling back;
"That's a classic Sirius!" as she went to join her friends.
	Lily couldn't help the excited grin on her face, even though she
had no idea what they had done. The anticipation of it was too much for
her. It seemed to take forever to climb the stands and find their
seats. Just as she had settled into a seat she seen it; Zooming around
the field, being escorted by a self levitating miniature broom, was
Terrence Higgs lucky boxers. Now, given they could have been any pair
of boxers, the boys had charmed them to flash his name brightly. But
that was only the half of it: they were white with large red hearts on
covering almost every inch.
	"Oh Merlin, you've got to be kidding me!" Kassie gasped, her face
a cross between laughing hysterically and shocked.
	"It gets better," Peter said excitedly, rocking back and forth on
his feet in anticipation. "Sirius cast an elusive charm on it. Just
like there is on the snitch."
	"What?!" both Lily and Kassie gasped, looking back out at the
innocent looking toy broom.
	"Where're going to see how good a seeker he really is," Sirius
said smugly, looking immensely proud of himself.
	Ten minutes before the match was set to start, they seen Stephen
Todd come out onto the pitch. Todd was an odd shaped seventh year who
looked like he had an inter tube that he wore under his shirt. His head
was out of sync with the rest of his body, which in short made him
strongly resemble a troll. He was leading Higgs out on the field, and
pointing up to his boxers.
	Terrence's face, whether from anger or embarrassment they couldn't
tell, became blood red as he mounted his broom with an obvious intent
on catching his boxers. The laughter rang out from the entire stadium
as his boxers effectively evaded him. Peter, Sirius and Remus were
nearly on their hands and knees, banging the floor, gasping for breath
as he zoomed past them, curse words barely reaching their ears.
	"You'd think he was smart enough to cast a spell ender on it,
wouldn't you?" Lily grinned as he made his third attempt to catch his
boxers.
	"Not a very good seeker, eh?" Remus remarked, still grinning like
a banshee.
	Suddenly there was the sound of a voice clearing over the
intercom. Mundungus Fletcher was seated between Professor McGonagall
and Professor Flitwick and it seemed he was arguing with McGonagall
about something. Then her voice shrieked across the stadium, with
Mundungus still fussing in the background. "WILL SOMEONE GET THE BOXERS
OUT OF THE AIR BEFORE I CANCEL THIS MATCH?!"
	There was a rush of wands being pulled out, and it seemed about
ten people actually hit the broom with "Finite Incantatem," making
it stop, and also sent several spells flying this way and that
as they missed. As a result the boxers and broom blew up, spiraling
down in a blazing glory to the ground and a Ravenclaw's hair turned
orange.
	McGonagall was furious.
	"I WANT JAMES POTTER, SIRIUS BLACK, REMUS LUPIN AND PETER
PETTIGREW TO SEE ME IMMEDIATELY!!"
	"Now what made her think WE had anything to do with this?" Sirius
muttered as the three made their way to their Head of House, with James
coming out of the dressing rooms (to applause, which only served to
make McGonagall angrier) to join them.
	The whole of Gryffindor house watched with baited breath as
McGonagall proceeded to hiss angrily at the four boys. Through the
intercom that was sitting not too far away, Lily could hear words like
"can't believe this... wait, yes I can.... Black...! had to be
your...." and other such nonsense that all four boys were apparently
denying like their lives depended on it.
	In the end, the Slytherin captain and Higgs joined the fray, and
then suddenly McGonagall stopped, looking confused. There was a few
more moments of talking before the group split up and James headed back
to the locker room, the Slytherins returned to theirs and the other
three boys rejoined Kassie and Lily.
	"Now that we have that cleared up!" Mundungus said cheerfully
over the intercom. "Let's get this match going, shall we?! Today's
match---obviously--- is Slytherin versus Gryffindor!"
	As Mundungus introduced the new team members, to tremendous
applause, Sirius, Remus and Peter reappeared. Lily and Kassie nearly
tackled them to find out what happened. Looking even more proud than
before (if that was possible) Sirius grinned. "It seems that they found
Higgs' boxers in his locker. Imagine that, will you?"
	"Couldn't think of anyone who would find a pair of boxers looking
that that mental's and make them zoom around the field flashing his
name," Peter laughed.
	"But what about your magical signature?" Lily asked, looking
worried. "Can't they pin it on you with that?"
	"Nope," Remus replied. "They might find Snape's though."
	"I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Payback is so
sweet," Sirius replied, slapping Peter on the back. Lily wondered when
Sirius would get him for what he did to Peter at the beginning of the
year. It was so perfect it was scary.
	Lily was almost positive that the most repeated phrase during the
game was "James Potter scores another goal!" It seemed the new
Gryffindor team was indeed as good as everyone had said, which lead to
a lot of sickles (and a few galleons) changing hands. The Gryffindor
(Hufflepuff & Ravenclaw) houses screamed and cheered loudly every time
James or another chaser made a goal. Lily had screamed herself hoarse
when Patrick Mundame caught the snitch and thus ended the game.
	Every house except Slytherin piled onto the pitch to congratulate
the team. Mundungus Fletcher, bringing the microphone with him, was
screaming: "GRYFFINDOR WINS! 280 TO 70! GRYFFINDOR WINS!!" across the
stadium, Professor McGonagall in tow, grinning from ear to ear.
	"Come on! Party in Gryffindor Tower!" someone, Lily thought it
might have been Sirius, screamed and everyone started making their way
to the castle to celebrate Gryffindor's first victory over Slytherin in
four years.

						*	*

	After that first game, James became something of a hero about the
castle. For weeks afterwards people he didn't even know would stop him
in the corridors to congratulate him. Out of the 130 points scored
before the snitch was caught; James had made nine of the goals. And
anyone who might have thought that his three best friends would be
jealous over this, was proven very wrong. Instead Sirius, Remus and
Peter had declared themselves his agents and were (jokingly, Lily
hoped) talking of starting his fan club.
	The only people who didn't think James was the best Quidditch
player since Ludo Bagman was the Slytherins: especially Severus Snape.
Of course, Snape had a lot to be angry about these days: especially
when his magical signature was found on the ruins of the toy broomstick
that had made it's appearance before the game. It seemed that no matter
how much he denied it, everyone thought he was responsible. Professor
Walsh, head of Slytherin House, gave him detention in her dungeon for a
week and took twenty points that Slytherin really couldn't afford to
loose.
	And Snape, being who he was (never mind that he was right on the
money with this accusation), had automatically placed blame on James
and Sirius and swore retaliation in front of half the school. This
happened to include a very disgruntled McGonagall who threatened him
with another detention. This one with her.
	All in all Lily had little time to think about the threat that
was on Hogwarts school and as such found herself wondering why Peter
was approaching her one night in the common room.
	She looked up from her Charms homework and smiled at him. But
instead of smiling, Peter's eyes darkened slightly. "I waited for an
hour."
	Lily almost asked what he was talking about when she remembered.
Her eyes grew huge and she slapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh Peter,
I'm so sorry! With the game and everything... I'm so sorry."
	Peter shrugged, starting to walk away. Lily shut her Charms book
and quickly rolled up her parchment. "Hey Peter!" she called. "We can
do it now, if you want."
	As she gathered her books quickly and shoved them in her bag, she
saw Peter turn around with a hopeful expression. Making sure that no
one was paying too much attention to where they were headed, the two
slipped out of the common room and down the steps.
	The castle was mostly empty at this time of night, save for a
couple of Prefects that stopped and reminded them of the curfew before
bidding them goodnight. Lily and Peter quickly made their way to an
empty room in the charms corridor and shut the door behind them.
	"I have a list of spells," Peter said, showing Lily a roll of
parchment.
	Lily put her book bag down and drew out her wand. As she
consulted the list, a nagging pain started in the back of her head. All
of her worries about the Dark Lord and the future of the school came
back to her ten fold. Before she reached the bottom of the list, her
hands were shaking.
	"Lily? What's wrong?" Peter asked worriedly.
	Sitting down on the floor next to her bag, Lily rolled the
parchment back up. "The decision about the school, it's tomorrow night,
isn't it?"
	"Yeah," Peter replied, looking gloomy. "You don't really reckon
they'll shut they school down, do you?"
	Lily was surprised to hear a bit of the fear she felt coming from
Peter. Where would they learn magic if not from Hogwarts? She was
muggle born, there was no where BUT Hogwarts for her to learn magic.
Her parents didn't know any. Peter put his hand over hers and smiled
slightly. "Don't worry Lily, if the school closes, I'll make sure you
still learn magic."
	Lily had no doubt that Peter would try everything he could to
keep a promise like that, even if they both knew what kind of problems
could occur with the closure of the school. Giving a slight smile, Lily
nodded and got to her feet. "Let's see how much of this list we can
do."
	Peter nodded, getting to his feet and bringing his wand out. "I
know one already."
	"What is it?"
	"It's a stunning spell," Peter said.
	"Do you know it's counter curse?" Lily asked hopefully. The last
thing she wanted to do was have to explain to a teacher why she had
stunned Peter. Somehow she didn't think that would go over very well
with their Head of House.
	Peter looked crestfallen. "Um, not exactly."
	"What do you mean, not exactly?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow.
	"Well, I accidentally stunned Remus when I was trying to get the
wand movement down. James unstunned him, but I couldn't get the counter
curse. He wouldn't wake up when I was doing it."
	"Perhaps we should learn the counter curses first," Lily
suggested wisely. "So that we don't get ourselves into a jam."
	"Right, but what do we practice on?"
	Lily looked around. There really was nothing to learn it on. She
shrugged, biting her bottom lip. "Ok, so maybe stunning spells isn't
such a good starter. How about," she looked on the list. "Disarming?
That sounds like a good one."
	Peter nodded, looking excited as Lily mumbled the spell over and
over again to herself. Finally she put the parchment down and held her
wand up. "Okay, I think I've got this. Are you ready?"
	"Y-Yes."
	"If everything goes the way it's suppose to, your wand should
come out of your hand and to me." She closed her eyes briefly to
concentrate. "Expelliarmus!"
	As soon as the words were out of her mouth Peter's wand jerked
out of his hand, soared up into the air, and Lily caught it, grinning.
"That wasn't hard!" she smiled, throwing Peter his wand back.
	He took it eagerly, moving further away from her. "Let me try!"
Lily nodded and Peter flicked his wand. "Expelliarmus!"
	Lily's wand jerked slightly, but with a firm grip she kept it.
Peter looked like he would cry. "Try again," Lily said comfortingly.
"And concentrate really hard on the wand coming out of my hand."
	Peter nodded. "Expelliarmus!"
	Lily was quite sure that had she really wanted to keep a firm
grip on her wand, it wouldn't have been too hard. As it was, she let it
go and it flew across the room to Peter. He grinned broadly. "I must
not have been concentrating hard enough the first time."
	He tossed Lily her wand and they practiced a few more times until
both of them had it down (more or less, in Peter's case). Before they
called it quits they had both mastered the disarming spell, the leg
locker curse and jelly legs. Quite satisfied with their lessons, Lily
put her wand away and grabbed up her bag. "Let's get back to the common
room before we're missed."

					*	*

	The next day it was very hard to pay attention in classes.
Professor Flitwick gave up all together and allowed his students to
practice charms they had already learned, but they would be none so
lucky in Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall, while still
exceptionally happy over the Quidditch game, didn't let up on her
lessons one bit.
	Just after lunch Lily and Kassie, heading to Defense Against the
Dark Arts, stumbled into a conversation that McGonagall and Professor
Dumbledore was having in her classroom. Lily, pretending to tie her
shoes (twice, mind you) strained to hear what was being said.
	"...leaving in five minutes," Professor Dumbledore was saying.
"The meeting should begin at half past three, but I don't expect it to
last long."
	"Do you really think they could close the school down, Albus?"
	There was a pregnant pause, in which Lily strained even harder to
hear, nearly loosing her balance and falling over. "If Lucius Malfoy
has anything to say about it, there is a real possibility."
	"And if you have anything to say about it?" McGonagall asked in a
near whisper.
	"Hogwarts is very safe, I see no reason for that to happen," the
Headmaster replied at last.
	Lily, feeling that she was pushing her luck a little too far if
she stayed put, got to her feet and walked quickly away. Kassie jogged
to catch up with her, throwing a disdainful look behind them.

					*	*

	After Dumbledore left for the meeting a blanket of anxiety laid
over the school. The teachers, knowing where the Headmaster had went,
was prone to stopping in the middle of a speech and looking anxiously
around for any owls. News traveled fast about the meeting, which also
gave most of the students worries. By the time dinner came around it
was obvious that patience was not taught at Hogwarts.
	"For the fourth time, Mr. Smyth, I assure you I do not know when
the Head Master will return," Walsh snapped at the Head Boy when he
had braved going up to the staff table.
	Eyes wide, he spun on his heel and headed back to the Slytherin
table to confront the better half of them sniggering; and a few who
actually looked concerned about his original question.
	Dinner could have been a more joyful affair, but wasn't. Even the
Marauder's were subdued, and without that distraction, the Gryffindor
table ate in mostly silence. Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, as well, ate
quickly, quietly and then headed for their common room.
	Lily pushed her plate away and rubbed her eyes. "I think I'm
going to go work on my homework," she muttered to Kassie. "If I'm lucky
we'll still be here tomorrow to turn it in."
	At her words James looked up, catching Lily's gaze. Breaking the
stare, Lily hurried out of the Great Hall and towards the Gryffindor
commons.
	Still wearing a peculiar expression, James watched her go out the
door and disappear into the hall beyond.
	"Right James?"
	"Huh?" James mumbled, turning his head to look at Sirius, who had
obviously asked his opinion about something. "Sorry, mind wandered a
bit. What did you say?"
	"Mind wandered?" Sirius repeated, looking quite scandalized that
not everyone within twenty feet was paying attention. "I said
Hufflepuff should beat Ravenclaw Saturday after next. They have a
rather good team this year."
	"Right," James replied automatically, his eyes glancing at the
double doors again.
	Sirius raised an eyebrow at Remus and Peter, who both sniggered.
Hufflepuff had a horrible team that James had just been ranting about
the night previous. Eyebrows creased, Sirius tried another approach:
"Professor Ricochet told us we didn't have to worry about homework the
rest of this term."
	"Uh huh," James mumbled.
	This caused Remus and Peter to laugh out loud, effectively
snapping James out of his thoughts. "What's so funny?" he demanded;
judging by the look on Sirius' face James would have swore he just
turned his pumpkin juice to sewer water again.
	"Jamsie, ole' boy, where were you at all the sudden?" Sirius
asked seriously, sounding remarkably like a scolding teacher. "So far
in the last five minutes you have agreed that Hufflepuff has a great
team and Ricochet is letting us off homework for the rest of the term."
	"I did not!" James insisted, looking cross.
	"Afraid you did, mate," Sirius said. "Didn't he?"
	"Afraid so," Remus repeated, smiling a little. "Of course, we can
excuse your lack of Quidditch knowledge for the moment, owing to the
glazed look you had when answering. What's up?"
	"Thinking," James replied, standing. "Hey, there's something I
need to do. I'll catch up with you all later."
	As James walked out of the Great Hall, taking the direction Lily
had towards Gryffindor Tower, Sirius sighed dramatically. "Who's up for
another trip to the library?" Both Peter and Remus got up and the three
of them set off out of the Great Hall, though no one paid them much
attention.
	No one except Kassie, who leaned over to Alexis and whispered;
"Since when do Marauders go to the library on their on accord?"
	"When they are up to something, dear," Alexis replied instantly,
finishing off her pudding and grinning.

					*	*

	Lily came back down the stairs to the empty circular common room
and stood before the fire before she realized she had forgotten the
book she had went to her room to get. Even though the room was empty,
she felt extremely stupid standing there, bookless. Sighing deeply, she
sat down. There was a painful sounding squeak and an "Watch it!" as she
jumped back up, pulling her wand out.
	It took a moment longer than it should have for Lily to realize
that it was James who she had tried to sit on, and that he was holding
his hands up in a fashion that suggested he thought she was going to
hex him. He waved his hands a little to show he was unarmed, giving her
a lopsided grin as he did so. "Don't shoot, or curse, as the case may
be," he said lightly, putting his hands down.
	"Oh, I'm sorry James," Lily said instantly, putting her wand away
and dropping heavily on the seat next to him. "I don't know why I'm so
jumpy."
	"No problem," he replied easily. "Nothing like having a beautiful
girl holding a wand to your head."
	Lily's face flushed and she stared intently at the flames in the
fireplace. She was sure her face was as red as her hair at this point.
"Wh-What are you doing here?"
	"I asked the hat to stick me in Gryffindor, rather than
Slytherin, so--here I am."
	"I was being serious," Lily reprimanded, turning to look at him.
	"And I wasn't?" he retorted. Lily shook her head, smiling a
little. "So what are you doing here?"
	"I just couldn't take the tension in the Great Hall anymore. Has
there been any news of the meeting yet?"
	"I left just after you," James admitted, shrugging. "They won't
close the school. They can't."
	"Why not?" Lily asked, staring intently at him. His mannerisms
were cool, but the way he wrinkled his brow when he answered her
suggested he was slightly nervous as well.
	"They just... can't. Dumbledore won't let them, I know he won't."
	Lily let out a deep breath and propped her head up on her hands,
staring into the fire. She could hear James' even breathing beside her,
but she liked it; it made her feel comfortable. It occurred to Lily
that she didn't normally feel comfortable sitting beside someone, but
submerged in her own thoughts. She felt her attention should be on
them. But James didn't seem to mind, or expect her to make conversation.
	As she stared into the roaring flames, her mind seemed to block
out the sounds of James' breathing, though. The flames licked higher,
blocking out all other vision. And then, just when they seemed to
consume everything, something sprouted out of them. A house, but the
fire was everything, destroying it. People; there was people inside
this house, Lily knew it. She had to help them, had to... They were
going to burn up... the flames would consume them like it did the
wood... And there was something hanging over it, an odd greenish
skeleton...
	"LILY!"
	Chest heaving, Lily bolted upright and banged her head against
something hard. "Ow!" she mumbled, laying back again, a hand
automatically coming up to rub her sore forehead.
	"Ow!" she heard James mumble. "Lily, are you ok?"
	"What?" Lily opened her eyes, but everything seemed oddly blurry.
Squinting, she noticed that James was hovering over her, his brown eyes
immensely worried. And she was laying down, a cold sweat dripping from
her face. "What happened?"
	"I-I don't know." As her vision became more clear, she noted that
James had a red spot on his forehead and his normally already untidy
hair looked like he had been pulling on it. He gently reached out,
running his finger across the bump on her forehead. "You was sitting
there, staring at the fire, and suddenly... it was like you were trying
to touch it. And when I grabbed you--you went all rigid and fell to the
floor. You've been out of it for a couple of minutes."
	"I what?" Lily asked, trying to sit up. The room swayed
unsteadily as she moved, forcing her to close her eyes.
	"Don't try to get up," James instructed, jumping to his feet.
"Hang on."
	Lily, in no mood to see the Common room spinning again, done as
she was told and laid back, staring at the ceiling. James returned
quickly, a wet cloth in his hands that he wiped her forehead with.
"Here, hold this on your head. I'm sorry I have such a hard head, you
may have a bump from that."
	"From what?"
	"When you shot up, I was leaning over you and, well..." James
rubbed his forehead as well, and Lily could still see a red spot,
though it was fading quickly. "Here, eat this."
	Lily looked at him like he was half crazy. He was holding a
Chocolate Frog and looking quite serious. "I'm not hungry," she told
him.
	"Eat it, it will make you feel better," he insisted.
	Raising her eyebrow skeptically, Lily took a bite of the
chocolate and felt a tingling warmth spread through her entire body,
all the way to the tips of her toes. Impressed, she smiled gratefully.
"Thanks."
	James leaned back on his knees, looking slightly embarrassed.
"So-what happened?"
	Lily shook her head, sitting up this time without the world doing
flops. James hovered over her for a second, but stopped when she only
leaned back against the couch. "I don't know, it was odd. I remembering
staring at the fire, and everything went... silent. Eerily silent, and
then a house was coming up out of the flames. And... I thought---no, I
was sure there was people inside." She squinted her eyes,
frowning. "There was something in the sky, greenish--a picture of
something... That's all I remember."
	James looked thoughtfully at her for a moment, leaning against
the side of the couch. "You tried to reach into the flames. I pulled
you back and you fought for a moment, whimpered and then fell to the
floor. It was--it was bloody scary," he said, more to himself than to
her. "And you were flinching and whimpering."
	Lily's eyes grew huge and her stomach turned a little. She took
another bite of the chocolate frog and chewed slowly. "Do you think we
should tell a teacher?" she asked aloud.
	James got to his feet, looking around as if a teacher would
appear in mid air as they spoke. "Perhaps Madam Pomfrey, to be sure
you're ok," he suggested, holding his hand out.
	Lily let him help her up and seen her reflection in the mirror
across the way as she did so. Her face was pale; paler than normal,
that was, and it made her green eyes look slightly sickening. She
nodded her head, following James. "That might be a good idea."

				*	*

	Madam Pomfrey was a young woman, barely out of Hogwarts herself,
that had taken over being school nurse the year before James and Lily
started school. She had a keen eye for injuries and usually could mend
most things in under a minute. The second that James pushed open the
informatory door, she came bustling over, looking each of them up and
down as if expecting gushing blood. Her eyes stayed on Lily the
longest, as if deciding she was the one who was there for a reason.
	"What's happened?" she asked, leading Lily over to a bed and
making her sit on it while she lit her wand and shined a light into her
eyes. She pinched Lily's hand, watching her skin turn white for a
second before turning around to the table beside her.
	"I-I don't know," Lily admitted and rambled out the story, as
best she could, James inserting parts. "...and then I woke up."
	Madam Pomfrey had been busy checking Lily over as she spoke, but
near the end she stopped dead, staring at her. When Lily finished, the
nurse still hadn't moved her gaze. Suddenly she started like someone
had touched her and bent down, pulling a night gown out from under the
table. "Miss Evans, I want you to change into this. Mr. Potter, I want
you to fetch me your head of house, immediately."
	James' eyes widened as she said this, and he looked to Lily, who
just shrugged, and turned heel to do as he was told. Lily watched him
leave as Madam Pomfrey thrust the gown into her hands. "Change, now,"
she instructed and walked over to her office. "I'll return
momentarily."
	Lily had no more gotten under the covers (the informatory was
rather chilly, supposedly to kill germs) when Professor McGonagall came
bustling in the room, followed closely by James. She took a long look
at Lily, then headed into Madam Pomfrey's office.
	"What do you reckon is the fuss?" Lily asked James, who looked
like he may have a theory, but wasn't sharing it.
	It seemed to take forever for McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey to
come out of the office. James drug a seat closer to Lily's bed and sat
down, but said nothing. Lily laid back on the pillows, trying to figure
out what could have happened. Every time she closed her eyes she could
see the house again and the flying green mark over it, like a giant
skeleton with a serpent coming out of it's mouth.
	"Miss Evans, could you please tell me what happened?" McGonagall
said. Lily jumped; she hadn't even realized the Professor had came out
of the office yet.
	"Eh, ok," Lily mumbled and again launched into the story, James
adding his parts in to account for what happened after Lily blacked
out.
	"This mark, would you recognize it if you saw a picture?"
McGonagall asked. Lily nodded. "Have you ever seen a Dark Mark before,
Miss Evans?"
	"A what?" Lily asked. She glanced at James, who's eyes were
narrowed, but worried. "What's that?"
	McGonagall seemed to shiver slightly, but Lily couldn't be sure.
"I think, and Poppy agrees with me, that you should stay here tonight.
Potter, you can return to your common room now."
	"See you later Lily," James said quietly and reached out to touch
her hand for a brief second before leaving.
	McGonagall studied Lily for a moment before turning to the nurse.
"Perhaps a low dose of Dreamless Sleep Potion, Poppy?"
	"Of course," Madam Pomfrey replied and again left to go into her
office.
	McGonagall stood by as Lily took a beaker of the potion and
downed it in one swallow. "Tomorrow morning I want you to see Professor
Dumbledore as soon as you get up," she said, still studying Lily like
she was an insect under a magnifying glass.
	Before Lily could ask why, McGonagall turned on her heel and
started out of the informatory. She stopped just as she got to the
door. "And don't worry about going to your first class, I'll see that
your excuses are made."
	Lily sat up, a smile tugging at her lips. "Does that mean...?"
	"Good night, Miss Evans."
	The door shut and Lily laid back, a deep black darkness pulling
her into the arms of sleep. Her last conscience thought was that at
least the school would be remaining open. Too bad she now had a bigger
worry to take the place of that one.