Lily Evans: A History

Friday, 8th October dawned like many other Friday mornings before it in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There was a buzz of excitement in the air because of the approaching weekend and students eagerly set out for their classes, anxious to get them over with so that they could relax for two days. Lily folded up a letter she had received from her parents at breakfast, stuffed it in her bag and followed the other students out of the Great Hall as they scattered out in the rush to get to their various classrooms. Will left her in the entrance hall to go to Herbology, promising to meet her after class.

Lily only made it a few steps before she heard Kassie dragging her feet, yawning loudly as she scuffled up next to her on the way to Charms. "What was in the letter that got you so down?" Kassie asked, rubbing her eyes irritably and readjusting her bag.

Lily shrugged, thinking about the letter in her bag. She could practically see the tears on her mother's face while she read, and that upset her more than the actual news. The redhead swallowed. "Petunia had a miscarriage."

Kassie's mouth snapped shut, then fell open. "Oh. I'm sorry."

"Me, too," Lily said sadly. "My mum is very upset." The two filed into the Charms classroom and put their bags down. Lily rubbed her hands over her face. "I would write to Petunia, but it wouldn't do a lot of good. She doesn't want to hear from me under normal circumstances, I'm sure right now she'd tear my head off for even offering condolences."

Kassie looked as though she was having a hard time deciding what to say, looking thankfully up at Professor Flitwick when he climbed up his stack of books and she was spared having to come up with something. Lily could hardly blame her, she was finding it difficult to know what to think, as well. The Charms Professor lightly tapped his wand against his desk, drawing Lily away from her thoughts and into the present. "Good morning, class. Please turn to page two hundred in your books. Today we are going to learn disillusionment charms." Lily felt herself groan, she wasn't much up for learning a new charm today, with her head so full of questions about what to do. And an hour later, she was fairly sure she wasn't the only one having an off day.

"Oh Lily, I'm so sorry!"

The entire classroom seem to fall silent at these words, then as if sharing one mind, they all looked to where Kassie was standing with one hand over her mouth in horror. Across from where Kassie stood, James was laying on the floor, clutching his stomach and laughing so loudly that nearly everyone in the room who wasn't looking Lily's way in amazement and amusement, was staring at him. They could hear Sirius giggling, but because of the disillusionment charm on him, they couldn't see him. Peter was sniggering and Remus was laughing, but was looking so pale and sick that he looked more like he was in pain.

Lily glared at Kassie, but her best friend didn't seem to notice. She was still staring in shock at what she had done. Then, as Madison fumbled through her handbag for a mirror and held it before her, Lily figured out exactly why it was no one was paying attention to the glares she was sending at her best friend.

No one could see them.

Lily's face seemed to have disappeared, so that a cascade of long red hair was falling from seemingly nowhere. Below where she assumed her face to be, her neck started, but only went so far before her stomach disappeared. Somewhere around her knees the charm wore off so that her feet were visible. Kassie sputtered. "W-What's the counter?"

"Excuse me! Excuse me, please!" Professor Flitwick's squeaky voice cut through the crowd of students, his small form pushing his way through. When he arrived in front of Lily (or the parts of her visible) he also looked hard pressed not to laugh. The Professor climbed up on a chair next to Lily, tapped his wand once, sharply, on top of her head and a gush of warmth seem to seep down her body. There was still some continued giggling but most of that stopped when James found Sirius, whacked him around the head with his wand and not only caused him to reappear, but to glow incandescently in addition.

Lily rolled her eyes. If this was any indication, the rest of this day would prove to be interesting as well.

**************

"You just had to out do me, didn't you?", Kassie accused Sirius as the group of sixth year Gryffindors headed back up to the common room at the end of the day. "First in Charms, then--"

"Wait, I didn't do that in Charms. James did," Sirius pointed out smugly, glancing back at James who scowled in return. "Besides, it's not my fault that my youth potion not only caused that toad to become a tadpole, but go back to an egg, too." Sirius shrugged. "Watching that egg form was bloody brilliant, though. Even if I do say so myself."

"You don't have to say so, Padfoot, I completely agree," Peter piped up, sounding much like a lapdog waiting for acknowledgement from its master.

Sirius opened his mouth to say something, cocked his head and turned sharply to Remus. "You ok, mate?"

Everyone stopped just shy of the Fat Lady's portrait and looked at Remus. The dark circles under his eyes made them appear hollow and the rest of his face was so pale that his eyes seem to glow. James stepped forward just as Remus swayed a bit on the spot. "I'm fine," he insisted. But it was easy to see he was anything but fine.

"Why don't we go take you up to Madam Pomfrey," Sirius said, a little forcibly. He glanced at Kassie, then Kacy who was watching Remus fearfully from beside them. Kassie nodded. "Come on, mate." James and Siruis each took an arm, and started frog marching Remus away, supporting him more than any of them would admit, and with Peter scurrying alongside.

"What's wrong with Remus?" Kacy asked as Kassie and Lily led her through the portrait and into the common room. "Is he going to be ok?"

"Sure he is. He's just been feeling a little under the weather. But you know Madam Pomfrey can cure anything."

"Yeah," Kacy agreed. "She fixed me right up after falling off that broom."

Kassie agreed for half a second, then did a double take. "When did you fall off a broom?!"

Lily fell behind the sisters, looking for an empty table. She had decided that she was going to write to Petunia regardless of the consequences and she wanted to get it over with. A few minutes later Kassie and Kacy came back down the stairs, changed into muggle clothes and free of their book bags. "We're going to explore, want to join us?"

"No, but thanks" Lily said, gesturing to the parchment in front of her. "I'm going to have a go at writing to Petunia."

Kassie pulled a face. "Suit yourself. We'll be back."

Lily found, an hour later, that she could barely focus on her letter with all the noise in the common room and the nagging worry in the back of her mind about Remus. He looked particularly terrible today. Worse than during last month’s full moon. She knew it was only a matter of a few hours before the moon would rise and he would turn into a werewolf. And even though she knew that Remus would hate her for it, she had never felt more sorry for anyone in her life. Sighing dejectedly, Lily wadded up the parchment in her hand and threw it in the fireplace, watching the pieces shrivel up and burn.

"Well, aren't we just cheerful this afternoon?" Will asked as he approached, having only barely missed being hit by the wad of parchment as it flew into the fireplace. He slid into a chair across from Lily, folding his hands in front of him. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just trying to write to my sister," Lily said as if that explained it all. "I just don't know what to say."

Will started to speak but was cut off by Kassie and Kacy returning to the common room, laughing loudly. Lily turned her head towards them as they approached the table and sat down. Kassie reached into her pocket and handed Lily an apple. "Here."

"Been showing Kacy the kitchens?" Lily asked, smiling.

"The house elves are so cute!" Kacy said. "And so funny. They know the Marauders very well." She giggled in memory and took an apple from her own pocket, biting into it.

"Speaking of Marauders," Kassie said thoughtfully, a frown pulling at her lips. "Do you know where Sirius is? I thought they were still in the infirmary."

"No. Why?" Lily asked, sensing there was more than just Kassie's passing interest.

"Because Kacy thought she saw him talking to Snape." Kassie's frown deepened. "But the only talking they would be doing is cursing and there weren't any wand sparks flying about." Kacy opened her mouth, but Kassie cut her off. "I don't think it was him. But I wondered where he was anyway."

"The last I heard was an hour or more ago when they were taking Remus to the infirmary. But you were still here for that," Lily said these last few words while staring straight at Kassie to get her point across. Kacy watched the two with wide eyes, sure something else was going on and she wasn't going to be told.

"Poor fellow gets sick a lot," Will noted thoughtfully. "Just three or four weeks ago he spent several days in the infirmary. When he got out he didn't look much better, but said he was ok."

Without anything to really say in response to that, Lily bit into her apple and chewed thoughtfully. Kassie shrugged. "I hadn't noticed," she said, sitting up. "Did you all want to go for a walk or something? I'm bored. Hey!" Kassie's eyes lit up. "Let's take Kacy down to Hagrid's. That will amuse her."

"Or scare her senseless," Lily noted, getting up. "You coming, Will?"

Will looked uneasy for a moment. "No, you girls go on ahead. I'm going to finish up a little work I have so I'll have all weekend free."

"Ok, then," Lily said, automatically reaching down to kiss him on the cheek before dashing up the stairs. Will watched her go, then turned back to the two black haired sisters watching him.

"What?"

Kassie shrugged. "Nothing."

Lily came running back down the stairs, tying her hair back into a pony tail. "Ready?" Kacy asked eagerly, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Lily nodded, threw one last look towards Will, who wasn't paying attention, and started towards the door.

Kacy talked a blue streak from the castle, down the grounds and to Hagrid's door, then just as suddenly grew quiet. Lily was positive that the sheer enormous size of the hut's door was enough to quiet even the most adventurous person. The redhead could recall being overwhelmed about a lot of things concerning the hut and the half giant who lived inside.

Kassie knocked on the door a second time, but still there was no response. "It's not like Hagrid to not open the door if he's here, so he must be out somewhere. Perhaps he’s in Hogsmeade."

"I don't hear Curly, though," Lily replied, looking around as if the giant man was perhaps standing behind them. "Oh well. What else do we want to do?"

"We don't have a lot of time before moonrise anyway," Kassie said as the trio headed back to the castle, stopping to watch the giant squid slapping at a bird that had stopped to take a drink.

"What happens at moonrise?" Kacy asked interestedly. Lily raised an eyebrow and looked to Kassie, silently wishing she had chosen her words more carefully.

"Curfew," Kassie said without missing a beat. "I'm hungry. Let's go see if dinner is ready yet."

*****

As it turned out dinner had just appeared on the Great Hall house and staff tables as they came in. Not many students had appeared to eat yet, so the girls sat down near the back of the Gryffindor table and started helping themselves. Just as they were starting on dessert, James, Sirius and Peter came in, sat down and started grabbing at everything in sight.

"Hungry, are you?" Kassie asked Sirius in between bite fulls of chicken. "There's no need to hurry, I don't think they'll run out."

"You never know," James said just as Peter grabbed another chicken leg, looking like he half believed it might really disappear if he didn't.

Lily stood up, causing all of the group to stop and look at her. She raised an eyebrow. "I'm going to the loo," she said flatly, shaking her head. "You’re all a bit jumpy, aren't you?"

"Nope," James said, his mouth full, before swallowing his food. Kassie shrugged and Kacy continued eating, a queer expression on her face that suggested she once more felt left out of a bigger situation.

Lily went out of the Great Hall just in time to see a black cloak tail swishing around the door before it fell closed. She glanced at her watch. It was just about moonrise. Thinking that it was probably Madam Pomfrey taking Remus out to the Whomping Willow, Lily bypassed the toilets and headed towards the door. She usually didn't like seeing Remus looking so bad, but a part of her just wanted to make sure he was alright. Or at least, that he didn't look any worse than he had earlier. Glancing around to make sure she wasn't being watched, Lily hurried to the door and slipped out.

The clouds were thick, not allowing much of the blue grey sky to seep through. Lily looked around, finally spotting a figure hurrying across the grounds and towards the giant tree that served as the entrance to the Shrieking Shack tunnel. This figure, however, wasn't that of Madam Pomfrey or Remus, it was a single shadow that slipped across the darkened grounds and disappeared. Curious, and slightly worried about who else might know about Remus, Lily held her wand ready in her hand and headed out into the night.

It seemed to take much longer to get to the Whomping Willow tonight, as opposed to any other time before. Every small noise made the skin on Lily's neck crawl and the hairs on her arms stand on end. Nearby a frog croaked and Lily nearly jumped out of her skin. Shaking madly, she pressed forward, trying not to breathe too loudly. Ahead of her, the shadow picked up a long stick and began prodding the trunk of the attacking tree. Surprisingly, this caused it to stop moving. Lily peered closer, but couldn't make out who the person was before they disappeared.

Heart pounding, Lily stood still, listening. Her mind was ablaze with question after question. Who was that? How did they know how to get into the tree? Did they know what they would find at the other end? And what, if anything, should she do? Before she could decide on anything someone grabbed her from behind. Lily screamed, thrashing about and falling backwards.

"What are you doing out here?" a voice demanded.

Lily prepared herself to peer up into the dark, but the wizard above her had lit his wand and a faint yellow glow illuminated James Potter's face. "You know it's not safe."

The redhead witch swallowed, pushing herself off the ground. "Someone went into the tree. It wasn't Remus."

"What?! Damn it!"

Lily looked back and forth between James and Sirius, who was standing just behind him. James had an expression of fear on his face, but Sirius looked slightly odd. Gleeful, perhaps? Lily couldn't place it before James had spun around. "How could someone else have gone into the tree? If they get to the end, they'll be face to face with a fully fledged werewolf! I--" James' eyes narrowed in the light of his wand as he broke off speaking. Lily was now fully to her feet and could just see the outline of Sirius' face against the shadows the wand was creating. "Padfoot, tell me you didn't have anything to do with this."

Sirius struggled with himself for several seconds, all the while Lily thinking that the person who went in the tree was growing closer to a monster. James opened his mouth, but Sirius finally spoke. "He deserves what he gets," Sirius said matter of factly. "I warned him about messing with the people I love. Now it's his turn."

James didn't have to ask who Sirius was talking about; and neither did Lily. The blood drained from James' face and he cursed colourfully. "You are more stupid than I ever gave you credit for," the bespectacled wizard spat towards his best friend. Then he turned to Lily. "Get inside. Don't come out, no matter what. Do you understand?"

Lily wanted to argue, but something wouldn't let her. Instead she swallowed, nodded, and watched in fear and amazement as James turned and ran straight for the Whomping Willow.

"What can he do? He'll just get hurt!" Lily shouted at Sirius, who was staring ahead unblinking. Lily shook him. "Sirius, we should get a Professor!"

"James can handle himself," Sirius finally said, turning around roughly and walking towards the castle. "Get inside."

Lily followed Sirius against her better judgment. Just as she opened the door, she turned and watched as James' running shadow grew larger, melding into the shape of a giant stag before running head long into the tree opening.

*****

It was several agonizingly long hours before the portrait hole opened to Gryffindor Tower. Lily had found Kassie upon re-entering the castle, explained what had happened and watched Kassie's face become closed to all emotion. Kassie had stalked off to find Sirius only to return shortly after with red, blood shot eyes. After asking a dozen questions that the black haired witch refused to answer, the two had taken up occupancy in the common room to await James' return. Sirius and Peter retired to their rooms a short time later, neither speaking to anyone as they went.

As the familiar creak of the portrait opening broke the silence in the room, Lily and Kassie jumped to their feet, but instead of James coming through the hole, it was Professor McGonagall. She walked past the girls, thin lipped and obviously very angry, straight up the boys staircase. Kassie and Lily glanced at each other, but neither made to move. After all, if the Professor had wanted either of them, she would have said so. Several long minutes passed with only the cracking of the burning logs in the fireplace and the loud breathing of each witch to indicate time hadn't just stopped completely. Finally Professor McGonagall reappeared with Sirius and Peter on her heels. Sirius looked at neither girl as he left the room. When the portrait slammed shut behind them, Lily fell back into her chair and stared at Kassie. "This doesn't look good." Kassie was still staring at the closed portrait hole. Lily scrubbed her hands over her face. "Do you reckon James is alright?"

"I hope so," Kassie whispered. She sighed heavily and sank into the chair, looking as if she wanted to disappear. Lily knew the feeling well, although she hadn't really had the urge since coming to Hogwarts. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Bast slipping down the stairs, disappearing into the shadows before reappearing a moment later next to the chair Lily was in. Just as Bast jumped up to curl in her owner's lap, Kassie stood. "I can't wait any longer; I'm going to find out what's happening."

Lily jumped up to follow her friend, sending Bast spitting to the floor. As her cat stalked off huffily, Lily ran to the portrait hole and spotted Kassie just as she started down the steps. "Wait for me!" Lily hissed.

"It's past curfew, girls," the Fat Lady said reprimandingly. "You'll get detention."

Both Kassie and Lily ignored the warning, going down the stairs as quickly and quietly as they could. The castle was dark, with only a few flickering torches lined the walls. Lily felt the beginnings of fear make the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, but she pressed on, staying close to Kassie's back as they slipped down hall after hall.

"Kassie, we can't get into Dumbledore's office," Lily hissed as they turned towards the familiar gargoyle covering the opening to the Headmaster's office. "This is pointless. Let's just wait for James and Sirius to come back to the common room."

Kassie ignored her and continued on, past the gargoyle. Lily followed, glancing behind her to make sure they weren't being followed. She felt as if every shadow had come to life, breathing, waiting to grab her as she passed. Kassie raised her wand to a blank wall, but before she could say a spell, the gargoyle beside them twisted to life. Lily grabbed Kassie's arm, backed both of them into the shadows and placed a disillusionment charm on them both. Lily held her breath, praying the spell had worked because Professor McGonagall, Professor McClure, Snape, Sirius, James, and Peter exited from the hidden staircase not ten seconds after Lily cast the spell.

Not speaking, Professor McGonagall turned the boys left, towards Gryffindor tower while Professor McClure and Snape turned right. As soon as McGonagall was out of earshot, Snape turned to Professor McClure, his face bright red. "You wait until my family hears of this. You wait. He'll be expelled permanently. This is nonsense, letting him off. He tried to kill me!"

Lily couldn't help the fascination she found in this conversation. Sirius had tried to kill, kill? Snape and hadn't been expelled? Likewise, she had never heard Snape rant the way he was - and certainly not to a Professor. He usually kept his cool around them. But now he was angry, very angry. Beside her, Lily heard Kassie swallowing nervously.

Professor McClure said nothing to Snape, and upon realizing that he wasn't going to get someone else's opinion or agreement, Snape cut off abruptly and hurried past, his black cloak bellowing out behind him as if it was as angry as its owner. Once their footsteps were out of hearing, Lily performed the counter spell and both she and Kassie reappeared. "If Sirius didn't get expelled, what did they do to him?"

"I don't know, but I bet he does," Kassie muttered, nodding to a point behind Lily.

Slowly the red head turned around. Professor Dumbledore was standing behind them. "Er," Lily muttered, then quieted. There really wasn't anything she could say, so any attempt died on her lips before it was started.

"I believe its past curfew, ladies, you should run along before you are given a detention, or suspended for a month."

Lily and Kassie didn't wait for further instruction, they took off at a run past the Headmaster, being sure to take an alternate route to the tower so not to run into Professor McGonagall. It was only when they stopped just shy of the stairs that Lily thought about what the Headmaster had said. "Kassie?"

"Hmm?"

"I think he suspended Sirius for a month."

"What makes you think that?" Kassie asked, turning around curiously.

The redhead leaned against the wall, crossing her arms. "Well, think about what he said. They wouldn't suspend us for a month just for being out past curfew."

"True," Kassie muttered. Her face dropped after thinking about it for a minute. "A month, though? A month? How could he be so stupid? I know Snape deserved it. Or I think he did. But Sirius should have known better than to take this into his own hands. I should have known..."

Lily's eyebrows shot up. "Should have known? How could you have known?"

The other girl looked like she would burst into tears. Her eyes welled up, but she held herself together, barely. "A few weeks ago, when Sirius got detention, remember? He told me that he would get Snape back. But I never thought he'd go this far..."

"You can't blame yourself for this, Kassie," Lily said sternly. "Sirius is responsible for his own actions. Not you. Come on, let's get back to the common room before we get in trouble, too. Maybe we'll see Sirius there."

But they didn't see Sirius. By the time the two witches returned to the common room, McGonagall had already escorted Sirius out of the castle. Peter had promptly told them this when they went to the boy's room. James had the bed hangings closed and refused to speak to either of them. "He's really cross with Sirius," Peter mumbled. "I don't think I've ever seen him so angry."

"You think he's angry? Wait until Remus finds out," Kassie muttered, going out of the room. Lily bid the boys goodnight and followed. "I have a horrible feeling this is only the beginning" she murmured on her way back to her room.

******

Lily couldn't have spoken truer words. The next morning James and Peter went up to the infirmary to explain to Remus what had happened. By the time Remus returned to classes, he wasn't speaking much to anyone. James was staying just as silent about “the ordeal”, as Kassie was now referring to it, and the only information - what little there was - the girls received from Peter. From what they could gather, James was just as angry as Remus, and neither of them knew, or cared, where Sirius had gone.

It was several days before Kassie finally received a letter from Sirius, but the contents weren't what his girlfriend was expecting. Lily looked up from the book she was reading for History of Magic in surprise when Kassie balled up the parchment and threw it across the room. "Do I want to know?" Lily muttered, slowly closing her book and laying it aside.

"Probably not," Kassie muttered, jerking herself up off the bed and beginning to pace the room. Her black hair waved out behind her as she spun, making another lap in the small area. "He doesn't even think he's done anything wrong!" she finally spat, waving her hands up to emphasize her point. "He was suspended, lucky he wasn't expelled, Snape knows that Remus is a werewolf, and he thinks that everyone is overreacting! Lily, it’s not just that he could have got Snape killed. Did he ever stop to think that if James hadn’t stopped Snape, Remus would have killed him? And its all my fault…”

Lily looked up sharply. ”Kassie, no, it’s not your fault! How can you even think that? Snape knows that he can’t say anything about you without Sirius jumping all over him! Okay, Sirius shouldn’t have taken it that far, but it was his decision and it had nothing to do with you. As for Remus, I’m sure McGonagall will take care of Snape so he doesn’t say anything…” And with those words, Lily was interrupted because Madison had just opened the dorm door, and was standing there looking suspicious.

”Hey Madison,” Kassie said, cautiously. ”What are you up to?”

Madison’s eyes narrowed. ”What were you just talking about?”

Lily shifted nervously. ”What do you mean? When?”

Madison crossed her arms and walked further into the room. ”I’m not deaf, you know. I just heard you talking about Remus and Snape. What’s going on?”

Lily and Kassie exchanged glances. Lily was beginning to wonder what they were going to do, and who was going to do it first. The moment she had decided to just wing it and had opened her mouth to come up with as many excuses as she could, Kassie said, ”Madison, it’s... it’s really not our place to say. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to find out from Remus.”

Madison’s eyes flashed with anger, and she opened her mouth several times in attempt to say something, and then finally decided upon walking out the door and slamming it with as much force as she could muster. Just as Lily was about to turn to Kassie to ask her what they had just got Remus into, the door flew back open, and Madison stuck her head in just long enough to say, ”Oh, yeah, you know, I’m just his girlfriend. Why in the hell would I deserve to know anything, right?” then once more slammed the door shut.

Lily turned to look at Kassie. “Oops?” she whispered.

********

James and Remus were sitting in their dormitories when Peter came in through the door and announced, ”I got an owl from Sirius today.”

Neither seemed to have noticed. James just continued to write his assignment for Transfiguration, while Remus turned a page in his book without looking up. Peter cleared his throat and tried again. ”I got an owl from Sirius today.” James grunted, and Remus gave a noncommittal ”Hmm.”

Peter sighed, and dropped his head. ”How long are you going to keep this up?”

James looked at him and frowned. “What he did was wrong, and he knows it. He’s a prat, and an inconsiderate one at that. He got what he deserved, and I don’t care if you get a thousand owls from him or not, it makes no difference to me.” And with these words, he went right back to writing his essay.

Peter turned and sat next to Remus. ”Remus, what do you think?” Silence. ”Remus?” Peter turned and looked at him, and was shocked to see that his jaw was clenched, and he had stopped reading. ”Remus, hey, what’s-“

”You just don’t get it, do you, Peter? I don’t care where Sirius is. I don’t care what he’s doing. I don’t care if he falls into an open sewer and drowns, ok? He apparently didn’t care about me when he told Snape how to get under the Whomping Willow. He apparently didn’t care when Snape was almost killed, by ME. He apparently didn’t care that Snape would find out I’m a werewolf–“ Remus stopped, seeing that Peter had a worried expression on his face, and was looking behind him. He turned to see what had caught his attention, and thought he might have died from fear.

Madison was standing just inside the doorway.

--End Chapter 52.

Oh my gosh. I am so sorry it took over a year (wow, it doesn't seem like it's been that long) to get this chapter out. Quick update on why it took so long; I have moved four times, had a daughter (who is now 9 months old) named Olivia Gabrielle. And had more on my hands than one person could ever hope to cope with. However, life is evening out now, so it's back to writing. I am finished with chapter 53 and nearly finished with chapter 54. And well on my way to getting this story back on the road again. Look for an update within the next couple of weeks (this time the chapter is finished, so there is no way it's going to take over a year ^^;;)

I want to give a huge thank you to Shannon and Kate for helping, editing and sticking with me through this. And to everyone on the mailing list and message board. I love you guys!

Until the next update, sleep late, eat chocolate and listen to rock music!
-Bethany
04.24.06