Lily, My Enemy

A month had passed since that event with the invisibility cloak, but Lily's attitude to Potter was still the same, if only, worse.

"We're going to Hogsmeade today!!" said Arabella.

"Oh, wow," Lily said sarcastically.

"Why?" Arabella exclaimed. "I love Hogsmeade trips!

"I don't," Lily stated. "It seems that every time I go, Sirius and James always have a plan to blow up our way of transportation!"

"Oh, please," Arabella said, rolling her eyes. "It seems as if everything revolves around them!! You know, the way you keep talking about the Marauders, it seems as if u actually like one of them!"

"No!" Lily said and threw a pillow playfully at Arabella's head.

It hit the target and as she swat a feather away from her hair, Bella gasped in pretend shock, then she took a pink pillow from her own bed, and threw it across the room.

And so began a pillow fight that soon involved all the Gryffindor girls-and got them all detentions from Professor McGonagall, of course!

After double potions with the Slytherins, the school was able to visit the village of Hogsmeade

At about nighttime, Lily and Arabella were still having fun and were nowhere near ready to go back to Hogwarts. Everything seemed perfect; James and his friends hadn't done anything yet, to Lily's relief. She had forgotten how wonderful it was in Hogsmeade, and now the sweet memory of her first trip here was slowly coming back.

"Mmm!" Lily exclaimed. "I love butterbeer!"

They were taking a stroll through the beautiful village. There were lots of people walking around, too, and Lily was vaguely reminded of an amusement park or a mall.

"It seemed that it was only hours ago that you were saying how you hated Hogs-"

Arabella was interrupted by a shriek coming from Peter Pettigrew's twin sister, Jessabelle Pettigrew. She was a best friend of Lily and Arabella. While Peter was unpopular, ugly, fat, and scared of everything, Jessa was the exact opposite. She had hazel eyes, flowing chestnut-brown hair, and a wonderful figure that made most of the girls jealous. She was a brave, popular, and adventurous young woman, whose role model was Sirius Black. But right now, Jessa was screaming her head off.

"What's the matter, Jessa?" Lily said.

"Do NOT go in there!!" Jessa shrieked, pointing to the Shrieking Shack, which happened to be in front of them right now.

The villagers said that they heard screams coming from spirits and ghosts that live in the Shrieking Shack; they claimed that it was haunted. Everyone was scared to go in there, and it was said that even Dumbledore himself feared it.

"What happened?" Bella said.

"Oh, my lord!" Jessa said frantically. "Well, stupid me, after being dared to go in the Shrieking Shack by Johnny Brown, I went. As soon as I got close to the window, I heard these phantom sounds. They were so horrible, and it sounded like there was a murder going on in there!"

"I thought you were braver than that!" Lily said. "You heard sounds and you just ran screaming your head off?"

"Well, um," Jessa said, obviously embarrassed. "I told you, they were ghastly sounds!" 'Please let them believe me,' she prayed silently.

Lily looked towards the house. What was so frightening about it? She felt the sudden urge to go inside. She was so bored! What could happen? Besides, there were no sounds coming out right now, were there? What was to be afraid of? Lily had always longed to go in an adventure-this was her chance! She made up her mind. She would go!

"I'm going in!" Lily said, ignoring Jessa.

"No, No, No, No, No, and NO!!" Arabella exclaimed. "Are you crazy?"

"Yes, I am," Lily said firmly. "And no matter what you say, I'm going in!"

"No!" Arabella tried again, but she knew that whenever Lily made up her mind to do something, she did it. Why did Lily have to be so stubborn? "Why?"

"Because I have a pretty good guess that the Marauders are being this!" Lily exclaimed. "I'm going to prove it!"

"Oh, my lord! This is all because of your hatred to James Potter?" Arabella said, shaking her head disapprovingly. It was a shocking the dangers that Lily could do if it involved her mortal enemy in the slightest bit!

"Basically", Lily said casually as she made her way to the Shrieking Shack.

Arabella ran after her and said, "I'm coming with you!"

"No!" it was Lily's turn to say.

"Yes! I'm your bloody best friend! If anything happens to you, I will be there to rescue you! I have to go with you!" Arabella said loyally. Lily was impetuous, who knows what could happen? Arabella needed to be there to protect her and be her conscience.

"I'm coming, too!" Jessa said. She felt guilty enough dragging Lily and Arabella into all this. Wasn't her purpose to lead them away from the shack?

"No-" Lily started to say, but was interrupted by Jessa.

"I started this whole thing, so I'm coming!" she said.

"So you either stay here, or we all go!" Arabella said to Lily.

"Fine!!" Lily exclaimed. She knew Arabella and Jessa could take care of themselves. "Let's go!"

This was going to be the adventure of a lifetime!

*~*~*~*~*~*

With Lily at the lead, the Jessa, then Arabella, the girls crept across the overgrown garden to the front door of the house.

Lily grabbed the doorknob and was in the act of turning it when Jessa interrupted her.

"It's locked," she said.

Lily tried the doorknob. It didn't budge. How did Jessa know that?

"How did you know that?" Arabella inquired, as if reading Lily's mind.

"Err, I, err…" Jessa fumbled. "I tried to get in from this door when, I, um, heard the howling" 'Are they growing suspicious?' Jessa thought.

"Great!" Lily said sarcastically. It was very dark and the only light they had was the glow of the full moon. "How can we find an entrance in this place?"

"Oh!" Arabella interrupted. "There's a window here!" She was beginning to get very excited in the idea of an adventure-or maybe it was just the full moon. "It's open!"

Lily, who was very pleased at Arabella's discovery, was just about to peek in the window when Jessa spoke.

"Come on, Lily, Arabella", she said frantically. "Don't go in, who knows what's in there? It's probably very dangerous-James isn't in there-and if he is, well, it's really none of your business. He's not worth risking your life for! Don't go!" She sounded very afraid and anxious, very unlike her usual self.

"You sound like an old puss," Lily said. "What happened to bold, adventurous, Jessabelle Pettigrew?" she looked up and, seeing the white orb that lit the sky, sighed, "It must be the full moon!"

Then they heard a sound that frightened them out of their wits.

It was a long, agonizing howl.

There was a very long silence after that.

"What was that?" said Arabella at the same time Jessa said:

"I told you so!"

"Shush!" Lily exclaimed. Instead of frightening her away, the sound only increased her curiosity and made her want to go to the Shrieking Shack even more.

So the spontaneous Lily started to climb the window.

This act shocked Arabella and Jessa. Didn't Lily hear the sound? Wasn't she frightened by it? Sometimes, they thought that Lily could seem weird and crazy, and this was certainly one of those times.

"Don't!" Jessa warned her, but it was too late; the last thing she saw was Lily's flame-colored hair disappearing from sight.

Arabella moved towards the window.

"Not you, too!" Jessa exclaimed. 'What have I gotten them into?' she thought furiously.

Arabella turned to Jessa and said "Sorry, but she's one of my best friends besides you, and I certainly can't let her go alone out there by herself!"

"Fine! I'll go, too," Jessa exclaimed desperately as she watched this time Arabella's black curly crop vanish under the window, and she scampered after Arabella.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Lily jumped off the window and looked around.

(A/N And I quote from PoA) 'It was a room, a very disordered, dusty room. Paper was peeling from the walls; there were stains all over the floor; every piece of furniture was broken as if somebody smashed it. The windows were all boarded up, except for one.'

But the thing that caught her eye the most was the thing in the middle of the room-an animal that resembled a dog, but was taller, fiercer, and shaggier. Lily's eyes widened-it was a werewolf!

Lily backed against the wall in shock, and she was in the shadow, out of sight. She heard Arabella jump off from the window and land beside her.

"Oh, my lord!" Bella gasped. "That's not a-oh my bloody lord-it is!"

Jessa appeared at the scene also.

"Yup! That's a werewolf," she whispered. "I told you not to come in!"

"Shush!" Lily commanded, because she saw a hole across the room that looked like it was a tunnel. She was so curious about it that she forgot to ask Jessa why she wasn't so shocked and why she sounded as if she already knew that there was a werewolf here.

Arabella started walking towards it and the other girls followed, taking care to stay in the shadows.

Then Lily saw a figure in the tunnel: a small figure, about Lily's height…a boy… "Oh. No!" Lily thought, recognizing the silhouette. "Arabella, Jessa", she said out loud. "Severus Snape!" she gestured at the tunnel. What the heck was that bastard doing here, in probably the most dangerous place in Hogsmeade?

Meanwhile, the werewolf was edging towards the tunnel-

"Oh, no!" whispered Arabella. "It wants to eat Snape!" She said it so seriously that if they weren't in danger right now, Lily would have laughed.

The three girls looked at one another, wide-eyed with fear. They all thought the same thing 'What do we do now?'

"I say just let him eat Snape!" Bella said. She was never very fond of Snape anyway. But as much as she wanted to just let that thing eat him, she knew in her right mind that it wasn't the right thing to do. Here was, telling Lily to do the wrong thing when she was supposed to be Lily's conscience. She was just about to take back her words when Lily spoke.

"No! You know we can't do that, Bella," Lily protested. She knew that Arabella just said that out of worry and didn't really think before she spoke. "I hate Snape, but I'm certainly not going to have him eaten by an overgrown werewolf!!" It was clear what the only thing to do was.

So, fearless Lily, who never stopped to think before leaping, jumped out of the shadows and yelled "YOO-HOO!"

The werewolf turned around, and was no longer interested in Snape.

Instead, he started chasing after Lily, who was running around the room, yelling, "You can't catch me!!"

The werewolf tried, and tried, but couldn't catch her, though, more than once, came very close to ripping her to pieces. He grew very dizzy and finally stopped, thinking it would probably be easier catching the boy.

"Hey, monster!" Lily teased. "Where are you going?" when she saw the werewolf moving dangerously towards Snape, who was very close to the entrance to the room. Momentarily, she wondered if he knew that there was a werewolf inside the room, or if he was merely being curious and stupid by advancing towards the room. The werewolf and Snape were now about a yard away from each other. She needed to do something- quick!

Lily did what came to her mind first: she ran towards the werewolf, grabbed his neck fur, and started to pull him away from the tunnel. As she did so, she saw another figure snatching Snape away from the tunnel, too, but she only saw him for an instant because the werewolf started to go crazy in her arms.

The girls, who had been paralyzed ever since Lily started running around the room, finally recovered from their shock and started to hold back the werewolf, also.

The beast started to howl, and he was trying to bite Lily, but instead scratched her tender cheek with one of his claws, cutting open the flesh.

This caused Lily to howl in pain, and the werewolf took this as a chance to bite her.

He opened his mouth and...

Lily, who saw the werewolf's actions, took a step back, and stepped on something, making her fall and hit her head on the floor. The "something" she had stepped on was a rat, which skittered across the room. She picked it up, and it made a weird nose, which sounded like a sound of protest. She threw it at the werewolf, but he seemed to not notice the scrawny little rat. It fell to the floor.

Arabella and Jessa were on the act of pulling the werewolf when he turned around and started clawing at the girls, too.

Lily stood up, with much difficulty and staggered towards the girls, desperate to help them. It was surprising how weak she got when she it was only a little cut. Why was she worrying about herself-she should be thinking about her friends-they were her best friends-it was all her fault-they were all going to die-thoughts muddled around Lily's head like a puddle of melted ice cream.

Then she heard footsteps, but they didn't sound human, more like-animals?

As Lily had guessed, two animals came bounding across the room. One was a big, shaggy black dog, and the other was a silver stag, as beautiful as the moon itself. Both animals rushed at the werewolf, and started wrestling with it.

"Oh, no!" Lily said weakly for the second time that evening. "Stop! He's going to kill both of you!"

At the sound of her voice, the stag stopped wrestling and turned to Lily. Lily met his brown eyes and melted in them; they were so warm, so comforting, yet so refreshing. "They remind me of someone else's eyes", Lily thought. She searched her mind for who it may be, but she was so tired-so sleepy-so weak-

The deer galloped towards her and gestured towards his back.

Lily slung her legs over his body and rode over him, going with her impulse that it was what he was saying. It probably was, because he made no sound, only to turn back and look at Jessa.

Jessa took this as some king of signal, and said to Arabella "Go with him! I'll be all right here! Go on!"

"How did Jessa understand what he was saying?" Lily wondered in her mind, but she put aside the thought.

Obedient Arabella followed the stag with no question and walked alongside the deer and Lily.

They started walking into the dark tunnel.

While she rode, Lily was aware of how warm the stag was. He seemed to emit a yellow white glow and was the only light they had in the dark, gloomy tunnel.

Lily began to ponder what had just happened. "What is a werewolf doing at Hogsmeade and so near Hogwarts?" she thought. "And who was that person who pulled back Severus Snape? And speaking of Snape, why was he there and how did he know that there was a tunnel leading to the Shrieking Shack? And where is this stag taking me?" Lily felt very overwhelmed by her problems and unanswerable questions.

Arabella, who was walking alongside her, was speculating the same things. She also wondered why Lily seemed so weak.

They emerged from the tunnel and saw the Hogwarts castle. Lily and Arabella turned around. They finally saw where they came from.

"The Whomping Willow!" they both said at the same time with shock.

The Whomping Willow was a very dangerous tree; its branches whipped around in the air and any object that came near it was cracked under the tree's moving leaves and branches. But tonight, the Whomping Willow was still, and not a single leaf moved. It seemed like a miracle.

The stag was running towards the castle and Arabella ran to catch up.

The three of them burst through the front door, and the sight that met them was of Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor Morgain-the DADA teacher-, Professor Levitt-the Potions instructor-, and all of the remaining staff's surprised faces.

The silver deer dropped Lily into the Headmaster's arms and Arabella crashed into Professor Morgain's open arms.

Dumbledore signaled to Madame Pomfrey and her daughter Poppy, the assistant nurse (A/N who later becomes the Madame Pomfrey we know). Madame Pomfrey conjured two stretchers and they laid Lily on one and Arabella on the other.

The stag turned around and galloped out of Hogwarts, leaving some of the teachers to gape at him in wonder.

Lily and Arabella were taken to the hospital wing. They were so tired, Lily had already fallen asleep her stretcher, and Bella was close to imitating her.

Suddenly, the door burst open once more, only to reveal the flushed faces of three very excited looking boys, and a very tired looking girl. They were, of course, James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter and Jessa Pettigrew.

"Err, hullo, Professors!" Sirius said cheerfully and the four of them broke into a run, only to be stopped by Professor McGonagall.

"I think you have some explaining to do," she said firmly.

"Aaw!" Professor Morgain, known as Gentle Gwendolen to her students, said sweetly, "I'm sure they're all very tired. Let them go, please, just this once, Minerva"

She was stopped by an icy glare from McGonagall, who turned once again to the boys and said "Go on".

They all started talking at the same time.

"We were at Zonko's," said Sirius.

"We were sipping butterbeers in Honeydukes," Peter said at that exact moment.

"We got lost in the Forbidden Forest," provided James at the same time.

"We were at Hagrid's!!" exclaimed Jessa, at the precise time when the others were talking.

The four adolescents looked at each other and realized their mistakes.

"We-ell," Sirius said sheepishly. "We were at Zonko's, then we went to Honeydukes and sipped butterbeers, and somehow, we ended up in the Forbidden Forest and got lost, and then we found Hagrid's hut and went in! So! Great day we've been having, huh, Professors?"

The professors were smirking at each other and grinning foolishly like parents who had just seen their babies trying to sneak away with a piece of candy.

"Very interesting," said McGonagall slyly. "So where were you really, Mr. Black and Company?"

Sirius scratched his head, looking very much like a dog.

The others, who were afraid of talking all at once, like before, instead remained utterly silent. They lingered like that for a while until James finally spoke:

"We were at Hagrid's until we saw this silver stag carrying a girl, with another girl beside him, and we were so curious, and besides, it was very late already, and-well, here we are."

The others smiled and all nodded eagerly.

Professor Levitt, who was known to be a clever, witty, and funny teacher who liked to tease her students, good-humoredly said, with a smile on her face, "If we asked Hagrid tomorrow, would he say the same thing?"

"Yes!" James and Sirius both said, both making a mental note to send Hagrid an owl later that night and try to convince him to support their story.

Professor McGonagall seemed to doubt their tale, but nodded, nonetheless.

Professor Morgain took this nod as a signal and said, "You must all be very tired! You can go to bed now, children! Scoot!" and as she said so, she looked at the Headmaster as if for permission.

He merely nodded his head and the "children" trekked up the stairs.

"You honestly believe them?" Professor McGonagall inquired, gazing after the retreating figures.

Albus Dumbledore gave no response, except for the playful twinkle in his eye.