The Book Of Prophecies

The Book of Prophecies

Chapter 2

(2/?)

The nightly noises came out once again, but it was different for James and the others. They were traveling through forest, not city. In the background, crickets could be heard. There was a hoot from an owl and an answering call from one even further away. Sarah seemed to be overly aware of these noises.

"Sheesh," she said. "Is it always this loud? No wonder you two can go around without being caught. If it gets any louder, I won't be able to hear myself think." James and Sirius had both gotten used to the nightly noises. To them, Sarah was the only loud thing in the entire forest, and they told her so.

"Well excuse me," she snapped. She didn't know how they could stand it. She was aware of everything that could make a sound. She didn't want to be left behind, so she followed as quietly as possible.

It took an amazingly short time to reach the spot. Sarah took everything in very quickly. There was a pond in the center of a ring of willows. It was surrounded by many different types of trees, but willows were the only kind around the pond. It was much quieter here than the forest. In the distance, the faint hum of vehicles could be heard.

Lily had been up in her willow for the last fifteen minutes, not expecting them that night. Hearing the sound of their footsteps, she climbed out on a limb and peered through the leaves. As soon as she saw them, she jumped down, and ran over to meet them.

Stopping in front of James she took the letter from her pocket and handed it to him.

"I got that earlier today," she explained. "I learn that you exist and then I learn that I'm one of you. Exciting last two days don't you think?" Sirius looked over James's shoulder at the letter and his eyes grew wide.

"You... You're," he stammered. Lily smiled at his speechlessness, and so did James.

"You're a witch," he said. His voice calm and collected, though the look in his eyes betrayed the fact that he was just keeping from jumping up and down like a child.

By now, Sarah had lost track of everything they were saying. She knew nothing of Lily, so she didn't know what was so strange about her being a witch. Wasn't she already? she thought. Just then, Lily caught sight of her.

"Hi," said Lily. She looked over at James with a questioning glance and he nodded. "You must be Sarah. In answer to your question, yes, I was. But we didn't know that. Yesterday I thought I was a muggle." Sarah jumped in surprise. She hadn't asked the question... had she? She looked over at the boys. From their puzzled expressions, she knew she hadn't said anything.

"I... didn't ask a question," she said slowly. It was Lily's turn to be surprised. She hadn't asked a question... but Lily had heard it. She shook her head. She had heard it. She knew she had heard it and she said so.

"Yes," she said. "you did. You asked if I wasn't a witch before."

"Lily," said James. "Sarah didn't say anything. You came up with it all your own." Sarah was twice as confused by now, and, above that, she was angry.

"How did you do it?" she asked Lily. She was just barely keeping herself from yelling. "How did you read my thoughts? People can't just do that the day they learn that magic exists. You'd have to practice divination for quite a while." At this point, Lily became equally as confused as Sarah. How had she read her mind? Sarah was right. She couldn't just get up one day with the power. She would have had to work at it for years. It just wasn't possible.

For a quick second, her head was filled with voices. Among them she could hear James's, Sirius's, Sarah's, her family's, and then, one was singled out.

This is just perfect!

the voice shouted sarcastically. It's okay that she knows... but going to Hogwarts? I won't be able to touch her. There was a slight pause, and then the voice continued. Of course... of course. That's exactly what Dumbledore wants... isn't it? Everything I need, he takes away from me. Even without my resources, I can't be kept at bay for long. I will get what I want... with or without permission. The voice was fading away into cruel laughter, but his last words could be heard. I think it's time Lily received her next letter. Tom, oh Tom. What an awful name I was given.

With that, Lily snapped back into consciousness. Every detail of the voice and its word was carved into her memory. She would not forget anything, especially since it involved her.

She found herself lying down. Her head was resting on her backpack and she was staring into the face of James. Strange, she thought, I only met him yesterday and I feel as if we've been friends forever. She looked behind him and saw that Sirius and Sarah were staring at her with growing concern.

"Are you alright?" asked James. She looked up into his brown eyes and was suddenly seeing past them. God, he thought, What happened to you. Reading minds and then collapsing into...well... whatever that was. This has been a strange last two days. He seemed to notice then that he had not received an answer and that she was staring at him curiously. Okay, are you going to answer or do I have to ask again? Never mind, you can't hear me so I have no idea why I'm asking you this anyway. He opened his mouth to ask her in words, but was interrupted.

"I'm fine," replied Lily, distractedly. "I'm fine." She tried to clear her head, willing herself to see his brown eyes, but nothing else. Trying to shut all the voices out.

James backed away slowly, giving her room to sit up. She got into a sitting position and tried to stand up, but her legs collapsed under her. She was forced to stay there for almost half an hour before her legs would respond. Helping her up, Sirius's eyes made contact with her own.

Sheesh,

he thought, she looks a wreck. Still pretty, but a wreck. And she seems so easy to befriend. Not always a good thing, but I don't think you'll bring us into any danger, will you? Here, he too realized her dazed expression when she caught his eyes. What on Earth are you looking at? And what is that little tingle in the back of my mind? He added it all up quite quickly. You can hear everything I'm thinking can't you?

Her eyes never left his, but she nodded. Is there anyway you could not do that? She thought about it for a minute and her eyes left his. She was instantly thrown into silence.

"Well," she told him aloud. "I could stare at the ground all day and bump into everyone that crosses my path, or I could keep trying it to see if there's a way I might be able to shut it down. Which do you prefer?" Sirius shrugged.

"I would appreciate the staring at the ground more, but if you feel you truly have to then please ask permission before you do." The word permission jumped her memory. The man had used that word. What had he said? She stood there trying to recall all the details of what happened after she fainted from the back of her mind for over three minutes. Finally retrieving the last bits, she seemed to realize that there was a world still there.

Looking at Sirius again, she nodded, then quickly turned away. James and Sarah were lost. Completely and utterly lost. What was going on between those two? Sirius seemed to catch on to everything so quickly, and then it dawned on James.

"You can't help it, can you?" he asked Lily. "You just hear us. You don't choose to at all." She shook her head. Sarah was slowly coming out of the dark and her mouth opened in an 'O' of surprise.

They sat in silence for what seemed like forever until Lily remembered what she had wanted to talk to James about in the first place. She spoke and the sudden noise caused the others to jump.

"I wanted to talk to you about me being a witch," she stated. "My parents are both muggles and don't know the slightest thing about the magical world. Since I have grown up without knowing that these things even existed, I don't know much about it either. How do I get all my school things? And how the heck are you supposed to get on platform nine and three quarters when it doesn't exist... well, maybe it does, but..." Her voice trailed off. Finally deciding her point, Lily built up her voice again. "I'm lost. I just learned that I'm a witch, and I don't know the faintest thing about any of it. Then, to top it all off, I find out that I can read thoughts. Which, by the way, is not the most pleasant thing to do." She slumped down against her willow.

Sarah was not in the mood for conversation. She looked down at her watch. Turning to the boys, she said naught but, "Time." They stood up and made to leave. Just as they were leaving the ring, James turned back to her and purposefully caught her eyes.

I'll owl you about everything,

he said, Don't worry, we'll figure it out. Then, he turned and left.

James didn't know what he was going to do, but, he did know where to start. He would talk to his mother. She would surely catch them tonight, and, if she didn't, he would have to confess in order to tell her. Yet, that didn't matter anymore. He needed to help Lily, and he was sure his mother would have some answers.

He looked down at the letter in his hand. He had forgotten to give it back to Lily. She would need it. His mind wandered for a while. He followed the others back to his house, but he wasn't really there. Neither were they for that matter. His thoughts began racing.

How would they help Lily control her mind reading? How would they help Lily join the magical world. How would they help Lily if they didn't know any more about it than she did? How would they help Lily with anything? It didn't seem fair. They were only eleven. They were just heading off to school to learn about things like these. What were they supposed to do?

From the expressions on his friends' faces, James could tell they were thinking the same things as him. Oh well, he tried to calm himself. Maybe we're not supposed to deal with this. Maybe it will take care of itself. Maybe they should leave it to the adults, or Lily herself. Maybe... It was becoming too many 'maybe's, just as it had become too many 'how would's. I'll just leave it, he thought. Everything will play out. But he couldn't 'just leave it'. The questions were eating away at all of them. This was just too much to handle.

Before they realized it, they were in front of James's house. Walking though the front door, they ran straight into Evelyn Potter. It didn't matter anymore. It didn't matter if they got in trouble. They were vaguely aware of Evelyn lecturing them, but no one really noticed. James tried to talk to her about Lily, but he couldn't. The words wouldn't come. He dismissed it for the night... They all did.

It would all work out in the morning. Or maybe it wouldn't. Maybe it was just a dream. Maybe they would wake up refreshed and ready for the day as the dream slipped into the back of their minds. Maybe... Again, it was becoming too many 'maybe's. They, somehow, got into bed, but were still up for hours before sleep found them.

The last thing Sirius heard before he drifted off was James's voice.

"Sirius?" he asked, his words sounding far off.

"Hmmm?" the reply was just as groggy.

"Do you think we'll ever work this out?" Sirius didn't seem to be listening, for the answer was another 'hmmm'. James seemed to understand though. He continued talking until sleep overcame him. "That's what I thought too. I hope it's worked out. Lily seems very nice. We need to introduce her to Remus. I'm sure he'll like her. Wonder what he's doing. Wonder what she's doing. Hope..." He trailed off. The leveled breathing throughout the house stated that sleep had carried away all worries. It seemed the matters would be put off until the morrow for them, but, perhaps, others did not rid themselves of their worries so easily...

Lily sat against the tree for a while, then turned and gathered her things. The night had been so strange. What was she supposed to do? She knew that she would still be in that awkward silence whenever she tried to talk to James, Sirius, and Sarah, but they needed to get past that. They needed to forget about it for a while. She needed their help. There was no way she could do it on her own. It just wasn't possible.

As she began the trek back to the city, the man's voice came back to her.

...Tom. What an awful name I was given.

It played over and over again in her head. Tom. His name was Tom.

I think it's time Lily received her next letter.

Letter...Tom...Lily... she began adding things up. She knew it was a simple answer, but her brain was too full of unanswered questions. At that moment, she couldn't put two and two together if her life depended on it.

Lily was so caught up in her thoughts, that she didn't notice what was approaching. She didn't see the pair of headlights until it was too late. She dimly saw a set of bright blue eyes.

Jesus Christ,

she heard in her mind. Oh God, let her be okay. Let her get up and walk away. Even the thought voice was dim, she could tell it was rushed and in a frantic state of panic. Oh no...Oh no, it can't be. She's bleeding... Oh God. Just let us get to the hospital on time... Just. The voice was fading away.

What's wrong? Why is it dimming? Lily's brain still did not understand what had happened. It was slowly dawning on her. She held on long enough to hear one last puzzled comment from the person.

Is that... Is that her blood?

The faint voice was clearly baffled by something. Why on earth is it...? Lily didn't get the chance to know what was so confusing about her blood. She plunged into unconsciousness just as the person pulled her into their truck and drove off to the nearest city. Which, unfortunately, was not her own.