Secrets Untold

The end of the school year passed by the sixth-years like a breeze, halted every so often by a ridiculously long essay or a spell very difficult to master. But most triumphed. It was the day before exams started when the first gossips began, such as Frank Longbottom seriously planning to marry Alice Gardia when they were of age, or Bellatrix Black keeping contact with a certain Rudolfo from Beauxbatons.

But the true school madness began at the announcement of the Halloween masque. It was a yearly Hogwarts tradition that the seventh years have one night to celebrate their unmatched seniority, and many were already hoping the new school year would come quickly. But it was such a secret that no students beneath sixth year knew about it, and a spell was automatically cast over every participating student that rendered them unable to give any information to children in classes below them.

Professor McGonagall's announcement sent a private, unnoticed buzz throughout the sixth years in Gryffindor.

"A masque?" Ray Johnson said one morning at breakfast when younger students were surely not around to hear him. "Like, dress in costume and dance? That's bogus!"

"I think it sounds fun," Frank Longbottom commented. "They only do it for us. Makes you feel special, doesn't it? Sad it's months away though." He shook his head. "What now, the term's over and I already want to come back. Hit me." He put up his hand when Patrick Sampson moved to comply.

"And just think, Frank," joked Sirius, "you can propose to Alice from behind a goblin mask so you'll look better then than you do now." There was a lot of laughing, for Frank wasn't exactly a poor-looking man.

"Well, what of you then, James?" asked Frank, sending a look over to where the majority of girls were sitting (careful to remember Nicole Brown) to ascertain none were listening.

James inwardly winced and concentrated harder on his fried eggs. "What of me, Frank?"

"Won't you try for Lily? And I mean honestly this time. She's very fond of Halloween."

Knowing that Lily and Frank had always held a special understanding between them, her being born into the Muggle world and Frank being an increasingly rare epitome of pureblood and thus both being polar opposites, James smiled. "I think the problem is that she isn't fond of me."

Frank snorted, and it was his turn to put more focus on his food. He nearly buttered the crust off of his toast. "I suppose..."

Remus started laughing at something Gordon Lostelle was saying and distracted James momentarily. When he turned back to question Frank's obvious doubt, the sandy-haired wizard was already talking in deep conversation with Alistair Deggut.

Was it just him or was he getting boring? It had been nice to catch the Snitch within the first half-hour of the game with Ravenclaw, beating them by about 120 points. But since a week after that victory and the unofficial winning of the Quidditch Cup, people had turned their attention to the end of the year.

Thank God, James thought, that tonight was the last day and he could go home tomorrow.

---

Why, Lily thought in despair, did it have to be the last day and she had to go home tomorrow?

She was up in the Astronomy Tower, sitting by the window. She and Lupin had arranged a meeting to compose their end-of-the-year speech from the sixth-year prefects that they would recite tonight in the common room. The end of the school year was all about speeches, after all. She was looking forward to Dumbledore's.

Bur right now the only thing she was looking at was the grounds outside the little diamond-patterned pane of glass. People walked on the hill and strolled along the lake, their black robes swishing in the late-spring breeze. She could see some laughing, some Hufflepuff girls crying, and Mitchell Stokes about to punch Davis Wallace.

She missed Hogwarts, and she hadn't even left it yet. Since when did this aching need to be in this school develop? Lily had always considered herself a fairly independent person, not needing much from anyone. She wasn't against going back to the Muggle house she had been born in to see her parents but--

Her train of thought stopped abruptly. The Muggle house? How long had she been referring to the place that way? When did she stop calling it her home? Hogwarts wasn't her home, it was her school, her place of learning. She would have to go back to...

No. No, no... She didn't want to go back there, where the most magic people believed in involved it raining after a dry spell. She would go home for the summer holiday, she'd spend time with her parents, even try to spend some time with Petunia. But then, after that, she knew that she would never return to that place to live again. She would come back to Hogwarts, carry on with seventh year, and then try to find a job and an apartment in a wizard/witch-occupied building, with a job of some sort along the way.

Damn, life was going to be hard after this summer.

Hearing the door open just then, Lily turned, expecting to see Lupin, but she started when she saw the light-haired head of Lucius Malfoy, along with the rest of his body, appear in the doorway.

"Evans." Lucius' voice was, as always, slick with a charm he couldn't get out of it if he tried. Although the charm was particularly lessened with he spoke to Lily. "Don't you look all cozy up here?"

"It's a real shame, Malfoy," Lily shot back without missing a single beat, "that you can manage to get lost on the stairs leading to the highest tower in the castle. Did you forget the way up from down?"

His eyes sharpened and a hint of malice added to his tone. "If you know what's good for you, you'll remember out from in."

"Excuse me, but I have an appointment with Lupin in about five minutes. Whatever you intend to do up here with Narcissa can settle for any of the empty classrooms. Don't worry, Lucius." She mocked him with a bat of her dark eyelashes. "I won't tell on you, so long as you don't leave your mess for the school keeper." Her hair fell behind her shoulder with a superior jerk of her head.

The foolish girl! Lucius noticed with his libido rather than his eyes how delicately her lashes brushed her cheeks and how her hair glimmered like fire in the sunlight filtering from the windows around the room. Discreetly, he shut the door behind him, bolting it. "I can't create a mess half as big as the one you've been from the moment you were born - you and your lot."

"I think I've heard this before." Her green eyes flashed even though the corners of her mouth upturned challengingly. "It's been six years, after all, and as far as I know, your brain can only hold so much wit."

In a flash, Lucius' hand had seized Lily's slim wrist, the heat of his palm searing her skin - literally. She cried out from the blistering scorching, the painful scream echoing around the circular walls.

"Shall I show you what I do with my wit?" Malfoy growled, pressing her against the wall farthest from the windows.

"Iceni," Lily murmured between teeth clenched, exhaling when the burn and pain were gone together. She reached into her robes and aimed the end of her wand at Malfoy's chin. She felt his fingers dig into her shoulder, and he snatched at the wand, but she dropped down her arm until the end of the wood was pointed at his groin. "Instead," she said lowly, "why don't I show you what I could do to the only place you seem to get your wit from?"

There was then a faint voice from the other side of the thick oak door. "Alohamora!" Malfoy jumped back from her just in time before Lupin burst through the entrance, wand raised. His eyes instantly zeroed in on Lucius.

"I thought I felt something was wrong in here." He pointed his wand at Malfoy, but looked at Lily. "Has something happened that I should know about?"

Lily shook her head. "Lucius doesn't seem to understand that this room is currently in use and is not open to him."

Lucius' eyes were leveled as he looked down his nose at the only girl in the room. "Don't think I'm through with you, Evans. Even if you are a Muggle, there's some things that are just...inevitable."

"I think you'll find a way to avoid the inevitable," Lily snapped. "Goodbye, Malfor."

"Have a nice summer," he seethed, "Mudblood."

"Get out!" Lupin shouted, shooting some sparks from his wand. He saw Malfoy sneer, and watched as he ran out of the tower, his steps haunting the circular staircase. Turning to Lily, "What did he do?" he demanded.

Lily leaned against the wall. Her wand had dropped to the floor, and both of her hands were pressed flat again the stone on either side of her, her fingers trembling violently. "I think he... Nothing," she said quickly, bending over to retrieve her thankfully undamaged wand. "He just talks. It's enough to drive a person crazy."

Lupin gave her a skeptical look. "Lily, are you sure you're--"

"Did you think of anything? I don't think we'll have any problems with the body, but I'm lost as to a beginning and ending." She sat down by the window again, shooting him a smile she prayed was convincing. "I'm looking to you on this one, Remus."

Shaking his head, Lupin forced himself to smile as well, but his mind remained clouded with bad scenarios involving Lily in a room alone with Lucius Malfoy. "All right." He sat down as well. "Well, 'Dear Gryffindors,' obviously..."

---

The roof the great hall was cloudless and dotted with the millions of stars that lit up the night outside. The metallic sounds of silverware against plates and the constant chatter of students improved James' mood enormously since breakfast. He, Sirius, and Peter had gone outside to toss a Gaffney's Great Glow-Worm Ball (with real glow worms!) around. It had been a shame Remus hadn't been able to join them. But of course, James thought with a grin and a roll of his eyes, the obligatory speech from the sixth-year Gryffindors had to be written.

But their werewolf friend was here now, and he had laughed with them at Dumbledore's end-of-the-year speech of his own and had helped eat the food those good little house elves were always so worried about. James could vouch for there never being a need to worry.

As everyone was finishing off their dessert, Dumbledore stood up and tapped his spoon against his goblet of what was probably pumpkin juice - Albus Dumbledore was "rarely for alcohol, thank you." The whole of the hall fell silent within seconds.

"Now that our bellies are delightfully full," he said proudly in his always pleasant voice that was never too emotional, "it is time to announce the yearly cups." There was a buzz of excitement, but it went out when he rose his hand. "Yes, yes, it is always so nice. And now, let us begin with the Quidditch Cup. Unsurprisingly, this year's Cup goes to Gryffindor."

The Gryffindor table exploded with enthusiastic students. James felt his spine would snap under the countless back pats. Across the hall from him, he was fairly certain there wasn't a single Slytherin who was not currently trying to kill him with dark looks.

"Also!" Dumbledore went on. "The House Cup. This year, for a remarkable record of absolutely no one being out of bed after curfew, the Cup belongs to Hufflepuff."

Many a Ravenclaw was shattered that evening. Dumbledore went on to announce the winners of such prizes as the Wizard's O.W.L Feather, which went to a very proud Remus Lupin, and the Witch's N.E.W.T Tongue, which went to Harriet Goldsmith, who was beaming so brightly it seemed she would be the first human lightbulb. In addition, James got his award for most game-winning Quidditch Seeker for the sixth year in a row, and Ravenclaw's Micah Fitzgizzen won the Teachers' Quidditch Captain Award.

"And now," Dumbledore announced grandly, "the most esteemed award that one can ever receive at Hogwarts. Sometimes, the decision is so difficult, we staff members must stand on our heads, thinking the right recipient's names our in our feet and must be dropped into our heads."

Many laughed at the notion of such teachers as Professor McGonnagal standing on their heads balanced in a corner of the wall. Sirius almost choked on the last of his juice.

"For this year, the Hogwarts Head Boy and Head Girl are from the same house. This, I assure you, does not happen often, as you will find if you ever decide to look in the school records. We do hope they enjoy it next year. Congratulations is to be bestowed upon..." He smiled at Minerva, sitting beside him. "James Potter and Lily Evans."

Lily went ashen. Her hand seemed to jump from the table to her mouth, and there was an onslaught of horrible whispering sounds, even within her own House table. But they didn't have to whisper. She knew what they were saying.

Why is a Muggle-born Head Girl?

She was Head Girl at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, her favorite place in the world. It was a dream she'd had since first year come true. And Lily was absolutely mortified.

"Ladies first," Dumbledore called out. "Let us all give a hand to Miss Evans." The line of his mouth was very straight.

Just when it seemed the only praise she would get would be about how she was from a Muggle home and had "pulled it off," she heard someone start to clap. Head jerking toward the sound, she saw that the first one to applaud was no other than Peter Pettigrew, the mousy boy always hanging with Sirius, Remus, and James. He was an unbecoming crimson color from his forehead to his neckline, but he didn't stop clapping. Soon, others at the Gryffindor table had joined him, beginning with his friends of course, and then the rest of the Houses. Slytherins were doing so because they were under Professor McGonagall's watchful eye, and Lily felt a chill shoot through her shoulders. Her gaze shifted to strike right into Lucius' hard stare. His arrogance in his smirk, he lifted his goblet to her with a nod.

"And now," continued the Hogwarts Headmaster, "a hand to Mr. Potter!"

The hall seemed it might burst with cheers. Even a handful of Slytherin girls had found the courage to whistle, while several Ravenclaw second years had started to cry for reasons no one could fathom.

Unlike Lily, James wasn't the least bit nervous and didn't even seem surprised. Then again, he had absolutely no reason to be. Ever since second year when he had won Gryffindor four games straight, it had almost been defaulted that he would be Head Boy. Still, some people had suspected that Lucius' dictating - that is to say, leadership qualities would win him a spot in the records book. But it seemed fate was smiling brighter on the green-eyed Seeker.

James stood up and smiled at his fellow students. At Sirius' daring wink, he lifted his hand and waved at the Hufflepuff girls nearest them. Their reaction gave the impression that they might spontaneously combust. Lily's terror was suddenly replaced with disgust.

"What a horrid display. How on Earth did he become Head Boy?" Lily asked. The question was rhetorical, and she hadn't even intended to say it aloud, but Clarissa laughed.

"You knew it would happen, didn't you? He's practically the school hero. Next year, he'll be seen as a god. But Lily, don't think about him!" Bell exclaimed, throwing her arms around her. "You're Head Girl! Congratulations!"

But you don't know why either, do you? Lily forced herself to push the hopeless feeling aside and smiled. "Thanks."

---

"Excellent! No shocker really, but still excellent!" On their way out of the Hall, Remus shook James' hand rather than beating the air from his lungs like many others had been doing. "Your parents are going to be thrilled, James."

"I know. Mum's going to burst into fits." He smiled. "Dad will probably send me an owl about it."

"It's 'cause you won so bloody many games," Sirius said. "Everyone loves a Quidditch star, and I don't think the teachers are any exception."

"Oh, really now, Sirius, don't you think James' grades have a bit of a hand in it as well?"

"Well, I guess. But if that's the case, why aren't you Head Boy?" asked Black rhetorically. "You're a genius, Remus."

"Academically, yes. Athletically, I'm quite redundant." Lupin shrugged his large shoulders. "Quite splendid for Lily, isn't it? First a prefect, and now--"

"I can't believe it about Evans!" cried a young Hufflepuff girl behind them to her friend. "To think! I could have sword Alice Gardia would be Head Girl, or Narcissa Black at least. But a Muggle?"

"Outrageous," her friend agreed, her short hair bobbing as she nodded. "If there's anything right with the government today, you would think the Ministry would order Dumbledore to revoke the honor from her."

"Well, of course! We can't honestly have Muggle girls leading our school, can we? It's bad enough she's a prefect. I mean, Narcissa is treacherous, a vile, nasty thing, but at least her blood is pure--"

Before anyone could react otherwise, James whirled around and aimed a threatening finger at the Hufflepuff girls. They had gone dizzy over him earlier, and they grinned as soon as he turned, but his eyes intimidated them in the next instant, and they shared a frown.

"Does Evans appear at all Muggle to you," he demanded of the first one, "when she can mostly likely turn your silly pigtails into real curly swine tails? Or when she can brew potions and cast spells that you'll never achieve in your mediocre lives?!"

The first girl looked like she might cry; her lower lip trembled greatly. But the second one set her hands on her hips. "Don't you dare decide to act all righteous, Potter. You're a damn good Seeker and a good student, but just because you're Head Boy now doesn't mean you can spout off at anyone you want."

"I can defend members of my House," he growled. "Evans is a witch, one ten times better than you."

"Her grades may prove that." The first girl's sensitivity had built up into anger. "But you can't look at her name and shoot it back three hundred generations." Her thin lips smiled; this was obviously something she had herself and was very proud of.

"Her name? Ten years from now, hardly anyone will be able to do that without going through at least three Muggles! Who the hell do you think you are to judge--"

"James," Peter murmured. "You shouldn't argue--"

"What?" he roared. "What shouldn't I argue? That out of anyone in this school, Lily Evans is the only one who can be a good witch without having 'pure' blood, and that she deserves respect for once from those too prejudice to accept defeat? Because that's what it is, you know," he seethed to the Hufflepuff girls, "defeat. She's been beating you all since year one, and this--" he pointed to his new Head Boy badge, "proves it for once and for all. So let it go." He took a few steps backwards, needing to distance himself. Behind his glasses, he could feel his temples sweating. "You've lost."

The other three had to scurry to keep up with their bespectacled friend. "That was brilliant, James!" exclaimed Peter. "Wonderful!" His chubby face was wide with his admiring grin.

"Yes, Wormtail." James took off his glasses and wiped his brow with the sleeve of his robe. "The truth is a wonderful thing."

Sirius shook his head. "Here's a truth about you: you'll never ruddy learn to leave things alone."

Remus laughed. "Well, then, now that James has let off his steam, shall we go to the common room and congratulate Lily personally before the end-of-the-year party begins?"

James nodded, his smile returning. As happy he was to be Head Boy, it hadn't been a big goal to him since second or third year. The truth was, he was more elated for Lily.