The Empath

Chapter 10: The Protector of The Empath

Harry woke up with Lily still asleep in his arms. He took his hand and gently caressed the side of her face with his, from her forehead all the way down to her chin and put his arm back around her. He pulled her closer to him. Still fast asleep, she nuzzled her head in his chest and laid still again.

Harry looked down at her, smiling at the peaceful figure clung to him. He couldn't believe how much he loved her. It was the one thing in his life that wasn't complicated. It was the one thing in his life that was - his. He didn't have to share his love for Lily with anyone. He didn't have to explain it or explain why it happened so fast.

When he met Lily, his love for her was just automatic. There was no reason, question, or explanation for the way he felt for her. It was just there. It was just understood. Everything else in his life was complicated, hectic, or just royally screwed up. Finally, he had something that made him happy and no one gave it to him. No one told him to feel that way.

Thinking back to his date with Cho Chang, he realized how lucky he was to have Lily. There was simply no way that he could hide his feelings from her, so if he didn't think before he spoke and said something really stupid, she would know that he didn't mean to say it and wouldn't get mad. She didn't cry a lot either, which was also good.

Now he wondered if that's how Sirius felt about Lily's mother, Hannah. Living the life Sirius lived, it must have been a relief to him as well, not having to worry about upsetting his girlfriend or not. It must have been horrible to have lost her.

Lily felt like such a part of Harry now, that if he were to loose her - tears welt up in his eyes at just the thought, and he held her tighter. He jumped slightly when he heard a light knock on the door.

"Come in," he said softly, trying not to wake Lily up.

"Hello, Mr. Potter," said Madam Pomfrey, then opened the door and came in with a goblet in her hand. "Did she drink all of the potion I left last night?"

"Yes, she did. She woke up a few hours after you left and drank it," he told her.

"Very good. She'll need to drink this before she goes down to the Great Hall. Which by the way, YOU ALL SHOULD BE GETTING UP AND READY FOR CLASS!" she said loudly, placed the goblet on the bedside table, and took the empty one.

"What the - oh - good morning, Madam Pomfrey," Paris said quickly as soon as she realized the she was about to swear at the school nurse.

"Good morning, Ms. Sittle," said Madam Pomfrey in a disapproving tone. "Now Mr. Potter, make sure that she drinks all of that before getting up."

"Yes, of course," he said before she left the room.

"Why do we have to get up now?" Paris whined into her pillow.

"Oh shut up and just be thankful that you shut your mouth just seconds before you got detention," Katie told her, sitting up and putting her hair up with a hair tie. "And don't you dare tell any of your friends that I look like this in the morning, Harry!"

"Just a second," he said, reaching for his glasses.

"What are you doing?"

"Well if I'm going to get yelled at this early in the morning than it would be nice to know what it is exactly that I'm getting yelled at for." He put his glasses on. "Oh, alright."

"Harry!" Katie whined and buried herself in her blankets.

Everyone in the room broke into laughter.

"I was only joking, Katie. You look fine. I'm the one who should be worried. I'm sure that I look a horrible," he said trying to pat his hair down with his hand.

"AHHHHHHH," Lily screamed and jumped out of Harry's arms.

"Lily, Lily, it's alright, I'm here," he assured her.

"Oh - Harry," she said breathing heavily, holding her hand on her chest. "All I saw were these BIG glasses when I woke up. I thought it was a monster or something, I'm sorry."

He picked up her pillow and threw it at her. "Thank you, you're so nice. Here, drink this or Madam Pomfrey will have my head," he said, giving her potion.

"Now that's really scary!" she exclaimed after drinking the potion.

"What's scary?" he asked.

"I think I'm getting used to the taste of this stuff." She gave him the goblet and grabbed her hair clip from the bedpost and put her hair up. "Thank you again, Harry."

"There is nothing to thank me for. I rather enjoyed holding you in my arms all night," he confessed.

"Well, I liked being in your arms all night," she told him, blushing.

"Should we leave the two of you alone?" Katie teased as she put her bathrobe on.

"No, that's alright. We'll behave ourselves," Lily told her as if it were going to be a difficult task.

"How are you feeling?" Katie asked concertedly.

"I'm fine. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you that I was an Empath. I just wanted you to get to know me before I told you," she apologized.

"That's alright, no harm done," Katie replied simply and gave her a warm hug.

Harry had known that Lily was an Empath since the day he met her, so this wasn't news to him. He could tell that the other girls were a little apprehensive and didn't really know what to say or do. He thought he'd give them time to talk through everything.

"You know what, I should go to Gryffindor Tower and change before class. I'm sure that you all would like a chance to talk about everything, so why don't we just meet after lunch and I'll walk you to Charms?" he suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea," Lily agreed.

Harry leaned in and hugged her tightly.

"Tell me if you need anything, alright? Actually, do you need anything now, before I go?" he asked her when they pulled away.

"No, I don't need anything," she assured him. "Thank you, though."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Actually I could go for some chocolate," she said smiling.

"You always have to be difficult, don't you?" he teased.

"But of course," she said flirtatiously in a French accent.

He smiled at her and kissed her cheek. After saying goodbye to the girls he left Hufflepuff Tower and headed over to his own dormitory. He felt like he was floating on air, and he reached his dormitory in no time at all.

"Hermione told me what happened, is Lily alright?" Ron asked worriedly when he saw Harry come in.

"Yeah, she's fine. How did Hermione know what happened?" he asked Ron.

"Hannah Abbott told her. They met in the library early this morning, and she told her the whole thing. You must have just missed them, they were headed over to Hufflepuff Tower right after they came here to tell me," Ron informed him.

"Well, I probably went a different way."

"What's with the goofy grin? Was there anything that happened last night that Hermione didn't tell me?" Ron asked him, knowingly.

"No, of course not," Harry replied simply.

"Than stop smiling."

"I can't," he said as his smile got bigger.

"So your not going to tell your best mate what happened? I tell you everything that Hermione and I do!"

"She told me that she loves me!" Harry told him excitedly.

"Bloody hell, Harry. How thick can you get? She practically told the how school the other day!" Ron said with his arms on Harry's shoulders, shaking him as if he were trying to awake him to his senses.

"Yes, but she told me, last night," he said, completely unfazed by his best friend doubting his mental status.

"Aw, look Dean, our ickle Harry's in love. Isn't that sweet?" Seamus said, getting up from his bed.

"Oh shut up, you're just jealous," Harry retaliated.

~ ~ ~

Lily snuck behind Harry at the Gryffindor table and put her arms around his neck. "And how are you doing this fine afternoon, my love?"

"I'm fine now," he said happily.

"Oh, stop it you two. You're going to make me loose my lunch," Dean teased.

"Walk me to class?" she asked him, ignoring Dean completely.

"Of course," he said getting up. He said goodbye to his friends and left the Great Hall, hand in hand with His Lily.

"I have something for you," he told her, reaching in his pockets as they left The Great Hall.

"What is it?" she asked. He handed it to her. "Chocolate! Thank you Harry, that was very thoughtful of you."

"You're welcome," he told her as she ate some of the chocolate.

"So how was your morning?" she asked him.

"Good, I like this whole N.E.W.T classes thing. If I wanted to, I could have slept in until lunch."

"Well, sorry to have ruined your fun." She smiled up at him. "Have you heard anything about the new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher?"

"Not much, I guess I haven't paid as much attention this year like I have in the past," he smiled back down at her.

"Well, I've heard a great deal about her," she told him matter-of-factly.

"Really? What have you heard?" he asked her curiously.

"Her name is Professor Carily. She is from England, and she attended Hogwarts herself when she was younger. She's lived in France since the end of the first war. Everyone really likes her and says that she's a really good teacher, and Thomas, who is a fifth year in Hufflepuff, told me that, though she is very nice, she seems a bit closed off," she informed him of everything she had heard.

"Is that why she hasn't eaten in The Great Hall?"

"That would be my guess. Professor Sprout came to me at breakfast this morning and told me to take more of my potion than usual just before I go to Defense Against The Dark Arts, so our Professor Carily must have some very strong feelings for Professor Sprout to warn me like she did."

"We'll find out soon enough," he told her. "I can't wait to find out what she's like, though she has to be better than Professor Umbrage."

"I'm glad I wasn't here last year, from the way that you all talk about her."

"Lily, do you know how to make the potion that Madam Pomfrey has to make for you?" Harry asked her.

"Yes, I do, Father taught me. She says that she doesn't want me to make it myself because then I wouldn't drink it as often as I should," she told him.

"Do you think that you could teach me how to make it?" he asked her.

"Why do you want to know how to make it?"

"Because if you ever need it and no one else is around to make it but me, than it would be good for me to know, wouldn't it?"

"Well, I guess. I'm glad that you would want to do that for me," she said happily.

Harry stopped, took both of her hands in his, and looked deep into her eyes.

"Lily, I want you to know right now that I would do anything for you," he told her sincerely.

Lily smiled brightly up at him. "And I would do anything for you," she replied, honestly.

Harry had thought that last night when Lily had told him that she loved him was the happiest moment of his life, but he realized that it wasn't. With Lily, every moment was the happiest. Before he could tell what was happening they leaned into each other, their faces coming closer, his lips gently brushed hers.

He felt as if bolt of electricity surged through him, connecting him to her. He put one of his hands on the back of her neck and the other one on the small of her back. Nothing could break them apart, nothing except. . .

"Is that Harry Potter?" a small first year asked in awe, making Harry and Lily break apart. The whole group of first year girls broke into a fit of giggles and ran down the hall past them.

"I should consider myself lucky, I just kissed Harry Potter," Lily said with a laugh and put her arms around his neck.

He put his hands around her waist. "Well, I think I should be frightened, I just kissed a convicted murder's daughter," Harry said, and they both laughed.

Lily got on the tips on her toes and kissed him again. This time Harry noticed something more. He felt as if his emotions weren't the only ones he was feeling. He leaned down a bit because his feet were getting sore from standing on the tips of his toes and as soon as he did, he felt instant relief as if his feet were thanking him - but he wasn't the one standing on the tips of his toes, so how -

"Harry, did you feel that?" Lily asked after she broke away.

"Yeah, what was that exactly?" he asked confused.

"I don't know. I can't explain it, it just felt as if I was sharing my feelings with you or something," she said sounding amazed.

"Yeah, that's exactly what it felt like."

"Hey guys, thought you'd be at class by now," said Ron as he, Hermione, Seamus, and Dean rounded the corner.

"Well - er - we - " Harry couldn't find the words to say.

"Don't worry, mate," Ron assured him with a clap on the shoulder. "Just tell me about it later," he whispered in Harry's ear.

~ ~ ~

"Welcome to The Room of Requirements," said Harry after he opened the door and he and Lily had stepped in.

"Cool. And the ingredients are here and everything!" she exclaimed in excitement. "Father told me about this room, but I got the feeling that making a potion wasn't the only thing that he and Mother did in here."

"We should have plenty of time to make the potion before I have to go to detention," Harry said gloomily.

"Detention, you didn't tell me that you had detention," she said confused.

"Yes, you have your Uncle Severus to thank for that - I'm sorry, Lily. I didn't mean - "

"Yes you did, but it's alright," she told him. "Can I ask you something, Harry?"

"Yes, of course. You can ask me anything," he assured her.

"Why does Uncle Severus hate you so much?"

Harry had never told her anything about him and Snape because he didn't want to upset her. He knew that Lily loved Snape, though he could never imagine feeling anything but hate for the same man that she loved so much. Then again, she had also been raised by a side of Snape that Harry had never seen. He had caught a small glimpse of it in his eyes when he hugged Lily in the kitchen at 12 Grimmaulld Place. At that thought, he felt even more anger towards Snape for treating her like he was treating her now. [That doesn't have to be exactly what I put, but I thought the way it was was a bit confusing.]

"He went to school with my dad. My dad and your dad were best friends, but they hated Snape. . ."

They sat down on the couch that was next to the fire. With Lily in his arms, he told her everything he knew about what had happened to make Snape hate him so much.

"And you've never told anyone about what you saw in the Pensieve?" she asked him.

"I talked to Sirius and Professor Lupin about it, but I never told anyone else until now," he told her.

"I feel sorry for Uncle Severus," she said sincerely.

"Yeah, I do too."

"But Harry, I'm sure that your father wasn't like that," she said, turning around to face him. "I mean, their conflict could be just like yours and Malfoy's."

"Yes, but I've never done anything like that to Malfoy. Besides I have reason to hate Malfoy. The only reason my dad had was that Snape existed," Harry told her blankly, trying not to look at her.

"Then tell me this, why do you hate Malfoy?" she asked him, pointedly.

"Because he's a horrible person," he said bluntly. "He hates anyone who isn't a pureblood witch or wizard, he thinks he's better than everyone else on the planet, and his sole purpose in life is to aggravate me!"

"Well, from the looks of it, that's how your father felt about Uncle Severus," she pointed out.

"Yes, but that was - "

"That was no exception. I feel sorry for Uncle Severus too, but not everyone in the world is going to get along well. Also, from what I gather, it seems pretty obvious that Uncle Severus was in love with my mother."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Harry asked in confusion, wondering how the conversation took such a turn without him realizing it.

"It seems to have a lot to do with it. Harry, think about it. My father was madly in love with my mother from the first day they met at Hogwarts. My mother felt the same way about him. If Uncle Severus loved my mother as much as he seems to now, than wouldn't you think that he and my father would have further reason to loathe each other?"

"Yeah, I guess, but what does that have to do with my dad?" he asked, still confused.

"Well then, let me ask you another question. How would you feel if Malfoy was openly in love with Hermione?"

"But he wouldn't be. Hermione isn't - "

"That's not what I asked. What I asked is how you would feel if Malfoy was openly in love with Hermione? Trying to steal glances at her. Holding back after class waiting for her to leave first just so he could walk out behind her. And you would know every single time that Malfoy looked at you, he would be thinking about how if you and Ron weren't alive, he could have Hermione. How would you feel?" she pressed.

"Well, that's Hermione. Hermione was my best friend before she was Ron's girlfriend," Harry stated, still trying not to look at Lily for more than a second.

"If my parents loved each other since the day they met and your father was my father's best friend, don't you think that your father was close friends with my mother?" She gently placed her hand on the side of Harry's face and turned his head, forcing him to look at her.

Harry's mind went blank. The only thing he could feel were his insides squirming and his heart pounding in his chest. He breathed in deeply after realizing that he had stopped altogether. When he noticed Lily's face go crimson, he laughed lightly, remembering what they had been talking about.

"Er- yeah, I'm sure they were close friends, and I guess that would make me hate Malfoy even more," he said breathlessly, still looking into her eyes.

She leaned into him and lightly brushed her lips on his. Harry heard something loud slam in the background. He felt vulnerable. He didn't want to break away because whatever that noise was, he wouldn't be able to face it with his mind not working correctly.

Feeling scared and sad that something or someone would break he and Lily up, he realized that those weren't his feelings. He felt annoyed that someone would disturb them again. He realized that what he was feeling at first must have been Lily's feelings, then it hit him - Lily was scared.

Without time to think through his reaction to the loud noise properly, he broke apart from Lily, quickly slid out from under her, stood up protectively beside her, and waved his hand harshly at the opened door - making it slam close so hard that the small table that had been standing next to the door, crashed to the floor, and broke.

Harry whipped around, breathing heavily, ready to protect Lily against whatever had scared her, and saw Ron holding Hermione protectively, a few feet from the door. Realizing what he had just done, he sat down on the couch confused and feeling extremely embarrassed.

"Well - er Harry - if you didn't want to see us that badly, we could go," Ron said nervously, breaking the silence.

"Harry - " Lily began, but Harry cut her off.

"I know, I know, I'm - I'm sorry. I don't know why I just did that," he said, frustratingly running his figures through his hair.

"No Harry, I think what Lily was going to ask isn't why you did that, but how you did that!" Hermione said, looking at Harry in amazement.

"What are you talking about?" he asked confused, his face getting redder, feeling even more embarrassed from the way that Lily, Hermione, and Ron were all looking at him.

"Harry, there's no need to feel embarrassed. She's just talking about what you just did," Lily said in amazement.

"What - "

"Harry, you just did wand-less magic!!" Lily said excitedly.

"No, I didn't. I - " He looked down at his empty hand and quickly rummaged through the pockets of his robes to find his wand.

"It's over there, Harry," Lily pointed out. "You put it on the table while we were talking."

He looked over at his wand and back at his empty hand, then at Lily.

"Can't - er - "

"No, I can't, Harry." Lily sat up and looked him in the eyes. "No one that I've ever heard of can."

"But, than how did I - "

"I don't know."

"Maybe I got it from Voldemort, just like how I can speak Parseltongue?" he suggested.

"Harry, if Voldemort could do wand less magic, I think that someone would have known from the first war. Or at least he would have used it to kill you," Hermione added, sitting down on floor next to a large armchair opposite of the couch. Ron walked over and sat down in the chair, putting his hand on Hermione's shoulder.

"Well then, how can I do it?" he asked, frustrated.

"I don't know." Hermione shook her head.

"Well, we better find out, now shouldn't we!? You could bloody well have killed us with that - that - hand thing," said Ron, mimicking Harry hand gesture with his own hand.

"Sorry, but I don't know what I was thinking, or if I was thinking."

"Harry, what made you get up like that so quickly?" Lily asked, trying to figure out what had just happened.

"I don't know. I just felt that you were scared, and then I jumped up," he told her.

"Wait, what do you mean, you felt that she was scared?" Hermione asked, confused.

Harry's face went ten times redder than it had been before, and he quickly averted his eyes to the floor.

"What - er he means is that - well, we sort of - when we're kissing, he can feel what I'm feeling, just like I can without kissing him," Lily nervously explained to Hermione and Ron.

Harry looked up at her a saw that her face was as red as his face probably was.

"You mean that he can channel into your empathy?" Hermione asked her.

"Yeah, he can."

"Only when he kisses you?" Ron asked.

"Yeah."

"Has it ever happened before? I mean with - er other - " Ron scrambled to find the right words.

"No, Harry is the first boy I've ever kissed," Lily told him, shyly.

"Well, maybe you should ask your dad about it. It might have happened to him too, when he kissed your mother," Hermione suggested.

"And what exactly is she supposed to say to her dad, Hermione?" Ron asked as if that was one of the funniest ideas that she'd ever suggested. "I can just picture it now, Lily going up to Sirius and saying 'Dad, I was snogging Harry today and something happened to him. I was just wondering if you could tell me about some of your snogs with my mum'. Great idea Hermione."

"Actually, I think that might be a good idea. I mean, it'll be weird, but he did tell me to tell him everything that happens that's connected to my empathy," Lily stated.

"Well, at least one good thing will come of it." Ron shrugged.

"And what's that?" Hermione asked him.

"Well right now Sirius is living his life hiding from the law because he is a convicted murderer, but he's innocent, right?" Ron asked her.

"Correct."

"Well after Lily talks to him, he'll kill Harry, and there'll actually be a reason to cart him back to Azkaban."

They all broke into laughter at Ron's logic.

"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you, Harry," Ron warned. "What do you think me or my dad would do if Dean came up to one of us and told us about a snog he had with Ginny?" At this Harry slowly stopped laughing, and his face went pale, making the girls laugh even harder.

"I don't think that Father would ever kill or hurt Harry in any way, Ron!" Lily insisted. "Harry's like his son."

"Than that would make you two brother and sister. Oh Merlin, why did you have to say that?" Ron asked sounding disgusted.

"Alright, now back to Harry using wand-less magic," Hermione said when they all stopped laughing. "Have you ever done it before?"

"No, never. Well, my Aunt Petunia cut my hair once, and it grew back the next day. I did stuff like that all the time before I came to Hogwarts," he told her.

"Well that sort of thing is normal for witches and wizards when they're children," Hermione told him.

"Than no, I haven't. At least I don't think I have," he said, his face screwed up in concentration.

"I think that we should tell Dumbledore," Hermione told them.

"What's wrong with you, Hermione?" Ron asked her sounding disgusted. "Every time we find out something cool, you want to run off to a teacher!"

"Ron, I just think that Dumbledore should know about it!"

"Well, maybe we should figure out how I can do it, and everything before we tell anyone," Harry said, interrupting the argument that was about to be unleashed between his two best friends.

"Actually, Harry, I think Hermione's right, but I don't think that we should tell him now. I mean, what if we get to Dumbledore's office, and Harry can't do it again? I think that we should try and find out how you can do it, then how to control it, before we tell anyone," she told them.

"Maybe you're right," Hermione admitted and looked over at the window. "Harry, what's Hedwig doing here this late at night?"

Harry looked over and saw Hedwig waiting patiently outside the window for him.

"I dunno," he said getting up and opening the window.

Hedwig flew in and perched herself on the coach next to Lily, who took the letter from her and gently stroked Hedwig's neck.

"It's from Father," she said excitedly and gave the letter to Harry, who opened it and read it silently as he took his seat next to Lily.

Harry,

Dumbledore told me about what happened to Lily. I remember when the same thing would happen to my Hannah. I had asked Dumbledore before the two of you had left for Hogwarts that if something like this were to happen, for him to tell me as soon as it did. The fact that she was calling for you is of great importance, and I must to speak with the two of you immediately. As you are reading this letter, I am at the Shrieking Shack waiting for you, and I ask that you and Lily come and meet with me.

Sirius

"He's at the Shrieking Shack and wants to talk to us," Harry told Lily after he read the letter.

"Why?" she asked confused.

"Here, read it for yourself." He handed her the letter.

"I told you, didn't I, Harry? Better say your last goodbyes now," Ron teased.

"I called for you?" Lily asked confused, and she handed the letter to Hermione.

"Yeah, that's why Professor Dumbledore came and got me," he told her. "Don't you remember anything that happened?"

"No, not really. I mean, I sort of remember what I was feeling, but I don't remember what was happening to me."

"Well, we should go," he told her, standing up. "We'll have to go and get the Marauders' Map and my invisibility cloak first, though."

"I guess I'll show you how to make the potion another time," she said before they all got up and left the Room of Requirements.

Walking to the Gryffindor Tower, Harry noticed how nervous he had gotten. For the first time since he had known Sirius, he was nervous about seeing him. He didn't know why it was exactly that he was so nervous. He thought that maybe Ron had just freaked him out a bit, but he wasn't really afraid of seeing Sirius.

What he had with Lily was the most perfect thing in his life, and he didn't want anyone to ruin it, and he was afraid that that was what Sirius was going to do.

"Mr. Potter!" a voice yelled from behind them. Harry spun around. "I believe that we have somewhat of an appointment - your - detention, if you haven't forgotten?" Snape drawled.

Harry hit himself inwardly for forgetting, but Snape was the last person that he wanted to deal with at that very moment. However, he held his composure well.

"I'm very sorry Professor, but I'm afraid that I have somewhere else to be," he said calmly.

"And what makes you think that I care that you have to be somewhere else?" Snape said, every word dripping with distain.

"Professor, it's not just Harry, sir. You see we got this letter - " Lily tried to explain.

"What letter?" Snape spat just as he laid his eyes on the letter that Hermione had in her hands. "Let me see it, Granger!"

Before she could do anything, Snape walked over to her and ripped the letter out of her hands and read it. The further he got into the letter, the angrier he looked.

"Sir, he's waiting for us right now," Lily pressed.

"Is this true, Ms. Black?" he asked her harshly. "Did you really call for him?"

"Yes, sir," she said hesitantly. "Professor Dumbledore had to go and get him last - "

"FINE!" he spat angrily, threw the letter at her, turned to his heal, and walked off.

"I wonder what that was all about," said Ron, completely bewildered.

"I dunno, but I get the feeling that there's something that everyone's not telling us," Lily told him, and they all turned around and continued there walk to the Gryffindor Tower.

~ ~ ~

"Thanks Hermione," Harry whispered from under the invisibility cloak to Hermione, who had opened the portrait hole for him and Lily.

"You're welcome," she whispered back.

"Harry, stop being so nervous!" Lily whispered to him as they made their way down the hall. "You're making me nervous!"

"Sorry, I can help it," he apologized.

"Harry." She stopped and turned around to look at him. "No one's going to take me away from you. Well, at least no one's going to change the way I feel about you, anyway. That I can promise. I can't promise that one of the large, fierce branches of the Whomping Willow won't slam down on me and crush every bone of my body, but don't worry, the chances of that happening are slim to none, but if it does, I'll still love you, I'll just be as flat as a pancake too."

"You're making me feel much better, you know that?" he said sarcastically, grinning from ear to ear when she stopped telling him of her possible death.

"Actually, I am. You're calming down," she said, her face getting closer to his, she kissed him. "Better?"

'Much' was the only thing that he could manage to get out.

"Let's go then." They continued to walk down the hall silently.

When they were about to walk out onto the grounds, they heard footsteps coming towards them and abruptly stopped. Lily turned around to face Harry who looked down at the map. His eye instantly went to the Entrance Hall and then to the name Mariana Carily that was coming their way.

Lily looked up at Harry questionably, but Harry didn't know why their knew Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher was walking towards them either.

"Who's there?" she asked the empty Entrance Hall.

When no one answered her, she got her wand out and cautiously walked out onto the grounds. Lily turned around, and she and Harry followed Professor Carily out as quietly as they could. They started to make their way to the Whomping Willow as they watched their professor knock on the door of Hagrid's hut.

"Ah, Mariana. Come in, come in, I was just about to make me self some tea. Why don't you join me?" They heard Hagrid ask cheerily.

"That sounds lovely, Hagrid," Professor Carily replied before going in and closing the door behind her.

"I wonder what Hagrid's doing having tea with the new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher?" Harry asked Lily, curiously.

"He knows her well, it seems," she told him.

"How do you kn- " Harry stopped himself, assuming that she felt whatever kind of feelings that Hagrid and Professor Carily were feeling just moments ago. "Oh, never mind."

They continued to walk to the Whomping Willow. As soon as they got to reaching distance from the Whomping Willow's branches, Lily took out her wand and pointed it at a rock on the ground.

"Wingardium Leviosa." The rock flew up and with a wave of Lily's wand, it slammed itself into the knot at the bottom of the tree. The tree branches that had been moving fiercely ceased. "Proud?" she asked him flirtatiously as they took a few steps forward.

"Very." She turned around, and he leaned down to kiss her.

Just as his lips met hers, the Whomping Willow came back to life and came mere inches from crushing them before Harry noticed that it was even moving. He and Lily ran to the opening at the base of the tree. Harry quickly grabbed Lily and pulled her into him, making them both slam into the wall of the tunnel and his invisibility cloak to fall off.

"That was close!" he said, breathing heavily and letting go of Lily.

"Yeah - I know," Lily said, still leaning against the wall of the tunnel. "I can't see anything."

"You can't, can you?" he asked playfully, pulling her in his arms and kissing her.

"Lumos." They heard a familiar voice say. "Alright you two, that's enough. I thought you came here to meet me?"

They quickly broke apart, both of there faces beat red, and looked up at a very amused looking Sirius.

"Well, technically you told us to meet you at the Shrieking Shack, not at the base of the Whomping Willow," Lily stated, still blushing fiercely.

"You took too long, I got bored waiting," he complained. "You two do know that the Whomping Willow only stays immobile for about thirty seconds right?"

"Yeah, we sort of noticed that," Harry said in mock annoyance.

"So, does your dear old dad get a kiss, or is Harry the only man that's going to get your attention tonight?"

Lily ran and jumped into his arms excitedly, causing Sirius to moan from the sudden lost of breath.

"Of course you get a kiss, Father," she said pulling away, and she kissed him on his cheek. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too," he said and hugged her again. "So how do you like Hufflepuff? And Hogwarts for that matter?"

"I like it here very much," she told him, smiling.

"Yes, and I see just how much," he said nodding in Harry's direction.

"Father!" she said scandalized. "Are you even trying to behave yourself?"

"No," he said simply and walked over to Harry. "It's good to see you, Harry."

"It's good to see you too, Sirius," Harry replied, grinning widely.

"So I hear you're keeping your promise and taking care of her for me," Sirius said, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Yes, of course," he confirmed.

Sirius gave him a hug and steered the two of them down the tunnel.

"So, what took you two so long?" he asked Harry.

"Snape," he replied simply.

"Yes, I see," Sirius said knowingly.

"Harry had detention tonight and was already late when we got your letter," Lily told him.

"Yes, I was told that he got detention, and on his first week back at school no less. You've put your father to shame, how did you manage it?" Sirius asked him.

"Snape," Harry replied simply, again.

"Oh." Sirius shook his head. "Well anyway, there is much to discuses."

"What exactly is there to discuss?" Lily asked him.

"It has to do with your empathy, and Harry's new role in your life. Your an Empath, Lily. This has much more to do with the feelings that you and Harry are feeling towards each other than you would think." Lily looked up at him, confused. "I'll tell you when we get to the Shrieking Shack." She nodded.

When they finally reached the door to the Shrieking Shack, Sirius opened it and Harry saw Lupin sitting in a beat up, old chair by the blazing fireplace.

"Professor Lupin, what are you doing here?" Harry asked him.

"Someone had to make sure that your godfather didn't get into any trouble," he told him. "Come on in and sit."

Lily went over to him and hugged him before taking her seat. "How are you doing, Uncle Remus?"

"I'm doing just fine, and how are you Lily, my dear?" he asked her

"I'm alright," she told him as Harry and Sirius sat down. "I'm a little curious as to why I'm here though."

"Right, sorry," Sirius said taking a few thin books from Remus. "Lily, these are some of your mother's journals."

"And this is why we're here?" she asked, taking them.

"Lily, empathy is an ancient gift that was supposed to have died out long ago, but your mother's side of the family has held onto the trait," Sirius told her. "When Empaths first existed, they were respected greatly among wizards, but as in all things some wizards thought that they could take advantage of Empaths. They thought that they could wield the power, and use it themselves, but their attempts only caused death.

"Empathy can only be passed to another generation if the child was conceived from pure love. However, some wizards tried to marry an Empath, so that they could get the empathy trait to pass down there own bloodline, so Empaths became more and more rare. There is a reason that Empaths have been put on the earth, and you will learn that the more you grow as one.

"The most crucial time in an Empath's life is when they're teenagers. Their families can't watch them as much as they were able to when they were children, so more dangers surround them. The reason that your mother's family have been able to continue to pass empathy down to each generation is because the women in your mother's ancestry have been well protected."

"What makes our family different from all of the others?" Lily asked him.

"Hogwarts," he said simply. "Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago, and every Empath in your family since then has attended and been under the protection of the school."

"What does this have to do with me?" Harry asked.

"It was discovered that with each Empath that is born, a protector is chosen for her. If the Empath is protected long enough to find her protector, than because of the strength of their love, no one can take advantage of her. If an Empath never finds her protector, than no matter how advanced she has become in her powers, they will become too much for her, and she will die.

"Dumbledore told you why Lily was so greatly affected by the storm?" Harry nodded. "The only person who can make an Empath feel safe and protected when she is in such a dire state is her protector. I was Hannah's. If Lily was calling for you, and you affected her the way that Dumbledore tells me you did, that means that you're Lily's protector," he told him fondly.

"Why am I Lily's protector?" Harry asked him, confused.

"Why was I Hannah's?" Sirius returned. "All that is said about the deciding of the Empath's protector is that he is someone who needs her greatly, she needs him to survive, and that they are brought together when the Empath is needed most."

"That's so sweet," Lily said dreamily making them all laugh. "Sorry, I can't help but think that is so hopelessly romantic."

"It is," Sirius agreed.