The Empath

Chapter 11: Love Is Timeless

Harry was trying to absorb all he could of what Sirius had just told him. Was he really Lily's protector? Finally something that was predestined for his life was in his favor. How could something so wonderful happen to him?

He loved Lily so much that the thought that nothing could break them apart made him happier, and yet slightly confused, more than he had ever felt in his life. She was his and nothing could change that. Nothing could get between them. And nothing could take the goofy grin off his face while he was thinking about all of this.

Harry was suddenly brought out of his thoughts by Lily's voice.

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

"It is," Sirius agreed.

The mood of the conversation had been so serious, and the thoughts that were racing through Harry's mind were all thoughts that he had overanalyzed so much, that he felt as if he were about to burst with happiness.

He thought it was adorable how Lily put everything that he was feeling into such simplicity. He couldn't help but laugh with her as all of his emotions calmed down into simple happiness.

"There's something else I think that you'll like, Lily," Sirius told her warmheartedly.

"What is that?" she asked, stealing a glance at Harry, making his insides squirm with excitement. They shared a quick smile and she turned back to her father.

"I gave Dumbledore a very large chest filled with other journals from your ancestors that he will give to you this week. You'll want to read those as well. I just wanted to give you your mother's journals myself," he explained to her.

"How far back were the journals written?" she asked him.

"The journals are dated back sixty years before Hogwarts was founded." Lily's eyes widened.

"Are you serious?" she asked, amazed. "Just how big exactly is this chest?"

Sirius laughed. "It's quite a remarkable chest. You'll see just how remarkable when you see it yourself. There are many incantations and spells on the chest, and no one who is not an Empath in your family or her Protector can open it." He stopped and handed her a small box. "I also have this to give you."

Lily took it and glided her hand across the smooth blue velvet. She gently opened the box and then looked up at her father questionably.

"One of them is for you, and one of them is for Harry," he answered her unspoken question. "Your mother and I had them made when we found out that she was pregnant with a girl."

"Harry, come here!" Lily said excitedly.

Harry got up and walked over to her. As he looked down, he saw a beautiful platinum necklace. The pendant was a badger inside of a circle and the chain appeared to be long and very strong, yet still elegant.

His eyes then fell upon a ring that was next to it. The ring looked very similar to the necklace, only the ring looked more masculine and it had a lion inside of a circle. This one must be his.

"Sirius, I thought you said you had them made when Lily's mum was pregnant with her?" he questioned him.

"We did," Sirius answered simply.

"Then how did you know that Lily's protector was going to be in Gryffindor?"

"We didn't, the ring just recently took shape," he told Harry, proudly.

Lily picked up the ring and gave it to Harry. She smiled brightly up at him as he put it on his right hand, ring finger. She then picked up the necklace and brushed it softly with her hand, before putting her head through the long chain. She fixed her hair and looked down at the pendant fondly.

"Lily, the journals can teach you everything you need to know about your ancestry and your empathy," Sirius said, getting Harry and Lily's attention back to him. "It is very important that you learn as much from them as you can."

"I will, I can hardly wait to get back to the castle and start reading them!" she said excitedly.

"There's another thing I wanted to talk to you about," Sirius began. "I've been trying to find your mother with the potion that you created, but for some reason I can't seem to get it to work."

"What happens after you're finished making it?" Lily asked him.

"I touch the liquid and it does capture me in it, but when I'm there it's just darkness," he explained.

"How much of your blood did you use?" she asked him.

"Three drops, just as you said," he told her. "The reason that the potion is so powerful may have something to do with your empathy though. It may be your blood that I need."

"Maybe, you can try it."

"I have a vile right here, but Lily, you know that the blood has to be exposed to - " Lupin started to say, but before he could finish, she stood up, pulled out a dagger, and sliced her palm open. She put the dagger down on the table that was next to her chair, and placed her hand under her bleeding hand to keep the blood from spilling to the floor.

"What is it with you and daggers?" Harry asked, still shocked at what is girlfriend had just done.

Lupin took out his wand and went over to Lily. He wordlessly directed the blood into the open vile with the tip of his wand.

"Uncle Severus taut me how to use them just before I started school. He wanted me to know how to defend myself, should anyone ever try to hurt me in a situation where I can't use magic," she told him, cringing as Lupin glided his wand down her open wound, healing it.

"You two should get back to the castle," Lupin told them, putting the vile in his pocket.

Sirius quickly jumped up. "Now Moony, there's no need for them to leave just yet." Lupin raised his eyebrow at Sirius. "They practically just got here!" Sirius argued to his friend who hadn't said a word.

"Father, he's right," Lily told him, smiling at her father who was acting like a child who was about to get his toy taken away from him. "It's late, we both have class in the morning, and I still have four essays to write for Potions."

"Severus being hard on you, is he?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, he is. He assigned me eleven essays during our first Potions class," she told him.

"Alright, well you get to it then." Sirius came over to her and pulled her into a hug.

Lupin clasped his hand on Harry's shoulder, leaned in next to his ear, and whispered, "Congratulations, Harry. We were all hoping it was going to be you!" He pulled away, grinning.

When everyone had said their goodbyes, Lily and Harry left the Shrieking Shack and made their way back to the castle.

Harry was so excited he could hardly bare it. He had completely lost all track of time and didn't know how long he and Lily had been walking down the tunnel that lead to the Whomping Willow.

His thoughts then went back to Lily. What if she wasn't happy that Harry was her protector? What if she was disappointed? She had told him the other day that she loved him, but what if this changes things?

Just as Harry was about to say something, Lily pushed him into the tunnel wall and passionately kissed him. He felt her excitement and happiness along with his own, and he couldn't help but put his arms around her, pulling her closer, and deepening the kiss. When they finally pulled away, they were both struggling for air.

"Can you believe what we just heard?" Lily said happily, her arms still around Harry's neck, trying to catch her breath.

"No, I can't," Harry said, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm glad that it's me though."

"So, am I," Lily said blushing. "Can I go to Gryffindor Tower and stay with you for the night?"

"If you want to you can," Harry told her happily.

"I do. It's just, I - I just don't really want to leave you tonight," she said hesitantly.

"Good, because I don't want you to leave me." He pulled her into him and kissed her again. "You're not really going to go do your homework now, are you?"

"No, I don't have to do it now. I'll just wake up early tomorrow and go to the library before breakfast," she told him, taking his hand, and they started to walk again.

When they got to the Gryffindor common room, they saw Ron and Hermione asleep on the couch near the fireplace. Ron's eyes fluttered open, and he looked up at them.

"So did you find out anything?" he asked sleepily.

"Yeah, but nothing that we went in there to find out," Harry told him. "You can go back to sleep, we'll tell you everything in the morning."

"Fine with me." Ron yawned, nuzzled his head back into Hermione, and fell asleep.

"Come on, let's go to bed," Harry told Lily, taking her hand and leading her to his dormitory.

Everyone in his room was fast asleep as they quietly snuck in. They took off their shoes and climbed into bed. Harry took off his glasses and put them on his bedside table. He thought it was amazing how comfortable he felt with Lily.

He looked down at her and saw that she had already fallen asleep. He smiled to himself, held her closer, and fell asleep.

Harry was running out of the castle onto the grounds. He didn't know why, he just knew that he had to get to wherever he was going fast! Something inside of him was plaguing him. He needed to get somewhere, but he didn't know where.

He stopped and looked around. There were a lot of other students out just having fun and taking advantage of the beautiful day. They made him even more frustrated. How could they all be running around having a great day when there was clearly something wrong?

He looked over by the lake and saw Lily lying motionless on the ground. That was it. That was what was wrong. He needed to get to her.

"Lily!!!" he cried out, but she didn't move, and no one else even looked over at him.

He ran faster. When he finally reached her, tears were streaming down his face as he sat down next to her body. He couldn't lose Lily. He couldn't live without her. He looked down at her peaceful face. She was so beautiful.

He turned away, put his face in his hands, and sat there crying. He had never felt such pain in his life. It was all his fault. He was supposed to protect Lily. How could this happen? He felt a hand softly rubbing his back, but nothing could sooth him now.

"There, there, Harry. It's alright," the voice said softly.

"No, it's not. It's not alright," he said harshly without looking up.

"Well then tell me what it is that you're crying about, and we'll try to make it better," the voice told him, forcing him to look at her.

"Lily!" he cried and fell into her arms. "I thought - I thought you were - "

"Stop this, Harry," Lily said, pushing him off her. She wiped his tears away with her hand. "Whatever you thought was wrong. I'm right here. I just fell asleep while I was waiting for you."

Harry felt slightly embarrassed. He hadn't check to see if there was anything wrong with Lily, he just assumed there was something wrong.

"I love you, Lily," he told her happily.

"I love you too, Harry." She smiled up at him. "But I have to go now."

"What? Where are you going?" He felt like he had just lost her and gotten her back only to loose her again.

"I have to find her, Harry!" she said standing up.

"What do you mean? Find who?" he asked confused. She was walking toward the Forbidden Forest, determined. He ran to catch up with her. "Lily, who do you need to find?"

"My mother."

"Your mother? But Lily, you don't know where she is!"

"Yes I do," she replied simply.

"You do?" Harry was confused. If she knew where her mother was, then why didn't she tell Sirius? "Where is she?"

"I'll show you." She stopped at the edge of the forest and stretched out her hand to him. "Take my hand."

As soon as he took her hand, his surroundings blurred. He heard someone calling for him from a distance, but he didn't know who it was. He clasped his hand to his forehead. His scar was burning fiercely. The pain was so intense that he could hardly breathe.

"Harry, wake up!! You have to wake up, Harry!!!"

A hand softly brushed against his forehead and stopped on his hand. For a moment his pain was gone, but when the hand moved it came back. He felt the hand touch his hand

again, but this time it didn't leave. The pain from his scar ceased.

"Harry, are - are you alright?"

Harry looked up to see Lily, who had clearly been crying, looking back at him worriedly. He nodded.

"I'm alright," he told her, breathlessly.

He put his hand down in his lap. Lily's fell into his, and she hadn't looked away from him.

"Harry, your scar's bleeding," she said as a tear streamed down her face.

He looked down at his hand. It was covered with blood, and so was Lily's.

"I'm alright," he repeated.

"No, you're not," she insisted, wiping away the blood that was dripping down his face with her hand. "Was it Voldemort? Should we go and see Dumbledore?"

"No, I'm fine. Nothing happened. I mean, it might have been him, but nothing happened," he told her, trying to keep his voice down so that he wouldn't wake anyone else up.

"Can we at least go and see Madam Pomfrey? Your scar is - "

"No, Lily. I'm fine," he said, wiping more blood away.

"Well you at least have to let me clean it up!" Lily insisted. She took out her wand and conjured a damp cloth and started to clean the blood off his face and his scar. "There, it's all gone now." With a flick of her wand, the cloth disappeared.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"You're welcome," she said as she wiped a tear from her eye.

"Lily, are you alright?" he asked her concernedly.

"You really scared me, Harry," she told him, trying to avoid his gaze.

"Everything's fine now," he assured her.

"Alright," she said weakly.

The next morning Harry woke up with Lily in his arms. Smiling to himself, he gently prodded her to wake her up.

"Lily, it's time to wake up now," he whispered in her ear.

"But what if I don't want to?" she whined.

"Then you're going to miss our first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson with Professor

Carily," he told her. "Beside, don't you have to go to the library before breakfast?"

"Can't we sleep just a little bit longer?" she moaned, snuggling into the covers.

"Harry, do you have a girl in there?" Harry heard Dean ask him.

"It's just me, Dean," Lily said opening curtains of the four-poster bed. "Oh, sorry," she said when she saw a half naked Dean staring back at her. She quickly closed the curtains.

"It's alright, Lily. I've got clothes on now," her told her.

"Do you want me to walk you back to Hufflepuff Tower so that you can change your clothes?" Harry asked her.

"No, you don't have to, my clothes are over there." She pointed to the top of his dresser, and there sat her clothes nicely folded, waiting for her to change.

"How did you do that?" he asked her, confused.

"Magic, Harry. Magic," she said and kissed his nose. "I'm going to go and find Ginny or Hermione and see if I can just get ready in the girls dormitories here."

"Alright, will I see you for breakfast?" he asked her.

"No, I think I'll stay in the library. I have to get some more of my potion before class. You could meet me at the Hospital Wing?" she suggested.

"Alright, I love you," he told her happily.

"I love you too, Harry," she said, kissed his cheek, and left the dormitories.

"Didn't get in 'til late last night, did ya Harry?" Seamus asked him with a grin spread across his face.

"Can't imagine what The-Boy-Who-Lived would be doing that was so much more important than making curfew, can ya Seamus?" Dean asked him, with an equally devilish grin on his face.

"No, Dean I can't, can you?" Seamus asked Dean.

"No, I don't suppose I can either. Neville, how 'bout you?" Dean asked Neville who was finishing getting dressed. "Can you think of anything that would have kept our Quidditch Captain out so late?"

"A few things come to mind actually," said Neville, with a stupid grin on his now crimson face.

"Oh shut up, you!" Harry said, throwing his pillow at Neville. "We didn't do anything."

"Are you sure about that, Harry?" Seamus asked him. "You mean to tell me that you didn't even kiss her?"

Harry's faced went red as he rolled out of bed to get a shower before breakfast.

"Harry, I'm amazed. Is this really the kind of behavior that our Quidditch Captain should be doing?" Dean yelled after him as he left the room.

After breakfast, Harry and Lily walked into the Defense Against The Dark Arts classroom with their classmates. The class quickly filled with sixth year students eager to meet their new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher. Everyone was seated quickly, and they whispered to each other while they waited for class to begin.

"I wonder where she is," Ron said curiously, looking around the room.

"Well, she should be here soon. Class should start any minute now," Hermione added.

They all nodded and continued to look around the room for their teacher.

"She's coming," Lily said, slightly out of breath.

"How do you know?" Harry asked her.

"I can feel her pain," she said as she looked at Harry with tears in her eyes.

"Welcome class. I'm Professor Mariana Carily, and I will be your Defense Against The Dark Arts Teacher this year." A fairly young looking women with brown hair and a kind, yet introverted demeanor stepped into the room, walked past all of them, and sat down at her desk. "This isn't going to be like any other Defense Against the Dark Arts class that you've ever had in the past. You are all sixth years, and this is your N.E.W.T. class. This year is academically going to no doubt be your hardest year so far. I will teach you how to defend yourselves from the most foul magical creatures. I will teach you nothing less than remarkable things, so I will expect nothing less than remarkable effort."

Everyone in the classroom was focused on their new teacher. She acted as if she weren't even there. She was physically there in the room with them, this they could see, but she acted as if her mind was somewhere else. There seem to be great sadness behind her eyes, but she spoke firmly as if there was nothing wrong.

"Put your books, parchment, and ink away. You'll hardly have any use for anything but your wand in this class," she said standing up. She walked to the front of her desk, and looked around the classroom until her eyes fell upon Lily and Harry. Harry thought she was about to cry, but then the tears behind her eyes turned to concern as she looked at Lily. "Miss Black, is there something wrong?"

Harry looked over at Lily and saw tears, uncontrollably, streaming down her face. She looked like she had just found out that someone she loved had died.

"No Professor, I'm alright. I'm sorry," she croaked out as she wiped the tears away.

"Very good," Professor Carily said, taking out her wand. "Let's start today's lesson."

"Lily, are you alright?" Harry whispered to her, taking her hand. She nodded without looking at him and squeezed his hand.

After class ended everyone left the classroom. When they had gotten a fair distance away Harry stopped and turned to Lily.

"Lily, are you alright?" he asked her concernedly.

"Yes, I'm fine. I understand now, why Professor Sprout insisted I take more of my potion than usual," she said, taking his hand.

"Should we go to the hospital wing and get you more of your potion?" Hermione asked when they started to walk again.

"No, I'm fine. I'll just take some more later."

"Professor Carily must have had some pretty strong feelings for you to have reacted the way you did," Hermione told her.

"She did." Lily nodded in agreement.

"What was she feeling?" Harry asked her.

"Sadness, loss, depression, you name it," she told him.

"But why?" Ron asked confused.

"I dunno, I can only feel what she's feeling. I can't tell why she's feeling it," she explained to him. "So, what do you guys want to do now? I mean we don't have to start with our homework right away."

"Why don't we go to the library?" Hermione asked her. "I found this book tha - "

"Hermione, she said that she didn't want to start our homework yet!!" Ron complained.

Hermione rolled her eyes and continued talking to Lily. "I found this book that I think can help us with Harry."

"What do I have to do with anything?" Harry asked confused.

"We're trying to figure out how you can do wandless magic," Hermione told him.

"And you didn't want to tell me about this?" he asked her.

"We were just talking about it today, and I think that I found a book that might help with something," Hermione said sounding slightly impatient.

"Well, we have Quidditch practice in about thirty minutes," Harry said, looking at his watch. "We're having tryouts today."

"I know. Hufflepuff tryouts are right after Gryffindor's," Lily told him nervously.

"You'll do fine," he assured her. "And let me know if you guys find anything."

"Hermione, why don't we put our bags in our rooms and change, and then we can meet in the library?" Lily suggested.

"Alright, sounds good to me," Hermione agreed.

"Oh no, there's no way I'm leaving you alone when your not feeling well," Harry told her.

"Harry, first of all I'm fine. Second, why don't you just go way out of your way and risk being on time for your first Quidditch practice as Captain and walk me all the way to Hufflepuff Tower, and then walk me to the Library, and then go and change for practice?" Lily said sarcastically, rolling her eyes at his over-protectiveness.

"Sounds good to me," he said grinning at her. "Don't look at me like that. I am your Protector, and I plan on protecting you."

"Yes Harry, you're suppose to protect me, not smother me!" she teased.

"What are you guys talking about?" Hermione asked.

"I'll tell you when I meet you in the library," Lily told her.

"And you can tell me on the way to practice," Ron said as the couples went their separate ways. Ron and Hermione to the Gryffindor Tower and Harry and Lily to the Hufflepuff Tower.

~ ~ ~

Harry stepped out onto the Quidditch pitch feeling a mixture of nervousness and excitement running through his body. He approached the group of Gryffindors and eyed them all carefully, separating his teammates from the ones who were trying out.

It was up to him to decide who was going to be on the team. The fate of the Quidditch House Cup rested on his shoulders. He needed two chasers and two beaters. Katie Bell walked over to stand next to him, and Ron and the tryouts began.

~ ~ ~

Feeling very happy about what he already knew were his decisions, Harry made his way with Ron out of the Quidditch pitch. As they were leaving, the Hufflepuffs were entering. Harry's eyes instantly scanned the crowd for Lily. When his eyes finally fell on her, she was walking toward him with Paris at her side.

"How did your tryouts go?" she asked him after greeting him with a kiss.

"Very well actually. Do you mind if I watch you tryout?" he asked her.

"Oh no, I don't think so, Harry Potter," Paris interrupted them. "The Gryffindor Quidditch Captain is most certainly not watching our tryouts!!"

"I wouldn't be watching them as the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. I'd be watching them as Lily's boyfriend," he told her, knowing that it was a lost cause.

"Well then, you can be a boyfriend back at the castle and wait for her after tryouts, can't you?" Paris insisted.

"I'll see you later?" he asked Lily, hopelessly.

"I'll meet you in the library where I left Hermione," she told him before kissing him and leaving with Paris.

"Just what I want to do after Quidditch, go to the library," Ron complained.

~ ~ ~

"Okay, so why are we in here again?" Harry asked impatiently.

"We're here to find out anything we can about how to control your wandless magic," Hermione reminded him with an eyebrow raised.

"But if no other wizard can do it, than what makes you think that it's going to be in a book?" Harry asked her.

"I never said that no other wizard can do it Harry. I just said that not many wizards can do it," she pointed out.

"And so those select few wizards who can do it, wrote books about it?" Harry asked her unbelievingly.

"I don't know. That's why we're looking, but if you had a power that was so rare, wouldn't you write a book?" Hermione questioned him, annoyed.

"No, because I wouldn't have anything to write about. I don't know how to control it yet," he told her, helping her with a book that was out of her reach.

"Very funny, Harry," she said rolling her eyes.

"There you are!" said Lily when she spotted them. "I thought I'd never find you."

"How did the tryouts go?" Harry asked her hurriedly.

"Paris thinks I made it!!" she said excitedly. "But I wont know for sure until tomorrow."

"We're not telling any of the Gryffindors until tomorrow either," he told her.

"Did you guys find anything yet?" Lily asked them.

"No, not yet, but they're not making it any easier just standing there." Hermione narrowed her eyes at the boys.

"It's not our fault we have no idea what we're looking for," said Ron in his defense.

"Anything that has to do with wandless magic!" Hermione told him and continued her search.

"Did you try looking for anything in potions? It might have something to do with a chemical unbalance," Lily told her.

"Lily, I'm standing right here!! Do you have to talk about me like that?" Harry asked her.

"Harry, I don't mean it like that. I'm just saying that when Voldemort transferred some of his powers to you, he may have also done something that caused you to be able to do wandless magic," Lily told him, taking a book off the self next to her.

They all stopped their search as Draco Malfoy turned into the library hand-in-hand with Pansy Parkinson.

Hermione, Ron, and Harry were all at Lily's side, glaring daggers at the two intruders. Lily, however, didn't falter, nor did she seem at all taken aback by Draco's presence.

"Amazing," Draco said raising an eyebrow at Lily. "This is the second time I've seen you here in two days. I'd almost think that an incredibly uncivilized person, such as yourself, actually knew how to read," he seethed, "but don't worry I'm sure you're only looking at the pictures."

Pansy laughed, looked up at Draco adoringly, and then sneered back at Lily.

Lily smiled at him, taking no notice in Pansy whatsoever. "And this is the first time I've seen you alone with a girl," she said calmly, pointedly glancing at Pansy. "You're almost making me think that you're straight, but don't worry I know it's only for appearances." She winked at him and continued looking at the book in her hands.

Draco was clearly taken off guard. Just as he was about to make a retort, Madam Price came over to them causing Hermione, Ron, and Harry to bite their lips to stop laughing.

"The library is closing!! You should go back to your dormitories now before I deduct house points!!" she said clearly angry with all of the noise that they were making.

~ ~ ~

"You sure showed Malfoy back at the library!!" Harry told Lily as he and Lily curled up together on the coach next to the fireplace in Gryfindor common room.

"Yeah, the look on his face was priceless!" Ron said excitedly, sitting with Hermione in the overstuffed chair by the fireplace.

"I enjoyed the look on Pansy's face more, myself," Lily said, smiling.

The four friends laughed as they relived the scene in the library. Just then there was a small pop, and standing in front of the fire was Lily's house elf Quincy.

"Pardon the interruption, miss, but Quincy thought that Young Mistress would like to read from her mother's journal," said the small house elf, handing Lily a journal.

"Thank you very much, Quincy. I would actually like to read it." Lily smiled brightly and opened the journal.

"Quincy must be going now, Young Mistress, but she hopes that you enjoy your reading!" With another pop, Quincy was gone.

"It's been awhile since anyone's read me a bedtime story, but I think this one 'ill be interesting," Ron said waiting for her to start reading as an elbow jabbed him in his side. "Er - unless you don't want to read it to us because you might want to read it to yourself," he corrected himself.

"It's alright, I'll read it to you guys," Lily said, opening the journal to the first page. "September 2^nd, 1971, I have been waiting for this moment my whole life!!!! I can't believe it's finally here. It is tradition for the women in my family to start a journal shortly after arriving at Hogwarts for the first time. So, here I am FINALLY able to start mine. I'm so excited I feel as if I'm going to burst. Saying goodbye to Mother and Father was very difficult, but it wasn't nearly as difficult as saying goodbye to my dearest brother Devin. Oh how I'll miss him. Even though I tried my best to help him understand that I couldn't stay, he was still very angry with me for leaving him. Mother said that she would try and help him through it and for me to write him often. His seventh birthday is coming up, and I know exactly what to get him!! Hopeful it will also serve as a nice peace offering.

"Oh journal, today was wonderful!!!! I sat with all of my friends on the train and I met a few new friends too. I think I'm going to be very close with my new friends. One of them, Lily Evans, is a lovely redheaded girl. She's Muggle-born, so we all told her as much as we could about the wizarding world, but she seemed to already know a lot from books. My other new friend's name is Sarah Jarthick. Unfortunately, nether of my friends got sorted into Hufflepuff with me.

"The view here is amazing!! Everything looks so beautiful I'm afraid to touch anything in fear that I might ruin it. I guess that sounds silly, but it's still true.

"Journal, I think I met my Protector today!! I knew that I'd meet him at Hogwarts, but I didn't know that it would be this soon. I really do think I met him!! At least I hope it's him!! If it is, then The Fates are really smiling down on me because he is the most gorgeous boy that I have seen in my life!!! Who knew that an Empath would ever be destined to be with a Black. I guess just because you're from a certain family doesn't mean that you're exactly like them. Well anyway, I was about to get into the boats to cross the lake, and I lost my footing. . . . . . . . . . . ."

~ ~ ~

"Come on first years, into the boats," said Hagrid after he led the first years to the lake. "Four to a boat."

Sirius, James, and Peter went to get into a boat.

"Ow." Sirius heard after a loud thud, and without thinking he turned around.

"Here, let me help you," he said, taking a blonde girl's hand, and helping her up.

"Thank you, I just lost - " Their eyes locked onto each other and neither one of them could find words to say.

"Come on you two," Hagrid said, trying to hurry them up. "There are only two seats left."

"Oh, sorry," she said, and Sirius helped her into the nearest boat. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said, still in awe of her.

"I'm Hannah, Hannah Patil," she told him after the boats started to move.

"I'm Sirius Black." He offered her his hand, and she took it, smiling at him.

Hannah put her hands in her pockets and looked at the view as they neared the castle.

"This is all very beautiful, don't you think?" she asked Sirius.

"Yes, very," he said, still staring at her. When she noticed that he hadn't stopped looking at her, she blushed brightly and bit her bottom lip nervously. "Have you not seen any of this before? I mean are you Muggle-born?"

"No, I'm not, but I don't look down on those who are," she told him honestly.

"Well, my family does, but I don't."

~ ~ ~

"Unfortunately for me, Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor and not Hufflepuff. I was hoping to see him at breakfast this morning, but he wasn't anywhere in the Great Hall. I asked Lily where he had gone, and she told me that he was in the hospital. Apparently, he received what appeared to be a Howler. When he didn't open it, it exploded at his feet, and burst pressurized salt acid at his legs. Had Headmaster Dumbledore not handled the situation as quickly as he did, my Sirius could have died. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ."

~ ~ ~

"Sirius?" said a small voice.

"WOULD YOU ALL JUST LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE?" Sirius shouted, without looking at who had called his name.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bother you, I was just - "

"Oh, Hannah," he called her before she could leave. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know it was you," he told her apologetically. "It's just that people have been trying to come in here all morning to see what I looked like after what happened, but you can come over and sit down if you'd like."

"I just wanted to see how you were doing. I heard how you got hurt and all," she told him.

"I'm fine. It doesn't even hurt anymore," he said trying to sit up, but he fell back down from the pain.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said taking a deep breath to try and hide the pain that he was feeling.

"Sirius, you haven't eaten?" she asked worriedly when she saw his full tray of food.

"Well, I'm not really all that hungry," he explained.

"But you have to eat in order to regain your strength. Here, sit up," she said, bringing the table with his tray over next to him. She then sat down on the bed.

"What are you doing?" he asked her, confused.

"Helping you eat, of course. Now sit up!" she demanded, and she helped him by propping his pillow up behind him.

"You don't have to do this you know," he told her.

"Well you're obviously not going to eat it on your own, so I'm going to force you to."

She cut his breakfast into a few small pieces and began to feed him. He ate the first few bites and put his hand up to stop her.

"I don't want anymore, thank you though. I'm really not that hungry," he told her again.

"Oh, alright." Hannah nodded her head, pretending to be let down. You wouldn't even eat all of your breakfast, for me?" she asked him flirtatiously, knowing that he would cave.

"If you really want me to, I will," he told her. He didn't want to make her feel bad.

"Good, because I do," she said, smiling brightly at him as she fed him another bit.

~ ~ ~

"I was afraid to ask who sent him the Howler. Maybe in time, he'll tell me on his own. I'd hate to think that his parents would ever do such a thing, but I think that he's the first Black to be sorted into another house besides Slytherin. They're probably furious!! They don't seem like a very loving family. I guess I won't know for sure until he tells me. I really do believe that he's the one though. He needs me. I can see it in his eyes. I'm sure he'll talk about his life more as we get to know each other. For now, I'm just here to feed him and keep him company before and after class, until he gets better. I wish I didn't have to leave him at all though. I should be getting to bed. I have class in the morning and I want to be sure to get to the hospital wing early. With love, Hannah."

Lily closed the journal as a tear streamed down her face.

"Lily, are alright?" Harry asked her, hugging her tightly.

"My mother wrote this," she said, barley loud enough to be considered a whisper. "She loved him from the first day she met him."

"Lily, that's a good thing!" Harry said, trying to comfort her.

"No, no it's not," she said as she started to cry harder.

"Why?" he asked her, softly.

"She knew how wonderful Father was. Everyone knew, and just as like that, he was nothing more than a murderer to everyone that knew him," she turned to look at him. "My father is not a murderer and everyone in the wizarding world thinks he is. He sits alone day after day with nothing to do or comfort him, but the thought that he might find my mother, and for what? So that he can find her and bring her into hiding with him. If someone doesn't do something, my father is going to spend the rest of his life in Black Manor. He doesn't deserve that, Harry!!!"

"Than we'll figure something out. We'll find a way to clear his name on our own," he told her determinedly, wiping away the tears from her eyes.

"And how are we going to do that?" she said, unbelievingly.

"I don't know, but we'll figure something out," he said trying to soothe her as his mind started to try and figure out a plan.