The Time-Turner Chronicles

Chapter 6

The Green Eyes

Lily rolled over in her sheets. Her head felt heavy, as if she was starting a headache. Yes, her head felt very sore indeed. Where was she? She couldn't remember going to bed... the last thing she could remember was sitting in the library with Judy before Potter came in. Yes, Potter had come in to annoy her. But why was she lying in bed now? All of a sudden, she remembered. The green eyes. Potter had looked at her and her view had become all misty, everything had been blurred and foggy. But she had seen. She had seen the green eyes. And she had heard the name in her ear, softly, barely audible, but so often and at the same time so intensely that she could remember.

"Harry," she whispered and opened her eyes.

It was very bright in the room she was lying in. It couldn't be her dormitory because she would have closed the hangings around her to stop the sunlight coming in at four o'clock of the morning. Where was she? Someone was sitting next to her bed, holding his head between his hands, eyes bloodshot. There were many more beds in the room. Where was she? Her view became foggier again as she tried to concentrate on what she was seeing. How did she get here?

"Harry," she repeated, this time more clearly.

The person on the side of her bed stirred and looked at her. Trying to move as slowly as possible to avoid actually getting a headache, she pushed herself up to a sitting position and stared around the room, realizing that she was in a bed in the hospital wing.

"Lily! Are you okay?!" the person exclaimed.

Without waiting for her to answer, she suddenly found herself in a tight hug, knocking her back into her pillows. She managed to bring her eyes back to focus after being blinded by the light. A student with untidy jet-black hair was pressing his face against her shoulder. Lily stiffened. James Potter. Although she was surprised that he was sitting here next to her instead of being outside boasting about some Quidditch victory, her feelings towards him hadn't changed in the slightest.

"I'm fine," she said forcefully and tried to break from his grip.

Hesitantly, James let her go. Lily felt embarrassed. Why on earth had Madam Pomfrey allowed him to sit next to her bed until she woke up? It was only then that she noticed that James was now holding her hand. She pulled it away from him at once, glaring.

"I'll... I'll go and get Madam Pomfrey then," James said in a defeated voice.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds, waiting for a reply, but Lily did not answer. She simply continued glaring at him until James turned away, got up from his stool and went to fetch the nurse. Lily watched him leave, walking towards the end of the ward slowly. She had to get out of here as quickly as possible. She had to go and find him. Find Harry.

Just then she realised - if Potter went to get Madam Pomfrey, she would surely be stuck in the hospital wing for a few more hours. But she didn't have any time for that. She had promised... she had promised to be on time....

"Potter!" she whispered, panicking.

James whipped around immediately.

"Don't. Don't go and get her," she breathed with a fearful look in her green eyes.

He came back to her bed quickly and sat down on the edge of his seat, looking at her in a quizzical way. "What is it? She told me that she had to know if you woke up," he said very quietly and took her hand into his.

"I haven't got any time. I must find somebody."

"Find somebody? Lily, this is unreasonable," he answered silently.

"Evans to you, Potter," Lily said icily and pulled her hand away yet again.

James closed his eyes for a second, as if he was trying to calm down. Lily wondered. Since when was he calling her by her first name? This added to his curious behaviour of the last few days. And why was he sitting here next to her? But anyway, Lily decided, it wasn't as if she cared. Well, at least not much. And right now, she had to find a way to get out of the hospital wing. As quickly as possible. "Listen," she said. "I need to leave now. I really haven't got any time."

"Lily, I can't do that."

"It's not about what you can or cannot do, Potter, this is really important. I need to get out without her noticing and I need to get out fast!" Lily exclaimed angrily but shut up abruptly, hoping that she hadn't alerted Madam Pomfrey. After a few seconds of silence, she continued in a low voice. "This is no game, Potter, it's serious. I mean it. If you stand in my way much longer, I'm going to have to hex you."

"Look, you've been unconscious for the last half hour. You woke up once, staring around you and mumbling to yourself, then fell back into deep sleep. I can't let you go without Madam Pomfrey having checked you up again. You might be seriously ill, I don't want anything to happen to you because of my lack of responsibility."

"As if you'd ever been very responsible, Potter," Lily spat.

"That's exactly the point. I want to change it," he mumbled.

Lily laughed. "You can't lose that image of yours that easily, Potter. You worked hard to build it up, you know."

"Tell me what happened," James said, ignoring her last remark. "Why were you unconscious? Why were you talking about 'green eyes'?"

Lily's big, round eyes stared at him for a few seconds, startled, before she turned away from him quickly. How much had she let slip? Had she really talked about it in her sleep? How else would he know? The clock on the wall opposite her was ticking steadily.

Tick - tick - tick - tick...

Time was running away. She had to get out of the hospital wing. But he would not let her go. At least not until she explained or promised to. Lily returned her gaze to James. It was funny how nearly every single girl at Hogwarts admired him and he never went out with any of them. He was quite handsome, actually.

From the corner of her eye she could still see the clock.

Tick - tick - tick - tick...

Lily sighed. "If I tell you, will you get me out of here?"

"Anything you want," James promised and looked at her from his hazel eyes, clinging on to every word she was saying.

This irritated Lily a bit, but focused on what she wanted to say as did it as quickly and as silently as she could. "Okay, Potter. If you don't keep your promise, you'll indeed feel sorry for yourself. I suppose you know I take Divination at NEWT-level?"

"Yes..." he said slowly, looking at her in a confused way.

"To be able to take Divination at NEWT-level requires a certain amount of talent. You have to be able to See at least a tiny bit." Lily paused, studying him carefully. "I get visions sometimes, allowing me to be a fairly good Divination student. Normally, they just come and go, nobody will notice. It doesn't happen that often anyway. I will feel slightly dizzy and my perception of the world around me will become blurred. That's what happened in the library. I had a vision. But it was stronger than any I've ever had before. Meaning that is really important. I must find..."

"The green eyes?" James asked.

"Exactly, Potter. And now I have to leave the hospital wing," Lily added briefly and pushed her sheets away.

She swung her legs out of bed - luckily enough she still had her normal robes on - and stood up quickly. It was a fatal mistake. She could consider herself lucky that James was there, because almost at once she started feeling dizzy and nearly collapsed again. He caught her in midair.

"Lily!"

"I'm fine. Fine. Really," Lily said, hanging in his arms.

"Lily, I can't let you go like this, what if you fall and hurt yourself..." he said anxiously.

"You gave me your word," Lily replied stubbornly.

With some effort, she managed to get back onto her feet and pushed James's arms away. She wasn't feeling dizzy any more but there was definitely something wrong with her. Her head was heavy and even though she would not admit it, she was happy that James was there in case she did fall over again. She felt weak. And it wasn't the first time this week she was having problems with her blood circulation.

"You're not going on your own," James said just as stubbornly.

"Fine. Come with me, then," Lily replied.

She did not wait for his answer but started heading towards the door that led out of the hospital wing. She would have to start looking somewhere, anywhere. She had to find him. It was vital to find Harry. Harry with the green eyes. But where to start? Where? James caught up with her quickly and tried to take her hand but she pulled it away from him.

"Your reflexes as superb Quidditch player should be enough to warn you in case I'm about to lose my balance," she said curtly and allowed him to open the door for her quietly.

She stepped outside and felt relieved as the door closed behind them with a small metallic click. She had to find Harry as quickly as possible.

~

"One minute... we only have one minute left - Potter, you don't seem to understand. You have to move faster. Your mother is about to die early," Malfoy urged him.

"What's it to you Malfoy?" Harry snapped.

"There's more at stake than a mudblood's life, Potter."

"Well, that never was a secret, Malfoy. Why should you do anything for anybody else but yourself?" Ron asked bitterly.

"Shut it, Weasel. This is none of your business."

Harry stumbled down the big marble staircase that led to the Entrance Hall, followed closely by a surprisingly worried Malfoy and a Ron that was still seriously doubting this whole issue.

"Harry!" a voice called. Hermione was standing in the middle of the Entrance Hall with Sirius. He was staring up to them, attempting to come up the steps, but Hermione's hand on his arm seemed to be holding him back. Harry stopped dead on the steps, looking back down. Sirius. But Malfoy simply pushed him on down the stairs - Harry stumbled slightly, but caught himself before he fell. He had to push the thought of Sirius away just now. There was something darker, more terrifying going on than he would have thought possible by simply turning the Time-Turner and going back to the past. Nobody else was around; all doors leading off the Entrance Hall were closed, no noises sounded from the surrounding classrooms. Hermione whispered something to Sirius's ear. They looked strangely familiar to each other, Harry thought. He felt Malfoy's panicking, hot breath in his neck and pushed the thought away.

"Harry! I haven't been able to tell him!" Hermione yelled, tugging Sirius's sleeve, obviously afraid that he would pounce on Harry.

"Granger! Get out of the way! Get out of here or just stand on the side, but get out of the way!" Malfoy yelled before Harry could even think of an answer.

Hermione looked up at Harry in a questioning way.

"Do what he says," Harry answered flatly.

Hermione shrugged, took out her wand and grabbed Sirius by the hand, pulling him behind her towards the side of the Entrance Hall. Harry jumped down the last steps and stopped, Malfoy landing next to him a second later.

"What now?" Ron asked.

"Weasel, you better stand aside like Granger unless you want to get hurt," Malfoy said and pointed to the side of the hall.

Harry scowled. Malfoy was definitely getting in charge a little too much now. If he had not known that there was something - even if he had no idea what - urgent in the air, he would have hit him right in the face. Ron mumbled something that sounded a lot like various swear words, but stood aside as he had been told. Harry proceeded to the middle of the hall with Malfoy by his side. He did not find that thought very comforting - him and Malfoy, in the deserted hall. Sounded like a Winzards' Duel to him, but at least Malfoy didn't have a wand; he could feel both of them, his as well as Malfoy's, against his leg. Harry looked around and registered Ron's annoyance as well as Hermione's confused anticipation and Sirius's total lack of understanding. It was funny, somehow. He felt like all three at the same time.

And suddenly two doors burst open from exactly opposite directions.

~

"Quick, quick, quick!" Lily choked as she ran down the steps, James following just behind her. "Hurry up! We're going to be late! We're not going to manage!"

She took a turning to the left and ran along the corridor.

"Lily..." James panted, "Lily... I had the impression you didn't know where you were going..."

"I know now. I know. As Head Girl..." she coughed and skidded to a halt, unable to decide to go left or right. "Uhm... right! Yes, we have to go to the right!"

She ran off down the hallway.

"You... you were saying...?" James asked, barely able to breathe.

"Yes, yes... as Head Girl, the headmaster has nearly... nearly... as much confidence in me... as in any other member of the staff. Today is the day... the day we've all been waiting for..."

"What... what... day, exactly?" James asked, nearly tripping over a candle that was rolling around on the floor.

"The day... the meeting of the four houses..." Lily stopped talking and pulled a door open, running on. "I can't say more. I must get there before-"

She stopped running and held on to the wall, breathing heavily.

"Lily? Lily? What's a matter? I knew you shouldn't be out of bed! Running around like this after what just happened..." James gasped and stopped next to her. He pushed a strand of her dark red hair aside. Lily was leaning against the wall, her white hand grasping it firmly as if she was able to find security there.

"Just... just dizzy... a little..."

"Lily, you can't go on like this, I'm going to have to take you back to the hospital wing-" James started.

"No! No, no I can't!" Lily exclaimed, looking startled and ran off again. "I'll get there, I don't care how dizzy I am, this is too important..."

James sprinted after her at top speed, clutching his side. Girls, he thought, shaking his head slightly and disappearing through another set of doors behind Lily Evans's mass of red.

~

"Fabi! Here, come on!" a boy dressed in Ravenclaw blue yelled as he charged through the door, pulling a girl with dark curly hair just behind him.

At exactly the same moment, a girl with a long blond plait, wearing Hufflepuff robes, ran into the Entrance Hall with a very young boy, perhaps first or second year, at her side. "It's okay Aaron, we're here now. You can breathe again," she said soothingly and took the boy's hand.

The boy stared at Harry and Malfoy for a second, looking confused and then fixed his gaze on the two Ravenclaws that were standing on the other side of the hall. Harry blinked rather stupidly, standing in the middle of the Entrance Hall next to Malfoy, apparently not doing anything. What the heck was going on?

"William!" the Hufflepuff girl exclaimed and walked towards them quickly, pulling the boy called Aaron behind her. "Do you know why-" she started.

"No idea, Kat, I have no idea. You should think they could at least explain themselves to us prefects."

"They didn't tell me anything either. Is that-"

"Yes, this is Fabi (he pointed at the girl with the dark curly hair that was standing next to him)... and this is...?"

"Aaron. He's in first year," Kat answered.

"And where's the rest?" William asked, scanning the room.

"I don't know any of these people."

Harry was listening to their conversation intensely, trying to understand what it was about, but he could not to figure it out. All of a sudden, Malfoy grabbed his elbow and started pulling him towards the small group that was debating near tgem. Kat, the Hufflepuff girl, turned and looked at them.

"What do you want?" she asked, quite roughly. "You should be in classes right now, not lingering about the Entrance-"

"We're here for Gryffindor and Slytherin," Malfoy said and let go of Harry.

Fabi, the second Ravenclaw, looked them up and down apprehensively. "Are you? You're both wearing Gryffindor robes."

Harry closed his eyes for a few seconds. "Malfoy, you're still wearing the Gryffindor robes."

"Well, Potter, if you hadn't changed them to stinking Gryffindor robes, I would not and since I do not have my-"

"You're not getting it back, Malfoy," Harry cut him off, wanting to avoid questions about why he was carrying Malfoy's wand. He took out his own and transfigured the crest on Malfoy's chest back to Slytherin. Looking back at the others, he found that they were all staring at him wide-eyed. "Err..."

"Prank," Malfoy said. "Prank. He pulled a prank on me. Changed my robes. You know - Gryffindors and Slytherins?"

"Yeah, I pulled a prank on him," Harry said, nodding. "He's in Slytherin. Trust me."

"Well, seeing the two of you fighting, we sort of figured that what you were saying was true," Kat said, smirking.

"I've never seen you around before," William said, frowning.

"Oh, that's weird," Malfoy said. "I know you. Well, some students are less apparent then others, I suppose."

William nodded. "I guess. I can be pretty blind. So - do you know anything more than we do?"

"Absolutely not," Harry answered, feeling that at least that was true, even though he could not figure out what Malfoy had been talking about. We're here for Gryffindor and Slytherin? What the heck? He cast a confused glance at Hermione, Ron and Sirius, but they were just gaping at them. Hermione shrugged slightly, indicating that she didn't know any more and started making her way over; but Harry shook his head and motioned to her to stay where she was.

"So where are the other two?" Kat asked, and Harry turned back to the conversation.

"There's only about half a minute left," William said, checking his watch.

"They will come," Malfoy said confidently.

"Harry?" Ron called from the side of the hall, receiving an elbow in the side from Hermione, along with an angry glare.

"Nothing, Weasel. Shut up!" Malfoy yelled back, sneering.

"Wands out, you reckon?" the Ravenclaw named William asked, ignoring Ron's yell.

At his side Fabi, Aaron and Kat already had theirs out. Harry hesitated for a moment, his eyes darting between them and Malfoy. Give Malfoy his wand back? Not a good idea. But then he lunged his hand into his pocket, pulled both out and thrust Malfoy's back to his owner. He had the impression that they would all be needing one, for whatever reason it was.

"Why have you got his-"

"Prank," Harry cut Fabi short, looking nervous. "It was all part of the prank."

~

"Twenty seconds!" Lily shouted. "We're nearly there!"

"How do you know when we have to be where?" James shouted back, panting.

"I just know! Come on! Fifteen seconds!"

~

"Ten seconds! Where are they?" William mumbled. "Nine... eight... seven... come on... six..."

Suddenly another door flew open, banging off the wall.

"Stay where you are James! Don't move!" a girl with dark red hair yelled and ran across the hall.

"Five..." William whispered apprehensively.

"Harry!" Lily panted and threw herself at him. "Thank god I found you!" she whispered, pulled away and took out her wand. She was holding on to Harry's shoulder, unable to support her own weight.

"Four..."

"But there's still one missing!" Lily exclaimed suddenly as she looked around the group.

"Three..."

Exactly at that moment, the door coming from the dungeons was thrust open and a thin, tall girl, dressed in Slytherin green, with blond hair came running out.

"Two! Hurry up!" William yelled. "One!"

"Draco!"

The Slytherin girl threw herself at Malfoy just as Lily had thrown herself at Harry. Do all Slytherins have that pale blond hair? Harry wondered idly, but sobered up again. Something was about to happen, he could feel it. The girl let go of Malfoy and whipped out her wand just as William yelled again. Harry gasped.

"ZERO!"

It was none other than Narcissa Malfoy.

Or, to be more precise, Narcissa Black.