Mysterious Ways

Mysterious Ways

~by ViolentFemme~

Chapter Two

"Lily, you can't just resign!" Alice begged.

The two girls were eating breakfast by the lake. There was no rule that students had to sit at their House tables, but Alice and Lily preferred the calmness of outside to the loud chatter of the Great Hall. Belinda and her cronies protested about this - they said Alice was being disloyal to Ravenclaw, but Alice ignored them. She wasn't being disloyal to Ravenclaw; she was being loyal to Lily.

It was two days after the incident on the train and so far Lily was sticking to her word. Much to Alice's surprise, she had done a spectacular job of avoiding James - in fact, James was so depressed about it that he almost seemed suicidal. He had cornered Alice the other day and practically fell on his knees begging her to get Lily to talk to him. Alice had insisted that it was completely impossible, but James had kept pestering her until Alice grew so sick of hearing him whining on and on that she had agreed to talk to Lily again. So far, she was fighting a losing battle.

"Watch me," Lily replied, taking a sip of pumpkin juice.

I'm not giving up that easily, do don't even think about it, Lily Evans, Alice thought to herself. She paused to take a bite of toast and swallowed before continuing.

"But it's the first meeting of the prefects tonight, and you know the Head Boy and Girl have got to be there," Alice reminded her.

"I'll go to Dumbledore after breakfast." Lily didn't make eye contact with Alice. She had propped the Daily Prophet up against her goblet and was reading it intently while she buttered her toast.

Alice snatched the newspaper away. "Hey!" Lily protested.

"They're not going to be able to get a replacement Head Girl in time," Alice pointed out, ignoring Lily's objections. "If you're going to quit, can't you just wait until tomorrow?"

Lily yanked the newspaper from Alice's hand. "Alice, I meant what I said before," she frowned, smoothing out the crumpled pages. "I don't want to speak to James ever again."

Alice folded her arms. "OK, fine. Maybe you don't want to speak to James, but why give up your position as Head Girl? You've earned that place, Lily. I thought it was something you wanted. Why throw that away because of some stupid boy?"

Lily sighed. "Alice, I was so pleased and proud when I found out I was Head Girl. I made up my mind that I was going to turn the school around - I spent the whole summer planning the changes I was going to make. I wanted to be the best Head Girl ever. Then I arrive on the train and find out that James Potter is Head Boy. Mr I Think I'm God's Gift James Potter, who has been the bane of my existence ever since I started at Hogwarts. That got me thinking, why did Dumbledore choose such a prat to be Head Boy? Maybe it wasn't such a great honour after all if Dumbledore would choose somebody like that. To put me in the same rank as James Potter is like a complete slap in the face. I don't want to do it any more. I know he's your cousin and so you feel like you've got to stick up for him, but there's nothing you can do to persuade me. Someone else can be Head Girl, because I'm quitting." Lily went back to reading her paper, signalling that the conversation was over.

Alice threw up her hands. "Fine! If that's what you want, then fine."

"It is," Lily said quietly.

"We'll see about that," Alice muttered under her breath, getting up from where she was leaning against a tree.

"Where are you going?" Lily asked.

"To the bathroom," Alice replied. "I'll see you in Transfiguration, OK?"

Alice pushed open the doors and entered the castle, glancing around the corridor to check it was empty. Once she had acknowledged that it was all clear, she began striding purposefully down the corridor. But she wasn't heading for the bathroom - she was heading for Dumbledore's office.

Alice stopped when she reached the stone gargoyle. The last time Alice had been to Dumbledore's office was in her sixth year, after a nasty incident between her and a Slytherin girl who had called Lily a Mudblood, in which she had made purple boils sprout all over the girl's face. Alice wasn't sure whether the password had changed or not.

"Fizzing Whizzbee," Alice said. The gargoyle didn't move.

Great. "Sugar quill," Alice tried again. The gargoyle remained stationary. Alice quickly began reciting all the confectionery she could think of. "Cockroach cluster, Chocolate Frog, Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Beans..."

"Miss Tyler?"

Alice spun around to see Dumbledore standing next to her.

"Oh, Professor..." Alice stammered, embarrassed in case Dumbledore thought she was trying to break into his office. "I was just - I mean - I wanted to talk to you."

Dumbledore was watching her with an amused look on his face. "You won't get into my office with any of those passwords, I'm afraid," he said, his blue eyes twinkling over his half-moon glasses. "As of late, I've had rather a fondness for Muggle sweets." He turned to the gargoyle and said, "Mint humbug."

The gargoyle sprang to life, and moved to let them through. Dumbledore ascended the spiral staircase, with Alice following. Dumbledore led Alice into his office and sat down.

"Well, Miss Tyler, what can I do for you?"

Alice bit her lip. She wasn't really sure how to put it. Dumbledore waited patiently while Alice thought about what she wanted to say.

"Professor, can someone resign as Head Boy or Girl if they wanted?" Alice blurted out.

Oh, well done. That was subtle. Alice inwardly kicked herself as Dumbledore surveyed her quietly.

"Of course. If it is their true desire to resign, then they may."

Alice's heart sank. She began pacing up and down. "This is all James' bloody fault, if he hadn't been so stupid..."

"Is something the matter, Miss Tyler?" Dumbledore asked, looking amused.

Alice stopped abruptly. She had completely forgotten that Dumbledore was in the room too.

"Sir, Lily wants to resign as Head Girl," Alice said bluntly.

Dumbledore's voice was calm. "And why would Miss Evans want to do that?"

"It's just... something... that James said." Alice didn't really want to go into detail; she didn't want Dumbledore to know all the things James had said to Lily. "Professor, Lily's never liked him that much -" Ha! Understatement of the year. "- But it was kind of the last straw for her when she found out he was Head Boy. Professor - I was just wondering - why did you choose James?"

Dumbledore was silent for a moment. Alice gulped, wondering what was coming. She hadn't meant to blurt that out, it had just sort of escaped from her mouth before she knew what was happening.

Dumbledore sighed heavily, and got up from his chair. He walked over to one of the portraits on his wall and stared at it for a while. Alice took this as her cue to leave, but just before she could slip out of the door, Dumbledore spoke again.

"I don't know for sure, but I have heard things which worry me greatly. Dark times are ahead, Miss Tyler. Voldemort is already gathering followers. Our list of people to trust is growing thin."

Alice shuddered. Just the sound of his name made a cold chill run up and down her spine. She had heard about Lord Voldemort from her parents - about how he was turning to the dark side and wanted control over the wizarding world. Her parents had said that Voldemort wanted to rid the world of Muggles and Muggle-born wizards, which made Alice fear greatly for Lily and her family.

"I have no intention of letting Miss Evans resign her position as Head Girl," Dumbledore continued. "For I do not believe it is what she truly desires. It is at times like these when we need to work together and depend on each other to get through the dark times. No one is truly safe."

Dumbledore closed his eyes and didn't say any more. Alice decided that it was time to go. She pushed the door open to leave, but just before she could step outside, Dumbledore spoke again.

"Keep your real friends close, Miss Tyler. Stay close to Miss Evans."

Alice glanced back. Dumbledore was looking straight at her. His eyes, usually bright and piercing, were now dull and full of sorrow. Some of the light seemed to have left them.

As she descended the stairs, Alice's mind whirled with questions. What exactly was Voldemort planning? Was the school in danger? Was Lily in danger?

Instead of feeling relief that Lily couldn't quit as Head Girl, Alice was even more worried than when she had entered Dumbledore's office. She walked to Transfiguration in a sort of daze and found that she was the first one there. Alice busied herself with sorting out her books in an effort to keep her mind off the words that kept replaying in her mind. Our list of people to trust grows thin... no one is truly safe.

Shut up! Alice commanded herself. It was a relief when, ten minutes later, Lily came storming in, her green eyes blazing and a look of anger on her face.

"Lils, what's up?" Alice asked, grateful for the distraction, even if her best friend did seem ready to flay someone to within an inch of their life.

"Dumbledore says I can't resign." Lily slammed her book savagely onto the table before sitting down moodily next to Alice. "He was going on about how we needed inter-House friendship and that we need each other to get through the dark times. I don't even know what he was talking about!"

Alice bit her lip. Lily had been travelling with her parents all summer, and as they were Muggles, they weren't up to date on what was happening in the wizarding world. Alice debated whether to warn Lily about Voldemort, but then decided not to. She's got enough on her plate at the moment. She doesn't need to be worrying about that too.

Alice opened her mouth to speak again, but she was cut off by the rest of the students coming in, followed by Professor McGonagall. She looked at James' hopeful expression and shook her head, feeling slightly guilty. James slumped into a seat about three rows behind Alice and Lily, with a look of despair on his face. Alice couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He didn't seem like the old, arrogant, I'm The Best Thing On Two Legs James any more.

Alice tried to take her mind off things by concentrating on the lesson. Being a Ravenclaw, she was very conscientious about her schoolwork, especially Transfiguration, which was her best subject. Much to her delight, she was the first one in the class to successfully Transfigure a chair into a chimpanzee, earning her ten points for Ravenclaw. Alice's bad mood had almost completely dissolved until she felt something hit her in the back of the head.

Alice spun around to see Sirius Black smirking at her. Scowling, Alice twisted in her chair to pick up the wadded up ball of paper and opened it.

Judging by the expression on Lily's face, you haven't managed to convince her that James is a good guy yet. I thought you could be "pretty persuasive when you want to"? You must be losing your touch, Tyler!

Alice looked at Sirius' grinning face and was briefly tempted to hex him into oblivion. However, she didn't want to lose the House points she had just earned. She settled for writing a scathing note back.

For your information, Black, I have convinced Lily not to resign as Head Girl. As for getting her to be civil to James, I'm working on it, which is a hell of a lot more than what you've been doing.

Deciding not to add that Dumbledore was the one who had refused to let Lily resign and not her, Alice folded up the piece of paper and chucked it in Sirius' direction. Much to her annoyance, it didn't hit him in the face like she'd been intending, but landed on his desk.

Alice turned back round in her seat and almost jumped out of her skin. Professor McGonagall was standing directly in front of her, with a stern look on her face. "Miss Tyler, I would hate to have to take those points away from Ravenclaw," McGonagall said in a crisp voice. " But as it is the second day of term, I am feeling mellow. Can you and Mr Black please have your private conversations outside my lessons, not during!"

Alice felt a blush form on her cheeks as McGonagall glared at her. "Yes, Professor," Alice muttered. McGonagall marched away as Lily shot Alice a sympathetic look.

Alice buried her head in her arms. If there was one thing she hated, it was being told off and publicly ridiculed by teachers. Well, all teachers except that pervert Professor Slughorn, who Alice honestly didn't give a shit about.

Stupid Sirius Black, Alice thought bitterly. This is his bloody fault. Who needs his help, anyway? So far he had been about as useful as a chocolate kettle. Alice decided that she didn't need him. She was doing fine by herself.

The rest of the day passed much too slowly for Alice's liking. Transfiguration and Charms were the only two lessons Alice had with Lily, so for the rest of the day Alice had to put up with Belinda's bitching about all the other girls in their year and her squawkings about how cute Sirius was. Alice had to keep resisting the urge to slap the bitch.

When dinnertime finally rolled around, Alice bolted down her food as quickly as she could so she could talk to Lily before she went off to the Prefects' meeting. Just as she was getting up from the table, Belinda grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her back into her seat.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" Belinda asked curiously.

"Just to see Lily," Alice replied. Oh, for God's sake, what do you want now?

"Listen, Alice, I know you said you're not friends with Sirius, but since James is your cousin and all, could you ask him to sort of - mention me to him?" Belinda giggled.

For the life of her, Alice couldn't see why Belinda wanted to go out with Sirius. He was infamous for sleeping with girls and then dumping them the next day.

Well, Belinda is one of those girls who only care about looks. "Sure, whatever," Alice said distractedly, craning her neck over to the Gryffindor table. She spotted Lily waving her over and jumped up. Without even saying goodbye to Belinda, Alice dashed over to join Lily and the two girls left the hall.

"Having an interesting conversation with Belinda?" Lily asked with a grin.

Alice groaned. "Don't remind me. She's been hounding me all day, trying to get me to set her up with Sirius."

Lily wrinkled her nose. "Those two deserve each other. They've both got about as much depth as a puddle."

Alice nodded in agreement. "You got that right. So, what time's the meeting?"

A sour expression appeared on Lily's face. "I've got to go in a minute. I can't believe Dumbledore didn't let me quit."

"Yeah, but did you really, truly want to quit?" Alice asked, remembering what Dumbledore had said.

"Well... no," Lily admitted grudgingly. "I just don't want to work with James."

"Come on, Lily, you've got to make the best of it," Alice coaxed. "Just give him a chance to apologise, at least."

Lily smiled sheepishly. "I did lose my temper a bit on the train, didn't I?"

"Just a bit," Alice grinned. "But you were justified, and he did deserve it."

"Well, he needed to be taken down a peg or two," Lily shrugged. She looked at her watch. "I'd better go. I'll see you later, OK?"

"Good luck," Alice called as Lily sprinted off down the corridor.

Alice started off in the opposite direction, wondering where she could hide from Belinda. Just as she rounded another corner, Alice spotted James, Sirius, Remus and Peter coming down the corridor. Alice pounced on James at once.

"James, I don't even think I need to remind you that the last time you talked to Lily, you completely blew it." Alice raised her eyebrows.

"I didn't mean to!" James protested. "I only said all that stuff because I like her so much! It just sort of - slipped out."

Alice pretended to be shocked. "If only there was something in our heads to control the things we say!"

"You know what I mean," James grumbled.

"Actually, I don't. I'll never understand the logic of you boys," Alice said, shaking her head.

"Really? I thought you knew everything, Tyler," Sirius said with a smirk.

Alice glared at him. How dare he suggest that she was a Know-It-All! She was about to make a sarcastic comment back but James hastily put himself between them.

"Alice, help me. What can I do?" he pleaded.

"Well, you can't expect too much too soon," Alice said, turning her attention back to James. She couldn't be bothered to get into a slanging match with Sirius right now. "I mean, it's going to be hard work getting Lily to be civil to you, let alone fall in love with you. So, at the prefect meeting tonight, don't insult Lily - but don't hit on her either."

"So if I'm not insulting her and not hitting on her - what am I going to be doing?" James asked, looking puzzled.

Alice sighed. God, he was so clueless! "Just have a normal conversation with her. Listen to what she has to say. If she says something you don't agree with, don't shoot it down immediately - just talk to her and tell her why you don't think it's a good idea. Oh, and none of this showing off trying to impress her either - it just makes you look bigheaded."

James didn't look convinced, but he nodded. "But what if she won't talk to me?"

"Don't be pushy," Alice advised him. "Wait for her to speak first. She's got to talk to you sooner or later. Then just act friendly - but not too friendly."

James scratched his head, looking confused. Alice sighed. "Look, just be nice without making a move on her, OK?" Alice spotted Belinda coming down the corridor and said hastily, "I've got to go - I've got loads of homework."

She dashed off down the corridor, not wanting Belinda to catch her with Sirius again and start begging her to see if he was interested. She had enough to sort out with James' romance problems, let alone Belinda's. It was also true what she had told James - she did have a lot of homework, and she didn't want to get behind on the second day.

Deciding that it would be safer in the library than in the common room, Alice turned right and headed straight for the library doors. Madam Pince, the librarian, gave her a dirty look as Alice banged the door shut a little harder than she had intended.

Alice winced. "Sorry," she muttered, before heading to the back of the library and sitting down in her favourite chair. Hardly anyone ever came down there, so Alice was in no danger of being interrupted.

Alice took out her parchment, quill and ink and began to write. She had been there for almost an hour when Lily came in and flopped down in a seat next to her.

"Thought I'd find you here," Lily said.

Alice ignored her for a moment while she continued to scribble. "Done!" she said at last, finishing her Potions essay with a flourish. She turned to Lily and studied her intently, trying to figure out whether the meeting had gone well or not. However, Lily's expression was unreadable.

"So?" Alice asked, putting down her quill and propping her chin in her hand.

"So what?" Lily asked.

"How did it go?"

"How did what go?"

"Hello?" Alice waved a hand in front of Lily's face. "The meeting, tonight?"

"Oh, that." Lily leaned back in her chair, twirling a lock of hair round her finger. "It was... OK."

Alice frowned. Lily's face stayed neutral. "Does that mean good or bad?" Alice asked finally.

"I dunno... it was just OK." Lily continued playing with her hair.

Alice sighed. I'm going to have to spell it out. "Did you talk to James?"

"Sort of." Lily shrugged.

"And?" This conversation is just going in circles!

"And... I don't know - he didn't seem like the old James. I mean, I told myself I would let him apologise to me and that would be it. I wasn't going to forgive him that easily, but he said he was sorry and that he acted like an idiot, and I did feel a bit bad after that. Anyway, I accepted his apology."

"That's good!" Alice said, feeling very triumphant. "What about the rest of the meeting?"

Lily frowned. "I don't know - it was strange. James was actually - polite. I actually had a civilised conversation with him, and he actually listened to me for once. He didn't continually ask me out, either. He was - nice."

Lily looked so puzzled that she had just described James as nice that Alice burst into peals of laughter. Lily grinned sheepishly.

"So, are you two friends now, then?" Alice asked when she had stopped laughing.

"I didn't say I liked him," Lily said quickly. "He's probably just feeling guilty and he'll be back to his old self tomorrow."

"Maybe." Alice shrugged and smiled secretly to herself. Well done James! For once in your life you took my advice.

"Ahem." Alice and Lily looked up to see Madam Pince hovering over them, arms crossed. "The library closed five minutes ago," Madam Pince said sternly. "You can gossip in your dormitories. Hurry up and get out!"

Alice and Lily jumped up and scurried out of the library, giggling, with Madam Pince flapping and shooing them. Once they were outside, Alice hugged Lily goodnight and made her way back to Ravenclaw tower.

Please don't let Belinda be back yet, Alice prayed as she reached the entrance. The Ravenclaw tower was through a stone archway with a small stone door, concealed by two suits of armour holding their swords at a cross over the door.

Alice recited the new password: "Knowledge is power." The suits of armour sprang to life and moved their swords out of the way. The door sprung open and Alice ducked through the archway and climbed the stone steps that led to the common room.

The Ravenclaw common room was in the shape of a circle. It was a large, cosy room with a flickering fire at the far end and comfortable armchairs dotted here and there. Around the room were secluded alcoves. In each of these alcoves was a small wooden table and two chairs, for a person to study individually or with someone else.

Great, Alice groused to herself as she saw Belinda, Jen and Suzanne sitting on one of the sofas, doing each other's hair. When Alice came in, Belinda squealed and jumped up at once to greet her.

"Alice, come and sit down!" Belinda said enthusiastically, dragging Alice over to the sofa.

Alice forced a smile. "Actually, Belinda, I -"

Belinda carried on chattering before Alice could finish her sentence. "So, what did James say when you asked him?"

"Asked him what?" Alice frowned, wondering what Belinda was talking about.

"Derr!" Belinda waved a hand in front of Alice's face. "About Sirius, of course."

"Oh, that." Alice vaguely recalled her one-sided conversation with Belinda at dinner. "I didn't ask him yet. I didn't really get the chance." Not that I would anyway.

"Al-ice!" Belinda whined, plonking herself down on the sofa. "You've got to do it soon. Boys like that don't stay single for very long, you know."

"Yes, well, not if you're such a playboy that you sleep with any desperate whore that comes along," Alice muttered under her breath.

"What?" Belinda asked.

"Nothing," Alice said quickly. She faked a yawn. "Look, Belinda, I'm really tired, OK? We'll talk tomorrow."

"But -" Belinda began, but Alice cut her off by hurrying towards the stairs and heading for the dormitory.

"That girl does not know when to quit," Alice murmured as she changed into her pyjamas.

Alice wasn't tired, so she took her copy of Hogwarts: A History from her chest of drawers and began to read. After a time she heard footsteps on the stairs, so she quickly put the book away, drew the curtains around her bed and pretended to be asleep.

Hopefully I'll be the first one awake and be able to get down to breakfast before her, Alice thought to herself as she heard Belinda and the others come in. It wasn't long before she fell asleep.