It looks like Evans has seen the Snitch!

Have I? Yes, there it is. Shouldn’t I be going after it? Yes, Minister, I know nobody ever beat Lord Voldemort at Quidditch before, but an Order of Merlin, Second Class? Really, it’s too much. No, I don’t fancy taking over your job either, sir. I have a lot on my plate just now, what with the O.W.L.’s starting tomorrow. They started today? Oh bloody hell.

What? Oh sorry Melinda! I forgot the match wasn’t over. Yes, the Snitch, the Snitch. I need to find it before the Death Eaters do, or the Sorting Hat will be cross with me again.

Now why is Pettigrew wearing the Sorting Hat? It doesn’t really suit him.

Stop yelling, Melinda, I am focusing on the game, thank you very much.

The stands are hissing and everyone’s gone. How could they leave me alone with Voldemort? He’s just sitting there, snacking on snakes like he hasn’t a care in the world. Rude, if you ask me. Wait, I shouldn’t have said that, now he’s coming for me. A laugh to freeze the blood in your veins. But he doesn’t want the Snitch, he’s after Athena. You can’t have her, she’s my owl! What do you want her for anyway?

I get it. I’ve been looking in a mirror all this time. That makes perfect sense. There I am, eyes flashing red. No, wrong. Eyes clear blue, like the lake. Hm, wrong again. Emerald green, that’s more like it. But now it’s Potter’s reflection. Get out of my dream, you stupid prat! I said in your dreams, not mine.

A bolt of green lightening streaking the sky and Potter’s falling, broom and all, down, down down, into the endless abyss. I am guarding the goalposts, Melinda, but in case you didn’t notice, I could get expelled for this. I could get expelled and all you think about is breakfast?

~*~*~*~

Lily turned in her bed, keeping her eyes squeezed shut, trying to cling to some shred of the dream she had been having only seconds before. It was too late; she was awake. Feeling rather disappointed, she groped about for her wand, found it, and opened the curtains of her four-poster bed. Melinda Marchbanks stood by the door, about to head down to breakfast.

“Finally, you’re up,” said Melinda, pausing for moment. “It only took me four hundred tries to wake you. Abigail and Serena already went down.”

“Sorry. I was having an interesting dream… think I was playing in the Quidditch World Cup.”

Melinda replied by snorting with laughter. Lily couldn’t blame her; Melinda played Keeper for Gryffindor and was very good at it. Meanwhile she, Lily, got knocked off her broom by the very sight of a Quaffle, as they had both discovered last summer. She could fly well enough, just not when heavy things were being thrown at her.

“Do you want me to wait while you get ready?” Melinda asked once she’d regained her composure.

“No, go ahead, I’ll be down soon,” said Lily.

She struggled to remember some other--any other--part of the dream, as Melinda turned and left, but it was no use. Like so many dreams before it, this one had sunk seamlessly back into the subconscious from whence it came.

******

Gray clouds were hanging heavily over the Great Hall when Lily finally arrived. She spotted Melinda and Serena midway down the Gryffindor table and joined them.

“Why are you looking like I just insulted your favorite auntie?” Melinda was asking.

“Because,” Serena pouted, “you know you’re supposed to be suffering by my side in the library, and you went ahead and got detention anyway!”

“What’d you get detention for?” Lily asked, helping herself to some eggs and toast.

“Accidentally walloping Slytherin’s captain in the head with my broom,” Melinda replied casually. “Anyway,” she said, turning back to Serena, “you’ve got Lily to suffer with.”

“Actually, no,” Lily said. “Well, not for long. I’ve got a prefects’ meeting tonight.”

“That’s odd. How come?” Serena asked.

“Don’t know, they didn’t say. But you’ll still have Abigail,” Lily pointed out, now looking around the table. “Where is Abigail?”

“I saw her talking to some girls at the Hufflepuff table a few minutes ago,” said Melinda. “I suspect Clementine Harper and Eustace Womple have split up again.”

“We’ll know soon enough,” Serena sighed. Abigail had a habit of bringing in scraps of useless gossip, rather like Lily’s cat at home brought in mangled rodents in hopes of praise. But when Abigail returned, she was looking a touch more upset than the break-up of Clementine Harper and Eustace Womple would have warranted.

“What’s wrong?” Lily asked, taking another piece of toast. Abigail didn’t answer; Lily looked up and saw tears in her eyes.

“It’s Audrey Davis,” she finally said, with a shuddery breath. Lily had a sinking feeling that she already knew what this was about. It would be the fifth time that year some student had gotten horrible news involving their family and Lord Voldemort’s Death Eaters. She braced herself as Abigail continued.

“They tortured her parents, in front of her little sister. Some time last night. Her dad’s in St. Mungo’s now and her sister hasn’t spoken a word since it happened.”

They sat in gloomy silence, pondering this latest atrocity. Lily didn’t know Audrey too well since she was the year below them. She tried to push from her mind the image of a little girl watching her mum and dad on the floor, screaming in agony while dark hooded figures laughed mercilessly. She set down her piece of toast, not so hungry anymore, and was silently thankful that her family were all Muggles. Muggles who would never cross the path of Lord Voldemort.

Looking around the table again, determined to think of something less depressing, Lily’s eyes fell on the boys from her year, huddled and whispering excitedly. They had been acting like that for the last couple days and it made her uneasy. Any day that Lily did not have to deal with that particular band of thugs was a good day in her book, but their recent behavior had to be the calm before the storm. She only hoped that whatever havoc they were about to wreak would be wreaked far from her.

******

They had Potions that afternoon. It served as a good enough distraction from the woes of the world, if only for an hour. Lily’s potion already looked better than all the others at her table, and she was happily adding extra dried billywig stings in an attempt to turn it a deeper shade of scarlet.

At the table in front of her, Sirius Black was evidently content with the bright red hue of his potion. He was sitting by his cauldron and giving the Slytherin side of the room an appraising look.

Professor Slughorn waddled over to the girls’ station.

“Lily, Lily!” he greeted, taking a cursory glance at her work and giving the usual nod of approval. He might have taken more time to admire her ingenuity, but today he was looking rather excited about something else. “I’m having an end-of-term get together, you know, the usual crowd,” he explained jovially. “Can I count on the honor of your presence?”

“Thank you, Professor, I would love to,” she replied. That wasn’t strictly true. Lily had always felt a bit uncomfortable with Slughorn’s unabashed favoritism among his students. She had tried, for years, to politely explain this to him. He usually accused her of being too modest or too clever, and showed no signs of having understood her point. Yet he seemed so fond of her--so impressed by what he called her “natural aptitude for potions”--that she couldn’t bring herself to boycott the many exclusive social events he hosted. She had finally resolved to leave the matter alone, for fear of sounding like a broken record, and enjoy the Slug Club’s membership perks. Anyway, she could always goad him about his heartily denied pure blood biases instead.

Slughorn turned to ask Abigail the same question; her parents and several uncles had high-ranking jobs at the Ministry of Magic.

Lily was trying to decide if her potion was scarlet enough when all hell broke loose at the Slytherin tables. She looked up to see an oddly shaped black bird attacking two of the girls, who were screeching and trying to hide behind their cauldrons. Then she noticed Severus Snape standing next to them, completely bald, and realized that the strange bird was, in fact, his hair.

Lily burst out laughing. She couldn’t help it. The sight of Snape’s bald, chalk white head was too comical, and his twisted expression wasn’t helping matters any. He stood transfixed, watching his greasy black tresses whip around the table.

The Gryffindor side of the room was roaring with laughter. Remus Lupin was doubled up, Peter Pettigrew was gasping for breath, and James Potter had tears rolling down his face. Serena was gripping the table for support, Melinda was clutching at the stitch in her side, and Abigail’s face now matched Lily’s potion. Sirius had actually sunk to his knees and was pounding the floor with his fist between howls. A few of the Slytherins had hastily retreated from the action and were laughing now too, in spite of themselves.

The hair chased the girls purposefully around their table. One of them swatted wildly at it with her wand, managing to knock it into a cauldron at last. It floated for a moment and then sank with a loud burble. The potion immediately turned a funny shade of brown.

Slughorn, his face looking like a dam about to burst, hurried over to the cauldron and waved his wand. The potion disappeared and he levitated the now lifeless tangle of hair back to its owner. Snape continued to gape at it for a few seconds before reaching out to take it.

The Gryffindors were having collective hysterics. Snape, tightly clutching his hair, looked positively murderous as Slughorn steered him out of the room and pointed him toward Madam Pomfrey. Lily noticed Slughorn was biting his lip very hard.

“It was Black and Potter, Professor!” Snape shrieked in the corridor. If Slughorn gave an answer, it was too soft to be heard over the din inside. The Potions master did not return for several minutes after Snape’s continued howls of “Black” and “Potter” had faded away.

He had rearranged his face into the sternest expression possible when he finally strode back into the classroom. With his enormous belly sticking out even more than usual, he surveyed the remaining students. They were all--every last one of them--flushed and panting like they had run a very intense race.

Slughorn’s eyes narrowed in the direction of James and Sirius, but he seemed to decide that he could not interrogate them while keeping a straight face, and dismissed the class.

••••••••••••

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Chapter Two: Dumbledore's Concerns
-------------------------------------------------

News of the Snape hair incident traveled swiftly, as news at Hogwarts always did. Lily overheard Pettigrew telling a group of rapt sixth years in the common room before dinner. In his version the hair chased Snivellus around the room and the cauldron exploded violently. Much to Lily’s annoyance, the sixth years actually went up to congratulate Black and Potter.

Black and Potter, for their part, had been ensconced in the best armchairs by the fireplace all evening, receiving the admirations of a steady stream of Gryffindors. Most of these were younger students though--boys who looked up to them and girls with puppy crushes. Their heroes were trying to play it cool, but privately Lily thought she had never seen two people looking quite so pleased with themselves.

She tried to ignore them and immerse herself in her Muggle mystery novel, but her conscience squirmed uncomfortably. For one thing, she felt guilty for laughing at someone else’s misery. Snape may have been odd--and, yes, slightly creepy--but he didn’t deserve the treatment he routinely got at the hands of her housemates. And, what was worse, her laughing had almost certainly fueled their raging egos. Especially Potter’s.

“Hey, Evans!” She winced and looked up. Potter was twisted around in his chair, shooting her what he must have thought was a winning smile. “Care to join us for a butterbeer?”

“No, thank you,” she said, standing up and closing her book irritably. Black raised an amused eyebrow.

“What’s eating you?” he asked. For some reason, a pair of third year girls behind him found this extremely funny.

“I don’t see why you two always have to be so mean to him.”

“Who, Snivelly?” Potter looked confused. Lily just glowered at him.

“Mean?” Black asked in a tone of mock innocence. “We were only trying to help him. With hair that foul, I’d say baldness is a huge improvement. He ought to be grateful.”

The rest of the kids laughed appreciatively, but Lily collected her things and stalked out of the room without looking back.

******

Several hours later, Lily scanned the steadily filling Charms classroom and spotted Remus Lupin near the back. He caught her eye and beckoned her to join him. It was strange, she thought as she made her way over, to see this room at night, with the rain lashing against the windows and the darkness pressing in.

“Saved you a seat,” he said with a little smile, pulling it away from the table with his toe so she could sit. The two of them had, to some extent, become friends this year, thanks to their shared prefect duties. While Lily had not entirely forgiven him for the company he kept, she had at least come to appreciate that he didn’t share their penchant for wanton cruelty. Mischief, yes, but not cruelty. She supposed this was why he had been made prefect. Unfortunately for her, he was either unable or unwilling to stand up to his friends. They had finally reached an unspoken agreement that she would handle telling off Black and Potter whenever possible, and he would see to most of the younger students. It helped to balance things out a bit, but Lily was still sure she had the raw end of that deal.

Lupin was looking rather pale and haggard tonight. This was unsurprising; he was one of the sickliest kids Lily had ever known. Nonetheless, she eyed him with concern.

“You look awful.” He rolled his eyes.

“Lovely to see you too.”

“No really, are you feeling alright?” she pressed.

“Quite,” he said simply. Then, responding to her skeptical look, added, “Just tired from studying for the O.W.L.s, I suppose.” He was saved from having to say anything more by the Hufflepuff girl who had just sat down in front of them.

“Is it true what they’re saying?” she asked, looking back at him excitedly. “About Snivelly’s hair?”

“Depends on what you heard,” he replied. “It didn’t try to bite Slughorn’s nose.” Lily stared at him. “What? Some kid in the library was saying so just now. Refused to believe me when I said otherwise.”

“Alright, boys and girls, your attention please!” Portia Plimm, Head Girl, was calling the meeting to order, and drawing several resentful glances in the process. Head Boy Marty Foster hovered in the background, looking vaguely apologetic.

“I suppose you’re all wondering,” she began, when the chatter had died down, “why we called this emergency meeting tonight. But before I get to that… I take it everyone is aware of the tragedy that befell one of our students last night?” It took Lily a moment to remember whom she was talking about. “I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but Miss Davis’s father passed away in St. Mungo’s this afternoon, of injuries sustained during an alleged altercation with Death Eaters.” Her tone was somber, but she did not look at all sorry to be the one telling them this.

The general mood took a palpable dive as people absorbed the news. For a few moments the only sound in the room came from the rain pattering against the windowpanes and the distant rumble of thunder. At last, Portia heaved a dramatic sigh and got down to business.

“The Headmaster has asked us to inform you all of his plans to tighten security around the school.” Lily and Lupin exchanged puzzled looks, as did most of the other students. “For the remainder of the term, all students are to return to their common rooms by ten o’clock. There will be one designated teacher on duty every night. Prefects will be patrolling the halls in pairs from eight to ten and all suspicious activity should be reported to the teacher on call.”

A stream of complaints broke out at these words, with many people trying to talk at once.

“That’s completely ridiculous!”

“What’d you mean, suspicious activity?”

“But a lot of us have O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s to study for!”

“Yeah, we’re really busy.”

“Please,” said Marty Foster finally stepping forward, “one at a time.” Hands shot up and he called on a Hufflepuff boy sitting in the front row.

“Did he say why we need this, uh, tightened security?”

Portia rushed to answer, sounding reluctant to share her spotlight.

“These are dangerous times and naturally parents are worried… I’m sure the Headmaster just wants to set their minds at ease.” This explanation convinced no one.

“Worried about what?” asked a Ravenclaw boy sitting across the aisle from Lily. “Death Eaters lurking in corridors? Hiding behind suits of armor, chucking Dungbombs at kiddies out of their beds at half past ten? Unless…” he frowned thoughtfully, “you don’t think they’ve recruited Peeves?”

Everyone laughed except for Portia Plimm, who was now looking thoroughly annoyed. She started to give a reply, but Lily didn’t catch any of it because Lupin had just leaned in to tell her something.

“He might not be that far off, you know,” he whispered.

“What?”

“We, er… we accidentally overheard Dumbledore talking to Flitwick and McGonagall a couple nights ago,” Lupin explained, looking slightly guilty. “Sounded like he was worried about…” he looked around then mouthed the word Voldemort, “trying to recruit someone inside Hogwarts.” Lily wondered if he was pulling her leg, but Lupin looked perfectly serious.

“Where… how… why…” she began, casting about for the right question. But at that moment she was interrupted by a loud cough and looked up to see all eyes in the room on her.

“Are we boring you?” Portia Plimm asked, giving Lily a very unpleasant look. She felt her face turning red and stammered an apology.

“That’s alright,” Marty Foster said quickly, glancing at his watch. “Anyway, Portia and I have made up timetables for patrol duty.” He waved his wand and a piece of parchment appeared in front of each prefect. “Instructions are on the bottom for where and when to meet, and the names of the teachers on duty each night. Please have a look and let us know if something doesn’t work for you. Otherwise, you’re free to go.”

Chairs scraped loudly against the floor as people got up and hurried from the room. Lily, however, stayed put, examining her timetable.

“Oh that’s just great, isn’t it? Looks like we’re on tomorrow night,” she said to Lupin, who didn’t reply. She looked up to see him already halfway to the front of the room. The Ravenclaw boy across the aisle grinned at her and she felt her face getting hot again. He was actually quite good looking, which didn’t help matters any.

She got up and made for the door. Lupin was standing at the front of the room, in line to talk to the Heads. Lily paused to wait for him, but he noticed and gestured for her to go on. She turned on her heel and marched back to Gryffindor Tower alone.

******

Lily spent much of the following day wondering if there was any merit to Dumbledore’s suspicions that Voldemort was trying to recruit someone at Hogwarts. Assuming, of course, that Lupin was telling the truth and that he had correctly interpreted the Headmaster’s words. She resolved to ask him more about it at the next opportunity, letting slide the matter of how they--she knew he hadn’t been using the royal we--found themselves in the position to eavesdrop on such a sensitive conversation.

The opportunity, however, failed to present itself. Lily tried several times during the day to discretely get Lupin’s attention, but he seemed unusually determined to avoid her eye. This obviously suggested there was more to his story that he didn’t care to share. At least they had patrol duty that night, which would give her ample time to badger him for more information whether he liked it or not.

According to the bottom of their timetables, they were to meet in the entrance hall at ten to eight and divvy up the floors with the other pair of prefects. At five past, Lupin had still not shown. Lily apologized repeatedly to the Hufflepuffs and agreed to do the upper floors. They eventually set off, leaving her to tap her foot impatiently and stare at her watch. The sound of her shoes hitting the flagstone floor echoed dully in the open space.

What do I do if he doesn’t come? she wondered. He can’t be that intent on avoiding me…

She felt a tap on her shoulder that made her jump. Whirling around, she found herself face to face with the cute Ravenclaw boy from across the aisle.

“A little jumpy tonight, aren’t we?” he smirked.

“Don’t do that!” she snapped, reddening slightly. She had no idea how she’d managed to embarrass herself in front of this boy thrice in the past twenty-four hours. She didn’t even know his name.

“Roger Gray,” he said, extending a hand and rectifying at least one of those problems.

“Lily Evans.” She hesitated before shaking his hand, half expecting to get an electric shock in the process.

“I just got a note saying one of the blokes on duty couldn’t make it tonight. Guess I’m here to fill in,” said Roger Gray by way of explanation.

“Oh, right.” Lily was disappointed that she wouldn’t get to debrief Lupin. But not, she admitted to herself, too disappointed. “Did it say why not?” she asked as they started up the stairs.

“No, sorry.”

“Probably detention,” she mused. “Or maybe the hospital wing.”

“Detention? Why, is he a big troublemaker?”

“Not him so much as his friends,” Lily said fairly. “But he’s no stranger to detention either.”

“Why’d they make him prefect then?”

“He was the best of the lot in my year, I guess.”

“Rough,” said Roger sympathetically. They turned onto the fourth floor corridor and proceeded in silence. Lily wracked her brain for a subject for casual conversation, but she couldn’t help being distracted by the issue she had meant to discuss with Lupin.

"Why do you think Dumbledore has us doing this whole 'increased security' thing?" she asked.

"You know, I was wondering the same thing myself after the meeting,” Roger replied. “Maybe the Ministry pressured him into it?"

"But it's not like him to cave in to the Ministry… even on little things like this." Actually that was a reasonable explanation, but she was more interested in seeing what Roger thought of the recruitment idea. She wondered how to introduce it without sounding completely batty.

"Maybe he's just picking his battles?" Roger shrugged.

"What if there was a threat to the school though? From--" she debated whether to say Voldemort's name. It had become increasingly taboo over the past few years and, while she thought this was silly, she was reluctant to use it on new acquaintances. "From You-Know-Who and his crowd?"

"Don't be daft," Roger said laughingly. "What would You-Know-Who want at Hogwarts? Okay, I'll admit he might like to get in here and bump a few of us off--"

"Or at least use that as a threat to parents," she offered. Roger stopped laughing and appeared to consider the matter with academic interest.

"But the school is protected by lots of powerful enchantments, not to mention Dumbledore himself. I don't see how this prefect patrol nonsense would prevent Death Eaters from getting in if all that fails," he said.

"What if he wasn't trying to get someone in?" She hesitated, wondering how ridiculous the next bit would sound. "What if he wants to recruit someone who's already here?"

Roger looked at Lily, clearly trying to decide if she was serious. It was much the same look she'd given Lupin the night before.

"I know it's not likely," she said defensively. "But it's possible, isn't it?"

"Anything's possible. I'm sure You-Know-Who's mind works in mysterious ways." Roger had resumed his tone of academic interest. He seemed willing to entertain bizarre ideas, if only for the sake of debate. Lily liked this. It made him fun to talk to. "He'd have to get a teacher though. None of the students are powerful enough to kill people. Or to use any of the Unforgivables."

Lily had, of course, considered this problem too. She'd had a whole day to mull it over after all.

"Maybe he doesn't want people killed," she argued. Roger shot her a very skeptical look. "Well of course he does, that's not what I meant. Maybe he wants something else too."

"Like what?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "He could want someone to spy on Dumbledore? Or to sneak something into the castle… or out of it…"

"I suppose you're right, but it still sounds pretty farfetched to me. I’m sure there's a much more boring reason we're out here." Lily could hardly argue with that. "Not that I'm complaining really," Roger added. "Better than studying for exams."

"Are you taking the O.W.L.s too?" she asked. She realized as she said it that they'd never had any classes together, so this probably wasn't the case.

"No, I did them last year," he replied. "They're not so bad really… so long as you're disciplined about studying..." He trailed off and they climbed up to the fifth floor corridor in silence. Lily wasn’t particularly interested in discussing the O.W.L.s; even though they were still three weeks away, they seemed to be consuming her whole life. It really was a relief to have this imposed study break. And she certainly couldn’t complain about the company.

“Your friend,” said Roger, breaking the silence, “the other Gryffindor prefect… he seems sort of familiar but I can’t place him…”

“Oh. Maybe you just remember him from the other prefect meetings?” Lily suggested.

“Yeah, maybe, but there was something else too…” He had the air of a man searching the dim, dark recesses of his memory. Lily wasn’t sure where he might have met Lupin before and, honestly, she wasn’t that interested. But it would have been rude to point this out.

“You might have caught him causing mayhem and had to give him detention?” It was the just the next thing that came to mind, and she meant it half-jokingly, but the flash recognition on Roger’s face told her she’d hit the nail on the head.

“I remember them,” he muttered, looking now like he wished he hadn’t. There was no need to ask who he meant by them. “I found them trying to kidnap the caretaker’s cat last year.”

“Oh no!” Lily gasped. “That’s horrible! What were they going to do to her?” Several unpleasant possibilities flitted across her mind. “Actually, I don’t think I want to know.”

“I couldn’t tell you even if you did,” he said, shaking his head. “Got out of there as quick as possible. I’ve never seen Filch so angry before, and that’s saying something, isn’t it? Wouldn’t be surprised at all if he really brought out the whips and thumbscrews that time.”

Lily was feeling inexplicably ashamed for having been seen next to Lupin the previous night. Then it occurred to her that if Lupin was involved, it was unlikely to be something too awful. Somewhat braced by this thought, she mentally filed this item with the growing list of things she wanted to ask him. And then she ran into Roger’s arm.

“Shhh!” he hissed. Lily froze, momentarily confused, until she heard a noise coming from the classroom on their right. The rest of the corridor was empty. “Hear that?” he whispered. She nodded and the two of them pulled out their wands in unison. Although she knew it was probably just Peeves, her heart was still beating very loudly in her ears.

Roger pushed open the door and Lily followed him through it. It took her a moment to make sense of the ghastly sight that met her eyes, and when she did, it made her stomach turn.

They had walked in on a slurping, grunting knot of limbs and tangled hair that, on closer inspection, proved to be a pair of snogging Slytherins.

The girl was the first to notice; she sprang back and glared at the intruders with her chin jutting out defiantly. Lily recognized her as fourth year and fellow Slug Club member Lacerta Coulter. Her thickset boyfriend, who must have been every bit as dim as he looked, scratched his head and slowly followed her gaze until he too spotted the unwelcome company.

"Hey!" he roared, clenching his fists. "What the hell d'you mean barging in here like--like..."

"Sorry, mate," said Roger, trying to suppress a grin. "You might want to hoof it back to your common room though, before we have to report you for suspicious activity." The boy stared back mulishly, in a way that suggested he was unimpressed with this threat but unable to put his sentiments into words.

"Let's go," said Lacerta loudly, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the door. "I get sick if I spend too much time in a room with revolting little Mudbloods."

"Charming kids," said Roger, looking highly amused as he watched them go.

"Yes," Lily agreed. "Pity they had to leave." He held open the door, grinning impishly at her, and all of a sudden Lily felt very nervous.

"You think we actually have to report that though?" he said, turning off the lights and following her back into the empty corridor.

"Huh?"

"That suspicious activity." He jerked his head in the direction of the classroom.

"I don't know," said Lily, regaining her wits as they set off again. "I suppose if You-Know-Who did want to recruit Hogwarts students, they're just the sort who'd sign on. Especially that Coulter girl. I've heard her talking before, and it sounds like her family are big supporters."

"Yea, but why go through all the trouble just to set her snogging hairy apes in empty classrooms?"

"Well you're the one who said You-Know-Who's mind works in mysterious ways," Lily laughed. They lapsed into a companionable silence as a group of first years hurried past.

"Mudblood," said Roger a few minutes later. "Funny word, that."

"Beg your pardon?"

"It's meant to be this really insulting word for Muggle-borns, isn't it? But if you're Muggle-born, you never hear it until you get to school. I didn't even know I was supposed to be offended til someone explained it to me."

"Oh, so you’re Muggle-born too?" Lily wasn't sure why she was so pleased to learn this.

"Well, my mum's a Muggle anyway," he shrugged. "I thought she was a witch when I was little, but that's before I knew witches really exist and are usually decent." He said it jokingly, but he couldn't mask the hint of underlying bitterness in his voice.

"So your dad's a wizard then?" she asked, confused.

"He might be. I wouldn't know, he left when I was only a few months old," he muttered darkly.

"Oh..." Lily found herself at a complete loss for words. She was sorry she asked, but that didn't strike her as quite the right thing to say. Roger looked over and caught her flustered expression.

"Sorry!" he said hastily. "Didn't mean to burden you with my family problems like that--"

"Oh no, it's--"

"I don't usually go telling people I've only just met." He sounded genuinely embarrassed.

"Why not? It's such a delightful story." Lily forced a little laugh, then mentally kicked herself for having the social graces of Lacerta Coulter's boyfriend. The silence that followed her words was not just awkward but positively oppressive.

"So," said Roger at last, in a resolutely bright voice, "you follow any Quidditch teams?"

••••••••••••

Feedback makes me very, very happy!

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Chapter Three: Gray and Black
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With the O.W.L.s practically at their doorstep, the fifth years were so deluged with homework that Lily hardly had time to eat or sleep for the next week. The workload had pushed all thoughts of Voldemort’s schemes and Dumbledore’s security measures from her mind. However it could not, to her mild annoyance, completely blot out thoughts of Roger Gray.

It wasn’t fair for him to spring that on me, she thought, staring unfocusedly at her half-finished Arithmancy problems.

‘But it shows he trusted you, felt comfortable around you,’ a little voice in her head retorted.

Well I certainly bungled that one, didn’t I? He’ll never want to talk to me again…

“Aaauuuuggghhhh!” Lily looked up in time to see Melinda dropkick her Potions book at the wall. “What kind of sick, twisted git assigns an essay comparing and contrasting Confusing Concoctions and Befuddlement Draughts?” she fumed.

“Here, you can look at mine if you’re stuck,” Lily sighed, rolling off her bed and handing it over. The clock on her nightstand showed nearly three in the morning. Looking around at her bleary-eyed friends, Lily realized that what they all needed was a break. “I’m going to Hogsmeade tomorrow,” she announced.

“Good for you,” Serena mumbled without lifting her head from the desk.

“You’re coming with me,” she said firmly. “All of you. It’s the last trip of term and if we don’t relax for a few hours, we’ll all burn out before exams even begin.”

Saturday morning dawned muggy and gray. The skies were threatening rain as they tramped down to the village, but it was such a relief to be out of the castle that nobody seemed to care.

Lily spotted Remus Lupin inside Honeydukes as she was stocking up on sugar quills. Remembering that she had wanted to talk to him, she started to wend her way over, but stopped when she heard other voices nearby.

“Come on Moony, try it!”

“If you don’t get that thing out of my face, I swear I’ll--“

“But you’re supposed to like things like this!”

“Why don’t you try it then?”

“Look, Prongsie’s trying one!”

“Does it really taste like blood?”

“Mmm, it does, Wormtail, and it’s delicious. You guys don’t know what you’re missing.”

“That’s disgusting…”

Lily decided she wasn’t that keen to talk to Lupin and hurried off to find her friends, feeling slightly queasy.

As they walked up and down the high street perusing the merchandise at various shops, Lily’s mind kept straying back to a certain sixth year Ravenclaw prefect. When she then saw him, ambling towards them and whistling off key, she had to close her eyes for a moment to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating. She opened them again and found him looking straight at her.

“Hey there, Evans,” said Roger cheerfully. “Skiving off the O.W.L. reviews?”

“Guess so,” she replied, trying to sound like she hadn’t been thinking about him for the past half hour.

“Oh yeah,” said Serena, walking over and sliding her arm through Lily’s. “She’s a terrible influence, Lily is. Dragged us all away from our studies.” Roger tsk tsk’d in mock disapproval. “But,” Serena continued, now addressing her friend, “I think we’re ready to head back.”

“Are you sure?” Lily asked, feeling disappointed. Now that Roger was here and talking to her, she was in no hurry to return to the school. “Wouldn’t you rather stay and have a butterbeer? My treat…”

“Tempting, but no,” Serena sighed. “I got a letter from mum and dad this morning. I don’t think they’d ever let me come home if I fail my O.W.L.s.”

“Well I’m not ready to go back yet,” said Lily stubbornly. Then, shocked by her own daring, she turned to Roger. “How about you? Fancy a visit to the Three Broomsticks?”

Roger looked just as surprised by her invitation as she was. He hesitated and checked his watch. It only took him a few seconds to make up his mind, but to Lily it felt like an eternity.

“Sure, why not?” he shrugged.

Serena was looking at Lily with a level of interest that was entirely unnecessary. Then she too shrugged and said “suit yourself,” before rejoining Abigail and Melinda.

“Sugar quill?” Lily held up her Honeydukes bag. As Roger was helping himself, she saw four boys emerge from Zonko’s, thoroughly laden with stuff. She was suddenly aware that she’d been running her hand through her hair, and dropped it hastily.

Pettigrew was the first to notice her, but he had the good sense to tug on Potter’s sleeve and point her out. Lily felt a slight, savage pleasure realizing that Potter wanted something he couldn’t have--namely, her. She knew his parents spoiled him rotten; every week his owl brought sweets and expensive gifts from home, and he always had the best new racing broom the day it came out. But as James took in the sight of her with Roger, his face fell so completely that it knocked all such pleasure right out of her. She looked away quickly, trying not to feel guilty.

******

“How much?” she asked as Roger set two bottles of butterbeer on the table.

“What?”

“I said it was my treat.”

“Nah, this one’s on me.” Lily opened her mouth to protest but then closed it again. If he wanted to be a gentleman, she saw no real reason to object. She took a sip of her drink and looked around idly, not seeing many familiar faces. Hagrid was sitting in a corner though. She waved at him and he waved back.

“Bet you can’t wait til exams are over,” Roger remarked conversationally.

“Of course,” she said glumly. “It’s not the studying I mind so much though, it’s the stress.”

“Yeah, your whole future hangs on this, doesn’t it? Or at least that’s what they keep telling you.”

“How’d you do when you took them?”

“Well enough,” he said indifferently. “I got all the N.E.W.T. classes I wanted.”

“Which are…?”

“The important ones. Charms, Transfiguration, Defense, Potions, and Runes. Well, the Runes may not be that important, but I like them.”

“What’d you want to be?” Lily asked.

“Minister for Magic,” Roger replied calmly. “You?”

“Supreme Mugwump.” He gave an appreciative chuckle while she took another swig of butterbeer. “So, got any exciting plans for the summer?”

“Not really, just working… same place I do every summer…”

“Which is…?” she pressed. Roger hesitated.

“Ice cream parlor,” he said sheepishly. Lily tried and failed to stifle a giggle.

“At least you’ll have something to fall back on if the Minister thing doesn’t work out.”

“Scooping ice cream professionally, there’s an idea.” Roger blew idly over the mouth of his bottle so that it sounded a deep note. “Then what’re you planning to do for the summer, Little Miss Mugwump?”

“I don’t know, just go home and spend time with my family I guess...”

“Oy, Roger!” They both looked up to see a tall, fair-haired boy waving at him from the back of the pub.

“Bertie, old boy!” Roger called back enthusiastically. “I was wondering where you’d got to.” He jumped up out of his seat then looked back at Lily. “Say, nice talking to you again. Good luck with exams and everything.”

“Oh, right,” she said, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. “Yes, I’d better be getting back…”

“Cheers,” said Roger, draining the last of his butterbeer and bounding off to join his friends. Lily gulped down the rest of her own drink and hurried out of the Three Broomsticks.

******

She was halfway back to the castle when it finally started raining. She pulled out her wand, conjured a green umbrella from the end of it, then resumed staring moodily at the dirt road ahead of her.

There was no real reason Roger’s abrupt departure should have upset her so. She had thought they were having a good time, but it was perfectly reasonable for him to go off with his friends. It was just that his parting words had come out sounding so… final. And now, try as she might, she couldn’t quite shake the image of his initial hesitation when she asked him to go for a drink.

“Hey, Evans!” She looked back and saw Sirius Black rushing to catch up with her. For most young witches at Hogwarts this would have been a welcome sight indeed--though one they were only likely to see in daydreams. Lily, however, had a fairly good idea why he was there, and she was really not in the mood to deal with him right then.

“What do you want, Black?” she said curtly as he drew level with her.

“You’ve been working on that McGonagall impression then, have you?” he replied, utterly unfazed. Glancing up at her umbrella, he pulled out his own wand and conjured an even larger one that overlapped hers. She tried taking a step away from him, but it just stretched to cover her. Sighing resignedly, she vanished her own umbrella and put her wand away.

“Well?”

“Well what? I just saw a lovely lady walking back to the castle alone and knew she would enjoy my company.”

“Oh, ha ha,” she muttered.

“Come on, you know you’re powerless to resist my charms.” He said this with such an eager puppy dog pout that Lily couldn’t help softening a bit.

“Where’re your mates?” she asked in a slightly gentler tone.

“Don’t know,” Sirius shrugged unconvincingly. “You have a good time in Hogsmeade?”

“Delightful.”

“Yeah? What’d you do?” he asked, as though he were her best girl friend braiding her hair at a slumber party. She couldn’t help marveling at how a boy who so often came across as the world’s biggest git could suddenly be so sweet when he wanted something.

“Shopped,” she said warily.

“That’s it?” Lily didn’t answer. “Who was that bloke you were walking into the Three Broomsticks with?” he asked, confirming her worst suspicions. “Do you fancy him?”

“No I do not fancy him!” she snapped. “And tell Potter it’s none of his sodding business who I walk into pubs with!” Sirius looked wholly unperturbed.

“Who said anything about James?” he asked innocently. “I only ask because, as a fellow Gryffindor, I feel honor bound to look out for your welfare. I’d hate to see you with some lowlife idiot who doesn’t deserve you.”

Lily sighed. She knew he was lying, that he had to be there because of Potter, but he was also a very convincing actor. It wasn’t hard to see why so many girls became enamored with him. With a guilty twinge, she also remembered the look on James’s face when he had seen her outside Zonko’s.

“Look, Sirius,” she said quietly, “I really don’t want to discuss this, so please just let it alone, ok?” This time he did look slightly taken aback; he had clearly been expecting her to yell a bit.

“Yeah, alright,” he mumbled as the Hogwarts gates came into view. “D'you want a cockroach cluster?”

••••••••••••