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Chapter Two: Dumbledore's Concerns
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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!
Lily Evans and the Golden Lyre by capella_black
Chapter Notes: A second chapter, rather longer than the first. This is where the plot really gets going though. I hope you enjoy, and I love getting feedback!