"Where are you going? Bedtime's in five minutes," she challenged the boy. James jumped as soon as she spoke and stopped in his tracks.

"Kitchens," he replied quickly. So quickly, in fact, that Lily actually believed him. No one could think up a lie that fast, could they?

"Moony, you're a genius!"

"Absolutely brilliant, mate!"

Lily stared at the backs of their heads as they all bent low over whatever Remus had brought with him. She strongly suspected he had stolen something from the Ravenclaw common room, but what on earth could it be to have them so excited?

Her gaze flitted about the room as she reached for words, and a flash of movement to her left caught her attention. Bowing her head as though she was embarrassed, Lily used her downwards gaze as a cover for when she looked sideways. Those idiotic boys clearly thought she would be too flustered by Dumbledore's question to notice anything, and they would have been right if her actions downstairs hadn't all been part of a performance.

The voice was full of malice and Lily's heart sank; she knew who it was before she even looked. Her stomach turned over in fear when she realised that the owner of the voice wasn't alone. With him were three other Slytherin students, all of them tall and menacing. Beside her, Lily felt Mary stiffen. Without being conscious of doing so, Lily moved forward half a step as though to shield the younger girl.

Lily shook her head in disgust. "So you don't mind working for a murderer, as long as you don't have to do his dirty work?"

"That's not it at all! Look, I thought you didn't want to talk about this stuff?"

"I thought you did?!" Lily exclaimed. "So come on, explain it to me. Why on earth would you want anything to do with that man?"

The decision was made: she was most definitely going to go and wake up Professor McGonagall – no, Professor Dumbledore, in fact – right then and there, though she was currently heaving the mirror back onto its hook above the doorway.

I'll go back, she told herself as she began to follow the twisting tunnel. I'll just see where they're going first.

Lily shrugged, biting her lip. Each word that came out of Lynne's mouth was grating on her nerves; she was already feeling frustrated at not hearing the rest of the boys' conversation and now she had to explain why she had no social life? Though she was trying not to let herself think about it, James Potter's harsh words about her being a snob were creeping into her mind again.

She was wandless, alone, on the edge of a mass duel that was getting very out of hand.