Children of Azkaban
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry stood tall and proud, bathed in the shadows of the dusky sky. Lights shone from almost every window, and people could be seen through the panelled glass, laughing, walking, running, studying. It was a typical Wednesday evening, and everyone was feeling relaxed and safe. Not even the growing threat of the wizard known as You-Know-Who was disturbing the tranquil air of the school.
Lily Potter smiled as she gazed at the students in the Great Hall, eating among their fellows happily, and chattering like a flock of starlings. Really, it was kind of Albus to ask them to stay in Hogwarts after Godric's Hollow, the house they were going to hide in, was blown up by Death Eaters who thought that they were inside. How they had discovered it, nobody knew, but everyone agreed that they had had a lucky escape.
Her recently married husband, James, was talking animatedly with Sirius and Remus, two of his three best friends. Peter Pettigrew, the third of said friends, was somewhere else in the castle, having decided to eat his dinner alone. She couldn't help but feel glad. Peter made her feel nervous, with his constantly darting eyes and twitching nose. Lily knew that she was being silly, and so she never mentioned it to James. But something about Peter made her blood run cold.
Shaking her head, Lily returned to her meal of juicy roast potatoes and pork, compliments of the house elves that worked in the school kitchens. It would do her no good to dwell on such thoughts. James trusted Peter, as did Albus, Minerva, and Mad-Eye. Surely they could be counted on to know who was trustworthy, and who was false.
Deciding to put the matter out of her mind, she turned to Pomona and engaged her in a conversation about the plants in Greenhouse Three.
While she nodded along to Pomona's description of the Venomous Tentacula, her mind wandered to the previous morning. She had got up with morning sickness, and had spent what felt like an hour vomiting. Hope had began to wind its way around her heart. Lily had never really planned for early motherhood, but with the war going on, she might never have a chance at it again, especially with James as an Auror. She would need to check with St. Mungos, but she was almost positive that she was pregnant. She wondered what James would say if the answer was yes.
Further down the table, Sirius was arguing with Remus. "For the last time, Moony, I can so cast a heating charm!"
Remus laughed. "I never said that you couldn't, Padfoot, only that your heating charms tend to go wrong."
Sirius gave him a sneer worthy of Severus, and raised his long black wand. An explosion of orange sparks danced from the wand's tip, settling over the room like dandelion seeds blown by a playful child. As soon as they touched a surface, the sparks exploded, leaving a hot sensation. At first the temperature remained pleasantly warm, but as more sparks exploded, the room started to reach a state of unbearable heat.
Lily began sweating badly, her soft red hair going damp and floppy. She was wearing flowing robes of a creamy shade which, though they looked pretty, were very thick and rather stifling in the heat. She wriggled in an attempt to get comfortable, but that just made her hotter. She cursed herself for not thinking of bringing a wand to the feast - she had not thought it necessary, with the castle being the safest place on Earth, but she could have really used a cooling charm. Eventually she couldn't take it anymore, and left the Great Hall to change.
Albus had been very generous when he provided their quarters. It was a large airy room, with a plush red carpet and gold patterned rug set before a carved marble fireplace. A stout four-poster bed with ruby hangings sat in one corner of the room, and next to it was a dark polished wardrobe, overflowing with their clothes - well, overflowing with mostly James's clothes. He had the largest collection of outfits that she had ever seen in a male, not to mention the hair products and skin care potions.
The bathroom was in more muted shades than the main room, with the colour scheme comprised of soft blue and white. In it there was a bathtub that an entire Quidditch team could sit down comfortably in, an ornate mirror rimmed with gold, and shiny white tiles that you could eat off, so througholy polished were they by the house-elves.
Running the cold tap, Lily splashed water on her face, and changed her thick sweater to a plain blue T-shirt. She still liked Muggle clothes, no matter how much James scoffed at them. Witch robes were just too unpractical in fights, and besides, she never really was the kind of girl who liked to wear dresses.
She opened the glass bathroom door to return to the feast, though she wasn't feeling very hungry. But before she could move, she heard a muffled thump, and the rushing sound of a spell being cast. Lily felt her heart beat faster, and she broke into a run. Everyone should be in the Great Hall, so no one should be casting spells. That meant that either someone had sneaked off to perform a pranking spell, or...
Lily didn't want to think about the 'or'.
Racing around a corner, Lily almost skidded into a wall, barely managing to keep her balance. She smiled in relief - then gasped in horror when she saw what was in front of her.
Madame Smith, the school nurse, was lying spread-eagled on the ground. Her brown eyes, normally so warm and caring, stared unseeing at her, as if her eyes had been snatched away and replaced with dirt filled marbles. Her face was still twisted in surprise, and Lily noted bitterly that she hadn't reached for her wand. But the corpse, horrifying as it was, was not what had made Lily gasp. It was the fact that Peter - Peter, James's friend, Peter, the boy who couldn't say boo to a goose! - was standing over her, smirking. His sleeve was pushed back, and the Dark Mark, obviously branded on recently, could be seen clearly on his chubby arm.
Lily automatically went for her wand, though in the back of her mind, she didn't really know what to do. But of course it wasn't with her. She'd left it in her quarters, never dreaming that she would need it in Hogwarts, the safest place on Earth. Peter laughed, and Stunned her. He needed someone to take the blame in order to remain a good spy, and Lily fit the bill.
He bent down and began to wave his wand over her milky white arm. Peter had never been a good student, but he knew enough to be able to cast a temporary skin tattoo. He smirked to himself. Now it was up to James's talent of jumping to conclusions.
