NEVER SAY NEVER

Chapter 1. . .

Professors?

'Can you believe that Potter made Head boy,' demanded Lily Evans as she squished herself between her two best friends, Alyssa Jones and Rachel McGrath.

'Well, it's a bit hard not to when you've been, oh what, talking about him for the past 9 hours!'answered Rachel sarcastically.

'She's not exaggerating, you know,' commented Alyssa before Lily could open her mouth to protest.

'I have not been talking about him for…' her voice trailed of as both Alyssa and Rachel glared at her.

'OK. Fine! I might have said a word or two,' Rachel snorted as Lily raised her voice to continue, 'but I can't help it. I mean, James Potter- Head boy. He is so,' she was interrupted yet again as their other best friend Maria Taylor joined their conversation to remark, 'good looking, intelligent, smart and the perfect person to be head boy.'

'Aaargh!' Lily shrieked, "What is wrong with you people?' Before she could add any more, the Headmaster rose to his feet and instantly the chattering lowered to, well as much as possible at Hogwarts.

'To our new students, welcome: to our old students, welcome back! To another year of magical education at Hogwarts, school of witchcraft and wizardry.' 'Also, a reminder to our old students, there is a reason the Forbidden Forest is called forbidden and thatwould be because it is forbidden,' he said his blue eyes twinkling. Our caretaker, Mr. Filch wants me to remind you that students are not allowed out of bed after curfew. And for other rules, please check the notice that is stuck on Mr. Filch's office door. And now to indroduce this year's new heads, James Potter and Lily Evans.'

Rachel, Alyssa and Maria cheered with the rest of the school, while Lily blushed.

Suddenly the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes faded as he continued eying his students, 'Now on a more serious note, I have to ask you a favor, there are dark times ahead, and in such times you have to stand united. You have to understand and realize that these are not the times to hold grudges but to forgive and forget, and to repair broken friendships while making new ones.'

'Friends with Slytherins, I don't think so,' murmured Rachel

Many students seemed to be having the same effect of the speech as they joked around with each other or turned to glare at their enemies.

'I have to ask for your attention once again,' Dumbledore said as the students settled down.

'Now, this year, we have two new professors who are joining us. First of all, please welcome, Professor Josh Stevenson who is going to teach you Defense Against the Dark Arts.'

Lily watched as he got up and realized that he was only a few years older than her. At the most, twenty- two yrs old. He was a rather handsome bloke, blond hair, blue eyes, and Lily was sure he could be passed for a movie star.

Maria gasped.

'It's going to be weird calling him professor,' Rachel stated voicing Lily's thoughts. But Lily was no longer paying attention to the young man who was waving and winking at the students. Instead, her eyes were caught by the man who was sitting a few seats away from Professor Stevenson. There was something strange about this man that she could not put her finger upon. He seemed to be the same age as Professor Stevenson, and he had dark brown hair.That's all she could see because he was staring at the table in such a manner that Lily was scared that it would burst into flames at any moment.

Suddenly his head jerked up, and met her eyes. It took all the restraint she had, to not cry out. No, his eyes weren't red but they might as well have been, there was something. It was just… when he looked into her eyes, it seemed like he knew everything. Everything about her. She shuddered, her eyes still meeting his.

… 'And now, please welcome Mr. Reeve Shields, our new Divination Professor.'

She heard Maria giggle from across the table.

Every single person's gaze in the Great Hall shifted from Stevenson to Shields to find out that he was still staring at the Head girl. Whispers flew around the Great Hall, while Rachel nudged Lily. She finally looked away embarrassed tucking a strand oflong redhair behind her ear.

However, Professor Shields still seemed to be in a trance, his gaze boring into the back of Lily's head. Suddenly, he looked away with great force to survey the student population. The whispers and chattering went down, again.

'He's weird,' commented Alyssa loudly as if 'weird,' was today's normal. Before Lily and Rachel had a chance to shush her properly, Professor Shields overheard them but he simply smiled.

At this Maria giggled again.

'What is with you, and your giggles today,' hissed Lily across the table.

'I can't help it. Ladies, our last year is going to be the best year of all,' shereplied flipping her blond hair as she giggled..

Rachel and Lily exchanged exasperated glances.

'Oooh, this pie is good,' said Alyssa.

'When did the food appear?' exclaimed Lily

Alyssa just stared at her incredulously.

'So, Lils, why did you miss the sorting?' asked Rachel helping herself to the same pie.

'Head Duties,' she grimaced.

'You don't seem happy about that.' Commented Alyssa

'I don't know, I mean, me as Head Girl! Dumbledore's gone mad.'

'Gone Mad?'

'Yeah, he's always been mad,' said Alyssa

'Why on earth would you think that you are not a good choice? exclaimed Rachel

'Cuz I can think of at least 20 or so people who would be better than me in this post. But I still don't understand about this Potter situation...'

'So what do you guys think about these two new professors?' asked Rachel quickly, changing the subject.

'That Stevenson guy,' started Alyssa

'Looks perfect,' finished Maria

'What about our new divination teacher, Lils?' asked Rachel teasingly

Lily blushed.

'What d.. Do y you mean?' she stuttered

'She's talking about this instant connection that you two seem to be having,' said Maria raising her eyebrow.

'We do not,' she declared taking a quick glance at the professor.

'I… don't know, it's just,' she trailed off deep in thought.

'He knows something…'