CHAPTER ONE:

7 MUGGLES ATTACKED IN DONCASTER, DEATH EATER INVOLVEMENT SUSPECTED

29 August 1976

Doncaster - Horrifically violent magical acts were committed against seven muggles outside of a Doncaster Town pub late last night. While Hit Wizards from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad division at Leeds were on site as quickly as possible, serious damage to both property and persons had already occurred.

'Once we arrived on the scene, we immediately sent for our colleagues in the Auror Department,' said Leeds Hit Wizard Squad Leader, Arjun Singh, 'Based on the evidence we saw immediately upon arrival, it was clear that this was Dark magic, and in line with other confirmed Death Eater activities.'

Jurisdiction was quickly handed over to the Auror Department. When asked, the Department would neither confirm nor deny fatalities of any of the muggles involved. The Daily Prophet has been asked to refrain from naming said muggles until the Ministry can appropriately notify the families.

The growing boldness of Death Eaters - attacking outside a popular pub on a busy night - is what readers may find most alarming. We at the Daily Prophet encourage all members of the magical community to take extra precautions for personal safety, and remind any young witches or wizards that magic used in life-threatening situations is not a violation of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery.

'Right. Well, that's everything,' Mr Evans slammed closed the boot and looked up at his youngest daughter, 'Ready to go then, love?'

'Think so,' Lily replied, brow furrowing as she did a quick mental inventory of everything she had packed over the last few days. School robes, books, cauldron, quills, parchment...pyjamas, socks, toothbrush, knickers, make-up…

Mr Evans chuckled and tugged one of Lily's pigtails, 'If you've forgotten anything, send word.'

'Dad,' Lily grumbled, adjusting her low pigtail, 'D'you have any idea how long it can take to make sure my hair is actually smoothly tied?'

'Not a clue, darling,' he leaned back, hands in his pockets, smiling, undeterred by her grumbling.

Lily set her rucksack on top of her trunk and slowly turned the trolley away from the car and towards the entrance to King's Cross. Her father subtly moved out of the way. He was all too familiar with his daughter's steering abilities and her uncanny knack to push the trolley right into your heels.

'I saw that,' Lily raised an eyebrow at her father. Lord, wasn't he being a bit dramatic? 'I'll have you know, I practiced with the shopping trolleys at Tesco over the summer and I'm quite good now.'

'Of course you are, love,' Mr Evans smiled.

'Better be going, then,' Lily looked up at her father and let go of the trolley to give him a quick hug good-bye.

'Don't want to miss the train,' her father agreed, returning the embrace, 'Ouch.'

Lily glanced around to see why her father had winced. Looking down, she saw that he was extracting his foot from where the trolley had rolled over his toe.

'Oops?' Lily grinned sheepishly. Bugger all trolleys everywhere.

Mr Evans chuckled, 'Get on, then. I'll take care of my maimed toe.'

Lily laughed, 'Bye, Dad. See you at Christmas. Love you.'

'Love you, too, darling. Safe travels.' Mr Evans kissed her forehead and gave her a sad smile. Lily gave him a quick extra hug, mostly so she didn't dwell on the fact that for the second time, it was just her and her father on 1 September.

Forcing a cheery wave as her dad turned to get back in the car, Lily turned and pushed her way through the crowds at King's Cross, making her way to the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10. After a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching her too closely, Lily walked through the barrier and onto Platform 9 ¾.

The tone of the crowd surrounding her immediately changed. Far from the rush of commuters and the brusque travellers outside the platform, everyone crowded onto Platform 9 ¾ was bustling about enthusiastically. Lily couldn't help but smile to herself. This was home - these mad, bustling, crazed witches and wizards shrieking about quidditch try-outs and frogspawn. Ah, utterly delightful. She always forgot how much exactly she missed Hogwarts. Well, she knew she missed it - hard not to know when you spent the holidays holed up while your sister told everyone you were on holiday from your insane asylum - but 1 September always made it so concrete.

As Lily pressed her way forward to the Prefects' Carriage, she was accosted on all sides by shouts, laughs, and - more than once - flying wads of... well, she'd rather not think about what. Likely fish eyes, by the texture. Eurgh.

In five years (well, six, if counting the current one) of taking the Hogwarts Express, Lily had learned one very important lesson. Two, actually: always load your trunk before you start looking for friends (the anxiety of trying to get your trunk onto a train that is slowly pulling away is simply not at all worth it), and never load it onto an unsupervised carriage, unless that carriage is the Prefects' Carriage (lest someone 'mistake' it for his friend's trunk and shove active dungbombs into it, which are not noticed for the entire bloody ride to Scotland).

It now appeared that another rule should be added to the list, Lily thought as she struggled to shove her trunk up into the carriage. Adorable as her new babydoll dress may be, it was not be the most conducive to loading a trunk on a train. What with all the bending of the legs and whatnot to leverage the trunk into the carriage. But, finally, Lily managed to get her trunk loaded.

'I am woman,' she muttered to herself, dusting off her hands as she walked back out onto the platform.

Lily looked up the platform to see if Marlene had arrived yet. Highly unlikely, given Marlene's general feelings regarding timeliness. The girl had once been late to their Transfiguration exam because of something involving waffles. Lily had been far too flustered to pay attention to exactly what Belgian breakfast food had to do with risking the interminable wrath of Minerva McGonagall.

There was no sign of Marlene at the front of the train, so Lily turned to walk back down the platform towards its entrance. She glanced over her shoulder one last time as she turned and was not at all paying attention to where she was going.

'Oof!' Lily exclaimed as she ran into someone rushing the opposite direction and stumbled slightly.

Lily felt large hands steady her shoulders, 'Watch it!'

Oh Merlin's giddy aunt, no.

Lily looked up, bracing herself for a sleazy pick-up line or remark about her running into him, but James Potter wasn't even looking at her. In fact, his eyes were scanning the smaller crowd of people behind her toward the head of the train.

'Oy, Padfoot!' Potter called out over her head. He finally glanced down and gave Lily a polite smile, 'Alright, Evans?'

'Yes, but I -'

But Potter had let go of her shoulders and was moving away. Lily felt her jaw drop slightly. What in the bloody hell was going on? Had the world tilted on its axis? Or perhaps that wasn't Potter after all. That would be substantially more likely. Still in a bit of shock, Lily didn't move, but stared after Potter. Or at least He-Who-Appeared-To-Be-Potter.

'Padfoot!' Potter shouted at the back of an obnoxiously shiny head of black hair. The owner of said unfortunately magnificent hair was leaning casually against the wall, but upon being shouted at, turned over his shoulder. It appeared Sirius Black had taken to the new longer, shaggy hair trend with gusto over the holidays. He now looked less like an overgrown mop and substantially more like Andy Gibb, complete with billowing locks that fluttered and floofed better than most girls Lily knew.

'Benjy's got a new Zonko's -'

'The one that explodes?' Black had turned away from the girl he had been chatting up - Lily recognized her as Clara-something from Hufflepuff and focused his attention on his best mate, 'Old news.'

'Yeah, well, what does it matter? As long as he uses it to…'

The two boys took off past Lily at a bit of a jog, Black's hair bouncing like a shampoo advertisement, and their conversation lost in the noise.

Lily just stared after them.

They hadn't even so much as looked her way.

Not once.

She was utterly convinced that she had just stepped into a parallel universe. Only explanation. Or the Soviets had infiltrated Britain and given James bloody Potter a brain transplant. Or he had gotten into something terribly bizarre over the summer holidays and Ministry officials had been forced to use a very powerful Memory Charm.

Literally all of these were substantially more plausible than the fact that James Potter had just ignored her like she was the unwanted odd fig biscuit on the tea tray at your great-aunt's. Lily continued to stare after Black and Potter, despite the fact that they had long ago disappeared into the crowd.

'There you are!' a voice cut through Lily's shock as she focused on the person the voice came from, 'I've been looking all up and down the train for you! Sorry, darling, but we are not sitting in the Prefects' Carriage. I'll beat my own brains out if I have to sit with the rest of those swots all the way to fucking Scotland. Not that you're a swot, or Remus for that matter, but Babs-bloody-Bloomquist -''

'Marlo,' Lily focused on her friend's round face, 'The weirdest thing just happened.'

'Well, hello to you, too,' Marlene replied sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.

Lily didn't reply but grabbed Marlene's wrist and dragged her down the platform.

'I've got us a compartment,' Marlene said, 'If you'll let me lead?'

Lily sighed loudly but let Marlene lead the way to a compartment a bit of the way down the train. They walked in to the otherwise empty compartment and Lily flopped into a seat.

'Spill,' Marlene commanded, settling back into the seat opposite and crossing her legs.

'So I was just loading my trunk into the Prefects' Carriage -'

'Obviously.'

'Will you let me finish?' Lily asked exasperatedly. Marlene grinned back, inviting Lily to continue.

Lily relayed the entire interaction - or lack thereof - with Potter while Marlene listened in silence.

'And then he said "Alright, Evans?" But not like "Aaaalriiiiiiiight, Evans?" More like "Oh, Evans, didn't see you there. Are you alright?" Like he was properly checking to see if I was actually alright!' Lily finished in a rush.

Marlene didn't say anything. She just twirled a lock of dirty blonde hair around her finger and frowned.

'Well?' Lily demanded, looking at Marlene expectedly.

'Well what?' Marlene replied, still frowning.

'Isn't that mad?'

'I think it sounds perfectly normal, actually. Potter ran into you and was checking that you weren't permanently injured,' Marlene shrugged.

'That's the point!' Lily threw her hands up into the air, 'It's Potter. When is he ever normal?'

'I'm confused,' Marlene said after a short pause, 'Are we...upset about this? About Potter acting like a sane human being?'

Lily looked at her best friend in surprise, 'Of course not. But isn't it utterly bizarre?'

'For you, maybe,' Marlene gave her friend a cheeky grin. Everyone - especially the Gryffindor sixth years - knew that James Potter fancied Lily Evans, 'But Lily, you did have a very nasty, very public row after O.W.L.s last year…"

Lily blinked, 'Yes, and?'

Marlene pushed her heavy feathered fringe out of her face, 'Well, maybe James was more...affected...than you realized?'

Lily stared, 'If we were talking about a sane human, I would say you have a point. But it's Potter. He is far from sane.'

'Yes, but Lily, it was a bit...intense, even for the two of you,' Marlene leaned back against the seat, 'Everyone really was in shock afterward. You and James argue all the time, but last year's row seemed...very final, is all.'

'But...it's Potter! Even if he was as affected as you say, he has the relative attention span and rebound rate of a caffeinated goldfish!' Lily threw her hands up in exasperation.

Marlene was quiet for a moment, and when she spoke, she was - to Lily's annoyance - profoundly logical.

Maddening, really.

'I'd honestly just take it. He's treating you like he treats me. Let it happen.'

Lily chewed her bottom lip and looked out the window at London as it whipped by. She didn't say anything, but a very small part of her did wonder if Potter was still angry with her about that row after O.W.L.s last year. Wouldn't that be awkward. She had so stubbornly refused to talk to him for the remaining week of school. She had been too upset about everything with Sever - Snivellus - that she hadn't had the time to be astounded by Potter's direction-following abilities. He had left her entirely alone, now that Marlene mentioned it.

'But it's odd, you have to admit it,' Lily remarked.

Marlene blinked up at her, 'Lily. No. It's not odd, it's not mad, it's just different,' she picked up the copy of Witch Weekly she'd pulled out of her rucky and opened it before giving Lily a pointed look, 'Given all the whinging you've done for the last six bloody years, I would expect you to be relieved. Aren't you relieved?'

'Of course I am.' Lily said quickly. She fidgeted with the hem of her dress, 'It'll just take some...adjusting. I've developed a remarkably expansive arsenal of Potter comebacks. I'll simply just have to find a new target.'

'If you start treating me like you treat Potter, I will shove a broomstick so far up your arse that you'll be obligated to join the quidditch team.'

'Did I say you? For fuck's sake, don't get your knicks in a twist,' Lily rolled her eyes. Marlene flipped Lily a gesture that was really quite rude before returning to her magazine.

Lily looked out the window as the outskirts of London gave way to countryside. When she was a first year, the trip north to Hogwarts was just so exciting that she never bothered to contemplate the relative lack of logic of a train that went from London to Hogwarts, direct, when students came from all over the UK and Ireland. Wouldn't it be more logical to have multiple train lines? Or at the very least, a few stops? Shorten the ride a bit for some? Though, she supposed, the lack of convenience rarely occurred to wizarding families. Her first year, her parents had made the trip to London to put Lily on the train an Event. Large 'e' Event. Second year, her mum and Petunia had taken the train to London with her for a girls week-end before Lily went to school (had not gone well). Third year, Lily's parents both brought her as a treat since her mum was feeling well enough, but Petunia refused to come. Fourth year, Lily came alone - Mum was back in the hospital and Dad couldn't leave her. Fifth year was awful, just her and Dad. This year wasn't terrible.

She blinked hard as tears unexpectedly welled. Well, if Hogwarts was just logical about it all, she wouldn't have to even think about depressing car travels because she wouldn't have to take them. Really, it was supremely stupid that her dad had to drive all the way to London from the Midlands simply because they couldn't Floo, as the Evans household was of course a muggle household.

Before she let herself sink into a deeper melancholy, Lily hopped off her seat and plopped down next to Marlene and began reading over her shoulder, '"He's simply yummy and knows how enchant his way to an excellent dinner...but can he use his other wand in ways that are truly magical?" Christ, Marlo, what is this rubbish?'

Marlene snatched her magazine shut, 'I'll have you know it's very useful and educational. If a bloke can't use both wands with equal dexterity, a girl has the right to know these things.'

'Too right,' said a broad Yorkshire accent as the compartment door opened, 'That's absolutely why I strongly advocate a thorough wand inspection early on. Preventative action, you know.'

'Dorcas, this is why everyone thinks you're a slag,' piped a high voice.

'I'm not a slag, Mary, I'm liberated.' Dorcas Meadowes threw her lanky arms wide and flopped on the seat Lily had recently vacated. She threw a broad wink to Marlene, who was laughing, 'Personally, Marlo, I think every girl should be liberated. I'm quite glad to see Witch Weekly feel the same way.'

Dorcas Meadowes was a tall, gangly girl with long hair that fell in waves down her back. Dorcas had embraced the fashions of the hippie movement in all of their resolute glory, and was lucky enough, Lily thought, to be able to pull off the wilder fashion choices. She had braids randomly in her light brown hair and a fringey vest-shawl-poncho thing thrown over her shoulders. Meanwhile, Mary MacDonald, the petite blonde who had entered behind her, was both her best friend and fashion counterpart.

'Liberated all the way to the public clinic,' Mary muttered under her breath.

Dorcas smacked her friend across the arm, 'Not that liberated. Liberated in a discriminating way.'

'Don't want to catch the clap,' Marlene said wisely. Lily snorted and covered her mouth.

'Precisely,' Dorcas gestured to Marlene, 'See, Mary, Marlene understands.'

Mary rolled her eyes while Lily laughed harder.

'You're ridiculous, Dorcas,' Lily said between gasps, 'But I wouldn't have you any other way.'

Dorcas adjusted her fringey garment haughtily, 'Thank you, Lily love. Means the world.'

'How were your holidays?' Marlene asked, setting aside the wanderful magazine, 'Anything fun?'

'Not mine,' Mary said with a sad shake of her head, 'My mum decided to get very in to pickling things. I spent the whole summer smelling like vinegar.'

'Er, why?' Lily asked, 'Not why did you smell like vinegar, but why...pickling?'

'Wait, I want to know why vinegar.' Marlene shifted to pull one leg up underneath her.

Lily turned to her friend and stared, 'Because that's how you pickle things, idiot. In vinegar.'

'A solution of vinegar, water, salt, and a pinch of sugar brought to a boil and then poured over veg packed tightly into a glass jar,' Mary sounded more like she was reading an obituary than reciting a recipe.

'Oh. At least you'll be ace at Potions this term?' Marlene said tentatively.

'As if anyone can beat Snape at Potions,' Dorcas scoffed. Then, her eyes widened and she turned to Lily, 'Sorry, Lil.'

Lily shrugged, 'Why pickling?' she repeated to Mary.

'Something about natural health benefits and detoxing,' Mary flicked her hand dismissively, 'Especially beets. All I know is that if anyone ever offers me anything pickled ever again, I'll go absolutely mental. She even did it the muggle way! No offense, Lily,' Mary said quickly before carrying on, 'Wanted to do it truly natural. Our house still reeked this morning!'

'Glad my mum is absolute rubbish at anything domestic,' Dorcas said with a shudder, 'I hate beets.'

'I don't mind them,' Lily said lightly. Dorcas stared at her, 'What? They can be quite nice.'

'You are mental,' Dorcas pointed at Lily, 'Mary might go mental, but - Mary?'

Dorcas had looked over at Mary, but Mary had gone pale and was staring down at the day's copy of the Daily Prophet that Lily had left on the bench. All four girls now looked down at the Prophet and read the headline: LEEDS HIT WIZARD FOUND DEAD IN HOME.

'Sorry,' Lily scrambled up to grab the paper away, as it was clearly distressing Mary.

'No, no, that's alright.' Mary seemed to shake herself slightly. She turned her big blue eyes to meet Lily's, 'Have you read it?'

'No, not yet,' Lily answered sheepishly, looking away. Mary's gaze was quite intense, and quite frankly, a bit unnerving at present.

'Arjun Singh,' Mary said softly, shifting her gaze to the paper in Lily's hands, 'He was the Hit Wizard Squad Leader who was first on the scene after the Death Eater attack in Doncaster. My dad knows him - knew him, I suppose. They worked together in the Investigation Department before Mr Singh went for Hit Wizard training,' she trailed off before adding quietly, 'We went to his daughter's third birthday party last summer.'

Lily shifted uncomfortably in her seat, 'What happened?'

This time, Dorcas answered, 'His wife woke up and found him dead next to her. He was alive when they went to sleep.'

Mary was frozen in her seat, and Marlene hadn't said anything since Mary pointed out the headline. Lily could feel the color draining out of her face, 'But if it was...Death Eaters...then that means…'

'They snuck into his home and killed him while his wife was asleep next to him and his children were just down the corridor.' Marlene said flatly.

'And they really think it was Death Eaters?' Lily said, looking from one girl to the next. All three nodded, 'But...couldn't he have had an aneurysm or something?'

'Lily, his face was frozen in fear when they found him. And the mediwizards who came in with the Aurors said that he was otherwise in excellent health and it was very clearly a Dark curse that killed him,' Marlene fixed her gaze on her best friend.

Lily's mind was racing and she could feel her heart thudding, 'Why, though? Why would Death Eaters and You-Know-Who even care about one Hit Wizard? It's not like he was a huge public figure, was he?'

'No,' Mary replied, 'He was honestly just a good Hit Wizard for the northern division up in Leeds. No one knew who he was until after the story on the Doncaster attack.'

'Well, then, why?' Lily repeated, leaning forward slightly, 'It just makes no sense! Why kill the man who only showed up at the scene?'

'Is You-Know-Who a logical person now? Did I miss that?' Dorcas said sarcastically.

Lily shook her head quickly, 'He's an absolute lunatic, but even lunatics usually have some sort of logical pattern to their actions!'

'Well then why Doncaster?' Dorcas countered, 'Doncaster is nothing special. Not a magical town, no absurdly large population of witches and wizards. Just a normal town, and a normal pub, and normal people, on a normal night. And they died.'

'It's like the IRA,' Mary commented. As her father was in the Investigation Department of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, he knew quite a bit about about happenings in the muggle world as well, as they relatively frequently overlapped with wizarding happenings. 'They do things to scare people, get a reaction. Not because it's logical.'

'Lily, you knew all this...it's not exactly been a secret.' Dorcas looked pointedly at Lily.

'I know...I just...I always thought there had to be some kind of logic behind it all!' Lily deflated a bit, 'Though it would seem that there is, sometimes. Otherwise, why target Mr Singh at all?'

'True,' Dorcas conceded.

'As a warning,' Marlene said in the same flat tone she had used to describe how the mediwizards found Mr Singh and the nature of the crime. 'They weren't finished in Doncaster. They think that some of the Death Eaters were...playing with the muggles based on the patterns of their injuries. They weren't finished and the Hit Wizards, led by Arjun Singh, interrupted them.'

'It was a warning,' Mary repeated in horror, her eyes wide.

'A warning…' Lily muttered, 'Those who interrupt them will suffer the consequences?'

'Exactly.' Marlene looked out the window, her face devoid of any emotion.

The girls sat in a darkly contemplative silence for a short while, but then Lily's mind started whirring. How did Marlene know all that? That certainly couldn't have been all in the article. It sounded too much like inside information of some kind. Lily had been quite good about keeping up with the Prophet over the holidays - she had read every issue from cover to cover, and no where in any of the articles had there been any mention of the theory that some of the Death Eaters played with their victims in some sick way. Yes, there had been mention of the Cruciatus Curse being used, but never had behavioral patterns of Death Eaters been analyzed.

'Marlo,' Lily started, turning slowly to her friend, 'How do you know -'

'Anything from the trolley, dears?'

'God, yes.' Dorcas jumped up and practically bounded over the trolley. Marlene quickly jumped up and joined her and soon both benches of the compartment were covered in sweets. And Lily forgot all about asking Marlene how she knew so much.

Complete distracting nature of chocolate, you know.

After far too long spent gorging themselves on chocolate and other sweets without interruption, all four girls looked up, startled, when there was a soft knock on the open compartment door.

'Remus!' the girls all chorused happily.

'How was your holiday?'

'You're looking well!'

'How're your mates?'

Remus chuckled and awkwardly reached across his body to tug down the left sleeve of his school jumper. Lily caught the glimpse of what looked like several fresh, deep cuts and welts on the back of his hand and forearm before the grey school jumper covered everything but his fingertips.

'Holiday was uneventful. Thanks, but I think you're just being nice - very aware I look like shit - and mates are all fine, thanks,' Remus gave a chagrined grin, 'Had to break away before I saw something that would have compelled me to act in a prefect-ish way.'

'They'd've taken the mickey if you had, your mates,' Dorcas laughed loudly, tossing a chocolate frog at Remus.

Remus tucked the frog into his pocket and agreed with Dorcas before turning to Lily, 'Would you like me to wait for you to change before the meeting, Lily?'

'Bugger!' Lily hopped up off the bench, 'That'd be great, Remus. Much less awkward if both of us are late.'

'Shirking your prefect duties already, Miss Evans,' said Marlene in a terrible impression of Professor McGonagall, 'Ten points from Gryffindor.'

This time, Lily flipped a decidedly unladylike gesture Marlene's way as she closed the compartment door so she could change.

'Such a nice lad, Remus,' Dorcas said mildly, 'Pity he never seems to be interested in any girls.'

'That's not entirely true,' Mary countered, 'He did have a crush on Nancy Daniels back in third year.'

'Everyone had a crush on Nancy Daniels,' Lily said as she buttoned the wrinkly school blouse she had yanked out of her rucksack.

'Because she was bloody gorgeous,' Dorcas observed pointedly, 'And incredibly...non-discriminating when it came to sex.'

'Dorcas!'

Marlene snorted, 'Come off it, Mary, you know she's right. She had already gone through all the boys in her year and house by her seventh year so had no choice but to branch out of Ravenclaw and onto...greener pastures?'

Dorcas snorted with laughter. Mary smiled, 'True. But she really was exceptionally nice.'

'She was,' Marlene acknowledged, 'Doesn't mean she didn't shag half the school by Easter hols.'

The prefects' meeting lasted far longer than it should have. The Head Boy and Girl this year were absolutely ridiculous. Loved to hear themselves talk. Absolute nightmare to be around, really. Truly did not bode well for the school year. If every prefects' meeting was going to be as long as this one, Lily would seriously have to find something to do during the meetings. Perhaps take up knitting. Or needlepoint. As it was, she and Remus had sat at the back of the group and played a stupid muggle finger game Lily had taught him last year in order to pass the time in the duller prefect meetings. Lily tried to catch another glimpse of Remus's left hand and arm, but he kept his sleeve pulled down to his fingers the whole time.

The meeting had lasted the rest of the ride to the Hogsmeade train station, and Cyrus Bevingstoke, the prat who was unfortunately this year's Head Boy, attempted to order the prefects to reconvene in the Entrance Hall before the feast in order to finish up business. Luckily, everyone seemed to mutually agree to pretend they hadn't heard him. Even Agatha Appleby, a seventh year Ravenclaw who was a notorious swot, had complained the whole way up to the castle from the train.

Lily looked up as someone sat down next to her on the Gryffindor table bench.

Marlene grumbled, 'I swear, every single year, getting a carriage from the train to the castle gets harder. Isn't it supposed to get easier? We're older now, don't we get, I dunno, some bloody respect?'

'That would be too hard,' Lily leaned into her hands, 'As it is, I would be happy with just getting some food. Respect can wait an hour.'

Marlene made a noise of agreement and placed her cheek on the table, 'I like to pretend that if I put my ear to the table, I can hear the house-elves putting food on the plates.'

Lily laughed. Dorcas and Mary soon joined, sitting down opposite Marlene and Lily, and various other Gryffindors slowly filled in the remained gaps in the table. Raucous laughter caused Lily to look down to the middle of the table. The Marauders, as James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, liked to call themselves, were shoving each other around and ignoring the bevy of younger girls staring at them longingly.

"Eurgh,' Lily scoffed.

'What?' Marlene asked, following Lily's gaze.

'I don't understand why any girl fancies those...idiots.' Lily rolled her eyes and returned her attention to her friends.

'Because they're absolutely unapologetic about who they are? That sort of confidence is attractive,' Mary said, looking at the boys with the air of an academic who was mildly intrigued by the behavior of the subjects she was studying.

'No,' Dorcas said, leaning around Mary to look down at the Marauders, 'James and Sirius are just very fucking dishy.'

Lily rolled her eyes, 'They certainly would agree with you.'

'I'm actually quite surprised they didn't sit next to us,' Mary looked at Lily, 'James Potter has made an effort to sit at least within shouting distance of you since second year.'

'He ignored me on the platform in London, too,' Lily remarked, glancing down at Potter again, 'It was odd.'

Lily continued to watch the Marauders as they laughed and shoved each other. Not once did Potter so much as look her way. Black; however, caught her staring and shot her a sardonic smile, to which Lily rolled her eyes and resolutely turned back to her friends. At that moment, Professor Dumbledore rose, looking down the centre of the Great Hall to the entrance doors. The doors boomed open, and a steely-faced Professor McGonagall led a group of terrified-looking first years towards the Sorting Hat, which was perched, as always, on a stool before the head table.

'They get smaller and smaller every year, don't they?' Marlene muttered to Lily as McGonagall explained the Sorting to the first years.

Lily made a sound of agreement as the first name - 'Adler, Rachel' - was called and she subsequently joined the Ravenclaw table amid loud cheers.

The Sorting progressed normally, until 'Yates, Haley' was made a Hufflepuff. After the tiny newest member of Hufflepuff house took her seat at her new table, Professor Dumbledore rose.

'Welcome to another year at Hogwarts!' he said with a smile as he looked out at the students over his half-moon spectacles, 'I have several announcements to make, but I am sure that no one could possibly pay attention to the ramblings of an old codger like me until after they have had at least two helpings of Yorkshire pudding,' students chuckled at the truth of his words, 'Therefore, I will not trouble you until after our meal. Let the feast begin!'

At his words, the best moment of the whole term occurred, as the tables suddenly became laden with all sorts of delicious foods.

'Ah, bless,' Dorcas said, wiping an imaginary tear from her eye, before taking an absurdly large helping of shepherd's pie. Lily laughed and started filling her own plate. She didn't glance towards Potter at all during the meal.

Well, maybe a few times. But only because she was making sure that he was no where near her so she could eat without fear of her mashed potatoes suddenly ending up in her hair.

Once the entire student body had stuffed themselves to bursting, Professor Dumbledore rose again, calling attention in that effortless way of his.

'Welcome back, students, to another year at Hogwarts. As I said, I have a few announcements to make before you all head off to your dormitories to prepare for classes tomorrow.

'First, allow me to introduce you to our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Oschmann!' Dumbledore gestured to a rangy, middle-aged man with a crop of wild greying hair, who nodded perfunctorily upon being recognized, 'Alas, Professor Oschmann will only be with us for this year as he takes a short break from his research to reside and teach with us. I am sure we will all learn much from Professor Oschmann; I ask that you all be as welcoming as possible.

'Mr Filch has asked me to inform you that an updated list of banned items is posted outside his office and on the message board in the back of the Great Hall. He would especially like to remind all students that Fanged Frisbees have been prohibited for years.' Professor Dumbledore smiled down at them, and Lily couldn't help but notice that his gaze lingered slightly longer on the center of the Gryffindor table.

'For our first years - and several older students - the Forbidden Forest is, quite simply, just that. Forbidden.

'And lastly, you will all notice that there are some changes in our student body. Prefects, we ask that you take down a list of students who have not returned to us this term and give it to your head of house by Friday morning.'

Lily shifted and looked up and down the Gryffindor table as murmurs broke out throughout the Great Hall. Who wasn't here? Why weren't they here?

'What do you suppose he means?' Lily asked Marlene.

Marlene gave a slight frown, 'Maybe more parents withdrew their children? Remember Marcia Grimes and her brother left after Christmas? And then Sophie Harward quite randomly in February? And Louis Rhys after Easter?'

Lily didn't have a chance to reply, as Dumbledore's voice boomed through the hall, 'That is all; I wish you all a good night!'

Lily was thrilled to bits when the fifth year prefects stood up to lead the first years to the common room. There were some definite perks to no longer being the lowest-ranking prefect. Getting to go straight to the dormitory and not having to lead wide-eyed eleven-year-olds on a brief tour of the castle was definitely nice. At the moment, absolutely nothing sounded more delicious than a hot shower and her cosy bed.

'What I wouldn't give to be in bed right now,' Marlene said sleepily, 'It's utter shit that we can't Apparate in the castle.'

'Because you could if it was allowed,' Lily replied sarcastically, 'Given your non-existent license.'

'Fuck off.'

Lily laughed and the two girls joined the throngs of people streaming out of the Great Hall. Once everyone was clear of the Great Hall, the crowd thinned as Hufflepuffs turned a corner to head towards their dormitories, Slytherins headed down the large staircase to the dungeons, and Ravenclaws and Gryffindors began heading upstairs, splitting off into different directions after the second floor to make their ways to their respective towers.

Dorcas and Mary were already sitting on their beds in the Gryffindor girls' dormitory when Marlene and Lily entered, as were Janet Burns and Cilla Penkwith (two of the biggest tarts alive, in Lily's humble opinion). But there was one open bed. What was odder, there was no trunk at the foot of the bed.

'Who's missing?' Marlene frowned, clearly having noticed the same thing Lily had.

'Phoebe,' Janet said sadly.

'What?' Lily said in disbelief, dread creeping in, 'Where is she?'

Cilla turned from where she was sitting on Janet's bed and looked at Phoebe's empty bed, 'Her parents wouldn't let her come back. Or her little sister.'

Lily felt herself relax when she heard that Phoebe hadn't been one of the unnamed witches who had been hurt or killed in an attack that summer.

'Why?' Marlene asked, shocked.

Cilla tossed her perfectly feathered brown hair over her shoulder, 'They're worried. With all the attacks and stuff, and the Death Eaters or whatever getting really quite bold, her dad especially didn't feel like she and Calliope would be safe at school.'

'I think that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard,' said Dorcas loudly, 'Given that Dumbledore is here, and You-Know-Who is out there.'

Cilla shrugged and Janet mimicked the motion, 'She was really upset,' Janet twisted one of her long, dark plaits around her finger, 'But I mean, her parents think it's best? I dunno.'

No one said anything else, but the spectre of Phoebe Badgely's empty bed seem to loom over everyone. The girls awkwardly gave it a wide berth as they walked past to the showers. It was as if all the horrid headlines from the summer had made their way into the dormitory. The result was a worse haunting than any ghost could ever be. Lily couldn't help but stare at the empty bed as she put on her pyjamas. Phoebe was a pureblood, and her parents were incredibly neutral about the war going on. That Phoebe Badgely of all people had left just felt absolutely absurd.

When Lily finally went to sleep, she pulled the curtain just on the side of her bed that faced Phoebe's. Even though she knew she should really be sleeping, as classes started tomorrow, and she really did not want to start the year seriously contemplating taking a nap in Arithmancy, her brain would simply not shut off. Had anyone else left? Would others leave during the year? How many would be left by the end of seventh year?

And, more ominously, how many had leave or would leave not for their safety...but to join the ranks of the people who made headlines? And how many would leave not by choice, but because they were the other side of those headlines?

Lily shuddered at the thought before finally falling asleep.