I appologize for yet another short chapter, but again, as always, this one has great significance. It would not be worth writing if it did not serve some purpose. Thank you to my reviewers.

Wytil: The angstyis supposed to show that Harry hasn't quite been able toheal from the past. He is not really good at forgiving and forgetting, if you can remember from book 5 (OotP). I can jsut promise that he will improve considerably later on.

SatoriSama: You know, I might be in need of a good dictionary. Do you know where the court of law can get me one? And will it be free? See, I'm kinda broke...lol. Glad you liked it and don't forget to review.

Clove: I hope that you have gone back and read my first one. It might help quite a bit in the understanding of thsi fic. That goes for everyone, I suppose.


"I just know that Daddy got me something absolutely wonderful for my birthday!" Lily said animatedly as she followed the Gryffindor crowd up to their common room.

"Maybe he got you those new invisibility mints at Weasley Wizards Wheezes," said Lily's closest friend, Edwina Hosely. "They cost a fortune, but it would be so fun to own a couple!" The small girl's brown eyes were alight with excitement.

Lily nodded absently, thinking of her father's indivisibility cloak, upstairs under her bed. "Maybe…that would be nice. Whatever it is, it is going to be really special. Its not every day you turn 13."

Edwina giggled, her curly, dirty blonde hair bouncing. "Its so great to be back. I couldn't stop thinking about school all summer," she said as they entered the Gryffindor common room.

Lily nodded again, a smile on her face. Eagerly the two girls climbed up the stairs to their dormitory. They were joined shortly by their three other roommates: Traci Roderick, Wren Wood, and Inez Pollock.

"...It was terrible, I felt so sorry for him," Wren murmured as she entered the room.

Lily, in the process of pasting up a poster of Myron Wagtail, turned to Wren, a slight frown on her face. "Felt sorry for who?" she asked.

"The Slytherins are at it already," Traci replied hysterically. "They beat up on this poor little first year. He's a Gryffindor too! You should have seen some of the prefects react."

"Favian Wickham," Inez sighed. It was a well-known fact that Inez had a thing for the prefect.

Wren rolled her eyes. "It was Adrian Malfoy again. McGonagall got pretty mad, and the first year isn't looking too good."

"What reason did Adrian have to beat the poor kid up?" Lily asked, looking disgusted.

Wren shrugged. "Something about his dad…" she said. "They might have been old enemies or something."

"But isn't Adrian's dad dead?" Lily asked. "He got killed because he was a Death Eater, right?"

Four pairs of eyes turned to stare at Lily. Edwina, who had been listening intently the whole conversation, coughed.

"How did you know that?" Traci asked.

"Well…" Lily's voice faltered off. She didn't like to talk about her dad's job.

"Duh," said Wren. "Her dad is Harry Potter for Merlin's sake!"

Lily's face turned red. Here it was once more, the "Boy Who Lived and Man Who Saved Wizard Kind" trick.

Edwina coughed again.

Lily plopped down on her bed, muttered mildly that she didn't want to talk about it. She sighed as she thought about the upcoming year. Here was her chance to prove that she was just as good at her father. She would join the Quidditch team, become the best player Gryffindor had ever know, lead them to school victory, and save the world from some problem of another…

"He did have the cutest red hair."

Lily sat up, an image of red hair flashing through her mind. "Red hair?"

"Yeah, the first year Adrian smothered had red hair," Traci said. "And a really funny last name. Some type of rodent…"

"Weasley?" Lily asked quietly.

Traci snapped her fingers. "Weasley! That's it!"

Lily lay back on the four-poster bed again, thinking. That boy—Ronny?—was the son of that friend of her father. And if the boy's father had been an old enemy of the Malfoys…

Lily shook her head, exhausted from the night's activities. She closed her eyes, and, listening to the soft chatter of her roommates, drifted off to sleep and a night full of dreams.

A voice sang in the distance, a long forgotten lullaby, it's melody enchanting, warm, and soothing, clear as crystal…

O, look at the moon!
She is shining up there;
O mother, she looks
Like a lamp in the air.
Last week she was smaller,
And shaped like a bow;
But now she's grown bigger,
And round as an O.
Pretty moon, pretty moon,
How you shine on the door,
And make it all bright
On my nursery floor!
And there is a star
Close by you, and maybe
That small twinkling star
Is your little baby.

The music changes, not the lilting voice any longer. It is replaced by a cold beyond cold, a cold never felt by human flesh, but by human hearts. Ice chipped eyes appear out of the foreboding darkness. The eyes are fierce and leering, laughing in the face of evil and thirsty for a vengeance all its own. These eyes have been hurt, but have come back with a power so great that it can crush the lives of countless people…crippling the hearts of their children forever.

Lily awoke, her face covered in icy sweat. Panting, she stared into the darkness before, overcome with dizziness, she fell back upon her pillow.

Harry,

I must admit that your letter came an enormous surprise to me. I too can say that your appearance at Diagon Alley has send my mind spinning with things long past. I think you understand very much how this is. However, I feel as though you come to me as an outlet for you pains and I do not think I can handle that pressure. Please do not contact me in such a way again. Do me the favor of letting me heal in my own ways. I can assure you,
Harry, that you are not that way.

Sincerely,
Hermione


REVIEWS REVIEWS REVIEWS!!! A happy author is a good next chapter, I always say. Or, I just made up on the spot. Yeah, yeah, whatever.

Coming up next chapter: National trageties and broken relationships. And two VERY annoying, evil twins. Hehe.