Lily opened her eyes to find herself laying in a bed in the hospital wing. She saw she was alone in the room. Madam Pomfrey walked in.
"So Lily I see you're awake," she said curtly.
"What happened?" Lily asked.
"You, your brother and his friends were knocked out by gas in the passage under the Whomping Willow," she said. "You were smart to get them out. They would've never waken if they had been left there for much longer," she said grimly.
"How did we get here, are they okay?" Lily asked.
"Your friends and cousins found you. They woke up before you did, it's been a day in case you're wondering," Pomfrey informed.
"But what caused that gas to be in the passageway?" Lily asked.
Pomfrey frowned.
"You'll have to ask the Headmistress, she summoned you to her office when you're feeling better," Pomfrey finished.
Lily sighed. If it wasn't enough getting knocked out by the Whomping Willow she was getting in trouble with the Headmistress. Plus the school year had just started. She figured this is what it felt like to be James. Seconds later her two friends Jane and Seth came in.
"Lily, you're all right!" Seth said.
"Yeah, but I do feel a bit sore though," Lily said.
Jane came over and hugged her.
"What's the big deal?" she asked.
"Well when we found you, you all looked bad but you looked… dead," said Seth.
"Well I kind of wish I was so I don't have to face the Headmistress," she said. "Did you all get called down too?" she asked.
"Yeah we already went down. She gave us all a detention and took twenty points from our houses," said Jane.
"Except James got it worse for organizing the whole thing," he said. "That Sinistra can really yell," he commented.
Lily put her head back down thoroughly not looking forward to her meeting with the Headmistress.
A few days later she walked up to a stone staircase leading to the Headmistress's quarters. A stone gargoyle stood in the way.
"The Battle of Hogwarts," Jane said to it.
The gargoyle moved aside. Lily took a tentative step forward.
"Good luck," Jane said.
Lily walked up the remaining stairs to the office. She walked into the large office and saw no one there. The office was barely lit. In stark contrast to Professor Butler's office everything was neatly organized. There were shelves of books that could rival the library's collection. Sinistra's desk had papers stacked neatly on it. In a back corner Lily saw a stone basin with misty liquid in it. She was about to find out where Sinistra was when she heard voices from the next room.
"I know that you were making Sleeping Potion with your second years Viktor," came the cold voice of Sinistra.
"But you know I vould nev-," started the thick, accented voice of Lily's potion professor.
"I know you wouldn't but a student could have broken into your reserves," said Sinistra.
"I keep vy potions locked avay safely," he said. "Besides the only thing that could have poisoned the Vomping Villow is the Draught of Living Death and I haven't started teaching it," he finished.
The tone of their voices started to lower and Lily strained to hear, wishing she had Extendable Ears. Then a voice came from behind her.
"Eavesdropping Potter?" came a slick, snobbish voice.
Lily looked around to see where the source of the sound had come from.
"It's alright Severus, it's only natural to be curious," came a older, gentler voice.
Now Lily found the source of the voices. She saw that the voices came from the portraits of the Headmasters. She saw the two that had talked were near the end. She walked up to see that they were "Albus Dumbledore" and "Severus Snape." She jumped in excitement.
"Albus Dumbledore, and Severus Snape," she said exuberantly. "I can't believe I'm meeting you, my dad has told me so much about you," she said.
"I'm surprised," said Snape. "Your brother has been here many times and has never once mentioned it," he finished.
"Well that's just how James is," said Lily.
She thought she heard Snape mumble something like "Just like his grandfather"
"He even named my other brother after you both," she said.
"Did you here that Severus," Dumbledore said to him.
Snape didn't respond but looked a bit more compassionate. Dumbledore kept the conversation going.
"I've heard much about you Miss Potter," Dumbledore said. "Defeating a Death Eater last year and before that being sorted away from you family into Hufflepuff," he said. "You have overcome much."
"I'm just glad that someone won the Quidditch Cup for Hufflepuff," came another voice.
Lily looked over away from the Headmasters and saw a portrait of a handsome young boy. He couldn't have been more than seventeen. But what intrigued her more was the engraving under his name that read "A Hufflepuff and a hero."
"Who are you?" she asked.
"Cedric Diggory, nice to meet you," he said.
"If you're a hero," Lily wondered aloud. "Why isn't your portrait in the Hufflepuff basement?" she asked.
"I asked not to be. I didn't want that engraving either," he said.
"Well I'm glad you got it," said Dumbledore. "You were a great wizard. A Quidditch captain, a Triwizard champion, a great duelist and a loyal friend," he said.
"Not anymore than anyone else," said Cedric.
"Your modesty betrays you, I was almost getting to your greatest accomplishment in standing up to a servant of Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore said.
"I didn't even know who he was," Cedric protested. "I didn't even fire a spell before he killed me," he said.
"You were in a graveyard and a shadowy figure threatened Lily's father but your instinct was to fight him and not to run back to the Portkey. That is what makes you a hero Cedric," Dumbledore finished.
Just then Lily remembered something. It had been when she felt bad about being sorted into Hufflepuff her first year, her father had sent her a letter. She remembered his words.
One of the bravest people I ever knew was a Hufflepuff. He must have been referring to Diggory. Lily's thoughts were interrupted by the door behind her opening and Sinistra and Krum coming out.
"Thank you for your time Viktor, you are dismissed," Sinistra said in her monotone voice.
"You are most velcome Aurora," Krum said before exiting.
Sinistra put her cane on her desk and sat down before speaking again.
"So Ms. Potter, I assume you know why you're here," she said.
"Yes," Lily responded.
"Then why don't you tell me," she said.
Lily began to speak. She started from the beginning and getting the note from her brother and told Sinistra the whole story, to when she passed out. Sinistra facial expression didn't change the entire time and she stayed silent throughout.
"Your story matches up with your compatriots, so I am grateful you were truthful," she started.
Lily gulped.
"You broke many school rules when you carried out your practical joke, but you did show extreme bravery in helping your friends out," she said.
Lily held her breath.
"As a result I will give no punishment nor a reward," Sinistra finished.
Lily breathed a sigh of relief. This was the best result she could have hoped for. She stood still for a moment.
"You are dismissed," Sinistra said curtly.
"But Headmistress, I have a question," she said.
"Then ask," said Sinistra.
"Why was that gas coming from under the Whomping Willow?" she asked.
A look of thought came across Sinistra's face as if she was wondering how much she should tell.
"Someone poisoned the Whomping Willow," she said. "But they used large amounts of the Draught of Living Death and knew precisely how much to use to have the passageway poisoned without the tree dying," she said.
"I don't understand," Lily inquired.
"This was no student prank Ms. Potter, someone meant to harm students," said Sinistra. "I shall be contacting the Ministry about it," she finished.
"All right," Lily said before leaving.
Thoughts were spinning through her head. Why was someone trying to hurt students at Hogwarts? What was their motivation? And did it have anything to do with the voices she had heard in Diagon Alley? As she walked to the stairs she heard Snape's voice again from the portraits.
"You look so much like your grandmother," he said. "I hope you can be as great a person as she was," he finished
Lily just nodded, turned and walked down the stairs. One thing was certain. It was time to tell her friends what she had heard in Diagon Alley.
A/N: So I know not a lot happened in that chapter but I like to keep my chapters short so I saved more events for later. I promise there will be more action in the next few chapters. Anyway what do you think of the story so far? Thanks for reading and please R&R!
