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Chapter 9

It was with a heavy heart that Lily Evans woke up to her first day of school. Mondays were never easy but with all the hard work she had ahead of her opening her eyes was extra difficult. It didn't help that there was no way she was sleeping past the break of dawn after her intensive training programme during the summer. Eventually she sat up on the edge of her bed and listen to her dorm mates low snoring.

Pushing back the curtains she heaved a massive sigh at the conclusion of her restless sleep.

"Lily?" she heard one of the girls from behind her whisper. She turned but she had already known it was Dorcas. She was the only one that had a reason to be kept awake. Dorcas slept in the bed right next to Lily without her curtains drawn. It occurred to her then that none of the other girls ever drew their curtains at night time.

"Dorcas," Lily greeted with a small smile.

"It's early," Dorcas stated peering at the wooden clock every dorm room was assigned.

"So it is," Lily replied pulling her work out clothes from her trunk. She smiled weakly when she noticed how meticulously Hermione had packed her trunk. A pang of loneliness flew through her so hard that she slowed her rushed pace. Dorcas sighed and turned away from Lily getting frustrated with the dead end conversation. Lily rolled her eyes as guilt slowly took over. 'All I know is that if you really wanted to you could find some common ground,' she heard Ron's voice whisper in her mind. Before she could second guess herself she threw a warm jumper at the girl.

"Come for a walk, it's better than stewing in your own thoughts," Lily whispered at the girl's still form. Lily thought for a minute that she would remain stubbornly turned away but slowly her petite arm reached out from under the covers and pulled on Lily's warm muggle jumper. Lily knew that it would have taken ages for the pureblood to dress in the standard wizardry robes but she was still shocked to see the girl willingly dress in muggle attire.

"It's soft," Dorcas said as she rose. Her purple silk pyjama bottoms had her looking a little contradictory but Lily could tell she didn't care. Saying nothing Lily reached for the door out of the dormitory and motioned for the other girl to lead the way.

"Won't we get in trouble wondering around the castle at this hour," Dorcas asked as they made their way down the stairs.

"I don't think it's technically against the rules to get up early," Lily said gently, surprising the other girl.

The pair stuck to silence for a few minutes as they wandered aimlessly around the castle. They walked at a sedated pace that seemed to comfort the two of them until eventually as if deciding in unison they dropped into a seat in one of the balconies near Ravenclaw tower. It was a little chillier than inside the castle but most of the wind was blocked by a tall wall to their backs. The view of the grounds was astounding however and totally worth a shiver or two. Lily thought she could almost see Hogsmeade from their position.

"I'm not ready for this year to start," Dorcas said with a sigh. Her body seemed to sag in on itself at the declaration. Lily guessed she'd been holding that little fact in from everyone for quite some time.

"Neither am I," Lily said quietly. "But that's not for us to decide. The year and all its trouble will come whether we're ready or not," she continued as she looked out on the beautiful horizon instead of meeting the girls eyes. Some time passed in silence and Lily was sure that Dorcas was finished talking.

"I'm scared," Dorcas said abruptly and to Lily's surprise she could hear tears in the girl's voice. Without thinking she reached out and held her hand that was gripping the bench for dear life.

"So am I," Lily replied finally meeting her eyes. Dorcas began to sob uncontrollably but Lily couldn't move. She wasn't used to people trusting their emotions with her so much. She kept her hand in place and waited for Dorcas to halt her gut wrenching cries. Something awful twisted inside of Lily at the sounds. Devastation was not a pretty thing to hear. The sun had completely risen before Dorcas quietened down and Lily released her hand hesitantly before standing swiftly.

"Come on we'll be late for class if we don't hurry," Lily said hastily, not meeting her eyes. To her surprise Dorcas almost seemed appreciative of the red head ignoring her unprecedented break down.

"Yeah Lily Evans could never be late," Dorcas said with a weak smile that relieved the girl in question.

"Merlin forbid," Lily said with a grin that transformed her face. The two walked slowly back to the Gryffindor common room at a demure speed, each feeling a surprising amount lighter then when they woke up that day.

"Those robes are almost swallowing you Evans," Dorcas commented while pointing towards the outer robes that Lily had grabbed on the way out of their dormitories to throw over her muggle t-shirt. Lily eyed the robes in question mistrustfully and belatedly felt a little wiggle in the right hand pocket.

"They're Blacks, he threw them over me when we were on the way up to the castle," she replied. She sighed knowing she'd have to deliver the baby niffler to Sirius before classes started that day. Merlin only knew what he had planned with the poor creature. Dorcas raised one elegant eyebrow in curiosity.

"Odd, Black's not usually so friendly. Ask Marlene, she's only been trying to get on his good side for the last five years," Dorcas explained with a smug smirk in the other girl's direction. Lily couldn't help the snort that escaped her.

"Believe me getting on Black's good side was not my intention," she replied with a roll of her eyes. They woke the irritable fat lady with the password and climbed into the empty common room.

"I better return these," Lily said in a resigned tone gesturing to the robes.

"Have fun," Dorcas said with a playful wink that didn't manage to outshine her tear stained cheeks. Lily flashed her a small smile before turning and making her way up the boy's staircase. She hesitated outside the door but then shook herself for her silliness. These were the Marauders after all. Of course they wouldn't be up this early on a Monday morning. Shaking her head she opened up the heavy door slowly and cringed every time it made even the smallest of sounds.

She'd never even stepped one foot into the boy's dorm in all her time in Hogwarts. The rest of the girls of course had done a bit more than stepping in, if the rumours that floated around were true that is. It had never really bothered Lily that she hadn't been involved in all their games of 'Truth or Dare' or Quidditch celebrations. She'd never have been comfortable there anyway. They all knew each other from way before they were eleven. They shared stories about their families and their wizardry lives. With Marlene especially trying to exclude Lily she'd just not bothered. It had never mattered anyway she'd always had Grace. Flinching Lily shook that particular thought from her head. She was nowhere near ready to reminisce about her old friend.

Creeping over the creaky floor boards she noticed all the boys had their curtains open. Pausing briefly she spotted James Potter sprawled over his sheets in a pair of black boxers. His toned chest and muscular legs were bare and froze Lily where she stood. It wasn't the fact that Potter looked like a majestic rugby player that had her so shook. It was that he looked like a man, not a boy. She felt her breath hitch as panic swept through her. When had they all grown up?

"Getting an eyeful Evans?" Black called from behind her. She whipped around so fast her neck cricked loudly. She'd been so preoccupied with thoughts of her future husband that she'd not noticed the dark haired boy sitting up in his bed behind her. She was too shocked to even feel embarrassed at being caught in her trance. She pressed her hand to her chest feeling the hard piercing in her lungs that still hadn't fully recovered from her recue of Matthew Meadows.

"Evans?" Sirius repeated when it took Lily a bit longer to respond. She struggled to take in a deep breath and wheezed before lifting both hands to her chest. Black flew out of bed and to her side in one fluid movement. Lily waved a hand in front of her to distance herself from him but he pushed it aside and stepped right in front of her as if to assess if there was anything overtly physical wrong with her.

"Prongs," Sirius called loudly. Lily shook her head harshly as the dark eyed boy woke his friend. Couldn't he tell she just needed a minute?

"Lily?" Potter said in a sleepy daze as his hazel eyes slowly opened to look at her. Within a few seconds he had shaken away the drowsiness and was stood beside Sirius.

"It's fine," Lily said when she finally regained enough breath. Placing both her hands on her knees she took a few deep breaths and finally looked into the two boy's worried faces. "You just startled me," she added with more life in her voice. Her cheeks were red by now from the lack of oxygen coupled with the embarrassment at her own weakness.

"Yeah every time I get a fright I normally can't breath for a solid minute," Potter said with sarcasm lacing his voice.

"I just came to return the robes," Lily continued trying to pretend the last few minutes hadn't happened. She whipped the expensive winter robes off quickly but was careful not to hurt the little niffler. "I completely forgot about them last night and I didn't want the thing to starve," she clarified hesitantly. Before either boy could respond she turned and headed for the door as fast as she could with her head swimming as nastily as it was. A big hand closed around her upper arm firmly halting her progress.

"What in Merlin's name is that?" Potter asked with anger clear in his voice. Lily automatically tried to yank her arm free but only managed to stumble into Potter's bare chest. Blushing furiously she pushed herself away from the boy.

"What the fuck Potter? Let me go," Lily screeched in outrage. She didn't want to draw her wand to deal with the obnoxious boy so she pulled harder on his grip but he held her tight and drew her closer to him.

"Prongs," she heard Remus warn from behind them, his voice didn't hold one ounce of sleepiness.

"You're not the only one who can read Latin you know Evans," Potter said with a dangerous edge in his voice that shook Lily. She'd never heard him sound anything but playful. It took her a few seconds to process what he had just said and even longer to connect his words to the tattoo her light exercise t-shirt displayed clearly.

"Oh fuck off Potter," she hissed. Finally she freed her arm from his firm grip and stumbled backwards a few steps. She wasn't stupid enough to think he hadn't loosed his grasp but being free empowered her. "Where do you get off manhandling me like that?" She shrieked angrily.

"Those words are disgusting," James responded just as passionately. His hazel eyes seemed to glow with vexation. She rolled her eyes at his antics.

"You know sooner or later you're gonna have to realise that there are shades of grey in this world Potter," Lily spat furiously. James shook his head in exasperation.

"Everything with you always comes back to Snape doesn't it? What's he going to have to do? Murder your family before you realise he's dark? You think I'm blind but..." James ranted but was cut short. An uncomfortable silence descended on the room and it took Lily a few minutes to register the pain in the palm of her hand. Looking down she noticed it was a fiery red. James's cheek matched it almost exactly in colour.

For the last five years of her education at Hogwarts she'd spoken only a few sentences to the boys that surrounded her and on her first day in sixth year she was already slapping them. She tore her gaze away from James's glowing cheek and shook her head furiously. This was not laying low. Harry would be so disappointed.

"I just wanted to return the cloak," she said weakly now that all the anger had escaped her. "Just please leave me alone," she whispered defiantly before turning and bolting from the room and all the accusing stares.

She hurried all way to her own dorms where by then all the girls were mulling around preparing for the impending school day.

"Lily?" Dorcas asked as she took in Lily's red face. "Everything okay?" She asked carefully.

"Potter," she explained in one word.

"I don't know how you manage to rile up the most level headed boy in the school," Alice said with a laugh as she pulled on her beautiful dragon hide school shoes. Lily smiled weakly and changed quickly into her uniform. The second she had everything together she rushed from the room intent on getting her schedule before any of the Marauders could mock her and tell all of her dorm mates how she was a crazy muggleborn.

...

"Well that was unexpected," Sirius said to the group of his old friends. They were all sitting on their own beds half dressed in their uniforms.

"Why did she even come up here?" Remus asked bluntly.

"Niffler in my pocket," Sirius replied easily and paused before shaking his head at just how euphemistic it had sounded. Turning to the man he considered his brother he smirked. "What did the tattoo even say to get your panties in such a twist?" He asked in a teasing tone. James threw him a dark look but replied none the less.

"Sanguinem ex Luto," James said bitterly. Somehow he managed to give the dead language a rhythm of its own. Sirius let out a low whistle recognising the words straight away.

"Girls got some kind of death wish," Sirius said with a shake of his head. "Mudblood," he explained at Remus and Peter's confused stares. It wasn't all purebloods that got to study the redundant language.

"She was acting so weird yesterday. I can't believe that she handed in her prefect badge. I'll probably have to do rounds with Marlene now," Remus shuddered comically at the thought.

"Merlin forbid," Peter contributed sleepily.

"We'll have to keep an eye on her or Mulciber will catch her one of these days," James said trying his best to look blasé.

"I don't think Snape would allow that," Remus said addressing the elephant in the room.

"I don't understand why she hangs out with him so much," Peter said shaking his head, his loose curls ruffled messily.

"She didn't exactly get a warm reception from him on the train," Sirius countered.

"She didn't give one either," James added.

"Who knew they were neighbours?" Remus added as he tried to pull on his shoes.

"All I know is that she has a wicked swing," Sirius said with a grin in his friend's direction. James gingerly rubbed his raw cheek with a grimace. "Maybe you shouldn't have grabbed her mate," Sirius added with little sympathy.

"Why would she want that written on her skin?" James asked in disbelief.

"I imagine it might be nice to own the word completely. It can't really hurt you then," Remus responded keeping his eyes averted from the other boys. They had never been a group for deep emotional revelations.

"It's just not how Lily Evans works," James said in confusion.

"Mate we hardly know the girl. She flat out refuses to hang out with us and never talks about her life outside of Hogwarts. Evans could be Merlin's wife and we'd be none the wiser," Peter said bluntly. An awkward silence descended on the legendary Marauders as they each realised how little they'd all tried to get to know the stern prefect.

"We should try to talk more to her this year. It must get lonely," Remus said breaking the pregnant pause.

"I don't know about talking to her but we'll definitely have to watch out for her," James said diligently. "She only seems to talk to Sirius or you without losing her temper," James said nodding towards Remus.

"I just know a little about muggles," Sirius said denying any connection to the austere girl, even if she had been capturing his interests.

"Shove off Padfoot it was you who said to wait around for her at the train," James replied with a hint of something that Sirius couldn't quite discern in his voice. If he was a guessing man though he'd wager it was jealousy. He rolled his eyes at his friends' antics.

"Who do you think we'll have for DADA?" Remus asked, perhaps sensing the tension.

"Dad said it's supposed to be some young Auror," James said as he gathered his books for the day ahead.

"Should be interesting then," Peter said as he made his way towards the door. "You all ready for another year then?" He asked with a small smirk.

"Born ready," Sirius declared with a cocky grin before side stepping Peter and shoving the door open with one big swing.

...

Lily headed to her first class of Transfiguration with her head down. She had vowed to herself over a rushed slice of toast to keep her mouth firmly shut for the next few weeks. She couldn't afford to draw any more attention to herself from her dorm mates. Her strict plans didn't have time for those kinds of distractions. When she arrived at the class she wasn't surprised to find the room empty except for the illustrious Professor.

"Miss Evans," McGonagall greeted with a tight lipped smile. Lily smiled widely in return. She'd always had a massive respect for the kind woman. She took a seat near the back of the classroom and started to withdraw her heavy text book with a tired sigh.

"I was sorry to hear that you handed in your prefect badge," McGonagall said breaking the silence that had descended on the room. "I hope that was not a hasty decision," she continued.

"It wasn't," she replied firmly before opening her book and beginning to read over last year's work halting any future conversation that could have grown. Slowly people started to trickle into the bright room and Lily was delighted when some Hufflepuff dropped into the seat beside her heavily. The incident with the Marauders was slowly slipping from her mind and she could feel herself calm. The class was boring but in its monotony a comfort stirred in Lily's heart, one that empowered her to start her quest.

The second the class came to an end Lily jumped from her seat and made a beeline for the seventh floor. She paused in front of bland piece of wall before pacing three times in front of it. She wasn't surprised when the giant doors appeared. She had trusted Harry after all. All the same she touched the patterns on the wood in awe.

Eventually she found herself sat in front of the giant vanishing cabinet sketching all the different runes that were engraved into its beautiful body. Draco had regretfully told her that each vanishing cabinet was unique, even from its own sister. She'd have to draw out each ruin and decode it with the big reference text that was in the library before she could diagnose the slight issue with some placement or something. While this was a challenging project for Draco when he had been in school (and had studied Runes for a year at Hogwarts and Merlin knows how long in private tutoring) it was a near impossible task for Lily who had never looked too deeply into the subject.

The most Draco could do was narrow the problem down to one half of the elegant cabinet. It had been too long ago for him to remember the exact issue with the runic placements and he'd even admitted to her that it had been little more than one of many guesses that he had never pledged to memory. Lily sat in the room of requirement throughout her double DADA class. She knew it might have been unwise to miss the first class of the year with a new teacher but she couldn't manage to drag herself away from the project.

She soon lost track of time and only her rumbling stomach saved her from missing her very first meeting with the legendary Order of the Phoenix. She hurried to the Headmasters office and murmured the password to the gargoyle. Slipping into the spacious office she went unseen by most of the occupants. It was nearer to eight o'clock then she'd like so the room was full of people. Lily tried her best to scan the room but noticed no faces that stood out in the crowd. Until her eyes fell on a familiar man in Auror robes. Frank Longbottom was as handsome as she remembered him.

"Miss Evans?" McGonagall asked in surprise when her eyes fell on the red head.

"Professor," Lily greeted with a nod.

"The Headmaster is busy," the austere woman said hurriedly as she gestured for Lily towards the door.

"I'm well aware of that Professor. I was invited," she replied keeping her voice low so as not to draw attention to herself. McGonagall looked flustered for the first time in all the years that Lily had known her. Not even when Sirius had sent a dozen nymphs to serenade her on Valentine's Day had she blushed.

"Really?" Professor McGonagall asked in disbelief.

"Of course," Lily answered confidently.

Dumbledore stood and waved his hands to get the attention of the large crowd that decorated his office. McGonagall tore her gaze from the young redhead and stared at the authoritative man.

"Good evening, I know we have a few new members tonight. I would encourage you to become acquainted with one another," he began solemnly. "Over the past year we've seen an escalation in crime towards muggleborn citizens in our small community...," and so Dumbledore continued to discuss how unjust the world was. He mentioned how now pureblood families were being targeted for not siding with the Dark Lord and urged everyone to be careful. Over all it seemed like a very blasé introduction to a secret order for Lily. She could almost picture the order members being replaced by students and this being the welcome back speech at a feast.

Then suddenly a gruff man stood beside the Headmaster. It was easy for Lily to guess his identity. After all, how difficult was it when your nickname described one of your most startling attributes?

"We've received some information that the Dark Lord's forces are planning to attack a specific location. We'll need to set up a shift to monitor the area and hopefully catch then unawares," Mad-Eye spoke brusquely. "If we manage to deliver the men and they have the dark mark no amount of corruption in my department when let the ministry dismiss the matter," he continued on at the questioning stares of the occupants of the office.

"Split up into groups of four please. These people will be your team on this project," Dumbledore ordered with a small weary smile. It was then that Lily noticed just how tired her headmaster looked that night. The usual gleam was missing from his striking blue eyes. She looked around apprehensively at the people in the room. She seriously doubted anyone here would want to partner with a Hogwarts student.

"Red?" She heard from behind her and for a brief second she thought Draco was in the room. She twisted around to stare at the man trying to command her attention.

"Matthew?" She asked in shock. He nodded minutely at her with a small brash smile that she had only ever seen Slytherins pull off.

"Need a partner? I'm new here and something tells me you'd make a very interesting friend," Matthew eluded. Lily paled at the sly mention of her friends. She didn't think that Dumbledore would be very kind to her if he knew she had an ulterior motive. She nodded slowly at his suggestion knowing that it was better keep him close rather than wonder what he was saying to another team.

"Lily Evans? Is that you?" Frank asked as he approached with a large smile.

"It's been three months and you're already forgetting me?" Lily asked trying to hide her worry caused by Matthew's appearance with a grin.

"I could never forget you," he countered. He truly was a handsome man with high cheekbones and dreamy brown eyes. It was hard for Lily not to think about the future he had in her son's timeline. To see such a strong confident man reduced to nothing must have been staggering. He'd always watched out for her when he'd been Head Boy and she'd been the only Gryffindor muggleborn prefect.

"Longbottom?" Matthew asked politely.

"Lord Meadows, it's been a long time," Frank confirmed with a handshake. "I was sorry to hear about Hunter," he said briefly not meeting the older man's eyes. Lily vaguely recollected Frank and Hunter being somewhat acquainted. Matthew nodded once acknowledging the Aurors' words. Lily thought it was strange the way they spoke about Hunter Meadows, like he had died. She wondered if this was how everyone would look at her when it came out that Severus was being trained for the Dark Lord's inner circle. She cringed at the thought.

"Well I guess the three of you are stuck with me," Mad-Eye said approaching the trio. Lily sighed not appreciating the addition at all.

"I hardly think Lily should be working on security," Professor McGonagall stated appearing from thin air at Lily's left arm.

"Need I remind you that there are several people in this room that only have their OWLs in defence to support them Minerva," Mad-Eye stated firmly. "If the girl wants to fight she'll probably remember more duelling skills than the majority of the people that have lived in peace for the last twenty years. There's something to be said for growing up in the beginnings of war," he finished confidently. Lily couldn't help warming to the man that stood up for her rights so valiantly.

"There's something to be said for maturity," McGonagall counted with a stern look of disapproval.

"Lily is anything but immature," Frank said with a look of exasperation.

"I would have to agree. Lily is an adult soon and if she wants to contribute we can't control her," the Headmaster said as he approached the group on the outskirts of the people that had decided their groups long ago and were now milling about in conversation. His words effectively silenced the woman. Lily couldn't bring herself to resent McGonagall for her concern and even sent a small smile of regret at her in an attempt to lessen the tension. Some of the cresses in the older woman's forehead eased but her lips were thin and worry gleamed clearly in her eyes.

"I hope you know what you're doing," she said in defeat.

"I do," Lily answered confidently.

See all those reviews had me writing so fast. Please please please please review and I'll write just as speedily on the next chapter.