A/N- Sorry it took so long, I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 9:The Letter.

Disclaimer- I own nothing.

By- GinnyGal.

On a chilly Sunday morning, a few weeks after Lily was realised from the hospital wing, the latter was sitting with her three friends, accompanied by three of the marauders and Frank Longbottom, in the great hall, having breakfast.

The two groups have become very friendly to each other over the weeks that passed, since they have been hanging around together most of the time. The only one that was still wary of the new situation was Peter Pettigrew. He kept to himself most of the time, answering shortly and to the point whenever one of the girls tried to make a conversation with the fourth marauder.

On that morning, Lily and Emily were whispering to each other as usual, it seemed they haven't stoped doing so since the day Lily had left the wing. Alice was h having a chat with Remus, Sirius was talking to James about the new product the pranking shop in hogsmeads, Zonko's had just brought in from Japan, and Peter was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, a single owl flew through one of the large window and landed in the midst of the Gryffindor sixth years. The owl dropped a scarlet letter in front of Lily and took off.

"Uh-oh, it's a Howler. Cover your ears!" Sirius exclaimed.

"It's not a Howler. It's from my mother." Lily whispered, picking up the letter with shaky hands. Slowly, and carefully, she opened the envelope and read to the letter. Lily's face went paler with each word written. When the troubled girl has finally finished, she gave out a choking sob, dropped the paper in her hand on the floor and ran out of the hall.

James tried to pick up the letter, but Alice beat him to it, though James does get a glimpse of what's written in it, and reads it as quick as she can.

"Oh, no." Alice muttered, shaking her head with dismay.

"What do you mean 'Oh, no'? What does the letter say?" Remus enquired.

"She's moving." Alice whispered, tears forming in her eyes.

"Who's Moving? Where to?" Emily asked, concerned.

"Lily is moving to France on Christmas…" Alice blurted out.

"Oh, well, that's not so far away, Lily can still go to Hogwarts, can't she?" Sirius asked. Alice shook her head, the tears now flowing down her cheeks in two small rivers.

"What do you mean? Are they transferring her to Beauxbatons then?" Donna asked.

"No… They're taking her away and I'm never going to see my best friend ever again!" Alice sobbed. She than stood up, grabbed her stuff, and sprinted out of the Great Hall, clenching the letter in her fist.

"I'll go after her." Frank said, got up and left.

"We better go after Lily." Emily said, but as she was getting up, James grabbed her arm, pulling her back down.

"I think she'd prefer to be alone for now." He said. The other six stared at him in confusion, but than let it go.


Lily was not seen for the rest of the day. Alice was sitting next to window, staring out into the gray sky, a small colourful bird of red blue black and purple resting on her shoulder. The little bird looked as grim as its companion, its bright emerald eyes watery.

James didn't act himself either. He walked around and stared into space, ignoring his surroundings.

"I'm worried about them." Emily whispered during dinner. "Whatever it is that makes Alice think she won't see Lily ever again? I'm sure Lily's going to visit once in awhile. And why's James all upset?"

"I don't know about James, but Lily and Alice..." Remus said thoughtful. "Maybe we're missing something? I mean, have you ever wondered why Lily never went to a wizardry school before?"

"How do you know Lily never went to a wizardry school before?" Donna asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Once, last year, when we went to Dumbledore's office, a pile of files fell from his desk. I picked them up, and the top one was a fifth year exam, and at the top of the page, it read LE, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Remus confessed.

"I don't get it. What has that got to do with anything?" Sirius questioned in confusion.

"Why would she have Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry written on her test of she was attending another wizardry school?" Remus rolled his eyes. "I mean, have you ever written Durmstrang on your end of the year exam? And there is no other Le in our year."

"Uhhh… No, I guess." Sirius mumbled and went back to his roasted chicken and mashed potatoes.

"So, what are you saying?" Emily asks.

"I'm saying that something is wrong. How on earth did Alice know Lily was coming to Hogwarts? How and when did they become friends? How come Lily is better the any seventh year student when she never even went to a wizardry school?" Remus breathed out. "Why did she scream like she did when James put that curse on her at the beginning of the year? And what did that letter say to make Alice and Lily so upset? Because I bet my life it has more to it then just Lily moving to France."

"Remus, ol' pal," Sirius clapped Remus on the back. "I lost at 'I'm saying'."

Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius and then turned to James. "What do you say James, wouldn't you like to know the answers to those questions?"

James was staring at the dark ceiling, and did not act as though he heard any of what the people around him were saying. Come to think of it, he didn't appear to even notice they existed.

"James! JAMES!" Sirius wove his hand in front of his best friend's face.

"Ha? Oh, Sirius, sorry, you were saying?" James came out of his trance.

"I was just asking you if you'd like to know the answers those questions." Said Remus.

"Yeah, yeah… of course!" James exclaimed. "Wait, what questions?"

Rolling his eyes, Remus repeated the questions for James, who listening half- heartedly.

"Yeah, I would like to know that…" James mumbled, then getting up and leaving the room, his plate full and untouched.

"Something's wrong with him, really wrong." Donna muttered as Sirius took James's plat and scraped all the food on it onto his.

"ao ah white." Sirius said with his mouth full. After swallowing, he added, "Who would leave such good food, it a waste!"

"You are disgusting!" Emily said, hitting him on the side of the head.

"Ow! That hurt!" Sirius complained, robbing the offended spot.

"Baby…" Emily muttered.

"I am not a baby! I'm a mature man of sixteen, seventeen in two weeks." Sirius huffed.

"Dessert's coming up." Emily said in a sing- song voice.

"Oh, cookies!" Sirius exclaimed, grabbing a handful of chocolate-chip cookies And stuffing them into his mouth. Emily laughed. "Wha'?"

"See? Baby!" she pointed at his face, which was covered in crams and his shirt that was covered with gravy from the roast of before.

"Would you two stop it!" Donna hissed.

"She started!" Sirius exclaimed, pointing at Emily, and the same time she called "He started!"

"No, you did!" they yelled in unison. By that time, the whole student was watching them, and when the two arguing noticed that fact, they shouted together "Mind your own business people!" and the chatter in the hall immediately arose.

"You two are fighting like an old married couple." Remus snorted.

"We do not!" they called, got up and marched out of the hall.

"They are so going to end up together." Donna whispered.

"Tell me about it." said Remus, shaking his head.


The next day, Alice attended to all her classes and then disappeared. Lily on the other hand, did not come to any of her classes and was only found when Sirius stumbled into the Hospital wing by accident and saw her in one of the beds with high fever and pale skin, resting.

After Sirius told his friend where the girl in question was, James locked himself in his dorm room and refused to come out for neither launch nor supper. When it was finally after curfew, he fished out the invisibility cloak from his trunk and went to pay a visit to a certain sick red headed.

"Hey." James whispered into Lily's ear.

"Hey." she whispered back, opening her eyes.

"Wow, that was easy, it takes me half an hour to wake Sirius up, and whispering does not help. I have to scream my lungs out just to get him to stir." James chuckled. Lily gave a small.

"Why're you here James?" Lily asked, straight to the point.

"Can't I visit a beautiful young Lady who has fallen ill?" James replied, avoiding the truth.

"I know there's more then that." Lily looked into his eyes. "I can see it… in your eyes."

"Alright, so it's about yesterday morning." James admitted.

"About the letter." Lily stated.

"Yes…" James trailed off, avoiding eye contact.

"Well, yeah, you heard right, I'm moving to France." Lily said.

"I know that, I came about why you're moving." James pointed out.

There was a long pause, in which Lily looked directly into James's eyes, searching them for more. Finally, she spoke. "It's none of your business."

"I saw part of the letter." James muttered, looking at his feet.

"Which one?" Lily asked fearfully.

"The one that says that…you were…promised to someone." James had difficulty saying the sentence.

"You- you k-know th-that?" Lily stumbled over her words.

"If I read correctly, that is." James shrugged. "And by the look on your face, I take it I did."

"You shouldn't know that. You shouldn't know that." Lily kept repeating.

"You know, if you really didn't want anyone to know, you shouldn't have left the letter on the floor." James stated.

"Yes, but why you! Of all people, it had to be you! I mean, you know too much about me already!" Lily panicked.

"Well, you shouldn't have told me so much then!" James exclaimed, fierce. "And at least I'm better then one of the Slytherins!"

"keep your voice down!" Lily hushed him.

There was an awkward silence between the two, as James calmed down and Lily relaxed.

"So, who is it?" James finally broke the silence.

"Who's who?" Lily asked.

"The person you were promised to." James sighed.

"Promised? Oh… you mean who my mother sold me to." Lily stated. "Er… I don't really know. Someone rich, I guess."

"You're saying it as if it's not a big deal, as if it's the most normal thing in the world." James pointed out.

"Well, I'm getting used to it, after spending two whole days moping about it. Yesterday I was hoping to catch cold and then get seriously sick, and then die, but Madam Pomfrey didn't let me go that easily." Said Lily. "I guess I always knew my mother would sale me one day, in the back of my mind."

"You scare me sometimes." James shook his head. "But I know what you mean. I was promised to Jessica since I was toddler. I still can't live it down."

"Yes, but at least you know who you're marring and what she is like." Lily whispered sadly. "I don't even know his name, or how old he is. His is probably some rich old man that was married seven times and has twenty children. Or maybe someone who would abuse me, like my stepfather, my mother would love that."

"Don't think like that. No matter who he is, just remember you always have people who care about you." James comforted.

"Yeah, Like who? My mother?" Lily snapped.

"No," James said, hurt in his eyes. "Like Alice, Donna and Emily. Like your dad and your sister. Like…me."

"And what good is that?" Lily exclaimed sadly. "I'm never going to see them again! I'm never going to see you again! I going to live far away, with a husband that bought me, and he probably won't let me see anyone of them, or you…"

"Please stop it, Evans." James said. He was feeling depressed and what his Quiddich captain was saying didn't make him feel any better.

"I should get some sleep." Lily said.

"Yes, you should." James muttered.

"G'night" Lily mumble as she drifted off.

"Good night." James whispered, kissed the top of her head, and tiptoed out of the hospital wing.


Lillian,

Your father and I know now that the Hireson family is part of your freak world. Therefore, I mad sure you are never to see them again. You are to come home on Christmas Holidays and I shall accompany you on your journey to London, where you will meet your future husband. I am personally fond of the kind sir and he was willing to pay a fortune for your engagement.

Sincerely,

Your mother.

Lily read the letter over and over again, though by now, the writing was barely visible for the paper was tearstained all over.

It was about three days after Lily left hospital wing. She was lying on her bed, reading the letter and Emily was getting ready for Quiddich practice.

"Come on Lily," Emily said. "We have practice now."

"I'm not coming." Lily sighed.

"Lily, how can we have practice without our captain? That's ridiculous." Emily pointed out.

"Dumbledore is going to have to assign Gryffindor a new captain. I'm moving." Lily answered.

"Maybe you should talk to your parents. I'm sure they'll understand if you said you want to stay at Hogwarts." Emily tried to cheer her.

"They won't." Lily whispered.

"Alright, that's it!" Emily exclaimed, grabbing the letter in Lily's hand.

"Hey, give that back." Lily called and started chasing her friend around the dorm.

"Not until I read it!" Emily called back as she shut the bathroom door behind her and put every locking spell she knew on it.

On the other side of the door, Lily was trying every spell she knew to unlock it. It took her a minute to find the right spell, but a minute was all Emily needed to finish reading the letter.

As the door finally opened, Lily could tell Emily knew.

"Lily! I'm so sorry!" Emily exclaimed, hugging her friend tightly, tear in her eyes.

"It's alright, Emily. It's not your fault." she hushed her crying friend.

"Oh, Lily, why didn't you tell us?" Emily asked.

"I- I didn't want to bother you with it." Lily sighed.

"Lily! We're your friends, we care about you!" Emily scolded.

"I just- I don't know- worried, I guess." Lily said bashfully.

"Worried of what?" Emily questioned.

"I- I don't know." Lily admitted.

"So… can I tell Donna?" Emily asked hopefully.

"I guess, but no one else. That's the last thing I need, the whole school knowing about it." Lily muttered.

"Well, come on, we still have practice." Emily pointed out.

"I'm not in the mood. You're captain for now." Lily said.

"Okay, bye." Emily said as she exited the room.


"Evans. Evans!" Lily woke up. A familiar voice called her name, but she couldn't see anyone around. Well, anyone awake, at least.

"Evans, it's me!" recognizing the voice to be James's, she looked around to see where it came from. Suddenly, James's head appeared in midair. Lily gasped.

"Don't do that, ever again!" Lily scolded quietly

"Sorry." James apologized.

"'S okay. What are you doing here?" Lily asked.

"Oh, I have to talk to you. But not here, anyone of those girls can wake up any minute. Come on, I know a place." James whispered, dragging her out of bed and under the cloak.

After they exited the portrait hole, Lily's curiosity got the better of her. "Where are we going?"

"To the Room of Requirements." James replied shortly.

"The what?" Lily asked, confused.

"You'll see soon." James answered.

Lily couldn't help but notice how close she and James were, and surprisingly, she didn't feel uncomfortable.

As they reached the seventh floor, James started walking back and forth alongside the brick wall.

"What are you doing?" Lily demanded when suddenly a door appeared in the wall. "What the…?" Lily gaped at the door that wasn't there just minutes before. "How did you do that?"

"Come on, I'll show you." James said, dragging her through the door and locking it behind him.

Inside, there were two comfy armchairs in front of a small lit fireplace. The room looked very much like the Gryffindor common room, with the red carpet, armchairs and wall curtains and golden pillows, just it was smaller.

James went and sat on one of the armchairs. Lily followed and sat in the one facing James. "So, what is this place?"

"The Room of Requirements, it does just that. It fits itself to your needs." James said. "But I need to talk to you about some more important matters."

"Like what?" Lily asked.

"Like how to get you out of this marriage." James pointed out.

"There's nothing you can do." Lily said.

"Evans, Evans, Evans. Tat- tat- tat. You're forgetting something." James said, as though he was talking to a four year old. "You are in the magical world. No muggle can get into it without a magical person's help."

"You have a point. But do you expect me to run away? I already tried, a few times, it's impossible." Lily stated.

"No, it's not. All you have to do is stay within a magical place, like Hogwarts, and you're safe." James said.

"But my parents know I'm at Hogwarts. They'll come and take me by force." Lily sighed.

"Muggles can't set a foot on the Hogwarts grounds." James supplied.

"Then they'll send a letter to Dumbledore saying they want me home for Christmas. He'd have to send me, they're my legal guardians." Lily whined.

"What makes you think that by being send away means you have to go to that house of yours?" James challenged.

"Well, where am I supposed to stay? In the streets?" Lily snapped. "I can't go to Alice's, that's the first place they'll look."

"What about my place?" James questioned.

"What about it?" Lily asked.

"Would you like to spend the Holidays at my place?" James suggested.

"Um… would that be okay by your parents? I mean, they don't know me, and there's Jessica, wouldn't she mind? And what about your grandmother? Wouldn't she think you're planning on ruining her plans and try to get rid of me?" Lily blurted out.

"Calm down. My parents would love you, as long as you're not playing Ice queen. I don't care about Jessica and as for my grandmother, I'm sure we can find a way to make it seem like we are not together." James assured her.

"Okay, fine, what's the plan then?" Lily asked.

"You are going to…"