CHAPTER 10

November 5, 1981, Hogwarts

Harry and Draco were laughing and hooting as the toy broomstick made a sharp turn around their mothers. Mounted together, they were enjoying themselves like they didn't have a care in the world. Well, they don't, Lily thought. Sometimes she envied her son about that. Everything is so simple when you're a child.

She remembered it well herself. It was me and Sev, and all we ever worried about was if Tuney would decide to be a grouch and spoil our games. But as the years went by, everything became more complicated. Coming to Hogwarts was the first hurdle, when she and Sev were separated in two Houses that had a history of mutual enmity. Both of them had met other children, created other ties and in the end they found themselves on the opposite sides of a war.

Despite all the horror and the pain she had endured recently, a part of Lily was glad that Sev was back in her life. She had remembered how she had escaped from him a few days ago and had felt ashamed. She owed him at least a conversation. As soon as I see him, I'll talk to him, she had promised herself last night. But today Sev was nowhere to be found in Hogwarts. Finally, Lily went and asked the Headmaster. Dumbledore seemed mildly surprised when Lily inquired about Sev and had admitted, with a certain eloquent reluctance, that he had left the castle. When Lily asked him why and where, he had only replied that it was on the Order's behalf. And nothing else. As if I'm not a member of the Order too!

In some bizarre twist of fate, Lily was somewhat pacified by Narcissa's company. The blonde was the only person in the whole castle who didn't look at Lily with pity. They weren't terribly cordial with each other, but both women managed do act civil enough and were willing to go into the neutral zone that their children inhabited when it came to conversations. To be honest, it's almost relaxing.

Lily suspected that Narcissa herself felt the same way. Surrounded by the people she was used to think of as enemies, unaware of her husband's whereabouts… she must have been glad to be able to just go and talk to someone about Draco.

For the first time in a week or so, the autumn sun had been almost fully freed from the dark shroud of the clouds and its rays were bathing the grounds outside Hogwarts.

"Harry, watch out!" Lily warned him as the toy broomstick swirled on its axis. Her son didn't even pretend to pay her attention. He and Draco were too busy to enjoy themselves. To the toddlers, flying on the (not that fast, really) broomstick two feet above the ground was probably amazingly exciting. He's got James' knack for flying, that's certain. Back home, the cat had began to hate the little boy, hissing at him whenever it saw him with the broomstick; to be honest, the animal was somewhat justified – Harry almost killed it once when he flew right into it after breaking Petunia's vase. Lily had wondered what had happened to that cat. Three days ago, on James' funeral in Godric's Hollow, Dumbledore had assured her that he had placed wards around their cottage so their possessions would be safe and they would be free to return here after the war was finished. But he admitted that he never saw a cat in the house when Lily asked. He probably ran away on Hallowe'en, poor thing. Cats were somewhat sensitive around magic and didn't like it when curses were flying around.

Stop it, she scolded herself. Don't think about the cat. It would only make you think of James. What use is that to anyone? Lily took a deep breath and composed herself. Harry needed his mother, not a snivelling widow.

"Boys will be boys," Narcissa noted, tearing Lily away from her dark reverie.

"Huh?"

"I said, boys will be boys," the blonde rolled her eyes slightly when she caught Lily's absent-mindedness. "No use telling them to be careful, they won't even hear us. They won't watch out, so we just have to do it for them. I'm sure the broomstick is safe, anyway."

"It is," Lily admitted. "For them, at least. But unless we want Filch to give us detention, we should never let them fly it inside the castle."

Narcissa humphed. "I've never gotten detention with Filch."

"Really? Never?"

"Never. As far as the teachers were concerned, I was the most tame Slytherin in history."

"Come to think of it, yeah, I never heard about you getting in trouble wh… wait, as far as the teachers were concerned?"

Narcissa raised a pale eyebrow and smirked.

"Oh! Thank Merlin!" A faint voice exclaimed in the distance. The two witches turned their heads and saw Professor Slughorn walking briskly towards them.

For such a heavy-set man, and on his age, he moved quite swiftly. Apparently, that came with a price, because once he reached them, Lily saw that his face was flustered and he was panting heavily. How long has he ran to get here?

"L…Li…" he stammered.

"Yes, Horace, just breathe."

"Li…" he tried again.

"Yes, yes, you just breathe and tell me once you can, alright?"

He waved a hand, irritated. "Lily…" he managed to say. "You must go see the Headmaster. He said it's extremely important."

Lily frowned and drove a hand through her red locks. Since when does Dumbledore wants to share important things with me? If anything, he had made sure to keep her away from the Order's affairs ever since she came to Hogwarts. Then it dawned on her. Sev, it must be about Sev. Oh, God, I hope he's okay… Lily wasn't sure if she would bear it if Sev had died on her too.

Lily cast a look towards Harry. He and Draco were still laughing atop the toy broomstick. He was having so much fun… If I drag him away now, he'll never let me have a serious conversation with Dumbledore. Lily loved her baby boy, but he could be just as pig-headed as James was if he put his mind to it and was way too young to have any meaningful self-discipline. Apparently, her thoughts were written plain on her face because Narcissa said, "Go to Dumbledore, Potter. I'll watch the boys until you get back."

Lily wasn't completely convinced, but then Slughorn added, "Yes, Lily, go. I'll stay and help Mrs. Malfoy."

"Okay," she sighed. "I won't take long," she promised and headed towards the castle.

The trek seemed to take forever. PleaseletSevbeokay, pleaseletSevbeokay, pleaseletSevbeokay, she chanted in her mind while she ran up the stairs towards the Headmaster's Tower. She almost blurted that out in front of the gargoyle guarding the Office.

Once she went in, Lily found Albus Dumbledore sitting in front of his desk. He was writing a letter and raised his bright blue eyes to look at her.

"Lily," he said, with a questioning frown of his white eyebrows. "What can I do for you, my dear?"

It was Lily's turn to frown. "What do you mean? You asked for me to come!"

Dumbledore leaned back on his chair. "I assure you, dear Lily, I did not. Not that I don't enjoy you visiting, of course I do, but I didn't ask for you to come."

"Is this some twisted joke?!"

"Lily, what on Earth is the matter? I do not understand."

"Is it so bad that you now have to pretend?"

"Is what so bad?"

"Sev!" she all but shrieked. "What has happened to Sev?!"

Dumbledore frowned and removed his glasses from his bony nose. "Lily, we talked about Severus this morning. I told you he's on a mission for the Order. Nothing has happened to him. In fact, I expect he'll return here tonight."

Lily took a deep breath, fighting with the urge to start pulling her own hair. "Then why did you want to see me?" she asked slowly.

"My dear, how many times must I repeat myself? I did not ask for you to come. Who told you otherwise?"

"Ho… Professor Slughorn."

"Really? That's… odd."

"What is?"

"Well, I last saw Horace at lunch. I noticed he ate much less than usual, but we didn't speak with each other. I haven't seen him since. I have no idea why he wanted to send you here."

Lily was extremely confused when she left the Headmaster's office. She slowly made her way back to the lawn where she had left Harry with the Malfoys and Slughorn. What was Horace playing at? If this was his idea of a joke, it was NOT funny. Despite being raised to respect her elders, especially if they were also her teachers, Lily was going to give the old walrus a piece of her mind…

She realized something was wrong long before she reached the place. It was a bad feeling, almost like a physical wight in her stomach. Lily began to run.

She heard the child's hysterical cries first. Draco was sitting on the ground, crying as loudly as his little lungs allowed him. He was staring at the body of his mother with watery eyes.

Narcissa Malfoy was on her back, her eyes closed and her lips slightly parted. Her blonde hair had spilled from the updo she usually wore. One glance assured Lily that she was alive – her chest was rising and falling heavily – just unconscious.

The toy broomstick lay forgotten in the grass.

Horace Slughorn was nowhere to be seen.

And neither was Harry.