Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I own no part of Harry Potter.

Other than the weird look that Aria had given her when she'd defended James, the night continued without a hitch. Aria stuck to her word and didn't say anything about the marauders. After the sorting, Dumbledore's speech and dinner, Lily leaned in and whispered to her friends.

"I have something that I have to tell you. Stay up tonight and we'll go to the room of requirements." Her friends' eyes widened. The room of requirements was serious, they were they only girls in their room, so they could say almost anything and not be overheard, but if Lily needed that much privacy, this was major. They nodded and she sat back.

They'd heard about the room of requirements in one of the books about Hogwarts that Lily was always reading. It had taken them a long time to find it, but it had been totally worth it. That was the place that they could go and not be interrupted by anybody. They could ask it for whatever and it would always provide it.

Later that night, Lily stuck her head out the door and seeing nobody, started walking down the stairs. Aria and Sage followed her silently. Nothing happened on the way down to the room, but there were a few times when they had to duck around suits of armour to avoid the teachers patrolling the hallways. Finally they made it to the room and Lily paced in front of the empty wall. In a way this was even worse than telling James because if James had refused her, she would have died and not have had to live through the pain, but if her friends turned on her than she would have to live without them. She stopped moving and controlled her breathing before she spoke.

"There was a reason that you didn't hear back from me earlier, but I couldn't tell you in a letter." Her friends were watching her and Lily knew that the easiest thing to do would be to just show them. When she had paced outside in the hallway to conjure the room she had made sure to ask for the elements to be placed inside.

"What's wrong Lily?" Sage's voice was calm. She had sensed that something was different about her friend, but she also knew that Lily would tell them when she was ready.

"Just watch." With a flick of her hand Lily brought the fire out of the fireplace that was crackling in the corner and twisted her fingers until the flames were in the shape of a doe. She brought her other hand around and smiled as the water that had been in sitting in a bowl became the shape of a bird (amethyst sunbird), and the tree growing in the corner shifted around until its leaves formed a lion.

Aria and Sage were staring at her in disbelief.

"When did you learn wandless magic? That must have taken you such a long time." Lily shook her head to stop Aria from speaking.

"It's not wandless magic per say. It's more of a part of me. It can't be taught, but I can do it. The ability to control earth, air, water and fire stems from being an elemental." My words were meant with blank stares. I chuckled. They obviously didn't read what wasn't in the curriculum.

"Not to sound like an idiot or anything… but what is an elemental?" Aria looked really confused as she looked at me.

"The very basic explanation is that it is a legendary magical creature that can control the four elements. It is also part magical beast. That is the easiest way to explain it."

"Are you kidding me? That is so cool! What are you?" Sage was really excited and her eyes were wide as she looked at me.

"I'm a mermaid. Are you guys okay with this? I didn't become a new person; I just changed a little bit." They nodded and stood. When their arms wrapped around me I felt like I was betraying them by not telling them everything.

"So what exactly does you being an elemental mermaid entail? What do you do?" As usual Sage asked the hard question. I didn't know how to answer it, but I knew that I had to try to tell them at least some of it.

"Well I have to look for somebody, my mate. I know that they will be nearby and close to my age and that they will smell amazing to me, but I don't know much else."

"We will help you find them! That's what best friends are for!" Aria was excited about the prospect of man hunting for Lily because she had never really shown any interest in any of them, with the exception of the negative energy towards James Potter. Sage nodded her agreement.

"We can eliminate some people right away; obviously it isn't Potter, Black, Remus or Peter. You have probably spent a large chunk of your time lately with them, but they haven't sprung out at you, so it's not them. That leaves the seventh year Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and… dare I say it Slytherins. That would be terrible!" Sage shuddered at the idea of her best friend being mated to somebody that hated muggleborns. At this point all that they could do was pray that it wasn't.

Lily's smile was uneasy as she looked at her friends. She should have known that they would jump in with both feet to help her, but with this much enthusiasm it was only a matter of time before they picked up a book and read about what she was. The information she was giving them wasn't even close to enough, but until they thought better of James she had no idea how to tell them without losing their friendship. She would have to work fast.

Lily was busy thinking about what she was going to do as her best friends in the world chatted and plotted ways for her to get close enough to smell the boys in their year without being creepy. She tuned back in when she could find no feasible way and the three talked for a long time more.

The trip back to the common room was simple and they came across nobody in the halls. However, the Fat Lady did give them a talking to for being out of bed so late. They chuckled at her and tiptoed up the stairs and to their beds. Lily fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow and slept a dreamless sleep.

The next morning she awoke when the dawn's rays hit her eyelids and she grumbled as she sat up. One of the first things that she had noticed since her transition was that once she woke up she was never able to fall asleep again. Knowing that it was pointless to even try, she glanced at the clock and sighed. Nobody else would be waking up for at least another 2 hours.

Silently, she did what she had to do in the bathroom before grabbing a book and heading down the stairs to the common room. Glancing around the empty room and moving past the dying fire she crept up the boys' staircase. She paused at the door and listened carefully. When she didn't hear a sound she twisted the handle and edged into the room.

Remus was sitting up watching the door wearily, but when he saw that it was only Lily he smiled and lay back down. Only moments later there were faint snores coming from the direction of his bed. Lily smiled, these boys had become as close as brothers to her and just being around them was helping her to relax.

The curtains around James' four poster bed were open and he was sleeping peacefully, laying on his back. Lily didn't want to wake him, so she just slid onto the edge and leaned against the headboard beside him; his shoulder was adjacent to her right hip. She had just opened her book when James grumbled in his sleep and rolled over throwing his arm around her middle in the process. He breathed in deeply and let all of it out on a sigh. Once he was still again she peered at his face and saw that he was still dreaming. Pausing to see if anybody else in the room had awoken, she listened, but other then the light breathing of herself and James and the occasional loud snore from Sirius, there were no other sounds from the other occupants. Secure in her knowledge that everything was alright she dove into the adventures within the pages of her book. With her mind elsewhere, the gradually lightening room did not come to her attention and neither did the automatic movements of her arm in response to James' closeness. It was only when he shifted again that Lily realized that she had been running her hand through his ebony hair and when he spoke, she knew that it had not gone unnoticed. His voice still carried the roughness of sleep and his hand slid along her hip before he tilted his head to look up at her. There was an increasing level of tenderness in being the first one to see him when he woke up, to be the first one to see the pillow lines creasing his cheek.

"G'morning." His eyes watched her as she took her hand away from his hair slowly. Lily blushed under his direct gaze.

"Good morning. Sorry, I couldn't sleep." That hadn't been the first time that she had done that, come into his room in the morning, but it felt like it at that moment. She turned her face away and caught a look at the clock. More time had passed then she had thought and Aria and Sage could've been awake.

"Bloody hell!" Lily sprung up and raced to the door before remembering that other people may be awake. She paused and sensed nothing on the other side of the door, so she opened the door and flew out of the room, down the stairs and back into her own dormitory. Aria and Sage were still sleeping, but she knew that they would wake up soon so she started getting ready to go down and get breakfast. It didn't take very long, so she threw a pillow at Aria and left after she heard her groan and say some things that she wouldn't dare say in front of McGonagall about her. Lily was still smiling as she entered the Great Hall and sat down. The marauders were sitting further down the table and Lily noticed the headmaster approach James and speak with him for a moment. James nodded and Dumbledore began walking down the table in her direction. The table was about half full and a few people looked up when Dumbledore walked up to her and asked to see her and James in his office. She knew that her two best friends were going to be bugging her about finding her mate when they finally ended up getting down for breakfast, so she agreed and saw James stand up farther down the table when she did. They both follow the elderly man out of the room and up to his office.

As they walked behind him, James leaned over to whisper in her ear, "Don't be sorry. I didn't mind."

Heat crept up into her cheeks at his words and she was very thankful that there was nobody passing them in the halls. They reached the gargoyle that stood guard and when the headmaster said the password James looked at her and rolled his hazel eyes slightly. It was a pretty well-known fact that his passwords were always some sort of candy. This was no different, but now he had chosen a muggle chocolate.

His office hadn't changed since the last time that Lily had been it, so she made herself comfortable in one of the chairs on the other side of the big wooden desk. James sat beside her and when Dumbledore seated himself in the large seat behind the desk they waited for him to speak.

A few moments later he opened his mouth, "I have to admit that I have been a little distracted and have not yet finished preparing for the year. Because the two of you were not on the train there was no prefects meeting and organization has gone out the window."

Lily stopped him from continuing, "Why would James not being there affect the prefects? He wasn't one, and I was, but one missing prefect shouldn't change the setup. That's what the heads are for."

Dumbledore looked at her. "That's true, but not in these circumstances. I am asking the two of you if the head duties would be too much to handle on top of all that you are already dealing with. The two of you are the best fit for the task, but you may refuse if you wish. If you accept all of your belongings will be brought to the heads tower on the fifth floor."

"The heads tower? Where is that?" James asked quietly, breaking the silence that had descended upon the room at the headmasters words.

"It is on the fifth floor behind the statue of the knight. Is there anything else that you want to know in order to make your choice?"

James stopped to think for a moment before answering, "is it safe for Lily to be in the spotlight with that high of a position?" He turned to Lily and spoke to her, "not that I don't think that you can do it, but we have to think of your safety first."

Dumbledore nodded his head in acknowledgement of the fact the James raised, "This is something that I have considered strongly and if you are careful about how you display your powers, nothing should go wrong. But you must understand that there will be risks in everything you do, the only thing left to do is accept those and judge if they are worth it or not. Is there anything else?"

Lily looked at James and shrugged, "I feel like it would be a good thing to do; it would be a really important step for the both of us. I want to do it."

James looked at her seriously, "are you absolutely positive? If you say yes, then I am in as well."

She nodded and smiled, "somebody has to be there to protect the school from you."

Dumbledore, who had been sitting quietly throughout this exchange, confirmed that they were going to become head boy and girl and then walked the two of them to the tower. Breakfast was just finishing, so they passed quite a few people who gave them odd looks because they were walking beside each other peacefully without throwing insults or objects at each other. Lily giggled and when he heard that James looked at her quizzically.

"What's so funny?"

"We are seriously confusing people. We may have to stage a big fight in order to restore the equilibrium of the school. Should we?" James pondered what she said for a minute, but then told her that would be a last resort. The other people would eventually get used to seeing them together and staging a fight would only draw more attention to the two of them. If possible they should avoid all unnecessary attention, attention that could change to interest if people found out that she was different. They couldn't have that. Attention was bad.

The statue of the knight was just ahead of them and they saw that Dumbledore had stopped walking and was watching them stroll down the halls as he chatted with the statue. They halted in front of him and each bowed to the knight, introducing themselves. Dumbledore had spoken to them of the password system that was currently in place while they had been in his office and he had told them that there would be two different basic entry passwords in order to access the heads common room and once they were inside they could choose to place another password on each of their rooms. The room passwords were usually for two people that didn't really know each other that well and were just being precautious. He had left them on in case Lily wanted to leave her books out. The books on what she was and the other things she might not want her friends to see. Lily shook her head.

"I would end up giving them the password into my room anyways, so it would be a pointless effort. I will just continue to hide them inside my trunk." With that said Dumbledore told them how to get the passwords changed and strode away. The knight asked them what they wanted the password to begin as and after some thought they were able to agree on the name of Lily's first dog, Kiwi. The statue stepped aside and let them enter the room.

At first Lily and James were stunned. It was easily just as big as the Gryffindor common room and the roaring fireplace had already been lit. In front of the fireplace was a group of couches and chairs that would sit the marauders and Lily's friends with tons of room to spare. There was a long desk set up under the window that overlooked the lake. The water was rippling gently as the giant squid moved beneath it.

There were a couple of paintings on the walls; one was of a pack of wolves running through a large, empty, snow covered field. Lily walked up to the painting and all of the wolves froze before scenting the air. The biggest wolf, as black as the night sky behind him, approached the front of the group to get a closer look at the strangers in his house. Lily placed her hand close to the painting and she swore that she could feel the air gusting out of the canine's nose as it breathed. James came up behind her and placed his hand alongside hers. The wolf raised his head and let loose with an enormous howl before the pack continued playing. They had been accepted.

"Want to check out our rooms? Yours is on the left." James asked, jerking his head in the directions of the bedrooms. Lily double checked and saw that her room was indeed on the left. There were silver nameplates on the doors with their names written in loopy writing. She placed her hand against it for a moment and felt the chill of the metal on her warm fingertips. Lily shook herself and opened the door.

Beyond the newly opened door there was a massive room. It was almost as large as the room that she had shared with Aria and Sage in the Gryffindor Tower, but now she had all the room to herself. Two of the walls were lined with bookcases and when she approached she saw titles that she recognized from home and many others that she didn't. One title in particular caught her eye, 'The Elemental Theorem' by Lucy Macfraiser.

That could be an interesting book to read. She pulled it off the shelf and moved to the alcove to sit in the window seat there. Once comfortable she opened the front cover and immediately noticed writing on the cover page. She glanced over it quickly and when she saw what was in the small note small tears came to her eyes.

September 1847

As I am writing this I can hear them. They will find me soon enough, but I will not go down easily. That is not an elementals way. If it is their intention to capture me, they will fail. I will end my own life before I will allow that. I am not sure if I am the last mermaid- I sincerely hope not- but if I am, the world will be a darker place indeed. We are the balance; without our aid and control there would be too much power for others to use. Darkness would be able to have too great a hold. Until the sovereign of the elementals returns there is no hope, hell will prevail. My time runs short. They have found the door, I pray that whoever finds this know what I am talking about, and lives in a brighter world then I have left behind. I'm sorry I failed. Belden forgive me.

Corliss

There were smears on the paper, wrinkles left behind as if the writer had been crying as she wrote this final goodbye. This woman was potentially one of her ancestors. Lily flipped through the rest of the book, tears still sitting on her eyelashes, hoping to find more information. There was nothing more to find however and a knock on the door startled Lily enough that she dropped the book and moved in the direction of her rock, the one that she could lean on that would not let her fall. James was standing outside her room, an undecipherable look in his eyes.

When he saw the look on her face he took her into his arms, as if he could protect her from the rest of the world.

"What's wrong?"

Lily leaned her head against his chest and let out a shuddering breath. "I found something. I'm not entirely sure what it means, but she was being hunted, because of what she was, because of what I am."

James' arms tightened around her. "What do you mean? Who was being hunted?"

"In one of books that I found on my bookshelf I found a message written by another mermaid. She was hiding from people that were pursuing her. She thought that they wanted to capture her, but she would have preferred to end her own life. She was hunted because of the being inside of her, the same one that is inside of me."

Lily felt her chin being lifted by a gentle finger. Soft hazel eyes met her own and immediately she felt a sense of peace overcoming her.

"Show me." His voice was low and there was a hint of anger behind it, but Lily knew that it wasn't directed at her. The book was lying exactly where she had left it, laying on the rug open to the note. He skimmed through it quickly and looked up at her. "She said goodbye."

Lily looked over his shoulder and reread the last line again.

Belden forgive me.

"Belden was her mate."

Lily gasped, "she had given up all hope of ever seeing him again. She wasn't even able to say it to his face. He might not know."

James shook his head. "He would know. It would be like something had ripped out a part of his soul and for as long as he kept living it would feel like he had let something go. A part of him would be missing."

"How do you know?"

James' eyes were filled with something that Lily couldn't place as he looked at her. "I do know. Or at least I know what I felt when I almost lost you. I know how it felt to almost not have you in this world and it was as if there was no more colour in the world. Not having you beside me would make my life not worth living."

Lily shook her head so hard that her hair flipped around her face and put her hands on the side of his face in order to pull his gaze up to hers.

"No. You can't think like that. We haven't been together for very long, but I will not let you give up your life for me."

Hazel eyes just stared into her own green one's solemnly as he said nothing. Lily decided to drop it.

"Should we show Dumbledore?"

James shook his head. "If I know anything about that old man, he probably knew about it before it was left for you in this room."

"I guess so, it's just that this changes things. I thought I had a bit of a handle on this thing before, but now I have no idea. I don't like not knowing."

James just put his arm around her and they leaned back against the window seat. A slight breeze brushed past the open window and a mist seemed to come out of nowhere.

"They might have what it takes. They just have to stay together…and alive."

Well there was chapter 10! It sure took me long enough. I have been working on this chapter since July. Whoops. I may have forgotten about it and everything fanfiction related for the first couple of months of university. It is super busy, but I will write in order to decompress whenever I can.

Let me know what you thought. Review or send me an email at .

Amber Eagle.