Talk to y'all at the end okay!

DEAL?

AMEN?

GOOD.

Frank was eating his lunch in the Great Hall. He was waiting for Lily, who was supposed to be discharged that afternoon, but insisted on escaping. She had insisted that she attend classes immediately after lunch. She had a lot to catch up on, and time before the O.W.L.s was trickling away.

She was acting strangely last night, almost like she wanted to cry. Frank was thankful that no one had dared to challenge her at that time, for she was not focused at all. She even stuttered during the dismissal. Perhaps she was in pain because of the wound.

Frank knew that the other members were suspicious too. He himself could admit that Lily's cover was slowly blowing off ever since she got into the Infirmary. It was no coincidence that the absent Laedan had green eyes and so does Lily Evans, who was in the Hospital Wing for about a week. Her actions during the past night did not help either. She just made herself look weak. He heard rumors about it already. He was scared for Lily. No one must know who the Laedan is, or else they can use the identity to their advantage.

He had sent an owl to Lily's mentor that morning, hoping that somehow, he could help. Lily always spoke greatly of Master Savio, although Frank strongly thought that she got her sadistic traits from him.

He caught a glimpse of red hair from outside the doors, yet she didn't come into the Hall. Perhaps she wants to go outside for a bit.

"Hi Frank!"

Frank turned to see Alice standing behind him. In an instant, he felt all eyes on him. Alice seemed to have felt it too, but she made a better effort in ignoring them.

"Is this seat taken?"

"Er, no." Frank quickly took his things away from the space next to him. Alice sat down and helped herself on Hufflepuff's food.

"What are you doing?" Frank whispered.

"Well, I brought Lily's school stuff with me so I could give them to you and you can give them to her." She dumped Lily's bag on a space on the table. "And seeing that there's an empty seat next to you, I am taking the liberty of eating lunch here." she leaned towards him and lowered her voice. "I'm doing you a favor, Longbottom. Evans better be thankful for this."

Frank chuckled and rolled his eyes good-naturedly. Alice punched him on the arm.

"Ow!"

"That was for being ungrateful."

"Look Alice, I really appreciate it, but it's okay, okay?"

"Don't lie to me, Frank. I see how you flinch every time someone says the word 'gay'."

Frank flinched. Alice smirked.

"Fine, but I have no idea what you're trying to…"

Frank trailed off as he saw Lily pass by outside the Great Hall's entrance quickly. Even from his distance, he could see that something was wrong.

Muttering a quick goodbye to Alice, he dashed out of the Great Hall.

(--)

Lily peered from behind the Savios' kitchen door. From there, she could see Jason and his wife, Ebony talking amiably to each other while preparing dinner.

Lily watched as the two laughed at a joke Jason cracked. She envied the Savios. They looked so happy. Why couldn't she have a family like that? It wasn't fair!

"It's rude to eavesdrop, you know."

Lily quickly turned to see a boy at about her age (thirteen) standing behind her. She was taller at about a few inches, yet he stood so erect and so straight that he seemed to be the bigger person. Lily found herself staring at him. He was looking at her with dark violet eyes.

"I--I wasn't eavesdropping."

The boy cocked his head to the side. "Really?"

"Really."

(--)

James was not in the mood. After his confrontation with Lily, he sulkily entered the Great Hall for lunch.

He went over to his friends' place on the table. "Hey James," Sirius called. "Have you finished your Defe--- oy!"

James had taken Sirius's plate of unfinished lunch and began to eat his Shepherd's pie.

"That was the last one." Sirius whined.

"Let him have the pie, Padfoot." Remus told him. "It looks like he really needs it."

"I can't believe it!" James suddenly blurted out after a few bites of the pie. "I mean I understand that she's mad, but she's being stupid for not letting me apologize at all! All she did was scream at me. I didn't even say anything!"

Sirius blinked. "Okay… what are we talking about again?"

James sighed. "It's Evans."

"Lily? What's wrong? I thought you two were getting along fine."

"Lover's quarrel." Alice said, suddenly appearing on the seat in front of Sirius.

"Huh?"

"It's a lover's spat they've just had. Couples tend to have it all the time."

"Shut up, Alice." James said coldly. "You don't know anything about it."

"Then why are you suddenly blushing? Don't pour out your anger on me, Potter. Oh, and by the way, why is Lily crying?"

"She's crying?"

"Yes. Frank just chased after her a few minutes ago."

" The mad Prongs had just made a female cry!" Sirius exclaimed, taking hold of James' shirt collar. "James, that's against the Marauders' code!"

"Shut up!" James snapped, prying his hands away from him.

"Well, whatever it is," Alice said, standing up. "I hope you fix things up soon. It's a waste for you to lose a friend for one unimportant fight."

She walked away. James watched her do so. She didn't understand. It was not an "unimportant fight". It was much more serious than that. James wanted to apologize, but the fact that Lily would not let him do so made him even angrier.

"If you're just going to stab that pie, can I have it?" Sirius asked. James glared at him. "That's it, mate. What's wrong?"

The bell rang and everyone started to pile out of the Great Hall. "I'll tell you later."

Sirius muttered something about pie as they got out of the hall. "By the way, James, have you finished your D.A.D.A. essay? It's due today, isn't it?"

James cursed loudly. He had forgotten his things in the Infirmary. He had dropped his bag there before dashing after Lily.

"You guys go ahead." he told his friends. "I'll be back."

He began to make his way up to the Hospital Wing. He cursed once more as the hallways began to empty. He was going to be late.

He rounded a corner and bumped into no one else but Frank Longbottom.

"Frank," said James. "What are you doing out of class?"

"Shhhhh!"

James turned to what Frank was looking at. On the other side of the long corridor was a stunned-looking red-haired girl in the hallway. She was in the arms of someone he could not place.

(--)

"Gabriel." Lily whispered when she saw those unusually tinted eyes.

"Shh. Someone might be watching." he held her close, placing his head beside hers, his breath tickling her hair. "Dad sent me."

"For what?" Lily whispered back.

"We've been informed of your… situation, Lily. Looks like you've got enemies."

"Everyone has them."

"Yes, but most people's hate for one another is not strong enough to make them inflict wounds that won't heal." he touched her sore back. Lily moaned at the pain.

"There there now, love." Gabriel said in a soothing tone as he pulled away and looked into her eyes. Lily always marveled his eyes. She had heard and seen purple-colored eyes before, but mostly on girls. The eye color was extremely rare, which is why there were usually five Fracas council members than six.

"Now it seems like you've got more problems than the ones I thought you have." he said after a sniff from Lily. "Come on. Let's talk somewhere."

"But I have classes."

"You're supposed to be discharged later in the afternoon, Lily. Be thankful I've charmed Pomfrey into trusting you to me."

Lily looked at him. "What are you doing here, anyway… besides that?"

(--)

"Who was that?" James asked Frank as Lily and the figure disappeared at the other end of the hallway.

"Gabriel Savio. Nineteen years old. Advanced Guard."

James raised his eyebrows. "Advanced Guard?" he repeated. "You mean the guy's an auror? But he's just a kid!"

"I believe that's why they call him 'advanced'." Frank replied. James rolled his eyes. "They let him skip a few years of school and allowed him to train for aurorship (AN: is that what it's called?) right away."

"How come I've never heard of him before?"

"He is a graduate of Durmstrang. Lily told me his Dad wanted him to learn about the Dark Arts."

"WHAT!"

"Well, it was something about being able to know both sides of power and learn the methods of defense against the Dark Arts. They say he's been a great asset for the Ministry, even though he opposes the Minister sometimes.

"So he knows Lily?" James asked him, ignoring the question.

"Er, yeah. They go way back. He used to tutor us back at third year… wait, what are you doing here?"

(--)

"Ah, I see you've met Lily!" Jason exclaimed as Lily and Gabriel entered the kitchen. "Be nice to her, Gabe."

"Don't be scared of him, Lily." Ebony told her as she set the salad bowl down on the table. "Gabriel is a good guy… unlike other people in this family."

"Scared? Why would Lily be scared of him? He's shorter by a foot!"

Lily looked at Gabriel. He didn't seem to be hurt by the comment. He just rolled his eyes. "And where did that physical trait come from again? Oh right… my Dad."

"Hey, I was way taller than you when I was at your age!"

"No wonder why you stopped growing early. And look! Your hair stopped growing along with you!"

"That's enough you two!" Ebony cried. "We have a guest. You should act proper. And that means you too, Jason!"

(--)

James' day just got worse as he was late for the period after lunch. He didn't get to retrieve his essay from the Infirmary and he failed to listen at about the next two classes.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Sirius asked him as they made their way towards their last class, Potions.

"For the thirteenth time, Padfoot, I'm fine!"

"Just leave him be." Remus said as they reached their classroom.

There was a vacant stool at the back with its own desk. But the students ignored them as they piled into the classroom. James moodily sat on his seat with his friends. The rest had gone quiet, sensing the heavy aura surrounding him.

"Settle down!" Professor Slughorn's voice suddenly boomed across the room filled with chatter. "Now today, I have some exciting news for you all."

The class began to look curious. Even James' foul mood didn't stop him from looking up to the Professor.

"Today, a new student has arrived. Well, he's not a student anymore, as he had already graduated from Durmstrang Academy in Bulgaria."

Whispers filled the room. Almost everyone looked confused, yet interested at the same time. James' eyes widened. He thought he knew where that was going.

"May I introduce you to Mr. Gabriel Savio."

A young man entered the room from Slughorn's office behind the teacher's table. James got to look at him closely now. He was not very tall, just average in height for a teenager. He had curly black hair that fell in front of his eyes, which were emerald green. He stood so erect that he seemed very tall from afar. His shoulders indicated a lean build, yet not too muscular.

"He's hot."

"Agreed."

"He seems kind of short though."

"He looks smart."

"Doesn't he look a bit tired?"

Slughorn proudly beamed at the boy. "Mr. Savio is going to be part of our classes for a while as he is undergoing his Adept Auror Training. It is required by the Ministry if ever an auror wants to be part of some major operations."

No wonder why Slughorn was very proud of him. He was bound to be famous someday.

Somehow, James felt a hint of anger, uneasiness and… jealousy?

(--)

Lily watched the scene from Gabriel's two-way mirror. Before the class started, he had placed the other mirror on the back of the room, where she could see everything.

Everyone seemed to be interested in him. It was obvious for many people (particularly girls) were whispering to each other. The rest were examining him from their seats. Even the Slytherins were captivated.

Lily was impressed. He managed to gain attention already, and he wasn't even doing anything yet. Somehow, Gabriel had that effect on people.

The two had agreed to change Gabriel's eye color from purple to green. It was his idea, telling her that it was very necessary for his so-called "plan". Besides, it would be too suspicious.

Suddenly, James Potter's hand shot into the air.

"You have something to say, Mr. Potter?"

"Why is he training here at Hogwarts?" he asked. "I mean, isn't he supposed to be in some auror training facility of some sort?"

"Ah yes. You see, Mr. Savio here is an Advanced Guard. He missed three years of schooling in Durmstrang and the Ministry here requires him to pass the British curriculum."

"Then why is he here? If he's so advanced then he should know everything by now."

Lily's eyes widened. How dare he say that in front of Gabriel? He didn't even know how strong he is!

She saw Remus hiss something from beside James. Sirius was looking at him with a disbelieving face. The class had gone silent, even the Slytherins.

For the first time, Gabriel spoke. He smiled at the teacher calmly before facing James.

"The method of teaching in Hogwarts is different from how they teach in Durmstrang, James Potter." he said smoothly. "Besides, I did not get the chance to experience schooling at your age. Professor Teabing of the Ministry said I could use the experience. Also, I am offering to tutor to students of all levels… particularly yours."

An audible "ooh." came from the class.

"That's enough!" Slughorn boomed. "Five points from Gryffindor for that unnecessary comment, Mr. Potter. You will all be treating Mr. Savio with kindness and respect, and that means all of you! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Professor."

"Good."

(--)

Okay, I know… late update. But come on! I've got stuff to do. I'm really sorry. Vacation is starting to end and it sucks. I'll be updating though, so don't lose hope on this story okay… Thanks!!! Love y'all!