Note: Huge thanks to reviewers. Much love :-P

History: "You give your hand to me, and then you say goodbye; I watch you walk away, beside the lucky guy. Oh you'll never know... the one who loves you so. Well, you don't know me..." What does this prove? It proves I own a Michael Bublé CD. I do not, however, own any rights to Harry Potter.

Recap: James, bored of the "romantic talk" and annoyed that Sirius has made him miss a full moon expedition, sneaks into Hogsmeade. In the Three Broomsticks, he discovers Praedam (who has recently been sacked for mysterious reasons) and Silth having a conversation. The two seem to have once been partners but are now at odds, and Silth says that he is working for someone called "The Foreigner." The two exit the pub and James follows. Silth murders Praedam and James leaves to tell Ministry wizard, Gilbert Korcesh, of this. As James hurries towards the castle, however, he is caught at wand point by Silth himself.

Chapter 21- "Mind Games"
"When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not." –Mark Twain

James could here his Professor chuckle lightly, as he had heard him minutes before in the pub. "So you saw that little scene, did you, Potter?"

"If I say 'no,' can I leave?"

Silth chuckled again. "It's a pity, Potter."

"What's that?"

"I never taught you, but I saw you in some of the other classes... you were a brilliant flier, and student, too, according to Elliot."

"Elliot? Oh, you mean that bloke you just killed?" James growled.

"He would've killed me," said Silth indifferently.

"Bully for him."

"Now, now, Potter. I really don't think you're in any position to be rude to me."

"And I really don't think my manners will have any effect on what you do to me."

"True. But I'll regret it no matter what. You should've minded your own business, boy. It's such a pity..."

"You already said that."

"You shouldn't have come to Hogsmeade tonight. Any other night, and I would not have to. But now... I have no choice, I hope you understand."

"If you're going to kill me, I wish you'd hurry up about it. You didn't give Praedam this soliloquy, and you've known him much longer."

"He was an old man," scoffed Silth. "He ought to have known better. You are a young man and your recklessness is excusable. But it's of little consequence, and it does not change what must be done. It's regrettable but necessary. Avada..."

"Stupefy!"

Silth fell forward onto James's back. James moved quickly out of the way and the unconscious body of his professor fell to the dirt ground. The Head Boy looked up to see Korcesh standing over him with his wand still raised. He looked thoroughly hassled.

"Er... thanks," said James a little awkwardly, for he wasn't entirely sure what was proper etiquette in such situations.

"Of course," replied Korcesh, hastily bending down and rolling Silth over onto his back. "You should hurry up to the castle," he added, as the crowd began to swarm over in this direction.

James nodded and moved once more up the path, back towards the school.

The Common Room was noisy and crowded, and for the second time that day, Lily found herself annoyed with everything and everyone in it. She got to her feet and, picking up her jacket, left through the Portrait Hole with the vague idea of going for another walk. Her last one had been a great source of amusement for her, after all.

In the corridor, Lily put on her jacket as she walked aimlessly towards the stairwell. She wandered for a bit, not paying attention to her direction until she found herself on the marble staircase in the Entrance Hall. She was just debating whether or not to go outside when she was accosted by (almost literally) the last person she expected.

"James?" she asked uncertainly. Hadn't she seen him go up to bed an hour earlier?

Nevertheless, James Potter himself was hurrying in her direction and he bore an expression that Lily had never seen on him. Sweat was bleeding through his sport t-shirt, his face was flushed, and in his usually mischievous hazel eyes there was now a glint of fear.

"Lily!" observed James, evidently surprised himself. "Oh, Merlin... where's McGonagall? Have you seen her?"

"Er... no, I... James, what's the matter with you?"

"Praedam," said James, breathing heavily and speaking in a distracted manner. "God, I have to find McGonagall." He tried to push past her, but Lily grabbed his wrist.

"Wait, James! What's happened? Tell me!"

James turned and looked at her oddly. "Praedam's dead."

"What?"

"Praedam is dead," he repeated. "Silth did it."

"Oh, my... where?"

"Hogsmeade."

"Hogsmeade? James, what...?" Lily paused, trying to figure things out. "C'mon," she said at last. "We'll find McGonagall, but tell me everything."

They hurried up the stair in the direction of McGonagall's office. James retold all the details of Silth's conversation with Praedam: how Silth had led the other to a spot outside the main town area, how he had killed Praedam, then tried to make it look like suicide, how Korcesh had arrived, and how Korcesh had saved him from near death at Silth's hands.

"Are you alright?" asked Lily, her heart beating fast as they arrived at McGonagall's office.

"I'm fine," James promised. "Nothing happened to me." He knocked on the door.

"Shouldn't we go to Dumbledore?" Lily inquired doubtfully.

"He's not here right now," James said, knocking again. "Korcesh told me," he added, answering Lily's questioning look. He knocked again, but still McGonagall did not appear.

"Professor?" called Lily loudly. "Professor McGonagall? Are you there?" They waited for an answer, but none came. "I don't think she's in there," said the Head Girl definitively. "Have you got that map of yours?"

"It's in a closet on the sixth floor at the moment..."

"Should I even ask?"

"No."

"Alright, let's go get the map and try to find some..."

"No," said James suddenly. "Red, when I said that none of my memories had come back from the forest, I lied."

"You... wait, what?"

"I said I hadn't remembered anything, but that wasn't true. I don't remember much... only a few flashes of things here and there, but..."

"I lied too," Lily interrupted. "But I've remembered a lot more. Almost everything, I think. I was planning on telling Dumbledore when I could remember more... when I could remember who had done that to me."

James nodded. "That's what I was hoping for. Something is going on in the clearing tonight. Whoever modified our memories—the bloke that Silth called 'The Foreigner' is planning to meet Silth there, but Silth won't show up."

"Did you tell this to Korcesh?"

"I didn't have time. I had to get up here... anyway, your memories are better fixed than mine. Would you be able to find the way to the clearing from what you've remembered?"

Lily shook her head; "I don't think so... at least... not without a pensieve."

James swore quietly. "And I doubt we could get into Dumbledore's office without him here."

"No, we couldn't," Lily agreed. "But there might be another way... listen, I think I can get a pensieve, but I've got to do it alone. Without you, definitely."

"What are you going to do?" asked James warily.

"I'm going to ask Snape for his."

"Snape? Are you crazy?"

"Probably. I don't know. But I think he has one. I tried to get him to let me use it once before, but I think I can do it this time."

"What makes you think...?"

"I don't know, but I've got to try. Go find McGonagall and tell her everything. I'll go get use of Snape's pensieve, and I'll write directions down. I'll give the directions to McGonagall or Aurors or something, and they can catch whoever 'The Foreigner' is, okay?

James still looked hesitant. "I don't like the idea of Snape knowing about all this."

"That doesn't matter," dismissed Lily. "I'll try to make it so he doesn't catch on too much, but he already knows something about the forest."

"What? How?"

"I don't know. I tried to tell you at New Years, but you wouldn't..."

"Alright, alright, I get the picture. We have to hurry up."

"Right. Er... see you in a bit then."

They were about to depart, when James added, his mind clearly not at rest: "How will you find Snape?"

"I know where I can find someone who'll be able to get him for me."

"You're sure?"

"Positive. Just go..."

"Alright. Good luck."

"You too."

And the two parted ways. Lily hurried towards the stair that led upwards. She needed to get to the Astronomy Tower.

If there was one thing you could count on at Hogwarts, it was that on any given night when there were no Astronomy classes, you had at least a seventy-five to eighty percent chance of finding Olivia Malfoy in the Astronomy Tower with her latest boy toy. Lily only hoped she would not find Olivia in a position that would later force the Head Girl to gauge her eyes out.

She ascended the tower stairway, but listened carefully at the door. Once certain that there were no "Leave now!" warning sounds, Lily pushed open the door and entered. There were several couples that had chosen the Astronomy tower as a rendezvous spot tonight (none of whom noticed the new arrival), and it took a moment to locate the person Lily needed now.

Olivia—a pale-faced brunette—was currently glued to a sixth year Slytherin that Lily did not know. She did not care to know either, as he was not Snape, and the redhead walked directly over to them. She tapped Olivia on the shoulder several times before the Slytherin girl detached herself.

"What do you want, Mudblood?" she asked once she spotted Lily, surprise mixing in with her disgust. She was evidently in her usual lovely mood.

"You're going to do me a favor, Olivia," Lily told her.

"I don't think so." She began to start again on her date, but Lily grabbed her shoulder.

"I do think so, because it is my duty to make sure there is no one using the Astronomy Tower for anything but class after eight o'clock. Guess what: it's 8:30."

"There's about twelve other people here!" Olivia pointed out furiously.

"Really?" Lily looked about benignly. "I hadn't noticed."

"You can't just punish me! McGonagall wouldn't stand for it!"

"I don't need to go to McGonagall. Snogging in the Astronomy Tower is on Filch's Forbidden List, and, as I'm sure you know, the violation of any rule on Filch's Forbidden List is punishable by the immediate deduction of up to fifty house points and detention. You just lost the Quidditch Cup for Slytherin... do you really want to lose the House Cup? How about all your Friday nights till the end of the year?"

Olivia fully detached herself from her date. "I'll see you later, Geoff," she said, not taking her eyes off Lily.

"I'm Ivan..."

"Whatever—just get lost."

Ivan skulked away, and Olivia put her hands on her hips. "Alright, Mudblood, what do you want?"

"It's real simple," said Lily coolly. "I want you to go into your Common room and get Severus Snape for me."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"What if he's not there?"

"Then you'll go see if he's in his dormitory—it wouldn't be the first time you've been there, I'm sure."

"Oh 'cos you're Miss Virtue. Okay, I'll do it..." Olivia then added a rather offensive name under her breath. It did not actually offend Lily, however, any more than she would be offended if a six-year-old called her "stupid."

"Same to you," replied the Gryffindor sweetly. "Lead the way, Olivia Dearest." And Olivia, with a venomous glare, complied.

"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good," announced James to the Marauders' Map. He was standing outside the closet on the sixth floor with the map, having left the cloak inside. Since he was planning to see McGonagall immediately, he did not want to be caught carrying it around when he met with her. As the map took form, he scanned it quickly for either his Transfiguration teacher or another member of the staff he trusted.

He spotted "Minerva McGonagall," or the dot that represented her anyway first. She was shown to be walking down the fourth floor corridor. James wiped the map clean and then hastily made for the stair. He only made it to fifth floor landing, however, when he met with—not McGonagall—but Filch.

"Potter," growled the caretaker. "It's after hours... you should be in your dormitory. Looks as if I'll have to give you a detention." He looked overtly gleeful.

"Listen, Sir," said James quickly; "I've got to see McGonagall. It's very important; I've got to speak with her!"

"About what?"

"It's... it's about something that happened. Please, sir, I've got to get to Professor McGonagall."

Filch smiled evilly, clearly enjoying this thoroughly. "You're lying, boy."

"I'm not!"

"Then prove it. Tell me what you're on about."

James did not see any way out of the situation, and he figured Filch would find out eventually anyway. "Professor Silth murdered Praedam," he blurted out. "In Hogsmeade. Tonight. I need to tell..."

"How did you get to Hogsmeade?" Filch interrupted.

"There's a passageway on the sixth floor that I'd be absolutely delighted to show you some time, if..."

"Now."

"But, sir!"

"Show me, and I'll let you find McGonagall."

James considered this for a moment, then decided that, once again, he had no choice but to submit. "Come on then," he snapped, ignoring politeness. "Hurry, too." He led the way as fast as Filch could follow up the stair and along the corridor, until they arrived at the broom cupboard. "It's in there; the back wall... just tap it and say 'ostenda.' Then there's a passage."

The Head boy turned to leave, when Filch barked: "One last thing, Potter." James rotated back apprehensively. "Turn out your pockets."

"Sir..."

"Turn out your pockets, boy!"

James was in too much of a hurry to care. He pulled out the blank parchment that was the Marauders' Map and handed it to Filch.

"What's this?" the caretaker demanded.

"It's a birthday present," snapped James hurriedly. With that, he turned and sprinted down the corridor back to the stairway before Filch could further interrogate him.

Professor McGonagall was nowhere to be found on the fourth floor, but James had suspected that this might be the case. He continued down to the third floor, and the second, and when he came to the marble staircase above the Entrance Hall, he still had not found the Deputy Headmistress, or anyone else for that matter.

"James?"

James looked about and saw Keira Brighton, auror for the Ministry of Magic and former Hogwarts student, coming into the room from the Great Hall next door. She had been with Korcesh on the Hogwarts Express at the beginning of the year and stayed around with the other aurors in charge of protecting the school.

Relieved at a familiar face, James exhaled in relief, saying: "Bright! Thank Merlin! I need to talk to you... Praedam's been..."

"Killed. Yes, I know. I've been sent to look for you actually."

"For me? Why?"

"You've been through a lot tonight, James," said Bright, uncharacteristically gentle, as she approached him. "I've been told to make sure you get to bed alright. You'll be questioned in the morning."

"Bright, last time I went to bed with information, I woke up with out it."

"You'll be perfectly safe, James," promised the young auror. "Besides the Ministry, no one knows you saw Silth kill Praedam, right?"

"But Korcesh doesn't kn..."

"Mr. Korcesh is with Silth now. He'll find out everything he needs to know—a very accomplished wizard, Gilbert Korcesh is."

"Bully for him, but..."

"Come on, James," said Bright, trying to steer him up the stairs. "You should get some sleep."

"Bright..."

"Come along, James."

He was helpless yet again to control the situation, and the Head Boy, more than a little bit angry, pulled his arm away from Bright's grasp. Nevertheless, he grudgingly followed her lead back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Thank you, Olivia Darling."

Olivia sent Lily her ninth cold glare of the evening, before stalking back into her Common Room. Severus Snape was left alone in the corridor with Lily, looking thoroughly bewildered and not a little irritated. True to Snape nature, he was glaring as he spoke.

"What do you want, Mudblood?"

"Severus, I don't have time for you to be difficult," said Lily, speaking very quickly. "I need to use your pensieve."

"I've already told..."

"...Me that you are an impossible person to deal with. So true. Listen, this isn't just for me, Severus. The whole school is at risk now!" Snape said nothing. "Please," continued Lily, sincerity shining in her eyes; "I'm begging, Severus. I've got to use a pensieve."

"You do, or Potter does?"

"I do. Potter... Potter doesn't even know I'm here!" Admittedly, a small lie, but Lily did not have time to feel guilty.

"What do you need to see? What's so important about it?"

"I... I can't tell you exactly..."

Snape did not even need to say anything this time. His eyes alone communicated that unless she gave him something more, he would not let her within a ten-yard radius of the pensieve.

"Alright," sighed the redhead. "I... I need to look into my own memories. I need to be able to find my way to a certain place, so I need to be able to look back at the last time I was there... from the third person. You're the only person I know for sure who has a pensieve, except Dumbledore."

"Where is this place you 'have' to see?"

"Severus..."

"Where is it?"

Lily exhaled deeply, conscious of the fact that James would be more than slightly livid if he heard what she was about to tell Snape. "In the Forbidden Forest." The Slytherin's eyes flashed as only his could.

"I knew it," he said, coolly victorious.

"Will you let me?" pleaded Lily, taking a step closer. "It's very important."

Snape paused, a strange look in his eyes as if he was not in the same room—not even on the same planet—as Lily. Then he said in his usual sharp drawl: "You can use the pensieve..." Lily breathed again; "...on one condition."

The Head Girl could not shake the feeling of foreboding as she asked cautiously: "What's that?"

"I get to see the memory too."

"You mean... come with me?"

Snape nodded.

Lily weighed her options. James would not like this, she knew, but it did not look like she had a choice. Breathing heavily and feeling she would regret it very soon, Lily also nodded. "It's a deal."

Well, they could make him go to the Common Room, but they could not make him go to his dormitory. And even if they could, they could not make him sleep. And even if they could, they could certainly not make him happy about it. In that James found solace, while he sat before the fireplace in Gryffindor Tower, sulking. Redival was sitting in the corner with a sixth year boy, casting pointed glares at James in between loud laughs. Apparently, everything this bloke said was hilariously funny.

James found that he did not really care.

At the moment, all he could think about was what to do next. No one would listen to him now that he was supposed to sit like a good boy in the Common Room, while the grown-ups dealt with everything. It was so grossly unfair.

"Prongs, mate," said Peter, coming over to his fellow Marauder. "You look tired. You might want to get to bed..."

"I'm not tired and I don't want to go to bed, Wormtail," James snapped; "You look unarmed and might want to leave me alone if you don't want to go to bed without any limbs." Peter caught the drift and, shrugging, went over to talk to Frank Longbottom.

James noticed that Frank did not look incredibly excited at the moment, and he seemed to welcome warmly Peter's company. His party up till then consisted only of himself and Gwen Avarius—his new girlfriend apparent. She looked almost as bored as he did. Almost.

Watching the flames dance in the fireplace before him, James leaned back on the couch. No one else had joined him there and he had the fire to himself. They had apparently noticed that he was not in a mood to be bothered. However, most of the other Gryffindors attributed his mood to Redival's unsubtle flirtations with the sixth year. James did not care one way or the other what anyone thought, but rather cast his thoughts back to the village where Silth was undoubtedly being questioned at that moment. He almost smiled at how off he and Lily had been. The two—Praedam and Silth—had been working together all this time; neither had been trustworthy. The two Head students had both been right in that sense. But Silth... Silth was working for Voldemort. He was the spy. He must have managed to smuggle "The Foreigner" (whoever that was) into Hogwarts. Perhaps that was part of his job. Perhaps "The Foreigner" had taken a Pollyjuice Potion to pretend to be Silth and gain access to the school. It must have been he that had modified Lily and James's memories, though the "how" was still an unanswered question.

But one other question remained—the lingering question that James had not been able to solve all year. What did Voldemort want with Hogwarts? Evidently, he did not want to close it. He did not even want to take over. How did "The Foreigner" and Silth and everything else fit in with Voldemort's initial attack on the Hogwarts Express? James's head was beginning to hurt again... a deep ache from the core of his head.

"James?"

The Head Boy looked up to see Lexi Shaw standing over him. "Er... yeah?"

"Sorry to interrupt your thinking experience there, but have you seen Lily around?"

"Er... no. Why would I have seen her?" He may have spoken a little too hastily to be convincing, but that didn't seem to matter. If the chaser noticed, she did not comment on it.

Lexi shrugged. "You tell us. Only, she went for a walk fifteen minutes ago and hasn't come back."

"I don't know where she is." This was at least partially true. He didn't technically know exactly where she was at that very moment.

"No? Well that's strange..." Lexi had an odd, knowing look in her eyes as she said it.

"What is?"

"Well, they're telling everyone to get into their Common Rooms aren't they? But she's no where to be found..."

"Mmmm... 'guess they just haven't caught up with her yet."

"'Suppose so..." Lexi made to leave, then turned back and added. "Why do you reckon they want everyone in the Common Rooms? You're Head Boy... if anyone would know, it would be you... has something happened?"

"What would have happened? And anyway, it's after curfew, so we're supposed to be in our Common Rooms no matter what, right?"

Lexi raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, that's true." She did not look wholly convinced. In fact, she did not look even a little bit convinced. Still, she did not further question him. "Goodnight, James," she said simply. "And nice catch, yesterday, by the way."

She departed to sit with Paul once again, and James was left to ponder the mystery that was Lexi Shaw. He was growing impatient and was not sure how much longer he could stand just sitting here, waiting. If only Lily would hurry up...

Lily looked about uncertainly. "You're sure no one else will come in here?"

"No one ever comes down here," Snape told her, a little irritably. It was to be expected, however. He watched her carefully as she looked about the dungeon he had brought her to. It was dark, lit only by a few torches. He placed the basin of silvery liquid on the table, but did not say anything for some time.

"You ready then?" Lily asked eventually, drawing her wand. Snape raised his heavy eyebrows and the Head Girl could only assume that was an affirmative answer. She pointed her wand at her own temple and, muttering the spell she had looked up weeks before, pulled out a long silver strand of memory. She led the memory to the silver liquid and looked inside. There was the foggy image of trees, but not much else.

"You go first," Snape ordered. Lily made a face at his commanding tone, but reached out and touched the liquid's surface. There was the familiar pulling sensation in her stomach and Lily found herself falling as she had months earlier in Dumbledore's pensieve onto the grassy bank of the lake. Snape followed a moment later.

Lily got to her feet, surveying the scene about her. Everything was as it ought to have been. The trees stayed put and as Peter climbed out of the water, he was properly soaked. The Head Girl smiled unconsciously.

"What's so funny?" Snape wanted to know.

"Nothing, nothing," dismissed Lily. She pulled out from her jacket pocket the bit of parchment and auto-ink quill she had brought with her.

The memory-Lily was approaching James (to which Snape rolled his eyes), and the real-Lily observed the minute changes in the Head Boy. In the present day, his hair was longer and he seemed a bit taller; Lily did not suspect these differences to be due to a defective memory, though, but rather to the elapsing of eight months.

That was not all that had changed over the last eight months, Lily knew, as she watched the memory-James stroll over to pull Peter up. In September, she had loathed James with everything she was. Now... well now she was just confused. She did not hate him, of that she was certain, but James always had invoked emotion in her and he still did. Lily was simply confused as to how that could be if the emotion was not antipathy. These thoughts so distracted the Head Girl that she forgot that Snape was standing next to her. She did not realize that he was watching her with cold eyes, as her own eyes followed the memory-James's movements.

"...shit!" swore the Head Boy, jumping out of the way of a hex; numerous hexes began to rain down on the bank. Snape smirked. Lily rolled her eyes.

The two seventh years watched as Lily pulled James and Peter after her into the forest. "We should keep up," Snape told her needlessly, and they hurried after the three. Lily scribbled on her paper all sorts of notes about the path that her memory self—along with Peter and James—was taking. She made sure to record every twist in their path, how long they ran specifically, and any unusual physical features that caught her eye. She also made mental notes (which she did not write down) of things she had not realized when they had actually occurred... James helping her up twice when she tripped, for example.

It was hard to keep up with the other Lily, James, and Peter at first, but after about a quarter of an hour, the memory versions stopped for a rest and Snape and Lily managed to make it till then. Snape now spoke for the first time since they had started the pursuit.

"Where are your shoes?"

It took a moment for Lily to realize what he was talking about.

"Oh, they were left on the platform. I had to take them off..." Snape snorted. "Don't laugh... it was a serious situation. I got attacked by a death eater."

"What did the death eater do?" Snape asked, not sounding any less amused.

Lily did not answer, because she thought it sounded a little melodramatic to tell him the truth: the Cruciatus Curse. The Slytherin did not press her for answers however, and instead they listened to a bit of the conversation.

"What? What's the matter?" Peter was asking, frightened.

"Nothing," the eight-month-younger Lily groaned sarcastically. "We're just lost in the indefinitely large Forbidden Forest."

"Oh."

"Okay, let's think calmly," said James, clearly not doing so himself. "We know the forest pretty well, right Wormtail?"

"You would," Lily heard Snape murmur. She looked curiously over at him, but he did not notice. He pretended not to, in any case.

"Well... we just have to think calmly..." James repeated.

"You said that already," said a cheeky Lily.

"Shut up, Red. I'm trying to think."

"Operative word being 'trying.'"

The real Lily could not help being a little embarrassed by this bit of dialogue. Was she really that annoying? She blushed a little and made a note to watch it with the sarcasm in the future.

Another bit of banter followed, then the group began to walk back in the direction they had come from. Lily and Snape followed, glad to be walking instead of running. She continued to take notes, but he did not persist in his silence.

"Your memories are very dull," the Slytherin told her after a brief period.

"This isn't my most lively one, believe me," murmured Lily, not looking up from where she was scribbling a note on her parchment. "But it might be my most important."

Snape raised his eyebrows at the forest surroundings. "That's rather sad."

Lily smiled and shook her head. "Such a pessimist."

"...And Harrighagen said the best strategy for a seeker- under any circumstances- is fly... and fly fast," the memory-James was saying. The real Lily noticed it no longer made her head twinge.

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" the memory-Lily was demanding.

"A fair question," Snape noted.

Lily—the real Lily—smirked and said, at the exact same time James—the memory James—said: "It's poetic."

"It's Quidditch," corrected memory-Lily.

"It's stupid," said Snape.

"It's so very James," observed real-Lily.

"So he's 'James' is he?" Snape mocked vituperatively. "You've joined the fan club like the other flaky girls. The Great Potter... oh, everyone loves him and his wonderful Quidditch playing... bloody tosser. Doesn't know up from down... head as empty as a cauldron. Implanted ideas..."

If Lily had been paying attention, she would probably have interrupted Snape's rant with a snappy retort, but she was too busy looking ahead of where the figures of her memory were walking. They were all of three yards behind the tree that they were about to duck behind. The Real-Lily stopped walking.

"Well... er... we can go now," she said hastily to Snape, interrupting his torrents of "Precious Potter... so wonderful..."

"This is the place where you needed to get to?" he asked in a much more rational voice.

"Well... yeah. Sure."

Snape raised his eyebrows, unconvinced, and turned to look at where James, Lily, and Peter were peering around the tree. As the memory-Lily snuck around to peer around the next tree, Snape turned back, the corners of his thin mouth curving into a sneer, and looked at the real Lily.

"What doesn't Mudblood Evans want me to see?"

"What's none of your business!" replied Lily coolly.

"But it's my pensieve. It is my business."

He took a step forward, but Lily grabbed his wrist and, concentrating hard, she found herself landing on the dungeon floor a moment later. Snape was next to her, and he looked angry.

"The condition was..." he began heatedly, but Lily interrupted.

"The condition was that you would be able to see the memory with me. There was no contractual article stating you got to see whatever the hell you wanted from my head." Snape glared, but the Head Girl ignored him. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to..."

"Why did you need that memory?"

"I told you."

"Why did you need to get to that place in the forest?"

"That's none of your business."

"It has to do with Potter, doesn't it? You two are sneaking about, playing detectives. I should warn you not to—you're getting in over your head."

"I don't know what you're..."

"That's not true, Evans. I would suggest you listen to me. It's for your own good." His eyes flashed darkly. Lily simply stared at him stonily.

"If you'll excuse me," she repeated coldly, and she turned and hurried out of the dungeon.

Redival took the seat next to James.

James looked over at her, surprised.

"Hey," she said gently.

"Er... hi..."

"James, it's really sad that you're sitting here, moping like this."

"I wasn't..."

"...But at the same time, it's really sweet."

"It... it is?"

"Yes. I mean, it shows how good our relationship is, doesn't it?"

James stared at her for almost a full minute. She was smiling cheerfully at the "goodness of their relationship." He was waiting for her to break and say "April Fools!" but when she did not, he wondered if she was expecting him to.

"Well, er... Redival..."

"And James, I want you to know, I don't blame you for Sirius and Rachel breaking up. I hope you didn't think that I did."

"I... I really don't know where I could get such an idea."

Redival seemed to miss the sarcasm. "Well, anyway. They're back together now, and everything will be just fine. It'll be just like it was before. And I completely forgive you for yelling at me any everything by the lake... oh, you don't need to say anything. It's fine. Everything's going to be great now."

James was rather glad that he apparently did not need to say anything, because he was thoroughly incapable of it at the moment. He wasn't quite sure what to say, but he knew there was something that must be said. This couldn't be right. It just couldn't be. She was accepting his apology, for one thing, and he had not even apologized.

"I'm so tired," yawned the blonde, before he could compose his thoughts into articulate sentences. "I got up so early and I didn't sleep so well last night... I had a headache this morning, too. I drank last night, you know. A shot of Firewhiskey... Merlin, it does things to your head."

James nodded, confused.

"I'd better get some sleep," continued Redival. "Goodnight." She leaned over and kissed him most unchastely on the lips. James only barely had time to reciprocate (he was still wondering how it was earthly possible to get a headache from one shot of Firewhiskey or go to bed prior to nine o'clock), before she rose and walked up to her dormitory.

James sat very still after she had gone, trying to figure out what had just happened, when the sarcastic voice of Lily Evans interrupted him. "Enjoying yourself?" Her hands were on her slim hips and her eyebrows were raised.

"Where've you been?" James asked hastily in a loud whisper, getting to his feet and ignoring her question.

"Busy."

"With Snape? Well now I know how you expected to get the pensieve..."

"Well clearly I haven't been as busy as you have," snapped Lily. "It was very generous of you and Redival to give those first years a demonstration of how babies are made."

"Oh, shut up. Did you get the directions? Well, did you?"

"I thought I was supposed to shut up."

"I generally don't hit girls, but you're sorely tempting me."

"Tell me, James, do you hit Redival?"

"No, I... now that's really just unnecessary, Red."

"Can I help it if you see innuendoes in everything?"

James rolled his eyes. "Let's just... concentrate on the issue at hand, okay?"

"Who's not concentrating?"

"And I'm supposed to be the immature one."

"You are."

"Alright, whatever. Just let me... let me see the directions."

"What do you say?"

"I say give me the sodding directions."

Lily handed him the parchment from her pocket. "Someone's in a bad mood."

"That would be me..." muttered James, while reading over the Lily's hurried scrawl. "You couldn't have... drawn a map or something?"

"Not very easily... it was hard enough what I did. Anyway, did you talk to McGonagall?"

"Well," said James slowly. "There's been a slight hitch in the proceedings."

"A hitch," Lily repeated.

"Yeah, a hitch."

"Define 'hitch.'"

"Problem, drawback, glitch. Need I go on?"

"I mean, is that a 'hitch' as in you've got a splinter in your toe, or a 'hitch' as in the Forbidden Forest has exploded?"

"It's a 'hitch' as in we can't tell the Aurors about this."

Lily was visibly surprised by this. "I guess that would fall closer to the second category. But if you don't mind my asking—why the hell not?"

"They won't listen to me, and probably not you, either. They just want all the students in the Common Rooms, because Korcesh is dealing with it in the Village."

"But you were there!" cried Lily, rather loudly so that James had to hush her. "But you were there!" she repeated, in a much quieter tone. "Don't they want to question you?"

"Bright—that's, Keira Brighton; she's an Auror—said they were going to question me in the morning. She wouldn't listen to a word I said... I couldn't get to McGonagall or anyone."

"But the last time you went to bed with a memory, you woke up without it!"

"That's exactly... well almost exactly... what I said!"

People were beginning to stare and it was Lily who first noticed this. "Er... but... but I can't have a head meeting tomorrow!" she said, loudly enough for everyone to hear. I'll have homework and studying and... other stuff... to do..." She broke off, having run out of things to say.

"Wha...? Oh. Oh! Well... um... I didn't have anything to do with planning it! I couldn't stop it! McGonagall just chose that..."

"You know what? I don't care what you have to say Potter!"

"Well... fine... I'll just... write down—write down the time... the time of the meeting for you! Seeing as you're... er... stupid... and will probably forget... and..."

"You do that!"

"I will."

"Good."

"Great... er... got any parchment?"

Lily rolled her eyes and provided a bit of the paper that was left over from the trip in the pensieve. "Here's something to write with as well..." She offered the auto-ink quill.

"It's tiny," observed James, taking it.

"Pocket size."

"Very nice."

"Thank you."

He scribbled something hastily on the parchment and then handed it to her. "I'm going to bed," he informed her in an artificially cool voice, which came off very convincing. "Goodnight, Evans."

"Goodnight, Potter," she snapped in reply. Once he was gone, Lily sat down on the sofa and read the note.

"Go to your dormitory and stay there. I'll be by in an inconspicuous manner soon. Make sure your roommates are not there."

Lily folded the parchment up and pocketed it, looking around. Eden had gone to bed quite early... hopefully she would be asleep. Lexi and Alice were still in the Common Room, and though Rachel was absent from the scene, Lily was fairly certain that she was not up in the dormitory.

The Head Girl was walking toward the stair, when Lexi came over.

"Hey, we were looking for you," said the dark-haired girl. "Where were you?"

"I went for a walk," shrugged Lily.

"Long walk."

"There was a lot to think about."

Lexi nodded. "Listen, is Eden okay?"

"What... what do you mean?" Lily mentally slapped herself for the terrible cover.

"We didn't see her all day, then Black and Rachel show up, then she shows up utterly normal, talks with you, and goes to bed. Something's going. We get it if you can't explain it to us, so all we want to know is... is she okay?"

Lily nodded slowly. "Yeah," she said honestly. "She's fine."

"Fine about everything? Fine about Sirius and Rachel?"

Lily nodded again. "Mhm."

Lexi watched her friend carefully for a moment, then, brushing her curtain of black hair out of her eyes, said: "Alright. Are you going up to bed?"

"Yeah, I was thinking about it. I'm still exhausted from last night."

"'Kay then. Farewell. Goodnight. All that jazz."

"Goodnight, Lex."

Lexi returned to Paul again, and Lily was left with a clear path to the dormitory. She took the stair up to the room, pushing thoughts of Lexi and Eden out of her mind, and wondering how Potter planned to get to her into the Girls' Dormitory. Boys were generally unable to get in there; this was common knowledge. He certainly would not be able to use the stair, for the Founders had fixed it so only those of the female sex could climb it. However, James was not exactly the typical boy. The Founders could not have anticipated James Potter when they made ground rules.

The dormitory was quiet. Lily tiptoed over to Eden's bed and whispered her friend's name. There was no answer. Lily peaked inside the curtains and saw that her friend was, in fact, fast asleep. She privately marveled over the gift Eden must possess, for Lily knew that she herself could not naturally fall asleep before ten o'clock, no matter how tired she was.

She checked Rachel's bed for good measure and the bathroom, but both were empty. Then, because she did not know what she could do, Lily sat down at the vanity and waited for James to "come by in an inconspicuous manner." A few minutes passed and he did not come.

Lily, wondering if it was all some kind of trick—because that was exactly the type of thing James would do—, got to her feet. She walked to the door and was about to go to the boys' dormitory, when she heard someone call her name. The alien voice was coming from behind Lily, however, and she wheeled around hastily to see who was in her dormitory.

"Lily!" repeated James Potter's voice, and she jumped.

"How the hell...?"

She spotted him. He was not in her dormitory. He was outside the window.

"Oh my Merlin!"

Lily darted to the window to see exactly how he had managed this. He was (and she knew she should have suspected it) hovering on his broom, looking mildly ridiculous and telling her to hurry up.

"Hurry up what?" she demanded, hands on her hips. "I'm not getting on that thing with you."

"Are you afraid, Red?" asked James, either irritated or amused. Or both.

"Not of flying, no. But I've seen you fly—there is no way in hell I am going to get on that broom with you."

"We won't be playing sodding Quidditch. Move out of the way, alright?"

Hesitantly, Lily moved out of James's way, pulling the curtains with her. It was lucky they had left the window open. Eden always liked to. James, very carefully, steered the broom through the window. Once landed on the floor, he gestured for Lily to come over. Thankful she had elected to wear jeans today, rather than a skirt, Lily reluctantly walked over to where he had landed.

"In front or behind?"

The Head girl raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Do you want to sit in front on the broom, or behind me?"

"Behind you, thanks."

"Well come on, then."

It was a little tricky getting them both on properly, but when they were situated, James said: "Remember to duck your head when we go out the window... you'd better hold my waist, since you won't be able to stay on just holding the broom. Don't hold too tight. Ready?"

"Yeah." She wrapped her arms around his waist, ignoring the slight increase of her heart rate. James kicked off, and the rush nearly overcame her as she gripped tighter to James. They maneuvered out the window with relative ease (Lily remembered to duck), but once they were outside, it was heaven.

The cold air bit at her face, but it felt indescribably refreshing. Her hair, she knew, would be a disaster when they landed, but that meant little to her now.

James, being James, could not fly just normally. He leaned forward on the broomstick and looped around one of the castle towers. Lily gasped a little at the sudden jolt in her stomach, and then kicked James in the ankle.

"Stop trying to scare me!"

"Who's trying?"

She kicked him again. "C'mon... we need to get to the forest without the whole castle seeing us."

James sighed but steered the broom back on course. When the landed, an idea struck him. "Couldn't we fly over the forest to find the clearing?"

"Do you think we could see it up there? The trees cover it pretty well, if you remember."

The Head Boy nodded. "Well, it was just a thought. Where do we enter? Wait a minute—I have to deal with this..." He held up their mode of transportation. Lily nodded.

James looked at it thoughtfully for a moment, then raised his wand and placed the broom on the ground. He brought his arm around in a complicated swishing motion and muttered something under his breath. Lily could not help but be impressed, as Transfiguration was not her best subject (though not her worst), by the ordinary tree branch that had replaced the sleek broomstick.

"I'll come back for it later..." James explained, picking it up. He hurried over to Hagrid's hut, which was nearby, and placed it flat on the ground next to the wall. No one was likely to notice it, but he would be able to find it. He returned to Lily and repeated: "Where do we enter?"

Lily already had her directions out and read the first bit. "I guess... hmmm... well, it would be a little farther that way." She pointed ahead and James followed her, as they jogged along to where Lily pointed. "Does this look right to you?" she asked, surveying the spot.

James thought carefully about what the scene had looked like when he had climbed out of the lake so many months ago. A jab of pain shot through his head.

His hand automatically flew to his forehead, and he massaged the front for a moment, shutting his eyes. It was worse than his hangover.

"It looks like the... are you alright, James?" Lily hurried over and looked at him carefully. When he did not answer, she repeated: "James! Are you alright?"

"Uh... yeah. Yeah, I'm okay... ish."

"A headache?"

He nodded.

"The memories are coming back more I guess. The forest must have spurred it, like it did when you said 'Harrighagen' way back when."

James nodded again, wincing.

"Alright. Can you... can you move?"

"Yeah, I'm... I'm fine... okay." He straightened up and they began to walk into the forest. James was trying to hide his pain—Lily could tell. He did not want her to know exactly how much agony he was going through right now, but she knew it was a lost cause. She had gone through at least the same thing the previous month. She had passed out because of it. She knew what he was going through, whether he wanted to admit it or not.

"Okay," she said slowly. "We just head straight for a while until we come to... Oh Merlin, James! Are you okay? No, you're not, so don't' even say you are."

James was on his knees. His hands hid his face and he was clearly muffling the shouts of pain that longed to be heard. He groaned and moved his hands away, trying to get to his feet, but not quite managing it.

"Don't, James," advised Lily quickly. "There's no way you can do this... it's hurting you too much..."

"No, I'm fine... I can..." he broke off and moaned in agony.

"I was in the hospital wing for nearly three days because of this... you won't be able to move. I'll... I'll take you back to the castle and go myself."

"N-n-no... you c-c-can't go yourself. You'll..."

"I'll be fine, James. C'mon... let's go. Just try to get to your feet and..."

"No," interrupted the Head Boy. "No, I'll... I can stay here. I'll catch up when I can m-m-m-move proper... properly."

"James Potter, I'm not going to leave you here."

"Go," snapped James through gritted teeth. "You've g-got to."

"Anything could happen to you! I can't leave you!"

"Y-y-yes, yes, you can! Go!"

"James, I..."

"G-Go now, Lily! This h-has to be done. W-w-we've got to find out what's happening here tonight. Someone's got to find... find out who the—who 'The Foreigner' is... who mod-modified Grossman's memories a-a-and ours. What... what V-Voldemort's planning... planning to do."

"James..."

"Go now... no, w-w-wait. Dupli...duplicate the p-p-parchment f-f-for me, so I can..." He could not finish the sentence, but Lily already knew what to do. She pointed her wand at the instructions and muttered a charm. Then, she pointed her wand at the air and a minute later, a piece of parchment exactly like the other appeared. Lily caught it as it began to fall and handed it to James.

"Listen, are you s...?"

"Go, Lily! There's... there's no time!"

Reluctantly and very near tears, Lily got to her feet. Her heart was racing. "You... Keep your wand out, okay?"

"GO!"

"James, I..."

"Leave n-n-now, Lil—Lily! J-just g-go!"

Feeling guilty and hating herself for it, Lily turned and hurried away. James watched her go for a few seconds, before she disappeared into the dark between the trees.

Note: voi la! Again, not my favorite. I don't know what's up with me. I did like some parts though. I liked with Lily told James off for "showing the first years how babies are made." Next chapter is pretty much done, but, as it's another cliffhanger, I want to make sure I'm well underway with Chapter 23 before I post it. If that makes sense. Anyway, I love the wonderful people who have reviewed thus far—you guys are fantastic :-P Much love and cookies

Signed-in reviewers have their kosher responses. Many thanks to the anonymous reviewer: the wonderful Karen (hahaha—I'll put your worries at rest, hon: if there's one thing I suck at, it's mushy fluff. One annoying thing in JL fanfiction is that they very frequently lose all appeal and chemistry (for me, anyway) once they get together. That is one thing I intend to avoid. There will be Lily-James-ness, but there is not ouch-my-tooth-hurts-sweet mush. Scouts honor. Thanks for the review :-P).

Eyes out for Chapter 22, titled as of now: "The Lady and The Night."

Cheers,
Jewels