Another Year Ends

Lily POV

"What? What do you mean?" Lily demanded as she stood in the dormitory with Alice and Marlene, packing the final bits of clothing into her large trunk with Marigold hooting softly from the top of her four-poster.

Alice looked surprised. "Dumbledore announced that Rawlings was leaving. She was only going to be here for a year to begin with, so she resigned earlier to- Lily!"

Lily was already out of the door, racing to catch Rawlings before she left.

Rawlings was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher she had ever had; she couldn't just leave because of a…a disagreement or whatever had happened. Dumbledore or McGonagall or somebody would stop her- there was so much more she could learn.

She spotter Peeves scrawling bad words on a suit of armor with red paint; Filch wasn't going to be happy, but Lily could care less about Peeves even if he blew a couple of raspberries at her as she passed.

Before she knew it, Lily was standing outside Rawlings' office and banging on the door.

"Come in," Rawlings' voice said, and Lily flung it open without hesitation.

"Professor, you're not leaving, are you?" was the first thing out of her mouth. Not even a 'Hi, how are you doing this morning?' or 'You doing anything interesting this summer?'.

Rawlings smiled sadly. "There's no need to call me Professor since I'm no longer your teacher. Besides, I've always felt like it made me older than I am."

"But who- what- why?" Lily spluttered.

Rawlings shrugged. "The real reason? There are some things that Dumbledore needs me to take care of. I was only going to be here for a year; don't want to break the jinx now, do we?"

"Is it Shiloh?" Lily asked, the words leaving her mouth before she could stop, and Lily regretted it the moment she saw the cheeriness in Rawlings' wide eyes replaced with alarm, something Lily had never seen her professor show. Rawlings had always been the strong and fearless; now there was a look that didn't belong in her eyes.

"Who told you about him?" Rawlings asked cautiously, and Lily noticed her voice tremble ever so slightly.

"I- I overheard you and Professor McGonagall talking about him right before the lesson with the Patronus Charm. You also mentioned somebody named Caradoc Dearborn."

Rawlings face was impassive, not giving the slightest hint as to what she was thinking, which, to Lily, was a little unnerving; she was usually pretty good at picking up people's feelings and thoughts, but now she was stuck trying to figure out a blank slate.

"Do not mention Shiloh to anybody- that includes Alice; I know you two are tied at the hip, Lily, but it must remain secret."

"Why?"

Rawlings strode closer, her eyes glinting. "Shiloh has something that could be disastrous if in the wrong hands, and it could end the lives of hundreds of people if you know how to talk to him."

Lily studied her teacher. No, Rawlings didn't just know him, that much was clear. The way she spoke, it was like there was a deep bond; she cared more for Shiloh himself than whatever he had. "How do you know him?"

Rawlings lips pressed together firmly in a thin line. "Shiloh Rawlings- he's my brother, so that part isn't much of a secret, but there are some things that have happened that aren't common knowledge. It's part of the reason I'm leaving; I have to keep a low profile. Trust me on this, Lily. Do. Not. Tell. Anybody."

Lily finally nodded, but the curiosity burned within her, her need for answers fighting furiously with her understanding that it was important for some pieces of knowledge to remain secret.

Rawlings offered her one small smile before taking her belongings and walking towards the door.

"Wait," Lily said as she stood in Rawlings' now empty office.

Rawlings paused.

"Please stay. You're the best teacher we've had," Lily begged one final time. She had learned so much from her, but Lily knew that there was a whole world out there, and one year of good instruction wasn't enough.

Rawlings patted her shoulder. "I'm sure you'll do fine. Besides, if you really do get that bad of a teacher, practice on your own. I know of a couple spots that are good, and I'm sure you're smart enough to figure things out."

Lily just stared at her feet without uttering a word.

"This won't be the last time we meet, Lily. I'll see you again soon." With that promise hanging in the air, Rawlings left while the brilliant morning sun shone through the open window.

Lily stood in her dormitory, surveying it one last time. The next time she would see wouldn't be for several months, not until she was a fourth year.

She was nearing her halfway point in her entire Hogwarts career, and it felt like only yesterday that McGonagall and Francis Manumali had showed up on her doorstep with her Hogwarts letter. Hundreds of lifetimes could have gone by since she and Severus had first met, when her magic was uncovered.

"Lily?" Alice said, poking her head in the door to the now empty dormitory. "Carriages are leaving in ten minutes."

Lily glanced at her dormitory one last time before following Alice out of the dormitory.

Gah! I know, I know! It's a short chapter, but I've been really busy, and I wanted to get just the little chapter where Rawlings leaves out there for all you lovely readers.

Before you ask: no, this is not the last time you'll see Rawlings. When I first started writing her character, I was planning on her being in the background, but I really like Rawlings. I was going to put the Shiloh storyline with some other characters until I realized just how awesome Rawlings is. I know that it sounds weird to say that you love a character that only you wrote about, but I really do enjoy writing the Lily/Rawlings friendship storyline. At least you have another clue as to what exactly is going on with Shiloh: you figured out he's Rawlings' brother, the two of them knew Stoughton, and Shiloh is in hiding for reasons that have yet to be explained.

Special thanks: 22potterfan, lynnnnyl, alcatluvr13, and Sarahrules336. Love you guys so much for the reviews!

Any questions, just head off to the comments section. Again, I'm sorry for such a short chapter, but please understand that I've been really busy.

You not so short in real life Muggle,

The-Short-Nerds-Of-The-12-Tall-Worlds