Whoa. You guys are just… whoa. I mean, I was exagereating when I said double the reviews. 45… you all are crazy, and I love you for it! So this chapter is freaking massive. Enjoy.
"I must speak with the Headmaster!"
"Nope," repeated the gargoyle, scratching its head idly, "y'need the p.w."
And she'd thought Black was annoying. "I really don't have time for this! Open!" If only it would just blow up or something—BOOM!
Pieces of stone and dust rocketed out, leaving the staircase clear. Once on the stars, Lily waved a hand at the statue, returning it to its original state. "Hey, you can't do that!" it called.
"Too late," Lily muttered to herself.
Before she could grasp the griffin knocker to Dumbledore's office, the door swung open. "Would I be wrong to assume that noise was you?"
Lily shook her head dumbly. "Come in." Lily slinked past Dumbledore and looked around in surprise. So it wasn't a secret torture room. However, the thing that caught her eye immediately was the magnificent phoenix in one corner.
Its scarlet feathers gleamed innocently in the new light, creating a halo around it. Piecing amber met Lily's searching eyes and she quickly averted them.
"Have a seat, Miss Evans." Dumbledore gestured to the chair opposite his own bigger one. "How may I be of service?"
"I need to know what this bracelet does," she said quickly. Dumbledore's eyebrows furrowed. Lily kept her face composed. "I've been called to meet with the Dark Lord in fifteen hours. I need to know."
"I apologize, Miss Evans. I do not know the details. Alastor created it." Dumbledore sighed. "Care for a lemon drop?"
"Well, then I already know what it'll do. May I be excused?" Lily muttered, ignoring the offer for the sweet.
Dumbledore didn't look ready to stop. "What do you think it will do?"
"They'll probably just get a message."
"Maybe, but let us Floo Alastor and see."
Lily had to hide a look of panic. "That will not be necessary, Headmaster. I don't need to know."
"Pish posh." Dumbledore moved to the large fireplace and took a gold pot into his wizened hands. He threw the glistening powder into the blazing fire. A wild pillar of emerald flame shot up. "Alastor, a word, please."
After a moment or two, Moody's gnarled face appeared in the flames. "What?" he asked brusquely, looking over his shoulder at whatever scene lay there. "Quickly please, Albus. Someone just brought in Dolohov."
"I only need a moment. Miss Evans was wondering about the function of the bracelet." Dumbledore moved aside in a swish violet robes to allow Moody full view of the room.
Moody raised the remains of his eyebrows and said, "Are you planning on escaping anytime soon?"
Lily swallowed her retort and murmured, "Of course not. However, I am meeting the Dark Lord tonight."
"See!" Moody exclaimed. "See? She just stands there and tells us she's about to betray us!"
"Alastor!" Dumbledore's blue eyes flashed behind his half-moon glasses. "Let her speak."
"He'll want to know where I've been and I have to give him an answer. Otherwise, he'll discover the truth."
"How?"
Moody was such a dolt. I dunno, torture, maybe? "He has his ways." Lily kept her answer as ambiguous as possible.
Moody rolled his eyes. "The whole point is to stop you from leaving school."
"I'm not sure she has a choice," Dumbledore said calmly. "We must accept the necessity of this meeting."
"But I-"
"It's not like I want to go," Lily muttered.
She bit her tongue when Moody looked at her. Floo connection must emphasize noises. "Then why are you going?"
Lily briefly entertained the idea of blowing him up. "I have to give him a reason why I didn't contact him," she repeated.
"Why not owl him?"
As Moody questioned her, Dumbledore moved back behind his desk and sat down. "Are we bothering you, sir?" Lily asked quickly. She didn't want to put herself in a position where she had to deal with an irritated Moody and Dumbledore.
"No, no," Dumbledore smiled lightly, "please continue."
Lily followed his orders. "He'll want to talk with me personally," Lily informed Moody. "Just let me take it off this one night."
With a frustrated growl, Moody ducked his head out of the fire. Then, in a roar of fire, he stepped out of the fireplace, lithe form covered in ashes. "C'mere."
Cautiously, Lily crossed the room to Moody. He grabbed her hand and waved his wand around the bracelet, muttered under his breath.
Lily was frozen as he finished the spell. One rule you learned when living with Voldemort was not make sudden movements around paranoid wizards, especially when they already had their wand pointed at you.
"There, it's off for the night. At dawn the spell returns." Moody dropped her hand and limped over to Dumbledore's desk.
"What happened?" Dumbledore exclaimed.
"…Tripped."
Lily took a slow step backwards. "I'd better get to Charms," she hinted.
"Thank you for stopping by," Dumbledore said pleasantly, and then returned his gaze to Moody.
Once out of the warm office, Lily hurried down the staircase, adjusting her bookbag on her back. At the bottom, she found the statue firmly back in place. "Move!" she commanded, and then looked back up the stairs to make sure they hadn't heard her.
"Shan't." The gargoyle sounded miffed. "You blew me up."
"Well, now you're fixed," Lily replied.
The gargoyle pushed its back farther into the entrance. "Me left ear's crooked now."
"Let me leave and I'll fix it."
"Promise?"
"Yes."
"Promise you promise?
"Yes!"
"No need to get snippy," the gargoyle moved aside. Lily slinked past him and moved down the corridor. "Hey, what about me ear?"
It was crooked to begin with, you great ugly beast! However, Lily didn't put it past the statue to tattle to the Headmaster, so she waved her wand and made the stone ear quaver and tilt up an inch.
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Even forgoing breakfast she barely made it to Charms in time. Lily took the empty seat next to Peter Pettigrew and looked to the teacher, Professor Murphie, a tall, slim woman with kohl-lined cocoa eyes and similar skin.
"Morning," the professor greeted, sipping from a mug in her hands.
Varied greetings were drawn from the class, though Lily was silent, as usual. "How was everyone's break? Short?" Affirmation in varying degrees of enthusiasm answered.
Murphie eyed the bleary-eyed class. "Alright, on your feet," she said, setting down her coffee mug. Robes shuffled as the class rose. "Now, lean to the right."
Lily did so half-heartedly. She had been up all night, unable to believe that she was back in her own bed.
Her body had not appreciated the lack of sleep, but still the Rosake Drought was seeping fierce strength into her muscles. She could feel it—it was not entirely unpleasant. Still, she knew that it was at a fragile state and that, though her magic would continue to increase, anything could knock her body down for a while.
Once this roller coaster state of the potion was over, though, she'd be unstoppable. She just had to wait.
"To the left." Lily leaned the other way slowly.
"Now jump in a circle while patting you head and rubbing your stomach." Lily obeyed calmly, but let her hands fall to her sides upon realizing she was the only one doing so successfully. The Marauders on her other side had not even attempted the exercise, preferring to chat casually.
"Alright, back down," Professor Murphie said, running a hand through her dark braids. Once the class had settled, she continued, "Now, I could bore you with a back-to-school lecture… or we could start on our next unit. What'd you say?"
"Next unit!" said Alice Prewett, eyes bright. She must have been extremely caffeinated to be so peppy on the first day back to school after Christmas.
"Alright, now, the Cutting Charm." Her dark eyes scanned the room. "Jenna, pass out the potatoes," she said, gesturing to a box on her desk.
This would be easy. Once Lily received her potato, she sat back in her chair. She would not draw attention to herself by finishing first. There was a quiet rustle of pages as the class turned to the number on the board.
"Er, Evans?" Pettigrew asked. Lily turned to him. Had the boys told him her secret? "Do you know what the page is?"
Lily pointed to the board. He flushed and looked back to his book. So the Marauders hadn't revealed her secret. But how long would it take them to? Another year? Another hour?
Looking around, she saw a few people had already gotten their vegetables sliced. Lily pulled out her wand made a jerky motion over the potato, which obediently fell into small creamy cubes. "Good technique," commented Murhpie as she strode by.
"How'd you do that?" Pettigrew sounded hopeless. His plump face was screwed tight in concentration as he poked his wand as the potato, which had turned purple.
"Ask Lupin," Lily suggested, pulling out her Potions textbook from her bag. She looked in back for the Advile Potion. She had a feeling she would need it after the night.
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Once the breathing of her roommates had slowed and evened into slumber, Lily slipped out of her bed and moved silently to her closet. After drawing out the solid black robes from the back and transfiguring a black sock into the uniform white mask, she stole out of the room.
Her sneakers made no sound on the rough stone stairs as she hurried down.
The ubiquitous crackling fire of Hogwarts blazed in the hearth, casting flickering shadows in the Common Room. "Evans?" A head of tousled black hair turned towards her in surprise.
"Potter," she acknowlged softly, continuing to the portrait hole.
"Hold up!" He rose to his feet. Lily glanced up the stairs to be sure his outburst hadn't woken anyone. The slick material of her mask chilled her hand.
"Quiet!" She bit her tongue. Perhaps she had kept the cool mask off for too long. "Why are you still up?"
"I'm finishing that Astrology essay from over the break."
Lily scowled at his words, realizing that essays were one more thing she had to do that night, if she made it back to the school at all.
"What about you?" he asked, eyes narrowed.
Lily glance at the clock over his shoulder. She had ten minutes. She turned and moved to push open the portrait hole. "I'll tell McGonagall," warned Potter.
Lily took her hand away and gazed at him silently for a moment. "If I'm not back by three, tell anyone you'd like. Just wait until then. Don't do anything too…stupid."
Hazel eyes intense on her still face, Potter nodded once. "Be careful."
Lily averted her eyes and walked out, biting her tongue.
"Who's there?" asked the Fat Lady sharply. Lily, face hidden by her black hood, raised her eyebrows. "Get back to bed."
Silently, Lily cast a Memory Charm on the portrait before slinking away.
The school was silent other than the gentle creaking of the walls and the occasional snore of a painting. The caretaker's heavy footsteps could be discerned a floor below her.
Wand clasped tightly in her right hand and heart racing, Lily stepped out into the biting winter air. The night was cloudless, the infinite dark scattered by the clean light of a billion crystals. But that innocence was several light-years away and nothing but terror filled Lily.
What would happen if she ran, right now? She'd be free… Lily shook her head sharply to rid herself of the thought. She'd be hunted by both sides and that wasn't the life she wanted.
Taking a deep breath, Lily set the mask to her eyes and enchanted it not to move, then replaced her hood over her long ponytail.
The trees all but attacked her as she stepped into the forest. Tearing branches stretched to rip her. Thorns pulled her from side to side, biting her pale flesh, but Lily did not flinch. The darkness of the woods caused her to scour the trees quickly with her emerald eyes at each noise.
She finally came upon the field that was the pre-designated area for her to meet Death Eaters just out of Hogwarts' wards. Now, with all the new recruits, a small huddle of people were in the center. This she approached, making herself hold her head high and her shaking hands still.
"Ten, nine," intones a voice near the center. It was a Death Eater holding a silver chalice at the center of the people. "Eight." Lily stood at the back of the small group. "Seven." She could run. "Six." Right now. "Five." She could be free. "Four." Forever. "Three." She took a hesitant step backwards. "Two." She thrust her hand to the center and touched the bottom of the cold chalice. "One."
On a rush of color and noise, she and the rest of the group were deposited in a clearing surrounded by floating candles, all implanted in skulls.
Seemingly relaxed in a dark green throne in the center was Lord Voldemort, dark hair glinting in the faint light. As they formed a circle around him, the wizard rose languidly. "My servants," he greeted, red eyes appraising them.
"The spot you stand shall be yours, at my side forever," he murmured. He didn't have to speak any louder.
Yet Lily could see underlying worry in the motions. He was looking for her. Slowly, as though out of habit, he reached to his left arm and put his hand onto his elbow.
With a faint hiss, Lily's Mark of Salazar came to life, twisting and running down her arm. She felt suddenly compelled to speak to him, to return to his side. It was irresistible, this urge, so Lily stepped forward, out of the circle, to kneel before the Dark Lord.
His eyes widened slightly. "Go!" he commanded the rest of the group. Stunned, they did not move. "Do I have to repeat myself?" His voice was dangerously gentle.
There was a flurry to conjure Portkeys and, within a minute, the group had gone.
"My lord," she muttered, head to the grass.
The Cruciatus that hit her made her shrink to the ground, trying to draw away from the fire that raced through her body, to no avail.
The unbearable pain slowly withdrew, leaving behind a violently biting ache. "Where were you?" There was anger in voice, sharp and clipped, though desperation made him talk quickly.
"I needed a break," Lily tried to keep her voice steady. "I thought you wouldn't let me go, so I went without permission. I apologize."
"I put your sister back into her house," he said. "I found her quickly. You did not do well at hiding her."
Lily kept her voice innocent. "Pardon?" She knew he was bluffing, trying to get her to break.
He deserted this train of thought quickly. "Where were you?" he repeated, motioning for her to stand. She did so slowly, limbs on fire. "Where?"
Lily's pain-dulled mind faltered for a moment. "I-"
"Crucio!" Lily fell to the ground again. It seemed worse every time! Biting and burning! She could tell him the truth and die right now! No more pain… She should tell him! But then the pain was gone and her resolve strengthened.
"If you don't know, then you're lying!" He kept his wand focused on her still form. "The truth!"
"My lord, we were in America." She kept her head down and her mind clear.
A soft hiss came from above. "Indeed? Then why could my Mark not reach you?"
"We must have been under their wards," Lily said smoothly. "Americans are extremely paranoid."
"Why do you refer to yourself as 'we'?" Voldemort's voice was too soft.
"I was with Snape," she murmured.
The time the pain was anticipated. It flooded through her body, rendering her muscles useless with pain.
"And he did not tell me?" The Dark Lord's voice was void of anger or anything but a manic calm. "He will die."
"No, master, it was not his fault. I forced him not to tell you."
"Why Snape?" The Dark Lord's black shoes stopped next to her spilled hair.
"he figured out where I was and confronted me. He's sharp." Lily hoped with all her spirit that he would live. "I apologize again."
"Velisna…" he trailed off. "I am disappointed." Lily did not reply, focusing on breathing slowly and calmly as though she was not frightened out of her mind. "Now what about the Muggle?"
"What Muggle?" Lily asked softly.
"Your sister! Don't play ignorant. It doesn't suit you," he spat.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Apparently was too calm for the Dark Lord to accept it. "I don't want to kill you," he murmured.
Lily let her breathing grow was ragged as it longed to. "I really don't understand." She kept her eyes on the short grass.
"Meet my eyes and say that," he said.
Carefully, Lily raised her head high enough to meet his maroon eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about." She made sure her voice was not overly fearful, nor overly confident. A dagger slipped into her brain, scouring her thoughts. She kept her shields around all rebellious thoughts.
Without warning, the presence was gone. "I have decided to take out of Hogwarts." Lily clenched her teeth to stop from crying out. "What do you say?"
"With all respect, I fear the Headmaster is already suspicious of me. If I leave, he will know for sure." Lily hoped that her argument was plausible.
The Dark Lord was silent for several minutes. Under her black robes, Lily's muscles were tense in anticipation. "You have until graduation," he concurred finally. "Not a second more."
"You are wise, my lord," Lily murmured.
"Are you implying that I am wise for taking your advice?"
"No, of course not, my lord." Lily spoke too quickly. She slowed down her words. "I meant every decision you make is wise."
"Then you with my decision that you should me married once school ends."
"Of course, my lord." Married? "May I ask who you had in mind, my lord?"
"A boy of the purest blood I could find. Lestrange. At first, I considered breaking off Bellatrix's and Rudolphus' engagement for you, but decided Rabastan was better suited for you."
Rabastan Lestrange. Lily contemplated letting him kill her again. "Indeed, my lord."
"Stand." Lily tried to comply. The Dark Lord, fatherly affection apparently restored, waved his wand to support her to her feet. "What's the matter?"
You just tortured me. "My lord, I did not get any sleep last night, and haven't eaten today. I apologize." With the Dark Lord, it was best to tell the truth when possible.
"You can't have enough strength to Apparate," he realized. He waved his wand and one of the candles floated towards them, briefly glowing blue. "Get food and sleep, Vel. We will talk later." He patted her shoulder lightly.
"You have ten seconds. Oh, and Bellatrix told me that you've been talking to the Potter boy. Don't."
With that she was pulled away by the candle, which extinguished itself on the way to their destination.
As she landed, she realized one important thing she lacked on leaving the Dark Lord's presence—the ability to stand.
The sharp ache of the lingering Cruciartus rang through her body. In her new position crumpled on the ground, Lily attempted to crawl forwards, to little success. How was this going to work?
Lily pulled herself to the base of a tree and put her hands on it to pull herself up. Instantly there was a flurry of movement on the upper branches as a dozen bowtruckles came swinging down, sharp claws extended.
In a flash, Lily's wand was out, pertifying and stunning everything that moved. The forest was illuminated by the red flashes, and Lily realized that she was just outside of the school grounds. Just a few feet to crawl. This train of thought was cut off by a sharp pain in her leg.
She looked down and saw the twig-like creature clawing its way up her black pants, which was lying among the leaves. Silently, she Stunned it and it fell back, eyes glassy in unconsciousness. Lily looked around the black forest suspiciously. With her on the ground like this, any creature could kill her if they got close enough undetected.
The effort of saving her eyes from the bowtruckles had hardly affected her Rosake Drought-enhanced magic, but her body was even weaker. Pain bloomed fresh in each of her body as she pulled herself to her feet. She would not be weak.
Lily hissed softly as her body weight moved from foot to foot as she stumbled forward. Lily bit her tongue. Why did she go back? Is this the life she chose, going from suspicious group to suspicious group, with a few odd tortures thrown in?
Until He was gone, yes.
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3:01! "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Black lines spread over the parchments, forming corridors and symbols. "Where is she…?"
She had sounded so sure. James had thought she would never had gone back to him… but if not, why wasn't she back?
James looked over the map again. There was movement in the Slytherin Common Room. The three Blacks, both Lestranges and Snape. But no Lily.
He raised his eyes and gazed at the fire, leaping and burning as sporadically as his thoughts.
Desperately he focused his eyes on the parchemtn again. Just as he was about to fold up the map and find McGonagall, motion on the edge of the parchment caught his eye. Every few steps the name stopped and zigzagged from side to side.
He jumped to his feet, picked his wand up off the couch, stepped forward, moved back and put on his shoes, then hurried forward. With a curse, he turned back and ran up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.
"Hey mate…" said Sirius, but James was already hurrying away, silver cloak clutched in his hand.
"Who's there?" the Fat Lady asked as he exited. The portrait peered into the corridor suspiciously, but shrugged and resumed her conversation with a male portrait.
James hurried down the stairs, cloak fluttering at his heels, keeping one eye on the name at the edge of the map.
James reached the front doors in minutes. The name on the parchment was getting closer to the edge of the forest, still halting every few steps. James hurried through the grounds, silver cloak flying out behind him.
He did not hesitate at the entrance of the looming trees, only gathered his cloak tighter around him to keep it from hooking on the thorns. He kept his eyes focused on the map. His own dot was nearing the other. He walked to the right to intercept Lily, taking off his cloak and tucking the map into his pocket as he did so.
As the girl staggered into view, James called softly to her. "Are you okay?"
A change overcame the girl when she saw him. Her face became calm and she stood up straighter. "Of course."
She put her chin up and stepped forward, walking steadily if slowly. James appraised her, scrutinizing every move in the dim moonlight. Her jaw was clenched and her eyes were wider than normal.
As she neared him, she stumbled and fell. James rushed forward and caught her around the waist. "You call that okay?" he murmured into her hair.
"I tripped over a root."
James scanned the leafy ground and found no sign of said root, but decided to drop it. She would find a different excuse.
He kept one arm around her waist as he led her out of the forest. James wasn't sure whether she even noticed—if she did, or was offended by it, it didn't show.
Though brambles tried to hinder their progress by pulling at their clothes, James was quick to detach them.
They walked mostly in silence through the dark forest, listening to the creatures of the night, absorbed in their thoughts. The boy kept his steps small and slow for her, careful not to throw her off balance with his movements.
"Here," James said at the edge of the forest. Keeping his right arm around her, he swept the Invisibility Cloak over them. "Covered?"
Her nod was shockingly timid. She was leaning into him, steps slower than before. He was dying to ask what had happened, but felt that she wouldn't answer anyways.
Their coverage of the grounds was at a snail's pace, each step careful. Continually, James glanced at Lily. Sometimes when he thought of her, usually so strong and solid, he forgot how fragile she really was.
James did not remove his arm as he opened the front doors and led Lily into the castle. The halls were harshly silent compared to the chill outdoors.
That's why James' heart nearly skipped a beat when Professor McGonagall, in her cat form, appeared at the entrance to the second floor corridor they were on.
The first thing he did was pull Lily closer to him under the cloak. The second was the thought, Cats can see through cloaks, followed by a word that would have made his mother wash out his mouth.
Lily took an automatic step backwards. James pulled her behind a suit of armor quickly. The faint sound of movement at the end of the hallway made James hold his breath. When no more noises followed, he relaxed and became hyperaware of how close Lily was. She as so beautiful…
But concern for the girl snapped him out of his thoughts. She was paler than usual and the slight tremble in her limbs caused him to murmur, "You okay?"
"Yes." Her voice was almost too soft to hear. "Let's go."
James helped her back out into the corridor and up to the Gryffindor Tower. When they finally entered the Common Room, the clock read 4:27. "You. Sleep. Now," James instructed.
She shook her head. "I have to do those essays."
"Not going to happen," James declared. "You're exhausted. I'm sure you can get Dumbledore to work something out with your teachers."
She looked ready to argue, so James pulled her over to the couch by the fire. She melted into the warm leather, not worrying about pretenses.
"Could you even make it up the stairs?" Lily looked at the floor, avoiding his attempts to catch her eye. He sighed. "Lily…" The girl kept her gaze firmly on the ground. "Where were you?" There was a tightening in her face that put James on his guard. "Lily?"
"I thought that was obvious," she muttered. James wished she would look at him.
He pondered for a minute on her words. "You're having an affair with Snape, aren't you," James said dully. "I knew it."
That got her attention. Her eyes met his and she murmured, "Please tell me you're not serious. And don't even think about using The Pun."
"I wouldn't dream of it," James replied with a grin. "And, yeah, I was kidding. I know where you went."
Her eyes, which had lit up for that second, turned dark again. "Then why are you talking to me?"
"It's not like you wanted to go." She looked surprised at his words, eyes widening. "I'm sorry," he said.
"It's not your fault," she murmured.
James wasn't sure what the right response to that was, so he settled for another apology.
"Potter…" She shook her head softly.
He looked over her frail form with a careful eye. They were having a real (almost) conversation—she must have been in a lot of pain. "What did he do?"
His words were more to himself than he, but she replied anyways. "The usual. I've had worse."
"That's not a good thing," James argued with the calm inflection in her voice. "You shouldn't go anymore. If you don't want to, don't."
"It's not that simple." Her voice was lifeless. "You know that."
He did. "I still don't think anyone should have to do something they don't want to."
"Drop it."
"It's already five. Class is in three hours. Think you can stand up yet?"
She nodded once and rose to her feet. She looked steady enough. "Now go sleep," he instructed.
He watched her steps carefully, scrutinizing for the smallest stumble, but she made it to the staircase without trouble. James watched for a few more minutes to make sure she didn't fall down the stairs, barely feeling the fire's warmth heating his back. Then he rose and stumbled to his own dorm to get in some sleep before class.
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Why was it that every time she'd woken up lately it had been to intense pain? Lily cautiously opened her eyes to see what had woken her up.
Pale sunlight had fallen through a crack in her bed hangings, making a silvery gold line across her scarlet comforter up to her face. She blinked against the light. What time was it...?
Lily threw off her covers, ignoring the pain in her body and looked at Jessica's alarm clock. It was already noon!
Second day back in class and she had missed her first three classes! Containing her panic, Lily pulled on her robes, put her hair into a ponytail and spelled the bags under eyes away; she didn't want anyone noticing there was something wrong.
Lily slung her bag over her shoulder and walked down to the Common Room. Seated by the fireplace were a few sixth and seventh years on their free periods, including Pettigrew, Black and two of the Js.
As Lily hurried past, focused solely on not limping, Black noticed her. "Lily? Aren't you in James' Potions class now?"
"Oh, we didn't want to wake her up," Jessica informed him lightly. "We agreed she needed some beauty sleep, right, girls?" Lily's other two roommates giggled.
Black looked surprised at her words. "You did what?"
"God, honey, you're so cute when you're confused," she said, poking his straight nose.
Ignoring the picayune girls, Lily walked out the door towards Slughorn's dungeon.
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Lily slinked into the classroom as the bell rang, scouring it with her eyes. "Lily! I was worried you'd dropped my class!" Slughorn said, laughing at his own joke.
"I just overslept," she murmured. There were two open seats in the classroom. Potter patted the one next to him, but the Dark Lord's warning rang in her mind.
"Oh, hello Lily darling," Bellatrix drawled as the pale girl perched on the stool beside her. "How'd you sleep?" There was a wicked glint in her dark blue eyes.
"Wonderfully. You?" she replied as Slughorn wrote some instructions on the blackboard.
"I'm amazed that you could, considering…" Bellatrix lowered her voice companionably. "You know."
"No, I don't," Lily muttered, chopping the gillyweed. If Bellatrix wouldn't say it, then neither would she.
"Oh, come on Lily," she purred. The potion called for rat liver next, so Bellatrix transfigured a beozar into a small white rat. It scurried around the table until her knife ended its life. "We both know He isn't happy with you." Casually, Bellatrix cut open the dead rodent, speared the liver with her knife and dropped into the cauldron. "I'm just trying to help." With a wave of her wand, the body was gone.
Lily calmly used her wand to clean some of the blood that had splattered onto her Potions' kit. "Thank you for your concern, Bellatrix, but I'm still unsure what you mean."
The Slytherin shrugged, wiped off her gold dagger, and began slicing the butterfly wings. The methodic motion of the metal slicing up innocence made Lily suppress a shudder. "I thought you'd be dead by now," Bellatrix confided in Lily, scraping the butterflies into the fiery cauldron.
"Well, I'm not." Lily stirred the potion thrice counterclockwise, barely avoiding being splashed by the temperamental potion. "As you can see, I'm perfectly fine."
"You should be finishing up now," called Slughorn. Lily could hardly see him through the smoke in the dungeon. While looked towards him, she caught Potter staring at her, worry clearly shining in his hazel eyes, which were discernable even through the haze. (1) Haze is symbolic for confusion and death, as you may be able to tell (1)
Lily checked the board. They needed to add four nightshade berries to the cauldron to turn it green. Lily reached into her kit, pulled out a quartet of scarlet berries and carefully dropped them in. "Now we wait for three quarters of a minutes to stir eight times clockwise," Lily read out.
Bellatrix nodded. Her face was lit eerily by the acidic green potion. "So, where were you over the break?"
"We've been over this, Bellatrix." Lily kept her voice calm and flat. Her eyes drifted to the dagger still resting in Bellatrix's hand. "That is for Him to know." She began stirring the potion.
"Do you ever doubt the cause?" she asked suddenly. "If you do, you can tell me."
And let you murder me? Not likely. "Of course I do not have doubts. My loyalty is greater than yours could ever be."
"Mmhmm," Bellatrix said lazily, looking unconcerned.
"Bring me your potion," called Slughorn. "I don't care if you haven't finished, Mr. Snape."
The Slytherin in question glowered. "I was trying a better way."
"I'm sure you were," Slughorn said airily.
Severus met Slughorn's eyes and dropped a lacewing fly into the potion. In a flash of light, it was acidic green. "And mine only takes four minutes," he sneered.
Slughorn puffed up. "Then what were you doing the rest of my class?"
"Well, I tried your way first," Severus smirked, "and then I made it better."
The bell rang over their argument. Lily took up a flask of their potion and set it on Slughorn's desk. "Nice," she whispered to Severus as he passed.
She moved back to retrieve her bag from her work station. Bellatrix had disappeared. Lily waved her wand at the cauldron to clean out its contents and hurried to lunch.
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