Why was Harry waiting for her? She had thought for sure that he would have left already… He had seemed like he wanted to avoid the conversation that was to follow at all costs.

"Hermione and Ron have already gone to the Common Room," Harry informed her. "They wanted to get a head start with their homework. It's a lot this year." Though that was irrevocably true, Lily had got to know Ron enough over the past two days to know that he wouldn't voluntarily do his homework before the last minute. No, Harry had probably told them to go without them so that they could have the inevitable 'talk'.

"I'm not done talking to you, you know?" Lily reminded him.

"Yes, I know." Harry smiled at her. SMILED? It was so hard to tell what he was really thinking. He reminded her of Sev a lot in that aspect.

Still, there were differences in their methods. While Severus liked to keep a completely emotionless face (to others mostly; the two of them have gotten over that point), Harry showed emotions which had nothing to do with what he truly felt.

Lily didn't know which one was worse. She was for being honest and confronting her problems head on, instead of hiding.

Harry seemed to have some Slytherin inside of him.

"What's up?" Harry waved his hand in front of her face. "Liiillly…" He said slowly.

"Sorry, I spaced out. We could go to the library," she suggested. "To our secret place."

Harry nodded and they started walking at a comfortable pace.

"What were you thinking about?" Harry asked.

"Huh…?"

"Before, when you spaced out."

"You." Lily said bluntly, looking sideways at Harry. He was frowning. "You are… hard to figure out."

"What?" He asked innocently. "I am as transparent as you could get."

"Only someone who isn't, would say that."

Harry shrugged, but otherwise didnt react to that statement.

"You are a lot like me, but also a lot different." Lily said pensively. "Not in a James-Potter way." She joked. "And I know we aren't our parents, believe me," She clarified. "It's just that you're confusing me by being so much like me, but at the same not." She looked at Harry, who seemed confused. "I don't make any sense."

"No," Harry assured her. "It's not that. I get what you mean. It's just…" He trailed of, unsure how to continue. "I didn't expect you to give this so much thought."

"Oh." Lily didn't know what else to say.

UC

"Let's put up a silencing charm." Lily said, as they both took their seats in the library's secret armchairs. "Just in case." If someone found out who Lily was, they would all be in danger.

Harry just hoped the charm didn't have anything to do with the questions Lily wanted to ask.

He had to be careful, she was good at deciphering personas.

He barely knew her, and he was telling her more than he had ever told his friends all those years.

But, a small voice in the back of his head reminded him, Lily would be gone soon anyway.

"So," Lily started, "Why are you pretending to be of average intelligence when you could be great?" Her interrogative tone made him gulp. You could be great, you know, the sorting hat's ominous voice instantly popped into Harry's head, It's all here in your head. And Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, there's no doubt about that.

Harry was sure that Lily didn't purposely use those words, but they still made him even more nervous.

"Er…I'm not pretending to be anything I'm not." He was just stalling, and he knew it. But it was hard to let go of such well-kept secrets.

People usually saw what they wanted to see, and he could adapt to their image of him. And he could manipulate them, so that they came to the conclusions he desired.

But… What did Lily want to see?

Lily sighed. "Please Harry, we've already talked about this. You are obviously hiding your abilities," And possibly something else too, Lily silently added to herself. "And I know we don't know each other all that well - probably not well enough to have this conversation – but I thought we have somehow… sped up the process of becoming friends." She was speaking her honest opinion and she hoped it got to Harry. "Besides, sometimes it's easier to confide in strangers and I think it would do you some good to talk to somebody." Still silence. "I won't tell anyone, I promise. I can even take an unbreakable vow…"

"No!" Harry stopped her urgently. "There's no need for that." Lily exhaled, she wasn't sure if she knew how to do the vow correctly. "And I agree. I feel a lot closer to you than I do to other people I've only known for two days. It must have to do something with being relatives…" He was beating around the bush again. "So…"

"Come on, Harry." Lily exclaimed. This was ridiculous.

She didn't realise the small flinch the sudden raise of her voice caused. "It's not like this is a terrible or embarrassing secret! It's something positive that you're trying to hide about yourself and I just wanna know why, so I can understand. Because I don't understand why anyone would willingly make themselves look worse than they actually are."

Silence.

Lily almost thought Harry wouldn't speak, when, "Maybe I don't want to be great." Harry said so quietly that Lily almost missed it.

"What do you-"

"Greatness only causes you pain." The voice in which he said it was detached and small, and they strangely didn't seem like Harry's words. His arms were folded across his chest protectively, making him look equally small. His eyes and head seemed to have been drawn to the floor, rendering it impossible for Lily to read his expression.

"Harry…" She walked over to him and touched his shoulder gently. This time the flinch was hard to miss. "Are you OK?"

For the first time, it occurred to her, that this might be a more deep-rooted problem than she had originally thought…

The "Yeah…" had never sounded less believable.

Sometimes, actions spoke louder than words. She just had to figure out which language Harry's actions were speaking.

"You want to really get a head start on our homework?" Lily asked, switching to a lighter topic. Harry startled as he was pulled out of his daze. "Divination seems especially tiring."

"Yep, we should start with…" He smiled sheepishly, back to Harry. "Wait…What is it that we have to do…?"

He looked into Lily's eyes quizzically, finding the same nonplussed look there. "I think Ron knows…"

They shrugged simultaneously and Lily burst out laughing, "I thought… I th- thought at least one of us… w- would know," she said between peels of laughter. "But… I- I was too angry beca-cause of thw tw-twin thing…"

Harry joined in. "She… seriously s-seemed to b-believe it." He also doubled over in laughter. "That… l-look in her eyes… l-like sh-she m-mmade the… discovery of the century…"

"Wh-why… didn't we re-realise how hi-hilarious she is?" Lily asked. Even though it wasn't that funny, they weren't able to stop laughing. Laughing was a good way to release the stress and tension of the past few minutes.

"Let's do History of M-magic."

Lily was glad Harry had come out of his hole of… whatever that was.

The more she got to know him, the more mysterious he became. Lily loved mysteries and she wasn't about to let this one go.

UC

"Ok, that was easy!" James whispered triumphantly. They had managed to walk out the door without any implications.

"Yeah, I thought for sure that Minnie would come up with something to stop us or lock us in!"

Sirius agreed. They didn't even have the invisibility cloak on yet. All for the thrill.

"Isn't it a bit suspicious?" James asked.

"She probably just wasn't in the mood."

"Black, Potter!" McGonagall's voice came from behind them, making them jump simultaneously.

"Why is she always coming from behind us?" Sirius asked under his breath.

"Didn't you two understand the simple instruction to stay in your room?!" She seemed angry, as always. But there was worry there too.

"We were cooped up in there for two days!" James whined. "We can only take so much!"

"So, you decided to risk not only your own lives, but the welfare of the entire wizarding world?"

"No need to be dramatic, Minnie,"

"I wish I was being 'dramatic', Black." The fact that she didn't reprimand him for calling her 'Minnie' showed how serious she was. She seemed sad now, rather than angry. "But you play an important role in the war. I wish you didn't, but your well-being is key to our world's future."

"You mean so I can die later?" James yelled in anger. "All you want to do is keep me alive so I can die at the right moment, to your benefit!"

"That… that is not- "McGonagall was very pale now.

"You could change the future and make it better," Sirius chimed in, equally furious. "But all you care about is to send us back to our miserable futures!"

"It is for- "

"'the benefit of the entire world', blablabla." James' face was red from being so worked up. "But you don't even think about changing anything! Maybe that would benefit our world more!"

"That is enough, Mr. Potter." Judging by her stern voice, McGonagall had apparently regained her composure. "Time is not to be meddled with. Everything has come the way it should have." Her stern voice told them not to talk back to her. They still tried though, but they were silenced. "Even what might seem as a beneficial change at first, can turn into a catastrophe once realised. I don't expect you to understand that, all I ask from you is, not to do anything rash." Why was her tone more begging than scolding? It was more terrifying this way. "I'm truly sorry it has turned out this way." She led them back into their room, and left, again without locking the door.

But none of the boys was in the mood to sneak out anymore tonight.

Besides, there seemed to be some kind of alarm on the door that informed McGonagall of their attempts to free themselves, which was initially the same as being locked in.

But not to them. It made them feel less powerless.

Only Minnie could know them this well.