Hi, guys! My computer has gone crazy with this last update so I had to have extra patience with it to publish today...

J.K.R. owns it ;)

CHAPTER 7 "Concealment"

The next day Lily decided she was going to get over the Potter thing and keep on with her life. She would ignore him as much as she could. Her burnt legs had been healed completely, Madam Pomfrey had given her an incredible ointment.

"Lily!" It was Severus, "How did yesterday go?"

"Torture. But with Professor Walker there, it was easier." Severus seemed relieved, "I still have to get over that presentation next week."

"You'll do brilliant, so don't worry about it," he said and smiled.

"You said that right!" Lily giggled.

That week was easier than the last. Lily had finally forgotten her insecurities. Her annoyance with Potter had surpassed the uneasiness that had lingered from her mishap. Their presentation had been a success, Professor Walker had congratulated them on their work, and Lily was finally free.

They were all at breakfast one morning when Lily received a letter from her parents. All though Petunia hadn't bothered to write, it cheered her up.

"Were you able to finish the transfiguration homework?" Meredith asked, feeling dreadful as she rubbed her hands on her forehead. "I'm useless in that class. I don't know what Professor McGonagall expects from us,"

"You should have stayed with us last night," said Mary.

"Mary, Lily, and I finished it in just half an hour," said Phyllida said.

"I know! But the Hufflepuff guy had quidditch practice. I couldn't miss that," she sighed.

"And we still have History of Magic homework," Mary pointed out.

"Mer, you don't even know the Hufflepuff guy's name?" Lily asked, "And when did you get over the Ravenclaw?"

"Hufflepuff guy is older and a quidditch player!" Mer answered lifting her hands, "He's under investigation," she turned around looking for someone. Finally finding her target she yelled, "Alice! Marlene!" she waved. A tall slim girl and a blond approached and greeted them.

"This is Alice Wood and Marlene Mckinnon," Meredith introduced pointing first to the brunette and then the blond, "Both are on the Quidditch team, 3rd years."

"Hi!" Lily and Mary greeted. Phyllida gave a small wave with her hand.

"So? Any information?" Meredith asked eagerly.

"Yes, actually." the girl named Alice said with a laugh.

"The new Hufflepuff seeker is Thomas Eggart," Marlene informed. "He's in 4th year and he's really close to this Sonia Haster. No one was able to tell me if they're a couple."

"Well, I guess it's now up to me," Meredith said mischievously.

"Until you get bored," said Mary.

"Shut it, Mary."

"Lily!" someone yelled from another table. Every Gryffindor turned to look.

"Oh, hi Bertha," Lily greeted a little embarrassed.

"You have no idea what has happened!" she said dramatically as ever. She pushed Phyllida to a side to sit next to Lily. In the process of sitting, she spilled a bowl of porridge all over the table, "Sorry," she took her wand out and said "Scourgify," evidently not good with the spell she spread the porridge even more. "Listen, Lily. Someone else has been attacked," she said ignoring the mess she had made.

"What?" Lily had a sinking feeling in her chest. There was a moment of silence at the Gryffindor table. Bertha looked excited to be the one delivering the news.

"Yes, they've found her this morning. She was wandering near the Forbidden Forest, completely off. Madam Pomfrey has her under sedation now. She has scratches and bruises all over. She's Sandra Clay from Hufflepuff, another muggle-born."

The Gryffindors were all silent. They looked at each other with shocked expressions. Bertha repositioned her bag on her shoulder, spilling a cup of pumpkin juice all over Mary, and left. She had finished her job and was ready to continue spreading the news.

"This can't be," Mary said unbothered by her soaked cloaks.

"Another one," Lily said with tears filling her eyes. She sniffed and shook her tears away. Not this time, no, she wasn't crying this time.

"Silence Please!" It was Professor McGonagall. "Due to recent events, we have decided to modify curfew hours. Furthermore, students will not be allowed to wander alone, groups of three minimum are recommended. No magic is allowed in the corridors."

"And Slytherins should be banned as a House," Sirius said loudly a little while later, "We all know they have the muggle-hatting problem,"

"I'm tired of this," James said with anger in his voice on the way to Professor Binns's class. "We have to do something."

"What are a bunch of 11-year-old boys going to do?" Remus asked.

"I don't know!" James said between his teeth. He felt anger boiling through his veins. They continued walking in silence when James noticed a glimpse of green and black and without thinking twice, he grabbed his wand and said, "Flipendo". A yellow light flew from his mahogany wand and hit the Slytherin right in the middle of his back. It was so charged with anger that the older boy flew forwards through a tapestry that was on the corridor wall.

"RUN," yelled James, and the four boys ran. They ran and didn't stop to look back until they were sitting in class. When they sat down at their desks they were panting and smiling.

"Well, that helped a bit," Sirius said and slapped his hand encouragingly on James' shoulder.

"I didn't know what was happening!" Peter said without breath, "I heard 'run' and I just ran."

"I'm not sure he deserved it," Remus said with worried eyes.

"Yes he did, he's a Slytherin," James said fiercely. Professor Binns started his class and the boys became silent. James grabbed a piece of parchment and wrote:

James: S, did you notice the tapestry?

Sirius: Yes, why?

James: He almost fell through, completely. There is something behind it. We need to check it out. Tonight.

Remus: Count me out. Mothers sick. I got permission to go visit and help.

James: Sorry mate. Let us know anything you need

The weather was getting a little more chilly, plus the new curfew would mean everyone would be in their common rooms early. So the roaming around would be the easiest part, the hard part would be leaving the crowded Gryffindor common room.

"Where do you boys think you're going?" Lily asked as she saw them on their way towards the exit.

"None of your business, sweety," James answered with a cute smile.

"Oh, so I can't meddle in your business but you can in mine?" Lily said exasperated. "Besides, it is my business. You've already lost us tons of points in DADA."

"Calm down Pumpkin," Sirius intervened "We've done loads of stuff and haven't gotten caught."

"We are really careful," Peter said.

"You haven't gotten caught, yet! It's only a matter of time," she said with her hands on her hips. "As a matter of fact, I saw you, Potter, cowardly attacking that boy from behind. I could have easily been a teacher watching."

"Not really, because teachers were in class. You saw us because we were going to the same place," James winked.

"Come on Evans! Don't be so boring," Sirius said. "It was a Slytherin, he deserved it,"

"Let me remind you," Lily said with a deep and serious voice. "That I was cowardly attacked from behind, too. By a Slytherin. Like it or not you're just the same," James swallowed as her words made sense.

"You can't even start to compare the two situations," James defended himself, "I didn't attack an inexperienced little girl, alone and at night!"

"Slytherin or not. Nobody deserves it," the pink left her cheeks, "Phylli, I'm leaving," and she left towards the stairs up to the girl's dormitory.

"See you later, Curio," James said to Phyllida.

"She's right. You know?" Phyllida said.

"Yeah, she could be," James sighed, "But I'm not going to agree with her,"

The boys left the common room, finally alone, James took his invisibility cloak and put it over the three of them. Without Remus, they fit perfectly.

"I think Lily is really nice," Peter said, "Why are you always mean to her?"

"Because being nice doesn't make her better than everyone else," said James, "Let's go,"

They walked slowly and silently under the cloak towards the same corridor they had been earlier that day. Finding the tapestry, the three of them smiled and looked at each other with excitement. Sirius pushed the heavy textile to the side and right behind it there was a staircase.

"Cool," said James, removing the cloak and stuffing it in his pocket, "Let's see where it goes."

They walked up the stairs, James in the lead, when they suddenly he stopped. Sirius almost tripped over him because he was on the floor.

"What happened?" Peter asked, panicking.

"I fell through this step," James said. "Look, the step disappeared."

"A trick step!" Sirius said excitedly.

"Glad you're having fun," James said from the floor, "Help me out!"

"It's the 6th step up," Peter said, "We should be careful, there could be more."

They continued up the stairs counting each one, Peter wrote everything down on a parchment he had. At the end of the staircase, there was a painting, James pushed it to a side to walk out.

"It's only a shortcut," said Sirius, a little disappointed.

"It could be useful," James said, "Given the right opportunity."

"Let's look for the Kitchens," Sirius said, "So we don't waste this night altogether."

The kitchens had to be close to the Great Hall, so they didn't take the staircase again. With the invisibility cloak on again, they walked slowly and silently once again. As they walked towards the corridor that went next to the Great Hall, they suddenly heard voices and froze.

"Hurry up, she's waiting," it was Snape and two other first-year Slytherins who were trying to keep up.

"We should have asked Malfoy to take us, he's a prefect," said Rabastan Lestrange, a skinny black-haired boy.

"Stop being a baby and shut it," Snape said through his teeth.

"Let's follow," mouthed James to the other two under the cloak. They started to follow when another voice, they recognized too well, said:

"What is the meaning of this?" Professor McGonagall was with Madam Pomfrey and, to the three hidden boys' surprise, Remus.

"Poppy, you go. I'll take care of this," she said, a little disappointed. "Snape, Lestrange, and Rosier," she paused as Madam Pomfrey and Remus left, "You've broken curfew, ten points each. Come on and follow me. Professor Slughorn will see to your punishment."

When they were finally out of hearing distance the three boys let out their breaths.

"I have to tell you I love this cloak," exclaimed Sirius, as he caressed the cloak against his cheek.

"Let's just go," Peter was trembling.

"But we have to find the kitchens," James smiled.

The next morning Lily woke up a little homesick. She quickly wrote a letter to her parents just to feel close to them.

"Good morning," Lily greeted Phyllida, Meredith, and Mary as they arrived at the breakfast table.

"Why are you up so early, Lily?" Meredith asked, her eyes were puffy from lack of sleep.

"She's choleric," said Phyllida.

"A what?" Mary asked.

"I went to send a letter to my parents," said Lily. "And now, I would like to visit the girl that was attacked."

"What for?" Meredith asked annoyed.

"I want her to know she's not alone," Lily said.

"Lily, always the noble one," Mary said with a laugh.

Lily ate some breakfast rather quickly and left for the hospital wing. She wanted to squeeze in the visit before her first class.

"Hi, I'm Lily," she introduced herself to the girl.

"Hi," answered Sandra Clay weakly.

"How are you doing?" Lily asked.

"Better today," she said and looked to the side.

"I know you feel horrible and afraid, I've been there. The fiscal injuries aren't the ones that hurt the most, but the experience itself. I just wanted you to know that whatever you need you can count on me. If you ever need someone to talk to or even just to walk with to class, don't hesitate and ask."

"Thank you," she answered, her expression has lightened, "You're the first year that was attacked too, aren't you?."

"Yes," Lily said, a little uncomfortable. "You'll get through, I promise."

"Thanks," Clay said with a smile. "And thanks for not asking what happened. It's the only thing everyone keeps on asking."

"You'll talk when you're ready," Lily said nicely. "I have to go to class. See you later!"

Leaving the hospital wing Lily realized that they weren't the only ones there. At the exact time, Potter was leaving the Hospital Wing.

"That was so nice of you, Evan" Potter mocked.

"Shove off, Potter," Lily said.

"And here I thought you were a decent lady," Potter chuckled.

"Haven't gotten caught yet, I see," she said with superiority.

"Surprised?" he winked, and Lily rolled her eyes. "Although we haven't found what we're looking for," he said sadly, "Anyway, I couldn't say the same for that maggot slythi of a friend of yours."

"What?" Lily asked.

"I mean, we weren't the only ones sneaking around last night," and he said proudly, "Only we weren't caught."

Lily understood the suggestion but decided that her best weapon was ignoring him. She cleared her throat and said, "Whatever."

When they arrived at the classroom, Lily was finally free of Potter as he sat with his friends.

"I asked Madam P," James said to Sirius. Professor Flitwick had given them a spell to practice, "She said he went home"

"There's something fishy there, I'm sure of it," he answered.

Lily wouldn't admit it, but she was really concerned about Severus. She kept a look out for him and only found him at supper.

"Hi Sev," she greeted.

"Hi Lily," he smiled slightly.

"How are you?" she asked.

"Fine," he said.

"I heard something happened last night and you got in trouble," Lily saw him look away, "What were you doing?"

"It's no big deal. We were caught after curfew, nothing more," he said.

"You're not doing anything bad, are you?" she asked worriedly.

"What do you mean?" he asked, surprised and a little offended with the implications.

"I mean, I know Slytherin had something to do with what happened to me and now the girl Clay…"

"What happened to Clay has nothing to do with what happened to you," he said sternly.

"So you do know what's going on," Lily said. Severus swallowed and kept silent. "Promise me, Sev. Promise you won't get into this mudblood stuff."

"I won't, Lily!" he said. "I couldn't be your friend if I was."

"Just promise me, Sev," she said.

"Okay, okay, Lily, I promise," he said softly.

Hope you enjoy!

Take care :)