Body

All In The Name of Love

Chapter 6 - The Daily Prophet

When Cee, Ellie, Remus and Peter heard of their exploits, they were angry that they hadn't been included, and joined Flick, Lily, Sirius and James in the discussion that followed. Should they mention it to anyone?

In the end, they told Dumbledore, not without trepidation. Consequently they were surprised when he did not give them a detention. He didn't even take house points from Gryffindor. Instead, he gave them ten points.

"You were breaking rules by the dozen in what you did, and I'd expect better of you, but if you hadn't told me about this mysterious man then no one would have known. So, your sense of duty outweighed your sense of self, and that's a good thing, something you should be proud of." Beyond that he said nothing, to Flick's annoyance.

"If it wasn't for us then no one would know anything about this guy!" she grumbled on the way back to the Gryffindor tower. "You'd think he'd tell us something."

"He can't say what he doesn't know." Lily pointed out. "It's my guess that he's as much in the dark as we are."

When they reached the common room, they were greeted by an excited Cecelia.

"Look! This was in the Daily Prophet!" Felicity took the article she was waving gleefully, and together Lily and Flick read.

'Today the Ministry of Magic issued a statement regarding the Lead group that has long been extinct. It seems that the group has been re-founded, and are already plotting no good. In a statement the Ministry said

"While we have established a link between the group and some violent outbursts, there is no proof to suggest that they are of the same calibre as the previous group."

The Lead group was last dominant in the 1940's and were known supporters of Grindelwald, who was defeated in 1945 by Albus Dumbledore, the current headmaster of Hogwarts. With his demise, the group disintegrated into chaos, and a reign of terror ended.

But should the Ministry be concerned. After all, we are once again living in fear. For the past four years Voldemort has dominated the Dark Arts scene, ably supported by the notorious Death Eaters. If the two groups were to join forces, would anyone be able to withstand the resulting force? The Ministry must take action if disaster is to be averted. There is no time for dicussion. Now, more than ever, is a time for vigilance, and prevention is far better than cure. Especially when there may not be a cure.'

"Cee? Why exactly are you excited? This is bad news, not good. Yet another set of raving lunatics has joined the race to world domination!" Flick's tone was exasperated.

"Use your brains Flick!" Sirius turned to her. "Sorry, I forgot, you don't have any!"

"Take that back. You're the one who-"

"Would you two please deal with whatever it is that's got into you recently? Either your best friends or worse enemies." Remus entered the discussion hastily. "The reason Cee is excited. You said that the man doing the flashing mentioned a Lead G and Lead Z. Is it possible that they've got something to do with this Lead Group?"

"It would make sense." Lily said, slowly. "I mean, they'd be after Dumbledore if they were like the old lot, surely. He somehow defeated their leader. He's an ideal target."

"So you think Dumbledore is target one?" James turned on her.

"No."

"But you said..." Ellie was confused.

"They wouldn't go after Dumbledore directly. It's too obvious, and he's far too powerful for anyone to defeat him. It would have to be someone else. Probably a student. After all, he's responsible for us as long as we're here."

"Lily's got a point." Remus mused. "But there's not much we can do about it. I suppose we'll have to wait until we've got more information. But we need to be in the astronomy tower to get it." He looked at James and Sirius.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" James asked both Sirius and Remus. Sirius looked at him solemnly.

"This is a mission for Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs!"

"And Lily." Flick said firmly.

"Why can't we go without her?" Sirius asked. "She'd only get in the way."

"Thanks Sirius." Lily said dryly. "Unless you've learnt how to decipher a pattern of lights in the last twenty four hours, you're going to have to have me along until you can work it out for yourselves."

"Oh. Well, maybe you won't get in the way." Sirius had the grace to look embarrassed.

They decided that someone would have to keep watch in the tower every night. Otherwise they may miss the next bulletin. It was also established that everyone should learn Morse code in order to let Lily sleep.

"I am not going sleepless for the next six months." she declared vehemently. "So you had better be quick learners."

She spent the afternoon teaching an attentive audience the finer points of the Morse Code. By early evening, they were up to a test.

"Right. I'm going to tap this, it's not dark enough to use lights, but the principles the same." She picked up a pencil, and tapped a complex rhythm. "Okay! Let's see what you got." She snatched Flick's paper from her, and started to laugh.

"What?!" Felicity looked wounded. Lily coughed, and read

"Bend sore open. Target losed. Lead G. It doesn't exactly make sense!"

"I've only been learning for three hours."

"Flick, there's no such word a losed, that I know of. Didn't that suggest a small problem?"

"You went too fast."

"You need more lessons." Lily chortled. She looked at everyone else's. No one had quite got the message right. Then she came to Peter.

"Something something o--b--s. Something Something. Something T. Peter, did you learn anything?"

"It was hard."

"So's your head. It'll make it that much easier to knock some sense into it. Now, for your information, the message said Send more orders. Target moved. Lead G. Remus was closest, he only got the last letter wrong. Which means that he gets to watch tomorrow night. And that's enough dots and dashes for one day. But we could play exploding snap."

They settled down to several rather violent games of snap, and for the time being, at least, all thoughts of the mystery of the night were forgotten.

Chapter 7 - The Visitor

They had been watching for the midnight visitor for three weeks with no success. Although, as far as Lily and Remus were concerned, everyone - with the exception of Peter - managing to grasp the concept of flashing lights was enough of a success.

One morning, at breakfast, they were tucking into some porridge when Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"I won't be a minute. We are in the position of entertaining a guest this evening, and tomorrow. Emily Samuelson is the daughter of the American Senator of Sorcery. He is staying in Britain for the next week, and she has expressed an interest in visiting Hogwarts. She is seventeen years old, so she'll be joining our seventh years. If she needs help, I'm sure all of you will be only too happy to oblige. Thank you." And with that he sat down, and the babble of chatter resumed.

That evening, Felicity was surprised when Professor McGonagall cornered her.

"Miss Howell. This is Emily Samuelson, Professor Dumbledore mentioned her at breakfast. She's going to reside in Gryffindor for her stay, and as she's in your year, I require you to look after her." With that the Professor walked off, leaving the two girls looking at each other.

"Hi! I'm Felicity Howell. Welcome to- Em?!!"

"Flick? Good Lord! What're you doing here?"

"Learning. Well! This is a turn up for the books. When Dumbledore mentioned Emily Samuelson this morning it didn't click, you know. We really should have stayed in touch, but you moved."

"When dad got the Senator of Sorcery post. I know. Fill me in. What's happened to you? How're your dad and Mags?"

"Don't laugh, but you know how Mags has always been completely undomesticated?"

"Yeah. I remember when she and your dad got engaged. The first thing she said to you was 'I'm glad your dad has you, I'm never having children.'"

"She obviously changed her mind." Flick said wryly.

"You don't mean?"

"Yep. My little sister, Katherine Mary Howell is now four months old."

"I know your dad's persuasive and everything, but that! Anyway, how are you? Are we going to the common room?"

"It's as good a place as any to start. You'll be able to meet my friends. Don't worry if they seem a bit daft. Even Lily gets a bit insane on occasion, and Cee lives in cloud cuckoo land. I'm fine, incidentally. I love it here! What about you? What've you been doing?" Emily groaned

"Working! I have to slog. It would be mortifying if I failed my NEWT's, you know, with Dad's position. He's staying with a Mr Black at the moment. Something to do with the Ministry."

"Mr Black? Sirius' dad. It has to be. He's really nice."

They reached the common room, and Sirius swooped on Felicity.

"Where've you been? There's another article in the Daily- who on earth are you?"

"Don't mind Sirius." Felcity said to her bemused guest. "His poor mother despairs of him, so she landed him on us."

"Your boyfriend?"

"Me? Her boyfriend? An ugly lump like her? Where did you get that idea?" Sirius rejected Emily straight off. "And who are you anyway?"

"Sirius, this is Emily Samuelson."

"Oh, the American chick!" Flick glared at him.

"Do we look like baby birds? Come on Em, I'll introduce you to the others."

Cee and Ellie greeted the newcomer politely, but Lily's warm enthusiasm made up for any lack of emotion in their greetings.

"Hi! I'm Lily Evans."

"Head Girl and do gooder!" Felicity added.

"You've met Cee and Ellie, I 'spect. And Sirius. That's Remus over there. He has a tendency to the philosophical. He's trying to teach Peter how to do Morse Code, a Muggle thing-"

"I know. My mum's a Muggle."

"You know? I love you, the others are complete duffers. I'm Muggle-born myself, so I learnt it before coming here. I didn't know anything about magic though. Anyway, James is the one sprawled in the chair over there. And don't be fooled by the book he's reading either. It's called Five Hundred Pranks In Quick Easy Steps. Dumbledore was having an off day when he made him Head Boy!"

"I heard that. I'm an excellent one. Not as boring as you."

"Oh really." Lily's voice took on a note of polite interest. "So you'll be only too happy to know, Mr Excitement, that we have a ball to plan. And as I'm so boring perhaps you'd like to do it." James looked at her, suddenly not so cocky. Felicity laughed.

"Your face. She was joking. There isn't a ball. Is there Lily?"

"Actually I was serious. The Yule Ball."

"I thought that was to do with the Triwizard Tournament."

"It is. But who said you needeed the French and the Poles to have a good time?"

"You don't," Sirius piped up, "you have me!"

"Exactly." Lily said, grinning at him. "So, Sirius, life and soul of the party. You'll be helping Jimbo over there with his planning."

"When did I say that?" Sirius back-pedalled quickly.

"Ah, go on Sirius. The two of you can rope Remus and Peter into it, and it'll be absolutely marvellous." Felicity was enthusiastic.

"Well. That's settled then." Lily said, happily. "I'll tell Professor McGonagall to send any further instructions to you four. Now, Flick! Why don't we take Emily on a tour of the building?"

The three of them walked off, arm in arm. Sirius turned on Eleanor.

"What did they do that for?"

"I think it had something to do with James calling Lily boring. And you calling Flick ugly. Remus and Peter are just caught up in it because they're your friends."

"You've got to help us!" Sirius sounded desperate.

"Uh uh. I'm with Flick and Lil. If you guys are so fabulous then you can be practical for once. Come on Cee. Have a nice time planning." Ellie and Cee left the room.

An hour later, the boys were around a table, doing their best to have some sort of action plan for the ball, this being an idea they had borrowed from Helen Baxfield, a friend of Cee's.

"Sirius, we can't seat Gryffindor's next to Slytherins. It wouldn't work!" Remus protested when Sirius made a rather ambitious suggesion. "Better to let people seat themselves, and just have several tables available."

"Dancing!" James said suddenly. Peter looked at him.

"There is no way I am dancing!"

"Peter it's a ball - dancing is what you do!" James retorted. "And that's not what I was going to say. We'll need music. Anyone know a good band?"

"The Ravenclaws have one. They might help."

"If you, em, sweet talk them." James looked at Sirius slyly.

"Apart from the fact that half of them are male." Sirius retorted.

"Ah. Good point. We'll just have to ask. How many people go to this anyway?"

"I dunno. About fifty?" Remus answered.

"I think more than fifty, Remus!" Helen told him as she walked past. "Try one hundred and fifty, and you might be closer to the mark."

"Fantastic. A lot of planning then!"

"Not so's you'd notice."

"Marvellous!"

Meanwhile, Lily was getting to know Emily.

"My little brother's at home in the States. Dad said he's too young to come without mum. I don't need supervision, but a seven year old high on sugar does, and my mum couldn't come."

"So how do you know Flick?"

"We went to the same school. Then she left. We would have stayed in touch, but she left, and I moved before she had a chance to write. Besides which I'm a hopeless correspondent!"

"So's Lily," Flick said happily. "She writes one letter for seven of us to share around."

"That's not fair!"

"Only joking!"

They went on to explain the previous years excitements, and when they finished, Emily looked at them in admiration.

"You guys sure have a lot of adventures!"

"The one was more than enough." Lily said, primly. And who could argue with that?

Chapter 8 - The Yule Ball

Emily was only supposed to spend one day at Hogwarts, but her father had to spend more time than anticipated at the British Ministry, so she joined Hogwarts as a temporary student for the rest of the Autumn term, and the Christmas Holiday.

Two weeks after Lily sprung the organisation of the Yule Ball on to James, it was to take place. Consequently, everyone needed a partner. It was the object of much discussion.

"I'm going on my own." Flick announced firmly.

"Flick! You can't. It wouldn't be the same!"

"It's alright for you! You don't have to worry about finding a partner, you'll be going with James. Some of us don't have lover boys!"

"I wish you wouldn't say that! Ellie, are you going with anyone?"

"Remus. Bless him, he doesn't get out enough to ask anyone else, so I asked him, instead."

"Somehow, I never saw the two of you as a couple." Cee mused thoughtfully.

"Cecelia, how many times do I have to tell you we're just dancing partners?"

"Yeah right!" Cee scorned. "Mike Adams asked me. I said yes. The guy is just too good looking to turn down! Besides, he's a Ravenclaw. Very intelligent!"

"Cee, you're incorrigible!" Lily exclaimed. "What are you going to do Em?"

"I haven't really though about it," the tall American admitted. "I suppose I'll go alone."

"Nah. Peter's gone on you. He'll ask."

"I'd have to be desperate!" Emily realised what she had just said. "Sorry guys. Me and my big mouth huh?"

"Don't worry about it. I can see your point. He's not quite as, em, dashing as the others is he?" Lily stated the obvious.

"I'm going to be a bachelor girl!" Flick announced, daringly.

"Why?" Emily asked curiously. "Couldn't you go with Sirius?"

"Don't go there." Lily advised. "It's dangerous ground. Theirs is a love-hate relationship, and I think it's currently in hate mode."

"He called me ugly." Flick said obstinately.

"That was two weeks ago!" Cee said in exasperation. "He's probably forgotten about it."

"He also dropped itching powder on my chair."

"Okay. Don't go to the ball with Sirius!" Ellie said hurriedly.

In the end, Andrew Lamsden asked Emily to the ball, and Flick true to her word went unescorted.

The night of the ball, and the girls' dormitory was bedlam.

"Who stole my hairbrush?" Cee screeched above the racket. "I need it!" She did as well. One of the problems of having wavy hair that touched your knees was that it tangled easily. At that second it looked like a birds nest.

"Here, borrow mine." Lily threw hers over, her own mane of silky curls groomed, shining, and unbound. The red of her hair sparkled in the lamplight. Meanwhile, Felicity was bemoaning her very crumpled dress.

"Who sat on it? I left instructions - no one sit on my bed. I only went to wash my hair for goodness' sake. Now what am I going to do?" Ellie rescued her with a simple Uncreasing Charm.

When they were all ready, they made a stunning crowd. Flick had chosen to wear scarlet robes, made of satin, while Lily in contrast wore floaty white. Cee chose eggshell blue, and Ellie was resplendent in pale pink. But it was Emily who made them gasp. She was usually an ordinary looking girl. Her elbow length nut brown hair was generally pulled back in a ponytail, and her grey eyes were hidden behind glasses. But tonight the glasses were gone, the hair was in a sleek french pleat, and she was wearing robes of jade.

"Andy's not going to know what hit him!" Lily said, gleefully.

"Lil, you are such a baby!" Flick said good-naturedly.

"Ah, leave her be." Emily said, happily. "You're only young once. Come on girls, lets go knock 'em dead!" And with that rather bold statement, they met their friends in the common room.

The Great Hall paid tribute to the boys' skill at delegation. One thing was for sure, they weren't responsible for the wreaths of holly, and elegant table arrangements. The Christmas tree was a work of art, and there was an atmosphere of merriment.

Somehow, the boys had got a band together, and they were playing softly. Dancing would have to wait, however, dinner was to be served first. Course after course of good food was placed at each of the small tabled strategically placed around the room. Eventually, even the largest of appetites was satisfied.

"The house elves must be having a field day!" Emily exclaimed, at one point.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked curiously.

"They absolutely adore being of service. When they were told to do this, I expect they danced for joy."

"Oh. As long as they don't view it a drudgery."

"Nah. They were practically kissing James' feet when he asked them to do it."

"Uugh! Poor them!"

"You can't talk Lil. You spend a fair amount of time attached to him."

"Flick! You're disgusting!" Lily said, shocked.

"True. Aren't you two going to dance?" James answered that question for her, and they joined the couples gliding around the dance floor. Flick looked on in satisfaction.

"I love happy endings!" she said, gleefully.

"Who said anything about ending?" Sirius asked from the opposite side of the table.

"You know what I mean!"

"Flick?"

"What?"

"Would you like to dance?"

"It depends."

"On what?"

"Whether you'll stand on my toes or not!"

So Sirius and Flick took to the dance floor. The two of them were clearly friends again. Their relationship was explosive to say the least. They had very similar characters, consequently, in their friendship they never did anything by halves. Either they were friends, or they weren't. However, for all their faults, their disagreements never lasted long. Both had hot tempers, quickly roused, and equally fast to fade. Their friends despaired of them. Both were incredibly witty, and many an hour had been spent listening to them as they had a sound off. In spite of the insults that flew between them, their verbal banters were very entertaining.

The revelry went on for hours, but it had to stop at some point. Eventually, everyone had left the room, and tired but happy were making their way back to either their common rooms or dormitories.

Grinning gleefully, James turned on Lily.

"Never let it be said that I can't organise a ball!" And with that, he disappeared into the boys' dormitory.

"'Night James!" Lily called after him, pointedly.

Chapter 9 - The Christmas Holidays

Usually most of the mischief-makers stayed at Hogwarts over the festive season, but this year was different. Eleanor, the daughter of a very wealthy, aristocratic Pureblood line that could be traced back for centuries had invited all of them to spend Christmas with her at Silver Hall, her parents' mansion. They all accepted with thanks. Even Lily, who spent most of her Christmases with her parents, was available.

A chauffeur driven car took them to their destination. Lily and Cee had visited Ellie's house before, and knew what to expect. The others were spellbound. Even Sirius was speechless for once.

Silver Hall was breathtakingly majestic. It had been built for Ellie's great-great-great-grandfather, to replace the original manor house that was in disrepair. The eighteenth century building was clean cut, and very simplistic, but its sheer size proved it to be a home of the rich. Several stairs led up to the Italian style porch. Once they entered the main hallway, Emily looked around, and admired the marble that decorated it.

"Must be worth a fortune!" she muttered. "Wish I lived somewhere like this."

Eleanor's parents were a pleasant looking couple, but quite out of place in the grandeur of their surroundings. By contrast, Ellie herself was a natural lady. Her command of every situation on her home ground was effortless. Without realising they were doing so, her friends began calling her Eleanor. Somehow the name 'Ellie' did not match the self assured young woman who showed her house with joy.

On Christmas day, Lily woke in the bedroom she was sharing with Felicity. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up. The huge four-poster bed was even larger than the one that was hers at school, and she looked quite lost in its vastness. She shivered. The morning was cold. The house was set in the Scottish highlands, and snow was not uncommon. She reached for her dressing gown, and then froze. Flick's bed was empty.

"Flick?" she said, uncertainly.

"Merry Christmas!" her friend exclaimed chirpily, as she left the en suite bathroom, fully clothed, and considerably more awake than Lily.

"How long have you been up?" Lily demanded.

"About an hour. Honestly Lil, you were sleeping like the dead. Hurry up and dress. Cee and Eleanor are up and so's Emily. And the boys have been dressed for hours.

So Lily pulled on her clothes, and then she and Flick joined their female friends.

"Come on!" Eleanor said, excitedly. "It's time for breakfast. The boys reckon they're starving. We were only waiting for Lil."

"You should have woken me!" Lily cried, embarrassed.

"No. You looked too sweet, all asleep, curled up in a ball. But hurry up now."

They tucked into a breakfast of bacon rolls and cereals of every type, chattering mettily, while Lord and Lady Silver looked on benignly.

"We'll be able to snow ball later!" Sirius said, between mouthfuls of roll.

"Trust you to think of that!" Flick said, laughing.

"We should open our presents first." Emily said, happily.

"You baby!" Cee exclaimed. "You're as bad as our Jo. That's all she ever thinks about - presents!"

"It's what Christmas is all about!" Emily replied.

"Unless you're religious." Lily muttered in an undertone.

"Pardon?"

"These rolls are really good!" Lily said brightly.

"The house elves will love you forever!" Eleanor smiled.

"Good. They all deserve gold stars."

"Because if Lily cooked it-"

"It would be an absolute mess!" Eleanor finished Cee's sentence. Lily was a notoriously bad chef, and Cee and Ellie had eaten one of her meals before then. It was a feat never to be repeated.

"Give over you two!" Lily exclaimed, outraged. "My mum gave me lessons in the summer. I can cook three meals now - beans on toast, spaghetti on toast, and cheese on toast!"

"Such accomplishment!" Flick said wryly.

"What?" said Sirius, as if in shock. "Lily, perfect all rounder can't do something!"

"Don't push it smarty." Flick leapt to her friend's defence, oblivious to the fact that she had teased Lily previously. "You can't do it either." Hurriedly. James intervened.

"I think we're all finished. Off we go!"

Much later, after a huge Christmas dinner, and several presents apiece, they were standing in the garden, debating how to split into two teams, in order to snowball fight.

"I think we should just create all round bedlam!" Sirius stuck to that point stubbornly.

"But it won't be strategic. And there won't be a winner." Felicity objected.

"Does that matter?" James queried.

"It's no fun without a winner!" Felicity exclaimed.

"Yes, but Flick," Lily interrupted patiently, "there's an odd number of us. We can't split into two even teams."

"Hello! What's going on here?" A tall, pleasant looking young man walked up the path.

"Josh!!" Eleanor exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Funnily enough, sister dear, it's my home. And who are all these people?"

"They're my friends. Guys, this is my brother, Joshua. He's been in Albania for the past seven years, playing with hippogriffs. Josh wants to be a vet, don't you!"

"For magical creatures." He concurred. His blue eyes were the only feature that identified him as Eleanor's brother. His hair was jet black, his complexion tanned a deep brown. "But Ellie, who are these people?"

"I told you, my friends! And you know Cee anyway! Lily, Flick, James, Remus, Peter, Sirius and Emily. Emily's only staying here until after the Christmas holidays though. Her dad's the American Senator of Sorcery, and he's over here on business. Emily knew Flick when they were at school in the states."

"Flick? Oh! Felicity! Are you American then?" he turned to the girl with the big brown eyes.

"No. Welsh."

"But-"

'My dad worked over there after my mum died. When he remarried we moved back here, and now we live in London." she explained.

"Oh, right. How're you doing Cee? How's Jon?"

"Cee's brother and Josh were in the same year at school. That's how Cee and Josh know each other." Ellie explained to the others.

"Married." Cee said glumly,

"You sound so enthusiastic!" he teased.

"And he's a dad too. Poor Violet. I bet he came up with that name!" Cee still hadn't got over her niece being called Violet.

"It's a pretty name." Lily butted in. "Better than Lily, anyway."

"Lily's a nice name too." Josh smiled.

"I think I've fallen in love!" Lily joked.

"Lil! You already were!"

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him," Lily quoted, blithely.

"But I do know!" James retorted.

"Never mind. You know I was only joking." And she stood on tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss.

"From that I'll deduce that those two are heading for domestic bliss." Josh observed.

"Tell me about it!" Flick exclaimed, in disgust. "By the end of the year they'll be married and have done with it."

"Not if I can help it." James said, bluntly. "We'd be living in the streets, with no job, and no food. Very good way to start life, I don't think!"

"Ever the optimist." Cee said sarcastically. "Getting back to the snowball fight. Josh, you can join the boys, and we'll play boys versus girls."

Cee's idea was a good one, and soon they were running around squeals carrying in the still frosty air. Eventually they stopped.

"We won! We won!" Flick crowed joyfully.

"Typical female." Sirius muttered. "Rub salt into the wound!"

At the end of the holidays, they had to say good-bye to Emily. She'd only known them for a few weeks, but she fit into the group very well, and earned herself the mischief-maker reputation when she 'accidentally' brewed her potion incorrectly, and Severus Snape, with whom she was obliged to work, ended up covered in boils. They were now enemies for life.

"Don't forget to write." Lily told her, firmly. "We can always have conversations at midnight using the 'Summaticus' Charm. I have to admit that having a head in the fire isn't the best solution, but it'll work. Then we can have proper conversations. You take care okay!"

"If you find anything out about the Lead movement then let us know as soon as possible. That way, we'll have some idea of what we're dealing with. And when we have another message decoded, we'll let you know." Cee added. It was left to Flick to coin the occasion.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do! And that includes sucking up!" she said, with a pointed look at Lily.

"I'm wounded." Lily said, with mock hurt. "I can't help it if they love me. I'm just a loveable person."

"Okay then." Flick said, skeptically. "Have a nice trip Em. Write as soon as you get there. See you!"

Chapter 10 - Flashing Lights

Back at Hogwarts, the eight of them got back into their routine of midnight watches, and full days. If Flick was inclined to grump about the amount of time they wasted when nothing happened, nobody seemed to mind. Life was fun, and they knew it. They were blissfully unaware of the full extent of evil in the world, and even if they had known, they were invincible. To them, life was just one big adventure, and one to laugh and joke about.

There was little time to do any joking, however. The teachers were piling work on them, in an effort to ensure good NEWT results.

"Alleluia!" Lily said, thankfully, as she put her quill down for the last time. "Five rolls of parchment later, and it's finally finished. I think Professor McGonagall thinks that all we need to worry about it Transfiguration. And then Professor Flitwick gave us all that Charms work to do! It's a wonder James and Sirius have time to worry about joking!"

"You're surprised that James and Sirius joke?" Flick looked at her, with raised eyebrows. "Lil, lovey, that's all they ever do. I don't know when they do all this work that's heaped upon us, but somehow they manage to cram a million and one things into every day."

"Look who's talking!" Lily said, pointedly. "Who is it who turned Snape's robes multi coloured, sneaked into Hogsmeade for Butterbeer, and somehow managed to complete a History of Magic essay all in the same day?"

"Snape deserved it!" Flick protested. "He turned poor Kat's Cat blue, and made the poor thing hide in our dormitory for a week. And we deserved the Butterbeer. After all, it's not every day that someone gets the better of McGonagall - even if it was Sirius. So there!"

It was three days later, and Lily had got up early, in order to complete her Potions homework. Flick flew downstairs in excitement.

"Lily! He was there again, signalling! Look!" and Felicity showed Lily a crumpled piece of parchment.

'DUMBLEDORE NOT SUSPICIOUS YET BUT IN NEWS. ORDERS TO BE CARRIED OUT ON 16 OF 6 CANT WAIT. MORE TOMMORROW LEAD Z' "Flick! We need to know what the orders are! Otherwise someone's going to get hurt."

"Come on Lil, June's ages away. We've got plenty of time to come up with a solution!"

"Flick, how to we solve a problem when we don't know what exactly the problem is, only that there is one?"

"With difficulty. But we'll just have to wait won't we. From what that message says, more will happen tomorrow. And it's your night. I'll come with you, and we'll see what we can do. And we need to tell the others."

On seeing the new message, Remus suddenly looked thoughtful.

"We should tell Dumbledore, but we can't because it would show we've been breaking rules again. I have this feeling that we're getting mixed up in something - again!"

"Ah, come on Remus, it's fun!" Felicity exclaimed, her cheeks flushed with excitement. "It beats studying, anyway."

"Yeah, Moony, it's what they call 'on the job' training. We'll be the best people to fight Dark Arts ever!"

"Dream on Sirius!" Ellie said, coolly. "That's Dumbledore. But you're right. And Lil and Flick are right to. We've got to go tonight to see the next message." And as they all agreed, that was that.

Consequently, the next night eight students squeezed under one Invisibility Cloak - with difficulty.

"Ouch! Sirius that was my toe!"

"Well if you stick your feet in awkward places what do you expect?"

"Remus, you're hugging me!"

"Sorry Cee. It's a bit of a nightmare getting all of us under here!"

"Shhh!" James hissed. "Otherwise it'll just be me, Peter, Lily and Ellie. At least they aren't bickering."

"Touchy touchy!"

"Shut up Sirius, he's right - and you're still standing on me!"

"Flick! Get a life!" Eventually everyone was covered, just. And not comfortably. On arrival at the tower, Lily took charge.

"Right, you bunch of lemons. Really that cloak is only meant for one, but we need two, so the one person can write while the other holds the cloak - if you get my drift?"

"Just about. Carry on, bossy."

"Well, Flick and I will stay out here, and the rest of you can go in the cubby hole behind that portrait. Okay?"

"Wait a minute! It's my cloak!" James protested.

"Fine. You stay with Flick. But we need to hurry."

Six pairs of arms and legs heaved themselves behind a portrait, as the sound of footsteps approached. After the flashing had been completed, the dark figure disappeared.

"It's alright! You can come out now!" Flick murmured. They reappeared.

"Flick. We have a problem."

"What?"

"That cubby hole, it's full of Lead stuff. And we read it."

"Really! Well don't beat about the bush. What did it say?" James was interested.

"You're not going to like this."

"For goodness sake Lily! Get on with it!"

"Flick? It's you they're after. And I can't see any way of stopping them!"