1.1 Chapter 2: Dreams, Premonitions and Graduations
That night, Lily had a very difficult time sleeping. She kept having dreams about what she could only assume was the future. Parts of it looked wonderful… she saw her wedding to James, how happy everyone was… Unfortunately it did not seem that this euphoria was destined to last. She felt as though they were being hunted, and awoke several times in a cold sweat. Knowing that James was there beside her was quite reassuring, but there was still something wrong… something that she was sure had to do with tonight.
Lily shook her head, and snuggled closer to James, who had fallen asleep with his glasses on, and tried to go back to sleep herself. There was a stir of echoes in Lily's head that night, but not echoes of the past- echoes of the future. "No, Dumbledore doesn't have to do it. I will. I'll be your Secret-Keeper," said Sirius's voice. "A son! Lily, our son!" she heard James say. "There he is! Harry Potter! The Boy Who Lived!" said a stranger's voice. Lily found that one to be quite odd, until she heard something even more terrifying. It was her! She heard herself screaming: "No! Not Harry! Please… have mercy… have mercy…"
"Lily, Lily!" James shouted. "Get McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey, Dumbledore- whoever you can! Just go now!"
Lily could feel herself being pulled back into the present. By the time she opened her eyes, half of the Hogwarts professors were in the room, along with most of Gryffindor house.
"Most peculiar, indeed," Dumbledore said, examining her through his spectacles. "Ah, yes. How are you feeling, Miss Evans?"
"Fine," she said weakly, despite the fact that her heart was pounding and she was a bit confused by why everyone was in the room.
"Perhaps Mr. Potter should take you to the hospital wing so that Madame Pomfrey can examine you properly," Dumbledore suggested.
"No, sir. I'm fine, really," she insisted.
Dumbledore simply held up his hand, as if to silence her protests. "Just as a precaution, Miss Evans. We want you to be well rested for the graduation festivities this afternoon."
With those words, everyone knew that the matter was settled. The room gradually cleared out and James helped Lily to her feet.
"Really, James. I'm fine! I don't know what all this fuss is about."
"You really have no idea?" Lily shook her head, and James sighed. "Lily, you were screaming terrible things in your sleep… we all thought that you were being killed!"
Lily's eyed opened wide. "What did you say?"
"You were screaming bloody murder," Sirius said.
"You're not helping," James told him. He turned back to Lily. "I tried to wake you… we all did. For about an hour, but nothing worked. You were screaming my name, and my middle name, Harry repeatedly. What were you dreaming about?" He looked at her with great concern.
"Nothing, it was nothing…"
"You're lying."
Lily took a deep breath. "He was there," she whispered, "Voldemort. He was trying to kill our son, Harry… I tried not to let him, begging him to show mercy, but it was no use… Then he… he…" she broke out into sobs.
"What is it, baby?" he asked, brushing the hair away from her face.
"He killed you…" she trailed off.
James was quite taken by surprise at this comment. "He killed me?" Lily nodded, and James kissed her forehead. "It's not going to happen, we're going to be together for a long, long time. It won't end like that."
"But it seemed so real… I could see it perfectly."
"Lily, no. It's not true. Don't worry. Now, come on, let's get you up on the bed so Madam Pomfrey can have a look at you."
"Oh, you poor, poor thing," Madam Pomfrey said, bustling in. "Let's see what we can do for you." She began to examine Lily. "Isn't that a beautiful ring?" she said, looking at Lily's hand. Lily and James both smiled.
"It's been in my family for generations," James said, beaming proudly.
"Isn't that sweet. And what about this one? Another engagement present?"
James and Lily looked at her strangely. "What?" they asked at the same time.
"I don't know why you kids all insist on doing things like this. In my day, we didn't have any of this 'body art' nonsense."
"Body art?" James asked, while Lily, at the same time said, "What are you talking about?"
"This, dear," she said, as a mirror appeared, allowing Lily and James to see a jeweled skull on Lily's right shoulder blade. "Although I never would have imagined you to pick this particular design."
"When did you get that!" James roared.
"I- I don't know! What is it?" Lily stammered.
"Let me try to remove it then," Madame Pomfrey said. She tried 3 different spells, but none of them worked. "Not to worry, I'm sure I've got just the thing for it. Back in a moment."
"James, how? I mean, why can't she get it off of me?"
"I don't know, but I'm sure as hell going to find out."
Just then, Madame Pomfrey returned, accompanied by their charms professor. After three unsuccessful attempts to remove the jewels, he finally was able to get them off. "Onyx! Very interesting… I should like to take these with me, if I may, Miss Evens," he said. She simply nodded. "It is entirely possible that these might be what caused your episode this morning."
Lily shuddered. She didn't want her nightmares to be referred to as an 'episode.' It seemed so psychotic to her. Judging by the way James looked, he felt the same way.
"Professor Dumbledore would like for you two to go and see him now, if you feel up to it, Miss Evans," Madame Pomfrey told her, "Of course why you should, I don't know, since I'm not finished here. But that is quite alright, as I am never able, it seems, to treat my patients as thoroughly as I would like…"
"And on that note…" James whispered to Lily as he quickly ushered her out of the hospital wing. This caused her to giggle, which meant both her and James smiled for the first time since the day before.
Together they made their way up to Dumbledore's office. When they got to the entrance, James said "Cookie Dough" and it opened. They walked up the stairs and waited to be called in.
"Well, well, come in, come in," Dumbledore said to them, showing them into 2 chairs in front of his desk, before sitting himself down. "How are you feeling, Lily?"
Lily was surprised because until now, he had always called her 'Miss Evans.' "Fine, thank you, Professor. Very anxious about graduation, actually."
"Naturally. You are speaking. Provided you feel up to it, of course."
Now it was James's turn to be surprised again. He didn't know Lily was giving a speech.
"Oh yes, James. Our Lily here is class valedictorian. She will be giving what I expect to be a wonderful speech." Lily blushed slightly. "But, before we go any further into today's activities, I must request that you recount for me the events that unfolded last night. This will not be easy, but it must be done. The sooner, the better."
Heaving a great sigh, and prepared to go into details that even James had not heard yet, Lily began telling the tale of the night before. She told them how she had thought she was meeting James, and about the picnic. About the first kiss, and how she had felt uncomfortable. Tears filled her eyes as she explained how she couldn't stop him from kissing her or his hands from roaming over her body. As she continued, James looked ready to kill. Dumbledore however remained calm and focused on Lily. She then said how she was screaming for help when James's body began to change.
"And that is when you appeared with Mr. Black, correct?" Dumbledore asked, looking at James.
"Yes," he replied, angrily.
"Now, now. We still don't know for certain exactly how things unfolded."
"What?!" James cried. "I'm sorry, Professor, but isn't it obvious?! Snape has been interested in Lily for YEARS and would obviously do anything, and DID do anything he could to have her! He tried to take advantage of her by pretending to be me! And I don't think he was alone either! When I tried to find her, someone cursed me so I could hardly even move to get anywhere near her!"
"James, please, calm down. You may rest assured that there are many of us investigating what happened last night. I will not lie to you and say we are not taking it seriously. Quite the opposite in fact. We believe that there was some dark magic at hand, and the mark that Madame Pomfrey found upon Lily supports that theory very strongly."
"Dark magic?" Lily piped in.
"Yes. The skull mark that you woke up with is the sign of the evil wizard, Voldemort. We have reason to believe that Severus was not acting of his own accord. Now, that is all that I can tell you at this time. Please, do be patient, and I promise that I will notify you of anything as soon as I find out. You have my word on it."
"Lily, I suggest that you and James return to your dormitories and get ready for graduation."
"Come on, hun," James said.
Lily got up to leave, and then turned to face Dumbledore, "Thank you, Professor."
The two of them hurried back to Gryffindor Tower. "We don't have to tell anyone about this if you don't want to," James told her.
"Yeah, I don't think that would be a good idea, especially not today." Then, without thinking, she added "I wonder how Severus is doing?"
"How can you even ask that?! I mean, after all that he did to you!" They arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Graduation Celebration." The portrait swung open.
"You heard Dumbledore, James. It wasn't his fault."
"Lily, I swear, you forgive far too easily." James still had that murderous look in his eyes when they entered the common room.
"Lily!" shouted Jem.
"It's about bloody time!" yelled Remus. "How are you guys?" he added.
"We're fine, everything is fun," Lily assured everyone. She turned to the girls. "Shall we go upstairs and get ready?" She forced a smile.
"Thought you'd never ask!" squealed April. She grabbed Lily's hand and the four girls made their way up the stairs.
"I love you James! Back down in a bit!" Lily yelled over her shoulder.
"Love you too!"
Once Lily was safely upstairs, and out of earshot, James gestured for Sirius, Remus and Peter to follow him.
"Are you gonna fill us in now?" said Sirius.
"Lily didn't want to talk about it, but after everything you guys saw last night I think you deserve to know what little information I have."
"Why did Dumbledore want to see you?" Peter asked quietly.
James gave him a strange look, but quickly dismissed it. Peter was a strange and nervous boy, but they all trusted him. Why wouldn't they? They had all been friends for as long as any of them could remember.
"He wanted to tell me and Lily who he thinks is behind all of this-"
"Well, duh! We all saw Snape... in fact, we almost killed him," Remus stated.
"Should have finished the job, if you ask me," Sirius piped in.
"I totally agree with you guys, but for some reason, Dumbledore doesn't."
"What are you talking about?" asked Sirius.
"Dumbledore thinks that Snape wasn't acting of his own free will... that someone was controlling him-"
"But that would mean using the Imperious Curse! It's forbidden! One of the Unforgivable Curses!" insisted Remus. "Who would do that?"
"They think it was Voldemort."
Sirius and Remus stared at James. Peter flinched nervously, but the others failed to notice.
"Are- Is- Is he sure?" Peter stammered.
"He has no reason to lie, Peter."
"Right, right."
"Anyway, that's it... Dumbledore said he would keep me and Lily posted... let us know if/when they find anything else out. But you know what? Just before we came in here, Lily was acting all worried about Snape! Can you guys believe that?"
"James, it's Lily... she's like that," said Remus. "I mean, look at me... most people would have turned me away, or worse still, turned me in. But not Lily."
"She's too compassionate for her own good sometimes," Sirius said, with a grin.
"Oh, shut up," said Remus, chucking a cushion at him.
"Guys, this is serious."
"Right, sorry."
"Come on James," Remus said, "Let's go get ready."
And with that, the boys headed upstairs to change into their Hogwarts robes for the last time.
It was just about 3pm when Lily and James (and the others) met in the common room to head out to the graduation ceremony.
"Can you believe it?" April sighed.
"We actually made it!" Sirius said. "And without losing any points for Gryffindor for the last 2 months!"
"That must have been hard for you guys," said Jem.
The boys all had a real affinity for pranks, and had somehow managed to stay out of trouble recently. Something told Lily that this wouldn't last though.
"Let's go downstairs and get seated. This is going to be an interesting afternoon," James suggested.
"I really hope that I don't forget my speech..." Lily added nervously.
"You'll do fine, Lily. You always do," Jem reassured her.
"Thanks," she replied.
The eight of them took a final look around the common room and then headed out of the portrait hole.
"I can't believe it... the next time we come in here we won't be students any more... we'll be official witches and wizards..." Remus said, beaming.
Graduation was scheduled to start at 4 o'clock. All of the graduating students were seated in four sections in front of a large stage that was set on the quidditch field. The sections were for each of the houses, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. In the stands were the other students and the graduates' families. Well, most of them. Lily's sister, Petunia, her only living relative now, refused to come.
All of the graduates were present, with the exception of one: Severus Snape. James, Sirius and Remus all seemed to notice this immediately, and started smirking.
Lily hit James' shoulder to stop him from laughing out loud, which unfortunately caused Sirius and Remus to burst out laughing.
They only stopped when Dumbledore stood in front of a large podium and started to speak.
"It has been seven years," Dumbledore began, "since you all first set foot on the Hogwarts Express from Platform 9 3/4, not knowing what your future at Hogwarts would bring.
"Some of you came from families of Witches and Wizards who could be traced back centuries. Others of you joined us from the Muggle world, as you were the first in your families to show signs of true magic. In either instance, it is a proud moment for me to be standing here in front of you.
"Today marks the beginning of the next chapter of your lives. It is up to you to decide where you will go from here, but I have every faith in you all that you will choose wisely and carefully, and make honorable choices that will shape the future of the wizarding world for generations to come.
"That having been said, I am pleased to introduce this year's class Valedictorian, and first Hogwarts student in the past decade to achieve a perfect score on her N.E.W.T.S., Miss Lily Evans!"
There was a roar of applause, particularly from a certain Gryffindor, as Professor Dumbledore helped Lily onto the stage.
"Thank you, Professor," Lily began. "Thank you everyone. Hogwarts has been my home for the last 7 years of my life. I have learned more about the world, magic and life than I ever would have imagined possible.
"I have made friends that I know will last a lifetime, learned many lessons the hard way, and enjoyed every minute of it. Hogwarts has seen me through many milestones in my life, overcoming personal tragedy, and the greatest triumphs. And then, just when I thought that things couldn't get any better, they did.
"I am not leaving here alone. I have my friends, and now a family as well. I met my fiancé here, and I look forward to starting my life with him.
"So, I would like to leave you with these words. Every day is a new beginning. Today, as graduates, we move on to the next task, but we must be sure to keep in mind all of the valuable lessons that we have learned in our time here. We will all meet again, I am certain of it. Congratulations, everyone!"
"And now, it is time for the ceremony. If the graduates from each house would please rise and step onto the stage," Professor McGonagall instructed. Everyone did as they were told, as a large mirror appeared on the stage.
"The first to step through will be Lily Evans!" said Professor McGonagall. "Now, don't be nervous, dear," she said more quietly.
"Alright," Lily whispered, taking a deep breath. She stepped forward and into the mirror. To her surprise, she came out on the other side, no longer wearing her Hogwarts robes, but instead new robes, and had a diploma in her hand as well.
She grinned back at James, and walked off stage.
When James walked through the mirror and came out the other side he was met with wild cheers from his friends, fiancée and family. He immediately ran over to Lily and swept her up in his arms.
They were soon joined by the rest of their friends.
"Just Slytherin is left," commented Sirius.
"I know... I can't wait for Malfoy to cross through... it's just too bad Snape couldn't be here as well," said James.
"Oh no... what are you going to do?" Lily asked, with growing concern.
"You'll see," the three troublemakers grinned.
"Lucious Malfoy," said McGonagall's voice. He stepped toward the mirror, but rather than coming out on the other side with black robes on, his were bright pink, and fireworks were set off around him. Sparklers spelled out "I wish that I could have graduated from the Gryffindor House! Then I wouldn't feel like such a loser!"
James, Sirius and Remus all lost it. They were laughing so hard. Even the girls couldn't completely stifle their laughter. Come to think of it, nobody could, except Lucious and his family.
"You'll pay for this, Potter," Malfoy said under his breath as McGonagall cleared away the mess.
"So it wasn't a wasted two months, after all, huh guys?" asked Jem.
They shook their heads. "Well worth it, the laying low. Nobody suspected a thing..." James trailed off.
"At least now I know where you ran off to yesterday," Lily said, trying to stop smiling. It seemed that nothing could ruin this day for her.
That night, at Lily's request, the Gryffindor graduates all went out to celebrate. They didn't go into Hogsmeade to the Three Broomsticks though, where all of the other graduates were. Oh, no. Lily had a much more interesting idea for them. They went to Hogsmeade, but only to travel somewhere else by floo powder. In fact, the next thing they knew, they were all in muggle clothing at a muggle pub in London.
"This round is on me," Lily said, excitedly. It had been a long time since she was able to use muggle money.
"Are you sure?" asked Jem.
"Of course!"
Two pitchers of beer arrived at their table, with 8 frosted pint glasses.
"Bottoms up!" toasted Lily. Everyone else followed her lead and took a drink.
"Wow! Those muggles don't have it so bad!" said Remus, taking another swig.
The night continued on like that, everyone laughing and enjoying themselves, taking turns buying rounds of drinks.
After about 5 rounds, everyone was feeling rather... happy.
"This is great!" yelled Sirius. "Why didn't we ever sneak out to a muggle pub before?"
Everyone laughed. "I know!" agreed James. "We definitely have to start doing this regularly."
James was sitting with his arm around Lily. She gave him a kiss on the cheek when from out of nowhere they heard a voice from behind them.
"Lily Evans? Is that you?" said a male voice.
Everyone turned to see who was talking.
"Um, yes?" she said, cautiously. "Do I know- Grady!" she exclaimed. "Oh my god! It has been forever!" Lily jumped up and out of James's grasp to hug the strange man. James could feel his blood start to boil.
"I can't believe it's actually you! How are you?" Grady asked. "I have been hoping to run into you forever!"
"It has been years... I'm good... just graduated from school... what about you?"
"Same, I'm heading off to University in the fall though."
"Really? That's great..."
James coughed rather loudly.
"Oh, right! James!" Lily suddenly realized she wasn't the only one there. "Grady, this is James," and she started to go around the table, "Jem, April, Sirius, Virginia, Remus and Peter. We all went to school together."
"Hello," said Grady.
"Hey," "Hello," "What's up?" everyone piped in.
"Well, this is Grady. He and I went to school together, before I... transferred!"
"Oh! A muggle schoolmate!" James declared, rather loudly. Lily shot him a very mean glance that managed to silence him. Sirius and Remus started snickering.
"Won't you join us?" April asked, forcing Sirius to move over.
"Um, sure. Let me just let my friends know," and he walked away for a moment.
"What the hell did you do that for, April?" James demanded.
"He's cute!" she answered. "So why not?"
"This is just so random, running into him here. It's been so long, I've nearly forgotten my life from before Hogwarts..." Lily trailed off.
Lily sat back down next to James and poured herself another pint.
"Why didn't you tell him?" he asked.
"Tell him what?"
James's eyes grew wide, as did everyone else's at the table.
Lily looked around at them. "What?"
"About me? About us?" He grabbed her left hand. "About that?"
"Oh, James, don't worry. Honestly, as if I'd forget about you..."
"Well, just make sure it comes up in conversation now, cos he's coming back."
"Hi again.. sorry that took so long," Grady said awkwardly.
"That's alright! Have a seat!" April offered, patting the now empty chair beside her.
"Thanks," he replied, sitting.
"So, you know Lily from when?" asked Remus.
"We used to go to school together... then her parents said she transferred to a boarding school in France."
"France?!" Sirius started laughing, no doubt thinking of Beaubaxtons. Grady gave Lily an uneasy look. She smiled in response and he felt more at ease.
"I just can't get over how good you look, Lil. The years have been kind to you." He winked at her.
"You don't have to say that." Lily felt James squeeze her hand rather tightly. "OK," she muttered to him before turning back to Grady. "Things are going really well... between graduating and-"
James cut her off. "And getting married, we've got our hands full." He grinned, seeing Grady's stunned expression.
"You're married?"
"No, not yet. Just engaged. In fact, we need to set a date still..." James stated very matter-of-factly.
"Oh, well that's good then," Grady retorted. "There's still hope for the rest of us." He winked again.
James couldn't handle this. He instinctively reached for his wand, but for some reason it wasn't there. He looked at Lily who nodded, whispering "Don't even think about it, I have it and you're not getting it back until we're out of here."
So, since he couldn't use magic, he jumped up and punched Grady in the nose.
The girls screamed and Lily was trying to pry James off of her childhood friend, but she wasn't strong enough. Something had come over him. Sirius and Remus finally had to pry the two apart.
James shouted, "You stay away from her or I will make the rest of your life miserable!" With that, he grabbed Lily and stormed out.
"Jesus Christ, James! What the hell was all that about?!" she yelled in the street.
"What do you think? He was flirting with you and you were playing along!"
"You canNOT be serious about this. You honestly think that if I was going to flirt with another guy that I would be stupid enough to do it with you sitting right there?! Give me a little credit at least!"
"And why should I? That little bastard would have been all over you if it was up to him!"
"I cannot believe that we are arguing about this! I love YOU, James. NOT GRADY. This was the first time I've seen him in OVER SEVEN YEARS. So you know what? I'm going home now. And you, you need to get over yourself."
Lily stormed off toward the Leaky Cauldron where they had arrived without even looking back.
That night, Lily had a very difficult time sleeping. She kept having dreams about what she could only assume was the future. Parts of it looked wonderful… she saw her wedding to James, how happy everyone was… Unfortunately it did not seem that this euphoria was destined to last. She felt as though they were being hunted, and awoke several times in a cold sweat. Knowing that James was there beside her was quite reassuring, but there was still something wrong… something that she was sure had to do with tonight.
Lily shook her head, and snuggled closer to James, who had fallen asleep with his glasses on, and tried to go back to sleep herself. There was a stir of echoes in Lily's head that night, but not echoes of the past- echoes of the future. "No, Dumbledore doesn't have to do it. I will. I'll be your Secret-Keeper," said Sirius's voice. "A son! Lily, our son!" she heard James say. "There he is! Harry Potter! The Boy Who Lived!" said a stranger's voice. Lily found that one to be quite odd, until she heard something even more terrifying. It was her! She heard herself screaming: "No! Not Harry! Please… have mercy… have mercy…"
"Lily, Lily!" James shouted. "Get McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey, Dumbledore- whoever you can! Just go now!"
Lily could feel herself being pulled back into the present. By the time she opened her eyes, half of the Hogwarts professors were in the room, along with most of Gryffindor house.
"Most peculiar, indeed," Dumbledore said, examining her through his spectacles. "Ah, yes. How are you feeling, Miss Evans?"
"Fine," she said weakly, despite the fact that her heart was pounding and she was a bit confused by why everyone was in the room.
"Perhaps Mr. Potter should take you to the hospital wing so that Madame Pomfrey can examine you properly," Dumbledore suggested.
"No, sir. I'm fine, really," she insisted.
Dumbledore simply held up his hand, as if to silence her protests. "Just as a precaution, Miss Evans. We want you to be well rested for the graduation festivities this afternoon."
With those words, everyone knew that the matter was settled. The room gradually cleared out and James helped Lily to her feet.
"Really, James. I'm fine! I don't know what all this fuss is about."
"You really have no idea?" Lily shook her head, and James sighed. "Lily, you were screaming terrible things in your sleep… we all thought that you were being killed!"
Lily's eyed opened wide. "What did you say?"
"You were screaming bloody murder," Sirius said.
"You're not helping," James told him. He turned back to Lily. "I tried to wake you… we all did. For about an hour, but nothing worked. You were screaming my name, and my middle name, Harry repeatedly. What were you dreaming about?" He looked at her with great concern.
"Nothing, it was nothing…"
"You're lying."
Lily took a deep breath. "He was there," she whispered, "Voldemort. He was trying to kill our son, Harry… I tried not to let him, begging him to show mercy, but it was no use… Then he… he…" she broke out into sobs.
"What is it, baby?" he asked, brushing the hair away from her face.
"He killed you…" she trailed off.
James was quite taken by surprise at this comment. "He killed me?" Lily nodded, and James kissed her forehead. "It's not going to happen, we're going to be together for a long, long time. It won't end like that."
"But it seemed so real… I could see it perfectly."
"Lily, no. It's not true. Don't worry. Now, come on, let's get you up on the bed so Madam Pomfrey can have a look at you."
"Oh, you poor, poor thing," Madam Pomfrey said, bustling in. "Let's see what we can do for you." She began to examine Lily. "Isn't that a beautiful ring?" she said, looking at Lily's hand. Lily and James both smiled.
"It's been in my family for generations," James said, beaming proudly.
"Isn't that sweet. And what about this one? Another engagement present?"
James and Lily looked at her strangely. "What?" they asked at the same time.
"I don't know why you kids all insist on doing things like this. In my day, we didn't have any of this 'body art' nonsense."
"Body art?" James asked, while Lily, at the same time said, "What are you talking about?"
"This, dear," she said, as a mirror appeared, allowing Lily and James to see a jeweled skull on Lily's right shoulder blade. "Although I never would have imagined you to pick this particular design."
"When did you get that!" James roared.
"I- I don't know! What is it?" Lily stammered.
"Let me try to remove it then," Madame Pomfrey said. She tried 3 different spells, but none of them worked. "Not to worry, I'm sure I've got just the thing for it. Back in a moment."
"James, how? I mean, why can't she get it off of me?"
"I don't know, but I'm sure as hell going to find out."
Just then, Madame Pomfrey returned, accompanied by their charms professor. After three unsuccessful attempts to remove the jewels, he finally was able to get them off. "Onyx! Very interesting… I should like to take these with me, if I may, Miss Evens," he said. She simply nodded. "It is entirely possible that these might be what caused your episode this morning."
Lily shuddered. She didn't want her nightmares to be referred to as an 'episode.' It seemed so psychotic to her. Judging by the way James looked, he felt the same way.
"Professor Dumbledore would like for you two to go and see him now, if you feel up to it, Miss Evans," Madame Pomfrey told her, "Of course why you should, I don't know, since I'm not finished here. But that is quite alright, as I am never able, it seems, to treat my patients as thoroughly as I would like…"
"And on that note…" James whispered to Lily as he quickly ushered her out of the hospital wing. This caused her to giggle, which meant both her and James smiled for the first time since the day before.
Together they made their way up to Dumbledore's office. When they got to the entrance, James said "Cookie Dough" and it opened. They walked up the stairs and waited to be called in.
"Well, well, come in, come in," Dumbledore said to them, showing them into 2 chairs in front of his desk, before sitting himself down. "How are you feeling, Lily?"
Lily was surprised because until now, he had always called her 'Miss Evans.' "Fine, thank you, Professor. Very anxious about graduation, actually."
"Naturally. You are speaking. Provided you feel up to it, of course."
Now it was James's turn to be surprised again. He didn't know Lily was giving a speech.
"Oh yes, James. Our Lily here is class valedictorian. She will be giving what I expect to be a wonderful speech." Lily blushed slightly. "But, before we go any further into today's activities, I must request that you recount for me the events that unfolded last night. This will not be easy, but it must be done. The sooner, the better."
Heaving a great sigh, and prepared to go into details that even James had not heard yet, Lily began telling the tale of the night before. She told them how she had thought she was meeting James, and about the picnic. About the first kiss, and how she had felt uncomfortable. Tears filled her eyes as she explained how she couldn't stop him from kissing her or his hands from roaming over her body. As she continued, James looked ready to kill. Dumbledore however remained calm and focused on Lily. She then said how she was screaming for help when James's body began to change.
"And that is when you appeared with Mr. Black, correct?" Dumbledore asked, looking at James.
"Yes," he replied, angrily.
"Now, now. We still don't know for certain exactly how things unfolded."
"What?!" James cried. "I'm sorry, Professor, but isn't it obvious?! Snape has been interested in Lily for YEARS and would obviously do anything, and DID do anything he could to have her! He tried to take advantage of her by pretending to be me! And I don't think he was alone either! When I tried to find her, someone cursed me so I could hardly even move to get anywhere near her!"
"James, please, calm down. You may rest assured that there are many of us investigating what happened last night. I will not lie to you and say we are not taking it seriously. Quite the opposite in fact. We believe that there was some dark magic at hand, and the mark that Madame Pomfrey found upon Lily supports that theory very strongly."
"Dark magic?" Lily piped in.
"Yes. The skull mark that you woke up with is the sign of the evil wizard, Voldemort. We have reason to believe that Severus was not acting of his own accord. Now, that is all that I can tell you at this time. Please, do be patient, and I promise that I will notify you of anything as soon as I find out. You have my word on it."
"Lily, I suggest that you and James return to your dormitories and get ready for graduation."
"Come on, hun," James said.
Lily got up to leave, and then turned to face Dumbledore, "Thank you, Professor."
The two of them hurried back to Gryffindor Tower. "We don't have to tell anyone about this if you don't want to," James told her.
"Yeah, I don't think that would be a good idea, especially not today." Then, without thinking, she added "I wonder how Severus is doing?"
"How can you even ask that?! I mean, after all that he did to you!" They arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Graduation Celebration." The portrait swung open.
"You heard Dumbledore, James. It wasn't his fault."
"Lily, I swear, you forgive far too easily." James still had that murderous look in his eyes when they entered the common room.
"Lily!" shouted Jem.
"It's about bloody time!" yelled Remus. "How are you guys?" he added.
"We're fine, everything is fun," Lily assured everyone. She turned to the girls. "Shall we go upstairs and get ready?" She forced a smile.
"Thought you'd never ask!" squealed April. She grabbed Lily's hand and the four girls made their way up the stairs.
"I love you James! Back down in a bit!" Lily yelled over her shoulder.
"Love you too!"
Once Lily was safely upstairs, and out of earshot, James gestured for Sirius, Remus and Peter to follow him.
"Are you gonna fill us in now?" said Sirius.
"Lily didn't want to talk about it, but after everything you guys saw last night I think you deserve to know what little information I have."
"Why did Dumbledore want to see you?" Peter asked quietly.
James gave him a strange look, but quickly dismissed it. Peter was a strange and nervous boy, but they all trusted him. Why wouldn't they? They had all been friends for as long as any of them could remember.
"He wanted to tell me and Lily who he thinks is behind all of this-"
"Well, duh! We all saw Snape... in fact, we almost killed him," Remus stated.
"Should have finished the job, if you ask me," Sirius piped in.
"I totally agree with you guys, but for some reason, Dumbledore doesn't."
"What are you talking about?" asked Sirius.
"Dumbledore thinks that Snape wasn't acting of his own free will... that someone was controlling him-"
"But that would mean using the Imperious Curse! It's forbidden! One of the Unforgivable Curses!" insisted Remus. "Who would do that?"
"They think it was Voldemort."
Sirius and Remus stared at James. Peter flinched nervously, but the others failed to notice.
"Are- Is- Is he sure?" Peter stammered.
"He has no reason to lie, Peter."
"Right, right."
"Anyway, that's it... Dumbledore said he would keep me and Lily posted... let us know if/when they find anything else out. But you know what? Just before we came in here, Lily was acting all worried about Snape! Can you guys believe that?"
"James, it's Lily... she's like that," said Remus. "I mean, look at me... most people would have turned me away, or worse still, turned me in. But not Lily."
"She's too compassionate for her own good sometimes," Sirius said, with a grin.
"Oh, shut up," said Remus, chucking a cushion at him.
"Guys, this is serious."
"Right, sorry."
"Come on James," Remus said, "Let's go get ready."
And with that, the boys headed upstairs to change into their Hogwarts robes for the last time.
It was just about 3pm when Lily and James (and the others) met in the common room to head out to the graduation ceremony.
"Can you believe it?" April sighed.
"We actually made it!" Sirius said. "And without losing any points for Gryffindor for the last 2 months!"
"That must have been hard for you guys," said Jem.
The boys all had a real affinity for pranks, and had somehow managed to stay out of trouble recently. Something told Lily that this wouldn't last though.
"Let's go downstairs and get seated. This is going to be an interesting afternoon," James suggested.
"I really hope that I don't forget my speech..." Lily added nervously.
"You'll do fine, Lily. You always do," Jem reassured her.
"Thanks," she replied.
The eight of them took a final look around the common room and then headed out of the portrait hole.
"I can't believe it... the next time we come in here we won't be students any more... we'll be official witches and wizards..." Remus said, beaming.
Graduation was scheduled to start at 4 o'clock. All of the graduating students were seated in four sections in front of a large stage that was set on the quidditch field. The sections were for each of the houses, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. In the stands were the other students and the graduates' families. Well, most of them. Lily's sister, Petunia, her only living relative now, refused to come.
All of the graduates were present, with the exception of one: Severus Snape. James, Sirius and Remus all seemed to notice this immediately, and started smirking.
Lily hit James' shoulder to stop him from laughing out loud, which unfortunately caused Sirius and Remus to burst out laughing.
They only stopped when Dumbledore stood in front of a large podium and started to speak.
"It has been seven years," Dumbledore began, "since you all first set foot on the Hogwarts Express from Platform 9 3/4, not knowing what your future at Hogwarts would bring.
"Some of you came from families of Witches and Wizards who could be traced back centuries. Others of you joined us from the Muggle world, as you were the first in your families to show signs of true magic. In either instance, it is a proud moment for me to be standing here in front of you.
"Today marks the beginning of the next chapter of your lives. It is up to you to decide where you will go from here, but I have every faith in you all that you will choose wisely and carefully, and make honorable choices that will shape the future of the wizarding world for generations to come.
"That having been said, I am pleased to introduce this year's class Valedictorian, and first Hogwarts student in the past decade to achieve a perfect score on her N.E.W.T.S., Miss Lily Evans!"
There was a roar of applause, particularly from a certain Gryffindor, as Professor Dumbledore helped Lily onto the stage.
"Thank you, Professor," Lily began. "Thank you everyone. Hogwarts has been my home for the last 7 years of my life. I have learned more about the world, magic and life than I ever would have imagined possible.
"I have made friends that I know will last a lifetime, learned many lessons the hard way, and enjoyed every minute of it. Hogwarts has seen me through many milestones in my life, overcoming personal tragedy, and the greatest triumphs. And then, just when I thought that things couldn't get any better, they did.
"I am not leaving here alone. I have my friends, and now a family as well. I met my fiancé here, and I look forward to starting my life with him.
"So, I would like to leave you with these words. Every day is a new beginning. Today, as graduates, we move on to the next task, but we must be sure to keep in mind all of the valuable lessons that we have learned in our time here. We will all meet again, I am certain of it. Congratulations, everyone!"
"And now, it is time for the ceremony. If the graduates from each house would please rise and step onto the stage," Professor McGonagall instructed. Everyone did as they were told, as a large mirror appeared on the stage.
"The first to step through will be Lily Evans!" said Professor McGonagall. "Now, don't be nervous, dear," she said more quietly.
"Alright," Lily whispered, taking a deep breath. She stepped forward and into the mirror. To her surprise, she came out on the other side, no longer wearing her Hogwarts robes, but instead new robes, and had a diploma in her hand as well.
She grinned back at James, and walked off stage.
When James walked through the mirror and came out the other side he was met with wild cheers from his friends, fiancée and family. He immediately ran over to Lily and swept her up in his arms.
They were soon joined by the rest of their friends.
"Just Slytherin is left," commented Sirius.
"I know... I can't wait for Malfoy to cross through... it's just too bad Snape couldn't be here as well," said James.
"Oh no... what are you going to do?" Lily asked, with growing concern.
"You'll see," the three troublemakers grinned.
"Lucious Malfoy," said McGonagall's voice. He stepped toward the mirror, but rather than coming out on the other side with black robes on, his were bright pink, and fireworks were set off around him. Sparklers spelled out "I wish that I could have graduated from the Gryffindor House! Then I wouldn't feel like such a loser!"
James, Sirius and Remus all lost it. They were laughing so hard. Even the girls couldn't completely stifle their laughter. Come to think of it, nobody could, except Lucious and his family.
"You'll pay for this, Potter," Malfoy said under his breath as McGonagall cleared away the mess.
"So it wasn't a wasted two months, after all, huh guys?" asked Jem.
They shook their heads. "Well worth it, the laying low. Nobody suspected a thing..." James trailed off.
"At least now I know where you ran off to yesterday," Lily said, trying to stop smiling. It seemed that nothing could ruin this day for her.
That night, at Lily's request, the Gryffindor graduates all went out to celebrate. They didn't go into Hogsmeade to the Three Broomsticks though, where all of the other graduates were. Oh, no. Lily had a much more interesting idea for them. They went to Hogsmeade, but only to travel somewhere else by floo powder. In fact, the next thing they knew, they were all in muggle clothing at a muggle pub in London.
"This round is on me," Lily said, excitedly. It had been a long time since she was able to use muggle money.
"Are you sure?" asked Jem.
"Of course!"
Two pitchers of beer arrived at their table, with 8 frosted pint glasses.
"Bottoms up!" toasted Lily. Everyone else followed her lead and took a drink.
"Wow! Those muggles don't have it so bad!" said Remus, taking another swig.
The night continued on like that, everyone laughing and enjoying themselves, taking turns buying rounds of drinks.
After about 5 rounds, everyone was feeling rather... happy.
"This is great!" yelled Sirius. "Why didn't we ever sneak out to a muggle pub before?"
Everyone laughed. "I know!" agreed James. "We definitely have to start doing this regularly."
James was sitting with his arm around Lily. She gave him a kiss on the cheek when from out of nowhere they heard a voice from behind them.
"Lily Evans? Is that you?" said a male voice.
Everyone turned to see who was talking.
"Um, yes?" she said, cautiously. "Do I know- Grady!" she exclaimed. "Oh my god! It has been forever!" Lily jumped up and out of James's grasp to hug the strange man. James could feel his blood start to boil.
"I can't believe it's actually you! How are you?" Grady asked. "I have been hoping to run into you forever!"
"It has been years... I'm good... just graduated from school... what about you?"
"Same, I'm heading off to University in the fall though."
"Really? That's great..."
James coughed rather loudly.
"Oh, right! James!" Lily suddenly realized she wasn't the only one there. "Grady, this is James," and she started to go around the table, "Jem, April, Sirius, Virginia, Remus and Peter. We all went to school together."
"Hello," said Grady.
"Hey," "Hello," "What's up?" everyone piped in.
"Well, this is Grady. He and I went to school together, before I... transferred!"
"Oh! A muggle schoolmate!" James declared, rather loudly. Lily shot him a very mean glance that managed to silence him. Sirius and Remus started snickering.
"Won't you join us?" April asked, forcing Sirius to move over.
"Um, sure. Let me just let my friends know," and he walked away for a moment.
"What the hell did you do that for, April?" James demanded.
"He's cute!" she answered. "So why not?"
"This is just so random, running into him here. It's been so long, I've nearly forgotten my life from before Hogwarts..." Lily trailed off.
Lily sat back down next to James and poured herself another pint.
"Why didn't you tell him?" he asked.
"Tell him what?"
James's eyes grew wide, as did everyone else's at the table.
Lily looked around at them. "What?"
"About me? About us?" He grabbed her left hand. "About that?"
"Oh, James, don't worry. Honestly, as if I'd forget about you..."
"Well, just make sure it comes up in conversation now, cos he's coming back."
"Hi again.. sorry that took so long," Grady said awkwardly.
"That's alright! Have a seat!" April offered, patting the now empty chair beside her.
"Thanks," he replied, sitting.
"So, you know Lily from when?" asked Remus.
"We used to go to school together... then her parents said she transferred to a boarding school in France."
"France?!" Sirius started laughing, no doubt thinking of Beaubaxtons. Grady gave Lily an uneasy look. She smiled in response and he felt more at ease.
"I just can't get over how good you look, Lil. The years have been kind to you." He winked at her.
"You don't have to say that." Lily felt James squeeze her hand rather tightly. "OK," she muttered to him before turning back to Grady. "Things are going really well... between graduating and-"
James cut her off. "And getting married, we've got our hands full." He grinned, seeing Grady's stunned expression.
"You're married?"
"No, not yet. Just engaged. In fact, we need to set a date still..." James stated very matter-of-factly.
"Oh, well that's good then," Grady retorted. "There's still hope for the rest of us." He winked again.
James couldn't handle this. He instinctively reached for his wand, but for some reason it wasn't there. He looked at Lily who nodded, whispering "Don't even think about it, I have it and you're not getting it back until we're out of here."
So, since he couldn't use magic, he jumped up and punched Grady in the nose.
The girls screamed and Lily was trying to pry James off of her childhood friend, but she wasn't strong enough. Something had come over him. Sirius and Remus finally had to pry the two apart.
James shouted, "You stay away from her or I will make the rest of your life miserable!" With that, he grabbed Lily and stormed out.
"Jesus Christ, James! What the hell was all that about?!" she yelled in the street.
"What do you think? He was flirting with you and you were playing along!"
"You canNOT be serious about this. You honestly think that if I was going to flirt with another guy that I would be stupid enough to do it with you sitting right there?! Give me a little credit at least!"
"And why should I? That little bastard would have been all over you if it was up to him!"
"I cannot believe that we are arguing about this! I love YOU, James. NOT GRADY. This was the first time I've seen him in OVER SEVEN YEARS. So you know what? I'm going home now. And you, you need to get over yourself."
Lily stormed off toward the Leaky Cauldron where they had arrived without even looking back.