"Look–I'm sorry. I didn't know he'd do this to you or to me, come to that, once he'd gotten what he wanted. I really am sorry." She tentatively patted a crying Sheila on the back.
"If it helps, my old math teacher had a favorite saying. Boys are like lava lamps; pretty to look at but not very bright."
That sobered Sheila up a bit. Wiping her eyes, she stood back and glared at Lily.
"Maybe he couldn't help what he did. I don't think he could help it. But you could, Evans. From now on, this is war."
Lily pressed her lips together. "Well then. What did I do that time?"
"I should think you'd have the courtesy not to ask." With which parting shot, she stalked over to the Quidditch stadium, filled with scarlet and green blurs and yells.
"Well, then, that wasn't exactly the best interview, was it?"
Serverus had stepped out from behind a tree.
Lily sighed. "You did give me a turn. No, it didn't go very well. I still would like to know, though, what on earth made her hate me. I did hardly anything."
Serverus shrugged. "I don't know. I don't want to much, either, but I suppose it doesn't matter. You coming to the match?"
Lily shrugged. "I might as well. Come on."
They jogged over to the stadium, where Lily took her place between Serverus and Malfoy, who were seated in one of the Slytherin tents. The Slytherin team was ahead, ninety to sixty; the Ravenclaw sixth year was commentating again; though Professor Zimmermann was watching him this time.
"And there goes Stephen Gregson, flying up the field there…Quaffle in hand…drop it! Drop it, drop–Professor, I wasn't serious!–but there goes Miranda Shaw of Gryffindor, tailing him closely–knock him off his broom, Miranda–oh, good, and there's the Quaffle in her hands, flying towards Gryffindor goal posts–goes to Potter–Thomas–Potter–back to Shaw–and GRYFFINDOR SCORES!–well done indeed!–very nice–oh, and Clive Allen of Slytherin has the Quaffle, flying–oh, dodges Thomas, loops around Miranda, does another loopy thing–hey, Allen, you want to do ballet, the Quidditch field is the WRONG place for that–Professor, it was a joke–harmless little joke–jokes never did anyone any harm, I mean, come on, it wasn't that bad of a–"
"Cooper!"
"Oh, right, right, sorry. Anyway, Allen blasting up the field there, does a clumsy loop around Potter, who's obviously too much for him–so he resorts to hitting himself in the eyes with James' elbow–hey no fair! Slytherin penalty. All right, Slytherin Chaser Frank Crichlow heading up the field there, lousy flyer, anyway, aimes, throws–and–Nigel, come on! All right, one ten to Slytherin…Potter has the Quaffle, flying up the field there–does a nice loop around Alton there, and Potter–oh, damn–that was darn, Professor, that was darn! Anyway. Slytherin Keeper Cathryn Clarik pulls off a very good save there, even if I do say so myself, and Potter in possession of the Quaffle again–whoa, wait! That did look very much like the Snitch to me, and it does to Hatcher and MacGregor, hurtling towards that small golden…"
Lily, watching the two Seekers fly towards the Snitch, suddenly felt herself go limp. Her mind was wiped as if with a sponge, and only dimly could she hear herself shouting something and raising her wand, which she'd forgotten that she had.
The whole stadium had gone quiet as James' broom fell out from underneath him, and as he fell downwards, towards the two Seekers. They hadn't noticed him falling, and he crashed into Hatcher's broom, making him veer off course. Anya, free of a pursuer, caught the Snitch quickly, rising up into the stadium to cheering; halfhearted cheering.
Hatcher and James were on the ground, James unconscious. The whole of Gryffindor Tower and half of the rest of the school swarmed down towards the field, and the Slytherin students were looking up at the tent with curiosity, anger, amusement, and puzzlement in their eyes. Lily came back to consciousness, but only for a little while, then she drooped and fell backwards, and everything went black.
She woke up moments later, with Serverus and Lucius slapping her face. Lily stood up and shrank away, frightened.
"What–what happened?"
Lucius' eyes narrowed a bit, mostly from puzzlement. "I have no idea. You were sitting there, and then, out of nowhere, you raised your wand, shouted something, and Potter fell off of his broom."
Lily's eyes opened wide. "I–I did? But–I don't remember doing anything of the sort! You're lying, aren't you?" She was almost pleading.
Serverus shook his head. "He's not. You honestly don't remember anything?"
"No. Nothing. Except that I couldn't feel anything, and I was sort of dreaming. Like nothing could ever hurt me, and like I was a sort of ghost. Or like I was dreaming. Nothing else."
Her legs, which had supported her this far, gave way and she sank down. Serverus immediately ran towards her.
"Lily! Are you all right?"
"No. I feel deathly tired."
"Besides that, are you all right?"
"Sure. Sure, fine. Help me up, please. I don't want to face the school, even if I didn't do this."
Lucius nodded. "Smart girl. Let's go." They were sneaking out of the tent, and as they rounded the lake, Lucius pulled at Serverus' sleeve. Lily didn't hear; she was unconscious again.
"Do you know what caused this? I believe her when she said she didn't do it."
"So do I. It was a combination of things, but one of them I can name."
"What–which one?"
"Unforgivable. The Imperious Curse."
They were dragging her to the hospital wing; the best place they could think of, as Lily was continually fainting and growing white, when they ran into Professor McGonagall.
"Ah. Mr. Snape and Mr. Malfoy. Professor Dumbledore wishes to see Miss Evans. Please escort her there."
Serverus pulled Lily back up. "Professor, we have to get her to the hospital wing! Look at her!"
Professor McGonagall shook her head. "I am under instructions to take her to the Headmaster immediately." She swooshed down the hallway, leaving Serverus and Lucius no choice but to follow her.

They stopped in front of the statue of quite a disturbingly ugly goblin. Professor McGonagall cleared her throat.
"Fudge Fly." The statue sprang to life and jumped aside, revealing a doorway. They went inside, stepping onto a winding stair that lifted them to the top of the tower.
Serverus helped Lily into a chair, then, under Professor McGonagall's supervision, he was shooed out, leaving Lily alone with the headmaster.
He pointed his wand at her. "Ennervate!" Lily slowly raised her head, glancing about her surroundings, her glance finally landing on Professor Dumbledore.
"I have been informed that you have tried to throw a Quidditch player from his broom. Have you any idea where such an accusation came from?"
The whole darned school. "No, sir."
"Is there any truth in this accusation?"
"That depends, sir."
"Depends on what? Is this a confession?"
"It depends on the point of view of the person perceiving the happenings."
"From your point of view, what occurred?"
I had no point of view. I remember nothing. "I am not entirely sure, sir."
"I was also informed that you may have used one of the Unforgivable Curses. What do you have to say to that accusation?"
What the he–who the heck came up with something like that? "Nothing, sir."
"You do realize that expulsion is the punishment for the use of one of the Unforgivable Curses, do you not?"
Someone had way too much time on their hands if they're able to think up all of this stuff. "I am entirely aware of that, sir."
"So you are refusing to tell me anything at all?"
Lily wanted dearly to laugh; a mad impulse coming over her, but she restrained herself. "That would be my assumption, sir."
He nodded slowly. "I cannot convict you of such a charge without evidence, and at this point I have none. Although,"–here his eyes twinkled a bit–"let me assure you that, even though I am not supposed to be prejudiced, that I believe I know you too well to think of you doing something like this. Miss Evans, please answer me honestly. Are you enjoying your schooling here?"
Schooling, yeah, environment–heck no. "I am learning much, sir."
"Please give me a real answer, Miss Evans. You are not very much attached to your schoolmates?"
The amount you know about my life here is frightening. "I have several very good friends, sir."
He sighed. "Miss Evans, please go to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey is in there." He waved her out, and she left the room, falling into another faint as soon as she closed the door.
It was lucky that Serverus and Lucius were outside the door waiting for her, because they were the ones that got her to the hospital wing, since Professor McGonagall was gone.
For the next few days, Lily remained there, hovering between sleep and faint, not eating, not drinking anything but the potions Madam Pomfrey had to force-feed her with. Every time she fell into sleep or a faint, she saw great, looming, scarlet snake-shaped eyes in front of her, advancing, advancing. She'd always wake up in a cold sweat, only to find the other people in the hospital wing awake and cursing, for she had been screaming in her sleep.
It was only on the fourth day of her confinement that Madam Pomfrey revealed to her that she had an extremely rare reaction to the Imperious Curse. She either would stay in her present state for about a week or so or it would never affect her again, which, the nurse drearily added, was hopefully never to be seen.
At the end of eight days, she was permitted to return to her dormitory, though she was excused from classes, as she kept losing consciousness. Back in her dormitory, the only friendly thing she found there was Abigail; Elspeth and Diana weren't even looking at her. Lily suspected correctly that the Quidditch match story had been embroidered so much, it could have made the mantle of Marie Antoinette.
Everywhere she went, people were drawing against the walls, and even Amanda and Vanessa were growing a bit twitchy around her. Sirius, Remus, and the Quidditch team always went mysteriously quiet every time she entered a room they were in, Serverus and Malfoy were being terribly overprotective, following her to classes and to meals, the nervous part of the school was avoiding her anxiously, and the rest, led by Serena, were just plain out nasty.
Eva was the only one who hadn't changed at all. She never raised her brow so much as an inch if the talk turned to Quidditch or famous games, and she never purposely tried to avoid the subject. She never glanced nervously at Lily's wand or spoke with a tremor in her voice. It was almost as if she never knew the whole episode had happened, and Lily was thankful for that.
It was drawing close to the Christmas holidays, and, by request of Professor Dumbledore, Lily was staying at Hogwarts, as she kept blacking out about once every four days or so. Most of the school had left, and Lily wasn't surprised, one morning, to wake up and find Abigail and Diana gone, the Tower quiet, and no mobbed chessboards in the common room. It was a wonderful relief.
She sank into one of the armchairs, watching Eva and Vanessa play Exploding Snap.
"Lily! It's nine-thirty!"
Lily sighed. "I know. I was dead tired."
Eva smiled. "Well, now you have a chance to sleep. Want to play?"
"Sure." Lily sank onto the rug in front of the fire, lazily watching Eva deal.
"So, do you know who's staying over the holidays?"
Vanessa nodded. "Most of them. I think–well, I know Serena and Elspeth are. Heather and Anne–those twins in our dorm who haven't broken the window yet with their snoring–yet–well, they left…so did Amanda…let's see…we have Cora Swinstead and Agatha Knight–they're seventh years–well, they're staying–so're Lucius and Serverus–but you knew that. The Longbottom kid's staying, and so are Sheila and her group. It can't be helped," she added as Lily audibly slumped onto the floor. "Well–Sirius and Remus are here, and–*"
"Sirius' staying?"
"You didn't know that? He is. And so is the whole Gryffindor Quidditch team."
Lily's small smile fell down several stories into the kitchens and into a bowl for used dishes, splashing several house-elves with hot water.

"James too, I suppose that means?"
"Unless he dropped out–and you know him–he'd never do that."
"Wish I didn't know him."
Eva stood up, moved towards Lily, and put an arm around her shoulders. "Lily, don't you think you two were happier when you were friends?" She was gentle, but Lily still snapped away.
"Even if we were, this can't be fixed. Not anymore. Not after Sikora came in and I got put under the Imperious Curse. Which no one believes but you two."
Eva and Vanessa looked at each other as if to say, "You know, she's right." She was, too.
They eventually got back to Exploding Snap. Lily didn't need to go down to the Great Hall for breakfast, as Eva had swiped a dozen scones, quite a bit of bacon, and a jar of marmalade. Vanessa went back down to get a pitcher of milk, and as soon as the portrait door closed behind her, James and Sirius came romping down the boys' dormitory stairs., James terribly wet and Sirius terribly amused.
"That was not funny."
"For Pete's sake, James, can't you take a joke?"
"No–yes–no–oh, shut up."
"It's not my fault. You set it off; I just installed it."
"How was I to know that the way to get ice-cold water dumped over your head was to sit up in bed?"
"Never sit up in bed. Nasty habit. I never do."
James snorted, wringing out his pajamas and dumping about three-fourths of a cup all over the carpeting. Lily shook her head.
"Don't snort. If you make a habit of that, you'll start doing that at the table. Nasty thing, milk, when it comes out of one's nose."
James raised his eyebrows. "And how would you know?"
"Experience. That is, making one's sister laugh when she is drinking fizzy things. But milk is best."
He frowned. "Evans, you're going to be hanged before you're eighteen."
"Mmm. Witch-hanging days are over. I should think that by now you would have slowly eased into that perception, especially as you never lived during those friendly ages."
"Friendly?"
"Oh, of course. Of course, it depends on your point of view. If you're perceiving someone being burnt at the stake, it is always nice to have that fire there to warm one's hands. If, on the other hand, you're tied to the stake, you have lots of fun with the Flame Freezing Charm. The only bad point of view is the fire's, because it gets put out sooner or later."
"You have problems."
"Please don't tell me you just noticed that. Your first clue should have been when I thought you were my friend. Then, one eases into the fact that I have a ridiculous cackling laugh, that I can hyperventilate on purpose, with a loud squeaky sound most like a car starting, and finally that I routinely stare at people, faint, and go off into another land."
"What, la-la land? You know, I could see that."
"No. The Alendoren Cove off of the coast of Albania. La-la land is so third year."
"Wh–what?"
"Go away. If you do, you'll sound less stupid, because you won't be sounding. At least not in my ears, which is the important thing."
James was clearly trying not to pull out his wand. "You better watch it, Evans."
"It as in it? Or it as in IT. Or as in It? Or just as in–go-away-leave-me-alone-it?"
"Follow your own advice."
Lily shrugged. "Fine." She stood up, dodged the sparks flying at her from James' wand, and shot up the dormitory stairs, leaving behind a rather puzzled common room.
"What got into her?"
"This is Lily we're talking about."
"Never mind. I shouldn't have asked. She's capable of anything. Remember what she did to James?"
The rest of the Gryffindors started to buzz excitedly about the events at the last Quidditch match, and Lily, hiding behind an open door, listened with a rather cold expression on her face.
She shook her head, which drooped a bit. "I really should stop with the smart comebacks. They do nothing for me." Debating on whether or not to give up her fun, she stepped into her dormitory, then stopped dead in her tracks.
The night before, she had removed her necklace and placed it under her pillow for safekeeping. It seemed that she needed to find a better, more secret place, for Serena was rolling the midnight-blue stone around in her palm. Discarded lay the gold chain on the floor, she had obviously kicked it half underneath the bed. Lily dashed into the room, and Serena jumped up, trying to hide the stone.
"Sikora, give that back right now."
"Give what back?"
"Don't play innocent with me. The necklace. Or at least, what's left of it. Hand it over."
Mulishly scowling, Serena threw the stone across the room and ran out.
Lily bit her lip as she dashed over to the stone. Strangely, it had not cracked, and it hadn't broken. She fitted it back into the gold claw-settings with ease and fastened it around her neck, boiling with anger.
"Serena's going to get herself killed one day. And I'll applaud whomever does it, if it isn't me. Which it probably will be." Tucking it under her robes, she bent down to retrieve her cloak from the floor. The necklace, though pushed under loose robes, managed to fall out and knock against the bedstead. With hardly any blackness at all, Lily immediately found herself on a rock in the Alendoren Cove again.
Lily drew several deep breaths and pulled her necklace out to examine it. It looked just the same as usual, but something had obviously happened to it.
"I'm going to kill Serena when I get back." She tucked it back under her robes, then, glancing up, her eyes fell onto two people sitting on the water's edge, one in the inch of sea, the other on the sand. Tom and Litharelen.
Lily tried to duck out of sight, still a bit edgy about Tom, but Litharelen saw her first.
"Lily! C'mon over here!"

Lily gripped the sides of the rock as hard as she could, then slipped off and started jogging through the pale tan and white sand, warm and fine. She reached Litharelen and Tom in no time, and she stood for a bit, nervously looking at Tom.
He realized soon that she wasn't any too comfortable and stood up as well, shaking the sand off of his robes. "Lily, you're scared of me?"
Lily stared at him. "Just a little."
"Was it because of what I did last time I saw you?"
"Oh, of course not. Last time we met, it was positively friendly. I do so love to be attacked by people with blazing red eyes who are formed from tea leaves."
He squinted a bit in the bright sunlight. "I told you–never mind. I didn't. I am now, though. I'm sorry."
"Don't ever do that again."
"I got out of control."
"I could tell."
Litharelen rolled over on her stomach, propping herself up with her hands, elbows in the sand. Her long, silvery tail splashed the water, which, Lily noticed, looked perfectly ordinary on the surface. "What did Tom do this time?"
"Oh–nothing, really. His eyes just went all red, and he started to get all angry, and to tell you the truth, I never want to come across him when he's angry, ever again."
Litharelen laughed. "I've never really seen him angry."
"Be thankful."
Tom coughed loudly. "So…Lily, how exactly did you land here this time? Was it on purpose?"
Lily, strangely wary of him, shook her head. "No. I just landed here. I have no idea why. As usual."
"Oh. I–" His voice turned off sharply, and Lily found herself back in her dormitory in milliseconds.
She picked herself up off of the floor and shook herself, sore all over. Squinting over her shoulder to make sure the dormitory was unoccupied, she then stood up, ran over to her trunk, and threw the necklace inside, vowing to herself never to let that happen to her again.
"I hate Serena! Oh, honestly, how I hate her! She totally ruined this, and cursed it for all I know."
The pre-Christmas days passed in a flash, and Lily found herself excitedly chattering with Eva and Vanessa about their anticipated gifts the morning before Christmas. They were in the twins' dormitory, curled up on Eva's bed.
"I do hope I'll get that package of clothing Mother promised me. I swear, one more day of holidays in these robes and I'll go crazy!"
"Vanessa, really. I doubt if they'll let you wear blue robes at Hogwarts."
"You're right…but they haven't forbidden it!"
"Yet."
"Oh, Lily, hush. What do you think your parents are giving you?"
Lily frowned. "I'm not sure. I haven't written them in forever; they're terribly busy and I didn't want to intrude. To tell you the truth, I'm hoping for the electric equipment for my foil."
"For your who? I mean, your what?"
"Body cords, metallic jacket, wires…the works. I'm hoping to go to a competition in London over Easter."
"Lily, you're odd."
"Thanks."
"Wasn't meant as a compliment. Anyway, what're you hoping for?"
"Hum. Besides the electric equipment?"
"Yeah, that stuff."
"Well–I'd like a few Agatha Christie novels…and I wouldn't mind the complete Sherlock Holmes collection. Short stories, novels, and all." Lily had recently shown a liking for mysteries, especially murder ones.
"You're strange. Why not go with that other mystery series–Nancy Drew? It's so much less violent and bloody."
"Ah, yes, but bloody and violent is life, and there's no use blocking out life."
"You have so much sense. Shut up."
Eva hurriedly interrupted. "So, any guesses from anyone as to what the human Barbie is getting from her Ken?"
Vanessa giggled; Lily started to cackle. "From her Ken. I like that one. I have no idea."
"I know. Everything that comes to mind is something too Valentines-Day-ey."
"Isn't it, though!"
They rearranged themselves on the bed, and Lily started to tell the girls about what she had found Serena doing that day in her dormitory. She hadn't found time till now.
Eva gasped. "But, Lily, she might have ruined it forever!"
"That's my worst fear."
"Well–do you think you could try to go to that A-place and ask Tom to fix it for you?"
"Albania or the Alendoren Cove?"
"Both."
"I knew that. But that's not such a bad idea. I might actually do that! Thanks!"
Eva smirked. "Very welcome. Do you have anything for him?"
Lily drew back, thinking hard. "Eva, I don't know him well enough."
"Well, you don't have to."
"Well, I don't quite know what he'd want."
"So? Well, you don't have to. Giving Sirius anything?"
Puzzled, Lily frowned. "Why should I?"
"Well…seeing that he's your friend…that sort of thing is natural, isn't it? I mean, come on, you've already got Lucius' and Serverus' presents wrapped, can't you give him a little thought? Or Remus, or Peter."
Lily sighed. "You're right. I don't have to be a banshee to people who're friends to someone I hate. Just to the people I hate."
"You don't have to do that either. It ruins your voice."
"You're still right. All right, come look at that joke shop catalog with me, will you?"
At around nine, Lily, Vanessa, and Eva found their last gifts and sent in owl-orders to Zonko's in Hogsmeade. They were lying on the bed, strangely tired from a day of doing absolutely nothing. Lily sat up, fast, startling everyone in the dormitory.

"Lily! What?"
"I've just had an idea. Come with me!" She flitted out of the dormitory door, and Eva and Vanessa, rubbing their eyes, followed.
They ran all the way to the entrance hall, which was lit only by the torches on the wall. The Great Hall was empty, and it was also rather chilly. Vanessa shivered.
"Lily, let's go back. This is crazy. What are we doing here, anyway?"
Lily laughed. She flung open the front doors and dashed out, into the snow.
"Lily! Are you mad? We can't go out there! It's freezing!"
They got an ecstatic laugh for an answer, and, running outside, they looked around wildly for their friend. "Lily, where are you?"
Another laugh made them look towards the side of the castle, where a black-cloaked figure was scaling the walls.
Lily had been lying on her bed in the dormitory, restless and energized. She wanted something to do, and, just for fun, she imagined what she would be doing if she had wings. She supposed she'd fly around the clouds, dipping and soaring–wait, wasn't the tallest tower in Hogwarts touching the clouds? It was. And if you went out and stood on top of that tree trunk near the lake, which was next to the walls–She had jumped up and raced for the door, ignoring the snow beating the windows. Dashing out of the entrance hall, she found the trunk and, with unexpected ease, lifted herself up, towards the sky.
She hardly heard the gasps of her friends and the "Come down, come down!" screams. Bathed in moonlight, she lightly stepped from one jutting brick to the other, from one turret to the next, on a planned path she had seen before her in the dormitory. The snow didn't make her slip; on the contrary, she found extra footholds on the rough ice lining the roofs.
By now, she was standing twenty feet above the ground and moving, moving upwards. She saw the dark crescent moon miles above her, though it seemed to be only ten yards away. Brushing off the years of laziness since she had climbed the trees in her backyard, she clung to one gargoyle and pushed off of the next. She hadn't used her hands and feet like this in forever and it felt wonderful. Free finally of silly rooms and walls, she leaned into the wind and felt herself blown along with it. Down on the ground, her friends were frightened to death and then some.
"What's she doing? She'll get herself killed!"
"She's too far away to hear us. I don't know what got into her!"
"She finally cracked. I told you she's dangerous!"
"Vanessa, stop. She's having fun. Look at her."
And, indeed, Lily was. She had never in her life fallen off anything she decided to climb, and this, this–this was beyond anything. The grounds were covered with white, white bordered with the black of the Forbidden Forest. The lake was stormy and wild, dashing white waves of foam against each other and exploding in a shower of droplets. Lily had never enjoyed the civilization of England much; she preferred the untouched land and trees to any row of houses. So now, caught in wonder between the magical beauty of the school and the excitement in the air, she could only laugh.
Below her, seventy feet below her, Eva and Vanessa clung to each other. From somewhere, they had heard a long, drawn-out howl and a short bark. Then, out of nowhere, the snow in front of them had sunk into itself, in the form of a jumble of footprints. Yet they saw no one and nothing.
And then, from thin air, four figures materialized in front of them. They recognized them from somewhere, yet they were strangely different. Pale faces, swishing, dark robes, drawn wands, and fanged teeth drew towards the sisters, and, in panic, they screamed.
Lily was stepping onto the roof of the North Tower by now, and faintly, she could hear her friends scream. Without the slightest bit of giddiness, she looked down.
Two blonde dots were clinging to the wall, while a clump of dark ones advanced on them. Vanessa screamed again, and Lily, summoning all of her present insanity and her power of voice, sent out a long, shrill, loud, frightening, ecstatic, enraged laugh out over the darkness.
Down on the ground, the four stopped. They froze in their tracks as the unhumanly sound swept over them, freezing their bones, and when it repeated itself, they fled towards the Forbidden Forest.
Swift as a sailor, Lily slipped down. It took her hardly two minutes, and she was no more out of breath than the twins were. Actually, she was less out of breath, for seeing her slide down from such a height at such a speed had taken their breath away.
"Who were they?"
Eva and Vanessa shook their heads, shivering. "Don't know. Don't want to know either. But Lily, that laugh was brilliant! Scary, yes, insane, yes, but brilliant! You–what're you doing?"
Lily had bent down to examine the ground. Her keen eyes, enhanced a bit by the magic of the necklace, had spotted a brown bit of something when she was twenty feet from the ground and sliding. She picked it up and unfolded it.
"What is that?"
Lily slowly shook her head. "I have no idea. It has Hogwarts drawn on it, though. And look here!" She pointed to a dot labelled "The Whomping Willow". "It has the secret passage on here!"
Eva scrambled over. "What? Where? What secret passage?"
Quickly Lily folded the paper back up. No matter how much she was fighting with James, she wasn't about to reveal his friend's secret to the world. "Nothing."
"You're a terrible liar."
"I know. I need to practice. Come on inside."
"Oh, good. Why this sudden desire for inside?"
"I want to see if any of those four were Gryffindors. We'll see them come inside the common room if they are."
Vanessa shook her head. "You can. I'm going to bed." She did, too, as soon as they stepped inside the common room. But Eva and Lily placed themselves behind a couch with a small hole in the back of it, through which they could watch the portrait hole. The clock struck ten, then eleven. At eleven thirty, Eva fell asleep, despite all the chocolate she had been eating to stay awake.