Good evening, fellow countrymen

I see you're none too tired;

So hearken with all your mind and ken

Though this won't take a while.

The founders of this great school are,

Though they are dead and gone

Embedded in our very minds

Through your uprising dawn.

The dawn of youngish heads afloat

With tempests quite aswirl;

With different kinds of knowledge that

Is brought by boy and girl.

To Ravenclaw the dawn had brought

Intelligence in a lump;

While Gryffindor, in masks of red

Brought bravery and spunk.

Hufflepuff, in golden yellow--

For loyalty it fought;

While Slytherin brought silver green

And craftiness it sought.

So put me on and let me choose

Which house you shall adorn

With your character and mind

To your house you must be sworn.

The Great Hall burst into applause when it had finished, and it only quieted when Professor McGonagall stepped to the front with a scroll of parchment.

"Amson, Magda."

A short, blonde girl with her hair in two plaits stepped up to the front of the Hall and slipped the hat onto her head. A few seconds later it called out over the mass of students:

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

The Hufflepuff table burst into applause as Magda Amson sat down at her seat while Professor McGonagall was already calling out another name.

"Andrews, Frederick."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Along with the rest of her table, Lily burst into wild applause as Frederick took his seat at the table.

"Carson, Gladys."

"RAVENCLAW!"

The Sorting continued, and anxious first year after anxious first year took his or her place at their respective House tables.

"Wagner, Gwendayln."

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Wooster, Gwladys."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Finally, "Xerxier, Bertram" was made a Slytherin, and Professor Dumbledore stood up as Professor Flitwick carried out the three-legged stool and the Sorting hat.

"I would like to make a few announcements before we fill ourselves. First-the Dark Forest is strictly forbidden to all students, not only to first years." His eyes twinkled in the direction of Sirius and James. "The Whomping Willow is by no means to be toyed with; it is fully capable of causing serious injury to a student. Hogsmeade forms are to be handed in to Professor McGonagall before the first visit to the village. And, lastly- there is an international performing arts contest between students of magical schools. We do by all means encourage your participation in this.

"That being said, let the feast begin!"

The golden, twinkling plates were quickly filled with the wonderful feast; though Lily could only manage to eat a mouthful, it was a very good mouthful, and by the time they were walking noisily upstairs to their respective common rooms, everyone had loosened up and was talking animatedly.

Lily was taking the first years to the Gryffindor common room; as soon as she reached the Fat Lady, she smiled in recognition.

"The password is 'African constricter." She grinned encouragingly at the small students as she led them through the door and into the warm room with the crackling fire.

The next morning, she awoke to the sun throwing rays of fire through the window. Blinking several times, she sat up in bed, gazing over the clouds.

Shaking her head several times, Lily swung her feet out of bed and pulled a pair of robes out of her trunk. She changed quickly, and within minutes she was plaiting her hair, pinning her prefect badge to her robes, slinging her school bag over her shoulder, and swiftly leaving her dormitory, shutting the door softly behind her.

It was seven thirty when she slid into her chair at breakfast and pulled out the new Transfiguration book and started poring over it, taking bites of a roll in between pages. She hardly noticed when Eva pulled out a chair next to her, smiling at the sunny blue sky and frowning at the schedules Professor McGonagall was handing out.

"Someone's up early."

Lily looked up. "Oh, hi, Eva."

"You've been awfully quiet."

"Oh-" Lily shrugged. "It's nothing. Where-" she looked around the Great Hall, which was slowly filling up-"where's Lora?"

Eva frowned. "You didn't know that either? She got Sorted into Ravenclaw."

"Oh." Lily's shoulders sagged. "I didn't know."

"I can see that."

"Oh, well. I guess we'll see each other in classes, won't we?"

Her friend grinned. "Sure. Wouldn't expect anything else from you." Then she lost her smile. "Lily, you heard about James?"

Almost unnoticeably, Lily stiffened. "What about him?"

"About who he turned to after your fight."

"Oh-that." Lily waved her hand. "Of course I heard. Couldn't help seeing it, could I? I'm sure they make a nice couple."

Eva sat down next to Lily. "They're not a couple."

Snapping her head up, Lily caught her friend's gaze. "They're not?"

"Er-no-not yet." Eva tried to avoid the redhead's stare, without much success.

"I see."

"You're sure you're all right with that?"

"Of course. He's entitled to have girlfriends. I've got nothing to do with him."

Eva smiled. "Good, then. I was afraid you were moping or something."

Moping? "Me? Eva? Who are you and what have you done to my friend?"

Vanessa sat down next to Lily. "Hallo and good morning."

"If you say so," Lily replied, slapping her book closed as a milk jug threatened to overturn itself.

At eight, when Lily and her friends were standing up to leave the Great Hall, they almost ran over several people at the doorway that were trying to get in.

Lily looked up. Right in front of her were James and Serena-neither of them were ridiculously hanging onto each other's arms as they had in third year; they were sensibly shouldering their books and talking-that is, until she bumped into them.

Lily almost didn't dare to look up, and when she did, she met a sort of odd glare; angry, yes, but also a bit pleading and confused. On her part, she only saw the glare.

Tossing her head, she gave him a proud and arrogant stare, and she smiled haughtily to see him drop his eyes.

"You're blocking the doorway."

He moved out of her way, handing her freely a stare of disgust, and when she turned towards her Charms classroom, she caught Eva's smirk.

"You're not sulking. Good."

"Why ever would I?"

"I'm not starting this again."

"Very good."

Charms was rather confusing for Lily-it wasn't exactly easy to deal with someone who, besides being her assigned partner, would alternately glare at her and stop himself from giving a customary "Hello". She came through rather cold-heartedly, squaring her shoulders and making him livid by being the first one in the class to make her small stool start playing the drums on a desk with its own feet.

One thing did catch her attention, however-a shiny silver badge on his robes.

"You're a prefect?"

He looked up. "Sure. You didn't know? Remus handed his in-said he couldn't keep it up. They gave it to me."

Scornfully, Lily twisted a strand of hair around her finger. "And which brainwashing charm did you use for that?"

James glared at her. "I earned that prefect badge, thanks very much!"

"Pleasure."

"If you're so high and mighty and smart and better than me, how many O.W.L.s did you get?"

Lily rolled her eyes. He really shouldn't have brought up that subject.

"Twenty-two."

She would have relished the use of a camera at this moment. Never before had she known exactly what people meant when they used the expression 'looked like a sheep.' Now she knew. Only she doubted that sheep wore glasses.

"Twenty-two Ordinary Wizarding Levels?"

"No; twenty-two pairs of socks."

"Last time someone got that many was twenty years or more ago! You sure it's twenty-two?"

"Why would you care?"

"I got fourteen, and that's higher than my parents, for Pete's sake. What are you, some sort of encyclopedia?"

"Nope. I'm better than that."

"Then what the bloody hell are you?"

"Lily Evans."

She didn't know how she retained her self-control at the sight of his face.

That evening, she was talking to Eva and Amanda about the fight she and James had had, leaving every bit about the Alendoren Cove out; she had invented a rather picturesque story about his not wanting her to befriend a Slytherin. The girls ranked themselves on James' side, to Lily's amusement. She would have done that, too, if she hadn't been the one that was the opponent.

For once, she was starting to hate their fights; hate and despise them beyond everything else she had ever detested. Hated not being able to speak to him normally; reviled against the glares they exchanged in class and in the corridors, and loathed his refusal to talk to her.

It had seemed so long ago since she couldn't care less if the entire school refused to have anything to do with her; and now this seemed to matter more than anything. But at least she had the satisfaction of knowing that no one knew what she thought; she had overheard Remus urging James to say something in the way of apology, and James had retorted that someone who didn't care enough about his friendship to even act a tiny bit sad wasn't worth it.

Her whole mood wasn't affecting her grades any, but the entire depression stage was starting to show itself in her eyes; if anyone besides her friends had bothered to notice her, they would have been seriously worried. It seemed that every moment she was repressing tears, and the unflowing salty liquid was seeping into her sarcastic temper, jibing at her with cruel retorts she would hate herself for seconds later.

It was slowly eating away at her to see someone she completely clashed with hanging on his arm. Wait-not hanging; she was standing by him as a sort of emotional support; as someone he could and was counting on when he needed anyone to talk to. This seemed even worse than anything she could have imagined. If he had bothered with a flaky, superficial, small-minded imitation of a person, she could have spit scornfully in his face; but the fact that he was growing attached to someone that had grown dignified, stately, sweet-someone with a heart-was what was devouring her mind.

Lily was taking refuge in her books. Only a month after she entered Hogwarts for her sixth year, she had become a successful recluse, and she had filled a small book with drawings of tears; of knights kneeling next to the tomb of their sweethearts or holding a dead lady in their arms; of servant girls in peasant gowns clasping lockets tightly with tears running down their cheeks, of eyes weeping silent despair. She never showed her work to anyone; she never let anyone hear what she thought.

One night, Eva and Lora were becoming close to desperate. Of course, they had noticed her silent separation from the rest of the school, and so far, they had had no idea how to combat it. Before, they had known the reason for her despair-her mother-or it was simple loneliness, not the sadness they saw in her now. Hitting on the last, most desperate motion, they approached her one night, as she sat curled up in the darkest, coldest corner of the common room, drawing something, just as usual.

Eva stepped forward. "Lily."

Lily looked up. "Oh, hello." She snapped her sketchbook shut.

Lora sat down next to her, a halfway planned speech forming in her mind. "Lily, I want to suggest something to you."

The redhead smiled absently. "What?"

"It's about the international talent show thing. Eva tells me your mother was an actress-and that you're not to be sniffed at either."

A faraway look came into Lily's eyes for a second, but it flew away as soon as it came. "Yes?"

"I want us to enter it."

"I'll support you, of course."

"No, you imbecile!" For a minute, Lora wanted to burst out with something; she controlled herself soon. "I-we, that is-we want you to act in it."

Lily faintly smiled, with difficulty concealing a hopeful gleam. "I don't know."

"Oh, Lily!" Eva sighed. "You'd be wonderful in this. You honestly would. Look-we want you to do this, for Pete's sake! At least listen to what we're going to have you do!"

Lily swung herself around so that she was sitting cross-legged on the window seat. "Which play were you suggesting."

Lora grinned almost evilly. "The Crucible."

The Crucible! Lily caught her breath. She remembered. The whirlwind drama her mother had reenacted for her so many times when she was smaller- the tempest of hate, jealousy, and religion rolled into one.

"Eva-you're sure?"

Eva grinned. "Positive. We're going to ask my parents for a fund for costumes and sets-and we're going to be holding our own auditions. Nothing fancy, just us students, and-well, we think this'll work! It'll be wonderful-and the fee for entering the contest isn't so high. Lily, say yes! Say yes!"

Lora chimed in. "Say yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes!"

Lily couldn't help but laugh. "You really think that I'll do well in it?"

Tossing her head, Eva spoke condescendingly. "My dear-when Miss Doylen says something-she does not think-she is sure!"

"All right then!" Lily gave a half-genuine smile. "I'll do it!"

They informed Professor McGonagall of their intentions, and two weeks later, they had acquired permission from their parents and several scripts. They were holding the auditions in the Great Hall; between lunch and dinner. Eva and Lora, who had no intention of participating-they either didn't think they would be good or they were too shy-had picked the judges; there were two from every House.

Lucius and a girl that was on the Slytherin Quidditch team, Maria Slenkham, were from Slytherin; Lora and the Ravenclaw prefect made up their House; Hufflepuff had both of their prefects judging, and Gryffindor included Eva and Amanda. Only about thirty people showed up for the auditions, but Lily, who was seated out of sight near the teacher's table, felt her eyes widen as she saw James and Serena appear.

Eva obviously hadn't expected this; she was a bit startled and flung a glance over at Lily, but the redhead had immediately immersed herself in her script.

The story was set during the Salem witch trials; a girl, Abigail Williams, was madly in love with her former employer-she worked as a maid-, John Proctor. They had committed adultery, and upon finding that out, Proctor's wife, Elizabeth, turned Abigail back to the home of her uncle, Reverend Samuel Parris.

Then, one night, the girls of the town of Salem attended a séance of sorts in the woods, with the slave of Parris, Tituba, as the conjuress. Abigail performed a charm to make Elizabeth Proctor die, and just at that moment, Parris, who had been awakened by the noise, walked in upon them and they scattered.

The next day, two girls, one of them Parris' own daughter, Betty, were lying still in their beds and refused to move; they did not even blink. Witchcraft was fastened upon Tituba, who, in order to save her neck, pretended that she had conjured up the Devil. Abigail and Betty, quickly realizing that they would be released from all punishment if they did the same, started crying out the names of the Devil's servants; people of the town they pretended to have seen in his company.

Abigail quickly realized that if she could accuse Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft, she could marry John Proctor if his wife were hung. She stabbed herself with a needle, accusing Elizabeth's spirit, and straightway got Elizabeth arrested. Proctor, however, met her and told her to stop crying out against his wife, unless she wanted for the whole town to hear about her as an adulteress.

Abigail didn't listen, so, the next day, Proctor's new maidservant, Mary Warren, one of the girls that had also cried out names, was brought to the court by Proctor, and she tried to tell the court that all the pretense of people's spirits harming them was pretense. When Proctor was pressed for a reason for Abigail's lies, he came forth with the secret of adultery he had hidden. Elizabeth was called in to confirm his tale, and, thinking only to save her husband's reputation, she denied any such thing.

Then Abigail straightway started accusing Mary of witchcraft, so as to save her own skin, and, in order to avoid being hung, Mary 'confessed' to all of the doings that were attributed to her now, but she accused John Proctor of forcing her to join the Devil.

Abigail tried to persuade Proctor to run away with her when she stole into the prison, but he refused. She left the town with Parris' savings, to board a ship in the Boston harbor, while she left the Salem confusion behind.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Proctor's execution date had been postponed; she had informed the court that she was expecting a baby, and they would not kill an unborn child. But Proctor, who had never 'confessed' to his dealings with the Devil, was to be hanged. The court sent Elizabeth to try to make him change his mind; he did so, signing a paper to that effect, but when he learned that it would be made public and that his sons would suffer the shame of their father being a liar, he tore his confession up and went to be hanged. The story ended on Elizabeth's line-"He hath his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him."

They had been requested to read the roles of John Proctor and Abigail Williams; also the ones of Elizabeth, Samuel Parris, and Reverend Hale, a clergyman brought down from Boston to detect witchcraft in the town. Lily had been handed the role of Abigail Williams during the confrontation in the court, and she was letting the words soak into her skin as she whispered them to herself.

Then, her name was called. Lora and Eva unashamedly waved at her, while Lucius simply grinned slightly. She found herself paired with Frank Longbottom as Danforth, a judge, three other Ravenclaw girls as the 'victims', a Hufflepuff fifth year as Mary Warren, a Slytherin seventh year as Elizabeth-and James as John Proctor.

Lora leaned back in her chair. "Start from page one oh seven. I cannot tell you how."

The Hufflepuff playing Mary Warren gulped several times, them plunged into her line.

"I-I cannot tell how, but I did. I-I heard the other girls screaming-"

Lucius interrupted. "Act agitated. You're testifying something that might get you killed. You're scared, woman, act scared!"

She gulped, then resumed her line. "I-I heard the other girls screaming, and you, Your Honor, you seemed to believe them, and I-" She was shaking now, but whether it was from nerves or not, they couldn't tell. "It were only sport in the beginning, sir, but then the whole world cried spirits, spirits, and I-I promise you, Mr. Danforth, I only thought I saw them but I did not." Breathless, she stopped.

Frank, with utmost seriousness engraven into his face, turned to Lily, who had meanwhile been transforming her character into Abigail's, and she was breathing rapidly, as if she were a cornered beast, at Mary's revelation.

Frank interrogated Abigail as carefully as a primitive judge was capable of, asking if the spirits were a delusion. Lily straightened; squared her shoulders; almost glared.

"Why, this-this is a base question, sir!"

Frank attempted to pacify her. "Child, I would have you consider it-"

Lily snapped. "I have been hurt, Mr. Danforth; I have seen my blood runnin' out! I have been near to murdered every day because I done my duty pointing out the Devil's people-and this is my reward? To be mistrusted, denied, questioned like a-"

"Child, I do not mistrust you-"

"Let you beware, Mr. Danforth!" Lily raised her chin up high and heaved her shoulders in false innocence and anger. "Think you be so mighty that the power of Hell may not turn your wits? Beware of it! There is-"

She stopped, staring blankly about the Great Hall, apprehensive and frightened. Frank stepped forward, asking what was the matter, and suddenly, along with a pretended cold wind that swept through the imaginary court, hysteria broke loose. The girls, following Lily, started madly to accuse the Hufflepuff girl, Mary Warren's actress, of bewitching them with a chill wind, and during the wild confusion, Lily started to call out to Heaven, clasping her hands to her chest.

"Oh, Heavenly Father, take away this shadow!"

James, who had been standing somewhat dumbfounded near the sidelines, suddenly rushed for her, dragging her upwards by her hair, pulling her to her feet. She let out an ear-piercing scream-he had actually tugged her to a standing position, instead of acting it.

Frank started for James. "What are you about? Take your hands off her!"

James ignored him, screaming at Lily. "How do you call Heaven? Whore! Whore!"

Frank wrestled James away, who was screaming out, "It is a whore!"

Letting go of James, Frank did a rather good demonstration of baffled dumbfoundedness. "You-you charge-"

Casting a frightened gaze around her, Lily cried out her next line. "Mr. Danforth, he is lying!

"Mark her!" James shouted. "Now she'll suck a scream to stab me with, but-"

"You will prove this!" Frank, the image of legal perfection, sat down on the end of one of the long hall tables. "This will not pass!"

As suddenly as it came, James' vengeful mood vanished, and he stood there, trembling.

"I have known her, Mr. Danforth, I have known her."

"You-you are a lecher?" Mr. Danforth was thunderstruck.

Lily listened to the accusation, limp, supporting herself from where she had fallen onto the floor when he let her go. Her cheeks burned red when he related her intentions-to "dance with me on my wife's grave!"

Frank, doing the flabbergasted and horrified part extremely well, turned to Lily. "You deny every scrap and tittle of this?"

She used her remaining strength to stand upon her feet unsupported, with her green eyes flashing dangerously. "If I must answer that, I will leave and I will not come back again!"

They decided to call Elizabeth in-to see if she would corroborate James' statement. The plain Slytherin seventh year didn't do half as well as Frank or James had done, Lily thought-she almost reached up and massaged her scalp where James had pulled her hair-, but she was quite average.

They stopped when Elizabeth was led out of the court after her statement, and they were told they could go. Quickly, Lily packed up her things and left the Great Hall; when she was rounding a corner, a hand on her sleeve stopped her.

"Lily?"

She whirled, but then discovered the owner of the tentative voice. "Oh, it's you. Thought you were somebody."

James was undaunted. "I wanted to apologize."

"For what?"

"For what happened in there." He jerked his thumb back over his shoulder. "When I pulled you up by your hair."

"You mean, by what's left of my hair." Instantly, she mentally slapped herself. He's trying to apologize, idiot!

"I don't know why I did it-it's just that everything from that night we got into a fight flowed back-and you were doing your part so well I half felt as if I was Proctor-and-well, something snapped. I saw red for a moment-and, well-" He stopped lamely. "You see how it is?"

"I see."

He put a hand up to her head; didn't jerk back when she flinched. "You all right?"

"Sure. Especially-" She caught her rude words on the tip of her tongue.

"Especially what?"

"Nothing."

"Oh."

Then, somehow, his wall of resentfulness and cruelty was pulled back up. "Well, then, I'd better go. Wouldn't want my friends to see me hanging around heartless, unthankful creatures, would I?"

He didn't give her a chance to reply; he simply vanished down the hallway, leaving Lily stunned and hurt.

She avoided her friends for the rest of the weekend; even Abigail; the rather fat girl that slept in her dormitory; she had finally let down her shield of coldheartedness and a freezing spear was jabbed instantly into her body.

It was pointless; she felt-simply pointless. Each and every time that she trusted people, trusted them with herself, they always disappointed her. Now she knew why people would want to wipe out a whole race-destroy a tribe; a clan. At this moment, she wanted to murder every single wizard that ever set foot upon the earth; the next second, her mood was gone, leaving her shaking, pressed against the wall.

Next week, Lily came close to breaking down every time she heard James say something lighthearted or laugh-he had no idea how much he had hurt her. And she never intended to let him know. He was the type of person who, once someone else's weakness was discovered, was fully capable of preying on them like a mantis. She refused to let that happen to her, and if she could help it, she would wipe him out of her paths forever.

Only, seeing as that Monday they were informed by a bulletin near the Great Hall doors that they had received the roles of Abigail Williams and John Proctor for the play, that wasn't going to be so easy.

Lily was sitting in her dormitory, back propped up against several pillows she had pinched from the common room downstairs and sketchbook laid against her knees, when the door banged and Eva, rather out of breath and quite excited, dashed into the room.

"Lily! Lily! Lily, Lily, Lily!" she jumped onto Lily's bed and slammed her hands on the mattress for emphasis. "Guess what?"

Lily looked up. "You just won the World Cup for loudest entry into a room. I don't know."

"No!" Eva shook her head violently. "Results are in, and you made the play!"

Her friend laughed. "That's wonderful! Seems like you're more excited than me, though."

"Oh!" Eva frowned. "I told you you could do it!"

"I know!" Unvoluntarily, Lily let her excitement and dreamy expectation show on her face. "Eva, think of it-I'll finally be able to be more like my mother."

"Of course you will!" Eva grasped her friend's thin shoulders in a tight hug, then released her. "But there's something I've got to tell you."

Lily was still smiling. "What?"

"James got the part of John Proctor."

It was rather amusing to watch the speed at which Lily's wistful gaze turned into an angry, outraged glare. "He did what?"

Eva flinched. "I know, I know, after the other day, he's the rudest prat and pillock that ever walked the earth. But he's good. You've got to admit that."

Lily sighed. "Yes, he's good. But I don't want to be his former mistress!"

Slamming her head into the pillows, Eva was heard to mumble "Why me, why me, why me?"

She sat up abruptly. "Lily, for Pete's sake, you're the best Abigail Williams we've got in this whole darned school. You back out, and-oh, help. Listen to me!"

"I am!"

"If you back out just because some prat-a very good prat, but still-some guy you don't like was cast in a role. Live with it! Please, for all our sakes!"

Lily crossed her arms. "There is something you're not telling me."

"True." Eva slumped. "The winning cast gets two thousand Galleons."

"Ah-hah! So I'm an investment, is that it?"

"Er-not really. Listen; this could make you a star! All those bigshot casting people would be begging for you to sign their contracts. Come on!"

Lily sighed, though a smile twinkled at the corners of her mouth. "All right, fine."

"YES!" Eva bounced back off the bed and headed for the common room. "She said she'll do it!"

The redhead grinned as a cheering sound came to her ears.

It proved to be a hard resolution to keep for her, but if she hadn't had a fixed madness about acting, she would have hauled off and slapped James Potter across his sneering face and gotten removed from the show for it. He seemed to never miss a chance to taunt her and pick out every flaw in her character; there hadn't been a time she remembered when he had actually been humanly kind to her. It was maddening, and what was even more infuriating was having to act as though she were intensely and madly in love with him.

The first time they worked with blocking, they were doing the entrance of John Proctor into the room where Betty, Parris' niece, was lying inert on the bed after the midnight dancing. Lily moved against the wall as an awed Abigail, and James shot a whisper to her as he entered.

"Ready to confess your undying love for my perfect, charming self?"

Lily didn't have to clench her fists for that, but it was rather difficult, keeping up a straight, winning, dimpling countenance when mischief and mockery was on every scrap of skin he had on his body.

Everyone else had just left the room, and she was alone with the stiff Betty and Proctor. Stepping lightly over to the bed that Proctor was bending over, she touched his shoulder.

"Gah! I'd almost forgot how strong you are, John Proctor!"

With a knowing smile on his face, James looked up. "What's this mischief here?"

Lily, with the winning smile on her face, quickly related last night's events.

"Ah, you're wicked yet, are you?" James laughed. "You'll be clapped in the stocks before you're twenty."

He turned to go, but Lily took his hand and turned him around. "Give me a word, John. A soft word."

James turned to Eva. "Is this fair, having to work with someone who's obsessed with my every motion?"

Lily was slowly losing her patience, and Eva could see that. She hurriedly intervened.

"James, honestly!"

"Okay, okay." He turned back to Lily, frowning at her growled "Don't turn your back to the audience!"

"No, no, Abby. That's done with." He pulled his hand away, but she took his other one.

"You come five mile to see a silly girl fly? I know you better." Her jeering, taunting tone set him somewhat more at ease. He pushed her aside again.

"I come to see what mischief you uncle's brewin' now. Put it out of mind, Abby."

Lily laid a soft hand on his shoulder. "John-I am waiting' for you every night."

"Abby, I never gave you hope to wait for me."

Starting to anger, she pushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. "I have something better than hope, I think!"

"Abby!" His harsh tone made her draw back. "You'll put it out of mind. I'll not be comin' for you more."

She couldn't believe it. "You're surely sporting with me!"

James clenched his teeth. "You know me better."

Outraged, Lily took his collar in one hand, yanking him down to her level. The directors had told her that she wasn't to hurt him while doing that, but, almost completely absorbed in her character, she was quickly forgetting.

"I know how you clutched my back behind your house and sweated like a stallion whenever I came near! Or did I dream that? It's she put me out, you cannot pretend it were you. I saw your face when she put me out, and you loved me then and you do now!"

Lily let out an exclamation of frustration as James, Peter, and several of his friends that had come to watch started to snort with laughter. James was the worst of them all.

"What did I tell you? What did I tell you! Oh, this is priceless. She actually looked as if she meant it. This is absolutely priceless!"

Lily sank to her knees, muttering Eva's phrase of the fortnight before. "Why me, why me, why me?"

She started to relish the idea of large amounts of homework; they would allow her to skip practices. There was no reason for her to go; she knew all her lines and blocking after three weeks of four hours' rehearsal after classes-the reason for the amount of practice was that the international event was taking place during the Christmas holidays, and by the time Ravenclaw murdered Hufflepuff in a Quidditch match, it was Halloween, and the Ravenclaw that had been cast as Elizabeth Proctor kept getting stage fright.

People had been amazed when Lily showed up at the third rehearsal without her script. The truth was that she didn't need it. Somehow, she managed to place herself inside Abigail Williams so well that the responses she gave didn't seem like lines she had memorized; they came from somewhere inside her, and they were natural; the lines she spoke were ones that she would naturally have given no matter what her lines were.