Lily Evans and the Elf-nymph Necklace

by Sohara von Salienta

Lily finds out she's a witch, goes to Hogwarts, the usual--but in her first year, she also finds something dear to Tom Riddle. They quickly become friends, but when war breaks out in the Alendoren Cove and Lily could be a useful ally...

59. Litharelen

Lily had more fun that afternoon than she had had in a long time, what with putting up the decorations around the Great Hall and helping tiny Professor Flitwick out of the bag of streamers he had buried himself in.  It took them a good five minutes to find him, and he was spitting out bits of thread and cloth when they dug him out, laughing almost hysterically, and even strict Professor McGonagall was trying to repress a smile.

Lily had fun levitating the confetti.  She made the orange and black bits of paper shaped in characters spelling HOGWARTS and 1000 zoom around maniacally between the bats and above them, occasionally dropping onto the tables in miniature tornadoes.  The Hogwarts crest, in black and orange, hung from banners draped all over the Great Hall, and silky tassels fell from their edges.  The gamekeeper, Hagrid, finally made it into the entrance hall with the surprise he had been hiding behind his fence—four giant pumpkins to set at each corner of  the Hall.  Roughly, five men could sit down and have a game of cards inside one; they were that big.  They also needed a regular fire inside them instead of only candles, but the design Lily got to carve on them of Hogwarts made it worth the dusty fire-building job.

James also found out how much fun it couldn't be to enchant one thousand bats so that they couldn't use the restroom for twelve hours.  He had to catch each one, perform the charm, and let it fly out of the room off of the teacher's table without letting the others out, but thankfully for him, Lily was in charge of making the bats flutter three feet above the table and nowhere else, say, the girls' showers.

Smaller jack-o-lanterns were placed along the long tables at intervals, and the usually white linen tablecloths had been changed to a cottony cream, and were sprinkled with the same orange and black confetti that was crazily rocketing around three feet above their heads.  Tapered beeswax candles were placed in golden candlesticks all down the center of the tables, and the ceiling was quickly turning a dusky  blue-grey, shot with good-tempered dark pink and gold.

The students swarmed into the Great Hall just as Lily and Professor Dorvan finished packing away the boxes of left-over decorations and the rest of the teachers completed the sweeping up of pumpkin insides, streamer remains, and confetti scraps.  Chattering and buzzing with renewed energy, everyone slid into their seats, grasping excitedly at the roasted pumpkin seeds on the tables.

Lily reached for a handful herself; she and Petunia had always loved those when they were younger and her mother had made them around Halloween.  A sad smile spread over her face as she remembered—but then, emphatically, she shook it out of her head.  She [i]wouldn't[/i] remember her mother; she'd only start crying, and who needed to start crying in the middle of a feast?

It was a wonderful evening; James and Sirius had refrained from slamming bowls of custard in other people's faces, the butterbeer wasn't salted and boiling hot, as it had been when the teachers had asked for refreshment while they were decorating, there were no shredded socks in the steaks, and the peas weren't stuck together with honey.  Peeves had discovered that the last three items ticked more than everyone in the Great Hall off, so he was currently banned from the entire floor surrounding the kitchens.

The only thing Lily could have complained about was Serena.  She was sitting next to her, and it was getting to be rather disgusting to have to push Serena's hair away from her plate.  The blonde was currently using her sheet of hair as a curtain between Lily and James, who was sitting on her other side, and whom she was engaging in conversation.  Lily wouldn't have minded talking to him at all—they had been on such good terms when they were alone with the teachers, and now that Serena was here, he was only talking to her.
[i]Well, that's what he's happy doing,[/i] Lily thought; [i]if he likes her—heck, even if he loves her, which, at his age, I highly doubt, but if he does, then whatever makes him happy is all right with me.  I suppose.  He was nice enough to buy me dress robes, and I'm quite thankful for that, but he'd have done the same thing for his sister, if he had one.  I'm not to go around assuming and imagining things—he's practically engaged to Serena already, so there's no chance of an elopement.[/i]

Lily slammed her fist against her stomach moments after those thoughts ran through her head—an[i] elopement?[/i]  Why should she care—why was she [i]thinking[/i] that?

"Lily, you're sick," she mumbled to herself before downing another bottle of butterbeer.  "Completely batty.  Hospital wing.  Immediately."

And, right on cue, her head fell onto her fist.  Sirius looked over at her. 

"Lily, you all right?"

"Fine, fine, couldn't be better," she mumbled.  "I [i]hate[/i] treacle," Lily groaned by way of an excuse.

"Oh—stomachache—you need to go to the hospital wing?  I can get you there—"

"No," Lily groaned firmly, "I don't want to drink another bowl of that hospital wing soup.  It's worse than treacle."

Lora, seated at the Ravenclaw table, heard her and leaned over.  "If you've got anything to say against the treacle tart, it'd better not be said in my presence!"

"[i]I—don't—like—treacle—[/i]" Lily garbled as she slammed her palm on the table to every word.

She went to bed early that night with a stomachache as an excuse; what she honestly was doing was sitting in bed, listening to the wind rustle and whistle through the clouds, thinking. James [i]was[/i] a friend to her…and Eva and Lora were, too…she and Amanda were growing apart, and Abigail and she never really were all that close…but none of them understood her, none of them had an unmanageable craving for danger and the allure of quick heartbeats—they were all happy here, and they were content, penned up inside these castle walls…

Lily wasn't doing any better than she had been the night she stormed out of the common room.  Something closely resembling turmoil was building up inside her, and she hadn't any idea what it was dealing with; why it was there, and what was happening to make it appear.  Every time someone tripped behind her and sent their books skittering all over the floor, her friends saw her start at the unexpected noise and grasp at her throat or at some sort of lump beneath her robes.  She sank into several trick steps several times; something that had hardly ever happened before, as she habitually paid attention to where she was putting her feet. 

Lily had stopped stealing glances at Eva's newspaper; she had taken out a subscription to the Daily Prophet.  Every morning at breakfast found her scanning the heavy pile of parchment and ink, looking for something.  She never did find it, her friends assumed, for she laid the paper down next to her plate after she had finished rifling through it, sighing almost inaudibly as it plopped onto the tablecloth.

She wasn't talking to many people anymore.  The only ones that were getting through to her were Eva and Sirius; she hardly saw anyone else.  Severus had tried sending her owls, but she never replied.  He didn't see her outside of classes, anyway—that is, besides meals, and then they were separated by the whole width of the Great Hall.  He was getting more than a little worried; he cared about her, and he knew something was going on that she wasn't telling anyone.

Lily, on her part, hated every single moment she spent around people.  She would wake up at two in the morning, with the moonlight shafts falling on her face; her shadow would glide behind her to the window of their dormitory, where it stayed for hours.  A restless tigress awakened in her brain and her heart every time she saw the full, endless expanse of sky; something made her want to ride out into a never-ending field of grass, seated on a midnight-colored charger, with the wind rushing in her ears and her hair streaming behind her.  The excitement for adventure and life was being repressed horribly by the stone walls she saw day after day, and, slowly, she started to grow thinner with frustration.

Tom was doing all right, as she had found out from the Daily Prophets.  They informed the reader that several potentially Dark wizards had been incarcerated after being found while brewing illegal potions and performing forbidden spells on animals, but that they were found to be working for someone; the identity of whom was unknown.  His plans were going as expected, then, and he hadn't been captured…yet.

One afternoon, Lily was dragging one of the huge, spoiling pumpkins to a sort of compost heap inside the Forbidden Forest, where a funny sort of unidentified dark green bugs fed on spoiled food, turning it into a better fertilizer than anything store-bought.  The sky was looming dangerously grey, and several droplets were falling; soon, thunder started to rumble over the castle.  Lily was trying her best to hurry, but there was a lot to do, and she wasn't even half done.

Grunting exhaustedly, she tripped over a tree root and went flying, landing on her elbows.  Before she could get to her feet, however, someone took her arm.

She spit some hair that had come out of a plait out of her mouth.  "James?"

"I was asked by McGonagall to help.  You look like you could use it."

For once, Lily didn't give a smart reply.  Thankfully, she got to her feet; panting, she leaned on his arm.

"Thanks. I could use it."

"Sure," he agreed cheerfully.  "Let's get this done before the rain really hits—now, where does this go?"

"In here," she nodded, pointing at a largeish hole in the ground that was already half-full with the kitchens' scraps.  Together, they pushed the large pumpkin inside, muscles and backs straining; on both their foreheads, a sweat was breaking as rain fell on their heads--and finally, they watched the pumpkin crash against a piece of wood with satisfaction.

Lily turned around.  "Two down, two to go."

He smiled.  "You really do seem to like doing this, don't you?"

"No," she shrugged, "I want to get it out of the way."

"Makes sense," James agreed.  "Hagrid's hut, right?"

"Mm," she nodded.

They were rolling the fourth one to the heap when they hit an unexpected capsized tree three feet in diameter that had crashed across their path, blocking their way.  Both of them moaned together as they saw the size of it.

"This won't be pleasant," Lily remarked.  Her by-now auburn hair was soaking wet; loose curls were plastered to her face and neck, while James' usually only very messy hair was now almost sticking straight up, what with the sweat, dusty leaves, and rain that had combined along with his fingers that he had been frequently running through it.

"You're telling me," he nodded.  "Let's see if we can just push this thing over that tree.  You think we can?"

"If you can try, you can do anything," Lily sighed philosophically.  "Except slamming shut a revolving door at a department store."

James grinned at her; the funny lopsided grin.  "You're not inspiring much confidence."

"I didn't intend to.  Come on; let's push this thing over—hang on."  She looked down; her necklace was hanging out, and it had been doing so constantly; every time she pushed it inside her robes, it fell back out.  "I'm taking this off—hang on."  She suited the action to the word; exhaustedly, she stripped the hair off of her face and neck along with the chain.  "Much better.  Do you have a pocket?"

James nodded absently.  "Hand it over—I'll keep it for you."

She slumped over to him; tiredly, she was about to hand it to him, when she slipped on a wet pile of soft pumpkin innards, tripped forwards, and fell right onto James, who, startled, had only time to grab her around the waist before both of them hit the ground.  However, Lily's hand—the one in which her necklace had been clasped—hit a sharp rock, and as she drew her knuckles back with an exclamation of pain, the two of them found themselves spinning in familiar darkness bearing absolutely no resemblance to the Forbidden Forest.  For one thing, it wasn't raining.

Shaken, the two of them picked themselves up from the waist-high mass of water they had landed in.  Both of them knew where they were, though they were hoping they weren't where they thought they were.

James slowly turned his head to look at Lily.  "Lil?"

"It's no use," she sighed; "I know what you're thinking.  We're not staying here; hand me the necklace."

His eyes dilated.  "What necklace?"

She swerved to meet him.  "[i]What?[/i]"

"Didn't you have it?"

"I did—but I thought you had it—how else could we get all the way to here?"

"You're asking me?"

"Yes, I'm asking you!"

He sighed, held out a hand to her, and helped her out of the water.  "I don't think fighting'll be any use.  It's somewhere in the Forbidden Forest, and unless you know how to Apparate and can teach me to do so within the next five minutes, we're going to have a long walk back.  Where is this place, Albania, I think you said?"

"A long walk back," she agreed.  "But we're staying out of Tom's way."

James sighed.  "I hate Hagrid's pumpkins."

Lily laughed as she stepped over a small rock.  "They were messy, weren't they?" 

They were making for the forest that bordered the beach, and the instant Lily dissolved into the trees, she knew something was wrong.  Well, maybe not wrong—but [i]different.[/i]  Noisy.  The woods felt…well—[i]crowded.[/i]

"James—hold on.  I'll be back."

Stubbornly, he followed her.  "Nope.  Not leaving you alone."

She sighed.  "James—"

"'If you don't learn to live with danger, you don't learn to live at all.'  By Lily Evans."

"Yeah, well, this isn't danger.  This is suicide."

He grunted. 

"Just stay here.  No moving of muscles.  Any muscles.  Do not smile."

"Yes, sir," he shot back, snapping to attention.  Without bothering to make a comment, Lily vanished towards the creaking leaves and branches; the whisperings and the dim sparks.

Quite unexpectedly, she emerged in a clearing filled with hundreds of wizards in dark robes; they were sitting around Tom, who was standing up, twirling his wand, and explaining something.  Litharelen was sitting off to the side, curled up, her long, silver hair covering her gown like a cloak.

Lily stepped forward just as the Death Eaters stood up and dispersed to smaller groups; Tom spotted her immediately.  Instantly, he was by her side.

"Lily!  How've you been--we've not seen you for a long time here…say, did that Ministry rat get you into any trouble?  I know I was harsh to you last time you were here—well, did you get into any trouble?"

Lily shook her head.  "No."

"Good."  He grinned, relieved.  "Well—I wanted to talk to you about something else.  It goes down to this.  I need a spy near Dumbledore, in Hogwarts, and you've been offered a job there--would you be willing?"

Something was revolving inside her.  She had always wanted to live an adventurous, exciting life, and this was what Tom was offering her.  A life at which her heart could beat frantically at the danger, and relax for only millisecondsbefore being awakened again; the feel of wind whipping her face flowed past her again.  But then, her mind flew to her family.

They were Muggles.  She would probably end up aiding in their murders—she couldn't, no matter how much she hated their ways of thinking.  Slowly, Lily shook her head.

"Tom, I can't."

He was completely disconcerted.  "You [i]can't[/i]?"

"No.  No.  Please understand.  Please.  I—er—I've got friends that are Muggles; it's impossible for me to do this.  I couldn't make myself—and I'd fail you."

He waved that aside.  "Lily, you can train yourself so that doesn't matter!  This—this is adventure, riches, danger—you've always told me this is what you dreamed of!"

"No."  She squared her shoulders more firmly.  "Tom, no.  I don't want anything to do with your moves in England.  I quit.  I don't care if you can't quit—I just did.  I never joined your ranks; I was a sort of friend to you.  I won't, Tom—I won't."  She stepped back, at the finish of the calm speech she knew could cost her her life; still, she remained as cool as if she had just informed him that ten potato pancakes wouldn't be enough for thirteen people.

He eyed her quizzically.  "Lily, are you feeling all right?"  No trace of anger convulsed his features, and Lily was surprised.

"I'm fine.  But [i]do you understand, Tom?[/i]  I'm through, I'm done with this!  I quit.  I've had enough.  Understand?  I don't care if you don't; I'll make you.  You'd better understand—[i]My Lord.[/i]"

He closed his eyes.  This sixteen-year-old would be a valuable ally—but if he said anything rash, any hope of making her join his ranks was out of the question.  He'd have to approach her later, maybe a month or so in the future.  Then—then, after the stuffy life as a citizen--

"I understand.  You aren't forced to come with me."

She met his eyes, startled.  'You're not angry; you're not anything?"

"I'm quite disappointed; you're a valuable, smart girl, yes.  You'd be useful.  Very."

"I don't want to be."

He sighed.  "Then that's all there is to it."

Lily was more than disconcerted; she was amazed.  This wasn't like Tom; the Tom Riddle she knew would have made a gigantic fuss ending in a temper tantrum involving either the Cruciatus or the Killing Curse.  But then her gaze fell on Litharelen, and she thought she knew why.

"Are you this lenient on me because I saved Lith back in fourth or fifth year?"

He turned rather pale; pale for him, that is.  "Partly—Lily, this is in all honesty—I'm terribly in your debt.  I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there that day…"

He spun around.  Some of the Death Eaters were running; a faint sound of voices reached his ears.  Tom instantly whipped his wand out, pulled Litharelen to her feet, and backed into the darkness.  On her part, Lily faded into the shadows behind her, almost frantic with worry.  [i]What was wrong?[/i]

She found out soon; James had grasped her arm and pulled her ear towards his mouth.  "The Ministry's here—those Death Eaters are outnumbered at least ten to one."

"[i]What?[/i]"  Face pale, she gasped at his words.

"Don't do anything stupid!" he warned her; but too late, Lily had already left for the now maniacally dangerous and murderous clearing.

Tom and Litharelen were cornered next to a smallish cliff by seven Ministry members; Tom, a nasty scowl knitting his eyebrows, was glaring at his enemies.  Then, without warning, he attacked.

"[i]AVADA KEDAVRA![/i]"

Two Ministry members fell to the floor; the green light flashing out of each end of Tom's wand had killed them both.  It was the signal for the Ministry; they could go ahead and kill him; he had killed some of them.

All of them removed their wands from Litharelen and pointed them at Tom, who was ready for them.  At the same split second, exactly the same two words burst from each of the five wizards' lips, the [i]Avada Kedavra[/i] that had killed many before them.

Something flashed; something white and silver flew through the air; an unexpected figure dashed towards the green beams of light.  Litharelen.

Lily drew in a strangled breath of air quickly; her eyes couldn't be functioning properly—something was wrong—Litharelen was all right; she was alive, nothing had happened—

The Ministry wizards were stunned.  Nothing had prepared them for this; and, on his part, Tom was standing underneath the pillars of his crumbling and crashing world. 

The limp, pale form fell into his arms; her fingers let go of the hold they had taken around his neck.  Trailing on the ground, the silvery hair cloaked her face and his knees as everything started to sink in to his mind…Litharelen was gone…First one, then three, then streams of tears flooded his eyes and fell onto her moonlight gown and skin…onto the glazed, formerly dark green eyes with the mist flooding them…the mist that had died, that would never again flare in love, anger, frustration…Litharelen was dead.

All this had taken barely three seconds; the tears of rage and loss had stopped almost as soon as Tom raised his head again, this time in pure hatred and anger towards the Ministry wizards.  He gently let Litharelen's body fall to the ground, and, as he raised his wand, boundless fear entered the hearts of his opponents—

His eyes flared a frightening scarlet; it was but the work of a moment to lay his fiancée's killers at his feet, lifeless.  Heaving with grief, he let himself glare around the clearing.

Lily realized the mistake, the deadly error, she had made.  Too late, she pushed James into the forest behind them; Tom had assumed the worst, that James had led the Ministry to him, and in his uncontrollable rage, he was worse than deadly. 

For once, James didn't hesitate.  He broke through one of the bushes ahead of them and streaked for the shore—anywhere, [i]anywhere[/i], only to get away from Tom…

Thus began the wildest chase of their lives; following them was death; in front of them was the open wildness of the cove.  Dodging behind every sand-dune only twelve inches high, they cleared two hundred yards in moments; yet Tom was gaining on them.  They were avoiding every root and rock that might trip them; they were dashing over the sands madly, panting, yet not daring to stop, now leaping over the edge of a boulder, now ducking behind a small tree, now climbing one of the steepest hills they had yet encountered in their lives.

Never before had Lily wished for the necklace with such an intensity—she had brought James to his death—he would die, and it was all because of her!  He would die, just like Litharelen; she'd never be able to meet his eyes again—

Tom was only two hundred feet behind them when they reached the top of a cliff—a cliff that reached five hundred feet over a maelstrom of raging waves.  They couldn't turn back—there was no way, not without running into Tom's arms.  Doomed, they stared at each other.

"I'm pulling a Litharelen," Lily told him sternly, "if Tom runs up here.  This is my fault…"

"It is [i]not,[/i]" James contradicted; "and don't you dare blame yourself.  We'll have to jump off of here, then…if we don't want to be killed and/or tortured by him."

Both of their gazes were drawn irrecoverably to the crashing waves below them, and, with an effort, James looked back up.

"Lily," he shouted over the sharply whistling wind, "if we get out of this, I'll never again doubt the power of miracles."

"[i]Miracles?[/i]"  Lily laughed, terrified, but the next moment she was almost thrown off of the edge of the cliff as a figure appeared between both of them amidst the fait flashes of green light that Tom was shooting at them—a figure they both knew, and the one they least expected to see.

"[i[Lora[/i]?!" both of them gasped.

It [i]was[/i] Lora, grinning, yet a bit unnerved, she stared around them, holding Lily's necklace in her hands.  "What [i]is[/i] this place?"

"No time," Lily gasped; "hand me that!"

She didn't wait for an answer; simply snatched the necklace out of Lora's hands and hit it against James watch; holding onto each other so tightly their fingers were turning white, they were swept off in the relieving, safer, rescuing storm of darkness. 

The last thing that was on their mind was the rather disgusting environment they landed in; well, at least, it wasn't on Lily and James' minds.  Lora, on her part, expressed her disgust of sitting in mushy pumpkin goo and lemon rinds and squash rests and such by the mere expression on her face.

Lily and James had collapsed next to each other; they had let go of each other's wrists, but they were still breathing quickly, panting with their chase and the danger they had just escaped—Lily was still breathless at the sight of her friend dying in front of her.  Like a child, she had buried her head in his chest, crying noiseless tears.

Lora broke the spell of relief that had wound its way over them by a loud, hacking cough.

"What was that all about?"

Exhausted, James tried to sit up but found he couldn't; he was too weak.  "Tell—you—later—" he managed, before falling back down and closing his eyes.

Fifteen minutes later, Lily had cried out all her tears; she was still hiccupping gently, but the waterfalls had ceased to flow from her eyes.  Their strength was returning, and they were explaining in intervals to Lora what had happened there—and the story behind it.  She had informed them that she had a right to know, since she had dome something in the nature of save their skins, and they hadn't objected.  She was right—if it hadn't been for her, they would have been lying at the foot of the cliff, broken and battered to bits.

When they had finished their story, Lora was glaring daggers at them--well, mostly at Lily.

"You mean that, ever since third year, you've been helping out a criminal whose followers killed my parents?"

James flinched; he stole a glance at Lily, whose control had completely returned.  "That's a rather harsh way of putting it, isn't it?"

"No."  Lora folded her arms.  "Lily, how could you?"

Lily had an edge to her jaw that James had hardly ever seen before; she only set her mouth like this when she was extremely angry.

"I am not responsible to you for my actions."

"Oh, you're not?  For all I know, [i]you[/i] killed them!" 

James' eyes widened.  Holding out his arms, he split the two girls apart.  "Hold on!"

They glared at him, and he quickly went on.  "This is useless.  Lora, you idiot, you know Lily didn't kill your parents, and, for Pete's sake, Lily, don't be so offended.  We've got bigger stuff to worry about."

"Like what?" Lora asked flatly. 

"Like the fact that Lord Voldemort is shortly going to be in England."

"Oh."  Lora sat back on her heels.  "I see."

"Exactly.  Good.  Now, for Christ's sake, stop jumping on Lil like that—she's just lost one of her friends, okay?  One of her friends was murdered.  Don't mess with her too much, okay?"

Lora sighed.  "Okay."  She stuck a hand out towards Lily. "I'm sorry about the junk I said about my parents.  I know you better."

Rather unwillingly, Lily shook the hand in front of her.

"Good," James said, sounding relieved.  "We'd better go back and get cleaned up, then.  It's still raining bats and mice.  Lora—come to think of it, how did you get to us?"

Lora shrugged.  "McGonagall told me to get you two out of the rain when I was leaving Professor Flitwick's office, so I went outside.  You two weren't there, but there was that odd necklace on the ground.  I picked it up," she related, "and then, owing to my natural grace, slipped on this pumpkin mess.  Next thing I knew, I was there—and the second thing I knew, I was here.  And I'm still here."

"We noticed," Lily said dryly.

James sighed.  "Well, we'd better get cleaned up—Lora!" he added quickly; he'd forgotten something.

"What?"

"You aren't planning on telling anyone about this, are you?"

"What do you think I am, stupid?" she scoffed.  "They'd call me mental."  Her eyes twinkled.  "No, I wouldn't. It might get either of you expelled—or something in that area.  I don't hate you two [i]that[/i] much?"

James grinned at her.  "Thanks."  Holding out his hands to each of them, he helped them to their feet.  "We'd better get cleaned up—I know we must look terrible."

"We do," Lily agreed, "and we'd better make sure we don't run into anyone on our way inside.  Goodness knows what questions they'd ask if we did."

As luck would have it, the rain had chased everyone inside the staff room or the common rooms, so they didn't bang into one of the Slytherins that would only have been too delighted to see the famous Gryffindor Chaser covered in leaves, twigs, dirt, and vegetable peelings, besides being soaked through and through.

Lily hailed the prefect's bathroom on the third floor (the closest one) with a grin; she pushed James back as Lora and she entered it.  "You go somewhere else.  Have fun!"

She had never thought that getting rid of dirt could be so much fun, and one advantage of magical bathtubs was that the water never got dirty, and that the bits of squash and the leaves that came out of her hair dissolved instantly, without sticking around and being rather disgusting. 

Along with the grime, her grudge against Lora disappeared, and the same went for Lora.  When they walked into the common room, they were telling each other odd jokes they had picked up over the summer, much to James' surprise and relief; he hadn't expected them to come back at all—it would have been more realistic to expect two bodies to be found strewn around the prefect's bathroom.

No one asked if anything was wrong at all, and Lily was relieved.  She hadn't any idea of what she would say if anyone did ask her, so she was putting all her effort into pretending that nothing was wrong, when in all actuality, everything was.  The 'shadow in the East' had vanished without a trace, so the Daily Prophet reported, and the manager of an orphanage in London had died mysteriously, with no marks on him to show how he had met his end.

The Hufflepuffs went down completely before Ravenclaw in the next game of the season; they were out of the running for the Quidditch Cup; they had lost two hundred and ten to twenty.  Slytherin bowled over Ravenclaw as soon as they got on the field; the new players were evidently much better than the old ones had been.  There were only two games left—Gryffindor against Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor against Slytherin; those were to be held after Christmas break.

One afternoon, Sirius dawdled into his dormitory, with the intention of taking a nice, long nap.  He flung himself down on his bed, but immediately looked over at the figure sitting on the four-poster next to him.

"James?  I was wondering."

"Wondering what?"  James was turning something over and over in his fingers.

"Where you were.  What's that?"  Sirius sat up.

James turned rather pink, and he closed his fist around the object.  "Nothing."

"Hey, I'm your best friend!  Hand it over, pal.  If you can't trust me, who can you trust?"

James simply looked at him.

"Okay, so maybe that's not such a good excuse.  Just lemme see it a second."

James sighed and threw it to Sirius, burying his head in his pillow immediately afterwards.  "That was [i]not[/i] a good idea…"

Sirius caught it.  It was a silver band, intricately carved, with a sapphire set in the middle.  "Nice ring.  Who's it from?"

A muffled voice came from the pillow.  "It's from nobody.  It was supposed to be [i]for[/i] someone, but now I'm not so sure."

"You're not sure?  Who was it for?"  Sirius was frankly curious, and also worried.  "Go on."

"Never mind…"  James hit his head against the pillow. 

"I do mind, though.  Who for?"

"Er—" he stumbled—"well, actually—"  He sat straight up.  "You have got to promise [i]never[/i] to tell anyone about this.  [i]Never.[/i]"

"Sure."  Sirius was surprised at his own nonchalance.  "Shoot."

"It—well, I actually meant this for Narcissa, but…"

"What, Serena?"  Sirius felt relieved.

"Yeah—her—but I don't know."

"What don't you know?"  A thought struck Sirius' mind.  "You're not planning to get [i]married,[/i] are you?"

"No—yes—no—I don't know!"  James was furiously red.  "It's just that I don't know really what I'll do out of Hogwarts…and I do like her a lot—I mean, she's sweet…she understands me; she's nice…she's always there for me…and people get married all the time when they've left school!  It's not like it's a new thing!"

"Let me get this straight."  Sirius was trying to keep from laughing.  "You're asking the daughter of the Minister of Magic to marry you?  You're a Marauder.  You'll have no [i]freedom,[/i] for Pete's sakes—she'll always be after you to put the toilet seat down and to pick up your own clothes.  Think, my friend, think!"

"I AM thinking!" James roared.  "Why do you think I said I wasn't so sure!"

"Oh."  Sirius thought about that.  "Okay; go ahead."

"I'm not sure about it, that's all."

"You mean you like to leave the toilet seat up?" Sirius grinned.

"Sirius!"

"Okay, okay…I'll stop.  But why'd you change your mind?"

"No reason."  The red that had started to recede from his cheeks came back full force, spreading to his ears and above his eyebrows.

"Oh, sure.  No, really, James, just tell me!"

James glared.  "I said there was no reason!"

"Sure, sure, there IS no reason in the idea of marriage…no, but come on!"

"SIRIUS!"

By the end of the day, all four of the Marauders knew about that afternoon, and they were teasing James beyond insanity, though they were more serious than usual—this was just another omen—they'd be broken up when they left Hogwarts.  Remus wanted to teach or tutor students; Peter hadn't any real plans, which probably meant he'd be working odd jobs; the same with Sirius—though he kept saying that he'd start selling flying motorcycles to the magical world—and James wanted to either play Quidditch for England—or—or—

He wanted to try the Ministry.  Not a stuffy job behind a desk; after what he had seen of Lord Voldemort, he had become inclined to try becoming an Auror.  It would certainly be interesting…he'd certainly like to try it…

Still, he doubted, privately, whether Serena would approve of his plans; she didn't like anything dangerous.  It annoyed him sometimes that she worried over him whenever he got on a broomstick, and that was on of the reasons he was hesitant about this.  He wasn't planning on getting married right away, of course—this was an engagement ring, and nothing else.  Just because his mother and father had married right out of Hogwarts didn't mean he had to…

On her part, Lily had gone to Professor Dumbledore and accepted the offer he had made her for a substitute and student teacher.  She would be starting next year, filling in for teachers and acting as an aide; she would have her own office, and she would be allowed to leave Hogwarts for vacations.

Still, Lily didn't like the idea of the life that was presenting itself to her.  She didn't want to spend her life cooped up inside an almost lightless castle—she wanted to [i]do[/i] something that would make her heart race, something that would awaken an interest in living…

Lily had heard the Marauders talking about what they wanted to do later, and one of James' remarks had caught her interest. He had spoken of being a Marauder; one of his father's friends, Alastor Moody, had already talked to him about that possiblilty.  It was dangerous, but it paid well, and it should be fun, she mused…she wouldn't have to do it for a long time to be able to support herself for the rest of her life, and if she ever wanted to stop, she could travel—travel to the savannas of Africa, the forests of India, and the Alps in Switzerland…the canals in Venice, the pyramids in Egypt, and the Acropolis in Greece—anything and everything she had ever wished to see…if she really wanted to, she could even act—

Before anyone knew anything at all, it was Christmastime, and most of the students had left Hogwarts.  The Marauders were staying, as was Lily, however, practically all the rest of the student population was going home.  Severus was leaving, Lucius was going on a vacation with his parents to Denmark, Eva and Vanessa were going to the wedding of their cousin's in Australia, Amanda was simply going home, Lora was going with the Doylens', naturally…

It was only on the morning of the first day of the Christmas holidays, when Lily entered the common room, that she found out that Elspeth and Serena had stayed behind, too.

It was a beautiful morning; Lily had woken to see patches of blue and gold shining through swirling bits of white outside the large window in the dormitory.  She swung her feet into a pair of dark slippers and threw on a midnight-blue dressing gown she had been able to wear in her first year; however, it took hardly any time to lengthen it. It was a little tight around the waist, but Lily didn't mind especially.  She slipped her hand underneath [i]A Doll's House[/i] by Henrik Ibsen and practically flew down the marble stairs.

Serena met her eyes when she appeared at the bottom of the stairwell, her hand resting on the banister.  She was the only one that had seen or heard Lily; with a distinct, superior toss of her head, she turned back to the chess game between Elspeth and James that she was watching.

Somehow, Lily felt inferior to her in some way—it was something she couldn't quite place her finger on.  A bit pink, she turned to an armchair near the fire and drew her book close to her, pulling her plait over her shoulder to hide her face.

It wasn't any use, though.  Sirius spotted her and came over to her seat.

"'Lo, Lily!  Merry Christmas!"

She had to laugh.  "It isn't Christmas yet!"

"No, but it's the holidays.  Come on over—sit with us."

"No thanks," Lily declined, "I'd rather not.  I'd better go down to breakfast, anyway—"

"I'll go with you.  Come on, let's go."  He picked her up and set her on her feet, heading for the portrait hole.

"Sirius—I'm not dressed," she hissed, gesturing at the dressing gown covering the white nightgown and the flimsy, though warm, slippers.

He grinned at her.  "You'll be all right.  You look nice.  Come on, I'm in pajamas, too.  You'll live."

She gave in with a smile.  "Sure.  I suppose so, then."

"Good."  They climbed out of the portrait hole into the slightly colder passageway; Lily noticed with a grin that the Fat Lady had drawn a large, elaborate shawl around her shoulders. 

Breakfast went quietly; only two owls flew inside at the usual time the mail was delivered; one with Lily's Daily Prophet, and one with a letter for a Ravenclaw boy that had stayed behind.  There was nothing new inside it today, which was a relief, but she caught Sirius eyeing her warily as he saw her checking the paper with an almost frenzied interest.  He didn't mention anything, which was reassuring, but she did her best to keep the conversation on the reason that Sirius liked motorcycles so much.  It kept him busy for a good while, and when that was exhausted, the plates were clearing, and they were leaving for the common room.

There was quite a bit of homework for the students to do; the teachers were cutting one of the seventh years' optional classes and sticking in one that taught them how to Apparate.  It only lasted for half a term, and it was required to get an Apparition licence.  They could take their test anytime afterwards, but the class itself involved lots of studying, as they were warned by the teachers.  Still, it wasn't an optional class, so they couldn't exactly have exempted it. 

One of their assignments before the class started was to write an essay on the inventors of the Apparition and Disapparition methods and the way they went about their experiments.  Lily was looking up Ferdinand Frogdard in an encyclopedia that afternoon when she received an invitation from the other side of the common room.

"Hey, Lily!  Up for a game of chess?"

It was Sirius that had called to her, and she shut her book as she stood up.  "You're sure I won't be in the way?"

"Nah," he called back to her, "what put that into your head?  Come on—here, play James.  He's been bragging about how good he is.  Get over here and prove him wrong, why don't you?"

She smiled as she sat down at one end of the chessboard, wondering vaguely why James' cheeks were a bit pink…

"What color you want, Lily?"  Sirius was setting up the board.

"Oh—black, of course!"

Sirius grinned at her.  "What else?  Go ahead, James, wake up, it's your move."

James started.  "What's my color?"

Sirius rolled his eyes.  "White."

Lily beat James, hands down; he was acting too distracted to really be able to pay attention to anything.  She had tried to find out exactly what was bothering him, but he only mumbled something about what he wasn't sure about after Hogwarts, and it took her a good while just to decipher that.  She gave up after she checkmated him in four moves, something he had never let happen before, since he [i]knew[/i] those four moves.  In fact, he usually used them when he was playing against Peter, who never really learned that he shouldn't copy James' every move; that would lead to his downfall.

Still, Lily was glad that he wasn't paying attention; she would have lost otherwise.  On her part, she was a bit disconcerted by the fact that he kept staring at her and then looking down at the board when she met his gaze, and then pushed in between the small bit of information that Serena kept her hand on his shoulder through the entire game…

She was confused.  She stayed confused.  She was not enlightened.

Christmas morning dawned beautifully.  The snow was packed loosely, in flowing drifts, and the sky was free of clouds; a pale zircon blue streaked with shafts of pink and watered gold, it spread itself over the castle like a freshly-washed sheet flung over a mattress.  Lily was the first in her dormitory to wake up, and she threw on her dressing gown instantly, ignoring the pile of presents at her feet and flitting over to the window, which she threw open, breathing in the soft blasts of cool air that flowed around her face and tousled her hair.

Lily watched the sun rise over the Forbidden Forest , and she stayed at the window, sitting on the sill, until it threw goldenrod beams in her eyes and one of the girls stirred in her bed behind Lily, who sighed softly and closed the window, then turning back to her bed and the pile of presents.

A mischievous grin spread over her face as she looked at them and at her watch, which currently read six o'clock.  Before she could conjure up a bucket of ice, however, the four Marauders stormed into the dormitory, each carrying large caretaker's pails filled with bits of broken ice from the lake and snowballs, which they started throwing at Serena, Lily, and Elspeth.  Serena and Elspeth shrieked and tried to bury their heads underneath their pillows after getting hit in the face (courtesy of Sirius), but Lily started scraping snow from the windowsill and throwing it back at them. 

They only stopped when they ran out of frozen material, and even then Lily had to be forcefully stopped by Sirius from conjuring up a large, cold waterfall over Serena and James' heads.  He didn't accept the excuse "What's Christmas without practical jokes?"

The boys had left their presents outside the door, and after drying off the dormitory with a quick spell, they tore into theirs, all piling on to either Elspeth's or Lily's bed, since those two were next to each other.

The first one that lay at the foot of Lily's four-poster was from Eva, who had sent her a selection of differently colored socks she said she had bought in the Muggle department store section entitled [i]For the Woman who has Everything[/i].  Of course, Lily didn't have everything, but it was nice to get something other than Zonko's joke supplies or the everlasting Chocolate Frogs that Peter had sent her.

Lora gave her a book that told her about how to find out if her jewelry really contained true emeralds and rubies or if the stones were just paste, which was an interesting read.  Hey, Lily thought, if all else fails, I can give an expert opinion on the authenticity of precious stones for a living.

Remus had given her a set of Donald Duck cartoon books, each about five hundred pages thick, and all in German.  Actually, he hadn't given her the whole set, since there were about a hundred of the books, but he did give her ten of them.  Lily laughed out loud when she opened it, and Remus flashed her a most werewolf-like grin when he saw that she had opened his present.

Sirius had given her a pair of slippers, since he had noticed that hers were growing too small.  They were very nice; black brocade with the face of a cat embroidered in silver near the toes, they made absolutely no sound when she moved.  He got a rather sheepish look on his face when she thanked him, which didn't suit him at all, but she suspected she didn't look any different when he unearthed a model of Professor Trelawney in one of his presents, with a card attached that read: [i]Whenever you want to laugh, just look at her for a long time.  You will find her glasses to become horribly funny.[/i]

She picked up a package wrapped in gold paper; scanning the card, she flipped it over.

[i]To Lily Evans, care of Mr. Evans, until it can be sent to her.  From Richard Walden.[/i]

Lily frowned.  She actually felt rather guilty about not having remembered him since she returned to Hogwarts; curious, she slit the gold paper open.

Before she could open it, however, Serena snatched it out of her hands.

"Oh, looky here!  Who's this from?"

"No one," Lily mumbled, "and give it back to me."

"Hey now," Serena taunted, "do we know a Richard Walden?  James, looky here—someone's got a secret correspondent!"

Lily crossed her arms.  "Hand it [i]over.[/i]  He is [i]not[/i] a secret correspondent.  I met him at one of my father's business parties.  Give it to me."

"No, no, now!"  Serena was waving it around in the air, just out of her reach, and Lily wasn't going to stoop to stretching for it.  "Let's just see what this contains, shall we?"
Taking Lily's glare for an assent, she pulled the gold paper off of it.

Lily was sitting on her hands, mumbling something Remus could decipher as meaning:  "Hitting people is bad.  Do not hit people.  People don't like being hit.  Hitting people hurts your hands.  Hitting people is bad.  Do not hit people  People don't like being hit…"

"Aww, now, wasn't that sweet?"  Serena, still laughing playfully, had uncovered a small dark blue box.  Everyone seemed to think this was one gigantic joke, and only Remus was frowning a bit. 

On opening it, Serena and Elspeth simply looked at each other, then started to laugh.  They hadn't shown anyone else what was in the box, and they obviously hadn't an idea that Christmas presents that weren't addressed to them, well, didn't belong to them.

"Excuse me," Lily interrupted frostily.  Serena stopped her giggling, and the group swerved around to see the standing redhead, one eyebrow arched and her mouth set.

"I believe that [i]isn't[/i] yours." 

Serena frowned.  "What; we were just having fun!"

Lily tapped her finger impatiently against her arm.  "If you don't hand that over immediately, I will have some fun, and it will involve my wand and lots of Latin words."

"Oh, okay, okay!"  Serena threw it over to Lily, whispering to James, "Can't she just take a joke?"

Lily whipped her hand out and snatched the box, coolly opening it and sitting down next to the window.  Her face didn't portray her surprise at all, so the boys, who, naturally, were extremely curious, couldn't deduce anything from her features.

"Oh, come on, Lily!" James grumbled.  "We let you see our presents!"

She didn't answer, simply slipped a small, golden ring onto her hand.  Suddenly, as if someone had pushed a button, the boys started climbing practically all over each other to see the ring; it took much of overturning boxes and upsetting trunks and tables before they managed to get to her, though; they were in such a hurry.

It wasn't anything special; a gold band with a small diamond set in the center of it, and there had been no note attached to the box, but everyone in the room jumped to a hurried conclusion.

"[i]Lily![/i]"  You're getting [i]married![/i]" 

"Don't be stupid, you prat, she wouldn't get married at sixteen!  That's an engagement ring, isn't it?"

"Is that guy a Muggle?"

"Yeah, is he, Lily?"

"Come on—she wouldn't marry a [i]Muggle,[/I]would she?"

"I wouldn't put it past her!  Lily, why're you doing this?  Are you giving up your wand and everything?"

"Lily, come on, even Peter here should be better than this Richard pillock!  There's still time to change your mind!"

"You've got a Muggle boyfriend?"

"You've got a [i]boyfriend?[/i]"

That last was from Serena, and it earned her several dirty looks, but Lily ignored all of this, though she was rather amused by the next few comments.

"Why didn't you tell us, Lily, we're your friends, for Pete's sake!"

"No, we're not!"

"Peter, that was in third year and stuff.  This is seventh."

"Oh.  But—"

"Peter, shut up!"

"Lily, can't you marry one of us instead of some Muggle idiot!  Hey—we'd at least allow you to use magic, for Pete's sake!"

"Sirius, who'd you have in mind for her to marry?"

"I dunno," Sirius shrugged, "anyone!  Lily, pleeeease!"

"You're only sixteen!"

"But she'll be seventeen when she sees him again—wait!  ARE YOU DROPPING OUT, YOUNG LADY?"

"Oh, you genius!  She wouldn't do that, she'd just take her exams early.  Hey, could you tell us what's on them when you finish?"

"Yeah, Lily, wouldja?  Then we wouldn't have to study!"

"Lily, please!"

"What are we pleasing for this time?"

"We want the questions on the test, honestly, Peter, haven't you been listening!  Lily, please!!"

This came from all four of them at once.  "PLEASE?!"

Lily couldn't help it; she started to laugh.  "I see you've got my whole future planned out for me?"

"Well—er—"  The boys, who had been tugging at the hem of her nightgown and her feet, looked suddenly embarrassed.  "We just deduced…"

"[i]Never[/i] start a detective firm."  She smirked.  "This isn't an engagement ring, for one thing, I'm not marrying anytime soon, I'm [i]not[/i] taking my exams early, I have no intention of leaving school and giving up my wand, and [i]you're meddling with my business![/i]" she snapped.

Every face, well, every face except two looked embarrassed and relieved at her words, and they quickly started getting wrapping paper off of the floor, when suddenly Peter looked around.

"Where's James?"

"Nowhere," a smooth voice came in from the doorway.  "I'm right here."

Peter frowned.  "But—you were—gone…"  He wrinkled his brow.

"[i]Was,[/i]" James corrected.  "I only left for a while.  Hey, Serena—" he added, moving to the disapproving blonde, "come on—let's get some breakfast; you look hungry—well, and I know [i]I am[/i]—"

They left the room amidst several stares; mostly incomprehending stares. 

"Er," Sirius cleared his throat, "well, that was odd."

Instead of the ice being broken, all heads swiveled towards him, and he flung out his hands. 

"What?  I'm no standup comic; don't ask me to get you guys talking!"

"I beg to differ," Lily said dryly, and the room erupted with laughter.

They joined the couple at breakfast a few minutes later; since it was the holidays and only they and a few others were staying behind, they didn't bother to change out of their pajamas and nightgowns, as usual.  The Great Hall looked magnificent; twelve giant Christmas trees were set up at carefully measured intervals around the room, glittering, real snowflakes were falling from the ceiling, snowflakes that disappeared moments before they landed on anything, students included; the House banners were new ones, with the background silver and the animal for each House in its regular color; the Slytherin banner looked especially beautiful, with the dark green snake against the silver background.  Lily personally didn't quite see the point of this, as there were hardly any students there to appreciate it, but she didn't mind in the least.  It was one of the most amusing things in the world to see Sirius and James try to make snowballs and failing to catch the snow that disappeared before they could get to it.  It was a game of 'How to Keep an Idiot Busy,' and it was quite entertaining.

After breakfast, most of the students left the Great Hall for the common room, planning a snowball fight for later on in the day, when the sun was shining the brightest.  Lily declined the invitation to a chess tournament, so, after getting dressed and flinging her black cloak around her shoulders, she left the castle for the grounds, carrying several sheets of paper and a pencil.

It was a practically perfect winter morning; the sun glittered gently on the soft snow covering the ground and the trees; there were absolutely no footprints on the snow, as it had been snowing that night, the Forbidden Forest duskily groomed itself before her in a friendly manner, and the lake was filled with icy briars etched into the lake, almost as if fairies had been gliding on it, and the touch of their feet had cracked the ice that covered the water. 

Lily took in the winter air with a sigh, a heartfelt longing for the day and the time never to change.  She felt at home, here, with the cold wind rustling through her lungs and filling her mouth, and with the small, soft snowflakes landing on her hair and eyelashes, staying there, not melting, and for a moment the world around her was perfect in her eyes.