Wow…long time no write. Well, here goes! I hope you all enjoy this sort of…middle chapter. I'll be able to write so much more often since I only have four more days of my high school career. (WOO HOO!) Then I'm off to college…where I will have no time. So lets hope I'll finish this during the summer! (Ha) And on with the show!

Chapter Six :: New Secrets

Everyone slept very late the next morning, and all the mornings for the next week.  Lily spent a lot of her time with James and the rest of the gang.  Abby and Sirius seemed to enjoy to go off on their own from time to time, returning a few hours later for lunch or dinner.  Remus and Natalie would snicker loudly every time they saw Abby or Sirius again, knowing only well what those two had been doing.

Although Lily did enjoy all time she spent with everyone, she still liked to spend time alone.  These days, it was hard to get away from everyone without having the crowd follow you.  Luckily, Lily had found a secret room in the Library back in her third year.  In the aisle of books just before the restricted section, you had to pull out the book "Highly Advanced and Brutal Studies in Arithmacy" in order to open the trap-like door in the floor a few feet away from the shelf.  Lily enjoyed Arithmacy so much after her first few classes that she was able to advance on in her own time, for pleasure.

The room was perfect for studying, or just spending time alone.  It was designed and built either by or in honor of Rowena Ravenclaw because there were multiple pictures of her on the walls, and all of the décor was colored blue and bronze.  The couches were soft and comfortable for reading, and there were many desks with padded chairs—suitable for long nights of studying. The size of the room was a little larger than Lily's dormitory, and was equipped with it's own private bathroom.  Every time Lily went into the room, she had never encountered anyone else, so she liked to believe it to be her own personal hide-a-way.  If Lily had never found this room, she was certain that she would never have been able to achieve her near-perfect scores in all of her classes and even on her O. W. L.'s.  No one ever asked where she had been once she returned to the common room after a few hours in the room.  They already knew Lily was in the library, and it wasn't worth asking. 

During the afternoon of New Year's Eve, Lily decided to spend some time by herself as usual, and especially because she knew Abby would be having a big party that evening to celebrate the coming of the New Year.  After about an hour of reading to herself, she was shocked when she heard the trapdoor open.  She shrank into the couch she was lying in and pulled the soft blanket tighter around her body.  What frightened her even more was when she saw who the mysterious intruder was. 

"What are you doing here?" Lily spat.

"I was about to ask you the same question." He replied, just as rudely.

"I've been coming here for almost four years now, you won't be able to stop me…"

"I wasn't going to try to stop you."

"Ok then," Lily said, and after a pause she asked, "How long have you known about this place? I've never seen you in here before."

"Since my fourth year…well, our fourth year."

"I never knew you liked Arithmacy, I thought you were more into the Dark Arts and Potions."

"What do you mean, Arithmacy? I hate Arithmacy."

"In order to get in here, you have to pull out the book 'Highly Advanced and Brutal Studies in Arithmacy.' Do you mean you didn't pull out that book?"

"Of course not."

"Well, what book did you pull out?"

"Complex Lessons in Potions."

"Oh."

"Well, I hope you don't mind, but I need to study now." He said.  With that, he headed toward a table at the opposite side of the room and sat down.

            Lily began to consider her options.  She had never liked Severus Snape.  She began to think of what everyone, especially James, would do if they found out she was in the same room with Snape and not even protesting.   But there really was nothing that she could do.  He had found this room just as fairly as Lily had, and since he wasn't about to kick her out, she wouldn't try to do that to him.  It did strike her curiously that he didn't use the same book as her to open the room.  As she thought about it, she began to believe that the room 'chose' who could enter, just by the books that they picked to read.  Lily smiled.  She loved all the secrets that this castle hid within its walls.  She hoped that the little time left that she had at this school, it would reveal more secrets to her, so perhaps she would be able to tell her children all about them someday. 

            After another hour of silent reading, Lily felt that she had had enough of the quiet and decided to depart for dinner.  Severus was still sitting at the same table that he began at, and looked as though he had hardly moved at all.  Lily started to soundlessly climb the stairs to exit the room when he spoke.

"I hope you were not bothered by my presence."

"No, not really." Lily replied.

"Then maybe sometime you wouldn't mind helping me.  I'm beginning to fall behind in Charms."

Lily's best subject was Charms.  At first, she hesitated with her reply.  But then she realized how often she struggled with Potions.  This could work…

"Ok, if you agree to assist me with potion making."

"Deal.  How about if I meet you here again, this Saturday, around 4:00 in the afternoon?"

"Alright. See you then." Lily replied.  She smiled faintly as she left the room.  James could never know about this…he would…well, Lily didn't even want to begin to think about what he would do.

            After dinner, Lily walked back to the common room with Natalie, Remus, and Peter.  Apparently, Sirius and Abby had got themselves into a huge argument while Lily was gone, and Natalie began to fill Lily in with all the details. 

"So, I guess we didn't really see it, but Abby has not only been spending all that time with Sirius, but she's also been going out to the Quidditch pitch every day to practice with Adam.  You know, beater tactics or something like that." She said. 

"Yeah," Remus said, "Problem is, well, you know how stupidly jealous Sirius can get…and he couldn't find Abby today, so he went on a search.  After trying a few places, he went out to the pitch, only to see Abby in Adam's arms out on their brooms above the field."

Then Peter said, "Now, Abby says that she lost her balance after hitting one of the bludgers, and all that Adam was doing was helping her gain her balance back.  Stubborn Sirius is having trouble accepting this."

"Don't be surprised if we walk in on one of their fights." Natalie said.

Lily was really shocked that something so small would betray all of Sirius's trust for Abby.  She knew for a fact that Abby really liked Sirius, and wouldn't do something as stupid as cheat on him.  Not only that, but Abby also didn't really want the wrath of a prank fest lasting from now till the end of the century either.

As the approached the Fat Lady, Remus almost had to shout to give the password.  Lily could already hear the argument coming from inside the common room, and as she walked in, the yelling seemed to get worse.

"Sirius!! Why won't you believe me?!"

Abby looked like she was close to tears.  Lily knew that this was very serious; Abby never cried.  All of the common room was looking at the couple in the center of the room.  Everyone was silent; they were all afraid Sirius would curse them if they talked.

"Why should I? For all I know, you've been doing this for ages!" Sirius shouted.

"Yes, I've been practicing for ages, but NOTHING else!" Abby said.

"How should I know that? I walk out there today and he's all cuddly with you! What's next? Kissing? Or how do I know that hasn't happened yet?" Sirius said with a voice of suspicion.

"SIRIUS! I WOULD NEVER CHEAT ON YOU! WHY ARE YOU ACTING LIKE THIS?" Abby yelled.

"BECAUSE THIS IS HOW I ACT! I WOULD THINK THAT YOU WOULD BE USED TO IT BY NOW!"

"I THOUGHT I WAS! BUT I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU DON'T TRUST ME!"

"I DON'T EITHER…I JUST CARE ABOUT YOU SO MUCH THAT I CAN'T STAND TO SEE YOU CHEAT ON ME!"

"WHY don't you TRUST ME? I just DON'T GET YOU, SIRIUS!"

"WELL MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!"

"WELL I LOVE YOU TOO!"

"THAT'S THE FIRST TIME WE'VE EVER SAID THAT TO EACH OTHER!" Sirius said, still shouting.

"YOU'RE RIGHT!" Abby replied, also shouting.

"AND I'M GONNA KISS YOU NOW!"

"YOU SURE AS HELL BETTER!"

Sirius walked over to Abby and cupped her face into his hands. After one long kiss, he kissed her multiple times all over the face and kept saying "I'm so sorry!" and "I love you so much!"  Abby replied with her kisses by saying "It's ok!" and "I love you too!" After they broke apart, Sirius just held Abby in his arms, rocking her back and forth, still apologizing profusely.

Abby's New Year's Eve party started with a bang.  At seven o'clock sharp, Remus shot off a few Filibuster's Fabulous No-Heat, Wet-Start Fireworks.

"Top of the line!" He shouted over all the bangs. "Just came out a few months ago! And they are perfectly safe for indoors!" He added, calming the frightened looking first years.

After the fireworks were over, and everyone had had at least one bottle of butterbeer, James came up to Lily.

"Hey, Lils.  I haven't seen you all day."

"Oh, hi James!  I was in the library for the most part of it." Lily said quickly, hoping to get off the subject. 

"I should have guessed." He said with a smile. "Wanna leave here for just a bit? Sirius told me that nothing too big is going to happen again until 9."

"Sure!" Lily said.

"Go get your cloak. You're going to need it for where I'm planning on taking you."

"Ok…" Lily said with a little hesitation.  She trusted James though, so she wasn't too worried.

After they snuck out of the common room (with a few looks from Natalie and Abby), James led Lily to an odd looking statue on the third floor, a witch with a hump. 

"James, what are we do—"

"Shh." He said quietly. Then he tapped the witch's hump and said "Dissendium."

The bottom of the witch shifted, and revealed a hole big enough for them to fit through. After climbing through, James extended his arm through the hole and helped Lily.  Once the hole closed up again, James whispered "Lumos" and Lily did so also.  With a look of confusion on her face, Lily asked,

"How did you find this? What is it?"

"In my third year, one of the seventh years, Ryan Wilson, told me about it when McGonagall forbid Sirius and I to go to Hogsmeade that weekend. This," he said, "is a tunnel that leads to the cellar underneath Honeydukes."

"So that means we're going to Hogsmeade, I suppose."

"Yeah. I was thinking of spending some time at the Three Broomsticks, so we can drink something other than Butterbeer tonight."

"Mmm…sounds good."

After what seemed like at least a half an hour of walking through a very dark tunnel, Lily suddenly felt herself climbing up.  After only a little bit longer of walking, James opened a door in the roof of the tunnel.  He climbed up and then helped Lily through.   They snuck quietly up to the store and exited through the front door.  Once outside, Lily realized exactly why James had her bring her cloak.  It was bitterly cold.  Lily had even been wearing a sweater underneath the cloak, and she was still shivering.

"Are you cold?" James asked.

"Ju-Just-t-t a little." Lily replied through clattering teeth.

"Come here," James said, and he wrapped his arms and cloak around her.

"Mmm…I like this." Lily said. James grinned at her and they warmed up quickly from each other's body heat. 

After a minute or two longer outside, they reached the Three Broomsticks.  Madam Rosmerta owned the tavern and was a very bright and friendly witch.  When James and Lily walked in through the door, she came over and greeted them.

"James! How many times are you going to be in here this week?" she said with a smile.

"Aww, Madam Rosmerta, you know you love our company." He said, grinning back.

"Can't say I don't! But it looks like you have different friend this time." She then turned to Lily, "And how did he get you out of the castle, Lily? Is he pulling the ol' James charm again?"

Lily laughed, "As much as he'd like to think he is!"

"Well, how about some drinks? On the house!" Madam Rosmerta said.

"I'd love that!" Lily said. "I'll have one of your famous mugs of hot chocolate!"

"Make that two."  James said.

"Alright, just take a seat and I'll bring those right out."

James led Lily over to one of the tables near the fire.  After they sat down, Lily asked, "How many times have you been here this week, James?"

"I think just about every night.  Sirius and I are always out here on the weekends."

"And you've never been caught?"

"There have been a lot of close calls.  Just last night, we almost ran into that new caretaker—Filch—on our way back to the common room. Luckily he was too busy talking to his cat to notice us sneak away through a hallway behind that picture of Ralph the Ridiculous. "

"How can you be O.K. with getting in trouble so often? I mean, aren't you afraid you'll get expelled or something?"

"It's all part of the fun." He said with a wide grin on his face. "The worst I've ever gotten is two weeks worth of detentions.  Sirius has gotten a months worth of detentions one time—back in 4th year…he set off 100 dungbombs in the Slytherin Common Room.  How he got in there, we'll never know.

"Well, that explains why the Slytherins all smelled so bad that year."

"They've always had a weird stench about them. The dungbomb smell only added to their awful aroma."

Lily laughed.  She thanked Madam Rosmerta for the drinks as they were set on the table and was instantly warmed from one sip of the hot chocolate.  Something about the way Madam Rosmerta made her hot chocolate was different---and better.  Lily had tried asking a few times about the recipe, or any special ingredients, but Madam Rosmerta would never say a word about it. 

After savoring every last drop of the hot chocolate, James and Lily decided to head back to the castle for the next round of surprises from Sirius and Remus at the party.  Once they were out the door of the Three Broomsticks, James offered his arm to Lily and they walked through the streets of Hogsmeade together, both as close to the other without tripping over each other's feet. 

"So Lils, what are some ideas of what you want to do once you're out of Hogwarts?" James asked.

Lily thought for a moment. She had never really considered what she would do once she graduated from Hogwarts.  "I'm not really sure actually. I guess I could work for the Ministry or something, but I don't know what I'd do. I'm not really good at anything in particular."

"Yeah, you're only the smartest witch in the school, that's all."  James said with a tone of sarcasim. "Lily, I'm sure there will be people begging you to work for them."

"I don't think anyone will be begging me, but I certainly hope I can find work. What do you think you will do James?"

"I've thought about trying out for England's quidditch team or something, but I don't know if there's really a future there for me.  My father and Dumbledore have both mentioned to me that I should become an Auror.  Dumbledore told me that the ministry would need some powerful wizards to join them in the next few years. There's a lot of dark magic circling about and it's getting tougher and tougher for the Ministry to control."

Lily thought in amazement in all the thought that James had been putting into his future.  She thought for a moment about becoming an auror, and ended up speaking her thoughts aloud.
"What are the requirements for being an Auror?"

"Well, you have to have 13 O.W.L.'s, 45 N.E.W.T.'s, and pass a series of trials…wait, you want to be an auror?"

"I don't know. I wouldn't mind helping out the ministry…"

"But, you can't be an auror!" James shouted suddenly.

Lily was taken aback by his sudden rise in volume. "Why not?"

"It's too dangerous! Aurors can easily lose their lives if they aren't careful! I can't possibly think of losing you!"

"James you aren't going to lose me anytime soon! Calm down!" Lily said. She looked at James and was shocked. James looked genuinely worried, and it was all about losing…her.  He wouldn't even look her in the eyes; he kept avoiding her stare by focusing on the ground. 

"James, look at me." He still was looking at the ground, "Look at me! You're not going to lose me! We've still got another year together! That's plenty of time!"

"Not enough for me. I want to spend the rest of my life with you." He whispered.

"What?" Lily didn't know what to say. She didn't understand how James was thinking so far ahead into her…well, their future. 

"I already know that you are the perfect girl for me Lils. Everyday is the best day when I'm with you.  I can only hope you feel the same way…"

Lily froze. They were already climbing through the witch's hump into Hogwarts. (Lily hadn't been paying attention to where they were going) Lily hadn't even given her future any thought and James was already planning their lives together. She loved James, but this was too much!

"James, I really don't know what to say.  I love you very much, but I just…can't!"

Lily ran off back to the common room leaving a very confused James behind.

Are you confused about Lily? I know I am!! Haha,  just kidding. Well, review! It's great to hear what you all think. And I appreciate them all! I promise there are some good chapters VERY soon to come! They're all up here (points to head…) Muchos Gracias! (I think I really butchered the spelling on that one…I'm sorry to any Spanish speaking readers out there…please don't kill me, I only know French!) And if you are feeling bored, I would really recommend reading my other fic—"Through Hermione's Eyes: The 5th Year"…it's a keeper! Now review!