Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.

Author's notes: All right, so how long has it been since I've updated this story? Months? Years?… well, not quite that long, but I know it's been a ridiculously long amount of time. I'm not going to try to make stupid excuses, the point is, I didn't follow through uploading like I'd promised. I'm sorry. To be truthful, this is probably my least favorite story I've written; at least, it's not one of the better ones. But, nevertheless, it's completely written, so I might as well post it. I did enjoy writing it, I must say, although I think it could have used some more work. I got tired of it, so it is what it is. Enjoy!

Chapter 8

The night's silence was broken by Esprit's squawks as he flew in the window.

"Don't you ever shut up?" muttered Lily, climbing from her bed. "What do you want?" He flew in fast circles around her head. "Did you bring a letter from mum?" Esprit carried no letter. Lily thought it strange that her mother wouldn't write back. She'd only received two letters from her since the start of term. "Off to the owlery with you then!" She shooed the bird off. "Go!" Esprit continued to squawk loudly as he flew back out the window. Lily sighed. Even her pet wouldn't cooperate with her.

She flopped back onto her bed. It was well after midnight and she should have been sleeping. It seemed odd that Esprit hadn't woken anyone else in her dorm. Alycia and Julianne were probably still in the common room. Lily tended to find that they rarely came to the dorms before 2 AM normally. Camille, on the other hand, always insisted on her full eight hours of sleep, and Rae typically insisted on more like twelve. Lily couldn't help her curiosity.

She slipped through her curtains and tiptoed to Camille's bed. She slid the curtain back just enough to peek in. Empty! So Camille was out somewhere! What was anyone in their right mind doing out at this time of night, unless they were up to something?

Next she walked over to Rae's bed and slid back the curtains. She was gone too! Something was definitely going on. Lily slid her crimson slippers onto her feet and headed down the spiral stairs to the empty common room. She climbed out through the portrait hole and started to head down the corridor.

"Sneaking out at night, are we?" asked the fat lady.

"Shut it, you!" hissed Lily. "You'll get me caught. I've got something very important to attend to."

"My lips are sealed," said the fat lady with a smirk. Lily took off down the hallway, light on her feet. Every few seconds she wondered what she was doing. The castle was huge, and she had no idea where to look. Still, she felt that something was wrong, and Camille had something to do with it. She roamed the castle for what felt like it must have been close to two hours, and found nothing even slightly suspicious.

Puzzled, she headed back to the common room. She gave the fat lady the password and climbed through the portrait hole. She tiptoed back to the fifth year girls' dorm. She opened the door to find Camille kneeling next to her bed, rooting through her trunk.

"Lily. I had not realized you weren't sleeping," she said.

"Yeah, well I realized that you weren't. You weren't here two hours ago. Where were you?"

"Lily, what I do is not your business. I assure you I am causing harm to no one."

"Where's Rae then?"

"I have not seen Rae this evening," Camille replied, turning her attention back to her trunk. She flipped the lid closed and fastened the latches. "If you'll excuse me, Lily, I need some sleep. I suggest you do the same."

"I'm going to figure out what you're up to. I assure you of that." Camille didn't respond. She had already climbed inside the curtains of her four-poster.

Lily returned to her bed, angry with Camille as ever, and slowly fell asleep.

She awoke the next morning to find the dorm empty. Glancing at her clock, she saw that there was only ten minutes until breakfast. She dressed quickly and hurried downstairs. She took her normal seat at the Gryffindor table, near the far end amongst a bunch of second years. Peering up the table, she noticed that Rae wasn't at her usual seat. Instead, James was sitting next to Camille, and they were talking.

Lily slammed her glass of pumpkin juice onto the table so hard it splattered out.

"Watch it!" squeaked a second year girl. Lily paid no attention. At the high table, Dumbledore stood up in front of them, his face solemn.

"Students. I am afraid this morning I have the task of informing you of some rather unpleasant news." The great hall fell silent. "Early this morning, one of our students was discovered in the Forbidden Forest. She was suffering from after effects of a strong Crucius curse." The older students of the school gasped; the younger looked puzzled. "Fortunately, the student will make a full recovery as early as tomorrow. As soon as she comes around we should be able to speak with her as to exactly what happened. Until then, however, no student will be permitted to leave the building unless accompanied by a teacher. Quidditch practice will continue, with teacher supervision…" the entire student body seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "There is no reason as of right now to believe that we are in great danger, but precautions must be taken. Anyone caught breaking these rules will be punished severely. The student who was involved in the attack is Rae Berkely." Lily's mouth dropped open. She'd been guessing it was Rae, but this confirmation still startled her. "She is currently in the infirmary. Any friends who would like to visit her will be allowed from ten to noon. That is all." Dumbledore sat down, and instantly the hall began to rumble with conversation.

Lily glanced at Camille, who was shrugging at James and Remus Lupin, who were apparently asking her about Rae. Lily was sure she was the one who'd performed the curse. All they'd have to do was wait for Rae to awake, and everyone would know that Camille was a liar. Then all of Lily's problems were solved.

Later that day, Lily debated going to see Rae. She didn't feel in the mood, so instead she made a simple card reading Get Well Soon, and sent it off with Esprit. Lily felt like laughing. Camille was as good as ruined.

The next day, Lily decided she would visit Rae, to see if she'd regained consciousness yet. She had almost reached the infirmary when she heard two voices talking. She recognized them as Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore.

"I don't want to scare anyone, Poppy, but I have reason to believe that whoever attacked Rae last night was stopped by someone. Otherwise, I believe, it's quite possible, that the attacker would have killed her," Dumbledore's voice was grim. Madam Pomfrey gasped.

"You don't think it's…"

"Yes. I have many reasons to believe that Lord Voldemort is involved with this. Not directly, mind you. I believe it must have been a Death Eater."

"Was there a Dark Mark?" asked Madam Pomfrey.

"No. That is another reason why I believe the attacker must have had to leave in a hurry."

"How did you find her?"

"That, is a very curious matter indeed," said Dumbledore. "I was awoken last night by a fifth year Gryffindor by the name of Camille Honnete…" Lily listened more intently, her mouth open wide in surprise. "She told me she'd had a horrible dream that someone had been attacked down by the quidditch pitch. I tried to tell the girl that it was probably only a nightmare, but she begged me to go and make sure. Eventually her persistence convinced me to go have a look, and young Miss Berkely is who I found."

Camille wasn't sleeping last night, thought Lily. She was out somewhere. She'd lied to Dumbledore! Lily was certain Camille was responsible. All evidence pointed to her. Not wanting to be seen by Dumbledore or Madam Pomfrey, Lily headed back to the common room.

In the dorm, she ran into Camille, who was just on her way out.

"Lily, I am going to see Rae. I feel very bad about what happened to her. Would you like to come with me?"

"Don't even act innocent! I am onto you! And as soon as Rae wakes up and tells everyone what happened you'll be sent to Azkaban faster than you can say Avada Kedavra!" Camille shook her head.

"You misunderstand many things, Lily Evans. You'd do better not to make conclusions until you are certain you're right." With that, she walked out the door.

Never in her life had Lily met a more frustrating person that Camille Honnete.