Disclaimer: I own nothing except the storie I wrote. JK Rowling is the
genious who did it all, not me!
James raced out of the castle and started to look for Lily immediately. Unfortunately he couldn't find her, and it seemed as though he was yelling for her in vain. He was just about to head back inside to look for her when he heard a yell coming from the forbidden forest.
"Stop it!" It was Lily's voice! James rushed toward the forest as quickly as his legs would carry him, when he heard another voice yell, but this was from behind him.
"Mollusca deceleratus!" it said. Unfortunately, James knew what was coming with those words. his pace immediately slowed down to that of a snail! He was now furious. Barely able to move, he kept hearing Lily's voice screaming out for help. His eyes kept darting around searching for the source of the jinx, while he kept trying to inch his way closer to the edge of the forest to save Lily.
It was all Lily could do to keep the boy she thought was James in line. He kept trying to make more and more moves on her, sneaking his hands under her top, or kissing her with even more passion than before. He refused to stop, no matter what she said.
"James!" Lily said, gasping for air. "What are you doing? GET OFF!" Unfortunately, he was much stronger than her.
"You know you like it," he retorted, covering her mouth with his own to muffle her screams.
The real James was growing desperate. How was he ever going to make it to Lily?
James knew that he didn't have time to reach for his wand. By the time he would have it in his hand, whoever had jinxed him would be able to get there and grab it from him. What he needed was help. Luckily, at that moment, that's what he got.
"Look! He's over there!" shouted Sirius, running out of the castle with Remus. Even Peter was there, lagging behind as usual. "What happened?"
James couldn't explain. He heard himself talking a mile a minute, in his head, but because of the curse, he couldn't manage to move his lips nearly half that fast. Remus caught on immediately though. "We need the counter- curse! What is it?" Sirius and Remus pulled out their wands and tried everything they could think of. Nothing seemed to be helping. They then turned to Peter, who wasn't doing anything at all, other than looking around nervously.
"Peter, what is wrong with you? Come on, you've spent the last 5 months in the library, you have to have seen something like this!" Remus pleaded.
Just then they heard Lily's piercing shriek. "HELP!!!"
"We don't have any time to waste. Remus, you stay here and try to figure this out. I'll try to find Lily." Sirius immediately changed into Padfoot, a big black dog that he had illegally been becoming for the past 6 years, and ran toward the forest. James looked after him with rage in his eyes.
Just then Peter muttered something, barely audible. "Injudicious saunteranew."
"What?" asked Remus.
Peter then reluctantly pulled out his wand and aimed it at James. "Injudicious saunteranew," he said, louder.
Remus looked at him in disbelief as James immediately fell flat on his face. Regaining control of himself, James yelled "Come on, we have no time to lose!" He then changed into his animagi, a beautiful white stag, Prongs, and rushed to the forest.
What happened next, nobody expected. James found Sirius in the forest, and they each changed back to human form. "I think her screams are coming from over there, let's go!" James whispered. And they set off, wands in hand. As they got closer to Lily and the imposter James, the volume of Lily's screams and pleas got louder and clearer. Remus and Peter made it over to them, just in time to hear:
"James, get away! Stop, please stop!" Lily pleaded, tears now streaming down her face. She longed for her wand, but it was upstairs in her bedroom. "James, please. I don't understand why you're doing th- OH MY GOD!" Lily suddenly interrupted herself, as she realized what was going on. "SEVERUS!"
The body that just seconds before had looked exactly like James had suddenly started to transform back into its original form. Severus Snape now stood before Lily, holding her tightly in his grasp, preventing her from running away.
Seemingly from out of nowhere, there came three red flashes of light. James, Sirius and Remus had all performed the full body bind on Snape. Unfortunately, Snape was still holding on to Lily with clenched fists, so when he fell, he pulled her down with him.
James rushed to her aid, prying Snape's hands from Lily's arms. She just couldn't stop sobbing. "Oh, James, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it to be like this. I should have known."
Lifting her up into his arms, James tried his best to comfort Lily, assuring her that it was over and that she was safe now. "I'm never going to let anyone hurt you, Lily, I swear it on my life." James turned his head to Sirius, Remus and Peter, gesturing toward Snape's motionless body.
Sirius nodded. "We'll take care of him. You just get Lily back inside."
With Lily safe in his arms, James rushed her back towards the castle. She was steadily crying into the small of his neck, unsure of what was going on. James finally got them through the dimly lit corridors and to Gryffindor tower.
"Oh, you poor, poor dear!" the Fat Lady said. "I do hope that everything is alright."
Just then James said "pensata provocazione" and the portrait swung open, granting him access to the common room.
Lily's roommates were awaiting anxiously for their return, but once they saw her fragile state, and the warning look that James gave them, they decided not to ask any questions just yet. James whisked her past them and up the stairs to the boys' dormitory, where he gently set Lily down on his bed. "Are you alright?" he asked gently, sitting beside her. Lily simply nodded through her tears.
Her shirt was torn. James hadn't noticed that before. "I'll kill him. for this, he deserves no less."
"No. you can't do that James," Lily said weakly.
"What? Why not? Lily, he pretended to be me, and then tried. tried to." he sighed deeply. "I don't even want to think about what would have happened if we hadn't gotten there in time."
"You did though. Please, let's not think about it. we don't have to any more."
"You have to tell Dumbledore what happened though. If you don't I will. Snape has to pay for what he did."
Lily looked up at James, looking him right in the eyes. "We will. but please, not tonight. James, this was our last night here. tomorrow we graduate. why put everything at risk right now?" She pulled his arms around her. She felt safe here. She knew she always would. "Can I tell you something though?" she whispered. James nodded, and she took a deep breath. "I knew something was wrong when I first met you- I mean him out there. Something just didn't feel right. I mean, beyond the way he was acting. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I knew it wasn't you. does that make any sense?"
"I know exactly what you mean." He kissed her forehead and pulled his quilt up over her. "Try and get some rest. Tomorrow is a big day. bigger than I would have ever thought."
Chapter 2: Dreams, Premonitions and Graduations
That night, Lily had a very difficult time sleeping. She kept having dreams about what she could only assume was the future. Parts of it looked wonderful. she saw her wedding to James, how happy everyone was. Unfortunately it did not seem that this euphoria was destined to last. She felt as though they were being hunted, and awoke several times in a cold sweat. Knowing that James was there beside her was quite reassuring, but there was still something wrong. something that she was sure had to do with tonight.
Lily shook her head, and snuggled closer to James, who had fallen asleep with his glasses on, and tried to go back to sleep herself. There was a stir of echoes in Lily's head that night, but not echoes of the past- echoes of the future. "No, Dumbledore doesn't have to do it. I will. I'll be your Secret-Keeper," said Sirius's voice. "A son! Lily, our son!" she heard James say. "There he is! Harry Potter! The Boy Who Lived!" said a stranger's voice. Lily found that one to be quite odd, until she heard something even more terrifying. It was her! She heard herself screaming: "No! Not Harry! Please. have mercy. have mercy."
"Lily, Lily!" James shouted. "Get McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey, Dumbledore- whoever you can! Just go now!"
Lily could feel herself being pulled back into the present. By the time she opened her eyes, half of the Hogwarts professors were in the room, along with most of Gryffindor house.
"Most peculiar, indeed," Dumbledore said, examining her through his spectacles. "Ah, yes. How are you feeling, Miss Evans?"
"Fine," she said weakly, despite the fact that her heart was pounding and she was a bit confused by why everyone was in the room.
"Perhaps Mr. Potter should take you to the hospital wing so that Madame Pomfrey can examine you properly," Dumbledore suggested.
"No, sir. I'm fine, really," she insisted.
Dumbledore simply held up his hand, as if to silence her protests. "Just as a precaution, Miss Evans. We want you to be well rested for the graduation festivities this afternoon."
With those words, everyone knew that the matter was settled. The room gradually cleared out and James helped Lily to her feet.
"Really, James. I'm fine! I don't know what all this fuss is about."
"You really have no idea?" Lily shook her head, and James sighed. "Lily, you were screaming terrible things in your sleep. we all thought that you were being killed!"
Lily's eyed opened wide. "What did you say?"
"You were screaming bloody murder," Sirius said.
"You're not helping," James told him. He turned back to Lily. "I tried to wake you. we all did. For about an hour, but nothing worked. You were screaming my name, and my middle name, Harry repeatedly. What were you dreaming about?" He looked at her with great concern.
"Nothing, it was nothing."
"You're lying."
Lily took a deep breath. "He was there," she whispered, "Voldemort. He was trying to kill our son, Harry. I tried not to let him, begging him to show mercy, but it was no use. Then he. he." she broke out into sobs.
"What is it, baby?" he asked, brushing the hair away from her face.
"He killed you." she trailed off.
James was quite taken by surprise at this comment. "He killed me?" Lily nodded, and James kissed her forehead. "It's not going to happen, we're going to be together for a long, long time. It won't end like that."
"But it seemed so real. I could see it perfectly."
"Lily, no. It's not true. Don't worry. Now, come on, let's get you up on the bed so Madam Pomfrey can have a look at you."
"Oh, you poor, poor thing," Madam Pomfrey said, bustling in. "Let's see what we can do for you." She began to examine Lily. "Isn't that a beautiful ring?" she said, looking at Lily's hand. Lily and James both smiled.
"It's been in my family for generations," James said, beaming proudly.
"Isn't that sweet. And what about this one? Another engagement present?"
James and Lily looked at her strangely. "What?" they asked at the same time.
"I don't know why you kids all insist on doing things like this. In my day, we didn't have any of this 'body art' nonsense."
"Body art?" James asked, while Lily, at the same time said, "What are you talking about?"
"This, dear," she said, as a mirror appeared, allowing Lily and James to see a jeweled skull on Lily's right shoulder blade. "Although I never would have imagined you to pick this particular design."
"When did you get that!" James roared.
"I- I don't know! What is it?" Lily stammered.
"Let me try to remove it then," Madame Pomfrey said. She tried 3 different spells, but none of them worked. "Not to worry, I'm sure I've got just the thing for it. Back in a moment."
"James, how? I mean, why can't she get it off of me?"
"I don't know, but I'm sure as hell going to find out."
Just then, Madame Pomfrey returned, accompanied by their charms professor. After three unsuccessful attempts to remove the jewels, he finally was able to get them off. "Onyx! Very interesting. I should like to take these with me, if I may, Miss Evens," he said. She simply nodded. "It is entirely possible that these might be what caused your episode this morning."
Lily shuddered. She didn't want her nightmares to be referred to as an 'episode.' It seemed so psychotic to her. Judging by the way James looked, he felt the same way.
"Professor Dumbledore would like for you two to go and see him now, if you feel up to it, Miss Evans," Madame Pomfrey told her, "Of course why you should, I don't know, since I'm not finished here. But that is quite alright, as I am never able, it seems, to treat my patients as thoroughly as I would like."
"And on that note." James whispered to Lily as he quickly ushered her out of the hospital wing. This caused her to giggle, which meant both her and James smiled for the first time since the day before.
Together they made their way up to Dumbledore's office. When they got to the entrance, James said "Cookie Dough" and it opened. They walked up the stairs and waited to be called in.
"Well, well, come in, come in," Dumbledore said to them, showing them into 2 chairs in front of his desk, before sitting himself down. "How are you feeling, Lily?"
Lily was surprised because until now, he had always called her 'Miss Evans.' "Fine, thank you, Professor. Very anxious about graduation, actually."
"Naturally. You are speaking. Provided you feel up to it, of course."
Now it was James's turn to be surprised again. He didn't know Lily was giving a speech.
"Oh yes, James. Our Lily here is class valedictorian. She will be giving what I expect to be a wonderful speech." Lily blushed slightly. "But, before we go any further into today's activities, I must request that you recount for me the events that unfolded last night. This will not be easy, but it must be done. The sooner, the better."
Heaving a great sigh, and prepared to go into details that even James had not heard yet, Lily began telling the tale of the night before. She told them how she had thought she was meeting James, and about the picnic. About the first kiss, and how she had felt uncomfortable. Tears filled her eyes as she explained how she couldn't stop him from kissing her or his hands from roaming over her body. As she continued, James looked ready to kill. Dumbledore however remained calm and focused on Lily. She then said how she was screaming for help when James's body began to change.
"And that is when you appeared with Mr. Black, correct?" Dumbledore asked, looking at James.
"Yes," he replied, angrily.
"Now, now. We still don't know for certain exactly how things unfolded."
"What?!" James cried. "I'm sorry, Professor, but isn't it obvious?! Snape has been interested in Lily for YEARS and would obviously do anything, and DID do anything he could to have her! He tried to take advantage of her by pretending to be me! And I don't think he was alone either! When I tried to find her, someone cursed me so I could hardly even move to get anywhere near her!"
"James, please, calm down. You may rest assured that there are many of us investigating what happened last night. I will not lie to you and say we are not taking it seriously. Quite the opposite in fact. We believe that there was some dark magic at hand, and the mark that Madame Pomfrey found upon Lily supports that theory very strongly."
"Dark magic?" Lily piped in.
"Yes. The skull mark that you woke up with is the sign of the evil wizard, Voldemort. We have reason to believe that Severus was not acting of his own accord. Now, that is all that I can tell you at this time. Please, do be patient, and I promise that I will notify you of anything as soon as I find out. You have my word on it."
"Lily, I suggest that you and James return to your dormitories and get ready for graduation."
"Come on, hun," James said.
Lily got up to leave, and then turned to face Dumbledore, "Thank you, Professor."
The two of them hurried back to Gryffindor Tower. "We don't have to tell anyone about this if you don't want to," James told her.
"Yeah, I don't think that would be a good idea, especially not today." Then, without thinking, she added "I wonder how Severus is doing?"
"How can you even ask that?! I mean, after all that he did to you!" They arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Graduation Celebration." The portrait swung open.
"You heard Dumbledore, James. It wasn't his fault."
"Lily, I swear, you forgive far too easily." James still had that murderous look in his eyes when they entered the common room.
"Lily!" shouted Jem.
"It's about bloody time!" yelled Remus. "How are you guys?" he added.
"We're fine, everything is fun," Lily assured everyone. She turned to the girls. "Shall we go upstairs and get ready?" She forced a smile.
"Thought you'd never ask!" squealed April. She grabbed Lily's hand and the four girls made their way up the stairs.
"I love you James! Back down in a bit!" Lily yelled over her shoulder.
"Love you too!"
Once Lily was safely upstairs, and out of earshot, James gestured for Sirius, Remus and Peter to follow him.
"Are you gonna fill us in now?" said Sirius.
"Lily didn't want to talk about it, but after everything you guys saw last night I think you deserve to know what little information I have."
"Why did Dumbledore want to see you?" Peter asked quietly.
James gave him a strange look, but quickly dismissed it. Peter was a strange and nervous boy, but they all trusted him. Why wouldn't they? They had all been friends for as long as any of them could remember.
"He wanted to tell me and Lily who he thinks is behind all of this-"
"Well, duh! We all saw Snape... in fact, we almost killed him," Remus stated.
"Should have finished the job, if you ask me," Sirius piped in.
"I totally agree with you guys, but for some reason, Dumbledore doesn't."
"What are you talking about?" asked Sirius.
"Dumbledore thinks that Snape wasn't acting of his own free will... that someone was controlling him-"
"But that would mean using the Imperious Curse! It's forbidden! One of the Unforgivable Curses!" insisted Remus. "Who would do that?"
"They think it was Voldemort."
Sirius and Remus stared at James. Peter flinched nervously, but the others failed to notice.
"Are- Is- Is he sure?" Peter stammered.
"He has no reason to lie, Peter."
"Right, right."
"Anyway, that's it... Dumbledore said he would keep me and Lily posted... let us know if/when they find anything else out. But you know what? Just before we came in here, Lily was acting all worried about Snape! Can you guys believe that?"
"James, it's Lily... she's like that," said Remus. "I mean, look at me... most people would have turned me away, or worse still, turned me in. But not Lily."
"She's too compassionate for her own good sometimes," Sirius said, with a grin.
"Oh, shut up," said Remus, chucking a cushion at him.
"Guys, this is serious."
"Right, sorry."
"Come on James," Remus said, "Let's go get ready."
And with that, the boys headed upstairs to change into their Hogwarts robes for the last time.
It was just about 3pm when Lily and James (and the others) met in the common room to head out to the graduation ceremony.
"Can you believe it?" April sighed.
"We actually made it!" Sirius said. "And without losing any points for Gryffindor for the last 2 months!"
"That must have been hard for you guys," said Jem.
The boys all had a real affinity for pranks, and had somehow managed to stay out of trouble recently. Something told Lily that this wouldn't last though.
"Let's go downstairs and get seated. This is going to be an interesting afternoon," James suggested.
"I really hope that I don't forget my speech..." Lily added nervously.
"You'll do fine, Lily. You always do," Jem reassured her.
"Thanks," she replied.
The eight of them took a final look around the common room and then headed out of the portrait hole.
"I can't believe it... the next time we come in here we won't be students any more... we'll be official witches and wizards..." Remus said, beaming.
Stay tune for the next chapter!!
PLEASE! I beg you! REVIEW, or else, I might stop writing it! Hannah
James raced out of the castle and started to look for Lily immediately. Unfortunately he couldn't find her, and it seemed as though he was yelling for her in vain. He was just about to head back inside to look for her when he heard a yell coming from the forbidden forest.
"Stop it!" It was Lily's voice! James rushed toward the forest as quickly as his legs would carry him, when he heard another voice yell, but this was from behind him.
"Mollusca deceleratus!" it said. Unfortunately, James knew what was coming with those words. his pace immediately slowed down to that of a snail! He was now furious. Barely able to move, he kept hearing Lily's voice screaming out for help. His eyes kept darting around searching for the source of the jinx, while he kept trying to inch his way closer to the edge of the forest to save Lily.
It was all Lily could do to keep the boy she thought was James in line. He kept trying to make more and more moves on her, sneaking his hands under her top, or kissing her with even more passion than before. He refused to stop, no matter what she said.
"James!" Lily said, gasping for air. "What are you doing? GET OFF!" Unfortunately, he was much stronger than her.
"You know you like it," he retorted, covering her mouth with his own to muffle her screams.
The real James was growing desperate. How was he ever going to make it to Lily?
James knew that he didn't have time to reach for his wand. By the time he would have it in his hand, whoever had jinxed him would be able to get there and grab it from him. What he needed was help. Luckily, at that moment, that's what he got.
"Look! He's over there!" shouted Sirius, running out of the castle with Remus. Even Peter was there, lagging behind as usual. "What happened?"
James couldn't explain. He heard himself talking a mile a minute, in his head, but because of the curse, he couldn't manage to move his lips nearly half that fast. Remus caught on immediately though. "We need the counter- curse! What is it?" Sirius and Remus pulled out their wands and tried everything they could think of. Nothing seemed to be helping. They then turned to Peter, who wasn't doing anything at all, other than looking around nervously.
"Peter, what is wrong with you? Come on, you've spent the last 5 months in the library, you have to have seen something like this!" Remus pleaded.
Just then they heard Lily's piercing shriek. "HELP!!!"
"We don't have any time to waste. Remus, you stay here and try to figure this out. I'll try to find Lily." Sirius immediately changed into Padfoot, a big black dog that he had illegally been becoming for the past 6 years, and ran toward the forest. James looked after him with rage in his eyes.
Just then Peter muttered something, barely audible. "Injudicious saunteranew."
"What?" asked Remus.
Peter then reluctantly pulled out his wand and aimed it at James. "Injudicious saunteranew," he said, louder.
Remus looked at him in disbelief as James immediately fell flat on his face. Regaining control of himself, James yelled "Come on, we have no time to lose!" He then changed into his animagi, a beautiful white stag, Prongs, and rushed to the forest.
What happened next, nobody expected. James found Sirius in the forest, and they each changed back to human form. "I think her screams are coming from over there, let's go!" James whispered. And they set off, wands in hand. As they got closer to Lily and the imposter James, the volume of Lily's screams and pleas got louder and clearer. Remus and Peter made it over to them, just in time to hear:
"James, get away! Stop, please stop!" Lily pleaded, tears now streaming down her face. She longed for her wand, but it was upstairs in her bedroom. "James, please. I don't understand why you're doing th- OH MY GOD!" Lily suddenly interrupted herself, as she realized what was going on. "SEVERUS!"
The body that just seconds before had looked exactly like James had suddenly started to transform back into its original form. Severus Snape now stood before Lily, holding her tightly in his grasp, preventing her from running away.
Seemingly from out of nowhere, there came three red flashes of light. James, Sirius and Remus had all performed the full body bind on Snape. Unfortunately, Snape was still holding on to Lily with clenched fists, so when he fell, he pulled her down with him.
James rushed to her aid, prying Snape's hands from Lily's arms. She just couldn't stop sobbing. "Oh, James, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it to be like this. I should have known."
Lifting her up into his arms, James tried his best to comfort Lily, assuring her that it was over and that she was safe now. "I'm never going to let anyone hurt you, Lily, I swear it on my life." James turned his head to Sirius, Remus and Peter, gesturing toward Snape's motionless body.
Sirius nodded. "We'll take care of him. You just get Lily back inside."
With Lily safe in his arms, James rushed her back towards the castle. She was steadily crying into the small of his neck, unsure of what was going on. James finally got them through the dimly lit corridors and to Gryffindor tower.
"Oh, you poor, poor dear!" the Fat Lady said. "I do hope that everything is alright."
Just then James said "pensata provocazione" and the portrait swung open, granting him access to the common room.
Lily's roommates were awaiting anxiously for their return, but once they saw her fragile state, and the warning look that James gave them, they decided not to ask any questions just yet. James whisked her past them and up the stairs to the boys' dormitory, where he gently set Lily down on his bed. "Are you alright?" he asked gently, sitting beside her. Lily simply nodded through her tears.
Her shirt was torn. James hadn't noticed that before. "I'll kill him. for this, he deserves no less."
"No. you can't do that James," Lily said weakly.
"What? Why not? Lily, he pretended to be me, and then tried. tried to." he sighed deeply. "I don't even want to think about what would have happened if we hadn't gotten there in time."
"You did though. Please, let's not think about it. we don't have to any more."
"You have to tell Dumbledore what happened though. If you don't I will. Snape has to pay for what he did."
Lily looked up at James, looking him right in the eyes. "We will. but please, not tonight. James, this was our last night here. tomorrow we graduate. why put everything at risk right now?" She pulled his arms around her. She felt safe here. She knew she always would. "Can I tell you something though?" she whispered. James nodded, and she took a deep breath. "I knew something was wrong when I first met you- I mean him out there. Something just didn't feel right. I mean, beyond the way he was acting. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I knew it wasn't you. does that make any sense?"
"I know exactly what you mean." He kissed her forehead and pulled his quilt up over her. "Try and get some rest. Tomorrow is a big day. bigger than I would have ever thought."
Chapter 2: Dreams, Premonitions and Graduations
That night, Lily had a very difficult time sleeping. She kept having dreams about what she could only assume was the future. Parts of it looked wonderful. she saw her wedding to James, how happy everyone was. Unfortunately it did not seem that this euphoria was destined to last. She felt as though they were being hunted, and awoke several times in a cold sweat. Knowing that James was there beside her was quite reassuring, but there was still something wrong. something that she was sure had to do with tonight.
Lily shook her head, and snuggled closer to James, who had fallen asleep with his glasses on, and tried to go back to sleep herself. There was a stir of echoes in Lily's head that night, but not echoes of the past- echoes of the future. "No, Dumbledore doesn't have to do it. I will. I'll be your Secret-Keeper," said Sirius's voice. "A son! Lily, our son!" she heard James say. "There he is! Harry Potter! The Boy Who Lived!" said a stranger's voice. Lily found that one to be quite odd, until she heard something even more terrifying. It was her! She heard herself screaming: "No! Not Harry! Please. have mercy. have mercy."
"Lily, Lily!" James shouted. "Get McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey, Dumbledore- whoever you can! Just go now!"
Lily could feel herself being pulled back into the present. By the time she opened her eyes, half of the Hogwarts professors were in the room, along with most of Gryffindor house.
"Most peculiar, indeed," Dumbledore said, examining her through his spectacles. "Ah, yes. How are you feeling, Miss Evans?"
"Fine," she said weakly, despite the fact that her heart was pounding and she was a bit confused by why everyone was in the room.
"Perhaps Mr. Potter should take you to the hospital wing so that Madame Pomfrey can examine you properly," Dumbledore suggested.
"No, sir. I'm fine, really," she insisted.
Dumbledore simply held up his hand, as if to silence her protests. "Just as a precaution, Miss Evans. We want you to be well rested for the graduation festivities this afternoon."
With those words, everyone knew that the matter was settled. The room gradually cleared out and James helped Lily to her feet.
"Really, James. I'm fine! I don't know what all this fuss is about."
"You really have no idea?" Lily shook her head, and James sighed. "Lily, you were screaming terrible things in your sleep. we all thought that you were being killed!"
Lily's eyed opened wide. "What did you say?"
"You were screaming bloody murder," Sirius said.
"You're not helping," James told him. He turned back to Lily. "I tried to wake you. we all did. For about an hour, but nothing worked. You were screaming my name, and my middle name, Harry repeatedly. What were you dreaming about?" He looked at her with great concern.
"Nothing, it was nothing."
"You're lying."
Lily took a deep breath. "He was there," she whispered, "Voldemort. He was trying to kill our son, Harry. I tried not to let him, begging him to show mercy, but it was no use. Then he. he." she broke out into sobs.
"What is it, baby?" he asked, brushing the hair away from her face.
"He killed you." she trailed off.
James was quite taken by surprise at this comment. "He killed me?" Lily nodded, and James kissed her forehead. "It's not going to happen, we're going to be together for a long, long time. It won't end like that."
"But it seemed so real. I could see it perfectly."
"Lily, no. It's not true. Don't worry. Now, come on, let's get you up on the bed so Madam Pomfrey can have a look at you."
"Oh, you poor, poor thing," Madam Pomfrey said, bustling in. "Let's see what we can do for you." She began to examine Lily. "Isn't that a beautiful ring?" she said, looking at Lily's hand. Lily and James both smiled.
"It's been in my family for generations," James said, beaming proudly.
"Isn't that sweet. And what about this one? Another engagement present?"
James and Lily looked at her strangely. "What?" they asked at the same time.
"I don't know why you kids all insist on doing things like this. In my day, we didn't have any of this 'body art' nonsense."
"Body art?" James asked, while Lily, at the same time said, "What are you talking about?"
"This, dear," she said, as a mirror appeared, allowing Lily and James to see a jeweled skull on Lily's right shoulder blade. "Although I never would have imagined you to pick this particular design."
"When did you get that!" James roared.
"I- I don't know! What is it?" Lily stammered.
"Let me try to remove it then," Madame Pomfrey said. She tried 3 different spells, but none of them worked. "Not to worry, I'm sure I've got just the thing for it. Back in a moment."
"James, how? I mean, why can't she get it off of me?"
"I don't know, but I'm sure as hell going to find out."
Just then, Madame Pomfrey returned, accompanied by their charms professor. After three unsuccessful attempts to remove the jewels, he finally was able to get them off. "Onyx! Very interesting. I should like to take these with me, if I may, Miss Evens," he said. She simply nodded. "It is entirely possible that these might be what caused your episode this morning."
Lily shuddered. She didn't want her nightmares to be referred to as an 'episode.' It seemed so psychotic to her. Judging by the way James looked, he felt the same way.
"Professor Dumbledore would like for you two to go and see him now, if you feel up to it, Miss Evans," Madame Pomfrey told her, "Of course why you should, I don't know, since I'm not finished here. But that is quite alright, as I am never able, it seems, to treat my patients as thoroughly as I would like."
"And on that note." James whispered to Lily as he quickly ushered her out of the hospital wing. This caused her to giggle, which meant both her and James smiled for the first time since the day before.
Together they made their way up to Dumbledore's office. When they got to the entrance, James said "Cookie Dough" and it opened. They walked up the stairs and waited to be called in.
"Well, well, come in, come in," Dumbledore said to them, showing them into 2 chairs in front of his desk, before sitting himself down. "How are you feeling, Lily?"
Lily was surprised because until now, he had always called her 'Miss Evans.' "Fine, thank you, Professor. Very anxious about graduation, actually."
"Naturally. You are speaking. Provided you feel up to it, of course."
Now it was James's turn to be surprised again. He didn't know Lily was giving a speech.
"Oh yes, James. Our Lily here is class valedictorian. She will be giving what I expect to be a wonderful speech." Lily blushed slightly. "But, before we go any further into today's activities, I must request that you recount for me the events that unfolded last night. This will not be easy, but it must be done. The sooner, the better."
Heaving a great sigh, and prepared to go into details that even James had not heard yet, Lily began telling the tale of the night before. She told them how she had thought she was meeting James, and about the picnic. About the first kiss, and how she had felt uncomfortable. Tears filled her eyes as she explained how she couldn't stop him from kissing her or his hands from roaming over her body. As she continued, James looked ready to kill. Dumbledore however remained calm and focused on Lily. She then said how she was screaming for help when James's body began to change.
"And that is when you appeared with Mr. Black, correct?" Dumbledore asked, looking at James.
"Yes," he replied, angrily.
"Now, now. We still don't know for certain exactly how things unfolded."
"What?!" James cried. "I'm sorry, Professor, but isn't it obvious?! Snape has been interested in Lily for YEARS and would obviously do anything, and DID do anything he could to have her! He tried to take advantage of her by pretending to be me! And I don't think he was alone either! When I tried to find her, someone cursed me so I could hardly even move to get anywhere near her!"
"James, please, calm down. You may rest assured that there are many of us investigating what happened last night. I will not lie to you and say we are not taking it seriously. Quite the opposite in fact. We believe that there was some dark magic at hand, and the mark that Madame Pomfrey found upon Lily supports that theory very strongly."
"Dark magic?" Lily piped in.
"Yes. The skull mark that you woke up with is the sign of the evil wizard, Voldemort. We have reason to believe that Severus was not acting of his own accord. Now, that is all that I can tell you at this time. Please, do be patient, and I promise that I will notify you of anything as soon as I find out. You have my word on it."
"Lily, I suggest that you and James return to your dormitories and get ready for graduation."
"Come on, hun," James said.
Lily got up to leave, and then turned to face Dumbledore, "Thank you, Professor."
The two of them hurried back to Gryffindor Tower. "We don't have to tell anyone about this if you don't want to," James told her.
"Yeah, I don't think that would be a good idea, especially not today." Then, without thinking, she added "I wonder how Severus is doing?"
"How can you even ask that?! I mean, after all that he did to you!" They arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Graduation Celebration." The portrait swung open.
"You heard Dumbledore, James. It wasn't his fault."
"Lily, I swear, you forgive far too easily." James still had that murderous look in his eyes when they entered the common room.
"Lily!" shouted Jem.
"It's about bloody time!" yelled Remus. "How are you guys?" he added.
"We're fine, everything is fun," Lily assured everyone. She turned to the girls. "Shall we go upstairs and get ready?" She forced a smile.
"Thought you'd never ask!" squealed April. She grabbed Lily's hand and the four girls made their way up the stairs.
"I love you James! Back down in a bit!" Lily yelled over her shoulder.
"Love you too!"
Once Lily was safely upstairs, and out of earshot, James gestured for Sirius, Remus and Peter to follow him.
"Are you gonna fill us in now?" said Sirius.
"Lily didn't want to talk about it, but after everything you guys saw last night I think you deserve to know what little information I have."
"Why did Dumbledore want to see you?" Peter asked quietly.
James gave him a strange look, but quickly dismissed it. Peter was a strange and nervous boy, but they all trusted him. Why wouldn't they? They had all been friends for as long as any of them could remember.
"He wanted to tell me and Lily who he thinks is behind all of this-"
"Well, duh! We all saw Snape... in fact, we almost killed him," Remus stated.
"Should have finished the job, if you ask me," Sirius piped in.
"I totally agree with you guys, but for some reason, Dumbledore doesn't."
"What are you talking about?" asked Sirius.
"Dumbledore thinks that Snape wasn't acting of his own free will... that someone was controlling him-"
"But that would mean using the Imperious Curse! It's forbidden! One of the Unforgivable Curses!" insisted Remus. "Who would do that?"
"They think it was Voldemort."
Sirius and Remus stared at James. Peter flinched nervously, but the others failed to notice.
"Are- Is- Is he sure?" Peter stammered.
"He has no reason to lie, Peter."
"Right, right."
"Anyway, that's it... Dumbledore said he would keep me and Lily posted... let us know if/when they find anything else out. But you know what? Just before we came in here, Lily was acting all worried about Snape! Can you guys believe that?"
"James, it's Lily... she's like that," said Remus. "I mean, look at me... most people would have turned me away, or worse still, turned me in. But not Lily."
"She's too compassionate for her own good sometimes," Sirius said, with a grin.
"Oh, shut up," said Remus, chucking a cushion at him.
"Guys, this is serious."
"Right, sorry."
"Come on James," Remus said, "Let's go get ready."
And with that, the boys headed upstairs to change into their Hogwarts robes for the last time.
It was just about 3pm when Lily and James (and the others) met in the common room to head out to the graduation ceremony.
"Can you believe it?" April sighed.
"We actually made it!" Sirius said. "And without losing any points for Gryffindor for the last 2 months!"
"That must have been hard for you guys," said Jem.
The boys all had a real affinity for pranks, and had somehow managed to stay out of trouble recently. Something told Lily that this wouldn't last though.
"Let's go downstairs and get seated. This is going to be an interesting afternoon," James suggested.
"I really hope that I don't forget my speech..." Lily added nervously.
"You'll do fine, Lily. You always do," Jem reassured her.
"Thanks," she replied.
The eight of them took a final look around the common room and then headed out of the portrait hole.
"I can't believe it... the next time we come in here we won't be students any more... we'll be official witches and wizards..." Remus said, beaming.
Stay tune for the next chapter!!
PLEASE! I beg you! REVIEW, or else, I might stop writing it! Hannah