Disclaimer: Alrighty then! I would like to say that book 6 will be coming
out soon and I can say that because I AM JK Rowling and I'm one of the
richest women in all of England! ::gets hit in the head by a random flying
sock:: lol yep you guessed it that's all a lie which is why this is here to
say that anything mentioned in one of the HP books or copywrited by Warner
Bros. or Scholastic etc etc is in fact copywrited and not mine....there I did
it...happy?? Lol
Chapter 7- The Smoking Village
Lily stood standing next to Leida excitedly waiting for flight. When she looked over at her best friend to tell her about the prank that Black and Potter had pulled on her, she noticed Leida didn't look as ready and willing to fly.
"Hey, Leida. What's going on? I mean, you seem nervous." Leida looked at Lily and smiled weakly.
"Well it's just, I'm not too sure about flying in front of everybody. I mean, I've flown before, but that was in my backyard with my parents keeping careful watch. Here, who knows what could happen?!" she stopped to take a breath. "Plus, if we end up making fools of ourselves everybody will be talking about it and then we'll never hear the end of it."
Lily looked at her friend in disbelief. There was Leida, all worried and bent out of shape over her first time flying in front of everybody, when she was usually this hyper, 'I don't' care what anyone thinks' type of girl.
She thought about what Leida had said, and she was right. It was bad enough that everyone would be talking if they messed up, but with Potter and his gang around, the whole school would know if you fell on your face. Lily was suddenly a little jittery herself when, a younger lady with short, choppy, silver hair, and cat-like, yellow eyes approached the shaky first years.
"Good morning class, I am Madame Hooch, your flying instructor. Now first," she paused and stopped to look at Potter and Snape who one at a time seemed to be giving each other death glares along with mouthing words that some may have called obscene. She started again, "First I would like for Mr. Potter and Mr. Snape to please discontinue their distractions!" Both of the boys' heads turned to face her. Potter seemed to hang his head a bit, as if he was actually disappointed with himself, while Snape just rolled his eyes and looked away.
Lily was wondering what had happened between those two the other night to make them hate each other so when she heard Madame Hooch giving instruction. "Now I want all of you to place your hands over the broom, like so, and say up!" the broom flew into her grasp as several students gasped.
"Up, up, up!" Leida shouted at her broom but it didn't even move. "Damn it I said UP!" and with that her broom flew up into the air and came crashing down on her head. Lily tried not to giggle at her friend. She noticed that Potter and Black, as well as one or two other people already had their brooms.
"Up!" Lily said. Her broom floated for a second and then plopped back down, "UP!" she yelled and her broom flew into her hand with force enough to have knocked her over, but she held her ground.
"Alright, alright that's enough!" Madame Hooch said to the students still struggling. "Now then, at the count of three when I blow this whistle, I want you all to mount your brooms, kick hard off of the ground, fly for a bit, and then touch back down by leaning forward gently. Alright ready then?" Several students looked as though they most certainly were not ready, and would be damned if you'd see them flying around on some piece of wood, but Hooch started the count off anyway.
"One," Lily looked over at Leida, she was shaking. "Two," Lily gripped her broom tighter has she felt her hands starting to sweat with nerves. "Three!" and with that she blew the whistle and they were off. To Lily's surprise it was really quite easy, even Leida who had been so nervous before, was already zooming around with a smile. There were others, however, whom looked as though they found this all quite difficult indeed.
Of course Potter and Black were zooming around all over the place, totally and completely out of control, and Remus had managed to fly himself high enough to be away from their commotion, but there were some still very close to the ground. Lily looked to see that there were a few people who hadn't mounted yet, and Snape was one of them.
That girl, that April Mills girl, she was talking to him as if she knew him. It looked like she was trying to convince him to get into the air, but he wouldn't budge. That's when Lily saw the upcoming trouble start to brew. Apparently Potter had also noticed Snape's inactivity in flying. He motioned for Sirius to come near him as he pointed at the situation.
He started whispering things to Black, and while Lily couldn't hear them, they must have been mischievous because it was certainly bringing a smile to Sirius' face. The two nodded at each other and flew over to where Snape was still firmly planted on the ground. It looked to Lily like they were just talking to him so she didn't really pay mind, after all, why waste the day.
It was nice outside. It was still warm from summer and there was a light, but still very present, breeze in the air. Lily could feel her black uniform heating up from the sun's focus. Everything was still in its prime of growth, except for the beauty sprouting from the color of the trees. There were orange and yellow hues, some of the trees were mixed with dabbles of red. They seemed a glow, or on fire even.
Lily's head jerked away from the view when she heard laughing. Apparently Sirius and James had convinced Snape to get on his broom and they'd jinxed it. It was bucking everywhere and people were laughing. April Mills even chuckled a little at him, when it was she who'd been so nice to him earlier.
Lily flew slowly towards the ground and, other than the fact that she did stub her toe getting off of her broom, she actually touched down rather nicely. Sure enough there was Potter and Black laughing their heads off as well as several others.
Lily decided to take her opportunity. She pulled out her wand and quickly remembered a little spell Anton had taught her. She aimed it carefully at James, and quicker than a cat after a house mouse, he slipped off his broomstick and fell face first into the dirt. Now everyone's attention was turned to him and all of them, including Black, were laughing.
"James, mate, you should have seen yourself!" Sirius said laughing as he helped his friend up. James just bitterly shoved him away and turned his attention towards Snape again.
"It was him I just know it! He had something to do with that! I don't know how, but he did!" James shouted pointing his finger at Severus. Snape looked at him with disgust as he shook his hair into his face.
"I had absolutely nothing to do with it Potter, you're simply a clumsy oaf, and a bigheaded prick, and that broomstick seems to know it," and with that he walked off away from everyone, April Mills following close behind.
Their flying class had surprisingly taken up half their usual schedule and, since there was no sense in them going to the last ten minutes of their next class, they all went into the Great Hall for an early lunch. Lily listened to Leida as they made their way to Gryffindor table.
"And did you see me Lily?! Boy was I ever flying today! That was loads of fun! But, how'd you think of it Lils?" Lily just shrugged.
"It was fun I guess." Lily was about to comment more when she saw a familiar face. "Anton!" she rushed over to sit next to him.
"Hey, kiddo! What are you doing in here?" he asked her as he patted her on the head. Lily just smiled as she loaded her plate up with some of her favorite dishes.
"Oh we just got done with our first flying, but what about you?!" she looked at him curiously. She saw he had a book in front of him on the table entitled, "A Pro's guide to Playing Pranks" Lily silently giggled at this, but looked up as he started to speak.
"Ah, who me? I just snuck out early, McGonagall didn't really care. We were just taking a review quiz, and I'd gotten done with that ages ago." He smiled at her and started filling up his own plate with various foods on the table. "So how was your first day flying?" he asked with his mouth half full of a piece of chicken.
Lily laughed a little, "Good I guess, except for Potter playing his stupid pranks and all. I dunno what's gotten into him, I mean he used to be so nice now it's like he's pulling a prank on everyone and their dog!" Anton nodded knowingly.
"Probably the fact of popularity getting to his head. Either that or he thinks he needs to prove something. Ah, who knows?" Lily nodded as Anton went back to reading his book and eating his lunch. Students started filling the Great Hall looking more than ready for a bite to eat.
"Darren, mate! Where've ya been?" Anton's attention was now turned to his best friend, who had just entered the hall and sat down on his other side. Darren heaved a sigh and started filling up his plate with massive amounts of food. "Ah, McGonagall didn't want me leaving after you," he chuckled a bit, "She figured we'd be causing trouble of some kind," he smiled at his friend knowingly.
Anton laughed, "Well now, why would she think we'd go off and do a thing like that?" he'd said that implying the up most sarcasm. "And good lord man! You got a horse to feed in that gullet of yours?" Anton was referring to the amount of food on his friend's plate, whom just shrugged in return, and began eating.
Lily looked around to see if she could find Leida and when she did she giggled a bit. She was talking to Remus again and it looked as though he was helping her with a subject, one of which Lily knew Leida in fact, didn't need help on. Lily looked to the clock and saw that she only had a few more minutes to finish her lunch before class and began devouring her plate.
Lily was making her way to her next class, which was Double Potions. Lily rolled her eyes a bit. This meant another class with Snape. She didn't think he was really all that bad, but he did try her patience. She took her, now assigned, seat next to him and he was once again engrossed in a book. Lily tried to lean over to see what the title was, but he seemed convinced that her attempts to try and find out would fail.
"Good afternoon," he said curtly. Lily was a bit taken aback by his sudden greeting. Usually she had to pry a hello out of him, but she couldn't say that she wasn't pleased.
"Hi," she replied to him as she started getting her books and things out of her bag. "Listen, I'm sorry about Potter and them being jerks earlier, I mean they're stupid ya know?" he just rolled his eyes and nodded, which was the basic response she'd expected, but to her surprise he spoke.
"You didn't have to do that you know? I mean hit Potter with that spell." Lily was a bit shocked. She felt a little guilty now because since James thought Snape had done it; it seemed to him reason enough to get Severus back.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I mean I should have spoken up or something. I was getting him back for something he did to me earlier." Snape turned and looked at her.
"He messes with you?" he looked at Lily questionably as if he was shocked that Potter actually gave up some pranks to people other than himself.
"Well he's never really pulled pranks before but he did earlier today, and well I didn't like it all that much," she said in a bit of a huff. He nodded and went back to his book. Lily finished organizing her things on her desk so that everything was there and accessible, but in a way so that she had plenty of room to take notes.
Severus looked over at what she was doing and cocked an eyebrow. "Why do you always do that?" he asked referring to her organization preferences. Lily sighed a bit. Why did he always have to question everything?
"Because I like things to be this way, so that I have everything on here that I need, and I can still write," he shook his head and laughed at her slightly. "What?!" she questioned. Why was he laughing at her? She didn't really find anything funny.
"Nothing it's just, well...we're doing the actual potion today, meaning you should set up your cauldron and things," he smiled as her cheeks slightly changed to a soft pink hue. She gave a small chuckle back as though to try and play off her mistake, but her action to distinctly avoid eye contact with him gave her away.
Lily started setting up her cauldron and things and in no more than two minutes time their professor walked into the room. "Right then, now today class we'll be doing a simple potion. If all of you would please set up you things we may begin." Their Professor went on to tell them exactly how to make their potion. And then they all started out to try and do their best. Lily was cutting up her herbs the best she could, but was jealous of Severus' perfectly thin slices. She kept looking over at what he was doing as to double check her own actions. For the most part she would have said she was doing well until she looked over at him while she was chopping something.
"Ah!" she yelped as the sharp blade met her finger. Snape looked over to see what she had done, and was surprisingly quick to respond.
"Here," he handed her a ripped, but clean, piece of cloth and slipped it around her finger. He then did a spell of some kind to shrink it so that I fit snuggly. Lily looked at him with a kind smile and wide eyes.
"Thanks," she said a little taken aback. He just nodded.
"Well you are working with ingredients, and you wouldn't want some of them getting into your system...plus, you might get blood in your potion," Lily nodded and continued to work, this time making sure to pay closer attention to what she was doing.
By the time class was over Lily was exhausted. "So how do you think you did on your potion Lil?" Leida questioned as the two girls made their way to dinner.
"Oh I'd say I did alright, I guess, but I probably would have been lost if I wasn't sitting next to Severus." Leida seemed a bit surprised at her for some reason and looked away briefly. "What? Leida, what? Did I say something?"
Leida turned to look at her, "Well, it's just, you called him by his first name."
"Yeah, so....?" Lily was thoroughly confused, why the fuss over something like that?
"Oh, I dunno.....it just seems like you may be getting a little...too acquainted with him?" she gave Lily a look that seemed as if she'd thought Lily'd lost it.
"So? Why's that such a big deal?! He's actually, well, he can be nice... when he wants to be." Leida just shook her head and looked back up at Lily.
"Lily, hun, his family's got a history of dealing with dark magic, and well...you just shouldn't be seen hanging around him. People might start to think that you and he are starting a cult or something." Lily felt her face grow hot as she was now walking a bit more briskly.
Again with all this history and family business, what did that matter? Lily just couldn't understand.
And I wouldn't understand for quite a while longer. No one really wanted to tell me how the wizarding world was just as discriminative as the muggle world. No one wanted to tell me, because those that knew, and were not muggle borns, were practically ashamed.
I've had to learn to ignore these silly unwritten rules about the houses and the different 'types of blood' there are several things I've done now, as I look back, that if I had been a pure blood, I would not have attempted, nor trusted.
Trust, yes, that is an interesting word. You trust your family, but not in the same way that you trust your friends, or those whom you're in love with. And along with trust goes truth. Uncovering the truth to things, ha! I still don't know the truth to everything, and with the turns our world is taking, I fear I may never get the chance to learn it all.
I walk back into the room from which I had woken. He's lying there still, he doesn't look well, never does now a days. I sit back down on the firm mattress which held my frame the night previous. It was comfortable, but that was all in the company it kept.
The posts of it were tall, elaborate, and the wood was, of course, dark. Dark, the very word brought no single memory, but thousands. But why classify anything whether it be man or beast as having dark qualities. One should not classify in my opinion, if something is truly evil, there will be no need to classify it as such. I had difficulties finding someone who understood this in my younger years, and still do.
However, there was one man. One man, who seemed to understand precisely what I was saying, and shared many of my morals as he continues to do so now. I owe that man more than just my schooling thus far. I owe him many truths, my life on, most likely, more than one occasion, and one of my dear friends.
He is certainly credited for his accomplishments and achievements, but what he is seldom credited for is his honor and love for this world. He is a noble and trustworthy man, but he is still human as I have come to realize, that many of us are. Another week or three passes. The air outside is now crisp on this Saturday morning and Lily watches in amazement at how many people have turned out to watch the first Quidditch match of the year, Slytherin vs. Hufflepuff. "Man, I hope Slytherin doesn't pound them too hard," Lily over heard Sirius saying to James. James seemed to make a noise of disgust.
"Filthy, low down disgusting scum, if they'd actually play a straight game without their dirty tricks, Hufflepuff might have actually stood a chance."
"Yeah and Gryffindor would do well to go up against Hufflepuff first rather than those Snakes. Although, you know James, I wouldn't cut the Badgers short this year. You seen the new keeper they got to replace Hetchler?" James nodded.
"He's certainly a beast that one, but have you seen Slytherin's beaters mate? Monsters if I ever saw 'em." The two boys continued on in conversation like this while Lily and Leida searched for a few good seats.
Lily was fairly disappointed when Leida decided to sit next to Remus and talk rather than actually get good seats, but then she spotted Anton and Darren, with some of the best seats in the place! She looked over their way and it was Darren who noticed her and motioned for her to join them.
Lily smiled as she headed over to them, having to say a few, "Excuse me"s and "Sorry"s along the way. "Hey there sport!" he said to her as she finally managed to snug herself between the two of them. "All set for your first big game?!" Lily nodded excessively to show that she couldn't wait for it to start.
"Darren, who the bloody hell are you talking to?!" Anton asked until he turned around. "Lily Billy! When'd you sneak over here?!" he asked reaching to mess up her hair, which she dodged.
Darren chuckled, "She'd make a fair seeker that one" he said nodding at Lily. Anton nodded, and then shook his head.
"Nah! Can't you see it mate, she'd be a keeper she would" he smirked as Darren just rolled his eyes.
"Well as we both know that position is already fill by yours truly." Anton laughed and bent down to Lily's ear.
"That's exactly why we need a new one" he whispered and Lily was sent into a fit of giggles which left Darren asking the both of them, for the next ten minutes, what Anton had said.
The three of them were arguing on whether Lily should play Quidditch or not. The two boys were mostly arguing over what position, it was Lily who wasn't sure about playing. But as soon as someone shouted, "Look it's starting!" the argument was silenced, for now.
The Hufflepuff team zoomed around the field and cheers erupted throughout the stadium from everywhere except Slytherin. Slytherin did their best at cat calls and boos and, surprisingly, they were still heard. When the Slytherin team shot onto the field an opposite reaction occurred.
Everyone in the stadium booed at their arrival, Slytherin of course being the exception to this, cheered for their team, but this time, their calls and cries of support were drowned out.
Lily watched as the two team captains flew out to meet each other and shake hands. Madame Hooch held a fairly large red ball in her hands as the teams gathered to their starting positions.
"That there's the quaffle Lily," Darren said to her pointing at the ball in Madame Hooch's hands. Lily nodded when the announcer came over the speaker with news that the snitch had been released.
Lily looked around and saw something golden zooming around surprisingly close to the teacher's section. "Is that the snitch?" she asked pointing in the direction where she'd seen the flutter. Anton squinted to where she had pointed.
"Is what the snitch?"
"That!" Lily said pointing with more energy this time. Darren laughed at the two of them while trying to find it himself.
"Oh I see it! Yeah that's the snitch alright. Good eye there sport. See Anton, what'd I tell you? She'll be a seeker this one will!" Anton who seemed to still be looking took a while to respond.
"Oh shut up you! The game's started!" Lily and Darren both laughed at his obvious attempt at avoiding Darren's comment as they focused their attention to the entire field. Lily learned a lot about the game just by following what the announcer, Emily Philips, said and matching it with what went on at the field.
"And it's Simpson in possession with the quaffle she's almost there, looks like a goal! And oh! Her shot is blocked by the Slytherin keeper. Quite a shame that was, better luck next time Kate!" One of the Slytherin players had the quaffle now and was headed straight for the Hufflepuff goals.
"And it's Santacks with the quaffle, oh no! Looks like it's gonna be a goal, but I'd watch out for Johns! His percentage rate of goals stopped is at a high of 82! And it's Santacks to Sturgus and back to Santacks and OUCH!" the crowd stopped to clap as well as make noises of pain.
"Wow that looks like it hurt. Nice hit at the bludger by Williams of Hufflepuff to stop the scoring action. Gee, I sure wouldn't want to make you mad while you have that bat Charlie!" the crowd gave a little chuckle. Emily was doing great at commentating and everyone seemed to really enjoy the game.
Twenty minutes later and the score was 80 to 30 in Slytherin's favor. Everyone in Gryffindor's stands was cheering for Hufflepuff to get in there and score, but the Slytherin beaters, as well as their keeper were making things difficult.
"And the score still stands at 80 to 30 Slytherin's game. Hufflepuff really needs to get in some scoring here and HELLO! What's this?!" the crowd gasped at the sight of a player in bright yellow robes diving straight at the ground at what Lily had seen only seconds before hand. "Evly's seen the snitch! Rodger Evly has spotted the snitch! Uh oh! It looks like Kirstine Davies has caught on and is tailing after him. Oh it's gonna be close and wait! Has he? HE HAS! EVLY HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH!!!! GAME OVER! THAT'S IT FOLKS! HUFFLEPUFF WINS!!!!!" the crowd erupted with cheers as the Slytherins threw fits of rage.
Darren and Anton high-fived each other while Lily spun around in the excitement! "Yes! It'll be us verses Hufflepuff first this year, and that'll put us off to a good start!" Anton was pleased with the Victory.
"Yeah! Man am I glad I'll be blocking goals from Hufflepuff's chasers first this year!" Darren said as the three of them made their way into the Gryffindor common room. They entered the common room to see everyone running around like crazy.
"What the bloody hell is going on here?!" Anton shouted as several people ran into their friend's arms. A boy who looked to be about Anton's age ran over to them.
"It's Hogsmead! There was an attack! Deatheaters came into the Three Broomsticks! Half the town's on fire!" Lily was slightly confused at what Hogsmead was, but the fact that there had been an attack on a village was enough for her to gasp.
Darren stepped forward and put his hands on the boy's shoulders. "Rob, you aren't yanking our chains about this are you? I mean, are you serious? An attack in Hogsmead?"
Rob shook his head, "No way! I'm dead serious! Go look out the window if you want, you can see the smoke!" Darren and Anton both rushed over to the windows and stepped back at the sight of a small town in flames.
Anton turned to face Rob. "Is there any particular reason why? I mean has anyone heard why they attacked?"
This time it was Remus who spoke up, "They, they were looking for something. That's what I heard McGonagall saying to Nightwar anyway." Several people gasped at hearing this and Lily couldn't help but wonder what they would be after that was so important that they would attack a town.
Anton slammed his fist against a near by table and Lily approached him cautiously. "Damn it all to hell!! Why the bloody hell do they do this?! This, of course, means they'll ban trips from Hogsmead this year. What the hell are they after?" Lily moved closer to him and turn away from the window. She couldn't bear to stand looking at the, still rising, smoke coming from Hogsmead.
"Whatever they're after it can't be far off," Darren said. "If it was then there's no way they would have attacked Hogsmead. I mean, by doing that they know that the Ministry'll be looking around for them non stop. They wouldn't have given up their location so easily if they weren't sure they were actually going to find it." Anton nodded and turned around to see Lily standing in front of him looking distraught and worried.
Anton sighed and put his arm around her. "Well, as long as we're at Hogwarts we're fine. I just hope that someone finds whatever they're looking for before they do." Darren and Rob nodded before heading upstairs to their dorms.
"Anton, do you think that if they thought what they were looking for was at Hogwarts....do you think they would attack here?" Lily looked up at her oldest friend hoping to get a straight answer, but seeing his frustration she knew that he would've given her one, if only he had one to give.
"I don't know Lily, honestly. I know one thing's for certain though. As long as we're here inside this castle, we're safe. Even if they do try to attack, which if they do think whatever they're looking for is here they may do so, we'll be safe. They won't succeed at getting close enough to anyone to put them in danger." Lily nodded and took a deep breath as she pulled herself into his embrace.
"Now then, I suggest that you head up to bed. Don't worry nothing's going to happen tonight, that's definite, and the entire castle's in lock down I'm sure. There's nothing to worry about, so go on ahead upstairs kay?" Lily nodded and after receiving a pat on the head made her way upstairs.
A/N: well there ya have it! That's chapter 7 complete with a flash to the future an attack and tons of excitement. I hope you guys like it. So....Read and Review you've read so...you know what to do now
Laterz
LEP
Chapter 7- The Smoking Village
Lily stood standing next to Leida excitedly waiting for flight. When she looked over at her best friend to tell her about the prank that Black and Potter had pulled on her, she noticed Leida didn't look as ready and willing to fly.
"Hey, Leida. What's going on? I mean, you seem nervous." Leida looked at Lily and smiled weakly.
"Well it's just, I'm not too sure about flying in front of everybody. I mean, I've flown before, but that was in my backyard with my parents keeping careful watch. Here, who knows what could happen?!" she stopped to take a breath. "Plus, if we end up making fools of ourselves everybody will be talking about it and then we'll never hear the end of it."
Lily looked at her friend in disbelief. There was Leida, all worried and bent out of shape over her first time flying in front of everybody, when she was usually this hyper, 'I don't' care what anyone thinks' type of girl.
She thought about what Leida had said, and she was right. It was bad enough that everyone would be talking if they messed up, but with Potter and his gang around, the whole school would know if you fell on your face. Lily was suddenly a little jittery herself when, a younger lady with short, choppy, silver hair, and cat-like, yellow eyes approached the shaky first years.
"Good morning class, I am Madame Hooch, your flying instructor. Now first," she paused and stopped to look at Potter and Snape who one at a time seemed to be giving each other death glares along with mouthing words that some may have called obscene. She started again, "First I would like for Mr. Potter and Mr. Snape to please discontinue their distractions!" Both of the boys' heads turned to face her. Potter seemed to hang his head a bit, as if he was actually disappointed with himself, while Snape just rolled his eyes and looked away.
Lily was wondering what had happened between those two the other night to make them hate each other so when she heard Madame Hooch giving instruction. "Now I want all of you to place your hands over the broom, like so, and say up!" the broom flew into her grasp as several students gasped.
"Up, up, up!" Leida shouted at her broom but it didn't even move. "Damn it I said UP!" and with that her broom flew up into the air and came crashing down on her head. Lily tried not to giggle at her friend. She noticed that Potter and Black, as well as one or two other people already had their brooms.
"Up!" Lily said. Her broom floated for a second and then plopped back down, "UP!" she yelled and her broom flew into her hand with force enough to have knocked her over, but she held her ground.
"Alright, alright that's enough!" Madame Hooch said to the students still struggling. "Now then, at the count of three when I blow this whistle, I want you all to mount your brooms, kick hard off of the ground, fly for a bit, and then touch back down by leaning forward gently. Alright ready then?" Several students looked as though they most certainly were not ready, and would be damned if you'd see them flying around on some piece of wood, but Hooch started the count off anyway.
"One," Lily looked over at Leida, she was shaking. "Two," Lily gripped her broom tighter has she felt her hands starting to sweat with nerves. "Three!" and with that she blew the whistle and they were off. To Lily's surprise it was really quite easy, even Leida who had been so nervous before, was already zooming around with a smile. There were others, however, whom looked as though they found this all quite difficult indeed.
Of course Potter and Black were zooming around all over the place, totally and completely out of control, and Remus had managed to fly himself high enough to be away from their commotion, but there were some still very close to the ground. Lily looked to see that there were a few people who hadn't mounted yet, and Snape was one of them.
That girl, that April Mills girl, she was talking to him as if she knew him. It looked like she was trying to convince him to get into the air, but he wouldn't budge. That's when Lily saw the upcoming trouble start to brew. Apparently Potter had also noticed Snape's inactivity in flying. He motioned for Sirius to come near him as he pointed at the situation.
He started whispering things to Black, and while Lily couldn't hear them, they must have been mischievous because it was certainly bringing a smile to Sirius' face. The two nodded at each other and flew over to where Snape was still firmly planted on the ground. It looked to Lily like they were just talking to him so she didn't really pay mind, after all, why waste the day.
It was nice outside. It was still warm from summer and there was a light, but still very present, breeze in the air. Lily could feel her black uniform heating up from the sun's focus. Everything was still in its prime of growth, except for the beauty sprouting from the color of the trees. There were orange and yellow hues, some of the trees were mixed with dabbles of red. They seemed a glow, or on fire even.
Lily's head jerked away from the view when she heard laughing. Apparently Sirius and James had convinced Snape to get on his broom and they'd jinxed it. It was bucking everywhere and people were laughing. April Mills even chuckled a little at him, when it was she who'd been so nice to him earlier.
Lily flew slowly towards the ground and, other than the fact that she did stub her toe getting off of her broom, she actually touched down rather nicely. Sure enough there was Potter and Black laughing their heads off as well as several others.
Lily decided to take her opportunity. She pulled out her wand and quickly remembered a little spell Anton had taught her. She aimed it carefully at James, and quicker than a cat after a house mouse, he slipped off his broomstick and fell face first into the dirt. Now everyone's attention was turned to him and all of them, including Black, were laughing.
"James, mate, you should have seen yourself!" Sirius said laughing as he helped his friend up. James just bitterly shoved him away and turned his attention towards Snape again.
"It was him I just know it! He had something to do with that! I don't know how, but he did!" James shouted pointing his finger at Severus. Snape looked at him with disgust as he shook his hair into his face.
"I had absolutely nothing to do with it Potter, you're simply a clumsy oaf, and a bigheaded prick, and that broomstick seems to know it," and with that he walked off away from everyone, April Mills following close behind.
Their flying class had surprisingly taken up half their usual schedule and, since there was no sense in them going to the last ten minutes of their next class, they all went into the Great Hall for an early lunch. Lily listened to Leida as they made their way to Gryffindor table.
"And did you see me Lily?! Boy was I ever flying today! That was loads of fun! But, how'd you think of it Lils?" Lily just shrugged.
"It was fun I guess." Lily was about to comment more when she saw a familiar face. "Anton!" she rushed over to sit next to him.
"Hey, kiddo! What are you doing in here?" he asked her as he patted her on the head. Lily just smiled as she loaded her plate up with some of her favorite dishes.
"Oh we just got done with our first flying, but what about you?!" she looked at him curiously. She saw he had a book in front of him on the table entitled, "A Pro's guide to Playing Pranks" Lily silently giggled at this, but looked up as he started to speak.
"Ah, who me? I just snuck out early, McGonagall didn't really care. We were just taking a review quiz, and I'd gotten done with that ages ago." He smiled at her and started filling up his own plate with various foods on the table. "So how was your first day flying?" he asked with his mouth half full of a piece of chicken.
Lily laughed a little, "Good I guess, except for Potter playing his stupid pranks and all. I dunno what's gotten into him, I mean he used to be so nice now it's like he's pulling a prank on everyone and their dog!" Anton nodded knowingly.
"Probably the fact of popularity getting to his head. Either that or he thinks he needs to prove something. Ah, who knows?" Lily nodded as Anton went back to reading his book and eating his lunch. Students started filling the Great Hall looking more than ready for a bite to eat.
"Darren, mate! Where've ya been?" Anton's attention was now turned to his best friend, who had just entered the hall and sat down on his other side. Darren heaved a sigh and started filling up his plate with massive amounts of food. "Ah, McGonagall didn't want me leaving after you," he chuckled a bit, "She figured we'd be causing trouble of some kind," he smiled at his friend knowingly.
Anton laughed, "Well now, why would she think we'd go off and do a thing like that?" he'd said that implying the up most sarcasm. "And good lord man! You got a horse to feed in that gullet of yours?" Anton was referring to the amount of food on his friend's plate, whom just shrugged in return, and began eating.
Lily looked around to see if she could find Leida and when she did she giggled a bit. She was talking to Remus again and it looked as though he was helping her with a subject, one of which Lily knew Leida in fact, didn't need help on. Lily looked to the clock and saw that she only had a few more minutes to finish her lunch before class and began devouring her plate.
Lily was making her way to her next class, which was Double Potions. Lily rolled her eyes a bit. This meant another class with Snape. She didn't think he was really all that bad, but he did try her patience. She took her, now assigned, seat next to him and he was once again engrossed in a book. Lily tried to lean over to see what the title was, but he seemed convinced that her attempts to try and find out would fail.
"Good afternoon," he said curtly. Lily was a bit taken aback by his sudden greeting. Usually she had to pry a hello out of him, but she couldn't say that she wasn't pleased.
"Hi," she replied to him as she started getting her books and things out of her bag. "Listen, I'm sorry about Potter and them being jerks earlier, I mean they're stupid ya know?" he just rolled his eyes and nodded, which was the basic response she'd expected, but to her surprise he spoke.
"You didn't have to do that you know? I mean hit Potter with that spell." Lily was a bit shocked. She felt a little guilty now because since James thought Snape had done it; it seemed to him reason enough to get Severus back.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I mean I should have spoken up or something. I was getting him back for something he did to me earlier." Snape turned and looked at her.
"He messes with you?" he looked at Lily questionably as if he was shocked that Potter actually gave up some pranks to people other than himself.
"Well he's never really pulled pranks before but he did earlier today, and well I didn't like it all that much," she said in a bit of a huff. He nodded and went back to his book. Lily finished organizing her things on her desk so that everything was there and accessible, but in a way so that she had plenty of room to take notes.
Severus looked over at what she was doing and cocked an eyebrow. "Why do you always do that?" he asked referring to her organization preferences. Lily sighed a bit. Why did he always have to question everything?
"Because I like things to be this way, so that I have everything on here that I need, and I can still write," he shook his head and laughed at her slightly. "What?!" she questioned. Why was he laughing at her? She didn't really find anything funny.
"Nothing it's just, well...we're doing the actual potion today, meaning you should set up your cauldron and things," he smiled as her cheeks slightly changed to a soft pink hue. She gave a small chuckle back as though to try and play off her mistake, but her action to distinctly avoid eye contact with him gave her away.
Lily started setting up her cauldron and things and in no more than two minutes time their professor walked into the room. "Right then, now today class we'll be doing a simple potion. If all of you would please set up you things we may begin." Their Professor went on to tell them exactly how to make their potion. And then they all started out to try and do their best. Lily was cutting up her herbs the best she could, but was jealous of Severus' perfectly thin slices. She kept looking over at what he was doing as to double check her own actions. For the most part she would have said she was doing well until she looked over at him while she was chopping something.
"Ah!" she yelped as the sharp blade met her finger. Snape looked over to see what she had done, and was surprisingly quick to respond.
"Here," he handed her a ripped, but clean, piece of cloth and slipped it around her finger. He then did a spell of some kind to shrink it so that I fit snuggly. Lily looked at him with a kind smile and wide eyes.
"Thanks," she said a little taken aback. He just nodded.
"Well you are working with ingredients, and you wouldn't want some of them getting into your system...plus, you might get blood in your potion," Lily nodded and continued to work, this time making sure to pay closer attention to what she was doing.
By the time class was over Lily was exhausted. "So how do you think you did on your potion Lil?" Leida questioned as the two girls made their way to dinner.
"Oh I'd say I did alright, I guess, but I probably would have been lost if I wasn't sitting next to Severus." Leida seemed a bit surprised at her for some reason and looked away briefly. "What? Leida, what? Did I say something?"
Leida turned to look at her, "Well, it's just, you called him by his first name."
"Yeah, so....?" Lily was thoroughly confused, why the fuss over something like that?
"Oh, I dunno.....it just seems like you may be getting a little...too acquainted with him?" she gave Lily a look that seemed as if she'd thought Lily'd lost it.
"So? Why's that such a big deal?! He's actually, well, he can be nice... when he wants to be." Leida just shook her head and looked back up at Lily.
"Lily, hun, his family's got a history of dealing with dark magic, and well...you just shouldn't be seen hanging around him. People might start to think that you and he are starting a cult or something." Lily felt her face grow hot as she was now walking a bit more briskly.
Again with all this history and family business, what did that matter? Lily just couldn't understand.
And I wouldn't understand for quite a while longer. No one really wanted to tell me how the wizarding world was just as discriminative as the muggle world. No one wanted to tell me, because those that knew, and were not muggle borns, were practically ashamed.
I've had to learn to ignore these silly unwritten rules about the houses and the different 'types of blood' there are several things I've done now, as I look back, that if I had been a pure blood, I would not have attempted, nor trusted.
Trust, yes, that is an interesting word. You trust your family, but not in the same way that you trust your friends, or those whom you're in love with. And along with trust goes truth. Uncovering the truth to things, ha! I still don't know the truth to everything, and with the turns our world is taking, I fear I may never get the chance to learn it all.
I walk back into the room from which I had woken. He's lying there still, he doesn't look well, never does now a days. I sit back down on the firm mattress which held my frame the night previous. It was comfortable, but that was all in the company it kept.
The posts of it were tall, elaborate, and the wood was, of course, dark. Dark, the very word brought no single memory, but thousands. But why classify anything whether it be man or beast as having dark qualities. One should not classify in my opinion, if something is truly evil, there will be no need to classify it as such. I had difficulties finding someone who understood this in my younger years, and still do.
However, there was one man. One man, who seemed to understand precisely what I was saying, and shared many of my morals as he continues to do so now. I owe that man more than just my schooling thus far. I owe him many truths, my life on, most likely, more than one occasion, and one of my dear friends.
He is certainly credited for his accomplishments and achievements, but what he is seldom credited for is his honor and love for this world. He is a noble and trustworthy man, but he is still human as I have come to realize, that many of us are. Another week or three passes. The air outside is now crisp on this Saturday morning and Lily watches in amazement at how many people have turned out to watch the first Quidditch match of the year, Slytherin vs. Hufflepuff. "Man, I hope Slytherin doesn't pound them too hard," Lily over heard Sirius saying to James. James seemed to make a noise of disgust.
"Filthy, low down disgusting scum, if they'd actually play a straight game without their dirty tricks, Hufflepuff might have actually stood a chance."
"Yeah and Gryffindor would do well to go up against Hufflepuff first rather than those Snakes. Although, you know James, I wouldn't cut the Badgers short this year. You seen the new keeper they got to replace Hetchler?" James nodded.
"He's certainly a beast that one, but have you seen Slytherin's beaters mate? Monsters if I ever saw 'em." The two boys continued on in conversation like this while Lily and Leida searched for a few good seats.
Lily was fairly disappointed when Leida decided to sit next to Remus and talk rather than actually get good seats, but then she spotted Anton and Darren, with some of the best seats in the place! She looked over their way and it was Darren who noticed her and motioned for her to join them.
Lily smiled as she headed over to them, having to say a few, "Excuse me"s and "Sorry"s along the way. "Hey there sport!" he said to her as she finally managed to snug herself between the two of them. "All set for your first big game?!" Lily nodded excessively to show that she couldn't wait for it to start.
"Darren, who the bloody hell are you talking to?!" Anton asked until he turned around. "Lily Billy! When'd you sneak over here?!" he asked reaching to mess up her hair, which she dodged.
Darren chuckled, "She'd make a fair seeker that one" he said nodding at Lily. Anton nodded, and then shook his head.
"Nah! Can't you see it mate, she'd be a keeper she would" he smirked as Darren just rolled his eyes.
"Well as we both know that position is already fill by yours truly." Anton laughed and bent down to Lily's ear.
"That's exactly why we need a new one" he whispered and Lily was sent into a fit of giggles which left Darren asking the both of them, for the next ten minutes, what Anton had said.
The three of them were arguing on whether Lily should play Quidditch or not. The two boys were mostly arguing over what position, it was Lily who wasn't sure about playing. But as soon as someone shouted, "Look it's starting!" the argument was silenced, for now.
The Hufflepuff team zoomed around the field and cheers erupted throughout the stadium from everywhere except Slytherin. Slytherin did their best at cat calls and boos and, surprisingly, they were still heard. When the Slytherin team shot onto the field an opposite reaction occurred.
Everyone in the stadium booed at their arrival, Slytherin of course being the exception to this, cheered for their team, but this time, their calls and cries of support were drowned out.
Lily watched as the two team captains flew out to meet each other and shake hands. Madame Hooch held a fairly large red ball in her hands as the teams gathered to their starting positions.
"That there's the quaffle Lily," Darren said to her pointing at the ball in Madame Hooch's hands. Lily nodded when the announcer came over the speaker with news that the snitch had been released.
Lily looked around and saw something golden zooming around surprisingly close to the teacher's section. "Is that the snitch?" she asked pointing in the direction where she'd seen the flutter. Anton squinted to where she had pointed.
"Is what the snitch?"
"That!" Lily said pointing with more energy this time. Darren laughed at the two of them while trying to find it himself.
"Oh I see it! Yeah that's the snitch alright. Good eye there sport. See Anton, what'd I tell you? She'll be a seeker this one will!" Anton who seemed to still be looking took a while to respond.
"Oh shut up you! The game's started!" Lily and Darren both laughed at his obvious attempt at avoiding Darren's comment as they focused their attention to the entire field. Lily learned a lot about the game just by following what the announcer, Emily Philips, said and matching it with what went on at the field.
"And it's Simpson in possession with the quaffle she's almost there, looks like a goal! And oh! Her shot is blocked by the Slytherin keeper. Quite a shame that was, better luck next time Kate!" One of the Slytherin players had the quaffle now and was headed straight for the Hufflepuff goals.
"And it's Santacks with the quaffle, oh no! Looks like it's gonna be a goal, but I'd watch out for Johns! His percentage rate of goals stopped is at a high of 82! And it's Santacks to Sturgus and back to Santacks and OUCH!" the crowd stopped to clap as well as make noises of pain.
"Wow that looks like it hurt. Nice hit at the bludger by Williams of Hufflepuff to stop the scoring action. Gee, I sure wouldn't want to make you mad while you have that bat Charlie!" the crowd gave a little chuckle. Emily was doing great at commentating and everyone seemed to really enjoy the game.
Twenty minutes later and the score was 80 to 30 in Slytherin's favor. Everyone in Gryffindor's stands was cheering for Hufflepuff to get in there and score, but the Slytherin beaters, as well as their keeper were making things difficult.
"And the score still stands at 80 to 30 Slytherin's game. Hufflepuff really needs to get in some scoring here and HELLO! What's this?!" the crowd gasped at the sight of a player in bright yellow robes diving straight at the ground at what Lily had seen only seconds before hand. "Evly's seen the snitch! Rodger Evly has spotted the snitch! Uh oh! It looks like Kirstine Davies has caught on and is tailing after him. Oh it's gonna be close and wait! Has he? HE HAS! EVLY HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH!!!! GAME OVER! THAT'S IT FOLKS! HUFFLEPUFF WINS!!!!!" the crowd erupted with cheers as the Slytherins threw fits of rage.
Darren and Anton high-fived each other while Lily spun around in the excitement! "Yes! It'll be us verses Hufflepuff first this year, and that'll put us off to a good start!" Anton was pleased with the Victory.
"Yeah! Man am I glad I'll be blocking goals from Hufflepuff's chasers first this year!" Darren said as the three of them made their way into the Gryffindor common room. They entered the common room to see everyone running around like crazy.
"What the bloody hell is going on here?!" Anton shouted as several people ran into their friend's arms. A boy who looked to be about Anton's age ran over to them.
"It's Hogsmead! There was an attack! Deatheaters came into the Three Broomsticks! Half the town's on fire!" Lily was slightly confused at what Hogsmead was, but the fact that there had been an attack on a village was enough for her to gasp.
Darren stepped forward and put his hands on the boy's shoulders. "Rob, you aren't yanking our chains about this are you? I mean, are you serious? An attack in Hogsmead?"
Rob shook his head, "No way! I'm dead serious! Go look out the window if you want, you can see the smoke!" Darren and Anton both rushed over to the windows and stepped back at the sight of a small town in flames.
Anton turned to face Rob. "Is there any particular reason why? I mean has anyone heard why they attacked?"
This time it was Remus who spoke up, "They, they were looking for something. That's what I heard McGonagall saying to Nightwar anyway." Several people gasped at hearing this and Lily couldn't help but wonder what they would be after that was so important that they would attack a town.
Anton slammed his fist against a near by table and Lily approached him cautiously. "Damn it all to hell!! Why the bloody hell do they do this?! This, of course, means they'll ban trips from Hogsmead this year. What the hell are they after?" Lily moved closer to him and turn away from the window. She couldn't bear to stand looking at the, still rising, smoke coming from Hogsmead.
"Whatever they're after it can't be far off," Darren said. "If it was then there's no way they would have attacked Hogsmead. I mean, by doing that they know that the Ministry'll be looking around for them non stop. They wouldn't have given up their location so easily if they weren't sure they were actually going to find it." Anton nodded and turned around to see Lily standing in front of him looking distraught and worried.
Anton sighed and put his arm around her. "Well, as long as we're at Hogwarts we're fine. I just hope that someone finds whatever they're looking for before they do." Darren and Rob nodded before heading upstairs to their dorms.
"Anton, do you think that if they thought what they were looking for was at Hogwarts....do you think they would attack here?" Lily looked up at her oldest friend hoping to get a straight answer, but seeing his frustration she knew that he would've given her one, if only he had one to give.
"I don't know Lily, honestly. I know one thing's for certain though. As long as we're here inside this castle, we're safe. Even if they do try to attack, which if they do think whatever they're looking for is here they may do so, we'll be safe. They won't succeed at getting close enough to anyone to put them in danger." Lily nodded and took a deep breath as she pulled herself into his embrace.
"Now then, I suggest that you head up to bed. Don't worry nothing's going to happen tonight, that's definite, and the entire castle's in lock down I'm sure. There's nothing to worry about, so go on ahead upstairs kay?" Lily nodded and after receiving a pat on the head made her way upstairs.
A/N: well there ya have it! That's chapter 7 complete with a flash to the future an attack and tons of excitement. I hope you guys like it. So....Read and Review you've read so...you know what to do now
Laterz
LEP