GNA: Wow . . . the reviews . . . you feeling the pressure GNL?

GNL: Heck. Yeah.

GNA: The phrases that got me most were "Wow. This is an absolutely stunning story," and "Dude you rok!"

GNL: I personally find the name bob-the-bear hilarious.

GNA: Very true! But this is stuff for reviewer thank you's, not an authoresses note. Well . . . there's not much to say, besides I really, really hope this lives up to expectations, seeing as it is a very . . . revealing chapter, to the plot.

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CHAPTER NINE: LOTT HISTORY

"Lily Evans, come with me this instant!" said Lott sharply, and Lily stood up. Bellatrix smirked, which looked more like a grimace considering the condition of her eye.

"May I go to Madame Pomfrey now?" she asked, and Lott nodded.

"Of course."

Lott stalked off, and Lily slowly followed her. The class watched her walk out. James was grinning like mad, shaking his head.

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In Lott's office, everything was meticulously clean, as it had been only a few minutes before, minus the many students crowded in. Her desk held an expensive looking quill that emitted a faint glow. A candelabrum dangled over their heads, the light barely visible in the bright fall sunlight. Her worn desk sat on a perfectly clean, smooth stone floor, and the walls were decorated with pictures of severe-looking family members, and one ancient black and white photo of a group of friends.

Lott sad down in her ladder-back chair, picked up the quill and wincing for some reason, started writing on a thick piece of parchment. Strangely, there was no ink on the quill. Lily stood fidgeting, her heart still racing after the confrontation. Lott finished whatever she was doing and stood up, placing her fingers neatly on the desk surface.

"I cannot believe that you, Lily Evans, would hit another student. Well, besides James Potter."

"But professor-"

"Lily, I do not want to hear any excuses. You are a disappointment as a prefect for your school, and a disappointment as a person. I cannot understand WHY, why you would-"

"Well, Professor Lott-"

"-Ever physically harm another student. There is only one thing for me to do-"

"But Lott I was-"

"-Detention for a week-"

"Will you just listen-"

"-Cleaning the castle, under direction of Filch-"

"Lott!"

"-The muggle way. I hope that this will . . . clean up your act."

"I was provoked, professor!"

Lott stepped around her desk, her eyes flashing.

"I do not CARE, Evans! You made a mistake and you will pay! I am sick of students not taking responsibility! I am tired of hearing them complain over nothing! You should be thankful that detention was ALL I gave you!

Lily squinted her eyes.

"Are you threatening me, Lott!"

"No. I am simply explaining something to you that I am tired. A student who is, supposedly, as responsible as you, should know these things. . . I was wrong."

"Professor, I am not a child!" exclaimed Lily. She was starting to feel exhausted, but angry and awake all the same.

"No. You are a-"

She seemed to restrain herself from something, and Lily looked at her suspiciously, her anger ebbing slightly as the Professor acted more and more strangely.

"You know nothing about what is going on." Finished Lott simply, before sitting down and picking up the quill again. It seemed to glow more brightly as she touched it, and Laura gasped and dropped it.

"What is it, Professor?" asked Lily worriedly, any lingering fury dissipated. She walked silently up to her desk, where Lott was clutching her hand as if she had been burned.

Not hearing her, she relaxed her hand and Lily saw spider-like writing fading into her palm. Lott's head shot up and Lily jumped back, scared out of her wits. She felt herself shaking; for the first time that day, it wasn't of anger, but of fear.

No, no, no, no, no! screamed her mind at her, as she moved back from the desk and Lott, who looked terrifying at that moment. Her bony, emaciated frame was threatening, even with the robes that were too big slipping on her shoulders, and her pale blue eyes looked darker than usual with fury.

In Lott's angrily clenched right fist the words "The Order is being formed. Call Black, Malfoy, LeStrange-"were fading.

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A worried McGonogal walked into the Gryffindor Common Room, and her eyes darted around until she saw Sirius, Remus, James, and Frank chatting.

"Have you boys seen Lily Evans?"

James looked at her curiously.

"No, Why?"

"She did not come to Muggle Studies, or Arithmancy."

"She had those classes?" asked Sirius bemusedly.

"Yes, Mr. Black. Now have you seen her?"

They shook their heads no, looking at each other worriedly.

"Not since . . . she went with Lott . . ." said Remus after a moment, thinking back an hour or two.

McGonogal looked more worried at this.

"Very well. If you see her, tell her to report to me immediately. If I find her, I will alert you." McGonogal left.

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Several hours later, the marauders, Alice, Frank, Dorcas, and Marlene were sitting together in the common room, talking about Lily. Alice was clutching Frank's arm and bombarding Remus with questions.

"Where is she!? What happened!? What did Black say? Why did Lily hit her!? Where did she go with Lott? Why did Lott want her anyway? What did she say to her? Tell me something, Lupin!"

Remus rubbed at his face.

"Alice, calm down. She's only been gone for . . . what?"

"FIVE HOURS!!" yelled James, who was pacing back and forth frenetically. "Why did she do this, WHY!? Just run off without telling anyone where she went, I could just strangle her-"

"James, calm down." Said Dorcas, who was patting a tearful Alice on the back. "She's probably just, just . . ."

"What, asleep in her dormitory!? NO! She's not anywhere! If Lott touched her, I will kill her, I will KILL her-"

Remus had to yell to be heard over James.

"James! I am trying to tell you what happened! SIT DOWN!" James stopped his pacing and glared at Remus.

"WE DO NOT KNOW WHERE SHE IS, NO ONE HAS SEEN HER, SHE COULD BE HURT, COULD BE DYING! I AM NOT GOING TO LOSE SOMEONE ELSE, LUPIN! I DID NOT BACK DOWN TO SNAPE AND TRY TO CHANGE AND TRY TO CONFORM FOR NOTHING! I DON'T CARE IF SHE DETESTS ME, I'M GOING TO FIND HER!"

Remus stood up, snarling at James.

"THEN LET ME HELP YOU FIND HER INSTEAD OF RUNNING OFF TO RESCUE HER LIKE SOME GALLANT KNIGHT!"

"I CAN HANDLE IT, REMUS! I DON'T NEED ANYONE'S HELP!"

"HA! JAMES, YOU CAN'T EVEN DECIDE TO GROW UP ON YOUR OWN, MUCH LESS SAVE LILY!"

James and Remus were nose-to-nose, breathing heavily. James turned away and clutched at his head. After a few tense moments, he flung his arms down and sat, gritting his teeth against a wall of tears. Remus looked rather shocked, and ashamed.

"I'm sorry Prongs. I just . . . lost my head."

James froze when Lupin said Prongs.

"No. Not Prongs. NO! How could we be so dense!"

With that, James jumped up and ran to his dormitory, his eyes clear with victory. He lifted a silvery cloak out of his trunk, and pulled out a piece of parchment.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good . . ."

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James ran along an empty, cold corridor, heading up stairs and flying around corners. Soon he arrived at the North Tower, and panting, walked up the final set of steps. Curled by a window was Lily, who had her head buried in her knees and wasn't making a noise. She looked up as she heard footsteps, her face splotchy and worn. James stood there, holding a parchment and staring at her with an unreadable expression. He didn't say anything, just sank to his knees in front of her. She rubbed at her eyes furiously, pulling back a sheet of red hair.

"What are you doing here, Potter." She said, her voice hoarse from crying.

He looked at her disbelievingly, and burst out angrily.

"What am I doing here!? Where have you been!!!!!" Lily jumped. "Do you have any idea how worried we all were!? Do you have any idea!?"

She rubbed at her eyes again, more angrily, trying to rid them of their redness and restrain any tears that were left over, not to mention the sudden urge to fling her arms around James in thanks. She had never been more glad to see him, see anyone than in that moment.

"It was Lott." She said hesitantly, not sure of her capability for words.

"I bloody well know it was Lott!" he cried frustrated, then stopped. She didn't sound very normal, even for a person who had been sobbing for several hours by the looks of it.

"What happened?" he said sharply, looking Lily in the eye.

"She-she-"

"What?"

"Oh, James, I'm so sorry-"

She broke off again, and James grabbed her arms and shook them very gently, though firmly. She shoved him away.

"Lily! Please, tell me what happened! Look at me, Lily!" She looked James in the eyes, a bit of her old determination feebly flaring up even as she wanted to drop her eyes.

"Lott is-she-well, she is a-"

"DEATHEATER! I KNEW IT!" yelled James furiously, making Lily jump back in surprise.

"No! No, she isn't, she's just . . . something else! She's, oh, I don't know, but that's not even-not even the half of it!"

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked, his hazel eyes still flaming and furious as he stood up and paced back and forth angrily. Lily started to get up, while keeping the tears and aching in her head at bay, but gave up and sat back down again, closing her eyes against James' annoying pacing. James saw her struggle, of course, and shame trickled unpleasantly down his spine.

He sat down beside Lily, his head drooping and eyes stinging almost imperceptibly. He hated shame.

"If you're not going to tell me, fine." He said after a few minutes, sounding tired and almost childish. Lily's chin quavered, because she had just realized he must not know about Black.

"Bellatrix killed your father." She said, quieter than a breath of air. He froze as if he had been petrified, and Lily drew in a quick breath, knowing she shouldn't have said it.

To her surprise and relief, James merely groaned as if he had been shot and his head drooped even further, as if all hope had been lost. It might have been better for him to be in a towering rage, but not for Lily. He straightened his back slowly, and leaned his head against the stone. She realized it was dark in the tower now, and she could only see his shadow move.

"I don't want to know what Lott did to you now." He said slowly, like the words were being pulled from him by some other force than himself.

"She didn't hurt me, James." Said Lily quietly, but she felt tears prickling again. "But . . . she's going to."

The sun was setting over the Forbidden Forest, and while the tower was pitch black, out side everything was crystal clear. Even a small speck was defined, that if James or Lily would have looked, would have been labeled "Laura Lott" on the marauders map, disappear off the edge of the map into the Forbidden Forest.

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"Dumbledore!" called Lily exhaustedly as she ran into his office, having finally figured out the password. He was sitting at his old, polished desk, studying a basin in front of him, while a rare phoenix in its prime looking at her curiously.

"Yes, Miss Evans? What is the matter?" he asked, looking up from the bowl partly filled with silver, swirling, smoke-like liquid.

"It's-It's Lott."

Dumbledore stared levelly at Lily, the basin forgotten. He slowly got up, walked around his desk, and led Lily to a chair.

"Now Lily, I need you to tell me exactly what happened . . ."

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"Here's the quill, professor."

Lily gestured to a pile of gold dust which was glowing ominously. Dumbledore, McGonogal, Spires, and Lily were examining the room. Lott had obviously left in a hurry, leaving behind all personal items, including the pictures on the wall.

Tawny pinched a fingertip of the dust, but dropped it quickly when she felt a sharp sting in her fingers. They were bright red, as if they had been burnt. By the look on Tawny's face, they were.

"Professor Dumbledore, what is this?"

"Maybe it was communication with the dark lord?" suggested Lily, her voice low and hoarse. She was holding a kerchief that McGonogal had given to her after finding her and Dumbledore in his office, and it was soaked.

"Good idea, Miss Evans. Perhaps." He said in his comforting voice.

McGonogal was examining the pictures, and took one down. It was the old one, with the group of friends moving about. They shouted at McGonogal when they saw her, one of the figures laughing.

The picture was wrinkled in several places, and the people in the photograph seemed almost hesitant to cross the creases, as if their movement would make it disintegrate like the quill. In the picture was Lott, serious as usual, standing next to a grimy-looking boy and a group of girls. Also in the picture was a young man with neat hair and glaring eyes. It was Voldemort.

"So they knew each other. That's how it happened." Said McGonogal faintly, her usually strong Scottish demeanor a bit overwhelmed as she stared at the picture, the inhabitants shouts unpleasant and cruel. Lily noticed Lott never said a word.

"Professor?" said Lily and Tawny at the same time.

"I have a lot to explain to you . . ." said Albus. With that, Dumbledore sat down to tell the history of Lott.

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Readers: And...

GNL: He he. . . . he he . . . and what?

Readers: . . .

GNA: *tries to be zen* All will be revealed with time, it is only a matter of patience and understanding between the readers a- *rotten guavas are thrown at GNA/GNL, both run for cover* OK, OK! We were being lazy, and I only finished this chapter last night! GNL, just do the reviewer thank you's, before this gets really nasty! *watches watermelon fly past hiding spot*

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A Note to all:

I am in a very Harry Potteresque tantrum mood right now. *Hurls objects across room* Because I had all the thankyous done...early! And they were wonderful and great and I actually said something relevant and interesting....and then my lame, stupid....foul....piece of crap computer lost them ALL! So if the thankyous stink...blame it on my computer....

Child-of-scorpio- Yup this was a fun chapter. Thanks for the reivew.

morph- Yeah! Hogwarts Guava-Style! Can't get much better then that!

J.E.A.R.K. Potter- We love that like too. In fact that line pretty much inspired the chapter...well that and we wanted to see Lily beat the snot out of Bellatrix...but that is a different story.

GNAsis- Thanks!

krw313- Glad you liked it! But really you know...If we posted it all the time ...then we would run out of material faster, and that wouldn't be a good thing.

iris- Woo! A new reviewer! We love new reviewers! Let me be the first to thank you with a complimentary guava.

Cris- Yeah! Another new reivewer! We are glad that you like our work.

bob-the-bear- All we can say is.....we love your pen name!

Lady of Masbolle- Haha Thanks! *Tries very hard not to let compliment go to my head.....fails miserably*

Susan Heart- Yeah! We are on a someones fav. author's list! *Does a we are someones fav. author's list dance* .....Yeah we are a little insane....

Miss Mrpk- Wow, thanks a lot. We know what it is like digging through the sort-of-cheesy fanfics. We're glad that you don't consider ours one of them.

Angel 85- Yeah, I agree with you. Lily was smart, and over all a nice person, but not even Perfect Miss Evans was a saint all the time.

Blasts Cleopatra- Thanks for the review. We do indeed like twists.

Lady Sista- Hehe...thanks....I started reading so many different fanfics myself that I had to cut back.