Recap:
"Lily, what happened?" James asked but Lily wasn't listening. She was too busy going over what had happened. It was a dream, of that she was sure, but it was so much different than her dreams at night. Those ones always ended happy. This one ended with – what she was sure of as – her getting killed.
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"Lils?"
"I…I don't really know," Lily said looking into the concerned hazel of James' eyes.
"You didn't show up for charms or transfiguration and we got worried," Liandra said coming to stand opposite James who had one of Lily's hands grasped tightly in his own.
"How… how long…"
"A couple of days," Liandra replied gently. Lily's eyes widened.
"Days?" The awe was evident in her voice.
"Miss Evans, you're awake," Madam Pomfrey said bustling in with Remus not to far behind. Lily smiled slightly.
"We were quite worried about you, after all. Professor McGonagall found you in the dungeons unconscious. We wondered what had happened. There weren't any lumps to show you were hit over the head. So I pose the question to you Miss Evans. What on earth happened to make you fall unconscious?" Lily's face was completely sober. She couldn't exactly remember.
"I… One minute I was looking at the angel tapestry beyond the kitchens, and the next I'm here." She left out the part about her dream fearing Madam Pomfrey would make her stay here longer than she wanted. Lily had always hated hospitals.
"Well my dear, eat this and then you may go." Lily grinned as Madam Pomfrey handed her a piece of chocolate. It was her heal-all. The nurse left and James helped Lily out of the hospital bed.
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"Lily? What happened? When you went unconscious?" Liandra asked. It had been two weeks since the initial incident and Liandra, Alaura, Sirius, James and Remus had given her a chance to get over the initial reaction and possible denial with it. Though she was thankful for their wait, Lily knew these questions were inevitable. She quickly took a look around the Gryffindor common room to make sure no one was listening before beginning.
"I'm still not completely sure. Honestly, one minute I was in the dungeon hallway and the next I was dreaming."
"What did you dream?" Lily sighed.
"I was in a really nice and peaceful meadow with this guy. We were both all dressed in white. We got talking about the Angel's Seal and about how only one person can open the Seal." She paused shaking her head. "Then a little girl showed up and we talked about how the information to open the Angel's Seal was located in some of the school's books." Alaura snorted.
"Such a big help." James was shaking his head.
"Why did you scream?" Lily's eyes widened in fear.
"I…" The floor had suddenly become very interesting to Lily. "That wasn't the end of the dream," she whispered. James, sitting on one side of her, wrapped a reassuring hand on her arm. Alaura caught this and despite the seriousness of the situation winked at Sirius.
"We, the girl, the man, and I, were talking about why they couldn't verbally tell me where all of the information was located in the school. The girl said that if they were to tell me right then and there, they ran the risk of someone else finding out. Don't ask me how, I couldn't tell you," Lily said watching Liandra's mouth open, a question no doubt on her friend's tongue. Liandra closed her mouth with a snap.
"Then it was pitch black. I couldn't see anything or hear anything. Something hit me from behind, knocking the wind out of me. When I rolled over something glinted and came slashing towards me…" Lily left the sentence open ended knowing her friends would put two and two together.
"It killed you," James whispered. His voice came out pained. Lily faced him head on willing him to look at her instead of his knees. When he did, the extent of the emotions in James' eyes threw her for a loop. While there was concern written all over his face, there was another partially hidden emotion.
"It killed me," Lily confirmed softly. James turned away running a hand through his unruly hair, a habit that annoyed Lily and yet, she loved it all the same.
"Is this the first time?"
"That I dreamed me dying? Yes."
"What changed?" Lily played with her hands for a moment before answering.
"I don't know," she answered in complete honesty.
"Did something scare you? That's usually…" James began but Lily shook her head enthusiastically.
"I was perfectly content." There was a short pause.
"Are you scared?"
"Yes. Most people would be," she replied staring into the dancing flames in the fireplace. James looked at his watch.
"I'm going to head to bed. You should think about doing the same," he said standing.
"I won't sleep." James looked down at her then around the room. Alaura and Liandra had dragged Sirius and Remus out of hearing distance long before giving James and Lily a chance to work things out. The rest of the Gryffindors had gone to bed.
"Why not?" Lily sighed heavily, partially out of frustration.
"I'm scared James. I want to sleep, hell, I need to sleep but I'm terrified. Terrified of what I'll see this time. What if… what if it's not me I see?" James sat down again looking Lily straight in the eye.
"What if McGonagall gives you a bad mark on your next test? What if Voldemort attacks the school? What if Dumbledore tells us he has to expel us because of our pranks? What if we don't know what is going to happen? We don't know, Lils, that's why 'what if' is a pointless question to ask. You may not even have the dream again," James reasoned. Lily sighed. James was right.
"Alright. I'll see you in the morning," Lily said heading towards the girl's staircase. "And James?" She paused at the bottom of the stairs. "Thanks."
"No problem."
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Alaura and Sirius were out past curfew; neither cared. The night was mild for the Hogwarts' September as the two sat beside the lake watching the squid do lazy laps.
"D'you think they've told each other yet?" Alaura asked looking up at the Gryffindor tower.
"I hope so," Sirius replied not taking his eyes off of the squid. "Wouldn't it be nice to be that carefree?" Alaura smiled gently.
"Nope." Sirius looked taken aback.
"No?"
"What would be the point of living? There would be no excitement and nothing to do." Sirius considered this for a moment.
"How true," he said finally. They were silent.
"What if Lily's dreams are prophetic? What if she really will die?"
"She will eventually," Sirius replied trying to lighten the mood.
"But that'll be old age. What if Lily is really gunna be stabbed?" Sirius faced Alaura watching the moonlight reflect off of the smooth planes of her face.
"We don't know, 'Laura, and hopefully we never will."
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"This wasn't supposed to happen." Lily looked up from her crown of wildflowers. The blond man and lavender-eyed girl were back.
"What wasn't supposed to happen?"
"You weren't supposed to fall in love."
"What?" Lily asked offended.
"You weren't supposed to fall in love."
"Who ever said I was in love?"
"We can feel it."
James, Lily thought.
"Love is a very strong emotion."
"Never underestimate its power."
"Why?" Lily asked looking back down at the flowers in her lap. "Why was I not supposed to fall in love?"
"As beautiful as love is, sometimes destiny does not give us a mate. You have something or done something incredible, Lily Evans, for destiny to change its plans for you."
"I really love him?" Lily asked, more herself than her companions, jumping subjects. The girl took a seat on the grass beside the redhead.
"What do you think?" Before Lily could respond, there was a slight tug at her consciousness telling her she was about to wake up.
"You make your own choices Lily, remember that. The choices you make are important and you have taught and proven something to us. Destiny bends."
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