New Year's came and went as January passed smoothly into February. Lily, James, Sirius, Alaura, Remus and Liandra had virtually forgotten about the Angel's Seal and Lily had not dreamt any more. Valentine's Day was approaching and this year it fell on a Hogsmeade weekend.

"James? How am I supposed to ask Alaura to Hogsmeade?" Sirius asked James the Monday before. James shrugged his shoulders.

"Alaura, though very much like Lily, is also very different. I could tell you how I'd ask Lily but seeing as I don't I haven't worried about it," he replied irritably. Professor Tonic had been in a horrible mood in Potions that day and had assigned extra homework to all of the Gryffindor students. Lily, finding this extremely unfair, had rushed up to see the headmaster.

"He said he can't do anything," she had said when she had returned half an hour later. Now James was sitting at a table trying to puzzle his way through the extra long essay.

"That's it!" Sirius exclaimed. "I'll go talk to Lily Billy!" And with that he was gone. James blew out a sigh of relief. Two small hands were placed on his shoulders and started moving in light circles.

"Relax." It was Lily. James did as he was told allowing Lily to rub the frustration and stiffness out of his shoulders. Her hands felt heavenly as they travelled down to his upper back. The quidditch practices he had been attending over the last couple of weeks had left his back in poor shape. This was doing wonders.

"Sirius was looking for you," he mumbled as she removed her hands from his back and moved to take a chair next to him. He gripped her waist and pulled her into his lap instead.

"What for?" Lily asked.

"He wants to ask you how to ask Alaura to Hogsmeade," James responded. Lily laughed lightly.

"I may be best friends with the girl but that doesn't necessarily mean I know how Sirius should ask her to go to Hogsmeade with him," she pointed out. James nodded, too tired to speak.

"You're exhausted."

"And you enjoy stated the obvious." Lily looked hurt.

"Sorry, Lil. I'm just really…"

"Potions essay," she finished for him on a sigh. He nodded mutely again. Lily moved into the chair beside him pulling it as close as the furniture would allow. Bending over his essay she read it quickly before pulling out her own.

"Take a look at those and give them back when you're done," she whispered softly. James rubbed his eyes unrolling the first scroll and Lily left him in peace.

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"Alaura?" Sirius called as he entered the sixth year's room. She was lying on her stomach a photo album propped open in front of her. She quickly snapped it shut.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to go to Hogsmeade tomorrow with me," he responding nervously. Alaura considered him for a minute.

"As friends?"

"As friends," Sirius agreed. Though I wish it were more.

"Alright, I'll go." Sirius knew she expected him to leave but he didn't.

"What were you looking at?" Alaura shot him a dangerous look.

"None of your business," she said tracking him as he came towards her. He had his wand out and the spell was recited before Alaura could make a move. The photo album, he most prized possession, zoomed towards him. He opened the book carefully looking at the first set of pictures. They were muggle pictures of a couple of small girls looking extremely happy.

"My very first friends," Alaura explained noting the confused look on his face. He moved to sit on the bed beside her flipping through all of the pages until he got to the last half. That half held pictures of her over her last year and a half at Hogwarts. There was a picture of Lily and Liandra after James and Sirius had pulled a particularly disgusting prank involving mud or slime and another of Alaura, Lily and Liandra smiling in front of the Hogwarts express. As Sirius turned the pages he came across pictures of himself, James and Remus along with the three girls in different positions and at different times. There was even the picture of all of them that he had been given for Christmas. The last two full pages had the most intriguing pictures for Sirius. They were two pages devoted only to pictures of him and her together. The charm he had given her for Christmas was there with a small name carved in her own handwriting. Sirius.

"Alaura," he whispered. "What's this about?" He pointed to the two pages and the charm. Alaura blushed a deep crimson.

"It's my most treasured thing and those pictures are my very best memories," she began but Sirius shook her head cutting her off.

"Why these two pages? And why did the heart carve my name?" For some reason this made him blush even more and she looked away. Sirius gently turned her head back to him, his hand cupped under her chin.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" Her eyes wouldn't meet his.

"You love me," he whispered. It was a statement and Alaura knew it.

"Alaura, please answer me…"

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"And what's going on between you and Sirius, Alaura?" Amanda asked genuinely curious. Alaura blushed, a very interesting feat for some one who didn't get embarrassed at all.

"Absolutely nothing…"

"Its really obvious the two of you like each other, and not just as friends, Alaura," she said in her quiet way before Alaura could interrupt. "Its only a matter of time before the two of you start dating." Alaura glued a look of offence on her face.

"Me and Black? Not a chance!"

"I'm with Liandra on this, 'Laura," Lily said. "You two are a lot like my parents. They constantly threatened and tormented each other through school but look at how much in love they are now…"

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Lily was right, Alaura thought. She looked up into those chocolate eyes she truly loved so much. Sirius didn't need a verbal answer; he could see it right there in her eyes. She did. She loved him.

"I love you too," he whispered bringing his lips down softly on to hers.

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Lily crept down to the common room in the early hours of the morning. She hadn't been able to sleep at all. Looking around the room carefully, she spotted James sleeping on his homework, a textbook being used as a pillow. She smiled softly at the adorable picture he made before making her way over to him shaking his shoulder softly to wake him up.

"James, honey," she whispered. James groaned and reached out tugging on her arm.

"Not yet, Mom. I'm too tired." Lily giggled.

"I don't think I am your mother, James," she whispered again. James' eyes shot open and focused on the redheaded goddess standing off to his right side.

"Lily?"

"James."

"Where am I?"

"The common room. You fell asleep on your Potions textbook," Lily answered looking down at the sleep filled hazel eyes softly. He sat up quickly pushing the offending book away from him.

"Why don't you head up to bed and I'll pack these up?" Lily suggested looking at the tired lines etched on James' handsome face. He nodded standing shakily and walking precariously towards the boys' staircase. Lily heard a soft thump and cringed. James had run into the corner of the wall. She quietly rolled up the completed essay and tucked it safely in the bag beside the chair James had just vacated.

Lily…

Her head shot up and she looked around. She could have sworn she heard some one calling her name.

Lily…

"Hello?"

Lily…

She was getting scared now but curiosity seemed to get the better of her as she raced out of the common room into the darkness of the castle corridors.

Lily…

She turned left running faster and faster down flights and flights of stairs.

Lily…

There was a door up ahead. Lily didn't take the time to check and see which door it was. She pulled it open.

Lily…

The sound, her name, was coming from Tanice's bed.

But Tanice is out cold. How can she be calling to me? Then it hit her. It wasn't Tanice calling, it was Tanith but because Lily was not asleep she was using Tanice to do it. Lily carefully approached Tanice's bed looking down at the unconscious girl. She was glowing faintly in the darkness of the night grasping a book to her chest. Lily looked down at this wondering how that book had gotten there. Alaura, Liandra, James, Sirius, Remus, Lucy and Karissa hadn't been in the Hospital Wing since the day she was found, thinking it easier to cope if they didn't see her. Lily was also pretty sure that Kristiina had never visited seeing as the small girl spent as much time as she could in the Library with her sister and Lucy. Lily had never brought a book in either…

"What do you want?" Lily whispered brushing her fingers softly on Tanice's hand.

Echoes of Angels…

"That's my favourite," she whispered. Then realization dawned on her face. The one place the legend of the Angel's Seal was located was a book of fairy tales that Lily had lent to Tanice that mild September day in the common room.

"Thank you," she said breathlessly carefully withdrawing the book from Tanice's cold fingers and running back to the common room.

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Lily didn't sleep that night and was wide-awake when Alaura and Liandra came down the stairs at seven o'clock.

"Wow, Lils. You're up early." Lily didn't even acknowledge that Alaura had spoke. She was too wrapped up in trying to read between the lines of the story in front of her. There were wiccan ingredients involved and Lily was trying to figure out what those were.

"Lily? Earth to Lily?" Alaura waved a hand in front of the redhead's eyes and Lily jumped.

"I'm sorry, guys, I didn't even hear you," Lily said quickly smiling at her two best friends before turning back to the story. Alaura shot Liandra a questioning look as the two sat on either side of her.

"Lily? What's up?" Alaura asked reading over Lily's shoulder. Lily squealed pulling a piece of parchment that was sitting on the small table in front of her towards her and picked up the quill near by. She quickly jotted down a few ingredients before squealing again and reading quickly onwards. She then came across a long Portuguese incantation and thrust the book at Liandra.

"Can you read out the Portuguese for me please?" she asked setting the quill back on the parchment ready to write.

"Read it? Are you nuts? Copy it," Alaura said taking the book from Liandra's stunned hands and setting it roughly in front of Lily's parchment.

"Point me the lines the please," she sighed her quill moving quickly across the parchment recording the written words. She shook her hand when she had completed the incantation.

"What is that?"

"Our ticket to opening the Angel's Seal," Lily replied picking up the book and parchment and running out of the portrait hole. James came down the stairs a couple of minutes later.

"Lily not up yet?"

"Oh, she's up alright. But she's mental," Alaura replied shaking her head. James raised an eyebrow.

"She's acting really funny," Liandra supplied.

"Where is she now?" James asked.

"I don't know…"

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"Sugar quills," Lily said to the gargoyle in front of the headmaster's office. The gargoyle hopped out of the way and Lily walked in onto the spiralling staircase up to the headmaster's oak front door.

"Miss Evans! You have news?" Professor Dumbledore said upon allowing her to enter his chambers. Without a word, Lily placed the book and parchment onto his desk.

"My goodness," he remarked softly.

"The list is of mainly wiccan ingredients used in most locater spells. The incantation is to open the Seal," Lily explained bluntly. For some unknown reason, her body was in overdrive and sleep seemed to be a thing of the past.

"How are you planning…" the headmaster began.

"Most of the ingredients are also used in first year potions so those shouldn't be hard to gather. The others we may have to take a trip to Diagon Alley or I can talk to Liandra about getting her friend to lend her some," Lily interrupted, then realized that she had indeed interrupted the headmaster apologized.

"Do you know when this ritual must take place?" Lily, in answer, waved to the gold and silver book underneath the parchment.

"It's all in the story called Echoes of Angels and I was wondering… no, that's alright. I'll figure that out on my own," she mumbled the last end of her sentence.

"You were wondering…?"

"I'm sorry Professor. You probably wouldn't tell me any way," Lily said quickly. Professor Dumbledore nodded.

"My dear, is that all?" Lily nodded standing up.

"As I trust that you know what you are doing and are quite capable of accomplishing it, I will return these to you now." He handed her the book and parchment. Lily smiled at him slightly and turned to leave.

"Oh, and Miss Evans?" Lily turned to the headmaster. "Please do not lose any sleep over this." Lily nodded and left the office.

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