© Ariana Veelagrace and Clara Maplewood, years 2000-2002
(A/N): Thank you to all of my reviewers!! You have really inspired me to
write more chapters.
Please keep reviewing!
The Lily Series
Chapter 6
Chantel's eyes widened. "Are you sure?
Those are their names?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," Lily said, a bit confused. "Why?"
"That's them!" Chrissy shrilled. "Headmaster Dumbledore called for four boys to come to his office after the feast because they were the ones that blew up the classrooms, and that's them!"
"Ohh, they're in so much trouble! They're going to lose Gryffindor at least a…a thousand points before the first Quidditch game, even!" Chantel disappeared behind the curtains of her four-poster with a short, almost devious chuckle.
Chrissy returned to the robes she had been folding up. "Looks like we've made friends with a crowd of delinquents." She seemed to be rather pleased about it, though.
"They're not delinquents," Lily said defensively. "Just…pranksters."
"You'd think different if you'd heard what I've heard." Chantel's voice issued forth, then she poked her head out of the curtains. "Hey, Lily, could you do me a favor and toss me that big teddy bear?"
Ignoring Chrissy's laughter at that comment, Lily fell back onto her own bed. "I would if I could move my arms. I'm going to get a good night's sleep and wake up at noon." She snuggled under the thick blankets and glanced at the bedside table. Then, she laughed sheepishly at herself. "I'm such a Muggle…I was looking for an alarm clock to turn off so that it wouldn't wake me up."
"Oh, we won't need alarm clocks, Lily," Chrissy yawned. "You'll see what I mean tomorrow."
Lily's curiosity was not strong
enough to keep her awake.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lily picked another of the white, bell-shaped flowers from the vast
meadow that lay under the warm blanket of the sun. They had a pungent aroma
that was somewhere between sour and immeasurably sweet. A pleasant shiver
raced down her spine as the sun's heat hit her face. She looked up at the sky,
where bluejays and robins chirped the melody of her
music box; which made sleepiness wash over her. Lying down in the grass and
closing her eyes, Lily suddenly felt something unusual and hard under her back.
Reaching carefully for the object, she brought it into eyes view. It was
her music box, but there was something hanging from it; a black bracelet.
What was that charm that was attached to it? She brought it closer to her
face, trying to make out the pattern.
The serene wind that stroked through her hair suddenly turned fierce and
demanding. The white lilies that scattered through the grass had transfigured
into large thorns the size of Lily's feet.
Drops of water sprinkled from the sky as the booming sound of thunder echoed
through the air. Tremors of fear and confusion racked her body with every roll
of thunder.
An evil cackling seemed to emanate from everything, even the music box. It
resounded fiercely in her ears until Lily covered them with her hands, dropping
the music box to the floor. Hot tears trickled down her cheeks as she
collapsed onto her knees, unable to take in any more of the maddening sound.
A serpent appeared at her heels, hissing viciously. It flicked the music
box and unusual bracelet out of her reach with a motion of its tail. Lily
cried out and reached past the snake for her music box, but the venomous
reptile snapped at her hand. While she gazed dully at her fingers and
palm, wondering why the bite hadn't hurt, she failed to notice that the snake
was swallowing her music box whole…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Good morning!!" Chantel screamed, her mouth a millimeter from Lily's right ear. She woke up with the thrill of pure pain as
beads of sweat poured down her face.
Chrissy grabbed a comb and started pulling it through her hair.
"See, I told you we wouldn't need to buy alarm clocks Lily, we have
Chantel, the rooster."
This caused Chantel to dive for a pillow on the nearest bed, and start swacking Chrissy as well as Lily.
Soon, all three girls had a pillow in grasp and were engaged in a very long
pillow fight.
"I...think...we...should...get...ready...for breakfast." Lily panted
as she set her pillow down in defeat. The other girls both nodded in agreement.
Chrissy helped Lily put her hair in a long braid, as Chantel put on her black
robes.
Peter, James, and Sirius were already eating when Lily arrived in the Great
Hall. She felt a little strange about walking over to say hello, because
technically, she didn't know them all that well. However, before Chantel
or Chrissy came downstairs, Sirius sat down in the chair next to Lily and threw
an arm around her shoulders. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Lily Evans, ickle first year extraordinaire!"
Once again, she wasn't sure how to respond to the semi-flirtatious outbursts of Sirius Black. "Er…hi."
"Still scared, hmm? Well, that's okay. I dunno about me and Peter, but James's mug could scare the enamel off a tooth some days. Tell ya what – we'll get back to you later, when you're not so intimidated."
James and Peter dropped into place across the table from them. Peter chimed in. "Bit of luck really. We're busy anyhow."
"Busy?" Lily said, finally feeling as though she had the upper hand in the conversation. "With what?"
Sirius glared at Peter while James took over, leaning across the table and winking at Lily. "That's another one of those things that we get to know and you get to find out."
"Let's just say we're doing some research for Advanced Transfiguration." The trio shared a snicker at what was obviously an inside joke, then took off back to their seats.
"Advanced Transfiguration?" Lily called after them. "But isn't that for Fifth Years?"
Sirius turned around and walked backwards for a second to respond to her. "Fifth years…and ambitious Second Years!"
That day, Chrissy taught Lily how
to play Wizard's Chess, and even gave her a hand-me-down set. Lily
immediately penned her initials on the bottom of each piece, thanking Chrissy
profusely. Perhaps a little jealous for the spotlight, Chantel helped
them both to learn Exploding Snap strategies. Later that day, as they
explored the castle, they came across a large organ. Chrissy and Chantel
showed Lily how to play "Heart and Soul" by prodding the keys with her nose!
Her two new friends' snoring kept Lily up that night. Failing to fall asleep,
she reached under her bed to grab a fairy-tale book. Her father commented on
bringing them, so as to have something to remind her of home. Flipping through
the pages of "Sleeping Beauty", she felt the minutes tick by slowly.
She got bored after awhile, having heard the story at least a hundred times
before. Lily set the book down gently and brought out her diary. Her
mother had always encouraged her to keep a diary. "It's like a gift of who
you are, to who you'll be," she had said. As she scribbled down her
thoughts, the thought struck Lily that there could be secret passages in the
castle. It was certainly an ancient building. Maybe, just maybe it
did....
The next day, before Chrissy or Chantel awoke, Lily
silently crept out of the room and past the Great Hall. Making sure her shoes
didn't make noise, she ambled throughout the castle,
half-hoping that she wouldn't find anything. The other half of her was
full of an insatiable curiosity to find out what secrets the school held.
"Meeeerooooow!" Lily reeled back in
surprise. She had accidentally stepped on a cat. Her first thought
was shock at finding a cat inside Hogwarts. It was black all over, with a
shock of white on its face, which gave it a hooded appearance, and slitted red eyes. Nothing like Mrs. Norris, Lily thought,
besides, this cat was so gaunt that she could see the creature's ribs.
"I'm sorry," she said hesitantly, extending a hand to comfort it. The
black cat hissed and raked its claws across her hand instead of accepting the
consolation. "Ow!" Lily jumped away, hurrying
away from that strange animal and making sure it didn't follow.
It looked though there was a classroom up ahead. She swung the door open
and then slammed it shut. Closing her eyes, she took deep breaths to calm
herself and tried to blot away the blood from the back of her hand. She
had a mental picture of the cat's eyes vividly surrounding every thought. Blood red, a cold and unforgiving color of pure fear. Do
normal wizard's cats have red eyes? Leaning against the back of the door, she
gazed around the room. Dusty books were piled to the ceiling, either forgotten
or lost. Old quills, empty bottles of ink, and crumpled parchment were covered
in cobwebs, allowing spiders to roam freely around the deserted classroom.
Lily stepped away from the door, and proceeded in her investigation of the room
room. Her
gaze wandered through the rubble until it settled on the wall opposite the
door…
She brushed away the thick dust covering from the stone and noticed the two
letters carved on the wall: T R
Lily ran her hand over it, pushing against it slightly. The wall gave way to
reveal a tunnel. It seemed pitch-black, but as her eyes adjusted, she noticed a
few lines of text written in glimmering silver on the back of the secret
door.
"Take heed that thou art kin of mine
That we be of the same bloodline
For peril awaits the Mudblood churl
That dares to enter the Slytherins' world.
My symbol, pride, my calling-card
Shall crush thy bones to a thousand shards.
Forgo this entrance and any more
For thou wilt not enter my Chamber of lore!"
Lily cursed her own curiosity and
wondered how to re-seal the door. The evil cackling from her dream echoed
through the darkness. Lily froze, not daring to move or make any noise. She
could swear that she heard footsteps and felt breathing down her neck.
All at once, the red-eyed cat from a few minutes before brushed against her
ankles as it skittered down the passageway. Lily's frantic mind was
blinded of her bearings as she ran.
Lily woke with a start that night; hearing light tapping outside of the window.
Before getting out of bed, she had to reassure herself that it was only a
dream. How, then, questioned her panicky side, were the cat's clawmarks still apparent on her hand? Dismissing the
question, she cautiously opened the latch. A snow-colored owl fluttered in and
landed on her bed. The owl leaned its leg out, showing Lily the letter it
brought her. She untied the string that held the envelope from falling, and
patted the owl on the head, thanking him.
The owl cooed and pecked Lily's fingers affectionately. She giggled, watching
the owl fly back into the night air. She walked down towards the common
room to read it. There would be more light in the
common room; she could read the letter easier.
She sat down in a silk arm chair, wondering who would know to send her letters
by owl. With a little bit of confusion, she opened the envelope. Lily
scanned the parchment with utter disbelief. There was no battle of protest as
hot tears blinded her sight, coursing down her face freely.
She realized when she woke up that she had cried herself to sleep the previous
night. Then with a sinking feeling, she
realized exactly why she had been crying.
The letter, still clutched in her hand, was both smudged and stubbornly
stiff as if
determined to remind her that dawn didn't make it any less true: Her parents
were dead.
The letter read:
Dear Ms. Evans,
It is with our deepest apologies and consolations that we inform you of your
parents' deaths. We regret, also, to inform you of the way in which they died.
Your parents were the victims of a Dark wizard who we believe to be the most
dangerous one alive, surpassing even the recently defeated Grindelwald. This
Dark wizard calls himself Lord Voldemort.
Your sister, Petunia, was at her Muggle boarding school at the time. She will
be under the care of school officials until a school holiday at which time she
will be staying with your grandmother. I must say that there is some
concern as to your destination for the school holidays; your grandmother seems
to share your sister's unfortunate opinion of witchcraft and wizardry.
Please find consolation in that we will do our best to find you a nice wizarding family to stay with.
My best wishes to you and your sister,
Cyril A. Pillory
Minister of Magic