Chapter 15: - Lost

"RUN!" Frank yelled grabbing hold of Miriam and Alice's hands and pulling them back the way they had come, Lily pelted behind after them,

"QUICKLY!!!" Frank yelled has he still pulled the girls,

"Who was it?" Lily asked turning her head to look behind them as the suit of armour collapsed with a huge clatter and bang onto the stone floor,

"Who cares!!!" Frank yelled over his shoulder at Lily "Let's just get out of here!"

"What about Mac!" Miriam cried pulling hard on Frank's clenched hand around her wrist trying to brake free as she pulled backwards,

"I'll buy you a bloody new cat!!!" Frank yelled at Miriam pulling hard on her wrist and yanking her forwards,

"MAC!!!" Miriam yelled still trying to get free from Frank so she could find her pet "MAC! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"He's not here Mi!" Lily cried realising that she had spoken the truth as she grabbed hold of Miriam's arm and helped to pull her forwards with Frank who still had hold of Alice's hand.

"The boys tricked us Mi. They said that it's not funny having a prank pulled on you and their Bloody right!!" Lily yelled her heart beating so fast that she though it would burst.

"Who was that?" Alice asked repeating Lily's previous question, but this time Frank didn't get the chance to yell "shut up and just run!" he had skidded to a halt trying to hold the girls back with his arms out, but they where all moving too fast and Lily was still struggling against Miriam. The girls crashed into Frank and they all tripped and fell to the ground, Lily banging her head against Miriam's as she fell.

"What did you stop for?" Lily asked furiously rubbing her head as she pulled herself free from the mass of bodies, legs and arms that where Alice, Frank and Miriam. looking towards Frank who had pulled himself free from them and was staring down the hall Lily could see the reason why Frank had stopped so quickly, in front of them crossed legged and armed floating upside down was the figure that had been at the suite of armour: it was Peeves the poltergeist.

"Well, well, well" he said cackling to himself "What have we here? Is it a big black spider or 'ikle firsty" Peeves pretended to think for a second rubbing his chin and then he smiled at them, his smile was even more mischievous then Miriam's and Lily knew that what ever Peeves was going to say next couldn't be any good for them,

"Seeing that all students are supposed to be safely tucked up in bed, it must be a huge big black spidy. Peeves is to be good this term, promised professor Dumbledore that I would. So I must really help out around the castle. Peeves'll get rid of nasty spider for nice Mr Filch" he grinned even wider and in the split second that it took Lily, Miriam, Frank and Alice to understand what Peeves had meant the poltergeist had whizzed over to the wall and started pulling the plaques and photos off it and throwing them at the first years,

"BLOODY HELL!!!" Frank yelled clutching his face as a black and white photograph of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team of 1901 hit Frank in the face and the edge of the frame cut his cheek, Alice screamed as a plaque proclaiming Marcus Goodlowe and Edith Parkinson where head boy and girl in 1859 hit her on top of her head.

"Run!" Lily cried getting to her feet and pulling Miriam with her, the four friends hurtled down the corridor in a barrage of trophies, plaques and photos as Peeves sang 'Itsy bitsy spider' in a horrid baby voice.

The suit of armour that they had first seen peeves at was now sprawled across the floor, Lily, Miriam and Alice had only just seen it in the dark hallway in time to jump over it but Frank who was still holding a hand to his cut cheek didn't see it in time and fell clattering to the floor, the armours legs and arms skidding across the stones.

"Frank!" Alice yelled as she Lily and Miriam doubled back to help him,

"Don't bother about me just RUN!" Frank called pulling the Armours helmet off his foot

"Don't be so bloody heroic!" Miriam said running back to him and helping him to his feet, as Peeves threw a silver plated Gobstone champions of 1763 cup at them which hit Frank on the back of his head and he collapsed to the floor Lily and Alice screamed and ran to help him,

"Stop it!" Miriam yelled has she crouched next to Frank looking up at Peeves "Just stop it now!"

"And what does the 'ikle firsty think that she's goin-" but Peeves stopped suddenly looking at Miriam has he held another trophy in his hands, Lily had never seen Peeves behave like this before, all students and even some teachers where just objects for peeves to play with and torment, but at this moment his eyes were widening and he looked almost in shock as he stared at Miriam,

"It's, it's the little Miss", he said almost grovelling "please forgive us little Miss Artemis please, please I- I didn't know it was you Miss please forgive me."

Miriam looked as confused as Lily and the others, what could have caused the sudden change in Peeves none of them knew, but Miriam was quick enough to realise an opportunity when it presented it's self,

"Be gone from here" Miriam said still crouching next to Frank "And leave me and my friends alone!"

"As the good Miss wishes," Peeves said bowing low "I also beg you to please not to tell the baron about my mistake, I did not know it was you"

"The Baron?" Lily whispered to Miriam,

"The Bloody Baron's the ghost of Slytherin house he's also my Great- great- great- great- great-Grandfather or something!" Miriam hissed back still keeping her eyes on Peeves as he bowed even lower and taking his bowler hat off and placing it across his chest, he bowed so low that Lily could see that he had a bold patch,

"He must be scared of the baron!" Miriam continued,

"I'd be scared of your Great- great-what ever granddad as well" Frank said regaining conciseness, Lily saw Miriam smile at him and then from the other end of the corridor they heard footsteps moving closer and a voice called out from the shadows,

"That's right my beauty, sniff them out, smell them" It was Filch and a new horror gripped Lily's insides, how could she not have thought that the noise they and Peeves where making wouldn't have attracted the caretaker and he had brought his horrid cat Mrs Norris with him as well.

"Get him over to the door" Miriam said drawing Lily and Alice's attention back to immediate dangers, Lily and Alice quickly helped Frank to his feet,

"What about you?" Alice asked Miriam as she turned back to face Peeves who was grinning quite happily at the destruction he had created,

"Go!" Miriam hissed at them and very reluctantly Lily and Alice heaved the still slightly dazed Frank down the corridor towards the door has quickly as they could, Lily could hear Miriam's voice behind her but it was too low for her to make out any words.

Lily, Frank and Alice had reached the door when there was a loud crash and the sound of braking glass from behind them, the three friends looked at each other and then back down the way they had come Lily wanted to shout and run to find Miriam but as soon as the thought had came into her mind it was pushed away with a wave of relief, out of the gloom Miriam was running towards them with a very broad smile on her face.

"Quickly!" She said pulling the door open, "We don't want to be around when Filch gets down here"

"PEEEEEVVVVVSSSS!!!!" Screamed Filch and Frank laughed

"What did you do?" he asked as they all headed through the door and down the corridor beyond,

"Me!" Miriam said faking her innocence "I didn't do a thing it was Peeves that did all the dirty work" Lily, Alice and Frank exchanged impressed looks and grinned at Miriam, as they ran down the corridor,

"What are we going to do now" Lily asked Miriam a little nervously,

"Well you where right he's not in the trophy room, Peeves said he had been in there all night working on that suit of arms and he hadn't seen anyone" Lily was impressed at how Miriam had managed to get this information from the Poltergeist and still managed to persuaded him to hold Filch back why they had made their escape.

"So what are we doing then" Frank said rubbing the back of his head "Heading back to the common room?" Miriam nodded

"I'll make Black tell me what he did with Mac if I have too" she said furiously and Lily couldn't really blame her. The friends walked down the corridor, turned left and climbed the stairs and turned left again,

"Guys," Alice said looking around "I don't think that this is the way to the tower room" the others stopped and looked around them, Alice was absolutely right, but where were they? Lily had never been down this corridor before, but seeing as though the first years had only been at Hogwarts for just over a month it wasn't surprising that they didn't fully know their way around.

"Isn't there a gargoyle on the fourth floor that's a bird?" Miriam said pointing towards a large stone statue set in a recess a little way from them,

"Yeah, it's an eagle but this looks more like a Griffin, see" Frank said pointing at the statues feet, "Look it's got paws as well a claws!"

"Ok lets admit it we're lost!" Lily said "why don't we head back the way we came and try to locate our way to the tower from there"

"We can't head back" Miriam said plainly "Filch is back there remember,"

"So we'll just have to go along here then" Alice said pointing down the corridor in front of them,

"Or we send up rescue flairs and hope for the best!" Frank said but the girls just ignored him and they headed off down the corridor in quite, after a while the silence was broken by Frank,

"If it comes to the worst and we have to eat someone I vote for Mi" he said grinning

"Hay!" Miriam said in protest "why me?"

"For two reasons manly" Frank said starting off on a rant "Firstly you look very tender and extremely meaty"

"I don't like how this is heading" Alice said playfully "You've thought way too much about this Frank,"

"It may have crossed my mind on several occasions-"

"Like?" Lily asked not wanting to be left out,

"In Binns' History of magic class. You three sit right in front of me and it's all I can really think about. That and irrespirable urge to-"

"I don't think I really want to hear anymore!" Miriam said clamping her hands onto her ears, but Frank continued regardless

"The urge to throw ink pellets at you all"

"Thanks!" Lily said acting hurt "and you're supposed to be our friend!"

"Oh I am" Frank said smiling "But only when it suits me!" the girls smiled and Frank continued "Anyway the second reason I'd eat Mi first is because she got us into this mess"

"And pray tell what mess is that Mr Longbottom?" The four friends stopped instantly almost banging into Miriam who had been leading them, Lily was sure her heart had stopped beating as in unison she, Alice, Miriam and Frank slowly turned around to see who the voice belonged to.

Towering over the first years dressed in a purple dressing gown and matching purple slippers, a night cap on his head and a white nightshirt showing below his dressing gown was Professor Albus Dumbledore: The Headmaster.

'This is it,' Lily thought 'This is the last time she'd ever be able to walk down this corridor and talk to these friends, this would be the last night she was a witch,' Lily knew that soon she was to be expelled. And for the first time since she had found out about Hogwarts Lily knew that this was the place she belonged. This was her new home, her new life was to be with these people that she had met and befriended and now it was all gone!