Chapter 5: By Light of the Moon

Lily spent the next few hours of the day exploring the Hogwarts corridors with Herra. This was something she had never took time to do before, (except at nights, as she was obliged to) and was amazed at all the things she had not noticed about Hogwarts after being there for almost seven years.

"I have never walked so much in my life," complained Herra once they were back in the Gryffindor common room, each sitting on one of the squashy armchairs before the flickering fire.

"I bet you have," argued Lily jokingly.

Herra sighed and stretched out her arms. "Y'know, its quite remarkable about all the things we haven't really noticed about Hogwarts until today," she replied idly.

Lily nodded and reclined back further into her chair, "yeah, I never knew about the portrait of Screeching Mordarra," answered Lily. "Remind me never to wake her up again."

Earlier in the day, much to Lily and Herra's misfortune, they had become acquainted with the portrait of 'Screeching Mordarra', a women who would screech at the top of her voice if woken up. However, Lily and Herra managed to use the silencing charm on Mordarra to cease her screaming.

The last rays of the sun illuminated the castle with a radiant orange mist, and as the remains slowly sunk, a dark blanket was cast over Hogwarts.

"I better go to the Great Hall for this meeting," said Lily jadedly, springing to her feet and brushing her auburn hair back out from her eyes.

"Oh, I forgot about that," Herra replied, watching Lily as she stepped towards the portrait hole. "Hey- aren't you going to wait for James?"

Lily span back round, she frowned as she thought about what happened earlier with James. She didn't know if she wanted to wait for James, or even if he would want to speak with her anyway. Lily had caught a glimpse of James's despondent face just before she had turned to leave with Herra, but she managed not to feel one bit guilty.

"No, I'm just going to go now," she answered.

"You're not still angry with him? He was only trying to help, Lil's," disputed Herra.

It was the tone of Herra's voice that caused a slight pang of guilt to spill through Lily.

"Yes, but don't you ever think he helps too much. It's like he has to be there all the time. If anything ever goes wrong, he has to be the hero and rescue me, when I'm quite capable of rescuing myself!" exclaimed Lily, watching Herra's mouth form a perfectly defeated 'o'.

"Ok, but- I know that you don't really see eye to eye with James, but, just think about it- why do you think he tries to rescue you so much?" asked Herra pensively, she didn't wait for an answer, but instead dodged up the spiral stairs to the dormitory.

-x-

Lily carefully closed the portrait hole door behind her and glanced at her watch, it was just coming up to nine o'clock so she sped up her pace to make sure she wasn't late. The castle was rather quiet, the only noise was the slight whistling of the wind tapping against the windows.

Lily reached the Great Hall and peered inside to see if anyone was there. She spotted the isolated figure of James Potter leaning with his back against the staff table, he was staring across at the large circular window at the very back of the hall. Lily quietly walked crossways to James, he didn't shift at all, in fact, he seemed determined to stare through the window at the back of the hall.

"Mr Potter and Miss Evans," projected a serene voice.

Dumbledore was stood placidly behind the staff table.

"Good evening, professor," said Lily.

James was still absorbed with the window at the back of the hall, he hadn't seemed to notice Dumbledore arrive. Lily gently nudged him in an attempt to stir his attention. Indeed, he quickly shook his head away from the window, his dark hair sticking up in yet more odd angles.

"Oh, err- sorry professor," he apologised gingerly.

"It's quite alright Mr Potter, too many late nights, I dare say," dismissed Dumbledore with a kind smile.

"Straight on to it, then. As you are both Head boy and Girl, I have called on you both to discuss the first Hogsmeade weekend and when it would be appropriate for it to take place." Dumbledore said. "Any ides as to when it should be?"

"How about just before Christmas," suggested Lily, "students can buy their presents and it's a ideal time- just before people leave to go home."

"Excellent. Yes, before Christmas would be a model time with all the festivities and such, agreed Mr Potter?" Dumbledore asked, halting to watch James.

"Yes, before Christmas sounds good," he replied, not sounding like he particularly cared too much at all.

Lily frowned; James seemed to be acting very immobile tonight. Maybe it was because of what happened earlier, but no... James hadn't acted like this before.

"Then it's settled. I think December the 20th will do fine, a Saturday," replied Dumbledore readily. "Please remind students that they must have forms if they wish to go to Hogsmeade."

"Yes, professor," Lily assured politely.

"Thanks for you're cooperation- not that I doubted it. I must be going now, please excuse me," Dumbledore said with a final smile, before turning on his heel and quietly leaving the hall.

Lily stood silent for a moment, expecting James to say something, however he just silently nodded his head and walked out from the Great Hall in a rather fast pace. Lily frowned as she watched James exit in such an immediate manner. She was confused, why was he acting like this? Was it because of her, had she really upset him so much? Lily sighed and looked down at her shoes, a small knot of guilt rose in her stomach. She couldn't have upset him- but he never had reacted like this with her before. James always seemed to bounce right back whenever she had been tetchy with him.

Lily looked up gazed around the Great Hall. She was completely alone, only surrounded by tables and the usual daily decorations. The ceiling was studded with twinkling stars, just like the outside night sky, however this did not comfort the small knot at the bottom of her stomach. A new thought suddenly hovered as she continued to look round, why was James looking through the back window so densely earlier?

Lily's curiosity overtook her and she let her feet carry her towards the window at the rear of the hall. The wind steadily whistled against the window as she drew nearer, she peered through the misty glass only to see the darkness slightly blended with the light radiating from the moon.

Lily jumped as she heard a sudden loud noise echo from outside the window, not the whistling of the wind, but something far more louder and deeper. She stepped closer and pryingly listened intently against the window. However, when the noise came again, it was much more defined. It sounded deep and rumbling, much like a dog's bark.

As Lily watched and listened closer, she noticed a large dark figure silhouetted in the distance. It was unmistakably the figure of a dog, but a very large dog. It seemed to be coming closer as she could hear its steps echoing across the outside grounds very clearly. However, the dog was not alone, it was accompanied by what looked like the outline of a tall stag. The stag trotted towards the dog and Lily watched in astonishment as both silhouettes slowed down their pace and started to saunter next to each other, almost humanlike.

She peered closer as the stag and dog came nearer the window, in definite view shot. Lily could now see the shimmering colours of the animals as the white light reflected onto them from the moon. The dog was large and black with masses of shaggy fur which bounced as it continued to trot. The stag was tall, with a shimmering brown coat that shone beautifully against the moonlight. As Lily continued to watch, she noticed that the dog and stag had suddenly stopped moving, and from what she could see, they were scanning the grounds. However, they then rapidly rotated in Lily's direction, their newly visible eyes turning to match hers as if they had just sensed her presence. Lily jumped in shock as the stag and dog watched her, had they sensed her-after all, they had immediately turned round to look at her. She slightly softened her expression as she stared back at the two animals. There was something about them, their eyes... they were so familiar. She was extremely confused, not to mention surprised- why would these two animals be at Hogwarts...had they come from the Forbidden Forest? They seemed so humanlike in the way they moved together and watched her.

Lily was interrupted from her tangled thoughts as a loud, piercing howl echoed across the grounds, causing her to jerk again and the stag and dog to immediately run away in the opposite direction.

-x -