Hi guys.

Winces as various rotten vegetables, rocks and other such items hit her in the face.

Nice to see y'all too. I suppose you're wondering where I've been for all this time, and quite frankly, there is no simple answer. I got a new computer because my old one completely died, and THAT took about six months because of re-hooking up the Internet, etc., etc....then I got swamped with homework, my best friend had some problems and I have a new (premature) baby sister...So I didn't really get a chance to write until school ended, about two weeks ago. So here it is, the long-overdue chappie where things REALLY start happening. And sorry, vamperfly, about not giving you a chance to beta it; I leave for camp tommorrow, so there would have been no time to post it. Speaking of camp, it means another LONG absence: I don't get back till July 27. cowers BUT during the summer, I will definitely post more now that I have lots of time. And the story is definitely not over! Thanks to all the reviewers who (repeatedly) kicked my ass into gear, and even the flamers, because every little bit helps. So here goes. deep breath. I hope I haven't lost my touch.

Chapter 13: The Endless Night

Voldemort sat, stroking his pet snake Nagini lazily. He stirred as a man walked quietly into the room. The man prostrated himself, and waited to be recognized by his lord.

"Speak." Voldemort hissed dangerously. The man gulped visibly, but the Dark Lord ignored his fear, for there were more important matters at hand.

"My lord, all of the units are in place. We prepare for the attack. Are there any more orders?" the man asked, still bowing.

"Yes. I will need an unflawed crystal bowl, two silver candlesticks with black candles and a black silk cloth." The man was puzzled at his master's request but bowed anyways.

"As you-"

"I was not finished." Voldemort hissed cruelly, turning around, his red eyes boring into those of his servant. "I also require three victims to be disposed of, preferably of magical blood. If you cannot find me such victims, you and your family will take the empty places. Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-y-yes, my lord." the man stammered, bowed hastily and left the room as fast as possible. Voldemort grinned ferally, then returned his attention to the small black diary in his right hand.

"Soon, Nagini," he said, stroking the snake once again, "Soon we will use Djukta's art and conquer the magical world. As soon as Hogwarts is disposed of." The Dark Lord turned his head to look at a map of magical England. The approximate location of Hogwarts castle was circled in red, and just to the south, many black dots encroached on the castle.

"Soon, Nagini," he hissed, lulling the python into sleep. "Soon."

Lily and Aria arrived back at the castle with the last departing carriage. Each girl carried multiple shopping bags that, although already having been lightened by charms, seemed to weigh a ton. Both girls looked absolutely exhausted as they arrived at the entrance to Aria's dorm.

"That was fun. Really. Even though I feel like I'm gonna die." Lily said, leaning on the wall for support and closing her eyes.

"Mm-hmm. We're gonna look hot." Aria mumbled, and spoke the password. "'Night, Lils." she hugged her friend, who recovered from her stupor in time to hug her back weakly. "Get some sleep; you look worse than I do." With that, Aria turned and went inside the portrait hole.

"Gee, thanks." Lily said, then realized her friend had already left. "Some listener you are." she muttered grumpily, then hefted her bags up and began the seemingly endless trek back to her own bed.

Lily walked wearily past the statue and stared in seeming agony at the rising staircase in front of her. "What is it with all the staircases in this damn place?" she exclaimed, throwing her shopping down with a clatter.

"Hey, Lily." James said, looking up from his parchment. Lily looked up through bleary eyes. "Excuse me for saying this, but you look dead."

"I feel dead." she said, lying down on the floor with a sigh.

"I'd help you if I could, but I've already had too many bad experiences with that staircase." James said with a wry smile. Lily couldn't help but grin.

"Too many meaning one?" she asked, trying to sound sarcastic but somehow failing.

"Exactly." James said, trying to keep the mood light.

"I see." The two sat there in uncomfortable silence.

"So, er, this may be a bad time and I know you feel like shit so please don't rip my head off but..." James began.

"Potter, did you know that you babble when you're nervous?" Lily said flatly. She was in no mood for blather.

"So I do." James seemed taken aback. Lily resisted the urge to turn her head and see if he was blushing. A sly grin formed on her face.

Lily Evans, that isn't very nice. the voice said reproachfully.

I'm not in the mood to be nice. Lily replied snappishly.

"You know, you're really the only person who makes me act like this. I mean, I've never had a problem talking to other girls, or even asking them out, and..." James said conversationally. Lily sighed.

"Potter." she said, exasperated. She got up on one elbow to look at him. To her amusement, this time he did blush.

"Right. Staying on topic." James took a deep breath. "I was thinking that we need some more dance practice."

"Why?" Lily asked bluntly, making no secret of her distaste for the idea.

"Well, we'll be dancing in front of a crowd, and I can tell you from experience that always makes it harder." James said, his voice strengthening. "And since your whole goal in doing this is to not look like a fool..." he trailed off, looking at her expectantly.

"I guess." she said hesitantly. She could almost feel someone grinning excitedly. Oh shut up! she snapped mentally, having a hunch on what it was, and the feeling stopped immediately. "You're right, Potter." she said with a tone of finality. "Besides, let's just say I don't feel entirely confortable with dancing yet." She smiled wryly, and James grinned in return.

"Soon, ze lady will have maztered ze arrt of ze dance!" he said, putting on a fake French accent and gesturing floridly. Lily chuckled at his antics.

"I hope so." she said absently, looking up at the staircase once again. Re-living their conversation in her mind, Lily suddenly winced. "Hey, Potter?"

"Yeah?"

"Sorry for being such a bitch." she said ruefully.

"No problem. I'm sorta used to it by now. I thought shopping was supposed to make girls happy though." he teased.

"Not the carrying-everything-back part." she said with a sigh.

"I could levitate your bags up the stairs for you." he offered. "I mean, I could offer to do the same for you but I don't think I'm up to moving a human being. I'm pretty tired too."

"As long as you promise not to laugh at me as I crawl up the stairs." Lily replied.

"Scout's honor." he said, holding up a hand. He flicked his wand and whispered a few words. Her shopping bags immediately floated up the stairs and landed gently at the foot of her bedroom door. "Your turn." he said mischievously.

With a groan, Lily stared at the rising staircase in front of her. Summoning up her last dregs of energy, she got smoothly to her feet and walked casually up the stairs.

"I thought you were exhausted." James said, amused.

"You'd be amazed at what willpower can do." she said, and turned to go to her room.

"Shit!" she heard from behind her. Turning around once more, she saw James get up and run to their dorm's exit.

"Hey Potter, there's this lovely rule called curfew?" Lily said dryly.

"I gotta go, I'm gonna be late!" he said, looking back at her momentarily.

"But where..." she began, but he had already left. "Dammit! Potter! Come back!" she yelled, and gave an angry sigh. He'd better have a very good explanation for this. she fumed, and raced off after him. However, in the few short seconds it took her to get out into the hallway, he had already vanished.

"What the hell?" Lily said as she listened intently, and heard nothing. "It's not possible! He couldn't just disappear!" She stood in silence, completely puzzled. After a few moments, she realized that she would just have to wait for him to come back. Walking back into the common room with a sigh, she sat on one of the couches by the fireplace and prepared herself for a long night.

James heaved a sigh of relief as he heard Lily walk away. He pressed his forehead to the cool stone panel that was the entrance to the secret passageway, willing everything to just go away. Once again, time caught up with him. "Crap!" he whispered quietly as he caught a glance at his watch, and immediately raced off down the tunnel. The guys are gonna be so pissed at me. he thought as he came out of the exit, right near their appointed meeting place.

At the sound of his footsteps, the two boys standing there turned to look at him. One look at the expressions on their faces confirmed his suspicions, and he winced inwardly. Oh boy. Here we go. he thought, and plastered a smile on his face.

"Hey guys. Sorry I'm late." he said, keeping his voice light.

"Where the hell were you?" Sirius said in an angry whisper. "Remus is just about to transform!"

So much for trying to be cheerful. he thought angrily, his mood quickly turning sour. "Back off, okay! I got held up!" he snapped back.

"Whatever," Peter said. "Just throw the Cloak over us and we'll go."

"Shit! The Cloak!" James exclaimed, hitting himself on the forehead. "It's on the couch in the Common Room!"

"It's WHERE?" Sirius yelled. A nearby painting roused itself sleepily.

"You boys should be in bed." the elegant woman said, and yawned hugely.

"Don't worry, Lucinda." James smiled charmingly. "We'll be back soon." The other two smiled and nodded as well, looking as innocent as possible.

The painting smiled benevolently. "Children these days..." she said, shaking her head and closing her eyes. The boys waited with bated breath until she began to snore. Dropping the fake smile from his face, Peter whirled on James.

"God dammit, James." Peter hissed, looking out of the corner of his eye at Sirius, who nodded his approval. "Where the hell is your head? Have you stopped thinking?"

James was about to make an angry reply when Sirius beat him to the punch. "What were you doing that got you so distracted and that you won't tell us about?" he accused.

"Look, I was talking to Lily and lost track of time! Not such a big deal! I don't need you two mothering me, too! 'Oh, Jamesie, where have you been? We were so worried!'" James said angrily, putting on a nasal woman's voice.

Sirius suddenly looked calm. "Ah," he said mock-wisely, "I get it. You were thinking with the head below the belt. Can't really blame you, the bitch is hot."

Peter shook his head. "You could do so much better than her, James." he said mockingly.

James' eyes narrowed. "What's the matter with you, Peter? And you, Sirius?" he said, trying vainly to restrain his temper.

"What's the matter? YOU'RE what's the matter! You're not yourself anymore! You never prank, never hang out with us and all you talk about is Evans! Don't you see what that bitch is doing to you?" Sirius spat.

James had never longed to punch his best friend in the face more than that moment. He stood there, anger blazing from his eyes, then turned on his heel abruptly and started walking towards the exterior door.

"Come on. Wouldn't want to be late, would we." he said ironically, not looking back. Pushing open the door, he walked out into the cool night air. Hearing footsteps behind him, he waited until the other two boys were next to him.

The three strode towards the Weeping Willow and transformed wordlessly. Peter slipped between the thrashing branches and pressed the knot, effectively freezing the tree. Together, the three animals entered the Shrieking Shack and found Remus, who stared at them with red eyes.

The giant black dog padded up to the werewolf and wagged its tail. The werewolf's began to wag as well. Once each animal had greeted the werewolf, they exited the Shack and headed out to the Forbidden Forest, the stag to the left, the werewolf in the middle and the black dog on the other side. The rat followed close behind.

The four animals spent most of the night exploring the Forest. However, there seemed to be a kind of tension between them; on previous nights, they often played together and yet tonight, they merely walked around, stiffly formal. The werewolf seemed puzzled by this turn of events. But still, they continued their exploration, on this dark and windless night when their only illumination was the full moon. As they entered an unknown section of the Forest, a dark cloud passed across the moon, cutting off their light entirely.

Suddenly, as the four animals entered a dark clearing, both werewolf and dog stopped dead. The stag and rat looked at them in confusion. The werewolf's hackles went up and the dog growled softly. The stag seemed to understand the signal and immediately faced the darkness, horns lowered in defense. The rat squeaked its fear and immediately disappeared.

Leaves began to rustle from across the clearing. The sounds grew closer and seemed to surround the three remaining animals, who quickly formed a protective circle.

Abruptly, the sounds stopped. The three animals waited, tense with anxiety and fear. For a few nervous moments, nothing happened. Then, rythmic footsteps approached. The stag listened intently, counting the leg beats. They were fast, rythmic and very, very numerous.

The creature stopped directly in front of them. As if on cue, the cloud passed and the clearing was illuminated in a pale silver light.

The first thing James saw was a leg. One large, brown, hairy leg. As he looked up, the legs joined up into a monstrous, hairy body. Holy fuck. James thought dazedly. A Quintaped.

The quintaped stomped each of its five legs in turn. From the ring of creatures encircling the trio, there were answering thumps. There's no way we can fight off one of the things, much less the entire quintaped clan! James thought, panicking. He looked nervously at his two friends, who seemed as nervous as he.

The werewolf, sensing the futility of the situation, raised its snout to the moon and howled a cry of anguish and dispair. The dog joined its voice to the werewolf. The two howled on and on, as James tried desperately to analyze the situation. Slowly, the black dog began to back away, still howling, and the stag and werewolf followed suit.

The lead quintaped snarled, and followed them. The ring of furry brown creatures closed tighter and tighter as the situation suddenly became clear. They were trapped.

Lily sat bolt upright on the couch on which she had been dozing as an eerie howl floated into the room. What the hell is that? she thought anxiously as she padded over to the window and peered out.

LILY!!! the voiced shrilled in her head, and she jumped.

AAGH! What? WHAT? she thought back.

Listen to me right now. On the couch, there is a silvery blanket. Take it.

Lily was confused. A blanket? But...

DO IT! This is no time to argue!

Her head ringing from the voice's reprimand, she grabbed the aforementioned blanket. Okay, blanket. Now what?

Put it on. It's an Invisibility Cloak. Filch is up already and you need to avoid him. Then run to your practice room and get your sword.

My sword? I don't even have a sword! Can't I just bring my wand? And an Invisibility Cloak? Really? What's happening? Lily asked frantically.

Too many questions and not enough time! Get your wand, borrow your teacher's sword and put on the Cloak. GET MOVING! The voice sounded almost afraid.

Lily grabbed her wand and stuck it in the waistband of her pyjama pants. Throwing the Cloak over her head, she raced out of the room and then stopped dead.

Now what? the voice asked impatiently.

It's Filch. You don't want me to get caught, do you? Lily thought back, the voice's fear infecting her.

For heaven's sake, you're invisible! Just go! the voice snapped, and Lily obeyed without a second thought.

She sprinted in front of Filch, the Cloak bouncing as she ran. The caretaker barely blinked an eye, which reassured her greatly. Running to her practice area, she grabbed her teacher's sword from its bracket and paused.

Okay, sword. Now, will you please tell me what's going on?

Still no time! Go find a broomstick and get ready to fly.

Lily's eyes widened. Whoa, I draw the line RIGHT THERE! There is no way in my life I am ever getting on a broom of my own volition!

Dammit Lily, you have to do this of your own free will! Remember that prophecy I told you about? Somebody important is under attack, now get your ass in gear and MOVE!

ATTACK? Oh my god! Lily raced off at a dead run towards her own dorms.

Where on earth are you going? the voice shrieked at her. This is no time to get dressed!

The Quidditch Pitch is too far away, all the school brooms are locked up and Potter keeps his in his room. Lily thought back as she hurtled up the stairs to the statue, the unicorn sliding out of the way. As she raced up the following set of stairs and burst into the room, she paused, panicked that she might have woken Potter.

In the far right corner, next to his mirror.

Thanks, but I'm trying not to wake him up. I don't exactly want him to think I'm stealing his broom. Lily replied.

He's not even here! the voice insisted. Lily risked a quick movement and the bed was indeed empty and still made.

"I hate it when you're right." Lily muttered to herself, and strode to the appropriate corner. Grasping the Silver Arrow, she threw the window wide and mounted the broom nervously.

Good grief, girl, the thing isn't going to bite you! Lives are at stake! shrieked the voice, and Lily shook herself brusquely. Biting her lip, she kicked off from the ground and hovered momentarily, swaying. She pushed her hands along the shaft and the broom shot forward into the cool night air.

Next time I see Potter, I'll have to thank him for the flying lessons. she mused.

Think about it later, you're heading for the Forbidden Forest, straight ahead. the voice chided. Listen.

Lily heard the eerie howl again, this time joined by another voice. Okay, saving someone important from random creatures. Gotcha. she thought back, as she directed the broom towards the sound.

You have no idea just how important. the voice whispered softly, but the readhead wasn't listening.

"Alright, here goes." she whispered to herself. Lily steeled herself, carefully drew the sword and took a deep breath. "LUMOS MAXIMA!"