TOY SOLDIERS

CHAPTER THREE-THE FIRST 'GIFT'

I quickly folded the paper up and stuffed it into the pocket of my robe. No one seemed to notice my reaction.

"Hey, Hillary," Sirius said suddenly turning to me.

I jumped a mile because I was so deep in thought about that letter.

"Yeah?" I asked clearing my throat.

"What color dress robe are you going to wear?" he asked.

I looked into his face.

He was being serious.

"Probably a light blue…why?" I asked now a bit wary of his question.

"Want to get a matching dress robe myself," he grinned.

I playfully smacked him upside the back of the head.

"Can't you be serious for once?" I asked but laughed.

The letters words still burned into my mind.

"I am," he said.

He's serious! I realized.

I sighed.

"That's fine,"

Sirius nodded and went back to talking with Peter.

Remus was pushing the food around on his plate.

"You okay?" I asked softly.

"Huh? Oh yeah…just fine," Remus assured me with a smile.

Again…there was something bugging him.

I didn't push him and went back to eating.

The bell rang and we headed to our first class, Transfiguration with Professor Marsen.

Lily and I sat in front of the class together on the Gryffindor side. On the other side was the Slytherins.

Behind Lily and I were James and Sirius. Then Peter and Remus.

I decided to tell Lily about the letter.

I showed it to her while Professor Marsen was writing the instruction on the board. Lily leaned in while the teacher was waving her wand gently at the board and the instructions appeared gracefully in script.

"Who sent you this?" she whispered shocked.

I shrugged and began copying down the instructions.

We would be learning to transfigure a puppy into a full grown dog. It was called the Canis Plewus charm.

"This is horrible," Lily whispered folding the letter up and slipping it inside my bag. "Someone is obviously obsessed with you or something."

I didn't answer.

"You should go to Remus," Lily whispered as she too began copying down the instructions. "After all, he's the Prefect for Gryffindor."

A girl named Ashlee Simmons was the girl prefect for Gryffindor.

"No. I can't tell anyone," I said looking at her. "Suppose this is just a joke? I would have worried everyone for no reason."

"And suppose it's not?" Lily argued back. "You could be in real danger. Besides, Remus will be discreet and confidential. You know that."

I sighed.

"Fine,"

We went on with the lesson.

After that we headed to Charms with Professor Ryan.

There was a break for an hour before we headed to Potions with Professor Kendal and then History of Magic with Professor Adams.

Remus was in the common room reading a book. James and Lily were snuggled together in a corner just enjoying each others' company. Sirius and Peter were playing a game of Wizards Chess in the opposite corner.

I gathered up my courage and stepped over to Remus. I sat down beside him on the couch.

"Hi," I said softly.

"Hey," he said looking up from the book and meeting my gaze. "Everything okay?"

His Prefects badge caught the light and shimmered. His tie had been loosened a bit and his robe was opened exposing the vest and belt of the slacks underneath.

I hesitated.

"Hillary? Please if there is something wrong, please tell me. I want to help you," he said slowly closing the book and placing it beside him.

His blue eyes were locked on mine.

I reluctantly reached into my pocket and pulled out the letter. I handed it to him.

"This came this morning with the owl post," I explained.

His eyes scanned the letter then went back to mine.

"I thought you looked a bit pale when this came," he said. "We have to go to the Headmaster."

"No!" I said. "Please, don't go to Headmaster Troy just yet. Suppose this is just a joke? I would feel like a complete fool."

Remus sighed. "But if it isn't, you could be in real trouble. I don't want anything to happen to you,"

"Let's just see if anymore come okay?" I pleaded.

Our eyes were locked on each other. There was an awkward silence before Remus replied.

He folded up the letter and slipped it into his pocket.

"Fine. I'm keeping this though," he said. "The minute you get another one, I want to know right away. Got it?"

I nodded.

Suddenly, I realized something. He was watching you this morning. How else would he know you were pale?

I didn't know if that was a good thing or what. He probably just cares about you like the other three meatballs.

"So what did Lily and you talk about?" I asked casually.

"Oh. She just made it clear that she and I were just friends," Remus said. "I respect that. Besides, I think it was a defense mechanism over Jessica. I was on the rebound."

He added with a grin.

I grinned back.

His grin slowly faded. "So you're going with Sirius to the Christmas dance huh?"

"Yeah," I said. "At least I won't be dancing with myself. Why don't you ask someone?"

That literally took all my strength to ask. It was totally forced.

Remus shook his head. "I think I'll just go by myself. I'm not much of a dancer anyway,"

I nodded.

Silence again before Sirius let out a loud raspberry sounding noise that sounded more like someone blowing up a balloon and then letting the air out.

"SIRIUS!" Lily cried disgusted.

"GOD! I'M CHOKING HERE! OPEN THE WINDOW!" James cried.

Peter was beside himself rolling with laughter.

Sirius blushed.

"Must've been what I had for breakfast this morning,"

I burst out laughing too. Then Remus.

"Just no one light a match in here or you blow us all to kingdom come," I laughed even harder.

They all began laughing harder too.

After that, we headed to our next classes.

Later on that evening, we were still laughing over Sirius.

Some of the first years sprayed some kind of magical mist that smelled like cherries in the common room. They wouldn't go ten feet of Sirius.

"I think you traumatized them," Lily said frowning but she was laughing too.

Sirius was sitting next to me with his arm draped over my shoulders. Remus wouldn't even look at me for some reason. Sirius' wavy thick black hair was cut neatly and close to his head. His blue eyes twinkled merrily.

"If you do it again, you'll kill Hillary. She'll have to wear a mask," James grinned. "Or blast her off into space."

We laughed again, but Remus didn't join in.

"What's wrong, Moony?" James asked.

They had nicknames for each other. James was Prongs. Remus was Moony. Peter was Wormtail and Sirius was Padfoot. They were also Animagus' which means they transformed into animals.

James was a stag, Remus was a werewolf, Peter was a rat and Sirius was a big black dog. Lily and I didn't change though, but we kept their secret.

"I'm not feeling well. I think tomorrow is a full moon," he muttered.

"Don't worry," James said. "We'll change and use the tunnels. The map is being kept by Lily."

The 'map' was called The Marauders Map. All four of them came up with this map that shows where everyone was and what they were doing. It was rather ingenious actually.

Remus didn't respond but grumbled something.

"I'm off to bed. Tired," he said as he got up, stretched and began walking off toward the boys' dorm.

"Night everyone." he called over his shoulder.

"Night!" we called back in unison.

James followed behind Remus.

Then, Lily and Peter leaving Sirius and I alone.

Sirius turned to me.

"Well, I'm off to bed too," he said yawning and stretching. "Good-night, Hillary."

"Night," I said softly.

He got up and left the common room. Finally, I realized I was just as tired and got up and headed into the girls' dorm.

The next morning, we all met down in the Great Hall as usual.

The owl post arrived and once again Chloe landed on my shoulder with a letter attached to her leg.

Remus was sitting next to me. On my left was Lily. Across from us were James, Peter and Sirius.

My heart pounded as I untied the letter and gave Chloe a treat. She took off and left the Hall. I unfolded the letter. Remus leaned in close to me to also read it. Lily did too.

This time it was a different message.

YOUR FIRST PRESENT WILL ARRIVE LATER.

THIS WILL SHOW YOU HOW MUCH I CARE ABOUT YOU.

"Another letter?" Remus asked quietly. "This is obviously legitimate."

"We don't know that. This person could just be bluffing," I said to him. "Besides, you promised."

Lily looked at Remus before turning back to James.

"I know," Remus said quietly and softly. "But I'm getting a bad feeling."

I put a hand on his arm.

"I will be okay," I reassured him before I turned back to my breakfast.

I felt his eyes on me for a few minutes longer before he too, continued eating.

We headed to Potions for our first class. Professor Kendal was standing in front of the classroom. He was in his late 60's with silver gray hair that reached his shoulder and dark, serious eyes. He was dressed in dark green robes.

"Today, we will be making the Gunget Potion," he said looking around the classroom at each student. "Can anyone tell me what that potion is used for?"

Lily raised her hand.

"Miss Evans,"

"The Gunget Potion is used to cure extreme nervousness," she replied. "It's similar to the Muggle panic attack then the potion is used only for that reason."

"Correct," Professor Kendal said. "Ten points to Gryffindor. Here are the ingredients."

He waved his wand at the board and the ingredients appeared in neat print. We began copying them down.

Lily leaned close.

"I'm also getting a bad feeling about these letters," she whispered. "Someone is obviously not playing around."

I smiled. "I know. But we really don't know what will happen,"

"That's what scares me," Lily said quietly as she returned to her ingredients.

We began adding the ingredients to the potion.

About an hour later, a first year carrying a package entered the dungeon. Professor Kendal looked up.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"I have something for Hillary Willis," the first year said nervously.

Professor Kendal nodded, signaling that it was okay for the first year to come in and give me whatever she had in her hand.

The first year came over to me and handed me the package.

"Who's it from?" I asked taking it from her.

"I don't know," the first year said.

"Someone surely had to give it to you," Lily said.

"Actually, a note was left for me in my book telling me where exactly to pick this up," the first year replied.

She turned and left the room.

Sirius and Remus leaned forward to see better.

It felt light, but oddly squishy.

I began un-wrapping it. The rest of the class watched intrigued. A warm, wet substance leaked out onto the desk. It was red.

I finally got the package opened. I jumped to my feet and screamed.

It was Chloe. Someone killed her with a letter opener. She had been stabbed several times.

I clamped a hand over my mouth and fled from the dungeon. I reached the girls' bathroom and entered one of the stalls. I vomited.

When I was done, I left the stall and wiped the corner of my mouth with the sleeve of my robe. I went over to the sink and turned on the faucet. I pooled cold water in my palms and drank some, hoping it would settle my stomach.

It didn't work. I heard someone entering the bathroom next.

I looked up.

It was Lily and Remus.

"You're not allowed in here," I said to Remus with a shaky smile. "You could get into trouble."

"I don't care," he said shaking his head. "You have to agree now that whoever this person is not playing around."

I sighed. "Yeah,"

Then, tears formed in my eyes. "Poor Chloe. She was a gift from my mom for school…plus she was my best friend,"

Lily stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me, pulling me close in a hug.

I rested my chin on Lily's shoulder and sobbed.

Remus stared at his feet while Lily hugged me. When Lily released me, I went over to Remus and threw my arms around him too. He was startled at first but then he slowly wrapped his arms around me pulling me against him. I pressed my right cheek against his shoulder. I felt safe with him somehow. I briefly closed my eyes enjoying the embrace.

Remus cleared his throat and pulled back.

"Thank you two for being so understanding," I said softly wiping my eyes with the back of my hands. "You really are the greatest friends anyone could ask for."

Lily grinned. "Just don't tell James and Sirius that. They'd take it further,"

I managed a grin and sniffled.

"What are we going to do now?" I asked straightening out my robe and tie.

I ran a hand through my spiral curly hair and turned to Lily and Remus.

"We're going to find out who is doing this," Remus said narrowing his eyes.