Lily woke up at about nine the next morning. There was no one in the room. She guessed that her friends went to breakfast. Without having to push the button, Madame Pomfrey walked in.

"Good morning Lily. How are you feeling?"

"Good thank you."

"The headmaster should be here soon to talk to you. Eat some breakfast." Poppy said gently handing her a breakfast tray.

Lily ate her breakfast alone. She was surprisingly hungry but realized she hasn't eaten anything yesterday. She stayed in bed waiting for Dumbledore to come.

She waited for about half an hour. Dumbledore came in and sat in a chair at the end of Lily's bed.

"Good morning Miss. Evans. I need to talk to you about what happened yesterday."

Lily got slightly nervous. She thought she had explained everything.

"Lily, after you told me about Jack's mother, and how you saw what happened, I got very curious. Then when you told me about Emma, I thought it would be best to go check on the house to make sure everything was ok."

"It wasn't…was it professor?"

"No Lily it wasn't. I found Emma in the living room and her parents in the kitchen. They are dead."

Lily looked away from Dumbledore. Her eyes stung with tears. She wasn't going to let them fall. She took a deep breath and turned back.

"What happened?"

"It seems that they were attacked by a dark wizard. There have been rumors but I don't know much."

Lily could tell Dumbledore was lying. He looked away from Lily as she said that. She kept her mouth shut and let Dumbledore continue.

"I sent for the ministry when I found them. There is an investigation now being started."

Lily nodded her head. She couldn't believe something like this was happening to her.

"Miss Evans, I haven't announced to the school yet what has happened. I am going to do so at dinner tonight. It is still the holiday break though so I'll make another speech when everyone returns. I feel it is necessary to do one now though. You should be out of the hospital wing by then. Please don't tell your friends. At least wait until tonight. I must be going. Good day Lily."

Lily didn't say anything. She watched Dumbledore leave. Lily laid down suddenly feeling very lonely.

Lily got out of the hospital an hour before dinner. She was thinking about skipping it. She didn't want to have to hear what Dumbledore had to say. She didn't want to face her friends. But her hunger was overpowering her. She went straight to the Great Hall and waited for people to start arriving.

It seemed to take forever. Eventually teachers and students started filing in. Lily saw her friends walk through the doors. She turned her head away not wanted to make eye contact. She heard them sit around her and could feel their eyes on her. She looked up. Remus, James and Sirius were staring at her from across the table. To her right was Jess and to her left were Maggie and Jack. Lily wanted to say something-anything- to them but nothing came out of her mouth so she just put her head down and focused on her empty plate.

Lily thought she was going to be sick when Dumbledore stood up and all the chatter in the hall ceased. She couldn't bring her head up.

"Good evening. I have a serious announcement to make. I know only a small fraction of students are here so it will be necessary for me to repeat this once the holidays are over. However, I thought it would be good to inform you." Dumbledore paused. Lily looked up and he was staring at her. She quickly put her head down to avoid her friends seeing her cry. She couldn't hide it though. They saw her and knew something was seriously wrong.

"Emma Withers of Gryffindor house and her family were found dead yesterday morning in their house."

Lily started crying harder. She felt Maggie grip the table hard. She could have sworn Jack passed out but she couldn't bring herself to look at anyone.

"There is an investigation going on as to find out what happened. This is a very tragic event. I will let you know any updates I am given. Now I think you should eat or head up to bed." Dumbledore sat down and whispers among the other tables broke out. Lily felt someone grab her arm.

"Come on Lil."

For the first time Lily looked up and into the bright blue eyes of James. He pulled her up and they, as well as their friends, went to the Gryffindor tower.

*

They all sat down around a fire. They sat in silence for a while.

"Lily, how did you know before us?"

Lily looked at Jess, "I can't tell you." She said quietly.

 "Why not?" Sirius asked.

"Because I can't," Lily said started to get aggravated.

"Lily-what's going on? How did you kn—"

"What!? Do you want me to tell you how I watched her die? Do I need to explain the pain I felt when she died?? Huh? Is that what you want to hear? Well when you know what it's like to feel that, you come find me and I'll gladly explain. Until then, butt out and leave me alone!" Lily was screaming. She felt so much anger. She stormed out of the portrait hole leaving her very confused friends in the common room.

Lily found herself outside by the lake. Her emotions had been building up and it was only a matter of time before she lost it. She realized she would have to explain herself eventually but she was too frustrated to do it now.

She was breathing heavily and wished to be anywhere but at Hogwarts. She couldn't go see Kerrie since she told her not to go back. She did have the silver ring though. Kerrie had said it would get her to many places. Lily played with the ring for a couple minutes then slid it on her finger—instantly gone from Hogwarts.

*

"Do you think we should go look for her?" James asked.

"No she needs some time to cool off," Remus said.

"Remus?"

"What?"

"Weren't you the one who chased after her Christmas day?"

"Yeah why?"

"Well…where did you go?"

"She had to see Dumbledore."

"About what?"

"Listen this isn't my story to tell. You want to know what's going on then you have to ask Lily, not me."

Remus left the group and went to the boys' dorm. The rest of the group sat in silence, not knowing what to do.

*

Lily found herself in the middle of a street. It looked like she was in a small village. She turned around in a circle. She could see Hogwarts in the distance. Lily started to walk down the street. There were many shops and people were walking around. Lily saw a faded sign that read "Hogsmeade". She instantly recognized the name. It was the village she had overheard a couple third years talking about last year. Lily's curiosity was starting to get the better of her. She really wanted to look around, but as she caught another glance of Hogwarts she restrained herself. She thought about her dorm room and slipped the ring on, transporting there.

*

Lily landed with a thump on her bed. She looked around quickly to make sure no one was there. Relieved that she was alone, she took a deep breath. Lily didn't want to confront her friends, so she closed the curtains around her four-poster, curled up in a call and fell into a deep sleep.