Thanks again to all of my reviewers! I really appreciate them.

Chapter Sixteen

When they finally returned to Gryffindor Tower, they found that Grace and Jennifer were the only ones still up. As it was nearly three in the morning, everyone else had given up on waiting for their missing housemates to return, and had gone to bed. As soon as they heard the portrait hole open, the two girls jumped up to see who it was, and nearly cried with relief when they saw their friends.

"You idiots! Why didn't you tell us you guys were going after them!" Jennifer exclaimed, as she punched Sirius on the arm. "We would have come to!"

"Exactly," Sirius said, rubbing his arm. "We didn't want to put you two in danger. Plus, we didn't exactly plan on flying out of our dormitory window."

Before Jennifer could respond, Grace asked them, "Are you guys all right? What happened to you? Why didn't you come back with Robert and Michael?"

They had just finished explaining the night's events when Madame Pomfrey entered the common room.

The next morning was a Saturday, so everyone decided to sleep in as they all needed the rest. As they settled down at the Gryffindor table for breakfast, Professor Dumbledore approached their group. He looked unusually solemn, as he asked all eight of them to come to his office when they finished eating.

"I wonder what he wants with us," Grace said, as they approached the stone gargoyle leading to his office.

"I don't know. Maybe he'll explain why Voldemort is so interested in Lily and Michelle." Remus said with a frown, remembering how they'd almost been captured last night. None of them had a problem with saying Voldemort's name. As far as they were concerned, being afraid of his name only gave Voldemort more power, something they were unwilling to do.

"But then, why would he ask all of us to come?" Jennifer said, as they reached the gargoyle. "Why not just talk to Lily and Michelle?"

"Probably because he knows we'd tell you guys everything anyway." Michelle said. "Does anyone know the password?"

"Of course," Sirius said, smiling slightly. "Pepper Imps." The gargoyle moved aside immediately, allowing them to pass. Sirius smirked at the surprised expressions on the girls' faces. "What? I've been in here enough; I ought to know the password."

Remus noticed that Michelle was shaking slightly as they walked up the spiral staircase, so he wrapped his arm around her waist, trying to calm her down. "You all right?" He asked, looking at her in concern.

Michelle smiled nervously at him, saying, "Yeah. I'm just a bit worried about what Dumbledore's going to tell us. If it is to do with me and Lily, that is."

Remus nodded as they reached the door to Dumbledore's office. James pulled the door open and stepped back, allowing the girls to go in first. Dumbledore wasn't there yet. The Marauders smirked slightly at the awed expressions on the girls' faces, as they looked around the extraordinary office. They had all been there too many times to find it all that impressive now.

"I'm glad to see you like my office so much. Now, please, take a seat." Dumbledore said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. The girls all jumped, as they hadn't expected him to suddenly show up. Remus and the other Marauders were far to used to this sort of thing from Dumbledore to be surprised.

"What's this all about, sir?" Lily asked as she sat down in one of the comfortable looking chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk.

"First, I wanted to commend all of you for your bravery last night. You dealt with dangers that most grown wizards could not have stood. For that, I am awarding each of you who were involved in the incident fifty points. And, there will be no punishments for your disobedience," Dumbledore said, as he smiled at the Marauders. Then, he returned to his earlier, more somber expression, and his eyes seemed to lose their ever present twinkle.

"However, I am afraid that you may not like what else I have to say. You are undoubtedly wondering why Lord Voldemort is so interested in you two," he said, looking over at Lily and Michelle, who were both fidgeting nervously in their seats. Remus took hold of Michelle's hand as she looked up at the Headmaster.

"Yes sir. I mean, we're just kids. What could he possibly want with us?" Michelle asked.

Dumbledore sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Unfortunately, Miss Cooke, I only have a theory. I do not know for sure."

"What do you think it is, sir?" James asked, leaning forward in his seat next to Lily.

Dumbledore paused before answering, looking directly at Michelle. "Do any of you know what a Book of Histories is?"

Sirius and Michelle nodded, but everyone else merely looked at him in confusion. "It's a sort of family history. Most of the older pure-blood families have one." Sirius said, surprising everyone except Professor Dumbledore. The Headmaster nodded, signaling that Sirius should continue his explanation. "A Book of Histories has all the information about a family's most ancient ancestors. Most of them also hold a lot of ancient spells, and secrets that belong to that family and that family alone. Some of them have even been known to hold ancient prophecies about the family. They are usually passed down to the oldest child in each generation, once the previous holder has died. The person who inherits the Book is the only one who can open it, not even their other family members can do it. The Book my family has will only open when the holder really needs to be able to read it. They're really rare, only the most ancient and 'traditional' wizarding families have them nowadays." Sirius finished his explanation with a touch of disgust. Everyone knew that by 'traditional', he meant prejudiced at Dark-Arts obsessed.

Dumbledore nodded once more at Sirius. "An excellent explanation, Mr. Black. Miss Cooke, can you tell us anything else? Perhaps something about your own family's Book?" He spoke almost as if they were in class, having a discussion about a particularly interesting subject.

Michelle looked a little confused, wondering where this was going, but she answered nonetheless. "While most families only have one Book of Histories, mine has two. One for the oldest boy in each generation, and one for the oldest girl. Both of these Books are said to hold important information, but no one has been able to open the girl's Book for centuries, supposedly."

"Why not?" Peter asked in surprise. "Shouldn't the oldest girl in each generation have been able to get into it?"

Michelle smirked slightly. "That's the thing. My family is notorious for only having boys. Believe it or not, I was the first girl born into my family for nearly two hundred years."

The others looked at her in shock. That was really extraordinary.

"So does this mean you've got your family's Book with you?" Grace asked, looking interested.

"Yes," Michelle nodded. "That's actually the one family tradition I don't have a problem with. I think that may also be part of the reason why my brother resents me so much; having one of these Books gives the holder more power in the so-called family hierarchy. My brother couldn't get one, because my cousin Derrick is two days older than him, and he I got one simply for being born a girl. Despite the fact that he's clearly the family favorite, I'll be the 'matriarch' of the family when my grandmother is dead and I'm old enough to take over. The Book's in my trunk. I've never been able to open it before now, because like Sirius said, you can only get into it if you absolutely need to. My mother told me that I'd know how to open it when the time came. But sir," Michelle said, turning back to face Professor Dumbledore. "I still don't understand what this has to do with my and Lily's situation."

"It is simple, Miss Cooke. If my theory is correct, the reason Voldemort wants you and Miss Evans can be found in your book." Dumbledore said, leaning forward slightly in his chair, as he spoke. "You see, there was a prophecy made centuries ago, concerning the rise of a dark order, and the ones with the power and will to fight the leader of this order. The fact that the prophecy was made was written in my own family's Book of Histories, because it was one of my ancestors who made it. The contents of the prophecy would have been written in the Books of the families it concerns. Clearly, Voldemort has one copy of the prophecy, and it is my belief that he thinks you are the other one it talks about. If this is true, then the contents of the prophecy will also be found in your own Book."

"Wow." Michelle said, looking thunderstruck.

Lily leaned forward. "But sir, what does that have to do with me? My family is nothing but Muggles. How could this concern me?"

Dumbledore sighed. "That, I am afraid I do not know. However, I do believe that if we can find out precisely what the prophecy says, that will all be explained."

Twenty minutes later, Michelle and the other girls could be found in their dorm room, Michelle practically tearing her side of the room apart in search of her Book. Suddenly, she stood up, smiling in triumph. "I found it!" Michelle exclaimed, holding a huge and obviously ancient book in her hands.

"Well, then let's go back to Dumbledore's office; he did say it would be best if we didn't take the risk of anyone finding out what we were doing." Jennifer said, as they hurried down the stairs and out of the common room.

The girls hurried back to the Headmaster's office, where everyone else was waiting for them.

Upon returning to Dumbledore's office, Michelle carefully placed the ancient book on Dumbledore's desk. She paused as everyone gathered around to look at what she was doing. Michelle remembered her mother saying that she'd know how to open the Book, when she needed to get into it.

The others watched in astonishment as Michelle seemed to go into a kind of daze. Her eyes became glazed over as she pulled out her wand. Tapping the Book twice on each corner, Michelle muttered some sort of incantation under her breath, but no one else could hear what she'd said. Suddenly, the entire Book seemed to glow bright blue, and it shook slightly, rising a few inches off of the desk. Everyone stared at the Book, wondering what was going on. Then, the Book dropped back onto the desk as it stopped glowing and lay still. As soon as the Book touched the desk once again, Michelle returned to normal, and she seemed not to know what had happened.

"What was all that?" Peter asked in bewilderment.

"What was what?" Michelle asked in confusion.

"The Book started glowing, and you were acting kind of funny." Sirius said.

"Oh. Maybe that's what happens when you open the Book." Michelle said, as she reached for it.

The Book did open, but she had no idea how they were supposed to find the prophecy – or if it was even written in there. Michelle looked up at Dumbledore in confusion. "Sir, how are we supposed to find the prophecy? I this Book has thousands of things written in it."

Sirius joined Michelle in front of the Book. "Well, I don't know how it is with your family, but with mine, I think all you have to do to actually find anything in the Book of Histories is ask. This might sound stupid, but you could just try talking to it, ask it to show you the prophecy. You might want to say who made the prophecy, though."

Michelle nodded, and feeling quite foolish, turned back to the Book. Once again, she tapped the Book with her wand saying, "Um, hello. Um, I'm the current Holder of my family's Book of Histories. Could you show me the prophecy about our family that was made by… wait, sir, who did make this prophecy?" She asked, looking at Dumbledore.

He smiled slightly and said, "Godric Gryffindor."

"Gryffindor made the prophecy?" James asked in awe.

Dumbledore simply nodded, saying, "Not many people know that he was a Seer. He was one of the first."

"Right," Michelle nodded, turning back to the Book. "So, um, could you show me the prophecy made by Godric Gryffindor? If it's written in here?"

Once more, the Book glowed, red this time. Then, the pages of the Book began to turn, faster and faster, until they finally reached what was apparently the correct page. The Book stopped glowing, and became still.

Everyone gathered around the desk to read what it said. Michelle read the prophecy out loud, not understanding what it meant.

In an age unknown, there will rise an Order of terrible power. The leader, the descendent of the master of vipers, will cover the world in darkness. The leader's followers will be many and powerful. Many will fight, and many will fall. Before the Dark Order reaches its' height, two will arise from youth who will have the strength to fight. One, a child of pure blood, will join with a child of the moon. Together, they will have the power to defeat the strongest of the Dark Lord's followers. The other, who will be born of the lower caste, shall join another to give birth to one who will have the power to defeat the Dark Lord himself. Together, these children shall have the ability to bring about the downfall of this Lord. The Dark Lord will recognize his foes because they shall be among the bravest and most intelligent of their age.

"Wow." Lily said. Everyone seemed to be in absolute shock.

"Professor, I don't understand. How could Voldemort know that the prophecy is talking about me and Lily? It doesn't even specify our gender, and there certainly aren't any other clues about us in it." Michelle said in confusion.

"Didn't you see what the last line said? 'They shall be among the bravest and most intelligent of their age'." Remus said, looking over the passage once again. "Gryffindor House is known for its bravery, and you two are near the top of the year. Of course, so are James, Sirius and I, but neither of us is a muggle-born. And I think we can safely assume that this prophecy concerns you, Michelle, because it is written in your Book."

"True. So, what are we going to do about it?" Michelle asked, looking around at her friends.

Finally, Professor Dumbledore spoke up once more. "Short of putting the two of you under house arrest, I do not believe there is much we can do at the moment. However, that does not mean that I will not do all that I can to ensure your safety," Dumbledore said to Michelle and Lily. "It is now more clear to me than ever before that Voldemort does indeed present a threat to the safety to our world. Therefore, I would like for the eight of you to take part in extra Defense Against the Dark Arts training sessions, after classes. If you agree, Professors McGonagall, Cartwright, and myself will be your teachers."

The students looked both surprised and pleased with the Headmaster's offer. Looking around at everyone, James spoke up. "Sir, I think I can speak for everyone here when I say that we'd be proud to take lessons from you."

Remus and the others nodded. "We'll do whatever we can to help fight Voldemort, sir."

Dumbledore smiled at them all. "Well," he said, standing up and signaling to them that the meeting was over, "I let me say once more that I am truly very proud of all of you. You have shown more bravery than most adults would if put in your places. Thank you."