Author Note: Hello mateys! How goes it? Haha. Sorry for the delay… again, but what the hey, I'm on summer break, I don't really have a deadline and I have a summer job, so… just keep that in mind and don't give up on me. I'll try to update as much as possible. I just got a new computer, and will soon be getting the internet on it so the updates will be much more frequent then! Well, this is the chapter, I hope that you all enjoy it and will find it in your hearts to review. Some times those reviews give me the moral boost that I need to keep me going!
I love you all!
Aimee
The Truth isn't far behind me
Chapter
The Dark Lord
"Lily!" The frantic call from Olive found Lily in the front hall, where she was trying to shove her overloaded trunk around a small table.
"Lily!" Olive opened the front door and looked around wildly, sighing when she spotted Lily sitting there. "There you are! Come on! We're going to miss the train!"
"A bit of help would be nice," Lily snapped crossly, having been thoroughly agitated by the immovable trunk.
"Alright, alright, don't get yourself all worked up now!" Olive held up her hands as a sign of defense. "We'll just… oof! This really is stuck then, isn't it?" Olive grunted as she attempted to lift the handle. "Hold on then…. Jeff!"
A moment later a rather disheveled Jeff appeared in the open doorway.
"You called?"
"Um, yea, a little help?" Olive indicated the trunk.
"Oh, right… right. Wingardium Leviosa!" He pointed his wand at the trunk, but as luck should fall, the trunk shot up a bit too quickly, catching Lily in the chin. "Oh! Lily. Um, here let me help you…" Jeff faltered, but in his dismay at obviously hurting Lily, he set the trunk down on her foot rather heavily.
"Jeff!" Olive scolded, watching Lily trying to stem the flow of blood from her chin by pressing her fingers over the wound. "Watch it!"
"Ouch, Jeff, you've… my foot." Lily groaned.
"Oh, sorry Lily, I didn't mean to…"
"Alright, just get it off!"
"Right then, sorry. Wingardium Leviosa!" The trunk crashed into the table making the lamp that sat upon it fall to the floor with a tremendous 'SMASH!'.
"What's going on in here?" Michael stood in the doorway, looking at the scene before him, with amusement twinkling in his eyes.
"Michael, don't just stand there, help us! We're going to miss the train, and Jeff is going to kill Lily!" Olive shouted at him, her arms flailing wildly.
"Olive, calm down. Take deep steadying breaths. Now, first things first, reparo." He pointed his wand at the lamp, which promptly returned to its normal, solid, upright position. "Next, Lily, if you don't mind, just lower your hand a bit… right then, epiderectum. Much better. Step back a bit then, Jeff, move out of the way. Locomotor trunk!" The trunk smoothly made its way down the hall, around the table and out of the door. "That's taken care of then, so you lot better get a move on, before you do miss the train!"
"Okay, come on Lily, let's go!" Olive grabbed her friend's hand and pulled her out into the lawn, where Lily briefly acknowledged the looming dark rain clouds before being shoved into the backseat of the Welch family car beside Dana.
"She's a bit nervous, don't you think?" Dana muttered to Lily out of the corner of her mouth.
Lily nodded vigorously, "I think that ever since she got her O.W.L. scores back, she's been anxious to get started with her new classes to become a healer."
"Alright, everyone in? Jeff? Where's Jeff?" Olive looked around wildly, only to find that her brother was sitting right next to her, grinning. "You should have spoken up when you knew I thought you were missing." She said coldly.
"What, and miss all that fun?"
"Shut up. OK mum, we're ready to go."
Mrs. Welch chuckled as she drove out of the driveway and out onto the road.
"Checklist time, we need to go over everything, to make sure we didn't forget any books or such…"
"Olive, don't you think it's a bit late for that now?" Lily asked tentatively, not wanting to cause her friend to erupt.
"Well, it never hurts to check." Olive said meekly, "but I suppose your right, we should just hurry up and get there. Mum, can't you go any faster?"
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Lily tumbled through the barrier between platforms nine and ten at a run, promptly losing her footing and rolling head over heel over her trunk. By the time she got herself untangled and back into the upright position, the rest of the Welch's and Dana had come through after her.
"Excellent we didn't miss the train!" Olive said happily, as though she were the sole reason for this.
"No, it doesn't appear that we even came close," Dana observed, looking at the clock which only read ten thirty.
"Well, at least this way we'll get a good compartment!" Olive replied, a bit indignantly.
"It makes no difference for me," Lily said glumly, "I'll have to sit with the other prefects for most of the trip."
"Oh, come off of it, you know you love it." The voice came from behind her.
She spun around to see who was addressing her and smiled. "Well, hello Sirius, and why would you say that?"
"Look at it this way, you'd rather sit in there yourself than to know some other sixth year girl was the Gryffindor Prefect, and not you." There was a twinkle in his eye as he smiled at her.
"Well, it wouldn't be bad if it was Dana or Olive…"
"But what if it was Pricilla, or Antigone?" Sirius smirked.
"It wouldn't be."
"Exactly, because you make sure that it's you."
Lily sighed in exasperation, "If you say so. Where are your comrades?" Lily asked, suddenly realize that this was one of the rare occasions that Sirius Black wasn't either surrounded by his friends, or by some giggling girls.
"Ah, you mean James?"
"No, I mean-"
"Well, he's over there with Moo—with Remus." Sirius looked slightly uncomfortable for a minute, but then relaxed.
"And Peter..?" She prompted.
"Oh, didn't you hear?" The smile slipped from Sirius' ridiculously handsome face.
"Hear what…?" Lily asked, almost afraid of what the answer would be.
"I can't believe you didn't hear. His Mum and little brother were… they were…"
"What?" Lily pressed, searching his face.
"They were murdered, Lily."
"What?" Lily gasped. "By who? Why?"
"Don't you read the paper? Don't you know anything about… about the man styling himself 'Lord Voldemort'?"
The name gave Lily the chills. "No… I haven't heard of him, why, is he some sort of dark wizard?"
"Some sort is an understatement. He's awful Little Flower, he really is. He's trying to kill out all of the…" He glanced at her sadly. "All of the muggle borns." He whispered the last part delicately, checking for Lily's reaction. There was none.
"Wait, Peter's pureblood…"
"His father is, but his mother isn't."
"So this man Lord Voldemort or whatever, he's evil and he wants to kill all of the… all of the people like me?" Lily asked numbly, horror in her eyes.
"Yes, but don't worry Little Flower, we won't let anything happen to you. Besides, I hear that this man, no matter how powerful he thinks he is, is still scared of Professor Dumbledore."
"And with good reason!" Lily exclaimed. "I would hate to get him cross!"
"Well, I think that goes the same for all of us."
"So, Peter, when is he coming back to school, is he coming?"
"Yes, he'll be here in a week."
"Oh. Well, I better go get my things on the train, before it's too late."
"Right, well, I'll see you at the feast then. And I'll give your regards to James for you."
"Sirius, don't you dare!" Lily shouted at him as he made his way back across the platform, but he just turned back and smiled knowingly. Shaking her head, Lily turned to her trunk and tugged it up to pull it to the train. After a moments time of looking around, she found that Olive and Dana were by the train, getting Michael and Jeff to hoist their luggage up onto the train. She sighed and made her way through the increasingly more crowded platform, and walked up beside them.
"Well, here you guys are!" She smiled at them.
"So how are you, little flower?" Dana asked, a hint of sarcasm and anger in her voice.
"What? What did I do?" Lily looked at her friend in bewilderment, frowning slightly.
"Oh, nothing! You just stood there talking to the love of my life and didn't even try to work me into the conversation!"
"What?" Lily asked incredulously, not truly believing what she was hearing. "The love of your life? Sirius Black, oh come on, you don't want him Dana, he's nothing but a hopeless flirt…"
"Yes, I could see the way he was flirting with you! Little Flower. Just because you have one of the most popular and good looking boys in the school falling at your feet doesn't mean the rest of us do!"
"Flirting?" Lily could feel burning anger coming out, "Flirting?" Lily practically shouted it. "Do you really want to know what we were talking about Dana?"
"No, Lily, I wouldn't want to divulge in your personal life."
"We were talking about Peter Pettigrew. His mother and brother were murdered over the summer! Not a very cheerful conversation for courtship was it! And you wanted to pull that crap about James, well you know as well as I do that there is NOTHING going on there! Besides, all this boils down to is your insecurities and your absolute fear of talking to the 'love of your life'!" Lily was breathing hard when she finished, her green eyes flashing.
Dana looked stricken. "I didn't… I'm sorry, Lily, I was just… Peter's mother and brother were murdered?"
"Yes, they were as a matter of fact. Murdered by a man called Lord Voldemort or something!"
Jeff and Michael had been carrying on a conversation about dragon racing, but stopped abruptly at Lily's statement, and turned to stare at her incredulously. Lily squirmed under their view, and looked around nervously.
"What is it?" she asked timidly, wondering what she could have possibly done wrong.
"Lily, we do not speak his name…" Jeff said in a slightly tense voice.
"Whose name?" Lily demanded, a bit impatiently.
"The dark lord, or so that's what he has fashioned himself. We do not speak of him."
"But, why not?" Lily pressed.
"Because he is a dark and evil wizard, we mustn't speak of him, it is considered bad luck and just… wrong."
"Yes, everywhere his name is uttered, chaos breaks out among people. He has supporters everywhere, we must all be careful." Michael added carefully.
"But, it's just a name. It's preposterous. We say 'Satan' don't we? I don't see how this 'dark lord' can be more evil than the under lord!"
"Just, don't say his name, people won't take kindly to it…" Jeff urged, in the same tight voice.
"But, if you are scared of a name, then that is just bound to make you even more scared of the thing itself!" Lily insisted indignantly. "Like, if I was scared to say 'Hagrid', because I thought he'd come charging at me, when he is near, I'd be even more frightened of what he might do."
"Lily, just don't say it, please, it's for the best!" Michael groaned.
"Fine, fine! I won't!"
"Good, now I guess you lot better be going, the train is about to leave now!" Michael said, glancing up at the large clock.
"Right, well then I guess I'll see all of you soon." Lily said as she went around Mrs. Welch, Jeff, and Michael, giving them each a hug.
"Good bye all of you."
Hugs were given over and over until steam was blown from the Hogwarts express, signaling its soon-to-be departure, and Olive nearly screamed. The three girls ran up onto the train, and quickly pushed their luggage into the compartment that Olive had reserved. The hurried to the window to wave good bye, shouting good wishes.
"Bye!"
"Bye Olive, bye Dana! Bye Lily, oh, and by the way, I'll write to you!" Jeff called after them as they slipped out of sight.
"Oh, he'll write to you then, will he?" Dana giggled as she sat back into her seat.
"Oh, shut up," Lily said, her cheeks flushed.
"Sorry about earlier, Lily, you're right. I am just a jealous old ninny!" Dana looked at her friend apologetically.
"It's alright, I understand!" Lily smiled and glanced at her watch. "Shoot! I have to go to the prefects' cart! I'll see you guys in… well however long this stupid meeting takes."
"Bye!"
Lily smiled as she stepped out of the compartment and into the narrow walk way. This was the chance to get to see who all the other prefects were this year, if they were the same people, or if they'd changed, and more importantly, who the new head boy and girl were. ……………………………………………………………………………………………
When Lily stepped into the large compartment near the head of the train where the superlatives of the school were to meet, she was relieved to see that Remus Lupin had once again been made prefect. She quickly scanned the compartment. Most of the previous year's prefects had once again received the position, with only a few new faces. Lily smiled at one of the fifth year girls, the newest Gryffindor prefect, and sat next to Remus.
Remus looked around at her, he looked rather tired, but then he always had. "Hello Lily, how was your summer?"
"Well, it had quite a rough start, but in the end it wasn't half bad."
Remus nodded knowledgeably. "Yes, I, er, heard about…" for a fleeting moment Lily was afraid that he was going to ask her about her parents' divorce, but the fear was immediately terminated when he finished, "James."
"Oh, hasn't everyone?" Lily rolled her eyes. "Well, that aside, who do you think the new Head boy and Girl are?"
"Well, they aren't here yet, we know that. But all the seventh year prefects are the same as they were in their sixth year, so none of them have been given the honor. That means it must be some one completely new, but I haven't really the slightest clue who it is."
"Oh, I do hope that it's not a Slytherin," Lily groaned, looking over at Severus Snape who was sitting alone in the corner, looking around shiftily, his greasy hair in his face.
"Yes, so do I!" Remus readily agreed, following her gaze to one of his archenemies. "Don't worry, he definitely won't get it next year."
"He'd better not!" Lily exclaimed, mentally picturing all of the Gryffindors locked up in a tall tower for punishment of some preposterous crime.
Remus opened his mouth to reply, but closed it as Dumbledore walked into the compartment, smiling around at them all.
"Hello, and welcome to another year at Hogwarts. For some of you, this is the same old drill," he smiled around at the sixth and seventh year prefects, then glanced at the fifth years, "But for the rest, this is all new and exciting. Your heads of houses have selected you all for this auspicious duty, and they did so based on your performance thus far in your schoolwork and your interaction with the fellow student body. On your house message board tomorrow morning you will find rotation schedules. You are to use these schedules to determine when you will patrol what corridors and such. You will also find a list of rules that you are to adhere." At this Dumbledore gave the car full of students a stern gaze which lingered on the Slytherins for a moment, then continued. "Now, that said, I am pleased to introduce you to our new head boy and girl. Lucius Malfoy, and Narcissa Black."
Dumbledore's words were met by a very meager applause as the two came through the door, looking smug as ever. Lily couldn't believe the awful luck, for she knew that these were the two people that she would have to listen to all year, beside her she felt Remus tense up and realized that he must be thinking along the same lines.
"To those of you who are not familiar with procedure, the head boy and girl are the people to whom you report any problems. You are to listen to them, and respect them, as they have earned this level of achievement, and you, too may be in their position one day, and karma isn't something I would want against me. Now, Narcissa, Lucius, do you have anything you'd like to add?"
Narcissa smiled and flipped her long, shining silvery hair behind her shoulder. "Why, yes Professor, I do have a few things I would like to say." She smiled around at them all, but it did no good, they all knew it was phony. "First, and far most I want to say that I am honored to hold this position. That said, I just want to point out that there have been problems with prefects not obeying they head boy and girl, and I hope that for all of our sakes, that you all don't have that problem!" She let her cold blue eyes drift to the Gryffindors before she sat down, apparently through talking.
"Lucius…?" Dumbledore prompted politely.
"Yes, Headmaster, I would just like to say that what Narcissa said is true." Lucius' silky drawl gave Lily cold chills, "Lets all work together to make this year worth… remembering."
"Well said you two. Now, before we adjourn, are there any questions?"
A rather robust black boy beside Lily raised his hand in the air.
"Yes, Kingsley?" Dumbledore addressed the boy.
"Are we supposed to, I mean do we get to use the prefects bathroom?" Lily was surprised to hear a very deep voice come from the boy.
"Great point, and yes, you all do. The password this year is 'Lime Zest'. Any more questions? Right well, we will now call this meeting closed, feel free to stay and chat if you want, but I believe that the teachers are having a bit of a celebration that I wouldn't like to miss!" Dumbledore smiled at them all, then quickly turned and left the compartment.
With a quick glance at Remus, Lily stood and left the compartment.
"Hey, Lily, wait up…" Remus called as he came out of the compartment after her.
"Can you believe it!" Lily fumed, kicking the wall.
"Believe..? Oh, Narcissa and Lucius, no, that's ridiculous…"
"It's completely uncalled for, and totally unfair! Dumbledore knows how they are, he knows that they are only going to be nice to the Slytherins! I mean, did you even hear Narcissa 'I hope that for all of our sakes, that you all don't have that problem'. How audacious can she get! She better hope for her sake that I don't catch her alone in a corridor…"
"Lily…. Lily?" Remus put a cool hand on her arm. "It's ok. It won't be too terribly bad, besides, Gryffindors stick together, you know that!"
"Yea, your right… I'm just…"
"Angry?"
Lily smiled, "So you could tell? Wait…" Lily looked around uncertainly. "Where are we?" In her rage she had walked blindly, and now had no clue where she was.
"Well, we past your compartment about twenty feet back… I think I saw Sirius and James in there."
"Oh, great, just the person I want to see…"
"Don't try to sound too excited, or people will start to talk…"
"Remus, you jester!" Lily smiled at him. He had an adorable sort of lost puppy look about him that had always made her wonder how he fit in with the two best-looking boys in Hogwarts.
"I think it's a repercussion from all these years of hanging out with Sirius and James." He grinned sheepishly.
"Well, just be glad that you got their one good quality!"
"Ah, Lily, there is more to them than all that, you just have to give them a chance…"
Lily chose not to comment on Remus' statement as she made her way back to her compartment. When she did reach it she didn't find the people in it smiling and joking, but rather were all pouring over a newspaper, looking rather upset. Olive was even crying. Urgency rising in her throat, Lily pushed the door open to see what was going on.
When she stepped into the compartment, every one looked up to see her.
"Lily!" Olive whimpered and stood to throw her arms around her friend.
"What is it?" Lily asked, dread filling her entire being.
"M-my aunt was… she… she…" Olive struggled for words and air between her gulps and tears.
"What is it, Liv?" Lily held her back to look into her friend's blanched face. But Olive either could not, or would not talk. She just stood there, crying and gasping for air.
"Lily, it was in the paper…" Sirius said, looking sorrowfully at the crying girl.
Lily gently patted Olive's back and sat her back beside Dana, then moved to Sirius and took the paper. Remus read over her shoulder as she stared at the caption. 'The Dark Mark is popping up all over London'.
"The 'dark mark'?" Lily asked, looking around the room for answers.
"It's the sign that… that Voldemort's supporters shoot into the sky when they've…" Sirius looked at Olive uncertainly, and whispered, "When they've killed."
Lily felt her eyes widen as she quickly scanned the article. …This new evil isn't to be taken lightly, as some people like to jest… a wizarding family of five were murdered… youngest was 10 months of age… urge you all to take great caution when dealing with this lot… Pieces of the article jumped out at her, terrible tidbits that were the last mentions of a family killed in her sleep. It was too much for Lily, as she looked around the compartment at Olive racked with grief, at Dana trying to comfort her. Swirling black fog began to cloud her vision as she looked around, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. This man wasn't a man, but a monster! To kill a baby was a crime that Lily couldn't ever forgive. Just before losing consciousness she made a silent vow to never give into that kind of man, to do what ever it took to stop him. Blackness engulfed her.
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"Lily!"
Lily groaned and rolled over, she didn't want to wake up, not yet, and she was still tired.
"Lily, wake up! It's… we're at the station!"
Lily opened her eyes groggily, and looked around, Dana was standing over her, clutching her shoulder which she was softly shaking. After a moment of deep perplexity, she realized where she was, then it all flooded back. The article, Voldemort, Olive. Sitting up, she looked around for her. She was sitting across from her, absently twirling a strand of hair on her finger, looking ahead in a sort of daze, but she wasn't crying anymore. That was a good thing, Lily decided. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she looked around into the faces of Sirius, Remus, and James. She groaned slightly as her hand moved to her limp, messy hair. She must look terrible, and with an audience to boot.
"You had us scared there Little Flower!" Sirius grinned at her broadly.
"Here." Remus handed her a piece of chocolate. "Eat this, it will give you strength."
"Thanks." Lily said, her throat a bit scratchy. She brought the morsel to her lips and broke off a piece, feeling warmth envelop her body immediately. When she finished eating the bit of chocolate, she pulled her hair back and fastened it with a barrette.
"Are you o.k.?" Dana asked prudently, placing her hand on Lily's forehead in a very motherly fashion.
"I'm fine Dana!" Lily smiled. "So, what happened anyway?"
"Well, you passed out…" Sirius said slowly. "And you hit your head on the window. You've been out for a few hours."
Lily pulled on her Hogwarts robes and fastened it in the front. "Well, I can't remember any of that obviously. I just remember that… that terrible article…" She reached up and gingerly touched a knot on her head where she'd presumably hit the window. "Why didn't you all go and get a teacher?"
"Because, well, you didn't seem to be hurt, and we were… busy. Sorry Lily, but you're alright, aren't you?" Dana asked, biting her lip.
"Again, I'm fine!" Lily insisted as she pinned her prefects badge onto the breast of her robes. She felt an odd, tingling sensation on the back of her neck, and looked up suddenly, to find that James was staring at her tentatively. "What?" Lily asked, feeling her face flush slightly, looking at him.
He blinked and looked around dazedly for a moment. "Oh, I'm sorry. So, you're alright then?"
"I wish you'd all quit asking that! I'm fine!"
"She still has that rage, she's fine." Sirius chuckled.
Lily shot him a sharp look, then remembered her most recent rage. "Do you all know… I mean, did Remus tell you about our new head boy and girl?" She asked of the group at large.
"Yes." Sirius answered at once. "My cousin and her beau. Lovely isn't it?" There was a dark, gloomy look in his eyes.
"Well, it's just outrageous!" Lily grumbled, but didn't press the issue as she was still a bit too weak.
"Let's go you guys, it's time to get off of the train." Olive said shakily, the first word's Lily'd heard her say since she regained consciousness.
"Right." They all agreed, grabbing last minute objects and filing out of the compartment and into the stormy night.
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A/N: Well, that's it, I was going to write more, but well as you can see, I didn't!
Quick quick, to my reviewers:
TicTacTurtle: Wait, I DON'T know you name… o.O But anyways thanks for your review! I'm sending a few to you today..
Hplovesme: Thanks!
Eternity and beyond: Lol, Well I am very glad that you like my story. And I agree, that initiation was grueling. Thanks for you review!
Thebigdance: Yes, the whole girl-turning-James down was supposed to be an ego bust for him! Show him that he isn't really all that, you know. Well, I'm glad that I got you to laugh! And thanks for your review!
Amandinka: Well, this isn't exactly soon, but this is all good, I suppose!
I am Sirius girl: Thank you for your review! And I'm glad that you like it!
Deviantbob: I love your name firstly. But past that, I am so happy that you liked my last chapter! I liked it too, I had a lot of fun scripting it out and having the complications! Thank you for your review, and I hope you will continue to read and enjoy!
Fairy-GYAKUTENNO-MEGAMI: Well, thanks, I do try to be effective!
Skittles: Well, I'm glad you like it, and well, this chapter is proof that I am still writing! Thanks for your review!
xprettyxinxblackx: well, I'd have to say that your review was the most flattering that I received for chapter seven! I'm really glad you liked it, and I realized after your review that I could end it there, and I actually contemplated it, but I decided against it! So, here you are and I hope that you like this chapter!
Well! I must say that I got lots of NEW reviewers this time, it is exciting for me to get them, so that I know my story is going around! Well, I haven't much time (have you guys figured out in my dialogue and such that I like the word 'well' a bit too much?). Anyway, please continue to review and read!
I love you ALL! (those who review and those who don't… only I don't love non-reviewers as much…)
Aimee