Devoted

Chapter 7

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Lily knocked on Jon's door once again. It was nearly midnight and they still had to patrol the hallways for late night stragglers.

"Jon! Jon, are you in there?!" She yelled as loud as she could muster. He was one hell of a sleeper. "Fine Esperto, I'm coming in there right now!" No answer. "I'm serious Jon; I'm going to come into your chambers!" But the room remained silent.

Lily shifted nervously before turning the silver doorknob. A sconce on the wall to her right erupted with flames as she entered the room. In front of her was an empty bed, still neatly made.

"That little prat…" She muttered under her breath, exiting the room.

Lily grabbed her cloak and departed the tower walking quickly to Dumbledore's office.

The gargoyle that guarded his headquarters spiraled into a staircase as she marched up, hissing the password.

Finally she arrived, pushing the large, oak doors open. She was slightly surprised to see Dumbledore sitting at his desk, dressed in light blue robes, and gazing serenely at a strange silver object.

"Miss Evans. I saw you coming and figured that I had best be ready for you," he said, as if anticipating her question.

Lily shook her hair from her face. "Oh…I just came up here because I was due to begin the nightly patrol with Jon but he was missing from the Heads' tower."

Dumbledore nodded and stood up. "I see. In that case I shall commence rounds with you. If either one of us finds Mr. Esperto, we should let the other know."

"Yes, sir." The headmaster and Lily left the beautiful office together and stepped into the hallway.

Dumbledore turned toward her. "I will patrol the bottom levels and you can take the top. If you see Jon, recite the incantation Retractum Personia and I shall appear instantly at your side. In the event that I find him first, I will do the same for you."

Lily nodded and headed to the ever changing staircase. Quietly she made her way to the fourth floor to begin inspection.

When she had first discovered that Jon was not in his room she had been angry. But now Lily was just worried. The dark arts were on the rise and those practicing them within the school at an all time high. What if he, holding such high rank as Head Boy, had been targeted for capture? What if he was being tortured? Was it safe for her to be wandering the hallways alone?

Lily gave a convulsive shudder. These new cults of dark witches and wizards scared her immensely. They were killing families, both Muggle and magical, left and right.

As little as she knew of the head boy, the thought of him suffering at the hands of these people was upsetting to say the least.

Lily continued her search through the top four floors looking for a sign of Jon, but the halls were understandably, yet unsettlingly, quiet.

Suddenly, as she was opening the door to the West Tower, Lily felt her body being lifted and her surroundings disappeared into a white mist.

Then, as quickly as this had occurred, she felt her feet touch the solid ground of the Library.

Lily saw Dumbledore in front of her staring at a body, wrapped in blankets on the floor.

"Oh my God! This isn't true! They did get Jon, oh my God, oh my God! He's dead!" She dry sobbed.

The headmaster turned towards her, looking angry and oddly aged as the candle light flickered across his face. "Please calm down, Miss Evans. No one has been murdered tonight. The only crime was against my trust."

Lily took a sharp intact of breath. "Wha…?" Dumbledore motioned to the pile of blankets behind him. She took a closer look and was shocked to find the revered head boy and his girlfriend Kristi covered only by the sheets and looking extremely embarrassed.

"And now, Lily, I think it is best you leave. Mr. Esperto will have his title and privileges taken away and I will arrange for a new head boy."

She nodded and turned silently to go.

"Ah, and Miss Evans," Dumbledore spoke loudly. "Please speak of this to no one."

Lily nodded again. "Of course, professor."

She exited and made her way to the Heads' tower, clenching her teeth angrily. And to think I was worried about that bloody prat! He wasn't in any danger; he was just fucking that Goddamn WHORE of a girlfriend.

Lily would have loved to tell the whole school that the girl who had called her a slut was caught having sex in the library, but she had promised Dumbledore…

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"Did you hear about that seventh year Kristi and her boyfriend? You know, the Head Boy?" An overly excited third year screamed at her friend as they walked to the Great Hall for breakfast. "They were caught by Dumbledore last night in the Library having you-know-what?"

The friend stared, "Wait…what were they having?"

"They were, you know…" The third year looked around and continued in a whisper that could be heard within a five mile radius. "They were shagging!"

"Oh…I see!" Her naïve friend said as they passed a certain Lily Evans and Colleen Zerbato.

Colleen rounded on Lily, smiling. "Whoa…is that true?"

Lily's hands flew to her eyes, covering them like a two year old trying to protect herself.

"So it did happen?" Colleen grinned even wider, reminding Lily of the Cheshire Cat.

"You knew about it before? How in the world did anyone know? It was supposed to be a complete secret!"

Colleen shrugged. "Sirius told the rest of the guys and me in the common room this morning. I guess all of Gryffindor Tower heard. But that doesn't matter… It really happened?"

"How did he know?" Lily exclaimed loudly before rushing into the Great Hall.

"Wow, I can't believe it's true!" Colleen muttered in her wake.

Lily practically ran into the dining hall and quickly found her boyfriend, Sirius. He was seated at the Gryffindor table, shoveling food into his mouth while talking rapidly to a bleary eyed Peter.

"Sirius!" She called out. "How did you know about Jon and Kristi?"

He immediately stopped eating and looked at Lily. Peter also opened his eyes a bit wider. "I think we should have an emergency Marauder's meeting," Sirius sighed.

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Lily shivered and wrapped her arms around her stomach, glad, for a change, of her heavy cloak.

After she had confronted Sirius about the whole Jon/Kristi situation, he had led her and Peter to a very small hidden chamber in the dungeons and sent an owl to James and Remus.

Finally, when everyone in the group was present, Sirius called the "emergency meeting" into session.

"Um, ok. Lily's going to be an honorary member today! I think that we should tell her about the map," he announced, huddling them all into a small circle.

James looked over at the red-headed girl and smiled. He could tell she was trying not to look at him directly and so he continued to stare at her.

Lily was indeed avoiding James's steady gaze. "What map? What does this have to do with Jon and Kristi?" She asked, trying to ignore him.

Sirius plastered a smug smile on his face. "Well, Lilybird. Back in the day, James, Remus, Peter, and I made the Marauder's Map. We explored every inch of the grounds and found most, if not all of the secret passages and chambers. We put them on the map and then, a stroke of genius on Remus's part, we added a charm that makes the map show the location and name of every person in the castle. So, I was perusing the map last night, I saw the most unusual thing. In the library I could see the names of Jon and Kristi right on top of one another. Then Dumbledore walked into the library and you soon followed."

Lily was astounded. "That still doesn't explain how the whole school knows." Her eyes flickered across James's face.

Sirius nodded, "Yes. After you disappeared up the stairs and into your room, I saw Dumbledore remain with our naughty Mr. Jon and Miss Kristi. I put two and two together and more or less guessed that they had been caught in the act, so to speak." He winked at Lily. "Anyway, I was telling Peter about it in the common room this morning and I suppose that some of the other students heard me."

Lily ran her hand through her hair, snaring it on a few tangled curls. "Fine, I forgive you this time." She smiled and hugged Sirius.

James tagged dejectedly behind the couple as the group walked back to the Great Hall for breakfast. They were holding hands and smiling at each other.

They reached the doorway to the dining room when they heard a sudden calm and then the headmaster's voice rang throughout the school.

"Students, teachers, I have an important announcement to make." Dumbledore began. "It is my unfortunate duty to tell you that Mr. Jon Esperto has had to step down from his position as Head Boy. In his place I would like to congratulate James Potter."

James stumbled as he heard those words. What the fuck? He stared at the staff table where all of the teachers were beaming at him and clapping. What the fuck!? He smiled weakly and shot a glance at Lily. She was looking at the staff table in shock as well.

Well, James thought. At least I'll get to spend more time with Lily!

After breakfast, Dumbledore approached James and instructed him on his new duties and responsibilities and reminded him that he would have to move to the Heads' tower. The headmaster also added, with a slight twinkle in his eyes, that while James could now give and/or deduct house points and put people in detention, he should not use that power to his advantage.

The day actually went fairly quickly, even with James's excitement at being able to spend the rest of the school year alone with the beautiful Lily Evans. Well, not including classes, meals, etc.

Finally, dinner was served and he said goodnight to Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Remus gave him a small wink as he left.

He took the stairs three at a time in his rush to his new tower and room. Well, that's how he justified it. Really he was only in a hurry to see Lily.

Before long, James arrived and stepped into the lush common room. He could see beautiful red curls poking above the back of the sofa and smiled to himself.

Walking quietly, he made his way to a cream colored sitting chair opposite of Lily.

"Hey Evans," James murmured.

Lily jumped visibly, dropping her book on the ground. "Oh, hi… You scared me; I didn't hear you come in."

"Yeah," He answered. "Sorry about that. I couldn't stop thinking about you all day…"

She smiled mischievously. "Really? What were you thinking about?"

James gave her an innocent look. "Well, actually I was thinking about kissing you."

Lily nodded, "Hmmm, that's very interesting." Then she picked up her book and feigned reading.

"Okay, that's it," James yelled, grabbing the novel and throwing it across the room. He leaned down and kissed her somewhat roughly and pushed her down so that she was lying beneath him on the couch.

He lifted his head quickly for breath and then caught her lips again. Probing the lower one with his tongue, asking permission to enter- which she granted.

James let his hands drift into Lily's hair, tangling his fingers into the mass of fiery curls.

Lily pulled back and, smiling shyly, began to unbutton her school blouse. She pulled it off her arms, revealing a pretty lace bra when there was a knock at the door.

Her eyes opened wider in surprise. "Shit…"

James leaped off the couch and away from her, sitting quickly and nervously on a chair next to the fireplace.

Lily grabbed her shirt and started buttoning it quickly. "Shit," she whispered again. "I'll be right there!"

Finally, she managed to get the blouse buttoned and she ran her hand through her extremely messy hair. Lily walked to the door and pulled it open.

"Surprise!" Yelled Sirius, holding a large bouquet of flowers and an even larger smile. "I thought I'd take you out tonight, since its Friday and all. It'll be our first real date." He walked past her into the common room. "Here, I'll put these in a glass of water if you want to get changed or anything."

Lily gave a small nod and ran into her room to change out of her school uniform. Shit, shit, shit, shit…

She walked back out and completely avoided James's hazel eyes while grabbing Sirius's hand and exiting the Heads' tower.

They used the Marauders' Map and a secret tunnel to get into Hogsmeade. Sirius took Lily around the town, bought her coffee and dessert, and on the whole acted like a perfect gentleman.

It was nearly midnight when they got back to her tower and the flamed sconces cast an eerie glow against the portrait door.

Lily looked at the ground. "I had a wonderful time tonight, Sirius."

"Oh, it was nothing," he said, blushing slightly. "I…I think I love you, Lilybird." His voice lowered to whisper.

Lily looked up, her eyes brimming with tears. What am I doing with James?

"You're too good for me," she sobbed, the tears falling down her cheeks as she turned and entered the common room, leaving a confused and crestfallen Sirius in her wake.

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Whoo, finally! Sorry it took me so long. I'm actually busier during the summer than I am during school, lol. Plus the chapter is a lot longer than usual. OK, anyway, on to the thank you-s. Remember at least 10 reviews for a new chapter.

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I was going to make comments to each of you again, like all the cool people do, but I'm just not cool enough. Sorry. Hey, at least your name is on here! Thanks once again.

P.S. Does anyone know what happens when you "Highly recommend this author"?? Just wondering.