A/N: Hey guys, I'm so sorry about the delay. I've just started college, so things have been hectic, but I'm back now! I'm posting today and have already got my rough draft for the next chapter written out. I hope everyone enjoys this, and, as always, Read, Review, & Enjoy!

Legal Disclaimer: See Prologue.

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This Chapter is dedicated to terrifictypingtrio.

Chapter six:

A Cry in the Night

"…It's going to be so much fun!" Charity said to Lily somewhere close to a week later. It was Friday and, of course, Charity was referring to the first Hogsmede trip scheduled for the next day. Lily was beginning to wish she'd never agreed to go.

For one thing, despite Charity's bubbly exterior that evening, Lily knew that her best friend was fighting a losing battle to some severe depression. She also knew that the only way to help was to wait for Charity to bring it up on her own; something she had shown absolutely no inclination to do. Basically what that meant was that tomorrow, Charity would either be not speaking and attended to by Sirius or would be trying to force herself to have fun and Sirius would try to draw out of her the problem. No matter the outcome, Lily would have no one to talk to – except James.

This would not have been much of a problem if things had been as they were a week ago. But they weren't. Not even a little.

In the past few days Lily's feelings had changed. Drastically. Not completely, but drastically none the less.

Every time she saw another girl looking at him, she felt the need to hex said girl. This was exceptionally strange seeing as how Lily was still reprimanding James for hexing Snape and she did NOT like feeling like a hypocrite; and even this didn't bother her anymore.

When he smiled at her now she felt her face turn red and found that she didn't care if he noticed or not.

She noticed herself staring at him often. Too often to pretend it was just harmless glances.

She did NOT, however, trust James Potter. Not completely. She felt it was too hard to trust someone that had broken her heart. But she wanted to so badly, and she could actually admit it to herself. She just couldn't admit it to anyone else.

Therefore, she found the prospect of spending an entire day trying not to admit it to him absolutely sickening. Even more sickening than the fact that she, in some little way, wanted to admit it to him.

Lily, who was currently lying across her bed reading, looked up at Charity, who was twisting this way and that in front of a full length mirror, as she tried on outfits to wear the next day. Lily smiled. "Charity that looks amazing", she said. It was true: Charity was wearing a turquoise V-neck sweater and a short corduroy skirt accompanied by tall, slinky brown boots that added a full five inches onto her short frame. "That shirt really brings out your eyes."

Charity, however, looked unsure. "You don't think that I look funny being… well, tall?" she asked.

Lily laughed. "I'm sure." Charity smiled. "Sirius is absolutely going to die when he sees you tomorrow."

Charity's smile flickered at these words.

Something in her eyes is different… a voice in Lily's head commented.

"Thanks", Charity mumbled as she hurriedly dashed into the bathroom to change out of her clothes.

Lily stared at the closed door for a moment, wondering what she said that could have made Charity act so strangely, but before she could draw any conclusions, the dormitory door flew open to reveal a very distraught Alice Frankton.

Lily sat straight up. "Alice, honey, what's wrong?"

Charity came out of the bathroom in her dressing gown at that moment and, upon seeing Alice's face, ushered her to Lily's bed where the three of them sat. Alice sniffled. She had the distinct look about her of a person who had just finished crying.

"You guys, Nichole's leaving Hogwarts."

"What!" they yelped in unison. Lily looked around, and sure enough, Nichole's belongings were gone. Nichole had been the fourth girl who lived in the dormitory with Lily, Charity and Alice.

"Mr. Charlemagne, you know how he was an Auror and all… well he was murdered by Voldemort's lot early this morning. Her mother just came for her a couple of hours ago."

Lily looked around, ashamedly, wondering how she could have overlooked he fact that none of Nichole's personal effects were there anymore. "Why didn't we know as well?" Lily asked, not meeting Alice's eyes.

Alice shrugged slightly. "I was in here reading – I think that the two of you were working on Charms in the library – she came in here and she was obviously very upset, and when I asked her what was wrong, she started crying and told me that she was leaving Hogwarts because her father was… well, her mother needed her home and she wanted to be with her family while she still could – and, oh it was so horrible. She's only just left. I went down with her to tell her goodbye… I've just been standing there with her while her mother spoke to Dumbledore privately…"

Alice continued speaking, her face contorting with anger and sorrow, as Lily looked over to Charity through red eyes. Charity was not crying as the other two girls were. She was sitting stock-still with wide, terrified eyes. A chill ran down Lily's spine as she saw the blank expression on her face.

Charity stood up suddenly, making Alice jump. Without a word, she walked over to her trunk and pulled out a long slip dress which she pulled on over her dressing gown. She was shaking as she tried to slip her shoes on her feet.

"Charity, where are you going?" Alice asked, stunned.

Charity did not answer. She walked towards the door, grabbing a hooded sweater from the desk near the exit, muttering under her breath, "Not possible… I saw… Why… How… Not possible…"

Lily felt the same familiar chill she was beginning to associate with her best friend run down her neck at these words pouring from her mouth, seemingly of their own accord. "Want some company, Hon?" Lily asked.

"Yes, we'll come along", Alice offered kindly.

Still not looking at them, Charity shook her head vigorously as she searched the desk, finally grabbing a tattered looking journal, and stumbled out of the room, still mumbling, tears flowing freely down her face.

Alice and Lily looked at each other, dumbstruck.

"I hope she's alright", Alice said, every syllable dripping with concern.

Lily nodded in agreement, not really hearing her words. She was thinking fast, phrases like What was she talking about? 'Not possible…' What's not possible…? Something's wrong with her. Something's very wrong with her…

But the one thing that her mind kept repeating, despite all her worries for Charity's behavior, was First, find James.

Moments later, Lily was flying down the stair case to the common room. When she hit the carpet, she noticed, much to her dismay, that there were at least fifty people milling about. Of course it's full, she thought lamely, Now what?

She had had every intention of marching up the stairs of the Boys dormitories where James's room was, but she couldn't very well do that now. It wasn't proper for people to see the Head Girl behaving like a hormonal teenager, even if that wasn't what she was doing. She racked her brain, trying to figure out how she could find him, then: "Lily?"

Lily wheeled around at the sound of the voice saying her name and found her self face to face with Peter Pettigrew. "Are you okay?" he asked, worried.

Lily sighed with relief. She grabbed him by his shoulders. "Peter, do you know where James is?"

He looked at her quizzically. "Uh, why?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Peter, please, it's really important."

He scrunched up his forehead, thinking, the same painfully confused expression still planted firmly on his face. "I think he may be in the Heads' office…"

Lily smiled and threw her arms around him, exclaiming "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" at the top of her lungs before turning and racing out of the portrait hole, leaving Peter alone, intensely more confused than he had been yet that evening.

Lily ran towards the Heads' office, thoughts of Charity's face and words swimming around in her mind. She halted in front of a tapestry depicting a handsome boy and very pretty girl sitting on either side of a lion. Through her gasps for air, she managed to mutter the word 'Majestic'. At once the tapestry split down the middle, revealing a large oak door bearing a handsome "H" carved into it. She hurled herself inside.

"James?" she called out.

Immediately, somewhere to her left she heard a great rustling. She turned to find him gathering many pieces of parchment in front of them, as if hiding them from Lily's view. He hurriedly waved his wand over them and they disappeared, leaving behind only a very nervous James Potter.

"Hey, Lily, what are you doing here?" he asked, voice taunt and jumpy.

She considered, for a moment, asking him what he was trying to hide from her, but instead got right to the point. "I need your help. There's something not right… With Charity, I mean – she ran off somewhere and I need to find her…" She launched into an explanation of her best friend's behavior, including the strange words she had been saying. "So, do you think you could possibly help me? I know its sounds strange, but I thought if anyone could help, it was you, since you're Head Boy and all and won't get into trouble for being out ad all…" she said her voice shaking.

James did not, however, laugh at her like she had expected him to. He didn't tell her that she was over reacting, or that she needed to butt out of Charity's business. Instead, he looked very concerned. "Yeah, of course, let's go."

James walked hurriedly, Lily following at a trot until she realized he was tracing her steps back the way she had just came. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"To the common room."

"James", she started, aggravated, "She left the common room. I doubt she's back in there."

He waited a moment before replying. "I know but… well, you're just going to have to trust me, okay?"

Lily was about to say 'no', that she wasn't 'just going to trust' him, but she couldn't form the words to do so. Instead, she heard herself say "Okay."

A few moments later, they had climbed in the common room and James had walked away form her without a word and over to Peter Pettigrew, who was practicing chess off in a corner. He looked up at James in surprise when James leaned over and whispered into his ear. He then shot Lily a look, seeming more baffled than ever, before whispering back to James.

He nodded and bounded up the stairs to the boys' dormitories as Lily stood alone and impatient.

James Potter flew through the door to the room the four Marauders shared and began throwing things out of Remus Lupin's trunk. Finally, after about five minutes, he pulled out a piece of blank parchment. He had been afraid Sirius had taken it with him to go visit Remus at the Shrieking Shack – it was the full moon after all – but, thankfully, he hadn't.

James took out his wand and tapped the piece of parchment, saying "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

Suddenly, the blank piece of parchment was not blank anymore. A map of the entirety of Hogwarts appeared where before there had been nothing. What was particularly amazing about this map was that there were hundreds upon hundreds of black dots milling about. He hurriedly searched the map for a particular little black dot, finding it seconds later. He felt rather proud of himself for locating this particular black dot in a sea of black dots as he placed his finger on the name 'Charity Miller'. If he wasn't mistaken, and he knew he wasn't, she was in the kitchens. James briefly wondered why there was something so terribly wrong with Charity being in the kitchens, but remembered Lily's face when she had found him.

He knew, inside, that it really didn't matter what Lily wanted form him, that he'd give her anything she wanted, but he was glad to be helping out Charity as well – or, at least, he hoped that was what he was doing.

He grabbed his school bag and dumped all of his school books out of it as he turned to his own trunk and began pulling things out of it, strewing them all over the floor. He pulled out something that resembled a large, silvery blanket. Just in case, he thought to himself, as he stuffed it into his newly emptied school bag. He tapped the Marauder's Map, as he called it, and said "Mischief managed" as he tore from the room, making a mental vow to clean up when he returned.

A short while later, Lily saw James return, slinging a bag over his shoulder and pocketing a piece of parchment.

"Let's go", he said, sweeping past her towards the exit. Lily followed, still extremely annoyed that he had felt the need to keep her waiting on him just so he could grab his school bag. Lily couldn't help but think of how Charity could be anywhere in the castle by now, all alone. Judging by the way she had been acting, Lily thought to herself that she wasn't entirely sure Charity could be trusted alone, but felt immediately disgusted with herself for thinking such a thing.

James was walking quickly down corridors, following a very set path, as Lily trotted after him. "Now where are we going?" she asked. She was starting to think that this had been a bad idea, to go gallivanting through the castle with James.

James glanced back at her. "To the kitchens", he answered.

"Why?" Lily asked. She didn't have anything better to suggest, but for some reason, she thought that going to the kitchens was a bit ridiculous.

James stopped dead causing Lily to run into him. He turned around and caught her as she fell. When she was standing up right, he looked at her long and hard before answering. In his head, there was a mental was waging.

"I just thought it would be a good place to start", he lied. She knows I'm lying, he thought panicky.

In his rush to help her, James hadn't considered that Lily would ask him why he chose to got to the place that he had seen Charity in on the map. The Marauders had worked three long years on that map and he refused to tell anyone about it, not even Lily Evans.

Luckily for him, she appeared to have been pacified by his less than satisfactory reply, for she merely shrugged.

They walked on, side by side now, Lily throwing James questioning glances along the way.

They finally arrived in front of a painting depicting a bowl of fruit. James extended his finger and tickled, so it seemed to Lily, a pear in the bowl. To Lily's great surprise, the pear giggled – positively giggled – and the painting swung open, much like the painting in Gryffindor Tower, to reveal the entrance.

James extended an arm, helping Lily inside. The smells of puddings and pumpkin juice hovered on the air within the rooms they had just entered, and Lily knew that they were now in the kitchens. Having never been there herself, she was absolutely amazed when, after James had joined her, twenty or so house elves surrounded them, chattering excitedly.

James laughed and greeted them all – yes, all of them, to Lily's disbelief – by name.

Lily looked around hopefully, but did not see Charity anywhere. She hadn't really expected to, but… Well, there was always hope. She immediately began to worry again. Where could she be? Merlin, I hope she's okay.

When she looked back down, the elves were now attempting to press platters of cakes and finger sandwiches upon them. Lily couldn't help but smile for a moment, but spoke up above the continual babble.

"I'm terribly sorry to bother you all", she said. The elves all bowed down to her shouting protests about how she wasn't bothering them, and to please allow them to be of any help they could. "Yes, yes, thank you, but I was wondering if - "

James cut her off. "Did any of you see a pretty blonde girl come down here to visit you all?" he asked politely.

Several of the elves began bobbing up and down excitedly, squeaking out affirmative answers.

"Oh, yes, Master and Missus!" one particularly small elf called Mimsy answered. "She came for a cup of tea, she did. Wanted leaves, she did, not a bag, oh no! Very nice she was."

"Did she say anything else?" Lily asked.

Mimsy clapped her small hands together in glee. "Oh yes, missus. She asked if she could keep the tea cup! Was very polite, she was, so Mimsy says 'Of course you cans, Missus!' Very polite she was."

"Was that all?" James asked.

Mimsy's ears drooped. "Yes Master, that was all she says. Mimsy is sorry, she is. Mimsy is bad elf, who cannot help – "

"You were too helpful, Mimsy!" Lily exclaimed, bending down. "Very helpful. Thank you so much."

Mimsy smiled again at once. "Oh, you is welcome Missus, you is!" she cried happily.

James grinned at Lily. "Well", he said, "it was nice seeing yo0u all again. I'll be back very soon."

The elves all bowed low and backed away as James and Lily exited.

"What would she want with a tea cup?" Lily asked when they were back outside the kitchens.

James shrugged. "I don't know. Stay right here for a minute. I'll be right back."

Before Lily could object, he had rounded a nearby corner. Aggravated though she was Lily remained, grudgingly, as he had asked her to.

She found, to her pleasure, that she didn't have to wait long; less than a minute later, James rounded the same corner, stuffing the same piece of parchment Lily had seen him holding in the common room back in his pocket. She eyed the pocket curiously.

"What is - " she started, pointing at his pocket, but once again, he cut her off by grabbing her outstretched hand and saying "Let's try the astronomy tower."

The randomness of this suggestion deterred Lily from asking the question she had wanted to ask. Instead she asked a question that was becoming quite familiar to her when she was in James's company: "Why?"

"Hey, Lils, just trust me, okay?" he said, smiling warmly down at her.

Lily felt her stomach filling with butterflies and nodded. He was right about the kitchens, she thought.

They started towards the astronomy tower, Lily letting James lead her and thereby validating her hand in his, at least in her opinion. She began to think of Charity's words again… 'Not possible… I saw…I saw… I saw… Why me…?'

What did that mean…? What had she seen and what's wrong with her to have to say 'Why me?' Lily didn't know, but she did know that the sheer memory of the way Charity's voice had sounded, and the way her face had looked as she spoke them, gave Lily shivers. She involuntarily tightened her grip on James's hand.

At once James stopped walking and dropped Lily's hand. He faced her, a look of fierce concern playing on his features as Lily realized she had tears running down her face.

"Lily", he said, "I want you to know something."

Lily knitted her eyebrows. "What?" she asked as she attempted to wipe her face.

James pulled her into a warm, friendly embrace. Surprised, she had no time to try and pull away from him before he spoke. "Everything's going to be okay, I promise."

Lily shuddered again, trying to hold back a new set of tears forming behind her eyes at the kindness and sincerity of his words. She squeezed him around the middle tightly before they let go. "Let's go find her", she said, "I'm so worried."

James nodded in agreement. They set off at a trot, arriving at the foot of the stairs leading up the astronomy tower. Lily started to walk up, but James put an arm out to stop her.

"Shh", he said, "Listen."

Lily stopped moving and strained her ears. At first she could hear nothing, but sure enough, soon she could make out sobs in the distance. Wild, uncontrollable sobs. She looked at James fearfully, as if expecting some kind explanation or assurance that those noises couldn't possibly be coming form Charity.

Charity, she realized. How in the world had he known she'd be here…? How?

James took a deep breath. He cast a scrutinous look over Lily. Then: "Can I trust you? I mean really trust you?"

Lily nodded tersely. Anything, she'd agree to anything if she could find out what was wrong with Charity, this girl who'd become more like her sister than her own flesh and blood. There's something terribly wrong… Badly, terribly wrong… What if she's hurt?

James took his school bag from his shoulder. "You can never tell anyone about this Lily. Never", he said, his voice hardening, almost cold.

"Okay… I promise", Lily said voice full of emotion.

James appraised her once more before pulling out the long silvery material from his bag. Lily's eyes grew twice their normal size, Lily was sure of it. "How'd you get that?" she asked, amazed.

"My dad", he said shortly. "I brought it with me in case… Well, you, know, just in case. I think we should use it, you know, instead of sneaking up on her and making her anymore upset, or…"

Lily knew what he was trying to say. She nodded, still in awe as James threw the invisibility cloak over the two of them. "Stay close to me", he whispered.

Lily could smell his cologne as he brushed ever so lightly against her. She shivered with the pleasure of the scent. Charity, a voice in her head reminded her. She jerked back, guiltily, to reality.

"I will", she said to him. She thought she heard him sigh with a distinct note of longing, but couldn't be positive for they had started the long, long trek up the spiral staircase, closing in on the sobbing now ringing so loudly in Lily's head.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter. I feel I've gotten a sufficient amount of reviews now that I can reply to the one the review board, which I will be doing shortly. A special thanks to those of you who are reading this now. Again, I'm really sorry for the tardiness, but the length and the next update hould make up for it, I think. I hope you guys like this! I'm kinda if-y about it, so,contradict my fears already! Leave me a review and let me know if you liked it! I know its kinda confusing, but I'm going to get around to it - oh, and you know who you are, romance is coming in shortly... like n-e-x-t, maybe ;)

Okay Kiddos! Oreos and hugs! Muah!

REVIEW!

Love always,

BrittanyRose