Chapter 4: Mysteries

Things did not look good for Lily. The whole class had burst out laughing, with, of course, the exception of her friends. The day had gone downhill from there. At lunch, the story seemed to have gotten around. Lily Evans, head girl, had blown up a transfiguration desk. By lunch, it had gone from a small explosion to the room catching fire and the desk being incinerated.

The one bright spot was the last class of the day. Charms. Lily had always been good at charms. She liked to think it was her calling. When she completed this year, she hoped to go into something that involved that particular field, though she wasn't sure what yet.

The charms classroom was located on the fifth floor of the castle. Rayna was in the same class also, so the two of them walked together after a particularly difficult session of double potions, though, fortunately, it was with Ravenclaw's, instead of the Slytherins.

As they were making their way along the corridor, she noticed something that seemed to be out of place.

As her eyes flicked across the many paintings that were mounted on the walls, she could not help but notice one in particular. She stopped and stared at it. In the middle of a group of attractive, cheerful looking paintings, one stood out. It was an old woman. Crying. Rayna stopped too.

"Lils, what is it?" She asked.

Lily snapped out of her daze. "N-nothing," she said, still wondering. Rayna looked around, as if trying to catch a glimpse of a rule breaker that might have caused Lily to stop. When she saw nothing, she spoke.

"Well, we better get going or we are gonna be late," she said, looking at Lily uneasily, wondering what had made her stop all of a sudden.

"Right," said Lily regaining her senses. And, with that, the pair set off for charms.

An hour later, Lily came out of the class looking like she was in a much better mood. And why wouldn't I be, she thought, for anyone who had earned thirty points to Gryffindor for her excellent work in charms, would be.

There was still an hour left before dinner, so Lily, Rayna, and Alex decided to walk outside, for the day was too perfect to pass up.

As they stepped outside, the fresh inviting air welcomed them, as they breathed in the scent of autumn fast approaching. In the distance, the lake appeared cool and inviting. The girls took off their shoes and dipped their toes in the lake, the weight of the first day of classes slowly diminishing with each ripple that washed past their feet. However…

A shadow fell over them and they looked up into the faces of James Potter and Sirius Black. Lily groaned. "Hey Evans," James said smoothly, his hand in his hair as he have her a roguish wink. "Beautiful day isn't it," he said, as if trying to make small talk.

"Well, it was," Lily shot back, unable to mask the bitterness in her voice.

"Why Evans, what do you mean, was. As far as I'm concerned, the unrelenting presence of me can only make one's day better." Even Sirius rolled his eyes at this comment.

Lily snapped. "JAMES POTTER," she yelled, "If you ever took the time to get off your high horse, you would realize that the world does NOT revolve around you, but NO, your pathetic vision does not go past those ridiculous glasses of yours. Because if they did, you would realize not everyone worships you at this school!"

She took a step toward him, eyes blazing with anger James had never seen in her before. Her hand gripped her wand so tightly her knuckles were turning white. James eyed it warily. "Now Evans," he said in a nervous voice. He knew what she was capable with with a wand. "No nee-," but he did not finish.

"One more word Potter," she hissed, "One more word, and you won't be able to speak from today till next Christmas," she said, gripping her wand.

James recognized defeat when he saw it. "Fine Evans," he said, cockily, "you'll come around eventually."

That did it for Lily, but before she could react, Rayna jumped in.

"So, um James," she said, wanting to avoid Lily doing some serious damage to him. "Where's Remus," she said choosing a different subject.

James looked at Sirius nervously.

Sirius cleared his throat. "He's sick, um, yeah, his stomach, you know, too much for lunch." James relaxed. That was a good lie, he figured, but he did not like the way Lily's eyes had widened, as a look of comprehension dawned on her face.

A/N: Ok, there it is. Wow, this is harder that it seems to write a story like this. I will try to keep updating it, if anyone is even reading it but, if you are, I won't be updating after July 19 cause I'm going to Europe for a few weeks, but I'll try to get as much as I can done before them.

Reviews would be much appreciated though!

☻☻☻☻spunkysoccergirl