"Wow," Lily Evans breathed in childlike wonder as she looked around the Head's Common Room. The dormitory designated for the Head students was located not too far from the Gryffindor wing of the castle, guarded by the statue of Valancourt the Valiant. Inside, there was a fireplace with a fire already roaring, casting a warm glow throughout the room. The carpet was a neutral cream colour, and the couch and two armchairs facing the fire were blue. There were two dark cherry desks near the center of the room, where they could work on their homework separately or plan events or discuss Head duties together. To the right, there was a door leading to the Head Girl's dormitory, and to the left, a door leading to the Head Boy's.

Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, chuckled at her reaction. "I am glad you like it. I enjoyed it immensely myself many years ago. The Head Girl, Mensa McGonnagal, and I had many good times sitting on that couch over there."

James Potter looked questioningly at Dumbledore, "Any relation to Professor McGonnagal?"

"Why, yes, actually, Mensa is Minerva's aunt, on her father's side, of course."

James and Lily were both a little shocked at this news. They were not completely stupid; they knew the professors had relatives, and probably even personal lives, outside of Hogwarts, but actually to hear about them was something else.

"Of course, all of these good times were had before the Head Girl's dorm room became haunted. That did not occur until a few years after our graduation."

Lily looked perplexed, while James looked excited. "You mean it really is haunted?" He asked, excited. "I thought it was all a story the Heads have been making up to amuse themselves by scaring the younger students. I mean, ghosts are one thing here, but ghosts that don't come out from wherever they are is something else."

Lily stared at James, "I've never heard of any of this. What's this story you are talking about?"

"Perhaps I should tell it" Dumbledore interjected, "I really love to tell it to fresh audiences."

James nodded his consent, anxious to get another person's take on the story.

"Well, about a hundred years ago, before I started teaching here, the Head Girl, Elizabeth Conrad, was murdered by the Head Boy on Halloween."

"No," Lily gasped.

"That was my reaction too, Miss Evans, but at least part of it must be true. The Head Girl and Head Boy disappeared. Elizabeth's boyfriend had been coming to visit her in her dorm-"

"What?" James and Lily exclaimed. "Boys are not allowed in the girls' dormitories. Everyone knows that." Lily added.

"The founders placed a little more trust in the Head students than they did in the others. As you saw earlier, there is a password to get into the Common Room you two will share, but other than that, the Head students are on the Honor System."

James smiled gleefully, while Lily glared and then snorted. While James had matured immensely since their fifth year when she had despised him more than most any other student in the school, she still would not put it past him to come into her room in the middle of the night and play some joke on her.

"Mr. Potter, I trust that you will respect Miss Evans' privacy," Dumbledore stated.

"Yes, sir," James replied.

"Anyways, Elizabeth's boyfriend, Percival Wilkes, claimed that when he approached the Heads' dormitories he heard screaming, so he rushed to help her. He said that he saw Michael Betancourt, the Head Boy, holding the body of Elizabeth, and when Percival tried to stun him, he took off with Elizabeth's body, leaving their wands behind. We checked their wands, and there were no deadly curses used by either of them, so he must have used a "Muggle" way of killing her. There was no blood, so everyone conjectured that he had strangled her."

Lily gasped. "Don't worry, Lily, I will protect you from any harm," James stated gallantly.

"I'm sure you will, Potter," Lily scoffed. Though she normally called him by his first name ever since they reached a truce in the middle of their sixth year, she would occasionally refer to him by his surname when he was acting annoying or haughty.

"Well, no one ever found Elizabeth or Michael. They did not know what he did with her body, nor could they ever find him to charge him with her murder. Wilkes said that Betancourt had a little 'crush' on the Head Girl and could not handle the fact that she loved Wilkes, so he killed her rather than have to share her with another man. The school administrators were, of course, forced to find a new Head Boy and Girl, but ever since that night, the Head Girls have claimed to hear voices and screaming in the dormitory. None of them have stayed long in this room; Alice Figg, who was Head Girl three years ago, stayed longer than any of the others, and she only lasted two weeks." Lily remembered the sweet, older Gryffindor and remembered the stories of how the girl had been really awkward and slightly cowardly until her fifth year, and how, shortly after graduation she had become engaged to Frank Longbottom, whose mother put fear into the hearts of even the bravest of Gryffindors. Lily figured that if Alice could not handle the "ghost" of the Head Girl's dormitory then she, Lily, would not have a snowball's chance in Hell. However, she was still skeptical as to the truth of the story.

"Thank you for that wonderful story, Professor Dumbledore, but I don't think I believe it. There's too many holes in it, one of them being the fact that ghosts can go wherever they want. Why would her ghost want to stay and haunt the Head Girl's dorm when she could go and haunt Betancourt? It doesn't make sense."

"I know it doesn't make sense, but that's the story. Do either of you have any questions for me concerning your duties or anything else before I leave?"

James and Lily shook their heads, "No, sir," so Dumbledore left, bidding them a goodnight.

After he left, James turned to Lily and asked, "So, what do you think?"

Lily snorted and said, "It sounds like a load of bull to me. I'm not going to be scared of a dorm which may or may not have a ghost haunting it."

"Well, if you do, you know you can always come and sleep in my room with me."

Lily snorted again, "I'm sure you'd like that, Potter, but I definitely do no need your comfort," she said, crossing her arms defiantly. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Lily." The two then turned and headed to their respective dormitories, anxiously looking forward to the next day, when their duties as Heads would begin, as well as their final year at Hogwarts.