Author's Note: Oh dear…I'm terribly sorry. I know I told you this would be up around July 10th…I really hope you're still interested in reading it. It's just that when I got back on July 3rd, I was having a horrible time figuring out what to put in the second half of this chapter. Then, finally, when I figured it out--and, just by the way, it's not exactly the most interesting chapter in the whole story--anyway, when I figured out what to write, it was already the 10th, and my brother would not get off the computer for anything! It was like midnight when he did, and I was exhausted, so, I gave up. Then we went to Colorado for four days and visited old friends (I used to live there), and we just got back pretty much a day ago. So, I'm awfully sorry to you all, it wasn't very nice to keep you waiting. But, it's here now, and I hope you're all having a good summer!
Lady Riddle: Thanks, I'm really glad you like it. And I'm sorry it wasn't July 10th, but, you know, one thing and another…
Windowseat Wonderer: Thanks, I did have a good time, and, thanks, I'm glad you liked the chapter!
Lady of Masbolle: You really liked it that much? To be honest with you (and not to sound egotistical), I think that was my favorite chapter of the whole story so far. Thanks!
Chapter Eleven
The month of November seemed to slip away just as quickly as it had come upon Hogwarts. One more Quidditch match took place within the month; Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw, and it now seemed that Gryffindor would have an excellent chance at the Quidditch cup yet again.
More and more students were flocking towards the library and common rooms to study at night, now that the teachers were becoming ever more persistent about O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. An extremely stressful feeling had set into the castle, and no one could escape it.
Voldemort was continuing on as before, and nearly every day another story about he and his followers was splashed across the front page of the Daily Prophet. The teachers could be seen whispering at the staff table and cringing every time they caught sight of a newspaper. Small groups of students huddled together over the Prophet every morning--Lily, James, Sirius, Anna, and Remus were among them (Peter was constantly oversleeping lately).
An array of odd rumors about Voldemort had been printed in the pages of the Daily Prophet, yet even more ludicrous things had been printed in The Quibbler.
"This is ridiculous," Anna said one morning, as a few Hufflepuffs pored through the pages of the Quibbler, "The most unreliable news source in the Wizarding community is what over half of everyone in this castle pays attention to."
It was hard not to agree with her, but what the Quibbler lacked in credibility it surely made up for in the power of suggestion. A small, unbelievable piece appeared in an issue, stating: "Saying A Name Gave Me Bad Luck--And Got My Brother Killed!" It detailed the story of a country woman whose brother was murdered by Voldemort, supposedly because she had said Voldemort's name one too many times. The woman's final word was, "I'm never saying you-know-who's name again--and everyone else should choose to do so as well!"
It seemed extremely stupid when everyone had first read it, and the Slytherins spent a few days imitating the country woman featured in the article. James had stated that it was the first time he'd ever agreed with the Slytherins on anything. However, a few students followed every word of the Quibbler almost religiously, and took the woman's advice to heart. It started a chain reaction--a week later, Voldemort's name had been replaced in every conversation with the words "You-Know-Who". Of course, the students of Hogwarts weren't the only people who'd followed this trend. Barely a few days later, an article in the Daily Prophet reported that a state of fear had settled into the Wizarding world--and everyone was using the term "You-Know-Who."
And then there was the whole matter of Lily and James' now widely known relationship.
Despite the fact that the two of them had been absolutely thrilled at being together as much as they pleased now, it was hard not to notice the gaping stares that followed them in the first few days. Some were worse than others, and the Slytherins seemed to be having the time of their life making fun of the two of them--more specifically, making fun of Lily. She'd had to use every ounce of her strength to hold James back when Bellatrix Black had told James that he should be ashamed for associating with Mudbloods. Finally, Sirius (of all people) had managed to talk some sense into James. Lily, who'd grown used to this game of name-calling over six years, knew that they'd stop eventually. And she was right, for nearly a week later, nobody even mentioned anything about the two of them.
Anna had gotten rather irritated with Lily lately, exclaiming that all she ever talked about was how wonderful James was.
"Everyone has faults, just to let you know, so it's highly impossible that he's perfect!" Anna had said one night before they went to bed.
"You're too skeptical," Lily had said simply.
"Have you gotten in a fight with him yet?" Anna had asked, and Lily had replied no. "Well, then, once you've gotten in a fight with him, you tell me exactly how perfect he is."
While James had not been quite so obvious in his exuberance lately, it was hard not to be able to tell it anyway. Sirius and Peter teased him quite often about the whole thing (until Sirius had gotten tired of Peter repeating his every word and told him to shut up). Sirius, however, was still relentless, until Remus pointed out that he was being a hypocrite.
"Moony, I know I'm great, but you don't have to compliment me quite so often," Sirius had remarked.
"What in the world are you talking about?" Remus had asked, clearly puzzled.
"Well, first I'm procrastinate, now I'm a hypocrite!"
"I'm getting you a dictionary for Christmas."
So when December came along, bringing with it several things (another Hogsmeade trip and winter holidays), everyone was very much relieved.
Lily and James were sitting in the library, studying--well, at least sort of studying. As much as they both tried to concentrate, their conversations seemed to always go off subject, and, secretly, James was glad of it. He was having a terrible time with his Charms lately, and he was beginning to feel like his brain was going to explode.
"Are you going home for the holidays?" Lily asked suddenly, looking up from her book. James shrugged; he hadn't really given it much thought until this point. His parents had, however, sent a letter home asking if he would please come home to be with them during Christmas.
"I dunno," He said, throwing his quill down, "I've always stayed here during the holidays before. My parents want me to, and I kinda feel like I should…I mean, with everything happening lately."
"Oh, okay," Lily said.
James had come to learn a lot about Lily Evans in six years, and he definitely knew that she didn't end conversations that quickly--unless, of course, she was hiding something.
"What about you? Feel like getting away from the Slytherins?" James asked, and Lily looked mildly surprised.
"Er…well…" She stammered, "Listen, James, I don't want this to affect your choice, all right? Because I can handle myself for two weeks. But…well…I'd rather deal with the Slytherins than my older sister and her boyfriend."
"So…let me get this straight…you're staying?" James asked.
"Yes."
"Then so am I."
"James! Didn't you listen to what I just said? I told you, I don't want you to feel like you have to stay just because I am! You should go home, your parents want to see you!" Lily said.
"Well…don't you want me to stay?" James had asked; trying (and failing) not to sound disheartened. Lily sighed, smiling slightly.
"It's not as if I want to send you off because I'm sick of you," She said, "It'd be great if we could be together. But you can't disregard your family just because of me. They love you just as much as I…er…I mean, they love you and deserve to see you."
James smirked a little bit as he saw her cheeks flush slightly.
"Okay, well, I'll make you a deal," He said, "I'll spend one week at my house with my parents, then I'll come back here and spend the second week at Hogwarts."
"Sounds good to me," Lily said, looking absolutely gleeful.
"Jeez, you don't know how hard it is to be me," James said, "Everybody wants a piece of my fabulous self, and there's only so much to go around."
"Oh, please," Lily said, rolling her eyes.
"Don't deny it, Lily, darling," He said, "Even you've got absolutely mad with passion for me."
"Why don't you finish studying your Charms," Lily said calmly.
"I was born with natural charms, I don't need any of that stuff," James said.
"Well, it'll be useful to know how to get rid of a Silencing Charm."
"And why is that?"
"Because I'm going to put one on you if you don't shut up about how great you are."
"Ah. Good point."
When James returned to his dormitory, he found Sirius, Remus, and Peter all sitting on their four-poster beds. They all looked slightly troubled; and Sirius was reading a letter with disgust.
"What's got all of you looking so down?" James asked them, sitting down on his bed as well. Sirius finished reading his letter, crumpled it up and threw it on the ground
"That's what's got me mad," He said, "As if they think I'd want to come home…the idiots…"
"Family problems?" James asked.
"Was there ever a time when there weren't family problems?" Sirius said unhappily, "They just wrote to remind me that I'm not welcome in their house at any time, so I'm not allowed home for the winter holidays."
"So…you're staying here?" James asked, knowing what the answer was, and feeling slightly guilty about it. He was about to go home and see his parents, who had practically begged for him to come--and now Lily and Sirius were staying.
"Absolutely," Sirius said, "I'm not going near that house for the rest of my life."
"Well, at least I'll have some company then," Remus said, speaking for the first time, "My parents are trying to get me to stay--not quite as bluntly as your parents did, but they're being all encouraging. They keep saying I should use the time to study, be with my friends, and really appreciate my last year here. What they really mean is that it's too much trouble to have me home--you know, I'm not 'safe' to be around--especially since there' a full moon over holidays."
"Oh," James said, feeling even worse now.
"I'm staying too," Peter said miserably, "I can't stand two weeks of constant nagging from my mum--she'll drive me insane. Plus, I need all the studying time I can get."
James, running out of things to say, simply kept his mouth shut this time. He had a horrible feeling of guilt in his stomach, since he was leaving behind all of his friends--not even because he had to, simply because he could.
"Er…I forgot something in the library," James said, getting up and pulling the Invisibility Cloak out of his trunk, "I'll be back."
James hadn't forgotten anything in the library, really, he just didn't know what he'd have done if they'd asked him whether he was staying or not. He sat under the invisibility cloak for a very long time, even after Madam Pince extinguished all the lanterns and left. Finally, he returned back upstairs, after he was sure that all of his friends were asleep.
The last week before winter holidays was filled with more schoolwork than any of the seventh years had ever seen. The library was filled with people every day; all looking over-tired and slightly frustrated. The few free moments that anyone got were certainly not taken for granted. It was one of those rare times that James had promised to take Lily down to the kitchens. As they approached the entrance hall, they heard people talking, and could tell that one of these people was Dumbledore.
And, indeed, as they reached the top of the stairs, they saw him standing with two other men. One of them was a good foot-and-a-half shorter than he was (at least), with slightly gray hair. He had just taken off his bowler hat, it seemed, and his face was slightly tense, and he spoke very quickly.
The other man, however, was nearly as tall as Dumbledore. He wore all black robes, and had long, blonde hair--so blonde it looked almost white. He was looking very superior and foreboding, yet the way he looked around the entrance hall and at Dumbledore made him look lazy, and almost bored. Though Lily knew neither of these people, James recognized both of them, as his parents worked in the Ministry themselves. However, before he could say anything to her, Professor Dumbledore caught sight of them and waved merrily, obviously wanting to speak to them.
"Hello, James, Lily," Dumbledore said as they reached him, "No studying tonight?" James and Lily, not really knowing what response would be proper in this instance, since they did indeed have studying to do, decided it would be better to just stay quiet.
"Well, I'll take that as a no, I suppose," He said. The short man cleared his throat rather impatiently at Dumbledore's right.
"Ah, yes, yes," Dumbledore continued, "Excuse me, Cornelius--these two are our Head Boy and Girl. This is Lily Evans--" The short man reached out to shake her hand and mumble a greeting, while the taller one inclined his head in an extremely condescending way, "And James Potter," Dumbledore finished. Obviously, the two men knew James just as he knew them--for the shorter man shook James' hand rather enthusiastically, and the taller one, while still looking extremely evil, studied James for a very long time indeed.
Dumbledore went on to introduce the two men--Cornelius Fudge, Head of Magical Law Enforcement (he was the shorter, slightly flustered one), and Lucius Malfoy, who seemed to be nothing more than an extremely wealthy wizard that was in the ministry's good graces. Not only did they learn their names, but they also found that they were visiting Hogwarts to talk about putting extra security on the castle, because of the recent attacks by Voldemort.
Of course, observing politeness, Fudge asked how James' parents were--and Malfoy spoke for the first time.
"Your parents worked as Aurors for a long period of time, did they not, Mr. Potter?" He asked, and James replied yes--although they had just recently quit.
"Dangerous business, being an Auror," Fudge had interjected, shaking his head, "Especially now. Your parents were lucky to get out before all this dreadful business with…well, You-Know-Who."
James and Lily probably would have both laughed out loud at this, if they had been talking to someone else--after all, how could the Head of Magical Law Enforcement be afraid to say someone's name?
"Yes, dangerous indeed," Malfoy drawled, "Even when you get out of the line of work, there are always risks involved…always people who want to come after you for revenge…but I'm sure they knew that when they both signed up for the training."
Lily had noticed by this point that Dumbledore was staring in a very suspicious way at Lucius Malfoy, and elbowed James in the ribs as he opened his mouth to reply.
"Ow," He said at first, but somehow got the message, "Well, we've got to be going now, I suppose. You must have some important things to do."
"Yes, yes, indeed," Fudge said hurriedly, and, after bidding farewell to the three men, Lily and James headed off. Neither of them spoke all the way down to the kitchens, until finally Lily spoke, sounding rather exasperated.
"James," She said, "Don't you think that that whole conversation was just a little bit…well…weird?"
James, of course, had felt slightly put off by Lucius Malfoy's words--it almost seemed like he had been threatening him. Of course, it was hard for anyone that knew the Malfoy family to ignore something like that.
"Well, sort of, but--listen, Lucius Malfoy's always going around like he owns the world, like he's all-powerful. He makes a concerted effort to intimidate everyone he meets," James said, reaching out to tickle the giant pear on the picture in front of him.
James willed himself to believe, that, however menacing Malfoy had sounded, there was really nothing behind his words. He told himself that there was nothing to worry about, and tried his hardest to pretend as though the whole thing hadn't happened. Yet, still, as he sat in the kitchens across from Lily (who wasn't in the cheeriest of moods herself), he found that his appetite had very much disappeared--and that a growing sense of suspicion was growing inside of him.
Author's Note: EURGH! I really did not like this chapter much at all. I had a nearly impossible time figuring out what to write in it, and so most of it turned out just babbling and carrying on about one thing or another. However, it's better than no chapter at all, and I promise things will be more interesting next time--and it won't be over a month's wait, either!!! (Oh yes, and please review, you know!)
