Hey! This is a REALLY GOOD chapter, so R&R please! Plus, if you happened to be C.S. Lewis, don't sue me for the title!

Chapter 4

The Owl, the Crush, and the Slytherins

"I'll bet that if you would STOP asking her out, she may actually speak to you voluntarily," said Kelsey over dinner. Lily was in the common room catching up on homework.

"Hmm, that would be the, hmm, tenth time you've said that tonight?" said James, picking at his shepherd's pie.

"Hey, she's got a point mate," said Sirius, pushing his plate out of the way.

"I'm sorry, but whose side are you on?" said James sarcastically. "And might I add, this is the second time I've saved her without a single thank you."

"Lily doesn't like being rescued by stalkers," said Olivia, purposely leaning over Sirius to look at James. Sirius edged backwards a little bit.

"I am not a stalker!" Olivia caught Kelsey's eye and they both turned and looked at James.

"You wouldn't be a stalker if you would stop asking her out," said Kelsey.

"And following her to classes," said Olivia, pointing her fork at James.

"And telling her that you would prank Snivellus for her," said Sirius.

"I stopped saying that in our third year!"

"Yeah, but you still prank Snivellus in front of her," James just rolled his eyes, realizing that this was very true.

"I'm going to start my homework," said James, and picked up his bag and marched out of the Main Hall realizing that if he didn't change, he would never get Lily.

He got to the portrait of the eagle, but before he could say the password, the portrait hole opened, and Remus walked out.

"Uh, what are you doing here?" asked James, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't look so shocked, Taylor wanted to check on Lily, and Hannah was already going, so I just tagged along,"

"Right, how is she?"

"Er, maybe you should see for yourself," said Remus, and before James could reply, Remus walked past him and down the hall. James wondered why Remus wouldn't tell him. To satisfy his curiosity, James climbed through the portrait hole, and heard sobbing. He went and knocked on Lily's door, but Taylor and Hannah opened it, blocking the entrance.

"She doesn't want to see anyone right now, especially not you Potter," said Hannah snappishly.

"Could I know WHY?" said James, already feeling annoyed. Taylor turned around and whispered something to Lily.

"No, she doesn't want you to know, and I don't really blame her,"

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked James, feeling even more annoyed. Hannah looked at Taylor, and Taylor looked at Hannah. Then they slammed the door in his face.

(While the others are eating)

Lily bent low over her potions essay. Professor Spidell had given them two rolls of parchment to do on the importance of moonstone. She put down her quill, and flopped onto the back of her armchair. Suddenly, she heard tapping at the window. It was a huge black eagle owl with a large note in its talons. She rushed to the window and the owl hopped onto her arm. She pulled it into the common room and set it down on the arm of the chair. As she started to untie the letter, the portrait hole opened and Hannah, Taylor, and Remus walked in, chattering away.

"Hey guys," said Lily, still trying to untie the letter.

"Wow, that's a huge owl; who's the letter from?" asked Hannah, sitting down on the other arm of the chair.

"I don't know," said Lily, finally untying the letter. Her eyes scanned the page and Lily felt tears come to her eyes. She clapped her hand to her mouth, and when Hannah, Taylor, and Remus asked what was wrong, she just handed them the note in shaking hands. They all gathered around the letter and read it silently. It read:

Dear Miss Evans,

We are terribly sorry to inform you that your parents were found with the dark mark over their home. Your sister, Petunia, was not in the house at the time, so it just fine. We know that your parents are muggles, so we will try with all of our resources to find out why they were murdered. Please send by return owl a message saying that you have received this letter.

Truly sorry,

The Ministry of Magic

Lily could do nothing but sit with her hand over her mouth. They were gone. The loving parents that raised her and Petunia for seventeen years were gone. Forever.

Hannah grabbed a small piece of parchment and wrote: I can't believe this happened. I am at Hogwarts and safe, but FIND OUT why this has happened. She tied the letter to the owl and sent it off, and with shaking hands, handed the letter back to Lily. Lily grabbed it and ran off into her room, sobbing. Hannah and Taylor quickly followed, and Remus agreed to leave and not tell anyone. But on his way out he met James.

"Lily, it's okay, the ministry will find out who and why this happened," said Hannah softly, sitting down on the bed next to Lily.

"Yeah, Lils, they'll find out everything," said Taylor, sitting on the other side of Lily. But Lily couldn't speak, she just cried. She couldn't stop, and she couldn't talk. Then there was a loud knock on the door.

"We'll get it," said Taylor and Hannah together. They opened the door, saw who it was, and blocked the entrance.

"She doesn't want to see anyone right now, especially not you Potter," said Hannah snappishly.

"Could I know WHY?" said James, acting like nothing was wrong. Taylor turned and asked: "You don't want Potter to know do you?"

Lily shook her head.

"No, she doesn't want you to know, and I don't really blame her,"

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked James. Hannah looked at Taylor, and Taylor looked at Hannah. Then they slammed the door in his face.

"Nosy prat," said Hannah.

Discouraged, James went back down to the Gryffindor common room.

"Fanged Frisbee," he said, and he climbed through the portrait hole. He spotted Remus on the couch and sat down next to him.

"So, why won't you tell me?"

"Uh, tell you what?" said Remus, putting his book down.

"What happened with Evans,"

"Because I promised that I wouldn't,"

"Come on Remus, I'm one of your best friends!"

"Fine, I'll tell you. Evans got a letter from the ministry, saying that her parents had been found dead inside their house with the dark mark over it; happy?"

"Oh, uh, yeah thanks," said James immediately regretting being sharp with Hannah and Taylor. He sat back and looked around the common room until he found Sirius. He was sitting at a table next to Peter, "studying" which pretty much meant planning a different way to embarrass the Slytherins. James noticed Olivia edging closer and closer to the table.

"Hey Black, can you come and, erm, help me with something?" she said nervously.

"Uh, yeah, I guess," he said, putting down his quill and parchment. Olivia led him all the way down the hall and into and empty classroom.

"Okay, what are we doing in here?" said Sirius, looking around the classroom.

"So, are you really happy with Hannah, like, on a scale of one to ten, how happy are you?"

"Okay, Olivia, it's just not going to…" He was going to say "happen" but Olivia interrupted him.

"Just, tell me,"

"Hmm, how about a big, fat ten?"

"Well, things change," said Olivia, stepping closer to Sirius, and she kissed him on the cheek.

"A lot," she said, and she pressed her lips to his. And Sirius didn't protest. (He'd snog anything that moved as James always said.) But then the door of the classroom creaked open, and everything changed.

"C'mon Lily, let's go find Olivia, she needs to know," said Hannah, grabbing Lily's arm. (A/N: Hannah doesn't know about Olivia's "little crush.") Lily didn't speak, but she got up willingly. Olivia was one of her best friends, so was Kelsey, they needed to know.

They started opening every door that they passed, trying to find their missing friends.

"Uh, Hannah, these are just empty classrooms," said Taylor, peeking into the room.

"You never know where they might be in a place this huge!" said Hannah, opening yet another door. And Taylor couldn't argue. It was a massive castle, with lots of doors, and lots of rooms. They reached the door at the end of the corridor, and Hannah creaked it open, and swore she was about to pass out. Even Lily came out of her miserable trance when she saw it.

Sirius looked right at her, as did Olivia. Hannah couldn't move. Lily's misery and confusion and hurt seemed to transfer to Hannah, and it coursed through her veins like an electric shock.

"Hey, what's going on…bloody hell I did not just see what I just saw!" Kelsey was standing behind everybody. She had been walking along the corridors searching for Lily and everybody, and saw them all crowded around the door, and the first thing she saw was Sirius pull away from Olivia.

Tears came to Hannah's eyes as Sirius started towards her. She had finally gotten him to like her, and her best friend stole him. She spun and ran, without a word.

"Hannah! Oy Hannah!" Sirius called, stepping out in to the hall.

"Yeah, she's really gonna come back," said Taylor sarcastically.

"Well, great job Black, great job," said Kelsey, and she and Taylor started down the hall after Hannah. Sirius turned and looked at Lily. Lily turned and walked down the hall, but in the opposite direction.

This day was the worst day of her life. She felt empty; she didn't even know where she was walking until she got into a dark, deserted hallway. Then she realized that she didn't know where she was.

"Lost, mudblood?" it was Lucius Malfoy. "I heard about your parents. It's just a shame, for it to have taken the death eaters that long to get to them. They should've been gone years ago."

"You foul, blood-sucking little cockroach!" and she started rushing at him, his pain the only thing on her mind. But before she could get to him, he already had closed his hand around her throat, and pinned her onto the wall, cutting off her windpipe.

"You'll really have to do better than that, mudblood," he said, edging closer to her.

"Get away from me!" she managed to choke out.

"That, you filthy mudblood, is not an option," he said, moving even closer. Lily was running out of air, and was being harassed by Lucius Malfoy. She silently prayed for help, and miraculously, it came. She heard someone cry: "Stupefy!" and Malfoy released her throat, and as he fell to the ground, he cleared her vision path, and she saw her rescuer. It was Potter. Again. But this time, she wasn't angry, or embarrassed, she was… happy?

She slid down the wall, her hand clutching her throat. James walked over to her, and reached his hand down.

"Need a hand?" and she took it willingly, and he pulled her up so they were face-to-face. She took one look into in his eyes and knew. He knew about her parents. But he didn't say anything, but he just turned and walked away, leaving Lily staring hopelessly at his back. He knew that she wasn't going to say thank you, or anything, so he was just going to spare himself the pain.

"Hey! Potter!" she called after him. He turned and looked at her, and she started walking towards him, not knowing what she was doing. She stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek, and said: "Thank you." And now it was her turn to turn and walk away.