Chapter – 14: Just what she needed!

Lily P.O.V

Lily slammed the books on the table in frustration. All the books on vampires were useless, not giving any information about where they lived, what they did, nothing! There was no way she could find that stupidly irritating vampire just sitting around Hogwarts.

"What's bothering you so much?" Severus asked, sitting down next to her in the room of requirement.

None of the marauders were here, or she would've completely lost it. As it was, she snapped and insulted Severus, storming out of the room.

'Sorry I can't say much.'

That's all she had received as a reply from the vampire. A mere offhand comment. Lily wanted to hunt the vampire down and stake her, or whatever she had to do to kill Lark.

'Sorry I can't say much.' Indeed, by the end she wouldn't be able to say much. If only Lily could get out of Hogwarts and find the vampire.

Lily stilled.

She could get out of Hogwarts. With that thought, she grabbed her bag, shrunk it and put it in her pocket. Taking the stairs two at a time, she went to the statue of the one-eyes witch and tapped it, muttering Dissendium. As Remus had told her, the hump slid open enough for her to slide through. She stalked through the passage, letting her own thoughts fill her head.

Maybe she shouldn't be doing this. It was probably illegal. But at that point, Lily didn't care. All she cared was that the stupid vampire did… did what?

Lily sighed. Well, she could always figure it out in Knockturn Alley. So, she continued to walk.


Knockturn Alley wasn't supposed to be so crowded. It was as though every adult pureblood had decided to take a stroll through the Alley on the day Lily chose to sneak out of Hogwarts. As Lilith Darke, she was avoided, but that didn't make it easier to go through the crowds.

The area near Borgin and Burkes was clearer, but as usual, Lily seemed to have the worst luck. It seemed Malfoy and Black decided to have an unsanctioned visit to Knockturn Alley, and they had spotted her.

"Vampire," Malfoy inclined his head.

"Wizard. Witch." She hoped that was not as offensive as it sounded to her.

"Lucius Malfoy, and my betrothed, Narcissa Black." He introduced, and Lily wanted to run away screaming. She refrained.

"Lilith Darke. A pleasure, Mr. Malfoy."

"Indeed." Malfoy had an unholy gleam in his eyes. "May I ask what you are doing here?"

Lily thought about it for a second. She settled on, "Just buying some knickknacks."

Before Malfoy could continue, he seemed to notice something behind her and gave her a pleasant smile.

"We should have a conversation sometime, Ms. Darke," he invited, and Black nodded along.

"Of course," Lily agreed, a little apprehensive about her decision.

"Until then."

Then, the two were gone, merging into the larger crowd on the other side of Knockturn Alley. She turned to see why the two had left, only to find a stranger standing next to her. She winced. Just what she needed!

"What are you doing here, Evans?" The man hissed.

Lily frowned, but stared at him a little harder, then gave a breathless laugh. Of course. "Peter."

"Yes, Evans. Congratulations, you know me!" He grumbled.

Lily just shook her head. "What are you doing here?"

"Following Malfoy and Black."

Lily groaned. Just like Peter to follow two almost death eaters. She couldn't just leave Peter here to fend for himself, nor could she tell him how to get back because he would tell the marauders and then, the entire school would know. She'd likely be expelled.

"Alright, Peter," Lily turned to him. "I'm going to let you in on a secret."

Peter's expression brightened. "And?"

"I'm searching for the vampires' lair or crypt."

His expression couldn't be more bewildered. "Vampires?"

"That is what I said."

Peter looked contemplative for a bit, then he said, "Vampires don't stay in Knockturn Alley. The rumor is that they have their own dimensional pocket where they have an entire city for themselves."

Lily almost stomped her foot in frustration. "How about we go to that fancy bakery at the edge of Diagon, and you tell me about this dimensional pocket and how to find it."

Peter shrugged.


"They're impossible to find then?" Lily asked, munching on a croissant.

"Unless you have a standing invitation to call on them," Peter nodded, and Lily groaned.

"Say you have a standing invite, then what?"

"I don't know that much, Lily." Peter looked at the sky outside. It was barely noon.

"How do you even know this much?" Lily knew it was a bad question as soon as she asked. But words couldn't be retracted once spoken.

Peter gave her a bland stare, but his words were sharp. "I'm not a famous pureblood, Evans. But I am still a pureblood. As such we have stories and knowledge that passes through the family."

Ouch. Lily was not bitter about that at all. Although what he said was true. Pureblood families would have more information than anyone else. The slight she had committed here wasn't exactly easy to overcome.

"You think we would find something in Borgin and Burkes?" Lily asked, after sufficient time had passed.

Peter seemed to slump slightly, but he gave a half-shrug, half-nod. "They'll have something for sure. Whether it's worth it is a better question."

"Wonderful!" Lily exclaimed standing up, relief flooding her. She was never mentioning this entire trip ever again. "We look around Borgin and Burkes and then head back."

"Right," Peter nodded in agreement, standing up as well, then froze. "Lily, is that James?"

Lily turned to see who he was looking at, and saw a head of messy hair, glasses flashing in the sunlight moving towards Gringotts. It was just her luck that everyone was out on that particular day. Oh, the joy! She took a deep, calming breath.

"That is James."

"How about we go to the stupid shop anyways?" Peter seemed to take pity on her. "James won't recognize us, unless we crash into him or alert him to our presence."

"Yeah," Lily nodded, pulling Peter out of the shop behind her, and stalking towards Knockturn Alley. At this rate, this day was going to get all of them expelled. "Let's just hope Sirius isn't hanging around there. It'll be just what we need."

Peter stopped short. Lily resisted the urge to bang her head on the wall. Then, she turned to Peter.

"We are going to muggle London and dealing with this mess later."

He nodded miserably. "Do you think Remus would come out as well?"

"Without a doubt," Lily snarled, turning towards the Leaky Cauldron.

If Peter snuck out, and James was out on the same day, then, Sirius would be hanging around somewhere as well. And the chances of Remus not being nearby was abysmal. That meant that most of Gryffindor's fifth years were missing. Given that their OWLs were in a few weeks, they were supposed to be studying, not gallivanting around Diagon Alley or muggle London, and definitely not in Knockturn Alley.

"Er… Lily?" Peter asked, timid and self-conscious. "Is there a reason we're walking through some random side alley?"

Lily stopped walking and Peter stumbled to a stop near her. She looked around to see they were indeed in some side alley, off Diagon.

"Where are we?"

Peter looked as lost as she felt. Lily was so close to screaming, it wasn't even funny.

"We're lost, aren't we?"

Lily's eyes widened when she saw the familiar figure stalking up to Peter.

"Oh, Peter," a sharp, dangerous, pleased smile blossomed on her face. "We certainly are. But that, for once,seems to be a good thing. In fact, it's exactly what we need."