Chapter Six

"Lily…Lily, are you alright?"

Lily's eyes slowly fluttered open. Elizabeth and Alexis were standing over her with looks of concern clearly etched on their faces. Lily frowned, Was it all a dream?

"What happened…did something happen?" Lily asked in a weary tone. She sat up on her pillow and looked at her best friends, concern still on their faces.

"Lily…look at yourself. You are covered in sweat. You were tossing as well. I got annoyed at first but then I started to wonder if you were having a fit or something. It was pretty scary." Alexis reported.

"Are you mad at me?" was all Lily could think of to ask Alexis. Alexis gave her a confused look.

"No, Lils…why would I be mad at you?"

Knowing that it had all been a horrible dream, Lily flopped back down on her pillow.

"Never mind…it was all a dream." Lily said. Elizabeth and Alexis exchanged confused looks.

"See you in the morning, Lily." Elizabeth and Alexis said.

"Good night." Lily replied.

Lily turned on her side toward the window, where a full moon's light struck her eyes. She was deep in thought. This had confused Lily. Why did she have that dream? Did it mean anything? Was it possible that she cared for Remus as more than a friend? That was impossible…she did not get chills all over or something whenever she saw him. It was just…Remus. Not that he wasn't anyone special, but he was just like a brother to her. Then another horrid thought occurred to her: What if Alexis likes James? That was impossible. Just this past afternoon, Alexis did not do much to stick up for James as Elizabeth had for Remus. She called Lily crazy for not liking him, but that's all. It took Lily about an hour to get back to sleep.

Lily awoke to the loudest ringing she had ever heard in her life. She quickly sat up in bed and looked around. Knowing that her hair had to be a total mess now, Lily quickly took down her bun. Her hair came down in curls from the bun. She tucked her hair behind her ears to keep it out of her face so she could see where the ringing was coming from. She realized that Elizabeth and Alexis were out of bed already. Where are they? Lily thought. She went to the door and peeked out. She then realized that someone in the Gryffindor Common Room was ringing the obnoxious bell. She looked and realized that it was almost evening. Lily quickly dressed into only her plaid skirt and her long-sleeved, white collared shirt. She went downstairs to see that it was Professor McGonagall ringing the bell. In the room were many Gryffindors – some fifth years, mostly sixth and seventh year. Some were in their pajamas still. Lily tried to find Elizabeth and Alexis, but realized they were taking their Muggle Studies exam. She looked around for someone she could stand next to and quickly spotted Molly and Shannon. She went over to them and stood between them.

"Do either of you know what's going on here?" Lily inquired to them loudly, trying to speak over the ringing.

"We're not sure yet, she hasn't said." Shannon replied louder than Lily.

After what seemed like forever and a day, Professor McGonagall stopped ringing the bell so she could talk. Lily could hear many of the same question: "What's going on?" or "Why is she up there?" or "Why the hell did she wake me up with that loathsome bell?"

"Good morning, students of Gryffindor. I must inform you all about a matter. The ministry did not want us to tell all you students, but Professor Dumbledore and myself thought it would be for the best. You see – a Gryffindor student's parents were killed last evening by Voldemort. You may have wanted to give her your condolences, but I am afraid that will not be possible. She left early this morning and went back her home to live with her aunt and uncle. However, if you do know Felicia Catkins…please try to write her a letter and let her know that you are all thinking of her. I am afraid that she will not be coming back to Hogwarts to finish her schooling. The Ministry thought that she would bring trouble to Hogwarts, so we had to let her go. That is all."

Lily froze in the spot between Molly and Shannon. How could this be happening? She knew that Voldemort was rising to power – but this? James had been right the night before. How could she be so stupid? Of course he was right. The public wanted to hear that everything would be alright. Was the encounter with James last night part of the dream? Or did it really happen? She would have to talk to Elizabeth and Alexis and see if she really had that conversation with them or she dreamt it. So many questions were going through her mind. She turned to Molly.

"What did Felicia's parents do – for a living, I mean." Lily asked.

"They owned an antique store in Diagon Alley. It doesn't make any sense. Why would he kill them? They are such nice people. They're warm and loving…I thought this would be impossible to happen." Molly said quietly.

"Felicia loved her parents so much. She was really close to them…she must be having an awful time." Shannon commented.

Lily had to get out of here. She had to find some place to go to clear her head. There was too much depression amongst these people, all mourning for Felicia Catkins' parents. She felt awful for Felicia, but she didn't want to mourn.

"I've got to go." Lily said. Molly and Shannon looked up.

"Where are you going?" Shannon asked.

"I don't know…I've just got to get out of here…"

"You mean – out of this room or Hogwarts?" Molly exclaimed.

Lily didn't get to respond. She walked quietly out of the room and went down the halls. Before she knew it, she was running. She was running away from what was happening in the world. She couldn't believe that James was right. She heard what Voldemort was after – half-bloods…or the harsh word: mudblood. I'm a mudblood…he's after me…me…oh no, I'm going to die! Thoughts were racing through Lily's mind so fast that she thought she was going to explode. Usually Lily would have gone to the library to clear her head, but she couldn't right now. The lake – that's right…the lake. That's the one place where she felt she could be. She ran at top speed outside. She ran through the green grass, over the hill. When she ran she could feel the somewhat chilly June morning air on her cheeks. She ran to the shore of the lake, tripped over a shell and fell flat on her face. She did not even bother to move, although she knew she probably cut her face. She sobbed into the cold sand. Then she realized what she wanted to do. She wanted to go into the Forbidden Forest. If she died that summer, she would have never been in there. She was always curious about the forest, but was too scared to get in trouble, so she would hold herself bad. She stood up, not even bothering to wipe the sand off her shirt and skirt and starting walking in that direction.

After a few minutes, she approached the front of the Forbidden Forest. I have to go in… Lily thought to herself. This was the one thing she had wanted to do before she died, the one thing. Without hesitation after thinking that, Lily walked in. She looked up at the tall trees that were so close together. Even though it had a scary vibe about it, Lily thought the forest was rather pretty in its own way. She was walking deeper into the forest, not even realizing she was. Before Lily knew it, she was lost. She turned back into the direction she thought she came and started running. She ran faster and faster until she realized that she should have been going in the opposite direction. She turned around…not knowing which way to go. She started to cry, hoping some miracle would happen. Feeling completely overwhelmed, Lily lay down on the ground and put her face into the tree roots. A few minutes later, when Lily thought things couldn't get any worse, there was a loud cry. Lily didn't know what to make of it. She stood up swiftly and started to look around. Where was the cry coming from? And more importantly, who or what was making the cry? The cry rang through the forest again, Lily turned to the left, thinking it was coming in that direction, even though she wasn't sure. What was it? The cry rang out again. Lily started to cry, but silently. The tears were rolling down her cheeks without a sound. Then the cry came yet again. Lily noticed that the cry sounded as if it were coming closer.

Lily waited for a few moments for something to happen…anything. She froze in the same position for what seemed like ten minutes and thought it was all over. Perhaps she was just dreaming. After all, she was exhausted. She smiled with relief. Nothing's there…nothing's there…

Then, all at once, something jumped on top of her and knocked her down flat on her face yet again. She looked up to see that it was a werewolf. Lily screamed at the top of her lungs. She rolled over, got to her feet and ran faster than she had ever run in her life. She didn't know where she was going, just that it would be away from the werewolf. She was panting from running so fast and she desperately wanted to stop, but she knew she couldn't. She kept running, feeling herself lose speed. The werewolf was now so close that it was snapping at her. Lily then tripped over an enormous tree root and fell. Her knee hit the sharp edge of a rock and she let out a cry of pain. She tumbled over the rock, scratching her face as well. She knew that now she couldn't run, and she was terrified. She turned to face the werewolf who was less than ten feet from her.

Lily tried to push herself away from the werewolf with her arms but she didn't have enough energy. I'm going to die. Not from Voldemort, but from a werewolf.

The werewolf came closer and Lily closed her eyes. Unexpectedly, she heard a loud thump and the werewolf now let out a cry of pain. Lily opened her eyes to see a large, shaggy dog fighting with the werewolf. The werewolf kicked the dog with great force and the dog fell a few feet away, whining from the pain. Lily knew that she was now done for. Then the miracle came. A great, white stag appeared out of nowhere, putting Lily on its back. Lily put her arms around its neck and it galloped faster than Lily could ever run. This was the thrill of Lily's life. She turned her head and saw the werewolf after them, but a great distance behind them. Lily smiled and laughed aloud, which rang through the forest. This made the stag seem to go faster.

Lily's legs were swung over on one side of the stag, her arms around its neck. Her hair was practically standing up from going so fast. Lily turned back around and saw that the werewolf was nowhere in sight. Then, to Lily's dismay, the stag and her reached the end of the forest. The stag gently let her off its back. Lily stood on one leg, knowing she could barely walk with the other. The stag turned around to return to the forest. Lily peered at it in awe.

"No wait!" Lily called.

As if the stag could understand, it turned around and faced Lily. Lily slowly limped up to it. She rose her hand to touch its nose. She hesitated, but the stag looked as if it wouldn't mind. She smiled and pet its nose.

"You're such an amazing creature." Lily said softly.

She continued to pet the stag until, out of nowhere, the werewolf tackled the stag to the ground.

"NO!" Lily screamed.

Tears were pooling in Lily's eyes, quickly coming down. She watched the stag, helpless as the werewolf tackled it. Lily quickly looked on the ground and found a large rock. Out of anger, she chucked it at the werewolf's head. The werewolf turned on her, then luckily; Lily could hear other werewolves crying out. The werewolf turned to the cries and ran back into the forest.

Lily ran to the stag that had a deep gash on its stomach. She stroked its face, looking deep into the stag's eyes as they glistened in the night. She then had an idea…

Lily looked around the grounds in the late night, seeing no one. She turned back to the stag with a smile.

"Come on! Follow me!" Lily exclaimed. She stood up and stepped a few feet back. The stag rose slowly and stared at her. Lily ran. It took awhile, but she could then hear the stag galloping behind her. She smiled at the sound of it soft galloping on the green grass.

Lily and the stag reached the lake. Lily took of her shoes and stockings. She went into the lake and turned to the stag and motioned for it to lay down right next to the lake. The stag obeyed. Lily smiled and grabbed handfuls of water, soaking the gash. After doing that for a few minutes, another idea struck Lily. The stag did not have a very large stomach, Lily had long legs. She grabbed her stockings and tied them around the stag, covering the gash.

Lily heard something and turned back to Hogwarts. She could see that the lights were going off for another night of rest. Disappointed, Lily pet the stag softly.

"Goodbye."

Lily put on her shoes and ran back in the school's direction. When she reached the outside of the hallway in Hogwarts that was close to Gryffindor, Lily turned back to the lake. The stag was gone.

Lily smiled and went inside.