Falling

Chapter 3: Spying

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

The three girls were spread about the common room in the heads dorm; adorned in their night clothes, pigging out on chocolate and other assorted sweets. Lily was laying on her back on the couch, Isis was sitting on the chair beside her, and Nadia was perched on an ottoman, snuggled close to the blazing fire.

"Where to begin?" Isis asked.

"Let's start with her childhood, ... muggles are always tracing problems back to their childhood!" Nadia said enthusiastically.

"I don't see how telling you about my childhood will help us understand my dreams better." Lily cut in.

"True, but it would be helpful if you could tell us if you've ever had dreams like this before. I think it has something to do with magic, -"

"Maybe you're a seer, Lily! That would be so neat!" Nadia cut her off.

"Oh, please, Nadia. I can't be a seer, I'm a muggleborn."

"Well, actually, it is possible. Tell me more about your dream. Everything you can remember." Isis said logically.

"I can recall every detail perfectly, this last dream was the clearest of all." Lily said.

"Get on with it, then." Nadia inched closer to the couch as Isis wrapped a warm blanket around herself, while biting into a chocolate frog.

"Very well. In each dream I get further along. But sometimes I don't start at the same place I started before. And, I don't necessarily start the new dream where the old one left off, either." Lily started.

"Interesting...go on." Isis mumbled thoughtfully.

"Well, the last one started out with me falling-Come to think of it, it ended with me falling as well... anyway, I fell onto this square stone platform. It had a load of ancient carvings on it. I think it was written in Greek, or something...maybe Latin...And it had some hieroglyphic-type things on it, as well."

"Describe the room it was in." Isis said as her quick quotes quill was scribbling away furiously on a piece of parchment on the table.

"Well, it was just a small, bare room. Perfectly square; the walls and the floor were made out of a beige stone, the same as the platform was made of, except they were bare, no writing, or pictures, or anything. And the walls seemed to go on forever...I couldn't see the ceiling, it was so high..."

"Was there any source of light coming from it, indicating an entrance or something of that sort?" Isis cut in.

"No, nothing. Just...darkness." She sat up, and took a sip of her hot cocoa, and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders.

"I see..."

"That's a bit odd, don't you think?" Nadia asked. "I mean...how did you even get into the room in the first place. Were there any doors or window s or...anything?"

"No, nothing. At least...not that I could see. Perhaps there was a trap door or something."

"But, you said you fell onto the platform. You would've had to fall from the ceiling...and you said there was nothing up there."

"That's true, I suppose. Anyway, on with my dream. Now where was I?" She thought for a moment. "Oh, yes. The carvings on the platform seemed to be glowing a bit. They were so mesmerizing, it was like they were calling to me, or something. And, then I traced one with my finger, and it glowed even brighter. I traced it back to the center of the top of the platform, and there was a hand-shaped dip in it. So I placed my hand in it, and all of the carvings on the platform glowed extremely bright. I pushed down on it, and I heard this clicking noise. The platform shifted, and split in half, releasing this blinding white light."

"Don't go in the light, Lily!"Nadia pleaded teasingly.

She and Isis chuckled, and Lily gave her a small glare, as if to say, 'this is no joking matter', and went on with her dream. "Well, the light was so bright I had to cover my eyes...I just put my arms over my face like this" she demonstrated the motions " and I fell right through the center. The light was still excruciatingly bright, but then I saw this figure, coming towards me...As it got closer I could see that it was a man..."

"James" Isis and Nadia said in unison.

Lily rolled her eyes. " Yes!" she yelled in a frustrating tone. "Why is he, of all people always in my dreams! I mean...I don't hate him, I don't love him...Grr...Its just so annoying." she crossed her arms over her chest in a humph. "He's everywhere! Even in my dreams!"

"Well, the light was so bright I had to cover my eyes...I just put my arms over my face like this" a pause "and I fell right through the center. The light was still excruciatingly bright, but then I saw this figure, coming towards me...As it got closer I could see that it was a man..."

"James"

"Yes!" she yelled in a frustrating tone. "Why is he, of all people always in my dreams! I mean...I don't hate him, I don't love him...Grr...Its just so annoying." Pause "He's everywhere! Even in my dreams!" she mumbled.

James' heart leapt. She dreams about me? He thought to himself, and couldn't help but smile.

Peter was having troubles in the bathroom, and Sirius and Remus were playing exploding snap on Remus' bed. James was listening intently to the small mirror he was holding. He had planted the other mirror in the common room on top of the fireplace earlier that evening. He suspected that the girls wanted him out because they wanted to talk about him. Sirius and Remus thought he was pathetic and even Peter told him it was just wishful thinking, but James knew it! He just had to boast about this to Remus and Sirius.

"Oy, Remus! Sirius! You'll never guess what!"

They looked over at him gesturing wildly to the mirror in his hand and slumped off the bed, to go see what the commotion was all about. "What's going on, Prongs?" Sirius asked as he peered into the mirror.

He was genuinely confused, though, when he saw nothing in the mirror except for the crease where the wall and ceiling met, and he could not tell what room he was looking at. Remus, too, was a bit baffled, although he would never admit it, and tried his best to look like he knew what was going on all along.

When James looked up into Sirius' confused face, he realized that they had no idea what he was so excited about. He purposely didn't tell them about his plan to listen in on the girls' conversation, for fear of being taken to St. Mungo's. "Oh." He said. And then continued to tell them about his plan and what the girls conversation was all about. When he was finished Sirius looked at him like he was a genius, for he had never thought about using the mirrors as a spying tool before, and had many dirty ideas swimming around in his head at the moment to put those mirrors to some real use. Remus, however was looking at him with pity, and just shook his head slowly. "So...Lily was having prophetic dreams about falling into a bright light, and you happened to be in it, falling after her. Whoop-dee-doo." Remus said, unenthusiastically.

"Hello! The girl is obviously crazy about me; I'm in her dreams for Christ's sake! And all you have to say is 'Whoop-dee-doo'?" James looked at Remus incredulously. "Good God, man! This is the girl of my dreams we're talking about here, and I've just found out that I'm the guy of hers, as well."

"Yes, but in a different sense of the phrase, James."

"Well, for what it's worth, Prongs, I'm happy for you!" Sirius said cheerily. "Besides...you've just gave me the greatest idea. Ever. In the history of the world."

"Okay, Sirius, we get the point." Remus said tiredly. Sometimes he felt like a father/older brother figure to the rest of the boys. Always having to keep them in line, help them with their homework, and keep their room clean and organized. "Now." He turned to James. "Hand me the mirror, I think that's enough spying for one night." He said it very slowly and clearly.

"Whatever, I've heard what I wanted to hear already anyway" He said as he casually tossed the mirror to Remus. He caught it, and when he looked into the mirror, his face went pale.

James and Sirius, didn't notice however, because they had already moved to the other side of the room, talking in hushed voices about their next prank, or, perhaps Sirius' 'brilliant' plan for the mirrors.

"...so you think the dreams are prophetic, then?" Lily asked Isis as she stretched and walked over to the fireplace to warm her legs.

"More than likely, yes. But I'd have to do some research on it. I'll head down to the library tomorrow after breakfast. You can come with me, while Nadia's at quidditch practice.