Chapter 6

Author's note: I am trying to make up for my absence by posting multiple chapters.

I know I messed up McGonagall's age in chapter 2. I will be editing that. She will be in her 40s . Apologies and thank you for pointing it out.

I still dont own any of this. Everything belongs to Rowling, WB and Bloomsbury. I am just playing in their sandbox.

It had been two years since Lily's betrothal had been cancelled. She was currently in her NEWT year about to give her final exams. She was also the Head Girl. She wanted to get top grades in Potions, Charms, Herbology and Defense. Her dream had always been to become a Healer. She was confident she would be successful. This year had been peaceful and productive so far. The previous year was chaotic if not anything else. Severus constant attempt to make up for his 'error in judgement', taunts and jeers from the wannabe Death Eaters and her budding relationship with James Potter had sure made it one hell of an year.

Yup, she was in a relationship with a muggle-born. A Gryffindor, her cousin's best friend, Head Boy, genius prankster and an Animagus. They had decided to keep it under wraps till they graduated. The whole idea was to escape to the Americas and start a fresh life there. The marauders were the only ones aware of this and were sworn by oath (Lily made sure of that) to not knowingly reveal it to anybody. She feared for James' life if her father got wind of this. It was good that the Head Suite was separate from the other dorms and password protected. All their discussions happened there under several charms.

It had all started when an eagle owl had arrived with a letter for her. This was when she was waiting for her OWL results. The ice had been broken. She had tried to explain how magical Britain worked. Multiple letters were exchanged. Lily was surprised with the thought process of James Potter. He had raised some valid questions, that she had no answers for. For e.g. he had asked her why certain wizards considered muggles and muggle born below them? She had tried to explain that wizards thought their possesion of magic made them feel superior. He had asked back, then why were wizard in hiding? How did muggles end up killing so many wizards in the mediveal times? Her own research had led to the conclusion that the main reason was because muggles outnumbered wizards. If there was open warfare, muggles would easily wipe off the wizarding population without causing significant damage. Her ancestors had predicted this and had established the Statute. The current crop of wizards were just plain stupid who didn't know the truth and were living in their own bubble.

He had also been a good student and had absorbed everything she had told. Slowly, their conversations grew more friendly. They had started sharing some personal things with each other. And soon, they had returned back to school. They kept up their conversations through owl-post to make sure nobody realised anything. They made sure to switch owls to not garner much attention. She had learnt a lot of things about him over the few months and was seriously considering taking the next step in their relationship.

Finally, one fine day, James had asked her to meet him on the seventh floor near a particularly ugly tapestry. Lily was skeptical, but had complied. Once she had arrived, he had explained about the secret room and they had walked in to find a cozy setup. She had been amazed at the room. James had asked her out to Hogsmeade that day. She had accepted. They had gone to Hogsmeade through a secret passage, leading straight to Hogsmeade. James had reserved a booth at the Three Broomsticks. Madam Rosmerta had been sympathetic enough and had helped him. They had had an amazing lunch. Lily had listened to his stories over the years. She had also shared some of her stories. Their date had been a success with a follow up date setup in the secret room on the seventh floor.

The subsequent dates had progressed well. They had become comfortable enough to discuss more serious matters. They had discussed bringing Sirius into the fold, what the future held for them, their future goals and so on. James had assured her that he would be beside her no matter what. Their relationship had progressed enough where they would cuddle together for hours in the room of secret things. They hadn't gone the distance yet, but kisses and make out sessions were no longer uncomfortable between them.

They had informed Sirius during Christmas of their sixth year. He had been angry at James for hiding this, but had pledged his support to them. James and Sirius' friendship had reached another level that day. Remus and Peter had been told after the exams. Both had been happy about it. Peter though had pointed out the potential problems that they would have to face in the future.

Communication had become easier once they had been chosen Head Prefects. They could meet in public without backlash under the pretext of their duties. It had been a blessing in disguise for them. Severus Snape had looked murderous every time they met in the great hall or the corridors. They both knew he was waiting for an opportunity to extract revenge. Luckily, he sobered up in the second half of their seventh year and started avoiding Lily completely. The rumor was that all four friends had been branded with the dark mark. She felt bad that her once best friend had chosen this path for his future.

And now, she was waiting to complete her NEWT exams. She was lounging in her Head suite when a silver stag burst into the room and spoke in James' voice-

"Lils, we have a problem. Meet me on the Astronomy tower at midnight. Make sure nobody follows you."

Lily sat up. She was shocked at the sudden and cryptic message.

Hours later, she found herself waiting for James to arrive at the determined location.

James and his friends arrived a few moments later. They looked worried. The atmosphere had suddently grown tenser and the temperature seemed to have dropped a few degrees.

"James! What happened? Whats the problem?"

"I will tell you. However, I need you to listen to the entire issue at hand calmly. Moony was on one of his rounds yesterday night and he overheard a conversation outside one of the classrooms near the Potions corridor. Moony, over to you."

Lupin looked the worst of the lot, sans Pettigrew who looked even worse.

"So I was patrolling the Potions corridor and heard some voices coming from a classroom. I didn't go inside, but heard what they were talking. Lily, they were planning to abduct you from the train on the way back to London. I also identified one of the voices. It was Snape."

"What? And what do they plan after they abduct me? "

"They plan to negotiate another betrothal between you and Snape keeping you as hostage."

"This is the best they could come up with?"

"Lils, you need to understand. It's actually a very good plan. The teachers would not be there. And I haven't seen any kind of security personnel on the train. Moony, tell them the other part."

"It seems there are going to be some additional people on the train. They will be helping out the insiders, if things went south. Somebody called Lucius is coordinating that from the outside."

"Lucius? As in Lucius Malfoy? This gets weirder by the moment. Wait, I need to think."

"Lils, you know that we will be there to protect you, right? No matter how many people."
"You don't understand James. This looks like a plot for something more sinister. Lucius works for the Dark Lord. It could mean that we might be up against Death Eaters. But why? Why would Lucius support Snape in this? We all suspected Snape and his group of buddies to have been branded. This more or less confirms it. I know Lucius, he doesn't do things where he doesn't benefit from it, except maybe if the Dark lord ordered it. I am sure the Dark Lord would want nothing from me to have ordered this. So, it didn't come from him."

"How does you marrying Snape help Malfoy?"

"I don't know. I need some more information on this."

"We can worry about the information later. What are we doing about the abduction?"

"Thats not a problem. I will just not travel by train. We are of age. We have passed our apparition tests. Students just travel by train as its considered tradition. We can apparate once we cross the Hogwarts wards."

"Of course. You are brilliant Lily. What after that? Where will you go?"

"I will go to Grandfather. I am writing him a letter, explaining the situation. He might suggest another solution to this."

"I will come with you."

"No, you will not. Some of the wards at the manor are not friendly. Any non-Black would go through hell."

"Wait, I know. We can have someone go as you on the train. That way, we might deduce what the plan is?"

"No. I forbid it. It's illegal and we would be risking somebody else's life. We don't know what they might do once they find out its not Lily."

"Ok we have a plan. Let's stick to it and make sure nobody knows about it."

They dispersed soon after.

-Break-

The exams had gone well. Lily felt she had done her best. She was scheduled to leave Hogwarts in the next hour. Her grandfather had responded back saying that he agreed to her plan. He had suggested that all the three Black children should arrive together. Sirius had been notified. Reggie had not, as the abductors would be in the Slytherin dorms. The plan was to ask Reggie to travel with Lily on the way to the station and apparate once the wards were crossed. Their luggage would already be on the train. A black house-elf would pick it up once the train reached London. Her grandfather wanted to ensure that no Black would be harmed if the abduction failed. She agreed to his logic. He had agreed to keep everything under wraps until the children were safe.

-Break-

James had been worried sick over the past few days. The abduction was just one of his worries. He was not sure how he could meet Lily. She might not be allowed to venture outside once she was safe within the mansion. He had come to love her unequivocally. He couldn't imagine life without her being a part of it. She had assured him of finding a way. And James believed Lily. Hopefully, everything would turn out for the better.

He, Moony and Wormtail would be travelling by train. Padfoot would be going with Lily. He was relieved that Lily wouldn't be travelling alone.

They had both decided that they would be leaving Britain on the first of July. They agreed it wasn't safe here anymore. They would leave a false trail that they were travelling to France, if anybody checked. They had already applied and had been accepted for an internship at Ilvermony, James for Transfiguration and Lily for Healing. They were booked on a flight leaving London for New York. If everything went well, they would be out of reach before anybody would realize they were missing.

He was going over these things in his head as he left Hogwarts. He looked back on the castle, which had been his home over the past seven years. He didn't know if he would ever return back here. He knew none of his children would end up here.

Oh how wrong he was.

-Chapter End-

I might post another chapter today or tomorrow. The next update would be after 3 weeks. Thanks. Please rate and review.