Previously: Lily wakes up in the Hospital Wing and tells Dumbledore about Bellatrix and Stoughton's death. Hogwarts learns that Bellatrix killed Stoughton on Voldemort's orders. Lily's released from the Hospital Wing, and she wanders the ground. For the first time, she's tempted to break the rules just because she can – Stoughton's death has pushed her to be more daring, and she's no longer concerned about the consequences of breaking rules. Neither Lily nor James can bear sitting through Stoughton's memorial service, and they run into each other at the beach. They're both too preoccupied with their grief to be angry at each other over James's prank, so instead, they simply stand together in silence. James notices the cut that Bellatrix gave Lily. He eventually to tries to cheer up Lily by seeing who can skip stones farther. They share an moment, and Lily hugs him in thanks before they both agree to head up to the school so that they can say good-bye to Stoughton.


Chapter 32: Nightmares

Bellatrix's cruel, sharp laughter rang out loud and clear as Lily raced through the ghostly corridors, the fear sending her heart into a frenzy. If only she could find an escape, but there was nothing – no windows, no doors, no side hallways, not even a portrait to guide her. It was just Lily, all alone and afraid. The lit torches that offered only an unforgiving coldness despite the fire in them led the way through the corridor, yet they offered no respite, instead stretching as far as the eye could see, a seemingly endless streak of flickering orange flames as cold as the darkness that smothered her.

"There's nowhere to hide, Mudblood!" shrieked Bellatrix joyfully from behind her, but the taunt just spurned Lily on even more. "There's nowhere I can't find you!"

Suddenly out of nowhere, a wall of impenetrable black smoke materialized in front of her. Lily skidded to a stop, but before she could do anything else, the smoke solidified into Bellatrix. The tall woman leered at her, twirling that wicked wand in her fingers, and Bellatrix started to laugh uncontrollably, slowly advancing on her, a menacing glint in those soulless eyes.

Invisible hands seized Lily and immobilized her where she stood. No matter how hard Lily fought, the force exerted more and more pressure. Bellatrix cackled at her predicament, and before Lily's eyes, her change morphed and her voice deepened until Professor Stoughton stood in front of her. No longer was there any noise; he just stared at her with terrible eyes that never moved. Lily flinched as Stoughton raised his hand to point an accusing finger at her.

"You killed me," he said without the faintest hint of emotion. "I'm dead. I'm dead because you were too stupid to help."

"No …" whimpered Lily, vigorously shaking her head, which was the only part of her body that she could move. "That's not true – I didn't … it's not possible."

"You did!" roared Stoughton. No longer was he an emotionless apparition, but a fearsome man full of hatred, and Lily cringed away from his rage. "Do not deny it! You killed me, and now it's time to pay the price!"

"No!" yelled Lily, but she was helpless as Stoughton disappeared into black smoke once again.

The smoke gathered together, forming itself into a shadow that swallowed any light around it, and it rose above her, so dark and heavy that it was a miracle the shadow did not simply collapse on her. As one, the smoke struck from all directions, engulfing and suffocating her under its sheer weight. Lily flailed, but any attempt at defense was useless. It surrounded her, consuming her very being as it laughed at her fruitless struggles.

"I am going to kill you," said the voice. It was ghostlike and intangible, but it weighed Lily down, pulling her further and further into the black hole that swirled beneath her feet. "Lord Voldemort is going to kill you, and you can't stop me, Lily …"

"No, stop," begged Lily, but her pleas were met with cold laughter so shrill it pierced her skin. "Don't … please …"

"Lily … Lily … Lily …"

"I don't want to die… Just go away…"

"Lily … Lily!"

"Please, I didn't mean to… Don't hurt me…"

"Wake up! C'mon, Lily! Wake up!"

"No, please don't … just leave – no – GO AWAY!"

Hands wrestled with her, but Lily screamed and fought them off. She had to get out of there, but the smoke battled with her for control. Lily flailed and thrashed, batting away those hands that tried to restrain her. It was not until she felt a sharp blow to her face that Lily stopped fighting, and it slowly came to her: she was not in that corridor, or any other kind of hallway. She was in her bedroom, safe from any attacking voices and vengeful ghosts. It was only after she had processed that simple fact that she comprehended with whom she had been struggling with.

Petunia.

Her sister was dressed in pale pink pajamas, but she herself was wide awake. Petunia stared down at her fearfully, but not, Lily realized, fear of her – it was fear for her. Petunia held Lily's arms against the bed, her eyes wide under the soft glow of the lamp on Lily's bedside table and her face as pale as the cream-colored pajamas she wore. Lily gasped for air, sweat slick against her skin. Only when Petunia was sure Lily was in control of all her extremities did she release her sister, and Lily jerkily sat up in a semi-sitting position, her weight mostly on her elbows.

"What happened? What time is it?" wheezed Lily. She had yet to regain her breath completely, but the dimly lit blue numbers on her alarm clock read 2:37 a.m.

"You had a nightmare. I was on my way to the loo when I heard you sobbing. I came into your bedroom, and you were thrashing like crazy," explained Petunia.

Satisfied that Lily was alright for the time being, she sat back down on the edge of the mattress with an expression Lily had not seen on her sister's face since before the original falling out.

Almost hesitatingly, Petunia added, "Are – are you okay?"

Lily hurriedly brushed away the tears forming in her eyes. Sniffling, she stared down at her hands, unable to squarely meet Petunia's inquiring eyes. On her right wrist, the partially finished "M" that Bellatrix had carved into her skin stood out against the shadowy light cast by her lamp. Although the wound was starting to heal, it was still raw and red – but if Madam Pomfrey was correct, Lily knew that the cut would never fully heal. She would be forever cursed to carry around the constant reminder of that horrible night.

"It's nothing," Lily finally muttered, squeezing her right hand and pushing her injured wrist into the bedsheets so she would not have to look at her new scar. "Just a silly … it was just a bad dream."

A sense of childlike guilt that Lily had not felt in a very, very long time flashed through her. Petunia, however, was not buying her excuse.

"Maybe you've dodged Mum and Dad's questions up 'til this point, but you can't fool me, Lily," said Petunia softly, and in a second of bravery, she reached out and clasped her sister's elbow. "Ever since you've come back from that … from your school," Petunia fought down an expression of dislike when she spoke those words, most likely refraining from insulting Hogwarts because of severity at the moment, "You've been different since you've come back home. What's going on?"

Lily swallowed with difficulty and was silent. After speaking with Dumbledore that night in the Hospital Wing, it proved impossible to open up to anybody else about what had happened, how Bellatrix had ruthlessly murdered Stoughton right in front of her eyes. Not even Alice had any kind of hint as to the events that transpired, but here was her sister, who had known something was off despite the fact that she had no clue a Hogwarts professor was dead in the first place. They had not been true sisters since that fateful day on the playground all those years ago, but as Lily's emotions endlessly stormed about within her, she could not help but feel that long-hidden bond slowly peak up from beneath the crushing weight of all those arguments and insults that had been traded between the two sisters in its absence.

Petunia was not there as a friend or ally – those were things Lily had long since surrendered when under her parents' roof – but she was the one person who knew Lily better than anybody else alive, just as Lily understood Petunia. Lily was all too aware of the possibility that, with time, they may eventually grow apart until it came to the point that when the two of them say that familiarly cool, grudging good-bye, they would meet again only to not recognize the other.

But right now, she needed somebody who, despite all the stony silences and bitter arguments, was still family.

Lily needed her sister.

"Something terrible happened a couple weeks ago," she said after a long stretch of quiet. "H-h-he was one of my professors.… Stoughton, he was …" Lily bit her lip in an effort to keep the tears in. After the initial shock of Stoughton's death, she could not even find the strength to cry, but now the dam she had constructed within her mind started to crack. "I saw her … saw her murder him."

Petunia gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, looking absolutely horrified while Lily herself squeezed her eyes shut in an effort to fight off the sobs just waiting behind that leaking dam of hers. For several seconds, Petunia looked hopeless as to what to say, and it took her several tries to get any words out at all: "Oh, Lily … Lily. I … I'm so – I'm so sorry."

Without another word, Petunia pulled Lily into a hug, and as Lily clung to her sister, the tears started to fall, dissolving Lily into fresh, heart-wrenching sobs of grief. They dripped onto Petunia's shirt, but if her sister noticed the now wet circle on her shoulder that steadily grew with each new gasp of air, Petunia said nothing, instead just gently smoothing Lily's wild tangle of hair with her hands and rocking her very slightly back and forth in a comforting, continuous rhythm.

They stayed like that for a while, with Lily's sobs wracking her body while Petunia gently rubbed her shaking shoulders. Lily was not sure when, but at some point, Petunia started to sing the lullaby their mother would always croon to the two little girls when they were scared of monsters in the closet. Petunia knew that it had been one of Lily's favorite lullabies from the time that she had barely been out of diapers, and though her tone a little off-pitch, Petunia's voice soothing all the same as she murmured:

Hush-a-bye, don't you cry. Go to sleep, ye little darling.

When you wake, you shall have all the pretty little horses.

Rest you head, momma said. Go to sleep, ye little darling.

When you wake, you shall have all the pretty little horses.

Dapples and grays, pintos and bays. All the pretty little horses.

Gradually, the sleepiness crept back to Lily's body, and before she knew it, sunlight filtered through the curtain, bringing the rise of a new day.

~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ 1973 ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE'S DILEMMA: RUMORS FLY ABOUT THE CURSED POSIITON

By Betty Braithwaite

It may be hard to believe, but an entire month has passed since the shocking discovery that Mr. Jack Stoughton, a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Mr. Toerick Delran, a Slytherin student, were murdered on Hogwarts's campus right before term ended. Both of their bodies were found by school authorities early in the morning on Sunday, May 27th, and after informing the school governors and the Auror Office of what had transpired, authorities and the school launched an immediate joint investigation into the circumstances surrounding these mysterious and violent deaths.

While several school prefects who were on patrol duty that night witnessed Mr. Delran's death and have accused Ms. Bellatrix Black, 18, of the murder, Mr. Stoughton's death is surrounded with much more mystery. Forensic spells indicate that Mr. Stoughton was held for some time in one of the dungeons of Hogwarts, which was surrounded by a Silencing Charm at the time, but the evidence suggests that Mr. Stoughton broke free at some point during his captivity and dueled his abductors. It was during this time that Aurors believe his murderer cast the Killing Curse that took his life.

"We cannot discuss ongoing investigations at this time," says a spokeswizard for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement when questioned about whether the Auror Office is tracking down any leads. "All we can say is that the Aurors in the Investigation Department are working very hard to find the people responsible for such a heinous crime."

However, sources close to the investigation claim that there were at least four other people with Stoughton when he died. Three of them are known: Ms. Black, Mr. Delran, and another former student, Mr. Janson Harem, 18, who has been charged with several felonies and is awaiting trial. Ms. Black has also been accused of Mr. Stoughton's murder, based on an anonymous tip provided to Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. There is much speculation that the anonymous tipster was the fourth person who was with Stoughton, and many are demanding the release of the fourth name. However, both Headmaster Dumbledore and Ms. Millicent Bagnold, the Head of the Auror Office, are refusing to say who the witness was, leading many to speculate that they are protecting one of Hogwarts's many students – but which one?

"I am not in the habit of giving the paparazzi the means to follow people around, so if you don't stop asking me, I am going to curse that blasted tongue of yours and turn it into a cactus," says Ms. Bagnold when asked about the identity of the last person.

As a new school year approaches, many are wondering who will fill Mr. Stoughton's vacant post. For several years now, Hogwarts School has only been able to keep Defense Against the Dark Arts professors for no more than a year, and a growing majority fear that the position is indeed cursed while others are still convinced that it is simply bad luck. However, only one thing remains certain during this troubled time: Albus Dumbledore will have a hard time finding a replacement by the time September 1st rolls around.

James shoved the paper aside as he nibbled the wonderfully delicious breakfast Dilly had prepared for him. Once the shock of Stoughton's death had eased, he had allowed his mind to wander to the many questions that ate at his mind.

Really, he should not have been surprised that Bellatrix Black had murdered his former professor. From what Sirius had said, Bellatrix had always been one of the worst Blacks, every bit as evil and insane as the rest of Sirius's family – which was saying a lot when one threw the craziness that was Walburga Black into the mix. Still, it was hard knowing that he had looked a murderer in her face for an entire two years, even though he could not have possibly known what she would do.

The only thing that was more disturbing was the probability that one of his classmates had witnessed the murder. Who was it? Did he have class with them? Did he know them? He had been too much in mourning for Stoughton during the week following his death to read that much into everybody else's grief. The only thing he could deduce from everything was that the mysterious student had to be somebody who was not keen on following rules since they would be breaking curfew if they had been present when Bellatrix killed Stoughton – but while that ruled some people out, it was still an incredibly large pool considering that over half the students break curfew at least once during their school years.

However, if the nosy reporters had been unable to glean the student's name, he doubted that he would be discovering it anytime soon. Instead, he decided to turn his attention to one mystery that would be solved within the coming months.

"Do you think that Dumbledore's found a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher yet?" asked James. "Some people don't think anybody's going to want the post now that the curse rumors are spreading like you wouldn't believe…. Wait, if nobody wants to teach us any more, d'you think Dumbledore will let us get practice with Peeves and just call it square?"

"You'll get someone," said Mr. Potter, turning to the next page of the Daily Prophet. "I know your headmaster still has a couple of replacements in mind. If not, I'm sure Professor Binns will have time to take on two classes since he's a little too dead to worry about getting enough sleep."

For a second, James thought his father was being completely serious, and it was only after he realized that Mr. Potter was merely yanking his wand that James glared at him and said, "That's not one bit funny, Dad."

Mr. Potter's chuckle as he turned to the next page clearly indicated that he at least found it funny.

"Jamie, dear, your Hogwarts letter is here," called Mrs. Potter, and she entered the dining room. She and Mr. Potter may have already gotten ready for the day, but James did not at all feel the least bit guilty in only his pajamas, nor did he feel guilty when he ripped the Hogwarts letter from his mother's hands.

The first thing James noticed was that the envelope was thicker than the previous two letters he had received from Hogwarts. Tearing off the seal as quickly as he dared, he shook it as he held it upside down until the envelope's contents fell out: three separate pieces of parchment. The first was the usual notice that informed him when the Hogwarts Express departed from King's Cross as if he did not already know it, and the next thing was his booklist, which – while still much shorter than the supply list he received before his first year – was a little longer than the list from second year since he was taking several new electives: Care of Magical Creatures and Divination.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Course Books:

Practical Defense Against Dark Magic: By Thomohie Guarder

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3: By Miranda Goshawk

Unlocking the Secrets of the Future: By Wanda Leef

The Anthology of Magical Creatures: By Anthony Catcher

"It's good that you're taking Care of Magical Creatures," said Mrs. Potter as she leaned over her son's shoulder to read the book list as well. "If you insist on visiting the Forbidden Forest for Merlin knows how many nights a week, then you had better know how to avoid those creatures who live there."

"I've scraped by so far, Mum," said James. Care of Magical Creatures was the only class that remained from his first list of choices, but after Remus had informed Sirius and him that Muggle Studies would actually be quite hard and was basically memorization, he and his friend had agreed to switch to Divination since it would be much easier.

Mrs. Potter laughed and kissed the top of her son's head dotingly.

"You've only scraped by so far on dumb luck. I do not suggest seeing just how far you can push it, young man."

"Yes, mum," said James with a well faked humility, though there was still no doubt in his mind that his mother knew perfectly well James would be pushing his luck far past the breaking point as soon as he and Sirius stepped back into the Hogwarts castle. However, his mother faked her own happiness at the hope that James might pay the slightest little bit of attention to the rules, and she instead picked up the last piece of parchment on the table, the one James had yet to spare a second glance at.

"I see that they're still keeping the same age requirements for visiting Hogsmeade village this year. I know some older folks have been pushing for increasing the age limit, but quite honestly? They're idiots. Nobody's going to worry about some pesky issue with all the rest of the things going on," said Mrs. Potter as she grabbed the nearest quill and scribbled her signature before James even had to ask her. Handing the Hogsmeade permission slip back to James, she added, "Useless bunch of warlocks, those people are. Now go on and get ready, Jamie. We've got lots to do today."

"I'm going, I'm going," mumbled James as shoveled the rest of his food into his mouth as quickly as he could.


Though J.K. Rowling always said that Petunia was always envious and spiteful of Lily's abilities, I wanted a sisterly moment between them.

For the third year classes, please know that I did not mean for James to take the same classes as Harry. I was going through all the possibilities, and it just sort of … ended up like that. Believe me, I went through all the combinations I could do for him, but since right now at least he's not totally smitten with Lily, Muggle Studies didn't seem like the right option for him, and since they don't like putting effort into school, Arithmancy and Ancient Studies were off the table because those are heavy-duty classes.

Also, I'll be adding plenty of stuff to third year like this because, like how Cedric's death affected Harry, Lily's going to be carrying around what happened to her at the end of her second year for a while. Thoughts?