Author's Note: This chapter is a "special", brought to you in the Lily Evans POV. We've decided to write it in light of this month being the birth month of one of the co-authors of this story! We wish them all the best AND we hope you all love this chapter as much as we do! Enjoy
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling. Thanks
CHAPTER 13: HOLIDAY SPECIAL
"Pleeeeeeeeeeeease?" Lily said for the thousandth time as she continued to pull Mary's arm.
"I don't want to!" Mary whined, trying to pull it back. "Stop trying to make me—I said no."
"And I said, please," Lily told her.
It was Wednesday evening, and the two girls were the only ones in their dormitory. It had already been fifteen minutes of Lily trying to pressure Mary into joining her in the common room where she could keep an eye on Draco, like she'd promised Remus she would. But Mary was being very persistent tonight.
"Pettigrew's weird, okay?" she said. "And this Draco person…"
"I'm asking you as a friend!" Lily told her. "Please come with me!"
"Well why do you have to go at all?" said Mary, pulling her arm back out of Lily's grasp.
Lily sighed.
"It's important to Remus. I promised him I'd keep an eye on Draco tonight."
"Why?" said Mary, narrowing her eyes.
Lily shrugged. "He just said it was important to him that I do."
"Isn't he, like, at home now or something? Isn't his mother sick? Didn't Dumbledore give him special permission to leave the school?"
"Yeah," said Lily, blankly.
Mary sighed.
"Please?" Lily tried again.
"I don't want to, Lily," said Mary. "I mean, I've never talked to this Draco person before...I'm not sure I'm comfortable..."
"He's not dangerous, I promise," Lily said, quickly.
Mary rolled her eyes at her. "Yeah, like you can tell when someone's dangerous or not. Don't make me laugh."
"Mary," said Lily, urging her to look at her. "Draco is not Mulciber."
Mary said nothing, but continued to stare up at the ceiling.
"I worry about you, you know," Lily added, sitting on the edge of her bed. Mary did not look at her. "You used to be so fun...so full of life."
"I'm still full of life," said Mary. "Just...more carefully now, that's all."
"Yeah well that's the same thing," said Lily, smiling at her amidst the sarcasm.
Mary however did not smile back, but said, "Look, I'd just much rather go to bed, okay?"
"It is 8 o'clock on a Wednesday evening," said Lily. "You're really gonna go to bed now?"
"Might," said Mary, shrugging. "I'll maybe just read for a bit..."
"Or you could come downstairs and hang out with us!" said Lily, excitedly. When Mary rolled her eyes at her, Lily added, "You should get out a little more."
"I do get out."
"Only to classes and meals..."
"Am I supposed to get out more than that?"
"Uh, YEAH!"
Mary sighed and jumped off of her bed.
"Fine," she said, following Lily who opened the dormitory door. "I'll go just so that you'll stop bothering me about always getting out. I do see people, okay? I'm not a loner."
"Good, that's what I like to hear!" said Lily. "Shall we?"
Mary groaned but followed her down the stairs nonetheless.
The common room was fairly noisy tonight, with students scattered all over the place in their books or card games. But it was still easy to spot Peter and Draco. They were sitting in the spot where Potter's lot usually sat, just by the fireplace. It was like their marked territory. That really annoyed Lily.
She pulled Mary down the stairs and headed straight for the two boys. Peter seemed to be trying to convince Draco of something when they finally reached them.
"Oh come on, it'll be fun!" he was saying.
"What will?" Lily asked, smiling politely at him.
"Monopoly?" said Mary, looking down at the board game on the table in front of them. "Are you serious?"
"I'll play," said Lily, shrugging. "Why not? It's a good game."
"Yeah okay," said Mary, hesitating before sitting down next to Lily.
Excited, Peter picked up the pieces and placed them on the "Start" square.
"Well," said Draco, who was looking down at it with disgust. "I mean, how do you play anyway?"
Peter went on to explain the rules of Monopoly, while Lily organised the money and Mary sort of hugged herself as she sat beside her, waiting. When Peter was finished, Draco looked like he would rather go live in the Forbidden Forest than sit here and play this game with them. But Lily disregarded this nonetheless, and offered him one of the pieces on the board. He took it from her without a word.
"So now," said Peter, putting down the question cards. "We play!"
"No kidding," Mary muttered, but Lily was sure no one else besides her had heard.
Draco frowned at Mary, who was still holding herself. "Are you...cold or something?"
Mary's arms quickly flew to her lap and she shook her head quickly.
"Let's just play," Lily told the group, distracting them from Mary, who was now slightly red in the face.
The first twenty minutes or so passed rather mutely, with only a few game-related words exchanged. Draco seemed to learn the concept of the game fairly quickly, as he was now ahead of everyone in terms of cash. Lily was just behind him, followed by Peter and then Mary, who had only learned how to play this game last summer when she'd slept over at Lily's house and Lily had tried to include Petunia in their games. That hadn't gone too well...
"So where did you learn how to play such a dull game anyway, Pete?" Draco eventually asked.
Peter reddened slightly.
"I—"
"It's not dull," Lily said, quickly. Draco turned his head to look at her. "It's actually a very intellectual game, to be played by those who appreciate maths...and business."
"Whatever," said Draco, leaning back in his chair tiredly. "I'm bored."
He sounded a lot like James and Sirius in that way. Lily really hated that.
"Where do you know it from?" Mary suddenly asked Peter.
Everyone turned to look at him.
"M-my cousin is a muggle," he explained. "W-w-we used to play it all the time when we were kids."
"Oh," said Mary.
"Where do y-you know it from?" he asked her.
Mary smirked at Lily, who kept her eyes on the board in front of her.
"I spent a summer at Lily's," Mary explained to the group at large. "Her sister was fonder of the game than she was of me...or of Lily, for that matter..."
"Well we don't need to talk about that now," Lily muttered, rolling the dice and moving her piece four places.
"No kidding," said Draco, suddenly sitting up again. "You have a sister?"
It took a while before Lily registered that he was talking to her. She looked up at him and frowned.
"W-what?"
"And she's a muggle?" he said. "Huh."
Lily scowled at him. He knew, perfectly well, that she had a muggle sister. She'd mentioned it in Muggle Studies just a few weeks before. What on earth was he playing at now?
"Yes," she said, slowly. "I have a muggle sister. Can we move on now?"
"What's her name?" said Draco.
"Petunia," Mary answered, and Lily kicked her foot under the table. Mary only frowned at her.
"Petunia Evans," said Draco. "And how does she feel about you going to Hogwarts and her...well, to whatever muggle school she's at?"
Lily looked up at him. "Why do you care?"
He shrugged. "Just curious...I wanna know how muggle and witch siblings are with each other. I'm an only child, see..."
"Oh," said Lily, frowning. "Well...the truth is, she's grown more okay with it over the years."
Mary laughed.
"She has!" Lily added. "But it took her a long time..."
"I'll say," said Mary.
Lily gave her a look.
"Your folks are still over at Spinner's End?" said Draco.
Lily frowned at him. "I'm not from Spinner's End...why did you think I..." She stared at him, frowning, and then understood. "I'm from Cokeworth. It's within walking distance of Spinner's End."
Her eyes met his, and she knew that he understood from the vicious look she was giving him now, that there was no need to mention Severus in front of the others. Lily was actually surprised that Severus had told Draco where he was from. Normally, he was very private about this sort of thing, and she knew that he'd never told any of his Slytherin friends this. But she still couldn't understand why he trusted this kid, whom he hardly knew, over the friends he'd had for years now at Hogwarts? Something wasn't right here...
"Where were you brought up then?" Lily found herself asking.
Draco moved his piece eight squares and passed a few bills along to Mary, who had a house there.
"Southern England," he mumbled once the transaction had been made.
"I see," said Lily, handing the dice to Peter who proceeded to roll them.
"So your whole family are muggles then," said Draco moments after.
Lily looked up at him, puzzled.
"Yes, I already said they are," she said. "What does it matter?"
"It doesn't," he said, turning to look at Mary. "How about you?"
Mary looked slightly startled at being addressed by Draco, in what Lily concluded to be an unnecessarily rude tone of voice.
"I'm a half-blood," Mary said, quietly.
"Why do you care what blood we have?" Lily shot at Draco.
With his eyes on the board on the table, he said through gritted teeth, "I'm just making conversation."
"Well it doesn't matter what our blood origins are," Lily said to the group at large. "It doesn't matter what anybody's are. We all have magic in us and that is why we are united."
"Yeah, but unfortunately, not many will agree with you on that," Mary said quietly, "At least not now, anyway."
"That's just stupid people who are brainwashed by the stupid propaganda," Lily told her. "I don't care what the rest of the wizarding world thinks...what those dirty Death Eaters are preaching..."
"For now," said Mary. "But when they go after you and your family—"
"They won't," said Lily.
"And how do you know that?" said Mary.
Lily sighed. They had been over this many times before.
"I've spoken with McGonagall about this, and she's spoken with Dumbledore," she explained, tiredly. "He is not concerned, therefore we do not need to be concerned."
"Yet," Mary mumbled.
Lily ignored her. Truth be told, the thought had crossed her mind far too many times over the last few months, as the Death Eater raids had grown more frequent and the Prophet articles more detailed. But Lily knew that lying about her blood origin, as Mary had so wisely suggested this past summer, was not an option. She was not about to go pretending to be something she wasn't.
"They're only targeting muggle-borns then?" Draco asked in a quiet voice.
The others nodded.
"Looks like it," said Mary. "Well, muggle-borns and half-breeds too, possibly."
"But I mean the ministry is well aware of what's happening," Lily added. "And besides, as long as we're at Hogwarts with Dumbledore as headmaster, we're safe."
"We?" said Draco.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Us muggle-borns," she said. "We don't all have a famous pureblood name to waltz around with."
"A name that I wasn't even aware to be famous until quite recently," Draco hissed at her.
Lily ignored him. She wasn't here to fight tonight. She was here to keep an eye on him, and to possibly interrogate him if she could...but at the rate of how this game was going, she doubted she would get anywhere unless they moved on to something else. And soon.
"I still think you need to warn your parents," Mary added after a moment's silence.
"They're aware of the situation," Lily told her, for the hundredth time probably. "Honestly, I know what I'm doing. Let's just play the game. Here, it's your turn to roll."
She handed her the dice and Mary sighed before rolling them.
"It is pretty scary right now, w-with the war going on and all," Peter said suddenly.
"Most people are afraid to leave the house nowadays," Mary added.
"Isn't the minister doing anything at all?" said Draco. "What's his name again?"
"Harold Minchum," Lily answered. "And all he's doing nowadays, from what I've gathered, is just adding more of those awful creatures to guard Azkaban."
"He seems to think that'll do the trick," said Mary, "In getting rid of the Dark Lord, I mean."
"He's an idiot," Lily concluded.
Draco raised his eyebrows at her.
"Well he's not doing anything for the country!" Lily defended.
"Who is he succeeding?" said Draco.
"Eugenia Jenkins," Lily answered before Mary could. "She was a lot smarter than he ever will be, but not everyone seemed to agree."
When Draco looked confused, Mary added, "They pretty much chased her out of office, claiming that she wasn't fit to handle the wizarding world at war."
"She was in office for seven whole years, two of which were war-free," Lily explained, passing a couple of bills to Peter.
"So you're telling me that nothing is being done to stop the Dark Lord?" said Draco, suddenly. "Seriously?"
"By the looks of it," said Lily, nodding. "I don't think anything will truly be done unless someone else steps up…unless young people like us take action and spread the word."
"Oh here we go again," said Mary, rolling her eyes.
"What?" said Lily. "It's true!"
"All you need to be worrying about is keeping yourself and your family safe, Lily," Mary told her. "You are like at the top of the list of groups those…those…people are targeting. You're hardly in any place to speak up for anyone now and start preaching your own beliefs. They'll slaughter you if you do!"
There was silence.
"It's definitely a s-scary time to be an alive muggle-born," Peter agreed, quietly.
Lily looked round at them all and then grabbed the dice from Draco and rolled it.
"I don't want to talk about this anymore tonight," she told them.
After another half hour or so, the portrait hole slid open and in climbed Alice, looking frantic and pissed. Lily frowned and watched as Alice looked around the common room wildly (no doubt for someone to rant to). When she spotted Lily, she motioned for her to come over. Lily sighed.
"Excuse me," she said, putting down the bills she was counting.
She got up and followed to where Alice was standing.
"What on earth has happened now?" she asked.
Alice pulled her aside so that they weren't in earshot of anyone, but the portrait hole slid open again and Frank appeared, also looking ticked off. Alice scowled at him as their eyes met, and he scowled right back and went to sit with his seventh-year buddies on the other end of the common room.
"What was it this time?" sighed Lily.
"He pisses me off," Alice hissed, her eyes still on Frank, whose friends were now asking him what was wrong.
"Well what happened?" Lily asked, glancing backwards to find Mary, Peter and Draco all watching her.
"I was in the library," Alice began, turning Lily's attention back to her. "He spotted me and walked over to ask what I was doing. I told him what books I was looking for and he made a little bit of small talk, and then he asked me what I was doing with Draco Black."
"And what did you tell him?" said Lily.
"I told him that it wasn't really any of his business and that I was free to date whomever I pleased," she said.
"Are you seriously telling me that he argued with you because of this?" said Lily, incredulously. After all, it didn't sound like Frank at all.
"Oh no," said Alice, "Just the opposite! He was okay with it!"
Lily frowned. "I'm confused."
"That slimy bugger gave me a speech about how I deserved the very best and that Draco seemed like a good guy and that we looked good together and blah, blah, blah..."
"I don't understand..." Lily repeated.
"...and then, get this...he said, 'I'll always be there for you, no matter what. We're friends, aren't we?'"
"Well...aren't you?" said Lily.
"NO!" Alice bellowed at her, causing several third years near them to turn their heads.
"Alice, I don't get it," said Lily once Alice had shooed them off. "You were the one who broke it off with him, remember?"
"Yeah, because I was angry that we wanted different things, not because I stopped loving him!"
Lily stared at her as the impact of these words hit her.
"You still love him?" she whispered.
"No," said Alice, quickly.
"That's what you just said," Lily reminded her. "I...I can't believe that you still love him..."
"Yeah...well...he still loves me!" Alice said, crossing her arms stubbornly.
Lily looked over at Frank, who turned his head quickly away from her and Alice. She looked back at Alice, who now had a sad expression on her face.
"Why are you with Draco then, if your loyalties still lie with Frank?" Lily asked.
"Because Frank is an idiot," Alice muttered. "A stupid idiot that I just can't get over..."
"Alice," Lily began, but evidently Alice wasn't listening anymore.
Her eyes darted to where Frank sat, now laughing with his seventh-year buddies. And before Lily could stop her, Alice was making her way over to where Draco was sitting with the others. Lily quickly followed suit.
"...congratulations, collect two hundred pounds from the bank," said Draco, smiling to himself as he put down the card and Mary handed him the bills.
"Hello there," Alice said brightly to the group at large.
"Hey Alice," said Mary, who was now rolling the dice.
"Hey Draco," Alice said, smiling down at him.
"Hey," he said, looking up at her, puzzled. "How...how are you?"
"I'm really well," she said, taking a seat right next to him. "And yourself?"
"Fine," Draco said. "We're just playing this muggle game here...Monopoly, I think it's called...and...uh, Alice, what are you doing?"
Alice had now put both her arms around his neck and was listening intently, while her eyes flickered over to Frank.
"Just having a chat with my boyfriend, that's all," she said, innocently yet quite loudly.
Frank's head turned. Lily sighed and took her seat again, accepting the dice that Mary now passed to her.
"R-right," said Draco, slowly. "Anyway, you, uh, wanna play with us?" He turned his head to Mary. "We can add another player in, right?"
"W-well actually," said Peter, "I-it's a game for four."
"Damn," said Alice. "Well, as much fun as it would be, I actually have a paper due that I should probably get started on tonight."
"Well that's too bad," said Lily, quickly. "But I guess you should probably get to it. Like right now."
"Yep," said Alice, nodding. "But I wanted to ask you," she turned her head back to Draco and sort of settled herself on his lap, her arms still bound around his neck. Lily turned to look at Frank who was now watching Alice with sadness in his eyes. What on earth was she putting him through?!
"Would you want to go to Hogsmeade with me next month?" Alice asked Draco loudly. "I can show you around and we can spend some time near the owlery."
"Uh, sure," said Draco, slowly. "Yeah, that um, that sounds good."
"Great!" said Alice. She looked over his shoulder to find that Frank had turned his back on her and was dealing cards to his friends now. Outraged, Alice pulled Draco into a kiss which startled him at first, but eventually he leaned in to it, closing his eyes too. Lily watched with fury, unable to understand how Alice could do this to Frank.
When she finally pulled away from Draco, Alice sighed happily and bid the group goodnight. She then got up, looked around the common room innocently, and waltzed up to her dormitory. Lily scowled after her. She'd never been in a serious relationship herself, but she could only imagine what hell this must be for Frank, seeing as how he was clearly still in love with Alice.
For as long as Lily could remember, those two had been back and forth, and in her opinion, they were just wasting their time with this bickering nonsense. After all, there was a war going on now and time was limited. If she had someone whom she was crazy passionate about as they were with each other, she wouldn't waste her time. Every second would be precious.
"Excuse me," Lily said, getting up again.
"It's your turn," Mary pointed out.
"Take it for me," said Lily, simply. "I have to go to the bathroom."
And she really did go to the bathroom...the bathroom just happened to be upstairs in the dormitory where Alice just happened to be sitting by the window and staring out at the full moon in the night sky.
"The owlery, huh?" said Lily, closing the door behind her. She sighed. "How could you think of doing that to Frank?"
Alice turned her head to look at her, and Lily paused. Tears were shimmering down her cheeks.
"Oh Alice," she said, rushing over to hug her.
"I hate the person that he's making me into," she whispered, hugging Lily back. "This isn't me...this jealous freak who's thinking of nothing else."
"Alice," said Lily, pulling away from her and wiping the tears from her eyes. "I think you just need some distance. Just take some time to yourself, focus on yourself and the things that you love...and hopefully time will tell what the best course of action to take is."
Alice nodded and wiped the rest of her tears.
"You're right," she said, sighing. "You're always right. Lily, are you sure you've never been in a relationship?"
Lily shrugged. "Not a serious one."
"Well, you'd be very good at it," said Alice, and Lily let out a small laugh.
"Go on, go finish your game," Alice told her. "I'll be fine. I just wanna be here for a while. And I still have to write that paper."
"Okay," said Lily. "Feel better soon."
"Thanks."
Lily waved goodbye to her and hurried back out of the dormitory. But as she made her way back to the group, she realised that she had no interest in wasting her time anymore with this board game nonsense and stories of politics and childhoods. She had more important things to figure out tonight, and a promise to Remus which she had every intention to keep. Even though Lily herself doubted that Draco knew anything about Remus' secret, she was still going to do her best to find out, for her friend's sake.
And Lily only knew one harmless, innocent, and legal way to find out information without being suspected.
"Hey guys," she said, brightly, once she'd returned.
Peter sighed. "Draco just got his third monopoly."
"Wow, that's brilliant," said Lily, impressed.
But Draco only shrugged and organised the bills in front of him from least to greatest value. Mary instantly pulled Lily back into her seat and hissed at her, "Why did you leave me here alone with them?"
"I had to take care of something," Lily whispered back, before sitting up and clearing her throat. "So since the game is almost practically done, wanna play something else?"
"Yes," said Draco, Peter and Mary at once.
"What did you have in mind?" Mary asked.
"Truth," said Lily, simply.
"Truth," Draco repeated. "Is that some kind of a joke?"
"No," laughed Lily. "It's a game. Haven't you ever heard of it?"
Both Draco and Peter shook their heads.
"Well how's it played?" said Draco.
"Ever heard of Truth or Dare?" said Lily.
The boys slowly shook their heads again.
"It's a muggle game," Lily explained, frowning at the look Mary was now giving her. "Truth or Dare is when you take turns picking either truth, meaning you're asked a question by the group and you have to answer it truthfully, or dare..."
"Meaning?" said Draco.
"Meaning the group assigns you a task to do and you have to do it, no matter how humiliating or embarrassing it is," said Mary, quietly.
"Sounds lame," Draco snorted.
Lily turned to look at him. "So this is like that, except minus the lame dare part."
"Yeah, you just take turns asking each other...uh, questions...and you have to answer truthfully," said Mary.
"Okay, and how do we know if the person is answering truthfully?" said Draco.
"It's more like a code of honour," said Lily. "If you want to play the game fairly, that is, if you want answers yourself, you tell the truth."
"I think I've heard of it," said Peter, frowning.
"You have two minutes to answer all the questions you can," said Mary. "But I'm not gonna play. I'll just time you all."
Lily glanced sideways at Mary, but she only avoided her eyes and undid her watch. Lily sighed. Before the incident with Mulciber, this had been Mary's only favourite game, and it was usually she who was trying to persuade Lily to play, and not the other way around.
"When time's up, the last person who'd asked a question gets to challenge someone next," Mary explained to the boys. "Oh yeah, you challenge someone to a game of truth. That's how it works. Oh and every time it's your turn, you add an extra question. So like, if you ask him a question, then he asks you one, then you ask him two, then he asks you two, and on and on you go until time's up."
"A-and the person who manages to ask more questions wins?" said Peter.
"No," said Lily. "The person who finishes last gets to start the next game and challenge someone."
"Oh," said Peter.
"Okay, so what kinds of questions do we ask, exactly?" said Draco.
Lily shrugged. "Anything you want."
"Well no," said Mary, slowly, and Lily gave her a pointed look. "I mean," said Mary, laughing slightly at Lily, "They're more...personal questions, if you know what I mean..."
Draco smirked. "Now this game, I'll play."
Lily scowled at Mary. If this was her way of getting back at her for suggesting this game...
"Okay," said Lily to the group at large. "Since you won the last game, Draco, I suppose you can go first—"
"Perfect!" he said, sitting up suddenly. "I challenge Lily for one round of Truth."
Lily sat up too and flashed him a "go ahead" smile. She was ready for this. There was nothing he could throw at her that she couldn't handle.
"Ready...?" said Mary, who was looking down at her watch. "Aaaaand go."
"Ever had sex?" said Draco at once, his smirk greater than ever.
Lily's smile did not falter, for which she was very proud. She'd obviously expected a question like this, though admittedly, not right away...the nerve of this kid!
"No," she said, simply. "I've never had sex. I'm sixteen, after all. It's not a crime."
"Ah," said Draco, still smirking. "Thought so...Your turn."
Lily gave a small cough before she said, "Since you're so experienced, Draco, how many girls have you fooled around with?"
"I don't count," he said, simply. "Have you ever been felt up?"
Lily's eyes widened and beside her, Mary let out a nervous laugh. Lily looked round at her, and then back at Draco, who was still smirking stupidly.
"N-no, I haven't!" she said, outraged. "Have you ever felt anyone up?"
Draco sat back. "Would I ask you that if I hadn't?"
Mary laughed again. Well, at least she was enjoying herself. This wasn't exactly what Lily had hoped to achieve when she'd suggested they play Truth.
"Have you ever made out with someone? Ever even kissed a boy on the mouth?"
"Of course I have!" said Lily. "Do you think you could tone it down a little with the questions about that area of my life?"
"I think you're gonna have to wait your turn, Evans," said Draco, suddenly, crossing his arms. "I believe I have another question."
"No you don't," said Lily. "You've already asked your two, it's my turn."
"Actually," said Mary, "Those two were technically related so they only count as one."
Lily glared at her, but Mary only shrugged and looked back down at her watch. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea bringing her down for games after all...
"Ever had a hot fantasy about one of your girlfriends, Lily?" said Draco.
Lily smiled at him. "You just wasted your extra question for a dumb and obvious one. No, I haven't. So Draco," she leaned back, also crossing her arms. "This girl you've felt up wouldn't be Alice by any chance, would she?"
The smirk was back.
"Why, you jealous?"
"Just answer the question," said Lily, rolling her eyes.
Draco paused.
"No, your friend and I haven't done anything of the sort," he said. "Yet."
Lily nodded once, wondering how she could bring the subject away from these strange areas, to the areas she was most interested in.
"Fine then, so I suppose your previous relationships took place during your times at the orphanage?" she tried.
This time, Draco's smile faltered.
"I mean, we've all heard that you're from a muggle orphanage," Lily added. "Everyone knows."
"Do they?"
"Yes."
Draco paused.
"Yes, I suppose you could say that my previous relationships were with…muggles."
Lily smiled. "Your turn."
Draco considered her for a moment, and then suddenly sat up again, as though ready for a whole new match.
"Alright then," he said. "So you've never shagged a guy, but you've let him stick his tongue down your throat. And you've never fantasized about any of your girlfriends. Does that mean you're a prude?"
"No, I'm not a prude," said Lily, boldly.
"Well then why have you never shagged?"
"Because I don't want to!" cried Lily. "Jeez, there is so much more to life than just dating and shagging people all the time. My life is just beginning, there's plenty of time for everything...it doesn't all have to happen now—"
"Oh so you plan on shagging later on?" said Draco. "Say, in a couple of years?"
"W-why shagging?" said Lily. "I-it's not shagging, it's—"
"Oh I'm sorry," said Draco, mockingly. "Would you prefer I said 'making love'?"
Lily scowled at him and felt herself going slightly red in the face.
"Oh wait, don't tell me," said Draco. "You're one of those who wants to wait until your wedding night, aren't you?"
"What?!"
"You're gonna date a couple of guys, maybe do a little snogging, nothing serious, but you'll tease the hell out of them until they agree to marry you, and then, and only then, you'll give it up."
"I—that's private…"
"Or maybe you've already done that...teased, I mean...You obviously haven't given it up yet so I imagine you've teased quite a bit. Huh, I'm sure you have. Have you?"
"I haven't!"
"Uh," said Peter, "I-I think you guys have already reached your time."
"Well actually, Draco's asked too many questions for his turn," said Mary.
"They weren't questions, they were interrogations," said Lily, her eyes on Draco.
"Oh have a little sense of humour, Evans," said Draco. "You were the one who chose the game, I'm just trying to pass the time here. If you didn't wanna be asked all these questions, you should've chosen a better game. I thought you were supposed to be like, smart or something...don't seem very smart to me."
He sat back in his cushioned chair, grinning at her. She glared at him from her seat.
"Go to hell," she muttered, and then she jumped from her seat and ran out of the common room altogether.
Out in the corridor, she scolded herself for having let him get to her...this despicable, insufferable, arrogant little twit wasn't worth her time anyway. But she'd still let him get to her. And why? He was so full of himself, that she just couldn't believe that kind of boy had been raised by Albus Dumbledore himself. How on earth had that happened?
Not five minutes passed when Lily suddenly heard the portrait hole sliding open and watched a figure climb out of it. She had half-thought it would be Draco, finally willing to show her that he had actually in fact been raised by Albus Dumbledore and knew the meaning of the world 'apology'...but it was only Peter.
"Oh," said Lily. "Hi."
"Hey," he said, the portrait hole sliding closed behind him. "A-are you okay?"
Lily nodded and took a seat on the steps, her back to him. Peter sat next to her.
"I just can't understand why you would want to be friends with such a...this...ugh!" she cried.
"He's not that bad," said Peter, instantly. Lily looked incredulously at him. "R-really," he added. "He's actually very kind."
"Strangely enough, I find that hard to believe," Lily muttered.
There was a pause.
"You w-weren't with us in that detention the whole day," Peter pointed out. "I was." Lily looked at him again. "And I can tell you that Draco really cares about me...and Remus...and Sirius."
"And Potter," Lily mumbled. "He's a lot like Potter, that one."
"They're just goofing off," said Peter. "Honestly, he's r-really not that bad."
"Arrogant," Lily began to say.
"But kind," Peter finished.
Lily sighed.
"Ever since Draco's started at Hogwarts," Peter began, his voice quite low, "S-Sirius has been talking to Regulus a lot more than he used to."
"Fighting is more like it," Lily reminded him.
"Well yeah," said Peter. "But also just talking...r-really! And then...Remus has had someone else in our group whom he can talk to and still be taken seriously...someone besides you," he added, when Lily was about to protest.
Lily smiled slyly. "Go on."
"W-well," said Peter, biting down on his lip. "James has also had someone he can confide in..."
"About what?" said Lily, doubting James had anything to confide in anyone about, other than Quidditch rubbish.
"Things," said Peter, blushing slightly. "A-and then there's me. He's the first person who's ever talked to me...and helped me...without making me feel like a child."
At this, Lily frowned. "I don't talk to you like I think you're a child, do I?"
"N-no, I didn't m-mean you," he said, quickly. "But just...well, we're not really f-friends. I meant just in my friend group..."
Lily thought for a minute.
"Well maybe we can change that, you and me," she said, smiling at him.
Peter smiled back. "I'd like that."
There was a pause.
"Anyway," he went on. "Y-you should just give Draco another chance. He's been really wonderful to us all...and then again, he is new here. It's p-probably really hard to adjust after growing up in a muggle orphanage with no one to talk to but D-Dumbledore."
Lily sighed again. "I suppose you're right." She looked back at Peter. "You know, you're far too nice to be friends with boys like that. You and Remus."
Peter smiled shyly.
"T-they're kind to us," he said. "A-and loyal. They defend us when needed. They care for us."
"Yeah but I just can't see it," Lily said.
"Can't see what?" said Peter.
"How he..." said Lily, pointing back at the portrait behind her, "...was raised by Dumbledore."
Peter chuckled lightly and then said, very quietly, "I can."
Lily looked round at him. He really did have more potential than he ever showed. Personally, Lily thought it was just the other boys who were keeping him in the shadows with their arrogant little pranks and their stupid ways. If he didn't hang out with people like that all the time, she was sure his confidence would build up a little. She was just about to say so, when he said,
"Let's go back inside and finish the game."
"No," Lily scoffed. "I've no interest in doing that."
"Please?" said Peter. "It'll be fun. Y-you'll go first this time. You can attack Draco back with a bunch of questions."
Lily considered this for a moment. It might be fun...and plus, she could find out whether he actually did know more about Remus' secret than he was letting on. Or at least, Remus thought so. But then again, Lily had known him around the full moon for quite a while now to guess that it was mostly just the paranoia talking.
But still, that didn't mean she couldn't try interrogating Draco for a change. And besides, Draco was so arrogant and so conceited, that he probably doubted she would have it in her to rejoin their little game.
"Alright," she said, standing up with Peter. "Let's go."
Lily gave the Fat Lady the password, and Peter followed her inside, while the Fat Lady shouted after them "Really, if you weren't planning on staying out for a couple of hours, then why bother me at all?!"
They re-entered the common room and found that it was slightly quieter now than before. Several of the seventh years, including Frank, must've gone to bed, as there were only a couple of students scattered here and there. Lily and Peter went to take their seats again, and found that Mary was now sitting next to Draco, who was looking at her with a strange expression on his face...was it curiosity? Sympathy?
"So how is it that you didn't know what Truth or Dare was?" she was asking him.
"Well the orphanage I was at was for boys only," he explained, his tone soft. Lily stopped to stare at him. Was that actually Draco Black talking or just some stranger who had come to replace him? Where was the smirk or the conceited remarks?
"It wasn't exactly, you know, a favourite pastime of mine to dare boys to undress other boys..." he continued, smiling politely at Mary, "...despite the latest rumours about me here."
Mary giggled.
"No, I suppose not," she said. "I didn't believe those rumours, you know...they're all rubbish most of the time."
"Thank you," he said to her. "It means a lot to hear someone say that."
"Of course," she said, smiling at him again.
Lily coughed loudly to get their attention. They turned their heads to look up at her, and Draco's somewhat sympathetic expression instantly changed to that of another one of his arrogant little smirks.
"Already back, Evans?" he said.
"I challenge you to another round of Truth," Lily told him simply, her arms crossed.
"Fine then," he said. "Have a seat."
While Mary got up to give Peter his seat back, Lily leaned down and hissed at Draco, "You're not gonna go after her now too, are you? She's been through enough!"
Draco frowned.
"While I'm with your other friend?" he whispered. "I wouldn't dream of it!"
"Oh give it up already," Lily hissed again, taking her seat.
"You might wanna give that advice to yourself for a change," Draco told her, more loudly.
"What?" said Mary.
"Nothing," said Draco and Lily together.
Mary looked back at her watch while holding up a finger for them to wait.
"Oh and if you ask me any questions about my personal life, I won't object," Draco told Lily. "I have nothing to hide here."
Oh we'll see about that, she thought. But she also kept herself reserved and her facial expression as cool as currently possible. She knew that once she began her attack, he would attack her right back...with a subject she was not particularly keen on discussing.
"Okay go!" cried Mary.
"Who was the first person you made friends with in Gryffindor?" said Lily.
Draco looked puzzled for a few seconds.
"Uh, I suppose it was James, Sirius, Remus and Peter all at once," he said, slowly. "Who was the first friend you made in Gryffindor?"
"Remus," said Lily, simply. "Were you the one who asked if you could sleep in their dormitory, or did they suggest it?"
Peter opened his mouth to say something, but Draco said, "They did."
Peter closed his mouth again. Lily paused for a second. Draco was staring at her as though he could hardly believe his eyes. What, had she been too innocent in his eyes up until now? Did he not think that she would possibly want to retaliate in their little game, after what he'd just put her through? Well, he'd certainly underestimated her.
"Okay," she continued, repressing a little grin, "And what was Sirius Black's reaction when he found out you're related to him?"
"He was shocked," said Draco, looking sideways at his friend, "As were all of the boys, am I right?"
Peter nodded, and Draco looked back at Lily.
"Have you always hated them?" he asked her. "James, Sirius, Remus and Peter I mean."
"I don't hate them," she said at once. "Remus I like." She looked at Peter. "Yeah, and Peter too." Back to Draco. "But the other two…well, three now, are vile."
"Ah," said Draco. "What about Severus? Is he vile too?"
There it was.
"He can be," said Lily, simply. "And speaking of Severus, how is it that you two are on speaking terms?"
"How d'you mean?" said Draco. "And that wasn't a direct question," he added to Mary, who, to Lily's distaste, blushed instantly.
"I know Severus," Lily continued. "He would never just make friends with someone in Gryffindor for nothing."
"Well he was friends with you," Draco pointed out. "And last time I checked you were in Gryffindor."
"Severus and I were friends even before we came to Hogwarts," Lily said, dismissively. "And you still didn't answer my question."
Draco sighed.
"If you know him so well then you will know he's brilliant at Potions. Having been raised by Dumbledore, I know a fair bit about Potions myself...as well as all the other subjects in this school." The grin was back now. "Anyway, he needed help once and I gave it to him and after that we just started talking."
"But Severus hates Gryffindor and everything to do with it," Lily pointed out. "What makes you so special? Why would he let you in?"
Draco smiled.
"I suppose I have my way with people," he said after a moment's pause. "Then again, he knows the other Black, and he didn't end up in Gryffindor like me and Sirius. I guess he decided to just give me a chance and see if I was anything like Regulus."
"And would you say you've talked to Regulus a fair bit in the last month?" said Lily.
"I have," said Draco, slowly. "But why do you care?"
"Hey, I'm just following the rules of the game," said Lily, simply. "I mean, we can ask each other anything, right?"
"Yeah," said Draco, slowly. "Right. My turn then?"
Lily nodded.
"So you know Regulus by name at least...does that mean you've talked to the kid before?"
"Not once," said Lily. "I doubt he even knows my name."
"So then how do you know his?"
Lily stared at him. "You're kidding me right now, right?" Draco frowned. "Everyone in the school knows who Regulus and Sirius are. It's no secret."
"Ah," said Draco. "Okay, next question. Are you gonna forgive Severus anytime soon?"
And there that was. But luckily, before Lily had a time to react, Mary's watch beeped. Lily glanced at it once and then back at Draco.
"Oops," she said, smiling pleasantly at him. "Time's up."
Draco scowled at her.
"Okay, so Draco ended the match which means he gets to start the next one," said Mary, who was looking down at her watch again. Peter looked like he was about to say something again. But then...
"Since I won, I get to choose," said Draco, suddenly. He looked round at Lily again. "And I challenge Lily to another round of Truth."
Peter sighed.
"Okay," said Mary, slowly. "Well...ready?"
"I am," said Draco, his eyes still on Lily. She frowned slightly at him, but added, "Yeah me too."
"Okay then," said Mary. Another pause. "Go."
"What's so bad about the word 'mudblood'?" Draco asked.
Both Lily and Mary gasped, but Peter only turned his head slowly to look at Draco, who was still looking at Lily.
"It's offensive," she said, boldly.
"No more offensive than the word 'vile', right?"
"Wrong."
Draco smirked.
"Fine then," he said. "But is it really that offensive that you can't forgive it? Even for your best friend?"
"Used to be best friend, and I think you're gonna have to wait your turn, Black," Lily said, repeating his words from before.
He shrugged.
"How is it that as long as I have been at Hogwarts, I haven't seen any Gryffindors making friends with Slytherins, besides me and Severus...but then you come along and suddenly you're best pals with Potter's lot, and with Severus, and with the other Black?"
"What can I say?" said Draco, leaning back again. "I'm just that good."
"Oh how charming," said Lily, sarcastically.
"Oh you're one to talk," said Draco. "So I'll ask again—are you ever going to forgive Severus?"
"I doubt it," Lily said, "Because as you've mentioned before, 'mudblood' is an unforgivable word."
"I never said—"
"Time's running out so if you wanna ask your next question, do it," said Lily.
Draco glared at her.
"Fine then," he said, sitting up again. "So if Severus started dating some Slytherin girl now, you wouldn't care?"
"Not at all," Lily promised. "I don't care what he does with his life."
"That's a lie," said Draco.
"It is not," said Lily.
"I—"
"My turn," she interrupted. "If those rumours about you were rubbish, as I suspect they were, given how you act around Alice nowadays," she stopped to cringe, "Then why are you so interested in what Severus does? Why do you want to be his friend? Don't you have enough friends over here in Gryffindor?"
"I think you've surpassed your limit of questions," he pointed out.
"Just answer," Lily hissed.
Draco paused.
"Severus is a good person," he finally said, in a sort of declaration. "I would expect you to know that...or have you completely forgotten about your friendship? Has your fight with him last year made you forget everything from before? Do those memories and those moments not count anymore?"
"I never said they—"
"You didn't have to," he interrupted. "Your face shows it."
And suddenly, Lily lost it.
"You wanna tell me what bothers you so much about me?" she shot at him.
Draco stared at her. "You mean other than your constant nagging about 'doing the right thing', 'being perfect', and preaching Gryffindor idiocy?"
"I wasn't—"
"You're annoying, that's all."
Lily glared at him. She didn't care anymore about being reserved or professional. Enough was enough. She'd tried—she honestly had—and there was just no way to win with him. If he was capable of being polite to Mary—acting like the sort of boy that would have actually been raised by Dumbledore—then he was capable of being polite to her too.
"If I'm so annoying, then why do you tease me constantly?" she said to him. "...insult me...make fun of me..."
"Because it's fun!" he exclaimed. "Jeez, do you not have a sense of humour at all?"
Lily closed her eyes for a few long seconds, taking deep breaths. When she opened them, she found Draco frowning at her.
It was now...or never.
"Why—do—you—hate—me—so—much?" she finally asked, knowing that this time, he couldn't run from the question even if he'd wanted to. According to her calculations, they had a good 50 seconds left of the game.
But Draco did not answer right away. He stared at her as though trying to decide what to say, each of his eyes moving between hers.
"You remind me of someone I hate," he finally responded, in a low voice.
Lily's mouth opened slightly, and she blinked.
"How is that my fault?"
Draco said nothing.
"So what, you're gonna hate me now because I remind you of someone you hate?" she shot at him.
Still, he said nothing.
"You can't punish me for whatever it is you and this person had going on," she suddenly said, disregarding the beeping of Mary's watch. "It's not fair to me—I didn't do anything to you."
"I—"
"Whatever you have against me has nothing to do with Severus, does it?"
Draco met her eyes finally.
"It doesn't!" she repeated. "So what then? Is it your new friends? Your pals? Do they hate me, is that what this is all about?"
Her voice cracked at the last couple of words, but she ignored this and continued to glare at him.
"We don't hate you!" cried Peter.
"Well then what?!" Lily shouted at Draco.
"Will you calm the fuck down?" he hissed at her through gritted teeth, but she disregarded his use of language because she was too far in now to back down. She needed these answers, and she wasn't going to leave tonight without them.
"Maybe we should play another game," Mary suggested, quietly, but Lily was looking at Draco.
"I'm still waiting," she told him, a little more calmly this time.
"Fine," said Draco. "You want to know? I'll tell you." Lily waited. "This kid wasn't just an annoying, attention-seeking, arrogant little prick. Oh no, he was far more complicated than that. He was the very first person I'd ever formally offered a friendship, and the first person to ever reject it...and for who? For some miserable, low-life, wannabe git? Yeah, whatever. I got over it pretty quickly. But did that stop them from waltzing around the bloody place with their stupid pride and their stupid dignity? No. Did that stop this kid from basically shadowing everyone for the rest of time? Nooooo, of course not! Why would it? Did it stop him from arrogantly seeking even more attention by pretty much trying to kill me? IT DID NOT. But did I retaliate? No, I didn't! Because I, unlike him, realise that there are far more important things to be concerned with, than school bullies. I just can't help it if I happen to hate his guts and wish he'd drowned in his own drool when he was a baby."
Lily blinked. "I get that this is all a lot that you've had to deal with...but what's it got to do with me?!"
"He's got the same eyes as you and the same bloody attitude, that's what," Draco muttered.
"And again, how is that my fault?" said Lily, her arms now crossed.
Draco glared at her.
"I can't change my eye colour just because I remind you of someone you hate," she told him, "Nor would I want to! I happen to like my eyes just the way they are, thank you very much. And I will not tolerate any more verbal abuse from you just because you have issues from your past!"
"You don't know anything about my past," he growled at her. "No one does. And no one will."
"Fine!" said Lily. "That's your decision! But keep me out of it. Keep me out of whatever grudge you're holding onto, or get over it altogether!" She stopped to take a breath. "Otherwise, you won't get along with anyone here...your friends will not even tolerate you anymore. I've known them far longer than you have, and while I may not like them, I respect the loyalty that they have towards each other. And I happen to know that if you show this side of yourself to them, they won't understand you."
"Is that right?" said Draco.
"It is," said Lily, her eyes flickering over Peter for a split second before darting back to Draco. "Change your ways or you will lose them."
"And just who are you to tell me what to do?" said Draco, suddenly rising to his feet. "And just who are you to command me? And just who are you to judge my friends—the people who you have specifically and clearly claimed, multiple times, to 'despise'?"
"I—"
"You have no bloody business telling me what my friends will or will not tolerate," Draco hissed at her. "You have no fucking right telling me that these boys, who have granted me a place in their dormitory, who have let me into their lives and have told me things about them that they haven't told others...that these boys will just send me packing!"
"I didn't—"
"And you know what, Wormtail?" said Draco, suddenly turning to look at Peter, who was quite startled. "I know. Okay? I know you all are hiding something." He turned back to Lily. "And right now, I'm gonna put an end to it. Tonight." He paused. "Just watch and see if they'll send me packing after I find them out."
Lily gasped, but before she could say or do anything at all, Draco marched right out of the common room, leaving Lily, Mary and Peter to stare after him. Lily chewed nervously on her lip and blinked at the portrait hole. What on earth had she just done?
"I'm sorry, but I still don't understand what you're talking about," Lily said as she and Mary stood in the boys' dormitory, watching Peter search frantically under the pillows and below the four poster beds.
"The map, the map!" he kept repeating. "W-we've been working on it since fourth year. W-well actually, we've been exploring the castle longer than that, b-but we only ever started recording things two years ago."
"What kinds of things?" Lily asked, slowly.
"Different stuff!" said Peter, frantically. "H-h-hidden p-p-passageways a-and t-tunnels a-and—"
"Okay, Peter?" said Lily, moving to stand next to him and placing both her hands on his shoulders to stop him. "Breathe."
He took three deep breaths and she nodded her approval.
"You mean inside the castle?" she asked after a moment's silence.
Peter nodded.
Lily let go of him, and he continued his search, this time a little less panicked. He pulled out a trunk from under one of the beds and began throwing things out of it. Lily guessed this to be Potter's trunk because there were Quidditch stickers plastered all over the top of it.
"You mean inside the castle?"
Peter only nodded. He then pulled out a trunk from under one of the beds and began throwing things out of it.
"So this map shows all of Hogwarts..." Lily concluded.
"And everyone in Hogwarts too," said Peter, "Where they are, e-every minute of every day."
"Is that legal?" Mary hissed.
"Of course it's not!" Lily cried. "Peter, what were you thinking? Why didn't you ever tell someone? Professor McGonagall or...or anyone?!"
"B-because it's ours and we created it and—"
"We?" said Lily. "What do you mean 'we'? You mean...Remus too?"
"Yeah, he helped make it."
Lily sat herself down on one of the beds, trying hard not to think about how many more things Remus wasn't telling her.
"But how did you boys get the map to...to do all of this?" said Mary.
"The Homonculous Charm, no doubt," Lily answered before Peter could. He'd given up on the trunk now and was ransacking another one in the far corner of the dormitory. This one had a silver crest on the side, marking the letter B. Mary gave Lily a questioning look, but Lily waved it off. Obviously Lily had read about this charm...she'd spent her first couple of months at Hogwarts doing nothing but reading.
"I-it's not here!" Peter finally concluded.
"Does Draco know about the map?" Lily asked him, calmly.
"Yeah, of course! We all do!"
Lily sighed. "Then that's where it is now...with him." She glanced sideways at Mary, before turning back to Peter. "That's how he's gonna find them."
Together, she, Mary and Peter left Gryffindor Tower and hurried over to the Entrance Hall as fast as they could. The entire way there, Lily scolded Peter for never telling anyone about the map or for never trying to stop the boys himself, while Mary walked behind them, occasionally advising that they return to the common room before someone sees them.
"I'm not going anywhere until we bring Draco back," Lily told her, firmly, as they reached the stone steps. "I promised Remus I would keep an eye on Draco tonight and now he's proving that to be a little difficult."
"But why did Remus need you to keep an eye on him?" Mary asked again.
Lily paused. "H-he's just worried Draco will get into some kind of trouble, which by the looks of it, seems very likely."
Peter turned left and they followed him. He stopped at the entrance to the Great Hall, gasped, and turned to look at the two of them.
"What is it?" Lily said at once.
"I-I know where he is," he said.
"Well where is he?!" cried Lily.
Mary shushed her.
Peter's eyes flickered from one to the other before landing on Lily again.
"Hagrid's Hut."
"Huh?"
"T-they're all at Hagrid's Hut."
"Who's 'they'?" said Mary, her eyes narrowed.
"D-Draco and James and S-Sirius," said Peter, his eyes still on Lily, who was trying to understand what the hell he was rambling on about.
"Wait, what?" said Mary. "That makes...no sense."
"Well they're boys," said Lily, slowly. "They never make sense." She turned to Mary. "Look, you wanna come help us look or would you rather—?"
"I'll stay here," Mary said at once, and quite predictably so. Lily smiled. "I'll wait here and stand guard."
"Okay," said Lily, turning to the oak front doors, which were opened just a crack (no doubt Draco's doing). "Just keep watch and send word if anyone starts looking for us, alright?"
"I don't know how to do that," said Mary. "I'll just distract teachers. Hey, don't—be—long."
"We'll try," Lily promised, ushering Peter to follow her.
He waved gingerly at Mary, who took a seat on the stone steps, and followed Lily through the front doors and out into the chilly night.
"Hagrid's Hut?" Lily repeated to him in a hushed voice once they were alone. "You couldn't do any better than that?"
"S-sorry," he mumbled. "I'm not good at this l-lying thing."
Lily sighed. "Well you shouldn't be. It's not something anybody should be proud to be good at." She paused. "So where are they?"
"Forbidden Forest."
"WHAT?!"
They started down the sloping lawns to where Hagrid's Hut stood in the distance, the wind howling slightly and raising goosebumps on their arms. Lily tried hard not to think about the load of trouble that they would get into if they were discovered out here at night by a teacher.
"It's w-where we usually go e-every month," Peter explained as they walked.
"But I thought you guys go to the Shrieking Shack," said Lily, slowly. "That's what Remus told me."
"W-we used to," said Peter. "B-but not for a while now."
"How come?"
He shrugged. Lily narrowed her eyes at him.
"Is there something I'm supposed to know?" she asked once they reached Hagrid's miniature pumpkin patch and turned in the direction of the dark forest.
"N-no!" said Peter, quickly. "W-w-why would you t-think that?"
"Because it's clearly the truth," she said. He looked away from her. "Peter." No answer. "Peter, look at me!" He turned slightly in her direction, a frightened look on his face.
"What don't I know?" she demanded.
Somewhere not far from them, a twig snapped. They both turned frantically, Lily's wand flying out and pointing randomly at some spot. When nothing happened, Peter said, "Come on," and together, they started for the forest.
Lily had only ever been in the forest twice before...once for a Care of Magical Creatures lesson back in third year, during which Professor Grubbly-Plank showed the class a herd of unicorns. The other time, it had been during one of her visits to Hagrid's Hut. He had decided to grant her wish to meet the centaurs, and had taken her into the depths of the forest to introduce her to them. They had been most gracious and kind, and Lily had felt it was an honour to meet them. But tonight was different than either of those experiences.
The forest was still, and yet very alive. Everywhere she looked, she was sure someone was watching them from up in the trees...someone...or something. The cool night air was growing cooler the deeper they went into the forest, up to the point when Lily felt herself shivering slightly.
"How much further, do you know?" she asked Peter as they turned again.
"N-not far," he promised. "We're usually near the c-centaurs' land."
Lily sighed. Well, if they got into any trouble at all, at least the centaurs would help them. They seemed to really like Lily when she'd met them. Although, that was two whole years ago, and she hadn't been back since, so she doubted they would even remember her.
"I hope we find him before he finds your friends," Lily sighed as they went further and further into the depths of the forest. "I just don't want to think about how Remus would feel if he was found out...especially in a state like this."
"Wait," said Peter, stopping her.
She followed his gaze and let out a small gasp.
"Is that...?" she said, squinting through the darkness at the little spark of light that was illuminating from between the two crooked trees in the far left.
A figure was standing in the distance, holding up a lit wand to what looked like a large bit of parchment.
"It is!" cried Peter, beside her.
Her hand almost automatically flew to cover his mouth, but it was too late. Draco had noticed them. His own wand now turned to point in their direction, but Lily was quick to act, and shot the first spell she could think of.
"Petrificus totalus!"
Draco instantly turned pale white in the dark forest, and fell backwards with a loud thud, like a rock. Lily and Peter hurried over to him. Lily quickly took his wand in her hand, while Peter reached for his other hand to retrieve what looked to be the map.
"W-what did you do to him?" he asked her, worriedly, as they both looked down at Draco.
"It's just a freezing charm," she assured him. "He can still hear everything we're saying—he just can't respond."
She knelt down to touch his forehead, which was ice cold, and leaned forward to examine the whites of his eyes shimmering slightly.
"See?" she told Peter behind her. "He can still see and hear and breathe and think."
When Peter didn't answer, Lily quickly jumped to her feet and wheeled around. Peter's shadow was now hurrying through the forest and quickly out of sight.
"What the...?" Lily muttered, staring after him. "Hey, come back! Peter!"
A slight breeze began to rustle the leaves from the trees all around, and a howling sounded somewhere in the distance, followed by a few crickets. Feeling a little nervous, Lily turned back to look down at Draco, who was lying still in a bed of wet leaves. Lily turned around frantically, hoping that Peter would come back—she really hadn't expected him to leave her like this in the Forbidden Forest of all places. When he didn't reappear, she moved to sit next to Draco's frozen form, and wrapped her arms around her knees, letting both hers and Draco's wands drop to the ground beside her. Her wand was still lit, so the darkness was not totally impenetrable. But still, Lily found herself feeling a little overwhelmed now. She began to rock herself back and forth to keep warm, her eyes all the while on Draco, who was staring up at the trees.
"I know you want answers," she began to say, her voice barely more than a whisper, in case any angry creature lurking nearby heard them and decided to investigate. Draco continued to stare up, but Lily knew he could hear her, so she went on. "I'm sure you've gotten to know the boys a lot over the past month and you think you deserve answers. Perhaps you do…I don't know enough about your relationship with them to make that call. I suppose it is only natural for you to want answers, given how everyone's been interrogating you the past few weeks...but this is not the way to get them. Surely you must know that. You can't...you can't force people to tell you what they may not yet be ready to reveal." She paused, shivering slightly from the chilly wind, and continued. "I knew that you knew...on some level, I was sure you knew something. You might not know everything, but you still know that there is something to know. I suppose the boys are not all that good at hiding it, so I can't really blame you for snooping where you shouldn't have. But Remus is my friend—one of my best friends. And if he doesn't want you to know yet, then you have to respect that. You have to let him take his time before he tells you. He's your friend, isn't he? You said so yourself. You respect him, don't you? Well then you should respect his wishes. You should do this for him, as his friend. Just...just don't pressure him into it! Let him come to you...when he's ready. And I know him—he'll come to you...when the time is right."
Lily stopped to survey Draco's frozen face again. She bit her lip and wondered whether he'd calmed down enough to actually listen to her.
"I'm going to lift the charm now," she told him, cautiously, her fingers reaching into the leaves beside her and picking up her illuminated wand. "But you have to behave yourself. You have to promise not to get all angry again and storm off to lord knows where in the middle of the night." She paused, then slowly got to her feet. "And you'd better not leave me here alone in the forest." She pointed her wand at him. "Don't make me regret this, Black." And with a deep breath, she whispered "Finite," lifting the charm as well as extinguishing the light at once.
Draco let out a small gasp, and then slowly sat up and brushed leaves off of himself. He picked up his wand and rotated it in his hands for a few long seconds. He then looked up at Lily, and she tried to read his expression in the darkness. They were quiet for a long time—Lily almost expected Draco to jump up and start running again. But he didn't jump. Instead, he sighed and looked down at the bed of leaves around him.
"Alright," he finally said.
Lily sighed of relief. Wow...she'd actually managed to get through to him. She couldn't believe it. And he wasn't even angry about her hexing him! He wasn't even trying to retaliate!
"Thank you," she said.
She hesitated, then took her seat again. Draco did not object, but continued to stare down at the ground.
"How..." said Lily, willing him to look at her, "How did you not see us approaching when you were looking at the map?"
Draco shrugged. "I reckon the map still needs a bit of work."
"How do you figure?"
"Well its indications of movement are a little late sometimes," he said. "When I turned around and saw you guys, the map showed you only entering from near Hagrid's Hut..."
"Does it always do that?"
"No, sometimes it's accurate. It comes and it goes. I think it's just because it's still relatively new...or the charm is wearing off or it needs to be doubled up or something."
Lily sighed. She wasn't exactly a big fan of this map, and she didn't think it was wise for the boys to possess such an object. If McGonagall only knew...
"You, uh, you're not scared or anything, are you?" Draco suddenly said.
"Me?" said Lily, quickly. "No, of course not!"
"Good," he said. "Yeah, me neither."
Lily frowned. She'd actually half-expected some sarcastic remark, followed by that stupid smirk of his. But it never came. She stared at him. Why was it that when there was no one else around, he acted totally different? It was like he completely shed his mask when he was alone with her…with this version, she could believe that he had been raised by Dumbledore, because this was exactly the type of person that Dumbledore would've raised…a kind, considerate, well-mannered individual. Lily almost felt bad for him for being used by Alice like so. Although, as she watched him now, she started to realise that perhaps he was using Alice just the same...after all, he didn't seem to be all that excited around her. Lily didn't know much about relationships, but she at least knew that it's not a good sign if you're not excited to be around the other person all the time. And back in the common room, Draco looked slightly annoyed by Alice's presence...and even relieved that she'd chosen not to join their game.
"So," he said, slowly. "What's so special about this Hogsmeade owlery that Alice was talking about earlier?"
Lily blushed slightly. "It's a popular hangout spot for Hogwarts couples."
Draco raised his eyebrows at her. "Is that right?"
Lily nodded, sure that he understood perfectly well and that she didn't need to explain any more. Suddenly, a twig snapped from behind her, and at once, they both jumped to their feet and pointed their wands at the darkness. They waited, listening for more sounds, frantically looking around the dark woods for any signs of life. And then, another twig snapped and leaves began to rustle even more.
"Someone's coming," Draco whispered.
"Peter?" Lily called out, her voice shaking slightly.
"Shut up!" Draco hissed in her ear, but she ignored him and kept her eyes fixed on the shadow moving towards them through the woods. Her fingers tightened around her wand, and the stunning spell was just at the tip of her tongue when suddenly, a split second later, she lowered her wand again.
"P-Potter?" she said, squinting in the darkness as he made his way over to where they stood.
Potter stopped at the sight of her and she watched him slowly slip his own wand back into his pocket, from which that old bit of parchment was now sticking out. Peter had managed to find him in the woods.
"Evans?" he said. "What...uh, what are you doing here?"
"James," said Draco, softly, his own wand lowered. "We—"
"We were just out for a walk!" Lily said quickly, wondering exactly how much Peter had told him.
Potter took a few more steps towards them so that he could see them clearer.
"A walk in the woods," he repeated, "In the dead of night."
"Everyone has their preferences," Lily said, smiling slightly at him. "Have you, uh, seen Peter by any chance?"
"Yeah, he came and got me," said Potter, slowly. He turned to Draco. "McGonagall sent us to serve detention in here with Hagrid."
Lily frowned. How was it that lying came quite so easily to Potter? This really was a dangerous thing...definitely not something to be proud of.
"Is that right?" said Draco, whose hands slipped into his pockets again. Lily noticed he tended to do that a lot, but for now, she only watched him closely, hoping he would keep his promise to her and not go confronting Potter now about this secret he was sure the boys were keeping from him.
"Yeah, he needed help finding some unicorn," Potter mumbled. "Is, uh, everything alright?"
Draco looked over Potter's shoulder at Lily, and for a second there, she thought he would actually say what he came there to say. But then...
"Yeah, everything's fine."
"Should we go back to the castle now then?" Lily spoke up.
"Where's Sirius?" said Draco, ignoring her suggestion.
"He's probably already out of the forest with Hagrid and Peter," said Potter. "I thought you might, you know, be lost in here...given that you're new and all."
"I was new a month ago," said Draco.
"Didn't..." said Lily, turning Potter's attention back to her. "Didn't Peter tell you I was here too?"
"No, he was pretty frantic when he found us," said Potter. "Thought you might get attacked by some animal, you know?" He looked up at the trees around them in the suddenly still forest. "You never know just what lives here."
"Let's get out of here," said Draco at once, and the three of them started back down the path where they came from.
"You don't look very surprised to see me here," Potter told Draco after a few silent minutes of walking.
Lily looked frantically at him, hoping—willing—him not to say what she knew he really wanted to say.
"I am," he said, instead. Lily sighed. "I'm just...you know, trying not to think about all the stuff that could jump out at us any minute."
"Yeah," laughed Potter. "Not one of my favourite detentions, I'll say."
Lily kept silent. Every now and then, she caught Draco looking at her from Potter's other side. It was as though he was trying to communicate to her that he'd keep his word about letting the boys tell him the secret, rather than him pouring it out of them. And Lily found it very easy to believe him.
But in addition, she also found herself wondering exactly how he would react once he found out the secret. He was, by far, the least bit predictable person she'd ever met. She never knew quite what to expect from her conversations with him—which image of himself he would present this time. She only hoped that whatever reaction he chose for Remus' big reveal, that it wouldn't be insensitive...that he would understand what a big deal this was for Remus.
When Lily herself had found out, back in third year during January's full moon, she had been most shocked to see Remus actually crying. To this day, he was the only boy she'd ever seen cry, and she thought there was something certainly special about that. She knew in her heart that if Draco even dared say anything prejudiced about what Remus was, or if his reaction was heinous, that she, Lily, would probably kill him herself.
As she and Draco and Potter made their way out of the forest and reached Hagrid's Hut, Potter slowed to a stop and turned to face the other two. For a long minute, the three just stared at each other, saying nothing. Lily found something very strange about the way Potter was looking first from her then to Draco and then back at her. And Draco seemed to have his mask back on and was trying to be very subtle about everything—very cool and very relaxed, as usual. But even now, his own eyes were turning from Lily to James and then back to Lily. It was almost as though some kind of silent treaty was being formed between the three of them as they stood there under the moonlit sky in the cool night air.
And then, as though the pause in their journey back hadn't even occurred, they turned and started back up the path towards the castle again, hoping to forget this night altogether, for the rest of time.
But even as they reached the oak front doors and met Mary (who had been mid-pace), Lily knew in her heart that something about tonight—she couldn't quite pinpoint what—had changed the course of the future.
Inevitably.
"Special" chapters will be released every special occasion...holidays mainly...so if you can figure out when the next one will be released, kudos to you. Also, there won't be two special chapters per month, so you can forget about Halloween :P
And finally, if there is a specific character's point of view that you're interested in seeing, do send us your requests and we'll keep them in mind! But in the end, we'll decide because we have worked this story out down to the very last detail...believe us. So for all those readers out there who are worried about the marauders not noticing 'Draco Malfoy' appearing on the map instead of 'Draco Black', all we can say is... just keep reading. It's all yet to come.
Also, don't forget to review! Love you all!
