Yeah. I updated. Very wrong of me, since I have exams and all, but I'm one of those people who need a creative outlet. My excuse is that it alleviates exam stress. If anyone finds this chapter miserable - it is more miserable than most - just think of the word nougat. If that fails, tilt your head back to look at your ceiling, and laugh deeply.

9 - Perception and Communication.

The second Thursday of every month was dictionary day. It did not always involve a dictionary, but that was how it had started. Sirius had ended up in Gryffindor, to the surprise of everyone, and despite his winning personality there were still a few issues with getting people to connect properly. Sure enough, James and Remus he was already great friends with, and Peter's serotonin levels shot through the roof if they did so much as look at him. The four misfits of Gryffindor were the best of friends instantly - the weedy excitable one, the one with the secret that made him doubt himself, the boy who was a disgrace to his family and the only child who had been coddled and kept away from the world. The other Gryffindors were nice, but they never really trusted him. Until dictionary day.

His charming mother had kindly sent a generous helping of howlers and a dictionary when she heard which house he had ended up in. The dictionary was possibly bigger than Professor Flitwick, and had some words highlighted in it, such as traitor, pure and scum, since his mother was anxious that he understood the meanings of these words considered so vital for his upbringing. It a fit of boredom, he had read from A to C, and learnt several new multi-syllabic words, which he tested in conversation the next day. They words made him sound a lot like an idiot, which didn't really concern him, and this effect conveniently lead to people trusting him, purely because they thought he was too stupid to have got into Gryffindor through some cunning and sneaky Slytherin plot to spy on them, although why they would think that anyway is questionable.

Today, dictionary day did involve the dictionary. And a pair of glasses.

"I percieve from your semeiotics the saponule in your gebbie." Sirius frowned and adjusted the lens-deficient glasses. "Maybe it should make a little more sense?" He peered down at the vast tome, forehead wrinkling in deliberation before making up his mind. "Nah. They won't understand it anyway."

"You've got those stupid glasses on again?" James asked as he entered the dormitory with a towel clutched to the back of his dripping hair.

"Quite so." Sirius said, still frowning and thinking. James sat on the bed and there was a moment of silence.

"I was wondering who my pen pal is." James told him.

"I know who mine was," Sirius said.

"Oh yeah?"

"A loony."

"So you don't know who they really are?"

"She's called Margaret Apferstnaphth and she's barmy."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. She liked snogging frogs and when she passed a brewing potion she couldn't resist dipping her finger in it to see what it would do to her. She also informed me that she liked interpretive dance in the moonlight to the music of silence."

"Oh."

"I stopped writing to her, and she didn't write back. She's probably dipped her finger into the wrong potion and turned into a green lemming by now."

"And hopefully jumped off a cliff."

"Lemmings are not suicidal, James. They are, however, very murderous in cramped social conditions. Let us hope that her interpretive dance lead to a feeling of crampedness and resulted in a great relief for those poor beleaguered frogs."

"...Do you want to go to breakfast now?"

"Sure."

"Are you going to bring that enormous dictionary?"

"Nope."

"Good. Erm, are you going to wear the glasses?"

"Yeah."

"Look, mate, to be perfectly frank, they make you look ridiculous."

"I know. Come on, I want kippers."

Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were already down in the Great Hall, the latter scarfing down great quantities of food in order to be portrayed as a gluttonous idiot and the former looking tired and thoughtful, and being completely unaware of the fact that Lily Evans, seated opposite, had just decided to fall in love with him.

It was undeniable. He was the pinnacle of respectability. The overlooked and undervalued, quiet and reserved werewolf who suffered with his terrible problem, the likes of which he would never deserve. Lily had realised he was a werewolf the first time he told her he was going to visit his ill mother, because Lily was vastly intelligent - she needed no more than a single clue. She also realised that his friends had developed the animagus ability for him, after she heard them refer to each other by their nicknames. 'And Potter must be a stag, because they call him Prongs' she thought cannily, before seeing James enter the hall. She rolled her eyes. He would go and be a stag wouldn't he? King of the forest? Arrogant git.

Lily rose elegantly from the table as Potter sat.

"See you in potions, Remus!" she cried sweetly, flipping her hair and looking elegant, saucy and delicate all at the same time. James melted into a puddle on his seat, and tried to pretend it was he whom she had just called back to. His brow wrinkled. Could there possibly be something between her and Moony? He jumped up and sprinted after her.

"Good morrow, fair fellow patricians. Say, what day is this, and what hour?" Sirius declared to the table. Several people rolled onto the floor, laughing at his antics. Dorcas Meadows was not one of these people, and nor was Marlene Mckinnon.

"Get stuffed Black, you idiot." Marlene snarled. Dorcas wondered if she ever had a chance with Remus. He didn't even look at her, and he had just smiled at Lily. Smiled!

James, meanwhile, had just caught up with Lily in the entrance hall.

"Lily."

"Potter."

"Ooh... That's quite good..."

"What is it, Potter?"

"The name just... Never mind. Lily, tell me truthfully, are you and Remus secretly an item?"

"What? How is that any of your business at all?"

"I don't think it's an unreasonable request."

"What?"

"Honestly, Lily, I adore you. Surely I deserve to know."

"We're not an item, and neither are you and I. Please bear this in mind when you talk to me in that over-familiar way."

"It's not overly familiar. We're head boy and girl. We're supposed to maintain a strong, cordial relationship, and I'm trying, Lily. I'm trying to be mature for you. I've changed."

"You're not mature!"

"Hear this? This is my mature tone of voice. Not faux-bass, my normal baritone. Carefully modulated to maintain emotion within reason. Pranks are silly and irresponsible, and hexing people for amusement purposes is mundane and terribly cruel. I honestly don't even like those things anymore."

"You're not mature!"

"Please, Lily, you're shouting."

"You ARE NOT mature!"

"Miss Evans!" Lily winced and turned around. McGonagall swept towards her with a look of disbelief. "I should think you of all people would know that the Entrance Hall is not an appropriate place in which to shout. Have you forgotten that you are supposed to be setting an example?"

"But Potter-"

"I don't care what Potter said or did! I will ask you, Miss Evans, to stop telling tales like a child. You were chosen as head girl for your reliability and maturity, which funnily enough seems to collapse around Mr Potter, who is currently setting a better example than you."

"I'm sorry."

"That is all right. I want you to know that it must not happen again. Now, more than ever, is the time to step into positions of leadership. All silly little arguments must be forgotten, you are both to report to the headmaster. He has something of the utmost importance to discuss with you."

"What is it?"

"He did not say." McGonagall said tautly, and Lily and James realised she hadn't asked, because she already knew.

"You wanted to see us, sir?"

"I did. Please sit." Dumbledore met their eyes briefly, before turning his face to the pile of letters on his desk. There was a long pause, and then he sighed.

"Lily, James, I have a job which I hope I can entrust to you."

"Of course, sir." James said softly, wanting both to impress Lily and be of some use.

"It is not a pleasant task. I wouldn't give it to you, as I do not think you should have to shoulder such burdens, but it seems likely that we will all have to soon. Choices must be made." He inhaled deeply, and looked up at them, freezing them with his grave visage. He reached up and rubbed the bridge of his nose, and the twinkle in his eye, though it was there, seemed to get sadder and colder. "There have been disappearances for some time. You may not even have noticed them. The Daily Prophet speculated at length about the cause. It has now become clear, though, why these people are vanishing. They are being murdered, mostly, for being muggleborns. Have you heard of Lord Voldemort? Yes? He is at the root of this. All of it."

"What do you want us to do?" Lily asked in a small voice."

"A good question. This morning, Lily, I and some of our pupils got letters, to inform us that certain non-magical relatives of these pupils had been murdered. What they are going through is terrible, and I ask you, not at all lightly, if you would help them. There is very little you will be able to say which will offer them great comfort, but I think being there with them, informing their friends and offering a shoulder on which to cry will help more than you could imagine. I am going to give you this book." He held out a small, red-bound book and James took it. "Keep it in your common room. Check to see who is in need, and offer what solace you can. Do you think you wish to do this? I can ask some teachers to undertake the responsibility if you'd prefer." They shook their heads.

"I think we'll manage." James said, with a half-smile that didn't come out as genuine as he had wished.

"I think you are more than equal to the task, however awful it is. Remember, talk to each other. Be honest and you will find that moving together you can withstand the difficulty that this task presents. I don't doubt that you can put aside your differences and get along. You are grounded enough to know that, however deep your dislike of one another runs, other people are enduring worse which you will help them through. This is all I needed to say to you. Good luck, and you may come and find me if you ever feel the need." They stood, and James waited as Lily left, before bursting out with-

"But I don't dislike her, sir!"

"I know." Dumbledore said, a warmer twinkle appearing in his eye for the first time since they had arrived. James turned to leave. "And James?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Look after her." They met each other's eyes squarely, and James followed Lily.