A/N: Well I said I'd update again and I am. So, here's the next chapter which should be a little more exciting for everyone. You'll see why hehe. R&R please, I love to hear your comments.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling, not me.

A Marauder's Tale

EilayAdnayVolieay

Chapter Fifteen: The Prophecy

The others stared back at James, mouths wide open. Break... into Dumbledore's office? It was unheard of, it was insane! The Headmaster trusted them, he was kind to them, and he had let them search his office! What else could there be to find, that they hadn't already had a chance to look at?

But the new discovery made them wonder — Dumbledore was preserving his memories. Though they had no doubt that it was important regardless of the prophecy, it was suspicious. Sirius knew what he had seen — Dumbledore, shocked that Sirius might have noticed. Almost... worried. And what was there to be worried about?

"We can't just break into the Headmaster's office, James," Remus argued. "I mean, think about what you're saying! We can't betray his trust like that." James didn't say anything, and he didn't look at any of the people that were staring at him. They didn't understand what this suddenly meant — the harsh, cruel reality of it all. The knowledge that maybe they could put a stop to it.

"And think about it, mate," Sirius butted in, "What reason would he have for keeping the information about the prophecy from us for? And we don't even know what the prophecy is about! We're all concerned about Lily," He added, "And I know that's what's... triggered this. But believe me, the Dark Lord, he... this prophecy might have absolutely nothing to do with him." Sirius told him finally. James looked up and the expression on his face was unreadable — he didn't seem angry or upset, yet there was something there.

"I know that. Okay!? I know it might have nothing to do with him, but what if it did? What if we had the power to... to stop all of this!? And even if we don't, this is big. Huge. And I know we all trust Dumbledore — but he seems to know so much about this prophecy, why is it that he knows that much, knows it's about us — without knowing what it says? Do you honestly believe that? In order to have any idea what it's about, or who it involves, someone knows what it says. And if it's not Dumbledore, we're going to find out who. And even if he doesn't know the prophecy, I'm sure he knows of someone who does. We have searched this school, completely! We have found nothing."

"James, come on, we can't talk to you when you're like —" Megan started, but James turned and glared at her.

"Then don't! I'm not making any of you come with me."

"Hey, don't take your anger out on her." Sirius told James, moving in front of his view. "Whatever's got you so... so bloody pissed off, get over it. We're all in this. Together. We make the decisions James — together." James was a little taken aback at this new attitude Sirius had. I guess maybe I've been... a prat, James thought to himself.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I agree with Sirius. James... I hate to do this, I know that — I mean Lily needs time alone. But I think we need her with us — if you really want to confront Dumbledore, we should give her the chance to come with us. If she ultimately decides she wants to stay in the Common Room, then we'll go without her. But this is important." Remus told him. James didn't seem to like the idea, but finally nodded, giving in.

"Okay." He said finally. "Let's go talk to Lily first."

—

Lily tossed and turned in her sleep as she tried to block the dreams that kept coming to her. Though she had no idea exactly when it had happened, or where it had happened, she had one small grain of truth — her parents were dead. They had been murdered. And no matter how hard she tried to sleep, she felt the same loss — the same empty void within herself. She hadn't gotten to say goodbye to them — they were gone, and she'd never see them again.

Lily sat up in her bed, breathing heavy as she awoke from another bad dream. She heard the sound of whispering outside the girls dorm and frowned. She stood up and walked over to the door.

"Ow! Ali that was my foot," Lily smiled slightly as she heard Megan's voice on the other side of the door. She opened it and they both jumped from outside of the girls dorm, startled.

"Lily!" Megan breathed, and walked over to hug her. "I'm — we're — all of us..." Megan just shook her head sadly and stopped. It didn't matter if they were sorry — and Lily knew.

"I know," Lily replied sadly.

"Lily, we needed to talk to you. James — he's going strange, and he wants to confront Dumbledore about the prophecy." Megan told her, pushing past her gently into the dormitory. Lily stared back at her blankly.

"...confront Dumbledore? But why? What does Dumbledore...?" Lily trailed off.

"James... he has this... he thinks — well, he thinks Dumbledore knows what the prophecy says. James says there's not enough time to keep looking around the school blindly, says that... he's going to get Dumbledore to tell us everything. No matter what the consequences. Oh, I don't think he's himself!" Ali cried out. "It's kind of scary actually, I've never seen him so... determined and frightening. We figured out that Dumbledore is preserving his memories — that's what Sirius saw, that night when Dumbledore told us about the prophecy!" Ali added.

"Do... do you guys think that Dumbledore's hiding something from us?" Lily asked softly, returning to her bed and sitting on the edge of it. The thought that Dumbledore could be keeping anything from them, it was just... something she didn't want to think about. Something she shouldn't have to think about. It wasn't right, it was... Dumbledore... Lily shook her head. She was getting a headache from all of this.

"I don't know, Lily." Megan replied truthfully. "I mean, I realize James is all fired up because he's concerned about you, and because he has this newfound hatred for You-Know-Who, but... some of what he says makes sense. How is it that anyone could possibly be sure that the prophecy involved us, when... well nobody supposedly knows what it says. That's why we had to find it, right? But if nobody has read it then they couldn't possibly know it was about us. Unless..."

"Unless Dumbledore really does know more than what he's telling us." Lily finished for her. "So why are you telling me all of this? Do we have some kind of plan, some sort of...?"

"James wants to confront Dumbledore now — not later, or after Christmas holidays, but right now. We all agree that you should have the right to come with us — we can't help that Peter's not here, since he's gone home for the holidays, but... well, you are here. And I know... I know you're upset right now. So if you don't want to come with us, we'll understand. But —"

"I want to go," Lily replied softly, so softly that her two friends she could tell were not even sure they had heard right. "I have to go," Lily added, more loudly. "I'm as much a part of this as you guys are. And... as for my... emotional state... I'll deal with it. Come on," Lily said finally, getting up. "Let's get this over with. This confrontation that James wants us to do. Do we have any idea how we're going to go at this? Please tell me James isn't intending to just barge in there and start shouting at him?" Lily begged. Ali and Megan exchanged a look, and Lily immediately knew that neither of them could promise that. She was sure that they didn't even know.

Lily jumped up and rushed down the stairs, and saw the guys sitting in front of the fireplace, talking quietly. At the sight of Lily, they instantly fell silent. She felt their gazes on her and she knew immediately what they were thinking — how would she react, firstly, to argue with the Headmaster of the school? They could get in a lot of trouble. But more than anything, Lily knew they were thinking of her parents. Of how she must feel. Wondering blindly, what on earth they could say to her to make it better.

Well, I have a newsflash for them, Lily thought to herself, somewhat bitterly. There's nothing they can say to make it better.

"James, can I talk to you? Alone, please?" Lily added, seeing him not get up. He nodded, and walked out of the Common Room. The Fat Lady swung open her portrait and closed behind them.

"What is it, Lily?" James asked, his expression softening for the first time since he had gotten the idea of confronting Dumbledore. Lily didn't look at him for awhile.

"I know... I know you want to do this. But what exactly do you plan on doing? Just... running in there making demands?" Lily asked him. James opened his mouth to object, but quickly shut it. Lily had a feeling that was exactly what he had intended on doing. She shook her head sadly. "James, we need to be really careful with this. Dumbledore, he's like... our informer. And even if he's keeping information from us, we... we need to be careful. What if we can't find out what we need and he's our only hope?" Lily added.

"Like now?" James asked her, and Lily didn't say anything.

"What's... gotten into you?" Lily asked him quietly. James went to glare at her and then quickly seemed to catch himself. What was he doing? What was his... problem? I don't know what's gotten into me, Lily... James thought. I just... I'm worried. Worried that... we're not the right ones for this. Worried that whatever it is, we can't handle. James shook his head and looked up at Lily who was staring back at him, seeming very concerned. He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

"I'm sorry," He whispered in her ear. "I guess I'm just worried." He had wanted to kiss her mouth, wanted to wrap his arms around her, but he held himself back. She was mourning. And he had just been acting a little strangely. She probably would prefer if he didn't suddenly try to make out with her or anything like that. By the way Lily looked at him, he knew he had done the right thing.

"Let's... go get the others, and go see Dumbledore. Tell him... tell him we need to know everything he knows, and how he knows the prophecy involves us." Lily said after awhile. James grabbed her hand gently and guided her back into the Common Room.

The others looked up as they entered, and Sirius winked at James. James, however, ignored this.

"Let's go guys."

—

When they entered Dumbledore's office, he was nowhere to be seen. They looked at each other, somewhat worried. Though they had discussed the possibility of actually breaking in, none of them had expected it to be this time. They had wanted to talk to Dumbledore, try to get him to tell them more — they were positive that he had to have more knowledge of this than he was letting on.

"What do we do now?" Ali asked, looking around. She seemed worried — James thought it must have been because she was uncomfortable at the thought of snooping around the Headmaster's office without his permission. James thought for a moment... though this seemed like a perfect opportunity to search the Headmaster's office, he could see no reason why they should without talking to the Headmaster first. Perhaps, once he had realized they knew that he was holding something back, he would tell them. And he deserved that chance before they went through his things.

"We wait," James said suddenly, and both Ali and Lily seemed relieved at this. Remus, however, looked completely baffled.

"But you said you wanted to investigate his office... why change your mind?" Remus asked.

"I said if he didn't tell us what we needed to know, we'd investigate his office. He hasn't been given a chance to tell us — or at least, since we determined he knew more than he was letting on." James informed him. Sirius sat on a little couch off to the side of Dumbledore's office and stretched out.

"You know," He replied, stifling a yawn behind his hand. "I don't get why you think sneaking in his office later would help us come up with anything anyway. He already let us search here, you know." Sirius saw Megan roll her eyes as he leaned back in the couch and he smirked at her.

"Because," James said, a little impatiently, "We asked him then — in advance. Meaning he would have had the time to take anything important or anything he didn't want us to find, out of here. Anyway, let's stop talking about it in case he comes back. I don't want him overhearing us." James added. He saw Lily wander over towards Dumbledore's phoenix, and he walked over to her.

Megan joined Sirius on the couch and looked at him. He noticed this but ignored it. Finally when it became somewhat unbearable, he turned his gaze and met hers.

"What?" He asked tiredly. Megan shook her head.

"N-nothing..." She muttered, looking away. Sirius cocked an eyebrow up at this. She seemed as if she was almost embarrassed to have been caught looking at him, or called on it. But he figured that must have been his imagination — after all, there was no logical reason she would be embarrassed. Well, unless she had joined the majority of the female population and suddenly liked him. But that seemed very unlikely, even to Sirius. She hates me, Sirius thought, and he was surprised at the strange feeling he got from that.

"So, uh..." Sirius trailed off as she looked back at him surprised. He scratched the back of his head. "Erm... Christmas... looking forward to it?" Sirius asked. Megan stared back at him blankly.

"Um, yeah, I... I guess..." She replied confused. "I'll... miss being at home for the holidays," She added, her words seeming to flow more freely now. "How about you?" She asked.

"Looking forward to Christmas? Definitely. Miss being home? Far from it..." Sirius said, trailing off.

"What? Why not?" She asked him, startled. He shrugged.

"Technically I haven't been at home for the holidays — well, this would be the second year. Last year I ran away from home — I've been staying with the Potters ever since." Sirius confided. Megan was shocked. Who would have thought that the popular trouble maker at Hogwarts would have reason to run away from home and not go back?

"If... you don't mind my asking... why did you run away?" Megan asked him softly.

"Because my parents... my family is pureblood, right, and my parents are very proud of that. Proud of our bloodline. But it... it goes beyond that. It's not just pride, it's like... well, they're all for You-Know-Who and his goals of purifying the Wizarding World and ridding it of Muggles and Muggle-borns alike." Sirius said bitterly, seeming disgusted at this. "My brother, he... he's obsessive. Regulus, you know — in Slytherin? Reckon he wants to be a Death Eater, the way he goes on... anyway, I was the odd one in the family. The pureblood from a family always in Slytherin, put into Gryffindor? With friends she hated? I got tired of listening to them one day and just left. James' parents were really nice and let me stay with them, and I have, ever since."

Megan sat there quietly, not saying a word. The knowledge that Sirius' life wasn't as perfect as she had always believed it to be was a bit of a shock for her. Even more hard to hear the way he talked about his parents — and the way his parents were. She couldn't imagine what it would be like for her if she had learned that her parents supported someone so set on killing innocent people — she didn't want to.

"I'm... really sorry to hear that," Megan replied finally, and Sirius nodded, not saying anything. "I... and... thank-you for trusting me with that," She added. "I never expected you to have such a... well..." She didn't say anything. She noticed that everyone else seemed to be off on their own in pairs — James and Lily, Ali with Remus sitting in front of the Headmaster's desk. None of them were paying any attention to what anyone else was doing, so Megan turned back to Sirius. He looked somewhat depressed suddenly after talking about his family. Megan slid over on the couch so she was right next to him, and he looked at her and opened his mouth to say something, and that was when she leaned in and kissed him.

Sirius was surprised but he by no means pushed her away, and when she pulled back he looked almost disappointed. She was suddenly refusing to meet his gaze, and Sirius couldn't help but be amused at that.

"I — if you tell — just don't..." Megan stopped when she saw how amused Sirius was suddenly looking. She glared at him. "Ohh, just keep quiet about that." She told him. Sirius grinned.

"Whatever you say..." He told her, still grinning.

"And what do I owe the pleasure of your presence in my office at this time?" A voice came, and all of the teenagers jumped, startled. Dumbledore walked up the three little steps in his office, and moved behind his desk before taking a seat. They all exchanged worried glances, before James sat in a seat in front of Dumbledore's desk

"Professor..." James began, as the others took a seat in the chairs Dumbledore brought over with a flick of his wand, "It's about the prophecy. I..." He took a deep breath, trying not to let any anger come through as he attempted to say this properly. "We think you might be trying to — protect us — even still. By not... telling us everything." James looked at the others, and saw them nod encouragingly or smile faintly.

"I know... that... you admitted to making a mistake in not telling us sooner. I know that — we all do. But Professor Dumbledore... before you object, you have to look at this from our point of view. You say that you, nor anyone else, knows anything of what this prophecy says — if that's the case, how do you know it involves us? How, without a single doubt, can you be so positive? Please, if there's anything you aren't telling us, we deserve to know. It's not... it's not just about fulfilling this prophecy anymore. It's not just something we feel as if we have to do because we're told we have to. We have to do this because we want to — and we want to help."

Dumbledore sat there in his seat, not speaking, never taking his eyes off of them. He gazed at each of them in turn through his half-moon spectacles, before nodding.

"You are, I am afraid, very correct. Against my better judgement, I have kept several important details from you. The fact that... though we have no idea where the actual prophecy is hidden, we have a very important clue — a memory. Or at least, a memory of a story passed down... generations in fact from the time it was told." Dumbledore stood up and opened a cabinet behind his desk. In it stood what appeared to be a large bowl filled with liquid, and Dumbledore pulled a vial out of his robe pocket. He poured it into the bowl before turning to them.

"This is a pensieve. It shows you the memories, the thoughts, of the person whose memories are placed inside of this bowl. A descendant of Godric Gryffindor knew of the prophecy — but the problem was the promise that was made all those years ago. Godric Gryffindor would tell the next in line, the next descendant, all they would need to know about finding the prophecy — it was up to that descendant to use those clues to actually find it. They would learn of it, they would see if the people the prophecy was about had... arrived... yet." Dumbledore told them.

"But sir, what does the prophecy say?" Remus asked him.

"'The chosen seven are the only ones who can defeat the one who endangers them the most. Two lost forever, one betraying those who trust — the only light on the path to the darkest times that follow is the birth of a child whose life depends on love's sacrifice.'" Dumbledore recited. "In other words, to fulfill the prophecy, two of you must die — one of you must betray the rest — and a child must be born. It's life must be spared. This is very important!" Dumbledore added, raising his voice. "This is the prophecy — not very informative, I'm sure you will notice." Dumbledore walked towards the door of his office, and turned around to face them once again.

"Go into the Pensieve... into my memory. You will learn all there is to learn about this prophecy — you know now what it says. Enter my memory, and I hope that when you leave it, you will be better informed than you were before. More aware of the true dangers — of the reason why two of you must die. Of the reason why two others must sacrifice themselves for a child — why two must live on, and why one of you must betray the rest. There is so much more to this than I believe even I will understand, though I have my guesses, which are normally rather correct. Please — go now. I will be back at my office in exactly two hours. By then, you will know all that I know. You will see why I have protected you. You will know, if not who, then what, you are up against. This is only the beginning of a very long battle. You must succeed. If you don't..." Dumbledore said nothing else, but smiled gravely. "Good luck."

A/N: Well there you have it — the prophecy. Now, it's not very informative — to some extent. Because the whole point of this story is 'fulfilling' this prophecy, which seems so much like just living basically and by chance, these things happening. But what it really signifies (which will be explained in much better detail in the next few chapters) is the dangers they're going to face because though they're just learning of this prophecy, those who are a danger to them are not — they know it. They know who it involves. They know ultimately what it means, to a brief extent. Which puts our characters into more danger than they realize. This will be portrayed a lot within the next few chapters. Next chapter — 'Dumbledore's Memory'. R&R.