I got to the now familiar statue leading to his office. I thought quickly for a moment, trying to remember the password, and then bit my lip. "Bloody hell…what was it!" I hissed to myself, and then a voice came from behind me. "I believe the password would be 'sherbet lemon'." The voice drawled and I closed my eyes. Snape. Great. I turned my head and he was standing a few feet behind me, and I pursed my lips. "Thank you, Severus." I said in a hard voice and his dark eyes flashed dangerously. "You will be attending Hogwarts as a student here, Ms. Coltt. You will address me as Professor Snape." He said coldly, and my eyes darkened a bit. "Sure I will, Severus." I said, and then turned my head back to the gargoyle statue. "Sherbet lemon?" I said, making it a question. Surprisingly enough, the statue started rotating and going up, a staircase now visible.

For once, Severus Snape had actually helped me.

Apparently Snape could feel or sense my shock, and he sighed tiredly. "You obviously don't realize that as your professor, I'm required to help and attend to you." He said, and I turned my head to glare at him with dark eyes. "Considering you hate me almost as much as Potter, I'm surprised. And you can't deny it either, I sensed it in his thoughts, and right now in your own as I mention it. Now if you don't mind, which I honestly do not care if you do or not, then I'm going to go speak to Dumbledore like I was told to do. Goodbye for now Severus." I said, hurrying up the staircase. An irritated sound came from Severus Snape before I heard him stalk off, his shoes tapping annoyingly against the stone floors. I groaned and continued on until I came upon an old, wooden door and I couldn't really hear anything besides the sound of a beating heart inside, and easy breathing. 'That must be Dumbledore then,' I thought, and then sighed.

My hand rose to knock on the door and I had barely tapped it before the calm and always serene voice of Albus Dumbledore sounded from the other side of the door. "Come in, Lila." I was surprised and froze up, but then hesitantly took the knob of the door and turned it, pushing it open slowly. I felt my eyes lightening to a very light pale blue as I gulped, walking in and shutting the door behind me. "You have no reason to be afraid or apprehensive, Lila. Take a seat." Dumbledore said, giving me a worn smile as he gestured to a seat in front of his desk. I walked stiffly to the seat and sat, on the edge of my seat.

He frowned a bit at my posture, but then watched me for a moment before speaking. "The reason I told you to come to my office before the feast is because I need to speak to you about your Sorting and other pieces of information." He said, and I closed my eyes and shook my head. "I'm fine with the Sorting, but can we please skip the rest of the information?" I said coldly, and he shook his head slowly. "We need to discuss-" I cut him off. "We don't need to discuss anything involving that!" I snapped, my eyes going to a dark midnight blue as I glared at him. He put up his hand and I clenched my fists at my sides, making sure that there were no chances of me hurting him. I took a few deep breaths and he started speaking again. "We just to need to speak of a few guidelines, Lila. No need to be rash." He said softly, watching me carefully. "I already know the guidelines! You spoke of them to me when my wretched parents were around." I said coldly, and he sighed, leaning forward and looking me in the eye. "You need to calm down Lila." He said, and my eyes darkened even more so. "Just speak of the Sorting." I said each word slowly, menace in my voice. Dumbledore pursed his lips, and then sighed softly. "As you wish, for now." He said, and I started to relax a bit.

"Now what were you wanting to speak to me about with the Sorting?" I said, measuring my emotion before I said each word. He nodded a bit, and then leaned back in his chair normally. "I was curious as to how you want to be sorted. Here in my office, or in front of the whole school. If the whole school then you would be the last to be sorted. If in my office, then right now would be a good time considering the feast is in an hour." He said, watching me as I deliberated quickly for a moment. But, before deciding to say it, I spoke. "In front of the whole school." I blurted, and he raised an eyebrow. Then I thought of my words and nodded at him. "As you wish." He said, and we were silent for a few moments. Then he sighed, and opened his mouth. "I know, I know. We need to go over the rest of the information." I whispered. He nodded and frowned a bit at me. "Lila, all of the teachers here at Hogwarts are currently aware of both of the pieces of information. But we're more concerned about-" I held up a finger and interrupted him. "There is someone outside the door eavesdropping." I said, and turned my head to the door before I got up. My feet made no noise at all as I walked to the door. I grabbed the doorknob and opened it to see Harry standing there with his hand raised to knock, and he gulped. "Hello Harry." I said, and glanced back at Dumbledore. He raised an eyebrow and I just smirked. "Something that wasn't explained too well about one of the…pieces of information." I said, rolling my eyes.

Harry stuttered as he spoke. "H-how did you kn-know I-" I shushed him. "I have my ways, Harry." I said softly, giving a small, mischievous smile. "Lila." Dumbledore cautioned and I turned my head to him. "You don't have to worry, I met him earlier and things went fine. Gah." I scoffed and looked at Harry again, who had dropped his raised hand. "Was there something you needed?" I asked, and Dumbledore sighed, and I heard him get up. "Well…I was told to report to Dumbledore as well after I got settled in. It was quicker than I thought." He said, and he was somewhat lying. I raised an eyebrow and stepped back away from him and the door. Then I clued in on his thoughts. 'What were they talking about? And what did Lila mean by 'I have my ways'? This isn't making any sense…but maybe they were talking about her being in the Dark Arts with Voldemort…but again, why would she be involved with that? Voldemort wouldn't go after her, she's just normal and too innocent it seems…' He imagined Voldemort marking me with the Dark Mark and I gave a restrained cry at the image, and stumbled before falling to the floor. My Dark Mark was burning at that thought, but then the pain increased on its own.

He was calling. My jaw clenched at the thought.

"Are you okay, Lila?" Harry said, worried as he crouched by my side. I gulped, and looked at him before shaking my head. "I'm fine…just fine." I said, my voice breathless as my Dark Mark smoldered on. He grabbed my arm, exactly where my Dark Mark was, and he flinched away. He held his scar, hissing in pain. I decided to fill in. "Sorry, I keep burning people today." I lied, biting my lower lip. Then I quickly scrambled up. "Burning people? What?" He said, wincing as he looked at me. I looked back at Dumbledore, and he was giving me a hard look. Then he gave me a look of confirmation, and a sigh, and I nodded to him. "I'm not normal, let's just put it at that. Bye!" I said, walking quickly out of the office before taking out my wand and doing a silent spell. "Lila!" Dumbledore shouted after me, his voice echoing down the staircase after me, and I hurried even faster as my trunk appeared at my side and I grabbed the handle.

Hurrying down the staircase, when I got at the bottom I found the nearest exit and shrunk my trunk and shoved it in my robe pocket before letting my back go to the stone wall and I slid to the ground. Right now, this was the best place to stay. And also the best place to ignore Voldemort's call right now.

Harry

I walked up the steps to Dumbledore's office, which had surprisingly already been out and ready to be walked upon. Someone else was here, I guess. But, maybe I was wrong and the person had just left…? 'No, the stairs wouldn't be out unless someone was still up there besides Dumbledore.' I thought, and shook my head. Who would be up there with Dumbledore right now? Then I remembered something. "I need to go find Dumbledore, I was told to go and speak to him." Lila had told me that she needed to…but she never told me why and I'm pretty sure she knew why. 'Guess I'll find out,' I thought before stopping right outside the door. I could hear Dumbledore and…Lila. Bingo.

"We don't need to discuss anything involving that!" Lila said sharply, and my eyes widened at her tone. She was speaking to Dumbledore like that…Dumbledore. But why would she…? I frowned and didn't hear anything from the office for a few moments, and then Dumbledore spoke. "We just need to speak of a few guidelines, Lila. No need to be rash." He said, and he seemed to sound like he was trying to calm down a murderer who could kill him at any moment. Lila must be really ticked or something…she wouldn't hurt anyone. "I already know the guidelines! You spoke of them to me when my wretched parents were around." Her tone made me want to flinch, but I held my ground. But why does she hate her parents? I'd kill – not literally – to have parents. She should be grateful that she has parents…but then again, I don't know them. So, I might be wrong there…

"You need to calm down, Lila." Dumbledore said, and my eyebrows furrowed. It was tempting to put my ear against the door. I mean; I wanted to hear everything. I didn't know if there was the potential of Lila hurting him or Dumbledore had to get up for whatever reason. It was kind of confusing. "Just speak of the Sorting." I heard Lila say, sounding like she was concentrating on something. Maybe keeping control or something, but I don't see how that would be difficult. Dumbledore isn't a man that you want to go off on because he seems so…it's hard to describe. He just seems like one of the people that you just can't bare to go off on. It's a hard thing to imagine.

Once again, it was quiet in his office and then after a few seconds, Dumbledore spoke. "As you wish, for now." He said, and I barely heard him because his voice was so quiet. I leaned closer to the door and listened more intently. "Now what were you wanting to speak to me about with the Sorting?" Lila said, saying each word individually. It was quiet for the shortest second and them Dumbledore spoke again. "I was curious as to how you want to be sorted. Here in my office, or in front of the whole school. If the whole school then you would be the last to be sorted. If in my office, then right now would be a good time considering the feast is in an hour." He said, and I pursed my lips. Why was that so important? Maybe there was a good reason…like maybe something could go wrong for Lila if she didn't have a choice or something. She answered immediately. "In front of the whole school." She blurted, and there was a small silence. "As you wish." Dumbledore said, and they were silent for a few moments. Then Dumbledore sighed, and it sounded like Lila was trying to talk either before him or over him. "I know, I know. We need to go over the rest of the information." I had to actually put my ear against the door to hear what she said; her voice was quiet. I pulled my ear away and started raising my hand to knock, deciding that it had been long enough that I have delayed trying to get my talk with Dumbledore. "Lila, all of the teachers here at Hogwarts are currently aware of both of the pieces of information. But we're more concerned about-" Dumbledore started, but then Lila actually interrupted him.

"There is someone outside the door eavesdropping." She said, and I almost had my hand to the door to knock when she said that. I froze and she, at that moment, whipped the door open. She just stood there for a moment, and I gulped. Busted.

Lila seemed like she was trying not to smile. "Hello Harry." She said, and looked back at Dumbledore – who raised an eyebrow. She smirked and the look of it kind of reminded me of the arrogance of Malfoy and his father when they smirked: sly, overconfident, and just flat out annoying. "Something that wasn't explained too well about one of the…pieces of information." She said, and rolled her eyes. Then she looked back to me, and Dumbledore shook his head. I was too shocked – too apprehensive – to talk right. "H-how did you kn-know I-"

She shushed me lightly and I went quiet as I slowly dropped my hand (finally) from the knocking position. "I have my ways, Harry." She said softly, giving me a little impish smile. "Lila." Dumbledore said, and he was cautious as he spoke. She looked at him when he spoke. "You don't have to worry, I met him earlier and things went fine. Gah." She scoffed and looked at me again. "Was there something you needed?" Lila asked, and there seemed to be a different aura about her now. Earlier, she had been kind and light and sweet. Now, there seemed to be a bit of mischief and mystery about her. She would get along with Fred and George pretty well, regardless if she was in this manner or not. Dumbledore sighed and my eyes went to him for the shortest second, and then back on Lila. Think, think, think…got it. "Well…I was told to report to Dumbledore as well after I got settled in. It was quicker than I thought." I half-lied. I had been told to go to Dumbledore…after I had everything in order at my dorm with Ron. Which it wasn't anything close to, of course. I'd rather see Dumbledore then spend my time unpacking.

She took a step away from me, and then seemed to be concentrating on something as she studied me with cautious eyes. 'What were they talking about? And what did Lila mean by 'I have my ways'? This isn't making any sense…but maybe they were talking about her being in the Dark Arts with Voldemort…but again, why would she be involved with that? Voldemort wouldn't go after her, she's just normal and too innocent it seems…' I thought, but I hid my confusion on my face as I looked at her. I tried to picture her getting Marked, and managed. But it didn't look right. Lila wouldn't allow that to happen to her…I think.

At the thought of the image of her getting Marked, she cried out in what sounded like pain and denial and she ended up taking a few steps unsteadily before she fell to the floor. I saw her jaw lock, and there was a bit of worry in me. "Are you okay, Lila?" I asked, concerned as I crouched by her side. She gulped, and looked at me before shaking her head. "I'm fine…just fine." She said, my voice sounding slightly breathless. I grabbed her forearm and then flinched away. I held his scar, hissing in pain. What the…?

I didn't know where the searing pain had come from, all I had done was touch her arm. Unless –

"Sorry, I keep burning people today." She said, biting her lip. Out of nowhere, she quickly scrambled up. "Burning people? What?" I asked, confused. I winced again as my scar throbbed agonizingly. She looked back at Dumbledore, and he was giving her a hard look. That was something I'd barely ever seen. There seemed to be something like he was granting her something with his look though as it softened, and Dumbledore sighed. From the corner of my eye, I saw Lila nod. "I'm not normal, let's just put it at that. Bye!" She said in a high voice, and walked quickly out of his office. "Lila!" Dumbledore shouted after her, but she didn't come back. He sighed, and took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Then he set them on his desk and sighed heavily. "What was she-" He put up a hand and I went quiet. "Don't question something that doesn't involve you, Harry." He said, letting his hands uncover his eyes as he looked at me. Slowly, I nodded.

But no matter what Dumbledore said, that didn't mean that I wasn't going to try to find out what Lila meant by 'not normal'.