Chapter 4

In Lily's mind there were 3 different ways to react after the almost kiss, 1 go along with it, maybe kiss him again, 2 tell him she doesn't feel that way and move on trying to be friends or, 3 hate him completely.

She liked option 3 the best.

Lily sighed, that was one of the biggest mistakes she'd made all year. Kiss him? James Potter? The cocky idiot who routinely made a fool out of her closest friend? Severus was her first tie to the wizarding world, he brought her into it, answered all of her questions about who she was. He had always been there for her. He was the one she could lean on no matter what. James Potter was far to ignorant to see that/

And speaking of being there for her…

Where was he? Lily's eyes scanned the long Slytherin table for the familiar black hair. She was just beginning to wonder if he hadn't come to breakfast when she saw him at the far end of the table. He looked sickly, his hair more greasy than usual. He had shadows around his eyes and his clothes were uneven around his shoulders. He looked distracted and uncertain.

Suddenly his head snapped up, but he smiled when he saw her. Severus pulled out his wand and made quick movements on the table. Lily was confused until she looked down in front of her and saw green letters sketched out in green light.

Of course, it was one of the communication spells they had been learning in Charms. The words hovered about an inch above the table, and Lily knew that only she could read them:

You ok? Want to hang out later? After OWLS prep we have the afternoon off.

Lily smiled, of course, hanging out with Severus would be the perfect thing for her right now. Still smiling, she looked up and nodded. He smiled back at her, bigger this time, he leaned forward and made more etches at the table.

Cool, how about 3 by that tree by the lake? You know the one?

She did. 3 o'clock would be perfect, with that she would have enough time to finish whatever homework she had left before meeting him.

Sounds perfect, Can't wait. Is everything all right? You look sick. I'm worried about you.

She swirled her wand around and the words disappeared. She looked up to watch Severus face as he read the message. He smiled, reading the first half of the message, but his smile slowly faded as he finished. He looked up his lips pressed into a shallow line. Finally, he sighed and began to write a message.

A great rustle of wings caused them both to look up. Mail time was here. Hundreds of owls were flying this way and that to their masters. A Large tawny owl came up to Lily with a letter from her parents and a copy of todays' Daily Prophet in her beck.

"Hey Starla, what do you have for me?"

She took the mail out of her beck and placed them on the table. Starla pecked into her plate and started nibbling on a piece of toast.

"Mind if I?..." Gemma trailed off suggestively, her hand next to the paper

"Of course not, go ahead."

Gemma took the paper and scanned the headings with a slightly bored expression. Lily turned her letter over and opened it; a folded piece of paper falling out. She picked it up and read it without much energy. Nothing was really new at home, grandma was coming for a visit, petunia still hated her, Mom was wondering if she was coming for Christmas, petunia still hated her, Dad had planted a good deal for the company and petunia still hated her.

Nothing new at all.

"Has anything big happen at home?" Gemma asked without looking up, Still spooning oatmeal into her mouth.

"No, not really, it's rather boring. " She put the letter back into the ripped envelope and stuck it into her bag.

"One things that not boring, did you hear that Alice went out with Frank Longbottom last night?"

"OMG you've got to be kidding" Lily all but dropped her spoon as she swerved around to look at her. Gemma nodded with her lips pursed.

"That's great! I mean, she's had a crush on him since forever" Lily said smiling. Alice was a year younger than them, but they had clicked together instantly. Although they weren't in any classes together, they still had long talks by the fire and whispered talks of cute guys.

"Well how did it go?" Lily asked impatiently, scooting closer to Gemma on the bench

"It must have gone well because she's practically glowing!" They shrieked excitedly and then laughed at her good fortune.

"So are you next?" Lily asked wiggling her eye brows at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh please! Your crush on Ty? Are you finally going to do something about it?"

Gemmas' face reddened and she stared hard at her plate.

"That was along time ago"

"Yeah but it definitely still exist!"

"Shut up"

"Admit it!"

"SHHHHHH"

Lily brought her voice down and she out a hand on her friends closed shoulders.

"Don't talk about it! He's a whole year older and frankly doesn't know I exsit.

"That is not true! He totally likes you!"

"What? No he doesn't. How do you know?"

Lily had her attention now. She glanced over Gemmas' shoulder before looking into her eyes.

"Because he stares at you a lot, like he is right now."

Gemmas head whipped round and her eyes met the green ones of Ty Michaels. He was a 6th year with bleach blonde hair, mossy green eyes and a definite 6 pack. His cheeks darkened when They caught him staring at Gemma, and he looked down at his full plate with his eyes shut in embarrassment. Gemma smiled, a look of disbelief in her eyes.

"I told you so."

Right at that moment, Albus Dumbledore, the new headmaster called their attention. His gray beard went down to his lower chest and his eyes had a lively twinkle behind his glistening half moon glasses.

"I have some very important and grave news to share."

A few of the last people looked up at him. He waved his wand and the rest of breakfast disappeared.

"When this school was first created, several strong and powerful spells were put into place by its founders. Having a large amount of young witches and wizards in one spot attracts a large amount of vial creatures. The spells that were placed created a shield around this school so that these monsters could not enter. These spells have weakened."

A rush of whisphers waved across the room, tones of shock, surprise and disbelieve mingled with the fresh fear in the air.

"Weakened? What does he mean?" Gemma whispered. Lily shook her head

"These spells must stay in force; we cannot risk losing them. Because of this, the Ministry and the School Board have decided to place 3 dozen armed agents to protect us from monsters that get in, prevent others from getting in and then to reinstate the protection spells are well as the can. These Officers will be staying in the lower west wing, they will be treated with respect, and if they need anything from any of you, you will help. Understood?"

Students nodded, still slightly confused. Teachers look sad but like they had already knew.

The agents from the ministry arrived that very morning, 36 fully grown witches and wizards dressed in long robes. They started their work right away, and Lily knew that this year was going to be different from anything else she had ever experienced.

Yes! It's over! Sorry, I just got really bored writing that chapter, even more bored than you did reading it, it took me DAYS to write it. The next chapter will be better though. I('d like to dedicate this chapter to clueless c, sorry this chapter was so slow! Happy birthday!

Please review

Peace

LIZIES