A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed/favorited and thanks to my friend Toshav, who bugs me everyday in Spanish if I've finished writing yet and who pushed me to finish typing this up :)
Disclaimer: I own a Ravenclaw crest shirt, but not Harry Potter :(
It was a week into school and everyone had settled into their routine. Lily would wake up, attempt to wake up James, get dressed, wake up James once more, do her hair and face, and pour water on James' head before he finally got up. The Gryffindor girls had trouble adjusting to not having Lily there at first, as she was the sole reason they got to breakfast on time, until Remus took pity on them and gave the girls an alarm clock that couldn't break no matter how much damage you did to it, as Sirius had proved after Remus got him one Christmas of first year. The Gryffindor boys' dorm didn't change much, except that it was reasonably quieter. Lily and James settled into the Heads' dorm nicely and most nights you could find the seventh year Gryffindors lounging in front of the fire in the Heads' common room, annoying and amusing each other to wits end.
So that's why it was perfectly normal when Dumbledore walked up to the seventh year Gryffindors to see that a bowl of marmalade had been dumped on Sirus' head and Marlene was trying to calm him down while attempting to clear his hair.
"Really, Sirius, it's just marmalade, and I can get it out-" she was saying. Dumbledore chuckled lightly.
"You know, Ms. McKinnon, I believe a simple cleaning spell would work," he said, smiling. She blushed and pulled out her wand. The marmalade vanished and Sirius flicked a bit of toast at Peter.
"Wonderful. Now, Mr. Potter, Miss Evans, I was wondering if you could meet me in my office about ten minutes before your first class; I have something of importance to discuss with you," James and Lily nodded quickly and Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Excellent. See you then."
Alice waited until the professor was gone before asking, "What do you think he wants?"
Lily shrugged and looked at James. "Probably something Head related. That stuff is pretty important."
Sirius scoffed. "How? You get a fancy dorm, and you can take points away and give detention. Not that special."
Lily's eyes narrowed. "Our job is to ensure the safety of the students and be an example. If James and I weren't on a level of importance, who else would the younger students look up to? You?"
"And what's so wrong with having me as a role model?" he asked, slightly offended. "I'm much better looking than that pansy!"
"Oi!" James said. "I look way better than you!"
"Well, we all know you guys are wrong, because I'm the sexiest out of all of you," Remus said with an air of finality.
"Ha!" James and Sirius said in unison. "What do you girls think?"
Lily, Alice, Marlene, and Mary looked at each other, having a silent conversation. They turned and looked the boys up and down, then looked back at each other.
"Frank," they chorused.
The Marauders' jaws dropped and Alice kissed Frank's cheeck, who was smiling smugly.
Sirius glared at them all then grabbed Marlene's hand and pulled her out of the Great Hall.
"Where is he taking her?" Lily asked. James rolled his eyes.
"He's probably taking her to a broom closet to show that he's 'the sexiest of us all.'"
"I shudder to think what they're doing in there," said Mary, wrinkling her nose.
Lily laughed and looked at her watch. "Oh, we'd better go, James, it's fifteen 'till."
James stuffed the rest of his waffle in his mouth and grabbed his bag.
"See you in Charms!" Remus called as Lily and James left the Hall.
"Do you really think it's Head stuff?" James asked her as they climbed the stairs.
"I don't know. We were the only ones he asked; what else could it be?"
They turned into the corridor that led to Dumbledore's office and he looked sideways at her. "Maybe we're being chosen for a super secret mission or something."
Lily rolled her eyes but a smile played at her lips. "Yes, I'm sure that's it. Sugar quills," she said to the stone gargoyle and it jumped aside.
"But it could be," James persisted. "We are the best witch and wizard in the school."
"Exactly. We're still in school. No matter how talented we are, we're still in school. Dumbledore wouldn't let us go anywhere."
James knocked on Dumbledore's office door. "Five galleons I'm right," James challenged.
Dumbledore's "Come in," floated through the door and Lily shook James' hand. "You're on."
"Good morning, sir," Lily said as she walked up to his desk.
"Good morning, Miss Evans, Mr. Potter. Have a seat," He gestured to the two chairs in front of him and they sat.
"Now, due to the increase in Death Eater attacks, I am worried that they will soon try and enter the school," Dumbledore stated.
James' brow furrowed. "Why would the Death Eaters want to get into Hogwarts?"
"Power, recruitment, there are many reasons, each more frightening than the next," Dumbledore said plainly.
"What do you need us to do?" Lily asked quietly.
"Simply patrol outside the castle as well as inside once a week, and check the secret passages, too, to see if they have signs of being used recently. I think that should suffice," He looked at them with his peircing blue eyes and the Head Boy and Girl nodded their heads. "Good. Now, you two should be getting to class."
"Yes, sir," they murmured.
Lily and James walked back down the stairs and past the gargoyle, making their way to Charms.
"Wow... Death Eaters in Hogwarts," James finally said.
"There kind of already are Death Eaters here, with the Slytherins," Lily pointed out.
"True. Do you want to patrol outside tonight?"
"Sure, we can do it every Friday," said Lily as they reached the Charms classroom door.
QK
That night, James and Lily left the common room and headed to the front doors.
Stepping out of the castle, a light breeze washed over them from across the lake. It was already dark out, and James lit his wand as they walked towards Hagrid's cabin.
"So," James said suddenly. "Merlin's beard. What's so special about it? Just because it was on Merlin's face doesn't mean it's so great. If it was on anybody else's face, it would just be a beard."
"I don't think Merlin even had a beard," Lily mused. "In all the books I've read about him, they never say he had a beard."
James frowned. "Well, now wizards seem kind of silly."
Lily laughed. They walked in silence for a bit more and passed one of the small cliffs on the Hogwarts landscape. There was a small whimpering and Lily stopped.
"Was that you?" she asked James. He stopped too and looked at her.
"What?" The sound came again and Lily looked around.
"There it was again!" Lily caught the movement of a dark shape out of the corner of her eye and she pulled her wand out. It was gone.
James looked towards the small cliff and saw a small figure sitting at the bottom of it.
"Lils," he whispered as he moved towards it with his wand out. They approached it carefully and the light from their wands fell upon a small child's tear streaked face.
"Hey, sweetie," James said in a soothing voice as he lowered his wand and crouched down next to her. "What are you doing out here?"
She whimpered again and buried her head in her arms. Lily sat down next to her and put her hand on her small back.
"It's okay, sweetie," Lily said in a calming voice. "Can you tell us your name?"
The little girl's ginger hair swished as she shook her head.
"Well, okay. I'm Lily and this is James. We're Head Boy and Girl and we help keep people safe at the school," Lily exchanged a worried glance with James over the top of the child's head.
The girl finally looked up at Lily with teary hazel eyes. "I think my name's Emily," she whispered.
"Alright, Emily," James said. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
Emily shook her head. "No... I can't remember much, though."
He stroked Emily's hair. "That's okay, sweetie. Do you want to come up to the castle for some hot chocolate? Lily and I need to talk to our headmaster."
She looked up at him: their hazel eyes connected so Emily could see the trust and safety in his face. Slowly she nodded and he helped her off the ground. Once standing, they could see she was about four and wearing dirty muggle clothing.
"Do you think you can walk up there?" James asked Emily concernedly, for she looked weak, and it was a bit of a walk.
"I don't know... my legs hurt," The three looked down at Emily's legs and lily and James saw there were cuts and bruises on them.
"That's okay, I can carry you," James offered. She held her arms up for him and he scooped her up easily.
"Do you like hot chocolate, Emily?" Lily asked as they walked towards the castle.
"Yeah, but I like butterbeer better," Emily said in a small voice. "Do you guys have house elves?"
Lily breathed an inaudible sigh of relief; she was worried Emily was a muggle.
"Yeah, we do," James answered. "There's this one, Violet, and she's my favorite."
"Does she give you whatever you want?" Emily asked.
"Yup, whatever my friends and I ask for."
"Can we get some butterbeer before we see the headmaster?"
"Sure," James and Lily responded. They entered the castle and headed towards the kitchens while Emily looked around in wonder.
James tickled the pear and Emily peered into the kitchens curiously. House elves were bustling around, preparing food and gathering cleaning bounded up to them.
"Good evening, master and misses!"
"Hey, Violet," James said. "How are you today?"
"Violet is doing very well, sir. How is you?"
"I'm good, Violet, thanks. Can you get Emily here a butterbeer and maybe a few of those brownies from dinner?"
"Yes, Master James!" Violet scurried away from them and Lily looked at James disprovingly.
"She shouldn't be eating sweets, she needs real food."
Emily looked at Lily. "But I like brownies."
James laughed. "Yeah, Lily, she likes brownies."
Lily rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless and Violet came back with a bottle of butterbeer and a few brownies wrapped in a napkin.
"There you are, master and misses!"
"Thank you, Violet," Lily said.
They left the kitchens and went up the stairs to Dumbledore's office.
"Is the headmaster nice?" Emily asked, taking abite of brownie.
"Yeah, he is," James answered. "Even when you mess up, he always tries to find the good in it."
"Sugar quills," Lily said to the gargoyle. It jumped aside and Lily, James, and Emily walked up the spiraled staircase. The Heads looked at each other worriedly; they weren't sure how Dumbledore would handle the situation. Should they have brought Emily into the castle? She certainly didn't seem like a threat, or a ploy of Voldemort's, but in these time, even the simplest little things could be evil.
James knocked on Dumbledore's door and they waited with bated breaths.
"Come in!" said Dumbledore. Lily walked in.
"Hello, Professor. Um, James and I came across something on patrol."
"Yes? What is it?"
James stepped into the room with Emily.
Dumbledore's eyes widened and he walked around the desk towards them.
"Oh, my. And how did you find her?" Emily wrapped her arms around James' neck, uncomfortable under Dumbledore's gaze. James patted her back and spoke.
"Lily and I were walking towards the Forbidden Forest and we heard Emily crying. We looked around and saw her at the bottom of one of the small cliffs, so it was hard to see her. We asked her why she was there, and how she got here, but she doesn't seem to remember. She told us her name, though, Emily."
Dumbledore nodded, still staring at Emily and thinking. "Put her down, James."
He gently set her down and Emily moved to stand between James and Lily. Dumbledore knelt down so he was eye level with her. Emily grasped Lily's hand hard.
"Do you remember how you got here?"
She shook her head. "I remember a man coming to my house, and then I was here."
"What did the man look like?"
"I don't know," she whispered.
"Was anyone with you at the house?"
"I can't remember."
"Can you remember anything else? Your last name, your favorite food?"
"Rochester... I think. And pudding."
Dumbledore stood up and looked at Lily and James.
"Someone put a powerful Memory Charm on her. I would remove it, but she may be happier... and safer not knowing."
"Where is she going to go, sir?" Lily asked.
"Well, we could send her to one of the wizarding orphanages-"
"Sir, I think she'd be better off here," James cut in.
"Alright, she can stay in the Hospital WIng-"
"I want to stay with Lily and James," Emily said.
"Yeah, she could stay in the Head dormitory with us; it wouldn't be a problem," James said quickly and Lily nodded.
Dumbledore looked down at Emily. "Is that what you'd like to do Emily?"
She nodded, her ginger hair bouncing. "Yes, please."
"Very well. I'll be by in the morning to make some changes to the place," he said. "But first I think she should go to the hospital wing, just to make sure she's not hurt."
Lily and James nodded and Lily picked up Emily. "Thank you sir. Good night."
They made their way back down the stairs and Emily looked at Lily. "I get to live with you?"
Lily smiled. "Yup. But we have to go to the Hospital Wing first and Madam Pomfrey will probably make you stay overnight."
Emily frowned. "I don't like hospitals. They're boring."
James laughed and ruffled her hair. "Yeah, I know what you mean, kid."
"It'll be fine," Lily assured her. "And tomorrow, you can meet our friends."
"Let's take her to see Hagrid too!" James said excitedly.
"Who's Hagrid?"
"He's the gamekeeper here and a half giant," Lily explained. "He's really nice."
"Is he tall?" asked Emily in wonder.
James and Lily laughed.
"Yeah, he's tall," said Lily. "James' head barely gets past his elbow."
"Wow, that is big," she said.
"But never eat anything he bakes," James advised. "He's a terrible cook."
Emily laughed and they entered the hospital wing.
"Madam Pomfrey?" Lily called. The nurse came bustling out of her office, still in her uniform.
"What do we have here?" she asked.
"We found her out on the grounds and Professor Dumbledore wanted you to make sure she wasn't hurt or anything," James explained.
"Ah, yes, set her down," Madam Pomfrey motioned to a bed and Lily set her down. She waved her wand over her and tapped Emily in random places. After a few moments, she stepped back and looked at Lily and James.
"Just exhaustion and deydration, plus a few cuts and bruises, but she should stay here overnight. "
Lily looked to Emily. "We'll be back in the morning, okay?"
Emily grabbed her hand. "But I'll be bored!"
James' eyes lightened with an idea. "I'll be right back. Lil, you stay here."
He ran out of the Hospital Wing and took a shortcut to the seventh floor. Stopping in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, James paced back in forth in front of the blank wall, thinking, I need things to entertain a four yeaar old, I need things to entertain a four year old, I need things to entertain a four year old.
The door appeared and James opened it. Inside was a roomful of toy wands, books, baby dolls, and stuffed animals. He grabbed a toy wand, some books, a doll, and a few animals before running back to the hospital wing.
He entered and Emily's face lit up in delight upon seeing the toys in James' arms. Lily smiled and helped him spread out everything around Emily on the bed. Emily picked up the baby and cradled it in her arms.
"You still have to get some rest tonight," Lily reminded her.
Emily continued to stare at the baby. "I'm gonna name her Charlie," she said adoringly.
James smiled and patted her small leg. "We'll be back in the morning, okay Emily?"
She looked up at them. "Okay. Goodnight!"
"Don't let the bedbugs bite!" James and Lily said in unison and Emily giggled.
"She's cute," James said as they walked back to the Heads' dorms.
Lily smiled. "Yeah, she is," Her smile turned into a frown. "You don't think she has anything to do with Voldemort, do you? I mean, she shows up the night Dumbledore asks us to patrol outside in case of Death Eaters. Doesn't it just seem odd?"
"Lils, relax," James said and he put his arm around her. "She's a four year old porcelain doll with red hair who like butterbeer, brownies, and baby dolls. How harmful can she be?"
"I'm not saying Emily specifically is harmful, but someone could be manipulating her. And you know I don't believe in coincidences, so it's just all to strange that-"
"Lily! Stop worrying!" he laughed. They came to the portrait hole and gave the password. "Dumbledore checked her out, there's nothing Dark about her. And maybe we're meant to take care of Emily. Just think of how she could change our lives," He stopped in front of Lily's door and held her shoulders to face him. "I have no bad qualms about this. I doubt Dumbledore has any, or he wouldn't have let Emily move in here. So go to bed, and we'll pick up our ball of sunshine in the morning."
He kissed her forehead and turned to leave, and Lily called after him, teasing.
"Since when do you use fancy words like qualms?"
A/N: This chapter was particularly frusterating to write, and I still don't like most of it. Please, PLEASE review and tell me what you think! Reviews= Happy Me= Quicker updates!