Chapter Five

Lead The Way

Alice and I enjoyed our picnic immensely, the only thing that ruined it for me was that the Marauders also had the period off and decided to sit by the lake as well.

"No Potter." I slapped his hand away from our basket, resting my head against the tree behind me. I wanted to be left along with Alice and not be bothered. However I was pleasantly surprised when he actually listened to me. He, Black and Remus soon left us to go jump in the lake.

I was confused why they'd even do that because surely it was cold, it was September for Merlin's sake. I did have to catch myself because I found that I kept staring at Potter, who was having a great time playing in the water with his friends. He dunked Sirius laughing as he did so, exchanging grins with Remus as he did so.

I felt jealous of them at this moment, Alice and I were far too self-conscious to just jump in the lake like they did so easily. I snapped out of it and turned my attention back to Alice who was trying her best to tempt me with some chocolate biscuits, I laughed and took some. My eyes, however, betrayed me and found themselves drawn to Potter who was soaking wet, his white shirt had gone see through.

I shook my head and swallowed, what was going on with me? Snap out of it Lily.

"So, have you got any idea what Dumbledore wants to speak to you and Potter about?"

I blinked. "Um, no. There's been no clues since earlier. Guess we'll just have to wait." She nodded and grabbed a sandwich out of the basket. I grinned at her as she stuffed it into her mouth.

"Classy, real attractive." I laughed, the laugh soon turned to a shriek as I was picked up by something wet. "Potter let go of me." He seemed to find it appropriate to hug me, soaking wet as he was. He was so drenched that he made me sopping wet, I glared at him as I tried to wiggle away.

I broke free and heard him take a sharp intake of breath. I furrowed my eyebrows and wondered what was wrong with him. I followed his line of sight and looked down at myself, I gasped as I realised that my white shirt had become see through and revealed a lot more of myself than I wanted to show.

I gulped and was about to grab my cloak when someone put theirs over me. I looked up at Potter confused, I couldn't believe that he would pass up what was probably a golden opportunity for him. I did however feel a rush of warmth towards him as he glared at a group of passing boys who had managed to get a peek.

I shrunk further into the cloak, not even bothering to reprimand him when he threatened the group with his wand, it made me feel nice that even though this was his fault, he was trying to help me. If this was two years ago he wouldn't have been doing it, maybe not even last year.

Maybe he was growing up.

To be completely fair I'd honestly thought he was going to throw me into the lake, I smiled up at him, he deserved some sort of niceness from me after this.

I heard the bell ring, and grimaced, I'd have to rush up the stairs to change my shirt before dinner. I was really glad that I had no more lessons today, I don't think I could have handled it with the state of mind I was in.

"Thanks Potter." I said, grabbing the basket and Alice's hand before heading back up to the castle, forgetting that I had his cloak on, mine was on top of the picnic basket.

With a fresh, dry shirt I sat at the Gryffindor table eating a steak with roast potatoes with gravy. I was enjoying it probably a little too much but honestly those house elves could really cook. I drank deeply from my goblet before finally turning my attention back to my friends.

"Didn't you guys have a picnic?" Marlene asked, Alice and I looked at each other before nodding. "How are you both still hungry?"

I shrugged before eating another potato. "We saved some."

Her eyes lit up.

I looked down the table as I saw someone get up. It was Potter and he was heading in this direction. "Hey Evans, it's time to see Dumbledore." I nodded, said my goodbyes and followed Potter out of the Great Hall, ignoring the sudden increase in volume.

I had never been to his office before so I was happy to let Potter show me the way, we came to a stop outside a statue of a giant stone phoenix. I raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Potter. "Um, are you sure we're in the right place."

He smirked, looking me in the eye as he said. "Cockroach cluster."

I sighed. "Are you taking the-" The stone phoenix sprang to life and the was a kind of revolving stairway that Potter motioned for me to step on, it lifted me upwards until it stopped in front of a door. I waited for Potter before I knocked, the doorway wasn't that big so we were stood close enough that our shoulders brushed.

"Come in." I gulped, letting Potter open the door for me. I walked inside and was instantly amazed at the décor, there were so many things that I didn't know where to look first. I saw the Sorting Hat snoozing peacefully, along with many of the Headmasters and Headmistress' of Hogwarts Past only a few of which were awake and staring at us. But the thing that held my attention the most was the phoenix who was perched to the right of the Headmasters desk and the fact that James Potter was happily stroking it.

Jealousy coursed through me. I ignored it and took the offered seat in front of the desk, watching with increased interest as the two creatures interacted with one another.

"Hello Fawkes, sleep well?" He asked quietly petting the birds beak, earning a trill of pleasure. I smiled at the sound. If a phoenix liked him, he couldn't be that bad.

Our attention was bought back to Professor Dumbledore when he cleared his throat, his eyes twinkled at us as Potter came to sit in the chair next to me.

"I'm sure you both have been wondering why I wanted to see you?" We nodded. "I'm sure you're both aware of the threats that are escalating outside of these walls. The man who goes by the name of Voldemort has been gathering followers at an alarming rate and to keep the school safe I have decided that until further notice the two of you and the rest of the staff will be placed on increased patrols." I nodded, it would cut into a lot of my homework time but I would be able to make it work. I didn't really have a choice. It really did make a lot of sense.

"Of course Professor."

I was asleep when I heard it, a rumbling noise that was coming from over by the window. It woke me and the other girls up but we couldn't see anything.

"What's going on?" Alice mumbled, sleepily rubbing her eyes. I blinked rapidly trying to figure it out.

"I dunno." I sniffled and rubbed my face, feeling half asleep and rightly so as it was three in the morning.

Marlene yawned loudly and stretched. "I'm going back to bed." She huffed, finding our standing around pointless and as soon as she got in her bed she pulled the curtains around her bed and it didn't take long for us to hear her soft breathing signalling that she'd fallen asleep.

"I am too." Alice sighed, hopping into her bed. I turned to walk back to mine but I stopped as I felt something brush against my arm. I turned back to the window and squinted, but I still couldn't see anything. If I listened carefully I could hear breathing, I reached a hand out and reached out in front of me but it didn't come into contact with anything.

I furrowed my eyebrows before giving up, there was obviously nothing there so why bother staying awake. I glanced over at the other girls seeing everyone had already fallen asleep, Rachel and Sabrina hadn't even gotten out of bed in the first place. I made my way over to my bed, brushing off the feeling that someone was watching me.

I couldn't see anything. Nothing was there.

I pulled the cover over my body and settled back into bed, hoping that I would be able to fall asleep as quickly as the others had, I didn't want to be tired for tomorrow. I was just about to fall asleep when I heard something that made me sit up again.

It sounded like the door was moving, it stopped as soon as I looked at it and I got out of bed again. What was going on? I didn't want to wake anyone up again, there was no point. I was getting very frustrated because there was nothing there, nothing that could be making any noise.

"Hello?" I huffed, widening my eyes as I tried my best to see the outline of something, anything that made me feel like I wasn't crazy.

"Lily." Someone breathed, I blinked. There was a sharp intake of air which only drew me closer to the noise. I stayed there for a few minutes, staring determinedly at the area which I thought someone might be occupying. Finally I gave up, I was tired and I wanted to sleep.

Moving over to my bed I yawned before changing course and heading to the bathroom. I dismissed the thought that I could hear someone hissing something to another and stared at myself in the mirror. "I'm not crazy." I muttered quietly, shutting the door and using the toilet before heading back out and going to bed.

I felt someone brush the hair off my face as I drifted off, but through half lidded eyes I still couldn't see anything. Whatever, I give up.

Waking up the next morning I told Alice what I'd though I'd heard the previous night.

"So you stayed awake for an extra half an hour staring into space?" She laughed as she brushed her hair. I rolled my eyes before pulling my hairbrush through my own hair.

"I wasn't staring into space. I was trying to solve a mystery!" I put the brush down and picked up my mascara, applying it and trying my best not to poke myself in the eye with it. "And it was a mystery, my dear Watson." I smirked as I finished my make-up.

"What? My name's Alice?" I sighed.

"It's from a muggle book, um, never mind." She shrugged and headed into the bathroom, making space for Marlene to finish making herself beautiful. She smiled at me and held up two nail polishes. I laughed. "Do you even have time to do that?" I asked.

She pouted at me. "As long as I don't have breakfast, they can dry nicely. I always have time for beauty."

I rolled my eyes and chuckled. "You can eat toast with drying nails." I pointed out, then pointed to the light blue polish instead of the green. "Green's too Slytherin, and blue is Ravenclaw, just like what's his name?"

Marlene didn't blush, simply smirking as she undid the polish. "Good point Lils." I stood up and smoothed over my uniform as Alice came out of the bathroom. We waited for Marls to finish up her nails and we headed down to breakfast, passing the Marauders who were minus Remus in the common room.

"Hey girls, sleep well?" Black asked, grinning over at us from his place by the fire, his legs hanging over the arm of the chair as he twirled his wand around his fingers, absent-mindedly making it snow over Peter.

Alice, Marlene and I exchanged looks. "We slept fine, not that it's any of your business." I said, going to walk out of the portrait.

"Ouch, Evans. I was only trying to be nice." He smirked, indicating that that was not the reason at all.

I grimaced at him, moving Marlene out of his line of sight. "I'm sure."