Lily, to her unending surprise, did not sleep well that night. She spent most of it simply staring out of the great glass dome above their heads, the moonlight turning a pale green from the depths of the water, and counting fish as they passed. She made it to 282 before she lost count, although that was mostly just because of a warm body shifting next to her. They had two beds, but Hermione accidentally slipped into hers after a bathroom trip, and was just far too comfortable to go back to her own. Lily didn't buy it one bit, but she also didn't forbid it. She tried counting Hermione's soft little snores, next, but she dozed off around 117.
Lily was running down a castle corridor, pale moonlight filtering in from the distant windows. She was shrouded in darkness, and she could her the clanking of armour as it sprinted after her. No matter how fast she ran, the light only got further and further from her, while her pursuers grew closer and closer. Just as the light flickered out completely, Lily decided she had rather enough of this, and she turned to face her enemies.
They weren't quite suits of armour like she'd been accepting. They seemed to be scarecrows stuffed full of straw, as a matter of fact, the clothing and faces made of tanned, aged leather. There were seven in total, painted with different colours, and when they moved, they jerked and twisted, as if every single twitch pained them immensely. One stepped forward, now, a stride twice the length of its legs.
"L-Lily," it hissed in a quiet, gargled voice.
"K-kill," another spat out as it stepped forward, too.
Lily drew her wand. She wanted to shout out at them to stay away, but every time she opened her mouth, it seemed to shrink until it was nothing at all, and all she could do was grunt and whine.
"Monster," the first scarecrow hissed as it took another step, almost on her.
Lily lashed out with her wand, and the terrible figure screamed as its leg was torn from her body. Another jumped at her, and the curse she used then blew it to pieces, straw and sinew spraying all over the stone walkway below them. They were all coming for her, then, other than the one that was still screeching and clutching at its leg. She used fire, she turned leather to ice, she did whatever she could just to stay alive.
Finally, they were all laying dead, shattered and torn to pieces. Lily wanted to breath, to catch her breath, but her mouth had yet to return to her, and it felt like her nose wasn't capable of doing anything at all.
"M-monster," the first scarecrow hissed again, trying to crawl away from her with its long, sharp nails that left gouges in the stone.
Lily had had enough of this. She pulled with her wand again, and tore free the thing's other leg. It screeched again, and suddenly she had a mouth, and she was laughing.
"Die," she shouted at it as she tore free two fingers. "Die!" She ripped the whole hand off. "Die! Die! Die!"
She killed it piece by piece, tearing off flesh and cloth strip by strip, until the scarecrow laid motionless on the ground, weeping openly. Suddenly, it sounded a lot more human, and Lily found she didn't care one bit. If they didn't want to die, they shouldn't have come for her. She rolled it over to face the ceiling with a lazy flick of her wand.
"I hate you," she said, flicking her wand again. She tore away the last bit of cloth on the scarecrow- the face. She expected another scream, or for it to finally die like its friends.
Under the sack was Hermione's face, stained and streaked with blood and tears.
"M-m-monster," she let out between sobs. "You're a-a m-monster."
The walls lit up around them, bright, red flames filling the hall with a terrible light. Lily squinted and glanced around at them- the bits of straw and cloth were human flesh, terrible, awful stains all over them and the stone. She recognised them- no- this wasn't right, this was-
"K-kill," Ron said, his head facing towards her from three metres away. "D-don't k-kill us."
"M-monster," Hermione said again. "M-monster. H-hate- hate you."
The lights vanished, and she woke, sweaty and alert, her heart beating fast enough to pulse straight out of her chest. Weasley was still on her lap, staring up at her with sleepy eyes. Lily rubbed at her throbbing scar. Her forehead was clammy and cold, the hair plastered to her pale skin.
Just a dream, she thought, swallowing down the lump in her throat. That's all it was. She closed her eyes and felt someone stir next to her. Hermione was still sleeping, her chest rising and falling at a much more peaceful pace than Lily's own.
Monster. You're a monster. Lily shook the memory from her head. Just a dream, she reminded herself. Just forget like you used to. Don't remember it. Go back to sleep.
Lily moved her cat off, but then Hermione rolled over and pulled the blanket off to her side, and she was too chilly to fall back asleep. Not that she could have, anyway. No matter how much she practised her breathing, she couldn't calm down. Eventually, after an eternity of listening to Hermione breathe, she decided she might as well just get out of bed. The sun wasn't up, but was the point of just laying there? Hermione was in the way, since Lily was on the side with the wall, so Lily had to carefully make her way over the foot of the bed. She made a little squeak when her feet touched the cold stone floor (her slippers were on Hermione's side). She only briefly thought she'd gotten away with it- then she heard another stirring.
"Where are you going?" Hermione asked sleepily. Lily glanced behind her and found the girl rubbing at her eyes. At some point in her slumber, her purple pyjama top had the top button opened, and Lily could see the hint of pale, soft skin beneath it.
You're a monster.
She looked away.
"Loo," Lily lied, hopping right to her feet, hopping back and forth to keep the cold pain away until she found her slippers. "Go back to sleep."
"M'kay," Hermione said, laying her head back on the pillow.
Within seconds, she was breathing softly again, holding Lily's cat tightly to her chest (he never let her do that, but apparently it was fine if it was Hermione). Lily watched for what felt like an eternity. She just looked so peaceful, snoozing in the pale green light coming from the moon far, far above them. In the past, her bushy hair probably would have been mess around her head, but this short- well, Lily hadn't really noticed before, but it framed her face well. She wasn't really sure what possessed her to do it- but she reached out a hand and cupped Hermione's face gently, running a thumb over the faded scar on her cheek. Her skin was cool from the chill air of their room, but it also had a soft warmth to it that felt nice under Lily's fingers. Hermione smiled and made a happy sort of noise, but otherwise did not wake. Her lips parted slightly, her teeth poking out, and she muttered something that Lily didn't quite catch.
Monster.
She shook her head again. She was being silly, she knew, letting a stupid little nightmare get to her. If she was a monster, Hermione wouldn't be this comfortable, surely. Now, how best to convince her own brain to stop being such a tremendous prat? If she had the answer to that, her life would be much easier.
Lily washed her face with cold water. She was probably in need for a good shower, too, but she settled on relaxing in the tub for a whole hour. That should have been enough to calm her down by itself, but when she was done and drying off, she still felt the tight knot of stress embedding itself in her stomach. She was just about to leave when she realised something and went back to the sink, leaning heavily on the porcelain and staring at her tired reflection. Her hair looked wiry and thin, which wasn't too hard of a fix for her particular set of skills, but it was the colour that got to her.
It was a very dark brown, or otherwise completely black. It was hard to tell when it was still wet (she'd taken to letting it dry naturally, lately, because Hermione claimed her previous habit of drawing her hair back into her skull and then growing new, dry ones was "creepy"). She hadn't noticed during her bath because she always kept it nice and short when she bathed (she couldn't stand the feeling of wet hair plastering to her skin, Hermione's opinion be damned). Normally, she'd make it long again once she was done, but, well- she still had the image of Hermione sleeping in her mind, and she was in the mood for a much shorter style.
She ran her fingers through her hair, the knot in her belly only growing tighter, and changed it back to her usual red. It wasn't the first time her hair changed of its own will- nor was it even the first time it chose that particular colour- but it wasn't the sort of thing that happened often. She couldn't even remember the last time it had . It seemed far more like Tonks than it did her. She was just about to walk away when she finally noticed the other thing. Really, it should have been the first, but, well-
"Hello?" she said hesitantly, staring into her own green eyes.
There was no response.
"Hello?" she said again, slightly louder this time to match the increased beating of her heart.
Still and silent.
Lily reached out with her right hand and rapped three sharp times on the glass. Her reflection moved with her- she couldn't feel the glass, but she could hear the sharp tapping as their knuckles met.
"Hello?" she said one final time.
Nothing.
Lily laughed to herself. She should have known it was only temporary- it had been the last time, after all. The knot loosened a bit at the sheer relief that she wasn't fully mad.
She dressed in her school robes as quietly as she could (so as not to wake the slumbering girl currently lying in her bed), pinned her Prefect badge to her chest, and crept out of the dorm in her socks, her boots held in her hands. Those she put on in the hallway and then set off for the common room. She had no idea what time it was, other than far too late (or early, depending on one's perspective), but she was starting to get very hungry. She picked up her pace, the thud of her boots echoing in the empty, dark, stone hall. First, the kitchens, she thought. Then, maybe, she'd go for a night flight and-
Right, she thought to herself, her gait slowing slightly. No broom. She groaned as she exited the hall into the round common room, wishing she'd never destroyed her Firebolt. Merlin, what had been the point of that? She really needed to look into ordering a new one so she could-
Lily stopped halfway through the common room, when movement on one of the couches caught her eye. There was someone sitting on one of the couches, near the fireplace furthest away from the girl's hall. Lily walked more carefully, intending on creeping right past (and wishing she'd grabbed her invisibility cloak), when she noticed the snuffling nose, too, and the way their little chest kept shaking.
Right, Lily said, halting just a few feet away. It looked like Isabelle Watkins, one of her first year charges, if she had to guess. Strawberry blonde hair, long and wavy- she'd made notes of descriptions and names last night to help her remember. She just wished she had them with her now to doublecheck. It occurred to her that, since she still hadn't been noticed, she could just keep going and pretend she'd never noticed at all. Another audible sniffle eliminated that possibility entirely. She sighed.
And she sat down next to her, as close (and as far) as she could get without being awkward about it. Isabelle looked up at her, briefly, her eyes puffy and red, and then wiped at them quickly. She'd had her knees pulled up to her chest as she wept, but she moved her legs to let them dangle off the end of the couch, instead (they were too short to touch the ground).
"S-sorry," she said, sniffling again. "I was j-just-"
"It's alright," Lily said. She hesitated only briefly before reaching out and putting an arm around her shaking shoulders. "I cried a lot in my first few weeks, too." An entire year counted as a few weeks, surely.
"I'm being s-stupid," Isabelle said, sniffing again and wiping at her eyes. She didn't pull away from Lily's touch, though. In fact, it was quite the opposite- she leaned into it.
"It's only normal to be a bit homesick," Lily said, rubbing her back. She wasn't sure if that was strange or not, but she really wasn't sure what else to do. "I guarantee you some of the others are crying, too, or that they will before the first week of classes are done."
Isabelle sniffed again, her eyes watching the fire. She pulled her legs back up to her chest and then wrapped her arms around them, her chin resting on her knees. Lily was content to let her be silent, but it seemed she didn't want to be.
"My brother didn't get to come," she said. "We're twins, but only I got a letter. It's not fair."
Lily imagined that'd be awful.
"You want to write him?" Lily suggested. "You can use my owl! He's a bit of a prat, but so long as you keep your fingers away from his beak, you're like to keep them."
Isabelle sniffed again.
"How about some cocoa, then?" Lily suggested instead. Merlin, how was she going to make it through this year when she was awful with children? "Dobby? You awake?"
A loud pop answered her question, and Isabelle let out a little gasp as the short, bald creature proceeded to throw itself at Lily's feet, crying louder than she had been.
"Hazel P-Potter," he said the fat, wet drops streaming from his eyes staining Lily's boots. "Dobby is- Dobby is-"
"It's alright, Dobby," Lily said, letting out a nervous little laugh. She had to take her arm away from Isabelle to try to pry him off of her, but it didn't seem to be working. "We just wanted-"
"Dobby couldn't come, miss!" Dobby wailed, only grasping on to her leg harder. The stack of silly little hats he'd been wearing all toppled to the floor, all scattering around the tiles and under the couch. "Dobby was f-forbidden, miss!"
"It's alright, Dobby!" Lily said again, louder this time. "We don't have to-"
"Dobby just wants to help his miss!" Dobby said, crying louder and clinging to Lily's boots. "But Dobby had to take with Albus Dumbledore while you were missing, miss, and Dobby was forbidden!"
"Dobby-"
"Dobby is still forbidden, miss!" Dobby said, his voice becoming a high-pitched wail. "There are things Dobby wishes to tell miss, but Albus Dumbledore has sworn Dobby to secrecy, miss!"
"Dobby, maybe you shouldn't be-"
"Dobby is not telling the miss!" Dobby said. "Dobby is only telling the miss that he cannot tell the miss!"
"Right," Lily said, carefully plucking Dobby's fingers off her feet one by one. She'd only meant to say he shouldn't be crying so hard in front of a first year, but Isabelle seemed to have completely forgotten about her own woes, because she was watching Dobby in enraptured fascination. "Well, if that's all settled, then, we just wanted some-"
"Miss cannot be asking Dobby about any Order secrets," Dobby continued, his tiny body dragging along the floor as Lily stood and tried to step away. "Miss cannot be asking Dobby about Nymphadora Tonks, neither. Dobby is forbidden, miss."
"I get it, Dobby," Lily said, her body starting to heat up when she heard Isabelle start to snigger. "Can you let go, now?"
Dobby did eventually let go of her leg, and he even popped right off to fetch their cocoas Lily had meant to send Isabelle back to bed once she was done with her own, but she instead was forced to answer question after question about house elves as the other girl fired them off rapidly. She seemed to think it was significantly less funny once Lily explained that the majority of them were kept as slaves.
"Not Dobby, though," Lily reassured her. "I pay him twice what a wizard or witch would charge for the same service!" Hermione had been quite insistent on that, although it had taken ages to get Dobby to agree.
After that, the conversation turned to what S.P.E.W. was doing to improve the rights of House Elves, and then that turned into Isabelle asking about all the other magical creatures that Lily could think of. Lily even went to fetch one of her favourite books from her trunk (very carefully, so Hermione wouldn't wake), and by the time the sun rose, they were still sitting on the couch, poring over it together. Isabelle cooed over all the conventionally cute ones, but she was happy enough to listen to Lily ramble about all the ones she preferred, even if she thought they were terribly ugly.
In the end, neither of them got very much sleep, and they settled in to wait for the other first years to get up so they could all head up to breakfast together. Unfortunately, since it was a Saturday and they wouldn't be starting classes for another day, it seemed they all wanted a bit of a lie in. Except for three of them, anyway, but Hermione was up and sitting next to her on the couch by the time they emerged.
"Everybody just wait here," Hermione told them, making sure each of the first years sat within eyesight. "Lily and I will show you around the castle after."
The two Prefect girls spent an hour before trying to sleep, planning out the route they'd show to the first years. It probably didn't need to take that long- only, Hermione kept changing the pyjamas she was wearing.
"What about these?" she'd ask, wearing nothing but a t-shirt and a pair of comfortable shorts. "Too much?"
"You'll freeze to death in the winter," Lily said after only a glance before turning back to the map she'd drawn up. It was no Marauder's, but it would get the job done well enough. Hermione had only come closer, then, leaning in real close and flicking Lily on the nose to get her attention back.
"Pay attention," she'd said.
"To what?" Lily asked, rubbing the sore spot.
Hermione just winked at her, then, and then sat real close while they finished up their work.
The other first years took forever, and Lily eventually had to go round them up herself. She was just thankful the older male students wanted a lie in, too, because she didn't have to deal with them all staring at her again. With all ten of them lagging about sleepily behind them, Lily and Hermione led the first years up to the Great Hall and let them eat as much as they wanted. Some of the smaller ones seemed reluctant to eat at all, and Lily wondered if they, like her when she first arrived, simply weren't used to having this much food available.
She just hoped they weren't too much like her, because she'd never been allowed to. She was most worried about Henry Walters, because he was frighteningly small for a boy his age and was just as quiet as the deaf girl (Merlin, she hoped thinking that wasn't terrible, too; she really needed to look into it).
"Eat your fill," she said, piling egg and sausage on Henry's plate when he started poking around it again. "There's plenty to go around. You too," she added, grabbing Allison more toast when she noticed the girl staring at it. "You'll make the elves sad if you don't eat more." She winked at Isabelle, then, and the girl blushed and accepted some more bacon when Lily handed her the platter.
"Elves?" Henry asked. Lily took that as a good sign, even if his voice had been squeakier than she imagined it'd be.
"House Elves," she said, hoping Hermione wasn't paying attention. "You'll be meeting them later, I assure you. They just want to make sure everybody's happy and well-fed."
Then, since she didn't want anyone to feel singled out, she gave everybody the same amount of food, too. That included herself and Hermione.
"Long day ahead of us," she said, ladling more porridge into her bowl, "and not a one of us is leaving until everybody's plate is clean."
She ate double what she gave all the first years, even though she wasn't feeling particularly hungry herself, just to drive the point home. She also watched Hermione do exactly the same (albeit with an increasingly uncomfortable look on her face with each bite). She scanned the staff table while she chewed some bacon, wondering if she should introduce them to the professors, so they knew who they were dealing with ahead of time. The only issue was she had no idea who would be teaching who (well, that and the fact that Umbridge was up there, watching her with her stupid, froggy face), but she did make note to find out as soon as possible. In fact, that was now number one on her list of priorities.
"Everyone done eating?" Lily asked, standing once she saw everyone's plates were empty (and that several students were shuffling as much as Hermione, now that they were so full). "Follow me, then."
Lily led the troop back out into the Great Hall, waving to the two suits of armour that guarded the entrance when they saluted her (as they were enchanted to do to every Prefect) and led them straight down to the dungeons. She lit her wand and kept it held at her side as they walked, so that each of them would be able to see her clearly while they were down in the dark.
"I know we live down here," she said, "but that's why this is the most important place to know like the back of your hand. Nobody should know the dungeons better than the Slytherins."
Obviously, they had no reason to show the Slytherins to their own dorm, but they took them to the various potions rooms, explaining that each lab was used for different years and contained different levels of dangerous ingredients and brews. Lily also spent a good five minutes explaining just how important it was to pay attention to the instructions during class and to not experiment until you have sufficient skill, lest you accidentally melt off your own hand. She pulled her own hand into her sleeve for dramatic effect. That was made easier by shortening her arm, as if it actually was melting. It took Hermione swotting her on the arm to stop her laughing at the shocked expressions from the first years.
"All fine, see?" she said, growing her hand back to normal and wiggling her fingers. "Come on, then, this way."
"How'd you do that?" Isabelle whispered to her, skipping to keep up with Lily's long strides.
"Secret," she said, winking and putting a finger to her lips.
After that, they passed by a few empty cells, and Hermione told them not to play around and lock each other in them or they'd get a detention when a Prefect found them, and Lily kept them walking until they reached a specific wooden door.
"This is Professor Snape's office," she said rapping on it three times with her knuckles. "He's our Head of House and our resident Potions Master- well, one of them, anyway. Slughorn's our other one, I think, but I don't know if he actually finished his credentials. Hello, Professor."
Professor Snape had just opened the door, and he was standing stiff while his beady, dark eyes surveyed the crowd in front of him.
"Potter," he said at last. Lily took the fact that he didn't slam the door in her face as a good sign.
"I was wondering if we might have the first years' class schedule early, Professor," Lily said, her voice icy, yet polite. "We wanted to show them around the castle, make sure they don't get lost on their first day."
"I see," Snape said and, for a moment, Lily was certain he was going to refuse and slid her foot between the door and wall so he couldn't close it.
"If they aren't ready yet, professor, we can always come back later," Hermione added, her own voice much more believably sweet.
Snape's eyes turned to her, and Lily started tapping her wand against her thigh, causing it to shoot a white spark on to the stone floor.
"Come in, Potter," Snape said, moving aside so she could pass him. "Wait out here, Granger."
Lily really did not want to be alone in a room with Severus Snape, but she saw little choice in the matter. She stepped inside, crossing her arms and taking a deep breath when she heard the door close behind her. She could feel him watching her as she took a good look around. Snape's office was always the creepiest. He had shelves upon shelves stocked to the brim with jars, each of which was filled with different, but terrible, substances. One had a complete human brain, another live cockroaches, skittering and crawling over each other in vain attempts to escape. That made Lily's skin crawl almost as much as Snape's eyes.
He's not going to hurt you here, she thought, the memories of that terrible night sharp in her mind. That was just because he had to. She felt her left hand twitch and tucked it further under her elbow to steady it. He tried to help us, Lily. Stop freaking out.
"You are taking your prefectural duties seriously, I see," Snape said, sweeping past her as he approached his desk. There were more jars, there, but they were empty- undoubtedly, he'd been just about to fill them. She could even see the empty spots on the shelf directly behind his chair.
"Yes," Lily said, not trusting herself to speak more. She closed her eyes so she wouldn't want to look at him. Stop freaking out. It's just Snape. You can handle Snape. She wished her heart would believe her. The rate it was beating at, she was almost certain she was going to die. Her hand twitched again. She opened her eyes. Snape was watching her very carefully.
"Potter," he said. "If you are-"
"Don't," she growled through clenched teeth. Her hand twitched again. "The schedules, please."
"Here," Snape said, grabbing a stack of papers from his desk, rifling through them, and then handing Lily exactly 10 sheets. "You and Granger will be getting yours on the first day of classes, as per usual."
"Thanks," Lily said, snatching the papers from his hand. She turned to walk out the door, but then Snape's hand was on her shoulder. His touch felt like a shock to Lily's system, and she nearly jumped straight out of her skin.
You can have her when I am done with her, Severus, she heard the Dark Lord say in her head. Until then, she is my property, and I will not have your hands sullying her.
"There is something I must warn you of," Snape said slowly, his eyes slightly crossed as they stared at the tip of Lily's wand, positioned right in front of his large, slimy nose. "About your Dark Mark. When the Dark Lord returns, it will-"
"Save it," Lily said, breathing deep to steady the shaking in her hand. "I need to be in a good mood this weekend, for the first years." And Hermione, she thought. I'm not a monster. I'm not. She lowered her wand back to her side.
"You cannot protect them forever, Hazel," Snake said her name sounding like both syllables caused him physical pain to speak.
"And, yet, I will," Lily said, fully aware she still had no idea how she was going to keep the boys safe. They had ideas- but none of them were concrete yet.
"The Dark Lord has been informed already, and he will expect-"
"You told him?"
"If I had not, others would have," Snape said coolly. "And, then, he would have wondered why his spy had not brought it to his attention first."
"Yeah," Lily said, trying not to grind her teeth (Hermione gave her a lecture just the last night on how terrible of a habit it was). "God forbid you do something just because it's the right thing to do."
"We are at war, Potter," Snape said. "There are times when we must all make choices that go against what we personally hold as right. Now, listen to me- the warning. When the Dark Lord returns- and it will be soon- you will be-"
"Save it," Lily said, closing her eyes and taking another deep breath. "Good mood, remember?"
"After our first class, then," Snape said, his hand hesitating in front of him as if he meant to reach out again. If he had, Lily wasn't sure if she'd curse him or not. She felt her hand twitch again, at least.
"I thought Slughorn was teaching us?" Lily said, trying and failing to hide her disappointment.
"He has asked to switch schedules with me," Snape said. "I will be instructing the fifth years."
"Lovely," Lily muttered. "He's avoiding me, isn't he?"
"I believe you wanted to stay in a 'good mood.'"
"I can take it. Just tell me."
"Yes," Snape said after a reluctant pause. "He is not the only one, either- half the professors on your schedule had to be convinced to stay on for the fifth years, and a few of them had to be replaced even so."
There was a sharp crack as the cabinet behind Lily as one of the glass panes of the door splinted.
"I thought you could handle it?" Snape said, raising an eyebrow.
"I lied," Lily said through grit teeth. "I do that a lot, as you should remember. Is Tonks one of my professors, now?"
"I am not at privy to say."
"Forget it, then," Lily said, turning back towards the door.
Snape paused again. "Hazel. About your- your truthfulness. I was- wrong about what I said before. I know now you weren't lying about your- your treatment."
"Oh, you do, do you?" Lily said, another crack from the glass joining the rising heat in her body. "Finally get a clue?"
"Hazel-"
"Finally realise I wasn't 'making it all up for attention?'"
"I only thought-"
"You saw what she did to me," Lily shouted, shoving her left hand in Snape's face, wand and all. "You saw her burn me, you saw her- her-"
"I was wrong," Snape said again, hands splayed to his sides as if in surrender.
"Forget it," Lily said, and she lowered her hand back to her side. She looked over to the cabinet, which now had a full pane missing from it, and decided Snape could just fix it himself if he was so clever.
"I watched you this morning," Snape said as she took a step. "While you fed the first years. Your mother would have been-"
This time, the glass on the cabinet exploded, and Snape found himself with a wand right back in his face, the tip almost up a nostril.
"Don't you ever," Lily hissed. "Talk about my mother. Not you. You don't have the right."
Snape nodded, hands held in the air. "As you say."
Lily whirled around, breathed deeply, plastered her smile back on her face, and opened the door.
Fake it until you make it, Potter.
"Thanks for the schedules, Professor," she said sweetly, adding after she stepped on some broken glass, "and I'm sorry I tripped into your cabinet."
She closed the door before Snape could respond to her. Some of the first years were giving her strange looks, but most of them were distracted by whatever Hermione was telling them.
"-and, of course, Hogwarts, a History also tells us that-"
"Right!" Lily said, jumping in before Hermione went on forever. "Here, you are," she said, handing the nearest student a schedule. When she got to the end, it occurred to her that they didn't have any extras, so she tapped the final one with her wand and created two copies of it without so much as a wave.
"Wicked!" The last boy (David, Lily was pretty sure his name was) said as Lily handed him the original. "How'd you do that?" He sounded like he was from Yorkshire, if Lily had to guess. She'd never been very good at placing accents.
"Oh, I'm sure I'll show you eventually," Lily said, winking at the boy and skipping ahead so the whole crowd could see her. "Remember: starting next weekend, all Muggleborn first years are required to attend our weekly S.P.E.W. sessions." That wasn't exactly true anymore, but Lily would be damned if she wouldn't make every single one of them come anyway. "Usually, during these sessions, I help the lot of you catch up on homework and understand the magical material." She spoke nice and slowly so that Allison could follow along. It wasn't a perfect system, but it was all she had at the moment. She had ideas- but those would take time. "Since you all happen to also be in our house this year, we might have the time to learn other things. Every night, from supper to curfew, I will be seated at a table in the common room. If any of you ever need help with your studies- or anything, really- I don't mind. Just come right on up and ask, I'll happily drop whatever it is I'm doing, and that goes double if I'm working on homework for Binns."
"You can come to either of us," Hermione added quickly. "Lily is the best in our year in Potions, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and I'm better at Transfiguration, Astronomy, and History of Magic."
"You might want to avoid her for history, though," Lily said, winking at the lot of them. She was doing that a lot, today, and decided she was going to stop before she developed a permanent twitch. "She'll talk your ear off. Right, then, if you'll follow me, we'll show you around the castle grounds, first. You can meet Hagrid, if he's back!"
"He's our groundskeeper and professor for Care of Magical Creatures," she heard Hermione telling them as she set off down a side corridor. "He's really nice- feel free to visit him whenever you like."
"Just don't eat any of his cooking," Lily added, turning around to walk backwards so that Allison could read her lips. "They're like to break your teeth. Tea's alright, though- he makes a strong cup, I'll give him that."
"Lily?" Hermione said as Lily turned another corner. "This isn't the right way to the Entrance Hall. We need to-"
"Oh, no, this is definitely the way to go," Lily said. Hermione argued no further, and Lily led them down seven sets of corridors, taking care to point out every turn to the first years and even going so far as to carve her initials on each wall, so nobody would get lost looking for it in the future. That gave her another idea, too, but she'd have to spend her Sunday working on it. She had neither the time not the resources at this particular moment.
"Right," Lily said, turning to face the lot. "Here's your first lesson today: Hogwarts is absolutely full to the brim with secret passages and staircases."
"You already gave us that lesson," Conner said.
"Then consider this a review," Lily said. "Supremacy cannot be contained."
As she spoke the last four words, the wall beside her slid open, revealing a steep staircase that travelled upwards. Lily let their oohs and aahs wash over her, smugly enjoying every second of it, and watched as Allison muttered those words to herself, too, her face lit up in excitement. While the other children crowded around the entrance, some running their hands along the stone to look for tricks, Lily sidled up close and slid a slip of parchment into her hand. The girl looked at her and Lily winked. She definitely needed to make sure that didn't develop into a habit.
"Read it," she mouthed, and then walked back off towards the staircase. All it had on it was a list of every password, as well as the location, that she was planning on showing off today. Allison seemed to get that much, if her wider smile was any indication.
"I'm going to show you quite a few today," Lily continued, waving her still little wand back and forth to grab everyone's attention. "But there's plenty more that I don't have the time for or even don't know about myself. I'll make a list of what I tell you later tonight and hand them to you tomorrow morning, so don't worry about remembering any of them." She might have just come up with that on the spot, considering she'd just given away her own checklist. "If you'll follow me- it's a nice day out, and I'd really like to get some sun."
Lily raised her wand above her head as she entered the staircase, so that everybody that followed behind her could see the steps, and started upwards. This particular staircase led straight out into the grounds, as she'd found out during her third year when she was kidnapped by a couple of seventh years. Lily didn't mention that part, though, because she didn't want to scare any of the first years, let alone Hermione, who she'd never told the whole story to. She supposed the other girl was bound to wring out of her later that night- but then Hermione was right next to her, pressed awfully close in the narrow stairwell.
"Lily," she whispered very quietly. "How did you know about this? Did Snape tell you?"
"No," Lily said slowly.
"Then how did you know?" Hermione asked. "You wouldn't keep something like this secret from me unless it was bad. What happened?"
"Not now," Lily hissed back, taking another steep step.
"But-"
"Hermione, please."
"Lily, you can't keep avoiding every sensitive topic forever," Hermione said. "You have to talk to me eventually. I'm not asking for it now- how about tonight?"
Lily worked her jaw back and forth as they climbed, grinding her teeth in silence.
"Who did you see die?" she asked finally.
"Lily, I don't want to-"
"Don't ask anything if you aren't willing to share yourself," Lily snapped. "You want one of my secrets? Fine. Then give me one of yours. Until then- mind your own bloody business."
"But-"
"Come on," Lily said, climbing the steps faster. "We've got a tour to give."