Chapter 1: Strange Occurrences
Lily was walking down the corridor in a hurry, her arms full of books. She had been in the library looking for a book for light reading and found she couldn’t decide on just one. Rounding a corner, she gasped as she collided with someone who had just been going around the same corner, too. She fell flat on her back getting the wind knocked out of her. Struggling to grip her normal breathing rate, she shakily stood, coming face to face with James Potter and co.
“Watch it, Red,” he sneered, his voice oozing with hate.
“I could say the same for yourself,” Lily replied coldly. She bent down to collect her books. As she reached for the last one, he kicked it to other side of the corridor.
“That was uncalled for! It’s a library book, you impudent jerk!” Lily chided.
“Oops.”
Lily fixed a deadly glare on him and blew all her breath out of her nose, her temper and impatience rising.
“You ““
“I don’t want to talk to you anymore,” Potter cut her off as he held up a hand. With that he walked past her, purposely bumping shoulders hard, his cronies following.
Rubbing her shoulder, Lily growled deep in her throat as she marched over to the last book, picked it up, and headed back to Gryffindor Tower.
This is how things had been for months. It was truly a shock when Potter was made Head Boy with Lily as Head Girl. She had actually fainted when told the news. Now it was mid-October and NEWT lectures and homework were piling up.
It was Saturday, two days since the corner incident. Lily and Charlie were walking down to the lake to talk.
“So Whale proposed to Horse? Merlin, I sympathize for their children,” Charlie admitted as she bowed and shook her head. Horse was Lily’s older sister, Petunia. She had a bony, horse-like face, hence her nickname. Her boyfriend, or fiancé now, Vernon Dursley, was called Whale because he was so… big, to put it nicely, he resembled a whale. Or walrus…you get the point.
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Lily said. “Honestly, who would ““
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Carrot Top,” drawled an, unfortunately, familiar voice “ the voice of James Potter. The girls froze and stiffened. Then, slowly, they turned with hardened faces.
“What do you want, Potter?” Charlie spat. Lily was trying her hardest to petrify him with her stare. He merely smirked.
“I was just wondering if the rumors were true. Did you really shag Snivellous, Red?”
Lily’s blood boiled. 'Wondering if the rumors were true my butt. I bet if there was such a rumor, he started it.' She felt heat rising to her face in both anger and embarrassment from the accusation.
“Was it good? I bet he had enough grease on his body to make lubrication unnecessary.”
Lily was shaking from fury. “Well, you’ve room to speak, Potter. What about Jessica Fanning? I suppose all the drool that comes out of her mouth when she looks at you really has its uses, huh?”
Potter’s smirk disappeared at her jaunty comeback. “I never hooked up with her,” he said indignantly.
Lily snorted and put on a fake surprised look. “Really? That’s surprising since you’ve had your way with at least 98% of the female population currently attending Hogwarts. Actually, why am I limiting that to just the female population?” She finished with a smirk of satisfaction as Potter set his jaw and clenched his fists.
“What are you implying, Evans?” he asked in a dangerously low voice.
Lily was proud of herself. She almost never had the upper hand in one of their bicker matches. “Me? Implying?” she asked in an innocent voice. She turned to Charlie. “Was I implying something?”
“Nope,” Charlie smirked. After a second she added, “Except that Potter here might prefer blokes as much as broads.”
Potter instantly thrust out his wand and took a step forward. “Say it again, I dare you.”
“James. Potter. Is. Bi. Sexual,” Lily clarified slowly. “Merlin, you’re daft. Can’t you take a hint?” She folded her arms over her chest smugly. She knew any moment now Potter’s pride would take over soon. She was right.
In the blink of an eye, Potter bellowed, “EXPELLIARMUS!” His anger had powered the spell so when it hit Lily it not only disarmed her, but also threw her back ten feet from where she had been standing. There was a stunned silence as everyone gaped at her unmoving form.
“LILY!” Charlie took off at a sprint and dropped to her knees at Lily’s side. “Lily?” Turning her over Charlie saw a split lip and gash on her chin. She tapped her cheeks lightly several times. “Lily? Come on, wake up.”
Abruptly, Lily sat bolt upright and coughed hard for a moment. She put her fingertips to her split lip and wiped at the blood, only smearing it. She swatted Charlie’s hand away, grabbed her wand (which lay at her side), and stood. Marching up to the castle, she barged through the group of stock-still boys, genuinely making Peter fall over.
Charlie followed, but when she reached Potter, she went right up to him, looked him in the eye and said, “I never thought you would sink so low.” Then she disappeared into the castle, leaving behind four thunderstruck Marauders.
Charlie found Lily in the bathroom of their dorm washing her cuts with soap and water. Lily and Potter could stay in the Heads’ dorms, but noone knew if either would live until morning.
“He actually hexed me! Well, disarmed really, but it had the same effects! And the nerve of him, saying I shagged Snape. I’ve never had a boyfriend before, let alone intercourse! Ahhhh!” screamed Lily. “I hate him! I HATE HIM!” Charlie was wondering if she could be a litte louder, she wasn’t sure if the people in Mexico had heard.
Later that night, Lily and Charlie were in the Common Room. They were the only ones there so it was quiet, peaceful, and relaxing. Charlie sat in an armchair flipping through Witch Weekly and Lily was lying on the couch, eyes drooping as she stared at the flames. When Charlie looked up from just reaching the halfway point in her magazine, Lily was breathing steadily and was fast asleep.
“Twinkle, twinkle, littler star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are…” Lily quietly sang the Muggle lullaby to the baby in her arms.
The baby boy with mussed jet-black hair looked oddly familiar, but Lily just couldn’t put her finger on it. She gingerly stood from the rocking chair she had been sitting in and walked over to the crib. Pulling the blankets over the sleeping baby, she bent down and kissed his forehead, whispering, “Sleep tight, Harry. I love you.” With that she left the nursery, leaving the door open a crack.
Lily walked down the stairs. Everything seemed very nice. Not expensive-looking, just…homely. Upon entering the living room, she saw a man sitting on the couch reading a book. She smiled and tiptoed up behind him. Leaning in close to his ear, she whispered, “Boo.”
The man started and snapped his head around. Lily found herself looking into the arcane hazel eyes of James Potter. “Lily! Merlin, you scared me.”
Lily giggled and moved around the couch to sit next to him. “He’s asleep. We’re all alone…”
James raised an eyebrow and smiled mischievously. He leaned in and met Lily’s lips with his. Lily pulled the book out of his hand and set it on the floor, and then placed her hand on James’s cheek as he put an arm around her waist.
After a moment Lily suddenly pulled away and tensed. She was looking all around her. James furrowed his eyebrows in concern.
“What’s wrong, love?”
“I think I heard something outside.”
James sighed. “Lily, you needn’t be so paranoid. We’re completely safe.”
Lily shook her head and looked back at him. “No, were not. Nothing’s foolproof, James. I’ve had this eerie feeling all day, like something’s just not right. He can still find us. He knows we’ve probably picked one of our friends or Dumbledore to be Secret-Keeper. Peter’s not strong like you and Sirius. He’s vulnerable and easily manipulated. What if he sells us out?”
James took her hands in his. “Don’t worry, Lily. Peter would die before betraying us. You know that.”
Lily stared at him in deep thought. She slowly started, “I’ve always wondered why you, Sirius, and Peter change into the animals you do. I’ve done research. Animagi transform either into the animal that best fits the wizards’ characteristics, or an animal that forewarns something yet to come in the wizards’ life. You’re a stag meaning majestic and proud, which you are. Sirius is a dog because he’s loyal, friendly, and always wanting attention. But he also looks like the Grim, which could mean death is yet to come. Peter’s a rat, small, fat, and squeaky, but I also just figured out another reason. He’s going to rat us out to “” Lily stopped and her eyes grew wide. “The back door just unlocked.”
James looked at her warily. ‘Paranoia’s gone to her head’, he thought. “I’ll go check it out.”
As James left the living room, Lily stood and paced, wringing her hands and biting her lip. Suddenly James came sprinting back and grasped Lily’s upper arms urgently.
“Lily, take Harry and go! It’s him! Go! Run! I’ll hold him off “” James kissed Lily hard, as if it were the last time he would do so. Then he turned and hurried back off toward the kitchen.
Lily didn’t need telling twice. Halfway up the stairs, Lily heard a door crash open and a high-pitched cackle of laughter. When she reached the nursery door, there was a distant ‘thump’, and more cackling.
‘He’s gone…’ Lily was numb for a moment, and then remembered her duty. ‘I have to save Harry. For James.’
She rushed into the room. Harry was already awake and standing with his hands on the rails of the crib. Lily picked him up and held him to her chest tightly.
“It’s going to be okay, sweetheart. Mummy’s not going to let the evil man hurt you.”
The door to the nursery burst open unexpectedly and banged against the wall. Lily spun around and came face to face with a white-skinned, slit-nosed, red-eyed Voldemort.
“Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!” Lily instantly begged desperately.
“Stand aside, you silly girl! Stand aside, now!” Voldemort hissed.
“Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead!”
“You needn’t die. It is only him I want.”
“Not Harry! Please, have mercy! Have mercy!”
“I have no mercy.” Voldemort raised his wand so that it was pointed straight at Lily’s heart. “AVADA KEDAVRA!”
A jet of green light sailed toward Lily, and before she could even gasp, her world went black.
“Lily! Lily, wake up! Wake up! You’re scaring me! Wake up!” Someone was shaking Lily roughly. Her eyes snapped open as she gasped and quickly sat up. Charlie was kneeling beside her next to the couch and had glistening tear streaks on her cheeks. Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall, clad in their nightwear, stood behind Charlie with white and terrified faces. And last but not least, behind them were the Marauders, wide-eyed and pale.
Lily studied her surroundings. She was back in the Gryffindor Common Room. Her breathing was ragged and heavy and she could feel cold sweat dripped down her forehead.
“Bloody Hell, Lily! What happened? Who’s Harry? Who’s going to kill you? You frightened me half to death!” Charlie put her face in her hands.
Dumbledore put a hand on Charlie’s shoulder. “Calm yourself, Miss Simmons. Now, Lily, what went on in your nightmare?” he said calmly, excusing the fact that Charlie had swore.
Lily curled up into a ball, shivering. “It was NO ordinary dream. It’s couldn’t have been. It was so very vivid and “ and real.”
“But what happened?”
Lily thought for a moment. Parts of the dream were steadily slipping from her mind.
“I “ I was singing a baby, my baby, to sleep. My baby boy, Harry. I put him in his crib, went downstairs, and talked to this man. I… I can’t remember who he was or what he looked like… I think he was my husband or something… The back door unlocked and he went to go see what was up. He came back all panicky and told me to take Harry and run, that he was there. So I went up the stairs and when I had just reached the door to the nursery, I heard a thump. I knew the man was dead. Then the laughter, I will never forget it. I hurried to the crib pulling Harry out and held him close. Suddenly he was there, Voldemort. He told me stand aside, and I refused, pleading with him to kill me instead. And that’s what he did.” Lily shuddered and looked up. “What happened out here?” she asked Charlie.
“Well, about a half hour after you had nodded off, they” “ Charlie jerked her head in the Marauder’s direction “ “came downstairs. You had just begun to stir and mumble. Then out of the blue you were crying, thrashing about and screaming. We couldn’t wake you up, so we got the Professors. It was still fifteen minutes before you would wake. I’ve never been so terrified in my life!” Charlie burst into tears, her normal sturdy grip on her emotions broken. She threw her arms around Lily and clung to her like white on rice. “I “ I didn’t know w-what to d-do!”
Like Lily now. “Shhh… Char, I’m all right. Shhh…” She hugged Charlie reassuringly and patted her back.
“Are you? You’re pale and shivering. You look ready to be sick,” surprisingly Remus spoke up. He was the only Marauder that didn’t take place in the teasing and such. He just looked on blankly.
Lily turned to him and forced a small smile. “I’m fine. Just shaken.” She closed her eyes. “It was so real, so real.”
“Well, now that it’s over, I suggest you all retire for the evening. Goodnight,” Professor McGonagall commanded briskly, leaving through the portrait hole quickly as if she couldn’t be there any longer for fear of crying herself.
“I’d advise the same. Goodnight,” agreed a collected Dumbledore. He was still staring at Lily in deep thought, and then a second later, he, too, left.
Charlie pulled away while Lily sighed and said, “I’ll stay here. I just can’t get that gruesome image of Voldemort out of my head.”
Charlie nodded and sniffed. “Come up soon, though.” Lily nodded. Charlie stood and disappeared up the girls’ dormitory’s steps.
Great, Lily thought. Now I have no back up.
An awkward silence filled the common room. Lily pulled a blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped herself in it like a caterpillar in a cocoon.
“You sure you don’t want me to make you a Pepper Up real fast?” Remus nervously broke the stillness.
Lily looked up at him and gave him a sad smile. “Yeah, I’m sure. Thanks, though.”
Remus sighed. “Okay, I’m turning in then. You sure you’ll be all right?”
Lily furrowed her eyebrows. ‘Why does he care so much all of a sudden?’ “What changed your demeanor?”
Remus looked taken aback. “M-my “ my demeanor?”
Lily looked at him incredulously. “Yeah! You go from hating my guts to waiting on me hand-and-foot, asking if I’m all right? That’s not normal!”
Remus opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water. “I “ you “ you scared us! You looked like you were having some sort of seizure! You may not be our favorite person, but we don’t want you hurt!”
Lily snorted. “Your friend here didn’t seem to have a problem with blasting me back ten feet earlier!” She glared at Potter. He looked at the floor with guilt. She raised her eyebrows. ‘That’s different…’
“Well, maybe they don’t necessarily, but I do!” Remus corrected.
Lily turned back to Remus skeptically. “You do?”
“Yes!”
Lily sighed again. “Look, I’m fine. Just… Just leave me alone.”
Remus studied her for a second. Then he simply stalked past her and went up to his dorm. Sirius and Peter followed more aloofly, but Potter stayed where he was. Lily gazed into the fire blankly, wondering what he was waiting for.
“He was only concerned,” he quietly spoke suddenly.
“I know,” Lily replied in the same hushed voice.
“Then why did you brush him of so… rudely?” He was still in a civil tone.
“It caught me off guard, the concern did, that’s all.”
A moment of silence followed, then, “He does care you know,” Potter said.
'Is he trying to tell me something?' Lily wondered. “I know.” She looked up as he made his way to sit in the armchair Charlie had previously occupied.
“So… what do you think your dream, or nightmare, or whatever it was, means?” he inquired casually.
Lily watched him play with his thumbs. 'What’s up with them? Why do they act like we’ve been best friends all along? Why are they pretending to give a damn? Ah, yes, it’s a new prank. Get close to her and then trick her while she knows not. Of course.' “I don’t know.”
“For once,” Potter muttered under his breath before he could stop himself.
Lily glared icily at him. “Excuse me?”
Potter seemed to realize what he had said. “I “ I “ I mean ““
“Whatever, Potter,” Lily scowled. She got up from the couch. When she was at the foot of the stairs about to start up, he called.
“I’m sorry!”
Lily looked over her shoulder. “Yeah, that’ll be the day.”