Merlin, isn't this just depressing! Lily thought. First day in the new school year, and we have History of Magic!
Lily looked around in the classroom. Professor Binns' voice had already had its impact even though they were only ten minutes into class. Half of the students were sleeping, doodling or simply staring out the window. Even though she was normally keen on learning more about the magic history, she found it very hard to continue taking notes herself.
Some time and a lot of doodling later, the bell rang to signal that the class had ended. Lily quickly put her things in her bag and hurried down to lunch with Arietta and Diana.
“Say,” Diana said, yawning widely, “is it just me or has that subject gotten more boring since last year?”
“I think you're right,” Lily replied, “I've never thought that I couldn't care less what some goblin did some two thousand years ago. Well, I have, but not so much that I couldn't concentrate on taking notes.”
When they finally sat down at the table and started eating, Arietta opened her Daily Prophet. They had been terribly late this morning, so she hadn't had time to read it at breakfast. Before Lily could ask if there was anything worth knowing in the paper, the rest of the Gryffindor girls in their year joined them at the table.
“Oh, hello.” Lily smiled at them. Even though she didn't consider Camille, Scarlet and Hannah to be her closest friends, she, Diana and Arietta often talked to them at meals and also spent some of their free time with them. Arietta looked up from her paper and nodded in greeting, then took a bite from a chicken wing and went back to reading.
“Have you heard that You-Know-Who has been spotted in Bulgaria? It said so in today's Daily Prophet,” Scarlet said with a grim face.
“Ari, you're supposed to read it aloud when you spot those passages,” Diana said, annoyed, and pointed her finger accusingly at Arietta.
“I'm only just reading it now,” she said, completely indifferent to Diana's accusing tone and not even bothering to look up from the paper.
Lily was frowning. She couldn't remember who on earth You-Know-Who was. She was trying to remember his real name when it dawned on her.
“Wait, isn't he that crazy Dark wizard who hates Muggleborns? Voldemort?” she whispered. Camille and Scarlet flinched, Diana dropped her fork and Hannah choked on a potato. Arietta just kept reading the paper. Lily realised, a bit late, that just saying his name was enough to freak most people out.
“Yeah, newsflash I know.” Camille laughed, as if this was not such a grim topic. Her hands betrayed her though; she was holding her knife and fork as if letting go would mean the end of the world.
“Well, if he's been spotted in Bulgaria, that's only good news, right?” Lily reasoned, taking a sip of her pumpkin juice. “It just means he isn't here, and nobody is unhappy about that I suppose,” she continued, tucking some hair behind her ear.
“Yeah, but there's more,” Hannah whispered, as uneasy about the subject as the rest of them.
“Whot?” Diana said, her mouth full of chicken.
“Di, you really should learn to talk without your mouth full of food,” Lily reprimanded as Diana struggled to swallow her chicken. Hannah was about to say something when their thoughts were interrupted as Arietta spat out all of her pumpkin juice, which landed on Diana's face.
“Ew!” Diana exclaimed, and continued sarcastically, wiping her face with a napkin. “Gee, thanks, Ari, my throat was all dry and my own juice just didn't seem to help.”
“Sorry,” Arietta said absently and continued to read. They all stared at her.
A minute later Arietta looked up from the paper to find that they were all still staring at her.
“What?” she asked, perplexed.
“Aren't you going to tell us why you just spat out all your juice?” Lily asked while trying not to smile at Arietta's confused face.
“Oh yes, of course,” she replied, taking a bite of her chicken.
“Well?” Camille urged her; clearly curious about what could cause such a reaction from Arietta, who was usually very careful not to spill food or juice.
Arietta folded the paper and laid it on the table, so that the passage she was reading was visible to all of them.
“It says that the Ministry suspects he will return to England soon,” she said.
“And?” Lily retorted.
“That's what I was about to say,” Hannah mumbled, clearly annoyed that someone else was now giving the shocking news.
“Look, apparently me and Lily are the only ones who haven't been blessed with the knowledge of this mind-blowing news, and as much as we appreciate to feel stupid,” Diana remarked angrily.
“We would really be grateful if you would just spill the beans,” Lily finished.
“Right, sorry,” Arietta said hurriedly, “It just says that the Ministry thinks he's in Bulgaria to recruit vampires in his army,” she whispered, and they all huddled together so they could hear what she was saying better.
“Vampires can't be that bad compared to all the murders that have been happening in the last year,” Diana reasoned, still not seeing what was so horrifying about the situation.
“Are you kidding?” Arietta asked in astonishment.
“Wait, why did you say 'all the murders'? I didn't think there were that many,” Lily asked, suddenly very much aware that they were all looking at her now.
Hannah answered. “He and his followers have been killing Muggleborns all year. I don't think there's been a week without a murder. How could you not know that?” she whispered.
“It hasn't been in the Prophet, has it?” Lily asked, sure that she would have heard of it if it had been printed in the paper.
“A few of the murders have, but only the ones that the public 'need to know about'. The Ministry's not too proud of the fact that they haven't been able to do anything to stop You-Know-Who, so instead they choose to cover up how many people have been killed. Of course, it's just a matter of time before they have to give up that approach, seeing as they can't keep the reporters silent forever,” Arietta whispered.
Lily wondered briefly when this conversation had begun to be so secretive that they all felt they had to whisper.
“How do you know all of that?” Camille asked, impressed.
“My father works in the Ministry. He's been angry about it all last year,” Arietta answered.
“How come you didn't tell me about the killings?” Lily demanded, slightly affronted.
“Thought you knew.” Arietta shrugged. “Diana knew, so I just thought you did too. Anyway, most people know there are more murders than the Daily Prophet announces.”
“You haven't said why vampires make such a huge difference to what has already been going on,” Diana reminded her. They all listened intently, eager to hear what Arietta was going to say and at the same time terrified of what they were probably going to hear.
“It's not just the vampires themselves, even though they are terrifying enough,” Arietta said while taking another bite of her chicken, “but if they join Voldemort, it won't be long 'till the giants and possibly a large amount of werewolves join him as well.”
“Shit,” Lily mumbled. That could only be bad news. She didn't get a chance to worry about it long, though; three Slytherins, two boys and a girl, were making their way over to the Gryffindor table. Lily recognized them as belonging to the Slytherin Quidditch team. Camille, Scarlet and Hannah had started discussing Voldemort's whereabouts and continued their lunch.
What on earth do they want? Lily thought, as the biggest of the Slytherin boys, a Chaser on the Quidditch team and apparently the gang's leader, tapped Diana on the shoulder. Lily knew who all of them were. The one disturbing Diana was Dennis Crawford, an extremely unpleasant guy. The other boy was Kevin Davies, a Beater on the team, and the girl was Harriet Parkinson, another Chaser. She was a Seventh Year while the other two were Sixth Years. Lily could hardly imagine that they wanted anything good.
Diana turned around to face the three Slytherins. She looked just as surprised as everyone else.
“Can I help you with something?” Diana asked. Lily thought she looked as though one wrong word from the Crawford would make Diana punch him in the face. He didn't seem to care whether or not Diana was moments from punching him. He looked rather mean, really, Lily decided.
“Why were you spying on us yesterday?” he asked, pissed off that Diana obviously didn't have a clue what this was about.
“What do you mean?” Diana asked, looking completely surprised. But Lily wasn't fooled. She could tell by Diana's face that she knew what he was talking about.
“I mean, why were you spying on us in the middle of a Quidditch training lesson?” he almost sneered at her.
“I wasn't! I was simply out on the grounds because I wanted to fly on my broom! I hardly think that's a crime!” Diana immediately defended herself.
“Don't lie! We saw you when we were rehearsing our new feints. Don't tell me you weren't spying. Who have you told about our strategies? James Potter?” the Parkinson girl asked. Lily had to hide a smile. Diana was not on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, but she was a very big fan of Quidditch and loved flying.
Lily would not be surprised if Diana had actually spied on the Slytherin team, but she would be very surprised if she told James Potter, who happened to be the Gryffindor team's new Captain, what she had discovered.
“Oh please. As if I would degrade myself into spying for Potter,” Diana spat back. The Slytherins glared at her.
“Who told you to spy on us, then?” Davies asked. He looked and smelled as though he hadn't showered for days. Lily briefly wondered why almost all Slytherins had to be so unappealing.
“No one has asked me to spy on you!” Diana said, clearly irritated now.
“Look, if Diana says she wasn't spying for anyone, she is telling the truth,” Arietta now said, apparently feeling it was time to say something in Diana's defence. This, however, backfired, as the Slytherins now rounded on her instead.
“And how do you know? Were you spying too?” Crawford asked.
“Excuse me! Don't you accuse me of spying!” Arietta said dangerously low. Lily thought this had gone far enough now.
“Stop this! None of us were spying, and besides, the Gryffindor Quidditch team would never need to send someone out to spy on you, they are perfectly able to beat you without doing that,” she interfered. Why she suddenly felt such a strong desire to defend the Quidditch team, she had no idea. All she knew was that these Slytherins were pissing her off.
“Pfft! As if they are even near our level of skill. They could never beat us,” Davies said. Lily was sure that by now they were just trying to annoy Diana into doing something stupid so one of the professors who were eating lunch at the teachers' table would come down and dock points from Gryffindor. And it seemed to be working. Diana looked as though she had just received a slap in the face.
“How dare you! Any Gryffindor player could beat a Slytherin player anytime, anywhere,” she fiercely objected. Lily felt she had to calm Diana before she lost her temper.
“Di, they are not worth it. Let it go,” she told her while giving the Slytherins a stern look.
“Stay out of this, Mudblood,” Parkinson said.
Both Lily and Diana lost their tempers and took their wands out, as did Arietta. They didn't have time to do anything, though, as Professor McGonagall was approaching them.
“Miss Evans, Miss Hudgens and Miss Geller, put those wands away. What is going on here?” she asked sternly.
“Professor, they were spying on our training lesson yesterday,” Crawford said. Lily could have killed him.
“Is this true? You know I will not tolerate such behaviour!” Professor McGonagall said.
“We didn't, Professor. And she just called Lily a Mudblood,” Diana protested.
“Enough! Detentions for all six of you and ten points from Gryffindor and Slytherin. I would expect better behaviour from all of you,” McGonagall thundered. Lily sighed.
“If you are done eating, I suggest you move on to your next class. Goodbye.”
Diana rounded on Crawford.
“Why did you lie to her? Now we have detentions!” she hissed, while obviously trying to control her temper so Professor McGonagall wouldn't come back.
“It was your fault as well. But I suggest we settle this tonight,” he replied. Lily did not like where this was going.
“What do you have in mind?” Diana asked.
“A competition. Losers explain to McGonagall that it was their fault completely and that the others had nothing to do with it. Then hopefully she'll let the others skip the detention,” he explained.
“What sort of competition?” Diana persisted, interested.
“Truth or Dare,” Parkinson replied before Lily had any time to say anything.
“You're on,” Diana said, “the deserted classroom on fourth floor, the one that was used for Charms lessons until two years ago when Peeves wrecked the place. Nine o'clock. Be there.” The Slytherins all disappeared hurriedly.
“Di, what did you just agree to?” Lily asked nervously. Not only had she received a detention today, she was apparently going to break more rules tonight.
“I'm sorry, Lils, I know you're a Prefect and everything. But, do you both remember that I told you about my dad arresting two wizards in possession of illegal Muggle artefacts and that he is keeping a close eye on a third wizard at the moment?” she asked. Lily and Arietta nodded.
“Well, I'm fairly sure their names were Crawford, Davies and Parkinson,” she said. Then Lily understood.
“I see... So the wizards your dad was talking about are probably their fathers,” Arietta said quietly.
“They were probably hoping we would do something stupid and get punished, and then it backfired and they went to plan B,” Lily said, suddenly realising that the thing about Diana spying on them was probably just an excuse so they could get revenge. “Well, there's nothing we can do about it now. We just have to make sure not to get caught tonight,” she finished. Diana sent her a grateful look.
“So, what are we having next lesson?” Arietta asked in an unusual cheerful voice. They were all thankful for the change of subject.
Lily glanced at her schedule.
“Care of Magical Creatures. Still with the Slytherins, though…” she sighed, finishing her meal and picking up her bag. “You coming?”
Forbidden Forest? Who Said Forbidden? by Rikku
Chapter Notes: I realise it has been extremely long since my last update. Sorry about that! I have two more chapters nearly finished, so I hope there will not be too long between the next updates. Thanks to my beta-readers, radcliffe4eva and Celtic_Jewel. Now there's nothing left to say but enjoy!