CHAPTER 3
Truth or Dare?
Lily strolled out of the dining hall with James by her side. They impatiently waited right outside the entrance to the massive dining hall for Professor McGonagall to show them their new homes. Ana, Sirius, Remus, and Chloe traveled together to the Gryffindor common room, as usual. James glanced at Lily beside him, and quickly returned to his normal state. His mind drifted into more thoughts of Lily in his arms, laying outside in the fresh air, under the oak tree at Hogwarts.
Today, she wore a green v-neck sweater and skintight light blue jeans. Her hair was in a neat half-a, with a lily flower elegantly pinned to the back of her head, holding her dark red locks in place. A frustrated look painted her face, her arms were crossed over her chest, and her emerald eyes were rather anxious. Her eyes seemed to always flick back to the door, as if the Minister of Magic were about to happily trot out and greet them.
"Evans, relax. She will come out in a minute," James assured her, putting a hand on her shoulder. When he touched her, tingles of energy crept up his arm, causing a faint shade of a blush to erupt in his cheeks.
She slapped his hand away from her shoulders and huffed, "She said she would come immediately after the feast. Well, it's over! Where is she?"
As if on cue, a slim, stern-looking woman approached them, with several papers in hand. James nodded curtly, followed by Lily shortly after. She looked at the couple of teenagers dourly and handed them each a packet of approximately fifteen papers.
"Good evening, Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans. Please follow me to your new dormitories," Professor McGonagall said, breaking into a fast walk towards the east staircase, near the Ravenclaw common room. Lily and James scrambled behind her with anxiety.
The click-clack of her short heels echoed in the enormous building, startling the children at first. They rushed behind her, struggling to keep up. After twisting and turning around several corners and corridors, they finally arrived. Lily let out a deep breath.
Before them was an astronomical phoenix, at least ten feet tall, glimmering in different shades of gold. James's mouth formed an "O" in a matter of seconds, causing Lily to chuckle a bit at his amazement.
"Now, it will ask you a question, and in order to enter, you will have to answer it correctly, like so," Professor McGonagall said urbanely.
The gold phoenix awoke, and stared down at the three people below him. He figured it was a demonstration at first, because the two students clutched their uniforms in hand, and they had maroon and gold lions on them.
"Greetings. What are the three Unforgiveable Curses?" The phoenix boomed, as the children stepped back a step or two.
Professor McGonagall answered, "The Cruciatus Curse, The Killing Curse, and the Imperius Curse."
The phoenix flapped its wings and hovered in the air, revealing a large silver door at the end of the corridor it had been blocking. Professor McGonagall led both of her head students into the corridor, and allowed Mr. Potter to turn the small silver handle.
When the doors opened, light shot out and almost blinded them. With squinted eyes, they entered, and closed the door. Lily stood agape at the wonderful room.
It was a very open and welcoming room. On her left there was a bay window overlooking the Quidditch Pitch, and there was a long, maroon bed-couch one could sit on and watch the games. To her right, there was a glass doorway that seemed to lead to a balcony that neither of them had ever seen before. The balcony was rather quaint, with just enough space to have a little breakfast in the mornings. A bijou round table was in the middle of it, with two chairs. The black sky seemed to shine with all of its stars. You could lay out a blanket and look at the stars for a while, Lily noted. There, aside from the balcony entrance, another doorway sat right next to it. The door was completely white, with a golden plaque that read:
