Lily Potter and the Shadows' Misfortune

Chapter Thirty

"Open it!" both of the boys mouthed back to Lily.

From beside Lily, Rudy shrugged, putting his hand on the note and sliding it over to himself.

Slughorn continued lecturing, and Lily looked over Rudy's shoulder as he opened the note underneath the desk:

Ike and Douglas aren't here.

Lily's eyes widened at the revelation written in her cousin's terrible handwriting. Trying to be an inconspicuous as possible, Lily turned over her shoulder, pretending to check the clock at the back of the room, and was surprised to find the two Slytherins not at their respective table in the back of the room.

Though she did have a disdain for Douglas and Ike, Lily knew that those two were never not in class. Something was very suspicious.

When she turned back around to face the front of the room, she continued taking her notes as if nothing had happened. She couldn't let Professor Slughorn realize that she and her friends were concerned with something other than a boring lecture on Wiggenweld Potion.

Fifteen minutes later, Professor Slughorn stopped his writing, "Ah, nice of you two gentlemen to join us."

Lily, along with the rest of the class, turned to the back of the room, where Douglas Roth and Ike Thompson stood in the doorway, both looking out of breath and slightly panicked. Some of Lily's classmates laughed at their tardiness while Lily eyed them warily.

"Do either of you gentlemen realize how late you are to my class?" Slughorn asked.

"Half an hour, sir," Douglas said, swallowing.

"Twenty points from Slytherin, each," Slughorn responded. "Take your seats, gentlemen."

Lily watched as the two made their way to their seats and had to hold back laughter when Ike's shaking hands dropped his bag on the floor.

"That will be enough," Slughorn said. "Now, back to Wiggenweld, ladies and gentlemen."

The rest of class passed without incident, and when the bell rang, Slughorn dismissed the class.

"I tell you there's something off with those two coming in so late," Hugo said, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "Mark my words."

"I agree with that statement," Eli said, looking down the aisle of tables to where Douglas and Ike were skedaddling out of the classroom.

"Is it just me, or was there something really weird up with Douglas and Ike?" Nora asked as she stood beside Lily.

"We were just talking about that, Nora," Hugo said. "There's something really weird with those two."

"Do you think we should follow them?" Rudy asked.

"I don't think they'll be going back to where they came from," Lily said. "I think that they realize that they came off a little suspicious."

"What if they're the ones that stole that stuff from McGonagall's office?" Nora asked, looking up with wide eyes.

"I mean, it makes sense," Lily said, starting out of the room as she didn't want to linger. "But do you think that those two are-"

"Miss Potter!"

Hearing her name, Lily turned to see Professor Slughorn sitting behind his desk, "Yes, Professor?"

"A word, please," he said, waving her to his desk. Lily gulped. "Your chums can wait outside of the door if you don't mind."

Lily nodded to her friends and approached the Professor's desk slowly, hoping that she wasn't in trouble for not giving her complete attention during his discourse.

"What do you need, Professor Slughorn?" she asked, taking the seat in from of his desk and putting her bag down on the floor beside her. She really hoped that he wouldn't ask to search her bag because she knew that the note was folded between the pages of her notes.

"A favor, Miss Potter," he said. "A simple favor."

Lily relaxed a bit into the green chair, "Yes, anything, Professor."

"I would like to ask you to tutor a troubled first year student," he said. "Normally, I reserve tutoring spots for my advanced students, but I have a feeling that you will be quite the pair with this particular student- not to mention that your potion skills are exemplary."

"Thank you, Professor," Lily said, feeling herself glow at her instructor's praise. "Would you mind me asking who I'll be tutoring?"

He shook his head, "I have to keep it confidential until the actual meeting in case one of you decides not to go through with this. It's standard policy."

"Fair enough, Professor," Lily said. "Is that all?"

"Yes, it is, Miss Potter," he said.

"Thank you for the opportunity to help another," Lily said, grabbing her bag and heading out of the classroom to where her friends stood.

"Did you get in trouble?" Hugo asked, sounding almost excited at the premise.

"No, I didn't," she said, shaking her head at her cousin. "He wants me to tutor someone."

"Who?" Rudy asked as the five began making their way out of the dungeons.

"I don't know," Lily said with a shrug. "Slughorn wouldn't tell me. It's kind of a bummer. I just want to know."

"Look on the bright side though, Lil," Hugo said. "At least we have something on Douglas and Ike now."

"You're an optimist now?" Eli asked, raising a brow at his best friend.

"Nope," Hugo said. "Still a realist."

-+-
A very short chapter, but a very necessary chapter.

Alright, now for something important. As my readers, you have given my work tremendous success on this website, and I only have you all to thank for that. I feel like I really should give back to you, so here's the question I pose: what would you like from me? I mean, other than more frequent updates. Trust me, I'd love to update way more and on a constant schedule, but life just gets in the way of that sometimes. I'm sure you all know the feeling. I digress. I pose the question again: is there anything else you'd like to see from me?

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Random Question:
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Gosh, I'm pretty sure that this author's note is longer than the actual chapter...