A Serpent Among the Eagles

Chapter Nineteen - Concerning Her Scar

Okay, I'm really sorry if the chapter's no good. I'm trying not to have Lily do EVERYTHING with Harry, and I figured I needed to use Lanna a little bit more often. For the most part, so far Lily has either been alone or in Harry's head, so a lot of what I've done seems to come straight out of the book. I'm trying to fix that, but as the next chapter is 'Through the Trapdoor' in the original book, I'm afraid there will be a lot of Harry and his gang in my next chapter.

On the plus side - two, maybe three chapters left! After that I'll do some updating on Lanna Less-Strange, then I will - more than likely - start the next book in the Harry Potter series! I need a title, so if you guys want to start suggesting some...? If I pick yours, you'll get the first dedication in the next book! Remember, the original is 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'. I can't wait to see your ideas!

I'll update the next chapter as soon as possible, but the next two weeks are REALLY busy, so I apologize if I take a while.

  Lily was trying to study for her exams, but it didn't seem to be working. Everything was a distraction. Especially if it involved Draco or Harry.

  Draco's latest 'foolproof' plan to get Harry expelled had failed. Lily had tried to warn Harry that he had left his cloak at the top of the Astronomy Tower, but he wouldn't listen. He had been too happy that the dragon was gone to even realize she was in his head.

  So now, Harry, Draco, Hermione, and Neville all had detention. Lily had tried to speak to her father, but he was too angry at Draco for getting himself caught by McGonagall, of all people, to pay attention. No one seemed to have time for Lily anymore - except Lanna. Lanna still cared.

  "Really, Lily, you tried to warn Harry. He's the one that wasn't paying attention. How did you know he left his cloak at the top of the tower, again?

  "I, uh... Oh great, there's Draco."

 "Where?" Lanna quickly turned, forgetting all about the previous subject.

  "He just ducked between those shelves. Come on, let's go outside."

  The girls went and sat by the Black Lake. Lily suddenly felt her scar burn, and turned. There was Quirrell, watching their every move.

  "Ugh! Is there nowhere we can just sit and talk without someone watching everything we do?"

  The motion of turning away from Quirrell caused her hair to move from her forehead, and Lanna stared.

  "Lily... wh-what's that on your... on your forehead?"

  "What do you mean, Lanna?" Lily rubbed her forehead... and felt the scar under her fingers. She quickly hid it before removing her hand.

  "It's gone... it was there, it looked like lightning... like Harry Potter's."

  "Shhh!" Lily looked around. Quirrell was gone. "Don't say anything," she whispered. "I'll tell you sometime. Don't tell anyone. Please?"

  Lanna looked confused, curious, as well as slightly hurt. "Alright, Lils..."

  "Thanks so much. Father would kill me if he knew anyone had seen it."

  "Why?"

  "I - I... Lanna, you should know, considering your... your family. But... I can't tell you yet. It's not safe. I promise, I will tell you. Not yet. I'm really, really sorry."

  "It's okay, Lily. I know you have your reasons."

  "Yeah. He wears a purple turban."

  It was that night that Harry had his detention. Since it wasn't until eleven, Lily had intended on sleeping, completely ignoring Harry's trouble this time. The plan worked fairly well...

  Until she was woken up by the worst pain she had ever felt. Her scar as burning, throbbing. Needing to know the source, she tried to break into Harry's mind. It was difficult, both of them suffering from intense pain.

  Wasn't that a dead unicorn on the ground? What was that slithering toward Harry? He was stumbling backward, clutching his own forehead.

  H--H-Harry...

  Lily... get out of here...

  Harry, what's g-going on?

  I don't know...

  Harry fell to his knees. Suddenly a centaur jumped over Harry and charged at the... thing.

  Lily was forced out of Harry's head by the pain. She laid on her bed, willing the pain to go away.

  It didn't but it did subside enough for her to get up. She had to go see her father.

  She grabbed her bag and Invisibility Cloak. It wouldn't do to get caught by Filtch before she reached her father's office. This was more important than hiding the secret of the Invisibility Cloak. She had to talk to her father now.

  She used every secret passage she knew of, as well as every shortcut, but the path to the dungeons seemed longer than ever.

  As soon as she arrived, she knew the chances of his being within earshot were slim. Father's private quarters were behind a hidden door among his shelves in his office. She tucked her Cloak into her bag. She had to try.

  "Father!" She banged on the door. "Father!"

  The door didn't budge. She tried the knob, though she knew it was locked. She had left her key in her trunk. He wouldn't be stupid enough to forget to use the anti-unlocking-spell-charm or whatever it was called, would he? Lily hoped that he had for tonight. She pulled out her wand.

  "Alohomora!"

  It worked.

  She burst into his office and shut the door behind her, then quickly went through the hidden door.

  He wasn't in the main room. No big surprise, really. She turned to the door that led into his room.

  Her scar wasn't hurting so badly now. In fact, she was well enough to remember to think. She knew that, while her father had never gotten mad at her for running in without knocking when she was little, he had never much appreciated it. Now that she was eleven and living upstairs, not here in the dungeons, he might get angry.

  She knocked, softly at first. Now that she had gotten this far, she felt a bit more timid about approaching her father in the middle of the night, especially considering that he was very strict, and the rules clearly stated that she was supposed to be in her Common Room at this time, if not in her dormitory.

  "Father?" She knocked a little harder. Still no response.

  "Father!" She banged on the door. Nothing. Was he gone?

  Just as she raised her fist to knock again, a door opened. However, it wasn't the one she had been knocking on.

  It was the one behind her and slightly to the right. The hidden door in Professor Snape's office.

  Professor Snape himself walked through the door.

  "Lily? What are you doing here? It's past one in the morning. Your reason had better be a good one." He folded his arms.

  "Father, my scar... It... it..."

  The man's facial expression quickly changed from one of anger and annoyance to one of concern.

  "Sit down, Lily. What happened?"

  Lily felt like this whole year had been nothing but explaining what had happened to her, but she told him anyway. She told him that she had woken up, that her scar had been hurting her a lot, and that she had waited for it to subside a bit before running down here. Most of the story, anything involving Harry, she hid.

  "Lily," said her father finally, when her story was complete, "I don't want you to tell anyone about your scar. It could be very dangerous."

  "Yes, Father."

  He sighed. "Come. I'll walk you to Ravenclaw Tower."

  Lily had the distinct feeling that the worst of the storm had not yet passed.