Lily noticed Harry seemed off. He was spacey often, especially in the mornings. Whenever she asked him about what happened, he'd just say he had a "weird dream" and left it at that.
Neville was the one to find a place for the DA to meet. He discovered the Room of Requirement, and once he told everyone in the DA about it, Lena gasped.
"Oh my gosh, I completely forgot about that!" She exclaimed, "My parents used to go there all the time!"
The meetings gave people hope, which was in short supply at the moment, and Lily was progressing with her magic skills. She often paired up with Hayden or one of the other Slytherins if there was an odd number because the other houses were still a bit wary about them. Lily did notice Hayden talking a lot to Lee though, and they seemed to get along well enough. Of course, hanging out with Lee included hanging out with Fred and George, so when Lily was pranked by Hayden and ended up with blue teeth after accepting food from her, she wasn't exactly surprised. Hayden did reverse the magic in the end though, and Lily might have suggested giving Umbridge a similar treat.
Umbridge continued handing out detentions to everyone she disliked, which happened to be a whole lot of people, for the smallest things. Lily only got three more detentions from her for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and "breathing too loudly" or "looking guilty" or even, "blinking too fast, which was surely a sign of disrespect".
Umbridge's tight grip on the castle made the atmosphere more gloomy, and melancholic than ever before. That was, until the day the Weasley twins left.
Hayden came running up to Lily during a break.
"Lily! Come quick!" She exclaimed.
"What's going on?! Is Harry okay-"
"Yes, but you've got to see this! Lee and I have been helping Fred and George to pull this off for days now, and we've finally got it right!"
Lily followed Hayden down the hallway towards Umbridge's office where a large group of students huddled.
"You know what, George, I've always felt our futures lay outside the world of academic achievement," Fred announced loudly.
"What is the meaning of this commotion?! Detention, Weasley's-" Umbridge began.
"Freddie, I've been thinking the same thing." George agreed, blatantly ignoring Umbridge. Someone snorted in laughter, but Umbridge was too slow whipping around to see who.
The Weasley twins raised their wands in sync and the brooms Umbridge and confiscated from them a week ago came burying out of her office, creating two broom-shaped holes in her door.
"Bye, everyone!" Fred called, mounting his broom.
He and George gave another flick of their wands and the floor in front of Umbridge's office turned into a swamp. The students cheered as the twins set off a few of their magic fireworks and then flew off, with Umbridge yelling and running like a chicken with its head cut off, after them. She didn't catch them and the swap stayed in the hallway. Apparently, the charm keeping it there was really strong, and none of the teachers were particularly interested in helping Umbridge- and were proud of the magic, so it stayed there in the middle of the corridor.
After the swamp incident, Umbridge became, if possible even more unbearable. Umbridge wasn't the only thing worrying Lily, however. Harry looked like he hadn't slept well in days, and whenever Lily begged him to talk to her about it, he dismissed it with having weird nightmares. That is, he did until he woke up in the middle of the night after witnessing Arthur Weasley getting attacked.
Lily was woken up by McGonagall, who told her to pack her belongings quickly. Once she had done so, Lily followed her professor to Dumbledore's office where Harry, Ron, and Ginny stood.
"What happened? Are you okay?" Lily asked her brother quietly.
"I'll tell you once we're out of here," Harry replied, and they floo'ed away to 12 Grimuald Place.
Once there, Lily was told of Arthur's attack and Voldemort's snake.
"How did you know about it so quickly though?" LIly asked the Weasley's, but they all looked uncomfortably to Harry.
"I dreamt it." He said, before getting up and leaving the room.
He stayed locked away in his room for the next few days, avoiding everyone. Hermione and Lena arrived at the house, but not even Hermione's reasonable mind could bring comfort to Harry and coax him out of hiding.
Lily had been delivering meals to Harry and sitting on the other side of his locked door, asking him what was going on, promising she wouldn't judge and expressing her desire to help him. Eventually, though, she had enough and cornered Harry at the top of the stairs as he came back from using the lavatory.
"I need to know what's going on. Please don't shut me out like this, I need you, and you need me." Lily said.
Harry refused to make eye contact at first. Hearing Lily's voice, the Weasley children, Lena, and Hermione came out of their rooms.
"What's going on?" Lena asked.
"Harry?" Ron said.
"I didn't just dream about Mr. Weasley getting attacked," Harry said. "I was the one attacking him. I was the snake."
They were all silent for a moment.
"But Harry, that's not possible, you were asleep in your bed," Hermione said.
"I don't know how it happened, but it did. Like I was possessed or something, and when I was in Dumbledore's office, there was a moment when... when I felt like the snake again"
"Did it never occur to you to ask the only other person here who's ever been possessed by him what it's like?" Ginny spoke up, firmly.
Harry looked at her guiltily.
"No." He answered.
"Thought so. Have you been having gaps in your memory? Waking up in places you know you weren't before?" She questioned.
"No."
"Then you aren't being possessed," Ginny said simply.
"But I really was the snake-" Harry began.
"We believe you, Harry." Lily said, "This just means it wasn't possession. That doesn't mean it didn't happen."
"I just felt out of control." Harry admitted, "And I didn't want to hurt you. Any of you."
"That's why you've been avoiding us?" Lena asked, "Next time just talk to us, we're not going to just up and leave you. We're friends. I'm your god-cousin."
"I don't think that's a thing," Ron said, which made Lena give him a look, "But honestly, you've got to talk to us."
"Okay." Harry agreed.
"Now that that's settled, I've got tea," Lena said.
"Okay?" Harry said, obliviously.
"I mean, I have news to share." She clarified, "Follow me."
Lena led them to an empty room and waited until they all squeezed in before closing the door.
"So what is it?" Ginny asked her.
"Has anyone noticed how Maya doesn't seem to hate Sirius's guts anymore?" Lena asked.
"She doesn't?" Harry sounded a bit surprised, which made the girls roll their eyes.
"They actually sat together at dinner last night," Hermione said.
"Wow, that's nice that they're getting along, I guess." He said.
"I overheard my mum and dad talking about how Maya and Sirius used to be sort of a thing," Lena informed them.
"A thing?" Lily, who didn't know much about Maya, asked.
"Like, apparently he liked her and she started liking him just before... well before he was arrested."
"Before it all went to shit." Fred supplied.
"Fred!" Lena scolded.
"Relax, your parents aren't going to overhear," George said.
"I know, but you should watch your language," Lena said nervously.
"You're such a rule follower, sometimes it's hard to believe your parents were Marauders," Ron said.
Lena frowned and looked around for someone to defend her.
"If she doesn't want to swear, she doesn't have to," Lily said, giving Lena a reassuring smile.
"You only say that because you don't swear either," Ron said.
"It doesn't matter, whatever makes them comfortable," Harry said, defending his sister.
"Yeah, okay." Ron agreed.
"Well, I'm going to bed now, it's getting late," Hermione said.
"I'll follow you." Ginny yawned.
Lily agreed, so the girls left the room and went to their shared one. Lena wandered over to the window for a moment, glancing out as if checking for an owl.
"Expecting mail?" Hermione grinned.
"Maybe," Lena said, "You never know."
She walked back over to her bed and they turned out the lights.
"Do you think Sirius and Maya are going to date again?" Lena asked them in the dark.
"I don't know, probably," Ginny said.
"Oooh, I want to go to their wedding," Lena said. "I've never been to a wedding before."
"We don't even know if they're dating or not, Lena." Lily laughed.
"I know, I know, but a girl can hope." She said.
"Yeah, I suppose so. Goodnight," Hermione said.
"Night." The other girls chorused.
The rest of the break went by quickly and they were preparing to go back to Hogwarts all too soon for Lily's liking. Sirius's spirits seemed to drop as soon as the holidays ended, knowing that Harry and Lily would be leaving soon. It seemed that only Maya could bring him out of his sadness, and the two were definitely spending more time together. When the day of their leave arrived, the whole house was somber. Umbridge really put a damper on Hogwarts for the children. Fred and George seemed happy though and tried their best to keep everyone's spirits up somewhat, cracking jokes and using some of the pranking supplies from their shop.
Before they left for the station, Sirius asked to speak to Harry and Lily.
"I'm honestly going to miss you quite a bit while you're at school." He admitted.
"We'll be back soon," Harry reassured him.
"Right. Just alone cooped up in this house until then."
"You're not all alone though." Lily pointed out.
"You're right, Remus and Logan do visit." Sirius sighed.
"And Maya?" Harry smirked.
"How did you know about me and Maya?" Sirius asked in surprise.
"How couldn't I?" Harry countered, "So are you together then?"
Sirius laughed and glanced at the empty doorway for a second.
"Just between us, I was going to ask her out next week, after things have settled down a bit." He said.
"That's great, Sirius." Lily smiled, "I'm so happy for you."
"Well, I can only hope she'll say yes this time," Sirius said.
"This time?" Harry asked, and Sirius groaned.
"Alright, off to school you go!" He said.
"How many times have you asked her out before?" Harry questioned, teasingly.
"None of your business!"
"You're just as bad as our dad was, aren't you?" Harry said.
"Nope, no one could ever rival James's attempts to get your mum to go on a date with him."
The Potter twins smiled at the mention of their parents. Molly called them from the other room, and they had to leave for the train station, saying their last quick goodbyes.
"Be careful," Sirius said as they left.
"You too," Harry said looking back, and then they were gone.