Chapter 20
I sat stiffly at the Gryffindor table in the great hall, watching as Dumbledore stood up in front of everyone.
The head table was surprisingly quiet, all their faces grave. I had assumed they had already been told.
“Students of Hogwarts,” Dumbledore began, taking a deep breath. “There have been.... security breaches, here in Hogwarts, and a very valuable item has indeed been taken from my office.”
The great hall remained silent, all eyes focused on Dumbledore as he cleared his throat before continuing.
“We do not know how this has come to happen, or why, though if you have any information, please come forward to me after dinner. Furthermore, we will be spending the next couple of days searching for answers, which also means that you will be spending the next week at home.”
At this the school broke out into applause, and I couldn’t help but laugh at the enthusiasm.
“Additional information will be posted in you common rooms. Enjoy.” Dumbledore nodded once as food appeared on the table, the whispers of students echoing among the walls of the great hall.
“Someone broke into Dumbledore’s office!”
“We get to go home for a few days!”
“I hope this doesn’t damage our grades!”
“I wonder who did it...”
I frowned slightly, looking down at my plate and picking at the food, not feeling all too hungry.
“Lily?” I heard Harry’s voice interrupt my thoughts, and I looked up at him.
“What?”
“Any idea of what’s going on??” He asked, and I paused before slowly shaking my head.
“No.” I lied, and Harry nodded, though he looked slightly suspicious as he turned back to Ron and Hermione, and I went back to the food.
I couldn’t tell him, because then he would wonder how I knew. And if I told him I knew because Snape told me, he would ask why Snape told me. And if I told him why Snape told me, he’d wonder why I was with Snape in the first place, and everything would go downhill from there.
~~
Later that night I walked into the common room to see a group of Gryffindor’s surrounding the post board, looking at the details.
“We’re leaving tomorrow.” Neville told me as he shrugged his way out of the crowd, and I nodded.
“Great.” I let out a sigh, and Neville shrugged.
“We should only be gone for a week or two- it can’t be that bad.”
“I know. But I’m behind in school work already, and-” I started, but Neville put his hands on my shoulders.
“Lily. Relax. It’s going to be fine.” He said, and I sighed.
“I know.” I nodded, taking a deep breath. Neville smiled.
“Good. You’ll write, right?” He asked after a moment, and I grinned, nodding.
“Of course Neville.” I chuckled, and he grinned crookedly.
“Good. I should go pack, but hopefully I’ll see you before we leave tomorrow.” He smiled before disappearing, walking up to the boy’s dormitories.
Sighing, I walked up to my own dorm, opening my trunk and piling all my belongings inside. I wasn’t particular unhappy about leaving Hogwarts for a week- it would be great to see Sirius, Remus, Caiden and Mrs. Weasley- but I wasn’t thrilled either. I’d miss Neville, Severus, and Dumbledore.
I shut the trunk, pulling out a pair of sweat pants that I pulled on quickly before crashing onto my bed and quickly falling asleep.
~~
The next morning I woke up to see Hermione’s brown eyes looking down at me.
“Lily! Wake up!” She cried, and I jumped up.
“What- sorry, ‘Mione.” I grinned sheepishly as Hermione rubbed her forehead where I’d accidentally banged into her.
“It’s fine, fine, but everyone’s leaving, come on!” She cried, and I nodded, running a hand through my hair- thankfully it wasn’t too bad- and throwing on a jacket as she helped me levitate my trunk downstairs and out of the common room.
“There you are!” I heard Harry cry, and I grinned, blowing a piece of hair out of my face.
“Morning Harry.” I greeted, grinning at my cousin as he and Ron hauled their trunks over to us. Hermione stiffened slightly, turning to me.
“I’m gonna go.” She said stiffly, and I nodded as she walked away before turning back to Harry and Ron.
“Hey guys.” I greeted. Ron nodded in greeting while Harry smiled.
“Sleep well?”
“Naturally.” I chuckled as he helped me pull my trunk into the carriage that would take it to the train. With a final grunt we also pulled Harry’s and Ron’s in before we made our way to the student carriages.
I saw Draco walking towards one with Blaise and Pansy, and made sure to try and get a carriage- and train compartment- as far away from them as possible.
“Lily! Over here!” I heard my name being called from behind me, and I turned around to see Ginny, Luna, and Neville waving me over.
“Coming!” I yelled back before turning to Harry and Ron.
“I’m gonna go sit with them, okay?” I asked, and Harry nodded.
“Sure. See you when we get to London.” He said, and he and Ron waved as they walked towards their compartment as I walked towards Neville, Luna and Ginny.
I had figured out a while go that I wasn’t part of ‘The Golden Trio’. And I was okay with that- happy, even. I didn’t mind hanging off on the side. I loved my cousin, yes, but Hermione and Ron...well, I understood that when you have family, even if you love them, you don’t want them with you every single second of every single day.
So I stuck with Neville, Ginny and Luna, and, more or less, we were the Silver Quartet.
Hehe.
“Hey guys.” I greeted, sitting next to Luna. Ginny smiled at me.
“Hey Lily.” She greeted, and I nodded.
“So, what do you think about going home?” I asked curiously. Ginny and Neville shrugged indifferently while Luna spoke up.
“I find it pleasantly surprising.” She said in her dreamy tone, looking in between the three of us. “Hopefully I’ll be able to go find a dinger-xand with daddy over break.”
I grinned, while Ginny and Neville tried to muffle their laughter.
“That’s fantastic, Luna.” I chuckled, jumping slightly as the carriage jerked to a stop, and the four of us stepped out. I pet the black horse slightly before following my friends into the train, sitting down in a compartment and sliding the door shut behind us.
“Well, this is a change.” I muttered, sitting next to Neville and looking out the window as the train started to move, trees already a blur.
“A little bit.” Neville agreed, and sighing, I sunk into my seat.
“It’s gonna be so dull!” I groaned. “I don’t wanna go home.”
Ginny rolled her eyes.
“It will not be dull. You’ll be at Grimmauld with Sirius, Professor Lupin and Harry.” She reminded me, and I rolled my eyes.
“Still.” I sighed, and Neville shrugged.
“Could be worse. Gran’s off on vacation, so I’ll be home alone.”
“We should go to Diagon Alley sometime, the four of us.” I suggested, and Neville, Luna and Ginny nodded in agreement.
“We should. I need to do some shopping, anyways. And I want to see the twin’s new store.”
“We totally need to check that place out.” I laughed, grinning. “Wreak some havoc at Hogwarts.”
“Brilliant!” Ginny laughed, and I smiled at the redhead. Luna smiled slightly, and Neville nodded in agreement.
“Great.” I chuckled slightly before looking back out of the window.
~~
A little while later we pulled into King’s Cross station, Ginny and I said goodbye to Neville and Luna before heading off on our own to look for Sirius and Mrs. Weasley.
“You see anywhere?” I asked, and Ginny shook her head, craning her neck to look above the crowds when something caught my eye, and I looked over to see a death eater- I couldn’t place his name- staring at me. I stared back, watching as he nodded curtly at me before disappearing into the crowds. I blinked, startled. Odd.
“Lily- Here!” Ginny yelled, and my thoughts snapped back to her as she pointed towards Mrs. Weasley, who was standing with Sirius.
“Padfoot! Hey!” I laughed, running over with Ginny and hugging them tightly.
“Hey Flower.” Sirius grinned, and I smiled back.
“Miss me?” I chuckled slightly, and he nodded.
“Of course.” He murmured, kissing my forehead. “Now come on, we have a couple of errands to run.”
“What errands?” I frowned up at him, and he smiled crookedly.
“You’ll see when we get there. Come on then.” He nodded, and I said goodbye to Mrs. Weasley and Ginny before following him out of the platform and back into the muggle world.
“So where are we going again?” I asked, and Sirius smiled slightly as we walked out of the train station.
“You’ll see.”
“Great.” I groaned, and Sirius chuckled, wrapping an arm around my shoulders as we walked.
“Trust me, you’ll like it.” He promised, and I smiled up at him. He seemed happier, lighter, and didn’t resemble the man that had escaped from Azkaban three years ago.
“I still hate waiting.” I muttered, and he rolled his eyes.
“Come on, we’re almost there.” He said, pulling me around the corner. I was laughing when a thought hit me.
“Wait! What about Harry?” I asked, feeling terrible. We had left him! But Sirius just laughed.
“It’s fine. Molly’s taking him, Ron, Hermione and Ginny to the burrow. You’ll see them later.”
“Oh.” I nodded, pursing my lips. “I see..”
“Yup. Now come on.” Sirius said before grabbing my hand and jerking me across the seat, causing me to laugh as he nearly got us hit by a bus.
“WATCH IT!” Sirius laughed, dragging me to the other side of the street before dragging me into the shop and the first think I saw made me smile.
Ice cream.
“I figured it wouldn’t hurt to treat you a little now and then.” He chuckled, grinning at me. I hugged him.
“You’re awesome, Padfoot.” I smiled, and Sirius hugged me back.
“I know, I know. Now come on, what flavor you want?” He asked, and I grinned before looking over at the flavors to decide.
After lots of taste-testing and decision-making, I settled on peppermint while Sirius went with chocolate, paying the cashier before we both sat down.
“Thanks, Sirius.” I smiled, and he nodded.
“No problem, Flowers. I just wanna try and do this whole guardian-thing properly.” He said, smiling sheepishly. I laughed.
“Well, you’re doing a great job.” I reassured him. Sighing, I looked out the window.
I’d have to tell him.
So I did.
~~
“So you’re from the future?” Sirius asked, his jaw hanging open. I chuckled slightly at his expression but nodded.
“Yeah.” I smiled sheepishly, and Sirius whistled.
“Wowww...”
“I know.”
“So who else knows?” He asked as we walked down the street, and I shrugged.
“Dumbledore, Caiden, and Remus.”
“That’s it?” Sirius asked before frowning. “How come Remus got to know before I did?”
“Caiden let it slip.” I explained, and Sirius nodded, looking appeased.
“Oh..”
“Yeah. Not exactly good to trust a five- well, now eight- year old with big secrets.” I chuckled, and Sirius nodded in agreement, resting an arm across my shoulders. I leaned into him, smiling slightly.
“So you’re honestly not mad I didn’t tell you?”
“A little bit, but I’ll live.” Sirius admitted before adapting a concerned expression. “However, you might want to tell Harry soon..”
I sighed. “You’re probably right... he’ll be mad that I’ve kept it from him this long.”
“I’m sure he’ll understand.” Sirius said reassuringly, though there was concern in his eyes as we walked back to Grimmauld.
XXXxxxAuthor'sNotexxxXXX
YAY! New chapter! And she finally told Sirius^^
I am SO happy to see all the comments/reads I've gotten on this story^^ It's great to know all you guys like it.
I'm sorry I haven't been updating as often, but I've been busy joggling my obsession with White Collar- a tv series I adore, and helping my Beta Rosie work on some of her own stories!
Anyways, I'll make sure to post again soon!!
READ, COMMENT AND FAN!!
Luv ya,
Lils