I woke up to someone shaking me early the next morning. Harry stood over me, covered in bandages, and smiling. I grinned back, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and sitting up. I let Harry hug me tightly.
"We did it, Lily," he said, voice laced with excitement. I had to laugh.
We didn't say anything for a few moments. Sydney and Ron had both been let out already, judging by their empty cots. I longed to be released as well, and I would have asked, practically begged, to be let out, but Madam Pomfrey was nowhere to be seen.
"Is that Sadie?" Harry said suddenly, pointing to a cot behind me.
Sure enough, Sadie lay restrained to one of the cots behind me. I growled and ran over, my hair and eyes red. Sadie was already awake. I glowered and whipped my wand from my robes, preparing to hit her with a few stinging jinxes.
"Miss. Potter!" McGonagall strode over to me, while Dumbledore went to Harry. I stuffed my wand back into my robes, cursing myself for being caught.
McGonagall led me into the hallway outside the hospital wing, to allow both Dumbledore and Harry, and her and me, to have some privacy. I leaned against the wall. McGonagall's lips were thin, but seemed to be curled up into a nearly undetectable smile.
"Did you get Madame Pomfrey to at least check the injuries?" she asked, eyeing the cuts, bruises and the one big gash streaked across my face.
"You of all people, should know I didn't," I replied, eyeing Sadie with loathing through the window on the door. McGonagall led me further away from the door upon noticing this. "Why isn't Dumbledore interrogating me?"
"I think we both know the answer to that. Don't make it so obvious that you don't like him Lily, he may be offended," McGonagall said with a tiny smirk that was rare on the Gryffindor head of House,
"It's that obvious?" I said embarrassed, face getting red.
"A little. Now what happened three nights ago?" McGonagall asked, coaxing the story out of me.
"Three nights?!" I exclaimed, suddenly very shocked.
"Yes, three nights ago. You and Harry have both been out for three days. I expect your friends will be very happy to hear of your return. Now, you were going to tell me the events of the night in the underground chambers of Hogwarts."
I told her everything. From finding Fluffy, to getting the answers from Hagrid, to thinking it was Snape, all the way to Sadie whose name I spat like it was venom. I'd broken rule after rule after rule, and I was vaguely aware I could get detention for the rest of my time at Hogwarts.
"Why couldn't Quirrell stand our touch?" I asked, remembering the way his face crumbled to dust beneath my hand.
"The night your parents... died, the love your mother showed, it left a mark."
I raised my cut hand up to my forehead and lay two fingers on my scar. I winced and quickly with drawled my hand as it brushed the cut Sadie had left, I burned at the touch, and the whole thing now throbbed.
"No not a mark you can see. It runs in your blood. It wasn't Quirrell that couldn't touch you, it was Voldemort, that couldn't," McGonagall informed. "Now let's fix this."
With a wave of her wand, all the bruises left by the falling stone were gone, along with the small cuts. Some of the bigger cuts were bandaged, but were healing quickly. The giant slash was still streaked across my face. McGonagall tried multiple spells, but none worked.
"What happened here?" McGonagall asked.
"Sadie," I growled, my eyes and hair going bright red at the thought of her.
"It's dark magic," McGonagall muttered wide eyed. "It'll have to heal on its own, but I don't think it'll scar."
I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Keep some of those things to yourself. About our 'little adventure'," I laughed. "I don't want to get Hagrid, or any of us in trouble... unless you plan on giving us six years worth of detention, starting next September."
"I do not, and your secrets are safe with me," she answered. "Don't tell anyone I can be nice. That's supposed to be Dumbledore, I'll lose control of the students."
"It's a deal," I smirked.
I found myself suddenly glancing longingly at the hospital wing doors behind McGonagall. I had not yet been able to talk to Harry, except for the few words he offered right after we woke up. I guessed we probably both had a lot to say.
"Go on," McGonagall said gesturing to the door.
"Thanks," I said with a genuine smile. "See you around, Prof."
I pushed the double doors and came face to face with Dumbledore. He was a mere two feet away from me, too close for my liking. I took a step back away from the wizard I was thankful that I had gotten out of talking to.
"Hello Miss Potter," Dumbledore greeted.
"Headmaster," I replied, craning my neck around him, to get a look at Harry.
"I heard you had quite the incident down there," he said with an annoying twinkle in his eye.
"Yes, Headmaster," I said, not really wanting to be rude, but also not wanting to be talking to him, especially at the moment.
"You two must have been quite brave down there."
"I suppose so. Harry is much braver than I, though. Headmaster, may I go speak to him?"
Dumbledore didn't speak, but granted me entrance to the hospital wing by stepping aside. Iran over to Harry and jumped onto his bed. I wrapped him into a hug, and we stayed like that for a while.
"What's wrong with that cut on your face? Why won't they heal it?" Harry asked worriedly.
"Sadie used dark magic," I muttered. "It'll heal eventually; we just have to let it heal itself."
Harry his head in disbelief at the Slytherin who we thought was our friend. We looked at her across the room, only to find her staring back at us, her blue eyes holding dark hatred. Harry and I killed her father. Then it really sunk in. We killed a man. Just by laying our hands on his face, Harry and I had killed Quirrell.
"I can't believe it," I whispered. "She seemed like such a good friend."
"I'm going to go to the dormitory and just..." I trailed of looking back at Sadie's hate filled eyes and sighed.
Harry released me from the hug he had me in and I trudged slowly through the halls, not speaking to anyone. I felt the weight of the world piled on my shoulders. Hatred for Sadie, sadness that I'd lost a friend, happiness that this was all over, and guilt knowing I killed someone, all these emotions surged through me, making it quite difficult to keep my metamorphmagus powers in check. Just like I had in the chambers three nights previous, I pushed the sadness away and let anger replace it. It was much easier to handle.
I eventually arrived in the green glow of the common room, and I basked in the familiarity and comfort of the room. I walked up the stairs to the dormitory and just stood in the doorway. Sadie's, bed and belongings were still piled up next to mine and it haunted me with memories. Every good memory we had together hit me hard, as much as I didn't want to let it.
"Get up!" I whined impatiently, as they squinted their eyes even against the dim light that filtered through the black lake. "We need to get to the Great Hall!"
Draco and Neil groaned in response. Draco rolled over and shoved his face into the pillow, while Neil sat up and shut the curtains. I ripped them opened again and shook their shoulders, and even slapped them in the faces to no avail.
"Come on! Wakey wakey!" I yelled, afterwards giving a quick water making spell to their faces.
I woke up all the guys in the dormitory with that. Theodore Nott, who had shot up in bed quickly after the loudness of my voice, glared at me darkly. I laughed nervously, putting up my hands defensively and taking a step backward.
"Uh, hey Theo... Nice... hair?" It was true; his hair was ruffed up in a good way. Though there was amusement on his face, it didn't overshadow his narrowed eyes. I looked down at my bare wrist.
"Oh look at the time gotta run," I laughed. With that I was gone.
Sadie was waiting for me in the common room. I guess Sydney had already left. I ran down so quickly I nearly fell to the bottom. Sadie raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, what did you do this time?' she interrogated, seeming to notice my urgency.
"What? What are you talking about? Hey we should, oh I don't know..." I looked up the boy's staircase to check for any angry Slytherins, "go down stairs and wait for Neil and Draco there!"
Sadie didn't even flinch. The Slytherin and the liar in me were both lacking considerably. I straightened up, hoping to seem more sure about what I said, which didn't work one bit.
"I woke up all the guys in the dormitory," I muttered, giving in.
She only burst out laughing. I grinned once, but not before shooting another look up the stairs, where I found quite a sight. Neil and Draco were running down the stairs. They made it to the bottom tripping and falling over one and other in the process. They lay in a heap on the floor.
"Finally let's go, you clumsy idiots!" I exclaimed dragging Draco by his legs while Sadie did Neil.
We dragged them all the way to the stairs, at which point we became too lazy to continue. We dropped their ankles, and they stood quickly, rubbing the backs of their heads tenderly. Glares were shot our way, and we only grinned.
-
Fred and I sat next to each other at the Gryffindor and continued to bicker over Quidditch. Everyone started to join in, everyone but Hermione and Sadie.
"Ugh, boys and their Quidditch," Hermione groaned.
"Agreed," Sadie added, rolling her eyes.
"Hey!" Sydney said, as she and I turned to face Hermione and Sadie. "What was that?"
"I said boys and their...oh."
"Uh-huh. Do we look like boys to you?" I drawled slowly, looking both Hermione and Sadie in the eye.
"Well... what I meant was-" I cut her off only by raising an eyebrow.
"No," Hermione said rather bravely.
"That's what I thought," I said, my voice sickly sweet. "I think I'll just be going, then," I stood and turned to the doors. "But before I forget..." I waved my wand once, pointed towards Hermione and Sadie.
Their hair began to get shorter, their features became more boyish, and when they spoke their voices were deeper. They looked at each other in horror, and clutched their faces. I laughed at their reactions, whilst they glared at me.
"What is going on here?" a velvety voice sounded behind me.
I turned to find Professor Snape standing behind me. Ever since that one potions class where I'd decided to look like my father, he'd hated me. He hated me but he couldn't take points off his own house. He couldn't take points off a Slytherin, much less give them detention. He was helpless.
"Well you see Professor; these two girls thought Marshall and I were boys! It was very insulting you see, and I decided they needed to get what they deserved," I turned and smirked at Hermione and Sadie who still looked like boys.
"Miss Potter, I decide who gets punished and how. I am the Professor no?" he looked down on me, his black eyes holding no amusement.
"Yes sir. But-"
"No buts, Miss Potter. I will decide appropriately, who is punished. Miss Granger 10 points from Gryffindor for harassing another student."
"Professor, what about Sadie?" Hermione complained.
"I do not think Miss Bennett did any wrong," Snape drawled smoothly.
"Well what about our faces then?" Hermione and Sadie complained.
"Hm," Snape strutted off, his robes billowing behind him.
I laughed again at the expression the two wore. I walked away, leaving Sydney to be yelled at mercilessly by Hermione and Sadie.
-
"Come on!" I laughed. "It's fine! Look!"
I twirled around in the air, hanging on tightly to my Nimbus 2000. Sadie stared at the broom in front of her, not even bothering to pick it up off the ground.
"I don't like flying!" She exclaimed for the millionth time.
"But why?" I whined, flying in circles on my broom. "It's fun!"
Sadie hmphed and stood defiantly, tapping her foot on the ground and putting her hands on her hips. She kicked the broom away and glared at me.
"Fine be like that. I guess I'll just go make Sydney play. Bye bye!" I went to fly towards the castle but was stopped by a yell of protest.
"Okay, okay fine. But I'm not going more than 10 feet off the ground," Sadie said with a groan, picking the broom up off the ground.
"I didn't ask you to," I grinned triumphantly.
For another hour Sadie and I flew around the pitch, racing and flying laughing and shouting loudly. Sadie was true to her word, her broom never came more than 10 feet off the ground. We landed a long time later and went straight to the Great Hall for lunch, hair windblown and smiles plastered on our faces.
-
"This makes no sense!" I groaned looking over the Charms paper again.
"Yes it does!" Sadie tried to explain it to me once again but all the rules, and enchantments and wand movements still jumbled around in my head.
"Why don't you do it for me?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.
"No," Sadie stated.
"Yes."
"No."
I enchanted a piece of parchment to fold itself into a paper airplane and fly towards her head, which was now turned away from me and facing down at her own paper.
"Hey!" she exclaimed.
"Help me!" I complained.
Sadie enchanted another piece of parchment to fold itself into a paper airplane fly towards me. It hit me in the head and I did the same back at her. Soon enough there were at least fifty paper airplanes flying back and forth, hitting us both. I ducked and let one fly right over my head and a horrified look came over Sadie's face.
Our head of house stood by the news board, with and angry look on his face, a paper airplane crushed in his fist. He glared so angrily I was sure if looks could kill, we'd be dead. Then Snape would revive us with some super potion, and kill us again.
Sadie and I looked at each other and ran up the staircase into our dormitory slamming the door shut. As soon as the door was closed, held laughter burst out of us like a popped balloon. We mimicked Snape's angry glare and laughed the night away.
I sighed and looked up at the pictures of me and Sadie together I took them off the wall and stashed them away. I found the quill she'd gotten me and tucked it away, knowing I'd never use it. I didn't want to look at all these reminders and knew I couldn't get rid of everything, but there were some things I could do.
I stood and walked out of the common room and through the halls that flickered in the torchlight. I roamed the cool and thankfully quiet dungeons until I arrived at Snape's office, and I knocked quickly.
Snape pulled the door open and glared harshly once he saw me. I glared back but raised an eyebrow waiting for him to speak first.
"Miss Potter," he drawled.
"Professor," I replied with a small sneer.
"What seems to be the problem?"
"Sir, I assume you've heard the news about Sadie Be- Sadie Quirrell?" My hair and eyes went bright red again with hatred fuelled anger.
"And?"
Without thinking I found myself being completely honest, no snarky comments or glaring. I just spilled all of my thoughts out to the Professor who hated me at my own fault.
"It's just... Looking at the bed bothers me. Seeing all her belongings there makes it feel like nothing is wrong. But there's a lot wrong. Looking at a lot of stuff bothers me, there are memories plastered all over the walls of Hogwarts, but I can't change everything. I might as well change what I can," my eyes were glued to the floor.
"I will have her bed removed and her belongings sent away with her. She will be spending a year or so in the mental ward of St. Mungo's, before being sent off to an orphanage," Snape said, his silky voice less harsh than usual.
I smiled gratefully. As hard as I tried, I couldn't muster up any sympathy for her, knowing an orphanage was worse than being with the Dursleys. On top of that she would be stuck in a mental institution for a year.
"Thanks Sn- Thanks Professor Snape," I said honestly.
"Very well Miss Potter. I assume that's all?" Snape asked, but I didn't miss the hint of softness in his voice.
"Yes Sir. Thank you Professor. I'll just be heading off to my dormitory," I walked slowly out of Snape's office.
I made my way slowly back to the dormitory fighting to keep my hair dark red and my wide eyes hazel. I quickly cleared the small distance from Snape's office, back to my dormitory. I lay back in my bed, Sadie's bed and belongings still there.
I shut my eyes, throwing on headphones hooked up to my iPod and tried my best to drown out the world around me. I could hear every creak and shuffle through my blasting muggle music, disturbing me greatly. I heard a loud bang, and I shot up in bed, my eyes snapping open. There were house elves getting rid of Sadie's belongings, and a huge box was laying upside-down on the floor.
"We sorry. Sevrus Snape say get rid Sadie Quirrell stuff," one of the elves said. He was much smaller than the rest. Standing at barley a foot tall he carefully slid one foot across the floor, keeping his eyes down.
An older looking house elf walked over to the tiny little one and roughly turned the little elf around to face himself.
"Otto! Be polite! That is Master Snape, Miss Potter and Miss Quirrell to you!" Scolded the older one to the little one.
"Sorry," muttered the little one, Otto, going under my bed.
"That's fine," I said looking at the angry looking elf. "I do prefer Lily, please don't call me Miss Potter," I told them, hoping to see little Otto again, he was really cute, with his big blue eyes and flappy ears.
"Yes Miss Potter, Miss," said a house elf bowing.
I raised one brow.
"Lily," the elf corrected.
"Otto," I called softly. "Come on out."
The tiny little elf crawled out from under my bed and looked up at me guiltily. His blue eyes shone with unshed tears.
"Yes Lily, Miss?" it replied quietly.
"It's okay, you can stay out here," I told him quietly.
"Please forgive Otto please Miss," said a third house elf stepping up. "He is only just a baby Miss. He was found in the forest and has nowhere to go."
Upon hearing this I immediately wanted to take the small elf, and have it myself. Not to use as a slave like most house-elves. But because it was so small and vulnerable and looked like he could use a home.
"Is he under Hogwarts care?" I asked.
"Yes Miss Potter, Miss. For now Miss."
"How old is he?" I asked, knowing house-elves aged exactly three times quicker than humans, but lived even longer.
"Only just over a year miss."
"Come with me Otto, we'll go have a talk with Dumbledore. We'll also need to stop and pick up my brother, Harry Potter," I said standing and waiting for the small elf. His huge eyes widened happily and he ran over beside me.
Otto hopped all the way to the Gryffindor common room, stumbling occasionally. We arrived quickly at the Gryffindor common room, me having to run at times to keep up with the energetic house elf. I knocked twice and Ronald opened the door.
"Hello Lily. Merlin's Beard! Is that a house elf?" He asked pointing right at Otto.
Otto smiled happily and nodded vigorously hopping around my legs.
"Ron, fetch Harry for me would you?" I asked stopping Otto.
Ron ran into the common room and I stepped in just as he ran up the boy's staircase. He came back down not even a minute later with Harry at his heels.
"Okay let's go!" I screamed grabbing Harry by the arm, and pulling him into the hall.
As soon as the Gryffindor common room portrait close we started walking, and Harry started questioning.
"What's with the tiny house-elf? Where are we going? What's going on?" he asked.
"This is Otto. We're going to Dumbledore's office because Otto has nowhere and no one. He's just a baby. I want to keep him and we're going to ask Dumbledore," I said, continuing to walk.
"What?! You want to get a house elf? You think the Dursleys would allow that?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Yes I do want to keep Otto. And no the Dursleys won't allow it. But since when do I care?"
"Fine. He is pretty cute," Harry faced Otto as we walked. "Hey, I'm Harry. I'm Lily's brother."
"Hi Harry," Otto smiled shyly.
The three of us continued to walk towards Dumbledore's office. Once we arrived we were forced to seek out a ghost who went to inform Dumbledore of our arrival. The ghost returned only moments later with the password. We made it up the staircase quickly once the gargoyle had hopped aside.
"Hello children," Dumbledore said once we'd arrived.
"Afternoon, Headmaster," I replied politely.
"Is there anything you need?" He asked.
"Yes. I way in my dormitory earlier and some house-elves came in to remove Sadie's stuff. They had this little one with them and said he was in need of a home. I was wondering if I could take him?" I said all in one breath. "I'll pay anything."
"I see you've met Otto from the forbidden forest. He does need a home. Hogwarts is just about full. We are not in need of any more house-elves," Dumbledore stated. "He is also far too young a house elf to be working for us."
"Can we have him?" I pleaded.
"House-elves usually cost a lot of money Miss Potter."
"I'll pay," I promised.
"No need. You can have him in return for saving the stone and bringing down the evils in our school this year," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye.
"Thank you Headmaster!" I said happily and Otto jumped in glee. "One more thing though, during school, could he stay here with me? I don't think the Dursleys will like him there all year."
"I'll send down another house-elf to make room to accommodate him."
"Thank you again Sir."
"Harry," Dumbledore addressed turning to my black haired brother. "Did you need something as well?"
"She dragged me here!" Harry accused pointing a finger at me.
Dumbledore chuckled and Harry and I walked out of the room, with our new house-elf jumping around. We dropped Harry off at his common room and Otto and I headed back to the dungeons.
A house elf was waiting for us there sitting on the floor beside the bed. It wasn't a very good looking elf and was seated leaning on the dresser. It's head snapped up once we arrived.
"Miss Potter and Otto," It bowed to me. "I've made accommodations to the room already so it's all ready for young Otto."
I looked around the room. It looked the same to me, four beds, a bathroom door, a window and four dressers.
"It looks the same," I said glancing around the room once more.
"Looks, is the key word," said the elf, and it walked under the bed, Otto following close behind.
"Hey! Get back here!" I called.
"Come," It yelled from under my bed.
I crawled under the bed, and shock over came me when I found myself in a staircase. I went down and pushed open the door at the bottom. I was even more surprised to find myself in a house elf sized room.
"Wow," I breathed.
Otto sat on the black duvet of the small bed, squealing happily.
"Is this alright Miss?" asked the elf.
I looked to Otto for an answer. He nodded quickly before proceeding to jump on the bed.
"Perfect," I responded.
"Great," the elf snapped its fingers and it was gone.
"We're going home in a few days Otto," I told the elf.
"Kay."
"You staying here? I'm going for lunch," I asked looking at the tiny elf.
"Yeah."
The elf was so young he didn't even talk like the other elves- Master this Master that. He hadn't learned to yet. I was quite thankful, honestly. I didn't like really, that the house elves were forced into that. In fact, I didn't really like the idea of house elves working as slaves at all.
I walked up to the Great Hall and took a seat beside my friends. I hadn't seen Fred and George since my release from the hospital wing, and I found myself at the bottom of a very painful, but affectionate dog-pile.
I was glad to find that lunch was mostly normal. Everyone noticed the obvious absence of Sadie, but no one commented on it. We all managed to make it fun, in fact that was Fred and George's specialty (they proved this by using their spoons to fling bits of potato soup at the Ravenclaws).
"Syd," I muttered partway through lunch. "I got something to show you in the dormitory."
We ran down into the dungeons running to the common room, nearly running into five students. We arrived quickly and dashed up the stairs to the dormitory. Sydney's face dropped as she instantly noticed the removal of Sadie's bed.
"What? I know Sadie's gone," she muttered.
"No not that. This is going to seem weird but trust me. Now follow me," I rolled under the bed.
"What?"
"Just come on!" I yelled from the stairs.
She crawled under and landed on the staircase. She jumped up and looked around, her head whipping around quickly.
"Woah! Is this under every bed?" Sydney admired.
"No. Come on then," I walked down to the bottom of the stairs. "Don't tell anyone."
I opened the door revealing Otto's room. He was eating at the little table munching happily and humming. He looked over when we entered and waved.
"Lily! Who this?" he asked pointing at Sydney.
"This is my friend, Sydney."
"Hi Sydney!"
Sydney still looked amazed looking around the room, back at Otto then at me she quickly snapped out of her trance and turned to me.
"You have a house-elf?! Has this been here all year?"
"No. Since this morning."
"This morning? What?!" Sydney questioned.
"I asked Snape to get rid of Sadie's stuff. He sent some house-elves to get rid of it, and Otto was with them. They said he was found in the Forbidden Forest and he needed a home. I asked Dumbledore and he said I could have him in return for saving the stone and 'bringing down the evils in the school'. I asked if I could keep him at the school when I'm here and he sent another elf to set this up," I informed.
"This is awesome! So that's Otto?" she asked pointing to the little elf, who was now munching on pie.
"Yeah. I'm keeping him away from the other elves so he doesn't start calling me Miss Potter or master."
"Smart. It's annoying when they do that. Master Sydney this Master Sydney that," she complained.
"You've got an elf?" I asked.
"Yeah, Webb. He's a cranky old elf though, more so my mother's inherited from a friend of hers when he died. He's definitely not as cute as Otto."
We walked up the stairs and quickly checked to make sure Bulstrode wasn't in the dormitory. Tracey Davis was though, and she was nice and we talked to her often, so we showed her Otto's room so she knew what was going on inside her dorm.
We stayed in the dorm until dinner joking around, mostly trying to get over the fact that there was only four beds in the room. Twice we made the mistake of turning towards the empty spot where her bed used to be.
*
The last day of school came quickly. We were sitting shamefully at our house tables. Sydney and I sat side by side looking down shamefully, knowing we lost most of our house points. Ravenclaw banners hung throughout the room. McGonagall tinged the spoon against her glass and all eyes snapped towards the house table.
"Another year, gone. As I understand it the House Cup needs awarding," Dumbledore said, standing at the golden podium at the front of the Great Hall.
We groaned and glared angrily at the Ravenclaw table where the students sat looking extremely happy with themselves. I don't think I'd ever seen a Ravenclaw look so smug. How I wanted to wipe the grins off their faces.
"In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points," Dumbledore announced.
There was some faint, pathetic applause, mostly emitting from the Gryffindor table. Louder than that were the grumbles of annoyance coming from the same table. Fred and George even failed to make fun of the situation.
"In third place, Slytherin, with Three hundred and fifty two points."
The clapping was slightly louder, and many boos echoed throughout the Hall, coming from our own table. A few glares were directed at Sydney and I. Word had got around that it was us that had lost so many house points.
"In second place, Hufflepuff, with Four Hundred and twenty six points."
The applause was mixed with some cheering, and it was much louder than before. The Hufflepuffs, cheerful as ever, grinned brightly. I, along with many other Slytherins, booed loudly before sinking back into my seat.
"In first place, Ravenclaw, with Four Hundred and seventy two points."
The cheering coming from the Ravenclaw table was deafening. The Hufflepuffs it seemed were all too friendly, and seemed not to be upset at all that they'd placed second instead of first. They too cheered for the Ravenclaws, along with many polite Gryffindors. The booing from my own table did nothing to drown out the cheering.
"Yes well done... however," Dumbledore held up a hand to silence the students, "Recent events must be taken into account."
Gasps and whispers sounded throughout the hall. Snape and McGonagall looked very pleased, and their eyes immediately snapped to the students of their house. I could have sworn McGonagall winked down at us all. Even Snape, though it was hard to tell, had a glint in his eye. Flitwick did not look very pleased at all.
"First, to Miss Hermione Granger, for cool use of intellect while others were in grave peril, fifty points."
The students were now listening intently. The Syltherins and Gryffindors seemed to get over their anger at us very quickly. We were quickly going to win them points at this rate. Us at the Slytherin table were waiting for bated breath for our turn at being awarded points.
"Second to Ronald Weasley, for the best game of chess, Hogwarts has ever seen, fifty points. Third to Harry Potter, for pure love, and outstanding courage, sixty points."
Cheering sprang out through the hall and whispers went around quickly. Gryffindor was tied with Ravenclaw now. The Ravenclaws grins were all lost, but I couldn't have cared less. In fact, I was quite glad at how downcast they seemed to be now.
"Fourth," Dumbledore yelled to quieten the chatter. "to Sydney Marshall, for stepping up, while all others were down, sixty points. Fifth, to Lily Potter, for extraordinary love and loyalty, sixty points."
Now it was a three way tie for first place. Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Gryffindor were competing last minute for the house cup. This was about as unfair as it got, but I didn't care. Since when were Slytherins ones to play fair?
"It takes a great deal to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends. I award 10 points, to Neville Longbottom."
The Gryffindors had just started to cheer and jump around, having gotten into first place. Neville had turned quite red, and was sinking down into his seat, trying desperately to avoid the endless praise he was receiving from his housemates.
"And finally, to Theodore Nott, for helping a friend, in her most desperate time of need, without question or explanation, ten points."
I looked questioningly at Sydney despite the cheering, and Sydney shrugged her shoulders.
"When I got out from the trapdoor, Theo helped me walk to the owlery, without asking what was wrong, or waiting for an explanation. He just used himself as a human crutch as we walked. I told him what happened the next day," Sydney explained.
"I believe," Dumbledore started, bringing our attention back to him. "That a change of decoration is in order."
He waved his arm. The blue faded away and red and green took over. At this the Ravenclaws became more unsophisticated than I'd ever seen them. They crossed their arms angrily and booed loudly. Dumbledore ignored them.
"For the first time in over three hundred years, we have a tie. Gryffindor and Slytherin have won the house cup."
Cheers were screamed throughout the room. Every house looked pleased except for the Ravenclaws. We all threw our hats in the air. McGonagall looked happy, a smile on her face and clapping, while Snape had his usual mask on clapping slowly, but with what could almost be classified as a twinkle in his eye.
I jumped up onto the Slytherin table and hopped from it, over onto the Ravenclaw table where I stopped and stuck out my tongue and continued to the Gryffindor table on the other side of it.
"Harry!" I yelled and jumped onto him in a hug.
"Congrats, Lils."
"Right back at you brother," I said, punching him lightly in the arm. "Ready to go home tomorrow?"
"I think, Lily, that Hogwarts is our home."
*
The train would leave in five hours. I walked quietly through the halls keeping my head down. Fluffy was gone. That was the first thing I noticed when I entered the room with the trapdoor. I sighed and levitated myself through the trapdoor and to the cement floor below me.
I walked through the door to the room with the keys. I reached up and grabbed one quickly and it stayed trapped between my fingertips. I watched it flutter between my fingers, careful not to damage the wings. I released it again a few seconds later.
I shut the door behind me, making sure not to let any keys out. I walked to the middle of the empty chess board. The chessmen were frozen in place and I walked right through to the next room.
The table was empty, there were no potions left. Even the broken glass I'd left was gone now. I was momentarily scared that I'd be trapped, but no flames sprung up. The room was eerily quiet, but I moved forward regardless.
I entered the room where we'd fought Quirrell, Voldemort and Sadie. I sighed and sat on the steps, close enough to see the mirror, but far enough that I could only see my reflection. I stared at my reflection, my eyes travelling over my pale skin and soft features. I had chosen to let my hair go jet black like my father's that day.
I lost track of time as I sat there, sitting silently staring at my own reflection. Everything was running through my mind. My mind was so distracted that I didn't hear a set of footsteps enter the room behind me.
"Ahh, there you are Miss Potter," I turned to find Dumbledore behind me.
I nodded.
"You're brother and friends were very worried, even your owl is flying desperately around the castle. The train leaves in two hours."
"Yeah, sorry."
"What's on your mind Lily?"
"A lot of things honestly. But the one thing I keep wondering; why is it that my mother's love protects us? What happened to Dad? He loved us too. I remember. I just remember seeing his face, and being in his embrace when he died," I said sadly.
"You remember that night?" Dumbledore asked bewildered.
"The whole thing," I informed sadly. "Only when the terror started happening.
"Dad picked me up and told Mum to take Harry. He didn't have time to take me out of harm's way as well," I don't know why I started to recite the night, but I did. "Mum ran up the stairs with Harry. The lock on the door clicked. The door flew open and Voldemort stood there. Dad held me in his arms, with his wand pointed in Voldemort's direction. He shot spells, green ones, but Voldemort just... laughed. He laughed and shot the same spell Dad had been using back at Dad. Dad fell to the floor, me still in his arms. Voldemort picked me up and said 'I'm going to kill you together'. He brought me up to where my mother was, Harry behind her. 'You can't have Harry' she was screaming. Voldemort laughed again and killed her too. He put me next to Harry and shot the curse again, two jets of green light coming there was a flash of bright green light, a pain on my forehead, and Voldemort was gone."
"I always thought your mother's love protected the both of you. But it doesn't. Your mother's love protects Harry. By the sound of it, your father's love protects you," Dumbledore said astounded.
"Dad's?"
"Yes Lily. Now hurry on. The train leaves soon."
"Yes Headmaster."
I got to my dormitory quickly finding Sydney looking worried. Her head snapped up at the click of the door closing and she glared.
"Lily where were you?!" she asked angrily.
"The room with the mirror," I said quietly.
"Okay," she said quietly, quickly forgetting her anger. "Better get packing then."
We both got to it, minding our own business. It was a while before I was able to shove everything in my trunk. I had to sit on the lid to make it shut. I fell back onto my bed when I finished.
"Train leaves in an hour," I informed. "We'd better get down there."
Sydney nodded and grabbed her trunk. We made for the door, Otto trailing behind us quickly. I frowned as I watched him.
"How am I going to get Otto to the train?" I asked.
Sydney walked over to Otto's trunk, and cast an undetectable extension charm. The inside grew a bit bigger and she smiled smugly.
"Mum taught me," she said.
"Otto!" I called.
The small elf skidded to a stop.
"Jump in," I directed pointing to the trunk. "This is how you're getting to the train. You'll be fine in here a while."
Otto did as he was told. I shut the lid on the trunk, tying it to my own, before we left the room, leaving whoever it was that brought our trunks down to do so. We made it to the platform in a matter of twenty minutes, opting to walk rather than take the carriages. We found our trunks on the platform.
"Watch all this! I have to run to Hogsmade really quick," with that I was off.
I ran to Hogsmade really quick and ran through the town. Once I'd gotten what I'd come for, I ran back to the train panting. It had taken another twenty minutes, and the train was leaving in a matter of minutes.
"What?" Sydney asked sitting on my trunk.
I held up a golden snitch in a small translucent purple bag.
"Why do you need a snitch?" she asked.
"I need something to do this summer," I explained. "The Dursleys aren't all too fun."
Sydney sighed and we jumped on the train to start the journey. Sydney, Harry, Ron, Hermione and I got a compartment to ourselves. The journey back to King's Cross seemed to short. Before we knew it we were on the platform, bidding goodbye to all our friends.
"See you all next year. Don't forget to owl me," I grinned.
"We wouldn't dream of it," Sydney chuckled.
So Harry and I left. We found the Dursleys and began the dreadful journey back to Number Four Privet Drive.