Their Seventh Year

A few notes:

Thanks for reviewing!

To the person who asked about “Lauren Emerson”- I just made up the name.  I thought she might show up again later in the story but she doesn’t.

Chapter 4- Vulnerable

James had difficulty sleeping that night, as his plan to make Lily fall in love with him had not gotten off to a very good start. Consequently, he was barely dragging himself out of bed by the time his three roommates were dressed and ready to go. He told them to go and he'd meet them in the Great Hall.

He felt slightly cheered this morning, at least compared to the mood he'd been in when he'd gone to bed the night before. After all, it was a new day. She probably would have forgotten all about yesterday. Besides, he'd finally managed to say something right at the end of their conversation, and she had actually smiled at him...

But when he stepped into the Great Hall, all these thoughts fled his mind, as something was clearly wrong. There was not the usual dull roar of hundreds of voices that always accompanied mealtimes at Hogwart's. It was unnaturally silent, the few people who spoke did so in whispers. And the silence was not due to that fact that everyone was eating, since very little of that seemed to be going on. Most of the people James passed as he made his way down the hall were picking at their food or pushing it around their plates unenthusiastically. Nervous, he instinctively looked up at the staff table for the reassuring presence of the Headmaster, but his stomach dropped as he saw that both Dumbledore and Flitwick were missing, and that several of the other teachers looked distinctly distressed.

He slipped into a seat next to Remus, alarmed to see that even Sirius looked slightly shaken. "What's going on?" he whispered. Even the whisper sounded loud in the ringing silence. Wordlessly, Remus handed him the paper.

James didn't need to see any more than the picture on the front page to know what had happened. A smoking ruin that had once been someone's house, and floating above it, a glittering skull with a snake coming from it's mouth. Everyone in the wizarding world now knew what that symbol meant. James didn't need to read the article to know what had happened, but a familiar name caught his eye- . Nathan and Sara Murray are presumed dead in the attack, as are their two younger children Patricia, 9, and Hilary, 4. Their oldest daughter, Nicole, 17, is currently attending Hogwart's and Wizardry and was not present at the time of the attack.

His eyes slid to the Ravenclaw table, where the students looked perhaps even paler and more upset than the rest of the hall. Several girls were crying. Nicole Murray was a Ravenclaw Seventh year. He did not know her well, but well enough to exchange a friendly jab over quidditch. And now...well, it brought the danger of the times they were living in closer to home than ever before. James knew most of the students in the hall were thinking the same thing he was: It could have been my family.

They had Transfiguration first that day. For the first half of the class, Professor McGonagall tried to get on with her lecture. She seemed to lose her train of thought frequently, and kept repeating herself. Nobody in the class noticed, because despite their best efforts, they were not really listening. Finally, Professor McGonagall erased the instructions on the board with a wave of her wand.

"I know you are all aware of the tragedy that has befallen a student in our school." She said quietly, her voice controlled, but not as stern as usual. "I hope that in the next difficult days and weeks you will all offer your support and understanding to Miss Murray. I know you must be worried about your own families. I can only assure you that the Ministry is doing everything in their power to catch and punish the perpetrators of these attacks."

She cancelled the rest of the class and released them, knowing no one would be able to concentrate that day.

*********

Lily sat in the library, staring hard at her Transfiguration textbook. She was trying to study, but she had just read the same line four times. She was trying to act normal, as Head Girl she thought it would help to make things seem normal, to give some semblance of stability to the frightened First Years, but in truth nothing was normal. And for all her trying to act normal and calm, Lily could barely see past her own fears. No matter how safe she was inside Hogwart's, Voldemort was wreaking havoc outside of Hogwart's, and her family was outside Hogwart's. She could not live with herself if anything happened to her Mum and Dad, or even to Petunia. If not for her, they would be happily ignorant of the wizarding world and horrors like Voldemort and Death Eaters. She wasn't sure if being muggles made them safer, or even more vulnerable. Voldemort hated muggles, and they'd have no way of defending themselves against his servants. But maybe they were safer in the muggle world, removed from this war.

Unable to study, Lily reached for a piece of parchment.

Dear Mum and Dad,

My first day of school went pretty well. I had potions, charms, and herbology. It seems like my classes this year will be a lot of work, preparing for our exams, but interesting. Along with being Head Girl, which I think will take a lot of my time. A boy called James Potter is Head Boy. I don't like him much. Flora and Alice and Emily are all fine. They have mostly the same classes as me.

Lily paused, her quill hovering over the parchment. Part of her wanted to tell them everything about the attacks and her fears and how worried she was about them, but she didn't. Why worry them over something they couldn't control or even really understand.

I guess I just wrote to say that I miss you a lot, and I love you. Say hello to Petunia and (ugh) for me, and please write back soon.

Love, your daughter,

Lily

*******

Peter shoved his books aside irritably, knocking several off his bed in the process.

"I can't concentrate."

They had been let out of Arithmancy, or in Peter's case Herbology, early because no one was paying much attention, including the teachers. Normally the unexpected holiday would lead to students roaming the grounds, but today they were keeping to their dormitories or common rooms. They were all keeping up the pretense of studying, though Sirius was staring out the window with a glazed-over look, and even Remus had not turned a page in awhile.

"Anyone want a game of chess?" Peter said tentatively. The suggestion was met with various sounds of disinterest.

"Exploding snap?" He tried again, to the same reaction.

"I wish it had been my family." Said Sirius, suddenly, and with unexpected violence. They all stared at him.

"Sirius, don't say that."

"It's true. How can I even look at someone like Nicole when my family is part of the problem?"

"But you're not part of them problem. Everyone knows that. Dumbledore knows it."

"I just wish there was something we could do. We're just sitting here. We're totally helpless...We're sitting ducks."

*********

"Um, hey Evans?" James said hesitantly. Damn, I'm supposed to be calling her Lily. She drew her eyes away from the parchment she had been working so intently on, and quickly drew her Transfiguration text over it, although not before James saw "Dear Mum and Dad" at the top. He took the seat across from her.

"So, pretty bad day, huh?"

She did not exactly answer, but gave him a look that clearly said "No kidding Potter". He took a deep breath and continued.

"Some people are pretty upset, especially the first years."

She sighed, and relented. "I know. I'm trying to act normal, but I don't think it's really working." Her eyes strayed to a few first years huddled in a little group near the fire, whispering to each other. They did look very frightened.

"Well, I've been thinking. I mean, part of the reason everyone is so scared is because they feel like they can't do anything about what's going on out there." He waved a hand, encompassing all the world outside Hogwart's. "And they're afraid that they're going to be in it in a few years when they leave school, right?" She looked skeptical, clearly not knowing where he was going with this. "So I was thinking maybe it would help if we started some sort of a club, to learn, like, dueling and defensive spells and that sort of thing, so that everyone could feel like they're doing something, but outside of the pressure of classes, so it would seem more like fun, and..." He trailed off, as her green eyes regarded him steadily. "Idon'tknow. Maybe it's not such a good-" her prolonged stare was making him nervous.

"Actually Potter." She stopped him. "That is a good idea."

He grinned, although he did wish she wouldn't sound so surprised, he did have a good idea every now and then.

"It would at least make people feel like they were doing something instead of sitting around waiting for an attack. They wouldn't feel so...vulnerable."

"Of course, we'd have to get Dumbledore's permission."

"Oh, I'm sure he'd agree to it."

"There'd probably have to be a teacher to supervise."

"Not Professor Macenas." said Lily, of their DADA teacher. "She even gives me the creeps."

"Maybe Dumbledore will have an idea. We should wait a few days until we ask him though, until he finished dealing with...all this stuff..." He didn't want to say specifically dealing with the deaths of the family.

"Yeah."

"Okay." The conversation was clearly over, it was either retreat, or sit there like an idiot searching for something to say, so James chose the former. "I'll see you later I guess."

"Sure." She turned back to her book, her tone clearly saying "I could care less."

But James didn't mind that. She had liked his idea, and they'd had an almost normal conversation. A shadow still hung over Hogwart's, but James felt better than he had all day.