Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and events from J.K. Rowling's wonderful Harry Potter books. I am writing this for my own enjoyment and hopefully for the enjoyment of readers. Anything you recognize belongs to JKR. The rest belongs to me.
Chapter 24: Shivers and Chills
"Dungbombs."
The portrait hole opened up in response and the three Marauders crept in, hoping nobody was in the common room. It was well after curfew and they didn't want to get caught. They had just enjoyed a few hours of fun in the kitchen. That evening the house elves had set up a trap to find out who was stealing the food. Once they were caught, the boys were certain they would be in for a month's worth of detentions. To their surprise, the house elves welcomed them and told them to have a seat while they prepared whatever the boys wanted to eat.
The common room appeared to be empty. Seeing no one, the three boys crept toward the stairs to their dorm. Halfway there James dropped some of the goodies he had been carrying back from the kitchens. Sighing in frustration, he told his friends to go upstairs and he would catch up with them. Obliging, they disappeared up the staircase.
James knelt down and started gathering the dropped items. Suddenly, a moan came from across the room near the fireplace. James' head jerked up at the sound and he slowly inched across the room and around the couch and looked down to see Lily asleep. She was shivering and appeared to be in the midst of a nightmare. Her face was scrunched up like she was angry or afraid of something. Not wanting to see her like this, James sat down on the edge of the couch and gently shook her shoulder.
At first, she didn't wake up. In fact, her nightmare seemed to worsen. She started to toss and turn and even cried out, "No, please, I can't!"
James grabbed both of her shoulders to keep her from flailing about and shook her a bit more forcefully. "Evans!" he coaxed. "Hey, Evans! Wake up!"
All of a sudden her eyes jerked open and as they came into focus she stopped moving. She was panting from her nightmare as she started looking around, trying to get her bearings. "W-Where am I?"
"You're in the common room," replied James.
"The common room?! H-How did I get here?" she asked. She looked about on the verge of tears.
"I don't know. I found you here, having a nightmare," he said.
Her gaze landed on him and as she looked into his eyes she sensed concern from them. Even so, the hazel that watched her seemed to calm her nerves.
"Do you want to tell me about it?" he asked.
Her brows lifted a bit. "It?" she asked.
"The nightmare," he replied.
"Oh…well, I don't really remember it." She sat up and felt a chill rush through her. She shuddered and moved closer to the fire, rubbing her arms.
James noticed this and heard a slight chatter from her teeth. 'That's odd,' he thought. 'It's very warm in here.'
"Are you cold?" he asked.
She nodded, inching closer to the fire and rubbing her hands together. The sight of her rubbing hands sent a bright flash into her mind - images of her hands covered in soot as they leaned against a pale carpet. The images were so strong they reminded her of the images she had seen of the glass fragments the previous month. Her hands shook from the memory as she watched them so she decided to look at the fire instead. That's when another image flashed into her head - one of soot, or was it Floo powder? It was being tossed into a fireplace, where green flames started to dance in her vision.
Before she could see anything else she felt a blanket being draped across her shoulders. She looked up to see Potter standing there. She had almost forgotten he was there.
"Thanks," she said, her voice unsteady from the shivering.
"No problem. Are you becoming ill?" he asked, his voice filled with worry.
"I-I don't know what's happening," replied Lily.
He watched her for a moment before nodding his head and saying, "I think I know what's bothering you."
She looked over to him, surprised. "What?"
"You're upset about what happened in the library," he said.
She echoed him saying, "What happened in the library…"
"It's completely understandable. I wouldn't worry about it. Dumbledore'll make sure nothing will happen to you or anyone else," he said confidently.
"Happen…" she said, her focus seeming far away. She sat there for a moment before shaking her head and standing up. She looked down at Potter and said, "Thanks for…earlier. I think I'll go upstairs before I find myself falling asleep down here again."
******************************************************************
Lily woke up the next morning feeling a chill in her bones. She had had more nightmares but she couldn't remember them, just like she couldn't remember the one she had had in the common room the previous night.
Seeing Alice getting dressed, Lily realized she couldn't delay getting up even though she craved the warmth of her blankets. She hurried into the bathroom to clean up before dressing in her warmest clothes. Alice looked at her in curiosity because it was a nice day outside. She and Marlene were wearing short sleeved shirts under their robes.
"Are you alright, Lily?" asked Alice.
Shivering, Lily turned and gave Alice a weak smile. "Yes. I'm f-f-fine," she lied. She was actually starting to get another one of her headaches. She had had several all year, though none as bad as the first one that had caused her to faint in the hospital wing. A few times she had visited Madame Pomfrey, who could find no cause for the headaches. She just fussed over her and gave her potions to help with the discomfort. Her friends always ended up worrying about her so Lily just tried to bear the pain instead of telling anyone about them. The headaches usually eased up on their own. Lily, seeing doubt in Alice's eyes added, "I'm just a little cold, that's all."
Alice raised her eyebrows and said, "But it's not even cold inside."
Marlene came rushing out of the bathroom in a hurry to finish dressing. "Come on, you guys! We're gonna be late for breakfast!"
Lily, glad for the distraction from Alice's questions said, "Yeah, let's go!"
As they walked toward the Great Hall Lily was lost in her thoughts. She kept remembering the images that had flashed before her. What were they from? Were they real or was she going crazy? She wondered if they were just from her nightmares. Something Marlene was saying jolted her out of her thoughts.
"…I heard that she should be out of the hospital wing later today," said Marlene.
"Who?" asked Lily.
Marlene and Alice looked at her. "Lily, haven't you been listening?" asked Marlene.
Lily sheepishly replied, "Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts."
Marlene rolled her eyes and said, "I was talking about the attack last night on Emm."
"Emm was attacked?!" shrieked Lily. She looked to Alice for confirmation, who nodded. "How is she? What happened?"
"She was in the library and a bookcase was charmed to fall on her. Luckily for her, Remus was there and he pushed her out of the way in time," said Marlene.
Lily looked puzzled. "But…but I thought I heard you say she was in the hospital wing."
Alice nodded. "She is. One of the falling books hit her on the head and gave her a nasty cut. Madame Pomfrey was able to heal it so she should look like new."
Marlene leaned closer toward Alice and Lily and whispered, "Dorcas told me that there was a note by the books. It was glowing and had some creepy drawing. There was a message below that said that no Muggleborn is safe." If it was possible that morning, Lily felt a deeper chill settle into her bones.
"Don't worry, Lily," said Alice. "Professor Dumbledore is not going to let this happen again. You'll be safe."
"I'm surprised you hadn't heard about this already. It's all over the school. Most of the students are certain that this dark lord broke into the school and may still be nearby waiting to attack again," said Marlene.
Lily suddenly remembered the previous night in the common room. Potter had mentioned something about something happening in the library. She had been so cold and the images she had seen had still been so fresh that she hadn't really paid attention.
As they walked into the Great Hall their path was suddenly blocked by Lucius Malfoy. He had a triumphant sneer on his face as he approached Lily. She saw the chilly look directed toward her and backed away, only to feel herself backing into something solid. As she glanced behind her she realized with apprehension that she had backed into Avery, one of the older Slytherins.
"So Mudblood," sneered Malfoy. "You must have heard about the little event in the library last night." He stepped menacingly close to her. She could feel his breath on her face. "You'll be next," he whispered. He froze, and Lily looked up to notice a wand pointed at Malfoy's temple. Following its source she saw Marlene standing there with a furious look. It was the kind of look that would have sent Sirius running from the room fearing for his life, or worse yet - his hair.
"Get out of the way, Malfoy, before I burn a hole in your skull!" Marlene spat.
Malfoy, looking up at Avery for a moment, backed away. Lily slipped away and turned, seeing Alice pointing her wand at Avery. The two Slytherins were contemplating retaliating, however one glance behind Lily made them turn away and retreat to their table. Lily turned and saw the Marauders approaching.
"You okay, Evans?" asked Potter.
Lily nodded. "No harm done, thanks to Marlene and Alice."
Sirius was studying Marlene. Lily could swear he looked impressed.
Marlene noticed his watching her and turned to him. "What is it, Black?!"
Sirius said, "Not bad, McKinnon…for a girl, that is."
She shook her head and walked by him toward the table saying, "Pig."
********************************************************************
That afternoon as the Marauders were walking to their Charms class, they heard someone calling for them to wait. When they turned they saw Emm hurrying down the corridor.
"Emm!" called Remus. "When did Madame Pomfrey let you out?"
"I just snuck out," she said, a little out of breath from running. "I'm glad I found you, though. I wanted to thank you for saving my life last night."
The other three boys turned to Remus in surprise. "Remus, you never told us you saved her!" squeaked Peter.
Remus shook his head and said, "I was just in the right place at the right time. Are you feeling better now?"
Emm smiled and nodded. "Oh yes! Madame Pomfrey patched me up." She paused and her smile faltered. "I guess the worst part about it was that it was directed at me just because my parents are Muggles."
The others nodded in sympathy. "Just to think it could have easily be Evans, too," said James.
"Maybe," said Emm. "But at least she wasn't in the library when it happened."
James looked at Sirius, who returned his confused glance. "What do you mean she wasn't there?" he asked.
Emm replied, "We were supposed to meet for study group. She was late so I went to search for some books until she came."
James looked at Remus who shrugged. "I didn't see her either," said Remus. "But I had just arrived right before the attack."
"That's strange," said James. "I could have sworn we saw her leaving the library as we arrived, right Sirius?"
Sirius nodded. "Yeah, it was her."
"Well, maybe she arrived when I was looking for the books and I didn't see her," suggested Emm.
"Maybe," said James. He was thinking back to the previous night and the expression on Evans' face as she left the library. He hadn't thought about it much because he had been intent on finding Remus. Then he remembered her nightmare in the common room and how odd she had acted afterward. Something deep inside told him that something was off, however his reasoning told him that she had been scared by what had happened in the library and that was what had caused her odd behavior.
***********************************************************************
Hmmm, what is going on with Lily? We're getting closer and closer to the end of first year and there will be some crazy things happening between now and then!
Thanks to the latest reviewers: Anonymous (x3), itsme63, sweetie513, and Remus'sweetie. Also, thanks to Amber Eyes for putting my story on the recommendations list - woohoo!
Next chapter: For all you Lily/James fans out there - I don't think you want to miss this!
Shameless plug - For those of you who want to get straight to L/J fluff, check out my one-shot (A Glimpse) - I posted it last month.