Six: Dark Activities
The next morning before dawn, Lily opened her eyes to see James sleeping beside her, his arms around her waist. At first, she was slightly shocked, and then she recalled the night's events.
"Just studying," she whispered groggily, slightly disappointed. She saw him stir then open his eyes. James sat up, and kissed her lightly on the cheek. Lily shifted her head and rested her lips on his. They fell back again, deepening the kiss.
They ended the kiss, remembering the agreement that they made.
"I can't do this," Lily said.
"Do what?" James asked.
"I can't lie to Remus, James," she explained, "I want to be with you, and he knows that. I can't pretend otherwise."
James let out an audible sigh of relief. "What are you going to tell him?"
"Exactly what I told you. I can't keep lying; it would only hurt him more."
Just then, they heard a crash echo through the halls. They grabbed their wands and hastily pulled some clothes on.
"Oh, shoot, I forgot the Marauder's map!" James exclaimed.
"No time to go back. Here, Accio Map!" The map flew into Lily's hand, and then she handed it to James, who was running slightly ahead of her.
"Professor Dumbledore!" Lily gasped as she came to a stop in front of the Headmaster's office. He had just walked out, obviously dressed in a hurry.
"I was just about to summon you," the headmaster explained, "but I suppose you have saved me that trouble." He chuckled before becoming serious.
"Headmaster, sir, what was that?"
"I believe it was someone trying to breach the magical boundaries of Hogwarts."
"You mean that someone very powerful was trying to Apparate in?" Lily understood what Dumbledore was saying, because she knew all about the enchantments.
"Yes, Miss Evans, that's exactly what I am saying," he answered.
"Who do you think it is?" Lily asked anxiously, although she thought she knew the answer.
"I believe that it was Voldemort," James flinched slightly, "or one of his followers. He is still not powerful enough, and I happen to have in my possession several items that could be of use to him. I have, of course, made several safety precautions," Dumbledore added looking at Lily's face, "but he wants these items quite badly. You yourselves have a set of such items." They looked at him questioningly, when he explained, "Your wands. Miss Evans, do you remember that time in your fourth year when you came to me because you wand seemed to be a bit faulty? But then you performed a bit of magic that most grown wizards can't do. And you, Mr. Potter, that map of yours," he said.
"You know about that?" James was suddenly alarmed.
"Yes, I do, in fact, I believe it is quite useful, and I have duplicated it for my own private use. But anyway, you successfully crated that. And do you know that you successfully Transfigured a vulture to a Phoenix in third year? Animal transformations are extremely difficult to do, especially magical animals." Dumbledore then stated, "You have another item in store for you." The Headmaster winked knowingly, but did not disclose his thoughts.
"Well, let's check out the damage," James said in a suddenly business like tone.
"Right," Lily agreed.
"Ah, that's the spirit," Professor Dumbledore smiled.
"Well, there isn't anyone in the castle that we don't know about," James said checking the Marauder's Map, "Let's see, er, Miss Norris, Filch, Peeves, and Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Kaldron are here, er," he ticked them off on his fingers, "No, I think we're all here."
"Well, that means that whoever was attempting to breach the Apparation barrier failed," Lily stated matter-of-factly.
"Well deduced," the Headmaster commented. He was purposely letting James and Lily figure out what he had figured out, both to give themselves the satisfaction that they can do it, and to prove Dumbledore's confidence in their abilities, both mentally and physically. The group went to the source of the action, finding little, except for the fading remnants of an attempted Dark Mark, although it obviously failed. This was shown by the fact that it looked rather like the fading head of a snake, although it was unmistakable what it was.
"Er, Professor, what are we to do?" James asked tentatively.
"Well, I suppose you'd best get to breakfast, it's a little past 6:00 already," he replied. "I'll meet you in the Great Hall, I have to get something," Lily called as she headed towards the Head dorm. Lily grabbed her diary, and went back to the Great Hall. While it appeared that Lily was simply taking Notes in an Advanced Transfiguration book, Lily wrote an entry in her diary as follows: Dear Diary,
We were woken up quite early, as someone had attempted to breach the Apparation barrier, and, it appears, the Dark curses barrier as well, because we found an incomplete Dark Mark. I'm going to break up with Remus today. I am going to do this because I love James, and I don't want to hurt Remus by pretending my affections are towards him. He's very practical, so I'm sure he'll understand. Especially since I got him out of that mess last Thursday, when Severus did the full bodybind on him. I hope he's not too sour with me, because he's my partner for the N.E.W.T's practice quiz. Well, I don't have much else to say now, so bye.
Yours, Lily R. Evans