Mischief Managed Y2 Part 2: The Truth of the Tournament

Chapter Thirty: Cursed Cherubims

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Lily was a bit bummed to find Remus had snuck out of the party, though she supposed it was to be expected. With some difficulty, she had observed James convincing Sirius not to go after Remus soon after he had disappeared, the young werewolf seemingly unaware that he would be even missed at all. Lily had thought about going after him herself but she knew he wasn't a fan of crowds. And if Sirius could leave the boy be, which she took to be growth on Black's part, then so could she. Lily had a lovely weekend and true to her word Mary had begun to hang out with her, Marlene, and Dorcas more. Lily didn't see much of Remus for the next week but when she approached Peter about it, as he was the only other one of that group she could stand, he said Remus had come down with a bug. 

Lily was, of course, sceptical of this but neither James nor Sirius seemed overly concerned and when pressed for more information Peter explained that Remus had just been sleeping an awful lot lately. Lily supposed it made sense, even when Remus sat next to her in class it was like a part of him wasn't there. It would have been concerning but when she had gone to Professor Corbyn about the matter the older man had gently pointed out that the werewolf was probably adjusting to the fact all his close friends accepted him and that the boy was handling the grief about the Whomping Willow by staying away from everyone.

Lily didn't at all understand the first half of what Professor Corbyn had tried to explain but she certainly trusted his opinion of the matter. In regards to the Whomping Willow that made a great deal more sense because it had been the hot topic around Hogwarts for the whole week. Lily knew most of the older Hogwarts students didn't really care about the Whomping Willow but there were just enough of them trying to impress the foreign students that it was unfortunate indeed. Lily had attempted to get Professor Sprout to stick up for the Whomping Willow but the portly lady seemed to have bigger concerns on her mind, though what they were she would not share. Frustrated by the way the petition was affecting Remus, Lily had attempted to round up enough people to fight back, but students either didn't care at all or thought the Digores students had a point.

After talking to multiple professors resulted in no change Lily decided that she would go to the headmaster herself. She was more than a little nervous as a bored Ravenclaw prefect led her to the office. But keeping in mind this was for her dear friend, she summoned enough courage to enter. The last time Lily had sought out Dumbledore's help she had not been in his office, but the headmaster had been much easier to find last year. This year the older wizard seemed to be out of the castle entirely or busy speaking to one or both of the foreign headmasters. Lily had even gotten used to Dumbledore hardly showing his face around mealtimes!

"Come in, Miss Evans," the old headmaster called before her knuckles could even rasp against the door. Letting out a barely incoherent squeak of surprise, she gathered herself and walked inside the room. She soon got lost in the sea of wizarding trinkets and books though perhaps the most exciting item was the pensive that was in the far right corner of the room. Dumbledore was stepping away from the magical device, and as the secret compartment of the room swung around he winked at her. "It helps to have one for memories."

"Oh yes, headmaster, I imagine you have a lot of them," Lily nearly squeaked again, her face going as red as her hair. "Not to say you're old or anything, sir. I only meant-" But Lily did not need to worry about offending Dumbledore who only chuckled in amusement.

"Nonsense, Miss Evans, I am as old as they come. Well except for my friend Nicolas perhaps."

Lily nodded politely, having no notion who could be older than Dumbledore if her copy of Hogwarts of History was indeed correct. Though Lily supposed not much was known about the headmaster and she figured he quite liked it that way.