A Love Purer Than Blood

20. Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever.

Defence against the dark arts classes had been somewhat non-existent for the Hufflepuffs and the Ravenclaws, the so-called professor too afraid to teach with the dragon in his class. Seeing this, Lily had taken it upon herself to test all the students for the final few lessons using some mock exam questions she had taken from Lockhart's office in an attempt to help.

She assessed them all quietly and taught them all she could about the correct curriculum thanks to the books McGonagall had given her before the start of the year. She monitored correct wand movements and spell pronunciations, despite the lack of physical spell casting, all the students agreeing that none of them wanted to even attempt anything without a professor present.

With three days left until the exams, Lily did her best to urge the class along, fearing them to despise her should they fail. She and the others were dismissed with the bell that afternoon as Filch arrived to escort them to the dungeons for potions.

As the group rounded a corner past a corridor, Lily was surprised to see Ron and Harry un-chaperoned and whispering about something Lily didn't understand. Unable to follow them thanks to her having missed too much of her schooling already, she continued to her potions lesson without a second thought. Until professor McGonagall's voice echoed through the school.

"All students to return to their house dormitories at once. All teachers return to the third floor staff room. Immediately please."

Lily felt her skin prickle as all the hair on her body raised before she shivered. The girls around her as well as the others in the class all stared at the auburn-haired girl after Snape had made a rather swift exit, his cloak billowing behind him.

"All stick to Lily." He had said before the door closed behind him.

Lily sighed loudly before packing all her books. "Potions need to be disposed of safely." She said non-chalantly, just loud enough to be heard over the scraping of stools and rustles of bags. Students rushed to empty and swill their cauldrons before joining the group that huddled by the door, Lily at the front of the group.

Wordlessly Lily guided the groups to Ravenclaw tower and the kitchens respectively. The students following behind her like ducklings made Lily smile a little at the thought of a mother duck and her babies. Before the severity of the situation brought her back to the realisation that she was protecting a lot of second years, alone, with a monster in the school that could kill them all with a single glance. Pipes, Draco's writing had stated, indicating the monster was in the very walls that were built to protect them.

Lily dropped her ducklings at the barrels next to the kitchens before handing her bag to Waverly and nodding once towards the barrels.

"What are you going to do?" Waverly asked, her voice unsteady.

"What I can, Waves." Lily said before apparating to where she knew various Hufflepuffs to be in their classes in the castle.

She found sixth and seventh years guiding themselves and first years back to the kitchens, the large group like sardines on the staircases in a desperate bid to stay together. She found fifth years in the greenhouses and led them back to find third years at the top of the kitchen stairs, leaving only fourth years somewhere in the castle.

She took a deep inhale and scoured as much of the castle as she could before she found the trail of Cedric's scent leading her outside the castle and down towards the care for magical creature's hut. She apparated near the outdoor classroom just as Professor Kettleburn finished the class, his wooden hand clacking on the board.

"Lily." Cedric called excitedly encouraging Lily to give a small smile as all attention turned to her. The look on her face was all the boy needed. "What's wrong?"