The Queen, The Knight and The Marauders

6. The Snake in Lion's Clothing

Chapter 6

Dumbledore had not left them quite as unprepared as Lily had feared. In the girls' dormitory, there was already an extra bed and a neat pile of clothing in her size, the work of House Elves, no doubt.

Alice and Marlene left her alone after showing her around and assuring her that if she had any questions, they would be happy to answer. Then Marlene vanished to the bathroom, probably attempting to get rid of the ink on her face, and Alice started to write a letter by her bed, occasionally biting at her lower lip in deep thought.

Lily sat on the four-poster bed that had been assigned to her. Kicking off her shoes she lay on the mattress, staring at the ceiling.

It all seemed so absurd. She now realised what Teddy had meant when he said that visiting the 90's was like visiting another reality. It did not seem real to her. She'd been so young when they ended up in 1995 that she had not fully registered what was happening. But now...

Now there were dead people all around her, she had to keep up a false identity and she had no idea how to get back home.

Another thought was hunting her mind. What if..? What if they could change something? Should she try? She knew that she could not do anything without proper Arithmetic calculations, but if she found a way to make things better, should she do it? Would it be worth it?

She decided to think about it, and not to mention it to Frank before she was positive it would work. She was sure all he wanted was to get back home as soon as possible, and so did she, but it seemed like they were wasting an opportunity. They had been given a chance. Their future was yet to form, it could still be bended, could still be mended. Couldn't it?

She wondered how Frank was doing. How was he taking it, spending time with the Marauders? Was it as weird for him to share a dormitory with Teddy's dad as it was for her to share it with his grandma? She wondered if the young Sirius Black was always as cheerful and carefree. Or if Pettigrew already had the Mark tainting his arm. Lily wished she had the Invisibility  Cloak with her so she could sneak out to meet Frank without the others noticing. But as the Cloak was mainly James's, she always had to either ask for it or steal it, and James was no amateur in mischief, even though Lily was still better than him. Stealing it had always been the last option, even for a mastermind like her. Plus, her Mum had pleaded that she wouldn't do anything unnecessary to disturb the peace treaty the siblings had during summers. As for the Map, she had it in her—

Oh, Merlin and Morgana skinny-dipping in the Black Lake, the Map! 

They had the Map in this time, too. And they knew the Map never told lies. If they were to look at the Map and see the names of Lily Potter and Frank Longbottom on it...

She had to get that Map.

What had her Dad said..?
'They lost the Map sometime during their seventh year. Filch locked it away.'

Maybe it was time for her to help ol' Mr. Filch with the troublemakers.

The morning came too quickly. It seemed like she had only closed her eyes for a second when Alice was already shaking her shoulder and ushering her to the shower so they would make it in time for breakfast. Like an Inferius she felt like, she managed to make her way to the showers and under hot water.

She dried her hair with her wand, even though it wouldn't had taken a lot of time for her pixie cut hair to dry. As she tied the red and gold tie around her neck she felt like she was committing a treason. Well, three out of six persons in her family were Gryffindors (she refused to count herself as one, because as far as she was concerned, she was on an exchange program of sorts). Her Mum and Dad, obviously, and James were proud lions. Teddy was a Hufflepuff alumni, like his Mum had once been. Albus had been a surprise to everyone except Lily, including himself. He had not ended up in Slytherin as he had feared, nor in Gryffindor as he had hoped. The house of Rowena Ravenclaw had proved to be the best place for him, as he had admitted to himself when the Hat suggested it. It did help that his new friend Scorpius had already been sorted in Ravenclaw a few minutes prior.