The Marauders: Year Four

In or Out

In or Out

Lily sat alone at the end of the Gryffindor table, keeping very careful attention on her food, trying not to see Ali Prewitt laughing happily as she talked with Frank and the others on the Quidditch team about the upcoming game that would be played on the first of February. She nibbled on a bit of toast. Part of her wanted to just go over and apologize, but another part was so very stubborn feeling because she was still angry that Petunia's brief moment of acting like a sister toward her had been so horribly tarnished by the way the day at the cinema had gone. And honestly, looking a James, Lily did feel a bit guilty. She really should have paid him better attention, after all the whole thing had been to make up for stirring up trouble between James and Severus, and she'd turned it into something else entirely. She still owed Potter an apology, as well as Ali and Frank, but she felt embarrassed... So she sat alone.

She'd been unusually quiet in classes since returning to Hogwarts, and McGonagall had noticed, pulling her aside one afternoon the week before, after Transfiguration. "Is everything alright, Miss. Evans?" the head of house had asked with concern.

"Yes, Professor," Lily had lied. Although Professor McGonagall had dropped the subject then, Lily got the feeling that perhaps she knew better and was keeping an eye on her just the same.

Really, the only interaction Lily had had with anyone was during the usual study sessions in the common room, but even those had been far less social and more about the work lately. Lily had barely spoken during them, and Remus only showed up to half of them these days, spending half of his study time upstairs in the dorm, working with Sirius Black instead. In fact, Peter had probably become the only one of the four Marauders, at least, that had had any sort of steady interaction with Lily and the majority of that was checking his answers against hers on practice tests in the book or else having her read his papers.

Now, Lily sighed and, seeing the other fourth years getting up to go to Defense Against the Dark Arts, Lily collected her things and, abandoning breakfast as a bad job after only a few bites, she trailed along behind the four boys, who were talking in low voices to one another as they walked to the classroom. Remus kept stealing glances back at her, but whatever it was they were talking about must've been important, for he didn't break away to come see her.

Kingsley Shacklebolt was cleaning off the chalkboard when the five of them arrived and he barely looked up as their stools scraped the floor as they sat down. When he turned around from the board, he said, "Today, we'll be learning about ---" he stopped, seeing James had his hand up already. "Yes?" he asked.

"Sir, I have a question."

"Ask it, Potter."

James cleared his throat and looked about the other four a moment, then, with an encouraging nod from Sirius, James asked, "Kingsley, say a man were being attacked by visions..."

"By visions?" Kingsley's brow furrowed and he tilted his head slightly to one side, "How do you mean?"

"Say a seer was... implanting visions, like maliciously... Bad visions. Visions that never happened, but are meant to torture a man's mind... How would one go about... I dunno, blockingthose visions?"

Lily stared over at James as he spoke, concerned. What was he on about? She wondered.

Kingsley seemed to be wondering exactly the same thing, "What is this in reference to?"

"I'm doing a paper due for Professor Mopsus," replied James, "And I had this thought and I was curious. I know you're brilliant at Defense - being a junior auror and all, working with Moody and his lot - you're possibly the best Defense teacher Hogwarts has ever had..."