The Marauders' Era (A Harry Potter Fanfic)

Part 10

"Have you seen Alice, Lily?" Marlene asked, her voice laced with the barest hint of worry.

"No. Why?" Lily asked, curious.

"No reason. It's just that..." Marlene hesitated. "I haven't seen her since dinner, and it's nearly curfew now, so..."

Lily frowned. "I thought she was out with Frank?"

"That's what I thought, too," said Marlene, shaking her head. "But Frank is doing rounds right now. I don't think she's with him."

"She was with him that time when we were decorating, though," she reminded Marlene. "It's unlikely, but I'll go ask Frank all the same."

Marlene nodded in agreement. "I'm going to ask some others, too. She might just be in the loo somewhere."

"Sure," said Lily, already climbing out the portrait hole. "Meet you back here at curfew?"

"Yep."

"Great."

•

Lily walked down the empty hallway with impressive stealth, creeping silently along the walls. No one knew about the late-night trips the girls used to take to the kitchen; nor the times when they had sneaked out to prank Potter and his friends in third year. When they appeared with green hair the girls struggled not to laugh; and when Howlers were sent to the "legendary" troublemakers, the girls hid their smug grins from the other end of the table. Needless to say, they were indeed the greatest pranksters Hogwarts had ever seen.

Okay, maybe she was a little too sure of themselves when she said that. But they had been so happy, so carefree in those days that her heart broke thinking of those good times. Now with Voldemort looming in the shadows and war on their front porch those memories seemed so far away, as if they were dreams that she had woken up from too suddenly. It was like Petunia all over again--for any outsider to believe that they were once best friends was almost impossible. Petunia insulted her whenever she found the chance, and Lily was exhausted of the snide remarks thrown her way. She, however, kept her distance and her good nature revealed itself where Petunia was not concerned. Like Sev--Snape, she corrected herself--the big sister whom she had always looked up to was gone. Now there was nothing between them but cold, hard ice, bitter love and judgmental glares.

Lily sighed. Living in the past was not an option; soon they would be out in the real world, in a war with too much fighting and deaths and struggles and she was bloody tired of it all. Sometimes she wondered when it would end, and wished that it would end very soon.

Now where in the world was Alice?

Hurrying toward the Great Hall, Lily pushed aside a dull-looking carpet to reveal a shortcut. Frank should be patrolling the first-floor corridors right now--

"Lily!"

Startled by the familiar voice that brought back a faint pang in her heart, she turned around.

"What do you want, Snape?"

He caught her by the sleeve, but she crossed her arms and stood away from him.

"Look, I know I've said this before--"

"Save your breath," she said coldly. "I don't want to hear anything from you."

"No, wait! Please listen to me!" He said desperately. "I'm sorry, Lily. I really am sorry! Can't we be friends again, at least?"

"You really think we can still be friends again?" She gave him a bitter laugh. "Like I said, I'm not interested. Why are you out so late, anyway? At one of your junior Death Eater groups, I suppose?"r

"No! And I could say the same for you! On a date with Potter?" He asked, his black locks shadowing his face.

"It's none of your business. Besides, I won't date James Potter even if he was the last man on earth."

He seemed a little more relaxed at her declaration.

"Now, I'm off to wherever I want to, and I'm going to make sure that you don't follow me. Good night, Snape."

"But Lily, wait--" She heard him say as she stepped away, running fast down the dimly-lit passage. It felt like only yesterday when he had called her that vile word, and she could not forgive him no matter what. With quick, long strides she escaped, and he did not followed her at all.

It was easier to breath without his presence. She skipped quietly through the Great Hall and the darkness engulfed her, the silence almost too deafening to bear.

A strange, distant sound came from the grounds.

Lily spun around immediately; the hairs on the back of her neck rose as the bone-chilling howl sounded again, foreign to her ears. She peeked out the window at the hilly land only to find nothing out of the ordinary.

Or was there?

Far down the grounds, she could see a small dot moving near the Whomping Willow. It was black, almost like the dark Hogwarts uniform, and was that a hint of brown hair she saw?

It might have been Alice! Of course, that could have been anyone, but what were they doing outside at this hour?

Lily tried to focus on the moving dot more closely. It did not seem big enough to be Hagrid--besides, Hagrid said that he was off to Hog's Head for a drink tonight, though he could have came back early--and what were the two other dots approaching?

Two other figures followed the first one closely, and the moon came out from behind the clouds long enough for her to see that they were not human. No human being had such a bulky figure that resembled a... moose? Or was that a deer?

The howl traveled through the air again--a little more loudly than the last time--and the first dot now seemed to be chased by the other two. Lily watched the two catch up to the other dot faster than she expected. The person down there really did look like Alice from afar, and the other two pounced onto the first, tumbling in a mess until she could not distinguish them anymore.

What if that really was Alice? She might be hurt--or even worse, dead--next morning, and there might be wannabe-Death-Eaters roaming around! What if they took her wand? What if she was being tortured right now?

She was a Prefect, Lily decided, and it was her duty to help those in need. With a reckless courage she race across the hall, out the door, and through the courtyard until she stood shivering in the cold air, searching for the figure that she would surely find.

Suddenly, the dark clouds parted again, and light illuminated the grounds of Hogwarts. The land echoed the bright light with a long, loud howl.

With a sinking heart Lily looked up and stared into the face of the full moon.