~*~Chapter 14~*~
The carriage rolled along bumpily, like a syncopated rhythm, she noted, subconsciously stroking her fingers over the velvet material that glorified the seats.
"...Hello, Lily?... Are you in there?"
She flinched as James flicked her in the forehead. "What's up with you today? You've barely talked since we left the platform, you didn't eat any candy on the train, and now you're petting the benches like they were cats."
"Well what's so important that you had to scold me?" She snapped. "I'd rather you not try to be my psychiatrist."
He turned and pointed out the window, seemingly unaffected by her sudden mood swing. "Look."
She rolled her eyes haughtily and leaned forward to look through the small carriage window. "It's not like I haven't ever seen Hogwarts bef--" Her jaw slightly dropped.
"Didn't think we'd have one of those, did you?"
"Woah." In the sky, she could see the unmistakable silhouette of a dragon, circling the castle, evidently as a guard. A short glance to the right showed her that everyone else was just as shocked. All the students had their faces smashed against the window, hoping for a better view. "Now that's something I never thought I'd see."
~~~~~~
Over the next few days, she saw even more stunning security measures: There were between 20 and 30 aurors walking the halls; Minister Potter has basically become a permanent resident; Peeves actually was trusted enough to carry around an 'alert!' button which he would push occasionally just for his own personal kicks and giggles; a strange character named Moody was there patrolling the castle with all his high-tech gadgits; And Sir Cadagon pranced gleefully around on his horse with his two 'companions' who played the lute and drum to a ghastly marching beat, all while Sir Cadagon cried aloud "To war! To war!".
On top of all the insanity, the students were about to call it quits and turn in their wands.
~~~~~~
"This is absolutely impossible!" Sirius threw down his quill and slammed his head on the table dramatically. "I've never had to write so many essays in my entire life! I'm going to die from...rheumatism, or something. I swear, one more word longer than ten letters and my hand will disentigrate into ash."
"Bravo Sirius," Lily remarked dully. "You really should consider the theatre. I think bad acting is a strong point of yours."
"I think he's right though. I've been working for four hours straight and I will have two star charts, three potions esays, book work for Transfiguration, and a speech for History of Magic on Alfred the Great." James threw his hands in the air. "Now you tell me how I'm supposed to get this all done over the weekend when I'll probably have more crap to do after class on Saturday!"
"Good point James. If I were you boys, I'd invest in one of these babies." She dangled the recording device by its earlobe. "It's saved me a lot of time. Check it out." She turned it so the speaker was facing her. "Today, 1pm to 2pm -- Speak!" Almost instantly, the lips began to move and it was as if Professor Loritz was regiving the lecture right in the common room. "Like you said, there's no buttons or anything. All I do is daydream during class and this little trinket here records all the important stuff for me."
"You know, Lils..." Remus scooted her chair closer to her, flirtingly. "People should always let their best friends in on great homework helpers such as this."
"Don't tempt your luck, Remmie." She squeezed his cheeks in a grandmother-like fashion. "Tis misfortunate to take back what thou hast gifted upon another."
The boys watched, dumbstruck, as she strolled out of the common room -- with the 'homework helper'.
"I can't believe her! I really need to use that thing!"
"All I know is I'm fed up with school. We have no free time, it's like wicked hot outside and we can't swim, there's no Hogsmeade trips, and worst of all, no Quidditch!" James sighed exaggeratingly.
"It must really bite having your dad at school too, huh?" Sirius added stupidly.
James scowled and rolled his eyes. "Thanks pal. I'll just add that one to my list of pros."
~~~~~~
The next month came and went much like the previous few weeks: the homework was stacked up to an astronomical height; the castle remained eerily silent, very tense; Lily received her seasonal illness, though very minor; and just about everything under the sun was forbidden, including quidditch practice.
Lily got very bored very quickly from all the homework, and her roommates didn't add to the excitement either. She figured they were scared to hang around with her because of her traumatic experiences, or something equally petty. She was thankful when the boys finally suggested their so-called "Gryffindor-Slytherin quality bonding time".
~~~~~~
�Do you guys realize that it�s been almost half a year since we�ve pranked Malfoy and Snape? That�s really scary,� James announced and shuddered.
His friends immediately straightened from their slouch-posture and looked at him intently. It really had been a long time since they�d done any pranking, on someone other than Lily, that is. That�s all they did during break. Every day they�d come up with some new ingenious idea that sent Lily rushing to her newly-built fort while shouting out death threats.
�I knew we were forgetting something!� Sirius said inspirationally, like the thought just came out of nowhere.
Remus laughed. �Your brain capacity will baffle me as long as I live; how you got away with skipping second year is beyond me.�
James jumped up and stood between them, attempting to hold their short-attention-spans for longer than fifteen seconds. �So are you two in or out? We need an idea, a very good idea. Something that�ll work as a �welcome back� gift.�
�I snuck into my mother�s work room a few months ago and invented some really gruesome potions with her stash of ingredients. We should be able to really irritate the Slytherins if we combine a couple of them. They�re really complicated too, we�ll probably need Lily to get them ready in time.� Sirius suggested.
A hint of evil showed in both Remus and James� eyes. �Do tell.�
~~~~~~
The steps creaked eerily, and the tail of a rat could be seen through peripheral vision, creeping across the dungeon floor as Sirius, James, Lily and Remus tiptoed through the deserted corridors underneath the invisibility cloak.
�Are you sure Professor Snape won�t be down here? Imagine if that bugger caught us going through his stuff,� James asked.
�I�m sure; Remus and I made absolutely sure that Snape would receive a late-night urgency owl from his mother to 24 Pinecroft Drive.�
�Snape has a mother!? I always just assumed he was dropped here by an ape or something; thought he was too horrific even for the monkey world,� Lily said.
They tried their best not to laugh.
�I wish I could see his face when he finds out that his destination takes him to a muggle graveyard.� Remus snickered. "Lily," he turned to her. "Do you have the stuff?"
She patted a satchel on her side. "I put everything in my school bag."
�Let�s just hurry up and get these ingredients. I just want to get this over with,� James said. �I have no problem sneaking into the Slytherin common room, but these dungeons just creep me out.�
Just as James finished, Sirius slapped his hand over James� mouth. �Shh!�
James quickly looked ahead to see what had caused him to do that. Nearly Headless Nick was floating down the hall, humming a tune and reading a history book. The three of them didn�t move, it would be too hard explaining to a self-conscious ghost what they were doing roaming the halls in the middle of the night. Unable to do anything, they all got sudden chills as Nick flew right through them.
They boys� eyes flew open as he immediately stopped and looked back in their direction. Rubbing his translucent stomach, he grimaced. �Woah, my stomach sure hurts for not having eaten anything in a few centuries,� he said to himself. �Feels like I just ate a few kids or something� weird.�
They all heaved a sigh of relief as Nick shrugged and continued on his way. �That was close,� James said as he opened the door to one of the dungeons.
No, this is close� Lily gasped as she gazed upon another person in the room, someone who should not have been there at all.
As if on cue, the person whirled around after hearing Lily gasp.
It was certainly a good thing the four of them were under the invisibility cloak because Arabella Figg would have pounced on the children who were staring at her, jaws dropped with fear.
Arabella Figg? Lily's mind raced. What was she doing here? Figg was banished from the wizarding world over six months ago! Lily scrutinized the disgruntled woman staring through her. Whatever she was up to, it couldn't be good.
Lily caught a glimpse of her oddly bloodshot eyes before Figg ignored the noise and returned to her business, whatever it was.
A small ruffle of old cloth could be seen past Figg, but the object was unrecognizable. Then out of nowhere, a voice, like a low growl with a strong old-English accent, filled the empty dungeons with a somewhat magnified whisper. "You have successfully broken into the castle," it rumbled. "The first to do so in a millenia."
Figg courtsied deeply. "Anything to serve you, my Lord."
"You have proven yourself against all odds and therefore, are worthy enough to take part in the glory of the Uprising."
Lily and the boys were dumbstruck. Where was this person? The voice had to come from somewhere. They saw Figg reach out in front of her and pull her hands back quickly when the voice scolded her.
"What are you doing?" It boomed.
"I...I was to perform the final spell, Salazar, to release you..." She stammered.
"You have not the privilege to speak to me as such!"
"I'm s - sorry, my Leige. Didn't you say --"
"I said not yet! My moment has not yet come. Be sure Tom understands that. Not yet. I have waited since the founding of this school, founded by myself and those three other wretched excuses for a wizard; if I have waited that long to overthrow it, then I can wait a little longer to make it perfect."
She bowed. "Not yet. I will tell him."
"It will be the day before departure -- 7th Year Graduation Ceremony. All families will be there, along with ministry officials." He paused. "Graduation, that will be my moment." The bodiless voice cackled.
Out of impulse and uncontrollable curiosity, Lily began to walk towards the trespasser, as if to the music of a funeral march.
James was shocked at her trance-like behavious and did his best to hold her back, but if they struggled, Figg would find them. If they let Lily keep walking, she would slip right out from underneath the cloak. He did the only option and signaled for Sirius and Remus to walk with them.
Are you crazy? Remus mouthed as he heard Figg speak in a dark, low tone that thoroughly creeped him out.
James shrugged silently as Lily continued moving foward until the object was in plain view.
My God... Lily said to herself, halting suddenly at the realization of what she was seeing. On a large block in the corner sat the Sorting Hat. Emitting from its facial features was a sickly green fog housing it's own red eyes and empty mouth. It was nothing an adolescent would ever dream of visualizing; it was something reserved for only the darkest of nightmares. The sight of it was enough to sicken the strongest of men. From this fog came the stench of sulfer and a rotting animal.
Lily stumbled backwards toward the wall to stablize herself and continued listening.
"I await graduation, Lord. A vision of you will strike terror into the very depths of the soul."
After a brief moment of groveling, the mouth erupted an evil laugh. "Don't worry. This time, Hogwarts will fall!"
A stunned Sirius couldn't help himself when he loudly gasped and fell back, coming almost completely out from under the cloak.
Figg swivveled around, her tranced eyes landing on the right half of Sirius' body. "What have we here? A spy of Dumbledore's?"
Completely forgetting he had a wand, Sirius took off running to the door, but she was far too swift.
"Immobilize!" She chuckled at his frozen form and turned back around to face the wall. "And where there's one spy, there's usually two."
Before they could react, she ripped the cloak entirelly off and shouted "Expelliarmus!"
Completely in shock as they watched their wands fly out of their robes, Lily, James, and Remus could do nothing when she cast a spell to bind their arms and legs.
"Well how nice." She dropped their wands to the floor. "Not a duet, but a quad of spies. -- So tell me, how did Dumbledore suspect I'd be here tonight?" She circled them, monster-like eyes staring into them, as if trying to read their sins.
"He didn't." James tried to fight off his bonds.
"Oh good." Figg replied almost jovially.
Lily spoke. "What's happened to you? You taught us all about the creatures of the world, and then all of a sudden you think you're going to destroy Hogwarts, the most well-known and secure wizarding establishment in the world?!"
Figg roughly shoved her and bellowed, "Hogwarts will fall!"
"Better keep it down, Professor, she sneered. "Someone will hear you."
Figg glared. "I don't have time for this."
James cut her off and yelled, "You won't get away with this! There's a class down here! They will find us!"
After a few seconds of thought, an evil grin crept upon Figg's lips. "Yes, but when they do, you'll be so confused you won't be able to remember even your own names."
Their eyes flew open in horror.
"Say goodbye to your memories..."
The four of them got one final look at the world they knew before their entire memory -- everything they had ever seen, known, or experienced -- was entirely erased.
~~~~~~
Her vision spun and a wave of nausea crashed over her as she staggered back into semiconsciousness. Too weak to focus her eyes, she lay and listened.
"Poor dears. They've spent more time in my wing of the castle these past two years than anyone I've ever known."
"They're magnets to trouble."
"Did you figure out the extent of their illness?"
The was a sigh. "Yes, Poppy. I performed the spell last night on each of them."
"What, what is it Albus?"
Albus? Spell? What were they talking about? Lily's thoughts whirled.
"They were victims of a memory charm."
"How severe? - I mean, the days events are probably the only thing gone -- aren't they?" She whimpered.
"No, almost their entire memory is erased. I checked into their minds over and over again, hoping there was a fluke in the spell, but..." He paused and inhaled heavily. "They remember nothing but the fundamentals - speaking, writing, walking - and eachother."
"Eachother? Why's that?"
"It must have been the same spell cast at the same time; we're lucky it was so desperately cast that it went wrong. I'm sure it wasn't supposed to completely wipe away everything. -- I just don't see how it could have happened."
"Do you think that maybe they were practicing dueling?"
"No, they would never do that to eachother, even if they did have the capabilities."
By this time, Pomphrey was desperately upset for her students. "Isn't there any way to reverse the spell? Or to give them memories back?"
"You know as well as I do that that's not possible unless the children each kept a penseive."
All during their conversation, Lily steadily became more frightened. No wonder I don't know who they are, she thought. Somehow my memory was erased, by magic, they say. If that's the best answer they have, well... I don't believe in magic. Never have, never will.
Suddenly an epiphany occured in her empty head. Oh my gosh, James, Sirius, and Remus! They can't possibly have been the ones to lose their memory too!
Praying to God that they were alright - that this Albus character was talking about someone else - she drifted away into an unconsciouss sleep.
~~~~~~
A day later, which seemed like an eternity to a vegetable-like Lily, she was aroused from her deep slumber by a woman stressfully gripping her hand.
"Oh Lilian." She was crying and speaking in a raspy tone. "What did you ever do to deserve this? You're my baby, please wake up. Please remember..."
Another girl cut in. "Mother, don't bother her. She's not going to remember anyway. -- And just for the record, I told you after Victor died that this school, this world, was nothing but trouble! But oh no, you didn't listen to me. Who was right? -- And who had to pay for it? This magic is a death sentence. She --"
"Nonsense Petunia! What happened to your sister was an accident, a rarity." A male voice spoke. "Now quit worrying your mother and make yourself useful."
Lily finally got the strength to open her eyes to see whatever it was that was talking about her. She barely had time to focus her vision when she was scooped up in a gripping hug.
"Lilian, we're so glad you're awake! The nurse said you've been out cold for days." She paused. "Oh please tell me you remember!" Her mother held Lily out so she could take a good look.
Squinting from the light, Lily scanned the room: a very old man; a grumpy teenager; a middle-aged man and woman; a nurse.
The unfamiliar woman's eyes teared up as Lily made no acts of recognition. "Nobody?"
She shook her head no.
"Lily, I'm your mother. Please remember!" At a desperate attempt to not scream with sorrow, Mrs. Evans hugged her daughter tightly and sobbed.
Not at all emotionally affected, Lily took another good look at the people around her, all of which seemed to care for her deeply. She felt terrible for them, but was simply unable to feel their love or sorrow. In an effort to stray her eyes from her alleged family, Lily quickly recognized three large lumps on the beds next to her. Overcome with joy at seeing them, she leapt from her mother's arms, calling "Sirius! James! Remus!"
They awoke alertedly from the noise.
"Oh I was so worried about you guys!" She jumped on Remus' bed and began to chatter at the speed of a whirling tornado.
The Evans' stared in wonder, dead silent, until their conversation came to a halt.
"Who are these people watching us?" Sirius said in a stage whisper, then added with his eyes wide, utterly serious, "Are they stalkers?"
Petunia huffed as she picked at a nail. "I wouldn't stalk you to save my life. I'd pick someone way more interesting."
Lily was shocked that someone could have the mind to speak to someone like that. "It seems none of you were spared this 'memory curse' or whatever." She made quote signs with her fingers. "They claim to be my family, but their faces just aren't ringing a bell." She looked down in shame and mumbled. "I feel so terrible, because what if you really are my family and I never come to terms with it? What if one of you somehow erased my memory and are lying to me?" The gravity of her situation landed on her like a boulder. "And to top it all off, how can I remember you three but nothing else!?" She beat the pillows with her fists in rage. "It isn't fair!"
Everybody watched her run out into the halls of a castle she didn't know, not moving; they were still in shock. After what could be described as the loudest stretch of silence imaginable, Chloe's eyes welled with tears as the Headmaster put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"I am truly sorry Mrs. Evans."
~~~~~~
The following days were hectic for the entire school, the teachers especially. The four memory-less students required special classes that started at the very beginning: introduction to holding a wand, and a lesson on what a wand even was.
Most of the students didn't appreciate it one bit, considering the professors spared them no attention. But for the pack of Slytherins, this was the world's greatest opportunity to take advantage of them...
~~~~~~
"Good morrow, my lords. Mi lady." A young maiden in a picture frame greeted them in the hall as they marveled over the magnificent castle. She courtsied. "I suppose you have no remembrance of me. I am Cecilia, maid to the Queen."
"Nice to be reacquainted with you," Lily replied almost uninterestedly. This line was becoming fairly dull for them; it was really their only topic of conversation since the accident.
"Just as a tip, mi lady, if you come upon a knight riding through portraits on his horse, yelling comments of war... spare yourselves and run in the other direction."
They all eyed her. "Thank you..."
The four of them turned as Malfoy and Snape walked around the corner. "Well if it isn't the ignorance of the school. I'm surprised they let you walk around without a leash, they baby you in everything else."
"Snape, is it?" Lily pointed at him, and he beamed that she had remembered him. "I've been warned about you by some people."
"Really? What did they say? -- That I could take your friends here in a duel any day?"
She had no idea what he was talking about. "Dueling?"
"No," Sirius answered truthfully. "That you have slugs making their home in your hair. Frankly, I agree. It does look a bit slimy up there."
As he harmlessly and innocently got closer and stood on his tiptoes to inspect Snape's head, Snape threw a punch at this nose. In no time, James and Remus were in the fight, and Lily had to throw off her bookbag and break it up.
"Boys, this is nonsense -- all over a stupid comment about slugs!" She scolded, pulling James off Malfoy.
"Yes!" A voice boomed. "Nonsense!"
"Pro-professor Dumbledore, sir!" Malfoy swiftly regained his composure. "They stared--" He couldn't finish because Snape harshly elbowed him in the ribs, quite obviously. He began again. "We were--"
Dumbledore held up his hand in understanding. "No need to explain, but may I remind you that Hogwarts had but one sport to practice, and that sport is not wrestling."
They Slytherins relaxed as the Gryffindors wore scandalized expressions. They couldn't believe he was going to let those two get away with the fight. Then the headmaster turned as a thought just occured to him. "Oh, and Mr. Snape -- need I remind you that a rough jab in the torso to anyone is considered physical harassment?" Severus' jaw dropped and he continued. "That'll be 10 points."
As the two Slytherin boys sulked off, defeated, Lily went to pick her things up off the floor.
�How�d this happen?� Dumbledore asked mildly, eyeing the items scattered about the floor, then slowly picking one up from the ground. He studied it as Lily answered his question.
�I threw my bag aside when I went to break up the --� She stopped and threw her hand across her mouth. �Oops... I wasn�t supposed to --�
He chuckled. �Not to worry, did you really think I hadn�t had the scenario figured out?�
Lily sheepishly stuffed her possessions in the bag and held out her hand for the one he was holding.
�Actually Miss Evans, do you care if I borrow this from you?� He twirled a rubber ear from which dangled a pair of parted lips with a speaker inside.
She didn�t recognize it. �Sure, I suppose. I have no idea what it is.�
Without another word, he scuffed away, examining the trinket in his hand, and the four students continued reacquainting themselves with the portraits.
Chapter 13 ~~~~~~ Chapter 15
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