17

Chapter 17

Attack in the Tower

When Draco came back I showed him my broom. I'd never seen his eyes go so wide.

"Let's go!"

I took his hand and we ran outside. I took him for a ride and we flew everywhere around the castle. When we landed, his hair was all windblown and he looked as though he'd had the time of his life. I smiled and laughed at the look on his face. He just smiled at me. Pansy of course, could be counted on to try and ruin any happy moment.

"The Potter girl got a Firebolt. Who'd you brownnose to get that, Potter?"

I rolled my eyes.

"It's Snape. And I don't need to brownnose anyone, Parkinson."

She continued to follow us and annoy me. Finally, I handed the Firebolt to Draco and turned.

"You know, you really shouldn't make me angry."

She rolled her eyes and I knocked her off her feet.

"Don't mess with a Snape. Come on Draco."

We walked away.

Draco's POV

"You know she's only going to come after you again." I said.

"Do I seem worried? I'm my father's daughter. Pansy is just like Lockhart."

I smiled at that memory.

"Can everyone see me? Can you all here me? Excellent. In light of recent events, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to teach you how to duel. Let me introduce you to my assistant, Professor Severus Snape."

I looked down and saw Snape step up. Lily smiled and Snape looked at her. He smiled a bit and then walked forward.

"Don't worry, you'll still have your potions master when I'm through with him." Lockhart said.

I rolled my eyes and Lily started to laugh. Everyone looked at her and I nudged her. She looked around and immediately stopped. Snape smirked and then looked at Lockhart. Before Lockhart could even open his mouth, Snape had him flying backwards. I smiled and so did everyone else, even the ones who hated Snape. Lockhart got up and tried to act like nothing happened.

"Lockhart was the worst. What happened to him anyway?"

"When Harry, Ron and I went into the Chamber of Secrets, he tried to erase our memories. Ron's wand was a little messed up and it backfired on him. He erased his own memory. Then Ron hit him over the head with a rock to knock him out."

I smiled.

"Remind me to thank Weasley. I'm serious, remind me to do that."

She nodded with a smile and we kept walking.

Lily's POV

I heard screams in the middle of the night. I jumped up and grabbed my wand. I went weasel and scampered up to the boy's dormitory. I could see a silhouette of a man holding a knife. I hid behind the door before turning back. I aimed my wand but the silhouette was gone.

"Harry?!" I asked.

"I'm here. Ron, where are you?"

"Is he gone?" came Ron's voice.

I went to him and saw the curtains of his bed had been slashed.

"It was Black! It was Sirius Black with a knife!" he said.

My eyes went wide and I looked around. I looked out the smashed window, but I couldn't see anything.

"Come on, let's go."

We went to the common room and soon Professor McGonagall was there. Ron ran forward.

"Sirius Black was standing over me with a knife!"

"Preposterous. How could Sirius Black get into the tower?" she asked.

I looked at the back of the painting. The Fat Lady was still refusing to come back to the painting. They had Sir Cadagan take her place for a while.

"Ask him!" Ron said.

McGonagall went outside to talk to Cadagan.

"Sit Cadagan, is it possible that you let a mysterious man enter Gryffindor Tower?" she asked.

"Certainly, good lady. He had the password. Had the whole weeks' in fact. On a little piece of paper."

My eyes widened. McGonagall came back, her face pale.

"Which abysmally foolish person wrote down the passwords and then proceeded to lose them?" she asked.

Everyone slowly looked to Neville.

"Is it always going to be you, Longbottom?" she asked.

I felt bad for Neville, but I was angry too. My brother could have been killed! Ron could have been killed. It was just as much Cadagan's fault as it was Neville's if not more so. He was always coming up with ridiculous passwords and he was always changing them. My dad was going to be furious! And I knew he was going to take most of his anger out on Neville.

"While we know Sirius Black is gone tonight, I think you can assume he will try to come back. Let me be clear, you are not to move about the castle alone, and you are NOT to write down the password. Understood?"

Everyone nodded.

"Now, everyone back to bed."

She left and Percy started to get bossy again.

"You heard! Back to bed!" he said.

He was really, really starting to get on my nerves. I ran upstairs and turned myself into a weasel. I wanted to know if it really was Sirius Black. I looked out the window and followed the exact path the man took. His footprints were still visible so I followed them. I climbed down the castle and out onto the grounds. I almost missed the Dementor that flew right past me. My heart was hammering in my little chest. But it hadn't even acknowledged me. I guessed they didn't react to animals. This gave me an advantage. I kept following the tracks until I came to the whomping willow. I immediately backed away. I felt something behind me, but when I turned, there was only the dog. I relaxed a bit.

Draco's POV

I heard a slam and jumped out of bed. I snuck out of the common room and down the hall. I could hear Snape yelling.

"I want her out of that tower!"

"She's safe, Severus."

That was Dumbledore.

"Safe!? Black was in that tower! He was ten feet from where she slept! My daughter could have been killed!"

My heart was hammering in my chest.

"He's not after Lily."

"But we both know she will defend Potter!"

"You must trust me, Severus. She will be safe."

I didn't want to hear anymore. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep for the rest of the night. I felt something crawl into my pocket and immediately grabbed it. It was only Lily. I sighed in relief and brought her inside. I went into one of the closets and set her down.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

She nodded and I hugged her.

"Was it really him?"

"I don't know. I followed whoever it was outside but I don't know where they went. I did find out something about the Dementors."

"What?"

"One of them floated right past me and it didn't even bother with me. I don't think they react to animals the same way they do to people." She said.

"Well that's a relief. Your dad isn't happy."

"I know, I heard. But like Dumbledore said, I'll be fine."

"I know, but still. He was right there! He could have killed you."

"But he didn't. I'm not afraid of Sirius Black."

"You're not afraid of a lot of things. Please don't go looking for him."

"I'm not that stupid. I'm not going to look for a man who might want to kill me."

I nodded and I heard something outside.

"Quick!" I hissed.

She turned into a weasel and I put her in my pocket. I waited until the coast was clear and then took her to the door.

"Good night." I whispered.

She rubbed her head against my cheek and I set her down outside.

Lily's POV

Harry, Ron, Hermione and I went to Hagrid's the next day. Hermione and Ron were arguing because he said that Crookshanks ate Scabbers.

"Well how do you know it wasn't Gypsy? Cats like to chase rats and mice, Ron."

"Exactly!" Hermione said.

He rolled his eyes and we found Hagrid by the lake. He was skipping stones. Well, to him they were stones, to us, they were rocks.

"How did it go Hagrid? The hearing?" Hermione asked.

"Hearing? Why didn't I know about this?"

"Because it's your boyfriend's fault all this is happening." Ron said.

I growled.

"Well first off, the committee members took turns talking about why we were there. Then I got up and said my piece, said that Buckbeak was a good hippagriff, always cleaned his friends. And then Lucius Malfoy stood up, well you can imagine what he said. 'Buckbeak was a deadly and dangerous beast who'd kill ya as soon as he looked at ya.'"

I was afraid to know what happened next.

"And then?" Hermione asked.

"And then he asked for the worst, did old Lucius."

"They're not sacking you?" Ron asked.

"No, I'm not sacked. Buckbeak's been sentenced to death."

My hand flew to my mouth and I shook my head. Ron scowled at me and tears came to my eyes.

"See!?"

"It wasn't Draco's fault! He mentioned what happened when he wrote to his mother! He didn't ask for any of this." I said.

I could tell he didn't believe me. I shook my head and walked back to the castle. I saw Buckbeak on my way. I walked forward and bowed. He bowed back and then walked up to me.

"I'm going to try and find a way to fix this Beaky. I promise."

I stroked his feathers and pat his beak.

"You'll be alright." I whispered.

"Lily?"

Harry came too. I knew he blamed Draco too, but he didn't say anything.

"We can't let them do this. There must be some way we can help."

"Hermione reckons there might be something in the library that can help."

"Then that's where we'll start."

"And maybe, you can get Malfoy to stop being a git and make his dad stop all this."

I glared at my brother.

"Do you know how bad Draco feels about this?"

"Oh come on Lily! He's a prat and he's no good for you. I don't know why Snape let's this continue."

"My father trusts my judgement, and so should you." I said.

I gave Buckbeak one last pat before leaving.