Beauty of the Mind

Lily went up to the common room of Decorum. Surprisingly, their house had their own common room, as it only contained two students for now. It was a nice place, with a big poster of a roaring dragon on the colours purple and diamond (the house crest). The other girl in this house, Emily, was sat by the fire absorbed in a book. Wit, a Ravenclaw, Cunningness, a Slytherin, bravery, a Gryffindor, and loyalty, a Hufflepuff, Lily thought. She was staring at a girl with all qualities. Currently she seemed to be in Ravenclaw mode. Lily took a look at her common room, then trudged upstairs to the dormitories. There were only two beds in this one. She lay on the one closest to the window and wondered for a moment whether this was a dream. Dream. Dreem. Dreem. Lily thought. James’ letter. She needed it so she could burn it so Severus would never ever find out. Lily stuck her hand in her right pocket, but it was empty. When she retrieved her hand, it was coated in sticky brown chocolate - her chocolate frog she had put in there must have melted. But where was the letter? Had someone stolen it? Had Severus found it? Surely not...

Panicking with nerves, Lily washed her hands, wondering where she could have dropped it. Then she remembered her encounter with the 3rd year... So Severus probably hadn’t seen it, as his dormitory was the other way! Breathing a sigh of relief, Lily rushed back downstairs. Emily gave her a quick glance, before nodding in acknowledgement and looking back at her book. I need to get there before Severus. Lily thought, but it wasn’t an easy job. The castle had 141 staircases, and even in the morning you would get lost if you didn’t know your way around. Still, Lily had a motive. She needed that letter.

She eventually found her way round, and she reached the corridor where she had bumped into the boy. There was a letter on the floor. Lily was so happy she could have gasped. Reaching out, she stuffed the letter in her pocket and rushed back upstairs to her common room. Emily was not there, so she must have gone up to the dormitory... A girl with all qualities. Or maybe she was hiding somewhere, spying on Lily. The thought gave her the creeps.

Lily sat on a squishy armchair and pulled the letter from her back pocket. Only when she held it close to the fire, Lily realised that it wasn’t the one James had given her. Lily read it, and was almost crying before she remembered that she didn’t cry. Taking a few deep breaths, she re-read the letter.

What had happened? Had Severus found James’ letter for her? So what? It said on it that I don’t like him. And what is a mud-blood? Lily thought, and something interrupted her. Quickly, she threw the letter in the fire as the common room door opened. She thought it would be Emily, and was ready to wave her hand and say hi, only it wasn’t. It was a furry, beautiful ginger cat. Something about it seemed familiar...
She was sure that she’d seen this cat before. Only cats weren't popular where Lily had lived, with her mother and sister. Now it seemed so long ago she could only just remember what Petunia’s face looked like.

Lily looked at the cat, that stared, unblinking, right back at her.
“Are you hungry?” she asked nicely, but the cat just shoved its paw at her and let a long meaowr. Lily was not sure what food cats ate, but she told the cat, “Stay here a second while I go up to the dormitory. I might have a spare biscuit, if you’d like it.”
The cat stared at her again, and started circling her. “Okay, okay!” Lily ran up to her dorm and fetched the cookie.

However, when she returned, she found not a cat, but a person sitting on her armchair by the fire and looking at the letter curling blackly in the flames. Lily instantly recognised who this was by the black hair. Reena.

“Reena!” Lily said, shocked still. What she wanted to say is, How did you get here? Or at the very least Why are you here? But the words that came out of her mouth were “You’re... you’re a cat?”
Which was stupid and offensive at the same time. Lily was brought back to her senses and she said the more sensible questions,
“I mean, why are you here? How did you get here?”
Reena looked at Lily, but it seemed that she did not see Lily there at all.
“Reena?” Lily asked, and it was then that she saw Reena’s eyes. Unblinking. Like the cat. “Umm, are you quite all right?”
“Can I trust you?” Reena asked, but she seemed to be talking to herself. “Well, I’m good with secrets,” Lily tried not to boast.
“Well, should I tell you? Can you keep it a secret? Yes you can. So, I have to tell you. Yes I will.”
This was an odd thing to say, even on Reena standards, and Lily was very nervous now. There was something Reena was hiding.
“I’m a seer.”

At these words, Lily let out a soft gasp. “Oh, you are so lucky! To see the future! If I could, I would-” But Reena wasn’t finished.
“You would wish you couldn’t. It’s not very nice. And I’m not done. I’m an animagus.”
“A what?” asked Lily. The word ‘animagus’ made Lily think of small things scurrying up her back.
“I have the ability to change into an animal at will.”
Lily found this scary. “What animal?” she asked quietly.
“Well, really animagi can’t choose. I’m a cat.”
“So that was you!” Lily thought her lucky, but Reena seemed to think Lily was lucky. “To be an animal one second, and a human the next? And I’m still not done. I’m a Wind Controller. I can control the wind.” Lily now couldn’t help being envious.
“Anything else?” she asked rather rudely.
“No.” Reena said, and Lily seemed to have offended her.
“I’m sorry,” Lily began, unsure what to say, “I mean, I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just that I would have liked being all those things.”
Reena looked up at Lily. “You don’t have to be a born animagus,” she said. “You can learn. You could, if you really wanted to.”
“Really?” Lily felt all her hopes lifting. She forgot all about Severus and the letter for this moment.
“How?” she asked, but Reena held up her hand. “I’ll show you later.”

Then, for some reason known only to her, Reena began counting down on her fingers. Five, Four, Three, Two, One, - and Reena disappeared. In her place was a small ginger cat.
Just in time Reena had done that, Lily thought, for the door opened on zero. Emily came in, grinning.
“I’ve just stolen some food from the kitchens. You want some?” she asked Lily, holding out some pies and sweets. Lily didn’t accept it, which made the girl even happier. She seemed to want it all for herself, and Lily was sure that she wouldn’t ask to share if Lily had been upstairs in bed.
“It is late,” Lily said, watching the cat slide away from her and sneak out of the open door, “I’d better go to bed.”
With those words, Lily took one last look at the ashes that used to be a letter in the fire, before hurrying to her bed.

Severus woke up the next day very early. He wasn’t sure why breaking friends with Lily made him so sad. After all, before Lily he had never had any friends, but he had never felt alone, either. It’s like if you never tasted chocolate, you don’t miss it. Severus dressed into his black robes and sat on his bed, thinking. Maybe he should go to Lily and apologise? For what though? Lily hadn’t read the letter that he had put in the hallway yet, so he could creep up and take the letter back. He stood up to do just that, after he was fully dressed. Severus knew that students were allowed to wander in the castle at six o’clock at the earliest, and it was 6:18 currently. Breakfast was at seven and he was sure Lily wouldn’t get up until then.

Quietly, Severus exited through the noisy common room. Most of the Slytherins woke up early, for reasons he would not like to find out. Tricking people, perhaps. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice that a teacher was staring at him.
“Mr Snape!” Professor McGongall called, and Severus turned around to face her.
“You are doing what, may I ask?” she peered at Severus through her glasses. Severus was unsure what to tell her.
“I’m going to breakfast.” He said, not daring to look at her beady eyes.

She seemed to almost say ‘At 6:30?’ But held herself, and with a final, “You may go, Mr Snape.” Left him to his own devices.
Breathing with relief, Severus ran down the hallway to where he had left his letter for Lily last night. It wasn’t there.

The wind, Severus told himself. The window must have been open and it blew the letter somewhere, but Severus was not convinced. He felt uneasy half an hour later (after searching for the letter) when Lily chose to sit at the Ravenclaw table for breakfast, not the Slytherin one. Would she continue avoiding him? Was she prepared to forgive him? Severus was so preoccupied with his worries that he wasn’t looking at what he was eating. He didn’t even notice as a small slimy worm flew from the Ravenlaw table and landed in his food, precisely from Reena’s spot. He ate it, and spat it out instantly. Once he saw what it was, Severus quite lost his appetite and left the worm free to eat the rest of his breakfast. Getting up, Severus looked at his timetable for the rest of the day.

It was flying in 1 hour. Severus knew that he would not get on the team, nor did he want to. But even if he did want to, he couldn’t, because only second years and up could be a proper Quidditch player. What’s more, First years were not even allowed their own brooms!

Meanwhile, Lily was heading from lunch to the school grounds. I still have an hour, she thought, and she was going to practice to become an animagus. She wondered what form she would be. An animagus can’t choose the animal. I’m a cat. Lily remembered Reena, and for a second she wondered about calling her. But then she thought how proud and happy Reena would be if someone else was an animagus, too. However, when Lily went out to a free patch of grass near a beech tree, Reena was standing there, arms folded.
“I...” Began Lily, but she was unsure how to tell Reena.
“I’m helping you practice. Fancy trying to leave me out!” Reena said, but she didn’t seem angry.
“How... Oh!” Lily gasped in realisation, “Of course! You’re a seer!”
Reena looked bored. “Didn’t need a genius to work that out, especially after I told you. Are you going to start practising?”
Lily nodded, but she didn’t know how to.
“I... umm, how?” asked Lily politely, and Reena just shrugged.
“I guess you just have to really want to, and then...”
POOF! Instead of Reena there was the cat again.
“Okay, I get it. Stop showing off now.”
Reena turned back into a human and said, “Your turn. It might take ages, a month even, but if you really try, then you’ll get it. For sure.”

Lily took a deep breath. I want to be an animal. She thought, trying to focus only on that. Any animal. Maybe... A squirrel. Lily imagined herself as a beautiful squirrel, with a long fluffy tail, and cute brown eyes. Nothing. Then, if not, maybe a cat, like Reena? She saw her own green eyes in her head but instead she was a beautiful grey cat. Still nothing.
“Don’t imagine yourself as a specific animal, just forget about being human.” Reena hinted. Lily felt a pull to the ground. She sat down obediently, and stretched her arms, and began to fly. Wait. Not arms. She used her wings to fly. This felt like the most ordinary thing in the world. Lily wondered where she should go next to explore. Then she felt a pang. She was desperately hungry. Flying down near the Hogwarts grounds, she spotted a bright pink flower field next to the herbology hut, and landed neatly in a flower. Then she began sipping the nectar and looked around. An enormous buzzing bee, larger than her own body, flew near her, and looked ready to attack. Eyeing his sting nervously, Lily thought that it was not clever to try to fight it off.

She flew towards the forest, and heard some humans chatting nearby. One of them was running at her. Lily quickly dodged the girl and started spiralling upwards, away from the crowds. Lily was faintly aware of being a human once, but the thought seemed ridiculous. Her, a human? She had been a butterfly forever... But then suddenly memories came seeping back into Lily; a young girl running after her, swinging in a park alone, a boy coming to her and asking her to go to him to Diagon Alley, befriending that boy, going to Hogwarts... and suddenly, her memories ended with a strong POOF. Lily was a human again, and a black haired girl was looking at her in relief.
“I thought you wouldn’t turn back.” she said, but then, under her breath, added, “I mean, I knew you would, because I’m a seer. But the people over there almost saw you.” Lily looked at the girl coldly. “Who are you?” she asked. Reena stared in disbelief. Even she didn’t foresee this.

Severus was walking to his flying lesson (Slytherin and Ravenclaw). He was still deep in thought of how to make it up with Lily, and he did not notice as she came running up to him.
“Severus!” Lily panted, “I was looking for you everywhere! It’s flying in a few minutes, and, as you know, Decorum has to choose a house, so I went to Mcgongall and said that for flying I want to be in Slytherin! Isn’t that great? So you will have to help me, as I have never even seen a broom!” Lily looked so enthusiastic, that, not bothering to find out what happened and why she forgave him, Severus took her arm and stepped out of the doors to where 30 broomsticks were lying neatly on the ground. Lily let out a soft “Wow.”
But Severus thought not much of these brooms. They were old and twigs were sticking out at odd angles.

Most of the year in Slytherin or Ravenclaw were already there. Reena was the last to come, and her eyes were all red. Severus stared at the girl. He disliked every bit of her, from her black hair to her ridiculous shining blue eyes, and was glad that she had been crying. Or so it seemed. Lily left you to come to me, he thought, feeling smug.

“Good Morning, everyone!” It was the flying teacher, Madam Hooch. She was tall and thin, but her eyes had a warm twinkle in them.
“Will you please stand by your broom, and reach your dominant hand out.” Everyone did as they were told, feeling nervous. “Now, say UP!” When she said the word, her sleek broom flew straight up to her arm. The year copied eagerly, with much less success. Reena’s broom flew very daintily to her hand, but Severus saw her blowing on it. Could a girl blow a broom up to her arm? The funny thing was, she didn’t even say UP.
Severus’ broom flew straight to his hand when he said UP, maybe because he was feeling happy from making friends with Lily again.
Xenophillias Lovegood, a Ravenclaw, had his broom simply roll on the floor. Lily’s broom, however, flew up to her arm when she said the word UP so quickly that she was almost knocked over.

Madam Hooch passed by each person, correcting their grip on the broom and helping them push off. In half an hour, most of the people had been in the air already. Lily was spectacular, a natural, but not as good as Severus, who had practised before school using one of the brooms every day. Reena was amazing, not very fast but graceful in every way.
“I swear that that girl doesn’t touch her broom when flying!” One of the Ravenclaws marveled at her. Reena smiled nervously and went up to Lily.
“So, have you remembered anything yet? I mean, I was being polite. I know you didn’t.” She looked curiously at Lily. Then she frowned at Severus and said, “You will be in big trouble when she remembers. She remembers in 2 hours, so I suggest you make the most of that time if you can. She’s yours... for now. After that, Lily’s mine.” She ducked half a second before Severus swiped at her. Smiling, she went back to the Ravenclaw side.

This bothered Severus. Something about the girl was odd. The way she didn’t touch her broomstick when flying, the way she knew what was going to happen before it did. Something was wrong, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

One and a half hours later:

Charms lesson had finally finished, and the students from Ravenclaw and Slytherin (and Lily) went to lunch. They were already in the lunch hall when Severus remembered that he had left his book in the Charms classroom. “I’ll run back and get it,” he said, “won’t be half a minute.”

But James Potter and his gang had overheard that. Sneakily, James and his best friend, Sirius Black, crept through a shortcut to the Charms classroom. When Severus approached, James threw himself at him and pinned him to the ground. The sudden attack gave Sirius the time to say a simple ‘Stupefy’ charm. It was a 2nd year spell, but James and Sirius learnt spells that even a third year used. They were very... advanced.

With that, James grabbed Severus and stuffed him into the nearest broom cupboard. Then he went, chatting happily, to lunch.

“Where is Severus?” Lily pondered. “I hope he hasn’t got into any trouble... Half an hour has passed, and I...” but, as you may have guessed, two hours had passed, so the accident Lily had acquired when she tried turning into an animal had quite passed. So Lily now had her memory back! “And I...” she repeated, mulling over memories that suddenly appeared after she had made friends with him. Him not believing her on the train, the horrible letter, and, of course, Flying lesson. “And I... and I don’t care!” she thought, and left her pudding half eaten.
The next lesson was potions. The potions teacher, Professor Slughorn, was a jolly man. He sat at his desk and looked around the classroom.
“Now, now, class! Let me do the register before we begin. Gryffindors, first.
-Black, Sirius?
Here!
-Potter, James?
Present!
-Weasley, Arthur?
Yes, sir!
-Prewett, Molly?
Yes.
-Lupin, Remus?
Here, sir.
-Pettigrew, Peter?
He’s talking to McGongall about something, sir.
-Meadows, Dorcas?
Present, sir.
-Kendall, Agatha?
Here!
Thank you! Now, the Slytherins?” and so it went. Slughorn went down the register, but when he called out Severus’ name, no one answered.
“Does anyone know where Severus Snape is?” Slughorn asked, looking mildly interested.
“Yes, sir.” James Potter said hesitantly, and Lily turned her head sharply. She might not like Severus anymore, but she still hated James Potter. What was he about to say? “Er, well, you see, sir, he’s in the hospital wing, sir.”
“Yes, yes. And why would he be there, Potter?” Slughorn asked, examining James. “I, er, well, I don’t really know. I was just told that he was in the hospital wing.” Professor Slughorn gave a sharp nod in James’ direction, and then turned back to the class.
“And, from the special house, Decorum... Evans, Lily?” It was a while before Lily realised that he was talking to her, and that she, once again, was centre of attention.
“Present, sir.” she said, turning red.
“Very well! Now, who knows what this potion is called?” Slughorn pointed at the first bottle in front of him. Lily instantly lifted her hand in the air, but she was one of the few that did.
“Yes, Miss Evans?” Professor Slughorn asked and Lily said, “The cure for boils potion, sir.” Slughorn smiled at her. “Ah, you’re a smart one! Very well, well done, have 10 points for Ravenclaw!”
Lily blushed, “Sir, I’m not in Ravenclaw. I’m Decorum.”
“Of course you are! Well, then, ten points for Decorum! Now, who can tell me the 12 uses for dragon’s blood?” this time no one put their hand up.
“Of course none of you know that yet! Well, today we shall be researching this. Now, divide into pairs please. One Gryffindor with a Slytherin. And Miss Evans, do as you please.” Lily didn’t know anyone apart from James, and she was certainly not going with him. Pairs paired up - James and Bellatrix, Sirius and Lucius, Vincent with Molly, Arthur with Antonin, Rodolphus and Dorcus, and Agatha with Thomas. Lily stood, unsure where to go. There was only one person left in the room. Remus Lupin.
“Yes, please, Mr Lupin with Miss Evans?” Slughorn suggested, and Lupin and Lily went to each other slowly. “Yes, now that you are all paired up, can you take out your textbooks and open them on page 51, please.”

“You have one miniature bottle of dragon's blood between you. Use it wisely, and then you shall present your use to the class.” Slughorn directed, and Lily looked at Lupin. Then she took her book out of her bag and began to read. This was Sverus’ book, as she had forgotten to bring her own and borrowed his until her one arrived by post.
The 12 uses for dragon’s blood:
-Cleaning Ovens
-Removing Spots
-Curing Warts
-Perfume
-Ink
-Antiviral
-Universal blood donor
-Preservative

But Lily now saw that Severus had made his own notes to each of the 12 uses. She skimmed down to one that seemed useful:
12. Strengthening
And Severus had written in the margin; Useful for strengthening any potion. Add no more than two drops or the result could be disastrous.
Lily and Remus agreed to present the 12th use, and they made a potion of Beautification, and split it into two flasks. Then they had the two drops of Dragon’s blood on the ready.
“Now, now! Time’s up, everybody.” Slughorn announced grandly. “Potter and Lestrange, please demonstrate your use.”
The two came to the front of the class and Lily noticed how Bellatrix had dark, fair hair which she shook with such elegance that all the boys stared at her in wonder. James grinned awkwardly. Then they presented their use; 5. Ink. They showed potion and added 2 drops of the Dragon’s blood and it turned a swirling red mixture, which, when they tested it out with a quill, was a perfect red ink. Bellatrix filled a flask and handed it to Slughorn. Then, with her sweetest smile, she said, “Sir, you can keep this to use.”
He thanked her and called up the next pair; Lily and Remus. Lily brought up the two flasks and showed them to the class. Then she added two drops of the blood to one of the bottles. With a sharp hiss, it turned lavender purple. “I would like two assistants please.” James and Molly stood up, and Lily explained that this was the Beautification potion. She handed the normal one to Molly, and the purple one to James. “Please drink it.” she said.

Severus felt very uncomfortable, lying in the cupboard like that. He wanted to kill James Potter for his bullying, but there was nothing he could do at the moment. He tried making a noise, but it was impossible when stunned. He knew Lily would be looking for him... but there were over a thousand small cramped places where he could be hiding. He had already missed Potions, and was hoping that someone would find him here, or he would be stuck forever. What excuse had James said for him when he was absent? Where was Lily now? He burned red to think that he did not have any other friends to look out for him.
He had a long time to think, lying in the dark on his own. Eventually his thoughts drifted to Reena. The way she always knew what would happen. She ducked half a second before he had tried to hit her. “You will be in big trouble when she remembers” he thought that meant Lily would make him upset or angry. This was the trouble. Getting stuck in a broom cupboard and unable to move. She... knew the future.. Saw the future... She was a... seer? The thought seemed absurd, and yet it was the only explanation. She was his only hope, if she knew where he was right now.

Then he remembered what she had told him. “She’s yours for two hours. After that, she’s mine.” She had to be a seer. There was no other explanation. But that meant that she’d told the truth... which also meant that Lily didn’t like him anymore. So, she wasn’t looking for him. So he was all alone. In fact, he knew Reena hated him, and as she was the only one who knew where he was - even that was not definite - (apart from James and his gang) then he was likely stuck for a long, long time.

Finally, Severus managed to make out a squeak, and he heard a voice “Probably... a stray kitty,” and a laugh. His luck. It was James Potter. He opened the cupboard. “How are you, Snivellus? Feeling okay? Feeling... calm?” with a laugh, he stamped on Severus’ nose, and shut the door again. Now Severus felt pain as well. Tears smudged his vision, and he had no way to blink or wipe them away.
Why did James hate him so much? He did not even do anything... Yet. He waited, and waited, unable to speak or move, hoping for anyone, anyone to open the cupboard and help him.

Meanwhile, Lily filed out of the potions classroom. She had gotten a good grade, and earned 20 house points on the whole. However, she still wondered what had made Severus go to the hospital wing, and went to find out. When she entered, however, he wasn’t there. It was completely empty. Lily went up to Reena, who was sitting in the library doing nothing, and whispered “Reena! Where is Severus! You must know. You’re a... you-know-what after all.”

Reena pretended not to hear her. “Reena!” Lily said.
“He is... I don’t know. My vision is foggy,” she lied, but Lily saw it was no use. Sighing, she left the hospital wing and made her way to lunch. She was starving, and yet... Severus was not in the lunch hall, either.

Back in the cupboard, Severus was in vain trying to think of how to get himself free. ‘Rennervate,’ he thought, but nothing worked as 1) he didn’t have his wand; James took it, and 2) he needed to speak the incantation.

Rennervate, please, he thought, and slowly felt his arm shift. He sat up, wincing in pain. How had that happened? Somehow, he had learned non-verbal magic... without a wand. He would get back to James when he could. He saw his reflection in his tears on the floor. His nose was broken. And it hurt.

Severus pressed his ear to the door, making sure James wasn’t there anymore. When he was sure, he opened the door a crack, as he wondered how he had set himself free. He rushed to the hospital wing, making sure no one saw him in his current state, and, not waiting for Madam Pomfrey, he used one of the potion bottles to return his nose to its normal state.

Then, downhearted, he returned to the lunchhall, but looked around every time he got to a turn in case one of James’ gang were there again. He had no wand to protect himself, either. No wand, no friends, no happiness.

He was very hungry, and yet only managed one potato and a pie. Everyone was staring at him. A boy called Arthur Weasley went up to Severus, asking “Where were you?”
Severus thought for a moment. “The hospital wing,” he said, which wasn’t untrue. And, luckily for James, it fitted perfectly with the excuse he gave.

Severus had Herbology with the Ravenclaws after that. He made his way to the green houses, cornering Reena.
“You’re a Seer, aren’t you?” he hissed, and Reena stared at him in dislike.
“Watch out,” she began, “they’re after you,” and, turning around, Reena walked away. Severus was pretty sure ‘they’ meant James Potter. But he could do magic without speaking, and he sure was going to use that as revenge. When Severus called for Reena again, she wasn’t there. All he could see was a ginger cat walking towards the forbidden forest.

An hour later, that forest was aflame.

Lily had chosen to be with the Ravenclaws for Herbology. She was very surprised when Severus was in the greenhouse they were supposed to be learning in, and, forgetting their argument, went up to him.
“Where have you been?” Severus started to answer, but Lily cut him off. “Don’t say you were in the Hospital wing, I checked and you weren’t. What were you doing?”
Severus didn’t answer. The small thought that Lily would check the hospital wing for him lifted his spirits so much.
“I... I can’t tell you,” he said, deciding to be honest. Lily lowered her head and walked away. A Slytherin near Severus said, “Ooh, Snapey has a girlfriend!” But Severus tried to ignore him.

Then he realised that Reena wasn’t there. The last he saw of her was when she turned to go into the greenhouses, so he had assumed that she would already be there. He had assumed wrong. And, an even stranger thing, was that the teacher wasn’t there, either. The rest of the class entered, but after half an hour they accepted that the teacher wouldn’t come. Just as all of them were about to leave or investigate, Professor Sprout came running in.
“Class!” she shouted. Her hair was at odd angles and twigs were sticking out of it. “Why are you still here? Have you not been informed? The forest is on fire! Run! Run! The Great Lake! Only option!” With that, she ran back out. She had brought with her disastrous panic, and although most students ran to the Great Lake instantly, Severus saw Lily walking in the opposite direction. To the forest. Blinking, he followed her. Something was not right.

Meanwhile, Lily grabbed a broom and started levitating above the forest. The heart of the Forbidden Forest was aflame, but the outsides were still untouched. Slowly, the fire was creeping in every direction. Lily flew; but she did not know what she was looking for. Suddenly, she saw a shadow. Not of a human. Of a cat. And she had a feeling that she recognised that cat...

And yet, Lily could not go down to the floor of the forest, because the fire would reach her too quickly. Taking a deep breath, she lowered her broom and sat on the nearest branch.
You can do this, she thought. She closed her eyes and imagined the beautiful colorful butterfly again. Slowly, she felt her body shrink... and she was a butterfly again. But this time she knew that she was a human, and felt more... in control of herself. She flew down, getting used to her wings once more. She flew down between the branches, watching her broom float far away. But it didn’t matter, really. She could fly by herself now.

The cat was on the branch beneath her now. It stretched as it watched the fire grow closer and closer. It blinked its bright blue eyes. It lifted its head to look at the butterfly above it. Lily tensed.
The cat took a breath in, then blew. Slowly, it began to... fly. It flew, still in that comfortable position, not moving. The wind suspended it up, up, and softly dropped it onto the branch with Lily. The cat heaved a breath once more. In a second, Reena was there.

“You shouldn’t have tried it again,” she hissed, and Lily decided that she preferred her as a cat. Lily saw herself as a human again in her head, and... after a few seconds, she... turned back. Finally she had gotten the hang of it!

Severus walked through the smoky forest. Most of it was on fire now, but Severus had put the enchanted water coat on with the hood. It was always wet, and soaked him, but at least it prevented him from the flames. He spied Lily in the darkness, talking to someone. His heart skipped a beat. Was it James? Or Reena? Or... a teacher? He climbed the first branch of the nearest tree, and almost fell. The branch broke with a creak.

Lily looked up, but no one was there. Suddenly, Reena jumped aside, grabbing her arm.
“What?” Lily screamed, and in exactly one second a branch fell where Lily and Reena had been standing. Thank god for Reena’s seer powers, or we’d be dead by now, Lily thought. The branch was a heavy one, too. Probably the fire, she looked up once more, but only saw darkness. And.... a snail on a branch. A large purple one. A large purple snail. She knew instantly something was wrong, other than the fire.
“Reena! The fire’ll burn us!” She screamed, but Reena stood in her place.
“...Only in three minutes 11 seconds,” she said calmly.
“REENA!” Lily shouted.
“Go if you like. I’ll stay,” Reena continued, just as calmly.
“Reena,” Lily’s voice dropped to a whisper, “please. Please. Please... just... let’s go.”

But Reena still ignored her.

If Lily had thought back to about a month ago, never had she guessed that in a month she would be standing in a forest fire with a seer in a magical forest that was forbidden. That was because she wasn’t a seer. But Reena was.

Slowly, Reena heaved in an enormous breath, and began to blow, just like Lily had seen her doing in her animagus form. Then, a swirly mixture from her head began flying to Lily, slowly, gracefully. Reena blew harder, and it formed into a shape... of a book. Only the book was Lily’s height and width. It was white, and glowing... and... it just looked lovely, and stole Lily’s breath.

And it also was empty.
“This page,” Reena explained, “is what is happening now, so I don’t see anything, because I see the future, not the present. So, this page and all pages backward will be glowing... and empty.”
After a moment’s pause, when Reena didn’t continue, Lily spoke. “This... this is the way you see the future?” she asked.

A long silence hung in the air. But it was a peaceful silence. That is, until Lily felt flames licking at her feet. She gasped and jumped up. The fire was speeding towards her with immense speed... and from all directions. She couldn’t do anything, and was too panicky to turn into a butterfly, and Lily felt like the world was ending. The last thing she saw was the book, with page 6177870 opened... and on it was a figure speeding toward her on a broomstick. Then the fire engulfed her completely, and a strong hand grabbed her from above and pulled her to safety. Then all was... black.

***

Severus had seen the white glow, in the middle of the forest, and knew instantly that Lily was in danger. He found an abandoned broomstick on the branch above him, and grabbed it. Then he sped towards the middle of the forest, where he had last seen Lily, and found her all alone with flames all around her, choking her to death.

He didn’t care about anyone but her in that one single moment, and sped towards her with all the speed that he had been trained with. He grabbed her just as she drowned in the fire, and once he was at a safe distance, he landed, (because it was harder flying with Lily), and felt her pulse. Beating, but slowly. Then she drew a breath, opened her eyes and started coughing out the smoke. Her robe was still on fire, and Severus put it out with his magic Wet Cloak.

Lily opened her eyes, and felt herself speeding to the ground, and fast. Then she hit the ground softly, and looked up to see warm black eyes staring at her.
“You’re alive!” Severus whispered, and Lily shook her head, choking out the smoke in her lungs.
“What are you... Whe-” She tried, but Severus silenced her, commanding her to breathe, not talk.
“Reena, she wa-” she tried to continue, but ended up in a coughing fit.
“It’s alright,” he told her, “you’re safe. For now.”

Reena stood up. She closed her eyes, but couldn’t see any vision of the future at all. She felt so lost, so... small. Is this how every other human being felt? Living their life, every movement having infinite possible consequences? Accidentally spilling things? Stepping in puddles and wetting your socks?

Reena took a step forward and opened her eyes. She wasn’t in Hogwarts after all. Her breath quickened. She was at home. If one could call it that. This was where she had suffered most of her life, being a slave. She had cleaned the floor, table, and stairs countless times, and cooked deliciously craving meals but herself only got scraps. Then she heard footsteps. They were loud, and she knew exactly whose they were. Her Mistress’. She gulped. The only thing that ever gave her fear. She closed her eyes tight, trying to see whether she would be scolded, or anything from the future at all....

Nothing came. Her Mistress walked up to her, and Reena shivered, not daring to face her.
“You... have not yet been expelled?”

Her voice was cold, colder than if you stick your hand in ice in the arctic. Then her Mistress grabbed Reena by the hair, and threw her out of the window, where she landed somewhere soft... a bed.

Reena woke up suddenly, and shook her head. Just a stupid dream. Her Mistress was far, far away. She closed her eyes.
She still had her vision! It was all part of the dream. The only time Reena was not completely knowing what would happen. Dreams. Or nightmares. Which is why Reena hated to sleep. Even yesterday, when she had foreseen her nightmare, she couldn’t stop it or be less worried. Reena looked out of the window. The fire had been put out. She groaned loudly, although she knew it wouldn’t last.

She closed her eyes, slowly this time. In a couple minutes Lily would come knocking on the Ravenclaw Common Room, but the angry girl with the white dress wouldn’t let her. She would shout and eventually Reena would stand up from her cosy bed and walk up to Lily, leaving the common room to talk to her. Then they would go up to an unused classroom and talk about...

Reena opened her eyes again. She hated being a seer. Then she heard a loud knocking sound, and some shouting. Then Reena sighed deeply and stood up from her warm bed hesitantly.

She walked up to Lily, waiting outside the door patiently. Then they set off to an unused Charms Classroom, when Reena felt something.

“Stop,” she told Lily, and halted suddenly. She screwed her eyes shut, and saw something else...

It was Severus Snape. The boy she hated more than any person in the school. In a few seconds he would be taken inside and laughed at by James and his crew in the Gryffindor Common Room. They had just stunned him and he was very, very angry. Reena shook her head. In truth, she couldn’t care less.
“Nothing important,” she told Lily, but Lily saw the guilty look on her face.
“What is it? Is it about me?” she asked, and Reena shook her head truthfully.
“Is it... about Severus?” Lily asked again, and this time Reena’s face went red.
“Tell me!” Reena shook her head again, and soon after a small ginger cat stalked away from the agitated Lily.
“He’s my friend, you know!” She called after it, but the cat didn’t even turn back.
“Why do you hate him so much? He saved me!” she tried, but it just licked its paw and carried on walking, and soon it went out of sight.

Lily sighed. “Fine, don’t tell me.” she muttered, “I’ll find him myself.” And she left to go to find Severus.



Meanwhile, a few minutes back, once again, Severus had found himself in a bad position. He had seen a note on the chair he was sitting at, just as he reached for a toast..

𝓘𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝔀𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝔀𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓫𝓪𝓬𝓴... 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓰𝓸 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓶𝓼 𝓬𝓸𝓻𝓻𝓲𝓭𝓸𝓻 𝓪𝓽 12:30 (𝓪𝓽 𝓵𝓾𝓷𝓬𝓱) 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓰𝓮𝓽 𝓲𝓽 𝓫𝓪𝓬𝓴!

Severus didn’t trust the letter, and yet he really wanted to have his wand back, so he crept to the Charms corridor, but he was very alert. It was empty. Before turning into the corridor, he looked around for James Potter and his gang, and yet they weren’t there. Then he crept up to his wand, and grabbed it. Nothing happened. He turned around, but the corridor was still empty. Sighing with relief, he turned back... just as he felt a Stunning Spell hit his back once more.

Lily stalked the hallways, looked in the hospital wing, charms classroom, corridors, toilets, cupboard, and everything was empty. She sighed. Where on earth could Severus be? The only places I haven’t looked are the 4 common rooms and dormitories... but I can’t even go there.
Lily was walking past the noticeboard, when she saw a sign pinned to it.

Lily sighed. A ball? Who was she supposed to take?
Lily was walking, downhearted, to have her dinner, when she bumped into Reena.
“Reena! Hi... have you heard about the Ball?” Reena raised an eyebrow at her.
“I.Am.A.Seer.” she muttered under her breath, “so I knew you’d come and say that, so, yes.”
“Oh,” Lily began.
“So... Do you want to go as friends... Lily?”
This time Lily raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you supposed to know? What will I answer?”
Reena shrugged. “I was just being polite. I knew you’d agree. And-” she was on the verge of telling Lily something, but stopped.
“Yes!” Lily remembered. “Where is Severus?”
Reena shook her head. “No idea,” she lied. Lily glared at her, then her face softened. “Please...?” she begged, and Reena examined her fingers for a moment. “He’s... in the common room.” which technically wasn’t lying.
Lily sighed. “Nothing had happened to him? You just set me up to search for him for hours?”
Reena shrugged again, “It was funny.” Then she stalked away, leaving Lily alone.
Lily went to the dining room, noticing that there was much more chatter as usual. When she sat at the Decorum table, and began eating her spaghetti half heartedly, James Potter came up to her.
“Hi, Evans!” he said loudly. Lily inclined her head.
“What do you want?” she asked impatiently.
“I want to take you to the ball,” he announced grandly, and Lily shook her head, choking on her spaghetti.
“No! Why would I? You’re just a dirty, bullying... person.” she finished lamely, not wanting to get into trouble. James rumpled his hair up.
“Hey! I’m not that bad... but please?” he asked, and Lily, abandoning her food, left, shaking her head.
“No way.” she said, leaving James looking shocked. No one had ever refused him before this, but Lily wasn’t remotely sorry because soon she heard him asking Holly, a very pretty and shy Hufflepuff with short golden curls, whether she would go with him.

Lily was very glad that she didn’t accept.

***

Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor Common Room, Severus was not having fun. After laughing at his hair, James’ gang went to lunch, covering Severus up with James’ Invisibility Cloak. Severus lay there, invisible, and tried like last time to use non-verbal magic, but it was impossible. He was miserable and tired of James. One day I will get back at him, he promised. Little did he know then that he would get back not at James, but at James’ own innocent son.

Severus waited for over half an hour, until he heard the unmistakable voice of Sirius Black.
“Haha! Did you see your face when the little Hufflepuff said no?”
Then James’ voice, “Listen, it wasn’t my fault! Maybe she just saw me asking Lily, and said no because she was my second choice...”
His voice trailed away. Then Sirius spoke again. “Well, who’re you going with then, mate?” and a long silence.
“Well... I’ll try Lily again..” James said, but his voice sounded doubtful. Severus was pretty sure they had all forgotten about him. What were they even talking about? Going with who where?
“Hey, you know that Snivellus is still there, listening to every word?”
“Don’t care...” muttered James, and Severus heard the scratching of a quill on parchment.
“I’m not sure that that’s the way to go around it, mate,” said Sirius softly. James ignored him.
“There!” he announced, and showed something, but Severus couldn’t see because he was covered in the cloak. Severus heard Sirius wince.
“Look... rewrite that bit there or something, it makes you sound as if you are showing off.
Then Severus heard a heated argument, none of them were remembering him.
At least this time I’m not missing lessons, Severus thought sulkily, since it was a Saturday. I wonder whether I’ll be stuck forever or not.

For about 3 hours, he lay there, listening to people walk by, filter in and out of the Common Room. He heard a girl crying, someone comforting her. He heard a boy shouting at some new people. Soon Severus began to feel drowsy, and hungry. If he lay like that much longer, he’d die of hunger... and the worst was that it wasn’t even an exaggeration.

***

Reena lay in bed, debating what to do. She could let Severus die, of course... but then she felt as if she had been committing murder. Reena closed her eyes.
What am I going to do? She thought, but nothing came... exactly like in her dream. Reena sighed. She sat up on her bed. What would Lily think of her once she didn’t save Severus?
Normally, Reena knew the answer, as she could see the future, but this time something was dreadfully wrong. She seemed to have lost her sight - how could she live, every single movement, sound, having infinite endings? Not knowing when she’d die, whether to duck, hit, run... Reena had never felt so helpless.


Severus was starting to lose hope, and was very, very hungry. Night had fallen, so he was totally blinded. He was falling into a sort of hunger sleep, his stomach growling menacingly. He needed food, any food, or... he would die. For real this time. Hot tears pricked his eyes. I don’t want to die like this, he thought, but no saviour came to help. Eventually, Severus fell asleep, still Stunned and very, very hungry.

***

It was nighttime, and James was lying in his comfy bed, thinking about how to ask Lily to the Ball better.
“Hey, mate... if I apologized would she accept it?” he asked Sirius, who whispered back, “Probably no. You saw the look on her face!”

James gave a loud yawn.
“Who then?” he asked sleepily. Sirius shrugged in the opposite bed. “Who are you going to ask?” James said, suddenly suspicious. “Uh... I haven’t thought that far,” Sirius gave a lazy smile, and they continued chatting in the night.
“Shut up, you two, will you? I’m trying to sleep,” murmured Remus, and soon after James heard Sirius’ gentle snores.

Only then did James’ thoughts wander to Severus. Was he still there, James wondered, and eventually curiosity got the better of him. He got up and went down to the common room.

At first glance, it was obviously empty. No one, including James, would notice the small ginger cat, had they not been lying on the floor, upside down, and looking under the sofa.

James lifted where he presumed the cloak was -Severus was still there but his back was turned. Grinning, James covered the cloak back on before slipping away back to his comfy bed.

The cat walked from under the sofa, turned around and lifted the cloak, before a loud C̾R̾A̾C̾K̾!̾ and Reena was there. She raised her wand, arm shaking, and muttered “Rennervate,” under her breath.
“Get up, you.” she said, but he didn’t say anything. She peered at him. Dead? No.... sleeping. Sighing, she poked him hard in the back. He jolted awake, and sat up.
“I...” his voice was hoarse. Reena glared at him.
“You will shut up.” She gave him a sandwich half-heartedly and left him to his devices. Severus ate it in less than half a minute, then grabbed James’ cloak, his wand, and set off at a tremendous speed after Reena.
He ran in the direction she ran, and yet he couldn’t find anyone. There was only a bright ginger cat, swerving corners and striding away as if it owned the place, and yet... no Reena.

Severus pulled the cloak over himself, tightened his grip on his wand, and ran to the Slytherin Common Room, and shut himself in his dormitory. He grabbed some food from the Slytherin’s daily feast (they had one every day) and ate it, hoping no one would notice. He was never invited.