Lily Snape [3]

Chapter Twelve:

Chapter Twelve: 

The holidays were coming up much faster than I imagined they would, the rest of september seemed to fly by, as did a good portion of October.  Sooner than I thought possible, people were getting ready for the parties of Halloween.  Every house would host their own party, while the professors would hopefully remain absolutely oblivious to them.  

I assumed they weren't, though most of the students thought they would be.  However, how could the professor's not know that every single year on Halloween, the house's hosted parties?  How come the professor's came around nearly every night except on the days we had planned parties?  They knew what was going on, they weren't stupid, they were just considerate.  The closer the date for the parties came upon us, the more I thought about it.  

Honestly, it was something stupid, something simple to think about and I let it occupy most of my mind and time, just so I'd be able to forget the things going on outside of Hogwarts for a little while.

When the day for the party finally came, butterbeer was passed around like sweets. Where the students had gotten it from, I'll never know, but I wasn't quite sure I wanted to find out either way.  Sometimes it was best to remain oblivious.   

Apparently Ginny Weasley was quite popular during Gryffindor parties, boys constantly came up to me, wanting to dance or talk, it was disconcerting.  When I was just Lillith Deacon, I never got this sort of attention, but perhaps that was because before this year, I was around the Golden Trio or the Twins.  But now, suddenly as Ginny Weasley, I was quite popular and a small part of me liked that, the small part of me liked that very, very much.

 It was rather odd, seeing my peers drinking or drunk, flirting and laughing, joking instead of their usual studying, quiet, behaving selves.   

But then most people didn't seem to find it odd that Ginny Weasley was here, making me realize perhaps she always came to these types of things.  I wouldn't know either way, I'd never been to one, the only party in Hogwarts I'd attended thus far had been last year at the celebration for the Quidditch tryouts.  

I holed myself up any other night, hoping that things would work out in the end and that my sort-of father-daughter relationship with Professor Snape would work itself out.  

A lot of good that's been doing you, my mind seemed to mutter snarkily.  I sighed, watching and waiting for the All Hallows Eve party to die down.

Once things began to quiet down, students began to head to their rooms, and the more responsible of us began to clean.  The organizer of the party made it completely clear that not a trace of our nightly doings could be left, for fear that McGonagall would find out; though I was still under the impression that she already knew what we were doing, whether she said anything about it or not. 

But I didn't say anything.

*_*_*

"I'm exhausted," I moaned to Neville in the Common Room the next morning.  

Stretching my body out across the couch, which I could only do because everyone else was down at breakfast, I sighed in near ecstacy.  It was quiet, and I was grateful that Neville and I had decided to stay behind and skip breakfast in order to talk about the next DA meeting.

It was being held tonight, over a month and a half since the last one, but we were nervous.  With the Death Eaters lurking around, posing as professors, we had to be extremely careful.  We all knew that one wrong move could easily get us tortured, and that the other members of Dumbledore's Army would easily give us up as the main members or founders of the group if they were threatened.  

Neville and I spoke about the next thing we should try to teach. Many of the students were rather new, because a good portion of the six and seventh years that attended the first DA meetings had already graduated Hogwarts, so we thought it was best to do it just as Harry had the year before last with a few extra lessons thrown in.   

Summoning a real patronus was next on our list.  Which was followed shortly after by defensive spells, and then silent spells.  Silent spells were something I'd already learned before I even started schooling in Hogwarts, because I'd been to cowardly to speak.

Thank Merlin I'd gotten over that by the end of  that year, or else I'd be having a lot more problems socially than I already did. 

"You think it'll be safe, Neville?  Honestly?  I'm not trying to rain down on this parade, but I have a really bad feeling."

Neville smiled nervously before nodding, patting my knee firmly before staning up and stretching his back out like I had just moments before.

"Sure, Gin.  Everything's going to be fine, I promise.  If you see anything, or anyone suspicious, let me know, okay?"

I grimaced, wondering what would constitute as 'suspicious' during times such as this, but nodded nonetheless and joined Neville on our walk to the last few minutes of breakfast.  Even with my nauseated stomach and the feeling that something awful would happen today, I hadn't quite lost my appetite.

*_*_*

"Right, try again.  You can do it, Belle," I heard Neville encourage a small, rather frightened looking fifth year girl.  She was from Hufflepuff, and this was her first lesson with the DA.  She didn't look like she knew what to make of it, but still she followed Neville's orders and held out her wand.  Her light brown hair seemed to flutter, though there was no wind and her wand glowed as she said those two words that seemed to echo through the room.

"Expecto Patronum!"  

Out of her wand burst a large lion, nearly making me laugh with how ironic it seemed.  A frightened child, with a patronus like that.  It was enough to make anyone burst into hysterics, really.  But I didn't, I kept my lips tightly closed as I moved around to look at the other kids.

Kids.. When had I started seeing them as children?  They were all only a year or two younger than me, but in my eyes, I saw children learning to fight.  Children who'd never been harmed, never seen the face of death, who never expected to actually fight in a war.  

Yet here they were, learning to do just that.  Learning to protect themselves when faced with danger.  Something no child should have to go through, but here they were.  Thirty or so boys and girls, all learning to fight for their own survival.  

I wasn't any better, Neville wasn't any older.  Nobody, not a single one of us should have been in that room, learning or teaching.  

This was the world Voldemort had brought upon us.  

I hated him all the more for it. 

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Omg, I'm soooo sorry for taking so long to update.  I don't know how  good this update is, but i hope it's okay.  Is it maybe enough to make up for not posting in over three months?  GAH, I'm sorry.  I've been studying for my GED test (which is basically the equivalent of a high school diploma, because i never finished high school) so I've been so busy with that.  I really apologize.  Here's chapter 12, woot woot!  Okay, I hope the next chapter doesn't take so long to write up.  :/  I take my test on March 26th and 27th, so hopefully after that I'll be able to write more often!   

Peace and Love
iJay