Lily

Chapter Fifty Four:

Hermione had Lily studying nonstop for their OWLs. She spent nearly every waking moment either in class or the library, even more than usual. Lily wanted to do well on her OWLs, of course, but she grew tired of the constant revising. Harry and Ron weren't doing much better, but they came up with excuses not to follow Hermione to the library. Lily felt too guilty to lie though, so sometimes Harry would make up an excuse for her.

During one of their OWLs, Lily was distracted by her brother suddenly wincing. She looked over at him but his eyes were glossed over. No one else was paying any attention, since he didn't make a loud noise, but Lily was concerned. Even though talking was forbidden, she whispered his name.

"Harry?"

He suddenly snapped back to focus, looking panicked. Harry stood up abruptly and handed his exam over to the professor, leaving the last few questions blank, before hurrying out of the room. Lily scribbled down an answer to the last question on her exam before rushing to follow him.

"Harry?" She called as she jogged to catch up with him in the hallway.

"He's got Sirius!" Harry turned to her, panicked, "Voldemort's got Sirius!"

"What?! Did you have a vision? I thought you weren't getting those anymore!" Lily worried.

"I- I know, but there's no time to talk about that now! He's torturing Sirius!" Harry exclaimed.

"Harry, what if it's a trick though? Like, what if  Voldemort knows-" Lily said.

"It's not a trick! I just have to go, Lil. Sirius could die!" Harry said.

Lily opened her mouth to reply, but Ron, Hermione, and Lena came around the corner and noticed Harry's distress.

"What happened?" Lena asked first.

"Voldemort's got Sirius, I saw it!"

"But Harry-" Hermione began.

"We're wasting time! I need to go!" Harry turned around and began walking down the hallway briskly.

Lily gave her friends a pleading look to help her.

"Harry! Harry, what if we checked on Sirius first?" Hermione proposed.

Harry hesitated.

"How?"

"The Floo Network." Hermione suggested.

"That won't work." He dismissed.

"It still works in- in Umbridge's office." Hermione pointed out.

Harry slowly turned around. He ran a hand through his already messy hair.

"Alright." He agreed, "I'll Floo to Grimuald Place, and if Sirius isn't there, then I'm leaving."

"We'll cover for you." Ron offered, "Make sure that Umbridge doesn't walk in on you."

"I'll grab Ginny, December, Neville, and Luna. They can help too." Lena decided, knowing exactly where to find them.

Harry nodded distractedly. Lily stepped forward.

"I'm coming with you." She said.

Too worried to argue, Harry let her follow him to Umbridge's office. They closed the door and Harry grabbed the Floo powder from the bowl.

"Stay here, I'll be right back." Harry promised before disappearing.

Not happy with being stuck in the office, but knowing it was probably for the best. Lily leaned against the wall and waited. Harry reappeared a few minutes later, looking even more concerned.