Lily Evans and the Marauder's Secrets

Chapter 9: A Meeting With Albus Dumbledore

The notes arrive towards the end of Potions class Monday morning, one for me and one for Potter, compliments of Frank. Slughorn waves him in when he knocks.

"What's the occasion, young man?" Slughorn says, waddling over to Frank through the multi-colored smoke that wafts about the dungeon. We've been elbow-deep in brewing for the last hour. Most of the students continue to work, sending Frank curious looks in between adding fluxweed and knotgrass to their Polyjuice Potion attempts.

"I'm to give these to James Potter and Lily Evans," Frank says. I look up when he says my name. Frank holds out a pair of parchment scrolls. "From Professor Dumbledore." This gets the rest of the class to pause in their brewing. Potter sets down his stirring spoon.

"Of course, of course!" Slughorn takes them from Frank. "Thank you."

Frank nods, smiles briefly at Potter and me, and heads back out of the dungeon. Meanwhile, Slughorn approaches me. "This came for you, Miss Evans," he says unnecessarily, setting the scroll on the table next to my cauldron. He turns to Potter at the next table. "And one for you too, Mr. Potter."

I quickly wipe the knotgrass juice from my fingers so that I can pick up the paper and break the seal. Severus, though still stirring his potion precisely, watches me with slitted eyes.

Tall, narrow handwriting greets me inside.

Miss Evans,

I hope your first week last week went well for you. I'd like to extend an invitation to you and Mr. Potter to meet in my office this evening (Monday 12 September) at 9 pm so that I can review your Head duties with you both and address any questions or concerns you might have.

I will see you both tonight.

Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

"What's it say?" Severus asks.

"Professor Dumbledore wants to meet with us tonight – Potter and I – to go over Head duties." I re-roll the note and slip it into my school bag. "About time, too. We've been back at school for over a week now." I keep my voice casual, but inside my mind is racing. I haven't seen Professor Dumbledore since the Welcome Feast, and I'd been starting to panic. No guidance or advice before our first prefect meeting over the weekend, no reassurance about the Sorting Hat song, no explanation, nothing. I glance at Potter. He meets my eyes before dropping his attention back to his cauldron, but it's enough for me to know he must be thinking the same.

I return to my Polyjuice Potion. It's in the middle of a brew cycle and I need to crush my lacewing flies and bicorn horn for the next phase.

We work for a couple more minutes before Severus speaks again. "You do seem to be spending more time than usual with Potter."

I shrug. "We're Head students together. Some interactions are inevitable. I'm not giving you any grief about who you have to hang around." I glare at Rosier and Mulciber sitting at their usual table right next to ours. They're already leering at me, as expected. I swear, sometimes I think they sit there purely so they can monitor our conversation and make faces at me.

His mouth twists in a grimace, not liking the jibe towards his Housemates, but he can hardly argue that the lot of them are openly hostile towards me. "I guess..." he says, but he doesn't sound happy about it.

"I'm spending more time with you than usual, too," I point out. That makes him smile.

"Also true," he concedes. He's moved onto prepping his lacewing flies, and he doesn't look up from the mortar and pestle he's using to slowly turn them into a fine powder. "I just don't want you to forget what Potter's really like," Severus finally says. There's a bit of a strain to his voice, like he has to force the words out. "The things he's done to... me... you know..." He trails off, still not looking at me. I know he hates to admit that Potter has ever bested him, but it's the truth.