Potter

Chapter 43

“Lily- Lily, wake up.” A soft voice whispered, and I felt a hand push lightly at my shoulder. Stirring, I opened my eyes to meet the blue ones of Ron Weasley. I frowned, moving to sit sit up sleepily slowly, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

“Ron? Hi.”

He grinned at me, and I couldn’t help but smile back at my friend. It had been awhile since I’d seen anyone outside of the Order, and it was refreshing to see a new face after such a long time. Standing up, we hugged quickly before pulling away from each other.

“Long time no see, Lily. How you’ve been?” 

Tricky question.

“I’ve been well, I guess.” Draco is dying, I’m preparing to take on a new identity to sneak into a school full of Death Eaters, and there’s an all-out war going on. “Yourself?”

Ron smiled almost sympathetically.

“About the same-.” He started to answer as the door opened again, and a new voice entered the room.

“Ron, who are you talking- Lily!” Hermione Granger flung herself forward, wrapping her arms around me tightly. I laughed quietly, hugging her back with just as much gumption. “I missed you!”

Hermione pulled away to smile at me, tucking a strand of curly hair behind her ear. “How have you been?”

That damn question again.

“I’ve been good- What are you two doing here?”

“We’re staying the night here before tomorrow.” Hermione explained, now stepping away from me completely.  “But we also came to wake you- The Order wants to speak with you.”

“The Order- Why?”

“Sirius told us about you- Just us. How you’re not from this time. They’re thinking that if anything... Goes wrong, tomorrow night, you may be able to prevent it.”

“Oh. Goody. Where are they?”

“In the kitchen.”

“Great.” 

“Well.. See you.” Ron said, and I gave a very forced-sounding laugh as I shuffled over to the kitchen, pushing the door open timidly. Inside stood Mad-Eye, Remus, Sirius, Fred and George, Arthur, Bill and Fleur. Upon opening the door they glanced up at me, some looking skeptical, others just looking curious.

“You wanted to see me?” I asked, glancing over at Sirius curiously. But it was Mad-Eye who spoke, his gruff voice making me jump as it broke the short-lived silence.

“Potter- What do you know about tomorrow?”

“Nothing much, I mean- A little, I guess.”

“How much is a little?” 

“Well I mean, I can’t- Can I? Couldn’t that- I dunno, mess something up?”

“Why exactly are we talk-” Fred started, frowning as he glanced over at me, though quickly he was cut off by Mad-Eye, who had raised his hand and made a sharp sound. It was unintelligible, but the gist was clearly ‘be quiet’. Turning his attention towards me, Mad-Eye narrowed his eyes.

“There’s a chance, yes. But if you’re able to save lives, Potter, then it might just be worth the risk.”

I gave a quick nod, glancing over at Sirius. He looked unusually grim, but when he saw me looking at him he made an attempt at a small smile. It looked more like a grimace, though. Very encouraging. Yup.

“There’s- Do I have to give details?” I muttered. Thankfully, Mad-Eye shook his head, resting both hands tightly on his cane. 

“Just tell us what you know, Potter. Then you’re free to go.”