The thought crossed her mind that it might be none of her business, and that, since it wasn't an affair of any sort, she didn't really have any right to butt in, but her curiosity got the better of her, and she slowly pushed the door to the potions classroom open. It creaked loudly, causing her to wince.
Harry looked up from the stack of textbooks on his desk as the door opened. "Miss Evans, what brings you here? Your class isn't until another half-hour." Harry would love to be able to say that he was using this opportunity to talk to his parents, to get to know them better, to be a part of their lives. But he couldn't, not really. Instead of the family reunion, the instant "clicking" he had imagined when he was younger, it was much more awkward than he had thought it would be. His parents were nothing like what Sirius had told him about, or what Dumbledore had told him. It made sense-this was before the war, before they had finished school. They were very much still children right now.
And as much as he didn't want to admit it, they were, in the end, strangers. Having no real memories except for a few vague, blurry images and voices of his parents, Harry hadn't known what to expect. He didn't know how to react to see his parents running around younger than he was. So, he kept his distance from them, content to watch from afar and find comfort and amusement in their antics he did recognize. The pranking, for instance.
"There's something I wanted to talk to you about…" Lily shifted uncomfortably as she stood inside the door frame.
"Okay." Harry looked at her in bewilderment. "Come in, have a seat." He waited until she had done so. "What's this about?"
"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help but hear what you were talking to Bellatrix about just now." Lily hung her head.
Harry stared at her for a long moment, working his jaw, but unable to utter any sound. Shit, he thought. This wasn't something he was prepared for. He reckoned he could count himself lucky that she'd decided to come to him first, instead of going straight to Dumbledore. "I see," he finally managed.
"I mean, people have been talking about you," Lily stammered. "You two seem to spend a lot of time together, so they thought…"
"They thought that her… and me?" Harry chuckled. He had wanted to laugh hysterically when Bellatrix had originally recounted the rumor to him, but he had figured that it would hurt her feelings. The thought of him and Bellatrix as an item was just too absurd, especially since every time he looked at her, he could almost see a shadow of her older self lurking behind her. He knew it was wrong to associate the two versions of her that he had known, but he couldn't shake off the memories of fighting and trying to kill someone who had been such a mortal enemy for so long. Aside from Voldemort, Bellatrix was the only one he had ever really hated because she had taken Sirius from him.
"I'm guessing from your reaction that the two of you aren't together?" Lily asked shyly, almost hopefully.
Harry shook his head. "Heavens, no. We're… friends, I guess. Though I suppose I do seem to see her a lot. She's taken to just barging into my quarters or my office whenever she feels like chatting. I actually find it rather funny; she didn't really strike me as the chatty type." He looked at her sharply. "But that's not really what you wanted to ask, is it?"
"No. I know it's not really my place to ask, but it seems that you're doing something quite dangerous, and she's trying to involve herself in it."
"And you want to know what it is?" Harry frowned. If she really had overheard his conversation with Bellatrix, then she knew nothing of value, except for the fact that there was something going on. That alone could cause a lot of trouble. He silently berated himself for not placing a silencing charm on the room, locking the door, or doing both.
"I don't know." Suddenly, Lily felt rather uncomfortable. It seemed she had inadvertently stumbled into something important, something that no one was supposed to know about.
Harry briefly contemplated lying and telling her that he was working on some secret project for Dumbledore, but discarded that idea soon. It would cause too much trouble if she accidentally blurted something out to the headmaster. He couldn't very well tell her the truth, either. If it became known that there was a dark lord on the loose before they were ready… Bad things would happen, he noted grimly. Or they could call me an attention-seeking lunatic again .
"You're putting me in a very difficult position, Miss Evans," he finally said, pacing behind his desk.
"I'm sorry, Professor."
"I understand your curiosity, but as you might have realized, the matter I discussed with Miss Black is rather… delicate. It has to do with the reason her uncle decided to grace me with his favor and arrange my appointment as a substitute teacher at Hogwarts. Let's just say it involves politics, and leave it at that. He also does not want her involved in it, because he deems her far too young to be involved in the scheming and plotting of politicians." Harry smiled wryly. "As you might figure, he's not very fond of them."
"I see," Lily nodded briefly. She could tell there was more to it, but she was smart enough to realize that pushing wouldn't get her anything else. While Harry's tone was amiable enough, the set of his jaw and the distant look in his eyes told her that this was as much as he was going to tell anyone who asked. "I understand; I won't bother you about it anymore, Professor. I'm sorry I asked about something private."
Harry smiled, partly out of relief. "Don't worry about it, Miss Evans. I understand your curiosity. Now, is there anything else I can do for you?"
"Well…" Lily reached into her book bag and pulled out her homework. "I was wondering about the potion you'd assigned us…"
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