1.
Must there be a secret me that I am forced to hide?
Must I pretend to be someone I'm not for all time?
When will my reflection show who I am inside?
They were dressed in black cloaks and ignored by muggles flocking out of the theatre. A black owl floated silently above the leader, seemingly invisible in the darkness. They looked ominous to the thoughtful eye. A child wearing dancing slippers stared at the men with wide blue eyes. They were on the edges of London near a small village. The muggles believed the crowds were due to the ballet recital. Below the men was their escape from the hustle and bustle of the muggle world. The man leading the pack, Gregory McKenzie, was ordering the men to prepare to get into the theatre because underneath the stage was an entrance to centuries old caverns untouched since the dark ages.
The caverns were the ticket to the newly elected Minister of Magic.
The little girl in the dancing slippers watched carefully as the man raised a stick into the air and shouted something unintelligible.
Beside the little girl, a man with a peg leg ripped off a cloak that had been covering his face and shouted, "They're here!"
His shout made muggles and wizards alike freeze in their spots. The little girl began crying and her mother scooped her up protectively. More bodies in cloaks were coming from the opposite direction of Gregory Mckenzie's Death Walkers.
The Ministry must've had a tip off on Gregory's position.
A green blast of light hit the little girl in the dancing slippers. Her mother cried a sharp cry that was drowned out by the shouts and screams of hundreds of confused people. A giant shimmering shield appears around anyone close enough to the original man who shouted. To the untrained eye it would appear that the people in the cloaks were throwing balls of light at each other but in fact, it was magic.
Gregory raced up the steps of the theatre where the grizzled old wizard was awaiting him.
"Moody," Gregory says pleasurably, "I'll be happy to tell my Lord of your ultimate death by the end of the night."
The man called Moody replied sternly, "Your Lord made a fatal mistake in believing he could trust you to lead an attack on the Ministry."
The man smiled and pointed his wand to the sky, letting the image of a snake and skull cross the sky like constellations.
"Now all of England knows you're here." Moody snarled, "Doesn't your Lord prefer doing things in secret?"
"We're done hiding." Gregory sneered.
Gregory took Moody by surprise and knocked him backwards into a wall and rushed into the theater, his posse of Death Walkers taking out innocent bodies as they followed. Gregory smiled in menace. The Dark Lord wanted the Ministry taken and Gregory was determined to do so flawlessly. No minister, pureblood, or mudblood would be able to stand in his way.
Not this time.
~~~reflection~~~
Many blocks away, in the heart of London, the Ministry of Magic was swarmed with wizards watching and waiting for news of the attack. A witch wearing stark white robes and a pin of a golden lioness stood surrounded by gentleman in hats all whispering to her. She stood tall, despite having just been elected the Minister of Magic by the peoples, and the first woman Minister in years. Where most in her shoes would be trembling at the news of an attack on the outskirts of London, she appeared astonishingly calm.
Another wizard, dressed in black robes like those fighting in the streets far away from the safety of the Ministry, walked through the crowds to reach the Minister with a bold face.
"Minister, they call themselves the Death Walkers."
"Death Walkers?" the Minister sighed, "Don't we have enough death on our minds?"
The man frowned too, "They like the play on words. Names aside, they have entered the catacombs under London...we believe it will take them some time to navigate the caverns and we can cut them off at the spring that runs through the caverns."
A small woman wearing red lip stick who had been one of the people whispering to the Minister hissed, "Impossible! No one can get through the aurors we have guarding the city."
The Minister motioned for the small woman to be silent.
The wizard who had addressed the Minister frowned sincerely, "Reports have it that Gregory McKenzie is leading them. We'll set up defenses around your office's immediately."
The Minister forcefully shook her head, "No, Frank! Send your Aurors to protect the people." She turned to the smallest woman in red lipstick, "Colbie?"
"Yes Minister?" the woman sniffed.
The Minister tucked a strand of her white hair behind her ear before continuing, "Deliver recruitment notices throughout all the offices. Call up reserves and as many new recruits as possible. We're going to need all the help we can get."
Frank stepped in again, "Forgive me Minister, but I believe my current Aurors can stop him."
The Minister smiled kindly at Frank, "I wont take any chances, Longbottom. A single grain of rice can tip the scale. One man may be the difference between victory and defeat."
Frank nodded, "I'll have James Potter set up a recruitment camp outside of the city."
"Colbie?" the Minister addressed the woman with red lipstick.
"Yes?" Colbie asked again, seeming annoyed.
"Meet up with Mr. Potter and send me reports of his recruits as they progress." The Minister looked gravely out at her subjects, "I'm afraid this war is only beginning."
~~~reflection~~~
Far away from the bustling city streets of London, a young woman named Lily Evans sat inside her small bedroom alone. She lived in a small city called Cokesworth with her parents and sister. They didn't have much and Lily's parents struggled to move their two pretty daughters up the social ladder. Windows to the small condo were thrown open to the cool spring air and the blue curtains in Lily's room moved like waves against the breeze. A slight humming was coming from the radio in the corner but Lily was so focused on her task at hand that she ignored the buzzing.
"Quiet and demure...graceful...polite..." she flipped the page of Peggy Pennyful's Pocketbook of Perfect Woman, "delicate...refined...poised..."
Lily flipped her arm and sued the extra ink in her quill to write the last word she read from the book, "punctual."
Just then, an alarm clock went off and Lily squealed, kicking her legs off the couch. She blew on the ink resting on her arm, looking around the room for a telltale sign of her wand. She'd put it down last night and couldn't remember where she'd left it.
"Petunia!" she called through the house.
No answer. Lily finished blowing at the ink and pulled down her white sweater impatiently. She spotted her wand among her forgotten garments pushed into the farthest corner of her room. A trunk filled with spell books and potions sat collecting dust in the same corner. Lily stared wistfully at it for two seconds before focusing on the task at hand. She grabbed her wand quickly, loving the way her fingers held it familiarly.
"ahhh, there you are." She smiled triumphantly and stuffed the wand into her pocket.
Just because her parents expected her to act like a lady, didn't mean she couldn't keep her wand on her. Even Lily was a practical witch. Lily bit her lip as she glanced in the mirror one last time.
Lily's red hair was fly away and unruly but she'd only just woken up. Lily tried to straighten her white blouse expertly. Only if one looked really hard, could they spot the ink on the inside of her arm. Another look and they could see her wand sticking out of her jeans. Lily bit her lip and hid the wand inside her shirt instead.
Petunia would be the first to remind Lily that no man wanted a freak for a wife and no normal girl carried sticks in her back pocket.
Thinking of Petunia, Lily shouted louder this time, "Petunia!"
No answer again.
Lily raced to her open windows and looked outside only to spot her aforementioned sister picking flowers in the community garden. Lily sighed deeply, her fringe blowing up form the wind. Leave it to Petunia to be collecting flowers from a garden that had seen better days.
Lily didn't bother checking herself again in the mirror as she raced from her room and down the stairs to her left. The stomping was probably going to anger their old neighbors but Lily was too on edge about this afternoon. Lily's parents were taking her and Petunia to a gathering where they'd be judged on their lady-like appearances and set up with an eligible bachelor. While Petunia more-or-less enjoyed the thought of a Prince Charming it drove Lily to drink thinking about a boy she had to play house for.
Nevertheless, Lily did as her parents instructed.
There were worse things that could happen to Lily than finding a stable home life outside of the world she'd grown up in. The world that she was used too, full of magic and ghosts and goblins, was more of a story now. It was terrible, sad, and sometimes Lily felt tragically at a loss without magic surrounding her—but her current world was safe.
And safe was the way her parents liked her best.
"Lily!" she heard her mother call form the small living room, "did you do the dishes?"
Lily winced; because she hadn't, but she wasn't about to tell her mother that. Biting her lip she shouted a quick yes before racing into the kitchen and seeing the pile of dirty dishes. Glancing back behind her once, just to check and make sure her father wasn't around, Lily pulled her wand from it's hiding spot.
It had been months since she had done magic. The thought of the possibility all but sent Lily's heart into a frantic beat. Her body ached for magic like an alcoholic craved fine wine. Lily took a deep breath and waved it up once, whispering the spell. She felt little sparks of pleasure race up her spine as all of the dirty dishes in the sink became sparkling within two seconds.
Smirking smugly, Lily stuffed the wand away and turned only to have her father glaring at her. Lily cleared her throat and stood on the edge of her tiptoes with a smile.
"Morning, Father." She smiled, kissing his cheek.
As if praying to the Lord above, her father glanced up at the ceiling before glancing back down at her with grey eyes and a stern smile, "Are you ready for the matchmaker today?"
"Yes." Lily lied, letting her word drag out slowly.
Her father sighed and moved past her with a raised eyebrow, "You cleaned the dishes?"
"Yes." She nodded again, looking over her shoulder to see her mother appear with a shawl around her think shoulders.
"Without magic?"
"Er."
Her father looked like he was praying again and Lily smiled sheepishly, "No."
Her father sighed and leaned against the counter, staring directly at her in shame, "You know better than to use magic in the house."
"I know." Lily muttered guiltily.
"We know how hard it must be for you—" Lily's mother finally interrupted, "But we simply don't want to see you hurt."
"Mum," Lily sighed, "I wouldn't get hurt washing a few simple dishes."
"You know what we mean." Her father replied curtly.
Lily turned her head away from her parents and stared at the yellowing tiles of their kitchen. It had been six months since she'd graduated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Five months since dark wizards had hunted the muggleborns. Three since she'd even considered going back to the magical world.
Lily's parents had been unwavering in their support of Lily's decision to leave her magical world behind once it had become dangerous but rather than encourage her to continue using magic, they discouraged her talents. They believed only bad could come of magic, especially after they found out some of the dangers of her world. They decided they wanted her to settle down with a nice, normal husband. They wanted her to forget the part of herself that loved magic.
She didn't believe her parents meant anything by hiring the matchmaker. She truly believed they cared—and this was their way of trying to make it better. They believed anything could be remedied by setting their daughters up with eligible bachelors. The matchmaker was setting up even Petunia, who was the definition of normal.
Lily knew that nothing would make her happier than rejoining the world and friends she'd left behind at the whispers of war…but whispers of a war were growing closer to home and as a young lady looking for a husband…war was no place for a young lady.
At least according to Peggy Pennyful's Pocketbook of Perfect Woman.
Lily's mother quickly changed the subject, "My goodness, look at the time! Petunia!" she called for Lily's sister, "We were supposed to be in town five minutes ago!"
Lily father reached in to hug Lily's crumpled form; "We're counting on you to ma-
Lily cut him off and hugged him back tightly, "—make you and mum proud. Don't worry father. I wont let you down."
Petunia entered carrying a bouquet of flowers, likely to soften up the matchmaker. Lily wasn't that obsessed with making a good opinion. As long as the matchmaker didn't set her up with some low life street vermin she was fine. Lily kissed her father's stubbly cheek.
"Wish me luck."
Lily laughed when her father sighed, "I had the whole church praying for you on Sunday."
"Merlin," Lily let the old term slip her tongue despite her parents worried glances, "The whole church?" she rolled her eyes but smiled even though she heard her father sigh deeply.
Lily heard her father mutter to her mother as she got her coat, "I'm going to pray some more."
Lily bit her lip thoughtfully because she was praying too, she was praying for the strength to go through with her parents plans. She felt like she was living a lie and she desperately hoped the matchmaker could work a miracle. It would take a miracle find her someone who could make her as happy as she'd been in school and make her parents proud.
Next time:
"You are a disgrace! You may look like a bride, but you will never be one! You're a freak!" the matchmaker shouted after Lily's retreating form.
Lily ducked her head and covered her face with her hands as the other girls stared on in shock. The words, so often used by her sister to taunt her magical abilities, stung and tears slipped out of Lily's eyes as her mother grabbed her arm.
"What did you do?" her mother cried with worry.
Lily never felt more defeated in her life as in the moment she had to whisper the words, "I used magic."
So. I'm back...without another rewrite of a movie. Oops? One day I'll go back to writing original Jily. One day.
This won't follow Mulan exactly...for obvious reasons...but it will have a similar message and dialogue and background. I own nothing. Literally. Nothing. Just the idea to cross two worlds together.
Lemme know if you like it? Aka review? I love Reviews. Live for them actually.