It was a bright summer morning, Lily Potter looked out the window of her home, watching James and Harry play around in the backyard. It was amusing to watch them stumble around with James trying (and failing) to get Harry to say "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good". (Harry had managed to say "I somly swur" so far). She would have loved to go outside and play with her baby Harry as well but today was a special day for her. Gringotts had requested her assistance on an expedition due to her charms expertise and it would be the first time she would be able to leave Godric's Hollow in months. She was only able to as Gringotts had offered a full security team to keep her safe.
With a quick goodbye to her husband and a kiss to baby Harry, Lily apparated into a spare Gringotts room that had been prepared for her arrival. The room was bare except for an empty desk in the center of the room and large oak double doors. There she met SnarlTooth, who would be her main bodyguard until she returned later in the evening. He made a short greeting noise followed with a "I Snarltooth" and that was it. Lily would soon learn that that was the most he would interact with her verbally as he only spoke Gobbledygook.
Within one minute of her arrival 4 other goblins had trickled in through the double doors, but none of them bothered to introduce themselves. It was silent until the last Goblin wandered in, holding a silver chain that it gestured for her to grab. The moment they were all touching it she felt the familiar pull behind her navel, indicating she had been portkeyed. She stumbled as she landed but didn't say anything as the goblins didn't seem to be in any form of a conversational mood. She looked around and saw she was near the outskirts of a castle ruins, the sun had not yet reached the top of it's voyage across the sky so Lily surmised she was still somewhere in England.
The trek was rather short to the castle entrance so there was no chance to explore the surroundings, though Lily would have loved to. The lead goblin (though she did not know his name, she decided to call him Fluffy, though she was sure that saying as such would have led to some form of blade in her face) grasped the handle, meaning to pull the door open. Of course it would not be that easy as as soon as he did the metal obtained a reddish hue and he was forced to retract his hand quickly in order to not be burnt. At last, this was why she was contracted.
Lily quickly pushed to the front of the group and began to study the handle. No obvious runic symbols carved into it so it must be some form of ward or hex. She attempted a 'finite incantatem' though doubting it would work. As expected, it didn't. She heard one of the goblins snort behind her and straightened up, there was a reason thet Gringotts had chosen Lily Evans nee Potter and she did not plan on disappointing. She was a charms protege and a simple door lock would not get the best of her.
Well 10 minutes of spell after spell being cast on the door revealed nothing other than that the lock was powerful and she was unlikely to get past it. The goblins behind her seemed to be getting impatient, but their irritation was nothing compared to her own. Finally she let loose a Confringo, demolishing the door handle and then igniting the door with her strongest incendio. If she couldn't break the spell, she would have to settle for destroying it's tether. The door was reduced to ash in moments as her fury powered the spell. At last the flames died down and Lily stepped through the new entrance. The goblins remained where they were for a moment, staring at her with a newfound respect, of course a very small amount of it as no self-respecting goblin would respect a human.
As the goblins snapped out of their stupor, they quickly entered the house and began navigating to the basement, without magic they would not have been granted entrance, but now that they had been admitted into the castle, Lily's job was fulfilled. As such, she remained in the back of the group as they surged forward. Stopping occasionally to observe a painting or another of the castles many beauties.
On the trek, Lily saw a beautiful landscape of a lake with a small forest in the background. She stopped for what felt like a moment to study it, but when she looked around she realized she had been separated from her little Goblin horde. Lily shrugged, a castle was hardly the scariest thing she had been in, she spent seven years in one for Merlin's sake. She made her way around the castle, heading as far down as she could knowing the goblins would be heading for the vault in the dungeons.
She turned down one of the winding dark corridors in the dungeons, unaware of even what floor she was on and stumbled across a beautiful oil lamp, gleaming as if it had been polished mere days ago rather than the decades since anyone had entered this castle. She stepped forward to study it and noticed a small smudge, she decided she needed to clean it as it was the only imperfection she could see on the lamp. However as she was rubbing it with her shirt she felt the room fill with magic.
Purple smoke spewed from the lamp, rapidly filling the room until it manifested in the form of a man. Lily gasped, realizing what had happened, She had summoned a djinn. The djinn's eyes seemed to peer into her very being staring for what felt like hours until it stated, "I shall grant you one wish, Lily Potter, speak now or lose this chance." Lily knew she shouldn't say anything, she knew what Djinns did, they took your wish and twisted them, often until they became curses instead. Her mind knew not to, but her body had other plans. "I wish," She heard herself speaking, "for my son, Harry, to be safe from Lord Voldemort's wrath, that my child will not die by his hands or words."
"It shall be done," The djinn stated, "though you are asking for a life and for a life to live another must perish for the balance shall be maintained." Lily felt an odd sense of contrition at that, knowing her desire for her baby to live would result in the loss of somebody else, but could not think more on the subject as the world rapidly became darker.
She awoke on the stairs outside of the castle doors to the sounds of the Goblins shuffling out. SnarlTooth gave her a scornful look as they neared her. The chain was thrust into her face until she gripped it and found herself in Gringotts once more. She accepted her payment and apparated home, the Djinn's words echoing through her mind.
The moment she appeared in her home she sought out her husband and son, wanting to ensure nothing had happened to them. She hugged baby Harry with all the strength she had. Feeling a new sense of security for the safety of her baby boy even with the war raging outside of their bubble. That night she fell asleep with baby Harry in her arms.