Hey everyone! It's been awhile since I've written a Potter fic, but I've just been itching to get another one done. I started a story similar to this along time ago but never finished it. So I've revamped it a little and changed some things around. I hope you read and enjoy this story! More to come soon.
Disclaimer: I wish I was as wonderfully talented as Jo, unfortunately I am not. She owns everything except concepts or names that don't look familiar.
ENJOY ;)
Chapter One: Light Up The Sky
Dark, abysmal clouds stretched across the sky. The smell of rain was potent in the air. A beautifully pale girl with long sweeping auburn hair sat on a bench seat, gazing out of the enormous glass window. A gray haze covered most of the parched yellow grass – it had been weeks since the last rainfall. The window was cracked slightly allowing the cool breeze to dance across her bare legs. She hugged her legs to her chest and rested her sleepy head atop her knees.
There was something about a summer thunderstorm that entranced her. Maybe it was the wonderfully clean smell of rain right before the first drops fell, or maybe it was the streaks of lightening that lit up the entire house. Either way, she found herself always drawn to this particular spot moments before a huge storm was about to open up.
Her curious emerald green eyes watched the sky waiting for that first crack of light.
The weather was also fitting for her gloomy mood. She couldn't remember a more uneventful summer in her entire sixteen years of life. And she has had a pretty eventful sixteen years of life thus far.
Lily Evans was not your ordinary sixteen year-old girl. Nothing about her physical appearance set her apart from everyone around her, but it was deep inside her veins that made all the difference…for Lily Evans was a witch.
From a very young age, Lily showed extreme magical capabilities that set her apart from her family. The differences were slight, but there were differences nonetheless. It wasn't until she turned eleven that she received a letter that would change her mediocre life forever…
In two days time, she would be entering her sixth year at the prestigious Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was overjoyed at the fact of seeing her two best friends – Faye Litton and Blake Windsor. Although there was a slight resentment towards the two of them that Lily had been harboring over the summer. Faye and Blake were enjoying their summer together on a very beautiful island off the coast of Chile… without Lily.
Why, might you ask?
Well, Lily was forced to stay home against her own will with the hopes of helping in the preparations for her older sisters November wedding. Lily found this the most appalling reason for her to stay behind for many reasons: one, she and her sister barely spoke a word to each other when Lily was home; two, the wedding wasn't for another four months; three, she hated her sister; four, her sister hated Lily and; five, the wedding wasn't for another BLOODY four months.
To say Lily was slightly bitter was the biggest understatement of the century.
The weekly pictures sent by owl from her friends were enough to drive her to the brink of insanity. While she could have been sunning herself on white sandy beaches, Lily was instead stuck in dreary London watching her horse of a sister yell at anyone and everyone.
Lily was the one on the retrieving end of Petunia's angry scowls more times than naught. The obvious hatred between the sisters became quickly apparent among the other wedding helpers within a day, and they were smart enough to steer clear of the sisters when something wasn't going Petunia's way. Inevitably, whenever something went wrong, let it be the cake flavor or center pieces, the blame was always placed on Lily.
After awhile Lily finally smarted up and went out of her way to incorrectly give directions – just to anger Petunia that much more. What was the point of actually putting forth the correct effort when she would always be blamed?
This greatly aggravated her mother who was always trying to patch up the withering relationship between her only daughters. Daisy Evans-Tins never got over the rift between Lily and Petunia. Before Lily received her letter from Hogwarts, the two girls were inseparable – the best of friends. Although her being a witch wasn't the only thing that tore the two apart, it was definitely the most prominent.
Lily's father, Steve Evans, died tragically from an automobile accident when Lily was only six years old. Petunia and Lily sort of banded together through the tragedy and became very close. But during her first year at Hogwarts, Lily's mother started dating another man, Charles Tins. From the way Petunia described him he was a gentle, quiet man looking for a woman to settle down with. When Lily returned home after her first successful year at Hogwarts, she found what Petunia said to be completely misleading.
Within the first week of being back Lily found out her soon-to-be step-father was not quiet and definitely not gentle. He had this problem, most would call it alcoholism, but Lily tended to refer to it as 'the ever-recurring bender'. She wasn't sure how her mother could fall in love with someone so completely out of control, and she partially blamed Petunia for not helping her mother get out of the destructive relationship.
Another awful trait of Charles' was his inability to control his aggression when he became belligerently drunk. Lily, along with her sister and mother, became what some may call playthings of his. He pushed and bullied them around as much as he saw fit. If someone spoke slightly above a whisper there would be hell to pay.
Lily had no idea this had been going on for so long. But she knew Petunia blamed her for going away and leaving her to the abuse of Charles. That was the last straw in Petunia's book.
And now Petunia was marrying a man five times the size of Charles. Lily was still struggling with her sister's choice. It's not that Petunia wasn't very pretty, she was decent enough. But Lily imagined Petunia could do so much better than Vernon Dursley – not that Petunia would ever listen to her.
Lily shook her head, wisps of auburn hair brushing against her bare shoulders. She attempted to banish the thoughts of her past from her mind but found it impossible.
A door slammed downstairs. She shivered hoping Charles wasn't in a mood. Since she was the youngest and gone most often, Lily was the least abused of the three which may be another reason Petunia despised her. Petunia was at home with Daisy and Charles all year long, so she endured much worse stints of abuse than Lily ever had.
Although Lily would never admit it, she was slightly terrified what would happen now that Petunia was set to marry another man and move out of the house. Even though they rarely spoke, they had this unspoken agreement to watch each other's back when Charles was around. Lily was going to be left in a house with only Charles and her mother, and Daisy was still completely oblivious or just too moronic to see what Charles was doing to her family.
Lily also felt Charles didn't dare approach her sometimes because he knew what she was. He had no idea she wasn't allowed to use magic outside of school, and she wasn't going to let him in on that little fact any time soon.
A bright flash of lightening followed by a loud clap of thunder shook the entire house. Shrieks rang from downstairs. Lily rolled her eyes. Petunia's friends were annoying little twits.
"Lily! LILY!" Petunia's high-pitched voice rang up the stairs.
Groaning, Lily moved from her safe haven. "Tomorrow, just one more night and I'll be gone. I can do this," she murmured to herself as she walked back downstairs into the pit of doom.
The scarlet steam engine let out another long whistle. Parents hurried their children onto the Hogwarts Express with tears in their eyes. Students hopped onto the rolling train with promises of writing every week.
Lily hugged her mother and bid her farewell.
"Have a good term!" Daisy called after her youngest daughter feebly.
Lily jumped onto the train and turned to wave to her mother. She always hated leaving her, but Lily's anxiety of being away from the wizarding world for so long was at an all-time high.
She moved quickly along the gaining engine searching for her friends before she had to set off for her prefect duties.
Finally, in one of the last compartments, Lily found the two hunched together over Witch Weekly. She threw open the door with gusto.
The brunette one stood quickly, her wand already pointed at Lily's chest.
"Damn Faye, a little paranoid are we?" Lily chuckled before she was engulfed in an enormous hug from both of her friends.
"Where have you been?" shrieked the tall blond, Blake Windsor. "We've been looking all over creation for you."
"I barely made it to the station on time," Lily said exasperatedly plopping down next to Faye. "Petunia had an emergency with the floral design which needed to be fixed before I left for school."
Faye made a face. "That thing is still on? I can't believe it hasn't been called off yet."
"It's not every day a farm wedding gets to take place," Blake said seriously. "Who knew a horse and a pig could mate?"
The girls' laughter erupted from within the compartment.
Lily sighed, standing. "I wish I could stay and catch up with you, but I have to head to the prefect carriage. I'll be back shortly. And I plan on having a full play-by-play of your entire trip. Prepare yourselves!"
Lily changed out of her street clothes and into her robes before setting off to the prefects' carriage which was located at the very front of the train. Just before entering the carriage she pinned her new prefect badge to her chest.
The first person that caught her eye was the ever weary-looking Remus Lupin. He was a fellow sixth year Gryffindor and prefect. He looked up at the sound of her entrance and smiled, waving her over to an empty chair next to him.
She sank gracefully into the comfy armchair and proceeded to ask him about his summer.
His tired greenish brown eyes lit up slightly. "It was actually really pleasant. I spent most of my summer with James and Sirius. I like to think I kept them from getting into too much trouble this summer which you know can be virtually impossible."
Lily knew all too well of the likes of James Potter and Sirius Black. Why Remus hung out with the notorious troublemakers was beyond her. Remus was definitely the most level-headed among the group, and Lily figured that was the reason she and him got along so well.
James Potter and Sirius Black were a complete other story.
There were days Lily put up with Sirius and all his annoyances, but most of the time she found him to be the second most annoying person in all of Hogwarts, following closely behind James Potter. Sirius came from a huge family of highly respected pureblood wizards, and even if he didn't always agree with their values he thought very highly of himself. Girls fawned over his longish dark brown hair that fell over his mysterious gray eyes. Lily thought he always had a look of stupidity on his face that other girls must have mistaken for being mystery. Sirius was James' right hand man and best friend.
From the moment James Potter stepped foot on Hogwarts soil he became the biggest nuisance of Lily's existence. It started with him asking her out the moment he saw her on the Hogwarts Express and continued through all five years with him repetitively asking her out every chance he got. She had never hated anyone…until she met James Potter. She loathed every little thing about him; the way he rumpled up his hair in the back so that it continuously looked like he just stepped off a broomstick, the way he walked around school like he owned the place jinxing anyone in his path, and those stupid hazel eyes that followed her everywhere she walked.
Everyone knew how much Lily despised James. Whenever the two started shouting at one another, everyone else backed off. Their rows were somewhat legendary among Hogwarts students. Lily once heard two girls talking about a recent breakup and compared the fight to being a little under the rows she and James had. She couldn't believe people used their rows as examples for other petty things.
Together, Sirius and James made Lily's life a living hell. They terrorized her endlessly which she honestly wouldn't mind if they weren't so persistent. She'd grown tired of their childish antics a month into their First year. She had all but learned to blatantly ignore them whenever they shouted after her.
She shook her head and looked at Remus. "Sad that you couldn't have let them drown in some lake or ocean, perhaps. Pity, what a pity."
Remus chuckled softly. "They aren't that bad, Lil. You just have to get passed their boyish idiocy and they are actually really decent people."
Lily snorted, tucking her feet underneath her. "That will be the day. I just never understood why you hang out with them. You are so much more intelligent and level-headed and nice. There's no need to lower yourself to their standards."
He gave her a pointed look. "They may be a bit loose sometimes, but they just act like that to attract the girls. James, I fear, is smarter than me and will pass me in marks this year."
"No way," Lily chortled. "I have never seen him crack open a book."
"He's very gifted but doesn't like to show off his intelligence…correctly. Everyone knows he's smart, he would just rather make a joke than open a book."
She scoffed.
Remus took the opportunity to shift the topic away from his friends. "How was your summer?"
"Nothing of excitement. I was confined to my house spending most of my time helping my sister prepare for her wedding in a couple months."
"That sounds like fun," he said apparently searching for the right word to use.
Lily shook her head. "Not at all," she laughed gruffly. "More like treacherous work. I'm so glad to be heading back to Hogwarts. It's been too long since I've been surrounded by the people I actually like."
"I understand," he smiled.
A couple minutes later the Head Boy and Girl arrived in the carriage. They went over the ground rules of being a prefect. Lily allowed herself to nod off a little; she had heard all this last year. Usually, she would have been more attentive but she was so antsy to get back to her friends. When the Head Boy finally dismissed them some twenty minutes later, Lily bid Remus goodbye and rushed off towards the back of the train.
She pushed students aside and was finally at their compartment in ten minutes.
"Finally," Blake cried out, "we were beginning to think they had captured you into doing their rounds or something."
Lily fell back next to Faye and snatched a Chocolate Frog off her lap. "So, please tell me all about your fabulous trip."
That sent Faye and Blake off. They told her of the beautiful white beaches and the crystal blue oceans; they told her how relaxing it was; they showed her how tan they became from sitting out in the sun for hours on end; they told her of their night escapades with gorgeous islanders. Lily felt her jealousy skyrocket at the sound of their wonderful vacation.
"I so wish I could have gone with," complained Lily flipping over the card to see Albus Dumbledore's face smiling up at her.
"We wish you could have too," Faye said earnestly. "Do you know how much trouble we would have gotten in if all three of us were together in a foreign place?"
"With beautiful strangers too," added Blake, a far off look on her deeply tanned face.
Lily stared at her curiously and turned to Faye. "What's with her?"
"Well –" Faye began but was never able to finish her sentence because a light knock drew their attention to the door.
Curious, Blake slid back the door. "Can we help you?" she addressed the confused looking girl.
"S-sorry, all the other ones were taken and I…sorry," the raven haired girl stuttered moving to back away from the compartment.
Blake glanced quickly at the other two and smiled. "Come on in, I promise we won't bite."
"Lily might," snorted Faye.
"That was one time!" she complained indignantly.
The girl smiled timidly and sat next to Blake. When she remained silent for a couple minutes, Lily finally spoke up and asked who she was.
"Sorry, I'm Ivy Romano."
"I haven't seen you before. Are you new to Hogwarts?"
She nodded. "I'm transferring from a school in Italy."
"Interesting," Faye said rubbing her chin thoughtfully, "I never knew Italy housed a magic school."
"I did," Lily answered almost immediately, "Madam Moretti's Academy of Witches, if you ever read a book Faye you would know."
The brunette stuck her tongue out childishly which sent the three friends into a fit of giggles. Ivy watched on patiently, tucking her hair behind her ear.
Lily finally managed to catch her breath. "Sorry about her, she's stupid…literally." Faye knocked her upside the head. "Ow! Anyway, I'm Lily. It's really wonderful to meet you."
"And I'm Blake, and as you might have guessed that's Faye."
Ivy nodded. "It's nice to meet you all. So, are you all in the same…er…House?"
"Yes," answered Faye, "we are all in Gryffindor, home of the brave-hearted."
"And don't forget fiercely loyal, come on now Litton," came a low drawling voice from the opened door.
All four girls turned at the sound, fury emanating from the three friends faces. "Who left the bloody door open?" wondered Faye staring pointedly at Blake.
Blake returned the glare fervently. "Not my fault, you could have shut it."
"Go the hell away Potter, no one invited you," Lily said standing with every intention of shutting the door in his smug face.
James stuck out his hand and easily swatted Lily away, entering into the compartment.
"Blakey!" Sirius Black shrieked bounding into the room and jumping onto Blake's lap. "I've missed my dear, dear friend. How was the beautiful island without me?"
Blake wrapped her arms around Sirius' waist and bopped him up and down like a child. "You can't have missed me that much, although I know it gets boring snogging James after awhile."
James flicked a stray card at Blake's face giving her a sardonic look. "We didn't miss you one bit. The summer was actually quite pleasant since we didn't have to listen to you complain."
Lily crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. Faye gave her the same look of disgust. The two of them had never been able to stomach the infamous Marauders – as they so graciously coined themselves. Blake, on the other hand, had known James since she was a baby. Their families both lived in the same neighborhood thus their friendship. She got along extremely well with James and Sirius to the unfortunate luck of Lily and Faye.
"Oi Evans, don't get all twitty," James boomed purposely sitting down next to her. "We know you wish you could have been there with us. No need to look all upset about it."
She merely faced her body towards Faye as to not start a row with him. There was no need for that before they even arrived at Hogwarts.
"Blake, who is this?" Sirius wondered poking at Ivy like she was a giant flobberworm.
Lily rolled her bright green eyes. "You seriously just poked her, Black? You couldn't even act your age if it killed you. Don't mind them Ivy, they may be the foulest, most idiotic people that attend this school."
"Aw Lil," James said wrapping his arm around her shoulders, "such a kind introduction from you…totally unexpected."
"I'm Sirius Black," Sirius said extending his hand for Ivy. "And that over there mauling Lily is my mate, James Potter. And the one standing awkwardly in the door is Remus Lupin."
Lily shoved James' hand off her and peered around him to see Remus. "Didn't see you there Remus, must have been the enormous head blocking my view," Lily said venomously narrowing her eyes as James' hazel eyes sparkled behind his wire glasses.
"I take it you two don't like each other," Ivy said obviously, her gray eyes shifting from Lily to James.
"Right you are," inquired Lily just as James said, "she's just pretending."
The rest of the compartments inhabitants laughed. "Where's Pettigrew at?" wondered Faye curiously. "Why is he not attached to your ass?"
"Good question," James said but not looking the least bit worried. "Probably got lost somewhere."
The whereabouts of Peter Pettigrew were quickly lost on the group as the train came to an unexpected halting stop. Lights flickered over their heads and diminished leaving the train immersed in darkness. Remus, being closest to the door, stuck his head out. Many other doors slid open followed by confused murmuring from the students.
Pulling out her want out of habit, Lily rose slowly from the bench and faced the window. "What do you see? Is there anything out there?" asked Faye.
"Why are we stopped?" Blake sounded worried.
Lily felt someone move behind her, gazing out into the blackness. "Something's moving out there," James murmured over her.
Lily wiped away the fog collecting on the window and noticed movement.
"Death Eaters," growled James.
"Death Eaters?" shrieked Faye. "What business do they have in stopping this train?"
Backing away from the window, Lily already had an idea forming in her head. "From the looks of it we aren't too far away from Hogwarts. I can barely make out the castle lights in the distance. We need to get everyone off this train."
"How are we supposed to do that?" wondered Black. "You don't know how many are out there."
"Would you rather sit in here and find out?" Blake asked pushing him off her lap. "There are too many children on this train who don't know enough magic to take on Death Eaters. We need to get them to safety."
"Where should we take them?"
"Hogsmeade?" suggested Faye.
Lily shook her head. "We might as well just make our way to the castle. Is there any way we could alert the teachers?"
Faye jumped up grabbing at her owl's cage above their heads. She pulled out a spare bit of parchment and quickly tied it to her owl's leg. "To Professor Dumbledore, quick!"
"Alright," Remus said as Faye sent her owl out the window, "we need to split up. Blake and Sirius you take the front of the train. I'll take the middle with Faye and Ivy. James and Lily, the back."
Lily made to make a retort about the pairings, but Remus gave her a look. She sighed and allowed the rest of her friends exit before her. Murmurs of 'good luck' and 'be safe' followed them out into the corridor which was suddenly filled with worried shouts and screams.
James set off at a slow jog checking each compartment as they went by. Lily was right on his heels keeping her ears peeled and eyes wide.
"I don't understand why there are Death Eaters attacking this train of all places," Lily murmured more to herself than anyone.
James opened a door leading to the next carriage. "It doesn't matter to them. They find pleasure in terrorizing anyone."
The compartments were all mostly void of students. Someone else must have had the same idea as them. James was at the next door when a huge blast caused them both to fall back. His body knocked Lily into an empty compartment; her head banging against the floor.
"Are you okay?" he murmured worriedly, bending down to help her up.
She groaned grabbing the back of her head. "Seems I'll live. Come on, something's happening in the next carriage." She grudgingly allowed James to help her up. He set off ahead of her, wands raised in front of them.
They crossed the threshold and instantly spotted a dark cloaked figure at the other end. James raised a finger to his mouth signaling her to keep quiet. They crept silently down the corridor.
James opened his mouth to shout a spell when something interrupted him. "James! James, please help!" a young girl's voice rang from the other end of the carriage.
The Death Eater glanced behind, and Lily spotted a small girl and boy cowered in the corner. A red beam of light shot from the end of his wand, but Lily was quicker. "Protego!" The spell ricocheted off the invisible barrier shattering the glass in a nearby door. A piece of glass cut across her face before she had time to protect herself.
"Stupefy!" James shouted. The Death Eater moved out of the way just in time. "Julie, stay put! I'll get you out of here." He looked back at Lily and gasped. "You're bleeding," he said reaching out to touch her face.
"No time for that," she said slapping away his hand. She peered around James and sent a Disarming spell at the creeping figure. Her spell hit him squarely in the chest causing him to fly backwards and his wand to fly through the air. She caught it easily and stood next to James. "Can't let you have all the fun."
He gave her an uncharacteristic shy grin which would have shocked her at any other time. He rushed forward engulfing the small girl in a thankful hug. "What happened? How did you two become cornered?" he asked his eyes darting from the dark haired girl to the sandy haired boy.
"It was a trick, Potter, and obviously it worked much to our advantage," a voice said behind them.
Lily didn't have time to react. Her hands were pinned down to her sides, a wand pointed directly at her heart. Another cloaked figure stepped out from behind Lily and her capturer, his wand on James.
"Trick, for what purpose?" he argued loudly pushing the two youngsters behind him.
The Death Eater moved closer to James walking at a leisurely pace. "Our Master requests a meeting with you."
Lily scoffed. "You've got to be kidding me. He actually requests meetings? Maybe next time he should send an owl instead of bombarding an entire train full of innocent children."
A large fist connected with the side of Lily's face. She heard James shout something but couldn't quite make out the words. Her mind was dancing with dozens of little white stars.
"Don't speak out of turn," she heard the Death Eater growl in her ear.
"Do not touch her again!" James yelled raising his wand.
A blast of purple light flew over Lily's shoulder and connected with the Death Eater prowling in front of her. The hands slackened around her waist. She took the opportunity to entangle herself and Stun the figure holding her. Once he hit the ground with a thud, she proceeded to kick him three times in the side.
"It seems he only deserved it," she grumbled as James moved quickly towards her.
They glanced behind them and saw a Ravenclaw seventh year. "I heard the commotion. Come on, we've almost got everyone off the train."
James grabbed Julie's hand and set off after the Ravenclaw. Together they emerged from the train into the dark of the night. Shouts and screams echoed throughout the darkness. Every once in awhile a flash of color could be seen emitting from the end of a wand. Lily prayed with all her might that everyone would arrive at the castle safely.
The Ravenclaw separated from the four, heading back along the train to make sure no one else was stuck inside. James, Lily, Julie, and the small boy continued along the path that would eventually bring them to the front of the castle.
James slowed their hurried run into a fast walk, and Lily was finally able to catch up. Her head pounded terrible from the punch and fall combined…not to mention the gash across her face was still bleeding profusely. She was a right mess. There was no time to do anything about it though.
"What did that Death Eater mean?" she mumbled in a low voice so only James could hear her. "Why does Voldemort want to meet you?"
He glanced quickly over at her. "I'm not sure," he said but the tone of his voice made her realize he knew exactly why Voldemort wanted to see him. "We're almost there. See the castle Julie."
Her squeals of excitement brought a small smile to Lily's face. Just beyond the hill Hogwarts tallest towers were coming into view. She felt a rush of thankfulness course through her.
They slowed their pace some more making it easier for Lily to keep up. "Are you sure you are alright? Your face is still bleeding. That bastard left a nice mark on your face," James said stopping altogether to inspect Lily's injuries further.
She slapped his hand away again. "I'm fine, Potter. Just a little lightheaded from having my head knocked around like a Bludger."
He raised his wand to her temple and muttered a few words. Instantly the pain in her head started to subside. Her vision was finally turning back to normal.
"What did you do?" she asked incredulously.
"Just a little spell Mum…" His words trailed off as his gaze hardened at something over Lily's shoulder.
"What is it?"
"You're not gonna like it."
"Why?" Lily wondered curiously looking over her shoulder. A mass of dark cloaks were gliding over a hill in the distance. There had to be at least thirty of them if not more. "Bloody hell, what are we going to do? They've already spotted us. We're not exactly properly hidden."
James didn't speak. He rather seemed to be formulating a plan extremely fast in his head. His hazel eyes were unfocused behind his glasses, and he kept muttering incoherent thoughts.
"Potter," Lily said trying to snap him out of it. They were approaching quicker than she thought. "James, seriously. Now is not the time to turn neurotic on me."
That seemed to snap him out of it. He turned to her, his eyes wide. "You just called me James."
She made an exasperated sound. "Now is not the time to gloat. Children…Death Eaters…save the students…any of this ringing a bell for you?"
He smiled gently. "I have a plan, just follow my lead," he said walking towards the mass of Death Eaters. "Julie, Max you two run with all your might towards the castle. Don't look back until you are safely in the grounds. Just follow the lights and you will get there."
Julie nodded, grabbed Max's hand, and set off for the castle, her dark hair whipping wildly behind her. James, in turn, was well ahead of Lily before she decided to run after him.
"This is your plan? Walk straight towards the enemy? You've got to be kidding me," she growled as she caught up to his side.
"Just follow my lead."
She groaned. "I have no idea what you are doing, but this does not seem like a good idea at all."
He stopped some fifty yards short of the black mass opening his arms wide for all to see. "Here I am you revolting sons-of-bitches. Come here and make you're pathetic master proud."
A low rumble issued from the mass. Lily groaned again. "Holy hell…this is not going to end well for either of us."
His eyes flickered to her. "Do you trust me?" he asked her earnestly.
With every ounce of her being she wanted to say no, but instead found her self-consciously saying, "Do I have a choice? Just don't get me killed Potter, or I swear I will haunt your ass."
"I promise," he chuckled lightly raising his wand. "Let's light them up."
She found herself smiling. "I'd be delighted."