A/N: Hey readers, welcome to the third installment of my Lily Potter Series. I hope that I fulfill all the promises that I made at the end of Castle of Avalon. This installment has some more mature themes than the previous two, so it's rated T. This will probably be true for the rest of the series. I hope you enjoy the first chapter and the rest of the story!
Nigel E. Breyer was a man of simple tastes. He liked drinking coffee and reading the Daily Prophet in the morning. He liked listening to old Weird Sisters songs, his favorite band as a young wizard. Nigel usually enjoyed listening to Ballycastle Bats games on the radio, although this practice hadn't been quite as fun during the current season. He certainly enjoyed spending time with his wife, Pyra and son Leland whether during trips to Belfast or simply eating dinner with them. Nigel even enjoyed going to work every day.
That was of course until Nigel was going through paperwork and found a letter that had mistakenly gone to his desk. This letter had contained information about a product marketed by the company he worked at. Nigel was not supposed to know this information. After reading the letter Nigel had done his best to hide his knowledge from his employers. He had been more stressed, and less able to enjoy doing the things that he enjoyed. Pyra had even begun to notice the change in him. Unfortunately his employers had also noticed this change and had quickly figured out that he knew what he did.
This brought Nigel to where he was now. He was now in the middle of the woods, far from anyone who might have been able to help him, with a wand pointed at his head and begging for his life.
"Please, I don't know what you're talking about, just let me go," he protested.
"I'm afraid I can't let you go, Mr. Breyer as I think you know exactly what I'm talking about," said the man holding the wand to Nigel's head. "Now tell me, what do you know about the potion?"
"I-I know nothing," Nigel sputtered.
"Brackium Quasso," the man screamed.
Nigel cried out in pain as the spell caused his arm to break.
"That was a lie, Mr. Breyer! I don't appreciate liars," he said. "I know that you read a memo that discussed the potion, now if you don't want any more of your bones broken you will tell me what you know!" he said.
Breyer was crying by this time. His voice came out much weaker than before.
"S-so if I tell you what I know you won't harm me," he said.
The man sighed and put his wand down by his side. "Yes I will not harm you," he said.
"I-I read everything. I know all of it," Breyer admitted.
"Good, now tell me, did you tell anyone else about what you know," the man said.
"No! I swear to Merlin I'm the only one that knows," Breyer said.
"That is a good thing," the man said.
"I w-won't tell anyone," Breyer told the man.
"I know you won't," the man said. He then pointed his wand at Breyer, swished his hand through the air and said "Incendio."
Instantly, Nigel caught on fire. He screamed as the flames engorged his body. The man apparated away to the meeting spot about two miles away, happy to get away from the annoying screaming of Nigel Breyer. There the man spotted his "boss" who he was supposed to meet. The black bird cawed as it flew through the air, coming to a stop and sitting on the branch of a tree next to where the man was standing.
The bird spoke first to the man.
"Yes he's dead. I used the fire- making charm instead of the killing curse. It'll probably be blamed on some idiot Muggle who started a forest fire," the man said to the bird.
The bird cawed at the man again.
"Unfortunately, there's no way to know if he told anyone what he knows. He said he hadn't told anyone and he certainly seemed to be telling the truth. It's too bad I couldn't use truth potion but if they found that in his system they would know the death was a result of foul play," he said.
The bird cawed again.
"The potion's release went well. There is opposition of course, but sales are already at a record high and they continue to go up," he said.
The bird cawed again.
"The Ministry knows nothing, even if the Auror department is suspicious they won't be able to find anything wrong, it's a foolproof plan," the man said. "I'll keep you posted on everything as it happens, in the meantime I have to get a good sleep, I have an engagement tomorrow" said the man.
The bird flew away. That night the man would go to his house, the night after burning alive Nigel Breyer, a man he had known. The man would sleep just fine.