The Originally Posted Of Blood and Serpents

by Neurotic-Isopod

This was the original version of a story I've altered since the first ten chapter posting. Its unfinished but I decidedly posted it for the sake of those curious, about what the original version looked like, or simply readers and reviewers that enjoyed.

Title: Of Blood and Serpents
Category: Books » Harry Potter
Author: Neurotic-Isopod
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T
Genre: Family/Friendship
Published: 08-27-09, Updated: 02-23-10
Chapters: 10, Words: 22,450

Chapter 1: Night The Boy Lived

Chapter One-

The night the boy lived, and the child abandoned

It was a cold night when five dark figures appeared silently as if through thin air. The small crowded group at once became a triangle as they moved lithely over the muddied ground towards a dimly lit house. The one leading was as indescribable as the others, blackened robes with the hood pulled up blackening the face of the man beneath, But there was a certain gait to his walk. An aura or Power and arrogance. The man beneath, although his expression was completely shrouded in the darkness was as it usually was: cruel and empty. With malice shining in the depths of his black eyes and his lips curled as if mockingly ready to sneer. A small shape was almost invisible beside him in the darkness, keeping steady pace with his powerful gait with great difficulty. Whenever the small shape seemed to fall behind there would be a small jerk as the man pulled the child back into order beside him. The shape was clearly a child's form, though obscured as the others were the child was completely unrecognizable. Had the hood been pulled down one might see the moonlight glow against the child's almost oddly luminescent skin, the black hair pulled into two braids that rested on her shoulders and the soft rounded shape of a child's face that could not be more than six. They came to a stop as their master stepped to the door, He knocked once soundly, and was already reaching for his wand. He was not a particularly patient man when it came to simple politeness. There was no need though, for the door swung open revealing a pale young man with greasy parted hair. He bowed his head to the man and stepped back from the door to allow him to step smoothly inside.

Severus kept his head bowed, noticing the small child being pulled beside the dark lord as they passed and the white hands linking them together. He made no comment as the others slide in behind the pair, their robes rustling across the carpet. As soon as their leader entered the living room he swept off his hood, exposing his handsome (though almost waxen) face to the world. Black hair framing even blacker eyes, his mouth twitched slightly in small distaste to the room but the made no motion to comment. He turned as the others filed in behind him Severus entering last and standing in the doorway of the room waiting for his master to speak. The others pulled down their hoods, revealing an array of faces, light to dark, ugly to pretty, fair to heavy set. None made motion to speak, all eyes falling on the dark man before them with she small quiet hooded child beside him.

"Severus are you ready for your assignment?" His voice was as cold and harsh as his expression was dark.

"I simply await your bidding my lord." Severus bowed himself again, greasy hair sweeping forward as he did.

"Very well, Leave us." He flicked his fingers impatiently to the the group of wizards and witches who pulled their hoods up again silently and left as such.

"You've secured a position at Hogwarts successfully then?"

"Yes my lord.. Dumbledore seems... suspicious and wary perhaps but, he believes I am a reformed man.." His lord sneered bemused.

"Dumbledore always was a fool, but even fools have their uses." His eyes glittered red in the rooms hazy glow. "For tonight Severus, I have another task for you." He drawled eyes flicking down to the quiet thing beside him. He dropped her hand, looking pale and smooth in the light and brought it down on the child's head, sliding the hood that darkened her features and bringing them to light. He then nudged her ahead a few steps and rested his hands on her shoulders. The girl small and chubby cheeked looked up at the dark lord as if shyly questioning, then turned her head to Severus

"My lord?" Severus said, gazing questioningly at the child unsure he understood.

"You are to keep her until I return." He answered snidely. "Unless you find a child to difficult to handle?"

"Of course not my lord." Severus drawled respectfully, "Does the child have a name?" Voldemort's eyes trailed the girls head as if analyzing the question.

"She has yet to choose one for herself, Now leave us Severus." He sniped dangerously, Severus issuing himself out of his living room. His back was already turned as his lord swept down onto one knee before the child and Severus did not look behind him.

Severus heard a murmur of hissing noises then a whoosh of robe moving. An instant later the dark lord appeared, his hood drawn once again as he as he disappeared into the blackness of night. Severus closed the door behind his master straightening as if he'd been relieved of some sort of pressure and returned to the room where the child waited. She sat silently on the couch, her pale face looking resigned and tight and overall very much like the dark lords. Severus's shadow loomed over her and she tilted her head to gaze at him with silent black eyes.

"Do you have a name child?" He almost began to think that perhaps the child was too young to be capable to speak or even perhaps understand him, but then the girl simply shook her head, eyes mysteriously dark and un-childlike studying him. Then raising her chin as if being defiant she spoke.

"Who are you?" she asked, voice again, unconventionally cold for that of one so young. Who was this child and how long had she been with the dark lord?

"I am Severus." He answered blithely and the child nodded turning her head to look around the room.

"That sounds nice. Does it mean anything?" It seemed very obvious to Severus now that he did not seem to be speaking to a mere child, or rather a cool young woman. The child seemed to regard its self as such, sitting straight and talking boldly, in cold, unemotional tones. Her intellect seemed to far surpass that of a child's, her eyes reflecting this knowledge inherently.

"I'm unsure." He replied then, felt awkwardly unsure of what to do with the child next, she seemed to answer that for him after a short silence her head snapped back to him.

"Do you have anything to eat? I'm hungry." her eyes seemed to bore into him commanding haughtiness.

Babysitting duty, Severus sneered at the thought, brusquely entering his kitchen to get the child food. His insides were a bundled mess, what could the dark lord have in store...? A shrill terrifying scream suddenly ripped from behind him. His heart jammed into his spine as he whipped around running to the room that the child was in. She was on the floor, curled into a tiny black ball, her tiny heart drumming so hard in her chest where a great pain it seemed had stabbed through her. Severus bent over her instantly, touching her back, eyes darting around the room for something she could have possibly harmed herself on. The child jerked upwards haphazardly, eyes wide, and no longer black but a deep green that sent a jolt into Severus. Her eyes seemed wide and terrified, and suddenly much more childlike, blood, trickled down from her nose to her trembling lips.

"Gone.." She wailed staring at him, hands balled into her hair, Severus held her swaying form by her elbow, crouched down beside her trying to make out the words she was whispering in a thick child's voice. "Gone.. he's all gone... disappeared..." She wailed as suddenly black figures burst into the room, a woman screeching.

"THE DARK LORD HAS VANISHED!" Bellatrix screamed agonizingly shrill, not to Severus but to all the dark figures who were suddenly in the room.

"What has happened?" Severus jumped up in alarm gripping the child's hand in his. Lucius removed his mask and hood with a flash of his wand.

"Severus! The dark lord.. The child!" He seemed suddenly too overwhelmed to speak.

"Someone EXPLAIN THEMSELVES!" Severus blared shutting up the blaring Bellatrix and the urgent fearful murmurer around him, Severus's own heart was beating painfully fast in his chest. The child.. Lucius said the child.. did he mean lily's child? Had the dark lord found them? Lucius who always seemed pale now looked positively ill..

"The dark lord found the child," He explained hurriedly. . "Attempted to kill him.. but simply disappeared."

"Attempted?" Severus snapped, heart thudding. Was Lily still alive?

"He used the killing curse.. but the child..." He seemed to be holding a breath of disbelief before spitting : "The boy lived."

Chapter 2: Girl Abandoned

Chapter Two

Part Two, Child Abandoned

Lily was dead. Sweet kind lily, whose green eyes sparkled as she smiled and who was intelligent and dazzling.. Only her son had lived... and Severus was at a complete loss and grievance. He found himself in Dumbledore's office at once.

Severus made a sound like a wounded animal from Dumbledore's armchair. The green eyed child hovered awkwardly and silently as ever in front of the fire place, pallor waxen and eyes weepy as she stared emptily into the crackling flames warming her. Ignored for the time being by both men who conversed behind her.

"I thought you... were going to keep ... her safe." Severus choked

"Lily and James put there faith in the wrong person.. Much like you Severus, did you not request the lord spare her?" Severus made no response but his breathing was clearly pained and shallow. "Her boy survives." Dumbledore told him curtly and Severus jerked as If being stung. "The boy lives, he has her eyes, precisely the colour of Lily Evans eyes.. You remember I'm sure the exact colour and shape?"

"DON'T!" He bellowed in anguish, crumpling further into the armrest.. " Gone... dead."

"Is this remorse Severus?"

"I wish... I wish I were dead."

"And what use would that be to anyone?" He said coldly. "If you loved her, If you Truly loved lily Evans your way forward is clear.." Severus seemed for a moment to not understand, the words sinking in without meaning, through his pain he could derive nothing.

"What.. what do you mean?"

"You know how, and why she died. Make sure it was not in vain, Help me protect Lily's son."

"He does not need protection, the dark lord has gone-." Severus murmured slowly, The small child behind him suddenly whimpering calling attention to herself as Dumbledore turned to her for the first time watching her as he spoke.

"-The dark lord will return and when he does Harry potter will be in terrible danger." Severus took control of himself before he spoke. His breathing smoothed, and his slump seemed to have straightened slightly.

"Very well.. Very well. But never- Never tell, Dumbledore! This must be between us! Swear it! I cannot bear... especially Potters son... I want your word!"

"My word, Severus, that I shall never reveal the best of you?" Dumbledore sighed, looking away from Severus's anguished and ferocious face. "If you insist..." He nodded dryly again looking at the girls small still form in front of the fire place. "And the child," Dumbledore began. "The child the dark lord left in your care.. surely upon his return he should expect her to still be with you..." Severus seemed alarmed by that what Dumbledore was beginning to hint at.

"To remain with me? I can hardly care for the girl." He objected instantly and Dumbledore nodded stepping beside the silent and still child.

"Yes I must agree you would be a most inadequate form of parentage for the child." He sighed reluctantly blue eyes shining against the flames. "But I see no other options."

"But-" Dumbledore cut him off sharply before he could continue.

"What was Voldemort's last orders to you concerning the girl?" Severus's head drooped, his eyes becoming half lidded.

"He ordered me to keep her until he returns." Dumbledore smiled sadly looking at the young girl beside him.

"And so it must be."

At this the girl looked up sharply, eyes narrowing on Dumbledore. Green eyes who regarded Dumbledore with curious exhaustion.

"Who are you?" she asked, voice unlike it was before, now it was simply childlike and quiet.

"I am Albus Dumbledore, head master of Hogwarts and who, young lady, are you?" upon the question the girl tore her eyes away from Dumbledore's bright blue ones and looked at Severus expression blanking for a moment as if in distant thought. Severus stared back and then after a moment the girl tore her gaze back to Dumbledore.

"Lily, I like the name lily." She told him, Severus very visibly jerked but Dumbledore simply smiled down at the girl in quiet contemplation.

"It is a very nice name." He agreed. "Do you have any objections Lily, in staying with Severus?" They regarded each other unflinchingly, Bright blue eyes kindly and delicate, Green eyes reserved and unsure. Then slowly the girls head turned into a shake and she lowered her gaze back to the flames.

"Very well then."

Chapter 3: A Home For The Holiday's

Chapter Three-

Home for the Holidays

So It was arranged that Lily would, during school terms live with the games keeper Hagrid, and while on holiday's stay with Severus.

The first year was interesting, to say the least. Lily proved herself to be quite childlike and curious, exploring and getting her hands on nearly everything in Hagrid's hut. Though she was forbidden from the forests and wandering the grounds anywhere outside the garden patch. She didn't seem to mind.

When the holiday's came Severus found himself in the awkward position of having to spend the time with a six year old little girl. To his own surprise, and maybe even to little Lily's they found an oddly comfortable arrangement. It mainly consisted in reading near each other, it was Lily who started it. Growing quite bored as can be imagined she started to take down books from the tall rickety shelves and joined Severus on the musty couch as he read. The girl was unobtrusive, quiet and, when she did speak to ask Severus a question about how to read or say a particularly difficult phrase in his books, very polite. By the time school had begun again Lily and Severus had formed a delicate, but most certainly existing bond.

The bond could do nothing but grow a little stronger each holiday. By the time a full year had passed it seemed that the tolerance Severus had for Lily dissolved into something more like a comfortable liking, then perhaps something akin to affection. On her eighth birthday (or rather the day she'd been left to Severus) Severus gave her a present. A potions set. It wasn't by far new, but it was something. Something for Lily to experiment with even as she became more daring in exploring the grounds. She became quite adept for potions, making what she could from whatever material she could muster from Hagrid or her would be adopted father. Pride was a strong word for how Severus felt about Lily's already growing gift with potions, he wasn't perhaps to the point where he could admit he had a strong affection to his would be adopted daughter. Though Lily probably had loved Severus like a father years before he had. Their relationship was one of slow understanding, which blossomed the affections between them over the years.

Lily was, by the time of her ninth birthday, Hagrid's assistant. Spending time in the hut, was becoming very cramped for her, as it was a place she'd had thoroughly explored well before she was eight. So by her ninth birthday she finally convinced Hagrid to let her help out within the forbidden forest, a place she'd snuck a few times behind Hagrid without him knowing. While sometimes the forest could instill fear through her she found that mostly it was a peaceful place if you knew your way around. It was the end of her ninth year that she took her first walk alone in the woods, the night before Severus was to take her home for the holiday's. She lay beneath a hole in the canopy of trees staring at the stars she felt completely alone and at peace.

The summer spent with Severus began as peaceful as ever. And began the same as every year, reading books and having meals together, even the odd potions lesson or answering questions. For Lily after the first week, it became a little more interesting than that. In her summer home she was repeatedly woken by whispers in the night, but whenever she looked around to find the voice of the whispers she'd find nothing. Finally while she was rummaging around her room, she slipped and hit the wall, shoving her elbow straight through it causing a very surprised inhabitant to hiss angrily. She had a snake trapped in the wall. Surprised, and a little confused she helped dislodge the from the rubble, and with wide wondering eyes realized she could understand the creature.

'How on earth did you learn how to speak?' She asked it dangling the wriggling creature by its tale. The wriggling stopped and it hung its head tilting to the side as if it too was studying her in curiosity.

'how did you learn to speak parsletongue human?" The snake rebuked her with his own question.

'Parsletongue? Whats that?' She asked dumbly peering back into the snakes dark brown orb eyes.

'Snake speak human girl, very rare for humans to know..' Just as Lily was about to ask what that meant as she formed the sound in her throat to ask she realized that the sounds were certainly not English, but rather a guttural hissing noise mustered in her throat. Caught by surprise she dropped the snake who hissed in annoyed surprise. Slapping her hand over her mouth quickly as she uttered a quiet 'oops' she bent down wincing.

"Sorry, I didn't mean-" She stopped, recognizing that she was speaking English and blinked trying to gather the right words to her mouth, for a worrying second she thought she might be unable to but then the words began flowing freer, easier from her throat. 'I mean, sorry, I was just surprised, I didn't mean to drop you.'

'I'd snap your fingers off If you had not liberated me from the wall.' He replied moodily, but Lily didn't mind at all, she was simply too excited. Her green eyes gleamed in jade excitement, she'd never heard of anyone being able to speak to an animal before, did that mean she was special? Before she asked another piece of the wall crumbled and she quirked her brow curiously, a more obvious question coming to mind.

'Er, how did you get into the wall anyways?'

'If I knew, human I'd have found my way out! Now place me outside.' It ordered huffily and Lily felt a shred of indignation and frowned.

'Don't you like owe me something for saving you?' she asked, blushing slightly as the snake seemed to scowl, trying to decide if he was going to strike at her or appease her.

'Hmm, very well.. what do you want then?'

'Can you tell me about, the others you mentioned? The other humans that could speak to snakes? Do you know where to find them?' It seemed to think for a second before answering.

'You are the first I've met, but I've heard of more... a family once existed but they died out long ago, the last known one was a powerful wizard.. I know no more of it.' Lily listened absorbing the information hungrily, a little disappointed that he only had that much but relented. Severus would know more about it then the snake would anyways. She dropped the snake out her window, ignoring his hiss of displeasure and darted out of her room down to the kitchen. It was about lunch time and she'd been attempting to clean her room while Severus prepared something. He wasn't a much better cook then Hagrid but right now she was too excited to care about it.

"Severus!" She held onto the wall to slow herself as she turned abruptly into the kitchen and slid to a halt. Severus turned, he had been pouring tea into a slightly cracked mug before her voice rang down the hall.

"No need to shout." Severus told her curtly turning and held the mug out to her. She smiled sheepishly and came forward a few steps to accept the tea, still smiling in radiant excitement. "What is it?" He asked, it looked like she was about to burst from excitement.
"Do you know about anyone who can speak to snakes?" she asked hurriedly, ignoring the burning on her finger tips where she held the mug nearly dancing on the spot. A chill shot down her spine and she froze. Was it just her or did the room seem to grow colder, and Severus slightly paler?

"Where did you hear of such a thing?" He drawled, tone dropping dangerously and the excitement churning in Lily's gut became sour. She knew instantly she should not have asked him. That the question was wrong in some way and her mind spun quickly to make up an answer. She had to lie she knew, speaking to snakes must mean something terrible, why else would he be reacting this way? Tell him I got it from a book? No, he'll want to know what one.' Her mouth gaped slightly and she took a nervous step back.

"I remembered someone mentioning it, one of the students at school." She nearly stuttered in her nervousness. Severus loomed above her, his eyes sending a shock of cold down her spin, seeming to try to rip information from her gaze. After a moment of heart sickening silence the moment passed and his expression became suddenly impassive, dull again. He straightened her mug in her grasp which was tipping forward and was dangerously close to spilling, his lips pursing skeptically.

"Is that so?" He murmured turning away, speaking more to himself then to her. Confused, relieved and more than a little curious she took a seat at the table, sitting her mug on it and wringing her hands beneath the table top. As Severus took his seat across from her sliding her the sandwich she simply couldn't contain herself any longer.

"Why is it a bad question?" She asked meekly, staring at her plate. She felt his eyes, but didn't look up. She hated it when he looked at her that way, like he was about to rip all the answers from her head. 'maybe he can..' His voice pulled her from that curious thought as he began to speak.

"There was once a great and powerful dark wizard who fell out of power many years ago, he is feared still and referred to as 'You know who.'"

"Doesn't he have a name?" she raised her head automatically, feeling more at ease that he was answering her.

"It is rarely spoken, others, like myself refer to him as the dark lord, but his name was: Voldemort." A small shiver ran down her spine and she nodded in understanding.

"So that's why talking to snakes is bad? Because the dark lord could do it and he was really terrible, but what about the other people in his bloodline were they all bad guy's too?" She questioned carefully.

"The dark lord came from a noble pure blooded line, from that of Salazar Slytherin, a founding member of Hogwarts." Lily nodded, scuffing her foot against the floor, she could tell he was reluctant to talk about it, for whatever reasons. And now she was determined about finding out more, more about this parseltongue, and more about this interesting bloodline, maybe her bloodline? And she would too, it was simply a matter of time and luck.

Disclaimer: Everything in the harry potter-verse belongs to J.K Rowling, except Lily (my character lily) who is an original character. This disclaimer goes for all the chapters of this story posted on I am not profiting from this.

~Okay, so hi, this is my first story posted on here and its taken me a bit to get used to it. I hope people are enjoying the story so far, as much as I'm enjoying writing it. Thank you to everyone that's added this to a fave or subscribed to it, I really appreciate It, I just wish I had more comments... thanks though to Grangergal101 for the comment. I hope that this is different and original from what others have written so far. - p.s tell me If I'm going too off character, I'm trying to keep this as true to the story as possible.. . I hope I got Severus right in this chapter !

Chapter 4: Little Squib

Chapter Four-

Little Squib

The summer ended on a quiet note, Lily didn't run into anymore snakes which did slightly disappointed her, but at the same time something she didn't dwell one. She'd already decided that Hogwarts would be a much better place to search for answers. She'd seen once the huge library with the snooty librarian, and the image had always stuck in her mind. The library was teeming with knowledge, the only problem was getting inside.

Since technically she wasn't a 'student' or a member of staff, she really wasn't allowed anywhere but the grounds were Hagrid was working. It was certainly going to be a challenge to get in, as she was still magic-less, so it wasn't as if she could sneak inside during the night, and the only time she was allowed into the school was when she was invited by Severus for lunch or tea.

She was so anxious about getting into the library she never considered pursuing other options, like possibly asking Hagrid about it, assuming that Hagrid would react badly too, or know nothing at all.

Lily was so completely frustrated by the end of two months that she paused outside of Severus's portrait door and considered skipping out on the lunch to sneak back upstairs. She argued with herself for a few minutes and avoided some mean looking boys stares as they passed. The decision was made for her though as the portrait swung open and Professor Dumbledore stepped out. His eyes were blue and twinkling as they settled on her over his half moon spectacles, he smiled as she stared quietly back, trying to force the feeling of unease as she stared back at him.

"Your company has arrived Severus, Excuse me." He pushed her in further and she had an odd sinking suspicion that he'd perhaps guessed what she'd been trying to decide just outside the door and was pushing her inside for that reason "Mind the cloak dear." He smiled kindly at her as she hopped over his cloak that was trailing in the doorway and watched after him a moment as he left.

"Don't just stand there," Severus snapped, then as if reminding himself: "Close the door behind you." He added her in a kinder tone. Lily was used to his sometimes snappish or cruel sounding words and she was quite positive that he was naturally that way, rather than it being something she'd done to upset him. She closed the portrait behind her stepping into the dimly lit room. He was sitting in a green armchair beside the fireplace, tea and crumpets on the table. Taking the seat across from him she picked off a crumpet from the little stack to nibble on and as her eyes wandered to the fire began going over different ways to sneak to the library. Her drawn in expression drew Severus's keen eyes and his dry curiosity.

"You seem... Distant, has Hagrid been treating you well?" Lily glanced away from the fire quickly blinking away the reckless and impertinent thoughts.

"Hagrid's okay, I've just been a little bored lately.." She thought quickly, hope blossoming in her chest as an idea clicked into place. "I've run out of books to read and I've seen the library upstairs.. I was wondering.." She continued latching onto the excuse, only to be dashed as Severus interrupted.

"If your in need of books my dear you may borrow one from here, in my office." Her stomach sunk, though she couldn't be completely sad, 'my dear' was a term of affection that always cheered her up. Instead she smiled, pushing back her disappointment to make it as sincere as possible, in response Severus's mouth curled slightly in what was similar to a smirk, but definitely close to a smile for him. "You may choose one after you drink your tea, which is getting cool." He reminded her curtly, before sipping his own steaming mug.

Lily wasn't really paying attention as she walked back to the hut, the book she'd chosen carefully tucked beneath her arm, admittedly letting her thoughts wander away from reality. So when she suddenly hit something and fell back her heart jumped in surprise and her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

"What the hell?" The boy who she ran into snapped, spinning around looking irritated, dark hair falling into his eyes.

"Sorry." She muttered pulling her eyes sheepishly to the floor, moving quickly to walk around the boy when one of his friends jumped in the way.

"Oi, your that squib assistant of 'Agrid's ain't ya?" The lighter haired boy sneered down at her. Lillian frowned unsure of what a 'squib' was exactly, and who were these boys?

"Oh yeah I think it is Danny," Another laughed. "Nice call mate." A brown haired boy straightened from the wall snickering and moving joining his friend. Lily felt oddly cornered by the tall dark robed boys and took a anxious step back. Noticing with even more anxiety that they weren't looking at her right, the two boys eyes glittered sending an unsettling jolt down her spine.

"Hey Damon, whatcha say we teach the little squib manners eh?" She jumped suddenly, realizing the dark haired boy whom she'd originally bumped into was behind her. Her heart ramming into her throat she teetered between the three clutching the book to her chest protectively. Run, her mind ordered but her legs were firmly paralysed to the spot.

"Oh I dunno, what if we get caught?" Damon, the dark haired boy, asked nervously, glancing around carefully.

"Don't be a downer mate," The lighter haired boy, Travis sneered. "Come one, no one will catch us and its our words against a greasy little squib ain't it?"

"Come on squib get up!" The brown haired laughed without warning and shoved her to the ground. Lily's eyes widening in panic as she landed with a whimper on her but, the boys wand flourished in front of her. "Yeah, know what this is don'tcha squibby?" He jabbed it forward poking it painfully in her chest. Causing her to yelp as the tip seemed to sear through her robes. The others laughed, their figures darkening in her vision as they crowded around her, they couldn't hurt her could they? They'd get in trouble wouldn't they? She trembled squeezing her eyes shut and clutching the book tighter against her chest. Another jab stung her in her shoulder, making her yelp, jerking backwards before being stung again and again. Sparks of searing pain making her ball up and causeing them to jeer as she shrieked.

"Come on beg! Tell us to stop eh squib?"

"Stop!" She squealed and they only laughed harder.

"Get on your knees then!" One of them jerked his wand and she was jerked to the side, rocks scratching the palms of her hands and cheek. Something unfamiliar rushed in her chest as tears scalded to the eyes. The feeling filled her with heat as the tears made scalding trails down her cheeks.

"Oh look squibby's crying, Hahah! Come on you gonna beg then?" Her jaw tightened , her lungs suddenly stolen of breath as a foot collided with her ribs. Her insides twanged, the string of control resonate through her throat in a cry before snapping viciously and vibrating through her. Time seemed to slow as her body trembled, Her eyes burning feircely as they snapped opened and as if her hair was caught in a gust of wind flared around her and exploded

Like a small explosion emanated from her they were flung back, two hitting the castle walls and the others being jerked into the grounds, skidding down the nearby hill. Lily's eyes dimmed, her hair becoming limp as her eyes crumpled shut just before she swooned and fainted.

Filtch was the one to find them, all unconscious and sprawled out. Lily in the centre pale sickly looking. They were all rushed to Madam Pomfrey who went to Lily immediately, her being the smallest and obviously the most injured of the four. By the time Severus and Dumbledore arrived she was in quite a fuss over the her state.

"How are the patients Poppy?" Dumbledore asked, eyeing the four beds. Madam Pomfrey's face reddened and disgruntled.

"Oh those little hooligans will be just fine!" She snapped.

"And what of Lillian?" Severus made his presence known immediately, stepping over to the bed. Impassively he took in her sallow appearance and the small burn marks that were perfectly wand-tip sized.

"Yes and what of Lillian Poppy?" Dumbledore enquired dutifully.

"Nothing I can't fix, of course, But I demand those Slyther-" She was shooting a nasty look at Severus who cut her off icily.

"They will be dealt with." He snapped harshly, anger flashing behind his black eyes making Madam Pomfrey blink back surprise her mottled cheeks becoming pink again.

"Yes, yes, well I should hope!" She muttered, becoming flustered.

"Yes Severus, I'm sure they will." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as if he were amused. "And when you deem them well enough Poppy, I would like to see the four in my office." Dumbledore nodded in Madam Pomfrey's direction and she flitted her hands.

"Yes, yes, of course."

"Severus," Dumbledore turned to him now, "I'll expect you to be accompanying the students, as they are from your house."

"Of course headmaster." Severus drawled in annoyance.

"Very well then." Dumbledore smiled quietly and exited the ward, leaving Severus by lily, whom he turned back to after a moment, his black eyes reflecting something curious within their depths.

Chapter 5: Rewards

Chapter Five-

Rewards

Lily was aching when she woke, and less then pleased when she had a bitter tasting potion shoved down her throat by Madam Pomfrey.

"I'm fine really Madam.." She coughed shoving away the next vile thing that was shoved near her. Madam Pomfrey gave her a stern look making her blanch and meekly swallow.

"Good girl, now you just lay back now.." Lily obeyed begrudgingly pulling up the blankets around her with a sigh. The curtains around her bed were closed, and she was left to stare at the ceiling. She remembered why she was in the hospital wing and she replayed the incident again and again in her mind, feeling both queasy and excited.

She had done that hadn't she? She thought of the surge of power, and struggled to remember what it was exactly that she felt at the time, but a queasy shock made her mind dart so to think of something else. The boys, those mean nasty boys, where were they? She must have hurt them, so wouldn't they be here too? Silently she got up, her feet sticking slightly to the cold linoleum as she peeked through the curtain. Beds were there, no curtains around them, three lumps in a row. Lily felt uneasy spite fill her, making her eyes tear up in frustration remembering their jeering voices and all the little bursts of pain...

The door at the end of the ward opened and Severus's black bat like cloak billowed in after him. Lily jumped quietly at his sudden appearance but stayed silently tucked away behind the curtain, watching curiously as her almost-father made his way to the side of one of the beds. She was surprised when she saw his hand dart quickly and a sound smack resounded.

"Get up." He said in a dreadful tone that made Lily shiver, she knew that tone, but thankfully hadn't heard it often. He'd said it loud enough for the others to hear and she suspected they knew better then to continue fake sleeping. They stood up slowly, Lily watching from between the curtain could only see the boy nearest to her's back. He shifted and twined his hands behind his back and Lily felt glad.

"The Headmaster," He drawled in the same terrible tone. "Has requested your presence, and after... I will decide the punishment befitting of your actions." Though Lily couldn't see, Severus's eyes glittered malevolently making the boy standing in front of him pale further, eyes widening in terror. "Now follow me." He snapped impatiently. The boys left in a timid row, the last one with the darkest hair glancing back. He didn't see her, though, he was looking right at her Damon's mouth was pinched together nervously as were his brows. Lily's stomach gave a lurch her heart leaping nervously in her chest, quickly she got back into bed, and curled into her side.

Curled there on her side Lily fell into a lazy sleep, not waking until voices pulled her from unconsciousness. She blinked herself back into awareness. Where was she again? Right, int the medical wing, how much time had passed? It couldn't have been that long. She recognized the voices immediately as Severus and Madam Pomfrey.

"She'll be fine by morning." It sounded to Lily as if she was listening into the conversation halfway through.

"Very well then, if there is any change send word." He drawled, Lily heard the swish of his robes and knew he must have left. Then she hearing Madam Pomfrey's steps grow closer and she jerked back beneath the covers, heart hitting her ribcage as she rolled to her side and closed her eyes. She heard the curtains rustle as they opened, then again as they closed. She kept her eyes squeezed shut until she heard madam Pomfrey's steps drift away then fall silent. Rolling onto her back she took a few breaths to quiet her chest and stared at the ceiling.

Now what was she to do? She felt wide awake, and was certain that she wasn't going to fall asleep again. For awhile she stared at the ceiling adamantly until finally glimmer of an idea gleaned in her mind. She was in the castle... unsupervised! Sort of, her mind instantly darted to the library and her heart leapt in excitement, the decision already set up in her mind before she paused to consider anything else.

She sat up, nervously licking her lips and listening to outside. Everything was still silent, and hopefully madam Pomfrey wouldn't be checking her for another hour or so. It would be just enough time.. she hoped. As quietly as possible she slid out of bed, her feet getting chills from the cold stone floor. Her shoes were sitting neatly beside the side of the bed, she slid them on and poked her head out of the curtains. It was dark except for the warm glow of candles lighting the empty wing. Madam Pomfrey would be on the other side of her curtained bed, unawares that Lily was sneaking out the other side. Tiptoeing she made her way across the expanse of the room, her heart hammering in anticipation as she reached the door. Quietly now.. She commanded herself pushing the door as hard as she could. It opened slowly, and thank goodness silently as Lily squeezed though, closing it behind her.

Lily stopped just outside the door, new worry blooming in her chest as she looked around. The castle looked really different at night, how was she ever supposed to find the library? But then, as she looked around again her eyes spotted something familiar and she nearly sighed in relief. There, a familiar portrait, albeit it was sleeping but she was positive that the hallway in that direction could take her down a non-moving staircase and to the second floor. From there, she was hoping she'd be able to find her way in to the library. As quietly as possibly she made her way downstairs, making sure not to bump anything near the walls (or on them) as she shuffled along. Her stomach was balled in uneasy worry until finally, around a corner her hand brushed against a banister. She let a sigh of relief escape, following the banister around the corner and continuing down. The stairway was lighted by glowing flickering candles, a nice reprieve from the complete blackness behind her. She kept her ears keen, she knew that Filch and his cat Ms. Norris wandered the corridors and tried to catch students out of bed. She was to horrified with the idea of being caught she had to shove it from her mind completely just to continue.

When she reached the Library she wasted no time, what had the snake called it? Parseltongue? It took her a moment to get over the awe of all the books spanning around her and to figure out the filing system. She found a large leather bound book of 'Tongues and tones, all different languages from in wizardry and magical world.' It seemed like a good place to start. The library was thankfully lit by a few dimly glowing candles, she got as close to it as possible as she opened the cracked and fraying bindings. Her fingers trembled in anticipation as she flipped carefully through the book reaching 'P'. She whetted her lips, her fingers trailing down the page settling on the slanted script that read 'Parseltongue' or 'Parselmouth'. She held her breath for a moment, bowing closer to the page to make out the fine print.

'The only known wizards and witches with the ability to speak Parseltongue are the descendants of Salazar Slytherin, a founder of the famous Hogwarts, other notable descendants of Salazar include Herpo the foul...'

Lily couldn't help but feel disappointed, Severus had told her that much. She closed the book heavily, frowning, obviously the was looking into the wrong thing, Salazar Slytherin was her next task.

She found some answers in a book called 'Genealogy of Famous witches and wizards.' And even larger book than the last. It took her nearly five minutes to shift through it and find this Salazar Slytherin. She scanned down the page, not sure really what she should look for and unfolded the bunched up parchment, noticing in slight disgust the many marriages with the family tree contained. She frowned as it reached the end, there was no note of any 'Voldemort' in here, it seemed to end with the 'Gaunts'. She peered closer to the parchment, noticing a small scribble. She struggled to make it out, the ink brown and aged. In slanted handwriting, as if it was quickly scribbled in by a student was a name, Tom Marvolo Riddle. A noise made her jerk her head up, her heart jamming into her throat out of its sluggish crawl. What was that?

Chapter 6: Punishments

Chapter Six-

Punishments

Lillian leapt up, her eyes darting around. She was sure she'd heard something. Something flicked from behind a shelf, It looked like... a cats tail? Her heart sputtered slightly, knowing in instantly that her time had run out. Mrs. Norris.. She shoved the book back into any random old place and gathered her ragged black robes from around her feet. Ahead a shadowy figure pranced down the hall. She knew about Filch and his cat, with its terrible blood red eyes and she ran as fast and as silently as she could, terrified that in a moment filch would pop out at any corner. Her heart was beating so hard she as taking quick short gasps, paining her tired body. She had to stop for a moment, feeling dizzy and out of breath, her heart drumming. A yowl emitted behind her, Lily's head jerked towards the noise, her stomach giving a terrible lurch. Mrs. Norris. They regarded each other for a moment then the cat yowled again, this time louder, and much longer. No. Lily broke off into a run as quickly as she could forgetting completely about staying silent. The hospital wing doors were close, just in front of her a few more leg lengths.. and! She slammed into the black figure hard, in the darkness of the corridor not even realizing the figure was there. Her head snapped against the stone floor, hitting it hard enough to expel the breath from her lungs. Pain spread from the back of her head, and her eyes squeezed shut, half between pain and confusion.

"Lillian?" It was half between a snap and a worrisome tone, but she recognized it instantly.

"Dad?" She coughed, taking a shaky breath. In her slightly disoriented state she didn't even realize the word she just uttered. Severus stooped down, and though she couldn't see his face in the dark black pools of his eyes had shifted again. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a wheeze and the clatter of Filch. The light bobbed in his hand spreading an eery light reflecting off the suits of armour causing the paintings grumbled in irritation, shifting in there sleep.

"Caught a student running around out of bed I see, Severus." His tone curled in pleasure mouth twisted in an ugly smirk showing his browning and crooked teeth. Pain throbbed from the back of Lily's head but she was more concentrated on being frightened and thinking up an excuse than the pain. Frantically she found herself staring at her fathers eerily shadowed face. His mouth twisted slightly, his eyes catching hers just for an instant as he straightened, pulling her up beside him by her forearm.

"I'm afraid you are mistaken Filch." He drawled curtly, "Lillian often sleepwalks and as it were I'm sure she was hardly aware of her actions at all." There was no time for much expression on Filch's part because behind them the door of the ward flew open and a panicked Mrs. Pomfrey's eyes settled on them then on Lily.

After explaining to the half mad half worried Mrs. Pomfrey Lily was taken promptly to bed again. Severus issuing her a look that made Lily feel a bit ashamed yet happy at the same time. He lied for her, she had to stop herself from smiling as she rolled over in her cot, her insides feeling a touch warmer as she drifted back off into sleep.

The next morning she was whisked off to Dumbledore's office feeling a bit nervous in his presence as she always seemed to be. She had to tell him everything that happened, Severus standing beside her with a nonchalant yet encouraging hand on her shoulder. She stared at the floor as she spoke, her insides twisting as she relived it. It wasn't until she got to the end and explained the rush of... well whatever it had been that she felt the knot in her stomach ease and excitement sort of start in her veins. Dumbledore nodded his head when she'd finished.

"Thank you Lily, I know that must have been difficult to speak about." Lily flushed biting her cheek and avoiding his eyes. "Madam Pomfrey tells me you are fully recovered now and you may return to Hagrid." He added with a kindly smile. There was no mention of the boys and Lily almost wanted to ask but upon raising her eyes to Dumbledore's she instantly pulled them away with a nervous jolt in her stomach. She disliked looking at him, she realized now, her eyes straying to some corner of the room and nodding her head slightly. She felt Severus's grip tighten on her shoulder, almost reassuringly before speaking.

"If that is all, headmaster..?"

"Yes Severus, I think so, I assume you'll escort Lily to Hagrid then?" There it was again, a small curl of bemusement in his tone as he asked this.

"If my absence is not missed at breakfast." He snapped coolly, his eyes flashing in irritation. Dumbledore gave a short nod, smiling quietly over his half moon glasses as Lily stumbled behind Severus.

Chapter 7: Obediance

UPDATED! YAY ! I KNOW RIGHT!

Chapter Seven-

Obedience.

Severus was furious at her she could tell, and her glee from last nights triumph slowly drained away as they walked further from Dumbledore's office. She kept her head down as she followed him, still biting the inside of her cheek. Her shoulder was starting to ache from his grip even before they reached the grounds. They stopped right under the stone column opening, right were the boys had first stopped her. A very sour taste sat on the back of her tongue and her stomach curled as she slowly looked up at Severus even though she was terrified to do so.

"Where did you go when you left the hospital ward?" He drawled, there were spikes beneath his tongue and if Lilian didn't tread carefully she'd be impaled on them. It didn't help the fact that she was torn, should she tell him? Or Lie? She dropped her gaze shamefully.

"I went to the library." She mumbled to her tattered robes.

"The restricted section?" He hissed, she could feel his nails dig into her robes but only felt confusion as she looked up at him.

"No, whats the Restricted Section?" She asked curiously, and stiffly, her shoulder aching. He seemed to sigh, either in irritation or relief she couldn't tell, but his grip loosened.. He still looked very angry.

"and why did you go to the library?" It seemed to her that he already knew the answer and was just tormenting her with having to say it. She looked to her ragged robes again.

"I wanted to know more, about p-parseltongue." She answered meekly, barely daring to sneak a glance at him.

"And why, do you find this information so valuable that you've been acting like a sneak to get your hands on it?" He said it softly, reminding her of the snakes tone, and cruelly. She felt her insides twang, the pain resonating and her eyes prickling. She sniffed, knowing he'd want an answer quickly or she'd receive another cruel reprimand from him.

"I can... I can speak it." She whispered, lifting her head but avoiding his gaze. Her body was tense waiting for something, a rough smack, or a cutting tone. Finally she looked at him, his face was pale, paler than usual and his eyes were drawn. Then, his voice and pose stiff he spoke:

"Show me." A weird sensation travelled through her, was it relief? Worry? Other than that one time she'd never spoken to a snake before, maybe she couldn't do it again? That panic nearly overwhelmed her for a moment as she played nervously with her robes. Then finally she began concentrating, her face crinkling with it. A frown and her mouth pressed into a petulant looking line.

"I'm hungry, and tired.." She stated, realizing that after the first bump of deciding what to say it was relatively easy to call the harsh language to her lips. Severus' eyes flashed making her wary again in an instant. Was he mad at her again? He composed himself quickly, glancing around them as if he was worried someone was watching. Silently he led her closer to Hagrid's hut before stopping her again, as soon as they were a little further from the school. He turned her to face him, his black wells of eyes boring into her green ones which stared up at him, desperate to understand. His hands rested on both of her shoulder's and she knew that whatever he was about to say was serious.

"You must never speak parseltongue again." He said slowly, letting the seriousness in his tone and expression settle into her. " Do you understand? You must never speak of it to anyone Lillian." Her expression crumpled a little. She wanted so badly to ask why, why shouldn't she? Why could she speak it? But the longer he stared into her eyes the more her resolve crumbled. Severus would never hurt her, if he was telling her not to do something it was for her own good. Lillian nodded, keeping her bright green eyes on Severus' black ones.

"Yes Severus." she answered quietly, the fire behind her dim eyes smouldering as she submitted in obedience.

Lily wondered about parseltongue. She wondered, as she lay beneath a thick furry blanket in Hagrids hut, about who Tom Riddle was. She wondered if maybe he was her real father. She didn't remember much about how she came to Severus's care, only that she did, but she was not his daughter. Severus's words lay her hungry curiosity at rest that day, but it was not because of the absolution in which she felt obedient to him, but rather she was reminded of time. Time that slipped by her now, changing her and giving her mind growth. Time would soon find her fit enough to become a student of Hogwarts and in time she'd have her answers. Of that she was positive and found peace in.

On her Eleventh birthday Severus himself handed her the warm parchment envelope containing her admittance to Hogwarts. She smiled at him shyly daring to give him a quick hug. Severus accepted the hug fairly well all considering. Then there was shopping, Diagon ally was a place Lily always wished she could stay longer. Three parts of the day stood out for being the best, or exciting moments. Getting her new robes fitted, She was positively thrilled, not to have to wear Severus's ancient hand-me-downs anymore. Then when she got her wand, that took nearly half the day on its own, finally a wand found her fit enough. A maple, slightly flexible and resilient, its core was Runespoor Fang. The old man made Lily uneasy as he peered at her, her body still warmed by the acceptance of the wand.

"Maple wood, good for Charms and defensive magic, the core if I do remember correctly is a runespoor fang, quite rare and best for those who deal with dark magic." His voice finished ominously as his bright blue eyes pierced her. Severus noticed Lily shifting in discomfort and intervened.

"How much is the wand?" He drawled in boredom.

Once outside of the stuffy, dusty shop Lily regained her excitement, revelling of the feel of the wand in her hand. The wand was Lily's last stop but Severus had 'other' places to get to, mainly those places were in knockturn ally which meant Lily was to left to browse flourish and blotts. As Severus left, a harsh wind blew cold from the door carrying a sound.

'Away, AWAY!' The voice screamed, looking around lily noticed no-one else seemed disturbed or even able to hear it. Stroking her wand in her pocket and ducking her head out of the shop Lily checked for Severus's back in the crowd. Not finding the tall shadowy cloaked figure lily felt safe enough to leave to search for the sound. She had a suspicion of what it was, but she wasn't positive just yet. She followed the aggravated noises across the bustling street and down a shop. Boys laughter boomed out, snuffing out the cries for a moment, the small crowd in a tight group in front of an owl cage. Lily crept carefully behind the other boys, standing on her tiptoes to see over their shoulders without alerting them.

'Nooo! Away, AWAY!' The snake in the bottom of the cage hissed, dodging the great spotted birds feet and beak. It was obvious the snake was young and terrified. Magic barricaded it inside the cage while the boys guffawed. Anger of injustice burned Lily fiercely, taking out her wand she did what came naturally to her and flicked it.

The cage exploded.

The bird screeching as the sides of it burst open, clawing the air madly in confusion and anger. It one of its talons the snake dangled, the other attacked the boys faces. They yelled, ducking their heads and stumbling over each other against the beat of feathers and claws. Lily backed up as one of the boys drew his wand and the bird screeched, deflected by his magic and veering towards Lily. Lily yelped, ducking down and feeling air gust of the birds great wings around her along with a disoriented hiss. The snake landed around her neck feeling cool and heavy, it held onto her with all its might, burying itself smartly into her hair as the owl flew away. Before the boys could collect themselves enough to realize who did what Lily disappeared in the crowd, breathing heavily and slipping into an ally for privacy against the onslaught of people. The snake too seemed to be catching its breath while wrapped around her neck. As quietly as possible she began talking under her breath.

'You okay?' She hissed quietly and she felt movement.

'Whats that?'

'I'm the one whose neck your draped around... are you alright?' She mumbled pretending to cough into her fist as a particularly large group of people walked by.

'A human, very curious... and what is it you want human?' It asked and Lily was confused.

'Want?' She blinked, feeling the snake slither over her shoulder, its head swaying uneasily in mid air as its eyes pierced her.

'A debt is to be repaid human, call on me when you wisssh to repay it.." It hissed mysteriously, dropping off her shoulder onto the ground and slithering into the darkness. Lillian licked her lips, her momentarily calmed heart beat spiking as yells ensued from the mouth of the ally.

"Hey! I fink she went this way!" A boys voice surged above the discerning murmurs of the crowd and Lily paled, her stomach and lungs squeezing in panic. She thought she'd made it but obviously- Her heart throbbed realizing she'd have to make another run for it. Her feet slapped against the cold stones beneath her feet as she surged ahead through the crowd, only concentrating on menuvering through the throngs of people and keeping her head down – if she could just get to Flourish and-. A dark figure stopped her in her tracks and her stomach dropped, her small fists clenching beneath her robes and her head dizzy with terror.

"Well hello there." She blinked, realizing in a rush that the voice was not Severus's, no this voice was smooth, that of a honey toothed snake.

"Um hello." She replied, playing with the fringes of her robe and staring up at the pale man who loomed above her, his ice blue eyes filled with his own curiosity. Unnerved by his seeming to recognize her her cheeks became flushed. "D- do you know me sir?" she asked, clearing her quiet voice feebly.

"Yes, of course, forgive me, I'm Lucius Malfoy." His eyes sparked as he bent to her level, offering her his gloved hand. His eyes were blue like Dumbledore's but not nearly as... kind. Becoming even redder in the cheeks she placed her small pale hand into his which he kissed lightly. "And you are Lillian, I'm an old friend of Severus's." He drawled adding a sweetened curl around his lips, His ice blue eyes seeming to try and suck her into his narrowed pupils. She smiled carefully, nervously, she didn't like being like this... out in the open, and not to mention the ice blue eyes that were steadily soaking her in were slightly... creepy... maybe he did remind her of Dumbledore a little bit... always watching her. She shuddered. Allowing a small smile she swallowed tilting her head to the side and nibbling her lip as she eased her hand from his.

"Severus has never mentioned you before... he doesn't have many friends." She said quietly green eyes glittering in quiet unease. I need to get back to flourish and blotts before-

"Lucius." His voice dripped venom and Lilian felt the shrill of panic as she was boxed between the two. Lucius stood, the curl in his mouth turning into a sour twitch downwards. The look in his eyes as he looked at Severus.. it made her take a step back, Severus's hand closing on her shoulder, whether in comfort or simply to hold her in place she wasn't sure but it did comfort her. Swallowing again, this time a larger lump she shifted as close to him as she could, staring at the ground as Lucius sneered something before turning his gaze to lily.

"It was a pleasure meeting you young Lillian." He offered coolly, turning just as a severe looking blonde woman exited flourish and blots a young white haired boy with chubby cheeks and a dutiful pout being tugged beside her. "Come now my dear." She took his elbow when it was offered, sending an airy stiff glance of curiosity, or acknowledgement in Severus's direction. When she saw Lillian she scowled, her head snapping to her husbands ear, her mouth a flurry with hissed words. Lillian went back to staring sheepishly at the floor until they disappeared fully.

"Lillian, what did I tell you to do while I was running errands?" He asked her in clipped, disapproving tones, and she felt his black eyes boring down on the top of her head and she pressed her mouth into a firm line before forming a suitable answer.

"I- to wait in the shop until you come back." She sighed in defeat.

"and what have you been doing?" He pressed, tone harsh.

"I- I heard something outside... I'm sorry I won't do it again." She whispered, sneaking a small fleeting glance at his expression. She was relieved to see he didn't look mad really.. just annoyed. Hopefully at that Malfoy bloke than me. It seemed she was right because he simply pursed his lips momentarily and nodded slightly.

"Very well, as long as you never disobey me again." Her shoulders drooped in relief and she smiled sheepishly, nodding eagerly, bright green eyes blinking up at his dark pools.

"Okay, can we go home now daddy?"

Daddy.

Both child and man froze fractionally, both eyes sheering off in different directions suddenly. Her cheeks red Lily stared at the ground mortified.. she hadn't called him dad since... well a long time ago and that had been when she was disoriented and now... it had just slipped out. She bit her tongue shamefully, Severus clearing his throat suddenly.

"Shall we return home then, Lily?" His tone startled her and she looked up to his face but he was looking straight ahead, straight ahead. Warmth flooded her as well as sheepish embarrassment, biting her lip and taking the remainder of her courage she grabbed his cool large pale hand wrapping her smaller hand firmly there.

I suppose the third most exciting part of her day was obvious. Lily smiled with a quiet sigh.

Holy crap ! I know I'm a terrible updater... even if I was doing so well before. - _ - Sorry about that, I am really happy that people seem to be interested to were the story is going though! Just keep it saved in your alerts and I promise to update eventually! Yeah that's a sucky promise.. eventually. I'm a bit of a jerk when it comes to starting and stopping stories, and honestly I was lucky to be hit by a bout of creativity towards this piece and decided to try continuing. I'm glad I did and I hope you like reading Severus's and Lily's awkward relationship blooming and her school years finally beginning!

~~Thank you all and I love you! I hope you'll grace me with some more comments. Even if there critical I really appreciate it. And yeah I don't really have a beta so sorry about the mistakes. I do revise... sometimes ._.

Chapter 8: Hogwarts Year one: Sort of Sorted

Year One.

Chapter one:

Sort of Sorted.

Lily woke with a start, her pulse thrumming in her veins and a thin layer of cold sweat causing her night robes to cling to her clammy skin. She calmed her dizzying thoughts, her knuckles translucent from gripping the sheets around her. Slow, deep calming breaths Lily. She ordered herself, shutting her eyes and fighting back the sting behind them. Before she knew it she'd thrown her legs over the side of her bed, and had opened her door walking down the darkened hall towards the living room.

"Severus..?" Lily called called hesitantly, peeking into the dimly light, her night robes swishing against the creaky flooring which had probably given away her presence far before she'd called out.

"If I recall," He drawled glancing up from his book in slight disinterest. "Your curfew began hours ago, has it not Lillian?" He questioned from where he sat on the couch, the candle flickering beside him with enough light to read the cracked leather bound book on his lap. Slipping out from behind her place behind the wall her expression was drawn and complexion ill cast in the light.

"I had a odd... dream." Or nightmare, she wasn't really sure on that front what exactly to call it. As Severus observed her he was struck with how much she resembled herself as a child, pale, drawn looking, and inexplicably lost. The silence between them told him she did not wish to speak of it nor was Severus going to pry. She sat beside him bringing her knobby knees around to her chest and looked at Severus with quiet solemn eyes.

"Do you think I could stay out here until... I can fall asleep again?" She whispered, her mouth was tugged down in the corner and her half lidded dull eyes poorly hid anxiety and the deeper pang of sadness.

"Very well, but I should remind you that the train to Hogwarts will not idle if you are unable to pry yourself from your bed?" This was Severus attempt at humour, a sentiment which pulled Lily's couldn't help but make her mouth pull up into a rare full smile, the anxiety ebbing from her eyes.

"Thank you Severus." She replied back tiredly, some colour beginning to work its way back into her cheeks. Her eyes falling shut, the warmth of their exchange warmed her back into slumber.

She fell asleep soundly moments later as Severus read further into his book. It wasn't until he finished, the hour coming to a close that he realized. With her cheek tucked against her knees and arms drawn around them, she took slow peaceful breaths, her long black hair darkening her soft rounded child's face.

Severus did not often see her sleep, he was not a tender loving parent that tucked her in or kissed her cuts away. No, Severus would on some occasions send her to bed with a cup of herbal tea, and expect not to see her until morning, if she wounded herself he'd enquire dryly on her state whilst handing her ointment and bandages. Severus was not squishy or cuddly, at most the relationship would seem to mildly affectionate as Lily too wasn't a 'love' and 'cuddles' sort of child. And yet, as Lily slept soundly Severus felt a small tug in his chest, it was not something he felt often, nor was it generally such a pleasant tug. It was a tug of something not tainted by despair, or pain, it was small and soft and something Severus would never admit to feeling. His nostrils flaring he snapped his book shut and stood to replace it on the shelf. Gathering his bed robes at his ankles his eyes shifted towards Lily almost begrudgingly. He had no intentions of carrying her back to her room, and as she was sleeping peacefully, he also had no intentions of waking her. Acting in a way uncommon for him he made a small gesture and tugged the dusty blanket laying over the back of the couch and draped it neatly around the small girls frame. His hand fell not pausing to linger on her hair or to softly stroke her cheek, but back to his legs to gather his robes before carrying himself to bed. Yes, in a way uncommon to him and maybe downright peculiar, Severus Snape, under his own roof, did something completely unnecessary because he cared.

How unusual.

Lillian woke with a start, blinking the morning grogginess from her eyes and lifting her head from the couch cushion as the dusty morning light filtered through the grimy windows. A patch work blanket hung from her shoulders, half shrugged on to the ground, yawning with a slight pucker in her brow she sat up and stretched her back, hearing it pop and groan. A whistle shrill and high pierced called her to the kitchen once the blanket was neatly folded back where it was supposed to be.

"Oh you've decided to join the living have you?" Severus commented mockingly in a oddly cheery sounding way, picking up his freshly poured cup of tea before sitting down at the table looking impassively at the paper in front of him. "You have 20 minutes." He told her as if he had been reminding her all morning.

"Wha?" Her eyes stretched open in surprise, her hand dropping from where it was rubbing the sleep from her eye, an instant later her feet were pounding down the hall. She scrambled to her room falling to her knees to throw her trunk open she stumbled upwards her heart hammering in her chest the strain of time upon her.

"Five." Severus voice drifted up the hall as she dumped a mixture of books and robes into her trunk. Bloody hell! She thought breathlessly, snatching her wand from the table and groaning beneath the weight of her trunk as she began dragging it down the hall way. His tea finished Severus stood at the front of the door, his own trunk beside him. She greeted him by raising her head, her cheeks flushed and breath burning her lungs. Severus's eye brow twitched the slightest and there may have been a flash of amusement in his black eyes.

"Forget something?" He drawled expectantly and Lily lifted her head, cheeks still pink but her breathing slowing, her brow pinched her head shaking.

"Um I don't think.." Her eyes drifted to the mirror hanging on the wall beside her and her cheeks scorched fuchsia. "One sec!" She squeaked, her feet pounding on the floor and skidding to a halt in the bathroom where she very quickly brushed her matted hair. She pressed her mouth into a line acknowledging the sheen of grease in before dropping the brush to return to Severus in the hall. Now they really did look like father and daughter.

Lily nervously played with the hem of her new school robes as she sat alone in her compartment. She felt oddly lost, not sitting in Severus's compartment as she always had. Before this moment she hadn't really stopped to think about what school was really going to be like. What kind of friends she'd make, who she'd meet. She used to think about it all the time, marveling at the crowds of students that would wander outside to sit by the lake or dare each other into the Forest. Really she hadn't thought about it since those boys had-

"Hello!" The voice made her jump as the compartment door slid open. "Oh!" The girl giggled. "Sorry didn't mean to scare you, Is this compartment taken?" She asked, her chin jutted forward slightly.

"No, its free." Lily nodded quietly, brushing her hair from her eyes and sitting up from where she sat in the corner.

"Oh good.." The girl smiled, awkwardly dragging her trunk in behind her and attempting to lift it into the rack. "Ugh..!" She groaned beneath its weight swaying slightly and causing Lily to stand quickly to help her get it up properly. "Ah, there!" The girl beamed cheerfully brushing her hands together like it was a job well down and plopping heavily into the seat across from her. Lily sat down both amused and unnerved by the bright cheerful girl across from her.

"I'm Lily." She cleared her throat, introducing herself first and offering her hand.

"Ah! I'm Terra eh, you first year too?" She asked quickly, grabbing and squeezing her hand and dropping it just as quickly. Her rough accent peaked through her words, her voice was rushed and breathy.

"Yeah, but I've been living on the grounds of Hogwarts because my-" She stumbled her cheeks reddening when she realized she wasn't sure what to call Severus.. Dad seemed so... intimate, and she was so used to the word being taboo she was caught off guard. She cleared her throat, realizing the girl was staring at her expectantly and rushed on. "my guardian, is a teacher there." She finished her tone a little smug.

"Oh that's nea'" The girl's eyes were bright blue and wide with interest. "So like, were you adopted or somfin'?" She folded her hands neatly over her lap and tilted her head to the side like a bird. Lily's brow pinched a little and she shifted, swallowing her discomfort caused by the girls prodding questions and bird like attention.

"I, uh yeah sort of, Severus is the schools potion master." She nodded, fidgeting a little and trying to figure out where to look while the girl was staring at her. Unlike Severus gaze her's was bright, and uncomfortably persistent. Swallowing and finding no other comfortable place to look she decidedly looked straight up into the girls eyes, matching her expression.

She stared at her.

She stared back.

It only took one twitch of Terra's mouth before she burst into laughter, Lily's expression splitting as she exploded into a similar fit of giggles.

Controlling her breathing Lily wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes, sniffing and looking over to the girl who was laying on her side giggling quietly into the cushion.

"So.. does this mean were friends?" Lily asked in earnest, her mouth aching from smiling so much. Terra's muffled giggles disappeared as she surfaced for air, flipping her hair dramatically as she sat up.

"Yeah, I mean, I guess so.. Doesn't it matter what house you get in though? I heard that matters." Lily frowned and shrugged.

"I dunno, maybe it does." She blinked thoughtfully, come to think of it she had heard Severus muttering about Gryffindor's before, perhaps Slytherin and Gryffindor didn't get along?

"Well, what house do you want to get into, maybe we want to be in the same house anyways and it doesn't matter!" She thought cheerily, brushing her hair back over her shoulder. Lily pondered the question in earnest before she answered, really she'd never even bothered to think of it. She simply assumed she'd be in Slytherin, Severus's house, without thinking there was much choice to it. What were the other houses? Ravenclaw was it? And what was that other one... Huff, Hufflepuff? That sounded right.

"I- I guess Slytherin, I mean that's what Sev is in. I haven't really considered anything else." She told the girl, watching as Terra's face fell with her answer.

"Oh, well I want to be Gryffindor, I heard all the adventurers and Brave people get put there." She said haughtily, but then glancing back to Lily, her eyes becoming almost shy. "Whats Slytherin like then? You know?"

"Hmm, I think I might have heard the house rhyme before.." She frowned in concentration, recalling the words. " In Slytherin you'll make your real friends, those cunning folk use any means to achieve their ends."She looked up as she spoke pausing between the words until she finished it.

"Oh, well it sounds... a little sketchy to me, I heard every dark wizard there ever was came from Slytherin too." She wrinkled her nose and Lily crossed her arms in irritation, scowling at the girl who blinked quickly realizing the offence. Her mouth dropped open quickly to amend. "I suppose a lot of good wizards come from Slytherin too, like your dad!" She added brightly, licking her lips. Pushing away her discomfort Lily forced herself to smile a little, already she could tell this girl liked smiles.

"SNAPE, LILLIAN." A few murmurs arose around her making her pulse jump anxiously as she stumbled forward biting her lip and keeping her eyes trained ahead. There was a tingle of surprise as the hat lowered completely over her head and an aged voice began murmuring in her ear.

'Oh, yes Hello there.' The hats voice whispered in her ear, nervously she gripped her stool. 'Hungry for knowledge you are I see, but bravery too, and a strong Slytherin blood line!' He seemed to note with surprise. 'Yes, yes quite noble, so what should it be?' it pondered in her ear. 'Slytherin or Gryffindor... yes a bit difficult.' Lily smiled suddenly, caught off guard by Severus's face flashing behind her tightly shut eye lids. 'Oh yes, you'll fit nicely in there.. suppose it has to be.. SLYTHERIN!"The hat suddenly shouted making Lily jump, her legs wobbling as she jumped off the stool. Terra waved shyly from the Gryffindor crowd while the Slytherin table hooted and howled. Smiling bashfully Lily sought an empty seat, grey eyes froze her in place as her green eyes met them. Damon scowled, forcefully pulling his eyes back to the sorting taking place while Lily's cheeks burned.

"Here! Sit here!" A rather snappish girl sitting across from Damon yelled, tugging her into the seat beside her. Clenching her teeth Lily squashed her emotions and struggled not to scowl through the rest of the ceremony even though she was painfully aware of his presence across from her.

"So your Lillian Snape, Professor Snape's daughter?" Lily's head snapped to the girl beside her, realizing that the Ceremony had ended and so had Dumbledore's speech. Now the food was brimming with food and from the corner of her eye she could see that the dark haired boy across from her was looking down at his plate staring determinedly away from her. The high pitched brunette sipped her pumpkin juice daintily and Lily swallowed nodding and grabbing a roll from the bowl.

"I'm Esmeralda, and I'm already in my second year, if you have any questions feel free to ask." she smiled, revealing shiny white teeth and quite a bit of pink gums. Lily forced her knotted smile to ease just a little to allow a polite smile towards the girl.

"Nice to meet you." She replied over the deafening murmur of others conversations and the girls large smile stretched before she turned to her friend at her side.

As the plates disappeared Lily thought she was ninety pounds heavier and she became a little stupider listening to Esmeralda all evening. She had to keep stuffing her face just to keep herself from scowling at him or maybe kicking him under the table. She'd wondered idly if she flicked her wand at him if he'd explode like the cage had. She squashed the thought as quickly as she could, feeling the scowl hardening on her brow.

As the prefects rose to lead the first years to the dormitories she let her peers ahead of her, letting herself purposefully fall behind as she glanced behind her at the table her stomach squirmed as she saw Esmeralda reach over the table and grab his hand, giggling and blushing. They were a couple apparently, Lily's nose wrinkled in disgust and she jerked her head straight following the tail end of her classmates.

Being quite aware of what passages to take to get to the dungeons and the dormitory something Lily was thankful for, the buzzing of voices was beginning to give her a headache, not to manage the added pinch between her brows which she struggled to smooth out. Rubbing her eyes with a yawn Lillian drifted around a bend in the hall, her classmates far ahead of her.

"Oh!" Both Lillian and the girl coming around the corner froze a hairs length from running into each other. Terra squeaking in surprise. "Woah, sorry Lily!" Terra exhaled in relief, her cheeks pink in embarrassment. Lily was caught between pleasant surprise and curiosity, her brow furrowed as her lip quirked up curiously at the corner.

"You know the Gryffindor tower is, well, up don't you?" Lily pointed out almost teasingly, Terra's cheeks mottling again sheepishly she stood a little straighter and jutted her chin out as if to rebuke her tease.

"I, well wanted to talk you so I ran and a head and got lost is all." She explained with a sniff, then smiled a little, her blue eyes shining in earnest. "Now that I have found you I just wanted to uhm say.." Her voice trailed as if nervously and she shifted shyly before blurting :

"That I don't care that were in separate houses, I mean it seems a little silly that we can't get along if were friends dunnit?" She rushed on nervously slurring the last word. Lily felt relieved, a bit of dinners tension lifting from her shoulders from because of her bright eyed companions words.

"Yeah.." Lily found her smile widening Terra's mouth stretched into a Cheshire grin. "I think so too." She bobbed her head, a greasy piece of stray hair falling in eyes, she brushed it behind her ear.

"Well.." Terra inched to Lily's side, her robes brushing the floor. "I should probably catch up with my lot... I'll see you?" Lily nodded, also realizing she should catch up with her 'lot' too, she was not fond of the idea of running into the second years of her house, the thought of running into Esmeralda and her bloke was making her tense again.

"Yeah, see you." She promised quietly to her friend, straining to smile a little, Terra grinning wider and stumbling slightly as she turned to rush back the other way.

The encounter put Lily in a better state even though she had to jog a little to catch up to her group. She caught up in time to hear the password ' Oviparous' and committed it quietly to memory, ducking beneath Slytherin Prefects as she jumped into the room. There was a murmur of surprise and delight from the first years upon entering the green glow of the common room. Lily studied the room in her own quiet appreciation. Though the ceiling was low hung the couches were large and her armchairs comfortable looking. Book shelves lined the wall in some places while the Slytherin coat of arms hung with green spangled banners as decor. Equally lush, fat pillows were neatly placed on the sofa's and chairs with silver snakes embellishing them.

"Up to bed now, First year boys down the back to the left, Girls the same to the right." The meaty Prefect gestured the first years. The Slytherin girls dormitories was a large oval room with the beds spaced nicely from each other, a large green jade snake was engraved into the centre of the floor. Yawning Lily found her trunk and changed into her night robes, too exhausted to introduce her self to her other fellow first year room mates. Exhausted she tucked herself into her lavishly hung green curtained bed and fell asleep almost immediately beneath the thick downy covers. Just before she fell asleep a half exhausted hope wriggled in her mind:

she hoped it would be dreamless.

This chapter is... Choppy I know, I'm better with cut scenes though believe me! I hope you like this chapter anyways, its the beginning of her first year and I'll make and ***Important note here! ****: This story is divided into Four main factions

1. (Prolouge) Chapters One- Seven,

2. (Hogwarts) Chapter eight- ? (until her seventh year basically),

3. (The Order) Chapter ? - ?

4. (After the war) Epilogue.

Yeah, I do have a plan for this story (and as long as I stay concentrated) There will be a garanteed (minimum of) 52 Chapters by the time this story is officially finished.. Since I don't know exactly how many chapters there will be per school year I based it off of four chapters Minimum for each year (though probably a lot more).

Note on Later Plans- I have plans on this becoming a romance (when she leaves school) with one of the main characters whom comes in WAAAAY later, but don't worry too much, I have no plans of slaughtering any of your favorites, I will make the 'romance' occur as naturally and seamlessly as I can into the plot line. (and don't worry its not Ron, Harry, or anyone super like MAIN MAIN, character wise) For now though (and mostly through the entire length this fic shall be) Its really about her relationship with Severus (I have a bit of a daddy complex myself soo..) Yeah.

BTW! I've edited the previous chapters (might want to check it if your bored and want to re-read) and will continue doing maintenance for better reading pleasure! (like adding song lyrics or a quote to the beginning... just something to make it prettier I guess . . - _ -.

-I hope you enjoy and thank you so much for reading! I hope you'll extend me the courtesy of telling me what you love and hate about it, telling me whats wrong with it is just as important as all the other encouraging support, and I only hope to improve to satisfy a larger reading audience. thanks ~ Kayleigh

Chapter 9: Bollocks!

Thanks so many of you for Commenting! I hope you enjoy this chapter, Its mostly about friendships and the people that will be consistent in Lily's future school years. If you have any problems or suggestions please message me or comment! I'm always open to idea's and certainly to editing my problems (I'm not the best editor by a long run)

I wish there was more Severus in this chapter ;_;

Year One.

Chapter Two:

Bollocks!

She never thought she could be so exhausted by one day, or learn too much in one day. She'd been wrong. Her first day hadn't exactly been a disaster.. no not really, but then again it hadn't been the best of days either. Not by a long run. It had began as she assumed most days would, waking up getting ready for the morning, introductions to a few of her new fellows. In her first year dormitory there were seven girls, Sid, Piper, Trixie, Mona, Astor, Netra, and more prominently Carmella. Lily despised the girl as soon as her high pitched voice snarled from beside her cot.

"Get your Mud-blood hands off my robes Netty!" She shrieked and shocked by the generally taboo insult Lily's eyes flew open, Carmella serving as a foul mouthed alarm clock. Lily's quick jolt drew the eyes from the gaggle of girls.

"oh well lookie here, suppose the lumps finally woken up." Carmella sneered, flicking her hair over her shoulder and staring at Lily with half lidded unwarranted annoyance in her eyes.

As it turns out 'Nettie' or Netra was not actually a mud-blood, rather that was Carmella's insult to anyone that made her irritated enough, non too eagerly Lily introduced herself to the group, earning a haughty half raised brow and a twitch in her lip from Carmella.

Cow.

Lily scowled as soon as the girl had turned away and began getting ready. By the time she begrudgingly followed the girls to breakfast Lily was not in the best of moods, feeling as if a cloud had suddenly been cast over her day she felt like all scowls. Breakfast only served to worsen her morning.

"So Lily," Carmella didn't raise her eyes from the toast she was buttering, simply batting her eye lashes before taking her bite. Lily paused looking up from her bowl of porridge to see that the girl was taking her time chewing before she continued. The small pick me up she received from the smell of fresh baked morning goods turned sour. She cleared her throat before continuing. "Whats you lineage like?" Lily stared at the girl, again caught off guard by her audacity.

"E-excuse me?" Her spoon was frozen half way from the bowl as Carmella batted her eye lashes again, Mona on her right staring at her while Nettie glanced shyly up from her hash browns on the girls left.

"You heard me, your obviously not a mud blood if your made it into Slytherin, so what? Is your family pure blood?" Honestly she didn't know, or care in particular whether she was a 'pure blood' or not. It wouldn't matter if she knew Severus's lineage anyways because Biologically they weren't even related. Caught between wanting to tell the girl to bugger off, but also yearning for a small amount of acceptance from her she hesitated to answer. She didn't have many friends, if any (she wasn't sure if she should count Terra), but that didn't mean she didn't want friends or to be accepted. Lily finished her bite of porridge giving her a little time to contemplate what she should say exactly.I mean, she knew that she was obviously related somehow to the Salazar Slytherin's lineage, her parseltongue was enough evidence of that wasn't it? But what Severus had told her.. 'you must never speak of it to anyone Lillian' he told her his eyes scorching hers. Still staring at her bowl she spoke loud enough over the morning chatter.

"I'm not sure exactly but my father is the potions master here, Severus Snape?" She swallowed her uncertainties, forcing the words out to be smooth and just as condescending as the girl across from her. Carmella raised her brow.

"Never heard of him." She told her quickly her eyes flashing as if to say 'because he's a nobody. "The potions master though? Perhaps my father knows him then. Daddy has all sorts of connections." Lily fought the urge to roll her eyes and went back to eating her food, ignoring Carmella's obvious hint for her to ask who her father was and what her lineage was like. Lily hoped with as much hope as she could muster that they'd have separate schedules and she'd be allowed a reprieve from them, but apparently she had no such luck.

Lily had, just like four of the other Slytherin girls had- transfiguration, Charms, Broom lessons, Defence against the dark arts, and potions. Along with Carmella she was stuck with Nettie, Mona, and Piper. Though Carmella and Mona seemed like right gits, Lily was hoping that Nettie and Piper had more prospect and decency than the other rest of the morning wasn't too terrible, Transfiguration went all right, mostly notes really and Lily managed to snag a seat beside Piper. The girl had long dark brown auburn air and a generally blank expression, or solemn maybe? It was hard to tell but Lily preferred to think it was a friendlier 'blank' too, was mostly an introductory class which went by smoothly, unless you count Carmella attempting to curse a Hufflepuff girl who sat in front of them. Attempting being the focus word there, the most she did was make her wand sizzle causing the girl to turn back and glare at the , the time of which Lily stared yearningly at the Gryffindor table looking for Terra before giving up and excusing herself to the dormitories to lay in her bed and to rub out her headache, then to begrudgingly raise again when it ended. Looking forward to potions class was really what kept Lily focused, she honestly couldn't wait to see Severus again, and though she didn't expect to be favoured or anything she actually just wanted to be in the comfort of his presence. Hoping that maybe he'd be able to ease her out of her bad mood and maybe he'd intimidate Carmella into shutting up. Like really hoping.

"So this is your fathers class?" Piper asked sounding dreary or even mournful, Lily was finding the blank, impassive expression on her features was firmly in place. Before Lily could turn to her left to answer the girl Carmella butted in.

"Oh right, I nearly forgot Lil, didn't you say your fathers the potions master?" Carmella wedged herself verbally and literally between the girls and Lily scowled, anger rearing its ugly head in her chest threatening to snap.

"Its Lily," She snapped before she could check herself, her eyes flashing in irritation that made Carmella flush, "But yes, my this is my fathers class." She finished before she was overwhelmed with shame, or embarrassment and throwing open the dungeon door she kept her head forward to keep Carmella to see her cheeks burning. Surprise crept up on her while she took her seat in the second to front row, surprise to feel satisfied. Biting her lip she almost wished she'd added 'and you must need a remembrall if you can't remember something from this morning!' Lily kept her eyes trained ahead hardly wanting to look to her side as the seat next to her shifted and filled. Almost shyly she finally glanced over to see Piper had filled the spot.

She exhaled in sheepish relief as Piper too glanced to her and her mouth moved into a shy but definite smile. Lily felt her stomach warm a bit, and returned the smile before setting her cauldron on the table and shifting expectantly as the door slammed shut and the dark black robed figure that may have been mistaken as a shadow revealed himself in the front of the class. Severus with his sallow complexion and greasy parted hair eyed the first year Gryffindor's who shifted uncomfortably under his black glittering eyes before he turned them to the Slytherin table.

"Silence." The quiet order even made the chatty Carmella shut her mouth, especially when his eyes stopped on her moving mouth. His robes rustled as he stepped across the chilled stone floor and began the tedious registry of the students.

"Hogwog, Carmella.." Lily glanced at Piper with a raised brow, her hopefully new found friend sending back a humoured glance. "Snape, Lillian," Lily poked her hand up though it was unnecessary as her presence was obvious to him, "Sandalwood, Terranah, " Lily snapped her head to the side seeing Terra poke her hand from the Gryffindor table and giving her a shy secretive sort of wave gesture as she lowered her hand. Lily felt much better, another spring of happiness cooling her mood as she turned her head back to the front. "Whinox, Piper.." He droned on monotonously until the list had finished and as all proved present he rolled the parchment back up and set it on the table beside him.

"Now, I do not expect many of you to enjoy the art of potion making." His black eyes roamed the room many students finding themselves uncomfortable beneath them, Lily certainly was not. She smiled at him once, and stayed acutely aware of every word. "The few who can learn to appreciate the intrinsic methods may learn to harness the will of others, to wrap luck around their fingers and even how to evade death." Lily's parchment rustled as she unrolled it, recognizing that soon they would have to begin taking notes

"Plants such as -

So maybe the day hadn't been too bad... just exhausting and Lily could already tell that her little 'comment' had put her on Carmella's bad side (she still couldn't manage to regret it though). And, even with the grimy parts (all having something or rather to do with Carmella) she had become closer to Piper which was a pleasing turn of events. Nettie she was finding only seemed nice, but acted like Carmella's simpering lap dog.

As Carmella's crowd surged past Piper and Lily towards the girls dormitories Lily stopped.

"Would you like to just-."

"Stay out here for awhile?" Piper finished nodding and brushing her auburn hair from her face, choosing the love seat in front of the fire to sit. Hesitating to make a decision Lily chose to sit across from Piper in the arm chair, setting her potions gear in the empty space beside her.

"So, what do you think of that lot?" Relaxing in the loveseat her stiffness began to ease as she became visibly more comfortable, the stoic expression that Lily thought was usual for the girl easing into something softer. Lily fidgeted with the couches fabric with her long spider fingers, her cheeks heating as she stared into the fire. She was uneasy about answering the girl, perhaps fearing a backlash from her for revealing what she really thought. She wasn't exactly well experienced in showing or voicing her emotions. Being with Severus, and trying to fall beneath the stares of students while she stayed with Hagrid had kept her quite private. She entertained the idea she enjoyed it that way. So, almost shyly she stared into the almost silently crackling flames of the empty common room.

"I dunno." She shrugged tugging her robes to hide her fingers as she shifted, moving her arm to rest her chin on her palm.

"Bollocks." the girl retorted, hardly raising her voice above that of her normal tone. Lily looked at the girl in surprise, her cheeks burning and a frown about to pull her brows together. "You think they're prats just like I do." She finished and Lily's defensive retort dropped in place of surprise. Though Pipers expression hadn't changed from being placid Lily could tell she was being honest. Playfully Lily's lip quirked.

"Maybe more along the lines of gits really..."

"Daft gits." Piper added and the girls shared a small smile and when it died down Piper filled the quiet. "So your father seems-"

"A little intense eh?" Lily guessed before she could finish but Piper shook her head.

"I was going to say 'like a good teacher' but your not off, he's a little..." This time Lily was confident she was finishing the girls sentence properly.

"Scary?" Piper smiled.

"Yeah," She admitted. "He like that all the time?"

"Uh huh, s'not so bad once your used to it really, and I'd like to think he's more comfortable around me then most."

"Of course, he is your father in'he?" The question was meant to be rhetorical but it caused Lily to pause almost wanting to correct her. To say 'well technically...' but she decided against it and smiled pleasantly anyways, rather to not have to go into a long explanation. She just wanted to keep it simple.

"Yeah." She brushed her hair from her cheek lazily.

It was three days before Lily and Piper had enough gall and irritation built over from the three days to shove themselves off from the posse at lunch. Lily surprised herself by being the one to do it too.

"We're staying in the great hall," Carmella pointed out as Lily and Piper stood, attempting to flex her will over others by making her tone condescending she scowled at the two. Piper and her really had hoped that the girls wouldn't notice, after all they weren't really even privy to their conversations and both of them had just about enough of following the prats around for the past few days. Finding her annoyance peaking Lily scowled right back.

"Actually me and Piper aren't Carmella, see you in class." She snapped grabbing Pipers wrist while lifting her napkin of food with her other hand. Her ears humming with blood she filled again satisfaction from the squeak of breath caught in Carmella's throat as her face twisted into an ugly blotchy scowl.

Piper Giggled from behind Lily as she shuffled along beside her, her brown eyes and face as serene as ever if not a little mischievous.

"You know you can have a brilliant mouth on you if you want to." The tension in Lily's walk eased the further they got away from the great hall and as a cool burst of air hit her her pace too slowed.

"She just-"

"Makes you want to ring her neck?" The girls smiled and pressed closer together as they passed through a group of older students. Staying in the dry overhang of the courtyard they decided to bunker down on the stone floor further from their peers to finish their lunch. Spreading the napkin which she'd sneakily gathered food into before her departure Lily spread out the goodies, Piper grabbing a sliced piece of bread and taking a piece of the cutlery to spread jelly over it. Sitting her back against the cold stone tiles, Lily played with an apple.

"Do you ever wonder... if the sorting hat sometimes puts students in the wrong house Piper?" She asked, decidedly voicing something that had beginning to nag the corner of her mind. Finishing chewing her friend looked out to the courtyard, watching the leaves swirl and dance on the cool moist air.

"I dunno, I suppose," She shrugged, looking at Lily. "Why? Do you think you should be somewhere else?"

"Sometimes I wonder," Lily wrinkled her nose earnestly. "It wanted to put me into Gryffindor or Ravenclaw at first."

"What made it change its mind?" Lily paused, reliving for a moment when the hat encased her in darkness, the image that flashed beneath her closed eyes.

"I thought of Severus, I guess I wanted to make him proud." Lily admitted sheepishly, taking a bite of her apple.

"It wanted to stick me in Ravenclaw." Piper smiled shifting and nibbling her bread. Lily looked up from her apple, her green eyes curious.

"What happened for you?"

"Well.. you know that song the hat sang in before we were sorted? I really wasn't sure what sort of house I was going to be in until I heard it. You remember the way it went? ' Or perhaps in Slytherin-

"You'll make your real friends, those cunning folk use any means to achieve their ends..'" They finished it together, Piper's eyes shining in the dull light.

"I thought it was nice, the friends part anyways, I haven't had many friends." Feeling surprise Lily blinked incredulously.

"Why?"

"Me dad and mum travel a bunch, and there weren't many children..."

"Huh." Lily took a bite of her apple, then raised her head curiously as a voice carried across the courtyard.

"LILY!" The voice boomed suddenly causing both girls to jump and search for the source of the voice. Finally Terra came into view, waving furiously, her feet pounding the ground as she ran pink cheeked towards her. She stopped just short of the girls, wheezing and bending down, wind blown and breathless.

"Terra." Lily stared at her friend in surprise, the girl plopping unceremoniously on the stone between the two girls forming a triangle.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Piper asked, her eyes slipping back behind a mask of resignation, eyeing Terra in wary reproach.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Lily cleared her throat suddenly feeling anxious. "Terra this is Piper, we have potions together." Lily explained worriedly watching her friends. Terra shoved her hand out, hastily shaking Piper's with her usual grin, her frayed hair hanging dishevelled around her shoulders.

"Right, you were the girl that spilled the babbling beverage weren't you?" Piper pointed out Terra flushing crimson with embarrassment.

"I- uh yeah." She mumbled dropping Pipers hand. Guilt creeping up on Lily she quickly changed the subject hoping to ease her friends discomfort.

"So how have you been?" Drawing her knees to her chest she wrapped her arms around them and set her chin.

"Oh, good! Gryffindor is excellent! You happy with your house?" Her wide blue eyes probed brimming with cheer.

"Yeah, I definitely don't regret it." She replied exchanging a knowing smile with Piper.

"Excellent.." She cleared her throat, obviously approaching the point to her appearance. "I, kind of came over here to ask you for a favour?" She peeked up hopefully, drumming her fingers on her knee anxiously.

"I figured," Lily admitted. "What is it?" the hopeful gleam returned to Terra's eyes.

"Oh, well I know how well your doing at potions and... well I'm doing dreadful," She admitted shamefully. "I guess I was wondering if we could do our homework together? In the Library maybe?" She suggested. Worry passed over Lily, knowing she and Piper had started a routine of doing it together.. Biting her lip she looked to her friend across from her.

"Er, well I usually do my work with Piper, so if she doesn't-" Terra turned, eyes becoming pleading.

"Oh you wouldn't mind would you? I promise to try not to be a bother!" Piper shifted beneath the full glare of Terra's open eyed bird gaze.

"I suppose," She ventured finally looking to Lily. "The common room was getting a little stuffy anyways." She shrugged, Lily nodded. It was true the common room was getting stuffy, with Carmella's fat head in it all the time.

"Great! Thanks Pip! I won't forget!" Terra squeaked cheerfully, Piper paling as the nickname 'Pip' passed through Terra's lips. Lily tried not to giggle as Terra sprung up. "I'll see you tomorrow then, I should get back to my lot! Bye!" Terra finished breathlessly, grinning and practically skipping away.

"Well... I understand the nuisance of Gryffindor's now." Piper scoffed, " I mean Pip? Really?" Lily giggled covering her mouth.

"She really is sincere." She insisted her mouth beginning to ache from smiling.

"If not a little daft." 'Pip' shook her head, face easing back to forming different expressions. Before Lily could reply the bell tolled, bringing an end to their lunch hour to bring about another class. Sighing in resignation of having to spend another few hours with Carmella Lily begrudgingly stood, Piper patting her back as if reading her mind.

"At least we have each other." And Lily had to agree, rather than imaging the alternative of standing up to Carmella on her own. It was not a pleasant thought.

Chapter 10: Confrontations

Year One

Chapter Three.

Confrontations.

"Good luck on the potions test!" Terra grimaced wrinkling her pale nose that was dashed with permanent freckles. Holding her parchment filled with potions notes beneath her arm by her side her uneasy expression quickly fell back to be replaced by her impish grin.

"Do my best, See yeah Pip!" Piper nodded absently dipping her head back over the table to finish the Transfiguration assignment. "Thanks so much again Lily!" Terra called jubilantly from the front of the library earning a scowl from the Librarian. Brushing through her freshly washed hair with her spidery fingers Lily sat across from Piper who was still bent over her books and working relentlessly.

"Hows it goin, nearly done?" Lily raised her brows hopefully trying to peer across the desk to see how close she was.

"Nearly." The girl breathed, leaning back in her chair and glaring at the parchment as if it were an unruly child she would put in its place. Lily fought a grin, her friend was a bit of a perfectionist, she wouldn't be done with the assignment until she was absolutely satisfied with the results. Its what made her many of the teachers favourites, but the girl had a particular passion for Transfiguration.

Terra, on the other hand shone in charms work (being the first in her class to levitate anything), but sucked bollocks at anything with more precision, like potions or dark arts. Lily, on the other hand, greatest passion of course was Potions, but she found that dark arts was beginning to rival her beloved class of concoctions. She couldn't even be bothered to notice Carmella sometimes she was so enthralled with absorbing the overwhelming information of the class.

Really though potions was her best class by the long run, quite possibly because she'd spent much of her childhood playing with the sort of potions assignments they were receiving now. Which reminded her of the invite Severus gave her to have tea with him, an event which pleased her and and worried her. What would Piper do while she was gone for lunch? Generally the girls preoccupied themselves with idling around the grounds, just the two of them while Terra stayed with her Gryffindor friends. Lily very much wanted to accept Severus's request but she was uncomfortable with the thought of leaving Piper vulnerable to Carmella in any way. The girls had a silent pact against her after all and she was just so... happy with her relationship with her she was afraid this would send them off balance. A painful thought lanced through Lily's heart imagining Piper glaring at her, standing with her arms crossed beside Carmella 'oh you decided your not to busy at lunch any more, well to bad snilly, I'm too busy to-' Lily's scowl must have been so apparent that Piper noticed it as she glanced up over the table at her friend and her eyes clouded in concern.

"Hey, you okay Lily?" Lily snapped out of it, her scowl falling away as she was drawn back to reality.

"Oh, what?" Lily's cheeks warmed realizing she'd been making a face and her lips twitched in hasty embarrassment. "Sorry I was just thinking about something..."

"About Carmella?" Her friends eyes narrowed and became unusually hard for her face, her mouth curled downwards in distaste. "God, I can't believe she gave you that ridiculous nickname Snilly. What a little git." Some how Lily felt relief, how could she be so silly? Thinking Piper would ditch her for the most hated little witch in Slytherin. Silly, utterly daft.

"Kind of... " Lily sighed reluctantly, peeling back her anxieties to speak earnestly to her friend. "Severus sort of invited me for lunch, or tea really, but you know during lunch... and I really want to go! I just don't want to strand you, yeah?" Pipers expression remained unreadable to Lily which only mounted the girls anxiety as she waited for the information to process. Finally the girl shrugged, the easy serene expression sliding back into place.

"Worried I'd be fending for myself?" She smiled, exposing at least one of Lily's reservations. "Don't worry, Professor McGonagall is assigning that essay tomorrow. I'll just pop by here to work on it rather than save it all for later." The tension built up in her chest eased into something more achy and caring as she stared at her friend. Grateful full of relief she was nearly at a loss of words.

"..Thank you, Piper." She finally got out softly, her friend smiling with ease across from her, unknowingly hearing admission that meant much more than she knew. Bubbles rose in her chest making her feel cheery and giggly. She realized a few moments later it was happiness which lightened her.

"Don't worry I only have another two and a half paragraphs to go." and Lily was suddenly brought back to earth, her brows raising and a sigh escaping her lips.

Perfectionists... She nearly shook her head.

I guess all best friends come with their flaws...

Lily wasn't sure quite how to react to this. She stared openly at Carmella across from her in the dining hall, half surprised she was still constantly surprised by the girls complete disregard for others.

"Whats this then? Your dad sending you letters? I suppose even your father isn't immune to how naturally repelling you are." She sneered, Lily still staring at her, her hand clenched around her wand beneath the table, meanwhile Piper froze midway between taking a sip of her pumpkin juice. Finally as the girl turned the grubby looking letter over inspecting it did her anger give her a voice, a blind one, but still a voice.

"Give it back Carmella!" She glowered, raising out of her seat slightly leaning over the table, the hostility clear between the girls. Carmella's eyes glinted with something like a dare and her nose wrinkled as she spoke.

"Its not very nice Snilly, not to want to share you know." She said coldly, Netra staring at her plate as she usually did but Mona watched the two girls in obvious interest and excitement.

"Whats in that letter is my business." She hissed, her voice dipping low and her eyes flashing. It made Carmella nervous, she realized in the fleeting expression behind her eyes that was hastily covered in 'bitch' but Carmella knew she caught it. She was a control freak and hated when others tried to undermine her in any way and Lily was somewhat fearlessin her own way. Usually only because her temper flared enough for her to voice her usually mild opinion. Carmella leaned away, cradling the letter, her brows raised mockingly.

"Oh, do you have a boyfriend or something?" Her laughter was cold. "I'd like to know what daft moron would date you!" Mona snorted halfway taking a bite, eyes glinting in malicious amusement. Lily almost wanted to point out being 'daft' and an 'moron' were practically the same thing but deflected it instead, her cheeks inadvertently reddening. She opened her mouth anger and hurt welling in her chest but it was too late, the letter hissed viciously as she tore it open, hastily unfolding the little paper her greedy eyes scanning the words scrawled there Looking over the sheet the girls grin widened and Lily stole the opportunity to snatch the letter from the girls grasp, her own eyes roaming the page trying to read...

Confusion hit her. Carmella's high pitched laughter making her gut knot.

"Hagrid? That half breed oaf ?" The leaden feeling in her stomach kindled, her throat tightening and her blood rushing blindingly.

"SHUT up!" She slammed her hands against the table so hard that it shook, her blood draining from her cheeks and a cold sweat breaking over her. She hardly noticed the table go silent nor the eyes on her spindly black cloaked form "Your a pathetic whiny little snit with nothing better to do then to look down your fat round nose at people that are far better than you'll ever be! Don't you dare presume to insult my friends." Her voice tapered to a dreadful hiss, Carmella staring at her in mortified shock. Then a few seats down the table a first year made a quiet 'yeah!' and suddenly the whole table was laughing. The blood died in her ears as lily blinked in shock and surprise, Piper still staring at her friend in shock tugged the back of her robes to get her too sit again just as Carmella let out a horrified cry and tripped awkwardly out of her seat too escape the humiliation booming in all different voices and volumes around her. Mona sent Lily a scathing look and Netra simply glanced at Lily in amazement before running after the two, crying : 'Mona! Mona wait up!'.

"I told you you have a silver tongue!" Piper giggled, a first year girl in their dormitories named Sid leaning over from a few seats away to speak.

"Yeah, that was really great!" Sid said with a nod, her silver blond curls bouncing. The giggles sputtered out suddenly like a water dousing a flame, a notable chill descending over the girls.

"Lillian." The voice sent chills down her spine, shame creeping into her cheeks as she looked over her shoulder to see Severus. His expression cold between the curtain of greasy black hair. "To my office, immediately." Swallowing she ducked her head, a hush of murmurs of children now sniggering at her as she began to dutifully stand. Piper began to stand as well but a ice cold look from Severus made the girl pause as he added coldly. "Alone."

Glancing over her shoulder Piper gaze was apologetic and worried. The other girl, Sid, gave her a little wave as she passed, like saying good luck. The last eyes she caught just might have smothered the shame she was feeling and begin the burn of anger if she had held it any longer than she did. Damon watched her eyes dark and cold and making her insides smoulder. Grinding her teeth she forced her head forward, threatening to begin to crane it if she kept her eyes connected with his. Behind her Damon lowered his gaze back to his potatoes, suddenly feeling like he'd lost his appetite.

"Get in." Severus ordered, his expression unreadable to Lily who peaked at him before obeying and stepping over the threshold into his personal office. He closed the door behind him, Lily standing with her back achingly straight, afraid to presume to sit. "You understand this would be unnecessary had you restrained yourself in the great hall?"

"Yes sir." she answered, clasping her spidery pale fingers in front of her, feeling almost uncomfortable beneath her fathers gaze.

"As head of house I must punish all student equally, or did you assume you had immunity?"

"No!" She said quickly, shaking her head. "I just... lost my temper.. I know I shouldn't have." Her voice rushed, her jaw clamping shut when the words were finished leaving Severus to study her.

"Bullying is not tolerated at Hogwarts." At that Lily bristled in indignation her eyes snapping up impudently.

"She was the one who-!

" Five points from Slytherin for being impudent, do not try me." He barked threateningly, her eyes fell again, her hands dropping to her sides simply to squeeze into fists. "Now take a seat." Fumingly she did, her hair falling into her face like a dark curtain, glaring from beneath half lidded green eyes into her lap. "Your punishment will be to serve detention in potions class."

"Is that all sir?" she asked coldly, her gaze still firmly planted on her lap.

"No, I would also like to know whether or not you've accepted my invitation for tea."

"Of course sir." She swallowed, not angry enough to say no, she still missed him.

"Very well, I expect you tonight for detention and for tea tomorrow." She stood up, nodding her head but still refusing to look at him. "Oh, and Lillian?" He called to her from beside the fire and she stopped to look back. "I suggest more furtive methods to deal with your enemies should such a need arise again." he added, his tone sidling into something softer causing Lily to blink back in surprise an unexpected smile gracing her lips.

"Of course professor... good day." She said to Severus's dark figure in front of the flickering firelight which illuminated a small circle of his darkened office. Tucking her hair behind her ear and quite unsure if she should still feel slighted or pleased she excused herself, politely ducking herself from her fathers office.

"You okay?" Piper asked quickly, seeming to appear from no where in front of Lily causing her to jump in surprise, having just left Severus's office. The question catching her off guard more than anything as she was still trying to decide which emotion she felt more particularly in this instance.

"I- wah?" She asked stupidly clearing her mind to concentrate on her brown eyed friend.

"I asked if you were okay." She pressed, brow furrowing in concern as she tried to decipher her pale friends indecisive dazed expression.

"Oh, yeah, Brilliant actually." Lily decided, a rare full smile gracing her cheeks as she took her friends arm, the morning bell tolling to begin the day bringing an end to breakfast.

"Really? You mean he wasn't furious, he looked furious Lily." She added in a conspiratorial whisper, hugging both Lily's and her own transfiguration books to her chest.

"Its okay really, I think he was just a little ashamed more than anything..." Lily bit her lip as she said it, realizing it was probably true. She could imagine how it might seem to others... her throwing a tantrum, little Slytherin princess. Guilt gnawed her as she realized that she may have reflected against Severus poorly in some way.

"Oh good then, I was just worried you'd gotten detention or something like that." Piper exhaled in obvious relief, her expression relaxing perhaps too quickly. Lily made a face, nervously twiddling her fingers.

"Well actually, he did give me a potions detention... and took away five house points." Piper's eyes shot to her.

"Which means you'll be leaving me alone to study with Terra tonight doesn't it?" She asked in an exhausted sigh, her brow knotting together into a pout or even something 'grumpy' forcing Lily to giggle in her friends displeasure.

"Sorry." She added, "I'm sure she really appreciates your help... Oh and tomorrow..." She began with a nervous glance to her side. "Remember that tea Severus invited me to?"

Carmella made herself scarce the rest of the day much to Lily and Piper's relief, and it wasn't until Terra joined them on their way to the potions dungeon that she found out the mornings events.

"So you finally told her off! Us Gryffindor's were wondering what was going on at your table." Terra told her admiringly. Slinging her potions satchel over her shoulder as she walked between her and Piper. "I bet it was brilliant too." Terra pouted displeased with the fact she'd missed it.

"I don't even remember what I said really." She admitted because it was true. She remembered the swell of anger, then the rush of pleasure and the pleasant sensation of the weight being lifted from her chest.

"It was brilliant" Piper assured her almost sharply, taking long strides to keep ahead of Terra, her auburn hair bobbing around her face. Terra's expression dissolving further in disappointment as she fell behind Piper a step.

"So... did you get in much trouble then? I saw the professor leave the main table." Lily shrugged, decidedly not correcting her friend into calling 'the professor' 'professor Snape' instead as he was supposed to be. Terra wasn't much of a stickler for details as the other girls were so Lily continued, explaining the details.

"I have a detention in potions tonight, but he invited me over for lunch tomorrow... Will you two be okay together?" Lily asked deciding to broach the subject to Terra and watching both of her friends faces carefully. Terra smiled, her eyes completely innocuous as she shrugged.

"We should be fine." Piper added with a slight sigh when Lily prodded her behind with her wand tip.

"Good ju-" Lily was cut off sharply by a hard shoulder broke through the girls

"Hey watch It!" Terra snarled to the girl who turned. Mona glaring hatefully at Lily, her ash blonde hair thin around her blunt features.

"No, you better watch it." She snapped, her voice dripping dangerously, scowling at all three girls before continuing brusquely on her way to the potions dungeon.

"What the bloody hell was her problem?" Terra asked sourly, rubbing the offended shoulder, clearly not having recognized Mona as Carmella's goon. Lily bite her lip, her stomach turning oddly sour as Piper frowned ahead after the girls robes.

"That's Mona one of Carmella's bunch." Lily told her, fiddling with the edge of her sleeve as Terra's eyes cleared in realization.

"Right, yeah, I never paid much attention to the other ones," She said, switching her shoulder satchel. "You think she's going to start some trouble?"

"Probably." Lily admitted with a soured expression, knowing even as she said it, it was true. The situation with Carmella was certainly not over.

"Well.." Terra began, noticing both of her friends distantly perturbed expressions. Obnoxiously she threw her arms around both of the girls causing Lily to snap her eyes up in surprise and Piper to look both alarmed and a little agitated. "Don't forget you have a Gryffindor at your backs, I'll take on a slimy Slytherin git any day!" She announced grinning between the two, Piper letting out an exhaustive sigh and looked up towards the ceiling almost in silent prayer. Lily quirked her brow at her friend as if to remind her that they were Slytherin's too. "Wha? Its not like you two are slimy or anythin'!" The girl quickly objectified.

"Lets just get this day over with shall we?" Piper muttered shaking her head as she walked ahead pushing the heavy dungeon door open. The sound of a bubbling cauldron greeting the girls ears as they stepped in, the gloomy dungeon light causing them to blink their eyes in adjustment, Terra's face scrunching into displeasure. Lily rolled her eyes as her friend scrunched her nose and stuck out her tongue in disgust. Terra truly did not have an affinity for the art that was potion making.

Piper waved her to the front of the class, her books and cauldron already set up the seat beside her on the end of the row empty. Lily took her place, then almost nervously she glanced about curious to see where the rest of Carmella's lot was.

"Their near the back row." Piper told her, taking out their finished potions homework, the parchment tied neatly with a bow. Lily frowned, oddly discomforted with the thought she hadn't seen them on the way in. "I imagine she's sulking." Piper shrugged sounding bemused at the thought as she read her friends expression.

"Silence." The class quieted as Severus assumed his position at the head of class, his black eyes sweeping the room as the cauldron behind him simmered, a whitish sort of smoke coming from it. "Now who is able to identify the potion in the cauldron behind me?" His eyes swept the class, and finding none able to identify simply by sight who immediately volunteered their knowledge his eyes fell on Lily. His robes brushing against the cold dungeon floor he clasped his hands behind his back, the palled skin between the curtain of his greasy hair tipped downwards slightly as he looked down his hooked nose at her.

"Lillian, enlighten your peers." Licking her lips she looked back to the cauldron, her eyes following the white smoke briefly.

"I, um, expect that's a trick question Professor." She answered, meeting his black fathomless eyes which flickered for a moment.

"By all means continue." Lily swallowed, feeling oddly put on the spot by her father.

".. Well,sir, the white smoke coming from it tells me that the potion is simple, consisting of only three or four ingredients... but the problem is that whats simmering in your cauldron is not actually a potion yet, because you haven't added the four ingredients. I can tell because the white smoke signals that the boil remedy potion, which I expect is what your prepping, is ready to be taken off the fire and the ingredients added. It hasn't been done yet so Its not quite a potion at all yet Sir. " She explained beneath his black glittering eyes that she felt were taking too great an interest in her, it was clear he was thinking something. Oddly as his mouth curled and his eyes flickered she felt as if she'd passed some sort of test.

"Impressive, Five points to Slytherin..." His robe swept across the floor as he continued down the row of students. "Boil remedy potion requires the addition of four ingredients: Dried nettles, Porcupine Quills, Horned Slugs, and Snake fangs. Each ingredient to be added to the potion once it is taken from the flame, and if some of you are not complete imbeciles you would be writing this down." He hissed dryly, Terra who was staring at him blankly blushing suddenly and scrambling to take the notes down. Turning down to her parchment Lily felt an odd tingle of anxiety pass through her, perhaps her detention in potions would be more interesting then she thought?