Chapter 1
"What do you mean it's dead?"
Lex schooled her features into an emotionless mask and clasped her hands behind her back.
"My sincerest apologies, Mr. Corner, but certain complications prevented the efficient capture of the hag," She told the man.
He swelled in anger. "Complications? Complications? I wasn't paying you for complications!" He shouted, pointing a stubby finger into Lex's face.
Her mother gave her a stern look, before turning to Mr. Corner.
"What my daughter meant to say, Mr. Corner, is that someone or something managed to get to the hag before we did. Of course we will not be charging you for this, but I hope you can accept our deepest apologies for this unexpected situation," Emilia Woodman said quietly. Lex hung her head in shame; it was her fault that her mother had to ask forgiveness from a client and risk her own dignity.
Mr. Corner glared at Lex before turning to her mother. "Very well, Woodman. However, next time, you may not want to send a little girl to do a grown up's job."
Lex felt anger coursing through her veins, but held her breath.
"With all due respect, Mr. Corner, I believe that it remains my choice to decide what my daughter is capable of. I also fail to see how her gender has any effect on her work ethic, either," Her mother replied coldly, fixing the man with a steely gaze.
Lex could hear his frightened gulp from her position on the other side of the room. Her mother could be extremely intimidating if she wanted to.
"Oh, well of course Woodman. I meant no harm by it. I'll be off now," He muttered, hurriedly making his way to the door of the office.
Neither of the Woodmans made a sound as they watched the man fumble his way through the exit, and down the stairs of the Apothecary.
'Woodman's Apothecary' was both the cover story for Lex's actual family business as well another source of their income. Her Uncle technically owned the shop with her mother, and he usually took care of Apothecary enquiries with Lex's twin brother Demetrius whilst Emilia and Lex dealt with more specific customer requests.
Emilia turned to her daughter. "That man should have been glad the hag was killed, despite who or what may have killed it."
Lex swallowed thickly; she would give anything to get rid of the memory of the agonizing screams and the smell of charred flesh from her mind.
"Tell me once more what the hag was saying."
Lex recounted the tale once again, for what felt like the fiftieth time in two days. Her brother and Uncle had been constantly nagging her about it, her mother to a lesser degree. It was getting tiring and the more she thought about it the sicker she felt.
Her mother looked thoughtful as Lex finished. "I think you're right; something bigger is definitely coming. The only thing we can do at the moment though is to make sure we're extra careful on cases. Promise me you will, Xandra?" Her mother questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Lex nodded. "Of course, mum."
Emilia nodded. "Good," She turned to leave, pausing at the door and looking back over her shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up about this. None of it was your fault."
As she heard her mother making her way downstairs, Lex couldn't help but think that it was all her fault.
Lex sighed as she entered Ollivanders with the old man's potions. The one thing about having an Apothecary as their cover story was that Lex actually had to work for the Apothecary.
Which in her case meant being a delivery girl.
Strolling casually up to the counter, she rapped sharply on the desk twice. As she heard the faint sound of boxes tumbling over and somebody cursing, she couldn't hide a small smile.
"Lex! Hey, er, how are you?" Ollivander's young assistant greeted, leaning casually on the other side of the counter as he attempted to catch his breath.
Lex bit back a grin. "Not bad, Tommie. You?" She returned politely.
"Yeah, yeah, I've been, er, good." He replies distractedly, running a hand through his hair as he looked her up and down.
Shifting uncomfortably, Lex held out the small velvet back, as Tommie jumped back in alarm.
"Here are the potions for Ollivander. Remember, he needs to have the purple one twice a day in the morning and evening and the blue one just –"
"- just before he eats his lunch. Got it." Tommie interrupted, taking the bag from her.
Lex sighed. "Sorry. I know you know all of that now, but Mum made me say it again. She's worried about him." She said quietly, feeling a pang of sadness in her chest as she thought of the frail old wand maker.
Tommie's face softened. "I get it. We all are."
"How's he doing?" Lex questioned.
"Okay, I suppose. He could be better, but he could be worse. Mind you, that horrid customer earlier on didn't do much to help." Tommie replied with a sour look on his face.
"What customer? What happened?"
"This old lady came in, demanding a wand. I thought it was weird that she didn't already have one, so I went over to question her whilst Ollivander helped a young girl, but the lady kept backing away and shielding her face from view. I was really confused and I thought something was wrong, so I just kept walking forwards. Well anyway, it got to the point where I had her against the door, so she took the opportunity and bolted out. But not before I saw something, well, really weird."
"What did you see?" Lex asked quietly, her heart pounding. She had a sneaking suspicion she already knew the answer.
"I saw her face. And well, I know you're not going to believe me and I swear I'm not saying this in an 'oh, she was just really ugly way-"
"Tommie, what did you see?"
"Okay, okay. Lex, I think she was a hag."
Lex walked further into Knockturn Ally, a familiar uneasy feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. Surely the Assistant's tale confirmed her suspicions of something bigger developing? It was common knowledge that hags tended to never use wands, instead employing their rudimentary magic through their hands and potions. A hag attempting to buy a wand raised countless suspicions, and Lex made a mental note to discuss this revelation with her mother.
Caught up in her own thoughts, she almost missed the small cry of distress that arose from behind the mangy landscape of The Spiny Serpent pub. Stopping in her tracks, Lex pushed her worries to the back of her mind and drew her wand. As she began making her way around to the back of the pub where the cry sounded from, she could just barely make out the low murmur of another voice, causing her to narrow her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she slowly peered around the corner.
A young woman with fiery hair had her back to Lex and was slowly taking staggering steps backwards. Lex could hear her panicked breathing from around the corner. She looked beyond the frightened girl to find a pale figure advancing forward. They smiled big and slow, and Lex jumped into action the moment she caught sight of the fangs.
Running out from her viewing point, she stepped in front of the girl, holding her wand to the figure.
"You really don't want to be caught threatening humans, Vampire." She said with narrowed eyes. "I'd advise you to leave right about now, before things get messy."
He laughed; a cold and cruel sound that echoed around the back alley. Turning his dark eyes to Lex, he smirked. "And just what are you going to do if I don't, girly?"
Lex rolled her eyes; she was getting quite sick of being referred to as "girly". Reaching into her jacket pocket, she pulled out a sprig of garlic and thrust it in front of her.
The Vampire shouted and stumbled backwards, eyes widening in fear.
Lex shook the sprig. "This tends to come in handy at times. And I'm warning you, that's not the only defense I have on me right now. So, you better clear off right now, or I'll be forced to break the Guidelines. And we really don't want that to happen." She told him in a dangerous tone, walking forward as he recoiled backwards. The Guidelines for the Treatment of Non Wizard Part-Humans prevented Lex from killing the Vampire, but if he attacked she would do what was necessary to save both herself and the frightened girl behind her.
He scowled and, with one last dirty look to the girl, stalked into the rowdy pub through the back door.
Lex pocketed the garlic and turned to face the girl. Her eyes widened once she realized just whom the red hair, brown eyes and freckles belonged to.
"Lily Potter?! What the hell are you doing down Knockturn Alley? Do you have a death wish?!" Lex asked angrily, staring incredulously at the eighteen-year-old girl in front of her.
Lily, pale and terrified, drew herself up to her full height (which was still slightly shorter than Lex's own lanky frame). "I can take care of myself," She replied stubbornly, crossing her shaking arms in front of her chest.
Lex scoffed. "Could you still take care of yourself drained of blood?" She questioned, raising a dark derisive eyebrow.
Lily's complexion paled considerably, but she stood firm.
"Yes."
Lex rolled her eyes and took off her own leather jacket, placing it around the girl's shaking shoulders.
"Are you okay?" Lex asked belatedly, yet still concerned.
"I'm fine, and I don't need your sodding jacket either," Lily replied stubbornly, beginning to take it off her shoulders with jumpy hands.
Sighing in frustration, Lex grabbed her jacket and yet again put it around Lily.
"Just keep it on, okay? You look like you're about to faint and I really don't have the time to apparate you to St. Mungoes," She said shortly, examining Lily's pale features with hidden worry.
"You would look the same if you'd almost been killed by a Vampire," Lily grumbled, putting on the jacket properly over her floral dress.
Lex internally snorts and thinks you have no idea.
"Where are you headed now?" She asked aloud, glancing worriedly around the now deserted alley.
"The Leaky Cauldron. I'll floo home from there. I really don't think I should be apparating." Lily replied, still shaken up.
Lex nodded. "That's probably for the best. I'll walk you there."
Lily recoiled and stared at her. "I don't need a bodyguard."
"Er, you kind of do when you're the daughter of the man who saved the world and simultaneously made himself a lot of enemies, most of who do their daily shopping down here. Not to mention the very narrow escape you just had with a rogue and bloodthirsty vampire. But by all means, go by yourself and risk getting murdered," Lex said, holding up her hands sarcastically.
Lily sniffed and shot Lex a dirty look. "Fine." She grumbled begrudgingly.
The two women began walking back towards Diagon Alley, with Lex sending threatening glares at any suspicious figures that so much as glanced in their direction.
"What were you doing in Knockturn Alley, anyway?" Lex questioned whilst scaring off an old man selling what looked like human fingers, who had been leering at Lily.
"Why did you have a sprig of garlic in your jacket pocket?" Lily shot back, zipping up said jacket with a shiver.
Without missing a beat, Lex replied, "I had an unfortunate encounter with a particularly vicious Vampire when I was twelve. I've been paranoid ever since and never go anywhere without protection." This was not entirely false, but wasn't exactly true either.
Lily narrowed her eyes at Lex, who raised an eyebrow in return. Huffing in defeat, the red head turned her gaze back to the street in front of her.
"My older brothers are pricks. They've been making fun of me for ages because I never step a toe out of line, whereas they're getting in to trouble almost every day for something. Dad had forbid us to go down here, so it seemed like a perfect plan to prove myself."
Lex could not believe this girl was for real.
"You can tell your brothers that the idiocy of the three of you combined very nearly got you killed. By a fucking vampire, no less," She said, shaking her head in disbelief.
Lily grumbled inaudibly with her hands shoved into the pockets of Lex's jacket. She kicked a stray rock toward a dodgy stall selling cursed necklaces.
"I had it under control."
Lex simply rolled her dark eyes and let the matter drop as they finally reached to entrance to Diagon Alley, and for Lily, safety.
The girl in question slowly faced Lex, avoiding eye contact as she scuffed her boots on the cobbled ground. "Thanks, I guess."
Lex sighed and ran a hand through her black hair. "I better not catch you down here again," She warned.
Rolling her bright eyes, Lily turned to leave before suddenly whipping back around, red hair fanning around her.
"I never got your name."
"Lex," She replied shortly, before turning her back on Lily and walking into Knockturn Ally.
It was only hours later, after she had reported back to her mother about the Assistant's memory (carefully leaving out the encounter outside the pub), did Lex realise that Lily still had her jacket.
A/N: Disclaimer - the wonderful world of Harry Potter of course belongs to J.k. Rowling!
So Chapter one is finally here yayyyy!
This story will probably be updated very rarely, but I'm really enjoying writing it and I've got some exciting ideas for it!
I'd love to hear your thoughts in a review! :)
Thank you for reading! xx