Chapter 2
When Lillith finally regained her bearings, she guessed at least an hour had passed, and yet somehow, her relatives weren't awake yet . Having cried herself out, she turned her attention on the trunk .
It was a beautiful trunk, or at least it was, when it was newly bought . It was red and green, with gold vines snaking around the sides of the trunk . It also had a crest of some kind embedded into it . It was a crest she never saw before . It consisted of four parts that met in the middle .
In the top left corner, there was a golden lion standing in front of a red background . Next to it, in the top right corner, there was a silver snake on a green background, facing the lion, seemingly preparing to strike . In the bottom left corner, a black badger stood on a yellow background, trying to calm down the two warring animals . Lastly, in the bottom right corner, a bronze eagle was taking off against a blue background . And in the middle of it all, there stood a letter H, most probably standing for Hogwarts . Underneath the crest there was a strange sentence, in Latin, Lillith realised . It said "Draco dormiens numquam titillandus", and Lillith made a mental note to herself to seek out the meaning later, preferably when she was alone in the peace of the library .
Having examined the trunk thoroughly from the outside, Lillith moved to open the trunk, when she paused . There 5 locks on the trunk, each with a different picture next to it . The first one had a picture of a book, the second one a picture of a cauldron with fumes rising out of it . The third one had a picture of a fireplace, while the fourth one had a picture of a stove . The final lock had a picture of two wands crossed . And the most amazing thing of it all was that the pictures were moving . The book was constantly flipping its pages, the fumes constantly kept shifting out of the cauldron, the fire danced happily in the fireplace, while another fire appeared on the stove, and there was a constant stream of sparks coming out of the wands .
Having a choice before her, Lillith thought for a little bit before opening the lock with the picture of a book next to it . When it was finally open, she was shocked to see that there was a whole library in the trunk ! She couldn't even see the end of it ! She carefully climbed down the ladder and marveled on the sheer size of it . The library was the size of a cathedral, only aided by the long rows of bookcases that seemed to go on and on . Lillith smiled sadly, she wanted to read all of those books, but she knew that she would have access to only about a third of the library, at least for now .
She turned around, noticing the doors for the first time . They were beautiful, ornate doors with pictures on them . They were the same pictures, she realized, that she had seen on the locks of the trunk . She reached for the doors with the picture of a cauldron on them . She grasped the knob and turned it in her hand, opening another compartment .
She found herself in what looked like a laboratory right out of the Middle Ages . The shelves were filled with all kinds of unusual and slightly sickening ingredients . She recognized a few of usual ingredients that she used almost every day while cooking for her obese Uncle and cousin . While the shelves occupied almost all the walls, there was a wall directly opposite of entrance filled with books that were all in some way related to potions and potions making . It was a surprisingly large number of books . Finally her attention went to the center of the room where there were rows of desks all filled with cauldrons and potion making equipment . Lillith was surprised when she recognized all of it, even though some were severely outdated, like the bronze scales she saw on the table nearest to her .
Again, just like in the chamber before this one, there was a set of four doors in the bottom of the room . Next, she chose the room with the image of crossed wands with fountains of sparks sprouting off of them . She anxiously reached for the doorknob, excited to see what was on the other side of it .
She found herself in the biggest chamber yet . It easily dwarfed the Potions chamber and seemed to even beat the cathedral that was the library . It resembled a mix of several kinds of dojos for different hand-to-hand combat, while also incorporating a shooting range as well as a desk along with a closet seemed to be constantly shaking as if something was trying to force its way out of it . And, also like in all the other chambers, there was a row of shelves along one of the walls . These, he noted, were filled with books about spellcasting as well as Defense Against the Dark Arts . Lillith also thought she caught sight of a few Transfiguration texts mixed in there as well . She was itching to reach out for them, but reminded herself that she would first have to finish the whole tour of the trunk that was literally dropped on her . She glanced one last time around the room, before heading for the corner where she saw four doors with, once again, moving pictures . Knowing she had already seen, if not experienced, the secrets behind two of them, she reached out for the door with the picture of a stove on it .
When she opened the door, she was greeted with a sight that was very familiar to her, with little difference here and there . As the picture suggested, it was a kitchen, and it was on worthy of a master chef . Everywhere she looked, she was met with the light's reflection, the high quality chrome looking as if it didn't just spend seven years waiting to be discovered . If Lillith was awed at the look of the kitchen, the closer inspection left her utterly flabbergasted . Not only did it look like it was worthy of a five star restaurant, it worked like that . And she was positively giddy when she realized what was hiding behind the doors of the cupboards that were located above the stove and the dishwasher, the two of them connected with a sink . The cupboards were filled with all the spices she could ever want . There were the usual ones, such as salt, pepper, rosemary etc. And then there were some so rare she never even thought she would get to use them, such as saffron, which was ridiculously expensive, and the Grains of Paradise, a very popular reserve for pepper that was unfortunately never delivered to the mall in Surrey .
However, when Lillith looked around her the second time, she realized two things were not account for . The meat and the vegetables, the basis of cooking . While she could turn any dish into a spectacular meal with these spices, it is worth nothing if there is no meal to spice and flavor . It was only during the third sweep of the room did she notice the ornate trap door built into the floor . She reached for the latch and pulled the small door open . She was incredibly surprised when a gust of air that seemed to be divided met her face . One bit of it was as cold as the Nortic winds, while the other seemed to be warm, almost tropical . She looked down and saw stairs that led down to a hallway that split in two with one of the corridors being covered in frost .
Once she was satisfied with the amount of various meat and vegetables stored in the, let's say, basement, Lillith looked around, searching for the last set of doors that would lead her to the next room . Once she found it, she practically soared across the kitchen to it, latching onto the last door, the one with the picture of a fireplace on it . Grabbing the knob, she almost tore the door of the hinges trying to open it as fast as possible .
As soon as she entered the room she was bathed in the warmth radiating from the fireplace . It sent goose bumps through her whole body, all the way to the tips of her invisible tails . Once she had given time for her body to get used to the temperature of the room, she looked around trying to memorize where everything was so she would not have to do that later on . Just as she suspected, it was a very warm and cozy living room that was also a partial reading room if the bookcase in the corner was anything to go by . Also, unlike the other rooms, this one seemed to be color themed, almost everything was either scarlet red or golden color . The lush carpet underneath her feet was blood red with golden trimmings, the fireplace didn't have the usual iron grate . No, it had a golden grate that only enhanced the color of the flames as well as bring out the rusty red of the bricks that the fireplace consisted of . Looking more closely, Lillith also confirmed that the leather on the couch and the sitting chairs was dyed red, while the seams themselves were made of thin gold . She also noticed that most of the furniture and books had a crest on it . She recognized the golden lion that she had seen on the unusual crest that was found on the top of the trunk .
She threw herself into one of the sitting chairs, sighing in pleasure as she sank into the cozy leather . She was ready to fall asleep there and then, when she was suddenly very much awake . Lillith had explored every crook and nanny of the magically altered school trunk that has somehow made its way to her, and not once has any part of it been dark, shady or any other form of obscured . And yet, there, directly above the fireplace, there was a section of the wall that she couldn't make out no matter how hard she tried or concentrated . She stood up, frowning deeply . She approached the fireplace, trying to find anything that might clue her in on what was it that kept clouding her vision .
After almost half an hour of searching, she found a section of the fireplace that seemed to shimmer the same way she did when she was changing her appearance . Confident that she had found at least a clue to what was keeping her from seeing the section of the fireplace, she reached out her hand, firstly framing the shimmering part of the wall before pushing her hand through . It felt like she was trying to push her hand through something akin to cement, thick and sticky . When she finally forced her hand all the way through, she tapped and nudged around with her hand, hoping to find some sort of a switch or a lever . It was only on the second passage did she realize that there was an indention in the wall that fit her hand perfectly . Cautiously, she put her hand into the indention, when she suddenly felt a prickling feeling on the palm of her hand, similar to a needle being stabbed at her hand . She felt a drop of blood fall on the walls surface, and the walls heat up .
Pulling her arm back, the effort being much easier, she noticed, she gleefully turned to look at the part of the fireplace she couldn't see before and feasted her eyes . However, once she realized what she was looking at, she reeled back in shock and confusion .
It was a portrait of a castle . HER castle to be more precise . 'How was it possible,' she wondered, 'how was it possible for a castle from her mindscape to be in a portrait that must have been made years ago ? 'Once she regained her bearings, she started inspecting the details, making sure it really was her castle . And it was . Every turret, window and roof was there, spotless as usual . The massive oak door that formed the entrance to the castle looked as sturdy as ever . Once she was done making sure the castle was one from her mindscape, she examined the rest of the portrait . She easily recognized the field in which she spent so many hours during both night and day, the seemingly endless green stretched all the way to the horizon, interrupted only by the beginning of a dark forest . The lake was sparkling in the sunlight, as still as always . However, she was pulled from her inspection by a muffled groan coming from seemingly nowhere . She looked around, slowly realizing that the sound came from the portrait itself .
Looking back, she saw a couple slowly rising to their feet . She had obviously overlooked them because of their lying position . Once she examined them closely, she gasped, her mouth falling open in shock .
On the right stood a young man, possibly 20-21 years old . He was very tall and lanky, which was only aided by his messy, pitch black hair that looked permanently windswept . He had an angular, almost aristocratic face with thin, round glasses perched on his nose . Behind those eyes, a pair of light brown eyes shone mischievously . He wore what seemed like an old style robe that was somehow still completely clean, even after he was lying in the damp grass .
Next to him, on the left, there stood a woman that looked as if someone had taken her and aged her for somewhere around 14-15 years . She had the same heart shaped face, fiery red hair and kind emerald eyes, a perfect replica of her own . Or was it that hers were a replica ? She didn't know and, honestly, didn't care . For standing there in front of her, wearing an obviously worn out pair of jeans, as well as a sweater with a raised neck, was her mother .
Lilly Potter nee Evans stood smiling proudly next to her husband James Potter, both of them beaming at their seven year old daughter that just gaped at them, wordless in shock .
„Mom ? ˝ she stuttered out, „Dad ? ˝
A/N: Here is the second chapter of the Kitsune princess . Like I have said to all those that reviewed, the updates will come in weekly, unless there is an emergency . Please R&R, because reviews make me write faster !
