Tony held to his resolve and avoided Lily for the remaining weeks of the term, and then had a peaceful summer, writing to Umar and helping his mother meet orders from an increased number of customers, thanks to Belinda.

When fourth year started, however, Lily seemed equally determined not to let Tony avoid her. She claimed the seat next to him in Potions, came to talk to him in the great hall at meals, and one weekend invited him and Umar to have tea at Hagrid's cabin with her.

"You have tea with Professor Hagrid...just for fun?"

"Hagrid's our dad's friend, so he likes us to visit sometimes. He is actually the first wizard dad met..." She told Tony the story of the hut on the rock. It was strange to think of Harry Potter as ever being a scared, unsuspecting boy. Tony didn't want to hurt her feelings and he liked Hagrid, so he agreed to go. Umar had no objections to coming along.

They met at the front doors. It was a mild autumn evening with a bright half-moon and crisp leaves that Lily jumped on. Her energy and cheerfulness was so delightful, Tony couldn't help but feel light at heart. He still wasn't going to give anyone reason to think she was attached to him, but she had always been so kind to him, he wanted to return her friendship. He would let himself enjoy this one visit.

They watched the growing winged foal, Polly, fly over the castle. They laughed when Umar practiced a summoning charm and got half-burried in a swarm of leaves. Even the trees of the forest seemed to chuckle happily in the breeze as Tony, Umar and Lily passed by them.

Then two harsh voices shouted in unison, "Expelliarmus!" And all three of their wands flew out of their hands and into the shadows beneath the trees. Before Tony could think, the voices grated, "silencio"

"consuscipio leviosa."

Tony felt his body restricted, as if wrapped in a tight blanket, and raised eerily a foot off the ground. He opened his mouth to scream but no sound came out. Looking around he saw that Lily and Umar were held up in similar positions.

Then they began to drift toward the trees, completely helpless as they were sucked into the dark.

They were pushed along, concealed inside the edge of the forest, hovering in front of two hooded and cloaked figures. One seemed a normal adult height, while the other was impossibly tall and thin and walked with an unusual gait, sinking and rising with each step. They had both spoken in raspy voices that seemed half human.

At the base of the large willow tree that students avoided, (Tony had seen it snatch a stray quaffle once) they stopped. The shorter hooded figure used Umar's wand to shoot a spell at the base of the tree and the branches froze, no longer creaking in the breeze.

Tony and his friends were levitated toward the tree, and then down into a hole at the base of it. The tunnel was pitch black, lighted only by a glow of illumination from Lily's wand in the hand of their taller captor.

"You three are exactly what we need," he, or it, rasped as they drifted along. "Don't worry, we made the two Potter boys tell Hagrid you would not be coming for tea. No one will be looking for you."

The tunnel opened into an old and battered room, scarcely furnished and boarded at the windows. In the center of the floor a cauldron of glowing yellow-green liquid simmered. It was not a potion Tony knew.

"The twelfth night add the blood of three; One must die, two must go free..." Croaked the voices together. "Unless the one will choose to live, And all his magic freely give."

"We have our three." said the tall figure, whose face, if it had one, was still completely shrouded in its hood. "And now we need you to help us make a choice, young Antonin Dolohov."

The shorter figure etched a diamond on the floor with a motion of its wand. As it did so, Umar suddenly struggled wildly, fell landing on his feet, and ran at the tall figure, bellowing like a rhinoceros.

"Stupify!" Shot the tall figure, and Umar was thrown back. He fell unconscious on the floor.

"Why did you let him down?" The tall phantom-like figure demanded in its raspy voice.

"I didn't mean to. I guess the spell wore off." the shorter one replied.

"Half the village no doubt heard him. We will need to put up defenses now."

"Shall we just leave him unconscious?"

"Yes, I think that might be best."

Then they shot a pair of charms into the air; the house they were in would be muffled and shielded.

"I will keep an eye on him, and keep the girl restrained, if you will pay attention to the defenses." calculated the tall figure. "Perhaps just in case...incarcerous." Umar was bound in magical ropes.

Then it looked at Lily. "jubilithe." As she continued to hover with her arms pinned to her sides, contentment replaced the distress on her face. "Now she won't struggle."

"Are we ready?" The short one rasped.

"Yes." replied the tall one. "Dolohov, we are going to set you down in this diamond. Step out of it, and we will kill Lily Potter."

Tony's feet touched the floor and he was released. Dizzy, he almost stumbled, but managed to stay standing. He felt like the diamond where he stood was the top of a thin towering precipice, and if he moved he would fall to a crushing end.

"Good, now keep being careful. Remember we have the girl in our power. You have your father's chin, by the way, Dolohov." Said the short figure.

Tony didn't reply.

The tall one croaked, "The potion you see will give us, all three of us, great power. With the death of one and the blood of two it will be complete. We will be able to free our friends, your father and others, from Azkaban and take our revenge."

"Three of us? Me, help you? Never!"

"What? Only a small cup of your blood, boy. You don't want your father free?"

"I'm the last person who wants my father free."

The two figures looked at each other. The tall one spoke again, "why is that?"

"Well he isn't...he isn't the nice dad type, is he?" Tony said.

"Hmm...then you are not with us."

"I will never be with you!" Tony insisted.

"In that case, you still have a choice. We can drain Lily Potter's magic into our potion, to her death—"

"No! Don't touch Lily!" Tony looked at her, still hovering with a gentle calm countenance. At least they weren't making her suffer, yet.

"Aha! Do you love her?"

"Yes."

Lily looked at him. The smile brightened on her face, and she silently formed the word, "Tony."

"Then hear your choices. Her magic is the strongest of you three, and we would relish taking the daughter of our old enemy. However, your magic is also strong. If you gave it willingly you would live through the process, and it would make our potion more potent. Giving it willingly would be very painful, but after taking a small cup of blood from those two, we would have to let all three of you go free. We would alter your memories, and you Dolohov, the last of the pure Dolohov line, could live your life as a muggle. It would be a disappointing fate, but we will let you decide." The raspy voice ceased and there was silence.

They had to be lying. They wanted Tony to give his magic through some mysterious painful process, but if it would give them such great power, what was to stop them from killing Lily after that? If it was simply a choice between Lily's life and his, he would save her without hesitation, but he didn't trust these creatures. How could he stop them from hurting Lily, and also prevent them from gaining the power they wanted? If he could buy enough time and keep them talking, there was a chance that help would come. That was his best option.

Tony spoke, "tell me how this works. What power will this give you, exactly?"

The shorter one scoffed, "That doesn't matter. We will succeed no matter what you choose, so make your choice."

"If I give it willingly, your power will be stronger? Significantly?"

"Yes."

"But if you have to take it, and I die, then it would be weaker than Lily's, and only one of us can die...the others have to go free?"

"That is what we said." Answered the shorter one.

Then it took a small vial of red potion from inside its cloak and drank a mouthful.

"Me too." Croaked the tall one, and they shared it.

"What is that?" Tony asked. "Who are you?"

"No more questions." Said the tall one. He aimed his wand at Lily. "Does the girl die? Or do you give us the power of your own magic?"

Tony made his choice. He couldn't be sure that they really would let Lily and Umar go, but it was the best chance he could give them.

"I will die." He said, and suddenly he felt more confident than he could remember feeling for a long time.

"What? We didn't say—"

"I am sure as dragon fire not going to let you hurt Lily, but I'm not going to give you more power than I have to, either."

The two looked at him in silence.

"If you do get my father out of prison," Tony continued, "tell him from me that he is disgusting, and that if he goes near mother I will come back to haunt him."

With that declaration, Tony took a last look at Lily's tranquil lovely face, closed his eyes, and wondered what death felt like.

Note:

Don't say I didn't warn you. The title is a reference to Romeo and Juliet after all!

Thanks for reviewing! There will be a final chapter.