Pain.

Stop.

Go away!

It hurts!

Pain!

Stop, stop!

Please!

STOP!

JUST STOP!

PAIN!

HURTS!

STOP!

PLEASE!

HURT!

I awaken in the dormitories, gasping for air. Everything hurts. Something wet it touching my forehead. Voices, one's female, the other one is male. Both are familiar. Somebody shushes me as I try to cry out.

My eyes flicker open again. I'm not alone. Someone else is there. I'm scared, and in pain. My tortured throat croaks out something "Daryl?"

"No, my name's Eliza. I'm a sixth year prefect, sweety. Daryl's not here right now, but he was worried for you." the voice moves to my side. A hand touches my forehead.

"Eliza…" I trail off, confused. Something's not adding up. My brain's not working right. Something happened, but I don't know what. I was in class, and I got a slip to go to… to…. I can't remeber.

"Shh, shhh, it's alright. You're safe now. No one's going to hurt you," the voice says, only then do I realize I'm crying.

"I can't…" I whisper, "I can't remember."

Eliza's calming voice washes over me, as she trickles something into my throat, "I know, I know. It'll come back to you. Go to sleep now."

I awaken to voices next time. This time it's light out. I think birds are singing somewhere. I don't open my eyes, instead I listen.

"She was hurt pretty bad. What their thinking torturing third years like that!" Eliza's voice is angry.

A male voice, the same one from before answers, "I know Eliza. I wish I could stop it, but I didn't learn till nearly four hours later. Will she be okay?"

Eliza's voice again, "Lilliana's a strong one, Daryl. Your sister will be alright."

"Thank you. Will you let me know if anything changes?" Daryl, my brother? I think that's what they meant, says.

"I will. Gabe was here earlier. He wanted you to know that he found the two seventh years that hurt her, and made them pay. He's found of her." Gabe, who's Gabe. He's a Slytherin, my brother's friend? But my brother's a Gryffindor, and he's dating a… he's dating someone. Gabe? Something's missing. Come to think of it, someone's' missing, a Hufflepuff? My friend.

Everything's to confusing, I open my eyes, and groan. The light hurts. Instantly the voices stop talking, and are there holding me. I blink up at Daryl, and then shift slightly to look at Eliza. She's a Ravenclaw. Like me.

"Ana!" Daryl half whispers, half says, "How are you feeling?"

I blink at him. Who's Ana? My name's Lilia- oh. Ana's my nickname, my full name's Liliana. That's a good thing, right. The fact that I'm remembering.

I shift slightly. Pain shoots through me. Blinding pain, it won't stop, it hurts-

"Shh, shh, You're safe, you're safe. Ana! Listen, you're okay, you're safe," Daryl's talking.

"Here," a voice says. Maybe Eliza's. Something is put in my mouth, liquid? I black out.

I'm back in the torture chambers. Blood is dripping down my face. Someone's screaming my name. Caitlin. Her name is Caitlin. I'm in to much pain to tell though. Something about this is off, though, something's not right, because Caitlin can't be screaming my name, Caitlin… Caitlin's dead. I must be dreaming, or remembering, because Caitlin died screaming my name after hours, and hours of pain. Caitlin, my Hufflepuff. My sister. My little sister. She was only a first year.

I awaken screaming her name. Arms enveloped me, someone's rocking me. A female. Eliza?

"Hey, there," she whispers as I push myself up.

I glance up at her, "I'm sorry… I… I…." I can't complete the sentence.

She shakes her head, "I know, it's alright, Gabe told me. I'm sorry about Caitlin."

"It's my fault she's dead," I whisper, pulling my knees close and laying my head on them, "I couldn't protect her."

"Hey now," Eliza rubs my back, "It's not your fault. Nothing was your fault. If anyone was at fault it was those of us that should have been there to save you two."

I feel tears well up in my eyes, "But I'm her older sister! I should have been able to do something, I should have…. I should have kept her safe, and," my voice falls below a whisper, "I failed. It was my job, and I failed her. I… it's my fault that she's dead. I couldn't help her. I can't, I just can't!"

Eliza pulled my chin up wiping my eyes with her thumb, "I wish I could tell you everything is going to be alright, but I won't lie to you. I'm not even sure if things are going to get better, but I do know that victory can not come without sacrifice. It's up to us to chose if that sacrifice is worth it. In most cases the price we pay for peace is so high, and in so much blood. Humans alone murder around 475,000 every year. When in times of war, that number goes up."

I glanced up at her, "So she's just a another nameless, faceless death?"

Eliza shook her head, "Humans are probably the most flawed of all species, no other animal kills as many of it's own as we do, and yet… we keep having hope. We keep dreaming. So while yes, humans are probably the most dangerous creatures you'll ever come across, but they are also the most compassionate, the most caring, the ones most willing to help each other. Everything has a dark, and light side. Some people let the dark suck them down, while others float purely on the light side."

"I can't see the light side to this," I murmur.

She gives me a sad smile, "I can't either, but I'm saying is that no one's perfect. People know that, and still chose to ignore the flaws that society has. That applies to the light, and darkness of the world. You can't let the darkness over power you, there's to much light left, to many good things for us to simply sink into darkness. But you also can't ignore the darkness, it needs to be fought, constantly. Right now, that's what you're doing. Waging a mini war against the darkness. In here," she touched my head, "and in here," she rested her hand above my heart. I glanced up at her.

"What does this have to do with anything?" I asked.

She laughed humorlessly, "Everything, Lilliana. It has to do with everything. We are all waging war inside of us. It's a constant fight. And sometimes we fall down so hard, so fast that we can't, won't, get back up. We let the darkness inside of us win. I just beg you, please do not give into the darkness. I know it hurts, and it doesn't seem like fightings worth it right now, but one day, you'll open your eyes and be glad you fought. Glad you pulled through. And you'll be able to go on with your life in peace."

I thought about that, "Did you ever have to decide to continue or not, fighting, I mean?"

She gave me a grim nod, "A couple years back. I almost gave in, but I had some people who wouldn't let me. They couldn't help me in the fight as much as they wanted to, but they could keep me from giving up, and that's all that mattered in the end. Still, everyday I continue to beat the darkness back, though. Lately it's been getting a bit harder." Her smile didn't reach her eyes this time, "But if I learned anything it's that the light may flicker, but it won't completely go out, even if it's hard to see at times."

I snuggled against her, "Thank you, Eliza. I'm not sure if I can beat the darkness, but I think I'm going to try."

"Good," she murmured, "Now get some sleep."

Three Months Later:

The place is a mess, rubble, and spells fly all over the place. Dead, and wounded lie in awkward positions against the floor. People are shouting, screaming, crying, dying. I can't tell if it's all in vain, or if it's not. It doesn't matter right now, though. Because as long as one person is left to fight, then the deaths will not be in vain.

Light doesn't always win, I'm not naive enough to believe that, but I'm also beginning to think that darkness can't really completely ever win. As long as there's people willing to keep the light aloft we'll keep fighting.

It's not just a wistful thought, hope is not a metaphor for the desperate. It a way of life. We couldn't survive without it.

I meant to have this up on Monday, but I didn't finish this until now. Sorry for the wait. We will be seeing more of Lilliana. I like her quite a bit.

~Andy