"…" - Talking
:…: - Parseltongue

Chapter 11 – Closet meetings and christmas
After the silly string and shaving cream incident, which also included cream pies, mud and paints, the trio's wands were confiscated. Draco was a bright red, Blaise a soft pink, and Lily was covered in mud. The paint had been Lily's creation; she got off easy compared to the other two: the mud had acted as a mudpack spa treatment in a few ways, and she only got a week of being "grounded". And this punishment had been given by Sirius, who had been…ah…admiring their work. Blaise and Draco were grounded for one month, but that was starting once they got back for summer holidays. It wouldn't do to be grounded for one month when there wasn't enough time between now and the end of the holidays.

In any case, the three contented themselves with playing Wizard Chess, flying around, and surprisingly, playing in the snow, like most Muggle children did.

Deep within the Zabini home…well not that deep, only behind a bookshelf in the study, a group of ten had gathered.

"All of you, stop shoving!"

"We wouldn't have to if you hadn't put such a large table in such a small space. Honestly."

"Oh quiet, the both of you. Now, you my dear, sit on the table and…what are you two doing!"

"I'm sitting in his lap."

"Yes, but why?"

"Well, it did just give us more room."

"Oh, alright."

"I officially call this meeting to order! First item, Voldemort's most devoted servant, Pettigrew. What do we do about him?"

"I say kill him."

"Cousin!"

"What? The bugger deserves it."

"Do you want to end up in Azkaban?"

"But I can't just stand around, knowing that he'd there! He's going to try something, I'm sure."

"No, she's right. We should leave him for now. You and you, keep an eye on him whenever you can. As for you three; dig up the plans the Order of the Phoenix hid in the Black household."

"10 Galleons say they're behind the insane woman's portrait."

"Sirius!"

"Nothing! Nothing! Anyway, we're done with that."

"Not quite. Now listen, if it turns out that we can impede the Phoenix, the Dragon and the Unicorn orders by letting Pettigrew escape to his master then we let him. And Dumbledore still doesn't know about Lilith Black being…?"

"Not as far as I can tell. He may suspect, however."

"In that case, be on your guard around him. We don't want it to slip out."

"Now are we done with it?"

"Yes, next order…who put down 'Knock out the werewolf and find out what he knows before obliviating him into the next millennium?"

"I believe that was Severus."

"Spoilsport..."

"Well, we can't do that."

"And why not? It's a perfectly good suggestion."

"Because then they'd know we're still active. Honestly…Now, moving on: Lily. We're going to have to tell her. The glamour's wearing off and Petunia won't be able to recast it even with my help, or anyone else's."

"Who here agrees that Lucius is getting a swelled head, raise your hand."

"What? I most certainly am not!"

"…"

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"…Very funny. All of you put your hands down. And you Octavius…that was very uncalled for. I am not getting a swelled head."

"Yes you are."

"Am not!"

"Yes."

"No!"

"Oh, stop arguing, the both of you. Now, Lily."

"Oh fine, Lily."

"When will the glamour eventually wear off?"

"Hypothetically, on her 24th birthday. However, if she is involved in heavy spellcasting before then, I would say six months, maybe a year since the spell. That includes learning a lot of spells in a small time frame."

"And if she runs into Voldemort and he uses one of the unforgivables?"

"Well, Avada Kedavra will kill her instantly, no question. Imperius won't do much but, with Cruciatus, she'll have a few hours at least before she becomes…well…and it won't be good either. There is the very high possibility that her soul will be twisted because of it."

"Twisted?"

"Yes. From what I can tell, and what Sirius has told me about the spell, Petunia blocked Lily's memories of her life before. If they were to suddenly surface during the Cruiatus, it would cause her to no longer truly be Lily."

"A bad thing."

"Yes, and so—"

"And so it's almost dinner. We need to get out of here!"

"Right. Bill, Charlie, Tonks, now that you all know about his, you're all okay to stay a part of this?"

"Yes."

"Aye."

"Do you think I should go blonde? …What? Oh, if course I'm okay to stay. Now, go blonde?"

"I think the electric blue would be best."

"Right, thanks Cissy."

"Okay, so…can anyone move to get us out of here before the children come back?"

"Uhh…"

Narcissa and Evelyn (Blaise's mother) didn't know what was worse: Blaise, Draco and Lily with wands, or without. The giant foyer, along with the three children, was wet with snow. The two women glared at the three, who stood in the centre of the foyer.

"You…you… How could you! Look at this…this mess! Which one of you came up with this!"

"That would be Draco. Right Lily?"

"Yep."

"W-wha—? You guys!"

"What? You were the one who said Lily was afraid of a little snowball fight, and then you tricked us into coming inside, where you convinced the house elves to pelt us with enchanted snowballs. I don't know how he convinced them though… Mrs Malfoy…"

"Draco Malfoy…"

"…Yes mother…?"

"Room. Now."

The next day was, of course, Christmas Day. It was a lovely day, with a miniature snowstorm kicking up outside the Zabini manor. The trio were forbidden from running around outside like crazies both outside and inside. Not that it really mattered; they were all staring intently at the Christmas tree towering in the family room—if one could call it a family room (being that it was the size of a small ballroom). Specifically, they were staring at the mountain of presents lying under the tree. A few more presents had been added since the night before, thanks to the sudden appearance of Sirus and Severus, who sat watching the three children.

Lucius and Octavius exchanged smirks. "I believe they've waited long enough. Don't you agree Octavius?"

"Quite. You are all excused, children."

There was the scraping of chairs being pushed out and back in, and the children dashed off to the tree. Presents were ripped open and the now shredded wrapping paper flew up in the air, creating their personal storm of wrapping paper inside the house.

The presents they had all received made their eyes wide. Blaise was currently trying on magicked robes that were made of fabric from nymphen weavers, very rare. Draco was examining a book that contained barely legal, not so Dark Arts. Lily, finally, was unwrapping a long thin paxkage. What rolled out of it was a broomstick—a Firebolt.

"…Cor."

"A Firebolt… Excellent Lily. Now I can beat you on my Nimbus 2001 and prove that I'm the better seeker."

Lily arched an eyebrow at Draco. "Didn't I beat you on m—a Nimbus 2000 last year?"

Draco flushed, the scowled. "We'll see about that."

"Oy, Lily, you missed one. Oh, make that two."

Lily blinked and turned to Blaise, who dropped two small packages into the girl's lap before sitting behind her to see what she thought of her presents. She opened the smaller one first and gaped.

It was a silver band, engraved on the inside with all three of their names, hers in the center. The outside was etched beautifully, similar to Celtic designs. She slipped it onto her left index finger and pouted when she realized it was too large. After a moment the ring shrunk to fit, which made her feel a little better, and then she gaped once more. The etchings were glowing! Lily brought her hand with the ring closer to her face, staring, entranced. "Wow…"

"It's magicked with protection spells specifically for you."

"You got this Draco?"

"We both did, me and Blaise. We've got our own too, see?"

"Oh."

"Now open the other one!"

"Alright, alright!"

The second box contained a simple necklace, if one could call it that, considering the charm hanging from it. It was a pair of metal snakes, one black and one silver, each beginning where the other ended to form a circle with their bodies, filling the center with a complex, tangled mess of coiling. Along with the necklace came a slip of parchment with the initials T.R. hastily written.

Lily lifted the necklace out and had Blaise clasp it around her neck. She felt it warm against her skin for a moment, but it must have been her imagination. In any case, it was beautiful and she knew who the sender was, though there was no way she would tell either Blaise or Draco. And it surprised her beyond belief that he had sent her…no, that he had been able to send it to her. Was it the boy she was thinking of—the one that had the audacity to propose to her—or was it the man that existed now?

Meanwhile, Lucius, Octavius, Snape and Sirius were discussing the meaning of the ring.

"Are Draco and Blaise both falling in love with Lily?"

Lucius dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "Unlikely. Draco's a Malfoy, he would know when he's in love and would work continuously to capture that person."

Snape smirked at that. "Like you chasing after Narcissa since second year?"

Lucius coloured slightly before scowling at Snape, and Octavius sighed. "I believe that Blaise is like that as well. They would have already started fighting over her if that were the case."

Sirius arched an eyebrow. "Don't you think it's possible that they were proposing to each other? Like, all three of them, bound together?"

"A three-way bonding?" Severus spoke dryly. "Isn't that infinitely complicated?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Sirius, you are an idiot."

"Hey!"

"Alright, you are my idiot. Does that make you feel better?"

Sirius frowned at Snape. "Not particularly…"

"No, he has a point Severus. They might try something to that effect."

"Really Octavius? And did you see this?"

Octavius scowled. "No, but I did see something quite…interesting in Lilith's future."

"Oh? And what, pray tell, might that be?"

Octavius smiled thinly, watching the young girl, his eyes glowing with a combination of awe and pity. "You'll see."

M-chan: Here's the latest update, loves! Also, I have a little bit of a request to ask of you readers. As of late, my beta Merideth hasn't been returning the chapters I've been sending her, so I find myself in need of a new beta (Merideth, if you're reading this, e-mail me so I can take it down!). Anyone wishing to be my beta for the movement series, e-mail me at aariacederwin yahoo . com (remove the spaces first!).