Author note - Hey, sorry foir the long delay but I don't know if I'll be continuing the story - I'm close to the end but I really don't have the time to work on it as well as the other stories I've been working on and off of. I'm also not sure if anyone actully likes this as the HITS are really low and so are the REVIEWS, so depending on how much support I get I;m might finish.
I am sorry I really don't like leaving you guys hanging and I HATE people who don't finish their stories...but we'll see.
P.S I TOTALLY loved writing for the nasty Lily's POV, she's sooooo opinioned!
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Chapter 12
Lily sighed. She was glad the OWLS were finally over; the stress had been killing her. Letting out a relieved puff she collapsed backwards onto the grass, feeling the sun warm her face. Ange laughed. "Come on Lilz. They weren't that bad!"
Lily snorted, "Coming from the woman who ate, breathed and slept revise notes for two months? Shut up!"
The girls laughed, stretching out on the ground right next to each other, enjoying the warm weather. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, nor a breeze on the wind. Perfect. Just the sort of weather you want after being locked inside a castle for months on end, studying for head-crushing exams. The giant squid lazily waved at them from the lake, first years were playing games of chase only a few feet away and a bunch of third years had an improvise game of Frisbee going. Just kids having fun in the sun, just being...well... being kids.
Lily dozed slightly, exhausted from sleepless nights. She couldn't wait to spend days going whatever she wanted before the break. Sleep, play tricks, whatever.
Ange elbow brushed against her ticklish ribs. Lily felt her muscles seized up and spasm violently, "Hey, watch it!"
Lily opened one green eye against the sun to glare at her friend. She was expecting Ange to either look woefully apologetic or mischievously playful, knowing exactly what her attack would do to her friend. Instead Ange wasn't even looking at her, but staring off to the side, away from the sun and kids, and into the bordering edge of the Dark forest, only a few feet away from where they were. Lily followed her friend's eyes, squinting against the sun to try and see into the shaded darkness under the canopy. It was hard to see and Lily could only make out the vague outlines of a group of person. Who they were or even what sex they were evaded her. She didn't know what houses they were although she had her suspicions.
"What are they doing?" Ange whispered. Lily shrugged although she knew Ange wasn't looking at her, so she didn't see it. It looked like a fight, but about what? Lily wasn't sure she wanted to know...
"Is that Severus?" Lily's heart sunk to the bottom of her stomach, of course, he would be involved with this. There was no keeping him out of trouble. Why couldn't he listen to her?
"See anyone else we know, Ange?"
The witch shook her head slowly; no, she didn't.
"Lily, I don't see- Lily! Stop!" Ange cried out as Lily stood up.
She didn't stop, nor even falter in her purposed stride, fist clenched. She recognized one of those boys. She didn't stop as Ange called after her half heartedly - half wanting Lily to turn back, half afraid to draw attention to her. She kept to the shadows, entering at the side of the forest while the boys had their backs to her. She was barely a few feet from them yet she could already hear them. A heated argument was occurring. She was careful not to let herself be seen. Pressing herself into the tree trunk, peering careful around the side.
Through the gloom Lily could make out the distorted features of faces, faces she know very well. Names rampaged around her head, random facts and rumours intermixed with them. Unfortunate, none of them were to be considered 'good'. One was a serious Muggle-born hater and attacked any muggle-borns he caught on their own – first years were his favourite targets because they couldn't fight back. That was one of the nicer facts. What on earth was Severus doing, hanging around with monsters-in-the-making like them?
Her ears caught half whisper words and disjointed sentences.
"Yes, tonight...They pay!" "Our lord...he is...you wouldn't believe!" "You must understand...can't change...our enemies...filthy mud-..."
"Severus," one voice, cold and clear, stood high above the rest, "Our lord has choice us and mark us. We are his choice ones, his disciples. Chosen to clear the world of all those unworthy to learn the art of magic. We are superior to others, pitiful half bloods and those animals muggle." A soften cheer were around the group.
"Some here are not yet taken our lords mark or have not yet been ask to come forward, yet Brothers...- and sisters." The cool blond nodded towards two female figures, "Today we welcome another marked one into our brood. Permanently. Severus Snape!"
A loud hissing spread around the group like wild fire. Lily edged closer, peering to see what had caused all the commotion. She didn't like the sound of anything Lucius Malfory had just spouted out. Too cult like. And she had a horrible felting it was worse than that.
"I hear too-" "- Was right, our lord-" "-took him in, for his talents-" "-Marked him last night, our lord himself!"
A sort of gasp/hiss rippled throughout the group. Lily lean close moving dangerously close to see.
Severus had pulled about his sleeve to slow a bandaged arm, he unwound the bandaged and- ...Lily didn't think she had ever seen anything so horrendous in her whole life.
Someone had branded something onto his arm, burning the skin so bad that it was blistered and bleeding. A snake; a long entwined snake coming out of a skull's open mouth, its hollow eyes blazing into hers.
With a sudden stinging in her eyes and burning track marks down her face, Lily lifted an absent hand to her mouth in shock. She was going to be sick, really sick. She couldn't move her eyes from the monstrosity on her best friend arm. She recognized it.
How could she not? When all the papers ever talked about was the newest Dark Lord and his swift rising to power? When every day there were new pictures, fresh gory nightmares, printed of that mark. Burn into the sky where dead relative of her friends and classmate lay torn into brutally shreds.
How could she not? When she watched in mute horror as rumours spread like a forest fire around her; whispers of a pure-blood uprising to rival that of the Nazis, horror stories of the plans for muggle-borns – all the while Severus had a comforting hand on her shoulder, telling her it was just lies and rumour mongering. That nothing would ever happen to her. To see what it was and what her friend had done...
Oh Severus! She thought looking straight into her friend wide frozen eyes.
How could you?
XXXXx
The summer of her fifth year was hot. The air itself seemed to shimmer before her eyes. But Lily didn't care or notice. What did it matter? What did anything matter anymore? She had lost her best friend, possible forever. She had lost her family, her parents. Her home. How could anything ever be right again?
Ange had only just left the room, insisting that she's stay with Lily every minute of the day if Lily wanted her to -which she didn't. She insisted that Lily stay with her until...other arrangements could be made. Her parents' had offered to take her until she was old enough to live on her own. They were rich; they could afford to look after another child. Plus Lily often spent the summer at their house so it didn't make much difference to them, she already part of the family.
Lily felt tears brim in her eyes again. She didn't believe in crying normally but this was different. Her parents were dead. She was alone in the world. Her sister blamed her for everything. Oh and her best friend might have been the one to kill her parents for all she know.
How could she possible forgive him after what he had done? What should she do? On the one hand Lily knew she should hand him over to the Aurors, but on the other it was a stay in Azkaban until a trial and a mostly likely life time conviction. How could she do that to him? Severus wasn't a bad person...so why did he do it? Why didn't she help him? Why should she help him? Why did he do this to her? The tears ran thicker and faster.
Why?
"Lily," Ange's mother, a pretty blond middle aged French witch, poked her head around the door looking apologetic. "Your aunt's here to pick you up, she said she going to be looking after you from now on."
Lily sat up, hurriedly whipping the tears off her face. She didn't have an aunt. "Sorry, I think I heard you wrong."
The woman smiled understandingly, "Your aunt, dear. She's here, waiting, in the first living room."
Lily opened her mouth to point out she didn't have any aunts, that her mother had been an only child but closed it again. She'd just have to ask her so-called-aunt what was going on.
The Stewarts were a rich family, on both side although the French were probable richer. Ange's grandparents doted terrible on their only granddaughter. So they live in a rather big house, a country manor house, somewhere in the borders if she wasn't mistake. The first living room was where they entertained magical guest; it was connected to the floo network and disconnected from the rest of the manor. The place was a light honey gold and had beautiful pale Fae furnishings.
And sitting delicately on one of expressive hand carved chairs was an old witch she had never seen before. Her white hair was slicked back into a long ponytail at the nape of her neck and her dark blue robes were perfectly straight and tidy. She was a pure-blood. Lily could tell from the way she dressed and her correct table manners as she talk slowly with Mr Stewart.
Why would a pure-blood witch want to see her?
Heck, why was she here is the first place?
The talk stopped when she stepped into the room. Lily stood in the door way, biting down hard on her bottom lip. What was she supposed to do now? She had no idea who this woman was or what she wanted. The woman's eyes – which Lily could now see, shocked – were her own pulsing emerald green and were currently fixed on Lily herself. The two witches studied each other, judging each other's character and personality. Their will and strength. Mr Stewart sat awkwardly in his own living room, alarmed by the rising tension.
"I...um I'll just leave you two to talk." He beat a hasty retreat, all but fleeing from the two witches who didn't even glance at him on the way out. Coward. He brushed past Lily in the door way, muttering under his breath about doing something in the garden.
"So," the old woman croaked, her intelligence eyes gleaming despite her crone state "You'll be Lily then -Annie's granddaughter? Hmmm," her eyes raked up and down Lily's body openly, Lily fought the urge to fidget.
"You don't look anything like her. - Or your mother, or your sister, or your father though I've never meet him myself. You have the family eyes though... my eyes – Grandfather's hair too, a bit darker of course..." The old woman trailed off. Lily got the impression the woman wasn't really seeing her anymore but something that had happened along time ago. A person maybe. Her deceased Grandfather perhaps.
"Sorry," Lily tried to keep the bit out of her words but she didn't frankly care about being polite right now, "But who the hell are you? What do you know about my Grandparents?"
The woman snorted, looking more amused that insulted. "My temper too, Annie never had the guts to talk to anyone like that. The sweet little thing that she was..." She hummed in amusement, eyes glittering, "I'm your Aunt Dezelda – or rather your great-Aunt Dezelda as you mother was my niece. Your granny Annie was my baby sister – my squib baby sister."
Lily didn't hide the shock on her face or how wide her eyes went at that news, her mind was racing with revelation... her aunt was a witch? Her Grandmother was a squib? She wasn't a muggleborn. She just stared at the woman sitting calmly on the couch, watching her calculatingly. "I... how? I meant, my mother, my gran – she never said anything –"
"Well she wouldn't would she? Her impression of the wizarding world – or Pure-Blood society to be precise -wasn't exactly the most positive things." The woman seem to look a bit... sad all of a sudden, almost ashamed, "Witches and wizards weren't exactly accepting when Annie was growing up, being a squib wasn't something you openly admitted. Hell you never mentioned squibs in polite conversation, never mind that you have squib relatives. It was shameful."
Lily felt disgusted and furious. She didn't come into much contract with pure-bloods /squib prejudice but she still didn't think it was any more right that how muggle-borns were treated. The words coming out of the woman's mouth coupled with the fact that it was her grandmother they were talking about downright pissed her off.
The woman – Aunt Dezelda – seemed to catch that look, "Don't be like that. That's was how things were back then – never like it myself, I loved Annie more than anything. I was the one who supported her into the muggle world." She sighed.
"I'm sorry about you parents. They didn't deserve to die – not like that." She paused, "They were good people."
Lily looked down, swallowing painfully but didn't say anything. What was there to say?
"Annie taking in your sister, Petunia is it? Well I'll be taking you myself, Annie would never get custody of you if there was a magical relative able – although I've never had kids myself so don't be expecting me to be all motherly or what not. Got it? Good."
There was silence, Lily didn't know what to say and Dezelda seemed to have said everything she was prepared to right now. Lily couldn't help but wonder what happened now, did she just move in with her Aunt? Did her Aunt even have a home to move into? Was she still going to go to Hogwarts at the end of the summer?
"Sit down child," Her aunt sighed, "We might not know each other but we're going to have to get along. I'm sure you've got questions – if anything Annie tells me is true I except you'll have lots."
The woman waved a gnarled hand towards the seat across from her. It was only there Lily realised she was still standing in the door way, leaning against the door frame heavily. Lily sat down quickly, trying to think of something to ask when her mind had when totally blank. What to ask? Well she should probably start with the obvious.
"Who are you?"
Dezelda smiled, "Lady Dezelda Evavard, only current member of my family (magically of course) left - except from you Lily. I'm a descendant of Rowena Ravenclaw herself and I'm, in fact, her heir – or at least the one with the most credibility though I've never tried to claim it myself. So are you, being my own heir of course. I have several muggle and magical companies – all of which are global empires and I intent to keep them as such. I attended, like you, Hogwarts School of witchcraft and Wizardry before doing further studies on my own."
For some reason Dezelda's speech left a bell in Lily head ringing and she tried to remember where she had heard the name Dezelda before – it wasn't like it was a common name or anything.
Dezelda. Dezelda - Oh! The Hat! That goddamn, mental Hat! He had mentioned her when she was being Sorted! What had he said?
'-I haven't sorted anyone in your family since, ohhh when Dumbledore was just starting. Ah dear old Dezelda.'
"You know Dumbledore!" Lily gasped, hand flying to her mouth in shock, "You were sorted together!"
Dezelda look surprised – and confused, "How on earth would you know that?"
"The hat told me. He said he hadn't Sorted anyone in my family since Dumbledore started – You! Did you know him?
The woman snorted darkly, "Of course I know Dumbledore. Old Albus and I go way back, that old cod." The woman sneered angrily, sliding quickly into a rant, "We were rivals, he was Gryffindor and I was a Slytherin. Couldn't stand him from the moment I laid eyes on him, always trying to outdo me, never quite being able to. Arrogant little... Ohhh and how he treated that poor brother of his; never had time for poor Abaforth. He was such a lovely boy– not as smar as Albus, mind you but sweet all the same."
"Yeah but you have a squid for a sister didn't you? You said you were ashamed!" Lily interrupted angrily.
The old woman shrugged unladylike, "Well, I was – but mostly I didn't want Annie in that World anyhow. She was a sweet charming wee thing... they would have torn her apart, magic or no magic. Beside I never stop loving her because she was a squid –Albus on the other hand..."
The woman shook her head to avoid going into a rant about that old coot.
"But history is History child, no needed to go diving in to it now. Your future on the other hand..."
Lily stopped breathing.
"You'll keep going to Hogwarts...unless you speak French or Russian then by all means you can go to Beauxbaton or Durmstrang if you want but I won't have you going to some second rate magic school." the woman leant back, "We have a reputation to up hold, starting with your Owl results...and that reminds me, we'll need to kick up your training."
"Training?"
"You're a pure-blood, its time you start acting like one."
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Please review and tell me what you think? I actully want to know what you think about this version of Lily.
