SORRY! Been very very busy this week, filed the divorce papers against the adulteress this week and all my free time has been taken up with lawyers and a crash course in legal'eze. Bit short, a bit condensed, but it's better then nothing, expect next chapter to be longer, also dunno if it was due to my emotionally charged week but writing Neville's confession really upset me, lemme know if I was just being stupid all right? Anyway hope you all enjoy and next chapter will involve Sirius and Tonks kidnapping Lilly and dragging her across Europe and the States for rock concerts, the Black sisters teaching her the best methods on disposing of bodies as well as she and Hermione figuring out what the hell they're going to do with their stolen Philosopher's Stone. As always REVIEW!
The entire school was abuzz with the news that Lillith Potter and her friends had chased a dark wizard through the off limits third floor and in the end it resulted in the death of a possessed Professor Quirrell and the hospitalization of several students. For once the Hogwarts rumor mill had gotten most of the story right, the line fed by Hermione indicated that Lilly had put a detection charm on the trapdoor and when she felt it activate she led her friends to the scene of carnage. While most of the school accepted this Slytherin house knew to be wary, Lilly's behavior had been oddly Gryffindor'ish in this instance and if they'd all learned one thing in the past nine months it was that Lillith did not act rashly thus creating even more questions.
Unfortunately those who had answers were keeping quiet or were still unconscious while being watched over by a rather caustic Lady Malfoy and Professor Snape, so Alexander Nott found himself contemplating the mess in silence with very little information to work with. The brunette young man rubbed his eyes in annoyance as he tried to process the enigma that was Lillith Potter, supposedly the Lady of Slytherin if the sorting hat was to be believed. That was the thing of it though, she never directly claimed the title, she simply showed off her power and cowed those that crossed her. She was subtle, brutally pragmatic, and viciously opportunistic; truth be told if she were a few years older he'd probably pursue her himself she was the perfect woman as for as he was concerned.
He really needed to talk to Theodore, the poor boy was starting to follow their idiot fathers directives and to put it simply it would lead their family to ruin, Lillith Potter was the next Dark Lady after all. Sure Alexander may be stretching things a bit but she showed all the signs of greatness with none of Voldemort's idiocy, she wanted to preserve their customs and religion while embracing the muggle science of genetics, a subject he himself found interesting. The Pure-Blood Prerogative was ignorance at best and even the likes of Lucius Malfoy had begun to accept that, preserve the culture spread the bloodlines, unfortunately for every Pure-Blood who was swayed there were six who were not.
It was in these deep thoughts buried in the darkest corners of the Slytherin common room that Alexander overheard several girls talking, if he were to guess they were fifth through seventh years.
"-ithout the crazy little bitch there to protect her the mudblood is free game, frankly it's an embarrassment to Salazar that she's gotten away with wearing our standard most of the year. It's our chance to show her that her place is in the dirt, just like all the other mudbloods." Alexander felt an eyebrow raise at this, there really could only be one girl they were speaking of, and put simply this could be very entertaining for the conflicted young man. His Dark Arts lessons with Lillith had quickly evolved into tutoring the young lady and her three closest friends, and if there was one word he could use to describe Hermione Granger it was 'Competent'.
So as he listened in on these foolish children plotting on jumping the young girl while her "protector" was still unconscious Alexander silently lamented that the Weasley twins weren't there, he'd dearly love to place a bet at the moment. As the girls decided on a course of action Alexander shook his head in disbelief as he waved over Jennifer Pucey, as his long term girlfriend approached he whispered into her ear,
"Wanna see something funny?" The blond smirked and nodded, the two seventh years tapped each other on the head with their wands casting disillusion charms, shaking off the feeling that an egg had just been cracked over his head Alexander led Jen towards the still gossiping girls. It wasn't long until they found their target, the bushy haired brunette was busily whispering to the Zabini boy when the large group of girls blocked their way, Hermione looked up and arced a brow in question.
"Yes?" One of the older girls stepped forward and sneered down at the first year,
"Well well well if it isn't the little mudblood whore without her protector, what are you doing with Zabini, signing up as one of his future conquests?" Zabini for his part actually skipped "indignant" and jumped directly to "bloody enraged", Hermione for her part raised a hand and placed it on her friends shoulder restraining him. Turning to the group of girls she stepped forward twisting her body so she was presenting her left side limiting her profile, he watched as she twitched her concealed right hand as her wand fell into it.
Smirking he grabbed Jen and dragged her back to the wall with him as Hermione responded,
"If you have something to say, say it, I'm as Slytherin as a witch could be so please, enlighten me as to why you think I'm some simpleton wishing to become a concubine." The other girls exchanged looks, they were supposed to be intimidating the mudblood not antagonizing her, one of the group stepped forward with a wand drawn and that basically ended the fight before it began.
Alexander had been`witness to several dueling exhibitions over the years, and he distinctly remembered his father pointing out Andromeda Tonks and the stance she took,
"See that son? That's the Black Dance, it's one of the most fluid, chaotic, and deadly fighting styles in our world, it takes years of study to perfect and even then you have to be graced with the presence of a Black to learn it. Andromeda is the scariest of the three sisters, she's only been confronted by our Lord's forces once, after their rather horrific deaths he declared her off limits, remember that my boy, never cross a Black."
Alexander winced as Hermione began to dance about, in less then thirty seconds a dozen girls were on the ground screaming in agony, Hermione shoved her wand up her sleeve turning back to a sick looking Zabini before she asked,
"Would you like to go see Lilly with me?" Shaking himself Zabini nodded quickly and the two first years walked away from the twitching and bleeding group left in their wake, Jennifer ended their disillusionments and turned to Alexander with a look of horror on her face. Shaking his head slowly the young man kept his silence, he would never say anything to cross his future Dark Lady's second in command.
Lilly groggily came to staring at a bleach white ceiling, glancing to her left and right she saw stainless steel catches to prevent her rolling off to the floor, coughing she was soon approached by her Aunt Cissy and...
"Daddy...I hurt...alot..." Severus Snape leaned over the prone girl cupping her cheek in his hand, brushing his thumb lightly across her face he leaned down and kissed her forehead.
"Child, what possessed you to do something so...foolish?" Coughing again she grasped his hand while smiling gently,
"Just because that stupid vault was set up as a challenge didn't mean it wasn't protecting something special, and I will not lie to you daddy, if I had known what it would have cost me..." she grew silent and stared at the ceiling again, the distinct scent of ozone filled the room as her magic roiled. "If I had known what it would cost those I held dear I would have just blown up the entrance and waited for you all..." Severus released her face and sat beside the bed, stroking the hair along her head the ravenette sighed and leaned into the touch.
"Lilly I'm just happy you're alive, I...I don't know what I'd do without you..." smirking the young girl cracked her eyes open and with humor in her voice replied,
"And it'll be a long...Loooooong time before you have to worry about that daddy, I'm a very stubborn witch...is everyone else ok?" Pausing he was beaten by Narcissa who dropped one of the steel catches and sat on the hospital bed primly,
"Yes dear, and before you say anything Draco explained everything to me, no one blames you.." she paused as fresh tears graced the young Potter heiresses eyes,
"Little Dragon's ok? He...he's not hurt right?" Processing the pet name and the very real concern Narcissa coiled her satisfaction to the back of her mind as she remained blank faced and nodded,
"Draco is fine, in fact the Headmaster-" she could not restrain her eyeroll when it came to Dumbledore, "-Appointed all that followed you house points which I've been informed mean next to nothing to you. Do yourself a favor and don't let the other houses hear about that, you're a bit sadistic like myself and my sisters and your schoolmates consternation will bring you amusement over the years." Smirking Lilly nodded lightly,
"Am I going to be expelled?" Severus shook his head quickly taking his daughters hand,
"Far from it dear, for reasons known only to himself Dumbledore is beyond ecstatic you involved yourself in this misadventure, and please I know you regret it but...but please explain to me what lead you to be so...stupidly reckless and Gryffindor'ish?" The little ravenette stretched out then cuddled up next to her dad before replying,
"Because it's what the fools expected..." with that she drifted back to sleep as Severus and Narcissa exchanged looks, after a few moments the blonde woman buried her bubbling laughter in her shawl. Leave it to Lillith to turn a bad situation to her favor, in the coming years no one would know where she stood and public opinion would be exactly where she wanted it to be. After that Lilly and her friends were released from the hospital wing right before the leaving feast and thus thrown into the maelstrom of gossip that was the Hogwarts student body, after a time Lilly finally secluded herself with her friends plus the Weasely twins, for some odd reason she liked the pair.
"And that's about it, he was after whatever was held in the mirror and it was destroyed when his body was thrown through it..." Fred and George shook their heads in sync before one of them replied,
"Honestly I'm not really shocked," his brother picked up there,
"Quirrell always seemed off,"
"Really while the best defense professor we've had so far,"
"He really didn't seem that wound together if you take our meaning," Lilly suppressed her laughter at the twins antics as well as Quirell's real identity before replying,
"In the end it really doesn't matter, he's dead, we're not, and Slytherin still won the house cup, so net gain as far as I'm concerned," the none Slytherin's in the room gave her reproachful looks as Draco, Hermione, and Blaise snickered. Smirking Lilly shook her head as Hedwig flew into the room landing on her shoulder, casting levitation charms on everyone's trunks she grabbed her own and made her way through the Great Hall, turning to the large group of mostly first years she couldn't help but smirk.
"Not a bad turn out for nine months of work wouldn't you say Tom?" The Dark Lord in her head chuckled a bit,
"A core group of loyal followers who ask no questions spread across all four houses as well as acquiring the Philosopher's Stone and Death's Cloak? Yes I'd say you made out." Lilly prided herself on the fact that she didn't stumble at the mention of 'Death's Cloak',
"Tom...what do you mean about the cloak?" He was quiet for a few moments before replying,
"I didn't want to set your expectations too high but I"m fairly certain the Peverell's were the 'Three Brother's', love the entire idea of an ancestral invisibility cloak is simply balderdash, those cloaks last at best two years of constant use and maintenance, and they don't adapt to the user's whims. And lets be honest here you activated its default setting by accident and what did it look like?" Lilly mulled over his words as she pushed open the main gates with her friends trailing behind,
"It looks like the sterotypical Grim Reaper's cloak,so black it absorbs the light around it..." Tom nodded quickly,
"So yes, I think you're currently wearing Death's own cloak, which Death is beyond me but still, something to consider," sighing a bit she shook her head as she made her way to the carriages that would escort them down to Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts Express. She stumbled a bit as she caught sight of the carriages and the creatures tied to them, they looked like pitch black skeletal horses with leathery bat-like wings folded along their backs, eyes widening she gasped out,
"What...what in the name of Morgana are those!?" Her friends looked at her in confusion, all except Neville who gave her a sad smile,
"They're Thestrals Lils...only those of us that have witnessed Death can see them..." the group eyed the pair of god-siblings as they took in a sight they could not share in.
"...Who was it for you Nev..." Her god brother looked ill a moment before collecting himself,
"My father...I...my parents were targeted by a group of Death Eaters after You-Kn...Voldemort was defeated, mum died first in the hall to my room, she killed Rabastan LeStrange and his wife before she fell...Dad fell back and was bleeding badly when he got to me. He barricaded the door and held them off until the Auror's showed up... My first conscious memory was watching my father bleed to death while he protected me..." Lillith stared at Neville in horror and grabbed the boy in her arms sobbing into his shoulder, he stayed stoic but she felt the tears roll down his cheeks. Collecting her wits she shuddered and whispered into his ear,
"It was mum...she begged Voldemort not to take me, she was badly injured, broken arm, lost her left eye, femoral artery ruptured... he laughed as he cast the killing curse on her...my first memory is a bright green light and my mums dying scream..." Neville pulled her into his arms even more tightly as Lilly let out ten years of anguish, she'd never told anyone, not her dad, not her Aunt Bella, not even Tom that she'd remembered the murder of her mother. Their friends stared at the pair in obvious discomfort, unsure what to do as the pair unexpectidly aired their worst memories, after a minute or two they pulled aprt, before letting her go Neville leaned down and kissed her forehead.
"If you ever need to talk about it Lils...I'm here..." She stood on her tip toes and pecked his cheek,
"Ditto brother, ditto..." As the group finally began moving to their individual carriages one of the Thestrals turned to Lilly and Neville, she stopped abruptly and was nearly knocked over by a startled Hermione, reaching up she pet the creature and it leaned down and licked the tears from her cheek. It was...odd, but for some reason it made her feel better, stroking its mane she lost herself a bit before Hermione coughed,
"Lilly, we need to get moving, and well...we need to talk about a few things," remembering her theft of the Philosopher's Stone Lilly nodded and pulled her hand back and was surprised to feel something tug on her magic, confused she looked down at her hand and saw a long black hair was wrapped around fingers. Feeling the power pulsing through the hair she looked to the thestral who whinnied and stomped his hoof down once, recognizing the gift for what it was she curtsied the dark creature who much to her shock nodded in return. Draco and Blaise looked confused as she wound the hair around her finger, entering the carriage with the other three Slytherins she stretched the hair back out and looked down at it reverently, Blaise caught her attention as the carriage began moving.
"What's with the hair Lilly?" Smirking she met his golden eyes as a Cheshire cat smile spread across her face,
"It seems I'm destined to be tied to Death...it's the core to my wand Blaise...the core to my wand..." Once on the train the trip back to Kings Cross Station was uneventful, the boys played card games while Lilly and Hermione whispered about the stone, while a bit of coup neither witch had any idea how the hell to make the thing work. In the end Lillith resolved to ask Auntie Bella, if anyone knew how to make illegal substances with a stolen Philosopher's Stone and not tell anyone about it it would be Bellatrix Lupin. As the students disembarked from the train Lilly said her goodbyes to her friends, seeing Aunt Andi and Uncle Teddy Lilly broke into a run and jumped into their arms, the next few months were going to be wonderful, she just knew it.
Draco approached his father who had arrived alone, it was to be expected honestly mother was still at Hogwarts grading finals papers, nodding to the tall blonde man Draco greeted him respectfully.
"Father, it is good to see you again, how have you been?" Smiling down at the boy Lucius shrugged off generations of decorum to give the surprised boy a brief hug,
"It's good to see you again son, drawing the ladies in like your old man I see?" Blushing Draco quickly glanced back to the group consisting of Lillith, Hermione, Sue Li, Hanna, Susan Bones, and Sally-Anne before responding with a light cough,
"I have no idea what you are speaking of father," rolling his gray eyes Lucius rested his hand on the boys shoulder guiding him towards the stations apparation point,
"Of course son, of course," after arriving at the gates of Malfoy Manor father and son walked to the enormous building in silence, Draco made for his room and paused for a moment, turning around he approached his father and handed him a folded piece of parchment. Bowing lightly he begged his leave and called Dobby to help him take his trunk upstairs, opening the parchment Lucius good mood evaporated as he read the careful calligraphy of Lillith Potter
Tom Marvolo Riddle
I AM LORD VOLDEMORT
Below that Draco's careful scrawl was scratched in,
Riddle name is muggle, who did you nearly lose everything for?
Pausing he stared up the stairs at the son who suddenly became infinitely more interesting than he had been a moment before,
"Who indeed my dear son...who indeed..."