Holy hell this chapter kept writing itself, as for last chapter it more or less took place anytime after Tom got to stretch his legs, Lilly's ended up in the hospital wing at least twice a week since the incident for calming draughts, she...isn't handling what happened very well for obvious reasons. Anyway ALOT happening in this chapter so I hope you all enjoy and REVIEW!

Side Note-As for Lilly's character traits, I kind of see her as a twisted blend of Ruby Rose from RWBY and Admiral Helena Cain from Battlestar Galactica, when I mentioned that to a friend her immediate response was "Oh dear lord those poor bastards", I tend to agree.


The trial of Gildroy Lockhart had become at best a media spectacle, the high profile author's transgressions apparently going beyond being a pedophile and rapist; more than two dozen accounts of illegal obliviations had been tagged onto the charges as his sordid past was revealed. Each subsequent day more lies were unraveled and more charges were stacked on the heap, Lilly wasn't shocked in the slightest anyone who paid attention to the bastard could tell he was a fraud. Still her day in court was approaching soon and while she was willing to testify the thought of seeing the man in person, even if he was in chains, tore at her.

On top of that there was the family history journals she'd gotten from Padfoot, her Godfather had found them while clearing out one of 12 Grimmauld Place's various storerooms; considering who the author of many of the early ones was the Grimm animagus was rightly confused as to why they were hidden rather then being put on display for all to see. Sirius not being one to actually go through and read stacks of ancient tomes had offered them to her while she was recovering from the ...incident... and after several days of reading she knew why someone would want to hide them and it made her rather sick.

Deciding she needed some air and time to think Lilly lightly padded her way out of her dorm and through the common room, the hallways were all silent and empty of patrols so it took her very little time to get to the Astronomy Tower. After trudging up the stairs she opened the trap door peeking out, now sure that the coast was clear she threw the door fully open and and sat down in the center of the open air floor. Laying back she relaxed and just stared into the night sky letting her thoughts wander about, after a time a small smile formed on her face as she listened to the chirps of crickets and the occasional hoot of an owl.

Lilly loved the night, she loved the sharp contrast of the stars, the moon, and the dark blue sky, she sometimes wondered if it was her Black heritage at work, her affiliation for the constellations ingrained to the point where it actually impressed Professor Sinestra. Thankfully though tonight there was no astronomy class so she would remain alone, aside from her newly hatched Emberscale that is. She'd named her Nelle and for some reason she couldn't help but feel the obsidian snake was akin to her first daughter.

Stroking the slumbering serpent curled about her left wrist she stared up at the constellations, she could clearly see Libra, Virgo and Aquila, she wasn't content until she found Serpens most beautifully named star in the constellation, Alya, meant heavenly or, a bit more stodgily 'divine' in Arabic and Lilly loved the name, if she ever had a (human) daughter she intended to gift her with the moniker as was proper of a Black.

Still staring up at the brilliant spring sky Nelle flexed a bit and lifted her head before speaking,

"Mother, apes approach" snorting at the snake's annoyance Lilly stroked her head a few times and hissed back,

"Let them come my precious, we will see who they are before I let you strike," the snake hissed in annoyance before curling back up, Lilly smirked a bit at the over protective nature of her newest familiar as she waited for the arrivals. The wait as it ended up was not long at all, she well...it was odd, ever since the incident with Lockhart she could feel others magic, so she knew immediately that it was her boys and Hermione. They stood in silence for a few moments so Lilly took the initiative to speak first,

"Morgana le Fae broke away from the petty bickering of the Tuatha Dé Danann and founded the city state of Avalon where she ruled for some time. Eventually during the 700's CE her spats with Merlin got to the point where she threw her hands up in frustration and walked away changing her name to Black in the process. She helped found magical Britains aristocracy as one of The Thirteen original families and walked the thin line of being a Dark Lady without being evil and her daughter's followed her march but things got...wonky a couple hundred years ago."

Her friends remained silent, probably confused at the non sequitur but she continued regardless, "See some man got it in his head that the gifts of Morgana were his by birthright. I'm being literal, he was first born so he thought that he should be the head of house despite having no skills in the field of politics, long short he won via assassination." Lilly sighed in annoyance while Nelle slithered up her arm and rested on her chest, the glistening fires in her core glimpsed through her scales only as she moved.

Lilly began stroking the snake absently as she continued, "That's when the whole 'Pure-Blood Prerogative' gained traction, no sense behind it, just a bunch of petty bastards who insisted that their inadequacies were positives. HA! Its a giant joke isn't it? The Half-Blood that everyone puts their hopes in ancestors were the progenitors of all the racism...I'm...I feel disgusting... After everything I just-" she was cut off at that.

Hermione, Blaise, and Draco all wrapped her in tight hugs ignoring the snake on her chest who for her part looked at the humans in annoyance while she slithered around Lilly's neck then promptly went back to sleep.

"Shut it Lilly, we love you and you are not disgusting," Blaise's voice took a tone she'd never heard before, looking to the dark skinned boy she was shocked as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. She felt an electric trill flit up her spine as the boy pulled away, his honey amber eyes glowing with anger. "You, Lillith Potter are my family, and I'll always be at your side, and don't you ever even think that I will judge you unfairly, you are my sister in all but blood."

Lilly nearly lost it there when Draco leaned down and kissed her cheek,

"Lilly, you're family, and while you get us in some rather interesting situations I don't regret any of them, I care about you more then you can comprehend. Even Mother lets our antics slide due to who you are, it isn't 'The-Girl-Who-Lived' or any of that tripe either, Lilly, you're special." As Draco pulled back Hermione sighed lightly,

"Lilly, a lot has happened that you're blaming yourself for, the Acromantula's, Lockhart, so on and so forth but you need to understand one thing and one thing only." Lilly stared up into her best friends eyes as the universe twirled around her bushy hair, smiling a smile only a Potter could produce she snarked out,

"And whats that 'Mione?" The girl above her sighed and leaned down kissing her lips gently, the boys couldn't see it due to the brown eyed girls hair but Lilly felt her eyelids widen in shock as Hermione sat back up.

"You need to understand that you're worth being loved, despite what those monster muggles made you think, I know your real family has tried their best to bury what was done to you with affection but it's still there deep down inside. Don't let it control your decisions, we'll always be there so you won't forget that you are loved." Lilly's friends wished her a good evening as they stood to leave, panicking LIlly sat up and cried out,

"Wait!" The three stopped and turned around, chewing her lip she debated on whether to go through with this, sighing she spoke to Tom,

"I'm going to tell them everything," there was a pause before he cautiously replied,

"Are you sure love? If they don't take it well it could present...problems," she let out a shuddering breath,

"I...can't take lying to you guys anymore, I've...obviously got secrets, manipulations, and schemes going on but...I can't go on pretending that it's ok to keep so much from my three closest friends." The three exchanged looks not really seeming that surprised, nodding they moved back to her, they noted that Lilly was quickly writing a complex rune on the stone floor with a bit of chalk. After she was done she tapped it with her wand and a light blue glow began emanating from rune, Draco looked fairly impressed with the finished product and expressed such.

"That's a rather advanced bit of work right there, Mother tutors me on runes and I've never seen a privacy ward quite like that," Lillith remained silent and began pacing about with her arms behind her back before stopping and turning to face the small group.

"I...you have no idea how hard this is to talk about...some of it Hermione and Sally know but not all of it...not the really...dark parts..." Hermione's eyes widened as she realized what was about to be discussed,

"Lilly are sure you want to talk about this now? After what happened? I mean I'd understand if you-" Lilly lifted her hand and placed a finger to Hermione's lips silencing her, giving her best friend an affectionate smile she slowly shook her head.

"It's been a long time coming 'Mione, eventually what happened will get out just like all secrets do, best they hear it from me, besides they'll need some...context... to the rest." Hermione looked like she was about to cry but simply nodded, Blaise leaned over lightly whispering to Draco,

"Something tells me we are not going to like this a single bit," nodding sullenly Draco kept quiet as Lilly continued,

"First, as far as my family has been able to piece together there was a prophecy made declaring me the only one who could kill Voldemort, Professor Snape who was a Death Eater at the time overheard the prophecy being given to Dumbledore and reported it to the Dark Lord." There was three very loud gasps at this as well as some severe confusion but Lilly continued unabated,

"See, the prophecy didn't actually point directly at me, it was gender neutral and could have been either myself or Neville, since I was a Half-Blood just like Voldemort I won the coin toss, yay me. Well, it ends up Professor Snape had been long time friends with my mum, they'd had a falling out when in school but they ironed things out right before mum and dad got married. When he found out Voldemort was going after my family well, he freaked and ran to Dumbledore warning him," she sighed and waited for her friends to absorb this, Hermione spoke up in a quiet voice first.

"So, that's why a known Death Eater works at the school, I'd wondered about that, not that he isn't an amazing teacher to well...Slytherin's at least but it was always a bit confusing," Lilly sighed while letting Nelle wrap around her splayed fingers.

"Yeah, so the trade off for protecting my family was the Professor had to play spy against Voldemort, Dumbledore put my parents behind the Fidelius Charm and the rest is history, except for the fact that Dumbledore knew Peter Pettigrew was the secret keeper...and that he was a traitor." Draco cursed a few times and it was a testament to the impact the news was having on her friends that Hermione didn't chide him, pausing the blonde boy scratched his scalp in frustration.

"He set your family up! Why!? Why would the supposed 'Leader of the Light' sell out one of his primary supporters and the supposed prophesied one!?" She gave the boy a fond sad smile while shaking her head,

"Because Little Dragon, 'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark them as his equal, but they will have power the Dark Lord knows not...', understand now?" All three looked sick as they adsorbed this, Blaise gave her a knowing look while shaking his head,

"Your scar," nodding while sitting back on the ground pulling her knees to her chest Lilly looked so small and broken at that moment,

"Yup...had to get his weapon marked, anyway after my parents were murdered and Voldemort got hit with an AK ricochet the Longbottom's were given the all clear to come out of hiding since they too were potential targets. They were killed the next day, Sirius was then nabbed for supposedly betraying my parents and the muggle murder thing and was tossed in Azkaban without a trial as you know...by the order of Albus Dumbledore."

She looked up and they could see her eyes beginning to glow as rage boiled below the surface, "Alice Longbottom was my Godmother, Neville grew up without his parents because Dumbledore needed her out of the way, my godfather spent five years in hell because he was the next legal guardian after her. And...well, he kept obliviating my final guardian every time he tried to leave Hogwarts, conveniently Severus Snape was always in arms reach and had to let the Headmaster know when he was leaving the castle..."

"Shit," was Blaise's rather succicnt response, he turned on Draco while asking,

"Did you know Professor Snape was her guardian?" Draco shrugged a bit,

"I got the implication he was, no one ever straight out said it, they usually try to dance around the subject," turning to Hermione Blaise raised an eyebrow and she nodded,

"Since before we went to Hogwarts, I met her and her Aunt Bellatrix a year before she got her letter," sighing Blaise turned back to Lilly shaking his head giving her a wry smile,

"It's obvious really, once you put the pieces together," Lilly snorted at that giving him a warm smile,

"Well Dumbles still hasn't figured it out, kinda funny that...anyway I got ditched with my mum's bitch sister and her two pet whales colloquially known as my cousin Dudley and my 'Uncle' Vernon. Life for me with the Dursley's was hell, I was treated like a house elf, beaten, starved and...molested..."

Hermione had at this point sat next to her wrapping an arm around her shoulders, leaning into the hug she whispered her thanks before continuing. "When I was five I found out my name was Lillith, up to that point I'd only been called 'Girl' or 'Freak' depending on their moods, one lovely day Vernon came home exceptionally drunk, after dutifully making his dinner like a good little slave he...did something new. I had no idea what was going on when he grabbed me by my hair and dragged me upstairs. I..."

Tears now freely rolling down her cheeks she didn't dare to glance up and see what looks her friends were giving her, "I...he raped me...I was six and I was raped, he destroyed my pelvis, broke both my femurs, and tore me apart enough that I'm shocked I hadn't died from blood loss before he threw me back into my cupboard under the stairs..."

Lilly felt like she was going to throw up, reliving that night was something she tried to avoid at all costs, the only times she ever thought about it was as a focus for her hatred while casting Dark spells. What made it worse was she didn't know if she was going to lose her friends over the next revelation, but if she wanted them to trust her...

"I...was so happy I was about to die...I was glad the pain, the hunger, the loneliness was about to end, dying seemed like a small price to pay. How messed up is that? Then I heard a voice in my head, I figured I was just going crazy so I started talking with him, why not I was dying right?" Draco and Blaise were now sitting in front her both with unreadable expressions,

"Lilly, what...what do you mean you heard a voice?" Blaise asked with an alarming amount of trepidation, she let out a sobbing laugh as she used her sleeve to wipe the makeup off her forehead exposing her trademark scar.

"You three are the only ones I've ever told this to...I'd demand vows of silence but...it'd defeat the purpose of putting my trust in you now wouldn't it?" She sniffled and steeled herself preparing for the worst. "The night Voldemort tried to murder me? Well he left a bit of a surprise in my head...more precisally a piece of his soul," Hermione stiffened next to her while the boys jaws dropped and eyes widened. Utilizing their shock she pushed onward,

"It was the most bizarre thing in the world, the man who murdered my family and got me into that situation offered to help me. Apparently Voldemort was terrified of death to the point were merging with me was better then dying with me, so as I died my mothers protection on me faded and the soul shard was freed."

She let out another almost manic sobbing laugh as she continued on, "The funny thing is when 1/32 of the darkest of souls merges with a pure whole one, somethings...lost in the process. Most of what made Voldemort the vilest cruelest man in Britain burned off, in the end all that was left was Tom Riddle, I...I don't recall exactly what I did when he restarted my heart and pulled my body back together enough to walk but...I remember enough." daring to look up she was pleased no one had made any motions of leaving.

"I killed the Dursley's that night, I felt no remorse, no sadness for my actions, I burned them all alive locked in their house, and I didn't care...a murderer at six, think that might actually be a record. After that Tom told me to get to daddy...err I mean Professor Snape, using the last bit of magic left in me I apparated to Spinners End and... well, the rest you pretty much know. I was raised by the Black sisters, Professor Snape, and my Uncles. I..." She didn't know what else to say after that, it would appear none of them did really. Eventually Hermione whispered,

"So...who are you? Lilly or V-Voldemort?" Sighing and feeling her heart break a bit at the question Lilly looked up and met Hermione's teary gaze,

"I'm me, I'm not the same girl I was before I died in that cupboard, but I don't want to be her ever again, she was weak, timid, a slave, just chattel to be used by those stronger then her. Sure I have a voice in the back of my head who keeps insisting we take over the world, but he's also a guardian when I get into trouble, a teacher when he feels I'm ready, and a friend when I feel alone." She shrugged not knowing what else to say so she busied herself petting Nelle who hissed her approval of the ministrations, eventually Blaise spoke,

"So, if Voldemort is in your head-" Lilly looked up and interrupted him there,

"Not Voldemort, Tom, he's still a socipathic megalomaniac sure but he isn't evil, in fact he's what saved me from Lockhart, I...I started locking up, having a panic attack. When I broke through the imperius I was still confunded and drugged, I...I had Lockhart's..." she shuddered and began stammering, "I-I-I had his pe-penis in my hand... he was pushing my m-mouth down towards it and Tom offered to take c-control. I was scared I did I-..." For the first time ever her friends saw her break down, as she sobbed into her hands she was shocked to feel herself hauled up off the ground and pulled into a tight hug.

The shoulder she was crying on smelled of soap and sandelwood, the arms wrapped around her waist the only thing keeping her from falling back to the ground, Nelle coiled around her wrist in annoyance but did not hiss thankfully. After a time Draco whispered in her ear his normal lazy drawl noticeably missing,

"If he saved you from that bastard than as far as I'm concerned he's all right in my books, I'm sorry you had to go through that all again, we're all going to need time to digest this but...we won't abandon you, isn't that right?" He raised his voice a bit and Lilly broke the embrace to turn to Blaise and Hermione, Blaise nodded slowly and pulled her into another hug,

"No worries Lils, if it's any consolation if you hadn't already killed those bloody muggles well...my mother is known as the Black Widow for more than just her multiple marriages," Lilly managed a sobbing laugh at that as he let her go. Turning to Hermione her best friend stared at her in worry before pulling her into yet another hug, dropping her voice to a whisper she spoke directly into Lilly's ear,

"Can Tom hear me now?" Lilly nodded in apprehension as Hermione tightened the hug to near rib cracking,

"Listen well you son of a bitch, Lillith is my first, best, and most treasured friend, if you do anything to hurt her or lead her into the madness you did with your Death Eaters I'll personally find a way to tear your soul from her body, jam it into a pig and slow roast it alive, are we clear?" Lilly was stunned at the venom in her friends voice but Tom spoke up regardless,

"Huh, knew I liked her for a reason, tell her I understand and I agree to her terms," Lilly relayed the message and Hermione released her nodding once,

"Good, now that that is settled I think we should bring the boys up to speed on all our machinations don't you think?" Lilly nodded as she let out a tired breath,

"I agree...but can it wait till tomorrow?" Her friends nodded their understanding and began following her down the hatch leaving the tower in a bit of a haze, as they reached the common room they froze seeing Professor Snape standing in the doorway looking quite cross. Sighing the group approached him and upon seeing Lilly's tear stained face and red eyes his posture immediately softened,

"Miss Potter, what exactly are you doing out past curfew," Lilly stared at him a moment before she rushed forward and pulled him into a tight hug, surprised he responded as all good fathers do and wrapped his arms around her and tried to placate his daughter as she began crying. Looking up at his other three students he was at a loss as what to do but was saved further worry by Blaise,

"Don't worry Professor, we know who you are to her, your secrets safe with us," Draco nodded and pointed off to the doorway leading to the Professor's office,

"Might want to take it to a more private setting Uncle Sev," nodding he got Lilly moving slowly as he met Hermione's gaze as she tapped her forehead, getting her meaning he looked into her mind as she pushed forth a phrase through her mental barriers.

"She's finally ready to talk about what happened," he gave her a curt nod as he led Lilly off to his offices, it was going to be a sleepless night but at least he could finally help his daughter begin to heal, and really what was a bit of missed sleep when he had an ample supply of coffee?


Gildroy Lockhart looked like he had aged thirty years in his three month stay in Hotel Azkaban, his once perfect hair was matted with filth and going grey, his once brilliant smile was yellowing and his once impeccably tanned skin was sallow and sagging; all together Kingsley Shacklebolt thought the man now resembled the soul within. Smacking the butt of his wand against the steel bars of the mans cell Kingsley's deep voice boomed out,

"Wake up Lockhart, tomorrows the final testimony and you need to be made presentable," Lockhart seemed to pull himself out of whatever bad memory he was caught in and quickly shambled to his feet, his wild eyed gaze showing glee at being taken away from the island and its dementors.

"Well I can't but hope my adoring public will be there to greet me," rolling his eyes Kingsley turned to his partner who was eyeing the ragged man with pure loathing, her hair had gone short and spiky while fluctuating through various shades of neon blue,

"You're lucky the Ministry has kept your final victims identity on the downlow Lockhart, there's already a proverbial shite storm about everything else you did, molesting The-Girl-Who-Lived? Well, that's just not cricket now is it?" Tonks pushed the man towards the docks as he laughed lightly,

"Ah dear sweet Lillith, she was a bit younger than I like my girls but I had to put her in her place for embarrassing me like that, it's what happens when you cross the rich and famous after all," Tonks was reaching for her Glock ready to blast the back of the mans head open right there but Kingsley grabbed her wrist and pulled her arm to her side.

"Not now Tonks, he's going to get what he deserves eventually, as for you I have no idea if you're truly stupid enough to taunt aurors about sexually assaulting children or if your minds just going from the dementors but I highly suggest you shut your mouth for your own good." Still smiling a semi-lucid smile Lockhart just grinned wider and shrugged, Tonks stepped forward and clapped a heavy pair of iron manacles to Lockharts wrists making sure they were uncomfortably tight, he frowned down at the thick chains and began to whinge.

"These are a little heavy don't you think?" Tonks rolled her eyes and pushed the man into the boat followed by Kingsley and the ferryman, it was a two hour ride back to the mainland and it was quite chilly out so the ferryman passed some hot coffee to the two aurors and chatted with them idly. An hour into the trip the ferryman pulled out a small pocket watch and nodded thoughtfully, walking between the aurors he pulled Lockhart up off his seat, the prisoner glared at the hooded figure a moment before snapping out, "What!"

"Times up," was all the man said as he pushed Lockhart over the edge with a yelp, the iron chains and manacles dragging him down almost instantly, turning to the shocked aurors the ferryman winked one silver gray eye and portkeyed away, blinking Tonks turned to Kingsley as she asked the obvious question,

"What the hell was that?" Kingsley didn't know, but what he did know was only ministry issued portkeys worked within the vicinity of Azkaban and even then only ones issued by the DMLE, and more specifically they had to be handed out by the director herself. Resisting the urge to smile he turned back to look over the edge of the boat and shrugged,

"It would appear Mr. Lockhart did not know how to swim, a pity."

The portkey dropped Sirius Black into a large dim chamber, stretching out the kinks he always got from the wizarding transportation he shucked off the ferryman robes and slid on the black duster waiting on a wall peg, checking his watch again he waited roughly thirty seconds when there was a flash of light, rush of salt water, and alot of gagging. Approaching the steel cage and it's new guest the old Marauder grinned widely,

"Moony, take a look I caught a clown fish!" The half drowned Lockhart looked up through the bars and squinted trying to make out the figure in the dim light, there was a snort across the room as the werewolf approached the cage,

"You've been waiting all week to say that haven't you Padfoot?" Sirius threw him a lopsided grin his eyes swimming with manic energy,

"Most assuredly, now where to begin?" Turning back to Lockhart Sirius' grin became feral, "First I'd like to introduce myself, I'm Lord Sirius Black, this is my hetero-life partner Remus Lupin, we also happen to be Lillith Potters godfathers. The third member of our little entourage who will be here shortly is miss Bellatrix Lupin nee Black, she's Lilly's aunt but they've got more of a mother/daughter relationship."

Remus smirked as his heightened senses alerted him to the fact Lockhart had just pissed himself, good the man knew how fucked he was, "Now as for where you are well, this is the 'Black Dungeon'. Has quite an ominous ring to it don't you think? Haven't used it myself before I was never really into the darker shite my family was known for but for you my friend, I spruced it up so we could have...such a wonderful time."

"Wha-what are you going to do to me?" Smirking Remus leaned forward enough so Lockhart could see the gold glow of his eyes, the wolf was so near the surface right now, it sensed this was the man who hurt his pup and he demanded blood, luckily for it Remus was going to indulge this once,

"Well I believe the better question is what aren't we going to do to you? See there is just so many interesting contraptions down here, Cissy has the auto-castrator still but I have a vegetable peeler that outta do the trick, although my wife said she had something really special planned for you but she had to make a pit stop at Crawley to get it." There was the creak of a heavy door opening and the room was flooded with light, this exposed several instruments on the wall that Lockhart most certainly didn't want to become familiar with.

Turning around Remus calmly greeted the new arrival, "Hello love, get everything you need?" There was a disturbingly bubbly quality to the voice that replied, like she was trying to restrain some pent up excitement.

"'Ello 'ello my lovely fuzzy hubby, sorry I'm a bit late the Granger's went into extreme detail on how to operate this stuff when I explained what it was for, did you know Dan was ex-military and trained in interrogation techniques? Not as accurate as veritaserum obviously but far more entertaining! Did the portkeys Madam Bones gave you work out Sirius?" Smiling at the batty witch Sirius nodded in greeting,

"Hello Bella, and yes they worked like a charm, poor Nymphadora didn't even realize the manacles were enchanted, although I dare say we'll have to let her in on the fun at some point," turning back to Lockhart Sirius stunned him and opened the cage. Levitating the limp form he unceremoniously dropped him into a large chair covered in leather straps, tapping a rune on the back of the chair the straps secured themselves against Lockhart with harsh whipping motions that were painful enough to wake the man up.

Looking around with panic in his eyes he was about to speak when he was hit with a silencing charm, Bellatrix pushed a cart over and opened one of the stainless steel cases the Doctors Granger had gifted her with, the strange instruments the woman laid on the table both confused and terrified the Pure-Blood wizard. Hooking up the portable power supply Bella picked up one of the instruments and it let out a high pitched whine that set everyone present nerves on edge, grinning Bella forced Lockhart's mouth open while jamming a wedge between one side of his jaw to keep it wide.

"Now, I'm not sure if you're familiar with the concepts of dentistry but never fear, I just had a two hour tutorial from a pair of professionals who happen to be the parents of Lillith's best friend, now Gildy, say 'Ah'."


Potters die for their loved ones, Blacks kill for their's.