Lily awoke to the familiar sound of Poppy's haughty tone, but unusually it wasn't directed at her.
'I told you- she's asleep. Surely you all have more interesting things to write about than an interview with an unconscious person-'
Poppy's voice was coming from the ajar hospital wing door and for a moment, it was all that she could register in her dazed state. But then Lily's sleep-heavy eyes caught sight of two figures sitting at the end of her bed.
It was Albus and Scorpius and Lily thought she must be dreaming still because they were exchanging amorous smirks of amusement at Poppy's ensuing argument in the corridor outside.
'But madame, we understand her brother is in there too-' a nervous French wizard could be heard saying. '-If we could just ask him a few questions about his duel until she wakes up-'
'He lost, what more is there to talk about?' Poppy snapped. Then her voice rose with compounded contempt.
'Honestly, I thought you'd be more interested in reporting about the ruckus Olsen is making down in the practice courtyard than interrupting the important preparation time of one of the finalists.'
'Ruckus in the practice courtyard?' A witch could be heard asking sharply.
'Haven't you heard-?' Poppy cried aghast.
'-And you call yourself Journalists! It sounded like he was challenging Drew Steward to an impromptu duel; something about proving who was the better wand waver...'
The sound of several witches and wizards muttering to each other urgently in French and then of footsteps gradually fading away as the crowd left could be heard.
Poppy appeared at the doorway and her eyes widened when she saw that Lily was awake and staring straight back at her.
'Finally! I was beginning to wonder if we'd have to wake you. We should have at least an hours time to practice if you get up and get ready straight away.'
Albus and Scorpius, who were still smirking about Poppy's handling of the reporters, turned around to look at Lily, apparently only just having realized that she was awake.
'Was there really a ruckus in the courtyard Poppy?' Scorpius asked, turning back to look at Poppy again with a sly smile.
'Of course not' Poppy snapped, as though it were obvious.
All of a sudden, Lily felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude towards the girl that she had always thought of as her insufferable nemesis.
'Poppy...I should apologize, I-' she began to say but Poppy held up a hand.
'Just get ready already! Don't you understand how significant this duel will be? It's the first time the final has been held between two competitors who use wandless magic and only the second time it's been between two witches!'
'She's right' Albus said quietly. He'd come over to stand by Lily's bed and was looking down at her with a mixture of remorse and of determination to set things right.
'I'm sorry I missed your duel yesterday' he added. 'And for... acting like a bit of a git'
He shot a glance towards Scorpius who smiled back.
'I really think you can win today Lily'
He put a hand on her arm and looked at her meaningfully.
'You can make the Potter name go down in history... again' he smiled wryly.
Lily beamed back at him. Albus was finally sounding like the brother she had grown up with.
'It won't be easy' Poppy cut in pointedly. She picked up a copy of Le Gazette Du Sorcerer and threw it onto Lily's bed in front of her.
On the front page was a moving photograph of Ebele with her hands up in front of her and bolts of magic flowing out of her palms towards Drew Steward.
'Some are calling Akingbade and Steward's duel the fiercest the competition has ever seen' Scorpius explained softly from the end of her bed.
'Of course, nobody nearly suffocated in that duel so that's a matter of opinion I'd say' he added frowning uncomfortably.
'I can't believe that Bonaccord cast such a dangerous spell' Albus lamented, his expression turning dark. 'He seemed like an alright guy-'
'Neither can I' Scorpius said grimly. He exchanged a look with Lily that told her that he too, like her, suspected foul play from an outside source.
'Sometimes people use magic involuntarily when they are under pressure... isn't that right Miss Potter?'
Lily's head whipped around at the sound of Professor Raleigh's voice. He was standing in the doorway and the sight of him sent a shiver down her spine.
Lily glared at him. She had never been very good at hiding her feelings but there was something particular about the Professor that made her feel there was no point in even attempting to.
'I still managed to win though Sir... despite the dangerous situation I was put in' Lily said back in a soft, scathing tone. She could see Scorpius watching her and the Professor nervously, whilst Poppy simply raised an eyebrow at her.
Albus on the other hand, apparently unable to sense the tension between her and Raleigh, stood up and greeted the Professor with a congenial smile.
'It's the first time a Hogwarts student has been in the finals since Albus Dumbledore, isn't it Sir?' He said excitedly.
'And if she wins, it will be the first Hogwarts champion to win in over one hundred years, won't it?'
'Indeed it will' Raleigh said carefully, a faint smile playing on his lips. 'But even Dumbledore didn't manage that. Perhaps because his opponent was too strong'
'But he beat Grindelwald later didn't he Sir?' Albus
'Indeed' The Professor was still staring at Lily even whilst he spoke to Albus.
'Where we fail once we are often able to succeed a second time'
Lily blinked back at him. If he was trying to scare her out of competing, she wouldn't let him. Suddenly she thrust her legs out from under the bed covers, swiveled around and jumped out of bed.
'I'm going to get ready' she declared, heading for her bedchambers.
'I'll speak to you again once I've won Sir'
Lily didn't look back and let the hospital wing door slam behind her on her way out.
'What happened?' Lily asked in a whisper, grabbing Scorpius by the arm as he entered the Hogwarts delegation tent. Poppy stood behind her with her arms folded looking as though she was bursting to know the answer the same question.
'I couldn't find anything that fit the description' Scorpius murmured. He appeared rather dispirited.
'Nothing small? Nothing in a cloth bag?' Poppy demanded.
'Nothing at all like that' Scorpius confirmed gravely.
'So he already gave it to the Professor' Poppy muttered in frustration.
'But what happened?' Lily asked insistently. 'You and Albus were at each other's throats yesterday and now it looks like you're best mates again'
Scorpius looked at his feet and shuffled them awkwardly.
'I could've said the same about you two the other day…' He mumbled avoiding their eyes.
'What happened Malfoy?' Poppy refused to let him change the topic.
'I found something else…' Scorpius admitted reluctantly.
'…and he saw me snooping' he sighed.
'What did you find?' Poppy strode quickly over to stand by Lily's side.
'I can't...' Scorpius murmured. 'It's private...'
'Private?! But she's his sister!' Poppy objected, flailing her arm about to indicate Lily.
'It's got nothing to do with Professor Raleigh or Noirmorter' Scorpius shot back firmly, moving around Poppy to get to the back of the tent.
Poppy let out and aggravated sigh but she let him go. Scorpius looked out of the opening for a moment before beckoning for Lily to come over.
Lily felt the air become steadily colder as she approached and by the time she had arrived it was clear why. The ring was now covered with a thick layer of snow.
Scorpius immediately went back to where his bag lay on the table, opened it up and went about making her a pepper-up potion.
A few moments later, Albus arrived and Lily was surprised to see that he was accompanied by not only Yui and Yuta Kurosawa but also by Timothée Bonaccord and Drew Steward.
She rushed over to thank Timothée for his chivalry but he waved her gratitude away.
'You were about to win before you started sinking. It was only fair.'
'You didn't cast that spell?' Yui asked in surprise.
'Not that I know of...' Timothée replied slowly, an obvious strain of guilt in his voice.
'You couldn't have done it unless some unconscious part of you had really wanted to' Lily said. She had enough experience with unintentional magical usage by now to know that much.
'And I don't believe that any part of you would have wanted to do that' She added firmly.
Timothée gave her an appreciative smile.
'Either way, I'm sorry that it happened and I'm glad you're alive'
'So am I' Lily smiled back ruefully.
'I thought you might be wanting this back' Drew Steward spoke up for the first time, holding out her father's wand to her. 'Your brother told me it was yours'
Lily took the wand from Drew's outstretched palm and looked over to where Albus sat helping Scorpius to ground up roots for the pepper-up potion. He was oddly agreeable all of a sudden and it made Lily even more determined to make sure to put an end to whatever influence Raleigh had over him by winning the duel.
She put the wand into the sheath on her belt, more as a good luck charm rather than with any intention to use it, and walked over to the opening in the tent.
'I'm going out now' Lily announced.
'But the manticore hasn't cried yet!' Yuta spluttered in surprise.
'I need to talk to Ebele' Lily said firmly.
'She's not out there' Poppy protested.
'She'll come when she sees me'
A faint smile found it's way to Lily's lips.
Yui, Yuta, Drew, Timothée, Poppy and Albus all looked back at her with grave expressions, knowing this would be an arduous battle for someone such as Lily who had only just managed to gain control of her own magic. But seeing their concern, Lily felt a swell of gratitude in her chest to have so many people there to cheer her on.
Scorpius hurried over and pushed a goblet of steaming potion into her hand.
'At least drink this first'
Lily nodded. She drank it in one swig and handed him back the goblet. For a brief moment she felt his hand tighten over hers as she did and then she stepped out into the cold.
The crowd broke out into hurried whispers, but Lily focused only on the sound of her own footsteps in the untouched snow.
The manticore began to object in rapid French but Lily continued on. She could see Ebele's dark silhouette moving towards her against the white snow.
Lily beamed.
Ever since she had met Ebele Akingbade, she had somehow known that she could count on her.
They didn't stop walking towards one another until they were within but a few feet of each other. Ebele was grinning back at her.
'What are you up to Lily Potter?' She asked playfully.
'I needed to talk to you'
Lily's face became grave and she lowered her voice, though they were far out of the reach of anyone's earshot.
'I made a deal with someone. A deal which means that it is essential that I win today.'
Ebele's eyes sparkled with curiosity.
'I wont hold anything back' Lily announced firmly.
Her opponent laughed.
'I would be very disappointed in you if you did' She chuckled.
'I need to tell you that I think someone interfered in my duel yesterday' Lily pressed on.
'And they could do it again today. So be careful'
'I'm not afraid if you aren't' Ebele replied with a steely resoluteness that sent Lily's heart beating faster.
'I'm not' Lily held her gaze.
'I also need to ask something' she went on.
'Go on then Lily Potter' Ebele inclined her head slightly, seeming rather intrigued.
The words tumbled out of Lily's mouth with great urgency.
'Did your father bring something to this competition of great value-?'
Ebele looked surprised by her question.
'-something that others might want to ste-?'
But Lily was unable to finish because suddenly the manticore let out a long, fierce cry signaling the beginning of their duel.
She jolted in alarm but Ebele did not raise her palms. Instead the small, dark eyed girl stood very still, considering her question. The crowd began to jeer, demanding that the bout begin.
'Only one thing' Ebele said softly, thinking as she spoke.
'Something your father left behind after the war'
'What?' Lily's voice came out in an urgent whisper.
As Ebele opened her mouth to answer, there was an enormous thundering sound and Lily felt the ground beneath her shift. Her eyes shot downwards to the moving ice below.
It was only when she looked back up at Ebele that she realized that they were now metres apart, the ground having opened up into an icy river that ran between them.
It dawned on her that what they were standing on had not been snow covered earth, but a snow covered frozen lake.
Ebele caught her eyes. The Manticore was trumpeting out angrily and the ice beneath them quaked again.
'Time to fight!' She yelled.
Lily nodded. She raised her palms but Ebele was quicker. Suddenly a gale of wind which lifted the top layer of powdery snow off ground flew upwards and outwards towards Lily, forcing her to shut her eyes against its cold sting.
Ebele is good, she thought as she blinked the frost out of her eyelashes. But she was also now nowhere to be seen.
Lily knew that she must be nearby however and ran as fast as she could back into her half of the arena. There was no use standing around like a sitting duck whilst the blizzard Ebele had transfigured obscured her senses.
In her haste, Lily stumbled and fell. A searing pain shot up her leg. Looking back towards her foot, Lily realized that it had broken through a thin part of the ice and was now encased in freezing water.
She dragged herself out and shuffled quickly away, terrified that the ice around her might crack further.
Lily then held her palms out towards her injured leg and yelled 'Calidaerem!' which had the effect of warming it up with steaming hot air.
She looked around frantically, worried that the commotion had given her position away to Ebele. She was right.
A stream of purple light shot through the blizzard and straight towards her. Lily instinctively lay backwards against the ice and the light skimmed over her, missing her by only a few inches.
She rolled over onto her side, threw her hands out in front of her and screamed out a stinging hex from where she lay on the snow. But Ebele had obviously moved from where she had been when she had sent her spell Lily's way as all she heard was the sound of her hex fizzling away in the distance.
If she couldn't even see her, she would never be able to beat her, Lily thought grimly. She racked her brains for a way to get her opponent out into the open.
Lily thought about heating up the blizzard but she was scared she might dissolve the ice they stood on in the process.
A wild idea hit her and Lily held up her hands again and yelled 'Accio silver thread!'.
For a few moments there was silence and she scolded herself internally for having thought such a crazy plan would work. But then she heard the sound of Ebele crying out in surprise and all of a sudden a thin, silvery thread was wizzing through the air towards her.
Lily grabbed ahold of it and gripped it firmly.
'Immobulus!'
She send a gust of magic out of her palms and along the thin silver line that now connected her with Ebele.
The thread, which had been moving wildly up and down as though it were a fishing line with a catch on the end, suddenly went stiff.
Lily, knowing this might be her only chance to beat her powerful opponent, darted forward towards her using the silver thread as her guide.
But the Uagadou girl was much further away than she had anticipated and by the time she came within her view in the distance, the freezing charm had begun to ware off.
The thread led right up to the embroidered moonlit mountain on Ebele's dueling jersey, which was now only half of the size it used to be, having unraveled at the mercy of Lily's summoning charm. But Lily could now feel the stiffened thread begin to slacken. Ebele was slowly regaining control of her mobility and was gradually lifting her palms again.
Lily sprinted forward, pumping her legs like she had never done so before. She flung her hands out in front of her as she ran and opened her mouth to repeat the freezing charm when suddenly there was a great crashing sound as though a million glasses had shattered all at once and she felt the ice break below her.
She plunged feet first into the icy cold water below her and everything went horrifyingly silent. It seemed as though thousands of cold daggers were piercing her skin and for a quiet, terrifying moment she felt as though her heart had stopped.
But the sight of Ebele's silver embroidered jersey and curly dark hair wafting silently past her to the depths of the icy abyss sent a shock through it that was excruciating in its extremity.
Lily was able to move her limbs, albeit painfully, to keep herself from sinking, but it was instantly obvious to her that the freezing charm she had cast was still preventing Ebele from doing so.
She kicked as hard as she could, maneuvering herself towards her sinking friend. She opened her mouth, letting the freezing water rush in and just managed to choke out the words 'Finite Incantatem!'
Lily felt the spell leave her fingertips in unison with her last breath of air. Her eyes rolled back and her throat tightened painfully as her lungs filled with water.
But as the darkness consumed her, she heard the distant and muffled sound of Ebele's voice.
'Kupanda-!'
Then suddenly her opponents arms were around her waist and they were shooting upwards together towards the icy ceiling above them.
The back of Lily's head, then her shoulders hit the stone-hard surface and a sharp pain shot down her spine. From the muffled scream and the bubbles that left Ebele's tortured mouth, she knew that she must have hit it just as hard.
Exhausted and dizzy from lack of air, Lily pushed feebly at the Ice above her, desperately hoping looking for the hole that they had fallen through. But there was no sign of any opening and the ice was as solid as any of the stone walls in Hogwarts.
Lily's eyes began to droop and her throat tighten as a panic-stricken Ebele attempted to blast the ice away. A flash of golden light flooded out of her open palms only to be sucked up by a dark vail of magic that lined the blockade of ice. For a few moments the vail disappeared, fading away as fast as it had appeared. But upon contact with the blasting hexes that Ebele continued to send it's way, it reappeared again and again.
Lily could no longer keep her eyes open and her chest was weighed down not only by the icy water that filled it but also with despair. Raleigh had trapped them, she thought. He had finally gotten the better of her once and for all and the worst part was that Lily had let him sentence Ebele to her death too.
It's my fault, she thought hopelessly. I let Raleigh know that I suspect him, I challenged him and now we will both die because of it.
She felt Ebele swim up behind her and put her arms under her for support, as the motion in Lily's legs began to slow and she felt herself inching downwards.
Ebele then slid her hands around Lily's wrists and for a moment, Lily thought she was trying to force her to swim. But instead she held them straight upwards and pushed Lily's hands to the surface of the ice with her own. Her fingers spread moving Lily's outwards with them.
Great bubbles of precious air tickled Lily's ears as Ebele yelled something into them.
Lily forced her stinging eyes open and inched her head closer and closer until Ebele's muffled voice took shape in her mind.
'We-are-not-afraid!'
Suddenly Lily felt angrier than she had ever been at herself- not for getting them into this position but for having given up.
She let her eyes travel up until she could see a blurry view of the ice above her and then with all her might she screamed 'Confringo!'
Her hands still pressed firmly over Lily's, Ebele cried out as well.
'Kuharibu!'
Their combined blast tore through the dark vail and exploded the ice upwards into the arena.
Still holding onto one another, the two girls kicked upwards to the surface and gasped for air.
They had destroyed so much of the ice that the edge of it was now some twenty meters away but Ebele quickly pulled an arm up out of the water and froze a pathway for them along it's surface. They scrambled to get on top of it, clinging to each other all the while.
'You need to get rid of the blizzard' Lily finally manage to choke out once she had taken in enough air.
'People need to see what's happening or he might try to kill us… again'
Ebele gave her a sharp questioning look but she wasted no time in calming the storm she had created by lifting her palms to the sky and sending out a clear blue mist that chased away the snow laden clouds.
As she did this Lily went about warming them both with the steaming charm she had used on her leg not moments ago.
The sky was clear and the sun now shone down brightly upon the frosty pathway that ran over the enormous hole at the centre of the lake. Ebele looked back down at where Lily still sat sprawled on the ice.
She lifted out her palms sending Lily flying instantly backwards.
Lily braced herself, waiting for the pain that would accompany another dunking in the freezing lake. But to her surprise Ebele manoeuvred her downwards so that she landed very lightly upon her feet on the opposite end of the walkway.
'Let's finish this' she called out, a familiar twinkle of playfulness in her eyes.
Without sparing a moment, Lily thrust her arms forward.
'Incarcerous!'
But the ropes that appeared around Ebele were burnt to ashes by the powerful girl almost as quickly as Lily had transfigured them.
'Kizimba!' Ebele roared back.
The water on either side of Lily rose up and flew towards her wrists, trapping them in a force as powerful as a whirlpool.
It took Ebele less than a few seconds to close the gap between herself and Lily along the icy pathway. All the while Lily thrashed about trying to get free. Red sparks of magic shot out of her palms in frustration but it was not enough to fend off the powerful binding spell that her opponent had used.
Ebele stopped less than a foot from Lily and lent forward. Her fingers found their way around the end of the white handkerchief that hung from Lily's belt.
The flame-haired, freckled girl swallowed hard. She tried again to force the magic from her fingers but it was not enough to free her.
Ebele paused and looked at her friend with an empathetic expression.
'I know you felt you had to win… but so do I. For Professor Tau's memory… he cannot have died for nothing'
Lily nodded in defeat. Her chest tightened at the realization that she had failed. She understood Ebele's reasoning, but nevertheless she felt tears of frustration spring to her eyes. Winning was the only plan she had for getting Albus out of Raleigh's grip.
'The resurrection stone'
Lily blinked away her tears and looked up at Ebele in confusion.
'That's my father's most valuable possession' the dark eyed girl whispered to her.
Suddenly Lily felt dizzy again.
'But that can't be… my father said he left it in the forbidden forest… and nobody knew, nobody but his family and the portrait of Dumbledore…'
'…and a whole room full of other portraits' Ebele said softly. 'The International Confederation of Wizards could not leave it there once they knew… it is too powerful an item to be left to chance…'
Lily looked deep into Ebele's dark eyes and knew she was telling the truth. Her friend gave her a small, understanding smile before standing upright again, pulling Lily's white handkerchief out in the process. She raised it high above her head.
The water around Lily's wrists fell back down into the lake with a mighty splash and the air was filled with the sound of the manticore's cry.
A/N: Hello lovelies. I had such bad writer's block for this chapter. I must admit that fight scenes are not my strong suit. I'm looking forward to getting back to Hogwarts and back into more relationship/ adventure focused chapters. Please let me know what you thought of this chapter anyway. I might go back one day and try to write it a bit better if I get some good inspiration. As always, thanks for reading and please do review!