AND I'M BACK AGAIN! I hope you guys are excited for my next story for Houses Comp. It's round 7, and I remain a Ravenclaw Prefect and the Astronomy student, and this is the story to be submitted for my standard. I hope you enjoy it.

The prompt I picked this time is (action) threatening someone. ENJOY!

Trigger warning: small description of character death

Word Count: 1027

Betas: Ash Juillet, Miakoda

As I was heading to the Gryffindor Common Room, I could swear I heard screams. I looked around to see what was going on. Of course, hearing loud noises like that wasn't altogether uncommon at Hogwarts, but the sheer desperation of the person making the sounds was enough to draw me to it. I headed up a flight of stairs, and the screams grew louder.

"No!" a voice whimpered from nearby. Drawing my wand, I continued towards the source. Heart pounding, I crept towards the shout, hoping not to terrify whoever it was.

I entered a room, and what I saw was scarcely believable. There was a little girl, maybe a second year, and her hair covered her face as she hid in a corner.

"Lily?" I asked incredulously. The red-haired girl was cowering from something, whimpering in terror at something only she knew about. Upon seeing me, she seemed to relax a little bit.

"Lucy!" she exclaimed. "I'm so scared!" she stood, running to me and flinging her arms around me in a hug. I was surprised, to say the least. We were cousins, of course, but we'd never been the closest. Being three years older, I spent a lot more time with James and Roxanne.

"Lily, what's happened?" I asked her, pulling her away to face me. "What's the matter?"

"I'm okay," she said, breathing deeply. "I was just scared of the Room of Requirement."

"What scared you there?" I inquired.

"I saw us all dead," she whispered. "Al, Jamie, all of us. I couldn't handle it."

"Do you want to get over that fear?" I asked her seriously, and she nodded. Taking her hand, I said, "Come on, then."

We walked through the corridors to the portrait of Gregory the Smarmy that marked the entrance to the Room of Requirement.

I need to get into the place that scared Lily, I thought. A plain wooden door appeared, and I pushed it open, Lily cowering behind me.

I was surprised as I entered the room. It wasn't really a room.

"Are we in London?" I asked. It looked like a snow-covered park in London. We were right next to a bench that had snow an inch thick all over it.

"Hello, Lucy and Lily," a voice said. I turned around to be confronted by a totally unknown person. His eyes were red-brown, like topaz amber. "I'm glad you came. You can witness the destruction of your family."

"What are you talking about?" I demanded. Lily was cowering into my robes, trying to hide from this strange man. I drew my wand. "What did you do that freaked Lily out so badly?"

In answer, the man gestured around. The area had changed. Well, not really. The snow, bench, and city were still there. The only difference was that there were dead bodies all over. I covered my mouth with my hand to keep from screaming or crying as I recognized every single one. Albus, James, Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry. Near the bench, I saw Mum and Dad with their throats covered in blood. And behind the man was a girl of seventeen…

"Molly…" I breathed in disbelief and despair. That despair quickly turned to anger as I stared at the man with the strange eyes.

"You monster," I growled.

"I'm not perfect," the man said, a sly grin crossing his face. "And neither are you. You have no idea what's in store for your future, do you, Lucy? Pity."

"I'm an idealist. I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on my way. I don't know if the same can be said of you."

"Naturally," the man said accommodatingly, his cruel sneer crossing his face. "But I don't think you can do anything about it." Taking out his own wand, he aimed it at me. "Crucio!"

Instantly, I shoved Lily away from me, careening into the dead body of Albus. I wasn't paying attention though as the curse hit me. It felt like every cell in my body was being set afire and then dropped into acid. My screams pierced the air, but no one was nearby to hear besides the malicious man and Lily.

I was barely aware of being grabbed and forced over to the bench. I barely noticed the wet snow as he tied me down to the cold steel.

"Leave her alone!" Lily exclaimed. She wasn't cowering anymore. Her wand was out. Not that she'd be much good in a fight, I thought wryly somewhere in my panicking brain.

The pain stopped, but another voice pierced my consciousness. A scream. Lily's scream. I looked around as the man tied her to the leg of the bench. I watched as the man drew a knife from his coat pocket.

"Let's start."

He leaned over me, placing the knife at the edge of my lips. All I felt was a slight tugging as the knife cut into my flesh. Savoring my pain, he withdrew. Mistake. I gathered blood and saliva in my mouth, spitting the mixture into the man's face. His face turned livid.

"I think I'll do the little girl first," he said. He leaned down to Lily, who weakly struggled to free herself. I was proud of her for not just letting it happen, though I knew it would do no good.

"No!" I exclaimed. He turned to me. "I'll duel you. Just leave her alone."

But I knew it was over. Before I could do anything, he dragged the blade of his knife across Lily's throat, his topaz eyes watching my reaction. Crimson blood flowed from the cut, and Lily couldn't do anything as she bled to death. I struggled furiously against my bonds, angry tears flowing down my face.

"Too late." The man sneered, turning his attention back to me. "Now for the little girl with the big mouth."

"Glad to know you like me so much," I said grimly.

However, as he advanced, I knew it was the end. He wasn't playing nice anymore. His topaz eyes stared me down as his blade drew closer.

I woke up just as the blade was placed at my own throat.