A/N: You're welcome.
I got done with this a little early, so I thought I'd surprise everybody and just go ahead and post it.
Now, this may not be the case from now on. But no more horrendously long waiting periods.
I don't own anything. But you already knew that.
Milady's Eyes
By Adia
Chapter 6: The Arrival
In a few days, Lily was walking around her room, and spending most of her time awake. He legs had healed properly, the swelling of most of her body had gone down and color was beginning to return to her face. Not long after that, she was up and about the school, good as new, and taking full advantage of being the only student to have reached Hogwarts thus far.
She spent her days reading in the Gryffindor common room, taking long baths in the prefect bathroom, conversing with the castle ghosts, and doing some long overdo exploring. Although the expansiveness of the castle was admittedly lonely without anyone else to share it with, Lily took the opportunity to become reacquainted with her home away from home.
One afternoon, while perusing the library, Lily noticed that the gate to the restricted section was open.
Her heart caught in her throat.
Lily was fully aware that she was treading on precariously thin ice already. However, the absence of any librarian in the vicinity made her curiosity even more insatiable.
She glanced around her to make sure that Filch wasn't lurking about, and went inside.
Lily had only been inside the restricted section on one occasion prior to this: she had been looking up a concoction for potions class, and a few of the ingredients required a bit of research. However, a few shelves into her search process, she had most unfortunately come across a biting book, which had clipped her hand and sent her yowling to the hospital ward. With this in mind, Lily made sure that she opened all books outwardly and slowly.
Wafting through the stacks, Lily grazed the spines with a delicate index finger.
Most Potente Potions, A Dark Arts Dictionary, The Many Uses for Unicorn…hmmm…
Treacherous Transfiguration?
Lily inquisitively grasped the spine, and pulled the book off its shelf.
After opening it carefully and finding no cause for alarm, Lily sat down on the floor and placed the book in front of her. She pulled out her wand.
"Lumos." she whispered, and illuminated the pages.
As Lily leafed through the text, she read of wizards who had transfigured Gringotts goblins into keys in order to pilfer the contents of vaults. There was an incident in a quidditch game where all brooms were transfigured into arrows, charmed into attacking the referee, and then the spectators, the poor players in tow. She read in horror the account of a dissatisfied patron who, upon entering a robe shop, had impulsively transfigured her less then quality garment into a noose, and hung the tailor.
How on earth is this educational? Lily's prefect instincts wondered.
Turning back the table of contents, Lily's eyes stumbled upon a very peculiar chapter.
Illegal Animagi?
Flipping to the section, Lily began to read of the exploits of evil wizards who had taken full advantage of their unknown double life.
"…Although closely regulated by the Ministry of magic, magical persons have been known, on occasion, to transfigure themselves with the knowledge and/or consent of Ministry officials. This act, of course, helps to separate themselves from their actions. Therefore, crimes committed by unregistered animagi are difficult to prosecute or even to fully understand. This capability can allow a wizard to virtually disappear from society without a trace, while still being able to function within it to some degree…"
Wow.
"…However, the talent, skills, and experience required to make such a transition without the supervision and/or knowledge of a Ministry of Magic official are most difficult to come by. Such instances are far and few between…"
Lily closed the book. But as she set it back on its shelf, she spied a few smudged fingerprints that she hadn't noticed before.
On the evening of Sept. 1st, Lily, dressed in her school robes, and headed into the Great Hall in anticipation of the arrival of the Hogwarts express. Although it felt most awkward to be the only student sitting down to dinner, she greatly looked forward to visiting with all the friends she hadn't seen since the end of last term.
Well, almost all of them.
James and Sirius aside, (whom she had seen since then, anyways) Lily was not especially looking forward to the barrage of Slytherins who would shortly be pouring through the great hall doors. First years notoriously complained of the harassment and taunting many Slytherins of all years subjected them to. However, it was widely unknown that the brunt of most of the torture landed on the prefects, particularly those who were smaller, prettier, and female.
And especially if you were known to cavort with James Potter.
Lily cringed at the thought of the forthcoming inquisition. Although many would find her exploits to be exciting, dangerous, and incredibly un-Lily-like (Or so they thought), some would be a little more concerned with why, exactly, she was willing to take such a risk.
Particularly those who weren't very approving of the reason.
It was these consequences that outweighed and overshadowed the popular benefits.
At the moment, however, this was the least of her concern.
As the ceiling overhead turned deep shades of indigo and purple, Lily began to hear people filing into the castle, voices excited and exuberant, seemingly restoring life to the desolation that had pervaded the space only hours ago.
The doors opened.
Quite to her amusement, not many noticed that Lily had somehow beaten them all to the feast. Instead, the boisterous conversation had drowned the few Gryffindors who were surpised when Lily had not boarded the train at 9 and ¾.
"Lily! What are you doing here?"
"How was your summer?"
"Had some adventures, did we now?"
"Oiy! I heard you were attacked!"
"Attacked? Oh, Lily, are you alright?"
"She's fine."
A playfully gruff voice from behind ruffled her hair and sat beside her at the table, dark eyes shining and hair in boyish disarray.
"She's sitting here listening to all of you, isn't she? "
Sirius grinned.
Although she was happy to see her best friend again, and was fully aware that he had never intended to hurt her, a small part of Lily's brain was still a little angry at what she had been subjected to.
"No thanks to you." She replied plainly.
Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Oh, come now. So it got a little rough. It isn't like that hasn't happened before."
Lily's guilt over her abandonment of the expedition was beginning to wane.
"Think of the millions of times I've risked my bum for you! It was an adventure. You had fun. I had fun. We all had fun. James, you had fun, right?"
Lily turned around.
The tall, willowy boy was standing apprehensively to the side, seemingly unsure of whether to join them or to remain in the plethora of people.
Now that they were in the light, Lily saw that his eyes were very, very blue.
All she could do was stare.
"No, Sirius…a broken leg and sliced up body is not my idea of fun." She replied without looking back.
Sirius groaned.
"Don't be so dramatic. Those things were healed, weren't they? And what are you waiting for? You want food as much as I do. Sit."
Sirius yanked the corner of James' robes. Losing his balance, he stumbled onto the seat next to Lily.
She stared at him for a moment, unsure of what to say or even what to think.
And had he already tried to apologize?
Sirius interrupted her thoughts. "But I must say, milady…that you are a hardly a match for the whomping willow. Nice try, though."
Lily's blood burned with a sudden surge of hatred. "Which, I might add, might not have proven without your arrogance and self-serving impulsiveness."
Lily stood up.
"It is safe to say that I am a bit of a trouble-maker. Which, for your information, I am." She nodded disdainfully to James. "But I am not an idiot. What you did was stupid and hazardous, without question. And if you ever believe for a single second that you can use my supposed perfect character to your advantage ever again, you can kiss your days at Hog warts goodbye."
She turned to James.
"There is a difference between mischief and danger. Learn it."
Lily stormed out of the Great Hall, forgetting all about being hungry and lonely and thinking only of how the apology in the ward couldn't have been anything other then a very vivid dream.
Later, after everyone had gone off to bed, Lily sat up with her books in the company of the Gryffindor common room firelight. Although term had barely started, Lily thought it would behoove her to perhaps get a head start on her studies in a vain attempt to save a bit of face among Hogwarts authority figures.
After all, it wasn't every day a prefect came flying in through a castle window.
Secretly, however, she often found it to be a bit of refuge from the rest of the world. Lost in her notes and her school things, Lily barely had a thought to spare on the incident in the Great Hall. Although at first very upset, Frank Longbottom had brought her up some cocoa and sandwiches from the kitchen and had made her laugh with stories of his horrendous holiday with his batty old grandmother. By the evening, she was so full and focused on her work that she had completely forgotten about anything that had occurred in the last couple of weeks.
Lily had been intently reading her old arithmancy notes and trying desperately to recall all of the summer's lost information when she heard the portrait hole swing open.
Lily froze, listening.
She heard footsteps across the floor, soft at first, then slightly louder as the person entered the common room. Then she heard a low voice above the crackling of the flames.
"Studying, I see…"
Lily closed her eyes. The voice was disheartening.
It was Severus Snape.
"Shouldn't you be getting your rest, instead?"
She had been hoping to avoid this moment.
Figuring it was of little use to give him the physical advantage, Lily rose from her chair and placed her books on the table. She faced the shadows at the doorway.
"Hello, Severus."
A tall, stoic figure, with dark greasy hair, long bony fingers, and eyes like shiny black beetles, dangerous and imploring, stepped into the light. He was the proverbial bishop of the Slytherin chessboard. His robes wafted in the air around him, his aura having an enigmatically sinister feel, as though his intentions were perpetually questionable.
Lily stood her ground.
"You're making it your business to tuck me in at night, now, I presume?"
He continued to stare, eyes searching her face.
"Severus, you're not supposed to be here."
"And if I am…" he replied in soft, silken tones. "What are you going to do…?"
Cold, cheerless eyes gleaming in the firelight, Severus advanced towards her, deliberately slow and intent on his fixation. He stopped, a foot from her face.
She could hear him breathe.
"Hello, Lily." He said softly.
She tried hard to avoid his stare. His slender form cast unusually large shadows against the common room floor.
"Heard there was a bit of an…incident…over the summer. I trust that you are better?"
Without thinking, Lily glanced up.
"Yes, I'm feeling quite well, thank you." She replied, "And I still have all posts of authority originally granted to me." She added quickly, in a vain attempt to avoid further questioning.
He nodded satisfactorily. "As to be expected. After all…" He slowly circled her, and whispered softly in her ear.
"You are certainly the model pupil…aren't you…"
Lily clenched her teeth. "Antagonism is highly unattractive, Severus."
He raised an eyebrow. "Why, certainly. How foolish of me to think that model student Lily Evans would ever set her standards so low. Of course," He took a small step towards her, lowering his voice. "That hardly explains the Potter thing…" He said disdainfully.
Lily's heart skipped a beat. "What Potter thing?"
"Don't play stupid. You know what I mean." He turned to leave, and then stopped.
He slowly spun around.
"Unless…of course… the incident in question has done something to somewhat, shall we say, weaken your feelings."
"I'm sorry, I don't understand."
Snape gave a mirthless laugh. "Ah, yes. Denial." He said softly. "The first psychological stage of loss."
He started again to leave. "However, as I understand…denial eventually leads to acceptance…at which point, perhaps you'd like to take…other options…into consideration."
He walked to edge of the common room, disappearing into the shadows. He eyes still gleamed in the half-light.
"Unless, of course," he added, "you enjoy being the scapegoat of dunderheads."
And with that, Snape swept out of
the portrait hole.
A/N: Ok, here's the deal. In case you aren't a writer, these are hard to write. So morale is constantly a factor. But guess what? YOU can control morale by reviewing and letting me know someone is actually reading this. This took me, working extensively, 5 days to write. It will take you 30 seconds to review. Thank you. :)
