1 I'm SO sorry this took so
long!*blushes* Please, don't hate me, I tried to make
this a really good chapter. My favorite, in fact!
As always, my beta's (Snowlily and Reine Dansante) are wonderful,
and they both have GREAT stories (if Lily would ever add on to hers-lol, love ya Lils) so go read
them and review. Love y'all tons!
Cheers!
Bella
The Story of Lily
Chapter 13: Revelations
The six friends returned to Hogwarts with heavy hearts. The castle had shrunk
to nearly half its size, due to nervous parents pulling their children out and
therefore postponing their magical education. Even though most people knew that
the only person Lord Voldemort was scared of was Albus
Dumbledore, the Headmaster himself, that still did not
stop them. Hayley, Mary Katherine's best friend, was
one of the unfortunate students to be removed.
Remus, Lily, and Gwen felt responsible for cheering up their friends. James was
no longer the James Lily had known, he was now drawn back, he hardly smiled,
and dark circles underlined his brown eyes.
Sirius, the one to always be the first to joke and lighten situations was now
the last. Lily hadn't heard him laugh or even look happy since Harry Potter's
death. Lily understood his somberness well; Mr. Potter had been his godfather
and adopted father since his own father died.
Mary Katherine was not much better off than her friends. She was miserable,
since Hayley's Muggle parents had shut their daughter
completely off from the magical world and locked her owl up. Mary Katherine
sent her owls secretly as much as she could, and sometimes the owl wouldn't
return for weeks.
Peter now, he was a different story. Lily and the others assumed that all the
deaths had gotten to him, and he was hardly seen except for at meals and
classes. When he did join the group, he was more nervous and jumpy than he had
ever been.
Lily and her friends had just gotten out of Potions class one dreary, snowy day
and were back in Gryffindor tower when Professor McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor
House, burst through the portrait hole. It was quite unusual for their
formidable Transfiguration teacher to be seen in the Tower for any occasion
other than to tell them something important. Silence fell over the crowd almost
instantly. Lily looked up from her History of Magic homework expectantly.
"Students, as a treat to
the school, we are scheduling a spare-of-the-moment," Professor McGonagall
looked quite disapproving at this, "visit to Hogsmeade Village, and for the first and second years, ice cream sundaes will be provided
in the Great Hall, as well as entertainment. That is all."
She climbed rather awkwardly out of the portrait hole, and as soon as it shut
behind her, the Gryffindors began chattering.
"I think this will be good
for everyone, don't you?" Lily asked with a slightly forced smile. Remus and
Gwen nodded emphatically. The others just smiled weakly or grunted.
Lily sighed. The next would be a long day.
~*~*~*~*
"Okay, where to first, mates?" Gwen asked cheerfully.
"What about the Quidditch
supply shop?" Remus asked with pretend excitement.
"Remus," Mary Katherine
sighed, "You don't like the Quidditch shop any more than I do. Want to go to
the bookstore?"
Remus truly smiled and took her hand rather hesitantly. She smiled and Lily's
heart soared. She hadn't seen Mary Katherine truly smile in ages, it seemed.
"Well boys, what about it?" Gwen asked Peter, James, and Sirius. "Are we up to look at brooms or not? I know I am!"
"Sure," Sirius replied, and
smiled with difficulty. Gwen looked truly touched by his efforts, and the two
had one of their infamous eye conversations.
Lily hooked arms with Peter and James. "Let's go then," she said cheerfully.
Peter flinched at her touch and looked like, although his friends didn't see,
he was going through a very fierce internal struggle. "I – I can't," he
stuttered. Then he took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I
promised my mother I would look for some of those Biting Teacups she likes so
much."
Without waiting for a reply, he walked away and disappeared through the crowd.
Lily watched him worriedly and then turned to James. She smiled and took his
hand. "Guess it's just us, then."
He looked down at her, his eyes roaming over her face. "Yeah," he said simply.
"James, please, don't do this! Can't we just-just pretend things are normal?"
Lily begged, a voice in the back of her head telling her how selfish that
sounded. But Lily couldn't help it; it completely unnerved her when James, her
rock, was so distant and uninterested.
He sighed, and Lily saw the first signs of emotions in his usual feelings-free
face. Her heart became warm, and she led him down an alley. "James, I'm sorry.
That sounded really selfish – I'm really sorry. I shouldn't let my own wants
bother you; you're hurting a lot worse than I am." She hung her head.
James gently lifted her chin, his eyes shining. "It's all right, Lily. We'll be
all right, don't worry. I just need some time."
"I'm sorry, you can take
all the time you want," Lily said, burying her face in his shirt. She abruptly
lifted her head up to look at him. "It just bothers me to see you like this –
so sad, and I feel so helpless! Tell me anything I can do to help you,
anything, and I swear I'll do it."
The corners of his mouth tilted up slightly, but then he got a serious
expression on his face. James held Lily to him tightly. "Just don't stop loving
me," he whispered into her dark red hair, "Just don't stop loving me, and I'll
be fine."
"Me too," she whispered
back, tilting her head towards him.
He kissed her as a response, her salty tears running down her cheeks and in his
mouth and hers.
~*~*~*~*
"Lily, Sirius and I are going to get some ice-cream, okay?" Gwen said as she caught up to James and Lily as they exited the alley. She paused at the tear tracks on her best friend's face, but said nothing. They were a common sight on Lily's pale complexion.
"Alright," Lily replied in
barely more than a whisper, clinging to James as if he were her life force.
Well, Gwen thought wryly as she looked at James, he practically is her life
force. "See you later, maybe in the Three Broomsticks for a butter beer." Gwen
said, nodding her head at the two of them as she grabbed Sirius' hand and led
him through the streets filled with Hogwarts students.
She shook her head. How lucky they were to have each other.
~*~*~*~*
"Oh, look, they re-stocked on grips!" Lily said with false eagerness as she dragged her boyfriend to a barrel with rubbery broom-grips. They were designed to slide on the handle for a better hold.
"Yeah," James said, trying to
look interested.
Lily smiled thinly at him and was going to ask him how much he thought they
were, when a loud crack interrupted her. The building began to shake, pieces of
rock and other debris falling from the ceiling. James grabbed Lily's waist and pulled
her down under a table. Screams were heard everywhere, panicked and anguished
screams. The top of the table they were under was getting quite a beating. Lily
jumped when a particularly large rock hit the top of it. She clutched James
tightly, leaning her head against his heart that was beating five times its
normal rate. He held her with the same amount of force.
Finally, the shaking stopped, and silence reigned,
until someone with a high, chilling voice screamed, "Avada Kedavra!" And other voices copied him,
shouting spells.
"Lily," James said,
bringing her face up to look at him. "Whatever you do, don't go out from under
this table. Do you understand?"
Lily became panicked. "James, where are you going?!" she cried as he gently
untangled her arms from around him.
"Lily, I have to fight. I've
been taking sort of junior, I suppose you could say, Auror lessons, and the
first thing I learned is not to stand by when help is needed. Please, promise
me you won't leave. They know about you, about your powers; please." His voice
was strained.
Lily opened her powers up and saw through them. He wasn't lying to keep her
safe; they did know about her. She felt faint, and did not protest when he
jumped out from under the table. He began firing spells, and seemed to stay
near to her.
Well, she thought, after moments in antagonizing suspense, if he is right
there, it wouldn't hurt to peak out. She lifted the fringe of the tablecloth
enough to see out. The whole store was devastated, and bodies were everywhere.
The people who weren't unconscious or – Lily gulped – worse were fighting the
men in black robes, all of whom were wearing some sort of a mask. She
shuddered; they were who were known as Death Eaters, Lord Voldemort's helpers.
Suddenly, someone cried out and Lily felt the table being lifted from above
her. She almost curled up, but ignored that urge and stood up defiantly. She
would fight, right next to James, even if it killed her. She wouldn't hide.
"Master! Master, is that her?!" one of the Death Eaters cried, pointing excitedly at Lily.
"Very good," a voice
praised – the same one who had yelled Avada Kedavra just minutes ago, starting the fight.
It was the most inhuman thing Lily had ever heard. The voice was male, and it
seemed to be made of ice. She felt goosbumps raise on
her arms as a very tall person clothed in black as well, yet radiating power,
came into view. He was, however, not wearing a mask, and his face was the
ugliest thing she had ever seen. It was deathly pale and a white line for lips, and the part of his face that disturbed Lily the most
was that his eyes were slits with dots of red for pupils. "
"Well, Miss Evans, we meet
at last," he said, walking towards her.
James suddenly stepped in front of her, his eyes radiating fury. "Don't touch
her," he said in a deathly calm voice.
"Potter," the man whom
could only be Lord Voldemort spat. "I see. You want to die just like your
father – am I correct? Standing upright and proud, defending his men? Or in this case, his love?"
James clenched his jaw but remained silent.
Taking control of this distraction, while Voldemort began to describe exactly
how Harry Potter died, Lily discreetly pulled her wand and held it ready. "James,"
she whispered so only he could hear, standing in front of her, "keep him going,
I have an idea."
James slightly inclined his head to show he understood. Lily turned her wand
around so the tip was pointing between her elbow and side, meanwhile thanking
whomever was up there watching over her that she was wearing dark clothes.
Lily gathered her magic, feeling very bad that she hadn't researched her other
powers. She was praying that somehow she could make this work. She closed her
eyes and looked at the blue cloud that was her magic. She ordered it to come
out her wand, and she commanded, "Expelliarmus!" firmly in her head.
A blue jet shot out of her wand, and she knew she had been successful. There
was a great bang. Lily turned around in surprise and saw that the spell had
taken out all the men behind her and the wall that was behind them.
Voldemort stopped talking and surveyed the damage without blinking an eye. "Very
good, Miss Evans," he said, his voice dripping with approval and interest.
"Wouldn't you like to do that again?"
Lily stared at him. She had just knocked out a third of his men and he was
asking her to do it again? "Excuse
me?" she said with surprise.
"I asked if you would like
to do that again, Lily. If you came with me, perhaps we could make that blow
even more powerful," he said, advancing on her.
Lily backed up so she was against a cabinet. "No, I really don't want to,
thanks," she said, trying to buy James time so he could escape. But instead, he
was watching her closely.
"But why?" Voldemort asked silkily, fingering his wand with
very white and very long fingers. "We are not that bad, are we, my servants?"
They all muttered in assent. He laughed shortly. Except, it wasn't like any
laugh she had ever heard before; it was more evil sounding than anything.
"Come, Lily. I will make
your dreams come true, and I only ask that you help me a bit in return,"
Voldemort said, reaching out a hand.
Lily looked at it in repulsion. "What, to help you murder people?" she said,
looking at him in disgust.
Voldemort once again laughed his awful laugh. "My dear, whatever put that
thought in your head?"
"Because that's what you do!" Lily exclaimed, shaking with fear. She had the distinct impression that he was toying with her.
"Lily, Lily, Lily," he said, shaking his head. "Come with me, and I will show you that you are indeed wrong."
"No," she refused again, trying to see James around Voldemort's thin body.
"Ah, Mr. Potter." Voldemort
said, turning to look at James, then back to Lily. "My dear, I hoped it wouldn't
come to this," he sighed with mock-\sadness to her. He snapped his fingers, his
demeanor turning abruptly cold.
Lily screamed; James had been surrounded and was being held at wand point. The
Death Eaters had formed a sort of circle around them, Voldemort in the middle
between Lily and James.
"Now, Miss Evans,"
Voldemort said, turning back to Lily, a smile of cruel amusement on his face. "I
have had enough with appealing to you. I should have brought the Staff of
Metrusia, but it needs to be rested. I will be using it plenty when we get
back, you see. Lily, let's get down to business, shall we?" He chuckled, but
the "smile" was soon wiped from his face. "Join me, or Potter junior will be
seeing his daddy shortly!" he spat at Lily, as if daring her to refuse.
Lily turned ghastly white. She didn't care what happened to her, but James
wouldn't die. She wouldn't get him killed just because of her. No way, no how. She straitened, her face still pale, but
set. "Lord Voldemort," she said clearly. "Let James go, and I will go with you."
Voldemort smiled cruelly. "I had hoped you would see it my way. As I have said
before, good people are so very easy to predict."
"Lily, no! I don't matter, it's you! Let them kill me! Let them!" James cried, struggling violently against the Death Eater holding him.
"James, I won't let you die because of me," Lily said, holding her head up high. "Let James go, Voldemort."
"Tom Riddle!" someone roared from behind him. Lily could see quite clearly that Voldemort paled, even though she hadn't thought it was possible. Lily recognized the voice; she looked around and saw her old Professor, Dumbledore, standing with an army of teachers and other adult witches and wizards.
"Dumbledore," Voldemort hissed, regaining his composure and turning around. "Is this it, old man? Do you wish to die now?"
"No one will be dying
today, Tom." Dumbledore said sternly.
Lily was suddenly afraid of her headmaster now. He radiated fury, and Lily
understood now how Voldemort was scared of him.
"Oh yes, someone will," Voldemort said, drawing his wand. "Tie the girl." He commanded to a Death Eater behind Lily. Lily immediately felt her hands tied, her wand at her feet.
"Guess this is the end, hmm, Evans?" a cold voice whispered in her ear. She remembered that voice; it belonged to Lucius Malfoy.
"You!" she hissed.
"Me," he said, chuckling. "Guess
you should have given in to me on that first day in the train?"
Lily was about to say something back, when her head was jerked up. She was
looking right at the bad end of Lord Voldemort's wand. "Dumbledore," he said, not
taking his eyes off Lily. "You do one thing wrong, and I'll blast the Adviser
into dust."
"Tom-" Dumbledore began sternly, before Voldemort cut him off and began the curse that would end Lily's young life.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Lily squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the curse to hit her, and knowing it
was the end. She stood there, all her muscles tense, and when she felt nothing
hit her, she opened her eyes a crack. Was she alive? She certainly felt like
it. She could feel her heart pumping blood, her breath was quick and shallow; she
opened her eyes all the way and looked in astonishment at the floor, where Lord
Voldemort was sprawled, glaring at someone across the floor – James.
"You'll pay for this, boy,"
Voldemort hissed to James. He Disapparated,
his Death Eaters right behind him.
Immediately, Professor McGonagall was standing in front of her, and to Lily's
immense surprise, her Transfiguration teacher was crying. "Lily," she began,
but sobs had taken her over and she had to be led away by Professor Flitwick.
Lily fought her way through the crying crowd that had filtered in and threw
herself at James.
"James," she cried. "I love you, I love you!" she whispered, squeezing him as tight as humanly possible.
"Lily," he breathed. "Lily,
don't you ever do that to me again. Ever, ever. I'm
dying before you. You're going to bury me,
that's the way it will go. That's the only way it will
go, and if somehow it works out that doesn't happen..." he choked, and let her
pull back. He then took her face that was soaked with tears. "I love you," he
said, and kissed her.
They broke the kiss when air became a necessity, and their perfect world of
having each other broke. Then panic settled in. "James, we need to find Gwen
and Sirius! And Peter and Remus and Mary Katherine!" she cried, looking around
wildly. They ran out onto the street and Lily cried out. Hogsmeade was a
smoldering ruin. Bodies lay everywhere in the street,
and people were racing around, white faced and tearful. Lily's heart jolted;
what if one of those bodies belonged to Gwen or Sirius?
She felt a force hit her from behind and she almost threw whomever it was off
until she saw the familiar flash of long black hair.
"Gwen!" she cried, turning around so she could hug her best friend. They held each other for a long time, neither wanting to let go. "Gwen, I was so afraid," Lily whispered into Gwen's hair. "Afraid that one of those bodies was yours…"
"You were afraid?" Gwen whispered back. "You were in there doing God knows what with – with him! Oh Lily," she began crying, and Lily leaned back, looking Gwen in the face.
"But I'm alright," she reminded her gently, "and so are you. Where's Sirius?"
"Lily," a deep male voice
said from behind her. She turned and hugged him tightly as James and Gwen held
each other as well. "I'm never, ever letting you out of my sight again," he
vowed. "Never ever."
Lily smiled with her lips closed and drew back. "I love you, Sirius."
"I love you too, Lily," he said, quite solemn.
Lily drew back, wiping her eyes. "We need to find Mary Katherine and Remus-"
"James! Lily! Gwen! Sirius!"
All four of their heads turned and they saw Mary Katherine and Remus both
fighting through the crowds. Lily gasped as they came into view. They were
covered in black soot and many cuts and bruises adorned their skin.
Mary Katherine leaned over and began having a coughing fit while Remus
collapsed next to her. Immediately the four friends surrounded them, giving
hugs, shedding tears, and thanking their lucky stars.
Sirius stood up suddenly. "We need to find Pete! I thought he was with you!" he
said, rounding on Lily.
She shook her head. "He went to Zonko's. Who knows
how hard it was hit. Look, we can go see if he's there-"
Lily stopped when she felt a pressure on her shoulder, and turned to meet to
grave blue eyes of Headmaster Dumbledore.
"It is good to see that you
are all right," he said, looking at each person in turn. "Please, James, Lily,
if your friends could go look for Mr. Pettigrew, I
might have a word with you?"
Lily nodded, her throat blocked, her eyes stinging from the smoke and the fresh
memories. James slipped his arm around her waist, while Mary Katherine, Remus,
Gwen, and Sirius left to find the missing Marauder.
"I know that you have no
doubt been through a horrific event, and I will not ask for details, at least
not now. But, can either of you tell me," he said sternly, fixing them both
with his piercing gaze, "how Lord Voldemort was pushed to the floor,
effectively saving Lily's life?"
Lily looked down. She had wondered…She didn't see anyone come up from behind
and knock him down…
"I think it was me, sir," James said quietly.
"But James, you were tied
up on the other side of the circle!" Lily exclaimed, looking at him in
astonishment.
Dumbledore looked at James, his face clear of emotion. "As I
thought. I will contact you after the teachers and I have made a
thorough search of the grounds, perhaps tomorrow. I will have Hagrid escort you
to the castle, where Madame Pomfrey can tend to you,"
he said, beckoning Hagrid to him.
"But, Professor, sir, can't we go and look for our friends?" Lily asked, but in spite of her self, she felt her eyes drooping.
"No," Dumbledore said firmly. "No, it is unsafe to be here, probably the most so for you both." He turned to the giant of a man standing behind him. "Hagrid, would you be so kind as to escort Miss Evans and Mr. Potter to the castle? You have permission to use your umbrella for anything, and then might you come down here when they have been dispatched?"
"O' course, Dumbledore, sir," Hagrid said, blowing his large nose loudly. "Yeh can count on me, sir, and I'll be down here quick."
"Thank you, Hagrid, and do
be careful. Lily, James, please rest, and I will see to it that your friends
are told of your whereabouts." Dumbledore said, nodding to the three of them.
Lily's eyes began to droop. "James, I don't…I don't think I can stay awake for
much…long-longer," she yawned.
James lifted her easily and Lily snuggled to his chest and allowed herself to
fall asleep.
~*~*~*~*
Lily awoke to darkness, and she was quite disorientated for a minute, before
she realized she was in her own bed in Gryffindor Tower. She sat up, a bit dazed, and then quickly the memories from the day
came back to her. She sighed and put her face in her hands, squeezing her eyes
shut so maybe they would go away.
James…Her head snapped up. He had saved her! She quickly reached through the
hangings for her wand and found it on the bedside table. Lily whispered "Lumos!" very
softly, and her wand gave of a dim glow, only enough so she could se her way.
Lily crept out of bed and tied her dressing gown on quickly, ignoring her feet
that were slowly changing into blocks of ice because of the cold stone floor.
She walked down the winding tower and came out into the dark Gryffindor Common
room. The fire was very tempting, but she had greater things on her mind. Lily
began walking up the boy's stairs and quickly came upon the door that read "Gryffindor
7th Years" on it.
She eased the door open and shut it quietly behind her. She knew which bed
James' was; it was near the window next to Sirius' bed. As Lily walked passed
Sirius' un-drawn hangings, she thought she could make out two lumps instead of
one, and she smiled.
Lily quietly eased the hangings open. James stirred, then opened his eyes and
spotted her. He quickly put his glasses on and sat up.
"Lils?" he questioned.
Lily nodded, her eyes filling. James immediately stood and held her tightly.
She sniffled quietly, and he stroked her hair, whispering comforting words in
her ear. When she calmed down, he pulled her into his warm bed. She went to
sleep much happier in his arms. It felt so…right.
~*~*~*~*
Lily stared anxiously at her headmaster. Dumbledore was rising in his seat,
about to tell his students how many of their number had been lost. She looked
to James and he squeezed her hand reassuringly and turned to Dumbledore
himself.
"Students," Dumbledore
began, looking at them all gravely. "Yesterday was indeed a terrible day for
each of you. Maybe some more than others." Here he
glanced at the Slytherin table, where Severus Snape
was smirking and looking quite pleased. "The bookstore was set in flames, the
Quidditch supply shop was demolished, and many other buildings suffered other
various damages. As a result of the attack, sixteen Hogwarts students are now
dead." Here he paused as he waited for the gasps to settle down. Lily looked
down the table at a group of fourth year Gryffindors
whom were mourning the loss of one of their friends; Celeste Black was one of
them. Lily looked at the little girl who was not little anymore, who had seen
so many tragedies already - the death of her mother, her father, and stepmother
in the course of eleven years, and recently her guardian and Godfather.
Dumbledore then read off the names of the sixteen students killed, and the
Great Hall submerged in a dead sort of silence. Lily bit her lip and stared at
her plate, tears welling up in her eyes as she couldn't help thinking that the
attack was her fault. If only she hadn't decided to go to Hogsmeade, maybe
those sixteen, innocent students would still be alive…
No, she berated herself. She wouldn't take another guilt trip…she wouldn't do
it. She had friends to reassure her, tell her that it wasn't her fault…
The tears spilled over in tidal waves. Lily buried her face in her napkin,
willing herself to stop crying, but it was useless. Even when Gwen and James
hugged her, the flow didn't stop. If anything, she began to cry harder.
Lily was dimly aware that the student's had been dismissed from dinner because
of the sudden trampling of feet and murmur of voices. Then all was silent.
"Lily," a voice said gently
from behind her. Lily knew it belonged to Dumbledore, so she turned her
tear-stained face towards his kind expression. "Would you and James care to
come to my office for a spot of tea?"
Lily nodded and stood. She received his underlying message and realized that
now was the time to tell him of yesterday's events. James stood with her, his
arm around her shoulders comfortingly. They walked out of the Great Hall and
Lily, her eyes blurred by tears, trusted James to keep her from walking into
something.
The three stopped in front of a stone gargoyle. Dumbledore said,
"Pumpkin Pasty!" clearly to
the statue, and it came to life and leapt aside, revealing a doorway that led
to a staircase that was moving upwards. Lily got onto the stairs and rode up,
taking the time to wipe her eyes, smooth down her clothes, and give herself a
mini pep talk.
They arrived at a landing and Lily, following James and Dumbledore's examples,
stepped off quickly and entered a great oak door into a large, round office.
Lily realized that it was Dumbledore's, and must be where he lived.
"Please," Dumbledore said,
gesturing to the chairs as he took his seat behind his great oak desk, "have a seat."
Lily sat with James on her right and stared at Dumbledore.
He cleared his throat. "Well, I see no need in delaying this any longer. I have
an idea of what happened, but as I said, it is an idea. If you would care to
tell the story from both point of views, I would be
much obliged."
James sat up and took a breath. "Well, sir, it started when we were in the
Quidditch supply shop. There was a great bang, and the building began to shake.
Lily and I dove under a table, and the ceiling began to fall in. When it became
apparent that the danger of being hit by something was over, I got out from
under the table to help fight the Death Eaters." He glanced at Lily, and then
turned back to his headmaster. "I dueled with some, and then, one of them
yelled and lifted the table that Lily was hiding under. Then he – Voldemort,
that is – came forward and I stepped in front of Lily. Then she did something –
Expelliarmus,
I think it was, except it was a lot more powerful than normal. Then he had me
tied up, and he kept asking Lily to join him, to become a Death Eater. When she
kept refusing, he threatened her with my life." He glared at her here, and she
said that she would join him if they let me go. Then you came, sir, and you
know the rest." James looked down at his hands.
"No, James, I'm afraid I
don't," Dumbledore said gently. "Would you care to explain to me how you think
you sent Voldemort to the ground?"
James swallowed. "Sir, I put forth all my feelings for Lily and wished with all
my might that he would fall down. And then, I felt like something had been shot
from my hand, except I couldn't see anything, and the next thing I knew,
Voldemort was on the floor."
Dumbledore nodded slowly, diverting his gaze to his desk. "Well, my theory is
you have just used what is called a Life Appeal. Now, that is a common gift,
and it only comes around once in life. Every magical person is believed to have
it, and even some Muggles. A Life Appeal is when
someone you care very deeply about is in danger of being killed, and basically
what you are doing is negotiating with death. You place forward all of your
love and memories of the person and it saves their life somehow. With magical
people, it is a magical force, but with Muggles,
usually something natural will happen to save someone." He pierced them with
his blue gaze. "Remember, you have to have loved the person you saved more than
life itself. That is saying something, Mr. Potter."
James blushed slightly and Lily smiled at him gently.
"Now, Miss Evans, would you care to explain to me how you managed to do that tremendous Disarming Spell?" Dumbledore asked, turning to Lily.
"Well," Lily began thoughtfully, "I think what I did was go inside myself, look at my magic, and commanded it to go out the end of my wand. Then I said, Expelliarmus and it came out and blasted a hole in the wall."
"The unconscious Death
Eaters you caught were ones Lily had knocked out," James added proudly.
Dumbledore nodded, looking perplexed. "I do not know if Violet ever discovered
that ability…This actually brings me to what I wished to discuss with you, Lily."
He fixed her with his light blue eyes. "Think back, Lily. Do you remember after
I came to see you, before your third year? How Violet suddenly spent a lot of
time in her lab in your basement?"
Lily closed her eyes, feeling tears prick at them. She remembered one time
quite clearly:
Twelve-year-old Lily walked down the
creaky stairs into her basement. She walked around a corner and into her aunt's
workspace. Violet was leaning over something intently, her blond hair pulled
away from her face and a white coat on, making her look quite professional.
"Aunt Violet?" Lily asked timidly.
Violet's head shot up, and when she saw her niece, she smiled wearily. "Hello, Lily, dear." Her voice was limp and tired. Violet
immediately looked back down at whatever it was and began scribbling with a
Muggle pencil.
Lily cautiously approached, not wanting to disturb her, but curious as to what
was consuming most of her aunt's day recently. "Aunt Violet, I don't mean to be
– erm, well-rude or anything, but could you
maybe tell me what your doing?"
Violet looked up again, her eyes sad. "I suppose I should, as you have been…blessed…with
the same thing I have." She removed her reading glasses and rubbed her
forehead. She gestured to a stool and Lily sat down in it with excitement, glad
for her aunt's attention.
"Lily…you do remember the Staff of Metrusia? How it
controls us Advisers?"
Lily nodded, of course she did. Dumbledore's visit was still fresh in her mind.
"He is believed to have the Staff of Metrusia", Dumbledore had said…
"Well, I am working on a potion that I hope will
free Advisers from its power for a time…I am not certain how long."
Lily's eyes became large. "Wow, that's really important!"
Violet smiled, her eyes lighting up in amusement, if briefly. "I know, it is. Now come here, darling, and tell me about
your day…"
Lily opened her eyes and sniffled a
bit. "Yes," she answered Dumbledore, pulling herself with an effort back to the
present.
"And how the Staff didn't work on your aunt when Lord Voldemort came?" Dumbledore prompted gently.
"Yes," Lily said, her voice wobbling.
"That means the potion she
made was successful. But, we haven't been able to find her papers…" Dumbledore
massaged his temples. "We have not had the time to search the Wellington House,
your current residence, thoroughly. Lily, for your own safety, we must find
those papers…we must. I don't know if you have considered this, but do you know
what you wish to become once you've graduated from Hogwarts?"
Lily blinked. "Er," she said, trying to conceal her
true feelings. In reality, she hadn't even considered… "Well, sir," she
answered finally, "I suppose I will take anything I can get, just as long as I'm
helping in the fight against Voldemort."
Dumbledore chuckled a bit. "My dear, I doubt you will have trouble finding a
job; a position in the Ministry is a definite…However, the Minister will
require your assistance frequently, whether you take a job in the Ministry or
not."
Lily nodded. She looked over at James, who was staring at her as if
contemplating something. She knitted her brows together and he snapped out of
his trance.
"Well, Lily, James,"
Dumbledore said, standing, "you have been most informative. I hope I have
cleared up some things, as you have done for me." Lily and James stood as well.
"Lily, I suggest we begin searching as soon as possible. You won't be going
back home until the summer, so perhaps your friends can help you. It will not
be easy, as I have checked the more obvious places." He sighed. "Please, you
may go." He smiled thinly and opened the door for them. Lily and James got onto
the staircase together, Lily's head on his shoulder. She had a lot to think
about.
~*~*~*~*
Review, PLEASE, my darlings!
Bells
