Chapter Three: Through the Looking Glass

"Teach you to kill?"

"That's right," Lilin was sure her hands had begun shaking, and if they hadn't, they probably should have. Her nerve had failed her, finally, with one cursory glance from Lucius she had fallen apart inside. And that was why she continued. If she only held on for a few more moments she would never again loose her nerve. If she could only survive through this, it was clear sailing ahead, "If I am to serve the Dark Lord, I will do it properly."

Lucius raised one slender eyebrow in reply while his eyes stayed masked in ice.

"Very well," He said softly, rising slowly from his chair, "However, you are aware learning a complicated spell such as that will take longer than you have here."

"Yes, but I can use the portkey."

"Don't be stupid girl!" His sudden outburst shocked Lilin past her limit. Her hands started shaking and she couldn't stop them, "That portkey should not be taken lightly, will not be taken lightly. Draco will become suspicious if it is used too often. The boy may be daft, but he isn't stupid."

Lilin was at a loss. She hadn't expected Lucius to turn her down, she hadn't thought of an escape if he had. If his eyes weren't so captivating, if he had broken eye contact she would have tried to find some escape, but he held her attention without effort.

"I am pleased you show such dedication, as will Lord Voldemort," Lucius started softly, moving around his desk and leading her toward the door, "However, you must understand your position. You will not be required to kill anyone; it will be left to the more experienced."

Despite her disagreement with Lucius she found herself nodding her head while he ushered her out of the room. There was simply no way she could defy such a powerful individual, regardless of her determination or resolve. She would live the rest of her life in fear and pain, timid and unspeaking.

"That, of course, does not make you obsolete. Your job is just as, if not more important than that of the Deatheaters. Without your intervention Hogwarts would be impossible to penetrate. If you complete this task successfully you will indefinitely rise within the ranks of the Dark Lord. You must be patient, Lilin, fear and terror is a seed not easily sown."

With those words he gently closed the door on her, leaving her in a stunned silence crushed by the weight of the stillness in the hall. For long minuets she stood outside the door, mulling over Lucius' words; then turned and headed, defeated, back to the elevator.

*

The day after she awoke early to find her trunk packed and waiting patiently for her at the foot of her bed; as usual a tray of food had been left for her, she ignored it. While she packed her small backpack she checked carefully over her belongings, the only she had bought with her. She only had one change of clothes which were washed every night, a small change purse currently empty, a wand, a tattered book whose title had been completely rubbed off and lost forever to her and the portkey Lucius had given her. The thought of house elves rummaging through her things, which she was sure they did otherwise they would never find her clothing, unnerved her slightly. She checked again for anything missing.

Once she was content she left the room, leaving the heavy trunk to whatever house elf or servant happened across it. In the lobby Draco was found sitting patiently atop his own trunk whistling an unknown melody and cleaning his fingernails with a nail file. Had he not already been dressed in his school robes she would have mistaken him for a girl.

"Where's your trunk?" He asked, frowning at her, as usual.

            Lilin shrugged

            "You might need it," He continued, increasingly disinterested.

            They fell into silence and Draco continued filing his nails in silence.

            "You seem to have forgotten your trunk Lilin." Lilin glanced up at the huge staircase where Lucius stood; behind him a house elf effortlessly levitated her heavy trunk.

            "Finally, we'll be late," Draco cut in, standing up and hoisting his trunk into his arms.

            "We will be taking the car," Lucius ignored Draco to speak directly to her, "Unless we're to be noticed by the Muggles."

Lilin nodded and waited for both Lucius and the house elf to exit the vast front doors of the Malfoy Mansion. The Mansion's driveway ended with a cul-de-sac before reaching the front door. In the middle of the driveway roundabout was a grand statue, presumably of the founders of the Malfoy family line, as they had the same pointed features of Lucius and Draco. Waiting just outside the door was a sleek black car which Draco was roughly shoving his trunk into. He managed eventually, heaving with exertion, and threw himself moodily into the passengers seat at the front of the car.

Lilin's trunk was levitated easily into the trunk of the car, and she slid onto the cool leather seat behind Draco. She hadn't expected Lucius to be able to drive a car. Most of the anti-muggle wizards in Australia wouldn't have touched such a filthy useless muggle artefact, let alone learn how to use one. Then again, English wizards had such bizarre means of transportation; it was no wonder Lucius could drive a car.

The Malfoy mansion was far from any muggle city, and the trip to London was long and tiresome. By the time they reached Kings Cross station, they barely had half an hour to make it to the train. From her backpack Lilin extracted her ticket (which had been rather crumpled since given to her) and read it carefully.

"Platform nine and three quarters?" She said softly to herself, perplexed.

"All you have to do," Lucius explained, wheeling their luggage cart up to the divider of platforms nine and ten, "is walk through here without muggles noticing.

Lilin watched carefully as Draco casually walked up to the divider and strolled through. No muggles noticed, and before Lilin could gather her thoughts, Lucius was guiding her through the divider with his hand placed firmly on her back.

She stepped out on the other side to find an old fashioned steam train, with Hogwarts Express plastered on its side, puffing steam and whistling loudly. The platform was packed with students laughing and mothers crying, with the sound of owls screeching and cats hissing, and the whine of the train which overpowered them all. The platform was so fully of steaming, sweaty emotion Lilin felt smothered, especially as they began picking their way through the throng of people to the train.

As Draco began loading their trunks onto the train Lucius pulled her away from the mass of people gathered around the train, and handed her a thick scroll.

"These are instructions on where to place the portkeys," He said in a voice so soft and hurried she could barely hear him, "And when the rest will arrive."

Lilin nodded determinately, staring once more into his steely grey eyes, trying to swallow her fear and apprehension as she imagined he might have once many years ago.

"Remember," He finished, as the train screamed loudly, announcing it would be leaving shortly, "do not use the portkey foolishly."

He pushed softly into the, now moving crowd and she was bustled onto the train. For a long time after the train left the halls between compartments were packed with students. Students socialising, students greeting each other, lost students, scared students, students with authority who desperately tried to give some order to the loud and increasingly annoying students.

Desperate to escape from the packed halls, Lilin slid into the closest compartment, closing the door with a bang. She blushed slightly as the inhabitants of the compartment stopped the conversation to stare in astonishment at her.

"Hello," On of them ventured, a girl with bright eyes and bushy hair, who had several books piled in her lap.

"Hi," Lilin croaked, looking back at the door, and the amount of people she imagined outside of it, "Do you mind if I sit in here, just until the crowd dies down?"

Their reactions were decidedly delayed, but eventually the girl spoke again

"Of course," She said nicely, patting the empty seat next to her, "What accent is that?"

The question caught Lilin off guard; considering she was hearing English accents since her arrival she hadn't once thought her accent might sound any different

"Australian," She answered at length

"Wow, Australia, I've read so much about Australian wizards but I've never met one." If it was at all possible, the girls eyes lit up even more, excitement etched into her features,

"I'm Hermione," She held her hand out, and Lilin shook it tentatively,

"And this is Ron Wesley," She gestured to the boy across from her with bright red hair and freckles dotting his nose. He inclined his head moodily, his eyes flicking to Hermione in the process.

"And Harry Potter," Lilin's heart lit up like fire in her chest at the mention of Harry Fucking Potter as Draco so graciously put it. It was just her luck to find the one compartment with Draco's arch enemy in it. She was tempted to just walk out now, save herself the trouble of Draco finding her and losing his temper completely. Yet she found herself surveying Harry closely, curious as anything to meet the quite famous Boy Who Lived. He was rather gangly, as if he was underfed, and his hair was rather messy, like he had woken up and forgotten to brush it. He hardly looked like the picturesque hero the Australian media portrayed him as, in fact, he looked relatively normal.

"Nice to meet you," Harry said, nervously flattening down his fringe

"So how long have you been in England?" Hermione asked, distracting Lilin from her appraisal of Harry

"A few weeks," Lilin replied nonchalantly, her eyes drifting from Harry back to Hermione

"Have you moved her permanently, or are you with an exchange program?"

"I'm on exchange; I'm here only for a year. You know a chance to study in a different country."

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"So you've already finished school in Australia?"

"Yes, last year."

"This is so exciting," Hermione exclaimed, "There's so much I'd like to ask you about Australia, especially about dreamtime magic. It sounds so fascinating."

"I took a class on it at school; it's not quite as interesting as they make it sound in books."

"Oh but it's so different from magic over here,"

"Not necessarily, when wizards from Britain immigrated to Australia a lot of the native people were killed, and a lot of the magic lost. Apparently wizards held the same prejudices as muggles." Lilin was quickly losing interest in Hermione's questions. She was beginning to sound like her Dreamtime teacher.

"Oh," Hermione said slowly, "well it all sounds so fascinating."

 Their conversation drifted off into an uncomfortable silence in which Ron shifted annoyingly in his seat and Harry whistled absentmindedly. After a moment the noise outside died down and Lilin thought it time she find Draco. She was about to get up when the door to the compartment flew open to reveal Draco, wearing a most unpleasant look on his face, and flanked by two burley stupid, gorilla looking boys, who scowled threateningly at her and the other occupants of the compartment.

"Well, well, well look what we have here." Draco's eyes swept over the tiny room which seemed to Lilin to be getting tinier by the second, "Scar head and his band of merry men." His eyes finally landed on Lilin, boring into her like icicles.

"And you," His lip raised slightly on one side, giving him the overall appearance of a dog bearing its shackles, "What did I tell you about Potter here?"

Lilin didn't answer, only stood to her feet, still staring defiantly at Draco

"I asked you a question,"

"I will answer to your father," Lilin growled softly, "But I will not answer to the likes of you."

"Fine," Draco muttered, backing out of the compartment, closely followed by Lilin, "But don't expect me to come running when Dumbledore has you trapped like a rat."

"You wouldn't dare defy Lord Voldemort," Lilin said, softer still, her face only inches from Draco's, "Lest you wish to be squashed like a bug." She clamped her hand together, mimicking her words.

Draco sneered in an annoying fashion, but Lilin could tell she had caught him there. He didn't bother replying, instead beckoning to his henchmen, and strolling defiantly toward the end of the carriage.

Hermione, Ron and Harry all stuck their heads out of the compartment and stared at her in confused amazement.

"What was that about?"

Lilin ran her eyes over the trio once more before muttering:

"It's nothing," and stalking off after Draco.

Draco may have been the most egocentric spoilt brat Lilin had ever met, but she needed him and he was obliged to help her. She didn't want to make the rift between them any larger by staying with Harry Potter. She found Draco in the last carriage, staring moodily out of a darkening window, while his two friends looked on in their half witted concerned.

"Look who's come crawling back," He drawled when she sat down next to him, "I thought you were too high an mighty to grace us with your presence."

"You're lucky," Lilin said, in the same sarcastic ridden tone as him. He glared at her and returned to his sulking.

The remainder of the trip was doused in silence, which was only ruptured by a plump lady with a trolley from which Lilin bought copious amounts of snacks to hopefully cure her boredom.  The sweets, however, entertained her for only a short time, and she handed most of them over to the two trolls opposite her, who downed them greedily and noisily. Eventually they fell asleep, snoring like horses, and Lilin was reduced to re-reading the worn and faded book in her backpack.

The story was called 'Through the Looking Glass.' It was a popular muggle story about a girl who dreams about going through a mirror into a fantasy world. Lilin had read the story so many times she could almost recite it word for word. However, it never ceased to amaze her.

Cain's eyes were shining as bright as two black suns as he held his wand to Lilin's throat. She was inclined to scream, but she knew it would be to no avail. There was no-one around for miles, Cain also knew this, and a large smirk marred his features.

"There's no use screaming my little rabbit," He chuckled, backing her up against the cracking wooden wall, "They'll never hear you."

Lilin's breathing came in short gasps, and her hands trembled by her side, she wouldn't give Cain the satisfaction of screaming. She wouldn't show her fear; she wouldn't give him that pleasure.

"Plus," Cain continued, obviously sensing her fear, and dragging the moment on for as long as possible, "I'll reverse the spell as soon as I'm happy with the results."

Lilin let her eyes dart around the room, desperate for an escape, a distraction, something to take her place, perhaps. There was nothing in the suddenly barren looking living room, nothing that could possibly be used as a test bunny. She was the only living thing in the whole vicinity; there was no escape for her.

"It's for a greater good, you know, the development of hexes and jinxes are a revered practice." Cain let his attention wander for a moment, his wand running up Lilin's jugular to rest just below her chin. She had a fleeting chance to escape, but his attention had returned before her brain could formulate a plan, "In some countries," Cain sneered, "Unfortunately, not this one. But no one will ever know will they?"

Sensing Cain's growing anticipation, Lilin sought her one escape. She closed her eyes tight and imagined herself sinking into a mirror, into a world where there was no Cain, in her wonderland, just like Alice had done. And she felt no pain, only watched on in mild amusement as her hexed body slumped to the floor and Cain began taking notes on a long roll of parchment.