Royalty, eh?

Disclaimer: I don't own the canon characters, obviously. Though I do own their new personality.

I want to apologize for not updating for three months. My guilty conscious has been growing and I am having a hard time forgiving myself. It was true that this story had fallen from my priorities and my time was taken by school, sports, and clubs. I have to also note that since this story has a smaller audience compared to others, this one had fallen in an even lower priority.

Before this starts, I would like to thank Calire, she took tigerlily's place in beta-ing this fic, and of course, thanks to my other betas too!!!

~*~*~

Chapter Nine: World of Swirls

Ooh! There's one bunny hopping across the lawn. And there is Betsy sweeping them away . . . or rather, whacking them away. Maybe that's what "Whack-a-mole" is. The bunnies don't deserve this treatment. I can't believe Bella, Ariel, and Mandy think it's funny. Hmmm, maybe Lucius Malfoy deserves this. It would be funny to see Betsy whacking his perfect blond hair with her broom. The hard bristles must be great for brushing his hair! No, no, Lily. This is horribly mean. Mother and Father won't approve . . .

Aiieee! What is that icky scent? And WHY DO I FEEL LIKE I JUST CHOKED ON GRASS?

"Miss Evans?"

"Lily?"

"Lady Lily?"

The scene of the front lawn disappeared and a blinding light replaced the colorful image. It seemed like I was staring at a light bulb only my eyes were closed. Then I felt someone or something shaking me. After a few moments, my brain processed this. Light bulbs are not supposed to do that.

*SLAP*

"Geez, Lily! I can see your eyeballs moving. WAKE UP!" Mandy whined. So she was the one shaking me . . . as well as the person that smacked me. Even through my dizziness, I could feel the stinging and the blood flowing to my right cheek. "It shouldn't be that hard. You just use your muscle to open your eyelids."

"You're not very good at pretending, you know. Though maybe your eyelid muscles are tired and that's why they won't function," Bella added. I begrudgingly opened my eyes, and immediately they wanted to close again. The light was painful, so I opened one eyelid at a time. It turned out not to be too successful, considering that every time I opened one eye, the other eye would close. The faces of the people around were a blur. Either my eyes weren't actually open, or they were open, just not focused. The only way for me to tell who was speaking was judging by their voices.

"Are you all right, your highness?" asked an unknown voice. Um no actually, seeing as I have not awoken from the nightmare yet, uh, nope, definitely not. My mind went blank and I felt my head spin again. The picture of my lawn was swirling right back in place. Bunnies…

"Oh no, Miss Evans. I am not letting you go unconscious again!" A sour and stinging aroma filled my nose. Choke, gasp, ick. Feels like I choked on grass again.

"Yuck! What is that?" I asked, appalled at the odor. Now I was finally 100% awake.

There were six people hovering over my bed: Professor Dumbledore, Madame Pomfrey, Bella, Mandy, and two of the strangers from my so-called dream.

"Oh, it's just a draught to bring people back to their senses," Madame Pomfrey answered as she walked back to her office to put the vial away, a satisfied smile lingering on her face.

            I turned to look at everyone around my bed. One of the strangers was actually a ghost. Hm . . . She's dressed in Medieval or Renaissance garb – I should have paid more attention when my history teacher was showing us the fashion styles of each historic time period. I never thought knowing that would be useful, and now, I really wish I remembered. What era was the Elizabethan time? I know it was the golden age of England, but was it Medieval or Renaissance? Just as I was about to wander completely off the path of my current situation, Professor Dumbledore's voice cut through my thoughts.

            "How are you feeling, Miss Evans?" the professor inquired kindly. I merely nodded my head since I was still immersed in my thoughts about Elizabethan fashion.

            "Are you sure she's all right?" I heard Mandy ask Madame Pomfrey. "I mean, she fell off her broomstick fifty yards from the air!"

            I sighed and reluctantly opened my mouth to speak.

            "I am conscious you know," I said sounding like a child begging to be allowed five more minutes to play before going to bed. "But thanks for your concern. I'm all right, aside smelling that strange odor of Madame Pomfrey's." Professor Dumbledore laughed at my comment while the other adults merely smiled politely.

            "I presume you would be able to withstand a conversation with these two?" the headmaster asked pointing to the strangers, a ghost and two solid real humans, one of which was Miss Simpleri, the DADA professor's assistant. I muttered greetings to them as a group. Professor Dumbledore took my greeting as an agreement to speak with the strangers and ushered Mandy and Bella out.

            "Hello, Miss Evans," Miss Simpleri said in her usual happy manner. "This is the Grey Lady, the Ravenclaw ghost, and this man is Alfred Brady. He is a historian of the House of Andelora." I repeated my greeting once again only with their proper names.

            "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Lady Lily," Mr. Brady replied back with a formal smile. Why do everyone act so stiff around me? I'm just a normal girl . . . with a father that happens to be the Duke of York.

            "Lovely to meet you, Lady Lily," The Grey Lady replied with a greeting as well. Sensing some sort of tension, Miss Simpleri decided to move the conversation by herself. Otherwise, I am sure we'd be still saying greetings ten minutes later.

            "Well, I am sure you are curious why we called you 'your highness' earlier." I nodded my head and waited to hear an explanation.

            "I am truly sorry I startled you," Mr. Brady began. "I have always been interested in the House of Andelora – "

            "House of Andelora?" I asked, without waiting for him to finish. Interrupting is rude, but my head hurt enough to excuse that. Being confused is enough to make one get a pounding headache. Not knowing what the conversation would be about is even worse.

            "Sorry, Lady. I will explain…" He cleared his throat as if to prepare for a long speech, which I sensed it was going to be.

"The House of Andelora ruled Scotland, the magical part of Scotland, nearly 1000 years ago. The kings and queens of the house funded the construction of Hogwarts. In fact, Hogwarts was originally built for the use of the Andeloras. When King Geoffrey, the king at the time, realized the castle didn't really have a use, he gave the piece of architecture to Sirs Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin, and Ladies Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw. The family is known for its great magical powers and vast collections of magical artifacts. The family crest features a unicorn. And I have a miniature crest here."

            The artifact had a normal looking family crest. That was what I thought before I noticed the unicorn blinking at me. I brought my hand to it and the unicorn's mane blew in the wind, and his horn felt almost real against my palm.

            I gasped. "Is it really there…?"

            "Yes, legends say the unicorn was a real unicorn that volunteered to be charmed into the crest. And when an heir of the house is requesting it, the animal will come to aid him or her," Mr. Brady explained.

            "Does that mean . . . well, that does mean . . . so I am the heir to the House of Andelora?" I asked. Great. First I am the daughter of the Duke of York and now I am the heir to a magical family. Bloody lineage.

            "Yes it does, deary," Ms. Grey Lady said kindly. And where do you come in? I didn't ask that aloud, but the ghost probably noticed my expression as I thought that. "I was one of the Ladies in waiting to the House of Andelora."

            "Even though you're dead?" I asked aloud, only to blush at how rude I sounded.

            "Oh yes, I did serve the family until the end of their reign… And I have been taking care of the family's treasures since their downfall."

            "Downfall? What happened? If they were the most powerful, why did their reign end? Well, horrible ruling skills could be a possibility, but it seems as if everyone actually liked them…"

            "The people did like them, your highness; however, a rising dark lord did not. He cursed the heir then with early death and he made sure the rest of the Andeloras would suffer as well. Every certain generation, there will be an early death. A way to calculate 'who is next' has not been found, but we are close to finding out. Mr. Brady has dedicated his life to researching the downfall of the House of Andelora."

            "Oh." That was all I could think of to say. A great family, one that I am related to, was brought to its downfall by a curse. No wonder why no one told me of this sooner. But why now? And I asked.

            "There is evidence of another rising dark lord. Grindlewald, the last wizard to be named a dark lord, nearly had access to the curse. At the time, to save the heirs meant sending them off to the Muggle world to hide; however, it was too late when the plan was executed. The only living descendent was Calla Andelora – the youngest of that generation of Andeloras. To help with keeping her true identity a secret, her name was changed into Lily Calla.

            "That's my great-grandmother!" I shouted, bolting upright. "Does that mean that I am the direct heir?"

Mr. Brady nodded his head. "So why did I have the title 'your highness'?"

            "Your family's reign may be long over, but the people of the wizarding society still believe in the family's legitimacy to at least represent them if not govern Scotland," Grey Lady replied. "You still are a princess among many of the people."

            "How do you know I am who you really are? No one ever told me about this part of my family history. As far as I knew, I was all Muggle," I reasoned, or rather complained while in denial. Most people probably would love to have this title, but for me… Why couldn't I be normal??

            "I know this is really difficult for you to comprehend right now," Miss Simpleri began finally vocally apart of the conversation again. The unicorn, sensing my doubt, seemed to come out of the painting to snuggle in my hand. "Please do not doubt your heritage. The acceptance of that unicorn cannot be disregarded – "

            "There are people who are friendly with animals you know," I interjected once again. Gee, I think I am becoming too rude about this whole ordeal. Humph, a person's brain can only deal with so much . . . and I am really enjoying denial!

            "Of course there are, Miss Evans," Miss Simpleri countered. "However, you probably have the crystal wand of the Andeloras." So how did they know about this??

            "Um, you mean the glassy wand with some hair through it??"

            "Yes, and it hurt when they pulled off my tail!" The voice did not belong to any person in the room. I looked at the people in the painting and all of them seemed to be in their own little world. The Unicorn on my hand decided to nuzzle me again. Could it be the unicorn that said it? Realization hit with a force that helped my strength too much. I jumped and fell off the hospital bed.

            "What is going on?" Madame Pomfrey's voice came, breaking into my blank mind. I saw her glaring at me, then at my group of visitors. Professor Dumbledore had come as well. Seeing the nurse about to fetch her Equipment again, I jumped up.

            "I'm fine. Perfectly fine! I was just surprised, that's all. I just never expected…" Wait, I don't want to tell them about the unicorn. "Er, I never expected that I'd be royalty. I mean, not many girls are, but then again, how many girls are unaware of their father's profession? Really, I'm fine, in excellent shape, top notch, fully conscious. I think my IQ might have gone up a bit!" I think I might have been toeing the line of hysteria. Maybe it was an exaggeration, but I didn't want the reality to sink in. The headmaster turned his sparkling eyes towards me then, like Madame Pomfrey, he looked at my visitors.

            "I presume she didn't take the news very well?" Before anyone could answer, I jumped to my defense.

            "Oh no! I am not over-reacting, believe me, Professor." Putting on what I hoped was a nonchalant smile, I secretly wished for the conversation to move on. As far as I could tell, there was nothing that affected me beside the new knowledge of my heritage – one that I didn't really want to know anyhow.

            "I am not certain where the conversation is at currently, but Miss Evans still has class and I believe Miss Simpleri is expected at that class as well."

            Oh right, Defense Against Dark Arts. I don't want any lessons today.

            "Oh yes," Mr. Brady exclaimed, "Well Lady Lily, or your highness, or . . ."

            "I don't mean to interrupt, but please call me Lily. You don't want to call me by my full titles, probably." That made Mr. Brady even more nervous. He had been like that before, but I supposed Professor Dumbledore's presence was intimidating.

            "Er, er, er, right. The reason you need to know this is, er, because your safety is currently . . . rather . . . an issue. The rising dark lord does not wish well for people of the famous family. Your identity must be kept secret."

            "Okay, I just won't tell my friends and I'll forget about what you've said," I replied hopefully. Maybe I won't need to act on this role, maybe I still have my former life, please, can I have my former life?

            After my comment, everyone seemed to be at a rush to leave. If I didn't know any better, it seemed like I was the repulsive thing they were getting away from. Last minute instructions were thrown at me in various directions.

            "Don't use the Andelora wand; when the time is right, you may use it!" And of course, my response was a deer-in-the-headlights nod.

            "Remember, don't tell anyone!"

            "Goodbye!"

            The last comment wasn't really an instruction, but I responded to it like it was.

After falling from the sky on my broomstick from 50 feet, I then had the wonderful chance to learn more about myself, that in fact instead of being a Duke's daughter, I am actually a princess, and DADA was next. It'd been a simply perfect day . . . NOT!

~*~*~

            Mandy and Bella had already been ushered to go to their next class, meaning I walked to DADA by myself. Sometime solitude is good, but when a person has just found out their title is added with a royal spark, quietness is horrible. The mind wanders and too many questions are popped out.

            I sighed and exhaled. How am I going to get my questions answered? Everyone tells me to keep my identity a secret, but what about those who knew my great-grandmother? Mrs. Potter seemed like she knew about my family. If she knew about my account at Gringotts, then shouldn't she know about my heritage as well?

            The walk to the classroom felt longer than ever. Though that might have been due to the fact that I had walked past the door and had to walk back. The extra time didn't really help my wandering mind. I really don't want class today, and the fates hate me; I have History of Magic today too – more time to ponder and get a bigger migraine.

~*~ finis for now ~*~

Yay!!! It's done. Now I get to move on. Goody. But that will probably take another months or so. I am trying REALLY hard to make this story better.

As for thank yous – I kinda forgot where I was so yeah . . . I just picked a place to begin:

Musicizbest: Thank you! And of course Lily had a sheltered life – she was stuck on her estate for so long. ^^

Night-'n'-day: Well, hopefully this chapter answered your question about the wand! It has importance, I just don't know for certain its entire significance.

Mige: VERY sorry. I suppose ff.net had messed up the format when I uploaded. Well, it is fixed now! Sorry it hurt you eyes.

Tigerlily: Thanks for the reminder about the format! And hopefully life has been easier on you now!

Dog Stars Crush: Wow, you took the time to read all of it??? Yay! I feel so special now. Sniff.

Scarlett*eyes: Thanks! I really liked your story as well. All cute and fluffy . . . I don't think this fic will be fluffy anytime soon.

Shadow Dagger: Ah yeah, my confused reader. I apologize once again about that. *blushing quite red – looking like a lobster* And thanks for the luck – I'll definitely need it.

Silver10fire: Uh . . . notepad won't save? Okay, but I am happy nonetheless. You like it (my story)!

Mystic Queen: Well, is three months soon?? Probably not.

Lils: Thanks. I am actually a really bad joke teller person. The owl flying into the window would be something I'd do if I were an owl.

Tigra and Loup: Well, Lily is a princess in the House of Andelora. She happens to be a noble lady in muggle England. Hope that clears it up.

R.A.: Thank you.

Celine: Sorry about the lack of accent on your name. I was too lazy to change the keyboard setting. And sorry once again on the long delay. I am from China, and I have been in the U.S. for seven years now so English isn't too foreign. I just have problems with tenses since I never had a structural class on it. All the grammar I know was from daily usage and good English teachers. ^^

Ginny Weasley: I tried and tried, but couldn't hurry. It seemed like I have lost control over my life since two months ago – when Track started. Oh well. Maybe I'll have time to start the next chapter next week since I have spring break then.

Well, that's all for the thank-yous.

I have to say that I do need reviews to keep me going. The lack of response usually turns into carelessness on my part. Since I have plenty of other things to write, read, and study, the teetering support behind the story made it easier for me to, hmm, kind of forget about it. It does get harder to write when there isn't any motivation. Although I do write for the sake of enjoyment, I need something to make me go through with it.

Grr, that didn't make sense. All I am saying is that I don't have as much time to dedicate writing as I had before, and my updates probably would be at an even slower rate. Until summer vacation comes, don't expect any updates unless I had a really easy day at school, which will only happen if the sky meets the earth.

Oh! And yes, thank you for taking time to read this story of mine. (time – very valuable.)

~Omni

Gah! Hate allergies, and it's only my first season with them!! My poor nose.