Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize.
A/N: Thanks to Ally Serenity for betaing this chapter and to all of those who reviewed
Chapter 2
Lily was now nineteen years old, and her parents had died four months before. Now the Evans dominion was ruled by Petunia and Vernon. Because Petunia hated horses and Vernon wasn't able to understand the concept of training, Lily had to take care of all the things concerning the stables. Moreover, Petunia loved to humiliate Lily by making her do low things. Sometimes she gave her impossible tasks and afterwards she would beat her for not succeeding in doing it. Lily was now nothing short of a slave. She had only muscles and skin on her bones. Horse training gave her muscles, but she was underfed and had a lot of bruises.
This treatment had made her cold; she didn't show her emotions anymore. Her eyes lost their sparkles and her skin was extremely pale. She cried only when she was alone, missing her parents and missing Angel. She knew she had made the right decision by giving her to Lady Bella, but it still hurt her not to be able to be with her. Her life was now a living Hell.
To avoid Petunia, she spent a lot of her time in the forest. She didn't care about her clothes; her sister only gave her clothes that were already torn. But she had discovered how to repair them with her powers. The forest was her home and protected her.
Nobody came in the forest, for dangerous creatures were said to live there; but Lily didn't care. Her parents were dead, her sister hated her, she had no friends; nobody would regret it if she died.
She sighed. She had spent he whole day with Rohal, training some stallions. For the past four months she had decided to teach him all her knowledge about horses and training, and Rohal had been a very good student. He was now as good as she was, and could mount without trappings like she.
"Excellent Rohal! You are wonderful! Sorrow now has perfect manners." Rohal had just presented to her a stallion he had trained himself, without her help.
"Thank you mistress. But you're the best! Nobody can be as great as you are!"
"I don't think so."
It was true she was great with animals...they trusted her.
Lily looked at the sky. Suddenly she realized that soon it would be the dragon season. Every year in the last two weeks of summer, all the magical young-adults between nineteen and twenty-two, searched in all the country for dragon eggs. Only the ones with wizard powers could befriend a dragon.
The wizards were divided into two communities: in one were the teachers, the healers, the erudite; in the other the fighters. Most of the time the wizards who obtain a dragon were fighters but sometimes a dragon linked himself with one of the first community.
There were six types of dragons: the greens, (the smallest, and fastest, generally used as messengers), and the blues, (taller, very fast, mostly used for spying or delivering messages as well). There were also the browns, (rather tall, not as fast as the greens and the blues, but stronger and more enduring), and the bronzes, (taller and stronger than browns, but still in the same level). The browns and the bronzes were the fighters. The tallest and strongest dragons were the golden and the silvers. These were the leaders in the dragon hierarchy. The silvers were always female and didn't usually fight, and the golden were only males.
A dragon was a very dangerous animal. They could speak mind to mind with their partner, and moved from one place to another in a matter of seconds. Dragons were one of the noblest animals in Lily's mind, along with horses of course.
Every spring, female dragons laid eggs, hid, and abandoned them, and in the end of the summer, they hatched. The babies were unable to survive alone, so all the wizards who were the legal age searched everywhere to find the eggs and prevent the babies from dying.
Lily quickly counted the days and figured that the season would begin in two days. She knew that during this period, the non-magical people were not allowed to go outside, because a baby dragon could do some serious damage. Everybody made stocks for two weeks because they would be obliged to stay at their house. All activities stopped during these two weeks.
Two weeks locked in with Petunia and Vernon; how marvelous! Thought Lily; I would rather be killed by a baby dragon than stay there for two weeks unable to avoid Petunia!
So she decided to stay in the forest during these weeks. She knew she would pay for this, but she didn't care.
She moved her belongings in an old shack in the forest that was her secret spot.
"LILY! Where are you, you little rat? Come here immediately! Shrieked Petunia or 'Lady Petunia' as she liked to be called.
Lily sighed, what did she want now?
She went to the kitchen.
"What is this, this thing?" asked her sister, hysterically.
"I think it's a lizard, Petunia."
"Take it, Take it!"
Lily took the little lizard and put him outside.
"You have to wash all the first floor, who know what this horror has done!"
"What! But I have to train!"
"You will train your monsters after having washed the floor!"
"Alright, I will warn Rohal."
She spent a few hours cleaning, and then hurried to the stables where Sir Vernon punished her for being hours late.
"You lazy ingrate! You had to be here at 8 am, it's 10 am!"
"But Lady Petunia-"
"I accept no excuses! Your job is to train the horses. You'll be punished for this; no food today!"
Lily knew it was useless to argue. She nodded and started the training.
At the end of the day she was starving. Luckily she had found an apple tree the day before.
Finally, she thought, two weeks without Petunia and Vernon! A dream come true!
She went to the shack and didn't come back that night. She decided to use these two weeks to improve her powers.
The first week passed in bliss; she had worked hard on her powers, and now a better control on them. Two days before coming back to the dominion, she heard a cry. It was an animal, apparently injured. She ran to help it, and reached a glade. What she saw made her gasp. A silver baby dragon stood there, crying. As soon as she saw Lily, the creature headed toward her. First Lily wanted to run away, but then she thought about it.
Maybe she's hurt, I can't leave her here, nobody ever comes here! Anyhow, she can't be worse than Petunia. She stood still and let the little baby approach her. The small dragon stopped near her and sniffed.
"Hello my beauty," said Lily, she had been noticing that her voice always had a good effect on animals.
Surprised; the dragon stopped and looked at her. Lily was unable to describe what happened during the minutes that followed this contact. She felt a wave of kindness, trust, and mostly love: pure love. She felt tears on her cheeks as all these feelings came to her, and felt the urge to protect this little creature. She started to reach out and pet her, when suddenly she heard a tiny voice.
Lily?
She jumped, startled, trying to look for the person who had spoken. Nobody was there. Suddenly she realized that it had to be the dragon.
She tried to answer in her head.
Yes?
I'm Amaris.
What a lovely name, my beauty!
I'm hungry; can I eat?
Lily felt useless, she didn't know what to give to Amaris.
"You can give her this." said a male voice.
Startled, Lily spun around. She found herself facing an old man standing beside a golden dragon. The man was holding out a large piece of meat. Lily took it and gave it to Amaris, who started to eat hungrily.
She then looked at the old man.
"Thank you very much, sir."
"No need my dear. But who are you? I thought I knew every single wizard and witch in the kingdom. And you are a witch, as you had been able to link with this baby." He smiled kindly at her. "So who are you, and who are your parents? I am Sir Albus Dumbledore by the way, and this," he pointed to the very big golden dragon, "is Deris."
Lily gasped; this man was the highest counselor of the King Regis, and the most powerful wizard in the kingdom. Even Voldemort was afraid of him!
"No need to be shy, go on."
"I'm Lilyaris Evans, daughter of Kethran an Gladys Evans."
"The horse-breeder?" asked Dumbledore, seeming a bit surprised.
Lily nodded.
"I'd preferred to be called Lily. As they were commoners, my parents had been a bit scared by my powers. They also did not want everybody to know about my magic powers, so I have not been taught to use them. I learnt by myself and have trained by myself. Now, because of the practice I have had, I can control my powers and do easy spells."
Sir Dumbledore seemed to think very hard.
"If you have not been taught, how do you use your powers? You have no wand to cast spells." He said doubtfully.
"A wand is necessary?" Lily was puzzled.
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"I thought it just helped. After a few attempts to control my powers, I discovered that I can do it without help; it was difficult at the beginning, but-"
"Can you show me a spell?"
Lily nodded. She moved her hand, pointed it to quite a large stone, and said clearly "Wingardium Leviosa". Immediately, the stone started to lift. Dumbledore starred at her, incredulous.
"Is it wrong?" she asked shyly. He blinked, and then smiled at her.
"It is very good. Since when have you started to train yourself?"
"Since my fifteenth birthday, I am nineteen now" she answered.
He smiled at her, a very kind and gentle smile. It had been so long since someone had smiled at her, that she didn't quite know how to react. She finally made a very small smile.
"Why were you here?"
"I live in the shack near here."
"Why are you not with your parents?"
"They are dead." she answered coldly.
"I'm sorry my dear; haven't you any relatives?"
"I have a sister, Sir, but she hates me. She considers me her slave, and her husband only sees me as a tool for training horses." she said carelessly, "As I didn't want to spend two weeks confined in the same house with them, I moved to this shack."
"I see." His eyes were full of anger, and then calmed down as he got an idea.
"Lily, Would you like to learn everything about magic?" he asked.
"It is one of my dreams, Sir."
"Then, I will teach you. I will get you a wand to improve your skills, but it is good that you are able to do wandless magic as well."
"But Sir, you can't! You are the king's counselor! I am not worth it." interrupted Lily.
"Even the counselor can leave the castle, and Regis will perfectly understand the situation."
"But-"
"No buts! I will be your teacher. I will transform this shack a bit, so we can live here with the two dragons."
Lily was speechless; all her dreams seemed to be coming true: she now had a friend, and she would learn magic.
Amaris had finished eating, and had fallen asleep. Lily approached her, and carried her to the shack. Then Dumbledore, with a few flicks of his wand, transformed the old shack in a huge house, but stayed the looks of the shack.
Lily entered and became speechless again; it was beautiful. Dumbledore guided her to her bedroom in which there was room for Amaris. Lily fell on the bed and was asleep as soon as she touched it. Dumbledore quietly exited the room. He walked quietly out of the shack, locked it, and headed towards Erkansvald.
Once he arrived, Dumbledore went straight to the throne room. The King was talking with his son.
"Albus! James has found a golden dragon! Tharis, the son of Geris and Everis!"
"Very good James!" said Dumbledore.
"Sirius has found a bronze named Mneris, Remus a bronze also, with the name Yoris, and Bella a silver named Darais."
"Wonderful, wonderful." answered Dumbledore a bit carelessly.
The King and his son looked at each other, a bit surprised by Sir Albus's behavior.
"May I talk to you your Majesty?" said suddenly Dumbledore.
"Why not?" he said, but after looking at him, the King understood what his counselor wanted. "James, go join your friends with Tharis."
"Yes father."
Once they were alone, Sir Albus cast a Silencing Charm.
"What's the matter, Albus?" asked the King, worried.
"I've found something, your Majesty, something rather unusual."
"And what is it?"
"I was in the Northern forest, where I knew was the egg of Deris and Faris, for I wanted to know which would be the wizard to link with this dragon. Imagine my joy when I arrived and saw a nineteen-year-old girl comforting a silver dragon."
"It is wonderful, Albus! Who is she?"
"Her identity is the main reason of my arrival. At the first sight I noticed that she was not noble. She was apparently underfed, her clothes were torn...in fact, she is a commoner!"
"A commoner!" Regis choked on the words, "A commoner has linked with Deris's daughter?"
"Yes, but there is more. I started to talk with her. It came out that she is Lilyaris Evans, the daughter of the famed horse breeder Kethran Evans, killed during the feast with his wife. She has lived with her sister, married to Sir Vernon. Apparently they consider her as a slave. She decided to spend the season in the forest instead at her dominion, and so met with Deris's little one."
"I will make an investigation. But she must be a witch if she had a link?"
"Yes, she is a witch."
"But I have never see her at your school, and my son has never talked to me about a commoner witch!"
"It is true she has not been taught; but she can control her powers and do spells."
"But if she has not been taught, she has not a wand!"
"She does wandless magic."
"Wandless?" repeated King Regis, unbelieving.
"She is extremely powerful. I have come to ask you the permission to stay with her and to teach her magic with and without a wand. I don't want to imagine what Voldemort would do if he knew that someone can cast spell without a wand!"
"Conceded!" replied immediately the King, worried at this idea.
"Thank you your majesty. You understand that nobody must know about this; she is too vulnerable. I will train her in the forest, and she will participate in the new riders tournament."
"You are sure?"
"Yes."
"Then good luck Albus, and be careful!"
"Thank you your Majesty. If you need me, send me Fawkes; he will find me."
Sir Albus bowed and exited. Once he was outside, he reached his dragon and mounted him.
"To the shack Deris,"
In three throbs of his dragon's wings, he was near the shack. He entered and headed towards Lily's bedroom. She was sleeping peacefully.
She
is so innocent, sighed Sir Albus, but so powerful! I wonder
what exactly has happened to her to give her such a cold mask. Amaris
must be a solution, she is not very trustful, but she loves animals;
that is a good sign.
He left the shack a second time to
buy her some furniture which would be necessary, such as a wand,
books, potion ingredients, clothes for training and riding, but also
a few dresses in case she had to attend a ball.
This will be interesting, thought Sir Albus, a little smile playing on his lips...
