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A/N: Thanks a lot for the reviews and to Ally Serenity for correcting this chapter

Chapter Five

As soon as they apparated to Erkansvald, Dumbledore guided Praïn in the castle, to get to Lily's room. Everybody they met did a double take when they saw the elf chief before giving a very big bow. In fact, Elves came very rarely to castle and were rather mysterious. The elves were recognizable thanks to their long, white blond hair, their deep green eyes which were a bit bigger than usual, and the mark on their right-temple.

They arrived at the right room, knocked and entered.

Bella was chatting with Lily, showing her some dresses and jewelry.

Bella starred at Dumbledore's companion, and then curtsied.

Lily was surprised; the stranger was familiar to her, she felt an aura of peace and love from him. She mechanically curtsied, then asked the question she was dying to ask.

"Do I know you, Sir? You seem familiar."

"No, you have not seen me before; but I think you must feel kind of a connection between us. Before saying more, do you know your father's family?"

The elf was concerned. Lily was indeed very powerful, and he was worried on the effect that her life with humans, bad feelings and events could have done to her.

"Sadly no, Sir. Do you know them?"

"Kethran was not human," started Praïn, "he was an elf."

At this, Lily gasped.

"He was my son."

Lily starred wide-eyed, at the elf that was claiming to be her grandfather.

"Your…son."

"My youngest son," specified Praïn, "as he had very little powers, he had chosen to live with humans, and he married your mother, Gladys. I liked her a lot."

"So I am your granddaughter?" asked Lily, incredulously.

"Yes, my child…"

"But why did you not come before? They died a year ago."

"Kethran had not warned us that he had a second daughter. We knew that Petunia was married, so we did not worry for her. If we had known of your existence, we would have come immediately."

"How do you know it now, Sir?"

"Sir Albus has just told us that a young woman with red hair, green eyes, and was able to do wandless magic, had linked with a silver dragon. But more important, he had noticed a strange mark on her temple, three beauty spots that formed a triangle, and that she was the second daughter of Kethran… He then realized the true nature of this girl and came to us to have answer."

"So what will we do?" asked Lily.

"Lilyaris. What do you want? We can now expose your origins to everybody so that your parents will not be calumniate, and that you will be accept by nobles more easily. Of course we could also hide it. Personally, I think the first solution is the better."

"I will follow your advice. Would you announce it for me this evening at the end of the Masquerade?"

"Yes, my dear, it would be a pleasure; but you will have to be dressed conveniently for it. You are part elf, and your clothes will have to show it."

"I haven't some-," said sadly Lily.

"That, my child" answered Praïn, "can be easily fixed".

He handed her a box.

"This is one of your aunt's dresses. This will suit you perfectly."

Lily opened it. She saw a magnificent white dress, made from a silky material she had never seen before. She had long sleeves that became larger at the end with a cut. All of the dress was discreetly embroidered. It was one of the most beautiful things that Lily had ever seen.

With the clothes was a beautiful mask, a pair of exquisite slippers, and some jewelry: a necklace made of moonstone, a silver tiara, a simple ring in crystal with little diamonds stars for the hair…

"Do you like it?" asked Praïn, as Lily remained silent.

"Do I like it? It is much too much for me, I am not worth it…"

"You are." stated Praïn. He then kissed her on her forehead.

"I think you should prepare for tonight," Sir Albus cut in. "The ball will start in three hours."

"Right." said Bella.

Lily nodded.

"Thank you Praïn. I cannot say to you how much this means to me…"

"No need. I will see you tonight. Shine, my dear!"

Sir Albus and Praïn then left and went to see the King, to discuss these events with him.

"So Lily, you will not have to mask yourself. You are going to be the queen of tonight! I cannot wait to see James dance with you for the opening of the dance!"

"What! I have to dance with James?"

"Yes of course, the two finalist have to open the dance; it is tradition…"

"But Bella…. I don't know how to dance…"

"Oh that is no problem, I will teach you; it is not difficult, it is always the same steps, see…"

They spent an hour dancing. Luckily Lily found dancing very easy, thanks to her elf-part. Then she started dressing. Bella took care of Lily's hair and make-up, and it was soon dance time.

"How do I look, Bella?"

"You are wonderful Lily!"

"You too, you are so pretty, Bella! I wish I were like you…"

"Don't be silly, you are stunning."

They headed towards the ballroom. Everybody was already there, so they did not meet anyone in the halls. When they arrived in front of the great doors to the ballroom, they stopped, seeing Sir Albus and Praïn waiting for them.

While they were catching their breaths, Sir Albus started speaking.

"My dears! How many hearts do you wish to break tonight?"

"I do not know Sir Albus." Bella answered innocently. "Thank you for the dress.

"It was a pleasure."

"Ready to face the world?" asked Praïn to Lily.

"Not really, but I must."

"Shall we go?" proposed Sir Albus, offering his arm to Bella, while Lily linked arms with Praïn.

"Yes my dearest Sir," replied Bella, playing along. They entered the ballroom.

The doors opened, and everybody turned to look at the late arrivers. The first couple was not the one they were curious to see, even if Lady Bella was by far the prettiest woman there for now. She had a dress made of the same material as Lily's, but was dark red and gold. Her raven hair was let down, fixed with two clips which represented two phoenixes; she wore a gold mask. The second couple completely caught their attention. First Praïn, the elf chief in a long dark green sparkling robe, his hair put in a low ponytail. Then a young woman, dressed in white, with red hair that reached her hips, wearing a silver mask. She was … stunning. People started to whisper to their friends, "This is Lya!" "Yes, you know, the winner…" "Why is she with the elf?" and so forth.

The King stood up. Immediately, the whispers stopped.

"Tonight, we celebrate the riders of the tournament, and especially Lady Lya, the winner. So let the ball begin! Would the two finalists give us the pleasure to open the dance?"

Lily curtsied graciously, before looking around for James.

James was petrified when he saw the woman. Then he recognized her, it was Lya, the woman who had beaten him in the tournament; this was the mysterious person nobody really knew. She puzzled him, who generally knew every thing. He did not remember a redhead during his year at school, but she was very powerful and apparently knew Sir Albus very well.

His father then announced the first dance. James approached the girl and held out his hand; she gave hers shyly. He led her to the dance floor. Once they were positioned, James had a hand on her waist, and she had one on his shoulder. The music started and they begun to waltz. Lily appeared to be a quite good dancer.

When the music stopped, Lily pulled away and curtsied.

"Thank you for the dance, your majesty."

She left him and disappeared in the crowd.

The night was better then than Lily would have expected. She had stayed with Bella, who had introduced her to her many friends. She had relaxed a bit as they had congratulated her and welcomed her warmly.

"Oh no, not them!" she heard Bella groaned. She saw a group of young people coming towards them. She recognized Sir Severus, Sir Lucius and Lady Cleia, as they had participated in the tournament. Two tall, muscular men who did not seem very intelligent, and another woman accompanied them.

"Lily, don't show any shyness in front of them or they will consider you as someone weak they can torment."

"Alright."

"Good evening my ladies." Started Sir Lucius.

"You too." answered Bella, coldly.

"Beautiful as usual, Lady Arabella." Continued the man, unaware of it. "Congratulations, Lady Lya for your victory. It was an amazing fight."

"Thank you, sir." replied Lily, as coldly as Bella.

"May I present you our friends," said Sir Severus. "Sir Crabbe", he pointed to one of the men, "Sir Goyle", the second bowed, "Lady Cleia", she nodded, "and Lady Ulri," the blond haired woman eyed Lily a bit spiteful.

"Pleased to meet you." said Lily.

"May I have this dance, Lady Arabella?" asked Sir Lucius.

"Dance with me, Lady Lya?" demanded Sir Severus.

"I am terribly sorry, but I'm feeling a bit tired, how about you Lya?"

"Me too, maybe later, sirs." She said, a fake smile on her lips.

Sir Lucius and Severus seemed a bit angry, but quickly recovered.

"You are sure?" insisted Sir Severus, putting a hand on Lily's arm.

She eyed him, now as cold as ice.

"Remove your hand from my arm immediately, Sir Severus."

"Why, Lady Lya? You are so beautiful, come…"

"Sir Severus if you do not remove your hand now, I would be sorry of what might happen to you…"

"What?" he asked a smug smile on his face.

"You have a short memory, sir. Have you forgotten what happened in the stables? It would be a pleasure for me to remind you of what had happened a bit harder so you will not forget it so quickly."

Sir Severus paled and removed his hand.

"Thank you." said sarcastically Lily, "now if you will excuse us, we will go sit down. Sirs, Ladies, good evening."

Without waiting for an answer, she left them, followed by Bella.

"Wonderful, Lily; you have to teach me that." She said.

"You are very strange, my dear." Said a male voice behind them.

"Thank you, Sir Sirius" answered Lily as she recognized the voice.

"You are very welcome; but I would like to know how you managed to do that.

"Me too." chorused Sir Remus and Prince James, who were behind Sir Sirius.

E

As James was watching Lady Lya, he did not hear what Remus had said to him.

"James?"

"…Yes?" he came back to reality.

"What do you think of her?" repeated his friend.

"Who?"

"Lady Lya!"

"I don't know; she puzzles me…"

"Yes, there is something about her that reminds me of someone, but I cannot put my finger on it!"

"I as well; it is frustrating!" agreed Sirius.

Then James saw Sir Snape and his friends approach Lady Lya and Lady Bella. He started to walk towards them, but Remus stopped him.

"Wait!"

They spoke, and then apparently Sir Lucius and Sir Severus asked Lady Bella and Lady Lya to dance. They refused, but Sir Severus insisted, and put his and on Lady Lya's arm.

"Do not do a thing, James; I wish to see what she will do." Said Remus.

Lady Lya then said something and Sir Severus paled, apparently sacred. The two women then left with a few words.

"What happened?" asked Sirius disbelievingly.

"I do not know Sirius, but I do want to know; that was the first time I have ever seen Severus scared by a woman!"

They hurried themselves to the two ladies.

"Oh, I just reminded him of a small event." Answered Lily, embarrassed.

"A little event!" exclaimed Bella; she turned to explain everything to the boys. "Before her fight with James, I showed her the castle grounds. We were in the stables and I was showing her our horses when we heard a yell. We ran and saw that Lucius and Severus had approached Angel, who was trying to bite them. Severus was about to hit her…"

"Good, did she harm him?" interrupted Sirius.

"No; as I was saying, he was about to hit her when Lya ran and caught his arm. She then told him to never hit a horse in front of her again. He laughed at her, so she held his arm tighter and tighter. I saw him wince in pain! She repeated it again, her eyes throwing daggers… he was so scared that he babbled apologies and left!" Finished Bella, laughing at the memory.

"The Lady of my dreams!" claimed Sir Sirius bowing in front of Lily.

They all laughed at this.

The masquerade was almost finished when Sir Albus came over.

"Lya? Could you come, we are going to announce it in a few minutes."

"Alright Sir."

They left and joined the elf chief and the King.

"Do what?" asked a rather curious Sirius.

"You will see," answered Bella, "Be prepared for a big surprise."

The music stopped, and the King stood up again, asking for silence.

"As you have seen, we have had guests tonight night; I am proud to present to you Praïn, elf chief, well known for his wisdom. He has accepted to come to present to us a certain person."

The elf continued.

"I have come for one reason: to help my granddaughter. She has linked herself with a dragon, but, as in respect of our traditions, she has been raised as a commoner. I know it would be difficult for her to be accepted unless her lineage, of which she was not aware of, was revealed."

A few gasps were heard in the crowd, but quickly silenced.

"May I present you, Lilyaris, my granddaughter, and the winner of the tournament."

There were more gasps. Lily reached the throne, she had pulled off her mask and every body saw her face, her deep green eyes sparkling with the light.

James was stunned, as were Sirius and Remus. This was Lily, the daughter of the horse-breeder! How could she be a dragon rider? She was not noble!

Lily curtsied before the King and the Queen.

"It was a great honor to be able to come here tonight, especially when I have been raised by commoners, as the elves like their children to be raised."

"Their method seems to have been very successful."

"Thank you, your Majesties."

"You are welcome, my dear."

She then turned to find Bella. She finally saw her, and hurried next to her, oblivious of all the stares.

"Please Bella, could we go somewhere else? I feel like all eyes are on me…"

"They are; you are the center of attention!"

"No! Please Bella, hide me."

"Lily?" asked someone behind them with disbelief in his voice.

Lily turned and saw Prince James, Sir Sirius and Sir Remus.

"Took you long enough to figure it out, sirs." answered Bella, smiling.

"Well, you did not help either. Why have you disguised yourself?"

"I have only discovered my elf part near six hours ago! Until now, I have only considered myself as a commoner with strong wizard powers. What would you have thought if you had known that a commoner had been able to beat you?"

Realization spread on their face.

Remus was thoughtful.

"Who has trained you? Why hadn't you a wand when we saw you? If you had known your powers for years, how could have you been able to control them without a wand?"

"This is not the place to discuss it," answered Lily.

"How can you be a dragon rider?" asked the prince.

"What do you mean?" asked Lily coldly.

"Only nobles can be dragon riders!"

Lily clenched her teeth.

"So?"

James didn't answer.

"He wants to say that your elf mother must have cheated on your father with a noble, and that your place is either with your kind, the elves or with the commoners. You have no rights to be here," answered a slimy voice.

"Sir Severus;" replied Lily without looking at him. Her attention was focused on James; "I don't remember having asked you anything, and if you value your arm I advise you to stay away from me." Said Lily in a deadly voice.

"Is it right Prince James? Is that what you think?"

James remain silent and looked down.

"I see. I was right and Sir Albus was wrong. This is no place for me. My Prince, I will not disturb you any longer with my presence. I did expect more of you, but everyone can be wrong." She spoke in a cold and neutral voice.

She turned on her heels and exited the room. As she passed near her, Bella saw that her eyes was full of tears and she was badly hurt. She saw Sir Albus looking worryingly at Lily as she went out, as was Praïn, the King, and the Queen. She then looked at Sirius and Remus. Sirius seemed torn between his prejudices and what he thought of Lily. Remus seemed worried and a bit angry. She turned to face James.

"James, do you know what you have done?"

"I made her face the truth! Severus is right!"

"I never thought I would see the day you agree with Severus. You have just destroyed the small amount of self-confidence I have had managed to give her! For your information, it was her father who was an elf, not her mother. She was able to link with Amaris thanks to her elf blood, which gives her strong links with all kind of animals. I did not think you would be like this. It was hard for her to decide to trust us, and you have just proved to her that she was right to stay away from every one."

"I…"

"You don't know what she has gone through! I ca not believe you've stooped that low!"

She looked at him, thoroughly disgusted.

"She is right James; you hadn't the right to judge her." Disapproval could be heard in Remus's voice.

"James," started Sirius, "On the one hand I agree with you, but on the other, you should not have done it before knowing more about her." He finished.

Sir Albus, Praïn, the King, and the Queen then joined them.

"Where is Lily?" asked Sir Albus.

"Ask James." answered Bella spitefully. She then left to find and comfort Lily, leaving the three boys to explain what had happened.

She ran to Lily's room, but when she arrived she found it empty. She entered and saw the dress, the jewels, and the slippers on the bed along with a little note.

"You what!" shouted the King.

"I expected more of you James," said the Queen.

Praïn and Sir Albus's faces were dark. They were scared of what Lily could do.

At this moment Bella stormed in the room.

"Sir Albus… Lily!"

"What?"

"She has left. She dropped this note." She handed him a piece of paper.

Bella,

I am sorry to leave you without saying good-bye, but I cannot stay. I thought that I could be accepted but it is impossible. Would you take care of Angel? Sir Albus will know where to find me, but I do not think I will come back. Not after all the trouble I have caused. Reassure James I will not disturb him any longer. Thank Remus; I would have liked to befriend him.

Thank you again for all you have done, Bella. You are the best friend I could have and the only so far.

Good Bye,

Lilyaris

He read it and gave it to Praïn, then the King, and then the Queen.

"I am going to go speak with her; would you like to come, Praïn."

"Yes Scianor."

"Come, I shall ask Deris to warn Amaris of our arrival."