Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize

A/N: Thanks a lot to all of those who reviewed and to Ally Serenity for betaing this chapter

Chapter Twenty-five

Once they were outside, James let his rage explode.

"LITTLE ! HOW COULD SHE DO THIS?" He was punching the closest wall, blinded by his anger. Suddenly, he found himself paralyzed. Strong arms were blocking his in his back.

He struggled to free himself to no avail.

"James, you must calm down, breaking your hands will not help you," said someone. Through the rage that was clouding his thoughts, his mind registered those words and associated a face with the voice: Lily. This calmed him and he came back to his senses. He found himself in front of a wall, with Lily holding his arms behind his back and Bella checking his hands for injury.

"I am fine now, you can let me go Lily," he said quietly.

Lily looked closely at him, trying to see if was saying the truth, and then nodded and released him.

"Thank you," he said, putting up a blank and expressionless face.

"You are welcome," replied Bella. "Good, you have not hurt yourself too much, a few bruises but nothing serious."

"How come nobody heard us?" asked James a bit surprised.

"Thank Lily. She kept a cold-head, even if you were going insane, and cast a silencing charm on us."

"Exactly; and I will remove it before leaving." As she said that, she discreetly signaled to Bella that she would handle the situation from now.

"Well, I am sorry, but I must leave you two," said Bella. "Yvan has a tendency to be too nice to the riders and they take advantage of it…. I must go back to look after them, after all, the Lions have a reputation to keep…." She said in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere.

Lily smiled thankfully at her.

"Alright," then she turned to James. "We need to talk. Follow me. I know a room where we will not be disturbed."

The prince only nodded. They walked down several corridors in silence, and then they entered a small room, hidden behind a painting of a dragon. They sat and stayed quiet, purposely avoiding each other's eyes. Lily knew she should say something, but she didn't know where to start. Finally James broke the silence.

"Well, what did you want to tell me?"

The young women sighed.

"I wanted to talk about two things: the first being your upcoming marriage." She said calmly.

"I do not want to talk about it," cut James sharply. "I will do what I have to do," he added.

"I know you will do what you have to. I will do exactly the same thing. But it does not mean you have to like it."

"I am the heir, I must be devoted to my kingdom," said James as if he was reciting a well-known lesson.

"Stop trying to fool me James," warned Lily. "Of course you must be devoted to your kingdom, but bottling your feelings and acting as if nothing can touch you is not the solution!"

"Really?" said James sarcastically.

"Yes," replied Lily, dismissing his sarcasm. "And believe me, I know it….."

"How?"

"How what?"

"How could you know how I feel?" he said bitterly, instantly regretting those words as he realized what he had said.

A flash of hurt passed on Lily's face. She bit her low lips.

"I know….. After, my… parents' death, I pushed all my feelings away, but it never healed. Even now, it is still fresh, always ready to bleed. And after the ball….." she paused. James was looking closely at her, listening carefully to her words. "Then, I was lucky to have Bella at my side. I may seem strong, but the truth is that without her, I would have broken a long time ago. That is something she taught me." Here she had a thoughtful look, and then laughed derisively. "I learned it the hard way, despite all the times people had tried to make me see it…. Make me see that I was not alone; that I had people here to help me….."

"I do not need help." said James stubbornly.

"Oh do not try this with me! You need it!" she snapped, looking at him a bit angrily. She calmed down rapidly.

James sighed heavily.

"I do not." he repeated.

"You do! Do you not feel like you are being manipulated, that you are just a tool in the big game of fate with no other choice than follow the path you are being steered on? That you are just a prisoner of rules and duty, always having to ask permission for something?….."

"STOP IT!" James yelled suddenly, startling her. In her mind she smiled. She had been trying to make him snap, and it was working. "I KNOW! I know! What do you think! That I have not already had those thoughts! That I am perfectly happy with it!"

As Lily stayed silent, he continued.

"Do you know what it is to have spent all your life in the spotlight, with people ready to tell on us for the smallest thing, to have them expecting you to be an adult when you are only eleven year old? To have a father who is so busy with the kingdom that he can barely spent time with you? No you do not!"

He was starting to crack, noticed Lily. She sat next to him and hugged him tightly.

"Go on James, spill it….."

And so he did. For the next moment he spilled all his fears, his doubts… Finally he calmed down, feeling lighter than he had for months, here with Lily supporting him, something that made him feel warm and secure, as strange at it may seem.

With a last squeeze, she let him go. He faced her and saw her face was troubled.

"Thank you Lil, thank you very much. You were right once more, I needed it." He hugged her and buried his face in her shoulder.

"You are welcome. And if you need to speak, I will be here to listen, do not forget it."

James sighed heavily. He felt her tense and pulled away, his hands on her shoulders.

"Lily, whatever will happen in four days, nothing will change my feelings for you."

"James….."

"No! Do not say anything! Just listen. I only feel truly myself when you are around me. I….." he was silenced by Lily.

"James" she whispered "This was the second thing I wanted to talk about." She motioned for him to stay silent and looked down.

"This night, at the ball….. was one of my best. When you kissed me, I felt secure, complete, but at the same time, I was terrified. Terrified by my feelings, and by yours. I knew it was impossible and I did not want to be hurt again… not again, I could not have bore it…"

She looked up.

"I…I have avoided you since then, because if you were near me, I could not do anything but think of you, and my determination was weakening… like now…" she whispered. "I wanted you to know this, because I think I….." she couldn't finish her sentence as she felt James's lips on hers. She was startled at first and nearly felt her heart stop as a rush of feeling overwhelmed her: fear, desire, doubt, attraction…… each fighting the others.

James pulled away a little so his lips were millimeters away from hers.

"I know Lil, I know." He murmured before leaning on her, embracing her tightly as if she was going to disappear if he let her go, feeling her tense, like a deer caught in a trap, and he kissed her again.

Lily tensed as he pulled her closer to him, as he kissed her again, it was almost too much to bear, nearly painful in a strange way. Scared by all this mix of emotions and their strength, she tried to pull away from him, but his grip on her waist was firm and strong. She knew she should break it now, that she should end this, but there, in his arms she felt home. So she pushed her fears away, her doubts, her worries, convinced for the first time of one thing: whatever she felt towards him, it was strong and real, and she found she couldn't resist it anymore. Shyly as if she didn't dare, she responded to the kiss. Sensing it, James deepened it. Neither of them had ever felt anything like this. Breathless, they pulled away. Looking at James, fixing his features in her mind, Lily realized that she loved him. Suddenly a thought brought her back to reality: he would be soon married.

A lonely tear fell on her cheek, wiped delicately by James.

"Lily….." he said.

She tried to smile, but failed to make it reach her eyes.

"Do not try to be strong. I am not. Just be Lily," he whispered in her ear.

She nodded before laughing

This surprised the prince.

"What is so funny?"

"I have just realized how alike we are."

He smiled slightly.

"That is true. We will both do what we have to."

"Exactly….. I wish everything could be different….."

They were still in the arms of each other, content to be with the other.

After a few moments, Lily pulled away, and rummaged through one of her numerous pockets. She finally took something from it. It was a necklace like the one Praïn had given her, except that this one was made of gold with rubies instead of emeralds.

"Take it. It was reserved for my soul mate. You deserve it, at least as a friendship gift. It will glow golden if you are in danger and silver if I am."

Without a word, the young man locked it around his neck, playing with it for a few seconds.

"Thank you Lilyaris. I will never take it off."

There was a moment of silence.

"Well," said finally Lily, "I must go. If you need anything or just need to talk, call, I will come. However I think it would perhaps be better if we did not see each other before the ceremony."

"You are right as always, Lady of my heart, but before you leave, I need to do one last thing."

He leaned on her and kissed her again, trying to fill his being with her scent, memorizing everything about her, from her soft skin to the three beauty spots on her temple. Lily kissed back, knowing it would probably be their last kiss. They parted quite reluctantly.

"Now I can go." said James quietly.

No more words were shared between the two of them, everything having being told before. They left, James going back to his friends and his wing, Lily to her Library.

During the four following days, the castle was buzzing. Heralds had been sent to all the nobles in the Kingdom, and the chamberlain and the tendants were going insane as more people kept arriving. They had had such a short notice that there was not enough room ready. Servants were running in the corridors, to ready a room for a family who had just arrived, grooms under Hagrid's supervision, were trying to take care of the horses of the hosts, cooks were tearing their hair apart to find enough food for all these people and for the wedding's banquet. Elianor had pestered the decorators before becoming the nightmare of the royal tailor. The poor man looked like a zombie. James did not know how her dress would be, but judging by the look on the man's face, it had to be bad. At least, the tailor had an easy time with him, he had agreed to all his suggestions. But he had to admit something. Elianor had a knack for decoration. It was beautiful even if it was quite show-off. He sighed, watching the sunrise. The sun was red, blood red. It made him shiver slightly. He did not know why, but a feeling of danger was filling him. He laughed sharply at himself, dismissing those depressing thoughts, he was being ridiculous! The only danger he would face today would be the one he would meet at the altar. He shivered again, but this time it was of repulsion. Today, he would marry Elianor of Nearth. This hit his mind and left him feeling so lonely, so trapped that he nearly cried. His mind drifted to Lily, something that usually helped him, but this time, it only made him more aware of what he was about to loose. He looked away from the window and started to pace in his room.

At noon, all the nobility was gathered in the great cathedral of Erkanswald, but happiness was not really present. Most people were not looking to have Elianor as Queen, and resented her father for his blackmail. Even if it had been kept secret, the information had leaked out and now all the nobility were not very fond of the Nearth family. James was waiting at the altar for Elianor. He scanned the cathedral, seeking his friends. He was surprised and a bit comforted to find them at the first row, giving him sympathetic and supportive looks. But his heart jumped when he saw Lily. She was wearing a simple white dress with little lilies embroidered on its hem. Her hair was put in a strict bun, kept in place with little claps shaped as lilies too.

She was beautiful. He gave her a meaningful glance, carrying all his feelings for her. She returned equally. He was distracted as the musicians started to play, announcing the arrival of the bride. The doors opened to reveal her, led to the altar by her smug-looking father. As they walked down the aisle, James had a hard time restraining himself from laughing as he now realized the reason for the tailor's despair. He somehow managed to keep a straight face. Elianor could have been stunning if it had not been for the dress. Her hair was cascading down her back, in shinning locks, her greenish-blue eyes sparkling with arrogance, her figure was superb as usual, but her dress ruined everything. The dress must have been white at the beginning, but she had been so ornate that the original color had nearly disappeared. The bodice, quite audacious was ornate with a complex pattern of crimson and gold threads, her sleeves were supporting a great amount of ribbons, pearls, and laces. The skirt of the dress had been covered by a thin skirt of golden silk, which was sparkling at her every move. On it embroideries had been sewed; a few would have created a dazzling effect, but the whole skirt was covered with it….. She had a huge amount of jewelry: six rings, and several bracelets that were softly jingling. She wore also a few necklaces, each of them supporting priceless gems. To sum up, it was an outrageous display of wealth. The ceremony started as the archbishop spoke.

"We are gathered here to celebrate the union of two beings….." He continued for quite a long time. Then he turned to James.

"Prince James, High-heir of the throne of Erkanswald, son of King Regis of Erkanswald and Queen Dorilys of Erkanswald, do you take Lady Elianor of Nearth, Daughter of Duke Jonathan of Nearth and Duchess Anne of Nearth as your legal wife?"

James looked behind Elianor at Lily, trying to find the strength to do his duty in her eyes. He saw love, but also determination and duty. They strengthened him.

"I do." he answered quietly.

Only Sir Albus, Sir Exer, the King and the Queen saw this exchange and their heart ached for them.

The smug and triumphant look on Elianor's face was sickening. She was gloating, finally she had won! In a few minutes, she would be heiress!…

The archbishop then faced Elianor.

"Lady Elianor, daughter of Duke Jonathan of Nearth and Duchess Anne of Nearth, do you take Prince James, High heir of the throne, son of King Regis of Erkanswald and Queen Dorilys of Erkanswald as your legal husband?"

Elianor, smugger if it was possible, smirked.

"I….."

As she was about to answer the doors burst open. Startled, the people turned to look at what was happening, only to see…..

Death Eaters entering the cathedral, wand raised. They quickly took place all over the room. People were too stunned to do anything, even if most of them had their wands.

"Well, well, well, the prince is getting married and I am not even invited to the ceremony?…. How rude of you!" said a tall man, standing at the entrance. Voldemort.

"But I am interrupting the ceremony, I am sorry, do not mind me, continue!" He said with fake cheerfulness in his voice, motioning to the archbishop to continue.

Trembling, the man resumed his speech.

"Lady Elianor?"

The face of Elianor was no longer smug or triumphant. She seemed lost and unsure of what to do. She glanced at her father who was deep in thought. Then, he shook discreetly his head, something, only observant could have seen, and at that moment, the attention was slightly diverted by the presence of the Death Eaters and their master.

"I do not." she said .

There were a few gasps in the cathedral, most of the people were looking stunned at Elianor, besides the ones who had realized the situation.

A laugh echoed in the aisle.

"Apparently you are not stupid, lady." He smirked at her. She smiled back at him, curtsying. "In this case, I think this marriage is annulled….." He got up. "Let us see what we have here….. the whole nobility, the royal family, charmed to see you." He said, as if he was at a party. "Leaders, generals, Sir Exer, ah! Do not worry, we did not harm your precious army, they are all fine, the counselors, pleased to finally met the great Albus!" he said to the man. "Then a few commoners," he spat the word as it was disgusting, "elves, fairies and their leaders and ….. Lilyaris!" He looked surprised. "I am quite surprised to see you here….."

"I can say the same thing." She replied coldly. "Last time I checked, you were still creating your army and desperately trying to break the Gate with your weak attempts, before shouting at your men." She snarled.

Voldemort looked a bit taken aback.

"You should be more polite, young girl, your mother did not teach you this?"

"I do not know as you killed them. How did you pass through the Gate? What did you do to the army?"

"Questions, questions…..Your army is fine, as I said, well as fine as you can be when you have been stunned and locked in a cages… it was not easy to chain the dragons, and a few of my men lost their heads, but with little persuasion, they submitted. Only two wings are missing: a strange one who managed to escape because the men charged to capture them were distracted by their dragons, strange ones too I must say….. The second one was the Lions I think, yes it was them." He paused "Yes the Lions, intelligent and disciplined they were, as soon as they saw us, they were on their dragons and before we could do anything, they cast a invisibility spell, making them untraceable, and disappeared. Excellent work. I would like to know their trainers, for I would have a proposition for them."

"The answer is no." said someone.

Voldemort faced the person who had spoken. Lily, Yvan and Bella had stepped forward. The dark-haired woman was glaring at him.

"Lilyaris, Sir Yvan, and Lady Bella, charmed to see you again"

"The pleasure is not shared."

"Well, I must congratulate you for your work, my men had not been able to find them yet, but they will."

"I doubt it!" said Lily, defying him.

"We shall see young Lilyaris, we shall see…. And as for how I passed the Gate, well, I will let you guess." He smirked evilly.

There was a silence, broke by the Dark Lord, clapping his hands.

"Now back to business. I will acquire the throne legally: the King is going to abdicate and the nobles will pledge allegiance to me. They can do this on their free will but I will use a bit of persuasion for those who are reluctant to recognize me as their Lord. But a cathedral is not a place for this, I think the throne room will be more adapted." He turned to his men. "Disarm them, put their wands in a room as well as their weapons. Once this is done, bring them to the throne room." Voldemort left the cathedral, his cloak, billowing around him.

Immediately, The Death Eaters executed his orders. All the people present were dragged to the throne, once their wands had been taken away. Apparently, they had forgot that Lily could do wandless magic as they did silence her. Voldemort was waiting for them, sitting on the throne. He had changed the decoration of the room. Instead of gold and crimson, black, silver and green were the main colors.

"You noticed the change? As the new Lord I had to put my colors….. Now," his voice hardened, becoming icy, "step forwards and swear to be my faithful servants."

There was a moment of complete silence and immobility. Suddenly, somebody moved and approached the Dark Lord.

"I, Jonathan, Duke of Nearth, swear fidelity to my Lord and master, Lord Voldemort," he said, knelling before him and kissing the hem of his cloak. His daughter followed his example, knelt in front of the Dark Lord and walked away seductively.

The King was looking at the Duke spitefully. About fifty nobles in which were Sir Lucius and Severus, followed the Duke's decision, one hundred remained at the King's side. Seeing that, Voldemort smirked devilishly.

"So no more wants to join me? And what about the lower races? The commoners, the elves, the fairies?" he asked. "No? Lilyaris? Where are you my dear?" His tone was so sweet, it was almost disgusting.

Lily stepped forwards.

"I am not your dear anything! And for your answer I already gave you mine. Go to hell!"

Voldemort's eyes were now two thin splits.

"Nobody refuses a Dark's Lord offer twice." He growled.

"Well I have just done it." Replied Lily.

Voldemort looked at her venomously with a glare that would have made everyone clever enough run in a ten meters radius. But it did not seem to have an effect on Lily, either because she was stupid or more likely because his threats did not faze her.

"I will take care of you later. I shall have great pleasure breaking you, Lilyaris; tearing your mind in pieces, only leaving an empty shell of yourself, a puppet….. I hope you will fight me… I always love a good challenge." He turned his attention back to the noble, seeing that the young woman did not seem scared at all. Most of them had been listening to their talk.

"Well, if you are as stupid and stubborn as this woman, I will make you kneel before me! Imperio!" he shouted, pointing at the closest man.

But before he could have hit him, Lily, who had stepped backwards to join her friends and was now partially hidden, had summoned the Unicorn's horn, which was the only thing she knew who could be able to stop an Unforgivable. A silver light shot from the stone and dissipated the curse. Before anyone could react, she had erected a shield around the others and herself, which would resist to Crucio and Imperio but not Avada Kedavra. She then quickly shrunk the staff to the length of a nail and stuck it on the back of her talisman. Seeing his curse being stopped made Voldemort furious.

"Who dared! Who?" then he turned his anger towards his men. "I told you to disarm them! Why did you not you obey me!"

The Death Eaters cowered in fear.

"Ma-Master" stammered one of them, "W-We obeyed you, we t-t-took all their w-wands and wea-weapons….."

"Do not interrupt me!" roared Voldemort. "Crucio!" the Death Eaters fell on the floor, writhing in pain. "You lie! How could have they blocked my spell without at least a wand? None of them can do wandless… magic." Realization struck him. "LILYARIS!" he bellowed.

"Finally!" she said. "You remembered. Quite careless of you to forget it…" she said calmly stepping forwards again.

"Indeed" said Voldemort, narrowing his eyes. "You have improved, young girl…"

"So have you, as you were able to break the Gate." Replied the red-haired woman.

"Yes, and you want to know how? Have you not already guessed? Think about it, what could have given me an immense power for a few moments? A power so great, so evil that it shattered your Gate into pieces….." Lily, as well as a few other people started to pale, slowly guessing what had happened.

"I see you are guessing it….."

He laughed cruelly.

"No you could not have done it… You could not…" whispered Lily, seeming on the verge of fainting, her face deadly white.

"Why? Tell me young girl, what could have prevent me from using Blood Magic?" said sarcastically.

Lily's face changed from white to ashen and her features became stone-like.

"How?" she asked forcefully.

"Very simple. I had a lot of people to use, the Dead Army made them useless….." Said Voldemort, not affected by the fact he was talking about the killing of his own men. His tone could have been the one used to talk about weather or things like that.

"They were your men!" shouted Lily.

"They were my slaves." replied Voldemort.

There was a heavy silence. Most of the nobles had become a sickening shade of green.

"How many?" asked again Lily in a barely audible whisper.

"Nine thousand." answered simply Voldemort, not fazed at all by his answer. 'Think about it Lilyaris, the death of nine thousand people was necessary to break your Gate."

The young woman stumbled a bit, as well as most of the elves.

"Think about it" repeated Voldemort "About the deaths you are responsible for, hear their cry… Feel their pain as the sacred dagger is ripping their throat, their blood dropping on the ground, slowly leaving their body…" He had a sadistic grin on his face and all the elves started to shake, trying to cover their ears. The humans were not affected as bad. Voldemort was making them witness the Blood Magic's ritual. They may have been enemies, but nobody deserved to die like that. He was making them saw how he had cut the throat of his men. The elves, as they could feel the pain and distress of these men, were deeply affected. A lot of them had fallen onto their knees. Only Lily and a few others were still standing, but people could see it was only thanks to a great effort of will. Suddenly a picture of a fifteen-year-old being killed flashed before them, his cry of agony echoing at their ears.

"Stop!" yelled Lily, shaking violently.

"Why, my dear? You have not seen anything!" said Voldemort, apparently enjoying himself. "Drop the shield and surrender; only then I will stop." He added.

Pictures continued to flash in their minds. All the elves save Lily, due to her human part, were now on the floor, muttering nonsense and trembling.

"STOP!" She yelled louder. There was a sort of explosion. She looked up, tears falling on her cheeks. Despite the profound sadness and hurt, her eyes still held determination;; but they were a bit different: instead of their deep emerald color they were jade with touches of silver. "Stop it," she whispered, undoing the shield with a wave of her hand.

Voldemort was a bit taken aback by her little change, and the pictures stopped.

"Interesting," he muttered. Then he turned to his Death Eaters. "Put them in two groups and lock them in the dungeons. This time do not forget to silence Lilyaris….." He waved his hand. Immediately, his men started to part them in two groups of about fifty people each. They pushed them brutally to one side or the other. James came to Lily's side and steadied her as she was, as well as all the elves still under the picture's effect. She quickly recomposed herself and ran to the elves' side to help them up. Then she turned and made a sign to Bella who nodded and headed towards the other group.

"Bring the King and his family into another room. If they make problem or try to resist, put them in a cell." Said suddenly Voldemort. Three Death Eaters roughly grabbed the royal family and dragged them out. One cautiously approached Lily and put a silencing charm on her. It did not stop her from communicating with Bella through the moves of her hands and fingers. However they were careful to remain discreet and to not attract attention on them, not yet. Finally Bella nodded again. The Death Eaters pushed the two groups out and led them separately to the dungeons where they locked them. Lily didn't know were Bella's group had been put. She spotted an empty corner in the cell, as all the nobles had gathered and were talking quietly between, as were the elves, fairies and commoners. She sat there, legs crossed in a meditation stance. She looked at her group. She knew all of them and luckily, Sirius and Remus were here. She got up and touched their shoulders. They turned and looked at her, a bit relieved.

"Do you think you can do something Lil?"

She pointed to her throat then knelt and started to write in the dust.

- Cannot do powerful spell without speaking. Need your help.-

"Alright. What can we do? We haven't our wands!"

-For now, can you look after me and make sure nobody touches me while I contact Bella? The consequences would not be nice for him or me if someone did…..-

"Alright." repeated Remus.

She sat back in her corner and took off a bracelet. It was a simple chain with a medal hanging on it. She opened it and touched the stone in it. It was a small device that Bella and her had created, which allowed two people to speak mind to mind even if they were far away.

Bella?

Yes Lil?

How are you and where are you?

I am fine as well as everyone here. They locked us in the largest cell of the west dungeon. And you?

The cell of the East dungeon.

Not good. The only advantage is the passage from your cell to the King's bedroom.

Yeah, it is the only one, because I found myself in the group of the conservatives!

My poor girl! Will you survive? The sarcasm was evident. You could beat them up if they annoy you too much….. Have you other good news like this one?

No. But I must find a way to take this silencing charm off, find James and his family, take the wands back, give them back to their owners, and leave the castle with everybody, all of this without being seen.

Great, while you are at it, could you bring me a picture of Voldemort sleeping in pink pajamas with a teddy bear and sucking his thumb?

Lily ignored her friend's comment.

Well, I have an idea to find James and I have my staff with me as well as my throwing knives and my darts. They only took my dagger away…..

I do not want to know how you have been able to keep them, but they are not really bright….

I have darts in my bun to fix it, two blades on my left forearm, darts on my right, two knives on my left thigh, one on my right. And do not say anything! I know you have a knife fixed on each forearm and darts on your fan!

You caught me….. We must have been the only ones with weapons other than wands, swords or daggers. Are your darts soporific?

Three quarters are, I took a few poisonous one just in case…… But I need to take this charm off before doing anything else.

Have you ever tried to use your staff without speaking?

No, I do not know if it would work, moreover, I shrank the staff!

You could try.

Why not, we have nothing to loose!

And for the escape?

I will contact Maris and the Lions, then I will talk to you in a few minutes.

All right

They broke contact. Lily opened her eyes and smiled at Sirius and Remus. She got up and took the mini-staff from her talisman. She started to focus on it and felt the power of the staff coming to her. She concentrated on the counter-curse, letting the power of the staff filling her, then said the words mentally.

The others who were watching her curiously knew instinctively to stay silent. First she thought it had not worked as she did not feel different. She turned to face Remus and Sirius.

"Remus?" Hearing her voice she nearly jumped to the ceiling but quickly calmed herself. With a flick of her hand and a few words she brought the staff to its normal aspect, and then transformed her clothes after having taken her knives away. She was now dressed in brown leather tunic with cotton shirt and pants. She undid her bun, putting the darts aside. Then she checked the blades on her forearm, took off the darts from the right and fixed a knife instead. She placed the other at her ankles. Finally she conjured two purses and put the darts in them: the soporific ones on her left and the poisonous at her right.

"Good," she said, dusting herself. "Now part two."

She contacted Bella.

Bella?

Lil?

It worked! I equipped myself in a more proper way, you should do it too…

How? I cannot do wandless magic!

Easy, I added a small thing to your bracelet in case of an emergency. Push the third stone on the right of the locket and picture yourself in your mind. Push the stone a second time and you will be dressed as you like.

Great!

I am going to go retrieve everyone's wand. Wait until I come give you yours. Then led your group to the sewer. We will meet there.

No problem.

Well, see you soon.

Be careful Lil.

You too.

They broke the link. Lily scanned the room and spotted Remus and Sirius looking at her hopefully.

"Good, I am going to retrieve our wands." she said. "You stay here and wait for me." She added.

They starred at her.

"Lil! It is too dangerous, you will be caught!" exclaimed Remus.

"Remus is right Lil. It is suicide!" nodded Sirius.

"Have you a better idea? I do not plan of spending my life here." she replied.

That silenced them.

"Good. I will be back as soon as possible." She got up and approached the wall in front of her. She studied it closely and then pulled out a brick. A lever was hidden behind. She pushed it and slowly a part of the wall started to slide aside, revealing a passage. As she saw nobles coming her way, she spoke.

"Stay here, I will come back with your wands."

"What! No! We're coming!" said an old noble she remembered as Sir Christian. "This is not a Lady's job!"

"Then I am not a Lady" retorted Lily.

"But…."

"I am sorry Sir Christian. This is not exactly the place to hold a debate on men-women differences. I am armed, you are not. I can do magic, you cannot. Therefore, I will go and you will stay." She said, before leaving through the door, closing the wall behind her.

"That is someone…." Said a man.

"And you do not know half of it….." sighed Remus.