LEGACY
By Lady Radcliffe
Summary: In a kingdom where blood is still everything, Lily Evans, the very first female advisor, will rise to the top and catch the attention of the very handsome, and very good kisser, James Potter. Slight AU.
Disclaimer: I am a writer who happens to own the greatest franchise ever and is richer than the queen. That's why I started putting up my story onto this site. Yup…
A/N: Italics are thoughts or used for emphasis.
Chapter Four
The following morning, Lily felt awful. She had cried herself to sleep the night before and hadn't bothered to change into her nightclothes. Her eyes were red, her face felt blotchy and her clothes looked wrinkled. As she peered into her mirror, she thought, No wonder James doesn't love me. I look horrible.
The pain last night was terrible, but now it hit her with a full blown force. James doesn't love me. He probably never did. I was just one more girl to string along unknowingly. We're over now. And we're never going to be together again.
A nagging voice persevered. If you were just another one of his numerous girlfriends, then why did he stay with you so long? It wasn't just because you were the prettiest, or the smartest. There was a deeper meaning and you know it.
She brushed the voice away impatiently. There was no point in reviewing the past, examining every possible reason why James had spoke those bitter words. What was done was done.
It hurt like hell, though. It was hell. The pain was still unbearable. She never wanted to go through something like this again. It had been just as bad when her muggle parents were suddenly murdered. A few chauvinistic wizards had banded together against Lily's appointment to the Royal Cabinet. As a future warning, her parent's house was set on fire and magical barriers had been placed to prevent anyone from leaving or entering. The house quickly disintegrated, with her parents among the ashes. Petunia had been away, visiting a friend when it all happened. She had been quick to point her finger at Lily's kind, the magical kind with all their hocus pocus. She didn't realize that it was people who were at fault. People who let their misogynist ideas get the better of them.
No, it was more like she did not want to see.
And so, with the double loss of her parents and her sister, who refused to ever speak to her again, Lily felt more isolated than ever. Never being one who socialized a lot, Lily kept to the few friends she still did have. But then, she met James.
James.
Lord! It was amazing how a single name could bring on such an onslaught of memories. Lily felt like she was drowning in them. Kissing for the first time during the Harvest Ball, lying next to each other in the unicorn field, whispering sweet nothings on the veranda. Strolling through the rose garden, playfully splashing each other by the fountain, nestling in his arms.
Being called a mudblood.
She shuddered. The last memory was something she wanted to forget. But the word "mudblood" kept repeating itself. It was etching itself into her mind. I'm a mudblood. Absolutely worthless. So filthy, I can't be loved. Everyone else is better than me. They're all smart, beautiful people, unlike me. Ugly, stupid, unlovable me.
A sharp ring announcing breakfast woke Lily from her reverie. Merlin! She was actually starting to believe them! Look at what James Potter had done! With one word, he had turned her into a gullible fool. She could not let this continue.
She had believed it when her mother told her magic only happened in fairy tales and no amount of begging to be treated like Cinderella was going to get her a fairy godmother. Look how wrong that turned out to be!
She had believed in Father Christmas devoutly, only to discover that not only did he forget to bring her the almost magical storybook she had asked for (she had gotten a silly little doll to dress up)but that he was also part of a made up story, used to trick hopeful little girls like herself into behaving. For a whole week, she had refused to speak to her parents.
She had firmly believed it when her parents said they would always be there to watch over their Lily and to make sure she had some fun. In the end, they had left her abruptly, breaking their promise much too soon, and she still felt guilty and almost responsible when Petunia hurled accusations at her.
Heck, was there anything Lily had not been stupid enough to believe in?
Magic exists, fairy godmothers or not. Father Christmas is a fake. People die and leave you. But I'm not a mudblood.
It's time to stop dreaming Lily, she scolded herself. It's time to see the world for what it really is. A bunch of lies and deceit, hidden by the innocent illusion of dreams and hope. Face it. Nothing's really what it seems. Angels fall. Love fades. Hope dies.
In just a few seconds, with thosecynical words, Lily Evans closed off her heart to the world. She chose to be cold, aloof and indifferent to the world's tragedies. She chose to be alone, where no one could touch her, open her eyes and make her see love, hope and beauty staring her right in the face. Casting off the small rays of light in her life, Lily Evans chose to take the hardest path in life.
The path taken alone.
A/N: Yet another chapter has appeared. I hope I didn't keep any of you waiting! Keep the reviews coming! I love every single one of them, no matter how long or short! You guys always make my day. And if you've noticed, I do tend to punctuate my sentences with "lol"s rather than periods. It's a habit :-D Also I'd like to raise the number of reviews to about 35. Can you make my wish come true? lol
BEATLESROCKSODOESHP: There are a ton of stories that are more AU than mine, but I'm glad that mine was the first you read! Voldemort reminded me of Hitler too! I even mentioned it in the original drafts of my story but I took it out later. Hitler was such a hypocrite, just like Voldemort. And listening in History is not bad. lol I do it all the time lol
pinkraindrop21: Of course James will be able to dig himself out of this ditch! Who could resist him? lol
tiger17lily: I'm pleased to hear that my story is original! You're going to spoil me with all those nice things you say... lol Plus, I've read the first chapter of your story and it's very good!
The Big Dance: I've never been much of a writer for school because the topics are so boring, but I think that I have good writing skills when I DO want to write and it's nice for you to tell me so lol I hope you do get an A in English soon, even if I can't lend you my skills lol This is not going to be a very long story. It's only 8 chapters altogether and following this chapter, the size of my chapters are going to decrease dramatically from about 2000 words to 1000 words per chapter. Kicking your muses in the shins doesn't do much for your writing lol Do not be surprised if my story ends in late April. Cheers to you too :-)
Leigh A. Sumpter: I adored your L/J story but you already know that lol Hehe, I like my disclaimer too. If you really did give me Dan, I totally would do a pathetic imitation of J.K. Rowling lol I hope people listen to you and add me onto their favorites list! lol
J.E.A.R.K. Potter: You're right, it's a bad idea to have the word "jerk" in your name lol