Chapter 10
Lilus sat on the train with her back against the window, and her feet leaning on the wall. She was trying to sleep, but the commotion on the train was too much. She had been sitting in her cubicle for a while, waiting for Justin and the others to arrive. Finally, the door slid open, and Justin appeared in the doorway.
"Guess what? Jason found a nice nickname for you. Blackwing! How does that sound?"
Blackwing. After what had happened during the previous afternoon, it seemed almost perfect. It had nothing to do with her red eyes or the jagged red stripes that had been across her back. It had been her wings. Her long, beautiful wings. She was Blackwing. No longer Lilus. She felt like a new person.
Justin plopped down on the seat next to her and awaited her answer. Lilus opened her eyes and smiled.
"Blackwing. Hmm. I likes. I'll have to owl him and tell him to remind me to give him a hug when I get back. So...I am now Blackwing! That is so awesome."
"Yeah, he thought about it all night. I bet you can guess what it came from," Angelfeather smiled.
"My Animagus form. Jason, you're a genius!" she squealed in delight. "I'll have to hug him extra tight."
"Well, don't hug him too hard. He might take it seriously."
She smiled and shrugged. "Oh well. He'll be the first and only."
Justin snapped his fingers. "Oh, your mum and dad are on business today, so we'll be taking you to our house for a few hours, okay?"
She didn't want to go to Uncle Ron's house. She wanted to see her parents. She missed them horribly, but she was sure that everything would be okay. She had waited a long time. A few hours wasn't anything.
"Oh, alright."
Justin suddenly got excited about something. "I can't believe that that's your transformation. Animagus transformations like that aren't supposed to be possible, but you pulled it off with beauty, grace, and elegance, my friend. You looked...wow. Are you gonna tell your dad that you're an Animagus now? Boy, this makes me want to try that potion."
Lilus laughed. "Well, it tasted nasty. Like...tree bark."
Justin stuck out his tongue. "Tree bark? Lilus, and you know this how? Had an affair with a tree, have we?"
She rose an eyebrow. "You...are...really daring. I just ate some when I was a kid."
"Oh. Well, still. Something that...great. I mean, the real thing is illegal. And the power. Oh, the power. Lilus, you could do so many things."
Lilus smiled. "Yeah, like I want to enslave the world anytime soon. Plus, since when did you get so power hungry, anyway?"
Justin shrugged. "I dunno. After seeing you turn into something that could probably have downed me and Jason both...yeah. What was your meditation like? What did you see?"
The meditation was very important after drinking an Animagus potion. It would direct one's soul to the animal form that it would take.
"I...was flying somewhere over the ocean. It was so...beautiful. I felt so strong. I felt like nothing could stop me. When I roared, I was ten times greater than a lion. It was so beautiful. The feeling was incredible."
Justin smiled. "What do you think I'll turn into."
Lilus looked at him with an evil grin on her face. "I think you'd be...a parrot."
Justin stared. "A parrot?"
"Yeah. It takes people forever to get you to talk, but when you start talking, it's impossible to shut you up!"
Justin leapt at her and ruffled her hair all to bits. She finally shoved him off of her just in time before Nick and Charlie entered.
"Hello. We decided to grace you with our presence," said Nick.
"How honored are we?" Lilus said.
Justin popped Nick on the arm. "Lilus has a name now. Blackwing. Jason thought it up."
Nick smiled. "Blackwing. That sounds neat. Well, Lilus. You are now a true Marauder. Congratulations."
Nick sat down next to her, and Charlie sat beside Justin.
The trip had been slow. The meditation that she had took her a long time. For almost three hours, she sat on the cold ground, listening to silence and her heartbeat. She saw the ocean first. It looked like she was flying over it really fast, on a broom or something. When she looked down, she didn't see a reflection though. She didn't see anything but water. The breeze stretched over her body, and she felt so calm. Then something very big and black moved to her side. She turned to stare at it, and found that it had been staring at her. She had almost been knocked out of her meditation by the giant snake's alligator-like maw. It was lined with very sharp teeth with four large fangs in the front. It had the reddest eyes that she had ever seen, so large and horrifically terrifying. It had two long horns that spiraled slightly as they poked out four feet from its head. A ebony mane flew out long behind it, stretching out nearly a quarter of its body length. Just as the mane ended, two very large wings jutted out of the black snake's body. The wings were very long, but the creature itself could easily cover seventy feet. Its wings were much like a bat's. It had a thumb and four webbed fingers. The thumb was sharp and looked very dangerous, like it could gut any creature with just one swipe. The fingers were much longer, and they made up the wings. The lizard continued to stare at her, and it smirked. She felt some sort of magnetism being formed between the giant beast and herself, and she felt her body being pushed towards it. Finally, she was so close that she could touch the scales. She saw the jagged stripes over its back, the color of its eyes. She suddenly felt her body being jerked forward, and the body of her and the dragon became one in the same. That's when she heard Jason and Justin scream, and she snapped out of it, finding herself in the form of the a flyinh snake. And to her surprise, or much not to her surprise, it looked incredibly similar to her Patronus, but her Patronus didn't have horns, a dragon's snout, a mane, or eyes like that.
"Lilus, you going off into dream world? Come on. I know I'm sexy, but please no fantasizing while I'm having a conversation with someone," Nick said, pulling her closer to him.
She laughed and pushed him away. "As if, Nick. If I was fantasizing about anyone, it would be Charlie, anyway."
She winked at Charlie, and Nick snorted at Justin's "ooooooaaaaahhhhhhhhhh...she burnt you."
Charlie grinned. "Oh, Lilus. Shut your mouth."
Nick poked her in the ribs, and she grabbed the muscle in his side, causing him to shriek loudly with delight. Nick was too ticklish. She smiled and leaned against the window.
"Hey, is there anything going on between you and Jason?" Charlie asked, eyeing her suspiciously.
Lilus felt shock come to her face. "No! Jason is my friend!"
"I dunno. I went down to the Common Room one time and found you and him asleep down there. Are you sure?"
Justin jabbed Charlie in his ribs. "Jason's been having really bad nightmares. She goes down there to check on him."
"Oh, well, just wondering. He really seems to like you."
Nick chuckled. "Jason likes anything that's female and has an ass," he said, propping his feet up on the seat just beside Charlie. "Not like there's anything wrong with that, mind you."
Lilus didn't say anything to him. She just stared out of the window. The boys started talking about girls that they thought were hot, sexy, cute, or gorgeous, and their conversation died out of her head. The landscape flew by so slowly compared to when she had gotten on the train before. Eventually, she stood up. The evil feeling had returned.
"Be right back, guys."
She slid the compartment door open and stepped out into the hallway. She wanted to go talk to Jason, but he wasn't here. She'd probably go to the bathroom and stay for a while or something. Talk to herself. Just to drift back into that meditation. She wanted to transform, but she knew that doing that would cause panic beyond restoration. Oh that form. Sixty feet of power. The power. The power. The power.
"Why are you all by yourself?"
She turned her head to see a brown-haired, brown-eyed boy standing in the aisle a few feet from her. He was dressed in Muggle clothes, and he was tall. He had a light tanned complexion totally unhindered by pimples, zits, acne, or anything else. His eyes held a deep emotion in them, and she could see it throughout the dark brown circles. He was pleased, pleased with the way she looked. His eyes were lusty, but they kept their distance.
"Oh, just need to escape from my friends. Have some quiet time, you know?" she answered, trying to indirectly shield her eyes from him.
"You're Lilus Potter, aren't you?" he asked, his voice very smooth. "You were great against Hufflepuff."
She scratched the back of her neck. "Yeah, that's me. Thanks for the compliment. I...haven't seen you around, sorry to say."
He laughed. "Well, you wouldn't have. I tend to stay out of people's sight. Just don't like the spotlight."
"What house are you in?" she asked, leaning against the door.
"Oh, Ravenclaw. Seventh year."
"Cool."
"Want to come sit down? I'm all by myself in one." he said, pointing to a compartment at the end of a section.
"Sure. No harm in that."
She wasn't exactly sure where this was going, but he was cute and slightly interested so why not? He opened the door for her, and she went inside and sat down. He followed her and sat down across from her.
"I love your eyes. You wear contacts?" he asked, leaning back in the chair and swinging one leg over the other.
She shook her head. "No, birth defect."
He shook his head. "Don't birth defect me. They make you look...how you say...devious, strong, mysterious."
She laughed. "Frightening."
He shrugged. "Well, they are a very nice shade. Bright red, not dark red. At least they have brightness to them."
Lilus shrugged. "What's your name?"
He smiled. "Well, Nathanial Gallian, but you can call me Snid."
"Snid? That's original. Sounds cool. Nice to meet you, Snid."
He grinned. "You have a nickname?"
"Not really. Lil is the closest I've ever come to one."
Blackwing was too early. It wasn't right to give it to some guy that she had just met. It was too early. She had never heard his name before. She had never seen him before. He didn't look like a Ravenclaw, but she could only believe him.
"Lil, that sounds nice," he said, smiling.
"Why were you out wondering the halls?" she asked, leaning back in her seat.
"Just bored and looking for the snack lady. Nothing to do except play with my wand, which gets dull after a time."
She nodded. "Yeah. I'm surprised I've never seen you before. I've never seen you at meals or anything."
"Yeah. Usually, I'm helping one of the professors out. I'm the designated assistant."
"That's cool. Do you help Snape out any?"
"Yes, actually. Nice man when you don't talk to him," Snid said, laughing heartily.
"What do you do for him?"
"Well, I do errands for him. I clean up the dungeon. Met Raphael and his dorky cousin, too."
"Oh, God. That stupid French accent. He's been bugging me since the beginning of school. I have a feeling that he'll be back."
"Raphael's a saint compared to him."
"Tell me about it. I'm actually missing him. That French guy needs to be hexed out of his shoes."
"Raphael's really rather nice, you know? When he's not being harassed by his cousin."
"How long are they down there with you?"
"Just an hour or so."
"Malfoy nearly killed one of my friends last year, but this year, I'd prefer him over Frenchy."
"Frenchy? That's amusing," Snid said.
"Well, I'd better be getting back to my friends. Maybe I'll see you around sometime, okay?"
He smiled and took her hand quickly in one graceful sweep before planting a gentle kiss on it. "Farewell, lovely lady."
"Bye, Snid," she laughed. "And please don't try to stay invisible. Come and talk to me sometime."
He smiled and nodded his head once. "Of course."
She smiled and left his compartment before traveling down the aisle to her own. She walked in and saw Nick swinging his t-shirt over his head and standing up on her chair. Although he wasn't much for romantic tastes, Nick had an incredible body. He stopped immediately when she entered and sat down on the bench.
"Oh, don't mind me," she said evilly. "You continue with that little stripping session."
Nick smiled and threw his shirt at her. She caught it and threw it at his head. She jumped on the bench and propped her feet up in his lap.
"Where were you?" Justin asked, still trying to recover from the good laugh that he just experienced.
"A hot Ravenclaw boy wanted to talk to me. I talked, but then I decided to come back just in case you were doing anything...savage," she said, eyeing Nick. "Of course, I was totally incorrect. This is normal behaviour for you boys."
Nick smacked her thigh hard, and she jumped. He laughed and grinned at her.
"Who was the boy?" Charlie asked.
Everytime she started talking about boys, they would get really defensive.
"He's tall, brown-hair, brown eyes, and he goes by the name of Snid."
They looked at each other, confused. "Snid? Never heard of him."
"Oh well," she said. "Look. I'm going to take a nap. Wake me when we stop, okay?" She drew her feet off of Nick and curled up on the corner of the bench. "If anyone pinches my rear, there's going to be Hell to pay..."
Nick snapped his fingers and put his shirt back on.
**************************
Upon first seeing her godfather, she rushed over to Ron and hugged him right before his wife and then Ginny and Dean. George and Fred were there too. Everyone piled into the two family minivans, and they were off. She was caught between Nick and Charlie, with Justin, Casey, and Baker in the middle row, and Ron and his wife up front. The others were in the other van, probably more wild than they were at the moment. Nick and Charlie were asleep. Nick was drooling on the window, which was amusing. Lilus was glad to be out of school. No more teachers to worry about, although she'd miss Remy a lot. He was always the reason to go back, that and the mild satisfaction that she recieved after seeing Snape sneak one of the Chocolate Frogs she'd left him into his mouth during class. She had not seen Snid when she left the train. She even made the attempt to look around for him, but he was gone. It left her disappointed, but she was quiet.
"Lilus, you'll go home in about two or three hours, okay? Your father should be back by then," Ron said from the front seat.
"Yeah, okay."
"Did you miss Harry and Hermione?"
"Yes, Uncle Ron. I really did."
She leaned forward and put her face in her hands. She wanted to go home. She missed the evil cat. She missed Hedwig. She missed everything. She wanted to be home. Other than a few side conversations between Ron and Amber, the car was silent. Everyone was ready to be home. They were almost to the Weasley plantation, and Lilus had the urge to transform again just to figure out how to use her new wings. Of course, that would cause near death to her friends. Seeing one of your best friends turn into a huge dragon wasn't exactly the most expected thing in the world.
When they arrived at the plantation, Lilus levitated her trunk out of the van and moved it into Ron's livingroom. She'd be going home via Floo Powder, but it would be near midnight after that happened.
She strolled upstairs and knocked on Justin's door.
"It's unlocked," came the muffled voice inside.
She opened it and saw him unpacking everything in his trunk before slipping something fresh in it. He glanced over his shoulder and smiled at her, tossing the white shirt he was holding onto his bed.
"How's life, Angelfeather?"
"Life is treating me well, Blackwing. And you?" he said with a wink, sitting down on his bed and bouncing just a little.
"Bored. I want to go home so bad."
Justin nodded. "Yeah, I know. Now, tell me about this Ravenclaw."
"Seventh year. Brown hair. Brown eyes. Nice figure. Good skin. Cute."
"I don't know a Ravenclaw named Snid," he said, eyeing her suspiciously.
"Well, his name is Nathanial Gallian. That's what he told me."
Justin thought for a few minutes, but he shook his head again in the end. "I don't know anyone by that name."
Lilus sat down next to him and shrugged. "I dunno. It was weird though. He took interest in me. The only other guy to ever do that is Jason."
Angelfeather nodded. "But he's insane."
"I'm beginning to wonder if all Americans are like that. I'd still take Jason over any of them, though."
Justin nodded again. "Jason's an awesome guy."
Lilus stood up and stretched her arms toward his ceiling. "I'm going to go outside for a few minutes."
"Okay. See you in a few."
Outside. Space, wide, open space that was impossible to be occupied. Lilus, clad in jacket, jeans, sneakers, and sweatshirt, walked to the middle of the field and sat down on the cold ground. The wind bit at her skin, but she didn't notice. She looked around at the bare trees whose leaves had been stripped from them during autumn. Tree after tree after tree, all of them were lined up in a very confusing pattern. Climbing those trees had been fun. They had always been fun. This place was fun. Her childhood was here, half of it anyways. Justin was her childhood. Nick, Charlie, and Diego even. This was a place in her heart. This cold land would once again be reborn with the spring, becoming brighter and greener.
She turned her head when Ron poked his head out of the door and summoned her inside. She stood up, popping her back and bones before sprinting towards the houses. She arrived at the door panting and covered in a light sweat, but she was excited. She was going home.
Justin was waiting for her. He'd help her carry her trunk through, but in order to do this right, they'd have to run through almost at the same time. Justin would use some of her family's Floo Powder to return. She smiled and grabbed a handful of Floo Powder from the pot that her Aunt Amber extended to her.
"Happy Christmas, Uncle Ron. Happy Christmas, Aunt Amber."
"Happy Christmas, Lilus."
She threw it into the fire.
"Harry Potter Residence," she stated as clearly as she could.
The fire buzzed to life, and she and Justin jumped through it, each holding one handle of her trunk. They arrived on the other side and dropped her trunk. The familiar image of her livingroom was such a comfort to her. The dark blue sofa and the golden armchair at one end of the room, the television in the other. The cerulean blue carpet that she had so often fallen asleep on when she was a kid. The pictures on the wall radiated happiness, showing pictures of her from age nearly zero to fifteen. It was eerily quiet, though.
"Leave it. I'll get it later. Dad? Mom?" she called, raising her voice so it could be heard from upstairs.
Justin's head snapped up as something shattered in the kitchen. Lilus looked at him in silence, and then ran into the doorway to the kitchen with Justin on her heels. Lilus' heart stopped literally, and she stopped breathing and every primitive action of her body was overtaken by pure shock and fear. The man that was standing in her kitchen was not her dad, nor was it anyone she had ever seen. He was dressed in long, flowing black robes, with a mask over his head that only allowed one horizontal slit for both of his eyes.
Those eyes. They were grayish blue, and pure hatred was pouring from them, along with a long satisfaction that had desired to be quenched for a long time. The man was smiling; she could see his mask contort to fit his demonic grin. Lilus didn't have her wand with her, nor did Justin. She saw that his body was hiding the two others that had crashed against the window.
Her mother and father.
She ran over to the masked man, but he apparated away before she could grab him. She could hear Justin curse as he collapsed to his knees. She followed shortly after, sinking to her knees in front of her parents. Their glazed eyes were staring into space, and both of them were oddly pale. Her father's glasses had been smashed, and blood trickled from her mother's forehead.
"...Mom...Dad, say something," she croaked, barely getting the worlds out. Her throat was so parched now.
She crawled a little closer and reached out to touch her father's arm. Her father suddenly shook, and his arms reached up and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her frighteningly close. She was not even an inch from his face now, and the tears continued to fall onto his chest.
Lilus' eyes grew wide as her father's eyes began to shift from their happy green to a deep red, an evil red, her red. His pupils shrunk until they were nearly gone, and his face became even paler than it had been. His mouth smirked in the most evil grin that she had seen in her life, and his face became something that she would never forget. She screamed, forcing every inch of pain and frustration out of her body before it retracted and blasted back into her.
Lilus felt something hard slam against her. It tore her from her father's arms, and in a blurr of red light, shot her backwards into her mother's china cabinate. The delicate glass shattered, and Lilus felt her back sear with pain and fire. Time stopped, and she slid downwards, landing on her knees before collapsing on the ground, unconscious, with pieces of glass gnawing into her cheek.
At about that time, Jason, more than a hundred miles away, woke up screaming his bloody head off at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Lilus sat on the train with her back against the window, and her feet leaning on the wall. She was trying to sleep, but the commotion on the train was too much. She had been sitting in her cubicle for a while, waiting for Justin and the others to arrive. Finally, the door slid open, and Justin appeared in the doorway.
"Guess what? Jason found a nice nickname for you. Blackwing! How does that sound?"
Blackwing. After what had happened during the previous afternoon, it seemed almost perfect. It had nothing to do with her red eyes or the jagged red stripes that had been across her back. It had been her wings. Her long, beautiful wings. She was Blackwing. No longer Lilus. She felt like a new person.
Justin plopped down on the seat next to her and awaited her answer. Lilus opened her eyes and smiled.
"Blackwing. Hmm. I likes. I'll have to owl him and tell him to remind me to give him a hug when I get back. So...I am now Blackwing! That is so awesome."
"Yeah, he thought about it all night. I bet you can guess what it came from," Angelfeather smiled.
"My Animagus form. Jason, you're a genius!" she squealed in delight. "I'll have to hug him extra tight."
"Well, don't hug him too hard. He might take it seriously."
She smiled and shrugged. "Oh well. He'll be the first and only."
Justin snapped his fingers. "Oh, your mum and dad are on business today, so we'll be taking you to our house for a few hours, okay?"
She didn't want to go to Uncle Ron's house. She wanted to see her parents. She missed them horribly, but she was sure that everything would be okay. She had waited a long time. A few hours wasn't anything.
"Oh, alright."
Justin suddenly got excited about something. "I can't believe that that's your transformation. Animagus transformations like that aren't supposed to be possible, but you pulled it off with beauty, grace, and elegance, my friend. You looked...wow. Are you gonna tell your dad that you're an Animagus now? Boy, this makes me want to try that potion."
Lilus laughed. "Well, it tasted nasty. Like...tree bark."
Justin stuck out his tongue. "Tree bark? Lilus, and you know this how? Had an affair with a tree, have we?"
She rose an eyebrow. "You...are...really daring. I just ate some when I was a kid."
"Oh. Well, still. Something that...great. I mean, the real thing is illegal. And the power. Oh, the power. Lilus, you could do so many things."
Lilus smiled. "Yeah, like I want to enslave the world anytime soon. Plus, since when did you get so power hungry, anyway?"
Justin shrugged. "I dunno. After seeing you turn into something that could probably have downed me and Jason both...yeah. What was your meditation like? What did you see?"
The meditation was very important after drinking an Animagus potion. It would direct one's soul to the animal form that it would take.
"I...was flying somewhere over the ocean. It was so...beautiful. I felt so strong. I felt like nothing could stop me. When I roared, I was ten times greater than a lion. It was so beautiful. The feeling was incredible."
Justin smiled. "What do you think I'll turn into."
Lilus looked at him with an evil grin on her face. "I think you'd be...a parrot."
Justin stared. "A parrot?"
"Yeah. It takes people forever to get you to talk, but when you start talking, it's impossible to shut you up!"
Justin leapt at her and ruffled her hair all to bits. She finally shoved him off of her just in time before Nick and Charlie entered.
"Hello. We decided to grace you with our presence," said Nick.
"How honored are we?" Lilus said.
Justin popped Nick on the arm. "Lilus has a name now. Blackwing. Jason thought it up."
Nick smiled. "Blackwing. That sounds neat. Well, Lilus. You are now a true Marauder. Congratulations."
Nick sat down next to her, and Charlie sat beside Justin.
The trip had been slow. The meditation that she had took her a long time. For almost three hours, she sat on the cold ground, listening to silence and her heartbeat. She saw the ocean first. It looked like she was flying over it really fast, on a broom or something. When she looked down, she didn't see a reflection though. She didn't see anything but water. The breeze stretched over her body, and she felt so calm. Then something very big and black moved to her side. She turned to stare at it, and found that it had been staring at her. She had almost been knocked out of her meditation by the giant snake's alligator-like maw. It was lined with very sharp teeth with four large fangs in the front. It had the reddest eyes that she had ever seen, so large and horrifically terrifying. It had two long horns that spiraled slightly as they poked out four feet from its head. A ebony mane flew out long behind it, stretching out nearly a quarter of its body length. Just as the mane ended, two very large wings jutted out of the black snake's body. The wings were very long, but the creature itself could easily cover seventy feet. Its wings were much like a bat's. It had a thumb and four webbed fingers. The thumb was sharp and looked very dangerous, like it could gut any creature with just one swipe. The fingers were much longer, and they made up the wings. The lizard continued to stare at her, and it smirked. She felt some sort of magnetism being formed between the giant beast and herself, and she felt her body being pushed towards it. Finally, she was so close that she could touch the scales. She saw the jagged stripes over its back, the color of its eyes. She suddenly felt her body being jerked forward, and the body of her and the dragon became one in the same. That's when she heard Jason and Justin scream, and she snapped out of it, finding herself in the form of the a flyinh snake. And to her surprise, or much not to her surprise, it looked incredibly similar to her Patronus, but her Patronus didn't have horns, a dragon's snout, a mane, or eyes like that.
"Lilus, you going off into dream world? Come on. I know I'm sexy, but please no fantasizing while I'm having a conversation with someone," Nick said, pulling her closer to him.
She laughed and pushed him away. "As if, Nick. If I was fantasizing about anyone, it would be Charlie, anyway."
She winked at Charlie, and Nick snorted at Justin's "ooooooaaaaahhhhhhhhhh...she burnt you."
Charlie grinned. "Oh, Lilus. Shut your mouth."
Nick poked her in the ribs, and she grabbed the muscle in his side, causing him to shriek loudly with delight. Nick was too ticklish. She smiled and leaned against the window.
"Hey, is there anything going on between you and Jason?" Charlie asked, eyeing her suspiciously.
Lilus felt shock come to her face. "No! Jason is my friend!"
"I dunno. I went down to the Common Room one time and found you and him asleep down there. Are you sure?"
Justin jabbed Charlie in his ribs. "Jason's been having really bad nightmares. She goes down there to check on him."
"Oh, well, just wondering. He really seems to like you."
Nick chuckled. "Jason likes anything that's female and has an ass," he said, propping his feet up on the seat just beside Charlie. "Not like there's anything wrong with that, mind you."
Lilus didn't say anything to him. She just stared out of the window. The boys started talking about girls that they thought were hot, sexy, cute, or gorgeous, and their conversation died out of her head. The landscape flew by so slowly compared to when she had gotten on the train before. Eventually, she stood up. The evil feeling had returned.
"Be right back, guys."
She slid the compartment door open and stepped out into the hallway. She wanted to go talk to Jason, but he wasn't here. She'd probably go to the bathroom and stay for a while or something. Talk to herself. Just to drift back into that meditation. She wanted to transform, but she knew that doing that would cause panic beyond restoration. Oh that form. Sixty feet of power. The power. The power. The power.
"Why are you all by yourself?"
She turned her head to see a brown-haired, brown-eyed boy standing in the aisle a few feet from her. He was dressed in Muggle clothes, and he was tall. He had a light tanned complexion totally unhindered by pimples, zits, acne, or anything else. His eyes held a deep emotion in them, and she could see it throughout the dark brown circles. He was pleased, pleased with the way she looked. His eyes were lusty, but they kept their distance.
"Oh, just need to escape from my friends. Have some quiet time, you know?" she answered, trying to indirectly shield her eyes from him.
"You're Lilus Potter, aren't you?" he asked, his voice very smooth. "You were great against Hufflepuff."
She scratched the back of her neck. "Yeah, that's me. Thanks for the compliment. I...haven't seen you around, sorry to say."
He laughed. "Well, you wouldn't have. I tend to stay out of people's sight. Just don't like the spotlight."
"What house are you in?" she asked, leaning against the door.
"Oh, Ravenclaw. Seventh year."
"Cool."
"Want to come sit down? I'm all by myself in one." he said, pointing to a compartment at the end of a section.
"Sure. No harm in that."
She wasn't exactly sure where this was going, but he was cute and slightly interested so why not? He opened the door for her, and she went inside and sat down. He followed her and sat down across from her.
"I love your eyes. You wear contacts?" he asked, leaning back in the chair and swinging one leg over the other.
She shook her head. "No, birth defect."
He shook his head. "Don't birth defect me. They make you look...how you say...devious, strong, mysterious."
She laughed. "Frightening."
He shrugged. "Well, they are a very nice shade. Bright red, not dark red. At least they have brightness to them."
Lilus shrugged. "What's your name?"
He smiled. "Well, Nathanial Gallian, but you can call me Snid."
"Snid? That's original. Sounds cool. Nice to meet you, Snid."
He grinned. "You have a nickname?"
"Not really. Lil is the closest I've ever come to one."
Blackwing was too early. It wasn't right to give it to some guy that she had just met. It was too early. She had never heard his name before. She had never seen him before. He didn't look like a Ravenclaw, but she could only believe him.
"Lil, that sounds nice," he said, smiling.
"Why were you out wondering the halls?" she asked, leaning back in her seat.
"Just bored and looking for the snack lady. Nothing to do except play with my wand, which gets dull after a time."
She nodded. "Yeah. I'm surprised I've never seen you before. I've never seen you at meals or anything."
"Yeah. Usually, I'm helping one of the professors out. I'm the designated assistant."
"That's cool. Do you help Snape out any?"
"Yes, actually. Nice man when you don't talk to him," Snid said, laughing heartily.
"What do you do for him?"
"Well, I do errands for him. I clean up the dungeon. Met Raphael and his dorky cousin, too."
"Oh, God. That stupid French accent. He's been bugging me since the beginning of school. I have a feeling that he'll be back."
"Raphael's a saint compared to him."
"Tell me about it. I'm actually missing him. That French guy needs to be hexed out of his shoes."
"Raphael's really rather nice, you know? When he's not being harassed by his cousin."
"How long are they down there with you?"
"Just an hour or so."
"Malfoy nearly killed one of my friends last year, but this year, I'd prefer him over Frenchy."
"Frenchy? That's amusing," Snid said.
"Well, I'd better be getting back to my friends. Maybe I'll see you around sometime, okay?"
He smiled and took her hand quickly in one graceful sweep before planting a gentle kiss on it. "Farewell, lovely lady."
"Bye, Snid," she laughed. "And please don't try to stay invisible. Come and talk to me sometime."
He smiled and nodded his head once. "Of course."
She smiled and left his compartment before traveling down the aisle to her own. She walked in and saw Nick swinging his t-shirt over his head and standing up on her chair. Although he wasn't much for romantic tastes, Nick had an incredible body. He stopped immediately when she entered and sat down on the bench.
"Oh, don't mind me," she said evilly. "You continue with that little stripping session."
Nick smiled and threw his shirt at her. She caught it and threw it at his head. She jumped on the bench and propped her feet up in his lap.
"Where were you?" Justin asked, still trying to recover from the good laugh that he just experienced.
"A hot Ravenclaw boy wanted to talk to me. I talked, but then I decided to come back just in case you were doing anything...savage," she said, eyeing Nick. "Of course, I was totally incorrect. This is normal behaviour for you boys."
Nick smacked her thigh hard, and she jumped. He laughed and grinned at her.
"Who was the boy?" Charlie asked.
Everytime she started talking about boys, they would get really defensive.
"He's tall, brown-hair, brown eyes, and he goes by the name of Snid."
They looked at each other, confused. "Snid? Never heard of him."
"Oh well," she said. "Look. I'm going to take a nap. Wake me when we stop, okay?" She drew her feet off of Nick and curled up on the corner of the bench. "If anyone pinches my rear, there's going to be Hell to pay..."
Nick snapped his fingers and put his shirt back on.
**************************
Upon first seeing her godfather, she rushed over to Ron and hugged him right before his wife and then Ginny and Dean. George and Fred were there too. Everyone piled into the two family minivans, and they were off. She was caught between Nick and Charlie, with Justin, Casey, and Baker in the middle row, and Ron and his wife up front. The others were in the other van, probably more wild than they were at the moment. Nick and Charlie were asleep. Nick was drooling on the window, which was amusing. Lilus was glad to be out of school. No more teachers to worry about, although she'd miss Remy a lot. He was always the reason to go back, that and the mild satisfaction that she recieved after seeing Snape sneak one of the Chocolate Frogs she'd left him into his mouth during class. She had not seen Snid when she left the train. She even made the attempt to look around for him, but he was gone. It left her disappointed, but she was quiet.
"Lilus, you'll go home in about two or three hours, okay? Your father should be back by then," Ron said from the front seat.
"Yeah, okay."
"Did you miss Harry and Hermione?"
"Yes, Uncle Ron. I really did."
She leaned forward and put her face in her hands. She wanted to go home. She missed the evil cat. She missed Hedwig. She missed everything. She wanted to be home. Other than a few side conversations between Ron and Amber, the car was silent. Everyone was ready to be home. They were almost to the Weasley plantation, and Lilus had the urge to transform again just to figure out how to use her new wings. Of course, that would cause near death to her friends. Seeing one of your best friends turn into a huge dragon wasn't exactly the most expected thing in the world.
When they arrived at the plantation, Lilus levitated her trunk out of the van and moved it into Ron's livingroom. She'd be going home via Floo Powder, but it would be near midnight after that happened.
She strolled upstairs and knocked on Justin's door.
"It's unlocked," came the muffled voice inside.
She opened it and saw him unpacking everything in his trunk before slipping something fresh in it. He glanced over his shoulder and smiled at her, tossing the white shirt he was holding onto his bed.
"How's life, Angelfeather?"
"Life is treating me well, Blackwing. And you?" he said with a wink, sitting down on his bed and bouncing just a little.
"Bored. I want to go home so bad."
Justin nodded. "Yeah, I know. Now, tell me about this Ravenclaw."
"Seventh year. Brown hair. Brown eyes. Nice figure. Good skin. Cute."
"I don't know a Ravenclaw named Snid," he said, eyeing her suspiciously.
"Well, his name is Nathanial Gallian. That's what he told me."
Justin thought for a few minutes, but he shook his head again in the end. "I don't know anyone by that name."
Lilus sat down next to him and shrugged. "I dunno. It was weird though. He took interest in me. The only other guy to ever do that is Jason."
Angelfeather nodded. "But he's insane."
"I'm beginning to wonder if all Americans are like that. I'd still take Jason over any of them, though."
Justin nodded again. "Jason's an awesome guy."
Lilus stood up and stretched her arms toward his ceiling. "I'm going to go outside for a few minutes."
"Okay. See you in a few."
Outside. Space, wide, open space that was impossible to be occupied. Lilus, clad in jacket, jeans, sneakers, and sweatshirt, walked to the middle of the field and sat down on the cold ground. The wind bit at her skin, but she didn't notice. She looked around at the bare trees whose leaves had been stripped from them during autumn. Tree after tree after tree, all of them were lined up in a very confusing pattern. Climbing those trees had been fun. They had always been fun. This place was fun. Her childhood was here, half of it anyways. Justin was her childhood. Nick, Charlie, and Diego even. This was a place in her heart. This cold land would once again be reborn with the spring, becoming brighter and greener.
She turned her head when Ron poked his head out of the door and summoned her inside. She stood up, popping her back and bones before sprinting towards the houses. She arrived at the door panting and covered in a light sweat, but she was excited. She was going home.
Justin was waiting for her. He'd help her carry her trunk through, but in order to do this right, they'd have to run through almost at the same time. Justin would use some of her family's Floo Powder to return. She smiled and grabbed a handful of Floo Powder from the pot that her Aunt Amber extended to her.
"Happy Christmas, Uncle Ron. Happy Christmas, Aunt Amber."
"Happy Christmas, Lilus."
She threw it into the fire.
"Harry Potter Residence," she stated as clearly as she could.
The fire buzzed to life, and she and Justin jumped through it, each holding one handle of her trunk. They arrived on the other side and dropped her trunk. The familiar image of her livingroom was such a comfort to her. The dark blue sofa and the golden armchair at one end of the room, the television in the other. The cerulean blue carpet that she had so often fallen asleep on when she was a kid. The pictures on the wall radiated happiness, showing pictures of her from age nearly zero to fifteen. It was eerily quiet, though.
"Leave it. I'll get it later. Dad? Mom?" she called, raising her voice so it could be heard from upstairs.
Justin's head snapped up as something shattered in the kitchen. Lilus looked at him in silence, and then ran into the doorway to the kitchen with Justin on her heels. Lilus' heart stopped literally, and she stopped breathing and every primitive action of her body was overtaken by pure shock and fear. The man that was standing in her kitchen was not her dad, nor was it anyone she had ever seen. He was dressed in long, flowing black robes, with a mask over his head that only allowed one horizontal slit for both of his eyes.
Those eyes. They were grayish blue, and pure hatred was pouring from them, along with a long satisfaction that had desired to be quenched for a long time. The man was smiling; she could see his mask contort to fit his demonic grin. Lilus didn't have her wand with her, nor did Justin. She saw that his body was hiding the two others that had crashed against the window.
Her mother and father.
She ran over to the masked man, but he apparated away before she could grab him. She could hear Justin curse as he collapsed to his knees. She followed shortly after, sinking to her knees in front of her parents. Their glazed eyes were staring into space, and both of them were oddly pale. Her father's glasses had been smashed, and blood trickled from her mother's forehead.
"...Mom...Dad, say something," she croaked, barely getting the worlds out. Her throat was so parched now.
She crawled a little closer and reached out to touch her father's arm. Her father suddenly shook, and his arms reached up and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her frighteningly close. She was not even an inch from his face now, and the tears continued to fall onto his chest.
Lilus' eyes grew wide as her father's eyes began to shift from their happy green to a deep red, an evil red, her red. His pupils shrunk until they were nearly gone, and his face became even paler than it had been. His mouth smirked in the most evil grin that she had seen in her life, and his face became something that she would never forget. She screamed, forcing every inch of pain and frustration out of her body before it retracted and blasted back into her.
Lilus felt something hard slam against her. It tore her from her father's arms, and in a blurr of red light, shot her backwards into her mother's china cabinate. The delicate glass shattered, and Lilus felt her back sear with pain and fire. Time stopped, and she slid downwards, landing on her knees before collapsing on the ground, unconscious, with pieces of glass gnawing into her cheek.
At about that time, Jason, more than a hundred miles away, woke up screaming his bloody head off at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.