Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters you recognize. But I do own the plot line of Bonds of Blood. Arabella Figg, Sirius Black, James Potter, Lily Evans, Peter Pettigrew and Harry Potter all belong to the wonderful goddess J.K. Rowling.

"Lily…Liillyyy…Lily, wake up!"

Ugh. That voice. It was so loud. Lily groaned and rolled over and then right out of the bed. Groaning, Lily pushed a strand of dirty red hair from her face and felt two hands pulling her to her feet. She swayed, blinking. Dark ebony hair, pale skin, dark eyes. Lily's eyes were fuzzy, but slowly began to focus. This girl must be Miss Jackson. Had Lena told her the girls first name? No, Lily didn't think so.

"You are Lily, right?"

Lily nodded. She was to tired to do anything else.

"Good. I'm Orianna Jackson. Ori or Anna for short. Anyway, good morning sleepy head."

"Wah time izzit?"

Lily mumbled. Although her body was awake, her mind sure as hell wasn't. Anna chuckled and went about making Lily's bed as she spoke,

"About 7:45-ish. Get into your uniform. Breakfast starts in fifteen. And a bell usually rings immeadiently afterwards. Usually one of the masters wanting his breakfast. But it's ok. It's your first day, so you don't have to bother with that yet. Got your uniform? Good, lets go then!"

Anna grabbed Lily's arm and dragged her from the room as Lily shoved her arm through the sleeve. At 7:50 in the morning, Lily was still half asleep and her eyes blurred as Anna zoomed through the hallways at top speed. And suddenly, they stopped and Lily nearly toppled over as Anna opened, yet another, oak door. She walked in and Lily followed, quietly shutting the door behind her and sticking close to Anna. The kitchen was, in short, enormous. And almost exactly like the one at Hogwarts. Hundreds of tiny house elves – Lily could've sworn she saw Lena – were scurrying about, cooking and putting food on a large table. And fifteen or twenty girls were either sitting at another large table or getting some food. Lily stuck close to Anna as the two of them went up to get food, then went to sit with a small group of girls. Anna sat down next to a girl with similar ebony-colored hair. Lily sat by Anna and took a bite of her toast.

"Lily, this is Krystal. Krys for short. She's my sister."

Krystal smiled at Lily, who greeted her with a shy nod and went back to her toast as the sisters chattered on about random things. Perhaps Lily drifted off, or she stared staring at her toast, dreaming of different things, but it only felt like seconds when three bells went off at once. Anna and Krystal both stood up, as did Lily.

"Krystal's going to tell you what to do Lily. After lunch you can just wonder around and clean random things."

Anna rushed off, grabbed a tray and dashed out the door before Lily could take a breath. (A/N: As you can see, Anna is very very fast. ) Krystal took Lily's arm and led her out of the kitchen, through more hallways and into the entrance hall.

"Ok Lily. This morning, just clean up this area. Your lunch will be over by the staircase when you finish. Eat it there, then just wonder around and clean stuff. But do not go into the North Wing."

"Ok…"

"Good. Here's a broom, a bucket, a cloth and some other cleaning stuff. Your wand is not to be used for cleaning. I know I know, why bother going to Hogwarts if you never get to use your wand, right?"

Lily nodded vigorously.

"I don't know Lil. I really don't know."

With that Krystal sighed and disappeared up the servants staircase. Lily looked around in despair. Cleaning the muggle way wouldn't be hard, but this hall was enormous. But if she didn't start now, she wouldn't be finished by lunch, which would suck. Sighing, Lily set about dusting the floor with the broom Krystal had left for her.

---Four Hours Later---

(Because the author is a lazy Gemstone-whore who doesn't like to clean or write about cleaning!)

Lily looked around. Amazingly enough, the hall was as clean as it was going to get. And, as Lily's lunch had appeared, it was officially lunch time! Her stomach rumbled as Lily sat down and opened the bag that was on a bench by the stairs. Inside, a can of Diet Coke and a dry chicken sandwich. Not caring that the chicken was dry or that the coke almost exploded when she opened it, Lily tuck in hungrily. Twenty minutes later, the bag and it's rubbish had vanished and Lily was wondering aimlessly around the Manor. Without her wand to aid her, Lily had no clue to which direction she was heading in. (A/N: Hmm…I wonder which way she's going –forces face to look innocent- And, the author is currently in a very bad mood because the author isn't aloud online during the week anymore. Only weekends…-rambling rant- Anyway…-continues rant-) It must have been at least an hour or so before Lily realized that the hallways were getting darker. These had no windows or candles to light the way. (Eceltrizity? –grins- I'd like to thank Arthur Weasley for reminding us all that Wizards don't use it and can't pronounce it.) And soon, Lily was feeling around the walls to try and find her way out of the darkness. And suddenly, a hand came down on her shoulder. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came from it except a muffled moan. A hand had been placed over her mouth, stifling her cry. She was spun around and found herself facing the man who had bought her. Master, the others had called him. She stared up at the face which was hidden in darkness. (A/N: I'm prolly pissing you guys off, aren't I? She STILL hasn't seen his face. And she won't. Not for a very long time. Well, maybe soon. I mean, I dunno how long this story will be.)

"Why are you here?"

His voice was cold and flat. And had a more commanding tone to it then a questioning one.

"I…I'm sorry sir…I got lost…I…"

"I do not want to hear excuses. Especially not from you Miss Evans."

Lily let out a whoosh of breath. He knew her name…But…how? Oh, right…Her hair.

"I…I'm…sorry…"

"Don't let it happen again."

"N…n…no s…sir…"

Lily could barely stammer her words, her hands shaking slightly. She didn't know why. Perhaps she was fearful of being hurt. She'd often heard of the servants being mistreated by their masters. Because women were easy to hit around and because they could do nothing to stop it. They belonged to their master. If their master wished to harm them, they must submit to it without question. Without argument. All but willingly. But they could not fight. It was one of the many, yet few, downfalls of being a woman in the magical society. Lily pulled herself from her thoughts. Her master had removed his hand from her shoulder, but it was now gripping her forearm.

"Come on. I'll get you out of here."
He hurried her along corridor after corridor until a speck of light gleamed.
"Go on. Tell Anna to start dinner for me, Seamus and Melvin."

She shivered. Melvin. She didn't like his name and Luna had told her that no one really like Melvin. Her master seemed not to notice as he released her forearm and walked away, back towards the North Wing.

A/N: There's your update. You'll be getting a lot of updates now a days, at least until I get my internet back. Because I have nothing else to do during the two hours I usually spend online/on the computer, I will write. Because I feel like it…DAMNIT, I WANT GEMSTONE BACK…Grrrr….Anyhow, I'm starting chapter 5 tonight. Cause I'm a bitch. And I didn't start it earlier. I've got loads of new ideas. And Forgotten Dreams is coming along. But those chapters are harder to write because…just because.