Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize, and very little of what you do recognize.

A/N: Thanks Spuffy Freak and OTHCharmedHPFreak for reviewing! I hope everyone reading this story will drop me a line letting me know why you do or do not like it. Also, check out the prequel to this and The Essence of Terror, The Crime of Count Morano. There is one more chapter after this one.

"Those, who, as they sung and danced in this once gay apartment, forgot, that years are made up of moments, and that every step they took carried them nearer to their graves." – Ann Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho

From beneath an Invisibility Cloak, bound and gagged in the corner of her own living room, Lily Evans watched in horror as her image pointed a gun at her boyfriend's heart.

Just two hours previously, she had been happily stirring some of her amazing spaghetti sauce, which she was preparing for her date with James. She had been a little nervous, too, of course, because she was planning to ask him to marry her tonight. When she was younger, she had always imagined that a man would propose to her, but as the years went by she realized that social conventions could be overrated at times. She would have been perfectly happy if James proposed to her, of course, but he hadn't yet. She knew how James felt about Halloween: how Halloween always seemed to hold significant, life-changing events. Both of their lives had certainly changed last Halloween. She also knew that he had been affected greatly last year, and she wanted him to have a happy memory of her and Halloween. She had spoken to Sirius recently, with whom he was sharing a flat, and knew James still had nightmares.

"He told me he was recovering from what happened last year, and I know he still hurts, but how bad is it, really?" She had asked Sirius when they had met for lunch last month.

Sirius sighed. "He could be better. But then, he could be a lot worse, too. He still has nightmares, I know. He wakes up screaming sometimes. I think he is getting better, though. It just takes time."

Lily nodded.

"Now, I know this can't be the only reason you wanted to meet me for lunch. You were very secretive about this whole thing. You aren't planning on leaving him for me, are you?" He asked, semi-jokingly. Even though Sirius saw how happy his two friends were with each other, he always feared in the back of his mind that Lily would break up with James.

"Of course not, stupid." She paused and blushed. "I-I want to ask him to marry me." She looked at Sirius, begging for approval. When all she saw was him staring back at her, disbelievingly, she started to ramble, "I mean, surely he will say yes. I mean, he spent so much time and effort to get me to go out with him, he sure wouldn't say no. He certainly acts as though he loves me . . ."

She trailed off as she saw the huge smile on Sirius' face, and he burst out laughing. "I assure you, he would not even think of saying no. I don't think anything would make him happier. Personally, I don't understand why he has not asked you yet."

Lily smiled, relieved. "Great. I just wanted to talk to you first because you are his best friend, and I could not do this completely by myself."

"When are you going to ask him?"

"Halloween."

In a way, she was excited that she had a chance to reverse roles. Little did she know just how much role-switching would go on today. Last year, James had been forced to watch, helpless, as she nearly died by her own hand, guided by Count Morano, of course. Now, it was her turn to do the same thing.

Lily hummed happily as she stirred her spaghetti sauce, but gasped as she turned around.

"We meet once again, little girl." He had a gun pointed at her heart.

"H-How? Yo-You're dead." She looked frantically for her wand, which she had left on the counter. There was no possibly way for her to reach it quickly enough to stop this man.

"Obviously I am not. Since I have" he looked at his watch, "exactly one hour and forty-five minutes until dear James shows up, I think I can tell you how I got here. It will make it even better for me, knowing how miserable you will be when you know everything.

"When your boyfriend's marauding friends showed up last year, destroying my perfect plan, I knew I had to do something about it. I could not allow you to be happy when you destroyed my life once again. The Potters had condemned me to hiding, and you condemned me to death. Luckily, I have connections. As the Aurors escorted me to the Ministry for my trial, I pretended to faint. One of my faithful friends at St. Mungo's had administered some Polyjuice to a man he found on the streets and killed him. He was a beggar. Nobody would miss him. When the Aurors brought me to St. Mungo's, he threw an Invisibility Cloak over me and put the dead beggar in my place. Aurors are dumb and never think anyone would use Polyjuice to fool anybody.

"In this manner, I was able to escape. Now, once again, this Invisibility Cloak and some Polyjuice will help me." As he said this, he reached out and stroked Lily's hair with his left hand, his right still holding the gun to her chest. "You have such silky, beautiful hair," he proclaimed silkily, and pulled out a strand.

Lily gasped. She could not even begin to imagine what Morano was going to do. She did not have to wait long, though, for Morano was too proud not to let her know what his brilliant mind was planning.

"I will take on your appearance and kill Potter. Is that not great? He will think you, the love of his life, is killing him. He will be devastated that you do not love him, and he will then want to die. Then, of course, I will grant his request." He laughed maniacally at this.

"You won't get away with this."

"Oh, but I will. It is perfect. Potter will be dead, and you will go to Azkaban. It will be your fingerprints on the gun, of course."

Saying this, he quickly spun the young woman around and swiftly tied a rope tightly around her hands and gagged her mouth with a handkerchief. He then bound her to the couch in the corner, knowing it was too heavy for anyone to move in her position, and threw the Invisibility Cloak over her.

At this point, there was a knock at the door. "Right on time," Morano smiled menacingly. He then added Lily's hair to flask he had set on the counter, which Lily had not seen before. Morano then drank the nasty concoction swiftly, tossed the empty flask in the garbage can hidden under the sink, and went to answer the door, now bearing Lily's features.

James now knew that there was something seriously wrong with Lily, and he had to get the gun away from her somehow. His palms began to sweat again, this time from a different kind of nervousness. More than wanting to save his own life, James was worried about what would happen to her. He could not stand the thought of her going to Azkaban for his murder.

"Lily. Come on, you can trust me. Hand me the gun."

"Like Hell I will, Potter," she glared.

"You hate guns."

"Fooled you, huh?"

"I know you, Lily. You don't want to do this."

"I don't, do I?"

"No, you don't. You'll go to Azkaban for sure."

"You think I care about going to Azkaban? It will be worth it. You have no idea how much I want to do this. You are the bane of my existence. You and your family."

"My family? You never met my family, Lily. They died before we became good enough friends for you to want to meet them. What are you talking about?"

Lily swore under her breath, causing James to worry even more. Lily never used words worse than "bloody" or "hell," even when she was really angry.

"Something's wrong with you, Lily, just give me the gun and we can talk about it."

"No. We are finished talking. It's time for you to die."

She cocked the gun, and as he waited for the fatal shot, he looked deep into her eyes. Behind the brilliant green he was used to seeing, he saw something else. Specks of gold glinted deep within each pupil.

"You're not Lily."