Chapter two: Dark Princess.
Lily sighed and put down the papers she was desperately trying to mark.
Potions were a much more difficult subject than most people recognized. She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her neck tiredly, she had been trying to make all the marks before retiring to her bed for the night.
She looked around her. Her staff room at Hogwarts was really cozy, despite being located in the dungeons. She had given the place a feminine touch by decorating the concrete walls to the best of her ability. Around her desk were photos of her family. She always felt more comfortable being able to look up from her work and see the face of a loved one. She hardly had a chance to see James anymore. With his Potions teachings and Auror off duty, and then both of them were members of the Order of the Phoenix. This took all of her time. Vacation was the only time she could be with her family.
She would have worked for the Order full time if it weren't for her son, Damien. He had started Hogwarts two years ago and she had taken over as potions teacher as soon as she was offered. She knew Damien was going to complain that he couldn't do any harm while her own mother was present, but that hadn't been a reason for her not taking the job. She sighed again and took the photo of her. It was taken last year when Damien had been a freshman. Unlike her older sister, Damien was not an image of James. He still had black hair, but he wasn't as messy as James. He had James's eyes, the deep hazel eyes that he always used to get out of trouble, again very much like his father. Although his features were like Lily. He had her mother's nose, her mouth, and even her smile. He had also inherited his fiery temperament. He was a mix of the two. Sirius had vowed to make Damien a rival to James in trouble. Of course, Damien was very eager to learn from a Marauder.
Lily looked at the photo of James and felt her heart ache from the pain of losing her. She hadn't seen him in the last two weeks. But that pain was nothing compared to the anguish that plagued her every time she looked at the photo of her next to hers. The photo had been taken only 3 days before it was ... taken. Lily turned her emerald eyes to the portrait of her eldest daughter, Elizabeth. She was laughing and pointing at her. Her heart contracted so painfully when she held her baby. She looked away from the photo and looked at the little calendar on her desk, today's date, May 31st. She felt her breath catch on her chest. Two months, she thought, two months exactly and she would have been sixteen, beginning her sixth year at Hogwarts.
She had always thought of Elizabeth like this. It was difficult for James to talk to her every time he brought up the subject of Elizabeth and what she would have been doing to her if she were alive. James had taken the emotional blow of losing his little girl much stronger than expected. After all he was a friend who had stolen Lizzy right under her roof and given him to a monster. James had sworn revenge on both Peter and Voldemort for killing Elizabeth. James had been lucky not to have been killed in Peter's attempt. He had lost a lot of blood and the blow to his head had knocked him out for fifteen days. He had always blamed himself since he couldn't protect his daughter from him. It took him a month to finally say something other than "I'm sorry, Lizzy ... forgive me daughter ... I couldn't protect you."
Two years later, Damien's arrival gave James a second life. With only Damien in his life, James was the same again. He was very protective of his second child, even more so than Lily. Still, he let Damien enjoy himself, and even Lily had to admit that there was probably no other child so spoiled. Still, Damien was a good boy and never took too much for granted.
Lily tore her eyes away from Elizabeth and rubbed them wearily. She got up and went to the small living room that had her canopy bed. She was about to snuggle into her bed when a soft tapping alerted her to the window. She looked out the window and saw a small brown owl staring at her. Lily smiled and ran to the window to let the little creature in. The owl gave a cry of joy and she immediately pulled her leg out with a small scroll. Lily took it gratefully and did not notice that the owl took immediate flight. Lily knew the letter was from James, since he always sent ministerial owls. She quickly opened the envelope and began to read the letter.
Dear lily
How are you darling? Hope you stay out of trouble. Which reminds me, how is our little troublemaker? Hope you don't keep it on too many detections. Tell Damy that I have the tickets for the world cup and that we will definitely see. Bulgaria and Ireland! I am very excited! I can not wait! But ahem ... how do you stay darling?I hope I can come this weekend to see you. Maybe we can go to Hogsmeade when I'm done.Take care love and give my love to Damy.James.
Lily smiled and set the letter aside. James and Quidditch, there was just no separation between the two. However, Damien would be pleased, he had been on the innings for this game for the past three weeks. She knew that James supported Ireland, while Sirius, Nathan and Damien had always been fans of Bulgaria.
"This should be interesting" Lily thought as she crawled into her bed and got up to cover herself she was so tired she was instantly half asleep. Her last coherent thought was "I wonder who Elizabeth would support?"
•••
In a dark room, filled with various books and scrolls, sat a tall dark wizard. His blue eyes were fixed on the glass in his hand as he sat on the couch in his chair. He looked at the amber liquid inside the glass as if he expected it to change color. The truth was, he hardly noticed the liquid. His mind was distracted by another, more disturbing matter.
He knew that what he was doing was dangerous, very dangerous. In fact, he was sure others would think that he was crazy for trying to do such a trick. Blackmailing the Dark Lord was not something to be considered lightly. But he knew that if he succeeded in his task, he would have innumerable powers. He was already in Lord Voldemort's inner circle, part of the elite group of individuals. But the Dark Lord would give her whatever he wanted in exchange for him shutting up. He could very well be the most powerful Death Eater. It was worth the risk.
Jason Riley's hand shook as he thought again that he was taking a risk. He raised the glass to his lips and drank the rest of his drink, hoping to expel the cold fear from his chest.
Just as the empty glass touched the table, the lights flickered momentarily before going off completely. The Death Eater froze in his chair as the room went dark. He gripped his wand tightly in his hand, his knuckles turning white with the force he was using. He slowly got to his feet, his eyes roaming every corner of the room.
"Lumos," he whispered and the end of his wand lit up, but the light still wasn't enough to be comforting.
Taking her lit wand tightly in his hand, Jason Riley crossed the room to the door. He knew that he had come. He was sure of it.
Jason opened the door slowly, his mind telling her that he shouldn't be so scared. Standing in the doorway, Jason waited to see if something happened. He couldn't see anyone: he held his lit wand above his head, but he still couldn't see anyone.
Just as he left the room, he felt it, the sudden change in the air around him. He could almost taste the magic in the air. He stopped where he was and stood still. Fighting panic, he spoke himself, without turning to look at his visitor.
"I was sure you were coming," he said, speaking with his back turned.
"And yet you weren't ready yet," came the reply.
Jason turned slowly to face his visitor. He was doing his best to peer through the darkness to see it. He could only make out the silhouette of him.
"Are you here to kill me?" Jason asked, fear pulsing through him.
The figure stepped forward so that the light from Jason's wand could flood it. Jason watched the appearance of the witch standing before him. Dressed in dark clothes, black leather boots and hair as black as night falling down her back, curvy figure, red lips, she walked elegantly as if she felt superior, her face hidden behind a silver mask that only exposed her eyes. emeralds, there was the one all Death Eaters had feared. The Dark Lord's daughter, The Dark Princess.
"You betrayed Lord Voldemort." Your punishment is death— The words were spoken in a soft, deadly tone, anger weakly disguised.
Jason realized that although the girl in front of him was holding his wand, it was not pointed at it. He tried to use this to his advantage.
"If you give me another chance, if only you could give me one chance to apologize." I didn't mean ... AVADA KEDAVRA! "Jason made a sudden move, firing the killing curse at his opponent.
The silver-masked witch leapt out of the way, missing the jet of green light. Jason quickly took aim and tried once more to kill her.
Before they came out of her mouth properly, her wand was suddenly ripped from his hand. The force of the non-verbal disarming spell was so sudden and powerful that it caused the wand to be ripped from him. The room plunged into darkness once more as Jason's wand went off as he hit the floor.
The Death Eater seized his opportunity and ducked to avoid being hit by some curse. He lunged for the ladder, staying as low as possible.
He had run up the stairs and headed for the fireplace, aiming to get out of here. He had only reached the bottom of the steps when he felt a spell pass over his head. He instinctively ducked. It was then that he felt the tip of a wand pressed into the back of his neck.
"Up!" Came the order and the Death Eater stood up.
He was a good three or four inches taller than the Dark Princess, but that didn't comfort him in any way.
"Please," Jason tried again.
The lights came back on and Jason found himself staring directly into a pair of striking green eyes that, to his dismay, had no mercy on them.
"You are a traitor, and traitors have only one punishment," The dark princess hissed at him.
Before Jason could do anything, a jet of green light hit him directly between the eyes and the Death Eater fell to the ground, dead.
The dark princess only glanced at the corpse beside her feet before turning and leaving. Her homework completed from her.
