Tom Riddle's Diary was amazing.
Sure, it had a lot of self-delusion in it, but it was absolutely amazing. He had journaled his experiences, philosophies, and breakthroughs in the fields of Wandless Magic, The Mind Arts, and half a dozen other small things in it. The book had let her successfully proceed to the point in occlumency where one had a fully eidetic memory, a skill that even The Bastard had struggled with. He had also chronicled all of Slytherin's advice on apparition. Seeing as she doubted Salazar was going to be forthcoming with that anytime soon, she greatly appreciated it. It also referenced another project of his that he was looking to perform on a similar diary, but what exactly that was she was unsure.
The enchantments on it were also spectacular. It had taken Lily almost half an hour to break them and access the secrets within. Tom Riddle was good, but he made this diary at the same age she was. He wasn't that good.
Of course, he also chronicled his successful attempt at breaking the Trace. Whoever this Tom Riddle was, Lily was thankful she had found this diary.
She supposed he was the one that killed Myrtle. Lily quite liked Myrtle, so she wasn't thankful for that.
"Hey, Evans, sure you don't want to meet up over summer some time? My family's manse might be suspiciously hard for the Ministry to detect wanded magic on." James Potter's roguish grin peaking in through the compartment was annoying. He had been trying since they had first met on the fucking Hogwarts Express. Some people couldn't get a clue if you banished it into their face.
"I think I might rather play tonsil hockey with a dementor." Lily snapped back acidly. "At least they have the excuse of the depression and suffering spread by their presence being mostly a magical aura."
Potter smirked, and raised his hands defensively, stepping back a bit. "Hey, no need to be so cruel. I just thought you might want to do something now that you are, you know, single."
Lily's wand snapped out of her robes in the trick she had been working on, using her limited skill with wandless magic to bring her wand instantly to hand. Her emerald eyes burned with an intensity to them. "I don't know. I think there is. A need to be cruel, that is. Fulma."
An arc of crackling lightning jumped from the tip of her wand to Potter's chest. The compartment smelled of ozone and he fell to the floor. Alice jumped up and put her finger to his neck.
"LILY!" She shrieked. "HIS HEARTS STOPPED!"
Lily got up and rolled her eyes. Her wand thrummed with anticipation of the spell she was about to cast. She placed it to Potter's chest and clearly incanted: "Arkizo Kardia." A wisp of silver mist struck his chest, and his chest gave a start. He gasped for air. "It's fine. I had it all under control."
"Lily." Mary MacDonald gave a shocked laugh. 'You killed him."
"He got better." Lily shrugged. She was done. No more accepting the childish antics of "The Marauders" or the hateful actions of future "Knights of Walpurgis". No more.
"Nice Spell." Marlene nodded in approval. "I've never seen it before. You have a combat spell like that and don't share it with me? You wound me!"
"MARLENE!" Dorcas Meadows cried, her voice lined with exasperation. "Don't go encouraging her! Lily almost killed a man."
"She had it all under control, and Potter will probably think twice before doing that in the future. I'm not going to say anything, as long as she shares the spell with me." Marlene rebutted. Lily beamed at her, and then pulled out the book of lightning related spells she had copied from a similar one in the Chamber.
"Here you go, Marlene. Fulma is the third spell in the third section."
"This book looks pretty old." Mary pondered, looking over the tome. "Where did you get it?"
"A Lady's got to have her secrets." Lily giggled coquettishly.
"I hardly think you qualify as a Lady, Lily." Dorcas snapped back playfully.
James struggled to his feet. "What in the name of Merlin did you hit me with?"
"A little secret. If you don't get lost, I might have to hit you with it again." Lily barked at him, green eyes glowing. Marlene was waving her wand in the movement for the first spell in the arc series. "Fulscin". A thin bolt of lighting emanated from her wand and struck James. He scrambled to get out of the compartment.
"You people are incorrigible." Alice sighed.
"And you wouldn't have us any other way!" Lily crossed her arms playfully. Marlene gave a rare grin.
"So, now that we have cleared up that Lily Evans is a violent bitch, and Marlene is just Lily with fewer tangents and more self-control, what are your plans for the summer?" Mary butted in.
"I've got another date with Frank, but beyond that, I'm going to be working at my parent's business." Alice informed them. "Beyond that, I guess I might do some training."
"I'm planning on getting in a lot of combat training." Marlene related. "And maybe play some quidditch. Sirius Black keeps on offering to help me train for beater, but I'm fairly certain he's speaking in double entendres when he does."
"When does Black not speak in double entendres?" Dorcas pondered rhetorically.
"I don't think I've heard him say anything Siriusly." Marlene nodded in agreement. Lily fired off a weak bludgeoning hex at her.
"Not you too!" She moaned.
"I can't help it. He's kind of funny when he's not making an arse of himself." Marlene admitted. "I've told you this in confidence. I'm swearing you all to secrecy."
They all mimed spelling their lips shut.
"I'm going to be working for my parent's shop like Alice, and I might be going to Iceland." Dorcas continued. "It's going to be a fun time."
"I think so." Lily responded. "Iceland has a ridiculously high concentration of nature magic in some places. I've heard in can be quite intoxicating." She smirked. She could think of some rather intoxicating books sitting in the chamber.
"What about you Lily? What have you got going on over the summer?" Mary asked.
"Wellll…" Lily looked around, and then pulled the shutters closed. Not satisfied, she cast the anti-eavesdropping charm she and The Bastard made. "I found a library in a hidden room of the school." She whispered conspiratorially.
Marlene dropped her head into her hands. "Of course. Lily Evans found a library, and that's the extent of her summer plans. Why am I not surprised?"
"Oh, it's better than that." Lily grinned, her green eyes sparkling. "I might have found a way to take the trace off my wand." Each of her friends displayed an appropriate amount of shock, and attacked just how she knew they would at that revelation.
"That's really illegal, Lils." Alice sighed, knowing how little her remonstrations would accomplish.
"That's cool. Don't get caught." Mary waved off.
"You're doing mine now. No ifs, ands, or buts about it." Marlene gazed at Lily, holding out her beautiful Fir and Dragon Heartstring implement. Lily laughed, pulled out her wand, and cast the dispelling spell.
"I didn't hear anything about this." Dorcas muttered into her hands. "I heard nothing! I saw nothing! I know nothing!"
"You people are absolutely incorrigible." Alice repeated.
Lily dispelled the silencing ward, and let the curtains go up.
"What do you think is going on with the disappearances?" Alice asked softly.
"It's those Knights of Walpurgis." Dorcas muttered. "The only thing that makes sense. They say they're just a social club. I don't believe it. I'd bet they are orchestrating them. A lot of the people who joined them recently are the type, too."
"I'd like to see them come for me. Or Lily. They'd get a kick out of that. A kick in the arse." Marlene grunted in a surprisingly ladylike manner. She twirled her wand in her hands. Lily was a mildly successful legilimens, but she didn't need to be to know her friend was thinking about the curses she would use if presented with that situation.
"I wonder who this 'Lord Voldemort' is. That's a funny name, innit?" Mary wondered aloud. "Means Lord Flight from Death in French. Who calls themselves that?"
"He does, apparently." Marlene stated. "I don't get it. There is more to it. The people disappearing, the political maneuvering, the increase in werewolf attacks, the rallying in the 'mot, the raids on supply transports… It's all connected. Somethings coming. Something big."
"You're jumping at shadows, Marlene." Mary snorted. "Yes, things are getting worse, but that doesn't mean we are going to get another Dark Lord soon, or something. Whoever this 'Voldemort' is, I doubt he's any match for Dumbledore. Dumbledore went toe-to-toe with Grindelwald and won, and I've seen memories and recordings of the Grindelwald War. He razed entire cities with a flick of his wand and animated legions of Golems like he was conducting a symphony. No way is Lord Moldy Shorts anywhere near that level."
"I wonder what his real name is." Lily pondered. "And why he hides it."
"Some people are weird." Dorcas pointed out.
"I know that, we have me as a perfect example." Lily agreed. "I still can't help but wonder.
"I've overheard Frank and Potter talk about their families renewing the Potter-Longbottom-Bones alliance. They're concerned things are going to get worse and want to be prepared."
"The Potter-Longbottom-Bones Alliance?" Lily and Mary questioned, both being muggleborn and thus unfamiliar with a longstanding monolith of Wizarding Britain.
"Right, Binns doesn't teach this part of history. I forgot. Back in the ninth century, the Potter, Longbottom, and Bones families were part of an alliance that swore to defend the British Isles against all threats within and without. Members of the family actually feel a magical compulsion to defend it. The four other families either betrayed the alliance and broke the covenant or died out." Marlene explained. "It's mostly a ceremonial thing, but the seven families that swore themselves regularly produced magical titans. Still do. The Rookwood and Malfoy families are believed to have been the ones to have broken the alliance, and they haven't produced any ridiculously powerful wizards since then. Meanwhile, Charlus Potter, Harfang Longbottom, and Emily Bones all dueled Grindelwald in single combat and lasted more than a minute, so…" she shrugged.
"That's interesting. Doesn't excuse Potter being a prat." Mary joked.
"Certainly not, that's just what I've been taught." Alice placated.
"I mean, it's interesting. If those families think war is coming, we might need to watch out." Dorcas conceded. "They'd know."
Marlene cracked her knuckles. "I'm sure if war does come, we'll get through it just fine." Her face twisted into a rather terrifying grin.
"On that happy thought, what do you think about the Harpies?" Alice changed the subject.
They passed the train ride gossiping and talking about magic. Alice had to stop Marlene from testing out some of the lightning spells no fewer than three times. At long last, the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station.
"Hey, Miss Evans!" And unfamiliar voice called out. She looked around, and saw the person calling from her. They were tall, and seemed powerful, and had a striking resemblance to Frank.
"Hello, Mr…" She started.
"Longbottom. Harfang Longbottom. I'm Frank's Father." The man who apparently dueled Grindelwald for more than a minute and survived, her brain supplied. The wizard held out a hand. Lily shook it.
"What can I do for you, Mr. Longbottom." She asked, confused. She was on decent enough terms with Frank, but this was rather unusual.
"Nothing, at least right now. This is about what I can do for you." He pulled out a small, blue velvet box with the bear, stave, and shield of the Longbottom crest embroidered on it. Lily took the box and opened it up. Inside, there was a plain silver ring.
"What's this for?"
"It's a portkey to Longbottom Manor. If things get dangerous, say 'The Power to Protect', and it will take you to our manse. You really can't be too careful with what's happening, and I feel a duty to do what I can to protect those at risk." The old wizard adopted a grave smile. "It's better to be prepared, and not need it, than to need it, and not be prepared."
"Wise words," Lily muttered, examining the ring. She turned it over in her hand, and then placed it back in the box. "Thank you for this."
"Not a problem." He cast his eyes about the train stations. "Hey, Miss MacDonald!" he called out, moving on to her friend. Lily hugged Alice, and then set for the barrier. She met Mary on the way out.
"See you in a couple months, Lils, try not to burn down Cokeworth or accidentally take over Magical Britain." Mary called as she passed through the barrier. "It was so nice of Mr. Longbottom to give us those rings."
The journey home was mostly uneventful. When they did, Lily unloaded the car with a couple flicks of her wand and set up in her room. She trained magic almost non-stop. With none of the usual schoolwork needing to be done and taking up time, she was free to luxuriate in the freedom of performing magic nonstop. Her life was a smattering of transfigurations, curses, charms, and enchantments.
Two weeks into the summer, the knock came.
"Lily! That boy's here to see you." Her elder sister called out. Lily was currently engaged in practicing levitating things wandless. Her concentration broke, and the shelf she was floating crashed to the ground and broke, the books tumbling off of it into many pieces. Lily sighed and flicked her wand a few times. The shelf repaired itself, and all of the books flew back into their places.
She wondered who the boy could be. Potter didn't know where she lived, and The Bastard would have to be a fool to come here. She really hadn't kept up with her neighborhood during the summers, so there weren't any muggle boys coming a 'calling.
She trotted down the stairs, wand tucked into the front pocket of her dress. If jinx came to curse, she could have it in her hand almost immediately. It was important to be safe in these times. Dorcas had told her in a letter about Wanda and Wendel's proprietors being kidnapped and their supply being stolen. They were slipshod wandmakers, but it wasn't a good sign. 'Wanda' was also a Muggleborn, after all.
She saw her sister's tight, horse face pinched at the sight of something she was disgusted at. Whoever this boy was, he was almost certainly magical, she deduced. Nothing else would get her sister this antagonistic.
She crooked her head out the door. There he was.
"What do you want?" She spat. Even in the muggle world, he insisted on wearing his long, black clothing. It was the only color he had, apparently, the Slytherin requirement for melodrama bleeding out into their wardrobe. His dark hair was just as greasy as ever. Somehow, the near perpetual sneer he adopted in public was gone.
"I wanted to apologize." He started contritely.
"For what, Bastard." Lily Evans sneered, an odd expression, rarely seen on her face. Severus jumped back in shock at it.
"For calling you –"
"For calling me a Mudblood, you mean? For showing your true colors. I can't believe you. You did it to get in further with the future Knights. You disgust me." Lily raged, her body's stillness deceptive. "You had a chance to be different. To be better. But you're just the same as the rest of those bastards."
"Lils –"
"DON'T 'LILS' ME!" she screamed. "I swear. You had a choice. You could have been my friend, or joined the blood purists. You seemed to have made your choice."
"You can't know-"
"What? I can't know how hard it was to be the halfblood in Slytherin that had befriended a mudblood? I can't know what that's like?" She mocked. "Fucker, I was the mudblood that the rest of you bastards hated for being first. For being better. For being the Manic-Mudblood. Suck it up."
"Lily, I." Lily held out her hand behind her, wandlessly summoning a vase. She floated it next to her.
"The Trace –"
"Doesn't work on wandless magic, as you ought to recall." She clenched her fist, and the vase cracked into several dozen jagged pieces, which floated in the air. "Now, get gone."
"Lily, please." Severus pleaded.
"Get. Gone." She wandlessly transfigured the shards into a swarm of bees with a wave and sent them at Snape. Once the last was outside, she slammed the door.
Bastard.
She needed to blow off steam. She needed to relax. Lily grabbed her bag, stuffed some books, a tent, a change of clothes, and some food into it, and conjured a pen and paper to make a note for her parents. She needed to get away, and possibly break something.
She waited a few minutes to make sure that Snape left, and then walked to the bus station. It was a decent length bus trip to the ocean. She found a spot of beach far away from the nearest city and stared out into the waters.
It really was beautiful.
Time to change that.
Lily pointed her wand at the water and thought back to Arcana Major. Her occlumency enhanced memory allowed her to recall some of the pages perfectly. Most of the books in Slytherin's library had an unusual layout to them. They focused on 'Spell Series', progressions of spells that got more difficult as one advanced. The particular spell series she was going to move down as far as she could today started with a spell that induced water currents.
She waved her wand in the proper movement and spoke the required incantation. The first few attempts did little, but on the fourth try things really got interesting.
A noticeable moving line of water, shifting under her own direction, formed just off the shore. She willed it and forced it into the sand. The water gouged away the beach, taking sand away as it pushed into the land. When she released the spell, it had cut a fairly large hole into the beach.
Lily was overwhelmed. The power, and magic, and intensity of it was exhilarating. The book explained that this would happen. The draw on her magical ability was almost painful in it's extreme nature. She practiced the spell several more times, each gaining more control and dexterity over the spell than the last.
The next progression was simple enough. Force a current to loop back on itself and come into contact. It was fairly simple, but the power requirement became enormous, and Lily began to ache in her bones.
She loved it. The power, the strength, the order, the chaos. It was amazing.
The next progression, however, demanded significantly more power. It was really just a more powerful version of the first, forcing much more water into a slower current. She brandished her wand and performed the incantation. When she finally succeeded, her knees buckled, and she fell into the sand. Her body cried out in pain, to her bones, but she refused to stop. She would continue this. The spell forced the water to move, to shift. With but a wand and her wits, she forced it to comply.
She released the spell, exhausted. This was intensive, and exhausting.
Of course, what else did she expect from the spell series leading to a piece of high magic called The Maelstrom?
A/N: *Looks at the Authors Note on Chapter 1*
So that was a fucking lie. Sorry about that! I'd say I'll try to be better in the future, but who am I kidding?
Myself, mostly.