October 1996

The coastline of northern Scotland had a whole string of stunning beaches that attracted their fair share of visitors in the summer months whenever the weather was good. On a rainy October's evening, however, there was probably not a place in Britain where one was less likely to run into unexpected company which made it an ideal place for a meeting in secret, far away from any prying eyes. Lily had been to the beach earlier the same day to cast the standard wards on the place. It was a series of fairly complicated warding spells that required quite a bit of skill and time to put up properly, but she had done it multiple times before and had developed something of a routine. Flitwick had taught them to her years ago, and it was a necessary precaution in order to conduct this kind of meeting at all. She had already crossed over the first perimeter where turf turned into beach and could make out the next one in the sand.

Lily could see the contour of a dark-clad man standing near the rocks which were possibly offering him some protection from the strong wind blowing in from the Atlantic. His dark cloak was billowing around him and the faint purple line in the sand was just a couple of feet away from his black boots. So, he was at least not stupid enough to cross into the non-magical perimeter before she got there. She lit her wand to signal her arrival, and only moments later a bright light appeared across the beach, signalling back. As the wizard on the opposite side of the beach crossed the purple line in the sand the light on his wand went out, and moments later the same happened to Lily's as she began walking towards the man. When they were a few metres apart they both stopped and looked at each other in silence for a few moments.

"You came," the Death Eater breathed with a tone of surprise in his voice. Now that he was closer could Lily see that his haggard-looking face with hollow cheeks and sunken in eyes. He was a couple of years younger than her, but even if her own life was far from stress free she thought that the Death Eater looked older.

Lily shrugged. "You said you had vital information; I was hardly going to pass on an opportunity like that. I hope you meant it."

"I do! I swear I do," The Death Eater hurriedly said, casting worried glances around him as if he expected someone to suddenly appear from behind the rocks around them. If he was most afraid of someone from the Order or his own side Lily did not know but considering his skittish behaviour, she was more inclined to think he was expecting one of his own. Voldemort was not merciful when it came to defectors, and a quick death would be more than a Death Eater betraying the Dark Lord's cause could hope for.

"Then tell me what you've got, Mulligan," Lily said and made a point of sounding impatient and slightly bored. She knew she had the upper hand, and there was no point in giving Mulligan the impression that she was as desperate for even the tiniest bit of useful information as she actually was.

The Death Eater took a deep breath and looked her deep in the eyes. "They have increased surveillance at Hogwarts. The first corridor on the left on the seventh floor has been closed off and is patrolled around the clock," Mulligan whispered anxiously.

Lily frowned. "Why?"

Mulligan squirmed. "I don't know, that kind of information is way above my pay-grade, but the higher-ups have been insistent on it being guarded every minute of the day, and it started last week, on Wednesday."

"Wednesday… Swansea," Lily mumbled to herself.

"Sorry?"

Lily ignored the wizard's question. "Anything else? Have they changed anything about the security at the Ministry?" she asked.

Mulligan shook his head. "I've been stationed at Hogwarts for years, I don't know anything about the Ministry," he said.

"Hm, pity…"

"What happens now? You said you could help my family," Mulligan said anxiously.

Lily quickly surmised that Mulligan most likely did not have any more useful information. He was a low-tiered Death Eater, and those were rarely more than foot soldiers. The information about the increased surveillance at Hogwarts was something Mulligan knew only because it directly affected him, and she doubted he had anything more to contribute.

Before the Death Eater could react, she reached behind her back and pulled out a small revolver which she had kept hidden under her cloak, tucked into the waistband of her trousers. A look of confusion crossed the wizard's face as she pointed it at him and without hesitation, she pulled the trigger - firing a deadly shot straight into his forehead. They all made the same foolish mistake, making sure Lily could not hurt them with magic but neglecting to consider any other weapons. As if she would ever leave herself unarmed in the presence of a Death Eater. A couple of years earlier she might've felt a hint of remorse after taking the life of another, but Lily had checked Mulligan's file before coming. He had the blood of five Order members on his hands and had been present at an awful attack on a nursery school less than a year earlier. Even if the man had had a true change of heart afterwards, Lily wasted no sympathy on child-murderers.

She walked over to the still warm corpse and kneeled beside it. Quickly she searched the torso for anything of value. She found a vial of a sinister-looking green liquid that she pocketed and made a mental note to examine later even if she had a strong suspicion of what it was, a pine wand and finally a small, golden locket with a phoenix engraved on its surface. She then procured a rusty teaspoon from her own cloak and muttered a quick 'portus' before placing it in the dead Death Eater's hand. Within seconds the body disappeared, and the only trace left behind was a small amount of blood on the sand where Mulligan's head had been. Lily quickly shovelled some clean sand over it with her boot before walking towards the perimeter of the ward. The wards that had taken her the better part of half an hour to put up earlier in the day took no more than a minute to take down, and as soon as the purple line in the sand had faded away, Lily took one last look at the sea before she disapparated away with a soft 'pop'.