Lily continued her week as she normally did, she pottered around the house, she did some gardening as her mother had always maintained the garden to perfection before her illness and Lily felt a responsibility to do the same.

She was given another article to write from the paper, this time it was on the local garden centre and how they were disposing of waste manure illegally. She hadn't slept well since her meeting with Mr Dawes so she sat awake late one evening at her desk trying to finish off the dreary article.

She hadn't mentioned the details of the meeting to anyone since that day, Gina had asked her what had happened and she said the old man was crazy and she had nothing to report. Gina had raised an eyebrow as if to argue but shrugged and continued on with her work, typing away with her latest shade of purple on her nails.

Lily chewed the end of her pen and stared out of the window five days later, it was dark outside and she felt a little uneasy, an irrational childhood fear. She knew nothing was out there but she always felt like the dark was hiding something, in the shadows. She scribbled a few quotes she'd gotten from customers of the garden centre and just as she was finishing it off she jumped as the phone next to her desk rang out and broke the silence.

She rarely got calls so assumed it was either an insurance salesman or her sister. She would prepare the salesman so she crossed her fingers.

"Hello," She said as she answered. She didn't get an immediate response, it sounded like someone was there though, there was heavy breath on the other line. An uneasy feeling went through Lily and she repeated her greeting. She heard a slight cough and then he spoke.

"Miss Evans, it's Mr Dawes." He finally choked out, he sounded very out of breath and could barely say those few short terms.

"Mr Dawes - are you okay? It's very late to be calling." She said glancing over at the clock and she could see it was 11.30pm. He seemed to still be catching his breath so she waited while he worked up to another sentence.

"I've just been to the house Miss Evans. I need to speak with you urgently." He said. Lily froze, she knew immediately what he was talking about but she repressed that and responded.

"What do you mean Mr Dawes, the house across the fields from you?" She asked. He huffed down the phone.

"Yes! The house - the house! I didn't hear from you and I knew I had to take matters into my own hands. I drove round to the house to look and I just got back, the house… the house…" He gasped.

"You went to the house this evening? You really shouldn't do that Mr Dawes. It isn't safe." She said. He strained for air but she could almost feel his anxiety down the phone.

"I drove down the lane to the farm house, it's much worse up close." He said ignoring her worry for him going to the destroyed house. "Totally destroyed! I looked inside and the house was burned to a crisp, nothing left. Not a teaspoon left."

"Mr Dawes you really shouldn't have gone there. The house could be dangerous, it could have collapsed on you." Lily said trying to stay calm, this old man's tenacity to investigate this creepy event made her feel scared and exhilarated which was an alien feeling to her in her current mundane life.

"I needed to tell you, to tell someone," He gasped. "Above the house, I couldn't see it through my telescope. It was floating above the house. A green skull, a green human skull…. with a snake coming out of its mouth." He finally gasped out the last words and the fear in his words were undeniable. Lily froze and didn't say anything at this. The line went quiet, the only sound was Mr Dawes breathing.

"Miss Evans - have you nothing to say?" He asked. She actually didn't have anything to say.

"A snake," Was all she could manage.

"Yes a snake! In all my years in science I've never seen something like it - it was like a hologram but it was alive. I need you to come and see it with me!" He said.

"What, now?" She exclaimed.

"Yes Miss Evans - of course now!" He barked. She knew this was ridiculous and although the chill down her back was undeniable she knew she wasn't going to an abandoned farmhouse in the middle of the night with an eccentric old man.

"I don't think that's possible Mr Dawes. It's not safe - perhaps you should try calling the police again." Lily said trying to maintain professionalism.

"The police! Like they'll believe me. You need to come now!" He said with more urgency.

"No, I definitely can't do that Mr Dawes. I really can't." She said more firmly. He sighed resigned.

"Will you come tomorrow?" He asked. She didn't respond but something in her led her to say "Yes." He then accepted this and gave a short goodbye and hung up the phone.

She leaned back in her desk chair and ran her hands over her face, her heart pounded. A snake, anything related to a snake in the wizarding world spelled trouble. Her old friend, he had had an obsession with snakes, the emblem of his school house. It was a symbol that represented a long history of evil in the wizarding world and Lily knew the history well, she had read the history books back to back. She may have left the wizarding world but her mind still remembered everything she had learned in her years at Hogwarts.

She left her article unfinished and instead went to go and shower and get into bed. She knew deep down there was no sleeping tonight but she wanted to pretend that life was normal. She knew deep down though that life was shaken from normality.

She lay her head on her pillow and closed her eyes. But as her eyes shut all she could picture was the description of the snake and skull. She had a vivid memory of something she read once, she knew she had to look into it. She jumped out of bed and threw the light on before heading downstairs. There was an old closet in the hallway and inside was her trunk. She pulled the trunk out and dragged it into the lounge. She opened it and her old books and school items fell out. She rummaged around for the book she was looking for and finally came across the old copy of Hogwarts a History which she had poured over at school. The copy was well worn as she had reread it so many times during her school years.

She flung the book over and flicked through the pages until she came to the page she needed.

"Salazar Slytherin, Hogwarts Founder"

She skimmed through the lengthy section of one of the school original founders. She flicked through the pages until she came to the illustration on the last page of his section. It was an ancient drawing of the crest of Salazar Slytherin. It was similar to the one use at Hogwarts but the one difference was the snake whose mouth was wide and threatening in the illustration had an unusual extra detail in which the tongue protruding from its mouth was another snake. It wasn't much but it had immediately come to mind when Mr Dawes had referenced the snake protruding from the skulls mouth and the green colour.

She sat and read the rest of the chapter, and she felt a slight emotion of sadness at her distance from the magical world. Her world couldn't be further from Hogwarts and all it had taught her in her formative years. She finished the chapter and slammed the book shut and looked at her trunk, filled with books she had once loved. She was about to close it up and throw it into the cupboard but instead she tidied it up and went to bed with the decision made to visit Mr Dawes first thing the next morning.

She woke up with a renewed energy she hadn't felt in such a long time. She dressed quickly and drove her car over to Mr Dawes house ready to take him over to that house, in the light of day, and investigate his claims once and for all. Before she had left the house she did something she hadn't done in a long time, she grabbed her wand from the stand in the hallway and stuck it in her sleeve to conceal it.

As she turned the corner onto Capersworth drive she knew something was wrong. The usually quiet street was buzzing with people, a police car and to Lily's horror an ambulance. Her breath caught in her throat and she parked up quickly and ran to the front of the house where she arrived just in time to see a body come out on a stretcher with a blanket covering it. She cried out in shock and her hand flew to her mouth.

"Oh my god." Lily called out, she suddenly felt panicked and couldn't breath. All the details of her conversations with Mr Dawes flying through her head at a mile an hour as the realisation that Mr Dawes was under that blanket.

"Excuse me miss did you know him?" A constable in uniform asked her as she shook and stared at the body being loaded onto the ambulance.

"What happened?" Lily said, her voice so strained as she held back tears.

"Did you know Mr Dawes miss." The policeman asked again. Lily nodded and raked her hands through her hair.

"I'm just a… friend." She finally got out as she felt the need to hide her real relationship with Mr Dawes at this moment. "What happened?" She asked, the policeman.

"Sorry for your loss miss. It seems that Mr Dawes was found early this morning when his neighbour was passing by and noticed the front door was left wide open. Upon inspection Mr Dawes was found face down in his living room. It appears at the moment to be a heart attack but the hospital will be able to tell you more if you wish to go. I'm again very sorry for your loss." He asked in a sympathetic tone.

Lily took all the information in and tried to compute it in her head. He was an old man, its very possible the stress caused him to have a heart attack. She couldn't have prevented a heart attack. It's not her fault.

"I only spoke to him last night and he seemed fine," She said trying to calm down and sound like a normal grieving friend. "Was there… anything else? Anything unusual about him? I can't believe this has happened he seemed in fine health." She added.

"Well the house did appear to be in a bit of disarray but it looks like he may have taken down a book shelf with him as he fell perhaps. Nothing appears stolen so we're not treating it as suspicious at the moment. Unless you wish you make a statement Miss…?" He asked.

"Sarah," She blurted out. "Sarah Chapman." She didn't know why she lied it just came over her suddenly.

"Miss Chapman would you mind waiting over there while we get the ambulance away?" He asked politely. She nodded and moved further up the driveway to stand near the door. The ambulance was trying to move away but so many nosey neighbours had come out to look that the policeman had to usher people back into their homes.

Lily stood holding herself, she felt an icy cold feeling in her bones like something really terrible had happened. She knew deep down this was suspicious, the whole situation Mr Dawes had seen was awful and because she hadn't acted, scared to leave her little bubble he was now dead. She began to shake and still tried to hold back tears, she wiped her eyes and blinked furiously to stop the flow of tears but she couldn't help it. The whole situation was crazy and watching the ambulance pull away brought back memories of her Mum's passing which Lily tried very hard to repress.

The tears started to leak down her face and suddenly she felt short of breath and faint. She rocked slightly as she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself and then as she managed to slow the flow of tears a voice spoke to her.

"Excuse me miss are you okay?" She asked. The voice belonged to an older woman and her voice sounded very comforting. Lily wiped her eyes and looked up and saw the woman was about mid 50s maybe but very attractive with long dark unruly hair. Her clothes were very old fashioned corporate wear and seemed a bit out of place for the late 70s but Lily couldn't help but see something familiar in her eyes.

"I'm… I'm fine." She said taking a deep breath and trying to slow her breathing. She hadn't cried since her mother's funeral and it felt very draining to reignite that emotion.

"I'm sorry to disturb you during this emotional time. We're just here to investigate the situation." She said smiling kindly again. Lily looked around for the policeman and he was talking to someone with his back to Lily.

"I'm Freya, and you are?" She asked. Lily looked at the policeman and back at the woman who didn't seem to be with the police.

"Are you with the police?" Lily asked.

"Yes, we're in investigation." She said. Lily looked at her again and realised her clothes were old fashioned but the strange feature which really stood out was the light cloak she had draped over her shoulders. She looked further and saw the outline of a long thin object in the cloak pocket which Lily recognised immediately.

"Wait are you... " Lily lowered her voice, "with the ministry?" Freya's eyebrows shot up in surprise and raised her voice slightly louder than was normal conversation volume.

"Right well if you could just show me inside Miss." She said before guiding Lily into the house. Lily didn't feel uneasy with this woman but she did feel confused.

"Miss I'm going to have to ask you to confirm your identification." Freya said, still friendly but with a firmer tone than previous. Lily could tell this woman was more switched on than just a friendly investigator.

"Why is the ministry of magic investigating a muggle death?" Lily asked instead. The questions running through her mind were buzzing so quickly she felt sick again.

"I can't tell you anything until I know your name and your connection to this situation." Freya said seriously. Lily took a deep breath. She'd already lied to the muggle policeman but there was no point lying to the ministry of magic. They had slightly more resources for detecting the truth.

"Lily Evans. I'm a friend, acquaintance really of Mr Dawes. I work for a local muggle paper and we'd been discussing an event which took place near here." She said. The woman's eyebrows raised again as if in recognition. She didn't say anything in regards to it though and simply stated.

"Okay Miss Evans. We're with the ministry, auror department. We're just here as a precaution as there's been some… activity in the area and this is situation we want to monitor. Mr Dawes death is not currently being treated as suspicious but if you have any information regarding his death I'd appreciate your cooperation." Freya continued very professionally.

Lily took a deep breath to explain her involvement and as she thought about the last week and listening to Mr Dawes story then ignoring him for days then his phone call and now his death. She began to hyperventilate again and her breathing became short shallow breaths and she felt dizzy suddenly. As she began to sway Freya called out to someone behind Lily and a hand shot out and grabbed Lily's arm and another grabbed her under her other arm as she was led to a nearby seat. She tried to steady her breathing as she sat there with her head in her hands.

She finally came to focus and she could hear Freya instructing the man she was with on how to proceed. They were stood close by Lily in case she toppled again but in hushed tones. She could pick up the odd word but as she heard the familiar voice respond she looked up in shock.

"Potter!" She said suddenly. It came out almost as a weird noise and not a real word. Both heads turned to her and they stared down at her surprised.