AUTHOR'S NOTE:

No more will be written in this story. I intend to decide whether I will start a new one with the information about the Marauder years at Hogwarts (and Lily's friendship with a certain someone, and stupid Pettigrew being a confirmed Gryffindor...how he got into that house, I'll never be sure. Maybe he implored it of the Hat?).

However, if you have not yet read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows... Get off your computer and do so! It is quite good... I got it from the local Walmart late Saturday, and I've already re-read it even though I didn't read it much at all Sunday for I was too busy with priori incant- I mean, prior commitments. Also, if you are able to, listen to the following songs while reading. When I was reareading it, just so happened that the songs were playing... and they fit crazy good.

All by t.A.T.u. And if you can't get a hold of the song, email me at almiria at gmail dot com nicely and I'll see about arranging it. And don't worry, the reasons are somewhat cryptic. I tried to keep them spoiler-free! And they are not in order of events in the book. I recommend just playing them on random repeat and see if they connect.

Friend or Foe for the parts questioning a mentor's advice and past life and such.

Thirty Minutes for the parts when an ultimatum is issued and information is revealed.

Show Me Love for when tempers flare and words are regretted.

All About Us for times when... well, a lot.

We Shout for various times, also for some of the same reason as Friend or Foe and All About Us

Perfect Enemy for when the tables are turned and things are not as they seem, starting with the relished lie.

Dangerous and Moving for many times also.

There are a few others by t.A.T.u. that connect quite well, but it take a while to list them all, and 7 is quite a good number, don't you think?

However... I do not believe in letting the first half of the eighth chapter go to waste. This is the last you will see of Phae, Ria, Tater, and Katie unless another certain someone decides to adopt.

Charms

Chapter Eight
Trials and Tribulation

The day had come. Armed with more information and spells that Lily ever thought possible to learn, Lily waited on her bed. Phae, it turned out, was in charge of setting everything up flawlessly - making sure Garret wouldn't interfere (which wasn't very hard), clearing the center of the common room and providing seating all around the sides, putting up a magical shield that would stop any badly aimed spells and make sure no one but Katie, Lily, and Valerie entered the duelling area. The knowledge of Phaedra's advanced wandwork made Lily glad she wasn't duelling her, but she wasn't sure if Val and Katie would be any better.

Katie Hoobler and Valerie Tate: black and white, yin and yang, offense and defense. They had a completely opposite way of doing things. She had half an hour for a break between duels, longer if nessesary. She wasn't sure who she was up against first; it was up to a coin flip. Heads or tails. She still wasn't exactly sure how she was going to deal with what Katie and Val threw at her, but it was too late to worry about that. She'd just have to go with it.

It was 3PM on the first Saturday she ever spent at Hogwarts. She was to start at four. She stretched out slightly, to try and get rid of the tenseness. Phae and Ree bounced up to her; they were almost, well... giddy.

"Why are you two so incessantly happy?" Lily asked, quite sure that they were up to no good.

"Well, we've trained you so well you're sure to whomp them, silly!" Ria said with a huge smile on her face.

"Indubitably!" Phae chipped in. "Do you have a strategy?" Lily shook her head.

"Lil-leeeee! You're supposed to know these things by now!" Ria whined.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I just couldn't think!"

Phae raised an eyebrow. "You couldn't think? Or you didn't?"

"Um... yes?"

"Obviously. Now, our side of the bargain says that we cannot strategize for you. We can help you learn spells, but that's about it." Phae wrinkled her nose.

"It's about time. You better get ready, we're going to help filter people in." Lily nodded, and the pair turned and left.

"Okay, so strategizing isn't her strong point." Ria was standing by the portrait hole door, propping it open with her shoe. Phaedra stood slightly behind her, shoulders against the wall.

"We don't know that. We do know she's not trying." Phaedra wrinkled her nose again and started drumming on the wall behind her.

Ria turned to face Phae, not noticing that the portrait shut on a poor Hufflepuff. "Give her a break, okay? It's her first week, all this is new to her. Lucky for us she's a quick study, or we wouldn't be even close to ready. Remember what our main objective is for this."

"Drop the mission-objective stuff. It's getting tedious, Ree. And yes, I do remember. Test Lily's ability while showing her off so people don't think she's just a muggle-born punching bag. Yeah, yeah, I get it." Phaedra rolled her eyes.

Ria huffed and spun back around, pushing the portrait door back open to reveal the little first year Hufflepuff, who had been fidgeting uncomfortably in the hall the whole time. "You better get it, Phae." She motioned for the young boy to come in, and he promptly scurried inside and got seated.