A/N: You might be wondering why I updated so soon, and my only response to that is this chapter wrote itself. Once I started typing it out, words just flowed onto the screen until it was done. No breaks. Just some editing at the end, but it was the strangest feeling not hitting a roadblock somewhere in the chapter. I hope you all like it, because it was fun to write :)

In response to AntiCelestial and Escoger's comments on the pace of the story: it'll speed up soon. I'll admit I'm obsessive about details (perhaps too much?), but the first year sets the stage for events to come (I love foreshadowing), and I don't want to glide over anything important. After Christmas, it speeds up ;)

Furthermore, some things in this chapter will require an explanation, and I assure you they are not errors, just wait until the end, where I shall leave you an explanation.

Also, I must point out that I do not Harry Potter, so please do not sue me. Thank you. Enjoy~

"Are you three finally done?" Lucius asked them irritably two hours later. The four of them were standing idly outside of Borgin and Burkes, waiting for Lily to make up her mind on which gift she was going to buy for Sev.

"Lily, is this really worth all the trouble? He's a Gryffindor," Narcissa added exasperatedly. She and Laika finished up an hour ago, but it was Lily who kept them stalling. She had spent over an hour fretting on Sev's present alone; not to mention the rest of the time spent buying things for her Slytherin friends.

Contrary to her initial beliefs, Knockturn Alley was a rather frightening place. Nobody smiled, and there wasn't a joke shop in sight. Nothing but sunken skulls, ancient masks, shadowy orbs, cursed jewellery, screaming paintings and other Dark artifacts lined the front windows of the shops.

At a loss for what to get her best friend, Lily had eventually settled on a book from the creepy bookstore that was next door to Borgin and Burkes, where Lucius was waiting for them so they could all Floo home together.

As they entered the mysterious shop, Lucius nodded cheerlessly to the owner, who grunted his acknowledgement. Lily heard him mutter something about leaving a fifteen year old in charge of three first years being pure foolishness, but neither Lucius nor the other girls heard him.

She was— once again— appalled by the contents in this shop. Books on Dark magic covered the shelves to her left, and things that looked like rotting human bones hung from the ceiling to the right. On the front counter, little figurines in the shapes of miniature human toddlers were constantly distorting from their cute, innocent selves into revolting, monstrous beings that bled from their ears. Lily was utterly repulsed by everything she saw, but didn't dare mention this to her friends, who ambled slowly to the back without a single grimace towards the items around them.

At last, they reached an empty fireplace. Lily was completely bewildered as to why they were stopping here, but she figured her unasked questions would be answered soon enough.

Lucius pulled a small bag of powder out of his cloak pocket and passed it to the others. Lily hesitantly took a handful; since Laika and Narcissa had as well. Did they have to eat this stuff? As savoury as the silver powder looked, it hardly smelled appetizing.

Much to her shock, Lucius strolled calmly into the fireplace and turned around to face them. Throwing the powder on the ground, he clearly articulated: "Home!"

Lily shrieked as bright green flames engulfed Lucius, and within seconds he was gone. Narcissa and Laika remained completely unperturbed by his departure, however, so after a few seconds of heavy, panicked breathing, Lily managed to calm down and convince herself that what just happened was normal.

Laika did the same thing, and within seconds of saying "home," she was gone.

Now it was Lily's turn. Narcissa nodded for her to go before her, so Lily nervously walked into the middle of the ashy hearth. She fiddled with her powder for a moment, trying desperately to prove to her friend that she knew what she was doing.

Narcissa coughed impatiently, and Lily knew that she could wait no longer. Mimicking what the two Malfoys before her did, she flung the powder to the ground and shouted "home!"

xXxXxXxXx

After disappearing within the green flames, Lily assumed she would eventually end up standing next to Laika and Lucius in their home. What she hadn't expected was the sound of a girl screaming as she stumbled through the soot and ash of the fireplace at the end of the network.

She somersaulted out of the fireplace and rolled a couple of times onto the soft carpeting beyond the brick mantle. This was certainly a bizarre way of travelling, and she found that she didn't particularly enjoy it. Blinking the grime out of her eyes, Lily looked up and saw none other than her own sister screaming at her.

"Tuney!" she jumped to her feet and went to hug her sister, but Petunia flung herself out of Lily's path before she could lay a filthy finger on her.

"Oh Tuney, it's so good to see you! How have you been?" Lily asked breathlessly, forgetting all about her other friends in light of seeing her sister again. It had been four months since she had been home; the surroundings almost felt foreign to her now.

Petunia regarded her with a disdainful look. "I've been fine until you showed up," she replied coldly. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

Lily looked back at the empty fireplace, feeling a sense of dread wash over her. How was she going to get back now? Everyone in her family was a Muggle, and she was pretty sure Petunia didn't have any spare Floo powder lying around.

"I'm sorry Tuney," she pleaded to her sister, wanting to make the most of the short time she would have with her sister today. She wasn't going to even begin explaining why she had just fallen out of the living room fireplace; Petunia would have a fit if she told her the truth.

"Why are you here?" Petunia demanded, looking on in horror at the mess Lily had made on the pristine white carpeting beneath her.

"I don't really know," Lily admitted, wondering what had gone wrong back at Borgin and Burkes. "But I have to leave soon…my friends are waiting for me."

"Of course," Petunia spat. "You and your other freakish friends can use our fireplace any time. Just make sure it's lit next time."

Lily frowned sadly. "Not now, Tuney. Please…it's Christmas…"

"And I'd have a merrier Christmas if there weren't any freaks like you around!" Petunia shrieked, throwing a strand of tinsel onto the nearby couch in anger.

Lily bit her lip. She wanted to argue with her sister, but there was no use in trying to convince her that magic wasn't as bad as she believed. She had to get going— to where, she did not know. All she knew was that the longer she waited, the more of a chance there was of her half-blood lie being exposed. She'd held up fine thus far, and she didn't want to lose her friends now…not while they were just starting to really like hanging out with her…

She'd have to find another wizard's house to get back, but she didn't know of any other…

Or did she?

Lily gasped as an idea sprung into her head. Of course! Why hadn't she thought of it before?

"If that's how you feel—" Lily rushed, torn between wanting to stay and mend her friendship with Petunia and wanting to get back to the friends that understood her and her new lifestyle, "—then I'm sorry Tuney. But you're still my sister, and I still love you."

Before Petunia could even protest, Lily pulled her sister forward into a tight hug. Petunia screamed about the filth she was getting onto her new dress, but Lily ignored her. They embraced for all of two seconds before Petunia's squirming became too much for Lily to handle. Just as Petunia was about to shove her backwards, Lily darted out of her reach and sprinted for the front door.

"You're going to pay for that!" Petunia wailed, her expensive new clothes now covered in ash. Knocking over her carefully-decorated tree, she chased after Lily, but by the time she reached the hallway, her sister was already gone.

"FREAK!" Petunia bellowed out the door at Lily's retreating figure. Even through her rage, she felt a twinge of shame at the sight of her sister running away from her. She stood there for a while, unsure of what to do now. Her parents would have been home in thirty minutes, and they would have loved to see their favourite daughter.

Good riddance, Petunia thought to herself. Still, her attention wandered towards the door, as though she expected Lily to return. On the angel-themed doormat by the door, there was a small package wrapped in silver and emerald paper. Unable to contain her curiosity, Petunia edged her way over to the door and picked it up.

To: Petunia

Merry Christmas!

Lots of Love,

Lily

xXxXxXxXx

Knock. Knock.

Lily had no idea why she had gone ahead with this. It was pure foolishness now that she thought about it. She'd only been here twice in her entire life, and according to Sev, this place was never a good place to be, whether you were a visitor or inhabitant of this lonely home on Spinner's End. Still, if she had any hopes of getting to Laika's house, she'd have to try.

"Who's there?" a woman's feeble voice drifted through the crack in the doorway.

"Hello…Mrs. Sn-Snape? I-It's me, Lily Ev-Evans. I-I'm Sev-Severus' fr-fr-friend," Lily's teeth chattered from the extreme chill in the winds that lashed against her face. "We-we've met be-before."

A hint of recognition came over Eileen Snape's face and she opened the door wider. Her sallow face remained cheerless, but she managed to give Lily a tiny smile anyways. "Hello Lily, please come in dear, don't freeze to death out there."

Lily hesitantly obeyed and entered the home. It was quite dark inside; all of the windows were boarded up and there was no electricity in here, either. Lily startled to see her own breath as she followed Sev's mother through the musty hallway and into the rear kitchen. Nothing in here looked as though it had been cleaned in decades; there were spiders' webs covering the glassware cabinet and the sink was dripping something green and foul-smelling. Lily silently thanked her parents for allowing Sev to eat over so often in the past; he probably would have been poisoned if he eaten anything in here.

"What can I do for you, dear?" Mrs. Snape's asked quietly.

"Well—"

Lily really didn't want to ask. But it had been ten minutes since her departure from Borgin and Burkes, and her friends would surely grow worried if they didn't hear from her soon…

"I was wondering if you had any Floo powder," Lily said lamely, avoiding the older woman's gaze. "I…accidentally ended up at my home…first time using the Floo."

"You must state the location clearly," she informed the younger witch. "Don't forget that."

Lily nodded and continued: "I'm really sorry about intruding, but this was the only magical home I could think of."

Eileen Snape was silent for a moment. Her calm black eyes were identical to her son's, Lily noticed. But while Sev's eyes had a mischievous glint about them, this woman had nothing but misery behind hers. The longer they stared at each other, the more uncomfortable Lily became. While she had always known about Sev's parents' "issues," it seemed especially painful to see what had become of the boy's mother over the years. Sev's father wasn't around at the moment, which was perfectly fine with Lily. His absence cast a lonely aura over the place, though, and she almost felt inclined to ask Mrs. Snape to join her on Christmas.

I wouldn't want Laika to overextend her hospitality, though, Lily thought fretfully. It was already nice of her to have invited Lily over; inviting Lily's best friend's mother would undoubtedly be pushing it.

"I have some, yes," she replied after several minutes of dull silence. "Come with me."

Lily followed the woman up the stairs. Dust rose from the ancient carpeting with every step she took, but Lily hardly noticed now.

"How is Severus?" Mrs. Snape asked over her shoulder on the way up.

"Oh! Well…he was Sorted into Gryffindor, I don't know if he already wrote to you or not…"

"He never writes," she replied bluntly, though she sounded as though she couldn't have cared less. "I told him not to."

Why not?

"Strange…Gryffindor…never would have thought…not Slytherin…that's certainly surprising…but Gryffindor…never did I think…Hufflepuff maybe…" Mrs. Snape was now muttering to herself.

"I can share my owl with him if you want to write to each other," Lily offered politely.

"No thank you."

Lily left it at that. Sev's mom didn't sound as though she wanted anything from him, and she wasn't going to argue the point.

"Here we are, dear," Mrs. Snape said softly as they entered what appeared to be the master bedroom. Over in the corner was a lone fireplace that looked as though it hadn't been used in years.

"I only have a bit, I'm afraid," she handed Lily a small scoop of the silvery powder.

"I'm sure this will be fine, thank you," Lily felt extremely appreciative, though saddened that she couldn't do anything to return the favour. Then again…

Before heading into the fireplace, Lily reached into her cloak pocket and pulled out a small picture. It was a moving picture of her and Sev hugging each other in their second week at Hogwarts. Remus had been so kind as to take it for them in front of the magnificent castle and she felt herself smiling as the memories flooded back to her. She had been saving it for the two weeks ahead— just in case she started feeling homesick for Sev— but she figured his mother needed it more than she did.

"I want you to have this…as my way of saying thanks," Lily handed her the photograph, which she accepted numbly. Tears flitted to the edge of her eyes as she fondly looked down at it. It had been so long since she had seen her son…even longer since she had seen him as happy as he looked in the picture.

She looked back up at Lily and whispered: "Thank you."

xXxXxXxXx

"Oof!"

As Lily stood up and dusted herself off, she figured she'd never get used to travelling by Floo. The place she was in wasn't much of a difference from Spinner's End, save for the fact that this place was completely spotless. The shadowy room she had landed in had a creepy aura about it; though that was nothing in comparison to what she saw on the walls.

"Lumos."

Lily held her wand high over her head and held back a disgusted vibration erupting from her throat. Almost every inch of the emerald green wall was covered with highly disturbing portraits and paintings. In one, there was an old Muggle man being tortured to death by a gleeful-looking young wizard, who couldn't be older than fifteen. To the left of it, two witches were tormenting a group of sobbing Muggle children; underneath it, Lily could faintly make out the words "Muggles in their rightful places."

Too appalled to continue watching, Lily drifted her gaze to the portrait below. A woman— apparently alone— was writhing on the ground in mortal agony. Judging by her appearance, she, too, was a Muggle. She didn't scream, though Lily was certain she would have been had she not been a mere picture. Everything in this room absolutely shocked Lily. Surely this wasn't Laika's home…?

Just as she felt her gaze move to another picture of a powerful snake attacking a man's face and neck, a quiet voice came from behind her: "Do they disturb you, Lily?"

She whirled around in panic, holding up her wand defensively as she acknowledged the intruder. It was Laika.

"No…it's…interesting," Lily felt ready to faint, but successfully managed to shield most of her revulsion from her friend. "Interesting" hardly described how she was feeling right now, but it didn't matter as long as Laika believed her answer. "Insulting to humanity" would have been a more appropriate description, however.

"Come," Laika beckoned her. "We've been going through the other rooms."

Lily was thankful that Laika didn't ask why she had taken so long. She didn't have it in her to keep lying like this…

As they met Narcissa out in the silver-carpeted hallway, Lily noticed the other girl eying her suspiciously.

"Lily," she said coolly. "How nice of you to join us…at Laika's home."

The way she said those last two words made Lily extremely uncomfortable, but Narcissa had nothing more to say after that. Lily's secret was still safe as far as she was concerned.

"Now, I won't show you all ninety four rooms," Laika drawled as she led the way down a winding stairway. "But I want you to see this one at least…"

After five minutes of walking, Lily started to wonder just how large Malfoy Manor was. None of the hallways seemed to have an end, and they must have passed over thirty doors in a matter of minutes.

"How do you not get lost in here?" Lily joked nervously, feeling Narcissa's steady gaze on her back.

Laika laughed shrilly. "Well, it's a matter of survival I suppose. My great-great grandmother's youngest son, Kirtanire got lost somewhere on the third floor when he was just five years old…they never did find him…stupid child…"

Lily gulped. She decided to stick a little closer to Laika, not wanting to end up like Kirtanire did…

"Ah, here we are," Laika said after what felt like two hours of mindlessly wandering the silver-and-emerald themed mansion. The plain door was like all others, except that this one had a golden serpent head nailed onto it.

"This—" Laika said, motioning to walls around them after the lights magically turned on, "— is the Malfoy family tree."

Lily wanted to snort with laughter at the ridiculousness of leaving an entire room for a family tree, but to her friends, this was no laughing matter. Lily sighed, figuring this was another one of those pureblood traditions Sev had warned her about.

While she had thought the whole idea to be absurd at first, she later found herself thinking otherwise.

So…these people care more about their heritage…maybe non-purebloods can learn a thing or two. I think it's great they know so much about their ancestors.

Laika's family tree went back for many generations. Several Malfoys had been Minister of Magic, and nearly everyone worked in the Ministry. Other pureblood lines had entered the Malfoy line at various points in the tree; Laika seemed especially proud about one of her female ancestors having a son with some wizard named Grindelwald. Lily was sure she had heard the name somewhere before, but she didn't remember much about the man in general.

"He later left her and the son went on to marry a Muggle," Laika noted disdainfully.

Lily's eyes travelled up the wall from Laika and Lucius up to their parents. Abraxas and Lilu Malfoy. Her eyes carefully traced the lines all the way up to Laika's great grandparents. It was here that the line broke off into another branch; Abraxas Malfoy's father had a sister named Kurra. She had married another pureblood, a man named Kyle Princeldoniargonite.

What a strange last name.

Lily looked down the line a bit further. Kurra and Kyle had had a daughter named Eileen. However, the girl had had enough sense to shorten her father's ridiculously long last name to simply "Prince."

Prince…wait, that's Sev's mom! Lily thought excitedly. She had expected to see a picture of the woman for solid proof, but for some reason, her picture was blacked out.

"Why are some of these blacked out?" Lily asked Laika, who was busy explaining to Narcissa how her great-great-great-great grandfather had been the best Minister of Magic there ever was.

Laika ignored the general question, but noticed that Lily was looking at Eileen Prince.

"That woman married a Muggle," she said indifferently, as though Eileen got what she deserved. Lily smiled inwardly. Wait until I tell Sev he's related to Laika! I'd love to see the look on his face…

xXxXxXxXx

Later that night, Lily found it difficult to fall asleep. So much had happened that day, and her mind was positively whirring with excitement. According to Laika, the next two weeks would undoubtedly be amazing and best of all: Lucius had already promised to play two-on-two Quidditch with them on Tuesday.

The three of them were sleeping in Laika's main bedroom, which was approximately the size of Lily's entire house. She had her own enchanted pool, which changed colours with the music that was played by her band of self-playing instruments. Also, just like the Great Hall at Hogwarts, her windows displayed whatever scenery she wanted, whether it were tranquil green pastures in Ireland or the bustling streets of New York City.

Right now, Lily was staring out at a lonely Caribbean beach at nightfall. She could even hear the waves gently lapping over her friends' quiet snores. This place was like a dream. She thought Hogwarts was incredible, but Malfoy Manor, mostly thanks to its lavish and contemporary designs, was absolutely stunning.

"I said 'no'!"

Lily, having just closed her eyes in preparation for a good night's rest in her inexplicably fluffy sleeping bag, jolted awake at the sound of a man's voice not too far away. It didn't sound like Lucius, though…did other people live here?

Well, Laika's parents, Lily thought, but hadn't Laika mentioned earlier that they were never home?

Surely it couldn't be an intruder either; with the kind of money the Malfoys' had, they would undoubtedly have the best security in the world for their home.

"But…the break-in…surely you heard about that?" a woman's hurried whisper followed the man's voice.

Unable to contain her curiosity, Lily grabbed her wand and gently snuggled out of her sleeping bag. Careful not to disturb her snoozing friends, she crawled across the vast room as quickly and quietly as she could. With the crashing waves further behind her, she could hear much better now. Laika and Narcissa had barely stirred; they wouldn't notice if she was gone for a few moments, would they?

Standing up, Lily shakily twisted the knob open and she slipped out into the hallway without making a single noise. She released the breath she didn't realize she was holding and slowly crept down the darkened corridor. Torches with hazy green fire illuminated the path in front of her, but somehow this eerie light made it more frightening than if she had been wandering in total darkness. Remembering what Laika had said about Kirtanire, she roughly traced her return route to Laika's room with her wand.

"If you can't trust Gringotts, you can't trust anyone," the man hissed to the second speaker. The voices were coming from a barely-opened room at the end of the hallway on the right. The room was dark, but Lily knew there were people in there. Feeling a rush of bravery, she got up right next to the door and pressed her ear against it.

"What about— agh!" the woman muffled a terrible shriek of pain. Lily desperately wanted to see who the two people were and what had just happened, but for now, it was quite clear they wanted this to be a private conversation…

"Don't touch it again!" she whispered fiercely. "You don't want to accidentally summon—"

Just before Lily heard the woman finish her sentence, a cold, lifeless hand appeared behind her shoulder. Although she hadn't realized it, all of the torches had been extinguished in the corridor; this newfound darkness gave the hand the appearance of acting without an arm. Just before she could scream it quickly covered her mouth while another ghastly white hand dug its nails into her shoulder and slowly pulled her around…

A/N: In regards to the Floo Network, this story doesn't exactly follow the canon version. If it did, Lucius and Laika would have said "Malfoy Manor" instead of home, but I felt that Lily messing up and saying home as well added some interesting points to the story, rather than predictably going straight to their home. Also, I know that in canon, Floo Networks are not connected to Muggle homes except in scenarios where the connection will be temporary (like the Dursleys house). I hope that cleared things up :)

Alas, the conflict truly begins...you didn't think the kids would have a nice, trouble-free year, did you?

I would greatly appreciate any comments or constructive criticism (I got a good dosage of that in my other story, and I learned soooooooo much from their advice). Next chapter will be up soon, and I hope you all are still enjoying the story :)