-1Chapter Three

Disclaimer: See Chapter One

Laila and Bobby walked up the lane towards the cottage apparently alone. Beside them Harry and Hermione were under the invisibility cloak. Before they had left Hermione had done some transfiguration to Laila's face, just in case someone who was looking for Harry knew what Lily Potter had looked like before she died.

They came to a stop in front of a cottage that was in ruins, covered in ivy. Harry stepped up to the gate and placed his hand upon it. Like some rapidly growing flower a sign popped up from the ground, and in golden letters upon the wood it said:

On this spot, on the night of 31 October 1981, Lily and James Potter lost their lives. Their song, Harry, remains the only wizard ever to have survived the Killing Curse. This house, invisible to Muggles, has been left in it's ruined state as a monument to the Potters and as a reminder of the violence that tore apart their family.

Over this 16 years of magical graffiti shown, leaving messages encouraging Harry in his quest.

Laila felt sad and a little forsaken. There was no mention of her anywhere on the sign, it was like no one even cared that another child had survived that night. Harry must have known what she was feeling because he said quietly.

"They must not have told anyone about you to keep you safe. If the Death Eaters had known about you, you would have died that night too. One day, after all this is over, I'll make sure the whole wizarding world knows who Laila Potter is." Laila would have hugged him then, but she noticed a heavily muffled figure hobbling up the road. The four of them watched in silence as she tottered closer. Finally she stopped a few yards away from them, facing them. She stared at them for a few minutes before raising a gloved hand and beckoned them.

"I don't know about this you guys, I mean why would a strange old witch beckon to me and Bobby." Laila said moving closer to Harry and Hermione.

" Maybe it's not you she's beckoning to." Harry whispered.

After what seemed to be an eternity of silence Harry raised his voice and called out to the stranger. " Are you Bathilda?"

The old woman nodded and beckoned to them again. Seemingly as one the four of them took a step towards the old witch, she promptly turned around and started tottering back down the lane. They followed her as she turned into the yard of a nearby cottage. She opened the door and then stood back to let them pass. The house smelled bad, and Laila wrinkled her nose a little as Harry pulled the cloak off.

"Bathilda?" Harry repeated.

She nodded again, and shuffled past them, pushing Hermione out of her way and into Laila. The old woman vanished into what seemed to be a sitting room. The four of them remained where they stood, unsure of how to proceed. A strange hissing noise issued from the sitting room. Laila and Hermione jumped and clutched at each other.

"It's okay." Harry said and led them into the sitting room. The old witch was clumsily trying to light the candles with matches. Harry took them from her and lit the candles. At the light of the last candle he grabbed up a picture. He grew excited about it. Harry called out to Bathilda a couple of times, and tried to get her to tell him who the person in the picture. After a few more tries the old woman indicated that she wanted Harry to follow her upstairs. Hermione made as to go with them and the woman rebuffed her. After a few moments of silence Hermione looked around the room and spotted a book she seemed very interested in.

"This doesn't feel right Hermione." Laila said. "Bobby go up there and see…" Laila was cut off by a yell. The three of them raced up the stairs. In the room where they found Harry, instead of the old woman, there was a large snake. Hermione pulled out her wand, and so did Bobby. Laila knew if she did magic she'd be in trouble. She looked around the room, and saw a poker in a stand next to the fire place. She raced over and picked it up. Bobby and Hermione had managed to get the snake off, but now were being attacked themselves. She swung the poker and hit the massive snake on the snout. It hissed at her and lunged, Hermione screamed a spell, and it rebound around the room. There was a loud crashed and Harry screamed.

"He's coming! Go, go now he's coming." Bobby picked up Laila and jumped through the air, just before he disappeared into the darkness he screamed for Harry and Hermione to meet them at Laila's house. Laila had one brief glimpse of Hermione and Harry jumping out the window behind them.