Chapter 18 – Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw:

Eddie was freaking out. He had done as Lily had ordered and alerted the Ministry and the Auror Department about the situation and they were sending Aurors right away to their aid. In Eddie's mind, their training needed to improve because they seem to be taking their sweet time getting to where they were located.

Even though Eddie had listened to Lily, had alerted the Ministry, got back up; he had not listened to her orders entirely. She had told him that after sending his Patronus and getting help that he should immediately Apparate back to London and go straight to the Ministry where he would be safe. For some reason, this did not sit right with him. And with the Auror Department taking so long to respond, he knew he had done the right thing in staying.

Eddie did not understand himself; he was furious that the Auror Department for taking their time but here he was, standing outside of the Roman Coliseum while Lily fought against a dark witch and trying to protect the wizarding world; a fight that he, Eddie, had dragged her into in the first place.

"What am I doing?" he whispered to himself, suddenly furious. He was clutching on to his wand so tightly that his knuckles were turning white and he felt a burning in his temples from clenching his teeth so tightly. Stomping his foot, sparks flying out of his wand, he turned around marched right back into the Coliseum.

What he saw nearly made him loosen the grip on his wand and drop it to the floor. Anson was trying desperately to sing, to try to hypnotize Lily and Lily was furiously screaming "Valor!" repeatedly and with flashes of green light shooting out of her eyes and hitting Anson squarely in the throat, clearly trying to prevent her from singing.

Even from a distance, Eddie could see that Lily's eyes were a bright, lime green, meaning that her powers were draining and that she desperately needed to relax and recharge.

Sensing the danger Lily was in, and could be in, should her powers continue to drain, Eddie pointed his wand directly at Anson and whispered "Stupefy!" The hex hit Anson and she fell to the ground.

Eddie sprinted towards Lily, who fell to her knees, still clutching on to the Stone that still around her neck and breathing heavily. When Eddie finally reached her, he could see the pure exhaustion on her face, sweat coming from her forehead and nose, and her eyes were still the bright, lime green color.

"Lily?"

"I told you – to get – the bloody hell – out of here!" she snapped through heavy gasping breaths.

"The Aurors are on their way," said Eddie, rubbing her back, ignoring her comment. "And did you honestly think I was going to leave you to clean the mess that I dragged you into? Honestly…Lily…" He helped her to her feet; her legs were shaking and wobbling. "What the hell have you been doing?" Anson began groaning and moving, recovering from Eddie's hex and getting back to her feet.

"She keeps trying to sing…control me…" said Lily through deep breaths. "I keep trying to hex and perform Eyeluta on her before she can get a word out. She's strong…she's powerful. It's difficult…"

"Well now you've got me," said Eddie firmly. He gripped her forearm tightly to prevent her from falling over. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"NO!" Lily whispered fiercely, practically shoving him away. "I am not leaving until Anson is in full custody. Otherwise she'll escape and we'll just have to keep running and running from her. I am not doing that again!" Eddie knew that she was referring to all of the years that she spent hiding and running from Voldemort. But Lily was weak and needed immediate treatment and Eddie was not giving up without a fight.

"I contacted the Auror Department already," Eddie insisted, grabbing a hold of her forearms and lifting her to her feet. Lily was so exhausted that she stopped fighting off his assistance to help her up. "They should be here any minute." At these words, Eddie felt Lily tense and again, she pushed him away and stumbled for a moment, but stood her ground. She whipped around and looked at him condescendingly.

"It's a good thing that an Auror was never your first choice of career, Ed," she sneered in a cold tone. "You clearly do not pay attention. You clearly don't understand her at all. Do you really think that the Aurors are just going to be able to burst in here with their wands at the ready? Do you think there's going to be rescue music going on in the background too?" Lily's tone had gone from cold to downright mean, condescending, and sarcastic. Eddie raised his eyebrows, wanting to retaliate, but knew this was neither the time nor the place to start raising Lily's temper. Her powers had already drained and she needed to remain calm and cool. Eddie was determined to make sure that this happened for her. Instead of saying anything, he simply stared at her, waiting for her to continue.

"If I've learned anything about Jeandré and I suspect I have, then she has put traps, spells, and all sorts of enchantments around this place. It could be hours before any of the Aurors get here."

"So what do we do until they get here?" asked Eddie urgently.

"YOU CAN DIE!" screamed a voice from the side. Lily and Eddie both whipped around to see Anson sitting up, bright red in the face, and pointing her wand up at them. Without even thinking, Lily stepped directly in front of Eddie as though to protect him from any kind of curse that Jeandré might send at the pair of them. Eddie noticed and felt a knot tie tightly at the pit of his stomach. Before he could even reflect on whether she was acting on an Auror's instinct or something else, Jeandré was no longer pointing her wand at the two. She was now pointing it at the ground and muttering an incantation. Lily must have heard her because she began screaming.

"RUN!" she shrieked, turning around and attempting to push Eddie in the opposite direction.

"Lily, what's going on-?"

"RUN, ED, RUN! GO!"

At this point, Lily actually ran past him and in the opposite direction. Eddie immediately followed and heard loud cracking sounds behind him. He knew he should not, but he looked behind him and nearly screamed himself. Jeandré had performed a spell that had split the ground in two and the giant, endless hole that would swallow them up was following them at an alarming rate. He swore loudly and felt himself pick up the pace. He could tell that he felt from the heat on his back that the newly formed hole in the earth was filled with either fire or lava. It was not something he wished to find out.

As Lily and Eddie continued to sprint from their deaths, Lily suddenly whipped around and pointed her wand directly at him and shouted, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Eddie felt himself being lifted in the air and he shouted profanities at Lily as she continued to run for her life. The earth opened below him and it confirmed his horror that there was boiling hot lava below. Immediately concerned about Lily's safety, Eddie began flailing in the air. Panicking he shouted, "LILY, LILY FOR MERLIN'S SAKE, DO SOMETHING!"

At this point Lily was jumping over the railings and into the stands; where the people of Rome used to sit as they watched gladiators fight for their lives, just what she was doing right now. Once she reached the stands, she turned around, looking fierce, and pointed her wand at Eddie and shouted, "Accio!" Eddie felt himself being pulled towards her and he landed hard on the stone ground beside her, as she stepped away so he would not collide with her.

Eddie rolled over, ignoring the aches and pains that were warping his body from his collision with the stone ground, and jumped to his feet, wand at the ready. Before he could act, Lily was grabbing his hand and running as fast as she could, meanwhile pointing her wand behind her at random and shooting curses and hexes, vainly hoping to hit Jeandré with one of them.

After felt like running for what seemed hours, Lily and Eddie reached a tunnel. They could no longer hear the cracking of the earth behind them so they could only assume that Jeandré had stopped the spell. Lily leaned against the wall, panting for breath as her lime green eyes shined in the darkness. Eddie was resting his hands on his knees, also trying to catch his breath. After a few quick moments, Eddie looked at Lily desperately. She was still leaning against the wall, but her eyes were now closed, clearly trying to regain some form of strength and power. Eddie had never seen her look so exhausted, so defeated since her final battle with Voldemort.

"Lily?" he asked in a frightened whisper.

Lily did not open her eyes, but Eddie knew she was listening.

"What do we do?

Lily inhaled and exhaled deeply. "I'm tired of running, Ed. I ran from Voldemort almost all of my life. I am not going to run from Anson for the remainder of it." Lily opened her eyes and looked directly into Eddie's eyes. He nearly gasped at how bright green they were; as though they were a force to be reckoned with. "We fight."

"Then let's do it together," said Eddie, also rising and standing straight. "Just like we always have." Lily stared at Eddie, considering him for a moment, as though trying to make some kind of decision. Finally, she nodded.

"Let's go."

Eddie nodded his head and turned around, ready to walk back out into the Coliseum as the famous gladiators did way back when; ready to fight and possibly die, with Lily at his side.

"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"

Eddie stiffened like a piece of wood and fell to the ground, letting out an inaudible grunt as pain shot through his spine when he hit the floor. Shocked, he looked to see Lily step over him and look down at him with a look mixed with determination and pity.

"I'm sorry, Ed," she whispered. "You'll always have a place in my heart but the fact of the matter is, that I simply don't trust you. This is something that I need to do on my own and I can't let a citizen get injured; especially on account of me. I'm sorry." With that, Lily stepped out of the tunnel and into the famous Roman Coliseum; true gladiator she was. All Eddie could do was watch in horror, helpless to do anything else.

Lily stepped back out into the Coliseum and saw Anson Jeandré standing there with her wand at the ready, clearly waiting for Lily to return. The ground was still cracked in half but the lava or fire within in the earth had calmed and all that remained was black rock and dirt. Anson, like Lily, clearly wanted to end this. She wanted to fight.

"I was wondering when you'd return, coward," sneered Jeandré. Lily narrowed her eyes and walked towards the Heir of Ravenclaw fearlessly.

"I may be one of many things, Jeandré," said Lily coldly, "but I am no coward."

"Heir of Gryffindor running from the Heir of Ravenclaw," said Anson, her eyes narrowing. "What would our ancestors think of that?"

"I don't think they'd very pleased," said Lily as she began pacing in front of Jeandré. "They created the Stone of Merlin so that we may work together, not go fighting to the death over it. The Heir of Slytherin and the Heir of Hufflepuff…our distant relatives…have already lost their lives over this bloody thing. In fact…" Lily reached for the necklace hanging at the base of her neck and ripped it off. Anson's eyes widened in astonishment and disbelief as Lily tossed the necklace in to the dirt at the base of Anson's feet. "I don't want it. I don't want any of it."

There was a long pregnant silent. Anson stared wide-eyed at the necklace in the dirt, to Lily, back to the dirt, and then back to Lily. She clearly could not believe the events that just occurred and clearly was not expecting this. As a result, she did not know how to react or what to do. All Jeandré could do was stare in disbelief and confusion.

"You…you don't want it?"

"I don't want it," stated Lily firmly. "Nor do I need. All I ever wanted was to live a normal life. This bloody thing is what is preventing me from living a normal life. I don't want to fight and I certainly don't want to die over it. You want it? Take it. Just leave me the hell alone."

A light shown in Anson's eyes that Lily recognized as a hunger, greed that she had seen in only the most selfish of people. After staring at it longingly, almost lovingly for several moments, her eyes making love to the necklace, she looked up at Lily, looking wild. For a moment, it frightened Lily.

"Now that I have the Stone of Merlin in my grasp," she whispered viciously, "I will put an end to this ancestral war and you, Lily Potter." Realizing what she was saying, Lily's eyes widened in horror. As Jeandré dived for the necklace, Lily quickly closed her eyes and opened them while screaming "Valor!" desperately and firing her power directly into Jeandré's chest. Jeandré screamed in pain as she was thrown back from the necklace and into the stone wall of the Coliseum. Even when she was down, Lily did not stop Eyeluta, she kept firing the green surge towards Anson's lifeless body until a gentle hand rested upon her shoulder and a voice whispered in her ear.

"Enough, Lily," it whispered. "Enough…"

Then everything went dark.

Another chapter! Please enjoy!