Chapter 2: Destiny

Lily was studying in her room. It was the last week before her sixth term started, and she had fallen behind on her summer homework.It was embarrassing, especially since she was a prefect and first in her class. She knew there were excuses she could use to justify this delay, and most people would agree they were valid, but none satisfied her, the truth was that she had been procrastinating, plain and simple.

Homework wasn't the only thing Lily had neglected. Glancing around her room, she cringed at the piles of clothes strewn across the loveseat and the bed—she couldn't remember the last time she'd done laundry

Her hair was also in dire need of a haircut as her split ends fell all over her shoulder, and even her fingernails were a mess. She remembered painting them green, but then several weeks had passed and the paint had chipped off.

Even taking a morning shower had become a chore. All Lily wanted was to lie in her bed all day and night, only coming out to eat or smoke a cigarette while lying on the roof outside her window., looking at the stars… and hiding away like a criminal. She knew that all of this pointed towards something dangerous, something that she kept pushing to the deepest end of her mind. But right now she couldn't ponder on that, as she had to focus on this damned human transfiguration assignment or McGonagall would tear her a new one for sure.

Lily kept switching between her books, A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration and Transformation Through the Ages, yet she couldn't find the right example she needed for this part of her essay. Frustrated, Lily covered her face with her hands, dragging down the skin as she groaned.

She was about to give up and throw herself back into bed when a small chirp caught her attention, gazing toward the window she spotted a long-eared owl with an orange face and an intricate black, brown, and buff patterning on its feathers. It was carrying a letter.

"And who might you be, little friend?" she asked, her curiosity momentarily piqued as she leaned forward on her chair to open her window and let the bird in. Lily had never seen that owl in her life. Anxiety grappled her as she thought perhaps it was a letter from the Ministry or something.She had gone to Diagon Alley yesterday to buy her school supplies for the next term, and had performed a couple spells taking advantage that the trace didn't work properly there, with so many wizards and witches in the area, this was something she had discover a few years back, by accident, and she had never been caught before. Yet, she wondered if perhaps there was a chance.

Not wasting any more time, she took the letter and ripped it open, only to be surprised by a messy handwrite.

--

Lily,

Seems even stranger when I write your name.

Here I am dreading you might have changed your mind and that you're going to send me a bat-bogey hex through the post.

Still I'm determined to tell you that my dad hasn't stopped babbling about you, he keeps asking if I'm planning on having my new redhead friend over for some tea and biscuits, whatever that means... And Sirius doesn't believe me that we are on first name bases now.

Perhaps you should drop by just to shut them up.

Ps. You should probably give Pecks a treat if you have one handy, unless you want to find out about the reason for his name.

--

A small glimpse of a smile graced Lily's lips.

The letter was not signed, but it didn't need to be. Bloody Potter.

He always thought himself so charming. But as much as Lily wanted to deny it, she felt happy that he had taken a moment to write to her. It was so stupid. She could almost picture him ruffling up his hair, looking like an idiot as he tried to come up with something amusing. Boring and normal was the last thing he would ever want to be.

Lily sighed and rolled her eyes, but without even a single moment of hesitation, she opened up the first drawer on her desk and took out an envelope and a light yellow paper sheet, which she much preferred to parchment. She grabbed the same muggle pen she had been using to write her essay, her hand now hovering over the paper.

She was completely blank.

It was even worse than trying to write her essay. Lily wanted to reply something, but she didn't know what exactly. She sighed and bit her lower lip, as words passed her by, and they all made her sound stupid.

Lily didn't understand what was wrong with her and why she was overthinking this. It was just a silly letter, from silly Potter… James—her own mind corrected her. She needed to get used to that.

Minutes went by as she sat looking at the empty sheet in front of her, until pain took over her.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed aloud, instinctively drawing back her hand.

The owl had bit her, and it was chirping at her annoyingly with its wings extended. "You little bastard," Lily looked at it accusingly and stood up, heading for her wardrobe to take out a cat treat. "Here," she put it on top of desk, not wanting to get too close to the animal. "This is the best I've got right now."

The owl ate it swiftly, seemingly content now as it put its wings down again.

Still feeling suspicious of the treacherous animal, she dragged her chair to the corner of the desk and sat once again.

--

James,

I can see you weren't kidding about your bloody bird. Perhaps you should consider feeding it every once in a while.

And as much as having biscuits and tea with your father sounds lovely (despite you being in the vicinity) I don't think I'll be able to get away before the term starts, as my family wants to go on a short holiday this week before I go back to school.

Although if you want to send over some biscuits, you won't find me complaining.

--

She looked at the writing, it was short and simple. Yet, Lily felt she was maybe sounding harsher than she intended. She dragged her pen against the paper once more.

--

PS. I find myself somewhat happy that it was you writing to me, and not the Ministry admonishing me for using underage magic…

I suppose if you want to shut up Sirius (and I can't blame you for that) then feel free to show him this letter.

Best,

Lily.

--

She was smiling like a fool for some reason, and Lily tried to convince herself that it was the thought of annoying Black… or maybe just the fact that the letter had distracted her from her homework. But as soon as she had handed it over to that feral bird that James kept as a pet, a feeling of dread began to unfold. She watched the bird fly away into the sunset, wishing she could do the same.

Lily had lied to James. She wasn't going on any holiday, not really. But she did agree to accompany her father on an overnight stay to Glasgow to the specialised clinic. He wouldn't be allowed to stay in the facility, and she didn't want him sleeping on his own on a budget hotel. Nontheless, Lily also didn't want to inform James of her current family situation. The truth is she hadn't even told Marlene, Alice or Remus.

The last thing she wanted was the sympathetic words and pity looks that would follow her everything once the truth was out.

Lily sighed, she stood up from the chair and kneeled down to grab her secret stash of cigarettes that she had hidden on a box under her bed. She had caught Petunia nosing around her room more than once, and she knew her sister wouldn't hesitate to inform their father of Lily's unhealthy habits. Last thing she needed was more drama in her family life.

As she climbed out of her window and onto the ceiling, she mentally counted the days she had left until her return to Hogwarts. It had become an obsession of her ever since they received the dignostic. A part of her deeply wanted to be back in the castle, to put some distance between her and everything else. But Lily also felt a tug in her heart as she thought about being away for so long. She feared that once she returned there would be one less person in the house.

…..

A sterile smell inundated her senses; that coupled with the blinding white lights and the constant beeping of the ECG monitors from the adjourning rooms was becoming a little too much for Lily. She had been staring at the lime green wall in front of her for what felt like an hour, and more and more it reminded her of the vomit. She was beginning to feel dizzy.

Lily breathed in slowly as she inclined back on the rough wooden chair and closed her eyes. It didn't last long, as finally the door next to her swung open, and out came her father.

Larry Evans was a tall man, with a long face, blonde hair and brown eyes. People would often say that he and Petunia looked incredibly alike. But Lily didn't see it, at least not anymore. Where Petunia's eyes were pale and cold, his were incredibly warm. Yet, at that very moment they were filled with worry and fear. Lily unfortunately knew the look too well by now.

"What did they say?" she asked him straight.

Her dad cautiously closed the door. "They are still inside with her." He answered as if asking Lily to mind her words, but she didn't care about being rude at that moment. She sighed and stood up, trying to remain patient and calm, as she knew none of this was easy on her father either.

"They said there's a new treatment that they would like to try..."

"What do you mean — a new treatment? Has the radiotherapy not been working?" Lily's mind was racing and getting ahead of her, but she could see it in her father's face. There were words he was avoiding.

He grasped his hands in front of him, and bit his lower. "It has… it's just.. It hasn't worked as well as we were hoping."

Lily gasped with indignation.

"I knew this was a bad idea! Dad, you have seen what this has put her through, and now they want to test something new on her, as if she's a guinea pig or something!"

"Lily, dear, they are trying their best," he was pleading, but frustration tinted his voice.

"Well it's not enough!" She said and felt the colour rising to her chest and cheeks, her anger growing, she felt it like something was boiling over inside of her stomach. They couldn't do this to her. Her mother was a person, not an experiment.

"Lily…" her father said softly as a feather this time, there was something akin to fear in his expression, and it was then that Lily noticed the lights on the hallway were flickering fast and the chair where she had been seated moments ago was now shaking slightly. She felt tingles on her fingertips and immediately backed away from her father as realise what what she was doing.

"I'm sorry," she barely mumbled and then ran outside, still feeling she was about to pop.

The wind hit her like a million tiny knives, and she felt her heart beating so fast that she feared she would have a heart attack if she didn't calm down. It had been so long since she had last lost control of her magic like that. It was riddiculous. She was no longer that clumsy ten year old who had set Joana Campbell's eyebrows on fire after the girl had pushed Petunia's lunch on her lap.

Lily was sixteen now, almost a witch of age. She couldn't be losing her shit like that. She started pacing around the parking lot, now wondering if the Ministry would catch onto this accidental magic she performed. Surely it didn't look like there were any other magical signatures around this area. She would be in deep trouble. How could excuse this to anyone, if she couldn't even excuse it to herself.

She was so consumed by her tumultuous thoughts that she hadn't noticed she was not alone. Shivers running down her spine gave it away at first, and then Lily felt like she was being observed. Switfly, Lily's eyes lifted from her trainers, and her breathing caught up down her throat when she saw an old woman looking at her.

The woman looked a little bit strange, wearing a traditional long tartan skirt, a deep green serape that wrapped around her torso. Her grey hair fell loose around her shoulders and back, and she was smiling at Lily. Awkwardly, Lily tried to smile back, but it probably came up as a grimace. The woman took a step in her direction, and Lily looked nervously around her. Lily felt frozen in time as she saw her getting closer.

"Lily," the woman said her name and Lily gulped. She didn't know this person.

"Who…" but her words faded on her lips as she now had the woman standing right next to her. She had piercing green eyes. They looked a lot like her own.

Something shiny caught her attention and Lily saw a golden pendant that was hanging around her neck, three spirals contained inside a circle.

"It's been so long," the woman said again, and Lily couldn't pinpoint why, but her wrinkly face looked eerily familiar.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Lily asked, gaining back a bit of courage.

The woman smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "No, I don't suppose you do."

Lily was about to ask her how she knew her name, when suddenly she was interrupted by the opening of the double doors that led inside the clinic, and her father stepped out looking clearly concerned.

"Lily, are you alright?" He said, but then he stopped when he noticed the woman in front of Lily.

"Lawrence," the woman said solemnly, acknowledging Lily's father. Who was she and how did she know them? Lily's head was spinning.

Surprisingly, Lily's father did seem to know her, "Elspeth," he said shortly, taking a deep breath. "How did you know she was here?"

The woman named Elspeth chuckled. "Oh you know I have my ways." Lily saw her head then turn towards the double doors, and her raspy voice became more serious. "Can I see her?... Please."

Her father nodded, but it seemed he didn't want to. Lily was feeling incredibly confused, and she was getting angry again as she felt she was being kept in the dark about something. But something stopped her from interrupting, as the woman smiled at them and then retreated towards the entrance, her skirt flowing with wind as she disappeared inside.

…..

He was growing impatient.

It had been several minutes since the old hag had disappeared inside the shack, leaving him behind like he was a common peasant. The only thing that was stopping him from blasting that wooden door open and dragging them all outside was the thread of this knowledge that he didn't have, and that he seeked to covet that night.

His hand twitched, grabbing onto the yew wand so hard that his fingers might have turned blue, if they still could.

How he loathed himself in that moment, for not knowing this type of magic. He had once thought he had mastered all of it, and yet there were still secrets in this god forsaken world that kept blindsiding him, it was driving him mad. He didn't understand how it could be possible, they were practically muggles.

The wind blew hard against his dark robes, hitting him straight in the face, and he thought it probably felt cold, but he couldn't fully tell anymore. He was slowly losing his senses one by one — another worry he now possesed, on top of everything else.

He started pacing left and right, his glowing eyes scanning his surroundings, but it was so dark outside that he was barely able to see the silhouette of the shack in front of him. The ground felt mildly wet underneath his soles, as if it had rained recently, but he knew that was not the case.

The absolute silence on that hill was upsetting him too. Hundreds of miles away he could spot some lights, in a valley beneath the mountains. He didn't understand how these people could live here so far removed from civilization and with no means of transportation. It occurred to him that perhaps they could apparate, but he pushed away the thought as soon as it came to him. It was absolutely ridiculous.

He kept pacing, his glance occasionally shifting towards the door and the windows. It was all pitch black, no light could be seen from inside. It was with all his might that he was controlling his impulses. How dare they keep him outside.

He took out his pocket watch, a relic from another time, it almost seemed like a different life. Yet he had been unable to part with it.

A full half hour had passed as he stood out there in the wilderness of the mountain, it was making him murderous. He hoped this would be worth it.

Sighing, he lifted his wand to conjure a chair, and fear gripped him when he noticed nothing happened. He tried again, but it was fruitless.

It couldn't be.

His eyes drifted back to the shack and his heart almost skipped a beat when he saw the door creaking. A small figure stepped out, it was the same old hag.

"The Mother will see you now," she said and he didn't waste another minute as he walked straight past her and inside.

As he stepped into the shack, he was mildly surprised to see it was lit properly by groups of candles on top of counters, casting shadows into the walls. The room was long and wide, wider than it looked from the outside — an extension charm perhaps? It couldn't be.

He also took in the symbol that was carved on the floor, in the middle of the room. An intricate digraph, full with lines, circles and flanked by what looked like Hebrew letters. And in the centre, almost hidden away, there was an unmistakable upside down pentacle. How silly.

And yet he wasn't sure anymore.

These people had found him. And his magic was not working properly now. He thought of trying a simple spell again, to turn off the candlelights, but he feared the outcome of such action.

He stood closer to the digraph, examining the Hebrew letters that he couldn't understand, and a shiver went down his spine. For the first time in years, he felt cold, almost as iif he was standing outside in the middle of winter with no robes. It was highly peculiar.

"Sigillum Dei Obumbratio," a voice whispered. Instinctively he drew his wand.

A cloaked figure stepped into the light of the candlelights, seemingly coming from the shadows, as he couldn't spot another door or room inside the place. "That will not work here," the figure said as it lifted a single long finger, it was wrinkly and the skin looked like the colour of chalk.

He took in the appearance of this creature. The Mother, they had called it, but it didn't quite look like a woman. It was bald, and its eyes were completely white with no pupils. He didn't lower his wand.

"How did you find me?" He asked.

"It was foretold." The Mother said. "I will show you the truth."

The creature lifted their other hand, both of its palms looking down. And then everything went dark.