The Story of Lily

The Story of Lily

Chapter 7:The Revealing Ceremony

"Oh, dear GOD, why must we have Charms?" Gwen slumped down in her chair miserably.

"Gwen, Charms is fun!" Lily insisted, trying to haul her back upward. They were in the common room studying.

"Yeah, Lily, that's because you're good at it! You're the best in Charms in our year!"

"The exam is next week, don't worry! I can teach you how to do a Shrinking Charm by then!"

Gwen sighed and sat up, trying to pay attention to her best friend.

The girls were nearing the end of their second year at Hogwarts. Life was perfect for Lily; that could be because she ignored the newspaper that informed them daily of new attacks and the growing strength of Lord Voldemort. People had begun to fear him so much that they were scared to say his name, and called him "You Know Who" instead. The only person who refused to call him anything but his name was James, and for that, Lily greatly admired him.

James. Just that simple word gave her goosebumps. Gwen knew of her crush, of course, but she didn't seem to really understand it. Lily was sure that she felt more for him than "just a silly little phase", but was too scared too ever do anything about it.

"Yes! You did it! I knew you could!" Lily praised as Gwen successfully shrunk her quill to the size of a toothpick. "I'm gonna go work on my essay for Potions. You can enlarge it." Lily gathered her books and moved to the couch where someone (cough, cough) was sitting quite close to Lily's destination, also working on the essay. She decided she could ask him for help, when-

"Lily! I don't know how!"

Lily squeezed her eyes shut, reminded herself that she had to be a good best friend, and turned right back around to help Gwen.

~*~*~*~*

"Oh, I passed, praise the Lord, I passed!" Gwen was dancing around the entrance hall, her hand clutching the sheet of parchment with her Charms score printed on it.

"Yes, but just barely," Lily reminded her.

"Oh, shut up, Miss I-got-the-highest-grade-in-our-year-ever," Gwen retorted.

Lily grinned at her. It was true; Professor Flitwick had pulled her aside after class and informed her that she had gotten the highest grade on their Charms exam, ever. That information had stunned her. No other second year Charms student had ever gotten a score that high. She had also made the highest grades in her Defense Against the Dark Arts class. But Transfiguration was an entirely different story.

"Yeah, well, at least my grades in Defense and in Charms make up for my abysmal one in Transfiguration."

Gwen smirked at her.

"Ha! Lily Evans is not perfect!" she proclaimed quite loudly. Someone far off yelled, "Yeah, right!" And there were some noises of agreement. Lily blushed to the roots of her red hair.

Just then, someone walked out of the entrance to the dungeon that was not welcome in Lily and Gwen's company at all: Lucius Malfoy.

Before Malfoy even opened his mouth, Gwen snapped, "Bugger off, Malfoy."

"I didn't want to talk to you, Watson," he sneered. "I wanted to talk to Lily."

Lily rolled her eyes and flipped her curly hair off her shoulder. She glared at the handsome fourth year. "Like I want to talk to you, Malfoy."

"Lily," he said, "flower of my life, why must you hate me so?"

Gwen exhaled loudly and said, "Well, duh! Maybe if you were nicer to her friends, she wouldn't! But wait, 'nice' isn't even a word in a Slytherin's vocabulary, is it? Do you want me to define it for you?" she said, batting her large, blue eyes innocently.

"Shove off, Watson!" he snarled. He turned back to Lily and put his hand on her waist and smiled indulgently.

"See!" Lily shrieked, worming out of his grasp. "Come on, Gwen, let's go." She pulled her friend away from Malfoy, who was looking particularly murderous.

"God, I swear," Gwen began as they entered the common room, "if stinking Malfoy hits on you again, I'll...I'll...do something really horrible!"

Four heads snapped up at Gwen last sentence, and James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter hurried over to the girls, all of them looking ready to kill.

"He did it again?" Sirius said in a low, threatening whisper.

"Yes! And he even had the nerve to ask her why she hates him so much!"

James had pulled out his wand and was muttering, "I'll kill him...I will, I'll kill him..." nonstop under his breath.

"It's okay, guys, really. I'm used to him," Lily assured them. They all gave her identical doubtful looks. She grinned at them. "Really. Don't worry about it."

James pocketed his wand, his gaze never leaving hers. She felt herself grow warm, and she quickly looked away.

"Mr. Lupin?" Madame Pomfrey was standing in front of the portrait hole, glaring at Remus. "I believe you should have been to see me," she checked her watch, "half an hour ago!"

Remus gulped and walked to her. "I - I'm sorry, Madame."

"Where're you going, Remus?" Lily asked curiously.

The boys exchanged uncomfortable glances. Even Madame Pomfrey looked nervous.

"I need to borrow Remus here for a bit," Madame Pomfrey said hastily. "He'll be back later." She gripped his shoulder and steered him out.

"I wish-" Peter was cut off abruptly by James elbowing him in the stomach. "I - I wish that I could have something to eat!" He covered up whatever he was going to say hastily and very unconvincingly.

Sirius gave a false laugh. "You and your stomach, Pete," he dragged Peter away from the girls and he, James, and Peter had a hushed conversation in the corner.

Lily glanced back at Gwen, who was wearing a look of bewilderment similar to her own.

"I have no idea." Gwen said immediately.

"Boys," Lily sighed as they plopped down on a nearby couch. James, Sirius, and Peter were giving them suspicious looks, as if the girl were trying to overhear their conversation.

Gwen glared at them, threw her hands up and yelled, "What? Honestly, boys. I'll never get them." She turned to Lily. "Sometimes I think we would be much better without them."

Lily looked at James and felt her heart flutter. "Some of them aren't so bad," she said, barely audibly. Gwen grinned at her, but wisely kept her mouth shut.

~*~*~*~*

Lily had been away from Hogwarts only for only two weeks, and she found herself longing for her school. She missed the many secret passages, moving staircases, and seeing all of her best friends at once. She had already gotten together with all of her friends; Gwen (multiple times), James and Remus (she had played Quidditch with them and Sirius many times - she found she quite liked being Chaser), Mary Katherine, and Hayley. She hadn't seen Peter yet, and although she certainly liked him, she didn't miss him quite as much as her other friends.

On this particularly day, she was so bored, she would have been thrilled to see even Peter. Sirius was out with James, and she was sunning by the pool her aunt had conjured for her. Alone. Which, of course, is no fun.

And it was not like she was getting any sun anyway. She didn't tan. She burned.

Lily reached up and gingerly touched her nose. "Oh bloody heck," she cursed. It was already peeling.

"Lily! Lily, come here!" Lily jumped off her lounge chair and walked into the house, rubbing her nose sulkily. "We're in the living room. Quickly!"

Violet's voice alarmed Lily, so she increased her pace and arrived in the living room slightly out of breath.

Dumbledore was standing next to the mantle, looking graver than Lily had ever seen. Lily's family was sitting on the large couch. Ella was on the end, Celeste was sitting between her and Violet; Violet herself looked terribly shaken. Orion was on the other side of Violet and was holding her hand. Sirius was next to his father and was looking, well, serious. She wondered what was so important to call him home from James's.

"What - what's happened?" Lily practically yelled.

"Lily, if you would take a seat, please?" Dumbledore gestured to the couch. Lily squeezed in between Ella and Celeste. Celeste moved into her stepmothers' lap and Orion put his arm comfortingly around Sirius and Lily.

"What I have come here to tell," Dumbledore began, "is a matter that I hoped I would never have to discuss with you. Unfortunately, I must." He sighed heavily and sat down. "I have a spy who is a member of Voldemort's inner circle. Voldemort is coming for you, Violet." There was a large intake of breath from the adults, and Lily froze, dumbstruck. "My spy's information is reliable, I myself tested him with Veritaserum to see if it was indeed true. Violet, as you know, the powers of an Adviser can be passed through family. So, we will be testing Lily now to see if she will become an Adviser."

"But - Albus, her thirteenth birthday is in two weeks! Couldn't we wait until then?" Violet's voice shook.

"There is no time. We must do it now. I have reason to believe she is indeed an early Adviser. She excelled in Charms - the highest exam grade for a second year ever in that class. She also came out on top in Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Violet nodded her comprehension.

"The ceremony we are about to execute is called the Revealing Ceremony. I have what we need to perform it right here. Before we begin, Violet, you must be willing to know if Lily is an Adviser. Are you?"

Violet nodded slowly. "Yes, yes I am."

"Good, then." He waved his wand and the furniture moved, clearing a large space in the middle of the floor. He removed strange looking rocks from a large, velvet purple bag and made a small circle.

"Lily, if you please, step into the middle of the circle." Lily got up and stepped into the circle. Dumbledore turned his gaze on Violet.

"Violet, have you ever performed a Revealing Ceremony?"

Violet shook her head, "But I know how they are done."

"Good. Please, step forward and let me take the necessary amount of blood."

"Blood?!" exclaimed Orion as he jumped up.

"Orion, I want to," Violet told her husband quietly.

He looked at her, doubt etched in his features, but he backed away and sat back down.

Dumbledore removed some of Violet's blood and put it in a vile. The blood glowed gold.

"Professor?" Lily asked questionably.

"It is the vial I have placed it in, Lily - it has been used in this ceremony since it was developed, many hundreds of years ago. Now, the next process is very, very difficult. Once her blood is made into her powers, I will invoke the power into you. If, when you emerge, you do have the Adviser's powers, you are destined to become one. If everything is normal, nothing will happen to you."

Lily nodded silently, quaking with fear.

Dumbledore then began to fill the rocks that were circling Lily with Violets blood. He then said, "Cruor Adlevo!" The blood vaporized and formed a pattern over Lily, enclosing her. Then it turned gold and emitted a light. Lily gasped.

Dumbledore pointed his wand at the vapor. "Invoco Consuasor Faculas!" he roared.

The gold vapor closed in on Lily and sunk into her skin. She felt as though a piece of her that had been missing was back, stood up,and fell right back down again. Orion rushed over and carried her easily to the couch.

Dumbledore's piercing blue gaze was fixed on her. "Lily, we are going to have a conversation. If you get a feeling, any at all, that what we are saying is untrue, alert us immediately." They began to have a conversation about Voldemort. Dumbledore said, "Yes, he has a snake in his possession called Nagging."

It was like a bell went off in Lily's head. "Professor!You're lying!"

Dumbledore looked at her, his face impassive. "Yes, I was not telling the truth."

"Lily, have you ever heard the name of Voldemort's snake?"

"No."

"Violet?" Dumbledore looked at her.

"She's telling the truth."

"Well, then, Lily, reach inside my mind and find the truth."

Lily looked at Violet, very nervous. She didn't have a clue as to what she was doing.

"Lily, just close your eyes and imagine entering Professor Dumbledore's head through his ear," she instructed.

Lily closed her eyes and imagined entering Dumbledore's head. To her amazement, she could do it without imagining anything. She crawled over memories and worries, not wanting to look at them, since she knew they were private. Finally, she reached a place that felt right and saw: Voldemort's pet snake was named Nagini.

"Nagini," Lily opened her eyes. "The snake's name is Nagini."

"You are correct, Lily." Dumbledore sighed. "This is not good." He looked seriously at Violet and Orion. "This conversation and testing will not leave this room. If it does, there is danger that Voldemort will come after Lily. Voldemort most likely will not, because normally, the Adviser's powers are passed from parent to child, not aunt to niece if they are passed at all. You must be on your guard at all times. Please. I am going to set up wards around your house as a precaution."

"Thank you, Dumbledore."

"It's the least I could do. Lily, the powers will wear off. That is, until the night before your birthday."

"Bye, Professor."

~*~*~*~*

"LIIILLYY!"

Lily woke one dreary morning, a week from her birthday to see her best friend's head in her fireplace. The shock had long since worn off.

"Hey - Gwen! I'm right here!"

"Sorry," she grinned apologetically. "Anyway, you're coming over now. My mum just went and talked to Violet. Get dressed!" she urged.

"She actually talked to Violet?" Lily marveled as she rifled through her closet to find a pair of jeans.

"Yeah. What's up with her?"

"I dunno. She's been locking herself up in the basement doing something ever since Dumbledore came and visited us."

"Why won't you tell me about what he talked to you about?"

"Because he said we couldn't."

"Argh, you're such a goodie-goodie. Hurry up!"

Lily threw on a shirt. "I'm gonna go and say goodbye," she called to her friend.

"Lily! Come on! It's not like you'll never see them again!" Gwen whined.

"No, I'm going to say goodbye," Lily said firmly.

"Alright, just hurry up!"

Lily bounded down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Orion was leaning on the counter reading the Daily Prophet.

"Bye, Uncle Orion!"

"Bye Lily. Going over to Gwen's are you?"

"Yes," Lily said as she hugged him tightly, inhaling the scent of his familiar cologne.

Her lily necklace came out somehow, and Orion spotted it and smiled.

"Still have that, do you?"

"I never take it off," she replied, looking into his dark eyes.

"Oh, Lily," Orion hugged her again. When he pulled back, there were tears shining in his eyes. He knelt down so they were seeing eye-to-eye. "Lily, you're a wonderful girl, and as much as a daughter to me as Celeste is. I love you."

"Oh - I love you too!" They hugged again. Then, a sound that made Lily's heart stop rang through the house.

A high, merciless laugh followed by the sound of the door being blown off of its hinges.

Sirius and Celeste came running into the kitchen as Violet came up the stairs, looking as though she had not gotten any sleep at all for a long time.

"Violet, take Celeste, Sirius, and Lily and go to the safe chamber!" Orion shouted, pulling his wand out.

"But-"

"GO!"

"Oh, Orion, I love you!"

"I love you too! GO!"

Crying, Violet picked up Celeste and ran, with Sirius and Lily at her heels. Celeste was screaming she was crying so hard. Violet tore down the stairs to her workshop in the basement. She threw the children in the safe chamber that they had built so Voldemort could not enter at all. She locked it and the wards immediately came on.

Violet grabbed a vial of potion off of her desk and drank it in one gulp. She then turned back to the children.

But before she could open her mouth, the two words that they all dreaded most were uttered upstairs: "Avada Kedavra!" and a hard thump - Orion's now dead body hitting the floor.

Sirius let out an anguished cry and fell to the floor.

Violet, tears falling freely from her eyes, clutched the bars of the safe chamber and cried: "I love you all so much! I'm going now! I love you, remember that! I always will!"

She tore up the stairs and out of their sight.

"MUMMY! Mummy, where are you going? MUMMY!" Celeste bawled.

Violet must have left the door open, because Lily was able to hear every word of the exchange between Violet and Voldemort.

"Ah, yes. The Adviser," came the coldest and most evil voice Lily had ever heard in her life: Voldemort's.

"Yes, I am the Adviser."

"Well, then. We are a brave one. Just like your husband, the foolish man. A Gryffindor, I suppose?" He laughed cruelly. "No use dancing around the subject. Join me, and I will spare your life."

"No!"

"Join me, girl! I can give you riches beyond your wildest dreams."

"NEVER!" Violet yelled.

"Fine, have it your way." There was the sound of Voldemort pulling something out of a sheath and the thud of metal hitting the floor. "Not so brave now, are we?"

Lily knew what it was. The Staff of Metrusia.

"I will use this, you know. I encountered it on my journey to the Himalayan Mountains. Quite surprised, I was,when I stumbled on it."

Violet snorted, and Voldemort lost his temper.

"JOIN ME, OR I WILL MAKE YOU!"

"I'VE SAID IT ONCE, AND I'LL SAY IT AGAIN: NEVER!"

"Facere Consuasor Obedire Potestas!" Voldemort repeated that three times, and said, "Adviser! Join me!"

And then, the most extraordinary thing happened: Violet said no.

"What?! The - the Staff of Metrusia! It - it doesn't work!" He continued with his spluttering for a moment, and then stopped suddenly. "Join me or I will kill you," he hissed. "This is your last chance."

Lily sank to her knees and shook.

"No," Violet said simply.

"HAVE IT YOUR WAY, THEN! AVADA KEDAVRA!" he roared.

"No, no..." and that was the last thing Lily remembered until the world went black as she fainted dead away.

~*~*~*~*

Lily cracked open an eye. She was in her old bed at the Wellington House! She was happily surprised for a moment, until it hit her:

Violet was dead.

"Aunt Violet!" she yelled, but she knew it was futile. Instead Ella, her now legal guardian, came in.

"Elizabez! Kazarine! Cookie! She iz awake! Oh Mademoiselle!" Ella hugged Lily with all the strength she could muster.

"Ella! I - I dreamt it all, didn't I? Violet?" she said desperately.

Ella started to cry, and she managed only a shake of her head. Lily felt as though her stomach had dropped out.

Suddenly, Elizabeth Watson and Katharine Potter came in. Both looked horrible, as though they hadn't gotten any sleep in days and had spent the time crying.

"Oh Lily!" They both hugged her and fussed over her, until Lily stopped them.

"What happened?!"

They exchanged uncomfortable glances. Katharine sat down on her bed and held Lily's hand, while Elizabeth sat down on her other side.

"Well, dear, I think Gwendolyn should be the one to tell you. After all, if it hadn't been for her, you wouldn't - wouldn't be here. Gwendolyn!"

Gwen came thumping up the stairs, followed by James and Remus. "Oh, Lils! You're awake!" Gwen flung herself at Lily, followed by Remus and to Lily's delight, James.

"Gwendolyn, will you tell her what happened?"

Gwen swallowed and nodded at her mother, suddenly sober. She sat down on the edge of Lily's bed and took a deep breath before speaking.

"Well, after you disappeared, I hung out in the fire for a while, until I - I heard, I heard Celeste crying. And I figured she had just hurt herself or something, until I heard Orion say," she looked nervously at her mother and swallowed. "Until I heard him say, 'Lily, take Sirius, Celeste, and Lily and go!' And so I cast a Hearing Charm, Lily, and it worked too," Lily smiled a little there, "I heard everything. After - after Orion," she closed her eyes, "after he died, I jumped out of the fire and ran to find Dad. He got a team of M.L.E.S., Aurors, and Hit Wizards together real soon, and they Apparated over to your house immediately. They had a time getting through the wards that Dumbledore put up, until they discovered a rip in it, leading straight up to the front door. They saw that the door had been blown off its hinges, and they walked into the kitchen, where they arrived in time to see the Dark Lord going down into the basement with his Death Eaters. Before they could catch him, they all Disapparated."

"But - but there are anti-Apparation wards inside my house! And why was he going into the basement?"

"Because Lily, he knows you have the powers," Elizabeth said quietly. "We don't know how, but he does. And we know that you have anti-Apparation wards. He got through them somehow. You've had us worried - been out for three days."

Lily's head was spinning. "No! No! Violet she, she cant be...she just can't...." Lily buried herself under her covers and began sobbing. Ella got everyone out and they left her alone.

~*~*~*~*

Lily woke up that night suddenly with an idea. She wouldn't let her friends be in danger just because of what she was. No, she would push them away, no matter what it took.

~*~*~*~*

"Mademoiselle Lily, Mademoiselle Gwendolyn and your uzzer friends are here to see yoo!"

Lily looked up from her book. "No, tell them I'm not here!"

Lily heard footsteps coming up the staircase. Then, quite suddenly, Gwen burst into the room with James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter on her heels.

"Lily, what in the world is wrong with you?!" she demanded, her hand on her hips.

"Nothing's wrong with me," Lily said coldly.

"Yes, there is. You think I'm you're best friend for nothing?"

"You're not my best friend," Lily said quietly. Oh, God, she thought, this is it.

"What?" Gwen said, leaning closer.

"I said, you're not my best friend!"

"What? Then - then who is?" Gwen's tone was bewildered.

"NO ONE IS!"

"Lily, what is wrong with you?"

"Go away!"

"No! We won't go away! God, I can't believe how selfish you're being! You don't think that we don't miss Violet and Orion too?"

"I said, go away. I don't want to be your friend anymore." Lily's tone was icy. She was quite a good actress when she wanted to be.

"You - you don't? Why in the world not?"Gwen's tone this time was hurt.

"Yeah, why not?" James stepped forward, his eyes on fire.

"Because I hate you all! I don't ever want to see you again!"

"Lily, I save your life! And this is how you repay me?"

"Go away," Lily repeated. "I don't ever want to see you again."

"Lily, why are you doing this? We love you! We want to be your friends!" Gwen said, pleading.

"Well, it would be a pretty one-sided relationship, now wouldn't it?" Lily snarled.

"Fine! Be that way!" Gwen tore off her friendship bracelet and stomped on it. "I don't want to be your friend either!" Lily felt the bell go off in her head that she had been getting since her thirteenth birthday, signaling that Gwen was lying. Gwen ran out of the room, her tears blinding her vision.

"She's a good person, Lily. And she really didn't deserve that," Sirius's tone stung. "So, if your not her friend, you're not my friend, either." Remus and Peter made noises of agreement. This time, there was no bell. They actually meant it.

"Fine with me! I don't want to be your friends!" Sirius, Remus, and Peter ran out after Gwen, but James stayed put.

"Go away, Potter," Lily said icily.

"Lily, what-"

"James, I said GO AWAY! I never want to see you again! I hate you!" She buried her face in her hands.

"Fine!" he yelled, and went to follow his friends.

Lily began to cry hard, but she convinced herself that this was for the best.

"Lilee! What waz zat about?" Ella had entered the room.

"Nothing, Ella."

"Alright," she said suspiciously. "Anyway, zere iz a letter for yoo from Dumblee-dore downstairs. And eef yoo want to go to Diagon Alley today, we 'ave to go now."

"Okay, let's go."

Lily knew that her friends wouldn't be going to Diagon Alley today; they had already gone together, and Lily had declined the invitation to go with them. She wondered why there was a letter from Dumbledore for her.

"'Ere it iz, Mademoiselle. I will go and wait in ze living room for yoo." Ella handed Lily an envelope addressed to her in loopy handwriting.

She curiously opened it and read:

Dear Miss Evans,

I hope that your powers are cooperating well. I have an offer to make you, for your safety and the safety of others. I have a dormitory that you may stay in; but it is separate from the other Gryffindor dorms. Your friends will not be able to enter as it admits those only with the blood of an Adviser. I will understand if you do not accept; it may get lonely for you. But I daresay that you will be able to socialize with your friends in the common room. Please carefully ponder this offer; it is very safe and would be a good option.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

"Oh, brilliant," Lily breathed. That would be perfect. Now she could avoid her old friends at all costs. She immediately wrote a reply of agreement and sent it with Iris.