Lily Evans and the Lefay Torc

Lily Evans and the Lefay Torc
by ErtheChilde

"There are very few people who could claim ownership over this particular item. I am sure once you have a moment to examine it, you will realize why you are one of them and why it is of the utmost importance that you accept that."

- CHAPTER EIGHT - The Sidhe's Warning

Lily dreamed of forests and haunting voices that night, and when she was woken the next morning by the flourish of activity going on around her, she had the distinct feeling that she hadn't slept as much as she thought. She felt bruised, and her muscles and joints ached, as though she had gone on a long walkabout.

She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and for a moment forgot where she was. And then she remembered - she was waking up at Hogwarts for her first ever day of learning magic. A wide grin took over her features as she threw back the heavy curtains of her bed and glanced around her surroundings, able appreciate them more now that she was awake.

The trek to Gryffindor tower the night before had gone by in a blur, her thoughts preoccupied with puzzling over ever-fading thoughts on her Sorting and the mounting lethargy that had crept up on her like a thief in the night. She had barely had the energy to open her trunk, which had been brought up at some point during the feast, and grab her nightclothes before falling into one of the scarlet-bedecked four-poster beds and falling asleep.

Sunlight filtered in through the elaborate windows, alighting on the other four beds in the dorm, arranged in a circle along the pattern of the tower. She knew that there were three other dorms for first year girls, but she had been lucky enough to fall in with a group of girls that she had come to somewhat of an acquaintance with before going unconscious for the night.

There was Persephone, of course, in the bed directly to Lily's right, whose curtains were still drawn tightly, as though she was trying to avoid the first day as much as possible. The other three girls were awake though. An oval-faced girl with brown eyes and fawn coloured hair, who Lily recalled was named Mary Macdonald, was making her bed, and Alice Fortescue - a round-faced, amber-eyed girl with short black hair - was coming back from the loo, already dressed in her uniform, and carrying her nightclothes over one arm. The final girl in their room, Dorcas Meadowes, was brushing her long dark hair. Her inky blue eyes settled on Lily through the mirror by her bed.

"You'll want to get a move on," she told her. "I heard McGonagall's not one to give any leeway for new students. Gideon Prewett told me last night that she deducts points if she doesn't see you at breakfast on time. I'd hate us to start the year out on a deficit, wouldn't you?"

"That would be bad," Lily agreed, and then yawned. She noticed that no movement had come from Persephone's bed, and tossed her pillow at the curtains. There was a muffled squeak from within. "Up you get, Ephie, don't want to miss the first day, hey?"

There was a groan and Persephone stuck her head out. If possible, she looked about ten times worse than Lily felt and Lily had a strong suspicion that she had simply lain awake all night worrying. At the moment, though, the girl was peering at her in bleary confusion. "Ephie?"

"It's too early and your name's too long," Lily told her bluntly as she swung around, her feet recoiling from the coolness of the floor. "Come on, I'm hungry."

Lily grabbed her uniform - which had been placed beside her at some point during the night, now with a red and gold tie laid neatly upon it - and headed to the bathroom to wash up for the day. Upon looking into one of the mirrors, she balked at the intense dark circles under her eyes and dove into the first shower that became available.

Fifteen minutes later, she looked at least somewhat more human, she decided, as she finished tying her tie and returned to her dorm to find her cloak. All the other girls had left, except for Persephone, who had gone to wash up. Lily decided to wait, and so they wandered down to the Great Hall together.

Breakfast at Hogwarts was the most unusual experience.

There was not quite as much food as there had been the night before, but it was still a good deal more than Lily was used to eating at breakfast. There were also a lot less people crowded into the hall - some stumbling in, still yawning, and others already grouped off with friends as they left for their day's lessons - and they weren't as rigidly bound by the previous night's seating arrangements.

After scanning the hall to see if Severus was down yet and not seeing him, Lily led Persephone over to the emptier end of the Gryffindor table. Helping herself to some eggs, she glanced across the table at Remus Lupin, who was eying the porridge warily, looking even paler than he had the day before.

"Are you alright?" she asked him.

"Just a little off-colour," he said with a weak smile. "I made the mistake of trying the mint humbugs last night."

"Told you they were probably meant for decoration," a disgustingly cheerful Sirius Black said, plopping down beside Remus and pulling the whole bowl of porridge over to himself.

"Or as Dumbledore's idea of a joke," James Potter added, sitting down on Lupin's other side.

Lily pursed her lips at their presence, heatedly debating with herself to move, but noticed out of the corner of her eye that Persephone had actually started nibbling on some toast, and as it was the first bit of food she'd seen the poor girl consume since the Cauldron Cakes and Pumpkin Pasties the afternoon before, she forced herself to sit still and reach for a scone.

Peter Pettigrew waddled over and hesitantly sat next to the three boys, none of whom seemed to have noticed him at all. Lily offered him a wan smile, which he returned.

"First year Gryffindors!" Lily looked up to see Professor McGonagall striding forward with an armful of parchment. "Timetables! All of you must come get your timetables straight away - in an orderly fashion, Longbottom, without tripping over your robes if you please -"

When Lily was handed hers, she studied it carefully and then smiled.

"First class is Potions," she told Persephone, who was also looking at her schedule. "I'm so glad - I thought we'd be starting with something I'm terrible at - and look, we're with the Slytherins! We'll get to see Sev."

"Oooooooo, we'll get to see that greasy Snivellus again," Potter exclaimed in a falsetto that was supposed to be an imitation of her. "Pinch me, Sirius, I might faint! - Oi! I was joking, you prat!"

Black widened his eye innocently. "I honestly couldn't tell - you did such a convincing impression."

Peter was laughing nervously as well, but quieted quickly at the dark look from Lily.

"I'm looking forward to Herbology," Persephone murmured, for all intents and purposes unaware of the byplay going on around her. "Mother has almost every species of plant imaginable in her garden at home, and she sometimes lets me help her."

She went quiet again, and she looked so forlorn that Lily was able to put Potter and his cronies out of her mind for the moment.

Suddenly, hundreds of owls poured into the great hall in droves, filling their air with cheery hoots and the flutter of wings, circling the tables until they saw their owners. They dropped letters and packages, as well as newspapers, but there were some who simply flew in to greet their owners and fly off again.

"Mail's here," Potter shouted happily as a handsome, snowy white owl dropped a package into his lap.

Peter let out a muffled 'oomph', as a package was clumsily dropped on his head by one of the Hogwarts owls. He grimaced and rubbed his dull hair, and when he noticed Lily watching him, he went slightly pink.

"Mum sent me more socks," he mumbled, as if it were an everyday thing, that an owl would drop socks on one's head. "She worries about me too much."

"Aw, is ickle Petie gonna cry for his mummy?" Potter teased, opening the wrapper on what looked like a package of homemade pastries. "Want a tissue, mate?"

Black snorted into his porridge, and Peter went even pinker.

"Shut it, you," Lily told him.

"Or what?" Potter leered. "Going to storm off in a huff again? Because that really showed us yesterday."

"Why do you have to be such a git?" she shot back.

Potter adopted a rather screwed up expression, his hands on his hips and adopted the same high falsetto again, "Why d'you have to be such a git?"

Her scathing insult was cut off by a loud gasp, and the five of them looked over at Persephone, who was shaking as a large, silver-grey owl pompously dropped a letter in front of her and flew off. She didn't reach for it for several seconds, and Lily had the chance to see the golden coloured wax seal with a coat of arms upon it.

"I take it that's from your family, then?" she asked lightly.

"He told them," the blond girl whispered dully.

"How did he manage to do that so fast?" Lily asked. "The Ceremony was only last night; it's not like there are telephones or telegraphs here."

"He probably did it by Floo," Remus said thoughtfully. "My father says the Ministry has the Floo network connected to Hogwarts for emergency contact situations. I suppose he thought it was an emergency."

As Persephone cautiously picked up the letter, Lily glanced over her shoulder at the Slytherin table, where Lucius Malfoy was watching his sister with a look of undisguised, malicious glee.

"What've they got to say?" Black asked, looking vaguely sympathetic. Lily supposed it was because he knew what the letter contained. A large red owl had brought him a letter too, but as he hadn't bothered opening it, it simply lay on the table getting covered in breakfast food.

With trembling fingers Persephone opened the envelope, and then, if possible, went paler. After scanning the letter, she clenched it in her hand and managed a watery smile in Lily's direction. "I'll...I'll see you in class. I've just got to...go to the loo."

"Are you sure you're alright?" Lily asked, half-standing in case she needed to follow Persephone.

Potter interjected, "It can't be that bad, it's not like they sent you a Howler."

There was a brief moment when Persephone glanced up, fixed Potter with a rather sharp look and told him loftily, "Perhaps new money families use Howlers, but Malfoys do not. They are above such common gestures."

And with that she stalked off.

Potter opened his mouth to snap something, but then closed it again in a hurry, glowering after the girl. Black sniggered. "She does have a point, you know..."

"When I want your opinion, I'll ask for it."

Lily was on her feet, ready to pursue Persephone, but found her path blocked by Severus. He had appeared so swiftly and silently that Lily jumped.

"Sev!" she cried. While she was happy to see him, she felt she needed to go after Persephone, and followed the other girl's departure from the hall with her eyes

"Good morning," Severus said quietly. He already had his books and things. He noticed where her attention was and then added, "What's wrong with her?"

"Ephie reckons her brother sent their parents news about her getting sorted into Gryffindor," Lily explained. "And judging by her having run off, their reactions weren't the most understanding. I was going to go after her - make sure she's alright -"

"She probably wants to be alone," he told her evenly.

"And how would you know?"

He considered, and then replied, "How would you feel? You hate it when I - er, when people come around after you've had a row with your sister - I would imagine she feels worse, them being her parents and all." He paused and then added, "Actually, it probably is worse because the whole school knows about it."

"That's horrible," was all Lily managed to say, slumping a little as she recognized the truth of his words.

Severus shrugged. "She'll get over it. It's not like they're going to disown her or curse her - the Ministry frowns on that sort of thing, I hear." He hefted his shabby bag. "Are you done breakfast? Class starts soon - we'll sit together, right?"

"Of course," Lily said keenly. "But give me a few seconds - I hadn't actually finished eating yet. Why don't you sit down and wait for me?"

Severus eyed the Gryffindor table as though it was somehow diseased, but at her inviting look, he nodded awkwardly and lowered himself over on the bench next to her.

Lily grinned and started to finish off her breakfast. "Have you eaten already, then?"

"Yes."

"How's your house? Congratulations, by the way, I know how much you wanted to get in."

"It great," Severus said, and sounded like he meant it. In a more subdued tone, he added, "It's too bad you got sent here." He grinned ruefully. "I suppose it's your temper which decided it. You're far too hasty, for all your brains."

Remembering her odd Sorting experience, she said heartily, "You have no idea."

She opened her mouth to tell him what had happened, but then in her mind heard the words of the four founders, whispering 'Geasa' over and over. Her mind suddenly stalled, all thought disappearing, and it wasn't until several seconds later, to curious prompts from Severus, that she shook herself out of her stupor.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah...sort of...I was going to say something, but I completely forgot."

"Better be sharper than that if you're going to make it through the first day," Severus smirked. "Double Potions today, right? Professor Slughorn's our Head of House - and from what I noticed yesterday, he's one to take first impressions seriously."

"I guess I should -"

"Hey, who said that greasy haired gimlets were suddenly allowed to sit at our table?" Potter demanded loudly, apparently just realizing who Lily was speaking to. He glared at Severus. "Just because your fellow slime balls have no time for you, doesn't mean you can just sit with us respectable folk, Snivellus."

Peter once again laughed louder than needed, but this mostly went unnoticed by the other boys.

"Even if Evans there seems to have suffered some kind of head injury, we haven't," Black continued. Lupin looked between them all, opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something, and then closed it again in resignation.

Severus curled his lip. "You could have fooled me."

Lily saw Potter reach for his wand, and even though she was sure he probably couldn't do more than send sparks at Severus, she didn't want to get in trouble the first day. She stood up quickly and nudged Severus out of the way.

"Come on, I've lost my appetite," she told him angrily, gathering her things. "I think maybe we should go find Persephone after all and get to class, yeah?"

She had to practically drag Severus away with her, his attention utterly focused on the Gryffindor boys in a calculating way, which she knew meant he was trying to decide on which would be the best hex or jinx to use on them. By the time they got out of the Great Hall, he told her stonily, "Get out of the way next time, I'm using a Stinging Jinx."

"You are not!"

"If that useless pile of dung thinks he's going to insult me for the next seven years, he's got another thing coming to him."

"And if you think I'm going to let you get in trouble for lowering yourself to his level, you've got another thing coming."

Severus opened his mouth, looking mutinous, and then closed it. To anyone else it might have seemed an acceptance, but she knew Severus too well to take it as such. He would probably wait until she was not around and hope the Gryffindor boys provoked a fight.

Reading his mind by his expression, she added, "I'll just have to make sure I'm always around you then."

"I've no idea what you're talking about."

"Bollocks."

He smirked. "Language, Evans. What would your mother think?"

"She'd think I was my father's daughter - now shut it and let's go find Persephone."

They managed to do just that rather quickly.

Persephone was exiting the girls' loo on that floor when Lily went to investigate. The girl had a resolute look on her face, which was probably a family trait, but the square of her shoulders and inclination of her pointed chin did nothing to mask the hurt the glinted in her eyes. She didn't talk about the letter, and Lily knew better than to ask about it, and so the three of them descended toward the dungeons, following Severus, who seemed to know exactly where he was going.

"Our common room's down here," he explained when Lily asked him about it.

The dungeons where they were to have their Potions lesson were colder than other parts of the castle, and Lily was struck by the rather sinister furnishings of glass jars and vials with various herbs and creatures - whole and in pieces - that lined every available surface save for the desks. Curious smells, both wonderful and pungent, filled the air.

She, Severus and Persephone chose seats in the front of the class and set about taking out their books and parchment. Slowly the classroom began to fill up, and Lily noticed that, except for their table, the other students seemed to be divided right down the middle between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Potter and Black arrived, whispering loudly and pointing at them, and took seats in the back, where they waved over Lupin, and a beat later, a bemused looking Peter Pettigrew.

Peter, Lily noticed, looked as though he had no idea how he had gotten there but looked extremely pleased with himself all the same.

With a huff, she looked studiously down at her Potions book. It was not her business if Peter wanted to throw himself in with that lot just to be included. She would gladly have befriended him, given time, but if he wanted to hang around with spoiled, selfish brats like Potter and Black, she washed her hands of him.

Within minutes, the class had filled up. One of the last girls to arrive was Marine Blundell, who after a rather uncomfortable pause at one of the back rows where four Slytherin girls were sitting, waltzed over to where Lily, Severus and Persephone sat and plopped down beside her. "Good morning, mes amis. I may sit wiz you, non? Ze uzzer girls in my 'ouse seem to 'ave taken a dislike to me for some reason -"

"...Maybe because they met you," Severus muttered crossly under his breath, and Lily jabbed him in the ribs.

" - but zey are all so terribly dull any'ow I would not sit wiz zem even if zey begged," the blond girl continued, either not hearing Severus or ignoring him. She tossed her long blond pigtails. "Besides, we 'ad such a nice time on ze train yesterday - eet is nice to 'ave familiar faces in ze classroom, non?"

"Of course you can sit here," Lily said, somewhat relieved that the girl wasn't one of the students gawking in disbelief of a Slytherin and two Gryffindors sitting together. Severus made a long-suffering face at her, which she ignored.

The dungeon door opened and an enormously fat, balding older man waddled into the room. He was short, with prominent, gooseberry-coloured eyes set in a vast forehead, and an enormous silver moustache that reminded Lily so much of a walrus that she had to force down a nervous giggle. The little hair that remained on his head was straw coloured, and he was dressed in a tailored waistcoat whose golden buttons seemed in danger of shooting off.

"Good morning class," he said cheerily, taking his place at the head of the room. He clapped his hands, and then rubbed them together in anticipation. "Quiet please - now." The whispers ebbed away to a silence which made the dungeons all the more eerie. "I am Professor Slughorn and as I'm sure you've guessed by now, I will be teaching Potions. I know this is your first class and you're all exceedingly anxious to get down to actually doing something constructive, but I'll be taking register first, so if you'll simmer down."

He read the names from a class list that he made appear out of thin air, stopping every now and then to add a comment. "Avery...Black - thought you were bound for Slytherin, boy! I've taught all your family - I remember your father was particularly adept with poisons - Mademoiselle Blundell, how is your aunt Zéphyrine? I've never quite forgotten her homemade bouillabaisse -" he continued down the list, barely listening to the answers from the students he called, and frequently interrupting them when his eyes lit up over a name he recognized, "- Miss Malfoy, another one I expected to be in my house. I hope you're better at Potions than your father was, he could never brew an antidote to save his life. Miss McKinnon, do you ever hear from your cousin, Janus? Excellent Keeper, he was in his day. One of my better students -"

He finished the register and considered the class. And then he began to speak in an impressive, commanding tone.

"Potion-making is a subtle art - a rather exact science - that requires much more concentration and dedication than any other class we teach at Hogwarts," he explained. "Now, now, don't believe that just because there is little wand use in my class that you are in for a boring time of it -" he eyed Potter, who was yawning rather openly, "- I have planned a rather practical year for you. It is my belief that students learn better by doing - and even if Potion-making is not your talent, we'll find a way for you to scrape along somehow. I've never turned out a complete waste of a student yet -" he faltered a little, noticing that Pettigrew had dropped his wand and was now hunting for it on the floor, "- although some are obviously more...adept when it comes to this subject. I look forward to discovering which of you has the gift of a born potioneer."

He beamed at them impressively. A few students, mostly Slytherins, smiled back. Lily recalled what Severus had said about him being the Head of Slytherin House.

"To work, then!" he cried. "Now, ordinarily we would start on a Boil-Cure Potion as the first brew of the year, however as we only have a single period today, we'll start with something a little more basic - and which requires less time to make."

He proceeded to explain the properties of several common herbs and ingredients, all of the ones that were located in the student's potion cupboard, and then set them into pairs with the task of mixing up a Sneezing Solution, as he was sure that the cold season would soon be approaching and he - along with many others in the castle, of course! - would benefit from having extra stores.

Lily and Severus grinned at each other - they already had some experience making this particular potion. Along with the Pepperup Potion, it had been a must after they both nearly drowned earlier that year. By now, Lily was sure they could probably make it in their sleep. Lily started to work chopping the Sabadilla small enough to crush, and Severus weighed out the required amount of stinging nettle. As Slughorn swept around the classroom, occasionally knocking into the tables with his girth, sometimes he offered criticisms and encouragements to the students. Beside them, Marine and Persephone seemed to be doing alright - Marine appeared a competent potion-maker, and under her lead Persephone fared well too.

Lily and Severus sniggered when they heard Slughorn's loud criticism of Potter and Black's work - "It seems you haven't inherited any of your parents' talent in this subject, after all, Black - I'd start that over before it explodes." - while they continued to add the butterbur and skullcap to their potion.

"Well, there it is, just as good as ever," Lily said cheerfully as they finished it up. She paused before removing it from the cauldron. "Do you think we should add a sprig of peppermint like we do at home? I know it's not in the book's recipe, but I find it makes the potion burn less on the way down."

"It won't change the overall composition of potion," Severus agreed thoughtfully, and Lily went ahead and added the sprig to the still simmering potion. "I was also thinking we might add a dash of jewelweed root? I always noticed when we took it back home that the sneezing would stop, but then we'd still go around with our noses all puffed up and swollen."

Lily thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. "That...could actually work. And the jewelweed would cancel out the bitterness of the skullcap, and add to its effect at the same time. It won't make us lose marks, will it?"

"Even if it does, I doubt it would be by much," Severus considered. "Besides, we already know how to make the potion properly. We're just making it better."

His logic sealed the decision, and they added the final touches. Beside them, Marine and Persephone were only just finishing with their own, textbook version of the potion, and although it gave off a sharper scent then Lily knew it should have, she was sure they had done a rather good job for a first attempt.

Professor Slughorn seemed to be of like mind. "Good effort, Miss Blundell and Miss Malfoy - a little less butterbur next time, hm?" He moved on Lily and Severus' potion, and after staring at it thoughtfully, a look of dubious amusement appeared on his face. He laughed unexpectedly. "This is excellent work! And do I detect a whiff of peppermint?" He chuckled, looking at the two of them as though seeing them for the first time. "Whose idea was that?"

Lily hesitated, and only answered at Severus' encouraging nod. "Mine, sir. And then Severus just had the idea to add jewelweed root -"

"To counteract the swelling of the sinuses," Slughorn mused, looking down at Snape calculatingly. "Unorthodox...but a rather good idea - do you mind -" he brought out a thin vial from his robes, "- if I take a sample of this? Purely to study the underlying interactions of the ingredients, of course? I'm obviously familiar with the additions, but I'd like to, er, test the amounts you used."

Lily flushed, and Severus nodded.

"Excellent," Slughorn repeated again, beaming at them as he filled the vial. "Five points each! Your parents must be fine potioneers themselves - and even if they're not, they're sure to be proud of your obvious talents. Be sure to relay that to them."

Severus murmured an embarrassed 'thank you', and Lily, before she could stop herself, replied, "My parents are Muggles, sir, they wouldn't quite understand, but thank you."

She knew immediately that she had said something shocking.

All of the Slytherins had gone very quiet, and even one or two Gryffindors looked tense. She heard Severus hiss something under his breath, and out of the corner of her eye noticed both Persephone and Marine's postures change, the former unconsciously moving closer to Lily, while the latter seemed to suddenly inch in the opposite direction.

Slughorn peered down at Lily in a mixture of disbelief and surprise. "You're Muggle-born? Really? Well!"

Lily had the sudden fear that this would cause him to suddenly treat her differently - he was, after all, the Head of Slytherin, surely he would be one of those who felt less than friendly toward Muggle-borns?

But instead, he let out a belting laugh.

"Merlin's beard! Well, that shows me to think I had seen it all! A true hand at Potions and a Muggle-born to boot!" He beamed. "I will be watching your career quite closely, Miss Evans, if what I suspect about you is true. And Mr. Snape - are you Muggle-born as well? Do I have two prodigies in this class?"

Severus looked stricken, but stiffly ground out, "Half-blood, sir. Mother was a Prince."

"Prince!" Slughorn's grin widened, looking rather absurd beneath the bushiness of his moustache. "Not Eileen Prince?"

"Yes, sir."

"Why, I taught her almost twenty years ago! Captain of the Gobstone team here, you know - never as good at Potions as her mother, though - Septima Prince, now she was a talented witch - and her mother was a Viridian, if I recall - Severina - I suppose you get your name from her, then? They were directly descended from Vindictus Viridian, one of the greatest potioneers in history," Slughorn chatted, clearly excited. "Well, I think you're another one to watch, Mr. Snape - it's in your blood to be great in this class, I'm sure. Full marks to the both of you!"

And he bustled off to the next table, leaving both of them very red in the face.

Lily pretended not to notice the whispers that broke out sporadically for the rest of the class, trying very hard to pay attention to Slughorn outlining how the potion should have looked to everyone. When a booming bell sounded to signify the end of class, she deliberately took her time with her books, giving the majority of the students the time to leave before her. Avery and his friend from the train leered at them on their way out.

"Sorry," she muttered to Severus. "I didn't mean for you to be put on the spot like that. I guess I should have stayed quiet."

But even as she said it, she felt a prick of resentment at the fact.

"It's fine," Severus said quietly, as Marine left them abruptly and joined the group of girls from Slytherin that she had tried to sit with at the beginning of the lesson. Lily gritted her teeth at the look the French girl threw back at her as the other girls whispered to each other, glancing first at her and then at Severus. "It had to come out sometime, I suppose. And it really is my own fault. I should have told you from the beginning what things were like, but I'd hoped..."

He trailed off, and despite her annoyance at his less than truthful telling of how Muggle-borns were treated, she felt a little bit bolstered.

"It wasn't as though you did in intentionally, right?" she encouraged, nudging his shoulder with hers. "You're forgiven."

Persephone noticed his pained look as they left the room, and considered him. "If you're worried about them mocking you about your blood status, I wouldn't." She said frankly.

Severus made a noise of disbelief.

"No, really," she protested. "I know how they think, remember?"

Her face morphed into a spitting image of her brother's sneering smile, the precise amount of disdain and mocking pulled into it, and then spoke in a voice that was so eerily reminiscent of him that Lily had to glance surreptitiously around to see if he wasn't. "'Pity about that Snape boy - of course, I knew just by looking at him, but one does hope these things are just one's imagination. It just goes to show even grandest of lineages fall at times.'"

Severus snorted, and Persephone stuck her chin out and took on a different, haughtier expression, and adopted a high, precise accent that mimicked Marine Blundell easily. "'But still...Viridian? I was positive zat ze line 'ad died out? Bah! Eet eez nuzzing a few generations of pureblood marriage will not cure.'"

Lily couldn't help the giggle that escaped, and even Severus had the barest twitch of a smile on his face, and encouraged, Persephone imitated the heavy, bobbing tread of their Potions professor, his huffing, smooth voice, "'You're another one, to watch, Mr. Snape - it's in your blood to be great in this class! I'd bet you're meant to become a Master in the art of potion-making, mark my words! And you'll probably be less likely to knock over your students work with your paunch, ho-ho!"

By the time they had reached the Entrance Hall, Lily was laughing delightedly and Severus was trying rather hard not to.

Persephone grinned and resumed her usual way of walking.

"You never told me you could act," Lily chuckled. "I bet if you'd imitated him to his face, Slughorn wouldn't know who was the teacher, him or you!"

Persephone blushed at the praise and muttered something unintelligible, before considering Severus again. "The point is, they'll think about your blood for about five minutes and the rest of the time they'll want to see what you're going to do. Viridian's like royalty to that lot - my brother has practically every edition of his book back home - I wouldn't be surprised if they start making you out to be some kind of half-blood prince up in Slytherin."

Severus' eyes seemed to light up at this.

"Which book?" Lily asked.

"Curses and Counter-Curses," Severus answered, and looked as though he wished he hadn't at Lily's expression of comprehension.

"That one you were looking at in Flourish and Blotts?" Lily enquired, and then frowned suspiciously. "You didn't actually buy it, did you?"

"Of course not," he said quickly - rather too quickly, Lily thought - and then added, "Would have been a waste of money."

"Why?"

"I'd warrant every Slytherin at Hogwarts has a copy," Persephone interjected. "And not just Slytherins, there are bound to be people in every house that have bought it, especially with how things are on the outside now. Everyone wants to know how to defend themselves."

"Or cause trouble," Lily muttered under her breath. "Honestly, it's like people are preparing for war or something." She missed the look Persephone and Severus exchanged as she glanced at her timetable. "We've got Herbology with the Hufflepuffs next - what about you?"

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Severus said brightly. "Grigglesmere's supposed to be an expert in the field, from what I've heard. See you at lunch then?"

"Sure," Lily said, and then remembered the scene at breakfast and not wanting to have another scene with Potter and Black. "Er...shall we sit with your house?"

Severus looked immediately sober. "No, I don't think that would be a good idea." He wouldn't meet her eye, and then said quickly, "You're going to see Dearborn in Herbology - you could, er, ask him if we can sit with him for lunch?"

"It would be good to see him again," Persephone interjected, trying to lighten the situation. "We haven't had a chance to talk to him since the Sorting."

"Alright," Lily acquiesced slowly. "Guess we'll see you then."

And with a momentary glance of dismay, Severus took off in the opposite direction.

(-)

Not all of Lily's classes were as fruitful as Potions class had been, and as she learned over the rest of the week, there was a lot more to magic than simply learning the theory. The classes, she discovered, were not at all what she had expected them to be. They were hard, yes, although it was merely a matter of keeping focused, but they were also fun. She had never had so much fun at school before. In a way they were all very similar to the usual courses to be found in an academic setting, but with a distinctly magical edge.

Herbology was taught by a squat little witch with short, wavy brown hair that she wore beneath a patched and battered hat, and seemed to be completely covered in dirt at all times - yet catch one of her wide smiles and you forgot it instantly. They learned all about the many strange herbs and fungi, as well as rare plants that helped wizardry and potions. It was almost like Muggle biology classes. Professor Sprout lectured on about various plants that were almost sentient, and then gave a demonstration of the dangers of Devil's Snare. Persephone earned another five points for Gryffindor for knowing how to discourage its constricting growth when one tendril wrapped around Caradoc Dearborn's head and refused to let go.

That midnight they had the first of their weekly Astronomy lessons, during which they had to study the skies and learn the names of different stars and moons, as wells as track the movements of far-off planets. Lily had never heard of having lessons so late at night, and was so excited at being allowed to stay up later than her parents had ever let her that she barely heard Professor Nejem's lecture about the moons of Jupiter, and consequently drew a blank when he asked her a question pertaining to their orbit. The resulting look of disdain was such that she decided to study the entire textbook over the weekend in preparation for the next lesson.

Charms proved to be another class in which Lily excelled. It was taught by a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk, and who made a rather big deal over Lily's definition of Hover Charms. She tried not to feel too smug at the annoyed look on Delonney Hedgekirk's face, or to laugh too noticeably when the latter ended up accidently launching her wand at Professor Flitwick while they practiced wand movements - resulting in her getting her wand confiscated at the end of the lesson.

However, it was in Transfiguration where Lily truly met her Waterloo. No matter how many times she had read the theory, and despite the careful answers she provided to all of Professor McGonagall's questions during class, it was Potter who was the first to turn a match into a needle by the end of class, and he was graced with what Lily might have called a smile if she hadn't already pegged Professor McGonagall as a woman completely without a sense of humour. He smirked at Lily, knowing she was watching jealously as he performed the spell in front of the class. In a fit a pique she waved her wand too vividly and accidentally set the match alight, singeing her Transfiguration text. Professor McGonagall assigned her extra homework, but was still rather encouraging about the whole affair - unlike Potter, who laughed himself silly as he left the class.

But not even Potter could pay attention in History of Magic, and Lily soon discovered that it was easily the most boring class taught at Hogwarts. While unique because it was taught by a ghost, the inherent interest of the subject was shredded by the droning monotone of Professor Binns, who tended to forget that there were even students in the classroom as he covered the history of wizards and other beings. Only Persephone seemed to be able to focus on it, her face screwed up in concentration as she wrote her notes. After the first class, Lily leaned over and asked, "How do you do it?"

"Do what?" the girl asked, looking confused.

"Follow everything he's saying," Lily clarified. "I swear everyone else just falls asleep. I mean, I couldn't even pay attention to that bit about the separation of wizard kind and Muggles - do you think I could borrow your notes?"

Persephone turned slightly pink. "Er, if you can read them..." She held up her parchment, and Lily found that it was written in a completely different language. "I like to practice my Latin in History of Magic. Professor Binns' speech is slow enough that I can translate as I write." She looked sheepish. "I really have absolutely no idea what's going on in class."

But Lily was impressed, "You speak Latin?"

"Of course," Persephone shrugged. "Most magical incantations are in Latin, and so my parents thought it might make learning magic easier if I had the proper language base at a young age. Lucius knows Ancient Greek and Aramaic as well."

Somehow, this fact didn't surprise Lily.

The rest of the week passed in a blur of getting used to the constant oddity that was Hogwarts. It was almost as if the castle was sentient, the way objects that should have been stationary were always moving about and seemed filled with their own life-force. Lily wondered how much of this was because they had been enchanted, and how much was simply a result of there being so much magic in the air that it seeped into the mundane. The walls themselves were given to playing tricks on people, imitating doors and windows - and laughing loudly when an unknowing student tried to go through them or get a look outside of them - and doors were known to bang shut on people when they least expected it.

More of a shock was the event of a ghost deciding to glide through a door when you were trying to open it, as Lily found out one morning when a grim ghost covered in silver bloodstains erupted through the very door she was trying to pull open. She had screamed so comically that Persephone, who had been beside her, dissolved into fits of laughter and refused to let her forget about it all day. Unfortunately, their merrymaking attracted the attention of the school caretaker, a surly middle-aged man by name of Argus Filch, who threatened them with cleaning the hundreds of tapestries in the school for disturbing the peace of the corridors.

Because every class took place in a different area of the school, it was a daily trek to navigate some of the hundred and forty-two staircases. - dodging vanishing steps and waiting patiently for shifting staircases to revert to their original path - and to orient oneself when the people in the pictures frequently ran off to visit one another. Even the suits of armour decided to get up for a stroll. Worse than the constantly shifting scenery was Peeves, the Hogwarts poltergeist, a spectral little man with wicked eyes and a wide mouth who seemed to delight in any bit of mayhem which he could inspire - from tying people's shoes together in class, to dropping water balloons on you in your sleep..

Lily divided meal times between the Gryffindor table, where she and Persephone struck up more conversations with their dorm mates, and the tables of her other friends. By some unspoken agreement she never again suggested sitting at the Slytherin table, and so she and Persephone would take their meals at either the Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff tables, where it was more likely Severus might crop up. He didn't always sit with them, as Persephone's supposition about his reputation had been right. Lily was glad that Severus was making friends of his own, as back home in Mill Town she was sure that he had never had any friend other than her, but at the same time, she wished his housemates were a little more pleasant to be around.

It had one day happened that Lily and Persephone, having gotten lost when an entire corridor decided to simply vanish of its own accord, found themselves face to face with Lucius Malfoy and two of his friends coming around the opposite corner.

"Well, what have we here?" he drawled, his voice dripping with disdain. "Going for a little stroll, are we?"

Persephone tensed beside her, carefully looking anywhere but at her brother, while Lily tried to keep calm and polite. "We're trying to get to class, but the corridor vanished -

"A likely story," Malfoy interrupted silkily. "You and the Half-breed are probably skiving off, right Rosier? Lestrange?"

The other boys sniggered in agreement, and Lily felt her cheeks warm at the obvious insult.

"As prefect, it's my responsibility to discourage such behaviour," he continued with a cruel smile. "So I think ten points from Gryffindor is in order."

Lily opened her mouth to protest, but Persephone nudged her, white-lipped, and shook her head incrementally.

Malfoy noticed, and looked down his nose at his sister. "If the rumours I've been hearing are true, I suggest you wash your hands thoroughly, Persephone. Filth like that tends to take a while to come off."

Before Persephone could stop her, Lily hissed, "You're a prefect, you're not supposed to abuse your position! And keep your disgusting, narrow-minded drivel to yourself!"

"Twenty-five points," Lucius snapped, nostrils flaring. "Contradict me again and I'll make it double, Mudblood. And perhaps a detention as well."

Every fibre of her being wanted to call him out or go tell a professor, but Persephone was digging her nails into her arm and trying to drag her away. The still rational part of her mind told her it was for the best to follow her friend, regardless of what she really wanted to do.

They hurried off, the unpleasant laughter of Malfoy and his cronies echoing behind them.

"Don't show him that it bothers you," Persephone told her, her voice shaking with barely suppressed anger. "That was always my mistake. If he sees that he can get you angry or hurt you, he'll make it worse."

Still, even with Malfoy's occasionally bouts of bullying, Hogwarts was everything and more than what Lily had expected.

Except...

The wonders of the school all but disappeared by dark, when Lily's dreams were filled with nightmares of a burning crossroads and someone screaming the frantic, desperate screams of being tortured. Sometimes, she dreamed that she was running from the screams, her fingers clasped in the fur of a large animal, and other times she felt as though she was right next to the victim, cowering lest the one inflicting the torment would find her at any second. More common was the vision of a small feline wandering through trees and undergrowth, its black eyes fixed determinedly on her. They were always the last things she saw before waking up, the shrieks still ringing in her ears.

On the Saturday after the first nightmare began, Lily wandered down to the Hospital Wing to ask Madam Cuthbert, the matron, if she might have anything for nightmares, but shied away from actually going inside when Remus Lupin, looking particularly drawn and sickly, wandered by and asked her rather nervously what she was doing there.

"I had to run an errand for Slughorn," she lied, all the while unsure of why she was hesitant to say anything about her dreams, and went back to the Gryffindor common room with Lupin when he offered. By the time she climbed through the portrait hole, she had convinced herself that there was nothing to them.

Sunday, Lily spent exploring the Hogwarts grounds with Persephone and Severus, sitting out by the great lake below the castle and enjoying the subtle changing of the leaves in the forest. She still found herself inexplicably drawn to something within the woods, but she had decided to ignore it, hoping it would eventually go away. She had heard the Prewett twins telling awful stories about the creatures that lived there, and had no intention of ever setting foot beyond the school boundaries.

It wasn't until their second week that the first year Gryffindors had their first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, something which Frank Longbottom had been talking about as loudly as possible since being Sorted into Gryffindor. The class was taught by Professor Grigglesmere, a tall, good-looking wizard who looked rather like the vampires Lily had seen in Muggle films, but whose eyes crackled with humour. He was quite a bit younger than any of the other teachers Lily had seen at Hogwarts, and still carried himself almost like a student.

During their first class, he had seated himself cross-legged across his desk and twirled his wand absently as he explained the course and what they would be learning that year. He finished his introduction by explaining the Wand-Lighting Spell.

"First and foremost, if you're going to be combating the Dark Arts, you should bring everything out into the light," he told them conversationally, and held up his wand. "Lumos."

A bright light appeared at the tip of his wand.

"More than half of the creatures - even the human ones - that would ever challenge you count on darkness to do it," he told them. "So don't give them that advantage. The number one rule of combating Dark forces is to do so on your own terms. Even with something as small as a light at the end of your wand, it changes the odds incrementally."

He set them to work trying out the spell for themselves, and Lily was surprised, yet happy to be one of the few who managed to perform the Wand-Lighting Spell after the first several attempts.

"Good job, Miss Evans," Grigglesmere told her as he passed by, sounding rather grudging for some reason. "Work with Miss Fortescue for a bit, will you? She doesn't seem to have gotten it." Alice actually looked close to poking her own eye out the way she was waving her wand about, and so Lily started to cross the room, but stopped when Grigglesmere spoke again. "Oh, and Miss Evans?"

"Yes Professor?"

"It's against regulation for pets to tag along for classes," he informed her lazily. "Some animals, such as toads and rats, are a benefit to spell work - specifically Potions - but this class is about practical work. I wouldn't want an accident."

"Er, alright then," Lily said, utterly confused.

Grigglesmere continued, "I won't take off points because it's your first class, but if you would return your cat to your dorm before you partner with Miss Fortescue..."

"My...cat?" Lily echoed, looking around. "I haven't got a cat -"

Her words died in her throat.

A large, orange tabby - a very familiar, large orange tabby - was winding about the legs of her chair and rubbing itself against Lily's feet.

"I suppose you call that a walrus then," Grigglesmere said conversationally. "My mistake. Well, regardless of its species, be sure to keep it in your dorm from now on. Run along."

There was nothing else that Lily could say, besides, "...Yes, sir."

Grigglesmere went on to check on the other students, and Lily stared back down at the orange-eyed beast.

"What's he talking about?" Persephone asked lightly as she admired the light from her own wand. "You don't have a ca - where on earth did he come from?"

"She," Lily corrected automatically, and the cat purred happily in response. "And I have absolutely no idea."

"Maybe she's someone else's?" Persephone suggested. "A lot of the older girls have cats as pets, you know - but most of them are black. I've never seen one that particular shade of orange before. It's almost like a pumpkin..."

"I don't...think so," Lily said, unable to explain to her friend why she was sure that the feline that was currently nuzzling her was definitely not someone else's pet. "But...well, I guess I'd better do as Professor Grigglesmere said, yeah?"

Persephone seemed confused by Lily's vagueness, but Lily pretended not to notice, too preoccupied with keeping her face carefully devoid of emotion. She hesitated only a moment, regarding the cat doubtfully, as though sure that it wasn't real, and then picked the creature up into her arms.

It was warm, its purrs making her entire body wobble, and she shivered at the ominous feeling the beast gave her. With a murmured 'I'll be back', she strode from the room.

As she walked, her own heart hammered a frantic rhythm against her ribcage. She was glad that the professor had told her to go during classes and not once they let out, because the corridors were deserted. Glancing to her left and right to make sure she wasn't being followed, and that there were no ghosts about to jump out at her, she ducked into an empty bathroom and put the cat down in front of her.

"Alright, you, what's going on?" she hissed, ignoring the foolish feeling of talking to a cat as though it was human. She looked around again, making sure there were no ghosts or poltergeists in the room with her and lowered her voice even more, "Is this about the...the Torc? Is someone going to tell me what it is? I haven't been able to sleep proper in days because of this!"

The cat's tail twitched and it narrowed its eyes at her. The orange orbs considered her dispassionately, its pupils dilating wider and wider until the cat's eyes were completely black.

A wave of nausea passed over Lily, and she staggered back a little bit, holding out her hand against one of the sink's to steady herself. She felt the familiar choking sensation around her neck and throat. When she looked up, she felt the blood drain out of her face. Something shone from beneath her cloak and uniform. With trembling fingers she loosened her shirt buttons and tie, opening them up wider until she could see what lay beneath.

A twisting chord of silver knotwork encircled her neck around the collarbone like a tattoo, the ends that stopped at the hollow of her throat thicker than the rest of it. When she laid her hand against the thing, she felt nothing but her skin, and realized she could only see it in the mirror, and that the only reason she could see it was because the creature was allowing her to.

She trembled as a familiar voice spoke to her as though from far away.

'Cat-Sidhe will guide you...can only keep you hidden from his gaze for so long...if he finds you all we be lost...'

"Yeah, I'd gathered that part for myself," Lily managed weakly, trying to make the world stop spinning. The image of the silver circlet around her neck had disappeared, leaving only her frightened reflection. "But why does this...he want me - whoever he is? What is the Torc?"

Images flashed in her mind, flickering against her eyelids. Shadows swirled in her thoughts, and she imagined she saw Petunia standing before her, eyes curiously blank as she spoke in an odd, hissing growl that was not her own voice: 'Covenant.'

Her sister morphed into Persephone, who spoke in the same voice. 'Hope.'

The familiar guise of Salazar Slytherin was before her now. 'Power.'

'Destiny,' an image of James Potter told her, grinning cheekily despite the voice that was not his, and then his images swirled and came to rest on the form of Severus Snape. He raised his blank eyes to her and whispered,

'Death.'

The images disappeared as soon as they had come, leaving only the cat which was watching her, its eyes back to normal. Lily had broken into a cold sweat, and her collar throbbed. Her voice was raspy when she asked, "Whose death?"

The cat regarded her for a long moment, and then turned its back on her, apparently finished giving its cryptic message. It began to paw experimentally at the shadows of light on the bathroom cobblestones.

"Whose death!" Lily demanded, her voice rising frantically. The animal continued to ignore her, and she couldn't hold back the snarl, "Cat-Sidhe, answer me!"

The name had come to her lips unbidden, one she had never spoken in waking hours because something had kept her from voicing it. She now knew why she never had.

The change was instantaneous. A giant black creature of claw and bone faced her, completely black save for a white spot on its breast. While she could see this in front of her, she knew in her heart that if anyone were to walk in they would still only see the odd orange cat - but she could feel the hotness of the breath as it snarled at her, could see in its eyes the carnage it had wrought with its claws and teeth, destruction that had scattered armies and knights - she smelled the blood in the air and heard the screams in her head.

"I'm sorry!" Lily cried, cowering against the images, shutting her eyes to make the image of the terrible monster disappear. "Please...I didn't mean...I'm just tired of not getting any answers from anyone!"

The beast paused, and Lily felt the tension in the air release as its true form returned to the guise of the orange cat. It seemed to have decided that Lily had learned her place and was now flexing its claws thoughtfully.

Lily considered the cat, and then tentatively asked once more, "Whose death?"

Cat-Sidhe captured her gaze again, and a final image appeared before her, of a terrible and beautiful man with golden hair and endless, haunting eyes, who smiled so sinisterly, that she felt the breath leave her even as he spoke in the voice she had come to realize was Cat-Sidhe's.

'Everyone.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TBC