Black Lily

Chapter nine

The Deeper, the darker.

Lily woke up, and stretched, rolling her head on her shoulders. She flopped back down against the deep pillows, and turned to look at the young man sleeping beside her. The covers were slung around his hips. Lily smiled, and ran her finger tips up his stomach, tracing the muscles. A small smile spread over his lips, and his eyes opened.

"Hello beautiful."

"Hello your self." She kissed his lightly, and swung her legs out of bed, walking over to her wardrobe. James propped himself up on his elbows, watching her.

"What are you doing pet?" Lily smiled, and pulled out her short dark grey pleated skirt, fitted white shirt with long, full sleeves and a pull over with red and gold embroidery where the sleeves would have been but had been cut off.

"Take a look at my clock James." He did, then swore and threw the covers off. Pulling on his pyjama bottoms, he grinned, and untied a red and gold tie from one of the four poster posts.

"I think you might need this." She caught it, and finished hooking up her black bra.

"I think I might. See you in ten."

"Five." He blew a kiss, and ran out of the room, grinning. Lily shook her head, and pulled her skirt on over her hips, then picked up the shirt and put it on.

Just as she was tying her tie, James fell through the door, grinning. Lily finished the knot, and turned around, smiling.

"That was fast. Two minutes, I'd say."

"I couldn't bear to be away from you my love." She bit her lip, and smiled, selecting a hairbrush. As she was about to raise it, it was taken out of her hands, and gentle hands began to brush her hair for her. She smiled.

"This is new."

"What is?"

"This. No ones ever brushed my hair for me before." He chuckled, and stroked her hair softy.

"Red velvet. It's like red velvet." She laughed.

"Well, what do you know; James Potter is a romantic." He spun her around, and kissed her gently.

"You have no idea."

"Ohhh... are we interrupting something?" Lily turned her head, and raised an eyebrow at Falcon and Remus. Remus smiled, exploring the room with his eyes. They fell on the dishevelled bed, and a red stain covered his cheeks. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Oh for god's sake Remus, be seventeen, will you? Grow up." Falcon grinned, straightening his blue and bronze tie back to its casual scruffiness. James smiled, and put down the hair brush.

"Now, breakfast. We need breakfast."

"You missed it." He looked shocked.

"What?!?!"

"You missed breakfast. There's a first for every thing, isn't there?" James rolled his eyes at his friend, and Lily burst out laughing.

"Oh well honey, just eat more lunch then usual; make up for it."

*

Abby grinned as Lily spun into the classroom, turning quickly on the balls of her feet, humming happily.

"Some one is in a good mood!" Lily smiled, and sat down in her seat, tossing her head and crossing her legs.

"Any one would be in a good mood after the night I've had." She raised her eyebrows suggestively, and Abby blushed. A cough came from beside them, and Lily turned around to see Maz Burns, Genevieve Honey and Rose McEwen standing beside them. Lily smiled slightly.

"Oh, and now my day is complete. Who could start their day without a visit from the Unsanitary Trinity? What can I do for you Mariella?" A black eyebrow raised as the girl looked at her.

"Just seeing what depths you've fallen to. A Hufflepuff? Honestly."

"Ah, now, you see, there's something you don't understand Maz," she stood up, leaning back against her desk, "Your opinion does not count for anything to me. You are as the mere buzzing of a fly." She smiled, and glanced at the door, where four people had appeared. A grin spread over her face. "I'm glad we've had this little chat, good luck with the band." She grabbed Abby's hand, dragged her up, and then ran to the door. James grinned and swung her up into his arms, spinning her around. Sirius rolled his eyes in mock disgust.

"Oh please you two, go back to bed if you must, but not in the classroom." He squeaked as a redhead jumped on him, sitting on his stomach.

"Padfoot! Stop being a git! If you can't deal with it, get a girlfriend!"

"The Marauders? Honestly, you seriously couldn't do any better?" Lily looked up into Mariella's eyes. A sneer passed over her face, and her green eyes darkened with anger. Slowly, she stood up, the air around her growing thick. Mariella didn't notice. "I mean, I know that not many people could replace us as friends, but them? And a Slytherin? More in particular, Snape? And that Ravenclaw, where do I start? Total pouf, obsessed with his hair and no dress sense what so ever. And the Hufflepuff? Words do not describe...." Abby's eyes were shining with unshed tears, Sev's face was frozen, and Falcon was swallowing, touching his hair and clothes with trembling hands. Any one with half a brain would have seen the sparks flying behind Lily's eyes, the way her fists were clenching and unclenching at her sides. Mariella, it seemed, chose to ignore the signs that this girl was very angry.

"What I can't believe, is that-"

"Enough." The voice that came from the red head was frozen, and angry. Indignation for her friends welling up inside her, she snapped out her hand, and clenched her fist. The front of Mariella's robes creased, as though a fist was clenching them. With a flick of her wrist, Lily sent the girl flying. Literally. She hit the wall on the other side of the class room, and dropped to the floor in a heap. Silence echoed around the class room as Lily raised her hand slowly, looked at it, then fainted. James caught her before she hit the ground, hoisted her up into his arms, and left the class room, followed by his and her friends.

~

Dumbledore wouldn't answer any questions, and James was getting agitated.

"Professor, I have the right to know! What is going on??" The Headmaster simply shook his head, and stroked his phoenixes head. Lily sat in a chair, pale and silent.

"Mr. Potter, I'm afraid that I am unable to tell you anything. It is up to Miss Evans what you know, and what I know. She will only disclose so much to me; some things, I am sure, she keeps to herself." James glared at the girl, suddenly angry. Why was she being to stubborn?? He crouched down in front of her.

"Come on Lily; tell me. I need to know this." Green eyes met his, and a chill ran down his spine. The light was gone. The bright green was now dulled, and strangely lifeless.

"I can't." Her accent was back, slightly lilting, but a little rougher then it had been. James clamped a lid down on his anger, but could stop himself from reaching out to shake her; she was bloody infuriating!!

Before he touched her, Dumbledore placed a hand on his shoulder.

"James, leave her be. I have to speak with her and I can't have her anymore rattled then she already is." He was practically dragged to his feet, and pushed into a chair. With a resigned sigh, he reached out, and squeezed her hand. What ever was going on, he would be there for her. Dumbledore sat down on the other side of the desk, rested his elbows on the desk, and pressed the tips of his finger together. Lily raised her head, and looked at Dumbledore. To James's horrified fascination, she had basically stopped blinking. He stroked her hand gently, hoping to sooth her. He hated seeing her feeling unhappy or upset, but this was something new; some thing worse. With a little thrill, he saw that she was still wearing his ring. He rather believed that she never took it off. He snapped out of it as Dumbledore began to speak.

"Lily, I believe I can guess what is going on with you. Morgan is beginning to fully pass on her powers to you. Throwing fire, shape shifting, walking on water, these are all traits that Morgan showed. What I also believe though, is that Morgan is beginning to live through you. She causes you to react in the way she would, as you showed when you threw Miss Burns across the room. Am I right so far?" Slowly, Lily nodded. Her hair fell over her face, so James teased it back behind her ears, taking care not to knock the stud in the top of her left ear.

"Very well, I shall continue. Lately, your scar has been hurting you. At random times, you have felt it twinge or feel as though it has been pricked with a pin in several places. I thought so." The man looked at a globe on his des for a moment, and then took it in his hands. He ran a fingertip down it, and light began to appear through it in cracks. The glass fell apart, and a necklace dropped into his hand. It was a gold disc, thinner around the edges then in the centre, with strange curved lines over it. The leather strip it was treaded onto was worn, much more so then any other leather that James had seen. It proclaimed old age. Dumbledore smiled softly at the girl sitting beside James.

"My dear, I have known about this since before I became Headmaster. It has been in this school for centuries. It is now yours, as it was Morgan's." He placed it on the table, and pushed it across the table toward her. Lily sat, staring at it.

~

"This belonged to Morgan?" The gold glimmered at her innocently, but she could feel the power throbbing off it. A strange, familiar power. She reached out, and wrapped her hand around it. Instantly, bright white light shot out from between her fingers, and she found herself looking around a castle courtyard. A hooded figure stood, towering over a woman. Long red curls fell down the woman's back, a lilac medieval style gown swept the floor, and a gold coronet encircled her head. It was Morgan. She was swinging a cloak up around her shoulders, and speaking firmly to the man.

"I cannot stay. It would not be right."

"I won't let you. You shall stay here." The woman sneered, green eyes hard.

"Salazar, you know better. I have done what you wish, leave it at this." She was about to mount a small bay cob mare, when the man shot out a hand, and grasped her wrist. The hood fell, and a sick feeling entered Lily's stomach as she took in pale blond hair and pale skin. Salazar Slytherin was basically twin to Lucius Malfoy. Morgan yanked on her wrist, trying to wrench it from his grasp.

"Let me go!"

"You will stay here!"

"Never!" she spat in his face, anger radiating from her every fibre. Slowly, he wiped his cheek.

"Wrong answer Morgan." He threw her to the ground, and, with a sneer, drew his wand. Morgan stared at it apprehensively. The man began to speak once more, with a soft anger to his voice that froze Lily's blood.

"You knew when you joined me how it was; in for life or death. My Morgan, beautiful witch, what is your choice?" Morgan swallowed, and then her eyes rose to Lily's. Her red mouth opened slightly, as she drank in the way Lily looked. Resolution shone from her face, and she touched the necklace around her throat. It was a golden disc, on a leather strip. A white light shone from it, that Lily some how knew instinctively only she and Morgan could see.

"Go to Hades you pompous bastard." The words were spoken in a whisper, but seemed to be shouted for the way that they echoed. A muscle twitched in Slytherins' jaw.

"I'll be seeing you there, Morgan," he raised his wand, "Avada Kedavra." The green bolt hit Morgan in the chest. She arched her back, hissing in pain. A scream tore from her throat.

"Lilith!!" she slumped to the floor, eyes open and staring. Dead.

Lily opened her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks. The hand clenching the necklace was white knuckled, and trembling violently. Dumbledore was looking at her with mild interest. James, the darling, was looking panicked.

"Lily??? Lily, are you ok???" Her eyes were fixed on Dumbledore.

"Did you know?"

"Know what Miss Evans?"

"That Morgan was murdered by Slytherin?" The Headmaster nodded.

"Oh gods, why didn't you tell me??" Murdered. She had been murdered. Oh Gods... with trembling fingers, she unclenched the necklace, and untied the knot in the leather. She looked at James.

"Help me?" he nodded, and took the necklace, fastening around her throat gently. The disc sat in the hollow of her throat, at the base of her neck. Dumbledore nodded slightly, as though in approval of her wearing the jewellery. Warmth spread out from the piece of gold, and Lily felt a hand touch her cheek, and lips touch her forehead. Morgan was blessing her. Dumbledore bowed his head to her.

"I approve of your decision, Miss Le Fey." She didn't argue about the name.

*

She sat, nursing a cup of coffee while the house elves scurried around her, preparing lunch. When she had left Dumbledore's office, she hadn't returned to class as she had made James do. The necklace was a warm weight around her neck, and every so often she reached up to touch it, as thought to make sure that it was real. She had no idea why she had just accepted it when Dumbledore had called her Le Fey; at the time it had seemed perfectly natural and right. But now it seemed stupid; it was he who had come to her when she was little and told her about whom she was and what it meant, and had warned her about changing her name. That was why she had arrived at Hogwarts as Lily Monique Evans, though her name was Lilith Morgan Le Fey Evans.

She sipped her coffee, and grimaced as cold liquid ran down her throat. The tapped her nearest house elf on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, could I have some fresh coffee, if it's not too much trouble." The house elf's long nose quivered.

"No miss, never too much trouble miss, Kerry will be right back with your coffee miss!" The tiny creature zipped off, and Lily couldn't help but smile; they could be so cute some times, with their eagerness to serve you too much food or drink. But the elves had long learned that Lily only ever ordered what she wanted, and not to bother her with pressing food on her. She sighed, and ran her fingers through her hair.

The coffee that was placed in front of her steamed invitingly and she sipped it gratefully.

"Busy, are you?" She jumped and spun around. Sirius smiled at her. She smiled back.

"How did you get out of class this time Sirius?"

"A little thing called a 'copy'. Just something I whipped up in shop, as you Muggles say." He sat down opposite her, and was immediately swamped by house elves. Once they had gone to get his order, he rolled his eyes and flopped back against the back of his chair. Lily sipped her coffee, keeping her eyes on the Gryffindor. He smiled lopsidedly.

"Where'd you get the bauble?" he pointed at the base of her throat. She put a hand to it, and smiled.

"A wise old man decided it was time to let me grow up."

"Dumbledore."

"I always said you could be smart when you tried to be..." He laughed. A house elf, bearing a tray ladened with food, approached them.

"Binger has your food sir!" Sirius grinned as plates of little cakes and miniature éclairs, and a tea cup, milk, tea pot and sugar were placed in front of him. Lily rolled her eyes dramatically, and sipped her coffee.

"Has any one ever told you that you are a pig?"

"Frequently." He selected an éclair, and tossed it up in the air, catching it in his mouth. Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Amateur." She took one, tossed it high in the air, clapped her hands three times, closed her eyes and caught it, and chewed it delicately. Sirius clapped.

"I stand utterly shadowed. Bravo." She smiled, and swallowed.

"Mmm, god, what did the world do before whipped cream?" Sirius shook his head in agreement, and poured out some tea.

*

After three weeks, she became used to Dumbledore calling her Le Fey.

She stepped out of her History of Magic NEWT, and breathed a sigh of relief. It had been her first lesson of the day, and her last NEWT. James crept up behind her, and put his arms around her.

"Hey baby. You glad these things are over at last?" she grinned.

"Is the sky blue? Of course I'm happy!" James grinned back, and leant down to kiss her. With out warning, her stomach cramped, and she covered her mouth with her hand as bile rose in her throat. James Looked at her, worried.

"Hey, are you ok? Repulse you that much, do I?" She didn't answer, just fled to her room.

In her bathroom, she fell to her knees. The bile burned her throat, and hurt as she threw up her breakfast. She coughed painfully, and groaned, leaning her head back against the tiles on the wall.

"God, what the hell is wrong with me?" There was a thought, niggling away at the back of her mind. She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again. "No way. Not possible. Don't even think that." The thought persisted. Slowly, she pulled her wand out of her pocket, and clenched the ebony wood. She closed her eyes, and murmured the spell that she had read in the library. She opened one eye a slit. Her wand was spitting blue and pink sparks. Her vision clouded, and her lip began to tremble.

"Oh no. Oh no, please no." But for all her protests, she knew she was right. The spell was never wrong. Tears poured down her cheeks, and she rested her head against her knees, wrapping her arms around her drawn up legs. "What am I going to do?"

"About what?" she jumped, and snapped her head up. Remus smiled at her, and knelt beside her. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and swallowed hard. He raised his eyebrows. "And why are you throwing up?" Lily took a quavering breath, and waved her hand toward her toothbrush. Remus, taking pity on the girl, got up, put toothpaste on it, and handed it to her.

"Thank you." Bracing herself against the wall, she used it as support herself as she staggered to the sink. Her face was white, when she looked at her reflection and her eyes huge. Remus stood in silence as she cleaned her teeth, spat into the sink, then polished them by brushing them again with water. When she was done, he raised an eyebrow.

"So, what's wrong?" She didn't know if she could tell him. To tell would be to confirm it as true. Could she do that? Slowly, she turned at looked at him. He smiled. Lily took in the way his amber eyes shone, and he flicked his hair out of them. Of course she could tell Remus. He was her Brother.

"I, I don't really know how to say it. How can I say this?"

"As simply as you can, if it helps." Ok, remember to breathe, she told herself. She didn't listen though. Her lungs ached after awhile, and then she remembered to take breath. Remus waited patiently.

"Remus..." she raised her eyes to his, "I... I'm pregnant." He blinked.

"I'm sorry, run that by me again?"

"I'm pregnant." It was easier to say the second time. Remus's eyes widened.

"You... You and James....?" She shot him a sarcastic look.

"No, me and Falcon. He's decided to turn straight. Of course me and James! I don't sleep around." She rested her hand against her abdomen. She hadn't wanted children, but now... she didn't think she had the strength to get rid of this baby. She knew she didn't.

"So, when are you going to tell him?" Lily frowned.

"I don't know Remus. I don't know."

*

She wandered back down to the corridor where she had left the others, Remus strolling beside her. The slightly churning feel of her stomach had changed from sick, to hungry. Craving, in fact. As she had suspected, they were still waiting. James looked worried.

"Hey, why did you run away like that? Are you ok?" A little voice in the back of her head told her to tell him, that he had a right to know. But it was only a little one, and Lily had become rather apt at ignoring those.

"Oh, it was nothing. I just... I thought it would be funny to see what you did if I ran away as though you made me sick. But Remus came after me and told me to stop being a knob, so I came back. I'm an idiot, no?" Remus kicked her in the ankle, but she ignored him as well. James looked at her, as though searching her face, but seemed to find nothing. He smiled.

"Alright. So, what do you want to do? The exams are over; we can do anything we want. Name your poison."

"Kitchens." Sirius grinned as she answered with one word. James laughed.

"OK milady. What do you want? Tea?" he spoke in her 'aristocrats' voice. Lily furrowed her brow slightly. What did she want? There was this craving in her stomach...

"A sandwich."

"What kind of sandwich would that be?" Aha, that was it.

"Peanut butter, Philadelphia and apple." Remus's eyebrows snapped together. Sirius swallowed queasily, and Sev' raised his eyebrows so high they disappeared into his hair. James coughed slightly.

"Ok, if that's... what you... really want... has anyone ever told you that you eat like a pregnant woman?" Oh crap. So that's why she wanted that particular sandwich. Lily laughed slightly.

"Oh, yeah. Weird, huh? Oh well, lets go." The wriggled away from the boys, and began to walk, perfectly unaware that they were just standing, staring after her. Remus grinned at James, a little sheepishly, and tore after her.

A hand grabbed her arm and spun her around.

"You do realize how suspicious they're going to be if you keep vanishing after me, don't you Remus?" He glared at her.

"Don't be stupid. Why did you lie to him?"

"Because I couldn't face it! What am I supposed to say? 'Oh, James, by the way I'm pregnant. Just so you know mate. Pass the pumpkin juice'??" Remus lowered his eyes to the ground, his cheeks still flushed slightly with anger. Lily sighed, and rubbed his shoulder in what she hoped was a comforting way. "Look, I will tell him; I promise. When the time is right." She sighed. "I just don't know when that will actually be..."

"You'll know. Don't worry. Now, shall we see about getting you your rather disgusting sandwich?" She grinned.

"Goody... oh, then I need to go to my room."

"Um... is it ok if I ask why?"

"I need to get my guitar. I haven't played it for ages; I'm probably out of practice." Remus rolled his eyes.

"Ok Princess, if that's what you want."

"It is."