Beginnings: The Keeper of Swyn Llyfr

Kalliope

Story Summary:
A story of the magical world's First War with Voldemort, but told with a different twist. Friends from childhood, Lily Evans and Riona Dyrdra are young women who are led to two completely different sides of the war and must decide what they must sacrifice - including the loves of their lives and their own friendship - to save what's truly important. Then the ancient enigma Swyn Llyfr appears, placing Lily and Riona's fates as well as those of every wizard and magical creature, in the hands of the greatest dark wizard of all time.

Chapter 01

Posted:
05/09/2009
Hits:
84


-----------------------

BEGINNINGS: THE KEEPER OF SWYN LLYFR

Disclaimer: All things in this story that do not belong to JK Rowling are mine. Please do not use this story without my permission. Rated PG-13 for violence, sexual innuendo, and language.

~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ -

Prologue

I am the only one willing to tell our story.

There are others, but they want to forget - they want to move on with their lives, they want to try to empty themselves of all that's happened...as if they could ever be fulfilled again. They won't. I won't.

And yet, what I remember is so much more than a justification of where we've been and what we've done. We were friends, first and foremost. Only after we found the Swyn Llyfr did everything change.

Our story should be told for future generations that may see Him rise again. Our story should be told for those we've left behind - so they can remember us.

And, as stories often do, this one begins at an end.

::: -- ::: -- ::: -- ::: -- ::: -- ::: -- :::

One: All That Matters

This is my commencement day.

As I looked around my dormitory, my gaze fell on a formal black robe with a bright, round blue collar and cuffs placed on the foot of my bed. My mind suddenly perked up and the dormitory, the morning, and everything else disappeared.

That was why I had woken up so early. I hadn't slept throughout the whole night. And like whispers, my dreams came back to me: darkness and screams, loud stampedes and yells sounding in the distance, a pair of eyes, so penetrating and knowing, as though they understood things about me I never wanted anyone to know.

"But it was all a dream,"ി I murmured, running a hand over my flushed face. I don't know why I was surprised. I had been having similar nightmares for the past few months. Funny how we talk to ourselves for reassurance, as if speaking words of comfort could make what we want to believe come true. I dismissed my bad nights as results of the stress I've had with last minute schoolwork and career interviews before the big day.

Sitting up in bed and rubbing my itching nose, I gazed out of the dormitory window to the right of my bed while I blinked away the haziness of sleep. The fresh daylight skirted around the Forbidden Forest to wrap around the castle's towers, greenhouses, and Quidditch Pitch. It was the kind of morning that would last into the afternoon.

I glanced at my roommates, who were in varied states of sleep with mouths open, heads on the foot of their beds, or wrapped in cocoon-shaped bedspreads. No wonder - it was only a quarter after six. Only mad people were awake at this hour.

An insistent pecking at my window jarred my thoughts. I looked up in surprise and saw that it was Aegle, Lily Evans' owl, at my window with a letter in her beak. Her impatience told me that she had been trying to catch my attention for several minutes, so I quickly jumped out of bed and let her in. Handing me the letter, she stared at me expectantly.

"So Lily wants an answer right away, does she?" I asked, petting her tawny head. Aegle hooted in response, nudging the letter in my hand.

"Shh, don't wake anyone up. They'll have my head for waking them up so early," I warned, opening the hastily written letter.

Riona,

Come and meet Alice and me in the Great Hall for THE LAST Hogwarts breakfast. Alice says she wants to plan out what we should wear for the concert this afternoon. And she says that we have to have matching hairstyles for the graduation ceremony tonight. She's such a dear to want everything perfect, but I just let her talk. She will never get me into wearing a fluffy dress for the concert, and I'm sure you don't want her to bedeck your hair in ribbons. I need your help if I want to fight off the fluffy dress idea.

Lily

So it seems no one could sleep last night - at least none of my friends - maybe there was something in the pumpkin juice Sirius Black gave us yesterday for lunch. If it was actually pumpkin juice, that is.

I scribbled a note on the back of Lily's letter and gave it to Aegle, who cuffed me on the wrist for taking so long. Before I could protest however, she stepped off the windowsill and flew away into the hot sunrise.

::: -- ::: -- ::: -- ::: -- ::: -- ::: -- :::

"But this dress would look just lovely with your hair and eyes, Lily!"

"Alice, I don't like dresses. I've never liked dresses. I believe my mother when she said that I was born wearing pants. That's what I feel most comfortable in," I said in my sweetest tone. Yet the frown that clouded my face showed I was anything but comfortable at the moment.

Alice Kennicott, on the other hand, was all smiles. "But you haven't even seen the dress, Lily. It's just perfect for you, really. Give it a chance! You'll look absolutely beautiful for James,"ി she added offhandedly, giving me a knowing glance out of the corner of her eyes.

At this I hesitated in my raging protest and blushed hotly. My relationship with James would celebrate its first year anniversary this July, and I had been wondering what special thing I could do for him. Alice knew this all too well. But she didn't know James - he wouldn't notice a new dress if the dress slapped him in the face.

My thoughts were startled by someone rudely pushing past me, knocking my shoulder. I looked around to snap a comment, but I stopped short when I saw Severus Snape's black eyes glaring at me as he sat down at the rowdy Slytherin table. I scowled back at him. What was his problem? If he had heard us talking about James, perhaps the mere mention of my boyfriend's name ticked him off. I stuck out my tongue at him and whipped around, tossing back my hair. I had had enough of his male menopausal moods ever since last year, when James and I started dating. No matter how hard I had tried to restore the chummy friendship Sev and I used to have, he refused to even speak to me. That was just fine with me - if he wanted to include me in the years-long feud he had with James, so be it! I sighed.

Fortunately Riona chose this moment to interrupt my pity party for one and plopped down next to Alice, startling Alice so that she dropped her spoon in her porridge and splattered the table with the sticky stuff.

"At war this early?" Riona asked sleepily, serving herself a glass of orange juice. She eyed Severus across the tables and raised an eyebrow at me.

"It's about time," I said, the relief in my voice causing Alice to look at me suspiciously. "I mean, you almost missed our breakfast together," I added hastily.

"Luckily I was already awake by the time your dear owl arrived ready to break my window," Riona said, buttering a piece of toast.

"Aegle can be persistent!" I defended my old but quick owl stoutly. "But we were afraid that you were going to stay in bed all day - on this day, of all days!"ി

"I wanted to let you stay in bed. I mean you haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately, what with those nightmares and all," Alice remarked, patting Riona on the back in concern. "Your eyes are drooping and you're too pale."

"You do look really bad,"ി I elaborated, a twinkle in my eye as I tapped my wand on the table. Out popped a juicy red apple, and I took a large bite.

Riona frowned in annoyance, and quickly looked for a change of subject. Then she noticed the empty seat with a hint of disappointment in her slender face. "Where's Remus?"

I smirked knowingly, chewing on my apple. "He's still in bed..."

"Alice, you'e not going to get Lily in a dress," Riona pointed out, fishing for another subject. She eyed the article Alice had ripped out of Witch Weekly's fashion section. "She would rather be eaten alive by rabid dragons."

I arched my eyebrows approvingly. "You always know how to say the right thing, Riona."

"That's me," she said airily, tossing her long hair over her shoulder. "Why waste time with words when they can get in the way?"

Alice sighed and folded the article, tucking it under her half-empty plate. "I just thought that since this was our last day together, we could get dressed up a little bit."

"Don't worry," I reassured her, patting her hand. "Riona's getting dressed up for you. She's even wearing a dress."

I giggled as Riona cringed. While Alice squealed at my announcement, Riona shot me an I-will-get-you-for-this look that I simply grinned at.

Fortunately for Riona, James, Peter and Sirius, who decided to walk into the Great Hall just at that moment, saved Riona from further torment.

"Are you still talking about clothes?" James asked in amusement, as though he never bothered to get dressed in his life. I smiled at him and scooted over so that he could sit beside me. He planted a kiss on my cheek and hooked an arm around me, taking a bite of my apple.

"No, we're talking about the commencement concert tonight," I said before Alice could interject. "We were wondering what band Dumbledore booked for it."

"It better be a band that plays actual music,"ി Sirius spoke up, leaning over James and snatching a toast off Riona's plate, ignoring her glare. "Not that classical junk that McGonagall tried to get us to dance to at our End-of-the-Year ball last year."

Peter scurried over to James's other side and poured himself more pumpkin juice. "I kind of liked it - didn't you, James?"

"No, it sounded like kneazles screaming bloody murder, and I prefer to keep my eardrums, thanks," James said cheerfully. "But you didn't even make it to the ball, Sirius," he remembered, a slow smirk spreading over his face as he glanced at his friend.

Sirius grinned. "Oh yeah, that was the ball I took Patricia Fisher to, and we didn't even make it pass the gardens because we were too busy snogging and then -"

"Oh, that's where you did -" Peter interrupted, excited as he also remembered.

"Thank you, that's all the detail we need to know," Riona said loudly, rolling her eyes at the goofy looks on the guys' faces.

"But that was such a, erm, triumphant night for Sirius," James assured me, with Sirius sniggering.

"His finest hour," Peter echoed.

"Oneof my finest hours," Sirius corrected, stretching his arms proudly. James and Peter laughing hysterically.

I cast them all a wary look. "Hopeless - all of you are hopeless." For better effect, I lightly punched the pervert who was my boyfriend in the stomach. He playfully groaned and winked at me.

"But that doesn't make sense," Riona countered, shifting in her seat to confront Sirius. "There can't be many fine hours - the whole meaning of the phrase is to single out only one, right?"

Sirius opened his mouth to retort, but then snapped it shut. "That's a trick question. Where's Remus when you need him?" he mumbled.

"Oh, quite p.issed upstairs,"ി said James with a grin. "We got him royally drunk last night, in celebration for our breaking out of this place for good. Poor bloke couldn't handle all the revelry. With the calming potion I gave him though, he'll be ready to drink some more tonigh, no worries."

"Boys," Alice exhaled noisily, summing up the conversation quite well. "I'm glad Frank isn't so immature."

"How do you know?" Sirius accused, folding his arms behind his head. "You and Frankie have only been going out for a few months. He might be a righteous pervert."

"Like you blokes?" I asked, grinning.

"Not quite up to our level, but getting there," James replied, kissing the top of my head. Peter chuckled, accidentally spilling juice on his shirt.

"He hates it when you call him Frankie, Sirius," said Alice, frowning. "And anyway, the length of a relationship doesn't always indicate how well you know a person. You can know a person completely for years and not know them at all or know them for just a few months and know them completely."

I glanced to my side as Severus was leaving the Great Hall, his shoulders hunched as he carried a load of books in his arms. He seemed lost in thought. I returned to our table's conversation.

"For example," Alice was saying, "I've known Sirius for four years and James for six , but I feel like I know the both of you for your entire lives."

At this the boys let out shouts of protest.

"No way!"

"Yeah, right!"

"Alice is the type that can size you up correctly within ten minutes she's known you," I said, raising my voice over their objections.

"In other words, Alice has all the right connections to gossip," Riona spoke up, smiling. "Very useful."ി

"What about me?" Peter squeaked. "Do you know as much about me?"

Alice frowned, trying to remember. "No, not really. But that's because you're always so quiet, I suppose. Oh, and our families didn't know each other before Hogwarts like my family knew the Blacks and Potters."

"Well, James and Sirius aren't exactly complicated specimens of the male species," Riona observed, smiling over the rim of her glass as she finished off the orange juice.

"No, they're completely transparent," I agreed offhandedly. "I bet you," I went on, studying Sirius and James with a glint of fun in my eyes, "That Alice knows everything you guys never thought she would."

James and Sirius stared at us in disbelief while Alice smiled primly, patting her blonde curls.

"Why did Remus and I get detentions last week?" James demanded.

"You switched Professor Slughorn's grade books for ones that ignited when used,"ി Alice responded promptly.

"How did I sneak firewhiskey into the Hufflepuff House party last month?" Sirius pushed.

"You bribed the House-Elves with more work to do in the castle."

"Okay, what was I afraid of when I was little?"

"Vampires."

"Lily told you!" James accused, glancing at me, his lovely and innocent girlfriend, beside him.

"Nope," I insisted, shaking my head stoutly. "But I still think that childhood fear is cute,"ി I teased, giving his cheek a light pinch.

"Ha, ha,"ി James retorted.

"What was the name of the dog I had when I was seven?" Sirius asked, frowning.

"Padfoot."

Sirius blanched as James moved on. "All right. If you know this one, then we give in."

"Bring it on," Alice yawned, winking at Riona and me.

"How does Sirius feel about Gryffindor House?" James asked, casting her a shrewd look.

An impish smirk spread over Sirius's smug face, and Peter chortled in glee.

For a moment, Alice hesitated while Riona and I held our breaths.

"Hm," Alice began, with the grins on the boys' faces growing wider by the second. "That's a trick question. You see, Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor but he didn't want to be in it at first - he wanted to be in Slytherin like the rest of his family. But then he got used to it and even started liking Gryffindor once he met you, Remus and Peter, and once you all tossed dungbombs into the Slytherin common room to boost Sirius'morale. And now, Sirius is presently a raging, dyed-in-the-wool Gryffindor."

"Score!" I announced, high-fiving Riona across the table.

"Stalkers," James muttered.

"If you lusted after us so much, all you had to do was say so, Kennicott,"ി Sirius quipped.

Riona gasped and looked at me. "Did you tell them?"

I placed a hand against my cheek in mock-surprise. "You know, it might've slipped!"

Alice scowled. "I am utterly devoted to Frank, thank you!"

We all burst out laughing as Alice flushed brightly, her naiveté exposed. Our mirth echoed against the gaping windows of the Great Hall and startled the few remaining breakfasting students.

To an outsider, this would not have seemed like the end of something. No one would've imagined that that in a few hours we would go our separate ways, leaving behind the school that had brought us together.

But right now all that mattered was this moment - and our laughter.

::: -- ::: -- ::: -- ::: -- ::: -- ::: -- :::

My gaze involuntarily drifted to the full-length mirror facing me, examining the reflection of a pale girl whose dark eyes nearly engulfed her small face. I felt like my commencement robes were some kind of ceremonial dress, preparing me for my entrance into the world beyond Hogwarts. Hm, black. Hopefully not a bad omen.

Yeah, right, Riona Ailbhe. Get a grip.

Shrugging, I turned to my night table and picked up a blue ribbon. I tossed my hair over my shoulder, its length reaching the floor. My hands dexterously wove through the thick hair, forming a long braid, and I tied the ribbon to its end. There. Hopefully, Alice will approve. The only make-up I wore was around my eyes, since I detested the cakey, stuff some other girls wore on their faces. Lily, I knew, would wrestle with the Giant Squid before putting any make-up on. And Alice? Well, Alice is just lovely, make-up-loving Alice.

I suppose the rest of the graduating Ravenclaw girls were downstairs in the common room. I didn't know what else to do, now that I was finished dressing. It had taken a shorter time than I thought, and only this morning I had thought that getting dressed for commencement would be the hardest part. Nope. The hardest thing is going to be going down those stairs and knowing I won't be climbing them again as a Hogwarts student. Tomorrow morning everyone was leaving.

"Oh, enough of this,"ി I snapped, shaking my head. "I just have to go downstairs like any normal person would do. Chat a bit, say good-bye to some people, and then go down to the grounds and join everyone else. After all, this is commencement. It's only the beginnings of things to come."

I smoothed down my robes one last time and opened the door, shutting it without looking back.