A War of Nerves

CHAPTER 10: The Beginning of the End

And she did, at great extent. But Harry thought she might be censoring some of it because of the glances she'd give Snape and himself every so often when she'd break off in the middle of a thought. But she dutifully explained the situation for the better part of half an hour and then stopped to look down at her watch.

"Hm, thing hasn't been working right since I got here. But, if my guesses are all right, I'm thinking in the next ten minutes or so, we'll find out who she is."

"Tea?" Dumbledore asked politely.

"Oh, thank you," she said taking a cup.

But Harry couldn't help noticing that Snape was taking this none too well. His wand hand kept on twitching and odd emotions swept frequently across his face.

After sitting in silence for a good twenty minutes, the mystery Lily began to change. Change from a dark haired, green eyed and pretty girl of about 5'9, to a short blonde girl with blue eyes and a fearful expression on her face.

"Ah, Miss Taves," Dumbledore said good-naturedly, "I was under the impression you were leaving us for the holiday."

And then the girl burst into tears. Snape, who was her head of house, was looking at her in disgust and not saying a word. She began blubbering endlessly, no one knew what she was saying, until Snape swooped down and said in his silky voice, "Here, take some of this Miss Taves."

The sixth year took it obediently, and Dumbledore frowned.

"You know how I dislike using that Severus," he chastised.

"Desperate times, Albus," he said with a not so much evil, but dark look.

At that moment, Morgan changed back into Morgan. "Hm, well...that was interesting. I'm going to have to tell Lily she had gained a few pounds her stay here. What are you feeding her?"

Albus smiled and Harry was sure he would have given Morgan a detailed account of the school's menu if Snape hadn't stepped in and said, "Perhaps we should make some use of this Veritaserum?"

Dumbledore nodded.

Snape's lips formed a smirk that Harry was none to comfortable with, "What is your name?"

The girl, who looked a bit out of sorts, but no longer hysterical, answered, "Joanne Taves."

"What house and year are you here at Hogwarts?"

"I'm in Slytherin, sixth year."

"And who are you trying to impersonate?"

"Lily Merrins, the transfer student from Salem's."

"Why?"

"Lucius Malfoy told me to."

"What did Lucius Malfoy tell you?"

"Use the Polyjuice to be Lily Merrins for an afternoon so the others could do their mission."

"Who are the others?"

"Pansy Parkinson, Darron Nott, Cory McNair, Millicent Bludstrode, Adam Dolohov, and Gregory Goyle."

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

"What was their mission?"

"Pansy, Millicent, Cory, and Adam were supposed to capture Lily while Darron and Goyle distracted Peeves, Filch, and Mrs. Norris."

"So that is what they were doing," Snape said to himself. "And how were you supposed to capture her?"

"Break her wards, then give her Meniserum Vapor. We were supposed to wrap her in Lucius' Invisibility Cloak and levitate her to the Forbidden Forest, then leave her by the Wolf Rock about a mile in."

"Is she still there?"

"No."

"Where is she?"

No answer.

Snape frowned and asked instead, "Who was supposed to pick her up?"

"Lucius Malfoy and Audus Flint."

"Where is Wolf Rock?"

"In the Forbidden Forest."

Snape growled, "How do you get to Wolf Rock?"

"Go to Hargid's cabin and walk straight into the forest for a mile. You'll come to a clearing and if you look up, you'll see the trees form the shape of a wolf's head outlined against the sky. When you look down again, there is a rock that wasn't there before, it is an ancient alter the Slytherins used in the early days of Hogwarts. That is Wolf Rock."

Snape was about to open his mouth again when Morgan interrupted him, "Does she have her wand?"

Joanne thought for a while, "Unless she wasn't wearing it when she was captured, I saw no one take one off of her."

Morgan smiled and was silent.

"Who is the traitor in the castle?" Snape asked.

"Most of sixth and seventh year Slytherin, excluding Malfoy and Zabini."

"Why not Draco Malfoy?"

"We think he is a traitor."

"Why not Zabini?"

"He told us he wasn't interested."

Then for the first time, Joanne looked someone in the eye, it was Dumbledore. Then she keeled over in her chair and passed out.

"Gave her a bit too much I see," Morgan said dryly.

Snape shot her a cold look but Morgan rolled her eyes, "Before you use your razor sharp tongue on me Snape, I suggest you hear me out," she spat.

"What could you possibly have to say that-"

"I know how to find Lily, and you don't," she said imperiously.

"Just how do you suppose we do that?" he asked testily.

"You Snapes are all the same aren't you?" she growled.

"What do you mean by that?" he said in his low, silky voice. Harry always flinched when he heard this voice, so he began to respect Morgan when she stood up to him.

"Pompous, egotistical, moronic, greasy haired gits is what I mean by that," she said in a cold cutting voice.

"Now Miss Estellan-" Dumbledore said with a badly hidden chuckle.

"Oh, I almost forgot inbred," she added with a sneer.

Harry was in wow. He looked over at Ron and Harry thought Ron looked like he was going to cry. He was fighting hard not to laugh, biting his fist furiously behind Snape's back.

Harry could tell Snape was gritting his teeth in an effort not to do something utterly terrible, such as an Unforgivable. But to his credit he said, "I'd be here a long time if I were to describe all the family characteristics of the Estellan family. But young Aden has told me enough about you to know all of them seemed to pass on though the generations. I remember your mother was quite the whor-"

"-rible transfiguration student," Dumbledore interjected. "As much fun as it is to reminisce about old family rivalries such as the Snapes and Estellans, I fear we have an actual purpose for meeting here other than to insult each other. Perhaps, Miss Estellan, you could tell us exactly how you can find Miss Lily."

Morgan nodded and Harry silently applauded her. "Her wand-"

"She has to use it first," Snape spat out, interrupting her.

"I wasn't finished Snape," she said coldly. "Her wand was made by my dear uncle, Johannes Ollivander."

Harry's mouth dropped in surprise. He'd never known that Morgan had been related to Ollivander, the slightly odd wand maker. But he did see the resemblance in the eyes. Hers were a pale green, piercing and slightly intimidating. And Ollivander had the same pale characteristics, but with less color than Morgan's, more moonshine, less green.

"Anyway," Morgan continued, "I'm apprenticed to him, I'll probably be the first Estellan to own Ollivanders seeing as though he has not children at this point. But as I was saying, he has a way to find his wands, mind you, only the extremely magical ones. And I know for a fact that he has a trace on Lily's wand. And Harry's at that. He has traces on everyone in his family and loads of other people, including Minerva McGonagall, Cherry Woodsrow, Lucius Malfoy, Remus Lupin, and you, Albus Dumbledore."

"So if he has mine," Harry said carefully, joining the conversation for the first time that evening, "Why can't he trace Voldemorts? They are brothers after all."

"Ah, yes," Morgan said with a wan smile, "Uncle Johannes has mourned over that often. He can't find it unless Tom Riddle is holding it, the person he sold it to must be in possession of the wand at the time for him to find it. Because you see, when the right wand is in the possession of the right witch or wizard, a special sort of energy is given from them, an energy that he has figured out how to trace. You all know what I mean, that burst of warm power I'm sure you felt when your first wand was given to you, unless you didn't get it from Ollivander of course."

"But he does have his wand," Harry said, "I know he does, we battled in my fourth year and we performed the Proiri Incatem."

"Oh really! Does he, Mr. Potter? You've seen Tom Riddle if I'm not mistaken, when Voldemort battled you, did he look like Tom Riddle? Did he call himself Tom Riddle? Who exactly do you thing Uncle Johannes sold the wand to, Tom or Voldemort?"

"Well," Harry said, a bit unsure of himself now, "he probably sold it to Tom Riddle. But they are the same people," he finished quickly.

"No Harry," Dumbledore interrupted in a solemn and serious voice, "Tom Riddle, as I knew him and Johannes Ollivander, no longer exhists. As you may remember from your second year, Tom Marvelo Riddle is Lord Voldemort, but Voldemort is not Tom Riddle."

"Couldn't have said it better myself Headmaster Dumbledore," Morgan said. "But now the question is: what to do?"

"Well we have to go get her!" Ron exploded, speaking for the first time.

"Not so easily said as done, Mr. Weasley," Snape drawled coldly.

"As much as I hate to agree with him, Snape is right. One does not simply waltz into the ranks of Voldemort and..." but she trailed off and her eyes went unfocused for a bit. She licked her lips and ran a hand absently through her hair. "Unless...you could," she said, eyes focusing on Snape.

"It would be very dangerous," Dumbledore spoke up.

"But we can't leave her there," Harry said firmly.

Ron nodded behind him.

Morgan's fingers went to her hair again. "I need Blaise."

"What do you need that git for?" Ron snapped.

Morgan's head whipped at him, "Blaise is my cousin, he worked at Ollivander's with me this summer."

"Oh," Ron said, "Right then."

Morgan rolled her eyes, and to Harry's amusement, Snape did as well at the same time. He chuckled but disguised it as a cough and saw Dumbledore tactfully done the same thing.

"Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said to Ron, "If you could find Mr. Zabini, I believe he is in his dormitory, the password is Dracule el Impaler."

Morgan scoffed and said, "Nice."

Ron left, a bit confused.

"Shouldn't we be rescuing Lily right now," Harry said desperately.

"Harry," Dumbledore said kindly, "We can't go rushing in with no plan."

"Contrary to common belief," Snape said under his breath.

"Well let's make a plan!" Harry said impatiently. "I've got one, Snape takes me to Voldemort and trades me for Lily. Simple, painless, and-"

"-stupid," Snape finished in an exasperated voice. "He would take you and kill the girl."

"Have a better idea?" growled Harry.

"The Hammer and Anvil Diversion!" Morgan said enthusiastically.

"Huh?" Harry said.

"What are you talking about you silly girl?" Snape lashed out.

"I must admit I am interested in this theory of yours Miss Estellan," Dumbledore said calmly.

"It is so beautifully simple," she said with a dreamy smile, "I learned it in a Muggle military tactics book, they are very creative when it comes to ways to defeating an enemy. This one is called the Hammer and Advil Diversion Technique. Now, what would be the easiest thing for Voldemort to believe about us? That Harry was a simple, foolish headstrong Gryffindor who would do anything to save a friend. And who would most readily back him up? Albus Dumbledore of course!"

"I don't get it," Harry said.

"Okay, the original Hammer and Anvil was designed for hundreds of men to perform, but the best thing about it is its flexibility. Basically, one side of an army, we'll call it the Hammer, drives the opposing force right into the army's other half, the Anvil. The enemy is trapped and squashed between the two forces and is defeated."

"Then why don't we just do that?" Harry said.

"We aren't powerful enough," Dumbledore replied.

"As I was saying," Morgan continued, "Harry will appear before Voldemort and attack him, the Hammer. This is something Voldemort expects. Then, Dumbledore, I assume you'll want a role in all this, will be behind him, the Anvil. Something else Voldemort expects. That is when you, Snape come it. As a Death Eater, you will probably be asked to come to your lord sometime soon, it would be easy for you to slip away during the confusion and Disaperate with Lily. Then Harry and Dumbledore Disaperate. Simple, effective, I love it. Now pick it apart."

"Potter can't Disaperate," Snape said.

"Get him a Port Key," she said with an imperious toss of her curly black hair.

"Potter isn't strong enough to challenge Voldemort as he is now," Snape hissed.

"I believe you are wrong about that Severus," Dumbledore said, standing from his seat.

Harry smiled.

"The flaw I see in your plan, has nothing to do with Harry, Miss Estellan," he said in a tired voice. Harry frowned at this, along with Snape. "I am old. I can feel it, feel it in my bones Miss Estellan. While I could probably stand up against Voldemort in one fantastic showdown, there are slim chances that even I would win. Because even if I did, it wouldn't help us, there will be numerous Death Eaters, I am assuming, just waiting to be Voldemort's heir."

"So you won't even try?" Harry said in a disappointed voice.

"I did not say that, Harry," Dumbledore said with a bit of an edge in it. "I merely will need some assistance from a good friend."

He walked over to one of his cabinets and took a golden key from a pocket in his robes that Harry had never seen before. He unlocked the cabinet and took out a bottle that was tiny, about the size of Harry's small finger, and the outside of it read, in very small print, Godric, Helga, Rowena, and Salazar's Secret. Everyone looked at the tiny blue bottle with interest.

"This, my friends, is what the forefathers of Hogwarts, slaved very, very, very hard over for many a year. It is the Shielding Charm in liquid form, and it is very powerful. One drop of this on the Hogwarts campus, and you could blast it with every curse imaginable for twenty years straight and nothing would happen, except-"

But Harry interrupted him, "Then why not give it to the people. If it is so great, then why not mass produce it and protect people?"

"Because Harry," he explained gently, "It doesn't work on Avada Kedevra, that is why. And," he continued, "it is very rare and hard to make."

"I bet Hermione could make it," Harry mumbled.

"Perhaps she could at that," Dumbledore mused, "But she would waste her life, it takes a very long time to make."

"Some one miss the 'many a year,' part of the speech, did they?" Morgan said snidely.

"Well let's just take some and get to Lily," Harry growled.

"Right then," Dumbledore said, "And that would be Messrs. Weasley and Zabini at the door."

And soon enough, Blaise and Ron walked though the door and into the office.

Morgan swept over to him and began speaking to him in a language Harry couldn't understand. But it sounded a bit like what he had once heard Parvati and Padma Patil saying when they were alone, so it was possible it was Indian.

Blaise nodded and gave her his wand.

"Harry," Morgan said, "We need to borrow your wand."

"Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"We need three wands made by Uncle Ollivander and are traceable to find a fourth," she explained patiently.

Harry reluctantly gave up his wand and watched as they put their wands into a triangle on the floor.

"Which direction is north, Headmaster Dumbledore?" she asked after a moment.

Dumbledore pointed merrily towards his door.

Morgan nodded and rearranged the triangle so its point faced north. Then she and Blaise stood up by their wands, "Harry," Morgan said, "come and stand by your wand."

Harry came and gave a dark look at Blaise, whom he still didn't trust. But Blaise ignored him and Morgan spoke again, "Now Blaise, Harry, and I are going to be conductor of a sort for the wand you wish to find. We will hold hands and, I warn you, something weird is going to happen. I've only seen this done once, but what happened, was a person outside the triangle called out the name of the person they wanted to find, just say 'Lily, Rowan wood, thirteen one half inches, sphinx feather, star dust, and Basilisk plume.' Then a map of sorts will appear above us. It will only appear for five seconds, so get a good look. Now," she said, turning to Harry and Blaise, "you've done this before Blaise, but Harry, don't be afraid, it feels weird I'm told, but you have to be relaxed with it, that is the only was we can find Lily. Okay, let's hold hands, Headmaster will you do the honors?"

And then Morgan grabbed one of his hands, and Blaise the other. The same sensation that he had gotten when he first got his wand rushed through him again, only much stronger. And the warmth wasn't only in his fingers now, it was in his whole body, flowing through him, it was everywhere. He vaguely heard someone say, "Lily, Rowan wood, thirteen one half inches, sphinx feather, star dust, and Basilisk plume." Hey, I know where that is, he thought. The warm magical feeling rushed through him a hundred miles an hour and then stopped abruptly. There, right there, he thought. He stayed in that place for what seemed not long enough, rotating in space, and then he was jerked back quickly and without warning.

He found himself on the floor, coughing and with out glasses. Some one handed them to him and he found it was Morgan.

"Quite a ride, eh Harry," she said with a mischievous smile.

"Yeah," he said, mind still reeling. Then he remembered, "Where is she?"

Dumbledore frowned heavily, "They have taken her to a very evil place, full of dark magic. They have taken her to the Ring of Brodgar, on the Orkney Islands."

Harry saw Morgan flinch at this and he raised en eyebrow at her.

"My ancestors are from the Orkneys, my Le Fay blood on my mother's side," she explained, "I cannot go there, it...it doesn't agree with me."

Dumbledore nodded and Snape looked, well, Harry didn't know what Snape looked, it could have been something akin to sympathy, but he wasn't sure.

"What does that have to do with anything?" he asked.

"Leave her alone," Blaise hissed now.

"It is okay, cousin, he doesn't know," Morgan said softly.

"You see Harry, Morgan is a descendent of Morgan Le Fay, I assume you know who that is," Dumbledore said.

Harry nodded.

"Well, when Morgan Le Fay was in the Orkneys, the local witches council didn't agree with her, and banished her. They banished her so thoroughly, that her blood descendents can feel the hatred in her veins, and die if they stay too long on them."

"Oh," he said apologetically.

"Well," Morgan said, a little too brightly, "You've got to get yourself a Port Key Harry, and a drop of that liquid Shield Charm while you're at it. Hop to it, haven't got all day have we?"

Lily was cold. Lily was awake! Good Merlin! Finally, now where the hell am I? she wondered. She cautiously opened an eye, and to her relief, it opened. She looked around and saw she was in a cave sort of place and she was all alone...and tied up very well.

Her dress was very muddy and slightly wet, which only bothered her because it was really cold outside. She tugged at her binds and they tightened more, Great, she thought, magic rope. Perfect. Wet clothes, no blankets, and magic rope, this was a good vacation, can I go home now? She sighed and tried to feel for her wand. It was still there. What sort of idiots am I dealing with? She wondered.

Then she heard foot steps coming down some stairs she assumed were behind her. Actually, there were a couple of foot steps.

"Are you awake girl?" a cold drawl asked.

"Is the sky blue?" she asked snidely.

The cold voice snorted and the person who it belonged to walked over into her path of vision, the other stopped at the bottom of the stairs. There was no doubt about it; that was Lucius Malfoy.

"Hm, blonde hair, steely gray eyes, feminine features, ya must be a Malfoy. Ta tell ya the truth, the stench gave it away," she said with a smirk.

"You don't really seem to be in any position to be disrespectful, Miss Merrins," he said in a confident voice.

"Perhaps with a bath an' a nice change o' clothes I'd be more agreeable," she snapped, bearing her teeth at him.

"Mmm, not even a please," he said in a silky voice Lily liked none too much. "But, if this is what the lady requests...Crabbe, give the lady a bath."

Then a hulking man came into her peripheral vision, but it wasn't Crabbe, Must be his father, she thought. He picked her up and flung her over his shoulder with a dumb sounding, idiot's laugh.

Lily took the chance to look around her, and saw Lucius Malfoy standing with his arms crossed, looking very happy for some reason. She glared at him through her hair and his shoes made a clicking sound as he followed them up the stairs.

It was dark out side, not because it was night, but because there were so many clouds. Lily figured they were somewhere in the north by the looks of the land, or somewhere in the southern hemisphere. Then she saw the rock formations. Tall vertical rocks littered the place in a large circle. It was too big to be Stonehenge, but it could be...

"The Ring o' Brodgar," she said in a hushed voice. It was a very evil place, good things did not happen here, not at all.

"Very good, Miss Merrins," Malfoy Sr. said in his cold drawl, Lily sensed a bit of cruelness in it and suspected she shouldn't have teased him. "I wasn't aware that Americans were so well educated."

She opened her mouth to say she wasn't in fact an American, but closed it quickly and settled for a glare instead.

They were walking to the sandy beach of the Orkneys when Lily saw it. A large, stone throne atop a hill, not to far from where they were, but far enough so that she couldn't figure out who was on it, or the people around them. There seemed to be a darkness radiating from it, an evil darkness that she really didn't want to get to know too well.

And then the lumbering man set her down and she would have fallen over had he not put both his hands on her shoulders. The water pooled around her feet as the waves rushed over her and she shivered. Crabbe behind her made her even more uncomfortable than she thought she would have been on the ground because he was breathing down her neck and she suspected drooling.

"Now," Lucius said, "Retreus!"

The ropes flew off her and just as she was about to reach for her wand, Malfoy Sr. said, "Give her a bath, Crabbe."

Crabbe grabbed a hold of her dress and kicked her back, ripping off her dress and causing her to fly into the icy Orkney bay. The water splashed around her, pricking needles in her skin, and rocky ocean bottom cutting her feet. Lily screamed and thrashed about in the ice cold water. It was colder than anything she had ever experienced, and she hated cold.

"You mother fucking piece o' shit! Get me out o' her ya inbred, fornicatin' PIG!" she screeched at the top of her lungs.

She threw back her hair so it was out of her eyes and saw Malfoy and Crabbe laughing uproariously on the sandy beach. She knew she was only wearing her black knickers and bra, and she knew that they found her discomfort humorous. So what, men have seen my body, many men, who cares, she told herself, but she knew she did at least a little.

"Get me a coat ya slimy, perverted bastards!" she yelled from the biting water.

They laughed a little while longer and Lily restrained from walking up there and wailing on them, especially Malfoy's pretty boy face, Bastards, she thought.

"Had a good enough bath," Malfoy called.

"Shuddup," Lily muttered, standing up. This was possibly a bad idea because when the wind hit her skin, and there was wind, it intensified the cold a hundred times. She shivered as she walked slowly out of the water, not even bothering to cover herself. She felt Crabbe's eyes and Malfoy's eyes run over her body and felt sickened.

"Had a good enough look?" she asked, wringing out her hair, "Now, give. Me. My. Robes."

Malfoy's eyes roamed over her body again and said, "My, my, my, they are right about American girls. Draco was right too, are you sure you weren't an exotic dancer in America?"

"Quite," she growled. "Now hand over the dress so this idiot will stop starin' at me like a piece o' meat o' I'll start ta get really angry."

"Big words," Malfoy Sr. said slowly, "But one wonders why you are so interested in these robes."

"Duh, could it be I'm cold? I'm wearing nothing but my knickers an' a bra? It is like twelve degrees outside? I'm soakin' wet? Take yo' pick," she spat.

Malfoy frowned and threw her robes at her. Then in a moment of very bad luck, her wand fell out, two feet in front of Malfoy. He looked at it, and then at Lily. Lily dove for the wand and jumped to her feet before Malfoy even had his wand.

"Not feelin' so in control now Malfoy, eh?"

The look of horror only fueled her victory fire, but just as she was about to say something, his face broke out into a smile and a cold, raspy voice behind her called out, "Crucio!"

A searing pain all over her body lashed out. Her nerves went into over drive as the spell hit her. It was worse than the water, hell, she would sell her soul to have the water as a form of torture. And then it stopped.

Gasping for breath and on her back, she fought the tears in her eyes, successfully for once. It seemed that her blood ached, her very blood as it lethargically returned to a normal pace in her veins.

Lily turned herself over and pushed up so she was in a half sitting position. Looking up through her hair, she saw the most disgusting sight she had ever seen; grayish white skin that looked like it had never seen the sun, liquid black, soulless eyes, a tiny sort of nose, and thin lips, all on one hideous, thin and bald six foot tall man, or what might have once been a man. Lily controlled her urge to vomit, from the man or from the curse, she didn't know. The only thing she did know, was that was evil himself, the Dark Lord, Voldemort, and she was terrified.

She couldn't really tell if he was looking her in the eye when she spoke, for he had no iris or cornea, just black. But when he did speak, it was a wretched sort of scratchy speech, similar to that of something one might hear from a dying person.

"Why have you brought me Harry Potter?" he asked.

Lucius trembled and said, "My Lord, this is not Harry Potter, this is Lilith Merrins, his friend and Salem's Academy student. The one you requested, the agent in Hogwarts."

"This is no Merrins, this is a Potter, Lucius. What is the meaning of this joke, for that is what I assume it is," he asked in a threateningly low voice.

"No jest, my Lord," Lucius simpered, "just a girl, just a girl."

Then it hit her, Voldemort couldn't see. He must have some sort of extra-sensory thing going on, like a snake. Or he forfeited his ability to see for a spell, I've heard of a spell like that, sort of like seeing with out eyes, sight without sight sort of thing, she guessed.

Then Voldemort walked over to her and a sniffing sort of noise came from him. Lily lay perfectly still, not wanting him to touch her. He backed up again, and Lily, temporarily forgetting the cold, stood up as well, determined not to show fear.

"What are you?" Voldemort finally asked her.

"A human," she answered in a voice sharp with emotion.

He must have caught her insult because he threw back his head and let out a sharp sort of laugh. "Very funny girl," he said in that icy, harsh voice, "But answer my questions or suffer the Cruciatus once again."

Lily sneered and said, "A human, girl."

This time Voldemort frowned and pulled out his wand. Lily grabbed hold of the Time Turner Hermione made for her, preparing for the worst, and Voldemort's wand hand dropped, "What is that?"

Lily shook her head and scooted over the sandy beach a couple of feet.

"Accio necklace!" he shouted. The Time Turner ripped off her neck and flew into the hands of Voldemort. He looked at it and smiled. This scared Lily more than any of his other expressions, simply because it was attempting at a human thing, but not quite succeeding. "How very handy, a Time Turner. Though I must admit, I've never seen one like this before. It radiates very powerful magic."

Lily didn't say a thing.

"Now you really are a conundrum, my dear," he continued. "And I'm willing to bet you aren't a Merrins at all. In fact, I'm willing to bet you are from the future; which would explain the date on the back of this pocket watch, 1998, a year that hasn't even happened yet. In which case, it would be possible for you to be Harry Potter's daughter. Very interesting indeed. Lucius," he barked over her shoulder, "What does she look like?"

Malfoy, he looked much more sure of himself now that he had no fear of being punished, stood up straight and smirked, saying, "Now that you mention it, she does have Potter's looks. In the eyes and hair definitely. Though she must have her mother's body. There is no doubt she is an attractive young woman, tanned skin and full bodied."

Lily fought the urge to puke again, but stayed silent, this was no time to let her mouth get carried away.

"Well Miss Potter," Voldemort said, again wearing the hideous grin, "I'll be needing some information about the future about now, and instructions on how to work this Time Turner."

"Go to hell, Voldemort!" she said, spitting at him.

His lip curled up in that smile she hated and said, "I may just enjoy breaking you girl, Crucio!"

Lily was hit by the Cruciatus once again, but this time, she didn't remember when it stopped, or if it stopped. Only she wished upon wish that some one, her mother, Auntie Hermione, anyone, would come and save her. And her world went black again.