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Assistant: Title: Bonds of Grey, Book 3: The Ignoble House of Evans
        Author: Booklover3600 Booklover3600 
        Chapter: 12/15 
        Summary: The Basilisk is dead and Hogwarts is back open, but new threats are on the horizon. Fenrir Greyback and his pack are heading back to Britain, the Ministry of Magic is resisting the power grab of Harry and his allies in Wizengamot, A certain prisoner (or prisoners) of Azkaban finally manages to escape, and Lily Evans is still free and plotting.Harry, the rest of the readers, and their allies will need to face off against enemies both in the political field and the battlefield, and this time they might not all make it out alive.
        Contents: Chapter 12
    

    


      
        
          Just a heads up, I changed some things around, so this is actually the third Lily Flashback chapter, which takes place towards the end of her third year, but there's also some scenes with Harry in modern day sprinkled in, so pay attention to the date headings when they change! Especially the year!Besides that ... Well, good luck Charlie.Trigger Warnings: Lily Evans. Pandora Lovegood. Manipulation. Mentioned character deaths (kinda).
            
            (See the end of the chapter for  more notes.)
            
      
  

  
  
    
    
  May 2, 1994
Valerie Abreo isn’t quite sure how she got wrangled into doing this favor for the two Lordlings before her.Well, that’s not exactly true. The crux of the matter is that somehow that crafty auror, Tonks, managed to convince Robert that it would be advantageous for Harry to practice another attribute of Black Magic. The fact that Harry already can cast in more than one attribute is terrifying enough, considering the devastation he wrought on his bondmates and himself with just one attribute, but then again, the Lovegood girl seemed to be at least proficient in three!From there, Robert and Tonks managed to convince Cyn (Or Cynthia today) of the usefulness of watching Harry practice, before Tonks revealed that his training partner was not only a magical citizen of France, but a student!And not just any student, but Fleur Delacour herself.She will give Harry credit; the kid knows how to pick them. Valerie is a High Mage, a Mugwump on the ICW. She’s faced Fenrir Greyback himself. And yet, Fleur Delacour scares her a bit.Somehow all of this culminated in Valerie transporting the two lordlings allowed on this trip: Harry Slytherin and Hannah Hufflepuff, as well as Cynthia to Beauxbatons. Valerie isn’t sure how the British contingent managed to convince Olympe Maxime to let not one, but two of her students out of classes on a Monday afternoon to participate in a highly unusual training session with a Mage candidate, but she’s certain she’s better off not knowing.Though, if Valerie had to guess, she’s sure that Viera threw her considerable prestige she gain in France after the Valentine’s Day attack to pressure the headmistress.“Olympe.” Valerie greets the headmistress warmly, biting back a giggle when the outrageously tall woman bends down to press a kiss to her cheeks. “It’s good to see you.”“And you too, Mugwump Abreo,” Olympe teases.“Please, please, just Valerie.”From behind Valerie, standing in one of the various training fields on Beauxbatons, Harry and Hannah stand together. Harry waves excitedly to the two young ladies standing behind Olympe, Fleur and who Valerie assumes is her bonded, Pauline Ruthers. Harry winces at the effort, gently caressing his injured arm as Hannah scolds the boy. Standing a few feet away from the pair, Cynthia looks positively exasperated, but that’s about par the course for Valerie’s niece.“And then must be your …”“Niece,” Valerie offers to Olympe. “Cynthia, this is Headmistress Olympe Maxime, a dear friend. And these two-“ Valerie gestures the Lordlings closer. “-are Lord Harry Slytherin of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin and Lord Hannah Hufflepuff of the Most Ancient and Noble house of Hufflepuff.”“Please, just our first names,” Hannah offers. “Please.”Olympe laughs, a deep, rumbling noise, before she gestures her students forward. “A pleasure. These are my students, Heir Apparent Fleur Delacour and Miss Pauline Ruthers.”Fleur curtsies to Cynthia, but Pauline ignores the custom, pushing forward and pulling Harry into a side hug.Valerie watches, a few feet back, as Harry makes more informal introductions between the teens, smiling a bit at the sight. From what Valerie remembers, Pauline and Harry have only met once, but the girl already seems rather attached to the boy. That seems to be rather common for the teen, who is a rather polarizing force. He’s either loved or hated, never simply ignored or tolerated.And Valerie, against her better judgment, is falling into the former category, rather than the latter.“So, Valerie, how exactly did you get roped into this? Surely you have more important things to do with your new position. Perhaps reprimanding some stubborn RRWs?”Valerie scowls. “I wish. It’s all rather f@ck@ng delicate right now, especially since Harry chopped of the Squad Leader’s hand, who happened to be the son of an influential High Mage in Germany.”“That’s still no excuse. They attacked children.”“I’m aware, Olympe. The problem is most people don’t see Harry as a child. Well, most people at least.”Harry, standing in the middle of a circle of teen girls, who are replacing the bandages on the boy’s injured arm, all four, including Cynthia, scolding his stupidity. Valerie admits, his arm is a mess, purple and red rather than tan, blotted with bruises and healing wounds. From what Valerie hears, it took Tracey two days to get his arm in working order. It would have been easier to replace the limb, but with his upcoming trial, against a Magister no less, he needs his arm.“Do you believe he can do it?” Olympe Maxime asks, staring at the boy with abject pity in her eyes. “Put on enough of a show against Magister Carter.”She winces. She’s certain that Imani Carter would put Valerie herself on the ground in minutes, she doesn’t see how Harry has a chance.“Based on what I’ve seen of his current capabilities … No. But, if Harry is anything like his Aunt Emmeline describes, he’s got a trick or two up his sleeve.”---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Lily is sitting in the bedroom of the apartment they’ve “acquired”, already growing weary of the number of inhabitants crowded within the small space. The wolves take up entirely too much room, even in the magically expanded apartment. Thankfully the coven doesn’t require nearly as much, only occupying the singular bedroom without a window.It doesn’t help that Lily is forced to sacrifice an entire bedroom just to keep Evelyn from escaping. Her eldest daughter is a crafty creature. If not for Lily’s monitoring of Evelyn’s future, the girl would have surely escaped by now. Thankfully, her ability makes it easy to thwart the admittedly clever girl’s plans.Especially the last one, which involved no less than three homemade bombs crafted from cleaning materials and a shiv.Her training really is progressing marvelously.“Phoenix.” Lily stiffens at the woman’s approach. While Lily hasn’t had a true partner in years, not since Pandora’s passing, Bat is the closest thing Lily has to a trusted confidant.“Trusted” being a word that Lily uses rather loosely to describe the woman. Bat has never turned against Lily, even when she’s had cause. So, so much cause. But Lily knows their partnership is tenuous, hanging on due to a shared ideology and goals rather than any real connection they once shared.“Please, just use my name. Everyone knows it here, even the wolves.”Bat nods sharply, the hand-crafted mask clinging to her face.“I had assumed that you would be out, courting those RRWs.”Lily almost smirks at the plot. Approaching the squad that Harry and Tracey humiliated two weeks prior was a very fruitful endeavor. She had correctly guessed that pressing the tensions toward the British children, especially the healer and the wandless Mage candidate, would have fruitful results, but it was even more bountiful than she imagined. With nothing more than her wit and a sprinkle of Serenity Magic, Lily Evans has convinced almost fifty RRWs to join her cause, at least for a singular attack. Granted, the lot are the weakest and most miserable f@ck@rs within the elite task force, most of them barely better than a middling British Auror, but Lily doesn’t need skill. She needs wands. She needs fodder and targets.“We’re meeting later, in a few hours at least. Once I get confirmation on something.”Lily winces, having heard the small amount of hesitation in her own voice. She hadn’t meant to reveal the importance of the day to anyone, mostly because it wasn’t important. Not at all.It was just …It was only important to her. And to him.“It’s today, right?” Bat asks, her voice surprisingly soft. “Today that changed it?”Lily bites back a sneer. She hates this traitorous bit of emotion still lingering for eldest child. She was so sure that she strangled that strand of love years ago, after the troll attack on Hallow’s Eve. She resents being forced to feel this, especially over something positive. Something good.“Yes,” Lily spits. “Yes, it’s today.”The day she’s been waiting for, proof of her work and the awful choices she’s made, has finally arrived after over two decades.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  April 22, 1972
Lily watches as she takes the usual path down the stairs of Hogwarts that Saturday morning, never deviating from the path. Not that it makes much sense to deviate from the path that you’ve found successful. There’s a handful of students that memorize the chaos that is the stairways at Hogwarts, mostly bright-eyed eagles with a fascination for Magical History that not even Binns can destroy. However, for most students travel during the busiest times of the day at the castle is a matter of trial and error and then stringently following the path and time you’ve found to be the most successful.Hogwarts is a chaotic place, even without taking the students into account, but by Merlin, Lily’s peers add to the chaos of the castle. Everywhere she looks, Lily notices throngs of students, all buried in their own interpersonal drama.Jonathan Thorne, one of the three Gryffindor muggleborns in Lily’s year, is walking alongside Cedar Parkinson. Compared to the chaos of Jonathan’s roommates, the notorious marauders, he’s rather bland in comparison. A decent student, middle-tier probably, but impressive considering the disadvantages muggleborns face when starting at Hogwarts. Still, he mostly blends into the background, except for his interesting friendship with Cedar. Cedar Parkinson, the Heir Apparent of his very Dark House, is on paper the perfect Dark Heir, given his academic record and his Slytherin sorting. However, his friendship with Jonathan and the fact that he never cut ties with his twin, Catherine, after her surprising sorting to Hufflepuff makes him an outcast in his Slytherin and a disgrace to his House. But just enough of a disgrace that he’s ignored, rather than attacked. Lucky him.Speaking of Catherine, the girl walks by with a gaggle of hufflepuff year mates, none of them worth Lily’s notice. Serena’s roommates are notoriously vapid and unnoteworthy, including Catherine herself. Though, Lily does notice the way Jonathan’s eyes trail after his best friend’s sister, Cedar not even noticing the exchange as he continues to ramble about his sessions with the new Hogwarts Medi-Witch, Madam Pomfrey.As she turns another corner, Lily catches sight of Alice Peasegood, a finger twirling in her hair as the girl listens to the new Gryffindor prefect, Frank Longbottom, give her advice on how to achieve the position in two years herself when she’s a fifth year. Lily is quite sure that Alice, while listening intently, has no plans of following Frank’s advice. She seems much more focused on her true goal, securing the very single (and admittedly handsome) Heir Apparent to a Most Ancient and Noble House. A common sight given that each of the seven Houses have an Heir Apparent in Hogwarts, though Adrian Greengrass was betrothed to Miriam Peakes, a ravenclaw girl in Lily’s year, the previous month, and Tiberius Nott is set to marry a girl from a French family the following summer, before his seventh year.Around another corner, she catches sight of Alice’s cousin, Helena Fortescue, as she also attempts to entrance yet another famed Heir, Edgar Bones. From behind Edgar, she spots Mitchell Abbott laughing at as his friend blushes profusely, the two young men having formed an actual friendship after being sorted into the same house. Lily will even admit that Edgar isn’t that unbearable anymore, compared to his earlier brashness. He, along with Mitchell, are even among Serena’s closest friends within her own Hogwarts House, so it’s clear that the House of the Loyal and Hardworking has humbled the heir.Down another hall, the girl quickly speeds past the marauders, the notorious group consisting of James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin, all her housemates. On a better day, she might stop and chat with the group, but given the way all four are huddled together, whispering conspiratorially, it is in her best interest to get as far away as possible. As she passes, Lily swears she hears James whisper “Rosier”, likely Evan Rosier, one of the “enemies” of the group.On one of the staircases leading down to the Great Hall, she spots the pair of sisters, Narcissa and Andromeda Black. Their eldest sister, Bellatrix, graduated when Lily was a first year, thank Merlin. The other two aren’t nearly as bad, the younger sisters mostly staying out of the spotlight. Though, Lily has heard rumors of Andromeda dating a Hufflepuff in secret, and a muggleborn at that. Given the fervent whispers passing between the seventh year and her younger sister, Narcissa, Lily wonders just how true the rumors are. Both girls immediately clam up as their younger cousin, Regulus, passes by, with his best friend and bondmate Barty, giving even more legitimacy to the rumors.She passes the library, easily spotting Aurora Zabini and Gary Ollivander at the front table, both first years with a nearly insurmountable stack of books in front of them, seemingly in no hurry to get to the Great Hall for breakfast. The rivalry between the ravenclaw and slytherin first year duo is almost notorious, both smashing all the academic ratings of their peers and even leaving the other eagles of their year in the dust.Things are even more chaotic the closer she gets to the Great Hall. Marietta Flint and Juniper Boot leave one of the broom closets together, to the horror of Juniper’s younger brother, who happened to be walking past. Adrian, Marietta’s bondmate, rolls his eyes disapprovingly at his friend, but mostly ignores her antics, keeping his arm draped around Miriam’s shoulder as he leads his girlfriend to breakfast.At the Slytherin table, a cheer goes up among the upper years, cheering for the couple as Edward Dagworth-Granger and Augustus Rookwood as the pair announce their engagement. The girl is quick to avoid that part of the Great Hall, all those celebrating more than happy to curse a muggleborn girl like her just for looking in their direction too long, even as they’re making a scene.Jacob Potter, James’ younger cousin, and Emmeline Vance are seen bickering at the Gryffindor table. Those two are always a hair’s breadth away from a fist fight, even now, as they are holding hands under the table while eating breakfast. A few seats down, Marlene is leaned over the table, flirting with a group of sixth year girls, a very common sight, though she is normally joined by Sirius, who is mysteriously absent today.The girl finally sits, the only third year Gryffindor having arrived so far, ignoring Marlene who still has at least five pick-up lines left in her before she finally gives up and joins her year-mates. The girl looks up, pushing her curly hair out of her face and looks up as one of her roommates enters the hall.Lily watches, through Mary Macdonald’s eyes, as Lily herself enters the Great Hall, just on schedule, only for a step into a rune circle that activates just for her, turning her hair a bright, neon pink and her skin a ghastly green color.Evan Rosier, the obvious mastermind behind this prank and a thorn in Lily’s side for the last three years, strides forward. Lily can’t quite hear what the man is saying, Mary is sitting too far away and the laughter from the slytherins is too loud, but she can guess that he’s saying something along the lines of, “Cheer up, Evans, you look good in green”. It’s a common sentiment from the annoying blonde teen, who has made it his personal mission to terrorize her ever since she insulted him on that first train ride to Hogwarts.Lily watches the rest of the day through Mary’s eyes, cringing each time she sees her awful appearance, which apparently will last the entire week, before she wakes.Or rather “wakes”. She’d officially woken up for the day half an hour before, earlier than any of her roommates, but now only Marlene is left in the dorm, snoring loudly as she ignores her alarm.It’s become habit to Lily to wake up early and view the day through Mary’s eyes, thanks to the blood relation between the two, as distant as it may be. It’s saved her from more than a few tricky spots and it certainly came in handy today. Mary will just have to eat breakfast by herself, or with Marlene and Alice when they eventually show up. Lily will grab something from the kitchen and enjoy the morning in the library, studying next to Aurora and Gary. Afterall, it seemed to be the only place in this school that she might get some peace and quiet.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hours later, after a quick lunch spent ignoring sneers from Evan Rosier, who always gets frustrated when she undermines his pranks, Lily steps into the little abandoned classroom on the fifth floor, closer to the Ravenclaw tower.The number of abandoned classrooms in this school is genuinely astonishing. According to Dorcas, there used to be several subjects offered at the school from Warding, to Enchanting, and even Wizarding Politics, but most of them have been dropped over the last century, supposedly to focus on the more important core studies. Lily’s friend made the unfortunate decision to announce that in front of her younger friend, Gary Ollivander, as well as Aurora Sinistra. Now the duo are practically hounding Dumbledore to add more classes with little success. Though, she has heard some rumors of an Astronomy class being added to the roster in the next year or so, so maybe the pair were successful, at least in part.The number of empty classrooms has been a blessing for their little group at least. Ever since the train ride during their first year, Serena, Dorcas, Severus, and Lily have remained close, meeting up almost every day to study together or just bemoan their fates as fellow muggleborn/raised students. They’ve all made friends outside of the group, of course, but Lily would consider these three her best friends.Serena is talking excitedly, the way she has been ever since Dorcas agreed to bond with the girl on her birthday, which is now fast approaching. Only about ten days out, if Lily remembers correctly. Despite being such close friends, none of them have taken the plunge and bonded, besides Severus and Lily who were bonded from before Hogwarts. It never seemed like that big of a deal, since non-familial bonds were rather rare at their age in the wizarding world, and they spent so little time in the muggle world. Especially Lily and Severus, who avoid going home for every holiday except summer.But it’s different now. It has been for the last year or so. Serena used to have the best home life of all four friends, with two loving and stable parents that would give up the world for their daughter. Lily even stayed with her friend for a few weeks following their first year, so she can personally attest that the Vaughns were great people.At least, until the car crash just after Easter last year fatally killed the pair, leaving Serena an unbonded orphan. Serena was a shell of herself for the remainder of their second year, only held together by her friends in hufflepuff and in this room.It was even worse during summer break. Serena won’t talk about it; the experience was just too traumatic for the teen. She can only imagine, given how she’s treated as someone with just a single bond. Sometimes she wonders how Serena even survived her grief.When the girl came back to Hogwarts last September, she was almost desperate for a bond. Any bond. Any connection to prove to the world that she was loved in the wake of her parents’ deaths and Dorcas quickly relented, promising to bond with the shorter blonde on her birthday. It was an almost cruel timeline, given that Serena’s birthday wasn’t until May. More than once Lily and Severus talked about possibly offering to bond with their friend earlier, but they didn’t want to upstage or scare off Dorcas, who was closer to Serena than either of them, or Severus didn’t want to give his tormentors in Slytherin another reason to attack him, so they backed off.“I talked to Edgar and Mitchell, and they said they would come, as extra witnesses,” Serena rattles off excitedly to Dorcas, as Lily and Severus listen on. “Of course, Sevie and Lily will be their too.” Severus winces at the nickname which all his female friends insist on using, even given his constant complaints. “And you can invite your other friends too! Helena and Gary. I want us to have everyone we love there, don’t you?”“Yeah, sure Serene,” Dorcas whispers, but the words are a bit distant. Even the nickname Dorcas lovingly (and ironically) gifted Serena during their second-year sounds almost sour on her lips. Serena, however, doesn’t seem to notice, too caught up in her fantasy of her first non-familial bond.Lily and Severus exchange uncomfortably glances. Dorcas was never the most enthusiastic person when it came to the idea of bonding as a group. She was the one who initially suggested waiting till graduation. Lily’s fairly certain that their friend is hiding a bond ability, the same way Lily is hiding hers with Severus’ help. Either way, Dorcas seems to be the member of their little group that has taken the most to the wizarding world, even adopting their customs when it comes to bonding.“We’re happy for you, Serena,” Lily says, reaching down to take Serena’s hand in hers. “And maybe next year, you can bond with Sevie and I too.”Serena smiles at her friends, gripping Lily’s hand so hard it hurts. “Thank you,” she whispers, with tears in her eyes. “I love you guys.”---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hours later, Lily follows Severus out of the small classroom, after Serena and Dorcas already departed. She’d intended to talk with her bondmate, maybe discuss whatever the hell is going on with Dorcas, but Lily doesn’t get the chance before she appears.Pandora Malfoy. Even the sight of the girl sends a shiver down Lily’s spine, something unnatural shining in her colorless grey eyes. Dorcas once commented that both Lily and Pandora had almost unnatural eyes, ones that just seem louder than normal, and Lily scoffed at the comparison.Her eyes might be a little unnaturally green, but they’re nothing like Pandora. She’s nothing like Pandora.Lily shakes her head a little, almost subtly, as Severus greets his friend. She doesn’t really know why she finds Pandora so horrifying, but something about the blonde sets her on edge every single time. She wishes she could avoid the girl entirely, but Severus just had to go and make friends with her. Not that Lily blames him, she’s never vocalized her unnatural unease to her bondmate, and Severus has the least friends outside of the little study group they’re both a part of, thanks to his awful housemates, so he deserves every friend he can get.Still, Lily wishes it wasn’t her.Lily does her best to smile at Severus, letting the man kiss her on the cheek before he leaves with Pandora. Lily waves her bondmate off, happy to be away from Pandora, even if it means leaving Severus behind.She doesn’t look back as she walks in the opposite direction, but she doesn’t need to. She can feel Pandora’s eyes watching her and the unsettling smile on her face as Lily flees---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  May 2, 1994
Fleur stares at her cousin’s beloved, the boy smiling as he curls the wall of flames as easily as he breathes.It wasn’t that Fleur was expecting his feat with Ash Magic a few weeks prior to be a fluke, but it’s different to experience it, even for a second time. Fleur has never met anyone that takes to the flames like she does, the magic bending eagerly to both of their wills.It’s awe-inspiring and terrifying, given what little she knows about Harry. For instance, that the boy used an aspect of Black Magic he was less skilled in and wrecked himself for the sake of a duel.His arm is an absolute mess, held together by more enchantments and potions than the boy cares to admit and pure spite. Cynthia, the Norwegian teen and seemingly the latest of Harry’s bizarre acquisitions, even says that they’ll likely amputate the limb after tomorrow’s duel, to give him a better chance at long-term recovery.Fleur hazards a look out at the watching crowd, trusting Harry to manage himself for a few moments, considering this practice is to get him ready for a duel tomorrow. With a f@ck@ng Magister.Pauline looks suitably impressed with the castings, but then again, Pauline has always been one of the few people in Fleur’s life that is completely unafraid of her flames. Even among her own family, only Theo can claim the same, the prejudice against veelas with a fire affinity even affecting her father at times.Hannah also seems similarly enthralled and unafraid. It was a surprise for Fleur to see a small flush on the blonde’s cheeks upon their introduction. She’d never met the teen before, but she knows from her cousin’s letters that Hannah is one of his closer friends that Theo isn’t romantically entangled with, so she’s heard enough about the young Lord. Including her crush on the other male from the infamous readers, the Finch-Fletchley boy. So, it was a bit surprising to see that Hannah was also affected by her allure, though Fleur is beginning to wonder which, if any, of her cousin’s contemporaries are not chaotically bisexual.Cynthia Nielsen is a bit more affected by the magic, keeping a much wider birth from the training area, but it seems to be a healthy respect rather than a deep-seated fear. The young woman is already on her third cigarette since arriving and if it wasn’t for a hasty explanation about her bond ability, Fleur would be much more concerned.In the back, Valerie Abreo watches with nail-biting worry, but her gaze seems to be mostly on Harry rather than Fleur. Yet another adult that has adopted the poor teen. In Fleur’s opinion, it’s starting to get a little out of hand.The final onlooker is none other than Headmistress Maxime herself. Fleur won’t delude herself into believing she’s the most beloved student of her headmistress, but in a year or two, that might be the case. Fleur is still only a fifth year, but her and Pauline have swept the academic rankings among their peers for the last three years, once Pauline finally adjusted to the knowledge gap that comes with being muggleborn. Spending half of her summers at Delacour Manor certainly helped.Overall, Fleur considers the headmistress among her strongest supporters. It’s not so much outward, but rather inward, seeing yet another witch with creature blood ascend to such a high position. France is one of the most forward-thinking countries when it comes to supporting those with creature blood, but there’s those among their leading Houses that would gladly follow the more stringent laws and customs of a country such as Britain.Fleur looks back to Harry, who has naturally surrounded himself in an armor of fire, the flames licking at his skin and hair. Only his eyes are visible through the flames, as piercing as ever.“It’s like I’ve forgotten I was cold,” Harry vocalizes, and Fleur can’t help the small sigh of relief at the statement, the teen’s word perfectly encapsulating how she feels every time she uses the magic. She doesn’t suffer because of its disuse, doesn’t suffer when the magic is not there to heat her skin, but she feels so much warmer when she feels the flames.“Merlin Harry, you sound psychopathic,” Hannah shouts at her friend, but seemingly amused by his sentiment.Harry ignores Hannah, looking to Fleur with a question curling in his flames that only she can see.“May I?” The green-eyed teen asks, the flames already reaching out to Fleur, almost invitingly.Fleur nods. Harry has phenomenal control, especially given his short-learning time, and she knows she can stop the flames if needed before they could harm her. As good as Harry is, she’s still fairly certain she could wrestle this amount of flames from him quickly, if needed. For now, at least.Fleur watches as Harry gently lifts his uninjured arm, the flames multiplying and half of them fleeing the boy, coming to spin around Fleur. The quarter-veela relaxes, letting her body be surrounded by the flames, before they seem to merge, concentrating behind her.Pauline gasps a little from behind Fleur, as the others all stare at her in awe. It’s not exactly an unusual sight, given her natural allure, but there’s something different about their gazes. More reverent.“Fleur,” Pauline whispers, a hand clasped over her back. “They’re beautiful.”“What is?” Fleur asks.Cynthia Nielsen steps forward, casting a mirror spell in front of Fleur, large enough for the teen to see her own reflection.And … Merlin.As a quarter veela with a fire inheritance, Fleur often struggles with identity. She’s barely accepted within her community, by her own relatives, due to lore about her kind during times of peace. Even her own mother struggles to train with Fleur, Aunt Madeline having done most of Fleur’s training with Ash Magic until she passed, despite not being able to cast the spells herself. She was just the only person unafraid enough to be near her when she practiced.She’s also never been able to transform into her veela-form. It’s possible, of course. There’s proof of even 1/16th veela transforming into the full-form, complete with the so-useful wings. Fleur, however, has never managed to complete the transformation, even in times of need. Her creature blood was supposed to bring her a physical transformation, with wings and skin as impenetrable as wolves, as well as a community that would understand her. Instead, all it brought her was an allure that’s painful to dull and a flame inheritance that scares off most, seemingly almost everyone except for her cousin’s peers and her dearest friend.And now, looking at her reflection, seeing how Harry manipulated the flames along her back … It’s almost too emotional to bear.Along Fleur’s back, seemingly connected to her shoulder blades, are a pair of glimmering, fiery wings. The shadows from the flames frame her face and the light seems to shine in her eyes.For the first time, Fleur finds herself … beautiful.She looks back at Harry, tears stinging her eyes, only to find Harry’s green orbs staring back at her, the teen nodding subtly.This is how he sees her. Not as a monster, not as a veela or an object of desire. Not even someone to be desired since it’s clear just how strongly he adores Fleur’s cousin. No, Harry sees her as someone strong and someone … beautiful. Not in spite of her flames and the inheritance that has plagued her, but because of it.Fleur sees Harry, really sees the boy, probably for the first time. She’s known about him for almost two years, of course, Theo writing about his roommate even on the first night. She’s even grateful to the teen for that night a year and some months ago, when Harry held her cousin through the anniversary of his mother’s death when Fleur couldn’t. But Fleur tends to see through males, judging them all for slights committed by the entire gender until she truly gets to know them.And now, despite hearing about her cousin’s beloved for such a long time and meeting him more than once, she really sees the boy for the first time.And she knows that Harry sees her too.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  April 25, 1972
The next few days are nerve-wracking for Lily. No matter what she attempts, how many different routes she takes through the complicated maze that is the Hogwarts Castle, she keeps running into Pandora Malfoy.It’s always been a bit of a problem, Pandora finding Lily during her most vulnerable moments. Namely, when she’s away from Mary and the details of her day are unseered because her ability only allows her to see through her relation’s eyes. It’s frustrating how Pandora always manages to track Lily down in those moments.But it’s been even worse for the last few days, ever since she left the study session with Severus. Usually, she runs into Pandora once or twice a week, outside of classes where she sits as far away from the girl as physically possible, but Lily has spotted the creepy blonde no less than five times a day since then! Often just watching Lily from afar, with a knowing smirk on her face that makes Lily want to scream.She considered the possibility that Pandora placed a tracking charm on her. After hours of going through her belongings, she did find a few tracking charms, but only ones placed by those creeps Evan Rosier and Peter Pettigrew, who both have an unhealthy obsession with her. So, it wasn’t exactly a fruitless venture, but it still didn’t solve her problem!Lily really doesn’t need the additional stress right now anyway. She’s not exactly struggling with her course load … In fact, the little study group she’s formed with her friends are even covering fifth year material in some subjects, but she must stay on top of everything less she risk falling behind. And that’s on top with the additional stress of Dorcas pulling away on the eve of her bonding with Serena, not the mention the prank that the marauders pulled on Severus that Lily still hasn’t managed to break yet (which she needs to break, he does not look flattering with red hair). So, Lily does not need the creepy little b@tch following her around, leaving her constantly on edge.Lily is jogging along the edge of Black Lake, as she tries to do most weekend mornings, when she spots the girl again, laying under one of the trees near her path. Before she can even stop herself, she’s storming over to Pandora, wand in hand. Despite her best efforts, Lily can admit that the brashness of her Hogwarts House occasionally rubs off on her.“What the f@ck do you want with me?” Lily snarls, her wand clenched in her hand. “Why can’t you just leave me the hell alone?”Pandora looks up from her book, smiling politely, with that same b@llsh@t gleam in her unsettling gray eyes. “Ahh, Lily … I was wondering when you’d join me. Tell me … Was it hard to let your father die like that?”Lily can feel her blood run cold at Pandora’s word, flashes of her blood father’s last moments flashing in the back of her mind as her grip on her wand loosens. “I … What are you-““Lysander Selwyn was an awful man,” Pandora continues. “An awful, awful man. And a weak man. He was a scourge on his House, a mistake. The only good thing he ever did was create you.”“Have you ever noticed how none of the Selwyns go to Hogwarts? They are a proud House, proud and dangerous. You too, Lily Evans … You are proud and dangerous. But like Lysander, you’re a snake without fangs. You need to grow fangs. Mold your hatred into venom. You need to … grow if you want to reach your full potential.”“What the hell are you talking about?” Lily whispers, finally breaking out of her stupor. “How do you know about my fa … About Lysander Selwyn?”Pandora smiles, that smile that always makes Lily’s blood run cold. “I know so much, Lily Evans. Because, unlike you, I’m not afraid to stretch my ability to it’s full power, it’s full extent. You’re not the only seer at Hogwarts, Lily, but you’re the weakest by far. Have you ever thought about using your ability for more than to just avoid annoying pranks and do well on exams? Have you ever thought about reaching into the future and seeing what you’re really meant to be?”“That’s … That’s dangerous,” Lily whispers. She remembers the hat’s warning about her ability and her own research into the topic. Seering that far into the future is dangerous, it has consequences, especially if any changes are made.“Only if you alter the future,” Pandora whispers, standing up from where she was laying. “And sometimes when you see far enough into the future … You might just find that the cost of inaction is greater than the cost of action.”And with that, Pandora Malfoy leaves, not even glancing back in Lily’s direction as she carefully strolls away from the redhead, leaving Lily to stew in her own misery.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------That night, Lily can’t sleep. Pandora’s words are ringing in her hear like an air-raid siren, setting her on edge. It’s already well past midnight, and Lily hasn’t even managed to shut her eyes for more than a few seconds without seeing images of her imagined possible future and about all the different ways her life could fall apart.It turns out, Pandora was right. That was the first thing Lily checked, going to the library to check out the only book she found to have reliable information on seering that isn’t in the restricted section.The act of seering that far into the future isn’t technically dangerous itself. Trained seers, both learned and those with an ability like Lily’s, do it all the time. It’s only when a seer directly interferes with the future they see, except for delivering vague prophecies that make Lily’s head hurt, that a seer starts to face consequences.Mainly, that their morality starts to fade … Not to mention there is still the old belief that a seer who changes the future pushes their death date closer with each ripple they cause.So, Pandora was right. Lily could see her future, through Mary’s eyes because she has little faith that she’ll have a relationship with her mother or Petunia after she turns 18, and she already swore that she would invest in a life-long friendship with Mary. She could watch her life unfold …It’s dangerous. The hat’s warning is practically ringing in her ears, but so are Pandora’s … For all she knows the next time she goes home, William Evans could finally beat her hard enough that she dies, bleeding out in the cramped cupboard under the stairs. It’s not out of the range of possibilities, Lily’s surprised that William’s physical punishments haven’t done more permanent damage already. And if she knew that, if she knew what was coming, she could plan for it.Better to lose a little of her morality, her humanity, than to be dead. Right?Lily looks across the dorm room to Mary, where her friend is peacefully dozing. She won’t just be seeing her future through Mary’s eyes; she’ll be seeing her friend’s too. Maybe even Severus’, Serena’s, and Dorcas’ as well. Not that she’s planning to make any changes, but at least she would know! She would be prepared.“Just … Just a quick sneak peek,” Lily whispers to herself, closing her eyes and focusing on her ability … On her blood relation to Mary. “Just a year or so. Maybe two.”It’s a lie. Lily knows it’s a lie, even as she taps into the ability. But it’s a comforting one, as she falls into the “sleep” she’s become accustomed too when using her ability.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Lily has never seered so far in the future. She’s been careful in the past, seering only the day before her, making small changes only when necessary, such as avoiding a particularly detrimental prank or hiding in her cupboard more than usual when William Evans is going to be in a particularly bad mood.It used to take her an entire night to seer the next day. Now, it only takes minutes. She doesn’t know how long it will take to seer further than that … She hopes having the next day free of obligations helps.Seering is always a bit like falling. It’s like falling out of your body and into another, experiencing their life as a guest in their body. There’s no one in the world that Lily knows better than Mary Macdonald at this point in her life, so the connection with her friend is easy. Still, every time she seers, she falls.The fall is deeper this time. Almost impossibly so. Normally, it only feels like Lily is falling for a few seconds.Lily falls for what feels like days before she finally lands, sinking into Mary’s body and crying at the comfort it provides.By the time Lily manages to pry her eyes open, they’ve almost graduated from Hogwarts. The memories speed by, only stopping on particularly impactful moments, especially ones that focus on Lily herself. That choice was by design when she settled into this seering … Taking in more than that would be too much for her mind to handle.She can still see the chaos as it unfolds. Mary and Lily comforting classmates as they mourn their families, dying in the senseless “Reign of Terror” Lily has seen coming for years, even without her ability. The pair both falling in with Dumbledore’s Order of the Phoenix, along with most of Lily’s housemates, and her bonded in Serena, Dorcas, and Severus. She sees them all … Edgar and Helena, Alice and Frank, the marauders, Marlene McKinnon and Jonathan Thorne, even little Jacob Potter and Emmeline Vance …It's a miracle when most of them survive long enough to see Lily and James married.Lily has a visceral reaction to the scene, as she watches through Mary’s eyes. She didn’t see herself falling for the boy, even through Mary’s eyes, as she was still recovering from the violent drop. It feels so sudden, but then so are most weddings during the Reign.Still … Lily can’t ignore the subtle twitch in her stomach as she watches James stare at the future version of her during their wedding. Marlene, Serena, and Dorcas each walk one of the marauders down the aisle as Mary walks arm-in-arm with Jacob Potter.She almost cries when she sees Severus leading her down, passing her to James with a quick kiss on the cheek.Lily is sobbing as she watches James and herself deliver their vows, all watch through Mary’s tearful eyes. She sees herself dancing with her husband, so in love despite chaos around them.And then time shifts, and she’s pregnant. So, pregnant. And then she’s giving birth, Mary holding her hand on one side and James on the other.She’s holding her boys and then three years later she’s holding a little girl.Harry. Charles. Rose. The boys carry bastardized names of their ancestors, proud names passed through the Potter family. And little Rose is named after the old Evans tradition, even though Lily claims her birth family no longer. She watches herself, teaching her boys math and nursing her daughter during Mary’s frequent visits to Potter Manor, Lily having retired from the war effort after the birth of her children.The war is … It continues to rage, each side slowly losing and gaining ground as Magical Britain turns in on itself. So many people dead … So many in hiding. Her boys are part of a lost generation, consisting mostly of desperate heirs and heiresses having children to continue their proud Houses. Rose is even worse, barely a magical child born during her time. Only little Hannah Abbott, born to Serena after she finally settled down with Mitchell after years of pining, is the same age. Not that the girls are particularly close, Hannah dawdling after Harry like a little duckling who imprinted on her eldest son.She’s away from Potter Manor when it happens. She doesn’t know what the exact mission was, only seeing everything through Mary’s eyes, but she learns that Severus was captured and she rushes to save her bondmate with the help of Serena and Dorcas, the four considered to be the most powerful and dangerous of their former year … Perhaps even of their entire generation. Together the four stand against Voldemort himself, managing to wound him before they flee for their lives.She doesn’t know what happened at Potter Manor exactly. She knows that Mitchell and Hannah were staying at the Manor that night when the wards fell. She knows both James and Mitchell died, fighting valiantly for their children.She knows that only two of the four escaped. When the time came, her twins, only ten at the time and one only ten forever, rushed to Rose’s room, where both girls were resting. They each picked up one. Harry, days later, described to Mary in detail what happened. How the twins, almost as inseparable as Dorcas’ husband and his twin brother, nodded at each other and fled in opposite directions. They hoped to give the other the best chance, each acting as bait for the other. For one of them, it worked.Harry and Rose ran out of the House and into the woods that surrounded the Manor, found hours later by Jacob Potter and Emmeline Vance …Charles and Hannah …Serena miscarried in her grief and died less than a year later; in a mission they all knew was suicide.Lily is still howling with grief, screaming out about her baby, a boy not born for almost another decade, when Harry starts to attend Hogwarts, the castle a shell of itself. Mary is a professor, keeping a watchful eye on her eldest boy, who is the spitting age of James, but who is so like Lily that it physically hurts.She watches as Harry grows friendships. With a curly-haired girl with a brain that rivals Dorcas. With Alice’s beautiful boy. With another twin, a bright eagle whose family betrays her bravery. With the flirty brunette hufflepuff and her best friend, yet another muggleborn drafted into a war he doesn’t understand. With Cedar’s daughter, the kinship between the pair of snakes hidden as Pansy spies on their housemates, even as Harry rises a resistance within the castle itself.And later, with a girl with unnaturally colorless grey eyes and hair as white as her mother’s.She watches, through Mary’s eyes, as her son’s favored professor and aunt. She watches as Harry falls in love. First with Adrian’s girl, with her mother’s raven hair and her father’s sharp mind. Then with Tiberius’ son, the boy orphaned when the Department of Mysteries fell following Mitchell’s death. And then a blonde girl during a summer trip to MACUSA, who is so eerily reminiscent of the deceased Marlene that it pangs Lily’s heart, even though she logically knows Marlene is snoring safely in the bed closest to Lily.She watches, as Hogwarts is finally attacked following Dumbledore’s death. Her baby boy, so strong in his green-trimmed robes, leads his elder peers, professors, and his trusted friends and bondmates to battle, as his young fiancé, Daphne, leads Rose and the younger children to safety. Rose makes it. Daphne doesn’t.Few do.Despite everything, Mary lives. She’s a shell of herself, having been tortured to the point that she was bed-ridden, with only Lily to take of her.Lily … Who is less than a shell of herself. Lily who has lost everything. Her bondmates … Her friends … Her husband … Her sons. Only little Rose remains, Rose who Lily loves so much it hurts, who is the perfect mixture of her parents, but who she doesn’t know how to love anymore. Not when love always seems to turn into loss.Rose … Who ends up being the last of them, as she flees Britain, Lily too broken to leave with her daughter. Who dies clutching Mary’s hand as their safehold is invaded.Lily is still crying, sobbing, when she realizes that Rose is, hauntingly, alone. Without a friend, family member, or bond left. Her baby girl, alone in the world.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Lily sits up, shrieking and sobbing. She knows she’s incoherent, all her housemate’s rushing to her side and clinging to her as she screams for children not yet born and yet somehow, already dead. Lily clings to Mary and begs her to protect her kids, but her words are incoherent and even they weren’t, she wouldn’t understand. And even if Mary did, it wouldn’t matter.There’s nothing Mary can do to stop what’s coming. There’s nothing anyone can do to stop it. To stop her boys from dying, from Rose living a life of loneliness and misery. There’s nothing she can do.Right?---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  April 26, 1972
For the first time in three years, it’s Lily who seeks out Pandora, finding her thanks to a quick search of Mary’s day before she left the dorm this morning.She grabs Pandora’s robes, dragging the unsettling blonde into the nearest broom closet, and the Malfoy Heiress doesn’t even seem surprised.“Have you seen it?” Lily asks, her hands digging into Pandora’s robes. “You’re like me, have you seen it? Have you-“Lily chokes on the words, images of her children … Of little Charles, brave and ruthless Harry, and lonely Rose.“I’ve seen it,” Pandora whispers. For the first time, Lily swears there’s a flicker of some sort of emotion in her grey eyes, some sympathy from the unnaturally cold girl. “I’ve seen it all.”“My boys,” Lily sobs. “And Rose, I …”“I know,” Pandora whispers. “I’ve seen it, your boys at least.”“How?” Lily pleads. “How do you …”“My ability isn’t like yours,” Pandora whispers, removing Lily’s hands from her robes, but grabbing them with hers instead, clutching Lily’s in a rare act of kindness. “You can see through blood relations, yes?”Lily sniffles as she nods. “Yeah.”“My seering works differently. I can’t see your future Lily, at least not directly. Not anymore. I can only see your children’s. Or more accurately, I can only see Harry’s future through you.”“Only?” Lily asks, tears still rolling down her cheeks in wave. Merlin, her boy. Harry was only eighteen when he … That’s older than Lily is now, but it seems too young. So f@ck@ng young.“Most people have a child they are destined to bring into the world. A child that’s destined to be born to them, no matter the other parent. Some unions may have children beyond those destined, the way you and James have Rose, but most people have a child that is destined to be theirs.”Lily stares at the blonde in shock, her words so uncomprehending. Destiny? Is that something that’s even possible when there are seers?“Not everyone has a destined child, of course,” Pandora continues. “My brother doesn’t, though he’ll have a little boy with Narcissa, her destined child. Severus doesn’t have one either. But most do. You have Harry. James has Charles. Serena has Hannah.”Lily’s heart clenches at the memory of her goddaughter. She was … will be … She will die at seven. She was such a strong-minded girl. She and Rose never got along, not fighting per se, but Hannah was obsessed with Harry, always wanting to play with the older boy.Harry never recovered from her death, he had her name tattooed onto his arm, like a bondmark, right next to the scarred ones from James and Charles.“That’s how I learned about you,” Pandora says, still clutching Lily’s hands. “I saw your future through Lysander Selwyn when I met him at a Dark Alliance function years ago. A few months before he passed. And I saw the daughter he was always meant to have.”“I don’t … I don’t know what to do,” Lily whispers. “I know we’re not supposed to … I know we can’t … but they’re my kids, Pandora.” Lily bites back a sob. “I can’t let them die, not like that. I can’t do nothing.”Pandora was right. Sometimes, the cost of inaction is greater than the cost of action.Lily went into yesterday willing to risk a small piece of her morality, her humanity, her f@ck@ng soul, on the off chance that she learned something that would save her life. But now that she’s seen the future … seen her kids …“Please,” Lily sobs.“Lily,” Pandora whispers, a small hitch in her voice. It’s strange, to see the supposed “Ice Queen” emote, even in the little ways like this. “It’s not that easy. I’ve made … so many changes. But it’s not enough, it doesn’t ever seem to be enough. And it … It changes you, Lily. It makes you into something worse. Something dark and twisted. Barely human.”Pandora sniffles, clutching Lily’s hands, even tighter than Lily is holding hers.“I can barely even look at my brother because I don’t love him anymore. Can’t.”“I don’t care,” Lily whispers. “Those are my kids, Pandora. My babies. I don’t care if I don’t love them … I care that they live.”Lily would sacrifice her soul, even her love for them, to keep them alive. To see Charles off to Hogwarts, to see Harry married, to never see Rose alone.“You say that now, but it’s different, when you actually change things,” Pandora whispers.“Please,” Lily pleads. “Tell me … Just tell me how to save Charles. How to save my little boy.”Pandora stares into Lily’s eyes, colorless grey meeting sickly green. She briefly recalls another girl with colorless grey eyes from Mary’s memories. A Luna Lovegood.She’ll be friends with Harry. She wonders if her boy will ever look into Luna’s eyes, like Lily is looking into Pandora’s.“Hannah,” Pandora whispers. “She’s the key.”“Hannah … Abbott?”Pandora nods. “You’ve seen the way she tagged after Harry. It’s the same way Jacob and Emmeline act. It’s … kismet. Fate. They’re connected. Something even we can’t predict or control. They make each other stronger.”“I … Okay, then how do I save them both? How do I save Charles and Hannah?”“By making Hannah old enough and strong enough that she can save herself. By making it so the twins don’t have to separate, in a desperate bid to each save a child younger than them.”Lily blinks back tears at the memory. Her boys … They were so close. They never would’ve separated if they felt they had another choice. If Hannah was older, old enough run with the twins, they would’ve stuck together.They would’ve made it out of Potter Manor together.“How?” Lily whispers, her voice catching on a sob. “How, Pandora?”“By pushing Serena towards Mitchell. By pushing her away from everyone else, including you.”---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  May 2, 1994
“I’ll be in the room when you’re done. I need to talk to you.”Harry nods, smiling at Hannah as the girl heads into what Valerie presumes is his hotel room, before turning back to face the High Mage. He’s sweaty and shaking, having spent the last several hours moving more flames than Valerie has seen in his entire life, but he looks positively exuberant. Happier than Valerie has ever seen the boy.“Can we take a walk?” Valerie offers, knowing she needs to speak with the boy. She knows the British delegation has probably talked his ear of ad nauseum about his upcoming duel but needs to as well. Needs to ensure she’s done everything to help and support the boy before tomorrow.“You know you’ll be responsible for my safety, right?” Harry teases. “Some people around here take that very seriously.”Valerie snorts. She doesn’t doubt it. She’s fairly certain that today is the first time his bondmate, Hermione, has left his side in the past week. At least, once she recovered from her own injuries.“I know.”Harry nods at that, following after Valerie, as they step onto the streets of Geneva.“It really is a beautiful city,” Harry says, as he walks alongside her. “It’s a shame my introduction to it was so chaotic.”That’s certainly one word for it, Valerie muses.“Yes, well … I’m glad you can still appreciate it’s beauty.”Harry nods, before looking up at the woman. “You know … You’ll have to like Aunt Emme too. Emmeline, I mean. It’s only a matter of time before Viera and her end up together and if you want Viera, you’ll have to want to be around Emmeline too.”“Oh yes, such a hardship,” Valerie drawls. “Wanting Emmeline Vance. However will I manage that great feat?”Harry laughs brazenly. “I like you.” He admits. “You’ll be good for both of them. Sorry that means you’ll be stuck with Viktor and I too.”“I’m not.” Valerie surprises herself with how quickly she protests Harry’s statement. It feels almost natural, fighting the boy’s small moments of self-doubt and flagellation.Harry blinks at the protest, but nods softly. He clearly doesn’t quite believe her, but he appreciates it, nonetheless.She’ll have to make him believe her, over time. She’ll have to make both Harry and Viktor, Emmeline’s and Viera’s boys, believe her by showing up for them, like she did for Cyn.“Harry … I’ll admit, it scares me, how quickly I’m getting wrapped up in your storm. But I am, wrapped up that is. And I don’t regret it.”“You will.”“Trust me, I won’t. You think you’re the only powerful kid that causes a storm? It may not be as big, but Cyn … They caused quite a storm with their gender identity. Fluidity. And I was happily wrapped up in that, even when it meant essentially losing contact with my beloved sister and the rest of my family. Robert and I chose to get wrapped up in Cyn’s storm, and I’m choosing to get wrapped up in yours. I know it’ll hurt, but I’m still doing it. Because that’s what I do.”And it’s true. It’s the reason for Valerie’s greying hair at such a young age. The reason for her abnormal strength, all learned and earned, none freely given. Valerie jumps into the storms because it’s what she’s supposed to do. And she’ll do it again and again, until it kills her.And if Harry’s storm kills her … At least she’ll have been there with him, being buffeted by his winds, showing him that she cares.Harry gnaws at his bottom lips, nodding softly. “Thank you,” he whispers, his voice hoarse.Valerie nods tightly, her own throat clogged.“You’ve got my permission,” Harry says, tucking a little closer to her. Valerie wraps her arm around his shoulders, pulling him into her side. She can see the Genevan citizens, civilians, Mages, and RRWs alike, gape at the sight. She knows she’ll get sh@t for this, showing such support for a Mage Candidate, for Harry specifically, but she doesn’t care. She’s jumping into his storm, has already jumped even, any everyone else can go f@ck themselves for all she cares. “For Emmeline. You’ve probably got Viktor’s for Viera too, after saving his life.”Valerie laughs. “I can only hope that’s enough. But thank you, Harry. You have my permission to kick my ass if I ever hurt her.”Harry’s grin is positively wicked. “I never needed it.”“No, you didn’t,” Valerie agrees, stroking a hand through Harry’s unkempt hair. “Harry, about tomorrow-““Don’t,” Harry whispers softly. “I … I know I’m young. Weak, by comparison. But you saw today … right?”Valerie nods. She’s fairly certain that she’d be able to combat those flames, and Harry’s apparent mastery over them, but it would give her pause. Force her to re-direct.But Imani Carter is Magister. It’s different, more so than the jump between a Mage and a High Mage. A Magister is unnatural.But then again, isn’t Harry?“That’s only one trick I’ve got up my sleeve,” Harry whispers. “I won’t win, of course. But I’m going to put up the fight of my life. Just … trust me, alright?”“Okay,” Valerie nods, unconsciously pulling the teen a little closer. “Let’s get back to your hotel room, before Hannah tells Hermione and she sends out a search party.”“I know you’re joking, but she totally would.”---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  April 28, 1972
Lily barely even feels human over the next two days, drifting from class to class, meal to meal, not even seering her immediate future.She supposes it’s good practice, feeling subhuman, for when she actually is.Pandora’s words haunt Lily’s sleep, whenever she manages to catch a few restless hours. She was willing to sacrifice everything she had for her kids, sacrifice herself for them. And not just her death, like James, but her entire f@ck@ng life.But Serena … Poor, bondless Serena … Can Lily do that to her? To the first friend she made at Hogwarts? To her constant companion? To the girl who, in the future, fought side-by-side with Lily?But can she afford not to? Serena was a shell of herself after Hannah … She would’ve lived, for Hannah, even if Mitchell passed, but without her daughter, it was only a matter of time before her friend found herself in an impossible situation and just … didn’t bother to get out.Would she be doing a disservice to Serena by not doing everything she could, including hurting her, to save Serena’s daughter? Her destined daughter?Lily is pondering these impossible questions when James Potter plops down next to her, covered in soot and his hair even more of a mess than usual.James laughs at Lily as she jumps, startled by the sudden intrusion. “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever caught you off-guard, Evans.”Lily tries not to look at the man. It’s impossible to stare at him and not see their future. Walking down the aisle towards him. Laughing as he spins her around a dancefloor, so in love despite the chaos of the world around them.But even more than that, it’s impossible to see James and not see their children. Harry, who was the spitting image of his father, even if he took after Lily. Rose, who looked nothing like her father but carried his spirit long after his passing. And Charles, who might as well have been James’ clone.“S-sorry, lot on my mind,” Lily whispers, her voice low.“Yeah, I can see that.”“What … What the hell happened?”“Remus,” James snorts. “He was experimenting … It didn’t go as planned.”“And let me guess, you’re hiding out by the lake to avoid McGonagall?”“Guilty as charged,” James laughs, smirking down at Lily. It’s strange, Lily has to fight against a blush that threatens to cross her face. But even worse, there’s a part of her that just … That just wants to cling to James, to beg him to hold her and love her like he will one day.“Hey … What’s wrong?” James places a gentle thumb under Lily’s chin, lifting her up to look him in the eyes. “You’re usually at least five insults deep at this point.”Lily scoffs.“It’s true. I look forward to them. I still think about when you threatened to p@ss on Rosier’s shoes. Highlight of my life.”“Don’t be stupid, Potter.”“I’m not sure I know how, Evans.”“I’m not sure either.”James laugh, bright and exuberant. “There she is.”Lily’s heart clenches, twists so painfully it hurts. She isn’t sure how she falls in love with James Potter in that unaltered future. She still recovering from the drop at the time, so she missed it, but she wonders if it was anything like this.She imagines it was.“James … Can I ask you something?”James breath hitches a bit, as Lily uses his first name. It’s technically a breach of protocol, he never gave her permission, but she knows she doesn’t need it. Or more accurately, knows she has it without even asking.“S-sure, Evans,” James whispers, his thumb still tucked under Lily’s chin as he flounders. “You can ask me anything.”“If you knew … If you knew your family was in danger, knew you could stop it but that it would hurt you … Would hurt other people you cared about … What would you do?”James frowns, his bushy brows drawing closer together, noticeable even with the soot covering his face. “Evans, is something wrong at home? Do you need help?”Lily shakes her head at the question. “No, it’s just … It’s a muggle thing. A hypothetical.”The boy nods in answer, but it’s clear he doesn’t believe her, gnawing at his bottom lip in a way Lily should not find so alluring. “Then … Then I’d do whatever it takes. Even if it kills me. Even if it kills everyone. Family is family, Lily. I’d do whatever’s necessary, and nothing more.”Lily lets James words echo through her mind as she stares into his soft blue eyes, eyes he’ll pass down to Charles and Rose.Whatever’s necessary, and nothing more.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  April 29, 1972
Lily finds Pandora the next day, studying by herself in the library. She’d seered the future through Mary’s eyes again last night. Nothing really changed because Lily hasn’t changed anything yet. Nothing substantial, at least.She saw it all happen again. Charles. Harry. Rose.She can’t watch that again. She can’t let it happen, not like that.Pandora looks up at her, a small smile on her face, even as her eyes communicate a grief Lily doesn’t fully understand yet. “Yes?”“How do I do it?” Lily asks. “How do I do this in the least painful way possible?”Like she swore to herself, she’ll do whatever’s necessary. Nothing less, and certainly nothing more.Pandora nods, pulling a notebook seemingly out of thin air. “I have a few ideas.”---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  May 2, 1972
The next few days are some of the worst of Lily’s life.But it turns out, in the end, Lily didn’t have to do much of anything. She barely had to do anything to destroy Serena’s life.Her friend has been teetering on the edge for over a year, but it’s been so much worse since she was forced to return to the muggle world, a bondless orphan. Serena won’t even describe the horrors she faced.The only thing she has going for her, the only thing Serena has to cling too, was a future bond. A bond with Dorcas.She knows now, because of her seering, what Dorcas’ ability is. Light Manipulation. The girl can manipulate light with the flick of her wand, turn it into a solid barrier or bend the wavelengths completely, if she so desires.No wonder she’s so hesitant about bonding. That ability is awe-inspiring, almost as much as Lily’s.And Dorcas has long since adopted the wizarding customs around bonding. Seeing bonds as something deeper, almost illogically so. Something to be coveted, something to use so sparingly. Rarely for friends, often not even for family. Dorcas sees bonds as a finite resource, like all witches and wizards do. As a threat.It’s ridiculous. Such a cowardly was to view the magical process.But it makes it easy for Lily. So, f@ck@ng easy to whisper seeds of doubt, first to Helena, Dorcas’ best friend outside of Serena, and then to Dorcas herself. About how Serena doesn’t value the sacrifice Dorcas is making, weakening herself, opening herself up to threats by bonding to Serena. The cruciatus curse alone is a consideration, but a non-familial bond at their age? Serena just wants Dorcas’ ability. She must’ve let it slip at some point, surely? And once they bond, Serena has that ability forever. And even if it’s not about the ability, is it even about Dorcas? Or is it just about having a bond, any bond? Does Dorcas even matter?She tried doing the same with Gary, the first year Dorcas has taken under her wing, but the boy shut her down after only a few words.Pandora laughed when Lily told her, telling her not to approach Gary again. That he wasn’t someone either of them could manipulate.While she’s doing that, she’s also doing the same to Serena. Reminding her constantly of her upcoming bonding and of the muggle world, quietly reinforcing Serena’s fear about the upcoming summer break, when Serena will be forced back to the orphanage. Talking with her about how much better her life will be with a bond.Lily cries herself to sleep every night. She spent the last three years with these people, Serena, Dorcas, and Severus. Besides Mary, they were her everything. Her entire future.Three years together. And it took only three days to tear them apart.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Lily ignores Gary’s glare from across the abandoned classroom, as the first year stands behind Dorcas in silent support. Next to him, Helena is gnawing on her bottom lip, looking like she wants to object to the union, out of misguided love for her best friend and fears Lily, Pandora, and the Wizarding World have put in her head, but she’s stilled by Edgar’s presence. Edgar and Mitchell both stand behind Serena, beaming at her. Both so happy that their friend is getting what she’s always wanted, what she deserves.Lily stands with Severus, diagonal to Helena and Gary, and Mitchell and Edgar, so they aren’t supporting just one of the future bondmates, but both.Lily grips Severus’ hand, gnawing on her bottom lip as she waits. As she silently pleads for her plan to both fail and succeed in the same breath.Serena extends her hand to Dorcas, tears already streaming down her cheeks.“Thank you,” Serena whisper, pre-emptively, as Dorcas reaches her hand out as well.Dorcas’ fingers graze Serena’s before pulling back, gently at first and then violently, her whole arm rearing back as if she’s been shocked.“Dorcas?” Serena stares at her friend, her best friend, as Gary grits his teeth from behind Dorcas and Helena steps forward, wrapping a comforting arm around the girl’s waist.Serena takes a step forward, and Dorcas takes two back, falling into Helena. Into her best friend.“I can’t,” Dorcas whispers hoarsely. “Not yet … We had a plan, Serena. Graduation. We can do it then, we can-““No.” Serena’s voice is horrified and disbelieving all at once, her breath bouncing over the sob that threatens to catch in her throat. “Plans change, Dorcas.”“Yeah,” Dorcas nods. “They do, Serene.”Severus takes a half-step forward and Lily knows what he’s planning. What he’s going to do. Serena hasn’t asked yet, but she will.Lily tightens her grip on her arm, snapping him back. She wraps herself around her bondmate, almost possessively. And Severus listens, because he trusts her. Trusts her judgment.“I can’t … I won’t survive another summer there,” Serena whispers, her tears falling from her cheeks and catching on her robe. “You don’t know what they do to kids like me. To unbonded. It’s hell, Dorcas. I’m not strong enough to survive that again. I’m not!”“T-that’s not a good enough reason.”“The hell it isn’t!” Edgar shouts. “You’re her best friend, Meadowes! How can you … Stand there and say that! Say that her happiness isn’t a good enough reason!”Lily drags Severus back again as Mitchell glares over at them. “And you two? You’re just going to stand there?”“We can’t,” Lily whispers. “We can’t risk it. Serena understands.”Serena’s sob breaks, her head rolling upwards as if to stare at the ceiling in prayer, because she does understand. Understands that Severus can’t risk it because of his housemates and Lily can’t because of William, because he still punishes her for bonding to Severus. She understands and she hasn’t asked them, even though she wants too.Serena Vaughn, so selfless it’s amazing that Dorcas could ever think of her as anything else.In another life, Lily wouldn’t hesitate. She’d take the beatings and everything else, but she can’t. She can’t do that. She has to do this. It’s necessary.“I’m sorry,” Lily whispers, as Serena pushes out of the room, cupping her hand over her mouth to block the sound of her own sobs as she bursts through the door into the halls of Hogwarts.Edgar and Mitchell follow, as Dorcas breaks down in Helena’s arms.“Stay with Dorcas,” Lily commands Severus, trailing after Serena. She knows what’s going to happen, she saw it written on Edgar’s face, on Mitchell’s too, but she needs to see it. Needs to see that … Needs to see her friend bonded.Lily follows the fleeing trio, Edgar and Mitchell barely managing to catch up with Serena in the entrance hall as the blonde sobs and sobs and sobs, her heart completely shattered.She watches from around a corner as Mitchell holds Serena tight, Edgar kneeling in front of the blonde in the crowd of students, getting on his knees and offering to bond with her. The proud Heir of the House of Bones, lowering himself to ask the orphan muggleborn to bond with him.She feels a hand on her shoulder, sending a shiver down their spine, right as Mitchell lets go of Serena to kneel next to his best friend, offering the same.“You did good,” Pandora whispers, clutching Lily’s shoulder as she silently cries, providing all the support Lily thinks she’s able too.Lily watches as her friend bonds with both Edgar and Mitchell. And a little piece of her soul dies as the future changes ever so slightly.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------When it’s over, Pandora pulls Lily into yet another abandoned classroom, letting the redhead sob and sob and sob.“I had too,” Lily defends. “I did what was necessary.”“Yes, you did,” Pandora agrees, cupping Lily’s cheek. “I know it hurts, Lily, but it’ll hurt less. In time. I promise.”Lily wishes it wouldn’t. Wishes she could feel this pain forever.Because already, the emptiness she feels is so f@ck@ng hollow, a piece of herself that she’ll never get back.“Let me show you,” Pandora whispers, staring into Lily’s eyes, a silent seeking of permission as colorless grey meets sickly green yet again. “Let me show you what you changed.”Memories flash through Lily’s vision, shared thanks to Pandora’s practiced legilimency. Pandora’s seered vision of the future, through the eyes of Lily’s destined child. Through Harry’s eyes.Nothing changes much, at first. Lily and Serena don’t seem quite as close as before, but they must’ve reconnected at some point. Bonded, when Lily escaped her hell hole of a family. Hannah is still around, but she’s older now. The bond between Mitchell and Serena pushing them together earlier, their daughter born a few months before Harry.Harry and Hannah are so close. So, f@ck@ng close. Not as close as Charles and Harry, of course, but they’re best friends. Like Charles and Alice’s boy.And Rose gets a friend too. Little Jeremy Abbott, born when his sister would’ve been in the original timeline.But Lily and Serena aren’t as close. So, when Serena feels unsafe at Abbott Manor, she brings her kids to the Bones, not to the Potters. There’s no second child for Harry and Charles to carry that fateful night when James dies and no time to argue about who will carry Rose to safety and who will be the bait, so they run together.They live. Together.She watches, as Harry grows up alongside Hannah, as a best friend, despite his sorting to Slytherin and hers to Hufflepuff. She watches as their friendship turns sour during their first year, as they question whether their friendship, the obvious connection they share, means something more … something romantic. She watches as they both decide it decidedly isn’t, choosing to be friends instead. Partners, in a way, but never romantic.And then the memories slow, focusing on one scene. On Harry and Hannah sitting in an unfamiliar room, Harry in clear pain as Hannah takes her arm in her hands and …---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  May 2, 1994
Hannah is sitting on Harry’s bed, still waiting for him when he gets back.“Those better be happy tears shining in your eyes.”“I think my aunt is about to have two girlfriends. Eventually.”“Thank Merlin,” Hannah says, smiling up at Harry. “You know … That’s kinda hot, Valerie, Viera, Emmeline …”“Ew! Hannah!”“I’m just saying!”“I didn’t think you were even into girls!”“I’m not,” Hannah weakly protests. “I mean, probably. Maybe. I don’t really know.”Harry rolls his eyes as he flops down onto the mattress, wincing as he jostles his arm. Thankfully, Hannah misses the wince due to her own embarrassment, and he escapes another lecture. “Where’s Michael?”“I kicked him out.”“And you managed that how?”“Easily. If he’s gonna be my second Vassal one day, he’s going to have to get used to taking orders.”Harry hums softly at that news. He’s not necessarily surprised by the choice, but he wasn’t expecting for Hannah to confirm it so early. It makes sense though, Michael in a Hufflepuff Armor.Just like Blaise in a Slytherin Armor.“Besides, there’s …” Hannah’s voice switches back to something lighter, betraying her nerves again. “I wanted to try something with you if you’re willing. I’ve been working on it with Tracey, in my free time, and she says I’m ready. Says she’d do it herself, if you hadn’t tuckered her out with all the sessions on your arm.“Try something out?” Harry asks, ignoring the jab about Tracey. His arm was good three minor procedures ago, Tracey’s just a perfectionist.“White Magic.”Harry sits up at that, glancing at Hannah. He knew that Hannah underwent the affinity test, only having an affinity for Fortitude Magic, and a weaker one at that, but he hadn’t realized she’d decided on a branch.“Hannah-““Don’t. I know what it means. I don’t care.”“But you-““Harry! Stop.”Harry’s jaw closes with an audible click. The redheads in Harry’s life might be the scariest, but between Serena, Luna, Emmeline, Fleur, and Hannah, he’s developing a healthy fear of blonde women as well.“Good. Now, give me your arm.”“Hannah …”“Relax, Harry, just … Give me your arm. It’s a simple spell, good for a first Outer Branch casting, and Tracey says I’ve practiced enough, prepared enough, I’m ready.”Harry stares at Hannah, keeping his arm plastered to his side. The limb throbs with pain. It always throbs with pain, even when he’s not moving it. And when he moves it … It’s almost excruciating. Tomorrow is going to be one of the most painful days of his life, and that’s not even considering the damage Magister Carter is going to put him through.Hannah rolls her eyes at Harry’s silent question. “Fine. It’s a pain sharing spell. I take on half of your current pai-““No!”“Will you listen to me, you stubborn son of a b@tch?” Hannah shouts. “I take on half of your pain for twenty-four hours. That’s it. Just long enough to get you through the duel.”“No,” Harry repeats. No, this is his pain to burden. His weight to shoul-Hannah whacks in him the head. “Ow!”“F@ck@ng idiot. Give me your arm!”“No!”“Harry!”“It’s my pain!”“I don’t care!” Hannah snaps. “Harry, my ability matches your ability. My magic matches yours. Do you understand that? Your strength is my strength, and your weakness is my weakness. Your pain is my pain too, Merlin d@mn it, so give me your f@ck@ng arm!”Harry looks up at Hannah, at the stony expression on her face, and contemplates all the ways he could possibly avoid sharing his pain, from convincing Hannah to not take it all the way to fleeing the city until the duel begins.“Hermione is on my side.”Harry deflates. And with that, every plan goes out the window.“Low blow,” Harry says, holding out his bandaged arm to Hannah.Hannah laughs, gingerly holding Harry’s arm in her hands. “Just … It’s a quick spell, so be prepared okay.”Harry nods, already regretting his decision, when Hannah grabs her wand with one hand, gently reciting a phrase in Latin that Harry’s tired mind isn’t ready to translate.He's about to let out a sigh of relief as the pain leaks out of him, when Hannah lets out a low grunt, her body shaking.“Merlin,” Harry curses. “Hannah, are you alright?” He asks, curling his arms around the shaking girl. “Give it back, Hannah, I can take it, I promise. Just … give it back, please!”“This is only half?” Hannah asks, her eyes shining with tears as she clings to Harry.Harry nods. “Yeah, and I can take it. Just give it back, Hannah. Let me take it back.”Hannah shakes her head, even as she buries her face in Harry’s neck. “No. Never. F@ck you, Harry. I’m not giving it back.”Hannah ignores Harry as he whines her name.“No,” Hannah whispers, her left arm hanging limply at her side. “No, Harry … Your pain is my pain, got it?”Harry wants to protest. He wants to scream and beg for Hannah to give it back, to give him back his pain, his burden, but he knows she won’t. That she never will again.And the relief, intermingled with overwhelming guilt, is enough to bring tears to his eyes as he buries his face in Hannah’s hair. “Yes ma’am.”“Good,” Hannah says, patting his cheek with her good hand. “You’re learning.”---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  May 2, 1972
Lily sobs at the vision, more than two decades in the future. Of Hannah taking her son’s pain, taking care of him, when even Lily can’t.The rest ends the same. Except this time, Harry and Hannah die together, facing Voldemort. Side-by-side, partners in battle to the bitter end.It’s not a good ending, not the one she wants, but she sobs, nonetheless. Because Charles lived, at least long enough to reach Hogwarts, and Harry …Harry found a friend like Severus. Someone willing to shoulder his pain.She nods sharply as she stands, smiling at Pandora despite the anguish she feels and the hollow pang in her chest. Because this … this was all necessary. She did exactly was necessary.And she tries to ignore the fear that gnaws at her, telling her she’ll have to do so, so much more.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  May 2, 1994
Lily smiles at Hans Schlotz, the little ringleader of the RRWs standing around Lily. The former squad leader, dismissed from the role in disgrace after his unmitigated failure, is a vital part of her plans, despite his b@m hand. In fact, of everyone in the room, he’s the only truly vital member. He knows that too, Lily having spent the last few weeks puffing up the disgraced man’s ego, convincing him of his own importance. He just doesn’t know why he’s important.The other fifty or so RRWs, mostly either newer members who were thoroughly embarrassed during the Battle for the Hogwarts Wards or members of Schlotz’s former squad, look up at Lily and Hans as they enter the room together. As “equals”, ready to take down the threat to them all.Lily uses the little wandless magic she has, pushing it towards her voice as she speaks.“Tomorrow. We strike tomorrow, after the duel. When he’s weakest. When those guarding him are either distracted with celebrations or by his defeat. That’s the only chance we have. Tomorrow, we take down the threat to Geneva and the Wizarding World as a whole before it can grow and fester. We put an end to Harry Slytherin, before he ends us.”Lily’s words waft through the crowd, the tinge of Serenity Magic reinforcing their own fears of the teen. Convincing them that the only way forward is to take out the threat.Serenity Magic always works best on those that are scared. On the cowardly. On the weak. So, it works like a charm on these disgraceful witches and wizards, convincing them to that this is their only choice. That they’ll win and defeat the threat to them.It’s almost funny because Lily knows the truth. They’re nothing more than pawns, all playing a role in Harry’s renascence.And what a fiery rebirth that will be.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Serena leaves Mitchell’s side, after spending most of the day convincing her husband that she’s fine, that her birthday, the anniversary of that day, doesn’t matter, even with Dorcas so close. Even with the duel tomorrow.Mitchell finally sleeps, and it takes more than a few minutes to uncurl herself from her husband’s loving embrace as she tiptoes through the halls of the hotel the British Delegation have been put in, finding Harry’s room.Finding Hannah there was a surprise, but it saves her a second trip.She thanks herself for applying the silencing charm on instinct when she left her own room. She wasn’t expecting to find Harry asleep, but she’s glad he is. Glad that Hannah is with him.Harry is facing the door, placed protectively in front of Hannah, but despite that, Hannah is spooning Harry loosely from behind, her left hand gripping Harry’s elbow in a tender embrace, despite their sleep and her face nuzzled into the back of his neck.She smiles at the sight, it bringing tears to her eyes. Her eyes drag across Harry unbandaged arm, as her own finger traces her scarred bondmark, the first she received after her parents. Edgar’s bond is gone, but the mark remains, a painful reminder of the love lost, but also a sweet reminder that love was there, until the bitter end.She never told Harry about the summer she spent bondless. She couldn’t. She can’t speak of it, even to this day.The fact that Harry survived so long is nothing short of a miracle.When the boy first entered her life, or rather re-entered, almost two years ago, it took everything Serena had to not offer to bond with him right then and there. But it wasn’t appropriate, it wasn’t her place.She probably still would’ve, before the following summer break, if he hadn’t already bonded to his friends before then. Friends so reminiscent of hers, yet so much stronger. Better.She’s glad to see that her daughter seems well on the way to creating her own bond with Harry.Serena leans down, pressing a quick kiss to Hannah’s forehead first, and then to Harry’s, the boy stirring a little. His eyes flutter open, as he stares up at her.“Hmm,” Harry hums. “Serene?”Serena’s breath catches on the old nickname; one she hasn’t let anyone call her exactly 22 years.“Yes, Harry?”“Happy Birthday,” Harry whispers, curling back into Hannah. “Love you…”Harry’s asleep again, probably before he even finished talking.“I … I love you too, Harry,” Serena whispers.Serena is still choking on silent sobs when she tiptoes her way back to her room with Mitchell, finding that her husband is not alone.“Serena?” James whispers, as Mitchell sits up in alarm at her tears. She’s only been gone a handful of minutes, but in that short time, James has found his way into their bed. Just where he belongs. “What’s wrong?”“Nothing, nothing,” Serena says, her smile widening at the sight of Mitchell’s arm wrapped around James’ waist, and James’ messy bedhead. “Absolutely nothing. It’s just … I was saying goodnight to our kids, and Harry called me ‘Serene’.”Both men’s eyes widen, but for very different reasons.“Serene?” Mitchell confirms.“Our kids?” James asks.“Yes, and yes,” Serena answers, crawling in between the pair. “Now … Go to sleep.”Despite her eyes being closed, her face already nuzzling against James’ chest, she can feel James and Mitchell staring at each other as they look over her, silently questioning how to handle her revelations. Eventually, both men must settle on dealing with it tomorrow, Mitchell’s hands snaking around her waist as James’ curling into her hair.“Yes ma’am,” James whispers.“Good, you’re learning.”---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Lily returns to her bedroom, exhausted by the amount of wandless magic she was forced to use, so as not to let the RRWs know she was using any magic at all. She’s practically ready to drop when she pulls off her robes, dressing into her nightgown.Which is why she groans when there’s a knock on the door, Bat entering a second later.“Is it done?” Bat asks, not even batting an eye at Lily’s half-naked form. Merlin, the things Peter would give to be in her place.“It’s done. Fifty-two RRWs.”Bat nods sharply, her emotions hard to read through the mask on her face. But Lily knows Bat well, better than almost anyone, except for Harry.“And Harry? Did the … Did Hannah …”Lily nods tightly, battling against the tears that threaten to clog her throat. She doesn’t know why she still feels. Maybe it’s a bit of emotion left from that initial decision, that initial change. Afterall, today was the day that convinced Lily of everything. That vision of Harry and Hannah, that was what convinced her that all of this was necessary. And more importantly, that some good could come out of the bad. And the awful.“Yes,” Lily says sharply.Bat nods sharply, moving to leave the room.“Oh, and Mary?”Bat groans, leaning down to unclasp her mask until it’s Mary Macdonald staring back at Lily.“Yes?”“Tomorrow … It’ll be hard for you, seeing what happens. But you need to stay strong. You know as well as I do, it needs to happen. It’s necessary.”Mary nods sharply, her face devoid of emotion.She knows what needs to be done, just as well as Lily does.“You would have made a magnificent slytherin, Mary,” Lily whispers, as Mary moves to put her mask back on. And it’s the truth. Mary is just as cunning and ruthless as any snake. In the original timeline Lily saw all those years ago, Mary helped raise Harry. She’s half the reason the boy ended up a snake in that timeline, just as he did in this one.Mary Macdonald, Lily’s closest ally, yet her strongest adversary, the only family Lily has left that claims her, stares back at Lily with her warm, hazel eyes. Somehow, her eyes are almost as unsettling as Lily’s Avada ones in that moment.“You would’ve too.”
  
  

    
      
        
        
          SOOO, let's attack this in order.1.Yes, Serena and Harry were both unbonded or in the muggle world without a bond growing up, and they will grow closer because of it, and yes, she did just adopt him (She's like my healthy version of Molly Weasley, but better)2. I cannot state how absolutely CRUCIAL Hannah is to this fic if I tried. She ranks just below Harry and Luna, if that gives a comparison, so ... I hope you like her.3. Yes, the blondes are competing with the redheads for scariest hair color. I'm terrified.4. Valerie/Emmeline/Viera confirmation. I don't know if anyone else wanted that, but I sure f@ck@ng did!5. Pandora's ability is complicated and it will be explored more in-depth, but essentially ... When most people are born, there is a child they are "destined" to have, with the possibility of having more after. Pandora can see the future of that child through their parent, even if they aren't born yet, but when the parent is dead, Pandora can't seer their future anymore.6. Okay fine, you can all hate Dorcas now. I won't blame you. But ... She's sticking around, so get used to her. (There's still a LOT to be revealed there too, so stay tuned).7. Mary, Mary, Mary ... Lily's strongest ally, yet her greatest adversary. I ain't saying sh@t.Finally ... We have Lily's motivations. I so hope it wasn't disappointing, but I've been building towards it for quite awhile and I'm happy with it. And I wanna make is absolutely clear, Lily is The Villain for Book 3, but she is NOT The Villain for the series. Hell, I might even argue that she's an anti-villain.After all, she only does what is necessary ... And nothing more.And most importantly, remember Chapter 14 is coming'
User: By the can i highlight a name and see only the scenes that shes in 
User: By the can i highlight a name and see only the scenes that shes in 
Assistant: