Top Ministry Official Found Dead

Cuthbert Finch, a senior member of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, has been found dead at his home in Exeter. He was discovered by his wife Doreen on Wednesday night after she returned from an evening of playing bridge with friends.

‘All evidence at the scene points to a severe and perhaps prolonged struggle,’ a Ministry spokesperson said in a statement released yesterday. ‘The Dark Mark was hovering above the house when Mrs Finch returned, so there is no question as to who has done this.’

Nor is there any question as to why. Finch, 58, was in charge of the court proceedings against suspected Death Eater Harold Jugson, who escaped from custody two weeks ago, after great efforts on the part of many Aurors and other Ministry personnel, including Finch, to capture him. Finch had also ruffled a few feathers over legislation he helped to write that imposed harsher punishments for crimes committed against Muggles.

The statement went on to say that Finch will be sorely missed, though it gave no more information, and the Ministry was unavailable for comment last night. It seems that Cuthbert Finch is to be added to the ever-growing list of victims of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

This article continues on page three.

Lily Evans tossed the newspaper aside and threw herself backwards onto her bed. She could not bring herself to continue reading the article. It was all that seemed to be in the paper, these days; reports of deaths and disappearances, of bodies found washed up on beaches, or in abandoned shacks with the Dark Mark hovering above. The Prophet had sometimes included pictures of the spectral, smoky skull floating like a sinister apparition above the ruins of a cottage. Every time she saw it, she wasn’t able to look for long.

It had even been referred to as a war in last week’s Sunday Prophet, everything that had been happening. But a war had to have two sides, had to have a resistance, but instead there seemed to be simply confusion. Perhaps high up in the Ministry, a plan was being formed, an idea of how to fight back against all this, but there was little feeling of resistance among the ordinary people; many were starting to refer to the wizard behind all the attacks and disappearances as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, too afraid to say his name. Even Hogwarts was beginning to be affected. Lily thought back to the Wednesday before term ended, when they had been informed the parents of a Gryffindor seventh-year had been attacked. The mother had been killed, and there had been no sign of the father. Lily had seen the girl, Ingrid Tallow, whom Lily had spoken to a few times, and her little brother, Gavin, in the Great Hall, waiting to be picked up by their aunt and uncle. The boy had red, puffy eyes, and was burying his face in his older sister’s robes. The sight haunted Lily still.

She couldn’t imagine what it must feel like to be told such terrible news, to be told your parents were gone and that your life was changed forever. Yet, at the same time, she felt oddly detached from it all, a stranger looking in on the scene with sadness and pity, but unharmed and unaffected. Her life would go on as it always had, and for one tiny moment, Lily had felt relief, relief that it wasn’t her with a mother dead and family destroyed, before she became disgusted with herself.

Lying on her bed in familiar and comfortable surroundings, she felt as if a great weight had settled on her, and she had a sudden desire to throw the newspaper out of the window, as if that would help things and remove the terrible sense of claustrophobia she felt. Her thoughts turned to her parents, who, as usual, had greeted her from the Hogwarts Express with many hugs and kisses, full of the Christmas spirit that Lily couldn’t seem to share, no matter how hard she tried. Decorating the tree on the evening she came home had been a family tradition since she was eleven years old, but this year, she couldn’t quite get into the spirit of things. She felt strangely separated from her jolly parents and their carefree attitude, her mother humming along to White Christmas as her father reached up to put the angel on top of the tree, and Petunia hanging the last of the tinsel. They were unaffected by this war, as the Prophet had put it. It would never affect them. Lily longed to share their joy, but the image of the little boy kept creeping back into her mind, and she found herself wondering how he would be spending Christmas.

Lily suddenly sat up. She couldn’t be thinking like this, not at Christmas time. It was a time to be thankful and happy. She had to try, for her parent’s sake, for the sake of Christmas itself. She couldn’t let all this bring her down. She needed to get out of the house, get some fresh air to clear her head. She got off her bed and shrugged on a coat and went downstairs.

‘I’m going out for a bit,’ she called as she opened the front door, hearing her mother’s wordless shout of consent as she stepped into the chilly air.

To her disappointment, Lily felt no sense of relief as she began to walk along the pavement. The weather was vaguely misty with a biting cold and the sort of dampness that clings to everything and makes it wet without it actually raining. As she approached the high street, the Christmas lights attached to the shops and houses that lined the road were twinkling through the mist, but they couldn’t summon the warm, tingling feeling they usually inspired in her, along with thoughts of the perfect presents for her family and evenings in front of the fire.

She turned off the high street and began walking along the road that led out of the village towards the copse. Here, Lily had spent many long summer days or frosty winter ones hiding among the trees with Severus. With a pang, she realised she was missing him. She hadn’t spoken to him now since the summer when he had sought her out in the playground. He had been apologetic and repentant then, but Lily had been firm. She meant what she said, she told him, and would stand by it. Since then, she had wondered if she should have forgiven him, especially during the long days of that summer. She had once even found herself treading the familiar path to his house, but she had turned away before she reached it. The image of the ghostly skull kept creeping back into her mind, and the reasons why she had ended their friendship came flooding back to her. In her heart of hearts, Lily knew that Severus would not waver from the path he had chosen, however much she begged and cajoled him. His beliefs were genuine, however much he protested otherwise, and there was no way Lily could ever accept that. She would have nothing more to do with her unless he accepted that people like her, Muggle-borns, were equal to him.

But she still missed him, especially during the holidays. She missed laughing with him about the little things, or happily complaining about homework they had been set and irritating teachers. She missed the comfortable hours she had spent in his company, and his calm, collected presence. He was someone to talk to when Petunia had been particularly nasty, or her parents irksome. He had listened in silence and allowed her to talk freely about how she really felt. Her other friends were sympathetic, but they hadn’t understood as Severus had; they hadn’t known exactly how Petunia could be. She had nobody like that now, nobody who really knew her, who had grown up with her.

But she couldn’t be friends with someone who was willing to put up with murder and torture. She couldn’t be friends with someone who would rob a young, innocent boy of his parents, or murder a man for opposing their views.

She had arrived at the playground, where she and Petunia had first met Severus. It seemed so long ago. They were different people now. Back then, things had seemed so black and white to Lily, so simple and clear, a definite right and a definite wrong. As she took a seat on one of the swings, she wished she was that young again and didn’t have to think about war or suffering.

‘You been stood up?’

Lily jumped. She had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed someone else in the playground. The speaker was a boy who looked about her own age. He was fairly good looking, Lily noticed, flushing, with an untidy mop of brown hair, longer than any boy at Hogwarts wore it, and he was wearing a leather jacket and faded denim jeans.

‘Sorry, what?’ she asked, blinking stupidly up at him. He grinned and sat down on the swing next to her, twisting around to face her.

‘I was asking if you’d been stood up,’ he repeated. His smile was very nice, Lily found herself thinking, not heart-stopping, but pleasant in a boy-next-door sort of way. She found herself being drawn to him. ‘It’s miserable out here, and you were looking glum. That’s the only explanation I could think of.’

His smile was rather cheeky, and Lily thought his explanation was a little pathetic, but for some reason, it didn’t really matter.

‘I haven’t been stood up,’ she said.

‘Good,’ he said, sending her another cheeky smile. To her surprise, Lily could feel her face getting warm and knew she was blushing. This seemed to spur the boy on.

‘I’d have to have questioned the guy’s sanity. I didn’t know girls as pretty as you hung around here. If I had, I’d have spent more time here.’

It was a pathetic line, and had this come from Potter, it would have made Lily seethe with irritation, but, like his rather unbelievable explanation, it didn’t seem to bother her. Perhaps it was because this boy was something different, a Muggle with no connection to her or Hogwarts or the war; it felt like a breath of fresh air. She felt herself warming to the boy, despite his cheesy lines.

‘That’s a terrible line,’ she said, grinning.

‘Ah well,’ the boy replied, shrugging his shoulders. ‘It was worth a try. What’s your name, anyway?’

‘Lily Evans,’ she said, extending her hand for the boy to shake.

‘Mark Forster,’ the boy said as they shook hands. ‘It’s odd, I’ve heard of your sister -- Petunia, is it?--but I don’t recognise you from any of the schools around here.’

Lily’s heart skipped a beat for a moment. She hadn’t had to lie about this kind of thing for a long time. Reciting lines about a boarding school in Scotland to her primary school friends she was no longer in touch with had been it, so she re-used the same story.

‘I don’t go to school here,’ Lily told him, not quite meeting his eye. She didn’t like lying to him; he seemed so genuine and friendly, it felt like a bigger betrayal than it had to the girls from primary school. ‘I go to a boarding school in Scotland.’

‘Ach aye tha noo!’ he said with a laugh. ‘Very posh. How come you go there?’

‘I err, won a scholarship,’ Lily said, improvising wildly. Her heart was starting to beat a little faster now, and she wondered if she should just leave now before she made a mistake and ended up letting something slip. But there was something about Mark’s smile that was highly inviting, and she felt an irresistible urge to stay.

‘Brains as well as beauty!’ he exclaimed. ‘That’s a little intimidating!’

‘I’m sorry,’ Lily said, blushing again.

‘Hey, don’t apologise,’ Mark said, grinning. ‘I like it. Do you fancy coming for a walk with me?’

Lily paused, slightly taken aback; she hadn’t expected that, and suddenly felt a little nervous and shy. Going for a walk with a boy she had only just met wasn’t something she would usually do, but on the other hand, she liked talking to Mark; he seemed care-free and easy going, and he was so far removed from the terrible things that were happening in the wizarding world. His light-heartedness was infectious, and she was feeling happier than she had been since that day she had seen the grieving young boy. She discovered that she wanted to say yes. But it was getting dark, and her parents would worry if she didn’t return soon.

Perhaps sensing her reluctance, Mark said, ‘I’m supposed to be going to the chippy for some tea, so I can’t be that long or else my mum will flip.’

‘Okay’ Lily said, deciding to throw caution to the wind. After all, it wasn’t like he’d asked her on a date. It was only a walk, and if she enjoyed his company, so what? It was harmless. If she was honest, Lily knew that this was different from enjoying a walk with a new friend; she was being wooed, and she knew it. Moreover, she found that she liked it. ‘I have to be home soon, and the chip shop is on the way.’

Mark grinned and got off his swing, with Lily following suit, and together they crossed the playground and out of the gate. Neither of them noticed a sallow-faced boy lurking behind one of the bushes who watched them leave with a sour yet wistful look on his face.

Severus Snape sat on his bed, his knees drawn up to his chin. He was twirling his wand listlessly in his hand, though every so often, he would point it towards the ceiling at an irritating fly that had landed there, and the fly would fall, dead, onto the coverlet. He had been thoroughly miserable since he had seen Lily walk out of the playground with that Muggle a week ago. She had been laughing and joking with him, whereas only a few minutes before she had looked sad and desolate.

His heart had leaped in his chest when he had first glimpsed the thick red hair protruding from under a woollen hat and realised who it was entering the playground. Finally, she had come! He couldn’t believe it. He had been coming to the park and the little copse at the end of the road every day since he had arrived home, just in case she was there. He hadn’t really had much hope; they hadn’t spoken since the summer and she hadn’t so much as glanced at him all term, but here she was, sitting down on the swings! Surely she had come here for a reason. She looked so morose, Severus wondered what was wrong.

He had so nearly emerged from the bushes to talk to her, but before he could, the Muggle with the ridiculous hair and the leather jacket had vaulted over the gate and made a beeline for her. Lily didn’t seem to notice him until he spoke, and she jumped in surprise. Severus had expected her to bristle with anger and demand that the boy leave her alone when he started spouting ridiculous lines, just as she used to do to Potter when he fawned over her, but to his shock and indignation, she blushed and smiled coyly up at him. He had never seen her smile like that at a boy before. And then she had left with him, laughing at his jokes and blushing at the compliments.

Severus had stared after them in indignation, regretting that he had not taken his chance to speak to Lily while she was alone. For a fleeting moment, he thought about following them, but decided he wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. She could go gallivanting around with filthy Muggles if she wanted, he couldn’t care less, he told himself firmly. And so he had gone home and hadn’t left its confines since. His mother had raised a wispy eyebrow at the presumably bad-tempered look on his face when he crossed the threshold, but she hadn’t said anything. She just left him alone, as she usually did these days. Ever since his father had died two years ago, his mother had retreated into some sort of shell. Severus didn’t mind much. He had never been one for cosseting and meaningful conversations, but he had hoped she’d claw back a bit of pride after the death of the man who had oppressed her for years. He hoped she’d make attempts to rejoin the magical community, but she had refused.

He sat up abruptly and strained his ears. He was sure he could hear someone talking downstairs. That was odd in itself; he and his mother rarely had visitors now that he was no longer friends with Lily. Yes, there it was again. There was definitely someone else in the house who his mother was talking to. He began to edge himself off the bed with the idea of creeping onto the landing in order to discern who it was, when he heard footsteps on the stairs.

From the light sound the steps were making, Severus guessed that the person did not want to be heard, and he tightened his grip on his wand and slid carefully off his bed, his heartbeat increasing slightly. There was a knock at the door. This surprised him; burglars and assailants did not stop to knock at their victim’s doors. He crossed the room and opened it, peering out. On the other side stood a broad, thick-set man in long, jet black robes that were stretched taut over his barrel-chest.

‘Severus,’ the man said in a low voice, a smile spreading over his rather pudgy face. ‘May I come in?’

‘Who are you?’ Severus said, still clutching his wand and wondering what on earth was going on.

‘Ah,’ the man said, glancing nervously over his shoulder back down the stairs. ‘You do not remember me? We met once, some years ago, in Hogsmeade. You knew my brother, Rabastan, at Hogwarts, though he was a few years above you.’

‘Rodolphus Lestrange,’ Severus said, relaxing his grip on his wand somewhat. He remembered the meeting, which had taken place in his third year, though, as Rodolphus has kept his hood up the entire time, Severus thought it was unreasonable to be expected to remember the features underneath. He stood aside and allowed Rodolphus to enter and closed the door behind him. He could still hear voices downstairs and wondered who else was there.

Rodolphus walked in, looking around the bedroom with an unreadable expression on his face. He did not sit down, rather he just stood in the middle of the room. Severus could feel his eyes boring into his back while he shut the door. He turned to face him, his expression guarded.

‘What’s going on?’ Snape asked when no explanation for Rodolphus’ appearance seemed to be forthcoming. ‘Why are you here? Who else is downstairs?’

‘I’ve been sent to talk to you, Severus,’ Rodolphus said. ‘They’re the diversion.’ He nodded towards the floor, and Severus took it to mean the people talking to his mother.

‘Sent? By who?’

‘The Dark Lord,’ Rodolphus said, watching Severus’ face carefully with his beady eyes. ‘But you knew that, already, didn’t you? A boy of your intelligence...’

Severus tensed, his heart fluttering in his chest. He clutched onto his wand once more, but this time, it was not out of fear of attack. He could tell that Rodolphus was trying to flatter him. Really, it was incredibly obvious, but it didn’t matter. ‘The Dark Lord sent you to me?’

‘Of course!’ Rodolphus laughed quietly. It was almost a purr; he seemed to realise he’d snared Severus’ attention. ‘He knows exactly who you are.’

‘What does he want from me?’

‘The Dark Lord seeks your hand in friendship, Severus,’ Rodolphus said. ‘He can offer you many opportunities... a wizard of your talents will be highly useful to him. I know where your sympathies lie, my brother told me of your... views. Do you wish to serve him?’

‘I do,’ Severus breathed. He couldn’t quite believe he was having this conversation. For years now he had followed... he had dreamed, but it had only been that. Yet now, here was his representative, telling him, Severus, that the Dark Lord himself wanted him. But surely he wouldn’t want someone like him, someone with a parent like his father...

‘You have noble blood in your veins, Severus,’ Rodolphus said as if he could read Severus’ mind. Immediately, he narrowed his eyes. Severus never liked people knowing what was in his thoughts, and he viewed Rodolphus with a new suspicion. ‘The Dark Lord can overlook your, ah, inferior connections for the purity of your mother’s blood. You are the last of the Princes, Severus. Your blood is highly desirable.’ Severus didn’t know if he quite believed this, but the Dark Lord would not have sent one of his servants to him if he did not want him. Surely that meant he would be willing to overlook his half-blood status if Severus would play up his mother’s pure-blood.

‘I will leave you now,’ Rodolphus said. ‘Think about what the Dark Lord can offer you, Severus. He will not accept you until you are of age, but he sees no harm in gauging interest early. He wants us to be loyal to him, and loyalty can only grow over time. Think about what I have said.’

With that, he swept out of the room, and Severus heard him head back down the stairs with the same lightness of step as before. They evidently did not want his mother to know of the Dark Lord’s interest in her son. Severus would prove part of his loyalty now and not tell her of Rodolphus’ visit. But he was intrigued in what they were saying to her. With a much more studied step, Severus moved towards the door and stole down the stairs to see if he could hear anything of the conversation between his mother and the Death Eaters. Voices floated along the hallway, and Severus crept closer to the kitchen door, which he found ajar. He peeped through the crack.

He could see his mother sitting at the kitchen table, her back to him. Seated opposite her was a thin, grey-haired man and standing behind him, leaning on the kitchen units was a younger man with a cruel, twisted face. They were both wearing the same long black robes. Severus assumed Rodolphus was standing near the door, out of sight.

‘Opposition to the Dark Lord is slowly being crushed,’ said the grey-haired man sitting at the table. He had a rather reedy sort of voice that matched his appearance. ‘I take it you saw the Daily Prophet last week, Eileen?’

‘If you’re referring to Cuthbert Finch, of course I did,’ came the soft, hollow voice of his mother. ‘However, my answer is the same, Nott. I will not openly support the Dark Lord. Not now...’

Severus knew she was referring to the shell she had crept into, and for a moment he was disdainful of her pathetic apathy, the way that she was so absorbed in herself that she wouldn’t do a thing to support the Dark Lord’s cause, even though she, more than anybody, had reason to fight for him. The Death Eaters didn’t seem too concerned at her rejection; Rodolphus was telling the truth, the conversation with his mother was only a diversion to get to himself. The man called Nott was getting up.

‘I don’t know how you can stay in this hovel, Eileen,’ he said, peering out of the window at the street.

His mother seemed to take offence at this. Severus knew she had been cut off from her wealthy family without a Knut, and he was pleased to see a small manifestation of pride as she sat up straighter.

‘We can’t all be as wealthy as you, Nott.’

Nott gave her a weak smile. ‘I was not referring to the lacklustre surroundings, my dear. There can’t be another wizard for miles.’

‘There’s a Muggle-born girl who lives the other side of the village with her family,’ Eileen said defiantly.

Severus’ heart leaped into his mouth as he saw Nott whip his head back around to her. The man with the twisted face had stood up straighter, and was looking across the room, presumably at Rodolphus, a nasty glint in his eye. Dread filled Severus. What were they going to do? He guessed how they must feel about Muggle-borns.

‘Well, we must get going, Eileen. Goodbye,’ Nott said abruptly, giving a quick smile to his companions as they moved across the room. Severus did not like this. Why had his mother been so stupid as to talk about Lily?

‘Goodbye,’ his mother said as she ushered them out of the front door. As soon as it swung back into place with a thud, he burst into the room.

‘What did you do that for?’ he shouted, his heart beating wildly.

‘Severus!’ his mother exclaimed in surprise. ‘Have you been eavesdropping?’

‘Forget that!’ he yelled. How could she have been so thoughtless! ‘You told them about Lily!’

‘So what?’ she said, evidently unaware that she had done anything wrong.

‘So what? THEY HATE MUDBLOODS! Can’t you imagine what they’re going to do now?’

He felt a thrill of satisfaction as her face fell and she clapped a hand to her mouth.

‘I’ve got to go and see if she’s okay,’ he said, throwing a last look of contempt at his before he threw open the door and sprinted out.

---

‘I won’t be able to see you ‘til after Christmas,’ Mark said as he and Lily approached her house. ‘The family are descending tomorrow, and between my gran telling me I need a haircut and my little cousins wittering on about anything and everything, I won’t have time to escape.’

Lily smiled. There was something very appealing about the picture he painted of loud, boisterous relatives clamouring over one another, and despite his complaints, Lily suspected he wouldn’t change it for the world. ‘That’s okay,’ she said. ‘I have presents to wrap and some schoolwork I really should have a go at.’

‘Schoolwork?’ Mark said. ‘You’re on holiday!’

‘I know,’ she replied, ruefully. ‘But it’s a ridiculously long essay and I always struggle with Trans- I mean chemistry.’ Her heart thudded loudly in her chest for a few moments, reeling in the aftermath of her near slip up, but luckily, Mark hadn’t noticed.

‘I’d offer help, but I was always terrible with chemistry. Sorry,’ Mark said. ‘Well, here we are, then.’

They had stopped outside Lily’s house, and Mark turned to face her. Lily didn’t want him to leave; she’d had a wonderful time that evening, first with bowling and then going to the pictures, something she hadn’t done in years.

‘I had a great time tonight,’ Mark said, stepping closer. She could feel the heat radiating from his body, could see each individual eyelash and her breath caught in her chest, her heart beating steadily faster.

‘I really like you, Lily.’

He was leaning towards her, and Lily’s heart had reached such a tempo that it appeared to have stopped completely. She couldn’t say anything, her breath wouldn’t come. She closed her eyes as he bent his head and slowly, their lips met.

When they parted, Mark was grinning. ‘Thank you for a lovely evening,’ he whispered, leaning his forehead on hers. Lily looked up into his deep brown eyes and couldn’t stop herself from smiling.

‘Not a problem,’ she said, and then felt rather stupid. ‘I mean...’

‘I know what you meant,’ Mark said with a grin. ‘Well, goodnight, Lily.’

He gave her one last smile and turned to go. ‘Merry Christmas.’

Lily shivered, a reaction that had nothing to do with the chilly December night that was closing in about her. She shrank further into her coat, still grinning as she watched him walk back up the street, illuminated by the orange glow of the streetlamps.

She felt giddy with happiness as she began to walk down the garden path, Mark finally having faded from view. She could hardly believe that barely a week ago, she had been depressed and gloomy, finding it hard to partake in the festivities taking place around her. Now, however, the brightly coloured lights and candles and bearded Father Christmases seemed to bolster her buoyant mood, as did the warmth that flooded out to meet her when she opened the front door.

When she had left Mark at the village chip shop, she had never expected to see him again. He was a fleeting ray of sunshine in her life, but no more. She had not intended to go looking for him, but, to her shock, he had turned up on her doorstep the next day, wearing his cheeky grin and holding up a bag of toffees.

‘Fancy going for a longer walk this time?’ he had said. Flustered that he’d actually come looking for her, Lily had agreed, determinedly ignoring the nudges and indulgent smiles her parents were exchanging as they peeped through the living room door. Since then, she had seen or spoken to Mark on the telephone every day. Tonight had been their first proper date.

In the back of her mind was a small voice that nagged her to be careful with what she said, or uttered small questions about what was going to happen when she went back to school, but Lily ignored them and pushed them firmly back into the recesses of her mind, where the image of the grieving young boy had taken refuge. She was not going to think about those things now, not when she finally had found something that made her forget all the things that were going on in the hidden world she was part of.

‘Who was that, then?’

Lily whirled around, paused in the act of beginning to climb the stairs. Petunia had come out of the living room and was leaning on the frame, arms folded in disapproval.

Lily felt her cheeks flush. ‘His name is Mark, he lives on Baunton’s Avenue,’ she said, defiantly gazing at her sister, trying to retain a vestige of dignity. Petunia raised an eyebrow.

‘Deigning to go out with one of us non-magical people, are we?’ she said. ‘Miggles, wasn’t it?’

‘Muggles,’ Lily said calmly. She had long ago given up getting upset over Petunia’s spiteful remarks. ‘And yes, I am.’

‘Where’ve you been with him?’

Lily sighed. What was it with the interrogation? ‘We went bowling and then to see Pink Panther.’

Petunia snorted, and Lily felt a rush of anger. ‘There’s nothing wrong with that!’

‘I never said there was,’ Petunia replied. ‘Just that, oh Lily, do you really have to go... gallivanting around with a boy you’ve only just met? You’re rather young for that...’

Lily noticed that she took the care to show off her left hand when she said this so that the diamond on her engagement ring flashed and winked in the light. She was trying to make Lily feel ridiculous and immature, but Lily wasn’t going to stand for it. She wouldn’t let her snide and bitter older sister ruin her happiness.

‘You’re only three years older than me!’ Lily retorted angrily. ‘And if I remember rightly, you went to the pictures with Andrew Hartford, Glenn Keedle and Humphrey DeLongio when you were my age! You can hardly lecture me!’

Lily was pleased to see Petunia’s cheeks turn a pale shade of pink, and with a satisfied grunt, she turned to climb the stairs.

However, she had barely reached the third step when there was an almighty bang and Petunia screamed. Lily whirled around in shock and surprise to see the front door swinging wildly on one hinge. In the doorway stood three men in long black robes, large hoods pulled over their heads so most of their face was in shadow. The lower part of their face was uncovered however, and each man was wearing a cruel smile, leering at the two terrified girls in the hallway.

The man at the front stepped over the threshold.

‘Which one of you is the witch?’ he asked in a reedy voice, looking from Petunia, who had shrunk back against the wall, to Lily, who was still frozen to her spot on the staircase.

‘Oh, I wouldn’t quite call her that, Nott,’ said another softly, stepping forward. ‘Scum, more like.’

‘What’s going on?’ Lily’s parents had come careering out of the living room but skidded to a stop, horrified looks appearing on their faces, as they took in the men standing in the doorway.

After a moment’s hesitation, Lily’s father stepped in front of his wife and drew himself up to his full height.

‘Who are you?’ he demanded. ‘What are you doing in my house?’

The three men burst into malicious laughter as Lily’s father squared up to them, a move that may have been intimidating to a Muggle, but would have no effect against wizards. The men knew they could blast him aside in an instant. It was their jeers more than anything that jerked Lily into motion. Anger penetrated through fear. How could they laugh like this at her father, the bravest man she knew, as if he was a small child trying to stand up to older playground bullies?

‘I’m the witch,’ she said boldly. All three men turned to look at her, almost as if they were stunned she had spoken out at such a moment. They quickly recovered themselves.

‘Ah,’ said the man named Nott who appeared to be the leader, stepping forwards past the place where Petunia was cowering. He reached out a pale white finger and traced her cheek. Lily tried not to flinch at his icy-cold touch. She did not move from her place on the stairs. ‘You’re quite pretty, for a Mudblood. We could have some fun with you.’

‘I think you should leave,’ she said firmly, staring at his hooded face, resisting the terrible urge to shudder at his touch and pull away.

‘Oho!’ Nott said, retracting his arm and reaching into his cloak. ‘You think you can order us about, Mudblood? We who carry out the work of the Dark Lord?’

‘Don’t you dare talk like that to my daughter!’ Lily’s father shouted.

It happened in an instant. Lily saw her father rush forward, and one of the other men brandish his wand. There was a bang and a bright flash of light, and her father flew through the air and hit the wall opposite the wall with a sickening thud. All three women screamed and Lily tried to jump forward in horror to where her father lay groaning at the foot of the wall, her heart thumping loud in her ears, but Nott held her back, a brutal smile on his face.

‘Think you can stand up to us, Muggle?’ said the man who had fired the curse, looking down at Lily’s father, who lay unmoving on the floor. He had thrown back his hood to reveal a cruel, twisted face. ‘You’re a pathetic piece of vermin, not fit to wipe dirt from our boots.’ He spat on the ground at Mr Evans’ feet.

‘That’s the trouble with Muggle scum,’ Nott said, still barring Lily’s way but looking with disgust at Mr Evans. ‘They’ve spent so long thinking they lord over everything, they don’t know when to shut their dirty little mouths.’

He turned his face back to Lily and breathed, ‘Well, I tell you something, Mudblood, you’ll all get what’s coming to you, soon enough. Oh yes, the Dark Lord will see you get your just desserts.’

‘I think we should start on the Dark Lord’s plans. A bout of the Cruciatus Curse would do you some good,’ the man with the twisted face said still looking down at Mr Evans. He raised his wand again.

‘NO!’ Lily screamed, twisting frantically in Nott’s arms, trying to get free. If only she had her wand! She might have been able to do something, but it was upstairs in her trunk, along with the rest of her school things. Until now, she had never needed it during the school holidays. She cursed her naivety that wands could be disregarded in times like these. How foolish she was...

‘It’ll do you some good to watch this, Mudblood,’ Nott sneered at her. ‘Might teach you a thing or two about who to respect in this world.’

The wizard with the cruel face raised his wand, but suddenly, he gasped and clutched his left arm to his chest. At exactly the same time, Nott released Lily, who instantly jumped past him to get to her father.

‘The Dark Lord,’ Nott muttered, looking around at his companions, rubbing his forearm as if it pained him.

‘You’ve been lucky, this time, Muggle,’ said the brutal faced man, gazing down at Mr Evans, who was moaning as he tried to struggle into a sitting position. ‘The Dark Lord has spared you. I wouldn’t count on your luck continuing, though...’

He spat one last time at Mr Evan’s feet, before all three men disappeared in a swirl of robes.

‘Dad!’ Lily cried, leaping off the stairs and rushing to his side.

‘Are you all right, Patrick?’ Lily’s mother whispered, her voice shaking. Mr Evans could only groan in pain.

‘Get him onto the sofa,’ Lily said, looking around for Petunia to help. Her sister was shaking from head to foot, but nodded mutely as Lily’s look and came to help her mother as she assisted her husband gingerly to his feet.

As Lily, Petunia and their mother helped Mr Evans to take a few, shaking steps, there came a voice behind them.

‘Lily?’

All four Evans’ turned towards the speaker. Lily’s mouth fell open in shock as she saw that, standing in the ruined doorway, was Severus.

Shock was quickly replaced by irritation, and then anger. ‘You two take over,’ she said to her mother and Petunia, as she turned away from them.

‘Lily, I-’

‘What do you want?’ she demanded, cutting across him. She didn’t have time for this now; her father could be seriously injured. They had to phone the doctor, and most importantly, Lily had to arm herself. Who knew when those Death Eaters would return?

‘I came to see if you were all right,’ Severus said, gingerly stepping over the threshold. His eyes never left her face. ‘I’m so sorry, I...’

‘Well, I’m fine,’ Lily said shortly. She couldn’t be dealing with Severus, not now. ‘A few of your Death Eater pals came to visit. My father has probably got several cracked ribs and was nearly tortured, so you’ll excuse me if I’m not in the best of moods.’

‘Lily, I know about the Death Eaters,’ Severus said. ‘They... my mother accidentally let slip that you lived here. I never meant for this to happen...’

‘What were the Death Eaters doing at yours?’ she said. Severus finally looked away from her face. He was shifting uncomfortably where he stood. Suddenly, realisation hit her. ‘Oh, I see.’

She turned away from him, disgusted, and made to go and check on her father, but Severus had leaped forward and caught her arm.

‘Let me go,’ she snarled, turning back to him.

‘No,’ Severus said. ‘Hear me out. I came to see if everything was okay, and to apologise. I never meant for this to happen, I was furious when Mum said that stuff about you. I knew what they would do; I came over as soon as possible! I wanted to make sure they didn’t hurt you. I’m so glad you’re okay...’

‘But they can torture the rest of my family?’ Lily demanded, wrenching her arm out of his grip.

‘I didn’t mean that!’ Severus said quickly. ‘Lily, it doesn’t have to be like this...’

Lily couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ‘Of course it’s going to be like this!’ she shouted. ‘They targeted me because of my blood! They were going to torture my family because they’re Muggles! Nothing is going to change that!’

‘If you were with me, nobody would come after you or your family, I’d make sure of it!’

‘How?’ she said sceptically, rocking back on her heels and folding her arms. ‘How exactly are you going to do that? Is You-Know-Who really going to take into account the wishes of a sixteen year old boy who hasn’t even left school?’

Severus flushed. ‘I’d make sure nobody would come after you,’ he repeated. ‘And even if they don’t listen, we can still try and protect-’

‘Severus, I don’t want to be tolerated because I'm dangling off the arm of someone else!!’ Lily was nearly shouting now, she could feel her cheeks flushing with anger and knew she must look demented and mad, but she didn’t care. She was beyond caring. ‘I’m a witch, I have as much right to be respected as they do! I am their equal! You want to know why I’m not friends with you anymore? You want to know why I’m not going to accept your offer? Take a look at my father! I’m not going to spend time with someone who thinks doing that is okay!’

‘But Lily-’

‘I don’t care what you’ve got to say, just get out. I need to make sure my father is okay.’

She turned around and stormed into the living room, leaving Severus standing in the hallway, staring sadly after her.

Lily’s parents made a brave attempt at going back to normal after that scene. They still went to church on Christmas Eve, though the walk was slower than usual due to the three cracked ribs Mr Evans had sustained at the hands of his attackers, and both he and his wife continually looked about them nervously, as if they expected the Death Eaters who had broken into their home to be hiding in the shadows, waiting to jump out and finish the job they had started. Petunia had not spoken to her since, and Lily knew that her sister was determined to lay the blame with her.

But despite Mrs Evans’ brave stab at joviality, a cold sense of dread and fear lingered. Presents were exchanged and Christmas dinner eaten, but it was without the usual festive cheer. Lily kept her wand on her at all times, now. Never again would she be caught out like that. She was also determined to brush up on defensive magic once she was back at school and had access to the library. The encounter with the Death Eaters had wrought a sort of change in her. She no longer felt detached from the baleful headlines in the Daily Prophet, and when the image of the little boy, crying quietly into his sister’s robes, she felt a stab of understanding, a connection with him that she had not felt before. Yet she also felt fear. Would she be the next one to receive such news? Her parents were not like other members of the wizarding community; they could not keep their heads down and try to avoid getting on the wrong side of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s supporters. Their crime was their blood, and their lack of magic, the very thing that rendered them defenceless from attacks.

This was why, three days before Lily had to go back to Hogwarts, she was beating the once-familiar path to the house where Severus lived with his mother. She had been thinking about what would happen when she went back to school ever since the attack; her worst fear was that the Death Eaters would return to finish the job. She had turned it over in her mind, and decided the only course of action was the one she was taking now. She could not cast an enchantment that hid her house from malicious eyes, even if she knew how; she was still underage. But there was one person who lived close by who wasn’t underage, and so she had decided to go and visit Eileen Snape.

Had it been under any other circumstances, Lily would have burst out laughing at the look of utter shock on Eileen’s face when she opened the door.

‘Goodness!’ she exclaimed after inviting Lily into the kitchen. ‘Certainly didn’t expect you, if you’ll wait a moment, I’ll fetch Severus for you...’

As Eileen had turned to leave the room, Lily thought she glanced a shadowy figure with long, black hair standing behind the door to the hall. With a jolt, she remembered that Severus would turn seventeen in only five days time. But by then, they’d be back at school and he would be unable to help. Plus, Lily was reluctant to ask him for help, or even talk to him again, especially given what had happened. No, Lily was incredibly pleased she didn’t have to have that particular conversation.

‘No,’ she said, returning her gaze to Eileen. ‘It’s you I’ve come to see.’

Eileen simply stared as she turned back around to face Lily. She showed no signs of speaking, so Lily ploughed on.

‘I want to ask you to do me a favour,’ she said slowly. She had rehearsed this speech in her head many times, worried that she sounded too impertinent, but now she was here, all her preparation and memorised lines seemed to have deserted her, so she merely garbled, ‘I want you to help protect my parents.’

Eileen raised an eyebrow.

‘I mean, I was wondering if you could please help me--’

‘Yes, I know what you mean,’ Eileen said, cutting through Lily’s hurried explanation. She sighed heavily and sat down at the worn kitchen table and rubbed her face with her hand. ‘I never meant to send them to your house, you know,’ she said finally, looking up at Lily. ‘I’m sorry for what happened. Severus told me -- is your father okay?’

‘He’s got a few broken ribs, but he’ll be okay,’ Lily replied. She never knew quite what to make of Eileen Snape. When she was younger, she had been scared of this thin woman with her permanent scowl and seemingly sullen attitude, but as she had grown older, fear had given way to sympathy as Eileen sank further and further into a kind of lonely apathy.

This was the woman she was now; quiet and lethargic, she was roused by very little. Even now, when she was clearly sorry for the harm done, she didn’t seem as if she could quite summon the energy to appear sincere.

Eileen said nothing. Lily waited for her to reply, but she remained silent, she said, ‘Will you help me?’

Still Eileen did not speak. She was looking up at Lily, an unreadable expression on her face. She looked more tired and worn out than ever.

‘Please,’ Lily said, trying to keep her voice even, although she was flaring up inside at Eileen’s apparent cowardice. ‘I would do it myself, but I don’t turn seventeen until the end of January, and I can’t get back then until Easter. I’m -- I’m terrified that the Death Eaters’ll come back to finish my parents off, and I won’t be able to help if I’m not there. I don’t know what to do except to ask you to help me. The Ministry -- they turned up after the attack, they’d sensed magic being performed in my house and came to investigate. I told them what had happened, but they wouldn’t put protective charms on the house. They said they couldn’t--’

Anger swarmed up inside her as Lily remembered the change in the obnoxious Ministry official’s face when she had explained that this was not a matter of underage magic, but a savage attack on her father. His face had drained of colour and he became anxious, looking about the place as if he expected the attackers to be hiding in the cupboard under the stairs, ready to jump out at any moment. He had hastily explained, with many stutters and apologies, that the Ministry was far too busy at the moment, there had been an attack on several important department members during the night and resources were stretched. He left Lily standing aghast at his cowardice as he strode back out of the front door.

She looked imploringly at Eileen, wishing, hoping she’d say yes. The older woman looked at Lily for a long time, unblinking and apparently thinking hard. Finally, she spoke.

‘I will help you,’ she said, and Lily felt something close to joy erupt in her chest. ‘I haven’t done anything that complex in years, but I will try.’

And so the enchantment was cast. It was only simple, Eileen said, and she doubted it would hold off powerful bouts of magic, but it would keep Lily’s family safe for the mean time, until Lily could place a more efficient one on herself.

And so there remained only one more thing to sort out. Mark.

Little though she wanted to, she knew she had to end things with him. If she was truly honest with herself, she had known this from the beginning; they were just too different, and her life was too complicated. She could not keep feeding him lies about her school and her life there; she had nearly slipped up several times, to keep up the facade in a long-term relationship would be near on impossible, in the end, she would let something slip, and then she’d get into trouble with the Ministry of Magic. She didn’t know what their policies on Muggle partners were, but she doubted leniency would be granted to a sixteen-year-old who accidentally let slip to her seventeen-year-old boyfriend about her Charms homework.

Plus, Mark was such an open and honest, down-to-earth sort of guy that Lily felt terrible lying to him. She hated the fact that she was deceiving him, especially when he genuinely believed she was such a wonderful person. Whenever she had to make up some fact or other about her school, she felt dirty and cheap. There was also the unwelcome fact that she had spent so much time away from the Muggle world, she was realising she actually had little understanding of how it really worked. When she first realised this, she had felt a burn of shame so great Mark had teased her about being embarrassed. She knew only the subjects studied in school were the ones she had done in Primary school, and she had no idea about the latest music or teenage crazes, apart from those that Petunia talked about.

So the question was; did she really belong here anymore? She had never really given this any thought before; she had always assumed she would comfortably be part of both wizarding and Muggle worlds, but the more she seemed to think about it, the more she was leaving the Muggle world behind, the world she was born into and the world she had lived in until she was eleven years old. She would get a wizarding job (seeing as she had no Muggle qualifications, she had little choice, even if she’d wanted to), live in a wizarding household, keep up with wizarding news, and possibly even marry a wizard. Where did that leave the Muggle world?

But even if she managed to bridge the worlds, Mark never could. He could never belong, even if he tried; there would always be the gulf of magic between them. She could rant away about how difficult she found non-verbal spells, or complain about how she couldn’t get a particular potion quite right, and Mark could murmur and agree with her, but he would never be able to truly understand. Would it lead to indifference and him seeking someone with whom he had more in common, or would it turn to hatred, as it had with Eileen Snape and her husband? She couldn’t bear Mark thinking of her in either way.

However, the crux of the matter for Lily was the danger he’d be in if he tried to be a part of both worlds. Like her parents, he was defenceless against the Death Eaters and as a Muggle married or going out with a Muggle-born, he would be a figure for attack, and Lily couldn’t let that happen.

With her parents, she had no choice, but she could save Mark. She wouldn’t let him get caught up in events that could leave him dead.

And so she made up her mind.

She had been avoiding him since Christmas, trying to think of the best way to end things with him, but when he called at her house two days before she was due back at school, she knew she had to act.

She couldn’t summon her usual, cheerful personality that shone through whenever she had been in Mark’s company, and she thought he could sense a change in her. They didn’t speak much as they wandered around the village, tentatively holding hands, until they reached the playground. There, Lily decided she had to do it.

‘Mark,’ she said as they reached the brightly painted gates that led to the playground. ‘I... we have to talk.’

He gave a sad little smile as he turned to face her, and Lily felt a pang of guilt; he knew what was coming.

‘It’s okay, Lily,’ he said. ‘Really. If I’m honest, I thought it might come to this.’

‘Really?’ Lily said, slightly taken aback despite herself.

‘Yeah, I mean, you go to school miles away, we’d only see each other in the holidays...’ he tailed off and sighed, staring over the misty playground towards the copse.

Lily couldn’t think of anything to say in reply to this. After a moment of awkward silence, Mark turned back to her and grinned.

‘Still, I had a great time with you,’ he said.

‘So did I,’ she replied honestly. ‘You made things bearable for a while.’

‘Glad I could help,’ he said, his grin faltering a little, and Lily guessed that he was more upset than he was trying to show.

‘Look, I know I didn’t have to, I know you said not to, but I got you a little something for Christmas. Here...’

He pulled a package wrapped in paper covered in pictures of holly and Christmas bells out of his jacket pocket and thrust it into her hands. It was oddly squidgy yet lumpy in places.

‘You seemed to enjoy the pictures, so I bought it for you...’ he glanced down at her and for a moment seemed on the verge of saying something else, before seemingly thinking better of it.

‘Look, I better get going,’ he said. ‘If you get back on one of your school holidays and get lonely...’ He grinned at her one last time, before turning and striding back up the lane.

Lily tore the paper off the present to find a stuffed Pink Panther toy. Her eyes welled up as she remembered their date, and for a moment wanted to call him back and tell him she didn’t want to end things, but she clamped her mouth shut.