“Bellatrix.”
Lily turned to face a Slytherin seventh year with long, glossy dark hair to match her equally dark and hooded eyes; they were strangely hollow and cold looking. They reminded Lily of endless unlit corridors that swallowed her in the darkness. Sometimes they sprang to life with a maniacal glint that gave Lily the chills. Pale-faced and thin-mouthed, Bellatrix Black would have been extremely beautiful if it hadn’t been for a certain aura of insanity surrounding her.
“I can’t believe it. Head Girl? You? Hah! Well I suppose I should be congratulating you,” Bellatrix smirked maliciously, “In fact, I think I should give you a little good luck gift to start your new job,” she slowly slid out her wand from the depths of her robes.
“No thanks,” said Lily coolly, “I really don’t have time to chat, unfortunately. So, if you’ll excuse me,” Lily knew that Bellatrix was only looking for a reason to start a fight with her.
Ever since their second year, Bellatrix had loathed Lily. Bellatrix had developed a habit of trying to curse Alice in the corridors. Of course, Lily hadn’t been able to just stand around and merely watch someone abuse another person. She had stood up for Alice, and, in the process, gained Bellatrix’s hate along with Alice’s friendship.
Lily turned to leave but was cut off mid-step by a red jet of light.
“And where exactly do you think you’re going? I haven’t finished congratulating you,” Bellatrix whispered menacingly, twirling her wand with her long pale fingers.
Lily silently faced her.
“I don’t think you want to keep me back just to express your joy for me Bellatrix,” she said grimly, “you know that I won’t fight you-”
Bellatrix fired another jet of light. It grazed past Lily’s cheek by mere inches and created a small black hole in the wall behind her. Swirling black smoke began to emanate from it.
“We’ll see about that.”
People were starting to poke their heads out of their compartments to see what all the commotion was about.
“Fight me.” Bellatrix took a step forward, her eyes flashing dangerously.
“No. I have no reason to.”
There were two things Lily Evans held strong on. One was her solid hate for bullying innocent people. The other was her conviction that duels which occurred from quarrels and squabbles were absolutely meaningless. Bellatrix could talk and even hex her as much as she wanted. Lily would never sway in her decision not to fight.
Hate and lunacy began to flood Bellatrix's eyes.
“Fight me, now.” She would make that stupid Mudblood fight. The fact that Lily wouldn't fight tempted her even more. She would curse her so painfully that the mere thought of it made her glow with excitement. They would duel whether the Mudblood wanted to or not. The superior blood would prevail over the worthless mixed blood...
“Fight me. Fight me now, you piece of filth!" The volume of Bellatrix's voice increased sharply; she began to take quick, shallow breathes.
Lily didn’t answer but gave her a strange look. Was it pity? She turned once again to leave. Three things happened in that following split second. Someone screamed “WATCH OUT!” and gave Lily a strong push, causing her to topple down to the ground. An explosive “BOOM!” followed, and the crowd that had been watching gave a loud gasp. Lily felt something wet spray her face.
She quickly looked up to find James with a deep gash across his left cheek. Lily’s hand sprang to her own cheek. She wiped some of the liquid that had showered her. Blood…James’s blood…
The tip of Bellatrix’s wand was smoking, and her face was twisted in anger and disappointment.
“You made me miss, Potter.” Bellatrix pronounced every syllable slowly and quietly, as if she would explode if she spoke any louder. “Keep out of this and go away so that I can curse your little girlfriend properly. Or maybe… I should have a double-duel,” her face broke into a grin so suddenly that Lily jumped. “Yes, that sounds good. Double-duel for Bella."
James whipped out his own wand and aimed.
”Back off, Black,” he warned in a dangerously low tone. He prepared to fire a curse at her.
“No! Potter-don’t!” Lily pulled herself up from the floor and grabbed James’s wand arm. She wasn’t sure why she was stopping James. All she knew was that when she had seen his blood on her own face and hands, a horror like no other had filled her. James shot her a surprised, quizzical look.
"Evans, what are you doing? She's threatening us, and she's already started attacking you!"
"I don't care Potter!" Lily replied forcefully, "When will you finally figure out that it's wrong and stupid to fall into fights like this. I don't want anyone getting hurt just because of me. I don't want trouble!"
James stared at her closely. Lily made eye contact with him in that millimeter of a second. His eyes were so soft and warm. Before she knew what was happening, she felt herself falling into them. She willed herself to fall into those comforting eyes, so different from the cold ones Bellatrix had.
James slowly lowered his wand. His eyes continued to capture Lily, but she was pushed violently out of her trance as Bellatrix began to laugh maniacally.
“So everyone is leaving poor Bella alone like this? Come, come now! Bella wants to play! Bella wants to fight! What’s wrong Potter? Getting soft? I don’t remember you being so sweet to dear old Severus.”
“Get a life,” James retorted coldly. He took a hold of Lily’s arm and began to leave. But Bellatrix wasn’t satisfied.
"YOU TWO AREN'T GOING ANYWHERE!" she shrieked, aiming straight at Lily and James. Suddenly, before Lily even had a chance to blink, a gigantic ball of purple light had erupted from the tip of Bellatrix's wand.
James was ready this time. He flung Lily and himself down flat onto the floor. The spell hit the compartment wall, causing the whole train to tremble from the impact. An inky black cloud of smoke arose and quickly pervaded the hall.
Everyone in the vicinity started coughing. The cloud seemed to have a stinging and choking hex combined into one. James and Lily got the worst of it. Lily had dropped to her knees because she was coughing so hard. Her throat burned as if it was on fire, and she wanted nothing more than to rip it out. Her eyes were watering and felt as if a thousand insects were biting into them. She needed to stop this. The other students were suffering too, but she couldn’t even remember where her wand was. The pain was so intense…
She distantly heard James’s voice mutter something. The cloud was lifting, and the pain was disappearing.
She collapsed onto the floor and felt someone grab her by the shoulders.
“Lily! Lily, wake up! Wake up…“
The ceiling began to spin in front of Lily, and then the world went black.
A/N: PLEASE REVIEW!