7023998 Harry Potter and the Return of Eliza

8/3/2019 7023998 Harry Potter and the Return of Eliza

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eliza-trilogie -2-harry potter and the return of eliza

chapter one

the young shall grow oldwhilst the old grow older

and cowards will shrinkas the bold grow boldercourage is found in quiet heartsfor who can say where bravery starts?

(-the legend of luke, by brian jacques)

peter pettigrew paced back and forth. the dementor outside his cell ruffled hisblack robes in annoyance, then drew a rattling breath, sucking the emotions fromthe prisoner like sucking juice from an apple. peter shuttered and collapsed.

it had been only two months since he had been put in azkaban, three horrible

months filled with nightmares, screams, and despair. peter's gray robes werecovered with filth, and he was almost unrecognizable. how long had some of theother prisoners been here? years? decades? peter could only guess.

"i never was the brave one," peter moaned to himself. "why me?" images, bits ofmemory flooded his brain. sirius... how on earth did he stand this? he was inazkaban for twelve years...

sudden light flooded the prison. peter, having nothing better to do, got up andstood on tiptoe to peak out of the barred window. a new dementor was glidingtowards his cell. the other dementors stood, waiting. peter had watched themenough to know they were facing a superior officer.

the dementor's hissing voice sounded. "come. we are needed here no longer,"

"what of the prisoner?" the dementor that guarded peter's cell asked.

"we shall have new prey. come,"

the other dementors made no objection. one by one, all the dementors in azkabanfiltered out. peter blinked, suddenly able to think of happier things...comforting thoughts he hadn't been able to remember in weeks.

from the other cells, peter could see the eyes of other prisoners watching thestrange procession, wondering what was happening. some were mad. others weremerely biding their time.

time slogged on. in what felt like hours (but could have been minutes), a newfigure approached the cells.

the figure was dressed in black robes and moved with a grace and a beauty thatmade her seem to float. she was young, sixteen or so, and she was the mostbeautiful girl peter had ever seen in his life. her brown, curly hair was arrangedcleverly, as to give the girl the look of a super model amazon princess. theexpression on her face was the most exceptional thing about her, despite all herbeauty. she looked calm, in control, powerful, and superior.


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peter's eyes narrowed as he picked out her subtle resemblance to severus, his oldschool enemy. he's seen this witch before. her name was diawna eliza snape, andshe was second in command to lord voldemort, also rumored to be the dark lord'sgranddaughter.

diawna stopped. her cool, blue gray eyes flickered from door to door. then,swiftly and gracefully, she strode to the far side of the prison and flung openthe door.

"ryan lestrange," she said quietly, although peter could hear her every word. "andjaklin lestrange. welcome back into the service of voldemort. your positions asthird and fourth in command awaits you both,"

again and again, diawna flung open the doors of the prison, announced to theprisoners that they were free, and let them walk out of azkaban. many werebewildered; others grinned broadly. some just looked confused.

peter watched as diawna came closer and closer. finally, diawna stopped at hisdoor.

"wormtail," she hissed, sneering.

peter flinched. he hated that name. that was the nickname james had given himfifth year. years later, voldemort had called him that, to remind him that he waspeter's new master and of his betrayal to james. peter looked hopefully at diawna.

diawna glared coolly at peter. "i'm not sure whether or not to let you sit hereand rot. your incompetence is astounding, and your stupidity is beyond mentioning,nothing to say of your lack of loyalty and bravery."

peter shook. would diawna just leave him here? to starve in prison? he was the oneto bring back voldemort, after all. surely that was worth something...

diawna sighed. "i suppose you'll have to come," she said lazily, and flung open

the door.

peter blinked, grinned, and stepped out of azkaban. he was free.

* * *

wyrren malfoy frowned. "are you sure of this, james?"

james potter nodded. "azkaban has been completely cleared out. they've got anillusion covering it from the outside, so as to keep it a secret a bit longer, butit's deserted."

wyrren scowled. she was sitting on a chair in the library, madam pince making anote to ignore the necromancer and continue on with her care of the books. lilyhovered beside james. next to both of them was justin, the ghost of a fifteen yearold boy with brilliant red hair.

lily sighed. "there are times, wyrren, when i wish there were more necromancersaround. i really wish there were more people who could see us,"

justin shrugged.


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wyrren sighed. "what are you complaining about? i can make you solid any time iwant."

"you'll knock yourself out again," james said.

"oh... i don't think so. i've been practicing, you see. i don't think that spellwill pose much of a problem to my health anymore." wyrren stood up. "i need to seedumbledore," she announced. "unless, james, you'd like to do the honors?"

james closed his eyes. really, wyrren was stretching her powers much too far."fine," he muttered. "just give me thirty seconds to get in his office,"

wyrren nodded and started counting. james sped off through the walls and floors.

twenty seconds later, he was hovering near the floor next to the headmaster'sdesk. dumbledore didn't notice him.

suddenly, james fell to the floor with a clatter. dumbledore looked up at once andsmiled. "james,"

james stood up, tapping his hand against the wood. his flesh was still cold, but

in all other terms he was almost alive. "wyrren's been over doing it again," jamesmuttered.

"any reason for this unexpected visit?" dumbledore asked, putting his quill downand smiling.

james nodded. "it's about azkaban, sir. it's been emptied. all the prisoners aregone,"

dumbledore's smile vanished. "are you certain, james?"

james nodded. "they've put up illusions around the outside, but it's empty. nodementors, no prisoners."

dumbledore stood up. "i see,"

james waited. how long was wyrren going to make him solid? when she had tried thisthree months ago, she landed in the hospital wing after only a minute or so.

dumbledore turned around. "on a lighter note, how is harry doing?"

james smiled. "tomorrow's his birthday, sir. lily and i wanted to take a breakfrom spying, let justin have a turn at it."

dumbledore's blue eyes shone. "ah, yes, i remember justin. arthur weasley's olderbrother, wasn't he?"

"yes, sir," james said. his hand was going transparent slowly. either wyrren wasabout to pass out again, or she was slowly releasing her power, the way it oughtto be done.

"goodbye, james. say hello to lily for me, when you get the chance," dumbledoresaid.

james vanished from his sight. dumbledore's smile faded. he sat down, frowned, andcontinued writing his letter.


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* * *

the following night was dark and moonless. harry potter was sitting at the baywindow of his new, humming 'happy birthday' to himself as sirius and remus sneakedaround the kitchen, trying to find one more candle to top the cake.

"we just had to have fifteen candles," sirius shook his head. "fifteen. it couldhave been sixteen, like the little label on the box says, but noooo."

"oh, stop complaining, padfoot," remus whacked sirius on the head playfully. "whydon't you just transfigure one?"

sirius blinked. evidently, the idea had never occurred to him. "i was going to dothat," he muttered.

remus laughed. "just don't set fire to anything."

"me? fire? never," sirius said, looking around for a stick to transfigure.

"padfoot, sorry, but i trust you around fire just about as far as i can throwyou," remus laughed.

"one little incident," sirius protested, grabbing a stick and looking around forhis wand.

"you set fire to snape's dinner," remus said. "when he was trying to impress lilywith how cool he was,"

sirius dropped his wand and shook with laughter. "oh, do you remember his face?!oh, that was funny,"

remus sighed, shook his head, and transfigured the candle for sirius, who was now

trying to stay on his seat, he was laughing so hard. "there. sixteen, finally,"

"i'll light them," sirius offered.

"over my dead body," remus bent over harry's birthday cake, which despite sirius'slack of cooking skills, was looking pretty good. fluffy, brown, chocolate frostingcovered it, with white icing forming the words, 'happy birthday, harry!'

"ok, is harry still in the living room?" sirius craned his neck to look throughthe hallway once all the candles were lit.

"ok... done! ouch, hot hot hot hot..." remus shook his hand.

"burn yourself, moony?" sirius grinned.

"ok, let's get this over to the living room. no, we are not setting fire toanything, padfoot," remus said.

"how stupid do i look?" sirius asked grumpily.

"well, from some of our little... expeditions back at hogwarts i honestly can'tanswer that," remus said. sirius looked around for something small to throw athim.


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somehow remus and sirius managed to bring the cake over to the living room. harry,who had been listening to them argue for the past ten minutes, turned around andput on the face of astonishment that he'd been practicing.

"happy birthday, harry," sirius grinned.

harry looked the cake over. "it's in one piece!" he said with fake surprise.

"which, when you consider sirius's cooking ability, is trurly a miraculous thing,"remus said. "think you can blow out all those candles, harry?"

harry grinned and blew them out. sirius served him up a piece, then gave one tohimself and remus.

"how come you got the chocolate flower?" remus asked sirius his arms crossed inmock outrage.

"i'm special," sirius said. "how were your presents, harry?"

harry grinned. "they were great, thanks!"

remus took advantage of sirius's turned face to reach his fork under sirius's armand steel his chocolate flower. harry started laughing.

"what?" sirius looked around, then at his ravaged frosting. "moony..."

remus quickly stuffed the flower in his mouth and put a 'who, me?' expression onhis face.

"you... you two are acting like a bunch of kids," harry laughed.

"who, us?" sirius grinned. "sorry, i never really grew up,"

"we know, padfoot, we know," remus said, patting his arm in a sympathetic manner.

"ok, seriously though..." sirius shook his head. "it's getting pretty late..."

remus glanced at the clock and nodded. "i'd better be getting home... thanks forinviting me harry, sirius,"

"it was fun," sirius said.

harry nodded. "it was nice to see you again,"

remus headed for the front door. that was when all the lights went out.

"what...?" sirius drew out his wand. "lumos!"

sirius's wand glowed faintly, then faded into blackness.

"what-" harry didn't get the chance to finish his sentence.

a brilliant, glowing figure entered the room through the wall. harry put his armin front of his eyes to keep himself from being blinded. it was a woman, it lookedlike, only... it didn't really look human. her eyes were enormous, her ears wereshaped like a bat's ears, and her nose was wrinkled forward, making her look likeshe had fangs. her arms were incredibly long and graceful, and she wore robes madeof starlight.


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"the watcher," sirius said in an awed voice.

the figure nodded. "i am indeed the watcher. so good of you to remember me, siriusblack," her voice echoed and reechoed and sounded mystical and far away.

harry frowned. he was sure he had heard of the watcher somewhere... he couldn'treally remember where...

"what are you doing back?" remus asked.

"i come to offer harry my services. if you remember, remus lupin, i am still indept." the watcher turned towards harry. "harry james potter. i am called thewatcher. your father, james, did me a great service before he died. i am bound torepay him, however i can,"

"great service, my foot. james saved her skin," sirius muttered. "harry, this isthe most powerful magical creature in existence. voldemort himself doesn't haveone tenth of her power,"

the watcher, whatever she was, stayed silent.

harry turned back towards her. "you're offering me a wish? like in aladin?"

sirius looked confused. the watcher, however, nodded. "one wish,"

harry frowned. "exactly how powerful are you?"

"power," the watcher repeated the word. "i can control the strings of time. i cando almost anything,"

harry bit his lip. what did he want, more then anything else in the world? thedeepest desire of his heart... his mind flew to the mirror of erised. of course.

"can you bring the dead back to life?" harry asked. it sounded like a challenge.

the watcher's light dimmed a little. she hung her head. "there is only one in theworld who has the ability to do that. alas, it is not me."

harry nodded. just as well... sirius had the haunted look about his face wheneverjames was brought up. still blaming himself, harry thought grimly.

"however..." the watcher paused. "however..."

"however what?" harry asked.

"there is a way... who do you wish to see?" the watcher asked. she started glowing

brighter.

harry thought about this for a bit. there were plenty of people he's like tosee... his parents, his friend eliza diawna snape, cedric diggory, lee jordan..."eliza... eliza and my parents," harry said.

the watcher shook her head. "one or the other, harry,"

draco is going to kill me, harry thought. "my parents, then,"

"if i were to go back in time, just before they died, and bring them forward to


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the present, then, after a set amount of time, put them back at the same time itook them away..." the watcher paused. "that might work..."

harry closed his eyes and tried to keep from shaking. he had a chance... he'd beable to see his parents... but then, they'd be taken away again... was it worthit?

"how long?" he asked. "how long would i have?"

"i'll give you one year," the watcher paused. "and i'll give them a makeshiftmemory, so they don't get too shocked at the situation,"

harry nodded. "do it,"

chapter two

the watcher hurtled herself back in time, all the while laughing. these humanswere so easy... so predictable. it made her work so much easier.

she stopped suddenly. she was standing in a house that was pleasant, clean, and

old fashioned, at least, by human standards. lily, james, and harry were allasleep, not surprising, because it was roughly three o'clock in the morning.

the sound of a trash bin being knocked over rang out through the open window.james stirred.

"lily, wake up!" he hissed.

"hmm? what is it?" lily blinked. "is harry crying again?"

james shook his head. "someone's coming,"

lily blinked. "impossible... the fidielus charm..."

james rose out of bed. "i'm going to check it out," he whispered, grabbing hisrobes and dressing quickly.

lily nodded and yawned.

james prowled down the stairs, his hand clutching his wand tightly.

the front door had twenty five warding charms on it. most of them would take anordinary wizard an hour a piece to figure them out.

james muttered something to his wand, scanning the door. he jumped back insurprise. there were only two warding charms left. only one wizard in the world

would have been able to get by them so quickly...

james whirled around and dashed to the stairs. "lily! it's him! run! take harryand go! i'll hold him off!" james turned around. the door flung off its hinges,smashing the coffee tables and chairs. the walls seem to buckle with the merepower of the spell.

lily gasped and burst into harry's room, grabbing the infant, then, sobbing, shesprinted towards the family room fireplace.

the watcher edged in closer. she had to take lily and james at the same time...


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just before james died...

a slog of glowing green smoke followed a tall robed man into the house. the figureflung of his hood, and his red eyes gleamed hungrily.

james's face turned white as a ghost. "voldemort..." he whispered.

lily, in the next room, lit a fire with her wand in the hearth.

voldemort nodded, a small smile playing on his face. he drew out his wand. "anylast words, james?"

"expelliarmus!" james shot the spell out like a crack of a whip. voldemort blockedit.

"not a good move, potter," voldemort said.

"stupify!"

lily looked around blindly for the floo powder.

voldemort blocked this one as well. the spell ricocheted and knocked a huge holein the wall.

"crucio!" voldemort roared.

james dodged to the side.

lily found the jar, grabbed some of the powder, and threw it into the fire. sheturned to grab harry. harry had crawled away.

voldemort had caught james off balance. he grinned and pointed his wand at james."avada kedavra!"

the jet of green light shot at james. james barely had time to whisper the word,"no..."

* * *

james opened his eyes. he was lying on a tile floor, face down. beside him hecould hear lily.

"james..." lily was panting. "james, where are we?"

james got shakily to his feet, then helped lily up. "i don't know lily... the

watcher!"

"oh, no, not again..." lily covered her eyes.

the watcher just looked at them. james blinked furiously. "come to try to repayyour debt again?" he asked.

"my debt has been paid for, james," the watcher said in her usual wavery, mysticalvoice.

james frowned. "what do you mean-"


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the watcher put one hand on james's head, the other on lily's. james rocked backin shock. it was almost fifteen years in the future. harry had survived theattack. he, james, had been, or will be, killed that halloween morning. voldemorthad been defeated that night. harry was now famous. rough sketches of events thathad taken place the past. there were some details, but not many...

the watcher vanished. james and lily blinked and looked around the room.

harry held his breath. sirius was looking guilty and happy all at once. remus wasgrinning broadly.

lily looked straight at her son. "harry?"

harry nodded. his mum looked so sad... james, after staring at harry for a moment,turned to sirius and remus. "hello, padfoot, moony,"

sirius got to his feet. "hello, prongs," he said quietly, tears running down hisface. remus stood up as well.

suddenly, sirius threw his arms around james's shoulders and hugged him tightly.

"oh, prongs, i'm so sorry," he whispered.

"sorry?" james let sirius go. "sorry for what?"

"the secret keeper... it was my idea to use..." sirius stared at james.

james smiled grimly. "yes, that's it," he said sarcastically. "it's your faultwormtail was a traitor. honestly, padfoot! have you been beating yourself up aboutthis for years?"

sirius looked away. "azkaban isn't exactly a cheering place,"

james grew at least five shades paler. "azkaban... no! you didn't... where's

peter?"

"he put the blame on sirius," harry said. "escaped. my friend eliza..." harrychoked suddenly. "eliza caught him just before... before she died... wormtail's inazkaban."

james turned back to sirius. "i suppose i should be the one apologizing to you,padfoot," he said quietly, then turned to harry. "so the watcher gave you a wish?"he asked. harry thought he heard a trace of a sneer in james's voice.

harry nodded.

james grew silent. "i never trusted the watcher enough to wish for anything. the

watcher will do anything to witness a big drama. she's given people abilities theyshould never have had, broken strings of time, killed people by the thousands."

harry swallowed nervously. "she... she's killed people?"

james raised one eyebrow. "well... no, not in the way you're thinking of. she'sgiven motives for people to kill each other. anything to watch a new story,"

harry immediately thought of wyrren, the girl with the gift of necromancy. "anypeople i might know she's given special powers?"


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james shrugged. "ever heard of severus snape?"

"you don't mean..." harry opened his mouth with astonishment.

"snape teaches at hogwarts, james," remus said quickly.

"oh..." james frowned. "let me guess. he teaches defense against the dark arts?"

"no... potions," harry said. "the watcher gave snape a special ability?" he couldprobably read minds, harry thought to himself.

"the watcher gave a certain talent to his daughters," james said. "you might knowthem, they're your age. their names were-"

"eliza diawna snape and diawna eliza snape," harry said. "what power did thewatcher give them?"

"she made them parselmouths," james said. "those two go to school with you?"

"eliza died... she was a gryffindor... diawna's second in command to voldemortnow," harry said, his mind racing. eliza had told him that only people who were

destined to do great and terrible things were given the ability to talk to snakes,and that she was given that gift because her twin had that power. had eliza liedto him...?

"snape's daughter was a gryffindor?" james grinned suddenly. "oh, i'm sure heloved that,"

"not exactly," remus said. "i met eliza about eight months before she died. youcouldn't find a nicer girl,"

the group fell into an awkward silence. finally, james looked towards harry andsaid hesitantly, "you don't happen to play quidditch, do you?"

harry grinned. now this was more like it...

* * *

diawna eliza snape crossed her arms in discust. lucius malfoy bowed slightly toher. diawna's pet snake, a reddish brown denpert named relinquo, hissed softly.

"he is thinking that you are a fool, my mistress," relinquo hissed. "he iswondering why he must serve an arrogant, insolent girl for a mistress. he hasslight plans of treachery, but nothing serious,"

diawna did nothing to acknowledge her pet. relinquo had the gift of being able toread minds, a very, very rare trait of snakes. "you think me arrogant andinsolent, lucius," she sneered.

lucius malfoy rose up abruptly. "no, of course not, mistress,"

diawna laughed. "fool," she hissed, sounding like a snake herself. "do not try todeceive me. i can see your thoughts as clearly as if you were screaming themaloud,"

lucius didn't respond to this. "my apologies, mistress,"


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"he's startled, not sorry, diawna," relinquo hissed. "he's wondering how on earthyou know his thoughts. now he's screaming at himself to 'shut up or she'll hearyou!'"

"i do not accept apologies, lucius. now go back with the others," diawna snapped."i have a lot of work to do if the plan is to succeed."

"yes, my mistress,"

diawna eyed the death eater with contempt, then turned her attention back to theother assembled death eaters.

* * *

draco malfoy wandered from room to room in the castle. he had just recently founda secret passage that led down to an abandoned wing of the school, and he'd beenspending his free time exploring it thoroughly.

draco stopped outside of a door that looked like it had been made of ebony and

crystal, with a great brass doorknob. he stared at it for a moment, then flung thedoor open.

the air inside the room was dusty and warm. on the other side of the room therewere four enormous windows, looking like the windows at his manor. golden sunshinefilled the room.

there was only one piece of furniture in the chamber: a tall, grand mirror thatwent perfectly with the d cor of the room. on the top of the mirror was an inscription.

"erised stra ehru oyt ubeca fru oyt on woshi," draco read aloud. he frowned. thatdidn't sound like any spell he had ever learned. he leaned over to examine the

mirror. really, it was the most interesting piece he had seen in days. the designwas almost like a work of art.

at last draco stood up. this was boring... he turned to look at the mirror onelast time.

draco froze, then stepped closer to the mirror, entranced by what he saw, thentore his eyes away, at the ceiling, where the golden letters shone.

"ishow no tyo urf acebu tyo urhe arts desire," he read the words backwards, thenglared at the image in the mirror with sudden loathing. "i show not your face butyour heart's desire,"

draco turned and ran from that room, a small piece of his mind wondering if elizawas still in that mirror.

* * *

sirius's house was in the country, far away from the nearest muggle town. siriushad a small quidditch field where he and james used to practice.

harry handed james his firebolt. "just as long as you don't fall off," he teased.


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james smirked and started flying hairpin turns in and out of the hoop, upsidedown, rightside up, backwards upside down. lily groaned.

"james, you're going to break your neck!" she called, twisting her long, red hairin her fingers.

sirius laughed. "yes, come down james, and let harry show you how to really play

quidditch!"

james smirked and dove straight towards the ground, pulling up a moment before hewould have crashed. he handed harry the broomstick. "your turn,"

harry grabbed the firebolt and warmed up with a series of loops, then dovebackwards through the hoop, followed by a perfect wrongskie feint.

"i think he's beating you, prongs," sirius laughed.

"harry, watch out! that's too close!" lily called. "you're going to hit thattree!"

harry dodged the tree easily. lily started playing with her hair again, mutteringto herself.

harry landed a minute or so later. "you want a turn, sirius?"

sirius shook his head. "i think you passed my skill halfway through your warm-ups,harry."

harry shrugged. "mum?"

"don't you dare get that broomstick near me! that broom is going to be the deathof you, i swear..." lily scowled.

"so, what are you two going to do during the school year?" sirius asked.

james blinked. "during the school year?" lily looked uneasy.

"i don't know. maybe dumbledore will let us..." james started.

"dad?" harry interrupted.

"hmm?"

"have you or mum ever taught defense against the dark arts?"chapter three

justin flew as fast as he could to the home of sirius black. something waswrong... the spirits of lily and james hadn't returned to wyrren at all. wyrrenhad cast spell after spell searching for them, although no one, not even herbrother, seemed to notice this but dumbledore. it was as if james had vanished offthe face of the earth.

sirius's house loomed in the distance. justin slowed down a bit, stopping at lastin the living room.

harry was sitting there, looking happily at something silver glittering in hishand. beside him sat another boy, tall and red haired, talking animatedly about


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quidditch.

that boy looked like justin's brother... justin tried to place him, then gave up.he was here to see what had happened to the potters.

someone in the hallway chuckled. justin turned and stared.

there was no mistaking him. james potter, alive and well, was joking with another

man, a huge grin on his face. beside him was lily, looking just as solid, laughingalongside them both.

justin shook his head. wyrren was not going to be happy about this...

* * *

the dungeons were cold and dark, as always. severus snape stared gloomily into ablack fire, twisting a wine glass in his hand. he had been rejected for defenseagainst the dark arts teacher once again... dumbledore said something aboutsomeone applying last minute. severus sneered to himself, sipping his drink

thoughtfully. dumbledore didn't tell him who it would be, perhaps it was thatidiot, black.

someone rapped lightly on the door. "come in," severus called.

minerva mcgonagall opened the door. severus put on a twisted smile. "what is it,minerva?"

"the new teachers are going to be arriving shortly," she said.

"about time, too. school starts tomorrow... teachers?" severus turned and glaredat minerva with his black eyes.

"teachers," minerva nodded.

"perhaps they think there's safety in numbers," severus mused, draining the restof his drink.

minerva smiled a bit. "they're only staying one year,"

severus laughed dryly. "now, why aren't i surprised?"

"also... albus wants you to escort the malfoys to diagon alley this afternoon,"

severus turned back to the fire. "i am not albus' pet. he can escort themhimself,"

"severus..."

"what?" snape snapped.

"you-know-who... he's after wyrren," mcgonagall said slowly.

"fine," severus said sullenly. "i'll escort the brats. anything else?"

"no, severus," minerva sighed and left the room, closing the door briskly behindher.


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* * *

"you sure you got everything, harry?" sirius asked. "you didn't leave anything?"

"positive, sirius. mum made me pack everything last night, before she left for the

school," harry said.

sirius nodded and loaded harry's trunk owl cage (hedwig was flying), and broominto a nifty little side compartment on the side of his motorcycle, which had beenbewitched to fit almost any type of luggage. "lets go, we're going to be late!"

harry climbed onto the back of the motorcycle. sirius grinned suddenly.

"you're not afraid of heights, are you harry?"

harry shook his head. "no, not really..."

"hold on, then," sirius said. a thin cloud of smoke suddenly surrounded the bike,

which hurtled into the sky.

"what did you do?" harry asked.

"the thing that looks like smoke?" sirius asked. "it's an invisibility shield.kind of like a huge invisibility cloak. we'll be at king's cross in no time,"

"does mum know you're going this way?" harry asked suspiciously.

"what lily doesn't know won't hurt her," sirius said after a pause.

sirius was right about one thing, though. they did arrive much earlier then theywould have the normal way. after making sure no one was looking, sirius cut the

cloud of smoke around the bike and unloaded harry's stuff. in minutes harry was atplatform nine and three quarters.

"well... see ya sirius!" harry said as he boarded the train and found an emptycompartment. sirius waved.

"harry!" harry turned. hermione grinned. "ron and i were wondering where you'dgone to," she said. "hang on, let me go get ron,"

harry barely had time to nod when hermione rushed out again, only to reappearminutes later with ron.

"we can't find draco," ron said, looking around as the hogwarts express pulled

off. "think he missed the train?"

"no, not exactly," draco walked into the compartment, sneering. his white blondehair was longer then it was usually. wyrren followed right behind her brother, herface as blank and expressionless as ever.

"oh, hi draco," hermione said. "i think i like your hair like that. you look likewesley from 'the princess bride',"

"who?" draco asked, running his hand through his hair.


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"nevermind," hermione muttered. "it's one of those american films my sisterbrought back with her."

draco frowned. "would wesley be a good looking character or a bad lookingcharacter?"

"good," hermione blushed.

draco grinned slyly and sat down next to ron. after a moment, though, his grinfaded. he looked at harry.

"wyrren told me your parents have come back from the dead," he said, his sneerback on his face.

harry nodded.

"were you able to bring back eliza?"

again, harry nodded.

"but you didn't," draco finished, looking disgusted.

harry winced. "i had to chose, one or the other. eliza was next on my list,draco,"

"i bet she was," draco said bitterly.

harry didn't say anything. a little movie had started playing in his head; elizatrying to save them from voldemort, eliza being the one to get stabbed instead,eliza lying on the grass, asking to be remembered... harry looked away suddenly.

there was an uneasy silence for the next minute or so. wyrren closed her eyes andstarted a chant.

"wyrren, what are you doing?" ron asked. "nothing dangerous, i hope,"

wyrren didn't answer. she just kept chanting. harry glanced around, ready for anystrange apparition to become solid.

nothing happened. wyrren opened her eyes, frowning a bit. "she's gone,"

"what?"

"the shade at hogwarts. your friend eliza. she's gone." wyrren said.

someone knocked on the compartment door. the fat little witch that pulled the foodcart smiled. "anything to eat?"

harry and draco jumped up. ron's ears went red. wyrren didn't move at all.

it was dark out when the train finally pulled to a halt. ron only ate one pumpkinpasty, saying that he had enough chocolate frogs to last a life time. wyrren ateonly her sandwich.

"finally," hermione muttered. "i can't wait to start my classes again. you goingto sit at the gryffindor table again, draco?"

draco shrugged. "that depends whether or not pansy parkinson insists on sitting


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next to me," he shivered.

"i don't blame you," harry said, standing up. "let's go,"

it was raining slightly when they got off the train. harry, ron, hermione, draco,and wyrren found an empty carriage to take them up to the school. wyrren wasshivering.

the carriage brought them to the front door of the castle. draco stood in front ofthe doors and sighed, then turned around and headed for the lake.

"where is he going?" hermione asked.

"eliza's grave," harry said at once. "come on,"

draco ran his hand though his mildly damp hair when he entered the branches of theweeping willow. the black tombstone looked so lonely and forgotten, although thepoem draco had written there glowed in white letters, illuminating a single redrose.

draco sat down slowly and closed his eyes. he could just hear eliza now... her

last request... she wanted to be remembered... draco put his hands over his face.to think he had come so close to getting her back...

"draco?"

"go away, hermione. please... just... just go," draco muttered.

"i'm not hermione, draco,"

draco's eyes widened a bit. he remembered that voice... the slight americanaccent... he turned around.

"lumos," he muttered.

a girl was standing there, with thick, curly brown hair pulled back into a bun,which it was struggling to liberate itself from. she had blue gray eyes, and shewas very, very pretty.

"eliza?" draco gasped. how on earth...?

eliza nodded, starting to smile.

"draco, look, i'm sorry for..." harry stopped dead.

"hello harry. ron, hermione." eliza looked at wyrren. "so glad to see you'vesurvived the summer, wyrren. you didn't knock yourself out again, or anything like

that, did you?"

wyrren stared at eliza. "i survived," she said quietly. "the rest is unimportant,"

eliza rolled her eyes, then turned to harry, ron, and hermione. "what do you saywe go up to the castle and watch the sorting?" she asked, then chuckled. "severusis not going to like this,"

harry glanced at wyrren, then turned to draco and said in a low voice, "whatexactly has your sister been doing over the summer?"


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* * *

severus stared at the six figures coming into the great hall, then strode downfrom the staff table to meet them.

harry winced. snape looked furious. james, noticing this, got up quickly as well

and ran over, arriving just before severus.

snape shot james a look of pure venom before turning to his daughter. "eliza..."he hissed.

"what?" eliza stared at him. "what do you want?"

"i thought eliza died," james frowned.

"i did," eliza sighed. "i thought you died as well, mr. potter,"

severus glared at her for a moment. "you're suppose to be dead and buried, eliza.stay dead next time!"

eliza took a step back. "you... you want me dead?"

"severus," james growled.

severus sneered at james. "you deal with your son. i'll deal with my daughter,james,"

hermione bit her lip. eliza leaned over to her. "save me a seat. i'll join you assoon as i can,"

hermione nodded and motioned to harry, ron, and draco to follow her. wyrren hadalready taken her seat.

draco didn't move. after a moment, hermione shrugged and sat down.

severus turned back to eliza. "get out of my sight, you," he spat.

eliza grabbed hold of draco's robes to keep him from launching himself at snape.

james stared at severus in disgust. "fine father you are," he said. severus turnedand walked back to the teacher's table.

"i'm sorry, eliza," james said before turning back to sit at the opposite end ofthe table at severus. that didn't prevent james from giving severus dirty looksevery now and then, though.

"come on, draco, it's time for the sorting," eliza said in a dull sort of voice.draco put his arm around her shoulder and sat down beside her at the gryffindortable.

chapter four

by the next day at breakfast, rumors on eliza's return were flying everywhere.almost as common were the rumors about the new defense against the dark artsteachers. a few people thought that james, lily, and eliza had never really diedin the first place. others were throwing suspicious looks at wyrren the


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necromancer. some just shrugged off the mystery of eliza's reappearance and saidthat james was probably some long lost older brother of harry's. harry couldn'treally blame them for this, though. james and lily both looked around twenty yearsold. harry and hermione chose not to participate in those rumors. ron was adifferent story, and kept glancing down the table where wyrren was sitting byherself, eating mechanicly. draco, who very rarely left eliza's side, was againsitting at the gryffindor table.

"i love breakfast," eliza said happily, ignoring the strange look seamus wasgiving her. "pass the sausage, will you, harry?"

harry grinned and handed the plate of meat over. "you sure you don't want anypancakes?"

eliza shook her head. "i'm in a 'sausage and egg' mood right now," eliza smiled asshe took a bite of steaming sausage, a dreamy look on her face.

"eliza!" hermione handed her slip of paper to her friend. "schedules," she said inway of explanation. "i got yours from the slytherin table, draco," hermione added.

"thanks," draco took his schedule and ran his finger down the list of classes.

"um... hermione...?"

harry noticed it too. "we don't have double potions with the slytherins anymore,"

"what?!" eliza grabbed her timetable. "you're right," she groaned indisappointment.

"what are you complaining about?" ron asked. "i hate potions, and the slytherins,no offence, draco, make the class ten times worse."

draco sneered.

"i said no offence! would you be taking classes with pansy parkinson if you had a

choice?" ron asked.

draco hmphed and turned back to his list. "we've got double defense against thedark arts together," he remarked. "and we're still sharing care of magicalcreatures,"

eliza blinked. "that ought to be interesting... has anyone seen slyther, by theway?"

draco frowned. "i haven't seen slyther lately, no. maybe he's still down in thechamber of secrets,"

eliza shrugged. "maybe,"

hermione looked over her list of classes. "first class tomorrow is defense againstthe dark arts!" she said happily. "we've got charms at nine, this morning, that'sin about twenty minutes, and then potions..."

eliza groaned. "fine... just what i need first day of school: potions! and, notonly that, we get severus all to ourselves. oh, won't this be fun?"

"sarcasm does not become you, eliza," harry said.

"by the way, just out of curiosity, but why do you call him severus?" ron asked,


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helping himself to more eggs.

"i thought i already told you that," eliza sighed. "what else am i going to callhim? snape? that's my name. dad? no way, jos ,"

"jos ?" draco looked confused. "who's jos ?"

"oh, never mind," eliza said. "lets go. we've got charms pretty soon, and i want

to get started early,"

"classic eliza saying. one moment you're sleeping in, the next, a perfect pictureof punctuality," hermione shook her head. "see you at lunch, draco."

"sure. i ought to get over to transfiguration anyway," draco stood up and grabbedhis bag.

* * *

that night, harry almost collapsed into his bed. he had learned that he preferred

potions class with the slytherins. at least then snape didn't give them impossiblyhard work to do. then there was quidditch practice... harry scowled. he had beenvoted team captain, and the work that was building up was incredibly hard... therewere four positions that haven't been filled in yet, and ron had been trying topressure him into letting him on the team.

actually, the player he really had his eye on was wyrren. he'd seen her skill witha broomstick, and frankly it was amazing. wyrren, however, wanted nothing to dowith quidditch and stuck to her studies.

harry curled underneath the covers and fell into an uneasy sleep...

he was searching the forbidden forest for... for someone. perhaps it was hermione,or his mum... he entered a moonlit clearing.

eliza was sitting there, on a fallen log, her face in her hands. harry walked upto her. "eliza?"

eliza turned into snape and smiled wickedly. "i'm not eliza," he hissed. then hestarted laughing, a high cold, laugh, pointed his wand at harry, and harry'sparents disappeared in a flash of green light...

harry woke up. ron was shaking him, his face pale. "you alright, harry?"

harry blinked. everyone in his room was staring at him strangely. "fine," he

muttered.

"you didn't look fine," dean said, crossing his arms. "you started glowing andtwitching about,"

neville gave a frightened squeak. "i thought you were dying!"

harry shook his head, as if to clear away the confusion. "glowing?"

dean, seamus, neville, and ron all nodded.


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"but... but it was just a nightmare!" harry protested. "how could i be glowing?"

no one wanted to answer him. harry closed his eyes. great. just great. he couldjust imagine putting this in a letter to sirius now... dear sirius, i had anightmare and i started glowing in the dark. sincerely, harry.

"are you alright, harry?" ron asked again.

"i'm fine, ron. really," harry said. "go back to sleep,"

ron didn't look convinced, but he got back into his bed. harry tried to get tosleep again, all the while aware that the other boys were staring at him.

* * *

"you had another nightmare?!" hermione almost dropped her fork, and the pancakeshe had been eating had been temporarily forgotten. "ron told me your skin wasglowing last night!"

harry put one hand over his face and sighed. "drop it, hermione,"

"but, harry, this is really serious! you should go to madam pomfrey, or professordumbledore, or your parents! they'd know what to do!"

"drop it, hermione," eliza snapped. "if harry doesn't want to say anything toanybody, then you nagging him isn't going to change his mind,"

hermione opened her mouth, apperently couldn't think of anything to say, andclosed it again.

draco sat down next to eliza as usual. dean rolled his eyes but didn't sayanything. "i hear you've been named team captain," he said to harry.

harry nodded. "now i've just got to find five people for the team. all we haveright now is yolanda for keeper, besides me." harry sighed.

"you'll catch up," draco said, helping himself to some toast. "and if you don't,we'll crush you like bugs next match," he smirked.

"oh, great. thanks a lot," harry said, then stiffened. "eliza... it's snape, fiveo'clock," he hissed.

eliza winced. harry watched snape walk straight up to eliza, wondering if therewas going to be another big scene.

snape didn't say anything, though. he just dropped a bit of folded parchment byher plate and walked away.

"what's it say?" draco asked.

eliza picked the note up, unfolded it, and read it. she was shaking as she put itinside her bookbag a moment later. "nothing, draco... nothing important, anyway,"she said in a rather high pitched voice.

"you are really bad at lying, eliza," hermione said. "if you don't want to tellus, then don't!"


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"fine," eliza reached back into her bag and practically threw the paper onhermione's plate. "read away!"

hermione opened the note, wondering what on earth snape could've written. themessage was extremely short. it read:

i'm so sorry, eliza. i love you.

hermione opened her mouth in astonishment, then handed the note back to eliza.eliza leaned over and whispered, "he's never said that to me in his life,"

harry stared at hermione. "what did it say?"

hermione swallowed nervously. "oh... nothing, harry,"

harry raised one eyebrow at hermione. "alright... do you know what time it is,hermione?"

"time to get going," hermione leapt to her feet. "we have our first defenseagainst the dark arts class pretty soon!"

draco nodded and stood up, and together, harry, ron, draco, hermione, and elizawalked to class.

* * *

lily potter bit her lip nervously as harry's class walked in. the gryffindors allsat on the right side of the class, and all but one slytherin sat on the left.lily frowned a bit, staring at the blonde boy that was sitting beside snape'sdaughter. he looked just like lucius malfoy... lily surpressed a shutter andstarted calling role.

james smiled at her a bit, then turned to the class. "i think we have learnedenough to be getting into some of the harder curses then the one's you'velearned," he said. some of the students shifted in their seats. neville longbottombit his lip nervously.

james didn't seem to notice, although lily looked a bit uneasy.

"can anyone name any of the curses above the unforgivable curses?"

hermione's hand shot up. draco and eliza raised their hands as well. harry lookedat eliza suspiciously. she didn't exactly have a clean record with illegalcurses... several of the other slytherins raised their hands as well.

"miss yarrow?" james called on clara, one of pansy's friends. eliza gave her adirty look, which she didn't notice.

"there's the incinderatum curse," she said. half of the slytherins put down theirhands, including draco.

james smiled a bit. "ah, yes... the incinderatum curse... that one isn't practicedmuch, as it's very hard to control. very useful in battle, though. it burns thevictim... down to a pile of ash. there's another curse above the unforgivablesthat deal with fire. does anyone know any of those? miss snape?"


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eliza folded her hands. "the infernobolum curse," she said, clearly anddistinctly.

"that's the one," james said, a twisted smile on his face. "i only saw thatperformed once. it's one of the hardest curses to perform. it summons a huge boltof fire to shoot out. fortunately, if the firebolt doesn't hit anything after abit, it starts dying out. your best defense against this curse is to run as fast

as you can the other way, since it's almost impossible to block, and only thegreatest wizards can do it. any others?"

hermione still had her hand raised. james called on her.

"avada kedavra multica," hermione muttered.

james blinked and glanced over at his wife. "lily, you have a bit more experiencewith this one..."

lily smiled grimly and strode to the front of the classroom. "avada kedavramultica," she repeated. "also known as relinquo, can kill multiple people at once.i believe it was last used around here fifteen years ago or so, when peter

pettigrew framed sirius black," lily paused, her face hardening. "it killed twelvemuggles at once, the street torn apart. not a nice curse,"

the bell rang suddenly. the slytherins jumped to their feet. james held up onehand for silence. "for homework, i'd like you all to read chapters one and two,and answer the review questions in those chapters,"

harry, hermione, ron, draco, and eliza filed out of the classroom. "so, eliza,"ron said casually. "you ever performed any of those curses?"

eliza glared at ron. "i never got above avada kedavra, thanks,"

draco crossed his arms and gave ron a 'if looks could kill' expression. ron

quickly changed the topic. "so, what has wyrren been doing lately?"

harry shrugged. "she's been studying as if she has no life, pretty much."

eliza snorted. "as if she has no life... funny," she started playing with herhair, which was again falling out of it's bun. "not a thing you're supposed to sayto a necromancer,"

ron raised his eyebrows. "is there something you're not telling us, eliza?" heasked.

eliza rolled her eyes. "such as?"

"how about how you've managed to come back from the dead?" ron asked.

"oh... that," eliza shrugged. "something to do with that pendant, i think. maybewyrren had something to do with it. i don't know,"

ron frowned, and leaned close to harry. "why do i get the feeling eliza isn'ttelling us everything?"

* * *


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justin crossed his arms in defiance. "i don't care what you say, wyrren, that boythat looks like arthur... what's his name? i forgot... anyway, he likes you,"

wyrren allowed a faint smile to cross her face. "i'm a second year, justin."

justin sighed. "fine. don't believe me. it's just that i've been watching him, andhe keeps looking over at you. you are rather pretty..."

"justin, he thinks i raised eliza from the dead," wyrren chuckled a little."besides, last week you were telling me that denis creevey had his eye on me,"

"he did," justin said darkly. "you know he did,"

wyrren laughed. "and before that you were saying that one of the third yearswanted to ask me to a dance,"

"he did! i know he did! he just didn't work up his nerve, that's all," justinsighed.

wyrren shook her head a bit. "now that we have announced the crush of the week,

perhaps we can now get into more important matters,"

"such as?" justin crossed his arms once more.

"my studies," wyrren said, opening her book on necromancy. "i want to be ananimagus by the end of this year, minimum,"

"good luck," justin said dryly.

"the book i need is in the restricted section," wyrren went on. "there is a spellguarding it that needs to be analyzed and broken,"

"so?"

wyrren raised an eyebrow at justin. "i believe you were the one who stoleseventeen books from that section third year, justin,"

justin shrugged. "what do you think i can do now? i'm dead!"

wyrren's blue eyes sparkled. "that can be changed, justin. temporarily, at least,but that can be changed."

chapter five

"harry, do you know what's wrong with my dad?" eliza crossed her arms as she put

down her pencil. "i mean, half the time, he's acting like he wants to bite my headoff, the rest of the time, he's trying to be nice in a severus-ish sort of a way.ever since school started he's been like that. that's almost five weeks now!"

harry shrugged. "he's just had my mum and dad appear out of no where. what do youthink?"

eliza stifled a giggle. "you know what you said about the watcher?"

harry nodded. "what about the watcher?"


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"well, she took your parents out of a time when they were alive. is that going tochange time?" eliza asked.

"i thought i already explained this to you," harry said. eliza raised one eyebrow.

"ok... fine. no, it won't upset time, because the watcher took my mum and dad outof time just before they died. next year, on my birthday, they'll go back anddie." harry wrinkled his nose. "some birthday present,"

"oh," eliza said. "i didn't really understand that..."

harry shrugged and turned his attention to the common room fire.

at that point ron and hermione walked into the common room, hermione looking veryguilty about something and ron scowling.

"what's up?" eliza asked.

"draco wanted to come talk to you," ron muttered.

"oh," eliza stood up. "where is he?"

"right behind me," hermione whispered. "he filched his father's invisibility cloakduring vacation,"

eliza started laughing, then walked to a deserted corner of the common room. "so,draco,"

"shh! not so loud," draco whispered. "i keep feeling like someone should bespotting me any moment now,"

"how'd you get ron and hermione to get you in here?" eliza asked.

"well..." draco smirked, even though eliza couldn't see him. "i told them that i

could just wait by the portrait hole and wait to hear the password, then come in.hermione puffed up, but she let me follow her, on the condition that i don't trythis again,"

"you are going to try this again, though, aren't you?" eliza raised her eyebrows.

"of course," draco's voice held a smug grin. "you don't think i'd let a perfectopportunity like this go to waste, do you?"

eliza smiled. "of course, draco, of course. so, what have you been painting now?"

"umm... i haven't been doing anything big..." draco said.

"you're lying," eliza shook her head and started playing with her bun again.

"ok, i'm starting on a big, secret project," draco whispered. "just don't tellron, hermione, and especially harry," he paused. "don't tell anyone, for thatmatter. i want to keep it a surprise,"

eliza nodded. "you want to meet me somewhere? i can borrow harry's cloak,"

"what?"

"harry has an invisibility cloak, too," eliza explained.


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"he never told me about that," draco said, rather sullenly.

"harry almost didn't tell me about it. i'll meet you on top of the astrology towertomorrow night,"

"i'll be there,"

* * *

severus snape shivered. he was standing in his bedroom, a small stone roomconnected to his office in the dungeons. it was freezing in that room. severussighed. usually the cold didn't bother him, but lately... he snatched his wand offof the bed stand and lit a fire with great, leaping black flames. it didn't seemto make anything warmer. snape shivered again, sitting down on his bed.

lily... snape closed his eyes. he'd been able to think of nothing else for thepast month... lily looked exactly the same as she had fifteen years ago, young, inher early twenties, with lovely red hair and glimmering green eyes... snape stared

into the fire. stupid james. stupid lily. stupid eliza...

stupid him... he had eliza, the girl who once meant everything in the world tohim, right under his nose and he wasn't doing anything about it but making waspishcomments. severus got up and left the cold room. at least upstairs wouldn't be socold...

at the top of the stairs out of the dungeons, severus nearly ran into lily. lilyjumped backwards. "oh, sorry, severus. i didn't see you,"

snape winced. he'd been trying to avoid lily since she had arrived at hogwarts...lily smiled an apology, and went back to staring at the picture on the wall.miranda laughed and tossed her black hair. "what, never seen a mural before?"

severus frowned a bit. lily didn't take any more notice of him. typical.

"oh, no, i was just wondering when this was put up," lily smiled at miranda.miranda grinned mischievously. "i've never seen you before,"

"last year," miranda explained. "a student painted me and set me up. really, hewas a very good artist... i don't see him much anymore... i'm miranda, by theway,"

"miranda..." lily glanced back at snape. "is there something you want, severus?"

snape swallowed nervously. "lily... do you remember that rose someone sent you

sixth year for valentines day?"

lily smiled a bit. "you never did tell me it was you who sent it. never worked upthe courage, did you? you stopped talking to me seventh year, when i started goingout with james,"

"you knew?" severus asked.

lily turned back to the portrait. "i always knew," she said quietly.

severus nodded and started walking away.


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"severus?"

snape turned. "what?"

"what do you think of the name 'miranda'?" lily asked. "i thought it was a ratherpretty name,"

snape shrugged. "i'll see you tomorrow, lily,"

lily nodded and turned. james was siting on the bottom step of the staircase neardraco's portrait. his hair seemed to be especially messy. lily smiled at him.

"i see what you mean," james said, standing. "snape is rather nice to you, isn'the?"

lily kissed him. "always has been,"

james nodded. "is there something you aren't telling me, lily?"

lily smiled and nodded. james looked at the portrait. miranda seemed to be trying

to figure out whether or not he was a trouble maker. james gave her a prankishgrin. miranda seemed to light up with joy. "i rather like the name miranda," hesaid softly.

* * *

"mr. malfoy, will you pay attention!" lily waved her arms in the air around theclassroom in exasperation. eliza started giggling.

draco quickly hid his sketches under the table. lily took out her wand and pointedit at the table. "accio drawing!"

draco's picture flew out from his hands. james hid a smile as he snatched them outof mid air and looked at them. "not bad... not bad at all..."

"james!" lily snapped and grabbed the parchment. "as much as i envy your artisticability, mr. malfoy, please humor me and draw after class!"

the slytherins, pansy parkinson in particular, all started snickering at draco,who winced and hid his face. eliza leaned over and whispered something to him,which seemed to cheer draco up considerably.

hermione rolled her eyes and turned her attention back on the lesson, where lilywas demonstrating the effects of song charms and teaching the class how to defend

themselves when they don't have a way to disarm their opponent. draco, who hadlistened to wyrren sing enough to know the lesson, was very, very bored. why dideliza always sit in the front of the room, just where the professor could see her?why?

draco stayed silent the rest of the class, and left as soon as the bell rang.eliza followed him.hermione leaned over to harry. "wait a minute. i want to get something,"

harry shrugged. ron blinked but didn't say anything. hermione came back a momentlater.


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"what did you get?" ron asked.

"that picture draco was drawing," hermione studied it as she walked out of theclassroom.draco had been sketching lily and james standing in the front of the room. everydetail was picture perfect... except...

hermione stuck her head back in the room. lily was sitting on one of the desks,laughing."harry..." hermione grabbed harry's arms and shoved the picture at him. "look!"

"what's wrong?" draco and eliza were waiting for them.

"harry, your mum is going to have a baby!"

harry opened his mouth in astonishment. ron and eliza looked dumbstruck.

draco frowned and waved his hand in a so-so gesture. "i dunno... you sure sheisn't just getting chunky?"

hermione took a half hearted swing at draco, who ducked.

"what?! i'm just asking!" he protested.

"not funny, draco," hermione snapped.

eliza burst out laughing. harry, who had been looking as though his brain waspetrified, suddenly broke into a wide grin and laughed along with eliza and draco.

chapter six

told by draco malfoy

it was nearly midnight when i lifted my father's cloak over my head. father wasgoing to kill me, i just knew it. somehow i didn't really care anymore. goylegrunted in his sleep as i stepped on someone's bag. i tried to move more quietly.

five minutes after midnight i was at the astrology tower. eliza was sitting there,waiting for me. i removed the cloak and sat down next to her. "where is harry'scloak?"

eliza sighed. "harry was dead set against me using it,"

i sneered. eliza didn't seem to notice. she was staring up into the sky.

"what are you looking at?" i asked, following her gaze.

eliza grinned a bit. "look! it's draco!"

i rolled my eyes. all right, it was true; i was named after a constellation. sueme. "look! it's gemini!"

eliza gave me a dirty look. i couldn't blame her. gemini, besides being eliza'ssign, also meant 'the twins'. "oh, very funny, draco."

"hermione already said that," i muttered. eliza shivered. i couldn't really blame


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her, it was a cold night. "you want to use my cloak?" i asked.

eliza shook her head. "now i wish i had brought my regular cloak. stupid me,"

ok, i can take a hint. i'm not exactly stupid. eliza wanted me to put my armaround her shoulder. for some strange reason a little voice in my head wasscreaming at me 'don't do it!'.

forget you. i put my arm around eliza's shoulder. eliza smiled a little and leanedon me. she was really very pretty...

"so, you still won't show me what you've been painting?" eliza asked.

i shook my head. as eliza would say, no way jos . "nope. sorry, eliza,"

eliza sighed and ran her fingers through my hair. "i always loved your hair," shemuttered. "it's so pale... it matches the moonlight,"

score! i felt like jumping up and dancing. i contented myself with a small grin."eliza?"

"hmm?"

i'm a coward, i admit it. say it, you jerk! i almost screamed at myself. say it!

"i love you, eliza," i said it.

"i know," eliza purred. "i know..."

i waited. well?

eliza took a deep breath, put one arm around my neck, and kissed me. and it wasn'ton the cheek.

yes! victory! i felt like dancing like a lunatic. i felt like jumping up and downon top of mrs. norris! i felt like...

"i love you too, draco,"

ok, i lied. now i wanted to go jump up and down on mrs. norris and shout out myname for the entire school to hear. yes! finally! if life got any better thenthis, i didn't want to hear about it. i could've died right there and be perfectlycontent.

"draco?" eliza whispered.

"hmm?"

"will you sing for me? please?"

as if that kiss wasn't enough for all the songs in the world. "which song?"

"i don't care. something pretty... something i haven't heard before,"

something pretty that she hadn't head before... i winced inwardly and tried tothink of a good song. something by john denver, eliza liked john denver... bingo.

"ever heard of 'annie's song'?" i asked.


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eliza shook her head.

i sang. eliza closed her eyes, a dreamy look on her face.

you fill up my senses

like a night in the forest...like the mountains in springtime...like a walk in the rain.like a storm in the desert...like a sleepy blue ocean.you fill up my senses...come fill me again.

oh, come let me love you.let me give my life to you.let me drown in your laughter...let me die in your arms...let me sit here beside you...

let me always be with you.you fill up my senses...come fill me again.

-(annie's song, by john denver)

eliza leaned over and kissed me again, which i rather enjoyed. "that wasbeautiful..." she muttered. "but it's getting late... filch might come anymoment..."

"i'll walk you to the gryffindor tower," i offered.

eliza shook her head. "no... i'll see you tomorrow, draco,"

eliza got up and left the tower. i sighed, content, and threw the cloak over myshoulders. when i reached my own bed i took the cloak off, hid it in my bag, andfell back on my bed, expecting to have sweet dreams all night long.

it turned out, i did dream. unfortunately, those dreams were among the worstnightmares i have ever had in my life.

* * *

draco's eyes were red and he had a tired, haunted look on his face the nextmorning when he sat down for breakfast next to eliza. a few of the slytherins cameby and sneered at him. draco didn't seem to notice.

"what's wrong, draco?" hermione asked. "you look like you haven't slept a wink!"

draco shook his head. "i just didn't sleep very well," he mumbled. hermione lookedsuspicious, but didn't say anything.

halfway through breakfast, professor dumbledore stood up and held one hand up for


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silence. the chatter in the great hall slowly died down.

"madam pince has come to tell me that several of the books in the restrictedsection have gone missing," dumbledore announced, his blue eyes suddenly dull."several of those books were very valuable and all are especially dangerous. ifthe student who has taken them returns the books, i will not embarrass thempublicly. if they do not, and we find the books, that student shall be expelled."

the people in the halls all looked at each other. almost all the first years stoleglances at wyrren, who was eating alone, slowly and mechanically, never takingnotice of the announcement. some of the gryffindors glared suspiciously at draco,who glared back at them.

dumbledore wasn't finished speaking, though. "professor snape has also told me toinform you that the same goes for a very small, very valuable book that has gonemissing from his office,"

draco frowned. snape was glaring at him... what on earth did snape think he wantedwith some stupid book out of his office?

"draco? you didn't happen to be doing anything near snape's off-" hermione started

saying.

"no, granger," draco slouched down in his seat, his face curled into a sneer andhis arms crossed. "and i don't see how it would be any of your business even if iwas,"

hermione blinked. "fine then, malfoy,"

eliza rolled her eyes but didn't get involved.

* * *

potions that day were almost unbelievably awful. harry winced as snape passed bythem, his head snapping back and forth, trying to find a potion that wasn'tabsolutely perfect.

"longbottom!" he snapped. neville cowered.

snape ladled up some of neville's potion, which seemed to be a swimming pool shadeof glassy green. it was much thicker then it should have been, and fell back intothe cauldron in chunks. neville winced.

"stupid idiot," snape snarled. "you forgot the snake's eyes, didn't you?!"

"i... i... i didn't..." neville sputtered. eliza glared at snape but didn't sayanything.

snape's lip curled into disgust. "ten points from gryffindor! perhaps thatwill..."

harry's mouth opened in surprise as snape toppled over. the entire class seemedpetrified. lavender brown, who was working next to neville, jumped back insurprise. no one tried to help the potions master.

"what happened?" eliza asked.


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"maybe he died," ron suggested hopefully.

eliza gave ron a dirty look. "fine thing for you," he muttered, then kneeled downat snape's side. "he's one of the only living relatives i have! severus?"

snape didn't answer. the color from his face was fading quickly.

"harry, help me get him to the hospital wing!" eliza said, looking arounddesperately. harry didn't move. "harry! ron! hermione! help me!"

reluctantly, hermione brought out her wand. "mobilicorpus!" she said. snape roseup off the floor.

"oh..." eliza blinked. "i forgot about that spell..."

hermione floated snape out of the dungeons. needless to say, the class dismissedthemselves, packing up their bags and leaving the dungeons.

madam pomfrey was aghast when she saw snape, now almost colorless, being broughtthe hospital wing. "what happened?!" she asked, her eyes wide.

"he collapsed during potions," eliza explained.

"i see," madam pomfrey frowned. "it looks almost like..."

"will he live?" eliza asked suddenly.

"well, he's still alive now. barely, but alive. we'll see," madam pomfrey startedworking franticly. eliza and hermione looked at each other, then started for thelibrary.

* * *

james potter looked around the room at his colleagues. professor flitwick hadburst into tears when he heard about snape. lily looked shocked. dumbledore seemedunusually grave.

"what's going to happen to severus?" lily asked.

"he'll live," dumbledore answered. "he barely made it, but he'll live,"

"what happened to him?" minerva asked sharply.

"poison. someone poisoned him," albus answered.

"but... but..." lily shook her head. "anyone who could poison severus can poisonany one of us just as easily! or any of the students, for that matter. there arequite a few of them that people would love to see dead,"

albus nodded. "does anyone have any idea who might have done this?"

james shook his head. "no one that i know of... in the school, that is. i hearthat the death eaters would love to see severus dead,"

albus nodded. "keep your eyes open. and we'll be patrolling the halls again, at


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night. i want harry potter and wyrren malfoy to have extra protection,"

"harry... he comes to see us in our office after school is out almost everynight," lily said. "would it be too much to ask if..."

albus smiled a bit. "that would be fine, lily. what of wyrren?"

"wyrren malfoy is a necromancer," mcgonagall said. "as well as a great student and

a song charmer. i believe she has more power than some of the teachers," minerva'seyes strayed to where professor trelawnie was staring out of the window, seeminglyin a trance. mcgonagall turned her attention back on the other teachers quickly.

"song charmer?" lily blinked. "how good is she?"

"not an expert, but exceptionally advanced," dumbledore stood up. "we ought to go.dinner,"

the teachers nodded, and one by one, they left the room.chapter seven

"so, wyrren, what have you been doing lately?" ron asked casually.

wyrren lifted her head slowly upwards. she drew aside a strand of her pallidgolden hair before fixing ron with her blue eyes. "what do you wish to know, ron?"she asked.

"well, five minutes ago you were in a trance, chanting. what were you doing?" ronasked.

"checking for shades," wyrren answered.

"were there any?"

"no," wyrren's tone made it clear the subject was closed. "not within three

hundred miles of here. my range does not go farther then that,"

ron frowned and wondered if he had the courage to ask the necromancer somethingthat had been bugging him for a while, ever since eliza's funeral. "why are you soparanoid about shades?"

wyrren didn't even look at him. she just turned back to her book. "do you knowwhat would happen if a shade tried to posses me?"

ron shook his head.

wyrren spoke very slowly and delicately, putting a certain amount of emphasis onher words. "because of my... powers... i am especially vulnerable to the attacks

of shades and poltergeists. if... if a shade made even the slightest attempt toposses me... i'd die instantly, and all my powers and knowledge would be at thedisposal of the shade. as i have... the potential to become one of the greatestwitches in the world, i am a big target, and i can not resist an infestation,"wyrren looked up momentarily to survey the shocked look on ron's face.

"oh... um... sorry..."

wyrren didn't say anything.

ron sighed. he'd been trying to drag out information about the return of eliza


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from the necromancer for weeks now, and so far he was getting zilch. "so, i heardthe watcher say that there was one person in the world who had the power to bringthe dead back to life. that wouldn't happen to be you, would it?"

wyrren looked back at her book. "perhaps," she muttered.

ron put one hand over his face. he wasn't getting anywhere.

"are you saying that you didn't bring eliza back?" ron asked innocently.

"yes,"

harry looked over at ron and grinned sympathetically. ron decided to try to pumpwyrren for information one last time. "are you sure?"

wyrren stood up suddenly, slamming her book against the table. she looked asthough she was in a very calm and very deadly rage. her blue eyes seemed to dancewith angry fire. ron, who had never seen the necromancer angry in his life, fellbackwards in his chair in panic.

"look, weasley," wyrren hissed. "yes, i can bring the dead back to life. in fact,

there are four ways to do it! would you like to hear them?"

ron stumbled backwards. he looked terrified. in fact, the entire common room hadgone completely silent.

"the first you've already seen. i can make a ghost or a spirit solid for a smallamount of time by turning myself into a ghost. if this is not done properly, icould very easily loose my life."

ron looked like he wanted to vanish on the spot. wyrren didn't seem to notice thisand went on.

"the second way is a method of the dark arts. i can, at very little risk to my

health, animate every corpse for miles around and build myself an army such as theworld has never seen! a huge, soulless army, brought back to life for one purpose:to serve me! think of the power i would have!"

ron cowered. the necromancer seemed to be getting even angrier.

"third: if i were to kill myself with the right ceremonies and spells, i can bringa ghost back to life permanently.

"and last, the only, i repeat, the only way to truly recover the dead permanentlythat i would consider doing: i can revive recent, note the word, recent victims ofavada kedavra, only for the fact that that spell separates the soul from the bodyand the body is not damaged enough to re-harbor a soul!" wyrren's teeth were bared

and she looked like she was going to murder someone. everyone in the room shrankback in terror.

wyrren surveyed the common room and pointed an accusing finger towards thestudents. "i never, ever want to hear that question again. if you do, you willfind me a very, very powerful adversary. would anyone like me to show you mycapabilities to prove it?!"

no one did. after a moment wyrren's face turned emotionless. "i see," she saidquietly, picked up her book, and left the common room.


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ron was white and shaking as he stood up. harry and hermione were staring at him,nearly as pale.

"remind me," ron said. "remind me to never again annoy a necromancer,"

"somehow i don't think you need reminding," hermione said. "i pity the fool whoturns her into an enemy,"

* * *

told by wyrren malfoy

the fools!

i shook my head with frustration. is it any wonder why i detest the living?! toaccuse me of such crimes as of bringing the dead back to life? why are mortals soidiotic, so incompetent, to have the nerve to ask things of me, me, wyrren malfoy,soon to be the greatest witch in the world?!

"wyrren, snap out of it, why don't ya?" i turned around. justin was floatingthere, looking bored.

"snap out of what?" i asked him.

justin yawned. "your little rage. the poor boy didn't know any better,"

i turned away. "i will not apologize. he deserved what he got,"

justin shrugged. "doesn't make any difference to me. i'm just making a suggestion.so, how's the animagus study going? that book help?"

"it is satisfactory," i shrugged. "i think i might be able to transform sometimeafter christmas, a little earlier then i had planned,"

justin shrugged. "you know you might get kicked out of the school for those stolenbooks?"

i glanced at my bookbag. i had put charms on the books to make them appear astextbooks, not the forbidden books stolen from the restricted section of thelibrary.

"i am not concerned with rules," i said. justin shrugged.

"have it your way..."

"i will," i muttered, not taking my eyes off the pages of the book. "i will,"

* * *

"all right, have it your way. miranda," james leaned back in his chair. "you getto pick the girl's name; i get to pick the boy's... let me think... how doestimothy sound?"


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"mmmm... i dunno..." lily frowned. "timothy potter... keep going,"

"ok, that one is vetoed. how about sirius?" james grinned.

"no, we are not naming him, if it is a him, sirius! i refuse," lily crossed herarms. "and no suggesting the name 'remus' either. we are not naming him after oneof your trouble making school friends..."

a slight knock on the door interrupted lily. "come in,"

harry opened the door, grinning a bit. "i like the name sirius," he muttered.

"see!" james threw lily a triumphant smile, then frowned at harry. "hang on, wehaven't told you..."

"hermione noticed," harry's grin grew even wider.

"oh..." lily shook her head. "sorry for not telling you, but i wasn't reallysure..."

harry shrugged. "so you've got a girl's name picked out?"

lily nodded. "miranda,"

harry started laughing. "oh, draco's going to love to hear that... you're namingmy sister after a portrait painted by my one time biggest school rival."

"oh, he painted that? i thought he might've. he was very good at drawing..." jamessmiled. "tell draco i really like his work,"

"ok, back to boy's names," lily shook her hair. "harry, you have any ideas? jamesis getting desperate,"

harry blinked in surprise. "let me think... i have no clue."

james sighed. "how about daniel?"

lily shook her head. harry sat down and tried to think up the most ridiculousnames he could think of, feeling perfectly content.

* * *

severus snape left the hospital wing a week after he had been poisoned. james, whohad been teaching snape's class (and making potions strangely fun and interesting)went back to teaching defense against the dark arts. snape did not try to conceal

his disgust on what a 'poor teacher' james was, and harry's class lost a startlingnumber of points from gryffindor for telling snape off.

"let's face it," ron said gloomily after potions. "if you-know-who doesn't catchup to us first, potions will. snape was about to bite my head off back there!"

hermione and harry nodded. "i can't believe he said that about professor potter!"hermione fumed. "after all your dad did for him..."

"believe it," harry said gloomily. "where's eliza?"


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"i don't know... she was right behind me..." hermione turned. no eliza.

"by the way, has anyone seen the marauder's map?" harry asked. "i was going to useit last night, and it wasn't in my trunk. it's gone,"

"well, maybe that book thief took it," ron shrugged. "that map isn't the onlything that's disappeared around here... i mean, has anyone seen glen or slytheraround?"

"neptune's gone as well," hermione mentioned. "draco told me last week. well, ok,he told eliza, but i heard. weird,"

harry frowned. "all the snakes have disappeared?"

ron nodded. "although you never know. they might have run away because of thoseeagles or care of magical creatures. neptune hated that class,"

hermione shook her head in confusion and didn't say anything else as they walkeddown the hall.

* * *

severus snape carefully added snake's scales to his potion, which hissed andturned a dull red color. he stirred the potion slowly, then put the wooden spoonaway and walked out of his office to let the potion simmer.

severus didn't stop until he reached the library, where he unlocked the door andstrode into the restricted section.

the missing books hadn't been identified, but it was clear as day where they hadbeen taken from. a few were on curses, ranging from the unforgivable curses up tothe relinquo curse. others were on the undead, specifically addressing dark

necromancy and ways to block the power of necromancers. snape sneered. he couldjust imagine little wyrren malfoy using her... gift... to disarm the guardingspells over these books...

snape ran one finger over the spines of the other books. what he hadn't tolddumbledore about the book that had been stolen from his office was that it hadgone missing during the summer. most likely wyrren took it and gave it to herbrother. draco would have wanted that book...

snape left the library. it was a chilly, moonlit night, so he went small balconynext to the staff room that overlooked the lake. the bright moonlight seemed tomake the black water sparkle, and the wind swayed the tops of the trees on thegrounds far below. it was so peaceful there... sometimes it seemed that this was

the only spot in the school that severus really liked... he came here often,sometimes just to get away from his problems and the school.

someone laughed. severus looked away from the lake to the large balcony some fiftyfeet down and to the left. lily was standing there, next to james. they didn'tnotice him.

severus's hands clenched into fists as james kissed lily, who seemed to beenjoying herself thoroughly. "she should have been mine..." snape mutteredbitterly. "she should have been mine..."


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severus closed his eyes. he didn't even notice the small, gray rat behind himuntil it was too late.

chapter eight

james potter smiled at lily, his brown eyes sparkling behind his glasses. lilysmiled back, then ran one hand through his messy hair.

"no!"

"james?" lily looked around wildly.

"that was snape..." james frowned. a jet of violet light shot from the staff roombalcony.

"what on..." lily drew her wand.

"avada kedavra!" a jet of green light flashed down like lightning towards thebalcony. james pulled lily aside a moment before the curse hit her.

"run, lily!" james drew out his wand. "accio firebolt!"

the balcony was quiet now. harry's firebolt flew towards james, who mounted it andsoared towards the staff room as fast as the broomstick would take him.

snape was crouched there, shaking. his black eyes were flashing and he lookedstrangely helpless. "pettigrew..." he gasped, then collapsed.

james turned severus over. he had been stabbed in the shoulder, and the wound wasbleeding profusely. "great..." he muttered. "wormtail!" he hissed, then ran intothe castle to get madam pomfrey.

* * *

snape shook his head stubbornly. "i tell, you, there were two people!" he said.

madam pomfrey looked enraged that dumbledore dare disturb severus's rest. "really,albus, can't this come later?"

"no, poppy, i'm afraid it can not," dumbledore turned back to snape. he was inbed, resting on at least four pillows so he could site up. his shoulder wascovered in white bandages, and his skin looked especially sallow against all thewhite. "would you care to repeat your story, severus?"

snape sneered and leaned back onto the pillows. "i was on the staff room balcony,looking out over the grounds, and the next thing i know i hear a popping sound andpettigrew was standing over me with a knife. well, i shouted, and the figurebeside him, i don't know who it was, his face was masked, told him to 'stop beingan idiot', and put the imperius curse on me. he or she, i'm not sure which, thenmade me shoot at potter... i mean, james. well, lily got away and james summonedup a broomstick, so pettigrew handed me a knife and the figure ordered me to stabmyself,"

"so you did," dumbledore sighed. "tell me about this figure. what sort of voicedid he have?"


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snape winced. he looked exhausted... "low voice. very low. but... it might havebeen me, but it sounded familiar. it could have been disguised. i didn't see himvery well. too dark out,"

dumbledore nodded, then got up and left the hospital wing, much to madam pomfrey'srelief. eliza was standing outside the door, biting her lip nervously. "is he allright?" she asked.

dumbledore nodded. eliza sighed in relief and walked quietly in the room. madampomfrey must have been in her office.

snape watched eliza enter the room, but didn't say anything. eliza opened hermouth, closed it again, and left the hospital wing.

severus winced. he wasn't that bad of a father, was he? well... alright, perhapshe could've tried harder to set things right with eliza... the gryffindor...snape's face hardened and he shifted a bit so he could no longer see the door.

* * *

the weeks that followed that seemed strangely uneventful after that, though. jamesand lily had told harry that his little brother/sister would be arriving sometimeafter christmas, wyrren had been studying as though her life depended on it,gryffindor was creamed by slytherin in the last quidditch match, and draco wasacting very smug about this, even though his team lost to ravenclaw.

things started to pick up again around the beginning of december, though.

"oh, please, wyrren?" ron asked.

"absolutely not," wyrren answered. behind ron, justin was smirking in triumph.

"but, all the other girls are taken! i need a date for the ball!" ron protested."besides, you're only three years younger then me... it's not that much..."

"do you wish to make me angry?" wyrren raised one eyebrow at ron.

"i told you he liked you!" justin was now grinning from ear to ear. "i was right!yes!"

"no..." ron sighed. "is there any way you'll go out with me?"

wyrren sighed. "so far, ron, i have turned down seventeen invitations to go to theball. what do you have that the others don't?"

ron frowned. then, suddenly, a brilliant idea struck him. "i'll play you chess forit. i win, you go out with me. you win, i leave you alone. how about that?"

"um... ron..." harry looked over at his friend, an amused grin on his face."wyrren is really good..."

"is that a challenge, ron?" wyrren put her book down.

ron nodded once.


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"set up the board," wyrren stood up, a small smile set on her face.

ron smiled as well and got his set from his bookbag. wyrren made justin solid forabout a minute so he could retrieve her set

7023998 Harry Potter and the Return of Eliza

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