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BY THE TIME april rolled around, lily had already mastered quite a scroll of spells.

bellatrix and voldemort insisted on lily learning the three unforgivable curses, despite how afraid she was of them.

though all was well, as the little girl was not capable of performing any of them yet.

just as little lily was about to cast the imperious curse on a bug, loud talking was heard in the middle of the malfoy manor, which never happened unless there was a death eater gathering.

bellatrix stopped as she maniacally grinned, clearly excited for what's to come.

"come on now lily. we have guests and I'm sure you'll love to meet them", bellatrix smirked.

"u-umm...okay..."

lily followed bellatrix out the practicing room as she reached the main room where the malfoys were already standing.

"LILY!"

"m-mione...ron...and harry??"

lily felt her chest swell with such conflicted emotions. she was surely excited to see them once again, but not in this situation, not like this.

"oh lily!! have they been hurting you?! are you okay?!", hermione worried.

though the girl couldn't get to lily, as she was restrained by the snatchers.

"hurt her? why would we hurt our little princess over here?", bellatrix mocked, making lily suddenly remember that the trio didn't know who her real father was.

"princess? what do you mean princess?", ron asked, scrunching up his face in confusion.

"little lily here is the daughter of our dark lord. isn't that right, lily?", bellatrix grinned, pushing the girl slightly forward towards the trio.

"l-lily...she..she's lying right? right??", hermione asked, staring right at the little girl.

"I-I..."

"TELL US!", harry shouted, making lily flinch.

draco hastily picked lily up, patting her back.

"watch your tone potter!", draco warned. though the boy understood where the three's frustration came from.

after all, when he had just found out about lily's real status, he was beyond shocked too.

bellatrix let out a few chuckles until something shiny had caught her eye.

"where'd you find that?", bellatrix quickly asked, making the chief of snatchers look up.

"oh, it was in the forest of dean with them", the man casually answered, not understanding the importance of that sword.

"pettigrew! bring the two boys to the dungeon. leave the girl with me", bellatrix commanded.

lily looked up from draco's shoulder as she witnessed bellatrix inching closer and closer to hermione.

"a-aunt bella...what are you doing?", lily meekly asked.

bellatrix simply smiled.

"I'm just going to ask your friend over here a question. and if she answers, then nothing will happen to her", bellatrix answered.

but lily knew better, as the look in bellatrix's mischievous eyes said otherwise.

"now tell me, where did you find the sword", bellatrix asked, clearly intimidating hermione.

"I don't know", hermione answered.

"I'll repeat it one last time. where. did. you. find. the. sword?!"

"I-I don't know".

bellatrix immediately pinned hermione to the floor, taking out a knife that was strapped around her thigh.

"aunt bella—"

"SHUT IT! are you going to tell me or not? this is your last chance", bellatrix threatened, taking the knife and placing it extremely close to hermione's arm.

"AUNT BELLA! P-PLEASE STOP!!", lily sobbed, not even realizing that she was crying.

the little girl was scared, scared for hermione. she knew what bellatrix was capable of, and hermione did not deserve any of that.

"aww, little lily is crying", bellatrix mockingly cooed.

"toughen up won't you?! nothing in life is always going to be sheltered for you!", bellatrix growled, stabbing the knife dangerously close to hermione's arm.

hermione squeaked as harry and ron had suddenly busted out of the cell.

"LET HER GO!!", harry shouted, pointing his wand at the malfoys and bellatrix.

immediately, bellatrix, narcissa, and draco defensively fended off the trio, with lily shakily standing by the sideline, not sure who to help.

bellatrix then gasped.

"YOU DARE SNATCH THE WAND FROM A PUREBLOOD WITCH?! ELVES SHOULD FOLLOW THEIR MASTER'S ORDERS!!", bellatrix reprimanded.

"dobby has no master! dobby is a free elf and dobby is here to save harry potter and his friends!", the elf proclaimed, making bellatrix grit her teeth.

just as draco was about to cast a spell, ron hurriedly grabbed the back of lily's shirt and stuck his wand against her throat.

"NONE OF YOU MOVE! if any of you guys move a muscle, she will get it!", ron threatened, making lily whimper.

"WEASLEY! IF YOU EVEN DARE HURT HER—"

"SHUT IT MALFOY!!", ron interrupted.

harry disarmed bellatrix and draco as they were all apparated away with the help of dobby.

bellatrix then hastily grabbed the knife and threw it at the portal, nearly making it in.

draco clenched his fists as he watched lily disappear with the trio and elf.

"what do we do? she's gone! she's gone!!", lucius breathed out.

"I'm sure it'll be fine—"

"it won't! the dark lord's bound to find out", lucius worried, making narcissa and draco shake in fear.

bellatrix simply remained neutral as she had the band of snatchers chase after them.

"if you guys don't safely get lily back, expect to be hexed in the next 24 hours", bellatrix commanded.

"y-yes ma'am!"

//❁//

"DOBBY! DOBBY!!", harry screamed as he hurried over to the bleeding elf that had a knife stuck in his stomach.

lily touched her head as ron and hermione crowded around the dying elf.

seeing the bleeding creature, lily was immediately reminded of the blood-replenishing potion that snape had made her carry around for emergencies.

"let me help!!", lily exclaimed as she made dobby drink majority of the potion.

dobby coughed as the knife was pulled out of his stomach. the wound almost immediately started closing, with the blood seeping back into where it should be.

"dobby's forever in your debt ms. lily! thank you for saving dobby's life!!", dobby cheered, making the four smile.

"I'm glad I could help", the little girl said.

"oh lily!! thank you for stopping her", hermione said as she pulled the girl into a tight hug, nearly on the verge of tears.

"I missed you mione...and you guys too", lily said to ron and harry.

"I'm sorry about that. you know...earlier. it was the only way we could—"

"it's alright ron. I understand", lily smiled.

"so you're really..."

"yes, I am. I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys...but that's because I didn't find out until this summer! I visited hogwarts during christmas break but no one knew where you three were!", lily explained.

"we were on a mission...", harry hesitantly responded.

"to find the horcruxes right?? no worries, professor dumbledore told me before he..."

the four dejectedly looked down as dobby just patted the little girl's back.

"we need to break into bellatrix lestrange's vault", harry suddenly said, making the other three look up at him.

"what why?"

"judging by her reaction, she must have something in there that she didn't want us to find. perhaps like godric's sword for example", harry said.

"dobby, can you apparate us there?", hermione asked.

"of course! dobby can apparate you guys to many places. but perhaps the goblin should also come with, as he would be of great help", dobby suggested as the trio just nodded.

lily glanced around as she wondered if she was allowed to come along too.

"you should stay here with bill and fleur", harry said, making the girl immediately shake her head in protest.

"no! I'm coming along. I promise I won't drag you guys back!!", lily said.

"I can even use magic now, so please take me along with you guys!"

the trio looked at each other as they truly wondered if it was okay to take an eight year-old with them.

"fine", harry huffed out.

"but promise to stay close with us at all times, understand?"

"yes sir!", lily saluted as she smiled, making the others do so too.

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