Blood is Red

Lily’s back hit the door as soon as it closed. With a shaking hands, she reached behind her and locked herself in. Sobbing, she sank to the floor in a heap of skirts and trembling limbs. She knelt there and cried uncontrollably for a moment, and then the simmering fury in her began to boil over. With a scream of rage, she began pulling the pins out of her hair; the auburn tresses tumbled wildly over her shoulders. Across the room hung a silver gilded mirror, and Lily threw her pins at the monster it reflected as hard as she could. The pins bounced harmlessly off the glass, and when the last one fell to the floor, Lily found herself defenseless. She was alone and helpless against the abomination. It was an ugly sight as it sprawled on the floor with its hair askew, erratic breathing, and large, disturbingly green eyes. She could see the creature’s heart breaking, and Lily began to cry again. She whimpered like a child and pulled her knees up to her chest and pressed her fingers to her face. Something cold and hard met her cheek; she pulled her hand away and looked down at her wedding rings. Fresh tears stung her eyes as she looked back up at the monster woman.

"What have you done?" Her reflection asked her, and she buried her face in her knees and wept again. Her conversation with Albus echoed in her ears.

"There’s something you should know, Lily; something I should’ve told you a very long time ago."

"So tell me."

He had hesitated, as if looking for the right way to begin. His sigh had told her his news would not come easily. Finally, he turned his sapphire eyes on her; they were full of an emotion she had never seen before.

"You’re everything your mother wanted you to be...you’re a loyal wife, a loving mother, and a strong woman. She would be so proud of you if she were still with us. You’re more like her than you’ll ever know."

Lily reached behind her and found the couch. Slowly, she sank into it, the weight of both the words he had said and those he had yet to say bearing down on her with so much force, she felt like she was being pushed deeper into the cushions. She had listened raptly as he continued.

"Elizabeth hated the oppression of women and the discrimination between Muggles and wizards with an unsurpassed passion. She fought for the equality of all humanity all her life, and in the end, she died for her cause.

"A few prominent wizards were angry with a speech she had given two days previous, and as she was headed to the hospital to give birth to you, my dear, the cowards attacked her. They left her alive just enough to bring you into the world.

"Between the attack and unaided childbirth, your mother knew she was dying. She sent an owl to me explaining what had happened and what her final wishes were: for me to raise you as my own and for you to live your life as a woman of the wizarding world. She knew you would grow up to hate the shackles of Muggle life, and she didn’t want you to live like she had. She had been my friend, so I did as she had wanted."

"You mean..." Lily said breathlessly.

The man who was not her father nodded slowly. "You’re a Muggle, Lily."

She felt a sob begin to swell in her chest as the horrible truth hit her once again with all its raw power. She was a Muggle living in a wizarding world. She had married a pureblood wizard and bore him a halfblood son. She had seen a tremendous amount of magic and knew about as much as Albus Dumbledore. She couldn’t practice any magic other than the housekeeping spells and charms she had been taught at Beauxbatons, but it didn’t matter; she was a Muggle who knew magic. She had broken so many laws in her forty-one years, on both sides of the fence, that she would be arrested on site and executed shortly thereafter if the information leaked from Albus’ mouth.

James. What would he think of her if he knew? Would he turn her over to the Ministry? Could twenty-one years of marriage erase the beliefs that had been instilled in him at birth? Were the fairytales true in saying love conquered all? How could she possibly keep such an enormous secret from the one who knew her best?

Harry. He was a halfblood and didn’t even know it, an abomination in the eyes of the magical community. He would be sent into exile if they knew, and the Muggle world would show him no compassion. The only honorable thing for him to do would be to plead for his own execution. The people he knew as friends would forever pretend they had never heard of Harry Potter. James would never be allowed to remarry because his lineage would be considered tainted. What has Albus done? She thought as the sob worked its way into her throat, suffocating her. Tears began to stream down her face again. What am I going to do? Her eyes opened and strayed over to the writing desk they kept near one of the windows. There was a letter opener in one of the drawers that would prove very effective...

No! She thought harshly, shutting her eyes at the thought. You’re stronger than this, Lily. No get up. Get up! Slowly, she rose to her feet. Her knees buckled, but she forced them to hold her. Now, into the bathroom and wash your face. She did, and when she had finished, she looked at her reflection. A shattered, broken woman stared back at her. She gripped the sides of the sink and leaned closer to the mirror. She stared into her own eyes and began to speak.

"I will not let you win," she whispered dangerously, her lip curled in a snarl. "I have a life and a family, and I will not abandon them. No one has to know."

With a curt nod, she fixed herself so that she was presentable again. She smoothed her skirts, painted a smile on her face, and went to stage the biggest lie of her life.

~*~

Ginny leaned against a tree and took a deep breath. Harry had seen Hermione in Diagon Alley. She would have to perform a Memory Charm on him now. As much as she wanted to trust Harry, she knew she couldn’t afford many more chances when it came to him. Already he knew she illegally practiced magic; she couldn’t have him reporting her meetings with Hermione.

"Miss Weasley?" A tentative voice on her right asked. Ginny started and rounded on whoever had the gall to disturb her while she was so deep in thought. Her flashing eyes made Neville Longbottom shrink back. She gave a sigh of relief when she realized it was only him and regained her composure.

"Mr. Longbottom, what a coincidence. Do you come out here often?" she asked politely. Neville gave her a cautious look, as if making sure she wasn’t going to eat him, and then took a step toward her. His pale eyes swept the surrounding forest scenery.

"Sometimes at night, to stare at the moon. I usually go down by the lake. Are you out here unattended?"

"Do you plan to take me for advantage if I say yes?" she asked, more out of amusement than concern. Neville looked back at her, astonished.

"Miss Weasley, I would never dream of --"

"I was joking, Neville," she said flatly as she turned her face away from him and fixed her eyes on a tree. A gentleman was either a prude or a rake; there was no middle ground.

She stood there in the silence with him, waiting for him to say something about how it wasn’t proper for them to be alone in the woods together, how it wasn’t proper for her to be in the woods at all, and how he should escort her home immediately.

"I know you conjured the Patronus today." He said in a solid voice she had never heard used by him. Her heart exploded in her chest and the shrapnel caught in her throat and made her choke. She doubled over and coughed until she could breath again. Neville rushed over to help her, but she shook his hands off of her shoulders. Infuriated, she glared up at him. She was going to kill Harry.

"How do you know?"

He shrugged. "The leftover magic reminded me of you."

When her breath caught in her throat this time, it wasn’t because she was angry with him. Confused, she took a good look at Neville. She didn’t like how handsome he suddenly looked.

"What did you just say?" she asked softly.

Neville’s face reddened and he looked at the ground, then cleared his throat and pulled out his wand. "You know what I have to do, don’t you, Ginny?"

Ginny rose to her full height and braced herself for what would come next. Her arms hung by her sides in suspense, her fingers ready to dive into her bodice for her wand. He would not take her down without a fight.

"What do you have to do?" she asked dangerously.

Neville’s level eyes met hers. He held the gaze with a force she have never known him to possess. She gasped at what his answer was.

"I’m going to have to teach you more."

~*~

"What’s this?" Harry asked curiously. Tom looked over to see the younger man approach a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf. He joined Harry and gazed at his collection in admiration before giving his answer.

"It’s a collection of Muggle books. Biographies, fiction, histories, anything I could get my hands on."

"Why?" Harry wanted to know. Tom shrugged.

"It’s good to know the strengths and weaknesses of your enemies. In our case, it’s mostly weaknesses."

"Why do we have to hate the Muggles?" Harry asked as he pulled a book out of the shelf. "To Kill a Mockingbird. What’s it about?"

"Discrimination," Tom said coolly. "Because they will never accept us for being different from them, Harry. They persecuted our kind for hundreds of years and would continue to do so today if we didn’t keep them in check. They’re disgusting, horrible excuses of life."

"Maybe not all of them," Harry murmured thoughtfully as he flipped through the pages of the Muggle book. Tom slowly tore his eyes from his collection and looked at Harry, certain he hadn’t heard him correctly.

"I’m sorry, what did you say?"

Harry shrugged as his eyes scanned a paragraph. "They can’t all be bad, can they?"

He felt Tom’s hand on his shoulder and looked over to the older wizard. Tom’s mouth was smiling, but his dark eyes were hard and chilled to the bone.

"There is no such thing as a good Muggle, Harry," his fingers tightened over Harry’s shoulder, and his nails dug through his shirt and into his flesh. Harry winced and pulled himself away. Tom’s eyes looked like they had been red for a minute. "They will never accept us. The only way for the wizarding world to find peace is if there are no Muggles left to oppress us. Don’t forget that."

He reached out and snatched the book from Harry’s hands. "I think it’s about time you head back home now, Harry," he said, his voice suddenly higher. Harry watched him uncertainly as Tom sat down at his desk and started to write something in a book. Not sure what had just happened, he left the room quickly and Apparated from the Riddle estate without waiting for Tom’s house elf to return his cloak.

Back in his study, Tom’s fingers bled as he furiously jotted down words in his log. A drop of black liquid dripped onto the thick paper. He tore his eyes from his writing and glanced thoughtfully at the dark bead, then dipped his pen in it and continued to pen his thoughts in blood.