Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does. Big surprise I'm sure.
STEALING SHEEP
Chapter 19: Lights
She sat at the window and watched as her parents drove away towards another Christmas party, towards another night full of meaningless conversations, leaving Lily alone with her thoughts.
She'd thought about a lot of things over the holiday. Her mind had understandably been elsewhere and she had simply forgotten to enjoy herself, or even pretend to. Her parents were naturally slightly concerned, but she knew that they assumed, as usual, that she was just worrying about upcoming exams. That's all they thought she was. Exams and schoolwork, rules and regulations. She wondered, with a smile, what they'd say if they knew their bookworm of a daughter had been cornering half-naked boys in the Quidditch showers. Well, not boys. Boy.
For the past two weeks, she had been reliving the last moment she'd seen him, as she'd brushed off his latest attempt to talk to her, ignored his burning stare and strode away towards the safety of her parents and the muggle world. She had told herself a million times that it was just being sensible. She couldn't listen to him, look at him, even speak to him. Instead, she'd turned and walked away, as she always had done. She couldn't count how many times she'd regretted not letting him speak, but she had never actually changed her mind. She knew that she was saving them both by walking away from him.
It was strange how sometimes it felt more like cowardice.
And she missed him. Frequently, she'd been brushing her hair or looking out of a window, or even washing the dishes and she'd felt his strong arms surround her waist and pull her against his warm body, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. It had only been after a few glorious moments that her senses had flown back to her and spun her into the disappointment of it being a daydream.
Lily curled up in her armchair and sighed, staring out of her bedroom window at the pure white snow that had begun to dust the treetops with a sprinkling of Christmas. It all looked so beautiful out there. The cleansing snow would cover everything in sight, making even the ugliest lamppost become a thing of beauty.
BANG!
The comfortable silence was broken by a noise from below, and Lily was startled from her reverie. She froze and strained to hear another sound, her heart jittering a dance of fear in her chest. It had sounded like the back door slamming open. But no one was due back for at least another three hours…If they were being robbed- If there was an intruder-
Another noise. Directly below her now. In the kitchen. A glance out of the window told her that her parents hadn't arrived back unexpectedly. Lily gulped down her fear, gripped her wand and stealthily crept out of the room.
She winced as the first step of the old staircase groaned alarmingly under her bare feet. She gripped the banister. Another bang. The living room.
Her breath came in shallow gasps as she approached the ajar door. There was definitely someone in there. And she was home alone. Maybe- maybe they had a- a knife or something- She was a seventeen year old girl, alone in a house with an intruder and potential axe murderer! She shuddered violently and nearly dropped her wand. She was going to die.
Instantly, her back straightened in outrage at herself. How dare she act so pathetic? Of course she wasn't going to die! She wasn't weak, she wasn't stupid and she certainly would not cower. She was a witch, for goodness' sake. She could handle a little old axe murderer any day of the week. She needed to stop being melodramatic and act.
The grip on her wand tightened defiantly and her gaze grew steely. Her head pounding with adrenaline, she pushed open the door and sprung into the room, brandishing her wand fiercely, ready to confront any intruder who dared to enter her home.
The room was empty.
She checked behind the sofa, even under the cushions and there wasn't one axe-wielding maniac to be found. Not even a neighbourhood kid after a bit of cash. Just no one.
Lily let out a breath she hadn't known she`d been holding and scratched her head in bafflement. No intruder at all. Feeling somewhat embarrassed and rather stupid to have jumped to such extreme conclusions, she gave the downstairs rooms a cursory checking over, making herself a cup of tea on her way through the kitchen, and started back up the staircase to return to the cosy armchair that was now calling her.
She grinned to herself, thoroughly relieved she hadn't had to resort to a duel to the death. After all, Christmas was not the time to be battling axe-wielding murderers, she decided as she pushed open her bedroom door. It was a time of angels, and baby Jesus', and miracles, and fat men in red suits and-
Lily didn't hear the smash of her mug as it crashed to the floor and shattered at her feet. She didn't hear anything except the strange rushing in her ears.
She just stared.
Someone was sitting in her armchair.
After several long torturous moments where her heart clawed at her insides and her mind screamed at her to do something, anything, she fumbled for her wand and eventually brandished it clumsily, hating herself for her lack of composure, knowing that she could very well die here tonight.
"Don't move," Lily said, evenly, as the figure at the window began to turn to face her. She wasn't stupid. She knew that looks could be deceiving. This woman looked normal enough, but a gun or an axe could still kill her, whether wielded by a man or a woman. So could the simple words `Avada Kedavra'.
However, the woman did something that Lily was not at all prepared for. She did move. In fact, she jumped up from the chair, stared at her for a few seconds, then leapt forwards and gave her an enormous hug. Lily froze in shock, her arms limp at her side and her wand all but forgotten. What was she supposed to do? They didn't teach you about how to defend yourself from hugs in her Defense Against The Dark Arts class. "It worked! It worked!" the stranger cried, jumping up and down jubilantly, making Lily push away from her and glare. "You're you and I'm here and there's hope for him yet!"
Lily blinked and quickly levelled her wand at the intruder. "What? Who are you? What are you doing in my house? "
The extremely strange woman merely stared at Lily for a few moments and smiled. "I can see it," she whispered to herself. "Its definitely in the eyes."
"What? What's in my eyes? What are doing in my house?"
"Agrippa, this is weird." The woman completely ignored her, and stared at her oddly, a small, confusing smile on her face. "I can't believe I'm standing here, being held at wand point by… you." She laughed triumphantly to herself once again, glanced out of the window, as if looking for something, and sat back into the armchair. "And, at the risk of sounding cliché, I'm not here to harm you. In fact, I'm here to help you."
Lily narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You're a witch?"
"Yes."
"And just who are you? How could you possibly help me? And, actually, why do I need help in the first place?"
The strange witch sighed and curled up in the chair, much like Lily had less than half an hour ago. "The answer to the first question is the easiest, but I can't answer it. I can't tell you my name. My real name, anyway. Rules and regulations, blah, blah, blah."
"Rules and…?" Lily slowly sat on her bed, but continued trailing her wand on the woman.
"Well, I've had to promise to uphold the laws of time t-" In an instant she froze, turned white, and smiled brightly. "You can call me Luna."
"Luna?"
"Yes." `Luna' nodded, making her red ponytail bob up and down. "Anyway, down to business. They'll be here soon."
"They?"
For a moment, Luna had a wistful, almost sad expression. "I can't tell you what they are. You'll see for yourself."
"What's all this about?"
"Well, I'm…from somewhere far far away," she began slowly.
"A galaxy far far away?" Lily couldn't help but interrupt with a grin.
"Are you saying I look like an alien?" Luna glared jokingly and with some confusion. "I'm definitely from this galaxy, I'm allowed to tell you that much. I think. And I know you better than you realise. We've been- well, watching isn't the right word…monitoring you from a distance for quite a while now…"
"What?" Lily's face went bright red, and her mouth hung open. "How dare you-"
Luna held up a hand and grimaced. "Let me finish before you start getting outraged. There's more. You've been having strange dreams lately, right?"
Lily's eyes widened. She gripped her hands together and whispered, "How…?"
"I sent them. Some juicy ones, eh?" She grinned and wiggled her eyebrows at Lily, making her blush even harder, then continued. "There was a point behind the dreams, you know. Things went off course. He wasn't going to exist so we had to butt in and try to force you two together, and you're not understanding a word of this, are you?"
Lily, mouth still agape, shook her head.
"Dammit, Hermione, why did it have to be so hard?" Luna muttered to herself as she pushed out of her chair irritably and began to pace.
"What's your real name?" Lily asked, a shrewd expression on her face. She'd had enough confusion for one night. She was going to get to the bottom of the whole situation, even if it killed her.
The witch paused and smiled, resignedly. "Ginny. My name is Ginny."
Lily straightened her shoulders, stood up and looked her directly in the eyes. "Ginny. Why exactly are you here? We've established that you're definitely from this galaxy, and that's about it. Tell me why you're here or I'm afraid I'm going to have to curse you, which would be a shame because I think you're actually quite nice."
Ginny stopped pacing, stared at her with a frown, then broke out into a laugh. "Oh, I do like you! You've got spunk. Oh, you're just like him!"
"Like who?" Lily asked in frustration. "I was serious about the cursing!"
Ginny sighed and bit her lip. "You just…remind me of someone I know. As for why I'm here- I've told you, I'm just here to help."
"Help me do what?" Lily flapped her hands in exasperation.
Ginny blew out a breath and said, "Marry James Potter."
"Um-" Lily's voice cracked as she very early lost her calm. "Pardon?"
"I'm basically here to make you realise that you really need to marry James Potter."
"Right," Lily said to herself, slowly falling into hysterics as confusion wrapped its way around her. "Right. Of course. Marry him. Of course."
"Look, I know this is all strange but-"
Suddenly, there was a burst of flame midair, making Lily jump, and a large vibrant coloured feather floated gently to the carpet.
Ginny picked up the feather and tutted. "They're early. I should've known."
"Who's earl-"
"Listen, we haven't got much time now so you've got to pay attention."
Lily squared her shoulders and glared at the woman. "Why should I listen to you? You haven't told me anything and-"
"Please, just humour me." Ginny grabbed her shoulders, made her look her in the eyes and quickly said, "You're going to see some things soon and- well, they will be slightly- shocking."
Lily's jumped slightly as she heard the dustbins outside fall over.
Ginny glanced out of the window swiftly, and rushed on. "Don't worry, Lily, this is not a Deatheater's trick. This is real. Just be prepared for anything, and you'll be fine."
Lily's head snapped around as she heard a door bang open downstairs. "Someone's in the house-"
Ginny shook her shoulders, making her look at her once more. "They're here. Listen to them, Lily Evans, and learn."
Lily opened her mouth to ask once more what the hell she was going on about when the bedroom door slammed open, and a light, brighter than anything she'd ever seen, sped into the room, blinding them. Instantly, both Lily and Ginny ducked and covered their heads as the deafening sound of a thousand wings beating furiously swept in after the light, and circled them in a great spiral of noise. The lamps flickered, threateningly, then they were pitched into darkness, the brightness disappearing as swiftly as it had arrived, the wings ceasing to beat in an instant.
Shakily, Lily raised her head and began to ask, "What in God's name-"
"Shh!" Ginny whispered out of the darkness. "They've come for you. I wish…I wish I could go with you, see them again…" To Lily's surprise she heard her sniffle. "Just remember to cherish every moment and to trust them. Good luck, Lily."
Lily opened her mouth to reply, when she noticed a tiny white light beginning in the centre of the room, growing…It was pulsing with something…It was pulsing with her heartbeat, and she stared, mesmirised as it slowly expanded…it was a Quaffle now…no, it was bigger… slowly it grew and enveloped everything in its path into the golden light…She watched with astonishment as it slowly unfolded, the layers upon layers of radiance covering her boring little bedroom. First it spread to her wardrobe…then her desk…her bed…the entire carpet was white…Ginny was gone…the tendrils of light were reaching out towards her now…She resisted, pulling her leg out of reach, even though her body longed to throw itself into it…She couldn't give in…
Suddenly, she noticed…how could she not have noticed? It was not just a ball of light. It encompassed three glowing figures…she was seeing angels…pure, beautifully golden shadows…did this mean she'd died? She didn't care… Slowly, oh so slowly, one radiant being stepped towards her…
She squeezed her eyes shut tight. She couldn't be seeing celestial beings…she just couldn't. She was rational, normal, sane…it was all a dream, all just a big fat dream, she'd wake up and-
"Bloody hell, Lily, I haven't got all day!"
Her eyes snapped open and her jaw dropped in astonishment to see a familiar, brightly grinning figure holding out its hand for her to take. She just stared, gob smacked until, the supposed `angel' sighed mockingly, and roughly yanked her into the light, with a wink. "Don't gape, dear, its extremely unbecoming."
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