Chapter IV: meet the parents
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As she walked towards the shrieking shack after Carter had pointed her in the direction, she saw her father standing there. The mere image of the imposing figure standing at such a short distance from her somehow made her feel empowered.
A new feat for her, to say the least.
"Hi dad," she greeted him, false cheer evident in her tone, making sure to always maintaining a cool demeanor in his presence.
Ignoring the pleasantries he raised an eyebrow in response, "care to explain why you were placed in Gryffindor Lillian?" daring her to lie, to ease his mind… to tell him that she wasn't a black sheep, a disappointment.
"Well the hat decided that I belonged in the house," she coolly told him, acting completely indifferent to the hidden warning within his words.
"I've been through the ritual, and if you remember, I was inducted into Slytherine," he told her as he roughly grabbed her by the front of her shirt, frustrated by her constant insolence. "I know the customs," he gruffly told her, "I know the purpose of the hat, but I also know that it asks for your opinion as to what house you wish to be placed in. So, now would you care to explain?"
"When it asked which house I wanted to be in, I didn't say anything," she told him coolly.
He slapped her, an abrupt and unexpected move on his part.
"You shouldn't have done that," she told him, masking the pain, regardless of how much it hurt.
She wished that the amused expression on his face had surprised her because maybe then she would have had some hope for humanity within the Black family. However, his cruel, condescending, and taunting demeanor only helped amplify her hatred for him, a feat which she hadn't believed to be possible.
"And why shouldn't I have done that?" he asked her while strengthening his grip upon her shirt.
"Because I have leverage," she stated simply, never losing her cool. It was all a game of cards, it didn't matter who had the better hand, but who could use it to their advantage; it was all a question of who had the better poker face.
He looked at her, confusion was evident in his eyes for a second before he regained control and masked it with his penetrating glare. However, she had seen it and that only made her feel even more in control over the situation, she had finally achieved in causing her father to lose his cool facade, no matter how short of a time span it may have been.
"And what leverage could you possibly have over me?" he asked her, laughing at her, mocking her, taunting her.
She smirked at him, living with Blacks had only assisted her in this situation (after all: "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer"). "You told the entire family that I am not really the `disgrace,' as you so kindly refer to me as in the confines of our own home… In fact you told them that I am some what of a prodigy, didn't you?" she asked him, well aware of the fact that she currently had the upper hand.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Judging by your response, I take it that I am correct," she smirked.
He slapped her yet again, however this time he made sure to utilize more strength. That one would definitely leave a mark. "I won't accept this- insolence on your part-"
As he made another attempt towards hitting her she grabbed his hand, the one that was not holding her by her shirt, but the one that had hit her. "Don't you dare touch me ever again," she told him through gritted teeth.
He smirked at her, let go of her shirt, and somehow she just knew what was going to happen.
He raised his wand and uttered one fatal word, "crucio."
She fell to the ground, the strength of the pain was unfathomable, but anger coursed through her veins. She wouldn't let him hear her scream in pain, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction, she couldn't forfeit and give him power over her.
She needed to prove that she wasn't one of them.
He hit her with the curse repeatedly, slowly increasing the pain, and with time she found it harder to resist the temptation, and soon everything went black.
"Lily!" she heard a distant scream.
Carter's appearance had startled her father, and he quickly disapparated, unaware of who was running towards his daughter.
Carter ran over to Lily and picked her up and carried her to the school as she passed out, all the while repeatedly muttering "stupid, bloody, stubborn, temperamental, lovable redheads!" while fear that she wouldn't be able to make it through this filled him.
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Sixth year boy's dormitories:
"Thanks for your help mate. I know that it's not easy for you to help out given you being Sirius' mate and all, but-"
"It's okay. I don't mind. But, if you don't mind me asking, how did it happen?" she saw the sandy haired boy from before (who she had learned was Remus) ask Carter. All the while it was unknown to them that she had regained consciousness.
"I'm sorry-"
She interrupted Carter, "we all have our secrets, Remus, and some are better to be kept that way," she told him with a smile.
Startled and frazzled by her intrusion into their conversation Carter recovered with a smile. "You're awake," he whispered, relief obvious in his tone.
"Of course! I couldn't possibly leave my dear Carty-Poo to fend for himself, now could I?" She turned her attention to the other boy, "thank you Remus. It was really kind of you to go to the trouble of helping me out like this. I must say, your work is impeccable," she told him as she admired how he was able to heal her so efficiently without any proper training.
"It's okay," he told her with a sweet, reassuring smile. "I wanted to test out some of those healing spells anyway."
With his patience wearing thin Carter turned to his friend, "hey Remus, do you think that you could give us some privacy? There's something really important that Lily and I need to talk about."
"Sure," he said as he let himself out of the room.
Carter turned to Lily, a scowl marring his face, "you knew that he was going to do that didn't you?"
Lily sighed, knowing that she shouldn't be surprised as to how perceptive Carter was as far as her troubled relationship with her father went. "Yeah, I knew that there was a strong possibility."
Carter pulled at his hair, trying to relieve himself of his anger and frustration with her, "Merlin Lils! I knew that it was bad, but I had no idea that it went that far!"
"I'm sorry… you know for not telling you."
"I'm sorry, that's all you have to say for yourself?! Lils you almost died! Why would you do something so stupid?"
"I'm sorry. I really-"
"You don't get it. Do you, Lils?" he asked herself as he laughed at her ignorance. "I could have lost you! You- the fucking most important person in the world to me! Why-- why can't you understand that it's not just you against the world? I'm there too; if you fail I'll go down with you-"
Tears were streaming down her face as she listened to his rant, "Carter, don't-"
Her regret didn't have the same effect in him as it usually did, even with her standing in front of him crying his anger hadn't dissipated. "Don't make myself part of your problems?! Is that what you wanted to tell me?-- Lils, you can't really be trying to tell me that, can you? You can't really be so stupid as to assume that that line would work on me of all people. I have been part of your problems for years now. You don't want to admit it, but you need me. You're stubborn as hell, and you don't want to acknowledge to the fact that you need me just as much as I need you because god forbid you come off as weak for once in your fucking life.-- You're so delusional and you don't even see it, when it comes to your family you are weak Lils. It's nothing to be ashamed-"
"Yes, it is something to be ashamed of!" Lily cried, "Weakness won't ever help me. I have to be strong."
His face softened, as much as he wanted to be mad at her, the one thing that he could never handle was watching her when she tried to lie to herself. It always surprised him how under such a hard and strong exterior was just an innocent, scared girl trying to protect herself. "Why can't you see that you have me? Why isn't that ever enough?" he asked her as he scooped her up in his arms and held her as she cried.
"I'm afraid, I don't want to lose you like I've lost other people, I don't want you to stop lov-"
"Don't- don't ever say that again! I could never stop loving you. It just won't happen Lils, I promise. As for your father, he could never push me away from you, I promise. You're it for me girl, I need you."
She finally smiled, a weak one, but it was still a smile. "So I guess that I am stuck with you then?"
"Yep, and the best part is that you won't be able to get rid of me."
"Well then I guess that I should tell you what happened."
"That would be wise."
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Author's note: so there you have it, the latest chapter, I hope you enjoyed it.
Please review, it would mean so much to me.
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