The Last Horcrux/Hogwarts Express/A picnic lunch
You both laugh for a while, but then you notice that Lily seems concerned. You give her a puzzled look and she explains why.
“If all your friends are Purebloods, won’t they get mad with you for hanging out with me and making fun of them?” She asks you.
“They might,” you agree, “but I don’t care what they think. Anyway, they’ve got far more important things to worry about than me making friends with a new girl who doesn’t know if her parents are magical or not. Draco has this dumb idea that he’s going to marry me and have babies with me. He won’t be mean to me for long.”
“Uuugh, didn’t you say he was your cousin?” Lily asks in disgust.
“Only by marriage,” you explain, “but yeah, it’s totally gross right? Lots of pureblood families are so obsessed with keeping their bloodline pure that they do have related cousins marry. Then they end up with kids that are all urkkk gurkkggh.”
You mime to her what you imagine a hideous inbred pureblood to look like, which makes you both laugh again.
“If you want to go to lunch with them, it’s ok,” Lily says, “I’ll be fine here.”
“Oh don’t be silly,” you say, smiling at Lily and shaking your head, “My nanny gave me so much food to take with me that I’ve got plenty for both of us. I can get us a picnic no problem.”
Lily watches in awe as you reach into your top pocket, pull out the silver cigarette case, and transform it into a massive luggage trunk. You open the lid and pull out the picnic hamper your nanny packed for you. As is normal for your nanny, she has easily packed enough food for several people to eat so you have plenty to share with Lily.
You talk to Lily as you eat, and listen to what she tells you of her life. It’s so easy to talk to her, and you just know that you will become the best of friends. You and Lily eat sandwiches and biscuits and egg custard tarts with strawberries, and drink bottles of sweet ginger beer. Your nanny even packed a thermos flask (non-magical) with some hot tea for your which you pour into tea cups for you both. You continue to talk and snack for a couple of hours.
Lily has always had very vivid dreams, for as long as she can remember. She dreams every night and thinks she can always remember them. She used to keep a diary of her dreams until funny things started happening. First, she learned how to to have lucid dreams, where she knew she was dreaming, and could ask questions of the people she met in her dreams, or imagine flying to far away places. Then, she started to dream that she could travel the world, with only a silver cord connecting her soul to her body, visiting people in far away lands. Then, she started to have dreams that came true.
“I had a dream that the police came to arrest one of the older boys, and then they really did come. Then I had a dream about where our lost cat Gertrude was, at the Children’s Home, and we actually managed to find her. Then I had a dream that my new foster dad was going to hurt me, so I ran away. I don’t know if that would have come true but I didn’t want to find out.”
You are amazed by what she has told you, and need to explain to her how rare her gifts are.
“Lily, that’s really incredible,” you begin, “you’re an Oneiromancer!”
“A what-what?” Lily asks, blinking.
“An Oneiromancer. A dream sorceress. They’re really rare,” you tell her, “I’ve only ever heard about them in stories and books before. And it sound like you can predict the future sometimes. No wonder Professor Trelawney was sent to find you.”
“She said she had a vision to come and find me,” Lily says, “She said she’s got The Sight too.”
You smile at that.
“There’s more though Lily,” you continue, “That silver cord you were seeing in your dreams, that’s your Prime Anchor. It links your soul to your body. You might have been Astrally Projecting in your dream. Hardly anyone can do that you know.”
Lily almost seems embarrassed. It’s clearly a lot for her to take on board. Fortunately for her, you are interrupted by the sweet trolley lady, bringing a wonderful selection of post dinner chocolates and enchanted sweets. You buy both of you some chocolate frogs, and the look on Lily’s face when one of them moves is priceless.
If Lily was surprised by the chocolate frog, she is very concerned when she notices the snake that is curled up around your wrist.
“Eek! Emily, a snake!” She cries, more in surprise than fear.
You pull up your sleeve, letting her see Hastur, your familiar, who is gently wrapped around your fore arm and sleeping.
“It’s ok Emily,” you reassure her, “it’s just Hastur. He’s my familiar.”
“Is he friendly?” She asks you.
“Oh yes,” you say, “he doesn’t bite.”
Of course, that was a lie, but there is no need to alarm her. She bravely reaches out and strokes Hastur, brushing her hand against your arm as she does.
“He’s so smooth,” she says.
“Yes,” you agree, “he’s a good snake.”
You are interrupted by a young girl knocking on the glass of the sliding door to your compartment. She is the first person today who has actually knocked. You motion for her to enter.
“Hello,” the girl says, “have either of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville has lost it somewhere.”
You recognise this girl. She is Hermione Granger. In your timeline, she was friends with that cursed Potter boy and she helped him to destroy your Horcruxes. You feel a seething anger welling up inside you, and you start to grip your wand tightly. It would be so easy to simply end her here and now.
“I’ve not seen a toad,” Lily says kindly, “have you Emily?”
“Mmmm?” You say, distracted from your memories by Lily’s voice, “No. No toads here.”
“I’m Hermione by the way, Hermione Granger,” the girl says, holding out her hand to Lily, who shakes it and smiles, no doubt glad to find a kind witch on the train.
You shake her hand and introduce yourself to her.
“Emily Lestrange,” you say, trying to keep your voice neutral.
“Lestrange?” Hermione replies, “you’re a pureblood then? Oh you must know so much about magic! I’ve been practicing my magic. I just fixed a boys glasses you know. I’ve not been doing magic for long though. My parents are Muggles, so it’s all been a bit of a shock to be honest.”
“I only just found out I was a witch too!” Says Lily, glad to meet someone else who might understand.
Lily and Hermione start to talk, and the damned girl simply won’t shut up. You were completely enchanted by Lily before Hermione turned up, and now she’s found you she won’t leave you alone. Despite being Muggle-born, she seems to be an insufferable know-it-all, and you haven’t got the energy to take control of the conversation back from her again. If anything, you feel jealous. You were starting to flirt with Lily, and had her stroking your snake before the Granger girl came in.
Hermione settles in your compartment and talks to Lily about discovering they were witches and Muggle things you don’t understand. You pass the time by imagining different ways of killing her. The Killing Curse is too quick, but Crucio would be fun, as would using the Imperio curse to make her your plaything. You imagine using Levicorpus to hurl her off the train, and are just imagining using Bombarda Maxima to definitely ensure she is dead when a whistle blows.
“That means we’re nearly arriving at Hogwarts,” Hermione announces, “you should probably change into your robes, we have to have them on when we get there.”
Hermione is already wearing her robes, but you and Lily need to get changed. You make a point of descending down the stairs of your Extended Luggage Suite, and emerge with your robes to see Hermione and Lily both amazed by the magic of your luggage being hugely larger on the inside than the outside.
You try not to stare at Lily when she changes into her robes. The brief glimpses you get of her long arms, her pale skin, her tummy and her plain white bra make your heart flutter though. You can feel the monster mocking you inside, and you mock it back for hating Hermione so much.
The train whistle blows again, and the Hogwarts Express starts to grind to a halt.
Having got everything you need, you return your luggage to its silver cigarette case size and put it in your pocket. Hermione might be clever, but she’s not rich like you are.
Inside Extended Luggage Suite
Books: Life Magick of the Celts and ancient Britons, Wiccan Blood Rituals, A Primer of Magickes of Imperial China, The Fragmented Soul, Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts, Love Potions, Sexus, Serpentes et Magicae Voluptatis, The Daughters of Hecate, A Secret Guide to Hogwarts, Tom Riddle’s Diary (Horcrux).
Magic Items Sofia Lestrange’s Pensieve, Enchanted Tarot, Guardian Statue, Self-Writing Quill, Wizard’s Chess Set, Mother’s Broomstick, several sets of shirts, skirts and underwear with protection from minor charms, jinxes and hexes.
Other Items Clothes, text books, blankets, towels, food, medicines and various supplies