Lily Evans' true sacrifice - FINISHED -

1996 - Malfoy Manor

The sun was setting behind Malfoy Manor in a torrent of incessant rain. It had been raining heavily all day and the grass in the garden had turned into a swampy slush. The garden beds had been abandoned for several months now and a little water did not change anything. A few lights near the windows on the second and third floors were on.

One of the secondary entrances, used mainly by house elves, opened in the darkness and a hooded man rushed in from outside. When he closed the door discreetly behind him, he left without thinking towards a corridor plunging into the basement. After descending the stairs and turning on the light, he stopped for a moment to breathe. Then, slowly he took off his cloak. He hung it on the corner of a shelf as water continued to seep from the garment, already forming a puddle on the floor.

Without further hesitation, the man grabbed a piece of string that was lying around on a table and brought it to his head. His long, messy hair stuck to his face was a mess and his original blond hair was unrecognizable. The individual used the string to gather and tie his hair to the back of his head in a sloppy ponytail. He lingered on his reflection in some of the larger bottles stacked in the cellar. He looked bad: his beard was now weeks long, he was sleep deprived and it made his eyes look crazy. His skin was sunken and covered with mud that went up his nose. Still, he smiled: Lucius Malfoy was home.

Lucius suspected that he might not be able to stay very long. He had disappointed the dark lord and he feared his revenge even more than the Azkaban dementors. He had taken the opportunity to escape one day when the dementors had simply abandoned the prison, probably to join their true master, but had not thought about what he wanted to do next. He had finally decided to return home at least temporarily to check on his family and retrieve a wand. His own had been confiscated by the Ministry of Magic during his imprisonment and the return by infamous Muggle means had been enough for him. If he wanted to protect his family or simply survive, he would need his wand.

He opened one of the drawers in a dilapidated secretary near him. Inside were several magic wands. Some of them were in very poor condition and looked like they belonged to very old generations of Malfoy. Lucius examined several of them. Then he decided on an Elm wand, similar to his own wand, hoping to get better results from a wand that was not his own.

As he was about to close the drawer, he heard a noise in the distance. By reflex, he turned off the light and ran between two huge barrels of wine.

- ... Do you think we'll be doing this for much longer?

- If you ask me, it will be more and more often. Guests are piling up in the house, whether upstairs in the bedrooms or down here in the dungeons. We're not going to see them leave anytime soon.

- They're not all going to move in here, are they?

- I don't know, it's not our problem. You do what I do, what we tell you. And now, what we've been told is to feed the prisoners. If you keep asking everyone questions, you'll end up like Dobby, with a piece of clothing in your hand!

Two house elves approached, arguing in low voices. They turned on the light. Lucius stayed as far back as possible. He did not look out, but felt the presence of the two house elves walking past him. They were now walking in silence. Lucius remained motionless in his hiding place. If they were going to feed the prisoners, it meant they would be back soon. It also meant that there were prisoners in his cellar. Lucius had heard of precedents in the family. The cellar consisted of lockable alcoves, perfect for making small prisons. Lucius had never used them because he preferred to have his prisoners outside the family home. One slept badly with the screams of torture, even with an effective sleeping potion.

- ... with the way she shouted orders, as if she was completely crazy and didn't care ...

As expected, the two house elves came back a few minutes later. After making sure that he was not in danger of being overheard, Lucius came out of his hiding place and headed to the back of the cellar, where the prisoners must have been. If the mansion was filling up, as one of the elves seemed to be saying, it was possible that his own family was in these cells after his bitter failure in the Department of Mysteries last year. Before leaving the manor for a safer hiding place, Lucius wanted to know how his wife and son were being treated. He would leave only after he was sure they were out of danger.

There were two cells occupied. Lucius quickly peeked into the first one through the glass in the center of the door and saw William Bowen of the Department of International Magical Cooperation. He was lying on the floor and did not seem to be moving. Lucius, relieved not to find someone he cared about, ignored the man and checked to see who lived in the second cell.

There he saw a woman with haggard eyes sitting in a corner and slowly eating the unknown contents of a plate. Her long, red hair fell over her face. She raised her head in Lucius' direction, her green eyes looking at him intently. Lucius stopped in bewilderment. This woman couldn't be real and yet it was impossible to mistake her, even with an extra fifteen years.

- Lily? Lily Evans?

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Hello everyone and thank you for reading this first chapter. I hope you enjoyed the beginning. This is my very first fanfic and also the first time I write in the third person, so please bear with me :D

This fanfic takes place during the 6th book and focuses mainly on Lily Evans, Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy. I plan to alternate "present" events with flashbacks to their own teenage years at Hogwarts, about 20 years ago.

I'm deviating a bit from canon, especially regarding the characters' personalities. I'm trying to keep the events prior to 6th year.