Reality is only an Illusion

Close your eyes and listen

A/n: I just created a Facebook Page called Draco MalfoyGirl16 Fanfiction. There you will be able to find all the updates, sneak peeks, and polls for stories. Please feel free to like the page to stay in the loop on your favorite stories. The link is in my bio.

I don't know why I must keep saying this, but I'M AMERICAN!!!! Our spelling and grammatical structure are very different than those in the UK. Things that don't pass for a complete sentence there most likely do pass for one here. Like "The band is playing." in the US is a complete sentence. I do tend to write long wordy sentences (always have since I was little), so I do have to go back and reread and break it up into smaller complete sentences, but it's grammatically correct.

Chapter 5: Close your eyes and listen

After dinner was over, everyone moved into the drawing-room. Lilly spent a few minutes talking to everyone before making her excuses and headed to her room, telling Cora she would ring for Anna once she got there. She picked up a candlestick and pulled it towards the edge of the round dark, amber-colored table by the stairs. Taking a match from the pack that was sitting on the table top, she struck it against the red phosphorus strip at the back of the book before lighting the candle. The small area around her lit up in a soft golden glow as she shook the match a few times, snuffing out its small flame before grasping the candlestick firmly in hand before picking up the front of her dress and slowly making her way up the staircase to her room.

Once she closed the door to her room, she felt the warmth of the freshly made fire burning in the hearth. Lilly made her way gracefully across the room, placing the candlestick down on the hazelnut bedside table. Lifting her arm, Lilly grasped the tiny bit of tapestry and gave it a firm tug, setting everything in motion for the bell to ring in the servant's hall with the name of her room under it. Lilly turned around and faced the hazelnut wardrobe and stood there for a while as she finally picked out a silvery nightdress with a matching dressing gown and slippers. If only her mother could see her now wearing something so lady-like to bed rather than her regular too large for her band t-shirts and baggy shorts with her long coffee hair thrown up into a very lazy and messy bun. Anna knocked on the door at that very moment startling Lilly from her memory.

"Enter." She called out to Anna.

"Evening, my lady. An early night for you." Anna said with a smile as she walked into the room. The glow from the fire’s light seems to make her ethereal rather than a human being. Even her black and white evening uniform just made her look magical. Anna is one of those natural beauty types. The kind that you could make wear a sack, and she would make it look marvelous. Anna walked over to Lilly's bed and soon made good work turning down the bed for Lilly to slip into once she was dressed.

"Yes. Watching Mary try to catch Matthew out on everything is just exhausting, but I must admit he can hold his own, but I think I might have stepped on his toes a time or two since he first got here when I would remark on Mary's little digs at him. "Lilly sighed as she turned her back to Anna as; she stepped behind Lilly and began to undo the buttons of Lilly's evening dress as Lilly started to take out some of the pins holding her hair up.

"Not surprised by Lady Mary. She is very against him being here, let alone trying to be set up with him, but he doesn't seem like the type of man that would feel emasculated by a lady. I'm sure he appreciated having someone in his corner. After what you told me about Thomas last week, you can only imagine what some of the servants have to say about him. Thankfully there are loads of us downstairs that are happy he is here." She finished as she helped Lilly out of her dress and then started working on unlacing her corset.

"I hope you are right. The poor man is only working with the hand he was dealt in life and as all of us are. I don't see why anyone wants to make that even harder for him than it already is. I know if I were in his shoes, I would be scared to death and most likely make a run for it." She breathed out a sigh of relief. Throughout dinner, she was tense, making her corset feel even tighter than expected but dealing with the battle that was about to happen between Matthew and Mary, she couldn't relax. Once the corset was off, they made quick work of the rest of her clothes before sliding on her nightdress and dressing gown on top. Lilly walked over to her small vanity table and took a seat on the chair before sliding her legs under the table as she placed the pins she had in her fair hands in the small bowl they belonged in. Anna walked up silently behind her and began removing the remaining pins that Lilly couldn't find.