Expect Complications

[Lily Evans]

Times were changing and every day that she got closer to eighteen the sooner she would be out on her own. Out in the world where she did not trust herself. She didn't want to leave Hogwarts. She felt safe here, and it wasn't that she wasn't prepared to live outside of Hogwarts, because she felt that she was, but Hogwarts had been the one comfort to her for a good amount of her life. Granted seven of them had been here in the safety of the castle walls, she felt like she was home again. Ten years ago her mother had died, and her father had been unable to continue to support her and her brother. The two had gone to live with her aunt and uncle.

Now with Hogwarts, and it's years of protection coming to an end, she wasn't sure what she was going to do. She had continued to do what was necessary for those of her nature. She did remarkably well in most of her classess, exceedin beyond her own expectations. Not that she was trying to outdo anyone, but it had been important to her to make her mother proud. To live up to the image that her mother had made, that family was important but education was key to one's success. She could've given it all up when her mother died, but she didn't. She stayed strong, she had to be, being the older sister, she felt the need to be the protector. She had done the best she could, to guide Jasper throughout their time here at Hogwarts together, but alas that would soon be ending. Part of her felt the need to stay in Hogwarts just to make sure that nothing happened to her brother. She had always been overprotective of him.

Although throughout the last few months, she was struggling to even want to stay in classes. Defense Against the Dark Arts, was one class she actually liked staying in, especially as she had learned the basics of what was necessary to use in the outside world to protect against those who might want to wish her harm. Her instincts were telling her that something was off about it all. Her wand was in her hand, as she was using the time outside to practice some of the spells she learned in Defense Against the Dark Arts Class, and some ofthe other classes' spells as well, when all of a sudden she heard an authoritive tone from behind her. She looked only to see her Proffessor from Defense Against the Dark Arts class looking at her as though she did something wrong. "Hello Professor, did I do something wrong?" She asked as her curiousity had gotten the better of her. She knew as a muggleborn she would be targeted outside of the Hogwarts' walls, given everything the Daily Prophet had been writing about in recent months. That part, hadn't changed one bit. She hoped she wouldn't get in too much trouble.

  

[Vincent Valentine]

The ever changing climate of the wizarding world could be too much sometimes. The peaceful life and way of thinking that had bound the wizarding world together for so long, was slipping away fast, leaving many people confused and even more people scared. Vincent thought about all of this as he went for a stroll around the grounds. The younger wizards and witches seemed to be taking it slightly better then the older crowd. After all when your still young and so impressionable you sort of take everything in stride. Never worrying about the rest of the world and being just polite enough to get by with your family and other authority figures and such. But as values and morals faded in the young, it spread like an infection among the older crowd as well. Vincent knew many people around his age who could not handle the change with a passive view and felt the need to get involved with it. He suspected that it was someone around his age or maybe even older that had kidnapped the muggle-born children. Sure he knew people who didn't care for half-bloods and muggle borns, in fact his younger brother Vermont was a prime example of a pure blood with too much pride. But it seemed to be deeper then that. After all it would take someone with very little morale value to do something like that. To take children from a place where they felt safe. The thought of that appalled him, any decent person should never even dare to kidnap a child, no matter what their particular views on the wizarding race were. The Professor shuddered as a shiver ran down his spine at the thought. He would love to find whoever had done that and blast them into hell. But, and eye for and eye does nothing but blind and the world need not be blind with anger right now. What they needed was to all band together and do something to try and stop all this nonsense.

As he walking the grounds, immersed in these thoughts of twisted wizards and the world's morale compass, he noticed what seemed to be a student practicing magic. It wasn't very late in the day and since he wasn't even on patrol he felt no need to chastise the student. But being the ever curious man he was, he did want to try and see how they were during and maybe provide some constructive criticism. It couldn't hurt could it? Unless of course it was something out of the realm of his expertise. He knew for instance that advanced charms was something he wasn't all that familiar with, his standard knowledge of charms was concise on to the point.

He approached the student and saw that it was a young woman. Yet, she didn't seem to be accompanied by anyone else. He thought it strange that a young lady would venture out of the castle without a male escort. And at a time like this, he thought that it was completely inappropriate. With what was going on, now it was even more important then ever to make sure you had a proper escort around the grounds. The professor frowned slightly, recognizing the student as Lily Evans, the girl was a good student, one he never had problems with. He couldn't allow her to walk around here without an escort of sorts, whether it was him or a capable young prefect.

"Ms.Evans!", he greeted, his voice authoritative but not unfriendly. His brows were furrowed as he got her attention and he shook his head slightly when she inquired as to whether or not she had been doing anything wrong, or perhaps something she shouldn't have.

"Your not doing anything...wrong...per say. But I must admit I wasn't expecting to see you walking around the grounds without an escort.", his voice showed enough concern to show that he was worried about her, not angry nor all that stern.

  

[Lily Evans]

The weather was beautiful today, and she felt the need to just relax a little bit. Sure with the way the Daily Prophet had been going on about the attacks on the Muggleborns she was terrified but she couldn't that that fear stop her. If she did, what was the point in living? It was a peaceful, almost tranquil time for her. She rarely went to alot of places without an 'escourt' as her status would dicate but she didn't have many options. Jasper had been with her for a short while but then he had to leave to go do something. She never asked him too many questions after all he was the younger brother, and men usually, even some as young as him, were well protected within the grounds. Even though times had changed some.

Some might say she was rather foolish for being out in the grounds without another escourt but she hadn't really cared about all that. She wasn't a normal young woman to say the least. She wasn't afraid of danger, and she was quite capable of protecting herself if danger did in fact arise. She had never challenged another simply to duel, there was always a legitimate reason for why she did so. Of course there were some that would still criticize her.

Her core values were not all that much different from her mother or aunt's. All three wanted something good for themselves, to have a life outside the home, to be able to have a career along with raising a family. She had always felt she could do both, even if she hadn't wanted a family at this particular moment in time, after all she was only seventeen, she was still young of course. There was time for all of that. She was a child in most of her Professor's eyes and that would never change even if she felt like she could in fact take on the world.

She couldn't help but grin when she heard Professor Valentine speak her name. It might be inappropriate to be out of grounds alone, no matter what the circumstances might have been. But she never much cared for the escourt route either. "Yes, Professor." She smirked as she wondered what the older gentleman was up to. She had done very well in class today so she wasn't all in a panic like some would have been had they seen him. "There is nothing to fear but fear itself. If one is afraid of what is to come, where is the fun in that? How can one live like that? I don't have an escourt Professor, because my escourt, had to go to Quidditch Practice. My brother, you see he was with me, for a good while but I feel confident enough in my abilities to take on someone who would try and harm me." She had always had a true reason for doing what it is she did even if it sometimes alarmed those around her. What could she say? Or better yet do to change that? She hadn't exactly expected these kinds of things. "Besides, the weather is lovely, and it gives me a good place to think things through. What my future will become."