The Marauders - Order of the Phoenix - Part One

Kelpie Eggs

Lily was at the kitchen table, pouring over the books that Professor Laurie had given her, and feeling rather frustrated that she could scarcely understand what she was looking at, when the answer to her prayers fell before her on the table top. 

She squealed with delight.

"I went through bloody hell to get those for you," he said as she started unfurling the rolled-up parchment he'd dropped before her excitedly. "You're welcome."

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you a thousand times over, Moony!" Lily cried as the parchment unraveled and she saw all of the complex runes, hand-copied, some multiple times over for accuracy. "Oh I could just kiss you, Remus Lupin, I'm so thankful!" she said as he sat down in the chair across from her. When he gave her a wary look, she added, "Of course I won't, Sirius would be far too jealous."

"Perhaps on every second Thursday and Boxing Day or some nonsense," Remus murmured, and he brought his hands up to rub his tired eyes.

"I dunno," Lily said with a chortle, "Last time we gave snogging a go, you and I, it didn't turn out so well, did it?"

Remus cringed. "Gods, Evans, please - don't bring that back up. Let that memory die off with the rest of unrepeatable history."

Lily smirked, "Was it me that turned you, Moony?" she teased.

Remus shook his head, and got up, headed for the door. "I'm going to go and have a lie-down and pretend that question was never asked," he said.

Lily laughed, "Oh I'm only teasing you Remus. Wait -- wait, no really, wait." He turned back, and she could see he hadn't been exactly joking about the lie-down. It was late, after all, far later than he usually came home from Uni. She looked down at the parchment in her hands and noticed the way he was stretching his hands as he stood there, waiting as she'd asked him to. "How difficult was it really to get this for me?" she asked, curiously.

Remus rubbed the back of his neck and answered as he yawned, "It's an ancient magical language - over 4,000 years old. The original scrolls I copied that from are kept in a vault, nearly a mile underground the British Library. When I requested it be pulled, they did a background checking spell and cast some trace on me so that if I tried to steal or harm the book in any way I would be instantly - how did she word it? Oh yes, permanently immobilized. They made me wear gloves so that my fingers wouldn't soil the book parchment."

"Oh my stars," Lily said, her jaw dropping in surprise. "Why? It isn't as though it's the only copy on earth!" 

But even as she said it Remus nodded, "Actually, it quite literally is, apparently."

"Beg pardon?"

"The copy at the British Library is apparently the only original copy left of this language in the entire world."

Lily stared at the page before her.

"More, apparently there have been attempts made on the life of that book - because yes, that's how the library witch said it. Apparently many folks have tried to have a go at destroying it every few hundred years or so - most recently, and most famously apparently, was Grindelwald, not long before his famous duel with Dumbledore... But she said that the bloody thing's been under attack ever since some bloke tried to set it on fire - which he could not do, despite a hundred and three curses that were apparently cast upon it. Sounds to me like the bloke was more of a squib than anything else, but the way she whispered his name you'd think he was some great and powerful wizard - well knocker if I ever heard of him - Asidius Callous or something of the like."

"Asidius Calchus?" Lily asked, her heart nearly stopping.

"Yeah, that's it." Remus looked surprised, "Wait, you've heard of him? Why haven't I done? Right blighter he was, I looked him up and the bloody man was insane."