Deception and Disguise

The Dispute

Disclaimer – Any character you recognize is JK Rowling's. But the plot and idea completely and truly belongs to me.

"I already told you that I'm not going to marry him!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, not caring that someone in the adjacent ballroom might hear their conversation.

"Do not raise your voice at me, girl. It might force me to do something I don't want to," he growled at his niece. "I'm not your father that you can convince me with your crying and sobbing. Stop it this instant! This type of behavior is not becoming of a princess."

She angrily wiped away the tears streaming down her face, but it proved to be useless as fresh, hot ones took their place immediately. "You do not have to remind me that you are not my father, uncle," she replied, trying her best to not let her voice waver. "He would have never forced me to marry him."

"We might never know what he would have wanted, would we? Your father is dead." He said without a hint of remorse in his voice.

"He was your brother. How could you speak of him like this?" she cried, her heart aching at the memory of her deceased father.

"Charles did not know how to run a kingdom; treating commoners like friends, allowing them inside the castle…his methods were disgraceful! The world is well rid of him."

"Do not speak about my father like that," she all but screamed again, her silky auburn hair tumbling out of her elegant bun. "He was a good man; better than you can ever be. He treated everyone fairly. The kingdom was happy under his reign. They could come to him with their problems, knowing that he would help them. But now…now the people hate us! You have driven more than half the families into poverty only to ensure that you have enough gold to drown in."

She angrily, yet gracefully, walked closer to the king, who was clutching the handle of his sword so hard that his knuckles had turned white. His urge to kill the insolent girl in front of him was becoming overwhelming; if only she didn't have the ability to bring him immense riches, he would have done it a long time back.

"I hope you know that there is no doubt in my mind that my father was murdered, your highness." She hissed, her voice laden with venom. "Do not be mistaken that I believed your story for a second. My father never trusted you; he wouldn't have left his sword with you at any cost."

"How dare you – " he raised his hand, unable to control his rage any longer. But she didn't even wince as his palm connected with her delicate face and her pearl-white skin turned an angry red. Instead, she merely glared back at her uncle with nothing but angry tears shining in her emerald eyes.

She sneered, staring directly into his black, cold eyes. "Did I hit a nerve, uncle Riddle?"

"Princess Evans! Where were you? I had been looking every - Oh!" A flustered looking servant suddenly entered the hallway, staring at the scene before her with big brown eyes before realizing her place and bowing down to them dutifully. She had curly, copper blonde hair and pale skin which was dotted with freckles.

"I beg your pardon, your highness," she apologized fearfully, not lifting her head. "I did not know that the princess was with you."

"I do not think that is a problem, Mary. Uncle and I are done talking," the princess spoke up before the ruthless man could reply.

The king looked at the servant named Mary with disgust, unable to believe that his niece would know such filth by name. Just like Charles, he thought with contempt before redirecting his glare at the impudent girl in front of him.

"The marriage will take place within a fortnight. And you will marry Prince Lucius…even if I have to force you to do so. If this is delayed any further and he marries Narcissa Black instead, mark my words princess, I will not hesitate to send you to the gallows," he whispered frostily to her. "Now we're done talking." He said loudly, before whirling around and walking back into the ballroom, his black cape billowing with each stride.

As soon as her uncle was out of sight, she slid down to the floor, her green dress pooling around her as she sat. Putting her head into her hands, she sobbed silently, not caring what any onlooker would think. She could care less about her image right now.

"Oh, Princess Evans," Mary immediately rushed to her side, rubbing her back and trying to console her. "Please forgive me for saying so, but I think it will be better if I take you to your chamber. His highness will be furious if someone were to see you like this."

"I shall allow you to take me to my chamber," came the muffled reply. "But not because of what my uncle wants, but because I do not wish anyone to see me this vulnerable. They might think of me as just another fragile little doll. And I am not going to let anyone make that assumption." She sniffed and lifted her head proudly.

Mary smiled at her. Despite her red face stained with tears and her dress rumpled all over the place, Princess Lily Catherine Evans looked as radiant and beautiful as ever. Her shiny sheet of auburn hair was tumbling down her waist perfectly and her emerald eyes were shining with anger and determination. She was anything but a fragile little doll.

"Of course not, your highness," Mary agreed truthfully, helping the princess stand up from her position on the floor.

"Mary, how many times do I have to remind you to call me Lily?" she asked with a watery smile on her beautiful face. "We are friends. Calling me 'your highness or Princess Evans' seems to ruin that idea, do you not agree?"

"Yes, Lily." She replied, albeit a bit hesitantly.

"Much better," Lily laughed, her voice tinkling pleasantly through the hallway. Mary immediately found herself grinning as well; the princess' laugh was contagious.

"Ah! I was wondering where you had run off to after our dance," a voice spoke over the laughter. The two women turned around slowly to find a tall man with sleek blonde hair and blue eyes that showed no warmth whatsoever, standing in front of them, an ugly sneer on his otherwise handsome face. Lily took a deep, calming breath at the sight of him.

"Prince Lucius," she greeted with a curtsy, the forced politeness in her voice, evident.

"Princess Lily," he bowed down in response before snapping his fingers at Mary and simply gesturing her to leave without even glancing towards her. The princess felt her blood boil at the type of behavior he was exhibiting towards her only friend in the entire castle, but forced herself to keep her mouth shut. She watched sadly as Mary left without a word, her head bowed down the entire way.

"If my memory is not deceiving me your highness," Lily spoke after a few seconds, "then I distinctly remember asking you to call me 'Princess Evans'. You see, I only allow those closest to me to greet me by my first name."

"I assure you princess, that my memory is quite as sharp as yours," he replied, walking dangerously close to her. She had to control her urge of scrunching up her nose in disgust at the close proximity. "But given that I plan on marrying you in a fortnight from now, I would consider us…quite…close." He whispered, leaning towards her.

Lily immediately stumbled away from him, trying to get the horrid image of Prince Lucius looming over her out of her mind. "I have no intentions of marrying you, your highness," She said, gritting her teeth. "And I think I have already made myself clear on that issue on plenty of occasions."

"Pardon me, my lady," he scoffed, his eyes flashing at her rejection. "But I do not think that your opinion on this matter is going to affect anything. His highness, King Riddle, has already made the arrangements for our wedlock. The only thing that is expected of you is to attend."

"I beg your pardon?" she demanded outrageously. "I would think that my opinion on this matter is quite important. Without my agreement, this marriage is not likely to take place."

"That may very well be the case," Lucius replied. "But I know that the king is going to take care of that. This marriage is, after all, an important deal between both the royal families. And your agreement is just a trivial part of that. I'm sure your uncle will go to great measures to ensure that the deal is not broken."

Like threatening to send me to the gallows, Lily thought bitterly.

"And anyway," Lucius continued, "You have nothing to be ashamed of."

Lily's eyebrows furrowed in confusion at his words. "I am unable to understand what you mean," she told him truthfully.

"You do not have to hide it any longer, princess. I have finally understood your reason for not wanting to marry me. And I must admit, I should have figured it out quite sooner. It does seem very obvious." He said with a self-important grin.

"And what is it that you have concluded?" Lily asked confidently. She highly doubted that the prince would ever realize that the reason she did not want to marry him consisted a long list of his mean and cruel traits. No, he was too self-absorbed to realize that.

"Well," he drawled, stretching the word as he walked around Lily, taking in her appearance. "Despite the fact that you look quite a mess at the moment, I shall like to inform you that you do not have to consider yourself unworthy of me. I do not care if you are less handsome than I am, your highness."

Lily felt disgusted with him; with his attitude towards her. She could feel herself burning from anger and fury; anger at the fact that he would have the nerve to think she considered herself unworthy of him. Instantly, she found herself yelling. "That is not the reason I – "

She stopped speaking abruptly, for the doors to the ballroom had opened and the guests were piling out into the hallway, ready to depart. She decided to simply glare at the man in front of her instead of shouting at him.

"There you are Lucius! I am afraid we must leave now," A woman with long blonde hair strode over to the pair, her grey eyes scanning Lily distastefully. "Are you alright, your highness? You seem very…distraught." Elizabeth Malfoy, Lucius' mother, said, frowning at the embarrassed-looking girl in front of her.

Lily was suddenly very aware of the dried tear stains on her cheeks and her rumpled outfit. Realizing that all the royal families in the surrounding kingdoms were currently staring at her frazzled and weak appearance, she quickly tried to make an exit. "Yes, I'm feeling fine. Pardon me for sounding rude, but I think I need to take your leave. The day has worn me off. I hope you had a pleasant evening."

"Yes, of course. I understand," Elizabeth replied, still staring at her with displeasure.

Lily quickly, yet politely, gave a curtsy and rushed off to her room, trying to get away from the view of all those self-important people. Spotting Mary on the way, she grabbed a hold of her hand and pulled her along with her. Lily was grateful when her friend did not ask any questions till they had reached the confines of her chamber.

The princess' room was large and spacious, with a balcony that had the view of the entire kingdom. She remembered going on strolls with her father through the streets of Gryffindor when she was a kid. Being a mere five year old at the time, she would find the simple shops on the streets fascinating. And while the king would talk to the commoners, she would try to make new friends, as everyone within the castle walls was much older than her. But it was only a matter of time before she realized that a princess was not meant to have friends who were not royalty.

"Lily? What happened?" Mary asked, watching her friend throw herself on the king-sized bed and sob silently again.

"I do not want to marry him. Is it really that selfish of me if I'm thinking about my happiness?" she replied, her petite body shaking with each sob that tore through her lips.

"Of course not!" Mary replied immediately, aghast that the princess would even need to ask such a question. "It is your life. You should marry who want to. You should marry someone you fall in love with, not someone who makes you unhappy."

"Then why am I being forced into marrying Prince Lucius?" Lily asked quietly. But there was no response. Mary simply bit her lip and sighed, unable to come up with an answer to her question. Walking over to the massive wardrobe in the room, she pulled out a comfortable and smooth blue dress before making her way towards Lily.

"Forgive me, Lily. But there is not much I can say about this situation." She apologized softly, her eyes filling up with tears at the sight of her troubled friend. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up. You might feel better after a hot bath." She suggested, leading the princess towards the bathroom.

"I-I just can't do this, Mary," Lily said, biting her lip sadly.

"I know, Lily. I know," Mary replied soothingly, continuing to brush the wet, auburn sheet of hair gently. As she neatly tied Lily's hair into a comfortable bun with a few loose red strands framing her face, the princess turned around to speak again. "I just wish there was some solution to all of this. Some way I could escape this – this cage!" she gestured wildly with her hands.

All she got was a compassionate look from brown-eyed girl. Lily sighed, defeated. "Sometimes I wish I were dead. Then maybe I wouldn't have to live day after day, knowing that my father's murderer was ruling the kingdom and controlling me, while I did nothing but watch helplessly."

"Don't say that!" Mary bellowed, startling the princess. Then, realizing what she had done, tears started streaming down her face. "Pardon me, your highness. I did not mean to lose my temper. It was not my place to shout at you. You can give me any punishment you think is – "

"Mary! I am not going to punish you. It's alright." Lily cut her off, clutching her hands to console her. "And forgive me for saying what I did. It-It's just that" she sighed, looking remorsefully out the balcony; at her father's kingdom. "Sometimes I wonder how it would be like, to be as free as a bird. To not care about your image or what people thought about you. To just live."

Following her line of vision, Mary stared at Hogwarts and its bustling streets which were lit up by the moonlight as well. Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she absentmindedly formed a plan. "Maybe…maybe you could run away," she whispered after a few moments of silence.

Lily's big, emerald eyes widened at her suggestion and her head snapped towards Mary, who was still looking thoughtful, as if unaware of what she had just said. "What?" she asked, slightly breathless for some reason.

"I said that maybe you should run away from here; from this castle," Mary replied, finally turning to look at the shocked princess. Lily couldn't believe her ears; was Mary actually suggesting that? But looking into her confident brown eyes, she knew that her friend was absolutely aware of what she was saying.

"B-but how? I mean, uncle Riddle would find me within a few hours. I haven't even been to these streets since I was five, Mary. How will I hide from him?" Lily asked anxiously.

"Disguise," came the automatic reply. "You know my brother, Mark, yes?" Lily nodded her head numbly. "Well, he participates in the fair that takes place every year. He'll have plenty of disguises for you. I can find a few suitable ones for you, Lily."

The princess thought her head was going to burst. She hadn't set foot outside the castle since she was a young kid, other than going to visit numerous royal families in the neighboring kingdoms. Running away from her pitiless uncle may have sounded horribly appealing, but she knew it was not as easy as it seemed. "I-I don't know, Mary." She finally replied.

"If you may allow, princess, can I say something that could possibly sound too bold?" Mary asked pleadingly. Lily smiled at her encouragingly and nodded her head.

"I know what you're thinking, Lily. That suddenly leaving the castle and running away into a place which you hardly even remember isn't going to be easy. And no, I'm not going to lie to you, it's going to be difficult. It's going to be very difficult. Not to mention that you'd be taking a huge risk by angering his highness and the Malfoys. But in the end, isn't all of this going to be worth it? You'll finally get to live your life, make some real friends, not servants. And I'm not just talking about myself. Face it, Lily; you need more friends, everyone does. It's true that you'll have to hide from your uncle for as long as you can, but if you think that there is even the slightest chance that until he finds you, you'll have a better life than you could ever have here, then run away, Lily."

The room fell silent for the next few minutes where the only sound coming was from the crowded streets of Gryffindor.

"Mary, get me the clothes tomorrow," Lily finally said, turning her head to grin widely at her friend. "I'm running away."

To be continued…

A/N – I decided to try something different this time. And I know that this story does not include magic and spells, but I still felt like writing it. So now I'll be writing Summer Surprise and this one side by side. But I'll continue this one if you guys like it. I've always preferred AUs to canon, most probably because my OTP doesn't die, but that's not to say that I don't like canon. Anything Jily is good. Anyway, leave me a lot of reviews and let me know what you guys think of the plot. Lots and lots of love.

Claudia