A/N: Yeahhh...I swear I was working on the next chapter of One Wish! Guess I just watched too many horror/thriller/suspense movies...which is why this ended up being written?!
Blind – Chapter 1
Words: 1800
Rating: R
Pairing/Characters: JP, LP, SB, girl!Harry, RL, PP, OC (no pairings as of yet)
Summary: Extreme AU. James, Lily, and their friends are sitting down to an innocent dinner, when everything changes due to an unexpected guest. Also, like most of my stories this has girl!Harry and alive Marauders.
Warnings: Language, Implied Non-Con, Implied Torture, Possible Character Death
Disclaimer: I don't own any of it! I'm just playing in JKR's universe. I promise to clean everything up and put it away after I'm done! :-)
"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." - Mahatma Gandhi
"Lily, what's wrong?" James softly asked his wife. The fearful look on Lily's face deepened but she made no response. Suddenly, a man stepped out from behind her, his wand jabbing into her side.
"Hello James. Would you mind terribly if I interrupted your dinner?" The voice was chilling, the false politeness only serving to highlight the menace evident on his face.
"Let go of my wife. Whatever your problem with me is, leave her out of it."
"Oh, I can't do that James. You see, there's some things we need to discuss. Some wrongs that need to be righted. Justice must be served after all. You of all people should understand seeing as you are Head Auror."
"Justice for what? What are you talking about? Look, I don't know who you are. You might have me confused with someone else. Just let my wife go so we can all sit down and discuss this properly."
The man started to respond, but stopped and scowled deeply. He turned towards Sirius, who had been reaching for his wand, and snarled, "Don't even think of trying anything cute, Black. In fact, all of you, drop your wands and kick them towards me, unless you would like Mrs. Potter to end up in pieces." Seeing the danger in arguing with the man, all four men quietly dropped their wands and gently slid them over to him.
For the first time, Peter spoke, "Look, we need to all just be reasonable. We gave you our wands. Now, as a sign of good faith, why don't you let Lily go. Take one of us hostage instead."
Lily cried out as the man jabbed his wand deeper into her side. "I give the orders. So, all of you shut up and sit down." As he glared, all four Marauders, helpless, stepped back and sat down on the fluffy, white couch behind them. "Good. Now, Mrs. Potter, you and I are going to slowly sit down. Any funny business will not be tolerated, understand?" Lily simply nodded in response. Carefully, Lily and the man stepped over to the matching love seat and sat down.
Visibly upset, Lily tearfully pleaded with the man holding them all captive, "Please. Why are you doing this? What do you want from us?"
"Let me tell you a story, Mrs. Potter. I believe you will understand my position much better after you hear my tale."
"Do we have a choice?" Remus' growl was uncharacteristically bitter.
Eyes flashing with barely controlled rage, the man turned to Remus, but before he could snap off a hex, Lily distracted him by asking, "How do you know my husband?" The man turned away from Remus and smiled bitterly, then pulled out a photograph from his pocket. He wordlessly handed it to Lily. Confused, she looked at James then back at the man, "This woman. She's...your wife?" When the man simply nodded, she continued, "And the girl. She must be your daughter then?" Again a nod. "She's pretty. How old is she?"
"My daughter would have been 19 today. My wife and I had planned to take her to the States this summer. Thanks to your husband, instead of a celebration today is the one year anniversary of my daughter's death and my wife's suicide."
James sucked in a sharp breath, "You. You're Cecilio Necchi."
"Ah. I wondered how long it would take you to remember me."
"James? Do you know this man?"
"You remember the Vega Murders? His daughter was the last victim, we caught all three of the-"
"Now, don't spoil the story, James! Well, Mrs. Potter, why don't I start at the beginning. The story begins with my beautiful wife, Alessandra, and our innocent child, Francesca...my wife and I were always protective of Francesca, but as it was only two weeks till her eighteenth birthday, we decided that Alessandra would take her to Diagon while I set up for her party." The man smiled and shook his head, clearly lost in his memories, but the look quickly faded and bitterness predominated, "Little did we know how much we would come to regret our leniency." While the man continued his story, the others save Sirius, listened carefully in growing horror. Sirius, while paying attention to the story, was more concerned with planning a take down of their kidnapper. As Sirius waited patiently for even the slightest lowering of the man's guard, the kidnapper continued, "Diagon was crowded as usual, and Alessandra was jostled away from Francesca. Scant moments passed before Alessandra could break free of the crowd, but it was enough time for i mostri malvagio to take Francesca. All they left behind was her blood-covered signet ring. Two weeks we waited, prayed, and hoped for her safe return. Two weeks your inept husband and his team of fools assured us they would save our figlia preziosa. My wife could not sleep or eat, she blamed herself for Alessandra's kidnapping. Then, on our beautiful, innocent child's birthday, we received a package. I mostri were not content in taking Francesca from us – I suppose they wished to rub salt in our wounds – and thus sent us a lock of Francesca's hair, drenched in her blood, wrapped in a white handkerchief."
Unsure what to say, Lily looked over at her husband and his friends, all of whom were equally at a loss for words. Before any of them could make an attempt at comfort, Cecilio continued, "James and his so-called team brought our daughter's body to us the next day. The monsters that took her weren't content in taking her life. All three tortured and assaulted her before they granted her the mercy of death." Necchi scoffed bitterly. "Your husband's associates thought learning about the arrests would comfort us. Some comfort. My wife turned her wand on herself because she couldn't live with the guilt after she saw our Francesca's broken and violated body. The arrests of the creatures that raped and slaughtered our daughter provided us no relief. It simply allowed James to assuage his own guilt at failing Francesca and Alessandra." The enraged man looked up at Lily, "And do you know what your husband said to me, Mrs. Potter? He said that he was sorry for my loss. And that if there was anything he could do to help me, I should contact him." Necchi smiled, a frightening, cold smile, "Well, there is finally something he can do to help."
"What is it Mr. Necchi? What do you want from me?"
"I want you to feel what I feel James. I want you to live with the same agony I live with. I want you to experience the guilt my wife did. I want you to feel the impotent rage at being helpless, forced to place your faith in others. I want you to feel the horror and devastation upon realizing those you trusted have failed you and yours."
"What? What have you done?"
Cecilio Necchi smiled. It was a cold, cruel smile, lacking all humor. "I'm sorry for your loss James. If there's anything I can do to help, please do feel free to contact me."
"What? What are you talking ab-" James trailed off as Necchi calmly pushed a folded up handkerchief across the coffee table. Swallowing hard, James looked down at the handkerchief and then back up at Cecilio, "What is it?" James' frown deepened when the man simply smirked and motioned for James to open the handkerchief. A ticking vein was visible along James' jaw as he reached over and picked up the handkerchief. Slowly, he unfolded the white cloth then froze in horror as he realized what lay in the folds of the cloth. James' eyes closed and he took a deep, shuddering breath. He looked Necchi straight in the eyes and quietly asked, "Where is she? What did you do to her?"
"Her? James? What-" Before Lily could grow any more hysterical, James shifted his hands allowing Lily and the other three Marauders to see what lay inside the handkerchief. The sound of distress were only slightly delayed, as it took Lily, Peter, and Remus a moment to realize what the object was. Lily gasped and swayed while Peter and Remus both let out whines of horror once they understood. It was Sirius whose reaction was the most pronounced, as he immediately recognized the delicate necklace he'd given to his goddaughter on her third birthday. A necklace she had never removed since the day he put it around her neck himself. A necklace that now lay, blood soaked, in the center of a plain, white handkerchief.
"Jamie." The obvious agony in Sirius' plaintive whisper was louder then any scream or cry.
But before he or the others could say something further, Necchi interrupted. "I felt the timing was quite fitting. After all, it is exactly two weeks from today that our dear Jamie Marie is to turn 18."
"Where is she? Tell us everything you know, or else-"
"Or else what, Black? You'll torture me? Force-feed me Veritaserum? It doesn't matter. You see the beauty of the whole thing is that I, in fact, cannot help you. Even if I wanted to." Smirking, he leaned back, his wand hand relaxed and no longer pointing his wand at Lily and the others.
Furiously glaring, Sirius retorted, "What the hell do you mean you can't help. You have her necklace, covered in blood. Jamie would never take that off,-"
Necchi cut him off, "Actually, the only reason I have the necklace is because the men who took her were kind enough to send it to me. As for where they took her, well I truly have no knowledge of her present location. You see I made quite certain I was not part of their planning. I can however assure you that the men who took Jamie are every bit as monstrous as the ones that took my Francesca."
Sirius jerked forward, his hands balling into fists, then stopped and coldly replied, "Your wife and daughter must be so proud. I wonder what Francesca would think if she learned how her father was forcing another innocent child to experience what she did." Before Necchi could retort, Sirius stood up and made his way to the floo.
i mostri malvagio - evil/wicked monsters
figlia preziosa - precious daughter
A/N: My Italian is very basic...and I mean VERY basic, sorry if I totally butchered it! Anyway, should girl!Harry survive or not? I haven't decided yet...any suggestions? Please leave me a review with your opinion/suggestions...also, if you liked something, didn't like something, found any mistakes, have concrit, etc. please let me know!
