Jily AU Week Day Five: Prompt 1: Dark
The Death Eater's Savior
Severus Snape was a Slytherin.
That could not be disputed.
However, why he was a Slytherin… that could be disputed.
But when he walked down that corridor purposefully one day in the sixth year, there is no questioning that vindictiveness was a reason.
Severus Snape was in love with Lily Evans. And if he couldn't get her, well… He sure as hell wasn't going to let Potter have her.
So he continued down the corridor, until he saw the unmistakable figure of the Gryffindor in question.
"Imperio."
"DUCK!" Lily fell to the ground instinctively at the voice. She'd gotten very good at this now. Fighting.
Marlene rolled to her right, avoiding a spell tossed her way, and taking down another Death Eater.
"One more to go," Lily heard her mutter under her breath.
Lily took a deep breath, then quickly stood up, yelling, "STUPEFY!"
She missed, and for a moment she was certain that the masked man was going to kill her. But for some reason, he seemed to falter, as though he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Lily took the opportunity to shoot another spell his way. He blocked it efficiently, seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, then turned and rushed out the door.
Lily was struck with a sense of familiarity in the way he walked.
She was fighting again, only this time the air was thick with dust and spells, and it wasn't just a few Death Eaters against Marlene and herself, no, this was huge.
There were people everywhere, and it was a miracle any of them were still alive.
As she dodged yet another killing curse, she once again saw that Death Eater with the familiar gait.
He was throwing curses left and right, clearly an excellent fighter.
But then someone moved in front of her, blocking her sight, and she starts fighting again.
She dreamed that night, about a day in sixth year, and wakes up remembering who the Death Eater was.
James.
When she told Dumbledore he just nodded his head gravely, and told her he was aware.
"We believe that Mr. Potter may be placed under the Imperius curse. He is an excellent fighter, and the last of the Potters, who have always been a very prominent, influential, pureblood family."
"But what about Sirius, Remus, and Peter? We haven't seen them in battles, and they don't belong to the Order."
"It's possible that they are imprisoned," Dumbledore said slowly. "However, we have no idea if they are, were they would be kept, or if they're even alive."
"Well why can't we investigate it? Or at the very least remove the Imperius curse!"
"It is extremely difficult to remove the Imperius curse," Dumbledore said calmly, ignoring Lily's anger. "It takes an extended period of time, in a quiet setting, unless the caster agrees to remove it."
"That doesn't answer my question! Why aren't we looking into this?"
"Miss Evans, as much as I applaud your compassion, this is not our priority right now."
Lily was rendered speechless.
"How could he say that Mar?" Lily asked later. "How could he not want to save James. And Sirius, and Remus, and Peter!"
"I don't know Lils," Marlene said soothingly. "But you have to admit, he's got a point. We can't risk everything just for four people. There are other people who need our help too."
"How can you say that?" Lily yelled. "How can you just sit there and say that those four boys-the ones we went to school with, the ones who were our friends- how can you say they were unimportant?"
"I didn't say that!" Marlene protested. "I only meant, Lils, that there is no proof that they are in immediate danger, and we can't spend all of our time and energy on that one little project."
But Lily was no longer listening. Why could no one see sense? They're refusal to help her find the Marauders meant she'd have to plan and execute a rescue mission on her own.
-Malfoy Manor (stronghold)
-Albania (prison) (unlikely)
-Azkaban (Polyjuice Potion?)
Lily realized that it was very difficult to figure out where James and the rest of the Marauders could be.
No one knew where Voldemort kept his victims, because it was, for obvious reasons, a secret.
It took her months, but eventually she managed to kidnap- yes, kidnap- a Death Eater.
It happened in the middle of a battle, when Lily was dueling a Death Eater that was not particularly precocious at magic.
She quickly Stunned him shot a Disillusionment Charm his way, promptly resuming fighting alongside the rest of the Order.
Later, Marlene invited her over for the night, to recover from the battle. Lily decided to stay home under the pretense of exhaustion. Instead, she grabbed hold of the Death Eater, and Disapparated.
"Where is James Potter?" she started with, trying to be as cold as possible.
He laughed in her face, and refused to answer any of her questions.
She realized she hadn't really thought this out very well. Of course he would lie. Of course he wouldn't tell her anything. After all, why would he? He had no reason to, and he knew she would never use Dark Magic.
Although, there was one other option.
The Death Eater flinched as she came near him with a tiny bottle in her hand.
"Do you know what this is?" Lily asked pleasantly.
He made no reply, but she told him anyway.
"This is Veritaserum. The truth-telling potion. And a very strong batch, I must say. Now, I'd like you to drink it."
He refuses to open his mouth, but she'd expected that. She uses a handy little household spell she'd picked up from Alice Longbottom- it was meant to make children swallow their medicine, but it would still do the job.
She started asking the questions once his eyes glazed over.
"What is your name?"
"Vincent Crabbe."
"Are you a Death Eater?"
"Yes."
"Do you know who James Potter is?"
"Not always."
Damn.
"Do you know where Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew are?"
"Yes."
"Where are they?"
"Malfoy Manor."
"How could I rescue them without being seen?"
"There's a small cellar door near the back of the manor that leads to the place where they're being kept. If you are invisible and go in there, no one will see you."
"Is James Potter a Death Eater?"
"Yes."
"Is he under the Imperius Curse?"
"Yes."
"Who cast it?"
"Severus Snape."
She felt a pang in her heart at hearing the familiar name.
"Have Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew been tortured?"
"No."
"Are they injured in any way?"
"Yes."
She saw his eyes clearing, and decided on one more question.
"Where is James Potter most likely to be?"
"Malfoy Manor."
She sent another Stunner his way and Disapparated on the spot.
Malfoy Manor was a cold, unfeeling place. It could be that it only seemed that way, because of the rainy sky, but Lily felt a strong suspicion that it was purely because of the people who lived there. Perhaps if a happier family existed, one less deeply rooted in darkness, the manor could have been a beautiful, positive place. Instead, it was stuck with a family as stiff and formal as if they thought themselves royalty.
She did her best to repress her feelings of fear and anxiety, focusing instead on the task at hand. Crabbe had told her to go around to the back of the manor, where there would be a cellar door.
She did so, and found the door. Opening it as quietly as possible, remembering at the last moment to cast a Muffliato charm, she crept down the stairs, deeper underground.
She almost gagged when she reached the bottom step. The entire cellar smelled like rotting food, and the scent of humans being in one place for far too long.
Nevertheless, she plowed on, checking cell after cell.
Eventually she reached one from which she heard muffled noises.
She immediately pressed her face to the window in the door.
"Remus?"
"Lily?" Came a cracked, yet incredulous voice from beyond the door.
"Yes!" She whispered excitedly. "It's me! Are the others in there?"
"Yes," Remus said hurriedly. "Lily, I don't know if you know, but James-"
"I know," Lily said softly. "Let's get you out of here and then worry about James, yeah?"
Remus' eyes widened suddenly.
"Oh, I don't know about that," a deep voice said from behind her. "I doubt any of you will be leaving here for quite some time."
Lily was dragged off to another cell, this one with no walls, just bars, surrounding her.
The Marauders (sans James) were thrown into the cell next to her.
"Now," said the large Death Eater in front of her. "What exactly were you doing down here? Trying to rescue your little friends?"
Lily refused to dignify him with a response.
"Oh, not talking, eh? Not to worry, you'll be saying plenty of things soon. Crucio!"
Pain like Lily had never known ripped across her body. White-hot needles poked her every nerve, liquid fire running through her bones like marrow. She screamed until her throat bled, but it felt like it would never be enough.
Finally the pain ended, and Lily slumped to the floor.
"Tell us what you were doing down here, and I'll let you go!"
Lily snorted, and managed to speak. "Like hell you will."
She screamed as the pain hit her once again, she was dying, she was dying, she was dying, please God, please kill her, please make it end…
It didn't end. Day after day, the Death Eaters would come into the cell, and demand information on why was she there? Who was she looking for? How did she know how to get to the cellar?
And every day, without fail, she was tortured.
Her mind was hazy at this point, not ever fully focused on anything. Inside, she wished for Dumbledore and the Order to come rescue her. But after learning about their agenda, she doubted that that would ever happen.
Then one day, after using the Cruciatus Curse on her only once, she heard the Death Eaters talking in muffled voices, followed by coarse laughter.
She faintly heard one of them go up what sounded like a flight of stairs, and then, what felt like fifteen minutes later (but who knew what time was anymore) she heard two sets of footsteps come down the stairs.
"Well, Potter, here she is."
Lily's head snapped up at the mention of James' surname.
Her eyes eagerly drank in the sight of James, but she was immediately horrified, because this was not James, not her James.
He appeared to be in a high-functioning daze, his eyes glazed over, but not any less intelligent.
Lily had never before seen someone under the Imperius Curse, but she knew now, that even if she had not been told of James' affliction, she would know.
One of the Death Eaters spoke. "It's Lily Evans, Potter. A Mudblood. We caught her down here trying to help the werewolf, traitor, and half-blood escape."
James didn't speak, simply lifted his wand, and once again twitched, as if he had absolutely no desire to hurt her.
"What are you waiting for?" One of the Death Eaters asked. "Torture the Mudblood bitch."
Something snapped in James' eyes, and he quickly turned his wand onto the two Death Eaters. Before they could even react, he bellowed-
"Stupefy!" And they both fell to the ground. He immediately unlocked her cell and ran in.
"Lily?" he breathed, cupping her face. "Are you all right?"
"Not really," she breathed. "But I'll manage. Let's get Remus, Sirius, and Peter, and get out of here, okay?"
"Yeah," he breathed, his eyes still focused entirely on her face.
She helped him up, and they rushed to open the other cell.
Lily showed them the way out of the cellar, and they ran off the grounds of Malfoy Manor, hearts in their throats.
"So what happened to me?" James asked when they'd all gone back to Lily's flat.
(She'd found Crabbe when she got there, and immediately sent him to the Ministry of Magic via Portkey, where he'd hopefully be arrested.)
"You were under the Imperius Curse," Lily said gently. "They were making you do everything."
"But I was a Death Eater?" He asked quietly.
"Yes." Remus this time. "You were. But it isn't your fault, James. Everyone understands that."
Eventually, the other Marauders left, and James and Lily remained in the sitting room.
"Are you all right?" James asked.
"Yeah, I'm good."
"Did they torture you? You shouldn't have come after us Lil, you shouldn't have gotten hurt."
"It's all right, James."
"No, Lily, no it's not. I mean- Christ- you-"
He seemed lost for words.
Lily scooted closer to him, and leaned her head on his shoulder.
"I'm alright James. We're all okay now. Just breathe, yeah?"
And so the couple stayed on the couch until the sun burned the sky red.