Disclaimer: Any and all recognized characters and settings belong to the beautiful J.K. Rowling.


Little Lily: The Second Year

Chapter One: Pain

Lily's world was dark. Very very dark and dirty. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen sunlight and had lost count of the days since she'd been placed in this tiny little room in the basement of what she had gathered to be one of her captor's houses. The dirt floor was her bed, and her clothes, the school uniform she had been wearing when she'd been taken, were covered in filth. The white shirt she wore under a sweater vest was so impossibly covered in dirt that it had turned black, or maybe that was just the blackness of the world around her. The pitch black that her eyes seemed to never be able to adjust to no matter how much they tried. Light did not reach this room.

At first, Lily had struggled whenever the door to the room had opened, usually the bringing of a meal, just enough to keep her alive. Her instincts would kick into overdrive and cause spurts of accidental magic to explode from inside of her, but after a while, with her will dwindling, her accidental magic had been dwindling as well. That was what these men wanted, for her will to be killed and then, they would let her out of the room. She had heard them speaking of their plan when they thought she was asleep. They thought she had some serious magical powers and they wanted to hone her into some sort of weapon to help them in their quest to make wizards the highest of beings in the world, to make it so Muggles were treated no better than animals.

The first thing these men had done, was take her wand. It had burned all of them and had been passed around like a hot potato, finally ending up in a box for storage. She would need it later, to help them. And then they had tried bargain with her, told her that if she was a good girl, she would get good food, a soft bed. But Lily wouldn't have any of that. She would not perform a single cruel spell, and therefore, had been placed in the basement room to break her spirit.

Lily's fingers wrapped tightly about the Snapper in her pocket, the one thing she'd been able to conceal and hold onto, the one thing she had left of the happy world that had been so roughly ripped away from her. Footsteps on the stairs told her that someone was coming, and she quickly dropped the Snapper back into her pocket, not wanting to lose it.

The door to her little room opened and the man who had grabbed her entered, holding his wand in his hand, the tip lighted. "Are you ready to be a good little girl and do as you're told?"

"No." Lily shook her head.

"Too bad. Crucio!" Before Lily had a chance to even think about producing her bubble shield, the spell hit her and she screamed, writhing on the floor as the pain hit her. It was the most excruciating thing she had ever experienced in her entire life. Sure, these men had threatened to torture her before, but they had never used magic to do so before. They normally just didn't feed her when she refused to do what they wanted. The Cruciatus Curse was a whole new experience.

Once Lily's wailing had stopped echoing off the walls of the room, the man asked her again. "Are you going to do as you're told and learn the spells we teach you?"

"No!" Another wave of pain erupted in Lily's body and she started screaming again. She writhed on the floor, unable to control her movements as the Cruciatus Curse enveloped her entire being, making it so she would feel nothing, react to nothing… but the pain until she passed out from it. Her will was weakening slowly.

During sleep, Lily was plagued by nightmares, horrid faces with red hair mostly, that attacked her or said cruel words. She was sure it hadn't always been this way. No, her family loved her, there was no way they would treat her so unkindly. It had to be something her captors were doing to her to make her feel scared when she dreamed of the ones she loved, she was almost sure of it. The dreams were getting more and more vivid though, less foggy and blurred, as though trying to block out the realities of what had actually happened to her and replace it with something a lot more sinister. She suspected there was something in the food, but it was either eat or die, and she refused to do the latter, no matter how bad things got.

"So, I have a new proposition for you, Sparrow." The man Lily had dubbed Number One (he was obviously the leader when compared to the other two men) stated as he opened the door to the dingy little room she was kept in. Without her wand and proper nourishment there was no way she was going to escape just by running even if she tried. She was just eleven years old after all. Three grown wizards would have no problem catching her. "Follow me."

Lily remained on the floor, huddled up in the corner farthest from the door and the bucket she had to use to go to the bathroom in. When she didn't rise, Number One grabbed hold of her long hair and dragged her forcefully from the room and into the larger portion of the basement. This room was a lot brighter, with lighting and comfortable looking furniture, even a fire place, like a basement living room.

Lily squinched her eyes, the glare of the lights painful after spending so much time in the dank little prison room. She was covered in filth from the dirt floor, face smudged with grim, hair matted. Her eyes searched around the room, looking for any sign of time, a clock or a calendar, but she found neither.

Number Two and Three sat on the couch, looking a little anxious but otherwise excited. They rose as One dragged Lily over and then let go of her, pushing her down into a chair as he did so.

"Now then… get the elf."

Lily gulped as Three rose and left the room, returning a short minute later with a young looking house elf who's eyes flickered around the room fearfully. They fell on Lily and began to water as though sad. The elf wore nothing more than a raggedy tea towel about it's waist.

"Alright Sparrow, here's the deal. You can either start practicing the spells we teach you, or I kill the elf. So, which will it be?" One stated, reaching down to the coffee table and opening the box that contained Lily's precious double wooded wand.

"No miss! You mustn't do as he asks!" The house elf piped up, his voice squeaking, cracking in far but otherwise brave. "You mustn't! You is just a little girl! Jiggy would rather die!"

Lily's voice caught in her throat and she bit her lower lip, looking from the cruel expression on One's face to the tearful house elf. She stifled a sob and reached her hand out for her wand. She would not allow the elf to die for her sake… no… she would do as she was told.

"There's a good girl!" One beamed smugly. "Remember though, there's three of us and only one of you. If cross the line and try to escape or fight us, we will kill the elf and his entire family."

Lily nodded in understanding, her eyes strained against tears, but she failed. They began leaking, putting more streaks down her dirty face and she shook her head apologetically at the elf. She couldn't let him die, or his family. That would be unfair.

"Now then. Let's practice. Our first spell is the Cruciatus Curse, you know it well by now." One raised his own wand, pointing it at the helpless elf, bound by orders to do as he was told. "Crucio."

The elf fell to the floor, screaming and writhing as Lily had become used to doing over the past couple of weeks. The girl screamed and dropped her wand, rising from the chair and rushing over to the elf and throwing herself over him. He stopped writhing, the connection between him and One's wand blocked.

"Get her."

Two reached down and pulled Lily up by her hair, away from the poor elf who lay sobbing on the floor. Lily was flung away from him, her shoulder whacking off the coffee table with a bang and she fell backwards, still crying.

"What did I tell you, Sparrow? You're to do as you are told or he dies! Now you've got one more chance and if you interfere again it's his life that'll need saving!" One growled, dragging Lily to her feet before pushing her in the direction of her wand. "Get your wand. It's time to practice."

Lily did as she was told, picking up her wand and holding onto it tightly, knowing that if she made one wrong move… the poor elf would be killed. To watch him be tortured was one thing, but to see him be killed because of her would be quite another. No. She would not risk the life of another being just by not doing as she was told because it was against her morals. She would go against herself if it meant keeping this poor creature safe from these awful men.

"It's a simple jabbing motion. And you have to feel the need to do it. Power the spell." One explained now, reaching out and moving Lily's wand hand to show her the proper movement. "Now try it. On the elf."

Lily nodded with a gulp and pointed her wand at the elf, tears flowing freely down her face now. "I'm sorry…" She sobbed and then jabbed her wand. 'Crucio."

The elf fell to the floor, letting out a single scream, but the spell didn't have nearly as much power behind it as One's had simply because one wanted to cause pain in order to do it properly. Lily had no desire to hurt the elf and so, her spell had only lasted a moment.

"Again! Try harder this time!" One shouted, sitting back in a chair and watching as Lily struggled. He chuckled, enjoying this far too much. He was a sick bastard, taking advantage of a child like this and he knew it, but if that was what it took in order to help wizards regain control of the world and make Muggles their slaves, then so be it. He felt no shame and neither did either of his comrades. They would do what it took in order to have control of this little girl who was supposed to have double the power of any normal witch.

…...

"Harry, come on, you have to eat something." Ron pressed a plate with a single piece of toast on it towards his best mate. Harry shook his head, staring down at the table, his eyes still wide with the shock of losing the one thing in the world that he had vowed to protect with his life.

It had been two months since the Bombers had taken Lily right out from under his nose. At first, Harry had gone every which way, searching so hard that he had ended up in St. Mungo's. Kingsley had placed him under strict orders to stick to his normal schedule so as not to overdo himself again. There were other highly skilled Aurors out looking for Lily at all times, stealth and intelligence specialists working on finding the right clues to follow. So far, they hadn't had much luck. The Bombers had gotten what they were looking for and the explosions had stopped. There was hardly anything to track, not that Harry hadn't tried his damndest to find something, anything.

"Harry, please… just a few bites…" Hermione pleaded, lifting the toast and placing it in front of his mouth. Harry just shook his head again and rose from the table.

"I'm going to work."

"But it's your day off."

"I won't have a day off until I get my daughter back." Harry tugged on his coat and disappeared into the rainy summer day.

"Mummy, is Lily ever coming back?" Luna asked, looking up from her oatmeal.

"I don't know sweetheart. Try not to think about it to much alright?"

"I'm going to work as well." Ron stood up, grabbing the old Chudley Cannons cap Harry had gotten him in their fourth year and plopping it down upon his head. "Harry's right. We can't just stop looking. We didn't take a single day off when we were searching for Horcruxes, we're not doing it now. Not when this is so much more important." Apparently the sight of his own daughter's sadness had done something to him.

"Ron…" Hermione sighed.

"Hermione…" He frowned at her and she nodded.

"I love you. Be careful… I'll have dinner waiting."

"Love you too. I'll be back, I promise." He blew her a kiss and then apparated with a loud crack. Hermione sighed again and returned to placing a plate of scrambled eggs in front of Nevvy.

"Why fank chu, Mummy." Nevvy raised her little spoon and then dug in delightedly. Luna sighed and pushed her own plate away, not hungry.

"Mum, can I Floo to the Burrow and see Xavier?"

"Alright, but just be sure you come out at the right grate, alright my darling?"

"Yes, Mum." Luna nodded and headed into the living room where the fire place was. She took the vase off the center of the mantle and dug her hand into it, extracting a good bit of Floo powder. She chucked it into the fire and stepped in. "The Burrow!"

With a whoosh, Luna was sent barreling down the chimneys of hundreds of wizards and witches. She like keeping her eyes open as she did so, not so much minding the dizzying speed. For her, it was like a roller coaster ride of epic proportions.

Sighing, Hermione watched her daughter disappear up the chimney and then turned around to sit beside her three year old. Nevvy was getting bigger and bigger every day, and speaking her words more clearly. Hermione had even begun teaching her how to read after noticing how fast Nevvy had taken to the alphabet… just like Luna had at that age. Harry hadn't been so early in his learning, but that was alright, because he was her only son and she still loved him dearly.

"Muuum!" Speaking of which, Harry came barreling down the stairs and into the kitchen. He was fourteen now and getting quite impossibly gangly, like his father. "Can I go hang out with Marcus?"

"Did you finish that late essay for Professor McGonagall?"

"Uh…"

"Get back upstairs and do it. Once it's finished, you can go see Marcus."

"But Mum! I have the rest of the summer to finish it!"

"That may go over with your father, but I will not have it. Now march, mister." Hermione pointed a finger at the stairs, making Harry sigh. He grumbled and stomped all the way back up the stairs and slammed his bedroom door behind him. Hermione sighed. She hated being rough with any of her children, but she knew it would benefit them in the end.

"Mummy, we go see fishies?" Nevvy asked, gazing up at Hermione through her lashes with big brown pleading eyes.

"Maybe later, sweetheart. Mummy has lots of work to do, would you like to help?"

"Ok, Mummy!" Nevvy beamed and slid out of her chair, picking up her plate and fork and carrying them over to the sink like a good girl. She was so well behaved when she wanted to be and a huge pain in the butt when she didn't want to be, mainly when she didn't get something she wanted. Nevvy did like helping Hermione with the chores though, she was still at that age where helping and doing chores was fun and exciting.

"Here, do you think you could go feed Crookshanks?" Hermione asked, opening a can of cat food and handing it to her littlest girl. Nevvy nodded and dashed out of the room.

"Kitty! Kitty! I has you foods!"

Hermione laughed and then jumped as the fire in the fireplace turned green. Expecting Luna was back, she opened her mouth to speak but then was startled once more when she got the head of Kingsley Shacklebolt instead.

"Kingsley! Good morning." Hermione smiled.

"Ah, Hermione. Good morning. Are Harry and Ron about?"

"No, they just left for work… it's their day off, but they refused to stay, why?"

"Good good, I need them in the office anyway. There's been a development on the case, a new lead… and it's strong this time. We believe we may have found the location of the Bandit's hide out. And if we can find the location…"

"You can find Lily. Gosh, I wish I was on this case. I could help, but Nevvy…."

"That's another reason I was popping in. The information for the location is in some sort of strange code. Do you think you could crack it?"

"I could give it a try, that's for sure." Hermione beamed and Kingsley's hand appeared, clutching a manila folder.

"Here it is…" Hermione grabbed a pair of tongs and pulled the folder from Kingsley's hand gently. "You've the brightest witch we've got on the team, Hermione. We're counting on you."

"Yes, sir."

"Kingswey!" Nevvy squealed, running forward to the fireplace and hopping up and down. She held out the can, now empty. "I feeds da kitty, Kingswey!"

"Good job, Nevvy! Hey, do you think you could do me a favor?"

"Yes!" Nevvy nodded, still bouncing.

"One of your dollies sent me an owl asking me if I would let you know that she wants to have a big tea party with you and all of your other toys, but not your mummy. Do you think you could do that?"

"Oooh yessss!" Nevvy laughed, jumping higher. "I go hab tea party. Mummy, you no come. Dolly saids so."

"Alright sweetheart. You go on and have fun." Hermione smiled as Nevvy ran out of the room and began toddling up the stairs. "Thanks, Kingsley. I don't know how I would have had the time to look this over otherwise."

"Not a problem. See you later."

"See you." Hermione watched Kingsley disappear and the fire went out. She stood at the bottom of the stairs for a moment, placing a flesh colored extendable ear in her own ear, listening to the sounds of her children. Harry's quill was scratching, that was good… and Nevvy was giggling about something.

Sure that her children were alright to be left to their own devices for a little while now, Hermione headed down the downstairs hallway and opened the door to the study. It was the one room in the house her children had to have permission to enter, not because she thought they would do anything harm, but because she and Ron had copies of top secret wizarding law enforcement files here. The filing cabinet could only be opened with a charmed key. Anything else, whether it be one of Harry's lock picking devices or a strong Alohomora, the cabinet would stay locked.

Hermione shut the door behind her and sat down at her neatly arranged desk. She opened the file and gazed down at the weird symbols. They were like nothing she had ever seen before, though she was sure she had a book somewhere that might come in handy.

Being a person with a great reading ability and a stash of books that made Flourish and Blotts look like a dump, Hermione was one of the best witches to ever step foot in the Auror offices. She'd spent the first five years out of Hogwarts rallying for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, and once that had gotten a good kick start, she'd joined the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Pondering over the weird symbols, Hermione rose from her desk and left the study, heading for her library.

The attic of her and Ron's small cottage on the outskirts of Ottery St. Catchpole had been enlarged to contain Hermione's growing collection of books. When there was a book she couldn't find, all she had to do was contact McGonagall and ask to visit the Hogwarts' library. If Hogwarts didn't have it, she would just keep her eyes open until she found it.

The library was made up mostly of mismatched book cases gathered from yard sales and junk heaps. Any broken pieces had been easily mended and the room was quite lovely. A whole corner was dedicated to children's books, along with the couch that Harry (the big one) had taken to sleeping on when he stopped working long enough to actually come home.

The section Hermione headed for was just across from the kids' books. She had to stand on tip toe to pull down the large volume she was looking for, but she managed it alright. After choosing a few more books about symbols, Hermione carried them downstairs to her study, stopping on her way to peek in at her children to make sure they were happily working and playing.

…..

"Hermione?" Ron knocked lightly on the study door to announce he was coming in and then pressed it gently open, peeking in. Hermione looked as she did in their school days before exams. Her hair was mussed all over the place, bit of parchment were strewn here and there all around her normally neat desks, and books lay open, either on top of the desk, on a chair or on the floor where they'd fallen. Hermione's head was down, her quill scratching furiously at a piece of parchment, eyes looking from book, to a piece of parchment floating in front of her, and then to what she was writing. In Ron's eyes, she never did look more beautiful than when she was at work like this… except for when she was with their children of course. "'mione, love, it's well past dinner time."

"Hmm? Just make the kids some sandwiches and tell them I'll be up to tuck them in later. I've really got to…"

"They're already in bed, it's nearly eleven."

Hermione nearly dropped her quill as she finally looked up from her parchment. She blinked, turning her head to glance at the clock. "Oh… Oh, Merlin! I forgot to give them lunch! And dinner, and it was my turn to give Nevvy her bath… and Luna wanted to hear the story about how we got Crookshanks again and…"

Ron raised his hand to quiet her, walking into the room more fully now and placing his hands on her shoulders. "Harry took care of lunch and Nevvy until I got home, he knew you were busy. And I did the rest. They're all perfectly happy and will forgive you for working so hard if you come eat something and get to bed."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Ron… It was my turn to…"

"Forget it. You do everything else, one day once in a while won't matter. Is this the code Kingsley gave you?" He peered over her shoulder at the parchment floating in the air.

"Yes, but I can't seem to figure it out. I was really close, I thought I had it at one point, but then the words were jumbled and made absolutely no sense, so I had to start over somewhere else." Hermione sighed, putting her head in her hands tiredly. She winced and rubbed at the back of her neck… being bent over a desk all day had done it in.

"Come to bed, love. You can work on it more tomorrow. The kids can hang out at the Burrow, Mum'll love it."

"I really, really need to get this figured out…"

"Tomorrow. There's no point in working yourself until you fall asleep here, and then you'll be too tired to work tomorrow."

"Well… No.. No, I really do need to…"

"Hermione." Ron sighed and tugged her chair back from the desk.

"Ron, I can't. Lily is depending on us to find her."

"There are people working night and day on the case." Ron placed one arm around Hermione's shoulders and then swiftly slide his other under her knees, lifting her up as she began to protest once more.

She was asleep by the time he reached the door.


Well, here it is, a newly edited version the second installment of Little Lily. I'm quite excited about restarting this one and making it better than it was. If you've already read the original version, don't worry! This one is better, I promise. If you've got the time and would like to, I always appreciate your input, so review if you want! It helps me write!

Love always,
S.Q.O.