Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
"Where is she?" James hissed, glaring at Dumbledore, who sat somberly behind his seat. He was aware of the pitying glances from the rest of the Order, the shock on the faces of his friends, but he couldn't care at the moment, "WHERE?" he roared, standing up.
"James," Dumbledore said, but James snorted.
"Answer the questions! Where. Is. She?" he asked, and Sirius stood up, resting his hand on James' shoulder
"Maybe you're jumping to conclu-"
"I AM NOT JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS!" James bellowed, turning to glare at Sirius, "GO AHEAD! ASK HIM! GO ON!" he yelled, pointing gat Dumbledore. Sirius turned to Dumbledore slowly, as did the rest of the Order.
Dumbledore ducked his head.
"I'm afraid the Dark side has taken Lily Evans," he said sadly, and James' knees buckled, causing him to fall onto the chair. Sirius was still standing, looking blankly at Dumbledore.
"Where do they have her?" Remus asked, his tone clipped.
"I'm afraid we don't know," Dumbledore said, watching warily as James' jaw clenched furiously.
"You don't bloody know?" he yelled, shooting out of his chair again.
"James, mate, calm down," Peter said in a small voice.
"LIKE HELL IM GOING TO CALM DOWN!" James screamed.
"James," Sirius said sternly. James looked over at him, and Sirius nodded slowly. James huffed and threw himself down on the chair, arms crossed, jaw clenched, eyes sparkling with tears, "What's the plan?"
"We're monitoring the situation," Dumbledore said, eyes stuck firmly on James, who was shaking with sobs now, head in his hands, Remus patting him soothingly on the shoulder, "as soon as we get wind of where she's being kept, Alastor," he said, gesturing to Alastor Moody, who cleared his throat and stood up.
"I'll be leading a group to the place she's being kept," he said in a raspy voice, "And we'll fight her out of there," he said, looking around at the now fierce faces of the Order, "I'm going to need seven-"
"I'll do it," Sirius said
"Me too," Remus said, standing up
"Same," Peter said.
"I'm going," James choked out, wiping his eyes as he stood up, his face red.
"I'm sorry, but you four are too connected to the situation," Alastor said, and turned away.
"I'm. Going," James said fiercely.
"I'm afraid you cant Potter," Moody said, turning to him.
"And why's that?" James yelled, hands clenching into fists
"Because you love her," Dumbledore said quietly, and James growled, "If anything happens to Lily…" he said, and James' shut his eyes tightly.
"You would break formation and jeopardize not only yourself and Evans, but the rest of the group as well," Alastor said, and James glared at him.
"Sadly you have no choice Moody," James said, and Alastor quirked an eyebrow at him, "Because I'll be going whether or not I'm in your bloody formation," James said, crossing his arms.
"Dumbledore?" Alastor said, turning to Dumbledore, who was regarding James with a curious expression.
"James," Dumbledore said quietly, and James' head snapped towards him, eyes burning furiously. Dumbledore regarded him for a second, before nodding his head, "he can go," he said to Moody, who huffed.
"Fine," Moody muttered, and James nodded furiously, "But the other three aren't going," he said, nodding towards Sirius, Remus and Peter, all of whom yelled.
"She's our friend too," Sirius growled, and Moody huffed.
"You're going to ruin my formation," he muttered. He frowned at the determined faces for a second before sighing, "Fine, we need two more," he said, and the three boys exhaled.
James didn't move as the rest of the Order milled out, throwing him sympathetic glances and patting his shoulder. He sat in his chair, arms crossed, glaring across the table at Dumbledore, who hadn't moved either, as if expecting this.
Sirius looked at James, hesitating.
"Go," James said harshly, blinking away a fresh round of tears. Sirius looked at his best mate for a second, before nodding slowly and gesturing at Remus and Peter, who stood up.
"She'll be okay," Sirius murmured, clapping James on the shoulder, before the three of them left, their feet dragging sadly. The doors shut behind them, leaving James with Dumbledore.
"What happened?" James choked. Dumbledore took his glasses off, massaging his temples, his eyes closed.
"She was walking home," Dumbledore said, and James whimpered.
"She was walking home?" he groaned, "she's so stupid," he cried, shaking his head, "I keep telling her to apparate home! Why won't she bloody listen?" he yelled, and Dumbledore ducked his head.
"I don't know what was happening, James," Dumbledore said, "But I do know that she was attacked in an alleyway by her building," he said, and James groaned.
"Is she…is she," James cleared his throat, "Is she alive?" he rasped out.
"Yes," Dumbledore said, and James let out a breath, doubling over in relief, "As far as I know, Lord Voldemort has no intention of murdering her," he said, and James' eyes narrowed
"Then what does he want with her?" he growled, and Dumbledore sighed.
"Information."
"Please! I don't know! Please!" Lily cried, as Bellatrix dug her nails into Lily's arm, torturing her for information. The nails broke through Lily's skin, leaving five crescent shapes in her forearm, four on one side and one on the other.
"You think this is bad?" Bellatrix sung, cackling, "Just wait, The Dark Lord will soon arrive," she hissed, and pulled back her sleeve, exposing the horrid dark mark.
"No! Please!" Lily sobbed, shaking her head.
"Then tell me, mudblood," Bellatrix preened, "What's Dumbledore got planned?" she asked, and Lily shook her head.
"I don't know," she whimpered, before screaming as Rodulphus Lestrange, who was holding her hands, dug the piece of glass he was holding into the back of her leg, "Please! Stop! I don't know anything!" she sobbed.
"Don't know anything, do you?" Bellatrix sung. She nodded towards Rodulphus, who let go of the sobbing Lily, causing her to fall to the floor, unsteady on her feet, "Well then mudblood," Bellatrix whispered, crouching down so she was kneeling next to Lily's head, her lips at her ear. She grabbed Lily's hand, and folded the fingers down, leaving only the pointer finger out, "Why don't you call the Dark Lord then?" she whispered, pressing Lily's finger to the dark mark.
"No!" Lily sobbed, as her hand slapped onto the stone floor.
"The Dark Lord wont be so kind," Bellatrix cackled, "Tie her up," she instructed Rodulphus, before sauntering out of the cell in which Lily was being held captive, the iron doors shutting behind her with a slam.
Lily continued to shake, crying, as she felt Rodulphus Lestrange grab her hands, tying them together with a thick piece of rope, "Please," she whispered, and heard a deep chuckle.
"Begging are you?" he snarled, tying up her feet with ferocity, "And I thought Mudbloods could sink no lower."
There was a crack as James appeared in the dark alleyway by Lily's building. He looked around, tears in his eyes.
"Lumos," he whispered, the light from the tip of his wand burning his retinas, but he couldn't find himself to care. He walked over to the wall, scanning it, investigating, searching.
Something caught his eye, and he turned quickly to see something foreign lying underneath the entrance of the building. Dropping onto his hands and knees, James stretched his arm, illuminating the step
Lying there, underneath the step, was Lily's wand.
"Lily," he whispered, a tear hitting the pavement, as he reached forwards and took the wand into his hand. The traced the familiar floral pattern running on the length of the wand, before standing up, wiping the tears from his eyes, "I'll find you," he whispered, tucking the wand into his pocket, and turning on the spot
She had no idea how long she'd been lying there, face down, face wet, on the stone cold floor. Her throat was dry, her body aching. The sickly feel of dried blood coated her leg and arm where Rodulphus and Bellatrix had maimed her.
She felt the floor vibrate as the sound of footsteps sounded through the cellar. Suddenly she cried out as a hand grabbed the back of her head and pulled her head up by her hair. It took her eyes a little while to focus, eventually showing her the tall hooded figure standing in front of her.
"Leave," a high cold voice commanded, coming from beneath the hood of the cloak, a voice causing shivers to run down Lily's spine. Whoever was holding her head let go, causing her head to fall unceremoniously back down onto the floor. She felt the skin split on her forehead as her forehead hit a rather jagged part of the stone floor, and bit her lip to hide the resulting whimper.
"What do you want?" she managed to choke out through the dryness in her throat and the lump of sadness, and heard the high, raspy chuckle.
"Brave girl," the voice rung, high and clear. She suddenly felt herself jerked up, and saw that he had his wand out, and was levitating her. She felt herself dropped unceremoniously into a wooden chair she'd noticed in the corner of the room, and gulped. The man pointed his wand at the chair, and suddenly vines tied themselves around her hands and feet, tying them to the chair.
"I asked you a question," Lily managed, wanting to sound confident, but the tremble in her voice ruined the desired effect.
"Lord Voldemort admires your courage," he said, standing in front of her.
"Does he, now?" she spat. The figure chuckled, and reached it's hands up, pulling the hood of the cloak back to reveal a snake-like face, with slits for nostrils, eyes of deep red, and a cruel smirk. Lily held back a wince as she took in his features; she had never seen anything so repulsive.
"Lily Evans," Voldemort said, his clear voice with a lilt of danger in it, "You have something I desire."
"And what's that?" Lily asked, glaring at the man.
"Tell me," he whispered, twirling his wand dangerously between his fingers, "what is it Dumbledore is planning in his little meetings?" he asked, his tone mocking.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Lily said stiffly.
"Stubborn this one," Voldemort mused, "No worries, these things can be fixed," he said, eyes flashing dangerously, "Crucio!"
James barged into Dumbledore office a few days later, the letter crumpled in the palm of his hand, "You found her?" he asked urgently, stopping in front of Dumbledores' desk.
Dumbledore nodded, "You set out tonight."