Chapter 4: Chapter 4
1Disclaimer- Nothing that you recognize belongs to me
Lilys eyes opened slowly. She was in a dingy gray stone room. The room was empty except for her and the chair she was magically tied to. The ropes holding her to it cut into her arms. She couldn't reach her wand, and she couldn't Apparate from the chair. Lily whipped her head around, looking for the person who'd dragged her there.
She didn't see them anywhere. "What do you want?" she asked coldly, hoping he would take the bait.
A stout, balding man looked at her in disgust from a dimly lit corner. "Mud-blood." He spat. "Why were you at that museum?"
Lily smiled; "You first?" she asked almost calmly. She knew that the smartest thing to do was to stall. Someone would be along shortly to help her… wouldn't they?
The man sneered and circled her like a vulture.
"Answer the question!" he barked.
"What question?" Lily asked sarcastically.
"Why were you at the museum?" he asked with danger glinting in his ugly gray eyes. Lily stayed silent, and his expression hardened.
"Last warning," he warned.
"I'm curious." Lily said calmly. The man smiled, delighted at her obstinacy. He tugged a wheeled tray from the corner of the room into her line of vision and began examining the instruments on top. Several knives, some dental tools and…. Her wand! Lily focused on her wand, willing it to leap into her hand. Of course, it did not.
"You disappoint me," he drawled, playing with the silver instrument. He seemed unaware of the power lying atop his tray.
"I hear that life is full of disappointment," Lily taunted. The man sneered again and held the tip of the dagger to her throat. Lily's heartbeat sped up.
"I'll ask you once more time. Who sent you there? What do they know about the Dark Lord?" he asked.
"I don't think you asked me that," Lily said.
The man made a face, "The instant you tell me, I'll stop." He said darkly. He tenderly picked up a long dagger and started towards her.
Lily's heart raced. She concentrated all of her focus on the wand on the tray- 'accio…accio… ACCIO' The wand on the table shot into Lily's hands, bound behind her back. She had performed wandless magic! She didn't have time to congratulate herself. She had to get out of there! In moments, she freed herself and turned on the man. And if she could get a little information out of him first, all of this would have served a purpose.
She sneered. "It appears, sir, that the tables have turned."
The man didn't look afraid. That was NOT a good sign. "Actually, Madame… nothing has changed at all." He gestured towards the door and it busted open. A flood of people in black robes raced into the room. Lily turned on all of them like a feral cat, but- wait…
"Derek?" Lily couldn't believe it. The last time she had seen him, he was unconscious in France!
Derek led the group to the stout Death Eater. He shot a series of restraining curses at the man. Derek glared at him like he would love to do much worse. After the man was escorted out of the room, Derek rushed to Lily.
"Come on." He instructed. Before Lily had a chance to speak, he turned and Apparated the two of them away.
They got back to the wizard division of BI to find an irate employer pacing the hall. "What the hell happened?" Emerson barked. Two of his agents disappear after working a simple task and there's nothing he could do about it? He had been furious! Volatile! …Nervous.
Derek just looked at the ground. His vow to always look out for his best friend had been broken. He felt absolutely rotten.
Fortunately, Lily was outwardly just as devoid of emotion as she was much of the time. She got him up to speed and informed him that there was a Death Eater in their custody. That really got Emerson going.
"What in the hell were you thinking bringing him here?" he snapped. "He needs to be with…your kind!"
Lily pursed her lips. "Sir, that was not anybody's decision to make but your own."
Emerson was purple with anger. "Well… I- you- are-" he stomped off without another sound.
Lily pulled out a pen to fill out a couple forms for curses used on the job. She wondered to herself if muggle police officers had to do similar paperwork for bullets fired.
Derek settled on the edge of a desk, never taking his eyes off the ground. "I'm sorry…" he whispered.
"For what?" she asked, filling out paperwork that had become familiar to her. She glanced up at him. 'Oh Jesus, he's gonna cry… what do I do?' "It's ok," she said, stepping closer to him. "Yaknow… it's a risky job." She was failing.
Derek half smiled. "Some girls cry when they get upset."
She smiled back. 'It's working?' "Who's upset?" she put her arms around him. "I'm fine, you're fine. Just… what happened?"
Derek yanked her closer. "Well… I was out for a few minutes before some wizards got there to help clean up." He closed his eyes. "But when they woke me up, everyone from the attack was gone… you were gone…" Lily nodded, remembering her captor's hateful stare. "We had no idea where you'd gone. We searched for you. It seemed hopeless. Then one team found a vacant office building near the Louvre. They went in to investigate, heard someone, and called me to get there." He sighed, his head resting on top of hers. "I guess you were there for the rest."
"They didn't know who I was. They didn't know why I was there." She added. That was a huge positive.
"Who cares?" he snapped, moving her away from him. "You were almost killed! Do you have any idea what that would have done to me?"
She looked at him, hurt for once. Why had he shoved her away? "Yes." She answered shortly. "I've got to get to class." She snapped, storming away from him. He knew her better than to go after her.
Not a terribly long time later, Lily was in her room trying to think of a way to cover up the unsightly dark circles that had formed under her eyes in fifth year and had never really gone away. They were especially prominent this morning. 'Some people sleep at night' she thought to herself. Damien, her owl, hooted in agreement from her windowsill.
Well, at least she could know for certain that nobody would ever guess where she had been or why she looked like she hadn't slept a full night in months. She huffed an irritated sigh, admitting defeat. She would never be beautiful like some other girls at Hogwarts. She swept out of the room and headed for transfiguration.
"Good morning, class. We are going to review what we've already learned with matches into needles. Have fun," Professor McGonagall said pleasantly. Lily turned her match into a needle with a hasty swish of her wand, then settled her head into her palm to think about what had happened the night before. Adrenaline was still pumping through her. 'Most people would get to take the day off if they had gotten captured' she thought resentfully.
"Hey, Lily," James sang obnoxiously.
Lily laughed, covering up her exhaustion out of instinct. "Hi, James,"
James' eyes lit up; she was going to be nice to him?
'I'm being nice to him?' she thought.
"Join us…" Sirius said in a deadly whisper.
She snorted, "Ok." She needed to stop thinking for just a few minutes.
While Sirius entertained himself by making his needle break dance, Lily gathered her things and walked over to the Marauders table.
"Hello," Remus said amiably. Lily smiled in his direction, then turned to her needle. It wasn't very shiny. Ever the perfectionist, she called the professor over.
"Yes, Miss Evans?" McGonagall answered. She really liked this girl. She was so smart.
Lily frowned slightly. She was about to sound like a major nerd. "My needle isn't good enough. Can I try again?" she asked.
"Certainly," McGonagall said. She handed her a box of matches, then left to take care of some Slytherins who were lighting their papers on fire with their matches.
"Lame," Sirius muttered.
Lily ignored him and concentrated on the match. She was turning it into a needle. She could picture the needle in her mind. She held her wand up to the match, but didn't move it. Didn't say a word. She concentrated on the needle in her mind. It was razor sharp. As sharp as that blade last night.
She prodded the air around the match and it sprang into the air. Lily didn't jump; she was too accustomed to the unexpected. She continued staring at it almost mutinously. She could see the needle in her mind so well. She didn't move. Didn't say a word. Suddenly, there was an almost blinding shiny needle. Lily blinked, and it clattered to the table.
"Woah," Sirius whispered. Lily grinned, and picked it up. She beamed at it, incredibly proud of herself. She looked over at the Marauders, then around the room. The whole class was staring at her.
"Uh… Sorry. Wanted to try a theory," She explained half-heartedly.
McGonagall swept up to her, "That was astounding, Miss Evans. Tell me, who have you been reading?" she asked excitedly.
"Um… sorry?" Lily asked uncertainly.
"You must have read years ahead to be able to do that!" the Professor gushed.
Lily frowned, "I guess… I read the right book," she lied.
Sirius made a series of jabbing motions with his wand, but, of course, nothing happened. "Sirius? You're going to hurt yourself," she muttered.
"Then how'd you do it?" Sirius cried, "You're not even a Marauder!" Lily shrugged and stared down at her needle. She had no idea. James admired her openly, wondering what she'd done.
"I don't know," Lily said honestly, "I was just… trying to make it better,"
"You did," Remus praised. Lily shrugged. It wasn't that big of a deal, Remus was a werewolf, for heavens sake, and nobody fussed over that. Why should they care that she made a stupid needle?
Suddenly, Lily was uncomfortable sitting there with the Marauders. She turned the needle in to McGonagall and walked out o fclass for a quick nap between classes.
Lily rushed through the rest of her classes, eager to get back to her room and try out that new technique on her weapons.
Yes, she ate lunch; mostly to make James happy, but she couldn't bring herself to force down something for dinner. She was too excited. At last, the day was over. She rushed up to her room and dumped her bag next to her trunk. It was Friday!
Lily motioned with her wand and locked her bedroom door, then dug in her trunk and pulled out her weapons. She thought that maybe transfiguration would be easier than actually conjuring anything, so she pulled out a quill too.
She yanked off her robes so that she was only wearing a pair of jeans and a tank top, then sat down on her bed with her weapons case on her right. She pointed her wand at the quill and imagined the dagger that she wanted. It was sleek and shiny and sharp as anything, and it glinted in the light, and could chop anything apart and… There, she could see it in her mind. She prodded the air around the quill, and it rose into the air.
She could see it so clearly. She imagined the quill morphing into it. She pushed her wand forward, and in a blinding flash of light, a new silver dagger was hanging in the air. Lily smiled to herself and pulled it close to her. She examined it from all angles. It was very sharp and very shiny, and fit perfectly in her left hand. In fact, it was quite beautiful. She was admiring her work when suddenly, her closet door burst open and Derek bounded out.
"Derek!" Lily gasped, "You gave me a heart-attack!" Her best friend beamed, "What do you want?" she asked warily.
The boy frowned when he saw what she was doing, "Why are you playing with daggers. You'd think that all that yesterday would teach you not to do that!"
Lily laughed, glad that they were going to pretend they hadn't fought. "That would be what a sane person would take away from that experience. What do you want?" she repeated.
"Well…" Derek said nervously, "You're an Animagus… right?"
"Yep," Lily said cheerfully. She was proud of herself for that, too. It had taken years of research and practice, but she wanted to be out there with Remus some day. She would have done anything to help him in any way she could.
He rose and looked her in the eye, "I think I need some help," he muttered, embarrassed.
"With what?" Lily asked stupidly.
"I've got it mostly figured out, but I can't find the last step!" Derek cried frustrated-ly, "It isn't anywhere! The book I was using just… stopped."
"I think I should introduce you to my friend." Lily said cheerfully. She hopped up and made for the door. "I can't help you with that, but I CAN help you with something else."
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"It's fantastic!" Lily answered. She led him to the Room of Requirement, and entered excitedly.
"Woah! Where'd that door come from?" Derek asked stupidly.
Lily sighed. Was Durmstrang so dull that he'd never seen a door appear out of nowhere? She walked over to a tall pedestal in the middle of the room and lifted a small vial full of mysterious green liquid that was sitting on it.
"Bottoms up," she said cheerfully and uncorked it for him.
Derek eyed it warily, "What is that?" he asked.
"A potion," Lily said untroubled. Derek looked nervous, but had an underlying trust in his best friend. He took the vial and dumped it into his mouth. He swallowed uneasily. He didn't feel any different.
"What happened?" he asked uncertainly.
Lily laughed. For once, a real laugh- not the one she used for everybody else. "Do you think I'd give you anything dangerous?" He made a face the implied he might. "We need a night off. So I am forcing us to have one!" He still looked confused. If there was anything she could change about him, she would have made him a little more clever. "It's like a reviving potion."
"Oh!" Derek said happily. Now that she said that, he realized that he felt great! "Why don't you use it all the time?"
"Oh, yaknow…" Lily said, slightly annoyed. "giddiness, lack of forethought… death. Same reasons I don't date James."
Derek beamed. "James? YOU said James!" They laughed together over ridiculous things for a good portion of the night.
"It is late." Lily said finally. "You need to go home."
"Yea, all right." Derek agreed. She led the way to Gryffindor tower, showing him this corridor or that painting that had something remarkable about it.
They entered the heads common room, and started up for Lilys room so that Derek could Apparate out when they heard a dry cough behind them. Immediately, the effects of the enjoyable night were broken. Both agents froze for half of a millisecond, then on instinct, they whipped around with their wands drawn.
" Lily!" James exclaimed. Lily sighed and lowered her wand, "What the hell?"
"Sorry, James. I Thought you were somebody else," She noticed that her friend hadn't lowered his wand. "Derek," she whispered. He dropped his arm, but was still visibly on his guard.
"Who's this?" James asked accusatorily, then walked over to them to get a better look at the new kid.
"Derek Hamilton." he answered for himself. "If you don't mind." He pulled Lily up the stairs behind him.
The instant they reached her room and closed the door, both let out a large breath. "That was stupid." Derek sighed.
"Yeah," Lily agreed. "I'll see you when they owl us. Bye," She leaned up and kissed his cheek, then he entered her closet door and Apparated away.
Lily hastily threw her box of silver tools into her trunk and looked over at Damien. The owl hooted happily. "Have you found something to eat?' Lily asked nervously. The owl hooted again, "Good." She went over and petted his head. He hooted again, looking at the floor.
She looked at her floor hesitantly, and waved her wand at the bones laying scattered across it, making them disappear. "This isn't your nest. It's my room," she informed him amiably. He flew over and landed on her left shoulder, then the two of them left her room for the kitchens.
James was still downstairs.
"Sorry" Lily said politely.
"What in the hell was that all about?" he snapped.
Lily grinned, "That was my best friend."
"Okay… Where'd he go?" James asked nervously. Was that boy still in her room?
"Far away." she looked out at the sky, "What a gorgeous full moon," she said, hoping that he'd take the hint and go away to help Remus.
"Shoot." James whispered, "I've got to go." Then he rushed out of the room and left Lily in peace.
"Thought so," she muttered, "How could he forget Remus like that…" she shook her head, and walked back up to her room. Suddenly, her stomach was unsettled.
"Would you go keep an eye on them? Find me if they're in trouble," the owl hooted and flew out the window. Lily sighed and fell back into her bed.
Bed. At a normal hour!
She curled up into a ball and fell asleep with dreams of a peaceful age. Wizards stopping to help each other on the street, Muggles not jealous of their wizard siblings. Nobody dying… It was beautiful, but it was not reality. And, actually, it was boring. She needed adventure in her life! Everything was so tedious without anything threatening her life.
