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And just a quick reminder: the story is rated M for a reason...
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Chapter 3
The dust has only just begun to fall
"Set her down on the couch." Alice instructed when Sirius and James appeared in her kitchen. "All the rooms are occupied. There was an attack not four hours ago and Kingsley brought some injured people to me."
Sirius carried the woman to the sofa in the living room and Alice followed with a first aid kit. "We found her in her house near Hampshire." he told Alice, while she looked at the woman's injuries.
Alice was a healer at St. Mungo's, but because it was illegal to treat muggleborns in the hospital, she had started to help those who needed her at her and Frank's home. Mostly she treated those who were found by members of the Order.
"Was there anyone else?" she asked absent-mindedly, following a long scratch on the woman's arm with her wand. The wound closed itself and was almost invisible when she was finished.
"We're not sure. We'll head back as soon as we know she's going to be okay." Sirius said.
Alice nodded. "I'm not sure about her head injuries, I think I'll have to get a potion from St. Mungo's to be able to wake her up. But I'm on it, you don't have to worry. Go see if someone else needs your help."
With a nod and whispered thanks they retreated into the night.
"D' you reckon they're still there?" Sirius asked into the dark.
"I don't know, but I've got a weird feeling. We should hurry." And only moments later they were back in the dark basement.
ooooooo
"This is wonderful timing. I haven't had some action in quite some time." The man grinned as he groped Lily's arm and yanked her upwards while the boy in her peripheral vision still screamed in agony.
"Are you done with that mudblood yet, Rosier?" he asked impatiently and only a split second later the night erupted in green light.
Lily whimpered as she saw that the boy had stopped moving. The same moment she felt ropes binding her to the wall behind her.
"Oh don't worry, you'll be next." The man in front of her said. "Or…" he covered her right breast with his large hand and squeezed hard, making Lily flinch. "…maybe we'll keep you." His grin was menacing when he came near her face. With one sudden movement, he ripped open her shirt. Lily's heart hammered in her chest. It seemed it wanted to escape her body as much as she wanted to escape those men. Her eyes flickered to the other Death Eater who started to come nearer as well.
"What a waste." The man named Rosier said, reaching her and to Lily's disgust he had his hand in his pants.
"At least we'll have some fun." The former smirked and in one swift motion he brought his face to her neck and let his tongue travel down to her breast. "Delicious." He murmured and then he bit her hard into her nipple. Lily screamed, flailing her feet and managing to kick the man hard into his groin. He let out a muffled groan and fell forward onto his knees. The ropes disappeared and Lily stumbled to get away from him. But she wasn't able to make more than two steps when Rosier knocked her to the ground. A sick, loud snap and a sharp pain in her skull told Lily she had hit the stony ground and not a second later she felt the weight of the man on her. It seemed as if she had no air in her lungs anymore.
"You dirty thing. I believe it's time that you learned some manners." And without another word he pushed his hand down her trousers and hart into her sensitive flesh. Before he was able to stop her, she screamed a heart-wrenching scream that echoed through the night.
ooooo
The silent night was torn by a piercing scream. The agony and pain of the scream made James' flesh crawl. He looked at Sirius for a split second and they disappeared the next. When James opened his eyes again he was met by darkness. He looked around, trying to see something, anything, when another scream reached his ears. This time it was in immediate vicinity.
He turned and saw Sirius running into the direction the scream had come from. They seemed to be in a small disserted village.
Sprinting, James caught up with his friend and they reached a small house. Noises came from the other side and silently, they turned the corner.
A single lighted street lamp illuminated a horrible scene.
A man was standing there, his wand pointing at two figures on the floor. Another, motionless figure lay a few feet away. Instinctively, James pointed his own wand at the man. But it was when he heard a whimper that he realized that there was something odd with the two figures on the ground. They seemed in a kind of wrestle. It was too dark to see the faces of the people, but he knew that the one standing had to be a Death Eater. Without a second thought, he started to run again, Sirius upon his heels and with one swift motion he had stunned the first man, who fell down without making a sound.
"Hey!" Sirius cried loudly, and the figure on top of the other looked up. He had a mask on his face and that was all they had to know. Simultaneously they pointed their wands at him, but the man was quick to reach for his own. He conjured a shield to protect himself from the spells that James and Sirius fired his way in that instant. Suddenly the street was alight with the lights of spells and it was then that James was able to see the third figure lying on the ground, half-naked and covered in angry scratches. A girl, probably around his own age, her face twisted in panic and pain, and tears streaming down her face.
He looked at Sirius who nodded, signalling him that he was good on his own, and James sprinted to the girl, casting a shield-charm around her and himself.
"Are you alright?" he asked anxiously, looking over his shoulder to make sure Sirius was alright too. But the girl didn't seem to hear him. She had scrambled to an upright position, her head on her knees and her arms wrapped tightly around herself.
James saw her torn clothes and his stomach turned at the thought of what the men had been about to do to her. He took off his cloak and wrapped it around the girl. She looked up at the sudden warmth. Emerald green eyes focused in on him and he looked back, stunned. He knew those eyes.
"Look out!" he heard Sirius cry, and James turned just in time to realize that his protection charm had worn off. A green jet of light missed the girl by millimetres and she shrieked in horror. James fired back, one spell after the other, a new anger he couldn't quite place engulfing him. The Death Eater backed away slowly, both Sirius and James closing in on him, and Sirius' stunning spell hit target finally. James checked if he was really knocked out while Sirius looked at the other Death Eater, still lying on the floor. When they finally turned to the girl, she was gone.
"No!" James shouted loudly, "You have to wait! You're safe with us!" he looked around, trying to see movement somewhere. "Come back!" he shouted again. Helplessly, he looked at Sirius.
"Let her leave. She's afraid. She's not going to trust us." He said quietly.
James turned back to gaze into the darkness. "Come back!" he shouted again. "Please, Lily, come back!"
ooooooo
Shouts echoed through the night, following Lily into the forest. Her harsh breathing didn't allow her to hear what the men called after her, but she didn't care. "Run! Just run!" was her only thought and it repeated itself in her head like a mantra. She couldn't believe how lucky she had been. To come out of this situation almost unscratched. So close… it had been so close. Her lungs ached from the cold air and she felt a sharp pain at her sides but she kept moving. Minutes went by, or were it hours? She didn't know, but finally her legs couldn't support her any longer and she fell to the ground. Coughing harshly she tried to catch her breath but it only made her stomach turn. Seconds later her body convulsed and she vomited. There wasn't much to vomit but her body wouldn't stop convulsing. So she lay there, in the middle of a dark forest, coughing and spitting water for minutes and tears spilling out of her eyes at the same time. When her body finally stopped she fell on her back, shivering wildly and was unconscious only seconds later.
oooooooo
"Are you really sure?"
"It was her, believe me! I know it was her."
"I don't even remember what she looked like. How can you be so sure?"
James closed his eyes and emerald green eyes flashed behind his eyelids. He had not known Lily Evans very well back at school. And he had forgotten what she had looked like. But he remembered her eyes. They were those kinds that you see rarely but wouldn't forget. Ever.
"Her eyes. I remember her eyes."
Sirius fell silent and James knew that he remembered them too.
"She is alive. And we could have helped her. We could have made sure she was safe."
"You know that's not true." James eyes snapped open and he turned to look at his friend. "She cannot be safe. Anywhere."
James sighed heavily. "But we could have made it better. At least a little bit."
Silence followed his words. After Lily's departure they had found another muggleborn, a young boy who had been murdered by the Death Eaters. He must had been the son of the woman they had rescued earlier. They had been too late to help him. Frustration unfurled within James like some sort of poison. With every heartbeat it spread out, from his inner organs to his limbs. But Lily gave him hope. She was alive, after all these years. A fighter.
"I have to tell Kelly."
"No you don't!" snapped Sirius, irritably.
"You just don't get it. You just don't get what this means… Lily… living!" James shook his head.
"No, you don't get it." Sirius retorted. "You would endanger her, by telling other people, even her former friends. You haven't seen Kelly in months. You don't even know what she's up to. We only know what she doesn't do, and that's working for the Order."
James glared at him. "Are you implying she's a Death Eater now or what's your point?"
"You don't know that. Hey-"he held his hands up as if in surrender at James' accusing glare, "it doesn't have to be that way. But she could. Or she's imperiused, or blackmailed or whatever..."
"Or she would just be glad to know that her friend is alive." James said feebly, but he knew Sirius was right. Of course he was. James had been so glad to know that Lily, said to be dead Lily, was alive. And for a few blissful minutes he had forgotten what that meant. It meant she had spent her last 4 years in constant fear and on the run.
"We can't know that. And can't take the risk."
James nodded his head, defeated. How could he even imagine what Lily had been going through?
ooooooooo
She jerked awake only minutes later, trembling furiously. The image of the Death Eater's face in front of her only slightly disappearing. Disoriented she sat up. She had to hide somewhere. Somewhere warm, preferably. She wrapped herself tightly into the coat the man had given her. A nice, musky smell engulfed her and she inhaled deeply. Somehow, it soothed her immensely. But not only the smell… there were people who still fought against Voldemort and his supporters. Those men, they had helped her, without fear. They were on her side, fighting for her. Tears gathered in the corner of her eyes as these thoughts engulfed her. She was not alone. She knew she could have stayed with them, and now, as the anxiety slowly left her, she knew she should have. But at that moment she had panicked. She had just wanted to leave those Death Eaters as far behind as possible. With a sigh she heaved herself to her feet. She had to find shelter after all.
