Well, it looks like I was able to get my shit together and get this chapter out. The one who should really be thanked is my beta reader for beta reading it for me early. If she hadn't then this probably would not have come out on time!
I hope you all enjoy chapter 4! Here we go
Chapter 3
Lily's head spun as she started to come to. Her eyelids were heavy and her body ached. She noticed right away that she was laying on her back on what felt like a hard rocky floor. She moaned as she opened her eyes slowly.
She found herself staring up at a ceiling made of blue glowing crystals.
She lay there for a moment as she gazed up at the curious ceiling. She had no clue how long she had been out. Her mind spun as the events from earlier began to return. As her mind played through the past few days, it was only when she remembered the purple flames and Scorpius that she jumped to her feet.
Now standing at full alert, Lily fully took in her surroundings. She was in what looked like a small cavern, like one you might find in a cave. Just like the ceiling, the walls were decorated with blue glowing crystals of all sizes. A few rather large crystals even shot up from the ground. She could hear the trickle of running water from somewhere within the cave.
Lily's heart pounded as she tried not to panic. She had no clue where she was. She took several slow heavy breaths as she tried to calm herself.
Just then, she heard what sounded like footsteps coming from the tunnel leading out of the cavern. She ran and hid behind one of the large crystals jetting out from the floor, peeking around it just enough to see who was coming.
Lily's eyes narrowed in anger as Scorpius rounded the corner. Before she could think logically about what she was doing, Lily charged from behind her crystal and tackled Scorpius to the floor.
"Where have you taken me?!" Lily damned as she pulled her fist back, ready to sock Scorpius in the face.
But Scorpius did not resist. He lay under Lily in a very submissive posture with his palms open and shoulders hunched. He looked extremely surprised and caught off guard.
"Lily!? Lily, it's me!" Scorpius croaked. His voice sounded hoarse and tired.
Lily's fury-filled eyes searched the boy below her. Her shoulders moved up and down as she breathed heavily. Her fist was still held high in the air.
Scorpius looked like a wreck. His face was paler than usual even for him – and he had large, dark bags that hung under his tired, gray eyes. His cheeks were gaunt and the pink that normally graced them was replaced with dirt and bruises. His collar bone protruded sickeningly far out from under his neck, and his arms were stick thin.
Lily's breathing calmed and her fist lowered as Scorpius held a hand out at an odd angle. Lily blinked as she registered what she was looking at.
"What? Did you forget our handshake?" Scorpius asked, hoping this would help convince her. He smiled nervously.
Tears began to gather at the edge of Lily's eyes. She choked a sob as she pulled Scorpius up into a heartfelt hug. She noticed immediately how thin Scorpius felt as she hugged him. She sobbed incoherently as an odd wave of relief flooded her being.
"L-Lily?" Scorpius stuttered, surprised by the sudden hug. "Hey, it's okay. Everything is okay," he whispered as he embraced her back with care.
The two sat on the floor embracing while Lily sobbed into Scorpius's shoulder. Scorpius said nothing, giving Lily all the time she needed.
After a few minutes Lily pulled away.
"I-I thought you hated me," she said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"What? Why would I hate you?" Scorpius asked with a small laugh.
"At school you…. Well… you," Lily didn't really know how to explain. Her mind was still wrapping around the idea that Scorpius was here – but then who was the other Scorpius?
Lily looked to Scorpius to find that he was only wearing a loose hanging undershirt and old sweat pants that hung low on his waist. He looked exhausted and in need of some proper food. At the moment, he wore a confused expression, his head tilted to the side.
"Earlier today you were at school but you were not really yourself," Lily explained.
"I've… I have been down here for…" Scorpius began. He had no clue how long he had been down in this cave. "Well, I know I wasn't at school today," Scorpius insisted with a small laugh.
"That Scorpius wasn't you, was it?" Lily clarified, as things started to make sense. "But Albus, he—" Lily began.
At the mention of Albus, Scorpius lunged forward and grabbed Lily's shoulders, cutting her off from finishing her sentence.
"Albus!? Is he okay?" Scorpius spoke in utter desperation.
Lily's eyes were wide at the sudden outburst from Scorpius.
"He… I think he is physically fine," Lily spoke as fast as she could.
"Wh-What do you mean?" Scorpius demanded.
"Well, the other Scorpius… He is doing something to make Albus act funny, but I don't think Albus is physically hurt," Lily clarified.
Scorpius released Lily, analyzing what she had said. He ran his thin fingers through his messy hair as he let loose a heavy sigh.
"It's Delphi," Scorpius said after a few moments of silence.
"Delphi?" Lily questioned.
"Yes, Delphi…" Scorpius sighed. "She was the one who sent us here and is probably controlling Albus now." Scorpius's voice cracked at the mention of Albus.
"Isn't she the girl who almost killed you guys two years ago?" Lily asked disbelievingly. "Wasn't she locked away in Azkaban?"
"Yes! And yes… she was… I mean I thought she was locked up in Azkaban," Scorpius confirmed.
"But how did she—" Lily began.
"I don't know," Scorpius replied before she could finish.
They both sat in complete silence for a long moment. Scorpius was heavy in thought and Lily was in utter disbelief.
"So she is posing as you?" Lily asked, things now starting to make so much more sense.
"We have to get out of here," Scorpius declared, ignoring Lily's question.
"What?" Lily asked off guard.
"We have to get out of here," Scorpius stood up as he spoke. With his hands fisted at his side, he looked down the long tunnel leading out of the cavern. "We have to save Albus." His expression was full of determination.
Lily was pretty sure they were the ones who needed saving.
"Whoah there," Lily said as she pulled Scorpius back to the floor.
Scorpius flopped onto the floor next to Lilly and shot her a questioning look.
"We are not going anywhere until you explain to me exactly what is going on," Lily demanded.
"But we have to—" Scorpius began in protest.
Lily held a finger to Scorpius's lips to hush him.
"Before we do anything more, I want you to fill me in, and I will fill you in," Lily explained.
Scorpius looked like he wanted to protest. He thought for a moment, and then nodded.
Lily gasped as she suddenly remembered the rolls from dinner in her pocket. Without an explanation, she pulled out three cold rolls.
Scorpius's gray eyes lit up at the sight of real food, but he didn't move to take them. His stomach let loose a very loud grumble.
"Here, eat these," Lily chuckled, handing them over to Scorpius.
"What about you?" Scorpius replied, hesitating to take them.
"I am not the one who was being deprived of food," she replied as she thrust all three rolls into Scorpius's hands. "Besides, you are not going to be able to help anyone with your stomach growling like that."
Scorpius juggled the three rolls as they fell into his hands. He selected one and examined it for only a moment before taking a big bite. He savoured the roll for only a moment before hunger took over and he ate the rest of the roll in just two bites. Even though they were cold and a little stale, he moaned as he chewed.
Without another word, Lily stood up and removed her robe. She laid it over Scorpius's shoulders. This won her a confused looked from Scorpius, a piece of roll still hanging out of his mouth.
"Albus, would kill me if I let you freeze to death," Lily explained as she took her seat next to Scorpius. "Besides, I have three layers on and I was getting a little hot."
Scorpius smiled in gratitude before he went back to his meal. It only took him a few minutes to finish off the rolls.
"I feel so much better," Scorpius hummed in joy. "You never realize how wonderful bread is until you have been deprived of it."
"I don't mean to pull you from the clouds, but we are still trapped in some unknown cave," Lily said with a smile. Scorpius was starting to look more like his old self, even though he was wearing her Gryffindor robe.
"Right!" Scorpius shouted as he turned to Lily. "How about we start looking for a way out while we fill each other in," he suggested. Scorpius wanted to get to Albus as soon as he could.
"I guess I could agree to that," Lily said as she pushed herself off the floor.
Scorpius followed suit. The two headed to the tunnel. Without a moment's waist Scorpius began to tell his side of the story.
"It all happened really fast, I am still not sure exactly what happened..." Scorpius waved his arms wildly as he began to tell Lily about the events at the Shrieking Shack.
Lily nodded and listened closely as the two made their way out of the cavern and into the tunnel.
…..
The two had been walking for what felt like hours, but the tunnel only led them to other small caverns and a small stream, which Scorpius explained he had been using as drinking water. With each cavern they found, they checked every square inch for a way out.
"So, the school is having a celebration for the day Harry stopped Voldemort as a child?" Scorpius asked as they entered another cavern. Lily had just finished explaining what had happened to her.
"It would seem so," Lily hummed as they checked behind a cluster of crystals.
"Do you think she is going to make her move at this event?" Scorpius questioned.
"I… I think so… But I don't really know," Lily sighed on discovering there was nothing behind the crystals. "But I am not willing to find out!"
"Don't worry, I have a feeling that we will find a way out of here," Scorpius said, shooting Lily a determined look. "We will stop her!"
"But…. you have been stuck here for almost a month and have not found a way out yet," Lily pointed out with worry.
"I know," Scorpius admitted with a frown. "But… something feels different," his expression lightened as he spoke. "I… before you came I… I thought Albus was… But now I know he isn't…" Scorpius choked, not finishing the sentence. "I know that he is okay," Scorpius's face was soft as he thought about Albus. "He needs me... I can feel it. I can feel him calling. He will lead us out of here for sure."
Lily smiled sweetly as she listened to Scorpius talk so tenderly about her brother. They truly were right for each other.
"Yeah…" Lily said with a nod. "You know what, I think I can hear his grumpy voice calling for me too. 'Lily! Lily, stop touching my stuff'," Lily said, mocking the way Albus spoke.
Scorpius laughed loudly and Lily joined in. Their light-hearted laughter filled the cave.
"You sound just like him," Scorpius said between laughs.
"Well, he is my brother," Lily said proudly.
"He is going to be so upset when he finds out we are talking about him like this," Scorpius's laugher began to subside as he spoke.
"We don't have to tell him," Lily shrugged.
Scorpius shook his head with a sigh. He knew he would probably slip and mention it eventually.
"Well, I don't see an exit in here, do you?" Scorpius said checking behind another crystal.
"Nope, nothing behind this crystal," Lily sighed. "Shall we carry on to the next cavern?"
The two exited the cavern as they made their way further down the path.
Lily walked behind Scorpius as the two studied every inch of the tunnel's wall for a way out. Lily's watched as Scorpius looked behind a rather large crystal. She could not help but notice how loosely her robes hung off of Scorpius's shoulders. Scorpius had always been a thin kid, but he had also been much bigger then Lily ever was. At the moment, though, her robes seemed almost too big for him.
"Scorpius… How are you still alive?" Lily asked, not thinking about her words too carefully.
Scorpius turned to look at Lily in surprise.
"I told you, Delphi decided to leave me here, instead of blasting my head off," Scorpius replied matter-of-factly.
"No! I mean how did you not starve to death?" Lily clarified. "You have been here for almost a month now."
"Oh, yeah, right," Scorpius said, understanding what she mean. He dug deep into his sweat pant pocket and produced a very large, almost empty bag and showed it off proudly to Lily.
Lily's eye widened upon realizing what the bag was. "Is that from Honeydukes?" she gasped.
"Yeah…" Scorpius replied with a guilty giggle. "Before Delphi attacked us, I had restocked on my candy stash," Scorpius explained. "I found it later on in the cave after Delphi left me."
"Wow, living off of candy. Every kid's dream," Lily commented.
"Yeah, and the funny thing is, I don't think I am sick of candy yet," Scorpius said with a chuckle.
With that, the two carried on down to the next offshoot of the tunnel. They were met with nothing but another crystal-filled cavern. This carried on for several more caverns, causing Lily to start to lose hope yet again. Scorpius might be able to hear Albus calling, but Lily heard nothing but the trickling of the far-off stream.
"We are never going to get out of here," Lily sighed as they left another cavern. She flopped down next to a rather large crystal and rubbed her face.
"No! We can't give up now," Scorpius urged. He seemed just as vigorous as he had been since the beginning of their hunt.
"We have been walking for hours and have found nothing," Lily complained. She could not understand how Scorpius could go this long without losing hope.
"Lily, we have to save Albus… and your Dad." Scorpius examined Lily as he spoke. He knew how she was feeling. He had been feeling it not too long ago,as well.
"I know, I just feel like we have been going in circles. What if there is no way out?" Lily tried hard not to cry as she spoke.
"No! There is a way out! Like I said, I can feel Albus calling to me," as Scorpius spoke, he puffed out his chest.
Lily sighed as she tried to find it in her to feel pumped again.
Just then, Scorpius let loose a loud gasp and shoved Lily aside.
"Hey!" Lily whined as she flopped over.
"What is that?!" Scorpius shouted. He was now on his hands and knees where Lily had been sitting.
"What is what?" Lily questioned as she tried to look around Scorpius.
"There is a hole here," Scorpius pointed behind the large crystal.
Lily's eye widened. The hole looked just large enough for them to squeeze through.
"Do you think it leads out?" Lily asked.
"There is only one way to find out," Scorpius replied as he got low to the floor and entered the hole.
"Scorpius, wait!" Lily shouted, but it was too late. "He is normally so nervous. I guess he really is determined to get to my brother," Lily sighed to herself. She, too, got low to the floor and crawled after Scorpius.
The small tunnel seemed to go on for a while. It was stuffy and uncomfortable. As they crawled, the duo's muscles began to scream in pain. Both wanted badly to stop and rest, but both were equally too scared to stop. With each inch they moved, Scorpius could feel Albus's presence come closer and closer.
"How much longer?" Lily huffed from behind Scorpius.
"Just a little bit further," Scorpius wheezed as he tried to not lose momentum.
"Is it just me or is the tunnel getting more narrow?" Lily commented as she began to feel claustrophobic.
Scorpius chose not to reply as he pushed forward. He, too, could tell it was getting tighter. It took every bit of concentration for him to not focus on how claustrophobic he was beginning to feel.
"Hey! I think I see the exit," Scorpius cheered.
"Thank God," Lily gasped from behind.
In a matter of moments, the two pulled themselves out of the hole. The exit was much more narrow than the entrance had been. They both slumped against the wall on either side of the exit as they gasped in slightly less stale air. They were still in the crystal-filled cave, but a much larger area, unlike anything they had seen so far in their search for an exit.
"It's a good thing I lost some weight. I don't think I would have fit though that otherwise," Scorpius said with a breathy laugh.
Lily lifted an eyebrow as she looked at Scorpius, not finding his comment too funny.
"Albus is going to be so upset when he find out she starved you," Lily replied dryly.
"Yeah, so will my dad," Scorpius sighed. He knew his dad was going to have a fit once he found out what was going on. Lily had told him Draco had not come by even once since she had come back from her studies. Perhaps Delphi was good at letter forgery.
The two examined their new surroundings. They discovered almost immediately that they were now on a ledge that dropped off into a large pit. The pit separated their ledge from another on the far side. Scorpius squinted as he examined what was on the other side of the pit.
"Is… is that a door?" Scorpius asked as he pointed to the other side.
"Yeah… yeah it is!" Lily replied, her voice full of confusion.
"What is a door doing in a cave?" Scorpius spoke with disbelief.
"Ummm, keeping the bugs out," Lily shrugged, jokingly. Scorpius shot a grin at Lily before looking back at the door.
"That's the way out," Scorpius proclaimed.
"How do you know that?" Lily asked, disbelievingly. "It could just lead to another part of the cave."
"I can feel it," Scorpius replied in determination.
"But how are we going to get over there," Lily pointed out. "It's too far for us to just jump."
Both examined the area, trying to find a away to the other side.
"There! We will use that," Scorpius said as he pointed to a rather large crystal jutting up from the ground of their ledge.
"What? There is no way we will be able to push that thing over," Lily gasped.
"No, it's much larger at the top, making it top heavy. If we thin it at the base we might be able to get it to fall and make a bridge across the hole," Scorpius explained.
"Do you think it will reach?" Lily asked.
"There is only one way to find out," Scorpius shrugged. "Get a rock and let's find out," Scorpius said as he chose a large jagged rock off the floor.
Part of Lily felt like there was no way this was going to work, but at the same time Scorpius was on a roll, so perhaps it was just better to go with it.
Lily picked out a large rock from the floor and followed Scorpius to the large crystal. The two immediately got to work hacking away at the crystal's base. Lily was surprised to find that it was working.
"Since when did crystals become this brittle," Lily commented as they made good headway.
"At the moment, I am just happy it is working," Scorpius replied, the majority of his focus was on their work at hand. He didn't really feel like questioning their luck at the moment.
Before long, the two had shaved away a fair amount of the crystal's base.
"There, let's try to push it over now. I think it will snap if we apply some pressure," Scorpius said as he dusted his hands on his pants.
"Let's hope this work," Lily sighed.
Scorpius immediately tackled the crystal with all his weight, causing Lily to jump back at the sudden movement. The crystal did not budge.
"Come on. Help me," Scorpius grunted as he pushed. Sweat started to gather at his brow. The crystal did not move. "We have to get to Albus. I have to stop her before it's too late," Scorpius spoke in whole-hearted desperation.
Lily's heart ached at how hard Scorpius was pushing himself just for her mopy brother. She smiled softly as she joined Scorpius's efforts.
The two shoved in timed unison, and after several good shoves they heard a distinct crack. The crystal was starting to give.
"Just a few more shoves and she will fall," Scorpius shouted with a grunt.
They both reared back and charged the crystal at the same time. With a loud *Snap* the crystal began to lean forward . The two backed up and charged the crystal with all they had. The crystal made an even louder *Snap* and with that it fell.
Both Lily and Scorpius held their breaths in anticipation as they watched the crystal fall, hoping it would make it all the way across to the other ledge and not just fall into the pit.
With an earth shaking *BAM* the top of the crystal just barely landed on the other side of the cave, creating a bridge.
Lily and Scorpius both let loose breathy cheers as they gave each other a high five.
"We did it," Scorpius cheered through gasps of breath.
"You were right! It worked," Lily sang as she too caught her breath.
"Let's get across this bridge and save Albus," Scorpius said without missing a beat, as he climbed onto the crystal bridge. "We can finish catching our breaths on the other side."
Lily nodded as she followed after Scorpius.
Neither spoke as they walked across the crystal. It was slippery, and the pit below them looked like it could go on forever. Lily wondered if it even had a bottom. She made sure to stay close behind Scorpius, both trying not to rush and slip but both feeling their stomach knot from how high up they were.
"Just a little further, almost there," Scorpius whispered as they passed the halfway mark.
Just then, they both heard a heart-stopping *Snap* coming from behind them. Lily glanced back to see that the crystal on the other side was beginning to crack . Before they could say anything, another *Snap* sounded and the crystal shifted beneath their feet. Lily's knees buckled in fear.
"It's going to fall," Lily gasped in horror. They were still too far from the other side.
"No! We are so close," Scorpius shouted in desperation as the crystal shifted greatly below their feet.
The crystal moved again, this time the back end began to slide down.
"Run!" Scorpius shouted as he began to pull Lily along by the hand at a dangerous run.
The base of the crystal began to dip down faster and faster from behind them.
"Get ready to jump!" Scorpius warned, as their goal closed in. Closing his eyes, he bent his knees before jumping as high as he could.
"Jump?" Lily shrieked, as she felt the crystal fall from beneath her feet. She shut her eyes in horror, waiting for the long fall. But instead of falling down, she felt herself being pulled up.
Before she could register what happened, she felt her feet make contact with ground. She propelled forward a bit as she landed, but was able to steady herself. Her limbs shaking, she opened her eyes to see they had made it to the other side of the pit.
"We… We made it," Scorpius gasped in disbelief.
"We made it?" Lily murmured, as she questioned if perhaps this was just a dream.
"Y-Yeah, we made it!" Scorpius cheered with a small jump.
"But how?! We were too far from the ledge!" Lily was still in disbelief.
"We jumped," Scorpius said with a small hop of joy.
"Jumped… but, but how!?" Lily exclaimed. Her mind just could not register how they had managed it.
"Well, my mind was only on Albus and I just jumped," Scorpius explained with large exaggerated gestures.
Lily shot him an opened-mouthed stare.
"Who cares how we made it! We just made it," Scorpius said between some disbelieving laughs of his own.
Lily did not know what to make of what had just happened to them. Perhaps fate was just on their side, or maybe it was something more.
The two sat for a long moment as they caught their breath. They both jumped in unison as the crystal made a large *Boom* once it finally reach the bottom of the pit.
"That must have been a long fall," Scorpius whistled, as he looked around to make sure there would not be a cave in.
"It's a good thing we were able to make it over here in time. There is no way we would have been able to live through a fall like that," Lily huffed in relief.
Scorpius nodded in agreement.
"Well, shall we see where the door leads us?" Scorpius sang with a small jig.
"Right," Lily nodded.
With that, the two made their way to the door. It was nothing more than a plain wooden door with a shiny, smooth, golden knob. Scorpius put his hand on the door as he studied it. He looked to the knob to see that it was nothing more than a regular handle with no lock.
"A door…. Just a door," Scorpius mumbled in a bit of disbelief.
"Yeah, kind of strange," Lily commented.
"I wonder why I never found this place before you came…" Scorpius hummed.
"Magic?" Lily shrugged. She had wondered the same thing.
Scorpius tried to shoot her a look, but grinned nonetheless.
"Anyways, shall we?" Scorpius hummed, as he took the knob.
Lily nodded in reply.
Scorpius turned the knob and pushed, but the door did not move. His brow furrowed in confusion as he repeated these movements several times.
"It's… It's locked," Scorpius gasped as he tried not to panic.
"What? It can't be! There isn't a lock for it to be locked," Lily said as she shook her head.
"No… No this can't… Albus! I know he is on the other side of this door," Scorpius mumbled as he tried to keep his cool.
Lily pulled out her wand. "Alohomora," she shouted as she pointed it at the knob. She tried to open it but it would not budge.
She and Scorpius exchanged pale looks.
"No… Albus," Scorpius whispered desperately as he turned the knob and pushed against the door. "You have to open. You have to."
Lily hesitated for a moment before trying to give Scorpius a hand. Maybe it was just jammed. As Lily pushed with Scorpius, the door moved ever to slightly. The duo gasped and looked at each other. Both had eyes filled with hope.
"It moved!" A small smile cracked on Scorpius's face as he said this.
With that, the two kept on pushing the door. With each push the door loosened.
"Just a little bit more," Scorpius grunted.
He and Lily both reared back before giving one last push.
With a loud creak, the door shot open.
….
And here goes chapter 4. It's good to see that Lily and Scorpius are both okay but what about Albus!? Will he be on the other side of that door? Where will that door lead? Perhaps Narnia? Maybe even Disneyland? What do you think? There is only one way to find out and that is to stay tuned for next week.
I am so happy I was able to get this chapter out on time so I would like to thank my Beta reader, Teenage Mouse, for finishing editing this chapter early. It really helped me out. If any of you have time please take a moment to check out her stuff.
I will hopefully get chapter 5 out by Friday or Saturday next week. As long as life stays average I should get it out on time.
I also want to thank all my readers for reading my goofy little fic and leaving me such nice comments. I really love to hear from you guys. This week I want to know if any of you can guess what inspired this story. The main plot is very similar to something that is from a show I love to watch and I just had to put the boys into this situation. Can anyone guess what it is? Let me know in the comments if you have any idea!
Reply to reviews:
Guest: Thank you so much for your kind review and the Birthday wish. Our Scorpius is too much of a sweet bean to ever do anything evil.
WizardingWhovian: Thank you for leaving me a review! I had a feeling it was kind of obvious that Delphi was the culprit but I didn't really care if it was an easy guess as long as you all enjoy the story. That's what matter most to me. But now all we have to worry about is poor Albus. Is he done for?
Teenage Mouse: I do love the idea of Scorpius getting along with Albus's immediate family. When I first thought of this fic I knew I wanted Scorpius and Lily to be buddies.
Kaley222: Thank you so much for the review! It makes me so happy that you are enjoying my fic! I got the plot from a show I enjoy so it deserves some of the credit. I will reveal what show at the end of next chapter so as to not give anything away.
Aerospace4: Yay! Thank you so much for such a kind review. You really do flatter me. Your ideas are far more daring and exciting then anything I could think of! I would totally read a story like that and love it! Maybe you could write it ;) We will just have to see where mine goes.
