Chapter 3 – The First Clue:
Lily and Eddie were both standing outside the apartment building in which Eddie and Jane lived. Lily had never seen anything like it, and stared at it wide-eyed, her mouth gaping open.
"Bloody hell," she whispered, more to herself than to Eddie. "Amazing with these Muggles can do without magic. Skyscrapers, pyramids…" Her voice trailed off and just smiled, slipping her sunglasses back on to her faces. On the way to the apartment building, Lily had transfigured to large stones into a baseball cap and sunglasses. She thought it would be best to try and hide their most distinguishing features, and in this case, it was Eddie's hair and her eyes.
"Shall we go in?" Eddie asked uncertainly, gesturing towards the building. Lily nodded and looked at him sternly.
"I'm your cousin, visiting from another state. A far one," Lily said. Eddie chuckled and patted her on the shoulder gently.
"Don't worry, Potter," he said good-naturedly, an amused smile on his face. "I know just what to say."
"Yeah, you were always pretty good at lying," Lily snarled coolly, causing Eddie's smile to immediately falter and his warm chestnut eyes become cold and they narrowed. His jaw was set as he glared dangerously at Lily, who ignored him and walked into the building. Eddie glared at her back and followed her, his fists clenched tightly.
Lily had taken off her sunglasses and placed them at the top of her head and looked around at the building. Eddie went to the desk and smiled at the elder man sitting behind it.
"Hey Ryan," he said with a lop-sided grin that made him look remarkably like Ron. Lily stood tentatively behind him as the elder, balding man with a heart shaped face, and a missing tooth looked up at him.
"Mr. Whesley!" he said with a beaming smile. "We have not seen you nor Miss Anderson for a few days now. Did you go on vacation?"
"No, Jane went on a business trip for a few weeks and I was visiting some family in Minnesota," Eddie said with a smile. "In fact, one of my cousins will be staying with me for the new few weeks. Ryan, this is my cousin, Lisa Prongs." As he turned to look at Lily for a moment, frowned, but when he turned back to Ryan, the smile was back on his freckled face. Lily raised an eyebrow but smiled at Ryan and held out her hand.
"Great to meet you, Ryan," Lily said with her best American accent. Eddie raised an impressed eyebrow but neither Lily nor Ryan noticed.
"Pleasure to meet you too Lisa," he said, taking her hand and kissing it tenderly, looking at Lily with a certain passion that Eddie recognized all too well and he rolled his eyes because of it. It was the veela in Lily kicking in again. Lily was part veela, giving her a power to attract and seduce men, and the worst part about it, it was completely out of her control.
"Well, Ryan, it was good seeing you," Eddie said hastily, grabbing Lily's hand and dragging her away from the front desk, not liking the look that Ryan was giving his former friend; and his former girlfriend. Ryan's old hazel eyes eyeing Lily up and down made Eddie want to dive across the desk and strangle him with his bare hands. So, instead, he just grabbed Lily's hand possessively and ran to the elevator, dragging her behind him. Eddie did not know where the jealousy and possessiveness came from but it did not come unwelcome. He chose to ignore it instead.
"Ed?" Lily's voice called out tentatively from beside him in the elevator.
"What?" he mumbled still frustrated over Ryan's rude stare and Jane's disappearance.
"Umm…you can let go of my hand now," Lily said in a slow, awkward voice. Eddie looked down and saw that he still had Lily's hand clenched tightly in his. He felt all his blood rush to his face and let her hand go as though it was infected with some contagious disease. There was absolute silence as the two of them headed up to the twenty seventh floor and with a ding of the elevator, both ran out of it, dying to get away from the tension was floating around the two of them. Eddie led the way to his and Jane's apartment, taking out the key and placing it into its lock.
"Why are we here?" Eddie asked, ready to open the door.
"I'm an Auror for a reason, Ed," she said softly. "This is where we need to start." Eddie nodded, pushed open the door, and flicked on the lights. Eddie stiffened at the sight as Lily barged in from behind him and looked at the sight of the apartment, wide-eyed. The living room was wrecked and the couch was toppled over and the love seat was moved from its spot. In the kitchen, glass was shattered everywhere from the china and glasses. Eddie did not dare to think what his bedroom looked like. Someone had definitely been there and had completely ransacked the apartment.
"Lily? What…?"
"I told you," whispered Lily, looking around. Eddie noticed that she had pulled her wand out and it had it at the ready. He followed the maneuvers and she held up her hand. "You're a citizen, Ed. Put the wand away. I'll search the apartment."
"Excuse me?" Eddie asked incredulously. "Who the bloody hell are you?"
"Someone who is the Mistress of Magic and head of this investigation," Lily said coolly. "I am also someone who is about three seconds from ditching you and solving it on her own." Eddie glared at Lily but said nothing, knowing she was at full power to do just as she threatened. Lily was now searching the apartment, her wand at the ready and her eyes narrowed, ready to strike. Eddie lowered his wand, but did not put it away, just in case something snuck up on her.
When Lily disappeared down the hall, Eddie raised his wand again and trudged through the rubble of his apartment, not believing his eyes. Before he could contemplate anymore, he heard Lily give a slight scream. Eddie's heart stopped in his chest and his breath caught short. Clutching his wand tightly, he raised it and sprinted down the hall and into his bedroom.
Lily was unharmed but was looking directly at the window sill wide-eyed, clearly startled, and had her wand pointed directly at where her eyes rested. Eddie followed her eyes and saw a rather large, midnight black owl with beady yellow eyes gave a small hoot and dropped a small blood red envelope on Eddie's desk. It gave another small hoot and flew out the shattered window.
"What was that?" Eddie asked in astonishment, looked clearly startled. Lily did not say anything, but just narrowed her eyes at the exact spot where the owl had been and where the envelope was resting on the desk. "Lily?"
"Stay here," she whispered, holding up her hand at Eddie, to prevent him from asking anymore questions, her wand still at the ready. "I'm going to check this out."
"Check what out?" Eddie asked urgently, placing his hand on her forearm, to stop her from walking forward. Both of them ignored the tingle that shot through their arms at the touch. "Lily, what's going on?" There was a long pause. "You don't think it has to do with Jane's kidnap, do you?"
"Shh!" Lily shushed him as she walked towards the blood red envelope. "Wingardium leviosa!" The envelope floated in front of her and she surveyed it.
"Lily, what are you doing?" Eddie asked urgently, becoming more confused, frustrated, and more panicked with every passing second. Lily ignored him and continued to survey the paper with narrowed eyes. Eddie bit his lip to prevent himself from shouting, from ripping it from Lily's spell and opening it, revealing its contents; to see if it had anything to do with Jane's well-being. "LILY!"
"Shut it Weasley" Lily finally shouted back, a fire blazing in her green eyes. Immediately recognizing that familiar fire, Eddie clamped his mouth shut but his frustration did not cease. Lily kept the envelope levitated and muttered another spell at it, causing it to glow slightly and then fall to the floor. Breathing in relief, she walked over to it, kneeled down and picked it up. Finally, Eddie grew infuriated and stomped his foot like an overgrown child.
"Lily, could you please tell me what the bloody hell is going on?" Eddie shouted in frustration. Lily got to her feet with the envelope still clutched in her hands.
"I was checking to make sure if was safe to open," Lily said reasonably, making Eddie feel dumb and like a fool. "If you've been living like a Muggle for so long, the only reasonable explanation for an owl waiting to personally hand you an envelope, is that it has something to do with Jane's kidnap. It could have been cursed or something. I had to make sure it was safe to open and read. Is that alright with you, Weasley?"
Eddie shuffled his feet and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans, trying to look angry at her, still feeling rather stupid. "Well, if you had just said that…" he mumbled lamely, causing Lily to roll her eyes.
"Open it," Lily said, ignoring his comment, handing him the letter. He looked at the blood red envelope in her hand, than back at her. "It's addressed to you. You open it."
Eddie took it with trembling hands and ripped it open timidly, as though waiting for it to explode. But, Lily was talented at what she did and all that came out of the envelope was a rumpled piece of paper. Eddie touched the letter and high pitched, terrifying scream came out of the envelope. Both Lily and Eddie screamed; Eddie dropped the envelope and paper and stumbled backwards. The scream was coming from a woman and it sounded as though she was being severely tortured. After a few moments, the screaming died down and the two of them stared at the letter, then back at each other, wide-eyed and gasping for breath.
"Lily!" Eddie croaked, trying to catch his breath, his voice hoarse from his scream. "You said it was safe!"
"It is safe!" Lily shouted back defensively. "That was no curse, as we're still here and unharmed."
"Then what was it?" Eddie snapped back furiously. Lily made a rude finger gesture at him and crawled over to the envelope, snatched it and scanned it, her emerald eyes becoming as wide as saucers.
"What is it?" Eddie whispered urgently, beginning to shake. "Has it something to do with Jane?" Lily nodded, her eyes never shrinking back to their normal size. "Read it out loud! Or let me see!" Lily handed it to him, her hand now trembling. Eddie seized it and began reading it.
Dear Mr. Edward Weasley,
What you just heard was the sound of your fiancé, Jane Anderson, being placed under the famous Cruciatus Curse.
You have something we want, Mr. Weasley, and unless you get it to us and still want to see your precious fiancé alive, we suggest you hand it over without a fight. If you do not know what it is we want, you're not ready to see the lovely Miss Anderson again. Unless you know what it is, you'll come to where we are and hand it over.
But in case you do not know, we present a clue; the first clue to giving us what we want and closer to seeing the love of your life. Whether you see her alive again is completely up to you. Once you reach the location of the first clue, the second clue will present itself. The best of luck to you; for your sake, and for Miss Anderson's.
Eddie finished reading the letter; his face had gone deathly pale so that his freckles contrasted with his skin even more so, warm chestnut brown eyes clouded over so that anger and grief; panic and disarray had settled in them. He searched Lily's eyes desperately, as though pleading with her to know what they wanted to they could go right to these people and save Jane. But, Lily was just as clueless as Eddie and shook her head, looking at him, for the first time since he had returned, tenderly.
"Lily," he whispered, his voice shaking. With anger or sadness, Lily did not know and could not figure it out. "We need to find these bastards. We need to find Jane! They're torturing her!"
"What do they want, Ed?" Lily whispered, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "They said you should know. Do you?"
"No Lily, I don't," Eddie said in a infuriated whisper. "The only thing I have left from the wizarding world is my wand and my old Nimbus. Do you think it's that they want?" he added desperately, "my wand or my broomstick?" Lily bit her lip uncertainly and scratched the back of her head.
"I doubt it, Ed," she said in a whisper. "No offense to your wand or anything." This caused Eddie to chuckle and look directly into her eyes.
"None taken," he said with a sad grin. Lily attempted to give one back and for a split second, Eddie's eyes lit up for a moment. "You know, this is the first civil conversation you've had with me since I came back." Lily bit her lip again.
"Well, you're no fun to humiliate when you're vulnerable," Lily mumbled, trying to hide a smile. Eddie laughed, but the sadness and anger still rested in his warm brown eyes, still glazed over with negative emotions. Lily did not like seeing her former friend and boyfriend like this and looked down at the blood red envelope, still sitting on the floor with another little piece of paper inside. Lily guessed that it was the clue and reached down and grabbed the piece of paper inside and read it to herself before reading it out loud to Eddie.
My face is green, but not because I have been on a boat
Without magic, in water I manage to stay afloat
With my light, I keep those without control, labor, and keep things fair
However, I, myself, it is labor I can bare
"What the bloody hell does all that mean?" Eddie asked in a moan, still sitting on the floor, his knees up, his elbows resting on his needs, and his hands tightly gripping his flaming, bushy red hair.
"I don't know, Ed," Lily whispered. "It's a riddle. The first clue is a riddle and we need to figure it out." Eddie did not say anything, but continued to give dry sobs. Finally, he buried his face in his hands and his shoulders began to shake as he called for Jane. Lily's heart went out to Eddie and she kneeled beside him, pulling him in a small, but yet comforting embrace. It was very awkward for her, but she knew Eddie needed comfort, and Lily was willing to overcome her awkwardness towards him, even for just a moment. Eddie hugged her back and continued to sob. Lily just patted him gently on the back. Finally, he calmed down, pulled away, and stood up firmly, his brown eyes now blazing angrily, ready to fight and tear about the people who had kidnapped and were now torturing Jane Anderson.
"We need to find her, Lily," he said desperately. "I…I love her. I can't live without her." For some reason, Lily could not bare to hear these words from Eddie about another woman. She turned away and stood up, so Eddie did not notice her own green eyes glazing over with a sad emotion one would not be able place.
"We'll find her, Ed," Lily said firmly, trying to hide the anguish in her voice. She turned back to him, taking the paper from his hand and clenching it tightly in her own small fist. "I promise you, I will not stop until I find her. I will hunt down these people until I do not have a breath left in me. I promise you, Edward Ronald Weasley. You have my word." With that, she took her free hand, spit into it, and held it out for Eddie to shake. Eddie stared at her hand wide-eyed, remembering their old childhood handshake. He grinned, followed Lily's movements by spitting into his own hand and they shook on it. Doing this action made them both get a bubbly feeling, but under the circumstances, they were forced to ignore it.
Despite the rubble mess, Eddie had managed to conjure up a teapot and two mugs and before one knew it, he had two steaming cups of tea ready he and Lily. Lily thanked him hastily as she continued to read and reread the riddle that had been sent to them, meanwhile taking notes as she did so.
"The first one is easy," Lily said taking a sip of her tea, not tearing her eyes away from the paper. "Whatever it is, it's green."
"Big help," Eddie mumbled sarcastically. "It could be in a tree for all we know, if that's all you can come up with." Lily looked up for the first time in nearly and hour and glared at him.
"If you like, you can figure it out all by yourself Mr. Genius," Lily snarled, narrowing her eyes. Eddie put his hands up in defense.
"No thank you," he said in an affirmative tone. "If it is one thing I did not inherit, it was my mother's logic and skill at solving puzzles and riddles. I'm leaving this to the expert."
"Then let the expert do her job!" Lily snapped, turning back to her work and continued to take notes. The intimate moment they had shared earlier was clearly gone and was only there for the sake of Eddie's comfort. Now that Eddie was no longer in a vulnerable state, the pair of them had gone back to giving each other a hard time. It was a very unpleasant situation but both of them seemed to be able to deal with it well enough.
Eddie got bored with watching Lily and decided it would be best if he just paced the room. In the meantime, he called the Muggle police and they came to investigate the broken in apartment and gave Eddie any updates on Jane's disappearance. They questioned Lily's presence, but Eddie claimed she was a cousin, simply here to help him out and for moral support.
"Moral support, eh?" said the younger of the two cops who had arrived. He was young and handsome with dark, chocolate brown puppy eyes, short black hair, a strong nose, acne, and a charming smile. Eddie clenched his fists for a moment as he saw that familiar look men usually gave Lily. "That's awfully nice of you, little lady."
"I do what I can," Lily said dryly, clearly annoyed that Eddie called these men over, forcing her to be interrupted and not being able to use her Quick Quill Spells to take notes on the riddle. The officer smiled and flashed Lily a very charming smile, causing Lily to blush slightly.
"Feisty," he said with a smirk and winked at her. The older of the two cops was too busy searching his bedroom to notice that is younger partner was not doing his job and searching the kitchen. "The way I like them." Eddie's fists were clenched so tightly he could feel his fingernails digging deep into his palms. He sat down at the table across from Lily and moved the chair so that he was sitting right beside her, only inches or so away.
"I think you need to let me take you out pretty girl," he said with a wink. Lily just stared at him.
"I think you don't," Lily said coolly, turning back to her work. The officer ignored her obvious rejection and threw his head back and laughed.
"C'mon, just one little itty bitty dinner," he said, trying to run his hand through Lily's long blonde hair. Lily's eyes flared for a moment and she grabbed his hand and roughly threw it off her. Eddie grinned to himself, seeing Lily get physically hostile always brought him amusement.
"Don't touch me," Lily snarled, standing up, her chair falling over. The cop stood up as well; he was nearly a head taller than her.
"Are you trying to give orders to an officer of the law?" he snapped. Eddie's eyes snapped open. This man was angry now, being rejected by Lily. "I have power missy and I can make your life hell…now if you just let me take you out to dinner, you'll have nothing worry about."
Lily raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to retort but Eddie stepped forward, shoved the officer away from Lily and stood in between them and glared dangerously at the officer standing before him.
"I think you and your partner need to leave," Eddie snarled. Eddie knew of police officers like this guy. Many used their power of authority to take advantage of women. Eddie was not saying that all cops were bad; his partner who was clearly doing his job seemed like a good guy. But Eddie was not letting this cop take advantage, not on his watch. The officer was clearly startled at Eddie's reaction and looked at him wide-eyed. He did not notice Lily grow bright red and throw down her pen in frustration, glaring daggers at Eddie's back.
"I think you need to remain calm, Mr. Whesley…"
"Trust me," Eddie snarled. "This is me calm. If I was not calm, I'd do this!" With that, Eddie winded his fist and slammed it hard against the cop's jaw, causing him to spit out blood and fly against the wall. His partner came bursting into the room with his gun raised. Thinking quickly, Lily pulled out her wand and screamed "Petrificus Totalus!" The older man became stiff as a board and fell over, clearly astonished and terrified. Lily turned her wand back on the man who had been hitting on her and performed the same spell. When they were both stiff, Lily glared daggers at Eddie.
"Great," she muttered, "now I have to modify their memories. You just love to complicate things, don't you Ed?"
"Oh stuff it," Eddie grumbled, massaging his bruised hand; the one he had used to punch the police officer. "I blame you and your stupid veela nonsense."
Lily pointed her wand at each of them, muttered, "Obliviate!" and had them both escorted out of the building, both had a dazed look on their face and looked thoroughly confused. Once they left, and once Lily and Eddie returned back upstairs to the apartment, Lily rounded on Eddie.
"What the bloody hell was that about?" Lily shouted. "You know perfectly well I can take care of myself! Why do you always have to make things so complicated?" Lily threw her hands in the air in frustration. "You will not be able to accompany on this mission if you get physical every time someone puts the moves on me. I am part veela! It happens! Deal with it Weasley! And in an undercover mission, people give you a hard time no matter if you're goblin, wizard, or veela! Get used to it or do not get involved in this investigation!"
"I'm sorry!" Eddie shouted in defense. "I just hate when men in some kind of power try and take advantage of other people!"
"Nor do I," Lily snapped, crossing the room and staring out the large bay window into the city lights. The sun had set and all one could see in the sky were the skyscrapers, glittering against the starless sky. "I would have taken care of that bastard. I don't need you to do it for me."
Eddie gaped at her for a moment and sputtered for a few moments. Lily turned around and glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest. She stood in such a pose, as though daring Eddie to challenge her. He just continued to stare at her for a moment; a look in which Lily could not place. Eddie raised his wand, as though he was going to strike, and Lily raised her own in defense.
"Accio Nimbus!" Eddie shouted. Lily raised an eyebrow and a broomstick came flying down the hallway. Lily recognized it as his old broomstick which he used during Qudditch games. Eddie hopped on to it and pushed off the ground. Lily did not do anything except lower her wand.
"You'll be seen," was all she said. Eddie glared at her. Lily gasped at the glare he was giving her; it was so full of hate and anger that her heart wrenched; because it was hate and anger towards her.
"I don't care," he snarled before turning his broomstick towards his bedroom and flying out the shattered window. Lily kicked a piece of the broken mantel and screamed in frustration, before returning to the kitchen table to work on solving the riddle, her mind and heart debating on whether she should go after him.
A note from the Jitterbelle. Well, there's another chapter. I am rather excited about this story because I have a really good plot, and a superb ending to the serious. I wrote it all down so not to forget it and I promise to my reviewers who have been reading this series since 'Time Traveler,' you will not be disappointed. I hope you're enjoying this story as much as I am writing it. And just a heads up, I start college again next week so its going to be difficult trying to update but I promise, I will not abandon neither of the two stories I have started this summer and I promise they won't take as long to write as "Final Prophecy" (probably because I did not have a plot nor an ending when I started that one haha!) But please read, review, but more importantly, ENJOY!