Lily couldn't move, the body bind curse made sure of that. The blindfold was still in place, but she could feel her body fall. She could feel the air as it rushed past her face and then she felt the impact of ground. It knocked the wind out of her and yet she could do nothing to help that fall. Her body began to roll.
She could feel the rocks scrape her body as she picked up speed. Her head hit a rock and it snagged the blindfold. Lily continued to roll downhill with no way to stop herself. She was bloody and raw and she was not slowing down. That was when she saw it. It was a huge stone on the outskirts of a small forest.
She felt a scream well up in her throat, but she could do nothing to stop the inevitable. She hit the rock formation full force. She felt the sickening crunch of bones breaking. Her body slammed to a stop and her head smacked the rock.
Lily felt woozy. She felt bloody trickle down her face. The grass was cool on her skin and soon goosebumps formed. Her warm cloak was still on the train and she had yet to change into her school uniform. She was still in her summer clothes and she could smell the change in the air. A storm was coming, and it was going to be a big one. A tear slipped down her cheek and mingled with the blood. Her wand was gone, she couldn't seem to fight out of the hex and everyone still thought she was on rounds. To top it off, her head was pounding and her vision was getting fuzzy. Finally, she succumbed to darkness.
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On the train, her friends were starting to worry. Albus opened the compartment door and looked out. He turned to the others and shook his head. No sign of Lily. "She must have had something detain her. Maybe she stopped a fight."
Scorpius felt a tickle in the back of his mind. Something was not right, but for the moment they had no reason to think anything was wrong. The compartment became restless as minutes ticked by. Rose tried to put everything into perspective. "We really have nothing to worry about. This is Lily we are talking about. She can take care of herself and then some. She is probably giving some first year hexing tips as we speak."
The others nodded, but no one looked convinced. Lily had been gone much too long. The rounds usually only took ten minutes or so. Lily had been gone for three times that long. They tried to hold a conversation, but no one was listening to the others. Their ears were trained on any sound coming from the hallway.
After an hour, they were no longer fooling themselves. Something was definitely wrong. Lily did not just up and leave. Scorpius quickly jumped into action as a leader. He sent Rose and Hugo to check the front end of the train. Blain and Albus took the middle while he and Oz took the back. As they all split up the first sounds of the thunderstorm started. Lightning lit up the train's interior and rain beat at the windows. With somber faces, they all headed off to do a thorough search of the train.
Scorpius was starting to feel panicked. Suddenly, he had an idea. "Oz go start the search. I'll be right there." With a curt nod, Oz rushed down towards the end of the train. Scorpius quietly closed the compartment door and reached into his moleskin pouch. It had been a gift for his 17th birthday from the Potters. Harry had explained that no one but himself could open the pouch and now he carried it with him everywhere he went.
Inside the pouch was a folded piece of worn parchment and a small mirror. Behind that were smaller pieces of parchment, rolled up and carefully placed in. They were all the pictures Lily had given him for his birthday. He touched one softly. Every birthday he was given a new drawing and he carried them all with him everywhere.
He shook his head. Now is not the time to get sentimental. He grabbed the mirror. "Lily!" He called her name and waited for her face to appear, but nothing happened. The mirror remained dark. He tried again. When her face still did not appear, Scor became very agitated. "Lily Luna Potter, you answer me right now. If this is some kind of joke then it is not funny! Do you hear me? Pick up your mirror right now!"
His hands were shaking, but nothing brought forth Lily's face. He forced himself to take deep breaths. Carefully he placed the mirror back into the moleskin pouch. He looked into the luggage rack and saw Lily's school bag. He pulled it down and shuffled through the papers, books, and quills. He saw it, the small mirror that went everywhere with her. Shit!
Scorpius hastily shoved everything back into the bag. Scorpius ran out of the compartment and down to meet up with Oz. Every compartment was looked in. The hallways were searched and the bathrooms were checked. An hour after the search began there was still no sign of Lily Potter. The six friends all stood in the compartment at a loss. What do you do in this situation? There were no professors on the train. Behavior was dealt with by the Head Boy and Girl and the prefects. Rose, who seemed to know everything and anything, was even at a loss. Where could Lily have gone?
Hugo punched at the door. "Where could she be?"
"I don't know." Rose placed a hand on his shoulder. "We are almost to the school now. We'll just have to get to the professors."
Scorpius interrupted, "But the train will leave. What if she is hurt on the train and we just can't find her? Someone needs to keep the train here."
"Leave that to me." Blain headed towards the door with his school bag. The others sat down, unsure of what to do next. There was no conversation. Each was lost in their own thoughts, watching the rain beat down on the train. Scorpius put a hand on the window, feeling the cool glass. He rested his head on the glass and closed his eyes. Where are you Lil?
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The driving rain managed to wake the witch in question. She woke slowly, her head still pounding. Slowly she blinked her eyes. Every movement brought a fresh wave of pain. She let out a groan and tried to roll over. The rain felt like knives on her exposed skin. She struggled to a sitting position, but soon collapsed in pain. It hurt everywhere.
It hurt to breathe, it hurt to sit, and her leg was at an unusual position. Lightning lit the sky and Lily realized she needed to find shelter. Looking down she knew there was no way she could walk. Looking just past the rock formation, she saw a small copse of trees. It was not ideal, but it was better than nothing.
Slowly she rolled to her stomach, feeling as if her chest was on fire. Painfully, she pulled herself towards the trees. Lightning lit the sky again, and the trees seemed so far away. Lily put her head on her arms; it felt like an impossible task. She was cold, shivering, and yet her body felt on fire. Everything hurt. She felt like she was going to pass out again and her stomach began to feel queasy.
Another strike of lightning, and something snapped in her. I will not give up, I will not give in. I am the daughter of Harry Potter and this will not stop me. With a burst of energy and drive, Lily continued to pull herself towards the only shelter she could find.
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The train had pulled up to their stop. Blain was still no where to be seen, but the others all dashed out. They didn't even wait for a carriage but instead began to run full speed for the castle in the distance.
They crashed though the doors, dripping wet and out of breath. There were no professors to meet them. It was still at least fifteen minutes before other students would start to arrive. They started to run towards the Great Hall, and they ran into Professor McGonagall.
The startled professor picked herself up. "What is the meaning of this?" They all started to explain at one time. McGonagall put up her hands. "One at a time please. Mr. Malfoy, you first."
After a few minutes, the professor's frown became more and more worried. With a quick turn she gestured to the small group to follow her. They all followed silently, but quickly. Within moments they were all standing in her office watching as she sent word to keep the train in the station.
Next, she looked up at one of the portraits on the wall. Only then did Scorpius see portraits he recognized. She spoke to the portrait of Professor Snape. "Severus, please tell Harry and Ginny we need to see them now. It is urgent." With hardly a glance, he was gone.
Moments later the floo flared to life and Harry and Ginny Potter rushed out. He didn't seem to notice the others in the room. He looked straight at the Headmistress. "What's wrong Professor?"
"It seems that one of your children had disappeared off the train. Talking with those with her, she went on rounds some time ago and never came back. They checked through the entire train and found no sign." At these words Ginny stepped forward.
"How is that possible?"
"I do not know." Harry meanwhile had spotted Albus. Scorpius saw it dawn on him who was missing. He quickly pulled his son into a brief, fierce hug. Professor McGonagall interrupted.
"Harry, I leave this to you. Anything you need, please call. I need to go to the feast and keep track of the others that are there. It will not do to have them running around trying to help at this time; I believe it will only get in the way." She placed a hand on Ginny's shoulder and gave a squeeze. "She'll be fine. Remember she takes after Harry, and I believe he came out of a few little adventures just fin while in school."
Ginny gave her a wry smile before turning to Harry. "What are we going to do?"
Harry was quiet for a moment. Scorpius could see him gathering his thoughts. When he looked up he stared at Ginny. "You are going home."
Before he could finish Ginny broke in with an angry growl, "No I won't. my daughter is out there and I will damn well stay here and help everyone find her! You cannot send me home just because you don't want me out there!" Harry held up his hands.
"Ginny, calm down. I wouldn't dream of that. Just listen. I need you to go home and get your coin." This confused Scorpius a bit, but it seemed to make sense to the Potter family. "Then I want you to call Teddy and get him over here. Call Ron too. Have Hermione head off the rest of the family. Until we know what help we need, extra bodies will just slow us down. Have Ron get a hold of James and have him call in a small auror team."
"When you get back here, I want you to take James and Al and search the train again. Make sure she isn't on that train if you find anything, use your coin." Ginny nodded, grateful for the ability to do something. She jumped back into the fire and was gone. Rose came forward.
"What can we do Uncle Harry?" The other nodded. They wanted to help. Harry looked thoughtful again.
"I want you all here. Rose, do me a favor and go and get Professor Longbottom." Rose ran out the door. "I need you to go to the feast." Harry again held up his hands to stop any protest. "Talk to every student you can find. It could help us find out where Lily was when she disappeared and the time she disappeared. If you find out anything, tell Neville and he will let me know."
Just then the floo flared to life again and out came Teddy and Ron. "What's going on mate? Ginny told me to get here. Something about Lily being missing." Harry quickly explained the situation to Ron and Teddy. Ron was quick to recover and he pulled out his wand. A silvery small dog erupted from his wand. It ran off barking. He looked at Harry. "Johnson and McKesson will be here shortly." Harry nodded as James and Ginny came stumbling out of the fire.
Without a word, Ginny grabbed Albus and James and they headed out the door. As they left, Rose returned with Neville Longbottom. Harry quickly explained the situation. With a nod, he led the teens out of the room. Scorpius held back.
"Sir, where do you think she is?" Harry looked at Scorpius. Ron and Teddy were busy deciding the best plan of attack. He walked to Scorpius and put a hand on his shoulder.
"I don't know Scor. My guess, somehow she ended up off that train. I don't know how, but we will find her. I promise you, she will be fine. Look at everyone out helping now, we will find her." Scorpius felt his chest tighten and constrict. He could feel something inside himself breaking. He nodded at Harry and ran out the door before he broke down. He didn't have time for that; he had to help find Lily.
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Hours passed. The feast was long since over and the students all in their beds. The search party all sat in Professor McGonagall's office, discussing the next strategy. It seemed no one knew what had happened to Lily Potter. Tempers were short and the worry was etched on everyone's face.
Blain had rejoined the group. He had jumped out of the train as it pulled to a stop. Out of his bag he had pulled out James and Fred's new invention, super sticky bubblegum. He had coated all the wheels with the stuff and when the train had tried to pull out, the sticky mess had held it in place. The more the train fought to get free, the stickier the gum became. It had taken Harry and James combined to finally release the train.
The only sign of Lily had been her wand. They had found it shoved into a trash can. Scorpius put his head in his hands; they were no closer to finding her. Harry had tried to get the teens to go to bed, but they were having none of it. They sat up, silent. Everyone was trying for a new plan. Scorpius reached into his moleskin pouch and pulled out the drawing Lily had made for him.
He slowly unrolled them and stared at the sketches she had made him over the years. One was him and Lily sitting by the tree. The next year was a sketch of the common room she had designed. The following year was a picture of him during a quidditch match. His last one was his favorite. After years, Bludger, Lily's falcon, had finally decided he liked Scorpius. It was a sketch of Scorpius holding the fierce bird.
He could see every detail, the feathers, the look in his eyes. Scorpius found himself smiling at the picture. It didn't move the way the portraits did, but it had life. He could picture Bludger and his devotion to Lily in that picture.
Just then, an idea formed. He dropped the picture and looked up. "Bludger."
Harry looked at him, confused, "What?"
"Bludger, use Bludger. I have never seen an animal so devoted to someone in my life. Bludger could find Lily. I mean think about how many times you send an owl to deliver post and they always find the person they need to deliver it too. Bludger feels like Lily is his chick, so the connection is twice as strong. Have him find Lily."
Harry looked at Scorpius and for the first time that night he smiled. "That is brilliant! It is definitely worth a shot." Harry jumped up. A new plan was quickly formed.
"Ron, Teddy, Johnson, and McKenna I need you to get your brooms ready. After we let Bludger go, we are going to follow him. Make sure you have wands at the ready at all times. The weather is better, but it is still bad so I need you to keep sharp."
The men nodded and jumped up to get ready. "As for the rest of you, it is late and we may need a fresh set of eyes later. I need you all to go to your rooms and get some sleep."
Scorpius stood up, "I want to go with you." This was soon followed by everyone else in the room. Harry shook his head.
"No, we don't even know if this will work. I may need you all fresh tomorrow to help with some other ideas." Scorpius was ready to fight the decision, but Ginny placed a motherly hand on his shoulder.
"We know you want to find her, we all do, but if we are all falling asleep at our brooms, we will not help her. We could easily miss her. The best thing you could do is wait here."
Harry looked up and his face softened. I promise you all, the minute we find anything, I will contact Ginny and Neville. They will keep you all informed." He looked straight at Scorpius, "The minute we find her, you will know."
Scorpius nodded. Slowly the group headed off to their prospective rooms. Scorpius and Oz dragged their feet all the way. Neither said a word. In their rooms, Scorpius could not sleep. He tossed and turned and could not sleep. He knew Oz was not asleep, but he was not moving at all.
Hours after Harry and the others left, someone knocked quietly on the dorm door. He opened it to reveal Professor Longbottom. Oz and Scorpius jumped from their beds, eager for any news. The professor's face was grave.
"They found her. They will be here momentarily." The two boys rushed down the stairs as quietly as possible, hoping not to wake any others.
Scorpius raced to the hospital wing. He rounded the corner and stopped. There was Harry, carrying a wet soggy bundle. The bundle was bruised and bloody. Arms and legs were sticking out at odd angles, and in the light from the torches, the body looked blue.
Scorpius followed Harry into the infirmary. He watched Madam Pomfrey begin to work, but all he could focus on was Lily's face. There was no color, the lips were blue, and there was blood all over. Lily Potter looked very very dead.
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Sorry for cliffhangers, they just make such nice endings ;) Thanks for reviews, hope you all like it so far.