DISCLAIMER: ALL HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and the respective publishing companies. I do own Jenn Parksen, Lori Wilson, and Monica Sinclair as well this twisted version of the plot. This is, of course, a simple Fan-Fiction that I have written in order to retain some semblance of sanity and dignity.
Chapter 10: Half a Rescue
Lily held her breath as the footsteps came closer; her hands trembling and shaking so badly she feared she would miss completely should she attempt to fire a spell. As she watched, the bushes in front of her began to rustle and shake as though someone or something was pushing their way through. The bushes gave one last violent heave and then… a unicorn stepped onto the path just in front of Lily. Laughing and crying with relief Lily lowered her wand and watched curiously as the unicorn stepped closer. The bushes rattled again as a second unicorn stepped out beside the first.
Leaning forward Lily reached her hand out towards the first unicorn and waited silently as it raised its muzzle and sniffed at her outstretched hand. Slowly it moved closer until its soft muzzle brushed against her palm. Tenderly Lily stroked the unicorn's face and neck as it gently pushed closer still. The second dear pushed close as well and in no time Lily was petting and stroking both as she knelt there besides James.
After several minutes the first unicorn leaned down to nuzzle James neck. Stepping around his legs the unicorn used a hoof to scrap away some leaves and twigs before it lay down beside James and pressed close enough to keep him warm. Soon the second unicorn was lying beside Lily.
Sitting there with the two fully grown unicorns in the growing light of morning, Lily felt herself truly relax for the first time since she had woken from the terrible nightmare that Voldemort had sent her. Lying down beside James and between both unicorns Lily sighed softly and let herself drift off slowly to sleep.
And she dreamed…
She was walking upstairs carrying a tiny babe in her arms. Humming softly she couldn't help but feel she had finally found everything she had ever been looking for. From downstairs she could hear James arguing with Sirius again over some perceived slight. Laughing softly Lily just shook her head and opened the baby's door with a nudge of her foot so as not to disturb the little one. As she moved over the crib and made to set the baby down in the crib the little body shuddered and gave a soft cry.
"Shhh… hush now, little darlin', Momma's here," Lily murmured softly as she pulled her son back to her chest and sat down in the rocking chair instead. Rocking gently she hummed an old lullaby her mum had sang to her when she was younger.
"Hush my baby close your eyes, don't be scared and don't you cry, I will be here and in your dreams, for as long as stars fill the sky. My love for you will keep you safe, will hold you for eternity, and for as long as the stars fill the sky."
As she sang the baby boy watched her with wide eyes as his cries slowly faded. Blinking the babe struggled to keep his eyes open while Lily's soft voice filled the room. In no time he was sleeping soundly once more. After a few moments, Lily stood up carefully and placed the baby tenderly in his crib as she continued to hum the melody under her breath. Lovingly, she pulled up his covers and placed a tender kiss on his forehead. Smiling softly she brushed his unruly black hair out of his face and watched his peaceful sleeping for several minutes before she stepped away from the crib and turned to the door.
"Good Night, Harry," She whispered as she silently pulled the door closed until only a small inch of light fell onto the floor of the baby's room.
Slipping quietly back downstairs Lily continued to hum softly under her breath.
Okay boys; let's head back to where the battle took place," Moody called out above the rushing wind as they flew high above the ground. Remus and Sirius nodded to show they understood and the three of them angled their brooms downward so that they were practically skimming the tops of the trees of the Forbidden Forest. In no time at all they were slowing down over the clearing where they had fought for their lives the night before.
Landing off to the side of the clearing Sirius and Remus stood quietly by as Moody walked around surveying the perimeter of the clearing before he turned to look at the blood stained ground in the middle. After studying patterns on the ground that only he could see, he turned to the north to examine the blackened trees and shrubs that had been scorched by Jenn's Pyro Spell during the battle. Carefully he noted where the many footprints marred the ground and then walked over to one of the remaining torches that the Death Eaters had placed around the clearing. Pulling it from the bracket carefully he turned it over and whispered a spell over it and watched as a blackish green smoke was drawn from the smothered torch.
Frowning Moody tossed the torch on the ground and turned back to the blood covered ground in the middle of the clearing. Muttering intently under his breath he started waving his wand in sharp, jerky movements back and forth over the bloody ground. A thin stream of yellowish smoke floated down to circle the stained earth. A sickly echo of Monica's screams wailed through the clearing as the smoke touched her blood. Moody immediately dispelled the diagnostic charm and turned sadly away from the smoke and dried blood.
"Which way did you see Lily and James go?" Moody asked wearily.
"They headed that way," Remus replied awkwardly as he pointed off somewhere to the right.
"Right lets keep to our feet and see if we can find any traces of their passing. If we don't find anything by noon, we will take to the air and weave a search pattern over the forest and see if we can spot them."
Slowly Sirius and Remus followed Moody into the surrounding trees.
Amelia Bones sat impatiently behind her mentor and boss's desk, impatiently tapping her wand against her thigh as she watched the clock and fireplace at the same time. She'd been waiting for well over an hour for Alastor to return from Hogwarts with the counter spell he'd gone to track down – a task that should have taken him no longer than a half hour max. The longer her superior took to return, the more agitated Amelia became.
She was just climbing to her feet as the desire to pace with frustration overcame her, when the door to Moody's office burst open and she found herself face to face with her boss's boss, Barty Crouch – head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Mentally growling at his order to vacate Moody's office, she unwillingly stepped outside the office until the man finished whatever it was he needed to do.
While she waited, she conjured up a scrap of parchment before pulling a self inking quill from her robe pocket so she could jot down a quick note. When she finished, she folded the parchment into the shape of an airplane and sent it off to one of her fellow Auror's desk with an order for him to head to Hogwarts in order to check in with Moody in an attempt to find out what was taking so long.
Kingsley Shacklebolt, a young recruit who had been with the department for just a few years, sighed as he crumpled the small note in his hand and watched as the conjured scrap faded back out of existence. Being the low Auror on the ladder definitely had its drawbacks when it came to annoying and tedious assignments. Believing this request would be danger and risk free; the young wizard left for the apparition point without bothering to grab a field kit, intent on his latest task.
He arrived at Hogwarts just a few minutes later and wandered through the gates and up to the castle at a leisurely pace as he didn't think there was any reason to rush along in his pursuit of tracking down Mad Eye. Shacklebolt had just entered through the main doors of the castle and was walking by one of the many broom closets that littered the ancient building, when he heard several voices call out and start banging on the door.
"What in the world?" he wondered as he walked over and tried the door. "Locked?"
"Please! Let us out!" the voices called louder this time.
"Keep your pants on," Kingsley ordered in return as he pulled out his wand and flicked it at the door while he cast a simple unlocking charm. "Alohomora"
The door swung open slowly and as Kingsley smiled into the faces of the group he'd just rescued he was caught full in the face with a stunning spell.
"Come on; let's haul him into the closet," Zebulon growled as he grabbed an arm of the downed Auror.
Once they had him stuffed in the closet they magically locked the door so it could only be opened from the inside (after hiding Shacklebolt's wand in a nearby suit of armor) and shut the door with a malicious laugh.
"Let's go," Avery ordered. "The Dark Lord wants that book. Does anyone know where that little rat got to? No? Well, no bother let's head to the seventh floor instead. Wormtail said Evans and the others had been locked up in one of the rooms up there for a few days now. The book will most likely be there."
Moving quickly up the stairs to the seventh floor the three youngest Death Eaters moved down the hall where the Room of Requirement sat and to their surprise the door stood open for them. Smiling at their luck the three boys moved carefully into the room and shut the door behind them.
Lily rolled over and snuggled into the warmth that lay beside her. Smiling as she drifted softly in her sleep. She couldn't remember when she'd had such a happy and warming dream, even if it did involve Potter and the future again. Or did it? Maybe she was just dreaming a fantasy about the future, something happy in the face of all the horrible things that she had seen.
Frowning Lily sought the comforting warmth near her once more in hopes of recapturing that peaceful feeling she'd had during her dream. She couldn't seem to find it. Feeling uncertain, Lily opened her eyes and looked around her. She was alone, no, James was lying beside her still, but the unicorns were gone. Sighing softly she reached over and felt James's forehead. He was burning up; he'd developed a fever from the infection while she had been napping.
Lily frowned deeper before sitting up so she could scoot closer and take the bandages off of James leg to check on his wound. The moment she peeled back the fabric, she gagged at the smell of the poison seeping from the wound. It had turned a nasty shade of yellows and greens and was oozing puss and blood in turns. Carefully Lily wiped it clean as best she could and then rewrapped the wound in fresh bandages. As she worked she noticed an oddly shaped bulge in James's robe pocket. Puzzled Lily reached in and pulled out a blank square of parchment.
The map! Lily felt relief flood her soul as she unfolded that blessed and cursed map. Pulling out her wand she held it over the map and racked her brain for the spell to activate it.
"I need help." tap tap… nothing…
"I am desperately in need of help, show me the map." Tap tap… some words formed on the parchment.
Messier Moony bids good day to you, and asks you to
kindly use the proper password.
"I don't know the password!" Lily cried aloud even as more words formed.
Messier Padfoot begs you to kindly not holler and that
you put the map back where you found it if you can't use it.
"Damn you James! Why don't you have an emergency feature on this blasted map!"
Messier Prongs takes offense to the cursing and kindly
bids you to go hex yourself.
"Great Circe, James, couldn't you at least show some consideration and tact for once in your life! Even as you lie dying your pranks come back to haunt me!" Lily growled out.
Messier Wormtail thinks you should keep your lies and pathetic
whining to yourself.
"I swear James, must you always be up to no good! Is everything a joke to you and the others?"
Messier Padfoot: Do you swear that you are up to no
good?
Lily sat up and frowned down at the map. Up to no good? Could that be it? Was it really that simple? Knowing she had nothing to lose, she took a quick breath and whispered, "I, Lily Evans, swear that I am up to no good and if you are smart you'll show me the map!"
Messier Prongs: Lily, my blossoming flower, my painted lily of
love. For you I will gladly open the wonderful world of Hogwarts.
Relieved that she hadn't been insulted yet again, Lily watched as the lines of Hogwarts melted into view over the nasty comments that had been written on the parchment.
Once she wrestled her emotions into a semblance of calm, she began searching the map among the trees of the Forbidden Forest between the inked representations of the school and nearby village. Soon enough she found her dot smack dab in the middle labeled Lily Flower – Lost. Rolling her eyes she looked further before she went back to her own dot in confusion. Where was James? Did it not show people who where sick or sleeping? Curious.
Turning back to the surrounding areas on the map Lily's attention was caught by a trio of moving dots.
Remus, Sirius, and… Moody? Who was Alastor Moody? A second label appeared beside Moody's name; Mad Eye Moody. No help, she thought. But I don't think Sirius and Remus would be with him willingly if he was a Death Eater. Would they? What if they were prisoners? Who is this Moody person? Suddenly a third label appeared by Moody's dot; Auror.
Auror? He's on our side then! Thank goodness. Smiling softly in relief she stood and turned in each direction trying to figure out which way she should go. The map seemed to understand her trouble as it showed her dot holding what could only be her wand out with a note beside with the incantation for the four point spell.
Taking the not so subtle hint from the map, Lily performed the spell and then double checked the map to verify the direction. Once she set the direction in her mind she turned to James where he lay unconscious on the ground. She couldn't leave him. Not even for a moment. Biting her lip she considered how to take him with her. Ah ha! She knew what she could do; she could transfigure her cloak into a board and then levitate it with a charm. Quickly she turned her cloak stiff as a board and then charmed James into the air and the board right into place under him.
Carefully she used the remaining portions of James own cloak to secure him onto the board and keep him from falling. Raising him off the ground with a quick spell, she pushed him on the board before her she headed off in the direction of the three searchers had been according to the map.
Lori sat holding Jenn's hand as she watched Madam Pomfrey bustling around the still unconscious Headmaster Dumbledore. Professor McGonagall was sitting slumped in a chair nearby and didn't seem to be handling the situation very well. Lori was frightened, in the back of her mind she couldn't help but remember what the future held in store; no Lily, no James, and no Dumbledore.
How would Hogwarts cope without Dumbledore? What would happen to all the students? What was going to happen to her? And to Jenn? Neither of them had been mentioned at all in either of the books from the future. Could they both end up dead? Being murdered the same way as Lily's sister and Monica? Was Voldemort even now planning on skinning them alive?
Lori began to quietly sob as she sat there beside Jenn. Guilt flashed white hot inside her at the thought of Monica's suffering at the hands of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. A feeling of inadequacy began building inside her as she sat helplessly beside Jenn. Here she sat doing nothing while Sirius and Remus were out risking their necks trying to find Lily and James. If Jenn hadn't been hurt she would have been out there as well.
Tears tracked their way down her face as she sat there silently crying at her predicament and that of her best friends.
Moody was getting worried. It was just about high noon and still no sign had been seen of Potter or this Lily Evans. Even Lupin and Black had begun to look worried about their friends. What if they had been captured during the night by Death Eaters? How would they know where to look?
Sirius was searching along the side of the path when Moody spoke up. "I think it's time we head back and do a low flying search." Sirius opened his mouth to object, but Moody seemed to know what he was going to say.
"No, if we keep walking we will get lost out here. There's large possibility that your friends left the path and headed in just about any direction out into the forest. Also, it is possible that we could have crossed their path and they could be waiting for us at the castle right now. It's better if we mount up and fly over the forest at a leisurely pace and see if you can catch some sign of them from the air."
Sirius closed his mouth and nodded.
"We could ask Hagrid to help. He knows these woods better then anyone else," Remus added softly.
"If we don't find them before dark, we will go to Hagrid. In the mean time, mount up!"
Reluctantly Sirius and Remus mounted their brooms and angled them up and out of the forest. Once Moody joined them they began flying slowly over the tops of the trees looking for any sign of the two missing friends.
Peter the rat lay stunned in the far back corner of the cage he had been put in after Voldemort and the Death Eaters had tortured him. His cage had been thrown clear when Sirius had attacked the other boys. As he lay there staring at nothing, he could remember the look of absolute disgust that Black had turned in his direction before he'd zoomed out of the tower on his broom.
Whimpering softly Peter turned his head slowly as he began to take in his surroundings. He was alone in the common room and the cage had been damaged during the short fight. Moving gingerly up onto his feet he half crawled and half dragged himself towards the bent metal that made up the cage door.
Carefully he shoved his head into the gap and shoved weakly at the door while scrabbling with his back claws in order to push his way out. Bit by bit he managed to get halfway out when something held him back. Turning to look behind him, he saw that his tail had been pinned under an over turned chair and pinched fast in the mutilated cage wall. Already suffering terribly from his torture at the hands of the Dark Lord and his followers, the additional pain hadn't penetrated his fog filled mind until the moment he saw his tail.
Scooting fully back inside the cage Peter turned until he could reach his tail and with his furry little forefeet tried to tug the tail free. When he couldn't get it loose, he looked frantically around for something to help him out. If he could only get free of the cage he'd be able to transform back to himself, but while he remained a captive the magical bindings on the cage prevented him from changing forms.
Desperately he tried pulling his tail loose again but it was no use. It wouldn't budge and each desperate tug only aggravated the pain he felt from the trapped appendage. Fearful of the Death Eaters or his former friends returning, Peter closed his eyes as he firmly placed his long worm-like tail between his teeth and began the painful process of chewing off a large portion of his tail in order to himself free.
Lily quickly grew tired as she pushed James along in front of her. She had no idea how long she had walked last night, or how long they'd been out looking for... for… Monica. Not to mention the fact that she'd acquired her own share of injuries during the battle with the Death Eaters the night before. Lily choked back a sob as the grief for her youngest friend squeezed her hear tightly before she forcefully pushed all thoughts of Monica and her death out of her mind so she could focus on getting out of the forest. Wiping a few stray tears from her face she pushed on a bit further in the hopes that she was getting close to the three searchers. She'd been trudging for close to two hours since she'd first found and activated the map.
Think about the map, Lily paused for a moment to open the parchment up to check on her progress. A brief glance was all it took for her to realize that the three dots were moving considerably faster now. And they were speeding off away from where she now stood! They were leaving the forest!
No! Not that! Lily thought frantically as she stared down at the animated map in her hands. Think Lily, think, she growled to herself as she tried to think of a way to get the attention of the rapidly retreating searchers. A heartbeat later, hope lit her eyes as she pointed her wand above her head and fired off a trio of red sparks high into the air, hoping that where ever Sirius and Remus were they would see them.
After a full minute had passed, she fired another round of sparks into the air. Not knowing if they'd been seen, she fired off two more series of sparks aiming higher yet so that the sparks could be seen from farther away.
AN: I'd like to apologize for the delay in posting this chapter, it's been a long month and I was far busier then anticipated with my project and then with a sick kid – and let me tell you, sick kids are never fun! Especially when they get you sick in exchange for taking care of them. Ungrateful brats! lol… on the upside, chapter 11 is also complete and will be added tomorrow as a bonus for your patience in waiting for this chapter! I'd have it up today, but I still need to copy it over onto an uploadable file and edit the format, which I am doing this evening so I can post it first thing in the morning! Until then, I hoped you enjoyed the cliffie and look forward to reading my latest reviews! – Jenn