The Strange Kids on Kennedy Street
Ooh. Serious chapter. This was sad to write.
Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling writes intenseness so much better than me.
Chapter 10: Hide and Freak
"Ready or not, here I come!"
Lily tried to stifle her breathing as she heard Ivy approach. Ivy was "it" in their game of Sardines, and Lily had stuffed herself into the bathroom closet.
A loud pop sounded from behind her, and Lily screamed and leapt out of the closet, letting the light reveal…
James. Of course.
"Lily! Found you!" Ivy crowed, flinging open the bathroom door.
"Look what you did," Lily reprimanded the boy, who was looking about the room in confusion.
"I was aiming for the back door," he confessed. "Guess I overshot it a bit."
"Go hide somewhere," Lily instructed.
"What?"
"It's a game," she explained. "I'll come find you."
Lily counted down and proceeded to find Almeda, Amy, Aunt Linny, and Tabitha. Opening the dumbwaiter, Fern spilled out of the small opening. But after ten minutes of investigation (unearthing Milly and Alice), James was still nowhere to be found.
Lily passed the bathroom. He can't be, she thought, but she opened the closet door just the same and stepped in to look behind the sliding door. Which proceeded to shut behind her.
"Very funny, James," she huffed, nonverbally lighting her wand. Red eyes and slit nostrils were suddenly (and unattractively) illuminated.
Lily shrieked and instinctively Apparated (Alohomora would take too long) and found herself in the park down the street, mind in a panic.
With a chill, she realised that her family was still in there, along with a missing James. She had to go back!
But a gripping fear clenched at her heart, and she couldn't make herself go back.
Lily! she shrieked in her own head. You are a GRYFFINDOR! If you don't go back, they'll all DIE!
It was maddening.
Steeling herself to go closer, Lily prepared to Apparate, when the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.
"You think you can escape me, Mudblood?" Voldemort hissed from behind.
Almost paralysed with fear, Lily did the only thing she could think of: Apparate again. With her wand in her pocket, she wouldn't have stood a chance, and it was almost like a convulsion, the speed she turned.
"MR. POTTER!" Lily shrieked when she realised she was at James' house, pounding on the door hysterically, knowing full well that Voldemort could hear her down the road and would either Apparate, or just walk the half a damn block to where she was.
Lily had never been afraid for her life before, but she was finding, oddly enough, that it wasn't exactly an experience she would ever look forward to.
The door was flung open. Sirius looked at her like she was mad.
"Sirius!" Lily leapt inside and slammed the door, though she was sure it wouldn't do any good. "Come on! You've got to help! I can't find James, and Voldemort was in my HOUSE!"
A crash sounded from the kitchen. "Lily?" James ran into the room, wand aloft.
"Where were you?" Lily gasped.
"You said to hide," James explained, looking confused, and Lily decided that now was not the time to describe to him the specifics of Sardines.
Hugely frustrated now, Lily grabbed both boys by the arm and Apparated once more into her attic, where (thank Merlin) Gran had marshaled most everyone into cleaning out boxes from her move.
They dashed down the stairs, ignoring the few shrieks they received from their abrupt appearance, and Lily ran into the babies' room.
She shoved babies upon Sirius and James, and they darted upstairs. Alice appeared, and Lily shoved a pacifier into Julianne's mouth so she wouldn't cry.
James returned for Lydia, the last of the youngsters, and they hightailed it into the attic, extinguishing lights and electronics as they went, the better to hear.
"Your door is locked?" James ensured.
"Yes, of course," Lily assured him, locking the attic door in turn.
Alice was feverishly putting up magical wards, and Sirius was simply repeating everything she said, to make them stronger. A quick head count showed Lily a complete family, and she sighed in relief.
Then Diana asked, "Where's Milly?"
Cold fear crept up Lily's back, and this was the straw that broke her back, for her knees went weak and James had to grab her with the arm that wasn't holding Lydia. She had miscounted. James and Sirius were extras, and Milly was still out there.
Still playing Sardines.
A loud blast on the door kept Lily from fainting, and she ushered cousins and grandmother behind rows of boxes, creating some where there were gaps.
"Just be quiet and keep calm," she instructed, and her voice cracked, completely ruining the effect. Naomi began to cry for her oldest sister, the only one missing. Lily gulped and took her place with her friends, wand out and ready to fight.
More bangs sounded, as well as hisses and roars of rage. After two minutes of successful frustration, Lily grabbed Alice and held her tightly, silently thanking her for the wards.
The noises ended. Lily didn't dare leave the attic.
"We can just stay up here," Alice whispered. "We can make beds, and food, for a little while. It'll vanish, but it'll do."
Lily closed her eyes, willing herself to do what she had to. "I need to find Milly."
Sirius pulled her into a hug, along with Alice. James grabbed her hand. "I'm going with you," he promised.
Alice opened her mouth to agree, but Lily said, "No. Someone needs to keep my family safe."
She ducked behind the pile of boxes, looked at all the frightened faces of her loved ones, and said, "I'm finding Milly. If I don't come back - " her voice broke. She swallowed. "I love you all."
Her grandmother opened her mouth as well, but seemed to have no words to give Lily. She understood.
Edging down to the stairs, Lily grabbed the door and flung it open, James' comforting hand on her back.
Darkness.
"Lumos," Lily whispered, terrified lest Voldemort still be out there. What she saw was far worse.
Milly lay crumpled at the end of the hall, unmoving.
Lily fell to the floor, half-sobbing, all unconscious.
AAAAAGH I HATE THIS.
I couldn't decide who had to die, so I went around my classes and asked people to pick a letter (I had written the initials of all the girls on a piece of paper), and they ended up choosing Millicent. I think my friends are scarred, 'cause I actually told them what I was doing after they'd chosen. I was like, "Well, she's being killed." The looks of horror on their faces were precious.