X.
"Albus, do you think that Petunia Evans might still be in Reading?" Filius squeaked.
"A fair question; we could go check now, if you like.".
Fawkes flew down from his perch and landed on Dumbledore's desk. "Take my hand, Minerva, and we can form a chain," Dumbledore instructed. They did as they were told, and as Dumbledore grasped Fawkes' tail, they disappeared in a flash of flames.
They arrived in a completely intact ghost town. The five professors walked down the street, thinking it as very eerie. Dumbledore gave a start and began walking down a side street. "There's a light on down there," he explained to his confused companions.
They arrived at the house, and knocked on the door. Footsteps could be heard coming from the inside of the house, but the door stayed closed. "Who's there?"
"I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. We have come to take you to Hogwarts; if you don't mind, of course."
"Isn't that where Lily goes to school? Isn't that a magic school?"
"Yes, but seeing as you are along in this town, I thought that you might like some company," Dumbledore said cheerfully.
"I'll come,' Petunia said grudgingly, at last opening the door, "but it's only for peoples' company, I don't want to be around people like…you…too often."
Minerva's mouth was a very thin line, but Dumbledore gave Petunia's comment no notice.
"You'll need to hold on to my hand, then," Dumbledore instructed her. "Minerva can hold your other hand, and we will have the same chain as we did before." Petunia did as she was told, and when Dumbledore grabbed Fawkes' tail, they reappeared in Dumbledore's office.
"Now, Miss Evans…" Dumbledore said, turning to Petunia, "you can stay in Gryffindor tower. Nobody will question you if you say that you are Lily's sister."
"All right," said Petunia.
"Albus, where will she sleep?" Minerva asked, "The seventh year dormitory will be full when Miss Evans comes back…"
"Petunia, you don't mind sleeping in the common room, do you?" Dumbledore asked gently. Petunia shook her head, obviously thinking that it would be much better that way. "Excellent; Minerva, if you could show her the way, we'll wait for you…"
Lily stared blankly out of the window of her cell. A full two days had passed since they had perfected the letter, and she and Arthur were working in shifts at the window. So far, they had had no luck. Today, since it was Arthur's anniversary, he was sitting in his cell, depressed and muttering to himself; Lily would be standing at the window all day. She wasn't particularly bothered about it; she was sure Arthur would be doing the same for her the next day.
She had no idea where Malfoy Manor was in England, nor did she know how long it would take the owl to get to Hogwarts. Arthur had said that she would miss a week or two of school—ha! At this rate, she'd be missing a month!
It was incredibly boring, staring out of a barred window-it seemed like nobody could see her at all from the busy street that was fifty feet away, and if they did, they ignored her. She suspected that there was some sort of anti-Muggle spell on the manor—she could clearly tell that most, if not all of the passers-by were Muggles, and they didn't even seem to see the manor at all.
The day passed uneventfully, and finally Arthur said, "Lily? Do you want me to take over?"
"Are you sure? You'll probably be doing all of tomorrow too…" Lily said.
"Don't worry about it, just pass the letter over," Lily put the letter in Arthur's outstretched hand, "Get some sleep now."
Lily curled up in the back corner of her cell and attempted to fall asleep. When she did, she had an extremely restless night—dreams of her parents and Petunia—dead…dreams of Sarah and Laurie—dead…
And then she had a dream that was very different than the others. It seemed like some sort of vision. She was watching, as if from a surveillance camera, as Remus picked up a newspaper and did a spit-take, as Sarah sat in front of a Muggle television, her eyes wide, and as Sirius sat in a corner, rocking back and forth, pale as death.
She woke up in a cold sweat, and ran to the barred door and asked, "Arthur, have you gotten an owl?"
"No, there's been a few robins, but they can't carry letters all the way to Hogwarts…"
"Is it the second?" Lily asked him.
"It's probably about noon on the second, yeah."
Lily crawled back into the corner of her cell. "Hogwarts…" she muttered, "I need to get back to Hogwarts…"
Dumbledore waited until Minerva came back, then said, "We will need to find temporary replacements for Miss Evans and Mr Potter. I'm suggesting Sarah Kellison and Remus Lupin, but they might be dysfunctional…do you have any suggestions?"
"If those two aren't in shock when they arrive, go ahead, they're great kids," Horace said.
"Kellison and Lupin would work, but what about Frank Longbottom as a back-up? He certainly deserves the honor…" Pomona suggested. "As for Head Girl…"
"Kristin Heidianos?" Filius suggested, "She's a great kid as well…"
"Excellent! Minerva, do you have any objections?" she shook her head. "Wonderful. Term starts on Monday the second. We'll have to wait until the students arrive to see about Miss Kellison and Mister Lupin, so there really was nothing else I wanted to discuss with you all."
Taking the hint, the four Heads left Dumbledore's study quietly, closing the door behind them. Sighing heavily, Dumbledore put his face in his hands. Lily and James…how would he find them? Where was Voldemort hiding?
Sarah was in a daze as she stumbled aboard the Hogwarts Express with her four friends—Laurie, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Some people gave her confused looks-those that didn't know-and others gave her sympathetic ones-as if they could understand losing the best friend a girl could ask for…
They found an empty compartment and settled down inside of it. They didn't speak for the rest of the ride, and changed into their robes silently.
When they got off of the train at Hogsmeade Station, they stumbled over to a carriage and climbed into it. Soon Kristin Heidianos and a couple of her Hufflepuff friends came in as well. Kristin seemed to be the only one of them who knew why they were so quiet. When Heather Castlebret opened her mouth, looking concernedly at them, Kristin whispered something in her ear, and Heather paled and closed her mouth. Nobody spoke a word throughout the rest of the journey up the grounds to the castle.
"Miss Kellison, Mister Lupin, could I speak to you for a moment?" Sarah nodded numbly and followed McGonagall up the stairs on a route she recognized as leading to Dumbledore's office.
"Chocolate Frog," McGonagall said to the stone gargoyle. Evidently the password had been changed, for the gargoyle leapt aside and permitted them to enter. Sarah noticed rather detachedly that McGonagall did not follow them up the stone steps.
Sarah had no idea what Professor Dumbledore wanted from her and Remus. And, to be very frank, she didn't care.
"Hello, Sarah and Remus," Dumbledore said kindly as they sat down in front of his desk. "The four Heads and I were having a discussion, and they nominated you two as temporary Head Boy and Girl…"
"Temporary?" Remus blurted. "Does that mean James and Lily are alive?"
"I cannot answer that, Remus, I'm sorry," Dumbledore said, dropping his gaze to the floor. "Now, I would understand if you two would not want to be Heads…"
"I don't want to," they both said at the same time.
"All right then," Dumbledore said, "You may go then, that's all I needed from you."
Sarah did not move. "Professor, if there's a chance that Lily's…alive, will you save her? And James?"
Dumbledore looked up at the two desperate teenagers, looking hopefully back at him. "Miss Kellison, I will do everything in my power to bring your friends back safely. Anything."
Sarah and Remus nodded thankfully and left the office; however, instead of going in the direction of the Great Hall, they turned down the hallway towards the Gryffindor common room. Sarah wasn't sure that she could face dinner and all the happy people there, and Remus seemed to be thinking along the same lines.
They got up to the common room, and then realized that they didn't know the password. "Has it changed since last term?" Sarah asked the Fat Lady tentatively.
"I'm afraid it has, dears," the Fat Lady replied, "But you're Sarah Kellison and Remus Lupin?"
"Yeah…"
"And your best friends are Lily Evans and James Potter?" as their eyes welled up with tears, she took that as a 'yes'. "I heard all about it, I'll let you in tonight. I think there's someone inside that can tell you the password for the future."
"Thanks," Sarah said, her eyes still full of tears. The portrait hold swung open and they climbed inside. In the common room was the last person they ever expected to see at Hogwarts.
"Petunia?" Sarah asked, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Professor Dumbledore said I could stay here. He also said that I'd be sharing a dorm with you until Lily comes back," she replied, rather reproachfully. "He said that I'll have to sleep down here once Lily comes back."
"No you don't! We can take turns camping out on the floor, you don't have to sleep down here all by yourself!"
Petunia shook her head "I'd rather just stay down here…" she turned to Remus. "And you are…?"
"Remus Lupin," he replied promptly.
"Oh, right. I've heard Lily talk about you…"
Before anyone could reply, the portrait hole opened and Sirius stumbled in. Sarah was shocked—she had never seen him out of control before. Sirius stood in front of them, his eyes wide, and he looked slightly mad. Sarah thought he slightly resembled Tyler Lovegood from Ravenclaw—he was nuttier than a squirrel. Sirius had that mad look in his eye, and it frightened Sarah.
"James…" he panted, "Frank doesn't know where he is; all he knows is that two Death Eaters took him away…"
"That's all Dumbledore knows too. He asked us if we could be Head Boy and Girl."
"He asked you to be Heads?" Sirius said, his eyes popping slightly. "Does that mean James is…"
"He said temporary Heads, but he also said that he didn't know if they're alive."
Sirius lost it completely. Collapsing onto the nearest chair, he began to howl with grief. Sarah looked apprehensively at Remus, but he looked just as bewildered as she felt.
"Padfoot," Remus began firmly, "Dumbledore'll find Prongs; he'll be fine."
James wished he was anywhere but where he was now. Lily was fruitlessly keeping the vigil for the owl while Arthur sat in the corner of his cell, gray-faced and muttering. The hours passed slowly. Finally, Arthur offered to take the letter and keep watch, and Lily fell asleep. So did James-he had made it his objective to make sure that no harm came to Lily.
When he had just fallen asleep, a large Death Eater came walking down the hall. "You, Potter!" he said gruffly, "My master wants to see you!"
The cell door swung open and James was once again lifted into the air and out of his cell. Great, he thought, more broken ribs. Poppy and Arthur seemed to be thinking along the same lines. Lily, however, was sound asleep—James was grateful for that. "All right," he said to the Death Eater, as if he had a choice in the matter.
The Death Eater merely grunted and sent James soaring down the hallway and straight into the wall. James kept from screaming, but a groan echoed through the corridor. His nose was intact, but he was sure that at least one rib was broken.
Still floating, James was sent flying into the far wall of each corridor they passed through; the Death Eater walked behind him, smirking. By the time they arrived at a large oak door inscribed with the Dark Mark, James felt as if he was falling apart. He could feel that his nose was spouting blood, and his rib cage felt as if it was shattered into pieces. Despite the pain, however, James had not let a single scream escape his lips—he would not be weak, he would not be weak…
Soon, he was floating in the air in front of Voldemort. "Hello, Potter," he sneered, and signaled the Death Eater to put him down. However much he was glad to be on solid ground again, James couldn't help but wince as he felt his tailbone crack on the stone floor. "I've been waiting to have a little chat with you."
"Oh yeah?" James said angrily, "Why?"
"About the Mudblood, Evans." Voldemort said. James looked ready to kill, but he just laughed. "I'm assuming you want her out of here alive?"
"Duh," James said.
"But what if I said I would only let one of you two out? Would it be you or her?"
"Her," James said, without hesitation.
"A Gryffindor through and through, I see. What would you say if I let her go back to Hogwarts, but then killed you? Or would you want it the other way around?"
"I'd still bant her free," James said, again without hesitation.
"Really?" Voldemort said, apparently fascinated. "So you'd give up your life for a Mudblood's?"
"Yes, I bould," James said truthfully. Sure, he didn't know if Lily would do the same for him, but he loved her…
"Just a question. I wouldn't let either of you go," Voldemort said lightly.
"Why? What do you need frub us?" James asked, more than slightly irritated now.
"Absolutely nothing. It's just the pleasure of having people down in those dungeons. Weasley and Pomfrey can get quite boring."
"So what's the point of holding us as prisoners?"
"I just told you, Potter, weren't you listening? I want entertainment," Voldemort said, annoyed. "So I may come down and pay you a visit…or, more likely, you'll be paying me a visit. I don't often go downstairs." He smiled cruelly. "Crucio!" He held the curse for half a minute before lifting it." That was for your impudence, Potter. He stood up, "That's all I wanted with him, now all of you, leave!"
All of the Death Eaters left except for Lucius Malfoy, who seemed to take great pleasure in levitating James and bringing him back down to the dungeons in the same way he was brought up. As soon as Arthur and Poppy came into view, Poppy paled and Arthur swore as they turned toward him. Do I really look that bad? James wondered, slightly dizzy and disoriented from the Cruciatus Curse, as Malfoy opened his cell and dropped him inside. James nearly passed out with the pain-what with all of his broken ribs and nose repeatedly being smashed into walls, the after-effects of the curse, and now his recently cracked tailbone hitting the ground full-force, the pain was almost unbearable.
Malfoy laughed and left. James' vision began to blur. Trying to stay conscious, he felt his nose and a few ribs heal because of Arthur and Poppy, but he didn't feel any better. Falling backwards onto the stone floor, he passed out in a dead faint.
Arthur swore as James flew down the hallway towards them. His face was covered in blood and he was chalk white. The Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy, dropped him in his cell, and from James' reaction, Arthur guessed that he had a cracked tailbone as well.
As Malfoy left, Arthur and Poppy began trying to heal James, who seemed to be slipping in and out of consciousness. Arthur cursed again as James fell back, completely out cold. "Will he be all right?" he asked Poppy.
"I think so, the only things wrong with him are his nose, ribs, and tailbone as far as I can tell. We'll have to wait until he comes 'round to be sure."
"All right," Arthur said dejectedly. "I'm just glad that Lily wasn't awake to see that."
"Me too, though I'd be more worried about Malfoy; she might murder him."
Arthur laughed hollowly, and again took to staring out of his window. He was dead tired; yesterday, he was supposed to have celebrated his anniversary, and today James and Lily were supposed to be going back to Hogwarts. "It isn't fair," he mumbled.
"Nothing's fair at the moment, Arthur," Poppy said tiredly, "Will you tell me if James wakes? I'm going to try and get some sleep."
"Sure," Arthur answered absently. Hours passed, in which the only moving creatures he saw were a couple of robins. Sighing deeply, he knew he would be the watch all day. Lily really did love Hogwarts, or rather, the things at Hogwarts. She would be like he was…
Arthur was even more determined after these thoughts. I have to get this to Dumbledore…to an owl…I need to get to Molly…James and Lily need to get to Hogwarts…
A few more hours passed, and Lily woke up. Just as Arthur had guessed, she was completely devastated to learn that it was January second. She needs to get back to Hogwarts…