Title: Just in Time or Too Late
Summary: Lily's known nothing but war since she was fourteen years old.
Pairing/Characters:Lily/Scorpius
Rating:T
Warnings: nothing graphic, but death, suggestions of torture etc.
Notes:It's kind of an Apocalyptic!AU and a Dystopia!AU. Written for Raven of the Shadows; I hope you like it.
Written for Hogwarts History of Magic: Write about someone leading a rebellion
Lily stalked through the forest determinedly. She could hear the soft sound of her communicator in her ear, his voice a soft, strong comfort. She would never be alone with him in her ear, despite the fact that he was never in the field with her.
"Careful," he said at one point. "There's a drop a few metres ahead of you."
Lily whispered an acknowledgement that she'd heard him, watching her step as she continued to move forward. When her foot found the dip, she lowered her gun to find out just how far down the dip was. Her communicator could only tell her there was a dip, not how large.
"I'm moving forward," Lily whispered after a moment. "The dip's only as deep as my arm."
Her communicator didn't say anything, but she could imagine him nodding his head. Faceless though he was to her, she felt like she knew him better than she knew herself. The man definitely knew her better than she knew herself. That was part of his job, after all.
"Target in sight," Lily said, her words barely a breath. Thankfully, with the technology they now used, her communicator could hear her and started giving out all the details of the area that he could.
"Trees five feet above ground. Ground slippery from the rainfall last night. There is a small stream a quarter of a mile to your right. Best chance of survival, take out the target and throw a firecracker to the left to distract his friends. Climb a tree to your right and wait until the men are sufficiently distracted before jumping through the trees. They are close together so it shouldn't be too hard for you to manage until you reach the stream.
"And then walk the stream for a least a mile before making my way back to base, correct?"
Her communicator chuckled in her ear. "You almost don't need me," he said, giving her the go ahead.
"I'll always need you, Silver Tongue." Lily loved saying his code name. She'd given it to him herself, and every time she said it, she remembered why he'd been graced with the name. She just wished she knew his real name, but that was impossible.
Lily shook her head and turned her attention back to the task at hand. She lined up her shot at a wild haired individual ahead of her, who was about the age her parents would have been today. She waited only a moment to make sure her shot was clear, before firing, the bullet slamming into the man's head and propelling him a few metres forward before he slammed into the dirt. Their firearms were strong.
Lily threw the firecracker, watching as it landed on the ground to her left barely a second before the firecracker was set off and the men charged in that direction.
"Retreating now," Lily hissed over all the alarms. She made her escape the way they planned out, carefully avoiding the shouting people below and smiling when she lost them even before reaching the stream. She would be home soon.
Lily entered her room after a shower and walked straight to her desk. She picked up her wand, twirling it in her hand for a moment before putting it down. There was no use having that on her when there was no way to use magic without being discovered by the new government.
When the war first started, the first thing the new government did was remove the possibility of anyone against them using magic. They did this by killing anyone that used magic. There were only two types of magic they were able to use, though it was still a risk. Concealment and observation. Unfortunately, they could only cast permanent charms and therefore could only cast them on objects. That's where the communicators came from.
Lily turned her eyes to the small picture frame sitting to one side on her desk where Lily could clearly see it wherever she was in the room. A photograph; the only one she had left and the only one she really wanted.
In it was her family before the war tore them apart. Lily was only fourteen at the time the photograph was taken. Her two older brothers were on either side of her. Albus had his arms wrapped around his stomach, laughing. His eyes were lit up in joy and life. James was rubbing his knuckles into Lily's hair while Lily attempted to fight James off, the result of which was causing Albus' laughter.
In the background, observing Lily and her brothers, was her mother and father. Her mother was in the middle of rolling her eyes, a small smile only hinted at on her lips while her father was outright laughing with his son.
Lily stared at her father, seeing the large wrinkle lines marking his face and the slightly haunted look he always had no matter the situation. Lily knew that her father once fought in a war similar to this one. Her mother fought as well, but her dad was the leader, and he'd suffered the most.
She'd once asked him why he fought so hard when it made him suffer. She could still remember his smile, so full of love, and his exact words, though she couldn't remember the sound of his voice anymore.
"To protect you and your brothers. To protect your generation from experiencing the fear and pain that we once had to."
It was only a year after that photo when everything changed.
Lily wondered what her dad would say if he could see the world now. She was almost glad he was executed with her mother before the war really started.
"Lily? Are you home?"
Lily winced when she heard James' worried voice. She'd forgotten to let him know she'd arrived home safe and sound.
She turned away from the photograph, setting it down just as the door between her room and James' opened. James wheeled into the room with careful movements; he was still getting used to his chair.
"You didn't tell me you'd returned." James' voice was accusatory. The small worried frown that seemed almost permanently etched into his face looked deeper right now. "You have to tell me when you return."
Lily bowed her head. "I'm sorry, James. I slipped in the mud on the way home and was desperate for a shower."
"I don't care!" he snapped.
Lily winced. There wasn't much that could get an emotional reaction out of James anymore, but his family's safety was one of them. He'd always been overprotective, but Lily really couldn't blame him. Not since Albus was crushed under a falling building.
"Did it go well?" James asked after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.
Lily lifted her head and nodded. "He's dead," she said, a small smile appearing for a brief moment.
"Good."
Good is right, Lily thought. That man deserved death after killing Rose and Hugo in an attack a few years ago. He was just one of many that had killed members of their family and friends. There were a lot of people that wanted James and Lily's rebellion squashed.
"There is a meeting in two hours with all foot soldiers. As one of the rebellion's leader, and the leader of the foot soldiers, you need to be there."
Lily nodded and watched as James retreated back into his room before shutting the door between them.
Shoulders slumping, Lily turned back to her desk and glanced at the photo before turning her attention to the report she needed to write. She couldn't dwell on the past.
"Enemy targets one mile to your left. Turn right at the next crossroads to avoid them."
Lily followed Silver Tongue's instructions, turning left when she arrived at the spot. The mission wasn't easy, but it was simple in a lot of ways. All she had to do was break into one of the storage buildings around the place and steal some more medical supplies. The storage rooms were guarded, obviously, but it usually wasn't too hard to move past them.
"So, I heard you and your brother had a bit of a spat last night."
Lily scowled at the ground. "I don't want to talk about it." Lily knew that Silver Tongue just wanted to help, but she didn't want to think about last night. Living through that had been enough for her.
"Fire," Silver Tongue said with a slight rebuke in his voice. "Let me help."
Lily scowled again. Silver Tongue didn't often use her code name because he only ever was speaking to her, not to mention he knew her real name (not that he was allowed to use that when she was out in the field). When he did, though, she couldn't deny him anything.
"He didn't agree with something I said at the meeting, that's all." Lily knew that Silver Tongue must know about how James told her she was wrong. It was probably all around base now, but no one would ever say anything. Maybe once it would have been looked down upon. Lily knew that her mother would have James hide if he'd spoken to her so viciously all those years ago, but things were different now. Cruel communication was accepted as normal.
"Are you okay?" Silver Tongue sighed.
Lily was grateful that he didn't try and make her talk about it anymore. It wasn't James' fault that he was overprotective, and she really didn't want to hear Silver Tongue put him down again.
"I'm fine. You know me."
Silver Tongue sighed again but he didn't say anything more. Lily wasn't sure if she was grateful for this or disappointed. She kept moving forward but stopped when she heard the sound of a large group arriving via magical travel.
"Silver—"
"—Fire, you need to leave. Now."
Lily froze at the sound of urgency in his voice, but she didn't back away. In the end, he couldn't order her around, he only advised her. She didn't have to listen, though she'd never gone against him before.
"What is it?" she kept her voice as low as possible. She still didn't know the situation and didn't want to make it worse.
"Fire, please, trust me on this. Leave."
Lily took a step back, but then someone she wished she didn't recognise stepped into view. She froze once again. The woman was tall and slim, only a few years older than Lily. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun that made her face looked stretched and uncomfortable. Her eyes were black.
"Albus," Lily whispered, breathless at coming face to face with his murderer.
White hot anger flooded her veins. Her code name wasn't just about her fire red hair, but also her fiery temper, and that temper was all directed at one person right now.
"No! Fire, please, walk away. She's dangerous."
"I know that," Lily snapped, forcing the words out between clenched teeth. "That doesn't change anything.
Pulling her earpiece out, Lily tucked it behind her ear where she wouldn't be able to hear Silver Tongue. There was a tiny, waterproof, invisible bag tucked behind every foot soldier's ear to store the earpiece when they slept or showered. Charmed with concealment magic by her own hand, no one would be able to see it unless they knew where it was.
Creeping forward, Lily moved like a snake along the ground. She watched as the woman stepped out of the car and swap guard duty with the man standing before her without a word or even a smile. The man bowed before leaving her and her partner alone.
Her partner, a short man with sandy blonde hair and clear blue eyes, stepped forward and asked her a question. The woman snapped some words back and the man fell back, silent.
Trainee, Lily thought when she watched their interactions.
Not waiting a second longer, Lily snuck closer until she was sure about the line of her shot. Being careful not to make a sound and using all the training she had, Lily fired the trigger, only to stare in horrified shock when the bullet swerved away from the woman and hit the trainee in the chest.
Bullets, the rebellion found, were quite hard to block with magic. In fact, they were almost impossible to block and even harder to avoid. The only chance you had of avoiding a bullet was to redirect it away from your body, and to do that, you needed to be fast.
The woman turned and locked eyes with Lily, raising her wand with a sinister smirk that made shivers run down her back. I'm sorry, Lily thought as a spell charged in her direction. She wasn't sure if she was apologising to James for leaving him alone or to Silver Tongue for ignoring his advice, but she didn't have long to wonder as the spell hit and she fell limp to the ground.
Lily woke up in a cold, damp, dark room, the only light showing from a torch further down a corridor.
The fact that she woke up at all was a surprise, but the room she woke up in really wasn't. She could see blood staining the ground by her feet and she scrambled away at the sight. There were marks etched into the walls of her cell, and there wasn't a single bit of sunlight shining anywhere. It might have just been night time, but Lily suspected it had more to do with the cell being underground.
Refusing to give into her fear, Lily moved her hand to her head, wincing when her hand connected with a bloodied up lump on her forehead. That spell did a number on her, but at least she woke up. She moved her hand away, knowing that touching the wound would only make it worse, and brushed her hair behind her ear, fingers touching her pouch.
Panic set in as she scrambled to open the pouch, sighing in relief when she found her ear piece safe where she left it. She put it in her ear, only to tear up at what she heard. Crying.
"Silver Tongue?" Lily whispered, glancing down the corridor to make sure there were no guards.
"Lily? Oh God, Lily! I mean, Fire. Whatever. You're alive."
Lily could picture Silver Tongue slumped over his desk, but the waver in his voice, the tears, that's something she never thought she'd hear from Silver Tongue.
"Are you okay?" Lily whispered when Silver Tongue didn't say anything more.
Silver Tongue chuckled wetly on the other end. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"
"You don't want to ask me that, Silver Tongue."
Silver Tongue fell silent and Lily listened to him breathing, finding the sound strangely comforting. It almost didn't make sense how attached to Silver Tongue's voice she was. She almost preferred to be out in the field, listening to Silver Tongue than with her brother.
"I'm sorry, Silver Tongue," Lily whispered when her guilt started pressing down on her once again.
"Scorpius."
Lily frowned. "What?"
"Call me Scorpius. I know you're not meant to know my real name, but. . ."
Silv—Scorpius trailed off, but Lily knew what he meant. He wanted her to know him before she wasn't able to anymore. It made sense, and Lily realised that she wanted to learn everything there was to know about Scorpius before they came for her.
They came two days later.
In all that time, Lily had been left alone to talk to Scorpius like they'd never talked before. They developed a relationship that Lily never expected; one that Lily never thought she'd have with anyone, and the more she learned about Scorpius, the more she wanted to cry about the situation she'd found herself in.
She didn't even notice her hunger or thirst. She didn't notice that the cell never warmed up, and whenever there were cries of other prisoners or screams, Lily was able to painfully ignore them with Scorpius' voice in her ear, but she couldn't ignore the footsteps when they approached her cell.
"They're coming," Lily whispered, showing her fear possibly for the first time since the uprising. Her breathing picked up and her hands started shaking. A tear slipped down her cheek but she wiped it away before it could fall to the ground.
"I'm with you the whole way, Lily."
Lily closer her eyes and listened to Scorpius as he spoke nonsense words to her. She didn't actually hear what he was saying, but his voice was everything to her. She didn't listen to the footsteps as they approached and she didn't listen to her cell door open.
"I love you," Lily whispered to Scorpius as a man grabbed her arm and yanked her high.
"I love you too, Lily. I love you, so much."
Lily smiled, letting the man lead her away to whatever fate awaited her.
(w.c 2,835)
WolfWinks-xx-
