Author's Note: SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT! Forgive me? PWEASE?

Chapter 37

Torture

Lily stared into the crazed, black eyes and felt terror welling up in her. Those eyes… they were telling her, 'I am going to hurt you'. There would be pain. But the worst part was, it wouldn't be only her pain. Sirius was there, because of her. It was all her fault. If—no, when—hewas hurt, it would be her fault. Her fault, for dragging him along with her, her fault…. All her fault. Just like her parents… just like everything. Her fault.

She drew a shaky breath.

Bellatrix was speaking again. "Now!" she cackled. "Now, we can have some fun!"

Her wand slashed up, and Lily felt a sudden, biting pain on her arm. She gasped and clutched her forearm. Sirius stepped protectively in front of her. His eyes were murderous, but he was helpless against Bellatrix's wand. The hooded figures encircling them formed a tighter circle around Bellatrix and her victims. Lily thought she could make out several sinister smiles beneath the hoods.

Something hot and sticky was running down her arm where it was cut, and her hand felt slimy with it.

More spells were flying from Bellatrix's wand. Sirius was flung back, crashing into the wall behind them; the Slytherins moved aside as his body flew past them, crumpling into the wall. He didn't get up.

Lily thanked Merlin that at least they seemed to be leaving him alone… for now.

Bellatrix advanced, smiling like a cat looking at a caged canary. Lily wanted to shrink back, to run, but something told her that would only make it worse. It was what Bellatrix wanted. Besides, she couldn't even move if she had wanted to; her feet felt like lead lumps, keeping her planted firmly on the ground.

"You know…" Bellatrix looked thoughtful. "Killing you would be so much fun. But," she sighed, "unfortunately, I can't… yet."

She grinned maniacally. "No, that honor will have to wait, I'm afraid. Rather unfortunate for you. I intend to make your death painful. Not that this won't be painful… No," she continued, musing, her slight smile still in place. "This will be very painful." She shrieked with laughter, back to her deranged self.

"Crucio!" Pain filled Lily. Her bones were splintering, her muscles being pulled into shapeless lumps, someone was tearing her apart; and there was no end, no end to the pain. Somebody was screaming, a high shriek of pain and terror. As the pain faded gradually, Lily realized it was herself. Her throat felt raw and her eyes were wild with pain and complete fear.

Bellatrix was laughing, her own eyes wild, though not with pain or fear. No, her eyes were wild with joy, with animalistic pleasure.

The curse seemed to have held Lily up, but now she wilted to the floor, her knees buckling until she hit the ground. Her head slammed against the cold, hard marble, and she felt blood seep in her hair.

"Ah… I guess the stem of a lily isn't quite as durable as I had thought," Bellatrix leered.

A single tear rolled down Lily's cheek as she braced herself for the inevitable pain. Bellatrix raised her wand.

"Crucio!"

The pain was back, her body vibrating with it, as she writhed on the floor. The agony ripped through her, leaving her lying limply on the floor.

Bellatrix was raising her wand again. Lily's eyes rolled back as she begged for the darkness to come, to succumb to it, before the next wave of pain came.

"Sectumsempra!"

If Lily had been in pain before, this was agony. It was a thousand times worse. Cuts began to open all over her body, and blood poured out, vermillion red and sticky; a river of blood.

Bellatrix's mad cackle was cut short abruptly.

Jets of light flew through the air. Someone had blasted through the wall of Slytherins and tackled Bellatrix to the ground. Lily wanted to get up, to see what was happening, to help, but she could not. Her body wouldn't respond to her, and she felt herself slipping, slipping into the dark, even as she fought it off desperately. Now, she wanted the darkness to leave, and she fought as hard as she could. She was strong enough to fight it off only for a few minutes more, but in that time, she spotted the person who had saved her, and he was fighting like an army.

"Stupefy!"

"Crucio!"

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Red, green, and white lights shot through across the hall. The Slytherins began to converge on her savior, but Bellatrix yelled, "No! Stop! I will deal with him!"

They shrank back. Lily's vision blurred. A curse from Bellatrix's own wand hit one of the Slytherins and he fell to the ground, screaming in pain. After that, the Slytherins dispersed, running away like the cowards they were.

Bellatrix continued to fight with the unknown person. She screamed at her fellow Slytherins to get back, come back, but she was too preoccupied to do other than yell, and the Slytherins didn't listen. Then, a huge BANG echoed down the corridor. Bellatrix was blasted off her feet, down the hall, and into the wall on the far side of the corridor, knocking down a few Slytherins in her path like bowling pins.

If she hadn't been so terrified and in so much pain, Lily might have even laughed. As it was, she was in too much pain to do anything other than lie there like a limp ragdoll.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor, running toward her. The darkness was encroaching, but Lily could just see a face hovering over hers as she finally succumbed. She couldn't identify it in her stupor, and she could only focus on the beautiful face that hovered above her. But the face was panicked, frantic as it called her name.

"Lily? Lily? Lily, please!"

The gorgeous yet anxious face faded, and darkness took over.

Author's Note: Oooo... sorry for the small cliffy. I'll post again soon!