I wish I had cool story, like I'd suddenly hit the lottery, built a house across the bay from my long lost love, and I've been wrapped up trying to win him back by throwing huge and impressive parties, only to have him wind up betraying me in the end.
Unfortunately, my best explanation is that life got insane. I could sit and write for about five minutes before it seemed like another issue popped up and demanded to be dealt with. But it's summertime now! And summer means a lot more writing from me!
So, welcome back everyone!
Lily was sure a dragon had found her, tossed her around, and used her as a chew toy. That was the only acceptable reason that every bone in her body should ache and burn and hurt all at the same time.
An agonized groan escaped her lips as she forced her eyes to open. It may have been easier to pour alcohol onto an open wound. A sharp cry slipped past her lips as she jerked her arms up to cover her eyes.
Where the hell was she? Why was her head pounding?
She forced herself to open her eyes again and take inventory of her surroundings.
Sunlight streamed through a gaping hole in what could only be the ceiling.
In confusion, Lily looked around far too suddenly and her head felt as though someone was smashing her brain against the inside of her skull. Wincing as her stomach gave a violent twist, she realized she was in the ruins of Severus' cabin.
Severus.
As though it were a clip from a film she saw him in her mind: his face filled with rage, his wand raised, a violent flash of light, Severus was yelling but what was he saying?
Lily shook her head and climbed slowly to her feet. Those images in her head didn't make sense. Who was Severus fighting? Where was he now?
Her heart dropped when her eyes settled on the dark from on the ground.
"Severus!" his name was a soft breath of air, but it felt as though it had pulled everything out of her with its escape. She started toward him but there were pieces of broken furniture and wood and other unnamable debris in her way. Frustrated, Lily flicked her hands and to her immense shock, the wreckage parted and rushed to the walls away from Severus' still body.
Lily didn't have time to indulge her surprise; she rushed forward and knelt down next to the figure on the ground. She was running purely on instinct; her hand reached down to cradle his face and her fingers desperately felt for a pulse as she tried to ignore the tacky blood on the side of his head.
"Sev. Severus, please," she begged. Then she felt it, just there under her fingertips, the slightly erratic—but still beating—pulse of his heart.
She fumbled for her wand and conjured a bowl of water, a rag, and a goblet of water.
She dipped the rag into the water then pressed it gently to his forehead. She almost wept with relief when she heard him moan softly at the water.
"Sev?"
"Lily," he groaned. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and he stared at her as though he was a feral cat cornered by dogs. His arms were held in front of him and his eyes darted frantically around the room.
"Sev, it's okay," she said softly, standing up to move toward him. She didn't like the look of his head wound and his sudden movements certainly weren't going to help.
"I doubt that," he snapped.
Taken aback by the snap in his tone, Lily jerked around to look behind her. She was positive by his posture and voice that someone had entered the room. "There's no one there," Lily said softly.
"I'm not worried around anyone else," Severus snapped.
"Sev, what's going on?" Lily pleaded; he was starting to scare her. She'd never seen his wand pointed at her before.
He laughed—it was a nasty, harsh sound that ripped from him. "Put your wand down, Lily."
She looked blankly at her hand. She'd forgotten she'd been holding it. "Fine," she said, tossing it onto the clean floor between them.
Severus looked momentarily surprised but he didn't lower his wand.
"What happened before?" he asked.
Lily noticed the slight sway in his stance, like he was unsteady on his feet. "I don't know," she said softly. She just wanted him to calm down so he could sit down. "Please, Sev."
"Stop it!" he barked. This time he stepped back and staggered. Lily lunged forward and he raised his wand so it was level with her face. "Don't."
Lily finally froze. In all truthfulness, Severus was terrifying her right now. . "I don't know what's happening, Sev," she whimpered.
He laughed again. "I'm not going to do this, Lily."
"Do what, Severus?!" she demanded.
His wand arm flinched. Lily considered making a move, possibly forcing him to drop his wand, but his behavior was so erratic she didn't want the danger of pushing him.
"Severus, please just talk to me."
"No," he snapped. "I'm going to leave. I'm going back to Spinner's End. I need time to think about what you've done."
Lily pressed her hands to her eyes, trying to hold back a rising hysteria. "What have I done?" she barked.
"Sev, you're not making any sense!"
But he didn't listen to her; in just a fast, jerky movement, he spun and was gone.
With his disappearance, Lily was sure that he'd sucked the air out of the room with him. Her knees trembled then gave as she dropped to the floor. Tears began to burn behind her eyes then they spilled over in a horrible torrent of body shaking tears.
Why was he acting like this? Why did he seem so terrified of her?
Lily didn't know how long she'd been on the floor, but the tears were slowly stopping and her throat was sore from the wracking sobs. She dragged her hand across her face and tried to take a deep breath. Her hand went to her stomach and her nerves settled a little more. She forced herself onto her feet then looked around the cabin.
Severus loved his cabin. And it was entirely destroyed. She still wasn't sure how it had gotten into this condition, but her mind reasoned that if she could start to fix this, then she could fix her relationship with Severus.
Lily retrieved her wand and gave it a gentle wave. Around her the rubble of ceiling began to assemble. Another flick sent the mass toward the ceiling. With a final spell—something she hadn't been sure would work but it'd sounded right in her head—the massive pieces mended together.
Lily turned to the rest of the mess. She spent a good deal of time fixing things, mending cracks and things that had been fragmented. But try as hard as she might, she could not get her brain to process what had happened before she'd woken up. If only Severus had told her what had happened. She bit her lip as she felt a knot in her stomach.
What as was she going to do about him?
Her hand was absently tracing her protruding stomach when she felt it—a soft push back against her hand.
A soft gasp escaped her lips and she started down at her stomach. Lily looked down in surprise then pressed her hand against the spot again. She'd felt flutterings and stirrings for weeks but this was different.
"Sev!" she breathed excitedly. Then it hit her. He wasn't here. He had been, not long before, but he'd left. He'd told her not to follow. He had left her alone in this mess.
He was missing the first time one of the twins kicked because he was being an asshole.
Lily walked to the couch, a new white thing she'd conjured thinking he might like it, and lowered herself onto it.
She wasn't sure if she was heartbroken or pissed off. She knew she wanted to talk to him. It wasn't fair that he'd just taken off on her. She stood up and snatched her wand. She concentrated, focusing her mind on who she wanted, then she gave it a flick.
She watched in fascination as the black wisps curled from the end of her wand. Then shot off through the roof.
She sat back down onto the couch and waited.
The gentle sounds of the birds and insects that lived around the lake filled the air. She put her wand next to her leg and crossed her legs, counting the anxious bounce of her knee.
She heard the crack outside door and called, "Come in."
The door swung wide and she met Bellatrix's narrowed eyes.
We're at the awkward point where the story is evolving, and this may not have seemed worth the wait but some major things are about to go down. Please tell me your reactions!
