Thank you for the reviews and the adds! This is a quick chapter to move us forward. I'm finding it harder and harder to write from Lily's perspective so I've been pretty blocked the past week. Hopefully you'll enjoy and leave a comment!
Lily stepped away from the door to allow Bellatrix easy access into the room. Bellatrix raised her chin and surveyed the room. "I saw your summon."
Lily nodded as she looked helplessly around the room. She folded her arms over her chest and deeply inhaled a shaky breath. She wanted to talk; she wanted to describe the hollowness that was forming in her chest and making it so impossible to breathe but her lips simply refused to move.
"I'm not familiar with that particular spell…"
Lily shrugged and looked down at the floor, suddenly feeling ashamed. She wasn't sure what she'd done to contact her. . "I needed to contact you so I just did."
Bellatrix raised her eyebrows as she swept into the room, her eyes danced as she looked over Lily, the black orbs glimmering in the lights from the room. "So, tell me, what did you need?"
Lily swallowed heavily and sighed. "It's Severus…"
"What about him?"
"W-we were attacked. The cabin was in pieces…I don't know what happened. He seemed so angry—and I don't know—I couldn't get him to talk to me. He told me not to follow him." A sob suddenly escaped her throat and she wrapped her arms around her stomach. "He just left me! Someone had torn this place apart and he just left us alone!"
Bellatrix swooped in; she wrapped her arms around Lily's shaking shoulders and gently patted her. "Severus is a foolish man," she said softly.
Lily tried to blink away the tears as she looked up at the dark haired woman. "No, no. Not Severus.
He's constant, he's steady. But I don't understand why he would do this! Why he would just leave me and the babies!"
"Because he's an idiot," Bellatrix said as she led Lily to the couch. "He's threatened by your power."
Lily tried to wipe the tears away from her eyes. "I don't have any power."
Bellatrix moved closer, her hungry black eyes staring intently at Lily. "But you do."
Lily took a shaky breath and shook her head, pulling herself off the couch. "I've had a few good attempts with some charms. I was good at book stuff at Hogwarts. But not out here. When stuff goes wrong, Severus is the one who knows what he's doing. He thinks fast. He's so smart."
Bellatrix stood up to follow Lily's pacing. "But he didn't appreciate you."
Lily's head jerked up. "What?"
"If he did, he would be here," Bellatrix purred. "He would be helping you."
Bellatrix could not be speaking truer words. Lily felt like she'd been fighting so long for Severus to be there with her. Nothing seemed to be working out for her. Nothing she tried seemed to matter. Whenever she thought things were going well, something would throw a horrible wrench into her plans. If only he hadn't been such an idiot and signed onto to something he didn't understand. If only he would listen to her.
"He'll come back." Even as she said the words, Lily couldn't make herself believe it. He had totally abandoned her just after an attack. Would her Severus really do that? She tried to shake her head. Something must have happened during the attack; something that was driving him away from her and making him act crazy.
"You have a raw talent. You have skills beyond what many of us could know," Bellatrix whispered, pulling Lily back to the present.
Lily folded her arms across her chest and dragged her eyes to Bellatrix. "It doesn't matter."
"But it does," Bellatrix answered. "Your ability…your power is something to be valued. Not hidden away in some dark recess until Severus decides that it can be managed."
"What do you mean?" Lily asked.
"He never told you?"
"Told me what?"
"Severus never told you about what you can do?" Bellatrix asked incredulously.
Lily sniffled and shook her head.
Bellatrix's dark lips curled into a smile. "He is terrified of what you may become! He wanted to contain you."
"What I may become?"
Bellatrix held out her hand. "Let me show you."
Lily wearily looked at the hand. She was so tired. The adrenalin was seeping from her muscles. She wanted to crumple to the floor and just stay there. She could feel her knees start to give at her surrender, but then she felt it, that push from the inside to move. It wasn't just about her anymore. She wasn't Severus, she couldn't just walk away. Lily wiped at her eyes again, reached for the outstretched hand, and allowed herself to be consumed by the darkness.
