Lily sat in the shack's corner, back to back with Sirius, the wall behind her; Remus and James sat beside them, all of them bound by magic. Weight—like a brick pile—kept Lily uncomfortably in place as the werewolves eyed her and her friends throughout the night.
Every moment seemed to promise the small hut would fall apart. Each breeze or chill wind sent creaks and groans through the building, but the werewolves didn't seem to notice any more than a dog would notice a stray flea.
Dirt covered every surface possible, even the bed sheets where some slept.
Under the nearest bed lay the backpack; in it was the invisibility cloak—though the werewolves hadn't opened it, probably thinking it held nothing of interest. As long as they didn't know about the cloak, it was safe. Lily kept an eye on it clandestinely as the sun peeked over the horizon and morning's first light sifted through one window.
Sirius' stomach growled.
"Keep quiet!" grumbled the blond werewolf with a kick toward Sirius.
"Oh, I am so sorry," Sirius snipped. "I'm completely in control of my stomach. That's how it works."
"Could we at least have some water?" said Remus.
"Now they're making demands," said another of their guards. "How 'bout that?"
The dark-skinned werewolf—the most sensible, so far—rolled his eyes. "Give 'em water. We don't want them fainting on us, do we?"
"I'm not going all the way out there," the blond man sneered. "Let the little snot warrior do it."
"Whatever."
"Hey, snot baby!" The blond man stepped into another room. "Time to get up already!"
Lily checked on Remus. He stared into thin air, eyes blank.
The dark-skinned man squatted beside the group. "You lot look familiar. Have I seen you before?" He tilted his head toward Remus. "Especially you." He grabbed Remus' chin. "There's something strange about you."
Lily fought to connect his face to something—a newspaper article, poster on the street, a face in a shop, anything. But nothing came to mind before he left.
"The drug trial," Remus whispered. "He was at the Wolfsbane testing."
"Oh…" Lily whispered back.
A child hauled a bucket of water—far too heavy for her. The little girl was thin and dirty, blond hair tangled and matted. Lily knew it was blond—under all that dirt—golden, princess blond. Grime smudged her face in patches of brown and gray, but they only accentuated her sky-blue eyes, bright like a cat's, or—For a moment Lily swore they flickered yellow, like a wolf's.
Evelyn.
Her baggy coat, patched nearly to death and tattered worse than a favorite stuffed animal, dragged the floor two feet behind her. The man's shirt she wore under the coat was so big it easily fit her as a dress; her feet were bare and starting to turn blue gray with cold.
"About time," the blond snorted. "Give me some of that water."
Evelyn's face was angry and bitter, far from the little girl Lily knew.
"Evelyn," Lily called out, trying to fight free of the magical bonds, but they held fast.
The girl's anger didn't dissipate as she met Lily's eyes and the child's gaze seemed to flicker from blue to steely gold every other moment as Evelyn dragged the bucket to them and dropped it with a clank. Water splashed around the pail, but Evelyn didn't seem to care as she snatched the rusty tin cup that swam inside the bucket.
"It's me," Lily whispered. "You've grown so much—nearly a head." The girl's arms were strong and tight now, probably because the others overworked her. But she was still thin and tiny compared to the rest of the werewolves.
"I know who you are," Evelyn almost growled. "I recognize you. You're the one Severus adored so much. Every time he looked at you, he warmed up. And of course, I've grown. It's been a year and a half."
"We came to rescue you," Remus whispered. "You've got to help us."
Not once did hope light Evelyn's eyes. "I remember you too. You're the friendly one. For people like us that's stupid, you know." Her attention turned to Sirius and James. "And you accused Severus of being out to hurt you."
"We were wrong." James swallowed hard. "We know that now, really, we do. We were childish and stupid."
"It's all right. I don't care." Evelyn filled the tin cup and raised it to Sirius's mouth. "Severus is just a guy—like the rest of you. I was stupid to think otherwise."
"What happened to you?" Lily's voice broke. "We can help, whatever it is."
"I don't need help," Evelyn muttered. "You're the ones in trouble."
"Hey!" the blond barked. "No talking to the prisoners, snot welp."
"Please," Evelyn snorted as her eyes flashed yellow again. "Like I have anything important to tell them. What difference does it make if I talk to them?"
"I could hurt you," warned the blond.
"Then Fenrir would hurt you," Evelyn sneered, showing her teeth like a snarling dog. "I tell him it was you, Mark, and he'll punish you."
"Think you're so important, little princess?"
"I told you not to call me that! I hate it! And remember, I'm one of his children," she said. "His words." She glanced at Remus. "To him, every kid he bit is his. He protects them. He thinks of me as his real daughter. That's why he wants me here."
"Don't give into the wolf like this," Remus pleaded. "Fight it!"
"Fight what?" Evelyn said. "This is who I am."
"Fenrir's not your father," Remus tried again.
"I know he's not my dad," Evelyn snorted. "But you can't deny he was there for me more than my real dad. He can't even look at me. I know how it is now. It's nice of you to come, but I don't need rescuing."
"But—What about your mom? She must be worried sick," said Lily.
"Do you know what my clearest memories are of my mother?" Evelyn's eyes changed to solid yellow as anger flared bright. "Her crying! I didn't know why then, but now I do. I made her cry. I made her miserable. I ruined her life! She was beautiful once. You should've seen the pictures. I always thought her pictures looked like a fairytale princess—maybe even a fairy. And look what she became? Because of me—the little cursed beast. I'm with my own kind now. It's better this way. I'm not going anywhere."
"Listen," Remus interrupted, "if you think your mother is better off without you, you're wrong. She probably lays awake every night praying you're alive. I know how it is."
"Stop," Evelyn hissed as she offered Lily water. "I've made my choice. Go home if you have the chance. Say hey to Sev for me and tell him I'm all right. Tell him not to bother."
Lily took a swallow of water. "Sev's missing. We'd hoped he might have come here for you."
"Missing?" For the first time, Evelyn showed surprise. "I shouldn't be shocked. All the good ones go… 'missing' these days. And they don't come back. He is just another guy, after all. When you get out of here, don't you dare go to my mother." She left, the bucket still sitting in a little puddle on the floor.
"How old is she?" said James.
"Six-and-a-half last time we met," said Lily. "About eight now. Why?"
"She talks like an adult. It's creeping me out," said James.
"She didn't last time I saw her," Lily said.
"What'd you expect?" said Remus. "Lord knows how long she's been here. It had to happen. The day she figured out what she was, she became an adult overnight. It's a terrible thing, but it's how it is. And this is even worse! She learned it from them." He glanced at their werewolf guard.
"This isn't a place for a child," said Lily. "I don't care what she says. She shouldn't be here. We've got to get her out."
"But what if we can't?" James said.
Sirius snorted. "That's what you say? What if we can't? The kid's in trouble, even if she doesn't know it. It's lousy to give up like that! We're in the middle of an army, Prongsie. Lils is right. Kids don't belong in places like this. If we don't get her, she'll die on a battlefield. Maybe not today, but way too soon."
Lily didn't know if she should be grateful that Sirius delivered the winning argument or cry.
"You're all forgetting something," said Remus.
"What?" Lily snipped.
"We've got to save ourselves before we save her."
"Oh…" Lily mumbled.
"Sorry to say, but we can't count on Severus to pop in and fix everything," Remus said.
"Of course, not," Lily sighed.
"Why do you rush into things without thinking?" James muttered Lily.
"It's who I am! Why can't you people understand that? I'd die for what's right."
James shook his head. "Severus is right to love you so dearly…"
"Thanks. I… think." If she hadn't been bound, she would have left the room to dispel some of the tension, but since that wasn't an option, she changed the subject. "You have to wonder—when werewolves transform, why aren't they body-bound? It would make them defenseless while they're dangerous."
Remus explained. "Werewolves are magically repellent—that's why they're dangerous. Body-binding, sleeping spells, magic ropes—none of that works. If a werewolf touches a magical rope, it'll break. Same with dragons and trolls."
"Moony?" said James. "You know I love you, man, right? And I'd never, ever want to hurt you. You're like a brother to me."
"What're you getting at, Prongs?" Remus said.
"I'd like to know that too," Sirius put in.
"We all agreed our chances for survival are pretty slim and we should consider any possibility of escape, right?" said James.
"Yeah," Sirius nodded.
A tiny sliver of hope rose in Lily's heart. "You've got an idea?"
"Just now," said James. "Remus, I'm so sorry, and if I could see any other way out of this that didn't get us killed, I'd do it, I swear."
"Prongs…" Remus looked hesitant. "Do what you've got to do."
"Believe me, I'm sorry," James whispered before yelling to the nearest werewolf—the blond, "Yo! Beastie!"
"What?"
"Yeah, you. You're not so dangerous, are you, beast-born?" James snorted. "Pathetic!"
"James," Lily hissed, "What're you—"
James gave her the best nudge he could muster under the circumstances.
"Hey, Bad-breath," Sirius picked up for James, "I'm sure happy I'm not as hairy as you. I mean, phew! That's gotta be a fate worse than death."
"It is," the blond sneered. "Like to try it, pretty boy?"
"Hah!" Sirius rolled his eyes. "Werewolves are born, not made. I, however, am a full-blood wizard. I can't become a werewolf."
"Right you are, Padfoot," James said. "I'm a full-blood too, and you're really going to be sorry when the right people figure out you have us."
Lily pieced everything together and took Remus' hand to reassure him.
"Oh, so you can't be werewolves?" said the blond. "Too good to be one of us, he says. Too important! Well, shouldn't we see about that? I'll show you what old Fenrir discovered. We can halt transformation, or expose it." He drew a wand.
Remus let go of Lily's hand and scooted as far away as he could manage.
"Oh, brother," said the dark-skinned man. "I suppose they'd have died, anyway."
"Lupus Lunara!" The blond declared. A ball of light escaped his wand and floated to the ceiling. He spread his arms and looked at the light as everyone else covered their eyes. The man twisted and howled as his back, arms and legs stretched and morphed. He screamed, yowled in agonized delight.
But he wasn't the only one.
Bound, Remus couldn't shield his eyes and he yelped and cried as the transformation took him.
The dark-skinned man cursed. "That kid's already one of us!"
The invisible bonds around the Marauders snapped.
"Run for it!" James grabbed the still-transforming Remus by one arm and dragged him along. Sirius took the other arm, and Lily sprinted after them, but not before she dove for the backpack. She hugged it to her chest as she ran after the boys.
None of the werewolves understood what happened, and no one uncovered their eyes since that meant transformation, and instant pain.
"Hold on, bro!" James called to Remus. "We're almost out of here."
"The castle," Sirius said. "We can hide in the castle!"
Lily led the way.
Remus groaned as he shrank back to normal size, face and hands finding their proper shape again. "That was the stupidest plan you've ever had." His face paled and he looked like he might throw up.
"I'm so sorry," said James.
"We're alive. What's there to say?" Remus did his best to help James and Sirius along instead of being dead weight, but he trembled with every step. "We know how they cheat now." His face went from ashen to green. "But I think I'm gonna hurl.
"There they are!" Came a shout from behind. "After them!"
Lily clutched the bag closer. The invisibility cloak! She rummaged as she ran. When she found the cloak, she pushed the boys to the ground behind a low hill and threw herself over them, the silvery cloak spread to cover all four just as the werewolves sped past them.
Lily held her breath as their pursuers hurried away. Beneath her, Remus vomited.
"Hey!" James protested. "My cloak!" He wriggled out of the pile and took the cloak with him, away from the mess and a heaving Remus.
"Ewww!" Sirius scrambled away, trying to wipe the stinking chunks off his coat with some wet leaves.
Sweat rolled off Remus and he was paler than before. His hair stuck to his forehead as he dried his mouth on one sleeve. "Werewolf transformation is unnatural in the first place. This is worse! I can't even imagine what the consequences of doing it frequently are. They could die from this… or worse."
"What's worse than dying?" said Sirius as he gave his soiled coat a disgusted look before he took it off and rubbed it in a clump of scraggly grass, as if that would banish the stink.
"I could think of a few things," Remus said as he wiped the sweat from his face and neck.
Lily sat beside Remus and touched the back of her hand to his head. "You're burning us," she whispered. "You shouldn't have come with us."
"I knew what I was getting into," Remus said sternly. "And, by the way, good thinking, Lily."
After a nod to Lily, James said, "You must feel terrible, Remus."
"That's putting it lightly."
"We'd better get to the castle and get you somewhere dry." James hefted Remus' one arm while Lily beat Sirius to the other. They began the slow trudge to the castle.
Once inside, Sirius led them upstairs to a dust-filled, web-covered bedroom. A fireplace covered one wall.
"Shoot!" Sirius groaned as Lily and James flipped back the dust cover and set Remus on the bed. "How do you start a fire without a wand? We're doomed!"
Lily almost chuckled. "You do realize only three percent of the world's population are wizards, right?"
"What does that have to do with anything?" Sirius said.
"They've had fire as long as we have, and plenty of ways to make it." Lily snagged James' glasses. "Do you mind?"
"Hey! What was that for?" James protested.
"Watch." Lily arranged long-dry wood in the dark fireplace and knelt.
"That's the trouble. Without my glasses, I can't watch."
Lily angled the lenses toward the sun and focused a shaft of light on the kindling. A minute passed. Two. Nothing. Then a smolder began, followed by a tiny flame.
"Whoa!" Sirius took a step back. "I thought you didn't know how to do wandless magic."
"It's not magic," Lily said. "I used the sun's rays and intensified them with the glasses."
"Sounds like magic to me," Sirius said. "I didn't understand any of that."
Lily returned James' glasses and checked Remus' temperature again. "You're still burning up."
"I feel better though." Remus gave her a vague smile, but his hair still plastered to his pale face.
"Great…" Lily shook her head. "We only have the rest of today and tomorrow."
"I know you don't want to consider this." James sat beside her on the bed. "But what if I went in there alone, under the invisibility cloak? That would leave me free to roam around. Only I could get caught. I could try to get the wands and Evelyn. Then we'd be good to go."
"Or, even better." Lily crossed her arms, defiant. "I'll borrow the cloak and go in."
"No! Absolutely not," James said.
"Besides," Remus managed as he lay down. "You heard Evelyn. Fenrir sees me as one of his children. It'd be best if I go. Even if I get caught, it's unlikely they'll hurt me."
"You're sick," said Sirius. "And why can't I go? I'll just turn into a dog and run. They'll think I'm a werewolf too."
"That's stupid, Pad!" James snapped.
"I got us into this sorry mess," said Lily. "It's only fair I get us out."
"I said, 'No'!" James stood.
"I'm not a child." Lily stood too and glared up into his face. "Why does everyone treat me like one?"
"Because you're a seventeen-year-old girl who rushes into things!" James shot back. "And you bite off way more than you can chew. Who do you think you are? The chosen one? Destined to go out saving everyone?" Say what you will about Snape, but at least he thinks things through before bowling in. To jump into his plans is the same as disturbing him."
"I know Sev. He's my old friend, and I love him!" Lily said,
"Do you?" James said. "Then tell me—honestly—would he be the least bit happy to see you here?"
Lily started to reply—to give James an answer, any straight answer she could find. But nothing came out, no matter how hard she tried.
"I see." James sat in a nearby chair, not bothering to remove the dust cover.
Red crept up Lily's neck and face as she tried to blink away tears. Why can't I just answer him?
"So… why are we here?" Sirius said.
Lily glared at James, the same way she used to when she found his advances disgusting—but this time was worse. "Several good reasons: beating some sense into Sev's thick skull so we can figure out what's going on, trying to pick up a trace of the other Horcruxes and, most importantly, saving Evelyn."
"We're stuck here," James muttered. "Without wands, a plan, without anything. Thanks, Lily."
"You're welcome, James," she replied coldly.
"Guys?" said Remus. "I hate to disturb you, but…" He struggled to sit up and cringed at the effort. "I hear voices."
"Oh no." Sirius shook his head. "Now Moony's going insane too."
Remus gave Sirius a sour look. "I mean from the floor below. Could someone be using the castle?"
"Who'd want this dusty old dump?" said Sirius.
Lily pressed an ear to the floor. "I'd recognize that horrible voice anywhere. It's Umbridge."
"Umbridge?!" The boys exclaimed in wide-eyed unison.
James dropped to the floor and joined Lily, listening.
"Wait, who? And who's that talking with her?" said Sirius.
"You're such an idiot," Lily said. "It's probably the same ones we saw earlier—the Ministry people talking with Fenrir."
"What?" Sirius persisted.
"We saw her, remember?" said James. "At the drug trial last year. She's head of the Department for Magical Creatures, and she's the one responsible for everything getting more difficult for Remus. She's constantly in the newspapers with her oh-so-good intentions about werewolves—the fat lady in pink who yelled at Fenrir yesterday."
"Ohhh! I hate her! Let's go hurt her!" Sirius said.
Lily kept her ear pressed to the floor, but Umbridge and whoever she was with had stopped talking.
"Wait," said Remus. "That's the Ministry. We can't fight the Ministry!"
"It's corrupt," said Lily. "We can't trust them, and no one can see us here. They'd have no problem with hurting Evelyn or Sev."
"Besides, this is Umbridge," said James. "She'd love to have an excuse to kill you—literally."
"I say we kill her first," Sirius grinned. Lily and the boys glared at him. "Kidding!"
"Quiet!" Lily hissed. "We don't want them to know we're up here. What if they discover us?"
"What if they already heard us?" said James.
Everyone quit talking. They listened for any hint that Umbridge was headed their way. Lily could have sworn her heart hammered like the biggest drum in England.
But no one came. Nothing happened.
"If they heard us," Sirius whispered, "don't you think they'd have come for us by now?"
Lily swallowed hard and nodded. "Now what?"
"We stay here," James said, "and we're very, very quiet. The second those Ministry people clear out, we do too."
"I like that," Lily agreed.
But Umbridge and company didn't seem to have any intention of leaving soon, and all four Marauders kept intent watch well into the night.
Remus fell asleep first, then Lily curled up next to him and fell asleep too.
Twice that night James woke Sirius from his snoring slumber in the chair, only to doze off himself as Lily woke.
The hours crawled.
When James finally woke, he yawned and found his invisibility cloak tucked into Lily's backpack.
"Where do you think you're going?" said Lily.
"The loo, madame." James stood. "If you don't mind."
"Oh." Lily seemed to realize how long it had been since they'd left Hogwarts. "Actually… can I borrow the cloak when you're done?"
"If you promise the loo is the only place you're going," said James.
"You're not very good at trusting people," Lily said.
"You don't make it any easier, Miss Rush-in-without-permission," James snapped before he swung the cloak around him. "Back in a minute." He cracked open the door, checked the hall and slipped out. Seconds later he found the stairs. Probably easier to go outside in the bushes than fumble around trying to find the loo. Less likely to get caught that way too.
The trek outside proved uneventful and James managed to keep out of sight.
Once done, he secured the cloak and headed for the castle entrance. As he stepped through the door, long scrawny fingers snatched him into a tiny, dark room and threw back the invisibility cloak. He screamed like a little girl.
Two furious black eyes burned into his soul and a cold white hand clapped over his mouth. "Quiet," the low, smooth voice hissed.
With a gulp and a nod, James stared up at the young man who towered over him.
The hand released his mouth.
"Sn-Sn-Snape?" James barely recognized him. He looked dangerous. And mad.
"Who else?" Severus sneered, sounding nothing like any Snape James knew. His black gaze was chilling. "Tell me, Potter, what are you and your little gang doing here?"
"S-same as you. I… think. Evelyn. We s-saw her in the Prophet."
"I've worked months to get where I am," Severus snarled and grabbed James' collar. "Planning, infiltrating, all to get Evelyn. You're in the way. You're ruining everything, Potter! I hope you realize that!"
"Tell me about it…" James said. "I tried to tell Lily, honestly, but she would've come anyway!"
Severus' expression didn't change.
He doesn't look anything like a seventeen-year-old wizard. Is he even human?
Severus' black eyes gleamed and his unusually strong hand still held tight to James' collar, but his grip loosened just enough for James to wriggle free.
"Get out of here," Severus snarled.
"Hold on, now." James took a step back to avoid getting snagged again. "Lily's done nothing but worry about you every day since you left. The least you could do is talk to her."
"What I do or don't do is no concern of yours," Severus hissed. "Get back to Hogwarts, now!"
"Love to, but the werewolves took our wands," said James. "Care to help, Severus?"
"Since when have we been on a first-name basis?"
"Since the day I promised to look out for you." James almost grinned. "So, tell me, Severus, old pal, what've you been up to lately?"
"That is not your concern, Potter." Severus' tone terrified James—nothing remotely resembling how he'd spoken before.
"No, seriously," James swallowed his fear, "what've you been doing? Why didn't you come back? How could you know about Evelyn months in advance?"
"As I said. That's no concern of yours." Severus took a candelabra from a nearby table. "Portus." He held the candelabra out to James. "This Portkey will activate in twenty minutes and go straight to Hogwarts. Now, go!"
James took the impromptu key. "You have to talk to Lily. Please!"
"I trust you're taking good care of her?" said Severus.
"Trying," James nodded, "but it's not—"
"Then that's that." Severus threw the invisibility cloak over James and shoved him away. "Go!"
"You're the only person I know who's more stubborn than Lily. You two were made for each other! I'd hate to be a guest at your house!"
"Go!" Severus insisted again. "And don't you dare look for me. You won't find me."
"Fine," James said. "But you have to explain yourself sometime. How'd you get here?"
"Not your concern." Severus shoved James into the entry hall and shut the door in his face.
James went upstairs, careful not to let the old floor creak under his feet. Should've dragged him with me. But Snape's got a wand, and I don't… yet.
Back in the old bedroom, Remus lay in bed, still looking ill. Lily seemed determined and worried, and Sirius was far more sober than usual.
James threw off the cloak and handed the candelabra to Remus. "Hold this for me."
"What for?" Remus wiped sweat from his brow, though he did look better than before.
"Just hold it for ten minutes. That's all."
"O… kay…."
James sat in his chair and waited.
Remus vanished.
"What just happened?" Lily said.
"It was a Portkey," said James. "Remus is back at Hogwarts. I knew no one would've fallen for it if I'd asked two to hold it at the same time, so I picked Remus. He's sick. Snape made it. He's hiding somewhere downstairs."
"What?" Lily shot to her feet and brightened like a flower having just seen the sun after months of cloudy weather. "Sev's here? I knew it! He had to come. He's controlled by his heart. Of all times, he had to be here now for Evelyn."
Outside the bedroom door, Severus whispered, "Idiots. Fools…"
Edited by Dtill359
