Petal in the Rain
Chapter 24 - Starlight in the Gloom
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
but bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never write, nor no man ever loved.
-William Shakespeare
11:30PM
It was like all the life had been sucked out of London.
Lily closely followed behind Sirius Black as he hurried along an abandoned avenue towards the Ministry of Magic, her luxurious plum-coloured dress trailing in her wake. Hugging her arms against her chest, the cool air like pinpricks, her eyes darted about the sad, dark surroundings. She bit her lower lip, finding the lack of sound and movement usually present on the streets at night to be eerie; they had encountered no automobiles, no late-night diners, no beggars…not even a wild cat rummaging around in a nearby rubbish bin.
She could still barely comprehend what she had done. Pressed to make a split-second decision, Lily had disregarded both Dumbledore and Frank's strict instruction by escaping into the night with Sirius—best friend of her lost love and newly-discovered citizen of the wizarding world. Placing her fate into the hands of a man she knew to be irresponsible, she had left Frank behind at the Hogwarts Gala and hadn't informed him or any of her protectors of her whereabouts. A sick feeling crept over Lily as she thought of the panic likely gripping Frank at that very moment, as well as the trouble she would be in once Dumbledore discovered what she had so hastily done; however, neither circumstance compared to the possibility of James leaving for Australia.
I can't lose him again…
Lily paused when Sirius turned down another street—what she vaguely recognized to be Jermyn Street—and came to an abrupt halt in front of a burned-out restaurant. Following Sirius' concentrated eyes, she saw a badly damaged sign by his feet. Scrutinizing the olive and gold lettering, Lily realized it read Wilton's. She trembled, Roxanne's voice still vivid in her mind:
"I ran into James Potter in the boutique…he's gone and invited us to dinner tonight with his idiot-of-a-friend, Sirius."
Shaking off the ghostly recollection, Lily exchanged a poignant look with Sirius before he sighed and continued headlong down the street. Stepping over the discarded sign, Lily followed, reflecting that London had become like the remnants of a Sunday roast; picked apart by greedy German fingers, its flimsy bones—that of bombed-out shops and abandoned homes—the only reminder of how delicious it once had been.
As a summer wind blew along the rue, kicking up dust from the debris, Lily wondered how much longer it would take for them to arrive at the Ministry. She secretly feared she and Sirius were too late—that James had already departed for Australia and that the possibility of ever seeing him again had slipped away with him.
"Oi! Watch it, Evans!"
Like a sheep blindly following its shepherd, Lily stumbled into Sirius' solid frame, unaware that he had ceased walking again. Quidditch reflexes kicking in, he was able to catch her arm before she tumbled over, effortlessly pulling her upright. Flustered, Lily regained her balance and looked up at him: "Sorry…I didn't realize you'd stopped."
"Obviously," Sirius raised an eyebrow, rolling his eyes before directing Lily's scattered attention forward by pointing, "The entrance to the Ministry is just over there."
Gazing into the misty distance, Lily blinked, suspicious the night was playing tricks on her, for nestled against a battered brick building—the scraps of an old industrial factory—stood a peculiar sight: a bright crimson telephone booth. Seemingly untouched by the air raid, the red enclosure shone like a beacon in the night, its painted doors and unsullied windows strangely contrasting its demolished backdrop.
Entranced by the abnormality, Lily's eyes widened when Sirius glided toward the phone booth and stepped inside.
What in the world?
"This really isn't the time to place a personal call, Sirius…" Lily said warily as she stepped toward the phone booth in pursuit of the aristocrat.
Peeking her head in, she yelped when Sirius pulled her inside the telephone booth with him. He grinned as he closed the squeaky folding door behind them, Lily uncomfortably pressed up against his chest. No matter how indomitably she wriggled, she could not escape the cramped space full-to-the-brim with the girth of her ballooned skirt.
"Well isn't this romantic?" Sirius teased, looking down at the vexed girl swimming in fabric.
"What do you think you're doing?" Lily demanded, her face reddening as she pushed against Sirius' chest in protest.
"Don't get your knickers in a knot, Evans. This is the visitors' entrance to the Ministry of Magic," Sirius explained, smug due to the girl's unsubstantiated anger.
"How many times do I have to tell you that my last name is not 'Evans'?" Lily demanded, helplessly wedged in the claustrophobic box.
"…what?" Sirius looked unintelligibly adrift.
"Never mind…would you please tell me what we're doing in here?"
"Watch and learn, muggle-bumpkin," Sirius winked, causing Lily to become even more irritated. "Let's see if I can remember the combination; it should spell 'MAGIC'…"
Lily watched as Sirius reached around her toward the shiny black telephone and carefully dialed a series of numbers: 6-2-4-4-2.
"Don't you have to pick up the receiver?" Lily asked, underwhelmed when the dial whorled smoothly back into place and silence followed.
"Just wait…"
Disconcertingly, the cool, disembodied voice of an official-sounding female reverberated within the telephone box, causing Lily to wince. Sirius chuckled as the startled girl scoured the small space in search of the source of the speech, ultimately pressing a finger to his lips to compel her silence. "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."
"Lord Sirius Black and Lady Aurora Rockford, here on…a rescue mission, let's say."
There was a prolonged pause before the female voice curtly responded, "The Ministry of Magic is currently closed to the public. Operations will resume at 6:00AM. The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day."
Lily blinked, unimpressed by the refutation. She turned to look at Sirius, assuming that the confident aristocrat had been expecting resistance from the intangible official; her heart skipped a beat when she saw his dumbfounded expression.
"…Sirius? What now?"
The handsome lord seemed at a loss for words. Spiraling away from Lily to mask his dimwitted expression, Sirius pushed open the booth's folding door and spilled out onto the cobblestone. Lily watched as he walked a few paces away from her and scratched at his scalp. The skin around his knuckles tightened as he ran his fingers through his groomed hair, the veins in his neck protruding angrily.
"FUCK!"
Lily recoiled, taken aback by Sirius' vocalized frustration. As he continued to air his vexation, either oblivious or uncaring of Lily's reaction, her chest constricted uncomfortably, the realization that he did not have a 'plan B' leaving her breathless. Other than the Floo Network—which had also shut down for the evening—there didn't seem to be any other way into the Ministry of Magic.
It's almost midnight…
Anxiety getting the better of her, Lily pressed her back against the glass window of the telephone booth and sank onto the ground. Placing one hand on her pounding head, she closed her eyes and let the other fall to her side, anguish beginning to wash over her.
I'm so close…
Before tears began to spill down her cheeks, the hand that fell into her lap unexpectedly rested on an unusually rigid part of her dress. Looking down, Lily explored the protrusion, realizing in silent wonder that—built cleverly into the structure of her beautiful gown—there was a wand pocket which contained her wand.
Mimi must have slipped it into my dress when I was getting ready…how did I not notice it before?
Drawing out her wand from its hiding place, Lily chanced another glance at Sirius, optimistic Humpty Dumpty had begun to put himself back together again. It appeared Sirius had instead walked further away and was now mercilessly kicking the a rubbish bin. Aware that he was in no state of mind to present a rational solution to their situation, Lily climbed to her feet. Feeling ridiculous for blubbering, she twirled her wand and stared at the telephone receiver.
Think of what you've learned so far…there must be a charm Snape's taught you…
Lily wasn't quite sure how the visitors' entrance functioned, but she knew she had to try something clever. Taking a deep breath to clear her mind, she narrowed her eyes and pointed her wand at the shiny black telephone box, pronouncing with unparalled purpose: "Confundus!"
At first, nothing seemed to happen. Without glancing over her shoulder to see whether or not Sirius had noticed her magical attempt at fooling the contraption, Lily dialed 6-2-4-4-2 and—with bated breath—waited for the dial to coil back into place.
"Welcome to the M-Ministry of M-Magic. Please state your name and b-business."
"Lady Aurora Rockford and Lord Sirius Black, here to recover Lord James Potter." Lily responded confidently, deciding that if she sounded convincing, the immaterial Ministry bureaucrat—who now sounded a bit shaky—would take her more seriously.
"The M-Ministry of M-Magic is currently closed to the public. Operations will resume at 6:00AM. The Ministry of Magic wishes you a p-pleasant day."
"Don't be absurd, it's already 7:00AM!" Lily protested persuasively, tapping her foot on the metal flooring and rapping her wand against the receiver. "If you keep me waiting much longer, I will be late!"
Desperately hoping the magical machinery had been addled by her charm, Lily suppressed a squeal of delight when it finally responded, "Oh…yes…q-quite right."
"Excellent! As I said, Lady Aurora Rockford here to recover Lord James Potter," Lily repeated, beaming brightly; she couldn't help but feel proud of her magical accomplishment.
"T-Thank you," the female voice sputtered, less self-assured than before. "Visitors, please take the below badges and attach them to the front of your robes."
Cascading out of the metal chute where muggle money usually materialized were two square, silver badges, each reading Lily and Sirius' names followed by the word 'Trespasser.'
"SIRIUS! GET IN HERE QUICK—I'VE CONFUNDED THE MACHINE TO TAKE US TO THE MINISTRY!" Lily shouted when the telephone booth started to shudder.
Befuddled, Sirius turned to Lily, his eyes widening when he noticed the telephone box quivering and issuing mechanical clicks and bangs.
"Merlin!" Sirius yelped, breaking into a haphazard dash and gracelessly launching himself into the cramped telephone booth just as the door slid shut and the booth began to sink into the ground like a confused elevator.
Holding onto Sirius, Lily's eyes darted about worriedly when the pavement eclipsed the remaining light from the street lamps and the booth plunged into darkness.
"I don't know how you did it, or how you even thought of it, but this is brilliant, Lily," Sirius' tone was both grateful and affectionate. Lily's smile was concealed by the darkness. "I assumed you hadn't received any magical training yet?"
"It's only been a month now…I'm not half bad at Charms," Lily whispered, claustrophobia nagging at her. Sirius had no idea how dramatically she downplayed her profound aptitude concerning the magical subject.
"James would be proud of you," Sirius wrapped a reassuring arm around Lily's shoulders to hold her closer to him; neither friend seemed bothered by the intimacy. "We wouldn't have made it to him in time if it wasn't for your quick thinking."
"We haven't made it to him yet," Lily murmured, the spicy smell of Sirius' cologne putting her fraying nerves at ease.
"We will," Sirius assured.
Suddenly, melancholy-blue light spilled into the telephone booth from the floor, gradually spreading upward as the transport emerged from the solid underground and descended into an expansive, dimly-lit foyer. Lily stared out the window as the telephone box spookily floated to the ground, eventually touching down on the tiled flooring as delicately as a petal would the surface of a pond. The telephone box opened, admitting them entrance to the shadowy space.
"Looks like you didn't completely fool it," Sirius smirked, proudly pinning one of the badges the machine had produced to his expensive dress shirt. "A Ministry badge that reads 'Trespasser'…I'll save this story for the grandchildren."
Sirius' playful sentiments were interrupted as the telephone booth uttered its final message: "V-Visitors to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the s-security desk, which is located at the far end of the A-Atrium."
"I think we'll be skipping that part," Sirius chuckled.
As Lily and Sirius stepped out of the structure and into the spacious foyer, the door slid closed and the telephone booth began to rise up into the ceiling, the cool female voice echoing, "The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day…"
Left in the gloom, Lily's pupils enlarged as she attempted to adjust to the dark, cold reception area. Waiting for Sirius' cue, she did not ignite the tip of her wand until Sirius did so. She watched wearily as he looked about the space, visibly puzzled, then pointed his wand toward one of the unlit torches mounted on the nearby wall: "Incendio!"
To their surprise, nothing happened.
"That's strange…" Sirius muttered, looking at Lily uncertainly. "The torches won't light…and I don't think we've been deposited in the Atrium. The booth must have dropped us off somewhere else—perhaps this is a calculated method meant to confuse possible intruders…"
"What do you mean?" Lily inquired, the surrounding darkness becoming more frightful.
"There's a spell they use at Gringott's Bank…it makes the layout of the vaults more confusing to trespassers, like a labyrinth. It's still possible to find your way to your destination, but it prolongs the process—provides more time for the spell-caster to catch you," Sirius explained, frustration colouring his voice again.
"I suppose we better start walking then…" Lily replied, Sirius grunting in affirmation as the pair embarked into the darkness, the only light provided by their wands.
I hope there's nothing hiding in the dark…
As they wandered further into the Ministry, Lily felt discouraged, for around every corner was the same expanse of highly-polished dark wood flooring and black-tiled walls. The only audible sounds were the duo's footfalls, Sirius' breathing and the occasional curse word. Lily explored every wall and crevice with her wand, hoping to find the passage to the Atrium, but all she kept stumbling upon were the stirring golden symbols that adorned the peacock-blue, cathedral-like ceiling.
"Wonderful," Sirius spat sarcastically, the pair turning a corner and finding themselves at a crossroads. There were two options before them: the left corridor or the right corridor. Lily looked to Sirius questioningly as he analyzed their situation: "Nox."
Once the end of Sirius' wand had faded out like an ember strangled of oxygen, Sirius placed it across the open palm of his hand and muttered, "Point me." Like the hand of a compass reacting to the poles, Sirius' wand turned on an imaginary axis, the tip steering right.
"Right it is…let's go," Sirius said to Lily, igniting the end of his wand again and heading down the corridor without another word.
Lily suppressed a shiver. It hadn't been long into their decision to turn right that she had begun to feel like they were being watched. Though she obediently followed Sirius, in no position to argue his choice, she had the chilling feeling that something wasn't right—that something had changed. The atmosphere felt tenser, the quiet more pronounced; even the air smelled different.
Sirius stopped and raised his wand high above him, attempting to illuminate something in the distance. Lily came to a halt beside him, squinting at the scene ahead of them. She did not distinguish anything out of the ordinary.
"What is it?" Lily questioned, his facial expression alerting her.
"I thought I heard something ahead," Sirius faltered, his forehead wrinkled as he continued to stare ahead. "Like a scratching noise—like something sharp scraping against the floor."
"That's odd…I didn't hear—" Lily was cut off mid-sentence by a strange scuttling sound that drifted from the blackness beyond. She exchanged a curious look with Sirius, neither aware of what the source of the noise was. "Should we go take a look?"
Sirius face paled in recognition. "It looks like that may not be necessary…"
Lily's eyes shifted to the thing Sirius was staring at. Out from the shadows scurried the most bizarre and hideous creature Lily had ever set eyes upon. Almost ten feet long, the creature resembled a giant scorpion, having a lethal looking stinger curled over its back and shiny, greyish armor that covered the top of its sickeningly translucent body. A repulsive beast, Lily took a couple steps back, pulling at Sirius' shoulder for reassurance; he went rigid.
"What the hell is that thing?" Lily whispered, the creature stopping a few feet away from them and fearfully freezing in its place.
Sirius spoke carefully out of the side of his mouth, his eyes regarding the monster cagily. "Blast-ended skrewt. Don't move."
"What do we do?" Lily demanded, unable to peel her eyes away from the skrewt's razor-sharp stinger.
"Hope it loses interest and goes away," Sirius breathed, his hand growing sweaty from clutching his wand so tightly.
As Lily and Sirius waited for the disgusting creature to disappear, the skrewt shifted uneasily before them, its stinger swaying. Suddenly, a high-pitched wail emanated from the beast, causing the pair to cringe. The unnerving noise was quickly followed by further scuttling—not from the skrewt before them, they realized dreadfully—but from numerous skrewts hidden in the dark.
"I think he just called his friends!" Lily yelped, her eyes darted about the blackness enclosing them.
"Fucking Merlin—Confringo!" Sirius exclaimed frantically, sending a jet of canary-yellow light barreling toward the alarmed skrewt.
Rather than blasting the nasty monster out of their way as Sirius had intended, the spell ricocheted off of the creature's shiny armor and soared toward them. Ducking, Lily screamed as the spell blew a hole in the wall behind them, sending sharp shards of tile showering in their direction. Frightened, the skrewt flushed red, its behind igniting and fire spurting out, violently propelling it forward toward Lily and Sirius.
Sirius threw himself against Lily, tackling her to the floor to remove her from the creature's sizzling path. She gasped as she hit the ground hard, the bones in her right arm groaning under the weight and impact.
"Are you alright?" Sirius asked from above Lily; however, she didn't get a chance to answer him as they both looked up to find a small army of skrewts surrounding them, their stingers rearing above their heads maliciously.
Lily and Sirius scrambled to their feet, Lily clutching her arm, and aimed their wands at the ever-increasing group of creatures. As the skrewts scuttled around them, forming a flaming circle, Lily and Sirius pressed their backs against one another to keep every angle covered. Staring down the 10-foot-long monsters, Lily could feel her wand hand shaking uncontrollably.
"S-Sirius…I don't know any defensive spells…" Lily cried, horrified by the appalling skrewts equipped to close in on them. She had a gut feeling that once one skrewt had mustered up enough nerve to attack, the others would quickly follow suit.
"It's going to be alright…" Sirius replied hesitantly, wracking his brain for a way to defeat the skrewts as they continued to descend upon them. "I'm going to distract them—you need to run when I tell you to and get James."
"I'm not leaving you!" Lily insisted, her skin crawling.
"Ready…?" Sirius breathed gravely, ignoring her protests. "One…two…"
"Sirius, no!"
"NOW!" Sirius yelled forcefully, turning toward the skrewts that were advancing in Lily's direction and shouting, "BOMBARDA!"
The skrewts that were scampering towards Lily were suddenly blown aside, Sirius' powerful spell—which was aimed at the floor—knocking them off balance and injuring their weak, unarmored underbellies. The unscathed skrewts surrounding them began to systematically charge, distressed by Sirius' spell.
"GO!" Sirius shouted again, a pathway having been cleared.
Lily hesitated, panicked tears welling in the corners of her eyes, then began to run through the unobstructed route—away from Sirius and the remaining skrewts. Riddled with guilt and fear, she heard Sirius cry out in agony before she could put a fair distance between them, causing her to stop and look back. Sirius was bent over awkwardly, his wand hand shooting spells at oncoming creatures while his other hand shakily held onto his right leg, which appeared to have been scorched by the fiery backside of one of the skrewts. Unable to leave him at the mercy of the predatory creatures, Lily ran back to his side and yelled with all her might: "PROTEGO!"
Fire that surely would have caused further damage to Sirius was temporarily blocked by Lily's shield charm; this gave Sirius a chance to momentarily recover from the initial pain of his leg and continue to launch various spells into the ever-growing crowd of blast-ended skrewts.
"What are you—DIFFINDO!—doing?" Sirius demanded angrily, trying as many spells as he could think of on the unyielding creatures. "STUPEFY!"
"Attempting to—PROTEGO!—save you from—PROTEGO!—being—PROTEGO!—barbecued!" Lily responded, continuing to shield the fiery attacks on herself and Sirius.
Her attention focused on the creatures before her, she cried out in agony when her left knee buckled from beneath her, conscious that a sneaky skrewt had snuck up behind her and thrust its stinger through her dress into her left calf. Turning to face the nasty brute, Lily angrily screamed "STUPEFY!", sending the creature skyrocketing into the air in a flash of red and causing it to land in a conquered heap almost a hundred yards away.
"Very good!" Sirius encouraged enthusiastically, earning a pained smile from Lily. Both of their expressions faltered, however, when they noticed the army of skrewts was not dwindling despite their bravest attempts; rather, it seemed to be growing.
"We aren't going to—PROTEGO!—make it much longer!" Lily annunciated over the symphony of hisses, bangs and screeches coming from the blast-ended skrewts.
"We've got to make a run for—CONFRINGO!—the corridor over there! Ready?" Sirius yelled back, sending a final blasting curse at the attacking skrewts before grabbing Lily's arm and racing toward the adjoining corridor on the far side of the antechamber.
Neither Lily nor Sirius travelled with ease, the injuries they had sustained during battle hindering their movements. Though Lily and Sirius continued to aim shield charms at nearby skrewts, pockets of fire escaped through the cracks in their defenses and singed their clothing and any exposed skin. Lily and Sirius screamed out in anguish and frustration, Lily's exposed arms and shoulders absorbing the worst of the beating.
When they finally turned the corner and entered the adjoining corridor, Sirius stopped and aimed his wand at the ceiling, just above the doorway: "BOMBARDA!"
Lily feebly protected her head with her hands as stone from the high ceiling rained down onto the floor and obscured the doorway, preventing the skrewts from reaching their new location and crushing a few of the ambitious ones in the process. Sirius laughed aloud in relief, running a hand through his dusty hair. They could both hear the skrewts hissing and shrieking from the other side of the barrier.
"Do you think there will be more of them ahead?" Lily asked, leaning against a wall as she fought back nausea that was brought on by her throbbing leg.
"I hope not," Sirius muttered, hobbling over to Lily's side. He cringed when he saw the burn marks patterning her arms and shoulders like morbid tattoos, aware that her decision to come back for him had caused her pain—pain which he had no ability to alleviate.
James is going to kill me when he sees the state of her.
"Come on, Lily. We're running out of time. After all we've gone through tonight, I'd hate for it to be for nothing," Sirius said softly, wrapping Lily's arm around his neck to help her walk, though he also had an injured leg to deal with.
"You're right," Lily agreed, resolutely ignoring the searing pain that was spreading from the entry wound on her left leg through to the rest of her body. "Let's get James back."
11:59PM
James Potter awoke with a start, his heart thumping in his chest. The fireplace to his right—number thirty-seven—had burst into fanatical flames, bathing him in warmth and casting dancing shadows on the opposite black-tiled wall. He groaned and sat up from his uncomfortable spot on the floor. Working the crook out of his achy neck, James felt unnerved, a woman's scream still echoing in his ear drums. He didn't know whether it had been the fireplace or his disturbing dream that had jolted him back to life.
Reality did not provide him with respite from his disturbing nightmare, however. As he watched the hot flames crackle in the sterile fireplace before him, James felt a deep sense of foreboding. Ever since he had arrived at the Ministry, his instincts had urged him to turn around. He wasn't sure what had prompted him to regret leaving, but the disquieting feeling only seemed to intensify as the moment of his parting neared.
Don't be a coward.
James swallowed his unpredictable nerves and climbed to his feet, ready for departure. Unsheathing his wand from his pant pocket, he pointed it toward his baggage and shrank it beyond recognition. Picking up his dollhouse-sized sack and placing it neatly in his other pocket, James unearthed the bag of floo powder Miss Edgecomb had provided to him and stepped closer to the fireplace.
Two handfuls...five seconds…
With her condescending instructions still fresh in his mind, James took two heaping fistfuls of floo powder and threw them into the ocher fire. Following a theatrical puff of white smoke, the fire turned a dazzling emerald green, casting a ghostlike glow about the Atrium.
You have to do this…for her.
Swallowing his jittery concerns, James stepped into the green fire and turned to face the opposite wall. His legs and hands tingled as the flames licked them, causing a tepid sensation to travel throughout the rest of his body. Closing his eyes, James blocked out the sound of Sirius' pleading voice—the voice that had been echoing in the back of his mind since resonating from his communication mirror earlier—and pictured the little pub in Australia he would be travelling to.
The Fortune of War…what a ridiculous name for a bar. There is no fortune in war.
Sadness forming in the pit of his stomach, James took a deep breath, the pub's name formulating on the tip of his tongue…
Moments before the words escaped his lips, James' eyes flew open. Above the sound of the crackling flame, James could hear screaming…a woman screaming. Aware that the gut-wrenching noise was not limited to the recesses of his mind, James stepped out of the emerald flames and towards the noise. Distancing himself from the subtle snapping of the fire, he stopped to listen carefully, second-guessing himself.
I must be going mental…
He gasped, the hair on his arms standing on end as the woman's voice echoed again, this time sounding even more tragic than before. Assured that he was not going mad and that he was not alone in the Ministry of Magic as Miss Edgecomb had promised him, James tightened his grip on his wand and started to run towards the screaming; down the length of the extensive Atrium lined with floo fireplaces and around the corner toward a corridor he had never ventured down before.
The flames in fireplace number thirty-seven eventually fizzled out—a lost opportunity.
It took everything in Lily's power to stop the painful spasms that threatened to expose her true condition to Sirius.
As they continued to walk through the black-walled corridor, Sirius supporting half of Lily's weight, Lily knew something was wrong with her. Though her forehead burned like the sun, her blood seemed to be running cold, starting from the entry wound on her leg. Though she had never experienced such a sensation before, Lily surmised that the blast-ended skrewt that had skewered her with its stinger had injected some sort of poison into her; nothing else could explain the chilly toxin invading her bloodstream and the weakness gradually shutting down her body.
Though she pushed forward, every fiber of her being yearning to find James—to embrace him and tell him that everything was going to be alright—Lily knew Sirius sensed something was amiss. He shot furtive glances her way every couple of seconds, likely assessing how pale and limp she had become in his arms. While Sirius was also plastered with burns—a particularly nasty one festering on one of his legs—he hadn't been stung by one of the gruesome monsters the Ministry had employed to protect their offices from night-time intruders.
"How are you doing?" Sirius inquired, unable to ignore her struggles any longer.
She smiled weakly: she feared losing James more than dying from blood poisoning. "I'm fine, Sirius. Let's keep on."
"You don't look so good…" Sirius protested, worry evident in his eyes. "Perhaps this is a fool's errand…I shouldn't have dragged you into this in the first place."
Lily stopped and detached her arm from Sirius, using all the might she had left to keep herself standing tall. "Don't lose hope now, Sirius. I can't turn back—I won't turn back."
"But Lily…" Sirius whispered uneasily, his eyes flickering to her blood-stained dress.
She refused to acknowledge the bleeding; instead, Lily stubbornly stared him down. "Are you going to help me find James or not? I don't know if I'll be able to manage another onslaught of blast-ended skrewts on my own, but I will if I have to."
Sirius cracked a smile. "You're tougher than I ever gave you credit for, Everard."
Lily laughed despite the debilitating pain now creeping up her back. "Took you long enough to get my surname correct…now come on, let's get going."
Sighing, Sirius wrapped Lily's arm around his shoulders again and continued with her down the corridor they had been pointed toward. Unlike the foyer they had originally traversed, the corridors they now navigated were thin and narrow, the ceiling so low Sirius could touch it if he tried. Twisting in every which direction, it didn't take long for Lily and Sirius to reach the end of the road: a plain, black-tiled wall with a golden grate near the ceiling, and—most importantly—no door.
"Merlin, you must be joking!" Sirius growled irately, Lily slipping out of his grasp and melting onto the floor as he walked up to the tiled wall and pounded on it furiously. "You've got to be fucking joking me!"
"I…I need to sit down for a moment," Lily murmured, compartmentalizing the gravity of their situation—that they had met a dead end—as the room began to spin.
Lily's wand clattered out of her hand and rolled away, nestling itself against the adjacent wall. She breathed heavily, her chest feeling tight. Resting her head against the wall, she closed her eyes, trying to drown out the sound of Sirius' voracious cursing and the pain that was making her insides curl…
Venom muddling her wits, reality quickly began to evade Lily. Sirius' voice had disappeared; all she could hear was the peaceful susurrating of flowing water—like the kind that gushed out of elaborate fountains. She sighed, the sound soothing her and making her forget about her aching body. She didn't want to leave this quiet place and return to Sirius, for the place where he resided was a place of pain and bitter disappointment. She knew in her heart of hearts that it was past midnight, that their time was up and James had left long ago—yet they hadn't wanted to give up.
You need to wake up…you need to keep looking…
Suddenly, Lily was being shaken. Barely possessing the strength to lift her eye lids, Lily groaned when she came face-to-face with a panicked Sirius. He was saying something to her—she was sure of it—but she couldn't quite make out the words. Ensnared in an unshakeable haze, Lily thought she must be trapped somewhere between reality and a dream, Sirius blurring in her vision and the sound of water gushing faster and faster in her ears…
"Ennervate!" Sirius shouted, brazenly pointing his wand at Lily's chest.
Lily gasped, her eyes flying open and her heart palpitating rapidly in her chest. She felt like she'd been administered a shot of adrenaline straight to the heart, her blood now a mixture of poison and caffeine.
"You've got to stay with me, Lily!" Sirius exclaimed, unapologetically pulling her to her feet.
Shaking the stars from her eyes, Lily realized why Sirius was so frantic: they were both standing knee-deep in water.
"Wha…what happened?" Lily asked, her unfocused eyes registering the scene.
Sirius grasped her arm to steady her, the rising water making her sway.
"I don't know—one minute I'm scavenging this wall trying to pry the grate loose, and the next, you're unconscious and water is seeping in from the end of the hallway!" Sirius barked, turning away from Lily and yelling, "Confringo!"
The hex seemed to have no effect on the sturdy, spell-proof wall. As Sirius struggled to find an exit point, Lily's breathing became shallower, the freezing water rising above the cleavage of her dress. She didn't know what to do.
"Sirius…" Lily fretted, the water rising so high that she had begun to lightly tread water. "We need to think of something—quick!"
"I'm trying!" Sirius returned, sheer horror transforming his face as the mysterious water continued to rise at an unprecedented pace. "Keep swimming until I figure something out!"
"Won't the water just drain out of that vent?" Lily attempted, the golden grate capturing her attention; the nauseating pain that had previously overwhelmed her senses was the last thing on her mind now, her fight or flight instincts kicking in.
"The water is rising too quickly—it won't drain fast enough," Sirius returned palely, simultaneously treading water and shooting multi-coloured spells out of his wand; nothing he attempted worked, the wall sphinxlike.
"Sirius!" Lily cried, her face barely an inch from the ceiling now.
"Merlin, I'm so sorry Lily—" Sirius swam up next to her, struggling to keep his face above the rising water line; he was cut off when water began to forcefully drain through the golden grate, causing the current to suck Lily and Sirius toward the too-small opening; they burbled in unison, the force of the water crushing them against the tiled wall.
"I'm—going—to swim down—to see—if there is—another opening!" Sirius shouted urgently, swallowing water every time he opened his mouth to speak.
"You'll drown!" Lily bawled, terror flashing in her eyes as she looked into Sirius' dark brown ones.
"It's—the—only way!" Sirius returned, gasping for what little air was left in the corridor. "It's going to be alright!"
"Sirius—no!" Lily wailed, though Sirius had already taken a deep breath and dove underwater.
She sobbed as the minutes dragged on, waiting for Sirius to resurface. She looked about anxiously for him, even dipping her head underwater for a glimpse of him, but the water was too murky and dark. She began to yell his name wildly, fear removing any social inhibitions she had, but she was certain he would not be able to hear her from the subaquatic.
"SIRIUS!" Lily hollered, on the verge of complete insanity.
"HELLO?"
"SIRIUS? HELP—I'M ALMOST OUT OF AIR, I'M—"
The water rose above Lily's head, drowning out her last strangled scream. She began heaving, unable to take a proper breath before the remaining oxygen had escaped her. Completely submerged, her wand lost somewhere on the corridor floor where she had dropped it, Lily despairingly slammed her fists against the wall. Bubbles escaped from her closed mouth and rose toward the ceiling as the last of her bittersweet life began to escape her.
It can't end like this…I won't let it end like this!
As Lily's consciousness began to wane, her brain depraved of oxygen and her lungs about to burst, something unexpected happened: the wall cracked.
"What the hell?" James breathed to himself as he uneasily barreled down the hallway toward the unknown woman's shrieks of trepidation.
As he continued to chase after the disturbing voice, his situation continued to grow stranger: without warning, James was no longer sprinting across a dry wooden floor, but a floor slick with odorless, crystaline water.
Maybe Myrtle haunts the Ministry lavatories as well…
Too agitated to turn around and dismiss the strange occurrence as poltergeist-related, James hurried forward, the hem of his jeans becoming soaked due to the ankle-deep water. The urgent, near manic nature of the distant screaming propelled him to run at a break-neck speed into the dark, every cry like a knife twisting in his heart. There was something truly terrifying about the all-too-real sound, yet he could not bring himself to exercise caution and seek outside help.
James inhaled sharply, coming to a halt when he finally reached his unexpected destination. Laid out before him was an expanse of black-tiled wall housing a grate located near the ceiling. From the grate gushed a torrent of unexplained water—enough to cause him to take a couple steps backward for fear of being knocked off his feet by the powerful flow.
"Finite Incantatem!" James bellowed instinctually, brandishing his wand and pointing it toward the streaming water; nothing happened.
Damn, it must be magically altered somehow…
"I'm—going—to swim down—to see—if there is—another opening!"
"You'll drown!"
"It's—the—only way!"
"Sirius—no!"
"HELLO?" James bellowed robustly, his ears attuned to the struggling voices on the other side of the wall. His heart plunged to his stomach when he heard his best friend's name escape from the lips of the terrified girl—the source of the screaming.
What the fuck is Sirius doing here?
"SIRIUS? HELP—I'M ALMOST OUT OF AIR, I'M—"
Suddenly the female voice was cut off, causing James' blood to run ice-cold. He waded through the growing pool of water toward the open grate. "HELLO? SIRIUS? IF ANYONE CAN HEAR ME, I'M GOING TO GET YOU BOTH OUT OF THERE! JUST HOLD ON!"
Without considering the consequences, James pointed his wand toward the sturdy wall and thought of the most powerful, explosive spell he knew: "BOMBARDA MAXIMA!"
Less theatrically than he had predicted, the wall did not burst into millions of shards; rather, a thick fissure suddenly materialized diagonally across the wall, spurts of water expelling from the tiny lesions within it.
James drew back his wand again, prepared to launch an identical spell at the seemingly fortified wall; however, just as he was about to utter the words, a series of smaller fissures suddenly snaked across the wall, forming an intricate pattern. Then, like an aquatic fireworks display, the wall exploded under the pressure of the swelling water, hitting James like a ton of bricks and knocking him backwards off his feet. Caught up in the aggressive surge, James was chaotically swept back down the hallway, unable to fight against the unyielding force. As his body was rammed hard against one solid wall after another, James attempted to keep his head above the water, taking deep breathes when he felt himself about to be pulled under.
The tidal wave dispersed when it spilled into the Atrium, the huge space thinning out its contents. James howled when he was slammed against something especially rigid, his head thumping the mass so hard that he momentarily blacked out.
Sirius…
His body limp against The Fountain of Magical Brethren, James opened his eyes to stare into the majestic face of a statuesque centaur, distant, distorted voices mingling with the severe ringing in his ears…
Lily coughed violently, a combination of water and blood rushing from her constricted gullet. Winded, her chest heaved uncontrollably as her lungs tasted delectable oxygen, the life-saving substance like a drug. Wiping her mouth clean, her vision clearing as her heartbeat began to calm, she shakily pushed herself upright from the wet floor, the outline of a magnificent golden fountain glimmering in the shadowed space beyond.
"I don't know about you, but I will be sending a strongly-worded owl to the Minister about this," Sirius muttered, noiselessly materializing at Lily's side, his shirt ripped and his left eye as black and as round as a piece of coal.
"Sirius—you're alright!" Lily whimpered, her voice breaking as he helped her to her feet and the pair enveloped one another in a relieved, distressed hug. "When you didn't break the surface again, I thought, I thought—"
"Didn't I tell you? I'm indestructible," Sirius murmured into her shoulder, his grin disappearing when he pulled away from Lily to assess her state. "Are you alright? You look like you've fared just about as well as I have."
Lily laughed hollowly, her throbbing leg and torso beginning to feel unnervingly numb. Despite his spell work, she was finding it increasingly hard to focus on Sirius, the gears in her brain slowing to a grind. "I don't have a black eye like you, do I? I'd h-hate to look so stupid."
He chortled warily, cupping her cheek affectionately. "No black-eye, love, but you do look like your old self…green eyes and all."
"What do you mean?" Lily turned to discover her reflection on the slick floor below. The girl that stared back at her with startling emerald eyes was soaked to the bone, her once polished hairdo unkempt, her bloodied dress shredded to the point where her ankles were exposed, and her arms and chest checkered with burns. The magical alterations Dumbledore had made to her hair and eyes had vanished, replaced now with her natural colouring.
"I imagine the flooding doubled as a charm called The Thief's Downfall. It's meant to wash away all magical concealments and enchantments," Sirius explained, his image appearing behind Lily's in the pool of water before them. "I'll have to try and change you back before we—"
"Sirius? Is that you?"
Lily gasped, her eyes flickering upwards from her reflection and narrowing in on the approaching figure in the distance. Sirius, too, was caught off guard by the voice, his whole body tensing when the suspicious voice of James Potter echoed throughout the cold and empty Ministry Atrium.
"My God…he never left…" Sirius declared, rendered spellbound, his eyes growing wide as James continued to approach them; he grasped Lily's wrist soothingly, his tone mollifying. "Lily, give me a moment to speak with him. This is going to be an awful shock to him…allow me to soften the blow."
Unable to form a coherent response, her heart aflutter with nerves and her head dizzy with uncertainty, Lily simply nodded as Sirius released her arm and advanced toward James to prevent him from getting too close her. She watched, enthralled, when Sirius finally connected with his best friend, trading a brotherly hug with him.
He's really alive…
Tears sprang to her eyes, but they were not the product of her weakened state; rather, they were the product of the intense and penetrating happiness that suffused her very soul. James Potter wasn't just a fairytale a lonely school girl had dreamed up to keep herself sane—he was real, flesh and blood, and just as she remembered him: tall, broad-shouldered, with messy chocolate hair and impish eyes that twinkled from behind wire-rimmed glasses. Seeing him standing there now, dressed in plain clothes, his wet hair falling into his handsome, concerted face, she could barely withhold her urge to run to his side and greedily drink from his lips. It was torture for her not to be in his arms at that very moment; not to be able to wrap hers around his neck and tell him how much he meant to her, how scared she had been without him.
It had only been two months, but it had felt like an eternity to Lily.
"James…" Lily called out softly, mistrustful of her quivering bravery.
Her velvety voice was barely audible above the thrum of the distant golden fountain, yet it was enough to capture James' immediate attention. Her heart failed her when—from over Sirius' shoulder—his stunned eyes broadened as if he were witnessing a miracle. When they finally met her eyes, Lily thought she might evaporate under his gaze, the sheer adulation and allegiance that veiled his stare causing her to crave him so much that it physically pained her.
James, my love…you've come back to me at last.
As Sirius neared him, his body and face cut-up and bruised, James cautiously eyed the woman standing aloof in the distance. He could not make out her features, but, like Sirius, it was clear that she was injured. Sirius' presence at the Ministry was as baffling to him as the tidal wave he had unpredictably unleashed, but though he couldn't fathom a logical explanation for any of it, and though Sirius had single-handedly prevented him from leaving for Australia that night, James felt an inexplicable sense of relief, as if the night had fatefully unfolded as it should have.
"Thank Merlin you're still here—I thought I was too late," Sirius announced as he reached him, the relief and emotion perforating his usually animated voice taking James aback.
Though he accepted his best friend's earnest embrace, Sirius' strange behaviour instantaneously caused him to feel uncomfortably apprehensive. "Are you alright? What's going on?"
Something must be terribly wrong…
Sirius' face became stoic, his eyes fraught with unspoken sentiment. James braced himself for a shock, Sirius regarding him much the same way he had when he had holed himself up in abandoned Potter properties to fight his grief and guilt. When Sirius grabbed his shoulder and suddenly smiled—a true, genuine show of contentment—James felt even more mystified, unable to foresee what Sirius was about to reveal.
"James…I've learned the most wonderful news at the Gala tonight. I couldn't let you leave before you heard the truth; before you knew."
"Knew what, Sirius?" James demanded forcefully, his face paling as the anticipation cruelly resurrected some of his most impossible desires.
"It's Lily, James. She's alive."
The hair on the back of James' neck bristled. He looked at Sirius so fiercely, so powerfully that—for a fleeting moment—Sirius thought he might attack him. James' heart pounded in his chest as he scrutinized Sirius' every feature, looking for any sign of jest or falsehood. When Sirius stared back at him earnestly, pleading for his faith and confidence, the walls of James' resolve fractured, allowing a renewed sense of hope to seep through the cracks.
"Is…is it true?" James managed, his voice breaking as familiar grief—derivative of his broken heart—choked him.
"Yes mate. She wasn't in London when it was bombed—she escaped the attack," Sirius explained, squeezing James' shoulder. He watched as James disbelievingly shook his head, coughing to cover-up the boyish sobs of relief that were escaping from him; then, quite suddenly, James began to laugh, a deep, festive sound that accompanied his tears.
"She's really alive?" James cried, his eyes red with unpretentious emotion as he bore into Sirius, who appeared shaken by his best friend's heartrending reaction to the news.
"You haven't even heard the best part," Sirius said mysteriously, wearing his characteristic Cheshire-cat grin. "James…she's here."
James could barely register the words. His surroundings seemed to smear and blend like the colours and shapes of an impressionist painting, his heart decelerating as light gathered at the center of his portrait and illuminated its beautiful, angelic focal point. Warmth spread throughout his body and settled in his chest, as if he were standing at the edge of an ocean with the sun shining down upon him, the moment he had longed for—fantasized about during his darkest moments of sorrow—unfurling before his very eyes.
"James…"
Hearing her voice, as temperate and sweet as he remembered it, was confirmation of the hope that amplified within him and dispelled the demons that had haunted him since his return from the war. How pleasurable it was to hear his name on her lips, to realize that life hadn't lost its meaning—that the one who had stolen his heart upon first glance was alive and he would not have to live without her any longer!
When his eyes finally met her beautiful green ones, elation as he had never experienced it permeated from his every pore. Standing there in a ruined purple gown, her red hair wet and tangled, he thought she had never looked so lovely. He couldn't describe how the adoration reflecting in her eyes made him feel, but knew that he could not be apart from her any longer.
Still not recovered from the shock of her presence, James wordlessly side-stepped Sirius and drifted towards her, his feet seemingly moving of their own accord. As he neared her, he perceived the tears collecting on her cheeks, the desperation and yearning transforming her features, and before he knew it, he had his strong arms wrapped around her, his fingers intertwined in her damp hair and his lips caressing her temple.
"Lily, my Lily…" James breathed wistfully as he held her close, sheltering his lost love in his arms.
"I can't believe you're here…I can't believe I've found you!" Lily cried, burying her head in his chest and clinging to him desperately.
"I thought I'd lost you," James whispered despairingly, drawing his face away from the heat of her neck so he could meet her eyes; she was moved by the anguish that radiated from him. "I promised you I would come back for you—but you weren't there. Merlin, I'd believed the worst…believed you'd perished in the bombing…that I hadn't protected you…"
"James…" Lily said softly, fresh tears stealing down her face as she reached up to caress his stubbled face. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there when you came back. I was sick with worry while you were gone—so afraid that you wouldn't make it back to me, that I'd never see you again!"
"But we have made it back to one another, Lily. I can't tell you how happy I am… " James said hoarsely, looking down at Lily rapturously. "It killed me to think I never told you…told you how much I love you, Lily. How desperately in love with you I am."
Lily's heart leapt, James' confession fueling her own ardent passion for him. How she had survived two long months without him, she did not know. The thought of leaving him again seemed impossible to her now. Her dormant feelings for James—previously trumped by her instinct for survival in the magical world—now set her aflame. She could not imagine a more blissful moment than this.
"James Potter…from the moment you found me in your garden, I have loved you. We were from different worlds, but that didn't stop me from wanting you, from falling in love with you," Lily said softly, her benevolent tears reflective of how deeply she felt for him.
James grinned from ear to ear, euphoria filling him as Lily returned his love. Without another word, he leaned forward and kissed her, snaking his hands around her lower back and into her thick hair, deepening the caress. As they passionately embraced one another, both dizzy with the realization that they were together again, nothing else in the world seemed to matter. Once their lips parted after their exultant reunion, they locked eyes again and smiled: James grabbed Lily around the waist and suddenly began to twirl her in his strong, protective arms, causing the lovers to both laugh in jubilation.
"James!" Lily squealed, giggling as he spun her around in delight. Once he reigned in his outpouring of emotion, he gently set her back on her feet.
"I'm sorry—I'm just so happy," James breathed, kissing Lily's temple and running his thumb over her lower lip. As he drank in her bedraggled appearance, reality began to seep back into focus, his eyes befalling the burns on her arms and the blood on her dress. "Lily, you're hurt!"
Lily looked down at the burns on her arms and frowned, suddenly feeling self-conscious; she was literally a bloody mess—practically a disaster compared to how lovely she had looked at the Gala.
Before Lily could respond to James and tell him the harrowing tale of her arrival at the Ministry, James furiously turned toward his best friend, growling his name: "Sirius…"
Sirius tentatively approached the couple, his beaten-up face feigning innocence; it was an expression he often wore during his schooldays at Hogwarts. "Listen James, it was no easy task reaching you…Lily and I may have encountered some…problems…along the way."
"Look at her, Sirius! How the hell could you let that happen to her?" James demanded angrily, turning his attention back to Lily and cupping her cheek tenderly. "Don't worry, I'll get you the best medical treatment money can buy—"
"James, listen! It's not Sirius' fault; he tried to protect me," Lily chastised, though his affection for her filled her with warmth. "Sirius and I broke into the Ministry in order to stop you from leaving for Australia, and neither of us anticipated the obstacles we encountered along the way—"
"Obstacles?"
"Blast-ended skrewts, some sort of labyrinth charm—oh, and that charming little tidal wave meant to drown us," Sirius jumped in, looking cross. "Overkill if you ask me."
"I can't believe you both risked your lives for me…" James replied solemnly, reaching down to clutch Lily's hand; then a glaring reality became apparent to him. "I promise, Lily, as soon as I figure out how to get us out of here, we'll get you healed straight away…then I'll explain everything. I'm sure you must have questions about where you are, what you've seen…about some of the things Sirius and I can do…"
Despite how sincerely James regarded her—how gentle and caring his approach was to her perceived ignorance about the magical world—Lily could not help but crack a grin. "Do you mean questions about you and Sirius being wizards?"
James blinked, surprised but Lily's nonchalant manner, then raised an eyebrow at Sirius. "How much have you told her, Black?"
"She knows more than you think, mate. Weren't you listening to me? I told you I discovered her at the Hogwarts Gala…she's been living with Dumbledore there since the London bombings. Oh, that reminds me; here's your wand, Everard—wouldn't want to lose that."
James' mouth fell open as Lily chuckled and gratefully accepted her wand from Sirius. Slipping the beautiful item into her concealed dress pocket, she squeezed James' hand and offered him a rueful smile. "You're not the only one who has some explaining to do, James. I've uncovered a lot in your absence—including the fact that I'm a witch."
"She's got some aristocratic blood in her, too. Looks like we're all cut from the same cloth. You're going to make your mother proud after all, Potter. Shame," Sirius shook his head in bemusement, simpering at James' dazed expression.
"A witch? Dumbledore? Hogwarts?" James whispered, his eyes desperately roaming Lily's face for answers. "Is it…is it really true?"
"There is so much to tell you! I could barely register the news myself—my life has so dramatically changed in the past month, it's been tremendous," Lily replied, wrapping her arms around his neck and stroking his hair-line. "Soon it will all make sense—"
They broke apart when a brilliant, hoary substance suddenly soared out of the ceiling of the Atrium and—like a shooting star—cascaded toward the three conversing friends, slamming into the floor like a fallen comet and causing a burst of light to vibrate within the dark space. Lily, James and Sirius shielded their eyes from the vivid spell, the illumination foreign to their retinas. When their eyes eventually adjusted, they focused on the translucent, wispy form of a valiant looking lion, its sharp eyes fearless and its mane long and heroic.
As Lily observed the figure in awe-struck silence, James and Sirius traded knowing glances: they were not astonished when Frank Longbottom's patronus eventually began to speak to them in a clear, characteristically authoritative tone: "Sirius Black: I swear on Merlin's beard, if you've taken Aurora Rockford somewhere, I am first going to wring your neck with my bare hands, then chop off your head as if you're a condemned hippogriff, then serve it to Lord Dumbledore on a silver platter. If she's with you, I advise you let Dumbledore and I know immediately."
When Frank's violent threat to Sirius ended, his feline patronus emitted an ominous roar and dissipated into thin air, leaving behind a flurry of frothy smoke. Sirius and Lily exchanged alarmed glances, James looking between them in utter confusion.
"Who is Aurora Rockford, and why does Longbottom think you've got her, Sirius? Not that you don't have a history of disappearing with other men's wives, but Longbottom doesn't strike me as the insecure type," James mused, Lily gasping disgracefully at the very thought.
"Let's not bring up the past now," Sirius snapped, glaring at his amused best friend. "And I'd wipe that pleased smirk off your face; Longbottom thinks I've gone ahead and pilfered your girlfriend, as a matter of fact."
"What?" James demanded brusquely, his hold on Lily's hand tightening; she rolled her eyes discreetly.
"It's a long story…" Lily mumbled awkwardly, James turning to look at her expectantly; she took a deep breath—feeling nervous—and began her tale, unsure of where to begin. "Dumbledore sent Frank, Kingsley and Moody to retrieve me from St. Madeline's a month ago because he believed Voldemort was looking for me. The four of them have been guarding me at Hogwarts ever since. One way of protecting me has been to change my identity—Dumbledore has come up with an elaborate plan to pass me off as Lady Aurora Rockford, his niece. I was presented at the Hogwarts Gala earlier today, where I met Sirius, explained to him what had happened, and secretly set off with him to stop you from leaving. I imagine Dumbledore and Frank are a tad worried about me…"
James' face had gone ghostly white, his expression that of shock and upset. Lily covered both of his hands with hers, resting them on her chest and nervously awaiting his reaction. His face eventually transformed, deep lines settling in his forehead and his eyes filling with angry concern. "What could Voldemort possibly want with you? How does Dumbledore know this?"
"I…I don't know how Dumbledore knows what he does, but he's told me that Voldemort thinks I possess the power to vanquish him—that I threaten his reign of terror. I know it sounds ridiculous; I've only been studying magic for a month now," Lily explained sheepishly, still unable to comprehend how Voldemort could possibly consider her a danger; she imagined James and Sirius found the thought to be silly and outlandish. "Dumbledore has been so wonderful to me; put this intricate plan in place so that I could maintain a semblance of a life while remaining hidden. No one knows about my true identity except him, Frank, Kingsley and Moody, and they've all devoted themselves to keeping me safe. I don't know what I've done to deserve their protection."
Sirius grinned in response to Lily's explanation, his arms folded across his chest. "I can see the look on Frank's face now: when he realizes James, Remus and I all know your true identity he's going to pop a blood vessel. I doubt they factored us into the rescue plan."
"Rescue?" James echoed, hypersensitive to the word where it applied to Lily.
"Well…yes…I suppose you could say I was rescued," Lily bite her lip nervously. "Two death eaters showed up to St. Madeline's and attempted to abduct me. I managed to escape with a little help from Moody and Kingsley—Frank then took me to Dumbledore…"
"WHAT?" James bellowed, his jaw tightening and his eyes flashing red. Lily watched him warily, startled by his powerful anger; she had never seen him so infuriated before.
"Mate, calm down…" Sirius began uncertainly.
Too angry to respond, James broke away from Lily and stormed in the opposite direction; he brandished his wand and pointed it at the Fountain of Magical Brethren, frustration evident in his voice when he spat, "DIFFINDO!"
Lily yelped when the golden head of the fountain's wizard was suddenly severed from its neck and hit the ground with a heavy thud, rolling in the opposite direction. Like Sirius, it appeared James needed a magical outlet to manage his anger.
"Merlin, Potter! You're acting like a lunatic!" Sirius complained loudly, glowering.
"I'm sorry…" James breathed when he had come to grips with his anger, guiltily sauntering back over to Lily's side and recapturing her hands; he ignored Sirius. "I just…I can't stand the thought of Voldemort being so close to having you. The whole thing is difficult for me to wrap my head around. Less than an hour ago I had thought you were dead, and now not only are you alive, but you are a witch who is being targeted by the most evil wizard currently afflicting the magical world."
"It does sound a bit farfetched, doesn't it?" Lily whispered meekly, kissing the top of James' hand gently. "Perhaps more than you originally bargained for?"
James reluctantly chuckled as his lips brushed her cheek, his temper beginning to subside. "You won't scare me away that easily—not now that I have you back and all to myself."
Just wait until he hears about Frank…
"Good…but I think I'd better stop there in case your temper causes you to destroy the entire Ministry," Lily mocked, slinking her arms around James' neck; the pain in her leg began to tersely resurface again, the adrenaline and excitement of seeing James no longer enough to staunch the agony.
"How I've missed you…" James whispered in response to Lily's humour, kissing her heatedly; he immediately stopped when she cringed, his hand having settled on a burn on her exposed shoulder. "Are you in pain?"
"Yes…I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be able to last if I'm being honest," Lily replied, attempting to muster a smile but failing miserably, her injuries suddenly catching up with her. "I can't be brought to the hospital like this—I will need to be treated at Hogwarts. Dumbledore will have to change my appearance back to what it was."
"She's right; they'll ask too many questions at St. Mungo's. Merlin knows, if the papers find out about this the three of us will be breaking news. I very much doubt that Dumbledore wants Lily on the front page of Witch Weekly for burglarizing the Ministry of Magic," Sirius said sensibly, twiddling his wand between his fingers. "The only way we are getting out of here is by side-along-apparation with a Ministry official who has the power to do so at any hour—namely Longbottom, Shacklebolt and Moody."
"Right," James nodded his head, his expression becoming serious as he worriedly regarded Lily. "We can all expect to be thoroughly interrogated once we get back to Hogwarts—everyone ready?"
Lily sighed, unprepared for the wrath of Lord Frank Longbottom; she noticed Sirius, too, appeared on edge, likely imagining how severely he was going to be reprimanded for instigating the recklessness that had ensued that night. "We'll get through this together…right, Sirius?"
"All for one and one for all," Sirius murmured, dreading the forthcoming events. Wielding his wand purposefully, he pointed it and murmured "Expecto Patronum." A bright, wispy substance emitted from the end of his wand and gathered on the ground in front of him; before Lily's eyes, the indistinguishable mass formed into the shape of a powerful looking canine. With a hunched body, pointy ears, a long snout and fat, formidable paws, Lily thought the dog represented Sirius unusually well.
The patronus sashayed up to Sirius and settled at his feet, panting genially. Sirius knelt down before the ghostly beast, intensely focused on it; he spoke clearly, choosing his words carefully: "This message is for Frank Longbottom. I am with James and Aurora in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic. Aurora and I have been injured and will need medical attention at Hogwarts; however, we are presently safe and alone. Aurora's magical alterations have been compromised. We await your arrival."
Once Sirius had finished providing his fastidious message to the silvery hound, the patronus wagged its tail excitably and hurdled into the air, effortlessly bobbing along the dark floors before it suddenly disappeared through one of the black-tiled walls, plunging the Atrium into relative darkness again. The three friends watched the patronus withdraw, each insecure about the coming events.
"Why did you call me 'Aurora'?" Lily inquired softly, her head finding James' strong shoulder as her remaining strength dissipated; he tucked his arm around her waist to support her weight, worriedly watching her fade before turning to look at Sirius for his answer.
Lily did not hear his reply.
"In case the message is overheard," Sirius responded, irritably pulling at the exaggerated collar of his dress shirt as he paced back and forth, his brow slick with sweat. When she did not react straight away, he looked up inquiringly; the image that greeted him caused him to wheeze, "James!"
Following Sirius' eyes, James looked down at Lily, his breath retreating from his lungs: she was unconscious, half of her dress now stained with ruby red blood—blood that threw into relief he cloying, colourless cheeks and ashen lips. James swept Lily's lifeless body up into his arms, cradling her head in the crook of his neck. He looked at Sirius pleadingly, "Where the fuck is Longbottom?"
On cue, three resounding cracks sounded throughout the damp Atrium, causing the best friends to flinch in unison. Lord Frank Longbottom, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Alastor Moody appeared out of thin air, the force of their apparitions triggering a symphony of ripples to caress the surface of the stagnant water surrounding them. As the three powerful wizards approached, Sirius suppressed a gulp while James tightened his grasp on Lily's comatose figure.
Though both friends were prepared for a heated battle of words, both wondered if it would come to a battle of wands.
Author's Notes
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