A/N: You join us back in Hogsmeade. Enjoy yourself! Try not to get too lost in the smoke and rubble...

Chapter Nineteen

Everything started happening too fast after that.

Dorcas hurtled out of nowhere, her wand aloft as she charged for the smouldering tea shop. James swore. Death Eaters began Apparating all along the high street, each brandishing a burning torch, the same eerie green as that skull hanging in the sky.

'Dorcas, come back!' Lily yelled after her friend. 'It's not safe!'

Screams rang out across the street. What the explosion had done to coat people in dust, debris and shock had worn off to be replaced with fear. Chaos. Running. People zig-zagged in all directions, leaping between rubble and Death Eaters alike, trying to find some way of escape. Spells flew in all directions, catching their victims, one bowling over a whole group of people with a collective cry of anguish.

'I've got to go after her.' Lily said, her eyes darting about everywhere. 'She'll get herself killed.'

'But what about –'

'Just find the others.' Lily squeezed James' hand before letting go. 'Promise me you'll get out alive.'

'I'll try.' He grinned faintly. 'Good luck.'

'You too.'

She left him, her right leg screeching in protest with each step she took. Ignoring her leg, Lily ploughed on, hobbling at a limping run in the direction of Madam Puddifoot's, at least what remained of it, her eyes trained on Dorcas. Her friend was faster and had paid no heed to her previous shout, not faltering for a second.

'Jesus Christ!' Lily seethed, coughing as she inhaled a mouthful of smoke. Nearer the damaged buildings, the smoke was higher, perfectly at mouth level.

The rubble was getting bigger and more dense as she neared their source so her progress was impeded. She could see Dorcas vanish into the remnants of the tea parlour while she herself was forced to scramble over great chunks of building. Her right leg searing horribly, she was forced to push with only one leg or pull herself over a few more problematic pieces.

Lily had a stitch forming when she finally reached the building. She doubled over for a moment, trying to rid herself of the feeling that her lungs were shrinking. Unfortunately, she didn't have very long to recover.

'Ow – fuck!'

She clutched at her cheek as a Stinging Hex collided with it. Glaring in the direction of the caster, Lily pointed her wand at the black-clad Death Eater and said, 'flippendo.'

Taking satisfaction in the sound of them falling over, Lily turned back to the burning building, took a slow breath, coughing at the soot it brought with it, and entered. She brought her scarf up to cover her mouth and advanced, her wand held before her, the tip lit, though really that light was unnecessary. There were enough fires burning inside to light her way.

She could hear the beams that remained creaking above her. How long this building would hold she didn't know. Presumably, the building's structure had been strengthened by magic or else the explosion would have destroyed it in its entirety. Despite this, every step she took was a cautious one. Fires burned tall up ahead, stretching right to the ceiling and in many places across it too.

'Dorcas?' Lily tried, spluttering the second she moved her scarf to call out her friend's name.

Lily moved forwards, shifting her scarf to shout every few seconds. It wasn't until she was in the centre of the café that she really took in her surroundings.

There was fire everywhere. Fire and smoke. She stood in the centre of a great prison of orange flames, listening to the loud cracks they made as they devoured the floor and any furniture between her and them. She was frozen. She knew this scene. It was all too familiar.

Tears began to run down her cheeks. She choked on the smoke entering her lungs. Her grip on her wand slackened as she trembled, her eyes soaking in every flame, every flicker of light. It was just like her dream. And she couldn't move, even though she knew how this would go.

Lily heard a purring laugh from behind the crackling fire. Even the flames joined in, laughing at how pathetic she was. She couldn't even run.

'Lily!'

Lily jumped, a strangled cry escaping her lips as Dorcas appeared in front of her.

'You found her?' she asked, her voice cracking. 'Is she – …'

Lily blinked; she had momentarily forgotten why she had run into the burning building in the first place.

'N-no…' Lily croaked, her throat clogged with ash. 'I haven't found her – I was looking for you.'

'Me?'

'Well, both of you.' she amended, her gaze flicking behind Dorcas. She had heard his laugh after all. He was here, she knew it.

'Better keep moving then.' Dorcas said gruffly. 'No sign of her yet.'

Lily's stomach lurched as she took in several bodies. The flames had distracted her from their presence but now that she noticed them, she wondered how she could have missed them in the first place. They were still, too still, as if frozen in time. But she couldn't look away. It only heightened her feeling that he was here; this would be a feast to him.

'Lily,' Dorcas began, her voice barely a whisper, the smoke in the air muffling her further. 'What if she's dead?'

'She's not dead.' Lily replied firmly, tearing her eyes away from the bodies. 'Come on, let's keep looking.'

The two girls moved a little away from each other, their wands trained on the ground.

It was difficult to calm herself, Lily discovered as she scanned her surroundings for any sign of Mary. Deep breaths meant more soot in her lungs, even with her scarf shielding her mouth, so her brain went into a wild panic as it received less and less oxygen. Her leg was hurting more too, so every step became excruciatingly painful; all she could think was that she was becoming easier for Greyback to find.

Lily limped her way around the corner, entering what was once a further seating area. She stopped dead.

Hunched at the far end was a silhouette that made her whole body shake violently. Greyback didn't notice her, or perhaps he did but chose to ignore her. He was preoccupied by the body at his feet; he was biting at some of their arm. She had to stop him. Whoever they were could still be alive. It might not be a full moon, but she never imagined being bitten by a werewolf as a good thing never mind the phase of the moon. She had to fight him. Perhaps if she snuck up behind him or –

'Greyback!' Lily shouted, her conscience overtaking her rationality. 'At least pick on someone who can fight back!'

Slowly, he turned to face her, his teeth bared in a grin that dripped with blood. Lily gripped her wand tightly. He looked exactly how she remembered him. And, by the looks of things, he remembered her too.

'Mudblood.' he greeted, standing up and grinning wider. 'Nice of you to think I might want seconds.'

Greyback took a step towards her. Lily felt herself sinking into the floor, her wand feeling like a useless piece of wood. He didn't even have one to hand and he still managed to root her to the spot. She wanted to be sick.

'Only problem is,' he crooned, advancing on her, 'I like my meat well done.'

He advanced, curling and uncurling his fists as if stretching them, itching to squeeze life out of her. Lily pointed her wand at him, trembling.

'S-stupefy.' she stammered. Nothing. No spell even left her wand.

Greyback laughed.

'Stupefy.' A jet of red light escaped her wand. A jet of light which he dodged easily. 'Stupefy!'

Greyback pounced, slamming her sideways against a crumbling, burning wall. Lily screamed as flames spread thick and fast up her sleeve, burning the flesh beneath. She flailed wildly, struggling against him, hitting her fiery arm on him as many times as she could.

As her beating suffocated the flames on her arm, a small fire sprung to life on his robes. Shoving her away from him, Greyback ripped off his burning robes, grinning, his filthy torso now exposed. Having been flung across the room, Lily flung out her non-wand arm to stop herself slamming into the far wall. Her hand met the smouldering beam with a crunch as her wrist broke. She sprung back, the palm of her hand burnt red raw.

Lily glanced down at her now useless left hand. Then she glanced at Greyback, who was watching her, his head cocked to the side, leer in place. He was waiting for her to give up.

And she was about to, she saw no reason to draw out her impending doom, when she saw the body Greyback had bitten earlier stir. For the sake of that life she could not give up. Dorcas could protect herself, she wasn't scared of Greyback, but that person on the floor, whether they were Mary or not, they need Lily to keep fighting.

'Dorcas,' she said loudly, training her wand on Greyback's face. She heard Dorcas creaking in her direction from the other part of the café. 'I've found someone – alive. I don't know if they're Mary, but I need you to get them out of here.'

Lily didn't wait for Dorcas' reply. She tried to ignore how her body shivered and took a tentative step forward.

'Ebublio.' she said, sending a large bubble out of her wand. Greyback leapt behind a set of burning furniture so the bubble encased a single table leg.

Dorcas had reached them, and Lily gestured over to where the stirring body lay. Her friend nodded, hurrying over.

'Reducto.' The burning furniture was blasted to dust. Greyback began to retreat.

'I don't know why I was so scared of you.' Lily mused as she rounded on him. 'You're not very frightening when I fight back. You –'

Greyback, grinning, sprung off the ground and lunged at her, bringing her with a great thud to the ground so that she lay flat on her back, pinned down by his weight. All her injuries throbbed horribly and she couldn't push him off since one of her wrists was broken and her right leg was useless as well.

'What to have first, Mudblood?' he whispered into her ear, his foul breath spreading across her face. 'I'm generous, you know. I'll eat your favourite part last… So, what part will it be?'

Knowing her left hand was useless, he stopped holding down her left arm and patted his way down her torso, squeezing certain parts on his way down and purring when she squirmed. His hand moved further down, running a finger near the inner of her leg so that it shuddered violently. Then his hand stopped, and he shifted his weight, bringing his head along her body to meet his hand.

'A skirt,' he said softly, glancing at Lily's petrified face, his eyes glinting. 'You know what I love about Muggle clothing, Mudblood? It's so free… so easy to get to what I want.'

His hand crawled its way up her skirt, clawing at her tights, ripping them to shreds. Lily's leg moved upwards of its own accord, her knee meeting his face with a sickening crunch. There was a pause as he let out a furious growl, his nails digging into the inside of her leg.

'Stupefy!' Dorcas snarled from behind him, her face contorted with rage. 'You fucking little –'

The jet of red light hit him full in the back and he crumpled forwards, unconscious. Lily scrambled out from beneath him, his nails dragging along her leg as she pulled away.

'You okay?' she asked cautiously, helping Lily to her feet.

Lily nodded, stood still for a moment and then promptly vomited.

'I'm fine.' she said, wiping her mouth a few pauses later. 'Did you get to –'

'It's Mary.' Dorcas supplied, sensing where their conversation would be going. 'We found her.'

'Thank God.' Lily breathed, glancing at where Mary lay, barely conscious, every inch of her with severe burns, but alive. 'Let's levitate her out of here. The sooner we get back to school the better.'

Dorcas nodded.

'Now we've just gotta get her through all of that.' she said, jerking her head at the outside, where fighting raged.

'Somehow.' Lily agreed, biting her lip. 'Hang on, I just want to try this.' She pointed her wand at her broken wrist. 'It might work… Episkey.'

It did work and Lily's wrist healed itself. She let out a breath of air, rotating her wrist experimentally. Then she shook herself, a smiling grimace making its way onto her face.

'Right, let's get Mary out of here.'

I always love a fight scene. Did you?

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