~Hello again. Okay, I promise that this won't ever happen again. Well, I promise two things will never happen again. One, there won't be another gap in my updates, and two, there won't be another explanation thing like this again. That's it. Just wanted to clarify. Okay, we can move on now. C.L.


What Was :: 3 ::

Lily was shaking violently when James left. Garrison had to push him out the door, reminding him that they had been given 10 minutes.

"Administration, James. Those assignments won't complete themselves."

James turned to look his boss in the face. "I will prove her innocent, and then you'll be on your knees, apologizing."

Garrison didn't say anything, but stared coldly back.


James pounded the concrete floor with his feet as he made his way downstairs. 'Screw administration,' he thought. He'd quit the ministry before going to do paperwork at a time like this. He walked straight past that office, or he would have liked to, because someone stopped him at the door.

He was a large man, at least a foot taller than James, who stood at 6'2.

"Phone's free." he said, with a malicious grin. "If you wanted to make a call, that is."

"I'm on my way out, thanks."

"Not without these. Mr. Wallace wanted me to make sure you got them before you left." he said, not blinking. The man held up a box overflowing with papers. He shoved it roughly into James' hands.

"Or did you want me to carry that to your car for you?"

"Only if I don't have to read out what the exit sign says."

The man was about to reply, but James had already left by then, muttering under his breath. He came out into a deserted Diagon Alley, in early morning.

*

Lily sat down on the frozen matress, more terrified than she had ever been in her life. She again heard the click of a door, and jumped to the cell bars, hoping to see James running towards her - key in hand.

Instead, the large man came ambling down the dimly lit hall, and stopped in front of where Lily stood. He laughed heartily, and he twirled the skeleton keys round a plump finger before stuffing them in his pocket.

"Your boyfriend left, he's got better things to attend to than get you out of here. But that's exactly why i'm here. See, it's been decided by a higher power that you won't be staying with us no more. There's another place that will be better able to keep you, and you might go as far as to say that they'd kiss you upon arrival. That is, if you don't come quietly. I punched you good the first time, but my arm can do much worse. Your carraige awaits you now, m'lady."

He bowed low, laughing heartily again. Lily thought to kick his head through the bars, but if she missed, god knows what that man could do. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

The man was chuckling to himself now, as he slipped a key into the rusted lock. The bars screeched open, Lily stepped back. It rattled back, with a slight swish of air. It somehow made Lily feel weak. He pulled on her wrist, and snapped handcuffs over them.

"Special made. These won't do nothing, even with magic."

"The primitiveness of your restraints humors me."

The man hadn't a clue what she was saying, but her tone suggested that it wasn't the nicest of comments. He made the cuffs so small it became painful. He took Lily's wand from her jacket pocket, and slipped it into his sleeve.

"I'll carry this."

He pulled on a thin chain that had been attached to the cuffs, and led her quickly out of the area.

"Mind that you keep quiet, or those cuffs'll be as small as they come."

Lily narrowed her eyes and clenched her teeth. It was impossible for her to even rubb her hands to keep them warm. Meanwhile, the large man had lit himself a fat cigar, which gave off a foul stench.

She would have admitted that she felt safer in the cell than being led somewhere by this man. He was leading her through dimly lit hallways and corridors, until they reached a massive steel doorway. The man looked halfway over his shoulder before typing in a six digit code on a keypad.

"Just like what them muggles got. Quite a bunch, they is."

Lily cleared her throat.

When the door swung noiselessly open, she was looking straight into the back of a large black carraige. It was even horse drawn. A man dressed all in black turned round to look at them.

"One way trip to Azkaban, I presume. No stops, yes?" he asked.

"Yes. This is the package you'll be delivering. Make sure it gets there."

"You can rest assured. I've been known for my reliability."

The big man nodded curtly, and turned to Lily.

"Get in."

She didn't move as suddenly as he wanted, so he shoved her roughly into the small carraige. The man laughed heartily at this, and then Lily was left in pitch black darkness, as he slammed and locked the doors shut.

Lily was again pitched foreward as the carraige lumbered onward. Her sides ached, but she was no longer worried. She sat in what felt like an upright position, and extracted her wand that she had managed to pickpocket as the oaf was in conversation. Within seconds she was free of the restraints, which proved to be - in fact - normal muggle cuffs. Her only obstacle now was to free herself from the carraige.


*

James had rounded the corner, and noticed a battered grate literally hanging off of its hinges. He placed the box on the ground and stooped to investigate. With a little pressure, the grate came clean away. He pulled the box closer, and then placed it inside, far back enough not to be seen in broad daylight. He then replaced the grate as best he could.

"There. I'll be back for you some other time."

Just to be even safer, he pulled a metal wastebin to partly cover the scene. Satisfied, he tore off in the direction he'd come, eager to talk to a friend of his.

He pulled a cell phone from his pocket, and pressed a button for a special number on speed dial. It connected him to his best friend, only this line was for real emergencies. They didn't give the number out to anyone else.

Sirius picked up the phone on the second ring.

"This had better be important."

James choked out a "Sirius?" through tears. He heard a fork clatter to the floor in the background.

"Jesus. Where is she?"

*

Lily had felt her way to the two doors, feeling her way around until she found where the lock was. She was successful in finding a lock at the top of the exit, with a small brass handle somewhere near the middle. Again bringing her wand out, she muttered 'Alohomora', but the lock didn't budge. Lily sat back on her heels to think.

She looked up at the top of the carraige, ready to pray to some higher power for enlightenment, when she noticed that the carraige was lined with approximately a two inch border of a dark wire mesh. It was probably to allow air flow, but Lily's heart suddenly jumped into her throat.

The mesh was thick, but Lily could make out the shoulders of the driver, and upon closer inspection, she also noticed that the mesh was attached clumsily with miniature staples. She crept to the back, farthest away from where the driver sat, and attempted to pry a corner of the mesh away from the aged wood.

It happened quickly and without much noise. The quiet drum of the pebbled path drowned out the louder noises. Soon Lily had constructed a fair size hole. She was able to stick her hand out, and wrap her fingers around the lock itself. She looked behind her, and watched the silhouette of the shoulders sway gently with the rhythmic bouncing of the carraige. She swallowed, afraid to breathe.

And it was then that her fingers ran over the keyhole. She knew right away that it would take a type of old skeleton key to undo it. Her other hand reached slowly to her hair, and removed a small black bobby pin.

It was getting darker somehow, when Lily noticed that they were in a sheltered part of some forest. She had to soon strain to see her entourage. Her heart was punding against her ribcage. Every second she spent doing this made it seem more impossible to end. Her hands were shaking, not out of coldness, but out of fear.

She grasped the bobby pin and traced it around the lock, trying to find the hole again.

And that's when the pin slid in. Making a loud, hollow click sound.

Lily held her breath. Was the carraige moving? Oh, lord, it was slowing down. Lily watched ahead of her unblinkingly, trying to see the man. Lily dropped the bobby pin without thinking. She pulled valiantly on her wrist to slide it out of the hole.

It wouldn't budge.

She could hear the driver's feet slam down on the pathway, as if he had jumped from his seat. Lily threw her weight onto her hand, but to no avail. And then,

"Well well well. What do we have here?"

Lily could hear him step up onto the small ledge behind the door. He proceeded to unlock the door, but just as he went to grasp the handle, he realized his mistake.

Lily kicked the door with all the force she could muster, knocking him clean off the carraige and a few feet farther. Lily could have laughed, had her wrist not just been freed from its place. She screamed in pain. The rotten wood and rusted wire mesh cat sut deeply into her hand and wrist. It was begining to bleed.

Lily looked from her hand to the pathway, where she saw the man trying to stand up. Immediately, she used her unscathed right hand to extract her wand.

"Stupefy!"

The driver went back again, momentarily paralyzed.

"Accio wand!"

His wand came flying out of his pocket and in front of her feet. She picked it up, and waited patiently for the man to revive himself. She couldn't feel her left arm anymore. Finally, after seconds of waiting, the man stirred.

"Get up."

The man pushed himself to a seated position, before wiping his forehead with his sleeve.

"You've just made a horrible mistake."

"Have I?"

The man reached for an empty pocket.

"Oh, I already have your wand, sir."

"And do you think that just because you have a wand, you can defeat a man?" he laughed too heartily for Lily's liking.

"Rest assured, I could pound your face in the mud. I've been known for my reliability. Shame you won't remember me though. Obliviate!"

And the man rocked back, feet flying over his head in a burst of blue light, admiring the way his socks looked like in the moonlight. The woman, on the other hand, had fled.