Chapter 22: In the Hands of the Enemy

Lily and Potter both instinctively reached for their wands, although Lily had no idea what two first-years hoped to do against a seventh-year as skilled in the dark arts as this one. She didn't have much time to figure it out, either, because before she got her wand out of her pocket, another voice to her left said, "Don't even think about it." She turned to see Malfoy's friend, Crabbe standing there, his wand also out. She glanced at Potter, and he shrugged, then dropped his hand. Lily did the same.

"Now what would two ickle first-years be doing out of their common rooms during an afternoon like this one?" Malfoy asked in a mocking tone. "Surely you weren't so hungry that you had to run down to the kitchens right after the game?"

Lily glanced at her feet. If Malfoy asked her about the parchment, he would see right through any sort of excuse that she would try to come up with. Potter must have once again been thinking along the same lines as Lily, because he drew Malfoy's attention away from her. "We just wanted to get some butterbeer to drown our sorrows in. Give us our detention, and we'll be on our way, if you don't mind." He looked defiantly into Malfoy's eyes.

Malfoy chuckled maliciously. "Oh, but I do mind," he said, grinning at them. "I mind quite a bit. You see, I have it on very good authority that the two of you happen to know about a certain tunnel out of Hogwarts."

Lily still did not look up, knowing that if she did, she would give away what she was thinking. "What are you on about, Malfoy?" Potter asked, "There's a tunnel out of Hogwarts?" He looked at Malfoy quizzically, as though this was the first time that the possibility had ever occurred to him. His voice rang with the familiar practiced innocence, but it sounded fake to Lily's ears; she hoped sincerely that this was only because she knew that he was lying.

Malfoy chuckled again. "I've known that you were down that tunnel, Potter, along with your little girlfriend here, for quite some time. The only thing that I didn't know was if it was before or after we'd passed through, and therefore whether or not you had what I need." He shook Potter's invisibility cloak. "But now I know that you were there at the same time that we were, and so I know that you've got it." Neither Lily nor Potter bothered to say anything to this as Malfoy reached into his robes and pulled out what appeared to be an empty bottle of pumpkin juice. "And you're going to tell me what you've done with it. We're just going to go some place a little more…private, to discuss it. Grab on to this." He thrust the empty bottle toward them.

"Are you daft, Malfoy?" Potter asked. "If we grab that, there's no telling where you'll take us." Lily looked quizzically at Potter, but he was unable to explain anything to her at the moment, so she simply kept her hand resolutely at her side.

"You'll do it, Potter," Malfoy snapped.

"I won't," Potter said, crossing his arms. Malfoy cursed and grabbed the sleeve of Potter's robe. "Grab her," he snarled at Crabbe. Crabbe grabbed Lily by the hair. She winced as he pulled it.

"Let go of her!" Potter shouted, lunging toward Crabbe. Malfoy hexed him, and Potter fell to the ground in pain.

"James!" Lily cried out in alarm, automatically moving toward him.

"Leave him, Evans," Malfoy said, again grabbing Potter by the sleeve. Potter stood up slowly, but continued to glare defiantly at Malfoy. "Come on Crabbe, what are you waiting for?"

Crabbe walked over beside Malfoy, dragging Lily painfully by the hair as she went. He reached out and grabbed on to the bottle, and in the next instant, Lily felt a jerk somewhere behind her navel. The sensation was unlike any that Lily had ever felt before—like she was tumbling aimlessly through space. She closed her eyes, the spinning and whirling making her sick, until they landed with a thud. She fell forward, yelping in pain as Crabbe yanked her up by the hair. He pushed her roughly toward a chair and bound her legs and arms tightly to it. Lily saw out of the corner of her eye that Malfoy was attempting to wrestle Potter into the chair next to her, but Potter was putting up a good fight, kicking and clawing as he went. Malfoy was much bigger than Potter, however, and he had his wand, which he was using to hex Potter at every available opportunity. Crabbe came over and helped Malfoy, and they bound Potter into a chair as well. The two turned and headed to a door straight in front of them, and when they had disappeared, Lily finally chanced a glance around. There was something about this room that seemed very…familiar. Lily strained her memory, trying to place it.

"Any ideas, Evans?" Potter asked, his voice rasping in pain. Lily started, having momentarily forgotten that he was beside her. She turned her head to look at him, and nearly winced at the sight. His face was bloody and swelling, his robes were torn up, and he looked as though he wouldn't be able to sit upright if he hadn't been bound to the chair. Before she could ask him how badly hurt he was, a movement in one of the shadowy corners of the room caught her eye. She peered into the darkness, trying to make the shadows take a solid form. What she saw made her heart leap. Alfie? But it couldn't be. As the shadow moved into the light, she saw that it wasn't Alfie, but rather another house-elf, and it was staring at the two of them. She was about to say something to Potter when the sound of voices in front of her drew her attention to the door.  Three figures entered the room. Lily kept her eye on the house elf and noticed that it immediately withdrew into the shadows and disappeared. The three figures appeared not to have noticed it.

Lily looked up, and for the second time that day, a feeling of déjà vu nearly overwhelmed her. Two of the figures drawing near them were wearing hoods to conceal their faces, and between them was Frank—only the man in front of her was Frank all grown up. His face was relatively unlined, but still possessed wrinkles that Frank's did not, and his hair was thinning on top. The eyes, however, were unmistakable. Lily was staring into Frank's eyes, and they were filled with fear. For a moment, she felt hopelessly confused. How could a grown-up Frank be here with them right now, when Frank-the-boy was at Hogwarts in the Gryffindor common room as they sat there? Then she realized what was happening, and wondered briefly why it'd taken her so long to figure it out. This was very obviously Frank's dad, Alexander Longbottom. A feeling of dread washed over Lily as the three men approached.

"This is not good," she heard Potter mutter.

They were trapped who-knew-where with two men who had kidnapped a fully-grown wizard and killed at least one other. Potter was already hurt, and from the looks of it, pretty badly. She wasn't hurt, but was unlikely to remain that way for too much longer, because they knew what the men were after, and they knew what would happen if the men got it. Worse yet, they had it with them, so even if she and Potter were to try to convince them that they didn't know anything about the parchment, all they'd have to do was search them to find out. And all Potter could think of to say was "This is not good"? It took every ounce of willpower that Lily possessed to fight off the urge to laugh at the absurd inadequacy of Potter's statement. "No," she agreed dryly. "This is not good at all." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Potter smile at her, and for some reason, felt reassured in spite of the hopelessness of the situation.


The men approached them silently. As they drew near, Lily could see that Mr. Longbottom appeared to be struggling, as though trying to make his feet move in another direction. He couldn't seem to stop the forward motion, however, and Lily wondered what kind of spell allowed you to control someone's motion like that. The three figures came to a stop just in front of them. "Well, who do we have here?" the man on the right said. "James Potter and a mudblood."

"You'd better watch your mouth!" Potter shouted, struggling against his bindings.

The man on the right chuckled. "Temper, temper, young Potter. I'd have thought that you would have learned from my son that fighting back only gets you hurt." The man, who Lily deduced must be Malfoy's dad, pointed his wand at Potter, and said a spell that Lily did not know. Mr. Longbottom made to grab at Malfoy, Sr.'s wand, but the other man quickly stunned him, and he fell to the ground unconscious. Lily uttered a small scream as Potter's body went taught, and he screamed in pain.

"Then let's get straight to the point, shall we? Where is it?" the man on the left said in an impatient tone. Lily did not answer. "Come on children, I'm short on time and temper. Where is it? The Dark Lord will be needing it shortly. Will you lift curse already so that he can tell us!"

Malfoy, Sr. lifted the spell and Potter slumped back into his chair. For a wild moment, Lily thought that he was dead, but then he lifted his head and glared up at them. "We don't know what you're talking about!" he spat out.

"Lying now, Potter?" Malfoy, Sr. said, the sneer still firmly in place. "I suppose it's to be expected from the child of a mud-blood."

"Don't talk about my mother that way!" Potter said, now struggling against the bindings which held him in place. Malfoy, Sr. just laughed and again pointed his wand at Potter. Potter's body began contorting, and a low moan of pain escaped his lips.

"Stop it!" Lily shouted out, unable to contain herself any longer. "Stop it! Hurting him won't help you get the parchment. Please!" Malfoy, Sr. lifted his wand and smiled at her. Too late, Lily realized her mistake.

"So you do know about it, then," Malfoy, Sr. said, coming closer to Lily and peering at her. "My son was not misinformed."

"Where is it then," the impatient man snapped again.

Potter struggled to lift his head, and the look in his eyes plainly told Lily to let him handle it. "Dumbledore has it," Potter rasped. "We gave it back to him this afternoon."

Lily silently congratulated Potter for thinking so quickly, but her excitement was short-lived. "Our source within Hogwarts has assured us that you did no such thing," Malfoy said calmly.

"Lucius has no idea what I did this afternoon," Potter countered.

Malfoy, Sr. chuckled. "Don't be so sure about that, Potter," he stated, "However, my son is not our only source of information within Hogwarts."


Lily was dumbstruck. They had been right about Amos, then. He would know whether or not Dumbledore had gotten the parchment from them, because he would have been with Dumbledore during the aftermath of the quidditch match… Lily's mind began racing again, trying to think of something to stall for time. The only thing that she knew for certain at the moment was that they could not let the dark wizard get that parchment. Even her own safety was secondary to that one thought. "You'll have to go to Hogwarts to get it," Lily said finally. "It's in my dormitory."

Malfoy, Sr. approached and knelt down in front of Lily, looking piercingly into her eyes. He stared at her for a few moments before his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Do not lie to me," he said menancingly. He reached a hand toward Lily, and she automatically recoiled away from it. He did not hit her, however. Instead, he reached his hand inside her robe, found her pocket, and pulled out the piece of parchment. The impatient man revived Mr. Longbottom, who immediately started yelling at them about hurting young children. Malfoy, Sr. barely glanced at him. "If you don't shut up, Longbottom, I'll torture them again. Would you like to watch that?"

Longbottom's eyes opened wide in horror. "You wouldn't do that, Malfoy. They're only children!"

"Keep your mouth shut, then," Malfoy, Sr. commanded, inspecting the parchment closely. "This is it, let's go."

"What are we going to do with them?" the impatient man asked.

"We'll let the Dark Lord decide once we've finished the ceremony," Malfoy answered. "They'll have to be dealt with somehow. They know far too much to be released. No one will be able to find them here." He walked over to a fireplace on one wall of the room and pointed his wand at it. A fire instantly leapt to life, and the flames lit up details of the room that Lily had not been able to see in the darkness. She realized that she was in what appeared to be the ballroom of a manor. "You'll have to travel by floo powder," Malfoy, Sr. was now saying to the impatient man. "Longbottom won't apparate, and since imperius doesn't work on him, this is the only way. I've bribed the fool working at the floo-network right now to go on a coffee break, so you won't be seen."

The impatient man grabbed Mr. Longbottom by the arm, and forced him over to the fireplace. "Where are we meeting?"

"The deserted Riddle Manor in Little Hangleton," Malfoy said, before disappearing with a crack.

The impatient man threw something into the fireplace, and shoved Mr. Longbottom into it, shouting "Riddle Manor, Little Hangleton" as he did so. The fire roared up around Mr. Longbottom, and in the next instant he was gone. The man then repeated the process for himself.

After a moment, Lily turned her head so that she could see Potter. "Are you okay?" she asked quickly.

He tried to smile at her, but winced in pain at the movement. "I'll be fine," he said.

"You're lying," Lily countered, once again noticing movement in the shadows. The house-elf that Lily had noticed earlier stepped into the light. He looked as though he'd been injured—his hands were now bound with bandages, and he had a lump on his head. "You will be safe, sir and miss," the house-elf said in a high-pitched voice not unlike Alfie's. "They is coming soon, and you is safe." Lily watched in horror as the elf went over to the fireplace, and started poking his feet with the poker.

"No, stop!" she called out, but the elf paid her no mind. She looked at Potter in bewilderment. "What is it doing?"

Potter shook his head. "I've no idea," he said. "We don't have a house-elf."

Two popping sounds drew their attention once again to the shadows, from which Alfie and another house-elf that Lily did not know were now emerging. "Why are you—? How did you—?" she sputtered.

Alfie smiled at her. "We is going to Hogwarts now, Miss. There is no time for questions." With a flick of his hand, Alfie released both Lily and Potter from the bindings that were holding them in the chair. Lily stood up quickly, stretching as she did so.

"How did you do that?" she asked in wonder. Potter tried to stand up, but crumpled to the floor with a cry of pain. She ran over to him, and put his arm around her shoulder, helping him back into the chair.

Alfie was now motioning them over to the fireplace. "We must go now, Miss! They is coming back for you soon." Alfie grabbed onto Lily's robes and started tugging.

"We can't go back to Hogwarts, Alfie! They have the parchment! I have to stop them!" Even as she said it, Lily knew how ridiculous it sounded. How could she stop them? Even if Potter wasn't injured, the two of them couldn't even take on one fully-grown wizard by themselves, let alone three. And there might even be more than that. But what choice did they have? They were the only ones who knew. She finally got Alfie to let go of her robes, and turned to him with a pleading look.

"You must go, Miss. Alfie is bringing you back to school," Alfie said, again raising his hands. In the next instant, Lily was flying through the air toward the fireplace. She continued to hover there while Alfie threw some powder into it. He directed her in, said "Hogwarts", and the next thing Lily knew, the flames had engulfed her and she was swirling around and around, banging her elbows on the wall, and coughing because of all of the ash and smoke that she was breathing in. The swirling was starting to make her sick, so she closed her eyes tightly, not opening them until she had fallen violently forward and landed on the ground with a thud. Lily scrambled out of the way, something in her stunned mind reminding her that there was a good chance that Potter would shortly be flying out of the fireplace as well. As soon as she'd moved, he tumbled out of the fireplace and onto the floor in front of her.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked him for the second time that night.

He smiled, but it looked more like a grimace. "That's the second time you've asked me that, Evans," he said, clutching his chest in pain. "You'd better watch out, or no one will believe you anymore when you say you want me dead."

"I've never said that I want you dead," she said, but then laughed. "Not that I want you to go thinking that I don't. It's just that if you die right now, I'll get blamed for it somehow, and I don't want to be expelled," she added, trying to keep the mood light.

Potter laughed, and then cringed in pain, grabbing at his ribs. "Stop making me laugh, Evans," he said, breathing deeply, "or you may just kill me, after all!"

Lily gazed around at the room that they had landed in. "We're in Dumbledore's office," she said, taking in the details of the circular room.

"I've been here enough to know that," Potter said, rolling his eyes. "But where is Dumbledore? We have to tell him what's happening!"

At that moment, the door to the office burst open and Dumbledore walked in. He was not alone. "Just what do you think you're doing here?" Lily snarled, surprising even herself.

"Professors Amos and McGonagall are here on my invitation, Lily, as it is students from their houses that have gone missing." Dumbledore said, folding his hands in front of him and resting his elbows lightly on his desk. "Or at least, were missing. It seems as though both of Professor McGonagall's have returned." He motioned for them all to sit down. Lily went over to help Potter, and he struggled to his feet, limping painfully to one of the chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk. "James, should I have Professor McGonagall fetch Madam Pomphrey for you?"

Potter waved his hand. "I'll be fine, Professor. There's no time. We have to tell you—"

Dumbledore smiled gently in Potter's direction. "My first concern is your welfare, James. If you need medical attention, I am quite certain that Lily will be able to tell me what I need to know without your assistance." Dumbledore held Potter's gaze for a moment before turning to McGonagall. "Minerva, would you please take James down to the hospital wing. I don't believe that he is quite as uninjured as he professes, and I daresay that Madam Pomphrey would have my wand if I tried to heal him myself."

McGonagall stood up and nodded briskly at Dumbledore, before holding out her hand and helping Potter up. "Come with me, Potter," she said crisply, but the concern in her eyes belied the curtness of her tone. She was obviously very worried about him. It was also clear to Lily that Potter wanted to protest, but relented under Dumbledore's gaze.

Dumbledore watched the door close tightly behind them, and turned back to Lily. "Lily, I need you to tell me everything that happened tonight. Everything," he stressed. "Don't leave something out just because you believe it might get you into trouble."

Lily glanced suspiciously at Amos, but since precious minutes were slipping away, and there was little that she could reveal that he didn't already know if he was a spy, she told Dumbledore what had happened.

"Do you know where they went?" Dumbledore asked, a note of urgency in his voice that Lily had never before seen in the headmaster.

Lily strained hard, trying to remember the name. "Rydell—No, Riddle—Manor," she said. "I can't remember the location."

"That's quite all right, Lily," Dumbledore said, smiling kindly. "And now, I'm going to have to ask you once again to do what I told you earlier today, and wait back in your common room." Lily flushed, but there was no hint of reproach in Dumbledore's voice, just a bland statement of fact. "Professor Amos, if you don't mind? I've got matters to attend to, and I don't want Miss Evans walking unescorted through the castle—particularly given the events of this afternoon."

Lily's eyes grew round, and she started to protest. "But Professor, you don't know—," she began.

Professor Dumbledore held up a hand. "I know much more than you may give me credit for, Lily. And one of the things that I know is that you will be perfectly safe with Professor Amos." Dumbledore stood up, and Amos followed. Lily looked suspiciously at Professor Amos, but also stood. Surely he couldn't hurt her right now, since Dumbledore knew that she was with him. "Time is of the essence if we are to stop Mr. Riddle," Dumbledore said, as Fawkes flew over to him and settled onto his shoulder. With a pop, both had disappeared and only maroon and gold smoke remained where Professor Dumbledore had stood.

Amos turned and began walking out of the doorway. "Miss Evans?" he snapped. She took one last look at where Dumbledore had been standing, and then turned to follow him out of the office.

They walked silently toward Gryffindor Tower, Lily nearly running to keep up with Amos's strides. When they were halfway to their destination, Professor Figg came running up to them. "Oh, Hagen! Thank goodness I found you. There's a bit of a riot going on down in your common room at the moment. You need to get down there immediately."

Amos glanced at Lily, and then back to Figg. "Professor Dumbledore has asked me to escort Miss Evans back to her common room—" he began.

Figg waved her hand dismissively. "I think I can handle escorting a small child back to her dormitory, Hagen," she declared. "But you know perfectly well that your students aren't going to listen to anybody but you."

Amos hesitated. "All right," he said finally. "Evans is to go directly back to Gryffindor tower. She's been in enough trouble already today," he said, turning and heading back down the stairs toward the basement.

"I'll see that she's taken care of," Professor Figg called toward his back. Once he had disappeared, Figg turned back to Lily. "I was just on my way to check one of my potions, Miss Evans. I trust that you won't mind accompanying me to my office for a moment? I'm sure that you can't wait to get back to Gryffindor tower with your friends, but I'm afraid that if I don't add the next ingredients to this potion within five minutes, I will have to toss it out. They can be quite sensitive that way."

Lily nodded, not really paying attention to Figg's words. Her mind was wandering from James, and hoping that he was going to be okay, to Dumbledore, and praying that he would be able to stop Tom Riddle from finishing the ceremony. She followed Professor Figg numbly to her potions laboratory, and sat on a stool while she waited for her to finish whatever it was that she was doing to her potion.

In a daze, Lily watched Professor Figg's work, her hand closed idly around her locket. The first ingredient to be added was salamander blood, and then a stir; the next ingredient was bubotuber puss and then another stir. As Lily continued to watch, the Potions laboratory slowly dissolved, and she was standing in a field that she didn't recognize. She shook her head, trying to clear it, but when the field didn't disappear, Lily understood.

She was having another dream, and in that dream, Figg stood in the middle of a group of hooded figures, a potion bubbling in front of her. Suddenly Lily realized—Figg would have known about their location the night that she and Potter had had detention, having been the one that sent them; Figg would have known that they didn't take the parchment to Professor Dumbledore, having been with him during the aftermath of the game; and Tom Riddle would need someone highly skilled in Potions to assist him with his quest for immortality. Hadn't Professor Figg herself talked about magical ceremonies that combined different disciplines of magic? Lily fought back the wave of panic that threatened to engulf her as the realization dawned that it had been Professor Figg, and not Professor Amos at all, that she was not safe alone with.

Lily breathed deeply, trying to summon the courage that the sorting hat had seen in her when it placed her in Gryffindor house.  The panic slowly ebbed, although it did not subside entirely as she surveyed the scene in front of her.  Several of the hooded figures were chanting.  Off to her right, Mr. Longbottom was waving his wand in a complex series of motions, and in the middle of it all was another hooded figure wearing all green.  Through the slits in the hood, she could make out eyes of pure venom, and she knew, somehow, that she was looking at Tom Riddle.  Lily heard Malfoy, Sr.'s drawl to the left of her, and could make out that he was chanting.  "Soon, my Lord.  Soon you will be immortal and no one will be able to stop you on your noble quest.  Soon, my Lord.  Soon, my Lord." 

Lily looked around, trying to understand what was happening.  It appeared that they were performing the last steps of the ceremony, but they were not in a manor.  In fact, there were no houses for any distance that she could see, just an old barn.  She had to figure out where they were.  Wondering if she could control this vision, having never before had the presence of mind to realize that she was having one and so never having tried, Lily willed herself to walk towards the barn.  Perhaps something about it would give her a clue as to where they were.  Obviously Riddle Manor had not been Malfoy, Sr's final destination.


Lily approached the barn, and saw that there was a path in front of it that led out to a road.  She walked past the barn and approached the thoroughfare.  As she drew closer, she could see a sign just up the road that said Hogsmeade.  Below the writing was an arrow.  They were near Hogsmeade!  Lily felt a jolt of excitement flow through her, and just as suddenly as it had appeared, the road and the sign were gone, and she was sitting on the floor in her Potions Master's laboratory.  "My dear child," Professor Figg said, running around to where Lily was lying.  "What in Merlin's name happened?"

"Noth—nothing, Professor," Lily said, standing up and backing inconspicuously away. 

"Expelliarmus!" a voice from behind Lily said, and before she could turn to look, her wand and Professor Figg's wand went flying out of their hands.  They both turned around and saw Malfoy and Crabbe approaching them, wands out.

"Your services are once again required, Figg," Malfoy said, walking over to her. 

Figg glared at Malfoy.  "I've told you before I won't help you, Malfoy!" she said calmly. 

Malfoy laughed mirthlessly.   "That's what you said last fall, when I asked you to retrieve Dumbledore's book for me.  Do you remember that, Figg?  Or last winter, when I caught you outside to ask you who might know the whereabouts of the missing page.  You argued with me, but you assisted me anyway.  And you assisted me just earlier today, when I asked you if the page had been returned to Dumbledore.  I daresay, you have been just as helpful as any of the Dark Lord's loyal servants.  And you will help him this time, as well." Malfoy responded, pointing his wand at her.  "Imperio."  As Lily watched, Figg's eyes took on a vacant look.  "Stand up," he commanded.  Figg stood without objection, and Lily realized that Malfoy was using the imperius curse that Alice and Amelia had described to her. 

"What do we do with this one?" Crabbe grunted, pointing his wand at Lily. 

"We'll have to bring her with us," Malfoy snapped.  "She knows too much for us to allow her to escape again!"


Malfoy pulled out an old sock, and in the next instant, he and Figg had disappeared.  Lily stared in shock at the spot where they had stood.  Lily fought back the urge to cry as Crabbe grabbed her roughly by the hair for the second time that day.  Her mind raced as she desperately tried to come up with a plan. 

"They're near Hogsmeade!" she screamed desperately, praying that someone might walk by and hear her.  "They aren't at Riddle Manor! Professor Amos!  Professor McGonagall!!!  They're east of Hogsmeade.  Not Riddle Manor!!"

Crabbe yanked her head back and Lily yelped.  "Shut up you filthy little mudblood!" he spat.

Lily glared up at him defiantly.  "They're in Hogsmeade!" she shouted again.  "Not Riddle Ma—"

Crabbe raised his hand, and Lily just had time to scream before his palm connected with her cheekbone, and she felt an explosion of pain rip through her face from her ear all the way to her jaw. In the next second, everything went black.