I'm so sorry that I haven't posted in awhile—I've been so busy with finals just around the corner. I just got back from a costume-show for my local theater! It was so fun—I'm still dressed as a gondolier-ette! Yay!

Kira, I promised I'd put you in here, so here ya go! LOL!

Much love to all my reviewers!

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Chapter 37

The Fate of the Crystal

James lifted the Crystal with slight difficulty, and moved toward the door. He smiled at her supportively. "If you want me to run, I will…" He said. "I just didn't want you to be here when Voldemort realizes we tricked him."

"How sweet of you." She chuckled. "No, I'll be fine. Really. God, James, don't look at me like that…" Lily groaned. She took the bulky Stone out of his hands, and moved toward the left.

"You're right." James nodded. "You'll do fine." He gave her a compassionate squeeze on the shoulder, and motioned for her to get moving.

Leaving her friend behind, Lily struggled with the Crystal. She moved as quickly as she could, all while trying not to make a sound.

From behind, Lily could hear James shouting out to the Death Eaters and their friends. "Help! Help! Somebody help!"

"What?! What is it, boy?!" Voldemort screeched.

"It's… it's Lily! She fell into the fire, and disappeared!" Lily was overjoyed that James had come up with a good excuse for her absence. Silently, she slipped the Stone of Rialle into the purple flames, and walked in after it. Coughing, she thought, who would think to look for a crystal in the fire that they had just walked through? And you can hardly see through it, so it's perfect… I hope…

"Please, help! She's gone!" James shouted again.

"Do you have the Crystal?" Voldemort asked him. Lily rolled her eyes.

"She's gone! Gone…" James carried on. "Oh, the misfortune!"

Peeking her head out, Lily could see that everyone but Remus had their eyes on James. She smiled and tiptoed out of the violet fire. When Remus spotted her, his eyes grew wide and he smiled and shook his head. Lily put her finger to her lips, telling him to be quiet, as she moved up the marble steps and into the dusty hallway. Ducking into the shadows, she let out a huge sigh of relief. She waited, listening for a moment…

"Do you have the Crystal or don't you?" Voldemort demanded again.

"You have to help her! I think she's dead!" James yelled.

"Get in there, and shut him up." Voldemort commanded to the idle Death Eaters. Lily knew that she had to start going.

Soundlessly, Lily crept down the corridor until she turned a corner--then she broke into a run. Her breath was short, but she didn't stop. She passed the fork, and continued straight ahead towards the floating door.

She suddenly stopped. She wouldn't be able to hop down from the door by herself without getting hurt. And then she would have trouble opening the door and climbing back up again. There had to be another way out of here…

Lily's temples throbbed from the combination of heat sickness and exhaustion. She tried to think of any place that she saw that could have been a door… or some way out…

Then it hit her: The dead end. There had been a reasonably strong breeze coming from that end of the passage. And hadn't Remus said that where there was wind, there was a way out? Maybe? It's worth a shot…

She swiftly turned around, and zipped back down the corridor and down the left fork. Dust flew up behind her, and stuck to her sweaty legs. She wiped perspiration off her forehead, and looked around for anything that could be a door.

But slowly, her mind drifted back to the last time she was down this way… she smiled and blushed slightly as she recalled the moment that she'd had with James. And now he was… in trouble.

She shook herself mentally. Focus. Focus for James.

Her eyes scanned the walls and ceilings until she saw a long crack descending from the top of the corridor, all the way down to the grimy floor. She held her breath as she dug her fingers into the split, and pulled out. Slowly, it started to open, but the top seemed stuck. With a big yank, she the door came open with a crack that reminded Lily of ripping cardboard.

She gaped at the darkness inside for a second. How could she find her way out? But, thinking of all of her friends, trapped with Voldemort, she knew that it was her only option.

Taking a deep gulp of the musty air, she stepped into the dark passageway. She moved along swiftly, not stopping. She used her hands as her eyes, as they groped the walls, trying to chart a path. The air around her smelled stale and ancient as though it had been waiting for someone for too long. Inhaling was a little harder, but Lily knew that her friends were facing worse.

Her mind was racing as she went over her escape. It had seemed so easy… almost too easy. Lily had always thought that Voldemort was this brilliant evil mastermind… but really? He was pretty stupid. Why did he think that they would cooperate like that? Didn't he know that his prisoners would do anything to escape? How naïve was he?

Lily could feel her hands growing dirty and smothered in dust, and her feet hurt from hitting the stone floor. But this was nothing compared to the joy that she had when she saw a filter of light up ahead.

Grinning, she scrambled toward it. She reached out, and felt that it was a thick tapestry. Pushing it aside, she climbed out of the small passage and into the main corridors of Hogwarts School.

There were no teachers in sight, so she rushed towards Dumbledore's office. He wasn't outside, but five Ministry Wizards were walking swiftly down the opposite corridor, apparently they were patrolling the halls.

"Young lady!" One of them shouted to Lily.

"I'm looking for Headmaster Dumbledore…" Lily tried to explain.

"Get back to your dormitories--it is not safe for you to be out now." He said. Lily was offended that he spoke to her as though she were in the second year.

"Excuse me, sir, but I'm the Head Girl and I need to speak to our Headmaster." She said, not caring if she sounded rude. She realized that she didn't have time for this, and made for the statue that marked Dumbledore's office and chambers.

"Please do not bother Dumbledore with your petty problems, my dear." Another man said, as the other Ministry members grabbed her arms and started to pull her away bodily from Dumbledore's office. "He is a very busy man, and your Mistress of Magic needs to speak to him."

"Let go of me!" Lily screamed, struggling. She tried to open the staircase by shouting "Acid pops!" But it did nothing.

"Is there a problem here?" It was Mad-Eye Moody.

"Professor!" Lily shouted to him.

"Let go of Miss Evans, please. I'm sure that Dumbledore told you not to frighten any of the students." Professor Moody said. The men let go of her, and she ran to Moody's side.

"The others are still back there…" She said to him quickly.

"Where's the crystal?"

"It's safe--I hid it before escaping." She explained. "But it's only a matter of time until Voldemort realizes what happened."

"Right." Moody said. "Dimitri!" He called to one of the Ministry Wizards. "I want seven of your best Aurors and Headmaster Dumbledore here as soon as possible." The man, Dimitri stared at him for a second. "Go!" Moody shouted, and Dimitri ran down the hall.

"You can go back to your common room now, Lily." Moody said gently. "And thank you so much."

"I want to help." Lily said, almost defiantly. "And I know a faster way to the Crystal."

"You do?" Mad-Eye said interestedly, as Dumbledore rushed toward them, flanked with five men clothed in a deep purple.

"Lead the way, Lily." Dumbledore told her with a small smile.

Wordlessly, Lily hurried down the corridors. The Aurors, Dumbledore, and Moody all followed close behind as she dashed back down the corridor. When she reached the drapery, she pulled it aside. The men were right behind her. She concentrated on her fingers retracing the route that she took before.

Finally, their party emerged at the dead end, that wasn't quite as 'dead' as Lily had originally thought. She led the way down the right-handed fork, and towards the marble room.

"Where is the Crystal, Potter?!" Lily heard Voldemort shouting. He sounded more than irritated. Lily silently prayed that her friends were all right.

"You can stay here." One of the men said softly.

"No." She answered rebelliously. She had to go on. She had to make sure that her friends were… still alive.

When they looked into the marble room, Lily's eyes fell immediately on James. He was on the ground in a defeated position and had cuts all over his face and arms, and he was clutching his side. Voldemort was holding Sirius tightly and had his wand pointed to Sirius's throat like a dagger, and the Marauders were struggling to get out of the Death Eater's grasp. But the Crystal was still safe.

"Let them go." Dumbledore said calmly, as he strode into the room. Lily looked back at him, and was surprised to see that all the light in his eyes was gone and he looked livid and almost scary.

"Dumbledore." Voldemort spat. But he let go of Sirius's cloak and he fell to the floor. "So nice of you to join us here."

"Let the rest of them go." The Headmaster said again, but this time drawing his wand and pointing it at the Dark Lord.

Voldemort thought for a moment. "If you tell me where to find the Hidden Crystal of Hogwarts, I will free your students."

"No, you will free my students now." Dumbledore said to him, his teeth gritted. "And then these nice men shall escort you and your followers to Azkaban Prison."

"Oh please." Voldemort chuckled. "You think that you've won don't you? All of you! I bet you think that you've captured the infamous Lord Voldemort and now you'll all be heroes, don't you?" As he spoke these thoughtless words, he reached into his robe and pulled out a green velvet bag. "Let the brats go." He told his Death Eaters. They obeyed, and moved closer to their Dark Lord. "Oh, Dumbledore. If you actually think you've beaten me, you've got another thing coming. I'll be back—and you'll find that I'm not to be underestimated."

Without any warning, he took some of the powder in the sack and threw it into the fire, which immediately turned green. All the Death Eaters and Voldemort leaped into it before the Aurors could even step into the room.

"Scotland!" Voldemort shouted, and he and his cronies vanished in a swoop of fire and soot. The flames suddenly extinguished, and everyone was left staring at the place Voldemort had been last.

"He's gone…"

"To Scotland." One Auror said. "Let's move. We have to be to Scotland by tonight, or we'll lose that nut-job." All the Aurors left the corridor at a run.

Lily walked slowly into the room over to her friends. They didn't move at first, but just smiled meekly at each other. James struggled to get up, and Sirius helped him stand. Finally, they all hugged each other tightly, grateful to be alive. Peter was the only one who didn't join in the relieved embraces.

Dumbledore moved to the corner, where the flames had been. There, sitting on the marble-flanked floor, was the Stone of Rialle. The Headmaster lifted it with relative ease, and threw it to the floor.

"Sir!" James shouted, but it was too late. The Crystal had smashed to a thousand pieces and some hot liquid was filtering out of it. It sizzled and popped, like butter on a skillet, as it drained out on the floor. In moments, it fumed into steam and vanished.

"Why did you…?"

"It's so valuable…"

"He had to." Lily said. "Otherwise, Voldemort would have come back."

"That's right." Dumbledore said softly. "Now let's get back up to the school."