I know, I know, 3 weeks, I am the most dreadful updater. But this is LOOOOOONG. There was just no good place to break it up. This came to 29 PAGES in Microsoft word!!

Chapter 22- Thrice Defied

"Well, clearly Longbottom and Potter are going to be the difficulty. I don't see either of the women as putting up too much of a fight in their condition."

She shook her head. "Neither of them are that far along Lucius, I wouldn't count them out."

"I meant they won't want to risk getting in front of any wands though. Supposedly even mild curses would be bad for their children. Surely they're aware of that."

She nodded slowly. She just wanted to consider all angles. Finally, finally the Dark Lord had given permission to get rid of the lot of them before their children were born, and given her permission to show herself. Her role as a spy among the Aurors had become useless since most of them were no longer really under Ministry control, and she couldn't wait to be finished with the facade, it had worn on her far too long. Soon everyone would know that she was the most trusted servant of the Dark Lord. But first this had to come off correctly. The Dark Lord wanted both the Potters and Longbottoms captured, but not killed. His plan was to draw out Dumbledore, and he seemed to have some sort of bizarre fixation on their children. Clearly, this had not worked in the past, but she was confident this time they were seeing all sides of it.

"So if we draw out Potter and Longbottom, there should be no problem with taking the women?"

"Precisely. How do you intend to draw them out?"

"Ah, my Dear, I think an urgent owl from the Ministry will do the trick."

******

She no longer bothered to keep her voice down as she came down the Potters' back stairs. They had been through the whole house. No one was there. "I told you she wouldn't be here." She said irritably to Malfoy. He shrugged. "Potter left this afternoon, and Black told me himself she would be staying with Longbottom's wife while he was in Scotland. Clearly being pregnant makes them clingy."

"Fine, Juliet, fine. Then we'll go to the Longbottom's and get them. You should know better than to take Black's word on anything. Obviously he's not the brightest bulb."

"You must admit Lucius, I'm very convincing."

"Clearly. Now can I convince you to hurry up? The Dark Lord is waiting for word that we've got them."

"Calm yourself Lucius, I've sent the ladies in question a little gift that should keep them quiet until we arrive. Shall we level the house then? Just to let them know we were here."

He smirked. "Amusing, but no, leave it be. We don't have time to waste. We want to get the women before Potter and Longbottom realize it wasn't Crouch who sent that owl."

They walked out, leaving the door wide open. As their voices died away, Morgan McCarrick pulled off James's invisibility cloak, and putting aside her anger for the moment, tried to think of the fastest way to get to Alice and Lily before them.

******

"Thanks for letting me stay." Lily said honestly to Alice. "James was so glad Crouch wanted him in Scotland. He said he didn't mind being suspended, but I think it was really starting to get to him. I don't see why both James and Frank had to go check out a sighting of Voldemort though. They have those all the time, they always turn out to be false alarms."

"Maybe Crouch had some reason to think this one was serious. If he's there himself, it must be significant."

There was a knock at the door, and they both reached for their wands. Maybe it was the supposed sighting of Voldemort in Scotland, but they were both feeling a little jumpy. Alice peeked out the window, and then relaxed as she saw a small uniformed man almost obscured by a large bouquet of flowers. When the delivery man had placed them on the kitchen table, he his touched his cap, nodded to them both, and disappeared.

"Must be from Frank." Alice was beaming. "He felt really bad about going away so suddenly."

Lily yawned. "He's so sweet."

Alice yawned as well, and sank into a chair as she reached for the card. "He is very sweet, isn't he." She tried to read the card, but the words wavered in front of her eyes. In fact, she could barely keep her eyes open. "Lily, do you feel a little...."

"Sleepy?" Lily murmured, her eyelids dropping. "Alice...it's the flowers...."

The card dropped from Alice's hand onto the floor. The card that said "Sweet Dreams Ladies, from Lord Voldemort."

******

James stood with his hand in his pockets, his collar turned up against a cold wind. Scotland in January was truly a miserable thing. Frank looked as cold and wet and uncomfortable as he felt. They had been waiting for Crouch for a good half hour, and it was very unlike the man to be late.

"You know…"Frank hesitated, and then shrugged. "Does this feel wrong to you James?"

"Yes." He was glad not to have to be the one to say it. "It's felt a little off from the beginning. And Crouch is never late. Before we met I sent an owl to Sirius asking him to check on Lily and Alice." He glanced around uncomfortably, but there appeared to be no one else out, and why would there be on such a dark, wet night?

"That was a good idea." Frank agreed, and then blew out a breath in frustration. "Something is really off. Look, I know where the Scottish Ministry office is. Let's go back there and check if anyone has heard from Crouch. He wouldn't be late unless something was wrong."

"You're right, let's go-"

They had both turned when a black robed figure stepped into their path….

******

They're dead. Dead. Those words forced their way into Sirius head, but he couldn't believe them, even as he stared at the ruin that had been Frank and Alice Longbottom's house. James had sent an owl asking him to check on them. No real reason, except that there had been increased Death Eater activity, and he had a funny feeling. A funny feeling, and now this.

"Oh no-" Whispered a voice behind him. He spun, wand raised, but only found his cousin, her hand clamped over her mouth in horror. "I'm too late." She did not seem as shocked as he was. "Come on, we have to tell Dumbledore."

He stared at her. Lily and Alice were dead and she seemed strangely calm and cool.

"Morgan, they're dead."

"They're not, they've just been kidnapped. At least I think so." She was talking very fast now. "I was at James and Lily's, I stopped by to pick up some things. I heard voices coming, so I hid under James's cloak, and it was…Death Eaters…they were looking for Lily, but then they realized she was here with Alice, so they were going to come here and kidnap them. That's why James and Frank were called away, Crouch probably isn't even in Scotland, it was just to get them out of the way. So they're not dead, but they will be if we stand here talking about it forever." She finished impatiently. "We have to tell Dumbledore."

"We don't have time for that-"

Her hand closed around his arm painfully hard. "NO! Sirius, we are going to Dumbledore first. Do you remember what happened the last time?"

Without giving him any more time to protest, she disapparated still holding onto his arm, and apparated at the gates of Hogwart's.

"Dumbledore is here?"

"I don't know, but if he's not someone here will know where he is."

They hurried up the drive towards the castle, where only a few lights burned in windows, due to the late hour. It seemed deserted, with all the students in bed, which was good, because their appearance might have frightened students. They'd gotten almost to the Headmaster's office before they met someone- Filch.

"Intruders! What are you doing here?"

"We're here to see the headmaster." Sirius said impatiently. "It's important."

"I remember you. And you! Troublemakers, always out of bounds, always sneaking around…"

"Listen Mr. Filch, it's really important-" Morgan tried a polite voice, while Sirius was more than willing to just push the man out of their way.

"What's going on here?" Said a voice, behind Filch. Severus Snape stood, arms crossed impassively. "Black? What are you doing here?"

"None of your damn business Snivellus." He spat.

"We're here to see Dumbledore. It's important." Morgan interrupted, trying to emphasize "important" so he knew what she meant, but he didn't seem inclined to take subtle hints, instead he was eyeing Sirius with great dislike.

"The Headmaster will be wanting to see you as well Black. Considering the way you've endangered all of our lives, in fact our entire cause, just for one of your romantic conquests."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You fool! You have no idea what you've done! How can you be so stupid! Juliet Mason, you idiot, she's a Death Eater!" Snape was yelling now.

"That's the most ridiculous-"

"No Sirius, it's true."

He turned on Morgan. "I know you don't like her, but that's-"

"I saw her tonight with Malfoy at James and Lily's-" She snapped back.

"You're lying!"

"Listen to yourself, would I lie about that?"

"What is going on here? What is all this yelling about? You will wake the students." A calm, but firm voice made them all turn. Dumbledore had emerged from the gargoyle that hid the entrance to his office.

"Sir, Lily Potter and Alice Longbottom were kidnapped. I think." Morgan rushed out, nearly tripping over her words she spoke so quickly. He hesitated only a moment.

"Come to my office, the three of you. Argus, if you would be so kind to fetch Minerva, and then Hagrid, and send them to my office?"

Calmed somewhat by Dumbledore's office, Morgan quickly and concisely told him what had transpired at the Potters', and what she and Sirius had found at the Longbottoms'. Sirius did not speak, he seemed unable to digest what they had told him. As soon as she had finished, McGonagall and Hagrid entered, looking sleepy and confused. Dumbledore told them briefly of the situation.

"Morgan, you'll see the floo powder there by the fire?"

She nodded.

"I want you to go and fetch some people and bring them back here. Those trained for combat- The Prewetts, Lupin, Alastor, Marlene McKinnon, Edgar Bones- I'm afraid we may have to go after them. Sirius, I need you to go and try to find Frank and James, if they haven't been found by Death Eaters first. Meanwhile, Severus and I will try to find out where they may have been taken.

******

Sirius slammed into his house. He felt odd, part of his mind was focused on what he had to do, another part was completely numb, shut down until this crisis was over and he could deal with what Snape had told him and Morgan had confirmed. There had to be some sort of mistake, or a trick, polyjuice potion perhaps…they had to be wrong.

But he couldn't dwell on it, he had to find James and Frank. He's had an idea. James had sent an owl asking him to check on Lily and Alice. It had been exhausted when it arrived at his house, so he guessed it had flown a good distance in a short time. Perhaps James had sent it from where ever they were in Scotland. It had been sleeping when he left, he only hoped it had not flown off in the meantime.

The door had barely closed behind him when there was a loud crash, like someone falling against his door from outside. Drawing his wand, he pulled it open quickly, hoping to surprise them. For a moment he thought there was no one there, but then he saw the man crumpled at his feet. His face was covered in bruises, blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but Sirius knew the face as well as his own.

"Regulus?"

"Help me…please."

******

"Ouch!" Gideon landed next to her with a soft thud. "Wow, that's a longer drop than it looks like."

Morgan gave him a dirty look. "I noticed when you pushed me."

"Indeed, for a pretty girl, you are surprisingly ungraceful." He replied.

They looked around. "Bloody hell, this place is bigger than Hogwart's."

Malfoy's estate was one of the largest wizarding estates in England. But she had not imagined it to have such vast grounds. It would take them days to search the place, if it was indeed the place where Lily and Alice were being kept. Morgan had her doubts about that as well, but it was what Regulus Black had told them. She wasn't sure she trusted him, but didn't think he had been lying as he had sobbed out his story. He had been terrified. Personally, she thought it was too late for him to back out, but Sirius had promised if he helped them he would clear the way for Dumbledore to help come up with a way for him to get out of Voldemort's service. And it was from him they learned that there was a vast network of passages and secret rooms under Malfoy's manor, which Voldemort had been using since Dumbledore had discovered his previous location. It seemed likely, and so they had split up, coming at the house from different sides. The eight foot high wall had not been much of a challenge, but Morgan was willing to bet it was not going to be that easy. Malfoy's house would be well protected.

"It looks like the Forbidden Forest." Fabian remarked, nodding towards the dense foliage ahead of them. "Well, let's go."

They had gone only a few feet when Fabian threw out an arm. "What is that….thing?"

The scrambled backwards until they were against the wall again. The thing, which they got a good look at as the moon moved out from behind a cloud, was staring at them from a very human face, for it had a man's head, but it's body was that of a large cat, and it's tail ended curled over into a deadly looking stinger, like that of a scorpion.

"For the boys who didn't pay attention in class, that thing is a manticore." Whispered Morgan.

"Don't suppose it's friendly?"

"Does it look friendly, you dimwit?"

"Uh, maybe we should run?"

"It's faster than us."

"Stun it?"

"It repels spells."

"Alright genius, you come up with something."

Gideon raised his wand. "Prigionate!"

A glittering, shimmering cage surrounded the creature, which seemed to anger it. It started toward them only to be stopped by the bars of the cage she had conjured.

"What did you do?"

"Imprisoning spell, but I'm not very good at it, it won't last more than a minute. Run!"

******

"Hey, I think she's waking up." Snickered a man's voice. A very unpleasant man's voice. Lily felt drowsy and hung over, and her head was pounding.

"Stop it, what are you doing?" Asked another man's voice.

"I was just going to give her a jolt, wake her up."

"You idiot, Lucius said the Dark Lord said not to use any spells on them. He doesn't want morons like you hurting their children before he's decided what he's going to do with them."

She felt strangely unconcerned, considering that she had no idea where she was or what was happening. She had been with Alice, there had been those pretty flowers, and…she remembered what had happened-obviously the flowers had drugged them both. And then they had been taken- well, she wasn't sure. Cautiously, she opened an eye. It was dark. Still night then? Or were they somewhere underground? Surprisingly, she was in very little pain, which did not fit with her past encounters with Death Eaters. She seemed to be in a bed rather than a cold floor like the last time.

She heard a door open, and then close, and someone said "Lumos." A soft light filled the small room, which had stone walls and was windowless and bare aside from the small bed.

"Hello Mrs. Potter." Lucius Malfoy said pleasantly. "You really made it too easy this time. Your husband was so easily lured away. You and Mrs. Longbottom so cheerfully accepted my Master's little gift. I thought you were supposed to be clever?"

"What did you do with James?" She might be scared, Malfoy was a powerful wizard, but she'd be damned if she was going to show it.

He gave her a bored look. "James? Oh, Potter you mean? I killed him."

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not actually. But if it makes you feel any better it was quick. Avada Kedavra, just like that." He snapped his fingers. "He'd made a nuisance of himself."

Something inside of Lily froze. He could be lying, but why? He was more than capable of killing, one more life was nothing to him. But for some reason, despite his easy words, she didn't believe it. She would know if James was dead. She would have felt...something...it would be a like a part of herself dying. She wasn't sure how she knew, but she did. But she didn't share that with Malfoy. James might not be dead yet, but they were by no means out of danger.

"So Mrs. Potter, I suppose you must be wondering now if I am going to kill you. I can assure you, nothing would please me more. Because really nothing irritates me more than mudbloods who think they are the equals of pure-blooded wizards. But no, I am not going to kill you. As it were, the Dark Lord has some sort of interest in your child. So the question remains, Mrs. Potter, what is so significant about your child?" Malfoy began pacing, talking more to himself than her. "It cannot be lineage, for obviously though the Potters are a pureblood family they are not one of great consequence. And your family, well, that's an embarrassment really." He mused, stroking his chin. "So it must be something else."

Truthfully, she had no idea what he was talking about, but she was relieved. It seemed they were not going to kill her immediately, and on Voldemort's orders he would not hurt her badly enough to harm the baby. Despite the enormous relief, worry lodged in her mind somewhere. Voldemort was interested in their baby. Why? What significance could an infant have to one of the most dangerous dark wizards in history?

******

James was angrier than he had ever been in his life, and at himself. They had been so incredibly stupid, so incredibly reckless, not even bothering to call the Ministry and make sure Crouch had sent for them. They had walked into a trap and left Lily and Alice alone at the mercy of Death Eaters. He did not doubt Lily's ability to defend herself, but he also knew that with her condition even generally mild spells could be dangerous.

He paced, in a small, stone room. He and Frank had had no chance against the Death Eaters, there had been five of them against the two of them. It occurred to James to wonder why they had bothered to bring them here, rather than just kill them. He could only assume that they wanted information from him on Dumbledore's activities, like last time. And yet it seemed as though Lucius Malfoy was giving the orders, they had seen no sign of Lord Voldemort.

Where ever they were, they had gotten there by portkey, so he hadn't even a general idea of where it might be, he had only gotten a brief glimpse of winding passageways. Every once on awhile he thought he heard a sound, but through obviously thick stone walls it was impossible to make anything out.

It was cold in there, and he shivered slightly and wondered where Lily was, and wondered if she was cold, if she was hurt. He knew she was frightened, he was. Still, they had lived through this sort of thing before, they could again, if he just kept his head. But there was a new complication. The baby. He wondered if Voldemort knew of it, and if he knew of it, would it make any difference? Of course not, what did Voldemort care about an unborn child.

His fear and useless anger solidified into something else, something new- resolve. He might die here, this time, but Lily and by extension his child would survive. That was all that mattered. He was prepared, he wasn't afraid, he was a Gryffindor for a reason.

******

"I don't understand why we don't just kill them. Why are we playing this game? What is his sudden interest in babies?" Lucius Malfoy rose in a languid manner, walking over to the fire. Snape did not even bother to answer. Malfoy had been going on in this way for several minutes. It drove him mad to not be privy to all Lord Voldemort's plans.

Snape was pretending to not know or care, but it was in fact a subject that Dumbledore had considered a great deal lately. Snape had little faith in divination in general, and in general the Hogwart's divination teachers were the worst of the lot. The Headmaster, a sensible man, took it with a grain of salt as well, but he had seen a few true Seers in his time, and he claimed that one who was known to have the gift was circulating whispers about a child born in July. Such things were predicted all the time with little significance, but it was possible that Lord Voldemort knew of such rumors. If that was the case, Snape thought he was a fool to place so much faith in vague rumors, but then he knew the Potters and Longbottoms had irked the Dark Lord for too long. They embarrassed him by constantly managing to slip out of his grasp.

Snape glanced at his watch. There was a rescue mission underway. With any luck this would all be over by morning.

"Am I keeping you from something Severus?" Hissed Lucius.

"All this talk of mudbloods and muggle lovers bores me." He replied. "The Dark Lord has his reasons."

******

"Do you reckon Morgan and the boys got in all right?" Whispered Marlene McKinnon, while they hid behind a small outbuilding around which they could see the manor house, illuminated by an unusually bright half moon.

"I hope so, we might need the help, that's the third Death Eater we've seen, and that's just outside." Lupin whispered back.

"Shh!" Hissed Moody at both of them. "Are you trying to give away our position?"

Marlene rolled her eyes. "Moody, they can't hear us from three hundred feet away."

"Shhh!"

They watched as the black cloaked figure slipped inside, and then Moody said "let's go."

Disillusioned as they were, it would be impossible to spot them quickly and quietly making their way the last few hundred feet to the house. There had been wards around the grounds, but they had been weak and easily disabled by Moody. So far, it had been easy, a little too easy.

Remus supposed they were lucky that Malfoy's estate was so large, and therefore impossible to guard properly. They easily slipped in though a window protected only by a simple colloportus charm. It was darker inside, and they paused for a moment to allow their eyes to adjust to it rather than alerting someone to their presence by using "lumos". They had moved only a few steps when Marlene tripped over something and Moody threw out a hand to catch her.

"What-?" She gave a small cry quickly muffled by her hand when she saw that she had tripped over a figure lying crumpled on the ground. A young man who was clearly dead.

"Oh Merlin, it's Sirius Black." She whispered.

"No, it's Regulus. They must have found out he betrayed them." Once he recovered from the shock of seeing someone who looked eerily like one of his closest friends lying dead, he stared at the young man dispassionately, feeling only that it was such a waste. He'd been young, and not unintelligent. Just too swept up in his parent's pure-blood beliefs, lacking his brother's conviction and strength. "He should have known you can't get out of Voldemort's service."

******

Clearly Voldemort had learned from his earlier mistakes, for when she was unceremoniously pushed into the dark chamber where he sat, black robed, masked figures were lined up along the walls. Too many of them. There would be no escaping this time, Lily knew. But she drew strength from the fact that he would not kill her, Malfoy had said so.

"Well Mrs. Potter." Long white fingers drummed on the armrest of the chair. "We meet again. I trust you are finding your accommodation comfortable? We wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable, in your delicate condition."

She said nothing, but her stomach contracted in horror when she saw the enormous black snake coiled at his feet. She shivered slightly, but stood her ground. Perhaps she would find out what Malfoy had been talking about when he said Voldemort had an interest in the baby.

"Mrs. Potter, I must admit I fear it is a waste of time to not just kill you. Certainly the last thing the world needs is more Potters. But I have sources of information you do not, and I think it may be my interest to keep you alive until the child is born."

He stared at her, and she felt hypnotized by his eyes on hers. She could not look away, it was as though he was looking right through her, as though he could see everything in her mind. Then, as abruptly as the feeling had started, it stopped.

"I see you have no knowledge or understanding of this. One would think Dumbledore would keep you better informed. No matter. Take her out of here."

******

Gideon peered around the corner. "Just one. Let's hope he's as thick as he looks."

"Voldemort seems to favor the thick and menacing type, have you noticed?" Agreed Morgan. The man was standing in front of a door, so he was obviously guarding something. They needed to find out what. She couldn't see from where they stood in the dim light, but she thought it might be Crabbe. The idea amused her, because that would be two times she'd gotten the better of him.

"Gid, you want to do the honors?"

"Sure thing." He waited until Crabbe let his guard down, bending over to tie his shoe ("Blimey, he can tie!" Muttered Fabian) and then whipped around the corner. "Stupefy!"

They propped him up neatly, a serene smile on his face, and then slipped through the door he had been guarding. It looked like a normal, if luxurious, bedroom.

"Wow, nice digs. Reckon this is Malfoy's room?"

"Well, it must be important, or they wouldn't bother guarding it. Let's look around."

After about twenty minutes, Morgan was starting to get worried. They had found nothing of any significance, and she was willing to bet that very soon either Crabbe would wake up or someone would come to check on him.

"Hang on, I might have found something-" Fabian said. They hurried over to where he was standing by a bare wall. He ran his hand along the wallpaper. "I think there's a door here. Listen." He pounded on the wall, and they heard a hollow sound.

"I think you're right. How do we get it open? Try pushing."

After several minutes of pushing and prodding, Gideon inadvertently hit a catch, and the door swung open, revealing poorly lit stone steps, leading down. Fabian grabbed him mid-victory dance. "We don't have time for that. Come on."

Despite the faint light as they got deeper into the stone passageway, none of them lit their wands, there was no reason to draw attention to themselves before they needed to. The narrow uneven steps led down to an equally dark hallway.

"Wow, this is so Malfoy!" Muttered Gideon.

"Prewett, is that you?" They all jumped as a voice sounded from behind one of the doorways spaced along the hall.

"Who's there?"

Aside from their brush with the manticore and Crabbe, they had not met any opposition yet. It was too easy.

"It's Frank!"

"Alohomora!" It didn't work. "No good. Alright then, stand back Frank, I'm just going to blast through the door."

When the dust cleared Frank was standing there, seemingly unharmed.

"Merlin, this is too easy! Where are the others?"

"Others? I only knew of James."

"Lily and Alice too."

"Damn! I should have known. Well, they've got to be around here somewhere. How did you get in?"

"Moody disabled the wards, and after that it was easy. Except for the manticore..."

"Right, let's look around."

******

James glanced around at the Death Eaters. So many, far too many to take on even if he had a wand, which he didn't.

"Potter, we have an interest in your wife. But you know what that means, don't you? You're expendable. And you've made yourself a nuisance."

Malfoy was speaking, James knew, although he was masked. Voldemort had not spoken, but was merely looking on with no expression.

Malfoy raised his wand. "Poor Lily. It's so sad to be a young widow."

James glanced at the nearest Death Eater. The man was no more than five feet away.

"Avada Kedavra!"

James dove, grabbing the man nearest him and then rolling, so that the curse hit him instead, with an impact that jarred James's head against the stone floor, but he was now at the door. He heaved the Death Eater off of him, and grabbed his wand in the process, using it to blast open the door. Behind him he heard "Oh stop playing games Potter. Well, don't just stand there you idiots, go after him!"

James ducked around a corner, and ran full into someone, knocking them down. He heard footsteps behind him, so pointed his wand at the man on the ground. "Imperio!" A dreamy look came over his face. "Tell me where Lily Potter is!"

He pointed "Go left at the end of the corridor."

James wanted to laugh. He had never used that curse before, he hadn't actually thought it would work.

"Good, um, now....stop the men behind me!"

Feeling rather impressed with his own cleverness, he ran down the corridor and took a left where the man had said, and his heart dropped. There was a long corridor with any number of doors, and he knew they were right behind him.

"Freeze Potter."

It was not Malfoy, but the cool, high voice of Voldemort.

James turned slowly. In the dim hallway, he could see those red eyes bearing down on him. He realized he was going to duel with Lord Voldemort, he was going to lose, he was going to die, and it would probably be painful. But for some reason he was curiously unafraid. At least he was going to die fighting. There were worse things.

"Avada Kedavra!" he ducked, and threw back the first thing that came to mind, which was merely "Impedimenta!" Voldemort flicked it aside as though it were some sort of annoyance rather then a spell.


Just because he'd resigned himself to dying didn't mean he was going to make it easy.

"Potter, if you die quietly I might be willing to make it quick and painless. If you insist on playing games- Crucio!"

"Protego!"

The spell bounced off and ricocheted into the wall, leaving a large hole.

"Avada Ke-"

Suddenly a jet of light came from behind James and struck the ceiling over his head. Already unstable, the wall of the hallway began to shake, and Stones began to fall from the ceiling, cutting off the killing curse in mid-word. While James stared, frozen, part of the ceiling crashed down in front of him, cutting him off from Voldemort. He turned, and found Lily standing behind him.

"These old buildings are so unsafe."

"You're brilliant."

"Oh, I know."

"How did you-?"

"Do you really want to discuss this now?" She glanced at the wall of rubble, which was vibrating as though spells were hitting it from the other side.

"No, let's go!" He seized her hand and they took down the nearest hallways. The place was an underground maze of tunnels and they had no idea if they were going the right way or anywhere at all. He heard voices coming and ducked into a side passage, until he realized he knew that voice.

"Moody?"

The older Auror turned and saw them. "Well it took the two of you long enough to find us." He said.

_______________________________________________________________

The manticore description came from "Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them". I bought it the other day. The smart-ass who worked at the bookstore asked if I was aware Harry Potter was for kids. I asked him if he thought it made good business sense to question a woman holding a credit card. He decided it wasn't. I concurred. He apologized. I won. Ha.