A Dangerous Attempt

Tap, tap, tap.

"Mmph..." James mumbled from under the covers.

Tap, tap, tap.

"Just five more minutes mum," he said.

When the taping continued, James reluctantly opened his eyes. To his surprise, it was still dark outside. After glancing at his alarm clock, which read 1:05, James let out a groan. He went to his bedroom door and opened it; no one was there.

I could have sworn I heard taps, James thought.

Tap, tap, tap.

Finally realizing that the taps were coming from the window, James unlatched it, and an owl flew in. The owl immediately began pecking at his arm.

"Woo now, " James said. "Hold still so I can get this letter off of ya."

James,

I think Lily might be in trouble. She went on a date with Dylan and hasn't came back yet. It's probably nothing, but can you do that tracking spell that you're so good at just to make sure.

-Emma

"I knew that guy was trouble," James said to the owl, who let out a small hoot in reply.

James grabbed his wand. "Findo Imperitus," he said. A small orange spark emitted from his wand, followed by a cloud of smoke. The cloud of smoke soon turned into a small wooden shack in the midst of woods. Suddenly the image shifted to Lily sleeping, which soon after came to Voldemort and Dylan talking.

James waved his wand and the images disappeared. Thoughts were racing through his mind; how am I going to save her? Is she hurt? James then scribbled a quick reply to Emma, telling her that Lily was in danger and to inform the Ministry. After sending the owl off, James concentrated hard on the shack that he had seen only moments before.

CRACK!

There James stood, wand in hand, getting ready to face the most powerful dark wizard of them all. To say he was nervous was an understatement, but he knew what he had to do. He walked as quietly as he could to the side of the shack. He came across several windows, and carefully peered inside them. James found one room completely empty.

Well, this is probably my best shot if I'm gonna get in there, he thought.

As he reached out to open the window, James half expected to set off some sort of alarm. Surprisingly nothing happened; the window opened with no trouble at all.

This is a little too good to be true, James thought.

James hoisted himself into the window, trying to be as quiet as possible. The only light in the room was coming from under the door. He could also hear voices coming from the other side of it. James made his way over to the door and tried to hear what the two voices were saying.

"She'll never join willingly."

"She either join or she dies."

"What about the other guy?"

"He's after the girl. Once he sees her he'll join."

Who is this guy they're talking about? James wondered. He assumed the girl was Lily...

James heard footsteps coming his way. He prayed that no one would come in; not real sure what he'd do if someone did. Suddenly the door knob began to turn. James' heart stopped.

This is it, he thought.

"Come here!" yelled an angry voice.

The person on the other side of the door then left; their footsteps breaking the deadly silence in the room.

James let out the air he had been holding in. That was too close. He had to find Lily and get out of here fast.

After taking a few deep breaths, James gathered up all his courage and opened the door slowly. He peered down the dark hall and to his surprise it was deserted. To the right was what looked like a living room. A fire was burning in the fireplace; an occasional snap came from the burning wood. That was the only sound that came from the now quiet house. To his left was a dark hallway with only a few candles for light.

Deciding to go to the left, James left the safe haven of the small room, and began walking down the dark hallway. Staying close to the wall, James noticed that after only about ten steps he had reached the end of the hallway. He had only came across three doors and a few dusty paintings.

I'm only gonna have one shot, James thought. Which door should I choose?

The first door had strange noises coming from behind it that oddly sounded like hundreds of purring cats. The second door had no door knob and no noises coming from behind it. The third door had many claw marks on it; almost as if a lion had taken it's claws and ran them down the door.

Well, this is just great, James thought. How do I know which door to choose? Too bad I can't peek under the door; that way I'd be able to see what's inside without attracting any attention.

James then began racking his brain for any spells that would help. At first nothing came to mind, but then an idea hit him. I wonder if I can use the compass spell to point me to Lily, James wondered.

With nothing to loose, James took out his wand and whispered, "Point me to Lily." Surprisingly the wand began to move. It rested at the first door for a second or two, and then as if it changed it's mind, it went to the second door. At the second door it stayed for five long minutes. James didn't think that it was going to move anymore, and was just about to go in when the wand moved again. When pointed at the third door the wand gave a little wiggle.

James took a deep breath and reached for the third doors handle. It was locked. "Alohomora," he said.

With the door now unlocked, James went inside. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust to the dark room, but in the far corner he saw the outline of a body.

"Lily?" James said as he lightly shook her. "Wake up."

Lily looked up at him, wondering why she was on the floor. Then the events of last night came flooding back to her. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I came to rescue you," James said proudly.

"You could have been killed," Lily said. "You should have just contacted Dumbledore."

"I didn't want to waste any time," James said. "Now come on; we gotta get out of here."

"You're leaving so soon?" asked a voice from the doorway.

Lily and James looked up. Voldemort was standing in the doorway, blocking their only way out.

A/N- This was a really hard chapter to write because Mr. Voldie is a very evil guy that knows all sorts of spells and traps that I probably would never even think of. I tried my best though! Feel free to leave any comments in a review! Review being the keyword...