Chapter 4: Means to Our End
A/N: Sorry guys, but I made a mistake in Chapter 3 where I said that the event that occurred between Lily and James happened in their 4th year because it's really their 5th year that it happens in. It might seem like an obscure thing to change, but it messes up with the time line that I have set out if I don't.
This chapter takes place a few hours after Chapter 3. It has a lot of jumping around so I hope that you don't get confused. Kudos to HAM001 and Softlove91 who are my two reviewers as of now! Thanks for taking the time to read and review.
Staring out a rain stained window, pondering what he would next say to Lily when he saw her again, a flash of lightning illuminated a dark, cloaked figure stealthily making his way towards the Forbidden Forest. Now wasting a moment, James Potter grabbed the necessary marauding tools and set off into the cool, stormy night. After several close encounters with Apollygon Pringle, the caretaker of the grounds, and Peeves, he made it safely out of the castle and into the forest. He stowed his Marauder's Map and invisibility cloak and transformed into his illegal Animagus form, a stag. His hearing peaked, he followed the sounds of the scurrying man deep into the forest.
"My Lord," the mysterious voice sounded, bowing.
"How are the plans coming?"
'Well, my Lord. The plan is ready to be put into action at your consent."
"Good, good. When is your next Hogsmeade visit? We wouldn't want that old muggle-loving fool to interfere with our schemes," Voldemort's high-pitched voice sneered.
"A month from now, the last weekend in November."
"That is when I want you to carry out the plan of action. The others—"
"They are prepared, my Lord. However I am concerned about—" his voice faltered for a moment, as if unsure as to voice his convictions of a particular partaker for their attack. "Are you sure it is wise to include him?" he finished carefully, placing a special emphasis on his last word.
Voldemort gave an evil laugh. "Do you dare doubt me? Very well, you are young and ignorant to the ways of a true Death Eater. He is just a means to our end. However, he may prove to be more of an asset than we think later on, so for now, leave him be."
"But the dangers of…"
"Leave no survivors," the Dark Lord hissed, as if reading the stranger's mind. "With no survivors, there are no witnesses, therefore no danger of getting caught. Do not mess up this time. I will no longer be so lenient on those who fail me."
"Yes, my Lord," the young man mumbled, turning and walking away. This pride of his is going to be the downfall of us all, he thought. We need to have arrangements for anything and everything that might possibly go wrong other than kill everybody. The hooded figure began to leave the forest, not noticing the magnificent stag hiding in the shadows. Turning back to ensure that he was not being followed, James caught a glimpse of the mysterious man's face—Rodolphous Lestrange. Cantering off to the castle, careful to not be seen by Lestrange, James' mind was racing with all of the information he had just acquired. What the hell was that all about? Who is Voldemort planning to attack and why? What does he mean by don't mess up this time? What was the last time? I need to find Dumbledore.
"Oi, Emma, Carolina," Sirius shouted.
"What do you want, Black?" Emma sighed, reluctant to have to talk to Sirius Black.
"It's about Lily. Listen…" he began, looking around to make sure that nobody was listening in on their conversation. "All right, earlier tonight when I was off to the kitchens for a snack, I heard some noises coming from a broom closet. Now, this particular broom closet is one that is usually occupied by me at this time of night, so I was intrigued…"
"Good dictionary word," Emma cut in, followed by an icy glare from Carolina.
"Anyways," Sirius continued as if he had not been interrupted, "Using my innate instinct of a Marauder, I realized that the people in there were fighting. Then I heard Davies dulcet tones, so I was like, oh shit, that's Lily in there. I heard him hit her and that's when I went in and jinxed him."
"I cannot believe him. I'm going to kill that little—" Emma shouted angrily before being cut off by the more sensible on of the trio, Carolina.
"Calm down and stop shouting," she warned. "Anybody could be listening in. Now, Sirius, have you told anyone else about this? James, Remus, anybody?"
"James doesn't know," Sirius mumbled.
"You mean to tell me James big-head Potter doesn't know something that happened to his Lily-flower," Emma raved.
"No, I was trying to—"
"Trying to what, Black?" Emma challenged.
"Em, watch your temper. You are overreacting way too much. This isn't Sirius's fault or anything. This is our best friend we are talking about. Not some Slytherin tramp. Please, just let your grudge with Sirius go for five minutes so we can help Lily," Carolina declared angrily. Emma just gaped for a few moments, then deciding that she had nothing more to say, sank back into her armchair.
"Well," Sirius continued gingerly, not wanting to cause anymore outbursts on either girls' part, "I was trying to respect her wished by not telling anybody. She didn't want anyone to know, especially James because you know how protective of her he is. You know James as well as I do, not that I don't believe that James has every title to go and tear Davies limb to limb right now, but I didn't want to not tell you two."
"I didn't know you actually cared," Emma whispered to herself, a look of awe upon her face.
"What?" Sirius inquired.
"Oh nothing," Emma responded, deciding that her friend's need took precedent over her on-going hostility towards Sirius any day. "Thanks a lot, but we've got to go find Lily now," she continued, getting up and dragging Carolina with her.
After the girls left, Sirius just sat there thinking about Emma. Damn, that girl's got spark. But she would never give me another chance after what I did to her. What the hell was I thinking anyways? Oh yeah, I was drunk. Resigning to the fact that he would never have another relationship with Emma Reilly, he went up to his room to get some much needed beauty sleep.
"Padfoot, Remus," James panted. "Get up you lazy dogs," he yelled, giving Sirius a shove.
Remus looked up from his book, quite angry. "Prongs, what are you on? Did you swallow some of that hair potion again?"
"Padders," James cooed.
"Five more minutes…Agghh!…Jimmy boy, why in the bloody hell didja go and do that for?" Sirius cried, wiping the cold water from his face.
"Well, that's what you get for being asleep at 10:00, but you've got to hear this…" James trailed off, going into detail the conversation that he had just overheard between Lestrange and Voldemort.
Once outside of Lily's door, Carolina stopped and turned to Emma.
"Now, you've got to mind your temper while you're in here. No yelling, no threatening Hunter or his life—Lily doesn't need to hear any of that. What she does need is her two best friends to be there for her and to listen to her."
"Yes, Mom," Emma grumbled.
"Lily?" Carolina questioned, while knocking softly on the door. "Can we come in?"
When she receive no response, she went on and opened the door and quietly entered. Saying Lily was a sight for sore eyes was an understatement. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying and her face still bore the mark from where Hunter had hit her. Even though Emma and Carolina couldn't see them, large blueish bruises were forming underneath Lily's sweatshirt.
"Lily," Emma said, walking over to the bed and sitting down. "Are you ok?"
"No," she sniffled, answering in all honesty. "I let him hit me Em."
"You didn't let him hit you," Emma fired, resulting in a glance of warning from Carolina. "Fighting back against him would have only made things worse for you."
"It's just, oh I don't know. I feel so helpless, like I can't protect myself. I've always been able to, you know, hold my own. But when that look of fury possessed Hunter's face, I couldn't move, I couldn't scream. I couldn't do anything but watch him hit me."
"Lily, he is stronger than you," Carolina assured. "There wasn't anything you could have done differently,"
"No, that's not it," Lily shouted, tears streaming down her face. "I've never backed down from Bellatrix or Snape or any of those other Slytherin gits. But when he grabbed me I just froze in place. I couldn't move, I couldn't think. I just started trembling. It was almost like—" Lily stopped short and gasped.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the pretty little mudblood."
"What do you want, Lestrange," Lily shot, shifting the many books she had checked out from the library. I've got to distract him and hex him before he tries anything,she thought.
"Well you see, being the gifted witch that you are, even if you are a filthy—"
"Flattery mixed with insults will get you nowhere. Cut to the chase."
"Join the ranks of the Dark Lord," Lestrange said simply.
"Now, why would I want to go and join a group who enjoys killing people not unlike myself?" Lily asked confidently.
"The Dark Lord can offer you many compensations for your time and service," he replied, pulling out his wand and tracing it's outline with his fingers. "Now are you going to do this the easy way, or do I need to force you?" he finished, moving closer to Lily, grabbing onto her shoulders and pushing her up against the cold, stone wall. All of the confidence she once had seeped out of her, leaving her frozen with a look of pure terror captivating her face.
"Aw, is the little mudblood scared?" Lily just looked up at Lestrange, all of her fears leaving her unable to respond.
"Lily, Lily," Carolina called, pulling the trembling girl out of her reverie. "What's wrong? You were shaking and crying."
"Nothing's wrong," Lily lied. "I guess I'm still a little shaken up. I think I just need to sleep some."
"Ok, we'll come back by and bring you some breakfast in the morning," Emma said, giving her friend a hug, careful not to touch her bruises. "We love you," she whispered.
"I'm worried about her," Carolina said as soon as she and Emma were out of earshot of Lily's room.
"Did you see that look on her face when she was rocking and trembling?" She looked like she was reliving some kind of vivid nightmare."
"I know. And I think I know what all this relates to."
"What," Emma queried.
"That night back at the end of our 5th year, that night that Lily will never speak about, that night that Lily Evans began to trust James Potter."