I'm here for you; always.
Summary: Being seventeen is never as easy as it appears. Somehow, through trauma and horror, love seems to sprout between the most unlikely of pairs. But it had always been undeniable; the passion between both Lily and James had always been there.
Genre and Rating: Romance and Angst. Rating M, just to be safe.
Disclaimer: For Dumbledore's sake, people. If I had invented Harry Potter, would I still be writing fan-fictions?
Author's Ramble: The review are all so lovely. Thank you for still reading. Normally people drop my stories after chapter 1. XD Anyway, I'm /really/ sorry about the slow update.
Shattered Serenity – Actually, I hadn't intended Sirius getting together with either Caitlin or Tyler…I don't know yet. That was only added to the plot for fun. Oh, and you absolutely must update Drink up Me Hearties, soon.
Jingle-Bellz-ROCK – Thanks for the review love. Here's the update.
Animerockstar – Thank you.
BlackRose128 – I'm getting better at the page-break, things. XD Thanks for the reviews, hun.
Chapter 5: I want to kill you.
A dreary light told her it was dawn, as the sun's dimmed rays hit her closed eyelids. They slowly flickered open and she came to realize of the numbing pain, throbbing at the back of her head. She tried to lift her hand to massage the pounding sensation away, but found that she couldn't. Her hands were tied and bound at her sides, the thick ropes slowly digging cuts into her tiny wrists. She slowly looked around, desperately trying to ignore the pain in her skull. There were tall, spiny trees; dead looking and wispy, lining the clearing. The soil and many plants and vines were unkept and dry. The surroundings alone sent shivers down her spine; Lily had always hated being in an unknown place by herself. Being tied to the mouldering stump of a tree didn't help her nerves. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck perk at the icy sound of some one's voice.
'Well, well, well…Miss Evans.' It said, the masculine tones sounding cold and vaguely familiar. A slender, sickly-thin figure made its way into her view.
'I've been waiting a long time to get my hands on you, you filthy mudblood…' he hissed 'We all have…'
About a dozen more cloaked figures swam into her blurred focus, each wearing an identical sneer beneath their hoods. What a wonderful place to be on a Sunday morning…
'Where do you think Lily's disappeared to?' Tyler asked of Caitlin as they sat at the far end of the Gryffindor table.
'I dunno…' Caitlin shrugged, 'She didn't come back into the dorm last night.'
'What?' a voice exclaimed from behind her. The two girls turned to see James, Sirius and Remus standing there, James looking a bit concerned.
'Eavesdropping are we?' Caitlin murmured, looking rather amused.
James simply stood there waiting for an answer and Tyler continued 'We don't know where Lily is. She said she was going for a walk last night and we didn't hear her come in.'
'She was down by the lake.' Sirius said drowsily and the lot of them turn to look at him.
'What?' James repeated.
'Manners, Prongs. She was down by the lake last night, thinking I believe she said…' Sirius explained.
'But you came up early last night, Padfoot.' Remus pointed out.
'So we still have a missing Lily?' Caitlin muttered, turning properly around in her seat.
'Not for long.' James said grimly.
'So, Miss Evans, Why do you think we've brought you here?' the male voice sneered, now bending down before her as the others behind him snickered amongst one another.
Even if she had wanted to respond there was no way possible. The rope binding her tongue back forbade her to speak.
The man laughed ruthlessly 'Why so quiet, Miss Evans?' he asked sardonically. With an instant snap of his fingers, the ropes sprang free and Lily collapsed to a crumpled heap.
'So weak…' A female voice sneered from over the man's shoulder.
'Quiet, Bella.' The man hissed. Lily realized that she recognized the drawling, female voice. Sirius' cousin, having graduated last year, remained the same as ever.
'Forgive me for stating the obvious, Lucius.' Bellatrix spat, waltzing forward.
'Easier said than done.' He snarled in a simple reply to Bella's cheek. He turned his attention back towards Lily, rolling his eyes as he saw her shoulder shaking lightly, tears rolling down her cheeks and off her chin; her head bowed. 'Stop your whimpering!' Lucius commanded, grasping a handful of Lily's hair and lifted her head. The group around them laughed, her tears now clearly visible. Bella wore an expression of utmost satisfaction, Lily's pain being her pure enjoyment.
'Do you know why you're here, Mudblood?' Lucious asked, throwing her away from him as though her very touch was contaminating. 'Care to explain Bella? You seem to be wanting to talk, so talk…'
Bella's eyes narrowed, but she began to speak nevertheless. 'Our numbers are decreasing Evans.' She spat simply 'We are growing weaker in power and when we are weak, our master is weak. That's not something we want, now is it? Your confounded ministry is sending Aurors on our trails, wiping out our groups, slowly but surely. And do you know who's leading them, Missy?'
Lily made no sound nor movement but watched, mystified as Bella drew her wand.
'Do you know who's leading them?' she repeated warningly. Lily eyed her wand wearily and shook her head, not daring to disobey in her current position.
'Ickle Sullivan Potter.' She said, her voice low and icy. At the name Potter, Lily looked up.
'Potter and his stupid wife, ringleaders of that particular group of Aurors, are tracking us down. We need to get rid of them, and do you know how we're doing that?'
Eyeing the outstretched wand again, Lily shook her head.
'By using you. By merely using the Potters' weaknesses. The Mr. and Mrs. have the perfect son, as you know. Nice grades, Head Boy I believe and rather dashing. Just like his parents. That's when we thought, a boy like that – parents would be rather missing him if he were to…disappear. But alas, we were met with another little snag. How to get at the Potter boy? His talents with a wand are famed, talents beyond his years. Not to mention that Muggle-loving fool, Dumbledore, guarding his castle like a mother hawk, James nestled safely inside.' She sighed, brushing a few stray strands of hair away from her face.
'That's where you come in, Missy. He seems to have developed a sort of fetish for you, over the years. Growing and growing until you were the girl he'd die for. Perfect, hmm? Here we are, looking for a way to kill Potter and you appear! The girl of his dreams, alone and vulnerable with her wand back up at the castle. So we brought you here, and soon enough…Potter will come looking for you…' There was a maddening glint in her eyes, her knuckles turning white as her grip on her wand tightened. 'And we will kill him. It'll bring the down fall of the Aurors, and our empire will rise!'
Slowly racking her mind, Lily was taking all this in. Using her to kill James? Just as she finally discovers how she feels about him, she would be the reason for his fall. In a moment, she had fallen forward onto her arms, sobbing onto the torn and bloody sleeves of her cloak.
'Pathetic.' Bella muttered, raising her wand once more and pointed it at Lily's quivering form. 'Crucio!' she yelled into the silence surround the pack. With a horrific feeling, a sensation on white hot knives piercing every inch of her body ran over her, writhing and screaming on the floor, praying for the pain to stop. But it didn't.
'We're probably getting worked up over nothing. She might just be at the back of the library or out in the greenhouses…' Tyler shrugged.
'Stop pacing, James. You're making me sick.' Caitlin said, hanging upside down over the arm of a comfy chintz chair.
'If she's not back by dinner, we're going to Dumbledore.' He stated, collapsing onto the sofa by the fire.
'Agreed.' Tyler said nodding.
As lines and groups and hoards of students filed into the Great Hall for dinner, Caitlin and Tyler felt rather lonely without the taller form of Lily between the two of them and they were realizing that she wasn't, after all, at the back of the library. She wasn't in the castle or on the grounds, period. Lily was missing.
'It's dinner. Any sign of her?' Sirius asked, as he and Remus sat down with the two girls.
'No, none.' Tyler sighed.
'Where's James?' Caitlin asked, realizing that their number of three had diminished to two.
'He wanted to check the library one more time.' Remus said, looking thoroughly put-out.
'It's really taking a toll on him, not having Lily around for eye-candy.' Sirius added grimly, nodding towards the doors as James entered the hall, looking truly glum. He sat down at the Gryffindor table, between Tyler and Sirius and banged his head heavily on the table.
'No luck, I see?' Remus asked, not expecting an answer.
'Going to Dumbledore?' Tyler murmured.
Without lifting his head off the table, James nodded. Without bothering to eat the wonderful food that filled their plates, the miserable students got to their feet and began to walk up to the staff table. They stopped in front of Dumbledore's seat as he watched them curiously. It was rather odd to see such a lively batch of students looking so blue. James, Sirius, Remus, Tyler and Caitlin exchanged looks before James sighed and peered up at the Headmaster, his eyes heavy and shoulders sagged.
'Lily's missing.' He said slowly, watching as a frown appeared on Dumbledore's face.
'Missing?'
'She didn't come up to the dormitory last night.' Caitlin explained.
'I saw her down by the lake around nine, but I went up to bed early.' Sirius added
'And we haven't seen her all day.' Tyler sighed
'We've looked everywhere…' Remus finished.
'No sign of her.' James muttered.
'Maybe we're not looking in the right places…' Dumbledore said, his uncertain voice sounding rather enigmatic. The elderly man beckoned for the group to follow without a word, as they lead him to his office.
It was scary…
Surrounded by an unknown group of hooded people, each pointing their wand at you as you writhed in pain on the ground at their feet, bleeding and tearing with every spell. Lily let out one shrill shriek and her movements stopped, her breathing slowing down to a rather unhealthy, melodic movement, too slow to be normal. Her eyelids hovered half opened, but she saw nothing of the movements and sights around her. All she saw was an unwelcoming blankness.
It was at that moment, as he sat in front of the pondering Headmaster, that he swore he would never let anything happen to his Lily. Not now, not ever.
They had to find her.
(Authors Ramble): There ya go. I promise the next update will be quicker. I really don't know why it took so long this time. I apologize in advance if it's short and crappy. Anyway, please keep reading, and of course, reviewing!
Love ya!