Yes, it's been a while…I almost thought I wouldn't ever finish this story…due to lack of reviews for my last chapter (I'm a bit spoiled, I suppose). You can thank my readers on who encouraged me to write more because they actually reviewed. So, if you want me to continue, you'll do the same. Thanks much! PhoenixPlume
Ch. 15 Godric's Last Will and Testament
Lily awoke in a strange position, and wondered why it was still so dark. She knew she'd been sleeping for a long time. Then, she remembered. Threats from deatheaters. James Potter's house. Stuck door…stupid cavern…bumpy shoulder…
"James," Lily murmurred groggily. "Why is your shoulder so bony?"
"Mehhhhhhh," James responded intelligently. Lily leaned towards his ear. And proceeded to shout.
"JAMES POTTER! WHY…when are we getting out of here?"
"Aarrrgh…g'way, Mum…it's not time to get up yet…summer dontcha know…"
"What do I have to do to get you to wake up?" Lily demanded, starting to tire of her attempts to wake up James.
"Kiss."
"I absolutely refuse."
"Darn it," James grinned, opening one devilishly gleaming eye. "I was really hoping you'd fall for that."
"Idiot," Lily spat, punching him in the shoulder, but not forcefully. Her elbow brushed against a metal ring, rusty by its feel, that hung on the stone wall behind them. She turned, and not thinking of anything else to do, tugged on it. It made a creaky sound.
"What's that noise?" James inquired, turning around as well.
"There's a rusty ring of some sort that's attached to the wall. I think it opens to another tunnel or something."
"Let me try pulling," James commanded.
"I'm doing perfectly fine, thanks for asking," Lily replied haughtily.
"No, otherwise," James pulled on the ring, rewarded by a longer creak of an opening door, "You'd have already opened it like I just have."
"Show off," grumbled Lily. "And when do we get to eat breakfast? Wait, what am I saying? When do we get out of here, period?"
"And I thought you were a Gryffindor, Evans," James said to rile Lily up. Lily huffed and forced her way past him into the unknown tunnel. Candles lit the tunnel, emitting dancing golden light that bounced all over the ceiling.
"Wow. Look at those candelabras…they must be…" Lily let out with amazement.
"From the time of Godric Gryffindor? Undoubtedly," James finished for her. "Coming?"
"Of course," Lily responded, emerald eyes blazing just as much as the candles. The two traipsed along the stone path. Suddenly, Lily stopped.
"I just noticed something," she whispered.
"What?"
"The candelabras…I think some of them mark doorways to more tunnels."
"Why do you think that?" James asked, looking down at Lily as if he thought she were brilliant.
"Some have a ring hanging underneath them," Lily's voice echoed ominously.
"Echo," James murmurred, thick brows wrinkling in thought.
"Yes, James, voices do that," Lily said as if speaking to a mental patient.
"No!" James exclaimed hotly, "Not unless the walls are hollow on the outside." Lily's face lit up with understanding.
"Do you want to…" Lily began uncertainly.
"Yeah," James answered, stepping towards one of the candelabras with a rusty ring underneath. He pulled. The ring did not give…it merely tore off.
"Maybe it's a false door," Lily said with disappointment, nearing the candelabra, and feeling the spot the ring had previously covered. Her fingers pressed on the spot, and it gave way suddenly. "Aaah!"
"Lily!" James shouted helplessly, grabbing her arm futilely. The two tumbled down a long slide.
"Ugh," Lily groaned. "What is it with you? Do you like falling on top of me?"
"Why, yes, as a matter of fact," James responded with amusement to the flustered redhead. "Especially in a room of trinkets like this."
"Trinkets?" Lily repeated dubiously. "Where?"
"They're floating above you," James replied as if it were obvious.
"Well, I would know that, wouldn't I, with a great lob like you on top of my back," Lily griped, pushing James off of her unceremoniously. "Wow," Lily breathed, as she looked around the room. "I wonder how many other rooms there are like this."
"Let's explore this one first," James said, his eyes roaming the spacious hall with curiosity. Scarlet and gold memorabilia fluttered tantalizingly.
"How? Everything's floating in the air!" Lily demanded rhetorically. "Except those lion sconces."
They walked toward the sconces, but after pulling and rubbing and glaring at it, and nothing happening, both sighed and decided to regroup.
"Everything's floating in the air," Lily repeated with little hope in her voice.
"Well, we could do the old 'I lift you up on my shoulders' routine," James smiled, kneeling expectantly. Lily looked away.
"I refuse to act like a cheerleader."
"A what?"
"Muggle girls who wear short skirts and get lifted up by strong guys or girls depending on whether it's high school or university…"
"That sounds like a sight for sore eyes. That sounds really good. Can I go?" James asked hopefully. "As long as you're wearing one of those short skirts."
Lily suppressed a smile. "I don't think so." She turned and noticed a golden Quidditch cup hovering just out of her reach, dating back to 1002 A.D. "JAMES! BROOMS!"
"Brooms, Lily? Have you gone mad?" James put his hand (which Lily noticed was rather rough and a bit dirty) to her head. Lily pushed off his hand.
"No! We can fly on them and figure this place out!" she exclaimed, already searching for some broomsticks.
"That's right," James mused, light dawning visibly in his mind. "About ten years after they founded Hogwarts, Quidditch came along."
"Yes, of course," Lily murmured, green eyes flickering everywhere.
"You think the brooms are in a different room?" James suggested. The two still hadn't seen any brooms.
"I think I'll try accioing it." Lily said, tired of looking.
"You are actually going to use magic outside of school, Miss Evans?"
"I don't think the Ministry is going to be able to trace magic over here, somehow," Lily answered.
"You don't have a broom, do you?" James asked, shaking his head at the things he was discovering about Lily Prefect Evans.
"No, but Sirius does. And hopefully, he's using it and will pay for not looking for us," Lily responded spitefully.
"I knew you were a troublemaker at heart, Lily-Pad," James beamed proudly.
"I prefer to say that I am innovative," Lily retorted, frustrated from a stressful yesterday and a hungry today.
"I think I'm rather enjoying this adventure," James announced, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
"You would," Lily said. She was enjoying it too…in the sense that she was seeing her house's founder's legacy.
"Oh, come on—you know you love my company!"
Lily gave him a long look.
"Deep down."
"Try harder," Lily commanded, looking at James very pointedly.
"Really really really deep deep deep down."
Lily pursed her lips thoughtfully.
"Your lips look really cute that way," James observed teasingly. Lily's long lashes flipped up and took another long look at him.
"Potter, pretend to focus, please."
"Right. Accio broom!" A broom fell down on James's head. The hard knock caused James to stumble.
"Are you all right?" Lily asked anxiously.
"Yeah…I'm all right. Yourself?"
Lily laughed. "You are really daft sometimes, James Potter. You just got hit by a broom, and your asking me how I'm doing."
"Wait 'til you get your broom," James smirked. Lily rolled her eyes. I left my wand in my room…the guest room.
"Can I borrow your wand, if you please?" James handed it to her. "Accio broom!" Ouch. The broom had landed on Lily's head.
"JAMES POTTER!" said girl shouted in pain.
"Yes, Lily-Pad?" the much taller James Potter trembled under Lily's acid green glare.
"If you ever, ever do that again, you'll be much more than daft."
"Being Gryffindor's Seeker, you'll get more knocks than that, Evans." James patted her on the back. "You okay?"
"Except for a lump on on my head and by my side—brilliant. No thanks to you," she hissed.
"There aren't really that many things up there," James said, glancing up.
"There were a few things up there before we got the brooms," Lily replied contemplatively, mounting her broom expertly (or as expertly as a hungry teenaged girl who'd had a hard knock to her head.)
Watching Lily mount, James declared brightly, "Well, this will be fun! I just love the chase, don't you?"
Lily groaned. "I've noticed that." You have no problems chasing me at school.
"I am a chaser; of course you have. Let's kick it, shall we?" James also mounted, and they kicked off.
Lily and James flew through the air softly, searching for any signs of Gryffindor's heirlooms.
A big fan of Muggle mysteries, Lily imagined hidden pannels and loose bricks would be some places to check. Although, she smiled to herself, Gryffindor was a rogue, and undoubtedly a creative one who hid things in random and unthought of places. Like the Marauders.
If I were Gryffindor, where would I hide my treasures? James hovered uncertainly by a very dusty square of bricks…at least he thought they were bricks. Touching them, James realized that they were very smooth…paper smooth. "Lily! I think I may have found something!" James knew how many secrets a piece of paper could hold.
Lily zoomed towards James and stared at what James was concentrating on. "Is that paper?"
James nodded. "I'm not sure how to go about taking it off…I mean…it's probably really old…I don't want to break it."
Lily sighed. "It's enchanted by one of the greatest wizards in history. Do you really think it's stayed intact this long without loads of enchantments to keep it from destruction by a few teenagers?"
James shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder if we were switched at birth. You're more of a pureblood than I'll ever be with all that knowledge, Lils."
Lily shrugged noncomittally. "You were born into all the traditions and such, James. There's no competition in who's ahead of the game."
"Yeah," James laughed. "You're it."
"What?" Lily asked, confused.
"You know, tag, you're it."
"Oh, brother."
"Not your brother. Wouldn't want to be."
"Not this again." James laughed and tried to pry the paper off the dusty wall. It wouldn't budge.
"Great," Lily said. "Let me see it." She observed it closely. "I think It's a sticking charm."
"Oh, I didn't know that," James responded sarcastically.
"Apparently not," Lily said bitingly back. "Hand me your wand."
"Are you going to hex me?" James asked earnestly, withholding his wand from her cautiously.
"Only if you don't let me try to take the parchment off the wall."
"Oh," he said. "Here then."
Lily's eyes were fixed on the parchment. She smoothed her hand over the parchment, and when the line of the paper ended, she noticed that there was no thickness discernable…the bricks and paper seemed one. "Strange. The paper is an illusion…I think it's something else."
James's expression squirmed. "I think I know how to reveal it…let me see." Like revealing an animagus…only this isn't an animagus. James flicked his wand in a very complicated manner. Lily tried to keep up with his wrist movement, but was only confused. Suddenly, the 'paper' became a Snitch. "Get it, Lily!" Lily closed her eyes and breathed. Every time she thought she was going to get somewhere, there was another step.
Lily whipped past James in attempt to catch the snitch. "Blasted thing," Lily muttered irritably. The winged fleck of gold whizzed past her nose in a teasing fashion. "Oh, no you don't!" Lily followed it as quickly as she could. The broom was rather slow, she noticed. Ancient Quidditch gear. "Help me, James! Are you on my team or not?"
James was surprised at her statement. We are on the same team. "I'll tackle it from this side, Lily!"
"'Kay, well get on with it!" James flew toward the snitch, which instantly changed directions, and darted toward a corner. Lily was on it in a second. Catching it, Lily, closely followed by James, flew down to the "ground."
The snitch turned into a flat lion. Lily turned her head quickly. Where had she seen a lion of that shape and size? The sconce! The lion fit right into a sconce on the wall! James noticed what Lily did at the same time.
"The sconces," James stated succinctly. Lily nodded. "Which one first?" Lily pointed to the one they had poked at for five minutes.
"I really hope this gets us to something interesting."
"Yeah, I guess all the other things were clues or illusions. I don't know where those things that were suspended in the air went," James said. Lily took the lion, and was about to fit it into the sconce, when she stopped.
"Why'd you stop?" James asked.
"In case it's a portkey or something, maybe you should grab my hand."
"Lily dearest! I had no idea you wanted to hold my hand so much!" James cried out gleefully, taking her hand possessively.
Lily narrowed her eyes. "Stop being such a prat, Potter." ("Surnames are we going by again, are we?" James inquired conceitedly). "I just thought you'd want to come—but I'm perfectly capable of finding Gryffindor's legacy myself if you would rather be a jerk."
"I'll come to protect you with my…uh…pratliness," James volunteered, smiling apologetically. He took her hand. Lily smiled slightly and fit the lion into the engraving in the sconce.
"It fits," James breathed, squeezing her hand.
"It does," Lily breathed, excitement apparent in her voice. She didn't even seem to mind James's hand. Nothing happened.
"Isn't something supposed to happen?" James wondered aloud.
Lily looked at him uncertainly. "I thought so…"
Releasing Lily's hand, James punched the lion in frustration, and low and behold, a cabinet, invisible to the eye before, opened up.
"I never thought I'd see the day when I was greatful for your violent ways to solving problems," Lily declared drily.
"What do you mean?" demanded James defensively.
"Well, Snape for example. You deal with him through violence. When you're in a bad mood, you hex people…that's violent. When your hormones get out of your control, you go snog a girl." James raised an eyebrow at that statement. Lily blushed, but continued. "Well, I did hear your techniques were somewhat…um…passionate?"
James grinned his infamous infuriating grin. "Wanna see how it's done, Evans? Lily?" Lily didn't meet his eyes, and instead, returned back to the subject at hand.
"I really think we should see what's inside this little secret compartment, don't you?" Her voice, James noticed with pleasure, was a little higher pitched. There's hope for me yet.
"Yeah," James decided to leave their previous topic alone. He didn't want to scare her away. "Let's check it out."
Lily reached into the cabinet. She was surprised to see it wasn't dusty. Does that mean the other thing always had dust on it? A camouflage perhaps? "There's something here." Lily's hand grazed something metal…somethings.
"I think there are some metal things in here…and some parchment.
"Lumos," James uttered, holding his wand up to the dark cabinet. "Yep." He grabbed the parchment. Lily took a box and a chain with a ruby.
Lily stifled a gasp. A ruby! It's beautiful!
Meanwhile, James was examining the parchment. "It's Godric Gryffindor's last will and testament," James said slowly, disbelief written all over his face.
"Unbelievable," Lily said, saying just what James was thinking.
"I know," he agreed.
"What does it say?" she asked. Looking down at the box, she realized she should probably open it. "Mirrors," Lily muttered.
James looked over at what Lily was holding. "Wow. That's some ruby—you can have that I suppose." Lily was already putting it on. James grinned at her impetuosity. Once Lily Evans was away from Hogwarts, she was quite an adventurer.
"It is," Lily aquiesced. "But, I really have no idea what these mirrors are for." She handed them to James, who let her hold the parchment, which she proceeded to read.
"Hm," James said. "I guess we'll have time later to see what these are for. I don't see why Godric would have wanted them—he wasn't such a looker according to history. Lily chuckled at what she was reading.
"He without doubt had a sense of hilarity." Her eyes betrayed humor. "To whomever may find this chamber: never let anyone related to Slytherin touch my belongings. If whomever may find this chamber does do said deed, he shall suffer greatly whenever he sits." James coughed.
"What else does it say?"
"That's all it says. Except for 'Godric Gryffindor, January 21st, 1006.'" Lily replied, looking at the paper from all angles. "Certainly had a way with words, didn't he?"
"I guess he just wanted whoever discovered his things to figure them out for himself," James stated.
Lily nodded. "That does sound like the kind of thing our founder would have wanted."
"The kind of thing I want is to get us out of here," James declared, grabbing hold of Lily's wrist. He was rather peckish, and knew Lily was very tired, judging from her mood.
"The question is, how?" Lily said. "My door's stuck, you said."
"We'll go back to my room, of course," James responded as a matter of course.
"Why couldn't we do that last night?" Lily groaned. "It's down the passageway from my room, right?"
"It was dark."
"You have a wand."
"I didn't want to risk you falling."
"Sure. I would rather fall and sleep in your bed—not like that, you wanker! You'd sleep in a chair or sofa."
"Oh, alright—I'm sorry. I am a prat," James acknowledged in defeat, ready to take a slap from the girl he admired so very much.
"Well, at least you admit it," Lily allowed, a hint of amusement in her voice.
"Follow me, then," James smiled.
And she did, at least then.
I HOPE YOU LIKED IT! Review and let me know if I should keep writing…otherwise…no point, huh?
-PhoenixPlume