Hey all! Hope the last chapter was a nice little twist for you. Don't lose faith in me yet though because I have a lot of other pleasant twists yet to come. I won't let you down. Enjoy!
Chapter 14- Spy Work & Coming Home
It was a drab day outside the school of Hogwarts and the merrily crackling fireplace inside the Head's common room only managed to enrage the four teenagers inside even more. Everyone else had gone down to dinner.
James sat next to Lily on the couch, bravely risking a sound hexing, and placed his arm around her shoulders.
Lily tensed a moment then realized that the sudden contact was nothing more than an offer of silent companionship. She smiled slightly.
"Hey mate," Sirius mumbled to Remus who distractedly turned in his friend's direction. He handed him a yellowed piece of parchment with spidery print on it.
"This might help a bit." Remus took the parchment and looked over it twice before snapping his eyes back to Sirius.
"Did you do this yourself?" He demanded incredulously. Sirius shook his head and jerked a thumb to James.
"Nah, me an' Jamsie worked on it last night. Lily helped us with the rest." Remus exhaled sharply and ran a hand through his hair.
"Guys, you know what this means?" He asked. Everyone turned to him expectantly. "It means that we're one step closer to discovering Voldemort's weakness and finding Sa-"
He broke off as a black Shade owl tapped on the window, its black eyes gazing steadily at Lily. "Um, someone wanna…?" James started.
Lily sighed and got up, striding to the tall window and snapping it open. The large owl rustled quietly past her and landed on the coffee table holding out a grayish-black leg.
"Right," James mumbled. Lily hesitantly reached out and took the damp parchment that looked hastily tied with black, green, and silver ribbon.
It was addressed to her.
"Read it out loud." Remus commanded. His face had taken on a strangely intense look and he stared fixedly at the colored ribbons.
Lily nodded and unrolled the scroll, her breath catching as she recognized the beautiful cursive penmanship.
"It's from Sam!" She gasped. Sirius lurched forward. "Read it!" She nodded again and focused on the dark green ink.
"Dearest Lily,
Spy work is nasty work. As is war. I have looked into the eyes of dying men and women. Cheaters, deceivers, kings of men, all loyal to another leader have knelt before Tom and I at the end and begged for mercy; they all were slaughtered as equals to one another, both on their knees and hands clasped in prayer.
It is a miserable occurrence that I am loath to take part in, but I must in order to see that these forces are brought down. What has it been now dear friend; four weeks, a month? How are you all holding up? Is life very much changed now that we all assemble under the roof of similarity?
I think of you all every day and dream of you at night. I have learned Occlumency well, and Tom- whom it took but a few days to convince my loyalties were to him- is now teaching me Legilimency.
The other Death Eaters grow outraged at my ever-rising rank and their faces grow black and fearsome with jealousy. It has come to my attention that some students believe me to have killed Regulus and joined with Voldemort, another- that I ran off with Regulus. And of course, worst of all; that the Dark Lord Voldemort has taken me as consort.
Please allow me to discourage all three of these rumors now, though the 3rd does have some truth. Tom, I believe, has an idea forming in that, however twisted, brilliant mind of his.
Which is why I intend to leave as soon as possible. I cannot promise that I will return home at once, if at all. Nor can I promise that this owl will even reach you.
Do not worry for me, but remember the reason I am gone and fight for it. Tell everyone I miss them and love them. Yes, even Sirius. I love them all so bad it hurts. I wish we had more time to get to know each other.
Don't cry Lily, we will meet again soon and we'll all be-"
There the letter ended. Blood trickled down the page and it was dark as though from heavy bleeding.
"Nooo!" Lily wailed clutching the letter to her chest. She burst into tears and buried her head in her hands.
Remus took the letter and stared for a moment, a grim smile spread across his tired face. "Lily, Sirius, James," He said quietly though the undertones of excitement lacing his voice drew the attention from the three grave teenagers in front of him.
"She can't be dead yet. She lived to send this letter off anyway." He reasoned. Lily gave him a watery smile.
"You're right Remus. We can't lose hope; M- Sam wouldn't want that."
Somewhere far from where she should have been, Samantha gasped sharply as she slipped in the goopy mire and landed heavily on her broken ribs.
The others were surely not too far behind her. She allowed herself a moment of relief at having lost them momentarily but pushed it aside again as pain overcame relief.
Had the owl made it safely? She wondered vaguely. Dear God! What if they track the owl? Sam nearly screamed in frustration as she heard the Death Eaters approaching. Not very stealthy, Death Eaters.
Merlin! I should have seen this uprising coming! I knew that when Tom left I would have some trouble, but this- She broke off abruptly as Lucius, and Nikko's fathers came through the clearing.
Shit.
"Look for tracks." A muffled voice commanded. Malfoy. "Right, Boss." Zabini. Wait, "Boss"? My God, is Malfoy planning on taking over?
Her hand gripped the wand with the precision of a practiced dueler. Merlin, give me strength. Fear swallowed her courage and she shrank back into the thick mud.
It would be best to evaluate her options before she rushed into anything impulsively.
Looking around the clearing from her vantage point hidden in the muck, her piercing eyes assessed the positions of the two men, the three in the bushes, the other two picking through the bog…
Seven Death Eaters. Trained to kill, remorseless. I'm surrounded. If I jump up and begin to fire spells they'll bring me down in seconds. I haven't the strength to apparate cleanly. I must think of something quickly, they're coming much too close for comfort.
"Come on out sweet heart," A gruff voice called out. "We just want a little fun…" Ugh, the fathers of Crabbe and Goyle. She felt bile rise in her throat.
A soft popping noise, barely the equivalent of the popping of a knuckle, came behind her. Two arms came around her waist and she fought not to scream in pain. Broken ribs! Come on!
"Shh, don't move Sam." A smooth voice whispered in her ear. "Hold on tight." The popping came again, even softer than before. The familiar rushing and squeezing filtered into her pain clogged mind and she left the mud with a sick, squelching noise.
"Damn, you were really buried in that mud weren't you?" The voice laughed. I know that voice! Sam thought excitedly. "Lucius!" She gasped. "Hey you." He smiled, looking care-free, but his eyes told a different story.
"Are you alright?" He asked suddenly, seeing how she winced as she shifted positions. "Oh, " She squeaked. "Yeah, um, " Fractured, say fractured. "Just- just a fractured rib."
She grinned bravely, and Lucius cast her a dubious look before turning to the window. His momentary silence gave her time to survey the room he had apparated them into.
It was a Spartan room, with dirty green walls and silver accenting. "Old Head Quarters." She commented. He nodded. "Yeah, been in the family for ages."
You're wasting time you oaf! She scolded herself. They'll be on you like white on rice if you don't get out of here soon. She nodded and looked back at Lucius. He looked nervous, jumpy even. This was new. Especially for the composed boy she had come to know and love.
"We need to get out of here soon, especially you. You're freezing. Jesus, Sam!" He groaned as he threw his cloak over her shoulders. "It is late December you know. What the Hell are you doing out there with no cloak on?"
Sam threw him an annoyed look. "Use your brains Luc; they attacked me in the middle of the night. Would you have stopped to dress for the weather?"
Lucius sighed and shook his head. "Sorry Sam, I'm just so worried." Sam smiled a little. "Hey, I know. I know. Look, let's just get out of here. I need to get back to Hogwarts."
Lucius looked at her. "Hogwarts, huh? Finally going to go back?" She nodded determinedly. "Yeah, Dumbledore'll tell them what they need to know."
He nodded. "Just one more thing though. Sam- I can only take you as far as Hogsmeade. If anyone sees me helping you and word reaches my father…"
Sam placed a hand on his cheek. "I understand. I can do it."
With a pop they were gone.
Lucius left Sam by the border of Hogsmeade and Hogwarts, and went inside first.
As she stumbled and finally crawled across the grounds to the castle, a bone-chilling sound stopped her heart and stilled her very nerves.
She knew that she wouldn't have the strength to run the rest of the way to the castle. The werewolf would be on her before she could gather the energy to stand.
Closing her eyes in brief resignation the pounding feet drew nearer, hot breath could be heard being expelled in heavy tufts. With a final burst of strength, Sam rolled to her side and pulled her wand out.
She would not die without a fight.
End of chapter 14! I hope you enjoyed it. So Sam is home after being gone for a whole month. For those of you who are confused, here's my figuring: Sam and Lily came to Hogwarts a month into school. So October passes where they learn all that, Time stuff and the whole spy work comes into their lives, then in November all that stuff with Sirius goes down, THEN, end of November Regulus dies and Sam leaves. One month passes and it is now a few days before X-mas. Here is where we leave off. 'Till next time! ∞ Me ∞
