Disclaimer: I own nothing—I live in Iowa for heaven's sake! I do own anyone you don't recognize thought, like Morlock and Gallanger and the 'mystery' man.
I hope you enjoy this next chapter. I had so much fun writing it.
Please Review, gives me hope! Abarraine. 13 July 2005.
Lily-livered means -- frightened, scared, etc. I thought it was fitting, plus really funny.
Calculations: Lily-livered
The sound of her shoes and the swish of her cloak echoed in the empty corridors. Her breathing suddenly stopped, as did her movement. Becoming as still as a statue, Lily remembered that she wasn't wearing a cloak...
Several things seemed to flash through Lily's lethargic mind. The first being the absolutely sane idea that she was indeed becoming batty with all the late nights and psychotic frequency of always glancing over her shoulder to make sure some enormous, dark wizard wasn't about to stab a knife in her back.
The next thought that echoed urgently was: where is my sodding wand? And the third being the fear of said dark wizard and his intents.
Still unmoving, Lily squinted into the darkness behind her, listening sharply for the rustle of a cloak or clunk of a heavy shoe. Neither was seen, nor heard.
Loosening her joints from her frozen form, she tightened her grip on her slim wand and gradually turned in a circle, her keen eyes, now wide with terror, invading every crevice she could see in the immaculate darkness.
Knowing stealth was her only option if indeed some deranged soul was following her, she could not make a sound nor produce light from her wand. Having completed her three-sixty, Lily sighed deeply and admonished herself for being so easily frightened. The sigh was needed, as Lily had been holding her breath. The fire in her veins drained a bit as she realized how foolish she was being. With much less hesitation, she took small steps forward, towards the door that would lead her to downtown London, Birmingham, and finally to James' warm arms.
Swinging her bag over her shoulder, she quickly thought of stuffing her wand back into her pocket, but quickly pulled it out again as the fear still lingered in the back of her exhausted mind. Constant vigilance, Lily recalled Moody's monologues from her previous auror classes. Looking behind her shoulder once more into the blinding darkness, she couldn't help but feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. All her senses pleaded with her to keep moving, that she wasn't safe yet, however her mind was numb and wouldn't respond.
There was the swish of a cloak again. That's twice now, Lily panicked. She sprung around and saw what she assumed to be an outline of someone. The footsteps were no longer in her imagination. There definitely was a reverberating quality running along the floor.
Whipping around like a jackrabbit, delicately gripping her wand, she launching her body behind the nearest cubical and discarded her bag, heavy with files. She crouched down on her haunches, anticipating his coming.
The dark
was blinding in this section of the Ministry; far from any outside
window that streamed in moonlight. Lily trying to
regulate her
breathing. Sweat droplets formed on her pale forehead and she yearned
her eyes to make out any shapes in the unlit corridor.
Before she knew it, her predator was upon her walking at a much slower pace—no doubt looking for where she had slipped away to. Lily held her breath as he stopped just a bit away from her cubical. She could hear his own heaving breaths and the rustle of his heavy wizarding cloak. Not daring enough to look beyond her wall at the man, she tried to place his movements. Her head throbbing, she tried to remain strong and remember all that she had been taught. Her first mission, besides incapacitating the person, she needed to know what he was doing this late at the ministry—in the Unspeakable wing, no less.
She was almost positive, she'd bet her life, that she was the only one left in this part of the building—so what was he doing? What was he after? Who was he after? and for heaven's sake, couldn't she have one night of peace?
It was deathly quiet.
Suddenly, without any notice Lily felt a tickle form in her nose. Her eyes widened as she grabbed at her nose, trying to suppress the inevitable. Oh sodding crap. Gasping for air, eyes watering, Lily held her sneeze, haunched in her hiding place.
He wasn't moving.
She could barely see his shiny black shoes that represented a high class citizen—or a revered Death Eater—to whom she was dealing with. She was in complete agony, this was it; her demise was in the form of a bloody sneeze.
How impotent.
And the dam broke, the inevitable came. As Lily's deadly sneeze exploded, she jumped out of her makeshift rampart, and launched herself at the stalking wizard.
"Expelliarmus!" Lily shouted swiftly, while at the same time hearing, to her horror, the invader say the same incantation. Lily's wand flew out of her grip as did her predator's. He lunged for his wand, and she hers.
Wildly, Lily sprang towards the ground, all her effort focused on her prized piece of wood. Narrowly missing a purple laser of light, Lily groped for her wand, retrieving it and crawled behind the nearest trashcan. Heavy spells rained on her, but she kept herself hidden, waiting for him to make a mistake.
Obviously, he had more than one wand—how else had he recovered his wand so quickly when Lily, agility her major strength, had wasted no time in getting hers. Her breaths were ragged, but she managed to fire several stunning spells. The man was frantically dodging her spells, having no barrier to hide behind.
Without warning the man threw up his hands, dropping his wand and fell to his knees.
"I don't wish to fight! Please, have mercy! I was just startled... the dark... my mind... please!" He pleaded on his knees. Lily immediately ceased firing and stared at the man. Her headache raging. "Please..." He breathed.
Lily slowly stood from her crouched position, wand still out ("Constant vigilance"), and took a tentative step towards the kneeling man. It was completely silent, except for their heaving breaths.
"I... who are you?" Lily demanded, finally coming to her senses. He may have just been at the wrong place at the wrong time, but that still did not excuse his presence in the Department of Mysteries. He shifted slightly, but was stopped immediately when Lily stepped on his wand, capturing it from him. Awarding herself an inward smile, she examined the man in front of her. The man who had hindered her path to James.
PLEASE REVIEW!
I'd like to thank everyone for reviewing, I loved them all! Really and truly.
Marauders Chick: Thank you for reading my stories! and not to worry, the beginning is a little elusive, but details come in time. You'll learn more about the attack at Diagon Alley and Morlocks suicide and confessions to the dark lord and much much more.
Catchy Pen Name: I know I sent you the 2nd rough draft of this and you haven't gotten it back to me yet, but I think I'll just post it now, I can't wait any longer! tell me what you think, hun! love ya!
Betsy: Here's that update!
Crystal Kisses: Isn't drama great?
hpever: haha, here's your update. I'm so glad you want to know more... I do too. lol.
Chris Erickson: of course it's inticing, I wrote it:)
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