Ch. 25 - The Cellar
James and Emmeline felt the temperature drop significantly as they descended into the bowels of the mansion. The dark, damp atmosphere of the house's substructure did not match well with the rest of its elegant cleanliness.
"Lumos." James had to light his wand so that they could see the remainder of the steps. When they reached the bottom of the staircase, they found themselves in a vast, stone catacomb with a choice of three hallways.
"Well that's not helpful at all," Emmeline griped. "Take your pick, James."
"...We'll try one, and if it leads to a dead end, we can come back." He raised his wand up and began moving it in a circular motion. Without an incantation, his stag patronus materialized and gave them a dignified nod before disappearing into the rock of the wall. "He'll come get us if we get lost."
Emmeline stared at where the stag had been, amazed. "How did you learn to use it like that?"
"Lily's been figuring out all sorts of things about this charm and teaching them to me."
"Maybe I should take private lessons from Lily instead of group lessons with Alastor."
They hurried through the corridors, but the cellar was quite the labyrinth. Blasts could be heard up above as the battle raged outside.
"I think these tunnels span the entirety of the grounds, we've been going for far too long for them to be confined to the dimensions of the house," Emmeline wagered.
"Unless we've been walking in circles...don't suppose there's any firewhisky down here we could nab, do you?"
She slowed her pace and stared at him incredulously. "Really?"
"It's a cellar. What do you think is down here? Pumpkin juice?"
Emmeline rolled her eyes and caught back up to him. "...Do you think it's odd that we haven't received any word from the others?"
"We may think we've been walking for longer than we actually have. It's so dark and cramped in here…"
"...Wait," Emmeline urged, concentrating intently on their path ahead. "...Put your wand out."
"...Nox."
When James extinguished the light, Emmeline could make out a faint glow coming from the tunnel in front of them. "Do you see that?"
"Well done Em," James whispered, moving towards the distant light.
They followed the glow through a series of dingy passageways until they could hear footsteps coming from a larger, neighboring duct where the light was brightest. With his back up against the wall, James cautiously peered into the adjacent channel.
"Lily!?" he breathed in horror. Her auburn hair was unmistakable, even several yards down the other shaft.
Emmeline was standing behind him, so she could not see. "What is she doing here!?" She must've showed up to help despite James' wishes.
Before he could call out to her, James saw another unmistakable person round the corner with a torch in one hand and his wand pointed at Lily in the other.
"Snape," James growled, before he bolted into the tunnel to rescue his bride.
"James, wait!" Emmeline hissed, but it was too late; he was already on the warpath. She peered around the corner, intending to go after him, until she saw four more hooded figures enter from another pipeline up ahead. She whipped her head back around the corner, mouthing an expletive.
"SNAPE!"
"JAMES, NO!" Lily tried to run to him, but Severus caught her by the arm and held her back.
"Let go of her, you bastard, don't you touch her!"
"Expelliarmus!" A death eater with a thick slavic accent shouted from behind, catching James' wand and stowing in his robes. Even unarmed, James continued charging towards Severus, but came to an abrupt halt when Snape held his own wand up to Lily's throat.
"Tread carefully, Potter," Severus spat.
James felt cords begin to bind his hands as one of the other death eaters cast a partial body-bind on him. He roared as they shoved him to his knees: "You'd better pray I never get out these restraints, because if I do, I'm going to flay you alive!"
"Severus, look at me," Lily implored from under his wand. His focus flickered, but he callously ignored her plea. "Look at me!" She shouted her demand this time, and his eyes betrayed him. "You don't have to do this. This isn't you-"
"Quiet," he snapped, regaining his nerve.
"I swear Snape, if you hurt her-"
"You'll what?" Severus interrupted, shifting away from Lily and jabbing his wand into James' chest. "You'll what, Potter?" The other death eaters chuckled malevolently. "I could kill you right now, couldn't I?"
"Severus, NO!" Lily shrieked and tried to lunge at Snape, but another death eater detained her.
"LET GO OF HER!"
"Wouldn't that be fitting? Finally, the great James Potter having to face consequences for his actions. Tell me - was it all worth it?"
But James, shaking with vicious rage, only leaned further into his wand. "Every ruddy curse, you son of a bitch."
"Don't do this Sev, please," Lily begged, a tear falling from the corner of her eye.
Back down the other tunnel, Emmeline held her breath as she listened to the altercation. Her mind scrambled for a solution, but she knew that even if she ran out to be the hero, one of her friends would still have a wand pointed at their throat. Never mind the other four death eaters; with James and Lily disarmed, taking on Severus alone would be futile.
"...Pity that it'll have to wait until after I bring you both to him," Snape said, reluctantly removing his wand from James' chest. Emmeline heard their footsteps shuffle into another passageway and saw that the light was growing dimmer. If she left to get the others now, they would never find James and Lily again in the intricate maze. She had to go on alone.
Trailing behind from a good distance away, Emmeline followed the footsteps as silently as she could. It wasn't long before the group up ahead reached their destination, and a vast chamber illuminated by torchlight came into view. Making sure to keep out of sight, Emmeline saw Snape and the other death eaters drop James and Lily to their knees where Edgar, Peter, the Prewetts, and the Longbottoms were already being held. Nearly twenty other death eaters lined the walls.
"Bravo Severus," a raspy voice cooed from the helm.
Emmeline's heart stopped. The voice slithered into her ear like a serpent and sent a tremor down her spine. She could not see the speaker, but she was willing to bet money on who it was.
She had never met the Dark Lord in person before.
