Quickly working our way up to the end of this story :) No worries, though, Part 3 is in the planning stage

Messages

Lily Luna Stark wasn't scared, exactly. She was annoyed. Her knee hurt. Her palms hurt. She was worried about Bucky. Getting a little tired. And bored.

Her kidnappers had thrown her into a windowless room and closed the door behind her. That was it. No one had asked her anything. No one had talked to her. She actually checked the whole room, but there was NOTHING she could use. Only a couch, a blanket and bucket (ewww). Nothing she could potentially use to pick the lock. No windows. No electronics. And of course today she didn't even have pins in her hair.

So Lily had taken a blanket from the couch in the corner and made herself comfortable on the floor in front of the door. She couldn't see much, really. Just the floor outside the door, but it was enough to know that no one was standing guard there.

Logically, she knew she should be scared, but then again: Her Dad was Harry Stark. He could do ANYTHING. Her uncle had been kidnapped once and her Dad had found him, too. And Uncle Tony was a Superhero! He would come for her, too. Teddy was training to be an Auror. Uncle Ron had, too. And Uncle Neville. Her whole family was badass and they would find her. She just knew it.

Lily was doing her best to amuse herself by imagining Uncle Charlie riding in on a dragon to save her, when she heard people talking outside.

Two sets of feet walked into view.

"... going after Margaret. She is obviously a traitor. But this one is a child. Not even Hogwarts aged."

"Doesn't matter. The message is what matters. He thinks he can just turn his back on all of us? Discard the name of one of our oldest pureblood families? Cheat on his pureblood wife and then marry the muggle whore? And then break every rule that keeps our society safe?!"

"I know all those things. And I agree. You know I do. Why else would I be here? We need to stay away from muggle society and Potter is clearly a danger. Margaret chose to leave Hogwarts and go to some muggle school. Lily, though…"

"You think she'll be different? She goes to a Muggle school. Has a Muggle bodyguard and calls that Muggle whore Mama. Face it: That family is going to destroy our society and force us into the open. Potter even fought…"

And they were too far away for Lily to still hear them.

She huffed in annoyance. They had wanted to take Emmy? Because she had left Hogwarts? And they hated Dad? And Mama? That was… Mama was NOT a whore. What were they even talking about?

Suddenly there were shouts, running and slammed doors and Lily could hear hurried steps coming towards her. She was half expecting her Dad to run through the door, instead she was looking at the masked face of one of her kidnappers.

"Hurry!", he barked at her and took her upper arm, to drag her out of the room.

Hell, no, she wasn't going to help him! She made herself as heavy as possible and the guy actually reached down and simply lifted her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Making your kidnappers angry was bad, Lily knew that. She was a Stark, after all. She had to know these things. She would be quiet. Play scared and meek. And when she got the chance, she would shout into his ear and poke him in the eyes.

"One more step and she is dead!", someone called, right as Lily and her human pony stepped out of the house. She hadn't seen it before, but apparently they were on a clearing surrounded by trees. Someone grabbed her, put her on her feet and put a wand to her throat. There were about a dozen masked figures fanning out around them and on the other side, only steps away from the tree line was… Dad.

He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, his wand stretched out in front of him and… he looked terrifying.

Uncle Charlie sometimes called Dad a scary bastard, when Grandma Molly couldn't hear him and Lily had seen her Dad angry a couple of times. But this was different. He almost didn't look like Dad anymore. It was like the air around him was vibrating with anger. His eyes were narrowed and glued to her face.

"Are you okay?", Dad asked, his voice sounding thick and far away.

When she didn't answer immediately, the man next to her nudged her arm, which earned him a growl from her Dad, "I am going to tear you all limb from limb."

"I believe you.", the man holding her replied calmly and Lily recognized his voice as the man that had called her Mama a whore, "But while you do, the last thing I'm going to do, is take your little girl with me."

"That would cost you everything. Shacklebolt told me who you are. Extremists, nothing else. And you think making me an example, will help your cause. You might be right. But my daughter is just a little girl. If you hurt her, you will lose every bit of sympathy the public might have for you. You'll be the terrorists hurting innocent children. Innocent magical pureblood children. Pretty sure that sort of thing matters to your sympathizers."

"Then, killing all of us is out, no?", her captor shrugged, as if discussing his death didn't bother him, "What is your next move? Are you going to wait here and see who's quicker? Your backup ours?"

"No. I propose a trade."

"What?"

"A trade. You don't want Lily. You never did. Let her go and you can have me."

"Daddy?", Lily felt her lip start to wobble, but he just looked at her, his eyes glued to hers.

"I won't fight back. I won't do anything. You let her go and you can kill me. Torture me. I don't care. Take my wand. Just let her go."

"Why should we believe you?", a woman to Lily's left sneered.

"I am not the one kidnapping children. I don't lie. I just want my daughter out of here.", Dad hissed, a muscle in his cheek twitching a little.

"And you would believe we'd let her go?", someone asked.

"You never wanted her in the first place. This is your best possible outcome.", Lily's Dad stated.

"Daddy?", Lily asked again, choking on the tears starting to fall from her eyes.

"It's okay, Lily-Love. You'll be alright. You'll be home soon, I promise."

"No, Daddy, I.."

"Deal.", her captor proclaimed and pushed her forward. Her Dad stepped closer towards the group and when Lily was let go, he threw his wand to the side . She barreled into him, clinging to his legs.

"I love you, Lily, never forget that. You have to go now. You know what to do, right?"

"Don't turn around. Don't stop. Don't look. Just run.", Lily repeated, hiccuping wildly.

"That's right. Now run!"

And she did. She didn't want to. She wanted to stay. She wanted Daddy to come with her. She wanted them all to be save and at home. But Dad had told her what to do and she had to listen to him. He was her Dad after all, he always knew what to do.

The tears were streaming down her face, her feet pounding the uneven floor. Branches snagged at her clothes and suddenly there was a loud, terrifying scream coming from behind her. She faltered, going stiff in shock.

Don't turn around. Don't stop. Don't look. Just run.

She couldn't do anything. Dad had a plan. He always did. She needed to listen.

It felt like an eternity, but suddenly Lily stumbled right into a brick wall. No. Not a brick wall. Clint Barton's armored legs.

"Lily?", Uncle Sirius' voice was the first she heard, before suddenly there were hands and voices and someone lifted her up. Someone that smelled of popcorn and chocolate cake. Teddy.

"They have Daddy.", she told her big brother, "They have Daddy and they are hurting him."

Someone swore loudly, but Lily could already see the group of people run off again, following the tracks she had made through the underbrush. ÷eddy was still standing there, in the middle of the forest, holding her close. Next to them, Lily could see two of Teddy's friends from school. She couldn't remember their names right then. She didn't care anyway.

"We are going to disapparate. Hold on tight.", Teddy told her, his voice sounding as rough as their Dad's. And so, a heartbeat later, they landed in St. Mungo's.