'- Kedavra.'
Lily stared her death in the eyes. Her outward demeanour was calm, but she had never been this petrified in her entire, soon-to-end life. Even seeing his face repeatedly was not enough to prepare her for coming up against her parents' murderer. Now, she too was going to die at the hand of Callixtus O'Brien. Now she wondered whether their deaths been agonizingly slow, like the moments before hers were, or was it over in a flash?
However when the green jet of light had not struck her after the two fatal words had been uttered, she realized that something was wrong. Why wasn't she dead?
Callixtus' dark eyes suddenly grew blank. She watched, mystified, as the tall figure toppled over, his lifeless face inches from her feet. She stared at him, bewildered, her eyes unseeing of her surroundings; where had the curse come from? Her mind raced to find a solution. It had certainly not come from behind her, and the two of them were the only people in the vicinity. Had the curse come from behind him, from the forest?
Her eyes travelled upward, to meet those of her friend, her savior. A slender figure towered over her, a heel dug into the back of the dead enemy sprawled before them.
"So this is the daughter of Harry Potter? I expected so much more than you… pathetic. I thought you were a Gryffindor, and a strong witch at that, not some sniveling, cowardly little girl. Oh, the world will be a better place when people like you are eradicated."
Any relief, any joy at being alive had evaporated after the words of the condescending female voice. If this woman was not a friend, then why had she killed Lily's enemy? But Lily bit back her fears and laughed coldly out of irony. "People like me? Look at you! You're just some nutter in a mask trying to kill a few teenagers, yet you call me pathetic?"
"I wouldn't be so dismissive if I were you. After all, I just saved your life, and I'm infinitely superior in magic. Not only that, but you don't even have your wand, little witch. I wouldn't be calling me pathetic, when I'm the one who's going to walk away from this alive."
Lily's expression conceded nothing, but inside she realised that the woman was right; Lily wasn't sure she could hold a candle to her when it came to a wand fight. Rather than taking her chances, Lily picked herself and did the only thing she could think of – tackled her. This bony little witch whose name she did not know didn't stand a chance against her in a physical fight.
"GET OFF ME!" shrieked Lexi at the top of her lungs.
Lily fixed her arms around Lexi's neck, trying hopelessly to squeeze the consciousness from her.
Everything started becoming foggy for Lexi as she began to lose sight of the world around her. Unable to talk, she struggled, making faint sounds as her eyes became red and began to water. After a bit more struggling she managed to kick Lily off her. She kicked Lily in the stomach, causing her to gasp in pain. She stood up and trampled as hard as she could on Lily's right hand, presumably her wand hand, and felt the bones break with a sickening crunch on impact.
Right about now, Lily knew she was in huge trouble. Half the fingers in her wand hand had been broken, meaning that it would be impossible to throw punches, and now Lexi was standing up, about to retrieve her wand from wherever it had landed when Lily tackled her. Instinctively, Lily's legs lashed out and Lexi fell over backwards, on top of Lily, who pushed her off.
Lexi landed face first and hard on the cold ground, she felt her nose break upon the harsh impact. That little... she's gonna get it now! thought Lexi furiously, reaching out in front of her to get her wand.
Lily sat up quickly and dived forward, restraining Lexi by pinning her arm behind her back.
Lexi cried in pain as Lily held her arm back, her eyes watering. If she pulled her arm any further it would break and become useless to her. Desperately, she threw out her left hand and managed to feel around for her wand. "Sectumsempra!"
The spell hit its target and Lily's calf began to bleed profusely; luckily for Lily, the weakness in Lexi's arm had meant her Sectumsempra curse was not at full strength, otherwise Lily would have been dead in a matter of minutes. But it still had the desired effect, and with a cry of pain, Lily let go of Lexi's arm. Lexi pushed herself up, her right arm weak. "Everte Statum! Crucio!"
Lily flew up against a tree, her head hitting the wood quite hard but not quite enough to knock her out. As the Cruciatus curse hit her, Lily felt waves of pain course through her, searing her every nerve to the core, as though she was encapsulated in ice so cold it burned.
Smirking in cruel satisfaction, Lexi flicked her wand upward and the curse was removed.
Lily, not wishing to experience that again any time soon, reached immediately forward where she had spied her wand, directing it at Lexi and yelling a desperate incantation which ripped Lexi's achillies tendon.
After letting out another yell of pain, Lexi bent over immediately, gripping her ankle in pain. Blood began to pour from it, and the immense pain made her powerless to stop it.
Lily got up, exhausted, her face pale and set, but inside she was smiling - she had won. Lexi couldn't do anything now, as the pain was unbearable and she appeared unable to move her right leg any more. Lily drew herself up to her full height, preparing to cast a curse to knock Lexi out.
Lexi's uninhibited leg flew out desperately to prevent herself from being knocked out. Unprepared for the blow, Lily fell over forward, hitting her head hard on the cold earth. Lexi sat back against a tree, panting as relief coursed through her body - Lily had been knocked out.
"Okay, it's organized then, Scorpius goes after Lily while Rose and I keep giving orders to the others," said Albus quickly, after what was possibly the shortest argument he and Rose had ever had.
"Alright everyone, stand back," Rose cried reluctantly to their party, moving everyone back a large number of paces before directing her wand at the hinges. "Roteggia!"
With this the hinges groaned, and one of the giant doors fell down almost instantaneously with an echoing thump. For a second, Scorpius stared in bewilderment; the spell had rusted them to the point where they had almost disintegrated. But he wasted no more time observing.
I didn't expect her to be that aggressive, Lexi thought to herself. Perhaps I underestimated her. She leaned against the tree and used it for balance, finding a way to rise on one foot. Oh well, it matters no longer. "Avada!-"
Scorpius ran out the door, surprising the adversary standing before him. He looked in horror at the still figure of Lily on the ground to the one that stood over her, and immediately raised his wand. "STUPEFY!" he bellowed. Unprepared for the newcomer, Lexi toppled over, unconscious.
Scorpius ran straight to Lily, dropping to his knees next to her, hoping it wasn't too late. Oh god, I'm too late. She's gone, she's dead, he thought to himself. Scorpius held her still, pale form to his rapid-beating heart, gently kissing her forehead. Scorpius tried to hold back the tears that were forming, but he couldn't seem to control himself. "I'm so sorry, Lily. I thought I could… but I wasn't good enough - to protect… I'm so sorry Lily… I love you." Scorpius hadn't wept in years, but the sight of her body broke his heart; Albus had told him to take her with him, to protect him, and now the complete opposite had happened and it was entirely his fault. He had only just begun realising how he felt about her, and now she was gone. He could barely handle such a thought.
No, stop it. She's not dead, she can't be. Think logically, Scorpius. Pulse! In his panic, Scorpius had forgotten to check for breathing or a pulse. Scorpius checked her pulse immediately; while it was weak, he was relieved to find that she was still alive. A smile lit his face in hope. First, he checked her breathing, which was shallow but not of great concern. Secondly, observed the pool of blood that had come from her calf, which was still bleeding, and cast a couple of simple healing charms, then ripped off the bottom of his robes to staunch the bleeding.
Then he searched for any other injuries that could be cured on the spot; he found that the fingers of her wand hand were broken and bleeding, but he didn't know how to fix that. I just hope she has no internal injuries, he thought to himself gravely.
While Lily was still alive, she still wasn't out of the woods just yet. If Scorpius couldn't get her to the hospital for a blood replenishment potion in time, the outcome would be no different to what he had first thought. In his panic he didn't think of conjuring up a stretcher. Carrying her would be difficult enough in a normal situation; the fact that they were in the middle of a war only exacerbated things. He went through the collapsed door, noticing that a large amount of Ekklesia reinforcements had entered the castle through some other entrance, but they weren't the only newcomers to the fight. The sight that greeted him brought a smile to Scorpius' face despite the seriousness of Lily's condition.
The anti-apparation charm on the castle must have been removed, because appearing in great numbers and converging on the hall from several entrances, were Aurors, Hit-wizards and other assorted Ministry workers. Brilliant, he thought to himself, a diversion. This would make it a great deal easier to get Lily to safety while their adversaries were distracted by the surge of people.
Scorpius managed to get to a set of stairs unnoticed. Once he went up it he could no longer hear the battle below, aside from some faint echoes from close to the staircase. It struck him as odd that there were no battles on this level, or indeed, as he found when he ascended another staircase, the next. Apparently the Great Hall and Entrance Hall were the epicentres, and presumably the grounds of Hogwarts too; this was good, as it meant that the Ekklesia were being contained. Perhaps he had overestimated their numbers? While they were still in the danger zone, they could win if the Ekklesia didn't have more reinforcements were on the way.
He adjusted his hold on the unconscious Lily to prevent her from slipping, then went up the last staircase quickly as he possibly could without losing his grip. He heard a commotion coming from the Hospital Wing, which from the doorway looked extremely crowded; they had not only been joined by Ministry workers, but by St. Mungo's workers too. Scorpius rushed to the open door, where he was attended to immediately by a blue-eyed witch with silvery blonde hair.
"Please, help. She was - in a fight - with one of their leaders. Her calf is sliced - and her fingers are broken," he panted, ignoring the frantic and chaotic nature of the environment surrounding him. Scorpius swallowed and regained his breath a bit. "I didn't see the fight so I'm not sure, but she could have internal injuries too."
"Lily," whispered the witch in a low voice that Scorpius missed, giving Lily a once-over before directing Scorpius to set her on a nearby bed.
"She is going to be alright, isn't she?" questioned Scorpius, terrified by the pallid colour of her face that perhaps he had been too slow. He took her hand in his and surveyed her, his eyes not leaving her face.
"If I work quickly. Once I get her to take a blood replenishment potion and make sure there isn't anything wrong internally, she should be alright. But we'll have to keep her under a dreamless sleep potion in observation for a couple of days," replied the witch.
Scorpius kissed Lily's hand gently, missing the smile that flickered across the Healers' face at this. Thank goodness, he thought to himself, waves of relief coursing over him. He hadn't been good enough to protect her, but he had got her to the Hospital Wing in time, and for that, he was grateful. Scorpius stood silent for a few seconds stroking her hair with one hand while the other held her cold, pale hand.
"Of course, it would be just like her to go straight for the most dangerous person here," commented the witch.
Snapped from his stupor, Scorpius reluctantly tore his eyes from Lily and looked in curiosity at the Healer. Something about the facial structure and the light dusting of freckles on her cheeks looked familiar, though he was unsure why. "You know her?"
"I'm Victoire Weasley. She's my cousin."
"Oh, er…" Scorpius regretfully let go of Lily's hand. He knew how protective the family was of her; after all, initially Albus had been furious at the idea of them dating, and he was his best friend. And plus, being a Malfoy meant he didn't have the greatest reputation, let alone being accepted in the Weasley clan.
"Don't stop on my account," Victoire said with a knowing smile.
Scorpius smiled back lightly, before turning around to look at Lily as Victoire got to work checking vitals and consulting with another Healer to obtain a potion, but Scorpius wasn't paying attention to that. At the moment, Lily was the only thing in the world that mattered.
But now that he knew she was safe, another thought came to his mind; his friends, the battle raging downstairs that he had temporarily forgotten. Scorpius tore his eyes once more from her pale visage and turned to Victoire. "I better go and help downstairs… er, listen, if I don't come back-"
"I have no doubt that you'll return," replied Victoire. "But if by chance you should not, I'll take good care of her."
Scorpius nodded gratefully, looking at Lily one last time before he turned and dashed down the corridor, down the three staircases as quickly as possible.
The fight for Lily was over, another was just about to begin.
Diclaimer: You recognise, I don't own. You don't recognise, I own. Don't sue me JKR )
Author's Note: Yes, Lily is alive and quite safe, but I hope last chapter's preview gave you a couple of seconds of anxiety :p And of course, Scorpius isn't out of the woods yet. And what will happen when Lily wakes up? Just because Scorpius has realised his feelings doesn't mean everything will fall into place...
However, I regret to inform you that this story is going on a hiatus. In one month exactly I will begin my final exams, and if I don't do well I can't go to uni (or 'college'), so I'll be studying. But when I've finished I'll have plenty of time to write.
In the meantime, please leave a little review telling me what you think of the chapter/story!