05. Abnormality

"Here we are," Lily Potter whispered into the deep darkness around the house of Teddy Lupin and Andromeda Tonks.

It had been only an hour since James had suggested the idea, and since then Lily had used her powers both on her parents and the Knight Bus crew.

And now here they were.

"Well?" she continued. "Now what?"

"Now we put some of that Gryffindor bravery to the test," he whispered back, motioning for his sister to follow as he walked toward the doorway. Once there, he opened the door so quietly and nimbly that Lily felt her facial expression turn impressed, until she remembered she was angry with him for loaning Teddy the Chocolate Frog card and reverted back to petulance.

They entered silently, and Lily felt an odd sense of safety inside the familiar home. She shook it off, though, when she remembered what she and James were about to do, and instead shuddered.

"Come on, quieter," James urged, and Lily followed his lead.

When they had reached the stairs, Lily was going to ask James how they would get into Teddy's room, but shut her mouth immediately on remembering that it would probably be too loud. Instead, she sent the thought to her brother telepathically:

How are we getting into Teddy's room?

James's eyes widened a bit, then he thought back:

Leave it to me.

Lily groaned. Don't you know that if I hadn't left it you from the beginning, we wouldn't BE here in the first place?

She got an irritating smile in response. 'Course I know. Anyway, there's a secret passage by the door -- cupboard, actually -- under the stairs. Teddy said he built it when he was grounded and couldn't see Victoire. He wasn't grinning, as Lily had expected him to be, as he said this -- no, actually he sounded rather bitter.

James... she thought nervously, ... what is it with you and Teddy? You're not nothing to him, you know that, he's --

But her comfort was interrupted by a real noise, James tapping the staircase. "We've got a mission," he whispered shortly. Lily could sense that he was still angry, but she followed him into the secret door anyway.

Inside was dark and cold, and Lily had trouble finding her way to where her brother was. She could hear him (mentally) wishing he'd brought his wand, and then scolding himself for having left it on the train and let out a giggle, then immediately clapped a hand over her mouth.

Finally James had located the opening they would crawl through to get to Teddy's room. Honestly, though, Lily thought to James as she found her way to where he was standing, how could you lose something as valuable as your wand? James grimaced, as if weighing the pros and cons of hitting her.

I'm going to ignore that, he sent to his sister. Alright, get up there. I'll push you in, then follow.

Lily, with some difficulty, managed to position herself at the front of what looked a little like a tunnel, except that you travelled up rather than down it. When she'd made it, James gave her a huge push and she flew up the tunnel and landed rather loudly in a room just like the one downstairs; there was a door, too, which Lily assumed you could enter Teddy's room from. She then went back to the front of the tunnel and waited for James to emerge from it.

Eventually Lily could see James coming into view and continued to wait. But she soon noticed that he wasn't moving, and asked him why telepathically.

Design flaw, he answered. There's a groove in the part I'm in, and I got stuck. You didn't because you're small enough to avoid it. Oh, don't laugh -- help me!

Lily gathered some of her brother's shirt and tugged, and when that didn't work was suddenly struck with an idea. Acting spontaneously, she took off the bracelet she'd got from her aunt last Christmas, unfastened the smallest charm, and placed it in the groove, managing to free James's shirt in the process. He came flying up the tunnel and landed next to his little sister.

The only bad thing was that Lily would have to leave her charm in the groove of the tunnel so that they could get back down. But she was okay -- it was her least favorite one, anyway, the one shaped like a book.

Lily and James entered Teddy's room very quietly, and began to feel a little panicked when the Chocolate Frog card seemed to be nowhere in sight.

When at least ten minutes had gone by and they still hadn't found it, James sent to Lily:

Ask Teddy where it is.

WHAT? Are you insane? He'll know we're here, James! And if you meant with my mind, as he's sleeping I don't see what good that'll do!

Just try! I know more about this then you do!

Frustrated, Lily finally gave in, feeling ridiculous. Um... Teddy? Where... er... where is the Chocolate Frog card James lent you?

Bottom of the second drawer. The answer came so quickly and in such an un-Teddy-like voice that Lily was taken aback. Apparently this power was even weirder than she'd thought. She was finally beginning to feel like she really wanted it gone. She gave the thought to James and then asked Teddy, How do we use it to get rid of the power?

Rip it in half. The answer once again shocked Lily, but then again, it had been quite an abnormal evening.